Identity we carry - a deeper look

Have u ever wondered about the fact that people who are either traditionally bound or are highly intellectual often cling more to their identity than people who r moderately educated like us. By Identity here I mean how we define ourselves in this society. For eg - My prime identity is of an Indian but for a RSS member its hindu or for Raj Thackrey its marathi. Religion, region, language, caste, nation anything can form ones identity and at the same time people carry multiple identities and use suitable identity from their kitty according to their interest and needs.

Point is we often feel that being possessive about identity is a parochial trait and with education and exposure to modernity, this trait eventually would die out. Taking ourselves as an example - most of us are least bothered which religion we follow and what region do we belong to. But on the other hand, there is another group considered as highly educated which paradoxically to our thought and similar to traditionalist cling to their identities. Jews in Israel considered most educated is a prime example. Indian diaspora in US, Scottish Irish sub nationalism consciousness in Britain are other examples.

So questions are - 1) Why are some people possessive about their identities and 2) Could modernity and education replace this identity conscience.

Identity gives man a measure by which he differentiates himself from others. Its gives the much essential spice in life and reason to live. Modernity with it has brought a culture of Mcdonalisation which has resulted in expansion of uniformity across boards. Today Middle class across world eat speak dress in a similar fashion. Thus diluting our unique identities, resulting in identity crisis. Man without identity today feels rootless and lonely. This identity loss has resulted in outlash against modernity, some of the manifestation of which are moral policing, khap panchayats, marathi and north east sub national consciousness. And also fundamentalism which is a product of modern times and was not existent traditionally.

Coming back to the point - identity comes natural to man and has nothing to do with tradition and modernity. We, the middle class, are temporally blinded by modernity and must wake up and understand the more deeper reasons behind the so called wrongs of our society. Or else ironically we the educated ones will continue to remain the most ignorant. As for struggle for identity (which has often turned violent) is reaction to forceful exposure of man to modernity and it would help on our part to be much more sensitive to others identity.

Why religion is good ?

How we , bearers of the next generations, condemn religion ! What is religion ? Religion, though many, followed by still more many, is in essence, a set of beliefs institutionalized by some structure, may it be a temple, a church or a mosque. Irony is, on one hand, we are taught about our value system by one part of our society - our culture, family and religion, its the other part of the same society - our educational system which teaches us to question it. And we chose to believe the latter. Alas! we miss the essence of religion, a structure of society that has endured for centuries.

How our parents after performing a ritual (which may seem infinitely absurd to our rational mind) seem more content? How hope is kindled once again in a dejected, depressed heart of a man disheartened by repetitive failures, by some illogical commentary of a priest ? How a mind troubled by uncertainty is again brought to peace by seemingly wisdom words of religion ?

The essence of religion is not its manifest function which are visible to eyes. Its not the salvation or the sacrifice or the nirvana. But its the latent functions which we, the rational ones, become blind to. Science, though has made us rational, also has made us blind to things which are invisible to eyes.

So what are these latent functions. Let me show you how these function are exercised in disguise in our daily lives.

Picture a high on drama ritual going on. Obviously its being attended by many. While this ritual is going on, man whose faith is reasserted into god and religion, unknowingly comes closer to those having the same belief. Unknowingly many are united under the same umbrella - the common faith; a unity which gives rise to solidarity necessary for our society to survive. Though this apparent, seemingly naive truth, may seem simple to you, rattle your mind to find any other such potent tool to unite man with such ease. Aaah ! you c ! Its not the visible goal of the ritual thats important, its the disguised unity which is the achievement. Religions across world, though different, impart common beliefs in their flock, which unites them.

Lets take another scenario - a man who is troubled by repetitive failures, failure even after he is worked so hard, tried his best, becomes hopeless. Hope is reignited in his heart by few words of religious wisdom like the ones in Gita. These preachings though irrational gives man courage to once again stand and fight. No science can achieve this feat. U c now! its not the preachings that are imp, its the impact they have on man thats imp. Preachings vary from religion to religion but their objective remains the same - to give man courage to fight once more.

