AAP Sweep

The victory, that Aam Aadmi Party registered could not have been more emphatic in demonstrating that honest and selfless work for people ultimately pays off. 10th Feb was a great day, and I hope it becomes and remains a memorable day for decades to come. Let it be the start of change in politics of the country, which will be more aligned towards the aspirations of people.  Let it be the sunrise of the day which will bring a new hope, where people strive to become honest and are praised and encouraged to be one. Let it be start of an era where politicians do not take people for granted who can be swayed by inciting passion of belongings. Societal change is an evolutionary process and let this landslide victory be counted as an important milestone.

Some news papers captures of this triumph. Daily many news paper comes to my office and I took the front page pic of this news and sharing here.

The Hindu

The Hindu Editorial

Deccan Herald

Deccan Chronicale

Indian Express

Rajasthan Patrika

Dakshin Bharat Rashtramat

The Economic Times

This is a progressive mandate and it has restored my faith in people's judgement. Nothing less than this would have sufficed. Delhi you are awesome. 

Read More →

Hierarchy, Not a very good thing

Everyone has got some level of stupidity or intelligence in them. Someone has less, someone has more. But when many people interact, this level cancels out and comes down to the average of the group. So if average is more than normal that team performs better and if average is less than normal, things do not go down very well.
However If strict hierarchical structure is created then the stupidity level of people at the top tier magnify as much that it almost nullify everyone below them. Then everything comes down to the people or person at the hierarchical crest. If they are intelligent than normal you will succeed and if they are stupid then good luck to you,  and that is less favorable situation for any organisation which aims to grow.

Don't create hierarchy, create a stimulating environment where people can thrive on their potential and can contribute to their fullest. 

Read More →

शफेद रंग

रंगो से भरे पंख फड़फड़ाती तितली रंगो के पीछे ही भागती है ।
कभी कभी तो ऐसा लगता है जैसे उसे पता ही नहीं
की कितने रंगीन हैं उसके खुद के पंख
काश कभी ठहर कर,
साँस लेकर देख पाती अपने रंगीन पंखो को ,
काश कुछ देर रुक कर आत्मलोकन  कर पाती
शायद उसकी ज़िन्दगी भी रंगीन हो जाती
उन फूलो की रंगो की तरह जिनके फीछे रोज़ भागती है वो ।

मगर इतनी फुर्शत किसे कि कोई ठहरे
अगर रुकेंगे तो पीछे नहीं छूट जायेंगे
लाइफ इज़ अ रेस, एंड यू हाव टु रन फ़ास्ट टू विन
दौड़ो और तेज़ दौड़ो , और तेज़
बहुत तेज़ दौड़ा था वो, इतना तेज़
की सबसे आगे की पंक्ति में खड़ा था
जब पीछे मुड़ के देखा तो दूर दूर तक ज़िन्दगी कही दिखाई नहीं दी ।

पिला रंग
लाल रंग
बैंगनी रंग
हरा रंग
रोज़ तन्मयता से लाती थी
और संजो के रखती थी वो रंगो को।
दिन में चैन नहीं रात को आराम नहीं ,
सांस कैसे ले सकती हैं, जब तक सारे रंग बटोर न ले ,
पुरखो से सुनती आई है सबने कोशिश की
पर कोई सारे रंगो का एक साथ सुख न ले सका है अभी तक ,
मेहनत तो करनी पड़ेगी, दस्तूर के मुह पर तमाचा जो मारना है ।

अंतिम रंग बचा था मिलाने को
शायद ज़िन्दगी का अंतिम पहर भी हो
सभी रंगो की झिलमिलाती रौशनी में नहाना चाहती थी
मगर ये क्या?
अंतिम रंग मिलते ही सबकुछ रंगहीन हो चूका था
आँखो में तैर रहे थे रंग,  मगर चेहरा शफेद पड़ा हुआ था
कहाँ गए रंग?

Read More →

Congratulation Aam Aadmi

After lots of ups and down and carefully maneuvering their steps in this knotty race of Indian politics, Aam Aadmi Party against the better judgement of all political analysts has come out to be the faith building instrument of a common man in governance and politics. As rightly said by Mr. Arvind Kejriwal it's not just a win of a Aam Aadmi Party(AAP) but win of Aam Aadmi, who stood up against undesirable practices in governance through a proper mechanism.

The win of 28 seats out of 70 seats with a vote share of 30%  for a party which was formed just a year ago is phenomenal. Now either they will sit in opposition or gear up for re election, they have instilled in common man a faith, and in established party a fear.

