Spring feet

Just one of those days when you get out of the bed without a need to drag yourself out... just one of those days when vishnu sahasranamam plays around sun-rise, just one of those days you manage your chores and also a sumptuous hog! of puris and crispy dosa with chutney... !

Today happens to be that experience so far.... and i want to be sprinty for the rest of the day :)

Some of these small things can make so much of a difference to the way one conducts his/her daily routine. The devil in me retorts immediately though - 'When done once in a while, the difference is notable'! Well yeah maybe.... but the underlying thought here is that discipline in life and life style can make an impact; experienced or not in the shorter run.

I started to write about my sprite of today and have ended up doling enough and more gyan... no wonder i should restrict myself to writing about Big B

Have a pleasant day ahead :-)

India - A secular nation?

This question has been troubling me for the last some years. When i researched i figured that India was not technically a secular nation till the word was impregnated in the constitution in the '70s(42^nd Amendment, 1976) by Smt Indira Gandhi. Congress has never done anything for electoral gains.. so stop thinking in that direction right now.
It is understandable that the doyens of Indian governance were right in stamping us - a Hindu Majority a secular nation. Why? - i am not supposed to feel insulted as a hindu that we needed something in paper to assert the Hindu sensitivity towards other religions. And if this was not imperative during Independence(Blunders of partition - a subject for another occasion) why in 70s??? Congress... t'sup guys - did RSS and Bajrang dal create nuisance even then?

My inquisitive mind tried hard to argue - "There aren't too many nations that have seen a need to hard code such values in their constitution to quell the insecurities of the 'minorities'". A sample of some of the 'known' nations:
Germany - All laws are same for people from any religion. The main political parties are called Christian Democrats /Social Christians... Extremely RIGHT WING eh?
The USA - No reference of secularism in the constitution
England - The Monarch cannot be a Catholic!
Japan/China - Chuckles...
Pakistan - Im rolling now

Nobody seems to be unnecessarily worried about the status of minorities in these nations. So why is there a hue and cry in/about a country where formally secularism has been declared?

Let me now talk a little about my India....
All Hindu temples (atleast the significant ones) are governed by the state - the money flows into the gov't coffers. NO church/mosque owes any such obligation to the state.
TN govt announced a special reservation for minorities last year. The AP govenment in Feb 2008 announced subsidies to Christians in the state who wish to visit their holy sites in Israel. Haj Subsidy to the tune of crores is doled out each year.
I am not here to flare up emotions but to ask a question: Is India really Secular? Or in the name of secularism, the majority community is being driven up the wall?
Where is the Media that was sensationlizing a Godhra to cover the horror tales of Kerala Hindus?(Kashmir Pundits is a stale quote anyways) Where were the secularists while major tribal areas across the country were systematically being converted into Christian laboratories?
Oh by the way, i am not here to cover up for the wrong doings of the Sangh Parivar or whichever saffron brigade you'd know of.

Should i not sue the Indian government for not being secular and most of their practises??

I am a troubled Indian at the end of the day tired of the double standards of fellow Indians... afterall the SECULARISM stamp was passed in the Parliament that is voted in by a Hindu Majority!

A note to all my non-hindu friends... i don't think i am against your religion when i write this... i am just a little confused in the head about the secularism deal :)

Paradise

Why is it so significant? Why does it oft hold our imagination? Why is it a distant dream and 'just in theory, not practical'.
What stops us from living there right now? Why do we hold ourselves ransom to our ideas of a 'sucess story'. Why is today not what it should be?
"Bhangi ke sapne mein Jhadu" as my friend quotes :)! Each one has his/her own ideas about paradise. Again restricted by our myopic thoughts about an ideal world.
Well the purists believe that only those who dream can achieve, which is true and that's where stems my disconnect. Is dreaming along enough or is it relevant to dream beyond 'usually dreamt of' things?
I guess it's not so easy, but it should be possible. Isn't the whole act of being in this world an instrument to enable this 'dreaming' business? Aren't we here to learn from people, things and events around us to 'dream' better? Am i then doing enough to capture from my environs to build that capability in me to dream good enough?
My mind seems to play games with me whenever i am not alert about it's activities. I guess a good starting point would be to challenge it whenever anything 'negative' comes to mind. The definition for that(-ve) would be anything that comes to mind that defies your basic character. Anything that raises an alarm on 'second thoughts' so to speak!
Well i'm not in a mood to spend more time justifying my definition and i just about figured that the title was 'Paradise' and not ' Dreams' !!!
Well i guess i'm in the process of building my paradise going about my business of writing whatever and whenever i feel like!

