EK CUP CHAI

‘Saddam Hussein has been executed’ is the most happening news in the media today.

Question is : Is Justice Done?

Not long ago, when the president of Iraq (an Oil Rich Nation) was making friends with USSR (Cold War still in the air, 1963), Central Intelligence Agency of the USA devised a plan. It choose the opposition party to spoil the friendship. Until here, everything was fine. In the opposition party was none other than Saddam Hussein.

So after a peaceful (yes peaceful!) change in presidency, the deputy Mr.Saddam Hussein got strict with himself and his men. (Well that means USA had more hold on it) USA immensely helped Iraq in the Iraq-Iran war on their border dispute. USA knew that if Iraq won over Iran more oil is in its pocket, while also disposing off its useless warfare machinery.

Anyway Iraq & Iran both lost the war on a cease fire. And USA thought that Iraq was a mere a time waste. In the mean time Saddam with his unlimited machinery, eyed Kuwait.

What else, America had a reason to kill Saddam. He was executed today.

Whether killing Saddam is right or not is not the question here. But it still remains to be answered whether justice has been done.

Somethings to note:

• USA is still the most Petroleum producing nation.
• USA didn’t involve in World War II until it was bombed.
• USA was the major supplier to Germany, until Pearl Harbor happened.
• USA disturbed Cuba, Vietnam, the Central America, the South America for its own necessities in the name of World Peace.
• International Court of Justice has warned USA not to perpetuate terrorism in Nicargua, a Central American Nation. However, US said it doesn’t consider any court outside of the USA.

Check this link to see USA interventions: http://www.cooperativeresearch.org/project.jsp?project=US_interventions_project

USA never showed any evidence to attack Afghanistan after 9/11. It now controls pawns in Iraq and Afghanistan, both on the border of Iran. We all know who is the next target.

The question still remains, doesn’t it?

Looks like my topics are dying a natural death as soon as I post a new write up. So will give a break for today. The last post did get some freaky comments, and I’m still expecting more. Let me see what will happen by tomorrow.

Don’t be disappointed my readers :-)). Will come back tomorrow with another one.

One fine morning in my childhood (now that was not long ago), a person asked me the difference between A Cinema, A Theatre, A Movie, a Film and a Play.

I had to really struggle to give answers. Probably that was my innocence (or arrogance etc) to make a simple task a hard one, but I definitely have overcome my innocence (not arrogance though).

These are some words we normally use these words without actually understanding the fuller meaning.

Sensitivity:
There was this lady who used to cry like hell one someone died in around her neighborhood. You see she was very sensitive. Or was she? Most people tend to confuse ATTACHMENT and sensitivity.

Sensitivity is joy – The wonderful zero, the great screw (and to bind it you’ve got a nut), a broom stick, a micro chip, a dead leaf, a blooming bud, a whole hearted laugh, a lovely touch… and if you had a smile while reading this (or if you cursed me) that is what makes you sensitive. Not your attachments.

Responsibility:
‘I have so many responsibilities, I can’t take more’. This is one common thing we hear from Teenagers or teenage mentalities. ‘The ability to respond to a situation’ – that is Responsibility (Courtesy: Stephen R Covey)

Self Respect:
Self Respect is something that I never understand, probably because I never had it. But to me it definitely is not what people tend to say it is. “How can I sweep my home, when there are women to do the job?” Definitely this is not self respect. “I don’t use someone else’s money, and won’t let them use mine?” Good this as good as “don’t touch me I won’t touch you” Now how is this self respect?

Selflessness:
Hmmppph…there is so much in movies about this selflessness…sacrifice, leave, give out. And they quote Mother Theresa as an example. Excuse me! Give me a break. Mother Theresa couldn’t bear the pain to see people suffering. And so she started helping them out. Now tell me who was she helping first - HER pain or people or both. No more comments on this.

Discipline:
Discipline – The art of being a disciple. Discipline was last practiced on the earth when people would listen to one another. Now this word is used for different kinds of purposes and is highly confused with ‘order’

Hope:
“When you have done everything you can, and you have nothing more to do” and still want the result in your favor – that’s when you hope. Basically the word is very hopeless.

Belief:
Belief is assumed truth. Now you should understand why people fight. It is because their ‘assumptions’ differ. Eg: Hindu, Muslim etc

Love:
No words, the more I try to describe it the more I will be confusing myself.

Egoism:
Ego is I. In the Hindu mythology there is a saying “Aham Brahmasmi”. “ I is God”.
‘Egoism’ is one word that is definitely used in the most wrong way. Egoism is the act of being self. Don’t confuse it with ‘egotism’ which means ‘thinking high of self’. More about it in the next few words.

