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. 

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? 

Save Next Generation

                        

      
            A newborn baby's mind is like a tabula rasa (blank state) which is then shaped by the forces of society and the environment around him/her. The people we see around us and whatever their nature or personality is, all shaped by the different environment they come into contact.  All the people they ever came into contact with them certainly have some impression to a certain extent on them. 

This world is full of bad personalities too, the persons who are not good for the society, there might be murderers, thieves or any kind of criminals. Whenever we see them or read about them, it’s certain that we may hate them but have you ever thought about why they act that way. A few of them might be in very bad circumstances but most of them have low values in their lives. There are many people who are in acute need of something but they don’t choose the path of crime to fulfill their needs. A person with low values might resort to a path which is not acceptable in society in order to fulfill his/her need. The newspapers are filled with news of crimes, scams or anything which reflects the deteriorating values in lives of people.  Is their life worth living???

I don’t know how fix those spoiled personalities but I think I certainly know how to save the future generations from spoiling, by fixing their childhood. If you are earning money through bad means and you expect your children to be honest and loyal citizen then you are wrong. First of all set examples to them by being honest to your family, to your friends and to your government. I have seen the parents who make a lot of money by wrong means they have no control over kids, their kids are not successful. Just look around you, you will find lots of examples. I have seen those families who are driven by moral values in their life, they are satisfied with their life and their children are doing well in their life. 

Be well managed and treat everyone well at-least in front of your kids because they are going to learn everything what they see. If a person calls you and you don't want to talk just don't tell your children to lie on the phone. 

Teach them moral values. Make them understand how important it is to have values in our lives. Make them realize 'A life without values is like a car without steering'. 

 The future of your kid is in your hand, and the best way to save their future by being a role model to them. This is the least you can do for contributing towards a better world.