We, the people! And the susceptibility…

Do you encounter the feeling of vulnerability? Most common example being – loudest music during Ganeshostav. There is nothing you can do to stop it.

And there are many such instances where a powerful organization is involved. You cannot even say anything – leave alone any meaningful protest or any such thought, even!!

So how would you react if at around 12:45 – 1 AM in the night, somebody opts to set off firecrackers with loudest possible bang, for half an hour continuously – almost for a week in stretch?

That happened in our locality, recently. Reason – still unknown.

To the best of my knowledge – there was neither Diwali season nor any India cricket-win against Pakistan. I guess – it was just like that!! May be to have some fun!!! And disturb (in real sense) the others, the small kids sleeping peacefully, and disturb any nearby hospitals.

It was so pathetic and deeply distressing.

And nobody knows exactly who these guys are – who are so brazen to the point of being shameless and cruel.

One of my friends had mentioned something in one of the thought-provoking discussions – that is still fresh in my mind – he said there is steady increase in – ‘I-me-myself’ thing, and ‘who can stop me?’ culture – and lack of tolerance and broad-mindedness these days. In almost all spheres of life!

So we have books being banned, movies being stopped from release. There is this – relatively new phenomenon of ‘it hurts our feelings – we will do anything to stop it’. And there are organized efforts to behave as per their own thinking. So what happens when feelings of large common people are hurt?  

Many people just think of themselves and nothing else matters to them. Being compassionate is downgrade for them. Almost a sign of weakness!

This is sad reality of our society – that too, in one of the most progressive states – Maharashtra. 

I – common man and a ‘Puneri’ rickshawala…

I am no stranger to Pune, now living here for years together. This is nice place, for sure. Every city has special characteristics. The people, places, habits, climate, the food all add up to give a unique flavor.

One of the enduring surprises is the behavior of the auto-rickshaw drivers. Particularly in Pune! It never fails to catch you off the guard. And I have heard many stories of auto-rickshaw drivers, experienced a few quirks as well. I have heard some of them are highly educated. They are equally infamous & notorious, in few cases. They charge extra money and so on.

So the other day, I did some shopping on the famous Lakshmi Road, in central Pune. Then got on an auto-rickshaw to go back home.

And! The driver all of a sudden, out of the blue, started talking to me. It is quite normal, although I did not anticipate a lecture on spirituality!! It was a longish conversation – he went on & on. As it turned out it was more of a ‘pravachan’ – according to him – for me – a lowly common man.

He seemed a good chap. Like an elderly sadhu – all grown up hair & beard, and those clothes. I recalled he was reading a spiritual book, when idle, waiting for a passenger.

He began by saying that – we all are running. I wondered we were in auto-rickshaw – why would we run?!

Then he explained we are running towards our materialistic goals, to earn money, to earn all the luxuries. And this all is futile – we all will die one day. (Sure I agree to last sentence.) On the second thought I wondered if he was drunk & driving. But he looked sober.

He continued – we human beings, have ignored the presence of god in our lives. We ignored our duty to be spiritual and humble. He was talking endlessly.

I wasn't in the mood of talking – as it is I talk very less, by nature. Specifically at that point, I wasn't listening to him, was least bothered, and started ignoring. At least in the beginning!

However he kept going on his sermon. And he claimed that ‘I’ am not at a highly spiritual level, you know, to counter him or to interject even. It is still a mystery – how he concluded that I am very common man, with only money-oriented aspirations. (I remember – one of my best friends – who know me from last 20 years, had said famously that – I am like a fakir/sage – the monies, the extravagances, and the gold etc. are immaterial and irrelevant to me!)  

Even if I wanted to say anything, in this case, there was simply no way I would talk in between! He was speaking loud and clear – with a speed like that of Aranb Goswami.  

I was so flabbergasted.

