Nice points of observation. So now lets see what do you want to say. First of all it all about “these people”, but who are “these people”. I think “these people” are you, I and some others like us hence we. So now since we know whom we want to address to for getting India on higher growth lines, let’s look at what do we do which we need to change. We spit on roads, we are narrow minded, we are illiterate, corrupt and we live on ‘jugaad’.
I guess you already know what I am going to write but still allow me to do that. First is to change ourselves then talk about others. See yourself in how many such activities you contribute, in positive and negative manner. Do you also spit on roads? Do you also get involved in corruption? Do you use any jugaad yourself? And what have you done to get people literate?
You don’t need to answer me but you know the answer. If the change has to come it has to start from within. How can we demand something from others when we don’t do it ourselves? We should set examples, which can lead the way. No body in the world can stop you from thinking big and bright, then why do you think we are narrow minded. Who is narrow minded brother? A farmer, who grows crops every year and still lives below poverty line, is he narrow minded. He has thought much-much bigger than what we do, its because of him that we get to eat our food, its because of him that India is the largest supplier of pulses and grains in the world. He has done much more than we ever can. But yes he cannot talk in English like you, or he does not have a great dressing sense, or he might be getting involved in child marriage or female daughter killing. So what do you think can change all this?
Education is the key to all those issues. Studying arts, science and commerce is not enough, we should also learn our moral duties. It’s our moral duty to keep our country clean. It’s our moral duty not to make our country corrupt. It’s our moral duty to help other.
Poverty is another big enemy of ours and we have to win over it. But this too has solution from education. If we are educated than we can get better jobs and some of us will create some jobs and businesses.
Tell me why you can’t teach someone. You are big enough to teach anyone. You not your servant and their children may be one hour a day. Now what possibly can happen if you do that? Firstly you will loose one hour of your play time. Secondly, that servant will spread the word of mouth that his employer teaches him and his children. Such can be the excitement that in sometime more servants will ask their employer’s to help them in studies. Hence it will gradually decrease the illiteracy rate. Even government has now implemented so many policies like mid-day meal, free primary education, etc. for such people. You can help them in getting in there. Remember to make any policy successful we should have three important factors; people who can take the best benefits from the policy, systems which can sustain the policy and its demands, and the policy makers for can manage all the implementations and monitor the response.
Friday, September 24, 2010
Thursday, September 16, 2010
My Reponse when asked - what according to u is a feasible solution? {related to GROWING INDIA}
The current India is growing India itself, that's why we call it as developing nation. The question is - are we satisfied with the pace at which it is growing? If yes, then we have the solution and we are working on it. If not, then what changes are required to increase the pace?
Well my solution is simple, a nation grows when its people grow, because it’s the people who make a nation, not the other way round. Hence the growth has to come from each individual; each individual has to understand their responsibility and role towards nation’s growth. Every wrong act is wrong, no matter how large or small it may be and it’s the individual who has to stand against wrong and has to stand high for the right.
A nation progresses when each individual understands his own contribution in countries’ GDP. we have such a beautiful example of Japan in front of us, a country beaten down to dust but look at them now, they are among the developed nation. India on the other hand never faced any such tragedy. But to be fare, India has faced bigger ones. Atom bomb happened once in century, India has smaller atom bombs exploding every now and then with different names. A stupid country, smaller than the size of U.P. in all terms be it area, population, economy, etc. has caused more problems per year to us then the number of companies India has registered on sensex every year. How can any Indian forget that one of our beautiful state is under terror attack since 1948?
The actual problem does not stop there, because it starts from inside. The corruption, self centered thinking, and cowardliness (yes it’s a truth Indians are coward people) has pushed India more back than anything else. How can you imagine that when UP, Assam, Bengal get floods every year, we have desert in Rajisthan, drought in AP and Tamil Nadu. Why can’t we combine all the rivers and states together and use the power of free flowing energy. This is the kind of thoughts and work which is required from our nation's countrymen.
The solution lies within us, we as nation has to take decisions some will be hard, some will be shocking but for certain they have to be bold. And that's exactly what our generation has the responsibility for. Our fathers and grandfathers have done their job and it’s time for them to retire and be our guide. But its time for us the generation next to stand make things count.
Well my solution is simple, a nation grows when its people grow, because it’s the people who make a nation, not the other way round. Hence the growth has to come from each individual; each individual has to understand their responsibility and role towards nation’s growth. Every wrong act is wrong, no matter how large or small it may be and it’s the individual who has to stand against wrong and has to stand high for the right.
A nation progresses when each individual understands his own contribution in countries’ GDP. we have such a beautiful example of Japan in front of us, a country beaten down to dust but look at them now, they are among the developed nation. India on the other hand never faced any such tragedy. But to be fare, India has faced bigger ones. Atom bomb happened once in century, India has smaller atom bombs exploding every now and then with different names. A stupid country, smaller than the size of U.P. in all terms be it area, population, economy, etc. has caused more problems per year to us then the number of companies India has registered on sensex every year. How can any Indian forget that one of our beautiful state is under terror attack since 1948?
