Women's Reservation Bill

The Woman's reservation bill was passed by an overwhelming majority in the Upper House recently, and so was the Constitutional Amendment which made it possible. How the bill was passed in the "Upper House", has set new negative precedents for parliamentary democracy, with "marshals" standing by to remove the dissenting views, and with that the views of the millions they represent, politely, of course. Slogan shouting and physical threat to the Vice-President may not be the best forms of protest, but throwing people out is certainly not the way to treat esteemed parliamentarians, who are supposed to be the model citizens and moral conscience keepers of society. That having been said let us come to the actual matter of the much hyped bill.


This bill has been in the waiting for over a decade now, and that it was passed in the Upper House without substantial discussion was sad. Even sadder, is the fact that during this time, the bill has not been improved much, but maybe that was not the intention. Women have been grossly under-represented and perhaps represent the largest "backward class" in this country, although whether they fall into the formal definition of class is open to debate, and certainly beyond the scope of this short opinion piece. And, so, logically steps must be taken to improve their representation.


Whether, an increase in representation of women in Parliament will increase the focus on women's issues and gender empowerment is disputable- there is no evidence to suggest that women leaders work with any greater vigour on gender issues, or that they offer a greater number of tickets to women to contest, a case in example is Ms. Mayawati, Honourable Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh; or Ms. Jayalalithaa, J., Honourable Former Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu; or even Mrs. Indira Gandhi, Honourable Former Prime Minister of India. Similar examples can be easily provided for women politicians around the world. One may also note that the key factor for the success of the above mentioned women leaders was not their "womanhood", but their views on policy matters and other gender neutral factors like charisma (whether charisma does not depend on gender is again debatable), or caste, religion (again not entirely non-dependent on gender, but largely so - I will not go into the sociological and political complications which arise due to these interlinkages). This explains their non-interest in taking up women's issues with any particular activism or avant-garde radical approach. Women in politics have not done much for women, which does not mean they betrayed them, for they never stood and won based on women's issues.


At some level, a reservation boils down to choosing a less meritorious candidate over a more meritorious one, and I think it is better for the women (and men) of this country that a truly democratically elected man or woman (who is better qualified, more intellectual) represent their views, rather than a less able women candidate, who probably would not got elected in the first place due to lack of ability. I am, by no means saying, women are biologically less capable in these fields, I am merely stating due to the gender inequalities and exploitative gender relationships which exist in this country, we find few women sufficiently qualified to occupy this most important position of being a member of Parliament. Reservation is not going to help the vast majority of women who have to come to grips with the struggles of existence on a daily basis, what will help is better policies and grassroots administration - which again we can expect of a well qualified male or female member rather than a candidate who has come through reservation.


Similar policies at the global level, whether in Rwanda, Pakistan or some Eastern European countries, has produced disastrous results. While comparing these countries to a somewhat "healthier" democracy like India may not be suitable, we can certainly take cues from their experiences and teach ourselves a lesson or two.


There has also been talk of the reservation being for a limited period of time, after which India, having achieved "gender equality", will continue with the current system. One wishes it were so simple. What sixty years of democracy has not achieved, can a few years of the rule of the reserved achieve? This seems very unlikely, especially given the social, political and economic tangles which women's issues get stuck in, and also since what is required is a structural change. There are several possible consequences of this period of "women's reservation Raj", of which two seem to be very likely. One, like the quota provided to Scheduled Castes and Tribes, this will be extended forever, amending the Constitution at will. This will be unfortunate, and lead to the gradual emergence of a neo-creamy layer among women representatives, as has been the case before. The second possibility is that once the reservation is withdrawn, there will be a huge backlash, leading to fewer woman members in Parliament than ever before. This genuine public "anger" against woman candidates, is, to say the least, understated in an already skewed polity. There is much evidence to this fact when we look at the experiences of the aforementioned countries.


All this even though the voters of this country have never discriminated against women candidates, infact, they have shown a preference for them. It is the political parties, which have not taken initiative to field more women candidates in winnable seats, and to train women members of their party from less politically privileged backgrounds for electoral politics. The percentage of women fielded when compared to that of men by each party is abysmally low, and their gross under-representation in Parliament is a natural consequence. The fact that women candidates have a higher success rate than men also shows that political parties dare to field a woman only if she is very sure of winning - that is, she has to work harder, that too in a gender-unfavourable environment within her party, for a party ticket, and, thus many women fall by the wayside in this race for party tickets.


The consequence of this bill is that more and more mothers, sisters, daughters and wives of current politicians will get elected as proxies for male candidates, and we will witness a show a puppets in the Parliament, making a mockery of democracy. Even without the quota, a large number of the women elected are from political families, and an overwhelming number of them are from very wealthy backgrounds.


The implementation of the reservation will also certainly reduce the "representativeness" of Parliament. It will favour the large national parties at the Centre and State levels, and demolish smaller ones, especially those representing the weak and the oppressed. This is because elections will become even more about money power, fraud and election malpractices. Only large parties possess the physical and economic resources to generate, train and popularize women, who otherwise are not popular at that level - smaller parties will lose the chance to give party tickets to local leaders with alternate ideologies, and thus take advantage of their local support base, since a majority of these local leaders are male. This will certainly make our democracy less vibrant, and lead eventually to the monopoly of one or two parties.


This increase in the need for funding will lead to the furtherance of neoliberal economic policy (more pro-market policies shall have to be introduced to fund elections), and this will be certainly anti poor and anti woman. Moreover, this will push the politicians into corruption and embezzlement to fund their campaigns. It is already a well known fact, that in the absence of state funding of elections, corruption is being used as a major tool to fund such campaigns, and also election malpractices, such as the distribution of liquor, food, cash or in general, the violation of the moral code of conduct.


The demand by some parties for the introduction of quotas for the so-called "Other Backward Classes" within the reserved quota, is also ill-founded. Caste and gender, as is well researched often bear an inverse relationship, since the relative position of the female with respect to the male is generally higher in the lower castes than the upper castes. Thus a large section of upper caste women will get excluded from the benefits of reservation. The complexity therefore, is enormous and any such demands without careful analysis and study is certainly not justified. And also, this bill will also severely affect one seat or two seat states much more severely. All the above issues have been articulated several times, with considerable evidence, over the past years, but the Government has not responded positively.


Infact, several alternate models have been suggested, all of which are of considerable merit and thus deserve careful study for adoption. One of these is enforcing that a certain percentage of seats contested by a party be allotted to women. To ensure that, say, a party with its vote base in Bihar, does not fulfil this quota by fielding candidates in say, Kerala, safeguards can be developed - and such models have been developed involving choosing a suitably sized block of a certain number of assembly sections as a group. Several other alternatives also exist. Thus, the "Women's Reservation Bill", in the current form is ill-founded and simplistic.

Poem: Ashes

Fire is the blood of thought,
Burning reason,
The warmth of non-meaning, non-being, undying death.
Ashes of dark memories,
Light, what is left over after,
Are only the ashes, memories,
Ashes to be smeared over the forehead,
Ashes to be won, and ashes to kill the fire within.
Fire is a thing of beauty, but ashes are forever, and a joy forever.
Let me clean my house, the annals of my mind crave,
But cleaning is with ashes, and the memories of others, another animal time clear my backyard,
Of the emotional baggage,
And the innocent thoughts of naked women.
As my oxidized thoughts wander,
I wonder if I must cough up,
Surrender to the fine dust in my lungs,
Ashes sometimes suppress breathing,
But sometimes the nicotine is too necessary to live.
Ashes lie strewn about in the space of time, giving time to space, and space to those who need a time, maybe just a little.
Ashes fly away, fires light, ashes alight,
In the slow motion tizzy of mirrored silence,
As the fire burns away, it leaves the shadows, after all,
Shadows come from within, and dominate without.
Sun’s ashen rays, and the golden dullness of ashes cling on the devil’s workshop,
My mind is empty but the grey matter, but the ashes.
If fire is the moment, ashes are leftovers,
Leftovers are cold, but they satisfy hunger,
Better than the memories of warm food,
but isn’t cold food the memory of warm food?
The redundancy of ashes is profound,
Ashes are a form of cinematic thought,
Of dialectic spaces, of crummy dialogues, of Kafkaesque art,
Of the screams of modern living, of the Homer of.

