Autowala’s Menace

'Beware of the Autowallas'

        Recently I read news which was making a buzz in social media which was about the auto raid, conducted in Bangalore by 700 cops in plain clothes which resulted in fine of over 3000 auto drivers and seizure of 400 autos. Since I have been their victim too, I also felt glad. I extend my support and appreciation for this initiative which should also be replicated by other cities too especially Delhi and Hyderabad. I have had my share of pain whenever I had to catch an auto. Not all experiences were bad but most of them were. I have first-hand experience of this auto menace in different cities which I want to share with you all. Let me share my experience with autowallas city by city.

The Rude ones at Delhi

The autowallas here are the rudest among other cities of this country. If you want to experience it you just need to start bargaining. ‘Customer is King’ do not applies here with auto drivers here they are king and you are at the mercy of them. At nights you are at more pathetic situation. Whether you are Rich or poor, they do not hesitate in looting passengers by overcharging. There are many incidents where they have robbed the passengers and killed them too. If you are fortunate here you might find some good ones too who charge by meters and are well behaved. From what I have experienced so far I will rate them 4 in the scale of 10.

The greedy ones at hyderabad

Well-spoken with Hyderabadi accent, only one thing that wasn’t good about them is their greed (overcharging). They will compete with other autowalas to take you to your destination. There was hardly any driver who refused to go. During my five days stay I was only once charged by meter, most of the time we had to settle the price before hiring. That’s the thing which made my ‘Hyderabadi Biryani’ little bitter, only little.

 The Worst one at Banglore

 This was the most disturbing thing about Banglore. These are the lot I hate most ‘The Bangalorian Autowallas’. Though they are not rude like Delhi’s, but they are the most exorbitant priced, especially when you are hindi-speaking. When I got there I was impressed by their English speaking capability (that’s where I can’t stop being Indian) but little I knew about their ruthlessness. I could not find a single auto driver who will charge me by meter. It was always one and half or more. Once my friends and I ended up giving 500 Rupees to the auto driver and that too in the morning (not night). That’s why the news about auto raid was so gratifying to me.

The best ones at Mumbai

I always wonder why people in Mumbai complain about their autowallas. They should visit Bangalore then they will know how ruthless auto drivers can be. If compared to the autowallas of other metro cities, they are the best ones I have seen.  The thing which impressed me was not only charging by meter but returning every single Rupee which remains with them. First time when I hired an autorikshaw, the meter said 23.45 Rs I gave him 30 Rs and I wasn’t even expecting return of 5 Rs but quite surprised to get 7 Rs in return. I was never overcharged there.

    These are my personal views and experiences, you might have experienced differently. The Bangalore auto raid might not guarantee the complete solution but it will better the situation for sure. These things affect the common man most that is why they should be addressed on priority basis so that we head ‘Towards a better tomorrow’ for everyone.

Don't let this hypocracy ruin us this time

        Few days ago when I was reading a newspaper in the morning I happened to read an article in the editorial section written by Nidhi Kaith and I can’t tell you how much I coincide with the opinion of her about the ‘Aam Aadmi’.  She believes that Aam Aadmi is divided into two sections; one section is victim of the system and the other one is what we should be wary of; a perfect hypocrite. The latter one is dangerous to the democratic system like India. He idolizes someone who is fighting corruption like Kejriwal or Ashok Khemka but craves to live aristocratic life. He demands equality when he thinks he is victimized by inequality of some sort but also takes pride in being a Hindu, muslim, sikh, etc.

      The worst of hypocrites are our politicians, they seem to oppose tooth and nail the controversy surrounding the person on the opposite party but when similar kind of controversy surrounds their own party person they try to make every possible effort to defend him. Tune on to any news channel to watch discussions or debate on those matters you won’t find any of the party representatives making logical comments. Everywhere you go, anyone you see you will find everyone is divided into party supporters, and there aren’t any issues, no concerns just party support. They are loyal to the extent that they have almost turned blind to their party’s wrongdoings. No matter what their party or the leader is doing or saying they will support them in every case.

