Sparsh

Ten Issues - 20

2012-01-22T02:44:00.000+05:30

1- Food Politics: How the present National Food Security Bill will deepen Food Insecurity by Dr Vandana Shiva.

2- How To Learn the Language of Evil - Alan Wolfe's Political Evil offers lessons liberals especially need. A review By Michael Ignatieff.

3- Five Things You Should Stop Doing in 2012 by Dorie Clark who is a strategy consultant who has worked with clients including Google, Yale University, and the National Park Service. [HBR]

4- Why I Hire People Who Fail by Jeff Stibel who is Chairman and CEO of Dun & Bradstreet Credibility Corp. [HBR]

5- On Public Funding of Colleges and Towards a General Theory of Public Options : If we want to wonder why public education is becoming expensive it is in part because we aren’t supporting it as much as we were in the past.

6- Why Software Is Eating The World : Instead of constantly questioning their valuations, let's seek to understand how the new generation of technology companies are doing what they do, what the broader consequences are for businesses and the economy and what we can collectively do to expand the number of innovative new software companies created in the U.S. and around the world.

7- FDI in Retail: A new battleground at IIM Marketers blog.

8- The Decline but Not Fall of Hierarchy : What Young People Really Want : Western education imparts the idea that if we don’t have someone supervising our work, we’ll fall into a dangerous state of low productivity and collective lethargy. But examples like the rise of Google show that youth flourish in an environment with little hierarchy.

9- The global crisis has presented India with a historic opportunity to grow faster, but according to Pratap Bhanu Mehta, head of a leading independent think tank, the country is unable to capitalise on it owing to political and macro-economic mismanagement. In an interview with Santosh Tiwari, Mehta strongly criticises the Congress for ineptitude.

10 - Distant from Prosperity: The rural Indian economy, 1993-2005 - What has happened to the Indian economy over the last two decades ?

Thought of the Week : One thing life has taught me: if you are interested, you never have to look for new interests. They come to you. ... All you need to do is to be curious, receptive, eager for experience. And there's one strange thing: when you are genuinely interested in one thing, it will always lead to something else. - Eleanor Roosevelt, You Learn by Living (1960)

Ten Issues - 19

2012-01-21T18:50:00.000+05:30

1- Who Represents the Poor? by Pranab Bardhan - The Limits of the NGO Movement in Global Development

2- Why the Fight against Poverty Is Failing: A Contrarian View - Abraham George is the founder of The George Foundation, an NGO engaged in humanitarian work in India, and the author of India Untouched: The Forgotten Face of Rural Poverty. In this contrarian essay, he explores why the current strategies that governments and development agencies are employing to reduce poverty are not working the way they should. Among his arguments: Microcredit programs, as they are now practiced in India, do little to help the poor.

3- The great land grab: India's war on farmers - Land is a valuable asset that should be used to better humanity through farming and ecology. An article by Vandana Shiva.

4- Right to Food Campaign's opposition to replacement of PDS with cash transfers : A Google group for interaction and discussion.

5- In Free India I Was Denied Entry' : - Interview of David Barsamian who is an Armenian-American radio broadcaster, writer, and the founder and director of Alternative Radio.

6- Goodbye, Steve Jobs; Long Live Mavericks! by Nalaka Gunawardene.

7- The class warfare the rich don't understand : The Masters of the Universe evaded responsibility and defiantly demanded more sacrifice from their victims, says author.

8- Veteran historian, novelist, and activist Tariq Ali in a recent interview spoke about the challenges facing the Arab revolts, the future of US policy in the Middle East following ‘disengagement’ from Iraq, and the significance of the current movement of dissent taking over the streets and squares of cities across the world. Read on the complete interview at Viewpoint.

9- Putting Growth In Its Place: It has to be but a means to development, not an end in itself. An essay by JEAN DREZE , AMARTYA SEN

10- You can't bank on free speech : An extrajudicial banking blockade imposed on WikiLeaks has caused a 95 per cent loss in revenue for the organisation.

The year that was....

2012-01-14T23:56:00.000+05:30

Year started with interview at IRMA. Failure in IRMA was hard to swallow. As they say, it rains hardest on those who deserve the sun. I learnt in hard way that never make a tall claim. Tall claim have a nasty way of coming back like boomerang to haunt you.

On Leaving CSC : Talent leaves deadwood does not. It is hard to work somewhere without proper training and background. Without context and passion, the life becomes incomprehensible.

Though there are artificial problems, I want to address human problems. I was luckily selected in XIMB. I am in the phase of rebuilding mine career now. I hope to be riding the crest of the wave that hard work has created.

The most terrible poverty is the feeling of being unloved. I found someone special. The truth of the heart can only be seen in the eyes of one who is in love. There is someone in my life. I am seeking the relationship with love and trust despite differences of age, thoughts, hobby and attitude. I am plan to be surprised by the life.

A world with only atheists would be a world with with so less holidays. There is too less holidays and lot of academic pressure here at XIMB. Still, I feel that the pain of discipline is nothing like the pain of disappointment. I have chosen to take the road less travelled on and has found myself alone in the route of rural management program.

Non-conformists always has a minor support base! This is the price one has to pay for breaking or making your own rules. Mainstream only talks but avoid the right path. It is always a dissident, a rebel, somebody always ready to buck the mainstream trend. It is important not to accept a statement as true simply because it was written in a book, but rather to rely on his own mind and reasoning.

Mainstream books and cinema always try to put a clean and family value supporting image and articles. It's few dissdents who reveal the dirty picture! Only few selected movies seen in the second half of the year. Censorship to me is any hurdle or impediment in the way of free speech. I created a secret blog to update daily upheaval and learning at XIMB. Hoping for the growth of ideas of the transparency and open governance.

Unless I have set a right balance between self-confidence and self-doubt, I can't emerge as a good scholar in any field. I am trying to control addictive habits and inculcate new habits. Mission, Vision and Complex problems bring out creative leadership. Hoping for emergence of a quantum of leader in me.

Whatever said here is mostly waste. The rest is silence. That silent part of life is my heart.

The best tweet of 2012: “September 17th. Wall Street. Bring Tent, a simple plea on Twitter that started the Occupy Revolution.

Books Read in 2011

2011-12-31T18:08:00.000+05:30

Reading creates capacity for deep, linear concentration. That is one unintended positive outcome of the habit of reading. Books always touch man’s head and heart with a burning/soothing/boring sensation. I read books on cinema, consumer behaviour, leadership and culture having various overtones this year. They helped me to fight desperation, myopia and close-mindedness prevailing inside me; I have always tried to pay attention to theories that conflict with common perception, only if those theories are more driven by human behaviour than common stereotype assumptions. Books of great authors are the best tools to understand these theories.

"Rich people have small TVs and big libraries, and poor people have small libraries and big TVs." Quite an apt statement to start about reading tour of this year. I am enlisting the names of books read by me in 2011 with their background and my feedback. Ratings are highly personal.

Hitch 22 :- Christopher Hitchens - English- 8/10
Author’s intellectual trajectory over the life time

Among the Believers :- V. S. Naipaul - English- 8/10
He makes writing verse look so easy and publishes Journey that highlights the culture of few selected Islamic country.

Who moved my Cheese ? :- Spencer Johnson - English- 7.5/10
Motivational business fable about opportunities and life at work.

In custody :- Anita Desai - English- 6.5/10
Loss of Urdu language in India through the eyes of a dying poet.

Our Films Their Films :- Satyajit Ray - English- 8.5/10
A deep insight by an auteur about his films.

The man who knew Infinity:A Life of the Genius Ramanujan-: Robert Kanigel - English- 7/10
Biography of the Indian mathematician Srinivasa Ramanujan written with utmost details and articulation.

Something Like An Autobiography :- Akira Kurosawa - English- 8.5/10
It is a charming account of the legendary movie director's early life.

Predictably Irrational :- Dan Ariely - English- 8/10
A book written in the behavioural science field makes a rational person looking dumb.

Rinzai: Master of the Irrational :- Osho - English- 8/10
No comments to be made about Zen !

I Have A Dream :- Rashmi Bansal - English- 8/10
Inspiring Stories of the 25 social entrepreneurs from humble and diverse background.

Heart of Darkness :- Joseph Conrad - English- 7.5/10
Unfathomable dark nature of human explored through the journey of the narrator

Winning by Jack Welch with Suzy Welch :- Jack Welch - English- 7.5/10
A comprehensive look on designing career path and taking decisions in the corporate world.

As French novelist Marcel Proust once said that the real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes. I hope to evolved as a Reader and to enjoy more books in the coming year. XIMB library here I come !

Thought of the Day- New year doesn't bring happiness but people do ! Enjoy 2012.

Development in a Trimester of rural management - 2

2011-12-06T22:32:00.001+05:30

Continuing from the 1st part of the Development series in RM , I will move towards the 2nd part of the learning in the field of Rural Management.

Looking into mine MBA and engineering curriculum, I can easily conclude that it is heavily influenced by American model and lacks novelty. Despite of mine low academic orientation, I have not seen really good books from an Indian author. Most of the books are from western universities. Hence, there is dire need to dejargonise and accept superfluos nature of our education.

During this trimester of PGDM-RM (rural management) at XIMB, I asked this question again and again :- why one chooses any course or college ? Whether one prefers a brand or academic learning or mere placement records of the college for routing the career path.

Any college should have these aspects for growth : Creation of knowledge through research, Application of knowledge within the industry through commercializaion and Dissemination of knowledge through classroom lectures. I am glad that XIMB fairs a good mark in this.

There will never be a final crisis of capitalism unless there is an alternative.Similarly, until students see an alternative system in RM, the prevailing dilemma of development and management will prevail. But even this duality helps us in looking for designing an economy of well-being.

When there is a large chance of being educated in an increasingly homogenised economic/educational system, RM course provide a different overview. Here in 5 points what I learnt in 3 months:

1- We don’t tend to celebrate ‘empowerment’ because there is no glamour in it. We celebrate charity because it makes us feel good.

2- We can make people accountable by giving them ownership and concrete goals to achieve.

3- We need to listen to dissonance of the participatory of the system. It is as much true for Panchayat level to the MBA college level where stakeholders are students.

4- Excess of Knowledge and logic sometimes became anti actional in nature. It makes person cautious and should be used for planning only. This country has enough critics but only few selective solution providers.

5- India have large people with an entrepreneurial nature but they only need subsidized capacity building. It is quite paradox to 'charity driven and complex' development approaches practiced by the government.

While writing conclusion is not an easy task, I can only remember the opening lines of novel "The tale of two cities by Charles Dickens" in the times of recession and protests.

"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way- in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the uperlative degree of comparison only."

Personal Reading History -1

2011-12-05T20:31:00.003+05:30

"It is good to be curious because that is how one starts the journey of inquiry... into existence; but if one simply remains curious, then there will be no intensity in it. One can move from one curiosity to another — one will become a driftwood — from one wave to another wave, never getting anchored anywhere. Curiosity is good as a beginning, but then one has to become more passionate. One has to make life a quest, not only a curiosity." --- Osho

I am now searching the root of mine reading habits and how they have changed my behavior over the span of time. Even though I was attracted towards school books, I don't remember any interest in the reading at KG level. Only memory I have of reading, it is of nursery rhyme 'Johnny Johnny Yes Papa' in the classroom. I spent most of the time listening to the old songs of Kishore Kumar and Mahendra Kumar in the cassette player.

I had started reading Children stories in Hindi newspaper 'Dainik Jagran' initially in the childhood. I was reading stories and poems in the school books. Chamapak for toddlers, Balhans for folk and patriotic stories, Nandan with tales of kings and queens and Nanhe Samrat with its Murkhistan were made available for us by our parents. I was more fond of reading comics of various desi superheroes. But the summarized five page short summary of world famous novel in Nandan was my favourite of all. Suman Saurabh and Chandamama were also there but there stories were interesting but in the discrete form dispersed over various magazine issues. But the story of Vikram Betal and Ulysses left a deep impact on me for epic novels and drama.

This was the phase of my life when I was more interested in religious texts. I had finished reading of Ramcharitmanas and Ramayan till the age of 9 years. Then, I also read a lot of Gitapress books about the life of Srikrishna. By sheer chance only, I never had opportunity to read any Amar Chitra Katha. Also, I was taught various short stanzas of Rahim, Raskhan, Dinkar, Niraala and Kabir.

Now comes mine fanatical reading of comics portion. I was avid reader of Naagraj, Super Commando Dhruv, Tausi, Doga, Parmanu, Chacha Chaudary and Ram-Rahim. I never had any chance to read english comic strips like Archie or Calvin-Hobbes.

One more subject that drew my attention was history books. Since, there were no hundered of comics available for a fast reader like me at maternal grandmother's home, I was given history book of 10th, 12th and graduation. It has most powerful impact on my memory. I was sheer delighted by the concept of revolution that happened in France and Russia. The complex name of Rousseau and Voltaire became familiar for me. It was also win win solution for everybody as it kept me engaged for a long time and I was like enjoying the dive into the world of knowledge.

Ten Issues - 18

2011-12-04T17:05:00.000+05:30

Harvard professor Larry Lessig is one of our foremost authorities on copyright issues, with a vision for reconciling creative freedom with marketplace competition.

1- The Indian state of Bihar has long been a byword for bad governance. It was however governed particularly badly between 1990 and 2005, and has since experienced something of a ‘governance miracle’. How can we account for the 1990–2005 deterioration? Through this working paper - State Incapacity by Design: Understanding the Bihar Story, we will understand that the low state capacity is often a political choice.

2- La Grande Revolution, Encore? A comparison between France of 1787 with present USA as both had financed an overseas war with borrowed money.

3- The War Dogma: This article appears in the July issue of Agenda/Infochange for the theme on the ‘Limits of Freedom’. An insight on Dantewada and Operation Green Hunt.

4- Playing fast and loose by Pratap Bhanu Mehta : A overview of tussle on Janlokpal Bill - A morally insidious vacuum in government. A self-proclaimed civil society displaying its own will to power. A media age where being off-balance gets you visibility. A public whose mood is punitive. An intellectual climate that peddles the politics of illusion.

5- A weakness born of bad intent by Siddharth Varadarajan: - The UPA government's unwillingness to act against the abuse of political and corporate power has created a vacuum which others are rushing to fill.

6- Do you want to be watched? - The new rules under the IT Act are an assault on our freedom. A report by Sunil Abraham who is the executive director of the Centre for Internet and Society.

7- "Tragedies darken when their victims refuse to understand the causes. Intellectual failure has thus been the principle deficit; which means the so-called men of intellect are to blame". Interview with Dr. Mobarak Haider, A political activist, scholar and renowned writer of English and Urdu.

8- Demystification of myths by Nadeem F. Paracha - In the last thirty years the number of people in Pakistan who pray regularly and attend collective prayers in mosques has risen three-fold. So have the number of mosques, madressas, Islamic evangelical organizations and religious programming on TV - and yet the rates of rape (including child rape), drug addiction, public humiliation of women has steadily maintained an upward trend.

9- Why dream borrowed dreams? - One of the most seductive myths that the Indian middle class and its elite believes in is that the 21st century is the Indian Century. A deep analysis of this myth by Shiv Visvanathan.

10- Disgust, Magical Thinking, and Morality : A short article on Morality and feeling of disgust.

Life as I know It

2011-11-02T23:54:00.000+05:30

Anton Chekhov once said that you must trust and believe in people or life becomes impossible.

There was a vacuum inside despite of huge knowledge in comparison to peers. You can't be thrilled with the life if it is full of knowledge.

One who not been able to love, or not been able to receive love. He has not been able to share his being. That’s the misery of one's existence. The worst bit is one does not know where to seek love.

People have no idea and nor do they care how a loner live and struggle. Life was rather repulsive once! Anton Chekhov once said that people who lead a lonely existence always have something on their minds that they are eager to talk about.

I was alone once yet not lonely. A development of relationship blossomed but was crushed in between. Aren't the most painful stories those where the relations are left broken yet open? Yet, I prefer silence than stories.

It takes the darkest hour of your life to find yourself. The more I know who I am and what I want in the life, the less I let things upset me. No matter what happens, i will not live with a incompatible person.

When love happens, life takes a turn. I am turning !

What one want to communicate and what one hope to communicate matches then the heart becomes full of joy. All shades of sarcasm, mysticism and sorrow sublime into thin air. Reconstruction at any age in any heart will heal the anger that shackle the bonds of love.

Does a life story need to conclude and make sense, like winning at the end of struggle, or rain after a long period of drought? Life is long and destination unseen.

I have learned all these years that life and dreams can never meet because when they meet both will loose their meaning. But, I was dead wrong. Even life is full of paradox, it seems complementary.

I have seen enough days of summer, there is autumn in my life. I am feeling happy. No matter how cool, strong or smart, every man is a fool in love. If you are in love, everything falls into line, everything falls together in a harmony, everything starts having significance.

Idea and Organisations

2011-11-01T04:55:00.000+05:30

Red Hat Linux Commercial: Truth Happens

Most of us see this advertisement either as User oriented or expert oriented operating system from marketing point of view. [ The Fedora and Red Hat Projects were merged on September 22, 2003. Fedora 15, codenamed Lovelock, was released on May 24, 2011.]

Ideas that spread, win but just because an idea spreads doesn't mean it's good for us. LINUX is a Unix-like computer operating system assembled under the model of free and open source software development and distribution. Since free flow of ideas makes them worth more and LINUX is product of such idealogy, I enjoy this advertisement of Linux more than others.

When the willful ignorance and avoidance of the competitor become a litmus test for the applicants, the age of fall of person/company begins with this ! You can be brilliant yet ignorant if you choose to ignore the inevitable. Any market leader will try to keep others from bringing new ideas forward but then truth happens !

1- Ideas are going to continue to become more valuable, which means that the urge to control and patrol them is going to get greater. But we should act in a boundaryless fashion - always search for and apply best ideas regardless of their source.

2- People who allow themselves to be taught will remain followers and people who learn by themselves will become leaders.

3- Innovation is bringing different elements together that fits the particular phase of solution.

4- Creativity is the greatest rebellion in existence but no one is obligated to understand your need to create. One need to show patience and perseverance to find the right person to collaborate with.

5- It takes all sorts to make a team, even an invincible team. You do not pick teams to please people; you pick teams to win !

Hi There, You!

2011-10-16T13:22:00.000+05:30

As college brings out all abilities, including incapability. There was one person in my college Rajneesh who didn't want to fit into any specific mold. He has started a website recently : Hi There, You!

Hi There, You! is a place where procrastination meets witty anonymous posts composed of choice words. All your need is a bit of dry humor and you are good to go.

Go forth, check it out and spill the beans.

'Like' Us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/HiThereU
Twitter: www.twitter.com/HiThere_You

Why Do I like "Hi There, You!"

-Most obvious reason, It is started by my friend.

- I love sarcasm, dry humor and wit.

- Its a great idea and all great ideas are amplified when others build on them.

- Since its anonymous, there is no censorship, ownership, regulation and control of property on our ideas.

- But Don't Pay no attention to “fancy advertising” of mine that conflict with your “common sense,” and check these theories that are driven by shear gut feeling.

Development in a Trimester of rural management

2011-09-13T01:05:00.009+05:30

John Stuart Mill is right here: there is no development, democratic or economic, without an educated citizenry. Hence with this statement, I will shade mine myopic narrative of the last 3 months of the education. Roughly, the things I am doing out here is to fight the common perception between development and management.

During this trimester of PGDM-RM (rural management) at XIMB, the question that was constantly asked by me was how much of it is “Development” and how much “management” ? With rural India in the context, this issue becomes a divergent for many budding rural managers.

The purpose of nearly all writing is to communicate easily. Here in 10 points is what I learnt in 3 months:

1- The first lesson towards developing an understanding that development is not merely about subsidies, urbanisation and poverty but also about being sensitive to the people.

2- As an aspiring rural managers should have understanding that must encompass history, sociology and the economic factors that also shape people’s lives. Quality of a learner is never an accident. It is always result of intelligent effort.

3- Between intention and implemention, there is a step called planning that needs learning from experiences, peers, teachers and most important through insight of a common wisdom of people.

4- We as managers, leaders and adminsitrators counsel and judge people without knowing much about them. Before presuming to do so, we need to be educated about why people behave the way they do. Then ask ourselves a far more difficult question: ‘Who am I to talk to other people and advise them about their development?’

5- There is nothing called perfect system, we try to make a system perfect by adapting ourselves to the problems at hand. One has to challenge organizational culture without destroying it.

6- Intent and honesty of purpose indeed attracts the valuable talent across the strata of society. But what you want to do and why holds important parameter for the people involved in any project. The character of a person/institution can be the most powerful yet most difficult competitive advantage to develop and maintain.

7- Omission is usually a luxury of the person with many choices. That we do knowingly. But denial is the instrument used by us for avoiding grim realities and ours responsibility.

8- Money does not motivate people, people want social recognition and autonomy.

9- People have capability to become intellectually self reliant and a lot of sustainable knowledge is hidden in them. They only need facilitators like us.

10- As an engineer, I learned that there is immense need to demystify technology first for the rural populace so that they will have the confidence to use and manage it. Technology can't be monopoly of engineers and technocrats.

It is the sheer desperation and helplessness that opens the world for a miracle. But messiah appears only at the time of immense crisis and disaster. We can't wait for Anna and Gandhi to show us the path always.

Develop a vision and skills for implementation, the rest pieces of mission will fall in the right places !

Annus Mirabilis

2011-08-24T04:39:00.003+05:30

26 years of Life completed on 21st August. Yahoo !

Annus mirabilis is a Latin phrase meaning "wonderful year" or "year of wonders". A year where many dreams blossomed and similarly many nightmares ended. So life was never better than previous year (Though just late but not too late for me). Between the end of the illusions and the awakening as a different person.

I am missing my friends today. But now, they have all gone into parts of India -- and I remain alone here, with only their memories in my heart, and tears in my eyes.

"When the facts change, I change my mind," said Lord Keynes once. I am also doing the same while understanding the tussle, cooperation and competition between development sector and corporate sector in academic life here.

The motto of life in the busy schedules of life has changed to न दैन्यं न पलायनम् !

Ten Issues - 17

2011-08-20T16:09:00.000+05:30

1- Why Zappos Offers New Hires $2,000 to Quit : The policy of providing a let-out after one week has gained worldwide attention. Columnist Keith McFarland explains why it makes sense.

2- Who Was Milton Friedman?: Keynesianism was a great reformation of economic thought. It was followed, inevitably, by a counter-reformation. A number of economists played important roles in the great revival of classical economics between 1950 and 2000, but none was as influential as Milton Friedman.

3- End Financial Control of European Governance : In developing countries and now in Europe, government debt allows creditors to exercise undue power over decision making. The Euro crisis is clear evidence that we need to break out of the economic straitjacket imposed by an over-powerful financial sector, says Susan George in an interview with Nick Buxton.

4- Who needs a bank? : Should we make banks better, or just make them redundant? Peer-to-peer currency schemes like bitcoin.org offer the possibility of networked money without banks. Should democrats embrace the possibilities?

5- Free Enterprise Vs. Regulation : Raghuram Rajan had seen the impact of over-regulation in an underachieving economy. Years later, he also saw the perils of under-regulation as championed during the Alan Greenspan era. The Eric J. Gleacher, Professor of Finance at the Booth School of Business discusses the question of achieving the right mix of free enterprise and sensible regulation

6- Too much information : How to cope with data overload

7- Good Ideas and Great Ideas : A worthy idea needs to be nurtured and developed, rethought and reworked, often thrown away and picked back up again. There’s a substantive difference between a passing fancy and groundbreaking concept. It is our approach to ideas that makes that difference.

8- Johann Hari: How to survive the age of distraction - As in the book The Lost Art of Reading – Why Books Matter in a Distracted Time, the critic David Ulin puts it: "Reading is an act of resistance in a landscape of distraction.... It requires us to pace ourselves. It returns us to a reckoning with time. In the midst of a book, we have no choice but to be patient, to take each thing in its moment, to let the narrative prevail. We regain the world by withdrawing from it just a little, by stepping back from the noise."

9- 5 Principles of Creativity : So to compete in today’s marketplace, you have to be able to create. That’s much different than just working faster or harder or longer. The good news is that, while we can’t all be a Picasso or a Mozart, there are some simple principles we can follow that will enhance our ability originate ideas that are truly new and important.

10 - The game theory of discovery and the birth of the free-gap : Too many things to choose from, more every day. No efficient way to alert the world about your service, your music, your book. How about giving it away to help the idea spread?

Ten Issues - 16

2011-08-17T17:04:00.000+05:30

1- Great compilation of cultural article at BBC Hindi : Enjoy Reading about Hindustani Tahzeeb

2- ऑन स्‍क्रीन ऑफ स्‍क्रीन : बहुरुपिया का माडर्न अवतार आमिर खान

3-Death by Dialogue By Trisha Gupta : What does it mean for the future of Hindi cinema if most films are now in fact conceived, thrashed out and largely executed not in Hindi but in English? Will filmmakers only tell the stories of a minuscule section of the population?

4-National Film Awards : The absurdity of censorship - An open letter to Hon’ble Minister for Information & Broadcasting on July 14, 2005 by Rakesh Sharma, a prominent Indian documentary film-maker.

5- Paradoxes of memory by Helmut König: Lasting peace agreements after wars and civil wars were for a long time considered to be conditional upon damnatio memoriae – the deliberate and reciprocal forgetting of violence and injustice. However, the established amnesty clause is only realistic where certain rules were not broken during war. The First World War is beyond its scope of applicability, the extermination war of the National Socialists even more so. Where forgetting is impossible, remembering is all that remains. Such remembrance is inextricably and paradoxically linked to forgetting: only what has been remembered can actively be forgotten.

6- Fighting Mr Smith : The Indian Murdochs will not apologise. Nor will the Indian Rebekah Brooks resign. Mr Smith has spread rapidly in Indian media. There are no Neos here to challenge him. PADMAJA SHAW says the Indian ecosystem of news has imbibed some of the negatives of Murdoch’s news empire but is not about to admit culpability.

7- Philadelphia University Commencement Speech – May 15th 2011 : Steve Blank is a Silicon Valley-based retired serial entrepreneur, founding and/or part of 8 startup companies in California’s Silicon Valley.

