I searched & searched for Zeeshan, the lawyer & real-estate agent, on facebook.
If only I could get his no. & reach him before he reached.
I was calling Dad to find out where he was, as my train entered Durg station, & I got up & came to the door to find him & …
The phone dropped into the folds of the blankets, & I never knew.
When I had deboarded, & was checking my luggage, I realized the phone was not there, & the train was leaving… (& that’s how I lost my 4th phone, a new set I had just bought for my sister)
Zeeshan would be getting off at the next stop, & that’s why the futile attempt to get him to keep it.
I had been in the train almost 24 hrs, chatting with the Mango businessman, & another old gentleman, who shared some experiences with him, & was going to Vishakhapatanam for the inauguration of a Gurudwara.
Zeeshan told us about his internship work on the Telgi case, & how he had been amazed by the proportions of it. He was an easy guy with an entertaining style. His boasting didn’t sound like boasting. He told us how he does what he believes, how he had twice invoked RTI, how he had once approached a news channel who gave him a pen-camera for candid capture of corruption.
The Mango businessman got defensive talking to him.
At night, after everyone had dinner, he asked me to go stand at the door & chat. Since I wasn’t sleepy, & lights were out (so I couldn’t read), I agreed.
He offered me a cigarette. (That’s a first) I refused. We talked about this & that. He stated strongly how one must do the work they truly enjoy.
On hearing that I enjoyed counseling, he very sincerely advised me to become a Spiritual counselor, & establish a “math”. These people make tones of money! To illustrate, he told me a story.
There is this very popular spiritual Guru (no names). & elite too. His disciples are all financially established, & the rejuvenation courses cost small fortunes. & people also give huge donations to these gurus, to whiten their black money or to lighten their still-existant consciences. Such a man had been coming to this guru. Every month-end, he would discreetly place Rs 25 Lacs at the gurus feet. He stayed & meditated, but never tried to correspond. This went on for 6 months.
One day, he went up to the guru. Very concerned & asked for special blessings. On badgering, he broke that he was in urgent need of a large loan for the starting of a real-estate project. But he was not able to get it sanctioned.
The Guru considered. He asked for the documents of the deal, & after studying them, decided to invest in the project himself, not lend, but set up a partnership with the guy.
You can imagine the rest. The man ran away with a sum of Rs 7.5 Cr. They couldn’t trace him.
“See what a bet he played – he sniffed out where the money lay, & took a risk of Rs 1.5 Cr.” Says Zeeshan.
The dissappeared one
Where is the Rakhi-ism?
I was waiting for "Rakhi ka Swayamvar"
Beacuse, one should also challenge oneself.
In my case, I wanted to test my sanity & sense of sophistication, by the onslaught of mind-numbing melodrama...
But it is proving to hardly be a challenge.
Rakhi Sawant is no longer Rakhi Sawant.
What used to be entertaing (even endearing) about her was her complete oblivion to the surroundings. She'd throw tantrums, & howl so genuinely, even the most formal of us would be forced to consider,
Can this be just a ASD(attention-seeking disorder)? She probably does feel the way she says (howls) she feels.
If she trumpeted about being "self-made", she looked the part. "Unpolished" described her best.
But someone or something seems to have polished her quite a bit.
She's displaying reserve, for heaven's sake!
A sense of self-preservation, I grant her. After all, she's good a,t & successful in, her profession, as well as her (apparent) life-aim of limelight-hugging. She has to have survival instinct.
But common sense? (reasonably)Good judgement? Rationality? Self-restraint?
oooooooooohhh
I'm dissappointed.
She might have learnt to leash in her emotions, not create a scene whenever shocked.
Or she might have internalized that plots & scripts are best left to professionals, & she was not born to improvise.
She's behaving as a wellwisher would like her to...
Did she just get mature, or did she just get mature?
"DOODH -BHAAT" FOR UNDERPRIVILEDGED STUDENTS
The Right to Education Bill, 2008
Highlight point 2 says
No child shall be held back, expelled, or required to pass a board examination until the completion of elementary education. Schools may not screen applicants during admission or charge capitation fees. A child who completes elementary education shall be awarded a certificate.
My head is spinning.
While the flaws mentioned here are significant, they are certainly of debatable philosophy.
Meanwhile it is difficult to laud "such bold steps as scrapping of class X board exams"
Already, automatic promotion till Class V plays havoc with children's progress.
