Eventful 2011

The year 2011 in India has seen a mixed bag of events from the good, to the bad and to the ugly. There have been a few firsts that India has experienced. Some of the events managed to put the whole nation on a nail biting spree. I am taking this opportunity to look back into a little exciting, a little disappointing, a little enraging and a little satisfying and on a an average a reasonable year and highlight some of the notable events.

April 2nd: India wins the much awaited Cricket World Cup. This cup has been long due since the great little master Sachin Tendulkar first debuted. It has been more of a tribute to this living legend than an achievement for India. A nail biting event.

April 5th: Anna Hazare's anti corruption campaign has been a revolution. It has brought the people of all ages and races and religions under one umbrella. This was the classic case of unity in diversity. It has also revolutionized the way in which the social networking technology has been used. This campaign was like a torch which threw light in the way the Social Media could be used for uniting the people from distant lands to help them fight in unity against the social evil of corruption.

August 2nd: The recent discovery of the treasure in the Padmanabha Swamy temple in Kerala has dropped the jaws of the nation in awe. The treasure found in the temple is estimated to be Rs. 320 billion, that is about US $ 6 Billion in gold, coins and other jewelry. Along with the other monumental assets the total worth is about Rs. 1.2 trillion, approximately US $ 22 billion. If their antique value is considered as well, then the total worth of the treasure could be about US $ 220 billion. Welcome to the richest temple in the world.

October 30th: India went international once again with the F1 Race coming to India. India has managed to grab the attention of the rest of the world with its indigenous race track in Noida. This was a proud event and is something India can boast about for years to come.

November 29th: Virendra Sehwag breaks the record of Sachin Tendulkar 200 runs in ODI's with his magnificent 219. This record is as much a proud event for the nation as it is to Sehwag himself. This record is unlikely to be beaten by anyone in the generations to come.

And then, there are not so proud moments:-

July 13th: The three co-ordinated bombings in Mumbai which left 26 killed and over a 100 injured.

September 19th: Earthquake in Sikkim left 111 dead

October 30th: The 7 billionth baby in India. Not much to cherish about as we are already in the population crisis path.

December 12th: Hospital fire in West Bengal kills 91. This event caught the nation’s attention about the safety measures adopted by the Hospitals. This event has brought the authorities from their deep slumber to inspect the fire safety arrangements in private and public hospitals.

The year also witnessed the deaths of notable personalities in India:-

January 24th: Pandit Bhimsen Joshi, a legendary vocalist and a connoisseur of Hindustani classical music passed away.

February 24th: Ananth Pai (Uncle Pai) passed away. His Amar Chitra Katha and Tinkle comics will however live on. He will be always remembered. Amar Chitra Katha and the Tinkle comics has been a favorite past time reading when I was a kid. My generation of people would fondly remember Uncle Pai for keeping us in touch with the books through these stories. I still buy Tinkle when I am making a train or a bus journey. He will be greatly missed.

April 24th: Spiritual guru Sri Sathya Sai Baba passed away. He had millions of followers in India and abroad. And has been a messiah to the people of Puttaparthi where he built hospitals and educational Universities which served the needy free of cost.

June 9th: The “Picasso of India”, M.F. Hussain breathed his last. A Padma Shree, Padma Bhushan and Padma Vibhushan awarded, was one of the earliest painters to gain international attention. His paintings commanded huge prices in international auctions.

August 14th: The yesteryear Casanova of Indian Cinema, Shammi Kapoor passed away on this day. Nicknamed as "Elvis Presley of India" for his resemblance to the original, he had revolutionized the dance in the Indian Cinemas. He is known to have broken the traditional barriers of acting in his days which made him hugely popular. His trademark Yahoo scream will stay in the minds of his fans for the rest of their lives.

September 22nd: A legendary cricketer who overcame an impaired eye to become a visionary and pioneering captain of the Indian cricket team, Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi passed away on this day. Known as "Tiger", this Nawab of Pataudi, England educated, with such flair and acumen inspired the generation of cricketers.

October 10th: Ghazal maestro Jagjit Singh passed away on this day. The "Ghazal King" with tracks such as Woh kagaz ki Kashti and Meri zindagi kisi aur ki hai, made this genre of music not only available and understandable to all, but also enjoyable.