    If I had to give award for the emerging hypocrite award, I will give it to media. The same media who made Kejriwal  ‘Apple of  everyone’s eye’ after winning elections now turned against him so aggressively together and was trying hard to  project him as a devil, when he said ‘If he will come to power he will jail every corrupt persons in the media”. Editor of a news channel went to such an extent that he broadcasted an hour long episode, collecting and editing every footage he was able to, doing everything which could be done to malign the image of him. I don’t understand why he took the remark ‘corrupt person in media’ personally and was so agonized in anger that instead of showing ‘what was important at that point of time’ (current news) he used his status to vent out his anger. You guessed it right I am talking about the India news. Now what can we expect from this media.  The same media which agreed to broadcast the edited version of video showing Shazia Ilmi, Kumar Vishwas and other members of AAP party at negative side. Why did they agree to play the edited footage why didn’t they ask for the raw footage and when the truth was found out no one apologized. Don’t they have any responsibility towards society? Aren’t they required to investigate about the authenticity and reliability of the news and evidence they get before broadcasting it to the general public?

      Finally, I am also little disappointed with Kejriwal as well. He looked determined to change the politics and in some ways he has succeeded too some extent. We saw a change in the faces of the opposition; every party was looking for honest candidates in the Delhi assembly elections. But now it seems like Kejriwal is also falling down with his standards which he himself set. Recently we can see him hurling allegations and criticizing, he is still the best choice for us though; one fault cannot surpass the million things which he did right. I would certainly like to see him emphasizing on what good he will do to the society rather than criticizing opposite party members.

  

    Let’s hope this election, we will get rid of our hypocrisy and vote for a better tomorrow for India.

Sensitivity to the Disabled

When no other teacher wants to teach at deaf schools a wealthy foreigner chose to leave behind everything and come to India to teach these deaf students

     Yesterday I had to visit Nehru Place in Delhi to fetch my document from a company office. While returning from there I decided to visit my friend as I had obtained a daily pass for that day for just fifty bucks, which empowered me to catch any DTC bus (except interstate buses) destined to anywhere in Delhi without shedding any more rupees on the ticket. This is a facility which I appreciate very much when I have to visit several place in just one day in this city. I boarded a bus and with me several children all dressed in school uniforms also got on the bus.

           Hearing an odd sound I looked back at them and noticed that they were talking with their hands and making bizarre sounds spasmodically  attracting everybody’s attention in that bus. I looked at their faces which looked innocent but happy, overshadowing the agonies which they might have suffered so far. I looked at the identity card clipped in front of chest-pocket of a student, written a name of special school for deaf boys.  I felt contented for the facilities which they are getting from the government probably free of cost or maybe for a meager amount. They didn’t even bought ticket which means they were carrying pass and that too for a petty amount. Without these facilities they couldn’t have gone to school as they didn’t looked like children from a well off family.

           A guy of my age who was standing beside me smiled to me and said something which was directed to them. May be he was dumb enough to not find out that they were special children without hearing capacity. He thought they were deliberately doing something which was not usual with normal children.  As the crowd grew on bus, the people passing the corridor were blaming those innocents and their satchel for the trouble which they were facing.

 Is their satchel that much big to occupy the whole space in the bus??     

        or

These noisy men and women with big buttocks was the real problem??

         I think the latter one being the big problem for lack of space. Their container sized butts take a large chunk of space where two normal sized people can comfortably stand.  Still, they blame the bags of school students for the mess. Their ass has grown so big because they have maids to do their household chores and they go to park to walk hurriedly  to shed extra kilos and these same people blame the school bags in the crowded metro-trains or buses for the nuisance.

        I was more shocked to see the insensitiveness of the driver for these special students. When one of them went in front to stand near the gate, the driver started to curse him in Haryanavi indifferent to the hurt he was causing to their innocent hearts.  Why can’t these people understand and give respect to others, especially to those persons who need it most.  This insensitiveness is a blot on our culture and most of us blame western culture but looking at these events I feel most of the things in western culture are far more better than ours.

 Do lack of education is the reason for this insensitiveness?? If yes, then why do we need education to teach us the basic manners which we should know from the age we become conscious. There is a need of this kind of sensitivity to build a better future for everyone, to build a better tomorrow for all.

Make the right choice this time

             It’s the awakening which happened to me last night, the same awakening which happened to Arvind Kejriwal when he decided to form his own political party. The decision was right as it’s difficult to change the system without being in the system and when it’s the political system of India it doesn't remain difficult, it becomes impossible to change without being in it. I didn’t join his party thinking that my opinion about him in my posts would look selfish. Now I don’t care anymore if I look selfish because I am, I have my selfish reasons, the same reasons which will benefit every citizen of this country, not just politicians and their relatives.