Poem : On Anna Hazare

India is its villages,
Will Anna make India his village?
Gandhi defeated colonialism,
Will a Gandhian defeat neo-colonialism?
Or will consumerism, corruption and commercialization crush the country, my country?
Democracy – supposedly people find a voice here,
Will this man’s voice be heard?
Or will only the scream of his death resonate?
He has only his death to offer,
The commercial media will take that too,
Legends are easy to sell, so are heroes, so are souls.
In this realm of crimson irony,
The man sits accompanied by a man who conquered the stars,
Will man ever conquer himself though?
Alone in the sun,
It is a battle of David and Goliath.
But alone in the fields,
Labourers toil on,
Corruption is an academic term to them,
It is perhaps important to only the English speaking city dwellers who must sell their country,
To sell themselves…
Tears flow like streams in his mind,
Channelling themselves in the wrinkles,
Hope they will come out of the maze,
A maze of the wrinkles of old age….

Technology and Philosophy

Technology and Philosophy

Technology, a vulgarization of science to cater to human senses has been the art of the preceding few centuries, and the revolution that began with the protestant ethic has been closely linked with the growth of capitalism. One must thus analyze what makes capitalism and technological growth incestuous siblings.
Before proceeding to analyze the relations of technological progress and capitalism, let us gain a historical insight. In the ancient quasi-peaceable societies, technological progress was very much a practicality of the individual. One tried to improve one’s tools to enhance one’s productivity, and since the emphasis was neither on conspicuous production (like pre-modern England), neither on conspicuous consumption (like Western societies in the post-modern era); technology was not the gauge of progress or social hierarchy. As society, ‘evolved’ (if we may say so), into feudalism, technology took a back seat. More emphasis was on the spiritual aspects, and anything practical and material was looked upon with much disgust. Progress into the Renaissance age was a significant landmark for technology and engineering. Science, or natural philosophy, made strides, and these were the stepping-stones to the growth of technology.
What fuelled the industrial revolution were a curious medley of secular rational scientific principles and the fervent ‘Work is Worship’ culture of the Calvinists and Protestants. As wealth became concentrated in fewer and fewer hands, due to colonialism, the huge investments required for large technological projects were available and the enhanced labour arbitrage and slavery of capitalism ensured cheap labour. This made the transition to an industrial society possible. With the increase in the wealth of the middle class, the demand for goods arose, and soon the prosperous European societies had been saturated, new markets were needed to sell goods and obtain raw materials. Thus colonialism meant not only the drain of wealth through depletion of natural resources of the colony but also by selling goods manufactured in parent countries in their colonies. In the twentieth century, two wars were fought, greatly increasing the market for some types of goods. Later, advertising was sought to help companies sell their products- products which people did not need, but wanted through manipulative marketing practices. This trend was also seen in the developing in the last few years of the twentieth century where a powerful upper class had emerged by the process of neo-liberalization and neo-colonialism.
Throughout we observe technology was used as a tool, to improve the lives of some and destroy the lives of others. According to me, this was due to a lack of ethical and philosophical basis, which is not surprising as the growth of technology is closely linked to growth of capitalism, which has no moral basis as such. Thus humankind must work on developing a philosophy for technology, which has been a neglected area. But in addition to being theoretically strong, it must also be practical as technology itself is very practical in nature. I have attempted to do so here.
For this let us see the relation of technology with the other great spheres of human development, art and science, both of which fall into the broad ambit of philosophy. Technology acts as an enabler. It helps us make progress in art and science. True human development lies in abstraction, reducing reality to mere equations and expressions, and in interpreting them in way which enhances our existential reality and consciousness. Technology helps us to externally reach a state of mind, which helps us to think about ideas. For example, a computer helps reduce manual labour and improves communication, which ensures we waste less time in productive labour, and lets us spend more time in deep thought. Thus technology in itself is not progress, but its role as an enabler is important. Technology is dependent on art and science, and vice versa, but not in the same way. Art and science act as intellectual parents to technology, but technology is merely an instrument to do the mean work. This relation must be acknowledged. When we forget this, technology becomes a headless monster and leads to self-destruction. Secondly, technology, being the enabler that it is, must not be restrictive or restricted. If so, it fails to reach a part of the masses, and humanity loses out on a section of ideas forever.
In conclusion, I would say the relation of technology with humans must be much like the three laws of robotics, with technology developing a conscience of its own, but not a consciousness.

To My Parents

Blue sweat on the brow,
Wells comes zoom zoometh,
The edge of the meadow doth smell sweet,
The charred remains of childhood,
But it has it bequeathed the promise of a donkey’s life?
Or a life with the sticky tears of Schopenhauer’s radiergummi,
With the sticky feeling of sticky hands,
Bound by the kirk of relations,
Has gene justified my existence,
Or my existentialism?
Will the kites of Kitano,
In all their liberal brilliance slit my throat?
Have I been a good son, mother and father?

Poem dedicated to Dr. Binayak Sen

I have smelt the earth too long,
Gunpowder coughs,
Mucus on the red cloth,
The blood inconspicuous by its presence.

Fire in the stomach,
Water in the eyes,
Earth on the forehead,
Air in the open wounds,
Ether in the consciousness-light with the joy of death.

Walk on…
The wealth crushes me to death,
Or is it the poverty of thought?

The curer is cured by the winds of the jail,
The pickle is sour,
And the gun too sweet.

The Crucifix of Independence

The crucifix of independence,
The wooden odour of life,
Sawdust kith spews upon the graveyard,
Once the carved model screams.

Objective work has socialist whores,
Subjective narrative parallels a thousand streams of choked reason,
Coughing up bloody money.

Is art just for argument’s sake,
Philosophy for my sake,
Or is it a soul searching for soul?

Why do I dream of delirious orgies of togetherness?
Once my consciousness has been declared a sovereign republic by my feudal masters,
Is this the freedom I live for,
Or is this the freedom which will kill me.

Rain

Those dark clouds,

Brighten me,

Lighten me,

Enlighten me.



The humidity of silence,

The calm before the storm,

The cool embrace of the air,

Suddenly defeat the might of the Sun,

And yang goes the yin.



Messengers from the firmament,

Moisten the farmer’s forehead,

And moisten his eyes,

With the tears of joy.

The cracks in the parched earth seem to disappear,

Swallowing up his miseries,

Which get mixed with the soil,

To yield him the fruits of his labour,



Without sorrow, there cannot be joy,

And without misery, there cannot be man,

For bliss is but a child of suffering.





The rain falls,

Lashes the streets with all its force,

But will the concrete go away, to let it meet its sister the soil,

And have an orgasm of the beautiful smell of wet earth.



It falls in sheets,

It falls in drops,

But will it be enough to fill the crevices in my heart?



Children play in the slush,

Adults fall into it,

After all, the rain is a return to innocence,



In the muddy puddles,

Paper boats sail, like hearts content, and like empty promises,

Plants green grow, as if the entire liveliness of life, was oozing out on this single day,

And faces glow, like faces glow.