November 5th: Another legendary singer from Assam, Bhupen Hazarika went to the heavenly abode on this day. He was the greatest cultural ambassador of Assam. He brought the North Eastern part of India even more closely with his music and singing.

December 4th: The full of life and an eternal optimist Dev Anand, considered a true legend of the Indian Cinema passed away on this day. A greatest showman, who outlived many of his contemporaries, was also known for his kindness and generosity.

While the nation was mourning the departing of the notable personalities who have influenced and touched the lives of so many of its people in every which way, the nation was also mourning the darker events that unearthed during the 2011.

The 2G Spectrum scam: This scam of about Rs. 176,000 Crore (about US $ 39 billion) startled the country and brought to light the high corruption in the bureaucracy.

ISRO Spectrum Scam: While the country was reeling under the 2G spectrum scam, another bigger scam was unearthed. This time the scam was worth Rs. 2 Lakh Crores (about US $ 44 billion)

Both the scams were related to the allocation of the Spectrum bands to the private telecom players.

Adarsh Housing Scam: The misuse of property meant for war veterans and war widows by the politicians in the prime location of South Mumbai has proved that there is no dignity left among the politicians. They proved themselves as scavengers pouncing on anything and everything that looks like a money meal.

Hopefully, the year 2012 will be a year in which the evil head of corruption will be crushed every time it tries to raise itself. Hopefully, the New Year brings much growth and development. Hopefully, as a nation we touch new heights, gather new successes. Hopefully, we stand out and tall in every which way, which would, makes us a proud nation. Amen!

Malady Of Modern Education

In the past few decades, the emphasis on education in India has been enormous. Everyone wants a piece of modern education. The result of this so called modern education is the spew of tons of so called skilled professionals.

But where has this modern education really led us to as individuals? Modern education has taught me what I need to know to get a good job, become a productive member of the society I belong to, earn a handsome income and lead a comfortable life and retire at the age of 58, and wait for the death to come. All this, just accounts for the survivability. Is survival the only goal of modern education?

Everyone of us have been encouraged to specialize in one aspect of education or the other. The engineers, doctors, lawyers etc. everyone rides on the bookish knowledge hoping that this will give them the required economic position. I do too. For long now, I have been abiding by the book to get to where I am. And my place isn't all too glorious ;). I have been following the techniques that was taught to me in my school and has helped me get a decent job, earn a decent income and live a decent life. My sincere thanks to the Modern Education. When I am 80 and in my rocking chair, I would look back and think if there was any thing else that I learned from this life other than living mechanically by the books. What else did this life have in store? Did I even make an attempt to break the conventions and listened to my heart which wanted to explore so many varied and beautiful things and try to be all I could ever be? The answer I am afraid is NO, a BIG NO!

Why? Modern Education has made me a "Learned" person, but it hasn't made me a "Knowing" person. In the "Count of Monte Cristo", the friar tells Dantes that learning mathematics, physics, history and language are the foundation of human knowledge. This goes to mean that these are just the basics and are require to begin the real education. The real education is the ability to identify what one loves to do and learn by doing it and applying the knowledge wherever and whenever required. The real education is one that benefits an individual from within and the society in some way.

Modern education has taught me to be ambitious and taught me techniques required to achieve that ambition. But seriously, I wonder what has ambition actually done to me. I am constantly struggling to be over the top of somebody else. I am continuously fighting to be somebody else, to earn somebody else's salary, to live somebody else's life. There is a constant fear within. I may not come across as a most frightened man, but that I actually am. I fear to make a mistake, I fear to take risk, I fear to fail. If I am what I am I shall be nobody, therefore I must become somebody, No?

My education has encouraged me to conform to society at all levels. It has trained me to strive for self limiting reachable goals. When I was young, I wanted to become a doctor, an engineer, a lawyer, I wanted to be in the defense services, in the army, then the air force and the navy, I wanted to be a locomotive driver. The very purpose of my education was to help me identify what I really loved to do. I am closer to half life now and I still want to do the very same things that I wanted to do when I was much younger. Why? Because my education didn't help me really figure out. It was just one thing leading to another to where I am today.