Integrity/Individuality/Intelligence/Intellect:
I don’t know what they mean. Definitely I don’t have any of it. But funny thing is they all start with ‘I’. Recall what I said - “I is God” and more funnily it is pronounced as ‘E’ in all the four words. ‘E’ starts off another word ‘Ego’.

Integrity is Oneness. Individuality is about being Undivided. Intellect is knowledge and Intelligence is Knowledge of Knowledge.

If a person has any three from the above characters and misses ONE, he is the most dangerous human you have come across.

And Egoism, Love, Self Respect all stand for only that person who has all of the ‘4I’s. I’m yet to meet one such person.

But you see, I hope to see, but I don’t believe I will find one such person, because I’m so self respected that I don’t have the sensitivity or the love to find such person, and I don’t think it is my Responsibility. (Or is it?)

Don’t worry about the last sentence, it is just made up to show my language skills :-).

But I hope the next time we make use of these words, we know what they mean. Otherwise probably we are saying something that we don’t intend to mean.

A friend, who has been living in Ahmedabad for quite sometime, told me a story few months ago when he came to visit me. I’m putting it here in direct speech.

“Few days ago, after working hard on nothing I walked out of my campus at around 2 am for a pack of cigarettes. Because I couldn’t find any shops near the vicinities, I walked further and found a small shop open.

As I reached there, the shop fellow was about to close his shop. I had to request him for a cigarette. As he opened his shop shutters I noticed how dark it was. Just a street light, at the end where I came from, and a small light in the shop, I turned around to see, a strange person sitting down in the middle of the road, staring directly at me. He seemed like any other shabby person we come across on the roads regularly, those people whom we call – mad fellow(s).

As I lit my cigarette, I saw him still staring at me. Though I got a bit nervous, I kept looking at him. He smiled, I smiled (my heart still beating fast). I asked the shop fellow ( who was just about to close his shop) a biscuit packet.

I paid him, got a bit courageous and walked to the ‘mad’ man. He smiled, and took the biscuit packet. Before I could even react, he put the packet into his mouth and started biting it. That was a horrible scene. Shabby hair, unshaved face, dirty clothes, and white teeth all biting into the biscuit packet.

I was shocked and looked at the shopkeeper. He didn’t look shocked. I didn’t know if it was the shop keeper’s indifference or what. But I went near the mad man, and said in Hindi, “What the hell did you make of yourself”(yeh kya haal banaa rakhey ho).

He got serious. Stood Up. I didn’t know what to do. He just stared at me, looked at me seriously and said, “I’ve made a Choice” in absolutely stunning English. The accent was distinct.

He walked away. The shopkeeper, as he started to move his bicycle, said to me in Hindi, “He is just like that”. I asked him a bit more about the mad fellow and he said, “He is just like that from when his family died in the massacre”.

He cycled away. I walked back.”

“1044 Dead. 223 missing and 2548 injured” –
This is what Dr.Manmohan Singh’s statistics say.

The massacre happened in February 2002. The case is still pending in the courts.

Christmas is here!!!

It is one of those rare festivals that is celebrated all over the world. Have a wonderful Christmas each one of you. May this Christmas bring Joy to all of us. I always wanted to wear a Santa Claus attire, but never did.

On the other thoughts, a teacher in the US has been fired because he taught Children that Santa Claus doesn’t exist.

Now every body knows what’s fact. Why should children not be told facts?

Talking of Child Education, there are thousands of children in India, who do not go to schools. Almost all of them end up as Child laborers. They go to work, get money, give it to their parents and feed; and next day the same routine.

The joke is those children who go to school, spend thousands of rupees on their education (so called!), and then end up being Adult Labors. You work to get paid and feed your stomachs and desires.

If you observe carefully there is only one difference between both ‘varieties’ of children. One variety spends to be a laborer, and one variety earns because he is a laborer. Who is better? And yet we have institutions and organizations calling for more schools.

No I’m not against schools. I also hate children ending up as laborers. What concerns me is that the education system of ours has created intellectuals not humans. All we are concerned is about how well we can pass out certain exams rather than dealing with the problems of life or inventing new things.

These children of ours grow up only to fall into the same vicious circle. The laborers stay laborers, thanks to our economic conditions. So those who are laborers stay laborers and those who pass exams keep passing exams.

The very idea of our education system is to break the cycles of life. But are breaking these cycles or making them – look at present India, and you will know the answer.

But when you look at present India, there is always a glimpse of hope. The problem is that hope always remains (Most people tend to think that hope is a positive word. Hope is something that we do when there is nothing else to do. Now tell me if it is a positive thing). People keep looking at this hope and say everything is fine.

