Resilient Inspiration

Let me make something very clear, I do not like Winston Churchill and what he did to India and Indians- exporting food grains from India during the famine and holding on to India believing it was their right to plunder makes him a mere looter. But there is one thing that I must admit, he was bad news for India but he was exactly what Great Britain needed. I like a particular quote of his "Never give in. Never give in. Never, never, never, never--in nothing, great or small, large or petty--never give in, except to convictions of honor and good sense. Never yield to force. Never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy."

(for the entire speech - http://school-for-champions.com/speeches/churchill_never_give_in.htm)

If this is not inspiration, I do not know what is. He showed this works as an island was able to somehow survive the onslaught of a mad despot who simply walked his way across Europe, stood victorious infront of the Eiffel tower and also had his army reach the Kremlin. Churchill lead his nation at a time of crisis and brought out the power that words have in his war broadcasts and in speeches like these that kept up the spirits of the people and his policies during the time saved Britain and perhaps the world too. He also gave the "Sinews of Peace" (http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Sinews_of_Peace) speech which popularised the term "Iron Curtain" for that part of Europe under Soviet influence (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iron_Curtain).

From personal experience too, I do admit I have very little of and from that itself I have found that never giving up is the best way to handle defeat. The novel 'Alchemist' was suggested to me by many, perhaps to inspire me to find my true calling but it taught me more about perseverance and resilience more than anything else. I hope I can keep trying until success is met for every journey that I embark upon

NEVER GIVE UP!

To Infinity, Shall this Agreement Last

Recently, I have seen people express outrage and bemusement at the ridiculous agreement that was signed by the King of Travancore handing over control of 'Mullaperiyar' dam and thus the waters of the river to TamilNadu for a period of 999 years (http://www.jeywin.com/blog/mullaperiyar-dam-controversy/) . It is a time period that is beyond our comprehension since just in the last 10years the world has seen multiple recessions, the emergence of internet, revolutions and counter-revolutions and growth at a scale never seen before and also faced challenging obstacles.


The king is not alone in signing ridiculously long agreements, we are all in the very same club. All of us are signing agreements that threaten the future of our children and their children, the very existence of myriad lifeforms that are present on this planet and all its resources. The duration of this agreement is not measurable simply because it will be in effect as long as this planet exists. The basic attitude that we will not be here while the effects of climate change kick in is what prompts us to mortgage the life of future generations for our present comforts. We are taking out loans from nature that can never be repaid by our children, we are condemning this planet and all its beauty and telling our children "sorry, we have used it all up. We can't leave anything for you except polluted rivers, rising sea levels, droughts and floods".

If you think an agreement lasting 999 years is unfair, then what we are doing is a crime most heinous. Think about it, the solutions and what to do are all around us and let not sign the agreement that will push the planet and future generations to come to a life of bondage and slavery to a planet in ruins

Ramblings on Wheels

If you read any book on India, the last minute mad rush finds a place invariably. It is not just students who keep things for the last minute, but everyone in this vast country. Perhaps it is not voluntary, perhaps the mad rush is forced upon them-lack of resources force people to scramble for what little is left-nowhere is it seen more prominently than in the largest railway network of the world. Tickets are sold out minutes after they are open for reservation. All this only provides middle-men and black market ticket agents to prosper hoard tickets which makes it even more scarce and costlier since these resurface few days or few hours before the journey to be bought by the desperate at a huge premium.


I almost feel that the government or whoever is in charge gets a saddistic pleasure watching people frantically try to access the IRCTC site or the conflicts that arise at the ticket counter at 8am each day as it opens for business. I have also seen the mad rush to get normal tickets as people try to not just jump the queue but also obliterate it simply because they cant wait. I saw someone presenting his case to jump the queue from the moment I stood in line and he was fighting even after I got my ticket and I received a mouthful in telugu too!!


Then came the rush to board the train, people hanging on to still unopened doors of the moving train, ladies jumping on board the train as it arrived at the platform. 10mins and the compartment was peaceful with family conversations and earphone conversations. But this was after an immensely chaotic rush to occupy seats and as for me, a healthy 6foot 2inch frame with the fortune of youth had helped me find a place as I watched all this unfold.


