Being on the other side

When I try to remember my student days way back in Kharagpur and even in Delhi, all I can recollect is an image of a quite boy who would not perhaps ask that many questions in middle of the class but surely would not miss a single class and would be all ears with 100 per cent attention. I always had that appetite for accumulating more and more knowledge. May be some of the faculties where not that good in their delivery but I always believed that even those had so much to offer to me. I was more an admirer of their passion for the subject rather than their flawless presentations with literal arabesque. I am still all ears but perhaps only to people who do not talk gibberish.

Back in those engineering days, one thing intrigued me a lot. In a batch of more than 100 people, half came for the class usually, most placing themselves in the backbenches so that they could nap to make up for the night out they did playing Counter Strike or watching some Korean movies as they had already exhausted the English and Hindi ones, others where busy discussing the hall politics and other jazz, and thus only a handful front benches gave a damn to what the teacher was trying to sell. And it is hard to believe that the teacher had no clue of what was going on in the class. Perhaps he preferred the numbers physically present rather than the ones who were present mentally as well. I wondered, even with all this, how does he get the motivation for the lecture. From where all this energy erupted within him?

I got the answer to that very recently when I got the opportunity to be on the other side of the bench. Not that this was the first time but since I had a larger quantum to deal with this time, it gave me the opportunity to understand the dynamics of the other side. I was given the job to deal with Public Policy and Personnel Administration. Perhaps nobody's favorite chapters but then I took it as a challenge. And there were two different batches at two different places. One small and other relatively large. Prima Facie, I thought it would be more fun to deal with the larger one as it would motivate me more. But I was proved wrong pretty soon.

The smaller one proved to be way way better and I had the best time teaching there. Those students were very keen and very responsive. And it was their body language that kept me going. I felt that they played a big role in bringing out the best in me. I felt full of energy during those three hours everyday as if on Red Bull throughout. I felt happy and convinced that I had done a fair job at the end. It was not that the other batch was not attentive but there some things did bother me a lot. There were some faces which were apparently pressurized to take up this venture and clearly had no inclination towards the subject. Apparently their cellphones were much more interesting than what I had to offer. They made faces apparently as if they were ready to vomit on my face. I wondered why they came to the class at all.

It's not that I have a number fetish and people leaving the class would turn me down or something. I always believed that one should never be pressurized to learn. It should come from within. And there is no point making someone stay against their will. The only thing that bothered me was that their behavior somehow impacted mine. And I suddenly realized that I was not apparently at my best and that too because of some people who are not interested at the first place. Why was I letting them to manipulate me? And this is precisely when i got the answer to that question. Among the mediocre crowd, there were a bunch of people who listened with all the attention, who nodded along when a significant point came across and I could feel that all this is making sense to them. And then suddenly, I was only seeing these people and ergo pulled myself up again.

So at the end, I feel happy for having helped them in whatsoever little way I could. Especially those who came up to me at the end, have to admit, that meant a lot to me. May be I disappointed few who like the gyan to be delivered with a pinch of laughter. But I felt it was more important to utilize every second for their benefit. Always there for you guys, all the best!

What's in a name

It was during college days that I came across a blog. It was from the bylanes of someone's life. It was intriguing, powerful and novel. And the way feelings were expressed aroused my interest in writing. I told myself that I need to try this out and I did. And after writing the first one, it felt wonderful. It clicked from the first instant. And with time I realized that it was not about letting others know, having a large fan following of readers eagerly waiting form your next blog post. It was about something else. It was about the feeling of freedom to express. It was about the magic of words. The interplay and the streamline flow. They created beauty to me, sheer magic!

There are some things you instantly fall in love with. You get a feeling that they belong to you and were waiting all the way to be discovered by you. And then they stay with you forever. And ergo I am grateful to that blog.

It is strange that even from the words someone writes, you can make out what that person would be like in person. So after all these years, I finally met her. It was like that blog coming live in front of me. And I am surprised that it didn't feel like meeting someone for the first time. I guess the thoughts which flow with your words actually define you, not your appearance.