Our lives are full of uncertainties. You know whats the main reason for man's sadness, its these uncertainties over which man has no control. Quest for answers to these uncertainties makes man restless, his peace his lost. Religion, through its absurd reasons, gives him closure, peace. Again its not the reason which are important, its the closure which is its miracle.

Religions are many in this world. They have different preachings, interpreted yet differently by many. But the objectives, the latent functions are same for all of them. U c, y religion came to be in the first place. They were not for some salvation, they were made to keep man safe, content, away from war, in peace with his brothers, in short a more happy man. Tools it used may have been absurd but they were done to make man a more happy man. After all! Its the same reason we developed science, to make our lives more comfortable, more merrier. But Science is far from fullfilling all our querries, so meanwhile there is religion to keep us at peace, to keep us happy. Plus our lives are short and we cant wait for science to solve all our problems. So just believe and be happy!

Reservation and The Cause of Reservation

Why are our policy makers c reservation as solution to everything? When we achieved our independence from British shackles, alternatives were searched for a fast economic social growth path. For the cause of upliftment of unprivileged, depressed class leaders demanded communal electorates but congess leaders headed by Mahatama Gandhi was against such electorates. With intense bargaining, reservation of seats as solution was hammered out.

Its quite visible and clear that intentions of our leaders were/are fair and true but the path they chose is not the best one. I am against reservation of any type. Does that mean I am against the upliftment of poor and the needy ? Obviously NO ! Then why am I against reservation?Because I believe there are better solutions available to this problem then reservation. Its not like to achieve something u have to sacrifice something. It is possible for the whole society to move forward.

Reservation tramples the very basic fundamental principal of democracy i.e. individual liberalism. Its a tool synonym to communist ideology ; an 100% reservation would transform our democracy into a communism.

Reservation are like steroids for body building. You may see benefits but along with hazardous side effects. They are uneconomic and opposes the market principles of competition.

Compromise on talent and its side-effects - When you reserve a seat, you compromise on talent which then effects work.

Reservation is one of the most stickiest policy ever. We may have neutralized socialism but it would be impossible to dilute reservation. Any community or class given reservation would never want to let it go without a fight. Its like power given in hand of politician or bureaucrat or high salary given to an employee. They will not let it go !

It brings an psychological divide between the reserved classes and others. Its nurturing a division not based on economic or social conditions but one that of envy, jealousy of having less opportunities.

Its highly uneconomical. Such high reservation if carefully looked is an substitute or cover up of actually handing over money. This will prove highly dangerous for our economy.

I don't deny that this reservation policy won't bear any fruits, it will. But at the cost of irreversible damage. Moreover when its possible to have solutions better than reservation, then why should we chose the former.

United India : India - Pakistan - Bangladesh

An amazingly beautiful idea struck me today !

Today there exists such escalated tension between India and Pakistan. How our thoughts are clouded by hatred and distrust when it comes to Pakistan. But there actually exist an irony which has been overlooked. The same Pakistan was once our India and if seen through a different lens, it seems as if two brothers have taken arms against each other.

Partition divided us into India , Pakistan and Bangladesh, a single nation imputed by the sword of communalism and Religious sectarianism. What if, these 3 in future decide to come back together once again , to be a united country once again. What if we decide to erase the boundary once drawn on map by the British. What if we decide to reunite the parts of a broken nation lost once in history - a United India of India, Pakistan and Bangladesh.

West and East Germany came back together to form once again an united Germany. Can we dare to see the same dream ?

There is no use to awaken the ignorant - to make him vote

Well ! Recently I came to realize this irony -

Thr is this movement going around - Jago re ! , India awakening ...... Ya the one that tells that if u r not voting, u r sleeping :) The irony here is awakening a youth for doing something for which he doesnt know a thing about. .............. ok ! I get it that u dont get it :P let me explain !

We should vote. What for ! Y for ! Which for !

How many elections do u know about ? Ya! General elections ........ state elections ......... hmmm ..... do you know about municipality elections or for that matter panchayat elections !

Do you know the difference between an MP and a MLA ?

Do you know that locality (block) you are living in elects a corporator/ any representative by other name.

Do you know that does your state have a legislature council or not ?

U c ! wat use is thr to awaken a person who doesnt know a shit about what he is voting for!