The actual problem does not stop there, because it starts from inside. The corruption, self centered thinking, and cowardliness (yes it’s a truth Indians are coward people) has pushed India more back than anything else. How can you imagine that when UP, Assam, Bengal get floods every year, we have desert in Rajisthan, drought in AP and Tamil Nadu. Why can’t we combine all the rivers and states together and use the power of free flowing energy. This is the kind of thoughts and work which is required from our nation's countrymen.
The solution lies within us, we as nation has to take decisions some will be hard, some will be shocking but for certain they have to be bold. And that's exactly what our generation has the responsibility for. Our fathers and grandfathers have done their job and it’s time for them to retire and be our guide. But its time for us the generation next to stand make things count.
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
10-point plan for India to be an economic superpower
1. Agriculture needs to grow at a sustained rate of 4%.
2. Manufacturing needs to register 11-12% long-term average growth.
3. Service sector needs to remain robust and a growth driver.
4. Physical Infrastructure needs to be of global standards.
5. Education would have to be the center of reforms.
6. Skill development would need a massive step up.
7. Labour environment and rules need to be conducive to employment creation.
8. Delivery mechanisms of government need to be streamlined.
9. Need new urban centers to come up as growth poles.
10. The financial sector reforms need to be fast tracked to enable financing of a high growth, large economy -- particularly focussing on long-term funding instruments and financial inclusion.
2. Manufacturing needs to register 11-12% long-term average growth.
3. Service sector needs to remain robust and a growth driver.
4. Physical Infrastructure needs to be of global standards.
5. Education would have to be the center of reforms.
6. Skill development would need a massive step up.
7. Labour environment and rules need to be conducive to employment creation.
8. Delivery mechanisms of government need to be streamlined.
9. Need new urban centers to come up as growth poles.
10. The financial sector reforms need to be fast tracked to enable financing of a high growth, large economy -- particularly focussing on long-term funding instruments and financial inclusion.
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
Is this the India we love?
Manipur must be amongst the most beautiful states of India with green hills, flowery valleys and vast clean water lakes mesmerising the viewer and in many ways dwarfing Switzerland's over-stated panorama.
The state is on fire today. Terrorist organisations demand secession from India, local tribal conflicts and a total collapse of the civil administration has turned this state into a virtual hell otherwise famed for its Radha Krishna dance the world over and a stunningly sharp martial arts said to be the predecessor of karate.
A few facts first.
1. Since January 16, 80,000 state government employees have been on a 'pen down' strike demanding implementation of the Sixth Pay Commission's recommendations with retrospective effect. This has paralysed the government machinery, but Chief Minister Ibobi Singh has refused to talk to the striking employees.
2. A stifling blockade on National Highway-39 and a partial blockade on NH-53 has caused an unbelievable scarcity of oil, food and medicines. Buses and trucks are given 40 litres of petrol/diesel per day through a self-imposed rationing system. Diesel and petrol are being sold at exorbitant rates in the black market.
Bus fares have increased two to three times (the Imphal to Churachand Pur bus fare has gone up to Rs 150 from Rs 40 earlier).
3. The only one major government hospital is not getting oxygen cylinders, hence it has stopped operating upon patients. With a few oxygen cylinders left, it has closed down the casualty department, keeping the scantly available reserve for emergencies.
4. The Guwahati-Imphal air fare has suddenly gone up and people are simply unable either to enter or leave Manipur by road.
5. Non-Manipuris have been served notices to quit the state by the Peoples' Liberation Army, an outlawed separatist organisation with Chinese contours; it has set May 31 as the deadline.
Thousands of labourers and workers have already left in panic; the remaining traders and teachers are terrified with zero security assurance either by the state government or by the Centre.
So this is the state of India where citizens are asked to leave like the jihadis did to Kashmiri Hindus. People ask who owns Manipur. Why don't the Delhiwallahs care for them?
If a small road was blocked for day in Haryana or Uttar Pradesh, the media would have covered it immediately. But a month's blockade of two arteries joining the state with the rest of India hasn't attracted even a fraction of that attention. Why? Because Haryana and UP are more important to South and North Block than Manipur?
Roads are blocked cutting the state from the rest of India, hospitals do not run, an administration is on strike for the last four months, terrorists virtually rule the land and above that the Centre decided to allow T Muivah, a leader of a separatist insurgent organisation, the National Socialist Council of Nagaland, Issac-Muivah faction, to visit his ancestral village in Manipur.
Muivah has been booked in several cases of murder and mayhem in Manipur. On finding that the Union home ministry is proposing to send him under Z-plus security cover in a government helicopter to the state, Manipuris boiled in anger. Chief Minister Ibobi Singh, a Congress leader, flatly refused to accept the central government's unilateral decision.
