Twerpa the banker

Twerpa calls herself a banker. How she become one is a puzzling story altogether. Having neither the qualification nor the aptitude, she pulled strings with 'friends in high places' to get herself the opportunity - trumping so many others who, undoubtedly, would have been so much better at the job. And, deserving of it, too. As is characteristic of the ruling political party in this region, they would rather have their lackeys appointed to such offices than allow for a process that favours the professionally eligible, qualified, or the meritorious. 

Anyhow, it is interesting to see how Twerpa spends her work day and sets an example for professional excellence, something she takes immense pride in boasting about. She reaches work well past 10 in the morning and takes a good half hour or more to settle in. But, barely has she settled, a troop of her colleagues accost her, forming a phalanx around her, chattering inane gossip - more likely about the colour and style of their clothes, dinner the previous evening, or malice about an absent colleague. Never mind that there are a number of already exasperated customers patiently waiting in line, most of whom have travelled from far away places. Twerpa pays them no heed. Neither do her colleagues. To her, these customers are unimportant and troublesome distractions that incur on her precious time.

Juicy tittle-tattle now at its end, Twerpa irritatingly summons waiting customers and rudely inquires the reason for their visit - after all, these irksome pests need some telling off. How dare they congregate at the bank! It doesn't matter that they have some bothersome difficulty or gripping necessity that requires patient redressal. Twerpa's annoyance knows no bounds. She is loudly discourteous. These people forget that she is the one doing them a favour and not the other way around! With utter resentment writ large, she peers into her computer screen and lackadaisically clicks one key at a time using only one finger, while the other hand is busy navigating her cell phone, scrolling through dozens of WhatsApp forwards and endless groups that she is a part of. Even as she does this, she mumbles that she should be given a lifetime service award for her contributions. Exactly what her contributions have been, no one can tell.

But, in the midst of such a dreary day, Twerpa has some relief. The clock has just struck 01:00 PM. It is lunchtime and this comes as a huge consolation. Unperturbed by the swathes of people that have now formed a long line in front of her desk, Twerpa uproots herself from her chair with boundless energy and firmly places a desk sign that reads 'closed' and marches away, as if she has finally achieved victory from the excruciating torment that she has suffered through the morning. She certainly needs much deserved rest.

Speeding away on her scooter without bothering to wear a helmet, she reaches home in a matter of minutes. After all, lunch is a scared affair, which cannot be indulged in at the workplace. And, certainly no amount of work, however pressing, could interfere with this privilege. So, Twerpa spends more than a leisurely hour savouring her meal, while customers at the bank wait patiently not knowing if they would meet a responsible hand to tend to their requirements. Evidently, nothing of this concerns Twerpa who spends some more time at home, napping after an elaborate meal. Perhaps, this is her idea of work-life balance.

After what seems to be eternity, she returns to the bank. Even then, her disposition is not inclined to attend to customers who, by now, have spent most of the day waiting for the likes of her. She casually saunters off to her desk only after stopping over to meet and greet a few colleagues, at whose desks the conversation is about what they had for lunch.

For all the attitude and importance that Twerpa displays, her job is menial and does not require any creative effort or decision-making skills. She is required to update account statements and ledgers while managing a help-desk for customers who visit the bank. Something as trivial such as this, she is unable to perform even to the basic standards of customer satisfaction. Evidently, she is neither concerned nor makes the effort.

With a system that thrives on individuals grovelling and being toady, than being critically evaluated for their performance, or for the lack if it, Twerpa has not a thing to worry about. Her job is under no threat whatsoever. Neither will she be questioned for her conduct at work. Her friends in high places, equally incompetent and unproductive imbeciles, guarantee to shield her. Consequentially, Twerpa will have a comfortable job for a lifetime that will not require her to even make the slightest effort. And, in the end, she will walk away with fat pay-cheques, annual bonuses, endless perquisites, and a pension that she is entirely undeserving of. A whole host of other unmerited benefits apart, she enjoys a tonne of public holidays, annual leaves, and off-days caused by plenty of strikes that political buffoons so relentlessly impose. But, above all, the lack of accountability and responsibility must be the two most shining traits of Twerpa's job. Makes one wonder if we live in times where the customer is actually king or sin!

