“Ignorance” is no bliss

I guess everyone, who has turned a little inside ever in his life has always
asked questions like :

1.Who am I?
2.What am I in here for?
3.What’s the purpose of life?
4.What is GOD?
And so on and so forth …

Like so many people I also encountered these questions when I was just 14 years old …and then started my quest of looking for answers to these questions ..

Incidentally I got in touch with Ramkrishna Mission Institute of C and got to know about Vivekananda, my first Spiritual Guru ..As of now whatever I’ve learned from all my Spiritual Gurus (including Dr. Deepak Chopra)..I’ve tried to answer those questions myself …I don’t know whether they will ever correct my answer paper or not but I thought it’s worth a try and hence this effort ..

If I sound like an idiot please pardon me and look for the answers elsewhere ..
But if you find it to be beneficial in some ways please do pray for me as I believe in the “Power of Prayer” of Good Spirits ..

I believe, we the human beings are essentially some "peaceful" "happiness seeking" souls ...(“shantiswarup”, “anandaswarup” atma)..and the human body is nothing but a "bundle of conditioned reflexes"...

The way we "condition" ourselves we become like that ..and the conditioning comes from education, environment, upbringing, enlightenment and many others ..

Now in this process of “conditioning” our mind acts as “advocates” and our intelligence as “Judge” and some repetitive actions becomes our “resolves”….These “resolves” or “Sanskara”-s becomes like "conditioned reflexes"..The "soul" witnesses it and try to give right directions to those who are trying to listen to it ..

The "ego" attached to the human mind is nothing but an attachment to a wrong "belief" or "image" .that comes from "conditioning" of our "system" ..

The purpose of life is as par Vedanta is "Atmanang Bidhi"....i.e. "Know thyself .."It essentially means "self-realization" ..The soul essentially is a source of energy that can neither be created nor destroyed ..and the soul "recycles" as par "Karma"...Only the purest one's gets the mokhs or a peaceful heavenly abode ,the place from where all of us came from ..

Summarizing it, we are born and are in here to perform some duties , the best of which is "Niskam Karma" and at the end of which of us has to return to the place where we came from .. and we can make the "journey" of life enjoyable through certain practice or "Dharma"..

GOD
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To me GOD is nothing but the purest spirit ...the supreme form of energy that has created this universe...We see manifestation of GOD in pure spirits and in nature ...the invisible coordination, symmetry, creation of life all talks about HIS supreme existence ...

We get to know GOD and come close to him through self-knowledge ...("Atmanang Biddhi")...But only a few can reach close to him..

I say it in this way "Truth evolves in the container that deserves it".. The pure spirits will get the "truth" and will spread it to destroy all the evils of the world ...

As far as I've learned from the teachings of my spiritual gurus :

What are we in here for?
-I guess, for "Karma" or certain “duties”...

What kind of "Karma"?
-"Niskam Karma"---The kind of work where you perform your duty according to your
"Dharma" and don't expect anything in return ...You do your best and leave the rest...
"Ma faleshu kadachana"

What is “dharma”?
-That which keeps you true to your self is "Dharma"...

What is the objective?
-To "Know Thyself"...-You soul also carries a little "GOD"...who you can respect and love provided you nurture it properly ...

What will happen if I do that ..
-Everything will fall into place automatically and it will be a beautiful world to live in ...

What if I get criticized?
-The “Self-referral” i.e. being accountable and responsible to your conscience and soul is much more important than “object referral” i.e. the evaluation of any other person, no matter how big or important he/she is ..Have faith in your instincts and GOD …Have conviction in the power of goodness and help those and help all who are trying to be and do good.

Here’s one interesting link who always try to blame others for their shortcomings …I guess when they will be “enlightened” they will really be ashamed of themselves ..

Please see the link below:
http://www.esnips.com/doc/72b9a95a-4a81-415d-a720-e7b28ad7413b/The+Window

So as a virtue, one should really practice "Non-judgment" to bring in peace and harmony in this world..Because, as it's said, that when you are pointing your index finger at someone remember that four of your other fingers are pointing at you ...


My Swamiji
--------------

"Swamaji" is an idol who taught the world the "Karmayoga"...the best path for common people to attain “moksh” ... He believed in the power of youthful energy for "Karma"..

There are other ways of "self-realization" too...

Sri Aurobinda followed -->Gnynayoga
Ramkrishna Paramhansa followed -->Bhaktiyoga
A few Others-->Rajayoga ..

But he is the only one perhaps, who not only knew the "art of living", but the "art of death" also ...the most difficult of everything ..He could reach that level of "consciousness" where even that was attainable with ease .. Pardon me if I say that,he should have been, according to me, the"The Father Of The Nation"..as "Karma" and "Spirituality" is the base on which this nation might have survived much better ..

He was an enlightened soul par excellence even from his childhood days and showed his brilliance in what he believed in ...He taught India the secrets from "Aryan Civilization" the Vedas, the Vedanta and the Upanishads in layman's terms ..

I salute him for all that he was and all that he wanted us to be ..

On Harmonious Co-existence of several religions
-----------------------------------------------------------

As par Vivekanada,

"To do good and to be good"---is the religion

Another definition of it is
"Being true to one's self" is one's ultimate religion..
Here "self" means the conscience and soul ..

Every prophet basically teaches and preaches love, wisdom, mercy and peace as some basic truths that GOD stands for ...

So ideally no one should have clashed with anyone's belief of being good and doing good to mankind ,which is basically the ultimate of every religion ..

Actually as par Sanskrit also Religion most probably means "something that holds us together and binds us together"(In Bengali, we can say,Dhramo ki? - Jaha amader "dharan" koria thake tahai dhormo")…It’s a way of leading life …the kind of way which will bring in peace and harmony in this world..

But it's the blind practices and prejudices that causes all the problems regarding co-existence ..So it's not the prophets and their"advise of ways of leading life", but the "little learned" "priests" and their interpretations of "truth", and blind faith in that, which has brought in this world this amount of chaos and confusion and rivalry...

I believe in Ramakrishna also who said "Jato Mot tato path"(there are as many ways as there are true opinions ( in reaching GOD)).."Gnynayoga", "Karmayoga", "Rajayoga", "Bhatiyoga" are also different ways of attaining "mokhs" and "bliss" and they co-exist without any problem ..Basically, to be in the “blissful state” is what all of us aim for, through religion, or through spirituality…

But the main evils are "little learning", "misinterpretation" and "blind faith" ...If we can weed out the evils surely all of us can harmoniously co-exist ...


Spiritually yours,
-Dev

The “Democratic Hypocrisy”

Looking at the recent turnout of events regarding the political histrionics which almost toppled the government, I guess one must take some note of caution and think twice about the need for “so-called” Indian Democracy or even the suitability for it …

These days democracy means “democratic hypocrisy” to most of us …If we take a look at the population of India we will see that 60% of it is only literate …This fact, combined with the statistics showing the data that most of the illiterate population lives here in India doesn’t speak volume about the “quality” of voters, even though it speaks about the “quantity”/”volume” of the “vote-banks”…!!!!

