On travelliing

A remarkable essay on travelling. Feel like rereading it few times as it has so much to offer.

The idea of sharing is so holy. I came across this link from someone whom i included long back in google + but have never ever spoken to. You get access to just so many good works just because there are people who believe in this noble idea.

Will read it again soon  :)

Special teachers

Two recent posts on teachers made poignant reads

This one is from a teacher who was troubled with the policies of the government of US and decides to quit not his job but the profession of teaching itself. The points he raises, are debatable and need very careful examination.

In this article, Sudheendra Kulkarni remembers his teacher from his school days who died recently and how he touched his life in special ways .  He remembers the traits that he stood for and very frankly admits that his teacher was not too happy with his efforts. It is to be noted that the author was part of PMO of Atal Bihari Vajpayee and is a senior member of BJP.

Good teachers are intense and sensitive beings. They live deeply embedded in their times and issues they get concerned about, may not even appear issues for many.  Its because they experience life differently. These qualities were found to be common in most writeups by or about good educators.

Another example of sensitivity can be seen in this article  written couple of year back by one of most respected educationists in the country- Krishna Kumar, who expressed his anger at the way women were increasingly projected in movies. This was much before the sudden deluge after the most unfortunate episode of rape in Delhi in December'12.

We need to listen to their voice. Like Naseeruddin Shah says in the movie, Firaaq to his domestic help who is trying to repair his TV, that atleast this old model that i have has sound if not visuals and expresses 'agar humne dekhne se zyada sunne pe dhyan diya hota, to shayad hum behtar ho pate'.

Listening is a highly underestimated skill.

Against unfettered freedom

An insightful piece by David Brooks on the need for balancing freedom with restraint. The context is America but I guess it is equally relevant for the changes that are sweeping the major cities in India as well. Focuses on a very significant sociological phenomenon.

Essay on inequality

A very thought provoking essay on inequality in our society

Small and Big Steps

Yesterday I came across few developments from different quarters. The messages were read completely casually and hence the pattern that emerged left me thinking..

1. A social entrepreneurship venture in Kenya that has come out with a cost effective technology with a sound business model to back it for providing electricity to the people in the country who are still languishing in the shadows of the glitz that marks the other part of the world
2. A news brief explaining how Indian railways is will be installing 2500 ecofriendly toilets as against the present shoddy system of human waste disposal. Each unit will apparently cost around  Rs100000.  Thats a big sum of money ! Considering that a train generally has around 16 coaches, this will approximately cover close to 156 trains and which is really good.
3. The third piece of data I received was from the pollution board of the state where I reside. It was an SMS- "Let's celebrate eco friendly Holi, avoid chiemcial toxic colour, use natural Eco Friendly colours, save water, protect environment- Maharashtra Pollution Control Board"

One may say that I chose to read on a given topic and hence found three messages that are indicative of the small and big steps being taken at various geographies but the interesting part for me was that these three bits of information have come almost on the same day and I just happened to read about them. They are developments at different levels of space viz. First one in a different country and continent, Second one at a Central govt level in India and the third one is at a Regional level again in India.

These initiatives are indicative of the efforts being taken at different levels by different stake holders and they will surely have an impact on the ground. It may need reciprocation from various quarter- such as the third one on the appeal by the pollution control Board.

Many a times the magnitude of the problem- like sustainability is daunting and gives us a perception that there is little that is happening but if we truly try to count such efforts and consolidate them over a period of time, it surely would amount to a wise set of decisions that lead us to live in a more harmonious way with nature. Its a very positive trend.

Every small and big step would matter. What matters is to act. All have a role to play- big or small.

Power of the Powerless by Havel

The timeless essay - "Power of the Powerless" by Vaclav Havel.

A peep into the history of social media

A nice article giving sound instance of how the new word 'social media' is not actually a thing of today.  The author explains the effort of Luther in Germany way back in 16th century and how he managed to shape public opinions during his times.

It was a refreshing read on the subject

Pseudo heroism?

The above image has been taken from one of the protest in a European country in the year 2011. A close examination of this visual struck me from the point of view of the number of people who were trying to capture images at the moment. Several people can be seen weilding cameras, phones, ipads or some other gadget. One thought that came to me was possibly that there are people from the media. But the sheer number of such individuals as seen in the visual makes me wonder whether they are all from the media.

There are two aspects to it-

• In the age of social media, we want to feel good about ourselves and what we have been upto. Sharing of images from such protests when one is part of it is one aspect of this self love. 
• There is a sense of romanticisation about fight against state which has been glorified not just by media but also by entertainment industry. Films like Hazaron Khwaishein Aisi, Hazar Chaurasi ki Ma, Rang de basanti are all testimony to it. There are some movies from India. There are several from the west too where the oppresive state against unarmed citizens makes for an engaging story. Remember the iconic image of the revolutionary Che that we have seen on many a t-shirts?

A genuine revolutionary whose image became iconic amongst youth

An image from Rang de Basanti signifying the attitude of 'letting go'

In a state of extreme emotion, do we really feel like pulling out our camera to capture being present there?

There is a sense of high that one feels by claiming that one got hit by police or else when one was caught by the police. But isn't it totally different from the kind of struggle that freedom fighters did or else people like Suu Kyi and all have gone through. Shouldn 't people try to be more genuine when they seek to be in the middle of such movements.


Movements require passionate people and the passion should be towards the cause and nothing else. But if one enters into these protests for the sheer appeal of being captured in the press or sharing it on facebook, it loses its essential value. And the same momentum can't last beyond few hours. All leaders who start such movements should be vary of such 'supporters' as it is very difficult to guage from the crowd as to who is supporting what at that point in time.

