Being Hindu and Being Christian in India: Posts by Two Indian Ladies!

A couple of days ago, my cousin sister, Ms.Annie Cyriac*, shared something that she has written on Whatsapp. 

[* See Note at the page bottom]

While reading her Whatsapp post, I could gauge her anguish over certain social issues that have been eroding the ethos of our great nation. The same Indian values and culture on which we have been proud regardless of our religious or social status or political outlooks!

But more than being an independent expression of thoughts, her writing in reality was a spontaneous response to the thoughts posted by another young lady some time ago on her Facebook page which has become a so-called 'viral post' on the internet. Obviously, thousands of Indian net savvy citizens mostly representing 'Young India' have been liking her post and sharing it wide to make it viral.

That information came from my daughter which her aunt, Annie, confirmed later. 

That made me to search and find the original 'viral post' titled 'Being Hindu' posted by Ms.Anurita Anupam who introduces herself in her post as a 'confused Hindu'. I also found references of her post on site like this ! I read this confused lady's post too carefully and realized the importance of the response made by my non-confused sister. 

Anurita , in my opinion, has only made a passionate expression of thoughts arising out of her mental confusions. But her writing has the taste of some deep rooted frustration and more interestingly, her attempt to find the the root cause of her frustration, created more frustration. That was what I felt by reading her post.

But the disturbing fact is that there exist thousands who share similar confusions in their minds. That explains the main reason for her post becoming  very likable to many and becoming viral.

No nation can neither progress nor attain peace when it has so many confused minds. It reflects warning signals about the onset of societal illness. It is essential that all right thinking citizens do some thing to mitigate such illnesses before it develops to some thing more vicious!

In Annie's response, I visualized an honest effort in that direction. But it is like a preventive medicine and cannot invade the minds of those already infested with the viral thoughts, unless they really want to get rid of those.

Yet with the permission of Annie, I am making an attempt to make her thoughts too in the public domain for those interested in knowing the other side. The following is Annie's response to Anurita's viral post:

"STRIVING  TO BE A WORTHY CITIZEN...." By Annie Cyriac.

[A recent post I read about a confused Hindu has prompted me to write this!]

I am an Indian. I am a Christian. I am not confused. But I fear for my countrymen who are confused.

I was born in Mumbai and I have loved to celebrate Diwali with my neighbors-lighting lamps, bursting fire crackers, and gorging on the Indian sweets.

Christmas was just as exciting- singing carols and sharing home made cakes with our neighbors.

At the Catholic school we attended, the school prayer was chanted in unison irrespective of whether we were Christians, Hindus or Muslims. As kids, religion didn't matter. 'Secularism' was just a word in our social studies text book. It was what we unknowingly practiced.

Later on when we shifted to Gujarat, religion was not an issue at all. All the families in the colony lived in harmony. During Navarathri festival, my cousins and I would look forward to donning our new glittering attires and dance the 'garba' late in to the night. It saddened my heart to read that recently non-vegans (read non-Hindus!) in Gujarat were forbidden from participating in the festivities.

As a child I have also lived abroad in a non secular Muslim country. I would roam around the vicinity with my local Arab friends. They'd communicate with me through gestures and broken Hindi. I thought it fun to cover my head and mimic their ways as they kneel for 'namas'. Neither language, nor religion nor nationality mattered then.

I do not believe that all hell would break loose if a school run by a Hindu Trust in a Christian dominated area sang verses from the Gita or the Mahabharat. We cannot expect them to quote the Bible in any case; can we?

I recall my Hindu friends chanting 'Rama-rama' in the adjacent prayer room while we Christians said our evening prayers along with the nuns at the convent hostel we stayed during my teens. At present I work in a Hindu run school and each morning when the prayers are recited, the few Christians teachers there, do bow their heads in respect!

Christian churches are open to all. They don't get defiled if a person another religion or caste enters it. Christians and Muslims don't go to a temple for fear of insulting the sentiments of some Hindus who consider it as an act of defilement. Remember how even Indira Gandhi was once refused access to the famous Guruvayoor temple of Kerala? I had once innocently entered the Thirunakkara temple with my insistent Hindu friends without really realizing the implications during my college days. I now realize that it was indeed a great folly from my part as it could have caused a great uproar had the Hindu temple authorities had known my religion!

I do not refuse the 'prasad' given to me by my Hindu friends after they come back visiting their temples. For me, all food come from God and my conscience is not shaken. The Bible says that 'food will not commend us to God' and we are no better if we eat or not any food that is passed on from the temples or Gurudwaras or the Mosques! The important thing is to live in harmony with all and not to cause your brother or sister (from whatever faith system) to fall.

I do not care if my tax money goes to subsidize some of my country men's Hajj pilgrimage. Every year I gladly contribute to the temple festivals near my home and school. 

If St.Stephens (college in Delhi) gives preference to Christian candidates, thousands of other private institutions in India give preferences to candidates of their own religious choice.  There could be an equal number that do not do it that way. For that matter my own daughter had to pay a donation to get a seat in a Christian run college in spite of her having high marks! There are institutions (run by people from all religious affiliations) who follow the rules meticulously and those who violate those rules occasionally or frequently.

If a mosque is not allowed to be built higher than the St.Paul's Cathedral in a Christian dominated nation, is that really torturing of Muslims? What then should we say about the burning of 11 churches in north India in the past 18 months? And what about the demolition of the Babari Mosque on the 6th December, 1992?

