Pakistan: The spiral continues inwards

The political horizon of Pakistan as always been bloody and dramatic. Over half the term after independence was ruled by military dictators, each of them repeating the mistakes of their predecessors. Dictators are strange beings, they have enough guts and brains to see clearly when things are apparently going wrong. They know how to fix almost all that is wrong but what they fail to understand is that while correcting things that are wrong, they themselves make new mistakes and the list of things that are wrong never reduces in its count although it may expand.

Take the case of Mr.Musharraf, an able politician, an able negotiator and a man with guts. He did help bring Pakistan out of the mess created by Nawaz Sharif and Benazir Bhutto before he took over. But he forgot that "Power corrupts; and absolute power corrupts absolutely." Nothing can be truer than this. All people feel they will not be affected by power but, without exception, they fail. Hence, even for the most powerful posts, the first task of those who take the seat should be to put a check in place for anyone sitting on that chair. But this never happens.


In case of Mr.Musharraf, it is now his job to sit and introspect as to what exactly has he achieved. His greatest achievement is transferring the reins of the country in the hands of a man such as Zardari? And as usual, even Zardari is not free from a criminal history, always afraid of legal proceedings against his own corruption cases. Following Musharraf's path, Zardari will now go out of his way to shield himself against these proceedings and ensure that proceedings against his opposition move on fast track. And what would be the result? Similar chaos after a few years.

All dictators have had a dark record towards the end of their career. The problem is none has taken lessons from the past, no one is ready to risk his own power to do the right thing. Even in case of the current President Zardari, though he is not a military personnel, there is little hope that the things to follow will be any different. He has given the first indications to this by not reinstating the sacked judges, as it could lead to revival of corruption proceedings against him. His role will be just slightly different from that of a dictator as he has the parliament in his pocket as also the top post of the country which, thanks to Musharraf, has virtually unlimited power.

Without exception, people who reach to positions like these are great people then why do they still take steps that even a commoner can judge to be mistakes? Someone has rightly said that the best things for great people to do in the midst of chaos or trouble, is to do nothing!!

Author: VJ

Goodbye my friend, Goodbye...

I'll wait for you my friend; as long as the sun shines I'll wait for you

Soon you will be gone; gone away to live your life

And I will stay; stay to live mine

Until the day we meet again; I'll wait for you

I'll have the memories till then; memories of us together

The time we spent chatting; the time we spent smiling

I'll remember the time you cried; and the time you laughed

I know they will last a lifetime; till then I'll wait for you

Wonder why you mean so much to me; why you're so special?

I don't care what people say; this is friendship to me

If this is how friendship is; I'm afraid I'll die in love

But even as I'm dying my friend; I'll wait for you

This is what you mean to me; this how much I care

Not even a thousand new friends; will equal you

Coz you have a special place; a place in my heart O friend

Until the time you come & open that door again; I'll wait for you

Why do I want to be with you; why cant I just stay in touch?

Answers to these I can't tell; but I think you know them too

All I can tell is; I'll wait for you

So long the sun shines; so long I'm alive

So long I breathe; I'll wait for you

Author: Vj

United we fall, Divided we stand

Government

An interesting definition of Government is

Government, with the authority to make laws, to adjudicate disputes, and to issue administrative decisions, and with a monopoly of authorized force where it fails to persuade, is an indispensable means, proximately, to the peace of communal life.

The naked truth is that we humans cannot live together peacefully unless there is a watch-dog, a facilitator, a protector and a leader, in short a Government.

Coalition Governments

In India, we have a democracy and a multi party system that is very noteworthy. In the earlier years, Congress was the single largest party in the country and has ruled for over 45 years out of the 60 years post independence. But, now the trend is towards coalition Governments. First it was the NDA of which BJP was the key player and now it is the UPA with the Congress as the key player. So, we are virtually left with a 2 party system though only superficially. We may see another key player in the form of the 3rd front in the near future and the Left making it difficult for the UPA to be synonymous with a single party, might be the key player there.

2 party system for India?