After catching up onto things and appreciating the delicious prawn toasts, we were talking about minority rights and the pseudo secularism in India that she narrated her own experience. When she moved to Delhi and rented a place, all seemed fine at the first place. But when the time came to do the paper works and she wrote her full name, it occurred to the landowners that her religion is problematic for them and they cannot allow her to stay anymore. So on some other pretext, they asked her to leave. Then she tells me that often some people advice her that her name is "difficult" and she should change it. Available rooms suddenly become full when she tells her full name.

I was so disgusted to hear this. I was so disgusted that I somehow belong to the same breed of people who are so damn prejudiced about people from the Muslim community. They have all these notions and apprehensions that make no sense to me. Why can't we see people as they are and not by what religion they follow or come from? Such people and such cruel behavior is the only reason for the existing distance between these communities. If Hindutva is about being prejudiced towards the Muslim community, then I do not want to be associated with it. I feel that there should be only one religion in this world. That of humanity and nothing else.

"What's in a name"(that's her blog nick), those who judge you on your name are utter fools and should be exiled to hell. May they rot in hell. I am sorry that you had to face that. I know this won't make any difference to the pain you have suffered but just felt like saying. You are wonderful, stay blessed!

The Game of Diplomacy

The pre-independence era witnessed the political brass of India divided over the degree of radicalism to be shown towards our British rulers. After we achieved independence, the moderates and the extremists had a different question in front of them. What stance to take against rest of the world? What principles to behold to while interacting with the comity of nations? And how India should play it’s part towards achieving international peace and cooperation?

The genesis of our foreign policy was on the idealistic front and was corner stoned on certain principles which we also preached to the world. Our first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru was the pioneer of this era as he held the foreign affairs portfolio and unleashed a framework formulated with his vision of a Peaceful world and which eventually shaped our foreign policy for years to come. One of the most celebrated principles was that of Non-Alignment which meant that nations should not indulge in groupings which had the potential to polarize the whole world. This surfaced in the light of the cold war and when it was a bipolar world and countries were facing the choice of joining one of the two groups.

Nehru along with other world leaders like Josip Tito, Sukarno and Nasser founded the Non-Alignment Movement (NAM) in 1961 which advocated a middle path for the developing nations between the western and eastern blocks during the cold war era. Among the other principles were Anti-colonialism, Anti-imperialism, opposition to racialism, faith in the United Nations, disarmament and peaceful use of Nuclear Energy. In the initial years, under Nehru, our foreign policy was guided by idealism and he firmly stood by all these principles. In the later year, several events like the collapse of Soviet Union, economic liberalization, the rise of terrorism and the coming of coalition politics seems to have altered our idealistic foreign policy and has transformed into a more realistic one. But this certainly does not mean that we have abandoned idealism. We are still inclined to promote democracy, nuclear disarmament, strengthening of United Nation etc.

Another important element of our foreign policy has been the principle of peaceful coexistence, especially with our neighbors, and we have proved time and again that New Delhi is willing to walk the extra mile to achieve this objective. With Pakistan, despite provocation, we have always reiterated that India wants a stable, friendly and progressive neighbor in Pakistan and a stable, free from terror Afghan-Pak region would do wonders for the Indian sub-continent. The recent vibes of stabilization of democracy of Pakistan is a good sign for India to carry forward its policy of going back to the negotiation table and expanding collaboration in trade and industry.

On the other front, even with the unresolved boundary issues with China, New Delhi is constantly practicing the policy of engagement. India welcomed the statement of former Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao on the growing confrontations between the two nations when he said that there is enough space for India and China to grow and develop together. Besides the boundary conflict, other irritants include the Tibetan government in exile been allowed in India, the stapled visa given by China to people of Arunachal Pradesh and the disputed dam-building exercises on Bramhaputra in China. Moreover, recently there were some tense moments in the Sino-Indian relations with the Chinese incursion into the Indian Territory. But that was urgently taken up by the leaderships and sorted out soon enough.

India is also engaged in the reconstruction efforts of Afghanistan with the aim of bringing peace and stability in that country. That would eventually mean that the strategic backyards for the jihadist forces in Pakistan would not have a free hand in that region and in turn that would make India more secure. India has also pledged large sums for as development aids to this region. More importantly, India needs to play a bigger role now as the US forces gear up for withdrawal next year. With Sri Lanka, the end of the civil war presented historic new opportunities for reconciliation between the two sides in conflict and India has been offering all the help which is needed to reconstruct and rejuvenate the war-torn country but the process has been terribly slow and India going against Sri Lanka in the resolutions pertaining to human rights violations has taken the relationship to a rocky patch.

