A Rendition of truth

For love of Scientific Temper

2017-08-07T16:25:00.001-07:00

Article 51 A (h) of the constitution of India states it as a fundamental duty, “to develop the scientific temper, humanism and the spirit of inquiry and reform.” This duty although enshrined for every citizen of India, becomes a serious responsibility of scientists and technologists when the spirit of inquiry is under serious attack. Recent episodes in the politics of science & technology seems to paint the national scientific arena in a religio-political outlook. The silence of scientific community in such times of crisis is a matter of concern and there is a denial of this political influence by the scientific community.

The relationship of science & technology with the society under political influence tends to put science under siege and at times it leads to the prevalence of pseudo-science and anti-science. John Ziman shared his fear in his book ‘Real Science’ by highlighting the assault on science in these words:

Science is under attack. People are losing confidence in its powers. Pseudo-scientific beliefs thrive. Anti-science speakers win public debates. Industrial firms misuse technology. Legislators curb experiments. Governments slash research funding. Even fellow scholars are becoming sceptical of its claims.

His claim of doubting scholars suits the Indian scientific community better than anyone else. Educational Institutes of science & technology experience the lack of complete faith in science when the footfalls in temples or prostrations in mosques and other places of worship increase before exams. This hints at lesser belief in science by the trainee scientists and budding engineers/doctors. This diffidence and lesser belief in science & technology is carried further in their professional lives. This situation was epitomised when ISRO chief Dr K. Radhakrishnan visited a temple with a replica of Mars orbiter in 2013. One can refrain from questioning faith but the lack of confidence in the science one practices and placing of the replica at Tirupati is an example of a very non-scientific temper. This ritual of elite scientists pivoting their science on faith is not limited to India. We are still catching up with our neighbouring Pakistan which believes in Jinn and Jinn based technology and their attempt to dig out science from verses of Quran (Scroll Article 2015). The mythical location of technology can be noted in seminars and conferences where Vaimaniki Shastra is touted to be a Vedic invention, eugenics, test tube baby and plastic surgery are portrayed as Indian contributions to science made some thousands and thousands year back. Recent praise of GarbhSanskar and other takeaways from mythologies are regular mentions at science conferences and seminars. Politicians push it down the throat of the audience and the scientific community sits silently. Who will object to the emptiness of these logics passed off as unquestionable diktats? Pervez Hoodbhoy the Pakistani nuclear physicist expressed his shock at the attack on ‘Scientific temper’ by Hindutva ideology (Scroll Article Jan 2016). The timidity of scientific community has always added to the woes of any nation. It did in the second world war when the racial profiling, technology for incarceration and mass destruction were developed by Nazis. Similar silences were noted when the inhuman experiments of Unit 731 were performed in Japan.

Scientific encounters with society are not always overt as the extreme cases mentioned from world war years. There are times when they are slowly engulfed or are appropriated by choice of the masters. This taming of science & technology to satisfy a politically created thirst for a particular area of research is vulgar. Pakistani scientists buckled under religiosity and they (many of them) ended up presenting mythical narrative as science.

Indian problem with science & technology is old but the friction started of late with India’s recent march towards totalitarianism. The big brother surveillance is a closet dream of people in power. Even after technologically advanced nations have demonstrated the politics of the massive science of surveillance, scientifically budding nations still flirt with such sciences without taking any lessons from those who have had such an experience. Aadhar and debate on privacy are few examples of our increasing vulnerability toward losing our privacy. More than such controls the issues crop up with social and psychological control, which happens with the scientific communities yielding to the political game plan. The idea of politically motivated research is always detached from real societal needs. Politically motivated research are camouflaged as the need of economic and developmental program for the masses. Justification of political positions using science as a shield has always been a forte of those in power. Unnat Bharat Abhiyan is one of the crusade re-invented in IITs which already had centres for rural technological initiatives. One should applaud the rural centric research being taken up (although it is taken up again and again in never ending cycles) and at the same time be aware of the dangers of acculturation of the scientific community towards a particular politics of culture and religion. One such initiative is SVAROP -- an acronym for Scientific Validation and Research On 'Panchgavya'. 'Panchgavya' is a concoction of cow dung, cow urine, milk, curd and ghee. An approach to hold a session only in the name of cow, ignoring other milch and draught cattle is a questionable approach.

Why the science and its implementation revolves around the idea of cow? What stops and rather prevents our scientific community from looking at other milch? Doesn’t John Ziman’s words about science and scholars ring some bell? Sundar Sarukkai too stressed the political influence on science in his book ‘What is Science?’

Since science needs an enormous amount of expenditure it is often only the government which can handle that burden. This makes the government a patron of the sciences and this in turn leads to an uneasy relation between the politicians and scientists. But entirely because of this ambiguous relations, the very activity of science has strategies of political action inbuilt within it. This is seen very clearly in the rhetoric of science, in their attempt to influence public opinion through various methods in the popular media as well as institutional attempts to encourage students to do science, to work closely with the government on its defence projects and so on.

The loyalists can always cite a constitutional service of the state towards village economy by presenting Article 48 of the Constitution of India, which is worded in a scientific language with religious zeal: “The State shall endeavour to organise agriculture and animal husbandry on modern and scientific lines and shall, in particular, take steps for preserving and improving the breeds, and prohibiting the slaughter, of cows and calves and other milch and draught cattle.” Article 48 stresses on village economy and animal husbandry with a special mention about cow and calves. This attempt to provide a rational to religious and political notions using science is old and was reflected in our constituent assembly debate too (The wire report on Constituent Assembly debate on Article 48).

The notion of too much reductionism in science at times leads to irrational basis of scientific endeavours like the recent political choice of cow as the only cattle for funded scientific inquiry. The claim of indigenous cows being better than exotic depends more on the adaptability of local breeds to the local climatic and ecological condition (Explained in a Zimbabwean study of 2002). Recent forced emphasis of indigenous cow supremacy delves in a politically motivated inference of how indigenous scores over others. The political patronage of selectivity in scientific approach kills the nascent curiosity for uncharted horizons of research which is a basic fibre of science as a process of inquiry.

One can argue that science can have the choice to be at different poles of politics but at the same time can’t deny that the duty of reason, questioning, inquiry and doubt are traits which science has to uphold. Science and its politics should be critically assessed with the questions at the intention and the nature of the problem at hand.

In any society scientific community should be the last one to enlist themselves as automatons of the political whims. When scientists and technologists take the call of law-makers without scrutinizing them, they are transformed into creators of someone else’s will. Those in power have their acts balanced for power retention and for social change. One doesn’t deny the good initiatives by the doles of the powerful but at times uncritical conforming renders a scientist or a technologist as a chain-maker. They end up rationalising all acts of the law-makers and chain the society with their master’s politically motivated initiatives. The social discourse is trapped in the catchphrase, “According to Science …” which is mostly narrated by political needs and the correct version should be “According to the politically motivated science …” SVAROP is one attempt to create a national consensus using the arguments of politically motivated science.

The desire of scientists and technologists to be dear to the powerful has always misused and harmed science with researches like racial profiling using eugenics, Unit 731, atomic bomb project, Biblical and Quranic interpretation of science, or searching for Vedic dictum in modern science etc. India’s politically motivated funding of science & technology contrasts with fund cuts which has jolted academia and institutes like IITs have resorted to a hike in fee. This adds extra burden on students who are being trained to use science only instrumentally without inculcating science in their everyday lives. The political desire to invest ‘a national process of scientific inquiry’ in search of science in history by rethinking ancient science and a social consensus to tie research to a cow’s tail has met a deafening silence from scientific community.

A dissenting scientist who understood science and for whom science and scientific temper was a national duty left us on 1^st August 2017. He would have had a very sad and heavyhearted exit. P M Bhargava would have felt a loser at the silence of scientific community and their inability to fulfil the constitutional duty mentioned in Article 51A (h). His death creates a vacuum in the scientific community especially for those who believe in their science and don’t prostrate themselves in front of superstitions and supernatural powers for success of scientific endeavours and for those who never succumb to political pressures.

One shouldn’t complain against the government, politicians, and superstition of the society rather it is the scientific community which should be held accountable. When science congress has sessions based on pseudo-science and myths, when politicians lecture to a modern and scientifically equipped august gathering about myths – it is the duty of a practitioner of science to stand up and break the silence. Else the silence of the scientific community should be questioned. They have trained themselves to remain silent just for a few political pats. They congregate in large numbers and prostrate in front of political whims for few brownie points. Recent 50 proposals received for SVAROP in IIT Delhi is one example. One has to be generous to look and address these politically motivated science proposals and take them as attempts of scientific inquiry. But the predominant politics behind this program can’t be ignored. Scientific inquiry has to follow scientific methodology. Even a choice of cattle and a particular species should have gone through a scientific rigmarole. The name of the program and its obeisance to cow politics in order to create cow technology raises big questions. The big guns of science & technology sitting on board and their silence to the politics behind this recent politics of technology and innovation raises fingers at them.

Politics has to happen and science & technology never remains in isolation. Science will never be defended by the politics of the dominant or the majoritarianism. Science & technology has to be defended by the practitioners of science, by those who believe in science. The interdependence of society and science & technology for production of knowledge places a huge responsibility on the scientific community not to be subservient to the whims of the dominant politics and take a critical approach towards any politically motivated research initiatives. Else, there will be total neglect and sabotage of the scientific temper. The scientific community should uphold the constitutional duty of Article 51A (h).

Questioning our Freedom

2016-08-16T03:49:00.000-07:00

Every year on the 15^th August, the day India celebrates independence, talk about the nature of freedom becomes common. In smaller towns and villages, people are alien to the criticism which this day meets at the hands of intellectuals -- both academic and public. Progressive front questions the idea of independence in contrast to the regular deprivation of liberty for different sections of society. The approach becomes a tool to question the liberty we cherish. Big question mark falls on the thought of many on the eve of Independence Day. Questions range from issues of festivities, introspection, historical unshackling and retained prejudices. Ecstatic Independence Day morning with the sounds of music, political rhetoric from lecterns and flaglets all around give an impression of an auspicious day to be celebrated. Is it or isn’t it a day of celebration varies from community to community and even individual to individual. The whole discussion in this article is pivoted on four points.

Independence – Bloodless or Blood-stained movement
Should we Re-think our Azaadi
The historical unshackling
Getting rid of regular chains to be freer in true sense

Independence – Bloodless or Blood-stained movement

When India woke to freedom, which it did in many years of negotiation with the British, the air was stinking with hatred. There was a communal divide. Two nations were formed. India had a neighbour with which it was going to have a fateful relation for decades to come. This did help political parties in reigning common civilians by spreading venom of hate for each other. Formation of two nations led to mass migration of people. These migrations were not peaceful and riots broke out in many places. Butchery was rampant and human had lost humanity in this phase of national transition. Blood thirsty mobs and killings can easily be read in articles written on the historical change of map of this subcontinent.

Every year when we stand to sing our national anthem and revere our Tricolour, we miss to mourn the brutality inflicted on many due to the formation of these two states. The sores for many have remained fresh, with the scratches of communalism for political strength. This celebration calls for the minutes of silence when we stood on the wrong line of being human. It behoves us to reflect on the loss of tolerance in the days when India made a tryst with destiny and Pakistan was created. Fanned by hatred, the legacy of distrust carried on.

An independence which had the bloodless movements of Gandhi and the revolutionary touch of Bhagat Singh along with many from either side of the camp, could have had better shape. Since the damage is done, shouldn’t we remember those ghastly tales of our own brutality too?

Should we Re-think our Azaadi

On the brighter side, we were free from the chains of empire and now were sovereign. This gave India power to legislate and execute according to the newly installed universal suffrage. This democratizing step was a leap when people from all sections irrespective of any differences were given a power of ‘one person –one vote’. It was another revolutionary move in society which was riddled with discriminating caste and was marching to be communally distrustful within. A constitution was framed and the country had its own rule of law. Many of the appendages of the British legacy were retained in many places like article 377, article 124a and many more. The legal premises which were installed by the British to curb freedom in the subcontinent was retained by the nascent nation too. Ironically, even after 69 years these articles are used as law and voices are choked. Blaring example is the JNU incident and Rohith Vemula institutional murder.

Besides the issue of law, there is a historically inherited oppressor-oppressed practice in our society. The issue of Dalits being tortured day in and night out is nothing new. Constitutional provisions did give equality but without proper execution of such provisions a section of society lurched behind. Rampant discrimination reported on regular basis shows how 16% of our population is still in socially instituted chains. The bias is further reinforced when people turn a blind eye to the institutionalised discrimination. One such case was reported in an article titled ‘Finding the right measure’ published in The Hindu. When a section of society is discriminated and oppressed at birth and death, we all can gauge the issues they have to go in life.

Besides the issue of Dalits, the issue of Minorities is not much different. Global Islamophobia does seep at national and local levels too. 69^th year or free India did show its tyrant nature when there was a communalised ban on beef. This led to strengthening of age old rift between communities like Muslims, Hindus and Dalits. Muslims lynched in the name of beef and cow protection, coupled with the atrocities of Dalits raises a huge question on our essence of freedom (azaadi). This azaadi which everyone cherishes once a year with flaglets and ‘laddoos’ evades the vulnerable all through the year. The idea of independent India was coupled with the liberty, equality and fraternity as held sacred in the Preamble to our constitution. Equality most of the time goes missing and inequality has become a defining trait of Indian society at large.

Similar is the fate of adivasis in India especially in the region which bureaucrats and jingoist love to label as ‘The Red Corridor’. The fate of tribal India is mostly in the hands of extreme violence and greedy corporates. Their interest is always neglected in the name of development and growth. Another section of Indian society which has suffered the brunt of social chains, is that of women whether they are from any class, caste or religion matters less than their being female. Although activists and social workers have taken strides in this direction, still freer horizon is far away.

The issues relevant to our azaadi and how it has eluded many were raised at Una on 15^th August. But is one Una sufficient or do we need more. Shouldn’t each mohalla, village, town and city echo Una and ask the question of how to have the Azaadi which the founding fathers of modern India had envisaged?

The historical unshackling

The only basis on which the celebration of Independence gets credence is the unshackling of political chains. For the Indians of that time, it meant no more boots and gun-butt. It meant freedom to dream a country of their choice and they did dream accordingly. The dream then carried the historically inherited biases. Few who were aware and sensitive of the social issues worked to remove it and others who valued them attempted to retain them. The best example of such a bias is caste.

