Lament For a Generation

In the quest for more and more material profits and advantages, we are forgetting the simple things in life.Like Vidya balan says on the radio in Lage raho munnabhai,
"Reth pe nage pair kab chale the, yaad nahi"

If any one has seen the movie Bawarchi ,starring Rajesh Khanna ,he says,

It is so simple to be happy
but so difficult to be simple.

So this piece is an ode to the lack of simple pleasures in today's world

Gone are those wonderful days,
When we looked forward,
To jumping up and down in the rain.
Oh!! Those beautiful moments

I ask myself; what has happened,
Where has the carefree child gone?
For the only thing that awaits him,
Is the drudgery of the grindstone

The pleasures of childhood,
Which were a license to play, play and play,
The things that made growing up enjoyable,
How have they gone astray.

It is indeed a pity and source of sorrow,
a situation of hoping against hope,
For I am sure, those old days,
Would never be here again.

My heart wants to scream,
In silence and in pain,
The question will haunt you, I am sure
Where have the good old days gone.

PS :The title of the so called lament is taken from the chapter title in the book O JERUSALEM by Dominique Lapierre and Larry Collins

Outside -In the real world

While we are in college, we long for the world outside that beautiful world free from boring lectures backbreaking assignments and memory cramming syllabus. Once out of college we come to know the harsh reality in the market.
As Bill Gates once said
“If you think your teachers were cruel, wait till you have a boss”.
Moreover, how right he is. We never try to value our college days thinking instead of the future rather than living in the present. However, once we are out, we realize that the scenario is not a bed of roses, but a sea of thorns and it is essential to walk or rather run bare foot on it to achieve success. Some learn this truth the easy way, but most of us learn it the hard way. As Aamir Khan says in the movie Rang De Basanti,

""Campus ke andar hum zindagi ko nachate hai

Campus ke bahar zindagi hame nachati hai””

The same situation was seen by me .Maybe that I underestimated my post Btech experience or that I underrated the market waiting out for me, the reality of the world,
blew me away. As the people knowing me may be aware that I took CAT coaching after my engineering, in the hope of getting a seat in one of the top 20 colleges for management across India. When it became clear that that dream would be a dream at least for at least one more year, I started job hunt in late mid March.

Irrespective of the job profile and other such important stuff, I applied to whatever job that sounded good to me. God knows how many zillions of resume edits I did to change my career goal from
“Securing a challenging position in software field “in one company’s application to “Contributing my technical skills to personal development “in another to “Get a chance to showcase my management skills for the development of individual and the organization” in the third application. By the luck of the draw , I finally got an interview call which I easily converted and joined, as a management trainee on April 1st, yes my friends on APRIL FOOLS DAY. My main aim was just to get some job experience and meet different people, understand their mentality and develop my social skills. And what an experience it has been. I met people from different walks of life .Both affluent and not so affluent, MBA’s to undergrads, engineers to pure science students and married to unmarried too.

All of them have only one thing in common .They are working towards a very lucrative, but challenging vision of running their own company. Boys and girls between the age group of 17-25 , trying to live their dream and making a name for themselves was an entirely novel and exciting experience for me and at the same time it is hard for me to keep up with my so called colleagues there.

I saw people who had run away their houses and fought against the society to make it big. Meeting them gave me a strange feeling, which was a mixture of awe and stoic regard for their efforts. There were people who would literally walk from their houses to the office to save those few rupees, while some people like me would sometimes blow away 25-30 rupees for an auto when the bus could have sufficed. It made me realize how fortunate I was to have such a good family who went to the worlds ends to make my wants meet. Coins were not as fortunate to them as they are for us, but they did not stop working lamenting their background instead they look forward to the rosy future which we all dream to have.

I would and still sometimes curse myself of my fortune, that such people, who are so committed and so sincere on his job had to endure so much hardship. Not that am not committed and sincere, but even then, I hope the readers get the difference. Sometimes we feel ashamed that in spite of having all the facilities and all the comforts, we fail to use them to do some constructive work.