In the Christian faith, marriage is a sacrament. For a marriage to be conducted in a church, it is essential that both the bride and the groom to be Christians, just as it is compulsory for a Hindu to take a dip before entering in a temple. I have witnessed inter-religious marriages taking place in the church with either the groom or the bride from another faith  simply willing to declare as embracing the Christian faith for the sake of getting the marriage ceremony conducted in the church only to satisfy the other side! It is needless to say that they do it later in a temple or any other such place of their choice, again for the same purpose!

It really did not matter in India with its secular standing!

I am not for polygamy or for reservation (of government jobs on the basis of religion or castes). I do not welcome the beef ban nor do I welcome the beef party! But I have the sense enough to realize that the latter that happened here and there was not to mock any religion, but was only a kind of protest as beef eating is not yet a constitutional violation in this country. I am only alarmed a bit when someone rake up this issue as if it is against the Hindu religion because I have read the Hindu sacred texts that justify meat and beef eating! I do understand the compulsions of some in a democracy trying their best in raking up or making issues like this touching the soft senses of some people  desperately hoping that they make political gains!

I encourage my children to read the Bible. But I also encourage them to read other religious texts. I do not consider that their religious faith would be at stake if they read other religious books!

For that matter how may of us have an in-depth understanding of our own religions or their true teachings? In reality most of us claim to be Christian or Hindu or Muslim not because of our real faith or convictions, but because of being born to parents branded in any of those religions! Most of us are 'nominal' Christians, Hindus, Muslims or Sikhs!

Again can any one become true Christian or Hindu or Muslim or Sikh by compulsion? If I say tomorrow that I am a Hindu, does that make me a Hindu? What difference it would make even if I give it in writing?

Recently a woman writer was asked to step down from the dias just  to please a Hindu seer who refused to sit beside her. Can we blame our intellectuals for protesting against such a growing intolerance in a progressive nation of the 21st century?

I am an Indian woman. I am a mother and a teacher. I teach my children that the world is a global village. But now whe I hear the students saying ' all Indians are my brothers and sisters' in our school assembly, I fear for the future of these innocent kids who have to grow up in an era where stray dogs are given more importance than human beings, where communal political parties proceed with their agenda, where drug pedaling is not a big crime and where lynching and rape are nothing very big!

I am not a confused Christian. My faith stands firm. I also have faith in my friends-Hindus, Christians and Muslims. They are my brothers and sisters and India is my mother land just as theirs. A mother cannot be partial; no matter if her children are dark or fair, smart or stupid.

Secularism is not just a word meant to be confined to the Social Studies text book, it should be ingrained in the hearts of every Indian.

When in need for blood, will the gender, religion, caste or creed really matter for the recipient patient?

Don't say that the Hindu blood is different from a Christian or Muslim blood!

I do not know whether Ms. Anurita or any one of her followers would ever happen to read the above. If they do, I hope they really come out of their confusions.

And truly, there are nothing to get so confused!

As Annie puts it: let us truly strive to be worthy Indians! Our roots and bloods are the same! 

[* Annie Cyriac is an English language teacher working in Amrita High School Mooledom in Kerala. Her husband is Dr.Jenu Alex. Her daughter, Rebacca incidentally got media attention while casting  her first vote together with her grandmother and candidate, Mrs. Thankamma Alex  in the recently held elections in Kerala (Image above shows Malayala Manorama e-paper  Kottayam edition  report dtd 6-11-2015 in p-4). Annie had been a teacher in Maldives some years ago. Her life experiences can be read in her blog site titled  'Notions']

   

Developmental Issues of India: Should We Do the Root Cause Analysis or Should We Pray for Getting Back Our Senses?

Let us pray for getting back our senses!

Here are some interesting news that are online today which tells about the Indian economic projections:

1. In a global survey 62 % Indian CEOs are reportedly optimistic about the future of their companies for the next 12 months. ( Don't ask why only 12 months!) 

2. India poised to become the fastest growing economy in the world in the next two years- says IMF, the Economic Times report.

Yes, the above reports are very optimistic, but apparently look like vision statements of people who operate from air-conditioned coziness rather than knowing the grass root realities.

The problem is that we hardly understand the dynamics of money and physical work. 

For example, how do we compare the worth of two companies doing business? 

Company-A  has a turn-over of 2000 million rupees and is consistently showing profit for the past few years. Undoubtedly, its stocks are in high demand and are traded many times above the issue price.

Company-B on the other hand has a turn-over 5000 million rupees and is barely showing any profit or at times reporting losses in the balance sheet. Its stocks are not much favored and has a low value.

By simple common sense of present day economic macro analysis, company-A would be the preferred one. 

Now, let us examine these two companies a bit more closely. 

Company-A , though has a good looking and posh air conditioned office with modern office gadgets and decor, the office space is on lease. The company's 200 odd employees do jobs connected with some financial services online. The economic activity the company does arises out of some policy guidelines and special economic situation. There is no guarantee of the situation remaining the same for ever. But if the company goes without work, they have not much to lose.

Company-B on the other hand is a manufacturer of physical goods. It has more than 2000 employees having various skills belonging to various professional disciplines. The raw materials to the company are produced by several ancillary industries. The products of the company also go for industrial consumption. The company has its own land, factory, machinery and such infrastructure. Thus this company can be considered as a core industry and an economic activity booster.

