The Kangaroo Land (Australia) – Economically Developed, Culturally Impoverished

No matter how much economic development a country may have achieved, it does not necessarily guarantee that the country enjoys a truly refined and cultured society. This extremely unpleasant fact was again proved by the recent spate of racial attacks on the Indian students in Australia. Every Indian is shocked and disturbed to know about how our children are being thrashed by the raw and rustic Australian youths, simply for having the “wrong” skin colour. Ultra-outrageous! That is the only word that fittingly describes what is happening in the Kangaroo Land.

So this is the true character of the people of Australia, a country that prides itself in being in the league of the so-called “developed nations”? On one hand the Australians are so proud of the economic status of their “first world country”, and the high quality of life that they enjoy. And on the other hand they are so narrow-minded that they cannot accept a foreigner as their equal, simply because that person does not have the “correct” ethnicity and skin colour.

Actually there is nothing surprising about this rustic mentality of the Australians. The nature of a nation is mainly shaped by its origin, i.e. the types of forefathers it had. Australians might be proud that today they are a developed nation. But what is their origin? A huge chunk of their forefathers were criminals and anti-socials from England, who were banished by the English government to Australia (which was then a penal island). Another major chunk of their forefathers was constituted of the illiterate (and naturally uncultured) gold prospectors from various parts of Europe. With such a “genealogy”, it is little surprising that Australians have such an uncultured and ruffian attitude. In fact, rudeness is seemingly part and parcel of the Australian life. A case in point is the on-the-field behaviour of the Australian cricketers, the ones “credited” with the import of “sledging culture” in the “Gentleman’s game”.

It is heartening to see that the Indian government has already launched a strong protest with its Australian counterpart. The latter must be pursued not only to save the Indian students from further racial attacks, but also to take strict action against the culprits of the racial attacks that have taken place so far.

The Indian government is also well advised to bar the Australian universities from holding promotional and marketing campaigns in India, aimed at Indian students eyeing foreign education. India is today a very lucrative market for the education sectors of all the developed countries – the USA, the UK, Australia, Singapore, etc. The moment the Australian education sector will find itself on the verge of losing a huge market, it will create immense pressure on its government to take corrective measures.

The West is never tired of criticizing the various draw backs that the Indian society suffers from – caste system, communal divide, dowry system, etc. All these are certainly disgraceful, and we, the educated Indians, are always keen to shed them off. But has West ever realized that the social disease that it suffers from – the racial prejudice and bias – is as shameful as the social diseases that we have? Rather, in India we are at least aware of the deplorability of those social problems. But our friends in the West seem to be even lacking this realization in the first place.

Photo Courtesy - www.theage.com.au

It Is Time We Thought About “Automobile Explosion”

First, some background. Around 2 months back I was passing through Nehru Place in south Delhi with my friend Sourabh, in his Tata Indica. We were discussing several topics, when our discussion took a turn towards the topic of “Nano” car. I enthusiastically said, “Sourabh, after Nano is launched, every Tom, Dick and Harry will be able to buy a car. So nice, isn’t it?”

“Well, I do not think so dear.” Said Sourabh, while struggling to move forward our car through the heavy traffic that was plaguing the road. “You can see the condition of the traffic, what a mess it has become already. The huge number of cars on the road has made the traffic so slow in all the Indian metro cities. Crossing a half an hour distance now takes almost 1 hour. Now with Nano there will be a huge increase in the number of cars overnight. And you can pretty well understand what type of situation it will usher in”.

Sourabh’s words were ringing in my ears other day while going to my office in Gurgaon. Since I have no direct bus to Gurgaon from Noida (where I stay), therefore while going to office everyday first I have to go to Dhaula Kuan, from where I catch a DTC bus of Dhaula Kuan-Gurgaon route. And everyday what I face, apart from huge crowd (inside the bus) and heat, is extreme jam. The bus takes around 50 minutes to get me at the Udyog Vihar Phase 5 (the stop is “Shankar Chowk”), where my office is located. Whereas, it is actually a distance of just 30 minutes.

But other day it was just an extreme case. We had almost reached the Shankar Chowk stop (i.e. my stop), when suddenly my bus got stuck in a huge jam. And what a jam it was! For 20-25 minutes my bus stood still, without being able to move an inch. Terribly impatient, I was constantly peeping outside through the window. And what could I see? A huge ocean of cars – Santro, Hyundai, Tata Indica, Maruti, Bolero, blah blah blah! And it was at that time when I could fully realize the substance of what Sourabh had said other day. That day I got 15 minutes late in reaching my office, ironically for getting stuck up for 20 minutes virtually at the “doorstop” of the office.

