INCLUSIVE GROWTH, Second Enlarged Edition-in DOC

INCLUSIVE GROWTH

ENLARGED SECOND EDITION

PRATHEEK PRAVEEN KUMAR

INCLUSIVE GROWTHINCLUSIVE GROWTHINCLUSIVE GROWTHINCLUSIVE GROWTH

Enlarged Second Edition


PUBLISHED WORKS OF PRATHEEK

CALM REFLECTIONS

INCLUSIVE GROWTH

MY TIME, MY WORLD

INCLUSIVE GROWTH 2 EDN

Lovingly Dedicated to My Mother

SMT. JAYASHREE

CONTENTS

1. IF YOU THINK YOU CAN, YOU CAN

2. KNOWLEDGE IS POWER - 1

3. VARIETY IS THE SPICE OF LIFE

4. SUCCESS COMES WITH ABILITY, BOLDNESS AND COURAGE

5. HAVE WE BECOME SLAVES OF TECHNOLOGY?

6. CELL PHONES: BOON OR BANE

7. GLOBAL WARMING: ITS CAUSES AND EFFECTS

8. INDIA OF MY DREAMS

9. INDIA’S WILDLIFE HERITAGE

10. GLOBALISATION VERSUS NATIONALISM

11. THE GLOBALISATION OF INDIAN ECONOMY

12. INDIA’S RISING CRIME GRAPH

13. LESSONS LEARNT FROM COMMONWEALTH GAMES 2010

14. DEMOCRACY AND CORRUPT POLITICIANS

15. THE ROLE OF MEDIA IN OUR SOCIETY

16. THE VALUE OF COMPUTER EDUCATION TODAY

17. YOUTH AND LITERACY

18. DOUBLE DIGIT INFLATION: CAN IT BE CONTAINED

19. IS CINEMA THE REFLECTION OF SOCIETY?

20. UNITED WE STAND, DIVIDED WE FALL

21. NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE IN THE WORLD

22. CAN INDIA BECOME A SUPERPOWER?

23. THE CANKER OF CORRUPTION

24. POPULATION GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT

25. INDIA: THE PROBLEM OF POVERTY AMIDST PLENTY

26. JUSTICE DELAYED IS JUSTICE DENIED

27. INDIA’S POPULATION CENSUS 2011: SOME KEY FINDINGS

28. THE ROLE OF MEDIA IN SOCIETY

29. IS THE HUMAN SPECIES SPECIAL?

30. DOES INDIA NEED NUCLEAR POWER IN A BIG WAY?

31. WHERE THERE IS A WILL, THERE IS A WAY

32. CAN ANNA HAZARE CHANGE THE DESTINY OF THE NATION?

33. KNOWLEDGE IS POWER - 2

34. THE POWER OF POSITIVE THINKING

35. INDIA OF MY DREAMS

36. FORTUNE FAVOURS THE BRAVE

37. WHY DO I LIKE AVIATION INDUSTRY?

38. ROLE OF MEDIA IN SOCIETY

39. DOES TOURISM INDUSTRY IMPACT ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT OF OUR COUNTRY?

40. UNITED WE STAND, DIVIDED WE FALL

41. ACTIONS SPEAK LOUDER THAN WORDS

42. BREVITY IS THE SOUL OF WIT

43. PRICE RISE

44. TIME IS MONEY

45. THE FUTURE OF HOSPITALITY INDUSTRY IN INDIA

46. TIME AND TIDE WAIT FOR NONE

47. OUR WILDLIFE HERITAGE

48. THE IMPORTANCE OF PHYSICAL FITNESS

49. WE LIVE IN DEEDS, NOT IN YEARS

50. VALUE OF COMPUTER EDUCATION TODAY

51. WHERE THERE IS A WILL, THERE IS A WAY

52. TERRORISM: A THREAT TO GLOBAL PEACE

53. IF I WERE THE RICHEST PERSON IN THE WORLD

54. ASSESSMENT OF CHINA’S ECONOMIC GROWTH VIS-À-VIS INDIA’S

55. RELATIONS BETWEEN INDIA AND PAKISTAN

56. SACHIN TENDULKAR

57. GLOBAL WARMING-ITS CAUSES AND EFFECTS

58. NOTHING VENTURED, NOTHING GAINED

59. INDIA’S RISING CRIME GRAPH

60. THE PEN IS MIGHTIER THAN THE SWORD

61. LIVE AND LET LIVE

62. ROME WAS NOT BUILT IN A DAY

63. NECESSITY IS THE MOTHER OF INVENTION

64. FUTURE OF DEMOCRACY IN INDIA

65. UNITY IS STRENGTH

66. INDIA AND NUCLEAR ENERGY

67. STRIKE WHEN THE IRON IS HOT

68. POVERTY: THE BANE OF MODERN TIMES

INCLUSIVE GROWTH, 2 ED

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INCLUSIVE GROWTH, 2 ED INCLUSIVE GROWTH 2 EDN

IF YOU THINK YOU CAN, YOU CAN

“If you think you can do a thing or think you can't do a thing, you're right”- Henry Ford,

who was a prominent American industrialist, the founder of the Ford Motor Company, who

became one of the richest and best-known people in the world. He is credited with "Fordism",

that is, mass production of inexpensive goods coupled with high wages for workers.

It is all a matter of the mind. The human mind is a delicate but powerful object. Capable

of exceptional things, it has long been considered an objet d’art. The intricate network of

umpteen nerve cells connect together in myriad ways to create what is considered evolution’s

magnum opus, till now any way. Outstanding physical deeds have often been ascribed to people

under deep pressure. They phrase it “adrenaline rush”. A “fight-or-flight” response of our body

that enables us to cross distinctive limits placed on our bodies and allows us to function, for some

time at least, in a superhuman-like state. Our mind realizes that we are in a pressure-situation and

somehow lifts us to extricate ourselves from the confronting situation. Now, all this is usually

associated only with physical deeds, but we can extrapolate it to other situations too. If we just

focus our mind on something and work hard to realize it, there is no reason that we will not.

“You can have anything in this world you want, if you want it badly enough and you're

willing to pay the price”, said Mary Kay Ash, an American businesswoman and founder of Mary

Kay Cosmetics, Inc. Well she should know. Having faced quite a few difficulties in her life and

having come up trumps, showing grit and fortitude to carve a niche for herself and her company,

she would be the right person to expect this kind of a message from, as it comes from long and

hard experience. Not something to be scoffed at. Very often the difference between failure and

triumph is but a wafer-thin layer of uncertainty. If one puts in a bit more effort into one’s work, it

may make all the difference in the world. Even if disappointments hound one at first, in the end,

with perseverance and poise, we can achieve our goals. We should keep our target in mind and

believe that we can reach it. Belief is the main issue here. Very often it is not a question of

aptitude. It is more about the cerebral make-up of the people involved. Whoever believes in


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PRATHEEK PRAVEEN KUMAR PRATHEEK PRAVEEN KUMAR

himself or herself is able to get a psychological edge and in the end, sometimes this

psychosomatic edge is all that is needed.

Abraham Lincoln has a pretty glum résumé. Yes I mean it. At the age of seven he and his

family were forced out of their home and he was forced to go to work. When he was nine, his

mother passed away. He wanted to go to law school, but had no education. He went into debt

when he was twenty-three, to become a partner in a small store. It was only three years later that

his business partner died, and left him with a debt that took him years to repay. He lost his job in

1832. He was defeated for legislature in 1832. He was elected to legislature in 1834. His

sweetheart died in 1835. He then had a nervous breakdown in 1836. He was defeated for speaker

in 1838. He was defeated for nomination for Congress in 1843. He was then elected to Congress

in 1846, but lost his renomination in 1848. Then he was rejected for Land Officer in 1849. He

was then defeated for Senate in 1854. Then he was defeated for nomination for Vice-President in

1856. He was again defeated for Senate in 1858 and finally elected President in 1860. This is the

same person who successfully led the U.S. through its greatest internal crisis, the American Civil

War, preserved the Union, and ended slavery. After more than two hundred years of seeing

Presidents come and go, historians and hoi polloi in numerous polls consider him to be one of the

greatest Presidents of the United States, usually in the top three. Not bad at all is it?

“If you think you'll lose, you're lost; for out of the world we find, success begins with a

fellow's will, it’s all in the state of mind,” is but a preview of “Thinking”, a famous poem written

by Walter D. Wintle, a versifier who lived in the late 19th and early 20th century. Little to

nothing is known about any details of his life but we can construe that he was quite a thinker by

reading the above words. "Thinking" is also known as "The Man Who Thinks He Can". It is a

beautiful poem with rhyme and rhythm. However, the main beauty of the poem lies in its

meaning. The poet here expresses his belief that success or failure is all dependant on the state of

the mind. A positive mind-set is of utmost importance wherever we go. And it is not just a

question of success and failure. An optimistic person is well-liked and this counts for a lot too,

ultimately. We must go on straight on towards our goal with no hesitations or self-doubts.

However over-confidence too is not a good thing. We should follow the philosophy of the great

Roman lyric poet, Horace. He followed ‘aurea mediocritas’ or the ‘golden mean’, which means


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the desirable middle between two extremes, one of glut and the other of paucity. All things

should be done with temperance and this is the key.

“Destitutus ventis, remos adhibe”, is an old Latin proverb which translates to, if the wind

will not serve, take to the oars. If circumstances do not go according to our wishes, we should

have self-confidence and try our best to alter them to suit our own needs. “If life sends you a

lemon, make

lemonade”, is yet another proverb which means the same thing. However for perseverance, we

should have the confidence that our hard work will not be in vain and for this, we should tune our

outlook to the proper channel. In toto, it is just a question of our mind and its outlook to life. A

determined person can go places and very often that has happened. The pages of history are filled

with examples of determined people. In fact I can go so far as to say that the pages of history

textbooks are filled with determined people only. People who were so determined to make a mark

in the history of the world that they did. Whatever faults we attribute to Hitler, one fault that we

do not lay on his doorstep is indolence. He had the determination to do things and he did them,

evil and malevolent though they were. Another example, as different from Hitler as black is from

white, is Mahatma Gandhi, the admirable father of our nation whose stratagem of gentle but

unyielding opposition did things that could have been done in no other way. "Life is 10% what

happens to you and 90% how you respond to it", said Lou Holtz, a retired American

football coach and we would do well to remember it.


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KNOWLEDGE IS POWER - 1

“Knowledge is power”- so said Sir Francis Bacon, an English author, courtier, &

philosopher in his Meditationes Sacrae which was written in 1597. He certainly would know.

Actually he did not say it in those words. He said ‘scientia potentia est’ which translates to the

same thing in the end.

A form of this proverb also appears in the Bible. Proverbs 24:5 says "A wise man has

great power, and a man of knowledge increases strength." So it is agreed. The importance of

knowledge certainly has occupied the minds of the big and great since time immemorial. But,

what does this translate to? It certainly should mean some thing momentous if so many greats

have said it is so many ways. It simply means that with knowledge or education one's potential or

abilities in life will certainly increase. Having and sharing knowledge is widely recognized as the

basis for improving one's reputation and influence, thus power.

This is some thing interesting. How, one might ask, can one be able to improve one’s life

so much by just learning a few ordinary things with which one can survive without? However,

things are just not like that. Knowledge of things can certainly help people in their lives.

Examples can be seen all around us. Knowing things can give people a huge advantage above

others and every small advantage can prove crucial to a person in the cut throat competition that

one faces in this world.

This means a person has the resourcefulness to obtain and criticize useful and informative

information in order to become well informed citizens who can make intelligent decisions based

upon their understanding and awareness of everyday situations. Does this make them powerful?

Is a question that creeps into ones mind? Well, power is said to be the ability or capacity to act or

perform effectively. Without knowledge, how can this ability to perform effectively, be possible?


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Knowledge has become more and more important over the last few decades with the

Information Technology revolution. Information is nothing but a synonym for knowledge.

Computers and information have become heavily interlinked with each other. This has become

more and more

apparent over the last few years and governments also have started to follow policies that reflect

their awareness about the increasing importance of knowledge.

Governments have also recognized the importance of a proper education and its

importance in imparting knowledge in various fields to children from a very early age. This is a

very important and crucial development. India has the second highest school attendance among

all countries in the primary school level which is frankly not all that surprising but what is

surprising and surely depressing and detrimental is that India has the highest number of school

dropouts. The possession of knowledge is certainly very good and makes a person or country

powerful and only with comprehensive education of its children or inoculating its children with

knowledge will a country be able to become powerful.

This is very important realization and conclusion. Governments must keep this in mind

while deciding its policies. Armed with a powerful education and more importantly a large

amount of knowledge a person can go far in this world. A proper education is a passport to a

good life even for the poorest of the poor. The United States has often been seen as a country of

unlimited opportunity, a country where any one can rise to become the President. Any country

can be called a land of unlimited opportunity as long as all its children get a proper education.

Realizing this, the Indian government has tried to bring about free education for all by

bringing out mid-day meal schemes. It also decided that by the end of 2010 it would try to ensure

that every child had got an education up to at least SSLC. Although, this will not happen

according to several sources, this was a worthy initiative to be taken by the Indian Government. It

shows just how important the Indian Government takes knowledge to be and just how important

the possession of knowledge is to a country and to its people.


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“Omne ignotum pro magnifico” is an old Latin proverb. It means to an ignorant person,

every thing is magnificent. This is some thing to ponder about. An ignorant person is fascinated

by every thing mundane. He has got no idea of what even common things are and is often

mocked at by his peers. Knowledge can thus be seen to have social implications. A well rounded

personality has got knowledge on every thing under the Sun and is some one to be respected.

The possession of knowledge should not be ignored by any person as it increases one’s

chances of making it big in the world. For the poorer sections of society this is an absolute must.

Also the possession of knowledge by a person is an indicator as to what kind of a person one is.

This is because a person who is confident and well-informed is more likely to be a serious and

motivated person who is likely to ‘make it big’.


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VARIETY IS THE SPICE OF LIFE

“Variety's the very spice of life that gives it all its flavor [sic]” said William Cowper, an

English poet and hymnodist. One of the most popular poets of his time, Cowper changed the direction of

18th century nature poetry by writing of everyday life and scenes of the English countryside. Poets are a

breed of extra-sensitive people. They understand life in all its subtleties, because they have experienced

and ‘lived’ life to its fullest. When William Cowper, a great poet, whom S.T. Coleridge himself called

"the best modern poet" feels so about life and its variety, what can I do but concur? Without variety, life is

bland. Following a routine, whatever the benefits of it being time-tested, day after tiresome day, is

disadvantageous and should be avoided at all costs. Life sans variety is frankly not worth living. Even

nature knows it. A variety of genes in an organism enable it to adapt to changing circumstances. Every

organism, including humans by the way, seek to continue their generation with the maximum chances to

survive. And the instance of maximum chance of survival coincides with higher adaptability, which

corresponds to variety in the gene pool. William Cowper also said, “The earth was made so various, that

the mind of desultory man, studious of change and pleased with novelty, might be indulged”.

Variety in life makes it enjoyable. We see it all around us. Variety enables us to pick and choose,

a luxury which we would otherwise not have had. It relieves the monotonous boredom of life. It is true in

any field. I repeat, any field. “The variety of all things forms a pleasure”, said Euripides who was the last

of the three great tragedians of classical Athens. From the sublime game of cricket to the sublime art of

essay-writing! Not only does variety have an aesthetic sense, or rather, beauty, but it also enables us to

increase our standard. For example, in cricket, a batsman possessing a variety of shots, all around the

wicket, aerial and along the ground possesses a much higher chance of survival and of scoring runs than

one who goes for only one shot, or more commonly, one type of shot. Adaptability is key; and for

adaptability, it is needed, absolutely needed, to have variety. Another example can be made of essay

writing. No one, not me at least, likes to read an essay which is bland and lifeless. I think anyone who

reads this will agree with me. A writer must think of ways in which to make his\her essay interesting and

what better way to make it interesting than injecting variety to the essay in the form of idioms and

avoiding clichés?


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“We need a variety of input and influence and voices. You cannot get all the answers to life and

business from one person or from one source”, said Jim Rohn,

an American entrepreneur, author and motivational speaker and whose life was a typical rags to riches

story. In the uncompromising and merciless world that we live in these days, it is of utmost importance

that we choose the best measure, the best direction to follow. In the cut-throat competition, the dog-eat-

dog type, which we find encompassing the world today, a slight miscalculation or, more often, a lack of

means may cut short our chances. If one does not follow a life rich in variety, one may fail to take

advantage of certain circumstances, which may have otherwise helped us, which we may rue later. To

prevent such catastrophes from happening, one should at all costs try to exercise variety in our lives. “In

the time of your life, live - so that in that wondrous time you shall not add to the misery and sorrow of the

world, but shall smile to the infinite variety and mystery of it”, said William Saroyan an Armenian-

American dramatist and author.

So we see that having variety in our life is not only interesting but also advantageous while

compared with a monotonous life. A person with variety in his life can be said to have a very fulfilling and

satisfying existence. He wakes up every day knowing that he will be living that day in a different way

compared to other days. He thus is buoyant. Variety thus improves the quality of life very much like how

spices improve the quality of our food. Our ancestors also had another use for spices. Spices were used in

olden days to preserve food and we can see that variety too preserves our life and makes it longer by

infusing excitement and unpredictability in our life. Unpredictability in small quantities is good as it

sprinkles a certain amount of zest and enjoyment in our lives and makes it radiant. ‘Aurea mediocritas’ is

a Latin phrase that denotes ‘the golden mean’. It is meant to convey a philosophy of not partaking too

much in something. ‘Nec Dextrorsum, Nec Sinistrorsum’ which means neither to the right nor to the left

also means the same. It means that people should neither veer too much to one side nor to another, but

must undertake to walk in a path which follows the Greek ideal of ‘moderation in all things’. Failure to

follow this ideal will be disastrous. Take a case study of alcohol. A small amount of it everyday is said to

be very beneficial according to doctors. But take it in the form of a heavy dosage and the effects are not so

benign. So is the case in all things. We can also construe that too much of variety is not good for our

health, in the same way that too much of spice is not good!

In every field of life that we see, we see that variety plays a very important role. Even in language.

How can variety, I can hear a person ask, play an important role in language? Well it’s fairly simple. A

person with a good vocabulary can articulate well, as different words have different shades of meanings,

and thus express himself without any hesitation or trouble. This is the reason why lawyers need to have a


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good vocabulary; otherwise they may easily fall into legal pitfalls. Good orators need to have a variety of

words at their disposal. Words, especially in the English language often can imply more than what they

mean and the subtle putting together of words, mainly adjectives to form coherent phrases or sentences

can often be hilarious, laughable or just plain funny. A case in point is the three adjectives that I used

towards the last of the previous sentence.

It has been thus seen that variety is important for any person in any walk of life. It revitalizes the

mind and makes life ‘worth living’ to say the least. People in all walks of life have to try to include an

element of variety so that their life becomes more fruitful and interesting. People should not live their

lives according to timetables. When one follows the same routine again and again one automatically feels

disinterested, as it is after all human nature to be disinterested when the same old things happen again and

again with no variation to occupy the mind. Some people may say that it will be quite good if we are able

to control our lives completely, so that nothing untoward may happen. A rigidly controlled life with a lack

of variety is the model of this type of thinking. Shakespeare, makes his Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus

say “Age cannot wither her, nor custom stale Her infinite variety”, while referring to Cleopatra and the

charm she had on men in general and General Antony in particular, in his well-known tragedy, Antony

and Cleopatra. The keyword here is ‘variety’. Shakespeare, an acknowledged expert on the varied

subtleties of human character, here himself acknowledges the importance of variety in a person’s

personality. I rest my case.

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SUCCESS COMES WITH ABILITY, BOLDNESS AND

COURAGE

Just about everything has got its ABCs. Just about everything. The very brass tacks, as you may

call it. Just as we cannot write dissertations in a language without knowing its basic letters, one’s magnum

opus cannot be created out of thin air. Now, we are all given just one life in this Earth. Of course, there are

theorists who beg to differ, but well, we cannot satisfy everyone, all six billion plus of them living,

simultaneously. To make the best of this life would seem to be the logical conclusion of the

aforementioned statement. Again there are theorists who have a different perspective, but we will just

ignore them. As easy it is to make that simple statement, fulfilling it is certainly not an easy commission.

We have to cope up with that most elusive and unfulfilling of charmers, Lady Luck. She can make or mar

you, to use a well-worn cliché. Somerset Maugham, English novelist, playwright, and short-story writer,

who had a shrewd understanding of human nature, had the right idea when he wrote a story about a tennis

player who had luck on his side when he went abroad. This story inspired the Woody Allen movie,

“Matchpoint” which again harps on the importance of luck in life. But for the purpose of this essay, we

will ignore the effect of luck, not a good thing to do in real life, but alright for this essay. We just have to

“do our best and leave the rest to the Almighty”, to use an axiom I heard way back in Junior School.

So what constitute the ABCs of success? The Holy Grail of life as I can say. A philosophical sort

of question, I think, on which people can deliver long harangues for days on end if needed. Well, I believe

that success is an amalgam of ability, boldness and courage. A for ability, B for boldness and C for

courage. A fair permutation, I would say. Of course, luck’s shadow falls heavy or light on our life, but

ignoring its contribution, these three traits reign supreme in the game called life.

Encyclopaedia Britannica describes ‘ability’ as a ‘natural aptitude or acquired proficiency’ to

complete a job. A nice grouping of words, as one might say. Without an inherent aptitude to ‘do things’, it

will be impossible to climb the marble staircases which lead to success. A practical nature here is the

prime requisite. It is like the fuel that a car must have to move. Without fuel, a car cannot move, and

without ability, a person cannot rise to high places and achieve success. Ability can thus be seen as the

most important of the three abovementioned qualities. Now, the talent or ability can be both inherent and

developed. Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, also known as Wolfgang Amadeus

Mozart, an Austrian composer who at age five began to compose and gave his first public performance is

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a prime example of the former. Joseph Haydn, a great composer himself, called Mozart the “greatest

living composer”. He had so much of promise at such a young age that anyone now who shows adeptness

at a young age in any discipline is called a Mozart. On the other hand, we can build up our persona so as

to achieve success too. Perseverance is the key here. Edison was right when he said that genius is 99%

perspiration and 1% inspiration. A successful person will have to have an ability to sweat things out if he

or she is not inherently good in a field. He or she will have to make the field hers or his.

It is not just enough to have the talent to do something. We should also have the boldness to stand

up for our convictions. This is of absolute importance. Now, there is a difference between healthy

aggression and mindless aggression. Unfortunately, many people are unmindful of this or rather do not

recognize it and spoil their promising lives and realize it just too late. One thing I have noticed in movie

and literary portrayals of Kings and other persons of respect and authority is that they have a healthy pride

in them, born out of their position and the respect that they receive. It is but natural. However, people very

often behave like Kings in real life, if they attain a small measure of success. An old truism says ‘Pride

comes before a fall’ and it is not for no reason that it has attained a measure of popularity. An unhealthy

mixture of aggression and arrogance is very often the result of trying to be bold and proud. Pride very

often means arrogance in moderation; a recognition of one’s own abilities rather than the unbridled

superciliousness that arrogance conveys and is thus much more desirable and important for a person to be

successful. We should follow the philosophy of the great Roman lyric poet, Horace. He followed ‘aurea

mediocritas’ or the ‘golden mean’, which means the desirable middle between two extremes, one of

excess and the other of deficiency. We can see several examples littered on the pages of history that show

us the importance of boldness. Vasco da Gama and Christopher Columbus showed enormous bravery and

schoolchildren now learn about them, albeit unwillingly. Now, schoolchildren may protest or raise

dharnas and slogans like our politicians have been doing quite often lately, against it, but we should try to

match up to those great people who did such great things while facing difficulties, or rather braving

difficulties. There is a difference between the two words, you see. Fortune after all favors the brave, and

it’s not just in the movies that things go in a fairy-tale fashion.

Now, there is a difference between boldness and courage. Boldness has a more practical sort of

meaning. A bold person is the kind of person who is forward and aggressive. An extrovert as you may say.

But courage can be found even in the most inveterate of introverts. It is a calmer quality and conjures up

images of someone like the Father of our Nation, M.K. Gandhiji. Standing firm under the force of

relentless pressure. Sounds a lot like the Rock of Gibraltar, right? Well, that is a prime physical example.

Standing at the intersection of the Mediterranean Sea and the mighty Atlantic Ocean, the Rock of

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Gibraltar has been standing unyielding for innumerable years. In cricketing terms, one thinks about “the

Wall” Rahul Dravid or maybe Jacques Kallis or Shivnarine Chanderpaul. A straight bat to every delivery,

however fast, wily or dangerous. Now it is not easy. Not easy at all. To withstand temptations and dangers

and still stand firm is as tough a job as there is. Very often the result is unsavory, but that is only in the

short term. In the end, the reward is sweet. Life is full of mistakes, mistakes and mistakes and very often

we may be at the receiving end of quite a large amount of flak; but we must soldier on, without giving up

hope any time. We should develop a cast-iron determination to try, and very often that is all that is needed,

along with say, a pinch of luck. Well, there is misconception that flavorsome dishes require a whole load

of ingredients, but here we have a recipe which is remarkable for its lack of them. The recipe to success,

right? Well, very often we may have to give up “blood, sweat and tears”, to use Churchill’s memorable,

prophetic words, and hopefully the end result will be victory too.

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HAVE WE BECOME SLAVES OF TECHNOLOGY?

“We live in a society exquisitely dependent on science and technology, in which hardly anyone

knows anything about science and technology”, said Carl Sagan,

an American astronomer, astrophysicist, cosmologist, author and highly successful science

popularizer and science communicator in the space and natural sciences who during his lifetime, he

published more than 600 scientific papers and popular articles and was author, co-author, or editor of

more than 20 books. Unfortunately, what he said has a smattering of truth in it. How many of us can claim

to have a deep understanding of the workings of a television? Even graduates from professional colleges

sometimes do not understand the nuanced workings of the gadgets we use in our lives with regularity.

Even technical subjects harped upon by the media, and thus brought to the attention of hoi polloi in long

drawn-out debates and discussions by news channels, like the 3G standards are not well-known to the

public. In this milieu of universal ignorance, we are practically blind. “Omne ignotum pro magnifico”, is

an old proverb which means everything unknown is magnificent. We seem to be following it faithfully,

and are so in awe of this rumbling colossus called technology that we stare at it, impressed and open-

mouthed, ignoring the fact that this ignorance may get us trampled.

With ignorance so common, we seem to be in the mercy of technology and not the other way

around. For who can be the master of something one does not know anything about? With technological

advances taking place at a breakneck pace, it looks like the “aam admi” cannot keep up. However, one

facet of this technological development to be noted is that the development seems to be accelerating.

If we lie back and relax for some time and watch or rather observe the world around us, we get to

notice a few things. With technology moving ahead by leaps and bounds, we try to take advantage of these

advances. We buy various gadgets and try to incorporate technology into our lives so that our lives

become simpler. We become used to having things easy and with time we lead lives utterly dependent on

advanced technology. When new technology is developed, we try to introduce it into our lives and make it

easier. “Technological progress has merely provided us with more efficient means for going backwards”,

said Aldous Huxley, an English writer and one of the most prominent members of the famous Huxley

family. By the end of his life, Huxley was considered, in some academic circles, a leader of modern

thought and an intellectual of the highest rank, and highly regarded as one of the most prominent explorers

of visual communication and sight-related theories as well. Well, he would know.

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“It has become appallingly obvious that our technology has exceeded our humanity”, said Albert

Einstein, often regarded as the father of modern physics whose great intelligence and originality has made

the word "Einstein" synonymous with genius. A witty man too, who had a penchant for delivering gems

like the one above. Well, Einstein’s remarks were done with the dark shadow of nuclear weapons in mind,

but the same holds good even now. With technology expanding now at a surprising pace, there is no

telling what may be discovered now, or more importantly, how it will be used. Nuclear power is both

destructive and useful. Several apocalyptic yarns have been weaved over the years of scientists developing

technologies that can be cataclysmic to the world at large. The basis of all these stories deals with

mankind’s lust for power and individuals trying to control the world for their own ends with the hero

trying to stop the villain. While this may sound too frivolous to happen in the real world, one can never

say.

With life now becoming synonymous with computers, mobile phones, ipods and other gadgets,

we seem to consider their presence as ordinary and their absence as something unnatural. “I am sorry to

say that there is too much point to the wisecrack that life is extinct on other planets because their scientists

were more advanced than ours”, said John F. Kennedy, 35th president of the U.S. Kennedy's youth,

energy, and charming family brought him world adulation and sparked the idealism of a generation, for

whom the Kennedy White House became known as “Camelot”. A charismatic personality, his life was

tragically cut short before his time by Lee Harvey Oswald. Supposedly, anyway. Murky rumours still

abound as to his murderer or murderers, but well, that is beside my point. He was also known as a brilliant

orator and had a way with words. Technology can be very dangerous too as can be evinced from

Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Recent efforts to decrease the number of nuclear warheads notwithstanding, we

still hold our own destruction in our hands, but the question is how long? With rogue elements and

terrorist groups hankering after WMDs, logically it looks like it is only a matter of time before they get a

WMD. There is theorem called as the infinite monkey theorem. It states that if a million monkeys are

given typewriters and set to work, they'd eventually come up with the complete works of Shakespeare.

This frolicsome theory basically shows the power of large numbers. It we factor in a large amount of time,

who knows what terrorists will be able to do, or get hold of, taking in human error also into account?

Pretty much, as one can imagine. So here we are at the mercy of terrorists, where we cannot destroy them

completely as they are mutable and fluid in their approach, but they can deal out heavy damage to the

world at large. Here technology is dangerous to both the sides.

“All of the biggest technological inventions created by man - the airplane, the automobile, the

computer - says little about his intelligence, but speaks volumes about his laziness”, said Mark Kennedy,

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an American businessman and politician who was a Republican member of the United States House of

Representatives from 2001 to 2007. Technology as the above statement implies has made us a lazier and

lazier. With technological advances making our life easier, we tend to take life easy, depending almost

entirely on these devices and we feel lost if these devices are taken away from close propinquity. Life

seems impossible sans these devices. We are heavily inconvenienced if there are power shutdowns and we

feel helpless. Technology these days directs our actions and our decisions and sometimes we do things

based only on technology. This has become especially prevalent over the last few years. Reading the last

few lines, if we replace the word ‘technology’ with ‘master’, doesn’t it read like the words of a slave?

16


CELL PHONES: BOON OR BANE

“The question is, do you want to play Russian roulette with your brain?” said Devra Lee Davis,

Director Environmental Oncology, an American epidemiologist and writer in an interview on her cell

phone. She should know. The recent and widespread advent of cell phones has caused a large amount of

help and harm to people in general. There have been umpteen cries that cell phones are dangerous,

especially to young children. But on the other hand, cell phones are very important for the normal,

untroubled functioning of our day to day life. This fundamental fact has been long acknowledged. What

we have to evaluate is whether, the pros of cell phones even out and eclipse its cons or no. This is the vital

question that needs answering. A large amount of research has been carried out on this and every few days

we see the results of experiments carried out by reputable institutions in the newspapers; but they do not

answer the fundamental fact of whether cell phones are so useful or whether they pose a legitimate danger

to us.

“Globalization, as defined by rich people like us, is a very nice thing... you are talking about the

Internet, you are talking about cell phones, you are talking about computers. This doesn't affect one-thirds

of the people of the world”, said Jimmy Carter who served as the 39th President of the United States from

1977 to 1981 and was the recipient of the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize, the only U.S. President to have

received the Prize after leaving office. However wrong one thinks Jimmy Carter was, in the decisions he

took while President, one cannot deny that what he says here has a ring of truth in it. Cell phones are

extremely popular though and altogether by the end of 2009, the number of cellular subscriptions

worldwide reached approximately 4.6 billion. This of course includes people which have multiple cell

phones. Now even if we take into consideration the concept of multiple cell-phone people, we realize that

the number of cell-phones is close to the number of people in the world; but does not affect all the people

in the world. The point which I wanted to make via this long-winded paragraph is that cell phones affect a

very large number of people in our society and that any advantages or disadvantages associated with them,

will in the end, by the sheer numbers involved, be either extremely useful or extremely detrimental to

society; or more likely have an assorted combination of both aspects.

Cell phones, as is commonly known have a very large number of extremely desirable features.

Apart from the conventional and now mundane use of cell-phones to speak with each other, we can also

use cell-phones for other things. These include messaging, playing music, taking photos, using simple

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applications based on generic managed platforms, gaming, gambling, adult entertainment, advertising,

news services and so on. I have barely touched the surface here, I must say. So, it is agreed. Cell phones

have become miniature computers and fit neatly into the complicated conundrum which we call our life.

Almost too neatly, if you know what I mean.

All clouds have a silver lining goes an age-old proverb. The converse must also be true, right?

And so it is. A massive amount of usage of cell-phones can have a myriad of disastrous effects. One

important aspect is privacy. Governments, law enforcement and intelligence services use mobiles to

perform surveillance in the UK and the US. They possess technology to remotely activate the

microphones in cell phones in order to listen to conversations that take place near to the person who holds

the phone. Cell phones are also commonly used to collect location data. It may be just in western countries

now, but soon with the new fad of security, mark my words, India will be bubbling over with security and

privacy concerns soon. It already started actually- with Blackberry, as any newspaper will tell. Another

big concern is that people forget themselves while using cell phones. So, traffic accidents increase. But the

biggest concern and the one that has been hitting headlines recently, is that of health.

“The greatest polluting element in the earth’s environment is the proliferation of electromagnetic

fields. I consider that to be a far greater threat on a global scale than warming, or the increase of chemical

elements in the environment” said Dr. Robert Becker, two-time Nobel nominee, author a

U.S. orthopedic surgeon and researcher in electro-medicine who worked mainly as professor at Upstate

Medical Center in State University of New York, Syracuse, and as Director of Orthopedic Surgery at

the Veterans Administration Hospital, Syracuse, New York. The effect cell phone radiation has on human

health is the subject of recent interest and study, as a result of the enormous increase in cell phone usage

throughout the world. Cell phones use electromagnetic radiation in the microwave range, which some

believe may be harmful to human health. There have been several well-documented and loud cries over

fears about cancer, dielectric heating of living tissues, blood-brain barrier, radiation absorption, genotoxic

effects, sleep and EEG effects and so on because of oft-reported symptoms ranging from burning

and tingling sensations in the skin of the head and extremities, fatigue, sleep disturbances, dizziness, loss

of mental attention, reaction times and memory retentiveness, headaches, malaise heart palpitations, to

disturbances of the digestive system. According to the Indian Journal of Human Genetics, “40% percent of

cells taken from cell phone users show DNA damage.”

“At the molecular level, radio waves can disrupt growth patterns and the functioning of cells,

particularly brain cells and nervous system tissue” said Dr. A. S. Michrick. A multiplier effect often

comes into existence when we take the society at large and introduce a product or an experience to it. So,

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we have to be very careful about the possible effects involved as even a small inconvenience or trouble or

discomfort can have a massive negative effect in the long run when used by a large section of the

population. Keeping this is mind, we hear the haunting words of Dr. Michael Klieeisen after the Spanish

Neuro Diagnostic Research Institute in Marbella found that a call lasting just two minutes can alter the

natural electrical activity of a child’s brain for up to an hour afterwards, “We never expected to see this

continuing activity in the brain”. What is so fearsome about this fairly mundane and straightforward

statement is that if scientists are not able to foretell things like this even remotely, what can they presage

about the long-term effects of prolonged exposure to cell-phones? These are early days yet in the saga of

cell phones and things have not fully panned out. Many stories are yet to be told and we, rather

frighteningly are living it.

All in all, cell phones have certainly changed the way that we have lived. However, they do have

some malevolent side effects. We have to recognize it and live accordingly. We should try to develop

techniques and technology that will eradicate or at least minimize the baleful effects. Already, there has

been talk about screens that can stop dangerous radiation coming out from phones. But well, we need

action, not talk. This technology can still take some time to become popular and so we will have to wait

and see still. Cell phones have certainly changed our whole lifestyle and so in that way they are certainly

boons. However, whether they become a bane because of our over-usage is in our hands. Prolonged

exposure to cell phones will certainly not be good. We should follow the philosophy of the great Roman

lyric poet, Horace. He followed ‘aurea mediocritas’ or the ‘golden mean’, which means the desirable

middle between two extremes, one of excess and the other of deficiency. In the matter of cell phones, so

should we.

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GLOBAL WARMING: ITS CAUSES AND EFFECTS

It is one of the biggest limitations of the human race that the most dangerous hazards often go

unnoticed. The population of the species Homo sapiens has become so large that sleek dangers are often

able to prey on us, having the advantage of surprise. Sounds like a man-eater right? Global warming is the

potential increase in global average surface temperatures resulting from enhancement of the greenhouse

effect by air pollution, according to Encyclopaedia Britannica, anyway. In 2001 the U.N.

Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change estimated that by 2100 global average surface temperatures

would increase by 2.5 to 10.4 °F (1.4 to 5.8 °C), depending on a range of scenarios for greenhouse gas

emissions. Many scientists predict that such an increase would cause polar ice caps and mountain glaciers

to melt rapidly, significantly raising the levels of coastal waters, and would produce new patterns and

extremes of drought and rainfall, seriously disrupting food production in certain regions. Other scientists

maintain that such predictions are overstated. The 1992 Earth Summit and the 1997 conference of the UN

Framework Convention on Climate Change attempted to address the issue of global warming, but in both

cases the cause was hindered by conflicting national economic agendas and disputes between rich and

poor nations over the cost and consequences of reducing emissions of greenhouse gases.

Now ignoring the accusation of Climategate put forward by conspiracy theorists who are accusing

others to be conspiracy theorists, it looks as if the phenomenon of Global Warming and associated

changes in the climate of the world are real. Now assuming that to be true, we have a very big problem.

Even a slight change in the environment will have drastic effects for humans as a whole. The correct

ramifications of this can be seen only by observing things from afar. Stepping back to take in a wider

perspective, we detect that too many coincidences have taken place to be close to comfort. We should

accept that Global Warming is taking place. Even if it is not taking place, as some seemingly misguided

souls still persist in believing, it will be better to take steps to prevent any such eventuality in future.

The single biggest cause of Global Warming is development. Now, we cannot say no to

development. That is certain. What we have to say no to however, is development without limits. No to a

growth that will probably swallow all of us in its grasp if we are not careful. We should follow the

philosophy of the great Roman lyric poet, Horace. He followed ‘aurea mediocritas’ or the ‘golden mean’,

which means the desirable middle between two extremes, one of excess and the other of deficiency.

Global Warming is mainly because of one thing. That is the greenhouse effect. Visible light from the Sun

heats the Earth's surface. Part of this energy is reradiated in the form of long-wave infrared radiation,

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much of which is absorbed by molecules of carbon dioxide and water vapor in the atmosphere and

reradiated back toward the surface as more heat. This process is analogous to the glass panes of a

greenhouse that transmit sunlight but hold in heat. The trapping of infrared radiation causes the Earth's

surface and lower atmosphere to warm more than they otherwise would, making the surface habitable. The

increase in atmospheric carbon dioxide caused by widespread combustion of fossil fuels may intensify the

greenhouse effect and cause long-term climatic changes. An increase in atmospheric concentrations of

other trace gases such as chlorofluorocarbons, nitrous oxide, and methane may also aggravate greenhouse

conditions. It is estimated that since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution the amount of atmospheric

carbon dioxide has increased 30%, while the amount of methane has doubled. Now this is quite

frightening because carbon dioxide and methane are both greenhouse gases, or those gases that can and do

contribute to the Greenhouse effect.

While travelling in the streets of Bangalore, we become aware of the sheer number of vehicles

that are clogging the roads of India. It seems an impossible job to calculate the number of vehicles in

India, forget the world. And another sight that is quite familiar in Indian roads is the billowing black

smoke, coming out in huge quantities from the exhaust pipes of vehicles. With the weight of sheer

numbers behind it, it is no wonder that pollution levels are increasing. There are several auxiliary, indirect

causes also for it. These include the lax regulations that have been in force and the long time for which

this has been happening unchecked. A sad state of affairs indeed! Sans any changes done quickly, the

situation may become even worse and plummet to plunging, unforeseen nadirs.

Industries are another major perpetrator. Who amongst us have not seen pictures or other media of

factories spewing out unknown amounts of poisonous, dangerous gases into the atmosphere? Another

cause that is exacerbating the effects of the aforementioned culprits is deforestation. Carbon dioxide which

is the main greenhouse gas in the atmosphere is absorbed by green plants. With the decrease of number of

trees, the pressure on water bodies to absorb carbon dioxide increases and too much will be too much to

be sure.

The effects of Global Warming are becoming easer and easier to see with the passage of that most

dangerous of quantities, time. The recent floods that devastated most of Pakistan, the floods in China, the

heat wave in Russia are all natural disasters that have been linked to Global Warming and climate change.

These events cannot all be coincidences, right? Now, these events are instantaneous events, or rather those

events which have resulted in a huge amount of damage and suffering all at once. There are also other

events that have been happening that take place over a period of time. These include the melting of the

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Arctic ice. Scientists now dear that all the Arctic ice may melt before 2030. This may result in the

inundation of a large amount of low-lying regions.

In nature everything is connected. A slight change here may result in a huge change somewhere

else. Nature is subtle. We cannot comprehend the things that may happen. We cannot even logically

eliminate possibilities. Humans have been trying to predict the weather for years. However, there is still a

running joke that whatever the meteorology department says, the opposite will happen! And this is with

such improvement in technology and the usage of supercomputers for these purposes. So, the moral of this

quaint story is this: we just cannot predict what may happen because of Global Warming. Anything can

happen, or maybe even nothing. However, we cannot take chances because, we cannot play with lives.

Russian roulette is one of the most dangerous games in the world. It is played by seven people, who take

turns one by one to point a revolver loaded in one of its seven chambers at their heads, and pull the trigger.

This goes on for six rounds until the person left in the end wins. Well, I admit I am not a scientist, but I

believe taking chances with Global Warming will have comparable rates of survival.

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INDIA OF MY DREAMS

“The future you see is the future you get” said Robert G Allen a Canadian-American financial

writer. What he said applies to all of us; as individuals and also as groups of individuals. India is a great

country which has had a great past. No one doubts the veracity of the statement. But over time, its glorious

façade has faded away to be replaced by a dreary and poor halo. Sad one must say that even such a great

country can go through such great nadirs. Jawaharlal Nehru in his book, “The Discovery of India”

maintained that he saw in the Indian people a spirit, some thing that he says he also found in the people of

China, Russia and the United States. He said however that being of Indian origin, his judgment was

clouded and that it was quite possible that he had so much wanted this spirit to be there in the Indians that

he may have misjudged his country.

By this spirit that Nehru proposed, he meant a vital energy that enables a country to face times of

adversity with a brave face and be a leader more than a follower in world affairs. He meant that what ever

level it was down graded to, a country with this spirit would rise up and reclaim its place in world

hierarchy. A spirit which enables its people to take a lead in various fields; in short a ‘winner’. As one

sees, over the last few years India has risen from strength to strength. Whether this is mere coincidence

and Nehru was wrong, I know not; but my dream of India is one in which the Indian people are infused

with this spirit, this vital force that Nehru described in his letters to another former Prime Minster of India,

his own daughter.

“Where the mind is without fear and the head held high; where knowledge is free; where the

world has not been broken up into fragments by narrow domestic walls; where words come out from the

depth of truth; Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection; where the clear stream of

reason has not lost its way into the dreary desert sand of dead habit; where the mind is led forward by

Thee into ever-widening thought and action; Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country

awake” said Rabindranath Tagore, a popular poet, novelist, musician, and playwright who

reshaped Bengali literature and music in the late 19th and early 20th centuries and was the first Asian to

win the Nobel Prize in Literature. When such a great personality puts things so concisely and admirably,

what can I do, but concur? His timeless words speak of the future that India should want to have-a future

that our leaders should try to realize.