Are people good or bad? I can't blame the desperate attempts to jump the queue because they may have got stuck in traffic or perhaps it was just bad scheduling. Can they be called bad or found to be at fault due to what they did, which they might have had to resort to as it was forced on them by circumstance? Should what is right take all of these circumstances and background stories into account or are they to be judged on their actions alone?


What it proves is that when resources are scarce, when the demand for these resources become staggering there is a mad rush that divides people and sparks tensions. I am not sure but it might just be possible that vested interests do not want an equitable distribution of wealth. The recent remarks by real estate developers and also some among the high and mighty that construction costs and food prices are going up since the poor are becoming better betrays their mentality and also the flaws of capitalism. Cheap and exploitable labour is assumed to be their right. The fact that only 50% of NREGA funds are used (out of this another significant portion is siphoned off by false muster names and delayed wage payment) and the centre's attempt to dilute this revolutionary welfare measure by reducing funding show the priorities of our government. Keeping a section poor to be exploited and making resources and facilities inaccessible are perhaps tricks to keep people busy, from what is open to interpretation.


What must be done to make life better for millions is obvious, the money is there since the scams and corruption figures alone are in thousands of crores (if not lakhs, if my MEMORY is correct). Intentionally bankrupting PSUs so that they can make way for private companies or selling them off cheaply for a commision-Air-India will follow this route soon or perhaps after a bailout flushing more taxpayer money down the drain as if looting it wasn't enough.


I hope the government can do atleast something right to reaffirm the public's faith and belief in this nation. It is not just GDP growth numbers that matters, basic goods are going out of reach to a section that is not really benefited by average growth. An inclusive growth is the need of the hour, but we have heard the 'aam admi' slogan too frequently to lose all interest and novelty in it. I would have said that government should do this or do that, but then that would be valid only if they didn't actually know what has to be done, which is not the case. It is merely lack of interest and lack of incentives in doing what is good for the nation that is keeping our country poor

As Time Goes By

There was a time, so long ago that I do not even remember how old I was then, I wanted to play around and work with computers. The only thing I remember about that era is that I was still living in Trivandrum which puts me at less than 10years old. It was at the place of my aunt's collegemate that I first saw a computer-her brother was using it. It was small, was cream in colour, with lots of digits and numbers on the screen in black and white- I did not know it was called a monitor, but knew the word screen from TV screen. There was also a board with lots of letters and it was truly strange and it seemed a device that commanded respect and the word 'Computer' itself inspired awe and wonder in me. In school, I took Computer Classes, went through BASIC, VB and stuff like that and it was a wonderful world. Internet was even more of a wonderland since my forays into them were only at school and my understanding of what it was, made me dumbstruck and overwhelmed. Solitaire, Minesweeper (Yes, it was obviously a windows machine) etc become wonders and fun to play. Playing DOS games (didn't know the term then too) like Prince of Persia, Mario and Racing made me convince I wanted to work this device in my life.

It was at the age of 14 that I got my first computer, it helped me a lot in my quiz preparations and was a tremendous boost through encarta and britannica encyclopedias. Taught me all about MSOffice and a few games like Roadrash,Commando and Deltaforce (the regulars like solitaire still held its charm) and my mother shouting at me to close it and get to sleep during vacation was a regular program too that came with the computer. Years later, when I am working with this device, the only thing I want to do is shut this thing down, go home and read a book and not have to look at this thing at all. The awe and respect that the word 'computer' had is all gone, it is so ubiquitous in my life. I see hundreds of them everyday and I have two on my desk at office and a laptop- an easy to carry, sleek descendant of the small black and white computer that I had first seen years ago.