The droplets hum a song of Nature,

Invoke the earth with the trumpet thunder,

Lighting like a spark of light,

Penetrates her,

And impregnates her, with the seeds of tomorrow,

And make her what she is- Mother Nature.



As the rain falls,

Clothes become wet,

Translucent with their unimportance,

Transporting us to nature,

Away from hypocritical morality,

And into the lives of our origin.



But this rain must not last very long,

Yin and yang settle their disputes peacefully,

The Sun has agreed to be kind,

And Winter will follow.

As for the rain, it leaves us with a seven coloured smile.



Oh this rain,

Brightens me,

Lightens me,

Enlightens me.

The Light of Death

The Light of Death


Fire, orange and bright red,
With the ferocity to melt lead,
Purifies a warrior; dead,
Lying on wood; his final bed.

As the flame feeds,
On the rotten flesh,
‘He has died a noble death,’ they say,
To pacify the widow; then pray.

The priest chants.
And chants,
Dutiful, peaceful and unemotional,
While the warrior’s kin,
Weep in sorrow; unconditional.

The children watch on,
Acid tears gush down their cheeks,
A cold sweat drenches their brow,
Their faces without the usual glow.

Children will be children,
They’ll get over it,
Say the all knowing adults,
A few sit.

The people gaze on,
In their cold hearts,
Sorrow ripens into worry,
‘How’ll we sustain another widow?’
Their crocodile tears meet with the pale faces of the young,
Eerily enchanted by the glowing splinters of wood,
Which want to detach themselves from the sins they burn away.

The priest chants,
And chants,
As if smiling and saying,
‘There’s a better life after death.’

The pyre burns all night,
And a good part of the morning,
Only aggravated by the chilly winds,
Which grip the cremation ground,
Howling a strange tune,
‘The sins are going away!’,
The holy men say.

The corpse burns,
The poverty-struck seek warmth from it,
Such is the funeral fire,
Emits warmth for some,
Hot-killing-heat for others.

Occasionally greeted by the celestial bodies,
The distant burning stars,
Saying ‘We told you,
You were destined to die!’
And moved on,
The star-white moonlight,
Pacifies the widow,
In its dim light,
The battle wounds less severe.

The sun’s rays glisten,
The charred remains,
The fire is out,
The smoke rises,
Heavenward,
The soul of the noble man,
Rises gracefully,
Forming signs of his clan,
Filling the sky,
With the magnificence of death.

The ashes are collected early,
By the holy men,
They smear it all over their bodies,
‘An easy way to attain salvation’;
The commoners say,
But did they forget.
The soul has escaped,
In a puff of smoke.

The people return,
The priest chants,
And chants,
Another day for him,
Celebrating the end of the days of the deceased.

They drive away the bloody hounds,
Looking for bits of cooked flesh,
But disappointed by the black char,
They satisfy themselves,
With the blackened bones.

Whatever remains of the courageous man,
Is taken in an earthen urn,
And put into the Holy River,
Where it meets the Sea.

The Feudal Sheep - A Poem

As I wait for my turn,
the hour of death beckons,
the butcher’s assistant - the hand of death,
pushes me along,
jostling for space in this deathly hour,
not for the pleasures of heaven,
but for death itself.

The cold winds blow,
extinguishing the fire of life, in the hanging carcasses,
the tender meat full of life,
hardens into death and non-being.

But the soul never dies,
though every cruel death takes away a part of it,
a parting gift to the soul-less creatures who take away.

The line is growing longer,
but I move forward,
to take a giant leap,
I am consuming the flesh of my brothers and sisters,
but the guilt consumes me no less.

I pray that the axe may not be kind to me,
and take away my life at once,
and not prolong my transition,
from this world to ..........

Outside, where whole herds wait,
there is a deathly cacophony of deathly sounds,
but the most deathly of all sounds,
is the sound of silence,
and it grips the ghosts as they reach the butcher.

I stare into the sky,
the happy stars burn my eyes,
the light is too much for my dark life,
Alas! brightness comes to one at death,
perhaps, this is the light at the end of the tunnel,
I stand in the tunnel,
with the the darkness at the end,
the stars make signs to indicate the inevitable,
they seem to move very fast today,
almost scurrying to rearrange themselves,
as each brother and sister dies,
so they be not born an animal,
in their next life,
but, can the attribute-less soul of ours,
carry the heavy message,
after all,
the mighty humans have diminished it to be a figment of theirs,
nevertheless, we carry on.

The Gods are on our side,
but men.......

Epicureans have made us Schopenhauers,
fatalism surrounds us,
as we move along,
into the jaws of death,
but why blame Epicurus,
for these are pleasures of the intellect.

At the death of life,
we stand with our muscles relaxed,
recollecting our lives of death,
events suddenly seem connected by determinism,
life laughs at us cynically,
“You recognized the pattern, too late”,
But, aren’t we determined to do so?
Why are we destined to this destiny?

Hollowness,
a void appears within,
life seems to be a distant memory,
as death waits patiently,
testing the butcher,
these are matters of taste you see,
and the cut must be clean,
as clean as blood, flesh and open wounds.

Why is death saddening us,
after all, we are destined to die,
but that power is best left to Us,
or some higher power,
our parents were separated from us,
are “better” ones among us bred profusely,
aren’t we the subjects of an old philosophy.

The night has moved on,
leaving us in the embarrassing sunlight,
our carcasses rot away,
and the sun dries them,
turning living flesh,
into cold, hard meat,
we were born to die,
and die to be born.

Go Gentle on the Giant

(People,
This was published in the The Hindu NXg and intended to be humorous, so if you are feeling serious, go to a hospital ! - after that poor joke you ought to be sick !!)

‘Go gentle on the giant’

(The Hindu NXg byline: THE OTHER SIDE With all the talk about how obesity is an imminent problem, here’s a guy who tells you the story from a different perspective.)

Being fat in a malnourished country like India is a hassle, to say the least. Everywhere you go, people stare at you in awe, mischief and fun, exchanging precocious glances on how George Bush is going to combat this new monster on Earth, or perhaps he was a weapon of mass destruction (given his mass, so energy, since e=mc^2…for you physicists out there). Went a bit off-track there, not a good sign when you are just into your second sentence…perhaps I need a snack. I wouldn’t mind these glances if they were not accompanied by imaginative puns and snide remarks — ‘why did you cause the tsunami?’; ‘do you cause solar eclipses?’ and the likes of it. Then comes school, which I suppose is better than college since by the time you become bulky enough to be noticed, you’re already in the higher classes so you can beat up most people who poke fun of you, except teachers, whom you can beat up, but wont…..Why? I don’t know.
Fun times
The real fun begins at lunchtime…aah…my favourite hour in school, and I am no humbug so play along to the pun and games (I’m a chronic punman - one who creates puns, I suppose…but don’t get me started on that). Here I have to speak out to the student community (okay, its cheesy but worth it for the cheese - ignore this pun, please for MY sake…and there’s a lot of ME in the world) — Just because I can eat a few lunches (haha…you couldn’t get me to say lunch boxes), doesn’t mean I can eat more lunches; well, maybe a few more but that is immaterial considering the number of lunches I actually eat.
To be honest, I don’t mind these offers, but I have a certain dignity….or do I? (Please skip to the next sentence once I start this crappy rhetoric unless you are fat (who am I to call anybody fat, but ya know what I mean) in which case you will identify with this] And as you walk…amble around, people are wary of the mass of fat you fling along; you are made fun of by even those lower class students in groups, for safety purposes. But looking at the positive side, people make way for you and students have a certain respect for you for endangering the school building’s structural stability.
The downside
But on the other side (I have many sides, edges and corners you see…), there are those well wishers; I wish they jumped into a well. They come along from the other side of the corridor; as they see you, their eyes light up in glee and knowledge. They throw stats at you about coke bottles or chips or…; not your stats mind you, which as a fat guy you ought to be aware of. I do not dare question their burning desire to burn off my calories and I do enjoy their jokes (that’s part of the problem) like — “if you don’t knock off those paunches, you can’t sit on your haunches” (ignore the grammatical errors).
Then, there are relatives, over-riding with concern, advising you at every family function; and premature talk on how you will be married (hey, I’m still in school) and besides, the easiest way to a man’s heart is through his stomach and I have my heart in my stomach. All I have to say is “spare me”. Frankly I don’t care if I have six pack abs or just six packs. It’s not that we are not aware of the grave health risks, but we are too lazy to care and the gym didn’t refuse to accept me, I refused to accept it. Being a fat guy, thus teaches you the virtues of patience, tenacity and gluttony (from my own testament; newer than the new one). I am a hopeless optimist or just plain hopeless (doesn’t saying that make me a pessimist…?)

