Gentlemen by choice

We never denied, your just pride.
Never we questioned, abrupt strides.
Sentinel to your vulnerability,
your highness, we oblige.

We didn't commit female foeticide,
neither we sinned infanticide.
Cherished you rather of diverse roles,
of mother,of daughter and of holy souls.

We too want a world,
need not where you strive,but thrive.
And need not where you cry, but fly.
We too dream that day,
of equality of say,
and symbiosis of stay.

So ladies, remember ,
not all boys are dogs.
some do echo your voice,
called Gentlemen by choice !

P.S- Inspired from a belief of a girl who claims that all boys are dogs.

Women empowerment and Peace

The oldest known civilization on our lands was the Indus Valley civilization about 5000 years back. Those people worshiped a female goddess who was seen as a symbol of creation and women in that civilization enjoyed an equal status. Apparently these semi-clad hunters were more fair to women then the contemporary technologically advanced breed i.e us.

Even though a lot has been debated and bought in practice so as to empower women, much more needs to be done. We today proudly exemplify the progress made by us in women empowerment by using couple of cult names like Kiran Bedi, Bachendri Pal, Pratibha Patil and couple of others.But the list is not long given the colossal population we have.Many schemes such as Ujjawala, Priyadarshini and National commission for women have surfaced and proved effective.Though this is just the beginning of a long journey.

For any kind of empowerment, political empowerment is a prerequisite.Ours is a democratic system where the powers are vested into the elected representatives of the people and unless we have an equal share of women in parliament, the overall empowerment can not be achieved.One such bill is long pending to be introduced.Although some states have taken mature decisions in this regard by providing 50% reservation in the local government elections which is a huge stride towards eliminating the gender bias.

Education is another important aspect.As per the 2011 Census preliminary reports, though the overall literacy rate climbed to 74.04% which is a welcome sign for India, the literacy rates for females and males were 65.46% and 82.14%.The gender gap of 16.68% speaks for itself. A lot needs to be done for ensuring participation of women in education with special focus in the rural areas where the situation is worse.While framing the education policies and schemes the makers should keep in mind that-"If you educate a man, you educate an individual but if you educate a woman, you educate a whole family".

Peace comes out of the cordial existence of the two sexes.Conflicts arise only when one dominates.Domination cannot in any way be fair.And the way to bring peace is to bring the women at par with men via their empowerment. And those who claim that special treatment to women is against the equality of law should revisit the pages of history where she has been confined between the four walls and enslaved for generations.Women empowerment brings them to the center stage where they can actually realize the wide spectrum of opportunities waiting for them. Women should endeavor and men should encourage.So that the road to liberation becomes a reality.

Jawaharlal Nehru once famously remarked-" You can tell the condition of the nation by looking at the status of the women." And I believe a day will come when that statement would loose it's grandeur as on that day, women would outclass men in every sphere of consideration.

Bureaucratic alienation

Alienation as a concept was given by Karl Marx in relation to his theory of dialectical materialism that explains the origin of class and class struggle. He basically highlighted the increasing isolation the worker class was being subjected to.The proletariat i.e the worker class had no say in the production process and were thus distanced from the product, the process, the community of workers and eventually from themselves. Thus, they got alienated from all spheres of society.

In contemporary times, we can find this phenomenon across all economic activities. The leadership everywhere is dominated by the elite and the execution is left for the majority who as a result of this face alienation. This alienation has unfortunately also crippled our bureaucracy. The permanent executives of our country are selected via a very detailed and unbelievably tough process and only the learned and knowledgeable go through.But ironically those who control them are not even graduates.Such people only due to popularity or rather a political blood line become the representatives and control the bureaucrats.

With such a system in place, alienation had to creep in.Even if the bureaucrat understands the populist action or the genuine action required, he would have to dance to the whims and fancies of the ministry.That is bound to isolate him from his responsibilities and ultimately from the system.One such incident which happened in a district in the Chambal region is of relevance. As a solution to the problem of dacoits in this region the government announced a scheme which provided a rehabilitation package to all the dreaded dacoits if they surrender to the Police.The policy actually worked and lot many surrendered.But there was a peculiar case where that dacoit had not killed a single civilian.He told the Police that he had become a dacoit to take wealth from the rich and give it to the poor.But he had never killed anyone in those 10 years of dacoity. Interestingly, the concerned D.G of Police could not accept his surrender and he wasn't given the rehabilitation package.The reason- that package was specially for dreaded dacoits i.e those who have killed at least 10 persons. The D.G said " Though I understand the flawed policy, but my hands are tied". So was that dacoit supposed to go back and kill 10 persons to entitle himself the rehabilitation package?

The bottom line is, if you are so willing to have the best of the lot at the bureaucratic positions, you should at least give them some freedom. They should be given some discretion which they can utilize to shape up the public policies keeping in mind the realities of grass root level and the flaws enclosed in the present system. Why to give U.P.S.C a hard time if the government only wants puppets?

