Ajay Singh Rathore's Blog
June 27, 2014
The Glass Palace
Well, I enjoyed the novel. It was overwhelming to discover how Burma's (now Mynmmar) history is connected with ours. Novel covers the life of it's central character Rajkumar but story is much more than that. Story starts with two exiles first of Rajkumar and of Min (King) Thebaw. Rajkumar starts as a poor boy from Chittagong and was working as chai waala in Mandaly, later on he becomes a rich businessmen with the help of Saya-John. There are too many characters in this 550 page novel, sometimes when a name is mentioned after few chapters you may find it difficult to identify the character.
I was surprised to know that everyone in Burma was literate before English colonized it and they also used to call their country as golden bird. Much similar to that of India’s. Plight of Burma and India are two stories with common ransacker. But Burma gained independence only to lose it again. One dictatorship was replaced by another. It makes me to think more and more why idea of India survived and why democracy is still functional despite so much diversity?Amitav Ghosh has written at length about themes of exile and identity. In this the comparison between two exiles seems quite interesting, King Thebaw who in 1878, succeeded his father in a bloody succession massacre by killing all the possible heirs to the throne. Only to spend his last days in another country without any luxuries that he had in his country. More than King, Queen was more bewildered while bearing the loss. When first princess married their driver and collector asked queen to not to accept this marriage, he when warned queen that this will harm their reputation, queen retorted with a trilling laugh escaping her lips, "Collector-sahib, Sawant(driver to whom princess was marrying) is less a servant that you. At least he has no delusions about his place in the world." And later on reminded him what English did to them and it is an answer or set of questions that in heart of heart of dethroned must have asked to one ruling "We have heard so many lectures from you and your colleagues on the subject of the barbarity of the Kings of Burma and the humanity of the Angrez. We were tyrants you said, enemies of freedom, murderers. The English alone understands liberty, we were told; they do not put kings and princes to death; they rule through laws. If that is so, why has King Thebaw never brought to trial? Where are these laws, we hearing about? Is it a crime to defend your country against an invader? Would the English not do the same?"
King Thebaw with Queen Supalayat and her sister.Another story is of Rajkumar who lost his everything in India and was coming with his mother to Burma, but even lost his mother while coming to Burma. His mother died due to an endemic fever whispering "Beche Thako, Rajkumar". Live my prince, hold on to your life. He gained everything only to be deprived of everything. It is interesting to compare slopes of vicissitudes of life of Rajkumar and Thebaw, you never know who had steeper slope. One more thing that interests me is conflicts in the mind of Indian soldiers, formation of Indian National Army, delusions of Arjun while fighting against Japnese army in Burma, why Indians are fighting for British? What difference would it make if they fight for Japnese army? To decide which side he is fighting for and why is a challenge for a soldier. To be referred as mercenary takes away all delusions of pride and glory, then to find a reason to motivate oneself amid all the dilemmas is difficult. Arjun, one confused soldier unable to find a place where his loyalties can rest. He makes a choice then he decided to fight, fight now for his country, India. Kishan Singh’s story of army mutiny and how villagers decided to send their sons to British army. It tells so many things about how our dilemmas have existed for years in someone else’s mind and how differently people have found answers to them. I think that’s what makes it so important to know history.
As far as love stories are concerned, Novel has many love stories in it. First is of Dolly and Rajkumar, an amazing love story, Rajkumar saw Dolly when she was 9 years old and longed for her for another 20 years. After becoming a successful businessman he came back to India, only to marry Dolly. Another love story is of first princess and of coachman Sawant, although it is not covered in that much detail. Another story is that of Uma and collector, that is more of a settlement, how collector wants to marry Uma because she is young and can learn modern ways of living as a collector's wife. Uma's consent was never taken while taking decision about her life. Of all the stories I find the love triangle between Dinu (Rajkumar's son), Alison( Saya john's granduaghter) and Arjun (Uma's nephew) most heart wrenching. Dinu loved Alison and Alison out of her loneliness or may be to relieve her grief found solace with Dinu. But when Arjun came, Arjun liked Alison and Alison also got attracted towards Arjun. The regret that came Alison's way, her discovery of true love, only after making love with Arjun, Alison discovered that how much she loved Dinu. Well! Alison and Arjun both died but thank God Alison got a chance to confess this thing to Dinu. Otherwise, it would have been a difficult life for him.
Soldiers of INA and Subhash Chandra BoseThe only thing that is incoherent and abrupt is death of some major characters in 20-30 pages, Neel, Manju, Arjun, Kishan Singh, Saya John, Uma’s brother and Dolly. They all die so suddenly and all due to different reasons. I find it difficult to gulp.
I think one should read “ The Glass Palace” to know struggles of Burma, to compare them with struggles of our nation, to find answers of exile, to find reasons for inner mutinies and yes to find your very own reason.
December 16, 2013
Thadi
And I write about a place, that unites, romanticizes, a place that brings the profound in you. I wonder how amid all the chaos of world, this place always has a kind of serenity within it. I write about a place where I've seen people discussing, important, arbitrary, astute, philosophical, and what not. I see no religion there, I see no poor and no rich there, I see no castes there, I see drifts of smoke parting air and not humans. I write about smiles, silence, pain, relief and atonement at the same place. I write about magic in the glass, I write about a place that defines the pluralistic India.
There is nothing good or bad, it's our thinking that makes it so.
"There is nothing good or bad, it's our thinking that makes it so."
-William Shakespeare
I definitely believe that our thought process has the power to color things. What is good or bad? How we define "good" and "bad"? These are relative terms. There is nothing as absolute good or bad.
The people who appear as good men are not as good as we think and this is true for the bad men we know.
We are governed by laws of nature and we perform in that way only. Life is just as it is. You have to decide what you want to do in life and you can do that, you don't have to worry about the right way or the wrong way. Performance of duty is the most important thing. Because if one thing is right for you, it can be wrong for someone else.