A child who completes elementary education shall be awarded a certificate??
Exactly WHAT is the criterion of a child COMPLETING elementary education?
Tests & their results, right? Here we are talking of eliminating all tests & all results. As if they are the cause of our poor educational system!
Will "COMPLETING ELEMENTARY EDUCATION" consist of Attendance in school from age 6 to 14?
Please Mr Ministry of HRD !! Education is poor due to poor resource distribution & poor teachers, not Due to test & results - these, for heaven's sake are indicators! You are cutting off your own eyes & ears !!!
If a child's sense of self-worth is important, is real ACQUIRING of knowledge not?
By continuously erasing formal testing, we are left with no ways to assess the "learning" of student, nor capability (qualification or logistical) of teacher.
In such a situation which denies any verification, how is ACCREDITATION going to be unbiased?
Annexure to the Raipur incident
What happenned inside the Dr's chamber
Deepti had got me to buy glue & paste the photo on the declaration. So the forms were almost complete. The senior nurse took my ECG, & sent it & me to the Dr for interpretation. Thankfully, everything was alright with me. While fulfilling the formalities, the Dr proceeded to tell me a story.
"Mere saath bhi aisa hua tha. (He had been stating the obvious - the inco-ordination in the Company.) I went to Bombay. (He had completed DM in 1995, but didn't look his age) I had applied, & got selected, & got a call for medical checkup. I had 4 & 4.5 power. It was out of range for the employment. So they said, You'd have to go to a medical panel. What did I care? 3 senior Drs are going to test my vision, so I get a free examination. I went for it. They examined me. They gave a 'go-ahead'. I received an appointment letter. I tore it up. Mujhe Govt job karna hi nahin tha!"
What happenned outside the Dr's chamber
Deepti got herself a bottle of water. There were many children around. All 3-4 yrs olds. Two of them, a brother & a sister, got Deepti. First, they kept telling their mother (while looking at Deepti) that they wanted water. Since she kept telling them that their father had gone to get it, Deepti didn't offer them. So they gherao-ed her. They kept asking strange questions (i do not know the details), leaped & hopped around her in cult-fashion, commented & made demands (even after their father got them water) & might have eaten her live if the Dr took any more time...
What happened at the Railway station.
Poor Deepti had been missing her siesta for 3 days, & getting quite ill. After submitting the documents, we went home, & collected my things, (& new tops) & Deepti thought that I could catch the 5:15 train. In the hurry, she forgot her wallet & mobile.
She dropped me at the station. Though I didn't catch the 5:15 train, I was in ample time for the 6:25 one. I asked Deepti not to park & return straightaway. She told me she'd call once she reached home.
I settled with the Cosmopolitan.
OW-ME-GAWD!
There was something in it. Her roommate's certificates, & extremely importat certificates they were too! I started calling her frantically.
Called my Mom to get Deepti's (cute) brother's no., & called him in case he had her roommates no. He didn't.
After many calls, Deepti fianlly picked up. I called her back. I asked her to park & come straight in through the station restuarant - I had no time for her to get a platform ticket.
She came. & also got me the frozen finger fries I had bought the other day, & kep at her landlady's fridge.
Seriously.
Deepti's a darling.
Lose count
I enquired if it was an electronic document they could forward me & I could print. No. It was a hard copy.
I blew my top. Dad said "Jaa beta, it's last day today". Yash pampered me on the phone as best he could.
Deepti had stopped being surprised. She called people up to find out the location. After lunch, we ventured on the Activa & went to the RO ourselves. I collected the letter which had been sent to them, they gave me the whole thing, because, I was the 1st case, & nobody would have any idea.
I didn't even open it, & rushed to the panel Dr.
He called me in. We both went. He pointed out that the letter mentioned all tests to be conducted by panel-listed service providers. "I'm on panel for medical check-up & ECG. not for the rest of the tests. Though we have the facilities". Deepti suggested that we could get valid results from the Medical College. He pointed out that the problem will be the same. He gave us the address of the Lab that was on panel.
There was also a 'declaration' regarding health, to be signed by me, & required a photograph. I didn't have one on me. Why would I carry snaps for medical test? I was livid. But I did not argue.
Deepti was in better state of reason than me. She took me to take a a snap. I withdrew money. Then she took me to the designated Lab. They collected samples, I paid advance.