The decision of Arvind Kejriwal fighting election against Sheila Dikshit, an incumbent chief minister for 15 years and winning by thumping majority tells us all the story about the motives AAP is build with and support they have.  

The assembly election of Delhi and performance of AAP has changed the political scenario of 2014 general election all together. Now its no more a fight between incapable son of former prime minister and an accuse of mass murder. Thank you AAP for giving us an another option to chose from, rather than making difficult choice of pressing NOTA.

I just want to congratulate Aam Aadmi of Delhi for setting such an example before country that is going to galvanise the Indian democracy in times to come.  

Read More →

A Rational Approach To Popular Demands

Since the beginning of 2011 or rather by the end of 2010 when many prevalent corruption and financial irregularities cases in government were surfacing in the public, people's blood were scalding. By the mid of 2011 it took a form of huge movement under the banner India Against Corruption, People were coming out in streets with placards in their hands shouting to stop corruption and to pass Jan Lokpall Bill. Anna Hazare, the leader of this people's open show of discontent, sat on fast for many days. It seemed like whole country erupted in his support.

I was in my fourth year of college and frequent user of social media, so I was updated with the happenings. Lot of people in the campus of IIT Kharagpur also arranged demonstration and fasted in support of India Against Corruption. I too shared the same feeling like any other common Indian at that time, but I was not in support of movements like India Against Corruption in any way. Road blocks, fast, stopping government machinery to function properly never resonate with my conscience. Many people compared Anna Hazare with Mahatma Gandhi and anti-corruption movement with movements of Independence. But what they missed out is, not having power and having power and not executing it, are not the same thing. When the country was British colony there were no way to get your demands implemented through government machinery, there was no universal adult franchise, so intellectuals of that time took way to satyagrah and non-violent protests to get their voice heard and get their demands registered. But situation today is different, we have constitution and we have been practicing democracy for more than sixty glorious years. Now using same method to demand which we used to do in pre-independence era is not only inefficacious but also mockery of all the efforts of our great leaders which brought independence,democracy, constitution and adult franchise.

When India Against corruption website asked for suggestion from the people how to proceed with the movement, I created a account on their website and first thing I wrote was -- make a political party. So finally when Arvind Kejriwal announced to form party on 2nd Oct 2012, and  named it Aam Aadmi Party on 26th Nov 2012 I could't be more happier. But still after one year when Aam Aadmi Party is standing at the juncture of creating history and completely change the political scenario of the country, many people criticise Arvind Kejriwal for betraying Anna and making the movement against corruption weak. To all those people I want to say why Arvind Kejriwal made a right choice.

• Whom are you protesting against? This is your government, you have chose it with your conscience, and you have trusted it with your vote, now if it's not functioning as you wanted, should you not just throw it away rather than sitting on dhrana. What do you do if you hire a domestic help and they started stealing and slacking in work, you fire them, not sit on dhrana. So do the same here too, because you can. 

• You had your excuse of all parties are same whom I should vote for, so lets sit at dhrana instead. Aam Aadmi Party gave you option. They channelised the energy of dharna movement in campaigning for the support of cause in a more constitutional way, in a way our great freedom fighters wanted us to do. 

• If they are the one who are telling the government what to do and how to tackle the problems faced by common people, and we all are agreeing what they are demanding is for the betterment of us, then why not they are one who should go in assembly or parliament. After all it's democracy and no one's manor. 

New born Aam Aadmi party is contesting election for Delhi assembly and with scientifically coordinated campaign, the way they have organised their party and delegated volunteer work, that in just matter of one year they have reached the ears and hearts of people. This has totally proved wrong the hearsay that they are inexperienced and skepticism of how they will deal with the day to day twitch of government functioning.

Now when just one more day is left in campaigning for the election which is due on 4th Dec 2013, my fingers are crossed and I am hoping, people of Delhi, who has got this chance to be able to write this first chapter of this beautiful transformation of Indian political synopsis, would use their vote judiciously. I have trust in people of Delhi, who has against the better judgement of many political analysts have shown tremendous support and enthusiasm for this more rational approach to deal with popular demands in a democracy.  

Read More →

Truth Beyond The Canvas

Hanging in the gallery were those paintings

They saw a mirthful girl, with wavy silky hair
playing with the wind as she was marching ahead,
I could see the fear of femicide in her eyes
entrenched since before she was even born.

