Ya ya, I know...we all are...proud Indians. Can anyone deffer from me on this? NO, absolutely no, because we are proud: Of our culture, of our heritage, of our religion, of our country. Each of us love our country and are so proud to be an Indian that people from other countries should learn from us how to be a patriot.
Now you must be wondering, when all this is true, then why bring up the topic!! Actually I am currently in USA and when I was leaving India, everyone told me, that now I will never return to India, that I had done a great job and now I was set for life. When I told them that i was planning to return, many of them looked at me with shock on their faces, many of them shook their 10 gallon heads and assured me that I will never come back to India, in-fact I should not even think about it, as such opportunities do not come in life time and again. Some of them even told me that no matter what I said now, I will never come back to India and they were as sure of this, as that one can not return to life after death.
I was astonished and surprised on all these responses. These were proud Indians who had spent their whole lives in this very country, India, and considered themselves as proud Indians. Most of them had never been to US but were explaining me about comforts in life in US so well as if they had lived there only and were visiting India for the first time. Anyways, I came to US to continue my studies.
Now, US has a different lifestyle and culture. I was living alone in an apartment so I started watching hindi songs' videos on youtube and there I read comments on them. Most of them were from NRIs and they all talked about how lovely India is, what a great culture and society we have and how they miss India. I asked several of them, if they miss it so much then why not go back? Don't they get jobs there? They were all getting jobs but obviously not so much of money and luxuries, "so they could not go back".
I really don't understand, very rarely I see, if any, old Indians here who are happy, they all want to go back to India, but can't 'coz of their family and children who have lived all their lives in US and can not adjust in India anymore, and none of the young ones who are coming here want to go back 'coz of money and independence they get here. Yet they all talk about wishing to go back to India (of-course these young ones will turn into old ones who would then want to go back, to seek what we all actually seek: peace of mind and love; but they will not be able to...'coz of their children then)...!!!
Another thing I noticed was, when all Indians living abroad return to India for short visits, they abuse every thing in India...from air to roads to doctors to system...everything, but when abroad, they all miss India and talk about going back (I said talk...as they do not really want to).
Then why this act of being proud...why not accept the truth. Its not that USA is perfect, it has a great lifestyle for young bloods like me who can live life literally kingsize and make money too...but then...STOP. That is it... > 95% of people (I talked to, and I have discussed this issue with >200 people face to face or via internet) agree, there is very little beyond money and some comforts of life like electricity/water...the things that were in India...the closeness of relations, those evenings with friends, having dinner with family almost daily and the fun they could have had in daily life by doing same or even more work, but not being under so much of performance pressure all the time...I fail to understand what these people chase in lives, when they acknowledge not to be as happy, as they could have been but still pursue the so called "........ dream"..!?
Is it still, that we are becoming victims of mass propaganda, just like looking at a teenager smoking and drinking and it being said "cool" in teen world, others do it too...or people buying Loreal when they can get the same quality in Lakme? All say, India is flourishing and improving, but not at the rate we want it too...we all want to live in a country like US or UK and if India becomes like that...we will return...but nobody wants to be a participant in the process of making India that country..."great patriots that we are..." and nobody wants to acknowledge that these countries are what they are because their citizens worked and suffered for it. I do not know about other things, but I can say
this, they are what patriots should be like...they do not cheat people from outside and they work hard and suffer to make their country great, they never say wrong and bad things about their country in front of others (it is astonishing for most of the people when I tell about the crimes and unsafe areas here...and why so..!!?? when crimes in India are not even 1/20th or even 1/30th of here...while everyone has a bad image of India).
Well there is a lot more to be said and add...but right now I need to sleep, so that I can get up early and go to work...but I will do it as I get time...till then...enjoy and if your mentality permits...think about it.
Thursday, September 23, 2010
Friday, March 26, 2010
Religion…a cultural heritage!!
It’s a Saturday morning and I was sitting peacefully gathering updates of events around the globe, oblivious to what was happening inside my house, when I heard a sound, “jai Shani Maharaj!!” This disrupted the continuity of my thoughts and the pleasure I was getting from reading how beautifully Sachin had scored runs and led his team to victory. Obviously another god in this country is Sachin and watching cricket is our moral/ethical and social duty and responsibility, even if it means loss of a day’s work (by half of country, meaning loss of billions of rupees) or less marks in exams. Now this guy was distracting me and irritated I told him to move on and resumed reading the article. Obviously he did not and soon I was hearing all the curses and what a mess my future will be if I did not give him 1 rupee and what all I could achieve if I gave him that! I did not bother but was forced to when our neighbor called me and told me not to take shani dev so casually. Over the next 15mins I was being told about our culture and religion and what all should we do when these (fake) fakirs come to us as messengers of god.
