You must be the Change you want to see in the world

Never before I have felt helpless ! I was always optimistic with Democracy, Constitution and a Free Liberal system and gave importance to the fact that if we want we can change the people who are unaccountable. 

But I  was wrong ! I am angry ! I feel anguished ! The government has let us down. The bureacracy las let us down. The entire system has let us down. 

After every such incident we point finger at our neighbor. Under the rhetoric, we try to cover the problem that our own system has. Pakistan is our enemy and the enemy is bound to attack. Why arent we capable of countering these attacks ?

I have every right to be anguished with Manmohan Singh, Shivraj Patil, Vilasrao Deshmukh, R.R.Patil and other politicians. The proud chief minister who celebrated 8th year in office should feel ashamed that he did nothing in 8 years to stop attacks on his state. It is a myth that I as a voter have power to change the government. But who do I elect ? If I have to change the Manmohan Singh leadership, I will have to vote for Advani who is even worse. The same person who just a day ago was targeting Karkare and the ATS for "targetting" terrorists. If I have to change Vilasrao, should I elect Gopinath Munde ? Or should I vote for Raj Thackeray? 

And will this problem get solved by changing the politicians ? What about the bureacracy ?  I remember the CNN-IBN coverage few months ago where they had exposed lack of security on the coastal India. Customs Officers were casual, Police were sleeping. Nobody acted on it. Even while reading the charges on the convicts of the 93 bomb blast case, I always felt if 1 person would have done his job correctly, that incident could have been avoided. Hence I feel that more than Congress, more than BJP, it is the system which is responsible and people who made this system the way it is. I hold you responsible for this and I hold myself responsible for this !

When I paid Rs. 100 to the police man for getting my passport verification done, I had sowed seed for this attack. 

When I paid Rs. 50 to the traffic police when I was caught driving without license, I had paid him for not doing his job.

When I paid Rs. 7000 to the government officer for transfer will, I had become part of this inefficient system.

As Mahatma Gandhi has said "You must be the Change you want to see in the world". If I want my police force to be righteous, I have to righteous. If I want my politicians to be accountable, I have to be accountable to the democracy. If I dont want the bureacrats to have a "chalta hai" attitude, I should get rid of it first. 

So next time when I see a security guard letting someone enter a mall even after his machine beeps, I am going to object. Next time when I see something suspicious, I am going to report. Next time when I see some area is prone to attack, I am going to report. Next time I am not going to bribe someone for not doing his job and object when I see someone not doing his job.

These actions might be small but If each one of us can collectively do this, we can change the system. Lets get rid of the empty rhetoric and start taking practical actions.

Tell me what you feel about this picture !

Apple Massacre !

Please comment on what you feel about this image .. This is part of first exercise in a book on photography that I am reading. The idea is to look at day-to-day things with a new thought ... 

I have taken a picture of an apple and manipulated it in software to get this .. Click on the image to see a bigger picture .. 

On Raj Thackeray and Marathi Asmita

Last couple of weeks in the country were marked with ugly forms of Violence and Political mud slinging. It was heart breaking to see people from different parts of country pointing fingers at other communities. It was further disappointing to see that none of the so-called intellectuals (other than Shobha De) from Maharashtra or else where are voicing their opinions on the issue. The issue seems to be hijacked by politicians who are using the incidents to gain political mileage.

So the first question is, Do Mumbaikars / Marathis have first claim on jobs in Maharashtra and Mumbai ? Most of the people even though they dont support violence seem to have an positive answer to this. They talk about a law which says 80 % of the "un-skilled" jobs should be reserved for locals. I confess that even I used to keep this view that for all the unskilled jobs there should be reservation for locals. However while debating on this point with a friend I realized that by keeping this view, I was really distinguishing between "locals" and "outsiders". When we talk about India as one country it is incorrect to distinguish between locals and outsiders. If we support this view then we will have to also support a view which says that 80% jobs in Girgaon should be reserved for people staying in Girgaon and people staying in Dombivali should not have claim on those jobs. The basic question is why do we consider Biharis and UPites to be different from Marathis. Why cant we look at all of us as Indians ?