They saw a boy playing in park
trying to jump to catch a ball,
I could see the weight of expectations
loaded on his back pulling him down.

They saw leafless trees in barren region
standing timidly as silhouette,
I could see the hope of spring
on the those skinny branches.

They saw the resplendent scattered light of
glorious morning sun from undulating river water,
I could see the bitter and sanguinary thoughts
hatched in the darkness before dawn.

They saw a  perennial tree by the side
of a small hut and a old man sitting on ground,
I could see his wife sitting inside that hutch
beside broken utensils and cold stove.


-Chanchal Prakasham

Read More →

मिनरल वाटर

कच्ची सड़क से धूल उड़ाते हुए गुजरते
कार के शीशे से बाहर फेंके जाने पर
उसे अहसास हुआ कितनी गर्मी है बाहर,
शायद वातानुकूलित पिंजड़े के अंदर
सूरज की भी मर्ज़ी नहीं चलती |

कारों का काफिला गुजरने और
धूल का गुबार पसरने के बाद उसे दिखा
सुखतीं फसलें , फसलों को आशाहीन नजरों
से देखते किसानो के सपाट चेहरे के पीछे
छिपा हुआ दर्द और उनके मुरझाए हुए सपने  |

उसने अनुमान लगाया शायद यही है
ड्राउट प्रोन कंट्रीसाइड,
जिसके बारे में कार के अन्दर के लोग बात कर रहे थे
घिन आने लगी थी उसे अपने बोतल में कैद जिंदगी से  |

कुछ कर गुजरने की तमन्ना लिए
कर दिया खुद को समर्पण
सूरज की किरणों के सम्मुख |

भाप बन उड़ चला था गगन को चूमने
ठंडक और सुकून था ऊपर की हवावों में
बस अगर कुछ नहीं था, तो वो थी संवेदना  |

बादलों के बीच पहुच कर सुना दिया उसने दर्द भरा वृत्तांत
कहानी की वेदना से धधक उठी थी चिंगारी आकाश में
उमड़ पड़ी बादलों की सारी फ़ौज उसके आह्वान पर

अगले दिन खबर आई, सूखा ग्रस्त इलाके में जम कर हुई बारिस
सैकड़ो गाँव बाढ़ में तबाह |



- चंचल प्रकाशम्

Read More →

Babies Born Behind Bars

Once upon a time, there was a king who feared
his death from babies of next generation,
apparently some astrologer told him so.

His life was dear to him, so he issued an order
to put behind bars all the gravid ladies of his kingdom.
He could have killed those women but sadly
that would have lowered the "human rights index".

Women were arrested and kept in possible farthest jail.
They delivered babies, took care of them for few months,
babies were chained and mothers were forced out. 
Babies started growing in the darkest jail of that time.

As they were human babies they maneuvered themselves
in the darkness  and started aging happily,
dark was their god, dark were their thoughts
They even dreamed darkly.

The only ornament they had, was their chains
They took care of it as their vital body parts.
They used it for music they used it for war
even organized  competition to determine mightiest so far. 

During competition, chain of a puny man broke,
He was labeled challenged and was out-casted.
He started spending his time in other things, at other corner,
with the broken piece of his chain he started scratching the wall

While scratching, the chain got hot and he got brunt finger
He unleashed his frustration on the wall,
hit repeatedly with his hot chain until it sparked
He told his few friends about this new blinding thing.

Words got out and mightiest of them came
and crushed him with their mightiest chain
for discovering something blinding and unfaithful.
He was thrown back in the same distant corner.

Forgetting his pain he again started scratching and hitting the wall
really the wall was not too strong and not too thick
it started cracking, he kept on scratching and hitting,
Finally a stone came out and prison was filled with blazing light.

People came running towards it covering their eyes
they were scared, they were terrified, puny man was leaping,
as he had seen the outside world with his watery eyes.

Mightiest of them came all frowned on this light of disbeliever 
They killed the puny man with their mightiest chain and
stuffed his bones in the vent, again there was darkness all around.




 - Chanchal Prakasham

Read More →

Conscience Vs Legality

After the hectic scheduled first three weeks of December, finally I was going home to spend remaining days of the year with my parents. There was sudden surge in chill and I had to catch train from Howrah. From Kharagpur I boarded a 2:30 PM local which was bound to reach Howrah at 5:00 PM, and my train to home was to leave Howrah at 5:45 PM. I have unflinching faith on the local trains which are famous for their strict commute time, that's why I had kept a buffer time of just 45 minutes. The train reached close to the station at 5 O' clock but stopped few hundreds of meters away from the platform. After my lot of praying it again started and finally I reached the station at 5:30 PM.