Incredible? India

I am a proud indian alright! I get a hair-raising experience whenever the Anthem is played (in whatever form), am on a high whenever India crushes its opponents on the sports field, love when Indians(by hook or crook) win plaudits abroad.

I am a generation that doesn't know what freedom means though as it was never a new phenomenon. I don't know my duties as a citizen; don't care how people around me are as long as i am 'happy'. I don't have the Sardar Patels around me to show the world what the real India thinks about worldly matters. I as India do not stand up to problems around the world. I don't care if there is a struggle for democracy in a neighbouring country 60 years after my nation gained independence. I don't care how some nations bull-doze the rest as long as my relationship ascends ' historic heights' with these rogues.

I love the booming economy and the vulgar display of wealth and vanity, for tradition is a big NO-NO for me. What would people think if i start living the 'stone-age' way. I envision india becoming a super power in 2020... no 2015 no... next year! It would be a super(b) power that doesn't care for, neither stands up against the economic/socio-political blasphemy of the other super powers. Arey :) it doesn't stand up against blasphemy within.... !!!

Ofcourse, i am part of the making of an Incredible India.

Family Ka Bachcha

Mithunda's Krishnan Iyer M.A fondly repeated these lines when he held Vijay Chauhan's Son aloft. This was the typical HUF(Hindu Undivided Family) in legal parlance.

People were strongly bonded with family ties, supporting each other though the rough and rains, sharing joys and sorrows alike. This was the Joint Family system that the Indian society boasted of. Things changed, people moved across different societies, started travelling more frequently to distant destinations, dollar started flowing.... people started secluding themselves, distancing themselves, 'frustrated' and 'choked' they sought 'solace' & 'Independence' & 'freedom'.

Every house boasts of a son and daughter in the US/UK/Canada/Aus/NZ/Singapore etal..
The generation of '80s worked their youth to ensure a safe and secure future for their children.
Now, they are alone, ailing; fighting bouts of rejection, grief and self pity. They are surprised at the pace in which the societies have 'grown'? leaving them behind in the race for SUCCESS!!!

I met a couple today, with both dotters settled in the US for good. The graceful lady, who happens to be a cousin of my mom; proudly declared her skills in traversing the globe across airports with 'confusing symbols'! The gentleman offered an interesting repartee - These are the glorified Servant Maids! And the locals think 'Wow! She has gone to the US'
He continued; 'We are not called to see the beauty of US. We go only for Child Birth'

Alas, so true were those words that still reverberate in my ears as i come to terms with the plight of a 'rich' yet 'poor' couple lost in the 21st century highway of life!

My intention of blogging this was not to label a superiority tag on joint family system but to sensitize myself to the issue as i hard code these sentences on the web. I am reminded of my wife's words while we were still seeing each other - "We should not keep them with us for getting our work done"

This article also highlights my inability to use the right punctuations in a direct speech format... but there are larger issues to care for tonite!

Right Vs 'Right'

The media (print, electronic and however else) has had an uneasy time dealing with Gujarat ever since the riots in 2002, more so after the reelection of Narendra Modi to the chief minister's chair of Gujarat. Well, most indians are known to play the sane all knowing types and thus this tamasha. I think i need more lines to explain my thoughts...