India has articulated a policy in our neighborhood that emphasizes the advantages of building networks, of inter-connectivity, trade and investment so that prosperity can be shared and the region can benefit from India’s rapid economic growth and rising prosperity. The world today is increasingly multivalent marked by considerable political cooperation amongst the major powers. The recent economic crisis and the response to it by major powers have clearly demonstrated that big powers are more than willing to cooperate in today’s world. India’s relationship with USA has transformed substantially after the nuclear deal, we have also developed a strong partnership with the European Union (EU) covering wide range of areas including space, education etc. and our traditional relationship with Russia continues to be strong especially in the area of defence. Thus, India’s relationship with great powers has improved substantially and the most heartening fact is that we managed to achieve this without antagonizing others.

Apart of these diplomatic ties, India is pursuing a comprehensive convention on International Terrorism in UN. Also, India is fully committed to global anti-piracy efforts and India is a founder member of the Contact Group on Piracy off the coast of Somalia (CGPCS). India is for determined action against the kingpins, financiers and facilitators of piracy through tracking of financial flows as it obstructs the trade process in the Indian Ocean which is central to Indian participation in the world trade.

Talking of doctrines, Gujral’s Doctrine has been one of the important facets of our foreign policy. Initiated by I.K.Gujral when he was foreign minister in 1996, this doctrine is pertaining to India’s smaller neighbors who viewed India as a bullying big brother. They were not happy with the assertions of India. Gujral talked about unilateral concessions to smaller neighbors without expecting any reciprocity. Under this we signed the ‘Ganga’ water sharing agreement with Bangladesh and ‘Maha kali treaty’ with Nepal.  India has always aspired to promote and develop cooperative regionalism under this doctrine.

With the rise of South East Asia and the opening up of new market opportunities for India in these countries, our Look East Policy has again been at the centre of debate in the diplomatic circles. Created and nurtured by former Prime Minister P.V.Narsimha Rao, it talked about improving India’s relationship with South East Asian countries and today it is extended to far east and even Australia and New Zealand, Japan etc. Initially the focus was on energy requirement but later on political and strategic dimensions were attached. In line with this policy, India became a dialogue partner to ASEAN and also inked a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) to enhance trade. Although in the initial years, the economic relations could not move forward because of the bottlenecks in India but soon after the economic reforms, things have finally started to tick and the future offers bright promises.

So, given India’s cordial relationships with almost all power centers of this multi-polar world, India’s growing military might and the soft power that is has by virtue of its cultural diversity, India has a genuine claim at the core of world affairs. But at the same time, India needs to stand by the principles of Justice and Peace and should not indulge in alliances for petty benefits. India needs to play a more active role in the events happening across the globe and should move forward with a vision taking everyone along. India must also work hard to maintain peace and order in the sub-continent as it is quintessential for sustained growth. The largest democracy of the world must share its experiences with those struggling to establish corridors of democratic institutions. And for all this to happen, India must become assertive, accommodative and a team player by changing the way it plays the game of diplomacy!

Published in Pardesi Pulse

http://www.pardesipulse.com/flipbooks/August-2013/august-2013.html

Doctor Venus!

Hospitals are not the same any more. From a distance they look like 5-star hotels with sky-scrapers and from inside they are no less a fancy mall in a metropolitan conglomeration. They have all the facilities one wants in a hospital like a CCD, a gift shop and multi-cuisine restaurant. For a 10 minute visit to your doctor, they charge you an amount which used to cover all your treatment expenses earlier. I had always believed that medical profession is closest to social service. What better than relieving people off their pain. But today, it has been reduced to just another business avenue. And that makes me hate hospitals like anything. So, if I have to go to one, I like to settle things as fast as possible.

