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Monday, December 9, 2013

It’s not just political party it’s revolution

Can't say anything just a tear drops from the corner of my eyes. After a long battle this win is just the first step towards glorious tomorrow. 
                Elections are over now and AAP has delivered extraordinary results. Nobody thought just one year old party could come up so strongly and uproot the party in power which has been there from almost two hundred years.  People of Delhi have proved that no matter how deep the roots of corrupted, dishonest, communal and looters are grounded; it will take just one broom to sweep them away.  For the first time people had choice for electing an honest party, choosing honest candidates upon whom they could rely on.  Everybody was skeptical whether AAP could make its presence felt to other parties but they had done what no other party could have done. They have created history and brought a new revolution which seemed distant and impossible looking at the past scenarios in India. 

        Parties which came to power have misused the power and resources of this country to their own interest still they came to the power. If we talk taking nation as a whole Congress and BJP were the only players in politics. The ministry was juggling from one to another but people had no other choice. The name politics itself used to bring disgust in mind.  Every honest person who came to change politics was changed by politics. Every faith was lost, every hope was lost but with the advent of Aam Aadmi Party every lost hope and faith was regained.  His way of doing work was way beyond this country’s level. Backing of many known and great personalities made this party stronger.

              One amazing thing which I have realized is that most of the people who are promoting AAP in anyway don’t have any political or personal interest they just want to get rid of all politicians who have defamed politics. There is only one interest associated with them; betterment of this country. Though I always wanted to see these well -deserving people to win but I was still skeptical that AAP could win so many seats.  There’s a reason behind it and for that reason my logical mind was coming to conclusions which wasn’t true.  I have been promoting and supporting Arvind Kejriwal long before he formed political party. Even I liked his practical thinking that without entering into politics it wouldn’t be possible to change it. In buses while travelling, in trains, with fellow students, with friends, with teachers and with everyone I met and got a chance to talk to I directly jumped to politics and emphasized to need to bring his party into the forefront. I was never this much concerned about politics. The same thing is happening with so many people all over India and even Indians all over the world but what made me disappointed was the response I was getting people were giving stupid excuses for not voting him. Some said he is not much experienced in politics. One of my old friend who is also a member of other political party posted a picture in Facebook showing Arvind Ji, Mayawati and Mulayam with caption that vote for them and they will sell your votes to Congress. After the declaration of AAP that he is not going to give or take any support from these corrupt parties that same guy didn’t even reply while I reminded him of that. J

                    I am proved wrong, I thought still most of the people are foolish but I guess I came across only stupid people in buses, classrooms or in any other place whose vote doesn’t count. I feel BJP could
secure so many seats only because people of Delhi were skeptical that AAP couldn’t secure so many seats to form the government but now the people are aware what a broom of aam aadmi could do they are definitely going to vote for AAP in case of reelection.
     Some are suggesting AAP should join hands with BJP and I can guess what is going inside their head. They want change in the politics but they couldn’t give up their attachment with BJP maybe because of communal reasons, if you get what I am saying.

      One thing is clear unlike other politicians, Arvind Kejriwal is man of his words and full of vision. He did what he said, he came up with manifestos in all constituencies. He was the one who was with the general public when they were protesting against in front of Shiela Dikshits house for the inability of making Delhi a safer place for women.  The war is already half won by him as all the parties were fielding candidates with clean image. There is probably less liquor and money distributed this time.  Without it no one could have imagined elections a year ago.


    What a change has come, what a glorious time for democracy, and Delhites have done superb this time. Congratulations to all !!!!!
 
    This is just a beginning …… Aage Aage Dekho Hota Hai Kya (Let’s see what happens next). This is certainly a giant leap towards a better tomorrow for Delhites. Not it’s time for whole India to wake up.

Monday, October 28, 2013

Sensitivity to the Disabled

When no other teacher wants to teach at deaf schools a wealthy foreigner chose to leave behind everything and come to India to teach these deaf students
     Yesterday I had to visit Nehru Place in Delhi to fetch my document from a company office. While returning from there I decided to visit my friend as I had obtained a daily pass for that day for just fifty bucks, which empowered me to catch any DTC bus (except interstate buses) destined to anywhere in Delhi without shedding any more rupees on the ticket. This is a facility which I appreciate very much when I have to visit several place in just one day in this city. I boarded a bus and with me several children all dressed in school uniforms also got on the bus.

           Hearing an odd sound I looked back at them and noticed that they were talking with their hands and making bizarre sounds spasmodically  attracting everybody’s attention in that bus. I looked at their faces which looked innocent but happy, overshadowing the agonies which they might have suffered so far. I looked at the identity card clipped in front of chest-pocket of a student, written a name of special school for deaf boys.  I felt contented for the facilities which they are getting from the government probably free of cost or maybe for a meager amount. They didn’t even bought ticket which means they were carrying pass and that too for a petty amount. Without these facilities they couldn’t have gone to school as they didn’t looked like children from a well off family.

           A guy of my age who was standing beside me smiled to me and said something which was directed to them. May be he was dumb enough to not find out that they were special children without hearing capacity. He thought they were deliberately doing something which was not usual with normal children.  As the crowd grew on bus, the people passing the corridor were blaming those innocents and their satchel for the trouble which they were facing.