    Finally, I took the membership of AAM AADMI PARTY, which just cost me ten rupees and gave me a lot of satisfaction. I can’t describe my feeling  which the thank you letter from the party gave me, which read

 “Dear Shailesh Gururani,

On behalf of all of us at Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), We welcome you in this political movement as a member of AAP. We appreciate and acknowledge the first step you have taken towards the efforts for building a Nation which confirms to what we call “SWARAJ”.“Such support motivates us to continue to work hard for something and something that helps make a difference”. One small step of yours would ultimately mean a Giant leap for our Nation.  We hope that you will continue to partner with us in our commitment to make this Nation proud once again.  Thank you for being an important member of our political movement. Best Regards,AAP”

                       Ha Ha Ha  J  … I am sorry if it seems unimportant for a post. I couldn’t resist myself showing you the appreciation letter though it’s not imperative here.

I have seen people making fuss about the Prashant Bhushan’s statement about Kashmir or any other petty thing for that matter but one thing is for sure we really don’t have any better choice than Arvind Kejriwal in this present political situation. Not only party members but other members are also promoting the party on social networks and I don’t think they are getting any direct benefits out of that. It’s the urge to raise issues which common man is facing but couldn’t raise before and when raised generally suppressed by the men in power.

        Tell me honestly, do you really think personalities like Meera Sanyal, Kailash Kher or Rabbi Shergill extended their support out of any greed?? In fact, they are actually sacrificing many things and are exposed to various risks by extending their support to the party. People who are criticizing AAP or Arvind Kejriwal have their selfish reasons for that. They all are related to opposite parties or getting direct benefits out of it for sure. Last day, one of my friend who is related to other party posted on his Facebook profile a picture which accused Arvind Kejriwal of something which would be the last thing he would ever want to do. It definitely showed that person’s selfishness and consequently lost my respect for him.

    Many of my family members are from other political party and some of them have held good positions on the party and if that party wins next election, those members will be at profitable positions still I want AAP to win because I don’t want any persons to get benefitted at the cost of others, even if the benefitting persons are from my family. I hope this time people will make the right choice, a choice for which they won’t have to regret in the future.  The choice which will be a step Towards A Better Tomorrow.

For the greater interest of society

Collectivism is better for the society

             Recently I had to visit my village which is situated in the district of Almora. Although I spent my early four years there in the village, I was too young to remember those moments. The memories of my childhood spent there have faded and whatever I remember of that are scattered in pieces, gathering and knitting them together would not make meaningful story. However, I used to spend most of my vacations there and have many unforgettable moments which made me connected to the village life as well.

    During my childhood, my grandmother showered more love to me than my own mother. Every morning I used to get a lota (brass vessel) full of milk.  She was the epitome of love atleast to us (her grandchildren) and showered us with all the love a grandmother could give to her grandchildren.  The reason of my visit this time was to attend funeral of her that is why I couldn’t abstain myself from venting my grief on this post. L

             We had to cross two hills and walk about more than five kilometers to reach there. The conditions are no different since last twenty years; nothing has changed in this regard. Some villages which are farther than my village are more than ten kilometers far from the nearest roads and what makes this journey difficult is the rugged pathways. Climbing up and down on the slopes will make this journey laboriously fatiguing.

 This time I am not blaming government for the pathetic situation, there are some people to blame, few people and because of them all villages nearby have to suffer. Everytime the concerned department surveys there, some people (those same few people) write an application and make some more people sign it by fooling them into something and the actual construction work never starts.

    Those people include;

   Ghodiwalas (Horse-Owners) : All the villagers have to be dependent on them for carrying of their luggage and they charge ferociously. They think when there will be road their whole business will be destroyed. Consequently, they unite together and do whatever they can do to stop the building of roads there. 

Who’d have to sacrifice a little part of their land:  Even my family had to spare off some land for this and the amount we will get as compensation would be meager but I know that the benefits will outweigh what we have to sacrifice but some narrow-minded, selfish bastards of my village doesn’t seem to understand.

Some jealous villagers, some absent minded people and some shop owners who think their sales will decrease because of the road people would have more accessibility which will prevent them from charging exorbitant prices, are also in this list and because of them villages there are lacking basic infrastructural facilities.

               This might be the story of many villages which are still lagging far behind in the development path. I wonder, when the people are going to come out from the net of individualism, maybe when it’s too late?? I hope not. When people will overcome these barriers of individualism then certainly this world would be better place to live. Foundation of the better tomorrow lies in collectivism, for the greater interest of society where we live in.  We have to forgo our selfish interests for the greater interest of society, of course, it will bring fruitful results in the long term.