But fancy this, I go to a hospital and for the first time in my life, I wanted to stay there. I wanted the damn time to stop running so freaking fast. Since then, I have been trying to relive it, closing my eyes and imagining, but it ain't the same. So, I was told to go to the Physiotherapy department to learn some strengthening exercises for my perpetual back pain. Aha, the "physio" I wondered. Been there, done that. Always found some indifferent guy who would ask me to do some weird stretches and then hand over to me a chart of exercises. Just plain business as usual.

Not this time though. I enter the department  and find that this isn't like the average dull boring workout room with even more boring people. It was spacious and had zillion tools and machines with people on them stretching and some just staring at them trying to understand the mechanical dynamics of it. Interestingly some people have the job of motivating the patients throughout the workout. It is a challenging job I would say as most of the patients are on wheelchairs. But the helpers seemed motivated and happy to help.

So lost was I in the uniqueness of the place that I didn't notice that someone had come up to me and was already talking. I turned to her. And I went blank. I always wondered what its like to forget everything and to concentrate only on one thing. I tried meditating many times but never achieved this isolation from everything. Now I knew how it was like. I only saw her. Everything else vanished as if somebody had spread a white sheet over all of it. She was that beautiful.

Then it occurred to me perhaps she is saying something to me. Asking my name perhaps. Damn it, what the hell. For the love of God, I cannot recollect my own name. I mean I have seen people who forget their cell numbers all the time but holy shit, how can I forget my own name? Come on, don't be a Ghajni, she might think you are a complete dumb ass. Aha, Swapnil it is. I told her. She told me hers. Doesn't matter, I had already named her Goddess Venus. And she was like that. Every bit of her.

She asked me to tell her everything. From beginning till now. 'Everything?' I wondered. I obliged although her eyes were constantly interrupting and  making it all the more difficult for me. But soon I gathered the strength to face them and the restrain to tell exactly what she asked me too. She was so patient with the details. She had so many questions. Not like the usual doctors who would love to fast-track everything as they have a long list of people waiting outside. I liked her attention and the capacity to anticipate. She also had this feature which I really envy. She had this cute little smile throughout. I love people who can do that in spite of whatever shit they face in life. I think it makes a huge difference to your life and to the lives of people you come across.

Anyway, after a lot of monitoring and analysis, she prescribed a long routine of exercises. She explained them with all the precautions one needs to take and kept reminding me the order like a Kindergarten teacher. I was blushing like a kindergarten kid anyway. I was so lost that I was sure to forget everything except her. I told her that I would forget. She started making a list on a piece of paper and also drew figures besides them. I felt like that kid in the class who sits on the last bench and the teacher has to do extra effort to make him understand simple things. Couldn't help it.

And then the heartbreak, it was all over. I thanked her  for all the extra effort she put in. She smiled and boy oh boy I would never forget that smile. She is an excellent doctor. I wish all doctors were like her, if not that beautiful. Such was her aura, I felt healed from a distance, within moments. God bless Doctor Venus!

वो मासूम बारिश !

जाने कितने दिनों से,
तेरे लिए तरसा हूँ मैं ।
जाने कितने पलो में,
मैंने तुझे याद किया ,
और आज जाके जब,
तेरी इन छोटी छोटी बूंदों ने,
इन प्यारी मीठी बूंदों ने,
जब मेरा स्पर्श किया,
तो कही जाके इस दिल को चैन मिला ।

तेरे आने पे,
इस हवा में जो ताजगी हैं,
मौसम में जो मदहोशी हैं,
इन चेहरों पे जो मुस्कान हैं ,
वो अप्रतिम हैं ।

पर जाने क्यूँ, ये दिल उदास भी हैं ,
शायद तेरी ये  तेज हवाए ,
तेरी मगरूर अदाए ,
पानी से लतपत ये मैदान ,
मुझे याद दिलाते हैं, उन लोगो की ,
जो चले थे देव दर्शन पर, उन पहाड़ो में,
जिन्हें तूने अपने आलाप में ले लिया,
उन्हें उनके परिवारों से अलग कर।

मैं जानता हूँ दोष हमारा है,
हमने तू झे नकारा हैं,
स्वार्थी हो गए है हम सब,
पर सच तो यही हैं,
ये संसार कल भी तुम्हारा था ,
और आज भी तुम्हारा है।