Though I was not paying attention to what she said…my mind had drifted to past memories when I was in 7th std and visited Rishikesh with my family. I distinctly remember meeting a sadhu on the bank of river Ganga (or Ganges as we call it in English-though I don’t understand why it is that way, why do spellings change when we write something Indian in English, and if it is the case then why shouldn’t we start calling table as tablaa or tabela!!), he was wearing sport shoes of LOTTO (which was a big deal that time), also he had an umbrella with a silver handle so that he could protect his skin from sun, was wearing a gold plated wrist watch and accepted donations only above Rs.50. I asked my father, what kind of ascetic he is and reply came from my grandpa. He told me that these guys have big bungalows with all facilities and this is just a profession, they maintain bank a/c in lakhs and lakhs. All I could say was, baba ki jai ho!!
Thankfully mom called me for some work and I excused myself from the torture and came in. Again after the job was done my evil mind drifted to an evil possibility…what if there we no sadhus (those we see outside temples and in trains and every crossing on roads)…what if these selfless messengers of god who come to relieve us of our sins disappeared? Seems impossible, isn’t it? But it is very much possible! It is very soothing and it puts your mind at ease when you look at the one religion which again originated in India- Sikh. Yes!! Have you ever seen a Sikh beggar? The answer would be definitively no! Everyone says Punjabis are a rich, there is no need for them to beg. But did you ever think how they became rich? How come they are all employed in this country of more than a billion people where more than 30% of population is below poverty line? The answer is very simple, begging is banned in their religion and they follow it. They work...without caring about the status of job...no job is considered small by them...and frankly...I respect them a lot for the same.
What about Hindu? The great scholars/pundits/Brahmins centuries back used to teach students for free. Their job was to educate people and create norms for a developed society. So they did not work for living and begged for food in order to survive. Giving food was considered a moral duty and a good thing to do and begging a sign of student’s and ascetic life. We followed those norms into the modern society and are still continuing it today without realizing that ashrams have changed into schools and colleges and they are all money minting machines. It is no more a noble profession. Also the saints are no more saints. Even our modern Sai Baba was interviewed by BBC channel. The interview was supposedly hazardous for his image and was never aired. Incidences of childrens’ deaths and physical and sexual abuses with women are common in ashrams these days. We all know what is happening behind curtains and still we donate such huge amount of money to these cheats, just to make our life after death (which we don’t even know, whether it exists or not) a pleasant experience. All this to ward off the ill effects of the sins we do every day (like cheating customers to shell out more money from them, lie, not help those in need…) but we do not give up these malpractices!! I really don’t understand what kind of god would be happy to forgive all our sins just because we donate some money and cheat others for rest of the year...!!!???
Anyways, I think I should stop writing now and go back to reading how Sachin smashed balls and get some delight, else these negative thoughts will prompt me not to give money to any saints/sadhus now and then I will rot in hell…!! (to be cont....)
Though I was not paying attention to what she said…my mind had drifted to past memories when I was in 7th std and visited Rishikesh with my family. I distinctly remember meeting a sadhu on the bank of river Ganga (or Ganges as we call it in English-though I don’t understand why it is that way, why do spellings change when we write something Indian in English, and if it is the case then why shouldn’t we start calling table as tablaa or tabela!!), he was wearing sport shoes of LOTTO (which was a big deal that time), also he had an umbrella with a silver handle so that he could protect his skin from sun, was wearing a gold plated wrist watch and accepted donations only above Rs.50. I asked my father, what kind of ascetic he is and reply came from my grandpa. He told me that these guys have big bungalows with all facilities and this is just a profession, they maintain bank a/c in lakhs and lakhs. All I could say was, baba ki jai ho!!