What I strongly feel is that there should be immediately some restrictions on the number of cars on the roads. Till 10-15 years back only a certain section of people could afford to buy cars, thus automatically keeping a control on the number of cars on the roads. But now the situation has changed. The purchasing power of common people has increased a lot. Moreover, now there have been various facilities like Car Loans, etc., which have facilitated the purchasing of cars to great extent. Therefore, at the end of the day, there has been an increase in the number of car buyers, thereby further resulting in an increase in the number of cars on the roads. And the ultimate result is for all of us to see.

So far we have judged the ill effects of the increase in the number of cars precisely in the context of environment, i.e., more cars = more environmental pollution. And that is certainly a very crucial issue. But what I feel to be more alarming is the way the number of cars is affecting the speed of traffic. If it continues, then can you imagine what the situation will be after just 5-6 years? And we must realize that no matter how many flyovers we construct, that can only partially (and not fully) address the problem of increasing number of cars.

So, what I feel is that the government must do something immediately about it. One option can be to ban the use of personal cars in the weekdays. It must be made a rule that people can use only public transport in the weekdays, and can use their personal cars only on Saturdays and Sundays, when in any case the offices are generally closed, and usually people are not in a hurry to go somewhere. Yes, special exemption may be offered to people whose offices are far away from their residences. If a person makes any such application that his office is far away from his home, and he finds it very difficult to reach office in time if he is using public transport, then the government can consider his case, and permit him to use his personal car while going to office in the weekdays. There can be some fixed parameters (in terms of distance, etc.) to consider such cases. But otherwise, the government must be strict about using personal cars in the weekdays.

Of course I am not saying that the suggestion I am making is the only way available to address this problem. It was just a suggestion made by a layman. I know for sure that the experienced government officials can come up with much better plans, more feasible and effective. I am only trying to highlight the seriousness of the problem, and the urgency of doing something to restraint the problem.

Lots of discussions have been made on “population explosion”. It is time we spared some thought for the problem of “automobile explosion”.

Photo Courtesy - borgawker.com

Post LTTE Sri Lanka – The Innocent Tamils Must Not Be Confused With The LTTE Cadres

First, a bagful of congratulations for the brave hearts of the Sri Lankan army, for ultimately achieving (it is now just a matter of time) what they have been trying to achieve for such a long time – the elimination of LTTE menace, thus bringing peace for their beautiful mother land. Having grown up in India, a country so badly affected by terrorism, I have witnessed since my childhood how unhesitatingly our soldiers and other security personnel shed their blood for protecting their countrymen from the peril of terrorism, and thus fully understand the value of the service delivered by the gutsy Sri Lankan soldiers for their beloved countrymen. Our Sri Lankan friends, brothers and sisters must feel proud that they have such a courageous army.

Now, with the LTTE being on the verge of final crumbling, it is time to think over a crucial question - what will be the status of the ethnic Tamils in the post-LTTE Sri Lanka?

While discussing this question, the very first thing that we all must understand is that the innocent Tamils of Sri Lanka have absolutely no connections with the dreaded LTTE. So, any attempt to treat these Tamil civilians as a part of that terrorist group will be absolutely outrageous. Rather, the truth is that they are the most hapless people in that country. On one hand they have suffered due to the LTTE menace in the same way that their Sinhalese brothers have suffered (in fact, the Tamils have suffered more, as there was forced grafting of young children by the LTTE). And on the other hand, ironically, they have faced hatred and malice from the Sinhalese community just for the “crime” of belonging to the same community that Prabhakaran and his followers come from.

Our Sinhalese friends absolutely cannot be blamed for developing an ill-feeling for their fellow Tamil countrymen. When a country suffers from terrorism, it is very natural for the people of that country to develop a feeling of malice against the people of that community from where the terrorist group draws most of its strength. The LTTE, the self-proclaimed messiah of the Sri Lankan Tamils, have sucked the blood of the Sri Lankans for such a long time. And it is quite natural that the ordinary Sinhalese people are not very much fond of the ethnic Tamils of that country. It is just the outcome of a basic human emotion.

However, an emotion can not be justified simply because it is a natural development. Our Sinhalese brothers and sisters must understand that whereas they have certainly gone through a terribly bad phase due to LTTE’s mindless activities, the innocent Tamils of that country were by no means responsible for that. Therefore, under no circumstances our dear Sinhalese friends should channelize their justified anger against LTTE towards their Tamil brothers and sisters, who, I repeat, have been the victims of LTTE menace in the same way as they themselves have been.

Rather, I will request them to welcome their fellow Tamil countrymen with cordiality and warmth, helping the latter to overcome the unnecessary complex and guilty feeling that they are suffering from for being from the community that LTTE has claimed to be fighting for. As I have already said that the Sri Lankan Tamils have actually been worse sufferers in comparison to the Sinhalese, because they have faced the double blow of being the victim of LTTE menace and also being suspected of collaborating with the same. What they now need (and rightfully deserve) is sympathy and love of their Sinhalese friends, and not malice and hatred.