Being afraid of not being able to earn a livelihood and not being able to fit in this rotten society has always motivated my choices. The same is true for scores of people out there. You see a lot of examples where  a doctors son or daughter becomes a doctor just because his/her father is, same goes for lawyers and engineers. It is quite prevalent in India. My dad is an engineer and so am I! Not by degree though, but by profession, a Software Engineer!

The modern education has in fact created a mess of the world. While it hasn't reduced any miseries of the world, it seems to have contributed more to it. The divide between the rich and the poor is ever increasing, the ones wrangling with each other, fighting and killing are the ones who have had the luxury of Modern Education. In spite being educated and equipped, people have been killing themselves, why, because the Modern Education does not teach to cope up with the social, physical, emotional and professional pressures (Read my previous post).

There is enough knowledge to make optimal use of the available resources in this world sufficient to feed every hungry person on this earth, provide clothing and shelter to every homeless. Though the knowledge is good to have, "Knowing" how to apply this knowledge is still an unknown. Our education gives us knowledge but doesn't emphasize on application of this knowledge. It is up to the individuals own intelligence to figure this out, but then what can such a person alone do among educated foolish that this society breeds. The leaders of this world are all educated, they have the titles, the caps, the degree and the gowns, they are economists, lawyers, doctors and scientists and yet they haven't been able to create a world in which a man can live happily. We are all happy to be educated in the same old way. We are all happy to be making a mess of our lives.

The old adage that higher education is necessary for success is not true with the modern education. Most of the companies in the Forbes list, were created by high school and college drop outs, who dreamt of doing something that no one else has done and never let their schooling interrupt their motives and vision. It is high time we realized that creative, independent and free thought is more important to be taught and cultivated among other things at any school of modern education.

The Suicide Capital of India

Bangalore has been given the title of Suicide Capital of India for few years in a row. And it looks like it has been coveting this title year after year. The number of suicides have been only increasing every year. In the past two weeks, each morning that I took to reading the news paper, at least 2 incidents of suicide were reported. For the last couple of days that I have been thinking about this, I have been skipping the headlines on the first page and searching for the suicide reports.

Apparently, the causes of these suicides are varied. The trend of individual suicides have become old fashioned, these days group suicides are the way to go. I may come across ruthless and heartless here, but I totally ridicule and condemn the voluntary act of ending the god's gift of life. Just today, 3 persons who happened to be friends, from Bangalore committed suicide. Among the three only one left a suicide note for her mother asking her not to do anything that will endanger her life. Well, If only she had applied the sanity to herself, it would have saved twice the grief and suffering of her mother.

Bangalore ranks high on the suicide cases when compared to other cities of Mumbai and Delhi. Bangalore, which also ranks lower in the incidents of violence now ranks higher on the incidents of self inflicted violence. The varied reasons of this fatally self inflicting violence ranges from divorce, dowry, love affairs, extra-marital affairs, illegitimate pregnancy and the major reason - societal pressure to cope up, pressure to perform and out do, pressure to earn those extra pennies, pressure of competition, job, family life.
Suicides in Bangalore have been primarily a problem of the young. The age groups of 16 to 40 years with half of them in 21 to 32 years have succumbed to the above mentioned reasons. Nearly 2/3rds of both completed and attempted suicides occurred in people with low and moderate socio-economic levels of education and occupation. And the remaining 1/4th are of the elite group - well educated doctors, lawyers, engineers, and the techies that Bangalore boasts of having in large numbers.

One of the main reasons I see behind the suicides is the enormous growth that this city has seen in the past decade. This city has been growing at a phenomenal rate. It has been acclaimed to be a fast developing technological hub in the South East Asian region and is one of top cities in the world. This city has been witnessing changes in all spheres of life. Within a generation, this lazy, sleepy and other wise calm cantonment town has been transformed into a bustling metropolis. What used to be signature bungalows in the lanes covered with the shredded tree leaves with sunlight barely kissing the earth, now is manifested with sprawling skylines, flyovers, metros, shopping malls and bee line traffic. This transformation is further fuelled, by changes in economy and society. A rapid rise in incomes has led to a still more rapid rise in desires.

