Democratic Tamaasha

The Great indian tamashaa is back ..... again....... with a bang this season......... with new added twists....... added bitchiness........... more stupidity......... but same old characters.........

This as the new parliament season begins..... sorry the parliament session........ the players are back again with a vengeance to change the great indian constitution at their whims.......

We celebrate 26th January every year as the Republic day to honor our great constitution.

Some important facts about the constitution of India:-

1) It is the longest written constitution in the world with 440 Articles , 22 Parts, 12 Schedules , and a total of 117369 words!!!!!!!!

2) It is the most unstable constitution in the world. Yes don't be surprised at that. It truly is the most changed and tampered constitution in the world........... With 94 Amendments it leaves all no room from competition........

And whats funny is that instead of stopping or slowing down......... leaders ( Of our Own choosing ) are at it again....... and this time the issue of gravest concern is Quota for Women for 33% of seats of lower house........

Now considering the history of India for such matters....... with the pitiful conditions to which women of India were/are subjected........ many wud feel that this is a big step forward for a third world country like India. And if this becomes the 95th amendment of our Constitution many would feel proud of the fact that such a law has not even been passed in the liberal and fair West.

But I am saying that passing a Quota will solve the Problem of Women's Rights is just a wishful thinking............... Quota was never the answer........ and it never will be....... for any problem.... neither now........ nor ever!!!!!!!!

What our leaders are trying to achieve by this is simply illogical.... and beyond any reason. It is utter non sense....

Now let us look back at the indian political history since Independence...

its not that we haven't had any Women leader............. we have had our share women leaders who have played a major role in shaping modern India.... Lets go through a list of major Women leader who have effected india the most......

1) Indira Gandhi..... Who can forget the iron lady of india...... She is the one who single handedly brought the Indian Democracy to its knees........not only Indian.... also the democratic build up of Congress..... She took us to nuclear age...... she also gave us our first glimpse of a Fascist regime..... She led us to victory in war........ she almost redesigned an India without Punjab..... and we can go on................

2) JayaLalitha........ She is the one whose closet was found with shoes worth crores of rupees. Her whims led to downfall of Atal Govt. and led to Mid term Elections........another crores of rupees..... all from tax payers money........ yours and Mine..........

3) Uma Bharti...... Why to forget the firebrand saadhvi....... Who can forget the hateful speeches of the eternal Saadhvi during the LK Advani Rath Yatra... which played a major role in demolition of the Baabri masjid... Scarring the Secular Outlook of this nation ..... and consequences of which we are still facing......

4) Mamta Banerjee....... Didi lives by her own rules..... She doesnt get a ticket from Congress.... hell with congress..... I will make my own trinamool Congress........ I am unable attract attention to me....... let me just stop the construction of Tata Plant in Signur...... I will get the publicity..... If u can't defeat the Communist..... become freinds with the maoists.... and ask them to kill the communist!!!!!!!!!!!! Awsome strategy........ US could have gained a lot from her during the Cold War.

5) Behnji ( maayawati )..... And last in my list of prominent women Leaders in Indian Politics....... but certainly not the last 1 in indian politics is our very own 3 time CM of UP. Here I would like to admit that i certainly Admire her for her courage..... her cunningness and her Guile..... In the long list of all Indian Politcians.. She stands out for her straight forwardness.....her NO SENSE attitude.... Be it Taj Corridor project.... be it the millions of rupees being flushed into the constructing of statues of her with her mentor Kanshi ram on her parties Poll symbol the Elephant!!!!!!.... and her latest conquest is that the 20 Crore Garland for her Birthday celebrations........ Garib Ki Beti my Foot!!!!!!!!!!

I am not trying to show that Women leaders are bad..... I am only trying to Prove that Women leaders are Equally bad...... for Power is corrupting ........ no1 can escape the addictive sensation of power!!!!!

And lets suppose that this farce of an amendment actually becomes a law!!!!!.....points to be considered here are:-

1) Are the Men of those constituency not fit to run for election...... and lets not forget that by doing so we are actually taking away the rights of men.......to run for a public Office....

2) And will this system actually produce women leaders? Considering this aspect that Constituencies selected for women will be on rotation basis..... each women candidate who wins .. will have only 5 years to develop a political base.... which is a short time and even if she succeeds in doing so... its most probable that she will be shifted to other location fixed for women....( No party will give an extra seat to women.... afterall they have their quota !!!! )....

And if she doesn't make a political base....... thts end of her political career......

3) And will such a system produce women leaders.... Not at all.... such a quota system will produce an army of Rabri devis....... yes remember Rabriji...... Lalu's Wife........