When the chains were removed Indian-ness got new breathe of life and the country moved joyously. This shedding of a political chain was marred by rampant animality of riots and carnage. It seemed the temporary animal instinct which had affected the subcontinent remained with us. Recent atrocities in Kashmir and lack of willingness to have political dialogues hints at how we started mimicking our British tormentors. Citizens of a free state should value freedom everywhere and to keep their freedom and its spirit flying high should volunteer for freedom everywhere. There is a serious lack of such sensitivity towards others freedom. We have draconian laws like AFSPA for civilians in some places and majority of us look away. Issues of Kashmir and north-east is another scale of ‘othering’ which leaves many in shackles. So, the notion of freedom gets a big question here too.

Getting rid of regular chains to be freer in true sense

Now questioning our freedom becomes legitimate if we look at our society with critical lenses. But how to attain the freedom promised, the freedom which is due to all of us? There are numerous issues with us. Caste, religion, region and gender being few of the issues of either social handicap or restraint. These barriers need to be broken to get the equality in truer sense. Prevalent inequality leads to the endless trail of discrimination and subjugation. Oppressor and oppressed dynamics gets fodder from the existing inequalities and curbed social chains. We need to introspect on the social handicaps for our freedom and echo as Kanhaiya Kumar does, “Hum Kya chahte ?” --- ‘AZAADI’.

Caste on Campus

2016-03-17T03:41:00.002-07:00

A tale of Inherited Discrimination

Social status in the form of caste has enjoyed the privilege of traditional and cultural endorsement since time immemorial.

Long back a depressed caste child with a passion to learn the art of archery approached a guru. It was a time when campuses were in the form of gurukul and resembled residential institutes of our times. The guru known in history as Dronacharya followed the custom of time and turned the kid away. Later Ekalavya as the pupil is known today driven by his passion and desire to master the art, crafted a perfection. Legend says he used the soil, where Dronacharya had set his foot to make an idol and practised in front of it. His skills were revealed when he stopped a dog from barking using arrows in certain arrangement without harming the dog. Dronacharya driven by the supremacist attitude of his caste, made sure only an upper caste Arjun gets to be the best archer and he concocted a plan. He asked Ekalavya to cut his thumb to repay the master.

This is a mythological account of how a brahman upheld caste by depriving a lower caste from a skill because it was customary for a kshatriya to savor it.

History took a note of Ekalavya and there were thinkers and reformers who worked to get future's ekalavyas to campuses (modern day gurukuls).

Fast forwarding to India after independence, there was a provision to get such a pupil/learner in campus by using newly established law of the land. Laws were made and constitutional provisions were laid down to remove this inequality (India is cursed with different inequalities).

Then a kid was denied right to learn due to law and now the she/he stands in the campus with the help of law. Seems like the king changed his mind or he had better advisory board of ministers. Although a post independence pupil had secured a place to learn alongside others!

Did she/he really get an equal position?
Is she/he compensated for historical loss incurred on her/him due to age old rejection and exclusion?
Is this child welcome among the section which has always shooed away people from her/his community?
Have we changed or are we standing in the present with our heads buried in the past?
Are we holding hands with the likes of Ambedkar or we are still prostrating in front of the diktats of Dronacharya ?

Looking inwards we find we are still trapped in the chains of caste in campuses. A discussion of caste in campus may seem myopic but it reflects how we are trained. Caste in campuses, reflect a folk trail in day to day life of a society. Caste in campus is an appendage which has gone wrong. A quick look at recent institutional behaviour of universities shows the modern day institutionalised dronacharyas. This dronacharya may not be in flesh and blood but is in ideas, behaviours and beliefs. This dronacharya is as casteist as the historic one and is equally shrewd. Sadly, we still have many ekalavyas succumbing to the whims of modern day dronacharyas. Recent suicide of Rohith Vemula is an example of how an institutional casteism, creates indirect pressure on students who are forced to write in stone, 'I QUIT'. The social hierarchy even after humongous effort by lawmakers, reformers and activist has its head in the past.
There is deep similarity between the two casteist campuses of then and now. The past one stole the glory of a lower caste student/disciple and the present one has moved a step ahead and is stealing lives. But the issue with the suppressed students separated by history is heart wrenching. One cut his thumb and the other his life, I am against both, I complain to both. They left a system unchallenged. They left the monsters smiling.

The tale of caste in campus takes us by storm once in a while but it has always been there. Casteism has always been a norm in day to day student lives, but what is broadcast on media canvas are situations in elite institutions that too when there is some profiteering attached with either financial or political issue in sight.
Post independence campuses developed dual mode of caste. The traditional caste by birth many times hid behind merits and used its novel discriminatory approach in campuses. Merit married the pre-existing notion of caste based on discrimination and other modes of exclusion.

Although law gave positive discrimination but exclusion always breathed on the social fabric. This exclusion and non-acceptance became prominent in times of Mandal Commission (1979) when depressed caste/classes since ages were promised some space to grow. The report based on social, educational and economical criteria of Mandal Commission visibly reflected the caste mark on the society.
Discriminatory air hung in campuses and there was resentment at the new possibilities of change.

A bigger debate unfolded in campuses and whole of 1990s experienced visible assertion of identities. Caste was no more a 'behind the curtain whimpering Arjun' waiting for Dronacharya to create space for him. Forward Caste Arjuns came out in open against ekalavyas who wanted to use their constitutional right as stated in Article 15 (\emph{Article 15 in The Constitution Of India 1949 states: Prohibition of discrimination on grounds of religion, race, caste, sex or place of birth}). This was a time of new incarnation of caste in campus. Arjuns and Ashwathamas pitched against ekalavyas.

Campuses not only became new-age dronas, they even retained the tradition of exclusion and suppression. Exclusion was noted in IIT Roorkee when 73 students were expelled for reasons citing merit. Since merit is an inheritance of caste benefits acquired through family history. According to an investigative report by a leading national daily, more than 90\% of the students expelled were from reserved categories. Statistics compiled by a student from IIT Roorkee show that out of the 73 expelled students, 31 are from ST category, 23 from SC category, 4 from PD, 8 from OBC and 7 from general category.
Regular discrimination and exclusion has many a times forced students in campuses towards taking extreme steps. Bal Mukund Bharti of AIIMS succumbed to caste discrimination and committed suicide on 3rd March 2010. This was after Thorat Committe Report (2007) about the discrimination existing in the campus. Senthil Kumar, PhD, School of Physics, University of Hyderabad committed suicide in February, 2008. Aniket Ambhore of IIT Bombay died on Sep 4, 2014 and Rohith Vemula of UoH cut his life short on Jan 17, 2016 -- both were victims of caste discrimination. The list of ekalavyas succumbing to discrminatory Dronas is endless. If an incident happens in an elite institute, it becomes visible and most of the time if they are worthy of News bites. But many more are discriminated every day in various colleges over their food, dress, language, culture, behavior all in the name of caste. Some succumb to the situation like death of three girls in SVS college Villupuram. Many keep struggling as in The Government Tribal Hostels Panvel, Mumbai , Maharashtra.

New-age Dronas are carrying there legacies of discrimination in campuses but their is some change in the air. Many are standing up against the colossus age old casteism. Many are asserting their rights and ekalavyas are courageously waving their identities.
But still there are hurdles to cross, and miles to march before Arjun and Ekalavya won't be discriminated by new-age Dronas. Many have their eyes fixed on the horizon for a new dawn where all are provided with a level playing field and no ekalavya has to cut a thumb or cut a life short.

(Note: The use of Ekalavya (male) doesn't ignore the discriminations suffered by females. The use of name is only to draw parallels.)

(This article appeared in a student Magazine -- "Aaghaaz - towards a new beginning")

Saving Campus Dissent

2016-02-17T02:59:00.000-08:00

When many pyres burnt, all were silent.
When many coffins were laid, all were silent.
When division of minds was sown, many justified.

But what spurred the pseudo-nationalists into action was an opportunity to implicate a student as anti-national, and use it to silence dissent. Dissent has always acted as a feedback in the democratic system and freedom of thought/speech/expression nurtures an evolving society. When rationalism was attacked (Narendra Dabholkar, Aug 20, 2013; Govind Pansare, Feb 20, 2015; and M. M. Kalburgi, Aug 30 2015 – all shot dead); when casteism raised its ugly head and led to death (Aniket Ambhore of IIT Bombay, Sep 4, 2014; Rohith Vemula of University of Hyderabad, Jan 17, 2016 – both victims of caste biases); and when communalism found space in the media (a few ‘honorable’ ministers had spoken some very objectionable things and we saw ‘food fascism’ as well), our nation was under attack. Those were the times when one expected spontaneous action from the government. But what we experienced was either a deafening silence from the corridors of power or rhetoric.

These are changing times, and voices are being choked. The media, which lampoons any accused person and even resorts to a public trial, has become a dangerous tool in forming wrong and distorted perceptions. We have seen how the media cherry-picks statements to make situations sensational. This sensationalisation of each and every event has led to a race among different media houses which feed the masses with information that suits them.

Episodes of media cherry picking statements was seen at the time when ‘intolerance’ had become a highly intolerable word. Many took this word as a direct attack on our ‘National Fabric’.

Cunningly chosen phrases were used as news bites without ever looking at the complete story. Then, people who believe themselves to be custodians of our national prestige labelled all those who spoke out as ‘anti-nationals’ – Shah Rukh Khan and Aamir Khan were the victims then. Such hateful labels have been in the news for many months, and all have one thing in common. Any criticism of the Centre led to this verbal diarrhoea by right-wing sympathizers.

The ones who remained fearless in spite of suppression were students. The walls of our educational institutions were impenetrable. Any educational institute should have the courage to speak fearlessly. If a student can’t roar today she/he will mew tomorrow. No one wants a weak nation tomorrow. Those who are students today would be leaders tomorrow. If they are silenced now, our tomorrow would be hopeless. A nation never evolves by holding on to the past, it moves forward by looking to the future. If student voices are censored in the present, tomorrow they will only stammer in the face of reality. Student voices need their space to discuss, disagree, debate and appreciate differences. This is all the more important in a state like India where we differ in what we eat, wear, the faiths we practice and even in the langauges that we speak. This difference needs space for disagreement and mutual understanding and any attempt to limit this space is against national interest.

Often, a discussion can go beyond the comprehension of the general public, like the philosophical discussions on the concept of violence, the ideas of ‘nation’ and ‘nationalism’, the society and its biases vis-a-vis caste and class. Whether or not such discussions dissuade some people, they do not have the authority to label the discussion or its organisers as ‘anti-national’, extremist or divisive. Situations created to crush student voices for political gain are threats to the future of our nation. Dissent is a need.

PS: While we discuss the necessity of dissent, it so happens that there is a major chunk of the student community being conditioned to be robots for their future bosses. Their insensitivity towards things happening around them would leave us shocked. There is a group of people which believes that by dissenting and resisting they only waste their time. Time which they would rather spend having fun or devoting to academics. They are a hard-hearted bunch of gentle looking students who believe that the Rohith Vemula issue got too extensive coverage. They are the ones for whom the media’s verdict is far more important than seeing through the fog of lies. They are the one who trust chest thumping news anchors more than their own mental faculties to see, analyse and understand any piece of news.

I personally feel that there is a huge need to cultivate a culture of discussion, agreement, disagreement and dissent in campuses so that none of the issues, whether local or national, go unchecked by the critical eyes of eager young minds.

To save dissent, you need to #RaiseYourVoice.

(This article with slight modification appeared in Youth ki Awaaz as " Unless You #RaiseYourVoice, India’s Democracy And Right To Dissent Will Be In Grave Danger")

The Noose of Identity

2016-02-01T09:48:00.000-08:00

We are Indians, we are one and we all are a nation. Irrespective of our caste and religious affiliations we believe to be defined by being Indian. This being an Indian and being united as an Indian suffixed by various identities are different things. Identity is the skin of human existence. One can't deny identity and live a life free from affiliations or in some cases appropriations.

"We, the people of India" has never been practiced in its true spirit. Indian identity has always been fragmented along regions, language, political affiliations, gender, sexuality, religions and caste.
Regional identity which comes with cultural trappings and gifts is broadly tolerated. But even this identity has its issues when there lies a divide in terms of north, south and north-east Indians. Besides it has an inheritance of linguistic divide based on ones accidental birth in a family speaking certain language. But what one cherishes is the diversity due to region and language. This cultural diversity if nurtured in harmony would ensue a poetic identity to Indianness, with different cultures like various flowers wreathed in a garland. Alas! So far this identity has been a cause of xenophobia, bickering and assertion of regional or linguistic supremacy.
Political difference is gradually becoming intolerant and opinions are quickly classified in ideological compartments. So one can't have political opinion without the tag of being a bhakt or leftist or Aaptard or an Ambedkarite. Political identity has even experienced fire back when any non-conforming ideology against the incumbent is termed as anti-national or labeled as divisive.
Gender and sexuality as markers of identity differences have always seen differing views, with recent moves in favor of overcoming the discrimination based on these. Gender has generated bigger support base but sexuality has miles to go before it establishes itself free from hatred, biases and discrimination.
All these divisiveness are dwarfed when age old identities thrust on the chest of humanity are invoked in the form of religion or caste. Religion in the subcontinent mostly comes in the form of identity suffix for faiths with origin outside India, like Indian-Muslim, Indian-catholic etc. What has been a boiling issue for India whether it is the present landmass with a population of 1.252 billion or the ancient fragmented India is CASTE. Caste as an identity transcends religions, regions and even political spectrum has caste in it. Caste as an identity has been used as a mode of oppression and discrimination since centuries. This baggage of hatred has traveled ages and is standing in the present. It was always challenged but it re-asserted itself on popular beliefs. Discrimination due to caste has seeped so deep in the social psyche that for a very simple, sober citizen a regularly practiced discrimination won't be evident. Jokes come as derogatory remarks and discriminatory words are unconsciously used. One would puke at the thought of racism/casteism or untoward behavior with fellow human beings, at the same time being unaware of inherent nature of gestural discrimination. Even the oppressed section accepts this social bias and unknowingly practices it among themselves. This being similar to the use of the word 'denigration' by a black American, who is unaware of derogatory root of the ethnic slur "nigger", likening it to something mean.
The noose of all such identities always hang around us and unknowingly we all are victims of our birth and social conditioning for most of these identities and choose only few of them.
India has of late witnessed such discriminatory and intolerant noose of identity when a nonagenarian dalit was hacked and burnt in Hamirpur district of UP, another Muslim was lynched on a rumor of possessing beef. Caste and religious identities did play their role in these provocations and bursting of crime.
But this even tightens in normal times; media reports are abuzz with atrocities and discrimination due to caste. One such case led a research scholar end his life. What caused him to end his life? Most of us attribute it to tussle with ABVP and his suspension but the cause dates far back. The cause could have been the regular hatred he might have experienced in his childhood. The cause could have been the stamping of a child as lower/upper caste at birth.
But one cause is certain and sure, the discriminatory society whose legacy we have etched in ancient times has killed many and it killed Rohith too. Won't it be right to say, all who believe there is no caste issue in India and who feel there is no bias against the oppressed section have killed one more. Won't it be right to say that if the society doesn't change its ways, it is going to collectively kill many Rohiths.
Hope for a society where the noose of identity is loose and it doesn't kill in its own name. Hope for a society where, "We, the people of India" is a reality with justice, liberty and equality in practice.