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“As long as we place millions of Indians at the center of our thought process, as long as we think

of their welfare, their future, their opportunities for self-realization we are on the right track” said Mukesh

Ambani, a business magnate, philanthropist and the chairman and managing director of Reliance

Industries, the largest private sector enterprise in India and a Fortune 500 company. Strange words, one

can say, coming from a capitalist. But what he said is of course the truth. India’s millions can be both a

blessing and a curse. How we handle our population can send India up or down in the coming decades.

Now the drawbacks of a large population are well-documented. Putting a burden on every thing: the

environment, the economy and almost every thing in-between, a heavy population can be a curse. A

heavily populated country is often likened to an elephant. Well, even elephants can run fast! Faster than

almost all humans anyway! And so can an economy. One of the most important factors about India is its

young population. India will have the largest working force in the world in the coming years as China’s

population is comparatively old. We can use this to our advantage come on top if we will. But only if we

will. Immediate action and great leaders are a necessity. We have to spring at every opportunity presented

to us. Life is not a bed of roses for an individual and it is not for a country too.

“Education is the passport to the future, for tomorrow belongs to those who prepare for it today”

said Malcolm X born Malcolm Little, an African-American Muslim minister, public speaker, and human

rights activist. What he said holds true for all time. India’s education system I must say is dismal at the

very least. There are some bright spots, one can say, but compared to many other western countries and

factoring in that we have a population of one billion plus, our education system is bad. There are many

people who do not get even primary school education. And as if the lack of quantity is not bad enough, the

lack of good quality education is even more appalling. There are instances where people who have passed

SSLC in English cannot speak in it coherently and struggle to construct sentences. A dismal situation one

must say. Feeble attempts have been made to improve the existing situation, but will this be helpful to

India, only time will tell. But time is running out. Recall an old saying ‘time and tide wait for no man’. For

some reason, it holds true for a country too.

A big problem that we can see in Indian society is an attitude of ‘who cares?’ An attitude that has

resulted in our country languishing at the bottom of surveys of corruption and living standards. An

example in the state of Karnataka is that of the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike where bribes are

seen as a fact of life. The Lokayukta, an organisation that has been trying to get rid of corruption has been

unable to do so. The people have resigned themselves to giving bribes to officials and there are almost no

people who would do otherwise. What we need is a show of spirit from the people to take their lives into

their own hands and do some thing. One thing that India has introduced to the world is the concept of

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‘karma’. This some people call ‘joss’ and some destiny. People believe that their future is written ‘in the

stars’ and that they simply have to live it out. This has to change. They believe that the situation in which

they live in is some thing unchangeable and that they simply have to adjust. People have to take their lives

in their own hands and effect a change. And not just a few isolated people. The whole of India has to

demand more from the Government. That is what I want to see in India as a whole. An India where

political action against injustice is common sua sponte and corruption is passé.

A lively India which looks more towards the welfare of its umpteen people is what is required and

what we must have in future. An India where the government works hand in hand with the people to

banish that most evil of problems, poverty from this land is the stuff of dreams, seeing our current

situation. However I think that it can be done. With will and the means and most importantly, the proper

leaders, a country can rise to great heights, or conversely sink to deep depths. It remains for the people to

resolve their problems and their leaders for only they can change their country. For Jawaharlal’s ‘tryst

with destiny’ to be realized, fundamental changes have to be affected as soon as possible, for the sands of

time are running out, and running out quickly. We should act as quickly as possible, for India to rise as

high as possible. No individual can bring about a change. Even the Father of our Nation, Mahatma

Gandhi, great though his work may be, still had the help of a large number of other people interested in

the freedom of India. It requires a group of leaders who can get this done. India has a history of not living

up to its potential. It needs to somehow repair the shaky foundations it now stands upon and with its

leaders evolve into a country to respect and fear.

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INDIA’S WILDLIFE HERITAGE

India is fortunate to have been blessed with a myriad of wild flora and fauna by Mother

Nature. If not in gold or green-bucks, at least in green wealth, India is certainly rich. From ages

past, scientists, poets, writers and others have marveled at and extolled India’s wildlife heritage.

Various animals and plants of various sizes have made India their home. The protection of these

various, marvelous creatures is our bounden duty. However, of late, with the effects of

globalization and industrialization, we have begun to ignore these indispensable assets of ours.

We will certainly regret this action in the longer run. Or if not us, our descendents certainly will.

Protecting it has to become our priority.

In these days of indiscriminate deforestation and usage of natural resources, we should

make sure that our wildlife heritage is not lost. A sustainable use of resources in such a way that

it will not endanger the very survival of a species is the need of the hour. The delicate

mechanisms of nature bring to mind the proverbial Damocles’s sword which hangs from a single

horse-hair. If it breaks, it falls down point-first onto the head of humanity. A dangerous thing

indeed! If a single species is lost, then because of the nature of nature, all the organisms in its

food web are adversely or favorably affected. This in turn has other consequences and in the end,

the overall effect will be always negative. Negativity, unfortunately is a lot like the thermo-

dynamical concept of entropy. Especially when it comes to nature. It always increases. If

someone or something disturbs nature, the total effect is always negative. It however differs from

entropy in a singular way; it is possible to reverse the flow of negativity, though with a large

number of difficulties and tribulations. The haphazard and capricious way in which we are

disposing of our biosphere is causing a huge increase in negativity which, needless to say will be

difficult to erase.

India has about 350 different species of mammals, 1200 different species of birds which

cover 14 percent of the world’s avifauna, 453 different species of reptiles, 182 different species

of amphibians and 14500 different species of angiosperms. Also India boasts 45000 plant species

that constitute 6.4 percent of plant species on earth. The Andaman and Nicobar islands alone

26


house 2200 species of flowering plants and 120 species of ferns. When all's said and done, India

has 77000 species of animals, about 50000 species of insects and about 13000 species of

butterflies and moths. The sixteen major forest types of India are distributed in 10 distinctive

biogeographic zones, having 25 subdivisions and a much larger variety of ecosystems. All these

facts and figures give us just a bland, insipid view of the total richness of India’s ecosystem. The

true picture can come only when we visit the green, thriving forests of India.

Visitors to India say that India has a particular ‘smell’. A dusty, inspiring odor filled with

adventure. Or something like that. One runs across similar words in various accounts of

foreigners who have visited and lived in India for an extended period of time; especially in the

hill stations. This ‘smell of India’ is nothing more than the odor of India’s forests. An odor that

has led many of different countries to choose India over their homes. When people from other

countries have done so, it must be but a ‘no-contest’ that Indians feel too the same way about

things, right? But no. Many in India, living right in our midst think and feel differently and resort

to destroying the life of India via varied, cunning means that has made the Indian Government

and the Indian people look on helpless. A sad state of affairs, indeed.

“A thing of beauty is a joy forever” said the great English poet John Keats, perhaps the

greatest of the second generation of English Romantic poets. Reviled as a bad poet during his

lifetime, his subtle prominence was acknowledged only much later. A true worshipper of beauty

as noticed in his poems, he had given up a possible career in surgery to write poems and so would

have been hit hard by this lackadaisical attitude towards his work. He however had an eerie knack

of hitting a nail on its head as can be evinced from the above quote. The aesthetic brilliance,

beauty and peace provided by the richness of our wildlife heritage just cannot be overstated.

According to our old Hindu customs, man has to spend one-fourth of his life - the last part,

incidentally, in our forests. This is to provide ourselves with a serene backdrop in which to

analyze our life and meditate. Our wildlife heritage can thus be seen to have massive aesthetic or

artistic value.

But this is not the end of the value of our environment. No sir! Life itself for humans is

possible only because of our wildlife heritage. And it is not only about just survival. The word

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opulence is in the dictionary because of nature. Why, even the very pages of a dictionary are but

examples of how important nature is! The old story of a tree giving away anything and

everything that it has to fulfill the needs and desires of a young boy who grows old, gives us an

enduring image of the beastly nature of man and the manly nature of nature. India’s heritage

being as rich as it is demands a great amount of caring and we should at all costs extend a helping

hand as far down the line as we can.

A country’s wildlife heritage is the gift that the country has got from the Almighty.

Whether to exploit it unsustainably or sustainably is that country’s choice. Since days of yore,

Indians have learnt to live with and in the forests. Generations of Indians existed, giving respect

to and loving wildlife. Those times are long gone and can never be brought back again. It is

accepted. In the fast-developing and growing world, India must keep pace and more. However

the legacy of our far-seeing forefathers remains. The richness of India’s wildlife heritage is

perhaps unmatched in today’s world. It enables us to use our resources to the fullest when the

resources of other countries are but parched. But all that our ancestors did will be but wasted if

we decide to throw caution to the winds and proceed, laxly in a manner usually called laissez-

faire in economics. A strong, positive approach must be used. Such says the vox populi too. It has

been often said that hoi polloi do not know what is good for them and what is not. However for

once, our leaders would do well to follow the words of their esteemed voters.

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GLOBALISATION VERSUS NATIONALISM

Globalization and Nationalism may at first seem to be completely different phenomena. But one

thing that can be said to be a similarity is that they are both gaining momentum; in the Indian world at

least. Globalization is a trend in which people look more towards spreading their cultures all over the

world, so that the world becomes a closer place and Nationalism is a trend in which people try to promote

their own country as superior or follow the culture of their country and feel proud about it. Both

Globalization and Nationalism have got their good points and their bad ones. “Aurea mediocritas” is a

Latin phrase for “golden mean”. It is mainly used to describe a situation in which both too less and too

much are bad. It can be used here to describe the effects of globalization and nationalism. Too much of

either is bad and too less is also bad. Aurea mediocritas is perfect and best. Too much of globalization

results in what is called as a ‘culture clash’ with nationalism taking hold over people who oppose

countrymen bringing in facets of other countries’ culture to their country. Too less globalization is bad too

as it results in no intermixing of cultures, thereby lessening the value of our world; as it is only a mixture

of flavors that make a good food. A singularly salty food is certainly not tasty and likeable. Variety on the

other hand makes a culture both tasty and rich: the hallmarks of good food.

Thus we see that globalization and nationalism are in some ways fighting with each other. An

excess of both is undesirable as in extreme cases a country’s richness and individuality is at stake.

However, we see all around us that globalization has become rampant. Western civilization has infiltrated

all over our culture. In all facades of our life western civilization has its mark. People are forgetting about

their own rich culture and blindly aping the things that they see in the television-a medium of

communication from the west. In our country at least, Globalization has the upper hand.

“Accordingly, globalization is not only something that will concern and threaten us in the future,

but something that is taking place in the present and to which we must first open our eyes” said Ulrich

Beck, a German sociologist who holds a professorship at Munich University and at the London School of

Economics. He should know. Globalization has brought about several changes for the good as any one can

see. Technology, business, development of infrastructure and an umpteen number of other things have

been introduced to us by the West. Undeniable. Apart from these, changes have also been made on the

social front. Abolition of practices such as Sati, polygamy et al. has been made possible I must say only

because of globalization. Globalization has improved the lives of many a people in many a country. It has

brought human kind to a stage from where he can alter the earth to suit his own purposes. There is even

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talk of changing our solar system in advanced scientific circles, but all that is far ahead of our time.

Globalization has brought about invaluable changes in the field of science and technology-changes that

have changed our world. I do not think people understand the effect of globalization properly because we

have been affected by it completely. We should see cultures that have been isolated from globalization to

see its true effects. We may still have been hunting and eating animals if not for globalization.

“Contagion has become very much a phenomenon, and it's a phenomenon of globalization” said

Lawrence Summers, an American economist and the Director of the White House's National Economic

Council for President Barack Obama. On the other hand, Globalization also has had a multitude of bad

impacts on the world. Development has led to pollution and it has also led to the loss of several cultural

values. The values associated with one culture i.e. the west has spread all over the world and the culture of

several other countries has been lost. An undesirable effect as one can see. And old rule of nature is that

variety must be present for any person or group of people to develop, to evolve to become stronger and

stronger. Without variety, as I said earlier, the contents on the plate become bland. A variety of genes

allows organisms to adapt-that is the key word. What holds for a single individual must hold for a group

of individuals. A singular lifestyle every where I must say will be detrimental to the world at large. But the

biggest problem that I think globalization has been responsible for is pollution, a phenomenon that

threatens to destroy our world. We may have been better off as Stone Age hunters than waging a losing

battle against an unsustainable environment in some ways!

“A nation is a society united by a delusion about its ancestry and a common fear of its neighbors”

said William Ralph Inge an English author, Anglican priest, professor of divinity at Cambridge, and Dean

of St Paul's Cathedral, which provided the appellation by which he was widely known, "Dean Inge."

Nationalism has been taking a back seat to globalization over the last few decades. However, it can be

aroused to a searing, burning passion among the people as Hitler showed in the Second World War. It can

be seen in the people of every country. It is a dormant passion in many ways. It can be aroused in such a

way as to make the people of a country a force. Some times we see instances in which this passion flares

up. We see activists who seek to preserve Indian culture. The Sri Ram Sena is a prime example of this.

Every citizen has nationalism embedded in him in one way or the other and in the end if this force, this

spirit is utilized, the effects can be destructive. Jawaharlal Nehru in his book “The Discovery of India”

remarked that nationalism is an extremely powerful force indeed.

“Nationalism is power hunger tempered by self-deception” said Eric Arthur Blair, better known

by his pen name, George Orwell, an English author and journalist. In some ways Nationalism is good and

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in other ways Nationalism is bad. It is bad in the sense that people some times resist the changes that are

happening due to Globalization and this results in the lack of development in a country. For example if

Nationalism had been present in an extreme form, Sati may have still been present now. On the other

hand, if Nationalism is very weak among the people in a country, it may result in the values, culture and

traditions of a country being lost to the world at large. In our strife to become better and better, and adapt

to the changing world, by Charles Darwin’s ‘survival of the fittest’ theory, that will be a loss that will set

people back by quite a bit. So what is required for a country to survive and prosper and try to achieve a

utopian condition, it will require the powers of Globalization and Nationalism to balance each other. This

will result in an amalgamation of the cream of a variety of cultures thus a country can achieve a form of

social ‘nirvana’

In some ways the whole issue of the Sri Ram Sena business can be seen as an example of

Globalization versus Nationalism. The Sri Ram Sena say that they are the champions of the Hindu (or

Hindi, as Nehru said) way of life. They feel that love should not be expressed publicly and disapprove of

publicly seen relationships. They also are against fashion shows and Valentine’s Day. They genuinely feel

that the Indian way of life, as perceived by them is losing ground due to globalization and that they have

to do some thing in order to stop this free fall. On the other hand, its opponents feel that the Sri Ram Sena

is doing wrong by violating the freedom of people, a basic freedom that every one needs and has to have.

They feel that Pramod Muthalik’s Sri Ram Sena is abusing people wrongly and that there is no wrong in

showing love publicly, or with fashion shows. The Sri Ram Sena can be seen as a manifestation of the

forces of fervent nationalism and its opponents can be seen as the forces of globalization. Both are right in

some ways and both are not completely wrong.

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THE GLOBALISATION OF INDIAN ECONOMY

The early 1990s was a wake-up time for Indian economy. Having followed the Soviet Union in a

socialist-style economy since independence, things were changing rapidly indeed. The Soviet Union had

broken down, or rather was going to break down and it looked as if its allies too would go the same way.

With the policies of glasnost and perestroika coming into being, the power of the Soviet Union was

stuttering. Perestroika was a program instituted in the Soviet Union by Mikhail Gorbachev in the mid-

1980s to restructure Soviet political and economic policy. Gorbachev proposed reducing the direct

involvement of the Communist Party leadership in the country's governance and increasing the local

governments' authority. Seeking to bring the Soviet Union up to economic par with capitalist countries

such as Germany, Japan, and the U.S., he decentralized economic controls and encouraged enterprises to

become self-financing. The economic bureaucracy, fearing loss of its power and privileges, obstructed

much of his program.

With all this happening in the Soviet Union, it was only going to be a matter of time before India

did the same thing. During that time, our present Prime Minster, Dr. Manmohan Singh was the Finance

Minister and he decided that steps will have to be taken to avert this. With Prime Minister P.V. Narasimha

Rao, he brought about changes in the Indian economy that resound even today. These changes all-in-all

amounted to opening up the Indian economy.

Globalization has brought about several changes for the good as any one can see. Technology,

business, development of infrastructure and an umpteen number of other things have been introduced to us

by the West. Undeniable. Apart from these, changes have also been made on the social front.

Globalization has improved the lives of many a people in our country. Globalization has brought about

invaluable changes in the field of science and technology-changes that have changed our world. On the

other hand, Globalization also has had a multitude of bad impacts on India. Development has led to

pollution and it has also led to the loss of several cultural values. The values associated with one culture

i.e. the west has spread all over the world and the culture of several other countries has been lost. An

undesirable effect as one can see.

An old rule of nature is that variety must be present for any person or group of people to develop,

to evolve to become stronger and stronger. Without variety, as I said earlier, the contents on the plate

become bland. A variety of genes allows organisms to adapt-that is the key word. What holds for a single

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individual must hold for a group of individuals. A singular lifestyle every where I must say will be

detrimental to the world at large. But the biggest problem that I think globalization has been responsible

for is pollution, a phenomenon that threatens to destroy our world.

The Indian economy has certainly developed over the last few years. It has been often said that

our entrepreneurs are extremely good and our population is extremely young and so India will probably be

able to advance forward, with great strides. A heartening thought indeed! It is expected that the Indian

workforce will increase heavily over the next few years and by 2020, it is expected that one in four

workers in the world will be Indian. China however has an aging population and will probably not have so

many workers in the young range. This is mainly due to the birth control measures taken by Chinese

leaders earlier which are finally taking effect. Our burgeoning population is thus seen to be no impediment

at all. Another fortunate coincidence is the fact that many of these workers are English educated. With the

prevalence of English in trade and political circles, it looks as if it will work to India’s advantage in the

end. So we find that India’s occupation by England had its advantages too, big though its disadvantages

were. Every cloud has a silver lining, you see.

India has survived the onslaught of the economic recession that hit the world quite hard. While

the developed countries reeled rather badly, India and China were able to weather the economic crisis and

go on. Even now, some countries have not recovered from the effects of the crisis, but India and China are

doing quite well, as we can see. This shows that India’s economy will probably grow rather fitfully for

many years yet to come. However, we have to make haste, as infrastructure in India is in a very bad state.

The education system in India is usually considered to be quite bad and this can be a big handicap in

future. According to most sources, India will loose the ‘young workforce’ advantage by around 2050. In

that short interval of time, India will have to somehow take advantage of its educated workforce and

convert it to tangible advantages.

Now, this time, this era is the time for globalization. Countries are improving relations with each

other and forming organizations in order to make their respective economies stronger and provide security

to their citizens. The time of waging war on each other is over, exiled to the farthest realms of our misty

past. Now, more than ever is the time in which we will have to confine ourselves to peace and try to attain

prosperity. With the advent of time, we have become so good in killing each other that a mistake by a

country can wipe out the whole world if we are not careful. The shadow of nuclear weapons hangs low

and dark on all of us. On the other hand, indulging in currency wars as some countries are doing is also

not good, as economic wars may spill over and become political wars and so on.

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Globalization is happening everywhere. It is best not to fight it. Rather we must join it and grow

stronger with it. This is what India began to do just before the beginning of the new millennium and it has

provided rich dividends to its people. There is already talk of India becoming an economic superpower in

future and it looks as if it is not just talk. India certainly has got potential. That has been seen by the way it

was able to handle the economic recession that laid low many other economically strong countries.

Another thing is that India has been able to achieve so much in so less time. We should remember that it

has been less than two decades since India’s economy truly opened up. In economic and political parlance

this is but a pittance. India has got quite some amount of time, but not too much in which it can regain its

place in the firmament, rising up from ground. Quite a dramatic statement, I must admit, but true in its

way. India has got a golden chance right now. With the weakening of the United States and the rise of

organizations such as the EU and others, it looks as if a multi-polar world will still come into being and it

looks as if India will be well-placed to play an important role in it.

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INDIA’S RISING CRIME GRAPH

“Crime butchers innocence to secure a throne, and innocence struggles with all its might against

the attempts of crime”, said Maximilien Robespierre, one of the best-known and most influential figures

of the French Revolution, a capable articulator of the beliefs of the left-wing bourgeoisie. Forget the fact

that Robespierre was called "dictateur sauvage" (blood-thirsty dictator) by his adversaries, or maybe keep

in mind that people often reveal themselves by their words. Crime has been one of the longest-lived

professions of the world. It has existed since time immemorial. Man’s insatiable greed has been its raison

d’etre for ages past. And unfortunately despite the best efforts of authorities over the ages, it has proved to

be very profitable; sometimes way more profitable than legal means of making money.

“Behind every great fortune there is a crime”, said Honore de Balzac, a French novelist and

playwright regarded as one of the founders of realism in European literature. He is renowned for his multi-

faceted characters; even his lesser characters are complex, morally ambiguous and fully human. What he

said raises some very disturbing questions. Is it almost impossible to become rich without taking to crime?

Are the great fortunes of our times and past times but products of unscrupulous and unprincipled minds?

Is Who’s Who but a dictionary of criminals? Now that seems to be going a bit too far right? And maybe it

is. Not everyone can be like that. But the above words and the stature of the man who said it tell us that

many fortunes are black.

In India, crime has become so common that we do not raise our eyebrows when we see it in

action. We take it for granted. Something that we find undesirable and irritable, but cannot do anything

about. It has even entered our popular culture as a facet of our existence. Our netas, policemen and babus

too are often depicted as criminals to provide comic relief in media. This does not raise eyebrows as it

should; rather it makes us laugh. This attitude should scare us and shows how far away from the ideal we

are. We are, forget denial, past caring and we frankly have no idea how to get rid of this leech. “Poverty is

the mother of crime”, said Marcus Aurelius, Roman Emperor from 161 to 180, the last of the "Five Good

Emperors", and also considered one of the most important Stoic philosophers. Aurelius approached

the Platonic ideal of a philosopher-king and he symbolized much of what was best about Roman

civilization. Well, he would know. India in spite of all the progress it has made over the last many years

since Independence still remains one of the poorer countries; in some ways ranking near countries in sub-

Saharan Africa in poverty levels as some surveys show. With the aforementioned human trait of greed so

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very prevalent, people try to carve out a niche for themselves in today’s world and find in crime an easy

way. And once they get sucked in, there is almost no way out.

It is a life of desperation as one can see. And in some ways the law and order situation add to the

exasperation of the criminals. Not only are the keepers of the law easily corruptible but are also

exceedingly brutal and vicious in some ways. And not only that. “Some laws of state aimed at curbing

crime are even more criminal”, said Friedrich Engels, German social scientist, author, political

theorist, philosopher, and father of communist theory, alongside Karl Marx. Together they produced The

Communist Manifesto in 1848. Engels also edited the second and third volumes of Das Kapital after

Marx's death. The law is sometimes inappropriate. Life puts too much of pressure on poor people and the

end result is that the crime-rate of our country increases more and more. And that is exactly what is

happening these days. With India’s rapidly burgeoning population, while some people are massing wealth

as never before, the poorest of the poor in India are also mushrooming. This is leading to more and more

people turning to crime as a way of life.

With the aforementioned depiction of policemen as criminals often being true, and with the

number of policemen in our country often being woefully inadequate, crime has become a hard-to-stop

endemic epidemic. Sometimes, popular culture extols crime in the form of movies and other ways and

causes people to turn to crime in a big way. With poor people finding cheap movie tickets a viable and

enjoyable form of entertainment as no other, the problem has only exacerbated. It is a treacherous

downward spiral from which there looks to be no escape. A bed of quicksand. So, as time goes on, we find

ourselves sinking lower and lower with no end in sight. With the Government being ineffective in this

regard, there seem to be only clouds in the horizon, with no silver linings. So, as can be seen from

statistical evidence, the total cognizable crime (IPC) in 1953 was approximately six lakh incidents. By

2002, it had risen to about eighteen lakh incidents. Figures do sometimes tell stories, as you can see.

“Crime is a product of social excess”, said Vladimir Lenin, a Russian Marxist revolutionary and

communist politician, who as leader of the Bolsheviks headed the Soviet state during its initial years as it

fought to establish control of Russia in the Russian Civil War and worked to create a socialist economic

system.

We as concerned citizens of our country should try to discourage crime and criminals, but this

does not seem to be happening. As aforementioned, we seem to take them for granted. We tolerate

criminals and do not discourage or report crime. In this way hoi polloi are aggravating the situation. We

should feel a sense of responsibility for our country and try to cleanse it of all sins. Only if such an attitude

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is developed among our people, will be able to reach greater heights. “He who does not prevent a crime

when he can, encourages it,” said Lucius Annaeus Seneca Roman Stoic philosopher, statesman, dramatist,

and in one work humorist, of the Silver Age of Latin literature. He was tutor and later advisor to

Emperor Nero. We would do well to keep his words in our minds and not be as unmindful as his protégé

who “fiddled when Rome burned”. As we speak the situation is deteriorating; with rogue gangs plying

their trade and destroying the very fabric of our society and making a mockery of the law. The problem of

organized crime has become worse and worse with people literally queuing up to join in. Honest people

are being pushed to the background and are suffering as a result. An unacceptable consequence. And at the

end of the day, we listen to news channels exposing scams after scams one after the other. The CWG

scandal, the Adarsh Housing scam, the 2G allotment scam have all dulled the luster of the gem that is

India. Our founding fathers would hang their heads in shame if they could see India right now. For who

among our leaders can bear to look at the faces of Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru, those radiant

beacons of light, those staunch upholders of integrity and candor seeing the state in which our country is

in?

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LESSONS FROM COMMONWEALTH GAMES 2010

Hosting the Commonwealth Games was supposed to be a signal to the world that India had, to use

a clichéd term, come of age. An event to demonstrate India’s rising clout and maturity; an event way less

brutal that the whipping that some African tribals follow to signify coming-of-age. Well, in some ways,

this coming-of-age ritual has brought similar injuries to India’s self-esteem and pride. The rampant

corruption highlighted rather gleefully by western media has brought Indian dreams crashing down to

earth and has disappointed its myriad citizens. Its citizens hoped for a show equaling in grandeur the

Beijing Olympics and perhaps drew several parallels between the two sporting events held in the two

rising countries. The Beijing Olympics was however a shining success, with the only blotch being the war

between Russia and Georgia taking away some of the attention from it. However, the Commonwealth

Games did not attain that measure of success; though it was not a failure by any means. There is an old

Latin proverb. “Exita acta probat”. Its English translation means, “The end determines the act”. In that

way, the Commonwealth Games was quite successful in anyone’s eyes.

A slew of accusations and allegations of corruption directed at the head of the CWG Organizing

Committee Chairman, Mr. Suresh Kalmadi, amongst others, have caused many eyebrows to go up.

Eyebrows are not the only facial hair to go up. Hair-raising stories of corruption are being unraveled even

as we speak. The ghost of CWG corruption scams will haunt the dreams of those involved; or so it is

hoped. However, that can and probably will be quite tricky. The ‘scamsters’ are probably adept in hiding

their tracks. And have done so with much aplomb in the intervening time. However, they may still be

caught by vigilant officials.

A wise man once said, “Prevention is better than cure”. Well, it’s not for nothing that the

aforementioned man was called wise. This quote has a lot of merit, even though most do not seem to

follow it, or even think about it. So instead of finding ourselves in all that muck, we should have done

every thing we could to avoid falling into it. One of the sad, unavoidable, regrettable truths of Indian

polity is the heavy magnitude of corruption that literally haunts and dogs our lives. Corruption has only

one cure. Only one. Fatal diseases usually are tough to cure, you see. Well, this cure is a twelve–letter

word. Transparency. A transparent organization will never become corrupt. Every movement will be

scrutinized by the public and in a country like India, with so many people calling themselves as India’s

public, any discrepancy or incongruity will surely and swiftly be noticed and eliminated. Sheer numbers

you see.

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We have to realize that we have to make all organizations especially pertaining to the government,

transparency will have to be present, otherwise our ‘netas’ and ‘babus’ will invariably go astray. Greed is

quite a powerful deterrent you see. A commission will also have to be set up in order to oversee whether

corruption is taking place in each organization. Perhaps, a branch of that organization itself will be ideal.

Also, steps will have to be taken to ensure that this branch itself does not become corrupt with time;

otherwise we just will have added another organization that can become corrupt! Rotten apples will have

to be somewhat ruthlessly cut and thrown away. We all know that one rotten apple spoils the whole barrel.

In this age of many rotten apples, we should take care that the good ones do not get spoilt too. Sounds like

the new Mission Impossible film, right?

One of the major questions that remain unanswered is why India opted to host the

Commonwealth Games when there a plethora of people all over the country who lack for even the basic

necessities of food, water, clothing and housing. It should be the foremost priority of the Indian

Government to cater to the needs of these people rather than try to increase India’s pride by hosting such

large events. That can come later, because it is not a necessity. In the end India should look more for the

welfare of its people.

One very noticeable thing in the organization of the Commonwealth Games 2010 was that the

organizers kept every thing to the end. Just fifty days before the starting ceremony of the games, the

Games village and other infrastructure was in tatters. The media was wondering aloud, justifiably, whether

the Games would be held at all. It was a close-run thing, but in the end, the Commonwealth Games, apart

from the corruption allegations was a success. There were reports of roofs leaking, bridges falling and so

on, but in the end, things were all right. This last-minute work should be avoided. We see it all around us,

in schools and colleges students struggling to complete their projects at the last minute; and even in jobs,

people struggling to complete their reports and other projects, but the Government of India is supposed to

be a responsible entity, with the lives of unnamed hundreds of millions, nay billions depending on it and

must finish the job quickly to avoid any last-minute hiccups. Here it is not the fact that the Games were

held that is to be seen, rather, in what fashion the Games were held.

The opening the closing ceremonies of the Commonwealth Games highlighted to the world the

organizing capabilities of Indians. In the end, the medals gained by Indians pointed to the emergence of

India as a sporting nation to be reckoned with. Our sportsmen and sportswomen made our country proud.

Finishing second, ahead of Britain in the Commonwealth Games is quite a remarkable achievement

indeed. Winning over a hundred medals, including thirty-eight gold ones is no mean feat. However, one

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thing that we have to take note of is this. Australia, with a population of around twenty million, won one

hundred and seventy seven medals. Seventy four of them were gold. On the other hand, India with a

population of more than a billion, in fact more than a billion more than Australia’s population, won much

less. For this to change, the Indian Government will have to find proactive methods to improve sporting

infrastructure in India, thus giving its children more chances to shine. Talent is already present. India has

proved it time and again in the past. We only have to convert that into results; and that is where the Indian

Government must step in. China has managed to do so and thus was able to finish at the top of the

standings in the medals tally in the Beijing Olympics. Lessons have to be learnt here.

40


DEMOCRACY AND CORRUPT POLITICIANS

The concept of democracy evokes strong feelings. People generally feel that is the best form of

governance. A type of governance in which decisions are taken fairly; and in which the people have a

feeling that they can make a difference if they want to. One can almost visualize the early beginnings of

democracy, long back, during the time when humans were but mere hunter-gatherers, councils being held

to decide important decisions; in which the feelings of no one was left out. The concept is simplistically

brilliant. Very often mathematicians find that the toughest problems have the easiest solutions.

Mathematics very often encapsulates life. The tough problem of how to take decisions may have a simple

solution of taking a majority vote. Of course, there are theorists who beg to differ, but well, we cannot

satisfy everyone, all six billion plus of them living, simultaneously. Some believe that a single ruler must

take decisions for the country at large. They believe that dictatorship is good; and it may be, for the

dictator in question at least. Some believe that a permanent group of well-informed people must take

decisions on behalf and independent of hoi polloi, but this system too has its disadvantages.

That’s not to say that democracy too does not have its disadvantages. A cumbersome process at

best, when the population exceeds one billion, as in India, it will certainly be an extremely difficult task to

get the opinion of all the people. It has often been noticed that when a large group of people all vote

together on an issue, they have an uncanny, almost eerie knack on making the right decisions. Decisions

that help them in the long run. Well, groups of people cannot get much larger than India’s one billion plus

people, right? However, even though technology has developed by leaps and bounds, getting the opinion

of so many people is well, not possible; at least for now. With the purest form of democracy ruled out due

to its overwhelming complexity, a system of parliamentary democracy developed. Parliamentary

democracy is defined as “the democratic form of government in which the party (or a coalition of parties)

with the greatest representation in the parliament (legislature) forms the government, its leader becoming

prime minister or chancellor”. It started in England and was brought to its many colonies by them. One of

the few benefits of being ruled by the British, I suppose. Every cloud has a silver lining, you see.

One of the biggest problems that India has been facing over the years is corruption. Well,

corruption is certainly not unique to India, but it has been very destructive to India in particular, because

India is rising right now, and thus there is more to plunder for evil, self-centered people. So, India

languishes at the 78th spot in Newsweek’s list of World’s best countries. Corruption is often compared to a

leech. And it’s not without reason. It sucks the blood of the nation. And what is the blood of the nation?

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Money, money and money. So our beloved country is not able to rise with its full strength. A series of

unfortunate events as Lemony Snicket would have said, right? Winston Churchill once said that

democracy is the worst form of governance apart from the various ones already tried out. One of the titans

of the 20th century, he committed himself and the nation to an all-out war until victory was achieved, and

his great eloquence, energy, and indomitable fortitude made him an inspiration to his countrymen,

especially in the Battle of Britain. I am saying all this mainly to reinforce the character of the person who

spoke the aforementioned words. Well, when such a weighty man spoke such weighty words, what can

one such as I do, but concur?

Now, corruption and politicians often go together; in Indian language and contemporary speech

anyway. We almost cannot imagine a politician who is not corrupt. This is how bad the situation is. This is

what the general belief is anyway, and it is promptly reinforced from time to time by rumours and reports

of scams running into untold crores. A shame and a taint on our nation, I must say. Politicians are the most

powerful people and I think that they must see more movies. Yes, you got me right, movies. The words

“With great power comes great responsibility” were written with them in mind, in all probability. Well,

happy endings are for movies only, till now anyway, but it would make a tangible and needed difference if

something like that happens in real life too. And an end to all corruption is certainly needed. Well, it looks

possible, but certainly improbable right now. Firm steps should be taken, by a firm leader, either a

charismatic one or a brutal one. A Kennedy or a Stalin would suffice; but we all would, of course prefer

the former. Are you listening, Rahul Gandhi?

Forums in which decisions are taken, often on issues involving large amounts of money have

attracted a large number of leeches, rather blood-thirsty ones, which are intent on spoiling the future of our

country. This is one of the disadvantages of democracy, in which people are selected on basis of merit to

manage affairs of great importance in the country. Even one rotten apple in a barrel is dangerous and we

often find out this the hard way and even more often when there is nothing one can do. Often transparency

is an issue and when that happens, things usually go bad. The people who usually handle important

portfolios are also unfortunately, in this case anyway, quite clever and know loopholes in the system to

exploit, or can just indulge in a simple bit of cheating or money-laundering. Very simple indeed. Too

simple actually. That is not to say that the whole barrel is corrupt; rather that there seem to be very few of

them. By the way have you heard of the recent news of an IAS couple caught with an inordinate sum of

money with them? Probably they were the stupidest or the most reckless. That was about the ‘babus’. And

I am not even going to start with the ‘netas’.

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So, all in all, it looks as if corruption is almost impossible to eradicate, if only because of the base

nature of human character and the trait of greediness that seems to be interwoven with it, held together

with the finest links of steel. Somewhere, somehow, it just happens. Maybe I am a bit pessimistic, but it is

better to keep all possibilities in mind. The need of the hour seems to be a transparent regulatory

mechanism, which does not deteriorate into just another way for politicians to manipulate things for their

own good. In India in some states, Lokayuktas have been set up to weed away corruption, and people say

that it has been doing a good job. Is it the answer? Nobody can tell right now, but sooner or later things

are bound to come out into the light and then we can tell with a fair idea what effect it has had on politics

at large. However, as with all things dark, we cannot be totally sure.

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THE ROLE OF MEDIA IN OUR SOCIETY

“The media's the most powerful entity on earth. They have the power to make the innocent guilty

and to make the guilty innocent, and that's power. Because they control the minds of the masses” said

Malcolm X, born Malcolm Little, an American black militant leader who articulated concepts of race

pride and black nationalism in the early 1960s; considered by many to have been one of the most

influential and charismatic African-Americans the world has ever seen. But that was before Obama of

course.

“All of us who professionally use the mass media are the shapers of society. We can vulgarize that

society. We can brutalize it. Or we can help lift it onto a higher level” said William Bernbach, an

American advertising executive. What these individuals have said perfectly sums up what power the

media has in its hands these days.

The Fourth Estate holds in its ever-capricious hands the ability to move hoi polloi in a way never

dreamed of before. “With great power comes great responsibility” said uncle Ben of Spiderman fame.

While our world is quite a different one from the web-filled one of the ever-famous Marvel Comics

superhero, the media would do well to keep this sentence in their minds while they go about their duty, as

did our athletic hero. The media, television especially, contains the ability to produce multimedia content

and thus has the immense power to change an individual's perception of reality.

It has long been thought that the raison d’etre of the media is to bring to the knowledge of the

masses events which took place around the world. Steven Stark, author of Glued to the Set has been

quoted as saying, "the local newscast has replaced the network news and the newspaper alike as the

average American's main source of news." However, this feeling has now become passé. We now look for

more from the media. We look to the media to educate us on various aspects of life. The media has

become a weapon to be used by people to force the government to follow the right path, the democratic

path.

Several examples can be given. Gorbachev’s policies of glasnost and perestroika may have

resulted in the fall of the Soviet Union government, but it certainly helped the upliftment of the standards

of living in Russia. Remembering that a democracy is, in the words of that giant of American politics,

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Abraham Lincoln, “of the people, by the people, for the people” we can be sure that the press indeed can

do quite a lot of good.

Closer home, it was the media that shed light on the case of poor Ruchika Girhotra and wrecked

up a storm to bring a semblance of justice to the whole proceedings; some thing that might have proved

impossible without the intervention of the media. If the media could bring about such a change in just one

case, one can imagine what the media can do if it puts its mind to it.

Another important use of the media, mainly of television, is of course to bring entertainment to

the lives of India’s millions. Be it cricket or Bollywood, the media provides happiness and joy to people

after their long, and often tough day. The pleasure that the media gives to people cannot be measured by

conventional methods, but is certainly both substantial and important. The words “light at the end of the

tunnel” can be ascribed to the media in some ways. The long and often vilified ‘idiot box’ does have

benefits after all.

These days criticism has often been directed towards the media for the phenomenon which goes

by the name of “sensationalism”. People feel that they have no respect for the sentiments and ethics of the

people and land whom they serve to, with their immense power to influence the masses they just make

judgment like a true dictator rather than a good advice of a true friend as they previously used to do. This

is some thing that has itself been brought to light by the media. The media thus acts as a self-healing body

as this shows.

In other words, the media spares no one who has done wrong from its grasp. It is a many-armed,

ever-growing conglomerate of people who at their best can bring down unlawful governments and

enterprises. International journalism can bring about changes in policies of governments and question acts

of commission and omission by entities all around the world. The true potential of the media I believe has

not yet been seen.

When globalization reaches higher levels than has been reached now, the media may become

nearly omniscient and omnipresent. An extremely powerful, ineradicable ‘force’ one can say. And such a

large organisation cannot be fully made corrupt. As a wise man once said, “one can fool some people all

the time, or all the people some of the time, but not all the people all the time”. With the growing

interconnections in the world, I believe that the media will have to play an ever-expanding role uncovering

the truth and proclaiming it to the world.

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With technological advancements taking place every day, the media will certainly become more

and more powerful and will certainly control every part of our future. The media may become as strong as

to be the suprema lex of the world. In India especially, the media holds all the cards. They are able to

praise and vilify people at their own discretion. This is mainly because India’s millions (or rather billions I

must say!) are some of the poorest people in the world. The media is able to run riot on the minds of the

people of India and able to thus influence public opinion in a way that propaganda experts like Herr

Hitler’s Joseph Goebbels can only which at.

Well, talking about Hitler and his Third Reich, this is one of the biggest examples of how

powerful the media can be if given a free rein on the minds of the people in a country. Joseph Goebbels,

his propaganda minister moulded the opinion of the Germans so that the Germans believed every thing

that Hitler threw at that them. This was possible due to Hitler’s undoubted and unrivalled oratorical skills

in no small measure, but nevertheless, Goebbels was responsible to make the Germans fight another

World War only a few decades after devastatingly lose a huge World War.

The impact of media over the last few years has been enormous indeed. The flow of information

from one geographical location to another has increased in speed considerably with the advent in digitally

enabled communication devices. Different network channels over cable or satellite TV, newspapers and

radio channels are emerging at a very rapid pace providing the people with a medium to connect

themselves with the outside world. Print media has always been a dominant medium throughout the

decades in the western civilization, but it is the emergence of the television which has become the

backbone of the global commercial development. Pictures affect people more than mere words can. And

as a humongous number of homes in India have televisions, we can imagine the potential of the media to

mould minds.

To conclude, the media can tackle humanitarian issues and bring it to the notice of people around

the world who have the power to change things. It can weed out corruption by bringing to light corrupt

politicians and businessmen. It can educate people on the policies of political parties and help them to

choose just governments, though some people might say this is a very tough job. There has been criticism

that the media has been more than helpful while covering certain candidates in elections. However, such

incidents are isolated and the fact that these incidents were brought to light by the media shows how the

media can annihilate tumors in itself. This is the biggest way that it can change things in society and bring

justice to the poorest of the poor. The media in this way can become sine qua non to justice and build a

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bright, healthy future not only for itself, but also the rest of the world, being a panpharmacon for all kinds

of evil.

47


THE VALUE OF COMPUTER EDUCATION TODAY

“Education is not filling a pail but the lighting of a fire” said William Butler Yeats, Irish poet,

dramatist, and prose writer who won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1923, and who is regarded by some

as the greatest English-language poet of the 20th century. Poets and writers usually have unique ways of

putting words to emotions. Emotions and truths that hoi polloi know about, but which they cannot put in

words. Education must be seen in a practical sort of way and must be carefully built up. Imparting it is an

art; and receiving it is also an art. However, we often do not acknowledge this and go about haphazardly,

without building up the basics, a mortal folly any way we look at it.

In today’s world, computers play an indispensable role. However some have differing views.

“But they are useless. They can only give you answers” said Pablo Picasso, about computers. Pablo

Picasso was a Spanish-born French painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist, and stage designer

considered as one of the greatest painters of the twentieth century. This viewpoint of Picasso may have

something to do with the fact that Picasso was born way back in 1881 and died in 1973. Well, begging to

differ from Picasso, I feel that the Age of Computers is on us and we must accept it and adapt. Computer

education is the way ahead.

"What we want is to see the child in pursuit of knowledge, and not knowledge in pursuit of the

child" said George Bernard Shaw, Irish playwright and critic who received the Nobel Prize in 1925 and

whose writings and speeches made him a controversial public figure for much of his life. A shrewd and

humorous personality, he is remembered as a purveyor of verbal gems such as the aforesaid statement.

Unfortunately, in our world, we see students burdened heavily by their teachers and thus regretting their

plight. And it is a plight, mark my words, that which the students are going through. Students slowly begin

to hate a subject or maybe the very concept of studying, and this certainly wont do right? Sometimes the

very way of passing down knowledge is flawed to a great extent. "In large states public education will

always be mediocre, for the same reason that in large kitchens the cooking is usually bad" said Friedrich

Nietzsche, German-Swiss philosopher and writer, one of the most influential of modern thinkers. His

analyses of the root motives and values that underlie traditional Western religion, morality, and

philosophy affected generations of theologians, philosophers, psychologists, poets, novelists, and

playwrights. Well, he certainly had a way of banging a nail on its head, I must say.

