Indian Democracy at its best

Election over and the parties have started looking for companionships

Pre election :
Congress found BSP leaders as incapable and the prime accuse behind the setback of the state of Uttar Pradesh
Mamta di with Sonia on her side left no stone unturned to grandstand the ineffective governance of left front in West Bengal

I met a person who was standing in front of me at the polling booth waiting his turn, for his finger to be dyed blue which later turns black like the fate of our nation. Oops we are growing democratic and secular nation so we should not be speaking this. Often elders asked me to practice my right when I grow up and bring in a change. I cast my vote, only to found myself in the same mess again.

So to save this nation from getting destroyed, I thought of taking the advice of that elderly person and I asked him, “Whom do you think have been able to rule the nation for the betterment of this citizen. Who do you think is the best emerging leader for our nation”. Undoubtedly, he was not very satisfied with the results of his hand. Neither the hammers could help him; neither the lantern could show him way in the darkness. Elephants were too costly to be maintained in his limited capabilities.

Anyway, with all my knowledge, I exercised my power and tried to stop the hand. I brought in the leader who was exposing all the weakness of hand in my locality just few days back. He was the man of solidarity and wanted to raise his voice against the lackluster government at the centre.

5:00 PM: Closing bells rang for polling. 30 minutes and I heard that the same fellow, I passed my veto, is looking for the companionship with hand. Oh my God! So that hand is back at the center with new energy to rule for another 5 years.

Those of you who are laughing on my fate, be careful, I am wondering if there was any choice.

In Kolkata, there were only 3 parties: Left, TMC and Cong. TMC & Cong were already together, so the only option was left, which also reconsidered to join hands with Congress in just 30 minutes post election. They think so fast.

Similarly in UP, BSP, SP and Cong contested elections against each other and are now planning to solder their relationships with few cabinet posts. Mr. Election Commissioner, why don’t you put up an NSA against such political parties who bluffed millions of mass through their faux passes?

Truly the best way to practice our fundamental democratic rights. I am not sure how ecstatic I will be for the next election.

Hooliganism or Vandalism

Mangalore incident was another alienated event getting full coverage from media with marking the event just as hooliganism. Many asked the question, what we mean by Hinduism, has anyone also asked what we mean by modernization? A modern working class woman wants to enjoy her life. For her doing odd jobs at home is not healthy for a women. So she keeps a maid for such jobs. Isn’t that maid is also a woman, doesn’t she have any rights. We all have started enjoying our success and in the process have disparaged the importance of the Hindu society as a whole, which asks us to share, which asks for certain sacrifices both from males and females.

Democracy of speech, action, blabs… blab…

The incident was wrong, humiliation and use of power in any sense is unjustified. I agree with all the sufferings of so called modern women on this global society. Their action was wrong, but have we done anything to soothe their anger. There is a big misconception in our society that the literate white collar independent society is always right, and all their actions are clean. We have a big misconception of taking ourselves as the solicitor of this world and ignoring the every thoughts of the illiterate society. If an illiterate raise his eyebrow on the action of a literate, his action is bisected by this hard words. Women still compare themselves with the atrocities that were long abolished. Sita was not a normal human woman, neither was Rama. There has to be liberties, but there are also certain behaviors which may not be that comfortable to one but should be acceptable for the betterment of our society. This question on Hinduism is not just about women, but the overall youth Hindu society of India who are least aware of richness of our Vedic literature. Those who have read Bhagvat should know that it doesn’t mention that women should be captivated in the purdah system, but it asks for their protection. How good we may be, there are some evils in this society, from which our goddesses should be protected. It’s only the Hindu religion where a woman is being considered as the source of everything, whether its power, money, or knowledge. The Brahma, Vishnu and Mahesh have only being symbolized as the care takers. I agree that we follow many practices that is due to our aloofness and which should be abolished, but we need to make it understand to the other section (who believes in them) why should we do so. For that we need to show them equal importance.

We spoke openly of our liberties, but have we thought about our elders who find it difficult to visit their nearby parks, all because of youths like me, us for whom showing affection in public which has become so common. There is nothing wrong, but its about the respect that they deserves. Regarding, pubs etc, all are good till we are there to enjoy after our hard work. But don’t we misuse it. All those other things that happens there, can we justify that. We literate society citizen never took offence to create awareness on them and now some uncomfortable people are taking some action, we want to hide the issue in the conception of violence. We all feel bad when we say that a woman in Delhi is not safe, how safe we all are in our corporate. The movie was not just out of an illusion. We leave everything to be proved first, and somebody else should take the initiative to prove it and if someone tries to put his voice, we make his voice dead. If everyone stops listening to us, we will be in an equally miserable state of frustration and someone else will be judging our actions.