Often, company-B would be seen to move towards more and more unfavorable conditions including getting an incompetent management team that would eventually make it to close down its operations. That causes painful miseries to the 2000 families directly and a dent in the country's economy indirectly.

In olden days, governmental authorities used to be more sensitive to such issues and would have intervened at the right time to prevent such economic mishaps. Of late, in the so-called liberalized economy, governmental authorities are seen as shying away from executing their responsibilities lest they may be accused as partisan.

As I have written in this forum many times, government has a right and a responsibility to intervene in the affairs of any corporate business entity when it is faced with situations where employment and governmental income by way of taxes are affected or likely to be affected.

The ultimate aim for any government is to ensure welfare of its people and employment should be one of the first priorities under citizens' welfare. If the citizens do not have income, no country could progress. So, income of citizens should be the first priority of any progressive nation and its leadership.

Leader of a massive BPL population is nothing of a big achievement! Power and prosperity of the nation vest with the people. If the people are poor and pathetic, the nation as a whole too would be of that type. Strikingly rich individuals of such nations should not be in a position to raise their heads in pride if they have any consciousness left within them!

India is a nation of predominantly income-less people, with only about 3 % of the people officially paying direct income tax as per government reports. Even in this nearly 90% are in the income range of  $ 3000-8000 per year. A little over 42000 people in the whole of India are officially reported with an income exceeding $ 160,000/- in a year. But people having wealth in millions may be much more considering the high levels of black money, corruption and under reporting of wealth.

But yet it is a shameful condition. There is nothing that common Indians could take pride of in such a situation. The unemployment and under employment situations are alarmingly growing with no one having any solutions. Even those employed are hardly with any decent income that could cause any boost in the Indian market to generate more employment.

In India no one seems to be bothered about the situation. All seem to be pretty well satisfied with all the problems. They move as if in good sedation that they feel no pains ever!

A young man sent this famous Napoleon quote to me that reflected the anguish and anxiety that only a negligible number of people in India realize:

" The world suffers a lot not because of the violence of the bad people, but because of the silence of the good people!"

Is India listening? I doubt. 

Should we worry about the walking dead bodies of India any more? I do not know. I too am becoming one of that!

So how to do the root cause analysis of India when the majority feel no pains?

I could have done it to some extent. But there is no one to see and act on my analysis.

All around me appear as senseless. 

Soon, my own ability would vanish.

I too would become a walking dead body, sedated , senseless and feeling no pains!

Perhaps in the bliss of ignorance!

See how infectious this sedation is!

I started with something and ended with this sedated philosophy!

But it's okay because no one is going to read this and react.

If possible, let us pray to God for giving back our senses!

City Management and Administration-A Lesson to be Learnt from the Canadian City of Edmonton !

I have not visited the Canadian City of Edmonton or Canada. For that matter I have never ever gone out of India so far. That is definitely a disqualification in my country. Because, in the official parlour,  the number of countries visited is counted as a mark of experience and competence of an employee in the higher echelons, especially in the governmental organizations.

But there is a rider to it. If you have made any private visit abroad, that is not counted. An official is considered competent if he or she has managed to go abroad in his official capacity. So, managing to get an official trip abroad is one of the highest rewards an Indian official can have. Quite naturally, this is one type of carrot the Indian organizations usually employ to motivate their employees.

So thousands of Indian officials keep going abroad, mostly for getting higher learning and training. Foreigners keep training Indian officials ever since India became independent from direct foreign rule some six decades ago.

One of the motivating factors for Indians to procure equipments and systems from foreign sources is the lure and scope of potential foreign tour and training that it may provide to some. Foreign suppliers well understand this weakness of Indians very well that they are never very conservative in offering lavish training facilities in their home country while offering their equipment and technology to Indians.

Learning something good and new from outside is not a bad idea. But sourcing things from abroad only for the purpose of having some official foreign visit cannot be considered that way. The net effect in this kind of a situation is that Indians would never learn anything from their foreign visits. It has become so acceptable now that the teams of officials getting sponsored for foreign study tours from India are never any one associated with any discharge of responsibilities associated with that kind of a training!

Foreign study tours from India have become pleasure trips for those officials who are favoured persons of their seniors who nominate them rather than those who have to utilize their knowledge later. Foreign suppliers have also recognized this aspect that is special to India that they no more bother to make elaborate training arrangements for Indians in their respective countries any more. They would rather happily arrange some pleasure trips for them in the guise of the training trips, the way their Indian clients require.

Well connected government officials from the elite Indian administrative services are routinely sent abroad for higher studies. Some US universities like Harvard have permanent arrangements for this kind of training for the Indian officials.

But even after six decades of such perpetual training, the Indian professionals are not proving their skills in their respective administrative and other fields in their own work areas in India.

There is nothing in India where their performances could be bench marked to what they had learnt abroad.

During the same period some other Asian countries like China, Singapore, Japan, Thailand, Malaysia and the Koreas have gone far ahead than India by utilizing the knowledge that their professionals have been learning from the western sources. Now they have come to that level that they are in a position to offer some better technologies and management systems even to the westerners !

In the recent decades, due to the higher intermingling of Indians in western countries like the US, Canada, Australia and the UK, the westerners  are more aware of the Indian psyche and their weaknesses that they are no more so considerate to the Indians as their immediate ancestors were. This implies that Indians in future are going to struggle a lot to keep them abreast with the high rate of technological advances that are taking place in those countries.