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Till now, a basic knowledge of the working of computers was good enough to survive and maybe

go a few places up in the ladder of life. However, it is foreseen that things will change drastically in a few

decades or a few years time. The steep advancements in science and technology undertaken by grave

scientists are steep indeed, but may be seen in hindsight as gentle slopes compared to what may happen in

the coming years. For there looks to be no end to the advancements that can be made. However deep

scientists and engineers go, there always seem to be deeper layers; layers within layers and subtle changes,

which however mean a great deal of technological advancement. In the same way that scientists first

postulated that the atom was indivisible and now think that it is divisible, they are postulating now that

there are ways to dig deeper and deeper and come up with newer, better solutions to their problems;

problems however that are never-ending. However the watchwords here seem to be cost and availability.

Around a hundred and thirty years back, there was no such thing as electricity. I must be a little more

specific, I think. I meant there was no such thing as commercial electricity. Well now, things are a bit

different right? The oldest man who ever lived, if I remember correctly, lived for around the same amount

of time as it took for electricity to become so common i.e. one hundred and thirty years. I often wonder

how different the world will be in around the same amount of time in the future.

"The authority of those who teach is often an obstacle to those who want to learn" said Marcus

Tullius Cicero, Roman statesman, lawyer, scholar, and writer who is remembered as the greatest Roman

orator and the innovator of what became known as Ciceronian rhetoric, which remained the foremost

rhetorical model for many centuries. He was also one of the conspirators who murdered Julius Caesar, but

let us not hold that against him. A great thinker and commentator he certainly was by any measurement. It

is amazing how his thoughts, thought out long ago can still be applied in this age. Well, it is often said that

great minds transcend time. The best orator of one of the greatest empires ever seen would certainly

qualify as one right? And so his words ring true, coming back to remind us from the misty past about how

bad teachers haunt all generations. No generation-gap here I guess.

“Man is still the most extraordinary computer of all” said John F. Kennedy, 35th president of the

U.S. Kennedy's youth, energy, and charming family brought him world adulation and sparked the

idealism of a generation, for whom the Kennedy White House became known as “Camelot.” A

charismatic personality, his life was tragically cut short before his time by Lee Harvey Oswald.

Supposedly, anyway. Murky rumours still abound as to his murderer or murderers, but well, that is beside

my point. He was also known as a brilliant orator and had a way with words. In this age, with computers

becoming more and more complex and man improving the capacity and power of computers by leaps and

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bounds, we still have a chasm to cross. A deep chasm any way you look at it. A chasm of Artificial

Intelligence.

Once this barrier of AI, as it is known is breached, huge developments will be possible. Already

movies have been made about robots with AI. Many of them are not very pleasant, with them being

portrayed as heartless, cruel beings, but well, very often fears are unfounded. This barrier still stands, but

almost certainly will soon be breached and developments then may dwarf anything seen before. Things

have changed a lot in the last few years, but things will certainly change even more in the coming years.

We can right now exist without technology and computers, but that may prove to be impossible in just a

few years. Now, that is a big difference. This just highlights the important, understated part that an

education in computers will play in a few years.

An education in computers does not just mean an education in just computers. It means an

education in all forms of technology. “The inside of a computer is as dumb as hell but it goes like mad!”

said Richard Feynman, U.S. theoretical physicist famed for his wit who also wrote best-selling books on

science. What he means here is that a computer cannot think for itself, but works extremely well within its

narrow bounds. It is up to us to understand its logic and give it instructions to carry, up to the time when

the barrier of AI is breached anyway.

50


YOUTH AND LITERACY

“No skill is more crucial to the future of a child, or to a democratic and prosperous

society, than literacy” said the Los Angeles Times in its "A Child Literacy Initiative for the

Greater Los Angeles Area". Wise words indeed. As nations look forward and plan their futures,

they plan primarily for their children. It is the youth of the nation who will bear their countries’

flags high. These young people should be capable, responsible and have the flair and aptitude to

carry their country forward to greater heights. For all this, a good education is important. Forget

important, it is indispensable.

Turning back the pages of history and studying the times of the great empires of yore, one

startling fact strikes our eyes. It is but this: the superpowers of the past have all had exceptionally

good education systems, the best of their times anyway, and their youth were able to use it to the

utmost. Churning this fact in our minds for some time, we also discover that they fell to the dust

as a result of this education system of theirs falling down in standards. It is no coincidence that

the superpower of our times, the United States has the best education system among all the

countries and it is also no coincidence that educationists feel that its standards are coming down

comparative to other countries, at the same time that other experts believe that the United States

is losing its pre-eminent position among countries.

“Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire”, said William Butler

Yeats, an Irish poet and dramatist, and one of the foremost figures of 20th century literature. In

his later years Yeats served as an Irish Senator for two terms and was a driving force behind

the Irish Literary Revival. To the consternation of educationists all over the world, very often

education as we see it is nothing but gross filling up of pails. Education has been distorted to such

an extent that interest is not generated and a dreary practice of learning by rote has become the

norm. The talents of our youth are often censored by this process of mindless following of a

singular method of education. Of course, blind “mugging” as this process is called by few, is

constructive is some ways; but there is a time and a situation where this method should be used

and I believe that it is not being done properly at all. We would do well to fix it.

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The youth should look at education as an elevator to the upper echelons of society. A one-

time elevator that once is missed, is lost forever. If we look at the world around us, we come to

realize one thing. All the “pezzonovante” of our planet have strived as hard as they could to make

their mark on the planet. They have left no steps unturned, to use an oft-used inanity, to work

their way up, planning, plotting and dreaming. “Not all readers are leaders, but all leaders are

readers”, said Harry S. Truman, the 33rd President of the United States. He was a folksy,

unassuming president and was thought to exemplify integrity and accountability. He coordinated

the greatest election upset in American history over Thomas E. Dewey in the 1948 Presidential

Elections. These aforementioned words of his just reinforce the point I have been trying to make;

that to work our way up, we need to have a certain amount of knowledge about how the world

ticks and we can get only via the written word. Television, internet and various other means to

gain knowledge have come into existence and they are good sources of information, but books

and newspapers are still the primary sources of information, or rather knowledge. Over the years,

the importance of written material has decreased but still holds a very important place.

“It is well to read everything of something, and something of everything” said Lord

Henry P. Brougham, a British statesman who became Lord Chancellor of the United Kingdom

and who holds the House of Commons record for non-stop speaking at six hours. While the

above-mentioned statement hints at a gift for the gab, it looks as though the statesman valued his

words too. A proper education must impart an amalgam of knowledge from many quarters with

an in-depth knowledge of the subject one specializes in. This type of an education is the best in

most cases, except of course in such cases or professions where a different method of education

helps more. However, very often this method of education is not much in use. Changes must be

wrought in the very crux of the educational system itself and only such a change can be useful in

the long run.

Our life must become an altar to learning. For not only will this learning be beneficial to

us later on in our lives but it also enriches our lives considerably. “Live as if your were to die

tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever”, said Mahatma Gandhi, the widely-admired and

loved Father of our nation, the pre-eminent political and ideological leader of India during

the Indian independence movement who pioneered Satyagraha. By these words, the great soul

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means to convey to us that we should live each day with as much piety as we would if we knew

we were going to die the next day. Compare this with St. Paul’s “I die everyday”, in the Bible.

He also seeks to convey that we should accrue knowledge as though we need to gain enough

knowledge to live forever. Only this kind of a proper, deliberate perusal of knowledge will be

useful to us in the long run.

In India, the literacy rate is however a dismal 68%. The level is well below the world

average literacy rate of 84%, and India currently has the largest illiterate population of any nation

on earth. The above statements make for a gloomy read. But there is still hope. The 2001 census

indicated a 1991-2001 decadal literacy growth of 12.63%, which is the fastest-ever on record. A

1990 study estimated that it would take until 2060 for India to achieve universal literacy at then-

current rate of progress. India is a young country now the marvelous economic growth of our

country is because of this young population. For us to take proper advantage of this, we will have

to ensure that literacy in our country reaches as high as possible. China has been able to do so and

currently enjoys a literacy rate of above 90% which is much higher than the world average of

approximately 84%. Closer home, we can take the example of Kerala. It adopted a style which

enabled "fusion between the district administration headed by its Collector on one side and, on

the other side, voluntary groups, social activists and others". It currently has a literacy rate of

above 90% too. India would certainly do well to emulate the Kerala Government on a larger

scale.

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DOUBLE DIGIT INFLATION: CAN IT BE CONTAINED?

Over the last few days, the citizens of India have been reeling under heavy inflation. Inflation,

especially in the prices of basic food articles which are desperately needed by the poor of the poor of

Indian society is the most serious issue that a country like India can face. This is mainly because India is

primarily a nation of poor people. Yes, there might be quite a few rich people but their numbers pale in

comparison with the number of poor people. For these poor people, nothing matters more to them than

food, water and shelter and it is the duty of the Government to somehow make at least these basic

necessities available to all the people. However, when something like inflation happens, it affects them

unimaginably. For these people who only need the basic necessities of life, even this simple need of theirs

is then denied. So inflation should always be in control. However, this time in which we presently live is

not one of those times. Inflation is ripping things and more importantly, people apart and this must be

stopped as soon as possible.

Now what is inflation? An economics textbook will define inflation as a rise in the general level

of prices of goods and services in an economy over a period of time. That may be the definition, but ask

any poor person what it means to him and he will tell that it means, to him, a lot more than what the above

dry words expressed. It means hunger, it means overtime work, it may even mean death. “Domestic

inflation reflects domestic monetary policy” said Martin Feldstein, currently the George F. Baker

Professor of Economics at Harvard University, and the president emeritus of the National Bureau of

Economic Research in the United States of America. Well he would, and should know. So it seems that

the Government is in charge of containing inflation. However, sometimes, as in this case, the whole thing

goes out of hand. This time around, the main cause of the inflation was the high rate of food inflation.

For 2009, Indian inflation stood at 11.49%. The Indian method for calculating inflation, the

Wholesale Price Index, is different from the rest of world. Each week, the wholesale price of a set of 435

goods is calculated by the Indian government. Since these are wholesale prices, the actual prices paid by

consumers are far higher. In times of rising inflation, this also means that the cost of living increases are

much higher for the populace. Cooking gas prices, for example, have increased by around 20% in 2008.

The Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission, Montek Singh Ahluwalia has said towards the end of

July that inflation “will keep declining after July and moderate by December”.

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The RBI has got only one cure for inflation. It is almost like a mantra for it. It is ‘tighten monetary

policy by raising interest rates and squeezing liquidity.’ Now one thing that has perplexed economists

everywhere is, how in countries whose economies are supposed to be ‘overheating’, like China, Indonesia

et al., the inflation is so low where as in India it is so high. A big reason for this is the dependance of India

and its farmers, its ‘kisan’, on the monsoon. There has been much talk about decreasing this dependance.

There have been many proposals. The NDA government had brought out a proposal to connect the rivers

of India so that the disturbing spectacle of one part of the country suffering from floods and another from

drought will not be seen again. This proposal vaporised some time back or so it seems. So it has come to

haunt us back, or rather our poor back, our farmers back. The weather Gods failed us last year, so India's

agricultural output suffered a sharp drop, and as a consequence supply declined and prices rose.

Another reason is the policies of the Government. Prices of fuel have recently been increased,

which is contributing to overall price inflation. Minimum support prices for agriculture have also been

increasing. Price smoothening by the Government by higher imports and faster domestic resources usage

has not been up to the standard. However all these reasons are superceded by the proverbial ‘big daddy of

them all’. And that is, that the supply capacity of the economy is simply unable to match the demands on

that capacity. This means that the economy's current growth rate of 7-8 per cent is above its potential

growth rate. This can have a bad effect in future and attaining double digit growth will prove to be

impossible.

In agriculture, productivity growth is not up to the mark. On the other hand, purchasing power and

hence demand are accelerating. This can prove to be remarkably difficult to handle. The “Lakshman

Rekha” of 5% that politicians dare to cross only under peril may be very difficult to reach, but may still be

possible with aggressive monetary policies. Thus, the diagnosis of and cures for inflation may need some

rethinking. Inflation may have a lot more to do with services and land as an input. There have been

theories, like one put forward by Arvind Subramanian, a senior fellow jointly at the Peterson Institute for

International Economics and the Center for Global Development and senior research professor at the

Johns Hopkins University that Land market distortions, capital inflows, and services may help explain

India's inflation. He feels that curing it may require “addressing the macroeconomic aggravators of

microeconomic distortions”.

Meanwhile as a lot of debate is going on, consumer prices in India are rising at least twice as fast

compared with inflation rates in Brazil, Russia and China, the other three nations that make up the BRIC

economies. RBI Governor Duvvuri Subbarao is now under pressure to raise interest rates. “Inflation is an

55


urgent issue and we don’t have a package as yet which can give us confidence,” feels Bimal Jalan, who

headed the Reserve Bank of India from 1997 to 2003. The government must do something in order to

somehow bring this under control. Paul Krugman, the Nobel Prize winning economist feels that the high

unemployment rates in the USA may become a common thing as politicians there may start feeling that

high unemployment is normal for a country. He feels that the main thing to be erased is this mindset of the

government. Our Government must also take his advice and make sure that it does not take the high

inflation as normal. That is the main thing. Well, it is unlikely that the opposition will let the Government

to forget it. So, we see that it is not whether the rate of inflation will come down, rather, how quickly the

rae of inflation will come down from double digits. And as anyone can say, the quicker, the better.

So political will is a necessity. We should stop squabbling and look forward to controlling

inflation. It is believed that inflation cannot be brought to something like 1% or near, but an

inflation rate of 5% will be all right according to most sources. A deflation too will not be good

or feasible. Our legislators and economists who control India have to realise that they hold the

future of India in their hands and that they will have to take solid, tenable and most importantly

quick steps in order to reduce inflation, and thus lighten the burden of the people of India. For it

is of utmost importance that the poor of India, its very soul, are saved from the Atlas-like load

that they presently hold.

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IS CINEMA THE REFLECTION OF SOCIETY?

“The cinema, like the detective story, makes it possible to experience without danger all the

excitement, passion and desirousness which must be repressed in a humanitarian ordering of life”, said

Carl Gustav Jung, a Swiss psychiatrist, an influential thinker, and the founder of analytical psychology;

who is often considered the first modern psychologist to state that the human psyche is "by nature

religious" and to explore it in depth. Psychologists delve deep into human contemplation and try to find

the rationale for their actions. The incredible popularity of cinema has aroused the interest of

psychologists and one of the explanations for it is given above.

I have a hypothesis that all of us, in some small way, believe our lives to be movies; with us being

the protagonists. Our thoughts and actions take a center stage for us. We all live out the dreary monotony

of our lives waiting for those moments that really spice our lives. In some ways, this theory of mine

explains addictions. When we see movies, we identify ourselves with the protagonists we see in the big

screen, and to a certain extent feel his or her emotions and identify ourselves with his or her deeds. All of

us do this to varied extents. Some more and some less. All this is done subconsciously. “Drama is life with

the dull bits cut out”, said Alfred Hitchcock, an English filmmaker and producer who pioneered many

techniques in the suspense and psychological thriller genres. He framed shots to manipulate the feelings of

the audience and maximize anxiety, fear, or empathy, and used innovative film editing to demonstrate

the point of view of the characters; often carrying out extremely complex psychological examinations of

the characters. I believe that he has a valid point here. Life is nothing but a few prized moments with chaff

surrounding it. A lot of chaff, in fact. In movies, we see incidents that excite us and arouse our emotions;

our sentiments are stretched to their very limits and this is what makes us enjoy movies. After all, the

raison d’etre of cinema is to provide enjoyment.

“Although for some people cinema means something superficial and glamorous, it is something

else. I think it is the mirror of the world”, said Jeanne Moreau, a French actress,

singer, screenwriter and director who was most prolific during the 1960s though she continues to appear in

films to the present day. Well, being an actress, she should know. Over the years, in both Hindi and

English, we have seen movies that changed the face of cinema as a whole. Movies that have made us to

stop and think or made us to look at the world in a different light. Society as a whole is changing, with its

preferences changing from time to time and so are movies. Movies very often express our desires and

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entertain us. The directors play a very important role here and try to introduce their thoughts to us in the

form of movies.

“Cinema explains American society. It’s like a Western, with good guys and bad guys, where the

weak don’t have a place”, said Jacques Delors, a French economist and politician, the eight President of

the European Commission and the first person to serve two terms in that office. The age-old stereotypes of

hero and villain are absent from our day-to-day life. In real-life as opposed to reel-life, people are a

combination of good and bad characteristics and not all black or all white as is seen in movies. In movies

we very often see problems that we experience for real in life. Movies bring out the defects of society and

try to bring out change by bringing out issues to the open. This is one of the positive effects of movies.

“Cinema is the most beautiful fraud in the world”, said Jean-Luc Godard, French-Swiss film

director, screen writer and critic, who is often identified with the group of filmmakers known as

the Nouvelle Vague, or "French New Wave". Of course it is. It is an art form that binds us with rapture. It

is the magic that makes us see something that we have already seen again and again. Very often, we are

hypnotized by the actors and actresses and the characters they portray. It may not be a fool-proof replica

of the world at large, but very often it is a passable, beautiful facsimile, a reflection. Over the years, not

only does it reflect society, it has become a part of society too. We now treat movies as part and parcel of

our lives. We very often are so enraptured by cinema that we become interested in the actors and

actresses, rejoice in their victories and commiserate in their downfalls. Directors, very often visionaries,

try to show the world as they see it in their movies, and produce master-classes. The societies we see in

the big screen are often modeled on those we see all around us. The attitudes of society, its actions and

sometimes even its history are depicted very realistically in movies. Various stages in history and the

society that populated those times are also shown in cinema very convincingly.

“People sometimes say that the way things happen in the movies is unreal, but actually it's the

way things happen to you in life that's unreal. The movies make emotions look so strong and real, whereas

when things really do happen to you, it's like watching television -- you don't feel anything”, said Andy

Warhol, an American painter, printmaker, and filmmaker who was a leading figure in the visual art

movement known as pop art. In movies, we very often explore very complex topics. Or rather the

directors do. A good director explores the emotions, actions and psychology of the characters in the movie

and manufactures situations that enable the actors to showcase their talents. In doing this, to enable the

viewers to enjoy his art, the actors are given a license to over-act in some ways. The viewers are thus able

to understand the subtle connotations and undercurrents in the movie and enjoy it fully, without running a

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risk of missing anything. It very often depends upon the skills of the actors and the directors. In the end, a

movie depends upon how the director wants it to be. Directors model their movies on the society as they

see it and try to introduce variety to keep their audience interested. This variety often spoils the image of a

perfect copy of real-life society but keeps us interested.

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UNITED WE STAND, DIVIDED WE FALL

“So powerful is the light of unity that it can illuminate the whole earth”, said Bahá'u'lláh,

the founder of the Bahá'í Faith. He claimed to be the prophetic fulfillment of Bábism, a 19th-

century outgrowth of Shí‘ism, but in a broader sense claimed to be a messenger from

God referring to the fulfillment of the eschatological expectations of Islam, Christianity, and

other major religions. The old fable of several sticks being stronger than just one also reinforces

the aforementioned point. An amalgamation of several skills, attitudes and minds is very often

able to crack tough nuts when a singular approach is unable to do so. We find this apparent not

only in our day-to-day lives but also in various instances in history. It is well known that the

British used a “divide and conquer” technique to great effect in India. Its effects are visible even

today among hoi polloi. Unity is of utmost importance in the concept of India. This is because

India is not an ordinary nation. It is in some ways a concept dreamed of by our founding fathers

not very long ago. It is still learning and growing, because nations, unlike humans have a life-

span of centuries and India is still a child feeling its way in the dark; afraid of the dark.

It has oft been noted that a nation is like the human body. The human body basically

consists of an umpteen number of cells all working in tandem to live as easily as possible. A

nation basically consists of an umpteen number of people all working in tandem to live as easily

as possible. So what is the difference? If cells in a body die or malfunction, it will be detrimental

to the body as a whole. It is the same with nations. A united approach is not only essential to get

rid of quandaries we face in our way, but also very much needed for the smooth functioning of

our day to day life.

“One man may hit the mark, another blunder; but heed not these distinctions. Only from

the alliance of the one, working with and through the other, are great things born”, said Antoine

de Saint-Exupéry, a French writer and aviator who is best remembered for his novella The Little

Prince and for his books about aviation adventures. Well, writers very often have a way with

words as can be observed from the above well-composed quote. Monsieur Saint-Exupéry has hit

the nail on its head here. Individually, we often are unable to complete a task. However, with

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team-work and co-ordination, with what is called ‘chemistry’, we are often able to complement

each other and succeed in our endeavours. This concept bears a lot of significance in today’s

world. With competition escalating and ballooning all out of proportion, the ability to adapt to

any situation and complement each other is of utmost importance. In fact, it is the basic

difference between winning and losing in most cases. And, well, even though there is a lot of talk

about how participation is the key and not winning, a whole load of also-rans and no victories is

not good in one’s Curriculum Vitae, right?

“Unity without verity is no better than conspiracy”, said John Trapp, an English Anglican

bible commentator. His large five-volume commentary is still read today and is known for its

pithy statements and quotable prose. A united approach involves all the participants working well

together to make their jobs a success. However, sometimes, if a member has an individual

agenda, and pursues it sans any regard for his comrades, things may deteriorate and often does. A

job today does not just entail the member having a comprehensive knowledge of the world

around him, but also having what is called as interpersonal skills. This is what the industry asks

and very often it is what it does not get. In India, this is the very crux of the problem we seen all

around us today. The employees have the requisite talent and knowledge, but no communication

skills to speak of and this very often results in a loss to the employer. Employers have resorted to

bringing in specialized trainers to help remedy the problem. This is not so in Western countries

and it is something we have to learn from them.

Unity as a whole is especially important in India as a country. With a diverse array of

religions and cultures, India is the best large-scale example of how powerful unity can be. India

on the other hand has also been the victim, of its variety in some instances. The lack of unity is

however, to be expected with India’s diversity. Religious fundamentalism is one of the things that

have hampered India as a whole. It may be South Africa that is called the “Rainbow Nation”, but

India does not lag behind when it comes to diversity. “Even the weak become strong when they

are united”, said Johann Christoph Friedrich von Schiller, a German poet and playwright who in

September 2008, was voted by the audience of the TV channel Arte as the second most important

playwright in Europe after William Shakespeare. Now losing out only to the venerable and

venerated Bard of Avon is not a bad performance. Also a noted philosopher, he elaborated the

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concept of Pflicht und Neigung which basically refers to the concepts of duty and inclination

becoming the same in a person, which he describes as beautiful. The aforesaid statement when

combined with his abovementioned quote gives us as a nation, a perspective on how one’s

attitude to life in general should be.

“By union the smallest states thrive. By discord the greatest are destroyed”, said Gaius

Sallustius Crispus, generally known simply as Sallust, a Roman historian who belonged to a well-

known plebeian family and who always stood by his principle as a popularis, an opposer

of Pompey's party and the old aristocracy of Rome. Well, he certainly should know. Being a

historian mainly means studying the mistakes done in ages past by famous men and women.

Deciphering the murky past and analyzing it very often gives one a concise picture of what

should have been done and what should be done. Jealousy, contempt, divisiveness, suspicion are

all characterized as negative emotions and should be treated as such and should not be allowed to

rein free. However, very often unity plays second fiddle to such emotions and very often results

in failure and loss. Not a very pleasant thought, right? It is to be noted that when the greatest

empires fell, they first disintegrated. Disintegration was the sign that the empire was no more.

The empires of the Romans, the Greeks and the Mongols first disintegrated and then died.

United, they dominated the world of their age. Divided they utterly crumbled into oblivion and

were heard of no more leaving just an après gout via stories and legends extolling their power at

their peaks. That shows how potent unity is and how divisiveness is in some ways even more

potent.

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NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE IN THE WORLD

“It always seems impossible until it’s done” said Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela, who served

as President of South Africa from 1994 to 1999, and was the first South African president to be elected in

a fully representative democratic election. Well, he should know. Nelson Mandela accomplished

something that was considered to be pretty nigh impossible-the patching up of relationships between

whites and blacks. Centuries of hatred and subjugation were just tossed aside with his work in a matter of

decades. Within one life-time he changed things so much. It just goes to show that even the most

improbable of changes can be brought out by single-minded determination and hard work. In that way

Nelson Mandela was a messiah. A messiah of hope. Exemplifying most decisively, that nothing, just about

nothing, is impossible in the world, if one has the right convictions drilled into him or her and the courage

to follow his or her convictions till the end.

We can take the examples of many people who graced this world, who proved that nothing is

impossible by overcoming seemingly insurmountable odds and reaching their aims. Sudha Chandran is a

very famous Indian example. On May 2, 1981, Sudha Chandran was traveling in a bus to Tiruchi temple.

At midnight a serious accident took place. Her bus collided with a truck. When the accident occurred,

Sudha had stretched her legs out straight. The collision was such that her legs were stuck. Some college

students who were less injured saw the noted dancer and tried to help her out. After a long struggle, they

were able to pull her out but her right leg had been injured critically. In order to save her life the leg had to

be amputated. Yet she acquired an artificial leg and worked very hard and was able to dance again. Her

unique life interested many and a movie was made on her in which she herself played the titular role. She

went on to act in a few other movies also. There is an old proverb- “When life sends you a lemon, make

lemonade”. This is what Sudha Chandran did. She worked hard and overcame her predicament and made

her mark in acting too; an avenue that would have otherwise been closed to her. “Everything is

theoretically impossible, until it is done” said Robert Anson Heinlein, an American science fiction writer

often called "the dean of science fiction writers", who was one of the most influential and controversial

authors of the genre. He set a high standard for science and engineering plausibility and helped to raise the

genre's standards of literary quality; and we would do well to remember his words.

“Impossible is a word to be found only in the dictionary of fools”, said Napoleon Bonaparte, a

military and political leader during the latter stages of the French Revolution whose legal reform, the

Napoleonic Code, has been a major influence on many civil law jurisdictions worldwide; but he is best

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remembered for the wars he led against a series of coalitions, the so-called Napoleonic Wars, during

which he established hegemony over much of Europe and sought to spread revolutionary ideals. Who are

we to disagree with the famed emperor? It is

just a mindset, you know. Having a positive mindset, a mindset of continued perseverance, even against

tremendous odds is very often the only prerequisite for success. Often it is the only difference between

victory and success. In order to be successful we need to keep this important truism in mind. Napoleon

and Hitler accomplished things we might have thought of as impossible. Even though they are cursed and

reviled, rightly, for those deeds, what we need to take note of is the single-minded determination they had.

A positive lining in what is otherwise a murky and black veneer. Well, one can argue that in Hitler’s case

at least, the man was driven by his conviction that he was the one destined to bring about a big change in

Germany’s place in the hierarchy of nations. A case of bloated self-confidence, brought about by an avid

youthful interest in German history, one might say. But whatever might be the case, he took challenges

head-on, never believing that he would, or rather could, lose and he might have even won the Second

World War if the already favorable circumstances had gone slightly differently. Thankfully for the world

he did not; but he sure came frighteningly close.

“What we can or cannot do, what we consider possible or impossible, is rarely a function of our

true capability. It is more likely a function of our beliefs about who we are” said Tony Robbins, a

successful American self-help author and success coach. So, all that we require is a belief in our abilities.

If we have complete confidence in our abilities and we back it up with hard work, theoretically nothing is

impossible. Very often if we do not give our 100%, we miss our targets only by a little and we are left to

rue the fact that a little more effort could have led to us reaching our targets. Doing our best in anything

we do is thus of utmost importance.

One of the arenas where a never-say-die attitude plays a very important role is the film industry.

In the face of cut-throat competition which we see there, a lack of perseverance can be found to be a fatal

flaw. “Nothing is impossible, the word itself says 'I'm possible'!” said Audrey Hepburn, a British actress

and humanitarian who remains one of the world's most famous actresses of all time, remembered as a film

and fashion icon of the twentieth century. An attitude like this enabled her to be ranked as the third biggest

heroine of all time in Hollywood.

It is normal to feel despondent when at first we are confronted by the amount of work required to

construct a magnum opus or any other opus in fact. It is at this point where most people just give up,

feeling that they are not up to the task. This is where however, the truly successful go on, without paying

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heed to others’ thoughts and words. This rare quality is of utmost importance. “Every noble work is at first

impossible” said Thomas Carlyle, a Scottish satirical writer, essayist, historian and teacher during

the Victorian era; who called economics "the dismal science", wrote articles for the Edinburgh

Encyclopedia, and became a controversial social commentator. I feel he had the right idea when he told

these aforementioned words. It is all a question of the mind, in some ways. If one feels things to be true, if

he feels that he can accomplish certain things, he can accomplish those things. Otherwise those avenues

are closed to him. One’s mind is the key, because the mind is quite simply an objet d’art.

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CAN INDIA BECOME A SUPERPOWER?

“The land of dreams and romance, of fabulous wealth and fabulous poverty, of splendor and rags,

of palaces and hovels, of famine and pestilence, of genii and giants and Aladdin lamps, of tigers and

elephants, the cobra and the jungle, the country of hundred nations and a hundred tongues, of a thousand

religions and two million gods, cradle of the human race, birthplace of human speech, mother of history,

grandmother of legend, great-grandmother of traditions, whose yesterday's bear date with the modering

antiquities for the rest of nations-the one sole country under the sun that is endowed with an imperishable

interest for alien prince and alien peasant, for lettered and ignorant, wise and fool, rich and poor, bond and

free, the one land that all men desire to see, and having seen once, by even a glimpse, would not give that

glimpse for the shows of all the rest of the world combined.”

Thus Samuel Langhorne Clemens, better known as Mark Twain described India. A beautifully

true description no doubt. But this spoke about the past strength of India. For centuries India reigned as

the superpower of the world. Militarily and economically it had no equal anywhere in the world. However,

it faded with the passage of time and was dealt a fatal blow by the British on their occupation of India.

The Europeans gained a upper hand with the Industrial Revolution and never looked back. However, India

is raising its head again and trying to take its rightful place at the top of hierarchy of nations and it will do

so. The only debatable question is whether it will become a superpower as it was before.

First let us see what exactly is meant by the word superpower. A superpower is a “country that has

the capacity to project dominating power and influence anywhere in the world, and sometimes, in more

than one region of the globe at a time, and so may plausibly attain the status of global hegemony”

according to Alice Lyman Miller who is the Professor of National Security Affairs at the Naval

Postgraduate School. The word was first used to describe the British Empire which at one point of time

controlled 25% of the world’s population and 25% of the world’s area. Later on after the Second World

War, it came to describe the United States and the U.S.SR. also, and later on with the dissolution of the

U.S.S.R., only the United States. One of the basic characteristics of a superpower is that it is able to

project its power to varied parts of the globe and thus look after its own interests. Brazil, India, Russia and

China are seen as potential future superpowers. BRICS and IBSA are thus seen to be important forums in

this light.

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Economically India has been rising ever since it opened up its economy under present Prime

Minister Manmohan Singh in the early 1990s. Its economic growth rate is bettered only by China in the

last two decades. It now is one of the biggest economies in the world and is still growing at a rapid pace.

India is now able to influence countries all over the globe and this can be seen to be one of the

characteristics of a superpower. India’s recent election to the Security Council as one of the temporary

members can be seen to be an example of how India was able to influence countries to vote for it.

"India is not simply emerging: India has already emerged” said Barack Obama, the 44th

and current President of the United States when he visited India a few weeks back. When one looks

around the compared world politics to what it was say a few decades back, we realize the veracity of the

statement. Even though India has not yet reached its full potential, it has a large amount of influence over

world affairs. Not enough for it to be called a superpower but substantial nevertheless. The United States

reigns as only superpower in this age. There is some talk of the European Union as a block being an

economic counterweight to the United States. China is widely tipped to become a superpower in the next

few decades and provide a counterweight in world affairs to the United States.

People believe that India too has the potential to become a superpower in time. Mind you, all

predictions do not come true. Japan was thought to have the potential to become a superpower because of

its economy, but in the end it got stuck and still is, in fact with its economy stagnating. However, one

thing is that in Japan’s case, with the population being so low, there was not much scope for it to maintain

the kind of economic growth that it had. However, in India’s case and in China’s case, this is not the case.

Being the most populated and second most populated countries in the world there is tremendous scope for

development and growth and this is what the policymakers will want to target in the coming crucial years.

When people talk of India, they somehow drag China in also. Maybe it has something to do with

the geographical proximity of the two entities. China is usually seen to be ahead of India in most respects,

though India is not far behind. With both these countries growing on a similar level and with the subtle

undertones of rivalry coloring their relationship, the simultaneous rise of these nations has attracted

attention from pundits and commentators of world affairs. Comparisons were inevitable in fact. There is a

feeling that the two countries are competing with each other.

Careful and planned development in the coming years will ensure a steady rise for India. Whether

that will be enough to elevate India to superpower status is a debatable question. I believe that India will

be able to become a superpower, but it will take a long time. The next few decades will be crucial for

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India. Within a few years, India will have the largest working-age population in the world, with China’s

birth-control measures starting to take effect. If we take advantage of this fact, and work on it, India can

go places economically. In around two decades, India has achieved so much economically. In the decades

ahead, if India is able to maintain its growth rate or even improve on it, it can certainly secure superpower

status. For that India will certainly require a forceful and determined administration. One which is

committed to India’s future and does not get mired in scams and controversies. One which cares for its

people and actually does something to improve their lot. Whether we will get one in the near future is of

course debatable, but we can at least hope. Else if corruption gets a stranglehold, it will be just a case of

“au jour d’ hui roi demain rein”

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THE CANKER OF CORRUPTION

“Power tends to corrupt; absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad

men, even when they exercise influence and not authority: still more when you superadd the tendency or

certainty of corruption by full authority,” said Lord Acton, an English Catholic historian, politician and

writer.

Everywhere around us, we see the scourge of corruption gnawing through the walls of our society.

This is especially true in India. Our bureaucrats, politicians and even the keepers of justice, the police are

often ridiculed as being the very perpetrators of corruption. An old saying goes, “there is no smoke

without fire”; applying this to the above situation, we get a very undesirable and unfortunate conclusion.

Every facet of our life is riddled with corruption. We read in the newspapers about corrupt people getting

caught everyday. And those are only the ones who were dumb enough to get caught. What about the extra-

clever ones? The criminal masterminds who might be running scams, cheating people of untold billions

without getting caught?

A wise man once said, “Corruption is authority plus monopoly minus transparency”. I think the

key word here is transparency. A transparent structure is the need of the hour. A system or institution

where everyone and everything is accountable to someone or the other will be a non-corrupt entity; if such

a thing as a non-corrupt entity is possible. A question arises- What or rather who would be this someone?

A lot of thought has gone into this question over the eons past and people usually agree that a separate

body would be the best answer to this almost unanswerable riddle. A system where everyone is ethically

monitored by his chief will just see a return to the status quo. Now another question raises its head- almost

like the Gorgon Medusa in Greek lore and perhaps just as terrible to behold, turning us to stone- what if

this body itself become corrupt? It makes us realize that this is an unavoidable situation. Whatever system

is in place, we cannot be completely sure that it will not go corrupt. We cannot be absolutely sure that the

people in authority are not rotten apples. A system characterized by monopoly is even more dangerous as

it will be even tougher to ensure that the monopolizer does not become corrupt. This seems to suggest that

corruption is all-pervasive and inevitable, but we can at least try to reduce its effect, because frankly it is

the least we can do.

“Corruption is like a ball of snow, once it's set a rolling it must increase” said Charles Caleb

Colton, an English cleric, writer and collector, well known for his eccentricities. Eccentric he might have

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been, but about the facts of life he certainly had a very good understanding. Like all evil things, corruption

or rather corrupt people should be nipped off in the bud. An extended tenure of a person in a position of

authority with a corrupt attitude will certainly result in the malady spreading its wings and expanding from

the perpetrator in a rapid fashion. Within a short time, the whole organization will become corrupt. A

rotten apple spoils the whole barrel, you see. To prevent this, people will have to track down corruption

aggressively. People will have to be on their guard always. Because once corruption gains a foothold, it is

as adhesive as a Cape point limpet, which is also the description given to the South African cricketer,

Jacques Kallis. This shows just how adhesive Cape Point limpets are. And how adhesive corruption is.

Kallis’s adhesive qualities on the other hand are known to every bowler.

"Greed has been severely underestimated and denigrated — unfairly so, in my opinion. There is

nothing wrong with avarice as a motive, as long as it doesn't lead to anti-social behaviour", said Conrad

Moffat Black, a Canadian-born member of the British House of Lords, historian, columnist and

publisher who was for a time the third largest newspaper magnate in the world. Conrad Black in these

words voices his thoughts on materialism. ‘Aurea mediocritas’ is a Latin phrase that denotes ‘the golden

mean’. It is meant to convey a philosophy of not partaking too much in something. ‘Nec Dextrorsum, Nec

Sinistrorsum’ which means neither to the right nor to the left also means the same. It means that people

should neither veer too much to one side nor to another, but must undertake to walk in a path which

follows the Greek ideal of ‘moderation in all things’. Even greed in moderation can be beneficial. It is

then known by another term- ambition. Ambition is nothing but a burning desire to achieve greater heights

for oneself. And everyone who is someone of note can attest to its power in shaping a man’s life and

making him rise.

"Among a people generally corrupt, liberty cannot long exist", said Edmund Burke, an Anglo-

Irish statesman, author, orator, political theorist, and philosopher who has generally been viewed as the

philosophical founder of modern conservatism, as well as a representative of classical liberalism. This

holds good in India too. As the situation deteriorates, one’s freedom is lost. The corrupt become edgy,

hoping to preserve themselves at all costs and take extreme steps to ensure their survival. The now

entrants are either sucked into the system or are kicked out and somehow silenced. In this way freedom is

lost. The corrupt lose their freedom as they can never be carefree in life, with a dark fear of being caught

always in their thoughts. And the people who are not corrupt are not allowed to be free by the corrupt.

An effort has to be made at the ground level to mow down corruption. Children should be instilled

with the knowledge from a very young age that corruption is wrong. Children must grow thinking about

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corruption as something repellent. “If a country is to be corruption free and become a nation of beautiful

minds, I strongly feel there are three key societal members who can make a difference. They are the

father, the mother and the teacher”, said Dr. Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen Abdul Kalam, the 11th President of

India, who was known as the People’s President and who worked as an aeronautical

engineer with DRDO and ISRO. One’s parents and teachers play a very important role in one’s life. They

shape a child’s personality and thoughts in a way no one else does, and this influence is critical in

destroying the monster that is corruption. A coordinated effort to improve primary education and

introducing moral science at the early stages of a person’s development will be very effective in stopping

corruption in the long run. The effect may not be seen soon, but in the long run we will appreciate its

effect. It seems to be our only hope.

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POPULATION GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT

As a country walks through the corridors of time, it changes. It sheds off its old coating and

develops a new skin, all the while moving steadily ahead. One of the main changes that take place during

this time is a growth in the population. A growth in the population of a society can be both detrimental and

beneficial. It mainly depends upon the policies undertaken by the leaders in charge. By the steps that the

leaders have taken to secure a fair measure of development for their country. Population growth can be

beneficial because a high population naturally means a high working-age population; and it can be

detrimental if the high population is not streamlined by education for labor but rather prove to be a load

around the country’s neck. A load to be dragged around as the country moves forward.

As a country moves up the ladder of development, it naturally uses up natural resources.

Development and sustenance of a growing population needs a lot of resources. Very often their lands are

stripped of resources. Thus growth and development prove to be a burden on the Earth. It puts a lot of

stress on the earth. A stress that our world is now not a stranger to. “Population growth and development

place additional stress on the Nation's water infrastructure and its ability to sustain hard-won water quality

gains”, said Jerry Costello, the U.S. Representative for Illinois's 12th congressional district, serving since

1988 and the dean of Illinois' 21-member Congressional delegation. Well, he should know. It is after all

his job. Over the years, the United States has stripped its natural resources to fuel its development and

satisfy its population growth. And this is not something we see just in the United States. Every developed

country is characterized by this blatant disregard for the ecosystem and the welfare of the world at large.

And we can also see other countries traversing this path right now and destroying the environment.

The sad part of the whole situation is no steps are being taken to reverse this trend or at least to

make up for the damage caused. There are but a few feeble cries to change the current situation, but these

feeble voices are often lost in the wind. Governments move on unmindful of the fact that our world is

deteriorating. “The development of civilization and industry in general has always shown itself so active

in the destruction of forests that everything that has been done for their conservation and production is

completely insignificant in comparison”, said Karl Marx, a German philosopher, sociologist, historian,

political economist, political theorist, journalist and revolutionary socialist, who developed the socio-

political theory of Marxism. Karl Marx lived quite some time back, but his words hold good even today.

Deforestation has taken a heavy toll on the world’s forests. Flora and fauna are withering under the

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onslaught of mankind. On the other hand, human population increases all the time. And it looks like it will

keep on increasing for some time to come.

Development of peoples’ lot is of utmost importance to any country. In light of inevitable

population growth, development can be seen to be even more important. For proper development

however, it is of utmost importance that countries look after the education of their children. After all it is

the children that one day will control the machinery of a country. “If information and knowledge are

central to democracy, they are the conditions for development”, said Kofi Annan,

a Ghanaian diplomat who served as the seventh Secretary-General of the United Nations and was a co-

recipient of the 2001 Nobel Peace Prize. Very often however, too often one might say, these

aforementioned conditions are not met. Then only population growth is there without development. An

unfortunate combination indeed! Countries in this situation are said to be under-developed and are

characterized by their people living in pitiable circumstances. The situation only becomes worse and

worse with time and unless concrete steps are taken against this malady, it will continue to drain the

country. “Prevention is better than cure”, goes an old adage and not without reason. Steps must be taken in

order to prevent this eventuality.

“Either a species learns to control its own population, or something like disease, famine, war, will

take care of the issue”, said Chuck Palahniuk, an American transgressional fiction novelist and freelance

journalist. He is best known for the award-winning novel Fight Club, which was later made into a film.

Well, humans are but a species, albeit a dominant one. So applying this to humans, we get an alarming

conclusion. Now, we are faced with a question. Is this statement of Chuck Palahniuk true or is it but a

pretty statement devoid of meaning? Looking around us at the world at large, we realize how ugly things

are. We realize that these very things are plaguing us. That these very things have been creating headaches

for governments the world over. So are we on the verge of self-destruction? Seems like it. While this

might seem to be a very pessimistic view, recent outbreaks of war and natural disasters are really terrible

and may be actually inevitable. We have to realize that our world can support but a finite number of our

species and that limit may be breached if our population grows as it has been growing.

“A finite world can support only a finite population; therefore, population growth must eventually

equal zero” said Garrett Hardin, a widely-known ecologist from Dallas, Texas, who warned of the dangers

of overpopulation and whose concept of the “tragedy of the commons” brought attention to "the damage

that innocent actions by individuals can inflict on the environment". Now this statement makes logical

sense. After all, a finite amount of resources can support only a finite population. However, at the rate that

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the population of human beings is increasing, we have to start wondering at some time or the other

whether we have to enforce birth control measures. The Chinese have done this and it has met with some

success. However, this would mean a high number of senior citizens and few working-age citizens. A

disadvantage that might hamper the growth and development of a nation, as China may find out in the

near future. It has been noticed that very often a high population is detrimental to the development of a

nation.

In the complex world that we live in, it is often impossible to traverse the murky, often unseen

path that denotes a balance between development and environmental degradation. Another thing that

woefully impairs our search for this balance is our knowledge or rather lack of it. We try our best to

understand the dynamics of Mother Nature, but fall far short. “A little knowledge is a dangerous thing”,

said one wise man and it was certainly a very wise saying. We should pursue development while not

destroying our environment. So I must say a stiff job indeed in light of our rapidly increasing population

expressis verbis, but it is possible.

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INDIA: THE PROBLEM OF POVERTY AMIDST PLENTY

“In a country well governed, poverty is something to be ashamed of. In a country badly governed,

wealth is something to be ashamed of”, said Confucius, a Chinese thinker and social philosopher of the

Spring and Autumn Period whose philosophy emphasized personal and governmental morality,

correctness of social relationships, justice and sincerity.