Now I had to take something to eat and catch the train. If you have ever been at Howrah station you must be aware of its atmosphere. Around 23 platforms and that's too divided in old and new station, and thousands of people on the station at all time like there is some mela going on. My first task was to search from which platform my train was scheduled to start, luckily that wasn't tough, thanks to continuously updating electronic boards. Since failing to catch train is one of my nightmare so I had to drop my idea of eating egg roll and vada pav at the store by the side of Food Plaza, which is by the way one of the perks of catching train to home from Howrah and not from kharagpur directly.(though there are two trains daily from Kharagpur to Dehri-on-Sone). I hastily reached to my coach walking briskly 200m, put my bag on seat and came out looking for some vendors. 3 min was still left, luckily I found a vendor very close to my coach, bought chocolate chip cookies and bottle of water, ordered tea, but train had blown its horn so after canceling the order, I returned to my seat. 

It was already dark outside but the coach was glowing in its numerous tube-lights. As the train started moving, cold wind gushed in, first I found it refreshing may be because I was feeling warm, owe it to my brisk walk, but suddenly I felt the chill. People hurriedly started lowering the window pan, in a couple of minutes the coach was almost sealed. After seating for about 20 min on the side lower seat as no one had yet arrived at that seat, I went on to my seat, ate cookies, drank water, set alarm and went in deep sleep lulled in the lap of train.

Around 8 O' clock the TTE came, wake me up and asked for ticket and ID card which I showed, then he moved on. I tried again to go back to sleep then I heard some noise, when listened carefully it was the discussion going on between TTE and some passenger in my next compartment. There were two ladies one around 30-35 and other around 60 years. The TTE was asking to produce photo ID card along with ticket and the both women were saying vote photo nahi hai humare pass kaha se dikhaye, station par bas ticket hi diya (We don't have photo identity card, we got only ticket at the ticket counter.) The TTE said "without photo identity card your ticket is invalid and either you pay fine or Rs. 1100 or get off the train". I was kind of getting impressed with his honesty. The elder woman said "sahab pahli bar reservation bogi me chadhe hain humko pata nahi tha ki vote photo bhi chahiye hota hai ticket ke sath aur humko koi bataya bhi nahi aur humare pass itna paisa nahi hai fine dene ke liye" (Sir for the first time I am traveling in reservation coach and I didn't know that we need photo identity card along with ticket and no one even told me so and I don't have that much money to pay fine). The TTE said look, this is not my fault that no one told you, you don't waste my time pack your bag and get ready to get down the train. The younger woman said almost crying kaha jayenge shahab hum itni raat ko? (Where we will go sir, in this night?) The TTE said it's none of my business, you get ready with your bags, I will come when the train stops. His voice seemed as icy as was the gushing wind when train had started moving.

When TTE left the coach the old woman came to me sobbing and said "babu tohra pass vote id hai? dekha na humara pass ticket hai phir bhi ye TTE bol raha ki itni raat ko train se phek dega".(Babu do you have the photo identity card? See I have proper ticket but TTE is saying he will throw me out of train.) She told me she was from some village near Mirzapur and the lady accompanying her was her daughter-in-law, and her husband was traveling in general coach in the same train. I told her since 1st of December 2012 its a rule that you must carry identification card otherwise you ticket will be considered invalid. She hopelessly asked other passengers too. Many of them were not aware of this rule but since they had ID card so they had been spared from TTE's " harassment". Just to console her I along with other passengers said "theek hai aap jaiye soiye apne seat par, phek kaise dega humlog hain na, chinta mat kijiye" (you go and sleep on your seat, we are here how can he throw you away ? Don't worry, we will talk to him.) Of course that pacified her a little bit, she went to her seat and sat there.

Now it got me thinking what would I say to TTE when he would finally come.  He was not wrong but surely he was being inconsiderate. No way a rule enforced just 20-25 days back would be known to a village woman. Who was at fault?  The women? The TTE? Ticket-teller? Or the railway authority? The ignorance because of illiteracy is not a crime or is it?


P.S:- Finally when TTE came, we requested him and said that her husband is in general coach and he might be having the ration card. After lot of persuasion he left after giving them warning to be careful from next time.  I told her to spread the word in her village so that next time no other person from her village get in trouble.
       

Read More →

Since When "Aadmi" Doesn't Mean Women Too?

