The Deception

“Hey Ram, Garlands are not ready and it’s time for Netaji to come. Bring them fast!”

The  head  of  Madhavpur  village  in  the  district  of  Kalahandi  district  in  Indian  state  of  Odissa said in hurry. He was serving the village for more than 10 years, tall, healthy body, muscular arms and a serious face with a calm nature. Everybody in the village revered him for his acumen. 

The  village  is  a  typical  example  of  an  Indian  village  with  lack  of basic  infrastructure. There was a primary school in a small building of two rooms with children like cattle  packed in a cow shed. Two wells -one for the upper caste and other for the lower caste people, are  the main  source  of  drinking  water;  people  depend  on  the  rain  God  for irrigation completely. This time the rain God seems unhappy with this village; the only road to the nearby city was looking like excavation of an ancient civilization.

  

People  know  how  to  read  and  write  just  to  increase  the  literacy  rate  of  the  state.  Educated youth did not find the farming work up to their standard, and they used to go  to  cities  like  Surat  (Gujarat)  to  get  some  work  in  textile  mills  and  coals  fields  of Chhattisgarh or Jharkhand.  

 “Yes Sarpanchji, they are ready with me. I will be back within a minute.” 

After the elections, the village was to be fortunate enough to have Netaji on its soil at least  after  three  years.  The  whole  village  was  waiting  eagerly  to  have  a  look  of  him  from morning. The school was closed, as it was before some days on Polio Day then panchayat elections followed by legislative elections. Today people were asked not to go  to  work;  men,  women  and  children  were  in  colorful  dresses, women  had  finished their work. The school was well decorated up to the school road; sitting arrangement is also so nicely arranged.  

Just in front of the stage there are children standing in rows, then chairs for women  followed  by  men.  Everything  was  nicely  planned  and  the  credit  goes  to  a  group  of people  who  came  to  the  village  yesterday  morning  with  everything  with  them,  from decorative things to chairs. Everybody was eagerly waiting for Netaji.

The dreams, which Netaji showed before the elections when he came to this village last time on an election campaign, were still fresh in the minds of the people. It was the month of May, the temperature was 44 degree, and there were hot winds all over the area. No one could dare to go outside in the Sun, so the life used to be started long before sunshine and then when it was 8-9 am, the life ceased until 4 pm.  

There was no one you could find except a group of youth was playing cards under a  tree near the school as school was closed in the summer.

“Hey, a group is heading towards us.” someone of the group said looking towards the road. 

“They must be going to the fair in the nearby village, see they are wearing all white.” 

With in some time, a group of people in white and white was in front of them. They were puzzled to the number of people in the group. None of the group had any idea about anybody of the group coming.  

“Hey Suresh, how are you! You don’t remember me?”, someone in white and white said. 

“He…..llo uncle, sorry I could not see you.” Suresh stuttered.  

He continued, “We just got frightened seeing such a huge group with you, what is the matter?” 

“We are here for the election campaign, we are campaigning in all the villages in the district on foot for one month, and it is our last village as I am from this village, we will take rest after in our home. Please go and call Sarpanchji.” Netaji said wiping his sweating.

Within sometime many people were gathered on the school ground. All were happy to see  Netaji after  so  long  and  to  know  that  Netaji and  his  group  were  on  foot understanding their problems, going village to village for so many days. After a brief speech, all were convinced to cast their vote in favor of Netaji. 

Netaji, before  entering  into  this  profession,  was  a  part of  this village. When  he  got failed in higher secondary for the third time, he went above the worldly attractions of working  in  the  field  and  studying.  He  had  only  one  work  of  sitting  on  the  village Chaupal with his friends all day long and talking about some serious topics. Only these things had sent him to the state capital from the village Chaupal.

  

Today even the electricity was there from early morning to welcome Netaji. However, it used to be there for sometimes in a day to offer tribute to Edison.

“Sir,  it’s  time  for  you  to  go  to  Madhavpur  village.  Car  is  ready,”  Netaji’s personal assistant said.

“Hey, what is the need of hurry?  Can you not see I am watching ‘Tour to Switzerland’ on  Discovery? You want  to  go  there  in  this  summer  or  not?” Netaji blasted  without losing his concentration from the TV.

