The Toss

The Toss

      

            Yes, we were at that area again, around the dining table, relaxed after the dinner but in the excited state because the topic was the trip we may possibly have in the coming Christmas holidays. After the dinner it was the galaxy of the great travelers who plan more and travel less, gathered around the table. Everybody came with own submission of plans. Suggestions, discussions, google search, call to an acquaintance that happened to have visited the place. He came up with some additional inputs. Everybody had a suggestion, proposed destination, proper justification, emotional association, no wonder all was discussed, travel plan, sojourn, and yes the shopping….. can a tour plan however meticulous it may be, be complete without shopping chart? 

     The glorious uncertainty about the planning is that there is no guarantee  it will materialize. The great plans about going to tourist places and dream of great enjoyment often terminate abruptly at Chandrapur owing to the unforeseen, never imagined, unwanted but inescapable situations leaving no option but to surrender and of course invite the wrath of stakeholders. The beauty of these discussions is that even though the  rate of achieving the goal is not good, the rate at which the plans get halted indefinitely without even take off is high, still we are not tired of planning. Anybody can play the spoil sport, some emergency, some unwanted work,….anybody can just pierce a needle through the balloon and we then are left with no option but to scuttle the holiday plan ensuing despair but again waiting for the next round table conference.

      This time also we did it…..the plan. I decided to cross the biggest hurdle. Reservations!!!. Getting a berth in the railway in the holiday season is as difficult as getting the cabinet berth. The entire planning can simply descend to ravine if the railway reservations are not available. All are eager to travel but not without the reservations for travelling otherwise, that too with family, is an absolute nightmare. The packed coaches, the flock around T.T., … difficult to manage…honestly, I am weak at it. For me it’s better to try a hand at booking counter at the first opportunity.  

        I was standing in the long queue at the railway reservation counter.  Barring some, almost all of our railway stations are in the close vicinity of dirt.  Outside I could see some children playing and some searching the garbage around for something saleable in the scrap market. A real time visit to Slumdog Millionaire!! I remembered coming out of the theater after watching the Oscar winning movie ‘Slumdog Millionaire’, absolutely stunned by the horrifying, surreal depiction of life at slums. Most of us have an idea of the conditions there but the chilling remainder the movie gives us about poverty, vulnerability of those children comes as a rude shock; the portrait tries to sensitize us to the hope and aspirations of the people there.

     I also remembered the discussion about the tendency of the foreign directors in portraying our poverty, encashing on the generated sympathy. The other opinion being the acceptance of the reality and more importantly mere depiction of a slum did not show us in bad light but what was unfortunate was that after so many years we failed to bridge the gap. More than anything it was the insensitivity of decision makers that was reflected there, thought I. The announcement of the arrival of the train prompted them to run to the platform. They seemed to be in a hurry to catch the opportunity of begging.

      But I was in the different mood altogether. Yesterday the drama that unfolded on a news channel after revelations by Vinod Kambli, and a hint at match fixing, was very much on my mind. His allegations took me down the memory lane. We all were upbeat, India in the semi-final, one barrier to clear, enter in the final and recreate the magic of 1983, lift the cup. We almost were having dreams, our captain lifting the cup, the whole India celebrating. But it was not destined to happen. As the match began with the toss, we started praying, all Gods requested, all religions were equal, we left nobody, we wanted the toss to be won. All were confident, win the toss, elect to bat and won the match, as simple as that. Moreover most experts predicted the possible turn the pitch might get, probable difficulty in batting second. The coin was tossed. A pause followed, we all shouted with the toss won but were stunned to hear the decision to bowl first.

     What followed when we batted was suicidal display of poor batting. Our disappointment after the loss of India to the Shri Lankan team at the semifinal of the world cup at the Eden garden was hard to forget. As most of Indians I cursed the Indian captain for opting to bowl first after winning the toss. Considering the condition of the pitch most pundits had the opinion of batting first, he seemed to have defied logic. My dream of watching India in the final was crushed. I was even tempted to think of the foul play. The images of disillusionment took a firm grip over my mind. The real culprit, the toss, put me in the whirlwind of imagination, the chance that we failed to capitalize on, fair play….or we all suspected …fixing?

   The Kambli drama forced me to revisit that day, full of anguish. The entire episode was played over and over again, Kambli crying then on ground, now in studio, so much for his sensitivity. The channel tried its best to stir the controversy. Suddenly I woke up from my long stretch of imagination. A soft touch at back of my forehand did it. Before I turned around a little boy must be 7 years came forward touching and begging for money. It was not the first time that I saw a beggar at railway station but he was different. The clothes challenged the limits of dirtiness and so was his body. Lack of bathing in living conditions full of filth had taken its toll. Obnoxious odour was emanating from him. Misery, poverty, hunger was written all over his face. His eyes poignantly pointed to his suffering, pain and exploitation. Inhuman living conditions were oozing out there; moreover it was a window showing the most unpleasant world from close quarter. I felt ashamed of my mind, which was engrossed in the toss that cost us the match, and here was a boy whom a coin from me would make a big difference in calming the stomach.

     I gave him two-rupee coin. He turned away and I turned in satisfaction. I was experiencing the contentment. I was not in any way responsible for the dirt he was living in, the life he was dumped in, on the outer ring of society, without any amenities. Repressive, brutal but I belonged to the privileged class, not affluent but with enough to lead a decent life. Why I was having a sense of satisfaction? Was that because of a kind of guilt, not in self-explanatory domain? A coin donated. A proud feel of being a donor, subtle, thin covered my ‘self’. Self-satisfaction gripped me. A sense of playing a role in partially reducing his misery touched me. It was as if I found the solution, though limited to me, to his poverty.

       Came my turn, got my tickets and left for backward journey out of the station. Happy at getting the reservation, satisfied with myself for being a donor, a philanthropist of sort and above all with divine fulfillment I was walking back. I just looked to the left side casually. I saw the coin going up, that miserable boy, whom I gave a coin, was at it, happily tossing it up, running with alacrity to join a group of young boys aged 7-8 gambling near a pile of garbage. Shock, disappointment, frustration killed my donor’s contentment. That simple toss tossed up the way I thought about begging children and compelled me to search for better options to address to their yet undefeated misery. 

A Media Deficit

 A  Media Deficit

      

       The Lokpal movement of Team Anna and in fact all of us are nearing a decisive turn. Whatever happens in parliament and then to the movement onwards, the life is not going to be easy for the people from media but at the same time it may merit the attention of us to the critical analysis of the role media has played in the unfolding drama. Lot has already been said about the overdrive the live media went into in giving coverage to the agitation. But what about the print media, was the print media fair in reporting the movement? Also whether the live media truly backed the movement or just cashed on the movement to improve TRP rating? Was this media sincere, serious in reporting or just was busy creating the hype around Jantarmantar. The analysis is necessary because in the democracy the role of the media in shaping the opinion of the country which may or may not translate in the ballot boxes that can turn the polity upside down.

