India has leaders but Lacks leadership...true?

This is a debate on a topic widely contemplated throughout the country which is somewhat controversial but equally thought provoking. The statement that India has leaders but lacks leadership does hold true in many a sense and hence, I will write FOR the motion.

India had always been referred to as the country of snake charmers, a land where you had the Maharajas and their kingdoms - precious stones, jewels, talented artisans and gifted craftsmen. It was a place where people swore their loyalty to the king and a land where faith and treachery were two different sides of the same coin. Amidst this total chaos of diversity and multi linguistic heritage, India never managed to gain the upper hand when it came to uniting under a common cause. Uniting under a common cause or a motivated leader was never possible as none could successfully manage to break the numerous barriers, separating the multitudes of differences between caste and religion & not forgetting the hunger for power.

As a result, ever since the Revolt of 1857 or even years preceding that, India always lacked leadership. Be it the arrival of the Mongols or the plundering of wealth by Mahmud of Ghazni, political stability and leadership was never there, right from the onset of the civilization.

Counter questions might pop up regarding the influence of Mahatma Gandhi on India’s freedom struggle in later years. However, with all due respect, Bapu too failed to bring in unison, the innumerable forces present in the country at that point of time which could perhaps, as many say – overthrow the British Raj over a shorter period of time and our freedom struggle would not have been a prolonged one. The very reason that our political leaders refused to step out of their comfort zones and accept certain things beyond the boundaries of their ideologies proved to have drastic consequences on the overall development of our country.

In the wider perspective, the disunited yet collective efforts of all our leaders and thinkers helped us to achieve our ultimate goal – we were blessed with freedom.

And then…

And then arrived democracy, a word misinterpreted by three fourth of the population – democracy was a game to be played, a system through which lives were resurrected and lives were destroyed. At the dint of being in power, this word could be used in parallel meanings and all the while, the influential members of our society downplayed its true essence.

In the end, nothing had changed. The winds of time had left a pond so stagnant that moss had covered it’s surface just the way clouds engulf the Sun at the time of rain. Our leaders were the same – ideology crazy, communal, power & wealth hungry and a group of individuals who could go to any extent to ensure the consolidation of their position. They had everything in them to appease the society but they were void of the quality which made them the chosen ones – leadership.

Election manifestos were smeared with their goals and ambitions and just like we have those contests on T.V, there was this asterisk which stated that conditions did apply. And what were the conditions? You give me votes I give you money. Or maybe, you give me power and I give you all, the most glorified kick of all times. Let me come to power and I will show you your limits. The limits of those who form the frame work of democracy?

Mountain of a mole hill is an apt phrase to describe the nature of our leaders who are supposed to be blessed with leadership skills let alone moral responsibility. They need an issue to feed on, they love controversies. For example, some of them can go to the extent of disgracing a decorated police officer who attained martyrdom – in a way this would shower them with all the cheap publicity they require.

In a country which still is supposed to be multi linguistic and widely diverse, we need leaders who are not just leaders but men blessed with leadership skills. Running the second most populous country of the world is by no means an easy task but credibility is a concept which is yet to be introduced in this flawed system. It is my responsibility, it is my mistake, it is my duty, it is my decision - are few sentences which are yet to be fully endorsed by our leaders. And when it is done, trust them to be blessed with leadership skills too and eventually this path will lead us to the house of change.

And then change will arrive, it surely will.

I end on an optimistic note but by no means would I soften my stand on what I spoke about. India, to achieve it’s goals of development economically and socially need to decide who they want as their pathfinders and their lamp during dark times. If we face a crisis in the near future, the sorry state of affairs is such that we will slump down to a position from where it would be difficult to rise, as the ones who will be leading us would be the ones enshrouded in the clouds of uncertainty.

We were subjugated under the rule of our British masters for 200 years and the dearth of leaders equipped with leadership skills might lead us to a position where we might find ourselves dominated by our American masters. The story of leadership would start again…

Media - A devil's advocate or a Common Man's Belief?

Living in an age completely submerged in the rise of modern day media and other infotainment contrivances, it’d be rather foolish to be walking on the opposite direction of the bandwagon. I dare say, that the age old notion of the media being the devil’s advocate indeed appeals to me in more than one sense.