Then there are some, working tirelessly, not for them but for their team leader so that their leader achieves success in their life. Not that they are not ambitious, but they literally adore their leader, that they will do anything for them. As they say, “A great leader can galvanize even a group of sloths (no comparison meant)” These people work as true team members, as they say in cycling they work in a PELOTON to achieve their common goal. And when the team achieve their goals, they would calmly go up to the team leader and say” Congratulations boss. However, maybe this job is not my cup of tea. I just stayed around so that we, as a team could achieve our goals and now that it is done, I should take leave. All the best.” They are the truly selfless kind, whom anyone would wish to have in their team.

Also, there were people who were doing this job just as a stopgap arrangement .Like why to sit idle at home, when we can do some good to the society, get some job experience and at the same time earn some money. Or maybe they were doing the job just because they wanted to do some job and not the crap what we said in the job interview that “This is exactly the kind of job am looking for”.” This is my dream job”.” I would do this job even if I had to do it for free”. All this is nothing but wild boasts, through which we try to impress the interviewer but most of which is caught clean by him, the only reason being that he has seen so many honchos like you.

Most importantly, this new job has given me an opportunity to start a new life afresh, a life free from the life I had in my engineering days. Not that I hated my engineering days, on the contrary I miss those days of playing football , commenting in our teachers class and lazing around in the college campus. I really miss them very much and those who know how much emotional I am or lack of it would agree that this is indeed a great show of emotion from me. In the four years of engineering, my mates knew all about me or rather all that I wanted to reveal to them and it was kind of bittersweet experience to begin a new chapter in my life.

The Fourth(falling) Estate

When I switched on the TV and was flipping through the umpteen television channels on the platter, I was necked out on seeing the amount of media hype on the wedding of a former miss world and the current miss plastic face with the son of, undoubtedly the Superstar of Bollywood. What I did not understand is that why so much importance is being to this particular wedding .Thousands of weddings take place everyday, but rarely do we see ones that are shown as live telecast. Though the media has other trivial issues to cover such as the continuing farmer suicides, the UP polls, the OBC quota and the increasingly muddled nuclear deal, it is this particular wedding which is going to change the lives of crores of Indians and that must be shown to the entire country. Other petty issues can wait.

Come on!!!!Who will be interested in what happens to the poor farmers and their families. Farmer suicides are happening and will continue to happen. The US is trying to suck our country into a nuclear wormhole and make us dependent on it for future fuel supply, but who the heck is interested in the future. We live in the present, party hard, go to pubs and take one day as it goes. We just want to know where ash-abhishiek are going to honeymoon, who else is going with them and will they call Salman Khan for wedding reception. Agreed that providing latest news to the public is the primary responsibility of the media , but am sure no one would be interested in things like whether the bride is a manglik, at what time did abhishek apply sindoor on ash or for that matter what was the menu at the wedding.

Also, the media tries to make us believe that we love cricket, even if we do not. It is because we are so good at it, though our recent form shows otherwise. The channels over hype the fact that our cricketers pour their hearts into every game. Other sports are not worthy of our attention. Other sportsmen do not pour their hearts out into their games. Other sportsmen are not worthy of endorsing our brands of footwear, aerated drinks or car batteries. Our cricketers alone deserve our adoration and we brand them heroes and set these people as an example to the generations to come, though they are no more than a mediocre group as a whole. Other sports do not matter to us. Our movie stars are intelligent. They study all scripts carefully and are always unwilling to propagate stereotypes. They live clean, wholesome lives and are therefore perfectly suited to deliver clean, wholesome messages to the masses that adore them. Therefore, we should watch their personal lives with all the care and attention we give to our lives.

According to me, this dangerous obsession with the celebrity culture and cricket is going to take us nowhere but downwards. This filthy and gaudy show of power and wealth does not go down well in a country where still 25% of our population is under poverty line and does not get even a single square meal a day. According to an expert group of Planning Commission, poverty line in rural areas is drawn with an intake of 2400 calories in rural areas and 2100 calories in urban areas. If the person is unable to get that minimum, level of calories is considered as being below poverty line. You may argue about who would want to see a boring story about the poor and the underprivileged ones when one can participate in the glamorous and glitzy wedding of the rich and famous through the television.