      Right from the beginning the print media was against the team Anna movement. I have been following at least three newspapers, all were against team Anna. I don’t remember even a single article questioning the political system that failed to pass the Lokpal bill, not the ultimate and the only solution but a step in the direction of making the corrupt accountable to their crime. The questions were never raised about the immoral, undemocratic behavior of the members of parliament be it in cash for vote scam or horse trading or not allowing the tabling of the women reservation bill. As soon as the agitation began print media was unusually sharp in suspecting the response it might possibly get from the people of India. As the movement gathered momentum, response poured in, the news papers were inundated with the articles questioning claim of the movement of being the voice of the people.

       The favorite tag almost all the print media was eager to pin was a page three middle class movement that does not represent the voice of the people who are excluded in the development. They were easily labeled as the candle wielding groups who seek solace in gathering at gateway of India for the issues not so much affecting the poor people of country. And the argument that this class claims the moral high ground in pointing the fingers at the govt. but never there, when it comes to sharing the responsibility as a citizen. They don’t vote; take it as a holiday and so on. Honestly there is some truth in it but such people are in all classes, then why target middle class. Is it because they are more aware of their rights? Better educated? It was as if the support of this class to this agitation had no echoes in the deprived class. The larger question is why they looked at the picture with so much of negativity? Why no focus on the issue? Did the presence of a particular class dilute the gravity of the corruption? Print media did not take this line.

         A closer glance at the assessment reveals the carefully crafted, blatantly painted picture of middle class that whole heartedly supported the movement. The middle class is always accused of being idle even indifferent to be on the street when it comes to the social cause. As part of the unions they are excellent in holding entire country for ransom for the perennial demand of pay hikes with minimum workload, they will burn the roads through marches but as an individual participating in a social movement is often not on the agenda. It changed when we saw the middle class outraged, mobilized hitting the streets in the Priyadarshani Mattoo murder case, then in the fight for the justice in Nitish Katara murder case. They were trend setters and the class with upward mobility started gathering at various places in metros, protesting, lighting candles in the memory of deceased in terrorist attacks. What’s wrong in this? Is it because some of them belonged to page three? Some celebrities might have had a ride on the wave of sympathy but can anybody deny the reality that it built the pressure on the system that was bent on denying the justice to these families.

        In the anticorruption movement print media first spun the web around middle class. As the support swelled they shifted the target area to preservation of democratic set up. The entire movement that was non-political was painted as being anti-democracy. Have anybody heard anything against democracy, the parliamentary system? What the men in charge there were questioning was the sincerity of the political establishment in institutionalizing a system that would rein in corruption in corridors of power. The unprecedented anger boiling in the society due to the exposure of series of scandals, the common factor being the collusion of those in power, burst at Jantarmantar. No doubt some of the rhetoric could have been avoided but the shameless approach of the establishment in condoning, looking the other way when plunder of national assets was running full swing smashed the image of political class. Why while scrutinizing the moral authority of the men in the movement, political establishment was rarely questioned?

     The assessment of the media about the middle class and the movement is open to discussion but can anybody deny that it was constructed on regressive note?  Why so anti team Anna line? Almost all the columnists, politicians as guest writers failed to appreciate the positives of the movement. Those politicians who behaved most undemocratically in parliament were eloquently writing about the traditions, sanctity of the parliament. The news papers failed to expose this duplicity. There can be no delusion about the Lokpal, not being the sole savior in this corrupt scenario but more than providing the credible alternative to the Janlokpal the govt. always seemed to be on war path or attempting to discredit the Janlokpal. Why print media was loath to comment on this? It did not challenge the political class on these anomalies. Those who jumped on the so called revelations about the members of team Anna, attempting to put them to trial in the media on frivolous charges were not put to question by the media for diverting the attention from larger and more important issue of anticorruption, and also on how those cases suddenly surfaced. Let the truth prevail but focus must not be shifted from the bill, was not the line most papers adopted.

     Why print media is so much biased against the anticorruption movement? A little peep into the business of newspaper gives a different picture. Gone are the days when newspapers were started to educate people, today its only business. Almost all news papers run with the budget of hundreds of crores. The govt. has control over paper, advertisements and also has the power to arm twist potential advertisers to reduce the revenues, may be the reason we generally don’t find anti-establishment line, moreover some big print media houses are aligned to major political parties. How can these papers take a line that is against the party their masters are affiliated to? Which news paper is ready to compromise its interests for the sake of fair projection of a crusade? This is an irreparable scene. The caution is not to form the opinion based on one news paper. We must take the second opinion but final judgment must be left to our own discretion. From paid news to planted stories to perverted opinion, the print media is all scattered, there are balanced voices but are not loudly heard.

     The live media runs on TRP. In the competition they will do all insane things to retain viewership. They are ready to go for overkill just for it. The coverage was good but the frivolity could have been avoided for it only induced the suspicion that they only wanted to build and cash on the wave of popular sentiments, leaving them open for manipulation. Apart from some serious debates and discussions I am sure all of you will agree that they failed to create an environment where people tuned to them to learn about the pros and cons of the bill. Once the die rolled in favour of team Anna they just caved in. We only saw discussion with political orientation. But the credit is definitely due to them for taking the cause to remote corners of country.

    This media is also not free from committing damaging lapses. The Radia tapes exposed the active involvement of some prominent figures in the print as well as live media in using their influence in the govt. for specific purposes obviously not the social cause. These channels are also run with the huge budgets. Apart from some respectable exceptions the overall quality of the reporting is poor, and analysis horrifying. The responsible coverage and quality analysis is terribly missing from the media. The overzealous channels resorting to breaking news of no significance, occasionally wrong, presents a funny but on more serious note damaging picture as to how we have been squandering the freedom of media bestowed upon us by our constitution.

    The new significant media is internet. It still is in infancy but has the potential of mobilizing the people as has happened in anticorruption movement. The world witnessed the role of social networking sites in revolutions in Arab world. Now the discussion has shifted to can internet shape policy? Can a leader emerge from this? It is too early to comment. In our country the internet users are growing but still they are not significant in number. There are facebook users who are freely expressing themselves sometimes even crossing the barrier of decency. We have to admit that they can spread news, share views but cannot help shape the opinion. This role can be played by bloggers.

     We have bloggers but either they are celebrities or insignificant freelancers, add to it our tendency to focus on who is writing than what is being written. A brilliant idea, interpretation may die because it came from a non distinguished writer but a tweet about a gossip may well spread like a wild fire. Our internet is used more for free expression, not much for the in depth analysis, innovative idea exchange, but it is going to change as more and more young people are using it in novel ways. Our bloggers must establish themselves as quality writers who don’t resort to copy-paste. The onus is now on those who want to use this media for writing freely. The better they write and more join them, faster the community will grow and closer we will come in exploiting the gains of free internet.  As we mature in developing a chain of bloggers for balanced analysis, forum for discussion, the situation will change. People are already using facebook not just for updating the status but also for sharing good information, rest assured quality information will also be shared. It has been proved time and again that the internet cannot be censored, it will always remain free. In India we have a media deficit; question is who is going to fill it? Are we ready to contribute to the quality information, analysis? Are we going to write freely, share generously? Are more and more writers going to occupy the e-space with analytical, critical articles? When we do we will be seriously taken by establishment. When many turn up single blogs will not be armtwisted.