The tales of sordid Sinpra

Sinpra was an English teacher. Exactly how she became one remains a mystery beyond any measure of comprehension. It simply defies logic. Her capabilities are non-existent and her qualifications dubious. For the teaching profession, that is. And, there are plenty who would vouch, under oath, that she hadn't once held a Wren & Martin in her hands, let alone teach or even read from one. Of course, it is doubtful if she knows what Wren & Martin is.

It is surely a matter of great fortune that Sinpra has retired after long years in teaching, a profession for which she had neither the inclination nor the aptitude. Mercifully, a whole crop of students now stand to be spared of her ineptitude. But, what a whole lot of others had to endure being her students is so shameful that the only reparation lies in her being prosecuted for criminal delinquency, negligence, misdemeanour, and a host of other related charges. It can well be reckoned, without an iota of doubt, that she, along with her kind of shamefully incompetent teachers, may have well caused the present state of unemployability among the youth in India. The present state of public discourse and intellectual bankruptcy are other similar such fall-outs. If these are not crimes worthy of severe punishment, then I do not know what else is.

But, before you hee-haw about the severity of my accusations, here are somethings for you to consider. It is "estimated that 33% educated youth in India are unemployed due to lack of future-ready skills, despite obtaining a degree. Over 53% of the respondents also confessed that they were unable to find the job of their choice. Almost 75% said that training in futuristic skills could have helped them in bolstering their professional career." [Source: ImaginXP]

Anyhow, this post isn't about India's plaguing employability problem or some shining quick-fix to make things better. I could go on and on about supposedly educated or qualified people who cannot put together two sentences of any language to make sense about what they intend to communicate. However, this post is about Sinpra and her aptitude, or better still, the lack of it.

Sinpra's letters are comical or tragic. Or both, depending upon how you would want to look at it. She almost always doesn't begin with any salutation. There are no dates either, presumably due to the foolhardy notion that contemporary letter writing, even of the utmost formal kinds, does not require any dates to be mentioned. And, then, there is her spewing that comes with either no punctuation at all or so full of them in all the wrong places. Decoding the garbage she produces in the form of sentences is evidently far more complicated than the efforts of Alan Turing and his group of code-breakers who broke the Enigma during the Second World War. 

On one occasion, when she declared the passing away of a relative who lived in a far off place, some of us struggled to comprehend the facts, lost in the appalling nonsense of her lingo, bewildered and wondering if it was the person in question, their spouse, or the place that had actually passed away!

Sinpra is the kind you would call 'WhatsApp Queen' or 'Chancellor of the WhatsApp/Facebook University' - the abhorrent kinds who would unfailingly and relentlessly inundate you with ludicrous forwards imploring you not to ignore them and to continue circulating them onward. Just how an entire generation of people seem to be hooked on to this despicable activity, on an everyday basis, is difficult to comprehend.

For every retired or banished Sinpra, there are hundreds more that emerge. Crawling like vermin, deep and high into the echelons of a tired and superfluous system that requires urgent reform, if our future generations would have to find any place in an increasingly competitive world. 

But, these deadwood Sinpras that infest our systems will fight tooth and nail to avoid any reform or even the slightest mention of it. How else could they survive and thrive? Other than by keeping alive an unmeritorious ecosystem of dimwitted non-performers who have callous and scant regard for their profession or the consequences of their actions. Ever notice maggots feasting on rotting flesh or flies gorging on fecal matter?

Marooned in Kerala

The scale of any tragedy can only be estimated. One could never possibly imagine the colossal scale of impact. Therefore, it is useless to pretend that one is able to. The situation in Kerala is no different.

Even as I write this, I cannot comprehend that over 661,000 people are presently displaced and there is a looming threat to thousands more. Over 350 people have lost their lives, and the destinies of their families have changed forever. Across the state are hastily organized relief camps where people are coming to terms with the misfortune that has befallen them. Over 200,000 people have taken refuge in over 1,500 relief camps across 14 districts of Kerala. As report after report streams in, the distressing picture of a state in misery is inescapable. It is also unparalleled and unprecedented.

And, during these distressing times, emerge heroic tales of compassion and selflessness. Men in uniform brave walls of water to ensure that lives are safe and the extent of the tragedy is mitigated, while ordinary men and women, fisherfolk and good samaritans, without any means, training, equipment, or comfort, comb neighbourhoods, night and day, to ensure a diligent and concerted search and rescue process, often disregarding grave perils to their own lives!