What would happen if instead of all these warring factions were to merge into a 2 party system like the US? We would have a ruling party and an opposition party, that’s it. Of course that should simplify a few things like passing important bills (like the N-deal), implementing reforms, etc. But, then we might see a Government that would attack Iraq, Afghanistan, Vietnam, South America, Cambodia, and God knows how many others at the whim of their leaders (and allegedly commit heinous crimes like killing its own people e.g. the allegation that 9/11 is an inside job).

Actually, what a multi party system does is introduce a large inertia in the system. Now, the system won't go in the right or the wrong direction quickly. This is definitely slower but safer. Why safe? Check this out:

Have you ever noticed that all the honchos of a party, talk in the same language. They agree on almost everything, even if one knows that it is not in the interest of the public.

Take the recent case of inflation for example. The inflation is rising, a little long term plans will definitely improve the condition and probably act as a buffer for future problems. But, with the elections being round the corner, it is imperative that some quick fix solution will be presented which won't last for more than a year or two. And surprisingly, all the big-wigs of the Congress will vouch for the solution. It is only because of the roadblocks presented by the Left and the NDA that they find it difficult to do it quickly. Of course this does not mean that the right solution will be implemented, odds are in the favor of a quick-fix solution under some garb so that the opposition will need great efforts to prove it wrong.

What is interesting is that suddenly all Congress politicians will support this. Why? Because it is necessary for maintaining the popularity of the party which in turn boils down to the popularity of the politicos themselves. This is plain common sense because there is little incentive for the politicos to call the bluff of their own party.

Now, this can get very tricky in a 2 party system. You will have people saying A and people saying B. No one will care about C,D,E,F,…,Z. And that is when you have Governments take crazy decisions like attacking other countries, bullying small ones but still progress well. Imagine such a system in the hand of Indians? It could translate to total devastation because more than half the Indians (probably you included) are not interested in politics and most of the others are taken for a ride by crafty politicians or they surrender themselves to the dirty politics for their own vested interests. The few handful that remain keep struggling only to find that in the Democracy, where the majority rule, they are the minority.

United we fall

For India, the multi-party system is best as it offers the inertia against development towards the bad and unfortunately towards the good also. If all parties come together, it will be the most orderly chaos you will ever see. In a democracy, you need a hoard of parties that represent each and every minority, each and every section of the society and then, the coalitions are formed that at least present a chance for the majority to rule. Hence, warning bells should ring if say the Congress becomes so big as to replace the Shiv Sena, the RJD, the Left, etc. Same is for any other party. And that’s why in our democracy, United we fall. But Divided, do we stand? If what we are today is called standing, or rather if not falling is equivalent to standing then YES! We do.

Offbeat

For our own good, it is advisable that we keep a watch on all the coalition parties. It is necessary that we all take interest in the Government, ask questions and vote for the best out of the lot. If you don't wish to be taken for a ride as a citizen of the country, you better not have your Eyes Wide Shut!

Ring a bell? Agree with me? Disagree with me? Leave a comment….

Author: Vj

Zeitgeist

Zeitgeist is an American documentary that will stun you. The proposition of this documentary are shocking but the worse part is they are all plausible. But, as we know, it is better to have the views of all the sides out in the open and then use your brain to determine which one is the right side than to have just one side that everyone is forced to take up. The documentary is divided in 3 parts as follows:

Part1: In this part the proposition made is that all the mythology and Biblical theories of God should not be taken at face value as most of them are the greatest examples of plagiarism you will ever come across. The stories relating to God that have been told to us since childhood should also be questioned for their truth and not just blindly accepted. This parts ends up almost proving that Christianity is based on concepts and occurrences that have been directly copied from other societies and Christ is just another name of Sun. Sun has been unanimously accepted as God by almost all known societies.

