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I'd like to mention that the views in this blog are entirely subjective and reflect my personal views ONLY! I have no intentions of hurting anyone's personal views or emotions directly, indirectly, obscurely or otherwise! For those who might disagree, you're always free to oppose me... I can justify myself... And those who liked it are most welcome to read the other blogs too! Thank you! Happy Reading!

Friday 7 May 2010

The Youth & The Future (?)

Visakhapatnam

1st May, 2010

Hello friends! It’s been AGES since I’ve blogged! THANKFULLY, my painfully chronic exams are over (for now) & from where I’m looking at it, long (& most probably, uneventful) holidays are waiting to engulf me into psychotic boredom. It’s just the beginning of May & the unbearably treacherous weather has been on a ruthless rampage… The heat wave is testing my resistance to the otherwise strong temptation to approach the beckoning AC… I have a thing against ACs (I even messed up my Applied Thermodynamics – II this past semester, PROBABLY because there was a chapter on “Refrigeration & Air Conditioning” in it) I don’t know if I should be proud saying this, but… So far so good!

Though North India is roasting in the scorching heat, the weather DID show some mercy in my region this past fortnight. There were clouds all over the sky on-and-off to our rescue. Moreover, a very short stint of intermittent drizzle WAS there, so faint that it was only detectable by those who would step out into the open air & notice. There was less effect of “the bloody sun” (Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s words, not mine!) during the latter half of April. The silver lining (which ironically came in form of clouds) was SOME unexpected relief for most in my city. But apart from that, it’s just May & the Mercury is already soaring at 44° C! Unfortunately, this freak heat wave has already claimed over a hundred lives in my country, which for some reason bothers the hell out of me… We have seen what a cold wave can do in the United States, Europe & China. By the time this summer ends, we’ll PROBABLY get an idea of what a HEAT wave can do in the other parts of the world. Perhaps (No! make it PROBABLY), this is just a trailer of what the earth has in store for us come 2012 (& the end of the world in it, if it comes)…

23rd April – the very last day of the (written) end-semester exams – one of the favourite days of all students… It also happened to be my “official boyfriend”, Mr. Pawan Maruvada’s birthday bash & on the dinner table, our topic of discussion shifted towards blogs (Pawan is a devoted blogger, by the way)… That is what inspired me to restart blogging (or start re-blogging?) & here I am sitting & typing my first blog in over a year… Thank you, Mr. Gates! We had gathered after a long time on Pawan’s birthday. So, obviously, our usual chit-chats & gossips began & we started to pick pace. There was the usual humour session from Pawan. I joined the gallery! Yes! Even MY dry, sarcastic, flop & hopelessly obscure humour was somehow working that night… (!!)

The topic of discussion drifted towards politics (or vice-versa). And again, we had yet another one of those forty-minute-long discussions that we always have in our college – people started giving examples of the “greatnesses” of various people including Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, Mahatma “Bapu” Gandhi, Jawaharlal “Chachaji” Nehru, Rajiv Gandhi, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Sonia Gandhi, so on & so forth… My best buddy, Shashank was expressing his support for & praising Narendra Modi vehemently while others were making fun of Shashank’s “Modi worship”; one of them tried getting me too on the same page… I however had my view, supporting Shashank’s hero as usual! I can’t remember if Shashank had carved a die-hard Modi-fan out of me or being a Modi-fan made Shashank one of my best buddies over the past 4 years. Today, both of us love Narendra Modi with a passion! Anyway… Each one of us was profusely backing the party/politician/faction/etc. that we were supporting like they were our half-brother/sister/etc.!

Suddenly, my attention shifted towards Omkar Manas, who had been quietly listening to our Political geniuses all this while… I asked him: “Your views, Manas!” “Neutral!” was a sullen reply. I was trying to get him into the discussion, but that reply made me feel that his interest waned even more with my question. Though he is neutral towards political parties, he did voice his opinion about politics as an entity – that how difficult it is to become a part of active politics; that a young collegian could never join if he wanted to; that the present situation is pathetic to such an extent that if a common man comes back home after filling his form, then the next day, he leaves home either on a stretcher or in a coffin!

This brings me to today’s topic – The Youth & the FUTURE? This seems to be a very common & washed up topic, right? After you finish reading what I have to say, you'll realize that though the topic is the same old one, the views are not quite … with the flow! Over the years, lot has been talked, said & done about the youth! Indeed – youth IS the deciding factor for any organization, system, institute, asylum, etc. today! The future of any democracy depends upon the youth. The REAL power is in the hands of the youth today… The direction of their thoughts determines the direction in which the nation moves… They are the reason for all the development in the past, are the centre of all of the developments in the present AND are the HOPE for all of the developments the future. Today, “youth” has become the “The Alpha & the Omega”! In fact, youth IS the Alpha & the Omega of today’s system…

I’m a 20-year-old guy & it is a very inspiring thing for me to learn that there are quite a few contemporary people who are reaching unprecedented positions at a very young age & achieving heights that the people of the preceding generations could not even think of reaching in their entire lifetime during the 20th century! It only signifies that, even without having good luck handed over in a silver platter, people like me still do have a decent chance of “making it big” in the future… For instance, have a look at the IPL commissioner, Mr. Lalit Modi! 5 years ago, he was just a daddy’s boy – a guy from a very affluent family & apart from that, an absolute nobody & today (for now) he is the ringmaster of the thousands of crore rupees’ circus AND the centre of attention of all the media, politics & enjoys the company of the so-called “rich & famous” – the influential lot of the country…

Innumerable companies & industries are being headed by dynamic young entrepreneurs such as Kumar Birla (heir to the Birla Empire, merely 42 & already with personal assets of over 3500 crore). Pharmaceutical industry is being reined by people like Malvinder Singh (35) & Shivinder Singh (42) – who sold Ranbaxy to Daiichi Sankyo last year & together have combined assets of over well over 1500 crore. Cyber space has always been thriving for the young. Innovators such as Mark Zuckerberg (founder of Facebook, 23), with assets of over $4 billion (2000 crore) can dare to plan a retirement at 30 while others start thinking about their settling down & their prime worry is their kids’ futures by that age. The richest lady in the country, Ms. Kiran Mazumdar Shaw established Biocon when she was 25 & stands on a heap of 2000 crore today.