This change in attitude is also similar to the change that a person working with the computer has undergone. The pioneers, the very first people who worked with it, during the first phase of the IT boom were lucky, they created it, made this work and made it what it is and developed it. Hardcore technology and the lot, I know very little of it, but I and most others working on this are merely using what the users and makers of the first computers have laid down in principles, concepts and creations. We didn't make it, we are merely using it. The growth from powerful computing tool to services to doing everything via the computer, that has meant our lives are on this- and I do not like this. I have never needed spects, but it might happen soon enough. Any compensation for occupational hazards? Can I sue my employers if they don't give me this compensation? I still need this device, to read, study, watch movies and listen to music and obviously to wiki and win more quizzes (hope that happens). Not to forget posting this on my blog. I like the fact that life is easy and we are all connected and communication has become easy, but I just don't want to work with this device in my life, rather, I don't want this device to get me worked up anymore, I just want the good things in life ;)

Yes to Lokpal, No to such protests

I am not a huge fan of Anna Hazare, but I respect his intentions and the way they have formulated and anti-corruption law and the extent to which they have gone to publicise it and generate awareness among the people and also to make sure they are also transparent as to their doings. But I cannot agree with the methods they have chosen. I am not siding with the government either, it is the most corrupt that we have ever known and then accusing someone of mismanaging 2lakh rupees when it took the government years to even try someone accused of causing a loss of 1.76lakh crores is simply too hilarious.

That there is a need for an anti-corruption is as clear is day-light, Howard Beal's screams of 'I am mad as hell and I cannot take this any more' come into my head, but let us hope we don't end up in his direction. The fact that government is still trying to discredit such an individual and bring about a toothless bill is mocking the 1.2billion that live in this country. It is thumping its chest and saying 'we can get away with what we can because we make the laws and we make it protect ourselves and everyone and everything in this country is just a means for us to exploit'.

We need not just an anti-corruption law but also accountability from the Parliament where more disruptions happen than in a rain soaked test series in the West Indies, where more bunking and strikes happen than in our college days. We need accountability from the Judiciary and civil servants, but Jan Lok Pal should focus only on issues and complaints of corruption and not on accountability. Otherwise it will become too diluted.

It also needs to give clear demarcation on from where its investigative wing will be drawn and conflicts between existing mechanisms of CAG (Comptroller and Auditor General) and Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Departments. It also needs to be clear as to what and how the prosecution and punishments will be. The Jan Lokpal Bill will never root out corruption, it is not a silver bullet, but it it will put a fear in the minds of those, who take us for a ride each time they put pen to paper. It is not perfect either, but the joint drafting committee failed, thanks to the stubbornness of both sides- the civil activists to accept that theirs is not perfect and the governments hesitance to be accountable and to pass a strong law that will definitely put some of them under investigation.

I do not support the fast unto death Anna Hazare has embarked on right now, nor do I support the governments crackdown. The government should have adopted a stronger lok pal bill, it is a battle between the Government and Anna Hazare now, we the people are merely by standers and we have a lot to lose. Both are playing with the same cards, 1.2billion lives. One has pure intentions but not the right means always, the other has a false legitimacy to fall back on, but never good intentions and actions. We can only wait and watch who will blink first.

I wish the government would enact a strong lokpal bill, it makes political sense too, but the Government's refusal to do so will damage it irreparably and create uncertainty in the country, I do not see a happy ending,infact I do not see any end at all if the government does not back down. If it had merely agreed to a stronger bill, things would not have got this worse. Now its beyond everyone, things have been set in motion and we can only know what will happen once it happens.

The government should have agreed to a strong bill long ago, Anna Hazare should not have taken such an extreme step and should have made a few compromises on the dates, 2month period to fully discuss and formulate a law, that too with a government that is highly corrupt and indecisive, is too short. It should have been a slow struggle with protests and awareness campaigns, but such a flare up could have been avoided.

I do hope for a strong Lok Pal, I do hope corruption is curbed but I also hope that no one can hold the government to ransom like this. However corrupt they may be, they are a democratically elected bunch, crooks though most of them are and perhaps many of them sneaked in through the back doors of the house of state.

If someone says you have to be either with Anna or you have to be with the government, I say neither and both. The only legitimacy the government has is the constitution and democratic process that happened 2years ago and fortunately or unfortunately they are the only ones who can pass this law, but their actions have not been that of a responsible committed government and the recent actions of Anna Hazare haven't been perfect either.

Added on 17th-One could argue that only a just cause will be able to generate such amounts of support from the entire country and only then will any form of protest, hunger strike or satyagraha, be effective. But then we did have issues when Baba Ramdev's strike was forced out inspite of it being obvious that he was upto no good. In a country where people like Nityananda (I don't want to call him swami) can raise mass hysteria, I really do not think this argument will hold always. I am glad it is an Anna Hazare, not a violent madman at the helm, a man who is asking his supporters protest peacefully and court arrest without resisting.

