Blogadda

Friday, March 29, 2013

We live in a better world than before


                Lately I have been noticing that wherever I go, whoever I talk to, everyone is becoming so pessimist in their life. I don’t understand why they are so cynical about everything. I can’t find a single person who says that he is very much satisfied with his life, with the world and with the people around. You can always find them bemoaning about this world, the degrading values, the corruption, improper law and order in their state etcetera etcetera. They believe that society has lost its way and become deluded by false values like desire for luxury and status.

          Whoever you ask, how it’s like to live in present world, most of them are likely to answer ‘worse’, how it was like to be in the world some 200 years ago, the answer would be ‘better’. Everyone is sending negative vibes to their environment constantly grumbling how the world and particularly the mankind are on the verge of self-destruction. I often find myself wondering about life in historical era. Whenever I contemplate about that I find no reason to believe that our ancestors were better off than us. Let me tell you something which might make you realize that we are living in a better world than our forefathers.

         History is full of exploitation, illiteracy, dictatorship, injustice, wars, blah blah.  Those who think crime rates are more in the present world, to correct you past was full of crimes which were hidden within the family and society. These days newspapers are full of murders, rapes and other crimes but it’s not like past days were crime-free. Past era was full to these but they were not reported because the victims were less likely to get justice. All these incidents are reported because they hope that they will get justice. Poverty was rife and life was difficult. Technology has made our life easier that is why we get more and more time to think about little issues and that is why these little issues seem bigger and bigger the more we get time to think about them.  There was less opportunity to do what we like; there were not many facilities to entertain ourselves. Medical facilities are making life expectancy longer. Status of women was pathetic now they are empowered. Aren't these the reasons to feel happy about living in this contemporary world. 

           I am sure we all are living in a better world than before but I am not sure whether we are living in happier world or not.  In spite of all the things which are making life worthwhile we are not that happy because we as human we take things for granted. We do not feel happy about what we have; we appear to care more about the things which we do not have. This attitude is not letting us enjoy instead of that it’s making us feel deprived. How can we change this? By changing our attitude to life, to this world and by realizing that we are fortunate enough to live in this much peaceful world than before. This world is already a better place; we need to make it a happier place too by just taking our lives from negative to positive. This is how we can create a better tomorrow for everyone around us.

Wednesday, March 27, 2013

Bring back the lost instinct of kindness


     In the journey of life we come across many situations, some of which make us very blissful and lively and some of them are distressing and sometimes both. One such incident happened to me while going back to my hometown from Delhi. During the festival season many people who are working or studying in Delhi and have their family in other part of this country go to their own places. The bus station was full of public and vehicles. I waited for two hours long to board the bus, which was plied on that route. Having entered the bus I was very elated to get the window seat. Last year when I took a bus during a major festival I didn’t get seat, I had to travel standing all the way along and this made me more content this time. Sufferings are good sometimes they make us feel the happiness in little things we get, those things we take for granted otherwise.

          When the bus reached Moradabad station, a Muslim family boarded the bus. There was no empty seat so they kept standing on the floor of the bus. They were four members, the old couple and their daughter in law with a child. The old lady was sick therefore unable to stand so she sat on the floor of the bus. Whenever the bus stopped in the stations which came after every half an hour the passengers who were getting on and down made her stand.  One thought of offering her my seat came to my mind but I had to travel a long distance and a seat once gone is gone. I thought maybe someone near her would offer her the seat. Suddenly unable to bear the pain she started crying out loud. I looked at her and then at other passengers near her, no one seemed to care except one girl whose was subconsciously imitating her facial expression. I was sure that she might offer that poor lady her seat but was quite surprised to see that after some minutes she acted like nothing is happening. Her daughter in law was constantly consoling her.

 When she again started crying I couldn’t take it more. I offered her my seat, she was so ill that she struggled to come to my seat which was just two meters from there. Inspired by my actions my fellow passenger also offered his seat to her daughter in law. Her daughter in law threw a glad look at me. I cannot describe the inner peace I felt at that time. I came to know that sthe old lady was mentally disturbed too. I looked at other passengers in the bus they looked like some heartless statues without empathy, like a animal. I knew that I might not get a seat on that journey but fortunately I found one. Next to me was a man who started talking to me who was moaning about the spoiled world, I wanted to tell him the reason, the very same reason, which happened there but I didn’t.

I share because I care. If that random act of kindness can inspire one person in that bus, I believe this article in my blog can inspire million others. This will help me create my dream world , a world where there will be a lot better tomorrow for everyone

Thursday, March 14, 2013

How an ideal politician will look like


        This thought came to my mind, when I was waiting for my friend to come and pick me up from a bus stand to the exam center.  This bus stand was one of the most indispensable as it is situated in the heart of this capital city. Almost all the major routes pass from that stand; still the condition of that bus station was so pathetic. I was wondering as who is to blame. Should I blame myself for not doing something about it, general public who litter everywhere or the politician who are ruling the country and have munched up all the funds which were supposed to be allocated for infrastructure and welfare?