I appreciate Taliban for making such strong laws though they over carried it. Do we have the courage to declare a similar tough law against a rapist? It takes 13 year for us to hand one rapist and in that time he humiliated another 6. Not every one can be made happy with the laws. Instead of finding out loopholes to overcome it, we should learn to value them. Being independent is good, but to think only about our own comfort is selfishness. I will support the woman if they work on creating awareness against the misconception about them. They deserve their due respect, but should not try to get everything by complaining and crying. The editor at IBM mentioned about the atrocities on women she saw at Rajasthan. Why didn’t she try to do something then? She asked it on Sena sevaks to take care of those issues. Isn’t it like giving excuses for not taking the responsibility about something she feels? Sens sevaks took actions (I know wrong actions) against something they find unjustified. If you feel something similar about any other area, take the lead, may be few from sena sevak(if they realize it too) may come and join you in your efforts. It’s like someone asking to sweep the floor and you are asking to wash your clothes first. Why cant we understand that cleaning of floor is important and then help in making the other person understand about the importance of clean clothes. all it requires is taking of responsibility and sharing of visions.

Financial Literacy

How much do we understand finance? How much do we understand, how the money works? Let me share out a snippet from the inauguration speech of the 44^th President on USA. He says,” those nations like ours that enjoy relative plenty, we say we can no longer afford indifference to suffering outside our borders; nor can we consume the world's resources without regard to effect. For the world has changed, and we must change with it”.

The president of USA has led accentuated on the importance of our behavior, the way we use our resources, the way we live our life. It’s a time when we should understand the scenario globally and should check on our actions. We have pool of youngsters, who have recently joined the work force or will be joining. It’s important for them to acknowledge what finance is all about.

Let us look at the new lifestyle of our urban nation. Work hard, tirelessly, earn a lot, pay big taxes and spend a lot. We consume more resources then we actually need and are saving less. Our super stars, at the age of 45, are recognized as youth icons where entrepreneurs like Ankit Fadia are the lost names, occasionally read on book stalls.

All of us need to understand the cycle of money. We spend a lot (mostly on credit), put ourselves into big debts, and then ask for more money as the pay. This increases the cost of us as resource which impacts the cost of production of our service. It results in the increase in the cost of the products in the market. With higher salary, we spend even more on things that we do not need actually(more than 40% of the multimedia phone users use the phone for nothing else but calls, taking pictures, and listening songs. But they buy handsets where they pay for services that they never use. The inflation hit us hard back again with the increase in cost for food and other essential items. We also waste lots of energy. It’s a country of billion where everyone wants to own a vehicle. Has anyone ever thought about the land that these vehicles will consume just for parking. We need to restrain on the gasoline that we burn in our car. The same energy which could have served around 10 people in transport is now consumed by only one person.

For our nation to grow and prosper, we have to be aware of the place and society we live in. Our high consumption and waste makes the life more miserable for the lower and lower middle class. None of us are sure how long they will be able to tolerate us this way. Their course of action can’t be predicted, but we should learn something from the incidents in Mumbai and other places. A satisfied person won’t be participating in ransacking shops. We have taken over the jobs of Mumbai, increased the cost of living so high, without caring about its effect on the society as a whole.

Finance is not just about money. It is about the power to survive in this constantly changing world. Everyone is buying a house (some have 10 houses today). It’s good if one can afford it. But those who are buying on debt (do reconsider your thoughts). A house on high loan rates can never be an asset. You can’t sell your dwelling. If you think, that in time of crisis you will sell your home and can live in a smaller home, you never needed this big house. Similarly there is lot of places where we do not use our money smartly. You can call it lack of vision; I call it lack of financial literacy. Most of us have completely exhausted our financial powers in paying back to loans and we miss on lots of opportunities of life, just because the lack of it. I am myself paying back the debt taken by my family and me for education and other purposes. And I know how hard it hits you back.

I have also seen many youngsters caught in the rat race of being better then the other. And in this race they put themselves into situation which hurt them in long run. We have to be responsible, quiescent, and have tolerance. We all have big pay checks in hand. We also need to be profound in using it.