Knowing the double standards of Indians, no sane mind would think of trusting Indians fully, which would likely make things more difficult in the future for India as a nation to keep pace with the developments that take place in this world.

India is likely to become a country of all kinds of paradoxes, enhancing from its current level. Money and wealth in India would no more ensure a good life in this country. Affluent Indians would keep fleeing from this country and the rate of flight would increase from the current levels.

There are many at the top echelons of the elite administrative services in this country who have got ample chances to learn from the developed nations.

It is their responsibility to save India from non-inclusive and unplanned development.

It is easy to help the children to go abroad and settle for a good life in those countries and migrate abroad to live the rest of the old age life in the US or Canada. But Indians would be Indians wherever they live. Their skins and minds cannot change. That is engraved in their genes !

But learning good things from the westerners and adapting that to India is some thing else. It is difficult. It is indeed difficult when you have immature elected representatives who have made it a routine to blame the west for all the odds that the people face in India. 

But it is not impossible !

It is not impossible for those who are still rightly placed in India. But they have to come out of their complacent self created shells to act. 

You may be wondering why I started with Edmonton and wrote this much, apparently unrelated.

Not at all unrelated my friend !

I feel concerned because those Indians who visit abroad are not using their experience for the good of their own motherland !

There are much to be learnt from this land blocked city of Canada. For that matter, any city there perhaps ! 

How efficiently they keep managing and improving it !

You need not visit that country or city to learn it .

They have very nicely made it known in their website. [You may click the hyperlink to know more about the City Management in the Canadian City of Edmonton in Alberta]

It is indeed a very practical, efficient and transparent city management !

If you ask me, there is nothing that prevents the Indian cities and towns to adopt such a system of municipal administration. Incidentally, as I have learnt, there are many Indians associated with the prosperity of this Canadian city of Edmonton !

The professional pride of those connected with that city's efficient administrative system is reflected in their website.

And in my opinion it should be how the administrative professionals or public servants should work to help the elected representatives of the citizens.

If they can do it in Canada, can we Indians not do it in India ?

Don't repeat the same old Indian excuse that Canada is a rich country !

Canada and Canadians are rich because they manage their systems wisely and transparently.

Please correct me if I am wrong !

The Birth and Infancy of the Aam Aadmi Party of India: Are We Going To Have A Better Alternative ?

Soon all common people of India are going to be benefited by yet another political party which is promising them to exclusively work for the eradication of corruption from the Indian soil.

Just like millions of silent citizens of this country, I too have been silently watching the transformation of 'India Against Corruption (IAC)' Movement to the Aam Admi Party of India  (भारतीय आम आदमी दल ) which means the common man's party of India.

I was hopefully thinking that the think tank of this movement would select some better nomenclature for this new party as all parties in India routinely claim that they are parties for the 'aam admi' (common man). Incidentally the oldest political party of democratic India has made that point clear by stating that the word 'aam admi' is something reserved for them.

But as things proceed this way, I am a bit confused to realize what this 'aam admi' actually represent.

Is it the middle class people ? They are the people who feel the pain of corruption and also accept corruption as a way of life in India. Because, they have pretty no choice. After all they are practical people ! If voting percentages are any indication, nearly 50 % of Indian people do not exercise their franchise for various reasons. A majority of them are from the middle class. The middle class also represents the working class and a major strength of the working population in the organized sector are government employees. They are beneficiaries of corruption in some way and are victims of corruption in some other way. Then with this major vote bank typically abstain from voting, no political party, in the normal sense are going to benefit from them. So, I presume that the Aam Admi Party too has excluded them.

Is it the rich people ? I don't think. Of course, some of the rich might or could provide financial support for the new party, that would not make up the votes for any one to make any real impact.

Is it those people just above and below the BPL (below poverty line) ? But then, this class is already divided between all the aam admi parties of India. What way the new party would attract them ? Of course it can make further divisions of their votes and cause unpredictable results, just what has been happening for quite some time in India. That makes the necessity for alliances and adjustments for all parties, forgetting all their manifestos and ideologies. The sole big reason for corruption in India !

So what is going to happen. A party formed for freeing India from corruption is unwittingly going to be an agency to perpetuate corruption !

A situation faced by all parties in India !

Unless all citizens of the country, rich, middle class or poor, upper caste or lower caste, that religion or this religion, working or non working, capitalists or consumers, men or women, find some confidence in the democratic system of government and feel comfortable to exercise their franchises, no party in India hence forth can think of getting a clear democratic mandate to steer the country.

They may be able to draw crowds here and there but those would not translate into any clear mandate to rule.

If any party make some honest attempt to get the confidence of the majority of people from all classes of people, that party is going to lead.

So the party should first represent the citizens of the country, not just one class labelled as the aam admi.

Who can make all walks of the citizens feel proud of the country ?

At least the party should declare that they are going to work for the citizens of the nation, regard less of their class, caste or religion.

No one should assume that the poor citizens are always looking for some alms that the parties hand out during the elections or the gimmicks of pleasing some one by making always changeable policies.

The poor people also have thinking minds. Keep playing with that they will permanently lose their confidence in the system. The system called democracy. It is absolutely erroneous to think that poor people of India now have no self pride !

Similar is the case with all other classes of citizens.

Any country remains as a country so long as all the people of the country feel the pride of being a citizen of that country. When that binding force is weakened, the country starts disintegrating !

Why can't we think of having a Citizens' Party of India ( भारतीय नागरिक दल ) ?