In media, the faces of almost all news channels today – the journalists – & not the news reporters or The Editor – are mostly young & charismatic. Gone are the days when Prabhu Chawla’s voice was the very synonym of “news”. Kalanithi Maran (the founder of Sun TV network, 44), has established a self-made empire of over 1300 crore. Sports, for obvious reasons, are being led by the youth… But just being among the “youth” is not enough… The sportsmen just keep getting younger by the day! Gangulys, Kumbles & Laxmans (or should the plural form be, “laxmen”, maybe??) don’t get a look-in into the team. No matter what the record books say & regardless of how they actually perform, the “old” & “obsolete” tags have gotten the better of them & they were sent packing! There is no player as old as Sanath Jayasuriya, maybe as talented, but definitely not as old… Today’s teams comprise of Yuvrajs & Dhonis. There have been only two “aged” survivors – Virender Sehwag (for his unprecedented unique ability to be able to take away a 20-20 game in 20 minutes, a one day game within an hour & a test match in a session, or part thereof) & Sachin Tendulkar (for everything else, including the abovementioned).

Even in politics, young leaders are getting successful. Barack Obama’s fan base is bigger than any other living person today. Bobby Jindal, the 55th Governor of Louisiana, happens to be the first man of Indian origin to govern an American state. Men like him have made India proud in the international scenario… Another prominent emerging political figure today is Rahul Gandhi – the most eligible bachelor in the country today, heartthrob of millions! He is a REAL national hero… There is one thing common among all the people above – they are all either self made, or have inherited their parts of their share off an empire & have converted it into a fortune! Minus, of course, Rahul Gandhi, who was born with a (in loss of a better material), Californium spoon in his mouth… None of the others had a fortune handed over to them!

Let’s swim a little deeper now…

I love the hilarious videos that people keep uploading on a particular website – again, a creation of 3 young minds, Steve Chen (32), Chad Hurley (34) & Jawed Karim (31)… Take away 4 years & that was when they innovated the marvel what we know as Youtube today. That was just FYI; now coming back to the videos I was talking about, I must say that there was this very funny video titled “Americans are Stupid”! In the video, we see a street play based in America where random people are interviewed to test their knowledge about the world (if any). We see a girl saying “We (America) did!” when asked who won the Vietnam War. Then, there is another man placing a flag on Australia when the interviewer asked him to point out ‘North Korea’; & then, looking at Tasmania & commenting: “I didn’t know that South Korea was much smaller than North Korea!” Then, there is another guy saying: “Al-Quaeda is a group of suicide bombers in central Asia & is active in Iraq, Iran & Afghanistan. And their leader is… YASIR ARAFAT!” Then, he added an “Everybody knows that!” icing on the cake, probably to make himself look really cool & learned… I would really take a lot of PLEASURE in hanging him upside down off his toes! His “Everybody knows that” particularly added insult to the injury!

The reason I mentioned this video is that quite a few people around the world (including the United States) are ACTUALLY stupid! We (Asians) carry out majority of the work there! An Indian student is a priced possession there. For several years, the most famous Universities in the world are being topped by Indians. The average American spends twice the amount of money & 40% more time with their books/laptops. But they fail to match their Indian classmates! That’s the intellectual level of the average Indian! I’m not just typing anything here; I’ve actually had sufficient talks on a personal level with American students regarding the matter! So, the picture is clear… Youth rules India. Indians (seem to be having the intellectual capacity to) own Americans! And America is officially, the baap of the world! So, the Indian youth should be the strongest sect in the world, right? WRONG! What’s wrong here then? What the hell is it that’s holding us back??…

I’ll let you know… Today, when considered in its entirety, the Indian youth is the most misled, directionless, gullible, impractical & the most HOPELESS section of the society! That's likely to get many eyebrows raised, but I can justify my statement… The zeal & valour that the youth used to have not very long ago is long gone! I don’t see any vigour in the youth today! Barring a few inspired ones, & the remaining youth is heading nowhere & we are heading nowhere at the rate of noughts! When we evaluate their commitment towards their future, their job, their parents, the rest of their family, even their girlfriend/beloved, we’ll be able to see a constantly declining trend! There used to be ethics in the youth till a certain age (before they started earning) in the past. But today’s youth is losing their ethics, their “goodwill” & even their character at a very young age…

All that they want is a bike, a girl & a pocket full of money… That’s pretty much about it! Here’s another success story… One of, if not, THE richest lady in the country, Ms. Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, (few of the “youngsters” know about her) had established her firm, Biocon with an initial investment of a mere Rs. 10,000/- at a very young age of 25. Today’s average 25-year-old expects his/her parents to give them a pocket money more than that. Biocon is valued at over 2000 crore today, by the way. AND, the worst part is that they don’t waste it to buy a nice trendy Gucci purse or pair of Reebok shoes. What they squander it upon is drugs, alcohol, sex & all those things that they should NOT be doing at this are, or ANY age for that matter. Today’s youth take PRIDE in being what was earlier called “spoilt”.