It means we have a responsibility too, for people like Anna Hazare to succeed, we need to support only the right people and the right kind of protests and paths and not be blinded by demagogues who are out to make their own gains. In this case, from the point of view of an activist, Anna Hazare is right, but a bit more of patience should have been shown by both sides and more discussions held to iron out the differences. The government has to walk more than halfway, civil society activists also have to walk a short distance to find a meeting point. I hope that happens soon without causing much damage. I must say that the way in which these protests have turned out is surprising, little or no untoward incidents. Especially after witnessing the riots in London, this is giving me hope.

Purpose

It is everything, all determining and having been endowed or perhaps cursed with thought, we try to attach meanings to our insignificant lives. The knowledge can be quite numbing because whatever we do, we will all end, with nothing remaining of us, except perhaps memories carved in stone, words on paper and now, rearranged latches on digital circuits and plastic discs.

What is the purpose of all life? The simplest answer is actually applicable to all life, however complex it is- to perpetuate more life. A romantic or an optimist might say it is an attempt towards perfection and balance as species evolve and achieve better adaptations to survive, but even then it is about survival.

Philosophy and religion says it is about freeing oneself from the cycle of birth and death and reaching salvation and enlightenment. I do not know what it means apart from a few bits and pieces. We have all the knowledge in the universe because we are part of the universe, once we die, perhaps, it is just the cloth that is worn out which is discarded and we move on to something until we attain perfect knowledge and reach peace and salvation. If each individual is able to do that, only then will the world be free of conflicts and violence and misery. It is to each of us to be free, to be peaceful, to be happy.

All the institutions that we have created are destined to fail for they focus only on now, only in this world, nothing about what life is and its meaning. We are never free because our lives are built around these institutions, we are bound to this cycle of birth and death never knowing the true meaning of life and the universe.

This is not an attempt at escaping my inabilities or to show the path, but merely questions and doubts. If I knew the answer, would I be asking the question!

We live on short term goals, the next exam, the next appraisal, the next sports season, in my case now the next quiz, end of college and the uncertainty of a career and ambitions and life to follow. I am not afraid, but I do not see where it all goes and why it was all built for. Is there a purpose? I need answers, desperately, but even if I get the answers, will I be able to accept them.

Do Not Wake Me Up

Dear Mr.Assange,

I must say that your organisation's expose on India has been a little disappointing. One of the first articles obtained from wikileaks and published by 'The Hindu' is actually common knowledge in this country. Money and Muscle power rule election results and luring voters with alcohol and sarees is just part of the democratic process. I think legitimising this will enable the election commission to keep watch on the actual expenses and it would be easy to keep accounts. Saves a lot of time and effort for both candidates and EC, atleast they won't have to go on a wild goose chase. There are MPs who have multiplied their assets over 500times, kins of Supreme Court Justice (the highest judicial authority in the country and the last refuge for an ordinary citizen) gathering assets worth crores in a few years.

We have known that US has arm-twisted India into accepting various demands and also India has toed the US line on many an issue (Iran vote was quite obvious). Indians are not dumb, but we choose to ignore these petty little things as long as the cricket team does well, there are engineering colleges to send our children so that they can do the back office work of MNCs for peanuts, there is a daily dose of soaps and item numbers and just a glimmer of hope to get out this misery and end this corruption which has already affected all our vital organs (yet still we limp on).

We know the government is only interested in us just before the elections and, on other days they are busy selling spectrum, real estate, minerals and the entire country to private companies and even foreign corporations. We know that the government is scuttling the working of Public Sector Enterprises to give advantage to private players and thus giving reasons to privatise them or liquidate them. Absolving themselves of all duties towards the people is the next logical step because government cannot do it properly. Healthcare, education, basic infrastructure like water, transport and electricity will soon be privatised under this excuse. We all know what is happening to Air India and BSNL. We know all this happens, but choose to feign ignorance, we know our media is simply a cheerleader for corporates and the corrupt, we know that and more and yet we would like to remain ignorant.