Then we went shopping.
(Yes, girls will be girls.)
Next day, I collected all the stuff while Deepti was on duty.
The pp size phot came out good. I didn't look a ghost. 
Then after lunch, she took me to the panel Dr, & then, to the regional office, where I deposited the report, & claimed reimbursement, while she baked in the Sun.
But there is more.
Ye to Ibtidaa hai !
The panel Dr called me inside. "Every comapnay has it's own proforma. What all tests they want conducted on their candidates. & a standard format of reporting too. I'm not on the panel of this Company. I do not have their proforma"
I asked him to prepare a report on his letterhead, & seal it. So, he didn't conduct any tests, & wrote a general report based on clinical examinations. I paid him, took the envelope, & went out. Deepti was asleep in the waiting area. Sitting upright. I tapped on her shoulder with the envelope. She woke immediately, & later said that all people there had been staring.
We went home & went to sleep.
Deepti woke up with a head-ache from the ill-timed nap. I looked at her snaps, chatted with her roommates. Then dinner & sleep. Then next day dawned.
As yesterday, we tripled to the hospital, had breakfast & went to the department.
At 10, I booked an auto return, & went to the Company's regional office.
I submitted the report. Informed them that the Dr had not had the proforma, & took reimbursement. they said, if the proforma arrived, they'd fill it up themselves. I gave them my address & phone no., & told them that I'll get the specified tests done if I'm told.
I returned. I went up to Deepti's OPD, & pleased with myself, opened an issue of Cosmopolitan I had found at her place. I tried to ring up my Dad & Yash. Yash is my fiance. Both phones were engaged.
The lady at the RO called me. The proforma had arrived. Have I left Raipur? No? Good. Can I come & collect it?
the incident at Raipur IV
I approached the man sitting at the nearest desk, but was intercepted by the sweeping maid. I told her what I was there for, & she asked me to sit. Means wait. I sat. Though no reception, there was a waiting area. With two sofas.
I looked around. The place was overloaded. Anyway, an open arrangement of office, without cubicles, means a lot of noise. & right on the road, this place collected a lot of dust. There were cartons & cartons of copier paper. & of new LCD monitors. & the monitors too, on the sight-offending but otherwise functioning desks. In one case, the carton was lodged between the monitor & the wall...
The maid crossed me thrice, & told me each time that no-one had arrived yet. Then who were these (now 6 or 7) people?
15 mins later, one gentleman approached me & said "I did not realize it was you. You have come for joining, haven't you?" Before I opened my mouth to explain, a middle-aged lady entered, & I was directed to her desk. I showed her my letter.
They discussed. "Inka interview hua hai. Medical check-up ke liye Dilli se letter bheja hai. RO likha hai, lekin address hamaara de diya hai na". "You should go to the RO, Madam" they told me. "Ye galti se hamara address de diya hai". They gave me the names of 2 contact persons, & the address of the regional office. They also said they'd inform there.
I went back to meet Deepti. This place was on the ring road, on the highway. Not confident to find my own way there, I took an auto. Deepti meticulously quizzed the driver about his know-how of the place.
But ill -luck. The auto broke down. It won't restart. The poor fellow did everything he could, even taking out a spare spark plug. I relieved him.
Fortunately, I was not too far from the highway, & a share auto dropped me close enough.
I went up to the regional office, they were expecting me.
The divisional office had informed them. I met the lady in personnel. She took a copy of the letter, as no communication had reached them. She took me to meet the RO incharge. This was the first time Riapur regional office was performing any recruiting duties at their level. They had no designated Dr. That meant, they'd borrow a panel Dr from a sister concern with more penetration in this area. I won't mention the name of the organization, just Sister concern. this was what Dad had found out from his acquaintance. If I had heeded, I'd had thought of contacting this regional office from the divisional office itself - on phone - something these people were now suggesting ...
The incharge reasoned that the panel Dr of the Sister Concern will not acknowledge me, & so gave me a letter directing him to conduct a medical examination, & hand the results to me itself, in a sealed envelope.
I returned. (The stoooopid auto driver this time took me to Science University, instead of Medical college... but FORGET IT)
Deepti was starting to get amazed. We had Lunch. Deepti took me to the said Dr. She deduced the roads & got me there without much difficulty.
the incident at Raipur III
I find 'tripling' most unsophisticated. (My sister, Suchs loves the fun of it!). No, honestly, if it were not illegal for safety concerns, it should be for indecency.