Mobile Phone - An Article

( People,
I wrote this in eight standard or something, so it will be childish and out of touch)


MOBILE PHONES - BOON OR BANE? - YOU DECIDE

The Tamil Nadu government has banned the use of mobile phones recently.
Mobile phones seem to be the new trend these days. From the bus driver to the college student, everybody has one. Mobile phones have become, so to speak, essential communication devices of the 21st Century. One of the biggest reasons for their immense popularity and success in the global market are their advantages in almost every area over conventional landlines. So what can mobile phones do, rather what not? Mobiles are handy, small and versatile. Their mobility by far may be considered their greatest advantage over regular phones. They are wireless, in the literal sense of it as they can be carried anywhere and do not need a regular power supply by wire. They can even be used in adverse conditions, as they are small. They also allow their users to communicate when they are not at a fixed place - a bus, for example. They make it easy for us to receive information, especially urgent information, very quickly, without any hassles. Gone are the days when you could not go out of your house when you were expecting an important phone call. Now, you can do anything, anywhere, anytime. The mobile, at least in latest models, is loaded with great and cool features. One of the features to first come on the mobile was messaging. Nowadays, it has developed into two forms - SMS and MMS, standing for Short Messaging Service (SMS) and Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS), MMS being the better option. Now, you can send audio, video, graphical images and almost everything else. Modern mobile phones also have given the common man an option to communicate visually and through audio. You can also digitally modify photos of your loved ones. These days, some ultra modern mobiles have super cool cameras which can not only shoot scintillating stills but also short videos and audio for a few minutes. They also have internet facilities and I choose not to comment on this feature as this has become so commonplace, that even the layman is enlightened on this. New models of mobile sport graphical interfaces, of which, around 15 years ago, even computer visionaries, could not dream of. They have almost replaced the personal computer. Mobiles also have digital games and networked gaming and have the credit of being entertainment centres, especially among the people of the younger generation. But, and almost unfortunately, be sides this plethora of advantages, they have more than their share of disadvantages. The fact that they are so valuable is also is the cause for their downfall. Lately, children, especially adolescents also have owned these electronic wonders (mobiles). As a result, especially among peer groups, they soon become items of prestige. The one having the latest model is said to be from the 'highest class of society'. They lead to rivalries. The pressure from his peers, pressures the teenage deeply to obtain mobiles even by dong horrendous crimes like stealing. And when these teenagers obtain these mobiles they keep on sending unnecessary e-mails and SMSs and make calls unrelentingly, thus the parents have to pay huge a bill, as charges for these facilities are higher in a mobile compared to a conventional landlines. Recently, there have been quite a few articles in newspapers and magazines which have been informing us of the alarming fact that the radiation emitted by these electronic devices is potentially hazardous to health. In fact, it is even recommended that mobiles should not be kept in the shirt pocket, as it results in the irregular beating of the heart; it is also the causes of brain tumours. It also affects some machines, especially those controlled by computer chips and other communication devices which use a wavelength similar to the mobile. They also can be very easily destroyed, compared to landlines, as they have weak external structures as protection for their inner circuitry. People also tend to speak on the mobile while driving. This puts their lives at grave risk. Many scientific studies have proven that people tend to divert attention towards the mobile rather than driving, leading to accidents, which also put other innocent people's lives at risk. Also some anti social elements of society try to flood people inboxes with hate mails, which anger them, and make their mobiles inactive. Cheap batteries also explode; I heard a report regarding this in a reputed newspaper. Recently, there have been reports that mobile internet software is being destroyed by viruses. The issue of privacy is also a major one. No sooner than you start doing some serious work, that some mobile phone goes off in a silly and nagging tune. Mobile Phones or not, YOU DECIDE.

Moral Policing - written for The Hindu NXg

Homogenizing India’s composite culture into a rigid framework of black and white is a threat to its very existence. People, who support the fanatics in the Mangalore incident, are not stakeholders in Indian culture, but guardians of Victorian sensibilities and “moral propaganda”. So if our sensitive Vanar Sena of Muthalik does a bit of reading, they are to be shocked, and will certainly go back further in time, and they are to be even more so; or perhaps their motive was different. Guarding a woman’s honour has been used as a tool for far too long by the feudal rich in backward societies to exploit women – interestingly one does not notice such inequities in the poor- where women have equal stakes. Therefore, drinking, for long a male habit and instrument of torture, has become a symbol of liberation – though this development is unfortunate with respect to the health aspects. Culture is, so to say, a quantum vector field, a function of both space and time and certainly relativistic. The common thread in India’s dynamic culture has been tolerance and a demographical change cannot affect this – it is time we move out of our frozen mindsets and exchange ideas, for that is the only way to progress.

Book Review - The Blue Umbrella

Ruskin Bond's 'The Blue Umbrella' is profound in its simplicity, and through the lucid narrative, shines through, a deep insight into human behaviour and society. The author has created a masterpiece and enchanted us at myriad levels of conscience and consciousness. Its beauty lies in the layering of the story, and through this Bond has done what less talented writers fail to in much larger and if I dare say so, rather cumbersome pieces. Very accessible to even young and new readers, it is an equally enjoyable read for connoisseurs of literature. At the first read, a very simple story to follow, which enchants us with the beauty of language. A striking feature is the immaculate use of short sentences making text very readable and crisp, which characterizes the writer. The author gives vivid descriptions of nature and people , though never trying to go overboard with such exercises, ensuring the reader never loses interest.On trying to understand the story at a deeper level, one realises Bond's deep insight into society. The story starts with a young village girl going in search of her cattle, and ending up getting a blue umbrella in exchange for a leopard's claw pendant - a sort of lucky charm. This is when the reader realises that the blue umbrella is a metaphor for human desire, and this continues throughout the narrative when it becomes the object of almost desperate desire for her fellow villagers, especially Ram Bharosa ( the name is ironical, almost a mockery). Further the fact that the young girl gets the umbrella from outsiders, in exchange for her traditional pendant, indicates the tendency of our youngsters giving up their traditions for modern lifestyles and adopting certain ways of living which have been canonized to be the better ways of living. But this aspect of the metaphor does not occur at many other instances in the story. Another thing one must notice is the portrayal of the pettiness of human desire - Ram Bharosa, the trader even tries to resort to unfair means to acquire the umbrella. The irrationality the whole thing also strikes the reader much later in the story, as Bharosa's whim to get the umbrella become almost a dangerous lust for it - despite him being in a situation to buy umbrellas himself. Te book is thus thoroughly readable - it has something to offer to all kinds of readers -young and old.