The  garlands  lost  their  fragrance  and  the  children  got  exhausted  standing  on  their ground for so long without playing. The movie songs, which the people were enjoying, now were irritating them because they had enjoyed them for more than five times, they could even sing the whole song by themselves. 

Suddenly, there was a sound of motor in everyone’s ears; suddenly there were many cars before them. The front car’s door opened and two men come out to go to the next car  and  open  the  door.  This  was  probably Netaji’s  car  as  it  was  a  bit  different  from others to have a red light. All this happened like work of Djinn.  

Netaji came  out  of  the  car  with  a  man  with  arms  and  he  was  following  him  like  his  shadow. Netaji was  leading  his  friends  to  the  school  ground.  The  whole  picture  was  similar  to what  happened  in  campaign  time  but  the  behavior  of  Netaji  and  the  men coming with him.   Children,  youth  and  the  old  with  open  hearts  welcomed  Netaji and  his caravan.

Children’s  hands  were  now  free.  After  formal  introduction  and  welcoming  program, Sarpanchji  invited Netaji to the dais. Netaji with his shadow guard went to the dais and before starting his speech, he said something in the ears of his assistant Mr Mohan.  

Netaji started his speech- “Dear brothers, sisters and mothers; I thank you from the core of my hearts for your valuable support and trust on me….” There was a big round of applause from people side. He smiled as the acknowledge, then continued, “…I beg your pardon for coming late today. However, since you people have entrusted me  for  serving  you,  I  was  busy  in  your  work  until  now.  Even  before  coming  to  the village, I talked to the electricity department that this is my area and everyone should  get electricity. I can understand the importance of electricity in your lives….”

He stopped to have a sip of water. Then continued, “….That is why, I am late, please pardon me. I am in politics just to serve the people and serving you people is my karma and everything for me…. Now there are so many employment opportunities for you because of the industries around our village…. It was my  responsibility  to  get  the  employment  for  our  youth,  I  insisted  the  government  to have new industries here…..”  

This  made  the  youth  somewhat  disappointed,  as  it  was  true  that  after  the  elections there were many new industries came up around the village. It seems the local people were not eligible for the job, as they did not have the security money and the so-called extra money for other services. Therefore, there were outside people who came for the job.  

Netaji stopped for a while and there was thunderous sound of clapping and it went on without stopping for a second, even the children were giving a great response though they were not getting the base of the matter. However, it seems everyone was enjoying the speech.

There was a sudden music, which came altogether from nowhere. It gave a pause to the enthusiasm of the audience. All were looking surprised. Netaji took out a small box like instrument from his pocket and went back from the mike. The audience could hear only the whispering sound of Netaji. Netaji talked about some two minutes and after having finished the talking, he talked to his assistant in ears and he again came to the 

dais.  

“Dear brothers and sisters, there is an important meeting with the chief minister today about the rural development programme and the drought case. I regret; I have to leave for the meeting now. I promise, if you have any problem; you are always welcome to come up with your problems. The doors of my house in the capital are always open for the common people especially for you whose blessings are always with me…..” 

The assistant interrupted, “Sir, vehicle is ready.” Netaji with his friends marched towards the car. Everyone was watching the group and the car entered into the pool of dust and was out of their sight within no time.  Some people were looking sad but there was a wave of happiness in the children, who had not to wait for long now for getting the sweets.

“Yes, Mr. Ramesh the timing was good. I was not getting anything new to speak when the  by  heart  speech  was  over.”  said  Netaji while talking  in  his  mobile  when  they stopped in the nearby city near a bar. The whole troop had some food; they bought some colorful bottles from there, got some chicken, and again started their journey.

After  the  meeting,  the  village  came  back  to  its  original  life.  The  problems  were  not stopping even for a while. Because of the drought, everybody was in trouble including cattle.  All  the  water  resources  were  thirsty  themselves,  without  power  it  was  not possible  for  the  people  to  use  the  irrigation  facilities  they  installed  after  spending  so much  money  and  time.  Finally,  it  was  decided  to  report  all  these  to  Netaji  and Sarpanchji set off for the capital.  