But I was disturbing Deepti's routine (& was to continue doing so - though I did not know then...), so I didn't make a sound. Anyway, we were all 3 thin enough, to sit comfortably.
We had breakfast at the hostel kitchen. Then we went to Deepti's department. Dermatology.
Oh! Did I not tell U that Deepti's a Dr, & works at the Medical College Hospital, Raipur? Well, she is, & she does.
She told me she might be able to take me to the company's office. She might be free.
Never underestimate the ability of patients for ill-timing!!!
As a clinician, U might think that U r not too busy (after all, u took up this post so that U'd be able to study for PG in their empty OPD), but trust them to turn up in hordes, just the day U'd rather be bunking duty.
So, a little before 10, Deepti asked if I could myself use her Activa. I was carrying my Driver's licence, so it was fine with me. (& extremely generous of Deepti, seeing as she mortally mistrusts me with any 2-wheeler!)
This office was right on the road on which the medical college is, so with minimum effort, I located it. I parked Deepti's Activa (Tow-away was her big concern) & went up to the office.
1st floor. There were two marked doors, both partially barred. I just like that went inside. 10:05. A maid was sweeping. 4 or 5 different persons were at different desks. No trace of a reception or receptionist.
the incident at Raipur II
I wanted to take the 7:20 local to Raipur. Dad dropped me to the station. I asked him to buy me a ticket, so I won’t have to remove my ‘wrapping’. 
There were 4 guys standing at the counter, being restless.
The ‘behind-the-counter’-s were unable to
Initiate their software/ link-up to their server/ find the correct option to book (not regular booking guy) or something.
Hence, no tickets.
Meanwhile, the 6:30 local was still standing at platform 3, I looked at my watch, 7:05. Everyone started jumping up & down. “Manual 
ticket de do na bhayya”
That too was too difficult. It was obvious that the designated employee was late. In another 10 mins, they did manage to hand out manual tickets. These may be relics soon… should already have been.
The 6:30 local departed at 7:15, & reached Raipur in the time of the next one, the 7:20 one. Deepti had called & I had told her my position, & I called again after reaching. She came & picked me up.
Deepti lives close to the Medical college. Which is quite close to the railway station. With 2 roommates – sisters; they share a 2BHK house on the 1st floor.
I shed my scarf. I told her my plan to visit the office of the company & then the designated Dr, & showed her the address. It was close by.
They got ready. Deepti “tripled” Simmi & me to the Medical College hospital.
the incident at Raipur I
I’m about to join a new job. I was called for ‘medical Fitness’ test for it. That became blog material.
To avoid disclosing the organization’s name (Who knows who gets offended!) I’ll call it “The Company” now on …
I saw it on the website that I had cleared the interview. They were going to send me a letter directing me to the nearest Regional Office to report for Medical Check-up.
It did arrive, though a trifle late. I got it on 27th. “We will appreciate if you call to confirm the time of your visit” they had said. I called the regional office. Call was not answered. I became h-a-p-p-y! No Saturdays! 5-day week!
So there would be no appointment. “immediately and in no case later than 30.6.2009 at 10.00 AM” the letter said, “In case you fail to report for Medical examination by 30.6.2009, we shall assume that you are not interested in joining the Company …”
Since I’m located at Bhilai, I was suggested the Raipur regional office, & address was provided. The end of the letter said “ CC : Regional I/c., RO Raipur for information. Our detailed instructions are being sent separately.”
Dad consulted someone, who works for that company, & confirmed 5-day week, & that there would be training at Noida, & that this address was in fact the Divisional office … & one more thing, & I didn’t pay attention.
I called Deepti. She said she was again contemplating break-up. I said I’m coming down on Monday. I’d need her resources. All out …
Tyaag – Sacrifice & renunciation
However, there are people who shift not downwards, but willingly out of their comfort zone into the adventures & horrors of working the neglected people.
Residing & living, interacting & working with the forgotten few, they assimilate the local politics, as also economics, civics, gossip, worship & in general the LIFE of the area. They begin to speak up against atrocities.
'Adivasis want to be left alone by Naxals and security forces'
Are these incedents
- gross dishonour of human life for hogwash action,
- misguided strategies,
- or desperate acts of mortally scared & under-equipped officers.