(This article with slight modification appeared in Youth ki Awaaz as "How Basing Our Identities On Caste And Religion Is ‘Suffocating’ Us As Indians")

Letter to Mahatma Gandhi on his Birth Anniversary

2015-10-01T13:01:00.001-07:00

Dear Bapu,

Hope all's well in heaven and hell.

Happy Birthday!

Every year hymns are sung and people laud your approach for unity. Many remember your ideals of oneness and mourn at the demise of ahimsa in India. Many critique your existing image as a leader, Saint, Mahatma and even a man of virtues. You are revered every year on 2nd October and we mourn your death as martyr's day. Rest of the year most of us hate you and attempt to label the cause of India's failure on you and Pandit Nehru. In 2014 government of India came up with a clean India drive and your eyeglasses were used as political symbolism towards a cleaner India. You would be amazed at how your dear haters too celebrated the day as Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, maybe it was a veiled attempt to kill the idea of your birthday, 'Gandhi Jayanti'.

But time has changed and is changing. Bapu, you will be amazed to know that people no more hate each other, they have started lynching. Since you always valued vegetarianism you will be delighted to know that the government of India is on a diet control mission. It has attempted ban on food habits and is policing our appetite. But unlike you our government is not giving reasons rather it harps on divisive politics. There are leaders who believe one faith can form an umbrella for all. This trend is again similar to those of your lifetime. Extremist of all religions are resolute on fragmenting us. The food fascism as few people call it has pervaded all form of thinking and now people get lynched for (allegedly) possessing beef. Your grandson Rajmohan Gandhi has documented issues of extreme threat given to you by your friend, I'll quote directly from what he has compiled as your portrait, --

An excerpt from The Good Boatman by Rajmohan Gandhi (Chapter 1 Page 20) ".... And when a young heifer in Sabarmati was sick beyond treatment, Gandhi 'stooped down and took the heifer's front ... leg' while 'the doctor put the injection through the ribs, and there was a spasm and it died.'c Mira Behn saw that 'Bapu didn't say a word, except he took a cloth and covered the heifer's face with it, and then in complete silence he walked back to the ashram.' A Jain friend wrote to him, 'Gandhi you killed that cow, and if I do not kill you in return, I am no Jain.'

So to a mild relief, we haven't become intolerant we were like this before. But this is not limited to food; such threats are openly given to thinkers, educationists, rationalists, activists and many more. Three old rationalists were shot dead for opinions which didn't fit the mindset of intolerant few. These people, who fell with bullets like you fell with the bullets shot by Nathuram Godse, were Narendra Dabholkar, Govind Pansare and Prof. M. M. Kalburgi. They were old like you when they died. In today's turbulent times nobody cares for your suggestion that man should strive to replace the law of jungle with law of love (The Good Boatman by Rajmohan Gandhi).

The issue of caste still exists and has the same political freshness as was there in your time. Fortunately there were people like Ambedkar and Periyar working on different lines. Now even a mention of caste is loathed in elite institutes. We get tidbit news about different atrocities against lower caste peoples. We as a nation have become a party to the idea of discrimination, but it has changed its shade, now it happens in the garb of merit which is nothing but the luxury of acquired historical benefits by upper castes. So the inherited beneficiaries now believe that the new form of discrimination can be used as a measure of social evolution. Here I believe you could have done something better in eradicating this issue of discrimination, by advocating its removal but you always insisted on the appropriateness of varna system. This vicious system has penetrated all religions in the subcontinent and society is doomed with compliance to casteism.

Though all the religions have vices of similar nature, we have retained the culture of mutual love with occasional bickering. Your efforts at Noakhali which served as ointment for communal riots was short lived. India has seen issues of religious or anti-religious clashes on regular basis. There have been clashes between Sikhs, Hindus, Muslims and Christians. Even when everything is fine, Jainism comes with its doctrine and few influential followers insist others (non-Jains) to abstain from eating non-vegetarian food during Paryushan. This did hurt the sentiments and economy of poor butchers and fishmongers but who cares for poor. They were neither cared in your time nor are they cared now.

The only positive thing which you would like to read is that the rich have amassed riches and the Birlas and Tatas have got new members in their league like Ambanis and Adanis. They have collectively looted a lot.

Although you were against too much mechanization, India has galloped in science and technology and now we have even started cutting forests and breaking mountains because few rich Indians are bent on extracting treasure from nature's womb. They don't care how such steps would destroy the whole ecosystem.

The saddest part for youth is to be kept at bay, away from politics and they are being conditioned like machines. We have syllabuses to follow and monetary dreams to fulfill. We are taught to be robots and any sort of dissent is being seen as anti-national. We are advised by elders not to question and are even asked to abide by a set of rules made by UGC which appeases the government. A majority of us are ignorant about history; we delve in partial information and follow media disinformation. We take pride in glorious unknown and unproven past and believe all ill happened because of Pandit Nehru and you.

Ahimsa is also dying, and seems like it is on the verge of extinction. We have the world's 3rd largest military with around 1.3 million active personal. Our deadliest warship INS Kochi was commissioned on 30th September 2015, a day before your Jayanti.

The story of present Indian society is long, but I need to stop. I am sorry for harping issues which may trouble you. I am sorry to have raised them on your Birth Anniversary. But these are ground realities. Hope you will consult with other fellows like Netaji, Babasaheb, Panditji and Sardarji in heaven and come with some suggestions for improving the situation.

Happy Birthday once again …

May you have a glimpse of better, empowered and ameliorated India of villages and cities where everyone lives with equality and dignity in the coming year.

Thank you,

Yours

An Indian
(The article with slight modification appeared in YouthkiAwaaz as ‘Dear Gandhi…Ahimsa Is Dying, And Seems Like It Is On The Verge Of Extinction’)

The Vulnerable Minority of Freethinkers

2015-09-01T13:00:00.000-07:00

(This article was first published by Saddahaq as The Vulnerable Minority of Freethinkers on 1st September 2015)

"The death of a brave Indian rationalist reminds us that people are still killed simply for opening their mouth."

--- David Aaronovitch

Tattered spirits, flowing with the blood of murdered Prof. M. M. Kalburgi on 30th August 2015, would have chuckled at the narrow minded assailants. There is an inherent superstition in a belief that killing littérateurs, scholars, activists and rationalists would end the struggle for a rational, free thinking society. The dead body lying soaked in blood was that of a teacher who fought against superstition. It was a rationalist who harbored a dream of free thinking society and worked towards achieving it. It was the fallen body of a scholar who devoted lifetime studying the local culture and understanding the magnanimity of Kannada culture. It was the body of a littérateur who made a mammoth contribution to the Kannada literary world. The lingayat community for which he had worked and contributed to its self identity has lost a towering figure, a thinker who was not chained by socially accepted norms.

Although ideas and free thoughts are invincible, the practitioners of free thinking around the globe are a small vulnerable minority.

The global free thinking minority has always been vulnerable. Since the times old, when rational and free thinkers had verdicts contrasting the majoritarian views, they have faced the flak from majoritarian opinion. Socrates (executed in 399 BC, Classical Athens) tasted his cup of death, Buddha (483 BC, Kushinagar) had his share of a last meal to death, Thomas Aikenhead (executed in 1697, UK at the age of 20) headed to the gallows. Their rational temper always had flag bearers. History has witnessed killing of freethinkers. The most recent beheading of Syrian Scholar Khaled al-Asaad by ISIS and Saudi Arabian blogger Raef Badawi’s sentence of 1000 lashes and ten years of imprisonment for promoting liberal thoughts speak volumes of intolerance towards the attitude of questioning.

Indian subcontinent, the land of Buddha, a region of argumentative culture and a cauldron of interfaith dialogues, which cradled freedom of expression has experienced the rising heat of intolerance.

This region once upheld the school of Charvaka, and promoted a culture of questioning and criticism. In the subcontinent, countries like Bangladesh, India and Pakistan have harbored recent attacks on freedom of expression. The decaying faith in dialogue and increase in religious and ideological fanaticism has spread like an endemic, and is slowly killing the openness of inter-ideological dialogic. The issues concerning hacking and shooting of bodies of free thinkers and dissenters leads to a chilling hole in the soul of rational and argumentative cultural inheritance of the subcontinent. This comes as a direct attack on the freedom of expression and free speech. Most of the time, these attacks are camouflaged in retaliatory measures by groups who perceive free voices and free thinking as blasphemous.

If we look individually at issues of these three countries, we will find a common thread of intolerance and shrinking space for public debate, and a gradual choking of freedom of expression.

Pakistan has experienced butchering in the name of religion since decades, but recent killings further tarnished its image. Salman Taseer (killed 4th January 2011), an influential Governor, was shot dead for campaigning against Pakistan’s draconian blasphemy law and advocating a rationalist society. Recently, on 24th April 2015, human right activist, and director of ‘The second floor’ cafe and art space, Sabeen Mahmud, was shot dead in Karachi.

In a series of attacks on freedom of thought and expression, many bloggers and writers in Bangladesh have succumbed. Four bloggers were murdered in 2015 alone, with total eight bloggers to have fallen since 2013. These attacks and targeted killings, all in the lines of extremism, show the devilish face of fanaticism in Bangladesh. Besides bloggers, other writers and scholars too faced the brunt of irate extremists.

India too joined the bandwagon of hate based targeted killing. This land of mystics and mysticism is riddled with faith and superstition in daily routine. Many have ventured to demystify superstitions in religious practices. One such colossal figure fighting superstition and teaching rationality was the founder president of Maharashtra Andhashraddha Nirmoolan Samiti Narendra Dabholkar. The anti-magic campaigner was shot dead on 20th August 2013. Later, killings didn’t stop, and Govind Pansare, a rationalist and activist, breathed his last on 20th February 2015 after being shot on 16th of the same month. The murder of Prof. M. M. Kalburgi is an addition to the list of fallen rationalists at the hands of intolerant fanatics.

The list of murdered freethinkers, advocates of freedom of expression, and rationalists may set an atmosphere of fear. Many have fallen to hate-based fanaticism and many are ridiculed and threatened.

Salman Rushdie, who believes that, “Free speech is the whole thing, the whole ball game. Free speech is life itself,” has received death threats for his literary work. Tasleema Nasreen, the author of Lajja, too got death threats, and has lived in many countries - she continues to receive threats from different extremist groups. Earlier, Nobel laureate Amartya Sen and U. R. Ananthamurthy were ridiculed for comments against Modi government. In January 2015, Perumal Murugan, a Tamil scholar and author, renounced writing due to protests from caste based outfits. He cited the lack of freedom of speech for such an action. After the recent murder of Prof. M. M. Kalburgi, Prof K. S. Bhagwan, a critic and rationalist, received a threatening tweet. Sanal Edamaruku, a rationalist, is on a self imposed exile after he was charged with blasphemy for exposing the miracle of dripping Christ feet.

Now the big questions come:

Where are we heading?
Is questioning wrong? Can anyone be killed for opening their mouth and speaking sane?
Do we have true freedom of expression, or does it have limits, with terms and conditions?
Should one be blind, deaf and dumb to the superstitions and ills practised in the name of religion?
Who decides the limits of free speech - rational citizens, government, or fanatics?

Let’s think rationally and speak up for a better tomorrow.

The issue of a CHOICE

2015-04-22T23:00:00.000-07:00

(This article first appeared on Saddahaq as The issue of a CHOICE on Apr 22, 2015 22:51 IST)

A war of words unfolded on social media complaining about the choice of Deepika Padukone. This video reflects the marketability of a product using the negative propagandist approach. Many sulked over the layers of lines recited by Deepika, which went on to glamorize the rising feminine power. Why it shouldn’t be so?

Male chauvinists labelled it as female chauvinists’ gibber, and in a few places, the terms female Nazis or feminazis were used to describe the outspoken brave and bold woman. It seemed that there was a jolt to the traditional Indian ethos, and every Tom, Dick and Harry were angry on why Julie, Jane and Mary have resorted to such means of publicity (here advertising). Offended brave-hearts lampooned the idea of feminism and many came with statements which showed the disturbed male mentality in our traditional, religious and decent Indian culture.

The real challenge and fight came from the idea of choice, where the echo was whether the concept of choice propounded by the video was just or not. This is a big question to answer, and taking any side of the court is going to draw criticisms and hate for the chooser. This choice, which became a national gag pastime, and even a one liner to irritate friends at parties, needs a deeper introspection.

Normally choices in any society/community are never made in a social vacuum. Most of us are influenced by the socio-religious ambiance around us, and our logic is camouflaged by the ethos of our society. An ideology, a belief and way of life or worship is always etched in the psyche of practitioner since the time he/she starts grasping the milieu around. So, this idea of choice sometimes becomes tricky, but even when people form an opinion in their own labyrinth of social, religious, political existence, that opinion deserves respect as an individual's choice, so far as it is not harming others.