Nevertheless, this move further aggravated the already tormented state and all social and political organisations joined hands to condemn the Centre's move, threatening dire consequences if Muivah was allowed to visit the state. In protest clashes, three young men have been killed.
Muivah is demanding a Greater Nagaland, and his organisation's slogan is 'Nagaland for Christ'. The movement is supported openly by various denominations of Nagaland's churches and it gets funds from Western countries. Muivah is accused of having engineered the 1992-1993 ethnic cleansing of Kuki tribes in Manipur which is said to have claimed more than 900 lives. During that NSCN-IM operation, 350 Kuki villages were uprooted and 100,000 Kukis were turned into refugees.
They are bewildered why such a person is given so much importance and Z-plus security cover. Is the only 'crime' of the Manipuris that they still owe an allegiance to the Indian tricolour?
Manipuris oppose Muivah's visit to his ancestral village Somdal in Ukhrul district. It may shock many that Muivah is originally a Manipuri Naga, hence his credibility amongst the Naga-Nagas is low. Manipuris fear this will further accelerate and strengthen his demand to merge four Manipuri districts into his proposed Nagalim state.
The Government of India has so far not assured it will keep Manipur's territorial integrity intact.
Non-Manipuris, organised under a banner, quite ironically called the 'Hindustani Samaj', are in a deadly trap.
On March 17, 2008, eight non-Manipuri people were killed on the outskirts of the capital Imphal. Seven of them were brought in a van, lined up on the roadside with their hands tied behind their backs, and shot dead from close range with automatic weapons. A few miles away another non-Manipuri was shot dead in similar circumstances. This was the first time in Manipur that militants targeted non-local migrants who are either labourers or petty traders.
In the two years since then 32 non-Manipuris, mostly Biharis and Bengalis, have been killed.
This year in February, the Revolutionary People's Front, a banned organisation in Manipur through its armed outfit, the Peoples' Liberation Army issued a quit notice to all Mayaangs -- a derogatory term used for non-Manipuris, who came to Manipur after 1949 (the year when the princely state was merged with the Indian Union) to leave the state by May 31.
Non-Manipuris travelling from Guwahati to Imphal by bus -- the only mode of travel available to poor people -- have been denied tickets at Guwahati ticket booking counters.
Yet none of the great national leaders or organisations, barring the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and the Bharatiya Janata Party, have thought it fit to voice the pain and anguish of the Manipuri people. Neither the television channels nor national newspapers sent their correspondents to cover the unprecedented crisis.
That's what makes the north-eastern people think that Delhi does not care for them. Hindustan's boundaries for the so-called mainland politicos are up to Kolkata in the east and Amarnath in the north. Even the local Manipur media cannot refuse to publish threatening press releases of the terrorist groups.
In the famous Mothers' Market in Imphal, the women traders seethe in anger. Their leader Mangi Devi says, "How do you think our children will get a good education when 15 days a month, their schools are forcibly closed? Can they ever think of qualifying for the IAS and IPS like your children in Delhi? There is no petrol, no kerosene, it has become extremely difficult for the common person to travel to his village, no medicines in hospitals. Is this the India we should be proud of?"
The Manipuri people hardly get to celebrate Independence Day or Republic Day -- they are not allowed by the banned outfits who virtually dictate the state's life. Only under heavy security cover can government buildings hoist the tricolour for a short time.
No school, public place, private institution can display the national colours. Hindi is banned; Hindi movies have not been allowed in movie theatres for the last ten years. In school textbooks, the national anthem cannot be printed.
Every single government contract has a 20 percent share for the terrorist separatist organisations and government officials take cash out in bundles and distribute it, according to the size and influence of the organisation, to their representatives whenever a new contract is awarded.
Leaders of various social organisations are so terrified are no local political party has been able to condemn the threat to the non-Manipuris. The market wears a ghostly look after 6 pm and the last movie show (all showing either Manipuri movies, shot on video cameras or Korean ones) is at 4 pm. Unemployment is widespread; educational degrees from local colleges mean nothing as they are given without a proper regimen.
With none to protect them and engulfed in such a darkness it is a great tribute to the patriotic Manipuris that they suffer in silence and have not yet revolted.
The state is on fire today. Terrorist organisations demand secession from India, local tribal conflicts and a total collapse of the civil administration has turned this state into a virtual hell otherwise famed for its Radha Krishna dance the world over and a stunningly sharp martial arts said to be the predecessor of karate.
A few facts first.
1. Since January 16, 80,000 state government employees have been on a 'pen down' strike demanding implementation of the Sixth Pay Commission's recommendations with retrospective effect. This has paralysed the government machinery, but Chief Minister Ibobi Singh has refused to talk to the striking employees.
2. A stifling blockade on National Highway-39 and a partial blockade on NH-53 has caused an unbelievable scarcity of oil, food and medicines. Buses and trucks are given 40 litres of petrol/diesel per day through a self-imposed rationing system. Diesel and petrol are being sold at exorbitant rates in the black market.