India has earned the “Murder Capital Of the World” “super-heavyweight” title also(in terms of no. of registered murders last year [37000+]) makes an educated, cultured, rational person thinking twice about the need of this so-called democracy that has given them nothing but so many constraints in country’s development and progress …The reasons are aplenty..

1.The “Vote-Bank Politics” encourages corruption, muscle power and mud-slinging only

2.The country loses financially so much because of votes every now and then ..

3.The whims and frills of the politicians are utilized in gaining Popularity and making “Populist Policies”…which includes ridiculous implementation of “Reservation policy” and Policy for protecting of women (i.e. dowry laws etc..)(I see the flames coming!!! J)

4.Only the short-term gains are considered by the petty, mean-minded politicians and not long term gains …

5.The arm-twisting, blackmailing and back-biting tendency increases only in this kind of system ..which makes common people corrupted even ..

6.The evil powers including criminals and terrorists gets maximum, encouragement in this politically unstable environment ..

I believe …if we think radically we will see the definition of democracy by Oscar Wilde –

"Democracy means simply the bludgeoning of the people by the people for the people. "--Oscar Wilde…

Now who is bludgeoning whom in here?? The petty, mean-minded, “little-learners” are bludgeoning the educated and rational minds it seems …We all know the famous “Indian- Crab” story of no one allowing the benefit of another is always playing a big part and especially for scoring “brownie-points” for all the political parties ..

Without going into any other things including the expenditure for Indian MP/MLA’s and their story of filthy corruption & nepotism one can always look for a better option …A better option of electing the “Leaders”..who can lead India from the front and not politicize everything …

Come to think about it …”political representatives” represents our country politically as do the cricketers(or any other sportsman) in the sports …What if we don’t think radically different for choosing politicians as we think for choosing cricketers??

Do the common people get to choose who should play In Indian Team and when? An executive body is good enough for it right? So what if we think in that terms where an executive body of the some of the best minds of India gets to choose the “players” ..the political players that is ..depending on some criteria as like the “Lead India” Contest has given us …?Mobile voting/Internet Voting is al alright…,but not this one, where most of the educated people don’t even know much about who they are voting for and why and more of often than not don’t even bother to take part …

Don’t we think we are going to progress and develop more if we think something different rather than clinging onto this “ridiculous democratic hypocrisy”???

Ponderingly yours,

-Dev

i_am_dc@hotmail.com

The Unemployed Youth

Dear Friends,

I thought, I would jot down my thoughts on the present day unemployed youth ,which is a great problem for our country rather than a resource …If we can turn this menace into a “resource” we surely are going to get benefited by it..

Most of this resource is the illiterate/half-literate people who are mainly not getting engaging themselves in any meaningful way as they don’t have any skill. So not only literacy, the willingness to be skillful for anything meaningful counts as much..

In a country where literacy is a big problem, acquiring of meaningful skills should have been given priority as ultimately it’s the skill that gets counted more in a job market …(more specifically, of lower end jobs) …The literacy surely helps in every way, especially for making the right choice ..,since life is nothing but a matter of choice …But where choices are limited the skills can surely sail one through…

Actually the country , I guess is suffering from the “ABCD” syndrome (if I may call it)..

The Ayah’s,Bai’s,Chaprashi’s and Dhopi’s (and the likes…I mean those who are at the lower end of the job) are surely in great demand these days …but how come we are not getting adequate supply of these (including “mistri’s”) etc. ? Who are supposed to fill in for the lower end jobs …?the lower end people …right? …who somehow didn’t get a chance to get properly educated …How come they are not filling in the void? …But ther is no dearth of beggars on the streets and so many loafers on the road not contributing to anything meaningful anywhere.. We, as a society, must encourage the dignity of labor to an extent that would make anyone feel comfortable of taking up any job..We should not be looking down upon any job …In this way, they surely can contribute to the country’s economy by filling in the voids

Also, if someone is not contributing to anything meaningful he can surely join social service (if possible with some NGOs’)..Way too many volunteers are required for doing social service and who other than the unemployed youth can fill in the void?

I guess, joining in military can also be made mandatory for those who are not able to find any jobs …We know that idle brain is devil’s workshop …and this is especially true for the illiterates and half-literates …

For the rural sector also, the small scale industry and cottage industry should be given more importance as this is the sector that needs to grown for a country like India ..I believe, creating small, self-sufficient groups with co-operatives is the solutions for the unemployed youths there..Females need to be involved for supporting their families and it’s this small scale industry where they have the maximum chance of utilizing their potential…

Even for the educated youth also acquiring “skills” as part of vocational training is surely going to pay …

So getting busy with something pays one for sure if not in cash but in kind ..at least..

Good associations and Good “Value systems” will make them more worthy in some way for sure …and will take away the false vanity…if any …This will also create a “work culture” that’s very healthy for the country’s “mental health”…

Also, taking up Sports as profession or even as a hobby is very healthy option and will surely add up to the cause …The social stigma should be removed about anyone’s involvement in any profession,…I believe ..

I guess, I just tried to write something that would make some sense and I just felt compelled to write this piece as I felt the this extremely useful resource of youth (mainly illiterate and half-literate) can be utilized for good and the misuse and abuse of it can be prevented to make it beneficial for the country where this section mainly takes up fundamentalist and criminal activities (and even terrorism) due to lack of guidance and culture which should be coming from the educated, rational mind …

Wouldn’t you feel the same way?

Ponderingly yours,

-Dev

On Virtues And Vices

Dear friends,

I thought I would share this idea of mine on a much debated topic of what is good and what is not…Something that has created all the controversies of the world I believe.. So in here I thought I would share the belief system and value system that forms my idea about the “The Good , The Bad and the Ugly” :)

Regarding “The Good” , I have my belief system and value systems firmly based on the virtues practiced and preached by Vivekananda.. and those are…

Self-Respect, Self-Confidence, Clear thinking, Courage, Diligence, Sincerity, Initiative, Resourcefulness, Self-Control, Reliability, Spirit Of Service, Unselfishness, Common sense, Cleanliness, Sense Of Discipline, Poise, Self-reliance, Tolerance, Courtesy, Patience, Sympathy, Honesty, Determination and Truthfulness..

I also would like to point out to some thirteen virtues from Benjamin Fraklin.. that I can associate and relate with (ref : http://www.school-for-champions.com/)

Personal:
The seven personal virtues relate to your attitudes toward activities and their challenges. Good personal character traits will better your chances of success in achieving your goals.