If we come to Deepika Padukone's My Choice, she is learned and educated enough to choose what to recite, but she can't claim to hold the baton for all females. The reason being that her choice is underlined by the objectifying of women by Vogue. Sometimes, too much of any -ism leads to an inverse chauvinism. I respect the line "My Body, My choice", and would have revered the idea if it was Deepika's and not Vogue's. But this video doesn't reflect the choice, it looks like the need of Vogue. This video is in vogue because Vogue has used Deepika as its choice to reflect its choice by Deepika.

Similar lines go for anyone practising any form of choice. We can take an example of our choice of clothes and outlook. Whether someone wears a skull cap, a turban, a tilak, a burqa (veil) or is in hot pants, that choice should reflect the practitioners view rather than being a social pressure. A skull cap can't be toeing the line with everyone's attire in a locality, or a turban a prerequisite for meeting family members, or a tilak a mark of ideology. Similarly, a burqa should not be equated as a stamped sign of modesty and hot pants as symbol of modernism.

Given this idea of choice being fermented by many different effects, one can deny that the video empowers women, but on the other hand, the same video gives a notion of how a single woman has held a mirror to all of us to re-introduce us to our subconscious patriarchy.

After thought on the video:

It’s not clear if this intervention into the lives of women for the gain of Vogue (a sign of corporatocracy), especially in the light of objectifying of women, is something which may kill the very spirit of feminism for which Deepika has always stood. Besides, it seems male chauvinists are taking the shield of Deepika Padukone's My Choice video to propagate their patriarchal mentality and legitimize their expectations to have all females as subordinates. One can be cured of clinical diseases, but curing or purifying one of socially ill mentality is a great challenge for all of us.

(This article is compiled using my comments on FB wall posts discussing issues with friends)

Dedicated to a Laughing Bag

2014-12-03T07:34:00.000-08:00

In the sweetness of friendship let there be laughter, and sharing of pleasures. For in the dew of little things the heart finds its morning and is refreshed. --- Khalil Gibran

Sometimes my own mask scares me. I am confused over my own veil. I have covered myself under the duress of traditions and beliefs. My faith carries me into the labyrinth of despair. I know this life has adorned me with a cloak of grief. I may be grieved but the smiles which you carry has the healing touch on my soul. Although, I have met great companions on the road to nowhere, where I am headed to, you hold a special place in it. As fellow travelers, many met and became acquaintances, but few are my confidants. I am blessed with their presence and they have always been a source of strength.

Source

Unknown to the world, slowly you walked on a higher pedestal showering light and joy for everyone. The jingle of your laughter was euphony and your smiles had the fragrance of joy. We all lounged in its grandeur and time passed by. But being travelers we need to hurry with time. Only heavens know if we can walk together or not but I’ll carry your symphony with me and will sprinkle it over plains and hills, over rivers and lakes and ask them to dance with joy.

I’ll ask them to laugh like you do.

The Maulana who thought rationally

2014-11-13T13:35:00.000-08:00

“We must not for a moment forget, it is a birthright of every individual to receive at least the basic education without which he cannot fully discharge his duties as a citizen.” (Maulana Azad 1948)

In a time when Islamophobia is an accepted trend. In a time when comments by learned Muslim Scholars are scrutinized for logical accuracy by western worlds and many more Muslim haters. In a time when a skull cap and a beard can give you an image of a stereotype Muslim, few would believe there lived a Maulana who was religious, modern, scientific and rational. There was a Maulana nationalist in action, religious in believe, independent and rational in thoughts and decision making. This Maulana ‘learned man’ transcended the class, caste and other separatist social issues and glorified a patriotic lens for national growth using education as a necessary tool. No doubt Maulana Abul Kalam Azad is paid homage on his birthday by celebrating November 11 as a National Education day.

Maulana Abul Kalam Azad : Source

Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, our first education minister and a part of the constituent assembly is one of the least remembered Islamists. He was a visionary who believed in an empowered nation as the one which has its people educated. His views differed from the education movements of the time like the Aligarh Movement and Nadwat Ul Uloom. Although he had his differences he drew his inspirations from the writings of Sir Syed Ahmed Khan and his movement. His idea of India revolved around the concept of an educated India. He envisioned a society where people would have rational thoughts. Maulana always practiced and preached of reasoning free from religious traps. In his own words, “Our present difficulties, unlike those of Europe, are not the creations of materialistic zealots, but of religious fanatics”. A devote Islamist himself, he practiced Ijtihad i.e independent and rational thinking and asked others to do so. He promoted scientific temperament in learning and was an advocate of universal primary education.

Maulana was a modernist and practicing nationalist. His immense contribution was on education and its need for the growth of India as a nation. As a journalist he wrote on the issues of education and criticized the British system of education. He upheld primary education as a national responsibility and worked to get the compulsory education act implemented, which was so far lying ineffective and dormant. This Compulsory Education Act which came 1870 in Britain and was passed as a bill in India in 1917 couldn’t get its due recognition in times of Maulana. Later in 2010, Right to Education legislation was effective in India. Although he was not successful in getting universal primary education in his lifetime, his efforts in promoting it is highly commendable.

Maulana believed it natural for a child to be taught in his/her mother tongue and simultaneously cautioned against a one language state. This showed his rational approach and tolerance towards the diverse linguistic culture in India. He believed in adult education and promoted women education. According to him women share equal social responsibility and they should be given avenues for learning. A woman’s education is better for the present society and has a huge impact on generations to come. His belief in scientific education made him stand against the narrow-minded madrasa system and he even criticized Aligarh College (present Aligarh Muslim University) for lacking scientific outlook. He sternly believed that nationalism, scientific learning and free thinking go hand in hand with religious spirit. His interpretation of religious literature was free from prejudice. He openly supported art and music and cited Islamic acceptance for music and singing.

Contrasting to his towering intellect are Maulanas and Muftis of present, who have closed their faculties of rational thinking and logical interpretation. They are closed to western science and shy away from the question of music, art and women. Our present day Islamic scholars are skeptical to change and growth. They have confined themselves to the orthodoxy of past and are scared to embrace the present. But Maulana Abul Kalam Azad was a modern Islamist with a rational thought. Home schooled by the best teachers in Calcutta, this rational Maulana was a visionary educationist in the Nehruvian brigade.

He left a legacy of ijtihad -- independent and rational thinking. Are we ready to take it forward?

(The Content of the article is motivated by Jihad or Ijtihad by S. Irfan Habib and Maulana Abul Kalam Azad and the National Education System Edited by S. Irfan Habib Published by the Registrar, National University of Educational Planning and Administration, 2010)

Clean India Vs Gandhi Jayanti

2014-10-03T13:19:00.000-07:00

A slow change, it happened around the corner. A trumpeter blew the horn and everyone raced towards the procession. Many joined it and few were mute but amazed spectators. People who were busy with their work marched without caring. This is a nation which is changing. Gandhi’s photo hung lonely in the halls of government buildings. Newspaper abstained from wishing a long dead Bapu his jayanti and leaders were happy wielding brooms.

When India swept the streets, Gandhi would have smiled from heavens and sighed with relief. He might have smiled hoping everyone would stop debating on his being an apostle of peace and non-violence. He would also have got a relief from being criticized for his controversial experiments on celibacy. This change which removed Gandhi from the celebrated pedestal of a towering saint happened on his birthday -- The International Day of Nonviolence. People remembered him less.

Gandhi Cleaning--- Source

People debated whether clean India campaign is fair or not. I too became a victim of this debate, where I tried to put myself on (so called) rational platforms. When I supported the campaign my comrades considered me a chameleon and when I told about its lacunae my right wing friends labeled me as a pessimist critic. But in this hullabaloo, many forgot to pay homage to poor Bapu. Unlike the news content of previous years, 3rd October this year, a day after Gandhi jayanti was not with Prime Minister (or any minister) paying homage to Bapu, rather our dear PM’s photo with a broomstick centered the cover page.

Leftist were happy that the cunning old man dead in 1948 is finally leaving the minds and memories of people. Right-wingers known for hating Gandhi were relieved that there was less echo of Gandhian ways on the day and the stage was caught by a newer change. Ambedkarites were happy too for their very own reason of hating Gandhi.

This clean India campaign which started with physical sanitation of streets, lanes, mohallas is a great drive by the Government of India. Gandhi Jayanti may (or may not) have been an ideal date (any way this can be excused).

Shouldn’t people pledge for a cleaner mindset?
Shouldn’t our government attempt at creating a tolerant nation which is united and safe. United in caste, creed, religion, region, color and sex?
Shouldn’t it attempt for safety of minorities and women?
Shouldn’t our PM use the same broom to clean our society from people who try to spread hatred on communal lines?

Hope the clean streets reflect in us for cleaner mindset too.

Boiling Frog and Silencing Speech

2014-07-13T11:02:00.001-07:00

Few years back there was a wave of hatred against ruling government and it had its head buried in the sands of disregard. It was so happy with its policy of coalition politics that the then prime minister Dr. Manmohan Singh called his modus operandi a coalition dharma. This opened the floodgates of protests with the Anna movement taking a center stage and platform for tipping the decision of youths. The situation took another turn when PR agencies took control over the planning and execution of image making and tarnishing. Mudslinging and war of words between opposing political camps became pronounced. Then out of the murky atmosphere of politics came a ray of hope in the form of AK, even this was short lived. Political situation tilted in favor of opposition enthusiasts when they took charge of the propagandist approach and masses roared in affirmation on each and every promise they made. Situations prior to election were that of agreeing to one man’s stand or face the rebuke of people around. Character assassination and image tarnishing became more vocal and people enjoyed this political circus. Someone was called a shehzada or someone was called a dog. These were the well accepted moral of the side which was going to win. Such was the openness and tolerance of pre-election times.

After that speech and its freedom got a different platform. Post-election atmosphere started showing its effect. Arvind Kejriwal was sent to judicial custody for a defamation case, whereas Kejriwal himself was lashed with attacks calling him a US agent or with acronyms like AK-49. This free speech bashing which had germinated earlier when two girls posted something against a political leader in Maharashtra was enough to warn the masses.

The whole episode mimics the boiling frog story. “When a frog is placed in boiling water it jumps off. But when the same from is kept in a pan with normal water and slowly it is heated, poor frog won’t sense the change around and would succumb to the ambience and slowly it would be boiled.”

Similar situation has happened in our country where intolerance slowly germinated and very few realized. Few whistleblowers reacted to the change, but their voices were drowned in the bigger world of unawareness and fanaticism. The effect of slowly dying out open space is evident, in the intolerance shown for simple Facebook posts which has led to arrests and even in the death of a techie in Pune. A recent curb has come in form of removal of Rana Ayyub’s article “A New Low in Indian politics” from DNA.

These situations do call for attention, people complained that Dr. Manmohan Singh was a mute prime minister and Narendra Modi who was vocal enough to bash the opposition in all his speeches was elected.

But we should realize that our voice is slowly being silenced. We are being boiled in the water of political atmosphere, towards total submission and no-free speech. So beware of Hush!!!

लैटिन अमेरिका का एकांत

2014-06-01T03:51:00.000-07:00

This article is contributed by Sandeep Singh: The article has translation of The Solitude of Latin America by Gabriel García Márquez.

संदीप सिंह

मार्केज़ को याद करते हुए..

19 अप्रैल को अंग्रेजी अखबार द हिन्दु के अन्तर्राष्ट्रीय पृष्ठ पर एक खबर 'क्राइम वेव इन सल्वादोर' के नाम से छपी थी और मुख्य पृष्ठ पर मार्खेज की मृत्यु की खबर थी. दोनों घटनाएं दो दिन पुरानी थीं पर अद्भुत तरीके से एक दुसरे से जुडी हुई.

मार्खेज के बारे में लोग जानते ही हैं. मैं यहाँ सल्वादोर की बात करूँगा जो कि खबर के मुताबिक लूट लिया गया था.

ये संभवतः दुनिया की सबसे बड़ी गैंग थी असाधारण और अनौपचारिक. बच्चे, औरतें और मर्दों के जत्थे निकले, कई जगह जुलूसों की शक्ल में, रोमांच, डर और उन्मादी मस्ती से भरे हुए और जो कुछ भी लूट सकते थे, ले जा सकते थे, ले गए. ब्राजील का शहर साल्वाडोर जो 19 अप्रैल के दो रोज पहले लुट गया. इस लूटपाट में तकरीबन चालीस लोग मारे गए. यहाँ फ़ुटबाल विश्वकप के कुछ मैच भी होने हैं. हुआ ये कि शहर की पुलिस वेतन वगैरा को लेकर हड़ताल पर चली गयी थी सो लोग संभवतः किसी आप्त प्रेरणा से संचालित होकर पूरा शहर लूट ले गए. अगर आपने फिल्म ‘सिटी ऑफ़ गोल्ड’ देखी होगी तो क्या हुआ होगा, इस दृश्य की कल्पना कर सकते हैं. कल्पना कीजिये कि शहर की बस्तियों से लोग झुण्ड के झुण्ड बनाकर निकल रहे हैं हाथों में हथौड़ियाँ, चाकू, लोहे की रॉड और छोटी-बड़ी पिस्तौलें लेकर दुकानों को, मॉल्स को लूट लेने के लिए. वे चीख रहे हैं, हंस रहे हैं, भाग रहे हैं, कईयों के हाथों में सिगार या शराब की बोतलें हैं, इसमें कईयों के सिर फटेंगे, कईयों की टांगों, बाहों और मुंह पर घाव होंगें, क्या पता एक किसी की आँखें किसी मुठभेड़ की भेंट चढ़ जाये और कुछ कभी नहीं लौटेंगें. अगर यह दृश्य साहित्य या कला में आये तो कैसा लगेगा- यथार्थ, जादुई यथार्थ या अति यथार्थ! ये है लैटिन अमेरिका! मार्केज़ का लैटिन अमेरिका!

पर ठहरिये, मास्टरस्ट्रोक तो पढ लीजिए. इस घटना पर बयान सरकार के प्रतिनिधि ने कहा 'हाँ, मौतें औसत से थोड़ा ज्यादा हुई हैं, पर इतनी भी ज्यादा नहीं की एब्सर्ड कहा जा सके'. पिछली बार जब पुलिस हड़ताल पर गयी थी तो तकरीबन 156 मौतें हुई थीं!!