Just that “youth” tag seems to make them feel like they are all mighty; some even seem to think of themselves as the almighty (pun intended)! It may be true that the YOUTH is the future, but what they FAIL to understand is that they need to prove themselves in the PRESENT first! Of all my acquaintances combined, no more than 10% of them have an answer to the million dollar question: “What do you want to do after you complete your graduation? Where do you see yourself 10 years down the line? AND what are you doing about it in the present?” AND, out of those, over 70% have one of the following same monotonous answers:

1. “I’ll join where my friend, girlfriend, ex-girlfriend or friend’s girlfriend joins!” So, if this X-factor of ours will decide to sit at home doing nothing, then probably so will our respondent!

2. “I will study further!” (Proudly inflates chest) “Which college do you want to join?” (No answer) “What coaching have you taken?” (Again, no answer!) “Which stream do you want to join?” (And YET again, no answer!!)

3. “I want to be an entrepreneur!” (A DIFFERENT answer, accompanied by a BROAD smile yelling “I’m different!”) “What product” (“so-and-so”) “Are you aware of the technical specifications? What about the initial investment? Any idea about the pros & cons? Do you have any contacts with the existing marketers? What’s your intellectual property? WHY YOU?” (By now, our budding entrepreneur is back onto his table, in front of the computer, working for TCS – the ultimate dream for all engineers thinking “business can ONLY be done by a Ratan Tata or an Aditya Birla who has had at least 6 generations’ worth of experience & establishment behind them”)

4. “I have rights to do what I want! I have seen 3 Idiots & Wake up, Sid! I’m least bothered what dad says! I want to be a guitarist!” – Some of these budding Kurt Cobains don’t even know how to TUNE a guitar!

5. “I will get absorbed into ‘some IT company’ & do a job there.” Sounds like a pretty good plan for a student who wants a “handsome” five-digit salary & a tension-free life with limited & minimal (infinitesimal) responsibility. But where are you going to be after 5 years? What if you don’t get through Infosys or TCS or Wipro or Satyam (Tech Mahindra) or don’t take you in? What if you received an e-mail one fine morning that they have decided to drop an axe upon your head? Recession can come any time, right? Is there a backup plan? NO! This brings you to a DEAD END from where only a BPO or a “sales manager/executive” job can rescue you, not for the sake of the same or a better life, but just for survival! And this stays with you for the rest of your life!

Today’s “youth mentality” is limited & confined to the lame & irrelevant topics that they discuss on MTV, Channel V & other internet forums. And of course! Everybody has a VERY strong opinion on whether pre-marital sex, living together in a relationship & homosexual marriages “is okay” or not. These are the “sensitive topics” today. PROBABLY because sex is behind their minds 24×7! So, they want to use it as a medium to showcase their je-ne-sais-quoi – their “open-mindedness”, maybe? Well… The main reason why I mentioned this topic in particular is because firstly, it happens to be the favourite topic in every group discussion forum, debate, etc. that I go to… And secondly, I believe that our entire society has become sexually ILL! Sex is EVERYWHERE in the society, but VERY few people seem to be willing to have an open conversation about it, if the topic is initiated in a hall, often behaving like they were about to get caught in an act of sin… Well… According to me, sex is beautiful, wonderful & amazing & we need to stop viewing it as dirty & evil… However, when NDTV or MTV comes & shoves a microphone in front of their mouths, today’s youth spew their opinion as if it theirs were the ONLY ones that mattered! To be frank, the world couldn’t CARE less about what your idea about premarital sex, homosexuality or live-in relationships is… It is supposed to be their personal opinion & their PERSONAL lives. People often espouse lofty noble ideas without themselves acting upon them!

We all seem to be very interested in finding out where Shah Rukh Khan’s house is & if Dhoni has a swimming pool inside his mansion & a hummer at the parking lot. But they hardly bother to bother themselves about the plight of the people in the slums of Mumbai, on our side of the Line of Control, or the POWs on the other side of it! Everybody is VERY interested in the WAGs, but nobody even knows how the Kargil widows gather four square meals a day, if they do, that is… Everybody wants to know at which dalit’s house Rahul Gandhi is spending his night; but nobody has EVER bothered to wonder where Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, the REAL hero of modern India, disappeared (Mind you, there was no plane crash in Taipei – or ANYWHERE in Taiwan for that matter – on 18th August, 1945 – Google “Jutice Mukherjee Commission” if you can’t make out what I’m talking about here)! I see lots of Che Guevera T-shirts off late… He suddenly seems to be THE “youth icon” of India, PROBABLY because he was a biker & bikes are “youth” objects… On the other hand, Bhagat Singh, the only REAL hero in the Indian history is merely a face in your history books!