Relaxing after a long day’s work, most working men of this country are greeted to constructed news which is aimed at hypnotizing the majority of the nation. This news is not always factual, as in the recent piece on the rising use of adulterants in products of daily use – which was consequently disapproved by the manufacturing house besides the evident loopholes in the piece. Moreover, in nine out of ten cases, the basis on which the report is being made is generally a matter blown out of proportion as rightly it teaches the techniques of making a mountain of a molehill. The stories as they say in media language are not monitored properly when you bring in the context of unbiased scripts. The editors, senior correspondents are somehow or the other linked with a political party and in the end you find the news channels becoming propaganda offices of many Political parties of this great nation. I say this not out of mere assumption, but it is a fact that even today in Orrisa, a leading politician actually owns a news channel company! This implies that when you watch the leader of the opposition citing harsh phrases against the ruling government and sons of ministers who allegedly implemented a sterilizing policy to control the population, target the minority communities – their claims of doctored tapes and false media reports should be dismissed faster than the speed of light.

What we see every day is all but truth. It is the portrayal of a grand theater going on somewhere that we are unaware of. A person believes in what he senses, the belief is stronger when he hears about it and when he sees it…when he sees it the word ‘conviction’ should be used in its superlative degree. We actually are exposed to the news which the media people want us to see, not the news which we have the right to see. Then tell me, when there is an election going on, why is it that a domestic cricket competition called the Indian Premier League gets more attention than the speeches of the people who are supposed to be running our country? This is all because of the devil’s avatar on earth – the media.

Five fingers would be enough to indicate the News companies which sincerely swear on broadcasting the truth – not half of it. Be it politics, entertainment, sports, leisure, lifestyle; one has to expect a conditions apply at the end of every news piece. For many orthodox followers of current affairs, the growing disinterest in reading authentic news givers like the Hindu and the Statesman is as disheartening as the departing of a loved one. It is the Times of India that sells, with news proclaiming the arrival of a city grown tennis star who reached the front page by qualifying for the finals of a second category tournament; when on the other hand you have news of minors being tortured in public, children being sold, girls being used and dumped on to the street and corrupt municipality officers eating into our pockets.

Now who does the common man turn to?

It’s a pity that I am partially contradicting myself, but the media has notably achieved things in the past which in a way has helped them get the attention and support of more than a million. It is for these million that the TRP of our news channels seemed to be always at the summit. However, there is nothing to be proud of because present day sting operations and underground coverage are nothing but a glorified version of what media has actually considered itself to be for the past few years. Modern day media banks on the glories of its previous years, not convinced? Food for thought – what were the reactions in the intellectually developing society about two decades back, when Ramdas Goenka had actually declared an open war against Dirubhai Ambani? You might not use the word ‘sting’, but the news reproduced was honestly – ‘stinging’. The media had stripped a business tycoon naked perhaps that seemed to be. But what was the end result of the hue and cry? Dirubhai Ambani was cleared of most of the charges.

Is this the credibility of our media – the common man’s belief?

The magician takes out the rabbit from his hat, the audiences watch in awe. He hypnotizes them with his hand movements and how hard you try to catch him on the wrong foot, he deceives you as he thinks a step ahead of you! Consider the media to be the magician and the rabbit to be news stories. And we? We are like always – the audience! Fooled, hoodwinked and deceived; have you ever heard us complain? Never!

We sit there every evening with a belief deep down our hearts that what we see on T.V or read on newspapers is ‘everything’ that is actually happening. But the reality is that ‘everything’ that happens within the four walls of the editorial offices is censored in our news. We get to see the half truth and yet like generations we are satisfied…thoda aur wish karo…absolutely correct Mr. Khan. That’s what our citizens need to do rather than bank on a bunch of cameramen and people holding mikes in front of our television. And, not forgetting writers whom we have never seen in our lives.

Before employing a servant, we ensure to check his history of four generations – double checking his credentials. But are we aware of the credentials of the people who break us news that could change our lives? I guess not.

But this is a belief…a belief of many which I wouldn’t like to break. After all, you listen to your heart and not a person who writes articles complaining about the messiahs, right? You agree, and you come back to where I ended and you don’t then you reach the point from where I started. There are no lies – there is truth and half truth, reality and fiction and then there is the devil’s advocate & the common man’s belief…

The choice was always yours & will remain yours.

'Change We Need'

“Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we've been waiting for. We are the change that we seek.”—Barack H. Obama

One man’s dream of a better future gave rise to a million hopes. One man’s ability to script his own destiny gave rise to a million supporters. One man’s proclamation that change would come gave rise to a million saying – ‘change we need.’

Senator Barack H. Obama scripted history by being elected as the first ever Afro-American president in the United States of America. A person who forthrightly said that his father would not have been served at a local restaurant in the US sixty years back, won by a tally of 365 electoral votes on the 4th of November, 2008 to take up one of the most difficult job in the world; ‘indeed change had arrived in America’.