Education in India - An Article

The recent announcement of the ambitious " Hundred Day Plan " and additional plans to bring in reforms in the education sector by Human Resources Development Minister Mr. Kapil Sibal, have surprised those in the academic community, whether as students or teachers or both, and the general public alike, due to reference to making optional the tenth standard board exam, which holds a special status in the collective imagination of those detached from the academic process for long. Public exams prick Mr. Sibal conscience, and as a prophet of modernization, he has taken him upon himself to take some hard and drastic steps. Suddenly, a press release by the Human Resources Development Ministry, usually an occasion to catch up on some sleep for the weary eyed presswallahs, is the most discussed document on national television, and Mr. Sibal the superstar, an unlikely status for an Human Resources Development Minister , but, many of us would say, after Mr. Arjun Singh, anybody who replaced him would enjoy popularity. Most releases by the Education Ministry, or should I say, the more modern and stylish(atleast in United Nations' Reports) Human Resources Development Ministry, evoke the response of a an occasional yawn of wakefulness, due to their moribund and boring stretches on pedagogic systems and gross enrolment ratios, and, usually by the end the only question asked is what "pedagogic" means. So, Mr. Sibal, sitting on a gaddi stinking of India's archaic education system and tomatoes thrown at Mr. Arjun Singh, has emerged as the spokesperson of the Indian student, or should I say, Bharatiya Vidyaarthi, to sound politically correct(only in North India, of course, South India is doomed to political incorrectness, even in words, since Hindi is the Rashtriya Bhaasha (no, not the Rajini film)). Even the introduction of Higher Order Thinking Skills(HOTS), did not evoke this strong a response, though finding what the Higher Order Thinking Skills(HOTS) were in any given sample paper in a few minutes proved to be a hobby for those in the humid Teacher's Rooms(even the older ones enjoyed it, and circled those sacred questions carelessly, even remembering the question numbers was fine in versions of the game which included powerplays). So as Sibal smugly announces the revolution of our education system from existensialism to Marxist Hegelianism (Education is no longer about survival and existence and mundane mugging to exist in the competition, with no departures to a more beautiful world, it is about achieving a community students who have varied interests and thus qualifications, but their qualifications are not ranked in any order, neither are they), the institutes of learning in our country whisper on whether a person with an A2 grade belongs to the third estate or not. Whether Mr. Sibal will actually keep his word, is yet to be seen, but what he has done is that he has brought up a serious topic of discussion - education, or as he would like to call it, the fun topic. One can only hope this small step for Mr. Sibal is not a giant leap backward for Indians. The country has seen far too many lame attempts to reform the education system, but what is lacking is involvement of students, teachers and experts in various field, to evolve a interest based and rational solution. Even this proposal does not envisage the participation of students, who are the targets for any education system, but only the more powerful stakeholders. Such a proposal is flawed in its approach since only when students' feedback is taken, can we develop a sound and comprehensive curriculum, especially since students are perhaps the only stakeholders who do not get any financial benefits per se by reforming the system or retaining the old one, atleast until they are students. Issues like "detraumatizing" education have been dealt with no comprehensive student feedback but only stereotypical refrains about academic coverage and apre-conceived notions about how students really feel about the system. In this article I have covered some aspects of this new plan, and tried to analyze and offer some constructive criticism about some of them. The proposal was by very popular with the media, and special shows and debates very organised in much haste, television channels rushed to some posh city school where students were asked their opinion. Within seconds, school pricipals of elite schools in South Delhi were ready with their make-up, and and rearing to appear on talk shows, say the right words, and of course, advertise themselves. What about the rural schools, where most of India's students study (if they do study at all, that is), you ask? (You probably weren't going to ask that, but still) The teachers (whenever they are there at all) there are not fashionable don't speak English (leave alone two other foreign languages), and speak their regional languages well, isnt that enough of a disqualification to speak on these talk shows? Anyway, the point is how much of the student and teacher community are we listening to? Schools in South Delhi probably have the faculty, infrastructure, money and students who can adapt to any kind of shift in the curriculum. Infact in most other classes except tenth and twelfth classes, they use the books of private publications anyway, "based" on the accepted syllabus of course. Do the rural schools have the ability to transform and adapt to this new system? Already dropout rates are high at every stage of education, teachers not well qualified and infrastructure non-existent in rural schools. Most of India is yet to accept schooling as a phase of life, to most, it is just a place to get a mid-day meal. Mr. Sibal has taken a very elitist view on education in India and India is not only a nation of elites. The tenth board exam is a benchmark to fulfil for most schools, and by far the best regulatory mechanism on academic standards. Schools, which are very casual in the treatement of the syllabus in lower classes atleast cover the syllabus to the board's requirements in the tenth standard. Atleast the teaching is tuned toward some academic goal, and monetary benefits are directly correlated to the performance of the students. This makes teachers and the school authories accountable to students, parents and to the spirit of excellence. So, the removal of this standard will dilute the standard of teaching in most schools. We must also understand that the tenth board examination is the final one which includes all the subjects, atleast in a general manner, including languages, science, social science and mathematics. A basic understanding of all of these is essential for a good standard of living and gives meaning to life, and perhaps, more importantly, helps against exploitation which takes advantage of human ignorance. If board examinations were not to be, then very few students would actually be motivated to take the entire content seriously, and probably leave out significant portions of subjects which may not be of interest. Honestly, how many of us would read Disaster Management out of sheer passion for the subject, but once learnt, knowledge of this life-skill will save millions of lives. Once we reach the eleventh standard our academic purview is restricted to the subjects we choose, and if the tenth standard board examination is made abolished, our real coverage of the concepts may never be tested. Wouldn't you rather answer how to deal with a flood in a board paper than trying to recollect the points while sinking in flood water? The board examination, for all the criticisms against it, atleast reinforce those concepts in our mind and tests them for one last time. If there are no board exams, it is not possible to admit students into twelfth, since the demand for the more popular groups will be more, and the number of seats may not be efficient, and with no way of ranking students in the order of merit, schools will be in a dilemma. And, besides, it may leave many schools closing down