Politics of a bus seat

I had left early for home. It was a tiring day and so I was exhausted. I travel by Bus. It was around two which is the peak hour. I was praying that I get a less crowded bus or a one in which men are sitting on reserved seats! The first bus was heavily crowded..women were all standing. So I decided to wait for the next one. My wish had been granted. The next one had men sitting on reserved seats. I asked a person to get up but he said he was unwell. I asked the other person and he got up. Then another woman came up and asked the ‘unwell’ person to get up. He kept insisting that he is not well. But everyone called him a liar. He had to give in.
That was I think the first time when I experienced how a bus seat can make one immoral. Ofcourse I do not rule out the possibility that he might be faking it. A lot of men do but the chances are also there that he was really unwell. I felt really sorry for this person. This made me think as to what extent women are this deserving for a seat reservation.
I have always tried to evade this issue. The reason is that I myself enjoyed this privilege. But now I think its time to really apply my ideology of equality. I have tried to come up with arguments for and against this issue.
Biologically, Women are less strong than men. No one ever denies this fact. So a healthy woman is always more deserving for a seat than a healthy man. But a sick man is not as capable as a healthy woman. So I think the seat should go the person who is deserving. If there is a senior citizen(male/female) and a young lady, then the seat should ideally go to the elderly. There is only one seat reserved for the elderly. Same rule applies for the differently-abled. I think even within a reserved seat there should be an internal criteria. Young fit ladies should not sit if an elderly is present.
Another point supporting the reservation is the problem of eve-teasing. Men are taught to be opportunity-seekers. A woman standing amidst a pack of men becomes an easy prey. It will take some more years to teach men that women are not made physically weak so that men can take their advantage. So in the meantime, reservation is a very minuscule way to restrict eve-teasing.
The immorality aspect is my point against this issue.* Though I am yet to experience such shamefulness but since this issue has been reported, I assume that this happens. Women often become age-blind and demand a seat for a male elder. Women have also asked a differently-abled for a seat. I find this unbelievable but then I agree that there is no limit to peoples’ shamefulness. Just for a seat, how can one become so immoral. Another practice is that Women sit on the general seat even when a reserved seat is available. These practices have an individual element so one is obviously not blaming the entire womankind so no offence! But reservation is encouraging such immorality.
Seat reservation for women is a measure taken by the Government to ensure a cheaper and smoother way of travel for women. They consider this as a measure in the process of women emancipation. I am glad that the Government took this pain but short-sightedness is not the key to success. Giving them seats will not liberate them. It is not like either u subjugate women or u worship her. I think seat reservation is the only time when a non-feminist woman celebrates her woman-ness! Seat reservation should be for the deserving. Equality is among equals...inequality is for special cases. Here, the special cases are the elderly, the differently-abled and the sick. Only after this one should see the woman element. Infact I think the woman element can also be ignored. This reform should come if one really understands the concept of equality. If the Government really wants to improve the condition of women, it should train the conductors to be a bit more polite and helpful. The conductors have to be responsible. They can even put a stop to the eve-teasing. But ofcourse for that, they themselves should be moral. For the Government to act, People have to provide the base. I think this concept of ‘seat for the deserving’ should be practised on an individual note. It is only then that the Government will be able to note this and do the necessary. This is a democracy. We the people will make and dismiss laws. Hail Democracy.

