Metamorphosis !!

Ye kya laga rakha hai JPC PAC?

This blogger thinks that the political parties are conspiring to delay the investigation on technicalities and trying to scuttle the issue. I think all these people are involved in some way or other. It is deeply disappointing that the Government is complicit in this hogwash. They quote ‘procedural delays’ in investigation without ever making any attempt on rectification. If you are policy makers then the onus is on you otherwise quit. There is an attempt to maintain status quo and veteran ‘leaders’ are adept in the matters of diversion. The problem here is we live in multimedia age and these attempts are falling short to hide the truth. The truth we understand and know is at sniffing distance. More than short term actions this blogger was expecting some major reformation in system. Unfortunately it is too entrenched and the present government under Manmohan Singh singularly lacks the will or courage. This also true to the opposition parties, they too looking for political mileage instead of asking for systemic changes. Wonder why we haven’t heard of Lok Pal or Electoral reforms or Administration reforms from opposition. Take the issue of Onion price rise, it was quite artificial-something that couldn’t have been not anticipated (if they can take swift action on cartelization by airlines), and some people did make some huge money and it’s never the farmers. In the meantime they snarl like dogs. There is also a sinister attempt to polarize issues, like in US, it helps major political parties as also the media. Cabinet ministers could be seen giving ‘exclusives’ with impunity, it is a shame.

very strange

...quite saddening, hopefully the Supreme Court overturns this miscarriage of justice at the earliest. The definition of 'sedition' is rather archaic and colonial, and has become an instrument of misuse by State

Tentative but noteworthy

The Climate agreement in Cancum is an important development, this blogger like all people around the world appreciate the effort and sees it as step forward. Narrow national interests of countries seems to be spoiler, the leaders are not really expected to confine their representation to human societies but the habitat-ecosystem- they represent, human societies don’t live in isolation indeed they are expected to rise above national interests. Economy will have to factor in environment loss.

This blogger strongly believes that individual freedom is most important aspect that defines any society. Democracy is not a western concept, as much as science is not. Any idea that emerges from any part of world and if it has truth in it no longer belongs to that region or even time, it belong to humanity and is eternal. There is no two understanding of freedom. The idea that certain society is not mature for democracy is rather primitive. And that idea of governance change with society is patronising. There are some who take this line trying to extend the idea of choice-the post modern hypocrites. They also play intellectual and nonsense media needs them ‘to hear the other side’ it seems!. Ask any human (or for that matter any living thing if they can communicate) anywhere in the world, they will prefer freedom and democracy as a form of government is the closest understanding that helps express freedom. Denying freedom to individuals- to value themselves, is violation of basic right. There aren’t any two definitions for this. Implicit in this is also responsible behaviour as also rules if there is a threat. I will have to add here it also means curtailing exploitative and feudal, even if it comes in the form of religion and tradition (so we have another example from cesspool. The guy had to do his ‘education’ in Britain to blast himself in Stockholm. Not surprising for multiunculturalist society!).

Though the idea of democracy is nearest to the idea of freedom that everyone cherishes but this blogger sees a serious lacuna that has come into focus rather significantly in last few years. Democracy works by people electing their representative for the purpose of lawmaking, the voice of people is reflected in policy making. Fair enough but society doesn’t consist only of human beings, as much as society is only a part of ecosystem. There is a need for the voice of Nature (plants and animals) be heard and represented. It is clear that these muffled voices speak for ecosystem, for Nature that sustains it. Human societies can only ignore it at its own peril. There are some concerned people across the world who do a commendable job in trying to bring the environmental concerns. But mostly these are ignored and considered hindrance to ‘growth’.

People are votes in democracy and a leader will go to any length to get votes, therefore take populist steps that serves immediate purpose of satiating people. Very few leaders will recognise that growing population is a major concern, the environmental degradation is significant. Increasing populations is a debilitating factor in climate change. Add to the understanding of Economic growth, the capitalism model works on consumption. More the people more the consumers therefore more will be selling and so profit, this i am told is the path to prosperous societies. Many leaders want the people to multiply fast (recently Russian President Medvedev even urged people), rise of India is significantly because of population than anything else. This is downward spiral the incentive on population growth. This is unsustainable, and we are starting to see the affect. There is a severe constrain on natural resources, wild habitats are depleting at much faster rate due to human expansion, species are vanishing.

Incentives on population growth must stop. Democracy will have to factor in this at the earliest. This blogger thinks that the population based demarcation of constituency for the purpose of election will have to go. Areas will have to be cut equally irrespective of population and need be maintained as a constant. Further, and this is controversial but something need be done, voting rights of individuals having more than two children should be curtailed as also further disincentives need be introduced (separate tax structure is not a bad idea). It really cannot go on the ways things are going. I guess Habitat Development Report or (Biodiversity Report) should be as important as Human Development Report. There is an immediate need to move from human centric democracy to Biodiversity centric democracy.