However, Kerala's woes are only beginning. Roads, bridges, and public infrastructure have been ruined. It is estimated that 10,000 kms of roads are damaged and require rebuilding. The scale of damage caused to houses across hundreds of villages and towns is unfathomable. Scores of villages lie inundated in water and debris, without power, communication systems, or access to relief measures. Essential supplies including provisions, potable water, medicines, fuel, food, clothing, beddings, etc., are in short supply. Corpses of dead animals lie littered in water, threatening an outbreak of disease and infection. The state of healthcare infrastructure to respond to the aftereffects of this tragedy cannot be immediately assessed. Entire plantations of cash crops lie devastated. The state government has pegged the economic loss at a staggering Rs. 195 billion (Rs. 19, 512 crores). These losses continue to mount even as I write this. The human cost and emotional impact of this tragedy are far from being calculable.

But, this outpouring of mine should not be construed as an abridged version of news reports. It isn't. Elsewhere, lately, there have been noises of the not so nice kind. It is being propagated that this tragedy has befallen us since we are lowly, immoral, and unholy 'beef-eaters', besides being utterly ungodly and uncivilized in desiring that our women be allowed the basic essential (not privilege) of equality to worship a Lord Ayyappa, who it seems, according to the archaic beliefs of some people, desires only male patronage! It is futile, I know, to reason with nitwits whose intellectual disabilities do not permit them to comprehend cultural beliefs outside of their own tiny and seemingly important realms of existence, that they glorify as being the holy grail of living. No, that is not how this tragedy has come about. Not due to the wrath of gods, nor in the consumption of the holy cow. But, yes, due to a blatant disregard for the environment, and the proximate cause being the incessant downpour that has struck us mercilessly and unabated for months. But, this is not the time for a post-mortem. Not yet. There will be agencies, bodies, and commissions of enquiry, established exclusively for that purpose. They will, in turn, determine, rightfully so, that beef, gods, and religion have nothing to do with floods and natural disasters. However, I'm not sure if that inference would satisfy those relics steeped in mindless and medieval attitudes. There is simply no cure for foolishness and the rest of us have little choice but to endure the pain of sharing the world with such imbeciles. However, mercifully, such dim-witted, gormless, and unintelligent voices are not the reflection of the population at large. They are isolated and individual at best.

Now, it is imperative that I state the purpose of this write-up. It is, as I mentioned before, not the summary of news reports to aggregate facts and figures. Neither is it an opinion to counter the mindless voices of some severely disordered who continue to attribute wildly insane reasons to the cause of this grave tragedy that has struck millions. This post is to express gratitude to nations and people who, from far and wide, across the boundaries of cultures, borders, and religions, have stood with us in solidarity during our time of grief and misery. Your support in gesture, kind, and capital are acts of kindness that we shall, forever, remain indebted and grateful for. It has reaffirmed in us, once again, that during calamity, we can stand together as one, to shoulder each other, in exactly the manner which is expected of us. During these trying times, we are witness to extraordinary feats of courage and selflessness by ordinary people whose zeal and zest allow us the gift of life. Armies of volunteers, military and medical personnel, government officials, and ordinary people continue to brave incomprehensible dangers to ensure that further lives are not lost. This is a true reflection of the unequivocally positive nature of the human spirit and its endeavour. It is this gift that keeps us alive, literally! But, Kerala is in need of a whole lot more. There is so much that needs to be done and we could do our bit, in our own way. No act of kindness is small, inconsequential, or insignificant.

As the moral and social philosopher, Erich Hoffer once said, "the hardest arithmetic to master is that which enables us to count our blessings." That is what I find myself doing today, an atheist in prayer, one who is counting his blessings for the fortune that he continues to enjoy.