In India, one of the biggest problems we encounter is poverty. The fact that it is a given and

nobody is actually trying to get rid of it gives us an idea as to the magnitude of the problem. The crux of

the matter is not that India is a poor country. Rather inequitable distribution of wealth hounds us. Let me

just regurgitate some googled facts. There are 53 billionaires in India, thereby claiming the 4th rank in the

world in the number of billionaires after the US, Russia and Germany and being ahead of China, UK,

Japan and France. Huge FDI inflow, high market competition, increasing support for entrepreneurs, mall

culture, designer accessories all show the bright side of the coin. Today the wealth of the top 35

billionaires exceeds that of 800 million poor people who are mainly poor peasants, rural population and

slum workers. At one side when the common man is striving for his bread and butter for one time in the

day, the rich are enjoying the lavish lifestyle of mall culture. Malls with plated ceilings are built to

enhance the looks while people in slums hardly manage a hard roof to live under. Versace, Benetton,

Calvin Klein, Hugo Boss are investing to allure one class while others sleep only with one torn piece of

cloth in freezing temperatures. Problems of malnutrition, infant mortality, illiteracy still abound. A

startling case of grim despair and frivolous gaiety in the picture that is India.

“The world is very different now. For man holds in his mortal hands the power to abolish all

forms of human poverty, and all forms of human life”, said John F. Kennedy, 35th president of the U.S.

Kennedy's youth, energy, and charming family brought him world adulation and sparked the idealism of a

generation, for whom the Kennedy White House became known as “Camelot.” A charismatic personality,

his life was tragically cut short before his time by Lee Harvey Oswald. Supposedly, anyway. Murky

rumors still abound as to his murderer or murderers, but well, that is beside my point. He was also known

as a brilliant orator and had a way with words. Listening to his words so many years later, we again feel

hope. Do we really have the power to help our fellow citizens? The simple answer is yes. Do we have the

will? A debatable question if there ever was one! With the shadow of corruption hanging like the sword of

Damocles just a few feet above our heads, we are unable to feast on our economic laurels. The good

aspects of development are prevented from reaching the poor by the hungry, spongy middlemen of our

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bureaucracy. Self-interest shines in the eyes of our ‘netas’ and ‘babus’. In the light of these last few

statements examining the above question, we despair. Then, we despair a bit more, knowing about the

attitude of acceptance that has our country in a bind. In fact, more than all the corruption that is going on

in our country, what is even more disheartening is the fact that we all passively accept it without ever

trying to report it or do anything about it. This, above all, is what spells doom in our country. However,

along with this, we also see some beautiful, yes beautiful, souls fighting hard. RTI activists, human rights

crusaders, whistleblowers are all trying their level best. But they are but soft voices, easily lost in the

wind.

“An idle mind is the devil’s workshop”. So goes an old adage. A person steeped in poverty will be

desperate to get out of it by hook or by crook. The rising crime rates in India verify this. “Poverty is the

mother of crime”, said Marcus Aurelius, Roman Emperor from 161 to 180 who was the last of the "Five

Good Emperors", and is also considered one of the most important Stoic philosophers. Aurelius

approached the Platonic ideal of a philosopher-king and he symbolized much of what was best about

Roman civilization. It fits. Crimes are committed only for gain. Unless in the cases of people suffering

from obsessive-compulsive disorders, of course. In poverty-steeped societies, crimes for gain will thus

become common. And that is thus a very big problem in India. The recent rise in the number of rapes in

Uttar Pradesh being a case in point. Crime then leads to more poverty. Crimes for gain usually result in the

aggressive party gaining and the other party losing. As any police officer worth his salt will confirm, most

crimes are committed by recurrently aggressive entities. So what happens is that a small section of the

population becomes richer and richer at the expense of the rest of the population. This in turn contributes

to the worsening of poverty levels in the society. It is a vicious cyclic process that threatens to spiral out of

control and may even do, unless mitigating steps are taken. And as in nearly everything else, hoi polloi are

the worst affected.

To rectify this, what we need is a concerted effort from all of us, at all levels to solve the problem.

The administration should identify what has to be done and do it. Very often however, the will to actually

do something is missing. That has been the scourge of our country. Very often all our administrators want

to do is gouge themselves on the perks of being an administrator; with bribes being considered as a very

important member of those perks. “Eradicate poverty. This is all that matters in my country. When I am

out training I think about this a lot; when I am running it is going over in my mind. As a country we

cannot move forward until we eradicate poverty”, said Haile Gebrselassie, an Ethiopian long-distance

track and road running athlete who is widely considered one of the greatest distance runners in history.

Granted, Gebrselassie hails from a sub-Saharan nation which has different priorities and faces different

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hurdles than does India. But I believe that the attitude must be the same so as to enable India to reach

greater heights. One of the greatest and most successful athletes in history thinks over his country’s

problems while training which I would assume he does most of the time, seeing the success he has had. I

think we ought to take a few moments to consider this. How many of us do that? Forget that; how many of

the people being paid to think about our country, our ‘netas’ and our ‘babus’ do it? And then, they want a

salary raise! Talk about duplicity! Sometimes it almost feels as if our administrators want to preserve the

status quo and feel threatened by any new steps taken to alleviate the condition of the poor. Genuine

efforts are inadequate and far apart. All this must change. Because the fight against poverty is not an easy

one. Actually when one thinks about it, someone will always be poor with respect to someone else. So

maybe relative poverty cannot be eliminated. We can only try to provide basic living standards for

everybody. That should be the aim and we should not, cannot fall short.

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JUSTICE DELAYED IS JUSTICE DENIED

“At his best, man is the noblest of all animals; separated from law and justice he is the worst”,

said Aristotle, a Greek philosopher, a student of Plato and teacher of Alexander the Great whose writings

cover many subjects, including physics, metaphysics, poetry, theater, music, logic, rhetoric, linguistics,

politics, government, ethics, biology, and zoology. Together with Plato and Socrates, Aristotle is one of

the most important founding figures in Western philosophy.

In India, the judiciary is highly revered. It is said that among all professions, teachers and judges

are the most respected and revered. Judges carry themselves with a certain dignity that only they can carry

off. “The administration of justice is the firmest pillar of government” said George Washington, the

dominant military and political leader of the new United States of America from 1775 to 1799 who led the

American victory over Great Britain in the American Revolutionary War as commander-in-chief of

the Continental Army , and presided over the writing of the American Constitution. And it is all not for

nothing. As the arbiters of what is right and wrong, they hold a very high standing in society. The

judiciary is after all the guarder of the constitution. It must be a matter of utmost importance that justice is

rightly dispensed. However, very often this is not the case. Especially in India, the time taken to resolve

cases is ridiculously long. So long that the judgment when it comes is too late or may not have any use at

all.

The longest contested law suit was a suit filed by the ancestor of Balasaheb Patloji Thorat of

Maloji Thorat in 1205. It was a suit for rights of presiding over public functions and precedence at

religious festivals. The law suit ended in 1966 and Balasaheb received a favorable judgment. Well, I do

not know if I am wrong, but I think it came a wee bit late to make his ancestor happy. Myriad such

examples abound and muddy our judiciary’s record. A sad state of affairs indeed. On the other hand we

cannot blame our judges too. They are trying to do their job but are drowning under the sheer volume of

work that they should do.

“Human progress is neither automatic nor inevitable... Every step toward the goal of justice

requires sacrifice, suffering, and struggle; the tireless exertions and passionate concern of dedicated

individuals”, said Martin Luther King Jr. an American clergyman, activist, and prominent leader in

the African-American Civil Rights Movement who is best known for being an iconic figure in the

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advancement of civil rights in the United States and around the world, using nonviolent methods

following the teachings of Mahatma Gandhi and is often presented as a heroic leader in the history

of modern American liberalism. Well, he should know. Justice is a very desirable thing but a rather

elusive one. Very often judges may not come to the correct conclusions despite their best efforts. Humans

are after all error-prone, fallible. Judges thus try to be sure of everything when they give out their

judgment. This has resulted in the prolongation of several law-suits over the last many years. While this

action of the judges is understandable, and indeed recommended, it does not decrease the number of cases.

A case of quality over quantity. This has been the motto of the judiciary from the beginning.

Efforts should be undertaken to increase the number of cases being solved without compromising

on the quality. The Indian judiciary is known for its high quality and its attitude which allows for no

compromises on its highest principles. However, high quality takes time and this is the bane of the Indian

judicial system right now. “Laws, like sausages, cease to inspire respect in proportion as we know how

they are made”, said John Godfrey Saxe an American poet perhaps best known for his re-telling of the

Indian parable "The Blindmen and the Elephant", which introduced the story to a Western audience. Well

despite the contempt that John Godfrey Saxe shows, we should respect the laws that society has put

forward and follow them throughout our lives because that is the only way to have a long, happy life.

It cannot be overstated just how important justice is in a society. Adherence to the rules set up in

our society is imperative. Without it, societies can spiral out of control into chaos and anarchy. Sometimes

even with a judicial system societies can crumble if the laws are not properly implemented. “The first

requisite of civilization is that of justice”, said Sigmund Freud, an Austrian neurologist who founded the

discipline of psychoanalysis who is best known for his theories of the unconscious mind and the

mechanism of repression, and for creating the clinical method of psychoanalysis for investigating the mind

and treating psychopathology through dialogue between a patient and a psychoanalyst. In this kind of an

order, it is of utmost importance that justice is never delayed to anybody. With time, situations change and

if it takes too long to arrive, situations may change so rapidly that they might become unrecognizable and

very often do. The judgment may not fit the changed circumstances. Delayed justice may thus result in

justice being denied. Very often this is exactly what happens. The parties may pass away or as in the case

of Balasaheb Patloji Thorat’s ancestor, whole generations may pass away and in the end the judgment may

just be an academic question. This has however regrettably happened all too often in India. With the

amount of time cases take to be resolved, this was just waiting to happen.

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Steps must be taken to mitigate the effect of the judiciary’s slowness. Perhaps, setting up more

courts or strengthening the judiciary or increasing the capacity of law schools would be viable options. I

believe that we should never compensate on quality and thus the quantity should be increased. We will

have to make life in the judiciary attractive to youngsters. Now another question raises its head. Would an

increase in law graduates decrease the quality of judgments issued? Well, this is but logical. After all

different people have different aptitudes and if there is a mass influx into the judicial system, quality may

be compromised. To avoid this, we will have to maintain a high level of standards in our education

system. Standards that would set a benchmark throughout the world. So only if we strengthen our

education system and make a life in the judiciary attractive to youngsters will this crisis of justice being

delayed be solved. Because after all, “Justice delayed is justice denied”.

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POPULATION CENSUS 2011: SOME KEY FINDINGS

The population census for 2011 was eagerly anticipated as it was the first time that biometric

information would be collected. It involved 2.7million census-takers who surveyed some 300 million

households, noting for the first time whether people live in basic huts or concrete structures, have

electricity and access to toilets and if they have spent any time in schools. The 15th Indian National

census was conducted in two phases, house listing and population enumeration. The house listing phase

involved collection of information about all buildings. It was noticed that the Indian population increased

to 1.21 billion with a decadal growth of 17.64% which is less than 21.12% observed in the previous

decade. This is extremely good news for policy-makers because India’s burgeoning population had set off

talk about the inability of the land to sustain us in future at the present rate of population growth. The old

theory of population increasing in a geometric progression where as food increasing in an arithmetic

progression, you see. However, a decreasing rate of population growth will do very well indeed to fit in

the scheme of things in future. This is the first decade with exception of 1911-1921 which saw addition of

lesser people than the previous decade.

Adult literacy rate increased to 74.04% with a decadal growth of 9.21%. Again a very

encouraging observation that persuades policy-makers to believe that the objective of universal literacy is

very much within our grasp and would reach fruition with a few more calculated pushes. However there is

still a bit of discontent; with this being related to the male-female gender imbalance with reference to

literacy. The female literacy of 65.46% is less than the male literacy which is 82.14%. Yet another talking

point for feminists to harp upon. Not that they need more, though. However, the decadal growth shows

that female literacy has increased more than male literacy and so feminists too can take heart from this

development. India is still however way below other countries like South Africa, China, Brazil, Sri Lanka

and even Congo when it comes to literacy rates. A fact that we would do well to remedy in the coming

days.

India accounts for 17.5% of the world’s population, China 19.4%. However, its is believed that

China’s birth control policy will soon kick in and India will pass China to become the most populous

country in the world by 2025; which (surprises!) does not seem too far away. China's labor force will peak

at 831 million which is 24 million more workers than today in 2016. This means that at its peak India will

be the largest country in the world, the largest country the world has ever seen and the largest country the

world will ever see, according to population of course. However, the population will then decrease.

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Information on castes was included in the census. This was mainly following demands from

several ruling coalition leaders including Lalu Prasad Yadav, Sharad Yadav and Mulayam Singh

Yadav supported by opposition parties Bharatiya Janata Party, Akali Dal, Shiv Sena and Anna Dravida

Munnetra Kazhagam. Information on caste was last collected during the British Raj. During the early

census, people often exaggerated their caste status to garner social status and it is expected that people

downgrade it now in the expectation of gaining government benefits.

A sobering set of facts can be divined from this census. India added 181 million to its population

since 2001, slightly lower than the population of Brazil. That is a fantastic number. It is hoped that this

does not continue for too long. The curse of over-population which already lies heavy on us may intensify.

India with 2.4% of the world's surface area accounts for 17.5 % of its population. This hints at an obscene

amount of pressure on land in India. This pressure will grow in the coming months and it is hoped that our

‘netas’ and ‘babus’ will be up to facing it.

Uttar Pradesh is the most populous state with roughly 200 million people. Lakshadweep is the

least populated at 64,429. Delhi with 11,297 people per square km has the highest population density. A

little more than 6 out of every 10 Indians live in Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Bihar, West Bengal, Madhya

Pradesh and Tamil Nadu. Within the last six years, five states- Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh,

Maharashtra and Rajasthan- have added considerably to the population growth as half of the kids in these

states belong of the age group 1 to 6. Two of the most populous states, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar have

however shown a decline in decadal growth.

India has 624 million males and 587 million females. While the gender imbalance in population

remains, the preliminary census figures show that India’s female population grew by 18.12 per cent over

the past decade against 17.19 per cent for males. The child sex ratio which is 914 females

against 1,000 males is the lowest since independence. However the overall sex ratio rose by seven points

to 940 females per 1,000 males. So a bit of bad mixed up in the good. The imbalanced sex ratio has

always been a problem. With female infanticide, an atrocious practice ubiquitous in many states, a skewed

sex ratio has been often seen. With the advance of technology, it has been seen that this sex ratio has just

become shoddier. Using ultrasound technology, people find out the gender of the unborn child and

espouse abortion if it is found out to be female. An obnoxious practice that must be stamped out as soon as

possible. The Government should adopt a strict posture when it comes to ultrasound scans, something that

is conspicuously missing right now. It has been noticed that when the first two children are girls, the

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chances of a third girl being born in the family is 20%. Earlier studies have told us that about five to seven

lakh girl children go missing every year or around 2000 a day.

The 2011 population census has given our policy-makers some sort of an idea as to what our

demographics are and shall be and thus gives us an idea as to what India’s policies should be. Quite a vital

thing in our day and age. A scientific, technical appraisal of our strengths and millstones and how we

should use them is of utmost consequence for India’s growth. As India is now reaching a stage where it is

now coiling up before its big spring to the very top of world hierarchy, detrimental policies now

undertaken will bear us down in the future. A future where India would otherwise have every chance of

dominating. The future of the myriad millions of India lie in balance and it is hoped that our leaders will

keep them in mind and not cater to the whims and fancies of the wealthy, westernized elite who otherwise

dictate India’s policies.

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THE ROLE OF MEDIA IN SOCIETY

“Journalism consists largely in saying ''Lord James is dead'' to people who never knew Lord

James was alive”, said Gilbert Keith Chesterton, an English writer who has been called the "prince of

paradox".

The media has an undeniably important role to play in society. It is for that very reason that Burke

termed it as the Fourth Estate. After all, the very concept of democracy implies that hoi polloi should be

able to have a measure of control over the government. By informing people about the actions of the

government, the media makes this possible. People are then able to decide as to whether their government

has done its work well or no. This is the main work of the media. However very often the media goes

berserk over things that do not merit such interest. It is a rising phenomenon called sensationalism. “Early

in life I had noticed that no event is ever correctly reported in a newspaper”, said Eric Arthur Blair, better

known by his pen name, George Orwell, an English author and journalist who is considered perhaps the

twentieth century's best chronicler of English culture. The media keeps on harping on an issue until its

potential for garnering trps is exhausted. A case in point is the recent news article in the Hindustan Times

in which it was claimed that doctors in Indore were converting girls into boys. This is certainly misleading

because this sort of a surgery just cannot be done. It is medically impossible. The media should research

each issue as systematically as possible and try to highlight the points that are actually troubling our

nation. Cricket and Bollywood however seem to hog an inordinate amount of time on our news channels.

It is an unfortunate turn of events. Steps should be taken to nip this phenomenon in the bud. The media

should realize where its responsibility lies.

“I fear three newspapers more than a hundred thousand bayonets”, said Napoleon, a French

military and political leader who was Emperor of the French. His legal reform, the Napoleonic code, has

been a major influence on many civil law jurisdictions worldwide, but he is best remembered for his role

in the wars led against France by a series of coalitions, the so-called Napoleonic Wars, during which he

established hegemony over much of Europe and sought to spread revolutionary ideals. These words of the

famed Emperor draw our attention to the remarkable and compelling power of the media over society.

Even in Napoleon’s day this was the case. Now with the advent of the internet and with psychological

education reaching what may be seen to be a pinnacle, we realize that the little Emperor’s hundred

thousand bayonets may have acquired poisoned tips.

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After all, the media hold the gullible multitudes of India in their grasp. We dance and wave to

their tunes. We see the world as they present it; after all, they seem to be our eyes. They can present the

world in whatever tint they want to. Pink or black, it is their choice. Rupert Murdoch comes to mind. In

fact when one comes to think about it, it is a wonder that he is in trouble after all. A media magnate with

as much control over media usually can wriggle out of trouble by influencing public opinion. Well, this is

an example of how powerful media can be. This is a prime example of how media can annihilate

corruption wherever it is; even in itself. In India however, we have seen yet another evil phenomenon.

This is of paid news. A trend in which politicians and others pay sections of the media to do favorable

pieces on them or unfavorable pieces on others. A little bit like advertising and a rather disgusting trend, I

must say. “Whoever controls the media, controls the mind”, said Jim Morrison, an American lead

singer and lyricist of the rock band The Doors, as well as a poet who was ranked number 47 on Rolling

Stone's "100 Greatest Singers of All Time", and number 22 on Classic Rock Magazine's "50 Greatest

Singers In Rock". It is rumored that Morrison had an i.q. of 149.

As the bearer of information to the world at large, media thus has a responsibility to educate also.

Most households even in rural areas in India have got a television. Thus presently television is the most

comprehensive form of spreading awareness among people in India. This should be utilized by the

government as efficiently as possible. For India to take its rightful place at the head of the world hierarchy

the single most important requirement is a good education system, something which I must sadly say is

lacking in India. In a few years, India will have the largest working-age population in the world. In fact at

its peak, India will be most populous country the world has ever seen or will ever see, having a population

of around 1.7 billion; mainly because China’s population control measures will kick in. India will thus be

given an opportunity to use this extra-large workforce to its advantage. With a skilled workforce and the

proper infrastructure in place, India will be uniquely placed to rise. However, the education standards in

India are to say the least, dismal compared to other countries such as the United States. Jairam Ramesh

may have been crucified in several quarters when he made those remarks on the condition of those ‘elite’

institutions, the IITs. However, the fact remains that even the IITs do not come even close to

internationally recognized institutions like Harvard, MIT and Oxford. People may dig out reasons and

figures from myriad sources and argue that the IITs are good; but the fact remains that if they really were

the best, no one, not least an Indian would condemn them. The media provides the perfect forum

whereby this can be changed. The Government must take the initiative in this and somehow turn things

around. Introducing lessons in television broadcasts will perhaps be beneficial.

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“All of us who professionally use the mass media are the shapers of society. We can vulgarize

that society. We can brutalize it. Or we can help lift it onto a higher level”, said William Bernbach, an

American advertising executive. So it is all at the hands of the media. A country and its people are that

way because of its media. Shaping society in a way it feels fit, the media of a country is uniquely placed to

make or mar a country’s future. The Government will have to keep the media under a small measure of

control at least. Otherwise unscrupulous elements will be able to take advantage of the power of the

media. However too much of Government control will not be good. After all the raison d’etre for true

journalism is freedom.

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IS THE HUMAN SPECIES SPECIAL?

“Why was man created on the last day? So that he can be told, when pride possesses him:

God created the gnat before thee”, says the Talmud, a central text of mainstream Judaism which

takes the form of a record of rabbinic discussions pertaining to Jewish law, ethics, philosophy,

customs and history. The Talmud certainly does not seem to believe in the primacy of mankind.

Instead it seems to advocate that every other creature is better than us human beings. Let us just

relax, sit back and take in that statement and try to unravel its implications. Are we really not

special at all? Is mankind just another species that inhabits earth? For long our philosophers and

scientists have said no. Humans, they say, are indeed special. They say that humans are the only

creatures that can think and learn. Does not that make us special? Perhaps. But on the other hand,

there are a variety of things that these aforementioned creatures can do which we humans cannot.

Can we run at a hundred kilometers per hour? Can we fly? The answer to both these questions is

no. Well, actually the answer is a bit ambiguous. Andy Green has traveled at, forget a hundred

kilometers per hour, above a thousand kilometers per hour in his vehicle the ThrustSSC. And we

all know what the Wright brothers are famous for. So, in spite of the fact that mankind does not

come even close to animals physically, he has been able to replicate the physical prowess of

animals and even improve on it. The question is, does this power of him to innovate, to improve

and to learn really make him special?

I personally believe that mankind is special and not just because of some misplaced sense

of arrogance. And not just because he is the dominant creature in the world today. What sets him

apart or rather above every other creature that walks the earth is his ability to adapt. To evolve.

To change his form and shape until he fits the surroundings and improves on it until he is perfect.

Until he is untouchable. Until finally he is defines the phrase sine qua non. Just dominating our

world for a period of time is not something that makes us special. Why, even the dinosaurs did

that. And where are they now? No species has managed to dominate the earth a la human beings.

Till now the history of the earth calls to mind the French proverb “Au jour d’ hui roi demain

rein”. Whether mankind will be able to weather the vagaries of nature and fate will prove the

ultimate test whether we are special or no. And I believe that we will pass this test. But I seem to

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hear some doubting Toms. And without reason. Darwin said that only the fittest survive. I would

like to add a corollary. Perhaps not a corollary exactly; more like an insipid afterthought.

Sometimes even the fittest do not survive. Nature is callous and unforgiving. The nature of nature

one can say. So the doubting Toms are not out of their collective minds when they doubt my

statement. However, when I see what man has achieved, especially in the last century and the rate

at which science is developing, I believe that man is destined to last for a very long time if not

forever. The advances he has made, the very fortitude which he shows in each and every

endeavour allows me to think so. Cockroaches are renowned for their resilience. It was said that

cockroaches can survive nuclear blasts. Well though the aforementioned statement is not strictly

true, it is but a metaphor for their hardiness. Well, I think man is actually the cockroach.

Very often we see scientific journals screaming excitedly about how scientists have found

bacteria or other creatures in places where they were not supposed to exist. Like deep inside the

volcanic vents on the world. Or deep in the world’s oceans. The adaptability of these creatures is

amazing. Surviving at such high temperatures, at such high pressures and actually thriving is not

a feat to be scoffed at. An example, it can be said of the durability of nature in general. Life is,

after all a fight to keep living. These creatures have, it seems anyway, an innate tendency to keep

living and propagating their offsprings, even in the most adverse conditions possible. That is the

exact characteristic that we find in humans. We struggle, struggle, struggle and finally come out

on top. This is, I believe, the spark that differentiates living things from non-living things; and I

believe that we humans have a great deal of it. Enough of it anyway to overcome all the problems

that we might face as a species anyway.

When we read newspapers, scientific journals, watch the television, surf the internet, we

come across many apocalyptic scenarios. Nostradamus’s prediction that the world would come to

an end has not come out to be true. But there are many other predictions going around. Some

revolve around the Large Hadron Collider in Europe; some others revolve around the world

ending in 2012. Mankind is perhaps pessimistic by nature and perhaps also a bit masochistic I

guess. Conjuring up his own end in various fascinating ways. After all no one can deny that the

movie 2012 was quite good right? All these pessimistic divinations about our own end only show

us how much we all care about ourselves and the generations to come and how much we fear our

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species meeting its end any time soon. A feeling that is probably felt by only our species. Can

you imagine a Bengal tiger worrying about his specie’s end, close though it seems, with constant,

unavoidable, almost inevitable, incorrigible governmental mismanagement, notwithstanding the

recent slight rise of its numbers in India? Well, the answer is no. “Man is the only animal that

laughs and weeps; for he is the only animal that is struck with the difference between what things

are and what they ought to be”, said William Hazlitt, an English writer, remembered for his

humanistic essays and literary criticism, and as a grammarian and philosopher who is now

considered one of the great critics and essayists of the English language. A wise statement

indeed, that sums up exactly what I said. And it is because of this characteristic that we are going

to survive as a species for a very long time to come if not forever. We think about things and

dangers in advance and try to subvert the problems these dangers pose to us and thus proceed to

live our lives.

Even as we walk, talk and live our respective lives in general, telescopes scan the sky for

the merest glimpse of approaching meteors. We certainly care a lot for ourselves, or rather for the

survival of our kind. We build massive seed banks and ultra-protected bunkers deep in the Arctic

regions too keep us safe in the case of emergencies. At the rate we are advancing, we will soon be

able to reach a level where we will be able to protect ourselves from every thing that poses a

danger to us, however grievous it may be. Even if the Earth gets destroyed, we can possible

emigrate to other planets that have the capability to support life. If any danger comes our way, I

think that mankind will be able to manufacture an appropriate response to it. After all, our rate of

advancement in the field of technology is indeed remarkable. After all, only a hundred and fifty

years ago, people did not know what electricity was. Merely a hundred years back, the word and

concept television would have drawn amused and confused looks from people. It is only recently

that computers were thought of and the internet is even younger. Give mankind a few centuries

and God only knows what he might have discovered and done. As everyone now knows, the

technological advancement in the field of mobile phones is extremely fast and extremely costly.

The field of technology has improved exponentially only over the last few decades. So if nothing

on a Judgment Day scale happens in the next few centuries, I believe that mankind can achieve

the power to control its own future. A rather disquieting thing, I would presume, for those people

who believe in God and who believe that God alone can and should control our future. Or is this

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but an overly-rosy picture of what can be? I believe not. I believe that apocalyptic scenarios are

too over-rated.

A few years back, 2009 to be exact, swine flu made news. A few days back the New

Delhi Metallo-1 superbug weaseled its way into the headlines. And with good reason. After all

these two diseases had the potential to wipe out mankind with as much efficiency as the bubonic

plague. It is a constant fight between us humans and microorganisms. Microorganisms are

constantly evolving and becoming deadlier and we humans are trying to eradicate diseases

altogether. We develop vaccines and microorganisms respond by evolving and becoming

immune to these antibiotics. This is after all the reason for the New Delhi Metallo-1 superbug

scare. It is a long, hard and I suspect an interminable fight with humans and microorganisms

striking heavy blows at each other. Since he first walked this planet man has had to fight this war

against his unseen opponents. And it is a remarkable thing that he has never been dealt a

knockout blow since then. With his rapid improvement in technology however, the balance might

change. Of course, microorganisms may be able to fight human innovations but at the rapid rate

this technological advancement is taking place, I think and hope it will be too much. The role of

disease-causing microorganisms is after all totally negative; unless we consider H.G. Wells line

of thought in his ‘War of the Worlds’. We live in a time where dangers lurk behind every corner.

However if we are able to evade all these dangers as I think we will be able to, why, cannot we

exist forever? A tempting thought, I would think.

Disease causing microorganisms are but one of the myriad dangers we face. Yet another

and one which has been making waves recently on a tsunami scale is climate change. Climate

change skeptics may put forward such propositions such as ‘Climategate’ to bolster their theory

that all this furor over changing weather patterns is but a hoax. But what they cannot counter are

hard facts which show the rapid increase in average temperatures throughout the globe. The list

of warmest years on record is dominated by years from this millennium; each of the last 10 years

(2001–2010) features as one of the 11 warmest on record. It is one of the biggest limitations of

the human race that the most dangerous hazards often go unnoticed. The population of the

species Homo sapiens has become so large that sleek dangers are often able to prey on us, having

the advantage of surprise. Sounds like a man-eater right? Global warming is the potential increase

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in global average surface temperatures resulting from enhancement of the greenhouse effect by

air pollution, according to Encyclopaedia Britannica, anyway. In 2001 the U.N.

Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change estimated that by 2100 global average surface

temperatures would increase by 2.5 to 10.4 Fahrenheit, depending on a range of scenarios for

greenhouse gas emissions. Many scientists predict that such an increase would cause polar ice

caps and mountain glaciers to melt rapidly, significantly raising the levels of coastal waters, and

would produce new patterns and extremes of drought and rainfall, seriously disrupting food

production in certain regions. Other scientists maintain that such predictions are overstated. The

1992 Earth Summit and the 1997 conference of the UN Framework Convention on Climate

Change attempted to address the issue of global warming, but in both cases the cause was

hindered by conflicting national economic agendas and disputes between rich and poor nations

over the cost and consequences of reducing emissions of greenhouse gases.

The single biggest cause of Global Warming is development. Now, we cannot say no to

development. That is certain. What we have to say no to however, is development without limits.

No to a growth that will probably swallow all of us in its grasp if we are not careful. We should

follow the philosophy of the great Roman lyric poet, Horace. He followed ‘aurea mediocritas’ or

the ‘golden mean’, which means the desirable middle between two extremes, one of excess and

the other of deficiency. Global Warming is mainly because of one thing. That is the greenhouse

effect. Visible light from the Sun heats the Earth's surface. Part of this energy is reradiated in the

form of long-wave infrared radiation, much of which is absorbed by molecules of carbon dioxide

and water vapor in the atmosphere and reradiated back toward the surface as more heat. This

process is analogous to the glass panes of a greenhouse that transmit sunlight but hold in heat.

The trapping of infrared radiation causes the Earth's surface and lower atmosphere to warm more

than they otherwise would, making the surface habitable. The increase in atmospheric carbon

dioxide caused by widespread combustion of fossil fuels may intensify the greenhouse effect and

cause long-term climatic changes. An increase in atmospheric concentrations of other trace gases

such as chlorofluorocarbons, nitrous oxide, and methane may also aggravate greenhouse

conditions. It is estimated that since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution the amount of

atmospheric carbon dioxide has increased 30%, while the amount of methane has doubled. Now

this is quite frightening because carbon dioxide and methane are both greenhouse gases.

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Numbers do not, or rather I should say, cannot lie. They are informative and truthful.

Temperatures are rising quickly and nothing can be done to refute it or to deny it. All this is the

action of human beings. In one way, one can say that this is an example of just how special

human beings are. Can you think of any other species that walks this planet being able to change

the world in the way humanity is doing? Notwithstanding recent scientific reports of cows

releasing substantial amounts of methane into the atmosphere via belching and flatulence, I

believe humans are unique in this respect. And I do not mean flatulence or belching, I mean

changing the environment. All this raises questions as to the place of humanity on earth. Are we

metaphoric shepherds of sheep? Or are we just the most evolved species on this planet? “We are

just an advanced breed of monkeys on a minor planet of a very average star”, said Stephen

Hawking, an English theoretical physicist and cosmologist, whose scientific books and public

appearances have made him an academic celebrity. Well, that was quite a put-down after the lofty

thoughts we had about ourselves! And this coming from one of the greatest minds of our

generation, if not of all time. With suitable apologies to Mr. Hawking, I disagree. I do not think

we are “just” monkeys. Or even an advanced breed of banana-chomping primates. I think we are

a bit more than that; quite a big bit too, I think. As the most evolved species on the planet, I think

we have an ethical responsibility to look after our lesser evolved brethren. And I used the word

brethren with a purpose. And making them suffer because of climate change is not exactly the

way we should discharge our responsibility.

So I believe that humanity is special because of its ability to adapt to anything that nature

throws at us, and our ability to survive a tout prix. Apart from the dangers already mentioned,

other envisaged dangers include super volcanoes, ice ages possible due to nuclear winters, the

funnily termed ‘grey goo’, cosmic calamities, warfare possibly nuclear, dysgenics, rogue robots,

evolution of another species that out-competes humans for food, habitat or hunts as prey,

population decline due to political intervention or infertility or voluntary extinction, scientific

accidents and contact with aliens. A rather frightening array of possibilities, I must admit. But I

think that we humans can still somehow adapt to all these dangerous scenarios and still pull

through. With our ever-increasing technological aptitude, I believe that humans will be able to

find a way to survive and indeed prosper. Only the future will tell whether he can exist a jamais

or no.

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DOES INDIA NEED NUCLEAR POWER IN A BIG WAY?

To satisfy their respective energy requirements seems to be one of the main objectives of

countries these days. With conventional sources of energy running out, countries are looking more and

more at non-conventional sources of energy. Among non-conventional sources of energy, nuclear power is

one. One of the advantages of nuclear energy is that huge amounts of energy can be produced for a very

small input. Quite a big advantage. Another is that the waste produced is very low. “All the waste in a year

from a nuclear power plant can be stored under a desk”, said Ronald Reagan, the 40th President of the

United States, the 33rd Governor of California and, prior to that, a radio, film and television actor.

Both nuclear fission and nuclear fusion produce huge amounts of energy. Nuclear energy leaves

all other forms of energy far behind in this respect. Unless of course, one counts in energy from

antimatter, the technology for which is not available yet, but which may be developed in future. India too

as a country with massive potential for development is looking to develop its energy options. One of the

options that can come under a large amount of scrutiny is nuclear power. Off late, the development of

nuclear power has come under heavy fire. Especially in India. This is because of the Fukushima Daiichi

nuclear fiasco which threatened and indeed threatens normal life in a large region of Japan. With the

Bhopal Gas tragedy also coming into the limelight, media anchors have turned to asking viewers to

contemplate the scale of destruction that would take place if a nuclear disaster took place in India. Given

the widespread perception of Indians being lax when it comes to security, among other things, this has

created quite a flutter in most circles. Several other countries, like Germany, have taken steps in light of

the Fukushima disaster to reduce their dependence on nuclear power. One the other hand, India seems to

be going in the opposite direction.

“A nuclear power plant is infinitely safer than eating, because 300 people choke to death on food

every year”, said Dixy Lee Ray, the 17th Governor of the U.S. State of Washington who was

Washington's first female governor. She put things in perspective when she said that. After all, when one

looks at it, we realize that nuclear disasters do not take as many lives as many other disasters. Even the

deadly Chernobyl disaster which took place in 1986 claimed only 64 people. Horrendous though the loss

might have been to the families of those 64 people, the loss was quite a bit less than some other mega-

disasters I might have named. However, she does not take into account the long-term effects of a nuclear

disaster which may affect people generations later. Indeed, certain reports claim that the total death toll of

the Chernobyl tragedy is nearly a million. There are two assumptions currently parading themselves as

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fact in the midst of the ongoing nuclear crisis. The first is that nuclear energy is safe. The second is that

nuclear energy is an essential element of a low carbon future, that it is needed to prevent catastrophic

climate change. When seen in that light, the extended effects of a nuclear disaster are quite high. However,

if steps are taken to somehow isolate the effects to a particular area, if the initial choice of area is well

done and if the resident workers are provided with good protection, it is not an inconceivable notion that

the fatalities be nil. Also, in case of a nuclear tragedy, proper sterilization must be carried out. Heavy

responsibilities indeed, but in light of the massive advantages the nuclear option provides, small.

Well, when one looks at the role that nuclear weapons play in our world in depth, we realize that

maybe nuclear weapons are not that harmful as one may think, given their destructive potential. “A

world without nuclear weapons would be less stable and more dangerous for all of us”, said Margaret

Thatcher, a former Conservative Prime Minister of the United Kingdom who served from 1979 to 1990

and who was known as the “Iron Lady”. When one thinks about it, we realize that maybe she was right. If

India and Pakistan did not have nuclear weapons, we can only speculate how many wars we might have

fought by now. Other countries might have been a bit more complacent, knowing that the wars may not be

nuclear and it might have resulted in umpteen people dying. After all, right now, a war between Pakistan

and India looks to very far away, albeit the tense relations. And chances are that if any war breaks out, it

will be short-lived. The Kargil War being a case in point. Both countries have gained a sense of

responsibility after becoming nuclear powers. Brings to mind the Spiderman theme: “With great power

comes great responsibility”, does not it? And luckily our leaders have realized it. Before both countries

acquired nuclear weapons, a serious war might have broken out any moment over trivial issues. However,

now both countries will try to avoid using nuclear weapons. Indeed, nuclear weapons are now kept mainly

for their deterrent value.

“The release of atomic energy has not created a new problem. It has merely made more urgent the

necessity of solving an existing one”, said Albert Einstein, a German-born theoretical physicist who

developed the theory of general relativity, effecting a revolution in physics and who is considered one of

the most prolific intellects in human history. Einstein always regretted this turn that his research that

taken. He felt personally responsible for the destruction that nuclear weapons had caused and destruction

it threatened to cause. From India’s point of view, nuclear power provides quite a desirable option in some

eyes. However, it has its detractors too, who argue that a country like India must first and foremost look at

the security and safety of its citizens first. And it is quite a legitimate concern too. After all, the power

plants that India has are quite old and the ones that are to be installed are seemingly quite unsafe. The

question on everybody’s lips is that if the Japanese, known for their safety measures were not able to

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prevent a major “incident” from taking place, how long before a disaster takes place in India? And it

seems to be quite a valid question, taking into consideration the laxness which seemingly characterizes

Indian security. Plus another aspect that has to be considered is the number of people that have to be

displaced. For example for the Jaitapur Nuclear Power Plant, 931 hectares of farmland will be needed to

build the reactors, land that is now home to 10,000 people, their mango orchards, cashew trees and rice

fields. Critics say the new plants are too big and the model unproven. However, the former Environmental

Minister Jairam Ramesh still feels that this project must go on. Some believe that nuclear energy is the

most certain future source and that the possibility of danger is also less. However, does this justify putting

thousands in the path of danger, however small the magnitude is certainly debatable.

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WHERE THERE IS A WILL, THERE IS A WAY

“An invincible determination can accomplish almost anything and in this lies the great distinction

between great men and little men”, said Thomas Fuller, an English churchman and historian. He is now

remembered for his writings, particularly his Worthies of England, published after his death. In his words

lies a very important fact of life. Our determination determines our life. If we are sufficiently determined

to accomplish something, it lies within our reach. If we have an indomitable desire to accomplish

something, we will. However very often, we pull over, exasperated and convinced that we will not finish,

when in fact our goal lies just around the bend.

When attempting high climbs, we are warned not to glance down. It is not tough to fathom the

reason. When we look down, qualms and misgivings obscure our minds. Our desires and uncertainties

mingle and stupefy our senses, making us lose concentration. From this point onwards, there is but one

way to go and that is down. So instead of churning out the possibilities in our heads, what we must

attempt to do is keep walking, concentrating on the task at hand. Rewards will then pour. Whenever road-

blocks emerge, we should try our very best to break through. We should exhaust each and every

possibility and try again and again. No door can hold firm in the face of such an onslaught. After all even

the strongest doors are made up of nothing sturdier than mere steel or mortar. It just brings to mind the old

analogy of monkeys on a typewriter typing out the Completed Works of Shakespeare eventually or of

rivers carving out canyons. A person needs but two things to succeed: determination and perseverance.

It has been the bane of talented people to procrastinate. ‘Oh, I’ll do it tomorrow’, ‘There’s still

two days till my deadline’, these seem to be common statements; an indication of the sad, slow state of

affairs in society. And it is not a modern problem. Procrastination is not one of the evils that have popped

up to haunt us only in the recent past. “How soon 'not now' becomes 'never'”, exclaimed Martin Luther, a

German priest and professor of theology who initiated the Protestant Reformation and who strongly

disputed the claim that freedom from God's punishment of sin could be purchased with money. Well he

should know. Martin Luther is the perfect example of how a cast-iron will can sink any opposition,

however vehement. He is primarily responsible for changes in Christianity that have consequences in

religion as we know it even today. Procrastination is but the prologue to giving up. Never leave for

tomorrow what can be done today said Abraham Lincoln, that great leader of men and not without reason

too. The battle is lost once we procrastinate and we must delete this dreadful ‘P’ word from our collective

dictionaries.

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In life, very often it is not the talented people who come up on top. It is the people with the most

determination. Who want to achieve their goal more than life itself. Who have that unbearable urge to

excel in their field of interest. Their lives revolve around their objectives. They eat, drink and live their

objectives, thinking about nothing else almost usque ad nauseam. It becomes their raison d’etre. When one

thinks about it, there is nothing that can prevent these people from reaching their goal and very often they

do. We should try to inculcate such an attitude in our personalities because it invariably leads to success.

“Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts”, said Winston

Churchill, a British politician and statesman known for his leadership of the United Kingdom during

the Second World War. He is widely regarded as one of the great wartime leaders and served as Prime

Minister twice. Churchill’s deeds as Prime Minister, especially during the Second World War show how

by following these words of his he was able to build a legacy which will never fade. For who can forget

his ‘blood, sweat and tears’ speech, delivered on 13 May 1940 as England entered the most dangerous

period of the war? He infused spirit to a weary people and in the end his side triumphed. The chips seemed

down, but he overcame the odds. And I purposefully used the word “he”. Because he alone read the

situation and understood what had to be done and then did it well. He understood that what the English

public needed was hope. They had it in them to win the war but they needed that tiny spark to ignite their

fire and that was just what he provided so successfully. Well, in this instance, it was hoi polloi of England

who needed the will to fight on. However, the same applies to all of us. The British needed a strong will to

overcome the biggest threat to the survival of their society. We in our own small ways face predicaments

maybe not so dire in magnitude but substantial nonetheless. We should then find the Churchill in us to

fulfill our dreams. This is why Churchill’s legend endures as Obama’s will. Because they provided people

with that most elusive of things, hope. But, of course, cela va sans dire as the French would say.

We have to realize that failures are the pillars of success. That every dismal failure heralds but a

new morning. It is said that it is always darkest before the dawn. When things are looking down, we have

to look up. “A failure establishes only this, that our determination to succeed was not strong enough”, said

Christian Nestell Bovee, a mid-19th century author who is best known for his works “Thoughts, Feelings,

and Fancies” and “Intuitions and Summaries of Thought”, which have gained prominence as a source for

quotations. Failures are tough to handle of course. But we must learn things from them and use them as

stepping stones for the future. We should change our collective outlooks and see the world through

optimistic glasses.

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So after all this, we realize that the major attribute that ensures success is nothing but good old

derided hard-work. As Edison said, genius is 99% perspiration and 1% inspiration. Anything and

everything entails hard work. From the effortless magic of Messi on the football field to the graceful

mastery of Lang Lang, their skills have been honed through constant rigorous practice. Mozarts are not

born everyday, you see. “A dream doesn't become reality through magic; it takes sweat, determination and

hard work”, said Colin Powell, an American statesman and a retired four-star general in the United States

Army who was the 65th United States Secretary of State. The old maxim, “practice makes perfect” just

tells us that in another way. Perfection may be unattainable but we can still try to reach it. And to put in

the kind of hard work needed to excel, what one needs is a burning desire to shine. To be the Sun among

the stars. And that is the quest that everyone sets out on. To make the best of his or her life. Some fall by

the wayside, and some trundle on. Life is a brutal and unforgiving example of Darwin’s law of Natural

Selection. A race with seemingly no end and seemingly no objective. We just run for the heck of it.

Sometimes one wonders why run at all. But those are of course murky philosophical topics, best avoided.