This is one reason why Gandhian followers (in the true sense) and on extreme level terrorists never care to come in front of the media. Media searches for them when possible. They are committed to the cause because they believe in a given ideology, they understand its roots, history and possibilities. They are not there for bubble fames. And such people will aways be few.

It is important to distil true heroism from pseudo heroism. The former gives you numbers but the latter is about sustained strength.

The age of Eklavyas

 Any person who has taken interest in Mahabharata even remotely would be aware of the story of Eklavya. The famous archer who considered Drona to be his guru and developed his expertise after taking inspiration from him. Drona didn't agree to teach him archery because he was associated with Arjuna- a kshatriya, while Eklavya was apparently from a lower sociological strata. This didn't deter Eklavya to give up his passion.

Fast forward and come to the 21st century. There may be few Dronas now who may be unwilling to tutor anyone for sociological reasons. But on the flip side there are millions who can't really afford to pay to learn from professors of the best universities of the world.  Had internet existed in the age of Mahabharata, Eklavya would have been able to see Drona on youtube, listened to his thoughts on podcast, read about his theories of warfare online and may be even attended his webinar without Drona ever getting to know about all this. We are all Eklavya's in some form trying to learn from Dronas scattered all over the world. The distance between Arjuna and Eklavya has shrunk considerably.

Today we as Eklavyas can get to learn from whosoever we want to, provided we have the intent and inclination to do that. Big assumption being we can afford to access internet. 

And the icing on the cake is that, the Drona will not get to ask his thumb as gurudakshina any more.

It has taken several ages to reach this stage. Some distances are just so long to cover !

Lokpal: Civil society is as much at crossroad as the government

Couple of months back I posted my thoughts about the need for Anna and the team to do some soul searching considering the increasing tensions that were evident and out there in the media for us to absorb. The fears that i had at that time didn't prove too off the mark looking at the response that the movement received this time.

Anna Hazare and his team did a wonderful job in bringing the issue of corruption to national consciousness. Considering the various layers and layers of issues and important questions that lie in each clause at a technical level, it is critical that the bill is debated thoroughly before it sees the light of the day. The debates in the Parliament undoubtedly were fine exhibition of understanding of legislation and political rhetoric. A learning experience for me for sure.

As much as it will be important to understand in what form Congress brings the bill back to Lok Sabha, it will be critical to understand what does Anna do to build the pressure for a strong Lok Pal. When i state thus, i am not referring to Anna as the person who should be responsible for creating pressure but as someone who has already taken the lead and did manage to capture the imagination of people at large. Its not his agenda alone but a national cause for which he waged the battle.

To understand the sudden silence in December's fast, it may help to do a kind of referendum (on its own approach) that the group claimed to do in Chandni Chowk to understand what really went wrong. Why weren't people enthusiastic any more. And the more difficult question is how do we enthuse people now?

Just one day prior to the proposed fast i.e on 26th of Dec, law minister- Salman Khurshid was asked by Barkha Dutta about what he felt about the over 1 lakh people who had signed the online petition towards "jail bharo" call  His response was 'signing online and actually going to jail are completely different aspects. We will see how many actually do that.'  As a politician it is not surprising that their sense of pulse of people will be better than people outside or else why will they be elected representatives but that surely should also encourage us as citizens to understand where did the civil society lose out?

In a very interesting turn, Medha Patkar who was as vocal as anyone can be in the August'11 fast, in one of the talk shows held just the day the bill was being debated in Rajya Sabha states that they should not insist on the timeline now that the debate is being done rigorously. This again is a shift from the earlier stand of we have to get the bill passed in the winter session.

Thus it seems that every aspect of argument or stand that one is taking in the passing of this historic bill, there are strong arguments from either side and a loud claim of one section knowing it all is highly misplaced at least and a grave error at maximum. Thus if someone says that the panel should have representation from various sections, another section of society says why should there be quota in something like LokPal which should be an unbiased body. Similarly Pratap Bhanu Mehta- head of center for civil society made a compelling case in front of Standing Committee on why the PM should not be part of Lok Pal and how that argument was fairly strong. Thus if each aspect of this bill along with the method of public pressure is so contentious, it is anyone's guess on what will work and what won't.

Thus strategizing for Anna is going to be very difficult going ahead since one it would call for him to eat some of the words that he committed and secondly each decision would be fraught with greatest uncertainty on how the civil society will actually take it and whether it would support it.

It has to be principally understood that in a political domain, one's powers emerge from the support base that we are able to gather and not our belief or conviction alone. If the latter doesn't result in the former, the person will be as weak or strong as any other person walking on the street.

The essential flame

A brilliant article by Aung San Suu Kyi examining the role of power and passion in shaping nations.

Mujhko bhi tarkeeb sikha yar julahe

A wonderful poem by Gulzar sahab where he uses the analogy of a weaver who is able to handle his tender threads so deftly despite those threads giving way at times.  How the end work doesn't give any indication of those broken joints as against his efforts at trying to maintain a single relationship which appears full of strains and joints.

मुझको भी तरकीब सिखा यार जुलाहे

अकसर तुझको देखा है कि ताना बुनते
जब कोइ तागा टुट गया या खत्म हुआ
फिर से बांध के
और सिरा कोई जोड़ के उसमे
आगे बुनने लगते हो
तेरे इस ताने में लेकिन
इक भी गांठ गिराह बुन्तर की
देख नहीं सकता कोई

मैनें तो ईक बार बुना था एक ही रिश्ता
लेकिन उसकी सारी गिराहे
साफ नजर आती हैं मेरे यार जुलाहे