If you are in an affected zone, here is how you can request for help: https://keralarescue.in/request/ 

To contribute in kind, please see https://keralarescue.in/reg_contrib/ 

To contribute to the Chief Minister's Distress Relief Fund, please see https://donation.cmdrf.kerala.gov.in/ 

Important Announcements on the Floods in Kerala: https://keralarescue.in/announcements/ 

A list of relief camps across Kerala: https://keralarescue.in/relief_camps_list 

Relief Camp Requirements: https://keralarescue.in/camp_requirements/ 

List of Registered Requests (District-wise): https://keralarescue.in/requests/?district= 

District Needs & Collection Centers: https://keralarescue.in/district_needs/ 

Register as Volunteer: https://keralarescue.in/volunteer/ 

NGO/Company Registration for Volunteering: https://keralarescue.in/NGO/ 

District level point of contacts: https://keralarescue.in/contactus/ 

Map view of Relief Resources and Flooded Streets: https://keralarescue.in/map-view/ 

Google Person Finder (Kerala Floods): https://google.org/personfinder/2018-kerala-flooding 

A Better Tomorrow

Nothing defines India better than its agrarian identity. It seems reasonably agreeable to see agriculture and India as being synonymous. Agriculture, in India, can rightfully be considered as being among the oldest professions that exist. History teaches us that the practice of agriculture, in India, dates back to well beyond the times of the Indus valley civilization. This is our strength. This is also our identity. Although, it will be judicious to state that it is not our only identity.

It is no small measure of success that our country ranks 2nd, in the world, in terms of agricultural produce. This is by no means an accident. It is the result of generations of hard-working, well-meaning families, who have toiled, in the face of indescribable adversity. To understand that a staggering 120 countries are beneficiaries of Indian agricultural exports is a fact that should, and does, bring immense and eternal pride. It is also powerfully humbling.

But, that is not all. Even in the face of a rapidly decelerating share of contribution to the GDP, agriculture contributes 17.32% with a Gross Value Add (GVA) of Rs. 23.82 lakh crore. If that is a number that appears bewildering and beyond comprehension, allow the effect to sink in. Hell yes, it certainly is incomprehensible! Some of us nouveau, entitlement-willed, math-whiz, logic-driven, page 3 aspirant corporate honchos who do not understand the magnitude of that number - I suggest we open up an online converter that will throw up the dollar equivalent that shall perhaps help us break it down, to the limited connotation of our perception, and assist in understanding the enormity of what it accounts for.

And, while you do so, here is something else that you would like to know: No doubt, India is witnessing a never-before transformation that is changing the landscape of this nation, in ways that were never thought of before. With it comes a massive change in its ethos and demographics. Never before has that been more evident, than it is today. We live in an India where the fashionable persuasions of professions (and disciplines) such as Information Technology and Banking & Financial Services (to name only two of many influencers) have transfigured new-age living to whole new dimensions and possibilities. Well, good, indeed. That surely is the social measure of progress that a vast majority of urban India frenetically yearns to become part of. Certainly, nothing wrong with that. But know this; even while we pontificate about automation and robotics as trends and drivers heralding the next big wave of industry transformations, agriculture accounts for 50% of our workforce. That's some 600 million people across the country. Or 8.87% of world population. Could there be a bigger employer? Perhaps, yes. But, I do not know of it. Neither do I care. What I do know is the obvious - that a vast majority of the Indian workplace cannot and will not be defined as being swanky, temperature-controlled, piped-music ambient, artistically charactered offices that are nestled in monstrously vertical spaces towering into our skies. So, while a great many of us go to work in these classy, upmarket locales, we must not forget that we are only a minuscule populace, if not altogether a negligible lot that exists. We are not a representation of India's progress. We are only an example. A tiny example, at that. It can be estimated (because I have not found updated statistics) that India's arable land-bank aggregates to about 159.7 million hectares (or 394.6 million acres). This is second only to the United States. The stark abjectness of what is Indian couldn't be more saddening than it is today. Surely, we couldn't be more divided - or different!