We have celebrities who are bloggers but will bloggers become celebrities?

A challenge we have, are we going to stand up to it?

   

A Lesson From Homework

 A Lesson From Homework

      

       It is such a wonderful feeling watching proudly as a father, the two lovely daughters growing up. Their every prank is a memory to cherish. Our eldest daughter Nidhi was born in Diwali on Dhanteras, considered an auspicious day for monetary gain. People usually buy gold on the day as a good omen for prosperity through year. I don’t remember what I gained monetarily after that but certainly she filled our life with immeasurable joy transcending monetary considerations. She remained our focus, a single point attention and of course our concern, fear. When Sanhita was born one of my relatives spontaneously said it should have been a baby boy but we were very much happy and extremely content with a girl with sharp features and beautiful oceanic shades in eyes. We immediately felt humble and fortunate, thanking Almighty for blessing us with the girl not just one but two.

        It is now a great fun with Sanhita graduating to a naughtier level as compared to Nidhi. She always takes Nidhi for a ride, wants her to share everything but when it’s her turn she sits on the decision often to the anger of Nidhi. I so enjoy all this that I just don’t want to interfere, expect Nidhi to solve the conflict of interest as even a small problem is a big issue for both. Being elder comes with some unwanted sacrifices, a reason for the sound and fury emanating from Nidhi. Sanhita has a knack of putting her desires, wishes in smarter manner, and we, especially I succumbing happily. What we denied to Nidhi, Sanhita managed easily from me, like my pen. She just comes, radiating sugar coated charmed innocence and requests very politely, if I would allow her to use it for a while, difficult to say no to such requests, she walks away more often with everything of her wish, leaving Nidhi fuming, giving my better half an opportunity to inform me about how easily she has blackmailed me emotionally, and alerting me about what may possibly lie ahead.

     With all the fun in growing up comes the weight of school bag on shoulder not that ready to take the burden. Early morning hurry, time usually moving faster than expected, the bus, autoriksha coming a bit earlier and girls searching for socks, some books outside school bag, unpolished shoes, blame it on load shading but wrinkles on uniform.. the list is long, the material full of dynamite to test our patience. To add to the woes of poor parents, the school feels that the best way to challenge the imagination of parents is to give numerous projects to children. These projects take nightmarish turn when there is a miscommunication or mismatch in what is being told by teacher and what children want and worse what is available in the market. So often in the parents-teacher meet I raised the issue, even noted in the register a request to lessen the burden of project and school bag. So far haven’t made any headway on this front but nevertheless feel lucky that we did not go through the nightmare of forcing a reluctant child to go to school. That is the ordeal we were not destined to appear for but other one in store tests our patience almost every day.

      Homework!!!!!..... is that ordeal. Nidhi is in seventh standard but still tries all the tricks in the book to avoid it, at least postpone for couple of hours. Come two holidays she will enjoy them fully, playing, watching TV and finally reconciling to the unavoidability and finishing it early morning before leaving for bus stop. Just feel she is the right candidate for engineering, remembering the scenes of students going to examination hall with a book (vbd) in hand, trying his/her best to memorize important points but with university results favouring the method, the scenes are multiplying. Sanhita has a different mindset altogether. As soon as the first letter is written in the copy while finishing her homework, she experiences terrible pain in her legs, all hard work of the day oozes out through her legs. As it gradually subsides, just when something appears on the copy, sharpener meets pencil, pencil begins to disappear. Three broken leads and finally sharp end, the story is endless. Pencil cut to size, comes back to work. Some letters appear on the copy, then hunt for eraser begins. When things are smooth this is the normal course, in the rough weather it is flat, big ‘no’ to homework. In parallel a topicless commentary is on, full throttle. 

         The weather is more often than not rough, not that the atmosphere is tense but is full of negativity. In a parent’s teacher meet we talked to her teacher, felt if there was some kind of insistence from school, our task would be easier. Her teacher told us that she was a shy and decent student, once she slightly pushed her for homework, she didn’t go out to play, kept to herself, she(teacher) felt bad. I realized she had placed proper fielding at school also. No pressure from school, freedom at home, the homework followed the pattern of ATKT, with full exemptions sometimes.

        Last year when in nursery, she was about to get down the stairs for school, I just checked her bag. I saw incomplete copy, told her that she should complete it today after coming home. Two steps down she wanted me to take that copy out. I did not get it completely, she again repeated, take it out, shocked, I asked why. She was prompt, her answer was, otherwise teacher would see it. I had to take it out. She went happily. I don’t know what she told her teacher, must have been something like I forgot it,….. what surprised me was the cool attitude with which she managed all this. At such a tender age she displayed such skills in telling lies. It repeated, not very often, later also.

      Just a week back, she could not complete the homework, so she insisted on not putting that copy into bag. I told her that teacher wouldn’t mind, it was not that you did nothing. You could promise that you would finish it next day. She was unconvinced. But then I was firm on inserting it in the bag without her knowledge. Down the stairs she cross checked with me, I just tried to evade the question, hurriedly took her to autoriksha. She again asked the same question. I didn’t answer directly; in fact I just could not tell her lie. She went to school as usual but not before pushing me in the pool of questions.

     Why I could not lie to her? Why I could not speak my mind, tell her the truth that I did put that copy in her bag? I knew, telling the truth meant taking the copy out. To keep it there it was simple, I just had to lie that I had not put the copy in but I couldn’t, I just tried to evade the question. Why? No answer came to fore. It was not as if I never resorted to prevarication. Though I am not known to tell blatant lies routinely, I do resort to it, I doubt who doesn’t, occasionally, for a reason or two but certainly never with malicious intent. I wonder except for the blessed few all of us tell lies, in fact most importantly we always have a reason to prevaricate. A closer look reveals that we have a tendency to justify such acts. We accept or convince ourselves to accept that it was inevitable, we had no other option, that was the only way we could have saved ourselves, we would otherwise have doomed our fortunes…. so on. The key point is even people who do it with nefarious designs, keep a justification for it, they may not share it but it does exist. Where? It’s deep inside the subconscious, close to heart, at a place difficult to see. Everybody is aware of it, some accept, some deny, again taking recourse to a lie.

       Not to disagree, it does become inevitable sometimes, not to justify one’s act, but may be for survival. We do it to hide our mistakes, one leads to another, worse we become habituated to it. Nothing of sort was with me, there was nothing sinful, not even harmful, so why I just couldn’t take a simple step, not damaging at all, just a small lie for her comfort. With answers not coming, I was not in the comfort zone. The incidents where I did tell lies started coming frame by frame along with associated rationale. All those humane imperfections, mistakes, errors of judgments, temptations were swirling in my mind. To add to the discomfort, entered the incidents when the lie got exposed, ensuing embarrassment. I could also see the faces who were masters of this art, who could tell lies without a blink, with lost credibility but no remorse and a brazen justification for every lie kept to themselves. I must admit that a slight, selfish undercurrent of arrogance of being a gentleman flowed internally that I did not lie even in the safest possible zone.