But that would abbreviate as CPI or the Communist Party of India, which miserably failed to keep the working class of India united even after in power here and there for decades. What it achieved during these years is creating some recognizable faces and breakaway parties!

So, perhaps Aravind Kejariwal and his co-activist leaders have found out the right name for the new party: the Aam Aadmi Party or AAP.

I have been watching the birth and infancy of this Party. As a common citizen of the country, I had seen the birth , infancy  and powerful youth days of a few other parties of India earlier. If past experience is any thing, I cannot be that optimistic and that is perhaps the case with many others like me.

But, AAP is a bit different in its origin. It has not taken birth by virtue of any oratory skills of any one individual! On the other hand, it has its origin on the spontaneous reactions of the frustrations of the common people of India. AAP would not have taken birth, had those clinging to power drawn from the people been a bit more responsive to the voices of the people!

When I read the Constitution of Aam Aadmi Party from the Aam Aadmi Party website, I have a feeling that this could be the party that is going to lead the country in the near future. 

The call by this common man's party for alms to sustain it to fight out the big money power of vested interests have been getting unprecedented response from the Indian citizens. Crores of rupees have already been donated by the people already to this party which is just making its maiden effort make its existence known in the Indian capital as a first step. If it goes this way, AAP does not have to resort to funding from corrupt means and probably show to the other parties what democracy actually is!

That is going to become a major change. Candidates who are aspiring to become elected leaders need not spend huge money any more. That could be funded by the Party from the people's voluntary donations. There is no big urge for the individual representatives of the people to take back their expenditure by corrupt means any more! This situation alone is going to bring down corruption in any democratically elected government to a substantial degree.

Of course, AAP is going to be a challenge to all those vested interests who might fight back with full force adopting all means when they perceive imminent danger to their positions from this infant party.

But history of this world shows that any one who dared to use unfair means against the people had perished miserably. 

In any case, India is now potentially sitting at a key juncture with regard to survival of its democratic system of governance.

Let us hope that finally true democracy would begin to appear in this country for good!

Air India : Sad Story of A Great Legacy of India !

It was the Indian business group of the Tatas who brought India to the aviation map of the world by starting the Tata Airlines way back in 1932 during the pre-independence era of the British Raj. Though this was started as a air mail service initially, it got transformed in to a full fledged public limited company named Air India way back in 1946.

Post independence, the political leaders with the socialistic mindset propagating the mixed economy culture went on with their agenda of nationalising large private enterprises such as aviation, banking etc. Thus the national carriers known as the Air India and the Indian Airlines came into existence some time in 1953 with the Government of India gradually taking control of the Tata owned Air India and bifurcating its international and domestic air services. These two carriers remained as the leading air service operators in the Indian sub continent ever since for nearly half a century thereafter as a government owned monopoly.

This long period made tremendous changes in the attitudes of the thousands of employees of the company. They had all the privileges and authority and they never considered themselves as service providers to the millions of travelling customers. Most of them acted as bull dozing government representatives enjoying too many perks and privileges. They considered their job as a kind of favor that they are doing for the underprivileged citizens rather  than courteously treating the latter as their bread providers !

This government owned aviation group  in the recent years has undergone cosmetic name changes and changes in their logos due to managerial compulsions on account of competition and cuts in budgetary supports.  They are no more the market leaders. Private airlines who are capable of offering better customer service at much lower costs have become a reality in India. For these private airline companies, the threat was only the unpredictable government policies. But they had the advantage of flexible internal management which offered dynamic and faster decision making in a fluctuating economy as compared to their government owned aviation company.

The government of India, in the past few years, seems to be confused. It is not clear whether they actually want their own airline company to operate efficiently together with the new private airlines or they want to use one against the other for short term settlement of whimsical agendas ! 

In the Nineties, the Indian government under Dr Manmohan Singh as the Finance Minister accepted the economic liberalisation policies of WTO and decided to forgo the socialistic frame work of policies that determined governmental actions previously. However, unlike in the earlier years, the Indian government no longer enjoyed absolute majority to push through major policy decisions the way they liked.

The effect was a half hearted approach which caused India to proceed as if rudderless creating confusions and complexities in the minds of all.

The present day India is in that situation.

This confusion is making India appear as a nation of corrupt people and leaders. The law enforcing agencies , the bureaucrats, the courts, the media and the public  are all confused.

No one seems to know what is right or what is wrong.

Some thing that is thought as the rightful thing is turning out to be the most sinful thing. Allegations of graft, favoritism and ill gotten wealth are causing the present day India stink !

Public sector undertaking are now manned by people with no proper briefing or policy directions. Are they there to destroy their organizations cunningly or manage them properly for the benefit of the common citizen ? They are not sure ! There are no clear cut laws, guidelines or policies.

One administrative order contradicts scores of other such orders.

What way the government companies are different from the private companies ?

How to know ? Who is there to guide ?

In this kind of a situation, those in India are bound to experience harsh experiences some time or the other. If they ever land into such problems due to their bad luck, it may not be easy for them to get out of the mess so easily. It can happen to both Indians or foreigners in the Indian soil !

Like what has happened yesterday (19th October 2012) with the Air India Express passengers travelling from Abu Dhabi to Thiruvananthapuram ! Expressing their anger over the extremely poor service the government owned air service company provided caused some of them to be branded as hijacking terrorists ! If a case is ever registered in the Indian courts, those who find their names included in the FIR are going face what is known as the ' Indian music ' for the rest of their lives ! It is the music with no composers !