 Is their satchel that much big to occupy the whole space in the bus??     
        or
These noisy men and women with big buttocks was the real problem??
         I think the latter one being the big problem for lack of space. Their container sized butts take a large chunk of space where two normal sized people can comfortably stand.  Still, they blame the bags of school students for the mess. Their ass has grown so big because they have maids to do their household chores and they go to park to walk hurriedly  to shed extra kilos and these same people blame the school bags in the crowded metro-trains or buses for the nuisance.

        I was more shocked to see the insensitiveness of the driver for these special students. When one of them went in front to stand near the gate, the driver started to curse him in Haryanavi indifferent to the hurt he was causing to their innocent hearts.  Why can’t these people understand and give respect to others, especially to those persons who need it most.  This insensitiveness is a blot on our culture and most of us blame western culture but looking at these events I feel most of the things in western culture are far more better than ours.


 Do lack of education is the reason for this insensitiveness?? If yes, then why do we need education to teach us the basic manners which we should know from the age we become conscious. There is a need of this kind of sensitivity to build a better future for everyone, to build a better tomorrow for all.

Saturday, October 26, 2013

Make the right choice this time

             It’s the awakening which happened to me last night, the same awakening which happened to Arvind Kejriwal when he decided to form his own political party. The decision was right as it’s difficult to change the system without being in the system and when it’s the political system of India it doesn't remain difficult, it becomes impossible to change without being in it. I didn’t join his party thinking that my opinion about him in my posts would look selfish. Now I don’t care anymore if I look selfish because I am, I have my selfish reasons, the same reasons which will benefit every citizen of this country, not just politicians and their relatives.

    Finally, I took the membership of AAM AADMI PARTY, which just cost me ten rupees and gave me a lot of satisfaction. I can’t describe my feeling  which the thank you letter from the party gave me, which read

 “Dear Shailesh Gururani,
On behalf of all of us at Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), We welcome you in this political movement as a member of AAP. We appreciate and acknowledge the first step you have taken towards the efforts for building a Nation which confirms to what we call “SWARAJ”.“Such support motivates us to continue to work hard for something and something that helps make a difference”. One small step of yours would ultimately mean a Giant leap for our Nation.  We hope that you will continue to partner with us in our commitment to make this Nation proud once again.  Thank you for being an important member of our political movement. Best Regards,AAP”
                       Ha Ha Ha  J  … I am sorry if it seems unimportant for a post. I couldn’t resist myself showing you the appreciation letter though it’s not imperative here.
I have seen people making fuss about the Prashant Bhushan’s statement about Kashmir or any other petty thing for that matter but one thing is for sure we really don’t have any better choice than Arvind Kejriwal in this present political situation. Not only party members but other members are also promoting the party on social networks and I don’t think they are getting any direct benefits out of that. It’s the urge to raise issues which common man is facing but couldn’t raise before and when raised generally suppressed by the men in power.

        Tell me honestly, do you really think personalities like Meera Sanyal, Kailash Kher or Rabbi Shergill extended their support out of any greed?? In fact, they are actually sacrificing many things and are exposed to various risks by extending their support to the party. People who are criticizing AAP or Arvind Kejriwal have their selfish reasons for that. They all are related to opposite parties or getting direct benefits out of it for sure. Last day, one of my friend who is related to other party posted on his Facebook profile a picture which accused Arvind Kejriwal of something which would be the last thing he would ever want to do. It definitely showed that person’s selfishness and consequently lost my respect for him.


    Many of my family members are from other political party and some of them have held good positions on the party and if that party wins next election, those members will be at profitable positions still I want AAP to win because I don’t want any persons to get benefitted at the cost of others, even if the benefitting persons are from my family. I hope this time people will make the right choice, a choice for which they won’t have to regret in the future.  The choice which will be a step Towards A Better Tomorrow.

Friday, October 25, 2013

For the greater interest of society

Collectivism is better for the society
             Recently I had to visit my village which is situated in the district of Almora. Although I spent my early four years there in the village, I was too young to remember those moments. The memories of my childhood spent there have faded and whatever I remember of that are scattered in pieces, gathering and knitting them together would not make meaningful story. However, I used to spend most of my vacations there and have many unforgettable moments which made me connected to the village life as well.

    During my childhood, my grandmother showered more love to me than my own mother. Every morning I used to get a lota (brass vessel) full of milk.  She was the epitome of love atleast to us (her grandchildren) and showered us with all the love a grandmother could give to her grandchildren.  The reason of my visit this time was to attend funeral of her that is why I couldn’t abstain myself from venting my grief on this post. L

             We had to cross two hills and walk about more than five kilometers to reach there. The conditions are no different since last twenty years; nothing has changed in this regard. Some villages which are farther than my village are more than ten kilometers far from the nearest roads and what makes this journey difficult is the rugged pathways. Climbing up and down on the slopes will make this journey laboriously fatiguing.
 This time I am not blaming government for the pathetic situation, there are some people to blame, few people and because of them all villages nearby have to suffer. Everytime the concerned department surveys there, some people (those same few people) write an application and make some more people sign it by fooling them into something and the actual construction work never starts.

    Those people include;
   Ghodiwalas (Horse-Owners) : All the villagers have to be dependent on them for carrying of their luggage and they charge ferociously. They think when there will be road their whole business will be destroyed. Consequently, they unite together and do whatever they can do to stop the building of roads there. 