The problem with a city like Bangalore is that half of the population here are from outside the state and from neighboring small towns and rural areas within the state. As soon as a person lands here, he is immediately pulled into a rat race. Getting adjusted to the new atmosphere and having to deal with high competition, work and social pressures can take its toll. The rat race doesn't spare them much time for enough social gathering leading to isolation and depression. These forces are very much capable of driving anyone to suicide.

The impact of the suicides on the immediate family members and friends are disastrous too. Although the act is over for the person who dies, the problem, the pain, suffering and trauma is merely transferred to them. And if the bread winner succumbs to his attempt, it further increases the financial burden on the family.

Although there is much awareness and the government participation and efforts in providing the helplines and psychiatrists to deal with any suicidal motivations, they just don't seem enough to curb the rising suicide rates.

From being Pensioners Paradise, to Garden City, to Silicon Valley of India, and finally to Suicide Capital of India, it has been a very short journey.

I often wonder where this city and humanity in general is heading! Any thoughts, please share.

Fashion - A deformed thief

Further to my previous post Fashion - A Matter of Proportion, this is a follow up which highlights the other side of fashion.

Fashion has often set up a false standard by which people are to be judged. The expenditure of many households is adjusted by what their neighbors have, and not by what they themselves can afford to have; and the great anxiety is, as to who shall have the finest house and the most costly equipment. The weapons used in the warfare of social life are not rifles, guns and shells, but chairs and mirrors, and vases, the wardrobes, and the electronics.

There isn't just one cause today of more financial embarrassment, and of more dishonesties, than the determination to live as well as or better than others. There are people who will risk their eternity for one fine looking glass, or who will strike out the splendors of heaven to get another piece of flashy jewelry.

"My house is too small". "But" says someone, "you cannot afford a larger". "Never mind that; my friends have a better residence and so will I". "A dress of that Pattern I must have. I cannot afford it by great deal; but who cares for that? It is the latest and I must have one". There are scores of men in the dungeons of the jails, who risked honor, business, morals, ethics - everything in an effort to shine like others. Though the heavens fall, they must be "in the fashion".

Excessive fashion makes people unnatural and untrue. It is a factory which has produced more hollow pretenses, unmeaning flatteries, and hypocrisies, than Binny Mills ever turned out blankets and garments. Fashion is the greatest of all liars. It has made the society insincere. You know not what to believe. When people extend their invites, you know not whether it is an expression of their heart, or just a plain civility. They apologize for their appearance, as though it were unusual, when always at home they look just so. They cry out aloud their most luxurious entertainments, vacations, just to win a shower of approval and eyes of praise.

From many circles of life, fashion has driven out vigor and enthusiasm. Instead a frozen dignity floats. There is a round of bows, and grins, and flatteries, and oh's! and ah's! and smirking, and namby-pambyism, a world which is not worth one good round of honest deep prolonged sound of laughter.

Fashion is incompatible with happiness. For those who depend on the comfort from the admiration of others are subject to frequent disappointments. Everybody tries to outlive everybody. The jealousy, the detraction and the heart burns!

The worst thing about fashion is an intellectual depletion. Its hard to find a man or woman of extreme fashion, who knew much.

It has become so very essential to realize that the beauty of harmony, grace and good rhythm depends on the simplicity. The most important  thing to remember is that, its not the Gucci bag or a French cut jean you can take anywhere, but, it's an open mind.

Fashion–A matter of proportions

Fashion has been, since the time of Adam and Eve, evolving with us.The domain of fashion is as wide as the world, and as far reaching as all the generations over which fashion has extended its authority. For thousands of years it as been ruling over the earth, and the greatest of revolutions that has rocked the thrones of the royals have not in the slightest affected its domination. Fashion has been exercising authority over all of the earth, and lords and dukes, kings and queens, have been the subjects of its domain.

From back in the history till date, fashion has arranged the cloak of the patriarch, of the Roman, the small shoe of the Chinese women, and the turban of the Turk, the Sikh, the Marwari and the furs of the ones dwelling in the colder regions of the planet. It has arranged how the Egyptian mummy should be wound, and how the Caesar should ride. It has arranged the embroidery that is hung in the pillars and the plush carpets that covers the floor. Its looms have woven fabrics graceful as snow and pure as light. Its voices are heard in the jewelry stores, in the shambles of the crowded bazaars, and in the songs of the places of worship.