To quote from Bhagvad geeta :-
“ karmaNy-eva adhikAras-te mA phaleshhu kadAcana /
mA karma-phala-hetur-bhUH mA te sango’stv-akarmaNi //” (II – 47)
Translation :-
You have the right only to your action – not to the fruits thereof. Do not become the cause for the fruits (by desiring the fruits); nor should you be attached to the non-doing of action.
yogasthaH kuru karmANi sangam tyaktvA dhananjaya /
siddhy-asiddhyos-samo bhUtvA samatvaM yoga uchyate // II – 48
Established in Yoga, perform actions, abandoning attachment, remaining even-minded in success and failure; for, even-mindedness is said to be Yoga. ( Karma yoga)
To decide right or wrong is defining attachment or non attachment to the work. When you are attached to the worldly things, you become indecisive.
To stick to one thing as right and another thing as wrong is fundamentalism. Idealism, doing one particular set of things is in itself a flawed concept. We made laws and rules, and we labelled them as criminals who don't follow them. Chaos is not the solution, so we need it. Noone wants to get robbed, no one wants their women to be raped. But every rapist was once a victim, put yourself into the shoes of that person who mugged someone on highway. May be his children were hungry, may be he faced greater cruelties. Beleiveing in this thought can create chaos.
Humans have created good or bad. Right or wrong. Hell or heaven. So that strong can easily rule over weak. So that there can be something that can make people God fearing without any violence.
-William Shakespeare
I definitely believe that our thought process has the power to color things. What is good or bad? How we define "good" and "bad"? These are relative terms. There is nothing as absolute good or bad.
The people who appear as good men are not as good as we think and this is true for the bad men we know.
We are governed by laws of nature and we perform in that way only. Life is just as it is. You have to decide what you want to do in life and you can do that, you don't have to worry about the right way or the wrong way. Performance of duty is the most important thing. Because if one thing is right for you, it can be wrong for someone else.
To quote from Bhagvad geeta :-
“ karmaNy-eva adhikAras-te mA phaleshhu kadAcana /
mA karma-phala-hetur-bhUH mA te sango’stv-akarmaNi //” (II – 47)
Translation :-
You have the right only to your action – not to the fruits thereof. Do not become the cause for the fruits (by desiring the fruits); nor should you be attached to the non-doing of action.
yogasthaH kuru karmANi sangam tyaktvA dhananjaya /
siddhy-asiddhyos-samo bhUtvA samatvaM yoga uchyate // II – 48
Established in Yoga, perform actions, abandoning attachment, remaining even-minded in success and failure; for, even-mindedness is said to be Yoga. ( Karma yoga)
To decide right or wrong is defining attachment or non attachment to the work. When you are attached to the worldly things, you become indecisive.
To stick to one thing as right and another thing as wrong is fundamentalism. Idealism, doing one particular set of things is in itself a flawed concept. We made laws and rules, and we labelled them as criminals who don't follow them. Chaos is not the solution, so we need it. Noone wants to get robbed, no one wants their women to be raped. But every rapist was once a victim, put yourself into the shoes of that person who mugged someone on highway. May be his children were hungry, may be he faced greater cruelties. Beleiveing in this thought can create chaos.
Humans have created good or bad. Right or wrong. Hell or heaven. So that strong can easily rule over weak. So that there can be something that can make people God fearing without any violence.
What did Voltaire mean when he said that "if God did not exist, it would be necessary to invent him"?
Yes.
We can kill God thousands of times for the sake of reason, but the same will lead to its evolution again and again.
When we think of God, we ask ourselves, who is God? Where is it? How it works? To all this my answer is "I don't know".
But what is more important is that we need God. Even if we try to eradicate the concept of God and burn every other sacred text book mentioning about it, we will find that humans will invent it again.
A) We need someone to listen and help us when we are completely helpless, so that we can invoke our inner strength.
What we will do when we know that things are out of our control. Suppose when the plane is crashing? When someone close to you is in ICU? Some people will reason about uselessness of praying and worrying, but the truth is that this is the only thing you can do. Prayer is something that gives me strength. I don't know why?
Ghalib, once wrote in a ghazal: I (who) believe in prayer but could never in God.Elsewhere Shahid Ali countered Nietzsche, asking: When even god is dead, what is left but prayer?
B) There is a certain kind of pleasure or joy in believing something mystical:-
Ever wonder why mystical stories enthralled us? There is some joy, some undefined enthrallment in believing in God. God is one of the omnipotent, omnipresent, omniscient creature, that may or may not have been created by the humans. But it has this ability to enthrall us all.
C) We need to justify things when we don't understand them:-
Tsunami? Earthquake? Random events of catastrophe? God's will is the answer. An act of God. We can discover the reasons behind their origins but we cannot tell why they happened at that particular moment to that particular person.
D) To rule over the weak, to maintain order and create set of rules that needs to be followed in the name of God:-
We called the set of rules as religion and we referred controller as God. To rule over masses, powerful, strong needed Gods. In Plato's Republic, you will find the concept of the "Noble Lie", that which is told to the masses of people who believe it for it's unifying effects on the community..it could be religion, but it could also be threat of a common enemy, or idea (nationalism) that would result in the solidifying of a larger mass, his point was that a "Noble Lie" was an invaluable tool for governments to employ to maintain order and stability, and that the breakdown of such solidarity was the cause for great states to eventually crumble.
Reference:-
1)Was religion historically used to control the morals of the masses to suit a ruling elite? ?
2) Search results for "men used God" (showing 1-20 of 122 quotes)
We can kill God thousands of times for the sake of reason, but the same will lead to its evolution again and again.
When we think of God, we ask ourselves, who is God? Where is it? How it works? To all this my answer is "I don't know".
But what is more important is that we need God. Even if we try to eradicate the concept of God and burn every other sacred text book mentioning about it, we will find that humans will invent it again.
A) We need someone to listen and help us when we are completely helpless, so that we can invoke our inner strength.
What we will do when we know that things are out of our control. Suppose when the plane is crashing? When someone close to you is in ICU? Some people will reason about uselessness of praying and worrying, but the truth is that this is the only thing you can do. Prayer is something that gives me strength. I don't know why?