However, all of that pales in the face of some of our most debilitating problems there are. And, that begins in attempting to comprehend the plight of the Indian farmer. Surely, no one would be more quintessentially Indian than the Indian farmer. Or so, I think - much to the dismay of so many who would fire up a discourse on how our society has existentially been plural and illustrious of individuals with diverse occupations. While we debate, I would like to point out that no class of people have, in India, been more undervalued for their contribution than the Indian farmer. How, you would ask. I only have to tell you about the debt-ridden, compensation-starved, pitiful state of the farming community in India. Could there be a more pronounced state of irony than the fact that the very people who produce food in such volumes are forced a life of starvation and pittance, without adequate recompense? If you have the slightest measure of empathy, you will agree that I'm being mighty charitable in my illustration. Make no mistake, though. My description is a reflection of my ignorance. The situation is frightfully dire and more atrocious than we can possibly fathom. Downfalls in remunerative prices of commodities, woeful cash crunches (thanks to measures such as demonetization), problems related to marketing and selling, and a general slowdown of the agricultural sector apart, it would be handy to know that over 13,000 Indian farmers committed suicide in 2014-15 (No information pertaining to 2016-17 is available since the National Crime Records Bureau is enjoying an onset of summer slumber). And if that wasn't appalling enough, it was ascertained (in 2014) by the National Sample Survey Organisation, that the average monthly income of an Indian agriculture household, in 2012, was Rs 6,426 (Yes, you guessed right - the NSSO, like the NCRB, likes to work between its slumber).

So, when 35,000 weary, tired, and forlorn souls marched into India's megapolis - our lieu déterminé for everything finance, trade, and commerce, we could be absolutely certain that they did so to demonstrate the plight of their deprivation than the collective abilities of their potential. And, in doing so, they couldn't have been more mindful and decent. I might also add, among other things, their ability, in the face of suffering, to be human. Recognizing that the timing of their march coincided with ongoing school-leaving examinations, (that have long been a source of punishing strain to the student community, more for their outcomes which have lasting social implications), they decided to trudge along during the night, to make their arrival inconsequential and not obstructing to the city's functioning. Consequently, there were no disruptions - not one incident, which is so uncharacteristic of a protest, of any protest.

Mercifully, we, as a people, rare as it may seem, invoked wisdom and exercised restrained in not resorting to any callous, lofty, moral, and virtuous preachings that 'such actions of the uneducated and the uncivilized were unwarranted and detrimental to normal living.' Mumbai, on its part, known and loved so much for its resilience and compassion, despite its breakneck, unbroken pace (which is the stuff of legend), welcomed them heartily, offering them a place in what is proximate to the ultimate seat of its executive power. This, to me, is the perfect reflection of Indian ethos. What followed, was, indisputably, a triumph of our democratic values and traditions. The government's accession and the subsequent calling off of the protest are glorious examples of human success. More importantly, they reflect the application of wisdom in the most appropriate measure - in the hope for a better tomorrow.

May history evidence this to become a precedent of sorts, a testimony of our ability to accord significance to our priorities. But, at a more personal level, may this also be an opportunity to express a debt of gratitude to those millions out there, whose thankless job it has been to ensure that we have been well fed.

Less is More

About a month or so before, the Daily Mail and the NY Daily News featured interesting articles about the world's happiest man. Having read them, at the recommendation of a very good friend, i felt it necessary to make a post of the excerpts (verbatim) from either articles, which i have detailed below. During the read, which i thoroughly enjoyed, and was greatly energized about, it wasn't lost on me that the path to true happiness is indeed a process of dematerialization in the personal space, with the message that less is more, truly!

"A French genetic scientist may seem like an unusual person to hold the title - but Matthieu Ricard is the world's happiest man, according to researchers. The 66-year-old turned his back on Parisian intellectual life 40 years ago and moved to India to study Buddhism. He is now a close confidante of the Dalai Lama and respected western scholar of religion.

The son of philosopher Jean-Francois Revel and abstract watercolour painter Yahne Le Toumelin, became something of a celebrity after writing 'The Monk And The Philosopher' with his father. This was a dialogue on the meaning of life. His other works include "Happiness: A Guide to Developing Life's Most Important Skill" and several collections of photographs of the landscape, people and spiritual masters of the Himalayas. Ricard donates all proceeds of his books to 110 humanitarian projects which have built schools for 21,000 children and provide healthcare for 100,000 patients a year.

He addressed the World Economic Forum in Davos at the height of the financial crisis in 2009 to tell gathered heads of state and business leaders it was time to give up greed in favor of "enlightened altruism."

A prominent monk in Kathmandu's Shechen Monastery, Ricard divides his year between isolated meditation, scientific research and accompanying the Dalai Lama as his adviser on trips to French-speaking countries and science conferences. Ricard sees living a good life, and showing compassion, not as a religious edict revealed from on high, but as a practical route to happiness."

It can't get more inspiring than this, can it?

Republic Day - The Making of a Superpower?