Part2: This part conveys that 9/11 was an inside job and the facts seem to point to this. How else did the buildings collapse exactly in the same fashion as demolished buildings when they were designed to sustain the load of multiple planes like the one that hit them on that day. Also this may be the biggest co-incidence that the American agencies were conducting a drill on the same day, at the same time with the exact same scenario of planes being hijacked and crashed into buildings! There are many more similar disturbing facts and an analysis of the reasons behind believing that this was an inside job. Did you know that G.W. Bush had made a trip to middle east a few years before the 9/11 to meet the bin Laden family? Or that G.W. Bush met a brother of Osama bin Laden on the morning of 9/11 at a gathering?

Part3: This is the climax proving the motive behind events like 9/11 or of God are to manipulate public opinion and delivering them to the control of the powerful with their own consent. The final aim of all this, proposes the documentary, is the creation of one world - one government in which entire power on the planet earth will be consolidated in the hands of a select few.

The only way to prevent this is better awareness of the public. Whether you accept the point f view or theories or facts put forward in this documentary or not is for you to decide. The aim of this documentary is to make you think and create more awareness and this is the last way to manipulate public opinion. A thinking public cannot be manipulated and as citizens of our country, it is our responsibility to see to it that the right people are in power and transparency is maintained. Activism is essential for this and awareness is the pre-requisite which is exactly what the documentary is intended for. So, watch this one as soon as you can but be careful, it might just make you think a lot harder.

Ring a bell? Agree with me? Disagree with me? Leave a comment...

Author: VJ

Raj is not the issue

Politics is a game that rewards well if played well and Raj Thackeray is a man who understands this. When you can't compete on the absolutes of the market of politics i.e. better governance, better standards of living for people, better facilities and better law and order, then you need to bend the market and that is exactly what Raj has done. He is walking on the same path as his uncle Bal Thackeray. Once you create a controversy and get in the eye of the public, you can later on tilt the subject in such a way that no one bothers to remember how it all started, in the meantime you get the attention from media and people.

Of course there are several important issues to work on in Maharashtra which should take priority over the ones that Raj takes a dig on. But, those issues are monotonous and the public is already wary of them. If Raj talks about good governance and improvement of law and order, he cannot create the media buzz, the public won't come back to hear him again as they know very well that such promises are not meant to be kept irrespective of who makes them and there is very little they can do in this regard without putting in efforts. But, when the issue changes to one in which immediate action is possible, the public is interested.

Actually such issues give the public an excuse to hide their failures. When people lose jobs due to incompetence, they find it difficult to digest. They start finding excuses and people like Raj Thackeray give them a reason which they accept easily even if they know deep down that it is just an excuse. Any one who speaks against that reason is an enemy. Not all people are visionaries or well educated. They fail to understand that market forces take the best path possible in the long run. When the industrial revolution came along, it is true that workers were afraid machines will take over their jobs but look at what happened. Machines did take up the monotonous jobs but helped create new jobs in multiples of the jobs lost. We are advancing from mechanical world to a world of information, knowledge and value addition. In today's world it is imperative that you continuously learn and develop your skill sets not just to advance but to survive.

If the jobs of construction laborers is taken up by north Indians in Maharashtra it is because the standard of living in Maharashtra has increased to such a level that a Maharashtrian cannot exist on the meager income of a construction laborer. Hence, Maharashtrians need to develop their skill set further and advance to skill set tier and take up better jobs. North Indians cannot displace Maharashtrians unless they have something more to offer, either better work or work at lower wages. In such cases Darwin's law comes into play i.e. survival of the fittest. In every market competition drives prices down and improves quality. That is the way the market works. When one tries to control market forces, we have seen what happens. When all north Indians quit and go back, do we have enough Maharashtrians to replace them? Then there will be a shortage of laborers driving their wages sky high. That means a loss to construction companies, delays in completion of projects, in short weakening of the industry. This would see a decrease in incentive for businessmen to get into the business and plan expansions. This equivalent to cutting the goose that lays golden eggs.