Temperance: Eat not to dullness; drink not to elevation.
Order: Let all your things have their places; let each part of your business have its time.
Resolution: Resolve to perform what you ought; perform without fail what you resolve.
Frugality: Make no expense but to do good to others or yourself; i.e., waste nothing.
Moderation: Avoid extremes; forbear resenting injuries so much as you think they deserve.
Industry: Lose no time; be always employed in something useful; cut off all unnecessary actions.
Cleanliness: Tolerate no un-cleanliness in body, clothes, or habitation.
Tranquility: Be not disturbed at trifles, or at accidents common or unavoidable.

Social:
These six social virtues that Franklin stated concern your attitudes toward people with whom you have dealings. Good social character traits result in other people wanting to do business with you or to have relationships with you.

Silence: Speak not but what may benefit others or yourself; avoid trifling conversation.
Sincerity: Use no hurtful deceit; think innocently and justly, and, if you speak, speak accordingly.
Justice: Wrong none by doing injuries, or omitting the benefits that are your duty.
Chastity: Rarely use venery but for health or offspring, never to dullness, weakness, or the injury of your own or another's peace or reputation.
Humility: Imitate Jesus and Socrates.

My favorite quote in this regard is:
“Do unto others what you expect others to do unto you”.---Jesus Christ

I would also like to add this little one from Dr. Deepak Chopra…
“Humility is most underrated virtue and sex is the most overrated vice”

Regarding “The Bad”, we all know about the seven sins…
Lust, Anger, Greed, Envy, Pride, Sloth & Gluttony

But as my “indulgence-secretary” would like to say…
“I can resist everything but temptation” :)

And regarding “The Ugly” part of it..

I hate meanness, jealousy, “sick competitiveness that wants to "win" at any expense” and the "half-literate ego" that doesn’t mind hurting others for personal gains...

But please pardon me for my wildest dreams ( the cause and the effect of it, I mean,,…errrrgh..;))

But after a bit of reflection and pondering I thought I murmured that I've got a “swan-feather” mind that doesn't mind, a heart that doesn't hurt, a touch that doesn't pain but I can fly like a butterfly and sting like a bee..…Wow…where the hell did that came from………!!!! ;)

Reflexively yours,
-Dev

The Pathetic Service Sector

Dear friends,

I thought that if we are trying to talk about a civilized society we should talk about improvement in our service sectors, as “behavior”(including but not limited to courtesy, manners and etiquettes) especially professional behavior is a hallmark of civilization.

I guess that this is where, India and especially West Bengal, lacks heavily and we should pay some special attention in this regard. I think that the people in the service sector should be given special training to be more courteous and they should be taught some manners and etiquettes about how to behave with the customers. They should understand that this is a “customer driven economy” where the “customer satisfaction” should come first.

In any Government Office or monopolistic business, we see completely different picture. The attitude of the people in there is such that, they think that they are doing the common people a big favor by attending to them. This kind of mentality and attitude causes lots of unnecessary harassment on the part of the “customer” and creates a “sadistic pleasure culture” on the opposite side. The more you can harass someone (who has come to get some kind of service) the more “powerful” (at least mentally) you become…Starting from ration office to passport office to telephone office to electric office to post office to ration office we see the same picture getting worse.. Instead of making our life easier, they make our life a lot complicated..

This culture of harassing people unnecessary in order to get more importance and “power” is an evil of the society that raises its ugly face every now and then… and the kind of ambience it crates gives rise to filthy corruption in most cases.. If we ponder a little deeply we will understand that, the lower rung of the society , especially the uneducated, uncultured and uncivilized strata enjoys quite some importance and power because of this only and we have make concerted efforts in order to eradicate this deep rooted evil from the society which is having a much deeper impact in every sphere of the society…Wouldn’t you agree?

Humbly yours,
-Dev

Religion – My Belief

Dear friends,

I thought I would share my views on religion, - a much debated issue throughout the world…What do we need religion for, especially when we see all kinds of fundamentalism and fanaticism happening in the name of religion that leads to artificial hatred and loss of precious human lives.?. Do we need something that breaks the world into small pieces based on narrow beliefs, superstitions and parochialism?

Well I guess religion, by its very definition was not supposed to make people behave like the way they do…Religion, actually is supposed to be something, that can hold together people’s life in a way that would make them righteous and conscientious in all our approaches and that would make us practice all the virtues that there should be in a human being and would make him/her afraid of all the vices that are avoidable by all means.. This practice would instill a belief system and value system in us that would carry us along and would make this world a better place for living…So all the prophets ( no matter which religion they gave birth to) talked about some basic virtues as principles to follow in life and has advised love and compassion for all fellow beings…Since God is about limitless wisdom and mercy personified, the prophets also gave us pearls of wisdom and taught us mercy in a manner that would make it acceptable to rank and file…Never ever in any religion would someone see any word of hatred if someone is talking about prophets only…It’s only later on that some “self-proclaimed” learned class (or so-called “shastrgnya”) came up with their own interpretation of religion that started causing all the problems…Still now the rites, rituals, practices and prejudices that are followed so rigidly are based on false or cunning interpretation of wisdoms in order to control the psyche of the population…It’s this brainwashed psyche and it’s illiterate, half-literate interpretation and the “cock-sure” conviction that gives rise this outrageous rigidness leading to fundamentalism and fanaticism and even artificial hatred and regional divides across the nation..

We shouldn’t forget that if we anyone is following the path of God, he/she should be righteous and conscientious in his approach and should have love and compassion for all the fellow beings…Practices and wrong prejudices or superstitions and the rites & rituals ( I mean the means) should not be followed blindly that would lead to the kind of hatred and rivalry that would defeat the very purpose for which region was first conceived.. According to Vivekanada also “The greatest religion is to be true to your own nature. Have faith in yourselves and have conviction in the power of goodness." ...Wouldn’t you agree?

Humbly yours,
-Dev

"The most heinous and the most cruel crimes of which history has record have been committed under the cover of religion or equally noble motives." --- Mahatma Gandhi

A Menace Called Street Dog

Dear friends,

The recent incident of street dogs eating up a newborn baby(abandoned on the road-side) and the Salt Lake street Dogs biting up more than 100 people in the neighborhood forced me to give vent to my anger in here regarding the nuisance and nonsense created by the street dogs of Kolkata and the kind of callous “patronage” that goes on in here for them…

Those of you who have got no idea about the nuisance and nonsense produced and the amount of disturbance and threat created by these little creatures might be shocked at my apathy and antipathy to give any worth to any such living form out there, but I do stand for what I say… Well, you might be an animal rights activist to protest against it….but I am no less a human rights activists for something that I stand for…and we need more human rights activists in here for a better purpose…..

