M.A.D. A NEW WAY FORWARD

In the olden times there were too many threats towards the very existence  and survival of being- threats to life- wild life, snakes, reptiles; internecine tribal rivalry for control, natural calamities- fire; water ,lightening, cloud burst. The nature was a complete mystery. All these life threatening forces found place in our “to be worshipped Gods”. Snakes and scorpions (in jungle bordering tribal habitats), water God (in most of hilly area prone to flash floods) and so man identified God with the life saviour force that was needed to counter an evil force.  So we had the Sun God, wind God ultimately leading to huge numbers of Gods. In fact we had a god for everything and prayed before the likely commencement of threat (water God prior to rains) and post threat termination to thank him and bestow favours on him. The bells, conchs, divas, in mandirs; fragrance sticks, flowers, fruits, prayers, singing bhajans as community in the mornings and evening were all aimed at addressing the fear factor and pleasing the Gods with whatever was precious at that point of time (today Sirdi and Tirupati are offered jewellery, gold and cash- principally nothing has changed) and the bargain was safety and well being. Whenever the God failed we found an excuse that the God had been displeased by some act and this was the causative of all superstitions.

The mankind has always bargained with the fear factor behind a mystery by invoking another unknown force till a counter has been found and then dumping him. The science and medicines have combined to resolve lots of these threats so time to dump some Gods- that is the way we have evolved. This must not be ridiculed as this was the prime defence mechanism to our very survival.

As mankind evolved some mysteries got demystified and we could protect ourselves against this threat due to enhancement in medicare and so we dumped some of the Gods or the rituals born out of fear of the unknown. But one would find even today. In Himachal people pray to rain god prior and post rains and blame external factor for any mishap as God ( last bastion) has to be protected. Some might find it ridiculous but the fact is as the bridges are getting laid this god is heading towards extinction.

Today the world over there is a tendency to move away from the rituals and superstitions. There are two reasons for this.

First the teaching of science has trained our minds to look at things logically and experimentally. This leads at times to arrogance of limited knowledge trying to answer those mysteries which have yet to be discovered.  The religions have failed to keep pace leading to some so called truths as propagated by the books having proven wrong or rebelling against the research or not modifying the life style as required by the modern day society.

Second is inability of our religious custodians to interpret and transform the wisdom in the present context. In the olden days they Rishi and munis who were very learned guided the kings and rulers whenever there was a moral dilemma. Proper knowledge of epics was a time consuming process and generally undertaken in the ashrams patronised by the monarchy. Thus the guardians of the religion they were forced to fend for survival. So do not blame them.

But on the positive side there is a nice backlash where some very learned people are using the modern day tools and explaining the rationale for a way, which is more acceptable to the modern mind.

 Some of the rituals and superstitions are being shed or outsourced to the subject experts- very much with the modern concept of pay and let the best man do the job.  Religious teachers continue to fulfil a felt need of society. The home based offerings of flowers, incense sticks, fruits, dry fruits, sweets and cash and  superstition of warding off ills by feeding the cows, black dons, beggars, oil offerings on Saturday, no hair cut on Tuesday, peeple pooja; bath in the Ganga   on kumbh, the black cat crossing the road etc. continue even today. Not bad if others are not impacted and gives some one positive vibes and mental peace; in fact feeding animals and beggars may be termed as a very crude form of charity. The current generation finds these as not very great so they adhere to it for parents or society’s sentiments

If God is being used by mankind to serve its own purpose from times immemorial why should the future generations follow the redundancies? Has the time come to move beyond the rituals to a higher plan of God utility where the God is worshipped for something higher than survival or threat neutralisation? Yes, I firmly believe we are standing at that point of time in history.

We need to move towards spirituality. This basically means moving from rituals, dogmas, superstitions and fears. The basics of all religions are same that is, there is a power controlling, love, compassion, work honestly, help the poor, you are endowed with mind and freewill, you are the creator of destiny and will reap what you sow, control your mind, thought and deeds, anger jealousy, be kind to all kinds of life and explore and experience life and nature and spread peace and happiness.