Ghalib, once wrote in a ghazal: I (who) believe in prayer but could never in God.Elsewhere Shahid Ali countered Nietzsche, asking: When even god is dead, what is left but prayer?
“I pray because I can't help myself. I pray because I'm helpless. I pray because the need flows out of me all the time- waking and sleeping. It doesn't change God- it changes me.”
― William Nicholson, Shadowlands
B) There is a certain kind of pleasure or joy in believing something mystical:-
Ever wonder why mystical stories enthralled us? There is some joy, some undefined enthrallment in believing in God. God is one of the omnipotent, omnipresent, omniscient creature, that may or may not have been created by the humans. But it has this ability to enthrall us all.
“What I see in Nature is a magnificent structure that we can comprehend only very imperfectly, and that must fill a thinking person with a feeling of humility. This is a genuinely religious feeling that has nothing to do with mysticism.”
― Albert Einstein
C) We need to justify things when we don't understand them:-
Tsunami? Earthquake? Random events of catastrophe? God's will is the answer. An act of God. We can discover the reasons behind their origins but we cannot tell why they happened at that particular moment to that particular person.
"There were a lot of gods. Gods always come in handy, they justify almost anything."
— Margaret Atwood (The Blind Assassin)
D) To rule over the weak, to maintain order and create set of rules that needs to be followed in the name of God:-
We called the set of rules as religion and we referred controller as God. To rule over masses, powerful, strong needed Gods. In Plato's Republic, you will find the concept of the "Noble Lie", that which is told to the masses of people who believe it for it's unifying effects on the community..it could be religion, but it could also be threat of a common enemy, or idea (nationalism) that would result in the solidifying of a larger mass, his point was that a "Noble Lie" was an invaluable tool for governments to employ to maintain order and stability, and that the breakdown of such solidarity was the cause for great states to eventually crumble.
Reference:-
1)Was religion historically used to control the morals of the masses to suit a ruling elite? ?
2) Search results for "men used God" (showing 1-20 of 122 quotes)
A crazy story at LNMIIT
Aah! LNMIIT is a functioning Bollywood.
There are too many stories that go on at this place.
Well there are too many to pick out from the closet of memory.
I'll tell you about this incident that happened at one of the DJ night.
My friend had crush on one of our junior. The one sided love went on for around three years. He tried really hard to talk to her. Eye contact with her in mess would make his day. He even made her roommate his very good friend. But even that didn't work. He used to remember her after every peg of whiskey and every pint of beer. She always walked in his mind. We talked about her in room, on CP (central plaza), in lab, in library, in hostel gallery, on mess table, in SAC, on football stadium, in canteen, on those walks under the boulevards, while sitting at thadi, I'm searching for the corner where he didn't mention her. The love remained concealed for around 3 years softly buried under the cushions of time. Words failed to fly, and his heart throbbed harder for her.
Now comes the last DJ night of his college life. She was junior, she had one more year. I was drunk and he was too. Last days of college were special, we were trying to do whatever we could. How can the love stay behind?
So we were all dancing, and he came to me and said " Bhai, ek baar dance to kar hi lete hai". This was no surprise for me, I was not in best of my consciousness. I asked him " Where is she?".
"I don't know." He made this Indian expression with his lips of not knowing things while dancing at some random step.
So we went on searching for her. Only LNMIITians will know about that stupid DJ night train that we make and run around the whole party. So we made a train of two, who cares about being called as stupid on the last DJ night. We ran, we danced, searching for hope, searching for love.
Finally in that rainbow lightning of DJ night, we found her. She was wearing white dress. And was dancing with her few friends, all girls.
So we stood near a fan there and then to avoid any suspicion we sat on the chair. They were dancing and they can see us talking with each other, as it was not possible to listen what we were saying in that loud music. We stood at some distance near to them. I was constantly persuading him to go and ask her for dancing. But he never mustered courage for doing it. He said let's go back, but as we all know our stories don't end this way. So I told him" this is the last time, last chance."
I'm sure these words didn't inspire him at all because he already knew it.
So he said "Let's wait for the song to change and then we will enter their group, dancing." Now we stood there and waited for the next song, and as the song changed, we both went into their group madly dancing. We try to convince them it was completely normal for us. There was nothing sensational about it, we pretended. But you know things don't end the way we want them to be. It scared her and her friends. Even she silently knew he liked her, perhaps it was the smell of the alcohol that made them go away. But one girl stayed there and danced with us. Thanks to her for not making us look like stupids, although we were. Then we said her goodbye and we left. We left from there as nothing happened.
And after that what happens, some more laughs, some more secrets that we carry to our graves. Some more stories. And DJ plays" saathiya ye tune kya kia". Some more laughs and the journey of last DJ night continues, unfolding more embarrassments and more stories.
There are too many stories that go on at this place.
Well there are too many to pick out from the closet of memory.
I'll tell you about this incident that happened at one of the DJ night.
My friend had crush on one of our junior. The one sided love went on for around three years. He tried really hard to talk to her. Eye contact with her in mess would make his day. He even made her roommate his very good friend. But even that didn't work. He used to remember her after every peg of whiskey and every pint of beer. She always walked in his mind. We talked about her in room, on CP (central plaza), in lab, in library, in hostel gallery, on mess table, in SAC, on football stadium, in canteen, on those walks under the boulevards, while sitting at thadi, I'm searching for the corner where he didn't mention her. The love remained concealed for around 3 years softly buried under the cushions of time. Words failed to fly, and his heart throbbed harder for her.
Now comes the last DJ night of his college life. She was junior, she had one more year. I was drunk and he was too. Last days of college were special, we were trying to do whatever we could. How can the love stay behind?
So we were all dancing, and he came to me and said " Bhai, ek baar dance to kar hi lete hai". This was no surprise for me, I was not in best of my consciousness. I asked him " Where is she?".
"I don't know." He made this Indian expression with his lips of not knowing things while dancing at some random step.
So we went on searching for her. Only LNMIITians will know about that stupid DJ night train that we make and run around the whole party. So we made a train of two, who cares about being called as stupid on the last DJ night. We ran, we danced, searching for hope, searching for love.