Let's make ourselves deserving first.

Charred buses, damaged public property after the protest (who is at the loss??? We are)

                 It was a decade ago, when I was in school. Computers were rare (atleast for the lower middle class family like mine) unlike the present time when it’s an essential household item now.  My school had a computer lab and there were 10 computers in that room. The total strength of my school was more than 2000 students, so most of us hardly got any chance to operate it. On my way to school, just 50 meters far away from my school gate, there was a small structure being built, I thought maybe there were building a public lavatory but wondered why weren't they building it on the main road. One day, we came to hear about the news which was creating buzz in the whole school. There was a NGO which was going to install some computers on that structure which I previously thought as a public toilet. That was it, a small computer lab with four computers. During the day time the keyboard were kept outside and the monitor was inside those four small windows. They would shut the windows after five in the evening and open it at 10 at the morning. There was no one to keep a watch.

        Although, we heard from many about it being a free service to all but we were still cynical. Besides that, we were always scared of operating a computer without assistance as we always heard our computer teacher saying

    “If you’ll press the wrong button, it will damage the computer”

 and the fear of unknown always prevented us from operating in it.    I had my previous schooling from a private school and there was computer lab too. I knew to play games, music and typing and because of that I was leading my gang of four on that day. I told them I will show them how to operate a computer and they followed without any resistance.

         When we got there, we were disappointed to see the long lines of students waiting for their turn.  I made my way through the crowd to see what was going on there.  As usual, the school bully boys had captured all the systems.  We didn’t even think of waiting looking at the lost list of bystanders.  I told my friends that we will come some other day when they all will get bored of it.  Soon the hope turned to despair when we saw the condition of that public lab. The keyboards were missing most of the keys.  Everyone who got the chance to work in the systems took out the key with initial letters of their name.  Frustrated by this, it was shut permanently maybe by the same organisation who thought of providing free computers to the students.

       That structure is still there and wearing out gradually, lies inside piles of rubbles, telling the story of apathy of citizens and students of this city. This is just one incident of my life. I have been through many similar incidents which fill me with disgust. 

We always keep complaining about inefficiency of our government and law and keep criticizing politicians. These incidents really make me believe that saying;

  “We get what we deserve”

        Let’s make ourselves deserving first than we will be in a position to criticize. Let’s take an oath that we won’t destroy any public property and not even any private property. In protests too we destroy and damage public property then we wonder where all the public money is wasted.  Why can’t we take care of the public property like our own? If we change our behaviour and attitude towards this we will certainly be able to create a better tomorrow.

Let's stop those organisations from being exploitative

                        Reading newspaper is my favorite time pass in the morning. This is not only a source of news and information but I also gain insights to the life of common people. By common here I mean all those middle class families and persons who constitute largest part in the population and face common issues. While going through news in today’s newspaper, where restaurant owners pleaded with folded hands before green tribunal to not shut their restaurants, the owners gave the reasons that the livelihood of 2000 workers was at stake. The reason is genuine and I also agree that the families of daily wage earners will suffer but tell me honestly how many of you feel that the owners are that much concerned about their life? I believe that not even 90% of those are genuinely interested in the life of their servants.

              One of my professors, who was carrying out research in the case of violence in Maruti plant in Manesar which left one manager dead and 40 injured. He revealed his findings that how those employees got so much frustrated. I don’t know how much truth is there in his findings but I can’t deny after what I had to face when I had to join an organisation for internship, I had to deny the proposal. Let me share the story of the employees there. The employees were on a tight schedule without appropriate breaks. The equipment and dress which they had to wear use to eat up all the time which they used to get in brakes in keeping them in their appropriate place. If they would be late by even one minute they were given half day salary for that day. One employee’s father kicked the bucket so he had to go to perform rituals but he was denied for that. They told him we don’t care if you would not be here in three days you would be fired and he had to lose his job. The immediate reason which resulted in violence was workers were asked to reach factory premises one hour earlier without any compensation. This wasn’t mentioned in any newspaper. 

                       This is the story of an international company which shows in their balance sheet that they are spending millions in social work. What is the use of that if they don’t care about their own employees? This is happening in almost all multinationals and big firms.  If you don’t agree then show me examples.

     Even I faced similar situation when I applied for internship in organizations. Most of them are taking full work from us without any inclusion of training or workshop still paying meager amount and support it by arguing that we should be more than happy because atleast we are getting something for internship period. These companies are asking us to completely isolate our personal life.  If they care about anything is just profit on the cost of our life.  We are slave to them. Now I understand why most of my friend wanted to join government organizations.