It has always been a trait of civilized society to rummage the odds, and eliminate it if it can be, or inculcate it in life, like it would no longer remain odd. Humans have ruled the only planet with existence of life (as of now) not because they are the mightiest but because they have what it takes to rule. Using their gifted mind they overpowered some really vigorous animals in those initial days that sometime seems unimaginable. But when it came to interact with their fellow human beings they used their physical strength.  Unfortunately the beautifully crafted and filled with dearness idols lost their battle in the war of physical strength. But the game winning tactic seems to be changing now, we are in the twenty first century, an era of science and technology and now again what it takes to rule is nothing but intelligence and women are nowhere less than their men counterpart provided they are getting same opportunities.

The millenniums long strong foothold of men have engraved very deep foot print on the surface of civilization. Be it literature, crafts, nomenclature, religion, no matter where you see you can get the glimpse of masculinity. Leaving Hinduism aside, no other religion have given proper recognition to women in deity. Why prophets of all religions are only male? Did it never occur to god to send any female messenger? Why it is assumed that word Aadmi (as in Aam Aadmi party) means women too and not just men. Why only father's name of male and female(unmarried) and husbands name of female(married) is required in case of filling any form? (I was going through the voter list of my constituency to find my name and what I saw was very bizarre. In the list along with the name of elector, one name was also mentioned and it has to be male's name, in case of male it was always father's name, dead or alive and in case of female it was father's name if unmarried and husband's name if married). May be many women don't care about it, that's not because they are happy with it but because they are facing far too more differences to care about such "nonsense stuffs". But those women who have got their scores settled in other dimensions of life would certainly point out these minute things no matter you label them as FemiNazi or Female Chauvinist.
Well, the deep engraved foot print of masculinity can be obliterated if women walks over it with even firmer foothold, but then level of civilization will get even more down so its better to help each other in filling the dent.


Recent hyped cases:

Controversy regarding Mr ShriPrakash Jaiswal, the then Coal Minister, Govt. of India arose when during attending a cultural event in Kanpur he made sexist remarks against women by saying A new victory and a new marriage have their own importance. But as times passes, the memories of a victory go old and as time passes, a wife gets old, the same charm is not there. Female protesters went down on roads and later the minister had to apologize.

Chief Minister of Gujarat Mr Narendra Modi during his rally in Himachal Pradesh amidst talking corruption, made a sexist comment about Mr. Shashi Throor's wife as "has anybody seen 50 crore girlfriend". He was slammed for his remark. and I don't remember he even apologized (well some people lack humility).

A news in foreign media was much hyped while defending her party member on some sexist message, Australian Prime Minister Ms Julia Gillard quoted her opposition leader Tony Abbott's ditch the bitch remark and commented  “I will not be lectured about sexism and misogyny by this man .... if he wants to know what misogyny looks like in modern Australia, he doesn't need a motion in the House of Representatives, he needs a mirror.”

A twitter war of word over why Arvind Kejriwal named his party "Aam Aadmi Party". A female pilot twitted-- sir please change the name to something like "Aam Junta party", or "Rastriya Kranti Party" or " Rastriya Vikas party" as it doesn't sound proper. Then many started tweeting "here another pseudo feminist, FemiNazi , Female chauvinist started again". 

To those who thinks women should not care about these words:

If you are the youngest in your siblings how will you feel when some one asks your parents about children and your parents only mentioned the eldest one, even if they love you the same but the mere not being referred there wouldn't hurt you? I think in most of the case it does. and clearly eldest son doesn't inherently mean youngest son too. 

To self proclaimed women protectors: 

This is for someone with Taliban mindset. Have you really given a thought on your self proclaimed protector attitude. I fully agree with your noble intention to protect and preserve the dignity of women by keeping her in burqa. . But isn't it important to take care of what she really feels, does she really need a protection or not. Remember your early teenage days when parents thinks we are still kids who always need their umbrella of patronage and we feel we are old enough to fly solo. How does interests clash then. Let her endure the heat and dust of the road if she really thinks she can.    

Liberate the women

Let them fly

If they will use their wings too

We all can fly high.