I mean I know the word ‘Puneri’ has a unique meaning. You have to have opinion on almost everything under the sun and you have to put your point across, forcefully. Irrespective of your standing, your knowledge, education, manners, or income, you should opine & preach!   

It took almost 25 minutes to reach my home – got out of the auto-rickshaw & gave him the fare.

I don’t ever take things seriously – mainly what people think of me.

This was memorable, nonetheless!  

Redefining the ‘Juvenile’!

Sometimes the conditions are such that the very meaning of the labels & terms need a scrutiny. One such term doing the rounds currently is ‘juvenile’. 

The dictionary meaning of this word is ‘physiologically immature or undeveloped’. In legal parlance juvenile laws are – “An area of the law that deals with the actions and well-being of persons who are not yet adults.” 

However what happened in Dec. last year 2012 in the Delhi rape case was extremely horrific. Now the punishment of three years is awarded to one of accused, apparently a juvenile.

Now the question remains if that guy who brutally raped and tried to kill – is he a juvenile just because he is a few months short to complete – the legally adult age?

And there are so many rape cases in which the so called juveniles are actively involved. The latest incidence of gang rape in Mumbai and participation of another juvenile in the crime, throws light on the need to re-asses the meaning of the word if you consider the horrific crimes by these young ones.

And mind you it is not only the rape cases. The data from Maharashtra Government released recently tells a stark reality.

There are as many as 893 rape cases in last ten years in the state. In last one year, there are 90 rape cases, 117 filed cases of murders and 128 attempts to murder by young children!

If the prosecution & punishment is considered the facts tell a deplorable story. Depending on the nature of crime 14 % are let off after warnings. 15% of the offenders are sent to remand home for improvement. And a high number of 32% are let off if their parents take surety of good behavior.

However taking in to account the kind of criminal offences like a ruthless rape warrants a re-look at what is really the meaning of ‘juvenile’. The existing laws or the laws that are eternally in the making should be made ‘faster to execute and extremely stringent’. 

Then only there would be some deterrent.

P. S. Going by the current definition of juvenile – aren't the recent cases of the young boys getting injured in the Janmashtami/ Dahihandi in Maharashtra – the cases of child labor?

      

Natural calamity & shameless politicians

I think India is one of the very few countries, where there are several authorities and machinery for disaster management but on the ground when it comes to actual relief work – they tend to result so ineffective – almost in a big zero!

This is never exemplified well than what is currently going on in Uttarakhand.

Agreed – you cannot preempt the natural calamity; honorable finance minister even went on to intellectualize the debate with this ‘we can’t prevent’ line. Never mind it sounded more like an excuse.    

However what is of critical importance is the rescue and relief.

And in this we falter and then there is always the saving grace in form of our relentless army and military jawans. Salute these guys!

What is so poor in taste and extremely misplaced is the politics over rescue operations and the dead bodies of thousands of visitors to the Char Dham.

Almost all the parties are behaving in worst and inhuman manner. First there was inordinate delay to even start the relief work. And then there was show of partisan policies on who is in rescue operations and who should stay away from that state. It is so very disgusting. 

I guess there is no value of human life for these politicians. I haven’t seen such a poor show outside India in other countries when there is a natural disaster. 

In other countries, there is always a sense of unity to fight the situation with the high level gadgets, use of technology and most prominently – quick response time.   

Let’s not even get into the reasons of why this happened. There is such a mismatch and imbalance between the eco-sensitivity versus notions of so called development in the hill state or indeed all over the country. 

The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) has sheepishly admitted that much of the massive destruction was man-made.

According to the media reports India will initiate the inundation mapping of the flood-prone areas but the exercise will be complete by 2022! The existence of such a convention could have alleviated the degree of the Uttarakhand disaster.

Mind you this is one of the worst ever floods. And there were almost 100000 people on the pilgrimage. Thousands are dead. There are thousands still stranded. And there are again instances of heavy rainfall and landslide.        