Rather than leaving it to individual states UN should initiate something on this line, and may i also suggest countries having richer biodiversity be given priority than maybe a certain country with ‘more than a billion voices’!. Any country’s prominence or stature in the world community shouldn’t be decided on population or economic clout but by biodiversity. India’s claim is its rich biodiversity, as much as Brazil and Indonesia. Having more human population shouldn’t be treated as an asset indeed in the contemporary context it is nothing short of crime.

Why Confucius matters

Confucius was a thinker whose concern was humanity, intensely human one may add. He was not propagating a religion, far from it he express no concern on matters of belief. He accepts them as existing as long it served the society and creates code of conduct. He wasn’t going to waste his time on something that one may not definitely know “while you don’t know about life, how can know about death?”. His concerns were practical and existential. For a just society harmony between people is important. Individuals have duty towards society and human beings purpose was to cooperate with others in performing these. He emphasised on rules that needn’t be enforced but followed as matter of etiquette. But the rules need to be specific; following these would show desire for harmony. Only when a person developed his capacity for harmony with his fellow human beings, then can he understand universal harmony.
He believed rulers ought to be teachers and be ‘Superior Man’. Anyone can be a Superior Man by cultivating Five Constant Virtues.
Right Attitude-attitude is revealed through conduct, being cooperating and accommodating, an inner law of self control.
Right Procedure-includes applying the code of conduct, emphasising on ceremonies as it institutionalised these conducts
Right Knowledge- education is important to respond in exact way. Social order depends on fundamental morality, the morality of words and action. He emphasised rulers to be an example of conduct.
Right Moral courage-necessary to remain loyal to himself and people around.
Right Persistence- this was needed to achieve constancy in the above. This makes man kind and helpful. He is in harmony with universe. Because he has harmony within himself, he is part of cosmic harmony.

Confucius has been a significant influence on Chinese society for centuries, he is referred to as great teacher. His teaching was an attempt in getting man in line with reality. How much this blogger wish he had spent some time in India. This has been the greatest tragedy the reduced contact between ancient India and China. The problems of Indian society can be traced to amazing incompetent and self serving elite section that can be traced to ancient times (this is not to deny that there have been some exceptional people and civilisation contribution has been significant), the Brahmin class has been quite self serving with almost absent concern for society, love for humanity is different from loving the person next to you. Indeed they created the most inhuman system to deny common people even the basic human rights. As Confucius so rightly says “while you are not able to serve men, how can you serve their spirits”. Brahminical Hinduism has had a significant and vice like hold on Indian society for more than 5000 years so to expect for it to vanish in few decades is wishful. Look around you will see these presences. Lack of civic sense is contribution of elite which has percolated over centuries to Indian psyche (privileges over public property as birthright is what defines, a brahminical understanding that is root of all corruption). It is in the same line rules affecting all members of society are either not enforced or kept subjective. It is a warped sense of individualism and self importance. So there can be no dearth of people adept in the art of discussion but cunningness underlines their action and pursuit. It is Brahminical that you profess presence of god everywhere but charge exorbitant money to skip queue in temple (it is easy money for scoundrels...extend it to all aspect of society-the idea of easy money, the short cuts). While there is emphasis on cleanliness to obsessive level but surrounding is filthy. The list of hypocrisy replacing values, nepotism replacing humanness, fairness replacing acquisitive...is rather long. It is in this context this blogger feels free market is going to have some catastrophic influence on Indian society. Basis of free market is equal access and equal opportunity...that is an ideal. The scams and scandals dealing with huge money is reflection of symptoms that can be traced to values percolated from elite section over the centuries. It is in here what Confucius referred to as “rules” comes in, a system that strives for just society. Democracy in India seems to be at the election level, wherein poor queue up expecting something to happen, and then it is loot by few- whichever government comes to power. Few years back they referred to the then PM Atal Behari Vajpaye as mask (mukhota) for fundamentalism, one wonders what PM Manmohan Singh is mask for?. Both are arguably honest and sincere leaders but did it help the matter?. Confucius suggests ‘moral courage’.

Confucius was an amazing man and his ideas are just and egalitarian. Though he wasn’t bothered about religion his thoughts were religious. He strived for egalitarian society. But the danger of Confucianism cannot be undermined, these ideas could work even in robotic or insipid society. If not self consuming individuals it could lead to self consuming society. Modern China seems quite close to that. This blogger strongly feels a country as ancient as China and as significant in present times doesn’t deserve the kind of negative situation it presently is in.