This is the way forward to achieving the elusive goal of happiness, mental peace and journey towards the higher goals. Time to venture into the discovery of self through the help of some learned teachers and books on Raj Yoga. The future generations need to dwell into major mysteries about the soul, spirit and purpose of life.

M.A.D. EMPOWERING THE MARGINALISED

We have a large impoverished and internally displaced population which is living in  deplorable state - economically and habitat wise. Kashmiri Pundits; people from North East;  Hindus/Sikhs thrown out from Pakistan and Afghanistan form part of the major displaced people as of today. The national government and state governments are unwilling or incapable to provide for such large masses of displaced populace. 

Some have become unemployed because of NGOs or other commissions having got judicial consent resulting in closure of jobs like circus, monkey dancing, elephant ride; snake charmers etc.; ban on gutka ban; tribal banned from surviving from and off forests produce and soon large number will be rendered jobless with set top boxes replacing cable. no one seems to have given adequate thought to the consequences of these bans or loss of jobs, on the society.

There are some  which are semi skills empowering jobs, e.g., mechanic; hotels; tailor; cobbler; carpenter; welders, drivers and host of others.Domestic help by young boys and girls in the urban areas was and continues to be a big source of employment in the unorganised sector. And these were done by younger kids because remuneration was less. However this has been officially banned leading to inadequacy of quality of skills acquisition.

 Large number of Biharis; Bangladeshis and  Nepalese have occupied the space vacated by paucity of labour due to our youth from Panjab having moved to the West and unwillingness amongst the local boys to do the menial jobs  Impoverished biharis and foreign illegal immigrants are blackmailed into doing the jobs which are otherwise banned.

Thus a very peculiar situation has arisen. Low skill low pay jobs in domestic help or apprenticeship are available but not legally tenable. The outcome- lots of kids are going hungry and not attending schools.

There are families,  notwithstanding the claims of the government and right to education , which are not in apposition  to send kids to school because they are needed home to  look after the house/sibling when parents are away. So it is a catch twenty two situation defying a simple situation. There are very few jobs in the rural areas. So people move to urban areas for economic prosperity and bright future of the next generation but they are unskilled. For the unskilled rural person labour jobs are available but not paying enough to run support the complete family of around five. So the wife has to work as domestic help, there is enough demand and just about adequate supply. There are added perks of this job- sometimes accommodation, doles, security and a decent remuneration. Kids make extra buck on Sunday with car wash or laundry etc.

With the latest trend of working couples reliable domestic help is becoming a necessity.

There seems to be a scope of mega transformation of marginalised populace with the help of the society by following a win- win option by meeting the essential needs of each other.

The suggestion is that anyone who houses a family in their house (servants quarters) be given the responsibility of funding one child where with all. The child in turns helps the lady of the house in house hold chores during non-school hours. This would be something like loose adoption with child becoming a member of the family and providing emotional support in due course. The child learns good things of life by just observing and working in the house. Following benefits accrue

          Family lives in decent accommodation rather than slums.

          Better quality of life and upbringing.

          Helps the working couple

          Emotional support to elderlies of the clan

          Security of the house

          Opportunity to learn/develop additional vocational skills

In due course this family will be able to fund a EWS/LIG type     of house

Illegal migration into urban areas of Bangladeshi will be controlled.

It will to some extent dry up source of support to ISI operating from Bangladesh. The labour shortage can be met by issuing work permits.

 A small step could mean transformational change for the nation.