They say we should vote to make our politicians accountable. But they forget accountability of MPs (general elections) don't matter to us that much.

Politicians whose accountability do matter to us are the one closest to us ........... municipality then state then general (union) ............. the closer it gets, the more ignorant we are about it (we don't know anything about municipality, do we? )

Its like this ............. group of friends c a pothole or corruption at a local sarkari office. One of them curse the politicians .............. another one says that its our mistake that we don't vote ......... the first one goes and votes in general election and feels good bout it that he is an awakened citizen and has done duty on his part. Wat fool ! Idiot doesnt know that voting in general election wont help, he must vote in municipality elections to make things better.

We have identified the problem correctly - to make our politicians accountable, we must vote. But prior to it we must know where to vote ................ and believe me, its not our fault, its our education systems fault.

Whats irony on irony is that we the most educated ones or the most brilliant ones (especially the IITians and IIMites ) don't have a clue about this system. Moreover, knowing about our admin system is no common sense . Yeah ! I am not joking , the bloody thing is so complex that if u take a book and start reading it, u will end up jamming ur brain. And they expect a common man to know all this and on this assumption, they come to awaken us !

The solution is simple - put a compulsory course on our administration, political and electoral system when we are mature. We have one (elementary) in our 6th-7th grade. Who does remember it, I don't and I know u don't. We need a compulsory course in our higher secondary and graduation (college) .

Afterwhich I believe our society can be awakened. Becoz u talk about waking one who is sleeping but has the knowledge !

Global Warming and Recent 2009 drought

As they all say, its all global warming ! The most contemporary effect of this climate change in our lives is 2009 drought which of course as we all know has sent food prices soaring.

You may have always wondered (well! at least some) how this drought and Global warming are connected. Though many point towards Global warming, there is no clear unanimous theory yet.

Well answer to this recent drought is phenomena of El Nino. El Nino is a global climatic event that affects our monsoons. During this event, surprisingly a high pressure exists over Indian subcontinent as opposed to low pressure in summers (a riddle which remains unsolved). Due to this pressure reversal, monsoons which are pulled into India, due to low pressure over Indian subcontinent, is severely affected. And in India we experience drought.

Now where does climate change come into picture ? Earlier this El Nino cycle used to repeat itself in 15-20 yrs. Post 1950s, it was seen to occur every 4 years and with 21st century, scientists are dreading us for a renewed periodic cycle of 2.5 yrs. This increased frequency of El Nino as many world scientist claim is an effect of global warming.

But alas ! our scientists are yet to fully understand this phenomena and its connection to global warming though it has been part of human history as long as we can remember.

PS - El Nino event is predicted to continue in 2010, so you may see a consecutive year of drought.

India's Sovereignty in today's world

Sovereignty means paramount, absolute and unchallenged authority of a nation (state) within it's own boundaries. Needless to say, it also implies complete independence and autonomy in handling one's own affair.

As the world moves towards globalization, its curious to note its effects on a nation's sovereignty.

Let me put some questions for you after which we will be able to appreciate the idea we are about to embark upon.

1. Why BJP and Left are opposed to Nuclear deal ?
2. Why are we opposed to international scrutiny of our climate change initiatives & policies ?
3. Why Left is against opening up of markets to foreign MNCs - liberalism ?
4. Why opposition (be it any party) views every international deal with crossed eyes ?
5. Why do we often hesitate to take aid from world donors ? etc.

The answer to all these questions is that all these deals though are advantageous and essential comes with a compromise. They all somehow subdue our sovereignty.

Whenever we sign an international agreement or deal, we are legally bound by the rules and regulations as agreed or set. Thus, our parliament looses its supremacy to freely legislate on matters dealing with the deal as its bound by international laws to abide by the agreement. And hence, we are subjugated to laws over which we have little control. Moreover, it's difficult for our leaders to acknowledge our subdued sovereignty.

Strengthening of International bodies like UN, WTO, World Bank.

Bilateral/Multilateral deals

What makes India such strong contender of being a superpower ?

Or Why is world going gaga over India's growth ?

Or Whats the cause of new found respect for India in world's eyes and our increased say in world forums?