*Views by Rutwij Kokje

A Capitalist India

Economies are classified into three approaches- Socialist, Capitalist and a Mixed approach. Socialist approach is pro-poor. It aims an equitable distribution of wealth. Government owns all economic institutions. Capitalist approach creates wealth for a ‘class’ of people. The economic institutions are owned by individuals or a group of individuals. A mixed approach however is a blending of both. Both Individuals and Government owns institutions. Government intervenes for social welfare.
India is a Third-World Country. It is a developing economy. It started out as a mixed economy. However, Post 1991, India has been moving towards capitalism with gushing force. Liberalization and Globalisation opened Indian Economy. Opening up sectors for foreign direct investment (FDI) has attracted great investment and employment opportunities. Liberalizing FII (Foreign Institutional Investor) norms has helped in easy availability of capital. There has been an easy availability of loans. Our GDP growth reached 9 per cent. The real estate market is blooming. Our industrialists bag awards for the wealthiest persons in Asia and world. We are growing into the fastest economies of the world. But does this achievement take into account Gandhi’s Talisman?
Even after 60 years of independence we are unable to address the problems of poverty, education, housing, food, sanitation, etc. According to reliable economic sources, over 250 million people in India lives below the poverty line, over 300 million people are illiterate, there is a demand of millions of houses but most of it is not satisfied, almost 80 per cent of population in Mumbai lives in one bedroom-cum-drawing room house, over 25 per cent of our country’s population does not get clean water and proper sanitation. Most of the rural areas, which comprise almost 70 per cent population of India and include over 6.5 Lac villages, are under developed. The growth that we observe around us is a lopsided growth helping rich getting richer and making poor poorer. All these are the result of excessive capitalism and reliance on industrialization and urbanization. The trickle-down effect did not work. Social welfare schemes like NREGA, Sarva Shiksha, Abhiyaan, etc. implemented by government are not serving the desired purpose. In an interview, Congress member Rahul Gandhi also admitted that out of every hundred rupee disbursed for the rehabilitation of poor only fifteen percent reaches the actual intended person while the rest of it is gobbled up by corrupt bureaucrats.
By capitalizing the economy, we are promoting industrialization. The ‘growth’ is at the cost of agriculture. Indian economy is an agrarian economy. India is a home to millions of villages. Villages provide an economic base to our prosperity as Food production happens there. But our economy is opening at a dangerous speed. The Government is losing control. It is the duty of the Government to distribute wealth evenly. But if liberalization and Government’s neglect continues at this speed, we will soon be importing food grains. Development does not mean transformation of rural areas into urban areas. It means developing the rural areas. Technology should reach Rural India to increase self-sufficiency. Medical and Educational facilities should be provided. Basic amenities should be provided. There should be creation of facilities so that Villagers feel no need to migrate to urban areas.
Capitalism states: ‘Those who survive, Let them survive. Those who can’t, let the Perish’. This is what is happening in our Country. The Poor are seen as hurdles in the development path. In Nandigram and Singur, the Government forcefully acquired lands. There was widespread violence. But the most interesting part was that the Government in power was a leftist party. Left parties are socialist parties which believe in development for all. The Poor are displaced because Rehabilitation is an unknown concept in this country. The Poor are also losing their employment as Companies like Reliance and Tata now compete with them in selling grocery.
Our economy should be a mixed economy with an inclusive growth model wherein the benefits of the governmental steps are reaped by all and everyone gets an equal chance to progress and prosper.

source:
http://theviewspaper.net/a-capitalist-india/

From the Slums to the Red Carpet

I am very sure that everyone knows what country I am talking about. The "slums" part of the title, I am sure, gives it away. As most of you may know, I work as a waiter at my father's restaurant during the weekend. Every now and then there is a guest who feels that it is their job, or in some cases talent, to bring me to shame due to my nationality. Please do not get me wrong, Flesherton is a beautiful town with beautiful people and beautiful tourists. I am talking here of that one odd person. Anyways, coming to the point, the reason I felt compelled to write this note was a simple one, one of our ex-employee's ignorance about my nation. It all started at 2:00 pm today (Sunday August 9, 2009). She started with a simple question, "So Aakash, how bad was your English when you first came to Canada?" The problem was not her question. It was the fact that she asked it in a very insulting manner in front of company dining with her. It induced a giggle from all the other three of her companions. I gave her a wide smile and replied, "When I was offered the job, Ma'am, it was under the condition that I be polite to all the guests under all circumstances. I do not see any possible way to answer your question without violating that condition. So do wait back until 3:00 pm and I will answer it once I am off-duty." All this was said with a sense of humour, a feeling of hurt and a wide smile that let her know that it would take a lot more on her part to break me and get an insult out of me. She did, to my great pleasure, wait back for my reply. I assure you my friends, I said to her with all politeness I had in me, "When I first came here my English was better than yours will ever be. I had, and still do have, a better vocabulary. Just because I am from India is no reason for my English to be of a poor quality." The reason I was compelled to write this note is not the fact that I need to vent my anger, but rather the fact that I want to clear any illusions that people have about India.