M.A.D – WHY I HATE HINDUISM

The oldest religion has given us epics, knowledge, values, art and purpose of living and explained a lot of mysteries of life still being proven by science. Hinduism has also been the prime source of wisdom for newer religions like Sanathan, Jainism, Buddhism and Sikhism which branched out due to the creeping ills. Hinduism has failed to move with times though the whole world may be criticising Islam for being a medieval, retro, outdated religion, Hinduism is not far behind , Islam is fighting back Hinduism does not give a damn. What has Hinduism given us, is the root cause of our failing as individuals, society and nation. The major ills could be described as follows:-

 Caste system. It is sickening to witness the lower castes being treated shabbily in some regions. Their treatment at places is worse than the animals. No respect and no one give a damn. Separate habitat, cannot visit a temple, separate drinking water- at times common with the animals; cannot sit or look into the eyes/face of higher castes. One wonders as to how are we better than some of nasty Islamic states.

Misinterpreted version of destiny, karma and soul theory has made the psyche of most of orthodox followers almost illogical. Someone else is responsible and our lives are remote controlled therefore we are helpless in front of destiny. We have made poor God responsible for all the ills and cure of the same. He is your father so better look after.

Family domination. The kings fooled the populace through the system of monarchy, the king’s son to be the king, notwithstanding the capability. Within the family my son is better than your son.

Blind men Dhritrastra was the king and look what merry hell he played with the destiny of the nation. Kakayi did the same to look after Bharat and remove Ram.

Sycophants and Greed. The power centres were surrounded by relatives, kith and kin and few slimy operators who wielded all the power for personal greed and advancement. It was the accepted norm and still continues.

Failure to grow on ancestral wisdom- yoga, ayurved, herbs for health, herbs for beauty, herbs for disease prevention and control; no follow up on Vedas

Charity hardly exists. The rituals of distributing the surplus from the harvest, helping the needy, contributing financially or materially to ashrams and constructing rest houses and drinking water points for travellers always exited but seems to have got left behind.

Mandirs are by and large very wealthy but extremely filthy; full of beggars, few amenities and limited solace or environment which such place must provide. Their sole aim is   to fleece a visitor ruining the very sanctity of the occasion.

Holiday homes and drinking water points – charitable issue of the past but it has vanished from our priority

Superstitions; Begging and bribing- beg anyone for wish fulfilment and go to ant extent of insanity. Some days, times, months not auspicious. Film actress marries a tree; someone marries a dog for better future. Corrupting and bribing the Gods, if you do this I will give you that in return. Astrology, palmistry, numerology, Bhrigu leaves, horoscope have combined to shape a psychology of someone else being in total control but we can negotiate with him through rituals etc.

Rituals based on fear and blackmail.  For the dead, if you do not do this your forefathers will be subjected to this scourge. Visit Hardwar Ghats and see the fear and terror the pandas create in you without any shame or fear.

Hygiene. Clean your house, litter the common space. Take care of self, to hell with the rest.

Dowry. She-God worshipped but girls killed in the womb or burnt for dowry.

Fractured religion there is just too many Gods and ways of life. However religion and its rituals are supposed to help a being to progress further in life. It’s akin to doing KG to graduate/post graduate. KG makes the base. However in Hinduism we damn well do not move ahead beyond the rituals. The Yoga tells you to proceed on any one or more disciplines amongst Raj, Bhakti, Gyan and Karma; however it’s practised by few.

Lethargic People- Quite happy with the status quo or aping the west. Not having much of self-esteem, Hindus have made no effort to modify the bullock cart though we invented the wheel. We invented the gun powder but never used it to protect the nation from our enemies.

Maximal Gurus preaching on TV but we are a society which adheres to none that’s taught. With so much of preaching’s and following we should have transformed into a society of caring, righteousness, truth supporting; helping the needy, honest and hard working society having clean mandirs and leading the good way of life. 

But what actually happening is that we are becoming the most corrupt, cruel, lazy, non-progressive; sermonising in grandiose morality but poor in application, me-my son first; with filthy mandirs and common utilities; manipulative and divisive religion and society.

I have been a practising Hindu for fifty tears but I am starting to hate Hinduism.