        I remembered the review of the book ‘Why We Lie’ by Dorothi Rowe, a writer of international acclaim, published in a news paper. I decided immediately to place an order on Flipkart.com, our own Amazon.com. Also recalled a similar discussion that began on a person, an incorrigible liar, in fact a master, in the discussion a friend of mine referred to a daily thought in a news paper,’ If you are truthful, you don’t have much  to remember.’ How true is this!!!!. Tell a lie, you have to remember it lifelong and a mountain of lies…..ohhh you have to carry the burden, heavier, increasing every day, haunting at times.

     The storm continued, memories moving…..and yes, I suddenly stumbled upon a simple lead, surprised how I missed it, may be because as we grow our intellectual prowess takes us away from simple, beautiful things in life. So many times most of us must have experienced, the incidents when we found it hardest to tell a lie………to our parents. You cannot do it. Not that we fear that they will pick the lie, instantly, which in fact is true but the guilt of doing it is highest, worse often they pretend to be normal in spite of picking it. They don’t say anything on the hurt we cause to them by doing this, and this is the most troubling factor. As you grow you realize they are the ones who love you most, hurting them like this, extremely difficult. You cannot lie to those who love you most. I got the answer, what the book will tell me, I don’t know but the lesson I learnt is you cannot lie to your children because they love you most. So simple and so easily lost in mundane affairs.

The other side is, our parents forgave us for our lies ……

But…….. our children will not.

The Race

 The Race

      

      Three years ago those who went to sleep early on 26^th November woke up to the horrors that night had been through and those who didn’t, experienced the nightmare without going to sleep. Six men carrying deadly weapons, grenades, guns, dead human spirit and above all a cold, senseless mind on shoulders, indoctrinated to mindless religious madness that had nothing to do with religion, entered the city already in the chaos, on uninterrupted run , at an instant when everybody was eager to go home. They unleashed bloodbath on the streets, in the hotels, in a religious place killing people, innocent men and women, not even sparing children. The blood was on the street, it was on their mind, some patriots braved the bullets, some escaped, some evaded. The brave men in uniform fought with the maniacs, some made supreme sacrifice. The frenzied  men were shot dead but not before leaving a pool of blood on the streets, on the corners, in hotel rooms and unstoppable tears down the eyes and a list of brave men who showed exceptional courage but embarked on the last journey.

      The whole India plunged into the patriotic fever that had a history of recurrence on 15^th August and 26^th January, dormancy rest of the year and a terrible tendency to wane faster after the attack from enemy. This time it sustained longer. The attack was shockingly unimaginable, unprecedented on the scale, presented a gruesome spectacle for two days in continuance, left behind the memories of disaster, dead bodies, shattered souls and a wounded spirit of an angry Indian. The world watched it, political parties discussed it; common man tried hard to come to terms with hurt self respect and mourned the loss of courageous.

      It was not the first terrorist attack on Mumbai and also we as Indians were not new to the terrorism. Mumbai faced multiple bomb blasts in 1992, one at Gate Way of India, series of blasts in local trains but this was undoubtedly special, unmatched in planning, horrific in details and extremely hurting in execution, a dent on the pride of the nation. We lost innocent lives, men in uniform, officers of exceptional caliber, but where it hurt most was the pride as a nation, an emerging superpower was taken for ride by six terrorists. The whole country watched helplessly when they took the financial capital of India hostage, roamed the city, firing at will, killing innocents and with every bullet fired insulting us.

    We again lost the race, race between the intelligence agencies and the terrorists and unfortunately it is not the first ever loss, some may say it’s a routine. We lost it when two of our prime ministers were assassinated, when Delhi experienced serial blasts, when Mumbai exploded….. The use of resources, some information gathering and figures can easily come out, telling us the number of time we lost the race, when terrorists were ahead of our agencies but the figures that we might find it hard to get is number when our agencies were ahead. Every terrorist organization wants to get ahead of agencies to strike a blow. This race unfortunately is a deadly race, in formula one we have speed and thrill; here we have sharp brains and blood.

     Those who are working against the humanity, the terrorists, their motivation to carry on is unambiguous. The world over the terrorists outfits always search for the uncharted, unimagined ways to strike, of course with maximum impact factors. They always have a purpose, requisite brainwash and goals to achieve. Their skills in searching for the route unimagined and agencies closely following them, have inspired numerous movies but the real life race is lethal, when we lose the race, the result is horrific, always a human tragedy.

   Who imagined, even in reel life, that planes carrying passengers will collide with Twin towers and explode, killing hundreds, nobody thought of radios can be used as bombs as happened in serial blasts in Delhi in 1985, highjacking of Air India plane to Kandahar, blasts in Landon metros….. the list is long,..even longer is the list of dead, wounded. The race otherwise is thrilling in movies but for reality. We usually live along the periphery and don’t experience the sound and fury till terrorists win.

   There always are attempts from the daredevils and brave hearts like Karkare, Kamte, Salaskar, Unnikrishnan in challenging them……. And courage never seen, thought about, shown by Tukaram Ombale in catching Kasab. Who would otherwise have believed that a constable from Police force which is notorious for taking bribes, have men like him who caught Kasab’s AK-47 by bare hands, allowed the chest to be riddled with bullets, saved the lives of not just colleagues but gave a face saving formula for the nation in the form of an alive terrorist….. cost…. his own life…. What had happened many times in Hindi movies, we all considered as reflection of writer’s imagination took place on that dreadful night of 26/11…. A little known constable rose to the occasion, elevated himself above all material aspirations, human fears and attained the iconic stature of a martyr ….so difficult to attain…won the highest gallantry award. Think of his sacrifice one realizes how small we lesser mortals are…and a mean life we live.

   In this race the triumph of terror has a global recognition but success of intelligence organizations has less news value, no glamour as show always belongs to terrorists, exactly opposite to life in movies where cops steal the thunder. In a country like ours the terrorists have ample opportunities and few good men only have chances. We don’t want competent men in uniform at key posts, we want to use intelligence units for gathering information to serve political interest, we want black cat commandos as status symbol, we are not afraid of using sectarian sentiments for political gains, we are witness to cases where honesty was the reason for departmental shunting, how are we going to win the race? Add to this, departmental incompetency, bureaucratic lethargy, societal apathy, sectarian empathy, political interference, lack of political will….any guesses!!! Who is going to win the race? They strike at their will and we dumbfounded search at dead ends.

     We only talk about committee reports, modernization plans, high quality weapons, new platoons, new force..but forget the man behind the machine, his training, his morale, his burden, his neglect,…. fatal time lapses, condoned intelligence inputs…..and they plan meticulously, execute resolutely, exploit flaws intelligently…..Result, they succeed ….We carry the unwanted baggage of perpetual loser. There might have been thwarted attempts, failed plots that never found light but the rate of success tells us the winner. There is no major attack on U.S. soil since 9/11. They remained alert, sealed the gateways, dried resources, aware citizens and vigilant police worked together and so far has winning lead in the race. It simply does not mean that there won’t be any attack in future but for this terrorists will require to stretch their imagination to defeat U.S. system in the race..a task not so easy. Can we ever get such a formidable set up?