For those running, it is a vicious road. Filled with thorns. And everyone falls down in the mud at least a

few times, unable to run straight in a road filled with such tricky, vicious traps and snares. The real

challenge is getting up, rubbing the dirt off yourself and running on as if nothing has happened. Only the

ones with undaunted resolve triumph. The ones who know that they “have miles to go before they sleep”,

as Robert Frost would have said. After all, where there is a will, there certainly is a way.

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CAN ANNA CHANGE THE DESTINY OF THE NATION?

When we sit back and analyze the progress that our worthy nation has made in the last fifty years,

we see two apparently paradoxical trends. The wealthy become wealthier and the poor sink deeper and

deeper. It brings to mind H.G. Wells’s classic “The Time Machine”, where the protagonist on traveling

into the future finds that humans have evolved into the small, elegant, childlike Eloi and the menacing

Morlocks. We see news anchors screaming excitedly about the Sensex reaching greater peaks. At the same

time, a walk around our major metropolises reveals a large number of people living in exceedingly

pathetic conditions mutely, silently. I gran dolori sono muti, after all. Corruption has our nation in a

poisonous vice grip.

The Corruption Perception Index released by Transparency International ranks India a dismal 87th

out of 178 countries. The situation is so appalling that we take corruption for granted. An occasional bribe

seen to be a part and parcel of our lives, sine qua non to our peaceful, comfortable existence. We are

optimistic when young, but give up our youthful idealism when we experience the real world. And the

worst part is, hoi polloi seem to just accept it. They do not try to do something about it. They just look the

other way, whatever they feel about it, and trudge along their weary paths without even a look back. We

talk about it; we even joke about it. The defining characteristic of almost any caricature we draw of our

babus, netas and police is one of incontinent greed. We accept corruption with wry grins writ large on our

collective faces and perhaps a shake of our collective heads, mouthing our disapprobation and displaying

genuine regret at our impotence. In short, we want to do something about the despondent situation but

believe someone else should take the lead. Well, now finally, someone has.

The small, bespectacled man spoke. And the huge crowd that had gathered at Ramlila Maidan to

show their support listened and cheered. They saw in him a deliverer. A messiah who would throw off

their yokes and make our country free from the black cloud that is corruption. Detractors alleged that he

was apocryphal. They tried to highlight his naivety and his ruthlessness. They said that alcohol-addicts

were flogged to make them give up the bottle. They questioned his links with Narendra Modi. They

questioned his approval of forced vasectomies and his approval of the death penalty for corrupt officials.

They said that he was being misled by his followers who were using him for their own devious ends. They

said he was a tool. They used sticks. And when that failed, they used carrots. In the midst of this colorful

caricature, the media, with its tendency to paint everything in black and white, painted its own sketch. The

media decided that Anna was the “good guy” and the Government the “bad guy”. After all, journalists too

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felt that the time had come for change and wanted to see the back of the “ancien regime”, as the French

would have said. So they spread the message. 24-hour coverage followed. All eyes were trained on

Ramlila Maidan. Facebook and Twitter too played their part. And in the end “Team Anna” feasted on a

marvelous triumph in full public view. The Government had to back down and passed the resolution for

the Lokpal Bill unanimously.

This one fast has the potential to change India with the introduction of the Lokpal system. This

system will certainly have the potential to make it tough for corrupt officials to carry out their despicable

plans. The billion-dollar question is: will it? After all, our corrupt legislators may intentionally leave

loopholes for their corrupt brethren to exploit. And not only that. Theory very often has an exasperating

way of failing in real-world conditions. No wonder practicality is considered to be the anti-thesis of

idealism. Even if all the loop-holes are plugged, we still have to depend on people to enforce the Bill. And

as Marlon Brando might have growled in “The Godfather”, every person has his price. So it seems that

corruption cannot be totally banished. Dregs will remain. However, something is better than nothing,

right?

I personally feel that the introduction of the Lokpal at the center and Lokayuktas in the different

states will make a big difference. If proper and strict regulation is carried out, I think it will be possible to

minimize corruption if not eradicate it altogether. Corruption usually increases in a geometric progression

and so I think that its decrease will also be geometric. Within years, fear of retribution will hound corrupt

entities. Fear also increases geometrically, you see. However, the quality of the system will have to be

maintained. It will not be good if the system works well for a few years and then deteriorates. The

keyword here is “transparency”. Hoi polloi should be able to inspect and observe the working of its

administrative machinery. A transparent structure will not offer much when it comes to privacy and

complaints with mala fide intentions may become widespread. However, I still believe that the Jan Lokpal

Bill will contribute more good than bad to Indian society as a whole.

And this is just the beginning. Anna Hazare will try and lend his name to other movements which

he feels are worthy enough and which will help Indian society. He has decided to meet Irom Sharmila, the

“Iron Lady of Manipur”, the lady who has fasted for more than 500 weeks to make the Indian Government

repeal the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act. And if the Government does not listen to him, he can

campaign against the ruling party and try to force the party out of power like he has been doing recently in

Hisar, Haryana. With his massive support-base he can change the balance of power very quickly and so is

a political force to be reckoned with, though he has not showed any interest in entering politics as such.

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This political clout of Anna brings another aspect of the fast to mind. Not a very pleasant aspect,

too. It is regarding the almost derisive attitude that Anna and his team have towards the Government and

Parliament. Is it right for a person, however noble his intensions and credentials are, to force a

democratically-elected Government to dance to his tune? It is a matter of principle, you see. Even if our

Government is made up entirely of crooks and charlatans, as many allege, and even if Anna is as pure as

driven snow with only good intentions in mind, as seems to be the case, should the Government do what

he says? What is the point of elections then? What is the point of a structure like the Government then, if

every Tom, Dick and Harry, professing good intentions can make it run around? And who can judge

whether a person has good intentions in his schemes? What if Anna’s envisaged Lokpal goes horribly

wrong and turns out to be a bane rather than a boon? After all, anything is possible.

Before the arrival of Anna on the scene, India seemed to be a great country being held back by

mindless corruption. Single-minded determination, as China has shown, can achieve great things, but was

sadly lacking in our nation. Every cog in the huge structure that is a nation should work seamlessly,

playing its part to perfection. This was conspicuously absent. Individual entities engaged in schemes that

would enrich themselves, forgetting the bigger picture. And it did not look as if anyone wanted to change

this. And even if some people did and tried to, their attempts were feeble and underwhelming. With

Anna’s arrival though, things have begun to look up. It looks as though people actually care, as can be

evinced from the huge crowds that thronged Ramlila Maidan and other places. Added to that is Anna’s

personality which people love and respect a’la the “Father of our Nation”, Mahatma Gandhi. People have

termed the fast as the second freedom struggle. While that might have been just hysterical hyperbole, no

one can deny that Anna Hazare, by stepping forward has changed our nation quite a bit.

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KNOWLEDGE IS POWER - 2

“Ignorance is the curse of God; knowledge is the wing wherewith we fly to heaven”, said Shakespeare.

Eloquent words from probably the most eloquent tongue of them all! And even though they were

spoken almost five hundred years back, they still find relevance today. Almost more now than ever before;

with rapidly advancing technologies opening up doors to new portals, gateways which had remained

unnoticed and unobserved ever before. Information, knowledge and the ability to rapidly assimilate and

analyze them has attained supreme importance. The world is witnessing a change. A change so dramatic

and unexpected that we still have not been able to understand all the ramifications. Or maybe I should say

changes. Because the change is that changes are happening more frequently. “Change” seems to be the

new constant. New things are being found out, experiments are being conducted and all is being done at

lightning pace. Every day heralds a new beginning. Conspiracy theorists and novelists are having a field

day (or field days?), happily and profitably dishing out apocalyptic scenarios. Advances are being carried

out in umpteen areas of human knowledge. We need to know what in all those fields will affect us the

most. After all, what is the purpose of life, if not adapting and responding as well as we can to the varied

situations we meet?

In such a picture, the picture in which we presently live our lives, knowledge has gained

importance. It always has been quite important to be knowledgeable, both in an individual level and

national level. After all, that is why the CIA, KGB and closer to home, RAW were set up right? To

burrow out information that may be of some use while planning their respective country’s strategic affairs.

And of course, a well-read person is naturally accorded more respect. And knowledge on more aspects has

become available. Privacy concerns are going down the drain. With the world becoming a smaller place,

we have become much too close to each other for comfort. Everything is available at our fingertips.

Possessing huge amounts of useful information has become the need of the hour. In every vocation,

practitioners have realized the need of the hour to be information. In order to make proper decisions,

information is required. In highly competent environments where the difference between success and

failure is very often just a hair’s breadth, accurate information is sine qua non to power and success.

The pursuit of knowledge is not an end unto itself, but must nevertheless be all-encompassing.

One should boldly follow the light and try to come out of the dark tunnel of ignorance. Veritas odium

parit. But one should labour on nevertheless. This is on an individual level. Let us hear what one great

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man had to say about another. “I think this is the most extraordinary collection of talent, of human

knowledge, that has ever been gathered at the White House - with the possible exception of when Thomas

Jefferson dined alone”, said John F. Kennedy. Now let us see what the subject of the above comment had

to say about knowledge. “I was bold in the pursuit of knowledge, never fearing to follow truth and reason

to whatever results they led, and bearding every authority which stood in their way”, said Thomas

Jefferson. All of us should follow Thomas Jefferson’s example and be bold in enriching ourselves and our

lives. Accumulation of knowledge cleanses our mind. One can ask what is the purpose of gaining

knowledge? After all most of the knowledge that we gather will probably not be of any use to us

throughout our lives. The answer is that some knowledge will probably be useful. And the very act of

gaining knowledge is very important for the development of our personality.

From a national perspective, education is very important. In a bland, detached way, we can talk

about the importance of skilled workers in a country’s economy. And for skilled workers we need

education. The Government of India has realized it and instituted schemes like the Sarva Shiksha

Abhiyan. India especially needs education to become universal. In a few more years India will have the

biggest working population in the world, surpassing China, whose population control measures are finally

taking effect. India’s population on the other hand will increase and increase, peak at nearly 1.5 billion

and then decrease. At its peak, India will be population-wise the biggest country ever and ever will be.

India can take advantage of this. India’s economy can grow at a pace never seen before if it is able to take

advantage of this fact. Our policy-makers will have to plan accordingly, recognizing this fact. But this can

happen only if all of its working-age population is able to contribute. And for this universal education is of

utmost importance. So here too knowledge can lead to power. “An investment in knowledge pays the best

interest“, said Benjamin Franklin, one of the great minds of his and probably any age.

Each and every person should be given a chance to follow his or her dream. This has long been

lacking in society. Poverty has impeded the lives of many people. This lack of power can be rectified only

by empowering every young child that enters this world. This can only be done by a good education. After

all education unlocks doorways for people to follow their dreams in different domains. An educated

society is characterized by transparency and freedom. Two attributes that are sorely required to realize a

Utopia on Earth, sine dubio.

The ability to assimilate information and plan out our course of action is unique to human beings.

It is the very basis of what makes us the alpha species of our planet. In fact if there is one characteristic

that separates us from animals, it is this. And see where this has led us? This one attribute has, for good or

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for worse, given us power over every other organism that walks this planet. Human beings are, above all,

creatures of reason. “Our treasure lies in the beehive of our knowledge. We are perpetually on the way

thither, being by nature winged insects and honey gatherers of the mind”, said Friedrich Nietzsche. And

like bees who work tirelessly to build a monument of all that they hold precious (honey), we too

instinctively try to gather knowledge to further our own ends. We are bees in our own ways. Because we

know that knowledge is extremely important. That knowledge is power.

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THE POWER OF POSITIVE THINKING

“Whether you think that you can, or that you can't, you are usually right”, said Henry Ford, a

prominent American industrialist, the founder of the Ford Motor Company, who became one of the richest

and best-known people in the world.

Very often, all too often in fact, we give up half way through, thinking every thing is lost. Failures

have a way of disheartening us, of making us think that we are not good enough, of extinguishing that fire

that drives us on. However, there is a very thin line between success and failure. The will, the

determination, to go on and on and see matters to their logical conclusion is very often this thin line. Even

when self-doubts and failures lurk like black clouds over ones head, what one must do is stand upright and

labor on, unmindful of the small, tugging voice in one’s ear that tries to hold us back. It seems to be the

bane of mankind that we are held back by this small, tugging voice. Very often we stop, weary and ready

to give up, exhausted. However, we fail to realize that our lucky break may be right around the next

corner. Very often, we pull up inches from our targets. All too often the granite-minded will to go on is the

difference between a winner and a perennial loser.

A wise man once said there is no use crying over spilt milk. Lamenting loudly over past

misfortunes is not the way to spend one’s time. Depression and a slow death lie ahead. The Germans have

a proverb- grosse seelen dulden still. Translated, it means great souls suffer in silence. It is best to see the

light and bright side of things and not dwell on filth. After all every cloud has a silver lining. “A pessimist

sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty”, said Winston

Churchill, one of the titans of the 20th century, who committed himself and the nation to an all-out war

until victory was achieved. His great eloquence, energy, and indomitable fortitude made him an

inspiration to his countrymen, especially in the Battle of Britain. It is not popularly known just how close

the Second World War was. The Nazis had control over a vast territory at their peak and if they had been

able to press home all their advantages, we might have been living in an entirely different world today. A

series of unfortunate, or rather fortunate events led to Hitler’s downfall. Through all this time, Churchill

led his nation from the front, all the while believing that “something might turn up” a’la Dickens’s Mr.

Micawber. And in the end something did. I am saying all this mainly to reinforce the character of the

person who spoke the aforementioned words. It is best to work hard and even if we fail at first, we will

have the satisfaction of having given our best. However, most of the time triumph and victory awaits.

Gutta cavat lapidem, after all.

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A positive mindset if of utmost importance whatever we do. Be its business or sports. The

Australian cricket team is well known for going for a win whatever be the odds. It has had this amazing

propensity, this unmatched proclivity, of throwing up match-winners for every situation. No wonder it

has the best winning percentage among all test-playing countries. On the other hand, the Indian cricket

teams of the 1990s and the South African teams especially, are well known for “choking”. Keen observers

of world cricket well remember the almost-unavoidable collapses after Sachin-powered starts that hogged

Indian cricket matches throughout the 1990s, resulting in avertable losses followed by avertable losses,

and a strong general feeling of commiseration for perhaps the greatest batsman who walked this planet.

This penchant for collapsing at the slightest hint of pressure even sparked Navjot Sidhu’s colorful

comment comparing the Indian batting order to a cycle-stand- “one falls, everyone falls”. A positive

attitude might have made a big difference in the close matches. In those times, there was a general feeling

that the team revolved around Sachin and so, it did. If on the other hand, the team members thought

positively, and had a healthy dose of self-confidence, things might have been better.

“When one door of happiness closes, another opens, but often we look so long at the closed door

that we do not see the one which has been opened for us”, said Helen Keller, an American author, political

activist, and lecturer, an icon and inspiration for disadvantaged people everywhere. She personified the

resilience that characterizes winners. Masochism seems to be a prevalent trait amongst us humans. Often

we feel engage in self-pity and feel sorry for ourselves and thus waste time. We have to realize that homo

homini lupus and try to be positive and go forward with energy. After all a positive person is highly

sought after. A person with ebullience and spirit and an ability to spread his “positive-ness” all around him

is well-liked.

Abraham Lincoln has a pretty glum résumé. Yes I mean it. At the age of seven he and his family

were forced out of their home and he was forced to go to work. When he was nine, his mother passed

away. He wanted to go to law school, but had no education. He went into debt when he was twenty-three,

to become a partner in a small store. It was only three years later that his business partner died, and left

him with a debt that took him years to repay. He lost his job in 1832. He was defeated for legislature in

1832. He was elected to legislature in 1834. His sweetheart died in 1835. He then had a nervous

breakdown in 1836. He was defeated for speaker in 1838. He was defeated for nomination for Congress in

1843. He was then elected to Congress in 1846, but lost his renomination in 1848. Then he was rejected

for Land Officer in 1849. He was then defeated for Senate in 1854. Then he was defeated for nomination

for Vice-President in 1856. He was again defeated for Senate in 1858. With only the above evidence, I

would say he was one of the greatest losers in history. However, the 16th President of the United States is

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very often considered the greatest leader of arguably the greatest nation ever, by both scholars and hoi

polloi. Does not sound like a loser at all now, does he? Lincoln suffered so many crippling nadirs

throughout his life and still rose to dizzying heights, never letting circumstances get the better of him, by

never giving up. He had strength in him, a tremendous will-power to overcome all odds, many and varied

though they were.

So that is the power of positive thinking. It enables a person to reach his or her goals. All too

often, in our world, it does not matter whether we have the talent or no. It all depends on whether we are

lucky enough or no. We should keep this is mind and struggle on. Life is after all not a bed of roses. In

some ways it can be said that the American Civil war was an opportunity for Lincoln to show the world

what he could do. Perhaps if the Civil War had taken place when someone else was the President, Lincoln

would not have been regarded so highly and maybe that other person would have been considered better.

People say that war-time American Presidents are considered great and so Presidents search for wars- a

pointed jibe at George W. Bush. However, the fact remains: when life sends you a lemon, make lemonade

and a positive attitude is absolutely indispensable for that.

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INDIA OF MY DREAMS

“The future you see is the future you get”, said Robert G Allen, a Canadian-American financial

writer. What he said applies to all of us; as individuals and also as groups of individuals. India is a great

country which has had a great past. No one doubts the veracity of the statement. But over time, its glorious

façade has faded away to be replaced by a dreary and poor halo. Sad one must say that even such a great

country can go through such great nadirs. Jawaharlal Nehru in his book, “The Discovery of India”

maintained that he saw in the Indian people a spirit, some thing that he says he also found in the people of

China, Russia and the United States. He said however that being of Indian origin, his judgment was

clouded and that it was quite possible that he had so much wanted this spirit to be there in the Indians that

he may have misjudged his country.

By this spirit that Nehru proposed, he meant a vital energy that enables a country to face times of

adversity with a brave face and be a leader more than a follower in world affairs. He meant that what ever

level it was ground down to, a country with this spirit would rise up and reclaim its place in world

hierarchy. A spirit which enables its people to take a lead in various fields; in short a ‘winner’. As one

sees, over the last few years India has risen from strength to strength. Whether this is mere coincidence

and Nehru was wrong, I know not; but my dream of India is one in which the Indian people are infused

with this spirit, this vital force that Nehru described in his letters to another former Prime Minster of India,

his own daughter.

“Where the mind is without fear and the head held high; where knowledge is free; where the

world has not been broken up into fragments by narrow domestic walls; where words come out from the

depth of truth; Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection; where the clear stream of

reason has not lost its way into the dreary desert sand of dead habit; where the mind is led forward by

Thee into ever-widening thought and action; Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country

awake”, said Rabindranath Tagore, a popular poet, novelist, musician, and playwright who

reshaped Bengali literature and music in the late 19th and early 20th centuries and was the first Asian to

win the Nobel Prize in Literature. When such a great personality puts things so concisely and admirably,

what can I do, but concur? His timeless words speak of the future that India should want to have-a future

that our leaders should try to realize.

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“As long as we place millions of Indians at the center of our thought process, as long as we think

of their welfare, their future, their opportunities for self-realization we are on the right track” said Mukesh

Ambani, a business magnate, philanthropist and the chairman and managing director of Reliance

Industries, the largest private sector enterprise in India and a Fortune 500 company. What he said is of

course the truth. India’s millions can be both a blessing and a curse. How we handle our population can

send India up or down in the coming decades. Now the drawbacks of a large population are well-

documented. Putting a burden on every thing: the environment, the economy and almost every thing in-

between, a heavy population can be a curse. A heavily populated country is often likened to an elephant.

Well, even elephants can run fast! Faster than almost all humans anyway! And so can an economy. One of

the most important factors about India is its young population. India will have the largest working force in

the world in the coming years as China’s population is comparatively old. We can use this to our

advantage But only if we have a strong will. A will that does not shrivel in the face of adversity.

Immediate action and great leaders are a necessity. We have to spring at every opportunity presented to us.

Life is not a bed of roses for an individual and it is not for a country too.

“Education is the passport to the future, for tomorrow belongs to those who prepare for it today”,

said Malcolm X born Malcolm Little, an African-American Muslim minister, public speaker, and human

rights activist. What he said holds true for all times and places. India’s education system I must say is

dismal at the very least. There are some bright spots, one can say, but compared to many other western

countries and factoring in that we have a population of one billion plus, our education system is bad.

There are many people who do not get even primary school education. And as if the lack of quantity is not

bad enough, the lack of good quality education is even more appalling. There are instances where people

who have passed SSLC in English cannot speak in it coherently and struggle to construct sentences. A

dismal situation one must say. Feeble attempts have been made to improve the existing situation, but will

this be helpful to India, only time will tell. But time is running out. Recall an old saying ‘time and tide

wait for no man’. For some reason, it holds true for a country too.

A big problem that we can see in Indian society is an attitude of ‘who cares?’ An attitude that has

resulted in our country languishing at the bottom of surveys of corruption and living standards. An

example in the state of Karnataka is that of the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike where bribes are

seen as a fact of life. The Lokayukta, an organisation that has been trying to get rid of corruption has been

unable to do so. The people have resigned themselves to giving bribes to officials and there are almost no

people who would do otherwise. What we need is a show of spirit from the people to take their lives into

their own hands and do some thing. One thing that India has introduced to the world is the concept of

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‘karma’. This some people call ‘joss’. People believe that their future is written ‘in the stars’ and that they

simply have to live it out. This has to change. They believe that the situation in which they live in is some

thing unchangeable and that they simply have to adjust. People have to take their lives in their own hands

and effect a change. And not just a few isolated people. The whole of India has to demand more from the

Government. That is what I want to see in India as a whole. An India where political action against

injustice is common sua sponte and corruption is passé.

However dreams are, after all just that- dreams. Flights of imagination that our brains find

recourse in when the present is dreary and dull. The need of the hour is a concerted action from all

possible quarters, especially the middle class. The Arab Spring showed us what hoi polloi are capable of

when they put their minds into it. Whatever else it achieved, Anna Hazare’s fast showed what India is

capable of.

A lively India which looks more towards the welfare of its umpteen people is what is required and

what we must have in future. An India where the government works hand in hand with the people to

banish that most evil of problems, poverty from this land is the stuff of dreams, seeing our current

situation. However I think that it can be done. With will and the means and most importantly, the proper

leaders, a country can rise to great heights, or conversely sink to deep depths. It remains for the people to

resolve their problems and their leaders for only they can change their country. For Jawaharlal’s ‘tryst

with destiny’ to be realized, fundamental changes have to be affected as soon as possible, for the sands of

time are running out, and running out quickly. We should act as quickly as possible, for India to rise as

high as possible. No individual can bring about a change. Even the Father of our Nation, Mahatma

Gandhi, great though his work may be, still had the help of a large number of other people interested in

the freedom of India. It requires a group of leaders who can get this done. India has a history of not living

up to its potential. It needs to somehow repair the shaky foundations it now stands upon and with its

leaders evolve into a country to respect.

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FORTUNE FAVOURS THE BRAVE

“Whether you think that you can, or that you can't, you are usually right”, said Henry Ford, a

prominent American industrialist, the founder of the Ford Motor Company, who became one of the richest

and best-known people in the world.

It is always tough to gamble all. To depend completely on a simple roll of dice. It requires

courage and perhaps a bit of a “devil-might-care” attitude; something we do not ordinarily see. However,

often, it is seen that people with such personalities do very well in life. Their exploits become the stuff of

legends. “Destitutus ventis, remos adhibe”, is an old Latin proverb which translates to, if the wind will not

serve, take to the oars. If circumstances do not go according to our wishes, we should be brave and try our

best to alter them to suit our own needs. “If life sends you a lemon, make lemonade”, is yet another

proverb which means the same thing. However for perseverance, we should have the confidence that our

hard work will not be in vain and for this, we should tune our outlook to the proper channel. In toto, it is

just a question of our mind and its outlook to life. A determined person can go places and very often that

has happened. The pages of history are filled with examples of determined people. In fact I can go so far

as to say that the pages of history textbooks are filled with determined people only. People who were so

determined to make a mark in the history of the world that they did.

“It always seems impossible until it’s done” said Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela, who served

as President of South Africa from 1994 to 1999, and was the first South African president to be elected in

a fully representative democratic election. Well, he should know. Nelson Mandela accomplished

something that was considered to be pretty nigh impossible-the patching up of relationships between

whites and blacks. Centuries of hatred and subjugation were just tossed aside with his work in a matter of

decades. Within one life-time he changed things so much. It just goes to show that even the most

improbable of changes can be brought out by single-minded determination and hard work. In that way

Nelson Mandela was a messiah. A messiah of hope. Exemplifying most decisively, that nothing, just about

nothing, is impossible in the world, if one has the right convictions drilled into him or her and the courage

to follow his or her convictions till the end.

“Impossible is a word to be found only in the dictionary of fools”, said Napoleon Bonaparte, a

military and political leader during the latter stages of the French Revolution whose legal reform, the

Napoleonic Code, has been a major influence on many civil law jurisdictions worldwide; but he is best

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remembered for the wars he led against a series of coalitions, the so-called Napoleonic Wars, during

which he established hegemony over much of Europe and sought to spread revolutionary ideals. Who are

we to disagree with the famed emperor? It is just a mindset, you know. Having a brave mindset, a mindset

of continued perseverance, even against tremendous odds is very often the only prerequisite for success.

Often it is the only difference between victory and success. In order to be successful we need to keep this

important truism in mind. Napoleon and Hitler accomplished things we might have thought of as

impossible. Even though they are cursed and reviled, rightly, for those deeds, what we need to take note of

is the single-minded determination and bravery they had. A positive lining in what is otherwise a murky

and black veneer. Well, one can argue that in Hitler’s case at least, the man was driven by his conviction

that he was the one destined to bring about a big change in Germany’s place in the hierarchy of nations. A

case of bloated self-confidence, brought about by an avid youthful interest in German history, one might

say. But whatever might be the case, he took challenges head-on, never believing that he would, or rather

could, lose and he might have even won the Second World War if the already favorable circumstances had

gone slightly differently. Thankfully for the world he did not; but he sure came frighteningly close.

A wise man once said there is no use crying over spilt milk. Lamenting loudly over past

misfortunes is not the way to spend one’s time. Depression and a slow death lie ahead. The Germans have

a proverb- grosse seelen dulden still. Translated, it means great souls suffer in silence. It is best to see the

light and bright side of things and not dwell on filth. After all every cloud has a silver lining. “A pessimist

sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty”, said Winston

Churchill, one of the titans of the 20th century, who committed himself and the nation to an all-out war

until victory was achieved. His great bravery, energy, and indomitable fortitude made him an inspiration

to his countrymen, especially in the Battle of Britain. It is not popularly known just how close the Second

World War was. The Nazis had control over a vast territory at their peak and if they had been able to press

home all their advantages, we might have been living in an entirely different world today. A series of

unfortunate, or rather fortunate events led to Hitler’s downfall. Through all this time, Churchill led his

nation from the front, all the while believing that “something might turn up” a’la Dickens’s Mr.

Micawber. And in the end something did. I am saying all this mainly to reinforce the character of the

person who spoke the aforementioned words. It is best to work hard and even if we fail at first, we will

have the satisfaction of having given our best. However, most of the time triumph and victory await. Gutta

cavat lapidem, after all.

Maintaining one’s cool in the face of danger is never easy. It is said that even the bravest of

people feel fear. It is how you handle things when fear courses through your body and threatens to

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paralyze you that counts. Everyone admires resourceful people. In life, very often it is not the talented

people who come up on top. It is the bravest. Who want to achieve their goal more than life itself. Who

have that unbearable urge to excel in their field of interest. Their lives revolve around their objectives.

They eat, drink and live their objectives, thinking about nothing else almost usque ad nauseam. It becomes

their raison d’etre. When one thinks about it, there is nothing that can prevent these people from reaching

their goal and very often they do. We should try to inculcate such an attitude in our personalities because

it invariably leads to success.

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WHY DO I LIKE AVIATION INDUSTRY?

Among all the little joys that I have experienced in my life, I must admit nothing beats flying.

Floating high up in the sky, with fluffy clouds streaming past seems to be one of the most enjoyable things

I have done. I look forward to flying every time. I feel a sort of kinship with Orville and Wilbur Wright. I

understand and share their desire to fly up in the air and leave the world with all its petty troubles far

below. Traveling by air is the very personification of comfort. And it is not just enjoyable. The Aviation

industry enables me to go from one place to another at lightning pace. It is its raison d’etre after all. Let

me give you a small example. Recently I went from Mumbai to Bangalore. It look me little more than one

hour to cover the nearly one thousand kilometers. On the other hand from the Bangalore International

Airport to my house, a distance of approximately forty kilometers, it took two hours! Granted, there is

heavy traffic on Bangalore’s roads. Even then, a mode of transport that is so enjoyable and gets the job

done faster than any other is just brilliant, the thing of the future.

However agreeable flying might be, owning an airline service does not seem to be a very

profitable venture right now. Vijay Mallya’s Kingfisher Airlines has racked up a cumulative loss of 7200

crore rupees. Air India seems to be perennially running under loss. In fact all major airline services seem

to be running under losses. It is said that the quickest way to become a millionaire is by being a billionaire

and entering the aviation industry. However, the aviation industry is a very glamorous one and some

people (read Vijay Mallya) just cannot resist it. This is not to mean that the aviation industry is all show. It

is just that the aviation industry has been experiencing a very high growth and the airline services are

upgrading themselves just too early and catering mainly to the upper strata of society. Patience is the key

here. It will take a bit of time. But in the end, the Indian Aviation may turn out to be a good market. Goal

in Brazil, Ryanair in Europe were able to post considerable sustained profits over large periods of time.

Airline services in India might be able to do the same thing if they observe and analyze the operations of

these airlines and then try to replicate them. These are early days yet for the aviation industry in India.

This can be deduced from the fact that the growth rate of the aviation sector in India is the highest in the

world. A few more years and the scenario may change completely.

Flying is an extremely comfortable business. The smiling air-hostesses attend to your every need.

The airport itself is designed to suit your each and every need. There are stores where you can buy

anything that you could possibly want. Ranging from shirts to souvenirs, it is all there. There is also a

cafeteria where you can satisfy those pangs of hunger that seem to shadow air-passengers. Everything at

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the airport is marked prominently so that passengers have no problems finding everything. The airplane

itself is a paradigm of comfort. Comfortable seats where you can stretch out with no trouble at all. Good

food and television is also available. Or if you prefer it, you can simply sleep through the whole journey.

And all the while the plane is screaming towards your destination as a speed no other mode of transport

can match. The landings and the take-offs are very smooth with none of the jerking or uncomfortable

movements that you normally expect with journeys by train or car. Aviation sounds brilliant does it not?

And it is.

The best part of the whole journey is staring out through the window and seeing the white clouds

and the blue sky. Everything there seems to be extra-clear and bright. One can spend an eternity just

staring into the distance, looking at the panorama which somehow seems to be more real than usual. A

sight for sore eyes, one must say. And if one inexplicably feels bored of the magnificent vista outside, he

or she can indulge in a pleasant chat with his or her neighbors. After all nothing warms one up as quickly

as a nice chat with a fellow human being.

Of course, the aviation industry does have its drawbacks. The heavy cost is one such deterrent. In

fact it is the most serious deterrent for hoi polloi. And off late, the cost of tickets has only been going up

and up, with rising fuel prices. Less people are traveling by flight these days and this has put a very high

amount of pressure on the airline services. Kingfisher recently has been trying to get some relief from the

Central Government. It has even had to cancel quite a few of its flights. Airline services have had to delay

paying and have run up massive debts. Even the Low-cost carriers (LCCs) have run up heavy debts; forget

about Kingfisher, which claims to be the only five-star airline service in India.

One facet of the aviation industry which I have ignored till now is the military aspect. But as any

one can guess, the air force plays a very important role in warfare. Right from World War I, air superiority

has played a vital role in determining who wins and who loses. Apart from that, the aviation sector plays a

very important role logistically, moving men and equipment to the front and back as quickly as possible.

Recent innovations on this front include stealth aircraft and now unmanned aerial vehicles (uavs) and

drones. Exciting new developments are taking place all the time in the aviation industry. Just another

reason to be fascinated by this marvelous industry. The aviation sector also provides employment to

thousands. A well-paid one at that, with perks.

One is always moved to silence by aircrafts. How can anything that weighs so much be able to

leave the ground and travel at such terrific pace to its destination? Those colossal metal beasts are, each

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and every one of them, a token to our progress as a civilization. A triumph of science and technology. And

every now and then, even bigger beasts are unveiled. Capable of even better feats. It was only around a

hundred years ago that the first aircrafts were built. Now they rule the skies. When one sees the

technological innovations that have taken place, one can only wonder how the aircrafts of the future will

be. A hundred years from now, will the aircrafts be as different from the ones of today, as the present ones

are from those that ruled the skies a hundred years back? Exciting times are afoot at the aviation industry.

It is the place to be, if you know what I mean.

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ROLE OF MEDIA IN SOCIETY

The Fourth Estate, they call it. The fourth pillar of democracy. In this world, where facts and

fashions become passé within the blink of an eye, one wonders what role the media plays and whether this

role is changing with time. It is an industry, if one may call it as such, which affects everyone in some way

or the other. Everywhere we go, whosoever we are, we are affected by the seemingly omniscient,

omnipotent and omnipresent media in some way or the other. Off late its power has been growing and

growing until it has now reached almost unimagined and unimaginable proportions. The incomparable

power of media barons is universally acknowledged. Even Tony Blair flew half-way across the world on

the election eve to seek Rupert Murdoch’s support for his re-election campaign. Imagine it. The Prime

Minister of one of the most developed countries in the world, a former superpower, traveling to Australia,

half a world away from Britain, on the eve of one of the most important events of his life. Tells you a

thing or two about power, and more specifically the power of the media, does it not?

Societies change very rapidly. Our society is subject to a plethora of changes that may be

beneficial or may affect it adversely. In such an ever-changing society the zeitgeist can very often be

captured by the media. But more than just that, the media has in its hand the power to change the

perceptions, the prevailing moods of people. This one characteristic has brought the role of the media into

the limelight. After all, an entity that can move minds in a democratic society where the people are the

alpha and the omega, will invariably have its actions questioned, whatever they might be. And if you

throw in the fact that the media is very often free to do what it wants, how it wants, when it wants, then

you have a potentially explosive scenario.

In the past, several accusations have been made against the media. Ranging from paid news to

sensationalism, the spectrum is quite comprehensive. Paid news seems to have been hanging around the

political scene for some time now, like a dark shadow, especially in Maharashtra. Only recently has it

come to light. Sensationalism is another phenomenon that has snowballed or picked up steam recently.

News channels harp on certain issues only, all the while keeping an rapacious eye on television rating

points (trps). Issues that are important to hoi polloi are very often ignored and other issues are given undue

prominence. Cricket and reality shows are the main culprits. News channels must on the other hand realize

the responsibility they owe to society and give more prominence to issues of crucial importance. However,

journalists seem to believe only in the sweet smell of money. They break rules right, left and center in

their inexhaustible avarice. This seems to be the prevailing trend in society.

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The media can be likened to a mirror. A small hand-mirror in which we can have a glimpse of

ourselves. Of how we as a race are evolving, changing all the time. However, we often see a distorted

view. A view in which certain parts are concealed from the eye. Hidden, by moneyed elements that have

vested interests in keeping certain things hidden. The emphasis should be on the truth and nothing but the

truth, with no pani-puri masala added, however relish-able it might be. After all the raison d’etre of the

media is to inform. The media being the fourth pillar on which our democracy stands should have a sense

of responsibility, a sense of duty, a sense of accountability. However, sometimes even respectable news

corporations throw caution and decency to the winds. They identify certain easily remembered keywords

and throw them around without moderation. In these days of 24-hour news, this is one way to capture the

easily-distracted popular attention. After some time, attention is shifted to another event and it is also

promoted in this rather hysteric fashion and the cycle goes on. You ask why this is done? Elementary, my

dear Watson! Because it pays. The sweet smell of money has its hand in this too as almost everywhere. In

this age of T20 cricket and shortened attention-spans, what is needed to capture attention is a flamboyant

display. And so this form of peacocking is unabashedly used by all.

Another role that the media is in the realm of education. India’s education system is, at present

anyway, not good enough, to put it lightly. The IITs are at present developing well, but are not in the same

league as say, Harvard or Stanford. And universities like Nalanda and the IISERs are for the future. The

media should aspire to fill this gaping hole in Indian society by spreading knowledge. Justice (retd) Katju

had the right idea when he said that the media has a role in “giving leadership to society in the realm of

ideas”. The media should spread knowledge especially through television channels. Televisions are now

common, even in remote areas. Channels such as National Geographic, Discovery etc, are doing their bit,

but more should be done. Doordarshan should take the lead in this.

One of the most important functions of the media is bringing public grievances into the limelight.

The media seems to have forgotten this, albeit there are some honorable exceptions. Investigative

journalism into things that affect a large section of society seems to be dead and buried. A sad state of

affairs, indeed. The media and its administrative set-up should realize its responsibility to the society at

large. After all the media should realize that in its hand it holds great power. The power to change things.

A gift not easily found. And of course, with great power comes great responsibility, as a webbed

superhero found out.

Even though the media was not as powerful as it is today, it has played a very important role in

molding societies in the past. The pages of history are strewn with many examples. Hitler’s Third Reich

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was one such example. Hitler and Goebbels masterminded a brilliant campaign to turn the German mind

against the British and the Russians. Using masterful propaganda, Hitler was able to instill a sense of

emotion in the Germans that they had been wronged in the treaty of Versailles and then used that to start

the First World War. In Soviet Russia too, the media was used to satisfy the Government’s own devious

ends. History teaches us lessons. If the media had not been controlled by the respective governments and

had instead been controlled by private players with no allegiance to any entity, things might, just might

have panned out differently. Just something to think about. No wonder then, that the media is given such a

prominent place in society.

The media thus can be seen to be a very powerful entity, equally capable of grave damage and

great good. A healthy amount of regulation by a capable administrative setup can thus be seen to be sine

qua non. However, a suffocating, imperious administration will only be counter-productive. We should

follow the philosophy of the great Roman lyric poet, Horace in this. He followed ‘aurea mediocritas’ or

the ‘golden mean’, which means the desirable middle between two extremes, one of excess and the other

of deficiency.

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TOURISM INDUSTRY & ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

There are various definitions of tourism. Theobald (1994) suggested that etymologically, the word

"tour" is derived from the Latin 'tornare' and the Greek 'tornos,' meaning 'a lathe or circle; the movement

around a central point or axis.' This meaning changed in modern English to represent 'one's turn.' The

suffix -ism is defined as 'an action or process; typical behavior or quality' whereas the suffix -ist denotes

one that performs a given action. When the word tour and the suffixes -ism and -ist are combined, they

suggest the action of movement around a circle. One can argue that a circle represents a starting point,

which ultimately returns back to its beginning. Therefore, like a circle, a tour represents a journey that is a

round trip, i.e., the act of leaving and then returning to the original starting point, and therefore, one who

takes such a journey can be called a tourist.

India’s economic development has had a purple patch for the last few years. Apart from China, no

other country’s economy has grown at such a fast rate. India now stands set to claim its predominant

position in the world hierarchy; quite an accomplishment taking into account its bulk, crippling diversity

and the centuries of subjugation by foreign powers. India’s economic growth has been unparalleled since

India’s economy was opened up in the early 1990s. The Tourism Industry has played a very important role

in the development of India’s economy. Foreigners of varied hues and sizes have all flocked to admire

India’s beauty. And with time, their numbers have just increased. India is fast becoming a global tourist

destination. Tourists are usually divided into two types. The first type is domestic tourists. These are

indigenous tourists who travel and visit prominent places within the country. Economic growth has added

millions annually to the ranks of India’s middle class, a group that is driving domestic tourism

growth. Thanks in part to its booming IT and outsourcing industry a growing number of business trips are

made by foreigners to India, who will often add a weekend break or longer holiday to their trip. Foreign

tourists spend more in India than almost any other country worldwide.

India has been ranked the "best country brand for value-for-money" in the Country Brand Index

(CBI) survey conducted by Future Brand, a leading global brand consultancy. India also claimed the

second place in CBI's "best country brand for history", as well as appears among the top 5 in the best

country brand for authenticity and art & culture, and the fourth best new country for business. India made

it to the list of "rising stars" or the countries that are likely to become major tourist destinations in the next

five years, led by the United Arab Emirates, China, and Vietnam.

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Tourism in India is the largest service industry. It has a contribution of 6.23% to the national GDP

and 8.78% of the total employment in India. Almost 20 million people are now working in the India’s

tourism industry. In the year 2010, 17.9 million foreign tourists visited India. The majority of foreign

tourists come from USA and UK. Domestic tourism in the same year was massive at 740 million.

According to World Travel and Tourism Council, India will be a tourism hotspot from 2009–2018, having

the highest 10-year growth potential. India's thousands of years of history, its length, diversity and the

variety of geographic features make its tourism basket large and varied. It presents heritage and cultural

tourism along with medical, business and sports tourism. India also has one of the largest and fastest

growing medical tourism sectors in the world.

The Tourism Industry generates massive foreign exchange and also provides employment to many

people. But this growth in the tourism sector emerged as a very important contribution to the national

economy and contributed quite a lot for employment generation in various tourism related activities. At a

rough estimate, total direct or indirect employment in the tourism sector in India was about 41.8 %.

Indirect employment means the jobs that are created because of linkages to tourism. It has also forced the

Government to take note of national heritage sites and the environment in order to make India more

attractive to foreigners. Tourism tends to encourage the development of multiple-use infrastructure that

benefits the host community, including various means of transports, health care facilities, and sports

centers, in addition to the hotels and high-end restaurants that cater to foreign visitors. The development of

infrastructure has in turn induced the development of other directly productive activities.

India's government, through its Tourism Ministry, developed a National Action Plan for Tourism

to develop this portion of the economy. The plan sought to promote tourism as a way to boost socio-

economic development, increase employment, preserve the nation's heritage and environment and

promote international and domestic tourists to visit India as a way to increase its share of global tourism.

Through this plan, the ministry began advertising campaigns at home and abroad. The successful

campaign has brought more tourists and their money to India. A major form of tourism that has gained in

momentum recently is medical tourism. This tourism is the type where patients from foreign countries

travel to countries where they would get good-quality treatment at low costs. They may then extend the

trip for some more time to enjoy the place.

Tourism is now recognized for its contribution in creating jobs for large numbers of women. This

empowerment of women which is being focused by successive governments is achieved through tourism

projects. Both educated and uneducated women are now involved in tourism related activities. Women are

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effective in the tourism business. Now in India, more women are now better integrated in the national

developmental programme through tourism activities. With this double income in the family, the standards

of living in families have improved. This has resulted in better education of children, improved health care

and a generally rosy scenario for women in India in general.

So there is no doubt about it. Tourism in India is a vibrant industry with a very high growth

potential. For tourism to really flower, what is required is good infrastructure, which in India is right now

lacking. Even though the tourism industry growth rate is approximately 9.4% right now, which is after all

very high, it can be much, much more if a little more care is taken by those in charge. Off late, campaigns

such as Incredible India and others have tried to showcase India in all its glory. In spite of the economic

slowdown which has done quite some amount of damage to economies throughout the world, India’s

tourism industry has grown and is predicted to grow at a healthy rate for some more time.

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UNITED WE STAND, DIVIDED WE FALL

“I do not conceive of any reality at all as without genuine unity”, said Gottfried Leibniz a German

mathematician and philosopher who occupies a prominent place in the history of mathematics and

the history of philosophy, having developed infinitesimal calculus independently of Isaac Newton and

being one of the most prolific inventors in the field of mechanical calculators. These words of the great

man make us put our thinking caps on. Is unity raison d’etre to mankind’s existence? Is it true that if we

do not watch each other’s backs, we will all collapse in a sorry, disconsolate heap? Well, we do know that

very often the total result is greater than the sum of the different parts, if we work in unison. Reputed

coaches of cricket, hockey and other sports teams have always preached this, using different words

perhaps, but always with the same thing in mind. The chemistry that exists between members enables

work to be completed as quickly and efficiently as possible. However, if scraps sour the atmosphere, even

a great team filled with proficient, gifted individuals can look mediocre.