Finally in that rainbow lightning of DJ night, we found her. She was wearing white dress. And was dancing with her few friends, all girls.
So we stood near a fan there and then to avoid any suspicion we sat on the chair. They were dancing and they can see us talking with each other, as it was not possible to listen what we were saying in that loud music. We stood at some distance near to them. I was constantly persuading him to go and ask her for dancing. But he never mustered courage for doing it. He said let's go back, but as we all know our stories don't end this way. So I told him" this is the last time, last chance."
I'm sure these words didn't inspire him at all because he already knew it.
So he said "Let's wait for the song to change and then we will enter their group, dancing." Now we stood there and waited for the next song, and as the song changed, we both went into their group madly dancing. We try to convince them it was completely normal for us. There was nothing sensational about it, we pretended. But you know things don't end the way we want them to be. It scared her and her friends. Even she silently knew he liked her, perhaps it was the smell of the alcohol that made them go away. But one girl stayed there and danced with us. Thanks to her for not making us look like stupids, although we were. Then we said her goodbye and we left. We left from there as nothing happened.
And after that what happens, some more laughs, some more secrets that we carry to our graves. Some more stories. And DJ plays" saathiya ye tune kya kia". Some more laughs and the journey of last DJ night continues, unfolding more embarrassments and more stories.
What can we learn from Manmohan Singh?
Stay Calm:- I think one thing we can learn from this man is being"Imperturbable". How he remains unfazed and calm amid all the hitherto. I believe this is his silence that has held this complex coalition together for 10 years. He is the only Prime Minister since Jawahar lal Nehru to return to power after completing a full five-year term.
"Hazaaron Jawabon Se Acchi Hai Meri Khamoshi"
-Manmohan Singh
To accept different roles:- Before becoming PM of World's largest Democracy, He subsequently began his bureaucratic career when Lalit Narayan Mishra hired him as an advisor in the Ministry of Foreign Trade. Over the 70s and 80s, Singh held several key posts in the Government of India, such as Chief Economic Advisor (1972–76), Reserve Bank governor (1982–85) and Planning Commission head (1985–87).In 1991, as India faced a severe economic crisis, newly elected Prime Minister P. V. Narasimha Rao surprisingly inducted the apolitical Singh into his cabinet as Finance Minister. Over the next few years, despite strong opposition, he as a Finance Minister carried out several structural reforms thatliberalised India's economy. He has covered long journey from being an Academician to a bureaucrat and then bureaucrat to a politician.
Ability to face Criticism:- Manmohan Singh has faced all sort of criticism for his silence and inaction. But the ability to take all this criticism and perform business as usual is commendable. Indian media has ridiculed him.
To stay humble and modest:- In this world of self promoting leaders and stuttering peacocks he has proven to be utterly modest with all the set of qualifications and achievements he do have.
That's what world has to say about him:-
I believe failure in policies, corruption and inefficiency cannot be blamed on one person. Cumulative efforts are required and change is what we all have to strive for. I think Manmohan Singh has carried this pandemonium with him. This man has failed but there is a reason why he still needs to be treated as Hero.
References:-
1) Manmohan Singh
Originally answered on Quora
http://www.quora.com/Manmohan-Singh-Current-Prime-Minister-of-India/What-can-we-learn-from-PM-Manmohan-Singh/answer/Ajay-Singh-Rathore
"Hazaaron Jawabon Se Acchi Hai Meri Khamoshi"
-Manmohan Singh
To accept different roles:- Before becoming PM of World's largest Democracy, He subsequently began his bureaucratic career when Lalit Narayan Mishra hired him as an advisor in the Ministry of Foreign Trade. Over the 70s and 80s, Singh held several key posts in the Government of India, such as Chief Economic Advisor (1972–76), Reserve Bank governor (1982–85) and Planning Commission head (1985–87).In 1991, as India faced a severe economic crisis, newly elected Prime Minister P. V. Narasimha Rao surprisingly inducted the apolitical Singh into his cabinet as Finance Minister. Over the next few years, despite strong opposition, he as a Finance Minister carried out several structural reforms thatliberalised India's economy. He has covered long journey from being an Academician to a bureaucrat and then bureaucrat to a politician.
Ability to face Criticism:- Manmohan Singh has faced all sort of criticism for his silence and inaction. But the ability to take all this criticism and perform business as usual is commendable. Indian media has ridiculed him.
To stay humble and modest:- In this world of self promoting leaders and stuttering peacocks he has proven to be utterly modest with all the set of qualifications and achievements he do have.
That's what world has to say about him:-
In 2010, Newsweek magazine recognised him as a world leader who is respected by other heads of state, describing him as " the leader other leaders love ." The article quoted Mohamed ElBaradei , who remarked that Singh is " the model of what a political leader should be". Singh is number 18 on the 2010 Forbes list of the world's most powerful people. Forbes magazine described Singh as being " u niversally praised as India's best prime minister since Nehru" . Australian journalist Greg Sheridan praised Singh " as one of the greatest statesmen in Asian history ."
I believe failure in policies, corruption and inefficiency cannot be blamed on one person. Cumulative efforts are required and change is what we all have to strive for. I think Manmohan Singh has carried this pandemonium with him. This man has failed but there is a reason why he still needs to be treated as Hero.
References:-
1) Manmohan Singh
Originally answered on Quora
http://www.quora.com/Manmohan-Singh-Current-Prime-Minister-of-India/What-can-we-learn-from-PM-Manmohan-Singh/answer/Ajay-Singh-Rathore
August 23, 2013
1984 by George Orwell
1984 is a story about the time when your every action was scrutinized, someone constantly watching you. The story that unveils the truth from the faces of Government, story that simply explains the way to rule, to change thoughts, to alter history, to justify wrong, to create an illusion and to tell people about that all "isms"
have in one or other way fooled them.
Be it be socialism, totalitarianism or collectivism, things don't change. How important ignorance, poverty and are to reign. What will happen if we will create the delusion of everyone as equal? How people fall in love when they have a constant fear of being watched and being killed for it?