It was early in the morning; some women were sweeping their courtyards, some were fetching  water  from  the  well.  He  was  on  foot  to  the  nearby  village.  Walking  on  the rough road was not so easy and the pain he was feeling, was the proof of it. The mist was all over the trees like a white blanket. He was thinking about the problems all the way and you could see the Sun at the horizon when he reached the village.  

He had to wait for an hour to get the bus to nearby city. The bus was all full; some people including women were hanging like the branches of a tree, it was as everybody was preparing for the bus from night itself. Sarpanchji, anyhow manage to get some space on the roof of the bus where some people were already there with their stuffs.  

The bus took two hours to travel hardly 10km from the village to the city. All the way, it was moving like a ship on the ocean. People on the top had to bend themselves many times when there were electric poles crossing the road, branches of trees hanging to the road and the subways. There could be a danger to people’s lives but they are quite accustomed  with  all  these  things.  They  were  enjoying  the  ride  with  their  talking listening to the songs on the local radio station. 

On reaching the city, he had some breakfast and then waited for another bus to the state capital.

Soon there was a call.

”Bhubaneshwar….Bhubaneshwar,”  

He  went  inside  the  bus  and  took  the  window  seat  in  front  row.  As  soon  as  the  bus started, Sarpanchji had  a  deep  sleep.  The  ride  was  so  smooth  that  it  did  not  bother anybody’s sleep. The road was no more the village or state highway, it was now on the national highway. You could easily guess the development of the country by seeing the quality of the roads, which were a part of the golden quadrilateral project connecting all the four important metros.

It was like a nap for Sarpanchji, when someone awoke him.

“Sir, we have come to Bhubaneshwar,” 

He collected his small bag and left the bus to take a rickshaw to the Netaji’s house.

He was on the gate when the guard asked impolitely, “Who are you?”

“I  am  the  Sarpanch  of  Madhavpur  Village,  I  want  to  see  Netaji.” Sarpanchji replied calmly.

“Do you have an appointment to see him?” Guard inquired. 

“No, I do not have. I am from his village, he surely will meet me” He replied. 

“He is busy for the entire week, come next week” Guard said. 

“I came from a distant place; you please go and inform Netaji, if he says he cannot see me, I will go” He said in somewhat angry mood.

“Sir, I am saying He is busy with some meeting, he cannot see you now.” Guard said with respect this time.

Netaji was seeing all these from his window where he was busy with watching some programs on the TV.  He called his assistant and said,” Go and ask Sarpanchji to come and wait in the guest room. Tell him I am busy in an important work.” 

Sarpanchji was now allowed to enter the house.

There was greenery everywhere; he was influenced by the automatic sprinkler system, which  was  watering  the  grass  continuously  in  all  directions.  There  were  beautiful flowers of different colors, which were enhancing the natural beauty of the place. On the side of the house, there were some cars with different models; all were kept in a very nice manner.

One could get the feeling of being in a car show room while looking into them. Out of all those, one, which he had seen when Netaji came to his village, was also there. Near the main door, there was a big black dog; it was looking like a leopard without stripes. It was the first time he was seeing such a dog.

The  assistant  accompanied  him  to  the  guest  room,  and  asked  to  wait  there,  where some people were already waiting. On seeing the crowd, one could understand easily, how important Netaji was. People were waiting there watching TV and commenting on the program, talking, etc. There were two big TVs for the public, who could see it in either ways. All were enjoying watching TV; it was as if they have come to watch their favorite programs there.  

Sarpanchji saw Mr. Mohan coming into the house. He recognized him as he was also there in the troop when Netaji came to his village. 

“Namaste,Mr. Mohan!” He greeted.

“Namaste… Sarpanchji, how are you and your village?” Mr. Mohan replied politely.

“Our  village  is  on  the  verge  of  destruction  that  is  why  I  am  here  to  see  Netaji.” Sarpanchji replied disappointedly. 

“Do not worry; everything will be all right soon” Mr. Mohan said and went to Netaji.

“Sir,  Sarpanchji  from  Madhavpur  village  has  come  to  see  you,”  Mr.  Mohan  said  to Netaji.  

Netaji’s concentration was on something else. He repeated, “Sir, Sarpanchji from Madhavpur village has come to see you.”