In his speech on the budget, Chidambaram quoted Nehru: “Everything else can wait, but not agriculture.” Agriculture represents much more to India than a mere slice of economic pie – it is the very lifeblood of the country, the source of livelihood for 115 million farming families and 70 percent of the country’s population, the base upon which the entire edifice of the nation rises. But then, these farmers toil hard in the field, braving the cruel sun, the merciless rain to grow food on which we feed ourselves whereas the page 3 celebrities are of no practical use to anyone but themselves. Therefore, whose condition needs to be portrayed on TV is anybody’s guess. It is equally true that we need a break from the serious stuff happening round us and this break is being provided by the entertainment and sports industry. However, sometimes, when the water crosses a certain level that things start becoming bad and even the things we loved earlier look very unreal and artificial to us. It is a sad fact that in a country where female foeticide reigns supreme and the dropout rate of children in a primary school is 25 percent, we feast our eyes and our soul on the glitzy lives of the bold and the beautiful. The media make us feel as if there are only two things in life CRICKET and BOLLYWOOD .Would someone please inform them there is another world beyond the film city and a new populace to meet beyond the cricket stadium.

Lament of a River

According to Hindus, the river Ganga (feminine) is sacred. It is worshipped by Hindus and personified as a goddess, who holds an important place in the Hindu religion. The Ganga originates in the Himalayas at the confluence of five headstreams – the Bhagirathi, Mandakini, Alaknanda, Dhauliganga, and Pindar at Devaprayag in the India state of Uttarakhand. Out of the five, the Bhagirathi is held to be the source stream originating at the Gangotri Glacier at an elevation of 7,756 m (25,446 ft). The
streams are fed by melting snow and ice from glaciers including glaciers from peaks such as Nanda Devi and Kamet. The picture below is of the great river Ganga as it originates at Gangotri. Believe me; the water is so cold and so clean that it seems impossible that it is the same Ganga at Patna or for that matter even Varanasi.


At Devprayag, the Bhagirathi from the Gaumukh and the Alaknanda unite to form the Sacred Ganga. One could see the two distinct colors of the two rivers; one snow white and the other dark mossy green mixing to form a fearful torrent .It was a sight to behold. Thus, DevPrayag is the true birthplace of Ganga and is considered only next to Prayagraj in importance. From there on the Ganga continues its journey to the various different prayags and becomes the fearful and mighty torrent, which is the real Ganga. Until the holy city of Rishikesh one cannot, but admire the sheer force and the sheer purity of the Ganges River (Believe me, I have been to all these places and seen the transformation of Ganga from a milky clean and flooding river to a polluted and smelly one). However, the real damage starts at the city, which is the gateway to both Shiva and Vishnu. That is, at Haridwar.

The river suddenly transforms from a mighty ocean of water to a kind of garbage disposal yard and bathing ghat. We have the mighty Ganga Aarti everyday at the ghat of the river ganga.One of the ritual is to light lamps and allow it to flow in the river Ganga for the fulfillment of ones wishes. But, the damage done to the river by means of addition of tones and tones of flowers , plant leaves and clay diyas , makes us wonder how indifferent a man can be when it comes to taking care of a natural resource. . The, this is not just the problem concerning the industrial wastes and the lack of water treatment facilities for the river, but it also concerns the people’s sentiments and emotions. Then, in an emotional country like India where people great deeds, both good and bad, in the name of sentiment and emotion, it is not easy to discount the sentiment.



It is believed by many people that one dip in the great river Ganga is enough to wash away ones entire life’s sins (and make a start for more). About 60,000 people take a holy dip in the Ganga at the ghats each day and there are thousands of people present at the Ganga aarti at Haridwar. The people may be washing away their sins, but what of the poor river that is burdened by not only the curses and travails of the people, but also the industrial wastes that flow into it from the major cities such as Varanasi and Kanpur.The final nail in the coffin of Ganga comes at Kashi. Everyday around 60000 people come to the ghats of kashi to have the ritual bath and with them comes tones and tones of paraphernalia such as plastic bags, flowers, fruits, which adds more “sins” to the river.

The practice of allowing people to burn their dead relatives near the rivers and leaving their sometimes half-burnt bodies to float in the river does not help matters. I think this is a very insalubrious practice both for the river and for the people for whom the Ganga is the source of drinking and bathing water. Now, from a great mass of fresh water at Rishikesh and Haridwar, the Ganga becomes a waterway of stench and garbage. The lesser the discussion about Ganga, Varanasi onwards, the better. The river is a sick one and instead of washing away our sins, a dip in it can give you previously unknown diseases..