The public cannot understand this but surely Raj Thackeray with his political acumen understands this. But, it is not to his advantage to bring this to the public eye. And that is natural for politicians to do so Raj is no exception. If Raj is not the issue then what is? The issue is the slack law and order system in the country is the issue. When Raj makes statements that cause riots, there is delay in prosecuting him, the police are not sure how to deal with him and the courts work at their own lethargic pace. Freedom of speech implies that Raj does have the right to speak his mind but, slackness is maintaining law and order by the government is the key issue. Rioters are let off with minor fines and this gives them all the more confidence to do it again. When people are threatened by MNS activists, why are they afraid to go to the police? That is the real issue. Whether Raj was right or wrong is another issue but in a democracy, he has the right to place his thoughts on the table. In a democracy, we cannot restrict anyone to speak because then we head towards dictatorship.

Democracy works by seeking for a balance with political leaders fighting for their own group of followers divided on the line of caste, income levels, etc. So, it is not extra-ordinary for Raj to take up a stand for Maharashtrians. His fiery talk is also not the issue, his followers taking it to themselves to enforce his thoughts and getting away with it is the prime issue. If the law and order system works efficiently, Raj's followers would have thought twice before beating up someone. But, they know whatever happens, there is always a way to bribe oneself out of the clutches of law or get freed by some unknown power equation between the top officials of the party and the law enforcers.

Due to his latest speech, students in Pune are afraid to continue to live here. The question is why are they afraid? It is not because Raj is powerful but because the law enforcement agencies are extremely weak. Picture this, the rally organized by Raj recently in Pune was illegal as the permission to hold it was denied days before the rally yet, the rally took place under the supervision of the police!

So, before you discuss Raj and the right and wrong about his speeches, it is worthwhile to question the performance of the elected government and the role played by us, the public, in making the government understand that this is not acceptable to us.

As for those who believe in Raj, think about what would such a man do once he comes in power. He would shut Maharashtra from the rest of the country and the world. Today the issue is of north Indians but tomorrow it could be for non-Maharashtrians and then the foreigners. There would be no tourism, no foreign investment, no national industries and Maharashtra will become a secluded region. Is this your vision for Maharashtra? Yes or no is for you to decide after all, we live in a democracy where "the majority rules"

This is an Engineer speaking...

Engineering is one career held in great awe by almost everyone. I, for one, am proud of (almost) being an Engineer. I landed up in mechanical engineering by chance. Throughout my engineering there were so many instances of pure luck that anyone might be compelled to declare that it was written in my destiny. Some of those instances fox me even today but, as an agnostic I am saved from being fooled by the high talk of destiny. Since my childhood, I never had a clear picture as to what career I wanted to get into. The only thing I always knew was that I will to make it big into something. Consider this -

After my 12th, I appeared for the AIEEE only because I wanted to stay back in Pune in the vacations instead of going back to my home town Solapur. Luckily, I cleared it and got an admission into BITS Ranchi. But suddenly that was not where I wanted to go. I wanted to stay back in Pune for some more time but I could find no reason strong enough to convince my parents. A thats when my dad asked me not to go to Ranchi and stay back in Pune with my sister as he did not want her to stay alone. So I took an admission in the then coveted MIT Mechanical. I opted for Mechanical because I was fascinated by Aeronautical and a lot of experts in the field of engineering recommended that Mechanical was the best branch if one intended to get into Aeronautical! But, I was not even sure of mechanical and I had filled up mechanical as my preference in the AIEEE quota form and Electronics and Computers in the regular CET form. Luckily, my AIEEE form was processed and I got my first preference. I found out how naive I had been in accepting that mechanical was the best road to Aeronautical by the end of my 1st semester. So I wanted to change my branch and get into computers. Luckily or unluckily, I fell ill during one of my papers and flunked. This disqualified me from branch change process and I had to stay in Mechanical. I almost lost my interest in mechanical. But, by the end of 2nd year, I started feeling at home in the most basic branch of engineering and began faring extremely well in the exams and topping the department. It seemed I was made for this very branch of engineering and it all seemed so logical and natural to me. Thats when I realized I had landed in the right place. Sheer luck huh!
Next was the time of placements. In the 5th sem (the last one that counts for placements in our college), I could not appear for 2 papers because of the sudden death of my grandfather. I was quite disappointed that I would miss the best companies. Then along came the company which had the best job profile I could imagine, in line with my future plans at the moment. This company came only on a very high percentage criteria and I was among the very few high percentage students left to be placed. Thats how I got the job of my dreams. Sheer luck huh! There were quite a few other events too but the above ones were the most glaring examples of unplanned events in my career.
Throughout these 4 years that I have spent in engineering, I have encountered countless people who seemed to be disillusioned as to what engineering exactly is. I heard a lot of question and statements such as -