departments of unpopular courses, which is a serious disadvantage to the few who would be really interested in pursuing these course, just beacuse all others have demanded a more popular course. This will eventually lead to a shortage of people who are experts in that field, whereas an ideal society is one which has people form all fields. And with the departments being shutdown, there won't even be enough teachers to nurture a new generation of experts in those fields. It will also lead to a vast increase in corruption. With schools no longer having to conform to the merit order, the economically powerful can walk away with the best seats in the best schools, with meritorious students having to opt for unpopular courses. Also there is no way to admit students from other schools, as there is no one norm for merit, and thus, brilliant students lose a chance to join good schools. Another issue which comes up in every other debate on education is learning by rote. It may be unfashionable, and oh-so-third world, but the fact is that it is necessary. For mastering any kind of science or art, one needs to know some basics which must be learnt by rote - these are the rules which one must play by. Even in a subject like mathematics, which is almost entirely about logic and problem solving, one needs to learn some stuff, like symbols and their meaning, which cannot be derived. One can't afford to obseve nature and derive mathematical conclusions evrytime one wants to differentiate sin(x), it must be learnt by rote, derivation in each and every problem is time consuming and impractical, and the sheer mathematical work probably leaves little time for original work. So to start out, learning by heart is not such a bad idea, especially already so much progress has happened in every field, that starting to tackle problems of modern arts and sciences from the basics is not feasible. Learning by rote also also helps us how to make things abstract and theoretical, and not to be solely dependent on practical learning aids all the time. Another popular aspect is the "grading system". The grading system just inroduces ambiguity into the system, and just increases the weight per atomic unit of marks. Instead of making the smallest unit of awarding marks as say one marks, it makes it say ten marks. The grade system is far too ambiguous and inefficient to be used in a country like India, where the demand far exceeds the supply. Suppose an academic institution has hundred seats and there are sixty applicants in grade 'A' and eight in grade 'B', the 'A' graders can be awarded seats easily, but how will rest of the forty be offered seats? This example actually oversimplifies the situation, and does not include the complexities of adapting the reservation system, and differential cutoffs between different subjects, besides student preference. And the grading system is just as unfair as the marks system; only, it is unfair to different students. The grading system clubs students with say eight percent and eithy nine percent, isnt it unfair to the student with eight nine percent? And, the percentile system is almost the same as the marks system, only the numbers maybe different. Atleast there is no ranking in board examinations, the percetile system does this too! So this new system isn't going to "detraumatise" education. Another aspect is the proposed unification of the some forty diffrent education boards which exist in this country. This, in principle is not flawed if, it allows for the great diversity which characterises India, and if it is so flexible, it will be equivalent to our present system, forty independent, albeit having a common name. No single curriculum can take into account, the geomorphological, political, economic, social and cultural diversity in this country. The needs of those in Malabar are different from those of the people Malabar Hill. If education is not relevant to lives of millions of people, they will simply not put their children in school. If school education is to be significant in the lives of the people, it should offer them a means of attaining a better and more stable standard of living from there current reality, and the reality for millions in India is poverty, hunger and ignorance. Any form of assessment loses its inherent value when applied to such a varied assortment of courses required by the people in India. So, unifying all the boards is definitely not a solution. What we need is decentralisation of education, to make education as a vehicle of upward mobility to every student, in addition to it being a process of acquiring knowledge and values. Also much discussed is the plan to infuse investment in education and allowing foreign players to set up educational institutions in India. One sees a very cowardly attempt by the government to shrug away its responsibilities. Education is a fundamental to developing not only thinkers and manpower for nation building, but also enrichment of the moral fabric of the country, and it is the Government's responsibility to provide its children a wholesome one. With the gradual privatisation of education, the ultimate aim of developing educational institutions will become maximizing profit. And thus education will not only become inaccesible to the economically weaker sections of society, but also orient education solely towards creating manpower for industries. A school run by say, an oil company, will probably orient its course towards oil-industry related education, to provide its industries cheap manpower, almost making the students bonded labourers as they do not possess even general skills to venture into any field. Also the value systems at these schools may not be progressive and may create an entire generation of violent, insecure and immoral individuals. Foreign universities setting up campuses in India may seem like a good idea, but there are several issues attached to these. The high fees charged at these institutions will further make inaccesible quality education, especially with the government withdrawing subsidies to premier government colleges. It is the Government responsibility to provide its children with an education, and the Right To Education is an important step in this regard. Reorienting the National Literacy Mission towards girls is a positive step, but care must be taken that socially and economically weaker sections are given priority. Making the certification and accrediction process more transparent, and looking into the functioning of private universities and deemed universities, and the capitation fee racket, which is an open secret are also welcome steps. Modernization of the madrassas is also a good step and will help ensure more Muslim students come into the education process, but awarding a madrassa degree equal status to one given by boards is a flawed step and will only discourage Muslim students coming into the secular education system Which brings us to the larger issue of reservation. One of the important reforms our education system needs is changing the system of resevation First of all, it must exclede premier institutes of learning like the Indian Institutes of Technology(IITs) and Indian Institutes of Management(IIMs). Furthermore, development of an index of backwardness which includes factors like caste, religion, area of residence, and family income and other important factors is imperative so that reservation reaches the people who need it. The Human Resources Development Ministry also has much to focus on other than reforms at the top. One particularly important aspect is improving the standard of primary education and increasing not only the gross enrolment ratio, but also reducing the dropout rates. Development of infrastructure like toilets, permanent buildings and libraries is also an important issue. More teachers are needed and incentives of join teaching as a profession must be enhanced. A shift of focus to such important issues will ensure that educational reforms benefit all the students of India.