We and Jan gan man…

So how do you show-off your patriotism? Do you think that you have to express that openly all the time, especially when you are at a public place?

I want and look forward to watch movies (English, Marathi, and Hindi – in that order) and I go to the theaters and the multiplexes. (Almost every week!)

And somehow I am biased to like the single screens more than the small halls in the multiplexes. Actually, I go to the convenient and closer-located place irrespective of the price of ticket.

Some of my friends think it is waste of money if the same movie going experience, you can avail at rs. 180-160 rather than rs. 300. But I feel this is very subjective. This is individual choice, for a person like me; I always prefer the movies on the big screen in cinema halls.  

OK, the piece goes something like the following.  

So I went to this famous multiplex, got the tickets and went inside to watch a movie. And there is this unwritten rule, in this part of India (may be everywhere) – there is Jan gan man… our national anthem before the reels of the movie start rolling.

That went fine and there was this scream of Bharat mata ki….jay! - you know that well known enthusiasm.

Now in the process, I did not really sing the anthem, although my friends and others were quite on the mark and they obediently followed the chorus.

And suddenly then there were some heated discussions, the movie credits and names still progressing.

My friends alleged I am not loyal enough to my nation – Hindustan. And I need lessons in expressing my patriotism!

Reason? I did not sing with them!! I just could not fathom for a minute. How am I less ‘Indian’? Just because I did not sing Jan gan man, in a cinema hall, am I traitor?!!?

After that the movie started and the topic was put on hold. And then we saw the movie and enjoyed.

But as usual my mind started piecing together the thoughts on the discussion that we had.   

Conclusion is - I feel that it is OK, if you don’t express love for your nation clearly, only for few minutes on one fine day, in a movie hall.

Doing your job good and behaving like a true educated and rational citizen is enough.

It is what you are 24*7 and 365 days a year!

And honestly, I don’t need a certificate on my being a ‘Hindustani’. 

I – the citizen & they – Govt. Offices

So you think government offices are efficiently run, now,in 2013? And they are financially viable? Think again.

I mean I always expected that the interactions would almost always be annoying and irritable. And certainly this was no imagination at its weirdest best.

But when it happened, I was flabbergasted, nonetheless.    

I had a first-hand experience.

Story goes like this. I, being a lazy chap that am, suddenly realized that after marriage of almost seven years, I don’t have a marriage certificate! (Let me be very clear, here, I admit this is my blunder. I should have gone for the certification earlier.)  

And there I go to local municipal office for procuring one.

First and foremost, I am told that ‘the file needs to be complete with the application’.

And to do so, you need almost 20 different documents certifying your very existence and the veracity of your marriage.            

They also wanted ID and address proofs of pundit, who read the mantras for the wedding!

Now all this was unexpected to say the least.

Somehow I compiled all the documents! I still enjoy that feeling of almost an achievement in itself!

I went back, only to find that particular lady officer was not there in the municipal office. Then I went again, went four times.

So I inquired if she was on leave, of some kind. I was told that, no leave – she along with her colleagues were on ‘mission recovery’ of the different taxes – usual stuff like – municipal taxes of your house, drinking water and other utilities.

It was because there were many defaulters, great Indian citizen who did not pay. And these taxes were an important source of income for municipal offices.         

So it was left to all the employees to go and barge the houses of non-payers.  

Why were they keen to recover all the monies? Because the recovery formed a substantial part of their own, incomes – the salaries! And the income of the municipal office.

Finally I could ‘submit’ the ‘completed’ file and will shortly receive the certificate.

However, going by the way these offices function, I just felt – it is amazing, how our institutions survive!  

A doctor’s fight against female foeticide

Sometimes you see so much of negativity around you that when something positive happens, you tend to disbelieve or dismiss even. This is true specifically in the case of Indian female.  

So when there are increasing cases of killing the girls at the hands of doctors, even before their birth, this comes as real good news. Or rather an extraordinary gesture! It is genuinely nice, even if as an exception.