George Orwell explains profoundly how a hero is created, a hero who never existed. It made me realize that how our own history has heroes that were created and their deeds were considered as ideal, millions were asked to follow them, I find myself as a part of this big scam. And how our created heroes had so many flaws, how by forgery they became heroes, once the act of forgery is forgotten, they authentically, and upon the same evidence, as Charlemagne or Julius Caesar.
The most interesting part that I found in novel was the fact how can we alter the whole history systematically, just by altering the history books of the school. In "1984", party members claimed for the first set of citizens that they invented helicopters and as the new and young population came, they said they also invented airplanes. But all of these claims were absurd. Similarly when I was a kid, I read in my N.C.E.R.T books about the greatness of Indira gandhi and today kids are erading about Rajeev gandhi while the most extra ordinary were forgotten, we never had a chapter about P.V Narshimha Rao or Lala Bahadur Shahstri, What's so special about Rajeev, we all know.
And as the time progressed in the novel, the party members even developed their own vocabulary, they had word " Orthodox' which meant good thinker. bellyfeel meant a blind, enthusiastic acceptance of an idea, Crimethink is the Newspeak word for thoughtcrime (thoughts that are unorthodox, or are outside the official government platform), Ownlife refers to the tendency to enjoy being solitary or individualistic, which is considered subversive, there are many more. But these words give us idea of the times George Orwell thought about.
Amid this political trauma I liked few quotes from the book, They were:-
1) “they say that time heals all things,
they say you can always forget;
but the smiles and the tears across the years
they twist my heart strings yet!”
― George Orwell, 1984
2) “But if thought corrupts language, language can also corrupt thought.”
― George Orwell, 1984
3) “If you loved someone, you loved him, and when you had nothing else to give, you still gave him love.”
― George Orwell, 1984
4) “Being in a minority, even in a minority of one, did not make you mad. There was truth and there was untruth, and if you clung to the truth even against the whole world, you were not mad.”
― George Orwell, 1984
Some of them need context to envisage them but even in such abstract forms they will give you your own way to comprehend.
have in one or other way fooled them.
Be it be socialism, totalitarianism or collectivism, things don't change. How important ignorance, poverty and are to reign. What will happen if we will create the delusion of everyone as equal? How people fall in love when they have a constant fear of being watched and being killed for it?
George Orwell explains profoundly how a hero is created, a hero who never existed. It made me realize that how our own history has heroes that were created and their deeds were considered as ideal, millions were asked to follow them, I find myself as a part of this big scam. And how our created heroes had so many flaws, how by forgery they became heroes, once the act of forgery is forgotten, they authentically, and upon the same evidence, as Charlemagne or Julius Caesar.
The most interesting part that I found in novel was the fact how can we alter the whole history systematically, just by altering the history books of the school. In "1984", party members claimed for the first set of citizens that they invented helicopters and as the new and young population came, they said they also invented airplanes. But all of these claims were absurd. Similarly when I was a kid, I read in my N.C.E.R.T books about the greatness of Indira gandhi and today kids are erading about Rajeev gandhi while the most extra ordinary were forgotten, we never had a chapter about P.V Narshimha Rao or Lala Bahadur Shahstri, What's so special about Rajeev, we all know.
And as the time progressed in the novel, the party members even developed their own vocabulary, they had word " Orthodox' which meant good thinker. bellyfeel meant a blind, enthusiastic acceptance of an idea, Crimethink is the Newspeak word for thoughtcrime (thoughts that are unorthodox, or are outside the official government platform), Ownlife refers to the tendency to enjoy being solitary or individualistic, which is considered subversive, there are many more. But these words give us idea of the times George Orwell thought about.
Amid this political trauma I liked few quotes from the book, They were:-
1) “they say that time heals all things,
they say you can always forget;
but the smiles and the tears across the years
they twist my heart strings yet!”
― George Orwell, 1984
2) “But if thought corrupts language, language can also corrupt thought.”
― George Orwell, 1984
3) “If you loved someone, you loved him, and when you had nothing else to give, you still gave him love.”
― George Orwell, 1984
4) “Being in a minority, even in a minority of one, did not make you mad. There was truth and there was untruth, and if you clung to the truth even against the whole world, you were not mad.”
― George Orwell, 1984
Some of them need context to envisage them but even in such abstract forms they will give you your own way to comprehend.
August 19, 2013
The Lecture
He was sitting in the second last row of the class. Class had not started yet.
He watched that movie last night, the movie that made no difference. And the silent "Hi", "helloes" to the mates, sometimes with eyes, sometimes with hands, we keep doing it.
He was waiting for her to come.
His room-mate just came in. Rushed to him, sat next to him and said can't you wait for two minutes?"He never replied and passed an indifferent expression. He said to his roommie "That's what I like about Bollywood, things happen when hero expects them to happen, reality is disappointing."Now his roommie didn't say a word and asked for his notebook to see what he missed in the last class.
Professor entered the class. That's what professors do to a class, they increase the noise level when they just enter and after that lullaby calms it all down.
Amid this din professor starts teaching. He asks for his copy from roommie and notes down date and topic. That's it. He then sits calmly seeming apathetic to whatever professor is saying.
Someone just came in, he just pulled himself out of his subconsciousness. It was not her.
He was thinking what possibly would have happened to her. He saw that her friends were in the class. He thought she must have fallen sick or may be she slept late last night, so she was not able to wake up or she just didn't want to attend the class or something happened in her family and she went home to meet them.
He was scratching the chair with the back of his pen.
The lecture got over. She was absent that day.
He watched that movie last night, the movie that made no difference. And the silent "Hi", "helloes" to the mates, sometimes with eyes, sometimes with hands, we keep doing it.
He was waiting for her to come.
His room-mate just came in. Rushed to him, sat next to him and said can't you wait for two minutes?"He never replied and passed an indifferent expression. He said to his roommie "That's what I like about Bollywood, things happen when hero expects them to happen, reality is disappointing."Now his roommie didn't say a word and asked for his notebook to see what he missed in the last class.
Professor entered the class. That's what professors do to a class, they increase the noise level when they just enter and after that lullaby calms it all down.