Curse of Seniority

In our country, a donkey born earlier is considered better than a horse born later. This is ubiquitous in the Indian bureaucratic machinery and mostly in all social systems.Experience is given the utmost priority.Now here the word 'experience' does not guarantee a sound knowledge in the concerned field of work. It simply means, that person has spent more time playing in this ground. It's quantitative, not qualitative.It is not concerned with efficiency or effectiveness.And the sad part is that it is highly acceptable and unquestionable in our society.

Take the case of promotion in offices in general and government offices in particular. Your accent in the hierarchy is more a function of time than of performance,productivity,innovation and so many other eligible criteria. So irrespective of the value you are adding to the system or your commitment for the firm's objective, some day anyway you will be promoted. It's more of a problem in the public sector where the employees feel totally secured. They have no incentive to be innovative or proactive.

Even in our extended families, the eldest male is considered to be the decision maker. And a genuine innocent argument given by a younger member to support his action is seen as a revolt against the family norms and a mark of disrespect of the elders. Now with fast changing social behavior of the society, changes are inevitable.Both in values and in culture. So, the young generation will think and act differently. To elders , it may seem amoral is some respects. They should in such cases, come out from the chambers of orthodoxy and have an open mind.

Experience is important.But only that one which has been dynamic in it's evolution. The one which has modified itself in the purview of modernity.And not that one which has orthodoxy as it's soul.

Signs

What happens after death? Where does the spirit go ? Is it just energy or far beyond that? And are memories carried upon or lost in translation?

It was almost a year that day since he left us.Rather his spirit left his body.We all had assembled for the rituals to be performed on his first death anniversary.It was late in the night that suddenly the peaceful silence was transformed to fearful anxiety.Everyone woke up to the sound of the door bell.Now it's not abnormal to hear the sound of the door bell at such unearthly hour.But if that door bell had never ever made a sound before since we moved to this place, then it's kind of weird.There was something wrong with the inner wiring and we never bothered to get it fixed.So, that button outside with a door-bell sign was redundant and dormant. But that night, it made sounds.Multiple times.May be it was the mischievous rain that evening though it was hours before the occurrence of this event.But our hearts felt something else.They felt his presence.I opened the door and went outside.No one was there.Rather no one was visible to us.Some part of us though wanted to deny what we saw.I don't know why I stood there for a while expecting him to surface so that we could embrace him.Then I went inside, and stared at his picture on the wall.I tell you, his eyes never felt so lively.

Later that day, while the rituals were going on, an old man came to our doors looking for food.That's again normal.But my mother told us that it was very rare in this locality.Coincidences do happen. But I am more than sure that those who witness, can draw a line between coincidences and signs.

We all miss you. And we know that it was you who belled us that night.Rest in peace, dad.

Patriarchy and Honour killings

Sixteen-year-old Mujahedeh was murdered by her own father ostensibly to redeem her family's "honor."Her offense? Her family had accused her of bringing shame upon them by escaping a home in which she was subjected to daily beatings."She had enough," says Homa, a deputy director of a women's rights group called the Center for the Growth of the Talents of Afghan Women who got to know Mujahedeh. "She escaped home and went to the Ministry of Women's Affairs. Then she spent some time in a ministry shelter. She liked to go to school and was busy studying. She was enjoying [better] conditions and she didn't want to return to her family, but her mother insisted they'd let her go to school -- her mother said, 'Your father has forgiven your sin.' And she was finally forced to return to her relatives Later it was heard from a neighbor or someone else that her father had murdered her when she returned."

Human Rights Watch defines "honor killings" as 'Honor killings are acts of vengeance, usually death, committed by male family members against female family members, who are held to have brought dishonor upon the family. A woman can be targeted by (individuals within) her family for a variety of reasons, including: refusing to enter into an arranged marriage , being the victim of a sexual assault, seeking a divorce—even from an abusive husband—or (allegedly) committing adultery. The mere perception that a woman has behaved in a way that "dishonors" her family is sufficient to trigger an attack on her life'. Although we do see some cases where the men are also killed along with the women but that's a very small number relatively.So in general these killings target the innocent women.

Amidst a lot of research on finding the root causes of this evil, the social scientists have narrowed down their approach focusing on the greatest contributor.Patriarchy.This phenomenon of male dominance in the family goes way back to the times of inception of kinship and family structures.The oldest male member is seen as the head of the family and the protector of family's pride and honor. His is the supreme authority and his discretion is the final verdict.That was the era of male domination where women were just seen as subjects.Rather an instrument of man's lust.