कभी मार्केज़ ने कहा भी था कि पता नहीं क्यों लोग उनके लेखन को ‘जादुई’ वगैरह कहते हैं क्योंकि उनके हिसाब से लैटिन अमेरिका का यथार्थ अपने आप में इतना विकट, विषम और कई बार मायावी होने जैसा है कि वह अन्य आख्यानों, मूलतः अंग्रेज़ी साहित्य परंपरा द्वारा उपलब्ध, स्थापित और बहुप्रचारित साहित्यिक रूपकों, बिम्बों, प्रतीकों और आख्यानात्मक संरचनाओं से पूरापूरी अभिव्यक्त ही नहीं किया जा सकता. इस समाज के इतिहास और संस्कृति को समझने के लिए आपको माच्चू-पिच्चू की ऊँचाइयों पर मिलने वाले अनन्त सन्नाटे को सुनना होगा, इंका और अजोर सभ्यताओं की जीवाश्मित अस्थियों की कहानियां सुननी होंगी, महाद्वीप के रहस्यमयी जंगलों में भूलना-भटकना होगा, सोने, चांदी, चीनी, केले और कॉफ़ी के क्रूर दस्तावेजों की ऐय्यारी को फिर फिर पढना होगा जिसकी गवाह एडूअर्दो गैलिआनो के शब्दों में इस महाद्वीप की छितरायी हुई नसें हैं.

लैटिन अमेरिका का एकांत

मैग्लेन के साथ दुनिया का पहला चक्कर लगा रहे फ्लोरेंस के जहाजी अंतोनियो पिगाफेटा ने हमारे दक्षिणी छोर से गुजरते हुए अमेरिका के बारे में जो लिखा वह चीजों का कमोबेश सटीक विवरण होते हुए भी फैंटेसी के करीब पड़ता है. वह लिखता है कि उसने ऐसे सुअर देखे जिनकी नाभियाँ उनके चूतडों पर थीं, बिना पंजों वाली मादा पक्षियाँ जो अपने साथी की पीठ पर अंडे सेती थीं, और भी ऐसे कई जीव, बिना जीभों वाले पेलिकन (जलसिंह) जिनकी चोंचें चम्मच जैसी थीं. वह लिखता है कि उसने एक ऐसे जीव को देखा जिसके सिर और कान खच्चर के थे, शरीर ऊंट का, पैर हिरन के और जिसकी आवाज में घोड़े की हिनहिनाहट थी. वह बताता है कि पैटागोनिया में एक नेटिव बन्दे ने जब अपनी शक्ल आईने में पहली बार देखी तो वह मुस्टंडा अपनी ही छवि के आतंक से बेहोश हो गया.

यह छोटी और दिलचस्प किताब जिसमें हमारे आज के उपन्यासों के बीज छुपे हुए हैं हमारे यथार्थ का किसी भी मायने में चकित करने वाला विवरण नहीं है. ‘एंडीज़ के किस्सों’ में हमारे लिए ऐसी और भी कहानियां हैं. रहस्यमयी और भ्रमित करने वाली हमारे सपनों की भूमि अल्डाराडो, सदियों से कई सारे नक्शों में नक्श्नवीसों की फंतासियों के मुताबिक, अपना रंग-रूप और स्थान बदलती रही है. चिर युवा बना देने वाले झरने की तलाश में मिथकीय आलवार तुनेस वेजा डे वाका आठ सालों तक मैक्सिको के उत्तरी इलाके को छानता रहा. इस भ्रामक अभियान के सदस्यों ने एक दूसरे को भकोस लिया और अभियान में शामिल छः सौ लोगों में से केवल पांच जीवित लौटे. उस युग की अनेकों रहस्यमयी कहानियों में से एक यह है कि हरेक पर सौ पोंड सोने से लदे हुए 11 हज़ार खच्चर, जब कुज्को से रंगदारी पहुंचाने अताहुआल्पा के लिए चले पर कभी नहीं पहुंचे. आगे चलकर औपनिवेशिक काल में कार्टाजेना द इंडियाज़ में कछारी जमीन में पाली मुर्गियां बेंची जाती थीं जिनके गलफड़ो में सोने के छोटे-छोटे कण मिलते थे. एक औपनिवेशिक का स्वर्ण-प्रेम अभी तक हमें घेरे हुए है. 19वीं सदी में पनामा के इस्थ्मस के आर-पार समुद्रों के बीच रेल बिछाने की संभावना का अध्ययन कर रहे जर्मन मिशन के मुताबिक यह योजना एक ही शर्त पर संभव हो सकती थी कि रेल की पटरियां लोहे की न होकर सोने की हों- क्योंकि लोहा वहां बहुत दुर्लभ था.

स्पेनी गुलामी से आज़ादी ने हमारे पागलपन को कम नहीं किया है. तीन बार तानाशाह रह चुके मैक्सिको के जनरलएतोनियो नोपेन डे सान्ताना ने तथाकथित पेस्ट्री युद्ध में गंवाई अपनी दाहिनी टांग का भव्य अंतिम संस्कार आयोजित किया. 16 साल तक इक्वाडोर पर एक निरंकुश राजा की तरह राज करने वाले जनरल ग्रेब्रियल गर्सिया मोरलेनो के मरने के उपरान्त तमगों से सजे-धजे उनके शव को पूरी वेशभूषा में राष्ट्रपति की कुर्सी पर बिठाया गया. जनरल मैक्सिमिलियानो हारनान्डेज़ मार्टिनेज़ ने, जो अल सल्वाडोर का धार्मिक निरंकुश शासक था और जिसने तीस हज़ार किसानों का कत्लेआम करवाया था, अपने खाने में जहर का पता लगाने के लिए एक पेंडुलम का आविष्कार किया तथा लाल बुखार से बचने के लिए लैम्पपोस्टों को लाल कागज़ से ढँकवा दिया था. जनरल फ्रांसिस्को मोराज़ की प्रतिमा जो तेगूसिगाल्पा के मुख्य चौराहे पर लगी है वह वस्तुतः ‘मार्शल ने’ की है जिसे पेरिस के पुरानी–धुरानी और दोयम दर्जे के कबाड़खाने से खरीदा गया था.

11 साल पहले, जब हमारे समय के महान चिली कवि पाब्लो नेरुदा ने अपने जादुई शब्दों से इस हॉल में बैठे श्रोताओं को चमत्कृत किया तबसे अच्छी-बुरी मंशा वाले यूरोपीय, लातिन अमेरिका की दन्तकथाओं की तरफ और किंवदंती की हद तक जिद्दी उसके अभिशापित मर्दों और ऐतिहासिक औरतों की तरफ, और ज्यादा आवेग से आकर्षित हुए. तब से हमें एक पल का चैन नहीं है. अपने जलते महल में घिरा हुआ एक प्रोमेथियन राष्ट्रपति एक पूरी सेना से अकेले लड़ते हुए मारा गया और जिनका सच हम अभी भी नहीं जानते वे दो रहस्यमयी हवाई दुर्घटनाएं, जिसने अपने लोगों के आत्मसम्मान को वापस लौटने वाले एक महान ह्रदय वाले राष्ट्रपति और लोकतान्त्रिक सिपाही के जीवन का अंत कर दिया गया. हमारे यहाँ अब तक पांच बड़े युद्ध और सत्रह तख्तापलट हो चुके हैं; इसी बीच एक ऐसा पैशाचिक तानाशाह उभरा है जो पहली बार इश्वर के नाम पर लैटिन अमेरिका में हमारे समय का नरसंहार रच रहा है. इस बीच, यूरोप में सन 1970 से अब तक जितने बच्चे पैदा हुए उससे ज्यादा, 21 लाख लातिन अमेरिकी बच्चे अपनी उम्र के एक साल पूरा होने से पहले ही मर गए. दमन के चलते गायब लोगों की संख्या एक लाख बीस हज़ार है मानों उप्पस्ला के लोगों के लिए कोई जवाबदेह नहीं है. अर्जेंटीना की सलाखों के पीछे पैदा हुए उन असंख्य गर्भवती महिलाओं के बच्चे जिनकी कोई शिनाख्त नहीं हो सकी और जिन्हें फ़ौजी हुकूमत के फरमानों के तहत पोशीदगी से गोद ले लिया गया या अनाथालयों में भेज दिया गया. पूरे महाद्वीप में तकरीबन दो लाख औरतें और मर्द मार दिए गए क्योंकि उन्होंने इन परिस्थितियों को चुनौती देने की कोशिश की और तकरीबन एक लाख लोग तीन दुर्भाग्यशाली देशों – निकारागुआ, अल सल्वाडोर और ग्वाटेमाला में. फ़र्ज़ कीजिए कि यही घटना संयक्त राज्य अमेरिका में हुई होती तो चार सालों में 16 लाख लोग हिंसक मौतों के शिकार होते.

अपनी मेहमाननवाजी के लिए मशहूर चिली के दस लाख लोगों को, जो पूरी आबादी का दस फीसदी है, मजबूरन अपना देश छोड़ना पड़ा. 25 लाख लोगों का एक छोटा सा देश उरुग्वे, जो महाद्वीप का सबसे सभ्य देश माना जाता है, अपने हर पांच में से एक व्यक्ति को निर्वासन में खो चुका है. अल सल्वाडोर, 1979 से जारी गृहयुद्ध के चलते हर बीस मिनट में एक रिफ्यूजी पैदा कर रहा है. इन निष्काषित और जबरिया शरणार्थी बना दिए गए लैटिन अमेरीकियों का अगर कोई देश बनाया जाय तो वह नार्वे की आबादी से बड़ा होगा.

मैं हिमाकत के साथ यह कह सकता हूँ कि यह हमारा बेढंगा यथार्थ है जिसने स्वीडिश अकेडमी ऑफ़ लेटर्स का ध्यान खींचा है; सिर्फ उसका साहित्यिक निरूपण नहीं. वह यथार्थ जो सिर्फ कागजों पर नहीं है बल्कि हमारे अन्दर जीवित है बल्कि हमारी रोज की जिन्दगी में हर लम्हे होने वाली असंख्य मौतों को तय करता है, जिसने हमारे भीतर एक ऐसी अतृप्त रचनात्मकता को पैदा किया है जो दर्द और ख़ूबसूरती से भरी हुई है और जिसका यह घुमंतू और विरही(nostalgic) कोलंबियाई, जिसे भाग्यवश चुना गया है, एक नगण्य लेखक है. कवि और फ़कीर, संगीतज्ञ और पैगंबर, योद्धा और बदमाश, इस बेलगाम यथार्थ के वे सारे प्राणी, हमें बहुत कल्पना करने की जरूरत नहीं पड़ती. और यही हमारी समस्या है कि जीवन को विश्वासयोग्य तरीके से बताने के लिए हमारे पास पारंपरिक उपकरण नहीं हैं. मेरे दोस्तों, यही हमारे एकांत का सार है.

यही वे मुश्किलें हैं, जिनका अभिप्राय हम बताते हैं, हमारे आड़े आती हैं. इसीलिये यह बात समझ में आती है कि अपनी संस्कृतियों की श्रेष्ठता के बखान में जुटे दुनिया के इस हिस्से (यूरोप) के अक्लमंद लोग हमारे बारे में बताते वक़्त खुद को सक्षम महसूस नहीं करते. यह स्वाभाविक है कि वे उन्हीं प्रतिमानों से हमें देखते हैं जिनसे वे खुद को मापते हैं और यह भूल जाते हैं कि जिंदगियों की बरबादियाँ सबके लिए एक जैसी नहीं हैं, और अपनी अस्मिता की खोज हमारे लिए भी उतनी ही कठिन और रक्तरंजित है जितनी उनके लिए. हमारे यथार्थ को बयां करने के वे तरीके, जो हमारे अपने नहीं हैं, हमारी शिनाख्त को और भी गुमनामी में धकेल देते हैं; पहले से कहीं अधिक कम आज़ाद, पहले से कहीं ज्यादा एकाकी. आदरणीय यूरोप शायद और अधिक अंतर्दृष्टि प्राप्त करेगा यदि वह अपने अतीत में हमें देख सके. मैं याद दिलाना चाहूँगा कि अपने शहर की दीवार बनाने में लन्दन को तीन सौ साल लगे और अपना बिशप पाने में तीन सौ और साल लगे. बीस शताब्दियों तक रोम अनिश्चितता के गर्भ में घूमता रहा जब तक कि एत्रुस्की राजा ने उसे इतिहास का रास्ता नहीं दिखाया. और आज के शांतिप्रिय स्विस नागरिक जो अपनी बेहतरीन चीज़ और भावशून्य घड़ियों से हमें लुभाते हैं, 16वीं सदी तक तकदीर के सिपाही बनकर यूरोप को खून में नहलाते रहे. यहाँ तक कि पुनर्जागरण के स्वर्णिम दौर में भी शाही सेना के 12 हज़ार भाड़े के सिपाहियों ने रोम को लूट कर तबाह कर दिया और इसके आठ हज़ार वासियों को अपनी तलवारों से मौत के घाट उतार दिया.

मेरा इरादा तोनियो क्रागर के पवित्र उत्तर और भावातिरेकी दक्षिण को एक करने के भ्रमों को मूर्त करने का नहीं है जिसकी भव्य कल्पना थामस मान ने की थी. लेकिन, मुझे यकीन है कि साफ़ दृष्टि वाले यूरोपीय जो यहाँ भी न्यायोचित और मानवीय सरजमीं के लिए संघर्ष कर रहे हैं, हमें और बेहतर मदद कर सकते हैं बशर्ते वे हमें देखने के अपने नजरियों पर पुनर्विचार करें. हमारे सपनों के साथ आपकी एकजुटता इस अकेलेपन को कम नहीं करेगी, अगर वह दुनिया के बंटवारे में अपना जीवन ढूँढने का भ्रम पाले हुए लोगों के लिए उचित मदद के ठोस कार्यक्रमों के रूप में न बदले.