Some excerpts from an article on India's growth featured in the Times of India on Wednesday, 25th January, 2012;

"But just adding new hands to the workforce won't help. The government has to make sure that kids get a good education at schools and colleges. This will need money, but more importantly, some checks to make sure that schools actually get built and teachers do their job properly. By 2007-08 , more than 82% of the world's population was literate. In India, the number is 67%.

So, just pumping in money and sarkari schemes after education won't suffice. Governments and progressive politicians will have to chip away at deep-seated social and religious prejudices.

A healthy workforce is a productive workforce. India's state-led healthcare system is tottering. Data like the number of new hospital beds added in every state hide the reality of large-scale graft, nonexistent infrastructure, spurious drugs and abysmal healthcare management.

To find out which states have the worst public healthcare systems, you just haveto see the list of states where over 80% of the spending on healthcare goes to private hospitals , clinics and doctors. The list includes Andhra Pradesh, Bengal, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and India's largest state, Uttar Pradesh.

Only 11% of India's population has any kind of insurance, so it's easy to understand why for a poor family, a debilitating disease affecting an earning member can be a financial disaster. Just like we saw with education, across nearly all health parameters , Muslims, backward classes and women fare worse than other Indians.

The eight northeastern states of India are not only landlocked, but locked away from mainstream public imagination. That's a pity, because northeasterners are among India's best-educated and healthy people. We need more roads, airports and rail routes to connect the region to mainland investors, markets and opportunities."

Footnotes:

Excerpts from an article by ToI reporter Abheek Burman.

Vijay Divas

40 years come to pass since India's victory over Pakistan following the war of 1971.

This post is to honour all those martyrs who ensured India's victory and also to pay rich tribute to all those who unconditionally continue to do just that - specifically, a certain someone who continues to be 'out-there' braving all odds for the saintly cause of national sovereignty.

Unsung hero, almost a star on the wall - Redefining Oblivion remembers you in gratitude and goodwill. Fare well and long may you live. 

A Blessed India

No words, no thoughts, just dreams ......... for a blessed India!

Free Speech - On a tight leash

Some excerpts from the text of an article in the New York Times about growing restrictions on free speech in India.

Free speech advocates and Internet users are protesting new Indian regulations restricting Web content that, among other things, can be considered 'disparaging,' 'harassing,' 'blasphemous' or 'hateful.'

The new rules, quietly issued by the country’s Department of Information Technology earlier this month and only now attracting attention, allow officials and private citizens to demand that Internet sites and service providers remove content they consider objectionable on the basis of a long list of criteria.

Critics of the new rules say the restrictions could severely curtail debate and discussion on the Internet, whose use has been growing fast in India.

The list of objectionable content is sweeping and includes anything that “threatens the unity, integrity, defense, security or sovereignty of India, friendly relations with foreign states or public order.”

The rules highlight the ambivalence with which Indian officials have long treated freedom of expression. The country’s constitution allows “reasonable restrictions” on free speech but lawmakers have periodically stretched that definition to ban books, movies and other material about sensitive subjects like sex, politics and religion.

The new Internet rules go further than existing Indian laws and restrictions, said Sunil Abraham, the executive director for the Center for Internet and Society. The rules require Internet “intermediaries” — an all-encompassing group that includes sites like YouTube and Facebook and companies that host Web sites or provide Internet connections — to respond to any demand to take down offensive content within 36 hours. The rules do not provide a way for content producers to defend their work or appeal a decision to take content down.

An official for the People’s Union for Civil Liberties, an advocacy group based in New Delhi, said on Wednesday that it was considering a legal challenge to the constitutionality of the new rules.

Footnotes: 

A complete write-up of the article can be accessed via this link on the NY Times website. The aforementioned post contains certain parts of the original publication, without amendment.

Full credits to Vikas Bajaj, correspondent for The New York Times in Mumbai, and author of this article. 

The Enemy is Us

The first Earth Day was observed on April 22, 1970, and the man behind what is today a coordinated effort across 175 countries, and better known as the Earth Day Network is Denis Hayes.

But, my post is not about glorifying the need for any network or cause, for I truly believe that such acts involving conservation and activism need much more concerted efforts and they are not subscribed to or endorsed merely because of a group of people coming together on any given day!