     This race is most thrilling in movies, tragic in reality. This is the race between terrorists and intelligence men, between killers and saviors, between good and evil. Nobody can predict who will win for there is no ultimate loser or winner, it is going to continue in time without end. If we win at a moment we must prepare for another race immediately as they will now try to strike with vengeance. Their success will provide them enough impetus to maintain the lead. We the peripherals know only half the story but pay the highest price.

          Losing in sports is always taken in good spirit, not here in this race. We cannot afford to lose and cannot celebrate the win. Our loss is a human tragedy and celebration will be beginning of new race. This race is perpetual, unlikely to meet the last lap, it is the everlasting challenge to humanity. The race must we win…always. There is no line of finish. The ultimate truth is good and evil coexist.  

Not Just A Quiz

 Not Just A Quiz

      

          Name the physicists of Indian origin who got the Nobel Prize? …. C. V. Raman. Who was the first human to go to space?  Yuri Gagarin. The first satellite..  Sputnik. The first woman to walk in space…  Valentina Tereshkova. Bijorn Borg, Billy Jean King….. tennis legends were also answers to the questions and so also the batsman who scored double century in both the innings in first class match… Arthur Fag, who holds the record of maiden overs spell.. Bapu Nadkarni. Cricket, science, history … we all explored in our own Kaun Banega Crorepati …….as kid and even today. The arrival of T.V. at Chandrapur in 1984 gave us an opportunity to watch Siddharth Basu asking questions and we all favoured questions on India… the obvious reason was the possibility of knowing the correct answer. We used to flock to one of the friend’s home and wait anxiously for the quiz time. With every correct answer we would erupt in joy and try to remember the answers Siddharth or any participant would give.

       The resources were very much limited. All of us relied on news papers. I still remember a G.K. questionnaire published in Tarun Bharat daily  in summer vacation. The tough question .. who took maximum wickets in a test match? How many? We would search for the answers.. no internet… no google …… yaahh he is Jim Laker,  19 wickets… but we always tried to preserve the answers published in future editions. Once the toughest one came .. Jim Laker took 19 wicket in ashes who took the remaining one wicket? I remember the toil that went in vain… finally answer was published …. Tony Lock. Cannot forget the answer and the desperation, hard-work…. now part of fun down the memory lane. The Nobel laureates would figure prominently. I can easily see the question, which scientist of Indian origin was awarded the Nobel  for the interpretation of genetic code? …….Har Govind Khorana… he shared it with Marshall Nirenberg and Robert Holley.

      In the Indian Express an article was published yesterday(today also) on Har Govind Khorana…Nobel prize winner of Indian origin, my mind went back 20-25 years in to the quiz time and news papers’ cuttings .. yaahhh he got it for research on genes. Then I suddenly realized it was an obituary… he died last Wednesday. I just started thinking about the question and the answer I knew, any time, may be, if I ever sat on hot seat and the question comes.. I certainly would not wait for the options as the answer is embedded in me for last 25 years. But then somebody deep inside me asked, did you have any idea that he was alive all these days? A serious uncomfort gripped me. I kept him only in quiz time, in answers of questions on Nobel winners, simply had no idea about his life, whereabouts and exceptional work. Now his work is just a mouse click away.. on Wikipedia, Google…….

       The genetic code was far away from us nevertheless were introduced to genes in biology, the subject with which, for some strange reasons, I could not get cozier. Now we have lot of research going on in this field, we so easily talk about cloning, seeds that are genetically manipulated, mutation of viruses; we are seeking origin of deadly diseases in the genes but the man who pioneered the research breath last at the age of 89 on 9^th November. Born in a family of Patwari in a village in Punjab(now in Pakistan) in 1922. The brilliant man from a small village influenced by great teachers at different stages attained academic excellence and his research in deciphering genetic coding revolutionized genetic engineering and paved the way for cloning. He went on to accept the nationality of U.S.A. The work he has done and legacy he has left behind is nothing short of an inspiration to all Indians.

     The thought of remembering the question and answer but forgetting the man……I got restless. What this quiz is all about? Going through all the books and magazines, reading and cramming questions and answers…  who is the first……? last…..? ….many questions….simple…., silly for more participation……, tough for blocking……and …...answers…straight, clear, unambiguous….. correct answer comes with joy ….or despondency  for wrong one … all part of the game we all enjoy but shouldn’t the questions start coming after answers…. Who was he? What inspired him to excel? What were the adverse circumstances he overcame? How could he maintain commitment to his work? More and more questions…. Answers leading to a world much beyond the scope of quiz, it is of knowledge, of wisdom  …not just one liner… a brief element of information.

     Participation and preparation for quiz is important, of great help in boosting confidence, in competitive exams but going beyond is a must. Quiz gives only information in just one line not even a glimpse of an area of concern. Unfortunately we misconstrue the questions and answers as repository of knowledge, the information, miniscule in character adorns the garb of knowledge and we miss the beauty, the same way I missed about Har Govind Khorana. I only knew his Nobel prize and research in Genetic coding but apart from the area of his research I was opaque to his modest background, his commitment to research, his other areas of interest, the significance of his breakthrough in today’s context perhaps I was too obsessed with the Nobel prize winning name than the man himself. Obviously I never explored his biography, remained oblivious to the fact that he did not retire intellectually at 60. He remained committed to research till age caught him up.

     Am I sounding against quiz? Not really. I believe quiz as a competition has everything in it fun, thrill, ecstasy, despair but taking inspiration from it, going beyond it on a voyage to look for personalities in  history, historical events and human angle associated is far more important in maturing one as an intellectual human being. I would insist, those who excel in quiz must use it as a path finder to expand the knowledge base. Then whether you become crorepati or not,  you experience the bliss of being blessed with persistent, perennial shower of knowledge.

      Life will then be different. The name Har Govind Khorana will then have all different meaning not just the Nobel prize winner for research on genes. He then will be an inspiring story of an intelligent boy from a very moderate family of a small village attaining the heights of academic success. He then becomes the man who was stubbornly intertwined to research, spending hours in laboratory, exploring new frontiers of science to conquer, the man who remained humble through his life and did not stop after getting the most coveted award. A role model for all, a human being nice and profoundly intellectual could not be unveiled to me because I did not go beyond the question and its answer…. Who won the Nobel prize……………..?                                        

                        Har Govind Khorana…….    ……1922-2011   

The Gang of Electronics

 The Gang of Electronics

                                       

      It must have been early August, Thursday morning, it usually is a free day for me or that is how I prefer to keep. I got the call from the HOD that I should go to 2nd year class and manage one lecture as someone from the staff was on leave and was difficult to adjust with others. I just went in and casually turned to the right side of the classroom. The writing was on the wall, no obscene language, no vulgar comments, huge font, no sentences, nothing but names only, Karan, Himanshu, Ankush, Imran, Manas, Nikhil, Ravi, Himanshu(another)............ I immediately got the clue. It was the last batch, while going out they ensured that they make their presence felt later also. At first sight it was annoying, as it happened for the first time in the department when students or shall I say the passing out batch was so explicit in declaring their identity but was amused at the boldness of the action, no inhibitions, no hidden agenda, all open, strong claim of being different, being superior and want to have the lasting impression, so we had the wall written all over.