8- Am I A Product Of The Institutions I Attended? Unstructured learning in structured learning environments: A personal view of Amitabha Bagchi

9- From Technologist to Philosopher : Why you should quit your technology job and get a Ph.D. in the humanities By Damon Horowitz. Thank You Namit Sir.

10- The Brain on Trial by David Eagleman : Today, neuroimaging is a crude technology, unable to explain the details of individual behavior. We can detect only large-scale problems, but within the coming decades, we will be able to detect patterns at unimaginably small levels of the microcircuitry that correlate with behavioral problems.

Introspection

2011-08-06T20:29:00.001+05:30

Welcome, there is a change in the Blog outlook to make it more simple and sober. I did this after struggling with slow internet connection. I am wandering in the landscape of loneliness. Today, I writing this blog in order to comprehend, not to express myself. A paradigm shift in mine thinking !

How many memories/information can a person stand, and how many does he need? Does one need either huge academic knowledge or field work only to prove his case of merit ? What is the definition of luxury or necessity for a family (not individual)? These are some basic question that is haunting me. Leave alone these question on fate.

Despite introspection, We Are Strangers to Ourselves. Ability to be ourselves is crucial, not flowing in the shallow water of superficiality. There is inbuilt existential frustation and restlessness in humans. No person can escape from the thoughts buzzing in the mind. The difference between getting lost and finding new ways distinct achievers in the fighters.

One has to eliminate what one does not aspire for and then start search for what one aspires. When everything is at stake there is nothing to lose. The phase of learning is always unglamarous and difficult in the nature. But when inspired by inner zeal, nothing in the world can stop what must rise. There will be lot of failures and setbacks in the initial years. And a floating question : Is it worth it ? But life goes on with unanswered questions.

The paradox happens when one read something like that : Doing what you know is fun, but doesn't improve you. That really hits your instinct and challenges for uplifting your standards.

A life well lived for others and with others is mine aim. Otherwise, In the words of Anton Chekhov - "Any idiot can face a crisis - it's day to day living that wears you out." Do anyone wants such meaningless life ? I'd rather be a failure at something I love than a success at something I hate. Need a little dose of madness to become free. One need to ask : What's next? How to improve? What's this worth? Why is this happening?

Thought of the Day : ‎"He’s freed from his loneliness by the word. Isn’t that the point of poetry? Breaking through the walls of solitude. Poetry is the great S.O.S. of loneliness." --Anna Kamienska

Two Videos and Five Points Observed

2011-07-24T17:08:00.003+05:30

Derek Sivers: How to start a movement

With help from some surprising footage, Derek Sivers explains how movements really get started. (Hint: it takes two.) A pioneer with courage has just to stand up and do it first :)TED Video

There were five points that I came across in recent days. Each of them opened a new door of analysing the world and mine life in different manner.

1- One question recently bumped me off : Am I A Product Of The Institutions I Attended? I am caught in the web of traditional outlook of liberal, conservative, socialist, anarchist or even fascist. The whole is greater than the sum of its parts. That is the human nature emerges as a complex patterns out of a multiplicity of relatively simple interactions.

Much of learning is not done in the confined environment of the institute. Institutes are just facilitator for providing suitable environment for the growth of an individual. But an institution should balance insanity and genius activity of the individual. Institution that reduces risk taking ability of the student as per trade off of the luxury harms overall welfare of the society. Here, the catch is that the idea of 'luxury' and 'necessities' is subjective in nature. Institutions end up in becoming one's brand/identity for lifetime that holds opposite of the development of an individual.

2- A question is not a test of memory, but a test of understanding. That should be an ideal way of learning about new field. Exams are more oriented towards memory cramping rather than understanding. Open book test gives better idea of genius in the class :)

3- The most marketable skill in India today is the ability to abandon your identity and slip into someone else's. The loss of one's identity so easily for economic reasons appears a complex issue to me. On one hand, it proves adaptability while on other, an unsustainable way of development.

4- All heroic acts are foolish to your contemporaries! The acts may be original rather than research but society gives importance to mediocrity at any moment of time. The people who have been understood are third rate. They are understood because they are saying the same things that you already believe in. It is always better to be Socrates rather than Gandhi at any moment of life for me. It will land great part of your life in loneliness but that is another story of different aspect.

5- Decorum is linked to policing in India. Yes, the study of Indian Government will prove this right.

Why You Need to Fail - by Derek Sivers

The video shows the importance of failure - for effective learning, growth mindset, and quality through experimentation. The message of the video is inspiring and worth remembering : Doing what you know is fun, but doesn't improve you.

Socha na tha....

2011-07-08T11:56:00.001+05:30

A scarcity of availability and a ticking clock changes our perspective and the desire to take action. I have become busy in the new routine of Yem Bee Aey (MBA)college. I am not able to read and write due to busy lifestyle. I have never imagined that a day like this can come !

An advertisement (spoof) on the fact that major credit card and online payment companies have withheld over $15 Million in donations to WikiLeaks has created a buzz between liberals and youths.

Support WikiLeaks ; Inspired by Wikileaks, I have started a secret blog --- Diary of A Grass Root Manager !. I am updating this blog as per weekly basis with both positive and negative perspective of my stay here in XIMB. Nobody can access the blog now due to its sensitive nature. I will make the blog available in public realm after getting my MBA degree.

A person should have right to document his experiences and learning. I can't rely always on the history lessons presented by state or authority. Milan Kundera has famously commented in 'The Book of Laughter and Forgetting, 1979' : The struggle of man against power is the struggle of memory against forgetting. My experiment with storage of my experiences and memories has started in the form of online blog diary.Wish me luck for my experiment.

Romila Thapar: India's past and present

2011-07-02T15:01:00.001+05:30

Everyone has their beliefs as to how they fit into the world. However, only those who think for themselves, rather than blindly follow, will truly experience. A denial of one’s roots, whatever the attitudes and realities of the present, is an invitation to a crisis of identity. This is my opinion on history.

Romila Thapar: India's past and present — how history informs contemporary narrative

In conversation with IDRC President David M. Malone, historian Romila Thapar, widely recognized as India's foremost historian challenged the colonial interpretations of India's past, which have created an oversimplified history that has reinforced divisions of race, religion, and caste.

Last Day at CSC !

2011-06-13T17:17:00.004+05:30

Hello Team,

I want to bid farewell to you all and today is my last day at work in CSC. Over the span of 2 years 4 months 15 days, I have seen many stereotyped resignation e-mails still today I can't come up with something original to say.

The decision to leave the firm was a planned one. I was selected for MBA and the bondage period of 2 years as fresher was served. For nearly as long as I’ve worked here, I have known that I might one day leave this company. And now that this has become a reality, please know that I could not have reached this goal without your encouragement and care.

CSC has helped me in shaping my career path and now it is the right time for me to bid adieu. I have enjoyed working with you and I appreciate my friends and colleagues for providing support all these years. It's been great interacting and knowing each one of you.

Comrades, please do keep in touch at Facebook (Profile Link : http://www.facebook.com/Yayaver ) where I am always alive and kicking :P

Cheers,

Himanshu Rai
Information Security Engineer
CSC

"Love your job, but never fall in love with your company because you never know when company stops loving you... " --- N R Narayana Murthy

Dil jaise dhadke dhadakne do....

2011-06-10T16:01:00.004+05:30

There are so many books, blogs and magazines in this world, nobody can read them all. Nobody is waiting for another one of them. If I didn't have to write in order to keep myself together, I wouldn't do it. I don't want to be a seasoned writer, this isn't the reason I write.

Every man dies, not every man observe how he really lives. I enjoys writing and reading but it consumes a lot of energy. I am not even replying to the comments. Such is the phase of life going on.

I am going for higher education and have faith on my talent. This job has taught me not to expect the better man to bow before the fool. To be better take more guts than average thinking. Those who can't say Fuck to their status, can't design the future.

There are people who have once survived through some life time experience and don't understand the nature of it. Experience can supply the information but even then wisdom may lack. Equally, There are people who have not gone through life time experience but have understand and written about it. I do not understand this natural world and mysterious universe of relations . I do not understand. That is why I write, because I do not understand. I just have no choice, or rather, it wasn't I who chose.

Many persons have tried to emulate IT sector top-down economic model, but most are stuck with the Indian reality. Hence, I decided to jump directly in Indian reality. Also, there is no point in doing what is not my strength.

I have became strong in the personal life as lot of past issues were closed. A lot of manipulative and playful relationships were broken. The women psyche, I started understanding a little here bit in this place. But, overall saying goodbye to friends is most difficult of all seprations..

Time to wind up memories. Time to pack up. A new chapter in life. Will miss you Hyderabad !

Fathers and Sons

2011-06-08T16:50:00.004+05:30

One realizes one's root when every new occurrence brings back a memory and search for an identity is over. I was trying to track history of my family through relations of fathers and sons and tell a simple story. It is not summary of growing divide between the generations but a simple tale documented fist time ever.

It is a story of my family based on the values that changed with time yet remain same in core. My great grandfather had been 10+2 passed out (first in my family) in 1902. He was born in mid 1880's and joined Primary School as a teacher despite of Zamindari background. My grandfather was born in 1920's and was educated till High-school. He didn't do any job due to his Zamindari Background. Such was the difference of view between them.

My grandfather was eldest of three brothers and remain a farmer till his last breathe. His brothers went to Jharia Bihar to work in coal mines. With the Zamindari system being abolished after independence and few court cases, the family fortune declined slowly. When great-grandfather was on the verge of the death, he said only this to his sons and grandsons : Let all things fall apart but never compromise on the education of children.

I am not eligible to comment on the education of families of other grandfathers. My grandfather has three sons and one daughter. We call biggest uncle babuji and middle one chacha. My father is younger of all siblings.

There were tough days coming ahead for the family. Babuji followed the word of his grandfather and the level education in our family gradully rises above other families in the village and community despite of financial constraint.

The economical crisis can crush the dream and a man has to compromise lesser than his talent. When it is like not to have enough, its a all different learning experience. Tough times never last, but tough people do! That was the experience of mine father and his brothers of all those years.

It is assumed now-days that person whoever expected the young to be responsible anyway lacks sense ! But a generation ahead of me struggled and achieved education and economic stability. Today, whenever I learn anything I remember the last words of my great grandfather that changed destiny of a farmer family.

I realized that during hard times, families pull together. If I observe anything from my past and forefathers, success will come by pulling together as families and stressing good education for everyone.

It is always better to have seen a place than never to have visited it. That I always remember while visiting many places around the world. My ancestral place still gives me different feeling whenever I experience some time span there. What is a man without forefathers vision and care...

Ten Issues - 15

2011-06-02T15:06:00.000+05:30

1- Why Pandits aren't returning to roots ? : The Pandits, though, will tell you another story: of murders and village loudspeakers issuing threats. Jagmohan is rarely the central figure that Kashmiri Muslim makes him out to be.

2-Will Pakistanis put their national interest first? by Harini Calamur :If there is any country in the world that is a poster child for dictatorship, it is Pakistan. Over the last two and half decades at least, Pakistan seems to have been more stable and more prosperous under its military dictators than its “democratically” elected leaders.

3- Islamic Banking System: Threats and Opportunities --- The Islamic banking system is an important component of Islamic finance. Islamic finance has unique features because its foundation is laid on the principles and rules of Islamic law (sharia), which states that everything is owned by Allah and man has only been permitted to use it.

4- The predicament of the Islamic Republic by Hamid Dabashi. Green Movement's focus on civil rights voids it of the appeal needed to spark an Arab Spring-like revolution. Author is Hagop Kevorkian Professor of Iranian Studies and Comparative Literature at Columbia University.

5- Argentine Free Book Movement woos readers : In Buenos Aires, the 'City of Books', a novel idea sees books left in public places for readers to pick up and enjoy.

6- A Critique of Reporting on the Middle East by Nir Rosen : Too often consumers of mainstream media are victims of a fraud. You think you can trust the articles you read, why wouldn’t you, you think you can sift through the ideological bias and just get the facts.

7- The Insularity of American Literature: Philip Roth Didn't Deserve the Booker International Prize : "There is powerful literature in all big cultures, but you can't get away from the fact that Europe still is the center of the literary world...not the United States," Horace Engdahl, permanent secretary of the Nobel Prize jury, recently said. "The US is too isolated, too insular. They don't translate enough and don't really participate in the big dialogue of literature...That ignorance is restraining."

8- The UID Project and Welfare Schemes : This article documents and then examines the various benefits that, it is claimed, will flow from linking the Unique Identity number with the public distribution system and the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme. It filters the unfounded claims, which arise from a poor understanding of how the PDS and NREGS function, from the genuine ones. On the latter, there are several demanding conditions that need to be met in order to reap marginal benefits. A hasty linking of the PDS/NREGA with the UID can be very disruptive. Therefore, other cheaper technological innovations currently in use in some parts of the country to fix existing loopholes in a less disruptive manner are explored.

9- Uttar Pradesh to set up 2000+ mandis : The Mayawati government proposes to reduce the distance that farmers must travel to take their produce to market to an average of seven kms. This should help farming families boost their incomes, writes Devinder Sharma.

10- Revolution U by TINA ROSENBERG : The Serbian capital is home to the Center for Applied NonViolent Action and Strategies, or CANVAS, an organization run by young Serbs who had cut their teeth in the late 1990s student uprising against Slobodan Milosevic. Author throws light on what Egypt learns from the students who overthrew Milosevic.

Thought of the Day : Economist Paul Krugman once remarked: If [George W.] Bush said that the world was flat, the headline on the news analysis would read 'Shape of Earth: Views Differ'. It was a pithy summary of how news organizations are now so obsessed with the idea of "balance" they will give both sides of any argument equal coverage, even if one side is plainly absurd.

Passing Time in Summer

2011-05-29T19:05:00.001+05:30

Life is going fast and I have discovered that reading poems are anytime better than economics. Summer, summer, summertime and it is time to sit back and unwind. I am spending too much time on Facebook. That is a quite worthless pleasure of addiction. Sitting on the roof-top chatting with friends is better time pass than this. I can only say that I am finding it hard to bear the unbearable separation from internet for 2 hour also, need guts to overcome!

Writing has brought a fundamental error of intellectuals in front of me. An intellectual knows what one opposes but does not seem to be sure what one proposes. Status quo challenged has no meaning until an alternative appears.
Change happens where previous appear even slightly worse than current to the people. This is a fundamental factor in determining the nature and degree of the solution to any problem.

The criticisms, ideologies and debate are the second necessary but not sufficient condition for uplift of the unprivileged ones. The first and foremost required is empathy and sensitivity. Third is the most important one and that is right action taken by detail study of the subject (however complex it may appear) . I have known only 3 steps from my experience. Ignore this stupidity and loose talks, enjoy these lines...

हर बदलते आज में, मैने कल को देखा है,
हर बीते हुए कल में, मैने आते हुए पल को देखा है.
अभी जो बीता है उस पल में कल को देखा है |

Frog Haiku

2011-05-21T05:07:00.000+05:30

A lonely pond in age-old stillness sleeps . . .
Apart, unstirred by sound or motion . . . till
Suddenly into it a lithe frog leaps.

Compiled Madness !

2011-05-20T22:59:00.003+05:30

“The scale of the human socio-economic-political complex system is so large that it seriously interferes with the biospheric complex system upon which it is wholly dependent, and cultural evolution has been too slow to deal effectively with the resulting crisis.” —Paul R. Ehrlich is president of the Center for Conservation Biology at Stanford University.
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Both - the US and the Islamic Republics - wish the region back to its status quo ante, where and when they much benefited from the state of war they had manufactured, and under which they both shared the control and domination of the democratic aspirations of the people in the region.

Political crises are definitive, sustained, and even beyond the structurally dysfunctional state apparatus rooted in the demographic facts of a young and restless population ruled by an outdated and obsolete theocratic ideology.

Questions about loyalty, the role of military and the potential instability are unacceptable, intolerable, and contrary to the ideals of humanity and generosity. Playboy turned zealot youths, foreign mercenaries and a lot of people on high dose of religion. Pity is the response that will most fully preserve our own humanity but hard for the society living long in the bad habit of self-justification.

Islamic legal scholars are related to patriarchal values and not to the principle of justice. Israel's "lawfare" against the Palestinian people is rooted in a fictitious narrative of having a "right" to exist. Open politics of the street bred and mature individuals and leader emerge from them organically rather than imposed from above by political organisations, religious groups, or gender roles.

Pakistan India and fighting terror ! what a joke. There are lot of people who are eating away their own soul and conscience and calling it faith and patriotism. Freedom is always and exclusively freedom for the ones who think differently

While India wrongly has thinking that development projects could persuade any people to forego their autonomy demands. There will be no Scheduled tribe in next 20 years as most of them will be killed, displaced in the name of development. What is a greatest sin in the world ? It is to be born poor and hungry ? There is no consensus by carrying with them all sections of middle class, rural and urban poor. It's plain genocide. 'Creation of conditions where survival becomes difficult for millions of people also amounts to genocide,' says Dr. Binayak Sen.
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I always feel greatest threats are internal rather than external? Civilizations, Institutions and even a person fall, not so much because of the strength of the enemy outside as through the weakness and decay withing!!!

Whether the new technologies overtaking us may be eroding characteristics that are essentially human: our ability to reflect, our pursuit of meaning, genuine empathy, a sense of community connected by something deeper than snark or political affinity. Facebook and Internet has turned me into some different creature.

Wolitzer describes them this way: “The generation that had information, but no context. Butter, but no bread. Craving, but no longing.”

The rule of the Information Age Jungle dictates that slowing down in life is fatal and that speed is the inherent requirement for this chaotic world that we are living in. Alvin Toffler coined the term “future shock” in the article “The Future as a Way of Life” published in the Horizon magazine in 1965. In his book “Future Shock” he has described future shock as “the dizzying disorientation brought on by the premature arrival of the future. It may well be the most important disease of tomorrow.” It seems that he was true about information overload and the accelerated rate of change in society due to industrial and technological growth. This need for adapting to the accelerated change is making us send our two-and-a-half-year old children to pre-schools; this is what is making us want admissions to elite institutions of the country; this is what is making us want a job with a heavy CTC and no work at all. This is the reason why “Speed Yoga Tutorials,” “Fast Piano Lessons,” and “Guaranteed Orgasms in 30 Seconds” e-books are now available. (Thanks to Sridhar)
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It needs guts to learn. Learning means one has to be humble. Learning means one has to be ready to drop the old, one has to be constantly ready to accept the new. Just being logically more proficient does not mean you have the truth. One of the most difficult things is to change an experience into explanation, and from one language to another it becomes almost an impossible task.

Art can create environment of sensitivity in which any scrutiny or process of questioning in which it is possible to change to occur. But where are the artists ? Why make up gives to the women ? I assume it gives confidence to her. Same as the artificial sophistication is promoted in the name of culture. Unsustainable.

Violence as a source of entertainment rather than its actual meaning. I am afraid of violence and mine life. I just want a bit of solidarity with people like Julian Assange who has just told us things that we were entitled to know. The democratization of information may actually lead to real democracy.

I am caught between self-righteousness and savage reality. With each new blog post also, I am doing what they do best, copying and stereotyping. There is no vision in me and there write-ups are an insult to the originality inside me. From when and why has I have become synonymous with rationality with brainlessness and wrong spellings with avantgarde ? Regret is a misery what one did not do while remorse is sorrow what one did do. I have both regret and remorse.

I rigorously study subjects prescribed by our institute irrespective of whether feel it shall provide us any know-how to launch our career. The adventurous and entrepreneurial spirit can be awakened by downsizing the baggage of bore some studies and big student loans.

I am not a prodigy. I may be infected with disease of being acknowledged by others. This perception has modified reality. I am chasing knowledge without any reason. Its is a mental wilderness of thoughts that is making me anxious and full of fear.

Avoid Reading My Blog

2011-05-19T21:53:00.005+05:30

Living a regular and tedious life, suddenly I started pondering over thought that whether professional and personal success are mutually exclusive. I find a certain rootlessness, a deracination. But they are only passing thoughts.

Currently, I am in mood of celebration, as the coming to power of the Trinamool Congress is a Berlin-wall-breaking moment. The last big state holding Communist is gone with the winds. The decay of Left has started on that day when the arrogance of power led them to adopt narrow, sectarian and regional politics. There was no more unconditional affiliation or ideology-based support in voting this time.

The road to hell is paved with good intentions is a proverb or aphorism. An example is the economic policies of the Bengal. That is why I stress for an individual in learning in detail at-least one aspect of society.

Clueless ‘intellectuals’ and bureaucrats are arguing all day have never created a job. Ground reality is different. Experience counts and it can't be replaced with theoretical modelling. As there is a huge gap between policy makers and beneficiaries, the conditions of people will not improve even on applying several welfare plans.

Policy framework and a honest (not clueless also ) leader is required for our country.
Reform Is not possible without knowing the truth and if one denies reality. But humans are little different. Humans, and all collections of humans, tend to take honest stock only when they hit rock bottom. Surely, left has hit the rock bottom now.

Whenever I see Naom Chomsky, I respect him immensely as compelling his criticism, breathtaking is his knowledge, persuasive is his voice, and deep runs his humanity. Naom Chomsky exposes hypocrisy of US when US don't practise what it preach in its domestic and foreign policy. Arundhuti Roy and Nadeem F Paracha are doing same for their respective nations. While other Che aspirants turning into drawing-room Pol Pots, the nation goes down in big way...

Examine here, I can't write about personal life without talking about society and politics. What a drag I am proving to be. When one declare some vow in open, and then fail. One will not be able to take same vow again. If I had gone in personal writing mission unspoken, that could have been much better. As they say even unrealized acts have more effects than deliberate attempts. Really, I am not a voice of sanity ! Avoid Reading My Blog :)

Life Sahi Hai, Tension Nahi Hai

2011-05-16T09:43:00.004+05:30

मेरे ब्लॉग पर बहुत पोस्ट हैं लेकिन सब के सब जोड़ तोड़ एंड फिर घटजोड़ कर के लिखे गए हैं. बहुत कम में स्वंय का योगदान है और अधिकतर में केवल किताबी ज्ञान और दूसरों का प्रभाव है. साले बहुत से एकदम बासी हैं कागज़ के फूलों की तरह. क्यों कागज़ के फूल, उसमें जीवन अनुभव की खुशबू कहां से आएगी ...

I am also cutting short the blogs from the reading list. most of them are not updated from long time or has diluted with respect to my reading taste. It is the person you are, rather than the knowledge you possess, that determines success. Hence, I am making blog little more personal in the nature.

My writings were becoming incoherent day by day. I am trying to mend my ways. The last post on off beat traits about me was prime example of new reformed pattern.

Recently, I was in Azamgarh. I observed hunger, poverty, corruption and unemployment. There is a lack of opportunity even after education such is the case of unemployable work force. I felt that I am going to XIMB for correct academic path. I am glad to choose this path.

Also, the split between rural management and development studies now has become more clear than ever. In rural management, it is evident that the tilt is more towards commerce and while development studies studies an effective intervention mechanism that stabilizes and corrects the imperfections of the market and participants.

Currently, life seemed to be like a dream state flowing into the solid world. Notice Period after resignation is quite relaxed period. I am not living for others as I would also expect not others to live for me. A selfish agenda for survival ! I am posting two question that is bothering me from long time :

1-What does it take to change the essence of a man?
2-How can we raise conscious of a human being ?

An off beat Post about Me

2011-05-11T10:13:00.006+05:30

Life is chaotically complex series of events, so beautifully woven into a coherent whole. And I am writing most about worldly affairs, Today, I present an off beat weblog about me.

Writing :
First and most important, I like blogging. When I found the power to express what was in his heart, I found the love of a lifetime. A rare habit that is even continued today with full enthusiasm and pleasure. Also, there is dire need of educated persons who can not only perform better but also express better. Writing skills help one to present himself/herself before others, and also enables to think. Hence, I always encourage people to write and read.

Blog :
I speak and write a bit harsh and with irreverence in the blog. Anything and anyone is subjected to scrutiny and there should be no sacred cow in the society or nation. I uphold the fact that if an individual spends writing in praise of the authority because of the benefits this brings — as opposed to objective assessment — then the moral credibility of the person diminish later or sooner.

Blog Traffic :
I want my blog to be popular but not on the compromise of the material. Publicity means that actions are judged by reputation not the other way round. Most of the readers are interested toward those who write colorfully, look better and give an opportunity to hate/love. May be my blog is efficient but not user/reader friendly.

Blog Addiction :
I like sharing ideas, hearing opposing views, inspiring readers (mostly boring) and, maybe if I’m lucky, compelling few readers to think about problems. I can say with proud that blogging has been more rewarding than I expected, and I think more people should give it a try.

Why I read too much ?
Without understanding the why, it is virtually impossible to know what needs to be done. The pre-condition to fight material corruption and cultural dogmas is to hit hard the social inequality and mental dishonesty. Hence, I have involved deeply into various aspects of life.

Love of History :
Reading History can tell us, in a sense, why we are who we are. [What Howard Zinn's "A People's History of the United States" did, a book that literally changed the consciousness of a generation, the same thing will be done by "India after Gandhi" by Ramchandra Guha.]

Insight on Owns Talent :
The act of measuring something has thee effect of altering the measurement Uncertainty. Hence, I always become suspicious of mine capabilities of speculation. Only clueless people imagine that their interference in the process will improve things and more knowledge always prove my ignorance.

Ambition :
I realized that in life it is important to be liked, than to be successful. Eluding success was another aspect of career but the tag as a "nice" person has been attached. There are many shortcomings and wrong deeds but I am always prepared to give away my ignorance and prejudices.

What I fear ?
I fear India turning into next Pakistan. I fear a place where there is a dominance of opinion over thought, of partisan ideology over compromise, of emotional self righteous morality over intellectual reasoning. That will surely drift into the place of bind believers.

Secular Values :
I am secular and mild atheist by practice. The deception of religion to promise Utopia/Heaven with the brainwashing of the human is most painful learned fact till today.

Morality :
Ethics is a complicated subject since morality has changed over the centuries from outlawing slavery to allowing women to vote. There is a great difficulty in explaining morality for me.

Utopia ?
I am interested in politics. But a questioning mind is an antithesis of utopia. It questions existing traditions, dogmas, practices, existing behaviours, morality, religion, god, monopoly and everything which is the established norm. Hence, this concept seems utterly ridiculous to me.