Amid this din professor starts teaching. He asks for his copy from roommie and notes down date and topic. That's it. He then sits calmly seeming apathetic to whatever professor is saying.
Someone just came in, he just pulled himself out of his subconsciousness. It was not her.
He was thinking what possibly would have happened to her. He saw that her friends were in the class. He thought she must have fallen sick or may be she slept late last night, so she was not able to wake up or she just didn't want to attend the class or something happened in her family and she went home to meet them.
He was scratching the chair with the back of his pen.
The lecture got over. She was absent that day.
August 16, 2013
Let’s just call System as corrupt
I don’t care about environment, you don’t care about environment, but when someone else doesn’t care about environment we all start caring about it. We are such hypocrites; we always search for one or the other issue to condemn. We have this strange internet spree in us; we don’t read from authentic sources, we rely greatly on some random facebook article or SMS. We are so desperate and busy to lather our intellectualism on people that we often forget to vote. And when we vote we vote our caste. We are hypocrites because we all stare at that women on street but we will login to our twitter account and will shout so aimlessly and vacuously “Hang these rapists”. I was listening to this video by some IITian turned standup comedian and he was so proudly explaining the fact that IITians don’t rape, they just imagine the whole scenario in their mind. I don’t know whether it’s right or not, but voyeurism, stalking, are the first steps of becoming rapist.
So why this hypocrisy lesson, this is because India’s infrastructure needs are increasing, we all need houses and we all need sand. But we don’t need sand mafias. Why? Because they are bad people they bribe government and they “illegally” mine sand and are harming environment. Bribe is such an infernal crime until someone else is involved in it. You know,“I am okay, you are okay, but the system is corrupt.”
I don’t care about environment on a normal day, but I need fuel for my twitter account. So until another scam I have to be with you. “Illegal” word is problem for the whole system because once in a while we get people in the system who are honest, care about country more than their pockets and wife’s jewelry, they make laws against these parts of the system. So there are laws against the sand mafias.
“ MoEF (Ministry of Environment and Forests) saw through the game and set up an expert committee in 2009 of officials from the Ministry of Environment, as well as Mines and a number of State governments to look into the environmental aspects of mining of minor minerals. The said committee in its report in 2010 recommended: a) minimum size of mining lease to be 5 ha; b) minimum lease period of 5 years for an eco-friendly, scientific and sustainable mining; c) cluster approach to mining of small sizes; d) mining depth to not exceed 3 m or the water table whichever is higher; e) safety or no mining zone within the river bed which should not be less than 10 per cent of the rivers width and a minimum distance from bridges and embankments, and f) provision of a mining plan that should include reclamation and rehabilitation of the mined out areas.The above recommendations of the MoEF expert committee were endorsed by the Supreme Court (SC) through its order dated February 27, 2012 in a Public Interest Litigation. And most recently on August 5, 2013 the National Green Tribunal (NGT) has further reinforced the order of the Supreme Court.” So now what to do? Let’s close down construction of all buildings, highways, bridges, let’s shut it all and save sand. Can we afford it? We need alternatives. Ravinder gupta, IIT Madras professor proposes three ways to do it:-
1) M-sand is the most promising alternative. Substitutes such as crushed glass or recycled copper slag are right now in an experimental stage, he says. “M-sand is reliable, but the quality of supply needs to be monitored and regulated.2) Other way to reduce the need for sand is to recycle construction and demolition waste. About 10 to 12 million tonnes of construction waste is generated annually, and only a portion of it is reused. The Municipal Solid Waste (Management and Handling) Rules, 2000, require construction debris to be separated, but it is often mixed with other waste and discarded. Bricks and concrete could be crushed for aggregates. In countries including Australia, concrete and brickwork are reused to lay roads. Discarded gypsum is recycled into gypsum board.
3) Third way to reduce demand on construction material,” says Professor Gettu. “Most of the structures are designed for strength and not durability. As a result, structures are not used for a long period. By building more durable structures that have extended life, consumption of materials could be reduced.
Now till the time we substitute the whole sand with alternatives, we are trapped in a vicious feedback loop. If we look from a larger perspective, we will observe that when everyone is busy earning money and no one wants to think about ecology. Then sand mafia is doing nothing wrong. Even IAS officers who are trying to stop are also doing their duty. But the system has intricacies and larger picture says one thing that we are about to be doomed. We don’t have to care about IAS officers, we don’t have to care about sand mafias. We have mucked up rivers and we will deplete the nature despite the several warning. One or two IAS cannot stand the whole country because we may shout to be on their side of the court but we are actually nurturing and supporting the other side. Ignorance is bliss.
References:- 1) http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/looking-at-substitutes/article5010520.ece2) http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/drawing-a-line-on-sand/article5007289.ece
The case of cast
There was a Brahmin guy who loved his father and mother very much. In fact more than anything. The guy Raghav had only one dream, to get into a good college. He woke up at 4 AM for two years to study, he then went to school at 7 AM, used to come back at 1 PM, had lunch and then again started studying till 6 PM. He then joined his father while the evening prayer and then helped mother by chopping vegetables. After that at 7 PM, he will go for a short walk to nearby temple. There he will sit in the evening breeze and will listen to the saints chanting "hare krishna hare rama". He just used to watch them for an hour or more and then used to come back for dinner. Before dinner they thanked God for blessing them with food, after this they used to have dinner. He will now sit with his father in the chowk outside their house. There they listened to radio and discussed about the national politics, sometimes history or religion or they would just discuss any issue that they loved to talk about.
Raghav had this rigid time table that he religiously followed, on Sundays and holidays he would go with his father to buy vegetables, fruits and other household items. He will study two extra hours on Sunday.There were no coaching classes in village and Raghav's father couldn't afford sending him to city's coaching classes. He never argued his father about it.
It was shiny afternoon of February. The leaves were lying on the road. Raghav was coming to his home after school. He was wearing his sky blue shirt and khaki pants. Revving his bicycle on the slim muddy road. Looking at the fields of pearl millet, he was thinking about that girl, the girl on that shop in front of school. He knew her. He has seen that girl somewhere. Her big shiny eyes, long hairs looked so familiar to him. But he was not able to recall. Just then a cow came in front of her cycle, he applied his breaks but he was not able to balance the cycle and he fell down.