              

Read More →

अधिग्रहण

चमकते सूरज और सुलगती ज़मीन के बीच
मग्न था वो बाड़ लगाने में
पसीने बदन से रिशने के पहले ही
सूरज की तपती किरण में सूख रहें थे ।

मगर बाहर के आग से ज्यादा
उसे पेट की आग सता रही थी
दोपहरी बीतने को थी और
मंगलू की माँ अब तक नहीं लायी थी खाना ।

तबियत भी कुछ ढीली थी आज,
पर बाड़ लगाना ज़रूरी था
अब रात भर रखवाली भी तो नहीं होती
उन भेड़ियो से जो रौन्द देते हैं सारी फसल ।

तभी एक पथराई हुई सी आवाज़ सुनाई दी
"बंद करो ए बाड़ वाड़ लगाना और खाना खा लो",
"मेरे मरने के बाद ही लाती" झुझुलाते हुए पलटा था वो,
"मै कोई सोयी नहीं थी, शहर से बाबू आये थे,
ज़मीन अधिग्रहण के पन्ने पर अंगूठा लेने "

खाना निचे रखते हुए बोली
"इस्पेसल इकोनोमिक ज़ोन बनेगा हमारी खेतो पर
और दिन भर धूप में देह तपाने की भी जरूरत नहीं है अब,
नाईट वाचमैन की नौकरी का भी वादा किया है बाबू ने "


अवाक् सा फटी आखो से देख रहा था वो
अपनी ज़मीन के इर्द-गिर्द भेड़ियो के पांवो के निशान  ।



-चंचल प्रकाशम्

Read More →

Where Did God Come From?

Yeah! you read it right. This question popped up in my mind when whole country is in festive mood of celebrating Navratri and Dussehra. Actually there is set of questions

1. We created God or God created us? 2. where did God come from?  3. Is God immortal?  4. Do God really protect us when we worship? 5. What if we are atheists?  

Let us find out the answer which makes some sense. No I am not an atheist. I am a man of science who believes in god. I presume science and religion should go hand in hand and this would be the perfect moment to quote Albert Einstein 

Science without Religion is lame and Religion without Science is blind.

 Einstein was right but I don't know what he had in mind when he said this. He was a truly remarkable man and I guess he believed in god though many historians says he was not a religious person.

Anyway lets contemplate a little bit about life before moving on God.  Whats the basic purpose of life? I guess its survival. We breath to live, we eat to live, we sense our environment to live, in short, we live to live. This is true for all living organism and not only for human. We go into all sorts of troubles to ensure our survival. A bird learn to fly, a deer learn to run, a cat learn to jump, we humans educate ourselves right from our birth. why? So that we get enough resources for our livelihood. But a bird don't know for sure which direction to fly to get enough food without meeting its own predators, a deer don't know for sure which direction to run to outrun lion without getting her horns entangled in bushes, we don't know for sure which path to choose to get success. There are uncertainties everywhere and at every moment. We are not sure of whats going to happen next so we made God. We can't predict the future so we made God. God is just a faith inside our conscience that make us believe that coming moment won't be a threat to our survival. Had there been no God we wouldn't have taken a step forward or backward fearing a lighting may strike that place or rock may fall on our head(since probability of these are more than zero). So we keep God in our heart and move fearlessly believing that lighting would strike anywhere but on us. So its the moment of uncertainties which leads to the birth of God. If a man is standing at war front facing coming bullets, where probability of getting hit by bullet in neither zero nor one, must have something to hold on. That is God.  

But the more experienced and acquainted with the forest a deer is, more certain it is for her to choose right direction. The more educated  a man is, it is more certain for him to choose a befitting career path with lesser probability of failure . The better equipped and trained a soldier is, the more will be his chance of not getting hit. In all these cases there will be lesser chance of failure and subsequently lesser dependency on God.

The God takes birth from the womb of tossed coin and die as soon as coin settles.  

There is no God, there is just faith to overcome fear of uncertainty. Every moment God takes birth and every moment he dies. The more we will equip ourselves to predict future, the lesser will be the life time of god. The day we will write an equation which governs all worldly phenomena, the God will cease to exist, until then he is immortal.  

Read More →

Suggestion: Impartial Investigation

In India, President is the head of republic. But since India is a democratic nation and the President is not directly elected by the people of India, he is not the supreme leader, though he is the formal head of legislative, judiciary and executive.

Rashtrapati Bhawan

Presidential Standard of India

President is the commander-in-chief of Indian Armed Forces and as we know the person who controls army is the omnipotent. But is that the case with our President? The answer is no. He appoints the chief of Army, Air-Force and Navy and can declare a war and conclude peace, subject to consultation with Parliament, the apex governing body of democratic of India. All international treaties and agreements are done on his behalf by the head of the party who enjoys majority in parliament. All money bill originates in parliament on his recommendation, he can declare emergency and dissolve any federal government given the consent of parliament. The 42nd amendment of the constitution has made it obligatory on the part of president to accept the advice of council of ministers. So in short he does everything in the country but can't do anything really without consultation with the parliament.