I get shocked by their increase in population and the callous “patronage” that the get from “God knows what” class.. I get appalled by the fact when, as par newspaper sources, the Chief Minister of West Bengal (seeing the situation going out of “hand”) decides to appoint 15 policemen around his house to feed biscuits to the street dogs in the night so that his sleep doesn’t get disturbed. Boy!!! What about rest of us and the rest of the “Dutiful Police Officers” ???? Err…I mean, how come we don’t get a fraction of that privilege as a human being??? :) I can’t even comprehend the scenario with the “anti-social” “street-dogs” and the scenario with them…. Ooooooops!!! Oh My God!!…Now don’t give me that “human rights” crap in here…;)

I remember a Bengali movie long back, where an NRI had to return back partially because of the harassment he was facing every night from a cries of a dumb ass and no one was doing anything about it as this kind of things are so much taken for granted in here… Jokes apart, not only about the barking of these street dogs in the nights, no one gives a damn about their “bites” even and the harassment to avoid them and the agony and anguish to bear with them... Also no one cares to think about the amount of filth they produce and the amount of “vision pollution” that these kinds of creatures are associated with... Even in some Hospitals also, especially in Govt. Hospitals, we see the same moronic “apathy”, that allows these “non-human-beings” to stay as close to the “Children of the Lesser Gods” as possible. This accommodative attitude of ours should stun any sane person on earth...

We don’t know, who should we turn to, if we don’t have the authority to question the “collective wisdom” and “collective consciousness” of the people bearing with it? Kolkata Corporation!!! Yeah right!!!! They are at least supposed to be more “dutiful” than the Police Officers feeding biscuits to the street dogs at night..:)

The recent news of street dogs eating up a newborn child, abandoned on the road seems so scary and shows the pathetic state of affairs.….I remember someone sharing his experience with Kolkata during British rule where he mentioned that Rs. 5/ street dog was being paid to someone for getting rid of them ...I don't wonder why..!!! In fact when we can kill so many goats,lambs,chickens and even cows and all without any guilt of any kind ...why show mercy towards street dogs only ..?? One thing is for sure they are not that harmless as compared with their "compatriots"...They are nothing but nuisance,nonsense,menace and terror only ...During the British rule I was reading from newspaper that people used to rewarded with Rs 5/ street dog for keeping the city clean..I guess that makes good sense ...

So jokes apart, I fail to understand that why should someone not get rid of these worthless lives for the sake of “some other living forms” with a better sense and purpose of living. and …don’t blame me for not buying the “sterilization drive” crap, which is showing no effect in all these years.. I did manage to see some crappy “ecological imbalance” shit that some managed to associate with this menace but boy, I somehow don’t salute their moronic prudence… Would you not feel the same way?

Audaciously Yours,
-Dev

My God!!

Dear friends,

I thought I would talk a little about a weird thought of mine about “Gods”, as they are presently known to us.. If we try to look into the concept of where GOD comes from, we might say that whatever was inexplicable and was to be afraid of, was associated with the concept of God by the people who were afraid of pain, sorrow and sufferings…

Gods were seen as unseen forces and were associated with different forms of energy. It’s because the “science” behind the unseen forces and energies were not known at that time, the intervention of some supreme energy was conceived..

I also feel amazed about the complexity and magnanimity of things all around in nature…If I try to think about the order and symmetry found aplenty in the nature amidst all the complexities and if I try to fathom the complexity, sophistication, beauty and all the intricacies and co-ordination involved in the birth and growth of a human being, I really get perplexed…How is it even remotely possible to have this masterpiece co-coordinated and reared without the “string” of some supreme power controlling it!!! The Space also amazes me and so also the Nature and Material structures…How is it possible to have so much of symmetry and invisible co-ordination in almost everything we see? Who is controlling all these with his invisible hands..?? Well it must be something... some supreme source of power/energy/spirit that we can’t even fathom…

In this regard, I would like to mention that we have heard about “telepathy” before, but have we ever wondered about it’s “feasibility? I used to think that it’s possible to communicate through “brain-waves” remotely…The existence of this “brain-waves” is seen in the EEGs(Electro-Encephelo-Graphs).I think that it’s through this brain-wave, we can and do communicate with each other sometimes…It’s through the same “brain-wave”, we can communicate with GOD also I believe.


I actually believe that, in this material world everything gets controlled by two different forms of energy, “positive” and “negative”, coming from two kinds of “spirits” the good and the evil…The existence of this spirit is inside our mind also and the fight between the good and the evil always continues… We can elevate our positive “spirit” through meditation and attaining “blissful” states…

The mythological characters of “Gods”, used have some kind of “hallow” or “aura” around them as depicted in mythologies. , and I believe that it has got something to do with the “positive energy” that they used to “possess” and “radiate” with their brain and mind…Also I believe that, there is a continuous intermingling of this brain-waves all around the universe and we exist in this “cosmic-wave-soup” of ours. This “wave-soup” or “thought-soup” of ours can and does control the world to some extent is my belief. This mind of ours or “soul” more preferably, ultimately gets assimilated with some kind of “cosmic waves”… May be, that’s why the Vedanta says that whatever we are “bestowed upon” is actually not ours and it’s also a part of that “supreme energy” or supreme spirit. We kind of tap in there…

If I’m allowed to imagine further like a total illiterate… I would be cross the border and would love to think that the famous equation of E=mc^2 from Albert Einstein, wherein it states that matter gets converted into energy through this relation…What if the reverse was made possible somehow before the beginning of universe..? How did all the matter came into existence from space..? I mean, what came first, the matter or the energy ??(Did you say ..idiot!!!…you see a “Chicken or the Egg” problem in here…you son of a gun *&#^ ..)..Whatever.., but was it some kind of energy getting converted to matter and then matter getting disintegrated for the ”Big Bang”? If so, then the theory that the GOD (or according to me the source of all energy, the supreme sprit) has created the universe (full of matter) …otherwise it’s becoming the other way around…J Continuing in the same line, I can say that “soul” or a part of that “supreme energy” doesn’t get destroyed, the body or the matter does…GOD to me is also a stage of attaining a state of infinite perfection which is kind of Limiting condition (mathematically speaking..) we can strive to attain that perfection but we can never quite be there…In fact according to a research study somewhere as far I could remember average human being can’t even utilize 10% of the brain potential. But when we can connect to the supreme most energy regularly the “cave door” opens with “khul ja sim sim”…chant pretty easily and that’s what, I believe the great men of our times used to do…They are the epitome of wisdom, mercy and devotion…

Taking lessons from them, I see the “power of true education, prayers and love” as strong forces associated with this “positive energy” and illiteracy, hatred and meanness as forces associated with strong negative energies… So, we should make some concerted efforts to keep the positive energy of the universe going to make things happening in a positive direction…Do I make some sense, or was it a blabber of a schizophrenic?:)

Audaciously yours,
-Dev

A Terror Called Police Force

Dear friends,

The recent turnout of events with the police force acting as terror in so many incidents (or were these “habitual accidents”?) that compelled me to say something that’s grossly wrong with the mentality and attitude of the Police force in India and more specifically in West Bengal…

Staring from (but not limited to) the Singur and Nandigram mass torture and murder to the “Gangajaal” like incidents in Bihar, to the recent Rizwanur death case, Police has shown that more of than not, they can surely be used as “uniformed criminals” . I guess the first thing that people questions is their audacity in most cases… They are the “protectors” of law and order…So how can they take unconstitutional and unethical and unlawful means to create disorders in the first place???