We do have many slums. According to a 2007 estimate, about 25% of our population still does live under the poverty line (https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/print/in.html). On the other hand, we are a rapidly developing nation. If you can name me one rapidly developing nation (non-communist) that does not have social stigmas to fight, I shall accept defeat. According to 2008 estimates, 12% and 11% of the population in the US and Canada, respectively, lives under the poverty line (http://www.indexmundi.com/). Coming back to the point of India being a rapidly developing economy, the evidence lies in the fact that 8 years ago, in 2000, 35% of the population lived below the poverty line. Yes we are still a nation that believes in superstitions. Allegedly, it is still a nation that believes in the repression of women. Yet, India recently elected Pratibha Patil (currently serving) to become the first woman to hold the office. India elected Indira Gandhi to two terms as the Prime Minister of the nation. The US has yet to have a woman elected to the presidential office or even the vice-presidential office. The president of the current ruling party (Indian National Congress) is Sonia Gandhi, a woman. In fact, she is the Italian widow of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi (assassinated May 21, 1991). How does this in anyway indicate that India is a nation that still believes in repressing its women? I agree that there are many families that believe in the orthodox methodologies, yet there are cities sprouting up all over India that are becoming important centres for World Trade. Every time I here someone say they want to go to India, I ask a simple question, "Why?" Surprisingly, 7 out of 10 times the answer is, "To see India as it is. To see the plight of the poor people and to see the copious amounts of corruption that goes on over there." Why not go there to see the Taj Mahal? Why not go there to see the beautiful temples? Why not the forts which carry a unique story? Why the poor? Why the corruption? Why has that become the stereotypical view of India? It really warms my heart when someone says to me, "We were in India and oh what a wonderful place it is. History and modern development walking side by side." That is not at all wrong; the Gateway of India still stands proud amongst the development of Mumbai. The Lal Quilla (Red Fort) still casts its wondrous presence over the development of Delhi. It is like this, Indians when visiting the US or Canada, say that they will see the big cities, the tall buildings, and the lifestyle of the people in developed nations. They do not say that they are visiting to see the homeless, the poor, the racists or the hypocrites.

People say that India is not a nation, but hundreds of nations put together by the British. Why do I feel that historical evidence proves this to be wrong? Asoka Maurya (born 304 BC) ruled almost all of the Indian sub-continent from 273 BC to 232 BC. H.G. Wells said of Asoka, "In the history of the world there have been thousands of kings and emperors who called themselves 'their highnesses,' 'their majesties,' and 'their exalted majesties' and so on. They shone for a brief moment, and as quickly disappeared. But Asoka shines and shines brightly like a bright star, even unto this day" (Wells, The Outline of History, 1920). After the Persian invasion the Mughals ruled over most parts of northern India until Akbar annexed most of the sub-continent to the Mughal Empire. The British succeeded due to their use of proper governing methods. Their ways of dividing the nation into states, states into districts and so on. The English, though, did teach us the meaning of "United we Stand, Divided we Fall". Which is why today when I walk out to play cricket in India, I do not care whether my captain's name is Ali or Shyam or Chris.

People in developed nations always think that India is still a land of snake-charmers, a land where the kings still rule. I really do not see the point in that. India has been to the moon and back, it has been to the Oscars (won 4 times and received an honorary award once and nominated once). I am not claiming Slumdog Millionaire to be an Indian film. It is not. It is a British film based on an Indian novel (Q & A, Vikas Swarup). The awards and nominations I speak of are Rahman for Best Music and Best Original Score, Gulzar for Best Lyrics, Bhanu Atthaiya for Best Costume Design, Russell Pookutty for Best Sound Mixing, Satyajit Ray received the honorary award in 1991 and Lagaan was nominated for Best Foreign Film. India has made huge leaps in the fields of medicine, science and technology, and yet we have to struggle to prove to the developed nations that we are worth an investment. What I find disturbing is how SOME Canadians blame Indians for the loss of jobs in Canada claiming that "we stole their call-centre jobs". No, we stole many other jobs as well due to the simple reason that we are willing to work without any "oohs" and "aahs" and without creating a fuss with the unions. I mean if I have to live in what is practically a garbage dump just because the union is on strike, how can I claim to be living in a developed nation (referring to the recent fiasco in Toronto)? If I fear that my sister will be insulted due to her race and colour of her skin at the bus stop, how can I claim that I live in a developed nation? If I fear that I will be stereotyped as a "slumdog" due to my skin colour how can I be living in a developed nation? If all this is common in developed nations, then I am regret I left India to come to such a nation. Well, I am obliged to say that I mean no offence, and I really don't, but I can not be expected to sit quiet while someone insults my pride, my love and my dignity.