He reached home. His mother looked at his uniform and hastily ran towards him shouting but still carrying so much calm on her face, she asked "what happened?". And he told her that a cow came in between when he was coming back.
In the evening when he was sitting in the temple and the people were singing "hare Rama and hare Krishna". He saw that girl again. He was staring at her. She was sitting near the stairs of temple with one of her friends. They were talking, smiling and having a great time. It was 8.30 and he thought it's time for him to leave. So he left.
After the dinner he was discussing with his father about the village's water problem and his father said "Government has appointed a new engineer in the village who will take care of the affairs." He asked" Is he staying in the old government bungalow
in front of his school?" His father nodded.
It was another day, the sun was about to rise. He was getting ready to go to school, he sat on his cycle but chain fell off. oh! he tried to fix it but the chain was already quite tight and when he was trying to fix it, it broke from in between. Raghav then decide to run his way to school. So he hurried, took short cut and then reached school. He reached school late and Master ji was waiting for him. Master ji would send them to help staff after school time to help them. So Raghav was sent to Deen Dayal ji. Deen dayal ji was responsible for arranging library books. So he was assigned of arranging library books. After the 8 lectures, Raghav was supposed to go to Deen Dayal ji to help him arrange books. Deen Dayal ji explained him what to do and started talking to someone on his mobile.
"Sahab! But this is urgent" Deen Dayal ji said. There was a response from that side possibly negative, so he said" Sahib, Government pays you for this, you have to do this, children are suffering." There was a long pause and a disappointed reluctant yeahs from this side, finally Din Dayal ji said okay, pressed the red button and then probably checked his remaining balance. He looked at Raghav and Raghav looked back at him, there were no words exchanged.
Din Dayal ji was blabbering in the corner " Hain! what is the use of this caste?" No education, no knowledge, this country is never going to develop. Sarpanch thinks about nothing but just to appease people. Illiterate hunnhh!"
Raghav was then again going back to home. And the girl with big eyes and long hairs, tanned by the sun yet so fair, standing between the road donned in dark blue dress similar to that of what Raghav's grand mother used to wear. He turned her neck in 270 degrees just to get some extra glimpse of her while passing by her.
She was just an issue of curiosity for him. Who is she? Does he really know her? After reaching home he got busy again with his schedule and started studying.
The cows were rambling. Breeze was tranquilizing, he can see the orange sky from his window, Raghav was studying on his table while his mother came with a cup of tea for him. He was studying Physics, Master ji used to teach Physics and Chemistry in the school, as there were only two faculties for science stream, one for maths and master ji took care of physics and chemistry. Raghav was not able to solve a problem, even after applying the correct formula he was not getting the desired result. It was now time to go to school, so he started getting ready and raeched school.
In the chemistry period Raghav was bemused to see a new teacher. School needed chemistry teacher for so long. Finally, the wait was over. Master ji was just stretching his schedule to teach chemistry while he was regular faculty for physics. Anyways chemistry class got over, teacher was quite good, Raghav and some students like him while others were busy searching for the nick name of the teacher. And now the physics period came, earlier when the bell struck Master ji used to start teaching physics. It was 10 minutes past the bell had struck, no one came. Harish, one of Raghav's classmate went to staff room to inquire about Master ji. But Master ji was not there, He asked Din Dayal ji about it, he said " Beta, Master ji has been transferred to another village." Harish came back and announced that Master ji has been transferred and now he will not come to teach us. Free period is always a rejoice but this news was quite baffling for Raghav as boards were approaching and he wanted to score good marks in Physics, now the dream seemed distant. But still free period is a free period and now he can go to home early.
In the evening when Raghav was sitting in temple, the girl was sitting on the stairs of the temple. He saw her, the beats of the bhajan was working as background music, he was silently watching that girl, the dogma shackled him. He was still watching her and she was sitting outside the temple with her friend, just then Masterji came and stopped his cycle in front of that girl. Girl sat on the career and Masterji went away with her.
Masterji lived near temple so Raghav decided to visit his house.
It was a dim lighted house, old books were kept on that old book shelf, Masterji was wiping his spects with his kurta. When Raghav came in the house, Masterji wore his spects again and while adjusting his spects, he said " Oh! Raghav you, come in". Raghav sat on that fragile charpai, while Masterji asked Sia to bring water for Raghav. Sia came with a glass of water. Raghav drank the water. With some known unfamiliarity they both looked at each other. When Sia went back to kitchen then Masterji told Raghav that " She is Sia, my daughter, I married her when she was 17, she studied with you till 5th standard." He took a pause, looked at Raghav and continued " It was important, her mother passed away and I wouldn't have got a better boy for her than Manoj. In our caste very few boys are educated and Manoj had already completed his higher secondary and was working as a dealer in city." Masterji took a pause again and even Raghav was silent, he had a hint of what's coming. So he remained silent. "Manoj died , few months after marriage, doctors said he had typhoid, and he never took proper care of his body and he died leaving my only daughter as widow. She's just 18."
Raghav didn't say anything, because he knew Masterji had something more to say " My sufferings are never going to end, new sarpanch is Brahmin you know, and I'm a dalit, sarpanch couldn't stand a dalit teaching in his area, so he called in the ministry and I was transferred." Just then Sia entered holding biscuits and tea in her hand. Masterji said Raghav to have tea.
But Raghav denied and said that he is getting late for dinner and left.
He went back home and had his dinner. After dinner his father and he were sitting in the verandah. His father was talking about something related to politics but he was not listening, suddenly Raghav came out of his deep thoughtful silence and asked his father " Is it a sin to drink water at Dalit's house?"
Raghav had this rigid time table that he religiously followed, on Sundays and holidays he would go with his father to buy vegetables, fruits and other household items. He will study two extra hours on Sunday.There were no coaching classes in village and Raghav's father couldn't afford sending him to city's coaching classes. He never argued his father about it.