In fact, a survey carried out recently in West Bengal has precisely pointed at the same thing…Generally speaking, the common people thinks that Police is nothing but a “Political Instrument” and more of a “harassment force” that more often than not, causes “terror” to common people…

Most probably, the concerned authorities should have had identified the problems as due to :

1.Extremely lackadaisical, arrogant attitude with greed.
2.Their total lack of knowledge about Human Rights.
3.Corruption and bribery.
4.Lack of knowledge of Laws even.
5.Lack of knowledge of social/behavioral science and “cocksure attitude” that are creating mountains out of “molehills”…


They have thus arranged for massive training for Police forces throughout West Bengal….may be it’s this kind of illiteracy and half-literacy combined with greed and “ego” that has resulted in so many misuse and abuse of power cases. We all know that, “A little learning is a dangerous thing”, and I guess that’s why this Police force is becoming so dangerous day by day…It’s because of these incidents that people have lost faith in Police force and are not only taking up cases in their hand, but also are frequently involved in brawls with Police force and the “half-literate brutality” is resulting in unhealthy revenges in many cases.

I guess these kinds of misuse and abuse of powers and corruption cases have prompted Ms. Mayawati to sack 7500 Police officers and suspend good number of IPS officers in her state recently.. May be it’s time we learn something from these incidents…. I guess, the Police force must realize the fact that they are public servants only and they are answerable to common people. They basic reason for which the “law and order system” was needed in a civilized society was to prevent the exploitation of common people from “muscle power” who otherwise would have been nowhere in a “jungle rule”…

I think, we need more of a humanitarian, conscientious approach, especially for people in distress, so that people can heave a sigh a relief from those who are appointed for such purpose only….Otherwise if the “money power” and “muscle power” wins the “race” every time, it’s the “jungle rule” that is being followed still now…When are we going to get civilized…??

Respectfully Yours,
-Dev

This Gerontocracy of ours

Dear friends,

Here’s is weird thought of mine which says that, may be it’s time we pay some special attention to the competence and enthusiasm of our leaders who in most cases are people who are quite clearly over aged and have past their prime…

No I’m not questioning everyone’s competence through out their career, but as the age takes over don’t we think that it affects us adversely to “perform” and that too at the helm of affairs??…If age is not a factor but the experience is then why on earth do the corporate CEOs retire after the retirement age? Quite clearly, they are the people who are supposed to be the people with “premium-most” caliber.. The workload also kind of matches with their age…It’s only negotiation & decision making businesses that mostly they are involved in…So what would make others think that they are not suitable for it? The “age factor”??? May be yes…and it’s because ageing also affects the jobs that’s less demanding physically….

More so, should be case with politicians..Isn’t it? But quite to the contrary, not only the fact that politics is the only profession in here that that doesn’t need any qualification, this is the only profession without any retirement age also.. Here it’s more of a rule rather than an exception to accept leaders above the age of 60 yrs.Boy!!! I don’t know why there shouldn’t be any dissent for that.

Don’t we think that after 60, our all-round ability decreases rather than increases? Also, after 80 isn’t some senility problem going to come naturally?..No no, I don’t want to know the secrets of the age-defying techniques that someone thinks useful…,but I am all for someone who doesn’t have to spend time and money on those techniques actually…Am I wrong in here?

Also it seems, that there is always a "Generation Gap" associated with the leaders and our countrymen….which is bound to come …So with all the issues about competence and senility at hand this “Generation Gap” becomes too much to be tolerated sometimes… Don’t you think? All we are left with is some “dadu-giri” it seems…This way of running the country where the seniority of paramount importance might remind any outsider of a “Family Business” where all the “dada-giri”s and “dadu-giri”s are supposed to be tolerated with awe and respect…But aren’t we paying too much price for it sometimes? What do you think??

Respectfully yours,
-Dev

"In a democracy dissent is an act of faith" - J William Fullbright

Democracy in Indian Context – My views

Dear friends,

I thought, I would just mention this weird thought of mine that comes quite often that, what would have happened had India been never allowed democracy and would have remain dependent on Presidential Rule of some kind...

Please don’t kill me for this view, as this is going to very controversial but again I would like to mention that I should be protected by constitution to express my constructive thoughts in a decent manner

Now why on earth would I think that democracy is not the right choice for India…especially when it’s the second largest democracy of the world??…I guess, it’s because of the lack of some very basic principle that should be followed. and one of those is “Quality is more important than quantity…”

How come that’s related in here??.. Of course, that’s the only thing that comes to my mind first, when I try to think about democratic elections…Even if we assume a free and fair election (yeah right!!!…),the candidates win by sheer volume…I mean the quantity of his “vote bank” counts only and not the quality nothing. Isn’t it?…Now I question the very senses and sensibilities of this “vote banks” basically.. How much improved can it be quality-wise…considering the fact that we have only about 60% literacy in our country consisting of 113 cr. people??…I guess that takes care of the quality of 50 crores at least I mean, at least qualitatively. …J

Now to give you another interesting statistics, in each year, only 5000 odd students get their Ph.D. in Science and Engineering. Even if we assume this number to be 50000 to take care of a decently educated lot…we come up with a meager figure 50000*50 = 2500000 only (considering the "voting life expectancy" 0f 50 years) as a decent vote bank figure for a given year…Or was it too outrageous a figure?? OK, even if this figure of 25 lakhs comes out to 1 crores also, does it count at all? Even if that becomes 10 crores, is it still worth it? The “winner” will be selected by the rest of the 100 crores…Isn’t it?

So with so many politicians selected by the “incapable lot” (may I??) they reign supreme with their narrow, cunning minds and in vested interest to satisfy the “class” that would keep him in power…Some “populist policy” and hypocrisy and eyewash would do the trick for most of them and especially when politics is the only profession in India that doesn’t need any “qualification” per se, as an entry criteria, the elected leaders are bound to show their culture of mean, cunning back-biting, greed and jealousy to save their face in front of their “supporters”…

Now then, don’t we have so many worthless leaders elected out there just by sheer quantity rather than quality, who are always fighting in vested interest and making the common people suffer?? I encountered an interesting term called “competitive populism” that kind of explains the best of our democracy in most cases …Quite naturally, as someone has observed, that it’s nothing but a “functioning anarchy” that’s going on here in India in the name of democracy with the “willingness to do good” keeping it floating…

May be, it’s because of some such factors and for people we see scattered voting also which results in Coalition Governments only to be toppled after a few years again because of the inherent quality, culture, and mentality of the people involved, to say the least… I think they show quite some caliber as Opposition Leaders also to oppose anything and everything that their counterparts say and in “arm-twisting” tactics also, as a part of the Coalition Government.. Isn’t it?