Fashion makes the rules of behavior. It influences art - often deciding what pictures or paintings shall hang in the house, what music shall be played and what ornaments shall stand upon a costume.

Fashion helps to make up religious belief as well. It often decides which places of worship we shall go, what religious tenets we shall adopt.

It goes into literature. It decides what type of binding goes on the book, the illustrations and images, and often the sentiments expressed and the emotions involved.

It goes in to education. The enormous campus, the high tech laboratories, the state-of-the art infrastructure, and high costs!

Fashion goes into Conveyance. The brand of automobile we travel by, the interiors, the power, the audio system, the wheels.

Fashion decides what gadgets we use, from the iPods, iPads, iMac, iPhones.

We the humans, the most independent in feeling are by it compelled to submit. All walks of human life, every hobby, every passion, every task, every work, even our means of livelihood, the bread and the butter are governed by it. We live not according to reason but according to fashion. Fashion has been one of the most potent of reformers and as the world grows better there will be as much fashion as now, but different.

Women, You know how they are!

She emerges from the shop. She is any woman, and the shop from which she emerges is any shop in any town. She has been shopping. This does not imply that she has been buying anything or that she has contemplated buying anything, but merely that she has been shopping—a very different pursuit from buying. Buying implies business for the shop; shopping merely implies business for the sales person.

She emerges out of the shop. In the doorway she runs into a woman of her acquaintance. If she likes the other woman she is cordial. But if she does not like her she is very, very cordial. Why should this be? I cannot answer. It is not given for us to know.

She meets another woman at the door. They stop for conversation. Two men meeting under the same condition would mechanically draw away a few paces, out of the route of people passing in or out of the shop. But this woman and her acquaintance take root right there. Persons dodge round them and glare at them. Others bump into them, and are glared at by the two traffic blockers. Where they stand they make a knot of confusion.

But does it occur to either of them to suggest that they might step aside, five feet or ten, and save themselves, and the pedestrians, some delay and considerable annoyance? It does not. It never will.

Women do wear maniacal garments sometimes; that there is no denying. But on the other hand styles for women change with such frequency. Nothing I can think of gets old-fashioned with such rapidity as a feminine fashion. If this season a woman’s skirt is so scantily fashioned that as she hobbles along she has the appearance of being leg-shackled, it is as sure as saying that, next season, she will have leapt to the other extreme and her draperies will be more than amply voluminous. About once in so often she is found wearing a mode which combines beauty with saneness but that often is not very often.

Occasionally she is found elsewhere but it is only in the Metros of the world, the cities where so many of the young women are prematurely old and so many of the old women are prematurely young. This woman is waging that battle against the mounting birthdays which nobody ever yet won. Her hair has been dyed in those rich autumnal tints, she glistens with diamonds until she makes you think of the ice coming out of the Nubra River in the early spring. But about her complexion, it is a climate-proof shellac. Her eyebrows are the self-made kind, and her lips done by hand. Her skirt is too short for looks and too tight for comfort; she is tightly prisoned at the waistline and not sufficiently confined in the bust. There is nothing natural or rational anywhere about her. She is as artificial as a tin minnow and she glitters like one.

But apart form all this, women have the most transcendental and most admirable of virtues. Women can give, give and give of all they have, worth having. They give their wonderful mercy and their wonderful patience,and yet their wonderful courage, they give their time and their energies and their talent.When the country asks of them, they give their sons, their brothers, their husbands and their fathers.We cannot conceive of men going so far and doing so much, but the women, you know how women are!

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Hello! Kepler-22b

The web is abuzz with the new habitable Kepler-22b planet that was recently discovered. The scientists and space observers and the astronomical community are over joyed with this new found discovery. The credit goes to NASA's SETI, who have been on a discovering spree for finding Earth like planets in and beyond our solar system, in and beyond our galaxy. The appreciable fact is that SETI has mentions of about 1000 such planet with a potential of sustaining life.