M.A.D. MY SON

Democracy demands maximal good of most possible. That also is the rationale of various pressure groups based on community, caste, religion, profession and unions. This grouping forces the policy makers to ensure decisions are taken for maximal happiness. If the basic premise is right, then where have we faltered as a nation? Great culture, heritage, civilisation, history, epics, morality etc. etc. but have these become bane instead of boons.

My son Ramayan and Mahabharat was all about “my son”- from Kakeyi to Pandu to Dhritrashtra. My son wills the king as he is divine and the chosen one. Fine in monarchy but democracy….

Is this then our inheritance? What wrong are the present day politicians or yester years Royalty was following it after all it’s been passed down the ages by our God incarnates. So is it OK?

The kings through their Rishi/Muni – the wise people ensured sub survience of populace and crushing competition at an early date; ensuring any threat was countered by divide and rule; befriending  enemies enemy- after all was this not the statecraft propagated by Chankya, implemented by Krishna and Manu or Arjuns Guru who asked for Eklavyas right thumb. Well its all documented and believed by most of us as tradition passed down the ages by the sages. It was ensured that my son remained unopposed by a combination of instruments of state. Of course every one connived because it was good for survival and progress and of course my son too.

The greatest mind game exponent was Krishan bhagwan. Hardly ever picked up arms but defeated armies and neutralised his opposition through scarring the other of consequential ramifications of the act. Thereby convincing him to change the course and he ensured victory of the side he supported. Our polity today has really learnt a lot from him and applying it reasonably successfully. Media control enables mind control therefore my logic is the best. Let my son be!!

Society was initially divided on caste lines – kind courtesy Manu’s misinterpretation by our religious bigots who gave a different meaning to this divide ensuring their supremacy (control of mind though fear) and continue even today though the wise people have refined the art intellectually convincing. We have fine-tuned the art of continued divide -- SC/ST/OBC/EWS/BPL/Minority community in addition to the cancer of caste system which continues unabated.

Theory of Karmas and destiny perhaps has been the biggest curse of our nation. Its misinterpretation is ruining our self-esteem; effort to control and direct the destiny and willingness to live in worst possible state of affairs. Blaming everyone else but self for miseries- God. He must be having a tough time- failure of self, rain, harvest, produce a child, accident, sickness, injury, poverty, wars, devil, corruption is all because of him. After all he is the doer!!

Is there a way out- logically yes but practically I have serious doubts.

The present polity, to ensure “my son” will continue to divide us and keep sweetening the pill through doles and fear of other and misquoting the past and simultaneously ensuring remain bhikaris, survive on our mehar, if you try and shake the apple cart you will be liquidated by use of force, blackmail and using other potent instruments of power. Remain loyal to my son your future is secure, pose a challenge and see what happens to you. The methodology is same as was in the past- mind control through the media, doles; destroy opposition and divide and keep society impoverished and dependent. Keep the instruments of state power happy so that my son rules un challenged then who cares.

What does M.A.D. do about it, certainly not my son. Some suggestions

          Remove castes instead of increasing it. Do we have Vivekananda or Madan Mohan Malviya? We have Nityanand!! Extremely difficult but the nation can become a modern society only after this ill is eradicated. Polity disinterested then who bells the cat? Or could some Mahatma focus on this issue.

Hinduism has become sick it needs a major surgery to get back into a modern day religion. Today 90 per cent ills of superstition; destiny; blame others; theory of karma is ruined the populace. The religious leaders are again in my son mode, we need another Vivekananda for this transformation. Society needs integration on broader fundamentals of spirituality, goodness, righteousness, compassion, love empowerment, merit; resource abundance; good governance; harmony and of course development.

M.A.D.- PARADOX. HONEST VS A PERFORMING LEADER

      Last week a politician announced on the TV news channel that he was not a Gandhi but a mafia. His party has national ambitions. These leaders are expected to take the country into a bright future. It was really scary and made me mad. But others appeared to be unconcerned or not giving a damn attitude so, I decided to talk to workers on the street on this issue about our leaders.