"You should have opted for computers. Its more in demand."
"Why didn't you opt for electronics? Thats the branch for intelligent people."
"What does a mechanical guy have to do in the computer industry?"
"If you always wanted to get into business, why did you get into engineering?"
"Don't you think if you enter into the field of commerce/management, all the time you spent in learning design and machines would turn out to be a waste?"
"You are a mechanical engineer and yet you don't know what technology is used in which car?"
"A mechanical engineer is worth his mettle only if he works in a core company."

Some of them might seem naive to you, and with some you may identify your own beliefs. To me, they all signify one thing - lack of understanding of what engineering or any other course is all about. This was the one thing that disturbed me. It was in the 3rd year or so when I started searching for the real meaning of engineering. Somehow I could not digest that I was here to learn the text books or to score marks. The whole system looked hollow to me. But, soon I figured out what engineering actually meant and what it stood for. Thats when I started respecting engineering even more. Once I really understood engineering, it felt obvious that the various branches were just manifestations of the same thing. Thats when the boundaries between the branches faded and disappeared for me. It was then that I realized that it was not mechanical that made me happy, I might have equally enjoyed any other branch of engineering, actually it was the concept of engineering education that I enjoyed. If you ask me to name the one thing that engineering has taught me, I would say its not technology, its not design equations, its not thermodynamics, its not machining. It is - how to think. It has taught me that behind every design equation there is a well defined logic, it has taught me that the thought process that goes into designing any mechanism, the though process that goes into machining. Though its never stated explicitly, the aim of engineering is not to show you how things are done but, to demonstrate the power of the mind and imagination. It shows that even the intangible failure of materials can be fitted with an approximate failure theory. It shows that though man does not understand the exact nature of a few phenomenon, it is possible to hypothesize the reasons and fit an approximation that is a stone throw away from the exact solution.
People who just memorize design equations and claim to be designers are fooling themselves. Those who really understand it know that equations are not an end in itself, the thought process going into their derivation is the end and the equations are just a means towards this end. Isn't it true about every other course also? Take arts e.g., students are not there to learn the names of the master pieces of the masters but to understand what goes behind creating master pieces. The master pieces are not an end in itself, they are the means to a much higher end.
If an engineer fails to understand this, in my view that person is still an incomplete engineer. Sooner or later, s/he has to realize this because only then will s/he understand the actual worth of engineering.
The extent to which I feel about engineering might be evident from this feeling of mine that tomorrow, when I achieve any of the career goals that I have set for myself, though it may not be in the field of core engineering in the layman terms, I know that the engineering education I have had will be one of the strong pillars on which it will stand. I know that on the days when I shall put into practice all that engineering has taught me, not the equations but the thought process, the power of logic, those will be the times when I shall proudly reward myself by claiming to be an Engineer, a Mechanical Engineer!

The right career

Selecting the right career is probably only second in importance to selecting the right spouse. Yet, whenever I look around I find a hoard of people who have chosen the wrong career or are ambivalent towards the career they have selected. Many a times I have seen a friend of mine who was average in the career s/he was in but, one could easily make out that s/he will be outstanding in some other career. I think most of us choose our careers based on what people around us think of those careers. The parameters that affect our decision are

1. What have my friends chosen?
   
2. Do my parents approve of the career?
   
3. Do other people I know approve or appreciate this career?
   
4. Et cetera….
   

   A person who is sufficiently self confident will definitely make the choice as per his own mind but those that lack self confidence will choose the career that is most easy to justify or will rather trust the people close to them or some expert than to check out things for themselves and take an informed decision.
   