Or Of all the countries opted for liberalism, why India (along with China) are the only ones showing such high growth ?

Or Why all foreign nations want to have a cordial relation with India ?

and most interesting of all ...... Remember 90s govt adds for family planning, where did they go ?

We all know reason of India's growth is liberalism. But many countries has opted for liberalism, why India alone (with China) showing such high growth.

India is among the most favorite destination for FDIs among all countries. Ya I know cheap labor but why do we have cheap labor ?

Answer to all these question (to surprise of many) is our huge population. Or economically putting it our vast human resources. This huge population not only serves as source of cheap labor (simple demand supply concept - huge supply of human capital brings down the price - the labor cost) but also as a huge huge market. Produce anything in India and its bound to sell in this huge market.

This huge market and cheap labor attracts FDI which in turn results high economic growth. Since we have not yet fully realized our human capital and our market are far from saturation, we are bound for growth for a long long time and eventually superpower.

This huge market is also reason for all countries favoring a cordial relation with India, after all they want Indian markets to be open for their companies.

And lastly till 90s we though our disabilities of poverty, unemployment etc are because of our huge population. Hence we got to see govt adds of family planning 'hum do humare do'.

After liberalization, picture changed and this huge population liability became an asset. Hence no more govt adds :)

Note - Additional factors such as well regulated market, huge resources, vibrant democracy etc have not been dealt here. Idea of this article is to bring out that unique feature of India with respect to other countries which makes it a contender of superpower. After all the word super power is relative !

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hmmm ! after reading the comments it seems people here are mixing two different question or are confused about the definition of superpower.

How do you define superpower ? Superpower as a notion deals with macro features of a nation as a whole - economic size , military power, political status in world etc.

In todays world China has emerged as a superpower but still is suffering from ills of poverty, poor-rich disparity etc. USA in contemporary time is still a superpower despite suffering from huge unemployment in its economy.

So point is India or for matter any country can be a superpower (macro concept) before attaining a developed nation status (micro concept) { c if you can grasp this idea ! }

Secondly ills of cheap labor (from individual perspective), low per capita income directs us towards a different question (though a related one) - Do we want such power or superpower status ?

And believe me this seemingly simple question will have a very complex solution ! As far as I can c, status of superpower and developed nation will prove complimentary to each other (barring some aspects)

For our big population, it seems population on one hand is driving us towards being a superpower, is also proving a hindrance for us to attaining the abilities of a developed nation or lets say cause for cheap labor or low per capita income. Eventually we will have to settle for a compromise !

India is growing immensely --- Really ?

We all today are extremely proud of that fact that India is showing such high growth. But looking closely one cannot avoid being suspicious at these figures of 7%-9% growth. How ? Lets c .....

Economic growth is calculated upon GDP that is gross domestic product , or in lame language value of final goods and services produced in year on Indian territory. What there is to closely look in this definition is the term 'on Indian territory'.

Liberalism as we all believe and know and taught as reason behind this growth. What does it mean actually ! MNCs investing in India (other factors account for less). Still further clarifying it, MNC setting up business in India. Since its MNC ownership business, revenue/profit is taken by them or lets say goes to people sitting outside India or non-Indians.

But all this revenue generated by MNC is accounted for in GDP, hence the growth (because of the term in GDP definition 'on Indian territory'). What does it mean ? It means foreigners using our resources, converting into financial resources and taking it outside India and we here are all going gaga over growth indicator of 9%.

Ohh yes !! a substantial part of our GDP is actually income of foreigners, money which we never ever get to see.

Yet not convinced ! let me throw some more facts on you .......

1. Going by calculation of growth, we showed growth during British colonial times.

2. If India goes into war, our growth would increase. GDP includes government expenditure which will go up due to war spendings.

You must have heard about jobless growth and eventually inclusive growth. Jobless growth now you understand as poor India showing growth numbers on paper. And obviously govt had to do something about it, hence the slogan of 'inclusive growth'.

Remember the slogan of BJP - India Shining ! India for the first time showed high growth of 9% and yet BJP lost the elections. Why did that happen ?

BJP told common man - "see look the growth figure of 9%" and got a slap on the face ...... "I am suffering here from poverty and you are boasting of your growth numbers".