     The general reaction was something on the following lines:

         At least he is speaking the truth, others preach like saints but the deeds are of         sinners. Accessible, listens to you and is very helpful.  HYPOCRISY AND RESULT ORIENTED

    The babudom and the local governance is scared of him as he has in the past slapped/ scarred/brandished a gun and defied the authority. If someone does not do his work, that babu had it. GOOD GOVERNANCE THOUGH THE MEAN ARE QUESTIONABLE

         The leaders win elections through votes, which imply there is a mutual expectation between the two. Rightly so, after all that’s the essence of democracy. However the winning candidate generally is with around 30percent votes having ensured no one else can garner more than that. This implies that if a caste, community or any other block of voters or a combination of one or more groups coming together will deliver victory. The subsequent success would depend on his vote bank being by and large satisfied about their needs having been met. CASTE/RELIGION/COMMUNITY/VESTED GROUPS DECIDE THE QUALITY OF LEADERS AND THEIR OUTPUT.

      Our policies are great but delivery is worst. There is no dearth of resources but the output is tardy. Everyone knows it but appears helpless or unwilling to make a difference. The babudom is corrupt, non-accountable, and tardy and blackmails the powers through the unions having direct consequences on the future. Majority in the government political and delivery hierarchy is taking the line of blaming each other and prospering. Honest and whistle blowers being hounded out. DISTRIBUTE THE BLAME BUT DO NOT CHANGE

      The general view was that the leader must get our daily routine jobs done with minimal harassment and quickly rather than telling them the procedures or putting them through the grind of babudom. DELIVERER

      I must quote another incident of a few years back, wherein a politician was caught with huge sum of unaccounted wealth (hid bed) during a CBI raid and he feigned ignorance.(It’s a separate issue that nobody believed the netas version). He was crucified by the media, being from Himachal Pradesh, comparatively an honest state; one thought that this would be the end of his political career.  However, the minster won thumping elections next time in spite of this stigma. His constituency had a very interesting logic – the minster whilst in power had provided telephones everywhere in the state.  Till then mobiles had not come to India and getting a land line was a big pain. The department expected the remote areas/smaller villages to pool in resources and erect the poles. He was seen as a hero and returned with a thumping majority. Were the people sending a message? DELIVERER

This has a serious implication for our nation as the grass root level requirement is much different than the so called ideal copy-book leadership.

We need leadership that can deliver through whatever means, the rest is negotiable. This is in harmony with the basic tenets of democracy and the society. But what future will such leadership gives us is a scary scenario.

Is there a need to get M.A.D. – of course yes, but ask me for the answer, well I do not know as of now?

You have some suggestions, kindly share

2014 - Start Now

2014 START NOW-GOVERNANCE MODEL

Today Indian society is badly fragmented on Bharat vs India; rich vs poor; farmers vs industry; jobs loss vs privatisation; North East vs the rest; tribal vs others and other armed conflicts in addition to  caste and  religion which is our inheritance. With so many fault lines,at times one is surprised as to how are we surviving as a nation for so long in a turbulent world.

India has been a harmonious, developed society till East India Company and subsequently the British decided to convert it inti a nation ob clerks by destroying our culture, values, heritage and imposing a set of rules which were alien and lower but given a boost with money power. Speech by then Lord Macaulay to British Parliament of 1835 vintage states that there were no beggers or thieves, ours was a wealthy ,culturally and  spiritually advanced society far superior to that of the west and only way to rule was by destroying the basic fibre of culture and spirituality and replacing it with  a new system where by we are made to believe that everything English is far superior and slowly destroy our self esteem and rest follows.

If this be true, which is quite probable then are we still following the McCauley formula very slavishly? It appears to be so. Indian thought of Yoga and most other things that are part of culture and heritage now requires certification of the west. 