“The moment we break faith with one another, the sea engulfs us and the light goes out”, said

James Arthur Baldwin, an African-American novelist, essayist, playwright, poet, and social critic whose

essays explore palpable yet unspoken intricacies of racial, sexual, and class distinctions in Western

societies, most notably in mid-20th century America, vis-à-vis their inevitable if unnamable tensions with

personal identity, assumptions, uncertainties, yearning, and questing. The great man had the correct idea.

Everywhere we look, wherever we go, we have to work with others, give importance to other peoples’

opinions. We should trust in other peoples’ abilities and co-operate with others. This holds true whether in

workplaces or in sports.

Wherever we go and whatever profession we choose, we have to interact with other people.

Interaction has been and remains one of our basic life skills, sine qua non to a smooth existence on this

planet. Communication thus seems to be the very bedrock of life in general. We build relationships, trust

and try to stand together on the basis of all this. We will then be able to prosper in good times and seek aid

in times of need. This is how life goes. Our whole life, what we do and achieve and what we do not, all

depends preponderantly on the kind of chemistry we have with other people and what kind of unity we are

capable of generating. If on the other hand, we fall afoul of others easily and we are unable to build unity

in our relationships, there is only one way forward and that is downwards.

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Unity should be real. Deception and intrigues have no place in true unity. “Unity to be real must

stand the severest strain without breaking”, said Mahatma Gandhi, the Father of our worthy nation who

pioneered the use of non-violent resistance to tyranny through mass civil disobedience and who can have

been said to have brought self-respect and ultimately independence to two great nations which would

otherwise have had neither. All too often, people indulge in activities to satisfy their own selfish ends,

without looking at the bigger picture. Such a myopic temperament will ultimately, undoubtedly lead to the

failure of the whole enterprise; something that can be avoided. As one of the greatest leaders of one of the

greatest nations to have existed, in one of his greatest speeches once said, “A house divided against itself

cannot stand”. Though he said it at a different time, in a different place, during different circumstances, his

dictum still stands and we would do well to remember it.

Even though we stand to gain much by co-operating with each other, we often do not. The pages

of history are replete with instances where people just do not co-operate with each other, very often to

their detriments. Distrust and anger very often loom in the horizon, like hungry predators ready to dash out

and grab us by or collective throats. This has happened far too often, with disastrous consequences. We

must temper our actions with this knowledge. The knowledge that co-operation is the only way forward.

“For too long, we have focused on our differences - in our politics and backgrounds, in our race and

beliefs - rather than cherishing the unity and pride that binds us together”, says Robert Renfroe "Bob"

Riley, an American politician in the Republican Party who was the 52nd Governor of Alabama in the

United States. We must focus on what brings us together. Aggressive, hostile attitudes must be thrown out

of the window.

When analyzing normal human behavior, we see that people all too often throw the concept of

unity to the winds and proceed on in their own paths, unmindful of the fact that their objectives could have

been met if they just co-operated. Perhaps the reason is something innate. “The reason why the world

lacks unity, and lies broken and in heaps, is, because man is disunited with himself”, said Ralph Waldo

Emerson, an American essayist, lecturer, and poet, who led the Transcendentalist movement of the mid-

19th century. He was seen as a champion of individualism and a prescient critic of the countervailing

pressures of society, and he disseminated his thoughts through dozens of published essays and more than

1,500 public lectures across the United States. Perhaps there are underlying sociopathic tendencies in

every human. He is not able to find peace in himself and the disunity spreads over a larger area, affecting

people with whom he interacts with. But the very concept of life involves us overturning these feelings

and making a life for ourselves in our chosen fields in the best way possible.

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The pages of history are replete with instances where people have prospered by co-operating with

each other. When Indians united and worked together, they were able to throw off the yoke of subjugation

with which the British had burdened them for so long. The recent Arab Spring is another example where

people got rid of their dictatorial rulers by co-operating with each other. If we too do so, we will be able to

laugh a toute hazard. After all, all dangers can be overcome, with effort and perhaps a bit of luck. On the

other hand, if we do not co-operate with each other we will certainly find the going tough and perhaps

even fail in our endeavors. An unpleasant proposition at best. So while we traverse that road called life,

we would do well to remember that we should all stick together, in good times and bad. We might then

come out unscathed and stronger at the end. On the other hand if we do not co-operate with each other we

might fall by the wayside with no way to get up.

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ACTIONS SPEAK LOUDER THAN WORDS

“Actions speak louder than words, but not nearly as often”, said Mark Twain.

The human brain is a beautiful, powerful, but strangely vulnerable thing. Capable of unbelievable

feats if pushed, yet delicate. It also has a few quirks. Maybe it is just the way that we have evolved as a

species. The whole theory of evolution you see. Over time, man as a species decided that certain

characteristics were more important for his survival than others and decided to incorporate it into his life.

We can “see” that sight is more important to us than sound. It affects us in a deeper fashion. Our

perception of sight is stronger than our perception of sound.

“Your beliefs become your thoughts, your thoughts become your words, your words become your

actions, your actions become your habits, your habits become your values,

your values become your destiny”, said Mahatma Gandhi. Actions are an evolved form of our words. As

Mahatma Gandhi said, our words are converted into actions, when we believe in them. Words express our

feeling but actions show them. Words are only a reflection of our actions. Speaking about things is easy.

But, it is important how much they try to achieve them. Some things need more of an effort to realize.

In today’s world, the practical aspects of life weigh more than the theoretical. Life is full of perils

and to prevail over the impediments of life, a person must strive to be practical and stop wasting precious

time on unnecessary preaching. In other words, he must be man of action in order to achieve success in

life. Many great personalities of history have put into practice what their conscience told them to do and

have acted according to their beliefs. They have not contemplated too much on how to reach their set

objectives. Precious time must be converted into moments of action for real success in life. Idle talk can

lead one nowhere. On the contrary, life should be molded on the firm basis of action. It must be secondary

to the practical aspects of life. In our dynamic world, success and happiness depend on action, not on

theory or empty words.

The saying “A picture is worth a thousand words” just reinforces the above statements. People

have the habit of building castles in the air and actually feeling and boasting that they have achieved a

great milestone without actually doing so. It is extremely essential to remember that if your achievements

are worth noticing, people will sooner or later come to know about them merely through the word of

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mouth. It is better to take a step ahead and work hard in achieving your dream rather than feeling proud

about it.

On the 11th of September 2001, the entire world was affected by the terrorist attacks on the

United States of America. On the Sunday after these attacks, then U.S. President George W. Bush made a

speech announcing his plan to “rid the world of the evil-doers” who traumatized his country earlier that

week. Whatever radical Muslim leaders had told did not affect the United States as much as what it did.

Now that is the difference between actions and words. Nothing illustrates it better.

It is actions that are important. What we do defines us in the eyes of others and even more

importantly in our own eyes. Over the years, great personalities have shown a propensity to speak less and

act more. Nowadays, as the society we live in gets more and more convoluted, human interactions seem to

have set off to a whole new level. Suddenly, diplomacy has taken the world by storm, thus becoming a

must in every successful action of our day-to-day life. Nevertheless, since words may sometimes be

misleading, it is our actions that make up for it so actions do speak louder than words.

One should judge people by what they do, rather than what they say they will do. However it does

not mean that what people say does not matter, judging a person by what they say can also be an efficient

way to know the person's character. One should not confuse the difference between when a person says he

will do something and when a person just talks. Moreover, people usually evaluate a person by actions not

by words. In fact, one’s characteristics are only exposed through his behavior and gesture. A lot of people

want to hide their real emotions by saying things which do not correspond with what they think. Words

only become valuable when they go hand in hand with actions. In emergent situations such as fire

accidents, a genuine hero is a person of action. Therefore, actions are the factor that makes a person to be

his own character.

Most things in life are not black and white; there are always shades of gray. Nowadays businesses

have found a way to use this statement when hiring people. When an employer interviews a potential

employee he does not judge him by the things the potential employee says he will do for the company,

rather he examines his Resume or Curriculum Vitae which shows his past experiences and what he did for

other businesses. Speaking can sometimes be the action; Action may be the way of expressing what you

want to say. You can also say that speaking and taking action overpowers them all. It can work either way

depending on the situation.

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We can take the example of Martin Luther King Jr. Racism and prejudice scenes were very

popular in King’s time, but he did not let that affect on how he believed or lived. Back then African

American’s didn’t have half the rights of a Caucasian American, and many Americans would discuss the

unfairness of this. Unlike those American’s King was different and took matter into his own hands.

While King remained nonviolent he still managed to change the majority of America’s thoughts on equal

rights. Like Martin Luther King, we too should realize that what we do strikes people deeper than what we

say. Very often, people seem to switch off when we speak thing; however when we actually do something,

the whole scenario changes and everyone sits up to take notice.

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BREVITY IS THE SOUL OF WIT

“Brevity is the soul of wit”. These famous words of the Bard of Avon from his play, Hamlet

basically means to convey that telling things in a long-winded fashion is extremely tedious and dreary to

the listener. Or that “short is sweet”. Basically it is the difference between the above two statements. The

art of keeping things simple and small is one of the difficult things to master. When trying to explain

things, people tend to descend into long-winded and often pointless narratives. Everyone does it. It is a

oft-held belief that big means good. Conveying what we want to others in as small a space of possible is a

mark of just how articulate we are. The moment something is articulated in a long-winded manner, it

becomes boring. It does not matter how the matter has been explained. The longer the explanation, the less

interesting it is. Nothing excites the mind more than something that is substantial but small.

Very often students while writing exams try to cram as much as they can into as small a space as

possible. They believe that after writing the crux of the answer they have to elaborate on it as much as

possible in order to get more marks. From an engineering point of view, too as we see that brevity is the

soul of wit. Conveying large amounts of information in as less space as possible is the need of the hour.

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PRICE RISE

Today, India is facing many concerns. Corruption, poverty, unemployment, illiteracy and so on.

But arguably the biggest problem is that of price rise. There are two main aspects with respect to price

rise. One is controlling price rise and the other is bring it down. For the last few months, India’s policy

makers have been trying to do both of these things but have failed miserably. This has given rise to

widespread distress to hoi polloi. And all the while, the number of people living below the poverty line

has been increasing. At one point of time it was 60%, but now it is considerably more. Also, constantly

rising prices are like a fire feeding on itself. As they erode the incomes of wage-earners, they give rise to

labor unrest. That in turn brings down productivity leading to further increase in prices. A vicious cycle

that seems to be spiraling out of control as one can see.

Economists opine that the growing economy of the country is the reason behind price rise. In

inflation purchasing power runs ahead of purchasable goods. In other words, in a growing country, the

supply of money increases at once but the supply of goods takes time to increase. Also India’s population

has increased. This has further increased inflation. Also because of the growing population, corruption is

also increasing. There is another cause for rising prices. The production of goods has been very slowly

rising. High targets were set to be achieved in defense and development. No consideration was given to

the existing state of economy. The pressure on resources has been increasing. The gap between the return

and investment also has its effect upon the present price situation. All the while, the rich are getting richer

and the poor are getting poor. Rising prices also encourage hoarding, profiteering, black-marketing and

corruption. They also discourage export. They cause devaluation of currency.

According to economists, in a growing economy, like India, price rise is inevitable. It is only

when such increase becomes detrimental and intemperate that politicians and economists feel obliged to

sit up and take notice. Then they try to pinpoint the causes and begin their search for remedial measures to

bring the situation back to normal. This is exactly what has happened here also. Our politicians have

started taking notice of price rise just way too late. It will be very tough to control it now.

However, measures will have to be taken. These include both long-term and short-term ones. The

seizing of black money is one such measure. It is well know that large amounts of money are illegally kept

in tax havens around the world like Switzerland and the Cayman islands. The challenge is to bring all the

cash back and punish the wrong-doers. However, the government seems to be unwilling to do anything, a

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curious paralyzed response that is potentially costing the nation billions. Another measure that may help is

curbing of unproductive expenditure by the Government.

Another big reason for price rise in India is the global crisis that seems to have no end in sight.

Spain and Italy, coincidentally the finalists of Euro 2012 both seem to be heavily affected. There is

nothing we can do about the prevailing global economic atmosphere and its effect on the price situation in

India. But we can of course at least try to mitigate its effect on the general populace. The recent price rise

in the essential commodities has hurt the common man where it hurts the most. The prices of onions,

tomatoes, pulses which add flavor to the otherwise normal lifestyle of the below average Indian have all

skyrocketed. The prices of pulses, which form a staple food for most of the country has increased

horrendously over the past two years. What is even more horrendous is the apathy that the government has

displayed. Higher production of pulses will also result in less usage of nitrogenous fertilizer.

Inefficient government policy can also be seen in many areas. For example, onions. Onions being

perishable, its usage and movement should be planned in advance. However, our government does not

seem to have anything resembling a plan. Consequently the price of onions has also rocketed upwards.

The price of petrol and diesel has also been increasing. The Government says that it is because of

international crude oil prices. However, the Government does not do anything about double taxation.

Fixed-income groups like salaried people, wage-earners and pensioners are the most helpless

victims of inflation. As prices rise, their real income gets decreased. The dearness allowance which the

government sanctions from time to time proves to be no use to them, because their purchasing power

actually goes down. Inflation induces businessmen to invest their money in nonproductive assets like gold

and land whose real worth is not affected by rising-prices. High prices also adversely affect the exports of

the country and distort the balance of foreign trade.

The entire strategy of planning should be changed. There should be equal attention on heavy

industries and agriculture and consumer goods. Also, the mounting governmental administrative

expenditure should be drastically curtailed as it is mostly wasteful and non-development expenditure.

Finally and most importantly, no hoarder, profiteer or black marketer should be left to continue his or her

work with impunity.

Our government is quite cognizant of the magnitude and implications of the problem. It has

already initiated a number of steps to check inflationary tendencies. What we now need is a strict

enforcement of these steps. Apart from accelerating growth and imposing curbs on money supply, we

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need an effective distribution organization. We also need the support of the social workers and other

citizens to keep a watch on the unethical practices of shopkeepers.

Corruption must be ended at all levels. Corruption adds to the problem of prices. Bribing is

common and this leads to the rise in the prices of goods. For example, a job that can be done by paying a

small amount needs more money because some officials would not do it till they get extra money for it.

This leads to an imbalance in the market and often prices don't remain fixed and lead to an addition to the

burden on the common man.

The problem of price rise is multi-faceted and many-layered. A modern-day Hydra as one can see.

As soon as one of the heads is cut off than two more grow in its place, each just as terrible and ugly as the

one cut off. The need of the hour is a concerted effort that will strike at the heart of the problem. Our

‘netas’ and ‘babus’ should take the lead in this regard.

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TIME IS MONEY

These words of the great Benjamin Franklin give us but an inkling as to just how important time

is. The sands of time slide out of our grasping fingers, slowly but surely. Inevitably each and every living

thing succumbs to it. Gutta cavat lapidem, after all. In this ever-changing world, time has gained more

importance. The small toddler you see now will in time become a blithe young lad. No sooner are those

childish pranks of his youth are done than responsibilities are thrust upon him. Responsibilities that will

burden him for the rest of his life. Soon, almost within the blink of an eye, the mirror will inform him of

things he will not want to know. Sunken eyes, grey hair will all trumpet things that he will not want to

hear. And then a time in the twilight will come to pass when he will just sit down and wonder whether he

is satisfied with what he done with his life. Whether, his was a life worth living and whether he had lived

it well. Whether he would have liked to change something. At this moment, the answer should be no.

However, all too often the answer is yes. However, at this late point nothing can be done. Because once

lost, time does not give a second chance.

We use our money to buy things that we need, what we want. We spend our time doing things that

we need and want. Time is money, money, time. We are given but a single chance to live our lives and we

should take full advantage of it. We should live our lives with no regrets. “Lost time is never found

again”, said Benjamin Franklin. We should realize the inherent value of time. Time is as precious as

money and perhaps more. However rich a man is, he cannot buy himself more time. Of course he can

extend his life a bit, but cannot extend it indefinitely. There is only a certain amount of sand in the

hourglass of our lives, right? In the end, we should look back satisfied at what we have done and achieved.

Gone are those care-free days of yore, where the maxim ‘bene qui latuit, bene vixit”, held strong.

We are now in the age of T20 cricket, where big shots reign supreme. Everyone wants to reach those

higher echelons of our highly stratified society. To become a ‘big shot’. Parents start planning for their

children very early these days. The route to the IITs and IIMs is laid out even before the young toddlers

have learnt to walk. The air of leisure that our parents lived in has dissipated, to be replaced by the heavy

fog of expectation and pressure. India’s population has been burgeoning all this time. The level of

competition has increased exponentially. And after our education is complete, it does not just go away. In

our workplaces too, each and every one of us has to fight to reach the top. The weak are easily and

ruthlessly weeded away. This is what our world has come to. In such a situation, we have to make good

use of every little thing that can help us. And time is by no stretch of imagination a small thing. It is a very

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important factor in every success. The importance of time management cannot be overstated. Time

literally is money in the business world. After all, doing things at the wrong time can be fatal in business.

Wasting time is never an option. However, we very often waste time. What we should realize is

that wasting time is like wasting money. “Time is what we want most, but what we use worst”, said

William Penn. We do things that we regret in hindsight. It is almost inevitable. We should realize the

importance of time and try to minimize our mistakes. Because our mistakes will cost us. Very often at

those crucial moments we are caught napping. Very often we are led astray by our own weakness or the

weakness of our loved ones. In the dog-eats-dog atmosphere prevalent at the highest levels, using time

effectively is critical. If we waste time, then our adversaries will be able to take full advantage, because

life is full of adversaries just itching to take advantage of us.

“Time is an equal opportunity employer. Each human being has exactly the same number of hours

and minutes every day. Rich people can't buy more hours. Scientists can't invent new minutes. And you

can't save time to spend it on another day. Even so, time is amazingly fair and forgiving. No matter how

much time you've wasted in the past, you still have an entire tomorrow”, said Denis Waitley. Time

bestows upon all of us the same opportunities. What we do with those twenty four hours of every day is

what differentiates us from every other person who walks the planet.

Time’s value cannot be overestimated. A single lifetime is given to all of us, even though

proponents of reincarnation may disagree. We must seize it and take full advantage. We should aspire to

enjoy ourselves thoroughly and also leave behind something worth being remembered by. Money is man’s

most desired possession. Money can buy anything that its owner wants. In the same way time, if used

properly can buy anything that its owner wants. Time can also wipe away pain. Pain caused in our

professional or personal life can be wiped away in time. “Time brings all things to pass”, said Aeschylus.

No wonder time is called as the great healer.

Some people say that they can never find the time to do the things that they want to do. They must

find the time. Time will have to be created by adjusting our routines and daily timetables. We must

sincerely work hard keeping our future in our minds if we want to reach the lofty goals and aspirations we

have aimed for. After all, it is not the past or the future that is important, but now. If we do not

procrastinate we will not regret anything ever. We should use our time wisely. Between the ages of 15 and

25 is a crucial period for all of us. What we do in that time will determine what we reach in future. We

should not lose our resolve or concentration at this point of time. Instead we should work very, very hard.

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Because time invested in working hard then will result in money in the future. If on the other hand we

decide to pour passer le temps by indulging in too much fun, our future will not be so money-filled.

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THE FUTURE OF HOSPITALITY INDUSTRY IN INDIA

The Hospitality Industry of India is growing at a fabulous pace like so many other Indian

industries. With the high medium-term growth rate envisaged for the Indian economy, it looks as if the

Indian hospitality industry will grow at a good rate for quite some time. With the growing investments

being put into infrastructure, the future of the hospitality industry in India seems to be very rosy indeed.

Over the last few years, since the current Prime Minister Manmohan Singh opened up the Indian

economy in the 1990s, India has experienced a very high growth rate. A growth rate second to only China

in the given time frame. This high growth rate has attracted humongous investments from foreign entities.

This has resulted in the development of various sectors and has also spawned more investments from

different quarters. It is a very profitable cycle as you might say. The Indian government, with the

unbearable pressure being put on it by corporate entities, now has only one goal in mind. And that is to

keep these investments flowing. When any signs of a slowdown even marginally appear, the government

huffs and puffs until they are annihilated. A government of the rich. A government of the 1%. This

government certainly is a far cry from the one that Pandit Nehru had in mind. This has resulted in a few

good things of course. The roads have become better. Only those roads in the richest parts of the richest

cities of India, of course. Flyovers have been built, shiny skyscrapers have been built. One side of India

has become modernized. Only one side. The other side laments its fortune and looks wistfully at the other

side.

Accommodation, food and beverage, meeting and events, gaming, entertainment and recreation,

tourism services, all make up the hospitality industry. One factor which unites all these services is that

people go for these services only when all their basic needs are fully met. These are luxury services, one

might say. They just increase the comfort of our lives. Over the last few years, India has witnessed a

marvelous growth. However the benefits of this growth have not trickled down properly. It is to the ever-

lasting disgust of all concerned that this growth has been concentrated. The richest people of India just

grow richer and richer and the poor just wallow in their own misery. It is a vicious cycle. A cycle that is

now spiraling out of control. This has also robbed the hospitality industry blind. If India’s growth had

spread more evenly, more people would have spent more on luxury services. These days what see is that

the richest people in India who make up a very small part of the population are the only ones who spend

on luxury services. The contribution of the upper middle class is also substantial. However the

contributions from the rest of the classes are negligible. However, if the effects of India’s economic

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growth had seeped down properly, things would have been very different. The rich and the whole middle

class would have made a considerable use of luxury services. This has thus been the hospitality industry’s

loss.

So as we can see, the hospitality industry has lost quite a large amount of moolah. But as the

hospitality industry caters to only a few people, the quality has gone up. Quality and quantity, very similar

words to enunciate, are very often inversely proportional to each other. So the hospitality industry’s

quality is of the highest level. Comparable in many ways to anything that the rest of the world has to offer.

Foreign nationals are often amazed at the quality of luxury services in India. The Indian government has

realized that to attract more investments in sectors in Indian industries, we would have to cater to the

sentiments of these foreigners. So they have tried to replicate in India a culture that is very similar to the

one that these people would find back home, wherever they are from. That in other words has meant a

blind aping of western culture and values. Which has both good and bad points. And the hospitality

industry has a very big role to play in this. Emperor Napoleon once said, “An army marches on its

stomach”. Well, it looks now as if quite a few things depend on what goes inside people’s stomachs. Like

investments. A big portion of the hospitality industry revolves around food and its various manifestations.

With the economic slowdown and its aftereffects that continue to this day, the hospitality industry

has seen a decrease in its growth rate. But with the economic situation looking up, notwithstanding the

persistent euro-zone troubles, the hospitality industry looks set to take off once more. And this growth will

probably be an incessant, strong one. Because if one looks at it, it will be impossible to prevent the effects

of growth from reaching hoi polloi. Sooner or later, the effects will trickle down. It is just that the rate of

seepage, if one might call it as such is very low. Movements like the Anna Hazare fast against corruption

show us how Indians have that vitality in them to control their own futures. They have that thirst to rise

up. Jawaharlal Nehru in his book, “The Discovery of India” maintained that he saw in the Indian people a

spirit, some thing that he says he also found in the people of China, Russia and the United States. He said

however that being of Indian origin, his judgment was clouded and that it was quite possible that he had so

much wanted this spirit to be there in the Indians that he may have misjudged his country. We see that

spirit now in Anna Hazare.

A country with a billion people would be like an elephant, you might have thought. Slow,

inefficient, wallowing in the mud all the time. Well, even elephants can run quite fast when they put their

minds to it! Faster than any sprinter anyway. So can India. The Occupy Wall Street protests and the Arab

Spring also show us how an oppressed people will never take blows lying down. Living standards will

improve. It may take centuries, but they will improve. The hospitality industry will then have to prepare

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for a heavy demand for its services. A demand that right now it is ill-equipped to meet. Imagine the

burgeoning millions of India and then you can imagine the demand. This would of course mean a high

growth rate in future for the hospitality industry. So a sector that is doing pretty well right now will do

even better in future. Hospitality is after all a high-end industry. The smell of money always hangs low

here. Where there are rich people, the hospitality industry will surely follow. India had been browbeaten

by the long British occupation. It is only now finding its footsteps. It still has to claim its rightful place

near the very top of world hierarchy. It still is a nation of the poor. All that is set to change in the near

future. The Hospitality industry still has quite some distance to grow.

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TIME AND TIDE WAIT FOR NONE

Life goes on. Waiting for no one and not giving anyone a second chance. For it is our bus to catch

and no one else’s. Life, ever-capricious and ever-unforgiving, follows her own path. The past is the past

and cannot be changed, however much we wish it. Every opportunity must be grabbed at with both hands.

Life is mechanical. It goes from dizzy zeniths to dismal nadirs with no apparent link to anything. In such a

scenario we can only sit and hope that we see more peaks than nadirs; taste more of success and less of

failure. Action is sine-qua-non for success, as the Germans would say. A wise man once said, “An idle

mind is the devil’s workshop”. One must try to manufacture his or her own luck actively. Once an

opportunity is lost, it will not come back, however much we regret wasting it. Prevention is better than

cure. So it is always best to pursue one’s targets with passion and not let any dregs of destructive laziness

to come in the way as it always threatens to do.

And it is not enough just to wait for the train to arrive. In this age of weighty competition, a

certain amount of dedicated preparation is indispensable to catching the train. Otherwise we will be left

behind, with our baggage strewn all around us, alone and lost. It all lies in Lady Luck’s fickle hands. Hard

work and talent are very often unrelated to success. Not always, but all too often, all that matters is

opportunity and luck. This should however not be a deterrent to giving it one’s all. We should “give it our

best, and to God leave the rest”, as an old aphorism goes. We should make the best use of our time. Time

once lost, does not come back. We all have a fixed time on this planet. Time is running out, to use a

clichéd expression, and we should somehow try to make a difference to this planet before we finally go to

sleep.

Everyone tries to leave a mark. Something to be remembered by, even when the interred bones

crumble and rot. It is more of a subconscious desire. Something for philosophers to discuss and

psychologists to study. At some point of time, when the youthful feeling of indestructibility of one’s teens

passes away and middle age sets in, people become more spiritual. They have set out to accomplish their

youthful goals and now that they are in sight of their goals, they begin to think what next? They realize

that whatever they accomplish in one lifetime may be leveled, totally annihilated over time. They begin to

analyze their contributions to mankind and see them to be mere specks of dust. They thirst to be

remembered, by the generations to come. Kings of yore, more powerful than hoi polloi, tried to propagate

their memories by building monuments to themselves which scream of their myriad achievements. Some

failed and some, like King Ashoka succeeded. The blue, 24-spoke chakra signifies that King Ashoka’s

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memory will live as long as India exists. Doing good is not the only way one will be remembered. After

all, Gavrilo Princep and Nathuram Godse live on in public memory; bereft of the halo we would naturally

associate with a Mahatma Gandhi or an Ashoka, but remembered nevertheless.

We should live our respective lives in such a way that at the end of it we do not look back with

any regrets at all. There should not be anything that we would have done differently. After all, we get only

one shot at life. The karma theory postulates differently, but that is of course a subject of much debate. We

should thus make the best of it. We should make our own decisions so that we can take responsibility for

our own actions. We should not keep on postponing decisions until it is just too late. We will then have

the rest of our lives to regret it. We keep wondering what would have been different if we had done that

one thing differently. We should just clinch our respective teeth and go for it. Because later we might

regret not doing it. Very often all that is needed is a bit of courage.

In this age of twenty-twenty cricket, where we simply do not have the time to do anything, time

management comes to the fore. We will have to manage our time very carefully so that in the end we are

able to finish all our work at the proper time. Life these days is very hectic. People have to balance several

things all at once. We should put all our efforts to balancing things properly or in the end we might regret

not putting more effort into our work. Such a situation must not come about by any chance. Keeping this

is mind, we should use each and every moment to our advantage. We should never waste even a single

second. A little bit of enjoyment is of course necessary. However, too much of it is not good at all. We

should follow a middle path. A path of moderation in everything, like the one the great Roman poet

Horace followed. He followed ‘aurea mediocritas’ or the ‘golden mean’, which means the desirable

middle between two extremes, one of excess and the other of deficiency. Otherwise we bibere venenum in

auro. Because after all, time and tide wait for none. Time does not care what we are up to. It just does its

job. And its job is to silently pass by. Nothing is as absolute, as final as the ticking of the clock. It signifies

moments that will never come back, however much we might hope. A disquieting thought, I must say.

The world is filled with people who were not able to realize their goals. In the rat race, in a world

where dog eats dog, where survival is of the fittest and only the fittest, it is of utmost importance that we

somehow mould ourselves properly. We have to be adaptable, subtle, ever-changing. Time is unforgiving.

Life is unforgiving. It gives us very few chances to prove ourselves. We must toil to give ourselves that

slight advantage that will catapult us to the top. Life waits for none. The clock ticks on, tick-tock tick-

tock. A mechanical thing. An uncaring, unforgiving thing. We are all in its mercy. Seconds change into

minutes, then into hours and days. The hours and days then almost magically morph into months and

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years. Before we know it, it is all gone. A lifetime has passed away without us knowing it. Without

experiencing it. A lifetime is perhaps too short to do all the things that we want to do. To be all the things

that we want to be. However, that is the best we have and we better make the best of it. For in the end,

whatever we accomplish, whatever we do, it will all be forgotten. “Dust thou art and unto dust shalt thou

return”, says the Bible and not without reason. We would do well to make the best of the opportunities

that wander into our path. And it would be best to just grab those opportunities and not let them get away.

After all opportunities are like fish- very slippery, right?

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OUR WILDLIFE HERITAGE

India is a beautiful land in every way. From chilly northern summits to luxurious beaches, India

can boast of a varied topography matching that of any other country. Myriad flora and fauna have made

India their home. Pens and quills of varied shapes and sizes have long extolled India’s prosperity when it

comes to wildlife. India’s national animal, the tiger is a beautiful creature. Power and beauty combined to

give us one explosive package. It is a symbol of what our wildlife heritage is. Of how wealthy and diverse

India’s wildlife is. However, off late, India’s wildlife heritage has been facing several dangers that have

threatened to rob it of its sheen. Deforestation, global warming and related issues have cast their baleful,

dark shadows on this attractive land. Our wildlife heritage is in grave jeopardy and we would do well to

do something about it. After all, if it is not our responsibility, then whose is it?

Over the years, India’s wildlife has just kept on decreasing, keeping pace with similar depressing

trends throughout the world. Various marquee creatures like the Royal Bengal Tiger have come close to

extinction, albeit recent news is more on the positive side. The situation has now become well-nigh

unacceptable. Something concrete must be done to prevent a further deterioration in the situation. It is the

job of our administration, the ‘netas’ and the ‘babus’ to do something. However, they seem to be stuck at

denial mode. Even the few things they do to improve the situation lack the ‘bite’ to be effective. A strong,

determined leadership with the power and more importantly, the will to do something, to build something

out of what appears to be nothing is sine qua non to a safe and desirable future. However, for that, hoi

polloi must take concrete measures to ensure that responsible, hardworking leaders come to the top.

Something that admittedly needs a bit of work in the current scenario.

India has about 350 different species of mammals, 1200 different species of birds which cover 14

percent of the world’s avifauna, 453 different species of reptiles, 182 different species of amphibians and

14500 different species of angiosperms. Also India boasts 45000 plant species that constitute 6.4 percent

of plant species on earth. The Andaman and Nicobar islands alone house 2200 species of flowering plants

and 120 species of ferns. When all's said and done, India has 77000 species of animals, about 50000

species of insects and about 13000 species of butterflies and moths. The sixteen major forest types of

India are distributed in 10 distinctive biogeographic zones, having 25 subdivisions and a much larger

variety of ecosystems. Throwing around these mammoth figures gives us an idea as to India’s richness.

Not a full idea, because such things cannot be expressed in mere numbers, but an idea nevertheless.

Beauty after all cannot be expressed in numbers. Nor satisfactorily in words.

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It is important to realize the importance of every species. Even if one species goes extinct it will

not be possible to cover up the consequences of the loss. Each organism plays a unique role in its habitat.

It has a particular function. After all nature has developed, evolved, with that creature in the midst of the

cycle of life. Any changes in that cycle will invariably result in unforeseen and most probably, unfortunate

consequences. Most extinctions happen these days due to the irresponsible actions of humans. We must

take care that such things do not blow out of all proportion. However, this seems to be happening.

Globalization and Industrialization seem to have done massive damage to our wildlife heritage. These

problems are not specific only to India. Throughout the world, countries seem to be facing the same

problem. Every country, big and small. A problem exacerbated by mankind’s ostensible apathy to the

heavy damage he has wrought on his fellow human beings.

This is not to mean that no steps are being taken. Concepts such as carbon credits are being

introduced. This will make mega-corporations less enthusiastic to damage our environment. But the point

is, these steps are not enough. Not by a long shot. After all, destruction of our environment hangs like

Damocles’ sword above us. We are peacefully living our respective lives, without realizing that any

moment the sword, held by a single horse hair might come crashing down upon us. Damocles realized that

a safe life was a better options, in spite of the riches that came with the overhanging sword and stepped

away. However, we cannot do so. We have brought upon this situation on ourselves and we must try to

make the best of it. The danger is magnified, considering the stakes involved and our inexperience with

the ways of the world, despite our technological advancements.

Sustainable development is the kind of development where we protect our resources so that future

generations are also able to use them. This concept is seen to be a very desirable one. However,

unmitigated development over the last few decades has not been allowing it to fully bloom. It is our

bounden responsibility to see to it that future generations do not suffer because of our miscalculations and

perhaps even willful actions. We must inculcate sustainable development in every action of ours. The

powers at be must look to protect our environment and bring to life powerful laws that can check the

damage being wrought on our wildlife. We must embrace sustainable development a bras ouverts. This

holds true not only for India but for all other countries too. Powerful entities are out there trying to make a

quick buck. They look to our wildlife, weakly protected, if at all and take full advantage. And the

government very often just looks on, sometimes even compliant in the whole obscene ritual. A regime of

transparency will have to be erected. A regime where questions can be asked and are answered quickly.

Where the media is given powers to question every shadowy deed. It will be very tough to realize such a

dream. But with a bit of work, a system resembling it can be set up. What will be required is concern. A

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very simple word really, concern. Shame we have too less of it. Concern for our environment, for our

wildlife. Only then can our wildlife heritage recover from the horrid damage wrought on it.

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THE IMPORTANCE OF PHYSICAL FITNESS

“If a man achieves victory over this body, who in the world can exercise power over him? He who

rules himself rules over the whole world”, said Vinoba Bhave an Indian advocate of

nonviolence and human rights who is best known for the Bhoodan Andolan and who is considered as

a National Teacher of India and the spiritual successor of Mahatma Gandhi. It is of utmost importance to

be physically fit. On the other hand, one should not devote too much of his or her time on their bodies. It

is after all a form of narcissism. We should follow the philosophy of the great Roman lyric poet, Horace.

He followed ‘aurea mediocritas’ or the ‘golden mean’, which means the desirable middle between two

extremes, one of excess and the other of deficiency.

It is up-lifting being physically fit. One feels light, almost light enough to fly. It such a good

feeling! However, to become fit, one will have to do exercise. If we do not pay attention to our bodies,

they will become flabby. And being flabby is not good at all. It will be an excess weight on the mind.

Something that we can surely do without. “He who has health, has hope; and he who has hope, has

everything”, said Thomas Carlyle, a Scottish satirical writer, essayist, historian and teacher during

the Victorian era who called economics as “the dismal science”. He brought a trenchant style to his social

and political criticism and a complex literary style to his works. His words ring true.

Being healthy is of utmost importance for us all. After all what is life without a hale and hearty

body? Without the fitness to enjoy it, life is drab and boring with extended hours being spent in the land of

counterpane. What use is money if it cannot buy health? “It is health that is real wealth and not pieces of

gold and silver”, said Mahatma Gandhi, the widely-admired and loved Father of our nation, the pre-

eminent political and ideological leader of India during the Indian independence movement who pioneered

Satyagraha.

Being physically fit can also alter one’s attitude towards life. Being in a cramped, stuffy

atmosphere is never nice. A prolonged exposure to such an environment is never good for one’s morale. In

order to avoid this, going out and indulging in some form of sport can do wonders. Playing a game or

indulging in a mild physical activity is very good. And one might even find that he or she excels in it.

Many a sportsperson have come up and reached the pinnacles of their sports after initially taking it up for

recreation. After all, one cannot expect a talent to magically appear overnight. Even a Sachin Tendulkar,

or a Roger Federer had to first play their sports to realize they had a talent for it. “Leave all the afternoon

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for exercise and recreation, which are as necessary as reading. I will rather say more necessary because

health is worth more than learning”, said Thomas Jefferson an American Founding Father who was the

principal author of the United States Declaration of Independence and the third President of the United

States.

Exercise should be planned. One has to work out what exercises to do and follow a pre-planned

regimen. This will certainly be helpful. However, there is another essential component for success.

However robust be the engine of the physical fitness, it would just be an empty framework of metals, glass

and plastics or muscles, nerves and bones without the fuel of the willpower streaming through its tubes to

drive it forward. In another sense, willpower is the backbone, the spine that supports and gives strength to

the physical body to stand straight and move forward. Sans willpower, physical strength, however robust

it be, is like huge mass, would we call it potential energy, without a spur to convert in to work. The needed

spur is provided by the willpower. It is the willpower that transforms that potential energy to kinetic

energy to finally harness it in to work. William Shakespeare echoed the same sense when he said, “Our

bodies are our gardens to which our wills are gardeners.” It is in this sense that willpower precedes

physical strength in the regimen of the physical fitness hierarchy. Johnny Weissmuller meant exactly this

when he said, “With but few exceptions, it is always the underdog who wins through sheer willpower.” It

only means that the willpower is the usual winner even while it lags in strength as an underdog.

Indulging in physical activity to improve out fitness also has other benefits. It can help us

socialize and get to know more and more people. It can also help us academically. After all, exercise does

help in enhancing concentration. Exercise also helps us in sleep. Exercise is to a body what fine-tuning is

to an engine. “Physical fitness is not only one of the most important keys to a healthy body, it is the basis

of dynamic and creative intellectual activity”, 35th president of the U.S. Kennedy's youth, energy, and

charming family brought him world adulation and sparked the idealism of a generation, for whom the

Kennedy White House became known as “Camelot.” A charismatic personality, his life was tragically cut

short before his time by Lee Harvey Oswald. Supposedly, anyway. Murky rumors still abound as to his

murderer or murderers, but well, that is beside my point. He was also known as a brilliant orator and had a

way with words.

Physical fitness, it has been proved, improves our mental strength. Physical fitness not only

improves our quality of life, but also helps us in the long run. It increases cardiovascular fitness and body

endurance. Regular exercise can also help increase the strength of your heart. What’s more, being

physically fit also increases blood circulation and helps it to deliver oxygen and nutrients to all the tissues.

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This not only helps the muscles increase your overall body strength, but increases its ability to exert force

and sustain contractions. Physical fitness makes your joints and body more flexible, and regular exercise

results in a decrease of body fat. It increases lean body mass, resulting in a balanced and healthy body

composition. A broken body is of no use. Whatever be one’s mental powers, to make full use of them, a

healthy body is sine qua non. A basic level of fitness is required for our day-to-day activities. We would

do well to keep this in mind.

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WE LIVE IN DEEDS, NOT IN YEARS

“And in the end, it’s not the years in your life that count. It’s the life in your years”, said Abraham

Lincoln.

We are all given a finite amount of time in the world. Sooner or later, it comes to an end. All of us

have to bend to the touch of death at some point of time or the other. In that short span of time, all of us

hope to make some kind of a mark to be remembered by. Some kings went to the extent of constructing

large monuments to themselves in the hope that their memories would be perpetuated through them to

future generations. We should measure our lives by what we did with it rather than the time we spend

here.

When we pass away from this world to the next, we leave behind all earthly things. The memories

of us in others also disappear when they pass away. The only things that remain are the records of what we

have done. They never disappear. For example, scientists like Satyendranath Bose (of boson fame) will

forever be remembered for their contribution to science. Their names will forever be remembered for their

deeds. That is how we will have to be remembered. The age is long past when we could perpetuate our

memories by constructing monuments, like the kings of yore. To be remembered by future generations,

our deeds will have to be big.

Over the centuries there have been many examples of people who have had a short life but who

have been able to achieve quite a lot in the small amount of time that they were allotted. They

accomplished feats that can never be forgotten. They include John Keats and Mozart. Keat’s poems and

Mozart’s will never be in danger of being forgotten as they hold a very important place in their respective

fields.

When Achilles was asked by his mother whether he wanted a long but inglorious life or a short

life with one blaze of dazzling glory, he unhesitatingly chose the short life. It is for this reason that

Achilles is so well known even now as one of the greatest fighters the world has ever seen. This blaze of

glory is the only reason that he alone is remembered and no one else of his time is. Life should always be

full of action, full of spice. It is only that part which is remembered. Not the bland stuffing.

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When one looks back at the end of a long life, what one tends to see is the “spicy bits”. Those bits

where one enjoyed the most or when one was sorrowful the most. “In the end, it's not going to matter how

many breaths you took, but how many moments took your breath away,” said Shing Xiong. When one

looks back at one’s life and inevitably starts wondering at the things that he or she would have changed,

one’s mind always turns to the things that one could have done. The little things that one could have done

differently that would have made a lot of difference to the world. After all, all of us would like to leave the

world believing that we have done something to improve it. To that end, it would be prudent to work as

hard as possible. Because big deeds do not come easily. Hard work is sine qua non to success.

Many great men like Swami Vivekananda and Guru Gobind Singh also led very short lives.

However, in such a short life span they were able to pack in many great deeds. However, they are still

remembered where as many who had much longer ones were not. We should try our level best to have a

rich life. A life where we are able to help make the world a better place. Where we are able to live to the

fullest. There is no use of simply sitting around and waiting for the days to go by. We have to make a plan

and try to follow it as closely as possible.

Mindless hedonism also is not the way to go. Pleasure is just one of the different emotions that we

have to feel. Our lives should be filled with a whole cacophony of emotions of all possible hues and

shades. Only then can we say that we have lived a complete life. We should devote some of our time in

trying to improve the lot of our fellow beings. Mother Teresa may have passed away but her name is

immortal. Her deeds will be remembered forever. The willingness with which she and the Missionaries of

Charity did their work will never be forgotten.

It has been rightly said by a poet. "One crowded hour of a glorious life is worth an age without a

name." The right to determine the number of years we shall live has not been given to us. However, what

has been given is the right to live our life as we can. To change our life by making decisions. We should

use this to the fullest by taking the right decisions. We should try and fill our lives with the so called

“spicy bits”. While having soup, what I or anybody for that matter likes is the little chunks of solid food.

We can liken the soup in the bowl to our life. With time, it goes away little by little. But what we

remember in the end is the little chunks of food that made our food so enjoyable. What gives us most

sustenance is the very same little chunks of food in our soup.

Our life may be long, but if it is not eventful, there is no use for such a life. The salt of life is

missing. We feel most alive in those moments when we accomplish something or feel something. In the

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course of a normal person’s life such moments are rather far apart. However, it is our job to make the

space between them less and less. That is the sole objective of life. In other words, we live our life the

most in such moments. We remember them the most and so we should try our level best to bring more

such moments into our lives. Our deeds represent us. What we do is important, almost more important

than what we think. We will be remembered by others in the form of our deeds. People’s memories of us

are in the form of our deeds. That is exactly why our deeds are so important.

Man must not make mere longevity his solitary end in life. He must always be prepared to do as

much as he can within the limited lease of life that he has been granted. The performance of good work

that is beneficial to humankind should be his primary aim. Failure to do this will make his life sterile and

unmeaningful. Life is too sweet and precious a gift, too priceless a possession to be trifled with. We must

not rush into danger merely to show off our uncontrolled courage. But when duty calls or conscience

dictates, we must not shirk it for fear of hazard. The greatness of a feat depends not on the danger

involved, but on its nobility.