Chinese rulers could go back to Confucius for more understanding in harmony. Confucius like Tao looked for meanings in Nature. The harmony that exists in nature is what he sought to replicate. Like in nature harmony in human society cannot be really be imposed these are paths shown. So an authoritative society in effect goes against harmony. Harmony in nature is about freedom of self expression

Unlike animals though humans are expected to have self awareness (spirit), this space is lacking in Confucianism. Without an awareness of self these could lead to blind following defeating its purpose. That really was the emphasis of Buddha. So the idea of freedom is understood in the context of awareness(right understanding), this draws the lines of limitations. It is not imposed. That is why societies that though are high on freedom and liberty (read USA) are blatantly consumerist, belligerence defines their approach to issues that plague humanity. The spirit is lacking. Indian PM might say strong American economy is good for the world but this blogger thinks contrary, it undermines humanity. Since human rights are not limited to individual freedom but how the freedom is used, indeed Americans consume many times what is for rest of the world. What at immediate level is lack of basic manners is celebrated as economy model. A strong America undermines Nature.

It is in this context the significance of Confucius increases. There is a need for harmony to solve the problems like Global warming. In the meantime Chinese authority should explain what has Liu Xiaobo done that can be construed as anti society. Indeed like Confucius he only sought for betterment of society. Chinese leaders should also explain why are they turning out such a negative force in world affairs right from Burma to North Korea to Africa, why world community looks at rising China with much trepidation?. Hopefully Chinese government realises it is difficult to keep people under authority when they truly aspire for Confucius harmony.

Insensitive and objectionable

This blogger happen to read on the Net that French President Nicholas Sarkozy and his wife visited the famous Chisti Dargah at Fatehpur Sikri, it was reported that Carla Bruni had asked for son in blessing. Articles quoted the religious head of the Dargah as saying this. It is shocking in a country that is fighting prejudices against girl child; feticide and infanticide are common. Plummeting sex ratio is a testimony to it, and there are lots of efforts being made to rectify these. Carla Bruni has all the right to ask for blessing but to reveal the gender is puzzling- may not be quite a deal in France, she could have been more circumspect. And it is a different matter that god is in the business of granting gender based request, maybe that is what they call faith!!. Shocking is the fact that the religious head found it necessary to mention it to media. Further appalling is the matter of media reporting it, they could have shown some sensibility while reporting and may have avoided the gender reference, keeping in mind the socio-cultural context. I think it is too much to expect from Indian media.

Don’t be surprised if there is an increase in demand for blessing for boy child in here. Some may think this is trivial, it is not and these are significant ways in which disparities gets consolidated. Indeed the governments are taking the help of religious leaders to convince the society against feticide. About 500,000 girl child are killed annually, this despite strict laws against sex based tests and abortion. It is an uphill task. Least we expect is that visiting dignitaries are sensitive to local issues that they could knowingly or unknowingly accentuate. …

Enter the Leaf

The much awaited Nissan Leaf is coming into the market on December 20, it though will take some time to enter Indian market (wonder why?). This car has been named the 2011 European Car of the Year becoming the first electric car to take the award.

Har naari ki yahi pukar baap ke naam pe train ya car!