लैटिन अमेरिका नहीं चाहता और न ही ऐसा कोई कारण है कि वह इच्छाशक्तिरहित एक प्यादा हो, न ही उसे चाहत है कि उसकी आज़ादी की चाह और मौलिकता पश्चिम के लिए कोई मिसाल बने. हालांकि, जहाजरानी की उपलब्धियों ने लैटिन अमेरिका और यूरोप की दूरियां तो कम की हैं पर हमारी सांस्कृतिक दूरी और बढ़ी है. आखिर ऐसा क्या है कि वह मौलिकता जिससे हमारे साहित्य को तत्परता से नवाजा जाता है पर सामजिक बदलाव के हमारे कठिन प्रयासों को अविश्वासपूर्वक नकार दिया जाता है? प्रगतिशील यूरोपियों द्वारा उनके अपने देशों में सामाजिक न्याय (Social Justice) का सपना, भिन्न परिस्थितियों में अलग-अलग तरीकों से लैटिन अमेरिका के लिए एक लक्ष्य क्यों नहीं हो सकता है? नहीं, यह अकल्पनीय हिंसा और हमारे दर्द भरे इतिहास की वजह, युगों पुरानी असमानताएं और अनकही कड़वाहट है, न कि हमारे घर से तीन हज़ार मील दूर रची गयी कोई शाजिश. जबकि ढेर सारे यूरोपियन नेता और चिंतक जो बूढ़े लोगों की तरह अपनी जवानी की उर्वर अतियों को भूल चुके हैं, ऐसा ही सोचते हैं, कि दुनिया के इन दो आकाओं के रहमोकरम के अलावा किसी और नियति के साथ जीना असंभव है. मेरे दोस्तों, यह हमारे एकांत का पैमाना है.

इस शोषण, लूट और विध्वंस के बावजूद हम जिन्दादिली से जवाब देते हैं. न बाढ़ न प्लेग, न अकाल न तबाही, न ही सदियों तक चले कभी न ख़त्म होने वाले युद्ध, मृत्यु के बरखिलाफ जिन्दगी की जीत को दबा नहीं सके हैं. एक ऐसी जीत जो बढ़ती ही चली जा रही है. हर साल जीवन को और आगे बढाने के लिए, मौत के मुकाबले में हर साल 74 लाख जन्म हो रहे हैं, ये संख्या न्यूयार्क की आबादी से सात गुना ज्यादा है. इनमें से अधिक़तर जन्म संसाधनरहित उन देशों में हो रहे हैं जिनमें लैटिन अमेरिका के देश भी शामिल हैं. इसके विपरीत, सबसे संपन्न देशों ने विनाश की ऐसी शक्तियों को अर्जित करने में सफलता पाई है जो दुनिया को सैकड़ों बार तबाह कर सकती हैं, सिर्फ उन इंसानों को नहीं जो अभी तक जिन्दा हैं बल्कि उन सभी जीवित चीजों को जिन्होंने कभी भी बदनसीबी के इस ग्रह पर सांसें ली होंगी.

आज के ऐसे अवसर पर, मेरे गुरु विलियम फाक्नर ने कहा था “ मैं इंसान के अंत को नहीं मानता”. उनकी इस जगह पर मैं खड़े होने के काबिल नहीं रहूँगा अगर मैं इस विराट त्रासदी से पूरी तरह अवगत न रहूँ जिसे 32 साल पहले उन्होंने मानने से इनकार कर दिया था, जो कि मनुष्यता के आरंभ के बाद से, अब एक सामान्य वैज्ञानिक सम्भावना से ज्यादा कुछ नहीं है. इस विस्मय्कारी यथार्थ का सामना करते हुए, जो अब तक की मनुष्यता को महज एक यूटोपिया लगती थी, हम किस्से गढ़ने वाले लोग, जो हर चीज पर यकीन करते हैं, यह मानने के लिए खुद को प्रतिबद्ध महसूस करते हैं कि एक वैकल्पिक यूटोपिया गढ़ने में अभी भी बहुत देर नहीं हुई है. जीवन का एक नया और मंत्रमुग्ध करने वाले यूटोपिया, जहाँ कोई यह नहीं तय कर सकेगा कि लोग कैसे मरेंगे, जहाँ प्यार सच्चा साबित होगा और खुशियाँ संभव होंगी, और जहाँ सैकड़ों वर्षों के एकांत से अभिशापित नस्लों को, अंततः हमेशा के लिए, इस धरती पर दूसरा मौका मिलेगा.

मार्खेज़ 1982

Dimensions of Endeavor in Research

2014-05-28T14:48:00.001-07:00

Dimensions of Endeavor

Science and scientific endeavour are the rush zones of various daily pursuits on this planet. Researchers around the globe are daily cataloguing and filing themselves in one genre or the other. Each and every strata of research has sets of people working in certain field/area for the future of science or for personal profile making which in the end contributes to some improvements in the horizon of knowledge and aids in making a bigger, better and brighter future in science (some catastrophic research like atomic bomb as an exception). With so many students taking up doctoral programs as research initiators and many experts picking up lab research as their workspace, what keeps majority in mediocrity of scientific endeavor? Is something lacking in the scientific surrounding or the money minded research focus a cause? The causes may be many but one which is a prime one and which takes a center stage for the science futurists to play in mediocrity is the level of challenge they accept. The idea of doing science for market value has penetrated deep in the higher echelons of academic and applied sciences. I can’t imagine a science fraternity without a bold and daring research in quantum mechanics which came to the front in 1920’s or the wonderful backbreaking, selfless experiments of Mendel which gave light to the world of genes and higher biological pursuits. One can’t imagine the level of asceticism (barring Mendel who was a friar himself) the pioneers of science had when they took up the challenges that lay ahead of them and worked on them only for the sake of science. This ascetic attitude whether it was in form of flamboyant Feynman or wonderful Einstein had a precursor in the form of inquisitive and challenging personality. They targeted the problems which were mammoth for people of flesh and blood.

The idea is simple, you play the game as you practice. Somewhere a quote by Spartacus stated that those who sweat more in practice bleed less in war. Taking a cue from this idea of direct action and performance one can deduce that the preparatory method should be stringent. The time when a kid goes on to develop simple arithmetic attitude should have the motivation to inculcate in the child a sense of curiosity to know the wonders of nature. The level of understanding is further uplifted when the kid is pushed to take up the rigmarole of seeking difficult and challenging issues. This leads to a different mental and psychological level of development. Similarly when any one in a creative profession seeks to think out of box and takes initiative for backbreaking untouched frontiers of development the outcome is totally different.

The outcome is never due to the thinking only as some commentators may put it that the thought process takes ones creation to a different level. Agreeing with the comment but there is another preliminary set of attitude which creates a mountain for hoisting the end result. This is the level of challenge and difficulty involved in the planned course of action to meet the end result. Any process to complete a far more challenging task has in its womb the seed of evolution of the one pursuing the task. This may be more like an athlete who fixes an insurmountable goal prior to the event and practices to meet the level set by himself/herself.

Same lies for science and researchers too. When a problem for a pure or applied scientific pursuit is coined, the future of the research depends on the end goal which is formulated and codified with the problem statement. If a problem is easily achievable, effort required is low so the research sinews and muscles’ development is less. If the problem is challenging and keeps the researcher awake for nights and burn calories and patience while working on a mental problem in order to conclude something groundbreaking, the aptitude and attitude for research develops to a very different dimension.

It would be unwise to say that nobody takes the uphill, strenuous road of research to pursue something really novel. But it is quite correct to mention that there are many who take challenges of immediate need and avoid the research for a distant effect in time. Imagine Einstein shunning the work on Brownian motion or photoelectric effect to seek something suitable for industries at that time. Imagine J C Bose without the challenges of developing a crescograph. Imagine the absence of a hitech today without the myriads of contribution from eminent scientists who took up challenges never thought of by man/woman.

The general fabric of present would have been different if the giants in research had chosen some easier approach. This calls for a change of heart. This calls for a change of thoughts and this calls for a different attitude from all researchers who are taking lesser challenges for the sake of grants or easier, nearer and lucrative opportunities.

I stop with a line from A Beautiful Mind, “Who among you will be the next Morse?--the next Einstein?”

In conversation with Prof. Milind Sohoni

2014-04-20T11:03:00.000-07:00

Interviewed by CTARA students,
February 2014
IIT Bombay

You have written a lot about knowledge and society; where does an institution like ours stand?

Knowledge resides in agents like the potter, artisans or even the government servant. They are employed because they are being valued through their empirical knowledge which generates value. So knowledge comes from agents who deliver value. The first modern university, Bologna was started in 11th century in Italy where the idea was to pool in experts and practitioners to train agents by which knowledge can reach the society. The departments in these early universities were arts, philosophy, jurisprudence, divinity and medicine. The traditional science came much later around 16th century, till then universities were mainly cultural i.e. training in the culture and practice. I think our modern Indian universities have missed out on last 200-300 years of training in cultures but during the same time, European university had played a major role in the social transformation mainly with 300 years of experience in talking about society. Lot of remarkable discoveries came from the members of civil society who were not professional scientists. For example, Carl Linnaeus and Gregor Mendel were priests; Joseph Fourier was a judge and so on. I think that the modern Indian universities should really look at the cultures as the way of embedding science and not just science as an objective. In early days of science, it was basically a cultural construct which is often a matter of contentions with church. For example, the concept of earth moving around the sun in Copernicus age was a major tiff to a wide belief. So, university as civil society is what we should aim for and not just as a trainer of employees. The current need of society is to improve small and medium scale industries. The role of universities will be providing agents which may be a set of tools to increase the efficiency or a body of people trained to intervene and manage a cluster of industries directly or work with government for the same. So these agents can be an individual or a group or a book which can generate value and propagate good practice.

Why to do research and what should be its outcome?

Research is essential to create knowledge. For example, research can be to analyse and report about a system and its functions which will help us in understanding the system, and knowledge created should directly or indirectly create jobs by showing how agents can be engaged to generate value. The values need not always be financial, it can be of cultural or social importance or it can be a value of governance like strengthening of democracy.

How should the knowledge created by researchers reach society?

Universities are to provide new professionals and the mode through which the agents operate is either through market or state which is left to the agents/individuals themselves. For example, consider the management of a Taluka level drinking water program as a process. If we define appropriate tools and define the job charts like when and what needs to be done, along with a verifiable money savings or value generation then the mode of application may either be private or State.

What is the role of publications in research?

The main objective of publication is to archive knowledge which is very important for any university. Once the knowledge is published it is like setting up a recipe which can be used by more agents to yield value. However, before thinking about the society, the bottleneck over PhD research is to think if the research has assimilated any value for university. For example, if my student works on drinking water and publishes three papers, my way of teaching to next batch of students will improve and so it benefits the university which in turn can be transferred to the society through students as agents. But if the university itself doesn’t get any value from the publications then it will be a failure.

Do you think improving our collaborations with industries will help us to reach people in a better way?

People as a system are surrounded by government, market and civil society, along with natural environment and physical assets. We should realise that industries or market cannot cover all the needs of people and not all researches are for providing products. For example, a good research on district planning process can ensure drinking water security. So, essentially all three (government, market and civil society) are valid stakeholders and defining protocols for improving a process is necessarily a vital part of research.

How can we make universities function as regional knowledge resource and local problem solver?

Individuals from universities need to perform several roles which may be consultative or auditing with State and market while it is a public intellectual with civil society. Although agents may perform different role they should have a clear attribution to their value.

Why our innovations are not easily transformed?

In order to value any scientific research it is necessary to create people or population who value research. People should be able to see what we need and, how and who can deliver it. For instance, in 18th century, a king of Sweden told that all his peasants are literate which was made possible by priests who taught them to read Bible. This knowledge creation helped them to understand the value of knowledge with which they could reach a productivity level almost equal to what India could reach in 1970s. So a population which could appreciate knowledge and its creation is needed to achieve a value. For example, often Government’s appreciation of solution is very different; they presume technology to be a magic wand without understanding that it is a process which needs a lot of practice and perseverance. However, it is also the matter of supply and demand; avenues can be created if a clear job chart is available.

One advice which you like to give for research scholars.

Inputs to the system are good enough but measuring the outputs is very important in the feedback loop. Focus on outcomes of processes like failure analysis or model case studies, are important area of research. Research process should begin from society then move to literature followed by knowledge creation which can be published and finally provide solution to the society. But often research starts from paper and ends in paper. So, research should start from the ground and should go back to the ground while generating papers in process.

This article "In conversation with Prof. Milind Sohoni" was first published in RSAS-2014 Souvenir by IIT Bombay.

Feedback for a Creative Idea

2013-09-22T01:37:00.000-07:00

“Armies cannot stop an idea whose time has come.” Victor Hugo

There is something far more detrimental than the physical attack of an army on the mental pursuit of creating novel ideas. There is an army of negative criticism which stands under the citadel of false beliefs ready to crush any form of novelty. This negative feedback is a mammoth challenge for any one ready to create/ideate something new. The ever expanding horizon of innovativeness is limited by the decelerating comments of many on the out of box thinkers who are few. Any innovative approach first meets a platoon of contempt for change, then it will face barricades of disapproval and then if it has enough energy left it will climb the road uphill to meet the critics both honest and others. If the last stage is crossed with a bit of steam still inside the enthusiasm, this idea has the wonder of germinating into a tall tree.
The vague idea of creation/destruction starts at very early age when a kid playfully joins together pieces of toys or puzzles into some random way. Another process of unlearning begins at the same time when someone utters the words like “Oh!!! No dear not like this”. Any mentor of the child unknowingly suppresses a huge creativity volcano. The simple correction slowly acts like an ocean has been drained in the burning volcano and all the lava solidifies inside before coming out. Now when the child grows up he/she has a catalogued record of what all actions lead to failure as per others report. This is the biggest hindrance in the development of creative faculty of a kid. We all know and understand the impact of putting a pause on anyone’s imagination but still we practice this daily task of plugging off many curious brains. The whole episode is like blowing off many beautiful flying lantern candles before they fly. In the process what is left -- is still a dark sky without the beauty of gradually flying out lanterns. The fire which dies each day needs to be saved; it needs protection from being extinguished. It needs novel fuel. It needs energy. But how?
Many may think that the idea of a parent, guardian or caretaker in correcting a kid was to teach the correct but if that leads to destruction then there would be no learning and teaching. One can simply smile at the narrowness of our own thought. The building blocks of imagination and creativity are vulnerable to the criticism and they fall apart. Teaching has a very prominent role in letting a child know one of the many correct ways but giving the child clay to create anything of its own imagination followed by some explanation of what it is, may lead the kid to a better imagination and self-correction habit. Even extrapolating the same thing to grownups who are involved in creative pursuits, we find that individuals who are asked by fellows and friends to alter their creations before the final touch is given comes with an art piece which is not purely hers/his. The idea is to create by oneself. The creative faculty of an individual should give light to novelty in work that can come when the imagination shows road to the creation process rather than peers comments. This process doesn’t rule out the need for peer reviews and criticism. These two are as important as the production of an artifact but that should not come in the path of production rather both should have the patience to wait for the final shape of the artifact to come out before reviewing it critically.
Many an idea fails when it is stopped midway by too many suggestions which make the project simply swing in different directions. There may be situations when a creative process needs huge investment in its production and it needs a good amount of brainstorming. For such a situation the creator should have a very minutely detailed blueprint of the work in hand, which can be brainstormed by experts before shifting to the workbench. Any form of idea when confronted with criticism at the initial stage may succumb to shrinking contribution towards reality unless it is a mammoth contribution to the novelty. So the creation of an artifact should have the heat like lava from a volcano, it should be brainstormed in blueprint for a costly project in hand and it should have critics say on its nature. But giving the idea hammer blow before it has figured out its correct shape may be highly detrimental to the uniqueness of any creative endeavor.
For a demotivated idea only two conclusions can be drawn either the negative feedback army was strong disapproving Hugo or the time had not yet come towing in the line of Hugo’s thought.