Terrorism - An Article

Terrorism has emerged as the new face of unrest across the world, and as a hydra - headed monstrosity of multiple crude facets of social, economic, political and I daresay spiritual objectives, but what shines through is the sheer desparation and violence, that strikes and shocks at myriad levels of conciousness and conscience. The light of knowledge and hope has lost its way and multiple reflections on these cuts and cults of a fractured society, much like in a diamond of a million faces, have weakened its power to awaken and inspire. And although it arises from a frozen mindset, a perception of segregation and persecution and ghettoisation of the mind and spirit by the narrow domestic walls created by the indoctrination of hate, it seems to have no borders and transcends communties, nations and streams of thought. Perhaps, such an interpretation of these condemnable acts glorifies them too much for all they are worth, and overlooks its economic, social, poltical aspects, such as trafficking-of both the human and drug kind, the illegal global trade of arms and ammunition by certain rogue states among other things. But, such an outright oversight of terrorism as only a law and order and religious issue, is disastrous as it is albeit a consequence of the polity and economy of the world. Another popular misconception is to associate terrorism with only a certain religion - although one must agree that semitic religions are more vulnerable to such interpretations of their theology, all kinds faith are susceptible, ample proof being the rise of Sikh terror and separatism (at a time the world had not coined this hated word) and the alleged Hindu hand in the Malegaon blasts. Religion, as rightly said by a certain thinker of the hated kind, in this largely capitalist world, is the opium of the masses, and therefore we must not fall prey to those who think the Right is right and the Left, is well, left behind! Speaking of opium, it is interesting to note that the terrorists in the recent Mumbai strike were heavily drugged, and that two of them were youth of Pakistani origin from London, England shows how they may have committed these dastardly acts only due to lure of drugs- and indication that terrorism is the iron fist of many masters and society the suffering slave. The connection to alleged underworld don, Mr. Dawood Ibrahim, shows that there is a nexus between these two networks of crime. It reminds one of the Opium Wars, where the British forced Indians to grow opium and used it to deprive China of an entire generation of youth, by making them addicts - thus fooling all the people, though for only some time. Indeed the story of how opium has influenced the world as it is deserves some attention, artistic appreciation, acknowledgement and research. But, that is the spice for another pot-boiler (excuse the dark pun) of an essay. The issue of terrorism is a complex, one in which cause and effect often lose their chronology and the perpretators own up, yet remain far away. The role of neo-colonialism and neo-imperialism unleashed by the International Policeman - Uncle Sam (on the call of duty as a superpower in a unipolar but yet multifaceted world) is undoubted. The open support of the United States of America and the Western world, in general, to the Jews in Israel is perhaps the root cause, though largely symbolic for many. Many sides are at fault in the historic home of three major faiths, taking sides reeks of ulterior motives. Similar targetting of Iraq and Afghanistan, in the name of fighting terrorism is also ridiculous, even more so when evidence of weapons of mass destruction is not at all forthcoming. Meanwhile, little has been done to destroy the structure and training centres of these terrorist organisations, even after almost a decade of bloodshed - and although numbers are no consolation to the common terror victim, neither are these meant to be, perhaps more civilians and military officials have been exterminated by the Western nations than every terrorist act ever. This high-handedness exudes a feeling of arrogance, almost a racial superiority, for racism is social capitalism, that one life of a Westerner is worth hundreds of us third world people. In that respect, I must say that even the so-called educated Westerners are a prey to perceptions of enemies, thought-processes and safety. But knowing the sensitive nature of these countries ( including Syria - next on the United States of America hitlist) and their strategic location in the world, from many points of view, including military, political and ecomony-related standpoints, the intentions of these protectors stand suspect. Oil is an important issue, so are minerals, which is why a debt-ridden, corrupt and a failed state like Pakistan, will be assisted even in these times of global recession - it is the shortest, somewhat stable link between resource rich Central Asia and a resource hungry China. The world is unequal in resources, and it is a bittersweet irony that the resource-rich parts of the world do not consume them and those without them are engaged in a scramble for them (with certain exceptions). Sweet because it is their only key for survival, and bitter since it just makes them more lucrative and vulnerable for exploitation of the worst kind - colonialism and imperialism. Ample evidence is Africa, not the dark continent of the eighteenth, nineteenth and twentieth century, but the darker continent of the twenty first. It is well known that the money given by the Westerners for resources from Africa, gets diverted to armed struggles, but at the same time such armed militias are criticised in the harshest terms in the air-conditioned halls on the United Nations. The prosperity of the West is essentially a harvest of blood. So one must focus on the economic and political segregation which gives rise to terrorism. Another profound, yet outwardly subtle fact is that certain forms of governance, societal structure and ways of living have been cannonized to be the better ones. Democracy has become a tool to taunt other systems. Democracy can never exist in a theocratic state - for it places the highest moral authority on the people and not on God (or theology). Christianity has evolved itself to adapt to democracies around the world but in the process lost various aspects, but one must not forget the Dark Ages in Europe - when the church and state were interchangeable and powerful entities. Even non-semitic religions like Hinduism are susceptible to feudal systems and social segregation. One may ask why communism, which does not believe in a state subscribing to any faith, does not go hand in hand with democracy. One answer is the one given by the communists themselves, which is quite convincing in its own right - that although states become communist, people in them still remain the grip of religion and theological indoctrination - and to protect the state from becoming prey to religious leaders elected by people. The answer I am convinced by to a greater extent is that communism is against the order of nature - equality and altruism is simply against scientific principles of evoultion- it that sense it is saddening that a perfectly egalitarian society is impossible and communism is thus a God that failed(quoting Spender). Which brings me to the Indian context. Though a majority of Indian pride their religion on being on accepting of multiple faith systems, there are extremists. Another observation is that since Hinduism - due to its nature of being only a way of life and largely confining faith to be a personal relationship with a higher entity at various levels of knowledge (sankhayoga or the path of Jnana) , devotion (the path of Bhakti) and duty (the path of Karma or righteous work), a practising Hindu cannot (not without numerous exceptions) cannot encompass a semitic religion like Islam - which not only emphasizes the role of faith in personal life but also places a certain responsibilty on the whole society - as a collective entity to encourage and practise the objectives of faith - and it is precisely this that Christianity, the other great semitic religion has given up. But one must note Christianity has not given up religious conversion - often illegal, and this is another problem in India - since any sudden change in the demography is unhealthy for society and also since forced conversion through persuasion or inducement is against the Constitution and also deviod of morality. Where the Christian faith is less firebrand, as in developed countries ( semitic religions generally work only in economically and socially backward areas as their message of brotherhood and sharing of resources is more relavant only there) we hardly see anybody in Churches or actively participating in prayer, except in areas of conflict like Northern Ireland. Then, there are threat perceptions that people of certain religions are the root of terror. Another perception among the majority is that India is a Hindu country and other religions can exist, but only as outsiders - this mean thought is against the spirit of Constitution and the religion which these people practise.The solution to such perceptions is not easy. Terrorism, in its religious aspects can only be solved by philosophical debates. But the current situation is worsening and we must tackle atleast the violent aspects - killing of innocent civilians and destruction of property. Reforms are needed at all levels. The resignation of Mr. Shivraj Patil is only a token gesture - an acknowlegement of his ineffectiveness, a well known fact, only rubs salt into the wounds. The fact that National Security Guards took over nine precious hours to press into action due to shocking delays, emphasises the need for delocalisation of such well equipped forces at all important centres in the country. For years, senior police officials have been crying for reforms in the system and for better technology. Although it is impossible for an ordinary policeman to combat a Kalashnikov wielding and grenade throwing terrorist, better arms and ammunition can be provided without much expenditure. The intelligence system must be overhauled and there must be a proactive co-operation of the central and state intelligence agencies. Perhaps, delocalised security and combat units are also necessary, like the Homeland Security in the United States - Mr Osama Bin Laden has not paid a visit since then. Coastal security must be enhanced. It is difficult to patrol India's long coastline - an effort must be made atleast through superior technology. We must also not overlook the aerial threats and prepare - as airstrikes cause maximum havoc and fear. At the same time, our elected representatives must refrain from divisive votebank politics (which some have been indulging in), and enforce better, though not inhuman and unjust laws to instil fear in these perpretators of hatred. The executive, judiciary and bureaucracy must come together and fight this and we as the people of this ancient civilization, must actively participate.