Bus fares have increased two to three times (the Imphal to Churachand Pur bus fare has gone up to Rs 150 from Rs 40 earlier).
3. The only one major government hospital is not getting oxygen cylinders, hence it has stopped operating upon patients. With a few oxygen cylinders left, it has closed down the casualty department, keeping the scantly available reserve for emergencies.
4. The Guwahati-Imphal air fare has suddenly gone up and people are simply unable either to enter or leave Manipur by road.
5. Non-Manipuris have been served notices to quit the state by the Peoples' Liberation Army, an outlawed separatist organisation with Chinese contours; it has set May 31 as the deadline.
Thousands of labourers and workers have already left in panic; the remaining traders and teachers are terrified with zero security assurance either by the state government or by the Centre.
So this is the state of India where citizens are asked to leave like the jihadis did to Kashmiri Hindus. People ask who owns Manipur. Why don't the Delhiwallahs care for them?
If a small road was blocked for day in Haryana or Uttar Pradesh, the media would have covered it immediately. But a month's blockade of two arteries joining the state with the rest of India hasn't attracted even a fraction of that attention. Why? Because Haryana and UP are more important to South and North Block than Manipur?
Roads are blocked cutting the state from the rest of India, hospitals do not run, an administration is on strike for the last four months, terrorists virtually rule the land and above that the Centre decided to allow T Muivah, a leader of a separatist insurgent organisation, the National Socialist Council of Nagaland, Issac-Muivah faction, to visit his ancestral village in Manipur.
Muivah has been booked in several cases of murder and mayhem in Manipur. On finding that the Union home ministry is proposing to send him under Z-plus security cover in a government helicopter to the state, Manipuris boiled in anger. Chief Minister Ibobi Singh, a Congress leader, flatly refused to accept the central government's unilateral decision.
Nevertheless, this move further aggravated the already tormented state and all social and political organisations joined hands to condemn the Centre's move, threatening dire consequences if Muivah was allowed to visit the state. In protest clashes, three young men have been killed.
Muivah is demanding a Greater Nagaland, and his organisation's slogan is 'Nagaland for Christ'. The movement is supported openly by various denominations of Nagaland's churches and it gets funds from Western countries. Muivah is accused of having engineered the 1992-1993 ethnic cleansing of Kuki tribes in Manipur which is said to have claimed more than 900 lives. During that NSCN-IM operation, 350 Kuki villages were uprooted and 100,000 Kukis were turned into refugees.
They are bewildered why such a person is given so much importance and Z-plus security cover. Is the only 'crime' of the Manipuris that they still owe an allegiance to the Indian tricolour?
Manipuris oppose Muivah's visit to his ancestral village Somdal in Ukhrul district. It may shock many that Muivah is originally a Manipuri Naga, hence his credibility amongst the Naga-Nagas is low. Manipuris fear this will further accelerate and strengthen his demand to merge four Manipuri districts into his proposed Nagalim state.
The Government of India has so far not assured it will keep Manipur's territorial integrity intact.
Non-Manipuris, organised under a banner, quite ironically called the 'Hindustani Samaj', are in a deadly trap.
On March 17, 2008, eight non-Manipuri people were killed on the outskirts of the capital Imphal. Seven of them were brought in a van, lined up on the roadside with their hands tied behind their backs, and shot dead from close range with automatic weapons. A few miles away another non-Manipuri was shot dead in similar circumstances. This was the first time in Manipur that militants targeted non-local migrants who are either labourers or petty traders.
In the two years since then 32 non-Manipuris, mostly Biharis and Bengalis, have been killed.
This year in February, the Revolutionary People's Front, a banned organisation in Manipur through its armed outfit, the Peoples' Liberation Army issued a quit notice to all Mayaangs -- a derogatory term used for non-Manipuris, who came to Manipur after 1949 (the year when the princely state was merged with the Indian Union) to leave the state by May 31.
Non-Manipuris travelling from Guwahati to Imphal by bus -- the only mode of travel available to poor people -- have been denied tickets at Guwahati ticket booking counters.
Yet none of the great national leaders or organisations, barring the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and the Bharatiya Janata Party, have thought it fit to voice the pain and anguish of the Manipuri people. Neither the television channels nor national newspapers sent their correspondents to cover the unprecedented crisis.
That's what makes the north-eastern people think that Delhi does not care for them. Hindustan's boundaries for the so-called mainland politicos are up to Kolkata in the east and Amarnath in the north. Even the local Manipur media cannot refuse to publish threatening press releases of the terrorist groups.
In the famous Mothers' Market in Imphal, the women traders seethe in anger. Their leader Mangi Devi says, "How do you think our children will get a good education when 15 days a month, their schools are forcibly closed? Can they ever think of qualifying for the IAS and IPS like your children in Delhi? There is no petrol, no kerosene, it has become extremely difficult for the common person to travel to his village, no medicines in hospitals. Is this the India we should be proud of?"