Something on CREATIVITY ...

2013-05-15T05:26:00.001-07:00

Words are the best friends when they fall from the tips of fingers slowly touching the keypads. They come out with the finesse of emotions embedded in the series of letters which slowly spill on the screen. Each fragment of letter when threaded in words and woven in sentences gives an idea --a structured sentence. Many layered sentences give a push to the concept of idea. Ideation is nurtured by communicating it through these worded ideas. But what is the root of the ideas generated. Are they the words or various growths from the letters as fundamental components? The beauty with ideas is its not being so mechanical. Ideas which come out as small fragments are woven like a tale of minstrel in a highly chaotic form. The generation is dependent on long range of thought which is outcome of various observational platform found in different dimensions of our life. No thought process is disjoint from our day to day activity and all our actions are outcome of related webbed happenings. Any simple thought or logic which comes to us is coordinated with some past action or thought generated. This thought takes on the saddle and marches in the future counting its success on the chances of change from the past. Our past makes a linear path for a highly turbulent source of creativity generation. An idea generated has to take a leap from one platform to another based on these effects which help organize an individual approach towards a problem. The strands which peg ones thought in past and stops from taking leap needs to be broken for a creative approach towards a problem. All constructive things of past are not redundant and they add to the value of future but what holds us from taking leap in a creative bold process is the fear which is embedded in our thought process due to experiences of past. The brave attempt of striking a new problem head on needs a thought free from the fear of past and this leads to a better ideation.
Alas!!! When you read it you may think I give a sermon on ideation which is again a sin in the world of creative originality. The creation of novel ideas should be free from influences and it should be clear as fresh morning dew. An idea which has the originality of existence and is made with the positive skills acquired from past experience has a splendor of bringing in change. Creativity in itself is a highly misused paradigm. Any form of practiced art is not creativity. A traditional music played with the rhythm pious enough to soothe any soul is not creativity but a practiced art which portrays a creative outcome of past. When the same traditional art is blended with present ideas to bring the novelty of instance, it leads to creativity. A creation is worth to be called a creative process when it is new and unique to be molded in a form. Any historic entity was creativity of antiquity and sticking in reproduction is a slap on the face of creative endeavor. No classic reproduced has the same essence of creative enlightening which was there when the idea was first forged in some vibrant past. Any original idea of the past when embraced in the present with a dogmatic attitude has a bent of stinginess on the part of the individual who carries such a task. An artifact has a need to be of value in the time or the period of its creation along with the need to contribute towards adding some value to the previous existing idea. When the artifact is adding some value to the previous idea then the progression of creativity is in process and then the whole design sees a shift towards a better horizon. The umbrella of imagination should be such that ideas are only supported by the imaginers of the past whose process of ideation has given light for future processes to be bolder, braver, bizarre and benign. The brave face of future lies in the bold face of past and every creator of artifact should take into account this paradigm of bold and brave practice of imagination.

Now the question lies with us are we really creative and independent to innovate or are we moving along lines set by different genres of people. Isn't it time to create something new, write a poetry, stroke a brush or pluck some string or doodle something, sing a different tune and for more professionals plan a different strategy which wasn't there before. IT’S TIME TO CREATE. IT’S TIME TO INNOVATE. IT’S TIME TO BE YOU. Remember creativity doesn't always mean sculpting Michelangelo’s David or painting Raphael’s Madonna, but create whatever you want with a giant passion, for your idea is your own real, untouched, clean product which you can take pride in.

WHITE ,SAFFRON and many more colors of KURTA …

2013-03-24T20:08:00.000-07:00

"India should walk on her own shadow - we must have our own development model." A.P.J Abdul Kalam

“India is not, as people keep calling it, an underdeveloped country, but rather, in the context of its history and cultural heritage, a highly developed one in an advanced state of decay.”
Shashi Tharoor

India is a land dotted with variety. The patterns present here are mesmerizing. The climatic variation, language switches, dressing domain, cultural bouquet or religious co-existence all add to the rich collection of immense love and unity. The very idea of India has fermented through eons of growth. It is difficult for a woman/man of mortal life span to understand the value of Indian spirit. The antiquity of Indian heritage reaches as far back to the first human settlers, which came to be termed as civilizations. The beacon of sociability was ignited in those old age of mutual co-existence. Civilizations, which dotted different part of earth gradually, solidified in cultures with meager variations and even if there are, any they may be local variation in cultural sub-branches. However, India had a different path, a path unique to recognize, a path that came as a guiding beam for humanity. Indian subcontinent always blended its cultural color with newer ones and a very different society emerged. This social structure never had the constant nature and it changed with time. The change further molded it in better human approaches and the land gained a unique sense of living, the only land mass in the world where the rulers have been from different faiths in different periods. Common Indian valued LOVE in the society. The tradition of co-existence with diverse cultures stitched together shows a matchless spirit of goodwill in Indian subcontinent.

After India’s independence, the society, which had ebbed away in darkness, strengthened its knuckles and fought the darkness it was in. India as a nation rose high up in the ladder of hope, but somewhere down the road, it met with an old devil. The devil of distrust. It existed since the beginning of blending of civilizations. Social co-existence continued and LOVE still prospered on Indian soil but common Indian was unaware that the furrow of cultural division was deepening in the name of local belts. When Indian revolutionary Potti Sreeramulu went on hunger strike to have a separate land of Telugu speaking people, he knew little about the aftermath. India is now a country with states based on languages rather it is apt to say that India is a land with states of different cultures. This is a grand addition to the cultural growth of India when the line dividing the cultures deepened and people with different colors of cultural Kurta started living together.

A very saddening change in the Indian scenario came when our devil of distrust sowed the seeds of religious divide. The cultural Kurta based on language has always been unifying feature for the country but the colors of Kurta based on religion with distorted history put in the plate of ignorant majority of Indian is disturbing the fiber of Indian LOVE and co-existence. Many hate-mongers positioned themselves on the timeline of India’s march to present day and they always succumbed to Indianness. But this time the devil has painted the Kurtas white, green, saffron and many more. It’s not to be confused with Indian tri-color or the diversity, this has become the color of distrust based on religion.
The hate-mongers when they do their job others wearing their religious colors are loathed. This has become a cause of distrust and is a disturbing alarm for all. Instead of distrust and hatred, it is time to show our different colored Kurta which makes the canvas of India diverse, beautiful and a grandeur to behold.

A Silent Walk:

2013-03-10T12:47:00.000-07:00

SILENCE ............Photo by Syed Zamir Hasan

Mumbai is a city always blushing with life. Finding a corner silent to contemplate is a mammoth task. One rarely gets the chance to have solitude to marvel at the surroundings. The walking pedestrians moving like waves of a mighty ocean, vehicles whizzing past you with honking horns, hawkers yelling, women bargaining with a weeping child in arm are enough reasons to distract you from silent thinking. Our noisy Mumbai has silence in its womb always growing, always being nurtured by the growth of Mumbai. A simple walk in any crowded street will show you the glimpse of silence like a bride hidden in the veils of uproar of the surroundings. The beauty of silence is a treasure to behold. But isn’t there any other way to get to our own piece of silent existence. The same busy roads, streets, bazaars, malls, railway stations, bus stops, beaches and many other places make you one of the millions like you. Your own existence mills in the swarm of crowd and you can feel the pangs of being alone. The loneliness has the venom of silence, which is repugnant in all senses. You walk with many faces like yours and none has the time to smile back at you. You can see a couple moving with arms in each other. You can see a mother trying to sweet-talk a little child in front of a big shop, where the child wants to have a certain toy but poor mamma cannot afford. You can see the eyes scanning the rich brocade in a huge garment shops with dreams in them of once having them. You will see smiles hiding years of torture and pressure. You can see a beautiful damsel in the silence of the street trying to walk home faster avoiding the eyes following her. You can feel her insecurity for she is too good to walk in the streets where scavenger eyes are sitting to mock her. You can see a lady trying to win a battle of wits to get a commodity few rupees cheaper. You can see a shrewd shopkeeper wooing customers to thug them. The silence in the commotion has a noise shriller than the bugle of hate. The pain floats on top of all. The crust of all emotions is frozen, human being look like machines marching the streets. The bazaars look like well-charted algorithmic movements. The repetitions swell out and the contrast becomes clear. The showcase looks duller. The grandeur diminishes. People wading through the puddle of emotionless pit are scary.

In this scenario of fearful existence, you need to search a little angel, look straight in its eyes. The crystal innocence of the eyes, the beautiful smile of any little child is the abode of true bliss and place of immense silence where anyone can bathe in relaxation away from the crowded streets of Mumbai (or any place in the whole world). The child is a symbol of hope. The need of time is to wake up the child in each of us to let the contagious smile infect our whole society. I believe this is one of many ways, to free ourselves from the mechanized life we all are living.

The Friend YOU are ...

2012-12-28T11:31:00.000-08:00

Friends and good manners will carry you where money won't go. ....Margaret Walker

Don't walk behind me; I may not lead. Don't walk in front of me; I may not follow.
Just walk beside me and be my friend. ... Albert Camus

Fun all the way ..............

They laugh and giggle. Their smiles are always welcoming. I know of no adoring words which can match the beauty of their company. The longing to have an infinitude of their presence is always there, whether at tea shop, on a walk, in a boring lecture, while watching a dull movie in a cinema hall (that too when an old couple sits next to you), while talking on phone, while chatting on facebook or gmail, on a wicked evening hopping in the busiest of all malls or on the challenge of looting the maximum share from a box of ice cream. The company of my comrades is the most blessed on whether they don a leftist view, rightist perception or they love the fundamental extremism. The love which flourishes in their company is the utmost affection a mortal can dream of.

Their jokes are unfailing attacks but they are addictive. After family when an individual starts journey to the outside world, the caravan of like minded individuals forge the path ahead. The zeal to scale the biggest hurdles comes from the courage given by friends who stand like an army beside you. The battalion of comrades leads a passage to a world of change. The cheapest jokes often called PJ "poor joke" comes bundled with a paroxysm of laughter. We all shape ourselves with our friends, smiling and scaling the rocky terrain of life. When they walk beside life seems easy, affordable and livable. The challenges are met easily.

Our friends are curators of our thoughts. They never shy away in telling the truth in front. Packed in cauldron of laughter, they very easily give us the needed criticism. As Oscar Wilde beautifully puts it "True friends stab you in the front". Many views have poured since ages on the choice of friends but the truth is no one chooses friendship, it develops. It is not a packaged product available in any window in shopping centers. It is the joy of laughing and weeping together. It is the dynamic living on daily basis. The curtain of this play never lowers itself. The fun of being in the company of a friend is unmatched. It never matters whether your friend is your mother, father, female or male. All matters is you are blessed with friends.

I have the blessing of having lots of them -- many I have seen and met, many I stay with in my college campus and many I haven't even met. The last one is the modernized version of the pen pal paradigm. The beauty is we share ideas and value views. We disagree, laugh, gossip and have never met.

The wonderful concept of friendship is one of the best product of human's socialization after parent child relationship.

The idea of Common Man

2012-12-21T09:56:00.000-08:00

"It is not always the same thing to be a good man and a good citizen." -- Aristotle

"The most important office... that of private citizen."-- Justice Louis D. Brandeis

The COMMON man by R.K. Laxman

The idea to be pegged to an ideology is old. Every individual takes cue from the works of giants of past. There is no harm in this approach if one takes it in a positive light, with a hope to make a change or modification in the idea of the past to best fit the present. The time now is the most important concept and any idea should be compatible with the time of action.
The chronicles of man/woman's evolution tells a different story. The time when cave dwellers moved in herds mimicking other animals, was the time of co-existence only for food and security. The phase of human history traversed from there to the time of intellectual thinking and community building. The community building then branched off in different streams of growth. Man 'the animal' became man the dweller in commune. The march led to the established system of the society and things took a reasonably different light of progress.
The idea of co-existence got a hierarchical look and one became the leader of many led. Growth stiffened and many became prey to the whims of few. The social structure became a tormentor and tormented structuring. Its trace still lingers in the caste system, apartheid, religious hatred, regional upper hand and chauvinism. History has witnessed men/women fighting against the curse of social structure and many tried to get rid of the taboo of the time. The idea of hate always took a different garb and existed in the society. The hate structure in different region on the globe are of different nature.
At a very larger scale hate hides under the skin of nationalism or racism. The feeling of any nation's citizen to be above the other nation is hidden not in the pride of being of higher origin or maturity of society but of the dissent towards equality of mankind. I may sound pessimist but the truth is that the rat race has made every rat hate the other rat. Zooming the lens of observation to levels of micro structure, at an individual level will give an idea of how man to man variation lies in the social structure.
The difference in opinion when respected is the greatest boon a society can have. The same difference of opinion when knocks the door of intolerance becomes a cause of chaos in the society. The paradigm of -ism (like capitalism, communism, marxism, maoism, gandhianism, and many more ...) has led to hate based coterie of few which influences the mass thought and the seed of distrusting thought sprouts from this hate. The mutual co-existence becomes an adjustment sphere. People linked to a particular thought genre stuff their ears to avoid listening the views of their comrades (by animal classification) and then barge on a debate of deaf, where no one listens the other. The mass feeding of individual opinion today may be attributed to the sloppy spread of news of media or the rhetoric of a good leader who has mastered the art of delivering his/her wishes in the most cunning manner possible. The blame doesn't fully go to the media personal, the politician or an orator who moves a throng in his/her favor. The onus lies with the common citizen to decide the just.
The common opinion should not be generated by few but should have churned thoughts of the COMMONs.

