Ashu is clueless

Hi!
Well after such a lond time I am writing something. I am not sure how many people are going to read this. But still I am wruiting just for the sake of writing. This is my first posting which is not serious at all.
These days i am preparing for civil services. It's a kind of experience no one should go through. I have opted for Public Administration and Philosophy as my optionals. I am sure I would not be ab;e to make it. Then also i am preparing for it. Am I an idiot? NO, I am NOT. Actually my parents want me to make an effort and i am doing it just for my parents. That's why I wrote I am cluless.
Anyway these days I am living a very lonely life and there is very little in my life to make me happy. Ravi got his first job today. This brought some happiness.

Now I think I should stop writing all these craps. Who bothers to read about my life.Before i sign off one more thing.......................na leave it I ll share it some other time.
Till then
BYE

Labour Day: A Different Perspective

May Day has a very long history. In many countries people celebrate it, as the beginning of summer, with zeal and heartiness. Apart from being a festive day, the day has other importance too. In the memory of labour movement which began in US on 1^st May 1866 this day is also celebrated as International Labour Day.

This day is observed as the celebration of the socio-economic achievement of the working class, the class which is responsible for the development of any country. Many demonstration and rallies led by labour unions take place on this day.

In India, where 93% of labourers work in unorganized sector, the significance of Labour Day, at least for those labourers, is nothing more than a holiday. The labour law of the country has very little to offer against the exploitation of labourers working in unorganized sectors.

The labour unions of organized sectors are in a position to dictate terms with the employers. But on the other hand the labourers of unorganized sector have not got enough strength to demand their minimal requirements.

In the era of globalization the problems of unorganized sectors have increased. The employees and workers are forced to work for more than 12 hours, which is totally against the labour norms and not in the parity of working hours of the labourers of organized sectors.

The emergence of BPOs and IT sector have provided opportunities to youths, but at the same time these industries have also added to the labour problems. According to the labour law of the country, the employees of these organizations are executives and not labourers because they earn more than the amount decided by Government to be a labourer; so they can not form their union and hence entitled to be exploited.

Government has failed to stop child labour, even after many promises and enactment of many laws. This problem is still rampant in our society and it seems our policy maker has no solution for the problem. In fact they are pre occupied to create seats for OBCs in educational institutions, what if 12.8 millions of child labourers can not see the gates of even primary school. After all these child labourers are not parts of the vote bank of any party.

Then there is problem of sex workers, they are continuously demanding their rights but no one is willing to listen to them. Every one in the country knows that they are exploited by their customers, police and pimps. But as their profession is not legal so government can not do anything to protect their rights. In many countries their profession has been legalized long back but in our country it can not happen owing to our deep traditional and cultural roots. Nevertheless in the same country the tradition of Devdashis and Nagarvadhu also existed.

Surprisingly, government can revise the criteria for castes to fall in OBC as many times as they wish but they can’t change the criteria to decide the labourers, which is really old and need to be revised. The government has yet failed to do something solid for the labourers and workers of unorganized sector. They should stop giving lollypops and do something reasonable to protect the rights of the sex workers, child labourers and the workers of unorganized sectors. This would be the biggest gift for the workers on International Labour Day.

RAJ THACKERAY : A Media Monster

‘Son of soil’ slogan is in air again. You tune to any national channel, read any newspaper or access to any news website; this is one news item which has certainly got the maximum coverage in recent times. A less known figure of Raj Thackeray has emerged as one of the well known political figures of the country, of course for his wrong doings – courtesy the Indian Media.

Raj, graduated in politics under the guidance of his uncle Balasaheb Thackeray, knows how to use media to spread his agenda. Media gave Raj Thackeray and his followers all the useless coverage. Whatever words he uttered, meaningful or not, the news channels telecast it repeatedly in prime time. They organized and telecast different talk shows, debates; the more they disparaged the person the more he succeeded in his agenda.

All of a sudden this so-called regional issue started by a publicity-starved person became the hottest issue of concern for the nation; it even replaced 123 Agreement. Whatever he said was the breaking news and whatever his blind followers did openly on the road was the biggest incident for the media. It can be said that the media contributed in spreading hatred in north India against Raj and his followers. Raj Thackeray became a complete media monster.