Thankfully mom called me for some work and I excused myself from the torture and came in. Again after the job was done my evil mind drifted to an evil possibility…what if there we no sadhus (those we see outside temples and in trains and every crossing on roads)…what if these selfless messengers of god who come to relieve us of our sins disappeared? Seems impossible, isn’t it? But it is very much possible! It is very soothing and it puts your mind at ease when you look at the one religion which again originated in India- Sikh. Yes!! Have you ever seen a Sikh beggar? The answer would be definitively no! Everyone says Punjabis are a rich, there is no need for them to beg. But did you ever think how they became rich? How come they are all employed in this country of more than a billion people where more than 30% of population is below poverty line? The answer is very simple, begging is banned in their religion and they follow it. They work...without caring about the status of job...no job is considered small by them...and frankly...I respect them a lot for the same.
What about Hindu? The great scholars/pundits/Brahmins centuries back used to teach students for free. Their job was to educate people and create norms for a developed society. So they did not work for living and begged for food in order to survive. Giving food was considered a moral duty and a good thing to do and begging a sign of student’s and ascetic life. We followed those norms into the modern society and are still continuing it today without realizing that ashrams have changed into schools and colleges and they are all money minting machines. It is no more a noble profession. Also the saints are no more saints. Even our modern Sai Baba was interviewed by BBC channel. The interview was supposedly hazardous for his image and was never aired. Incidences of childrens’ deaths and physical and sexual abuses with women are common in ashrams these days. We all know what is happening behind curtains and still we donate such huge amount of money to these cheats, just to make our life after death (which we don’t even know, whether it exists or not) a pleasant experience. All this to ward off the ill effects of the sins we do every day (like cheating customers to shell out more money from them, lie, not help those in need…) but we do not give up these malpractices!! I really don’t understand what kind of god would be happy to forgive all our sins just because we donate some money and cheat others for rest of the year...!!!???
Anyways, I think I should stop writing now and go back to reading how Sachin smashed balls and get some delight, else these negative thoughts will prompt me not to give money to any saints/sadhus now and then I will rot in hell…!! (to be cont....)
Thursday, March 18, 2010
A New India… a NEW Democracy!!!
It happened to me a few days before the festival of Makar Sankranti, I was shopping with my mother for a bed-spread when I took a turn and had to stop my car 'coz there it was, a fancy looking Honda Accord parked right in the center of street leaving no room for any vehicle to pass. In response to my honking car horn (an activity we all do whenever we feel bored and want to create some music to amuse ourselves without realizing the inconvenience it causes to others, and of-course, why should we think about them…we Indians are musical creatures and art knows no barriers…be it a silence zone in front of hospital or an empty road in the middle of night…we live in a FREE INDIA now!) a young man came forward and moved a few chairs, which were placed on the road by the shop owner in order to serve his customers better (and let me tell you, he still thinks it is THE correct thing to do, as he owns the corner shop, so he has all the right to use the road next to it, after-all he pays road tax too…dosen’t he??). Anyways after the chairs were moved I was able to come out of the street on to the main road. All this honking horn sort of disturbed a few synapses among the neurons in my traditional Indian brain and I, then UNconventionally parked my car on the side of the road and came out looking for the proud owner of new Accord. I could not find him but did get a few words of advice from people there: to move on and not be concerned about where the other people park their cars…as my car had come out of the street and I had nothing to do with it now. Seeing the local support for the “traditionally” parked car my mom advised me to move on…and needless to say, I did get a long lecture on – “it is India and not US”.
Anyways, the damage to my neurons lasted a little longer then it should have and I went out again to reserve a ticket for my cousin. I was standing there in line (patiently trying to avoid a fight with the person standing right behind me, who, attracted by the gravitational force of my body was leaning all over me even when there was a lot of space to stand and no rush) and suddenly my nostrils caught a scent of goldflake (or 555 chap bedi…whatever!!) and I got curious to know who was the daredevil smoking in public…as I had full faith on law and order system in DEMOCRATIC India. I turned around and saw a group of 7-8 people sitting and smoking in the middle of road having a nice conversation, while there was a poor guy signaling them to get aside as he had to go…I felt pitty for him as he was old and probably had Alzhimer’s…it was only obvious…you can not ward off people like these off the streets and go your way just by honking…they are not cows and dogs…they know their rights and they use them…any Indian in proper state of mind would know this. So, after getting reservation I went to the group and asked them the reason for smoking in public place, when it was banned. The reply I got was beautiful: “we live in free and democratic India. We will do, what we like. If there is such a law then we are protesting against it!” Wow!! Still having faith in our system I went up to the police van parked nearby (supposedly to control acts like these and maintain proper traffic on the streets) and asked a constable standing there the reason for letting such acts happen right under their nose, and again, the response was amazing. I was told that they know of no such law and even if it was there in India, it was still not implemented in Jaipur!!! And as if this was not enough, taking out a cigarette from his pocket he advised me to go and close the tobacco industry all-together. I could certainly have given a befitting reply to that, but I had enough of cerebral function left, so taking a cue about my status in the “civilized society” I came back.