   You must have faced similar situations or you may have seen it from your own eyes. Now let’s unite together and expose them. We should stop those organizations from going that big that they can exploit their employees without any fear of law. Join this campaign so that we will build a better tomorrow for everyone.  

Injustice of the system

     
                                My education cost my family a fortune. The total fee itself has crossed one million Rupees, let alone other expenses. If I would have gone to any convent school for primary and secondary education, it would have been double and when the other expenses would be added up in this (which is directly or indirectly related to education), it would cross five million Rupees. After spending this humongous amount when my college sent me for internship, the stipend was just 5,000 rupees and when asked about the future prospectus I was told that after 6 months I would get a salary of 10,000 Rs Per month. I was dumbstruck.  It is when I am considered in the better half of the class, I am more worried about the other half. This is not just me; it is the story of millions of well educated youths.

   The system is unjust everywhere. The law itself seems unjust, Mr. Suresh Kalmadi or Mr. A. Raja who galloped thousands of crores through scams are free even after being convicted of crime. On the other hand ‘police beats teenage boy to death for petty theft’ is on the news very often and these boys always belong to poor family. Saint Asaraam (some also call him pyasaram) has millions of followers despite of many criminal charges against him, while on the other hand, you will always hear people criticizing Arvind Kejriwal for his methods, no matter how good his intentions are.

   Like Gandhiji, I also experimented with truth but on different context. When I wrote bullshit on my facebook status I got many likes for that, for the stupid humorous two lines which I copied from somewhere but when I shared something about issues which are faced by societies in which I put a lot of efforts to write that just two persons bothered to read it. Again some stupid lines again likes and again some serious issue, it was plainly ignored. Now you decide which post deserved more likes. By the way, I am just citing examples; I am not hungry for likes. How unjust.. isn’t it???

      The political parties are unjust; people from a rich background have more chances to get a ticket in the parties. The citizens of this country are unjust, they are more likely to vote for the person who has more power; he can buy voters with money or fear. Employment system in this country is unjust, they choose candidate from the four rounds of interview. How can anyone judge our personality, attitude or anything for that matter by just talking to us? Even the god himself will find it hard. Why not put the candidate in the real job for some time period and then decide whom to choose and whom not to ?

    If you think those politicians who are running this country deserve the positions they have held, if you think that the persons at the superior positions are better than you. If you think you are getting equal opportunity in jobs, promotions or anywhere, it means the system is fair but I know there will just handful of persons who think it that way. It has been unfair to most of us.  

                   ‘How to improve this system’ is the most difficult question I have been grappling with. No matter what we want to become; a doctor, an engineer, a sportsman, a writer or anything our schooling is same, we study same subjects in schools. Until and unless a man doesn’t acquire enough wealth, power or atleast a criminal case, we don’t consider him as politician. Our behaviour changes from person to person according to his economic status. Why serve that injustice. To change that, we need to change ourselves first so that we will take one step further towards a better tomorrow.

Need of lessening the gap between Poverty and Prosperity

                 India, a majestic country, is growing at the second fastest rate economically. Enter into this country through Delhi or Mumbai, look around at the infrastructure, business hubs, educated population etc., all these tell us the story of growth. Indian businessmen are making their way to some of the wealthiest persons in the world. Brand India is becoming more and more popular among the western countries. Companies like Walmart and IKEA are paving their way to enter this country keeping in mind the increasing purchasing power of the citizens of this country. These might be some reasons to cheer about but the ground reality is totally different.

                More than half of the population is living under poverty. One-third of the population is in extreme poverty. This class is vulnerable to exploitation, diseases, drugs addiction and many kinds of negative things. These are the people most affected by natural calamities. Lack of education and awareness makes these people devoid of employed, consequently, forcing them to enter into world of crime. 

             

            Poverty and prosperity both coexist here but we can say poverty in more rampant here. Thousands of children can be seen walking on foot to their government school in any crowded street in Delhi in comparison to some fifty children would be found sitting on their SUVs making way to any international school. Despite of more than 60 years of Independence, the government has failed to bridge the gap between haves and have nots. This economic division is becoming more and more dangerous for this country for the youths who don’t get the same opportunity on jobs (or anywhere else, where they are discriminated because of their economic level).  