Sachin Tendulkar isn’t god, God is Sachin Tendulkar – a sportsman who has mastered a sport which hardly 10% of the world knows about (In the Netherlands, half the population doesn’t even know what a cricket bat is used for – for a video authenticating this, you can browse Youtube for the pre-match segments from the T20 World Cup, 2007)… On the other hand, you wouldn’t recognize Mr. Abhinav Bindra if he was sitting opposite to you in a railway wagon (the name sounds familiar, right? Well… For your kind information, he was the one brought the FIRST individual Olympic Gold for India in 2008 at Beijing)! Heard of Pankaj Advani? No, he is NOT L. K. Advani’s son. He is the ONLY player in history to have become a world champion in more than one sport/game – billiards & snooker! I BET that 95% of the youth haven’t even seen what he looks like! And he’s just 23! Doesn’t HE deserve to be a “youth icon”? On the other hand, almost the entire country recognizes Yuvraj Singh, Robin Uthappa, even Abhimanyu Mithun, for that matter! More people know how to knock balls in pockets of a table than smash it over hundred & fifty feet away I believe! Personally, I am a HUGE fan of Sachin Tendulkar, for he indeed is a great player & an even better great person! But I REFUSE to accept him as a “youth icon” for the country… Sania Mirza’s marriage is the talk-of-the-town while nobody even knows whether Mahesh Bhupati & Leander Paes are single or married! The last time I checked, each of them were MUCH more successful than Sania Bhabhi (for Pakis), maybe worse looking & less controversial with a clean cult lifestyle. Deepika Padukone is a HUGE national senstaion. Prakash Padukone must be a PROUD father. Who Prakash Padukone? Well… I remember him as one of the World’s best badminton players during his days!

Wondering what’s wrong with this picture? I’ll tell you what’s wrong… Ours is a country RULED & STRONGLY influenced by two like-minded destructive factions – the news channels & POLITICS – (Ekta Kapoor used to be the third element, but THANKFULLY, not anymore). The BLOODY democracy is SO powerless that it does NOT give you an opportunity to voice your views! If you want to, you either have to have a strong voice (in terms of money, political power, media back up & so on & so forth) or you have to limit yourself to the “readers’ response” section in newspapers & magazines or maybe write a blog (like me) with the hope that some people read it & take some inspiration off it. Unfortunately, the internet is the ONLY place where the TRUE “freedom of speech” is protected… But what percentage of the youth read newspapers & blogs (or ANYTHING for that matter) anyway?

Here’s another incident: It was the summer of ‘09. General elections were on & a massive campaign was initiated called – “Let’s Vote”. The motive was to inspire people, particularly the youth to practice their fundamental right (duty) of voting… It was a large scale campaign. Everywhere I went, I saw those “Let’s vote” banners, posters, fliers, etc. I was handed a badge by a campaigner… So, I decided to showcase it in college the next day, not as a “fashion statement”, but to let my peers know of it. I would have considered my role in the campaign a successful one if even ONE person took inspiration & visit a polling booth that weekend. I was greeted with sarcastic remarks from a few people instead! I smiled them off for a while. But I am really short tempered. So, I picked on a random taunting guy. I just took a small interview of him in front of those other 8-10 guys, most of who were accompanying him in the taunting. They were very simple questions. And the answers that I got were sufficient to put his entire schooling to shame! For example, a “How many states are there in India?” got me a “26!” as an answer. And he could enumerate only 14 odd out of them. Asking for capitals enlightened me really! Here’s the list:

1. Punjab – Amritsar

2. Uttarakhand – Darjeeling

3. Madhya Pradesh – Imphal

4. Jharkhand – Tatanagar

5. Kerala – Cochin

AND, of course! The most frequent answer was “I don’t know!”

And then, we talk about youth involvement in politics. And it’s not about just this one guy. MAJORITY of the “youth” today don’t have the slightest idea what the capital of Tripura is or who the Coal & Petroleum minister is/was. Most of them are not even aware who Jag Jeevan Ram was & what the portfolio of his daughter is! The ONLY “youth” involvement in politics is confined & limited to rallies held by Mr. Rahul Gandhi, rioting in the name of Telangana, supporting/opposing the demolition of Babari Masjid & so forth. The ultimate benefit is reaped by the politicians concerned, by the way, not the youth; not even the ones who gathered for the abovementioned causes… We can safely say that wherever there is goonda gardi as a part of politics, the youth is VERY active. When it comes to the being a part of (& cleansing) the system, they are not even aware of the “ins & outs” of the system, forget being a part of it!

Few more numbers for you guys… With 79 MPs under 40 & 36 “at least 70”, the current (15th) Lok Sabha might look like a fine blend of youth & experience. But this is NOT an indication that the MPs are getting younger by the day… Well, another statistic tells us an entirely different story altogether: With the average age of “just” 46.5 years, the first Lok Sabha was among the youngest. This number has since been increasing generally, though the trend is far from uniform. For instance, with an average of just 46.42 years, the 12th Lok Sabha has been the youngest house so far… Although the current Lok Sabha has a higher number of “under–40 youth members” compared to the last, the average age of this parliament is around 53… In fact, this is the third oldest House to date! And Rahul Gandhi talks about “involvement of youth in politics”… Does anyone STILL think that there is more involvement of the youth in politics today?

Here, I would also like to question the “youth” about the young leaders’ contribution to the nation. True that the heir to the Gandhi legacy is the General Secretary of Indian National Congress & keeps spending time with the “aam aadmi” like the late great Rajiv Gandhi did; so what’s the big deal about it?… Even I play with my watchman’s kids… Even I can give a forty-minute-long lecture on “development” as an issue… Even I travel in trains, buses & auto rickshaws on a day-to-day basis… Does that make me a Rahul Gandhi in any way? Thanks to the (paid/biased) media, we all get the day-to-day report of what Rahul Gandhi does IN the presence of the people… But the million dollar question remains – Till date, what has Mr. Rahul Gandhi done FOR the people of India? Is THIS what a “young leader” should look like?… The most FUNDAMENTAL thing that we associate with youth leadership is dynamism… WHERE is the dynamism in this most eligible bachelor of India?