Actually what I was trying to point at was many people have lost their faith in the system and how about a new poll system, where a handful of people gets a chance to select the leaders of the country something inline with “Presidential Election”??…and the facility of votes being taken from rest of the population can be taken through web-sites or SMS’s and that will have some weightage associated with it…???How’s that for a thought…?


But are there people ready to burn me alive for this view of mine??…Am I trying to demean and degrade the population or the politicians?…No Sir,…I’m trying to present my view as humbly as possible, but as said before also, this is a part of “Thinking Aloud…” blog of mine that anyone who finds it “weird” is more than welcome to skip…Also even in democracy we can show some dissent towards the system, right?, … that would give rise to a better system? Isn’t it??

Thoughtfully yours,
-Dev

On Corruption – A different take!!

Dear Friends,

I guess enough has been talked about in so many places about a vicious menace called “Corruption” in every level in our country. Still, I thought I would also like to share my views about corruption from a “core” that “erupts” frequently :)…if for nothing else, at least as a part of moral responsibility, that shows dissent towards those issues for which, more often than not, without realizing, we become the worst possible sufferer, if we don’t raise our voice against…

Mainly we see corruptions in Govt. Offices and proceedings be it small or big and in various shapes and forms but we see the so many “righteous junkies” in them and around also. This combination is vicious, which makes us suffer unnecessarily so often and I’m trying to draw your attention towards that mainly. What do I mean by righteous junkies in here is kind of senseless, worthless “sense of righteousness”, that more often that not is based on values and means that defeats the purpose altogether.. I do treat them as some kind of “junk foods” which has got no “food value”…I would not give any specific example but the examples are aplenty and I guess people out there might appreciate of what I’m talking about if they have a been an innocent victim of this “corrupted system” sometimes.

Now what do I mean by “corruption”? I guess the answer lies in the undue advantages and one takes and undue privileges one enjoys by going out of the way and doing something that conscientious people would find as totally unacceptable. Our “system” starts getting “corrupted” on our level of acceptability of such acts and by our degree of justification. The consistency of these kinds of acts gives rise to habitual offenders who have got no remorse of any kind. Now what “system” are we talking about in here? It’s the “Belief system” and “Value System” of a person that’s in question…The corruption of these are the ones that erodes and corrodes our society and shock us with incidents that lacks any apparent explanation.

I would like to suggest that, if someone is enjoying these kinds of undue privileges let’s ask us some question to clarify our doubts…
1.What kind of people would need this kind of advantages and privileges and why?
2.What price do the others have to pay for this?
3.How would he react if he/she is told against it?
4.Was it his “ignorance” or his “system” that’s responsible for his behavior? i.e. Is he doing it by nature or was it as an one time act of “compromise”? What if he is made aware of the implications and ramifications?

Actually I think the more corrupted someone is the more “privileges” of such kinds are required and they hush up things by showing some sense of “junkie righteousness” to others. I do condemn the acts of Police Force also (which is nothing but a “political instrument”) in many cases regarding this..

To be honest we all take some undue advantages at some point of time or other at least in terms of white lies (to our bosses, to our parents or in-laws at least ...Oh come on.. don’t give me that look…:)).But that doesn’t make all of us corrupted. We have to come to terms with life and its surroundings and if we can’t get away with some “white lies” or “white mischief”, that would make our life miserable. But there has to be a “cut-off” point somewhere, and it’s the “cut-off point that matters…

So what happens when someone is allowed to cross that “limit” on a regular basis?…You and I become the silent “victim” ultimately, as we succumb to the pressure of the worst possible scoundrels who take it as their “right” to exploit others in filthy vested interest.. This is the most dangerous part of these kinds of “brutal exploitations” with no sense of guilt associated with it...and this the imminent danger of corruption that we must understand and raise our voice against…Wouldn’t you agree?

Prudently yours,
-Dev

English as a Mandatory subject in Schools

Dear friends,

I think English should be made absolutely compulsory in all schools (as a second language minimum) and that too from Class 1, as India has not progressed enough to sustain on any Regional/National Language alone. We all understand the fact that, we can’t do without English education especially in Higher studies. So the earlier the education starts the better it is for us only. So, be it in higher studies or in employment, students with better English knowledge, do get an advantage over their counterparts and this skill (of being able to speak and write proper English pays in every sphere).So why should we remain backward and be deprived of advantages, by not learning something that’s going to cost us dearly in our future!! What's the point in increasing the percentage of literacy alone if someone can't be considered as meaningfully educated?

Also, the narrow provincialism and religious barrier can be overcome through education only and if there is a single language to express ourselves freely everywhere that will be the one of the factors that would contribute to our unity amongst diverse cultures.

Globally also, it’s because of our English education, we get first preference in foreign countries as opposed to our competitors from China, Japan, Korea.

So it’s for our own benefits we shouldn’t think like idiots to bank upon our mother tongue only. But this doesn’t mean that mother tongue is being looked down upon in here and education is for the rich people…I’m just trying to talk about the benefits that we as an individual and the country as a whole will enjoy if English is treated as the “Unofficial National Language” more strictly.

I don’t think our national pride goes down in any way if we do that …and in fact we have to remember that it’s mainly because of English education only, during the British rule, the Indians came to know about the outside world and the “renaissance” had started…Wouldn’t you think so?

Sincerely,
-Dev

On Kolkata Transportation System

Dear friends,

I thought, I would share with you some ideas of mine on the pathetic transportation system of Kolkata…in connection with some recent events that shows the kind of uncivilized system that we are in, I thought of some ideas that can make our life a little better …

Firstly, I think that buses which are running on the roads should be checked for pollution norms and running conditions. The buses which should have been barred from plying on the road are still running flouting all possible norms.

Secondly, the trams are quite a burden on the roads. This loss making unit also wastes valuable amount of space that causes traffic jam and is not a value addition in any way.. Also in this connection, the slow moving vehicles should be phased out.. Only Cycle rickshaw seems to be Option worth it.

There should be norms for not making any bus overcrowded. A maximum of 35 odd seats are allotted in a bus. Similarly a maximum of 10-15 standing positions should be allowed and there should not be any reservations for the ladies…The seating privileges, if any, should be need-based and should entirely be guided by humanitarian grounds. Any overcrowded bus should be fined..

Some other useful railway system (may be sky based mono rail system) should take the place of useless chakra-rail.

Calcutta was never a planned city and I guess I’ve read it somewhere that, it has only 6% of open spaces as roads (as opposed to the normal norms of 10% ).So Calcuttans should think of reducing unnecessary vehicles on the roads and if possible the use of vehicles like Bicycles should be encouraged keeping in mind about the air-pollution that the transportation system causes to the city.

Would you think that it’s worth thinking over?

Disgustedly yours,

-Dev

The Gandhian Pledge

Dear friends,

As we observe the “International day of Non-Violence”, I came across the message published by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting as they lead the country in taking the Gandhian Pledge..I stop for a moment and read the message twice before I thought about writing this..I wanted to salute the Father of the Nation from the core of my heart on this auspicious occasion but my brain would not allow it somehow…and I thought about “thinking aloud” again without trying to be hypocritical about it..