Threatened by Dragon,What will the Tiger do?

I hope most of you have come across an article in newspapers of 12th August 2009 which stated that Chinese strategist have stated on its semi official website that China should work towards breakin India into smaller 20-30 nations.This being semi official site with there being a lot of censure about what is posted publicly by the Chinese people it is hard to accept that this article written for the people of China since it was in Chinese language,did not have approval of Chinese authority.In addition to it the person writting such aricles has lot intricate knowledge about the Chinese strategy and authority suggesting that he himself is some high ranking official of Chinese government.He also has a detailed knowledge about India suggesting the deep penetration of Chinese intelligence within India.Considering these factors together does add some crediblity to the theory that China may indeed be planning such an acitvity. The statement giving initally by the external affairs minstry of India was that they have made their dissent about this article known to authorites in Beijing and are awaiting the official word of Chinese government regarding this article.They later declared that China has infromed the Indian MEA that they were planning no such thing and the article was opinion of an induvidual.They also stated that the said article has been removed from the website. This all is well and good, but what remains to be asked to the Indian MEA is, are we going to take the word of Chinese authorities on this issue?Does a government wishing to conduct such acitvity openly declare that they are planning such activity?These actions are part of clandestine operations.They are never declared but conducted in secrecy,through covert and underhanded methods.Besides Chinese have a bad record of keeping their word,and we have a bad record for falling for their word.Should we not learn from history? Our governments may proclaim that Indiaand China are not rivals, but yet it does not change the fact that we are indeed rivals.During cold war era US and USSR never fought an open war.Thier leaders too were always involved in talks ranging on various issues,including trade.Yet it never changed the fact that USSR and US were rivals.Similarly whatever talks India may involve itself with Pakistan and China,it is a fact that they will be rivals.China has already demonstrated how serious they are about this rivalry when they exported substandard pharmacueticals branded as made in India.They do not care about the collateral damage as long as they bring India down.Therefore we need to be prepared for China conducting operations to break apart India. Offense is said to be best defense.The only way to offset this plan of China would be for us to pre-empt it with strikes of our own.I am not talking about conventional warfare strikes. China is a communist state with a dictatorial rule.There is dissatisfaction amongst the Chinese simmilar to that within the USSR. When it comes to freedom of the people China has bad record.So is its record concerning human rights.China too has many rivals arond the region,mainly Japan and Republic of China(Taiwan). There are regions that are forcefully dominated by the PRC, like the Tibetean Autonomus Region.There also the Chinese colonies of Macau and Hong Kong. The division within China is not so obvious as it is with Indiadue to dictatorial rule which suppress any reactionary forces within the nation.There are also the suprresion of minority. There are tensions between the Uyghur people of Xinjiang province.Same is the case with Tibet. Inner Mongolia also largely ignores the needs of the locals in its development projects. These examples show that China itself is not without internal troubles and a bit of slip over the controls by the Communist Party of China could very well lead to destrcution of CPC and liberation of various forcibly controlled regions in China.Eepecially the Xinjiang province within which lies the Aksai Chin and Tibet within China claimms Arunachal Pradesh to belong.India houses the leader of Tibet , the Dalai Lama.That has promoted friendly connections with Tibetean government in exile.Breaking China up is all about causing a economic breakdown within China which is possible if Indian industries stop outsourcing to China and stop the import of Chinese goods.It is time to think about something more important than personal satisfaction,because if China suceeds in its plans India will be too vulnerable to foriegn rule and annexation.That would be more lethal for people of India. Also if India can use the traditional rivals of China and a bit of direct interfernce,China will collapse upon itself.Right now we have a pro-India government in Nepal which had been moving towards China for sometime now.We must do our best in securing their alliance to India by providing them aid in development activity.Also we should venture forth in the South-East Asia securing the alliance with Myanmar and Malaysia by investing in devloment activities there.We should disable the base of Chinese alliance around India breaking ourselves from the ring of fire we are in..It is time India gave up is infighting and stood upto to China and not only secure the territory of Arunachal Pradesh which China is trying to take from India but take back the territory of Aksai Chin which we lost to China in 1962.It is time we stop waiting for China to stab us in our backs like they did in 1962 and prevent them from implementing their plans of breaking India. Its time for Our Nation to unite against a common external enemy and a threat to soverignity of Our Country that the Chinese pose.