We all need to analyze our assets and liabilities. Government need to check the assets and liabilities of our country and if required should take decisions that may not be easy.

What is required of us now is a new era of responsibility -- a recognition, on the part of duties to ourselves, our nation and the world; duties that we do not grudgingly accept but rather seize gladly. For the world has changed, and we must change with it.

Mr. Sanjay Dutt, Member of Indian Parliament

Sanju Baba, Munna Bhai, Sanjay Dutt and may be now MP Sanjay Dutt.

An actor like him will be adulated by his fans worldwide for ever. He has experienced various stages of life and must not be the same immature person who bought arms around 15 year back. Guilty or not, but the man won the heart of many by his acts of Gandhigiri as Munna bhai. The question now is how much we should trust him. There are few facts which raise doubts on his credibility as real life person as compared to his reel life.

1. His involvement in the bomb blast case (may be his immaturity) but the city as well as country is still churning in its ire. It wasn’t a mistake but a blunder which should not be ignored. Or else we want to set an example that how bigger the mistake be, we are still ready to forgive it.
2. In 2007 he pleaded to the court with an application for bail, citing cause as the sole earner for the family and need to take care of his daughter studying at US. Fact: He was on bail for more then 12 years. Had done over 50 films during the period of 19995 to 2005. And must have an average earning of around 2-3 crores per year. That must have saved enough money for his daughter to complete her study. Even in worst case if he has lost his money in Equity market, he could have get his daughter back in India and could have made her complete her education here. I wonder how mature he still is – very weak in Mathematics and finance.
3. Sanju Baba has also been known to have a roving eye and is known to have had casual sexual relationships with tens of women around the world. (Source wikipedia). Highly efficient and responsible act, it must have been.
4. His humanitarian acts commenced only in the year 2008, when the court rejected his plea and sentenced him for a 6 year rigorous imprisonment. There has been no record about his performance or level of participation here.

I wonder how responsible a person of this state of mind is, though I will confess that I am myself a die hard fan of couple of his flicks. But now he is using Indian Parliament as an escape gate from all the punishments (6 year is too small to set an example). I am surprised at the honorable leaders of Samajwadi party if they have read the rules of Constitution. He is a convicted, who is only out on bail and they have made him a representative of their party. I think I should not be, they bailed out Amitabh too at the cost of Sahara, always loyal to bollywood. (I wish Mr. Singh do not read my blog. I am too tired of all his speeches as a Mr. Loyal Bachhan).

If Mr. Dutt is so keen to service the country, why doesn’t he flex his muscles, join the Indian Army and fight for our nation.

But am sure this topic will also get lost somewhere and I will have to salute Mr. Sanjay Dutt somewhere on an Indian Republic or Independence Day.

I wish all such petitions be rejected and such person and the party should be punished for making a mockery of Indian Constitution. I feel such people should never have the patronage of getting an Indian flag over there body when they die.

Happiness

Everyone wants to be happy. I am sure everyone is looking for ways to be the happiest person in the world. They work hard, party hard, socialize, exchange greetings, sometime curses and do many more things. Then why are we still so worried and gloomy.

Anyway, let us not research on the cause of worry. Let me share few things/causes to live a happy life:

1. You are alive. (Common smile, I have never seen a dead person smiling)
2. Don’t be sad if you don’t get the things you want. You can still get it. Have this faith and start looking for ways to get it(its better to waste the time trying to get the things then being sad over it)
3. Stop breaking laws. If everyone do that, we can move around freely without being worried of bribes to get a water and electricity connection.
4. Follow traffic/driving rules, you can save lots of life on this earth.
5. Work hard. You will have a pleasant sleep at the end, and whatever you eat will taste delicious.
6. Don’t be worried with what others have. You can get it for yourself by being honest to your work. If you still can’t get it in 20 years (You have survived without it for 20 years), it was never necessary to have that thing. So stop running like dogs after every car.
7. Do your prayers regularly and try to understand it. You will get lots of peace and strength from your faith in the lord.
8. Don’t get bogged down with your hesitation. You are very human. Just accept or reject it whichever way you are comfortable in the first thought. And never spend a moment to regret over it.
9. Share yourself openly with everyone. There is nothing like ‘good’ or ‘bad’. Every human likes/dislikes something or the other.
10. Find out the person in you. Look for the opportunities where you can contribute. And prepare yourself for the others.
11. Be sensible to other. There is always another side of every big picture that we generally miss to see.