Well thats what ths system will do.... tickets will be issued mostly to wife /sister/daughter of male political hotshot of that constituency...... There goes the dream of women leaders shaping India.

4) And lastly will such a bill change the very fact that many women are raped/murdured/ tortured on a daily basis.............I don't think so........

So, does this system has any plus points

Yes it does....... It might increase the attendance of the male counterparts..... and may lower the House temperatures...... but then its might and may....... U never know...... well i would not be surprised if Maya brings a swarm of honey bees to the parliament just to take her revenge...!!!!!

But then what cud be the solution......

Well if I had to go with the solution..... I wud go with the german way....... 1997-98 a bill is passed in German parliament making it mandatory for all parties to field a certain number of women for election..... and within 10 years we see that the germans are being led by a women.... so my point is if they are good..... they don't need quotas..... all they need is opportunities....

Gud nite.... give it a thought.

hey Man! why don't you buy a bike?

Frnd 1: yaar office aane ka man nahi karta
frnd 2: kyun be.... kaam nahi hai kya?
frnd1: abe yaar kaam to bahut hai... bas office tak aana and phir ghar jaane mein bahut takleef hoti hai..
frnd2: Abe to ek bike kyun nahi le leta?
frnd 1: haan yaar, ab necessary ho gaya hai..
Frnd 1 to me: chal be bike kharid lete hain.
me: na be.. bike wike nahi lene waala mein...
frnd1: kyun?... abhi nahi lega to kab lega bike?
me: nahin lunga bike.
frnd1: kyun?
me: I have a green India Policy.
Frnd2( laughing ): Green what?
frnd1: abe ek machar agar kam padega to pollution kam nahi ho jaaega
frnd2: ( Mockingly ).. abe ye sab kitaabi baatein hia... not practical...
Me: Thts what the point is ..... its what I have learned and I am trying to apply it in my life to reduce my Carbon foot print.
Frnd1: abe tere kam karne se kuch badal thodi jaaega..
Me: Its about principals sir... plus this application of my knowledge makes me different from an uneducated arrogant man.
Frnd2: Education my foot.... I don't feel that education has made any great impact in my life... any Uneducated guy who knows how to read and write.. with proper training would be able to do the work I do. I do not feel any different from an uneducated person. I thnk education is not even required.
Frnd1 and me: nahi be. aisa nahi hai. Education is needed to develop ones logic.
Frnd1 continuing: also It helps us develop a thought process behind our actions , increases our reasoning power, and grasping power as well.. It helps us in analysing the information flowing around us every second.
Frnd2: agreed there.... but still what I have learned I need not apply for my living.
Also, if education helped us increase our logic and reasoning, why are so many people 'EDUCATED" people caught doing immoral acts? Is it that education makes people immoral and selfish?
Me: No its not that. We shud not blame the education system for the acts of the individual. People are not immoral by nature, siituation makes them that way.
frnd1: No. There is no relation between Knowledge and Morality. And Frnd2 is rite ina way when he says that education can be the cause of immorality in the society.

At this point I had to leave the discussion as I had a bus to catch. But the points raised here remained with me and I was consumed in thought.Is it really that Education is the cause behind immorality/ selfishness / greed. Their logic was perfect. But something really is wrong if this were true.
Moving ahead, first let me tell what education really is. According to wikipedia " Education or teaching in the broadest sense is any act or experience that has a formative effect on the mind, character or physical ability of an individual. In its technical sense education is the process by which society deliberately transmits its accumulated knowledge, skills and values from one generation to another. "
In my opinion education is the single most important institution developed by mankind. And like all other social institution it is just a tool for an individuals development. One doesn't burn the farm to kill the rodent. Similarly we cannot remove an institution as important as Education because a particular individual has failed to apply his/her learnings.
But whats more troubling here is the fact that society as a whole has been living in an Anthropocentric dellusion. It is an observable fact that human activities have had an adverse effect on the ecosystem. But instead of arresting that problem, and finding a solution to that, we along with our honourable leaders are busy debating as to how deep is the impact. We know that arctic ice along with mountain glaciers will melt away. But instead of worrying about that, we are debating if they will dissapear in 2035 or 2050 ( This is if we survive 2012 ).
The people indulging in these debates are not ignorant. They are highly qualified people. But then, why this sort of inaction. Isn't this inaction immoral or unethecal keeping in mind that we still have to pass on the lantern of knowledge to next generation.
Frnd1 had said that there is no relation between Knowledge and Morality/Ethics.
I do not agree there. It is the fruit of knowledge that enables us to define what is moral and what is not. Without knowledge ther is no question of good or bad at a micro ( Earth) level. ( At macro level (Universe) the distinction of events and thngs as good or bad is redundant. we have to accept that they are... )
So knowledge ( which comes thru education ) is the foundation of morality. but what is missing in us is the structure above ground. This moral structure can only be created thru application of knowledge.
Now, The fundamental question that arises is that why are we not able to apply ourselves to create a moralistic heaven on earth?
The answer is instinct. Morality subdues the instinct. Morality which calls for greater good opposes the Instinct which says that there is no greater good, Just take the one which is best for you.
From the day we are born this epic struggle begins. On closer inspection of our younger years will tell us for who we really are, and when I say we I mean each and every one of us.
Do you know what are the two things that a new born can do without assistance from any one. It can suck milk from mothers breast and then shit on himself.
And maybe thats what we are doing instinctively these days. We are sucking our mother earth dry and are shitting on ourselves only............
I just hope we can learn to apply knowledge.
As far as question of me buying a bike is considered, may be instinct for individual gratification will overcome moral common sense some day.... but not this day........