When a fanatic’s call for jihad shook the world as we saw two mighty buildings collapse in front of our eyes, the people of America knew exactly what to do. They forgo their belief in the present system and overthrew the Government, they passed through a phase of massive upheaval in the society with grit and determination and as they say if ‘winter has arrived, then spring is not far off…’ waited for the hard times to pass by and the good times to return. They elected an African American, Muslim President to rule the country, at the time when fundamentalists seemed to strike at every juncture of their journey of restoring the lost dignity and pride of their nation.

What does one do when rashes appear on our skin? There are two possible outcomes; first, we keep on scratching and rubbing our dirty palms over those itchy spots on our skins. Or secondly, we visit a doctor and apply some soothing lotion over it, so that those rashes disappear in no time.

Terrorism and terror outfits in our country are rashes that are infecting our nation. And we, citizens of a nation considered being one of the strongest and the most powerful democracies of the world, are sitting and scratching away our rashes and spreading the infection even further. Passing the buck would not be a suitable option at the present situation, but, media is to be blamed as internal matters related to India’s governance are being blown out of proportion for no justifiable reason. We as a nation should revolutionize the way our Government has been functioning for the past 60 years. Powers of diplomacy should be strong enough to withstand the counter allegations made by our neighbours, and also help in overcoming ideas like wars or military infiltration as means to wriggle out of difficult yet tricky circumstances.

Just like the US, we need a change. We have seen enough of this media babbling about politicians and politicians stating that media has played a negative role in generating wrong ideology amongst their viewers. We have had enough of the derisory comments ridiculing heroes in public stating that they died in fake encounters. We want a change, we demand a change and it should come from each one of us. Rightly, at the time when the Pakistani Government is playing a part in the conspiracy of silence, our media is corresponding by playing the devil’s advocate in creating a fake war like hysteria in the country, a panic arousing situation in every household across the country. Honestly speaking, we are far away from the truth that actually prevails, we are far away from the fact, that even after 61 years of Independence we are a nation ripped apart by a tabooed society, a nation weak enough to withstand terror attacks every second month, a nation inadequately equipped to help our defense forces at times of crisis. There might be a number of contradictory comments, but at end of the day, we are a weak democracy, a reality too harsh to face.

Why do we allow religiously biased politicians the right to say that his experience was all that matters? Why do we allow them to violate the freedom of speech and expression in the first place? Why do we allow them to play dirty politics out of sensitive issues and why the hell do we allow them to disgrace our heroes?

We want a government which does not bring religion into politics and politics into religion!

We want a change, and we shouldn’t wait for it. Instead, we should walk up to the ‘house of change’ and drag it into our country. This unique ability lies with the likes of Sachin Pilots and Omar Abdullahs of this country.

It’s a sincere request, allow the youngsters a chance with power. Allow them to associate themselves with the new and uprising generation, allow them the privilege to for see the near future. Why do we always have an eighty year old holding on to a chair that can justly be left for a deserving forty year old? There are number of unanswered questions, which might take several hundred years for our leaders to answer. Give us the change we need, or else we will snatch away our change, our rights, in front of your very eyes, and you will not even dare to resist us. We need an Obama…to bring about the needed change, so tell me, which one of you is one?

I leave my question unanswered; a lot of introspection will do the trick… just as the tea company commercial… Jaago India, Jaago! I hope and pray at the same time, that we don’t need another 26/11 to awaken us!

Love of Nature is Essential for our Survival

Why has the question of love for nature become so important for the modern human race? 

“Study nature, love nature, stay close to nature. It will never fail you.”

The question of love for nature has been raised because of rapid modernization and the subsequent destruction of nature.

We can’t think of a world without fast cars, fast aero planes, computers and all the gadgets that are virtually part of the modern world. We have a world where nature has been abused and exploited and has led us to the dungeons of hell.

I will consider the word – ‘progress’ to be a misnomer because in the name of progress we are harming our surroundings. And this is certainly not a way of showing love to nature. 

      How many of us try to wake up and watch the sunrise or watch the crimson sun descending on the western horizon? How many of us enjoy an early morning walk in the park or the green expands of what we know as, for example Greater Noida City Park.

      Trees are being cut down at a rapid pace at the benefit of greedy and hungry promoters in connivance with the local authorities. Deforestation led to the cyclone in Orissa a few years ago. If we keep whitewashing the greenery around our cities, how can the citizens breathe pure oxygen which is necessary for our health?