“Can’t you see I am busy, oh, one more shock for England! These days our boys are really doing well in cricket…” Netaji said in jolly mood.  

Mr. Mohan was standing without saying anything.  

“Ok, ask him to wait for some time, let me finish the match.” Netaji said without turning his eye from the television. 

Sarpanchji waited for about 5 hours. Netaji was preparing for rest after heavy lunch.  

“Listen Mr. Mohan, go and ask him to come after a week as I have to go to Delhi for an important meeting.” Netaji said at last, so that he could have a nap without anything in mind. 

Sarpanchji was dying of hunger and it was unfortunate of him that even after waiting for a long time he could not meet Netaji. He was thinking about the problems of the village all the way to the village.  

“How can our problems be solved?” He whispered.  When he reached the village, it was the time of cattle returning to home, some people were also returning with wood and some were coming from the city with their items.  

As usual, there was no power. He could see the dim light of lamps from the road. He disappointedly entered his home. His wife got the water for him, without a word he sat on the chair.  There  was  some  light  in  the  kitchen  room,  because  of  the  wood  fire  and  in  another room; his younger son was struggling to study under the earthen lamp.

Indians will be Indians!

We lost our chance to say, ‘Buddies, we are Indians of a new India!’ to the world.

THE LARGEST multi-sport event conducted in India so far, the 2010 Commonwealth Games being held satisfactorily now for 71 nations has showed that ‘Indians will be Indians’ and nothing can change us.

After winning the bid in the year 2003 over Canada which has four times organizing experience, it was the first time any developing bigger economy got the opportunity to showcase its technology, infrastructure, skill and so called ’Indian Mind’ to the world. Though, we have an experience of organizing Asian and Afro-Asian Games successfully. However, how can we go against our age old Indian tradition, we started the preparation on the eleventh hour after some pressure from Common Wealth Games Federation in 2008.

Our so called ‘savior of society’, the media noticed the slow progress not before July 2010 when Maoists were taking a power nap, there was no bomb blast and for their surprise even our Indian Trains were not colliding. Our forefathers had understood our nerve to give us an adage ‘Subah ka bhula agar sham ko ghar aa jata hai to use bhula nahi kahte’ (If lost in the morning returns home in the evening, he is not lost actually).

The whole world turned their eyes on the Indian media after exposing a large scale corruption and unpreparedness, calling the venues as ‘filthy and unlivable’. This time, they must have done excellently in TRP. There was a rat race for sting operations; even an Australian TV reporter from Seven Network could not resist his temptation to show the security breaches to the world. It was the first time when Indian Media were ‘eye opener’ for the whole world. The Australian reported: C'wealth Games India's Shame’ headlined the Times of India, the national Hindi-language newspaper Navbharat Times headlined “Double trouble for the Games”.

I also learnt that the budget estimation was 1620 Cr (2003) which escalated to 11,490 Cr in 2010 (excluding non-sports development). Supreme Court has to intervene into out of interest area as the actual expenditure is expected to be a whopping 70,000 Cr (US$ 15.45 billion), 43 times more than the original estimation and 14 times more than 2006 Melbourne CWG 2006 expenditure (US$ 1144.4 million). The media’s allegations on the Organizing Committee must be true and Central Vigilance Committee (CVC) has found a large scale discrepancy in handling the money and resources. Equipments were bought and contracts were awarded at much higher prices with poor quality and management assurance, etc. However, it can be expected out of some Indian Minds as nothing happens here without the C-word.

"These rooms are clean to both you and us; foreign standards of hygiene differ from our perception." a second front officer of Organizing Committee was true to his heart. We consider ourselves 2-tier and accept the superiority of others over us. A temporary ‘beautification’ is resulted in 160,000 displaced people as CNN reports and bamboo screens have been erected around the slums hide from 1-tier visitors as The Daily Telegraph (London) reports. When ‘Slumdog Millionaire’ depicted our poverty to the world, there was also so much of home grown criticism. Should we follow the Ostrich’s way to solve a problem?

