Dr APJ Kalam

As Indians line up to pay homage to Dr APJ Kalam, not as Hindus, Muslims, Christians or Sikhs, not as rich or poor, not as this casteman or that, not as bigger or smaller, but as a single sad obliged entity, they pay a tribute to genuine Indianness. As politicians from divergent streams merge to a single block of much-obliged, head-bent down gentry, it proves that it is possible to overcome narrow parochial divisions that restrict our prospects of individual and collective growth. As millions of teary eyed Hindus fold their hands before the fatherly figure and millions of Muslims put their praying palms out for the peace of the departed soul, it gives a prospect that Hindus and Muslims can have a lot in common than they are having presently.

Visualize India without the assuring names like Agni, Prithvi, Brahmos, Nag, Trishul and of course the nuclear armaments, it instantly shows why we needed APJ Kalam. We can hold our dreams of becoming a developed nation because we have a semblance of security born of his military science achievements. We can more assuredly move on to the path of development because he has laid down a whole plan for us to follow. The Missile Man, The Most Popular President, The Big Dreamer, The 2020 Visionary, The Professor, The Speaker! He had many avatars, but just one dream. The dream of making India big by igniting minds, by firing the creativity and potential in youth, like he fired our leaps into the space through ballistic technology. It is difficult to analyze whether he was more of a scientist or a spiritualist. When the death sniffed out this bright light from amongst us, he was still dispelling darkness from our minds.

He touched Presidential seat with an unprecedented grace. Ironically, his ascension to the political seat was facilitated by the so called ‘danger to the secular fabric’ in the country. Still more ironically, his chances for a second term were nullified by the so called ‘safe keepers of secularism’ in this country. He deserved to be President again. But who can tame the genuine motives in earnest souls?! Dreams are no slaves to posts and positions. More luckily for the Indian youth, the ex-president kept on his path of igniting minds through his relentless lectures and public addresses. Few people do the things they love doing most even till their last moment. The tragic hand of death cannot snatch away the legacy the great man left when he collapsed on the lecture stage. Heartiest salutes to this Bharat Ratna! May almighty bestow him all peace in after life! 

Why do I want to continue writing??!!

Well, very small mundane facts define me. I continue writing with the intention of adding a bit bigger facts to define me. I write not with the intention to outwit others’ claim to similar bit more bigger facts. Self justification is one of the easiest things coming to our nature. We justify even the worst of our deeds. I write to justify the inherent tendency in me to survive as a professional writer. Not that I cannot do something else to earn my bread and butter. I definitely can! And I am doing in fact! But you know there is a piously whispering cooing of the real self that eggs me on to still keep on trying to give my writing a platform.

Coming from that part of the north Indian countryside, where literature will be the last thing on anybody’s mind, where agriculture is culture itself, I am the black sheep that is trying to get out of the herd to make this most unlikely career for anybody coming from Jat land or synonymously buffalo land. Well on the down slope of youth, more than once I have abandoned the dream of full time writing. Many a time I have realized my limitations as a writer. Still many more times I have felt myself a victim of the forces beyond my control. Today when I get up again to try again to get a slippery foothold I can very well hear the anticipating whispering of the inherent voice again.

I fought for the most prestigious civil services positions in India. Fought decently well as well, given my own limitations and more importantly the literary limitations of the socio-cultural unit I come from. The more I worked harder, the more distant became the goals. I saw the worst of politico-bureaucratic-judicial game. When I finally fell my inner voice told me, it is more on account of the system’s failure than my own. So I have my sips of justice in the form of the inner thumbs-up by my soul.

Every time I fell, deeper were the analytical impressions on the neurons of my brain; graver were the bruises on heart. If nothing more, it gave me the mood and inclination to write. Still I am fighting for my take away. My reward! I do not want it at the cost of somebody more deserving. I am not into comparison. We can compare just simple tangibles. How can we compare life’s thousand catapults that all of us get uniquely, single handedly!

I am not taking writing in life as a competition, but as a fate’s lottery pot, wherein somebody will walk out with a smile. Having full faith in the fates’ evaluation, if I build a platform to support my writing, I would also prefer to walk away with a broad smile!

Wishing myself and others best of luck!

Why most of the AAP MLAs can be easily farmed for fraudulent charges!?