Some say this account is truly fiction. It so happened once Crude woman and Rodent went to chabis January ka parade. Since both had high level upbringing they chose to sit in the first row of VIP enclosure. The parade started and true to nature of pride of any republic military might was showcased. Rolled in armed forces in tight discipline, followed by arms and armoury. Then came the missiles, the biggest of them all: The Brahmos. Crude woman looked at Rodent, Rodent looked backed at Crude woman they both nodded. Next day they were at Madam’s door.
“Kya hai?” asked Madam
“Madamji isko apne baap ke naam par missile chahiye” said Rodent shuffling his leg “badi missile se bada naam aur hamara yahan par kya kaam” he tried to rhyme.
The Bureaucrat who accompanied Madam spoke “The naming of missiles is a religious matter. As along as Buddha smiles nuclear bombs will explode and missiles will be named after gods. And mind you we have thirty two thousand crores of them. Hum kissi ke baap ke naam par missile nahi rakhte. We have no shortage of gods. Understand”
It was serious setback for Rodent and Crude woman they had expected a favourable response “dukaan tho apni hai” they had thought. Rodent changed his tactic “hum logon ka kya hai kahi par bhi jee lenge” and tried to sneak under the bed.
The Bureaucrat sought to stop him and there was few minutes of jostling, the moment Rodent felt it was enough to make him look like a victim he gave up the effort the very instant and stood there looking at the ceiling and whistling, gave the impression that nothing had happened though he was humiliated. It was kind of a situation that made the onlooker hug the victim in empathy. All this while Crude woman’s eyes were fixed at Madam and it was turning misty.
“Look we cannot name on missile. You can think of something else” said Madam
“Aeroplane. Baap ke naam par hawai jahaj. Oonchi upbringing ooncha naam” crawled Crude woman.
“No that will not be possible Air India and Indian Airlines cannot be tampered with, all other airlines are private you will have to talk to them. We cannot help you. Baap ke naam par airline mushkil hai” informed the Bureaucrat.
“Ulfath meh Kaifiyath, zamzamahat me Kaifiyath, Gufthaguf meh Kaifiyath, Kaifiyath he Kaifiyath, Ulfath meh Kaifiyath, Kaifiyath he Ulfath” sang Rodent
“Gante meh Kaifiyath!” interrupted the Bureaucrat who couldn’t take it anymore.
Crude woman behaved as if she didn’t hear anything, this was something she had handled with dexterity in past and today was no different.
“Chalo phir baap ke naam par train he de do secularism ke khatir” conceded Crude woman but kept her demand “par fully AC train chahiye. Hum logon ka upbringing ekdam AC class hai”
“Shatabdi and Rajadhani cannot be renamed” asserted the Bureaucrat.
Crude woman was now on the verge of breaking down, tears welled her eyes. Not getting an AC train was taken as an insult. “Log kya kahenge baap ke naam par general compartment wali train?” "Call back hone ke bawjud yehi kuch kar pai muee?"
Rodent belonged to a school of thought that believed in half glass is full theory and so decided to give a woman’s emancipation twist to the achievement “har naari ki yahi pukaar baap ke naam par train ya car”.
Now that is when Crude woman decided to hug the Rodent, they patted each other. While they walked out Rodent emphasised the victory “har naari ki yahi pukaar baap ke naam par train ya car” and added “theorya anek par bache char”
“Why so?” asked Crude woman
“Apne Sen babu ke liye. International connections!”

Post Script: Also visit http://www.santabanta.com/cinema.asp?pid=41964 to understand journalism. These people are like gang of pickpockets. They pick the wallet and pass it on, and then regroup. You won’t find them anywhere near money, it is about power, influence, nepotism and so on.

What a sight!!

There really cannot be anything more enchanting than flying, even the sight of it is mesmerising. For thousands of years many enterprising people tried find ways to fly but without success, it is quite unbelievable that art of flying was achieved only about a century back. Unbelievable, since the way the aviation industry has advanced in recent years it gives the impression that we knew it all along. This blogger had recurring dreams of flying or rather floating in air in childhood, many times found it difficult to distinguish real from dream. For sometime i carried this grand notion that i could indeed fly and thought it as secret worth keeping! When i was six or seven there was this boy in the neighbourhood who was about seven or eight years older to me who tried ways to fly things i used be always be around him. We used to take the incense cover (cylindrical shaped agarbathi cover) as the body of the aircraft and slit it partly for cardboard wings, and work out the whole structure-sometimes it took many days. Then drop it from terrace, we did innovation by creating rudders. After much effort it did work fantastically. Goes without saying that it was my job to run down and fetch it for another attempt. That boy was my hero for a long time, incredibly a decade or so back i met him on a train near Bhopal and instantly recognised him, he worked in a Bank.

Later i did take up Aerospace and was really excited about it, a book by Kermode was my favourite. With an aim of getting a break in Aviation industry i was in Chennai, and visited offices of airlines, i recall East West Airlines office in Kodambakam. The HR fellow there always said come next week, he did that to few other fellows. And we landed regularly every week, wondering why he behaves that way. He didn’t even take a test and kept us waiting for hours. Giving hope to people with an intention of never fulfilling i realised is the worst thing to do. It was hugely satisfying to know that the Airline collapsed few years later. At that time i used to read quite a lot about aircraft and so on. Also took up a part time assignment at a flying club. Sometimes even took a local train to Meenambakam airport just to see aircrafts fly, it really was quite an exhilarating sight. It still is. Few months back i almost had a major accident while driving on my two-wheeler as i was momentarily distracted by the sight of an aircraft. Such a magnificent sight that one. Don’t know whether travelling inside can be that exciting, once i travelled from Chennai to Port Blair and inside the aircraft was worst than a city bus. Quite a letdown that one. Chennai also had a club that met on Sundays wherein they flew remote controlled aircraft, there was this rich youngster whom i knew and went with him quite often, he never let anyone handle the gadget, nevertheless it was fun to watch. There are some excellent programs in Television channel that does show lots about aircraft, i liked the one on accidents, they traced the cause in meticulous detail and explain how the learning changed the aviation industry. One of the best programs i have come across.