Of course perfection is too much to ask for, but people like you and me, ie people who matter most, are satisfied looking at this hope. Isn’t there something else that we all can do, if not with various things, at least with Education System.

I’ve just begun making a small difference, don’t ask me how. Are you making any?

Anyway Merry Christmas to you, and to those thousands of Children who go to school and those who don’t.

I mentioned in my previous blog that people who do not go to cast their vote as corrupt. I will tell you why?

Many a person thinks that no person is good enough for his/her vote. Fine. But how will that person know, or how will Election Comission (and in turn India) will know that?

We don’t care to make sure that our voices are heard, and yet we blame ‘voting people’ for the pathetic situations around us. If any person has the capacity and ability to voice his concern, and yet doesn’t do that - Well then, to me, he is corrupt. And that’s why I call non voting people corrupt.

Fact is, at the end of the day we all are to be blamed, because we don’t know what Section 49(O) of Conduct of Election Rules of 1961 says:

“Elector deciding not to vote - If an elector, after his electoral roll number has been duly entered in the register of voters in Form 17 A and has put his signature or thumb impression thereon as required under sub-rule (1) of rule 49L, decided not to record his vote, a remark to this effect shall be made against the said entry in Form 17A by the presiding officer, and the signature or thumb impression of the elector shall be obtained against such remark. ”

Simply, section 49(O) means that any person who doesn’t want his vote to be casted, should go to the polling booth, convey the same to the polling booth officer. The person will make signatures in the voters register as well.

This is the way of making your voice heard.

However, if such votes aren’t cast only those votes which have been casted will be counted. So, basically it is me and people like me pushing myself in to the pathetic situation our country is today.

However I wonder, why mass media and intelligent minds don’t promote this rule.

Whatever their reasons, I think, this rule needs to come out from the books and into practice. Otherwise, soon there will be 30% votes cast, and people winning by 1 or 2 votes.

Will such wins be thrilling victories or will they make our futures chilling mysteries, it is up to us to decide.

We are so used to the GIVE and TAKE formula today, we feel obligated to ‘thank’ anybody who work for us, even though they do it as a job. Human Relationship Values? Well for example : if some one came to our home(s) for Verification of Passport Details, we used to give them 200/- even before they asked it. A ‘Post Man’ used to be called home on Diwali for “Maamool”. May be this was a culture once, where no guest would leave a home without taking a gift from the host.

Today things have changed. The next time you have some guest for ‘Passport Verification’, you MUST give 300/- or else your passport will not be processed. Your post man demands money, otherwise he you will not receive those money ordrers you are desperately waiting for.

Not long ago, I worked with Revenue Department, in ‘Grievances Cell’. I happen to learn about some strange circumstances.

An old woman, whose father had been gifted a land by Zameendars years ago, is now asked to evict the lands.

A widow was not given her dead husband’s pension because, she doesn’t pay them 1000/-.

A government servant is not given his retirement funds, as his ‘percentage’ was not good enough.

All these cases dealt only with ONE department. Imagine more than 60 departments? No scheme and department was left uncorrupt. I thought I could complain. Everyone was busy, being corrupt. Some were busy, corrupting and some were busy not talking about corruption.

Later I left the job, without complaining about these corruption issues to anyone.

I still wonder who is the corrupt? Me or them? I never really tried to find out.

It reminds me of one gentleman called Dr. Jayaprakash Narayan. No I’m not comparing myself to him. Just as a thought – he is an MBBS who passed IAS entrance exam with Second Rank, served as a District Collector for many years. He couldn’t take the silly little things happening inside the system. So after 17 years of trying to work from inside the system, he quit his job. He recently started a political party – loksatta.
Visit: www.jayaprakashnarayan.blogspot.com

But the question still remains ‘Who is the real corrupt?’ Those who stayed down in the system without complaining or those who left it to have an outer view, and to try to change it.

Leaving the question aside (as we always evade questions) I think I’m Corrupt along with hundreds and thousand of people like me. Not because they quit jobs.

But because they don’t cast their VOTE.

India should find a punishment for this type of corruption.

Before starting off with solutions, let me tell you how I happened to get them in my mind:

I happened to witness a major Traffic Jam (that happens regularly) at a traffic junction in the ever developing Hyderabad. With almost any one shouting at each other, I jumped into the scene, signaling a truck to leave, and became a traffic cop for a while.

In the mean time, an over enthusiastic car driver(you will find loads of them in Hyderabad), wanted to take a U-turn. I signaled him to stop for a minute.

He wouldn’t budge, he kept making the U turn stopping many vehicles behind him, beside him, and in front of him. Now, everybody was shouting and signaling at him. I think my signal to stop him was the most polite one of all.