We all take pride in upholding the spirit of the constitution and whatever else it stands for... namely secularism, democracy, freedom of expression blah ... blah ... etc. Why do we forget that these terms were introduced by people at different times to suit the conditions that prevailed. These are not stone coded terminologies that can't be ridden of. I am not an advocate of radicalism and terrorism of any kind, if that's what i am sounding to be.

My point is simple.... look at these terminologies in the true spirit and not definitive. Without wasting more time... look at what's going around the whole 'ARTY' affair. People are protesting against a 'fascist' regime out to snatch fundamental rights of people.... 'moral policing' should go some say.... Funnily enough one social activist almost sided with the BJP and the other 'Right' wing forces when she said.... this state seems to be separated from the rest of the country.... people can barely live here... outsiders are not welcome blah blah... and she has been camping there and deriving maximum mileage out of the affair for the last 4-5 days! How ironoic that she has been able to survive in such a horrible and obnoxious 'state' of affairs!!!

Why are our indian doyens of liberalism and free thinking forgetting that if free thought is their right, so it is for the rest. How cleverly they are by-passing the whole issue of religious faux-pas, when Shiva or Durga or for that matter Jesus or Allah are protrayed in a compromising pose. How relevant is an argument about ' how were outsiders allowed to enter the examination hall' and 'instead of supporting the students the VC is with these anti-social elements'; when there is a larger issue out there. Blood thirsty media and ofcourse our good ol' socialists are busy diverting attention towards the role of Gujarat government in their support for such 'right' wing organizations out to 'destroy' the balance in society.

Boss... give me a break... where were you when muslims were protesting and issuing fatwa against a Danish cartoonist for showing Allah in poor light??? Why were they burning effigies and destroying property in India??? It was 'right' when they did it.... but wrong when abvp activists do it! I think we need to sit back and evaluate our idea of what is "right". Whatever is politically correct and appealing for mass consumption may not always be 'RIGHT'.

I am appalled at the way Indians are degenrating themselves by propagating a concept of popilism and non-righteousness ironically while trying to project 'right'! Gujarat has been an example of intolerance to non-sense! Maybe there are lessons for everyone... so my dear rajdeep sardesais of the media world.... try something different. You can't get away by scoring personal brownies against Narendra Modi everytime just because your ego was crushed when BJP swept to power in gujarat

Infallible justice of Nature

As soon as Saddam hussain was held culpable and awarded a sentence, papers all over the world started splashing accounts of the fairness/unfairness of the entire judicial affair behind the sentence.

We as humans, have this tendency of expecting instantaneous justice and that's often not what nature has in store for. Even the man-made judicial process takes its own course and time. Nature eventually catches up with everyone..... be it the accused who 'roams freely' as the case is being fought over or others who are sometimes hastily awarded false sentences for the better part of their lives. That brings me to the dilemma i often experience... do we get punished for whatever wrong we do.... and that too immediately? I can sense the argument in your mind about the measure/extent of wrong deed... well the counter argument is a corresponding measure of punishment.

We frown if we feel that we've got a raw deal and that the other person has gotten away with it... i've seen a lot of people caught by a traffic police pointing at others who they think should also be brought to book! I've done it myself :). So why do we think that if we are punished then the entire world is full of criminals and everyone should immediately be booked?

Coming back to Saddam's case.... what's the popular argument doing rounds...." it was a clear case of US high-handedness" So? does that mean Saddam was innocent this time? Someone else remarked " If Saddam hangs bush should also hang" Maybe,... but why relate the two at all? Bush din't ask saddam to commit those heinous crimes against fellow iraqis.

These protesters should've hit the streets when US decided to attack iraq in the pretext of unearthing WMD(wpns of mass destruction). What was dear India doing then? What did the government do to stop the war or take the case up in the United Nations as a clear violation and public repudiation/mockery of UN ethos!??

I think i am building a case for Destiny here... Saddam deserves what he got.... sooner or later Bush will! And yes, India will also pay for its muted reaction to the entire drama!