The Thinking Atom

Just Came across this beautiful poem and thought of keeping it with me for ever and sharing it with all lucky visitors.........


I am a puny part of the great whole.
Yes;but all animals condemned to live,
All sentient things, born by the same stern law,
Suffer like me, and like me also die.
The vulture fastens on his timid prey,
And stabs with bloody beak the quivering limbs;
All's well , it seems, for it. But in a while
An Eagle tears the vulture into shreds;
The eagle is transfixed by the shaft of man;
The man, prone in the dust of battlefields,
Mingling his blood with dying fellow men,
Becomes in turn the food of ravenous birds.
Thus the whole world in every member groans,
All born for torment and for Mutualdeath.
And o'er this ghastly chaos you would say
The ills of each make up the good of all!
What blessedness! and as with quaking voice,
Mortal and pitiful ye cry, "All's well,"
The universe belies you, and your heart
Refutes a hundred times your mind's conceit.......
What is the verdict of the vastest mind?
Silence: the book of fate is closed to us.
Man is a stranger to his own research;
He knows not whence he comes, nor whither goes.
Tormented atoms in a bed of mud,
Devoured by death, a mockery of Fate;
But thinking atoms, whose far-seeing eyes,
Guided by thought, have measured the faint stars.
Our being mingles with the infinite;
Ourselves we never see, or come to know.
This world, this theatre of pride and wrong,
Swarms with sick fools who talk of happiness......

Once did I sing, in less lugubrious tone,
the sunny ways of pleasure's general rule;
The times have changed, and, taught by growing age,
And sharing of frailty of mankind,
Seeking a light amid the deepening gloom,
I can but suffer, and will not repine.

VOLTAIRE..

Fear

Fear is the most tricky of all human emotions. It is the least understood and perhaps the most felt feeling. Yet we know so little about fear. But I guess thats what fear is all about..........being unknown.

Well on closure scrutiny of our little civilisation we will find that how important fear is. Fear is the underlying layer on which our civilisation has been standing and basking in glory. Because without fear there would be no bravery and without bravery their would be no legends, without legends there would be no heroes and without heroes their would be no ideals, and without ideals there would have been no civilasation possible.

See thats how important fear is to us...... yet we somehow haven't seen it.

Being afraid is natural..... in fact it is necessary for survival......... for without fear we would all be reckless species jumping off the cliffs without prior thought. Now that i have spoken of thought....it is merely out of thought process that we find this monster called Fear. Thought leads to calculations....& risk assessments and which finally makes us decide if we are OK in doing a particular thing or not.
So from this logic I can safely say that fear is a direct result of a conscious mind ....... and more capable the mind is the more afraid it shall tend to be.
SO this makes us the most scared species on the face of earth...... doesn't it.
And this is clearly visible in current trends and social behaviour. We are so afraid of what we done to our planet that we are afraid to come to terms with it..... and still arguing over what/who was the cause instead of coming to terms with our mistakes and making amends. This is precisely because we are afraid ....... and we are afraid because we do not know a way out of this mess..... we are uncertain....... and so uncertain that we are hoping that end shall come swiftly.....and it shall be such an end that we are left with nothing but our minds to figure out something for future. This is visible in our modern art..... our movies. Every year at least one movie is being released focusing completely on the upcoming Armageddon....... a complete annhilation of human kind and human ways. But I guess that it is just a wishful thinking. For the end shall not be swift... it shall be slow....... it shall be painful.... and we will have nowhere to go.....but suffer here alone. The question we are facing is not weather earth shall remain hospitable or not......but rather shall we survive such a cleansing process.... for cockroaches shall outlive us for sure...
The makers of Matrix might have imagined this place like a software which can be restarted...... but sadly the architect of this real world hasn't provided restart button...... their is only a shutdown........ and complete darknes.........
Afraid are u?..................... :).......