Synapses among my neurons were coming back to their normal positions…and I was learning the meaning of new “democracy”. Only I was not able to make up my mind about the recent events and so I turned up to my solution of all troubled times-songs and as luck would have it…I got an instant answer to all my questions…the song was “a new day has come”. The country which had contributed so much to the history of democracy is now becoming ready to give to the world, a NEW definition of Democracy!! Jai Hind!! (to be cont...)
Anyways, the damage to my neurons lasted a little longer then it should have and I went out again to reserve a ticket for my cousin. I was standing there in line (patiently trying to avoid a fight with the person standing right behind me, who, attracted by the gravitational force of my body was leaning all over me even when there was a lot of space to stand and no rush) and suddenly my nostrils caught a scent of goldflake (or 555 chap bedi…whatever!!) and I got curious to know who was the daredevil smoking in public…as I had full faith on law and order system in DEMOCRATIC India. I turned around and saw a group of 7-8 people sitting and smoking in the middle of road having a nice conversation, while there was a poor guy signaling them to get aside as he had to go…I felt pitty for him as he was old and probably had Alzhimer’s…it was only obvious…you can not ward off people like these off the streets and go your way just by honking…they are not cows and dogs…they know their rights and they use them…any Indian in proper state of mind would know this. So, after getting reservation I went to the group and asked them the reason for smoking in public place, when it was banned. The reply I got was beautiful: “we live in free and democratic India. We will do, what we like. If there is such a law then we are protesting against it!” Wow!! Still having faith in our system I went up to the police van parked nearby (supposedly to control acts like these and maintain proper traffic on the streets) and asked a constable standing there the reason for letting such acts happen right under their nose, and again, the response was amazing. I was told that they know of no such law and even if it was there in India, it was still not implemented in Jaipur!!! And as if this was not enough, taking out a cigarette from his pocket he advised me to go and close the tobacco industry all-together. I could certainly have given a befitting reply to that, but I had enough of cerebral function left, so taking a cue about my status in the “civilized society” I came back.
Synapses among my neurons were coming back to their normal positions…and I was learning the meaning of new “democracy”. Only I was not able to make up my mind about the recent events and so I turned up to my solution of all troubled times-songs and as luck would have it…I got an instant answer to all my questions…the song was “a new day has come”. The country which had contributed so much to the history of democracy is now becoming ready to give to the world, a NEW definition of Democracy!! Jai Hind!! (to be cont...)
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Jugaad…a simple solution to every problem and a way of survival!!!
I was travelling to visit Madurai recently, the place from where I did my basic medical education…or rather learned how learn without attending classes. Due to some unreliable friend of mine (who loves to call himself as most reliable) I was forced to travel in a sleeper class and the train was packed of passengers.
I saw an old lady, who had climbed the wagon when train had halted at a stop it was not supposed to, looking at me with a pathetic expression... I knew she was without reservation, but considering her age, yawning, I gave up my comfortable supine position, folded my legs and asked her to sit on my berth. My words acted like magic potion of gettafix (from asterix comics…which is one of my means of passing time these days) on her and she immediately occupied most of my berth sidelining me and called her 2 grandchildren and daughter saying- “yaha a jao, jagah ka JUGAAD ho gaya hai, baitho, mein kahi aur jagah dekhti hu”…and thus she left my berth searching for her next prey.