Who’d have to sacrifice a little part of their land:  Even my family had to spare off some land for this and the amount we will get as compensation would be meager but I know that the benefits will outweigh what we have to sacrifice but some narrow-minded, selfish bastards of my village doesn’t seem to understand.

Some jealous villagers, some absent minded people and some shop owners who think their sales will decrease because of the road people would have more accessibility which will prevent them from charging exorbitant prices, are also in this list and because of them villages there are lacking basic infrastructural facilities.


               This might be the story of many villages which are still lagging far behind in the development path. I wonder, when the people are going to come out from the net of individualism, maybe when it’s too late?? I hope not. When people will overcome these barriers of individualism then certainly this world would be better place to live. Foundation of the better tomorrow lies in collectivism, for the greater interest of society where we live in.  We have to forgo our selfish interests for the greater interest of society, of course, it will bring fruitful results in the long term.

Tuesday, October 22, 2013

Let's make ourselves deserving first.

Charred buses, damaged public property after the protest (who is at the loss??? We are)
                 It was a decade ago, when I was in school. Computers were rare (atleast for the lower middle class family like mine) unlike the present time when it’s an essential household item now.  My school had a computer lab and there were 10 computers in that room. The total strength of my school was more than 2000 students, so most of us hardly got any chance to operate it. On my way to school, just 50 meters far away from my school gate, there was a small structure being built, I thought maybe there were building a public lavatory but wondered why weren't they building it on the main road. One day, we came to hear about the news which was creating buzz in the whole school. There was a NGO which was going to install some computers on that structure which I previously thought as a public toilet. That was it, a small computer lab with four computers. During the day time the keyboard were kept outside and the monitor was inside those four small windows. They would shut the windows after five in the evening and open it at 10 at the morning. There was no one to keep a watch.

        Although, we heard from many about it being a free service to all but we were still cynical. Besides that, we were always scared of operating a computer without assistance as we always heard our computer teacher saying
    “If you’ll press the wrong button, it will damage the computer”
 and the fear of unknown always prevented us from operating in it.    I had my previous schooling from a private school and there was computer lab too. I knew to play games, music and typing and because of that I was leading my gang of four on that day. I told them I will show them how to operate a computer and they followed without any resistance.

         When we got there, we were disappointed to see the long lines of students waiting for their turn.  I made my way through the crowd to see what was going on there.  As usual, the school bully boys had captured all the systems.  We didn’t even think of waiting looking at the lost list of bystanders.  I told my friends that we will come some other day when they all will get bored of it.  Soon the hope turned to despair when we saw the condition of that public lab. The keyboards were missing most of the keys.  Everyone who got the chance to work in the systems took out the key with initial letters of their name.  Frustrated by this, it was shut permanently maybe by the same organisation who thought of providing free computers to the students.

       That structure is still there and wearing out gradually, lies inside piles of rubbles, telling the story of apathy of citizens and students of this city. This is just one incident of my life. I have been through many similar incidents which fill me with disgust. 
We always keep complaining about inefficiency of our government and law and keep criticizing politicians. These incidents really make me believe that saying;
  “We get what we deserve”

        Let’s make ourselves deserving first than we will be in a position to criticize. Let’s take an oath that we won’t destroy any public property and not even any private property. In protests too we destroy and damage public property then we wonder where all the public money is wasted.  Why can’t we take care of the public property like our own? If we change our behaviour and attitude towards this we will certainly be able to create a better tomorrow.

Sunday, October 20, 2013

'The teachers' everyone should have


               Like most of us, I too consider my mother as my greatest teacher but there are many things about her which make her special in many ways. Despite the physical and mental agonies which she had to go through all her life so far, she always stuck up to his empathetic nature, kindness, unconditional love and humble nature.  I inherited most of her good things in me. The best part of her is, she is always careful whatever she does and whatever she speaks so as not to hurt others and maybe that’s why I am also not that straightforward and outspoken. Seemingly, it might sound something negative but I think otherwise.  

           I don’t really remember my first day at school but I remember the first teacher whose image is never going to delete from my memories. My first teacher was a very funny guy and that too in a childish way. I guess that’s what we want when we are at the tender age of less than ten years. One more thing I should mention that he used to make fart-like sounds with clasping both palms together. I still remember him giving us the answers in a unit test though the other teacher at the room protested that. He was favourite of mine and my friends. Whether good or bad, my irrational mind of that time was unable to decide that and I still like him the way he was. I learnt enjoying my life and spreading happiness from him.

                In my secondary education I failed to learn something from the teachers there because I hardly gave attention in any class. I was not interested but forced to study. I hope you can guess from where all those force comes from.  Teachers came and went but there wasn’t any lifelong impression on me but when I entered in college life, the changes began appearing in me.
College life bring with it different people in my life, I learned different perspective of looking at things. My thoughts were getting broader than ever before. I acquired the habit of reading and this filled me with new knowledge and thinking. This was first noticed by professor Kavidyal and he started giving extra attention to me. There were times when he admired me in front of whole class and told things which I never heard before like ‘you will go a long way’. I sure wanted to be successful before as well and I thought successful meant making huge money or a higher designation. I think he meant the latter one. With the appreciation and expectation I felt compelled to work hard. What truly inspired me were not his praises but his knowledge and dedication towards his work. Besides that, he always emphasized on living life with values and ethics. Honestly speaking, other professors and teachers there, stand nowhere near him. Apart from being a good teacher of subjects, he is also a guiding light of my life. He was the first one in my student life to teach values in life. Other teachers taught subjects only but he taught many other things, constantly told us to be honest, sincere, dedicated and well behaved to all. He would always be the teacher of my student life who deserves most respect.