As he became one of the most hated figures in north India, he also gained the status of a true safeguard of Maratha interest for his supporters. That is what he wanted to be! Effigies of Raj Thackeray were burnt in different places of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. Again media toiled very hard to telecast all those protests against Maharashtra Nirvana Samiti (MNS) supremo and make him a ‘real martyr’ for his supporters. This also aided in the violence against north Indians in Mumbai and other parts of Maharastara.

Raj started his career with right wing party Shiv Sena but later separated his ways. When he formed his own party MNS, it became very clear that these two parties will fight for Maratha votes. But no one imagined that this dirty fight of vote bank will become so violent with the innocent people suffering.

In recent times, when Shiv Sena understood that it cannot come in power with Maratha votes alone, it strategically stopped opposing outsiders’ presence in Maharastra. This was the perfect occasion for Raj Thackeray to play his cards. He needed one platform to reach to his followers and even challenge Shiv Sena on the issue of ‘real Maratha’ and the media provided that stage to him.

The success of Raj Thackrey in getting the attention of the nation even raised the eyebrows of Uddhav Thackeray, the working President of Shiv Sena. Marathis are the traditional voters of Shiv Sena and the party would not like to lose them. Raj attacked Shiv Sena raising the same old issue of ‘sons of soil’ which was the reason behind this party’s formation in 60’s.

Shiv Sena would not like to give its own agenda to MNS at any cost and this became very clear when Uddhav went back to his party’s old agenda of ‘sons of soil’. He spoke very brutally against the labourers of other regions of the country who might be employed in the upcoming project to expand the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminal airport of Mumbai.

Each and every step of this issue was completely under the focus of media. Anything related to this was given the full limelight. This pressure of media forced the ruling parties Congress and NCP to consider every aspect and solve all the equations, after all it was a question of vote bank. They didn’t want MNS to take any advantage from this issue. This delayed the whole legal action against Raj and his followers. If he was not in the limelight then he could have got arrested and everything would have stopped in the very beginning. Even when he got arrested it was only symbolical and nothing more than that.

Media’s extra alertness only added fuel to the fire. If the press had confined themselves to just reporting news and had not tried to cash on, the whole situation would have been different. It is high time that media does an introspection and draws some boundaries for it as well.

Pak Emergency : India's Concern

My this article was published in the campus tabloid of Manipal University, a.m plus, on 10th Nov 2007.

The imposed emergency or martial law in Pakistan is not different from other martial law which the country has seen earlier. However it has been imposed by a person who repeatedly promised to establish 'genuine democracy' and thus earned favor from the western countries.This period can be termed as the darkest phase of Pakistan politics after independence.

The declared emergency is a special case because this time the constitution has been suspended, usually during emergency only fundamental rights get suspended. It is a different kind of martial law where parliament has not been dissolved.

Terrorism and failure of internal 'law and order' machinery have been sought as the reason behind this new move. As army and other security agencies were completely under the command of Prez Musharraf, the situation could have been controlled. The imposition and suspension of constitution gives clear indication of other motives, which is easily understood.

Musharraf wanted to get control over judiciary, media and other independent agencies. The apex court of Pakistan, in recent times, gave many verdicts which were shocking to President. The court was yet to deliver judgment on Musharraf's re-election as President in uniform; expectedly it could have been gone against him.

Pakistani media was continuously criticizing Musharraf and supporting the rising agitation of people and lawyers. Islamic extremists, who supported him initially, were openly disparaging the government and threatened him by issuing Fatwas. In this way the situation was going out of hand of a 'frustrated man' who wants to keep Pakistan under his rule forever.

Private channels have been banned in Pakistan and the 'code of conduct' for journalists has been issued already. Newspapers might go back to Zia Ul Haq's days when army personnel used to sit in news room and all the censored stories used to appear as blank spaces in next day's paper.

On the very next day of the declaration political leaders, judges, lawyers, human right workers, were taken under house arrest or arrest. Same day 30 hardcore extremists, including at least five suicide bombers, were released. This shows the seriousness of Musharraf to fight against terrorism.