This is not the story of just one bus stand. This is the story of every nook and corner of this country except few VIP areas where politicians and rich businessmen reside.  In VIP areas of this country, you will find more security personnel and sweepers than the actual number of people residing there but they are rarely seen in the most densely populated areas where they are needed most. When a politician is chosen as an MLA or MP, his fortune rises from few thousands to millions in just a year or two years.  Don’t we know from where all this wealth is coming from? We all know still we are letting this to happen. Why are we so helpless and numb to this problem? Even if we thorough him out and elect a new one what is the guarantee that he is not going to be the same as previous one. The real question is what can we do? From where can we find our ideal politician?

“Ideal Politician”? that would have clicked in your mind and you would be wondering what would he look like? what would he be? He will be our saviour.  He will not hide behind the walls of posh colonies. He will be living among us where majority of the population lives. He is not going to tour the flood affected areas by his helicopter instead of that he will visit that area and talk to the affected by physically present there. He will not ride in his luxurious cars around the city causing traffic jams for the common people, instead of this he will visit those places like that bus stand and will notice the short-comings and will be determined to remove those. He is not going to look like a businessman dressed in suits or an obese man with his large tummy like a pregnant lady. He is going to look like as a common man who has been selected by common people to work for them.

An ideal politician would not be dressed like out of crowd dressing like each and every politician in our country dresses. I don’t know what they want to prove by dressing this way. Our present day politician’s lifestyle is not like the lifestyle of 90% of the population, instead of that they are living a lifestyle which only 10% population is capable of living. Then how come we expect those politicians to understand our problems. That day my problem was the pathetic situation of that bus stand, a person who has never been there is never going to understand that problem.

According to me the only politician who is closest to be called as an 'IDEAL' is Arvind Kejriwal, other are not even in this race. He is the one who is there for common man. This is evident from the protest against gang rape in Delhi or other protests related to electricity bills and corruption. He is the one who raised the problems not like the politician but like a common man. ‘Aam Aadmi Party’ is the name of his party and he totally justifies the name. Mind it, I am not a member of that party nor I am directly getting benefited from writing in support of him. But yes, I will be benefited as a citizen of a country improving and developing in real terms if he comes to power.

              One more thing which makes him ideal politician is his fearlessness. A person without any opposition or any of the political party’s support stood against the government. A government which never did anything against Ravi Balkrishna (Baba Ramdev’s aide) in fake passport case until he turned against government with Baba Ramdev. This government who can dig your past as long as 20 years back, it’s impossible for us to raise our voice against government. It is because the functioning of the government departments in India have forced us do some illegal things like bribing them to get a LPG connection or make our driving license.  At least one person from our family would have bribed or would have done something wrong which can come from the past and haunt us.

An officer in Income Tax department and a leading member of several NGOs would have a huge property but he doesn't have and I don’t think if he comes to power his wealth is going to increase that much as increases in the case of other MLAs.  These rare traits are found in him which makes him best choice as an Ideal Politician. He is the one who can lead this country for a better tomorrow

Monday, March 11, 2013

When Strikes will serve the general purpose



            
              It’s a common exercise to go into protests and strikes if you are unhappy with any government action.  These are a powerful weapon is the hands of general public to shake and wake the government to do its duties. The eggshell has never been thinner for the government to walk on than ever. Many of the protests in recent past have come to fruition but many have led to disasters. The most worrying trend is the strikes going violent too often.  Last week I woke up in the morning to know that trade unions here in India have called an all India strike to protest against the policies of UPA government. I have nothing to do with these strikes but what makes me upset is that the violence and damage to public and private properties. 

I had to reach college at time. I mostly take bus to reach college and fortunately city buses were available that day, so there wasn’t a sign of trouble for me. Next day when I took the newspaper, it read 
       “On the first day of the strike on Wednesday, mobs pelted stones at private offices, burned down a factory and vehicles, including a fire engine. Police claimed some of the protesters arrested were disgruntled workers. But a majority of them were youngsters, between the age of 18 and 25, who looted LCDs, computers, laptops, expensive office furniture and rolls of cloth from a hosiery unit”.

This made me very upset. Everybody in this country seems to moan about inactive government; streets are dirty, potholes in the roads, about poor infrastructure but what are we doing? Further damaging already poor infrastructure, worsening the problem.  If this is going to be the way of protesting then do we really think they are going to serve the purpose?

Protest over a  gang rape in Delhi turned violent. Almost all the major protests turn violent and they fail to serve the purpose. Instead of coming to a solution, they complicate the problems.   Protesters jam the traffic which disrupts public life.  I read in newspaper that a patient died in the ambulance because he didn’t reach hospital on time. If your protest is taking life of innocent civilians, policemen, disrupting public movement, damaging public and private property then it’s better to don’t go on strike.


              If we want a better nation we should stop harming it anyway, even if we are not satisfied or unhappy with something we should peacefully and legally protest it. If you are marching towards Raisina hill( residence of Indian President), posing a threat for the security of president who is considered as the most important person by constitution and expect to be welcomed by the security there, then you are at fault. There are other harmless means which we can adopt to show our unhappiness. It takes a lot of time to change a nation towards better, we cannot change it overnight, just wait for the right time like elections when they come to us to ask for our vote, that is the right time to strike.’ Strike the iron when it is hot’. The protest of Anna Hazare was the ideal one without any single instance of violence. If violence is taken care of properly, I truly believe that protests will serve their purposes. If all these go well, it will have positive impact on society leading to a better tomorrow for everyone.