!!!!!!!!!!!LLL!!!!!!!!!!

At first there was a faint hope,
the hope somehow became a thought,
The thought took over the mind,
It seems as if I was on dope.

The days were long,
Nights too short,
The thought was alive,
Singing beautiful love songs.

It then became a dream,
a dream to which I was a slave,
Always wanting to visit her in my dreams,
Alas, I just could not sleep.

What had gotten over me,
I still do not know,
Feeling miserable by the lonely long days,
all I wanted to see was she,

This misery was gripping,
All senses had gone numb,
NO way out of this Dreamy quick Sand,
my life was slowly slipping.

Then the dream became a voice,
A voice that pierced my heart,
The pain I cud not bear,
But I had no choice..........

Alone I battled for my soul,
In dark dreams I roamed,
Dark delusions had taken over,
Single wish filled my wishbowl.

The faint voice was now a scream,
Scream which no one could hear,
I thought the end was near,
But I had missed the theme.

Pain was not for me to bear,
Scream was not for me to hear,
the voices were only a prayer,
The dreams were for me to tear.

The fight will be long,
And tyring too........
But form it all I shall emerge,
Singing the broken song...............
************************************************************************************
Better never to have met you in my dream than to wake and reach for hands that are not there.
- Otomo No Yakamochi

There is love of course. And then there's life, its enemy.
-Jean Anouilh

Wherefore do I weep
at loving not living
seeing not touching
breathing not sharing
holding not loving?

All,
because I, The Fool,
am no more?

Wah wah kya poem hai.................

Atheism:- Gud or Bad

With current religious fanatism around the world threatening to wipe out our very existence on earth many rational people with a scientific attitude have started to turn to Atheism.
Atheism means that disproving the existence of a supernatural Alpha being who has made this universe as we know it . The supernatural being in question here is none other than God as proclaimed by the religion. The reason these so called rationalists give to support atheism is that the existence of God cannot be proven and God is in same long list which has the likes of Santa Claus, Neo , terminator, Spider man...... and every thing which we have imagined over the years.
Agreed, that the existence of prime cause for everything cannot be fathomed by our logical minds.. but that doesn't mean that we are to proclaim that God doesn't exist.
It is very easy to disprove existence of something in lack of proper evidence but very difficult to come out with proof that something out there exists.
Atheists seems to simply doing just that.... armed with their science and a " Rationalist " outlook they seem to have made up their mind that God is the root of all evil on this earth and we all will not be happy unless This God is destroyed. So they have made it their mission to kill God by mocking age old religious practices and making fun of religious people. In this Scientific age religion/God bashing is the new in thing and people seem to be doing just that. Armed with their facts and Protected by their science the Atheist are attacking the very foundations of Idea of God.
The Darwin's theory of evolution took away the central spot which religion had given to man in this world, Galileo's discoveries have dome the same for Earth on the astronomical scale, modern medicine has done that to village shaman, and Modern weapons have given us mortals to replicate God's Wrath. So who needs God now....its better to be done with this age old Idea of a supernatural being who is all knowing, all powerful and who wants to control our actions.
And modern religious fanatics seem to be aiding the Atheist movement. Atheism is finding more support in modern middle class society..... because these are the people who simply want to live happily ever after..... just like in a fairy tale and if the news of a God inspired religious fanatic bomber is all that they hear on TV then surely without further investigations they will brand God as the root cause and turn to atheism. But that is totally wrong.
See, actully the problem lies in our minds. The biggest problem that our feeble mind faces is that we need to believe in something..... because that is the only thing that makes us different from the other animals. This is for good or for bad.. I do not know.... what I do know that we need to Believe...... and without belief.... the mind will cease to be mind.
now the question arises what shud we believe in........ and this is the root of all evils.....because when their are 6 billion minds which have an ability to believe... their are 6 billion differnt conflicting beliefs. But the good part is that not all human brains evolve to a point where they can make their own beliefs. So instead for 6 billion differnt beliefs we have some thousands of beliefs... which find their source in some Ideas.
So we can say that this is a world of some thousands of ideas some strong, some weak, some aggresive, some passive...... and we humans are merely the collective some of what we Believe in.
For example.... how would you describe John......
John is a secular, Democratic , Libral Catholic person. These terms are merely the Ideas which make up John...... only physical attributes make John differnt from other humans..... mentally we are all at same level.
So atheism like Theism is just another idea whic prides itself in the fact that it is the most rational of all the ideas available till date because it has Science on its side and people like Darwin, Galilio as its prophets. But what many atheists fail to realize is that science is merely an answer to How not an answer to how. It is merely a tool of logical brain that that we use to describe the environment we live in. It fails to give the answer to ultimate question " Why are we here ?".
This is where religion comes in. In it we find the solace of certainity and purpose. It gives us the moral code. Though it would be wrong in saying that we are moral because of religion.... but religion surely is the binding force of moral society.
And above all the questions lies the question that is God not requiered any more.? Has he/she passed its sell by date. Will the world be a better place if we all turn to Atheism? well the world will surely be better place if we all believe in one thing..... but that would be a communist/Fascist heaven. thie thing is we live in an imperfect multi-polar and multidimensional world where even hoping that any one set of ideas will make it perfect... is rather impossible thing and dangerous too.
So what do we do with this God thing then? We can be certain of one thing though...... if their is a God then it is not in the Temples.. Mosques... or churches. it doesn't want to control our life....it doesn't punish if you eat something .... it is not opposed to Sex.........
God is like the Dark matter of astro physics..... it cannot be detected...... nor can be proved..... it is their because without it 96% of this universe would be unaccounted for.
What I believe is that God is the Idea of Perfection. As long as mankind try to perfect its ways it will be seeking God in one form or the other. So if you want to solve the problems of this world.... don't blame God...... perfect your ways and do away with Fanaticism..... because its not god or God fearing men who cause trouble...... its the fanatics........ and any idea at hands of fanatics is dangerous ....... even Atheism...........
So the follow the way of Budha....the Arya path.......... the Middle way....... and be happy........