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VALUE OF COMPUTER EDUCATION TODAY

Computer Education is now seen to be sine qua non to any profession. Since the days of ENIAC,

computers have come a long way. They now carry out most of the time-consuming and tedious work that

people used to do. Wherever we look, we see computers. From behemoth-like supercomputers that occupy

the space equivalent of several rooms to ultra-small smart phones, the world seems to be run over by

computers. Every small action requires the usage of computers, these days. No wonder this age is called

the “Age of Computers”.

“Computing is not about computers any more. It is about living”, said Nicholas Negroponte. In

such an environment, where computers control everything, an understanding of the working of computers

can be seen to be a prerequisite for a comfortable existence. Knowledge after all, is power. Without a

general knowledge of how computers work, functioning as a useful member of society seems to be almost

impossible. It is thus of importance that each and every young mind is developed in such a way that he or

she has an idea of how to use a computer and the internet in the best way possible; to use a computer to

help us in our day-to-day work. Steps have to be taken to make every young child familiar with the usage

of a computer, with the idea of a computer. The myriad and mind-boggling uses to which it can be put to

must be made common knowledge. Something that is lacking presently. Unfortunately, in most cases,

even a rudimentary knowledge of what a computer is does not exist. People have been trying to change

this, but to little avail. “Aakash” which has been billed as the cheapest computer in the world hopes to

revolutionize the field of education. But whether it will succeed even now is highly doubtful.

The world of computers has grown and grown. It has been put into many uses. It has grown so fast

that it has been impossible to remain in touch with everything going on. Many different facets and sides of

computers are even now unraveling. Whole worlds are being created. Even though these worlds are but

virtual, the scope for their use in our very real world is unbounded. In future, our dependence on

computers will certainly reach even greater heights. “I think it's fair to say that personal computers have

become the most empowering tool we've ever created. They're tools of communication, they're tools of

creativity, and they can be shaped by their user”, said Bill Gates. To navigate our way through all the

complicated mess that is advanced technology today, knowledge of computers is very important.

Computer Education thus remains a stairway through which people will have to pass to reach greater and

bigger things in future. Every field we look at, we can see ways in which we can use computers. Our

dependence on computers is only growing exponentially.

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The Information Technology Act, 2000 was established to provide a legal skeleton to facilitate

electronic trade and transaction. This act also aims at recognizing electronic contracts, prevention of

computer crimes, electronic filing, and digital signature. To integrate technology into the learning

environment, the Department of Information Technology has formulated two programmes- Vidya Vahini

and Gyan Vahini. The former would provide connectivity to schools across the country and the latter, IT

infrastructure at all the higher learning institutions in the country. Sankhya Vahini, the project launched by

Indian Telecom Services along with IU Net .is all set to link over 100 universities, schools, hospitals and

corporate establishments which would enable cheaper and instantaneous data exchange. An ambitious

project V-cop is on the anvil to connect the Police Stations through an all India network. The software

FACT provides fingerprint statistics with a centrally located server at National Crime Records Bureau.

“One machine can do the work of fifty ordinary men. No machine can do the work of one

extraordinary man”, said Elbert Hubbard. Whatever advances have taken place in technology till now, we

still need human beings. Trained humans, at that. People who are able to play around with a computer at

will. And for this, computer education is extremely important. For whatever computers can do right now,

however advanced computers are, they still do not have the power to think. That power remains confined

to humans only. And so long as it is confined, humans will be required wherever computers are and all

those destructionist fantasies of computers taking over will remain but colorful fantasies. The lack of an

education in computers can thus be seen to be a rather deep void in a person’s education. Even in rural

areas now, computers have made their mark. In the not too distant future, computers will probably have

become common there too. It is only a matter of time before something like that happens. With all the

schemes that the Government of India has on the anvil, it will only be a matter of time. So, it is important

that each and every youngster realizes the proper usage of a computer and more importantly how to use a

computer in whatever field he or she takes up. After all, a computer can be put to a huge number of uses.

Information technology and business are becoming inextricably interwoven. “I don't think

anybody can talk meaningfully about one without the talking about the other”, said Bill Gates. Computer

games for small children are also now being developed with the basic object of educating them. For

example, some games necessitate children to count the number of objects being presented in front of them

and then select the right number to win points. This enhances their mathematical skills while they play and

enjoy themselves. Some researches indicate that games requiring speedy hand-eye coordination also help

in improving activity in neurons and make individuals able to react quicker to complex situations. So we

see that computers even in fun and games are quite helpful in developing certain latent skills.

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Computers work at such a high speed that they can do any work much faster than human beings.

The IBM Sequoia computer, the fastest computer in the world right now has a LINPACK performance of

16.32 petaflops. That means ten to the power of fifteen floating point operations per second. They are

becoming even faster with time. Computers are becoming more and more powerful. It is hard to imagine

someone surviving in future without at least some idea of how computers work and how to make them

complete jobs. For this reason, it will be important to acquire a certain amount of computer education,

whatever be the field of one’s interest.

Computer science is an ever growing field. With every passing year, the field of technology is

growing exponentially. The field of technology is completely unrecognizable from what it had been at the

turn of the century. It will grow even more in the days to come. The rate at which these changes are taking

place is phenomenal. And all this technology will sooner or later play a very important role in our lives.

Technology is being put to newer and newer uses.

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WHERE THERE IS A WILL, THERE IS A WAY

“The man who thinks he can and the man who thinks he can't are both right. Which one are

you?” said Henry Ford. All too often we find that what we want, what we need, is tantalizingly out of our

grasp. There is nothing abnormal with that. We all feel that way some time or the other in our lives. At

this point of time, it is crucial that we go on and on, without paying heed to the discouraging thoughts that

seem to have us by the scruff of our necks. That is the only way to succeed. Those who stop discouraged

and despondent, wallowing in their own misery will never be able to get what they want. However, those

who soldier on will get what they want and more besides.

After all failures are the pillars of success. If at first one is not able to succeed, one should use the

lessons learnt from our mistakes and try again in a better fashion. Never should the idea of quitting come

into one’s mind. A positive attitude is sometimes the only thing that stands between success and failure.

One should not get discouraged by failure too easily. After all, every one on the planet has tasted bitter

failure at some time or the other. Even the most successful people on the planet have failed miserably at

times. “I’ve missed over 9,000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. 26 times I’ve been trusted

to take the game-winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is

why I succeed”, said Michael Jordan.

The life of Abraham Lincoln was infested with crippling setbacks at regular intervals. However,

he did not falter at any step. He stood tall and marched mechanically onwards. His is a sparkling example

of just how powerful a drug determination can be. It enthused him to higher levels of achievement and

even now, historians usually rank him among the greatest leaders in world history. “Many of life’s failures

are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up”, said Thomas Edison.

If we are determined enough, minor setbacks will not affect us. If it is apparent that we will strive

on until we reach our goal(s), even the most resolute and rocky barriers can be overcome. One can even

make a case for self-determinism. “Once you make a decision, the universe conspires to make it

happen” said Ralph Waldo Emerson. If we decide firmly that our path is set, with no little voices in our

ears whispering otherwise, our resolve will by itself cause what we want to happen. Even the hardest rocks

have a way of crumbling into nothing more than dust if water flows for long enough over it. It is only of

question of time before the fire of determination blazes a path through all opposition.

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“The best way to not feel hopeless is to get up and do something. Don’t wait for good things to

happen to you. If you go out and make some good things happen, you will fill the world with hope, you

will fill yourself with hope”, said Barack Obama. The key is to be proactive. Sometimes it is best not to

think too much about things and simply go and do the things that need to be done. Too much analyzing of

unsuccessful past attempts is detrimental in the long run. It makes one distracted. All it takes is a bit of

luck and before long, we will nail it between the eyes. It almost does not matter what path we pursue, if in

the end we work towards a goal with sufficient determination, whatever we do, in the end we are bound to

succeed. All it takes is a bit of our time.

It is all a matter of the mind. The human mind is a delicate but powerful object. Capable of

exceptional things, it has long been considered an objet d’art. The intricate network of umpteen nerve cells

connect together in myriad ways to create what is considered evolution’s magnum opus, till now any way.

Outstanding physical deeds have often been ascribed to people under deep pressure. They phrase it

“adrenaline rush”. A “fight-or-flight” response of our body that enables us to cross distinctive limits

placed on our bodies and allows us to function, for some time at least, in a superhuman-like state. Our

mind realizes that we are in a pressure-situation and somehow lifts us to extricate ourselves from the

confronting situation. Now, all this is usually associated only with physical deeds, but we can extrapolate

it to other situations too. If we just focus our mind on something and work hard to realize it, there is no

reason that we will not.

“I've always found that anything worth achieving will always have obstacles in the way and

you've got to have that drive and determination to overcome those obstacles on route to whatever it is that

you want to accomplish”, said Chuck Norris. Even when all seems lost, we must blindly go on. Very

often, all that is required is to cling limpet-like, whatever be the situation we are stuck in. Sooner or later,

something is bound to happen. Whatever be the situation, the one thing that must not happen is that we

should not lose heart and give up. We might take recourse to religion and believe that it is all for our good

in the end. We should not get discouraged by sequences of failures and instead believe that it is all for the

best.

Our honored former President, Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam is one example. He wanted to become a

pilot. He failed in his mission. The Air Force selected only eight people and he was ranked ninth. So what

does he do? He becomes a renowned scientist and a model President, one of the greatest Indians of all

time. He did not let his failure at becoming a pilot block him psychologically. That is what we should all

remember when the road seems unconquerably uphill. When you are down on your knees with the weight

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of the world on your shoulders, think of all the things you already have. Count your many blessings and

realize how lucky you are. And then attack your goal with renewed vigor. That is the only way.

“And so you touch this limit, something happens and you suddenly can go a little bit further. With

your mind power, your determination, your instinct, and the experience as well, you can fly very high”,

said Ayrton Senna. Once one has the resolve one needs, the whole outlook changes. One will be able to do

the things that he or she only dreamt of before. Because once the eyes are closed to everything apart from

the path at hand, it becomes clear that the only path ahead is the one in front of us and our mindset

changes from an escapist attitude to a more positive one. It is only then that we can realize our true

potential. But for all this to happen, what must be present is a steely, inflexible determination. A

prerequisite of elephantine proportions. Because this kind of a determination is not something everyone

has. The human psyche scars easily. But if one develops a elephant-like skin, the possibilities are endless

and limited only by our imagination.

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TERRORISM: A THREAT TO GLOBAL PEACE

One insalubrious phenomenon that seems to have become common over the last few decades is

terrorism. Wherever we look, we see how terrorists are trying to take nations hostage and accept their

views. Be it in cold Chechnya or the Middle East, global peace seems to under a grave attack. An attack

that seems to show no sign of letting up. More and more people are being caught up in a vicious circle

spiraling downwards into total anarchy. Terrorism seems to be a parasite that cannot win and also can

never win. It seems to be a constant irritant, a mosquito, a fly, capable of quite powerful stings sometimes.

The concept of terrorism is basically trying to force the Government into accepting the terrorists’

demands by carrying out atrocious deeds and then justifying the deeds done by invoking the notion of the

“greater good”. This sickening phenomenon seems to be gaining ground everywhere. People seem to think

that they can make the Government do whatever they desire by forcing them enough with unspeakable

deeds. However, the Government cannot be seen giving in to the terrorists’ demands and so resists the

terrorists’ demands. This leads to a stalemate. The Government is always much stronger but cannot

completely annihilate the terrorists and so the logjam remains. All the time innocent people are being

killed. The more the Government resists, the more the terrorists push.

Sometimes the terrorists become so strong that they start building up to take on the Government in

more conventional forms of warfare, like the LTTE. That is a mistake, as once the terrorists abandon their

amorphous form they become easy prey. Their strength is their vaporous form and once they leave this

and look to more than just guerilla warfare, they are doomed, just like the LTTE. This maybe a bit of an

oxymoron as terrorist organizations usually envisage their own country with organized structures, such as

army, navy and so on and feel that they should build such organizations as soon as possible. However, this

is a doomed enterprise as once the Government starts fighting in conditions familiar to it, it will win.

“I was called a terrorist yesterday, but when I came out of jail, many people embraced me,

including my enemies, and that is what I normally tell other people who say those who are struggling for

liberation in their country are terrorists. I tell them that I was also a terrorist yesterday, but, today, I am

admired by the very people who said I was one”, said Nelson Mandela. This raises food for thought. Are

those people who are called terrorists nothing more than the Mandelas of tomorrow? Let us examine a

quote by bin Laden on terrorism- “If inciting people to do that [9/11 attacks] is terrorism, and if killing

those who kill our sons is terrorism, then let history be witness that we are terrorists”. So what is the

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difference between a bin Laden and a Mandela? Both were after all fighting for a belief that they held as

important. Or is there no difference? Is it just another example of how history treats winners and losers

differently? No. There is one important difference. Nelson Mandela did not resort such obnoxious means

as blowing up people at any time in his life. He might have been a boxer when he was young, but he left

violence behind when he stepped out of the boxing ring and therein lies the difference between the

Mandelas and the bin Ladens of this world.

It is not an easy thing for the Government to stop terrorists from carrying out attacks. Terrorist

groups are usually close-knit structures and infiltrating them and getting information out of them is not at

all an easy task. The Indian Government has been facing the Naxalite menace for several years now and it

looks as if the Naxals are not going to be eradicated anytime soon. The Government has tried to bring

about development in the Naxalite-infested areas to no avail. They feel that if the lot of hoi polloi

improves, then they will of course stop joining the Naxal ranks. “I've never met anyone who wanted to be

a terrorist. They are desperate people”, said John Perkins. The people in Naxal-infested areas face real

problems. This has given birth to and fuelled the Naxal menace. The people there are caught between a

rock and a hard place and join the ranks of the Naxalites, hoping that their lives will improve. The

Naxalites then make the situation worse. A vicious cycle indeed!

“How do you defeat terrorism? Don’t be terrorized”, said Salman Rushdie. Defeating terrorism

and terrorists is not easy. Innocent people will die by the thousands and the Government will not be able

to do anything about it. It will be powerless in most cases. It will just have to grit its teeth and try to

alleviate the pain and troubles of the most suffering. Whatever happens, the Government should not give

in to the demands of the terrorists. Of course, if the demands are reasonable, due consideration should be

given. Dialogue should be initiated with the leaders of the terrorists and it should be found out what the

grievances of the terrorists are. However, unreasonable demands should not be given any kind of

consideration at all. If the terrorists get the impression that the Government is weak, then their demands

will escalate unreasonably.

Terrorism has got more sophisticated these days. Cyber-terrorism has become more common.

Terrorist organizations are trying to recruit people through the internet now. Many forums try to spread

the ideals and agenda of terrorists. Governments are trying to tackle this menace and have met with

considerable success. In the fast developing world, the usage of the internet has in some ways been

detrimental. Terrorists are now able to contact each other quickly and plan and co-ordinate their schemes

better.

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“Terrorism is carried out purposefully, in a cold-blooded, calculated fashion. The declared goals

of the terrorist may change from place to place. He supposedly fights to remedy wrongs - social, religious,

national, racial. But for all these problems his only solution is the demolition of the whole structure of

society. No partial solution, not even the total redressing of the grievance he complains of, will satisfy him

- until our social system is destroyed or delivered into his hands”, said Benjamin Netanyahu. Terrorism is

a frighteningly deadly menace. No one knows when and where terrorists will strike. Intelligence agencies

have been trying their very best to stop terrorists, but have been intermittently successful only. The psyche

of the common terrorist is a tortured, fragile one. Anyone who can voluntarily kill a fellow human being is

psychologically badly hurt himself. They can and should be helped. Governments must try to weed away

these poor, tormented people away from the evil influences that shape them. The lower levels in the global

hierarchy of terrorism are very often filled with these kinds of people who can be ‘saved’. On the other

hand, the people at the very top of the pyramid are cunning, desperate people who very often have their

own interests in mind or simply have the wrong ideals and a lot of determination. They can be saved if

they are shown the darkness in their path. They are after all, only human.

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IF I WERE THE RICHEST PERSON IN THE WORLD

Wealth is generally one of the measures of success. Perhaps not the most reliable one, but

certainly one of the main factors that hoi polloi consider while judging a person. Popular culture depicts a

rich person as a big, tanned, Armani draped, sunglasses sporting man rolling in and throwing around large

wads of cash all the while laughing for the fun of it all. However, in the real world, even the richest man in

the world has many inhibitions while spending his money. Of course there are Mallyas too. However, they

are the exceptions. He or she has exercised a lot of caution while building up his or her fortune and so

extends this caution while preserving it. A natural tendency.

If I were the richest person in the world, I would try to change this caricature that hounds rich

people in general. I would try to present a more empathetic and somber figure. I would try to give

something back to the society that has raised me up. I would also try to be moderately liberal when it

comes to money. Instead of letting monstrous sums of money accumulate undisturbed, I would like to use

at least a bit for activities that I feel are worthy.

I personally am completely against vulgar shows of money. I do not think that in a world

characterized by rampant poverty, where many are reduced to such a level that they leave all self-respect

and resort to helpless begging as a means of survival, crude shows of extreme wealth are appropriate. I

would strive to reach ‘aurea mediocritas’, a Latin phrase that denotes ‘the golden mean’ when it comes to

money. It is meant to convey a philosophy of not partaking too much in something. ‘Nec Dextrorsum, Nec

Sinistrorsum’ which means neither to the right nor to the left also means the same. It means that people

should neither veer too much to one side nor to another, but must undertake to walk in a path which

follows the Greek ideal of ‘moderation in all things’. Basically neither a Scrooge nor a Marie Antoinette.

I would also try to indulge in philanthropic activities and help people who most need help. Very

often in our world, the ones who need help the most are most neglected where as the rich somehow seem

to attract more and more wealth, resulting in an out-of-control, endless spiral which spells doom for the

poorest of the poor. Stopping this will require a concerted effort from all, and I think the richest man in the

world will have a huge responsibility, by virtue of his or her respected and pre-eminent position in society

to do something about it. When one reads newspapers one often comes across those pathetic, sad snippets

about people suffering from horrible conditions and requesting large sums of money for surgery. I would

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like to respond to their heart-rending pleas for help in any small way I could. I would like to be happy;

after all what is the use of all my money if I was not happy and could not make others too?

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ASSESSMENT OF CHINA’S ECONOMIC GROWTH

India and China are usually spoken of in the same breath these days. That is quite understandable

because these two countries are similar in many respects. However, above all, their recent history,

especially on the economic front bears several parallel lines. The two most populous countries in the

world had been perceived by observers to be dormant till now. However, recently, things seem to have

taken a turn for the better for both of these two countries and it is felt that the dragon and the elephant are

rising.

China has moved a lot since the time of Mao Tse-tung and with Deng Xiaoping opening China to foreign

investment, the global market, and limiting private competition, China has changed a lot. Deng was

generally credited with developing China into one of the fastest growing economies in the world for over

30 years and raising the standard of living of hundreds of millions of Chinese. India underwent a similar

change, but a bit later in the 1990s with the then Finance Minister Manmohan Singh changing things with

the connivance of the then Prime Minster Narasimha Rao.

With these two nations being neighbors, comparisons are almost unavoidable. In many ways China and

India are a bon chat bon rat. However, China holds the edge in a few ways. Having opened up its economy

a bit earlier in India, it has progressed farther. Its Communist style of governance brooks no argument and

is characterized by a rigid, inflexible approach, quite different from the democratic approach India has.

Some say this is an advantage and some disagree. However, till now both approaches have proved to be

very effective. India has managed to maintain an economic growth of 8 or near 8 for a very long time.

China has maintained a slightly higher growth level for quite some time too. China has usually had more

success attracting Foreign Direct Investment and has a much better infrastructure set-up than India, whose

infrastructure is universally believed to be dismal to say the least.

A mark of just how much these two countries can grow is the recent economic recession hardly affecting

these two countries while causing heavy damage in other countries. However China’s government is

usually perceived to be very quick with implementing new schemes, making the Indian government look

slothful and snail-paced by comparison. It is not for nothing that India is usually represented by an

elephant and China by a dragon. And even though elephants can run very fast for short distances,

successive Indian governments have never shown such tendencies. The old story of the hare and the

tortoise may suggest otherwise, however, being speedy and streamlined is of utmost importance. Another

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factor we should always keep in mind while taking into account these two countries is their huge

populations. China’s government implemented birth-control schemes to keep its population in check. This

will result in India having a slightly higher working-age population in the near future. So India can then

try to press home this small advantage it has. China has also recently seen a few cracks in its economy

with phase two of the economic recession setting in and bubbles threatening to burst.

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RELATIONS BETWEEN INDIA AND PAKISTAN

India and Pakistan have had a very long history. Since independence, these two countries have

had problems with each other. It all started with early territorial disputes, like the Junagadh dispute, an

avant coureur to the more famous Kashmir dispute that hounds Indo-Pakistan relations till today. Others

include Siachen Glacier and Kori Creek. With India helping Bangladesh gain its freedom in 1971,

relations deteriorated even further. Pakistanis saw this as a bitter humiliation. That another country could

so brazenly violate its sovereignty certainly riled its leaders. Another event that took place at that time was

the overthrow of Afghan Soviet Socialist Republic, a regime that India was on quite friendly terms with,

something which involved active Pakistani collusion. As this was happening, India started to lean towards

the Soviet Union and Pakistan towards the United States.

One of the main issues to be resolved is the Kashmir issue. It all started with the erstwhile

Maharaja of Kashmir Hari Singh in a dilemma whether to join India or Pakistan. Pakistan heard that the

Maharaja would try to join India and alarmed sent raider to annex Kashmir. With Kashmir forces no

match for the invading troops, the Maharaja desperately acceded Kashmir to India and so the whole issue

started. The Indian troops were well-positioned to take over the whole of Kashmir when the then Prime

Minster Jawaharlal Nehru decided to heed the United Nations mandate and called for a cease-fire. A

massive mistake according to many analysts. Because even if Pakistan had lost Kashmir, it would have

got over it with time. However, with the issue of Kashmir in suspended in limbo like now, things are a bit

different. So a part of Kashmir remains with Pakistan to this day. Pakistan very cleverly has allowed

China to establish a massive presence here.

India and Pakistan then developed nuclear weapons. This developed a new dimension into the

whole relationship. Both countries treated each other warily as they knew that any unacceptable injury

could lead to a nuclear response. It is highly unlikely thus that another event like 1971 can take place.

Tensions can however still flare in the region as can be evinced from the 1999 Kargil War. Since the dawn

of the new millennium too, things have been pretty much the same. Events such as the attack on the Indian

Parliament, the 2007 Samjhauta Express blasts and the 2008 Mumbai blasts have soured things between

the two countries. Another issue that has clouded relations has been the water dispute between India and

Pakistan. India has accused Pakistan of being too lenient when it comes to terrorism. In fact, India has

hinted that Pakistan actually condones terrorist activities against it, something that may be true or false.

However, announcing its suspicion to the world at large has only made relations become even worse.

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Pakistan has all the time maintained an altum silentium. With the volatile situation prevailing in Pakistan,

there is no telling what can happen. The Latin proverb “quod non expecte ex transverso fit”, holds good

here I fear.

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SACHIN TENDULKAR

The air is heavy with expectations. The little man at the crease adjusts his guard and looks up

expectantly. As the bowler begins his run-up he keeps his eye on the ball, concentrating all the while. As

the bowler approaches the crease, he exhibits a high backlift. And as the bowler hurls the ball with all the

pace he can muster, strokes the ball with a grace and panache perhaps matched but never surpassed to the

fence. This scene has been repeated again and again for more than twenty years now. Who else, but

Sachin Tendulkar? The “little master” is universally considered to be among the greatest who graced the

game. He has dominated world cricket by the sheer weight of his runs a’la the great English batsman Jack

Hobbs. However, in his style of play he resembles the great Australian, Sir Don Bradman as the great

Australian himself said.

Every generation throws up new greats. W.G. Grace, Jack Hobbs, Walter Hammond, Don Bradman,

Greg Chappell, Gary Sobers, Vivian Richards, Brian Lara dominated their generations. All have a claim to

be called the best of all time. Actually I would say that Bradman had a bigger claim than the others. In

fact, I do not think anybody would disagree with me calling Bradman as the greatest of all time. After all,

he dominated the sport in a way no one has every dominated any sport, anywhere, any time. An average of

forty above the second best over 20 completed innings brooks no argument at all. 99.94 remains an iconic

figure, one whose aura will not dim for any time soon. However, for the spot of second best, I would put

forward the name of Sachin Tendulkar.

I realize I will have to justify my statement. After all this is not a statement to be made lightly. How

can I say that Sachin is the second best? This brings up another question. What do I mean by great? I

would say that the factors which signify greatness are style, weight of runs and general impact on the

game, or I can say respect? All the batsmen who I spoke of earlier are graceful in their own ways, have

scored heavily and are highly respected among peers and analysts alike. However, I believe that Sachin

has that little extra zest for cricket that marks him out as the best among equals.

It is almost important impossible to give a detailed and complete list of all of Sachin’s umpteen

achievements. He holds the record for most centuries and most runs in both forms of the game. And more

importantly he has not got tired of the game even after playing it for so long. There have even been calls

to award him the Bharat Ratna. As the best cricketer and probably as the best sportsman from India, it

would certainly be the icing on the cake of his achievements.

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GLOBAL WARMING - ITS CAUSES AND EFFECTS

“Global warming is too serious for the world any longer to ignore its danger or split into opposing factions

on it”, said Tony Blair.

“The warnings about global warming have been extremely clear for a long time. We are facing a global

climate crisis. It is deepening. We are entering a period of consequences”, said Al Gore.

Global warming, which is basically the increase in the temperature of the earth’s neon-surface air

is the greatest challenge facing our planet. It has had and will have a far-reaching impact on the

biodiversity and the climatic conditions of the planet. Global average temperatures have risen significantly

through the past century. Unfortunately, the imbalance which we have created between our desire and the

safety of the earth is already showing warning signs. Disasters in the form of floods, cyclones, landslides,

tsunamis, droughts, etc have increased in frequency. If the imbalance continues to rise, one day it will

question the existence of this planet.

Several trends clearly demonstrate that global warming is directly influencing rising sea levels,

the melting of ice caps and significant worldwide climate changes. In short, global warming represents a

venomous threat to all living things on earth. It has been found out that the planet’s temperature has risen

0.5 degree Celsius since 1900 and it probably will continue to increase at an increasing rate. As a result,

the world is getting warmer. The year 1990 was the hottest year in the last century. Together with 1991,

the years of 1983, 1987, 1988 and 1989 have been measured to be the warmest six years in the last

hundred years. The year 1991 was the second warmest year of the past century. The consequences of the

rise in temperature are being felt all over the globe. Scientific research done in this field has revealed that

the temperature of the earth is likely to rise from 1.4°C to 5.8°C within a period of 100 years.

The prevailing scientific view is that most of the temperature increases since the middle of the

20th century has been caused by increases in atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations produced mainly

by human activity. Carbon dioxide, an important constituent of the environment is warming effect the

earth’s surface. Other gases such as methane, CFCs, nitrous oxide and tropospheric ozone are also

responsible for global warming. Increases in all these gases are due to explosive population growth,

increased industrial expansion, technological advancement, deforestation, growing urbanisation, etc.

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Carbon Dioxide increases the evaporation of water into the atmosphere. Since water vapor itself is

a greenhouse gas, this again contributes to global warming. The warming causes more water vapor to be

evaporated. A vicious, never-ending cycle as one can plainly see. The carbon dioxide level is expected to

rise exponentially in the future due to the continued burning of fossil fuels and land-use change. The rate

of rise will depend principally on random economic, sociological, technological and natural developments.

Deforestation is the second biggest source of atmospheric carbon dioxide. Deforestation is

responsible for 25 per cent of all carbon emissions entering the atmosphere, by the burning and cutting of

34 million acres of trees each year. Every day over 5500 acres of rainforest are destroyed. As a

consequence of massive loss of forests, global carbon dioxide levels are rising approximately 0.4 per cent

each year. Levels not experienced on this planet for millions of years. As we know forests are the great

absorbers of carbon dioxide.

There is a close relation between global warming and population growth. Many people use

technologies which are naturally destructive. Approximately, 80 per cent of atmospheric carbon dioxide

increases are due to man’s use of fossil fuels either in the form of coal, gas or oil. A large portion of

carbon emissions is due to the burning of gasoline in the internal-combustion engine of vehicles. Vehicles

with poor mileage contribute the most to global warming.

An increase in global temperatures will also cause a rise in sea levels. It will lead to the melting of

glaciers, changes in rainfall patterns, and increased intensity and frequency of extreme weather. As per the

latest survey, the rate of melting of glaciers has seen sharp increase in recent times. The shrinking of

glaciers is going to pose a major problem of drinking water. The sea levels as a result of melting of

glaciers have risen from 0.35 mm to 0.4 mm. Scientists have warned in their reports that most of the

glaciers will disappear within a period of 15 to 25 years. It will create problems of drinking water and

food grains in most of the North American countries. India is not unaffected from it. The Himalayan

glaciers have shrunk about 30 per cent after 1970.

The rise in sea levels is a major cause of concern. A large number of cities located in coastal areas

will get submerged. Besides, many island countries will be washed away from the surface of the earth.

The damage of rising sea levels is diverse. Buildings and roads close to the water could be flooded and

they could suffer damage. Experts believe that global warming could increase the intensity of hurricanes

by over 50 per cent. In addition, as the sea rises, beach erosion takes place, particularly on steep banks.

Wetlands are also lost as the level rises. Rise in atmospheric temperature will lead to the outbreak of

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airborne and water-borne diseases. It would also contribute to the rise in death caused by heat. The

problem of drought would be frequent. Consequently, malnutrition and starvation will pose a serious

challenge to humanity.

Global warming is a great threat to the flora and fauna of the earth. A large number of species of

them may become extinct. Low rainfall and rising temperature could add to the intensity and frequency of

dust storms. This in turn will immensely affect the quality of agricultural land, ultimately causing adverse

effect on agricultural produce. It would have far-reaching socio-economic impact. In the Indian context,

the impact of global warming is a matter of grave concern. As is well known, India is mainly an

agricultural country. The rise in atmospheric temperature and fall in rain would naturally result in decline

in crop production. Moreover, it would have great effect on biodiversity as well.

In nature everything is connected. A slight change here may result in a huge change somewhere

else. Nature is subtle. We cannot comprehend the things that may happen. We cannot even logically

eliminate possibilities. Humans have been trying to predict the weather for years. However, there is still a

running joke that whatever the meteorology department says, the opposite will happen! And this is with

such improvement in technology and the usage of supercomputers for these purposes. So, the moral of this

quaint story is this: we just cannot predict what may happen because of Global Warming. Anything can

happen, or maybe even nothing. However, we cannot take chances because, we cannot play with lives.

Russian roulette is one of the most dangerous games in the world. It is played by seven people, who take

turns one by one to point a revolver loaded in one of its seven chambers at their heads, and pull the trigger.

This goes on for six rounds until the person left in the end wins. Well, I admit I am not a scientist, but I

believe taking chances with Global Warming will have comparable rates of survival.

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NOTHING VENTURED, NOTHING GAINED

“A ship in port is safe, but that's not what ships are built for”, said Grace Hopper.

In all matters which the ancient Italians might have called “magnum opus”, one recurring

feature which presents itself is the absolute necessity of determination and the will to go on when

faced with impossible, apparently insurmountable odds. The will to go on and on and take risks is

sine qua non to success. The bigger the work one is on, the bigger the challenges. That is the way

of the world; as it should be. After all, bravery and the will to go on and not give up separates the

best from the rest. We are all given a limited time to make a mark. Some people give up halfway

through, convinced that life is just too tough a nut to crack. In fact most people do just that.

However, some people just cannot convince themselves to accept defeat. They have an almost

untamable pride. A belief in themselves and their abilities. They go on and on, willing to die

rather than accept defeat. All or nothing. In some cases, the latter may be what they get. But the

upside is that they sometimes win. And after all, who wants to be just another grain of sand in the

beach?

Extremes in personalities have very often intrigued psychologists. After all it is only by

studying these extremes that the underlying currents in normal humans can be gauged. There are

some with a almost compulsive desire to take risks. Risk-taking is somewhat like their drug. One

should not descend to those levels. However, one must try his or her very best to come out of

one’s bubble and indulge in actions which may be considered a bit forward. After all, Lady

Fortune favours the brave. Very often people give up when they are on the very cusp of success.

All too often people give up thinking that the weary road ahead has no end when if they had

persevered a little more, they might have achieved their long-cherished goals. It is always the best

option to have a bit of pride, a bit of confidence in oneself and one’s abilities and soldier on

unmindful of all the obstacles that are present in one’s path.

“Nought n'assayeth, nought n'acheveth”, said Chaucer, the great father of English

Literature. In every field, we look at, we will face obstacles. In fact, what is life if not a series of

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obstacles? The way we fight those obstacles and overcome them is a measure of what we are. In

overcoming these obstacles, the biggest asset we can have is a cast-iron determination to take

risks. We might lose some times, but in the end, it is better to take risks. It is not good, not

healthy to lead a cloistered existence and not take risks. Being defensively minded is safe but not

the correct option in life. Even in cricket, batsmen like the attacking-minded Sir Vivian Richards

are considered to be more useful and greater than other defensive-minded batsmen. Also, the

exhilaration produced by attacking-batsmen is another big plus point. Similarly, attacking

bowlers like Dale Steyn are considered to be better than those who proceed to choke batsmen.

After all, a fiery bowler who can scythe through batting line-ups is feared more than someone

who can just keep the runs to a minimum. Of course, priorities may change in the shorter formats

of the game. Dale Steyn sometimes can be carted to all parts of the ground for runs, but he always

looks for wickets and that will make him invaluable whatever format he plays in. The same thing

can be applied to life also. Sports are after all a part of life. A miniature model of life.

If one is able to find some small success without actually doing it, it is but a lucky

accident. “No one gives it to you. You have to take it”, as Frank Costello remarked in the

Departed. In this dog-eat-dog world, there is no point holding back and hoping that things come

to you. You have to grab everything that you can, otherwise someone else will take it. And once

a chance passes you by, there is no point repenting. It is a question of spirit also. The spirit of

trying out something that no one else has the guts to do. That is one of the best attributes that one

can have. It makes people look at you and take notice. It allows one to stand out in a pack and

make people take notice. It is infinitely preferable to being at the back of the group, forgotten. It

is part of a set of ‘soft skills’ that people need in life. These days, one’s ability to do a job as

important the ‘soft-skills’ one has. “Who that nought dare undertake, by ryght he shall no profit

take”, said John Gower.

It is not an easy task to put oneself in the spotlight, if one has not done such a thing

before. However, putting oneself in the spotlight has many advantages. It allows one to be

remembered by people around him. That is the main advantage. It shows oneself as a leader in

the eyes of others. It shows one to be outgoing and keen to speak up for oneself. Being in the

spotlight is thus seen to be very important. “Do what you are afraid to do”, said Ralph Waldo

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Emerson. By doing things that one is afraid to do, will enable one to learn to meet challenges

head-on. It is only by being outgoing that one can make a name for himself or herself. It does not

matter whether one loses at first. The attempt should be made. “You don't learn to hold your own

in the world by standing on guard, but by attacking and getting well hammered yourself” said

George Bernard Shaw. In all things one should be brave, enthusiastic and ebullient. After all,

everyone likes a cheerful person, right?

A whole-hearted effort should be made whatever be the obstacles present in front of us.

Even if all looks lost, one should not give up hope and bravely forge forward. One should always

looks for new avenues and grab every opportunity that comes his or her way. If there seems to be

no opportunity in view, he should create one from thin air! After all, that shows enterprise.

Sooner or later, one of those opportunities will prove to be the “big break” that one was looking

for. However, if one just sits back and lets the wind blow him wherever it wants to, the chances

of reaching the top seem very slim indeed. It all goes to show that one needs to be an enterprising

hard worker to go anywhere. Nothing ventured, nothing gained indeed!

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INDIA’S RISING CRIME GRAPH

“In India we only read about death, sickness, terrorism, crime”, said APJ Abdul Kalam.

Over the past few years, crime in India seems to have reached great heights. Every now

and then, bigger and bigger scams are being uncovered, encouraging hysterical anchors in news

channels to further try and out do each other in the race to get higher trps. Whether the upward

graph is a result of better vigilance by regulatory institutions or because of unwanted elements

becoming braver is a debatable question. However, pure statistics tell us that the number of

crimes is increasing exponentially.

“Poverty is the mother of crime”, said Marcus Aurelius, Roman Emperor, the last of the

Five Good Emperors, according to Niccolo Machiavelli. Greed is certainly a very powerful

incentive. The lack of education, coupled with an empty stomach is certainly something that can

make one to lose whatever small scruples one might have. And once one takes that road, there is

no turning back. It makes sense. After all, if one is completely contented, crime would be the last

thing on one’s mind. India has some of the largest slums in the world. Mumbai’s slums are

comparable in size only to the favelas of Rio de Janeiro. A dismal hodgepodge of heaps upon

heaps of sweating, putrid, yet strangely breathing humanity. Small wonder then that in such a

pathetic environment, crime flourishes. It is after all a dog-eat-dog world. Over the last few years,

these slums have burgeoned, mushroomed, inspite of the horrible poverty that manifests itself in

such places. People from rural areas have decided to come to urban areas to try out their luck

here. And whatever the conditions are, they stay on, thinking unbelievably that a life of

unmitigated, crushing poverty is way better than what they left behind.

To stop criminals, one will have to understand them. One has to go deep into their minds

and understand why and how they tick. Similia similibus curanter. Or as in this case, a detailed

study of the criminal mind is enough. One should pity criminals. After all, they are humans too. It

is just that they have been grinded down and left so far behind that they try to help themselves

illegally in some small way. They lack the strength to say no. To stand up proud and look away

from some small riches that hang teasingly just out of our reach. Like Eve in the Garden of Eden,

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they just cannot resist, with their greed being the snake that urges them on. After all, being poor

is not very nice is it? A way to distribute income properly must be found out as soon as possible.

Right now, the fruits of India’s awesome resurgence are being gobbled up by the richest of the

rich. Whereas the poorest of the poor continue to grovel deeper and deeper in the dirt.

“Successful and fortunate crime is called virtue”, said Lucius Annaeus Seneca. A sad state of

affairs that just seems to be becoming worse and worse as time goes by. It is a vicious circle.

Lack of education entails poverty which in its turn entails lack of education to the next

generation. This has been the curse of India, a plough that India does not seem to have the power

or will to shake off.

After all, the rich enjoy the present state of affairs. They will not want to change it by any

stretch of imagination. After all, it will hurt them to see their cash go into the hands of others,

will it not? Forget the fact that it is only a part of their wealth. Something they will hardly miss.

And that it is just survival that the poor seek. No steps to remedy the situation will be

forthcoming from them. Of course, there are exceptions. All too often, the great riches of the

world have their origin in crime. “Behind every great fortune, lies a great crime”, said Honore de

Balzac. The richest are becoming richer and richer where as the poorer are becoming poorer. In

other words, we are seeing an increase in crime in both levels of society. Talking about the

biggest scams, those perpetrated by the rich stratum, we have the Jeep scam in 1948, the Teja

loan scam in 1960, the Nagarwala scandal in 1970, the Cement scandal in 1981 during the early

part of India’s Independence. All these scams are small fish, ranging from 80 lakh rupees to

around 30 crore rupees, compared to the behemoths that now straddle the Indian scam scene.

“The infectiousness of crime is like that of the plague”, as Napoleon Bonaparte said.

However, one good thing is that the media has now decided to throw its weight and try

and bring peoples’ attention to crimes. Of course, they are motivated by other, more materialistic

considerations, but at least the results are good. The amount of publicity given to the Anna

Hazare movement to eradicate corruption and the limelight given to the murderous rape of the

23-year old physiotherapy student are cases in point. Of course, let us not forget that the media

itself is riddled by corruption, with paid news coming to light. Also, as the Rupert Murdoch story

has told us, politicians and other “pezzonovante”, will always try to influence media moguls. The

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Leveson Inquiry, headed by Lord Justice Leveson provides India with a path to follow with

respect to policies associated with the media. A transparent structure is the need of the hour. It is

only then that crime can be stopped.

“Punishment is the last and the least effective instrument in the hands of the legislator for

the prevention of crime” said John Ruskin. The focus always has to be on prevention, rather than

cure. Steps will have to be taken at the domestic level to prevent crime. Gang members have

invariably grown up in broken, chaotic homes, often experiencing domestic violence; they have

truanted from school and many have been formally excluded; and they live in neighborhoods

where unemployment, addiction and crime are rife. A strong moral framework should be installed

in each and every young mind. People should develop a strong idea of what is right and what is

wrong from a very young age. One’s parents and teachers are the key here. Teachers leave a

strong impression on every young mind they meet. Their role is especially important. Only then

can crime truly be crushed and India can realize its full potential.

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THE PEN IS MIGHTIER THAN THE SWORD

“Beneath the rule of men entirely great, the pen is mightier than the sword”. These

magical words of Edward Bulwer-Lytton simply mean to convey that the crude effects of

weapons and physical violence in no way compare with the effects that the written word can

produce. In the hands of a skilled writer, a pen can cause as much damage if not more than a

sword. Physical violence is after all over-rated. Its effect is limited to a small area. However, with

words, you can affect a much larger number of people. And the effect might be as deep as with a

sword. The threat of physical violence is greater the smaller the group of people. With much

larger groups though, the written word trumps the sword whatever the circumstances are.

Brute force is an boorish, uncultured argument. People always resist it when they think

they can resist it. No one want it to look as if they are being pushed around. Gradually, ill-feeling

and rancour will build up and reach a tipping point and then finally explode. Not something

anyone involved would have wanted; and certainly not something desirable in a workplace

environment, where everyone involved are supposed to be working with each other, pulling in the

same direction. Most relationships these days are workplace-centric after all. Using physical

violence or even threats of violence are remnants of our wilder, less evolved past. At that time,

the strongest and fastest were the dominant species. Our violent behavior now just hearkens back

to a time when our brain had not developed properly. In some places even now, brute force reigns

supreme. However, that will of course change with time. Not immediately of course. After all,

leopards do not change their spots. It will be a slow, drawn-out process. However, in the end, the

power to move millions by words will be the most important one. The truly big changes, the

earth-shattering ones will be brought about only by the pen. Not by the sword. That age of brawn

is done and dusted.

When one leaves the individual level and come to the world-level, one finds pretty much

the same situation. Diplomacy and agreements are powerful, much more powerful compared to

weapons, especially in the nuclear weapons age, albeit for different reasons. In fact, diametrically

opposite reasons. With the black clouds of nuclear weapons hanging low, total destruction of the

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world is but one false step away. Like dominoes, the destruction of one country would lead to

another and then to another and so on, until the whole world is destroyed. Every country realizes

this and so will not take recourse to such a doomsday-like alternative. Instead, agreements and

treaties are the way forward. Of course, they can be broken, but usually are not. Diplomacy now

aims at preventing wars and fights. Of course, small incidents seem to go hand-in-hand with

having a working, breathing military. A case in point being the recent beheading of Indian

soldiers by Pakistanis along the Line of Control. This incident brings to light another aspect of

such incidents: that they are entirely undesirable and preventable. It was an example of a “sword

incident”, if I might call it such that was out of control and which brought grief to everyone

involved. Such incidents must be avoided at all costs and are a reminder that the snake of

violence still lives deep within all of us and may never be truly eradicated. After all, even the best

of us sometimes lose control; another manifestation of the wild side in us which has never truly

died out. The keyword here is self-control, a fantastic and sometimes almost vaporous adjective

that we all try to achieve.