Any mention of the first Earth Day, is incomplete without reference to Walt Kelly's iconic poster that was made for the occasion and that is precisely the reason why this post has been made today - to honour a vivid sense of reality that a person chose to portray in the most convincingly elementary manner! Kelly was the American animator and cartoonist, best known for the comic strip Pogo.

Kelly passed away only 3 years after the first Earth Day, but his iconic creation remains timeless, and in all probability, will continue to be more relevant in the coming times, considering the manner in which we continue to progress, or regress perhaps!

Footnotes:

Image Courtesy: Wikipedia

Image Description: Familiar, and hence needs no explanation, hopefully! 

Vishu Ashamsakal

Today is Vishu, the beginning of the Malayalam new year.

Redefining Oblivion wishes you good health, happiness, togetherness and prosperity, on this auspicious beginning.

Undoubtedly, my heart is in Kerala, where Vishu is observed with great fanfare and reverence celebrating the spirit of happy togetherness, and a new beginning.  

Yesterday Once More

Anna Hazare is no new name in the crusade against corruption and his recent campaign has like minded folks united across the length of India. It is heartening to see that techies and management professionals, among others, including a list of social activists, teachers and students have joined the fold in highlighting the ills of corruption that this great nation continues to be pillaged by!

However, it is quite another something if one were to ask if this beleaguered country would be delivered from this evil. I answer in unequivocal negative not because of any deep rooted prejudice or cynicism that I bear towards the ethos of Indian-ness, but because of a known fact that the Indian mindset swings wildly, and often in stark contradiction, between a very selfish personal jurisdiction that often compellingly keeps the individual well above the social or national aspect, and a pseudo-sense of adherence to values which seems to be projected only to portray a very nationalistic endorsement for the need to change others than the self which unquestionably requires the biggest transformation!

In effect, corruption, or for that matter connivance in that sense, lies within us, deep rooted, unaffected and unchallenged because of the lack of a personal value system, which will right any wrong so long as there is personal benefit associated.

So, while Anna Hazare and his well-meaning protégé brave the odds on empty stomachs, yet with concerted and committed minds, just so that their vision of a free nation comes one step closer to realization, to expect India en masse to follow suit is naive!

Is it Churchill to whom the phrase 'enemy within the gates' could be attributed?

Bleed Blue

If they ever tell my story, let them say i walked with giants.

Men rise and fall like the winter weed, but some names will never die.

Let them say that i lived in the land of Mahatma Gandhi - the tamer of forces..., let them say, that i lived in the times of Team India and Mahendar Singh Dhoni!

2011 is historic!

Many congratulations to Team India!

Footnotes:

Kudos to Team India for the historic win in the World Cup 2011.

These aforesaid lines, in the post, are originally from the movie Troy, in memory the timeless icons of Hector, Achilles, Odysseus and Priam.

Balls to Unity

That a country so divided like India could be strangely united in one voice over a game of cricket is both unique and ironic. And the irony is in the sense of oneness that departs almost immediately after the game is completed.

For starters, yesterday began with a feverish excitement of the upcoming knockout game between the Australians and the Indians. There was a sense of enthusiasm one does not otherwise see or attribute to one's passion for work, let alone excellence! The almost minute by minute rumination of any and sundry made one ardently believe that the soul of the Indian-kind was kindled and warmed by bats, balls, wickets and bookies!

Therefore, it was not very unexpected when the afternoon was blocked off as private time with dozens streaming the ongoing mêlée on their desktops, thanks to that freely available hi-speed connectivity, which assuredly, in many cases, is not put to good use or for the very purpose that it has been provided for!

For the uninitiated, (read: the outdated my kinds), the remainder of the day was as if cloistered in a curfew! Telephones unanswered and people no longer accessible, one would not need a lot of thinking to assume whatever happened to official emails that were marked 'for urgent response.'

Now, as if that wasn't surprising enough, one stepped off work to find the roads almost deserted, public transport systems, for once, un-chaotically easy to ride! Shortly thereafter, electrically charged, blood curdling screams in unison told of India's victory, much anticipated, though on a nail-biting finish, I gather!

Surely, if one may want to represent to the world the ubiquitous sense of Indian unity, there perhaps couldn't be a better way than writing a book titled "Balls to Unity."

No pun intended, I assure! 