              

                Increasing crimes rates and involvement of mostly poor people shows the frustration brought by this gap. The rich flaunt their prosperity in such a way that it makes fun of those people who can’t afford to have that luxury. People’s behaviour also changes towards person depending on their prosperity level, no matter how inhumanely or corruptly he had acquired that immense wealth. Why rich people are getting richer and poor people are becoming poorer? This question needs serious debate on the part of policy makers of this country. The government should improve the level of education and bring it on par with those costly international schools or the government. Education should also be more customized for different group of students, student with different ambitions and future plans should get different kind of education.

             

          Has anyone wondered about why people from developing countries are in the wealthiest persons list ?  It might make you feel happy that many Indians are in the billionaire list but it certainly makes me sick. They have made their way to the list because millions of people never got the opportunity in all those businesses where a single family owns hundreds of business. They suppressed their less wealthy competitors by bribing government agencies for approval. How do you suppose these conglomerates are specialized in every business they are in, from telecom to glass making, from salt to automobile? I will never get amused by the growth rate unless I will see the happiness in the face of poor. Though if the poor remains poor after getting equal opportunities in comparison to rich people, then it’s not anyone’s fault, then I will not condemn rich.   

      

               I know if everybody is provided with equal opportunity despite of their economic status, I believe that the gap between rich and poor will be bridged. There won’t be any billionaire like Ambanis and there won’t be any poor like a landless farmer and that will be when we will be heading towards a better tomorrow.

What these 'Religious Sentiments' are doing to this country ??

Picture from First Post

                        Lately, I have been wondering where this country is heading, looking into the recent happenings all over the country.  Atleast forty people have died in communal riots in Muzaffarnagar so far. If newspapers are to be believed the chain of events is like this, a Muslim youth stalked and sexually harassed a Hindu girl. Two men (apparently her brothers) killed him in a fit of rage. This sparked anger in other community resulted in the lynching of two youths. Meanwhile, a video got viral showing a mob lynching two youths. Though that was shot in the Afghanistan some two years ago but people thought this is the same incident involving two youths. Some persons from Hindu community gathered for the revenge. On the way while returning home they were attacked leaving approximately eight persons dead and the riot followed and now mostly those persons are suffering who didn’t have anything to do with that riot.

               Tell this story to persons from any developed country and it will be very hard for them to believe that a fake video could spark so much of violence in the country. How could watching a video make them kill other people?  

                  These incidents are the result of religious extremists and this extremism is  going to destroy mankind very quickly if this continues.  Whenever something hurts the sentiments of people, they demand banning of that. When M. F. Hussain drew paintings of nude god many Hindu groups cried foul, some even attacked his house and vandalized his artwork. When Salman Rushdie wrote Satanic Verses he had to face outrage from the Muslim world. Similarly, Dan Brown had to face criticism from Christian community.  Taslima Nasreen was forced to leave Bangladesh as she was critical of Islam in particular and religion in general.  A cartoonist was put behind bars by Mamta Banerjee for depicting the prevalent situations there. 

        A month or two before, an IAS officer, who was checking on illegal sand mining, was suspended by state government citing the reasons that she hurt religious sentiments of people. Her dutiful act was convicted of a crime which was against religious sentiments of people.  These ‘religious sentiments’ were behind the scenes all the time and people were driven by religion. In my opinion, if they think they saved the country and by banning the above mentioned people, to really save the country by all these unfortunate events, they should have banned religion so that no innocent people would get killed in riots, no writer, painter or any other type of artist would face such fate and not a single honest officer would be suspended for doing her duty.  Those people should be banned from living who become killing machine by watching any stupid video, painting, poster or by listening to any speech full of hatred.

  

              The hatred because of the religion differences is deep rooted in the hearts of people. If you want evidence for that, go to the recent news-posts of newspapers which are covering the latest riots in Muzaffarnagar and read the comment by readers, bunch of idiots are fighting and justifying the misdeeds done by their community.         

                     As a student I am concerned because this is not what I was taught at my schools, this is not what I read in my books and more importantly this is going to harm my future. As a citizen I am concerned because I never want my fellow citizens to meet such faith despite of the religion they follow. As a son or a brother, I can feel the agony which those families are going through after losing their family members.

                 I know this article might hurt the sentiment of some religious extremists as I am asking them to close their business, deterring them from doing terrible things which they do in the name of religion. If they get a chance to read this and who knows they might even ban this blog or bar me from writing but fortunately I am not that popular and they would never bother because they know that a video spreading hatred would do more harm than a blog post from a common man who wanted to change the mindset of people from immorality to morality would do any good.