Let me narrate some of my personal experiences with this airline company [I do not know which name I should use to refer to this company!] some time ago.

Once me and my family reached Delhi from Raipur for our onward travel by the same airline. At Delhi, we were in the long Q in front of the check in counters of this airline. A lady in her late forties with a grave face was managing the counter. She took my ticket and like an ever suspicious police officer quickly found out a spelling mistake in the ticket and my ID card. It was a harmless spelling error their own office made. She made it an issue and declared that we cannot travel. I showed our boarding pass counterfoils that they issued for our travel in the previous segment of our travel with the same silly typographical error. But she was not budging ! The travellers behind us were becoming impatient and the line length was increasing ! Imagine our situation by taking tickets in this airline by paying through our noses! The growing crowd caused some senior fellow from the company to the counter. He declared that there was no problem with that spelling error and she should issue the boarding passes. But the lady did not obey his decision. She kept on arguing and finally her superior himself issued the boarding passes. Imagine the commotion this one lower level employee created !

Yet on another occasion I was on a flight from Delhi to Raipur via Nagpur. At Nagpur, the pilot refused to fly us to Raipur citing some silly technical reasons. A well known politician and an ex Chief Minister of the Madhya Pradesh state too was a passenger who got stranded at Nagpur. After 5 long hours of arguments and counter arguments the airline finally arranged a shabby bus for taking the stranded passengers to Raipur by road.

This kind of experiences from this airline have been a very normal thing for this airline. The ground staff of this company many times behave like ruffian police officers in white uniform. At times I have observed them too liberal to entertain the passengers in some hotels of their choice incurring huge expenditure.

When some of the private airline companies adopted the flexible airfare policy which made air travel an affordable one for the average Indian, it was this government airline's top management with due support from their political bosses that played such nasty games which forced such customer friendly companies to wind up their operations ! 

Through out its history, this government airline company have been charging the highest price for its air tickets. Since the majority of the air travellers who travel by this air line are doing so only because they have no other choice are paying such high prices. They keep cursing this  company , its employees and its management every time they have to shell out huge sums for such hopeless service ! The government many time forces its officers and staff to travel by this airline by paying high charges. Effectively this amounts to transfer of government money from one department to the other ! 

What they (the Indian public) fail to understand is the millions of loss this company keep on making even after they charge the highest prices in the world ! Coupled with it the public hear the news about the pilots of this government airline taking the highest and unimaginable salaries and that too some of the privileged ones without doing any flying at all !

Here the government has to be decisive. They should clear their mind on the future course firmly without dilly dallying on the issue. If they cannot manage it well, then decide to privatise it as early as possible. It should be remembered that the government had done such privatising earlier. If the huge number of employees are what prevents privatisation, close it down permanently and re-appoint those who are useful with new terms and conditions !

But the moot question is the not privatisation or nationalisation ! It is the question of having proper policies and laws. Only the law makers can do it !

But if the law makers themselves do not have the competency to do the work they are entrusted with then no one can save India. Only the public can do it. For that the public have to think in unison. They should learn the fundamentals of choosing their representatives who can do good for them !

If they cannot do it, then perhaps democracy is a costly luxury for them.

That was what a general of a neighboring country of Indian root declared some years ago !

Whatever be it, the story of Air India alias Indian alias Air India Express alias Indian Airlines is a sad story for all in India !

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How Do They Cause Bloodshed in Democratic Protest Marches ? An Eye Witness Account From India !

Though Mahatma Gandhi is considered as the father of modern India who won her independence by adopting non-violent peoples' protests against the rulers, his so called Indian followers who inherited the chance to rule the country apparently do not allow their fellow citizens to adopt to such foolish methods of protest any more.

The second or third generation Indian rulers and administrators of independent India might be laughing in their heart of hearts at the foolishness of their predecessors for succumbing to the peaceful and harmless protests of Gandhiji and leaving their controls on the subcontinent.

Had they been in the place of those British rulers and administrators, Gandhiji would have miserably failed in his mission or would have transformed himself from an Ahimsawadi [ believer of non-violence] to a Himsawadi [proponent of violence].

The modern day Indian rulers and their all Indian administrative machinery seem restless and impatient in handling non-violent democratic protests that they seem to be using all efforts that they can to make a peaceful protest into something where blood is shed and transforming the peace loving poor Indians' hearts and brains to burn with hatred to them- their own lucky brothers and sisters whom they have elected to serve as ministers or governors or administrators of their beloved land for a certain period.

Otherwise what is the logic in those police actions against the peaceful protestors following Anna Hazare and his team in Delhi in the recent past ? Did the protestors resort to violence to call for such actions ?

I do not know. I have so far never been to any such sites of protests by fellow Indians for various demands or issues. What I knew was from the news media. But that was till yesterday. Yesterday, I became an eye witness to a peaceful protest march in one part of this nation and the manner in which the law enforcers handled it causing bloodshed on either sides.

My office is in this state capital city and my residence is just a kilometer away in a secured small township owned by our company, which is a 'Maharatna PSU' . All officers like me who stay in this township normally go home during the one hour lunch break.

To save on petrol and to reduce the traffic on road, we have recently adopted a car-pool for our  lunch errand.

Between the office and the residence, there is a stretch of about 300 metres of road that comes under the city corporation where the road has also to cross a busy trunk rail route. To enter our township we have to cross the National Highway 75. Our township has a guarded gate which is common to a famous public school too through which thousands of school children also enter and exit every day. [see the map of the area here !]