             Going ahead in my education, I met two more teachers who were able to put good impression on me. Mr. Pankaj Updadhyay and Mr. Maninder Singh. When I used to attent Pankaj sir’s class, I used to see Kavidyal sirs reflection on him. I attended just 4 classes of Maninder sir but this short time was enough to made a mark on me These all teachers gave me many valuable lessons in life which I am not going to forget, apart from just teaching, the lessons which might not land me in very high designation or any high paying job but certainly to a life which is worth living. All the good things I will be doing in my future will the consequence of their teachings. These persons above will always be my ideals whose teachings will guide me in every walk of life.


            I think  if everybody will get these kind of teachers in their life and learn the way I have learnt from them, I can’t guarantee a richer world but I can guarantee a better tomorrow for everyone.

Thursday, October 17, 2013

Why don't they (Parents) understand ??

 Parents spend most of their hard earned money on the education of their children. The education , most part of which is going to be same for everyone whether one wants to be an engineer, a doctor, a manager,  a clerk, a soldier or anyone for that matter.  You will find your parents or teachers voicing the quotes of many famous personalities. 

 I remember my father narrating me a story of a US president to whom his father once said;
   “I don’t mind if you want to become a grass cutter but you have to be the best grass cutter in the world”    
and that child went on to become US president.

 Inspired by this when I thought of commencing a business of a barber and shared my business plan, I was ridiculed by everyone in the family and my mother said to me
  “Beta, ab tujhe Naai banane ke liye itna- pada likha rahe hain ?” (are we spending so much on your education to  see you as a barber?)
     And I had to let go of my first business plan.

As my family was not very well off on economic grounds, there was no way I could have started any business which could have accepted in my family as a good business, besides that, my family wanted me to study more and more. I went on with my study and my family had to spend a huge amount of money on my education and most of which was borrowed by relatives and family friends.  I am on the verge of completing but nowhere near a well paying and satisfying job. It’s not just with me, everyone in my class. If in any way you happen to wonder whether I deserve the job or not let me tell you that there are more than 10 persons with extraordinary talent. One is a college topper from a well known university and they are also in same conditions.  The offers which we are getting are either very low paid or not satisfactory in terms of work or working conditions. Now how do you suppose me to live up to my parents expectations??
  The fault does not lie with just one thing; there are many things which are wrong. Let me share one more thing which would make it clearer to you. I am pursuing my MBA and living with my uncle. We are living in government quarter and there was some place around the quarter which was empty so he thought he can make a small garden there. He started growing vegetables there. I also help him in gardening.  We grow enough vegetables that sometimes we don’t buy any vegetable from market for six months long. The total garden area is hardly more than 3000 square feet.

This is the banana tree in the backyard which has this record number of bananas.
Some two years ago he planted a banana tree in backyard. Now they have scattered all around and we every time get to eat lot of bananas and we never had to buy. One bunch has grown so big that I think if it will grow a little bit more it will break the world record of largest number of bananas in one tree and that too without any use of pesticides and fertilizers. Now my heart desires to be in a business of organic farming (keeping in mind the land which I have inherited and which is left uncultivated back in my ancestral village. However, it still lacks basic infrastructural facilities like roads which is 4 Kilometers far from my home there).  Gardening was my hobby ever since I was just 12 years old. Not just economic advantages but it has many environmental benefits too.

The thought of being ridiculed again makes me reticent for now and besides that I don’t want to hear
Beta, agar kisaan hi banna tha to itne padne likhne ki zarurat kya thi” ( If you wanted to be a farmer then what was the need of this much education)
 but one day I want to prove everyone around that the aim of education is not just getting employed in a firm or government job but its objective is to inspire us to do what we love and apply all our knowledge and education to it so that we can be best at it.

 Presently, I won't rebel against them. I will just wait for the right moment to commit myself fully to it, for the moment when I will be self sufficient to do what I want to do and change the mindset of my generation by inspiring them to do what they want to do. This way the youngsters would not be forced to be an engineer or a doctor or anything for that matter which they don’t want to and it will certainly be a better tomorrow for them.

Wednesday, September 25, 2013

Let's stop those organisations from being exploitative

                        Reading newspaper is my favorite time pass in the morning. This is not only a source of news and information but I also gain insights to the life of common people. By common here I mean all those middle class families and persons who constitute largest part in the population and face common issues. While going through news in today’s newspaper, where restaurant owners pleaded with folded hands before green tribunal to not shut their restaurants, the owners gave the reasons that the livelihood of 2000 workers was at stake. The reason is genuine and I also agree that the families of daily wage earners will suffer but tell me honestly how many of you feel that the owners are that much concerned about their life? I believe that not even 90% of those are genuinely interested in the life of their servants.