At the face of it, it looks exciting, that we may no longer be the loners in the Universe. But the very important question I ask is, is there a really a life form on this planet. Just because, Kepler-22b closely resembles Earth and is closer to Earth and is just 2.4 times larger than Earth and that it also orbits around a Sun like star, and the yearly revolution of 290 days, closer to Earth's 365, may form a concrete basis to conduct study on the existence of a life form; but the very fact that it is 600 light years away, is in itself a big punch in the face.

A light year, is the distance travelled by light in one year. Kepler-22b, at a distance of 600 light years away, means that the recent discovery of this planet, the images of which are from 600 years back. So basically we are looking and studying the data which is 600 years old. Now, even if we assumed that the life did exist and they are as evolved as we are and they are as technologically advanced as we are, saying just a "Hello" or a "Hi" would taking 600 years to reach them. So we are looking at a total communication turn around time of 1200 years every time we try to exchange any information.

Say if the inhabitants are hospitable enough to extend an invitation to us which we can expect to come by in 1200 years, if we impress them now in our very first communication, it would take us about 22 million years just to have a tea with them, since we obviously cannot travel at the speed of light, at least, anything that has mass, can never travel at the speed of light.
So, the whole point in trying to study about some thing that is so far far away, doesn't really make much sense to me. What kind of practical purpose is it going to serve to the common people, other than satisfying the hungry scientific minds? And there already are instances of extrapolating the fantasies of Kepler-22b, without even knowing, what color is the planet, without knowing what kind of atmosphere there is, without knowing the density, and therefore not knowing what the gravity would be like. We don't know what its made of, gas, rock or liquid, we don't know its chemical composition, we don't know if it has any water on it. And we will never know anything about which is some trillions of trillion miles away.

If we are able to come up with a technology that can allow us to travel faster than the speed of light (at the speed of light will just not work), then all this study will be much appreciated and the efforts cheered and whistled and greatly applauded. Until then, we have to just call blind shots!

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Kapil Sibal v/s Social Democracy

The furor over the censoring of the opinions on the social networking sites has been receiving a lot of opposition. I say, "opinions" is because, it is the voice of the people, a belief the people carry. People must have every right to express their beliefs and have the opportunity to voice it out. That's what our constitution terms as the Freedom of Speech.

The basis of this whole censorship issue that Mr. Kapil Sibal considered is weak. Just because some one put defamatory pictures of Mrs. Gandhi on a popular social networking site, cracking down on the rights of 100 million users just doesn't make sense. If that is the case, we must consider all politicians to be the goondas, and rowdies and thieves and rapists and murderers, because few of them actually are, aren't they? Where does that put Mr. Kapil Sibal?

Lets say, we did manage to implement the idea of the honorable minister of telecom. And say there is a team of a million people sitting across the world screening every thoughts, ideas, prayers, blessings, reviews, comments, news, phew... (There is is just lot more...), can he guarantee that this process, over a period of time will be bureaucracy free. One man's treasure is always another man's trash.

Then there is question of provocative ideas leading to religious violence being posted. How many instances have provocation over the social networking has taken place which has resulted in communal violence on the streets? And how many religious violence have taken place when there was no social networking? Get some data. Dear Mr. Sibal, the very idea of Social Networking is to bring people closer to one another, irrespective of their race, cast, creed, religion. And these sites have been doing a pretty neat job. There are communal and religious groups on these sites, and there are a few anti-social elements on these sites as well, and are responsible for such provocation and inflammatory posts and photographs, but there are more in number and proportion in real world. What is being done about that?

It seems like this is some sort of a vengeance over the Social Networking sites which has brought together us Indians and Indians abroad during the Anna Hazare's Anti Corruption movement which forced the government to a state of helplessness so that it could accept to consider the creation of the Jan Lokpal bill.

Not only India, but the people of the world need place to vent out their frustrations and disappointments about everything including the political events. What better place than the social media. Imagine if people start throbbing the streets with violence to voice their concerns, what would you do Mr. Sibal? Any agitation as long as it is in the virtual world, is still peaceful and reduces the chances of them coming down to the streets causing inconvenience to the law and order situation. During the Anti Corruption movement, the people did come to streets and the social media was the key enabler, but it has been peaceful and no violence of any kind was ever reported. On the other hand, there have been instances of effigy burning, garlanding politicians with chappallon ki mala, strikes for issues relating to the ever increasing hikes on fuel prices, and strikes for whole lot of other issues. Imagine them all happening in the virtual world, and if the government gives them a fair hearing to the voices on the social media, it would save a lot of trouble on the streets and may also make a lot of people happy and content.