Jyotiraditya Scindia seems to be a really famous name in the country. I have read & head about him a bit & he seems to be a very fair & just man… Wasn’t he the one whining that he has “no work” few days ago?… Aren’t Parliamentarians supposed to complain about LACK of time instead of lack of WORK? Did anybody ever hear anything about Agatha Sangama since the day we saw her photo in our newspapers’ front pages under the caption “India’s youngest minister is a lady”? No! She didn't vanish into thin air… She is very much alive & kicking… But I want to see the Lok Sabha’s attendance sheets… [Yes! Attendance IS taken in the Parliament House; & there are no proxies there!] Once you go through them, you’ll quickly realize that these young netas don’t even bother to attend visit the Parliament… And why should they anyway? They don’t have their say there… The REAL power still remains in the diabolical hands of Sharad Pawar & the entire burden is still on weak shoulders of Sri Manmohan Singh & Mr. L. K. Advani while the real work is done by Mr. P. Chidambaram, Sri Narendra Modi & Mr. Nitish Kumar! The ONLY “youth leader” to have had REAL power in his hands was thee Great Madhu Koda (37), who is (rightfully) in jail now, with black money amounting to over 4000 crore (known) lying in his & his cronies’ accounts. See what I mean?

Has ANY “under-forty” leader EVER done ANYTHING for the country? How many even got one of the big 4 ministries – Home, finance, Defence & External Affairs?? Can anybody remember a Railway Minister in recent memory even below 50? If someone gives me a satisfactory answer to that, I will hand them the publishing & editing rights over this blog! And one more thing; contrary to the notion that our Netas are particularly old, you will be surprised to learn that the average age in other parliaments of the world is pretty much the same as in ours. MPs in the current House of Commons in the UK were 50.6 years when elected in 2005, while Japanese MPs were 52.3. So, it is a STUPID thing to say that the youth “are” getting involved into politics. They want to, yes! But they have been as successful in it as Congress has been in giving us a “secular” India.

However, I’d also like to have a detailed debate with those folks who love to hate the youth & enjoy thinking that just because someone is young, they are spoilt & lack “maturity”. To me, maturity is NOT dependent on a number! And I’m tired of drunkenness, recklessness, bad behaviour, etc. being associated with young folk, for I have known older people being more reckless & ill-behaved than most youngsters are! So, I’d like to insist that people stop judging each other (& themselves) by their age. Old people need to stop commenting that youngsters are immature & rash. At the same time, youngsters need to refrain from discarding old people, their ideas, etc. by calling them “rigid”… If they are not versatile, are we flexible? Do WE change OUR thinking according to their expectations? Why should THEY, then?

What we must do is CHANGE! The youth today, need the motivation to break the barriers of caste, creed, region, religion, language, Telangana, Rahul Gandhi syndrome, girlfriend’s (or girlfriends’ maybe?) influences & so on… What we need to do is stand up for what’s right & stand up for our honour… We, as youth must give, our best shot, to an earnest attempt to be a part of the system & change it, in the good of the country in its entirety… We must try to inculcate the spirit of patriotism, courage, justice, fraternity, MOST of ALL, build in us, a CHARACTER such that every mother of ours – our biological mother, our mother mature & our motherland can be proud of us… We need to develop common sense, which shall help us differentiate between the right & the wrong… We MUST get away from the ‘herd mentality’… We must … RISE!

Yes! We CAN be guitarists & not necessarily engineers!

Yes! We CAN choose to live together with someone we love…

Yes! We CAN drink, smoke, & gamble, whenever we want to…

Yes! We CAN “spoil” ourselves to the limit of destruction…

It’s a matter of CHOICE! And every democracy teaches you that in YOUR life, the choices are yours & YOURS ALONE! But then, we *HAVE* to understand our duties & responsibilities… Only THEN, do we have the RIGHT to say that “WE are the FUTURE”!… Right now, it’s looking pretty hopeless… But I have FAITH that a change IS coming! I can see a power rise & lift the country, AND the world in its shoulders, to make the world a happy home… A better place to live in!

Monday 4 May 2009

The Six Most Important Lessons of My Life

Visakhapatnam, 16th January, 2009, 1400 hrs:

The train left the Station… Mom was crying but I was excited, and so was Nikhil! Amit too was an excited (and happy) man! We were off to give our best shots at the interview of the SSB (Services Selection Board) of the National Defence Academy (NDA) – Naval Academy (NA) – the premier institutes for training a candidate to be a part of the defence as a “Class-I Commissioned officer”…

I am from a business family & I had to fight with my mother & go against my father’s wish to attend the SSB. My grandfather came to know when the train was due to leave in half-an-hour & my grandmother when I was halfway through my journey… The remaining extended family came to know gradually & by the time I set foot at Bangalore City Railway Station the next day, almost all of my family was aware of (and trying to demoralize me from) I being there & my purpose of being there…




Bangalore; 17th January, 2009; 1600 hrs – “DAY ZERO”:

A bus came to the Bangalore City Railway Station to pick us up. In less than an hour, we were at the Cantonment at Bangalore City where the Services Selection Boards no. 12, 17 & 22 were located. It was the Indian Army’s territory – everything was prolific & sophisticated – more than Jaipur’s palaces! Our introductions, registrations & other formalities were carried out… There were 103 of us… Most of us were going to be filtered on Day #1 itself! So, after filling several forms, we were into the conference hall where we were greeted by a fine young man – Cdr. Sahni (name changed). For the next 20 minutes, he briefed us about how the next five days would be for us & how to go about it…

One very distinctive part of his briefing was: “You should always behave like gentlemen! Not only for these 5 days, but at ANY given time in your life! The gates open at 2 o’clock everyday… After you have finished the day’s activities, you are free to go out & do what you want. Have all the fun that you want but be back by 7 P.M. if you don’t want to be hung upside down. If you run into an unfavourable situation, we will protect you, regardless of what the problem is… But try not to end up raping someone… Even if you do, try not to get caught! Stay in groups so that you can blame each other if you are late!”