All growth was on paper only, none on ground. So don't get so excited over the numbers 7%-9%.

What we really need is actual indicator which shows our true growth and Alas! there is none.

PS: Don't get too influenced by this picture as there is other side of the story too :)

Self help group and Microfinance - An Ingenious Idea

The Concept

Self help group is group of below poverty line individuals coming together with goal of making each other financial self reliant or independent.

How does it function ? Each member contributes some amount to a revolving pool which acts as a collateral for taking up loans from bank. Point here is each individual individually is incapable of taking up a loan as he is unable to come up with sufficient collateral . Loan taken further acts a start up fund for individual member's business.

Issue of Default - Informal social pressure of group forces an individual for efficient utilization of fund and subsequent loan payment as their (group) own money is at stake (collateral). Moreover it helps bank to tackle only one account (of group) as opposed to many (each of individual) making handling of such small account(bigger than individual's) financially viable.

Contemporary relevance - Government promoted tool for fighting poverty

The brilliance of this idea is that it is simple enough yet so immensely strong. Strength lies in its ease in mass application, its concept roots in individualism and liberalism and most of all its free from government evils of corruption and inefficiency.

This simple idea empowers the unprivileged to write their own future without being dependent on government or others.

Still not convinced of its ingenuity ! Remember the landmark ideas of money, banking, insurance, credit cards. All these ideas bear a characteristic feature that all are immensely conceptually simple and such hugely influential. This idea goes a step further as it fulfills a social cause.

What makes Gandhi a leader above all !

Our teachers and elders always preached about greatness of Gandhi as a leader. But may be sometimes it was difficult for us to truly appreciate Gandhi and his techniques. Reason being his non-violence approach seems idealistic and ultimately fruitless.

Well let me make you realize what was so great about Gandhi. Though all preach about his leadership, more remarkable were his genius ideas. And yet we rarely see Gandhi as a genius.

Nonviolence approach of Gandhi though was ideologically based, also had a alternate goal. Revolutionary extremism though may seem heroic is not capable of drawing out masses. You can't expect a common man to take up arms sacrificing his family for nations sake. Moreover extremism is easily disposed off by govt/state as terrorism and hence is justified to brutally repressing it. But non - violence approach of Gandhi - Yes ! appealed to all as it was simple enough for a common man to take up and was more deadly as state find it hard to find reasons to in-justify it. Result - huge mass participation for first time at a time when idea of India as nation not even structured fully.

Secondly he appealed to everyone whether poor or rich, muslim or hindu, illiterate or intellectuals. Each and everyone found something in Gandhi of their use. I know people don't appreciate this part of Gandhi which is most stunning. Let me put some irony statements for you to ponder about -

How was it possible that a man carrying Gita preaching Hinduism made president of Muslim association All India Khilafat Association ?

How was it a man invited by Queen of England, a man controlling Congress (a body of highly intellectual individuals) was seen by a common man as one among them ?

Why was it that Bose ardent critic of Gandhi in later years called Gandhi as father of the nation ?

Fast unto death technique of Gandhi - Worst headache of British. A riot you can repress, terrorist can be put behind by bars but this ! how do you tackle man's fast unto death ....... ya thats why British found it so hard to negotiate with Gandhi ! K.C.Rao's fast unto death for Telangana is a recent example.

There is also this conception of some of Gandhi as moderate. Gandhi had been a moderate , an extremist and an anarchist in his struggle for independence. His breaking of laws (salt), filling of prisons and arousing mass to do the same show his extremism. 'Do or Die' slogan of Gandhi is a fact proving anarchist Gandhi. Yes Gandhi ardent non violent preacher giving the slogan 'Do or Die'.

When Gandhi entered Indian struggle, Congress leaders were busy in intellectual legislative debates, convincing the middle class, following a top down approach and what did Gandhi do ! he went to Bihar to start Satyagraha for sake of indigo cultivators. Again his brilliance - grass root level approach as he knew only a mass struggle can attain India's freedom.

These are some to name his techinques and we haven't yet covered his ideology which influenced the whole world and his view on administration - Sarvodaya approach - claimed by international theorists as best approach for democracy.