Ideology
I am yet undecided over my ideological leanings. I openly and definitely supports liberty and love. Independent minds have always transcended the ideological pigeonholes. Rather than enslavement of ideological campaigning, free learning has much advantage.

Entertainment :
It is one of the basic needs of Human life. Still those who enjoys dose of entertainment only like drugs , will always be whipped up by passions and paranoia to maintain narrow interests of few scoundrels. I am much boring person due to love of solitude and silence.

Internet Usage :
Networking is such an essential part of our lives today and it’s these forums that facilitate it the most. Hence, addicted to blogs, facebook and Orkut. I believe that filtering, not remembering, is the most important skill for those who use the Internet.

On Youths of India :
India's neo-revolutionaries youth are a product of too much fast-food and too little knowledge of ground realities. The young do wear T-shirts that say Roadies or Be a Rebel or Che or even Bitch. But the truth is that the youth, especially in this country, is a fellowship of unaware and even confused identity .

On India :

I refuse to live in a corrupt and intolerant country like this, and I'm not leaving.

Loved this Quote : "Only the open mind can be ready to listen to something that goes against it. The closed mind can listen only to that which supports it." --- Osho

Ten Issues - 14

2011-05-10T16:47:00.001+05:30

1- How China reports the Arab world :- In a post made to his Chinese-language weblog on April 15, Ezzat Shahrour, chief correspondent for al-Jazeera Arabic in Beijing, voiced his frustration with Chinese state media reporting on the upheaval in the Arab world this year.

2- The rules of entrapment :- The noise against Tehelka after last week’s cover story was to be expected. Much more surprising was the confusion over the ethics of political baiting.

3- Haaretz prides itself on being the conscience of Israel. Does it have a future? :- by David Remnick

4- James Gosling joins Google, what can startups learn? :- Cultivating talent is not about hiring only those people who will work on assignments or wait on benches for projects that are in the sales pipeline. You also require people who are not in the thick of daily grind; those who can think up new paradigms and new ways to doing things without the pressure of how it will impact the company's next quarter's bottom-line.

5- Should you drop out to become an entrepreneur? Posted by Nikhil Kulkarni

6- What’s Left of the Left: Paul Krugman’s lonely crusade. By Benjamin Wallace-Wells

7- Top 10 Reasons Ayn Rand was Dead Wrong By Geoffrey James

8- Ambedkar, the forgotten free-market economist in Perspective by B Chandrasekaran

9- P. R. Brahmananda Memorial Lecture by Stanley Fischer Governor, Bank of Israel :- Central Bank Lessons from the Global Crisis

10- Kaushik Basu has suggested a radical solution: Paying bribes should be legal [PDF] and opposition of Jean Drèze to this idea in The bribing game.

Quote of the Day : “When Kepler found his long-cherished belief did not agree with the most precise observation, he accepted the uncomfortable fact. He preferred the hard truth to his dearest illusions; that is the heart of science.” - Carl Sagan

State Torture

2011-05-09T00:48:00.005+05:30

Few things reveal a nation better than what it censors. Human societies that allow the free expression of ideas do better than those that don’t allow new ideas. The evidence is all around for us to see and judge. The renaissance was the triumph of ideas over church power after a long struggle.

The ignorance and lethargy of the poor are the direct result of the whole economic, social and political domination. It is the failure of elites and policy makers that failed in creating inclusive growth.Hence, the violence emerge from the poor neighborhood or a specific region.

State can't arm people to fight insurgency, it will only lead to legalization of violence with state backing it. The order can't be maintained by violating spirit of law in the first place. Hence, they opt for torture technique to suppress the will of people.

The other strategy to deal with challenges to legitimacy of state is by promoting and reinforcing identity politics within a system of privileges where certain groups and individuals are favored over others. In a word: divide and rule. Best of all discrimination policies used by government !

In democracy, power goes to those who've got money or people. The weak and cynical power holder people are obsessed with their status in society. Abhu Gharib and Guantanmo are prime example of insanity and savagery of the people holding power.An enhanced interrogation techniques” probably have a flawed idea of whether this constitutes torture, because few have felt the pain these methods can cause.

Authoritarian regimes or Deep State are not known for creating space where alternative political leadership grows - for if they do so, they would cease to be authoritarian. The delusional and diseased symbiosis of a person with power.

In short term, the proclamation of reforms, positive changes and greater media freedom turned out to be nothing but empty promises. So there is no major change in the political, moral, psychological, social or economic position of the people. And the game goes on...

No economic system can over-ride the mandate to preserve our life and liberty. Each country has to find is its own political cohesiveness to carry out very painful and ugly transitions. No country or state is exception of power tussle.There is always inevitable anger in the people against such misuse of state power which can either spark like revolution or least possibility of reform from inside government.

The media also remain in the frenzy state. The very assumption behind security state is that civilians are expendable, that there is no need to build civilian institutions because they are permanently invaded and the whole world is their enemy. Yet, rarely are the political and economic system that sustain authoritarian groups in the position of power is questioned. That led only to revolution !

Creating Wealth

2011-05-09T00:33:00.001+05:30

History shows that where ethics and economics come in conflict, victory is always with economics. Vested interests have never been known to have willingly divested themselves unless there was sufficient force to compel them. ---B. R. Ambedkar

1% has been hoovering up an ever greater share of the nation's wealth. Why ?

The “seeds of decay” lay in the “disparity between rich and poor” that is growing fast in the country until middle class redefine it's role. Which is much what Chomsky states : Modern "democratic" governments exist to protect their sponsors not their people.

Is it really true that media has become the agency of politicians and burglars ? News channel works as ferocious disinformation machine aimed at convincing people to vote against their financial interests. James, Dresden has quoted : When a well-packaged web of lies has been sold gradually to the masses over generations, the truth will seem utterly preposterous and its speaker a raving lunatic.

There seems to be a disconnect between our professed love of democracy. There is no outrage or even movement to oppose a dictatorship at work place. Until things get so bad that people can do nothing but protest, and then those are called revolutions. Democracy? Freedom? What the hell are you talking about? You can't have either when you have fractional economics in a society run on debt!

People have to fight for the most basic things in the life. When intelligent people cheat the masses by complex arrangements and shady deals, the masses will move towards a propaganda and slogan politician.

Redistribution is a stupid way to reduce inequality. Robbing A to pay B makes inequality persist. The correct way to reduce inequality is to create jobs that allow B to earn his income. Do easy consumer credit and a belief in social mobility have reduced the clamor for wealth redistribution ?

Currently, there is no visible alternative economic system that beats capitalism for delivering the most wealth, happiness and fulfillment to the most people. The mechanisms whereby power is thwarted from a centralized system and redistributed, is a necessary component of a fair and representative political system.

Globalization – essentially embracing the opening of all frontiers to the free movement of capital and merchandise, but not labour. The moral undesirability of state interference in any way, and the political incapacity of the states to interfere in business will led to the free market where big players will dominate the scene. The road to free market will fail this country. Capitalism has failed just as spectacularly as Communism. There is a genuine need for a real Third Way.

“Men are born entrepreneurs not job seekers. By seeking job he is giving chance to a system to make him poor.” ‎-Muhammad Yunus

Understanding Islamic Culture - 6

2011-05-03T02:06:00.004+05:30

“Islam [is] a different civilization whose people are convinced of the superiority of their culture and are obsessed with the inferiority of their power.” - Samuel Huntington ; This quote comes to the truth several times by the most religious persons of Islam.

We have to make new perception on Islam, hence accepting that all Islam is on a par with Al-Qaeda is grotesque and dead wrong. To understand why even falsely proclaimed perfect system of rules "Islam" is failed by its own followers ? . Religious fanatics are present in every society, it does not mean that they are a part of the culture. The extremism and level of violence permitted help us to view the norms of the civil society.

Islamic scholars only look Kuran and Hadith as a pious source and reference while ignoring evidences or voices outside this. The critical mind on the other hand undermines revealed truths and subjects the scriptures to exegesis and interpretation. To confuse the two is to shift religious questions from an intellectual to a judicial level. In the religious society, every objection or joke becomes a crime. And that is why Islamic civil society is considered as most backward in the eyes of others.

It is not the contempt FOR DEMOCRACY that is dangerous, it is what earns this contempt that is the problem. With silence of moderates, the popular opinion triggers towards extreme right or left leading to a catastrophic situation. Surely, passion shouldn’t prevail over reason, or prejudice over logic; nor should one’s credibility be flogged at the altar of patriotism. History over time becomes Interpretation, and then Mythology. Then it becomes sacred where facts are no longer relevant.

1- Political Models after the Arab Revolutions : Islam, Sharia, and Democracy --- A new loosely organised movement is earning respect among the proponents of Islamic democracy. Distancing itself from militant Islamism, the movement regards itself as a "New Centre" and aims to combine the principles of good governance with the preservation of cultural authenticity. By Gudrun Krämer.

2- Interview with Ibn Warraq : In an interview with Dirk Schönlebe, the author and Islam critic Ibn Warraq explains his views on freedom of opinion and the definition of tolerance in Islam, and the role of multiculturalism in the Western world.

3- The Young and the Old: Radical Islam Takes Root in the Balkans by Risto Karajkov.

The most important challenge for humanity is understanding people, realizing that we are all similar, regardless of which country, race or religion we came from. I rest my case here.

Pakistan : A Failed Islamic Experiment - 2nd View

2011-05-01T21:50:00.003+05:30

When you talk about Pakistan, as an Indian a question simply arrives: What do you do with a problem like Pakistan?. There are 8 steps proposed by the author need to be taken at least from Indian perspective.

I. Cause economic pain to Defence forces / related entities:
II. Offer to pay this mercenary nation for better behaviour
III. Reach out to the suffering masses
IV. Denuclearize this rabid state
V. Increase focus on fissures within Pakistan
VI. Resolve Kashmir
VII. Threaten to break all diplomatic relations
VIII. Provide a face to India’s Pakistan initiative

For (super funny) history as read by most Pakistani citizens, the two news article summary is here. Concise history of Pakistan Part– I and Part– II ; I will analyze the situation in another perspective.

Ideas did not face organized opposition till monotheistic invaders arrived into India. Since Indian Dharmas were not much organized, the blood shed and violence conflict existed in less proportions. There was fight between Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism but to a less violent level. With the passing time, the institutions of organized religions like Islam and Christianity have removed discriminatory practices a little bit but are naturally more suppressive to the new ideas contrary to unorganized religions.

Today, while observing the alliance of secular parties to minority and right wing party to religious causes, we can easily say that it is purely based on the mutual benefit and leaves no space for a common man today. This seems scalable in the world with conservatives that are in majority that includes traditional rigid individuals and zero brain using, yet tolerant citizen.

Conservatives wants to maintain the ties and traditions of the past and ignoring the evil of increasing religiosity of a moderate society. And all the support of military dictators were such people who believed them to be secular from the 'face' value. Suddenly the world changes for them after 9/11 and every bearded face of Muslim becomes a terrorist for them. Then packed with new baggage of information and conspiracy theories, a jerk reaction of Islamophobia is developed by conservatives of west towards conservatives of Afghan-Pak. Brothers in war against communist become thirsty of blood of each other.

On confronting the conservatives with any long-term social or economic problem, and they have only one response: it would go away if only we insisted on our assumptions more aggressively. This denial of reality runs deep. The armchair theorists refuse to face - the need to take sides in an imperfect world. I preferred to take sides with liberals that are imperialistic in the nature than conservatives.

So how to tackle this religious minority ? And again our lab rat nation of Pakistan comes in the scene. Nadeem F Paracha puts a brilliant theory of Radical fatigue in Smokers’s Corner: Whenever an extreme finds itself cornered and desperate, it becomes even more extreme, almost to the point of being nihilistic. Consequently, such an extreme starts facing a paradox. The brighter it burns or the louder it crackles, the quicker it starts to consume itself, until it is no more.

Liberals have been most attacked, mostly by fellow religious leaders and mobs, for voicing their secular opinions or for presenting any other perspectives than state and Mullahs. And increasing religiosity of middle class Pakistani breeds an even more dangerous form of terrorist than the ignorant, brainwashed madrassa students who do not know any better. This middle class religious jehadi is materialistic in worldy sense yet deeply regressive in tolerance level. And all this happened while it was coveted in the hindsight of the liberal and freedom of speech by mainstream parties.

Failure of Pakistan is not utterly fault of Wahabi schools. Pakistanis seem to prefer Islamic or tribal legal codes, it is not because they love stoning women to death but because the modern institutions of the police and judiciary inherited from the British are shockingly corrupt, not to mention profoundly ill-suited to a poor country.

And, same phenomenon is happening in Hindutva brand of Hinduism. Remember that when all the minorities are finished, majority will find minorities amongst themselves to prey upon.Without the ability to think, education starts to resemble indoctrination. state-sanctioned propaganda. But, the trivial point comes when the whole opinion of majority shifts to the right. What then ?

Arbit Collection

2011-04-27T23:59:00.001+05:30

Salman Khan: Let's use video to reinvent education

Salman Khan talks about how and why he created the remarkable Khan Academy, a carefully structured series of educational videos offering complete curricula in math and, now, other subjects. [TED Talk Link Here]

So, we can see here the advantage of the online availability of learning material. That will clearly break the monopoly of the universities as a center of knowledge.

2- A paragraph in the Review of The Namesake by Roger Ebert attracted me lot : “The Namesake” tells a story that is the story of all immigrant groups in America: Parents of great daring arriving with dreams, children growing up in a way that makes them almost strangers, the old culture merging with the new. It has been said that all modern Russian literature came out of Gogol’s “Overcoat.” In the same way, all of us came out of the overcoat of this same immigrant experience.

3- I liked the praise of Uttar Pradesh in the words of Nida Fazli : भारत में उत्तर प्रदेश हिंदी-उर्दू साहित्य की दृष्टि से बड़ा अमीर प्रांत है. इसके हर नगर की मिट्टी में वह इतिहास सोया हुआ है, जिसको जाने बग़ैर न देश की सियासत को समझा जा सकता है और न इसकी संस्कृति विरासत को समझा जा सकता है.

Background of the Arab Revolution

2011-04-26T01:43:00.001+05:30

When the Rebels become the tyrants, Revolution takes on a new meaning. We can consider Libya a perfect example of that. Still, US government is backing Libyan rebels to achieve democracy and liberty in their nation while supporting Arab league authoritarian rule in Saudi, Bahrain or Yemen. Why ? Only vested interests in Saudi and hidden agenda in Libya !

As pointed by a journalist : Libyan assets are mainly in the US and Europe, and they amount to hundreds of billions of dollars: the US Treasury froze $30bn of liquid assets, and US banks $18bn. What is to happen to interest on these assets? The absence of any specific arrangement assets are turned into a booty, an interest-free loan, in this instance, to US Treasury and US banks. And the logic of western policy is permanent support for the Saudi elite and its guarantee of “stability” and "oil"in the region.

Timothy Garton Ash, Professor of European Studies at Oxford University, coined the term refolution to describe the hybrid form of change that had taken place. These transformations were non-violent and pointed to the emergence of a new approach to transformation that involves reform and revolution.

We will go through Ten articles to understand the change happening in the Arab region deeply :

1- The Student Movement in 1968 : To examine the Arab student movement in 1968, Egypt and Lebanon provide the best insight because both countries saw the most sustained student activities of the era while also proving influential throughout the region because their universities enrolled students from all over the Arab world. Betty S. Anderson gives an excellent piece which helps put current movements in a longer time perspective.

2- Egyptian transformations: Mohammed Bamyeh is a professor of sociology at the University of Pittsburgh. Sociologist Mohammed Bamyeh was present at Tahrir Square throughout the Egyptian Revolution and was able to see the popular political will unfolding. Here he singles out key elements in the uprising and describes the social transformations they have brought about.

3- The West's 'double standards' in Middle East : Support for Bahraini government's crackdown on protests is a paradox as West supports Libyan rebels, activist argues.

4 - Don't Steal Our Revolution! : The Arab democracy movement sets great store by its independence and now fears that the intervention in Libya will come with a high price tag: it could rob their protest of its legitimacy. Layla Al-Zubaidi comments on the Arabs and the Libyan Intervention.

5- The Orientalist blindness and The Arab revolution and Western decline : Haaretz, A newspaper from Israel look in the matter with a new angle for most of the readers.

6- The Turkish Chimera : Turkey's historical experience and political evolution differ in important ways from Arab countries'. As a result, the collapse of the old power structures in many Middle East countries is likely to be accompanied by considerable political turmoil and violence, writes F. Stephen Larrabee on Turkey and the ''Arab Spring'.

7- Imperial feminism, Islamophobia and the Egyptian revolution : An article by Nadine Naber who is an Assistant Professor in the Program in American Culture, Arab American Studies, and the Department of Women’s Studies at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.

8- A revolution against neoliberalism? : If rebellion results in a retrenchment of neoliberalism, millions will feel cheated. Walter Armbrust gives a detailed report. Dr. Walter Armbrust is Hourani Fellow and University Lecturer in Modern Middle East Studies at Oxford University.

9- Paradoxes of Arab Refo-lutions : A detail study on the possibility of various changes : ‘reformist change’, ‘insurrectionary model’ and ‘regime implosion’ by Asef Bayat. Dr. Asef Bayat is Professor of Sociology and Middle Eastern studies at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

10- Can “Leaderless Revolutions” Stay Leaderless: Preferential Attachment, Iron Laws and Networks : by Zeynep Tufekci.

"The one thing freedom lovers need is real community. Not just the community of Web yakking. Not just the community of common ideas and ideals. But a web of institutions that serve freedom's goals." — Would You Move to the State of the Free? (2001) Claire Wolfe

What an Individual deserve ?

2011-04-25T22:19:00.005+05:30

Unlike a drop of water which loses its identity when it joins the ocean, man does not lose his being in the society in which he lives. Man's life is independent. He is born not for the development of the society alone, but for the development of his self. ---B. R. Ambedkar

Individualism will loose its meaning if it becomes part of the crowd or even ignore society. Because we have to recognize the complex inter dependencies of modern life.

To become rebellious, one needs a certain understanding, a certain alertness, a certain unprejudiced mind. Even life itself is a lesser value than our individuality and our rebelliousness. When one is sacrificing oneself for something far greater and more beautiful -- for freedom, for individuality, for expression, for creativity; one is sowing seeds for future generations of liberty.

Rather than only contempt for authoritarianism, one needs sufficient wisdom to architect new system. Discontent with current regime is a sufficient, but not enough requirement for a successful revolution. More than challenge to establishment, the minimum condition for bringing new order is the necessity and importance of political and social rights. It needs a profound and thorough conviction of the justice.

One needs to exist as a person whose voice matters precisely because it can't be easily pigeonholed or ignored into a particular ideology. Values of liberty and justice are building concepts but not present the architecture and position of the designed system. But what it leads us to a basic yet profound question : What do we deserve in the life ?

Here, I will take a sudden break and redirect article to What Do We Deserve? By Namit Arora to understand this complex topic. Also, I have been advised by the author to start with his excellent Harvard undergrad lecture : Michael Sandel on Justice

Pakistan : A Failed Islamic Experiment

2011-04-23T05:59:00.003+05:30

The idea of India is based on the diversity and inclusiveness. It requires that the Muslims stop alienating to themselves and seek more avenues of engagement with all. All the remnants of exclusivity and isolationism of any Hindu, Muslim or Sikh society should be taken out from the minds first and then from the national life.

So what is the contribution of Government ? By just allowing the minorities to pray, doesn’t mean that the government is secular. Secularism means equal opportunities at every level. It also requires not shunning away from criticism of liberal commentators. India is not doing much good in this category, but seeing the engagement of Islamic culture, it seems praise worthy.

Whenever idea of India is defined, the secession of Pakistan come in the frame. The partition based on exclusivity of perfect Islamic society is the thesis of the idea of Pakistan. I agree with the warning of cultural commentator Nadeem F Paracha. "Pakistan is one of the first examples of a fascist, faith-based dystopia."

Today, Pakistan is a country who is exceptionally sensitive towards religion and in the dream of setting up utopia of Islamic society based on Koranic values. And the result, a sharp decline of rational debates, economic collapse and intolerance of sectarian groups towards each other. Pakistan’s silent majority is tolerant but NOT fundamentally secular in the nature. 'Liberal' People are afraid for taking clear statements against extremists and the gradual cowardly behavior by law makers are signals of influence of religious extremism over public sphere. The signs of conservativeness has increased in the society despite of no visible increase in the vote shares of fundamentalist parties. Prof. Pervez Hoodbhoy further analyzes this situationin detail in the interview : Pakistan awaiting the clerical tsunami.

The most educated citizens of Pakistan have lost the capacity to question the false Islamic history served to them in academics and TV evangelists. Mullahs and Army has besized the oppurtunity of spreading their laws on the masses. In the brilliant article "Curse of the ‘almost elite’", Rafia Zakaria points towards mind set of elite (rich, powerful and upper middles class) of Pakistan :

What a society emulates and anoints as the basis for power and importance is what in that context becomes sacred. It is not that Pakistanis are unique or isolated in their devoted paeans to the wealthy, an exercise found throughout the ages in all parts of the world. The inability to create a definition of success that originates solely from within or is the product of hardship is tied not only to an obsession with inherited wealth but also to mythologised ideas of historical origins.

The same effort put into the pretence of revelling in inherited wealth is also invested in the claiming of Arab, Persian or similarly exotic ancestry. Not being actually South Asian, then, is crucial to being good or privileged or socially viable, announcing to all that your presence in the current milieu is a fact not of your peasant origins but the conquering vigour of your ancestors.

Salman Taseer and Shahbaz Bhatti are dead now. Who is next, Sherry Rehman? Death threats are shouted and liberals are branded as "infidels" and heretics deserving of death. Government come on rollback the freedoms of the people to accommodate this Islam of Mullah's dreams. We know from history that appeasement of violent extremist doesn't pay, it only emboldens them. These religious extremist have no plan, policies or idea about governance. They run there campaign on the basis of religious slogan and propaganda. And it's easy to guess when structure fails, the response by religious extremist is : ‘If only ...... imposes true Islamic system, we’ll be able to get rid of the hypocrisies committed in its name.

The official lawlessness combined with cruelty has become the daily norm. Suicide Bombing, Taliban insurgents, economic collapse, the rise of extremism is not only due to sheer inability of leaders. It arrived from the movement of a nation towards old age customs of Islamic society. This is the degrading power of Islam that it devolve society into ancient custom resembling them more with Taliban. And with all respect to all, We all know the advantage for Muslims to live "pious state of Afghanistan" over "progressive state of Turkey".

Ten Common Errors When Building a New World-Class University

2011-04-21T04:39:00.006+05:30

ITBHU has always owe much of their success to the exceptional leadership qualities of the founder Madan Mohan Malviya: who inspired, mobilized and showed the way to the establishment of BHU with a vision. Over the long run, however, this element of strength has devolved into a limiting factor. Our institution had not make provisions for orderly transition procedures with changing times and funding of grants. hence have been pushed back by new colleges.

Achieving the ambitious result of launching a high quality is easier said than done. Conversion of IT BHU to IIT will surely give college huge fund. Almost all the structure is established one and need only few bureaucratic changes in administration. So if the entire working culture is same, then what is the difference in new IIT -BHU and old ITBHU ? Jamil Salmi's paper on Ten Common Errors When Building a New World-Class University is presented as blog post here as it is the urgent need of time to rebuild the mission and structure of the ITBHU at par with the best institutes of the world.

1. Build a magnificent campus; expect magic to happen. The physical infrastructure is obviously the most visible part of a new university. A lot of care is usually given to the design and construction of impressive, state-of-the-art facilities, and rightly so. Good academic infrastructure is certainly an important part of the education experience of students, and researchers need adequate laboratories to carry out leading-edge scientific inquiries. But, without an appropriate governance set-up, a strong leadership team, a well-thought curriculum, and highly qualified academics, the beautiful campus will remain little more than an empty shell that embodies a waste of valuable resources. Remember the Tower of Babel!

2. Design the curriculum after constructing the facilities. It is often assumed that teaching and learning can easily adapt to the physical environment of the institution. This may be true for traditional lecture-based teaching, but innovative pedagogical practices often require equally innovative facilities.For example, interactive approaches, problem-based learning or pedagogical methods relying heavily on teamwork and peer learning are constrained by the physical limitations of conventional lecture halls or even classrooms.

Libraries and laboratories have evolved dramatically in recent years due to changes in technology. The promoters of a new university should refrain from launching into the architectural design stage of their institution until they have established not only a clear definition of the vision and mission of the new institution but have also determined some of the specific content of teaching and research. It is particularly essential (and most prudent) to prepare the academic plan of the new institution ahead of the construction of the physical infrastructure and to tailor the latter to the requirements of the former rather than the other way around. At the very least, the academic staff should be given the opportunity to influence the design of the pedagogical and research spaces of the new institution.

3. Import content from somewhere else. Why reinvent the wheel? The teams in charge of establishing new universities tend to look almost exclusively at the top-ranked institutions in industrial countries to buy or copy elements of their curriculum instead of going through the more labor-intensive process of custom designing their own programs. While this may seem expedient and practical, it is not the most effective way of building the academic culture of a new university that aims to reach high standards. The Harvards and Oxfords of this world are unique institutions that have evolved over centuries, and it is unrealistic to think that reproducing their distinctive academic model is possible or even desirable. And it is impractical to envision shopping around and bringing curricular fragments from a variety of top notch institutions across different countries / cultures, assuming that everything could easily gel together and fall in place to create an authentic learning and research culture in the new university. Curriculum development is demanding work, but it is the main mechanism that can allow a unique and innovative organizational culture to emerge.

4. Design with an OECD ecosystem in mind, implement elsewhere. Replicating the three key features that make flagship universities in industrial countries successful—concentration of talent, abundant resources and favorable governance—is a fundamental requirement, but it does not encompass the full complement of operational conditions that underpin the authorizing environment of a successful world-class institution. It is difficult if not impossible to create and maintain thriving universities when the tertiary education ecosystem within which they operate is not fully supportive. Some potentially important dimensions of a favorable ecosystem include leadership at the national level (existence of a vision about the future of tertiary education, capacity to implement reforms), the regulatory framework (legal provisions, governance structure and management processes at the national and institutional levels), the quality assurance framework, the mechanisms and pathways integrating the various types of tertiary education institutions, the financial resources and incentives, along with the digital and telecommunications infrastructure. To operate adequately, all of these require an overarching set of conditions which have to do with political and economic stability, the rule of law, the existence of basic freedoms, and a favorable location from the viewpoint of the spatial environment in which the new tertiary education institution is meant to operate (local economic, social and cultural life). The absence of even only one of these elements or the lack of alignment among these various dimensions is likely to compromise the ability of new universities to progress and endure.

