Independence

It has been sixty years, sixty long years since this country regained its independence. A country now essentially governed by us, the people of the nation. It is we who choose those who govern us and it is we who are the basis, the foundation and the strength of our country, and those of our elected leaders. And hence what befalls it, whether it be good or bad, lies in our hands.

Every year, the 15th of august is celebrated not only to joyously remember the sacrifices our forefathers made, but to instil in us an essence of humility in the recognition that we fell from a great height, that from the golden crane we became a nation imprisoned and now we must march towards a future that one day, might take us back to where we were hailed not as world leaders but nation builders. It is a time of not only celebrating and lauding the achievements but also of retrospection and reflection.

I know, we have again and again heard of the success stories of our country and at the same time we know of the areas in which we have failed.

We are now self reliant in food production and are now an export powerhouse. The manufacturing industry is growing at record 12%, the national production at more than 8% year on year for the last 3 years. The number of unemployed is at an historic low. Whether it be defense, the services or the hospitality industry, research in space; pharmacology, we have been taking great strides towards ever higher ideals.

On the other hand, there are still millions who go unfed every day, day after day. To quote numbers, 200 million suffer from malnutrition and about a quarter are on the brink of starvation. The unemployed may be at a low of 7.3%, but it still comprises of around 80 million people.

I could go on and on, but we are all acquainted with the truth. While the former is a matter of great pride, the latter forms a subject of recriminations time and again. A blame game played every year which intensifies in its acrimony until the issues fade, forgotten, only to be hedged up again the next year.

There is so much that all of us can do, and there is so much that so many want to do but cant. We all forget that the most important and the easiest thing that we can do and is within the reach of each of our hands, our right to vote. I pray that we all get an opportunity to do more, to serve our country in more ways, but I would always pray first that I not lose my right to choose who leads me and my nation.

Our independence day, the 15th of August, was not about politics, it was about giving millions and millions of people the most basic fundamental right identified by and demanded by each and every human being in this world; The right to freedom. Isn’t it time that we take it upon ourselves to honour it.

National days are events of retrospection and reflection. When we are supposed to look back and cogitate what has gone right, and what is going wrong and why so. Celebrating it with marches and displays of power are all fine, but it is imperative that we grasp the essence of our Independence Day. Today, we have been able to become self-sufficient in our food production capacity, and are slowly but steadily spreading our wings towards new horizons in our search for new frontiers, whether they be alternative energy or space. Our country has been growing at a rate of almost 8-10% this past decade and can hope to further improve in the imminent future.

Till a few years back, our institutions used to keep going on and on about the brain drain present in the country, about how the best brains always chose to head outside the country; today, however, the trends seem to have changed with the top brains opting to work in the country towards a better and brighter tomorrow. With a booming industrial graph, the race to the top has just gained pace. Like trends already seen in more developed countries the service industry has seen a high growth rate and hence accounts for a larger share in employment of citizens. And, Hospitality as a part of this major sector can, and is generating a lot of new jobs and hence playing a very significant part.

However this does bring to mind the other half of the equation. The huge part of our population still below the poverty line, that part which has to do without basic education and medical facilities; that strata of our society that doesn’t have a roof over its head, and doesn’t have a way to meaningfully employ itself.

Today when we look for lucrative offers in the job market, why is it that we always look towards the MNCs and International Companies? Why is it that we are still enchanted and drawn to the development of some other country rather than ours?

Or for that matter, since we do belong to the food industry, why is it that we aren’t quite able to assert our independence from Western Cultural imperialism in the form of Mc. Donalds, KFCs or Pizza Huts? Our food is one of the representatives of our culture, forever absorbing – be it Indian Chinese, Tandoori or Tea... But, where do we go from here? We’ve been a nation which is confident in its identity because we imbibe people and their culture... Will we be able to imbibe these new influences, or will they overcome us? Will we be able to maintain our independence here?