So you see why Gandhi was such a brilliant genius !

The Real Cause of Nepotism

Nepotism is misuse of one's power to promote individuals of his caste, family, religion etc.

The plague of Nepotism is a wide known virtue :) of our Bureaucracy. We all curse the babus for not giving us our due share. The reason if asked, is stated by many, lies in the individual practicing Nepotism and our bureaucratic culture. And yet again we are mistaken ! Each and everyone when entering in this system preaches that he won't become part of this system and yet ultimately becomes its part and parcel. Ever wondered why is it so ?

The reason as again is so simple that is blind to us. We Indians are fixed (or say hanging) in middle of 2 value system - one modern which emphasizes merit, equality, secularism etc and one traditional we acquire from our lineage, society and religion. It is this overlapping of 2 value system which gives rise to Nepotism.

Bureaucrats are subjected to demanded favors by friends and relatives. To some acting on such asks becomes a social compulsion whereas for some an initiative to promote his beliefs. Be it compulsion or initiative, its the same traditional values that underlines both. Moreover making them realize this vice of theirs is fruitless as their belief justify their actions.

So conclusion is when you are blaming the bureaucracy, stop and realize its not bureaucratic culture at fault. Its the contemporary scenario of our value system thats the real cause. This value system will take its own time to adjust, to completely become merit based (modern).

Time (and of course education) is the only marham that will slowly replace our traditional outlook with newer modern beliefs necessary for functioning of modern institutions like Bureaucracy.

Ever wondered why people with age tend to be more religious !

This thought came to my mind one day when I realized my dad and mom are getting more and more religious with age. Then I recalled dad was not so much into religion when I was much younger. This general fact (as people get old, they tend to be more religious) has become so general that we rarely ever look at it as something odd or peculiar.

When I tried to think out a reason for it, it came to be me as a utter surprise that there was no clear reason and yet all around us, people are doing the same - with age becoming more religious ! This peculiar behavior of our elders without no clear reason , intrigued me further. So I began thinking harder.

I came up with some reasons that I have jotted here -

1. Increasing insecurity with age - When I asked my mom she told me as one gets old, they become more insecure and they try to re-evaluate their life. I thought this has some truth in it as we remember God most when we are in trouble. But people with really old age and those who have retired or have no more liabilities are the one most into religion. What they got to be insecure ! Life evaluation may be but insecurity - Nahhh !!

2. Life evaluation - do people really care about it ? will I care ? how religion helps in it ...... may be shows some path. But the path preached by religion is for future not past , what to do or what not to do with goal of truth , attaining heaven , nirvana to count some. That path is no guide to life past deeds evaluation.

3. Redemption - Ya we all do things that are socially or morally wrong in our life. May be in later age idea of getting hell after life may promote one taking shelter in religion. But this again is a bit far fetched idea.

These reasons are all from an individual perspective. But as we youngsters always point out, our elder's religion following is more of a ritualism than truly understanding, following path shown by religion. Religion goals of love, peace, self realization, helping poor are replaced by rituals, prayers, social evils like untouchability. And yet they all know the actual goals that they are supposed to do and moreover the fact that they are neglecting it.

4. Coming to think it from a society perspective it makes more sense. As in our Indian society its the informal associations (religious and social) that influences one towards religion. As one get olds, his involvement in these association increases. It has an atmosphere where older influences the young, equal age interact, gurus preach. Moreover an informal social compulsion is witnessed which asks one to show his religious seriousness. A more ardent religious follower is looked upon or lets say strict religious following becomes a matter of show off and pride. This explains the ritualism of elders. A cycle is set where a newbie enters and slowly is turned to a so called ritualite who in turn converts some other newbie.

A conclusion of all this thinking is now a bit more clearer :) Social compulsion, tradition is the only reason that seems strong enough to influence all in society to become more religious with age.

Now if you have not realized the peculiarity of this finding let me make you realize this -

Without our knowledge we become a victim of our social surrounding and when someone makes us realize this we sharply react to it as nonsense. After all, such a strong belief of one in religion, if you tell him, is because of others influence becomes derogatory !

BASIC - success or failure ?

A View - India's disastrous stand with China (world's largest polluter) and asking for concession !