     Right from the second year when they entered the department they made their mark. They captured the attention for all the wrong reasons. Their movement in the departmental corridor smacked of who-cares attitude. In their second year I don’t remember having coming across them but in the third year I did for short duration. They were very active in the elections for departmental cultural body TREES. They also seemed to relish the notoriety of giving hell of a time to some teachers while in the class. I could never verify the incidents that created unease in staff and put the stamp of trouble makers on them.

     When they came to final year my interaction with them started in true sense. I do remember being told by a student that with this group you are in for big trouble, I realized I had well wishers in the students so much so that I was alarmed to be alert to their nuisance. When they came to final year mood was obviously jubilant. The party really started with the elections for TREES. Key post of president was won by Karan. On that day itself, after declaration of result the trouble began on accusations of derogatory comment by victorious party against the rival. I being reluctant in charge of TREES could see the trouble brewing. The eternal local versus hostellers divide was undoubtedly widened. Every move by one was seen with suspicion by other, claims, counter claims, briefing against the office bearers was all in the air.

     I was exasperated by all these. Once or twice I tried to advice them of being accommodative, how you should evolve as a leader but it was in vein. They have their own agenda to follow, problems to address. The troubles only got multiplied. The wall magazine committee was appointed considering the lingual and editing credentials. There also trouble started in allotting funds. It reached to peak when as a part of disciplinary action, it was decided not to take Teachers’ day invitation from the students. Since the function is always organized by TREES, it was a snub to the group. But on the day in the guise of release of wall magazine a small function was organized bypassing TREES. It was clear the group was terribly hurt. Next day in the class I sat near Karan and talked to him, he confirmed. Looking back I do feel it was a mistake on the part of the department but such was the fragmented image of this group that nobody felt otherwise at that time.

    There often were unconfirmed reports of their arrogance, misbehaviour in and out of the class. In all, the image that was built was disastrous. The majority of staff wanted to put some kind of a deterrence to avoid repetition of undesirable incidents of past, some wanted strict disciplinary action, many felt they were out of control. Yes, often they looked uncontrolled because they followed unconventional path. While celebrating the freshers’ day they ensured the placement of the entire group. But the programme was well organized, the dissenting elements saw in it the unusual ways, slightly out of tune with what we wanted. At the time of their farewell they wanted it in their own way. I still remember, along with Thawari Sir getting annoyed, for they were taking too much time to get into auditorium, dancing outside, simply not caring anything, just living the moment they wanted to keep with them forever.

    While giving the speech I gave them a tough talk, as expected there was hooting but I continued, simply putting that you had to listen to me being your well wisher. My advice was straight change your attitude, build relations, you have no shortage of talent, so don’t waste it, they listened quitely. When  Karan came to deliver his speech he had clear idea of what they had done all along. He mentioned that he often would go to Dhankar Sir with all the crazy ideas some of them did materialize. There was no hint of any negative character in it.

     After the results one fine day I was on my bike going to college. “How are you Sir?” I saw Karan on his bike. “Fine.” “How are you?” “Fine Sir.” It continued. Then came the question, “How is the batch Sir?” I paused for a moment but heard, “Must have been better than us.” I was not surprised. For all their arrogance I must admit that they have never been unfair, abusive, rude to me. They in fact were receptive to some of my ideas like movie club, aptitude club… In the class  there did come moments of friction but nothing unusual, they were pretty modest with me. I don’t know what they thought of me behind but even if they did differently what’s so special in it, even when I was student I was no different. Giving nick names to teachers is as old as education system and these names range from decent to funny, at worst vulgar.

    My diagnosis was that they had a feeling that they didn’t need anybody, so they did not try to build relations with the department. One thing that I came to know about them was that they were together from school days; obviously strong bonding existed among them. Or was there another angle that their aspirations, dreams with which they came were incompatible with what was offered in the department? They were supremely confident and that confidence originated in their self belief and emotional attachment with each other, not surprisingly they acquired arrogant overtones in dealing with others. But at that age who is not rebel, dissenting? Why expect too much of maturity? In that sense there was not so much uncommon in them. Everybody at this age know and seek fun in using all vocabulary of ‘M’ and ‘F’ words the problem was they were more explicit in the use, no firsthand experience but this was how we were informed.

   As a group they were closely knit. It was not that they did not face challenges but the group stood together, faced the challenge from others and according to them the wrath and apathy of the staff, digested the contempt during cultural week and ultimately came victorious by claiming most coveted Champion of the Champions trophy, that in fact was the biggest challenge they faced, their all prestige was at stake. For me they qualify for the status of gang solemnly pledged to the unwritten oath of friendship. They stayed together, enjoyed, had lot of fun, fought adverse situations and of course …….. hunted together. How easily they could demolish the barriers of caste, religion, region…..I wonder, as they belonged to diverse backgrounds ranging from business to teaching to politics.

   Must be,a year ago Himanshu came, talked a lot, was full of enthusiasm about what he was doing, he told me that he was writing on psychology, time was changing. Karan is now doing MBA, Ravi is working in a company, Himanshu (second one, a movie buff, a common thread with me) working in Mumbai and ….., all have been following their own path. When I started the bog one of the first bloggers who read and commented were Karan and Himanshu. Once while chatting Himanshu wanted me to write on GenY a nice topic and a bold one Live in relationship. On GenY I certainly will but still to make up my mind on Live in relationship owing to the inherent boldness in it. Recently he sent a message on facebook to read a blog he has written on Anna, Karan has written on Gandhiji full of introspection, I read, good articles, and am so happy about it, once labeled  differently the boys are turning intellectual. Manas, a fabulous dancer he was and still is, is unbelievably maturing as a lecturer in the same department. The time hides so many surprises but they come out at the right time. They may have been little bit aggressive, obsessive about themselves, somewhat arrogant, mouthful of avoidable vocabulary at times but it is not so uncommon, most are like this only at their age but were brilliant in organizational skills, had the stomach to digest new ideas, desperate to make mark through work, anxious to be remembered for whatever new and good they have done, the only gang that seems to have survived after passing out and above all the only…. Yes the only gang,…. that gave us shock, when most forget even to meet lecturers after the final result, they came to the department, all of them, touched our feet, sought our blessings……stolen a space in my heart. The writing is still on the wall. God bless the gang of Electronics.  

Apple every day.....

Apple everyday……..

      “Truth… be told… I never graduated from the college, this is the closest I ever got to the college graduation……” the stunning speech moves on, looking back, connecting the dots, telling the three stories of his life, Steve captures the audience, tries to explain to the young graduates at Stanford University, his story, his philosophy of life, beginning from his birth which nobody would love to have the way it was to the rendezvous with death that was aborted, inspiring it was in 2005 and still is, things told as they were and life shown as it was, it now is part of the legend that Steve is.