Please do not disturb the bliss that we have fought so hard to cover ourselves with. We don't want the red pill, we would like to be fed more and more blue pills for if we do not know all this, we do not have to worry. Please do not provide more evidence (red pills) to wake us up for there is no scope of widespread revolution like in Tunisia or Egypt, it will flicker out as long as there is a class of people who are kept happy and well fed and many others who are being given such an illusion. Let us live in this blissful ignorance and never wake up....

Hoping that you will not reply to this, hoping that there will be no more revelations how so ever important and potent,

Yours Sincerely,
A frustrated helpless Indian who will soon join the ranks of those working to sustain a growth story of Scams and 8% GDP growth rate and who would like to remain asleep


PS- I personally don't believe in escaping from reality and living in a dream world. But the recent plethora of scams has shaken everyone in this country and wikileaks is just confirming but at the same time, the reality that things are not changing is even more frustrating which lead me to this post

Back to square one

I never thought I would be back so soon and that too for an entire semester. A semester of PS-2 in Bangalore, my first experience living in a city, had driven some sense into me, although not much, it is definitely an improvement on the old self. Now that I am back, the place is the same but it does not feel so. I know I am stating the obvious here and yet I must say this- what made BITS-Pilani Goa Campus for me was the entire package of idling around until the tests, the mad rush during tests, cursing the system and sometimes the faculty, the relief after a test and the impending doom of answer paper distributions which we conveniently bunked just like most of our lectures, outings on the end of tests (wide grin here, w.e.f T-1, 4th year, Sem1) and the fests and ogling that ensued and waiting for release of TV series and Man Utd matches in the common room and the madness during cricket matches (Sachin's double century would count as one of the most unforgettable in my life) and also the nonsense and sense that happened in quizzes and infrequent yet raucous quiz club meetings. There is one thing I missed out for that, or rather they, were the most important factors in my life here- MIB or Mallus in BITS. Is it a coincidence that I am wearing the t-shirt now?

They were one ubiquitous aspect of life here- when we went to the mess, outings, 'Tharavadu Hub' and enjoying the festivities. As I walk along our old haunts, I feel incomplete, I miss those long walks after dinner, I miss singing songs and messing them up during these walks and after outings, I miss the random nonsense talks and all the bullshit that happened. It is like a piece of me is stuck somewhere and I cannot find it and I never thought coming back to campus will be this dull.

I have come back and found that it is all different, all has changed and also the unfortunate fact that it will never be the same and we will never get it back. I know these are obvious facts that everyone would experience, but then experiencing the entire campus life without its soul is something that very few would have gone through. I do not regret the decision to come back for thesis and nor do I feel sad, but as I said before, there is something missing and we will never get it back. It is called the past and it will remain only in our memories.

http://craziestme.blogspot.com/2009/12/days-of-our-lives.html

Congress Needs to Get its Act Together for the Nation

Passing the buck and hiding behind a clean image is all what our PM has been able to do for sometime. The uncertainty on the real power center and decision maker in this country means that no one knows who is really responsible- is it Sonia Gandhi, the UPA chairperson or Mr.Manmohan Singh? Do they really have the freedom or are they in any position to take real decisions due to the so called 'coalition dharma'. Or is it simply a comfortable smoke screen for them to hide behind, with coalition partners being made scapegoats for long term political gains for the Congress?

Mamata Banerjee is a law unto herself as she is more focused in gaining West Bengal, so much so that Mr.E.Ahmed requested a move from the railway ministry citing difficulties in working with the minister. DMK too has been stubborn, but that game will be played in the TN assembly elections and A.Raja's resignation came about simply because it had to happen under the sheer weight of 1.76lakh crores which still threatens the government and even Parliament. NCP is stubborn as ever with Sharad Pawar and Praful Patel doing abysmally and yet only receiving an upgrade from MoS to cabinet rank. The recent cabinet reshuffle can be called nothing of 'spineless'.