The efforts of the Sankat Mochan Foundation and its Swatcha Ganga campaign have not fructified so far, even after more than two decades, due to apathy and prejudices of the executive. Our universities and professional bodies have to take a pro-active lead, be it cleaning rivers, environment or other spheres. Small financial assistance given by Inter-national Development Agencies of governments like Sweden and USA directly to NGOs may also stop; because the Government of India has taken a policy decision that foreign assistance to NGOs may not be given directly. NRIs living outside India want to support gurus, temples and Hindu organizations and they are not so interested in
NGO activities going on in India for development and appropriate use of technologies. Big international foundations want NGOs to work in areas, which are favored by these foundations.

What shall we do??? Where shall we go??? I would like the reader to ponder about this grave problem as it has the potential of having the gravest of consequences for our coming generations.

We live in a Democracy

It is rather sad to see that people are being denied the right to express their views and opinions, whether it is in the form of films, paintings, opinions on air or articles in the papers. It is all the more ironic because India has always been a country, which has been at the forefront of democracy and freedom of rights and expression to its citizens. According to the preamble of the Indian Constitution, India grants its citizens the liberty of thought, expression, belief, faith and worship and equality of status and opportunity, among other things. However, in the light of recent events, this reputation, though not fully dented, has taken a beating.

What about the basic rights given to us by the constitution such as freedom of speech and opinion? I see a very dangerous trend developing right across the country in this regard. I think a few examples, would make everyone understand the situation better.

Many of you would have heard about the Narmada Bachao Andolan (Save Narmada River).One of the most loved and popular actors of the country Mr. Aamir Khan , voiced his opinion on the dam issue and asked the government for first settling the issue of rehabilitation of the displaced people. The next instant, the various groups and political parties, took their daggers out asking him to apologize for his statements. They told that the statement of his was a publicity stunt, while the truth is that he is too popular and too famous to go for such cheap gimmicks. He also replied, on being asked, whether he was interested in politics that “I am an ordinary citizen of India. We have a democracy and I feel I have a right to express my opinion.” Isn’t this, what democracy is all about?

One more instance of such activity in recent times comes to my mind. The movie Parzania was not allowed to release in the same state of Gujarat, which was a witness to the Godhra Train Massacre and the subsequent state sponsored pogrom(though denied by the State Government, but everyone knows the truth.).It was said that the screening of the movie would reopen new wounds and destabilize the state machinery. But people there and indeed the people around the entire world had the right to know the truth from the people who were the real victims in the riots and violence. But no!!! Stamped the state government. (For more details on the Gujarat riots and godhra tragedy please visit the link given at the end of the blog.)

These are just a few incidents, which depict the real and rather sadly, the so-called modern superpower India. Only when the people are allowed to express their heart, we come to know the different perspectives of the same problem. And only when we have a well-rounded view of the problems, we can find a solution, because understanding is the first step to solving the problem. Though people have become too stubborn and intolerant to appreciate the view of others, which in many instances is the real truth.

However, the problem is not just India –specific. The UN Report on human development might celebrate cultural diversity but there is increasing intolerance of cultural symbols across Europe. Activists have launched a campaign to protect the right of Muslim women in Europe to wear Islamic headscarves. The issue of the hijab, the traditional headscarf worn round the head and shoulders, has triggered off controversy across the continent and brought to the fore sharp divisions over integrating Muslims.

There have been many incidents of growing unrest and intolerance among many European countries. In what might seem paradoxical, western countries despite their emphasis on freedom can curb the individual’s freedom to wear a dress that is either a mark of religious identity or a cultural symbol. What one wears is no longer the matter of ones choice, but instead is dictated by the so-called Moral Police. The governments of some of these countries have claimed that they are protecting Muslim women from being forced to wear the hijab. In the name of protection, the people are becoming, more and more, a prisoner of the diktats of the society.


In times like these, I only recall the lines of Mahatma Gandhi, who said

Freedom is not worth having if it does not connote to freedom to err.
It passes my comprehension how human beings, be they ever so experienced and able, can delight in depriving the other human beings of that precious right.