      Born to an unwed mother, a college dropout explains to the graduating students in the modest possible but in the subtlest way that the college education and the success don’t always converge. What one loves to do and what the system wants him to follow don’t often make an inspiring story. Those who follow heart, do what they love to do, work hard and don’t lose faith, ultimately stand to deliver the address to the students in spite of not being a college graduate. This is the message Steve conveyed by his own example.

    A college student who realized he was spending everything on what he didn’t like and had no idea what he wanted to do, decades on nothing seems to have changed. “The minute I dropped out I could stop taking the required classes that didn't interest me, and begin dropping in on the ones that looked interesting.” He would sleep on floor, return coke bottles to save money for food and walk seven miles on Sunday to get a nice meal at Krishna temple. From such a hardship to making the Apple computer, the story has everything from dating to hacking, all the youthful fun and lot of innovations, application of mind. It was Apple that put Steve in the limelight.

   From Apple to Macintosh, he was relentless in his efforts to give breakthrough in computing that would universalize use of computers. His success at apple, unceremonious exit from it, NeXT, Pixar and back to Apple through another door and a huge turnaround in favour of Apple under his leadership as interim CEO when world saw ‘i’ revolution from iPod to iphone with many other ‘i’s in between, enough to inspire a movie, a story of success, of triumph of self belief, excellent teamwork and many more attributes of leadership.

   The success gives the limelight whose shadow is always enough to hide the failures. The motivating story has many hidden dark spots, many failures, huge losses, broken dreams, disappointments, no hope, no direction, everything that comes with the failure to destroy, above all, self belief. Here Steve is different. He never surrendered to the loss of self belief, never allowed to diminish faith in what he did but what makes him exceptional, qualifying him to a legendary personality is he converted those moments of despair to the voyage to new horizon. He was unstoppable in his crusade to do things monumental, pursue it differently, remarkable in picking the talents to team up for him, selling them the big dream of changing the world and was phenomenal in his ability to capture the imagination of the world.

    Who was he? An outstanding leader, exemplary entrepreneur, biggest showmen, legendary inventor, a visionary, incorrigible optimist or an explorer whose insatiable appetite to succeed in big way made him what he was. Behind his achievements hidden are his financial losses, failed projects but connecting the dots, they proved crucial in his future ventures that changed the rules. After making Apple, Macintosh he explored other possibilities in NeXT, Pixar. Who would have imagined the success of animation film Toy Story from Pixar? From computer to animation film to ipods he wished his creation would be rated as technological marvel. He was brilliant in catching the breakthroughs in technological research and simply great in visualizing and incorporating it in the innovations he was best at. He was never above the humane limitations, accused often of being eccentric, intemperate in his approach but they stemmed from his obdurate faith in his vision. He did fail in his pursuit on number of occasions but never say die attitude showed him the way.

   When the world wanted a computing machine he came with the idea of personal computer, nobody ever thought of an animation movie as a blockbuster he gave Toy Story, when the world was relishing the digital music he sold the unbelievable concept of iPod, 1000 songs in the pocket, when we were talking on mobile phones he unleashed iPhone which revolutionized the way we handled phone. Every time it was like the dream product that the world wanted, may be the world never imagined something of kind that would grab its hidden aspiration, it always came as a shock and we watched and coveted it with awe.

    ”……….. Because almost everything, all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure, these things just fall away in face of death, leaving only truly what is important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart……………”, the Stanford speech touches his encounter with death. He was graceful, intensely private in accepting his departure. He was like a butterfly, you cannot dictate terms to it, sit here, go there…. And yes, its beauty lies there only. He lived the life the way he wanted, did what he loved, failed on occasions but still loved what he did, he dreamed big, and wanted the world to associate and participate in it, he entered our imagination, took us to his innovative world, we all followed him. He took us to Apple, showed us Macintosh, then to NeXT, to Pixar, introduced animation movie and then to the ultimate destination, back to Apple, filled our space with iPods, iPhones……, now we have Apple everyday but …....................Steve is away.

He could not make it......

He could not make it ……..

      

     It must have been around 11.00 yesterday at night I was online, reading and responding to the readers of my blog, postings by friends, I casually logged on to the facebook to see the first post, it was from Rakesh Tripathi, one of my student who opted for unconventional career and joined army. Now major and doing M.Tech at IIT Pawai. The post was the photo feature of last journey of Lt. Sushil Khajuria. A young man of 26 made supreme sacrifice in Jammu and Kashmir while fighting highly trained infiltrators from across the border on 27 September. He fought bravely in the difficult terrain, killed two terrorists but fell to the enemy bullets while retrieving a wounded colleague. I went through the last journey photos, the coffin with his name, the wreath laid down by army men, inconsolable family, the father, brothers, sister, the villagers, the showering of flowers, the gun salute and finally flames, a brave son of India makes his departure never to return but not before ensuring safety of motherland.

    It was emotionally squeezing, everything from heart beats to eyes all were at work, didn’t want to speak to anybody for I could not have. For the whole night the pictures of Lt. Sushil holding his gun, at passing out parade with father and brother and of the last journey followed by comments of condolences, respect, bereavements…. were chasing me. I was restless. He was just 26 and was to marry next year. An engineer by education opted for the 18 grenadiers. His brother is also in the army. He was from Samba district of Jammu and Kashmir. Youngest of family always wanted to join army. Commissioned in the army only on March 20, 2010, he was cremated with full military honour only after one and half years.

    How can these men be like this? No fear, only valour. Love for the family but country is supreme, their dream martyrdom, want to make the family proud of their bravery. They are of different stuff. From the childhood they show signs that they are a different lot. They join the armed forces to fulfill the dream of serving the nation and never hesitate to face bullets. It is so difficult to map their mind when in the line of duty but may be easy because of their dedication, devotion and discipline, all focused on call of duty.

    Immediately after his sacrifice the page on Facebook appeared with lots of respect, full of patriotic comments, all expressing grief but saluting him for his ultimate service, expressing to the family the feelings of the thankful nation and all are with the family. As usual the political apathy continued as no minister could spare time to attend his last rites and pay tribute. Are we giving to much importance to them? Let them do what they want to in the best tradition of their insensitivity, we will show in whatever small way we can to the family of Lt. Sushil that the nation deeply respects their immortalized son. This blog is a small attempt to pay tribute to this young fighter.

    On his Facebook account Lt. Sushil’s friend Vikas Hans has posted: “One day when a bullet gets stuck in my heart and I lay down my life for my country, pin my medals on my chest and say to my mom that her son was a brave man. These words were written by my friend Sushil on a simple page of my copy nearly six years ago. Who knew he gonna prove this today. I am proud to be your friend. I love you my brother. Missing u.”