As far as India is concerned, it is always difficult to have a neighbour country where political conditions are unstable. All the efforts taken to resume the 'peace talk' are in vain now. 'Mutual talk' between these neighbours has always been difficult and unstable political conditions of Pakistan have only added to the cause. The circumstances have guided India under a dilemma of 'whom to talk' again.

Prez Musharraf would like to play 'hatred India' card again to shift the ‘focus of attention’ of Pakistani people to India. Terrorist's activities in Kashmir and other part of the country may increase. . In this fashion he can please the hardcore Islamic extremists and earn some sort of praise as well.

The conditions of Pakistan clearly shows that the days of this army regime are about to end like all other martial rules of the country. Agitations are rising there and people have refused to be silenced by the guns. Even the top army officials are not happy with their power thirsty Boss. General Ashfaq Kiyani is waiting to take over as the army chief. Before the declaration of emergency the meeting of core group of army officials was not called. Apart from this the biggest question now arises is that for how long Pakistan army will keep on raising arms on their own people? The condition is like the darkness before dawn and Pakistan will find a stable democratic government soon.

Youth and Politics : Na Baba Na

My this article was published in 'a.m plus', the campus tabloid of Manipal University on 30/8/07.

Politics has become no more than a dirty game in India. Every one talks about the prospects of cleaning this with the help of young , energetic and valiant youth of our nation but youth are in no mood to join their hand for the sake of nation. Whenever it comes the matter of youth and politics a complete ' no attitude' appears on the screen.

Indian youth has plenty of career options available nowadays. Self satisfactory medical stream, handsomely paid MBA, challenging engineering profession and many more provide an opportunity to earn good reward as well as job satisfaction. But what about a political career which provides you all prospects of a good career but not money!

In the 70s many youths joined Indian politics to serve the society . Today they are in the ministries, CMOs, few even made it top to PMO. But it is a past now .Today no one is willing to be a politician. “ If you talk about politics people think you are not capable to build a career in any other stream , they start suspecting you as a corrupt person who wants to enter in politics for making money” says Amit Suri, 1st yr student BBM e-Banking.

In 80s and 90s some youth entered the politics as well but they had one thing in common. They were either from political background or a criminal background. So, what happened to aam aadmi or janta ka aadmi? Why didn’t they appear in the scenario?

Rahul Revti Raman, a 2nd year student of MCODS, says “if your parents are in politics, then they have a strong control over a particular vote bank and this helps you to win an election.As far as criminals are concerned they apply muscle or money power to get triumph over their opponents.”

Earlier those who were interested in doing some good for society joined politics and ultimately they lead the nation, state or their city. Has social work lost its meaning for today’s youth? “I don’t think you need to join politics for doing social work ,by working for an NGO or even for Indian Administrative Service one can serve our society better than a politician does” says Chandan Kumar a 2nd year student of MIJM.

But by taking power in their hands youth can do more for their society than just working for an NGO. “We need some honest, visionary, dynamic and ethical youths who have some leadership quality to make us a great nation”, articulates Dr. M V Kamath, chairman of Prasar Bharati board.

Kumari Anshu , a 3rd year student of KMC, argues in the favour of students, “the whole system is corrupt , for contesting in an election you need money , for getting some sort of support by other politicians you need to be involved in horse-trading. These all circumstances lead to corruption. Hence you can’t remain honest anymore after entering in politics.”

Then the question arises who will lead the nation, those criminals or those corrupt politicians? Aren’t our youth concerned about the future of their motherland? “For the last 60 years, those corrupt or criminal leaders have been leading our nation successfully or unsuccessfully. This will continue in future too. Lets hope for the best otherwise, jaisa chal raha hai chalta rahega.” added a relaxed Gaurav Vora, 3rd year student of MIT.

• The names of the institutes used in this article are constituent colleges of Manipal University.
  
  

Gandhigiri in modern era

My this article was published in 'a.m plus' ,the campus magazine of Manipal University on 29/9/07.

Chedi Lal, a retired clerk of food and civil supplies department of Uttar Pradesh government, stripped down to his underwear in front of an office staff of same department. He put all his cloths, ring, purse and other belongings on the table of the concerned officer and told him “that’s all I have to offer, if you want brass utensils then come to my house and take it away”. Chedi Lal was annoyed because that staff demanded a bribe of Rs. 15000 to revise his pension.