Monitoring and controlling the internet is not a very practical solution, even if they were considered as threats. There are options to "Report Abuse", on these sites and the companies are pretty strict about them whenever any abuse is reported. Instead, it would be ideal to collaborate with the companies and spread awareness on the issues of misuse of the social media, educate people on the do's and don'ts and how the effects of misuse can hinder the image and growth of the country and disrupt the harmony, communal and other wise in the real world. Work with the social media companies and explore options to curb any thing that crosses the line of freedom of speech and the constitution of India. Educate the people that their liberties are not void of responsibility.

On the flip side, I am against the idea that social media companies, being located in the US as their HQ and following the policies of the US. They should realize that they are doing business in India and hence they must collaborate with the government of India, and adhere to the sensitivities of religiously diversified population of India.

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Reality and Belief - 2

Further to my earlier post Reality and Belief – 1, there is couple other stories that shows how our reality is distorted by some of our rigid beliefs.

A Christian scholar who held the Bible to be literally true was once accosted by a scientist who said, “According to the Bible the earth was made five thousand years ago.

But we have discovered bones that point to life on earth a million years ago.”

Pat came the answer: “When God created earth five thousand years ago, he
deliberately but those bones in to test our faith and see if we would believe his Word rather than scientific evidence.”

And why arguing and trying to convince a rigid believer with the facts is impossible is because, there is nothing a rigid believer cannot find an explanation for.

The village preacher at the home of an elderly parishioner was busy answering grandma’s questions over a cup of coffee.

“Why does the Lord send us epidemics every so often?” asked the old lady.

“Well,” said the preacher, “sometimes people become so wicked they have to be removed and so the good Lord allows the coming of epidemics.

“But then,” objected grandma, “why do so many good people get removed with the bad?”

“The good ones are summoned for witnesses,” explained the preacher. “The Lord wants to give every soul a fair trial.”

The parables above and the one in my earlier post Reality and Belief – 1 are from the book Song Of The Bird, by Anthony De Mello. A wonderful book that I am currently reading, soothing my tired mind and feeding my hungry soul.

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Reality and Belief - 1

Here is one story that I came across, that explains the reality and belief:

Mullah Naseerudin was in a philosophical frame of mind: “Life and Death—who can say what they are?” His wife looked up from her cooking and said, “You men are all alike— unpractical. Anyone can tell that when a man’s extremities are rigid and cold, he is dead.”

Naseerudin was impressed by his wife’s efficient wisdom. One day he was out in the snow when his hands and feet went numb. “I must be dead,” he thought. Then came a further thought: “If I am dead, what am I doing walking about? I should be lying down like a normal corpse.”

Which is exactly what he did. An hour later, a group of traveller’s, finding him by the roadside; fell to arguing among themselves about whether he was dead or alive. Naseerudin wanted to cry out, “Fools, can’t you see my extremities are rigid and cold?” But he knew better than to say that, for corpses do not talk.

They finally concluded he was dead and put him on their shoulders to take him to the cemetery. They hadn’t gone a mile when they came to a forking of the ways. A fresh dispute arose as to which road led to the burial ground. Naseerudin put up with this till he could take it no longer. Then he sat up and said: “Excuse me, gentleman, but the road to the cemetery is the one to your left. I know that corpses do not speak, but I have broken the rule this once and I assure you it will not happen again.”

Well, so it seems, When reality clashes with rigidly held belief, reality is usually the loser!

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When the Mind meets the Life

I was reading something that I had picked up randomly during the weekend and I came across this article which tries to explain what the mind is and how it reacts to actual life.

Our minds are the result of tradition followed for centuries, the climate, the culture that we are inculcated with, the social and economic influences, the environment around us through out our growing up, the ideas, the dogmas that society imprints on our minds through religion, through the knowledge that we gain in educational institutions and a whole lot of superficial information.