                 Why can’t we stop this stupidity in the name of religion?
                  Why can’t we live together as a family, as a human being?  

                 Why can’t we be so strong and rational so as not to driven furious by a fake video?

and most importantly why can’t we head towards a better tomorrow???

Hey Congressmen! Don’t give us the fish

                          There is a lot of brouhaha over food security bill in parliament. Congress is gung-ho about passing it as it can have a positive impact on voters as Loksabha elections are coming nearer. Lokpal Bill is still in motion from many decades but yet to be passed but this food security bill seems to be the fastest bill passed on this country. The haste of this party in making this food bill a reality has been questioned many times by opposition parties but the party in power is in no mood of leaving any stone unturned. It could be a game changer for political parties but I suspect the change it can bring into the lives of the poor of this country. This bill is expected to benefit 82 crore people of this country but I fear the real beneficiaries from this bill would be few people who are either part of this party or involved in the distribution system in some way or other.

                  Similar to this scheme, there is already a scheme which is already in existence, which distributes a major amount of food grains, sugar and kerosene oil through so called ‘Fair Price Shop’ and we all are aware who the real beneficiaries here are. Though everyone with a ration card is allowed to be benefitted from that only few of us bother to go there and get the benefit. Let me tell you why, because the quality which is provided is non-edible. Is this the quality which the person in the top wants us to have or is it being replaced somewhere between the long system of distribution.

                 Ask me, how much I want to have Manmohan Singh or Sonia Gandhi taste this food, taste the rice and let the poor taste the food provided in the parliament canteen.

                   Besides that, the reason why I don’t want this food bill to be passed because whenever I imagine the scene of getting this cheap food distributed in my village I think of a alcoholic man, who will gamble sitting in the village shop rather than involved in some productive work, who can buy as much as food as he needs with just 2 days wage. This is not the story of my village alone but I know there are persons of this kind in almost every villages.  Some of you might ask me ‘what is my problem if he gets enough food’? the problem is I believe in a philosophy where I want able-bodied people to get only what they have earned through their work, their contribution in the production and only that much part of the same which they can return to the society. Though this might sound vague to some, but this is my personal opinion.

                Economically, I must say macro-economically, speaking, this food bill is going to have far-reaching consequences to already gloomy economic situation. The amount which will be spend on this could have been used on improving infrastructural facilities in far –flung areas which will impact positively in long term.

                     I don’t understand, what is the need of feeding every people, just like a critical patient is fed in hospitals by their relatives. Everybody is not patient here. Even the poorest of poor can buy his whole family enough food with the wages he will get from employment guarantee scheme.

•          Need is to have the proper implementation of policies which are already in existence.
•          Need is to provide the farmers the equipments and training facilities which will improve their productivity
•          Need is to have transparency in the system so that only those person get benefitted who are meant to.

       AND MOST OF ALL – NEED IS TO TEACH THEM HOW TO FISH RATHER THAN GIVING THEM THE FISH.

Where do they go? (Lost mobile phones)

  

                    Losing something can ruin your joyful day otherwise. Same happened with me while returning from the college. I went to police station to register a compliant with the hope that it can be easily traced as our country has all the technology and resources for that matter.  I lost all hopes  after my friend told me “nothing is going to happen, every day thousands of people lose their cell phones and nobody gets them back”. I wondered why is it happening, despite having all the chances of being caught why aren’t they are afraid of stealing. After contemplating, I concluded that it’s because of inactiveness.

               We have already seen the disastrous lapse when the police chose to ignore a carpenter’s complaint that he had been robbed on the same bus earlier that evening when the gangrape took place. Another rape, this city is again disgraced by the horrific rape of five year old child. The inactiveness and unwillingness of police personnel has again caused more agonies to already suffering parents of that child. The policemen first denied filing a case for the missing child and when the brutalized girl was found in a locked room nearby they tried to bribe the parents with 2000 rupees to get her treated. How insensitive they are? After all they are also human, they too have families and daughters in home and to add salt to the injury, a police official slapped a girl protester. These incidents are ridiculing the system of justice and society of our so called ‘Incredible India’.

       Who do you think the main culprits are? Besides, the perpetrators of that crime the persons who were responsible for the safety and security of this society who failed in doing their duties, the society which is unable to act despite recurrence of these events, the people or me; everyone is responsible. Whenever we hear these types of incidents, the first thing which comes to our mind is that something must be done. It has been years and everyone thought of this thing, nobody did anything. Though some of us went to India gate, lighted candles, several protests in different part of this country, but what results do we get out of these. For a week or two, there will be lot of brouhaha and then the matter will wither away.