Be it thinking about children, about whom no one cares when they disappear, to never come back, or be it standing up against corruption which we ourselves foster. Be it not littering the roads, or helping the aged cross the road. India may be shining, but all of it is not and our conscience should not rest till then. Think about it, for you are free; you shall be free only till you think.

Because, the Independence Day is not just another holiday.

I guess I need to thank two people for their help and contribution to this post, namely Sushank and Aditya. Without whom this post would still be in more or less its nascent stage... So, thanks a lot guys!!!!

A Second Life.....?

These days the coolest things online are MMORPGs. To those of you unfamiliar with that abbreviation, it means Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games. Thanks to the booming market for Internet connections (I won't call them broadband connections, cause that'd be a disgrace...) this phenomena has now slowly and steadily started taking over the virtual horizon.

The point of this style of gaming is to provide players with a virtual persona, that lives in a virtual world. These games have not only taken the World Market by storm, they've even become huge business hubs. The games heading this revolution across the globe seem to be Second Life and The World of Warcraft.

These games have provided a new horizon for exploration..... That of our own creativity!! Though this world is just as competitive as the real world, you can easily carve out a niche for yourself here...!! The general level of comfort/need of the netizens with this genre of gaming has intensified over the past few years, thanks to the increase in the commercial viability of these supposed tools for whiling away one's time.

Today they provide us with an alternative lifestyle wherein there are no real restrictions to what we can achieve. They've also managed to create quite a few millionaires out of us common people. If you are artistic or creative in anyway, or even if you have great idea that you'd like to sell.... you can earn money........ loads and loads of money......!! And, by money I don't just mean virtual currency within the game's universe... I mean real hard cash....!! The kind that you can actually hold onto and use to buy your groceries, to pay your bills and to even buy yourself a new house or a new car!!!

But, herein come the problems... is so much of something a good thing?? Why can't man spend more time socialising physicially than virtually?? Will the advent of this era in the virtual world result into the creation of a Matrix like pseudo-world where people will willingly give up their freedom to choose to become a part of an artificial environment?? Do we want to lead that completely doctored life?? That 'perfect' life that a virtual environment like this can provide us with?? Are the strides we are taking in this direction really an improvement??

These are questions of a very personal nature... But, very important nevertheless cause they just might just change our future forever!!

Trust

Don't trust me! Don't ever trust me! If by any minute chance you're still under the impression that you can trust me, go chuck that thought in the bin! And, don't forget to slam that lid shut after you're done doing it!

I don't trust anyone. Not even myself. Infact, specially not myself! I am a person with a very loose mouth. What I hear today, will probably be the biggest piece of gossip circulating in the circles tomorrow! Courtesy, your's truly!

Do I want to trust someone? Hell I do!! So, where in would one think lies the problem?

Of Robin Hood......

Robin Hood..... A man who died centuries ago. A Man who is best remembered for stealing from the rich and giving to the needy poor. A mysterious figure worshipped by most young kids as the epitome of justice. But is this portrayal truly moral? Is this portrayal really that of a fighter for a just cause?

He is, today, remembered as the saviour of the needy, but is it right to steal for fulfilling the needs of the needy? In the stories that record his feats, he is the hero who recovers from the impotent rich, what they've 'stolen' from the productive poor. How is it that, today, the moral we glean from this story has changed from an act of justice to that of injustice, open to more grievous implications? Why isn't he remembered as the saviour of the producers?

Does this misinterpretation represent a change in the 'moral values' held in esteem by the society? Could a misinterpretation such as this be forecasting the future trends of our society where charity will be the highest moral value? Should it be the highest moral value?

Our world seems to be made up of contradictions. On one hand, we have (and have had) entrepreneurs like J.R.D. Tata, L.N. Mittal, Vijay Mallya, Dhirubai Ambani etc., while on the other hand we have the charity and senseless soap culture. Not exactly senseless... rather, the regressive soap culture. If this is a world where intelligent and sentient beings dwell, then how is it that we are able to create and nurture such a backward outlook? How can beings that have the power of comprehension and intelligence be able to stand, forget appreciate and get addicted to, such monstrosities? Why do these contradictions exist?