We spend our life worrying about things that very rarely happens and miss the beauty of people and life around us. Life is just this moment, live it with a smile.

The Green politics of Kolkata

The city of joy is struggling between the drama of environmentalist and the politicians yet again. Another step towards the improvement of the city has been hackneyed by our politicians lead by our elder sister (“DIDI”).

Kolkata High Court had passed the order to ban 2 stroke autos 3 months ago. Nothing was done by the government to create a system for smooth conversion of 2 stroke auto engines to LPG, during this period. Instead when the deadline approached the same old hue and cry is being raised by the politicians along with the auto drivers just to capture the vote of condolence before assembly elections. I think, the Indian Supreme Court should also dictate some strict rules for these politicians.

It is high time for the following key actions:

1. Government should educate auto drivers on the beneficiaries of conversion to LPG rather then just joining their agitations blindly.
2. The enforcement of the law should be strict and planned in such a way that all the communities involved understand the importance of saving the environment. Communities should participate by discussing on how they can help in achieving the target rather then just agitating against all the orders that creates a little discomfort for them. Politicians helping in such violent agitations should be punished immediately.
3. Educated local commuters by auto should try to create awareness among the auto drivers with the success stories of LPG conversions in other states of India and how it will help the auto drivers in long run.
4. Something should be done to stop the production of “KATI TEL”. So much is being heard about their production and use, why does government don’t take steps to control its production and use.
5. Traffic policemen should realize their job now at least. Aren’t they bored of just being a silent watcher?
6. Government should define policy that may encourage auto rickshaw drivers to convert to LPG quickly. Let us make those drivers feel that we are not against them but are there to support them by enriching them with the vision and wisdom that is lacking.

We make our government and we destroy it. We are the supporting pillars which ensure that a governing body functions efficiently. Oppositions protesting against every government policy are not a healthy politics. Let us stand for our environment. We all need it.

What is that SOMETHING?

Thanks Ashish for instigating these thoughts in my mind. Agreeing to him, I do believe it’s now necessary for us to introspect on our actions and decide on some basic dos and don’ts. May be my readers can add to the list with their comments.

Do’s:

1. Cast our vote and do a little study on the contestants before casting our ballot. (Youngsters like me who have been avoiding going for the photo shoot of our Identity cards to save a day at job, lets use our privilege leave for a cause).
2. Do pay your taxes and on time.
3. Let go green be the mantra. Try to reduce our waste and please use trash bin to throw our waste.
4. Bring a change in the constitution and incorporate the ideas to measure the performance of our leaders. There has to be some criteria to be met before allowing a person to contest the election. The criterion can be like his past records and the services that one has incurred in his lifetime to the nation. There should be some age limits for their retirement.
5. There should be a check on the expense by the government on felicitation of sport players. The huge money should be diverted to other games to encourage and improve the game standards. We have been very irresponsible in helping our senior veteran players letting them die in the silence of darkness.
6. Follow the traffic rules and lane systems. Enough of chaos at all the places (we have reached the height of indiscipline). The example should be set by our white collar citizens who have returned after spending enough time in foreign countries following even the smallest of driving rules. May be we civil people can organize weekend camps for some time to improve the traffic situation at our location.
7. Spend some time to plan how to bring up the lower sections of our locality. A monthly talk with them doesn’t cost much rather then just few hour of our time. But peacefully we can create awareness on mass issue topics and bring up a change.
8. Seizing agricultural land on the term of industrialization is very confusing after we know how much preparation is to be done to make the land favorable and the number of citizens in our nation still struggling for a day’s meal. Instead the barren land, which may be little far from town and is not so productive, should be utilized for the industrialization purpose. Industries are important for the growth of the nation but it must be carefully planned and not just for the personal interests of few sections of the society.
9. Save our farmers and promote agricultural industries. Farming is as noble job as being an Software engineer typing the programs and these kind of blogs.