Whats the problem?

Back in 1946 when Indian constituent assembly started drafting constitution they wanted to give all power to common street people. Since each and every member[1] of the parliament is chosen by the people and from among the people, they had hardly doubted that people will lose faith in them. It was supposed that losing faith in parliament is like losing faith in self. So they vested all power in parliament and made it an apex governing body. But they kept the judiciary independent of legislative to have impartial judgement even on the matters that involves government. Now what is the case? Judiciary is independent but the investigative agencies on whose findings the court will give its verdict is in the hand of government.

Imagine the fate of a university where grading copies and declaring results is in the hand of professors but examination control committee which conduct exams is headed by student body.  

Recent case: A Hindi news channel Aaj Tak conducted a sting operation on the working of Dr. Zakir Hussain Memorial trust and came up with irregularities of INR 71 lakh which was endowed to trust to conduct a camp for differently-abled people, but that camp never happened. This trust is run by wife of Mr. Salman Khurshid, Union law minister of Govt. of India. Social Activist Mr Arvind kejriwal along with many supposedly beneficiaries from this camp wanted to meet Prime Minister to complain but they all were jailed. Mr Salman Khurshid came live on national TV and bashed all the protesters along with TV which conducted sting and heard saying "I will not give answer to anyone on streets". He also challenged to litigate the controversy to court.

Now, the aforesaid trust is in UP so the case will be between UP state government and trust run by family of union law minister. Chief minister of UP is Mr Akhilesh Yadav of samajwadi party and a case against his father Mr Mulayam Singh Yadav for disproportionate assets is pending in supreme court which will be investigated by CBI(investigative agency under govt.). So do we need Sherlock Holmes to figure out what will happen? Can we overlook the 'quid pro quo' case here? This wouldn't be the first time for central government to avail CBI.

Solution:  

Make the post of President apolitical. which can only be done by changing the way president is elected and not by giving resignation from primary membership of party after filling nomination for president. Anyway common people is not voting for president directly don't let MP's and MLA's vote either. I believe that the President should have an idea about the functioning of government and he should not be completely aloof of governance. So lets make it a bureaucratic post like a chief election commissioner of India or chief justice of supreme court.  Only all the IAS rank officers, few elite universities professors, judges of courts and high court will vote and elect the President. So will be the election procedure for governors for states.
All investigative agencies should be under President and Governors of states  and they don't need to consult government for any kind of investigation. Now a government or a "street person" anyone can knock the door of president for impartial investigation against each other. Let all other power of the President as it is. Even presidential judicial power like pardon, reprieve,remission, respite would now make some sense.


Give the man at least something so that  he wouldn't find it satirical when someone says His Excellency.   




      

Read More →

Story of Lord Ganesha

While browsing on Internet, I came across a very nice mythological story and its superb interpretation on www.reddit.com. And after doing some background research I found out this article was originally published in a blog Sounds Interesting. So after giving proper credit to the blogger, I want to share this on my blog.

The Article goes like this.....

The birth of Lord Ganesha is one of the weirdest tales I have ever come across, here it is modified and modernized for your reading pleasure.


Lord Shiva’s wife Parvati decides to take a bath… While bathing, a lot of dirt comes off her body (may have been meditating many years… these things accumulate), being creative (pun intended) puts that dirt into the form of a really handsome child, and being a Goddess blows life into the child and asked him to wait outside (she could be modest too) and not let anyone come in till she finished her bath (and accessorizing). So the child goes out and waits, and soon enough along comes Lord Shiva, and asks the boy to step aside and let him go in. Boy refuses. Shiva gets angry. Shiva shouts and threatens. Boy doesn’t budge. Shiva chops off boy’s head! (Children in those days faced pretty harsh disciplining)

Parvati is very upset when she comes to know Shiva has killed her son and so to appease her, Shiva chops off the head of a passing elephant and attaches that to the body of the fallen child and gives Him Life.

Parvati is aghast at how her son looks and says everyone will mock him… no one will respect him… Lord Shiva smiles benignly and says that He will grant a boon to little Ganesha - before any Pooja or ritual of any kind is started, He, Ganesha will have to be worshiped first!