Government needs to act decisively in the interest of the nation and put faith in the people who have already shown their intelligence by rewarding the performance UPA-1, NDA in Bihar. But this government's performance will surely invite the people's wrath. If the government act disregarding 'coalition dharma' and heed to real dharma, which is governing for the people by bringing to book the corrupt and guilty, ensure accountability and deliver performance by simply making the right calls on Food Security, MGNREGs, RTI etc it will surely be able to secure the people's trust. They simply have to implement these ideas that are already taking shape but they are unwilling to implement them citing lack of funds which, when read together with 1.76lakh crore from 2G scam, makes a mockery of democracy and governance itself.

There are a couple of factors the congress must consider-
1) Under-performance of the government will lead to Congress, the leader of the UPA and hence morally responsible for all its actions
2)However clean the image of the top brass and the PM, since he leads the Cabinet, will be responsible for the cabinet's actions.

This will mean the people will vent their frustration on the congress rather their allies. This will mean a parliament in limbo in case of an election which must eventually happen with the congress having much lesser seats and smaller regional parties calling the shots perhaps. An administrative paralysis when the nation is at a cross road and staring at several important decision to make will surely stunt our growth.

That the BJP led NDA won't be able to bring in the numbers is a forgone conclusion and this means we might even see a Mayawati or Mamata or Karunanidhi becoming king-maker or even something more.

The Manmohan Singh lead government and Sonia Gandhi lead Congress must act against erring ministers, corrupt officials and lose their stubborn attitude. It needs to take the effort to come clean on corruption scandals, bring to light all the black money stashed abroad even if the means exposing those in the highest echelons of power. It needs to take steps to address the burning issues of the 'aam admi'-inflation, infrastructure development and preventing exploitation of the poor and landless and tribals. Multibillion dollar defence deals and FDI in retail and UNSC permanent seat will do nothing in that direction. They need to understand that bending our back to international treaties that means we cannot disclose the black money stashed abroad or laws that mean no returns for our farmers will only bring more shame to government. All this depends on one critical factor- the top brass actually wanting to bring the guilty to book and that they are not involved on this. A clean image for one person will surely not save the government.

Finite Planet

In his book 'Imagining India', Nandan Nilekani talks about the demographic dividend and how India is riding the crest of a demographic dividend in the south and how it will soon taper and then the next boom will come from the north if we take the effort to invest in education and health care and industry in the north.

I do not question the logic behind the dividend and on what should be done, but there is a larger question, unless there is a demographic dividend, is it not possible to achieve growth? Or rather, the real question should be, is it possible to have such population booms always? We are living in a finite planet with finite resources and so we need to take steps to make sure our population actually regulates itself. I do not want to get into all the social, political and perhaps even religious aspects of it.

There is a much more serious question at hand. A nation cannot always have more young people than old (unless something drastic kills of the older population) since we simply cannot have an ever increasing population. A nation as a whole itself can have two different growth patterns, like India's current situation. But still it will mean that several millions will have 4-2-1 structure, 4 Grandparents, 2 Parents and 1 Child. More dependents mean more strain on healthcare, pensions and working population.

China will soon fall into this trap (if it hasn't already), Japan is already facing issues and if we are to sustain this growth and to make sure we don't grow old before we get rich (i.e, we should not reach a situation where there is a huge population of dependents and were still a poor nation), we need rapid economic growth and this means not just GDP growth, but growth in education, job creation, agriculture, pension funds and welfare schemes. The government also needs to put in policies for this inevitable future even though it may come only 50 years later, but it will happen.

Another aspect that baffles me is the obsession with growth- this much growth and still we see so much poverty. Again, the fact that ours is not an infinite planet seems to have escaped everyone. If it is only normal inflation or things that are actually produced from the earth or food, why is it not affordable and sometimes not even accessible for many of our brethren? Food riots have happened in the recent and will occur again if this trend of global inflation is to continue and this price rise can never be sustained with higher wages simply because ours is not an infinite planet. There is also hoarding of resources by a few which means shortage for millions of others.

We need to consume less and change our obsession with growth and governments should understand that just numbers do not reflect how many people are still remaining poor or illiterate or exploited so that the rich can still have their luxuries. We need to learn to live within the constraints of a finite planet whether it be about consuming less, recycling, green energy, population control- unless the attitude change happens in individuals and individuals demand governments to draft policies keeping these facts in mind, the world will definitely collapse.

http://craziestme.blogspot.com/2007/05/ndividuals-environment-conservation.html