This national high way is the main link to all people who want to reach the city's airport and one of the main railway stations. Unfortunately for the law abiding citizens, this part of the road also connects the state's secretariate complex housing the legislative assembly building and the residences of many VIPs including the Chief Minister and the Governor. So this part of the NH is also called the VIP road.

In India, if you are an ordinary citizen living accidentally near to the movement zone of the so-called VIPs, even God may not be in a position to save you from your misfortune ! Because, it is now a routine for the brilliant police administrators to ignore the sentiments of the public for the sake of what they now passionately call 'security'. They routinely stop all vehicular movements in the wide roads for such time as they please for the VIP [ Very Important Person which now means a person in India who holds a position in the government or administration who uses a beacon light on his vehicle as a mark of his status!]   and his/her motorcade to pass. Unfortunately, Gandhiji's successors in modern India who started tasting the glories of democratic power want to become like the British Queen in pomp and show ! Why should we spend our money and time if there is no glamour of the power ? They seem to be asking ! The well decorated kings and queens of the past appeal to them much more than the simple fakir figure of Gandhiji !

So the roads in India are stopped at the sweet will of the administrators small or big at any time for any reason. So please do not consider Google's estimated time of travel if you are on Indian roads !

The modern day administrators of India seem to be pretty arrogant when they deal with the rest of the public citizenry in such situations. They do not bother about the incoveniences caused to the public when all roads are closed for their so called security reasons ! They do not even bother for other kind of responsible citizens for whom time is as important as their own VIP masters !

Me and my colleagues too are public servants, but we are not beacon light VIPs. We used to be like them a few decades ago when no one ever used the beacon lights on their official vehicles. Our vehichles perhaps had a small identification on the number plates showing the organization to which the vehicle belonged. The majority PSU officers now drive their own vehicles for going to office, a transformation that had taken place. On the other hand, those public servants who are directly connected with the central, state or local government departments use a beacon light vehicle. The type of the vehicle and the color of the beacon light are the mark of their position and status. Unlike the past, these kind of government vehicles displaying their authority to the public are a normal sight in modern India. Somehow this rampant display of authority by all Dick and Harry from the government service causes an immediate repulsion in the minds of the rest of the citizens against the ruling party. Often the VIP motorcade consists of all kinds of beacon lighted vehicles of this kind belonging to the lower rung government officers. Though some wise men in the government understand the damage that they create to them by this display of power on the roads, they have some how utterly failed to stop this status mania that has affected the government servants of this era.

Though the PSU officers by definition are public servants, they are no longer government officers who  enjoy any status better than the normal public. Our company may be called a Maharatna, but the meaning of that is not of any worth to the officers and staff of the company. We too are stopped and herded out by ordinary policemen when the beacon light vehicles of the government staff cris-cross the the roads. So we are in a position to understand the heartbeats of the public much better than the beacon lighted government servants who have opted to get themselves isolated from all public who do not have any thing to gain from them.

Now coming back to yesterday's story.

While leaving the office for lunch, we find the road leading to our township packed with vehichles due to a big traffic jam. We knew another route and tried that instead only to be entangled there too in a big traffic jam just on the four lane NH 75. We had initially no idea about the cause, but soon we found that a small procession of people shouting slowly moving ahead. Obviously they are peaceful protestors from the villages, amply led by some party leadership now in the opposition.

The administration knowing fully well about this peace march in advance had decided to stop the protesters from reaching the state assembly building where they perhaps wanted to show off their protest. So, they had constructed road blocks on the high way that is the only way for us to reach our homes and for many others to reach the airport and the railway station.

The police could have easily allowed the traffic of non protestors to move ahead to their destinations. But for reasons known only to them, they did not allow that to happen. They prevented the public movement on the road. At least when our car reached the place it was not the protesters who were blocking the road. It were the police pickets and the police vehicles of all kinds.

There were scores of vehicles of my colleagues who just wanted to reach our homes a few meters away for lunch. But we were stopped and forced to move into an open field by the side of the road between the rail way line.

We took the vehicles as far as we could from the possible melee that could happen on the high way.

The protestors wanted to move ahead to their destination which was some 2 km ahead, but the police would not allow. They would not allow not only the protesters but also all others like us who wanted to elsewhere.

Time was running out and we were on the hot sun on this muddy ground with our cars, hungry and thirsty. The police have started to use their riot control vehichles' water canons though there was no riots by the protesters. Then there was a huge exodus of the villagers towards the place we were standing with our vehicles with no way to go anywhere.

Apparently there was a lathicharge [caning] by the police that the peaceful village folk comprising of men and women made a retreat to our side, the only way they could also move. Then they stood there among us behind our stranded vehicles as they too had no way to move out.

For a moment I remembered Jalianwala Bagh Massacre about which I had studied in my schools. What if the police tried the  other weaponry that they had in their possession now ? They could very well do that if their commanding officer so commanded.

Here we are trapped between the armed police whose numbers matched the number of the poor villagers, armless ofcourse. We saw their political leaders calling them to come back to the road instead of running away to the field where they stood now. But they were reluctant. Life was dear to them just as it was to us !