For a while, let’s not dwell on what these are
& definitely not on the validity of Naxalite claims.
No. But the pleas of Dr Binayak Sen & Mr Himanshu ? these are people with sensibilities similar to us urbane. These are educated, experienced, competent professionals. These are humans enlightened & selfless & adventurous enough to commit themselves to service(in the original sense of the word).
Is it not natural that they could be the voice of reason? A trustable third party? A researched & reasonably detached view on the requirements of the Red corridor? The parliamentary committee should have diplomatically approached these contact towers to the ‘left-outs’.
Instead, we ignore them till we can, & arrest them at the first opportunity.
It’s true, sacrifices go unhonoured, unvalued.
Under-rated Terror
Nalco mine hostage crisis, eight jawans killed
Second major attack in 2 months shocks Koraput
Binayak Sen completes second year in jail amid global campaigns, awards
Never underestimate your enemy. The Naxalites, as terrorists, are pretty underrated!
Maybe it's simply due to the discomfort of laying the blame at a particular door ... never mind, I must not quote myself - I'm still a nobody. Have a look at the Status Paper on the Naxal Problem .
Allow me (sweeping bow) to draw your attention to point 4,"POLICY TO DEAL WITH THE NAXALITE MENACE ", please do scroll down, direct link is not possible, to sub point "X"
War footing, eh?
But are these officers military? Why would they be mentally & resource-wise prepared, or even willing & aligned to working in places where formal system has collapsed, or, better, was never there to begin with?
Did they pledge their lives?
Could you go?
Suppose you are completely dedicated & passionate about serving, as a public servant. Still, how do you plan to survive long-term in a place where you have to set up a school & a hospital? Where would your children study? Where would your sick parents be taken care of?
Yeah, very cruel & feudal of me to suggest ‘what is good for the villagers is not good for the public servant’. But we have to be practical. There is no such thing as climbing down the social ladder. A lifestyle cannot be given up, many celebrities living beyond their means have found out to their cost.
Moreover, it’s not just a standard of living we are dealing with here. How about the residence being set to fire? How about kidnapped kids? Surely not in the scope of work of Willing, committed and competent officers?
The Origin of Restlessness
A strong & singular Government must emerge from this elections.
Duh !
Otherwise there are a lot of problems.
But the most significant problem is, to identify, who is the wrongdoer???
Traditionally, revolts & rebellions have risen up, against a tyrranical power, the "tyranny" prevailing & pre-eminent, & acompanied by decisive & compelling authority.
Now, we are in a pathetic situation. The misgovernance is still there, but we are clueless as to who is responsible!!
(Excpet ourselves, of course! But which self-respecting Indian will accept that 'there is something wrong with my politics' )My politics? Wrong? (Poignant pause. Now you have stepped on my tail!!) Do you know what atrocities have been (OR have been being) committed against my ... (fill in the blank -caste.. gender.. district.. profession.. )? How we have been deprived of our rightful rights?
Well, all the wrong is alive & kicking, only, the decisive & compelling authority is gone. In fact, there is no authority at all!
Where does that leave the poor revolutionary then?
This is all very unfair!
Opression has become everyone's business!
Not that I grudge equal oportunity, after all, like all truely unbiased people, I hate everyone equally.
But if every next five people are another political outfit, then each of these five-member political party can hold another, or a few of the other, responsible,
& then, if the common man want to rise up, the rulers have such an unfair advantage: to shift blame, to point finger towards the next (Pout, pout...), & the common man is dizzied in settling the blame.
Who to blow up?
No Rajah, no British, only commoners, & that too, too many!!
So, the revolutionary then takes one of two available & abominable ways out.
1. Start a new five-member political outfit, enter the vicious circle, & set out towards a glorious career of corruption & WASTE
2. Blow up commoners.
Shame.
Survival of the selfish
It’s difficult to believe that pure money motive, or lust for power & being feared drives someone to join realpolitik, mind you, & not referring to the drives (or circumstances) which make a politician successful, but those which make a man or a woman choose politics as a career, & later, take such career decisions as seeking a party ticket to contest, or changing their party, or forming a new party.
However, when we look at samples, rather than census, we often come to despair. Take, for instance the political themed movies. You surely get the hint at the latest you watched, the sagas of waste.