He bumped into an auto rickshaw, and his ignition switched off. The auto rickshaw fellow shouted at him in a mixture of Telugu, Urdu & Hindi. Even in all the noise, I could clearly hear the niceties showered on the car driver, his mother, his sister and his whole family. He went away for as some one honked behind him to move on.

As the car driver began to start the car, I shouted at him ‘COMMON SENSE’ pointing at my brain with my finger.

He lowered the glass, with the car still not completing the U turn, looking at me. All the vehicles were still behind me. He was all well dressed; the lady beside him was all in GOLD and TALCUM POWDER wearing a costly saree. I could see an IBM laptop (if not a laptop, atleast the bag) – all this in one second. I thought may be this fellow forgot his brain inside it.

He shouted something at me which I didn’t care. I just kept repeating, “move fast move fast”.

Only after he left jamming vehicles for some good time, I realized what he shouted at me in Telugu – “Son of a Bitch”.
***
I shared this experience with my friend and told him that we Hyderabadis have the least driving sense. My friend disagreed, saying that it is the infrastructure and administration that should be blamed. As the argument continued he went on to say that people here vote for bad representatives, and that all these uneducated people should not have the right to vote.

That seemed a valid point to me. Even I believed the same so the argument ended.

I have always wondered how people who don’t believe in their brothers’ or sister’s abilities go and vote for some one else. I also wondered how farmers who don’t even know what’s a good crop to grow in their lands are allowed to vote. But here in ‘Traffic’ it was all different. This fellow had a laptop, but lacked common sense.

So who is to be blamed? The driver, or the administrators, or the people themselves? I’m not sure. But apart from cribbing, I’ve got a solution this time:

1. Open schools early in the mornings. (It is already in practice)
2. Apply the same to all the Government Offices. ( I know the Non Gazzetted Officers, will start a strike, because they are looking for ways to avoid work.)
3. Take help from Big Corporate firms that employ huge number of people to: a) Help in employing traffic monitoring people and provide salaries to them. Lesser taxes or special bonuses can be given to these Corporate houses.
b) have their employees work on roads for one day every 6 months. Even if they don’t know how to monitor traffic, they will atleast remember not to forget their brains in their computers.
4. Teach RTC drivers to stick to one lane. ( I know they will be ready to go on strike as well). Apply bonus systems as in big Corporate firms. Anyone who gets a complaint, will get lesser points. More points, more increments.
5. Shift RTC bus stops from the ends of a lane to the middle of a lane.
6. Cut a ticket for a vehicle owner if his vehicle is stopped at a bus stop or any other private areas.

I know this is very ‘local’ to Hyderabad, but I strongly believe that this will help every city plagued with Traffic Problems.

What do you say? Do you think this will work or this is my day dream? Let me know.

It was in February 2000, when I read that Director Deepa Mehta cried like a child after having seen Shabana Azmi and Nandita Das shave their heads for her film ‘Water’.

It was in the same month when I read that few ‘Hindu Community’ people had burnt her sets in the ghats of Varanasi. They had a problem that Hindu rites were being criticized in the movie.

Few years down the lane, there have been cases of plagiarism etc on Deepa Mehta, and when she bounced back, the issue was solved ‘out of courts’.

Later she shot a movie with the name ‘River Moon’ with a different cast in Sri Lanka. It became a Canadian movie, made by an Indian. She didn’t know that she will lose her friends. And she didn’t know that it would be Canada’s nomination for the Oscars. Of course, the name of the movie was changed before it was released. It was called ‘Water’, with the same story that she had earlier planned in 2000.

I have seen the movie. The feel is great, the actors too good, the music heart wrenching, and direction - stunningly beautiful. Even Canada, which is known to play cultural games, embraced the movie. It is currently one of the rare Canadian movies that made more than $1 million. It will be going for Oscars, not from India, but from Canada.

I strongly believe that it will be in the nominations for the Academy Award. What a pity it goes out as a Canadian film!

I’m already proud of the movie, and if it wins an Oscar I only think it justifies the Hindu rites criticism.

On a different note - ‘Da Vinci Code’s’ release didn’t make an impact on more than a billion Christians in the UK, Australia, USA, Canada etc, but its release had to be won from Courts in India.

I wonder what makes India so religionally attached?

Is it the stupid traditions like Sati or Baal Vivah?
Or may be it is the economic conditions which are exploited by few religions to Convert people into their religions?

But for me, it is not our traditions nor our economic conditions. I think it’s ignorance, and plain arrogance not to ‘Think and Change’.

But who will explain these poor people that only ‘Change is Constant’ and that this was explained by Lord Krishna?