The Manipuri people hardly get to celebrate Independence Day or Republic Day -- they are not allowed by the banned outfits who virtually dictate the state's life. Only under heavy security cover can government buildings hoist the tricolour for a short time.
No school, public place, private institution can display the national colours. Hindi is banned; Hindi movies have not been allowed in movie theatres for the last ten years. In school textbooks, the national anthem cannot be printed.
Every single government contract has a 20 percent share for the terrorist separatist organisations and government officials take cash out in bundles and distribute it, according to the size and influence of the organisation, to their representatives whenever a new contract is awarded.
Leaders of various social organisations are so terrified are no local political party has been able to condemn the threat to the non-Manipuris. The market wears a ghostly look after 6 pm and the last movie show (all showing either Manipuri movies, shot on video cameras or Korean ones) is at 4 pm. Unemployment is widespread; educational degrees from local colleges mean nothing as they are given without a proper regimen.
With none to protect them and engulfed in such a darkness it is a great tribute to the patriotic Manipuris that they suffer in silence and have not yet revolted.
Saturday, March 27, 2010
Modi in court after 8 years of riots.
Gujrat CM Mr. Narendra Modi is 1st time in court of law for Gujrat riots, 8 years after they happened.
It can be an easy debate topic at any news talk show but what we see in news is the average time taken by Modi to answer his question is around 6 min.
1st its our worthy politicians who make joke of our jurisdiction and they are well helped by people in media. Truly none of them knows the pain of loss those victims has faced.
Riots in itself are slap on our law, order and society. And when such shameful act has a political interest, it can only be termed as one of the most shameful and sinful act mankind can think. To get one of the main accused for questioning has taken 8 long years, 8 long years of wait of those 100's of victims who lost everything they had from their loved ones to their self respect. Though it is not surprising that even this case is taking all the ages to come to conclusion, as list of such cases seems non ending from 1993 bomb blasts, Babri Masjid, Mumbai train blasts to 26/11, its just non ending. All these cases wait for their destiny. And it seems that the wait is still a long one.
Why our jurisdiction not taking the responsibility to answer all those millions of Indians who want to see the culprits punished. Why and for what we are still waiting. If someone in us is culprit then why cant our court give a quicker decision or if it is an outsider then what is our government waiting for? Why cant they decide of what India has to do with its enemy. And if it can not take such decision then the government should tell us that if we want some justices then whom should we go to?
I guess that's what every Indian should ask our government before casting our vote. Actually this is the main reason that we are still called a developing nation and not developed because our very own countrymen are against its growth.
It can be an easy debate topic at any news talk show but what we see in news is the average time taken by Modi to answer his question is around 6 min.
1st its our worthy politicians who make joke of our jurisdiction and they are well helped by people in media. Truly none of them knows the pain of loss those victims has faced.
Riots in itself are slap on our law, order and society. And when such shameful act has a political interest, it can only be termed as one of the most shameful and sinful act mankind can think. To get one of the main accused for questioning has taken 8 long years, 8 long years of wait of those 100's of victims who lost everything they had from their loved ones to their self respect. Though it is not surprising that even this case is taking all the ages to come to conclusion, as list of such cases seems non ending from 1993 bomb blasts, Babri Masjid, Mumbai train blasts to 26/11, its just non ending. All these cases wait for their destiny. And it seems that the wait is still a long one.
Why our jurisdiction not taking the responsibility to answer all those millions of Indians who want to see the culprits punished. Why and for what we are still waiting. If someone in us is culprit then why cant our court give a quicker decision or if it is an outsider then what is our government waiting for? Why cant they decide of what India has to do with its enemy. And if it can not take such decision then the government should tell us that if we want some justices then whom should we go to?
I guess that's what every Indian should ask our government before casting our vote. Actually this is the main reason that we are still called a developing nation and not developed because our very own countrymen are against its growth.
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
Woman's bill passed
9th March 2010 will be noted in the constitution of India and will be studied and remembered for time to come.
Woman's bill or Woman's reservation bill is passed by Rajya Sabha, a day after the entire world celebrated woman's day.
On this day I am a little confused, for I don't know whether to congratulate different political parties for achieving they promised to do long ago. Or to feel sorry for our country's woman who has to get a bill passed to get for there rights.
I am not able to digest the shame it brings in for our women who has to get reservation bill to get their own right. Its a slap on every woman's face and what surprises me most is that the most happy people after getting the bill passed were women and those who were against it was all men.
Well its political everywhere, you have a reservation or you don't, politics will be played in the name of events which can create issues, get votes and yes slows India's growth.
Woman's bill or Woman's reservation bill is passed by Rajya Sabha, a day after the entire world celebrated woman's day.
On this day I am a little confused, for I don't know whether to congratulate different political parties for achieving they promised to do long ago. Or to feel sorry for our country's woman who has to get a bill passed to get for there rights.
I am not able to digest the shame it brings in for our women who has to get reservation bill to get their own right. Its a slap on every woman's face and what surprises me most is that the most happy people after getting the bill passed were women and those who were against it was all men.