Parvati is quite mollified by this, but demands a vehicle for Ganesha… Shiva presents Ganesha with a mouse as his vehicle. Parvati was very happy with that and the family lived happily for many eons to come (ever after really as far as us humans are concerned) And that’s how Lord Ganesha was born… like I said it is a very weird story with plenty of really big loop holes and questions! To start with Parvati must have been really, REALLY dirty for so much dirt to come off her.

Then Shiva is the Lord of the Universe, if a small child told Him to come back later, He could have gone somewhere, looked after a galaxy or two, meditated or something, but no, He chops off the child’s head!
Then He puts an elephant’s head on the child and gives a mouse as a vehicle… no sense of proportion whatsoever! Should have been the other way round Given a mouse’s head and the elephant as a vehicle.
We could go on and on…


The stories of Indian mythology were always narrated on two levels. One level is a story with lots of special effects, one that will leave us amused and in wonder. The other is, where through the symbolism that is used, the Knowledgeable One can unfold the secrets inherent in the story and get deep insights on how Life works and how to tread lightly and gracefully on our planet.

However as usual there is a superb secret interpretation to this story:

Photo Credit: http://www.tirupatidarshan.org/lord-ganesha-names-of-kanipakam-vinayaka-temple/

Parvati is the Celebrative aspect of our consciousness. Parvat means mountain: The Earth herself rising up in celebration.
Parvati was dirty, meaning, the celebration had gone out of life, feeling of sadness, etc had arisen, and she decides to take a bath (be alone)…When you are not feeling good (your celebratory aspect is dirty), you say, give me my space, leave me alone. The dirt that comes off her and she gives life to is the Ego… She tells the Ego see that no one disturbs me while I am not feeling good… don’t let anyone come in!
That’s exactly what most people do when they are not feeling good: They isolate themselves, feel separate from everyone and don’t like others around them or intrusion of any sort.
This is the significance of Parvati animating her ego and asking it not to let anyone disturb her because she is feeling low.
Lord Shiva is the protector of Parvati. So when He sees her that way with her ego standing guard, keeping the Bliss of the Self out, He does what any protector would do… Kills it.
Chopping off the head signifies killing the ego. When you have had your ego trampled upon, you are going to feel even more hurt and bewildered, which is where Parvati flares up. To appease her and teach her, Lord Shiva replaces the Ego’s head with an elephant head.
The Elephant in Indian mythology is held in great reverence. In old times, if a lover wanted to praise his girlfriend, he would tell her she is like an elephant. She is Gajagamini - literally, you walk like an elephant. Meaning you have the majesty and Grace of an elephant. That was supposed to be the ultimate praise! Please don’t try this today… you just might get flattened.



The big head symbolizes Knowledge. The eyes of the elephant are kind, full of compassion and innocence: the most beautiful in the animal Kingdom. So Shiva replaces the head of ego (ignorance) with Knowledge and Innocence! That’s not all, if you have ever seen an elephant walk, stately and strong, you can see that nothing can stand in its way! This way Shivji removed the ego and replaced it with Strength, Grace, Knowledge and Innocence. What a superb combination! And the perfect gift for an angry, sulking wife! Lord Shiva then names the child, Ganesh - The Lord of Knowledge and Wisdom.

Read More →

What did you just say?

There was a casual conversation going on between a husband and his wife and amidst of discussing many things, husband said "Sometime you overreact". The wife got angry and said "What did you just say? you are being so unreasonable and inappropriate right now". Husband smiled. 

Sometime our reaction to contradict a viewpoint ends up validating it. Its like someone is saying to you "you are a hot headed guy" and you got offended and slapped him. you just unknowingly proved his point.

Okay enough with the meticulous examples, I am writing this blog in response to what is going on recently in India and abroad. All Muslims are showing their outrage over an anti-Islamic movie Innocence of Muslims, made by an Egyptian-American. Some of the protesters went ahead and attacked US consulate in Libya which resulted in at least 14 deaths, including Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three other Americans. In India around 1500 people from Tamilnadu Muslim Munnetra Kazhagam and few other Muslims outfits targeted US general Consulate on Anna Salai in Chennai. They pelted it with stones, burnt American flags, damaged CCTV cameras, a police booth and instruction board for visitors.[News: The Hindu ]

Picture Credit: Wikipedia.

The content of the film is indeed outrageously offensive and highly demeaning to a great religion like Islam and those behind this should be treated with hard hands, but to oppose whatever allegations being made in the film, people are doing the same and hence vindicating offenders. 

      

Read More →