We laughed at his sense of humour…

Then came the serious issue: “You have to be very careful of a few things, jawans! First is women – DO NOT mess with women unnecessarily! Disrespect your father! But have full respect for women! The defence has ZERO respect for those who do not respect ladies… Second is religion – If you suddenly feel too religious & are in a procession & end up in riots, don’t expect help from our side! Keep your religious views discreet & personal! Third is politics – Support a party, but at home! If you’re in a rally & the opposition comes & beats you up, we are not responsible! Your political views & actions can get you into unsolicited trouble… We can’t start a life long feud for 5 day candidates! And don’t go anywhere near the girls’ barracks!”

“Bring them to yours!” I commented

“Exactly! BRING THEM TO YOURS! But after curfew timings ONLY!!” he seconded me … I looked up! He winked… Then I looked around… To add on to a smiling Commander, three rows of candidates were staring at me, most of them in splits of laughter! It was then that I realized that I had surpassed the ‘decibel limit for front row commentary’ by a non-negligible, unacceptable & an EMBARRASSING margin! I wanted to bury myself six feet under… Somehow, I regrouped myself, turned to Nikhil & winked. He winked back! Since Sir was fine with it, I got away nobody created any further fuss about it!




Bangalore; 18th January, 2009; 1600 hrs – “DAY ONE”:

In the barracks beside ours, there was a batch of NCC cadets, probably from Punjab. They were singing & dancing when I had joined them the previous night. A Sardar had caught our attention. He sang like a dream… We gathered around him & he sang for 40 minutes. Depending upon the song, the voice had pain, joy, determination, everything! He had impressed us SO much that we had raised him on our shoulders after the singing was over… I was a reluctant member (initially an outsider) as they were some 3 or 4 years elder to me & I had faced a handsome amount of ragging in my college a few months ago… Even otherwise, I was sure that they had to have large “senior ego”, like most of (read: ALL) the people in my vicinity!

Next day in lunch, I spotted the previous night’s singer & asked him in sugar-coated politeness “May I join you, sir?” He was more than happy to have me there & pulled out a chair for me. We chatted for 20 minutes & I learned that he (Gurpreet) wasn’t that bad! Then he suddenly stood up & asked me “You forgot your spoon, sir! Shall I bring?” I was moved by this gesture of his & was really humbled by his presence whenever I met him that day. He was so courteous & caring that I was actually praying more for him to get selected, than myself! He was a really helpful & humble person & was a living self-explanatory example of: “Hands that help are more blessed than lips that pray!”




Bangalore; 19th January, 2009; 1000 hrs – “DAY TWO”:

After Day ONE, out of 103 candidates, 54 of us, who were to be executed further (aka. the “screened in candidates”) were selected & divided into batches of 10 each. My batch had its Personal Interviews & Group Tasks over the next 2 days, which meant that we were like a flock of sheep left to graze in a field… So, we eagerly, patiently, longingly & desperately for it to be 2 & as soon as the gates were open, we ran out as if a 10’×10’ cage having 20 bulls had just been opened… I took Raven (name changed) along with me… His father was a sailor in the navy. & he was a typical soft-spoken guy from a middle class family. We roamed around the malls, did some “bird watching”, ate pani-puri, drank some tea & found ourselves at Garuda, one of the most reputed malls in Bangalore. The display at a showroom caught my eye. It wasn’t much of a designer wear, but I just wanted to try the bright red T-Shirt which hung there, proudly bearing the words “Pepé jeans” near the breast pocket. By the look in Raven’s eye, I could tell that he had never seen a Pepé Jeans shirt before; wearing one was like a dream! I tried it on. It fit me perfectly & clung on to every muscle of my body as if it was tailor-made for me! He was happy on seeing me in it & said that I looked MUCH stronger in it than anything that he had seen me in (including without a shirt, that is)… I asked the price. It was a mere 799 bucks… I took out my debit card. Suddenly, Raven said he needed to freshen up… The heaviness was evident in his voice. I watched him walk past me & out of the store. I had seen him longing for it… Buying that shirt at that point of time would be like implanting a slap on the face of his financially modest background… I chose not to buy it… I followed Raven & said “Utna bhi acha nahi hai yaar!” (It – as in, the shirt – isn’t THAT good, mate!) Then I kept him cheered up, we watched more girls & by 7, we were back in our barracks! I felt self contented that I had done the right thing! In a world, where “humans” LIVE to discomfit others, I had acted as “human” as I could… So, the third day got a (rather poignant) lesson in humanity for me! And that’s exactly what I call “learning from experience”!




Bangalore; 20th January, 2009; 1930 hrs – “DAY THREE”:

That evening, Gurpreet told me that his conference was due the next day & his group was going to the temple to pray… He invited me to come along… At the temple, before the prayers began, a gentleman asked me to cover my head with a handkerchief or any cloth… I told him that I, being a Hindu was not supposed to cover my head as it was against the norms of my religion. The gentleman replied “So what? You are in a Sikh gathering, right?” Gurpreet & another gentleman supported me saying that if I was not supposed to do something according to my religion, then I was free to not do so! Then, they pointed out that it was a Sikh gathering in a Hindu temple & that’s the beauty of our country – UNITY IN DIVERSITY! Then, we sang both Hindu & Sikh bhajans & they kept a framed photo of the ten Sikh Gurus in the temple… THIS is religious tolerance! God is ONE!