              One of my professors, who was carrying out research in the case of violence in Maruti plant in Manesar which left one manager dead and 40 injured. He revealed his findings that how those employees got so much frustrated. I don’t know how much truth is there in his findings but I can’t deny after what I had to face when I had to join an organisation for internship, I had to deny the proposal. Let me share the story of the employees there. The employees were on a tight schedule without appropriate breaks. The equipment and dress which they had to wear use to eat up all the time which they used to get in brakes in keeping them in their appropriate place. If they would be late by even one minute they were given half day salary for that day. One employee’s father kicked the bucket so he had to go to perform rituals but he was denied for that. They told him we don’t care if you would not be here in three days you would be fired and he had to lose his job. The immediate reason which resulted in violence was workers were asked to reach factory premises one hour earlier without any compensation. This wasn’t mentioned in any newspaper. 
                       This is the story of an international company which shows in their balance sheet that they are spending millions in social work. What is the use of that if they don’t care about their own employees? This is happening in almost all multinationals and big firms.  If you don’t agree then show me examples.

     Even I faced similar situation when I applied for internship in organizations. Most of them are taking full work from us without any inclusion of training or workshop still paying meager amount and support it by arguing that we should be more than happy because atleast we are getting something for internship period. These companies are asking us to completely isolate our personal life.  If they care about anything is just profit on the cost of our life.  We are slave to them. Now I understand why most of my friend wanted to join government organizations.


   You must have faced similar situations or you may have seen it from your own eyes. Now let’s unite together and expose them. We should stop those organizations from going that big that they can exploit their employees without any fear of law. Join this campaign so that we will build a better tomorrow for everyone.  

Tuesday, September 24, 2013

Injustice of the system

     
                                My education cost my family a fortune. The total fee itself has crossed one million Rupees, let alone other expenses. If I would have gone to any convent school for primary and secondary education, it would have been double and when the other expenses would be added up in this (which is directly or indirectly related to education), it would cross five million Rupees. After spending this humongous amount when my college sent me for internship, the stipend was just 5,000 rupees and when asked about the future prospectus I was told that after 6 months I would get a salary of 10,000 Rs Per month. I was dumbstruck.  It is when I am considered in the better half of the class, I am more worried about the other half. This is not just me; it is the story of millions of well educated youths.


   The system is unjust everywhere. The law itself seems unjust, Mr. Suresh Kalmadi or Mr. A. Raja who galloped thousands of crores through scams are free even after being convicted of crime. On the other hand ‘police beats teenage boy to death for petty theft’ is on the news very often and these boys always belong to poor family. Saint Asaraam (some also call him pyasaram) has millions of followers despite of many criminal charges against him, while on the other hand, you will always hear people criticizing Arvind Kejriwal for his methods, no matter how good his intentions are.

   Like Gandhiji, I also experimented with truth but on different context. When I wrote bullshit on my facebook status I got many likes for that, for the stupid humorous two lines which I copied from somewhere but when I shared something about issues which are faced by societies in which I put a lot of efforts to write that just two persons bothered to read it. Again some stupid lines again likes and again some serious issue, it was plainly ignored. Now you decide which post deserved more likes. By the way, I am just citing examples; I am not hungry for likes. How unjust.. isn’t it???

      The political parties are unjust; people from a rich background have more chances to get a ticket in the parties. The citizens of this country are unjust, they are more likely to vote for the person who has more power; he can buy voters with money or fear. Employment system in this country is unjust, they choose candidate from the four rounds of interview. How can anyone judge our personality, attitude or anything for that matter by just talking to us? Even the god himself will find it hard. Why not put the candidate in the real job for some time period and then decide whom to choose and whom not to ?
    If you think those politicians who are running this country deserve the positions they have held, if you think that the persons at the superior positions are better than you. If you think you are getting equal opportunity in jobs, promotions or anywhere, it means the system is fair but I know there will just handful of persons who think it that way. It has been unfair to most of us.  

                   ‘How to improve this system’ is the most difficult question I have been grappling with. No matter what we want to become; a doctor, an engineer, a sportsman, a writer or anything our schooling is same, we study same subjects in schools. Until and unless a man doesn’t acquire enough wealth, power or atleast a criminal case, we don’t consider him as politician. Our behaviour changes from person to person according to his economic status. Why serve that injustice. To change that, we need to change ourselves first so that we will take one step further towards a better tomorrow.

Tuesday, September 17, 2013

Need of lessening the gap between Poverty and Prosperity

                 India, a majestic country, is growing at the second fastest rate economically. Enter into this country through Delhi or Mumbai, look around at the infrastructure, business hubs, educated population etc., all these tell us the story of growth. Indian businessmen are making their way to some of the wealthiest persons in the world. Brand India is becoming more and more popular among the western countries. Companies like Walmart and IKEA are paving their way to enter this country keeping in mind the increasing purchasing power of the citizens of this country. These might be some reasons to cheer about but the ground reality is totally different.

                More than half of the population is living under poverty. One-third of the population is in extreme poverty. This class is vulnerable to exploitation, diseases, drugs addiction and many kinds of negative things. These are the people most affected by natural calamities. Lack of education and awareness makes these people devoid of employed, consequently, forcing them to enter into world of crime. 
             
            Poverty and prosperity both coexist here but we can say poverty in more rampant here. Thousands of children can be seen walking on foot to their government school in any crowded street in Delhi in comparison to some fifty children would be found sitting on their SUVs making way to any international school. Despite of more than 60 years of Independence, the government has failed to bridge the gap between haves and have nots. This economic division is becoming more and more dangerous for this country for the youths who don’t get the same opportunity on jobs (or anywhere else, where they are discriminated because of their economic level).  
              