      Our cities are polluted with the fossil fuels of our cars; auto rickshaws belching out carbon intoxicated poisonous air. We breathe and reap cancer as we go about doing our work everyday. We are far away from nature’s healthy life giving forces that we find in the sun, wind and rain. The ozone layer of the atmosphere protects us from the ultra violet radiations or direct effect of the sun. But it is getting perforated by the extensive use of CFC’s in our daily lives.

      Therefore, my readers, I request you to pay heed to the dangers we face everyday of our lives because of our steady withdrawal from our association with nature. If we realize this grave situation, we shall forgo the steps that are being taken by the developing world in particular, to ruin our lives.  

      Carbon free energy grid sounds unachievable in a short space of time but it’s a challenge that achievable and affordable and has the potential to completely transform our lives. Therefore, I, as a responsible citizen of the Blue Planet would like to pick up the green gauntlet when people are tuned to the need for greater energy efficiency, to reduce pollution and maximize benefit in the backdrop of rising food costs and falling supplies. 

      The need for love of nature arises as the demands for renewable energy grows, costs will continue to fall. With economies of scale, energy generated from the sun, wind and water would become more affordable and eventually, all electricity generated could be from non fossil fuel sources. Solar energy should be able to rival nuclear energy in contributing to India’s needs by 2020. I have often wondered why a country like India with its abundance of natural sunshine hasn’t done more to focus on developing solar energy. All we need to step up this revolution is part persuasion, part legislation, strategy with strong political leadership and individual state and determination. 

Truth is Courage

“It is very easy to lie, but to speak the truth it needs lot of courage”.

What is the relationship between truth and courage?

In today’s world do we really know the significance of these two words?

Courage is conviction that helps you achieve your goals in life. Courage is an inner force that tells you that you need to act appropriately. It is the propelling force in life that steeds you far ahead of others; Courage is not something that can be handed over to you through lessons or you inherit it. It comes to you spontaneously when you are fighting for a cause which is true to you. Truth is that always triumphs in a world of treachery and malice. A faithful disciple of Jesus named Thomas once said that truth is whatever one believes in. Truth is the sense of righteousness, justice and freedom to express what seems right, even if the whole world is against you; truth is something that will never let you down.

“Courage is almost a contradiction in terms. It means a strong desire to live taking the form of readiness to die.”

The soldiers who give up their lives in the battlefield are a true example of courage fighting for truth. The numerous martyrs, unsung yet heroes are examples of courage fighting against cowardice and falsehood.

The middleclass women of colonial India, swimming against the tide to make history are also classic examples of courage fighting for truth.

Whenever people move on the path of truth, they face many difficulties which try to stop them from achieving their goal. Only people who have courage or succeed in developing courage find success in this path.

“I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear.”

~ Nelson Mandela

One such living legend, who defied all the odds to fight the apartheid in South Africa or we can say in other words, fight for truth in South Africa, was Nelson Mandela. He was a person who was deeply motivated by the Mahatma’s principle of truth and non violence and had fought for the equal status of one and all in a country where racial discrimination was at the peak. He was imprisoned for 18 years but he knew that he was fighting for a cause, he was fighting for truth and it was the presence of conviction that made the Nelson Mandela we know today.

“Truth and courage are the two different sides of the same coin”.

If one observes carefully, he will find out that courage and truth are interrelated. It was a chilly December morning, about 5 years ago, when I first learnt how to miss classes without teacher’s permission. I got carried away with a group of friends who were quite capable of passing the buck to me, which I realized much later; perhaps it was too late by then. Nevertheless, as planned I had managed to give my subject a miss, however as Mr. Fate had plans for me, it turned out that we were caught by the Headmaster, strolling around the school corridors. We were literally dragged to his office, and then questioned. As expected my friends made all flowery stories and proved their innocence, however I decided to say honestly, our intentions thinking that the headmaster would excuse me ‘cause I had taken the trouble of speaking honestly. Conversely it turned out that I was the one who was punished, caned and reprimanded for the group’s behaviour. I returned home in tears and promised myself that what may come, I will never speak the truth again. But, a soft little voice spoke inside me, which reminded me of the story I had heard as a toddler that truth prevails longer than lies and it made me change. I felt a lot better as a human being, I knew it from within that I was not tearing my soul into pieces by lying every time, I knew that I was an honest person and that day on I realized that the courage needed to lie is far less than needed when we are speaking the truth.

“One can use his courage to speak the truth, but to speak the truth is itself a sign of bravery”.