I think, we all are so stubborn - that Hindus don’t want to listen to their own God’s words; and other religions don’t want to take it because a person of some other religion had said it.

Coming back to our topic here, whatever is the case, I want ‘Water’ to win the award. No. I don’t have any ill feeling towards makers of ‘Rang De Basanti’, or ‘Lage Raho Munna Bhai. Nor do I believe that if Water wins an Oscar, it will be like a slap on Community feelings in India.

But I want Water to win an Oscar, just because it is a wonderful film I have seen in the recent times. But Alas! I don’t know anything about nominations, and I don’t even know how it will fare.

But after having a look at few films that have been ‘banned’ or ‘postponed’ I think we’ve lost out on some wonderful movies. ‘Black Friday’ by Anurag Kashyap is one amongst them.

I hope our movies don’t just entertain, but should start educating us all. After all film making is an art, and art has been a wonderful teacher, throughout history.

And as I have no more to say I want to finish this with a song, the same song which is played in the Climax of ‘Water’. It is rendered beautifully by A R Rahman:

Vaishnav jana to tene kahiye je
[One who is a vaishnav]
PeeD paraayi jaaNe re
[Knows the pain of others]
Par-dukhkhe upkaar kare toye
[Does good to others, esp. to those ones who are in misery]
Man abhimaan na aaNe re
[Does not let pride enter his mind]

This was Gandhiji’s favorite song. I wish those people who banned the shooting of this film watch it.

Sabrina Lall first cries out and then has Champagne. Manu Sharma’s home(s) is (are) quiet. The High Court finds lower courts judgment ’self contradictory’ and convicts Manu Sharma.

Manu Sharma will either be given a lifer or a death sentence. But he will go to the Supreme Court, with one of the best lawyers in the nation, Ram Jethmalani.

But who will take care of the scars of different people: A father, who died waiting to find legally who killed his daughter. A sister who suffered loss of both with one murder. A prime witness ( Bina Ramani) who was arrested, humiliated and put in jail for almost 10 days. A 19 year old who grew up being called coward by everybody.

Will a death sentence do? Will a lifer do? What purpose will it serve? Frighten people who tend to kill… or make them more careful about making murders. When I see/read news about such cases, and the verdict going on the side which the news media believes, it reminds of the movie Chicago. The lawyers make use of all the news media and win a case. No I’m not supporting Manu Sharma here…but what does it say about our nation?

Does the judgment mean that:

1. that trial courts bend to ‘power’- as in this case… Manu Sharma is a son of Former Haryana Minister and son in law of Former President Shankar Dayal Sharma, yeah the same president who used to visit Tirupathi two times a year

2. or that High Courts bend to news media - remember news media went on a campaign against Manu Sharma

I might hurt millions of Indians, and the courts might put me in jail…but question is …is justice done…

Appellate Judgment is fine, but judges are humans too…they might err and give judgment that are ’self contradictory’. But who will take actions against them? And in this case, if when Manu Sharma appeals… what are the chances of Supreme Court calling High Court’s judgment ‘Self Contradictory’?

Who will find if these ‘Judges’ are hundred percent correct. Again, it reminds me of a Japanese movie, ‘Rashomon’, where after a murder, everyone involved has a different story to tell.

Is our constitution, that was designed 55 years ago, good enough to tackle the new age problems? I’m not sure if all the 93 amendments have bettered our life.

Do we have the infrastructure to deal with Jessica Lall kind of cases?

Do we have enough sensible and courageous people?

What’s the guarantee that Manu Sharma won’t be let out on Parole?(Remember Orissa DGP’s son BK Mohanty under seven years imprisonment for raping a German woman went home on a parole and never returned until media made big news out of it.)

What’s the guarantee that Bina Ramani’s, Zaheera Sheikh’s will be safe after the judgments are all passed?

Who will answer these questions? A PM who is an MA DPhil and yet approves of a new reservation bill just for political reasons…or a President whose tenure is about to be over.

God save India… (oh by the way may be we should fight to decide which God - a Muslim
God or a Hindu God or a Christian God)

Few words cross my mind…of Bankim Chandra Chatterjee…and I present them differently

Mother, I bow to thee!
Rich with thy ministers sons,
Bright with their mischief lights
Cold with your policing lives
Darkness is the only sight,
Mother I bow to thee

I’m sorry Aurobindo ji and sorry Bankim Chandrajee…but that’s the situation of your India now…

I thought I should stop this here …but ‘hope’ in me says:

Mother I bow to thee
Even if it is darkness I see
Jessica’s Case is only a relief
In the way out of this long running melee
Mother I bow to thee!