The message was “India of my dreams” from M.K. Gandhi…and it says “I shall work for an India in which the poorest shall feel that it is their country, in whose making they have an effective voice, an India in which there shall be no high class and low class of people; an India in which all communities shall live in perfect harmony. There can be no room in such an India for the curse of intoxicating drinks and ……….That is India of my dreams…”I stop for moment and I thought of three things…

1.Is that the need of the hour?
2.Am I ready to take this pledge?
3.Is that the only meaningful thing that Gandhi ever really said about India?

And without trying to be hypocritical about it I thought of writing about it as I remembered something that I thought sets Gandhiji apart from others..(Now that reminded me of a controversial comparison with Netaji Subhas Bose and friends please pardon me for that….) I used to look upto “Bapuji” for these things mainly…

1.His tremendous inner strength (and my salute to Netaji Subhas Bose also in this regard).

2.His “acumen and maturity” to choose the Path of “Non-Violence” as the only alternative source available for the “oppressed class” with plenty of “practical limitations” .. The “eye for an eye” is the “mode of protest” and a way of giving vent to your anger and frustrations only if you are in a position to do so.. But what happens when you are not in a position to do so and you can’t afford it basically? You got to do the “Gandhigiri” then… I guess Netaji lacked in this maturity part only to be ignored as the “Unsung Hero” of our times..But I don’t think Netaji was acting like a “Violent Naxalite” against a “Non-Violent Gandhi”… I guess he and his likes tried to follow some kind of “Calculated Guerilla Protest” mode when the situation was going “out of hand” ….(may I call it “Subhasgiri”??.) .Boy am I talking like an illiterate in here?? My sincere apologies…

But I do agree, that Gandhiji was matured enough to understand the “limitation” part of it more than anyone else out there and I guess he tried to “experiment” with these “limitations” both in his life and with his country.. and I guess the “truth” comes out only when you get to know about your “strength” and “limitations” and thus, I guess, came out his “My Experiments with Truth”…

3.His “faith in simplicity”… and his “Plain living and high thinking” attitude….

4.His strategy of “non-cooperation” as mode of protest…

Now in spite of having this tremendous regard for him, let’s see what was preventing me from taking this pledge …

First of all I beg to disagree that …
“I shall work for an India in which the poorest shall feel that it is their country,”

I would rather say that ….
“I shall work for an India in which the deserving shall feel that it is their country,”…(somehow that reservation thing still bugs me a lot and just imagine “reserving” everything for the “poor”…Oops!!)

again I disagree to “in whose making they have an effective voice…”

Sorry, I would rather say that,
“in whose making the quality people have an effective voice…”(Boy do the poor necessarily understand even what is good and what is bad for them? What are they going to decide for the country?? There “voice” gives a scope for “dada-giri” actually ….Oops again!!!)

third is …

“there shall be no high class and low class”

I would rather like to live with the pragmatism that “privilege of a class” should be based on “quality”….otherwise the deserving ones would be discouraged in doing something better if they don’t get some privilege that the “other class” doesn’t ..Pretty much like “making a cut” to get a chance (in the “A team” or “B team” or “C team” etc)..but of course with full dignity of labor and respect for individuality for all….

Fourth point is ….

“There can be no room in such an India for the curse of intoxicating drinks and …”

I wonder how Dr. Vijay Mallya(and his likes) is going to take this statement…:) and how does this picture of “Pt. Nehru lighting up a cigarette for Lady Mountbatten” and attending his parties ….and causes no conflict with Gandhiji on “ideological” ground goes with this statement???.. I also wonder why we don’t we wear dhotis made by “Charkhas” and use foreign goods more than anything else…?? I mean, do we really dress like a “half-naked fakir” as a pledge (for austerity measures) to show our respect towards him? (The Big Oooooops…. :))

I guess we have to a bit more practical in our approach and we have to come to terms with life and the changing socio-economic scenario … .Isn’t it? …I believe that, blind faith in anything can do us more harm than good ….

Having said all these, I don’t know whether I’m going to get condemned for this…but blame it on my “maturity” (or the lack of it) …:)

Humbly yours,
-Dev
(Bande medha dum...bande mataram...)

Fundamentalism

Dear friends,

I would like to talk about the issue of fundamentalism, which is raising it’s ugly face every now and then, even after so many years of our civilization as we have seen in many of the incidents that took place recently.. It’s appalling and shocking to see these uncivilized, uncultured, uneducated brutes ruining lives and defaming people for all the wrong reasons of the world.. I wouldn’t need to go into any recent single incident and I will try to comment in generic but please don’t mind if I sound a little harsh in here to discourage them from what they have been doing without feeling guilty about it…

The main reason of it I guess is illiterate, half-literate brains and their terrorist convictions that they get by virtue of brain-washing by devils…This kind of incidents are not new and fundamentalists are doing such things for long..

Starting from burning of “Sati”, to the restriction imposed by Muslim Fundamentalists on Ladies especially (including mandatory wearing of Burkha etc.) all speaks about these kind of mentality and attitude..These kind of “cocksure attitude” is almost always a result of brain-washing of illiterate and half-literate minds and their excuses to gain attention…With their pea-nut sized brains and brutal senses they interpret “religion” and “spirituality” so poorly that results in this kind of angry, hateful middle–age barbarianism..

You might agree that, we see things in a way that our mind is “cultivated” to accept. With half-literate, uncultured mind you will see things in a way that would raise your “temperature” for all the wrong reasons of the world…Some “educated devils” are there to play as “devil’s advocate” as they enjoy this attention that they get for “man-manipulation” and to maintain the supremacy by letting the brutes do what they do the best…brutal destruction…No matter what, these kind of brutes spend their lives in destructive activities and try to gain attention in the process…Otherwise these worthless lives will have no “value” per se..I believe.. These kind of minds give rise to terrorism also as you will always hear that they are up to some kind of “Holy Zihad” always…. Holy Cow!!! ( I mean oxen and vixen …ooops!!)…please cool down and rather than brainwashing yourself with “Holy Literature” only, please come to terms with the world that we live in now.. and your hypocrisy and eyewash doesn’t count any more..

As Rabindranath Tagore also has said ..

“Dwar Bondho kore diye bhrom tare rukhi/

Satya bole ami tobe kotha diye dhuki??…”

I guess it would take a little bit of maturity to appreciate that…Also to quote from a well-known ghazal….I guess the victims in most cases would like to say that :

“Hangama kahe kniyu karta..

ThoRi si jo pi li hai..

Daka to nehi Dala..

Chori to nehi ki hai..

…………………..

…………………..