Yakub Memon, one of the prime accused in the 93 Serial Blasts that shook India, had agreed to comeback to India, as he believed that he was innocent. But again Mr. Fate had other games to play with him, when he returned to India after a brief stay in Dubai he was arrested at the Bombay Airport with charges of conspiracy. However, his intention as publicized in a popular Indian Daily was to help the Government track down the culprits and become an approver. This is another example of a person who had the courage to come up and say the truth and justify his innocence but was stopped short by an external force or Mr. Fate who put a tag around his shoulders labeled ‘Terrorist’. However the real culprits are lurking around somewhere, whilst the person who spoke up is in jail, sentenced to death.

Yakub knew that he was not wrong; however the world got to see the wrong side of him.

In this society, a question lies in every single soul, shall we risk our lives, shall we risk our image, and shall we speak the truth? Or should we take the easier road, say a lie and remain Scot free.

The sad part is that, when a person steps up to fight for honesty and for the betterment of mankind, and external force stands up to pull him down into an abyss from where there is no escape. That person is ridiculed and punished for a crime he hadn’t committed, but he doesn’t give up…he knows he can still fight it out till the last breath…he knows that he has courage! Truth is courage! Truth is courage!

“With courage you will dare to take risks, have the strength to be compassionate and the wisdom to be humble. Courage is the foundation of integrity.”

In the advent of technology, is the human touch lost?

Technology – a strange word, and especially when we relate it to the human touch, it becomes even more queer. 

Technology can be traced back to ancient days when man invented the wheel followed by the discovery of metals; which would soon change the face of the human race. Invention of the wheel led to traveling that in turn led to trade and expansion of land that led to war. But did we lose the human touch then?

The very invention of technology was by human hands, and it should be taken as a boon and not a bane and as far as I believe, technology is still firmly under our control; contrary to what my opponents may say.

My question to you all is, did by any chance the invention of the wheel or iron hamper the growth of our civilization? If not, then how can we say that at the time of vast scale modernization and rapid growth in population, technology is something that is aiding in the loss of the human touch? According to prominent author, Arthur Clarke, “Any significant advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic”, and rightly so, at the time when people are seeking better ways to live, to eradicate poverty and endure the hardships of life, we are talking of irrelevant matters such as ‘human touch’.

Technology is something that enhances the human touch and hence, prolonging its existence. For, example, I speak in front of a packed quadrangle with my voice, or my human touch, however, would you all sitting in the last row be able to hear me, if this piece of technology or the microphone as we call it would not be here? We crib about the days when people used to store treasured letters, but aren’t we forgetting that we are storing emails as well in our computer, which last longer than perhaps any letter would. We do blame mobile phones, don’t we? Doesn’t it help us to reach out to the ones we love when we need them the most? And would India still be winning Test matches if a biased umpire like Steve Bucknor officiates without technology analyzing his every move? And still we end up saying that the ‘human touch is lost’. What we forget is that technology adds more life to the human touch.

If my opponents still think that the human touch is lost, then perhaps they are at the wrong place. ‘Cause Expressions is a place for expressing yourself, justifying the ‘human touch’ in the field of art. But, if there was not a splendid audio setup, then, there would be no effect of the human touch and this program would have been as good as a body without a soul.

It is not necessary that human beings and technology cannot reside in harmony. It entirely depends on our perception. When you invent a robot – it is human touch as it has been invented by a human being for the betterment of his fellow beings. But side by side, you have to term it as ‘technology’ as it can do more things than an ordinary human being can.

I would like to conclude by saying that it is time we move on, we realize what the present needs, we cannot regret decisions taken hastily and imperfect outputs so we need to embrace the new born baby ‘technology’ and let the human touch just control it, not interfere. Human touch and technology walk hand in hand, you lose one and you lose the other so I say aye to technology, as the human touch won’t be lost…what about you?

I Am an Open Book!

Dear friends,

Thank you for finding time to read my blog. Since, this is the first time I would be trying out the blogging concept; I'd love to share with you a bit about myself. An avid reader and a crazy writer, I can go on reading and writing till the world ends. I am an admirer of all the social icons and I firmly stand against all those creating havoc in the society. I am a stern follower of the fact that the winds of change need to be brought about and you won't find the words 'I can't' in my dictionary. Being a part of the modern genration I appreciate people who often raise their hands up and be counted whenever there is a need for them to do so. 

It is my belief that writing is stronger than words, so through my blog I would be pleased to share with all of you articles, stories and poetries varying from social issues to humour, school life to struggles; for this I need the strong cooperation and support of all. I can assure that my new venture will surely fetch me dividends and my blog will be a representation of what I stand for in life. 

Happy Reading!

Cheers!