Links
An enquiry on the Gujarat carnage http://www.sabrang.com/tribunal/index.html
Published by the citizens for justice and peace
Violence in Gujarat http://www.pucl.org/Topics/Religion-communalism/2002/gujarat-nhrc-submission.htm
Parzania – the movie http://in.rediff.com/movies/2005/dec/16par.htm
Parzania not being screened
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Parzania_not_screened_in_Gujarat/articleshow/1465049.cms
http://www.hindustantimes.com/news/181_1912586,000600030005.htm
Gujarat riots http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2002_Gujarat_violence

Please Spare Us the Cliches

Another terror attack, a so-called act, of the people opposed to the peace process between India and Pakistan. "We will not allow elements which want to sabotage the ongoing peace process to succeed," said Mr. Musharraf in a statement, according to The Associated Press. What happens in the aftermath of the attack? Any Guesses?

Condoling the deaths, Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil said the incident was aimed at disturbing peace and spoiling India's relationship with other countries.
"Whoever is behind the incident is against peace and wants to spoil our growing "Sharam aani chahiye lrelationship with other countries," Patil said. (What a revelation)

Condemning the ghastly blasts on the train, Congress President Sonia Gandhi appealed to the people of India and Pakistan to stand up firmly against enemies of humanity.

"Gandhi has condemned the barbaric act of violence in the Samjhauta Express and has appealed to the people of India and Pakistan to stand up firmly against such enemies of humanity," a party spokesperson said.

Prime Minister asks us to maintain calm and peace in the eye of the tragedy and repeats his oh so clichéd statements like those stated below, but very little action follows.

“No one can make us to go to our knees” (Because we are already dead and buried)

"India will continue to walk tall, and with confidence."

He also praises the resilience and courageous spirit of the people, who are not cowed down by the terror attack and go to their respective offices the next day. (Do we have a choice?? Other than go to work)

"Do not be provoked by rumours. Do not let anyone divide us. Our strength lies in our unity."(Who needs provocation, when we have the entire state machinery at our back, like in the case of Godhra train massacre to revenge the killings?) Shri Modi played an active role, along with at least three cabinet colleagues, in instructing senior police personnel and civil administrators that a "Hindu reaction was to be expected and this must not be curtailed or controlled."

“The perpetrators of this dastardly act will not go unpunished”
(Do we remember a certain Dawood Ibrahim, the so-called mastermind behind the Mumbai Bomb Blast? Is he rotting in Tihar Jail or is he slogging out in Allahabad Jail?) Or are the masterminds of the Indian Airlines Hijack cooling their heels behind bars. Yes, maybe the dance bars in some country. Or for that matter the accused in the recent 7/11, Mumbai Train blasts. We dot even know their names or anything.

Mr. Lalu Yadav said that “The incident happened due to lack of security arrangements (Euphemism for Intelligence failure), such as the absence of metal detectors and screening equipment” (Of course, if everything were in place, this tragedy would have been avoided. Even a child can deduce that).

Last but not the least, it is the time for compensations .1 lakh, 2 lakhs, 5 lakhs and in the recent Samjhauta express bombing case a whopping 10 lakhs for each of the person killed (But believe me, money is, quite a poor replacement for a person dead). The more lives an act takes, the more the compensation. Sometimes even the allotment of compensation is not devoid of blunders. The Gujarat earthquake victims were asked to deposit 5000 Rs to get their compensation. The victims of the state sponsored pogrom in Gujarat were given checques ranging from Rs 100- Rs 5000, when the amount promised was in lakhs. (Hey!! Sometimes, even computers make mistakes .Like the famous M seal advertisement. Maybe it forgot to print a few zeros.)

To give you a real life example .A woman displayed a cheque of Rs 100 she received as compensation for the damage to her house in the post-Godhra riots, and so taken aback was the two-member probe panel that Justice (retd) K G Shah couldn't help remark: "Sharam aani chahiye lene wale ko aur dene wale ko (It should shame both who receive and award such compensation)."

The end result!
We live happily ever after, that is until a new tragedy or a new terror attack hits us. Again, the same process is repeated. Some one very truly stated that LIFE GOES AROUND IN CIRCLES. Life goes on, as it never ends. That is just the hard truth of life and the sooner we accept it, the better it will be. We cannot expect anything more substantial or more concrete from the so-called people’s representatives.