   While briefing the media about the battle that lasted for more than 48 hours, the officials said that they killed five terrorists in close battle. In the search operation havaldar Ravi Kumar was hit and Lt. Sushil volunteered to evacuate Ravi Kumar. But he couldn’t make it. Yes, he couldn’t make it there but he did make it to the heart of India by his supreme sacrifice, to the list of men we are proud of, to the list of men who faced bullets for our safety, to the list of men nation is thankful to and ultimately to the league of Capt. Vikram Batra, Capt. Manojkumar Pandey, Major Sandeep Unnikrishnan….. exceptional, brave, immortalized sons of India.

Salute to Lt. Sushil Khajuria.

For the details of battle read Indian Express Mumbai edition 2 Oct 2011.
http://epaper.indianexpress.com/13302/Indian-Express-Mumbai/02-October-2011#p=page:n=3:z=2

Last journey 

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150316461008071.350074.87167763070

 Report in tribune

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2011/20110930/j&k.htm#5

We miss him...

We miss him ……..

      He was a grand old man, frail looking, half naked, with a stick for support to walk around(India), round spectacle, with energy beyond his age, his will stronger than his body, belief in principles dearer than life, supremacy of soul always over the body, concern for humanity 24x7, quest for the truth his life’s mission. There was nothing glamorous in his personality but still was magnetic in his appeal, he never considered himself an erudite but the contemporary intellectuals, brilliant men and women followed him, he never aspired for political power but held sway over the largest political party, his moral writ was what alien rulers were afraid of, he was not an exceptional orator but every spoken word of his pierced heart and above all he was unmatched in his transparency and  experiments, he called them experiments with truth.

     A very modest student, fearful of god, rather everything, became a story, difficult to believe in modern history, of how a common man evolved and ultimately reached to sainthood. He was a man with revolutionary ideas in every walk of life from politics, religion, God, naturopathy to spinning yarn; the spectrum covered everything that humanity needed to live a better life in this world. He was very simple in articulating his life as just a quest of truth but still had mystical aura around him. His life had a mission and his every minute a task, all for humanity.

     Before him we knew only one way of struggle, fighting for rights and that was brute force. The battles and wars in the human history are all with human blood strewn around; we knew revolutions where the unjust rulers were defeated by the freedom fighters but not without bloodshed. In all these battles the tragedy of human race was always underlined; its expected elevation to higher moral platform was always undermined. Few good men did won but not without their own blood or of some good enemies. These all were continuations of medieval methods of wins and defeats; never there were ethos of modern, elevated humanity.

    He was the first freedom fighter who proposed, practiced and proved with exceptional success that the most effective weapon is not sword or gun, but the human force with moral strength and belief in the principles of non violence. It was beyond the imagination of everybody then. It was a revolutionary concept, obviously all were skeptical about it, its failure was presumed, the effectiveness questioned but it stood the test of time, its success the whole world watched in awe. He was the one who said “Win the heart of the enemy, change him, you win but he doesn’t lose”, you don’t need guns and swords for this, you need iron will and faith in non violence. He was the first person in modern history who fought with enemy without a weapon in hand, and succeeded as well. He raised the question what needs more courage, killing or dying happily for just cause without resorting to violence? He was the inventor, explorer and practitioner of the most potent weapon mankind had ever seen that could win the battle but without bloodshed.

  He was the champion of life in tune with nature. He was a believer in the naturopathy and experimented a lot in this area in those tumultuous years of political turmoil. He insisted on keeping the needs at minimum. Mother earth has enough for the needs of entire humanity but not enough for the greed of even one man, was how he tuned his philosophy of life. As a leader he was unique in his insistence, before you preach, practice first. His life has many stories where he experimented with himself first and then wanted people to act. When he arrived from South Africa and came to terms with the harsh realities of poverty in India he decided to dress according to majority of India, half naked because most didn't have enough to hide all the body. What has changed ever since, not the divide between leaders and followers but the standard of living. Leaders live in luxury and people in misery, no wonder there is a crisis of credibility. People believed, even more than closest relatives, what that old man said. Now every sentence of a leader is being seen in the light of deception. Leaders preach people of India and practice exactly opposite. The graph of wealth of leaders is in ascendancy but for masses not connected politically it is always descending to lower and lower level.

  All his life he longed for the society free of violence. He had an opportunity to resort to it for the freedom struggle, nobody would then have objected to it because that was the only method known to get the rights, independence back from the tyrant, alien, oppressive regime. But he stuck to the principles of non violence. What we now see around, mobs in search of opportunity to resort to stone pelting, destruction of public properties, violence on street and at home  as well, at slightest of provocation and most casual reason the people are ready to kill, brainwashed fanatics are prepared to blow themselves and kill innocents, they don't fear own death but kill remorselessly, for them the deadly weapons like grenades, AK-47s are toys to kill, feel they are given license by religion to kill people for no  fault of theirs, they have firm belief that they will get a seat near God by killing his children, in the name of God they become demon unleashing the reign of terror  on humanity. Complete antithesis of what that old man lived life for.

  At political stage in our country also the leaders take recourse to arousing the sentiments of  people by raising the issues of identity, want to show the political muscle by violent demonstrations, some even go to the extent of political murders. Since winning the election is supreme the means don't matter, criminals find safe heaven in political parties, every election means deaths on the streets in clashes, encircling the humanity by every possible divider. Caste, region, religion have all become tools of gaining power but for him caste discrimination was a sinful act that  must be eradicated and faith in the religion, an instrument to come closer to the ultimate Truth, we call God. 

   We are all embroiled in all the divisive elements from caste to culture, region to religion; he was in true sense above all these. No political party go to his teachings politically perhaps  they are useless in fetching votes but they are ready to follow anything, may be wrong, even dangerous to the health of society just to seize power. He could have become anything from President to Prime Minister in independent India but was content in dousing the communal flames during partition.

   He never was above controversy but his intentions, commitment to non violence was never in doubt, in fact when agitation failed to adhere to the principles of non violence he did not hesitate to call it off. True leader is the one who gives society what is good for it, not what it wants, wrote Pundit Nehru in the forward to the biography of that old man. Today we have a competition of populist schemes and policies that are counterproductive to the social and economic fabric. For the foundations of his philosophy he invariably but eclectically, turned to religious beliefs,  often attracting the criticism from elements with modern and secular credentials.

    Even though we are living in the modern world full of means to get materialistic pleasure, we are a world completely out of harmony with itself. He was the one who could harmonize all his beliefs, personal life, fight for justice and total adherence to Truth and non violence. The mankind has so often displayed its suicidal tendencies, today is not an exception. The race to invent new weapons to kill more and faster,  nuclear  weapons with the destructive power of unimaginable proportion, search of  chemical weapons, has always been relentless, the hunt for the material supremacy reckless, discrimination and deprivation rampant, violence part of routine, justice delayed, terrorism an accepted reality, divisive policies order of  the politics, human greed pushing the world on the brink of destruction, human suffering, pain, agony in ascendance and  sympathy, love, affection all waning. Kindness is faltering against the hurricane of violence, man wants to kill man, in this chaos the voice of common man is lost in the background, peace and harmony missing, society disintegrating, the candle of compassion diminishing………….. We miss him.

 Bapu we miss you………