Politicians are selfish?

In India it has become a fasion to title politicians as corrupt and immoral.Politicians are blamed for every failing of this country.It is a common perception that Politicians and Government Servants are now synonymous with corruption.Yet we as a common man,as citizens of this nation fail to,rather conviniently, look at our activities which contribute to the failings of our nation despite its potential. We say politicians are corrupt.Are we not? These corrupt politicians and 'public servants' care about nothing but power and filling thier private coffers.What about us?We ignore anything that does not affect us,because we are too busy earning money.Are we doin thesame thing.Are we not busy filling our own private coffers, to even care about wat is happening arond us.It is only when we are affected by the gross misconduct of the politicians that we speak about corruption. The question remains how to they get away with it? The law has given us Right to Information Act(RTI) and our right to vote which is as much a duty. How many of us use these right of ours to keep a check on the government?Do we even bother with voting?Are we not to busy earning money at such times? We blame the politicians of indulging in votebank politics.Again let me ask,how is it that they suceed?If they suceed in such ploys isn't it because we fall prey to such games?Their acts of appeasement to a particular group gets the group supporting them.So is it not selfishness on our part if we allow such small acts of appeasement to suceed in their tasks?Do we think about the bigger picture at such times?Do we think of future effects of such act?No.all we want is benefits.Are we ready for sacrifices for the collective welfare?Are we ready to force these politicians to work on proper devlopment,instead of votebank appeasement?Are we ready to sacrifice the benefits which we would otherwise get from an act of apeasement by some politicians?The answer is a resounding no. We blame the governmet for lack of security but yet again we forget our duties to enure public security.Are we vigilant enough to spot and report any suspicious acitvity?Even if a someone does spot such a thing, but if he is geting out of that place(say alighting from a bus,or train),would he bother with reporting or alerting anyone else? We complain about lack of infrastructure and yet how well and efficiently do we use the existing one?I do not about other metros,but in Mumbai a person obeying traffic rules without a policeman around is thought to be a fool.You stop at a traffic signal without any police around and you will be honked and shouted at by those behind you.Obeying traffic rules and lane discpline can reduce the traffic woes of the city.Mumbai gets flooded by the rains every year and yes the cause is lack of proper drainage system, yet wecould avaoid a lot of floodings if we stop throwing litter around which in turn cuases blockages in the drain slowing down the drainage process.We claim that surroung is unclean.Public places are reduced to dustbins.Are we not the ones one litter these places.Many people shamelessly spit around in public.Sometimes its tobacco.Do we bother correcting them.Or to they fell ashamed to do so?Or perhaps bother correcting their own habits?If someone tries correcting he is made to shut up with a simple insult,'Abey tere baap jagah hai kya?Jaa na apna kaam kar.'How many bother siding with a person who is correcting someone? How many of us bother correcting someone who jumps a queue?Or rather how many of us bother with queues themselves?Why do these people jumping queue not hesitate when doing so? How many of us go around asking for favours from these very politicians whom we call evil? As long I am benefiting its alright.but as soon as someone else benefits over me its corrutption. Our society has become too self indulgent.Our constitution has awarded us with certain rights as a citizen of this country.At the same time our constitution expects some duties from us in return for us enjoying these rights. While we remember our rights very well, we conviniently forget those duties because it entails giving of something. It is said that those who forget history are doomed to repeat it.We have forgotten that the reason a handful of British soldiers were able to gain control over much larger forces?The selfishness was the reason.We were never united against them and the British took advantage of this using thee divide and rule policy.Was that not appeasement policy?How well did that go for he Indians,even those who were initially appeased were later on forced to serve the British oce they served their purpose.They were used by the British to gain power in India.Unless we learn a lesson from this and unite against the power seeking politicians for betterment