Blocking out the Blogger

Never mind if the Government of India drags its feet on the Foreign Universities Bill, Surrogacy Laws, Legislation related to Public Interest Disclosure, et al. At the peak of this summer, the Indian Parliament will be ensconced in palatial comfort putting its time to urgent use, and without dissent, in order to hurriedly enact the Indian Bloggers Control Act 2011 (pun intended)

The information and communications (monitoring) arms of the Government have, without reason, and rather inexplicably assumed that the blogging community has become a serious threat to its machinery, supposedly because of a perceived potential to expose many an unknown fact that may cause serious embarrassment and worse - change of guard at the helm of affairs, thanks to a wave of public awareness blitz that this medium is fast generating.

"There is an over-emphasis on the activities of blogs and bloggers; vast and vague reasons for blogs to be blocked or shut down; and above all, there is a specific rule on ‘due diligence on intermediaries’, which, in the context of the internet, can include readers who post comments."

Sounds hideously undemocratic? Or does that make one 'rightly' wonder if the babudom and netaland (bureaucracy for the uninitiated) is mighty worried about the pro-democratic outpour of the ongoing Jasmine Revolution that has transformed many a nation?

Anyone here whose read George Orwell's 1984?

Out goes the Outlaw

In matters of truth and justice, there is no difference between large and small problems, for issues concerning the treatment of people are all the same.

-- Albert Einstein

Reading about the eviction of the Central Vigilance Commissioner by the Honourable Supreme Court of India reassures one that the power of the judiciary may not altogether be lifeless in this great nation.

Yet once again, a sense of merit and justice fostered by the Apex Court has prevailed well over the mired echelons of political and executive offices and enshrined the principles of justice as etched by the Constitution of India.

Let there be no doubt, therefore, that the Rule of Law shall be upheld, enforced and proven at all times irrespective of what could be a very well orchestrated exertion of force by bodies with a vested interest, unified in purpose to constantly attempt subversion of this very righteous effort.

Goodbye Uncle Pai

Redefining Oblivion pays respectful homage and rich tributes to Uncle Pai, who passed away yesterday. An enduring legend, coupled with the virtues of excellence, humility and imagination, it was his vision that led to the creation of Amar Chitra Katha, which has over the years transported millions of children deep on an enriching and memorable journey into the troves of Indian culture, mythology and history.

For those of us who grew up to the epic folktales and fables of this wonderful reference, life can always be recollected in cheer and cherished moments of yesteryears so unique and remarkable, something I'm not sure generations of the present era could ever imagine!

Maybe it is for him that Henri Frederic Amiel remarked "Man becomes man only by his intelligence, but he is man only by his heart."

Communities and Us

On German television, DW, the other day, I was watching a short feature on how elders of a tribal community in Australia strongly deliberate and weigh the impact of their decisions on as far as seven generations into the future.

Strangely, I'm wondering how none of us, this side of the planet, pay attention to how much our actions could impact our immediate posterity, let alone a few down the line.

Therefore, I wonder if we depict too much of arrogance really - quite unlike, in utter ignorance, like how we think we'd be capable of destroying the world! Silly plums in fools paradise, I say because a fool with a tool is still a fool! 

Deflating Life?

It seems that somethings that have been bad for a while now are just getting worse!

Couldn't help wincing aloud reading "Food inflation for the week ended December 25 jumped four percentage points to 18.32% on the back of rising onion, tomato, egg, fish, meat and milk prices. This is its highest level in more than a year. And the rising food bill could well be the thin end of the wedge. Food prices have a 14.33% wei-ght in the overall inflation figure. So, when the inflation rate is released on January 15, it is bound to be significantly higher than the 7.48% level last month."

Am quietly wondering if this combined with my 15 hour days are more than enough reasons to ask for a raise!

And as far as action from the Finance Minister is considered, one would be better off waiting for mythical beings to arrive from the very distant world of Zukon, or hey, is this the handiwork of the Trade Federation of Naboo?

Nevertheless, do have a good weekend and stay safe - more importantly, stay happy!

A sleighing song tonight!

O'er the fields we go, laughing all the way,
Bells on bob tails ring, making spirits bright,
What fun it is to laugh and sing,
A sleighing song tonight!

Redefining Oblivion wishes you and folks a merry Christmas!

Do have a wonderful and safe holiday season!