Our Sinhalese brothers and sisters must ensure that their fellow Tamil countrymen can continue to live in their mother land with equal dignity and status, without facing any unjustified discrimination or malice. Let us not forget it that while nobody can justify what LTTE has done in this beautiful country for so many years, it did get a space to grow because there were indeed some discriminations against the ethnic Tamils. The Sri Lankan history is replete with proofs and evidences that for long the ethnic Tamils had been treated like “second class citizens”. And it was this constant discrimination that resulted in a strong grievance among the community, which eventually resulted in the monster called LTTE.

Therefore, our beloved Sinhalese friends must ensure that there is no more such discriminations and injustice against the ethnic Tamils, and that they are treated absolutely at par with their Sinhalese brothers. Now with the long elusive peace being there in the horizon, the Sinhalese and the Tamil communities of the country must start working hand-in-hand for the utmost development of this beautiful gem on the Indian Ocean, a spectacular country that I will love to visit someday.

Photo Courtesy - www.daylife.com

Tytler Case: A Small Specimen Of Social Justice

No, I have nothing personal against Mr Jagdish Tytler. Neither I have anything personal against Mr. Sajjan Kumar. But honestly, I could not help warmly welcoming it when they were forced to withdraw from the Lok Sabha elections.

With due respect to Mr. Tytler, it would have really been a matter of disgrace for the Indian democracy if he got the opportunity to contest, and then could manage to become a Minister later. I am saying this not only because he was accused of a particular crime. Rather, I am trying to highlight the nature of the crime that he was accused of. It was not extortion. It was not a forgery. It was not a scam. It was rioting. It was carnage. It was a crime that was associated with the massacre (mainly spontaneous, but somewhat planned as well) of a huge number of innocent people. And no such person can be permitted to be a member of our national legislature who has been accused of being involved with such a heinous crime, even if he has been given a clean chit by the court.

Surely, Mr. Tytler has a very valid point to make. We cannot be sure about a person’s involvement with a crime or misdeed simply because he has been accused. There are lots of instances when a person is wrongly (or even falsely) accused of being involved with an unlawful act. Therefore, we cannot be absolutely sure that Mr. Tytler was involved with the anti-Sikh riots of 1984 simply because he was accused to be.

Fair enough. But then, as per the same logic, we cannot be sure about a person’s innocence simply because he has been acquitted by the court of law. While a person can get wrongly accused because of some circumstantial factors, similarly a person can get wrongly acquitted because of some factors like absence of witness, absence of strong evidence, etc.

While we cannot confidently say that Mr. Tytler’s acquittal was wrong, can we be confident that it was a correct decision? It is significant that the court has acquitted Mr. Tyler of the charges not because it has got some strong evidence in favour of his innocence, but because it has not found any strong evidence against him. And yes, that does make a difference!

There is another aspect of the story. We all know that our Sikh brothers and sisters have not yet been able to overcome the trauma of 1984, for pretty understandable reasons. Even the Sikh youths born after 1984 are aware of the carnage (they have heard about it from their elders), and are as sensitive about it as are the ones who experienced it personally. The gravity of the community’s pain and agony can be understood by what Mr. Jarnail Singh did other day. It must be remembered that Jarnail is not a hot-blooded teenager. He is a 30 plus educated professional, an experienced journalist for that matter, and a family man. If a person from such a background does something like this, we can pretty well understand what a terrible pain this community is suffering from.

Now, while their entire pain cannot be cured overnight, some steps can surely be taken to bring at least some partial healing. Something that will help them have this consolation that “OK, we have got some justice, at least a little one”.

And this forced withdrawal of Mr. Tytler from the Lok Sabha election will certainly provide such a partial healing to the Sikh community (of course, it is much less than satisfactory). After the level of anguish the community has gone through for such a long time, even such a partial healing is highly precious. And even if we accept that Mr. Tytler is innocent, his candidature cannot be more precious than the faint healing touch that his withdrawal will offer to our Sikh friends. It would have been a terrible emotional blow for the community if Mr. Tytler were permitted to contest the election. And that could have snowballed into some larger problems. Let us not forget that nothing can be more dangerous for a country than a long-suppressed feeling of anger and frustration in a community.

Mr. Tytler, you are an educated and decent man. And you certainly give more value to the emotional feelings of a community than your own political career, right? Then you should be happy that you are not contesting this time. While you are a nice person (at least apparently), you are not known to be a great administrator or leader. So India will not lose anything if you do not become an MP and do not become a Minister. But a community will get some partial satisfaction that you are not contesting this time. And that is really valuable. So, be happy! Whatever has happened, it has happened for good.