Ragging - An Article

Ragging – a sword to break the ice or tear apart the soul? The recent death of Mr. Aman Kachroo, a medical college student from a government medical college in the usually calm and sleepy hill-state of Himachal Pradesh, has brought this issue to the fore a bit earlier than usual. The very fact that this issue comes up every year, after admissions of a fresh batch, indicates we have taken this issue too lightly. A careful analysis of this complex “initiation drive” , brings into light its social, economic and political aspects. Ragging can be of two types – one a casual, “fun” form and the other a more serious type – which involve physical and emotional torture. However, such a classification is rough at best as one usually leads to the other; infact the first is used as a mask to cover the latter. Any attempt to classify the former in purely shades of white is a perverse interpretation, for ragging is essentially sadistic pleasure. Both forms involve emotional and mental distress for the victim – the degree of seriousness can vary. This aspect is especially important- as death as a consequence of physical injuries caused due to ragging itself is quite rare, more common is suicide committed by the victim owing to mental agony. Ragging destroys self esteem, confidence, and in severe cases the human spirit. The experience may be especially painful for a school student going to hostel who is yet to face the vagaries of the ‘big bad world’ and cannot handle such situations himself as his parents- his guides until now are no longer there to protect him. Ragging pits a group, rather a mob against a hapless individual and usually group mentality takes over. Very often, seniors use ragging as an opportunity to assert their higher position in the college hierarchy. I have often observed freshers commenting on how they spent twelve years of school life to reach the top of the pyramid- but now are juniors again! It is unfortunate that rising up the pyramid does not mean taking up new responsibilities or constructive leadership but just a position of absolute authority. The establishment of a rigid and non-merit based power relationship gives an indication that our school system is one of repression and one which ingrains a feudal mindset. The student feels that the only way to break free is to oppress the others – and the easy targets are the juniors, who are yet to be initiated into the hierarchy of college. In agreement to the above observations, we observe ragging bearing an inverse relationship with academic merit – an empty mind is a devil’s workshop. Ragging, as all other forms of discrimination, reinforces social inequities and order – “it puts people in their place”. Caste plays a subtle role. College society has an internal mechanism of segregation and new students and appropriately ragged into their caste grouping. Often, so called lower caste students are ragged as not being academically meritorious as they have come on the basis of positive discrimination, and dubbed as ‘reservation-wallahs’ and thus undeserving of a place in college social structure – thus becoming the outsiders in college just as they are in common society – this despite the fact many come in through the General Quota. This shows the anger of the so-called upper castes at being chucked out their position at the top of the feudal and discriminatory caste hierarchy, which cares just as much for merit as reservations. Gender discrimination also shows up – supported by the fact that women are in minority in many colleges. Women, who usually have to battle not only examinations but also social barriers to reach the college level, are usually academically equal, if not superior to their male peers. And ragging is used as an instrument to force them into submission, accept male authority, and show them their position in the patriarchal society. Women rarely are given any position of authority, discouraged from standing for elections and their aspirations crushed. Another dangerous aspect of ragging is its sexual component. A conservative society which treats sex as a taboo breeds Frankenstein’s monsters – sexually desperate youth waiting to assert their sexual identity, and not only women, but also men are the prey. Very often, freshers are made to perform sexual acts and are sexually abused, and there are rumours that they are trained by seniors to be used as sex slaves.
Women also rag a fresher, which shows us undue power in the hands of anybody is dangerous. Similarly, economic disparities also show up their ugly head and poor students are discriminated against. One also sees a rural-urban divide paying a role in ragging. Urban students, with their better communication skills and flamboyance, mock at the simple values, “uncultured” lifestyle and rough, often accented language of the rural students. One also observes that ragging is more common in Engineering and Medical Colleges – professional colleges, than in Arts and Science colleges. This may come as a surprise as those students opting for professional courses are viewed as the crème-de-la-crème of students. The institution plays as important a role in ragging as the students themselves – which use it as a tool to demoralize students and thus prevent them taking part in students’ agitations and protests. Ragging is also an expression of society which does not accept plurality and different ideas- which are supposed to make college life colourful. Thus ragging is a complex phenomenon which reflects the structure of our society and the collective conscience of society must become conscious of it, and oppose it effectively. Ragging is not only a criminal act, but also a human rights issue. Is education only a process of acquiring facts or a development of character? The solution to the problem of ragging is a multipronged approach – and it must start at the school level. The Raghavan Committee has recommended including a chapter on ragging in NCERT and SCERT textbooks and psychological counselling on anti-ragging and human rights at senior secondary level – essentially, sensitizing students about to go to college. Furthermore, a central regulatory authority to look into instances of ragging must be set up and its core committee must include not only academics, psychologists and law experts but also student representatives. Organizing initiation sessions to encourage healthy interaction between seniors and juniors may also help. A student helpline for ragging victims can also help them inform before it is too late. Completely eliminating ragging, a colonial inheritance, involves sensitizing society at large and one can only hope the relationship betweens the seniors and juniors blossoms into one of constructive interaction.

Ode to the Crow

Rising like a puff of smoke,
buoyant, slow and phlegmatic,
accompanying the soul,
into the journey to the zenith,
or carrying the burden of life,
on itself,
when it itself becomes it,
it itself becomes it.
The last breath,
chokes the kin,
the soul leaves sombre,
marred with the crows of sin,
but the crows stay afloat,
by the same dense air,
which burdens their heads,
with history.
The fire burns,
and burns,
signifying one that has been put out,
perhaps to the right messenger.

Jet with clouds of grey,
like ash on a godman's head,
or black,
like Satan's red.
Oh! these zombies floating due to the lack of emotion,
why do we chain them with our chains,
our pains,
is it the dead man's choice?

Fat crows feeding on silk white rice,
cooked to perfection,
moist with the tears of the widow,
warm with her passion......
black eats white,
wrong consumes right,
the age of reality,
the age of melancholy.
But there flies away this spot of darkness,
leaving behind a heap...
leftover leftovers,
then comes from the blinding gleam of the sun,
another corpuscule of night,
an inversion of hope,
a message to humanity.

Perching on the tree,
looking at the flow of life,
the hustle and bustle of certain creatures,
the calmness of others,
like the well of life it rests on.
Life is a manifold,
yet only a quantum of being,
continuity stops at the dawn of death,
making a leap to a higher plane,
to attain the zenith of truth and purpose,
is it really a discrete jump,
or is the crow,
a thread of continuity,
as it accompanies the essence,
rising like a puff of smoke.

Once in a new moon,
a cacophony of crows,
descends upon,
from their abode in the firmament,
these ignorant birds live in the world of their own,
but then,
don't we?
These are birds of deep thought,
their split shape,
symbols of life's choices,
every man hath got....
the wings stretching,
moving,
only motion makes you fly,
as every path of life does,
the tip,
an unreachable, unsteady goal...

Crow,
electric pole,
tree hole,
or the human soul.

Total Internal Reflection

lost...lost...lost..
in the emptiness of the temporal,
inquisitive 'bout the quintessence of being,
who more supreme a teacher than the Cause,
the crust of his mentor;
thrust upon,
in perhaps bountiful a measure,
undoubtedly more profoundly on this student,
the crumb of mankind, the contempt of the erudite,
and the scorn of the banal.

Have pity on the thinker,
for him,
shaky, and precarious,
are the arms of Hypnos,
uneasy is his sleep,
he cannot live without his soul,
a cloak of worldliness, is his body,
nurturing the seed of truth,
but there also is the greed to reach the end- the attainment,
has he forgotten it is but its absence...
but thou fret not,
there is succour in the cradle of Morpheus.

Unbeknownst to this infant in the macrocosm of his inventive thought,
is reality - which one? he asks...
the real one - the domain of the mortal - comes the reply,
is that the one ?
No, not this ocean of nothingness,
not this abominable void of despondence,
not this suffocating stranglehold of time and space...
He cannot stand,
nor understand,
nor can words make vivid,
the silence of conscience,
or the con of science.
But.... he tries,
tries he.... but...

The outpourings of verse,
liability of those who emote,
of those with feelings,
for whom life - as the infidels of the soul know it,
is an endless fountain of diabolical dealings,
beings vulnerable bubbles in the scum,
clarity lies the water below;
the origin, the end.
He dives into the murky waters,
splashes about with his words,
splatters droplets on the passers-by,
screaming to the world,
his own surreal loneliness.
Lost in the melancholy of his lines,
a bard's life perhaps,
is in the shade of a dark sepulchre,
but never is it dull,
for there is grandeur in his words,
as he weaves a fragile web,
showing him to you,
showing yourself to you.
Eloquence thrives on sadness,
gushing out like tears from a woman's eyes,
drying up when the bitterness is gone,
leaving only remnents on paper,
for all of the world to moisten up on.
Such is the sadness of verse,..,

The outpourings of verse,
so beautiful they are,
a return to innocence,
souls relishing the harmony of ideas,
the poet harvesting his nursery of the senses,
his quill is the sickle,
his body the farmer,
his being the life in these germinating seeds of joy,
are these the seeds of truth hidden from him, in him ?
Is happiness the truth ?
Then is the suffering of humankind an untruth?
Can man only look through the shattered foggy intangible windows?
what is the panaroma of the heavens?
The pilgrimage to truth is blissful.
Such is the joy of verse.....

They read in between the lines,
they read through the lines,
but do they read the lines themselves ?
An interpretation of his dreams,
a castle of their thoughts....
irony, they say, is the axe of the poet,
Alas, his life is an amalgam of joy and despair !
Such is the irony of verse...

A poet close to one heart,
is a faithful confidante,
churning out verse for you,
to live in,
to feel sad in,
to revel in its joy,
to savour its grandiloquence,
to let your spirit connect to yourself...
A poet is yours, truly..
a poet is yours truly.......

Introduction

Streams of consciousness,
rivers of reason,
the fertile banks of the mind soak up,
the soil is pregnant with life,
and death.
Is reason too pure for you ?
O Mind, creator of me,
destroyer of mensch.