The Angel in my dream

2012-12-07T10:50:00.001-08:00

The music in my heart I bore,
Long after it was heard no more. ........William Wordsworth

It’s time to say goodbye.

There alone in the corner she sits and wonders what has happened. I roam freely from lanes to lanes and the city has turned a labyrinth for me. I wish time turns the tide and solitude says the truth. The mock conference looks real. Eyes staring at me with stones in them and hearts pound with gripped fist. The idea of hope still lingers around me. I believe a change round the corner. The solitude gathers the thorns of rebuke. I walk alone crowned with disowned closeness. She still sits there and thinks what has happened. The clouds gather and talk with each other. They get into heated discussion and slowly the firmament takes the sword of lightening and charges at the earth. I walk in the rain and get drenched. I am astonished by the game of fate. I walk to the corner of the pavement. Standing under a tree I watch people running. The world has changed. The solitude charges heavy and there I see the tears in the memories. She still sits in the corners and wonders what has happened. I smile at the memories of splendid times with her and check the rolling tears on my cheek. I smile at the rain for hiding the drops of sorrow in them. I step out and walk. A step in the puddle. A step in the water. A step in the rain. A step in the change. A step in the wild. A step to be a child. But memories follow me. They walk with me around the lamppost. They go to the streets. They get wet and soak themselves in emotions. I try to throw them away. She still sits in the corner and wonders what has happened. I want her to leave but she refuses, she takes a dark silent corner in the labyrinth of my mind and weeps. I hold her hands gently and sob with my face down in her soft palm. She leaves. I weep in solitude.

An Educated Error ...

2012-10-02T04:11:00.000-07:00

The only thing that interferes with my learning is my education. (Albert Einstein)

The goal of all education system to instill in a kid the spirit of creative endeavor is losing its stead. Creativity is the required end product of all sorts of learning or teaching. But the typical problem which is engulfing the idea of learning is the competitive focus on end result and then targeting it in a time bound frame. This attitude leaves little scope for changed result or imaginative effort in the process. Million of students are milled through a system where the act of thinking is stopped by the task in hand and after some years of education they get acquainted with the art of the system and whole idea of learning revolves around the concept of competitive exam handling. Anyone who can handle the exams in a better mode is wise. The system of educational built up has rendered the whole idea of free thinking a prisoner. People are known by the numbers which they hold. The idea of number is prominent in any academic institute where your skills are gauged by the accuracy, precision and the time bound attempt towards a certain methodology of application. The idea of tagging kids in schools and colleges with numbers has generated walking calculators and talking rule bags. Walk any academia and you will witness maximum (with few creative still existing) students walking the lines of rules laid by the system. The focus of talks is on the marks/grade acquiring methods. The unison of education with creativity is the need of time.

Even parents and teachers who once wanted to have a novel system of education feel that the walk on the path of grade/credit based education system is right at this point of time. We are so much obsessed with the system that any alternative sight is not in our view. We have clubbed our vision and we are slowly poisoning the vision of students (esp. school kids) to accept the trend following methodology as the best.

If we analyze the performance of our schools, colleges and universities we will find the death of free thinking. I don’t think that few students who take courses on creative arts or are engaged in humanities only have the right to think in a novel way. Even these sections have also been bugged by the competitive grade based attitude. From school to college the best form of education as held by teachers is transfer of knowledge or concepts, practice of concepts and then testing of the grasping or accumulating ability of the student. Very rarely one comes across teachers who really believe that the alternate approach towards the concept should get an upper hand. Very few teachers believe that the time inside and outside the classroom should be made enjoyable for the kid to think differently. The idea of generating ability to get newer ideas is an outcast in our present system of education. In Indian sphere having experience of schooling system of different places and college of different tier, I got in touch with very few teachers who wanted the kids to throw out the tomes of pressure over them for the sake of newer means of learning. We all know that too little is taught in the direction of different learning ability.

My dear reader should not get me wrong that I say ‘no’ to the concepts and fundamentals contributed to humanity by eons of hard work of geniuses on earth. But the method of imbibing the concept in oneself and modes of imparting the knowledge needs a change. We are not programmed machines that we spend some 15-20 years of education in programming ourselves for the challenges ahead. We are rational, we are human beings, and we are thinking mortals so we should spend our 15-20 years of education polishing our thinking ability. There’s no pride in being able to know the rules of rocket science without getting in the depth of rocketry. There’s no joy in using calculus without gaining knowledge of why Newton would have come with such a method of abstraction. There’s no glory in penning down notes in history or literature classes without any feeling of the events or chronicles passed. There’s no triumph in going through the geography sessions without getting a feel of how big the wonder of earth is. There’s no understanding in knowing mathematics only by methods rather than substance. Education in substance is very important and the present system needs to change. Else many einsteins won’t be lucky to get near novel ideas of science and humanism.

Hope India Hope ...

2012-08-15T21:25:00.000-07:00

The Indian Tricolor on Independence Day

Last few days the dailies have brought their own share of despair. There is a lack of trust and faith among each other and this decrease is deepening. We all know of the episodes of minor tussle between two people and hatred between two communities. This gradually takes a turn of instability in that particular region or society and the peaceful and amiable situation of the place comes in the hands of fighting few. The newspapers of past few weeks have enormous proof for these happenings. The humongous decline in the value of peaceful co-existence is in need of a very valuable commodity of value and living. The need to co-exist with love should be nurtured in an environment of never ending trust among neighbors and love should take the nuclear role of unifying all. What is the human value, which can bring this in reality? What should we spread for the oneness to keep increasing even when the political figures are ready to chop the nation apart for personal or communal gain? The time is when a story of HOPE should take the central stage. The nation needs hope so that people can take the light of that hope and rekindle their spirit of love. The hope needs to be born in the society. It needs to germinate in the society. The talk of despair is already too much and any genius becomes a plaything when few people discuss about the individual. In this time, we need people and group who talk of ideas and change. We need people who talk of growth rather than blaming someone else. Talking about glorious past and ideas to reinvent it is far better than talking about past and weeping at present. The trigger of fate is in each one’s hand and every one can have her/his share of contribution to nation/social building. As William Ernest Henley rightly said, “I am the master of my fate. I am the captain of my soul.”

Among the ways of regenerating social hope for cordial existence, the most important requirement can be trust in the law with a belief of betterment. Many young individuals in the college or street believe that the law is not good, but this law holds the society together. Martin Luther King once said, “It may be true that the law cannot make a man love me, but it can stop him from lynching me, and I think that's pretty important.” This is the love for the law, which comes with the hope of survival. We have friends around who believe that the law of a land needs an overhaul but truth is the law whenever gets a sharp change brings a lot of rift in the society because the change may be acceptable to some and not digestible for many. The hope to have a law for all needs reflection from the masses and change should come in due course of time. The law of the land is always for the people and having faith in it with a scrutinizing eye on the lawmakers is very important. Nevertheless, hope should live in the society.

Now seeing the disagreeing masses in any society, we get a shivery feel, but there is one thing that unites the divided masses. Although I have never been passionate about sports, I believe that whenever anyone brings laurel for the country the whole nation celebrates like a single body. This is the biggest contribution of any sports person of any country. Taking an Indian context whenever anyone in sports out performs his/her contemporaries on an international scale people rejoice. No one ever cares about the religion, region, gender or caste of the individual. The sense of oneness seeps through our skin and touches our heart. The hope in the sports person when she/he leaves for the game becomes a national prayer. Every lip silently asks for the triumph and every heart beats for them. This was there when cricketing India played for the world championship, when Sachin Tendulkar stood at the crease to get his hundredth hundred, when Mary Kom took the opponent down, when we bagged medals at recent Olympics. The hope to hope is the need of time.

Moreover, we all should hope for a peaceful society living under a good law of Indian state, where people are united irrespective of the caste to which they belong, the religion they practice, the gender they have or the region they are from. We all should hope to have a society of equal opportunities. We all should hope of an atmosphere of love. We all should hope for oneness. We all should hope for a better India. Let this be our hope post 66^th Independence Day for India.

I end with a hope filled prayer poem of Rabindranath Tagore,

"Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high

Where knowledge is free

Where the world has not been broken up into fragments

By narrow domestic walls

Where words come out from the depth of truth

Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection

Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way

Into the dreary desert sand of dead habit

Where the mind is led forward by thee

Into ever-widening thought and action

Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake."

The Blame Game of Masses ...

2012-08-12T07:18:00.000-07:00

The league of champions has always attracted demands from followers. The hatred for the crown has always dragged many enthusiasts against it. The genre of hope looses faith in itself once it sees a crowned self same mortal who starts becoming a towering figure in the history of human race. Man, the mortal fights oppression and is tamed by the unsatisfied taste of self. The onerous task of facing all the criticism from friends to foes lies with the leadership. Any crown is always under the spell of hate and rebuke. The tome of history has given various examples of leaders falling prey to the common demand of ‘and what else’.

Shakespearean version of Julius Caesar has the mighty falling with words of astonishment, ‘Et tu Brute.’ This comes as a real surprise when the pages of history throw towering examples of Caesar saying bravely, “Vini, Vidi, Vici.” The conqueror lost to non-other than a dear friend whom he trusted and revered the most. Words of people who hate Caesar infects this dear friend. He does so by not trusting his cognition rather relying on what fellow citizens say. Although history has its own example of trusted lieutenants like Antonio who stood beside the dead Caesar.

Tracking our course to the present era, we can meet many instances in history where the regime falls sometimes due to fault of action and duty and at others due to public dissent. This dissent has become the prime voice in early 21^st century life. The dissent of governed and dissent of governing has drawn crossed swords from each court. Life has taken a route of adventurous living for all. Governments around the globe have faced it as anger from netizens and others. The social media lashes whips on any leader with the liberty of being the voice of people and colossal figures have fallen. The change in the attitude of our social structure brings to light many questions…

Are all the leaders failures?

Do we choose poor leaders?

Is there any problem with mass thinking?

Che was correct in generalizing that cruel leaders are replaced by new ones, who in their turns become cruel.

The judgment lies with the reader.

This episode of chaos in the leader and lead relationship has seeped at all levels of social structure. You can find the problem of distrust and hatred anywhere. Any office or place of work will give you a glimpse of unsatisfied individuals. India has become a good experimental ground for this dissent test with the leadership hanging weak and masses demanding change. Indian democracy seems toothed by the rise of criticism where we are less concerned about authenticity and are happier with hating whom the mass is ready to hate. Few examples of leaders can give us a good idea of what is happening in the nation and how we are tackling the situation. The leadership has always been a matter of change for Indians and owing to its diversity, no one has had the happy moment of pleasing all. The in-societal hatred among people of different schools of religious, ideological and social thoughts has bred grounds for more Caesars to fall. The falling Caesars here are tongue-tied. They can’t even utter, ‘Et tu Brute.’ The unfulfilled bigger Indian dreams germinate a national loss of trust in heroes. The leaders of Indian state promised them a great nation. After independence, Nehru initiated some plans but he was always under the critical sword of opposition that labeled him with various hate speeches. Our society is adroit in the means of pulling down leaders from the days of its re-birth. Like phoenix, it regenerated in spirit and after a long fought battle with the British, it got its independence. The leader of the freedom struggle, an apostle of non-violence was silenced by the gunshots of dissent. The man who shot him had a grudge against him and the dissent germinated into assassination. This was one of the first sign of how as a nation we like to hate our leaders irrespective of their good or bad qualities. The fall of Bapu gave an indication that in the coming few decades no leader will have an upper hand. Nehru was the second in row who led the nation as a visionary and even brought out new ways to aid weak India and elevate her to figure of world fame. However, unlike other nations our Father of Nation and the first visionary Prime Minister have always been under the scanner of nationals. Recent social networking sites have many people who even say that Gandhi has been revered too much and it is time to have his pictures out from the venerated positions. We are a nation where we can even throw out a dead hero from the throne of heroism. The channel of hatred has moved on two the second step when all the inefficiency of nation is attributed to Nehru and his plans for India. Hence, like Caesar these two figures are in the gallows when they even cannot defend themselves. It is safer to put dead leaders on trial and malign all their contribution only to make few political gains. Fast forward to the recent times and you will have numerous examples of leaders who have their head under the blade of dissent and they are lashed with all the blames of great fall of India (Even if there is no fall), in politics, science, sports and academics. We are a nation where a leader is responsible for all the flaws and we admire a good man only when we meet comparatively bad one on the way.

The mass needs change and change lies in the womb of action. It is time to work big. Everyone is ready to be Brutus and everyone feels that attacking any leader is going to save the structure of all the organizations. The voice given to commoners should be used for cause more important than the act of mere speaking dissent. The time to act should succeed the time to oppose. The tongues that give the rhetoric of promises should have the capability of generating plans. The brains that try to prick the tall figures should have the enthusiasm to be tall. The voice of masses represents an appeal of importance and everyone including the mass should pay heed. It has the power of changing tides and it represents the will of humanity. When few hold the reins of voice of the masses, they only benefit by directing its ways. Every individual has ability to think. He/she is the master of self-thoughts. That makes one the leader on the platform of self. When these individual ideas unite, they form a social structure of immense power. This voice of commons should take notice of people who are trying to manipulate their thoughts and want to weaken them individually and socially by taming their ideas. Once few men of power tame the thoughts of any society, the real liberty is lost and the society submits to the rule of few. The present happenings of around the globe is an indicator how one group of mortal human kill another group for benefit of their masters. The divide between people thickened in many countries has led to the fall of governments, with fall of love among themselves. This divide sometimes comes as intra-societal. People who want to have the control over society for themselves inject this divide. Caesars fall after being stabbed by people who loved them. Therefore, masses should take a note of their actions because they may be trapped in the political rhetoric of few and they may stab their own dear leaders.

It’s time to lead once own idea and choose the leader apt for the time or be the leader rather than stabbing once own liberty of choice by the influence of others. When hate mongers influenced Brutus, he stabbed Caesar.