Second question is are these communities attacking Marathi culture ? Before we look at this question lets understand What is Culture ? What are the things that characterize a culture ? Is it language ? The Marathi language used by Shivaji Maharaj was drastically different from Marathi spoken today. If you read some of the letters written by Raja Shivaji (This is how he used to sign them) most of the modern Marathi Speakers would not even understand what is written. Then do we say that Shivaji Maharaj does not represent Marathi culture ? It is said that in after you travel for 8 kms the language changes. Then how can we say that language characterizes the culture. Language is a medium to acquire knowledge. The renowned Marathi Writer V.P.Kale has said that "Odh hi dnyanachi asawi, bhaashechi navhe ..Ingraji hatao peksha mala adnyan hatao he jasta mahatwache watate" (The quest should be for Knowledge not Language, I think removing ignorance is more important than removing language). Marathi language is not going to die as long as there is quality literature like that of P.L.Deshpande, Y.D.Phadke, V.P.Kale, V.S. Khandekar,etc. and poems like those of G.D. Madgulkar, Grace, Suresh Bhat. And if literature cannot save the language then I am sure having boards and number plates in Marathi cannot save the language too.

Is culture characterized by superficial things like Kande Pohe, Pagdi or Feta, Puran Poli. These days we dont keep Shendis, dont wear Janwas (sacred threads) dont regularly do Sandhya. Our eating habits are different from our ancestors but we are still proud to say that we are "Hindus". Similarly, lifestyle of an average maharshtrian has changed. Maharashtrian women no longer wear nauwari saris. Maharashtrian men dont wear pagdi or fetas but still we call ourselves Marathi.

When we meet an "Indian" (who may be of any religion or from any state) in a foreign land, we feel a warm affection towards him, I think this affection is what we call Culture. Culture is a bridge that brings people closer. Culture is thinking of India as one country and to be tolerant towards people with different rituals and different life style.

Thinking of India as One Country has been exemplified by Maharashtra in history. When Marathas fought a war in Panipat against Ahmedshah Abdali, they were representing India not Maharashtra. When Tatya Tope, Nanasaheb Peshwa, Rani Laxmibai of Jhansi revolted against British in 1857 they were fighting for India not Maharashtra. Lokmanya Tilak's editorials after Partition of Bengal gave him 6 years of severe imprisonment but also made him "Bade Dada" of Bengalis. When Babasaheb Ambedkar fought for the rights of Dalits, he didnt restrict his struggle to Maharashtra. Rajguru happily died for India with Bhagat Singh and Sukhdeo. Swatantryavir Savarkar, S.A.Dange, Sunil Gavaskar, Sachin Tendulkar, Lata Mangeshkar, Asha Bhosale, Kishori Amonkar,Pt.Bhimsen Joshi, Gopal Krishna Gokhale, Maharaja Sayajirao Gaikwad, Vijay Tendulkar, Kusumagraj, Dhondo Keshaw Karve, Raghunath Karve, Dr. Jayant Naralikar, Wrangler Paranjape, Dr. Mashelkar, Dr. Narendra Jadhav, P.L.Deshpande, Nanaji Deshmukh, Nirmala Deshpande, Baba Amte ................ the list just goes on ... (I dont intend to separate out people like JRD Tata, Ambani who have non-maharashtrian sirname but am just excluding them to keep the argument simple) So many different people in diverse fields having different views epitomize the Marathi Culture.

Legacy of Maharashtra and Marathis in diverse fields like Art, Literature, Social Causes, Politics is immense. But the common thread is that all these people have thought of India as one country and didnt restrict themselves to Maharashtra. I think that is what represents Marathi Culture. If Marathi culture is under attack it is not from people from other states (so called outsiders) but from people like Raj Thackeray who have a narrow mindset and who are breaking this historical tradition of Maharashtra.

I think Culture is like "Khayal" in Indian Classical Music. An artist is expected to develop an individual style one that is demonstrably connected to the tradition, and those performers who restrict themselves to mere imitation of their preceptors or of other famous musical personalities are firmly criticized for a lack of imagination. Similary those who just copy the superficialities of lifestyle and call it as culture do not really represent the culture. (Thought of using "Khayal" in this way seems to be liked by many readers. But it is not my original thought. It was used by Gandhi in talking about how he is continuing Lokmanya Tilaks Politics)

Another argument is "Look at how people from Tamil Nadu or Bengal are "intolerant" to other languages, Shouldnt We be equally strong about Marathi and intolerant to languages other than Marathi". I havent traveled to Bengal or Tamil Nadu so I dont have first hand experience of their intolerance. The Tamilians and Bengalis whom I have personally met are compassionate and probably more tolerant than I am. But even if we assume that there is such intolerance in those states, it should be viewed as weakness of those states and that culture. We should not be blind because someone else is blind.

So what about the Marathi Youth who is in the center of the debate. I think Marathi Youth is more educated unlike the Bihari/ UP Youth. If they want to compete with bhaiyyas (original meaning intended not derogatory), they have a natural advantage as they have stayed here for a long time, they know adjoining areas more, they know the market place better than north indian youth. If there is a regional lobbying in any sector, get organized and break the lobby (You dont need to break anyones bones for that). Develop new skills, make yourself competitive and no one will be able to take your jobs away.