“Whoever said the pen is mightier than the sword obviously never encountered automatic

weapons”, said General Douglas MacArthur, the father of MacArthurism, a concept which

basically meant that “in matters of war and peace, the military knows best”. Of course, he lived in

a world slightly different from the present. In his time, only the United States of America had

nuclear weapons, whereas now we live in fear that even terrorist organizations might be able to

acquire nuclear weapons by hook or crook. The usage of nuclear weapons or the threat of usage

of nuclear weapons is now becoming redundant. After all, now with the proliferation of nuclear

weapons with the connivance of people like Abdul Qadeer Khan, countries might be able to

strike back with venom that might be only slightly less toxic than the initial strike. We are

moving towards a world where antagonizing other countries will not be feasible. A more peaceful

society with fewer wars and battles. In such a society, the pen will have a bigger role to play. It

already has a big role, but its role is bound to become much bigger.

Over the last few years, we have seen the rise of Twitter, Facebook, Myspace and other

social-networking sites. They are just manifestations of what the pen can do. In India itself, we

have seen how Anna Hazare’s movement and the outrage over the recent rape of the 23-year old

physiotherapy student were conjured up out of thin air by these social networking sites. Global

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examples include the regime changes in Egypt, Libya and Tunisia. Although of course, there was

a fair bit of “sword” too involved in the clashes between the protectors and the establishment, the

catalyst for the whole series of incidents was the social media. Without the social media being

involved, the incidents would never have taken place. The written word is gaining strength. Soon,

violence as a way of life will be eradicated as it should be in any civilized setup. Even though the

social media has been in existence only for a few years, its effect is already discernible to anyone.

It has a lot of influence over world events even now. Over a substantial amount of time, its effect

can only increase, as its reach and spread increase.

Information or data and its manipulation has emerged as the single most important entity

on this planet. As data exchange by word of mouth is impossible, considering the limited

capabilities of the human mind, the place of the written word in today’s society is in a very high

pedestal indeed. And the pedestal can only become bigger and higher with time. The sword may

look like the better option at first. It is after all, instinctive. However, in the long run, the pen can

do things that the sword can only dream of doing. As Marty Feldman said, “The pen is mightier

than the sword, and considerably easier to write with”.

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LIVE AND LET LIVE

“Instead of killing and dying in order to produce the being that we are not, we have to live

and let live in order to create what we are”, said Albert Camus.

All too often, people seem to think that poking their noses into other peoples’ business at

every opportunity is the way to go about one’s life. They seem to have an almost unbearable urge

to maintain control over every facet of their own lives and seem to feel that the way to do this is

to exert control over other peoples’ lives. They are sadly mistaken. These so-called control-freaks

are the scourge of society. They do not allow society to progress in the way that it should and

hold society back. The motto of each and every person should be “live and let live”. What ever

one’s scruples are or one’s way of thinking is, one should leave other people to do as they wish.

That is the only way forward. Because very often, we do not have access to the full picture.

Often, the full picture is a mélange of different colors, of different shades, all twisting and

changing from time to time. In such a situation, we should let people to take their own choices

and not pretend to be omnipresent and omniscient.

The pages of history are riddled with examples of people who thought that they had the

right to interfere in other peoples’ lives. Divides on casteist lines still exist as they did in

medieval times in India. The whole concept of the caste system is built on the belief that some

people do not have the right to live at the same level as someone else. It is an abhorrent practice,

one that should be abolished as soon as possible. This theme of acceptance and tolerance has

acquired importance over the last few years with the media opening up and bringing to light such

pathetic practices which threaten to tear the very fabric to our society. Discrimination against

women provides yet another example of people believing that a section of society does not

deserve the same standard of living as themselves.

All too often, people seem to honestly believe that some people do not deserve life

because of a small difference in their appearance or beliefs. This has led to some of the most

atrocious incidents in history. For example, the Holocaust in which millions of Jews were

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shamelessly massacred happened because it was believed that the Jews were traitors, selfish

people who were more interested in financial success than anything else. Ethnic cleansing. That

was what it was called. Hitler and his subordinates genuinely believed in the Jews’ culpability

and carried out the massacre believing that what they were doing was a good act. Even Al

Capone justified his deeds, telling that he was just providing sustenance for himself and his

family members. No one honestly thinks himself to be evil. There is always some justification. It

seems laughable now that Hitler could believe in his own sainthood when he gassed so many

people, many of whom were just babies. However, that is just human psychology.

Interfering busybodies as they are called have this astonishing propensity of popping up at

regular intervals in all our lives. We have to acquire the ability of dealing with them. However,

very often there seems to be no way other than dropping short and yielding to them. One should

have the requisite strength of character to say no and be firm in one’s treatment of them. On the

other hand, one should keep away from other people’s lives and just let them be. One should

have the humility to agree that we do not have the right to live other’s lives or even give advice,

because we just do not. One is given only a limited amount of time, only one life and if most of it

is taken up by other people, that leaves only a little for us, does it not? One should not let oneself

be driven by other people.

“Live and let live, believe and let believe. ’Twas said the lesser gods were only traits Of

the one awful God. Just so the saints Are God's white light refracted into colors”, said Robert

Frost. Every person is a product of his or her environment. When we are born, we all are similar.

It is our experiences which mould us and change us into different people. Knowing this, we

should not think that we can live other peoples’ lives better than they themselves. Maybe if we

had their experiences, we would do the same as them. Instead of concentrating on other peoples’

lives, it will be better to concentrate on our own lives. To make ourselves better persons. A non-

interference policy is sine qua non to a peaceful life.

Offering a helping hand to some one else is certainly good. However, one should not take

this to its extremes. It will in time build resentment, something that can and should be avoided at

all costs. On the other hand, one should try one’s best to improve oneself. Self-improvement is a

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continuous phenomenon, something that has no end in sight. However much we learn and

achieve, there will always be something else left to do. One should concentrate on oneself,

instead of trying to influence others or run their lives. This, more than any other characteristic

shows strength of character, after all.

It is best to just leave people to live their own lives. Every single person has the right to

exist. Discrimination of all forms should be prevented. Every person has got some rights which

should be guaranteed at all costs. These rights guarantee a standard of living that enables every

person to have a dignified existence. Living does not mean just basic existence. It also means a

certain degree of comfort, with at least the basic amenities one absolutely needs. This is provided

for in the Constitution and guaranteed by the Supreme Court. But instances where even such a

life is denied to people still exist. In fact such instances are widespread. More important finally

than just making laws and expecting people to follow them or even having a strong retributive

system in place is inculcating people with the belief that life should be considered sacred.

Something inviolable. Not something to be trifled around with. Even now, there is a raging

debate as to the legality of the death penalty and whether it should be abolished. In many

countries, the death penalty has been done away with. Not in India though. As the recent

hangings of Ajmal Kasab and Afzal Guru showed, India still favours the death penalty. For how

long though? The world is becoming a more civilized place and alternatives to the death penalty

exist.

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ROME WAS NOT BUILT IN A DAY

“Patience is bitter, but its fruit is sweet”, said Jean Jacques Rousseau of “The Social Contract”

fame.

Founded somewhere in the 8th century B.C., Rome slowly but steadily grew into the most

powerful empire in the world, giving us such luminaries as Julius Caesar, Octavius Caesar,

Cicero and Trajan. At its peak, it occupied an area twice that of present-day India; no mean feat

considering that lack of proper communication and transport systems in medieval times. The key

words here are ‘at its peak’. The peak of the Roman Empire coincided with the rule of Trajan of

the Nerva-Antonine dynasty, somewhere towards the end of the first century A.D. and the

beginning of the second century A.D, quite far off from its humble beginnings nine centuries

earlier. It took the Roman Empire, one of the greatest empires the world has ever seen, nearly a

millennium to reach its zenith. Access to a ordinary calculator would tell one that this represented

a time span of approximately three and a half lakh days. From its early, troubled days, the Roman

Empire was able to fight and vanquish all its troubles and claim the space that had been

previously held by the Greek Empire. But all this took a very long time indeed. The Roman

Empire did not simply come into existence out of thin air. It required imaginative, resourceful

and strong leaders, favorable conditions and an awful lot of time to reach its peak.

Many a time, we seem unable to reach our goals. Many a time, we see people give up,

vexed and convinced that the path they see right in front is not the one for them. Patience is the

keyword. "He that can have patience can have what he will", said Benjamin Franklin. Whatever

the situation, the key lies in going on ahead as if one is unable to see the boulders in one’s path.

All too often, people give up at the threshold of success unable to see that victory lies but a few

steps ahead. They should take the example of Abraham Lincoln. The same Lincoln who many

consider as the greatest leader in the history of the United States of America suffered a barrage of

crushing defeats one after the other during his lifetime. His resume before he became President

was quite glum indeed! At the age of seven he and his family were forced out of their home and

he was forced to go to work. When he was nine, his mother passed away. He wanted to go to law

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school, but had no education. He went into debt when he was twenty-three, to become a partner

in a small store. It was only three years later that his business partner died, and left him with a

debt that took him years to repay. He lost his job in 1832. He was defeated for legislature in

1832. His sweetheart died in 1835. He then had a nervous breakdown in 1836. He was defeated

for speaker in 1838. He was defeated for nomination for Congress in 1843. He was then elected

to Congress in 1846, but lost his renomination in 1848. Then he was rejected for Land Officer in

1849. He was then defeated for Senate in 1854. Then he was defeated for nomination for Vice-

President in 1856. He was again defeated for Senate in 1858 and finally elected President in

1860. Even though Lincoln suffered a series of blows that might have crippled and derailed him,

he remained patient and strong and soldiered on. Forty Four American Presidents have come and

gone, but even now, historians usually rank Lincoln as the greatest overall. Maybe whatever

doesn’t kill you only makes you stronger.

“Patience is a most necessary qualification for business; many a man would rather you

heard his story than granted his request”, said Lord Chesterfield. If one has the patience to wait

through anything, he will get everything. Everything comes to he who waits. In business

especially, timing and patience are both sine qua non to success. The art of handling people is one

of the toughest in the world. Because of this, some companies are ready to pay millions by way

of a salary to a person who is quite proficient at handling other people. The key to getting things

done through other people is patience. Quite a simple eight-letter word you might think, but

indispensable in every respect. One should never lose one’s temper. It is the classic symptom for

impatience. One should be calm, collected and patient. Sooner or later, one’s time will come.

“Genius is eternal patience”, said Michelangelo. Well, he should know. This is the person

who had the patience to build the statue of David and the Pieta. And let us not forget the ceiling

of the Sistine Chapel, which took four years to complete. Michelangelo worked long and hard

throughout his life. He knew the importance of time. In his intricate works, one can see the deep

reservoirs of patience that this great man had. Every work of his needed a tremendous amount of

patience. This is the man who came to symbolize the Renaissance; the man who along with

Leonardo da Vinci was considered as the leading light of the Renaissance. A genius by all

respects. Whatever our field of endeavor, we should have patience.

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"Patience, that blending of moral courage with physical timidity", said Thomas Hardy.

Patience as a virtue has no equal. Whatever the situation, if one has patience one will come out

on top. The gift of being able to wait it out is becoming rare in the fast-moving world we live in

now. Whatever the provocation and whatever the circumstances, if one has the patience to see

things through, giving one’s best at all times, even if success is elusive, one can at least be proud

of the work that one has done. That more than anything is the elixir, the nectar we should search

for. In the end, success or failure is more of an academic distinction. The drive to succeed should

be there. If it is, we can be proud of ourselves. Giving one’s all, is all, in a manner of speaking, is

it not?

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NECESSITY IS THE MOTHER OF INVENTION

“Necessity is the mother of invention”, said Albert Einstein, one of the greatest minds the

world has ever known. Civilization has changed quite a bit over the last many centuries. Slowly

at first, reminiscent of a hand cart of a stony road, and then faster and faster with time,

civilization has moved forward. And the developmental process has still not stopped. It

continues, stronger than ever before, growing exponentially a jamais. Every single development

that has taken place, technological or otherwise, has been the result of necessity. The creation of

demand has pushed great minds to greater and greater feats. “A minori ad majus”, as one might

say. All the great inventions in the pages of human history have taken place due to the coeval

presence of heavy demand, consanguineous with necessity. Serendipity’s influence on the other

hand is markedly less. Cases like Henri Becquerel’s discovery of radioactivity are isolated.

In recent years, the influence of investment has become more important. As technology

has advanced exponentially, the requirement for heavy amounts of cash has become all-

encompassing. It has become de rigueur. However, money, as everyone knows, does not grow on

trees. The existence of the soi-disant money-plant remains a fable, after all. And to get the

aforementioned cash, the investors have to be convinced that their money will be put to good use.

Convincing them will however be a cinch if there is a ever-present and commonly-acknowledged

demand for whatever the enterprise seeks to dabble in. “Concensus facit legem”, one can say.

However, it’s not just now that necessity is sine qua non to invention. Earlier too, scientists

primarily sought to solve problems which affect human society. After all every scientist is

motivated by the desire to help hoi polloi.

There are many examples to show that necessity is behind all the activities and

inventions. He learnt agriculture and cleared new lands to till. To meet his social obligations and

for trade and commerce, he needed language and therefore he invented it. With the passage of

time man's needs went on increasing and he made inventions in keeping with the level of

civilization. The story of the thirsty crow is well-known to everybody. Once, a crow was very

thirsty. He flew here and there in search of water. But he could not see water anywhere. After

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some time he saw a pitcher. He went there but he found that the water was at the bottom of the

pitcher. He could not drink water. He saw some pebbles nearby. He began to drop the pebbles

into the pitcher one by one. After some time the water rose and the crow drank the water and

quenched his thirst. It was the pressing need of water that forced the crow to think the trick of

dropping the pebbles. In the same way it is the pressing need that compels a man to find out ways

and means to fulfill it.

Similarly, the pages of history are literally littered with examples where the denouement

was an invention born out of dire necessity. Early man invented traps in order to catch animals

and satisfy his need. Later on he invented the wheel in order to transport things from one place to

another. Archimedes, a genius of almost unparalleled greatness, was instrumental in the

depredation of the Roman fleet at the height of the Second Punic War. He constructed “burning

mirrors” which concentrated the rays of the Sun and burnt the Roman ships. He also built some

of the biggest catapults in the Ancient World using the claw (or the iron hand). He invented these

marvelous war machines out of necessity; to protect his beloved country from foreign invaders.

Of course, in the end, he valued his work in the field of mathematics more highly than his war

machines maybe because he knew that technology changes and evolves but mathematical truths

remain true forever. He worked and invented jusqu au bout. In fact his passion for his work

resulted in his death. When General Marcus Claudius Marcellus was finally able to dodge all of

Archimedes’s traps and finally enter Syracuse, he asked his soldiers to bring Archimedes to him.

However, Archimedes was solving a complex mathematical problem and refused to come. He

was summarily executed by a soldier for his insolence.

The human mind is capable of great things. Its working is abstruse, its feats are mind-

boggling. Scientists have long been astonished by the working of the mind. Capable of great

feats, it adapts to the situation; and with a strong-enough willpower, nothing seems out of reach.

No obstacle is ever big enough. Whatever be the bugbear, it can be wrestled down by the mind.

Over the years, pressure has enabled people to reach greater heights. If one is placed under heavy

pressure to accomplish something, he or she will do so, whatever be the opposing odds.

However, in the end, effort will have to be put in. With hard work nothing is impossible. Ex nilo

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nil fit, after all. It is only a matter of time before necessity is quenched. Necessity makes us bold

and zealous enough to attempt great deeds. It is after all a law of nature.

Where is a great need for something, it is inevitable that minds from around the world

will try to converge on the possible remedies. Sooner or later, someone will hit on an answer. It is

after all, only a matter of time. It is inevitable that human endeavor will bear fruit. Only a century

back, we did not have the television or the computer, forget about the internet. Now these

technological entities are sine qua non for a satisfying existence in society. All this has come into

existence out of an inherent human need to connect with each other. Videoconferencing is yet

another innovation that has brought us closer together.

If there is one thing that the human race is good at, it is adapting to the changed

conditions. Sooner or later, man adapts and lives on and profits. In that way, man is a lot like the

humble cockroach! However harsh be the conditions, man has proved himself to be a hardy

creature, unfazed by whatever is thrown at him. He has proved time and again that he can rise

whatever be the odds. The ability to work under great amounts of stress and actually prosper is

something almost no other creature can match. He only needs to be shown a direction. That

direction is given to him by the weighty needs of the hour. All the great inventions of human

history have been done due to the need for them. If man did not feel the need for anything, we

might be living as our ancestors once did centuries ago in our caves, oblivious to a higher

standard of existence. Our desire for better lives, our need for it, has fuelled our rise through

inventions. Necessity is indisputably the mother of inventions.

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FUTURE OF DEMOCRACY IN INDIA

“Democracy arises out of the notion that those who are equal in any respect are equal in all

respects; because men are equally free, they claim to be absolutely equal”, said Aristotle.

India’s founding fathers had a beautiful dream. They envisaged a country of widespread

diversity; but also widespread love. They felt that the people of India with all their extensive

differences could in the end live together, forgetting all chasms that divide them and make the

ideal of ‘India’ a reality. Some said that this could not be done. Some naysayers are always there,

you see. They felt that India with all its cultural, linguistic, communal and regional differences

would tear apart sooner rather than later. Over fifty years have passed by and now we can

examine whether they were right or not. India has survived. It has had its nadirs and disasters but

in the end, it survives; dare I say, it thrives. One of the biggest economies in the world, India is

still growing and moving from strength to strength. It is only a matter of time before India

occupies its rightful place at the very top of world hierarchy. However, the news has not all been

chocolates and roses for India. There remain certain obnoxious thorns that fester and spoil the

overall image. The plethora of scams that have been uncovered over the last few years, the

compliance of various dignitaries in the various scams, match-fixing, the almost-ubiquitous

poverty, communal pogroms, terrorist activities, all these have left Indians red-faced and reduced

India to a mocking-stock in certain circles.

India is the seventh largest and the second most populous country in the world, with

roughly one-sixth of its population, of about a billion and a quarter people. I am proud to say that

it is the world's largest democracy. It is one of the world's oldest civilizations yet, a very young

nation. In spite of all odds, India has been able to grow from strength to strength. Some may

point to the admittedly humungous defects in Indian society. India’s slums are rivaled only by the

favelas of Brazil in their size and despondency. Cleanliness remains a distant dream. There still

remain zealous bigots in Indian society, like the members of the murderous khap panchayats,

who order the execution of people who dare to love. There still remain people who dare to

impose their will on others, and there are still people who let others impose their will on them,

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ignorant of their rights and powers. However, India is young still. A mere babe in international

terms. The United States has been in existence for over three hundred years, for comparison.

Anyone who sighs and shakes his or her head when talking about India’s caste divides should not

forget the U.S. Civil War which took place a hundred years after the United States came into

being. The United States underwent an existential crisis of massive proportions with the South

planning to secede from the North. We may have had our little scrapes, but nothing of that

magnitude has ever happened here, has it? Till now anyway.

Many great minds have rejected the concept of democracy, claiming it is utterly

ineffective. “The best argument against democracy is a five-minute conversation with the average

voter”, said Winston Churchill. “Democracy means simply the bludgeoning of the people by the

people for the people”, said Oscar Wilde. The main problem with democracy is the assumption

that hoi polloi know what is good for them. That they have the knowledge and ability to take

their future into their own hands. Very often that is not the case. “The ignorance of one voter in a

democracy impairs the security of all”, said John F. Kennedy. Poverty and ignorance are the main

causes for this. Very often the vexing problem facing most people in such a large, poverty-ridden

country like India is where to get the next square meal. Bare survival is all that counts for these

people. Who can blame them then for not trying to make sense of the complex jargon that news

channel anchors use? Of course, this is not to discredit the efforts of news channels to spread

awareness about the burning issues facing India’s society. Of course, the paid news scandal has

brought even this into question, but all in all, the efforts of stalwarts like P. Sainath and others

should not be dragged through mud because of some putrid, rotten apples.

“Democracy cannot succeed unless those who express their choice are prepared to choose

wisely. The real safeguard of democracy, therefore, is education”, said Franklin Delano

Roosevelt. However with poverty, people are unable to pay the fees to send their wards to school

and college. Or if they can, they only go the worst colleges and schools which give only minimal

education. A bad education, in turn, condemns them into poverty. A vicious circle indeed! And it

is threatening to spiral completely out of control. Only with universal education of a high level

can this vicious cycle be broken. Only then can the true strength and potential of India’s

population be unlocked. Otherwise India will flounder on as before.

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The situation as it exists at present is not the right one for India to flourish. The divide

between the rich and the poor only grows deeper. The so-called high and the mighty do not care

for those to occupy the lower rungs of social hierarchy. Oligarchy is ergo doomed. The phrase

ovem lupo committere springs to mind at the same time as oligarchy. And dictatorship never was

an option. The only path ahead is democracy. Sir Winston Churchill’s words spring to mind- “It

has been said that democracy is the worst form of government except all the others that have been

tried”. India has a very bright future. It has unbelievable amounts of potential that till now has not

been allowed to flourish. The whole Anna Hazare fasting incident has shown us that there are

people who were willing to work towards change in our country. To make democracy more

inclusive.

However, even though we have the will, there are certain monumental hurdles along the

way that threaten to derail India’s development as a whole. It is only by overcoming hurdles that

India can become stronger. However, India has the potential to overcome these hurdles quite

easily. India’s future is clarus et bellus. However, we all have to work towards this future. If we

all pull together in the right direction, there is no reason why India will not rise and shine

effulgently. Jawaharlal Nehru in his book, “The Discovery of India” maintained that he saw in

the Indian people a spirit, some thing that he says he also found in the people of China, Russia

and the United States. He said however that being of Indian origin, his judgment was clouded and

that it was quite possible that he had so much wanted this spirit to be there in the Indians that he

may have misjudged his country. By this spirit that Nehru proposed, he meant a vital energy that

enables a country to face times of adversity with a brave face and be a leader, more than a

follower in world affairs. He meant that what ever level it was down graded to, a country with

this spirit would rise up and reclaim its place in world hierarchy. A spirit which enables its people

to take a lead in various fields; in short a ‘winner’. India can and will rise. She only needs time.

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UNITY IS STRENGTH

“So powerful is the light of unity that it can illuminate the whole earth” said Baha'u'llah.

Observing the human race, one startling characteristic that not so much as strikes us, as

bashes us on the head with a blunt, rusty hammer is the mind-boggling diversity. All of us are

different in some way or the other. No two people, not even twins are perfectly alike. There are

more than seven billion people on the planet. Yet, each one’s irises and fingerprints are different.

And not just by a little. Apart from that, we all come in varied shapes and sizes. Diversity seems

to be something built-in with respect to the human race. Small wonder then that it affects our

lives so much. For millennia, discrimination on the basis of our characteristics has been a

recurrent theme. Racial segregation was only recently denounced by Martin Luther King Junior.

One defining characteristic ab initio has been the utter lack of unity among members of the

human race. In fact with time, discrimination has gone a minori ad majus.

“World unity is the wish of the hopeful, the goal of the idealist and the dream of the

romantic. Yet it is folly to the realist and a lie to the innocent” said Don William Jr. It has oft

been proposed that the achievement of true unity among us as a race is a utopian dream, doomed

to failure. The chasms that oft divide us, whether it is religion or philosophy or even history are

all too often too deep and wide to warrant an easy reconciliation. It requires strength to show

unity. Perhaps not an interpretation often associated with the phrase “unity is strength”; however

relevant nevertheless. It requires a great deal of strength to cross the great divide, to break down

the great walls of hatred that have built up over the centuries. After all, man has been around for a

very long time, and divisions usually solidify, over generations. As a species, we are not famed

for our capability for forgiveness, whatever the Bible has to say about it. The phrase, “an eye for

an eye” can be found in the Code of Hammurabi. Hammurabi lived nearly two millennia before

the birth of Jesus Christ. So the principle goes very far back indeed. A testimony perhaps of just

how vindictive we are. It would require a near-miracle to bridge the divides that criss-cross our

society. Aux grands maux, les grands remedes, perhaps?

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Let us go a maiore ad minus now. In our day to day lives, far removed from world politics

and cultural divides, we can again see the strength of unity. The corporate world is one of many

examples. Yes, the corporate world does influence politics to a very great extent. Perhaps more

than what is healthy as documentaries such as “Zeitgeist” by Peter Joseph have explicated. But at

a much lower level we find that unity helps us accomplish much more than what we would do

individually. The clichéd phrase “the whole is greater than the sum of the parts”, is found out to

be true after all. Even in our personal lives, unity is seen to be tremendously important. The unity

than a man and wife show in making life decisions is an important component of their

relationship and is an indication of how compatible the two are for each other. “When you make

the sacrifice in marriage, you're sacrificing not to each other but to unity in a relationship”, said

Joseph Campbell. These words of Joseph Campbell certainly ring true. After all, marriage is a

prime example of how the whole is greater than the sum of the individual parts. Two people with

different tastes put aside their differences and try to live their lives together in a consonant

manner; always trying to make the other happy and comfortable.

“No doubt unity is something to be desired, to be striven for, but it cannot be willed into

being by mere declarations”, said Theodore Bikel. We may trust in the bon homie of hoi polloi.

But in the end, good intentions are just not enough. Action is, in the end, the name of the game.

We have to put aside our differences and try to look at the world through the prism of universal

brotherhood and fraternity. Only then can we reach somewhere. After all, we humans are in the

end very similar to each other. Whatever be the color of one’s skin or the color of one’s hair, he

or she is human. Efforts are being taken to this end. The United Nations is one organization

which epitomizes world unity. All the countries on the planet putting aside their sovereign

differences and meeting together to discuss important issues is one of the goals of unity. The

United Nations still is pretty much more of a symbolic institution in some ways; with no real

power to actually do anything. However, this might change in the near future.

The lack of unity among us humans as a race is rather startling. After all, we would expect

the mentally most advanced species on the planet to know that working together and co-operating

with each other is much more advantageous to showing disharmony. However, this has not been

so. “The reason why the world lacks unity, and lies broken and in heaps, is, because man is

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disunited with himself”, said Ralph Waldo Emerson. Suspicion, greed, jealousy. The world

unfortunately has huge dollops of the above three characteristics. Man has to control himself and

bring all his base feelings to heel. Perhaps something easier said than done. After all, these

negative feelings have been around as long as man himself; the story of Cain and Abel in the

Bible being a prime example of these feelings reaching destructive levels. However, natura non

facit saltum. Negativity can only be brought down slowly. With patience, love and hard work,

sooner or later, we can rise to great heights, as a species. There might always be some rotten

apples. But we should always believe in the inherent goodness of the human race. Even Al

Capone, one of the most-hated and feared murderers who ever walked this planet earnestly

believed that he could not have done things any other way. He said that he did those terrible

deeds because his very survival was at stake. He saw himself as someone who was just trying to

provide for his family. When such a person, one who is seen as the very epitome of evil by some,

says he sees himself as someone just trying to provide for his family, we realize that everyone in

the end has some modicum of goodness in him or her. So, we as a species should pull up our

collective socks and try to co-operate with each other at all times to reach our collective goals.

Otherwise, we are doomed to dissolve into oblivion. “I do not conceive of any reality at all as

without genuine unity”, said Gottfried Leibnitz.

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INDIA AND NUCLEAR ENERGY

“I would like nuclear fusion to become a practical power source. It would provide an

inexhaustible supply of energy, without pollution or global warming”, said Stephan Hawking.

Nuclear energy is a topic which has for a very long time deeply divided opinion among

people. Some like Stephen Hawking feel that nuclear energy is a God-given gift, having the

potential to bring out millions of people out of the gloom. On the other hand, others, like the

victims of the Chernobyl tragedy, the Fukushima disaster and the Three Mile Island disasters

understandably feel otherwise. Over the years, the supply of conventional resources on the planet

has rapidly speeded towards exhaustion. Scientists say that before the end of this century,

conventional resources like coal, oil and others will have all been used up. Perhaps even earlier.

In such it is advisable to find other forms of energy. One disadvantage of using conventional

forms of energy has been the enormous amount of pollutants that the usage of these sources

releases. This results in serious depredation of the environment, which has raised very pertinent

concerns. It looks like the damage to the environment cannot be solved a prima vista. However,

some are of the opinion that drastic action, taken as soon as possible may limit the damage. One

of the biggest demands of this lobby has been switching to renewable or non-conventional

sources of energy, something that has till now been hard to realize.

One of the difficulties related to the usage of renewable sources of energy has been the

level of technology involved. The technology to satisfy the energy-deficient world still does not

exist. One aspect however of these sources is the near absence of any pollutants. “All the waste in

a year from a nuclear power plant can be stored under a desk”, said Ronald Reagan. Compared to

the tonnes of waste produced by the usage of coal or other conventional sources of energy, this is

a mere pittance. These clean fuels have caught the imagination of hoi polloi. “Almost every way

we make electricity today, except for the emerging renewables and nuclear, puts out CO2. And

so, what we're going to have to do at a global scale, is create a new system. And so, we need

energy miracles”, said Bill Gates. Nuclear power has been portrayed as one such miracle. People

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have often said that nuclear power has the potential to change the energy structure of the world in

a way that cannot be imagined as of yet with our limited usage of nuclear energy.

Nuclear power is yet a mere baby in the international arena. Nuclear power stations,

excluding the contribution from naval nuclear fission reactors, provided about 5.7% of the

world's energy and 13% of the world's electricity, in 2012. In 2013, the IAEA reported that there

are 437 operational nuclear power reactors, in 31 countries. In addition, there are approximately

140 naval vessels using nuclear propulsion in operation, powered by some 180 reactors.

However, there is an ongoing debate about the use of nuclear energy. Proponents, such as

the World Nuclear Association, the IAEA and Environmentalists for Nuclear Energy contend that

nuclear power is a safe sustainable energy source that reduces carbon emissions. Opponents, such

as Greenpeace International and NIRS, contend that nuclear power poses many threats to people

and the environment, giving the Chernobyl, Fukushima and the Three Mile Island fiascos as

examples. The captious arguments of these organizations have borne fruit over the last few years,

bolstered by the recent Fukushima disaster. “The oil companies regard nuclear power as their

rival, who will reduce their profits, so they put out a lot of disinformation about nuclear power”,

said James Lovelock. With all these claims and counter-claims being made, it is nearly

impossible to fish out the hard facts which can help us to come to a final decision.

Nuclear power is the fourth largest source of power in India after thermal,

hydroelectric and renewable sources of electricity. India has altogether 20 nuclear reactors in

operation in six nuclear power plants, generating 4,780 MW while seven other reactors are under

construction and are expected to generate an additional 5,300 MW. Somewhere in October 2010,

India drew up an ambitious plan to reach a nuclear power capacity of 63,000 MW in 2032, but

populations around proposed Indian NPP sites have launched protests, raising questions about

atomic energy as a clean and safe alternative to fossil fuels. Quite understandable, considering the

sheer volume of displacement these projects are causing and the safety issues. There have been

mass protests against the French-backed 9900MW Jaitapur Nuclear Power Project in Maharashtra

and the Russian-backed 2000MW Kodankulam Nuclear Power Plant in Tamil Nadu. The state

government of West Bengal state has also refused permission to a proposed 6000 MW facility

near the town of Haripur that intended to host six Russian reactors. A Public Interest Litigation

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(PIL) has also been filed against the government’s civil nuclear programme at the Supreme

Court.

The “c squared” term in Einstein’s famous “e is equal to mc squared”, one of the most

famous and recognizable formulae on the planet, gives a tremendous amount of weight to the

right side of the equation; consequently lifting the left side of the equation, that is energy. The

sheer amount of energy that can be produced by the conversion of matter into energy is

unbelievable. This can have both positive and negative implication. If harnessed, nuclear energy

can solve the energy problems of the world many times over. However, if something goes wrong,

the denouement can be disastrous.

“Of all the failed technologies that litter the onward march of science - steam carriages,

zeppelins, armored trains - none has been so catastrophic to prosperity as the last century's

attempt to generate electricity from nuclear fission”, said James Buchan. This statement of the

famous British journalist and novelist is a testimony to what the negative consequences could be.

All across Eastern Europe, there are still hushed murmurs concerning children who are

“different”, legacies of the Chernobyl accident. Ghostly pictures posted on Facebook and other

social networking sites, give an idea as to the effect of this accident on the Ukrainian town. No

one wants such an accident to happen. However, some say that such accidents are inevitable

when it comes to nuclear energy. Of course, this is debatable. However, its potential for goodness

cannot be denied. The debate will continue. As a growing nation, India should realize that it

requires huge amounts of energy in the coming years to support its growth as it marches

inexorably forwards. Will we be better off if this energy comes from Nuclear energy rather than

other sources? That is the question one which does not have any easy answers.

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STRIKE WHEN THE IRON IS HOT

The above phrase brings to mind the common village blacksmith. Blacksmiths heat a

piece of iron to very high temperatures. At those elevated temperatures, iron can be very easily

molded into whatever shape that the blacksmith wants. For a short span of time, the blacksmith

can do whatever he wants with the piece of iron, a luxury not afforded at other times when the

piece of iron is hard and unmovable. In life, very often we are not able to do what we want, when

we want. We need to be flexible and moldable. We need to correctly gauge the instant when we

can strike and then strike as hard as possible. For the iron is hot only for a limited amount of

time.

Umpteen examples in history mark out the above statement. Adolf Hitler might have won

the Second World if he had the instinct of a village blacksmith to strike at the right time. He

luckily did not. He waited and waited for no explicable reason, instead of capturing what

remained of the French Navy and adding it to his already powerful fleet. Instead, the French fleet

was allowed to escape and augment the Royal British Navy. A small event that had major

implications later on, while Hitler pondered how to cross the 34-km stretch called the English

Channel with the most powerful naval force on the planet, just waiting to blast anything German

out of the water. Adolf Hitler would certainly have made a terrible blacksmith. For he failed to

strike a second time when the whole of France was his. He could have concentrated on Britain

and made mincemeat out of it. However, he fell prey to emotion. He felt sympathy toward the

people of Britain and its architecture. Yes, sympathy! This is from the man who sent millions of

Jews to concentration camps for no reason at all. He did not want war on Britain and felt that he

could persuade Britain to acknowledge his suzerainty. And so he decided to attack Russia. Not a

good decision at the best of times. And certainly a pathetic one with Britain hanging on to one

front desperately like a particularly irritating cross between a leech and the Cape Town clam. Not

that anyone is complaining of course. So all in all, a two front war started, something that experts

had told Germany should avoid. And Nazi Germany slid unerringly towards defeat. This just

gives one an idea as to what could have been does it not?

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Coming down from those exalted levels, we can see many examples in our day to day

lives. It is very tough to gauge the right time to do a particular deed. Take the example of a

business man who receives a particular offer for another business man. Should he take that offer

or should he wait for another one knowing full well that the other man might tire of waiting and

decide to give the offer to someone else? Or take the example of an engineering student going for

placements in his college. Should he decide to take up a particular job, or wait, not knowing

whether he can get another offer or no? It is all very confusing sometimes with the limitations

and constraints within which one must work. Possessing an astute sense of timing is of utmost

importance. A little bit off and the very best plans might come crashing down like a pack of

cards.

One has to remain alert and on the prowl for an opportunity to present itself. And when it

does, one should grab hard and not let go. For opportunities, especially golden ones do not just

stroll around languidly onto one’s path. They scurry around at full pace in highly convoluted

patterns and one has to do quite a lot to finally catch it. After all in the highly complicated,

competitive, dog-eat-dog world that we live in, everyone is on the lookout for opportunities. If

one misses a chance, one might not be presented with a similar one again. One should not in the

end cry over spilt milk and rue over the missed opportunities one has had.

As the great William Shakespeare, with his unrivalled understanding of human character

told, “There is a tide in the affairs of men, which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune; Omitted,

all the voyage of their lives, is bound in shallows and in miseries”. Sailors who are alert and plan

ahead are able to take advantage of the tide going out and set sail to new lands and riches early,

where as others who are lazy or less far-sighted are left behind to wait for the next tide. A tide

which will not come for a long time. Of course, this part of the analogy might not be appropriate

because the next tide might not come at all in life, where as the physical phenomenon of tides is

predictable, consisting as it does of a calculation of the alignments of the Moon and the Sun with

respect to the Earth.

This maxim holds well in politics especially. Even seasoned politicians fall short of

achieving the exacting standards that politics demands. Committing a faux pas is ridiculously

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easy in the higher echelons of politics. It is all a game of chance in some ways. One wrong move

or even a half-move can spell irreparable doom. Knowing when to do what is horrendously

tough.

One thing we should remember in life is that life is for real. We should not roam about in

a directionless fashion. There is lots of hard work to be done. Hard work will not do itself. We

need to work very hard in order to reach greater heights. We should not follow the philosophy of

hedonism everywhere. It has trompe l’ oeil. It is to bibere venenum in auro. Toujours perdrix is

not good too, you see. One is given only a limited time on this planet. One will have to make the

best out of it. This will certainly not be easy at all. However, the least one can do is try and hope

for the best. Of course a certain amount of pleasure is important. Old clichéd phrases like “All

work and no play makes Jack a dull boy” tell us that pleasure too is important. However, an

excess of pleasure is not good too. One should follow the policy of the great Roman lyric poet,

Horace who lived during the time of Augustus. His policy of aurea mediocritas denotes ‘the

golden mean’. It is meant to convey a philosophy of not partaking too much in something. ‘Nec

Dextrorsum, Nec Sinistrorsum’ which means neither to the right nor to the left also means the

same. It means that people should neither veer too much to one side nor to another, but must

undertake to walk in a path which follows the Greek ideal of ‘moderation in all things’. Only then

can we endeavor to strike when the iron is still hot, to take opportunities by the collar and make

the best out of them. We may then find that the piece of iron transformed into gold.

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POVERTY: THE BANE OF MODERN TIMES

“Poverty is the mother of crime”, said Marcus Aurelius.

The word poverty brings a dismal picture to my mind. Aged, emaciated people with their

eyes filled with defeat and helplessness sitting in front of an old corrugated tin shed, one among

many others, all closely packed together in one of those monstrous, indestructible slums of

Mumbai or the favelas of Rio de Janeiro. Analyzing this caricature of mine, one characteristic

that stands out is the presence of a multitude of people. One can almost never imagine the

complete eradication of poverty, can one? Maybe, after all, poverty can never be eradicated.

Maybe people are reborn again and again and poverty and wealth are but a means to condemn or

reward one for the deeds he or she committed in their previous lives. Whatever be the raison

d’etre of poverty, if such a reason exists at all, what is surely undeniable is its overwhelming

presence in modern society. In every city or town or village on the face of our planet, we can see

people struggling to raise themselves up; the specter of poverty threatening to engulf them in its

poisonous grasp.

“Wars of nations are fought to change maps. But wars of poverty are fought to map

change”, said Mohammad Ali. It is said that families are always moving up or down in the

United States. That can be said of any country on the planet. There are wars fought for this as

well. Families try to broaden their influence and power and try to retain their position in the

social hierarchy and try their very best to move upwards. All this would be good if these same

families did not also try their best to keep the downtrodden as low as possible. In every country

we see this rich-poor divide that seems to be growing with each passing day. If the same situation

continues we might see what H.G. Wells had predicted in his book, The Time Machine, where in

the future, human beings evolve into two different species, signifying the rich and the poor. The

rich, coddled ones evolving into the cute species who live on the surface and the poor ones who

have faced many hardships and have with the passage of generations, become tougher evolving

into species who live underground.

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“Poverty entails fear and stress and sometimes depression. It meets a thousand petty

humiliations and hardships. Climbing out of poverty by your own efforts that is something on

which to pride yourself but poverty itself is romanticized by fools”, said J.K. Rowling. For young

minds, filled with enthusiasm and a zest for life, a life filled with poverty is seen to be a damp

squib. Sooner or later, the enthusiasm dies away and the fire is lost. In other cases, that burning

fire enables that young mind to do whatever he or she can to escape poverty. And by anything, I

mean anything. Even crime. Idealism slips away to be replaced by a feeling that the world is an

unfair place and that only crime pays. The crime rate increases. And with an increase in the crime

rate, poverty increases. It is a vicious circle which does not seem to have an end. It just goes on

and on, swallowing everything in its path.

Over the years, poverty has been romanticized. It has been described in many places as

the place where people are able to fully develop themselves because of the hardships involved.

“Coming generations will learn equality from poverty, and love from woes”, said Khalil Gibran.

A few people have come up from the very depths of poverty to occupy the highest, most rarefied

echelons of society. This has given rise to the notion that poverty builds character and there is a

proclivity to condemn poor people for their own fate. After all if people like them were able to

rise up to such great levels, why did they not do so? Chinks are seen in the character and

determination of the poor people. However, that is not true. Judging people on the basis of what

is seen on the outside is not proper. It is only the tip of the iceberg. Five-sixth of an iceberg is

below the sea-level and so here it is too.

Over the centuries, society has changed quite a lot. Technological advances have changed

the world so much. The structure of society has also changed. From earlier times, when Kingship

was the norm, to now where different forms of Democracy or Socialism are prevalent, the world

has changed so much. However, one thing that has remained constant from those times is

poverty. It hangs around like a black cloud, depressingly low. Always present, fearfully dark.

“The world is very different now. For man holds in his mortal hands the power to abolish all

forms of human poverty, and all forms of human life”, said John F. Kennedy. It is but one of the

great anomalies of human civilization that even though we have advanced so much, not much of

a dent has been made to poverty. Of course, in Western civilizations, poverty has been kept under

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control. But one only has to visit the favelas of Rio or the slums of Mumbai to find out what

poverty is all about. Heaps upon heaps of humanity living in extreme squalor. A living

indictment of the way in which we have constructed our society.

It is rather frightening to note that 20% of today’s society live on less than 10$ a day. The

poorest 40 percent of the world’s population accounts for 5 percent of global income. The richest

20 percent accounts for three-quarters of world income. According to UNICEF, 22,000 children

die each day due to poverty. And they “die quietly in some of the poorest villages on earth, far

removed from the scrutiny and the conscience of the world. Being meek and weak in life makes

these dying multitudes even more invisible in death.” Around 27-28 percent of all children in

developing countries are estimated to be underweight or stunted. The two regions that account for

the bulk of the deficit are South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. Nearly a billion people entered the

21st century unable to read a book or sign their names. There are 2.2 billion children on the

planet. Out of these 1 billion, that is one out of every two live in poverty. Approximately half the

world’s population now lives in cities and towns. In 2005, one out of three urban dwellers

(approximately 1 billion people) was living in slum conditions.

The only way to get rid of poverty is education. Every single child should be given an

education at par with every other child on the planet. Only then can a semblance of equality be

brought to today’s society. The rich-poor divide can only then be abolished. Many attempts have

been made to bring education to the masses as a whole. The One Laptop per child scheme and

other diverse schemes try to bring equality. However, whatever be the technological innovation

brought into education, the fact remains that education is imparted by teachers. Human beings

whose methods might not be the best. Improvements have to be made in the way education is

imparted. Otherwise money power and influence may still be able to get what it wants. The effect

of money should be removed. Only then can this bane of modern times be fully eradicated and a

utopia created in our society.

Pratheek Praveen Kumar is author of four books including an anthology of English poems published by a reputed publishing house in the USA in 2009. He is also credited with a series of first prizes in national level essay competitions.

Presently, he is studying for engineering course in Telecommunications Engineering from reputed R.V. College of Engineering, Bangalore. He did his ICSE and ISC with distinction from prestigious Bishop Cotton Boys’ School of Bangalore.

Being a brilliant student throughout, he is a top scorer in both the institutions he studied. He stood first in Information Technology competition and Elocution Competition held in Bishop Cotton Boys’ School, Bangalore also was decorated by its principal for his performances in the field of poetry writing. He stood first to the college in Arm Wrestling competition in R.V.College of Engineering, Bangalore. He has also been awarded first prize in the Inter-College Creative Writing competition held in the R.V. College of Engineering, Bangalore and stood first in inter-college essay competition held in 2012 in Bangalore. A cricket enthusiast, he is very popular among his friends. He also loves horse riding, tennis, billiards, cycling and football. Born in Bangalore as the son of Shree Praveen Kumar and Smt. Jayashree, presently he is residing with his parents in Bangalore.

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