   This is one of the reasons why so many people find it difficult to cope up with studies and by the time they realize they have made a mistake, its too late for them. They will either have spent quite a long time in the career or succeeding in the career would have become a matter of life of death for whatever self confidence they have remaining in them. Both situations are undesirable.
   

   When an individual does not have confidence in his decision, he turns to the society to find an answer. So, then the decision depends upon the intellectual capacity of the society and not everyone is blessed with intellectual acquaintances. This is generally true especially with young people. Career selection should begin quite early on in one's life. Children should be exposed to a variety of careers early on, say from grade 6 or 7 onwards. Some interesting careers like event management, nature excursion specialist, HR training, etc. are not very popular in India. They have not yet got their worth from the society. Its about time the society took notice of such radical career streams, some of which don not even require conventional formal education. Also, at the end of grade 10, before selecting the stream it would help if they know the network of careers originating from the 3 basic streams. Students don't know what do people specializing in say History or Geography do? How much do they earn and what are the growth avenues in these careers? I think it is the responsibility of the parents to educate their kids.
   

   Later on, after graduating also there is a chance to switch over to a career which suits us better. At this point the selection is very crucial because it's a bargain between what we feel is right for us and what we have been doing till now. Some may end up losing both in the end. If the choice is not perfectly clear, it would make sense to take up a job somewhere for a year or two, understand what goes on in the world outside and then choose. These years should not be considered wasted as we gain valuable work experience in them. At present it is very easy to take up a job in a BPO or KPO with good remuneration, if no better option is available. Not only do we gain work experience but, we also develop our personality, our language and learn team work. For anyone with the right senses, employment is not an issue these days so we must take advantage of it.
   

   I also feel people aim low so they are worried about whether they should take up the career of their choice or not. If we choose any career and put our heart and soul into it to become one of the best in it, money follows. This fact is less known. In our surroundings we find that most rich people are engineers, businessman, MBAs, doctors, etc. So, these seem the obvious careers for success. People earning so much in other careers are less common, probably because their careers are less common. While taking decisions, if we can't see an example before us, it becomes difficult to justify the decision. If you don't know even a single history expert who earns well and enjoys his job, you'll find it difficult choose history as the major. This is exactly what is called as lack of awareness of careers.
   

   Whatever may be the case with you, it would help to select the right career and aim big in it and put your heart and soul in it - that's the only formula for success. I would like to end with a few lines said by our former president A.P.J. Abdul Kalam seem quite relevant to this -
   

   Dream Big, Aim Big, Small Aim is a Crime!!!
   

Agree with me? Disagree with me? Leave a comment.....
Author: Vj

Educating the kids

Recently, I went to visit my uncle in Bangalore. While I was there my aunt was helping my niece with her home-work for the day. She is in kindergarten right now and my aunt was teaching her a few spellings. To my surprise, what she was teaching was quite different from what I had learnt. Instead of saying 'C' 'A' 'T' cat, she said 'ka' 'ae' 'ta' cat . On questioning, she laughed at how out-dated my awareness of education was and later added to my knowledge that a lot of top schools employ this method of teaching now. Gone are the days of A B C D, now is the time of Aa Bah Ka Duh. She said that using this method, children don't have to memorize spellings, most spellings will be obvious to them. Isn't it strange that most words starting from C are pronounced as if starting with K e.g. cat, call, computer, etc. So, its better to teach children to pronounce it as Ka. Isn't this brilliant!!

Later on while watching the movie Tare Zameen Par, I was amazed to see that Aamir uses the same method to teach the kid. It just shows how popular this concept is, at least among the educationists. But, when we look around, how many schools do we find employing this method? I see none save a few very good schools. In Pune, I would guess 3-4 schools may be using it but, what about the rest? In my hometown Solapur, there are 2 convent schools, both highly reputed but none of them uses this method. When I met a friend who is a teacher in one of the convent schools in Solapur, I asked her about it. From the discussion we had, I gathered that the only reason is the lack of will of the staff at the schools to put in the time and effort required to learn and implement it. The teachers of kindergarten are already under a great pressure to ensure that all the kids study well and clear the exams. 100% result seems to be the only driving force for them. Trying out this method will bring uncertainty in the results for the first 1-2 years and require laborious efforts from the teachers to teach it to children as well as create awareness among the parents.