NCR saw unprecedented real estate boom for two decades. It created a niche class of property dealers who used muscles, politico-bureaucratic links and a tendency to look over the small hedge of legalities, to become really rich. In the same chain of development, there were contractors or thekedars who climbed the ladder of prosperity very smoothly by stage-managing things at many levels. At the state level, the moment a property dealer or contractor gets to a level wherein he can afford to loiter around after political guns in the area in his SUV with a bunch of ideal thugs, he jumps into the political bandwagon. These new political hatchlings mostly join the regional outfits because the latter have very strong identity based politics for the local population.

Over the last two decades Delhi got its rich share of crorepatis. They had achieved all. Every rich Indian inherits a political tendency. So these newly rich politically ambitious group of people either sneaked into the BJP or the Congress. Political representation but has severe limitations in comparison to the huge number of newly-rich persons eyeing legislative assemblies. Arvind Kejriwal smartly smelt the political hunger in this big section of newly-rich contractors and property dealers. To help him in raising his political party these left-out political aspirants were in a position to donate crores for his cause. From personal experience I can recall very decent sized queues of crorepatis seeking ticket for contesting assembly elections. They donated like anything. Arvind Kejriwal had his huge box of money full to run his newly-formed party in a corporate manner. Inside the room he was filling his coffers with money from these newly wealthy cherubs; at the public platform he was always ensnaring the poorest of the poor through his politics of symbolism in the form of same jersey, same old car, same muffler, and what not. Tsunami type victory, carried by this hollow symbolism and less of substance, propelled all and sundry, raw, immature crorepatis and even social activists to legislative seats. But very rarely can the paths from contractorship, property dealing and even social activism (mostly as a profession) avoid illegalities. Its proofs we can see as one after another AAP MLA is found guilty of provable indiscretion. With proper case studies into the history of these MLA hatchlings, many more can be easily put in the dock!!

Hope BJP and Congress are listening! Or BJP will allow AAP to grow to some manageable size, because AAP’s growth is only at the cost of the Congress. Both AAP and Congress are into the politics of symbolism that pacifies and pampers the bruises of those deprived socially, politically and economically. Congress ruled for six decades with hollow symbolism that was ultimately recognized as the poorest of the poor remained the same and its Ministers broke all records of corruption. As a new born baby that is yet to get its skin tainted with sunburns, AAP is trying to shift Congress loss to its favour. One school of theoreticians even says that the BJP will not totally wipe away Kejriwal. Despite best political brand management, the traditional BJP vote bank has remained the same. So now the effort seems to divide the non-BJP votes!!    

A small sip of inspiration!!

He is in his early eighties now. Robust old man! Definitely a sort of
achiever at the property front! More so against the fact that when he
and his family escaped from the blooded Pakistani soil at the
partition time, after losing loved ones and all property, they were
even poorer than beggars. He started earning for the family at the
tender age of 8 only. Then graduated onto become a truck driver and
ultimately a transporter. His struggles took him to all corners of the
country in all types of circumstances. I asked him about the guiding
philosophies in his life. There was a light in his old, dim eyes:
'This fellow trucker of ours was really poor. All his worth was
invested in this old truck. We were going in a convey in north east.
His vehicle was carrying jaggery. The thing got toppled into a hole.
It was damaged and jaggery all over the place. Fortunately he and his
helper boy came out with bruised on skin. But I knew he was carrying
bigger scars in his heart because that truck was all he had in the
name of property. We were just afraid how he will react to it. In fact
we were almost speechless so far as paying lip service is concerned.

He just sat at a stone and cast a sad look at the damaged truck. In a

very normal tone he called his helper, "Oye yaar jo hona tha ho gaya.
Ab rone ka kya fayada. Bhookh lagi hai puttar. Bring me some lumps of
jaggery and water. Bad ki bad me sochenge. Pahle bhojan to kar le."
Saying this he invited all of us into the feast as well.'
This is what is all about life buddy. It is no use crying over spilt
milk. We have to ensure the show continues. Whatever is left after a
storm is truly what belongs to us. We have to proceed with the journey
with the depleted resources. Well, a journey is after all a journey
fella! It is not justified that we expect all the pomp, show and
regalia to accompany us till the end. As Pan Singh Tomar said: 'One
has to complete the race! Winning and losing does not mater. All we
can do is just try to reach the finish line!'

Rabbit can beat Cobra!