These are case analysis by the layman (non-political-scientist).
As a recurring theme, we see, that the most idealist vanish from the scene fastest. Either suffer career suicides, or if in the land on gun rule, actually cease to exist.
Those who act only for themselves, (& “themselves” in a very narrow sense), win. Thrive.
Why is that? Maybe the more abstract the ideas, weaker the conviction?
Or more precisely, the closer one’s political will to one’s on self-interest, the more energy & desperation employed.
Self-preservation is the essence of politics.
To tame the “Rulers”
If today, you were to join politics, for a very substantial reason, what would that reason be?
Let’s try to understand the psychology of the guys, who, today, join the politics of our nation, to participate in GOVERNING US. Whatever we are today, as a society or culture, we are, definitely, RULED by those who we CHOOSE.
We do elect persons to make our parliament. We expect them to behave in a certain way (decidedly corrupt. We completely accept that there is non-propriety, in everyone & every viable association within the legislature, & the executive).
However, politicians are NOT predictable.
Even if we expect the politician to be selfish,
still, shall we not expect him/her to concern themselves with our interest?
After all, the position has been given to him/ her by us,a very large no. of us.
Do we demand too much?
& suppose that an individual does take up politics with the vision to immune oneself from any punitive action, opening up avenues to endless wealth, accumulated through forgery, treachery, & theft of every kind.
Yet, we find that they stumble, blunder, are impulsive, cry foul, & simply cry, & behave in every way that every other individual does.
If we assume that half the people who are in the legislature are opportunists who got lucky, then at least half of them are just like you & me.
Either they had started at the age of 22 with boiling blood & super-ambitions - for their dying craftsmanship of weavery , or saving their tribal grounds from encroachment or against unfairness against medical PG students…;
or at middle age, had bitterly realized that they had to join what they most hated, to make any real difference.
The first half can only be restrained, & hopefully brought to trial only if the latter half wake up, & realize how far they are, from what they set out to achieve. They need to realize the power of their dreams. Maybe they also need to realize the value of their peers’ dreams, so irrelevant to them…
The Mango Businessman
I met him in the train. Strangers meet in trains, & might or might not, at the end of the journey together, exchange phone nos. We didn’t.
He has a textile business.
He also, every summer, shifts base to an obscure little town near Vishakhapattanam, for a seasonal business of mangoes, which his father left him. The mango orchards are in the villages near the East coast.
So, every April, he has this change of location, climate, work schedule & lifestyle. In Delhi, he commutes 40 kms to work. Here, he has an office-cum-residence… Then, one year, he noticed that the neighbourhood of his office-cum-residence had become quite glam; the local “upcoming” leader had moved next doors. So, he kept on on his business, as usual, & smiled, & greeted, & sent complementary gift boxes of the yield to the “local upcoming leader”( while the latter also supposedly made great leaps of progress in his own profession.
Another few years went by & the free cartons of fruits were not good enough anymore. The (now already up) leader, & his upcoming protégés & his near relatives, should be partners in these businesses!
Which are run on their land! employing their people! After all, outsiders will always need local support! & businessmen will always need political backing!
Brings me to think, who is it, that benefits from the produce (not to say labour) of another? Definitionally, it should be the Govt. And, also definitionally, this collection should be known as the taxes. Defined by the law of the country?
Then why is it, that everywhere in this country, individuals & gangs extract money? & of course they run a parallel Govt., if they will do absolutely nothing to appease those that they exploit, then someone will rise in revenge. So they do perform some philanthropic activities. Mainly of religious nature. Or should I say communal?