             These are the big crimes which are coming into limelight with the help of media, but what about the petty crimes which are happening in every nook and corner of this city. Hundreds of people are looted of their mobile phones and purses every day. When they go to police station to complain about it, they are made to run from pillar to post from one police station to another with the excuse that the place where this happened is not under their jurisdiction and finally when they agree to report they file a missing complaint instead of stolen one. From what I have heard they do so just to escape all the work (which is their duty and for which they get paid) follows after filling of a stolen complaint. These petty crimes are sprouted seeds which are trying to build roots in the ground and if they are not pulled out they will grow to become large trees, pulling out from ground of which will become impossible.  

           We are living in 21^st century and in this second fastest developing country which the government claims but I believe we are the fastest degrading country morally and psychologically. We, the great Indian people, cannot get back our lost mobile phones despite of filing complaints and giving all the details to policemen. These things make me ashamed of myself, my country and all the people living in it. Anna Hazare and Arvind Kejriwal thought of changing this country by way of protesting and forming a clean political party respectively but this move is going to take a lot of time, as they are targeting the big trees of evils which stand firm on the ground. We need to hit those small evil roots which can be removed easily, in this way we can prevent them from growing into big trees and spread its poison.

             This laidback attitude of the policemen is encouraging some morally weak persons to commit crime without any fear of being caught. More than 80% of crime can be stopped if we will have prompt reacting police department. More people can be encouraged to raise voices against these crimes when they will get an empathetic staff.  Half of the problem can be solved if we can get the police to act swiftly in these petty crimes. I want to change the situation I have no idea as to how. May be we can protest in Jantar Mantar with FIR copies of our lost mobile phones in hand and will protest till the time we don’t get them back and we can ask mr. Kejriwal to lead our protest as he is the worthy and deserving person who can lead us.Let's unite together and fight for this.

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

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. 

Little Act of Good Deeds

Ever since I stepped into this metropolitan city from a small town, it seems like I am exposed to a completely different world.  No one can deny that life in big cities is more difficult than smaller towns but does that mean we don’t need to care for others; we should be mean to everybody? No, right? Then why are we? Let me take you through one little incident of my life which made a big difference.

 I always have to take a crowded bus to reach my college. It’s very hard to find a place where we can stand comfortably without pushed by someone, let alone getting a seat. Whenever a passenger leaves his seat to get down from the bus, everybody around that seat rushes to grab that seat. No one seems to care about the elderly people or women who are standing there. It doesn’t feel that we are living in human world. It becomes more difficult to carry a bag with you but I need to carry it every day. One day when I took that bus to go home back from college, it was very much crowded as usual. Somehow I boarded the bus and dragged myself ahead towards the front part of the bus so that I can keep my bag in the shelf but found it impossible to reach there.  I stood there beside a seat where an elderly man and a girl were sitting. I was struggling hard to hold my bag in my hand as I was carrying some books weighing more than 7 kilograms. It’s not that I cannot hold 7 kilos in my hand, it were the people who were passing by congested space pushing everyone aside who was standing there. On top of that, it was a hot afternoon of June and I was constantly wiping sweat from my face. She noticed me getting fidgety and offered to hold the bag. I gave him the bag and felt relieved. I felt happy because the help was unexpected and that little ‘thank you’ word looks nothing for what she has done to me by that act. It is very unusual to get help in a crowded bus from three kinds of persons; a beautiful girl, a big bellied well dressed person and fat ignorant lady who always chews something or other and finds seat for herself anyhow.

She lost nothing by this small help but by this act she made me very happy. All my worries faded away. I never knew this little help of someone can make me that happy. It had overarching effects on me. It came most unexpected. That event inspired me to help others by these kind of small acts which can have positive impact on others. Whenever I get seat in any bus now, I look around and check if there is someone who needs that seat more than me.

Whenever I used to hear this quote ‘Be the change you want to see in the world’, I used to think that the world is such a big place for just one person to change. But that event changed my mind-set. Now I am aware of the multi-productive effects of these little acts which can make big difference to someone’s life.

That single event has positive effects on my life and behavior and I hope that the change in my behavior will affect others. This way it can make some difference in many persons’ lives. I hope whoever will read this post, if in a situation, is going to offer his seat to someone who are more in need of it or speak politely to his co-passengers or similar acts. If followed, Don’t you think no one can stop this world from becoming a better place to live?