Rabbit can beat Cobra!
Yes, it is possible! Provided the rabbit gives only that much against
Cobra as it would in a deadly fight against a fellow rabbit for the
girl rabbit. The crux of the matter is: All routined results and
consequences are born of the meek acceptance of certain facts, i.e., a
rabbit has to die or run away while faced with a snake. Even the snake
attacks a rabbit under the instinctive presupposition that the rabbit
has to get scared and get defeated. The rabbit on its part is most of
the times driven to the extent of heart failure at the sight of a
snake.
 
I saw a documentary in which these roles were turned topsy-turvey by
the characters. A snake attacked a rabbit in a field. At the first
strike the rabbit jumped back. Conventionally the snake should have
been running after the scared creature, but the latter struck back. It
was sufficient to break the snake's surety about the weaker status of
rabbit. It went on backfoot. After this it was a sheer comedy. The big
snake was running for life, while the brave rabbit was jumping at its
tail all the way. Moral of the story is: If despite being bothered
about what lies in our face, we just give as much as in the face of
some equal opponent, we can turn the tables on mightily weightier
people, animals, situations and problems. The condition is just this:
We have to give our best shot irrespective of the status of what
confronts us.
 
Following the same principle a brave girl was seen heartfully slapping
a fierce looking rascal. Believe me I have never seen such plain, hard
slapping in real life! The rascal just did some mischief under the
presumption that this rosy creature will not be in a fighting position
against his rowdy appearance and he will go scot free even after
infringing on her modesty. Unfortunately, this is what normally
happens in real life. So the idiot was driven into misadventure by
this blind presupposition. But man what repercussions! The brave lady
just gave her best as she would have given against a fellow girl in a
catfight. Amazing! He just stood spellbound under the shower of her
slaps. It was just like watching a stony man being slapped
effortlessly. Man, he was not even raising his hands to save his
imperiled cheeks. Almost hypnotized! It was a great fun though!

Modi Sir, Congress is yet to be defeated!

We are lucky to have an un-politician type Prime Minister of India. Narendra Modi’s administration in Gujarat fetches him enough credit points to be taken as an administrator first and a politician second. The new educated generation has high hopes from him. Right from the evening of May 16 when election results were declared Modi has been busy like a true son of mother India and has started drawing the roadmap for a better India for majority of the Indians. We don’t have any reason to be skeptics regarding his capability to take India ahead on the path of multi-dimensional progress.

But there is a roadblock that might face Modi when he again fights for another innings in 2019. It is born of a certain Congress legacy. All of us do agree on taking Congress and Corruption as synonymous. And rightly so! But decades of Congress-type mis-governance ensured that the very roots of the tree got corrupted to the core. 

Corruption is not just about 2G Spectrum, Commonwealth Games and Coal Block distribution; it is also about common Indians’ belief that without shortcuts nothing can be done. It generates a mentality that does not consider the shortcuts or the typical Indian jugadbaji as the means and mechanism of corruption, but the simple convenient facilitators. People have come to accept the extra costs as additional service charges; officials in various departments have come to consider it as their well deserved unofficial bonus. These officials have set up their budgetary benchmarks to keep their families. Unofficial bonus plays a major part in satisfying this excessive-consumer-lorn mentality. Any cut in this part, which clean governance surely will result into, will find them recalling good old days with nostalgia.

Ask anybody what does government service mean. They will say it is about having safe money, almost no work, and unofficial bonus for the small amount of work that one is supposed to perform officially. For this great facility people pay lump sum amounts to get a government job. Since they start their journey after paying the unofficial bonus to somebody, they also get it back when they get the governmental  chair. But Modi-style governance will mean full work and no bonus. That will find millions of government vallahas shaking their head in disapproval. Some of my friends are government teachers in Delhi. Their academic enthusiasm found them supporting Kejriwal vigorously. Straightaway Kejriwal talked of more effort by the idling government teachers. They were asked to stay in school for couple of extra hours daily to cover up the massive loopholes in public education system. Immediately their faces got shrunk. They started abusing Kejriwal and accepted their blunder in supporting him. So millions of public sector workers and their dependents will always prefer Congress-type work culture and governance. It will be very difficult to convince these guys in 2019 that the work they are being asked to perform without the unofficial bonus is a contribution to nation building.

Congress and its constituents abused power. But they were really kind in allowing it to be abused by anybody to the lowest rung. India is a free country in every sense. One can defecate by roadside, one can spit anywhere, one can cross red lights, one can call the prime minister a clown, one can molest women, etc., etc. Good governance will find things falling in place and people feeling cheated and that their wings have been clipped. Manmohan government had a bad reputation and they allowed anybody to throw jibes in media in whatever form one wanted. The top office in the country has lost its dignity. Modi will definitely try to get it back. But then people will start calling him a dictator. Even poor Manmohan will earn few credit points for being very lenient and allowing even beggars in Delhi to throw obscenities in his name.