Among other things, these errors point to the importance of developing an original academic and institutional culture that fits well into the local environment.

5. Delay putting in place the board and appointing the leadership team. The resolution to establish a new university is often a political decision reflecting a visionary ambition at the highest levels that a ministry or a technical project team is then charged with putting into action. This typically leads to a centrally managed design and implementation process.

Given that the establishment of a new university requires passion and drive to create a new organizational culture, it cannot be built by a disinterested committee. A project of such magnitude must be fully owned and carried out by a dynamic leadership team, working under the authority of an independent board with the capacity to offer guidance and empowerment. The first order of business of the new board has to be the identification, selection and installation of institutional leadership. Putting in place an appropriate governance framework from the outset is a key factor of success.

6. Stack the board with political appointees. Founders need to choose a governing board that brings together a range of essential expertise that can evolve over time. The governing board should start out small and grow very gradually to accommodate more expertise as needed. The common oversight is that people are appointed to boards on the assumption that they "represent" their institution or represent a constituency, when really they should represent an area of expertise needed in the management of the new and growing institution (legal expert, financial expert, infrastructure expert, academic experts, retired institutional leaders, etc.). Another, related misstep is to appoint governing board members who have too little time. It is better to have the board skewed toward recently retired university presidents or experts than to have too many members with too little time and dedication to the endeavor.

7. Plan for up-front capital costs, but pay little attention to long-term financial sustainability. The promoters of a new university usually announce with enthusiasm the huge endowment dedicated to the establishment of the new institution, but the initial capital investment is only one part of the total project. It is essential to provide adequately for the first few years of operation and to establish a thoughtful business model that allows the new institution to grow and endure in a financially sustainable manner.

The common errors presented today highlight the importance leadership along with proper sequencing in designing and implementing a new tertiary education institution.

8. Be too ambitious in enrollment targets. The leaders of new institutions sometimes think that they can rapidly enroll large numbers of students, often in the tens of thousands. This is rarely achieved without sacrificing quality. In the 1970s, E.F. Schumacher wrote in his famous book “Small is Beautiful” that successful development projects were preferably of a small size.

Small is still beautiful today, especially when it applies to setting up a new college or university. It is usually a better idea to begin with a small number of programs and student body if quality is a priority. It allows the new institution to deploy resources more prudently, to take time to develop its new academic culture, and to give precedence to quality factors over everything else. Once a strong academic culture is in place, it is easier to scale up from there.

9. Think that everything can be accomplished in eighteen months. A variant of over-ambitious planning is assuming that a new institution can be launched in a matter of months and that high quality teaching and research can be accomplished within a few years of establishing a new university. In reality, rushing through the initial phase of design and implementation can often only lead to hasty decisions that can have an adverse effect on the quality and cost of the project. Furthermore, institution-building is a long-term process that requires stable leadership, continuous improvement, and patience. This is especially true when it comes to developing the robust scientific traditions needed to produce leading edge research and technological applications.

10. Rely exclusively on foreign academics without building up local capacity. Hiring foreign academics is common practice to accelerate the launch of a new university in a country with limited capacity. Indeed, it makes good sense to bring experienced instructors and researchers to help put new programs in place; it can also be a very effective capacity-building strategy when an important part of the mission of the foreign academics is to train younger, less experienced academics from the host country. On the other hand, it can be a risky and counter-productive approach in the absence of systematic efforts to attract and retain qualified national academics. As with most plans that include reliance on outside actors and forces, the strategy of bringing on foreign academic staff should be one that complements the more fundamental aim of local capacity building.

The Boring Sermon of Devil

2011-04-19T01:44:00.021+05:30

Personal Life :-

I was recently made joke by naming me as an 'Intellectual' (a much abused word that means Boring). As for words of Christopher Hitchens :- The usual duty of the 'intellectual' is to argue for complexity and to insist that phenomena in the world of ideas should not be sloganized or reduced to easily repeated formulae. Hence, quite a pseudo character for me. There are two characteristics of mine : Irreverence and Skepticism that I cherish most. I can assure you personally that they can generate surprisingly constructive results if combined with love and compassion.

My Childhood was shaped by the parents, friends, relatives, neighbors and teachers in a quite confined surrounding of home, school and colony. As a scholar in the college, I can retrospect my life as a a simple story into a complex one with time. I was never sharp, ambitious, hard or cynical. It was a moody, dreamy character with a sincere, naive idealist, motivated more by vague yearnings than concrete plans. May be environment around me does not place ambition above all, but was philosophical, accepting and optimistic.

I started ridiculing over unjust world like everyone without even understanding the root cause . So looking for the solution was not in the picture. When inquiry for the root cause begins, it turned to be nightmare. Beyond ridiculing the most banal situations, I realized painfully the insignificance of one's existence. Then gradually, I drifted from the pleasures of life towards boring intellectual talks. There were few light moments providing with a slight relief but much time invested in gaining knowledge, vain efforts and solitude.

And then I realized that there is all the difference in the world between treating people equally and attempting to make them equal. Now, I want to depict in a tangible way the solitude and morality of humans through words. I speak and write a bit harsh for the reader (Quite Middle and Elite class) there to wake them from the dream. There is a whole humanity to embrace as our own and the time is running out fast.

People are doing well, earning good money, and own a house, and so want to ‘enjoy life’ only. Then, why I am so ranting on everyone. I am fighting for improving this system only so that you can cherish and enjoy life. To make the world that I share with you a happy and peaceful place for billions of us.

Public View:-

"Distinctions between westernisation and modernisation have not touched the bulk of western educated modern Indians, who are convinced that their future lies in being exactly like Europe and North America."---Ashis Nandy

I am rooting for this modernization in order to reform our social, political and economic system, which is full of bias, inequality and discrimination that conflict with our fundamental rights. People are not modernizing with the secular, democratic, republic and liberty concepts of state. They are still divided and fighting over the religion, race and caste background. Religious agendas confuses people, engages them in the conspiracy theories, and decreases society’s collective ability to make sensible decisions.

It is apathy of well educated middle class and casual nihilistic view of the elites is letting us down. Middle-classes of India especially want to make the world a better place. Just like their drawing-rooms !

Law can't change human. The struggle at grass root level is always finished by the conscious of the masses. The society’s collective ability to make sensible decisions always have to be governed by will of the people and inclusive path laid down by wise and just people. No class should be eliminated for the sake of development and even it has to be happened for greater good. Cohesion of elite with the support middle class is needed to uplift threshold conditions of life for everyone.

Every person has a right to live and enjoy the life irrespective of his peculiar background, hobbies or choices. While doing a job is not enough, one has to check whether the system is inclusive and providing justice or not. One has to design a system where one can at least have a shelter to meet his all requirements and opportunities to improve.

A hungry person on the streets is not going to care whether or not their nation has superpower status or not if he/she are sleeping every night on the empty stomach. The forcibly displaced people seek refuge and livelihood in the city to find themselves again evicted from their jhuggis in the name of cleaning the city and ‘development’.

It is holding on the hope of the unprivileged individual cut from all high connections that his/her life will be better through hard work and honesty one day. The day that hope will die, that will be the beginning of the night of the death of all those beneficiaries of present state. And they can never guess in their wild dreams what has triggered and caused their fall. All 'shining' and 'rising' slogan will meet a sudden abrupt revolutionary and apocalyptic end.

It leads us to basic premise of the plot : Does one can't develop without exploiting others ? A hard nut case for me to crack individually. But we all together can. And here again at the end of this section, I find myself preaching like devil to flush away the dogmas... What an asshole I am !

Understanding Islamic Culture -5

2011-04-17T00:10:00.002+05:30

Continuing from 1, 2 , 3 , 4 -

Women’s rights in the Muslim world is always opposed by conservative circles who constantly emphasize that behavior should follow the the Koran and the Prophet. The orthodox comprehension of the obligation to wear a dress as per the elders is a tradition in each society. In prevalent practice, it is mostly older men – learned or unlearned – who assume the right to determine how a woman should appear. And Islam is fairly in criticism over its fundamentalist approach to the feminist issues.

But a free state based on the rule of law protects a woman and gives a citizen both moral and bodily integrity. To to maintain a 'culture of silence' for honour will anyways lead to the moral corruption of the society . One has to accept that Islam itself is an human endeavor and like all human endeavors “things do fall apart.”. And there must be voice for women's legitimate claim for equality before the law and society.

1- Sixteen reasons why I object to this dangerous cover-up : A dress code for Muslim women when in public institutions would free up our faith from the grip of fanatics and reintegrate us into our country by Yasmin Alibbai-Brown.

2- Azar Nafisi, Author of an international sensation, Reading Lolita in Tehran: A Memoir in Books . Interview as Azar Nafisi converses with Robert Birnbaum.

3-Interview with Asra Nomani : - The 44-year-old US writer Asra Nomani is viewed as a prominent representative of "Gender Jihad". For the former Wall Street Journal reporter, there is no contradiction between Islam and feminism. She spoke to Alfred Hackensberger at Qantara.

4-Encounters with the niqab by Rafia Zakaria : Women who choose to wear the niqab, an expression of their commitment to Islam, must wrestle with this thorny ethical question prior to exercising their undeniable rights. Duties and rights must be evaluated on the scales of ethical responsibilities to one’s community.;

5- Shirin Ebadi: who defines Islam? Shirin Ebadi is an Iranian human rights lawyer who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2003. Shirin Ebadi in conversation with Deniz ndiyoti :- "Egyptian women are lucky in one way. They have witnessed the predicament of Iranian women and seen how the Islamic state has hijacked the Iranian revolution, changed the laws and reversed women’s gains. My advice to Egyptian women is “do not give way to a government that would force you to choose between your rights and Islam”. I believe that Iran was a lesson for the women in the entire region".

Bye Bye CSC

2011-04-15T21:25:00.004+05:30

Sometimes life gives you the finger and sometimes it gives you a gift also. Desire rather than reason governed human behavior has helped me to achieve a short term goal.

I resigned from CSC on 14th April, on auspicious Tamil New Year. Why ? I have been selected for admission to two year full time Programme for Postgraduate Diploma in Rural Management, 2011-2013 at XIMB (Bhubaneshwar). So dream of going for rural management course will be completed in XIMB, not in IRMA. Anyways, first step taken for a long term.

The era of self confinement is nearly over. This tranquil solitude has helped me to develop vigorous individuality. I learn that : 1) Never evaluate one's success through the standards set by others. 2) Transparent character melts distrust. 3) Be alert with the trap of self persuasion.

Engineers are considered as the individuals whose ideas and expertise made possible technology-based economic output. Engineering field is quite a finished business now. The era of Mechanical Engineer by degree and Information Security Engineer by job is over. I will add little social perspective to this management programme in further studies now on.

Knowing my limit as mediocre, I will push the boundaries and extend my creative instinct. I have shortcomings that I lack the courage to be real soldier or real dissident. So will do best this time in the college now.

Thanks to Varun Grover for his tip that Irreverence will take you further than you can imagine. That was a advise that I ignored first. But finding it much true day by day.

Corruption, Agitation and Wealth Creation

2011-04-11T20:48:00.009+05:30

George F Will was referring to the US government but his words apply with greater force to India when he wrote, “The administration’s central activity — the political allocation of wealth and opportunity — is not merely susceptible to corruption, it is corruption.” [Tincture of Lawlessness. The Washington Post, May 2009.]

Corruption: Mostly poor and partially middle class in India are victims of state indifference and corruption; The money released for subsidy and loan waiver schemes is stolen by corrupt government officials. And yet if one asks us what jobs they would like to have the number one answer is to job for the government.

The very base of your very social order – and this lie includes the need for you to be clever, jugaad, and constantly try to hinder others growth. Literacy was supposed to create a level playing field for all. However, investments in education have actually widened the gap between the English-speaking classes and the vernacular masses. The same people when complaining about corruption will vote for the most corrupt politicians because those are the politicians with the resources to protect them. Now these are the structural problems to TACKLE for the development.

As Atanu dey pointed out in Anna Hazare Goes to New Delhi that this bill is more a palliative and not curative rule change. He is is giving valid reasons on the changes necessary to the structure of government, not just adding another law in the rule book.

The license-permit-control-quota raj is at the root of the criminalization of Indian politics. The less scruples one has, the greater the loot; the greater the loot, the more intense the competition to win the position; the more intense the competition, the greater the cost of fighting elections; the greater the cost, the greater the need to recover them; the more greedy and unprincipled people in government, the greater their desire to increase the government’s choke-hold on the economy.

The root cause of corruption and the related issue of absolutely abysmal governance is our set of bad rules. India’s persistent deep-rooted poverty is due to that. Douglass C. North noted that “economic history is overwhelmingly a story of economies that failed to produce a set of economic rules of the game (with enforcement) that induce sustained economic growth.” The road out of poverty starts off with people deciding on a different set of rules.

Even awareness of systematic injustices is not enough. Here is the need of new policymakers and participation of the people in politics. The people has to evolve from typical "Operational conservative and theoretical liberal" to "Active Liberal Participant" for a solution.That is my conclusion.

Agitation: The delay in implementing is definitely meaningless. Do we educated Indian are full of apathy and nihilism? Recent uproar for support of Anna Hazare proves me wrong.

A petition and peaceful protest has always been ignored. And the government gives in to demands — reasonable or not — when sufficient violence is employed. One wonder whether the government responds only to threats of indefinite fast and violent retreat.

While people suspecting on the motives of Anna Hazare protest, they have to know that a certain level, any act of protest is a form of blackmail. And no protest can succeed without the will of the people. The will of the people don't need impotent and parasitic government slowing down their movement. The vibrant democracy don't need to wait five years for even a small change. If the public has full fledged support, then government should listen and act on the raised concerns. Indian democracy needs volunteer like Hazare to raise their points in public.

Corruption cannot be tackled just through a non-partisan anti-corruption body though that is important but rather through transparency at all transactional levels. Every person with an opinion now has an opportunity to be heard and redesign of system will be a better start.

Wealth Creation: Does wealth have a social value? Corruption, crooked capitalism and lack of transparency has piled up to an uneven development of few. When millionaire is becoming billionaire and so on... while poor are suffering from proper transportation, rehabilitation, medical facilities, education, food security & public distribution system, there is need for a change.

Corruption is the manifestation of a systemic problem. Government power and control forms the foundation on which the massive structure of corruption is built. Visible mechanism and adequate punishment are the standards of system design, not the structure itself.

So there is a much more fundamental question is why do some elites make their money by destroying their economies and others make their money by growing their economies. It is due to having illiterate & unconscious politicians who don't think about state or nation.

The Chronicles of Wasted Time

2011-04-11T16:54:00.010+05:30

“We do not remember days, we remember moments” – Cesare Pavese

Carefree days are most productive of our life. They may not seem apparent at first view but the reflection on your life will prove it. Traveling down the memory lane, one gets a vivid glimpse of the time enjoyed is not time wasted overall. Old ways die hard and even now in the fast-changing corporate words, some old ways die harder than others. Killing time is one of them.

It was not a time to be killed but intentionally I annihilated it. To rephrase the undertone its the look on "How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love doing nothing in ITBHU ". And any resemblance to real events, to persons living or dead, is not accidental. It is intentional.

1- Lanketing : (spending time at Lanka crossing) outside the main gate of the university was the favorite pastime in the night. Bun-butter, Lassi & Pan will be taken as starters and then enjoying the world famous ghats on the banks. If anyone has ever spend a night-out at assi ghat, the early morning view, the sunrise, you will wish to spend every night there..

2- Food Corner: One famous heritage of BHU, VT and other landmark of our gatherings, LC. The chai samosa with remarks @limbdi corner , unforgettable. People spent their four year of life on the benches only. That is breathe of its magic affair. It was the milkshake and the peace inside temple that attracted us most at VT while an adapted post about Limbdi Corner @IT BHU written by Pablo will explain my feelings better on LC. And I am not mentioning about DG corner, Chaube Ji's Juice Shop and IT cafeteria.

3- BC (Baat Cheet or Bakchodi) : We all debate with certain immaturity but with certain passion. Our Bakchodi starts through lengthy discussions on pending state of ITBHU conversion to IIT. Add to that the amazing series of sessions, we went through about Share Market, Cinema and Cricket with ripping apart both fiction and non fiction literature. I was growing in the mind and soul while speculating the future. Mess with parathas was one such public place of leg pulling session . Anyways, I loved the food over there and especially zeera fried daal and rasana.

4- Party Time : Alcohol provides a slight buzz of inspiration as LSD, a psychedelic drug has provided this world with the great music, art and literature of a generation. I was not involved much but few shots and their hangover were worth remembering. To defy the parental ban on drinking, I tasted the alcohol. And suddenly know that these small revolution affirm the human nature of disobedience and protest.Thanks IT for this liberty.

5- Extra Curricular Activities : That was much dominated by LAN Games compromising of Unreal Tournament, Counter Strike, AOE and Quake . One more way of enjoying time. I never participated in music, theater and games. So mostly cut off to explain about minds of individual involved in this. I can surely say that only the time that went asleep in Varanasi was time wasted.

There was also a MBA cult where huge time was spent for preparing CAT entrance. Guys dreaming for MS were little less and mainly engaged in their affair with Baron GRE guide. So many memories of obsessive affair of ours with cricket match. The devoted crowd at the common hall in the front of 19 Inch TV set was amazing. I was a alone creature but there were many with the experience of encounter and affairs with girls and boys (So called bluff claim or designation of gay ). There is so much to tell about ITBHU and so much vanishing memories with each day !

It was just not me who wasted time but many guys with exclusivity in a certain area. There were many ITians with there own stories and gossips. One question comes before writing all this : Do I really need to record my experiences of ITBHU here ? It may be a mediocre writing in the eyes of most people and in the realm of world blogging. Still, a fact remains. If we don’t tell our stories, then who will?

Ten Issues - 13

2011-04-11T00:26:00.002+05:30

1- Dark side of giving: The rise of philanthro-capitalism --- Large philanthropic resources are being utilised to further the interests of business.

2-Noam Chomsky interviewed by Ajaz Ashraf and Anuradha Raman in Outlook magazine, November 1, 2010. The man NYT called “arguably the most important intellectual alive” finds the media in Pakistan more vibrant than it is in India.

3- Elections come and go. But the immigrant issue goes on forever [PDF]: A quarter century post the Assam Accord, political parties in the state still seek votes on the issue of illegal Bangladeshi immigration, reports Tehelka Reporter Kunal Majumdar.

4- Stan Ovshinsky’s Solar Revolution : His inventions from 50 years ago enabled cell phones, laptops, and flat-screen TVs. Now, at age 88, he’s aiming to make solar power cheaper than coal.

5- Why Do Some Countries Win More Olympic Medals? Lessons for Social Mobility and Poverty Reduction :- Not everyone in our country has equal access to competitive sports. Many are not effective participants on account of ignorance or disinterest, disability or deterrence. This analysis considers two separate arenas for enlarging the pool of effective participants, one related to sports and other to social mobility. A paper by Anirudh Krishna and Eric Haglund.

6- Scorched Earth Tactics Return To Chhattisgarh : Eric Randolph question whether the security forces really understand the basic tenets of counter-insurgency theory.

7-10 ways the government plans to keep peace in Kashmir is a mix of stern and soft measures to keep the stones away by Tehelka Reporter Iftikhar Gilani.

8- Experiments with facts by Ramachandra Guha on Joseph Lelyveld’s Great Soul ;

9- Reading and Race: On Slavery in Fiction By Edan Lepucki. A runner up of 3QD prize.

10- The price of prosperity By C. K Lal : Limits to freedom in any imperial domain are drawn where the sovereignty of the political and judicial systems begins – in highly institutionalised societies, sovereignty lies in the system rather than in the people.

Quote of the Daya : Here’s a brief passage from Hayek 1976 essay “Socialism and Science” posted a few days ago in the comments by Richard Ebeling: “A society in which everyone is organized as a member of some group to force government to help him get what he wants is self-destructive. There is no way from preventing some from feeling that they have been treated unjustly — that feeling is bound to be wide spread in any social order — but arrangements which enable groups of disgruntled people to extort satisfaction of their claims — or in the recognition of an ‘entitlement’, to use the new-fangled phrase — make any society unmanageable.”

India Against Corruption

2011-04-07T09:21:00.001+05:30

Please join this Page at Facebook : India Against Corruption

First Understand :What is Lokpal bill ? and What is proposed Jan Lokpal Bill ? then only read further.

Read also Full text of Anna Hazare's letter to the PM

Politicians has drafted the Lokpal bill that would allow to provide far too many loopholes. And Anna Hazare has moral stature to challenge this corrupt government.

We can really convert Jantar Mantar to Tahrir Square. Thanks Anna for leading us today.

When India won World Cup, people were there seen everywhere with joy on the streets and now when Anna Hazare is doing fast against corruption, media vans are over-numbering protesters. I hope this Caravan does not met its demise due to IPL. And that will be real tragic for this nation.

In Limbo

2011-04-03T19:48:00.017+05:30

It's a emotionally fragile time personally. I am developing a numbness and suffering from the lack of love and inspiration. Life is derailed. I am thinking : Are all my problems mere perception ? I remember a couplet of 'Ahmed Faraz 'to aptly describe my condition :-

अपने सिवा हमारे न होने का ग़म किसे, अपनी तलाश में तो हम ही हम हैं दोस्तों.
कुछ आज शाम ही से है दिल भी बुझा-बुझा, कुछ शहर के चिराग़ भी मद्धम हैं दोस्तों .

I have at present no unduly demand of friends and family. They have given me enough freedom as it would for the sage. I am caught in the whirl wind of personal attachments and a dream of growth. There is a mad man inside me with a strong wish to succeed and to sacrifice everything in this attempt. Alas, wishes require determination and hard work missing in this case.

I am mentally exhausted, frustrated and on the verge of depression. When you are uncertain about the future, any work can yield satisfaction. I have decided my future career goals, now failure and delay is blowing my mind. Neither can I relax, nor enjoy. Cricket World cup has came and gone. I disliked bleeding blue or green whatsoever in the mad ocean of cricket. Just can't concentrate anywhere.

I am still sane enough to denounce a time tested Indian psychotherapy of every mental hurricane : An arranged marriage. And whenever I speak up, only harsh statements are coming out and turning unpopular. The addiction of Facebook and choking of release of emotions is destroying self belief. I don't have any special person to count upon for support. I am lured towards alcohol and cigarettes for solace. May be they are only available or cheap option that's why !

Thanks to A Serious Man, I am listening to this Song Heavily : Somebody To Love

India triumph at Cricket World Cup !

2011-04-03T12:23:00.006+05:30

Congratulations to the Indian cricket team. The Indian cricket team wins consecutively three tough matches at Motera, Mohali and Mumbai to lift the world cup. To see India beat Australia, Pakistan and finally Sri Lanka was worth pleasure.

I am not 'ecstatic' but feeling good about it. A transitory breeze of joy is flowing within.

India beat Sri Lanka by six wickets in a pulsating final to deliver World Cup glory to their cricket-mad population for the first time since 1983. Dhoni has sealed the World Cup Victory by slamming a six and it was fantastic to watch to see India perform on consistent as Aussie style of the past. A poetic century of Mahela Jayawardene was given a fierce and free verse poetic reply by performance of Indian batsman.

No body panics like 2003 final and calmness was worth proud. A sheer proof of self belief in the team. Mature India refuse to be beaten and now ex-coach Gary Kristen (Interview) has large role in this World cup win. Contribution matters, not the count!

And, M S Dhoni proves why he is the one of the best captains in the world - wins the world cup, T20, champions league, IPL and leads India to #1 in both ODI and test cricket. Indians dedicate win at Cricket World Cup to Sachin Tendulkar. This also saw end of an incredible career of Sri Lanka off-spinner Muttiah Muralitharan.

Enjoy priceless Sanjay Manjrekar, speaking to cricinfo and hailed Dhoni's leadership as the driving factor in the team's remarkable achievement.

श्रद्धांजलि !

2011-03-24T03:21:00.014+05:30

Life itself is good no matter how bad it is. As they say, a man's life is incomplete unless or until he has tasted love, poverty and war. I have not touched anyof these aspects in my life. I had swallowed deceit, anger, frustration and horror in order to survive and maintain relations. End of a relationship isn’t always the end of feelings for one another, is it? Yet, I am ending my relationship with blogging activity also for a period of time. Kahlil Gibran has said on persons like me only --- Thus with my lips have I denounced you, while my heart, bleeding within me, called you tender names.

I am not finding any incentives to write from inside. I am trying to listen new songs, read books, watch movies and check score of Cricket World Cup. Still, a spark is missing somewhere or am not relaxed. Relaxation is not only of the body, it is not only of the mind, it is of our total being.

I had reduced the worrying, thinking and talking part to overcome emotional burdens of failure. दिल नाउम्मीद तो नहीं, नाकाम ही तो है| लम्बी है गम की शाम, मगर शाम ही तो है. I wanted to be alone and utterly silent, then absolutely in silence, watch myself. As Osho has aptly said : To be alone in the only real revolution. To accept that you are alone is the greatest transformation that can happen to you. I will come back pretty soon with the inner changes by searching what ecstasy is hidden in mine own being. I hope that the fear, cynicism and seclusion will make room for inner harmony.

More from Osho : When you are alone you are not alone, you are simply lonely - and there is a tremendous difference between loneliness and aloneness. When you are lonely you are thinking of the other, you are missing the other. Loneliness is a negative state. You are feeling that it would have been better if the other were there - your friend, your wife, your mother, your beloved, your husband. It would have been good if the other were there, but the other is not. Loneliness is absence of the other. Aloneness is the presence of oneself. Aloneness is very positive. It is a presence, overflowing presence. You are so full of presence that you can fill the whole universe with your presence and there is no need for anybody.