And today, after a long drawn struggle by the women force, they have successfully broken the four walls of those abusive homes and made a foray into the mainstream proving there capabilities in all sectors and getting accolades for the discipline and innovation they have inculcated in the system.Her success frustrates the clans of orthodox men who still see patriarchy as a moral arrangement.They do not want to see her walking shoulder to shoulder. They are scared to be left behind by women.They want there place back.They want her back beneath their shoes.And 'honor killings' is the tool they have found.In the name of redeeming the family 'honor', they slaughter their own daughters,sisters and mothers so ruthlessly that even the Satan would not want a glance.And the most disgusting is the fact that these brutal and evil actions are seen as understandable and excusable by some people.It's a shame on the part of the educated masses who indulge and also on the part of the government who is not able to curb this ugly mean of vengeance.

The need of the hour is to stop the glorification of these killing, to take stringent actions against the culprits and to promote the NGOs and institutions which are working to help the victims in regaining normalcy. And those men with patriarchal hangover, need to be told that men are physically stronger to protect women.And not to profess.

Anger Management

What is anger? Why does sometimes our head acts like a radiator ? Why do we feel offended ? What makes us red hot ? Answers to all these may be different for each of us.But one thing is universal.That if allowed, this monster can ruin it all. Doesn't matter how long you have been slogging for something. Doesn't matter how much you love the other person. That small eruption of rude,harsh,loud and senseless words will screw you so bad that you won't even realize what actually hit you.And worse, words and actions are irreversible.

Most of the times it is the ego. We all think very high of ourselves.Irrespective of what we do or have been up to, we feel that no one can achieve what we can.We feel that we are different.We feel that we are the one.And how come someone object or contradict my verdict.What does he think of himself? That jackass. Sad but true. Seldom we open ourselves to criticism. Moreover, courtesy the modernity, the collective conscience of this generation takes judgement by others as an insult.Rather an offense on his part. There are some who have anger running down their veins.They claim it to be in built. They just cannot tolerate non-compliance.That's even sadder.

Whatever may be the reason, but the ugliest part of it is to face the repercussions.You may end up losing a dear friend, ruining a lovely relationship, sabotaging your career and the list does not end here. These peculiar acts or outbursts are never forgotten. Even if the other claims to have forgiven you.That clot of dirt is immortal.It might even be there after you are gone.The only viable outcome is the one where you repent. Sometimes we might get lucky enough to get an act for atonement.But that's just sometimes. Not for all sins, the lord gives atonement.

So in those times when you start to feel the heat, when you start to loose yourself to anger, to that moment of madness, remember this one thing.Anger will only harm.And not only you.Take a deep breadth.Think something which makes you happy.And happiness shall prevail.

Cooperation without Coordination

I like hearing stories.Many people do.But I enjoy them most when they teach us something.So there is this teacher who was trying to make a point.Cooperation without coordination is disastrous.He came up with a story.Thought would share with all of you.

'There is this guy who lives with his family.Parents and a sister.Poor family.Somehow he manages his graduation and thereafter dives deep in the pool of job hunt.Finally one day he gets an interview call which is scheduled a week later.He prepares well for his golden hour .But he had only one formal trouser. And that two an inch longer than what would fit him.But he wanted everything to be perfect that day.So asks his sister to fix it for him.She denies giver her busy schedule.He then asks his mother.Even she denies all tired with household work.He then goes to his father who was preoccupied with his mustache says doing that would be a big step down for him.Disappointed he himself fixes the trouser.

Next day his sister feels bad for denying his only brother.She reduces the length further, of course unwary of the fact that it had already been taken care of.Then his mother too feels the same and further reduces the length.Even dad swings into action.On the day of the interview when he puts of the trouser, it puzzles him that how come it turned into a 3/4th.'

Bhag DK Bose

Bhag DK Bose is the revelation of 2011. And in record time this has become the national anthem of the Indian youth. No doubt that it's the perfect combination of rhythm,pace,music and most importantly, the lyrics. Finally we guys have a socially acceptable substitute for BC sutta. And the supplement 'Paincher' is not far behind. After all the shit we go through all day long, this song takes away all the heat.Respect.

There is something about expletives which probably will never be understood.They generate in you these immense impulses of energy which any amount of glucose would not.They are the best stress busters ever.Although I feel sorry for all the D K Boses in India whose name has been brought to mud here.But you know what, screw you guys ! The song is too good ! And for the complaining parents I would say that stop associating guilt with expletives. These are just words.That does not mean that I support their use openly and everywhere.But lets just make an exception for this song.

It's amazing that everyone can relate to this song somehow. Specially in our Bharat. In the era of this cut-throat competition, 100 % cutoffs, rampant corruption, overwhelming inflation, disgusting politics, shit is happening everywhere which is the basic theme of the song.I bet many people would love to dedicate this song to others who have been a pain in their asses.Like UPA government to Team Anna, again UPA to Ramdev, USA to Taliban , NATO to Qaddafi and so on. I bet Sushma Swaraj's next dance performance will be on this song come 2014 general elections.

:D