Sum and summary is Congress leaves a ghost. Congress might be out of the seat, but it still survives in spirit in millions of Indians who are in a comfort zone based on the old mindset and its profits. Rectifying things in full vigor might see Indian infrastructure improving, but Modi losing votes as well. How long Modi can inspire people to come ahead for building the nation. It is bloody massively populated country. For one chapati there are ten claimants. At this level people cannot see the world beyond their home and hearth. So Modi’s nationalistic agenda might see India progressing in infrastructure, but at the cost of massive indents in his popularity since Congress is ruling India in terms of work culture, narrow mentality and unofficial bonus!!   

Getting 335 seats in Parliament is no guarantee that whole of India has given go ahead to the green signal of nation building. It is very easy to shout as a part of crowd baying for revolution. But it is far more difficult to come out of the self-centered zone and contribute extra for the nation in lieu of the same rewards. It is very easy to excite voters into a frenzy; but far more difficult to turn these frenzied zealots into responsible and self-governing citizens. Ask people to take extra responsibilities and their faces will shrink. I think already we have millions of shrunk faces because public sector will now be open for six days a week. I have already heard many babus lamenting why did they voted for a particular party. Mother of all political evils, the Congress, may still have something to smile about!!

Idea conceived! Congrats!! Now deliver a healthy baby!!

Almost 90 per cent of the ideas entering the brains of normally sane

people are practical to a highly decent degree. But still millions of

practical ideas die in brains, being kicked in the womb by the forces

of indifference, negligence, lack of confidence, etc. Believe me a

sane idea in a normal brain is just like a ball kept at the table top

of a mountain. It just needs a beginning push, just enough to allow it

to cross the level and reach the margin. After that it is bound to

roll downhill under the gravitational forces born of your starting

effort, other constituents in your scheme, various correlated fates

and efforts, etc., etc. The ball of your system will just roll down

buddy. So prove only this much that you have decently workable legs

having at least that much strength as required to move a stationary

football. Kick the standstill ball on a small plain in your brain.

Just give it a deft touch and you will roll with your system.

Kudos to Materialism

Web of bondage! It has been a great topic of discussion between the materialists and spiritualists. Much as the spiritual guys will crib and advise against mankind's fruitless run after the so called 'physical fruits of bondage', the materialists on their part do have apparently justified arguments of this being the logical conclusion of the very story of our evolution and growth. With my limited perceptions, I look at the physical world as a sort of cozy room sheltering you from bad weather elements--your den that closes your being and gives it a physical identity. If the spiritualists call it a web of bondage which stops my soul shooting off into the hitherto undefined cosmos, then I am pretty much comfortable with this. Deprived of all the physical confines around me, I will just feel like a tiny speck open to the infinite risks looming around in only God knows what directions. My room, my set of comforts gives me a direction. I am pretty comfortable with that. I am its maker. It gives me a sense of pride for creating something out of nothing.Yes I do see through its windows that there is a larger meaning beyond the self-derived confines of the walls of my room. The feeble, but steady, light of faith tells and ensures me at least this much. But I am a human being. And pretty much in love with my identity and roof. If the spiritualists take pot-shots at me, I can just give them one humble and practical promise--I will try to raise the ceilings of my room to allow more of space of which they are so possessive. But I will retain the cozy confines of my room, my material bondage. Because that is being human! Its good to be materialistic as long as my soul can take comfortable slumber in my room; as long as I do not steal from others’ rooms; as long as I do not throw mudslings at others' rooms. One more logic, how can I walk the tightrope to infinity in the cosmic womb, unless I steady myself at a point with the bamboo of the physical fruits of my labour? It’s just like traveling in your car. The journey might be into the unchartered corridors of space, but you need a shelter, a roof. I am happy with the materialistic room around me. It defines this phase of my evolution. Without it I will be lost.

Can Indian Government's population policy be freed from political compulsions??