Well its political everywhere, you have a reservation or you don't, politics will be played in the name of events which can create issues, get votes and yes slows India's growth.
Thursday, February 4, 2010
Ten Things I hate in India
Having completed 28 years in this country, I realise how much I love this incredible India, the following irritants notwithstanding:
1. Statues
Though it is difficult to decide an order in the list of irritants, if I had to list the first one, I would say, statues exasperate me most.
Today in India, what we witness is a statue-mania.
Parties, politicians and other self-styled leaders, all want to erect a statue of their own 'leader' (I will not speak of those who erect statues of themselves, the Supreme Court can deal with them).
Once a statue is erected, the departed (or living) statuefied leader has to be garlanded periodically; for the rest of the time, the statue is forgotten, except if, for any reason, the statue needs to be removed. Then you are sure to get a riot the next day. The 'erecter' group is always ready to give his/her life for his/her 'leader'. As a result, the number of statues will only increase in the already congested streets of India.
Another problem with the statues is that they are usually ugly. When you look at ancient statues of Buddha of the Gupta or Gandhara periods, or certain Greek statues or some of Michelangelo's works, you usually experience a deep aesthetic emotion. It is not the case with the present-day statues of political leaders.
A sage who was 'deified' by his disciples told them: 'Why do you like so much to deify me, why don't you emulate me instead'. He added that 'changing your nature is more important than worshipping me'.
But true, it is easier to garland a statue than to change oneself and become a better human being.
2. Lal battis
I deeply dislike the red light gyrating on the top of the cars of 'important' officials. Why is it so important to show that one is 'important'?
India must be the one country in the world with the highest percentage of 'important' people. I personally believe that someone's 'importance' should be calculated by the service that this individual offers to the country and to society, not by the lal batti (or the siren) on her/his vehicle.
Like in many domains, these things have a tendency to become worse. At the time of Independence, the bureaucracy used to be called the Indian Civil Service. Though Jawaharlal Nehru [ Images ] in his book Discovery of India said that the service was 'neither Indian, nor civil, nor a service', at least it carried the word 'civil'. Then it became the Indian Administrative Service, an institution whose job was only to serve the administration and the government. The 'civil servants' became 'government servants'. It may seem a mere detail, but it is truly symptomatic of what has happened during the past 60 years.
For someone educated in the spirit of Liberty, Equality, Fraternity, it is difficult to accept the gap (symbolised by the lal batti) between the rulers (mostly politicians or bureaucrats) and the ruled (alias the 'common man').
3. Plastic bags
I really hate plastic bags and garbage littering the streets of India. One still remembers that a few years ago during an official visit, the British queen [ Images ] remarked that India was very dirty compared to Pakistan.
Since then, things have worsened terribly. One can't blame the government for everything, though if a strict discipline with heavy fines were imposed on the public, in a short span of time, India could certainly look like a Scandinavian country. The local authorities should start installing dustbins and garbage cans in all public places and organise a speedy collection of their content.
Recently after the Pongal festival, more than 100 tonnes of garbage were left on the sands of the beaches of Chennai, Tamil Nadu. The Hindu reported: 'People continued their celebrations till midnight and continued to throw plastic bottles, spoons and polythene bags'. Ironically, the reporter says: 'Most people seemed to have forgotten the ban on plastics on Marina and more than three tonnes of plastic waste was collected'.
Should this not be entered in the Guinness Book of Records?
4. Environment
It irritates me when I see so little concern for the environment in India. Let us take the rivers. Last week, a group of US green activists went to Agra [ Images ] to inspect the Yamuna behind the Taj Mahal [ Images ]; most belonged to the river cleaning foundations in the US. One of them, Ginny Harris of the Alice Ferguson Foundation involved in the preservation of the Potomac river exclaimed: 'Oh my god, you call this a river!' A number of NGOs and local activists were present. Who uses India's holy rivers as sewage outlets?
The government does not really care to find out who is using the rivers as sewage (though the present environment minister seems a bit different from his predecessors).
The soil of India is supposed to be sacred. Early January, scientists attached to the Punjab [ Images ] Agriculture University identified the reason behind the rapid spread of cancer in Punjab. Their verdict is clear: arsenic in the water is the main cause for abnormal cell growth in the human body.
The university analysed 168 ground water samples over a period of 36 months. The sampling originating from different parts of North India contained an unacceptably high quantity of arsenic.
For years, the government spoke of its Green Revolution as a miracle India should be proud of, but this type of miracle unfortunately has serious collaterals.
What saddens me more is that India has decided to align itself with the worse State on the planet in this field: China.
Why can't India discover a Middle Path between development and environment conservation? India ranks 123rd in the last Environmental Performance Index just published by a team of experts at Yale University and Columbia University; India is not shining in this domain.