Listen to this song by Lama Gyurme - Offering chant.
Album - Rain of Blessings: Varja Chants

PS : Blogging को श्रद्धांजलि दी है तिलांजलि नही !

A Writer’s Block

2011-03-18T09:31:00.000+05:30

I am facing the problem of Writer’s Block these days. Wikipedia describes the Writer’s Block as ‘a condition associated with writing as a profession in which an author loses the ability to produce new work. New ideas and words were refusing to come out of my head from last 15-20 days. The ability too look at flashback and produce some work is even seems to be confiscated somewhere.

Unsuccessful attempt at IRMA this year has worsened my conditions and inability to work pro actively at office has been affecting career growth. I was not emotionally drained out but exhausted to a certain extent. A zone of uncertainty has been flying over my professional future.

Today, I felt different from regular days. The bright and sunny day has given a new energy inside me. With INDIA going to work and school in full flow seems heartening. A song of movie Sarfarosh playing all along in the cab also lifted my spirit while coming to office now.

Cinema has come as savior currently. I have seen 3 movies of the same director recently and what impresses was the ambiguous dialogues of them. Chungking Express (1994), In the Mood for Love (2000 and 2046 (2004) . This period of depression has forced me to engage more in books also. I have read 2 books in 3 days, quite an abnormal activity as compared to the track record of 10 books read last year. I also have realization that all moderates are not liberal. The norms of moderates are indifferent to extreme in normal situation.

I am coming to the senses once again painfully and gradually. I am Coming back to the Life...

Shades of Madness

2011-03-15T17:53:00.003+05:30

If I don't write what I think, what's the point of being mad? But madness is sometimes over rated. When you are not able to think and even feel, it is the worrisome part. Relevance, Idea and Technique seems as far reaching personal goals at this spot of time.

The qualities of openness, patience and insight is deceasing at a slow rate due to mechanical life. I am feeling alone and ponder over my low emotional quotient. Beneath silence, all that is intimate, delicate and refined is crushed out of experience.

Reality is dependent om our sensitivity and the nature of the consciousness. One should never do anything against conscience, even if the friends and family demands it. Conscience is what will hurt when everything and everyone will give thumbs up for the word or act.

Through writing, I want to examine intimate of human emotions and controversial issues. Shades of solidarity with others is least in me but the taboos bite me. And distilling self experiences through word gives a bizarre feeling of auto-cannibalism.

I have read few Arabic poems in English these days. Despite of the loss of feelings in the translation, this desert language is the rhythmic and haunting in the nature. Familiarity with people or words bred not contempt but love, understanding and tolerance. Relations needs to be revisited to discover fresh nuances of meaning. Still same damned emotions inspire more non sense than life in all forms.

I am not ready to accept that absurdity and irrationality as a prime factors on the decision taking ability of the human. I respect emotional integrity of human relations that is universal in the nature for scrutiny others.

It takes conviction and courage to take a stand and be on receiving end of all ridicule and criticism. In order to turn convention upside down, one needs a particularly firm grip on convention itself. Unconventional writing is difficult and a mere arrangement of clumsy and random sentences can't form an off-beat literature. The inherent incapacity for sustained constructive thinking blocks the continuity of the observation.

Flamboyance without content is apt to degenerate into gimmick sooner or later. We invest a lot of efforts to reach for fame within mainstream and the same popularism gives one an unapproachable aura. An individual raised to Demigod status through stupidity. That is a paradox of acting or writing on the public demand.

Sarcasm suits me as I am able to observes the hate, hypocrisy and superiority complex hiding deep down in the psyche of myself and fellow people. It helps me to overcome the harshness of the reality and, eases the pain of scars, deceit, violence and deep embedded anger against them.

I had great anger on caste, cultural, regional and religious traditions that limit one's identity through ghettos. The generations after me will not live this kind of life — that’s what I decided. I will change my destiny by just existing in my own skin.

I may be the silent majority but I am a loud minority.

Cry

2011-03-06T11:56:00.002+05:30

Procrastination leads the daily life,
Delusional and narcissistic thinking,
Anguish of dispossession and exile.
To accept that I am alone is so difficult.

A feeling of monotonous, mechanical and boring life.
The wheels of fortune seems to be stuck somewhere in the traffic jam of daily routine .

Oration skill is over rated and the silence is maddening phase.
The jumble of thoughts, the search for a partner,
The anxiety and fear of loosing everything ;
Wanna be able to say anything,
Without any fear, embarrassment or hesitation.

A thankless job.
Efficiently constructing mythical monetary security
While bearing the immense loss of creativity, spark and spontaneity inside.

Dropping the addiction habits may help in creating nothingness.
Hanging past and fearing future are eating the present moment.

Difficult to eradicate hate from the heart;
A soul that has never been loosened by unrestricted love,
Prejudices grow there, firm as weeds among rocks.

My apologies if you find it all too boring!

Wadah Khanfar: A historic moment in the Arab world

2011-03-03T08:52:00.003+05:30

As a democratic revolution led by tech-empowered young people sweeps the Arab world, Wadah Khanfar, the head of Al Jazeera, shares a profoundly optimistic view of what's happening in Egypt, Tunisia, Libya and beyond -- at this powerful moment when people realized they could step out of their houses and ask for change.

As Director General of Al Jazeera, the only international TV network based in the developing world, Wadah Khanfar works to bring rare liberties like information, transparency and dissenting voices to repressive states and political hot-zones. TED LINK

The counter-attack of people on the state is on and we all hail change in Middle East and Africa. As only words that comes in my mind are - Inquilab Zindabad ( a Hindi phrase which translates to "Long Live Revolution").

Revisiting the Global 1960s

2011-02-27T18:54:00.001+05:30

Widely recognized not just as a decade but as a cluster of experiences that stretched over a period of time, the sixties as we now know it drew into its fold, radical politics, Black power, sexual liberation, youthful rebellion, feminism and more. Intellectual currents flowered all across the world alongside a powerful critique of cultural and political authority. The fourteen day strike by students and workers in Paris in the summer of 1968 acquired a mythical after life. The American war in Vietnam triggered a force field of protest and danger all over the world. The spirit of counterculture led to a critique of the family, the creation of alternative lifestyles and drug culture. Latin American experiences of revolutions, military terror and violence; colonialism, anti-colonialism and racial oppression in Africa; the resonance of the Cultural Revolution in China – these reverberated locally and globally. A series of political assassinations rocked the decade. All theories of civilization, race,history, politics, culture and identity were put to test.

It would not be incorrect to suggest that cultural creativity was never quite the same after the sixties. Music, fashion, design, art, architecture, cinema,theatre and performance bear the marks and the traces of this turbulent period of global upheaval. If Minimalism in art practice emerged as a challenge to Pop Art then Conceptual Art posed a critique of formalism. Modernism and the Avant-garde faced a crisis with the rise of Postmodernism while in India, the dominance of the Progressives began to be challenged by an alternative modernism that had a polemical take on indigenism; one aspect of this developed into neo-Tantric abstraction. This decade also saw the first explorations of kitsch and popular culture that later provided the point of rupture with modernism itself. Political theatre acquired a powerful force and Brecht emerged as a new icon for both the West and the post colonial world. Beatlemania and the events of Woodstock transformed the future of rock music as technology reinvented the aesthetics of performance and reception. All Institutions of art faced political criticism even as cinephilia energized a renewed global art cinema movement. Michelangelo Antonioni captured the world of swinging London in Blow-Up, Jean Luc Godard playfully moved the camera to mount his critique of Hollywood, and the release of the first James Bond film gave rise to a new territorial and technological imagination. Latin America gave birth to the Third Cinema Movement and a politically charged Aesthetics of Hunger while in India the New Wave presented a challenge to mainstream film forms and practices.

The 1960s remains an under studied area despite two wars, the crisis of Nehruvian nationalism and modernization programmes, the genocide and traumatic birth of a new nation (Bangladesh) and revolutionary upsurges.

----Adapted from the pamphlet of conference on Revisiting the Global 1960s and its Cultural After life;

Quotation : "The thing the sixties did was to show us the possibilities and the responsibility that we all had. It wasn't the answer. It just gave us a glimpse of the possibility." — John Lennon

Blog Post Number 500

2011-02-22T19:12:00.001+05:30

The journey of four years of blogging has touch the milestone of 500th post today. What I learned in this journey has brought enormous changes inside me. Unlearning of false traditions has taken lot of time and efforts but it was a worth living experience. The idea of personal solidarity and the idea of societal cooperation are two conflicting concepts that has tormented me as a scholar. It is like dilemma of looking for the independence without becoming alien to one's surroundings.

Education is never over-rated. An institution is meant to broaden your horizon but self learning also makes you more open minded. We might go to an Ivy League/IIT/IIM and come out with nothing or might go to a decent school and come out with a lot. What has started as a hobby in the college has been taken by me as a serious learning portal and it has paid me much in the level of insights of human behavior.

These four years of writing creates the illusion of a linear narrative and gives events the semblance of a beginning, a middle, and an end. Real life is never like that; I had observed the past from a deterministic point of view, where causes lead to effects. While world is more probabilistic in nature here outcomes are driven by invisible or chance events.

To discredit uncertainty in a documenting rules of the process with the acquired knowledge is to deny the element of chaos and chance in planning for future. Predictions can be falsified and uncertainty has an empirical significance. Trial and error is only way to the growth in the world of experience and learning. That I learned on how to see the future.

We tend to fit our perceptions of the world into the model we have constructed in our minds about how the world works. It is easier to accept as valid evidence that fits our model than it is evidence that doesn’t. Some of this filtering is at an unconscious level – our minds are constantly trying to make valid perceptions out of the evidence of the senses.

I am still focused more on those matters in society which we can easily target, rather than those which needs to be self-corrected. The life has new goals as one of them is to empower individuals through education and to promote the kind of diversity which genuinely enriches a culture and democracy. I will present now a brilliant paragraph read today aptly suited on wisdom of life by Rational Fool :

Regimes come and go. So do gods, messiahs, and religions. What endure are ideas, ideas tested by reason and evidence. The ideas of liberty and equality - that all people are free and equal, and no individual or collective may be granted exclusive privileges and immunities in law - these are enduring ideals that have guided humanity along the path of civilization. The rest, however passionately embraced by the populace at a moment in history, are destined to perish in the Darwinian struggle for survival. I never tired of quoting Queen Sheelavati from the film, Anaahat, directed by Amol Palekhar: "Wisdom," she said to her troubled husband and the King of Shravasti, "is knowing the difference between the transient and the eternity".

Ten Issues - 12

2011-02-22T17:58:00.007+05:30

1- Why We Have More Sympathy for Baby Jessica Than for Darfur by Dan Ariely. VIDEO
Focusing on the struggles of an individual appeals to our emotions and makes us care. As the numbers of people suffering get bigger, our cognition, calculation, and thoughtfulness are activated—and we care less ; A NGO on this concept is Rangde;

2- The danger of Being good : - The miracle of individual choice may be what is keeping us safe as a society. Some people just choose to be good, no matter what. This is the story of what happens to them

3- Freedom of speech and expression and the law of sedition in India: Text of keynote address delivered by Colin Gonsalves at the inauguration of Persistence Resistance 2011, New Delhi

4- Former US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright talks bluntly about politics and diplomacy, making the case that women's issues deserve a place at the center of foreign policy. Far from being a "soft" issue, she says, women's issues are often the very hardest ones, dealing directly with life and death. A frank and funny Q&A with Pat Mitchell from the Paley Center.

5- Jugalbandi: Hindustani music is our music By Namita Devidayal : Despite the modern claims to lineage, little is known of the Subcontinent’s classical music forms – beyond the centuries of cross-community collaboration that were required.

6-Jugalbandi: Divided scores By Yousuf Saeed : Though there was a general decline in classical music in Pakistan after Partition, there are many uplifting stories of how musical traditions have been kept alive and even enriched.

7- Poetry of Resistance, recited by Sudhanva Deshpande :

8- Indie and the Indian Middle Class by Arjun on PFC.

9- The Opening : If I was ever asked to host a Bollywood Awards night, here is how I would open it - BY Great Bong.

"Some people call this the “Oscar night for India”. I disagree. To quote a great man, we here dare to go beyond the Oscars. Tell me sir, would the Oscars have the Best Actress dancing an item number—-can you imagine Helen Mirren being made to dance if she wants an Oscar? Can you think of Robert De Niro fighting backstage and calling an angry press-conference because Al Pacino won an award? Can you imagine the award being taken away from Hillary Swank and given to Meryl Streep, just because maybe she is the brand ambassador of the event’s sponsors or because Hillary Swank came late to the show?Can you imagine Keanu Reeves winning The Best Actor Award every year? Can you imagine a movie like “Expendables” getting twelve nominations? No."

10- A Big Think Interview With the British author and activist Raj Patel.

Quote of the Day : Any concession to majoritarianism corrodes a democratic order. It creates two classes of citizens: those who belong to the definitive majority become ‘organic’ or ‘natural’ citizens, while those who fall outside this category have to be ‘naturalized’ through tolerance. Not only does constitutional majoritarianism create discontent and disaffection amongst minorities (reduced as they are to second-class citizenship), it allows religious extremists to set the political agenda because they can use the constitution as warrant for their never-ending quest to realize the perfect Buddhist or Islamic or Hindu state. --- Mukul Kesavan

Ten Issues - 11

2011-02-22T01:50:00.007+05:30

1- State legitimacy and resistance : State derives its legitimacy from its institutions. Its these institutions that give State credibility and roots to live in the society of hostile crowds.

2-The ‘Viral’ Revolutions of Our Times – Post national Reflections by Aditya Nigam

3- Interview to Devinder Sharma :- On Food Crisis and Corruption. An Interview with One World South Asia: "Corruption has fuelled India's economic growth.

4- Growth and other concerns by Amartya Sen

5- Comments and Responses by the author : Socialism of 21st Century : Author Sunil

6- An Interview with Guernica Magazine. In the wake of sedition charges by the Indian government, Arundhati Roy describes the stupidest question she gets asked, the cuss-word that made her respect the power of language, and the limits of preaching nonviolence.

7- The multi-individual society By Pratap Bhanu Mehta - An look on liberalism and multiculturalism.

8- Reluctant heroes: International recognition offers a degree of protection to investigative reporters. But, writes Lydia Cacho, being in the limelight presents a new set of dilemmas.

9- Information technology and economic change: The impact of the printing press BY Jeremiah Dittmar.

10- All Religions are not same, but Fundamentalists Are By M J Akbar : The four principles of a modern society, which is a necessary prerequisite of a modern state, are gender equality, political equality, religious equality and economic equity.

Quote of the Day: People do not like to be treated like fools, or backward infants, or extras in some parade. There is a natural and inborn resistance to such tutelage, for the simple-enough reasons that young people want to be regarded as adults, and parents can't bear to be humiliated in front of their children. One of Francis Fukuyama's better observations, drawing on his study of Hegel and Nietzsche, was that history shows people just as prepared to fight for honor and recognition as they are for less abstract concepts like food or territory. --- Christopher Hitchens

Islamic Countries and Revolution

2011-02-21T23:06:00.005+05:30

People of the Middle East had been living under the tyranny of secular and corrupt governments, which were all supported by the United States and other Western countries. People have experimented with most other forms of governance. Where these experiments have failed to deliver and simultaneously education has been infused with religion, the attraction of the only untried one has increased. This context left them recourse to only one political alternative: religious fundamentalism.

Arab economy is based on oil and knowledge is not valued term their. That is why there academic does not have cultural inquiry and only revolve around theological discussions. The most educated young Muslims have lost the capacity to question the false Islamic history and ideology dished to them in academics. An Islamic country with ethnic, sectarian and religious diversity becomes a issue to fear within the Mullah and Army. And the worse response for any catastrophe is : ‘If only ...... imposes true Islamic system, we’ll be able to get rid of the hypocrisies committed in its name.

Nationalism can flourish without democracy, but democracy cannot have its existence without nationalism. The West does not really fear the rise of a Muslim Brotherhood as an alternative to dictators, since that is a socio-political movement that can be contained in a crunch. It is worried about an explosion of governments that place the people’s interest above that of sectional regimes at home and their mentors abroad. It was this worry that prevented the West from intervening even when dictators looted their own nations.

Foreigners are often accused of "exploiting" suffering for profit or cheap publicity. It is not new that religious parties consider themselves to be the most competent judges in matters of their own suffering – if not in an artistic sense, than in a moral one. The problem in Islamic case is that , like any other religions, they do not like it when foreigners interfere with "their internal reform". The reluctance to admit that something is wrong with their religion is completely missing.Same nationalistic dare speak up against the many gross acts of violence and injustice that take place in its heartland.

How long could Islamic world go on loudly supporting the rising and rhetorical tide of anti-Americanism while at the same time be the first to stand the long queues outside American and European visa offices? It’s a vicious cycle that denies us the patience and logic to reflect upon internal mistakes instead of always being on the look out for ‘corrupt Muslims’, ‘heretics’, foreign agents and media-made punching bags to blame for economic miseries, political chaos and moral confusion on.

1- What can Egypt and Tunisia teach us?: The protests in Tunisia and Egypt have won the first of what will have to be many victories. Mubarak and Ben Ali have fled and dictators have fallen to people’s uprisings – the street and the public square have, at least for the moment, reclaimed their voice from the boulevards and corridors of power.

2- On May 13, 2010 Iranian journalist and dissident Akbar Ganji received the CATO Institute’s Milton Friedman Prize for Advancing Liberty. Upon accepting the award, he discussed his ideas about Iranian democracy, liberty, and U.S. policy in the Middle East.

3- The blocked elite- The problem with most middle-class political movements is that they know whom they don’t want, but rarely do they know what they want.

4-Is there a revolution underway in Egypt? by Daniel Little: Is what is going on in Egypt today a "revolution"? What about Tunisia? And how about the Georgian "Rose" Revolution (2003) or the Philippine Yellow Revolution of 1986? Do these social and political conflicts and outcomes add up to a "revolution" in those societies? Are they analogous in any way to other revolutions in the post-World War II period -- e.g. Cuba, Nicaragua, Zimbabwe?

5-Pakistan after the Arab Insurrections By Anjum Altaf : What do the recent events in Tunisia and Egypt portend for Pakistan? The question is on many minds. One approach to attempting an answer might be to try and infer it from below by investigating the morphology of Pakistani society and noting any significant similarities and differences in the process.

People don't propose for the alternative or recognize the diversity within Islam; Deobandi, Barelvi, Ahemdi, Bahia or Shia has different interpretations of Islam. In the end we have to finally accept (on an official level) that we live in a land of manifold ethnicities and multiple interpretations of Islam. Neuroscientist and best selling author Sam Harris has openly criticized the term Islamophobia in an article stating :

There is no such thing as Islamophobia. Bigotry and racism exist, of course—and they are evils that all well-intentioned people must oppose. And prejudice against Muslims or Arabs, purely because of the accident of their birth, is despicable. But like all religions, Islam is a system of ideas and practices. And it is not a form of bigotry or racism to observe that the specific tenets of the faith pose a special threat to civil society. Nor is it a sign of intolerance to notice when people are simply not being honest about what they and their co-religionists believe.

On News

2011-02-21T16:22:00.001+05:30

US Media Coverage :

The Last Word: (Indian) Media coverage of Egypt crisis

Paid News : “Good morning! Your paper is free of paid news!”

Books read in 2010

2011-02-18T21:18:00.007+05:30

Language has a dominant effect in the knowledge level of various people and community. I had not read a single book in Hindi this year. That is a sad part of weakening of mine cultural roots in the zeal to know about the other cultures of the world.

The native language (like Hindi) gives us the culture root but the foreign language (English) only open the new doors of business and learning for most of Indians. The advantage of reading or writing in a second language – that it gives a diversified view of the world. There is a good chance that a foreign language makes a native culture as inferior, and mold learner to look down on his past and fundamental things like beauty, art, and politics as ‘a wasteland of non-achievement’. With the time, this educated person begins to understand himself and his culture through the eyes of the foreign concepts, categories, and judgments. Before too long, the native turns into a proxy for his foreign with a native face. I remember now that Bhagat Singh had aptly said that real independence would not come to us if Brown Sahibs replaced white Sahibs.

Writing in English is just a tendency where one assume that views will be given more importance and the outbound reach will be international. The staggering of regional conflicts of language can be well overcome by adapting international language as our own. This comes as a heavy cost as the power of observation reduces a great deal if one doesn't know the language of even his ecosystem.

But what is the use of language if it does not liberate person's soul from the bondage of tyranny and discrimination. A language is only tool to pass down ideas but it may lead one to either exclusive and elite position ( via English) in majority or neglected by dominant majority as voice of enemy or preexisting culture (Urdu).

While I don't read for the sake of it, still I prefer to read more on blogs and e- magazines than books. May be it is due to concentration deficit syndrome born due to facebook. I am enlisting the names of books read by me in 2010 with their background and my feedback. Ratings are highly personal.

Tao: The Golden Gate, Tao: The Pathless Path and When the Shoe Fits :- Osho

The Argumentative Indian :- Amartya Sen - English- 7.5/10
A slow reading is required for this work of cultural and economic depth of Indian intellectual history.

Letters from Burma :- Aung San Suu Kyi - English- 9/10
Description of peaceful resistance and endurance of the people of Burma by her leader.

Connect The Dots :- Rashmi Bansal - English- 9/10
Collection of the inspiring tales of 25 entrepreneurs from humble background.

The Tipping Point :- Malcome Gladwell -English- 8/10
An out of box look into the phenomenon of social epidemics.

Imagining India :-Nandan M. Nilekani - English -8/10
A good book showing development of Infosys at par with the Indian growth story.

The Sunil Gavaskar Omnibus- Sunny Days, Idols and One Day Wonders :- Sunil Gavaskar -English- 8/10
Cricket legend Sunil Gavaskar memoirs, what more else is left to say.

Infidel :- Ayaan Ali Hirsi - Dutch (Read in English)- 10/10
A brave, inspiring and beautifully written life story of girl evolution from dutiful Islamic child into a freedom fighter.

Creating A World Without Poverty: Social Business And The Future Of Capitalism:- Muhammad Yunus and Karl Weber - English - 8/10 - Best and inspiring book on the social business.

The Motorcycle Diaries:- Ernesto Che Guevera- Spanish (Read in English) - 7/10
An adventure story of two boys that makes one a rebel legend of 20th Century.

The fortune at the bottom of the pyramid :-C.K. Prahalad - English - 8/10 - With the innovative ideas towards the eradication of poverty, this book focus on the emerging markets business development.

Poetry of Protest - 2

2011-02-18T03:13:00.006+05:30

Tyrants always recognize the explosive potential of literature. An apparently harmless piece of text with simple words have power to make a common people realize his/her rights and dignity. I remember this year 2010 for mine introduction to Faiz Ahmed Faiz's poems. The book Dast-e-saba (The breeze’s hand) begins with a short introduction by Faiz himself, a small polemic on the responsibility of the artist. ‘The poet’s work is not only perception and observation, but also struggle and effort,’ Faiz writes :

A full comprehension of this ocean of Life through the live and active ‘drops’ of his environment depends upon the poet’s depth of perception. To be able to show this ocean to others depends upon his control over his art; and his ability to set in motion some new currents in the ocean depends upon the fire in his blood and the zeal of his passion. Success in all three tasks demands continuous toil and struggle.

One even as a writer also needs to give real direction to the country’s future—rather than posing neutral as a bystander. Poems and words are written to promote the values of equality, freedom of speech and human rights. Poetry is not any partisan propaganda. A person belonging to any political spectrum of nationalists, secularists, liberals, and leftists is moved by the power of poetry.

1- Resistance Songs of IPTA: A Revolutionary Legacy :- Sumangala Damodarane is collecting, archiving, reviving and documenting IPTA protest music. Members of this progressive artists association had written, composed and sung songs in many Indian languages.

2- Jugalbandi: Indian Ocean’s common minimum programme :- Indian Ocean member give us insight of the act of balancing politics and music in India’s best-known progressive band.

3- Amardeep Singh who teaches post-colonial literature at Lehigh University, in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania has made notes on the role played by Arabic poetry in the uprisings.

Protest poetry and music sometimes rises to the surface during popular uprisings, crystallizing popular sentiments -- one thinks of Victor Jara in Chile, Nazim Hikmet in Turkey, Faiz Ahmed Faiz in Pakistan, or Woody Guthrie in the United States. At times like these, the right poetry and song doesn't merely describe how people are feeling; it can actually act as an intensifier that guides a protest movement, helping it spread and solidify.

4- The Poetry of Revolt : Elliott Colla ,an Associate Professor and Chair of the Department of Arabic and Islamic Studies at Georgetown University tracks about the actual poetry that has played a prominent role in the outset of the events at Egypt.

Poetry of Protest - 1

2011-02-17T12:36:00.001+05:30

I am remembering the scene in the movie "Dead Poet's Society" where Prof. John Keating was inspiring his student with the beauty of poetry : We don't read and write poetry because it's cute. We read and write poetry because we are members of the human race. And the human race is filled with passion. And medicine, law, business, engineering, these are noble pursuits and necessary to sustain life. But poetry, beauty, romance, love, these are what we stay alive for. To quote from Whitman, "O me! O life!... of the questions of these recurring; of the endless trains of the faithless... of cities filled with the foolish; what good amid these, O me, O life?" Answer: that you are here; that life exists, and identity; that the powerful play goes on and you may contribute a verse; that the powerful play goes on and you may contribute a verse. What will your verse be?

While most prefer to be didactic and dry in order to make a large statement at the expense of beauty, it is only one side of the coin. There is a passion, emotions, connectivity and power contained in the poems and songs of the people. Poems are sometimes frivolous and pretentious but are written with the Streams of the subconsciousness. The personal turmoil with the experience and observation of grimed reality make poems full of universal appeal. Free versus with the words flowed create a typhoon in the minds of freedom loving people.

Poetry is to create awareness, to create the desire for dreams, social justice, gender equality and to stand up for the downtrodden. To be a poet is dare to give voice to the silent victims witnessing endless suppression, discrimination and violence. To people like Neruda and Faiz, art is for the life and not just for art’s sake. Poems were never meant to be retained but often they end up to recited and remembered without even the efforts of the academia. As they are sing and enjoyed by the people, they created meanings more than if they can do on the paper.