District 9

There are very few movies in this world which make peole ask questions. One such movie which I watched recently was D-9. Apart from being a refreshingly different storyline its a visual delight for the viewers. The documentary style story telling and use of hand held camera for shooting should be a welcome change for the viewers.
The story is about an alien ship which has landed on Earth (Rather stuck on earth.... because it remains in Air withoout touching the ground..... now how did they manage to do that..... probably Alien technology :) ).... Ne thts not the point. The point is simply that the Aliens reach earth and are stuck and cannot leave. So the good old human race comes to the rescue of these hapless creatures and gives them shelter and food on our very own earth. Now as so often with human misadventures this help which turns into a curse for the people. The Highly intelligent alien race which has the power to make Spaceships which break the light speed barrier.... is somehow on reaching earth.... dumb..... and aimless....... ( Don't ask me how.... but I know the why...... for the story's sake.). Probably the aliens were infected by some space virus which killed their brains.
Now these aimless and dumb.... yet technologically superior aliens behave like mob and it seems that blowing up trains is their favorite time pass.
So now realizing their mistakes the humans now decide to shift these creatures far away from Human civilization into desert where they will no longer be able to damage the Humans.
This is the point where the story begins. The debutent director Niel Blomkamp does a wonderful job of story telling using his expertise at hand held cameras to the fullest. The unknown starcast was a boon to the movie giving it a more realistic humane touch. The protagonist Wikus Van Der Merwe played by Sharlto Copley does an amazing job of carrying pratically the whole movie on his back. The story is gripping... Special Effects optimal.... and the end leaves you wanting for more.
The social and moral issues highlighted by the movie are the hidden yet the strongest points making this a must watch for all the Movie lovers. By selecting South Africa as the location of all the action in movie... Director is merely reflecting the dogmas that the South African society was suffering from 2 decades ago. The Signs showing Only Humans Allowed... bring back the images of the apartheid regime of South Africa.
The treatment of hapless Aliens ( who are suffering from brain Eating Space virus disease ) at the hands of humans is heartwarming. The way these confused aimless aliens were made to leave their homes shacks rather to far off desert makes us think how the Africans were made to leave their lands at the hands of whites during the imperialistic era.
The biggest question the movie raises is what do we mean by Human Rights. Are these rights reserved for only Humans or they can be extended to human like creatures.? What do we mean by Human like creatures? the ones sharing our gnomes ( Monkeys ).... or the ones who are totally different from us but the only thing connecting both of us is the term 'Civilization'? ........
The list of such questions can go on and on....... its better if you are reading this.......... to go and watch the movie......
Hope you enjoy it........ because I surely did.......