Hangama kahe kniyu karta” J

I was reading an interesting article somewhere where it said that repressed sexual desires also finds their way through senseless violence against the “apparently-privileged” class.. “I won’t let you get, what I never had”…is the kind of attitude that these fundamentalists have basically in their sub-conscious mind…I guess it’s high time that the collective wisdom of the educated and intellectual minds restore some sanity in these world full of half-literate brutes…Would’t you agree??

Regards,

Dev

Education -- My Views

Dear friends,

In some of my articles I have stressed the importance of an educated, rational mind to revolutionize the present day socio-political scenario which is quite frankly is not a healthy state ….Now if someone questions me about what I mean by education.. I would like to say the following…

Education to me is nothing but cultivation of mind and honing of your skills to be able to create something productive with a positive mindset…Even if someone is not “so called successful” he/she might still be considered as having an educated mind.. Education as par Vivekananada was “Education is the manifestation of the perfection already in man” and as par Albert Einstein “Education is what remains after one has forgotten everything he learned in school”.

Another definition of education that I like most is "Education isn't how much you have committed to memory or how much you know,it is being able to differentiate between what you know and need,and what you don't know and don't need" --Swami Vivekanada

We of course get elevated by the manifestations of an “enlightened souls” and we feel and appreciate those “seers of truths”..Even in Vedanta the meaning of life was described as “Atmanang Bidhi”…meaning “Know thyself”..I doesn’t have to include too much of formal education yet the inner truth enlightens us all.We as mere mortals can’t elevate ourselves to that level but can’t always follow the footsteps of it..

Along with this comes a rational mind, which is a product of career building skills which are very much required to survive in today’s world. Even if we are talking from the perspective of a modern day world we might agree that our certificates are our shoes only –on which we stand firmly on the ground, our resume is our dress which we have wear nicely and our eyes are what we stand for and our face is how we stand for it…and we will see that power of “true educations” takes us through till the end…It shows through in our words, writings, behavior and actions through out our life.. This will give us the integrity and the character we need even if we err sometimes as human beings….Education actually creates a positive outlook and an ambience to produce something worthwhile and that’s what the objective of education should be.."Education is not received it's achieved"...Isn’t it?

Regards,
Dev

Reservation Policy

Dear friends,

I guess this is another controversial view....,but I felt a little bit compelled to write about this...After 60 year’s of independence we are going for 50% reservation for the scheduled caste and scheduled tribes in all spheres especially in Higher Educations and Jobs....How is this so acceptable??
I don’t know that, why is it so difficult for our people to understand and raise our voice against it? Many a people take our Government’s stand of justifying the reservation policy as nothing but a populist policy to capture the vote bank of the backward class and Muslims.
Who is exploiting the backward classes so badly? After all, what denies them of education & Jobs, and that too after 60 year’s of independence and what other steps the Government is taking to stop it? Is it possible that anything other than the caste system might be responsible for it ...I guess, we don’t have any real apartheid going on here.. So isn’t it a bit too far fetched?
On the contrary, it’s quite understandable that poor economic conditions kills merits in our country. How about reserving something for them? What I’m trying to say in here is that, reservations based on “merit” is perfectly acceptable, but not on “caste” for God’s sake!!! The poor economic conditions can affect us all and equally so I guess...
So a scheme like free educations for poor meritorious students will achieve what the Government should be aiming for. right? After a stage, they will all have to go through the same filtration process....That will ensure equality and fairness of the system...
Otherwise, doesn’t it increase mediocrity to a ridiculous level and reduces the scope for those who really deserves it? The inefficient mediocre encourages more mediocrity in all levels and this promotes nepotism and sycophancy...It also creates a dissatisfaction for all and sundry and especially for those who really deserves it and this promotes “brain drain” also...Don’t you think so? Or was it really outrageous!!

Regards
-Dev

“Rang De Basanti…”

Dear Friends,

Would you agree with me,, if I say that, politicians reign supreme in our country? That they get enough name, fame, power, authority to rule us….. I guess yes…!!Now would you agree, that they decide our fate and destiny in most of the cases? Would you agree, that they decide the country’s fate & image also? I guess yes….

Now if you have agreed to most of these then you must agree that only the premium elites should be given a chance to be the “politicians”. It’s for good reasons we respected politicians (or leaders?) like Nehru, Gandhiji, Netaji etc. But do we think that todays politicians deserve the same respect and honor? Can they justify their power and privilege?

The recent turnout of events exposing politicians of different levels once gain showed that quite a huge number of bunch of jokers, criminals and anti-socials are ruling the roost over there, (The no. of MPs & MLAs who are getting allegedly involved in criminal cases (Not to mention the famous Shahabuddin with 38 cases, Shibu Soren & others for murder & rape, human trafficking, corruption and fraud are on the rise.) Even the grievance against Mr. Narendra Modi for the massacre in Gujrat and CPI(M) Government/Cadres/Police force for what they have done in Nandigram is not that insignificant.!!! The case of Ms. Prativa Patil our would be President, if nothing at all, shows something treacherous in our system at least.

Not only CPI(M) cadres, The ruthless fundamentalism shown by different politicians and their groups at different times (including but not limited to VHP & Shiv-Sena fundamentalists & “Kar-sevaks”) all speaks volume of our politicians/leaders and their pet dogs... ).

Do we agree, that this is nothing!!! ….what comes out in the open is only a fraction of what is actually going on out there …Not only the politicians, their “pet” cadres/”kar sevaks” are something that the world is getting afraid of!!! Even police force in most of the cases is nothing but a “Political Instrument” in our country!!!

So, look at where we can quickly reach without even mentioning the incompetence and ridiculousness with which these politicians “run the show” and “build our nation” ….

All we understand is that, it’s a dirty job and someone’s doing it!!! But how are we going take care of those who are quite used to doing “dirty jobs” that’s not supposed to be that way !!! If we try look at the root cause, shall I be exaggerating if I say that Politics in India is the only profession in the world that doesn’t need any qualification or credential “per se”. Nepotism, sycophancy and mean-minded cunningness is what it takes to be the “so called” politician…it seems!!! Otherwise who are all those who are enjoying all the power and privileges out there?

So isn’t time that we look into some “merit based” qualifying criteria for those who are supposed to run the nation to the to the best of their abilities !!!Just wondering… how about giving a PAT (Politician Aptitude test, …) on their back(ass I mean!!), for what they are doing!!!J

I mean., how about “grilling” them and “grooming” them up for quite a few years through a registered methodical approach before they claim all the power & privileges of the world!!….What if the IAS becomes a mandatory for the politicians? How are we supposed to respect them so much for something that they never had in the first place….Do I make sense??

Aren’t we pretty tired of their ridiculous “dada-giri”?

I guess, the big question is, when on earth did the great leaders of our country agreed to free our nations from frying pans and put it on fire!!! Did we all agree to let it happen the way it’s happening for the last 60 years??/Or should we look into something very basic!!! Pardon my language, but do we first need to “free” our nation from these bunch of “jokers…”!!!

Regards,

Dev