We are made to believe in certain ideas from childhood, we are conditioned by the dogmas, by beliefs and by theories. Everyone of us is conditioned by various influences, and from that conditioning and from those limited influences our thoughts spring and make us what we are, Hindus, Muslims, Christians, Communist, Scientist etc. Thoughts spring from the background of our memories, of tradition, of education, of knowledge and it is with this background that our mind meets life.

No one can deny the fact that there is nothing more dynamic than Life. Life is constantly changing, always in movement, never static. But our minds are. Our minds are conditioned, held, restricted to dogmas, beliefs, to our experiences, to the limited knowledge we possess. With such conditioning and heavily held mind, it meets the ever changing Life. Life on the other hand, with its many complex and rapidly changing problems, is never still and it requires a fresh approach every day, every minute. Its is like playing a game of chess. You have to start over, devise new strategy, when the opponent plays a move. So when the mind meets life, there is a constant struggle between them, between the mind that is conditioned and static and the life that is in constant movement.

This conflict has the potential to create more problems. The mind acquires more superficial knowledge, new ways, new technique's, new strategies of getting around these problems. But it still remains conditioned and static, bound by the beliefs caused by the interpretations of the problems it has faced.

The problem here is not about how the mind meets the life, but how can the mind with all its dogmas, experiences, conditioning, beliefs free itself. A free mind is alone capable of meeting the life with all its complexities and yet make them seem simple. It is the free mind which is not restricted by anything in particular, can take on life. When the mind is free and open to everything, nothing is impossible. With an open mind, the realm of positive possibilities grows more expansive and so does the realm of positive probabilities.

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Disability in India

Today, December 3rd is the World  Disability Day. This day is observed to promote awareness on issues concerned with disability and focuses on gathering support for the rights of persons with disabilities.

In India, this day is observed every year at India Gate. People with disabilities in and around Delhi gather every year with a sole intention of spreading awareness. But this year, the gathering has been denied permission by the ministry of home affairs. This event on this day has been like a ritual for differently abled people since 1997. Many of the specially abled people also present cultural performances. I wonder why they were denied permission, since this gathering has a reputation of being extremely peaceful for more than 10 years.

While they haven't got the opportunity this year, I thought I'd understand how much does India scale in the disability friendly country index and how much aware is our government in provided the facilities for the people with special needs . And, I don't see why, I should be proud of my findings.
Disability in India, unfortunately and pitifully, is both a cause and consequence of poverty. There is prevalence of discriminatory social attitudes. People with disability are socially excluded. The fundamentals of Social Welfare doesn't make much sense here since the social exclusion spoils its very purpose.

Disability and Poverty is a vicious circle. Poverty among people with disabilities is perpetuated by their lack of access to education, healthcare and employment opportunities.The disability movement in India has been for so long aimed at segregation and discrimination experienced by the "Socially Dead". The basic aim of the life of the disabled person in India is to survive. And with poverty, lack of access to mobility aids and rehabilitative services compound their apathy.

The observation is that, even if hard headed, strong hearted few who rise up battling all the odds, succeed in making their own living, more often that not, they can't adjust to the social norms that have been set according to and for the "normal people". There is an immediate need for the society to change, since it is the society that is disabling these people. Their social exclusion is the major cause of their physical or mental shortcomings.

Accepting them socially and encouraging them is the first step forward. And providing them with a disabled friendly environment with Assistive Technologies, the devices that help remove or reduce disability is the second.

Transportation facilities for the disabled has been widely studied and it has been found that encouraging greater access to transport has substantially transformed the livelihoods of disabled people and their families as well. Providing adequate transportation facilities has been responsible for breaking the Disability-Poverty vicious cycle. The main causes such as Denial of opportunities has been addressed by providing Transportation facilities. It helps the disabled improve their access to education, employment and their development.  Reduced participation and Social exclusion has been well addressed by transportation, which provides them with increased mobility and increased visibility in the society. Another area of vulnerability to poverty and ill health has been neatly taken care of by transportation by improving access to health, prevention and rehabilitation services.

Better transportation facilities for the specially abled is considered to be an important enabler to rid the disabled of their miseries. It is time the government starts looking at providing more of what it has started in a small scale for the disabled.

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