                Increasing crimes rates and involvement of mostly poor people shows the frustration brought by this gap. The rich flaunt their prosperity in such a way that it makes fun of those people who can’t afford to have that luxury. People’s behaviour also changes towards person depending on their prosperity level, no matter how inhumanely or corruptly he had acquired that immense wealth. Why rich people are getting richer and poor people are becoming poorer? This question needs serious debate on the part of policy makers of this country. The government should improve the level of education and bring it on par with those costly international schools or the government. Education should also be more customized for different group of students, student with different ambitions and future plans should get different kind of education.
             
          Has anyone wondered about why people from developing countries are in the wealthiest persons list ?  It might make you feel happy that many Indians are in the billionaire list but it certainly makes me sick. They have made their way to the list because millions of people never got the opportunity in all those businesses where a single family owns hundreds of business. They suppressed their less wealthy competitors by bribing government agencies for approval. How do you suppose these conglomerates are specialized in every business they are in, from telecom to glass making, from salt to automobile? I will never get amused by the growth rate unless I will see the happiness in the face of poor. Though if the poor remains poor after getting equal opportunities in comparison to rich people, then it’s not anyone’s fault, then I will not condemn rich.   

      
               I know if everybody is provided with equal opportunity despite of their economic status, I believe that the gap between rich and poor will be bridged. There won’t be any billionaire like Ambanis and there won’t be any poor like a landless farmer and that will be when we will be heading towards a better tomorrow.

Thursday, September 12, 2013

What these 'Religious Sentiments' are doing to this country ??

Picture from First Post
                        Lately, I have been wondering where this country is heading, looking into the recent happenings all over the country.  Atleast forty people have died in communal riots in Muzaffarnagar so far. If newspapers are to be believed the chain of events is like this, a Muslim youth stalked and sexually harassed a Hindu girl. Two men (apparently her brothers) killed him in a fit of rage. This sparked anger in other community resulted in the lynching of two youths. Meanwhile, a video got viral showing a mob lynching two youths. Though that was shot in the Afghanistan some two years ago but people thought this is the same incident involving two youths. Some persons from Hindu community gathered for the revenge. On the way while returning home they were attacked leaving approximately eight persons dead and the riot followed and now mostly those persons are suffering who didn’t have anything to do with that riot.

               Tell this story to persons from any developed country and it will be very hard for them to believe that a fake video could spark so much of violence in the country. How could watching a video make them kill other people?  

                  These incidents are the result of religious extremists and this extremism is  going to destroy mankind very quickly if this continues.  Whenever something hurts the sentiments of people, they demand banning of that. When M. F. Hussain drew paintings of nude god many Hindu groups cried foul, some even attacked his house and vandalized his artwork. When Salman Rushdie wrote Satanic Verses he had to face outrage from the Muslim world. Similarly, Dan Brown had to face criticism from Christian community.  Taslima Nasreen was forced to leave Bangladesh as she was critical of Islam in particular and religion in general.  A cartoonist was put behind bars by Mamta Banerjee for depicting the prevalent situations there. 

        A month or two before, an IAS officer, who was checking on illegal sand mining, was suspended by state government citing the reasons that she hurt religious sentiments of people. Her dutiful act was convicted of a crime which was against religious sentiments of people.  These ‘religious sentiments’ were behind the scenes all the time and people were driven by religion. In my opinion, if they think they saved the country and by banning the above mentioned people, to really save the country by all these unfortunate events, they should have banned religion so that no innocent people would get killed in riots, no writer, painter or any other type of artist would face such fate and not a single honest officer would be suspended for doing her duty.  Those people should be banned from living who become killing machine by watching any stupid video, painting, poster or by listening to any speech full of hatred.
  
              The hatred because of the religion differences is deep rooted in the hearts of people. If you want evidence for that, go to the recent news-posts of newspapers which are covering the latest riots in Muzaffarnagar and read the comment by readers, bunch of idiots are fighting and justifying the misdeeds done by their community.         

                     As a student I am concerned because this is not what I was taught at my schools, this is not what I read in my books and more importantly this is going to harm my future. As a citizen I am concerned because I never want my fellow citizens to meet such faith despite of the religion they follow. As a son or a brother, I can feel the agony which those families are going through after losing their family members.

                 I know this article might hurt the sentiment of some religious extremists as I am asking them to close their business, deterring them from doing terrible things which they do in the name of religion. If they get a chance to read this and who knows they might even ban this blog or bar me from writing but fortunately I am not that popular and they would never bother because they know that a video spreading hatred would do more harm than a blog post from a common man who wanted to change the mindset of people from immorality to morality would do any good.

                 Why can’t we stop this stupidity in the name of religion?
                  Why can’t we live together as a family, as a human being?  
                 Why can’t we be so strong and rational so as not to driven furious by a fake video?
and most importantly why can’t we head towards a better tomorrow???