Few months ago Indian, H-1 visa holders, green cards seekers sent hundreds of flowers to Emilio Gonzalez, director of US immigration agency, in protest against the new announcement of change in policy which will delay their hope of permanent settlement in United States.

These are a few incidents which happened after much appreciated Bollywood mainstream movie ‘Lage Raho Munnabhai’. This movie spread the teachings of Mahtama Gandhi in new generation. As soon as this movie hit the theater experts started discussing the relevance of Gandhigiri in our time. The movie was declared a block buster which itself pronounced the relevance of Gandhigiri in this era.

In today’s time, with terrorism, naxalism, riots and other anti social activities becoming more rampant, Gandhian policies are more relevant than ever. We really need someone like Gandhi to teach us the lessons of Ahimsa. It is high time we reconsider our policies, to check the growing violence all over the world.

In the recent years, we have seen that,all American strategies have proved fruitless, to check terrorism. US is applying the policy of ‘diamond cuts diamond’. They are using terrorists’ means to suppress terrorism and the result- the toll of civilians they killed in the ‘war against terrorism’ was more than that toll killed by terrorists. Even after killing so many innocent people the war is continue and terrorism is still a threat to the world. Violence can never be checked by violence.

If we will follow the Gandhian path then we might be able to control the growing violence to some extent. Ahimsa, affection and the other paths of Ahimsa are the only answers to terrorists. Gandhi was the one man army who could have fought against terrorists.

By applying other Gandhian policies like economics and spirituality we can wash off the very reason behind naxalism and riots. According to Gandhian economics, the villages should be made self sufficient and every citizen should get a proper employment. If we will give work, justice and their rights to the poor villagers and those who are fighting for these things, in other words Naxalites, then there would not be any reason for anyone to raise arms or revolt against our society.

“Raghupati Raghaw Raja Ram, Ishwar Allah Tero Naam” has not lost its meaning yet. Gandhian spirituality is the demand of time. We need to follow Sarva Dharma theory to control riots. Fight over the name of God will stop only when, we learn what the secret of religion is and develop respect for the teachings of other faiths too. Our ‘father of nation’ believed that God lives in the soul of every human being. So, killing a person in the name of religion is not disrespect towards God?

The relevance of Gandhian philosophy in any era depends on those who follow it. Gandhian philosophy is borrowed from all the religions and it is the essence of preaching of great saints, prophets and philosophers. Any policy which is based on love and respect and for the welfare of public at large will never lose its relevance and meaning.

My First Blog---A mixture of dreams n reality

Hello Friends

The headline of my blog, I chose, is quite unconventional. But the headline clearly shows my character. I don't want to describe myself here ,like I am this kind of guy or i like that kind of things. There are two reasons behind not describing myself,firstly you are just reading this blog because you are my friend and secondly you want to read the views of the writer of this blog not about the writer himself.

Now coming back to the strange topic again. In my early teen age ,I was a day dreamer. I wanted to be the topper of my class and by God's grace I was the topper. But I didn't restrict my day dreaming to my class room only. I wanted to be a star or a super star one day and that too in various fields like a sportsman or an actor or a Nobel prize winner. I kept on changing my dream or goal on regular basis.

In my mid teen age I realized, I could not become a film star or sports star. Then I thought it was better to become a politician, you get fame, power and something more......, and the road map I decided was first get a bachelors degree from IIT, followed a PG from IIM, then join an MNC and earn some money. If you have the money then its not a big deal to switch it over to politics.

In that period of my life I wanted to do so many other things ,apart from what described above. I wanted to be an MBBS to serve society, an IAS to work for the administrative agency, join army to serve our great country. In that part of my life I was obsessed with one dream for a week and with a different dream in the following week.I was thinking that there was just one person in the world who can do everything or anything and that person was "me, myself and nobody else".

Finally I would like to tell you about my last stage of teen age. I was more practical in that time period. I pursued a course of my own interest, and I am doing good in this field. I still want to be a politician to do something for our country and the road map has also seen some changes, now I want to be an IAS first , not to earn money but to earn fame and faith of people and after then I will switch over to politics.