Men are agents of self interest with a will to do good for others. No doubt people always began in good faith against power but insensibly, commitment by commitment, when not aware of dangers of owning power, individuals will become entangled in a web of lies, falsehoods, deceits and perjuries, until they lost their souls to the power. It is necessary to understand the larger ways that discourse supports power and also the larger movements for/against power in the reference of the culture. In the next part of this essay, we will move towards examples of protest and poetry in the real word.

Culture of resistance

2011-02-17T11:21:00.005+05:30

While illusions of reform is creating a ground for revolutionary environment, one needs to see the relation between establishment and the unprivileged ones. Everywhere in the world, people are not suffering from an excess of civil disobedience, infact suffering from an excess of civil obedience of few elites. The case of protest and violence are heavily related. As Johann Hari mentioned about effects of protest in the UK that has far reaching effect and it is true for all over the world : -

"There is a cost to this chilling of protest. Every British citizen is the beneficiary of a long line of protesters stretching back through the centuries. Every woman reading this can vote and open her own bank account and choose her own husband and have a career because protesters demanded it. Every worker gets at least £5.93 an hour, and paid holidays, and paid sick leave, because protesters demanded it. Every pensioner gets enough to survive because protesters demand it. What what your life would be like if all those protesters through all those years had been frightened into inactivity? If you block the right to protest, you block the path to progress. You are left instead at the whim of an elite, whose priority is tax cuts for themselves, paid for with spending cuts for the poor."

In a recent address Akbar Ganji, a representative of the Green Movement in Iran, characterized history thus: “Human history has been interpreted in many ways. I read this history as a sustained course of struggle for liberty—the struggle of slaves, women, people of color, the poor, the disenfranchised, of religious minorities and dissidents of various sorts, to rid themselves of the tyranny they have endured.” In a history of the revolutions in Paris, there is a provocative phrase: “The time of the oppressed is by nature discontinuous” – apparently there is more truth in it than any statement made about victims of power

Often war/violence is assumed as the last resort of the problem, but the first approach that the establishment prefers. The authority of state lies in the allowance of violence given to the state by the people. When the state tend to use violence against its own people, it loses that sanction and trust of masses. The opposite violence born due to the protest catch society between two poles. History has shown us that US authorities have started to talk with Martin Luther King, Jr. because Dr. King’s alternative appear moderate by comparison across all the political spectrum, stretching from Malcolm X and the Black Panthers.

Violence is not some abstract or theoretical question to be puzzled through. It’s simply part of life and protest also. And that doesn’t mean you participate or don’t participate. It just means that you deal with it. A decision to resort to violence is not something to be undertaken without great care—and stated in terms that were addressed to reasonable people. Great leaders like Nehru and Mandela have felt the historic obligation to make a stand and to define it. That is why once an independence or prime aim of revolution was achieved, most of the sensible leaders elope with the peaceful democratic movements. Arundhuti Roy recently quote an apt statement about nature of violence : It would be immoral of me to preach violence unless I’m prepared to pick up arms myself. It is equally immoral for me to preach nonviolence when I’m not bearing the brunt of the attack.

Bohemian Rhapsody

2011-02-15T12:41:00.006+05:30

The ones who do speak up in mainstream are irrelevant and noisy and the ones who could be relevant are quiet, unheard or ignored. It feels so good when you support and promote a project from the heart and later mainstream adopt and accept as its own. Same feeling is coming for the film 'Udaan'. I always have a gutsy feeling that big dreams of marginalized individual will bring monumental changes in India one day. There is a cynicism and lethargy attached in learning and doing of mainstream traditional institutions and people. Only few with passion are free from TBTC (Too Busy To Care) syndrome. The only difference between a professional and an enthusiast is that an enthusiast is willing to take risk and accepts deferred gratifications whereas a professional does not want to take the risk, and wants to be rewarded immediately. Leave apart these talks of others and come to the hotchpotch walk of my life;

As, the famous poet Al-Bayati moved between his homeland and the rest of the world. "I've always searched for the sun's springs," he said, "When a human being stays in one place, he's likely to die. People too stagnate like water and air. Therefore the death of nature, of words, of the spirit has prompted me to keep traveling, so as to encounter new suns, new springs, new horizons. A whole new world being born."

I don't travel much and has a monotonous work schedule in the life. While returning from office, I always watch the dusk. The sunset ignites the idea of mundane life, transient time and a deep urge for existence. I go deep inside and many questions are born in these vague moments of thoughtlessness. I transcend into an awkward reality with an invented illusion of abstract values. I always feel amazed that these moments shape up with/without purpose.

Life is somehow unfathomable by common mind. Each set of idea is countered by equally forceful reason and evidences. I observe the past from a deterministic point of view, where causes lead to effects. While world is more probabilistic in nature here outcomes are driven by invisible or chance events. So, how analysing the past can help me in documentation and drafting theories and making hypothetical narration about tomorrow. While the other part of brain argues that present is not entirely a random walk in the contingent—culture renders some steps more probable than others. Thinking of an individual is shaped by its surrounding. Inseparable from all narratives is a particular instantiation of politics, identity, and culture.The dilemma of split thinking continues...

In the time when everybody is in quest of high salaries, why I am tending towards some decent job with relaxation ? And in place of adventure and fun, why I am busy in learning about culture and development ? I make writing and reading as much a part of my life as I do eating or listening to music. Amid infinite space, no echo is heard and the questions of soul remain unanswered.

The Road to Democracy - 2

2011-02-14T08:29:00.000+05:30

People around the world are blogging, podcasting, and uploading photos, videos, and information across the globe, but unless in this ocean of data you know where to look, it can be difficult to find respected and credible voices. Global Voices is an international community of bloggers who report on blogs and citizen media from around the world.

The idea that is lost for most mainstream media and press is that their views must reflect public demand for reform and enforces government for the correction measure. Reality must not be dictated by the state censors or corporate media but by the people who are the lowest racks of power structure.

With the release of more than thousand cables so far, no nation is immune to the WikiLeaks phenomenon. There is a WikiLeaks now, that sort of journalism and institution we should built on. It has given an insight into the world politics and the interplay of power between different states.Most of these secrecy laws are being used to keep the public ignorant of gross dishonesty practised by their own government. When the risks of embarrassment and discovery increase, the tables are turned against conspiracy, corruption, exploitation and oppression. As Saul Bellow says at the opening of Augie March: "Everybody knows there is no fineness or accuracy of suppression; if you hold down one thing you hold down the adjoining."

In a democracy the functioning of a country should not be a mystery to its citizens; the government, indeed, answers directly to the people to whom it serves and owes its powers. Publishing document for public improves transparency, and this transparency creates a better society where people can demand accountability from the power holders. Better scrutiny leads to reduced corruption and stronger democracies in all society’s institutions, including government, corporations and other organisations. Open government is bounded to answers injustice rather than causing it.

Reason appears to keep order in control when public is well informed about the developments and various acts of government. Practice of the reason and debate is cultivated by years of practice in the civil society through . Without substantial free discourse in the public, the state loses its trust of the people. A strong hold on reality is necessary for the society to come to a meaningful democratic norms. History of revolutions shows their birth is due to rage. Reason and peace comes quite later.

Censoring the voice of the people and killing opposition voice leads to suppression where only probability of violence and revolution grows is self defeating for the whole society itself. Blasphemy, Sedition, Honour Killing, Vigilante Justice, Caste Panchayats, Book Burning, Culture Policing, Moral Police and all such tendencies are tools to crush the democratic aspirations of different sections of people. As Orwell wrote in his essay "The prevention of literature": "Even a single taboo can have an all-round crippling effect upon the mind, because there is always the danger that any thought which is freely followed up may lead to the forbidden thought."

It's People, Stupid

2011-02-12T19:55:00.010+05:30

Long before internet, Samizdat was a key form of dissident activity across the Soviet bloc in which individuals reproduced censored publications by hand and passed the documents from reader to reader. Times are changing now with the tools of information, it's a revolution of facebook generation.

So was it Wikileaks, Facebook, or Twitter that is toppling dictators in Middle East? The people's revolution for liberty is spreading like a domino effect in the Arab world with the help of 1,000 satellite channels. The tools to report the struggle on internet like social networks, blogs, text messaging and mobile phone video clips that can be swiftly uploaded to YouTube are triggering the voice of people.

Those of us far from these upheavals face a powerful responsibility of making these voice heard on the global stage. The inspiration for next popular protest can come from anywhere in the world and people will not only aspire for liberty and freedom but will also know through TV, radio, press and Internet.

Theocracy has arrived in the Iran through popular tapes of Ayotullah Khomeni and so was the protest of Green revolution was sparked through Internet connection. What has started from eastern European countries have come to Islamic countries in thirty years.

In a society that does not tolerate social and cultural views that challenge the status and authority, the Internet presents Anonymity and Security ; Internet provides a platform for the exchange of views with like-minded individuals and for the establishment of local, national or international networks of the people.

By the time the dust settles and the smoke clears, plenty more incriminating pictures and videos will appear, chronicling a popular revolution in the making with all its glorious moments and its dark phases. For documenting everything from the colorful protests in Tahrir Square as well as Tunis, the huge marches of millions in Alexandria and Cairo, the awful scenes of cars running over pedestrians, we owe our thanks to many people whose names we will never know.

Leaders get power from the people that they lead on trust. If the people lose trust in the leader, no power can put the ruler on the throne forever. We have to be cautious that it is not a social change, but a step towards political democracy. It's not only the victory of the technology over censor , it is the victory of the people and liberal values. I will quote here two paragraphs written by Linda Herrera about the use of technology in the revolution :

"Many have since asked: Is this a “Facebook Revolution?” It is high time to put this question to rest and insist that political and social movements belong to people and not to communication tools and technologies. Facebook, like cell phones, the internet, and twitter, do not have agency, a moral universe, and are not predisposed to any particular ideological or political orientation. They are what people make of them.

Facebook is no more responsible for Egypt’s revolution than Gutenberg’s printing press with movable type was responsible for the Protestant Reformation in the fifteenth century. But it is valid to say that neither the Reformation nor the pro-democracy rights’ movements sweeping Tunisia, Egypt, Iran, and much of the region would have come about at this juncture without these new tools. Digital communications media have revolutionized learning, cognition, and sociability and facilitated the development of a new generational behavior and consciousness. And the old guard simply do not get it."

What is happening in Egypt is not a Facebook Revolution. But it could not have come about without the Facebook generation, generation 2.0, who are taking, and with their fellow citizens, making history.The revolution is here to stay and more power will flow towards people only. The way ahead lies through peaceful protest against extremism and opportunism in democracy. Iran, Kashmir, Tunisia and now Egypt.... Protests are here to stay. Winds of change have start blowing in Yemen, Algeria, Gabon :-)

Education System and Media

2011-02-11T17:37:00.007+05:30

The real apathy and indifference lies in the awareness of the complexity of the problem. Slogans and emotions can never replace facts. The clearer awareness that the world is more than mere a construction of words is lacking all around.

The education model needs to be transformed from teacher-centric to a learning-centric. The student navigates through a process in learning model that recognizes these two basic truths: the universe is connected, and every student is unique. The dire need of texts that make children excited about the social and cultural diversity that they encounter in their ethos gives an idea of monumental crisis. The education that fails to impart the urge to read as a matter of habit leads to the irrational reasoning in public debate and abysmal government policies.

The good thing about a democracy is that you avoid major disasters since every issue is discussed and debated quite a lot. But, an uninformed public, press and their representatives may fall in the trenches due to ignorance even if every issue is discussed and debated quite a lot. If hooliganism and slogan is what it takes to run government, the administration will move slowly onto the hired hardened criminals and not mere qualifiers as custodians of law, justice and order. Only Press and colleges have the ability to encourage people to discuss deep-seated problems and then analyze the problems logically.

Education :
Presently, elite schools mostly focus and prepare managers for work rather than giving training to entrepreneurs. There is a great danger lurking with the thinking of well intentioned and close brain persons without humility to accept their ignorance in their specialized areas. Even great intellectuals act by falling in the trap of the belief that they possess the knowledge and the power which enable us to shape the processes of society entirely to their liking.

The recognition of the insuperable limits to his knowledge ought indeed to teach the student of society a lesson of humility against complexity. This will guard an individual against becoming an accomplice in human's fatal striving to control society.

“Only the working masses can change society; but they will not do that spontaneously, on their own. They can rock capitalism back onto its heels but they will only knock it out if they have the organisation, the socialist party, which can show the way to a new, socialist order of society. Such a party does not just emerge. It can only be built out of the day-to-day struggles of working people.” –Why you should be a socialist (1977). Paul Foot

Press and Media:
Most of our leaders even highly educated ones are not thinkers but only holders of power, not its critics; Hence, our mainstream journalist and public looks like unaware of the different aspects of problem. This power centered model of education changes the relationship between authority and the press that must necessarily be adversarial if the latter is to fulfill its professional and moral obligation to the public.

"I see the journalist's role as both reporter and crusader. In a civilization that seems to be regressing into new holocausts, we must seek and speak the truth, for we are the voice of voiceless millions. Having chosen this profession, we cannot be afraid to speak the truth no matter what the cost. And by speaking, I personally believe we can change the world." - Razia Bhatti (IWMF Courage in Journalism award ceremony, 1994)

WTF in India ?

I will reproduce here Statement and opinion of Justice Ms. Sheela Khanna, the Chairperson of Madhya Pradesh State Commission for Protection of Child Rights, made to the AHRC staff members during a visit to the Commission in October 2010). ---- “It is true that too many children die from malnutrition each year in this country. Some of their parents also die from starvation and hunger. But the children are more vulnerable … one of the reasons is the widespread ‘irregularity’ in the state and central government services … the Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh state is a very kind person … the Nutrition Rehabilitation Centres is not a solution for the millions of malnourished children. These centres are not cost effective. But now that the centres are there we must effectively use them. My suggestion is to appoint a Brahmin priest in each of these centres and require the priest to verify the horoscope of every child brought to the centre. After studying a child’s horoscope if the priest is of the opinion that the child will grow into a good citizen of this country, it must be provided treatment at the centre. For the rest, I would say, let us just leave them to their fate …if not where do we stop? … We cannot spend government money like this…

Understanding Islamic Culture -4

2011-02-06T13:19:00.002+05:30

Continuing from 1, 2 ,3 -

The people's uprising in Tunisia, Egypt or Yemen is not just about the state of the economy, but also about civil rights and dignity. The Arab regimes have exploited 'threat of terrorism' fears and blew them out of all proportion in order to justify its repressive policies and garner support for them. The revolt is an expression of the frustration at social injustice.

Currently, There is no organised political opposition except Islamic movement. The regime has systematically destroyed all peaceful alternatives, from the democratic parties to the political Islamists. All of this has happened over the course of time when manipulative world power were busy in supporting dummy dictators.

I am proceeding on 4th part of essay series to understand the reason behind such events with these articles explaining background and reason for this sudden arrival of wind of change;

1- Predicting a "de-Islamicised Muslim World" : Alphabetisation and a decline in the birth-rate. Courbage and Todd believe these two factors will lead the Islamic world into modernity – and away from religion. With their analyses the two French demographers add a new dimension to the ongoing debate over the clash of civilisations. Maik Meuser reports.

2- "Modernity, Democracy Are Only for the Privileged": The Egyptian scholar Hamid Abu Zayd criticizes the age-old border between the wealthy North and the impoverished South. It still exists, despite globalisation. Universal human values, however, cannot be a privilege restricted to the West

3- Recurring Revolts: In his essay, the renowned Moroccan philosopher Mohamed Sabila describes the generation gap in the three Maghreb states and the social plight of young people, who have turned away in disappointment from the political dogmatism of their parent's generation.

4- Acts of self-immolation have set off waves of protest across Tunisia and Egypt. Amira Muhammad spoke to Ahmed Okasha, president of the "Arab Federation of Psychiatrists" about how Arab psychologists are interpreting this protest phenomenon.

5- The Syrian philosopher Sadiq Al-Azm is one of the highest-profile and most strident critics of the Arab world. To this day, his ideas are between all fronts, making him enemies of both Islamist and secular dogmatists. Sadiq Al-Azm is soon to celebrate his 75th birthday. A portrait by Kersten Knipp

The Road to Democracy

2011-02-06T12:13:00.005+05:30

The political institutions and economic structures in the Middle East haven't changed much since they were put in place. They worked well from the 60s through the 1980s and the state was basically redistributing wealth buoyed by oil. Democracy was dismissed as an invitation to chaos by the dictators. Economic reasons are never immediate reasons but skewed distribution of wealth among peoples form a strong pillar for this democratic movement.

The Pan Arab liberation movement ended in the years following the defeat of 1967 (The Six-Day War) – and even more so after the war of 1973. The Islamic movement has filled political and cultural he vacuum. In the following thirty years, Islamic movements have moved Arab societies into a more conservative and traditional Islamic direction. They are now in a position to exert control over cultural, intellectual and political issues. In the past, the public discourse in the Arab world were dominated by the political left, by pan-Arabists and by the secular parties. Now, however, Islamic movement/ Muslim Brotherhood has emerged as leading voice. The Muslim Brotherhood: Who Are They? : The Muslim Brotherhood is currently playing an active role in the unrest in several Arab countries.
The Americans have been paying Hosni Mubarak $2 billion a year to support Israel. The successors to the Mubarak could take a different view of this support. EU and most of the pro western mind now fears from Muslim Brotherhood or any Islamic party coming to the power. I think there is a strong likelihood that Tunisia and any other Arab country that changes it's government will end up with Sharia Law. Whilst the middle class might have started this revolution, the majority population is typically ignorant and religious and the US supported despots that rule them have ensured hatred of the West, compounded by the blind US support of Israel. This is not time to observe idly the development. Once monetary help from Saudi arrived, it will gulp all the social development happened throughout the years.

Sadiq Jalal al-Azm, one of the most prominent Arab intellectuals makes a valid point about democracy in the Arab world : The battle for democracy and human rights values does not merely take the shape of a conflict between East and West and between Islam and Europe. It is an internal battle in every country. Every country that has developed certain civilization standards goes through that battle – whether we talk about Germany, China, India, Syria or Egypt. Each of those countries has reached a particular level in achieving these standards, strengthening them and implementing them. It is therefore necessary to remember that the battle is not only a battle between East and West, between the Middle East and Islam on the one hand and liberalism on the other.

A society cannot be democratized by outside powers. The development towards democracy is the result of the internal dynamic of a society, which can take years to produce a civil society. Contrary to the European experience, secularization in the Islamic world preceded a religious reformation – with profound negative consequences for political development in Muslim societies. To remake state-building and democracy-promotion in the Muslim world as an international responsibility, rather than a messianic American ideal.

Point of Views---

Revolutionary Change In Egypt: Internal or Made in USA? Stephen Lendman points out American foreign policy that democracy is messy and unreliable. Dictatorships are much easier to control, and when one despots proves unreliable or outlives his usefulness, replace him with another, perhaps smoothed by transitional authority.

It's not radical Islam that worries the US – it's independence : The nature of any regime it backs in the Arab world is secondary to control. Subjects are ignored until they break their chains writes Noam Chomsky.

The Arab crisis: food, energy, water, justice : Tunisia’s popular uprising is reverberating across the Arab world. But such movements face problems that go far wider than dictatorship to encompass the whole range of human security, says Vicken Cheterian.

Aaj Baazar mein

2011-02-01T01:14:00.000+05:30

Faiz Ahmed Faiz is amongst the most famous poets of the Urdu language. Faiz, who was hounoured by Lenin Peace Prize in 1963, was seldom subjected to arrests by the right-wing pro-imperialist military regimes of Pakistan. Once, during the dictatorship of General Zia-ul-Haq, he was arrested and taken to the police station in front of the public. In this context, he wrote 'Aaj Bazar mein'.

The video starts with a 'mushairah' (public recitation), where Faiz presents the poem, and describes its context. Then the video, with the melodious voice of Nayyara Noor in the background singing the verses of Faiz, shows the sufi culture of Pakistan, which was suppressed by the religious fundamentalist government of Zia-ul-Haq. Then, there are some clips of public floggings and public hangings of political dissidents, which were employed to ingrain terror in the people of Pakistan. Public floggings were a norm during Zia's time. The video, then, takes us on a trip to a well-known red-light area of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. This red-light area is in the neighbourhood of a very famous mosque, a contradiction unresolved !

Quotations:

1) I must stand with anybody that stands right, and stand with him while he is right. – Abraham Lincoln.

2) If the freedom of speech is taken away then dumb and silent we may be led, like sheep to the slaughter.– George Washington.

3) It is error alone which needs the support of government. Truth can stand by itself. – Thomas Jefferson.

AMUL : Story of INDIA

2011-01-30T04:32:00.002+05:30

The value of national ‘ownership’ in development of involving 2.8 million milk producers with AMUL separates itself from other success stories . Dr. Kurien on Rural Development ---

A large proportion of rural livelihoods in India are at the mercy of the law of diminishing marginal returns from land. This has led to the bleak phenomena of rural-urban migration, casualisation of urban labour and feminisation of agricultural labour etc. with the net effect of extremely insecure rural livelihoods. A successful rural development programme must help rural people stay on voluntarily and profitably in the villages. Cooperative dairy development on the Amul Pattern has been instrumental in securing rural livelihoods in many parts of India through income generation, agricultural diversification, risk distribution, female empowerment and assured employment.

Employment generation in India has seen a spurt even through the much vaunted Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) organizations and Information Technology (IT) setups. However, one must never forget that these activities suffer from the inherent disadvantage of working under business cycles. Further, the underpinning of these businesses is cheap and skilled manpower that is both highly mobile as well as susceptible to replication by other nations. Thus, even were outsourcing and information technology to reach our rural poor, they can never offer our country a sustainable competitive advantage, leaving us vulnerable to massive disruption should the business move on to other countries where skilled labor is less costly. On the other hand, the underpinning of a successful cooperative dairy business is comprised of farmers who have a collective consciousness and a shared vision towards the domain centrality of milk and the need for cooperation in dairying. Neither they nor their milch animals can be relocated or replicated in the short or medium term by any other nation. I therefore put forward my case that cooperative dairying on the Amul Pattern forms a source of assured employment and a sustainable basis of competitive advantage for India. Here, I quote Dr. William Lewis of Mckinsey Global Institute from his book 'The Power of Productivity': 'Hours worked producing milk in India are equivalent to 45 million full-time employees. That means dairy in India has more employment than any other sector in any economy in the World'.

WikiLeaks on Corporate Corruption

2011-01-28T21:01:00.002+05:30

Corporate corruption comes in many forms. The number of employees and turnover of some corporations exceeds the population and GDP of some nation states. When comparing countries, after observations of population size and GDP, it is usual to compare the system of government, the major power groupings and the civic freedoms available to their populations. Such comparisons can also be illuminating in the case of corporations.

Considering the largest corporations as analogous to a nation state reveals the following properties:

1. The right to vote does not exist except for share holders (analogous to land owners) and even there voting power is in proportion to ownership.
2. All power issues from a central committee.
3. There is no balancing division of power. There is no fourth estate. There are no juries and innocence is not presumed.
4. Failure to submit to any order may result in instant exile.
5. There is no freedom of speech.
6. There is no right of association. Even romance between men and women is often forbidden without approval.
7. The economy is centrally planned.
8. There is pervasive surveillance of movement and electronic communication.
9. The society is heavily regulated, to the degree many employees are told when, where and how many times a day they can go to the toilet.
10. There is little transparency and something like the Freedom of Information Act is unimaginable.
11. Internal opposition groups, such as unions, are blackbanned, surveilled and/or marginalized whenever and wherever possible.

While having a GDP and population comparable to Belgium, Denmark or New Zealand, many of these multi-national corporations have nothing like their quality of civic freedoms and protections. This is even more striking when the regional civic laws the company operates under are weak (such as in West Papua, many African states or even South Korea); there, the character of these corporate tyrannies is unregulated by their civilizing surroundings.

Through governmental corruption, political influence, or manipulation of the judicial system, abusive corporations are able to gain control over the defining element of government the sole right to deploy coercive force.

Just like a country, a corrupt or unethical corporation is a menace to all inside and outside it. Corporations will behave more ethically if the world is watching closely. WikiLeaks has exposed unethical plans and behaviour in corporations and this as resulted in recompense or other forms of justice forms of justice for victims.

Source - WikiLeaks

Ten Issues - 10

2011-01-27T08:26:00.002+05:30

1- Let a thousand heretics bloom : Liberal education is a sustained and controlled matter, where practicality is directly related to searching analyses and the fecundity of thought processes. Sadly, the flag-bearers of a new India have no clue about such a pedigree of liberalism.

2- A Case of Conscience: Shiv Viswanathan writes to Manmohan Singh on the conviction of Binayak Sen.

3- Our phony economy By Jonathan Rowe : From testimony delivered March 12 before the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, Subcommittee on Interstate Commerce. Rowe is codirector of West Marin Commons, a community-organizing group, in California.

4- Lecture to the memory of Alfred Nobel, December 11, 1974 by Friedrich August von Hayek. The Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel 1974 was awarded jointly to Gunnar Myrdal and Friedrich August von Hayek "for their pioneering work in the theory of money and economic fluctuations and for their penetrating analysis of the interdependence of economic, social and institutional phenomena"

5- K. Sudarshan, RSS Ideology and Scandalous Statements By Ram Puniyani.

6- NEW POVERTY LINE: A CRITIQUE By Prof. H.S.Shylendra, Institute of Rural Management, Anand.

7- IRMA may expand focus to include small-town economy – Prof Vivek Bhandari, Director of the Institute of Rural Management, Anand tells Pagalguy.com that the institute is planning to expand in a big way this year – this includes new centers and schools as well as large-scale expansions along the country.

8- A Physicist Solves the City : Geoffrey West, has worked for decades as a physicist at Stanford University and Los Alamos National Laboratory. And so West set out to solve the City. As he points out, this is an intellectual problem with immense practical implications.