Saturday, September 7, 2013

It’s Now or Never

                     We might be the creation of the situation but when given a chance if we blow up our chance to change the situation then we don’t deserve to blame our situation. Despite of the democracy, we've always kept grumbling over the situations of the drowning country whether economically, morally or in any other way. While attending one class, a professor who’s been to other countries like USA and China, talked about the situation there, how people roam round freely at night without the fear of being looted, girls dress the way they want. He asked to the whole class ‘how long will our country take to reach to the position’? Nobody had the answer. He is few of them who look concerned about the situation of our country and make an effort to bring change by one way or other.

                     He said ‘we need more Kejriwals in our country’. I strongly agree with him but I fear the fate which Kejriwal is going to meet, (if we believe the survey of the news channel which I saw yesterday in the evening)  I don’t know how many Kejriwal will dare to even think of standing against the democratically elected autocrats. According to that survey Aam Aadmi Party is going to secure only 8 seats.  A shudder went through my head to toe, thinking of the efforts put by Kejriwal, thousands of his supporters and all those families (even if they are contributing just Rs 10 as a donation to the party) all going to waste. When at the same time Mrs. Sheila Dikshit is wasting a huge amount of public money (which was meant for developmental works) on putting glittering posters fooling the public, like a poster read ‘Delhi has the largest fleet of CNG buses in the world, Development is evident here’. If she will come and tell it to my co-commuters from Palam in the route 727 in the morning rush hour and I am sure they will beat her to death. They never say that income earned by public authorities and government from the state of Delhi could be enough to take care of the whole country if spent wisely.

               India is a democratic country but democracy doesn't do any good here, if it would be doing well, then there wouldn't be any person everywhere cursing politicians. Democracy works for the country where almost every person is wise and rational in making decisions. People here are greed-driven, you just need to show them piece of paper with the picture of Gandhiji. I hope you know what I am talking about. Besides that, people always complain that they didn't have any choice. Speaking broadly, the candidates which were nominated by parties previously weren't always honest. People did have to choose any one. That’s why many people chose to maintain distance from politics and political parties but when for the first time they are getting the chance to elect honest candidates. They may believe that if elected, whatever they’ll do they will never be corrupt and if in any case they get corrupted they cannot get away with it.
  

         My Appeal to the people of India (presently to the residents of Delhi), Don’t blow this chance otherwise it will become your last chance.

Tuesday, September 3, 2013

Hey Congressmen! Don’t give us the fish


                          There is a lot of brouhaha over food security bill in parliament. Congress is gung-ho about passing it as it can have a positive impact on voters as Loksabha elections are coming nearer. Lokpal Bill is still in motion from many decades but yet to be passed but this food security bill seems to be the fastest bill passed on this country. The haste of this party in making this food bill a reality has been questioned many times by opposition parties but the party in power is in no mood of leaving any stone unturned. It could be a game changer for political parties but I suspect the change it can bring into the lives of the poor of this country. This bill is expected to benefit 82 crore people of this country but I fear the real beneficiaries from this bill would be few people who are either part of this party or involved in the distribution system in some way or other.

                  Similar to this scheme, there is already a scheme which is already in existence, which distributes a major amount of food grains, sugar and kerosene oil through so called ‘Fair Price Shop’ and we all are aware who the real beneficiaries here are. Though everyone with a ration card is allowed to be benefitted from that only few of us bother to go there and get the benefit. Let me tell you why, because the quality which is provided is non-edible. Is this the quality which the person in the top wants us to have or is it being replaced somewhere between the long system of distribution.

                 Ask me, how much I want to have Manmohan Singh or Sonia Gandhi taste this food, taste the rice and let the poor taste the food provided in the parliament canteen.

                   Besides that, the reason why I don’t want this food bill to be passed because whenever I imagine the scene of getting this cheap food distributed in my village I think of a alcoholic man, who will gamble sitting in the village shop rather than involved in some productive work, who can buy as much as food as he needs with just 2 days wage. This is not the story of my village alone but I know there are persons of this kind in almost every villages.  Some of you might ask me ‘what is my problem if he gets enough food’? the problem is I believe in a philosophy where I want able-bodied people to get only what they have earned through their work, their contribution in the production and only that much part of the same which they can return to the society. Though this might sound vague to some, but this is my personal opinion.

                Economically, I must say macro-economically, speaking, this food bill is going to have far-reaching consequences to already gloomy economic situation. The amount which will be spend on this could have been used on improving infrastructural facilities in far –flung areas which will impact positively in long term.

                     I don’t understand, what is the need of feeding every people, just like a critical patient is fed in hospitals by their relatives. Everybody is not patient here. Even the poorest of poor can buy his whole family enough food with the wages he will get from employment guarantee scheme.


  •          Need is to have the proper implementation of policies which are already in existence.
  •          Need is to provide the farmers the equipments and training facilities which will improve their productivity
  •          Need is to have transparency in the system so that only those person get benefitted who are meant to.

       AND MOST OF ALL – NEED IS TO TEACH THEM HOW TO FISH RATHER THAN GIVING THEM THE FISH.

Tuesday, May 21, 2013

Where do they go? (Lost mobile phones)


  
                    Losing something can ruin your joyful day otherwise. Same happened with me while returning from the college. I went to police station to register a compliant with the hope that it can be easily traced as our country has all the technology and resources for that matter.  I lost all hopes  after my friend told me “nothing is going to happen, every day thousands of people lose their cell phones and nobody gets them back”. I wondered why is it happening, despite having all the chances of being caught why aren’t they are afraid of stealing. After contemplating, I concluded that it’s because of inactiveness.