The Mango Businessman II
My copassenger told us that they conceded to these demands. Not exactly making them partners, but making huge donations. To the religious functions arranged by the leader, to the party funds. In return, what unlawful gains he received out of the latter, he did not tell me. “ I requested him to get me a CNG station in Delhi, he can keep all the proceeds from it, just my ownership on paper. He never once said no. “I’ll see to it” he hasn’t yet seen to it." He further told us that a few months ago, the demands fortified and escalated to threats. How do we elect despots? Democratically pick & send “representatives" that will forge & indulge their own little fiefdoms, squabble among themselves & bleed us so that we are antagonistic of the taxes that we owe the country? So, he and some other businessmen dealing mango produced in the same region were summoned by the leader, now the MLA of that same obscure town, & part of the ruling party, at his residence in Delhi, at urgent notice. They were collectively addressed and elucidated about they all had been formerly separately told. Perhaps this was the leader's one wrong move. Because, according to my copassenger, very soon afterwards, these very businessmen consolidated, stood their ground, & decided to show the leader, that politics needs to be backed by business. Whether my copassenger was a good employer, a fair customer of the locals, a law-abiding businessman, I am in no position to judge. Neither do I swear by the truth of the incidents that he narrated. For the purpose of this particular muse, I assume him to be a “normal” Indian citizen with a balance of conscience & ambition. To be fair to the other party, I have no information as to whether the leader developed a clean or a corrupt image, as to what were his means of success & progress. I guess that these men were only one step away from forming their own political outfit. Would it have done any good to anyone? I wonder.
Atmosphere
If you were to be lost, where would you like to be lost? Do you have a memory of a place where you won’t mind forgetting your way? Do you indulge in it often?
Harsingar is a tree, which bears little white folwers, with orange stalks, in autumn. They pour down during the night, & cover the ground in a loose carpet. It’s probably the only flower, which might be offered to the deity, even after it’s picked from the ground. We had two trees in the house where I grew up. Sometimes, I’d spread newspaper sheets below the trees in the night, to save myself the labour of picking them up. Needless to say, the sheets flew away at night.
“Dushehra-Deepawali holidays” was a long stretch from the Durgashtami to Bhai Dooj. No school and no private tuitions, I’d have the entire morning to myself, to visit a friend, to go cycling, or to simply daydream under the Sun.
The sky would be blue as the sky, the morning, from a little after sunrise, till noon, would feel like time was bound at 10:00 am, roasting heat in the open, comfy cool in the shade. That’s autumn for me.
Whenever I get a whiff of Harsingar, I involuntarily start looking for the tree. If I’m dazzled in passing a white marble structure at midday, or some other thing makes me realize that it’s sunny blue above, I want to daydream for a moment.
I feel my childhood autumn.
I’m transported.
I’m at loss for words. It was the situation, the being. It’s not the time of the year, or the time of the day, the weather or the location, but the confluence. I loved existing there that day. It won’t return, but I remember the atmosphere.
Smells & Sounds
Do photographs take you back in time?
Oh! They do take me back a few steps, i.e., to when I was looking at them, perhaps with some friend? Memory rewinds to a few particular points in time, instantly I remember what jokes we cracked about it while we looked at the snap. But it never takes me as far back as when the snap was actually taken! Memories were created when the artifact was unchanged, just the way it now is, not when it was created.
Neither faces nor places remain the same, enough, to evoke memories. Of course, certain objects that we took to be fixtures, become prominent by their absence, & open a floodgate of memories of ‘have-beens’. A tree that used to be, (and obviously has been hacked), a window you used to stall your bike below, (which has disappeared behind another construction), the little shop which sold erasers & sharpeners (where now stands a rose garden) make you aware of a living & aching hole in your chest.
What reminds me of happy times, and in its full glory, are two things, that never change, Smells and music.
There’s this particular hindi movie song. Every time I hear it, & immediately back in the computer room of my Management School, Smitha’s system playing the song in the row behind me… I try to hold on to it for as many moments as possible, I know it no longer exists. Still, I can still experience it once more, for a few moments, with so much resources as a song. Thank God for small favours.
Self fulfilling prophecy
Wish it, Get it.
Or is it Wish it, Do it.?
Or maybe, wish it, Be it.
Self-fulfilling prophecies are generally negative notions a person holds in his head, & works accordingly, to close the vicious circle.
Surely these could be positive thingies too? During my first block placement, I read John Gray’s (yes, super popular author of Men are from Mars etc,etc…) “How to get what to want, & want what you have”! I best remember the part in which, prayers consisted of many expressions of satisfaction, pleasure, gratitude & hope. The main theme of the book had been to connect with the higher power, in whichever form you perceive it to be, & draw from vast reserves of that entity’s energy. I’d been trying to lay my hands on another copy of that book, for such a long time, that for a while, “what I want” was How to get what you want !!
I ordered one, at a bookstore, & read some, but then, I had to shift outstation in a hurry, & all my books are packed & stored with a known-to at Chennai.