All these resulted in a tug-of-war in the Indian parliament, some resignations, some hot prime time bulletins and non-participation of some eminent athletes in this version of CWG. We lost our chance to say, ‘Buddies, we are Indians of a new India!’ to the world. When China and South Africa had established precedents of standard and success recently, we should have come out of our Indian mindset. I wish everything would go in proper direction to save us at least from humiliation in future.

‘As developing nations we must stand together. We cannot allow developed countries to go out there and take the last seat in the hall’, said the president of South Africa’s Olympic committee who was assertive enough to say that he is willing to clean any toilets to help ensure it goes ahead. Can’ we emulate him? I hope our media will not bother about their TRPs to discuss things to put the responsible into the ambit of law when everything is over. Good Luck ‘CWG 2010’!

The Realpolitiks!

During these days when I was a bit busy in adjusting myself for the new atmosphere, there occurred so many incidents that rock the whole country.

THE COMMON MAN has adapted themselves for the unfavorable circumstances due to persistent price rise, but the actual common men are about to be extinct. People are dying of hunger and children suffer nutrition related problems. We spend a lot without a planned and determined approach in agriculture. Our poor farmers work hard to get us more than sufficient to be used as election bait in the elections. Our leaders are not ready to distribute the food to the poorest of the poor instead they want it to be rot in the open. It’s really disgraceful that the Supreme Court has to intervene in activities, our representatives are elected for.

The common men’s problems do not end with this. Unwillingly they have to support some people who are called the unsatisfied, enemies of the state. They fight for the poor (might pretend, I am confused) with the police, with the government officials to get food, shelter, wages, sometimes even jobs. Because of the confusion between the government and the de facto government, the poor people are deprived of their human rights. Lack of proper strategy and contingency planning cost us some innocent lives- people as security personal and youngsters who are unaware of the rightful ways of getting their rights.

While these problems lie basically in central or eastern India, in the north the situation is graver. It was a very tough time for the people of Jammu & Kashmir. Young minds including children and women are protesting against the government, seen as ‘struggle for freedom’ by some of the so called liberals in India and abroad. I am again confused here what the people of Kashmir actually want. The poll results say something whereas their protests and their anger by a significant group of youth on India as I witness in social networking sites depict something else.

On the other hand, China is trying to show its hegemony over the Asian countries. Deliberately they are refuting Indian concerns over so many areas. The staple visa issue, Chinese troupes in PoK, assisting Pakistan in defence against us, all suggests us to envisage properly before trusting them to avoid any humiliating situations like in 1962. They are too conceited to ignore us and our potential. Obviously is not a solution, it always remains uncertain who will it benefit to but, it is certain that it will cost both sides heavily.

Pakistan even in these six decades has not understood their neighbors. Perhaps it is the feeling of humiliation of losing (for the army) and jealousy of our progress (for the extremists) that they always try to find solace in others’ arms but not in India. Even at the time of great calamity of flood, their refusal to accept the Indian aid offered against a significant protest shows our concern for our neighbor. Their quest ends only at New Delhi and they have to understand the situation before it is too late to re-write the history.

Lastly, there were so many hue and cries for our long-neglected environment. I am not sure about concerns of the government in denying some of the projects which might prove crucial for our transition from no-respected developing country to high-respected. It’s may be for taking political advantage of the situation, position and power. But one thing is clear that we are still in developing stage and until our people have some more serious issues like malnutrition, unemployment, poverty, discrimination, etc, environment may not be their concern at all. We have to compromise the environment with the development up to a certain extent as we cannot have the environment norms what the developed countries have.

At the time of political, social, economical turmoil all over the country, our respected self-proclaimed leaders were trying to secure their future. They forgot the legacy of our great leaders who would join politics for serving others rather than themselves. Now when politics is also a place of gigantic money with power, at least it will create some competition in politics and there will be no place for graduate illiterates and social illiterates. If this happens really, that will be the greatest satire to our so called leaders of the masses.

This is India!

We are proud of being the largest democracy in the world. It is universally accepted fact that democracy is a long-term asset and we are ahead of China at least in this regard. However, sometimes it can have serious implications too which are not in favor of the nation’s long-term goal.