There is a hospital called Medicare Multi specialty Hospital in Hadapsar, Pune and there works a doctor by the name Dr. Ganesh Rakh.

Contrary to the malpractices of sex determination and female foeticide, this doctor actually has unique way to propagate the awareness and enthusiasm about the girl child. He does not charge his fee and the hospital bills only if a girl child is born.

He has not charged anything for the deliveries of 135 newborn girls till now. He started this initiative a year back. Despite the naysayers he continued this with gusto.

So there is no fee from the time a lady expecting delivery of her baby is admitted to his hospital, till she is discharged. In fact the guys at the hospital try to celebrate birth of a girl child by distributing sweets.

What more? Apparently as many as 2400 doctors, from Pune, Solapur and Beed got in contact with this doctor to express solidarity, after reports in Pune Mirror, Sakaal Times, CNN IBN and other media. And these gynecologists and radiologists promised to do their best to prevent sex determination and female foeticide. They have decided to follow Dr. Rakh and give concessional medical treatment to families in which girls are born.

I mean in the last so many months, we have been hearing a lot of female foeticide, discrimination of girls, crime against women and what not. So when one gets to know about something like this one has a feeling that all is not wrong with our society.

There is some concrete hope! 

Despicable and outrageous last part of 2012

So this is the end of the year 2012. Far from happy end though!

A 23 year old paramedical student was brutally raped in a bus in New Delhi. She died after 14 days battle for life in the hospitals in Delhi and Singapore.

And that death is, in many ways, an eye-opener for government, politicians, society, and everybody.

There was and is a sense of anger and helplessness. There were protests. And the political class of this country, did not even reckon the protests appropriately, leave alone the possibility of the best way it should have been handled.

BJP and others demanded a special session of parliament.

Congress on the other hand, wasted another opportunity, to rise to the situation and deliver.      

For as wide-ranging and diverse sections of the society as in our great nation, one thing is, rather one disturbing common thing is, crime against women!

The key issue is ''How do we treat girls/ladies?" And we as a society need to introspect and act. Sometimes I feel ashamed of being part of this society, this may sound harsh, but true nevertheless.

Even last article of this very blog site was on similar topic.

And going by the way, things are happening, it is disgusting. It is horrible. We have goddesses, we revere 'Durga' and many more. And then we have these cases of molestations and rapes.

There are rapes happening almost every few hours in some part of country.

National Crime Records Bureau maintains the fact that more than 650 rape cases have been reported in the Delhi and National Capital Region, in 2012.

India stands third with reference to rape cases. 18,359 rape cases were registered in India in the first three quarters of this year.

The conviction rate for rape cases is only 26 per cent.

The prosecution and penalty - If we go by the law, in India, there is provision of seven years imprisonment and a possibility of life-imprisonment also along with monitory fine. 

Across the world - in UK, there is imprisonment of six months to ten years. In US there are different provisions in different states - imprisonment from five years to 99 years!

In Russia there is imprisonment of 15 years, in Sweden it is ten years.

In China and Pakistan, there is provision of death penalty.

Now in India, there is a proposal of draft of amendment to laws pertaining to crime against women. If news reports are to be believed - there is provision of minimum 30 years of imprisonment and chemical castration.

I think for the perpetrators of this heinous crime against women, there need to be two counters - the fear of law - that fear of punishment and on social level, need to see, respect, and treat women in different way. 

Are we degrading as a society? Are we so insensitive that, we just don't pay attention to rapes/ news of rapes with enough seriousness?

Or worse, have we as a society, taken it for granted, that there will be rapes and murders on almost everyday?

Is there any real deterrent? Or do we need to educate our men and boys in more 'proper'  and 'correct' way so as to inculcate the values and respect for the other gender?

Will 2013 and beyond, be any different? Will there be some sort of change, a positive change?

Big questions. Lets wait for answers.