These are just some of the questions that keep cropping up in my mind..... Never before felt the need to ask them, but seeing that I have the platform now...... Thought I'd go ahead and do just that! Comments are appreciated..... Each and everyone of them! So, don't forget to leave your hand prints on my blog! Adieu......

Questions Unanswered

I have this 'ugly' habit of ending conversations abruptly and continuously changing the topic to suit what I feel like disclosing or talking about. Of late this seems to have become a recurring and highly irritating problem for some of my friends. So, I thought that I'd sit down and analyse the situation. Try to figure out why this hadn't been so prominent a problem earlier......

Over the past few days the maximum complains I've received are about this. So, when I did get down to pin pointing when this occurred the most, I realised that it was brought on because of one of two things. Either because the conversation was heading towards stuff I hold really dear to me, stuff that I never really intend to disclose to anyone, or it was drifting to grounds that lay in uncharted territory for me. Of the two, the former seems to have been the one that provided me with the maximum stimuli to trigger the response. For some godforsaken reason most conversations these past few days have been in dangerous territory, territory that I don't really want any trespassing in!! Hence this sudden boom in the sector. Hopefully my clampdown will allow normal life to resume again soon.

The reason behind this post is to apologise to my friends for this reckless behaviour. And, to also warn them to not be surprised or upset if they come by such impenetrable walls again. Sorry.....

The Gauge

"Every Action has an Equal and Opposite Reaction." This is one of the major laws on which our perception of the environment around us is based. I believe in a slightly different philosophy. That, of every action having a cost which requires payment. In Full.

For this to be true, every one of our actions needs to be quantified so that it may be valued. If not quantified, at least judged to an approximation for it to gain value. To an individual, the biggest dilemma is not how he will judge someone else, but how he can judge his own worth. Here in lies the basic dilemma, how does one value oneself?

Generally the first thing we notice about a person is their wealth. This can be brought forth in any number of ways. But, does it really help us to judge our own worth? Can we actually express ourselves in monetary terms, when we can't even express the reasons for ups and downs in the Share Markets with them? I'd think not.
The next thing that is generally noticed is one's popularity. One day you might be famous and the very next infamous. Fame being a very fickle friend. Does this then allow us to judge ourselves? Fame apart, the only way to judge our popularity would be to depend on third party inputs. But, can we really depend on these inputs? How far can we actually go in our trust of another?
Another measure for self-worth could be the company that one keeps. But, how could we possibly judge our self-worth with such a rudimentary tool? The company that we surround ourselves with could be what we aspire to become. Or, it could even be people we feel most comfortable with. Or, people we simply look up to. But, wouldn't this measure be quite contradictory to our intention?

Is there really any one way to measure self-worth? The conclusions drawn by me suggest not. So, a mixture of some or all of these aforementioned parameters must suffice. The next question that begs answering is, why does our own worth need determination? What could possibly require payment from our own worth? This is a question that will always yield a unique answer, drafted by circumstances in the weaves of time and necessity.

In a situation where there are no real beginnings or ends, it is but obvious that self-worth cannot hold an absolute value. It will keep changing from time to time. And, it will be for us to ascertain it, and its uses.

In an Utopian Scenario, the scales to measure one's self-worth would not require identification. They would simply exist. And, the knowledge of this would be enough to fuel the individuals belief in himself. As he would be completely at peace with himself. His basic measure though would not be wealth, fame or company.... But, would instead be his deeds and principles. Which would speak not of what he'd done for the betterment of another, but for himself. Never allowing any other to try to misuse him. Not acknowledging any to be his superior. Equal there may be. But, Superiors? Never!!

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The conception of this post had breeded an idea quite different from the one presented here. Infact, the original post would most probably have not followed this line of thought at all, as contextually it was quite different. But owing to my habit of not answering questions, the answers to which I don't want revealed, the original might never really see the light of day.