Anyhow, one of these days, I picked up another called the “Silva Mind Control Method”. This is about how to connect to the your own left brain, as well as the collective emotional intelligence of all, human & higher, who would oblige. I started reading this, since I wanted something motivational, & the theme was somewhat similar…
When you want something, the whole universe conspires so that your wish comes true … I’m not much of a fan of Paulo Coelho, in fact, I find it quite a exhausting task to read through these philosophy-cum-novels, but I was reminded of this popular quote when my friend Deepti then handed me the video “The Secret”. About how the daydreams, & feelings we harbour attract situations that would give rise to the very same feelings.
The whole universe seemed to be conspiring so that I read inspirational material of similar nature… Either that, or, ahem, this subject is the latest fashion in the spiritual arena!
Then again, I found “The Great Escape” by Geoff Thompson, which I had bought the last book-fair, but simply forgotten. This is a lovely book about self-empowerment, with many insightful anecdotes, & down-to-earth suggestions. Cool guidance on the power of thought.
So now I’m feeling all “omen-y”, not to mention, charged up for the “Discover Yourself” voyage.
Anyway, my point in writing this essay in the first place is to tell you that this material is great. I enjoyed reading & watching them.
Supposing you are in a blue mood, & in serious need of some perk-up, & hit upon this write-up, well, now you know what the whole universe would like you to do!!
:)
The Mango Businessman
I met him in the train. Strangers meet in trains, & might or might not, at the end of the journey together, exchange phone nos. We didn’t.
He has a textile business.
He also, every summer, shifts base to an obscure little town near Vishakhapattanam, for a seasonal business of mangoes, which his father left him. The mango orchards are in the villages near the East coast.
So, every April, he has this change of location, climate, work schedule & lifestyle. In Delhi, he commutes 40 kms to work. Here, he has an office-cum-residence… Then, one year, he noticed that the neighbourhood of his office-cum-residence had become quite glam; the local “upcoming” leader had moved next doors. So, he kept on on his business, as usual, & smiled, & greeted, & sent complementary gift boxes of the yield to the “local upcoming leader”( while the latter also supposedly made great leaps of progress in his own profession.
Another few years went by & the free cartons of fruits were not good enough anymore. The (now already up) leader, & his upcoming protégés & his near relatives, should be partners in these businesses!
Which are run on their land! employing their people! After all, outsiders will always need local support! & businessmen will always need political backing!
Brings me to think, who is it, that benefits from the produce (not to say labour) of another? Definitionally, it should be the Govt. And, also definitionally, this collection should be known as the taxes. Defined by the law of the country?
Then why is it, that everywhere in this country, individuals & gangs extract money? & of course they run a parallel Govt., if they will do absolutely nothing to appease those that they exploit, then someone will rise in revenge. So they do perform some philanthropic activities. Mainly of religious nature. Or should I say communal?
The Mango Businessman II
My copassenger told us that they conceded to these demands. Not exactly making them partners, but making huge donations. To the religious functions arranged by the leader, to the party funds. In return, what unlawful gains he received out of the latter, he did not tell me. “ I requested him to get me a CNG station in Delhi, he can keep all the proceeds from it, just my ownership on paper. He never once said no. “I’ll see to it” he hasn’t yet seen to it." He further told us that a few months ago, the demands fortified and escalated to threats. How do we elect despots? Democratically pick & send “representatives" that will forge & indulge their own little fiefdoms, squabble among themselves & bleed us so that we are antagonistic of the taxes that we owe the country? So, he and some other businessmen dealing mango produced in the same region were summoned by the leader, now the MLA of that same obscure town, & part of the ruling party, at his residence in Delhi, at urgent notice. They were collectively addressed and elucidated about they all had been formerly separately told. Perhaps this was the leader's one wrong move. Because, according to my copassenger, very soon afterwards, these very businessmen consolidated, stood their ground, & decided to show the leader, that politics needs to be backed by business. Whether my copassenger was a good employer, a fair customer of the locals, a law-abiding businessman, I am in no position to judge. Neither do I swear by the truth of the incidents that he narrated. For the purpose of this particular muse, I assume him to be a “normal” Indian citizen with a balance of conscience & ambition. To be fair to the other party, I have no information as to whether the leader developed a clean or a corrupt image, as to what were his means of success & progress. I guess that these men were only one step away from forming their own political outfit. Would it have done any good to anyone? I wonder.