The judiciary system is the savior and the police system is the guardian of democracy. In the past six decades, their performance has not been satisfactory. We take more than 25 years to decide (even undecided) whether someone can be held accountable for a serious crime or not. Sometimes the nation has to bear the cost of the “rule of law”. The committees formed submit their report after a long time that the accused are they are on their last breathing (sometimes dead) and the victims have forgotten or are trying to forget the trauma of the incident. However, they are not allowed to forget the memory either.


The recent verdict on SPS Rathore and the latest case of police officers harassing two sisters in Chhattarpur (M.P)- are just the tip of the iceberg. Over 70% of the population in India still lives in rural areas and we can think of the number of these kinds of incidents, which remain unreported. History teaches us how our police system could have been important to tackle with the unfavorable situations and the shape of the nation would have been far better than now.



We can manage to be the super power as well as super poor. We have a large number ofbillionaires and on the other hand, more than 40% of the population (a third of global poor) falls below the International Poverty Line. The Income Inequality (Gini Coefficient) of India is increasing. Our performance is very poor in terms of Human Development Index (HDI). Here, we can massacre the people who follow the religion we hate without any much difficulty. Though, we are a Socialist, Democratic and Secular nation, but all these can happen only in India.

In a democracy, there are so many tools for our rights though their uses are not and cannot be properly defined. Here, we can go on strike even when we have the responsibility of running the nation. Here, even lawyers, doctors, road-railway and airline employees; everyone has the right to go on strike without considering the consequences neither in their favor nor in the country’s. Only in India, a handful of unsatisfied extremists can challenge central and state security agencies. They kill security personnel, they destroy our infrastructure (though primitive), they kill people and above all, they make law for the people in a sovereign country. No better example can be given to show that we are a democratic country.

Our politicians can leave everything on some committees to find out the cause of all incidents, the committees ultimately come with some crap, but repeatedly same type of incidents can occur only in India. Instead of securing the future, they try to take advantage politically out of every situation. Every accountable-minister always blames others for the incident. They declare the compensation amount in such a lordly manner that every paisa of the amount comes from their wealth and the kin of the deceased are eagerly waiting for that. There is serious lack of co-ordination among center and the states and even various departments of the state. However, it is our heritage and we will carry it proudly to the generations.

Even after so many complications, we can be the potential next super power. We have laws to tackle with almost all kind of situations; they are just decorating the nation on papers and we never bother to follow them because we know that there is another way. We need a foolproof system with zero tolerance for the break in laws. Our elected leaders should be given more power with more accountability. Until then, we have to go with someone, who said, “I have to believe that God exists because only God can run India for such a long period.”

The Female Factor

This will represent lesser than 3% of the women masses. The participation of a mere group of elite women in the polity does not promise the success of democracy.

It is “The International Women’s Day” today to celebrate economic, political, and social achievements of women around the world. India too seems to be seriously concerned for something epochal this time. However, the government is struggling to have an all-party consensus to go further with the long awaited “Women’s Reservation Bill”.

Looking at the male dominated history, one of our great scriptures starts with the verse, which can be translated as

The primary duty of women is enjoined to be service one’s husband.

This view for the women has changed around the world, significantly in India over the ages. The status of women has been improving unprecedentedly. However, it is still dismal which is manifested by surveys’ statistics.

The success of 33% women reservation in Panchayat Raj Institutions and then in all local elected bodies, paved the way for the same in the Parliament and State Assemblies too. Though, this has been in demand since independence and for more than a decade as a bill. But, because of lack of political integrity, consensus and co-ordination it was stuck under files. Now when it seems to clear all the hurdles this time, there are so many problems, which should be taken care with the reservation.

In a democratic country like India, where women comprise of 48% (2001 consensus)-the development of the nation hinges on the women. Statistics say still 72% population lives in rural area, of which 49% are women. The authorities who are supposed to discourage the dowry system are involved in the de facto “Gift from Bride”. Girl child is considered a great responsibility (precisely ‘load’) to the family. In rural areas, people want to be load-free as soon as possible whereas the intellectual urban area people do not even bother to take the load at all.

“State of the World’s Children 2009” of UNICEF reports that 47% of Indian girls aged 20-24 were married before the legal age of 18, with 56% in rural areas. “World economic forum 2009 Report” puts India in the Global Gender Disparity at 114 out of 134 countries. It also alarms with the worsening sex ratio in 0-6 age group.