With me there was my colleague who personally knew the second in command of the state police who thought it fit to call this officer for helping us to get out of this possible one way battle field. Though he could talk to him over phone he communicated his inability to help as he was out of the state. Then there was my boss who held the position of an executive director of our Navaratna PSU who thought of talking to the police officers on the road to help us out. He was not allowed to meet them.

Then all of a sudden we saw a vehicle fitted with loud speakers moving slowly towards the police picket on the highway calling out the people to gather. A few of the villagers began to move towards their leaders from the field. Then all of a sudden the police began to fire tear gas shells towards the place we were standing with our vehicles parked on the raw field, about 150 meters away from the high way. The shells began to explode over our heads, one just a few meters away from me. And there was no place for us to run from there at this age of ours when we are just a couple of years from retirement!

The police fired 16 shells on us and it is only God's grace that none of us got injured or dead so ungracefully ! We just did not understand what prompted the police to act in this manner and do such a thing ! We had to be on this battle field created by the police for nearly 3 hours before we were finally allowed to move out.

Fortunately for us, nothing happened to us and escaped unhurt. But that was not so for a poor villager. He lost his life. He was apparently run over by the riot control vehicle of the police !

The political and the administrative leadership in this country is slowly losing their wisdom and patience. It appears that those qualities are getting replaced  with arrogancy, pride and contempt to fellow citizens.

Forgetting what Gandhiji had taught and demonstrated may not be good for modern India in the long run !

People who do not believe in democratic processes and those helping failure of democracy directly or indirectly by causing alienation of people from the administrative machinery should be doing a good thing if they spend some time to think about the power of non-violence in achieving the best in a society and for their nation !

May God give them the wisdom for that !

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Had I been the PM of India !

I would never be the PM (Prime Minister or Chief Executive ) of this country and that would be true for 99.9999% of the Indian citizens.

But one or two of the 1.2 billion would become its PM now and then.

So this is purely an imagination.

But my country India is a democracy and every citizen has a right to dream or to have an aspiration on how its PM ought to be.

While watching the present and past PMs at times such thoughts forcefully come into the minds of some citizens of this country.

I am no exception. Such thoughts do come to my mind as well.

I would like to share some of my present thoughts on how I would behave, had I been the PM of this country.

Had I been the PM of India, then :

- The first thing I would decide is that I would not become the PM for another term, because I hold the values of democracy high and would not use the power and position attained to cling on to it for ever. This way I make my self free to decide upon issues fearlessly and without bias.

- I would do all I can to see that I  push and pass such laws that make it impossible for immature, characterless and incompetent persons get a chance to be the PM after me.

- I would push and promote economic policies that would promote unemployment levels in the country to come to naught and the average incomes at the lowest levels to reach sufficiently high for the people to lead a decent life as a dignified citizen. I would encourage and honour all business entities who help the nation in this aspect.

- I would push and promote such laws and rules that honour the rights and privileges of each and every citizen of the country, honestly. I would ensure that the ministers discharge their responsibilities earnestly and are accountable for their actions.

- I would ensure that governments are doing only those activities which are for non-profit and welfare of the nation. All profit making businesses shall be controlled by companies set up in accordance with the companies act. Government owned companies shall be run on a no-profit no-loss basis and such companies or organizations shall be only in those areas where it is not desirable and feasible for non-government  entities to operate.

- I would push and promote laws that ensure education services a business as well as a governmental responsibility, depending upon the demographic situation. The laws and rules shall be such that no eligible citizen is denied education for want of money. All educational institutions that are making surplus funds shall be required to share 90% of their surplus for promoting education for the underprivileged.

- I would push and promote a differential corporate taxation system that ensure lower taxation for those companies that spend their substantial profits towards business expansion, research and welfare measures.

- I would establish a law that makes it the government's responsibility to ensure free and essential education, medical treatment and funeral for all wanting citizens whose incomes are below the national average.

- I would reduce bureaucratic controls on business to the lowest and push a law that prevents the states to pass laws that are detrimental to business growth.

- I would facilitate the rules that would make the distribution of national income between the centre and the states in accordance with an acceptable economic formula.

- I would give utmost priority to enhance infrastructure and other facilities to all government offices and establishments including the courts.

- I would ensure that the defence spending of the country is limited to a percentage of the GDP not exceeding that of the first 5 most populous countries of the world. I would also ensure that imports on defence technology , production and procurements is a minimum and on a declining trend.

- I would push and establish such laws that make it mandatory for all private and public establishments to publish their key performance information on their websites accurately and consistently.

- I would ensure that the laws regarding land are revised to enable all round progress in a reasonable time frame. Together with this rural and urban land ceiling would be implemented universally on a pan India basis adopting logical standards. I would also promote modernization of countries land records with modern technology which would eliminate litigations and enable smooth transactions. I would also make such laws that empower the government to take control of all excess and unutilized land and promulgate a development oriented land use policy.

- I would take up law reformation on top priority to simplify the Indian jurisprudence benchmarking it with the best in the world.

- I would ensure that me and my ministers are available in our respective offices for at least 75 % of the time and will not undertake tours and globe trotting unless it is extremely essential.

- I would ensure that all the MPs are made board members of national statutory organisations for better peoples participation in governance and would push to pass laws to this effect.

- I would make it a point of hearing the peoples voices on a regular basis by reading the news papers and the media and never ever depend on my advisers to screen what I should hear and read.


There are much more.

I am sure many of you from this country would also have such thoughts on how your PM or government should function or how your PM should prioritize his / her actions.

Would you like to share some ?


At least that might help a PM in the making !

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