9- PESA, Left-Wing Extremism and Governance: Concerns and Challenges in India’s Tribal Districts. [pdf]

10- Rural India :Different Meaning to Different People. A discussion paper (pdf)

Slice of life

2011-01-15T12:39:00.004+05:30

What value does reason and tolerance have in a country that is rapidly on a downward spiral towards a social and political abyss? There was an angle of blasphemy in cold blooded murder of Salmaan Taseer at Pakistan recently. Sheer madness in the name of religion is going on and each justified by the religious schools. Targeted killings are unleashed for extermination of opposing voice of minorities and liberals. A book containing contradictory statement is quoted each time by both moderates and extremists. Still, there is nothing wrong with the book. I am tired of violence and its reflexive cynicism. And people giving solutions ask for more Islamic laws, its a limit of suicidal reaction. There is complete resignation of mind and triumph of brute force in Pakistan.

This kind of ideology hides in the cover of 'sacred' in our societies. Most of the time, it remains dormant but resurfaces at the slightest of issues and destruct the soft fabric of the entire tolerant culture. I always remember the words of E.P. Thompson : "We must never become wholly dependent upon established institutions: publishing houses, commercial media, universities, foundations (...) we must occupy some territory which is, without qualification, our own; our own journals, our own theoretical and practical centers: places where no one works for grades or for tenure but for the transformation of society (...) "

That is exactly a blasphemer/rebel does, occupy a place in the society not prescribed to one by the power setup. Requirement of affiliation and acceptance in the mainstream can compromise the voice of reason very easily. There is either wiping out of reasonable and genuine individuals due to other people’s extreme and twisted tendencies.

Life is amazing that we live unfazed and unmoved with so much of emotional tycoon surrounding us by a thin sheet of beliefs. These beliefs makes us more rigid and rigid as the passing day. And, the term normal is labeled to present state of affairs. A person grow like a bonsai in locked and traditional societies, not able to provide relief of its shades to others. The world can be amazing when you are slightly strange; To be wise, fair and correct in practical life is a way towards certainty. A little iota of madness, love or idealism is needed for pulling/pushing the society to the peaceful future.

Neither is any point in existing as a part of ocean only nor as a single water droplet. One should exist as an ocean drop with retaining one's singularity and uniqueness. It reminds of a Buddhist parable: “How will you stop a drop of water from ever drying up?” and the answer is “By throwing it into the ocean.”

Understanding human behavior and accepting it with all its limitation can solve the problem. There is no need for artificial concept of God to explain our nature. Roaming in the zone of transcendentalism can be obtained by walking on the path of love.

As Immanuel Kant famously remarked, "from the crooked timber of humanity no truly straight thing can be made." But, in the words of philosopher, Denis Dutton, " It is not . . . that no beautiful carving or piece of furniture can be produced from twisted wood; it is rather that whatever is finally created will only endure if it takes into account the grain, texture, natural joints, knotholes, strengths and weaknesses of the original material."

Making learning fun

2011-01-04T05:14:00.004+05:30

Problem arrives in a society when educated people have got a world view that is completely disconnected from reality due to their education. These individuals are manufactured in most of the universities in India. The curriculum enforces a particular world view on it’s students instead of helping the students to gather information from real world, analyze them and understand how or why something happens. That is why a good teacher comes into the role for each scholar.

Administration: It is one thing to not have choices and make the best of what is available in India. But to be at top institutes, i.e. at the shores of a virtual ocean of choices and not to utilize those choices is tragic. To provide a successful framework for dialogue, you need specific places where people can discuss and argue with one another, meet and exchange ideas. To facilitate not only basic infrastructure but an positive environment by showing dynamism in bureaucratic work makes an administration cheer worthy.

Teaching : Creativity cannot be taught but it can be killed off by the system. Creativity feeds off on stuff that can indeed be taught in the institution. A professor is very much like an entrepreneur. Unlike research labs where the research problems a scientists is to work on may be guided by the problems facing the government or the industry, the research agenda for a professor is largely unconstrained and left to the imagination, creativity, and passion of the individual. Economist Avinash Dixit is praised for his teaching style as he illustrate key concepts with tales from films, books, and real life.

Dani Rodrik, professor of international political economy at Harvard, says Dixit was the best classroom teacher he ever had—he never treated anything as silly or obvious. “No matter how stupid a question seemed, he would stop, raise his hand to his chin, narrow his eyes, and think a long time about it, while the rest of us in the classroom would roll our eyes at the stupidity of the questioner,” said Rodrik. “Then he would say, “Ah, I see what you have in mind . . . ,” and he would roll out an answer to a deep and interesting question the student had no idea he had asked.”

“What makes him special,” says former student Kala Krishna, now an economics professor at Penn State, “is that more than anyone else I know, he sees economics as an inescapable part of life: from books, movies, negotiating with a taxi driver—everything has economic content. He truly loves economics, and you can see how much he is enjoying himself doing it.” [Source]

Research: To execute the research agenda, professor has to build a team of researchers from across the nation, industries, and students, who will become tomorrow’s expert, get trained in the process. Quite often, they end up working with the best minds in the respective disciplines. Funding is usually available at high levels to support the procurement of resources and supporting students who will work on the research projects.

Talent Myth: Talent compromise of the essence, existence of emptiness and qualities that are missing. The talent myth assumes that people make organizations smart. More often than not, it's the other way around. Are smart people overrated? at New Yorker will navigate in this topic.

We have to ask a very important question to us. "How does a community progress?" The answer lies in the dreams pf youth - "It is taken forward by idealists who want to serve others…”. Only a teacher can help them by arming them with the tools of understandings to achieve and even surpass their dreams. An idealist will not create followers but create and nourish more like oneself. Let the people take charge of their lives, as they know best about their needs in each situations.

IRMA Barefoot Managers

2010-12-30T15:20:00.000+05:30

Institute of Rural Management, Anand (IRMA) (founded 1979) is an autonomous institution located at Anand in Gujarat, India with the mandate of contributing to the professional management of rural organisations.

The focus of IRMA has been on strengthening the management capacities in organizations which are controlled by users of their services rather than by capital suppliers. It is this commitment which defines IRMA and gives it the identity unique among the management institutes.

Documentary film about IRMA, Course, Career path featuring some of the alumni working in the Development sector. Dr Kurien, the founding chairman of IRMA shares his vision for setting up the institute.

Those who are unable to watch the video can see @ Yahoo! Video. IRMA Barefoot Managers

I have applied for Post-Graduate Diploma in Management (PGDM) programme. I have qualified into the written examination of this exam; GD-PI will be happening soon and final results will be declared till end of March 2011.

Perfect is The Enemy of The Necessary

2010-12-28T23:21:00.063+05:30

Race vs. Class: The Future of Affirmative Action: Miller Center of Public Affairs.The debate has obvious parallels with the caste vs. class reservations :-

There may be a perfect way for solving all the problems. But there may be problem of implementation at the ground level. This should not stop us from doing what we are capable of in the required direction. Hence, despite of all merit talk, I prefer reservations and empowerment of class, caste or gender in our society. And make a statement that Perfect is the enemy of the Necessary.

Sustainable Development :

Engineering for sustainable development means providing for current human needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.The three components of sustainable development which are environmental responsibility, economic return (wealth creation), and social development.

Amartya Sen has talked of freedom as development . This means not just more consumption but more voice, access to accountability , access to influential networks and livelihood choice, access to good governance, and physical security. As math education is reduced to the calculation, the talk of development is reduced with data and statistics.

As Pakistan’s finance minister in the 1960s,a distinguished economist, Mahbub-ul-Haq was able to generate a growth rate of seven per cent. “And still people voted us out,” he acknowledged. “It was a rude awakening for me. I then realized that a high economic rate of growth is no indicator of human development.” Mahbub-ul-Haq then gave me the memorable gem: “We were wrongly advised that we should take care of GDP and it will automatically take care of poverty. This is not correct. We need to take care of poverty and it will automatically take care of economic growth”.

The key issues of research in area of Human and Economic development include size, scope, ownership, technology, and management from the sustainability perspective. The domain is so large that it can draw concepts from anthropology, sociology, economics, ecology, public policy, public administration, corporate social responsibility, law and governance, ethics, entrepreneurship, gender studies, and so on, necessitating a multi-disciplinary standpoint.

Individualism

2010-12-28T22:31:00.007+05:30

Individualists promote the exercise of one's goals and desires and so independence and self-reliance.

Introspection is only way of exploring subjective experience depends largely upon the extraordinarily creative interplay between seeing and thinking. And no excellence is possible with a degree of self-doubt. The more people talk about these uncomfortable issues, the more comfortable you will get with being open about what is happening to you.

The correct definition of Knowledge: Developing a coherent body of ideas and creatively reaching out to the unknown with the power of critical and scientific thinking. That can be done in education sector. There is a dire need to promote technical and social innovations in all fields of life. That comes when the feeling of social, cultural and religious identity lapses to give rise to individuality.

Promotion for working at grass root level for development can be given through inclusive education. The mindset of exclusivity is antithetical to education in a democracy. One more matter to be careful of is 'Choice'. Often 'more' is not always better, particularly when we abdicate our power to filter and choose.

In the US, volunteerism is highest in high-tax Massachusetts, and lowest in low-tax Mississippi. In Europe, volunteerism is highest in high-tax Sweden, and lowest in low-tax Eastern European nations.It seems that a thriving state stimulates a thriving volunteering sector – and a shrunken, passive state encourages passivity in the population.

Humans are versatile and multidimensional in nature. That has been proven with the development of various companies. Most of our management rituals were designed (a very long time ago) to promote discipline, control, alignment and predictability—an uni- dimensional model of growth. Yet, new companies having exponential growth in little time like Google, Amazon and Apple have been built around principles like freedom, meritocracy, transparency and experimentation. They are so endlessly inventive and strategically flexible because they provide space and time to each individual.

Anarchism works in the creative destruction of the old institutes. There will always be people giving a voice to the voiceless. An anarchist is an individual with the voices of conscience. To categories dissenters as enemy of state/institutes will be an act of injustice.

Self-organization is the process where a structure or pattern appears in a system without a central authority or external element imposing it through planning. The evolution of life on Earth, language, and a free market economy have all been proposed as examples of systems which evolved through spontaneous order. The basic unit is given freedom to grow. Freedom is prerequisite for spontaneous order to take place, rather than liberty being the result of spontaneous order.

India is a divided nation in which the governors and the governed do not share a unifying worldview. While Western liberal democracies are focused on the rights of the individual, India is more concerned with the rights of groups. The politicians and extremists thrive in order to perpetuate conflict between people with the one-dimensional narratives of the problem. That leads us to the path of police state. Only rebels, not reformers are born in such atmosphere of suppression.

Still, progress of an individual without social sustainability lacks farsightedness and vision.An individual should aspire for coherence and relevance for better future of whole environment. Non-sustainable development decimates the environment, the burden of which falls on the poor and unprivileged.

Rural Management - 1

2010-12-28T15:30:00.001+05:30

Why Rural economy is always in a poor state ?

Poverty exists in both rural and urban India. Slums are visible signs of poverty in the our cities. Slums are our failure in planning to implement an affordable housing in metros for the poor migrants at the cost of welfare state.

There is an immense migration of the landless labours in cities from the rural areas. Many reasons can be cited for this state such as failure of rural economy, regional nature of growth, absence of basic civic amenities in rural India and caste discrimination in rural India. Poor people can afford the physical torture of the slums but cannot bear the mental torture of rural habitation caused due to caste discrimination. In slums people have only class identity and not caste identity.

There is a huge connection between poverty and caste system in India. Majority of land in rural India is in the possession of minority upper castes. Hence, all the subsidies and growth in the agricultural sector is enjoyed by this minority rich and relatively more educated class. Productive assets must be created for the landless rural population.

Planning and implementation in India are very centralized. Local self-governance is dysfunctional as transparency and accountability is lacking in the institutions. Social-auditing to the rural projects are absent. Local self government Institution should be involved in planning and decision making. Rural projects of the government and working of the local self government should be brought under the purview of e-governance for transparency. But a country with a low literacy rate, e- governance is still a dream.

Poverty can be well understood by this simple example. Deputy Governor of the Reserve Bank of India says that 46 percent of the farmers who own a mobile phone do not have a bank account.We need 'Financial Inclusion' for every citizen of this country. Financial Inclusion means, providing financial services to one and all, irrespective of their income and the place they belong to.

Five Articles on Social and Financial Issues in Rural India:-

1- Money for nothing. And misery for free : Afer a promising start, the microfinance story became one of desperate need on one side and greed and politics on the other, reports Rohini Mohan. Photographs by Vijay Pandey. Microfinance has created deeper crisis socially, about the creation of a life on credit.

MFIs typically borrow from banks at 11- 15 percent interest but charge 24-30 percent, including the operation cost of traveling to remote villages, and factoring in possible defaults. Unlike in an SHG, where the loan is given to the group, the MFI gives loans to an individual who is backed by a group guarantee.

2- Hiware Bazar: Model Village for the Nation ; A five pronged approach has been adopted for the socio-economic infrastructure of the village that includes : Free labour, Ban on Grazing, Ban on Tree Cutting, Ban on Liquor and Family Planning.

3- Tiding over farm woes: Reaping the advantage - Farmers’ unions, who only organise protests demanding higher prices, have failed to educate their members. And only way to pull out farmers from the vicious cycle of indebtedness is to push them out of the Green Revolution model of farming.

4- Living with 'installments' : Many micro-credit loans do no more than allow a family to juggle its finances for a month-to-month existance. As investors embrace this 'market', MFIs are increasingly under scrutiny. Jaideep Hardikar reports.

5- UNDERSTANDING UNTOUCHABILITY: A Comprehensive Study of Practices and Conditions in 1589 Villages [PDF file]--- Navsarjan is one of the leading organizations working for advancement of Dalit rights. Based in the western Indian state of Gujarat,Navsarjan currently organizes more than 3,084 villages to fight the practice of "untouchability” and to improve the economic conditions of Dalits.

Development Management -1

2010-12-28T14:47:00.004+05:30

The present economic model is premised on the centrality and openness of markets. But the market forces themselves are a function of economic power and control. In cases in which economic resources and opportunities are widely distributed, economic activity may best be left to individual, private initiative, and market forces, but in societies with a skewed distribution of natural resources and opportunities, a free play of market forces could marginalize an increasing proportion of people, without state intervention through reforms.

Development projects are being initiated and implemented in order to fight against poverty and economic stagnation. It brings to us ethical questions of an inequitable distribution of development's benefits and losses. The principle of the "greater good for the larger numbers," routinely invoked to rationalize social disruptions like forced displacements, is, in fact, abused and turned into an unwarranted justification for tolerating ills that are avoidable. Compulsory displacements that occur for development reasons embody a perverse and intrinsic contradiction in the context of development. The outcome is an unjustifiable repartition of development's costs and benefits: Elite enjoy the gains of development, while majority bear its pains. This raises major issues of social justice and equity.

People believe in aid as a form to get rid of poverty. Aid has empowered only authorities, not necessarily citizens. The Nobel Peace Prize 2006 was given to Muhammad Yunus, Grameen Bank because contradictory to popular economic axiom, he believes that credit is a fundamental human right despite of one's financial position. His objective was to help poor people escape from poverty by providing loans on terms suitable to them and by teaching them a few sound financial principles so they could help themselves.

Muhammad Yunus delivered his Nobel Lecture on 10 December 2006 at the Oslo City Hall, Norway. Read the full Nobel Lecture and watch a 15 minutes interview.

Mohammad Yunus gives emphasis in his noble lecture : There is a conceptual restrictions imposed on the players in the market. This originates from the assumption that entrepreneurs are one-dimensional human beings, who are dedicated to one mission in their business lives - to maximize profit. This interpretation of capitalism insulates the entrepreneurs from all political, emotional, social, spiritual, environmental dimensions of their lives. This was done perhaps as a reasonable simplification, but it stripped away the very essentials of human life.

Human beings are a wonderful creation embodied with limitless human qualities and capabilities. Our theoretical constructs should make room for the blossoming of those qualities, not assume them away.
Interview with Muhammad Yunus - Media Player at Nobelprize.org

Food Food Everywhere but not a grain to eat

2010-12-28T14:02:00.003+05:30

It becomes imperative, therefore, to strike a balance between the economic and social functions of land. A model of development that excludes one in the favor of the other loses out on the very basic meaning and purpose of development.

Public Distribution System (PDS) :

Public Distribution System in short PDS means distribution of essential commodities to a large number of people through a network of fair price shops (FPS) on a recurring basis. The commodities are as follows:- Wheat · Rice · Sugar · Kerosene

PDS evolved as a major instrument of the Government’s economic policy for ensuring availability of food grains to the public at affordable prices as well as for enhancing the food security for the poor. It is an important constituent of the strategy for poverty eradication and is intended to serve as a safety net for the poor who number more than 330 million and are nutritionally at risk. PDS with a network of about 4.99 lakh fair price shops is perhaps the largest distribution network of its type in the world.

PDS is operated under the joint responsibility of the Central and the State Governments. The Central Government has taken the responsibility for procurement, storage, transportation and bulk allocation of food grains, etc. The responsibility for distributing the same to the consumers through the network of FPS rests with the State Governments. The operational responsibilities including allocation within the State, identification of families below poverty line, issue of ration cards, supervision and monitoring the functioning of FPSs rest with the State Governments.

India State Hunger Index

The India State Hunger Index (ISHI) is a tool to calculate hunger and malnutrition at the regional level in India. It is constructed in the same fashion as the Global Hunger Index (GHI) 2008 and was calculated for 17 states in India, covering more than 95 percent of the population.

It combines three equally-weighted indicators:

1. the proportion of undernourished as a percentage of the population (reflecting the share of the population with insufficient dietary intake);
2. the prevalence of underweight children under the age of five (indicating the proportion of children suffering from weight loss and / or reduced growth); and
3. the mortality rate of children under the age of five (partially reflecting the fatal synergy between dietary intake and unhealthy environments).

Full report of INDIA STATE HUNGER INDEX Comparisons of Hunger Across States Purnima Menon, Anil Deolalikar, Anjor Bhaskar [PDF file]

Please have a look on - Land Reform in India: Issues and Challenges by Manpreet Sethi [ PDF file]

Understanding Economics - 2

2010-12-27T00:37:00.004+05:30

Chilean Economist Manfred Max-Neef: US Is Becoming an "Underdeveloping Nation"

Never in human history has there been such an accumulation of knowledge like in the last 100 years. What was that knowledge for? What did we do with it? And the point is that knowledge alone is not enough, that we understand very little. When you’re separated, you can accumulate knowledge. And that is—that’s been the function of science. Now, science is divided into parts, but understanding is holistic.

And that happens with poverty. One understood poverty only by experience. And then you begin to learn that in that environment there are different values, different principles from—compared to those from where one is coming. Economists look at the poverty from the outside, instead of living it from the inside.

And you learn extraordinary things. The first thing you learn, that people who want to work in order to overcome poverty and don’t know, is that in poverty there is an enormous creativity. You cannot be an idiot if you want to survive.

The whole language as an economist is not coherent with those situations and conditions. The principles, you know, of an economics which should be are based in one fundamental value and principle five postulates.

The fundamental AXIOM to sustain a new economy should be that no economic interest, under no circumstance, can be above the reverence of life.

1- The economy is to serve the people and not the people to serve the economy.

2- Development is about people and not about objects.

3- Growth is not the same as development, and development does not necessarily require growth.

4- No economy is possible in the absence of ecosystem services.

5- The economy is a subsystem of a larger finite system, the biosphere, hence permanent growth is impossible.

The Threshold Hypothesis :

In every society there is a period in which economic growth, conventionally understood or no, brings about an improvement of the quality of life. But only up to a point, the threshold point, beyond which, if there is more growth, quality of life begins to decline.

Growth is a quantitative accumulation. Development is the liberation of creative possibilities. Every living system in nature grows up to a certain point and stops growing. But we continue developing ourselves. So development has no limits. Growth has limits. And that is a very big thing, you know, that economists and politicians don’t understand. They are obsessed with the fetish of economic growth.

Economist Ha-Joon Chang on the G20 Summit, Currency Wars and Why the Free Market is a Myth

The Max-Neef Model of Human-Scale Development

2010-12-26T15:31:00.003+05:30

Manfred Max-Neef is a Chilean economist who has worked for many years with the problem of development in the Third World, articulating the inappropriateness of conventional models of development, that have lead to increasing poverty, massive debt and ecological disaster for many Third World communities. He works for the Centre for Development Alternatives in Chile, an organisation dedicated to the reorientation of development which stimulates local needs. It researches new tools, strategies and evaluative techniques to support such development, and Max-Neef's publication Human Scale Development: an Option for the Future (1987) outlines the results of the Centre’s researches and experiences

Max-Neef and his colleagues have developed a taxonomy of human needs and a process by which communities can identify their "wealths" and "poverties" according to how these needs are satisfied.

Human Scale Development is defined as "focused and based on the satisfaction of fundamental human needs, on the generation of growing levels of self-reliance, and on the construction of organic articulations of people with nature and technology, of global processes with local activity, of the personal with the social, of planning with autonomy, and of civil society with the state." (Max-Neef et al, 1987:12)

The main contribution that Max-Neef makes to the understanding of needs is the distinction made between needs and satisfiers. Human needs are seen as few, finite and classifiable (as distinct from the conventional notion that "wants" are infinite and insatiable). Not only this, they are constant through all human cultures and across historical time periods. What changes over time and between cultures is the way these needs are satisfied. It is important that human needs are understood as a system - i.e. they are interrelated and interactive. There is no hierarchy of needs (apart from the basic need for subsistence or survival) as postulated by Western psychologists such as Maslow, rather, simultaneity, complementarity and trade-offs are features of the process of needs satisfaction.

Max-Neef classifies the fundamental human needs as: subsistence, protection, affection, understanding, participation, recreation(in the sense of leisure, time to reflect, or idleness), creation, identity and freedom. Needs are also defined according to the existential categories of being, having, doing and interacting, and from these dimensions, a 36 cell matrix is developed which can be filled with examples of satisfiers for those needs.

Satisfiers also have different characteristics: they can be violators or destroyers, pseudosatisfiers, inhibiting satisfiers, singular satisfiers, or synergic satisfiers. Max-Neef shows that certain satisfiers, promoted as satisfying a particular need, in fact inhibit or destroy the possibility of satisfying other needs: eg, the arms race, while ostensibly satisfying the need for protection, in fact then destroys subsistence, participation, affection and freedom; formal democracy, which is supposed to meet the need for participation often disempowers and alienates; commercial television, while used to satisfy the need for recreation, interferes with understanding, creativity and identity - the examples are everywhere.

Synergic satisfiers, on the other hand, not only satisfy one particular need, but also lead to satisfaction in other areas: some examples are breast-feeding; self-managed production; popular education; democratic community organisations; preventative medicine; meditation; educational games.

This model forms the basis of an explanation of many of the problems arising from a dependence on mechanistic economics, and contributes to understandings that are necessary for a paradigrn shift that incorporates systemic principles. Max-Neef and his colleagues have found that this methodology "allows for the achievement of in-depth insight into the key problems that impede the actualisation of fundamental human needs in the society, community or institution being studied" (Max-Neef et al, 1987:40)

This model provides a useful approach that meets the requirements of small group, community-based processes that have the effect of allowing deep reflection about one's individual and community situation, leading to critical awareness and, possibly, action al the local economic level.

The Wonder Years - 1

2010-12-25T09:36:00.003+05:30

While growing up, I was scared to do anything wrong in the school or colony. Assuming and thinking hundred times that action might hurt reputation of mine parents. I was worried about everything. I am still a jerk in the social life but the environment of the school was more suffocating for me. I just didn't go up against all odds, and everything was OK for me.

I was always a model of obedience to the teachers and parents. Progressive parents surely helped me to have broaden mindset over many many things. It was an advantage over those forced to struggle from the outset with prejudices and rigid religious strictures. As the people say - हमारे यहां अपनी दिलचस्पियों के साथ वयस्‍क होने की इजाजत नहीं है। हम दूसरों की उम्‍मीदों के हमदम होते हैं और हमारी ख्‍वाहिशों का कोई मददगार नहीं होता।

I was a real nerd till the age of 19. I rebelled in the hostel life and even shed studies for the sake of starting new chapter in the life. I established a complete new 'me' in those four years. College life helped me to throw that baggage of fear and expectations. I was little frightened of the college administration in those days. The fear of submission and disciplinary action has gone now. Perhaps, because I am financially independent currently. Today, I am not worried about the colleagues and the manager.

Heart is strange thing. Once it falls for someone, it falls like apple under gravity. It does not think, what people will think or say ? And it just cares whether the beloved has heard him or not. That is Love. Once a person taste the freedom, one falls same kind of love with the liberty. And then one say the right thing at the right time in the right place.

Once a person become independent economically and socially, the society wants him/her to be married and settled. Its quite insane when society pushes girls/boys in the marriage before their thinking buds can open. A society that gives time to youth on its own expense to youth to seek their own truth prospers with the knowledge and peace.

People talk about love only and they seemed never to be touched by love. Its scary to consider gifts and lies as a sign of love. Love is a bitter experience for me !

When one observes and attempts to understand with a distancing gaze the circumstances of one's life in a constantly changing world, it gifts one a far bigger overview of the life. That is a first step towards meditation.

Banaras: A Bitter Memoir

2010-12-23T00:16:00.006+05:30

I was reading a Jug Suraiya's column : Atheism is the best worship recently. I sunk deeply in the memories of city that I detest heavily. That city is Varanasi, notorious for touts. I will quote a paragraph here for the context :

A French sociologist has likened personal prayer and the giving of votive offerings to bribery. He has noted that in countries where the tradition of personalised God-worship is most entrenched –as in India, and in Roman Catholic Italy – the incidence of bribery in everyday life is also proportionately high. If God himself is a Babu who can be bribed to do your bidding with a prayer and a few diyas or candles, where’s the harm in slipping some currency notes to a bureaucrat or politician or policeman to do what you want done? Doesn’t God himself teach us to bribe? In which case, how can bribery and corruption be bad things, if they’re God-given?

Varanasi is the city of the old people and orthodox practices. There are lot of peoples with power and money without any sense of future. they live with same aura of timelessness that has surrounded this city from long times. The traditions and orthodox habits are only adapting comforts and avoid any drastic social changes in the veil of cultural preservation.