The urban women are advancing at par with the men because of the facilities available and the evolved mindset of the people. However, the status of rural women seems to have no significant improvement. They do not get the basic facilities for education. Even the so called “literacy rate” of women in rural areas is much disappointing. A woman is not socially independent to use the present 33% reservation in the local bodies, which is enjoyed by her husband on her name.

It is only the iceberg of the problems, Indian women have. In these circumstances, if reservation without working for the their upliftment is given, this will represent lesser than 3% of the women masses. The participation of a mere group of elite women in the polity does not promise the success of democracy. Proper planning in infrastructure, education, health and security are some of the most needed elements, which can improve the status of women in India and can bring happiness to them to participate in the nation development.

Another Holiday?

We cannot approach the vision to be a developed nation until people from every corner, society and status are able to share the progress of the nation.

India is celebrating its 60 years of being republic from the British dominion. Our ancestors’ struggle, sacrifice and prudence paved the path to the modern India. One may have so many questions, which are mostly unanswered. Are we successful to achieve the nation of their dreams?

Is this kind of celebration provides opportunity to ponder the prevailing problems and analyze our achievements or just an occasion to have a feeling of being in a democratic country where we are free spirits to do whatever we like? For people like us isn’t it another holiday to play a match with friends or to go for a movie with your girlfriend?

For a country like India, with so much diversity-languages, religion, caste, sub-caste, ethnicity, color, economic status; our constitution was the biggest achievement so far for us. It is the supreme law of the nation setting a benchmark for the fundamental political principle, powers and duties of the government and fundamental rights, directive principles and duties of the citizens. Everything is so prudently framed and eclectically compiled that it guaranteed the future of India. Timely amendments made the constitution more suitable and stronger for the new age.

During these 60 years, our progress is unprecedented. We are no more a country of Max Muller of snacks and jungles; Indian mind is now accepted and respected everywhere. We can be proud of being with every kind of people in our country. One side we have world famous Businessmen, scientists, technocrats, engineers, doctors, and on the other side hungry people, slum dwellers, child labors, exploited people, are there (diversity??). The nation’s progress can be seen in the urban lives only and the rural life is still untouched. We have corruption at each and every level, sometimes I wonder is the nation being run or sab kuch bhagwan bharose chal raha hai?

We cannot approach the developed nation vision until people from every corner, society and status are able to share the progress of the nation. Still we have miles to go; our progress should not be on others’ but with the aspirations of all the people together. This Republic Day provides the opportunity to have a thought to make a difference. So what did you do today other than playing a game or watching a movie?

We, The Idiots

Certainly our education system requires serious thoughts by our great educationists and policy makers. Until then, we are compelled to be proud of being 'Idiots'.

"Don't worry, just say Aal izz Well," everybody is saying the language of '3 Idiots'. I was trying to figure out, why we are happy to call ourselves 'Idiot'? What's there in the movie that deserves a record-breaking response specially from the youth.

I found myself revolving around some factors: Is it because it has enjoyment-friendship-love, everything we want to see in a movie? Is it because it is based on a novel written by an IITian? or Is it because we see ourselves in the characters of the movie, struggling with the education system?

Certainly our education system requires improvement. Being from the same engineering background; I can say most of us are like 'Raju', who are studying to get a job. There are many 'Farhans', who are stuck in different worlds because of their parents. A mechanical or civil engineer doing a job in IT or BPO with the guys from non-technical, non-science background, is surely an indication of 'Under Employment' which is quite similar to unemployment. You can easily say on what factor our progress depends- 'well trained' or 'well educated'?

We all are trying to become 'Silencer' to compete and survive in the draconian world. The 'Rancho' inside us is unexplored, may be because it is not necessary or may be because we think so. It's not only engineering but every level of education in India lacks inclusiveness.

Obviously, It is not possible for everyone of us to become 'Rancho', who was extra brilliant to top the batch despite of all the enjoyment with his friends and loving his girlfriend in director's home. But, certainly our education system requires serious thoughts by our great educationists and policy makers. Until then, we are compelled to be proud of being 'Idiots'.