It was shiny afternoon of February. The leaves were lying on the road. Raghav was coming to his home after school. He was wearing his sky blue shirt and khaki pants. Revving his bicycle on the slim muddy road. Looking at the fields of pearl millet, he was thinking about that girl, the girl on that shop in front of school. He knew her. He has seen that girl somewhere. Her big shiny eyes, long hairs looked so familiar to him. But he was not able to recall. Just then a cow came in front of her cycle, he applied his breaks but he was not able to balance the cycle and he fell down.
He reached home. His mother looked at his uniform and hastily ran towards him shouting but still carrying so much calm on her face, she asked "what happened?". And he told her that a cow came in between when he was coming back.
In the evening when he was sitting in the temple and the people were singing "hare Rama and hare Krishna". He saw that girl again. He was staring at her. She was sitting near the stairs of temple with one of her friends. They were talking, smiling and having a great time. It was 8.30 and he thought it's time for him to leave. So he left.
After the dinner he was discussing with his father about the village's water problem and his father said "Government has appointed a new engineer in the village who will take care of the affairs." He asked" Is he staying in the old government bungalow
in front of his school?" His father nodded.
It was another day, the sun was about to rise. He was getting ready to go to school, he sat on his cycle but chain fell off. oh! he tried to fix it but the chain was already quite tight and when he was trying to fix it, it broke from in between. Raghav then decide to run his way to school. So he hurried, took short cut and then reached school. He reached school late and Master ji was waiting for him. Master ji would send them to help staff after school time to help them. So Raghav was sent to Deen Dayal ji. Deen dayal ji was responsible for arranging library books. So he was assigned of arranging library books. After the 8 lectures, Raghav was supposed to go to Deen Dayal ji to help him arrange books. Deen Dayal ji explained him what to do and started talking to someone on his mobile.
"Sahab! But this is urgent" Deen Dayal ji said. There was a response from that side possibly negative, so he said" Sahib, Government pays you for this, you have to do this, children are suffering." There was a long pause and a disappointed reluctant yeahs from this side, finally Din Dayal ji said okay, pressed the red button and then probably checked his remaining balance. He looked at Raghav and Raghav looked back at him, there were no words exchanged.
Din Dayal ji was blabbering in the corner " Hain! what is the use of this caste?" No education, no knowledge, this country is never going to develop. Sarpanch thinks about nothing but just to appease people. Illiterate hunnhh!"
Raghav was then again going back to home. And the girl with big eyes and long hairs, tanned by the sun yet so fair, standing between the road donned in dark blue dress similar to that of what Raghav's grand mother used to wear. He turned her neck in 270 degrees just to get some extra glimpse of her while passing by her.
She was just an issue of curiosity for him. Who is she? Does he really know her? After reaching home he got busy again with his schedule and started studying.
The cows were rambling. Breeze was tranquilizing, he can see the orange sky from his window, Raghav was studying on his table while his mother came with a cup of tea for him. He was studying Physics, Master ji used to teach Physics and Chemistry in the school, as there were only two faculties for science stream, one for maths and master ji took care of physics and chemistry. Raghav was not able to solve a problem, even after applying the correct formula he was not getting the desired result. It was now time to go to school, so he started getting ready and raeched school.
In the chemistry period Raghav was bemused to see a new teacher. School needed chemistry teacher for so long. Finally, the wait was over. Master ji was just stretching his schedule to teach chemistry while he was regular faculty for physics. Anyways chemistry class got over, teacher was quite good, Raghav and some students like him while others were busy searching for the nick name of the teacher. And now the physics period came, earlier when the bell struck Master ji used to start teaching physics. It was 10 minutes past the bell had struck, no one came. Harish, one of Raghav's classmate went to staff room to inquire about Master ji. But Master ji was not there, He asked Din Dayal ji about it, he said " Beta, Master ji has been transferred to another village." Harish came back and announced that Master ji has been transferred and now he will not come to teach us. Free period is always a rejoice but this news was quite baffling for Raghav as boards were approaching and he wanted to score good marks in Physics, now the dream seemed distant. But still free period is a free period and now he can go to home early.
In the evening when Raghav was sitting in temple, the girl was sitting on the stairs of the temple. He saw her, the beats of the bhajan was working as background music, he was silently watching that girl, the dogma shackled him. He was still watching her and she was sitting outside the temple with her friend, just then Masterji came and stopped his cycle in front of that girl. Girl sat on the career and Masterji went away with her.
Masterji lived near temple so Raghav decided to visit his house.
It was a dim lighted house, old books were kept on that old book shelf, Masterji was wiping his spects with his kurta. When Raghav came in the house, Masterji wore his spects again and while adjusting his spects, he said " Oh! Raghav you, come in". Raghav sat on that fragile charpai, while Masterji asked Sia to bring water for Raghav. Sia came with a glass of water. Raghav drank the water. With some known unfamiliarity they both looked at each other. When Sia went back to kitchen then Masterji told Raghav that " She is Sia, my daughter, I married her when she was 17, she studied with you till 5th standard." He took a pause, looked at Raghav and continued " It was important, her mother passed away and I wouldn't have got a better boy for her than Manoj. In our caste very few boys are educated and Manoj had already completed his higher secondary and was working as a dealer in city." Masterji took a pause again and even Raghav was silent, he had a hint of what's coming. So he remained silent. "Manoj died , few months after marriage, doctors said he had typhoid, and he never took proper care of his body and he died leaving my only daughter as widow. She's just 18."
Raghav didn't say anything, because he knew Masterji had something more to say " My sufferings are never going to end, new sarpanch is Brahmin you know, and I'm a dalit, sarpanch couldn't stand a dalit teaching in his area, so he called in the ministry and I was transferred." Just then Sia entered holding biscuits and tea in her hand. Masterji said Raghav to have tea.
But Raghav denied and said that he is getting late for dinner and left.
He went back home and had his dinner. After dinner his father and he were sitting in the verandah. His father was talking about something related to politics but he was not listening, suddenly Raghav came out of his deep thoughtful silence and asked his father " Is it a sin to drink water at Dalit's house?"