Bangalore; 21st January, 2009; 0515 hrs – “DAY FOUR”:

The temperature was “no more than 10°C”, as described by Thomas – our barracks’ caretaker… It wasn’t too cold, as far as you didn’t have to take bath with water no more than 5°C! While half of us were free, the remaining candidates had to face the ordeal of the GTO – the Group Task Officer – tasks. We were divided into batches of 10. He introduced himself to us & then asked us to return the favour. After exchanging a few informal talks, he put forward a question: “What is the most important task of the selection procedure & who, according to you, is the most important person in this board?”

There was a variety of answers… When he came to me, I – trying to sound as knowledgeable & smart as I could, in the finest of the accents & the most crisply said words – said “Group Task Officer is the most important person as he valuates majority of our tasks & has most of the marks in his hands. And the most important task is the Personal Interview, as that has a major part to play in the judgement of your personality!” After listening to everybody’s explanations, he said in a determined: “The MOST important person IN YOUR ENTIRE LIFE is YOU! And the most important task AT ANY GIVEN TIME is the TASK AT HAND!

I couldn’t have agreed more! I gave it my best shot & my selection was almost certain!



1915 hrs: I called my father & informed dad that the interview was great & I was certainly in! He asked me the time that the canteen (which had the phone booth within) closed… I told him it would close at 10 P.M. He asked me to call then & hung up saying he was busy… I could sense a denial, but had no choice to wait & watch…



2200 hrs: I called home for the twentieth time in the past 4 days… My father told me that mom’s tears refused to not stop since the moment the train sounded its whistle 4 days ago… Then there was (a painful) half-an-hour of emotional stuff & brainwashing which I didn’t pay much attention to… I was determined to join… The canteen guy pretended to chuck me out of the canteen & cursed me because I had delayed him! But it was friendly fire…




Bangalore; 22nd January, 2009; 1500 hrs – “DAY FIVE”:

As the time for judgement came closer, hearts were beating faster & faster! The others were tensed & I was excited. I had given it my best shot & my selection was inevitable! The results were with a commander & she walked into the conference room… I was smiling from ear to ear. My name was called out last. I was overjoyed! I was among the 13 “recommended candidates” for the Naval Academy of batch # B/NEE/62861… It was an honour. But then… I felt my mother somewhere crying for me…

I realized several things… That my family needed me, just like I needed them… That I was the only son of an ageing, tired father who had struggled for 20 years – struggling through each day of his youth, forfeiting his middle age & even going to the extent of delaying his old age – so that I don’t have to struggle for 30 minutes in my life… That if I was not with my parents, they wouldn’t be with me either… That I had no right to say “It’s my life!” to the 2 people who GAVE me this life… That I would NEVER be able to live happily in a place where they don’t want me to be… That it was either me who would be happy (to be able to realize his childhood dream of being in the defence) or my parents (who would see their son grow up in front of them)… That I was only one man; but I wasn’t just anybody… That if one man can’t keep his parents happy, he would NEVER be able to keep HIMSELF happy!

I chose to live up to the expectations of my parents first! I left the medical test & came back home by the next flight… FAMILY COMES FIRST!

Friday 28 November 2008

RELIGION

In the days of my childhood, I used to be very outgoing. Friends were many and each day was great fun! We were a group of about 10 guys. We would spend all evening playing cricket till our respective mothers would come at twilight and grab us by our hands, collar or throat to take us home. The most regular members of our little “evening gully cricket club” were Vinayak, Vivek, Ali, Mufaddal, Yousuf, Sukhdev, Maninder, Chris, Jignesh and I – Sumit Agrawal. As we grew older, all of us slowly drifted away… Not broken apart, but drifted away from each other – primarily due to educational reasons. Our (then vacant) evening slots were completely exhausted and the hands which once had cricket bats and balls were now handed the (very) torturous Physics and Chemistry books… Though seldom, but even today, we meet like good ol’ pals – “for old times’ sake” – as Chris calls it!

We were always an almost perfect blend of “unity in diversity” There was no feeling of rich and poor families nor was there EVER any feeling that each one of us had come from the parts of the society which were completely different from that of the others… There were old men and women in each society who discouraged this “inter-religion friendship”; but we never cared! Each one of us nodded at their lame and trivial explanations, justifications and (sometimes) lectures – on “why we shouldn’t be friends with and avoid people who are not a part of our society…” Each one of us would return to the same apartments the next evening and the same pandemonium would be created on a daily basis! And most of all, we never failed to make fun of our previous days’ ordeals that we had faced! We would even join hands against a gentleman (name withheld with intentions of keeping his privacy intact and preventing a potential lawsuit from being filed against me, in case he happens to read this blog) an inhabitant of the apartment and a die hard orthodox extremist and HATED Muslims. Not that the Muslim neighbours were very fond of him – the hatred was mutual! But quite frankly, in my personal opinion, it was irrational, illogical, unjustifiable, prejudiced and impractical approach and thinking that is the root to all this hatred…

In the 18 years of my life, I have constantly been tried to be converted into a “true Hindu” (at times a “true Marwari”) by the various elements of the society, specially that uncle… But what I fail to understand is WHY I can’t be RELIGIOUS and SECULAR at the same time! If I am from a Hindu or a Sikh background, do I *HAVE* to hate not only Muslims, but the entire religion of Islam on the whole? The scenario is similar the other way round, too! But isn’t it illogical that HUMANS born in a Muslim’s house are pretty much the SAME (I said “SAME”, not even “SIMILAR”) as those HUMANS born in a Hindu’s? I am not talking about Hindu-Muslim unity. That is a thing of the past, given today’s circumstances… What I am demanding, expecting, hoping and BEGGING for is religious TOLERANCE! There is NO feeling of fraternity and unity whatsoever! The HUMANITY is dying in the so-called “humans”…