Photo Courtesy - news.outlookindia.com

The Recent Disturbances in Pakistan – Is The ISI-Army Combination Behind It?

It may sound a bit outrageous, but somehow I cannot help having this feeling that the ISI-Army combination might have been behind all the recent disturbances in Pakistan, which started with the attack on the Sri Lankan cricketers, and had the latest development today (4th April 2009) with explosion in Islamabad.

It is very much possible that by engineering all these disturbances the ISI-Army is trying to send this message to the Pakistani mass that the elected civilian government is an extremely weak and incompetent one, which is completely unable to offer minimum security to the citizens. The image of the Zardari-Gillani government has already been in tatters, with the government hardly enjoying any public confidence.

Under these circumstances the ISI-Army combination is probably trying to give the final touch to the “funeral” of the civilian government. It is probably trying to push the common people to the end of their patience. And then, when it will feel that the time has come, it will go for a military coup, thus bringing back the Army into power (I mean, bringing back the Army into power officially. It is already the de facto ruler of Pakistan, right?).

This doubt is getting momentum as I find that the Pakistani investigative agencies are directly or indirectly trying to frame RAW (the Indian secret agency) for these unfortunate developments that I am referring to. It is after all a common knowledge that enhancing the anti-India feeling of the common Pakistanis will ultimately help to enhance the war hysteria, which will significantly facilitate any attempt to revive the Army’s official control on the government.

Finally, my heartfelt condolences for all the bereaved families of Pakistan who have lost their dear ones in all these attacks.

"Slumdog Millionaire" – Such An Enjoyable Movie

I watched "Slumdog Millionaire" today (29th March 2009) with my dear friend Sourabh Sinha and his wife Ranjana. And man, I really loved watching the movie.

While I will not say that the storyline is very innovative (though certainly imaginative), what was really innovative was the presentation style. “Narration through flashback” is nothing new in movies. But usually it is a “continuous flashback”. What was really new in this movie was the “situational flashback”, the way every flashback scene was being presented in the context of another scene.

The quality of acting in this movie is really startling. While there is nothing surprising about the world class performance of Anil Kapoor (we all already know his class), I am simply floored by the acting delivered by Dev Patel (Jamal), Freida Pinto (Latika), Madhur Mittal (Salim) and even the child actors – Ayush Khedekar (youngest Jamal), Tanay Chheda (middle age Jamal), Rubina Ali (youngest Latika), Tanvi Lonkar (middle age Latika), Azharuddin (youngest Salim) and Ashutosh Gajiwala (middle age Salim).

Dev Patel has a beautiful command of facial expressions, which shows that he is a natural actor. Some effective pieces of facial expressions (and eye expressions) have been displayed by Freida Pinto as well. And little sweet Rubina and Ayush are also quite strong in this context. Tanay Chheda and Ashutosh Gajiwala have impressed me with their natural body movements and dialogue delivery. In a nutshell, it was a superb teamwork.

At the end, all the best for Freida and Dev. Hope they will have a great career, and will keep entertaining us for many more years.

Have you watched the movie? If not, then please watch it. I bet you will love it.

Photo Courtesy - www.firstshowing.net

I have resumed my physical exercise, and enjoying it

One good thing to have happened recently in my life is that I have resumed my Yoga and free hand exercise after a long break. And you know, I am really enjoying it.

I started Yoga and free hand exercise in high school, and continued it till my college days. I was, honestly speaking, quite serious about my daily exercise routine, determined not to miss it for a single day. Even after college I retained the habit while pursuing the post-college professional courses (like PG Diploma in Public Relations).

Then ultimately came a time when I entered the professional life. Life became tough, demanding and strenuous. I slowly started finding the daily routine of exercise to be an unpleasant burden, and eventually I gave it up.

My professional life has already seen seven springs, and it has so far been a “sans exercise” period. Sometimes I have missed my fitness regime, and have started to resume it. But just after 3-4 days again I have found it to be burdensome, and withdrawn myself from it. This has happned for at least 4 to 5 times.

Then, after a long time, few days back again I got “bitten by the fitness bug”. This time I was determined that I would not only start it, but would stick to it. Yes, I used some common sense this time. I realized that now it is impossible to do a host of exercises every morning, as I used to do during my student days. Because now I do not have that time. So I decided to mark out a handful of exercises (both Yoga and free hand exercises), which would not take much time, and stick to them.

That precisely I have done. I have marked out certain exercises, and have been doing them every morning for last 2 weeks. And I am really enjoying my life. I am feeling fit, feeling energetic throughout the office hours and less exhausted after the office is over, and also happy. People may say it is psychological. May be. But how can one deny the fact that I am feeling better?

I have realized what we all actually know – No matter how much work pressure we have, we must have due time for two important aspects of our life – a.) Family and b.) Health.