Kazakhstan, almost as big as India, has a population of just 1.9 crore. Luckily for them, and terribly unlucky for us, the population of this similar-sized country is even less than the Delhi NCR. From personal experience, I cannot recall a single stressed out, worried, strained Kazak face across all age, classes and categories. In contrast, I can hardly see a fully healthy face—even among teenagers—in the frenzied Delhi Mob or anywhere else in India. Interpretation is simple: in congested ant swarms you cannot expect healthy, confident, strong-willed individuals. You find robust grass grazers like rhino in undisturbed, undulating pastures. In the terribly congested stinking lanes of a place like old Delhi bazaars you see a sea of pathetically beaten down people carrying out their day to day survival fight. Here humans can beat even famished stray dogs in pathetic appearances.

Indians have bred like anything. Especially Muslims are paranoid about adding to their population. Unfortunately Islam came to be interpreted in terms of quantification only. Of course Islamic frenzy has multiplied their population world over. However, look at the quality of human beings they produce! Look at their contribution to world culture, peace, innovation, etc. Of course, it leaves much to be desired about their contribution to make this world a better place. Rampant Islamic quantification contributes more to world disharmony, and its role in world peace is almost negligible. It is high time that we pay a bit less lip service to the hypothetical Godly status to the so call democratic clauses in Indian constitution that have done more harm to India as a country in return of just inconsequential praise and tiny certification of being a good democracy. Central government has to come out of that pit of idealist secularism and devise some direct and indirect means of checking rampant Muslim population.  

Look at the nature, only the weakest species have the largest numbers. Hindus also have their big role in breeding like ant swarms. Centuries old beliefs like the necessity of marriage, goddamned requirement of possessing a male heir, etc., have meant that Indians force themselves to just add to their species at any cost. I have a friend who can barely provide even basic education to his two daughters, but he has to have a male heir. Indian poor class does not produce more and more children to get more helping hands in traditional business and occupations. Ask any poor couple, do they expect help from their children once they grow up. Not many will be found to be optimistic about their future. In fact majority will agree that their position will come down after having more and more children. Still they produce. Strange!!!! Poor people produce children while caught in a strange apathy, a peculiar indifference, absent-mindedness. Indian political class has glorified poverty by paying lip service in the form of so many fucking social assistance services. These measures were never intended to remove poverty by raising people out of the pit by providing them concrete skills. These were just limited to providing them meals like you give charity to a poor beggar. Do not hate the poor, but of course we can hate poverty that kills the soul of a human being. Let poor people face the music if they produce children beyond their economic means to provide them a decent life. Do not just give 25 Kg grain to BPL section so that they carelessly add more mouths in their hut to chuck it out. Let all social benefit schemes be strictly conditioned in proportion to the number of kids they are having.

Sum and summary is that we need to check population at any rate. Otherwise we will spoil the chances of taking India to decent position in terms of social development. Not only this, we will also spoil the environment anywhere we settle.

Ohoi corporate

In the bookish, stuffy, insecure interiors, infested with poor little clerically educated funny Indians, of a publishing multinational company in Delhi, a farty, gayish, woman-bodied poor man sticks to his chair for almost a decade! His eligibility and skills: poisoning the ears of a bigger bitch who herself has God knows what means used to reach that departmental head position; giving negative feedbacks about his talented juniors; nurturing a servile intern because new joiners are not threat to his position; etc. One thing is clear, Indian corporate is infested with bottom-licking, non-creative, semi-skilled managers who are the products of a very poor system of education that just puts clerical eligibility in their little poor Indian brains. With severe leadership and team-building limitations, these insecure funny middle level managers, just think 24 hour a day to plot and scheme and strategize against any potential threat to their position. Unluckily Indian corporate is infested with semi-skilled insecure bosses who stink with their poor ass in their positions just by swiping away the careers of real hard-working subordinates. This particular poor little creature is barely a man in a woman-type body: A terribly vindictive poor little demon in his indirectly lethal ways. This he manages by gratifying the ego of a just-saved from spinsterhood, ageing woman. The latter is yet another perfect example of a vicious, vindictive, scheming modern ageing filly who knows which thing in her is of professional utility either physically or mentally. Just like any other poorly informed Indian, this gang of people with severe technical and editorial limitations also pays hypothetical lip service to secularism. There is an ever-crying Muslim soul in the company, who has to shed tears for atrocities on Muslims, about Modi’s genocidal plans against Muslims, etc., so all the fools are always supporting her despite nightmarish professional blunders. By helping her in the job, these enlightened Hindus think that they are the best secular species around. God knows when bigger plotters will join this particular publishing company and dismantle the hideous rein of that poor bitchy female and her gayish, half-woman subordinate!!!