It is a well known fact in management that the people actually implementing plans and ideas always tend to resist any kind of change in the modus operandi. But, they fail to understand that in the long terms such changes simplify things for them also. Education is a serious affair and all methods for simplifying or improving it should be implemented at the earliest. When I see the lives of today's kids I pity them because, they are so pressed for time attending schools, tuitions and watching cartoons that they have little time to play, little time to travel, little time to get a hands on exposure to the outside world. But, in this age of competition, one cannot help it.

The betterment of our future generation is the responsibility of all of us, the society, the parents, the school authorities. We should strive for innovation in education for its advancement. How soon the school authorities take note of this is a matter to be watched but, the parents of the kids should definitely voice their opinion to the schools. It may be a very small contribution to the society or the future generations but we must keep in mind:

Little drops of water;
Little grains of sand;
Make the mighty ocean;
And the pleasant Land.

Ring a bell? Agree with me? Disagree with me? Leave a comment.....

Author:Vj

The Goonda Raj

Tomorrow is valentine's day and people like me who have not yet found a valentine should spend the day trying to conjure up a valentine for the D-day. But, here we are, tied up at our homes because the streets are not safe to step out, we are not even sure if it will be safe tomorrow. The reason is Mr.Raj Thackeray. After a series of statements against north Indians and quite a few days of violent acts by his goondas, the state government has finally acted and arrested him. The media has been speculating his arrest since yesterday, leading to violence throughout the state. Being Indians, we are used to drama like this. So, what is so striking about this particular event? Events like this have come and gone, all starting slowly, taking an ugly turn and then slowly fading out in the background, leaving just a spot in history which is remembered for the heroic politicians (all the injustice done to common people and all the law broken is forgot). What worries me is that even the highly educated people subscribe to Raj Thackeray's ideology. I was shocked when quite a few friends of mine, all would be engineers, were also in agreement of his statements. A few politicians are bound to support or protest against his statements for vested interests well known to all of us but, educated people accepting all this in spite of the violence, is disturbing.

What the supporters of Raj Thackeray have done (obviously approved by Raj) is shocking. Beating up poor people, damaging taxis and forcing them to run for their home-towns leaving behind all their dreams about a peaceful life, a life that had some future, is not bravery. People are leaving the state ASAP, huddling like cattle in trains, reminding us of the terrifying partition. When you see people weeping as they leave the state, begging to be spared without violence, you start wondering if we are still human beings. So many people becoming homeless, jobless and without a future in a day!

It is interesting to note that all the violence was committed against the economically backward north Indians. No one beat up Amitabh Bacchan, Shatrughan Sinha, Shekhar Suman or other businessman or politicians from north India. When the MNS goondas were beating up the bhaiyyas they did not discriminate between good behaving bhaiyyas and bad behaving bhaiyyas, everyone was beaten up just because they were north Indians. Then, why did it not happen with any rich north Indian? It is because MNS is afraid, they can only oppress people who are not strong enough to raise their voices, people who are poor and weak, people who are illiterate and lack any kind of support in Maharashtra. If the MNS guys have guts, I would urge them to beat up all educated and powerful north Indians, as they did to the poor bhaiyyas.

If MNS does not want the bhaiyyas in Mumbai, it should also deny entry to people from all other states and accept that no Maharashtrian will be allowed to migrate to any other state. Then, Mumbai will have to get rid of the Ambanis, Shah Rukh Khan, Amitabh Bacchan, Shekhar Suman, Shatrughan Sinha, et al. It should also say no to all the talent of the bollywood industry not originating in Maharashtra, all the businessman not born in Maharahtra, all the foreingn investment must go. But, are the Mumbaikars ready for this? I don't think so.