Don’ts:

1. Stop traveling in taxis and autos that have not migrated to LPG.
2. Stop paying bribes for small favors and plan and co-ordinate our activities in such a manner that we don’t mind waiting for our turn of service.
3. Media has to be more responsible and things which are a threat to our nation should not be disclosed or share live on the television like it was during the recent Mumbai terror attack. Enough of race to TRPs, better show some real professionalism
4. Do not support caste system. It has brought no improvement in the society for the last 60 years, so the process is a proven failure. Instead bring in leaders from various castes and give them a deadline to improve the standards of their caste. Help them in all practical ways rather then making it emotional issues (When will we learn to use our emotions powerfully).
5. Don’t shy away from paying your taxes. Instead take the responsibility and pain to ensure that the money paid by us as a tax is being used properly.
6. Don’t misuse the resources and facilities provided by government to us. We have seen enough of damages that we in our anguish do. The protests should be held peacefully.
7. Stop creating vote banks. Just do some service to the humanity and our nation, and the votes will follow(isn’t it easier to manage rather then getting voters from neighboring countries).

These are some of the things that we can start of. Also we can create awareness about the various problems in different localities by the members of those locality taking the responsibility and support from the government. Remember a democratic government is for us, by us and of us.

Please give your suggestions or views.

People will think I am planning to enter the politics soon. There is no such idea. I am gonna start sharing my thoughts on other topics soon.

Democracy or Degeneracy ??

The question is open and will be open even at the end of this post: "Are we really a democratic nation, and if so how prolific it is?"

To boast, we have completed more than 61 years of since our independence. But as Indian do we realize the cost at which we got this freedom, the sacrifices that our patriarch made. We feel proud when we come up as winner in cricket, burn candles (probably adding to the cause of global warming and nothing much) when we win war against terrorism. But are so busy with our day to day life that we spend the least time (so generous of me) pondering where we and our nation are heading to.

Let’s start with our leaders (slang is not allowed on my blog so I won’t use the word politician). Millions of Rupee is spent to elect our national leaders, who from the first day start planning the future of their 5 year terms. Probably some of them opens the Swiss accounts even before taking the oath (Not sure if having an account is the criteria in itself). Terror tourism(to get a movie for the son, good father), aspersions of national heroes, widening of rural gaps so that the two banks can never meet, excellent records in police and other investigation diaries, More casts to be identified(are we planning to have a World Records). And the best part is their outsourcing of terror department to local and underworld dons. What a nation to be pride of. After so many facilities, they are given the easiest exit routes, milk black money, fail in your department and resign when people protests, contest the election again after 3 months and become the leader again. And we like idiots hear to them again and again. Shouldn't there be a parameter to measure the performance of our leaders. Shouldn't those who resign from their position due to failure in their work should be ban for around next 10 years until they prove their efficiency.

But why should we care. Don’t we do something similar in our day to day life? Everyone wants to be a capitalist, no matter how much it may cost to the nation. Big retailers are selling low quality goods manufactured in our neighbor countries. Our babus ready to pay 1000 rupee so that they don't have to stand in queue. Even there are different doors for pilgrims at temple. The normal citizens have to wait for 10 hours at Tirupati in queue so that a miss world along with her in-laws can do their offering. A paltry match winner gets 2 crore for bringing a pride to our nation but we don't care when a soldier is paid Rs 2 lakh for giving away his life fighting for us. We are so adaptable that we easily forget everything and are back to theaters to watch the new flick of Khan Brothers. We are absolutely amazing. Don’t blame the leaders, we ourselves are not even least responsible (Many would disagree and curse me here).

Are we really fighting for survival, A manager having omni needs a Chevrolet to survive. We all are lost in the race for money and have become master in playing the blame game. Bapu today means a 500 rupee note. From a peasant to a millionaire, everyone is playing some game to survive. And then a star son says on a cola add "yeh hain youngistaan meri jaan". Who gave them the right to change the name of our country??

Media and journalism were supposed to spread awareness. Better I do not say about them. They are busy increasing their TRPs even when the whole nation on seize is praying for peace. An SP's cat is more important then a beggar dying on the street of Delhi due to cold.

Democracy means freedom of opinions and actions, but certainly not any opinion or action. An adamant defines the policies of education in our country and its peer support the idea in order to save coalition, only to insult and ignore the words of knowledgeable man like Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam.

It is a shame to have such a democracy where we are creating an irresponsible society to be gifted to our generations to come. Let’s come together, and be responsible for creating our nation, not on the caste and religion, but on the mantra of humanity, peace, growth and accountability.

Be a leader and not just a survivor. It doesn't need money and power. It needs faith and courage to make a stand.