Are We a Bunch of Hypocrites

“CELEBRITY BIG BROTHER “Shilpa Shetty’s Biggest Hit till Date
Her agent says She is being considered for the Academy Award (I added that)

While the furore over the racist comments against Shilpa Shetty dies, amidst the so-called great victory of hers in the Celebrity Big Brother, we must pause and analyse the Indian Governments response. Rarely have we seen such swift action by India in taking up a important issue. Well Shilpa Shetty was racially abused .Fine!!! But what about the lakhs and millions of migrant laborers an skilled workers alike who bear the brunt of much worse racial and even physical abuse than Miss Shetty. The Indian Government tried to talk about the controversy with Mr. Gordon Brown, who was on an official visit to India. It is a pity that instead of discussing issues such as the Iraq fiasco, the nuclear supplier’s group problems and how to deal with Iran, we ended up discussing the sex appeal of Miss Shetty. History does provide us with great examples of the hypocrisy of our Government, our political class and indeed our people.

For that matter we take great pride in our Indian culture and Indian ethos and talking about women being a source of worship and reverence and give women the status of mother while on the other hand there is a case of molestation and sexual harassment in our capital , every two weeks. Most shocking of all, a girl is molested by 70 people on New Years Eve at the gateway of India and ironically, the girl gets the blame for wearing an alluring dress and tempting the men folks. To speak of statistics according to National Crime Reports Bureau, 154333 crimes against women were registered in 2004.Of these 18233 are rape, 58121 molestation and 10001 sexual harassment.

On one hand, we rejoice the elections of Mr. Jindal as a representative of the people of Louisiana and support his candidature for the gubernatorial post and hailed the rise of new India when Mahendra Choudhary is elected PM of FIJI, these very own people protest and called for nationwide strikes when Sonia Gandhi, was poised to become the Prime Minister of India. She being an Indian Citizen and also the undisputed leader of the single largest party in the elections had every right to stake her claim. But no!!!First she has to prove her Indian ness, said the Shiv Sena's and the BJPs and other so-called swadeshi and purely Indian groups. The BJP had accused Sonia of being a foreigner and therefore not fit to lead the country and, as the election campaign gathered momentum, the accusations deteriorated.

It was said that, even though she took Indian citizenship 21 years ago, Sonia did not see herself as Indian because:
(a) She continued to hold the deed (or at least part share) to her ancestral home in Italy – wasn’t that a terrible thing to do for someone who saw herself as Indian?
(b) Her favourite dish was pasta and her children spoke fluent Italian – weren’t these signs that she did not see herself as Indian?
Where is the patriotic and nationalistic feeling gone when a government allows systematic and state sponsored slaughter of hundreds an hundreds of Muslims and still has the guts to talk that the ruling party is dividing the country on communal lines.
The odd thing is that India has always prided itself on being an open and tolerant society. For years, it has opened itself up to the ‘foreigner’ and has welcomed and assimilated all kinds of ideas and change. Indian history is replete with foreigners who have made this country their home. Among the examples are Mother Teresa (no Indian held her to account for being a ‘foreigner’) and Annie Besant, who was, like Sonia Gandhi, leader of the Congress Party, and who well and truly dirtied her hands in the murky world of Indian politics.

Then, if we flip the picture and look at it differently, there are other realities. If we have not hesitated to claim foreigners as our own, we also have not quibbled much about ‘Indians’ who become foreigners. VS Naipaul is still seen as Indian, as is Amartya Sen – or are they exceptions because they won the Nobel Prize? Don’t we go Gung Ho over a certain Sunita Williams going to space and so on, when that person has not, in her entire life, been to India? She was an American until she went aboard the space shuttle and suddenly became The Favourite Daughter of India. So much so for Dual Citizenship.

Indians are in every single country in the world today. They are making their fortunes, fighting for their rights, and they want to be seen as citizens of the country they have made their home. There is a large number of middle class Indians whose life dream it is to acquire a Green Card and become American. How then can we castigate anyone who makes our country his or her home? We expect people to accept Indians to accept us as a integral and natural part of their society, while we ourselves refuse to do so. Now!!Aren't those glaring double standards.