Whenever a leader makes any statements, he must take full responsibilty for the repurcussions caused. Raj Thackeray is responsible for the violence against poor north Indians, he is responsible for disrupting the life of any and every innocent man who was beaten up and for all the problems faced by every common man in the state. But, I'm afraid he might turn out to be a hero for all that he has done. That is the way democracy functions. Just like Bal Thackeray or Narendra Modi have become heroes inspite of provoking communal disharmony. Politicians are somehow successful in diverting the attention of the gullible common man from mis-governance and making him believe that the source of their problems are people from some other category (categorized on the basis on caste, creed or birth-place). The common man finds it easy to blame the people from other category rather than speaking out against the all powerful politicians with their mighty goondas. They believe that unemployment is caused by bhaiyyas and not by lack of action by Government, misbehaviour and crime is seen as the misbehavious of the bhaiyyas not as the failure of the state government to enforce law and order.

MNS goondas attacked bhaiyyas and broke the law but, it does not mean that all marathi people are violent and law breakers. MNS is in no way the representative of the entire marathi folk. But, the miscreant north Indians who misbehaved (or were a part of the shakti pradarshan, power show off) are the representatives of the entire north Indian community and so the entire community deserves to be beaten up. Strange, isn't it? The generalization that all north Indians are bad was obviously the brainchild of shrewd politicians who seek to gain political mileage out of all this.

India is a republic and we have a constitution in force. As per the constitution, anyone is allowed to reside anywhere in India. There is no place for regionalism in this country. It is very important that we, the citizens of Maharashtra, give this a thought and take our own informed decisions. We should not allow anyone else to force their opinion onto us. We must not look at the problems from the point of view of the politicians as there always is more to each side..... The time has come for us to rethink our position and take a stand, the right stand.

Ring a bell? Agree with me? Disagree with me?
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Author: Vj

A lesson from History….

When the English first came to India, they found that India produced the world's best cotton yarn and textiles in enormous quantities. They wasted no time in "importing" it from India. At that time, India controlled about a quarter of the world textile trade. Then along came the Industrial revolution in Britain and they started producing better and cheaper textiles. This mill produced cloth soon found its way back to India. The skilled Indian artisans were no match for the skilled mechanized artisans, the machines. Soon they lost the entire market, domestic as well as international and millions were rendered jobless. It was a bolt from the blue for Indian traders.

When the English had started importing cloth from India, they cushioned the impact on English weavers by erecting trade barriers. But, no such thing happened for the Indian weavers under the British rule. The Indians had very little time and the learning curve to adopt technology used in English mills was very steep. Also it did not help that the social equation in India (the 4 divisions in society - Brahmins (learners), Kshatriyas (Warriors/landowners), Vaishyas (merchants), and Kshudra (workers/artisans) had well defined job functions) did little to encourage tinkerers to develop mechanical solution for any problem. For any mechanical job, it made more sense to hire manual labor because it was cheap and widely available. As a result, India missed the train to Industrial revolution in the 19th century. The loss of jobs of Indian weavers was inevitable. They were victims of technological obsolescence!

History teaches us quite a few lessons and this is one of them. Today we watch the fascinating outcome of the Industrial revolution in awe. Imagine a world without machines, not many would call it utopia. What was a bane for the Indian weavers then, is considered to be the greatest boon by the current generation.

Such would not have been the case if Indians would have been able to keep abreast with the latest technology in the other parts of the world. But, they lacked what is one of its most prized possession today, the power of Information Technology. Had IT been as developed then as it is today, we may have had an entirely different history. Probably, India would have been a very advanced, industrial and developed country. It isn't very late even now but, for some reason, India has bypassed the industrial revolution and directly entered the age of Information revolution. As if it has understood that if we are leaders in IT, we can never become obsolete. One wonders if India really took a lesson out of history and this is the reason why we are now the IT hub of the world!

Agree with me? Disagree with me? Leave a comment……..

Author: Vj