Having just returned from USA the incident had more impact on me then it would have had otherwise. I got to thinking what would happen in this country if there was no “jugaad”, something which I did not see in US at all? And then I realized the foolishness of my thought. It was impossible getting rid of jugaad in this country, where we have more then 10million gods to pray, though I doubt anyone prays to all of them, and then another thought occurred to me…may be this system of jugaad originated in heaven…such an indigenous solution to all the possible kinds of problem we face here everyday, such a PANACEA can only come from heaven. And why not…we have more then 10 million gods…and everyone must be worshiped, else they get angry…so what was done was, that our country was divided ( a tradition which we have carried out religiously dividing on the basis of region/religion/caste-ism/education/socioeconomic status/languages….etc) in many parts and they were being worshiped in those parts specially and then when it was not sufficient, then they divided days of the week among themselves…like Monday for lord Shiva, Tuesday for lord Hanuman, Wednesday for lord ganesha…etc. if this is not jugaad then what is it? Why is there a special day for every god? Why is it that on some days there is special attention giving to some god and to other on other days? I am convinced it is a kind of JUGAAD.
So back to us mortals…what will happen if there is no jugaad in India? The thought makes me shiver and I bet it will make you shiver too. Jugaad has become an integral part of our life…whether its getting admission in school/college with low scores or passing in exams, getting a job or getting a transfer or not getting a transfer… all you need is Jugaad. How do you get good treatment in a govt. hospital? How do you manage to get selected in RJS interviews? How to get a promotion? There is one solution to all your problems…JUGAAD !!!
But then how do people in USA, Canada, Europe…etc get their job done? How do they flourish so much? How come they survive? Aah!! They have no creativity, no out of box thinking…all they know is how to do their job…sincerely and on time. And why did they evolve like this when we are the oldest civilization? The answer is simple…they have no JUGAAD. What the heck…!!! They are not as developed as they think they are. They can never understand Jugaad even if they research on it for their whole lives.
And when the lady left my berth at next station with her children, like a true Indian…I blamed it all on system and on god...and slept…let US and Europe do what they like…what do I care...India is great…we have Jugaad !!!
I saw an old lady, who had climbed the wagon when train had halted at a stop it was not supposed to, looking at me with a pathetic expression... I knew she was without reservation, but considering her age, yawning, I gave up my comfortable supine position, folded my legs and asked her to sit on my berth. My words acted like magic potion of gettafix (from asterix comics…which is one of my means of passing time these days) on her and she immediately occupied most of my berth sidelining me and called her 2 grandchildren and daughter saying- “yaha a jao, jagah ka JUGAAD ho gaya hai, baitho, mein kahi aur jagah dekhti hu”…and thus she left my berth searching for her next prey.
Having just returned from USA the incident had more impact on me then it would have had otherwise. I got to thinking what would happen in this country if there was no “jugaad”, something which I did not see in US at all? And then I realized the foolishness of my thought. It was impossible getting rid of jugaad in this country, where we have more then 10million gods to pray, though I doubt anyone prays to all of them, and then another thought occurred to me…may be this system of jugaad originated in heaven…such an indigenous solution to all the possible kinds of problem we face here everyday, such a PANACEA can only come from heaven. And why not…we have more then 10 million gods…and everyone must be worshiped, else they get angry…so what was done was, that our country was divided ( a tradition which we have carried out religiously dividing on the basis of region/religion/caste-ism/education/socioeconomic status/languages….etc) in many parts and they were being worshiped in those parts specially and then when it was not sufficient, then they divided days of the week among themselves…like Monday for lord Shiva, Tuesday for lord Hanuman, Wednesday for lord ganesha…etc. if this is not jugaad then what is it? Why is there a special day for every god? Why is it that on some days there is special attention giving to some god and to other on other days? I am convinced it is a kind of JUGAAD.
So back to us mortals…what will happen if there is no jugaad in India? The thought makes me shiver and I bet it will make you shiver too. Jugaad has become an integral part of our life…whether its getting admission in school/college with low scores or passing in exams, getting a job or getting a transfer or not getting a transfer… all you need is Jugaad. How do you get good treatment in a govt. hospital? How do you manage to get selected in RJS interviews? How to get a promotion? There is one solution to all your problems…JUGAAD !!!
But then how do people in USA, Canada, Europe…etc get their job done? How do they flourish so much? How come they survive? Aah!! They have no creativity, no out of box thinking…all they know is how to do their job…sincerely and on time. And why did they evolve like this when we are the oldest civilization? The answer is simple…they have no JUGAAD. What the heck…!!! They are not as developed as they think they are. They can never understand Jugaad even if they research on it for their whole lives.
And when the lady left my berth at next station with her children, like a true Indian…I blamed it all on system and on god...and slept…let US and Europe do what they like…what do I care...India is great…we have Jugaad !!!
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