               We have already seen the disastrous lapse when the police chose to ignore a carpenter’s complaint that he had been robbed on the same bus earlier that evening when the gangrape took place. Another rape, this city is again disgraced by the horrific rape of five year old child. The inactiveness and unwillingness of police personnel has again caused more agonies to already suffering parents of that child. The policemen first denied filing a case for the missing child and when the brutalized girl was found in a locked room nearby they tried to bribe the parents with 2000 rupees to get her treated. How insensitive they are? After all they are also human, they too have families and daughters in home and to add salt to the injury, a police official slapped a girl protester. These incidents are ridiculing the system of justice and society of our so called ‘Incredible India’.

       Who do you think the main culprits are? Besides, the perpetrators of that crime the persons who were responsible for the safety and security of this society who failed in doing their duties, the society which is unable to act despite recurrence of these events, the people or me; everyone is responsible. Whenever we hear these types of incidents, the first thing which comes to our mind is that something must be done. It has been years and everyone thought of this thing, nobody did anything. Though some of us went to India gate, lighted candles, several protests in different part of this country, but what results do we get out of these. For a week or two, there will be lot of brouhaha and then the matter will wither away.

             These are the big crimes which are coming into limelight with the help of media, but what about the petty crimes which are happening in every nook and corner of this city. Hundreds of people are looted of their mobile phones and purses every day. When they go to police station to complain about it, they are made to run from pillar to post from one police station to another with the excuse that the place where this happened is not under their jurisdiction and finally when they agree to report they file a missing complaint instead of stolen one. From what I have heard they do so just to escape all the work (which is their duty and for which they get paid) follows after filling of a stolen complaint. These petty crimes are sprouted seeds which are trying to build roots in the ground and if they are not pulled out they will grow to become large trees, pulling out from ground of which will become impossible.  

           We are living in 21st century and in this second fastest developing country which the government claims but I believe we are the fastest degrading country morally and psychologically. We, the great Indian people, cannot get back our lost mobile phones despite of filing complaints and giving all the details to policemen. These things make me ashamed of myself, my country and all the people living in it. Anna Hazare and Arvind Kejriwal thought of changing this country by way of protesting and forming a clean political party respectively but this move is going to take a lot of time, as they are targeting the big trees of evils which stand firm on the ground. We need to hit those small evil roots which can be removed easily, in this way we can prevent them from growing into big trees and spread its poison.

             This laidback attitude of the policemen is encouraging some morally weak persons to commit crime without any fear of being caught. More than 80% of crime can be stopped if we will have prompt reacting police department. More people can be encouraged to raise voices against these crimes when they will get an empathetic staff.  Half of the problem can be solved if we can get the police to act swiftly in these petty crimes. I want to change the situation I have no idea as to how. May be we can protest in Jantar Mantar with FIR copies of our lost mobile phones in hand and will protest till the time we don’t get them back and we can ask mr. Kejriwal to lead our protest as he is the worthy and deserving person who can lead us.Let's unite together and fight for this.

Friday, March 29, 2013

We live in a better world than before


                Lately I have been noticing that wherever I go, whoever I talk to, everyone is becoming so pessimist in their life. I don’t understand why they are so cynical about everything. I can’t find a single person who says that he is very much satisfied with his life, with the world and with the people around. You can always find them bemoaning about this world, the degrading values, the corruption, improper law and order in their state etcetera etcetera. They believe that society has lost its way and become deluded by false values like desire for luxury and status.

          Whoever you ask, how it’s like to live in present world, most of them are likely to answer ‘worse’, how it was like to be in the world some 200 years ago, the answer would be ‘better’. Everyone is sending negative vibes to their environment constantly grumbling how the world and particularly the mankind are on the verge of self-destruction. I often find myself wondering about life in historical era. Whenever I contemplate about that I find no reason to believe that our ancestors were better off than us. Let me tell you something which might make you realize that we are living in a better world than our forefathers.

         History is full of exploitation, illiteracy, dictatorship, injustice, wars, blah blah.  Those who think crime rates are more in the present world, to correct you past was full of crimes which were hidden within the family and society. These days newspapers are full of murders, rapes and other crimes but it’s not like past days were crime-free. Past era was full to these but they were not reported because the victims were less likely to get justice. All these incidents are reported because they hope that they will get justice. Poverty was rife and life was difficult. Technology has made our life easier that is why we get more and more time to think about little issues and that is why these little issues seem bigger and bigger the more we get time to think about them.  There was less opportunity to do what we like; there were not many facilities to entertain ourselves. Medical facilities are making life expectancy longer. Status of women was pathetic now they are empowered. Aren't these the reasons to feel happy about living in this contemporary world. 

           I am sure we all are living in a better world than before but I am not sure whether we are living in happier world or not.  In spite of all the things which are making life worthwhile we are not that happy because we as human we take things for granted. We do not feel happy about what we have; we appear to care more about the things which we do not have. This attitude is not letting us enjoy instead of that it’s making us feel deprived. How can we change this? By changing our attitude to life, to this world and by realizing that we are fortunate enough to live in this much peaceful world than before. This world is already a better place; we need to make it a happier place too by just taking our lives from negative to positive. This is how we can create a better tomorrow for everyone around us.