What about the cities like Mumbai which are subjected to the influx? There is a need to organize the influx. The problem with the city is not the influx but infrastructure. Developing the infrastructure to meet the amount of people in Mumbai is a challenge but it is definitely not impossible and only the skills of Marathis wont be sufficient to build that kind of infrastruture. Marathis will have to work with people like Sreedharan (Konkan Railway, Delhi Metro) for planning and execution, people from probably Gujarat for Investment, People from North for Manpower.

I hope Marathis would take up this challenge and make the state a real "Maha-Rashtra" (The Great Rashtra).

Canonization of Sister Alphonsa

Read the news report today about Canonization of Sister Alphonsa. She would become the first Indian woman and second Indian to receive the sainthood. In the light of this event, Finance Minister P Chidambaram announced that a coin will be released on August 19, 2009 in Kerala commemorating her achivements.

I am happy that an Indian woman is getting recognized worldwide. But my rationalist mind makes hard for me to take pride in this moment after reading about why she will be canonized. Since my sole source of this event and the biography of Sister Alphonsa is news & media reports (which are not very authentic and comprehensive) my thoughts may not be entirely correct.

As per whatever understanding I have got, for a person who died naturally, atleast one miracle is necessary to be declared blessed (beatified) and at least two miracles are necessary to be declared a saint(canonized). The "miracle" that is reported, took place when a physically challenged person in Kurupanthara in Kottayam district, was cured of his deformity after his parents prayed at Alphonsa's tomb in May 1999.

I am not against Vatican canonizing Sister Alphonso. It is a religious organization and follows certain "faith" and it is not objectionable for such an organization to believe in miracles. But why does popularly elected government of India has to believe in miracles ? And that too a Harvard educated Finance Minister of India ?

If the government had to honour Sister Alphonsa for her contributions to the Indian Society, why did it had to wait till Vatican decided to canonize her ? It is ironical that the government is commemorating someone for her post-humous achivements which are confirmed by a religious organization.

On one hand the government talks about "Anti Superstition Bill" and on the other hand Central Government has itself started believing in superstitions ? Is the government encouraging people to visit sadhus, babas and sisters instead of doctors when they are contracted with diseases ? Isn't this encouraging superstition ?

Please dont get me wrong, I am not the typical rightwing hindu fundamentalist who is trying to oppose just because the person in discussion is a Catholic. Lack of sources which describe her contributions when she was "alive" is forcing me to take this view. If the government would have decided to commemorate a hindu godly figure in this manner my views wouldn't have changed. The only point that I want to make is Government should respect but remain aloof from religious matters of any religion.

The following quote is taken from the website of Maharashtra Andhashraddha Nirmulan Samiti(http://antisuperstition.org/)

“It is Science alone that can solve the problems of hunger and poverty, insanitation and illiteracy, of superstition and deadening customs and tradition, of vast resources running waste, of a rich country inhabited by the starving people.

Who indeed could afford to ignore Science today? At every turn we have to seek its aid.

The future belongs to Science and to those who make Friends with Science.”- Jawaharlal Nehru

Freedom !

15th August 1947: After fighting with British for nearly more than 200 years, we say that our country became free. We fought with the British using different weapons from news paper to Bombs.

Some of us revolted violently, some revolted by peaceful methods, Some of us got themselves hanged, some of us went to jail and some who were less gallant expressed their discontent in their own house. Finally, India became a free country.

Our democratic constitution granted us all the fundamental rights which citizens of any free nation are supposed to have. But do we really understand what these rights mean. At a more fundamental level, do we really understand what is the meaning of freedom ?

In reality, not many people understood what it meant for a country to be free. There is a story often told about a small boy who asked his poor father, "what is the meaning of independence ?" The father replied, "After Independence we will get enough food to eat !". Some people thought independence or freedom is an end to exploitation.

There is another story which throws light on the journey which our country has taken. When the country became free, some people refused to buy rail tickets. The reason which they gave , "We are now free !". I think, this sentence is embedded in our brains and has become our national slogan.

We refuse to obey traffic laws : We are now free !
We spit on roads : We are now free !
We keep volume of our music systems high at night : We are now free !
We refuse to lower the noise levels in Ganpati Festival : We are now free !
We honk unnecessarily on roads : We are now free !
Instead of obeying we break laws : We are now free !
If some one asks us to sacrifice something for larger interest of country, We refuse : We are now free !

In this process, we have become so selfish and blind that we have forgotten to put our country first.

Can we really change this ?