5. Lavish marriages
I have nothing again marriages, having successfully gone through one myself (with an Indian), but it hurts my sentiments to see so much money and energy wasted for a ceremony which should be 'sacred'. Further, the 'outcome' of the marriage is not always proportionate with the money invested.
What shocks me is the lavishness, verging on indecency of some Indian weddings, usually in the large metros. I don't appreciate the ostentatious side of these ceremonies which is often more a showing of wealth (often borrowed), than the celebration of the union between two individuals.
Though considered a 'seasonal' industry, the Indian wedding industry has an estimated turnover of over Rs 150,000 crores; and it is growing by the year. One could argue that it creates employment, but too many people are indebted the day after; this is not healthy.
6. Reservations
Reservations were introduced in the Constitution as a temporary measure at the time of Independence to remove disparities between different 'weaker' sections of the population. It was a genuine problem, with no easy solution. Over the years, it has been politicised (especially during and after V P Singh's [ Images ] rule) and it has now become a tool for political parties to gain power.
Why should a Dalit or OBC crorepati get more support from the government in terms of quota in a university or financial incentives than a poor Brahmin? It is just unfair.
While more attention should be paid to the poorest communities in India, the only criteria to receive financial support should be strictly economic.
For this, I admire the Indian Army [ Images ] which has managed for the past six decades to remain free from the poison of 'caste' quota.
7. Nouveau riche
The nouveau riche tribe is a despicable species whether in India or elsewhere on the planet. They behave particularly badly in this country. They speak loudly and they like to show-off their newly-acquired wealth.
One understands that they had no time to invest to educate themselves, being too busy making money, but life, whether of an individual or a nation should be balanced. Culture is an essential part of any human being.
8. National Security
The concept of National Security is constantly misused by government babus to avoid transparency. Though the situation in India is far better than in China where you can be sent to concentration camps (known as laogais) for any real or fictitious breach of 'national security,' Indian bureaucrats however take refuge behind the veil of this undefined concept to escape scrutiny.
To take an example, under the RTI Act, section 8A allows exemption of information, disclosure of 'which would prejudicially affect the sovereignty and integrity of India, the security, strategic, scientific or economic interests of the State, relation with foreign State or lead to incitement of an offence.'
Tons of important documents, having nothing to do with 'national security' are withheld under this pretext. Courts will one day have to define the concept more precisely.
9. Chaotic traffic
I had listed 'traffic' in my earlier article, but things have got much worse. I wish India would learn from China how to develop proper infrastructure (without, of course, having to import the workforce from the Middle Kingdom).
The ideal State would probably be the Middle Path between Switzerland [ Images ], boringly over disciplined and chaotic free-for-all India.
10. Bt Brinjal
But again India is incredible and lovable, despite these small hitches.
1. Statues
Though it is difficult to decide an order in the list of irritants, if I had to list the first one, I would say, statues exasperate me most.
Today in India, what we witness is a statue-mania.
Parties, politicians and other self-styled leaders, all want to erect a statue of their own 'leader' (I will not speak of those who erect statues of themselves, the Supreme Court can deal with them).
Once a statue is erected, the departed (or living) statuefied leader has to be garlanded periodically; for the rest of the time, the statue is forgotten, except if, for any reason, the statue needs to be removed. Then you are sure to get a riot the next day. The 'erecter' group is always ready to give his/her life for his/her 'leader'. As a result, the number of statues will only increase in the already congested streets of India.
Another problem with the statues is that they are usually ugly. When you look at ancient statues of Buddha of the Gupta or Gandhara periods, or certain Greek statues or some of Michelangelo's works, you usually experience a deep aesthetic emotion. It is not the case with the present-day statues of political leaders.
A sage who was 'deified' by his disciples told them: 'Why do you like so much to deify me, why don't you emulate me instead'. He added that 'changing your nature is more important than worshipping me'.
But true, it is easier to garland a statue than to change oneself and become a better human being.
2. Lal battis
I deeply dislike the red light gyrating on the top of the cars of 'important' officials. Why is it so important to show that one is 'important'?
India must be the one country in the world with the highest percentage of 'important' people. I personally believe that someone's 'importance' should be calculated by the service that this individual offers to the country and to society, not by the lal batti (or the siren) on her/his vehicle.
Like in many domains, these things have a tendency to become worse. At the time of Independence, the bureaucracy used to be called the Indian Civil Service. Though Jawaharlal Nehru [ Images ] in his book Discovery of India said that the service was 'neither Indian, nor civil, nor a service', at least it carried the word 'civil'. Then it became the Indian Administrative Service, an institution whose job was only to serve the administration and the government. The 'civil servants' became 'government servants'. It may seem a mere detail, but it is truly symptomatic of what has happened during the past 60 years.
For someone educated in the spirit of Liberty, Equality, Fraternity, it is difficult to accept the gap (symbolised by the lal batti) between the rulers (mostly politicians or bureaucrats) and the ruled (alias the 'common man').