Our policy makers; thinkers and part of polity is educated and mesmerised by the west; elites, politicians; rich; famous any one everyone who can afford wishes to be stamped as west educated and it becomes a passport to success.

 Is there  then a dire need to change the mindset? 

We should emulate the west in development but at our own terms in harmony with our societal and spiritual values lest we follow the same course of relearning these lessons.

Other major hurdle is the nexus amongst the power centres with little accountability. License raj via  the bureaucracy and discretionary powers are cause of major ills.

Mediocrity rather than merit is another modern day ill propagated by the powers to retain their voters through fear and intimidation thereby making them permanent liabilities.

What does any society need. "A happy, harmonious and de stressed populace by and large enjoying their lives. This would primarily include economic growth in an enabling environments with adequate freedom providing equal opportunities to all in a non discriminative surroundings."

 Solution lies in good governance. Humble, efficient and nation serving institutional, fair; transparent; merit based and enlightened responsive rather than elite; out of touch; arrogant; greedy, me first; 

power managers what ever be their level- from a village sarpanch to the highest.

The next government of India who so ever comes to power alliance or a front needs to encompass the following as their agreed agendas.

Uplift Bharat through our very own development model.

Government creates infrastructure centrally.Decentralise control. Let the village decide - others to facilitate and monitor.

Let the industry build hospitals, colleges and other institutes of excellence and give a profitable deal. Merit be the sole criterion for selection at the higher levels. Where ever required let them run special coaching classes but for God sake don't compromise on merit.

Change the governance/ delivery model at the planning, coordination and execution level enshrining the following tiers of decision making - headed by elected representative, advised by the stake holder and bureaucracy responsible for fine tuning and ensuring resource availability. Today the elected representatives are highly accountable and under pressure to perform where the populace is active; the bureaucracy who is hardly accountable wield maximum power and there the specialist are appendages. this will ensure proper accountability and no faulty decisions for in adequate expertise.

The issue now is where do we fit in- the people like me who go M.A.D on being helpless when so much is going wrong, there are so many problems with workable solutions but no one cares because of arrogance, self centred powers and nations comes last philosophy.

Since most of us are unwilling or incapable to jump into the arena for whatever be the reasons, we can, should and must contribute by raising our voice and prevailing on the elected reps to a legally binding agenda with a time frame to perform. Through the cyberspace, print and personal interaction,  in debates and other fora question the parties on development promises and how do they will mobilise resources. 

Self Empowerment

M.A.D -  MAKE A DIFFERENCE

Like many others I also get mad because of filth and seem to be helpless in doing some thing.

Its right from the top to the bottom and its worse amongst the service providers funded by the government who have all possible perks and security. The only thing that is not there is accountability.

We have the best constitution, fantastic laws and best possible systems but all this is only on paper. We appear to be debating via the media, parliament and all other foras and quite happy about it. These are highly moralistic debates and one feels if the leaders are so good why the heck are we not delivering?

We have people looting the nation with misdeeds out in the media, some are put in jail temporarily but as soon a better scandal is out and public memory fades, they are free and its business as usual.Thereafter,even the investigative agency proceed depending on political expediency. 

I am mad at it and so many of us are mad about it. Are we doomed to be helpless witnesses to open loot of our resources and even pay for the loot in terms of all taxes and hikes? Or is there anything we can do collectively ?

Its not that there are not enough great Indians in the present context, unfortunately we have left it to the others and sense of complacency or despondency has developed. Both are disastrous for the nation- the leadership becomes arrogant and non accountable, we seem to be reaching that state in our country.

The issue then is are we to let our nation go to dogs or do something about it. If you get mad like me , let us put our heads together to fight this filth through empowerment of ourselves but how?

What is it that you feel is the next best thing to be done in the present scenario in our available resources in terms of time and money? The forum is open for discussion to all of you and try and make a difference to the society and try and make a change on our own...