of the nation,unless we stop falling prey to Politicians appeasement policy, history is bound to repeat itself. The effect will not be immidiate.Most probably it will not be our generation that suffers the consequences of our selfisheness,but it will be the later generations,probably our children or their children.It is shameful that someone like Mayawati is able to get the post of Chief Minister of Uttar Praedesh just by playing her caste card.Someone whose only intrest is self-promotion.It is sad that politicians are able to divide us along religious lines,caste lines,or regional lines to win election by creeating votebanks.Chinese strategists have clamied that India is internally unstable.The urge the Chinese government to interfere in our nations internal matters,to widen this divide and break India.They claim that with a bit of interference they would be able to break India into 20-30 small nations and to gain 90,000 sq.km of Indian territory which is under dispute between India and China.We would be facing the same humiliation of dismemeberment that we handed to Pakistan in 1971 Indo-Pak War,also known as Bangladesh Liberation War.These claims of the Chinese are not too far fetched.Unless we pull our act together and mend these divisions, our nation will be following on the path of USSR.This time it would be a free economy non dictatorial state broken down by the dictatorial communist state.Completely opposite of what happened to USSR.China has the audacity to mmake such claims becuase they can see how we have divided ourself on the basis of every possible line we can divide by.The government claims that this is not the official line of Chinses governmentbut induvidual opinions of the people of China.Now we cannot be naive enough to believe that any government would take such sort of official stance.These things are done underhandedly.The bottomline is are we ready to make ourselves vulnerable by breaking this federation of states that forms the nation of India into its smaller components,so that the foriegn powers may find it easier to dominate us again?To rule on us?To take us back to pre-independence era?The might of India which is a deterent to the world from trying to enslave India will be divided.Let us remember our pledge. (India is my country.) Is it really?Is this how we treat our houses? (All Indians are my brothers and sisters.) Is that so?Is that how we treat our siblings? (I love my country) Today we only love ourself and after that our families. (and I am proud of its rich and varied heritage) Yes we are proud that the heritage is varied.It gives us some reason to fight amongst ourselves. (I shall always strive to be worthy of it.) I shall only strive to loot as much as I can from my this country (I shall give my parents teachers and all elders respect) I shall give myself everything I can take from this country (and treat everyone with courtsey) and treat anyone who does not matter with utmost disdain. (To my country and my people, I pledge my devotion.) To myself and my family only I pledge my devotion. (In their well being and prosperity alone, lies my happiness) In my welll being and properity alone lies my happiness. (Jai Hind) Jai To Myself. JFK had once said,'ask not what your country can do for you, instead ask what you can do for you country.' All we ask today is wahat our country can do for us. Are not our actions today mocking our own pledge.Instead of just mugging up this pledge and saying it when we are asked to, we should try to understand its meaning and try to live those lines.All we do is take,take and take whatever we can take from this nation untill there is nothing left to take,and even than we keep on taking leaving our nation barren.We should learn to give back.We did the same with nature and environment, and now we see where it has left us.Let us not forget the speech of Mr. Nehru,'A moment comes, which comes but rarely in history, when we step out from the old to the new, when an age ends, and when the soul of a nation, long suppressed, finds utterance. It is fitting that at this solemn moment we take the pledge of dedication to the service of India and her people and to the still larger cause of humanity.' Let us step out into new world again 60 years after we did it once.Let us take a new pledge. We need to change before we demand the politicians to change, before we get the thi snation to change,we must change ourselves.Letus walk this path of change.Let us step into a new era of change. Mr.M.K.Gandhi has said,'You be the change You want to see in others.' Yet I fear we will not change. We will let arrogance and ignorance to ruin us. We will stay selfish as ever. And yet we say that 'Only .......................................................................................................