3. Plastic bags
I really hate plastic bags and garbage littering the streets of India. One still remembers that a few years ago during an official visit, the British queen [ Images ] remarked that India was very dirty compared to Pakistan.
Since then, things have worsened terribly. One can't blame the government for everything, though if a strict discipline with heavy fines were imposed on the public, in a short span of time, India could certainly look like a Scandinavian country. The local authorities should start installing dustbins and garbage cans in all public places and organise a speedy collection of their content.
Recently after the Pongal festival, more than 100 tonnes of garbage were left on the sands of the beaches of Chennai, Tamil Nadu. The Hindu reported: 'People continued their celebrations till midnight and continued to throw plastic bottles, spoons and polythene bags'. Ironically, the reporter says: 'Most people seemed to have forgotten the ban on plastics on Marina and more than three tonnes of plastic waste was collected'.
Should this not be entered in the Guinness Book of Records?
4. Environment
It irritates me when I see so little concern for the environment in India. Let us take the rivers. Last week, a group of US green activists went to Agra [ Images ] to inspect the Yamuna behind the Taj Mahal [ Images ]; most belonged to the river cleaning foundations in the US. One of them, Ginny Harris of the Alice Ferguson Foundation involved in the preservation of the Potomac river exclaimed: 'Oh my god, you call this a river!' A number of NGOs and local activists were present. Who uses India's holy rivers as sewage outlets?
The government does not really care to find out who is using the rivers as sewage (though the present environment minister seems a bit different from his predecessors).
The soil of India is supposed to be sacred. Early January, scientists attached to the Punjab [ Images ] Agriculture University identified the reason behind the rapid spread of cancer in Punjab. Their verdict is clear: arsenic in the water is the main cause for abnormal cell growth in the human body.
The university analysed 168 ground water samples over a period of 36 months. The sampling originating from different parts of North India contained an unacceptably high quantity of arsenic.
For years, the government spoke of its Green Revolution as a miracle India should be proud of, but this type of miracle unfortunately has serious collaterals.
What saddens me more is that India has decided to align itself with the worse State on the planet in this field: China.
Why can't India discover a Middle Path between development and environment conservation? India ranks 123rd in the last Environmental Performance Index just published by a team of experts at Yale University and Columbia University; India is not shining in this domain.
5. Lavish marriages
I have nothing again marriages, having successfully gone through one myself (with an Indian), but it hurts my sentiments to see so much money and energy wasted for a ceremony which should be 'sacred'. Further, the 'outcome' of the marriage is not always proportionate with the money invested.
What shocks me is the lavishness, verging on indecency of some Indian weddings, usually in the large metros. I don't appreciate the ostentatious side of these ceremonies which is often more a showing of wealth (often borrowed), than the celebration of the union between two individuals.
Though considered a 'seasonal' industry, the Indian wedding industry has an estimated turnover of over Rs 150,000 crores; and it is growing by the year. One could argue that it creates employment, but too many people are indebted the day after; this is not healthy.
6. Reservations
Reservations were introduced in the Constitution as a temporary measure at the time of Independence to remove disparities between different 'weaker' sections of the population. It was a genuine problem, with no easy solution. Over the years, it has been politicised (especially during and after V P Singh's [ Images ] rule) and it has now become a tool for political parties to gain power.
Why should a Dalit or OBC crorepati get more support from the government in terms of quota in a university or financial incentives than a poor Brahmin? It is just unfair.
While more attention should be paid to the poorest communities in India, the only criteria to receive financial support should be strictly economic.
For this, I admire the Indian Army [ Images ] which has managed for the past six decades to remain free from the poison of 'caste' quota.
7. Nouveau riche
The nouveau riche tribe is a despicable species whether in India or elsewhere on the planet. They behave particularly badly in this country. They speak loudly and they like to show-off their newly-acquired wealth.
One understands that they had no time to invest to educate themselves, being too busy making money, but life, whether of an individual or a nation should be balanced. Culture is an essential part of any human being.
8. National Security
The concept of National Security is constantly misused by government babus to avoid transparency. Though the situation in India is far better than in China where you can be sent to concentration camps (known as laogais) for any real or fictitious breach of 'national security,' Indian bureaucrats however take refuge behind the veil of this undefined concept to escape scrutiny.
To take an example, under the RTI Act, section 8A allows exemption of information, disclosure of 'which would prejudicially affect the sovereignty and integrity of India, the security, strategic, scientific or economic interests of the State, relation with foreign State or lead to incitement of an offence.'
Tons of important documents, having nothing to do with 'national security' are withheld under this pretext. Courts will one day have to define the concept more precisely.
9. Chaotic traffic
I had listed 'traffic' in my earlier article, but things have got much worse. I wish India would learn from China how to develop proper infrastructure (without, of course, having to import the workforce from the Middle Kingdom).
The ideal State would probably be the Middle Path between Switzerland [ Images ], boringly over disciplined and chaotic free-for-all India.
10. Bt Brinjal
But again India is incredible and lovable, despite these small hitches.
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