The scoundrel priests who extort money from the pilgrims & tourists with a blessing while reading few Sanskrit hymn and dab of powder on the forehead needs more than a few coins in return! These will be starters on the menu while main course of fraudulent nature appears gradually. One has to give up the baggage of tourist and interact with the people as of their own neighborhood to understand the minute details of the ruthless face of the town. This city always looks backwards for hope and stories. People here will always go into memories when they were somebody, who were loved and honored. Only saving grace in the city is BHU campus full of natural beauty and young students.

It is too overwhelming to see the sunsets and sunrise on the Ghats. What I found most amazing is our quality to ignore the desperate beggars, widespread poverty and flies swirling around atop a garbage heap on the edge of a river. The ancient traditions of this city fly in the face of modern rules of sanitation and public health. The filth of the daily life practices and prevailing hypocrisy in rituals in this holy city of Hindus reflect real condition of Hinduism. A religion filled with great philosophies and discriminative social culture at the same time.

It’s not the Ghats, the water or the spirit that is most breathtaking, but the corruption and deception. My stay at Varanasi is not the story of vanished moments. It is a mad tale of people asking for 'Moksha' and bribes in the same breathe. Amid chaotic and overwhelming city environment, the college life was full of relief.

In this tourist city, foreigners arrive with a certain image of India in mind, then only to have it shattered by teenage youths at the McDonald’s counter. Cultural shock for them ! A tip to pilgrims is popular as proverb in local culture.

Hindi Proverb: रांड़, सांड़, सीढ़ी संन्यासी। इनसे बचै तो सेवे काशी।।
English translation: Be on your guard against prostitute, bulls, stairs(of temples, bathing places etc., which may be very steep and dangerous), ascetic person but often a mendicant and then you may worship at Kashi (Varanasi).

I loved my college with the appreciation what life has to offer in various ways. In India when people want to die, they go to Varanasi to live there and to die there. No old man can believe that the days are good now – they were always in the past, the golden past, the good old days when things were like this and that. I also remember college days when everything was good. Now, I have become alumni, the whole college world seems to be old and golden. But the world remains the same, only we go on changing. That I learned from that old and damned city.

Things to do in Varanasi:

1. The Sunrise along the 84 riverside ghats
2. Take a hand pulled boat ride down the Ganga River
3. The evening Ganga Aarti ceremony at Dasashwamedh ghat
4. The Burning Ghats at Harish Chandra and Manikarnika ghats
5. Ram Nagar Fort Museum across the river Ganga
6. Sarnath Museum, Ashoka pillar & Buddhist Sites
7. Chill out with students near Vishawanath Temple in the Banaras Hindu University campus.

I have sen many picasa photo albums and photo blogs of Varanasi. Best of all is : Visions Of Varanasi.

No tour of Varanasi is complete without Benarasi Paan. In the words of a foreign tourist : Be prepared to face the devastating power of Banaras Paan, a local betal nut product wrapped in a edible leaf and filled with molasses, rosewater, tutti fruiti, licorice, cloves and poisionous lime paste. Enjoy!

I protest !

2010-12-19T14:43:00.009+05:30

Why there is a Julian Assange at all ? Reason: watchdog journalism is dead. The media is bought and paid for the PR work. We have to be careful to distinguish between the man and the institution since confusing the two can lead to the unfortunate mistake of shooting the messenger for delivering an unpalatable message. Its the individuals who had changed the world by creatively destroying the old institutions and building new ones.

We need more people speaking out. This country is not overrun with rebels and free thinkers. It's overrun with sheep and conformists. This country suffers from an excess of civil obedience. As Oscar Wilde said: “Disobedience, in the eyes of anyone who has read history, is man's original virtue. It is through disobedience that progress has been made, through disobedience and through rebellion.”

The right to protest clears the path to progress and inclusion. There is a short term sacrifice of protest. Every person is the beneficiary of a long line of protesters stretching back through the centuries who has stand up for the unprivileged and oppressed. Every worker gets minimum wages, every woman reading this can vote and every pensioner gets enough to survive because protesters demanded it. What what life would be like if all those protesters through all those years had been frightened into inactivity? We were left at the whim of an elite, whose priority is tax cuts for themselves, paid for with spending cuts for the poor.

When two entities exchange value for mutual benefit, it is symbiosis. When two entities exchange value with one gaining more than the other, it is exploitation. When two entities exchange value at the cost of the third, it is…yes, drum-roll the word we Indians love to hate, talk about and practice the most, Corruption. The measure of corruption is not just the exchange of money. It is the distance and dissimulation rulers exhibit in relation to their own governments. To be always honest and aware about ground realities is enough in the fight against corruption.

India is a nation of sheep walking in herds and try to stick as closely as possible with the caste and enclosed community with not willing or able to break rank or file for anything. Opportunists align themselves with changing beliefs to temporarily form identity-based groups in order to achieve political or economic objectives subsuming the manifest differences between their identities. This country needs large numbers of anarchists and entrepreneurs for the progress and mobility across various groups.

Examples of this unbreakable code of silence are prevalent everywhere around us. Our moral compass tends to be so tilted in the favor of strongly armed with money power than the needy. Then, we justify lack of emotions and sensibility to each other with by the name of Immunity or barbaric I ask? Ours society punishes the victims and ensure that the torturers or criminals roam free without any sense of guilt.

Our various fortune tellers think one day some of us will rise and bring about some sort of revolution led by a savior to end all our evils. Well newsflash! Saviors come from people who are determined to save themselves. They don't arise from those who keep their heads down in the rat race making sure not to be noticed, because if someone stops them and asks, they will have to say something which will challenge the system, and then their lives will stop as they will become aware of their own soullessness because they are the system.

It's the nature of a human that when you get neglected somewhere you want to go back and prove a point. I don't give respect to do-gooders as they are idiots who actually believe that everyone is trying to do their best and don't have an intention of harm. Squeezed between well-intentioned stupid people and the essentially criminal, I am pissed. I have a foolish head that does not abide by the moral values of everyone and absurd traditions of honor. I am a emotional and over aggressive as well as because I can't cover up the truth. The power of truth and transparency will surely unveil the hypocrisy around and in us.

It is to hard to pigeonhole the man in any identity or role as Jonathan Swift, author of the English classic Gulliver’s Travels (1726), had pithily observed that “when a true genius appears, you can know him by this sign: that all the dunces are in a confederacy against him.”

The Motorcycle Diaries

2010-12-18T11:52:00.007+05:30

I came into close contact with poverty, hunger and disease; with the inability to treat a child because of lack of money; with the stupefaction provoked by the continual hunger and punishment, to the point that a father can accept the loss of a son as an unimportant accident, as occurs often in the downtrodden classes of our American homeland. And I began to realize at that time that there were things that were almost as important to me as becoming famous for making a significant contribution to medical science: I wanted to help those people. — Ernesto Guevara

Spoken: August 19, 1960 to the Cuban Militia
Source: Obra Revolucionaria, Ano 1960, No. 24 (Official English translation)
Translated: Beth Kurti

Ernesto "Che" Guevara was a 23-year-old medical student who saw the plight of the poor across Latin America. It's a grim fate for a revolutionary who wanted to change the world to become only T-Shirt icon in present. Despite his political legacy and the usage of violence, I love his rebel cause to make world a better place. Paraphrasing here two best passages of his travelogue : The Motorcycle Diaries. This travelogue shows Ernesto the Medical Student developing a sense of Pan-Latin Americanism that fuses the interests of indigenous peasants with traditional adversaries like upper-middle-class Argentine intellectuals.

1- Che Guevara while treating a peasant woman dying of tuberculosis.---

"It is at times like this, when a doctor is conscious of his complete powerlessness, that he longs for change: a change to prevent the injustice of a system in which only a month ago this poor woman was still earning her living as a waitress, wheezing and panting but facing life with dignity. In circumstances like this, individuals in poor families who can’t pay their way become surrounded by an atmosphere of barely disguised acrimony; they stop being father, mother, sister or brother and become a purely negative factor in the struggle for life and, consequently, a source of bitterness for the healthy members of the community who resent their illness as if it were a personal insult to those who have to support them.

It is there, in the final moments, for people whose farthest horizon has always been tomorrow, that one comprehends the profound tragedy circumscribing the life of the proletariat the world over.

In those dying eyes there is a submissive appeal for forgiveness and also, often , a desperate plea for consolation which is lost to the void, just as their body will soon be lost in the magnitude of the mystery surrounding us. How long this present order, based on an absurd idea of caste, will last is not within my means to answer, but it's time that those who govern spent less time publicizing their own virtues and more money, much more money, funding socially useful works.

There isn't much I can do for the sick woman. I simply advise her to improve her diet and prescribe a diuretic and some asthma pills. I have a few Dramamine tablets left and I give them to her. When I leave, I am followed by the fawning words of the old woman and the family's indifferent gaze."

2-Che Guevara describe a sojourn spent working with leprosy patients in Peru.---

"Their appreciation sprang from the fact that we never wore overalls or gloves, that we shook their hands as we would shake anybody's . . . that we played football with them. It may seem like pointless bravado, but the psychological lift it gives to these poor people - treating them as normal human beings instead of animals, as they are used to - is incalculable and the risk to us extremely unlikely. "

- Che Guevara, 1952. "The Motorcycle Diaries...Notes on a Latin American Journey" .

Can an Idea change your Life ?

2010-12-18T10:36:00.005+05:30

Can an Idea change your Life ? Yes, It can.

There are many sources to keep yourself informed about the newest innovations and the most fascinating ideas of our time, but no written word can express these ideas in the way the people involved in them can. Having the brightest minds of our time talking about the things they love and that changed their life is what TED offers to the world.

Inception movie gives fine glance over power of ideas :

What is the most resilient parasite? Bacteria? A virus? An intestinal worm? An idea. Resilient... highly contagious.

-One was possessed by an idea, just one simple idea that changed everything.
-The subject's mind can always trace the genesis of the idea.
-True inspiration is impossible to fake.
-Once an idea has taken hold of the brain it's almost impossible to eradicate.
-An idea that is fully formed - fully understood - that sticks; right in there somewhere.

V for Vendetta movie portrays character V as the embodiment of an idea rather than an individual through V's dialogue and by depicting him without a past, identity or face.

Quote of the Movie: We are told to remember the idea, not the man, because a man can fail. He can be caught. He can be killed and forgotten. But four hundred years later an idea can still change the world. I've witnessed firsthand the power of ideas. I've seen people kill in the name of them; and die defending them. But you cannot kiss an idea, cannot touch it or hold it. Ideas do not bleed, it cannot feel pain, and it does not love.

Where do ideas come from? by Seth Godin. (Thank to Nimmy)

01. Ideas don't come from watching television
02. Ideas sometimes come from listening to a lecture
03. Ideas often come while reading a book
04. Good ideas come from bad ideas, but only if there are enough of them
05. Ideas hate conference rooms, particularly conference rooms where there is a history of criticism, personal attacks or boredom
06. Ideas occur when dissimilar universes collide
07. Ideas often strive to meet expectations. If people expect them to appear, they do
08. Ideas fear experts, but they adore beginner's mind. A little awareness is a good thing
09. Ideas come in spurts, until you get frightened. Willie Nelson wrote three of his biggest hits in one week
10. Ideas come from trouble
11. Ideas come from our ego, and they do their best when they're generous and selfless
12. Ideas come from nature
13. Sometimes ideas come from fear (usually in movies) but often they come from confidence
14. Useful ideas come from being awake, alert enough to actually notice
15. Though sometimes ideas sneak in when we're asleep and too numb to be afraid
16. Ideas come out of the corner of the eye, or in the shower, when we're not trying
17. Mediocre ideas enjoy copying what happens to be working right this minute
18. Bigger ideas leapfrog the mediocre ones
19. Ideas don't need a passport, and often cross borders (of all kinds) with impunity
20. An idea must come from somewhere, because if it merely stays where it is and doesn't join us here, it's hidden. And hidden ideas don't ship, have no influence, no intersection with the market. They die, alone.

Why Hindu is a Hindu ?

2010-12-16T18:30:00.005+05:30

An odd sort of joke about Hinduism in general is that where the Western religions face up to scientific discoveries with an attitude of "That's blasphemy! You're going to Hell!", Hinduism faces up to them with an attitude of "See? I told you so! We knew it centuries before you did!"

Hinduism as a collection of schools of thoughts is extraordinary, but when you top it off with senseless rituals and practices, contradictory theories, and nationalism and Hindutva forces, it is as dangerous as any other religion. It doesn't denounce brain and have more sophisticated worldview than the Judeo-Christian-Muslim tradition.

It is difficult to debate Hindus because they take advantage of the fact that Hinduism is an unorganized religion. It is fragmented to the level, where one can cherry-pick the "goodies" and glorify Hinduism, but when shown the utter inconsistencies, majority easily disqualify it saying that some sects have them and not Hinduism as a whole.

And due to Hinduism's inherent nature that "Everything is God", nobody really cared what to worship and what not to worship. One thing about Hinduism is that it also embraces atheism into its fold, thus arguing with a Hindu is a pointless exercise.

Why a person follows ones religious identity ? Ask this question to a Christian, Muslim and Parsi, the answer xyz is a follower/believer of Jesus/Islam/Zoroaster. Now ask the same question to a Hindu and there is no doubt that he will be completely bewildered and would not know what to say. Why Hindu is a Hindu ?

B R Ambedkar provides an insight of this puzzling identity question ----

If he says that "I am a Hindu because I hold to the beliefs of the Hindus" his answer cannot be right for here one is confronted with the fact that Hinduism has no definite creed. The beliefs of persons who are by all admitted to be Hindus often differ more widely from each other than do those of Christians and Muhammadans. Limiting the issue to cardinal beliefs the Hindus differ among themselves as to the beliefs which arc of cardinal importance. Some say that all the Hindu scriptures must be accepted, but some would exclude the Tantras, while others would regard only the Vedas as of primary importance; some again think that the sole essential is belief in the doctrine of karma and metempsychosis.

A complex congeries of creeds and doctrines is Hinduism. It shelters within its portals monotheists, polytheists and pantheists; worshippers of the great Gods Shiva and Vishnu or of their female counterparts,.as well as worshippers of the divine mothers or the spirits of trees, rocks and streams and the tutelary village deities; persons who propitiate their deity by all manner of bloody sacrifices, and persons who will not only kill no living creature but who must not even use the word 'cut '; those whose ritual consists mainly of prayers and hymns, and those who indulge in unspeakable orgies in the name of religion; and a host of more or less heterodox sectaries, many of whom deny the supremacy of the Brahmans, or at least have non-Brahmanical religious leaders.

If he says that he is a Hindu because he observes the same customs as other Hindus do his answer cannot be true. For all Hindus do not observe the same customs.

In the north near relatives are forbidden to marry; but in the south cousin marriage is prescribed, and even closer alliances are sometimes permitted. As a rule female chastity is highly valued, but some communities set little store by it, at any rate prior to marriage, and others make it a rule to dedicate one daughter to a life of religious prostitution. In some parts the women move about freely; in others they are kept secluded. In some parts they wear skirts; in others trousers.

Again if he said that he is a Hindu because he believes in the caste system his answer cannot be accepted as satisfactory. It is quite true that no Hindu is interested in what his neighbour believes, but he is very much interested in knowing whether he can eat with him or take water from his hands. In other words it means that the caste system is an essential feature of Hinduism and a man who does not belong to a recognized Hindu Caste cannot be a Hindu. While all this is true it must not be forgotten that observance of caste is not enough. Many Musalmans and many Christians observe caste if not in the matter of inter-dining certainly in the matter of inter-marriage. But they cannot be called Hindus on that account. Both elements must be present. He must be a Hindu and he must also observe caste. This brings us back to the old question who is a Hindu? It leaves us where we are.

Is it not a question for every Hindu to consider why in the matter of his own religion his position is so embarrassing and so puzzling? Why is he not able to answer so simple a question which every Parsi, every Christian, and every Muslim can answer? Is it not time that he should ask himself what are the causes that has brought about this Religious chaos ? "

Only rigid rule defining the identity and followed by Hinduism is the caste system. And Hinduism become extremely authoritarian if you try to leave the caste or go for inter-caste marriages. As the Bible and Koran has allowed for the justification of slavery, the Hindu texts have allowed for the subjugation of a significant group of people under the caste system. It can't be denied that the Hindu texts are still used to support the caste system.

This undefined territory can only give space to people to exist as an individual and think freely. That is where I differ from Dr. Ambedkar about chaos factor. Any system or an institution will only produce followers.Organization made by human will always be incoherent and suppress the uniqueness and individuality of the participant. Nobody can regard a rag (Religious textbooks) to be binding and infallible because a philosopher or prophet came forward to lend his authority to such a proposal.

One thing become clear that Religion isn't definitely the source of all morality. And any religion and institution denying them will decay with the time.

Hail Feminism !

2010-12-16T15:57:00.004+05:30

Halla Tomasdottir managed to take her company Audur Capital through the eye of the financial storm in Iceland by applying 5 traditionally "feminine" values to financial services. At TEDWomen, she talks about these values and the importance of balance.

Girl Desi added her touch and evolved the discussion in feminine zone. (On Google Buzz)

I was thinking the 4 points she put forward are so much feminine from the minute a woman comes to know she is pregnant (wanted pregnancy not forced).

1- Risk Awareness: Every step a pregnant woman takes she measures the risk factors to the unborn. She invests herself with awareness of risks.

2- Straight Talk: She is told in very direct words, how her every action will impact the well being of the unborn. Direct, simple and straight words. And if she miscarries she is told directly no body sings songs to her

3- Emotional Capital: She invests emotions in the unborn even when she is physically uncomfortable, she has long term stakes in the unborn... not just give birth and get over with it...

4- Profit with Principles: She plans for a future of the unborn a future she'll be able to sustain for her child.

Quote of the Day :

I encountered “Everything that rises must converge” while reading Flannery O’Connor, one of my favorite writers from the American South. It is the title of one of her books. She was quoting Teilhard de Chardin, a Catholic priest. In my own life this expression has rung quite true, though the meaning I make of it may be different than theirs. Everything I have ever worked for, rising regardless of circumstances to do my best, has led eventually to the lives of other people who are also rising – sometimes against even greater odds than mine. Embracing this reality removes fear of striking out and upward. Everyone you truly wish to encounter will be there when you arrive (you will realize you have been rising together though on separate continents, perhaps, or even during separate centuries!) or will appear shortly thereafter.

There is much joy and celebration whenever we converge, i.e. meet each other. The spirits we knew. The faces we did not. Usually. ~Alice Walker

Ten Issues - 9

2010-12-16T15:47:00.004+05:30

1- India's Telecom Scam: How Can a Corrupt System Be Cleaned? : The telecom scam that recently forced the resignation of telecom minister A. Raja defrauded the country to the tune of nearly US$40 billion. Since telecom is an industry that links backward and forward to several others, the total economic cost could well be hundreds of billions of dollars. This scandal shows that corruption has deep roots in Indian society, but informed voters and the democratic process can help eradicate it, argues Rajesh Jain, managing director of Mumbai-based Netcore Solutions, in this opinion piece.

2- Audre Lorde’s quote “anger is loaded with information” ; When you are at the wrong end of the unjust societies, many truths that are clear to you come out loaded with information. Read complete 6 page essay on Uses of Anger. Thanks to Anu.

3-The narcissism of the neurotic by P Sainath : The Commonwealth Games were no showcase, but a mirror of India 2010. If they presented anything, it was this — Indian crony, casino capitalism at its most vigorous.

4- This is not a panel discussion : Meet four Adivasi intellectuals whose lives have changed the politics and conversations about indigenous people, says G VISHNU

5-The Burden Of Knowing By Charles Hugh Smith: Knowing what lies ahead is a great emotional burden. The knowledge that the present is unsustainable is, for many of us, a great emotional burden. It troubles our sleep, our minds, and our basic emotional well-being. Knowledge, like memory, cannot be erased at will, and thus it runs in the background of our lives, unseen by others but deeply troubling to the knower.

6- Religious Excuse of barbarity by Johann Hari: If you are engaged in an act of cruelty, there is an easy, effective way to silence your critics and snatch some space to carry on. Tell us all that your religion requires you to do it, and you are "offended" by any critical response. Erect an electric wire fence around your nastiest actions and call it "respect".

7- Microfinance is under attack. Even the normally reticent pink newspapers have now begun to bring out the inherent flaws in the microfinance model.Check some facts here- MFIs: Profiteering from poverty and Five myths about microfinance.

8- When girls fear school by Kalpana Sharma: The reasons for the high drop-out rate of girls are simple: Fear of corporal punishment, sexual abuse and the lack of basic amenities like toilets in schools.

9- Valerie Plame, YES! Wikileaks, NO! : It is the American people who should be outraged that its government has transformed a nation with a reputation for freedom, justice, tolerance and respect for human rights into a backwater that revels in its criminality, cover-ups, injustices and hypocrisies.

So savor the Wikileaks documents while you can, because soon they'll be gone. And for the government criminals of the world, and for those who protect them, it will again be business as usual.

10- Meet Dr. Dani: One of the unsung heroes of our public service institutions : . Yet, there are people such as Dani in many of the small hospitals in the country, whose toils go unheard, and whose stories go unsaid.

Thought of the Day :
Julian Assange writes in his blog: “True belief is when a voice booms ‘the prisoner shall now rise’ and no one else in the room stands”.

Development is Uneven, Get Over It

2010-12-15T23:27:00.000+05:30

Adapted from the blog post of William Easterly

This a 20 minute extemporaneous talk at UNICEF headquarters in New York on the topic of “Inclusive Growth”. After the talk, there is a question, comment, and response session with the audience. The full video is an hour, if you are really a masochist. (Try this link if the video player above doesn’t work.)

To summarize the talk: success is intrinsically uneven, so development and growth is intrinsically uneven, not “inclusive”. (See the earlier post about the fractal stubborness of uneven geographic wealth.) In this talk, I also mention how remarkably uneven success shows up in just about every field of endeavor. One way this shows up is in a “power law”: there is such a strong negative relationship between the frequency of success and the scale of success that we have to use a logarithmic scale (i.e. a scale where every unit increase means multiplying by 10) for both to be able to fit the extremes onto the graph, like the one below:

There is no evidence that large-scale redistribution programs can succeed without killing off growth, but targeting things like health and education to the poor has worked and could work even more. Lastly, the best thing of all you can do for “inclusive growth” is asserting the individual human rights of all, including women, gays, and religious, racial, and ethnic minorities. For more detail to fill out these ideas, please watch the video.

UPDATE: Answer to how many Beatles hits out of 188 recorded songs on their 14 albums are hits today: 15. Even the most successful band in rock history could only produce a lasting hit about 8% of the time (please draw your own profound insights into the intrinsic unevenness of success and non-inclusive growth).

Travelouge

2010-12-14T23:03:00.002+05:30

In plucking the fruit of memory one runs the risk of spoiling its bloom -Joseph Conard.

A journey back to Nanital has keep me guessing about this quotes. I have grown up in Nanital till the age of five years. There is always a sense of excitement attached to old memories. Especially, of the places where one grows up.

Memories are altered by present day reality and the sweetness is lost. We are grown up on the tales of childhood and in weaving an endearing and engaging past times. There is tale made by elders about ours association with these places. Only fogy scenes appear in the mind about childhood days when even memories were not even saving in the brain. Back then, life was blossoming with the present. Neither care for future and nor drag of yesterday.

When I want to re cherish those moments and reached to the place after twenty years, everything was changed. I was hoping for the time frozen land of my memories welcoming me with a cheer. All the landscape was different than imagined. Strangely, I met the faces who shared their time with me in long back. The passing age had taken place the effect and photographs of the memory were becoming altered with present.

I visited my LKG school back after 22 years. The school has become remain scant of the past. The walls are falling and the church appears as centuries old due to poor maintenance. The whole place appear as an archaeological site but the schooling is still continued. there. New people are there in the school and few classes have been converted to boarding. Memories have fallen into a abyss and given place to the reality.

I didn't visited my UKG school and old house due to this fear of change. A lot have been changed there. UKG school has been converted into hotel. And new constructions and roads have changed the old landscape. This was for the good for the people. I need store of memories to tell stories in the old age. Reality will tamper the timelessness of memories and tales.

May be I am in a making stage of romantic. Preservance slows down the decay yet life always looks full of energy in the past. Only youth and old can bear the risk of being romantic. One full with dreams, enthusiasm and idealism & another with experience and memories. A Realist turns into romantic is a sign of old age. My mind is aging faster than the body !

I am alone and thinking a line of Fyodor Dostoevsky : The characteristics of our romantics are to understand everything, to see everything and to see it often incomparably more clearly than our most realistic minds see it...

Complex System

2010-12-11T17:00:00.007+05:30

Ecologist Eric Berlow doesn't feel overwhelmed when faced with complex systems. He knows that more information can lead to a better, simpler solution. Illustrating the tips and tricks for breaking down big issues, he distills an overwhelming infographic on U.S. strategy in Afghanistan to a few elementary points.

I agree with the talk as understanding big terms as 'development' and 'sustainablity' is like dealing with the complex system. I have myself reached this conclusion with the help of fluid dynamics. That might sound like an unconventional explanation for the readers. When you create any index or threshold level, it is like checking turbulence and laminar in the flow of fluid. Turbulence is flow characterized by recirculation, eddies, and apparent randomness. Flow in which turbulence is not exhibited is called laminar. And therefore many conditions should be included before making any empirical formula.

This talk helps in understanding interconnectivity of the subjects and diversity needed in the education. Monitoring, managing, and coordinating the information collection and cataloging of activities of a process result in huge amount of data and interconnected sub - process. The broad spectrum can only be understand in the simpler way by going from basics to complex looking phase and returning with the simpler explanation. Now, the level of dependence of process on various parameters can be well defined and analysed.

This we often do in the Mathematics. From rockets to stock markets, many of humanity's most thrilling creations are powered by math. So why do kids lose interest in it? Conrad Wolfram says the part of math we teach -- calculation by hand -- isn't just tedious, it's mostly irrelevant to real mathematics and the real world. He presents his radical idea: teaching kids math through computer programming.

The fear of people to deal with complexity and maths hinders the establishing process to reach the estimative conclusion. Nature does not work in the mysterious way. The mystery element is little complex yet transparent for observation for everyone. We need for computing and less repetition !

Example: Key observations from the ICKM conference this year (October, 2010 ) by Nimmy,

Quote of the Day: Make everything as simple as possible, but not simpler. - Albert Einstein