The term “Jihad” is undisputedly the most abused and misused term in any language! Literally meaning “striving in the way of Allah”, it is that state of egolessness and selflessness where there will be NO difference in the divine and you! It will only be the divine – pretty much the same as the “Moksha” in Hinduism, the Judgement Day in Christianity and the “Nirvana” in Buddhism. What the other religions’ people don’t understand is that “Jihad” is a situation where your personal existence will be nothing. And what the extremists don’t understand that you can NOT FORCE the world into Jihad! If God exists, I don't think he would want anyone to kill someone in "God's name"! Jihad is a situation, an era, and in a way – a DESTINY! So, I guess that is NOT something you can fight and bring into the world! You can NOT force an era or a destiny! If something HAS to happen, it will! NO pyromaniac can do it by burning himself, bombing 10 INNOCENT people or by crashing planes into skyscrapers… Great men can bring Jihad… Slowly and steadily! Not the mediocre terrorists…

Coming to terrorism, I am sick and tired of opposing the “All-Muslims-are-terrorists” theory – started by America and continued by our people! Come on, friends! We need to grow up! So what if most are Muslims? Just blaming the entire sect because of few rabid, incomprehensive, delinquent and narrow-minded fanatics is BIAS! Such people are a disgrace to their folks. And not only that, they are a disgrace to the human race itself! Forming opinions purely based on media, vicinity’s opinions and America’s attitude is PREJUDICE! And that is a DISGRACE in the name of humanity!

Anyways… I am not here to defend Islam or Hinduism or any other religion! I am here to defend the term “religion” in the first place… It is really sad that there are SO many people have racist, homophobic, anti-Semitic, Islamophobic etc opinions! Though it is NOT the only vehicle, religion can be an excellent medium for teaching morality, values and ethics… But then, it has created several barriers, too! Then what is the need to follow a religion in the first place? Well! It’s subjective!

I am religious! I often talk to God and he answers my prayers! I would love to have met God! As proven recently, science and spirituality are not mutually exclusive… It is tough to say whether God created man or Man created God! But I’m sure of one thing – If there is a God, I would think God would prefer a moral atheist to an immoral believer… There is no room for religious fundamentalism in this world! Everybody has the right to follow a religion of their CHOICE and NOT the one forced upon them by descent or an influential or misleading body (Bhakti, Shuudhi, Tabliq, Christian Missionary, etc.)… In fact everybody has the right to follow one or not in the first place!

Yes! I mean it! There is nothing wrong with atheism. Being agnostic is NOT a crime or a social ill! In most cases, profanity in itself is not offensive to me! Though most people might think that agnostics or atheists lack morality or values, but I feel that there is NO direct correlation between the strength/type of one's faith/religion and his/her moral compass. If it is not for the sole reason for being “cool”, I guess it’s okay to be atheist… if and ONLY if you have a strong reason to back it up! Some “religious” people bash atheists/agnostics while their religion cannot be touched. What do we term this as? “Sanctimony”, maybe! Spirituality does not necessarily have to be theistic… People need to stop saying believers in God are stupid or non believers are stupid! And religion does NOT always have to do with god! It has a lot more meaning! You can say "I am Jewish/Christian/Muslim/etc" while still being an atheist/agnostic…

There are several institutions and people in the world who even go to the extent of converting people of other religions to theirs…In India, it all started in the 18th Century with the advent of the Portuguese, the French and the British when their Christian Missionaries converted several Indian inhabitants to Christianity (mostly by force or misleading tactics) with the sole intention to keep a grip on the Indian people and to corrupt their unity and religious purity along with culture… I LOVE hearing about other religions as long as they don’t try to proselytize me or convince me that theirs is superior!

I have always had an objection on the “Muslims-are-not-a part-of-our-society” theory. If they are living in the same locality as we are living, eating the same food that we are eating, wearing the same clothes that we are wearing, even hating us the way WE are hating THEM, then in what way are they not a part of our society? On what grounds are we saying that we are a more superior religion to theirs? There are many similarities between Judaism, Christianity, Hinduism, Sikhism, Zoroastrianism and Islam!

Personally, I am not against the “Purdah” system or the “Sati Pratha”… I am against FORCED Purdah and FORCED Sati Pratha… There is nothing wrong with a woman veiling herself or wearing Hijab and covering themselves, as long as it is a CHOICE! And there is not A THING wrong with “voluntary dowry”… I hate saying religion in general but Judaism in general is actually body/physicality positive, not repressive!

People shouldn't say "Hinduism/Judaism/Christianity/Islam religion says" because a religion is not a monolithic entity! Some people tend to be too “authoritative” towards their religion… Unless there are “personal adjustment” issues, there is nothing wrong in inter-religion couples! Just because someone is not a part of our religious background or their religion does not have its roots in India (as in the case Islam and Christianity), it does NOT mean that the people are aliens or outsiders!

True that there is a wall between us; but all we need to see beyond the wall. Because there stands a monument – of Love, Peace, Harmony, Brotherhood and most of all, HUMANITY! If we all join hands, we can bring Jihad to the earth – that Jihad which God himself will be resurrecting himself for bringing back! If we all live like brothers, we can become the prophets of the religion called HUMANITY! If we all become one, we can do what God will do! THAT is going to take us MUCH closer to divinity and the Messianic Age (The Ramrajya) will come back to us!

A last word before I sign off: When you were fanatic as a kid, you had no brain. But if you are still intolerant today, then you have no HEART!

Followers