|
|
I watched Angels and Demons a couple of weeks back. Good movie – no more, no less. Ditto with DaVinci Code. And what about the books by the same names? Entirely different matter. When I had read these books (DaVinci Code and Angels and Demos) 4 years back, I was truly and completely hooked!
But this post is obviously not about books or movies, is it? These books and movies are all about the conflict between science and religion. Though both books and movies conclude by finding the middle path, it is sad that both books have given rise to controversies. I don't comprehend this. Because for me, religion is science.
I am a Hindu and proud to be one. Having said that, I am compelled to make a strong statement - I hardly see anyone following the religion in its true spirit these days. Let me explain.
Every ritual that we follow has a reason. I know the logic behind some of the rituals – hence I have no qualms in following them. Most of this information has been preached to me by elders; while quite a bit of it also came from a PDF book I received a couple of years back which details the rational behind several of the rituals and practices that we Hindus follow. It is amazing – how what we think is religion, is in fact just a way of encouraging people to live a scientific life! Religion is Science.
There are other practices which I feel are either rudimentary or pure superstition. Perhaps, there may .. just may be some reason behind those; but until I know this reason, I find it very difficult to follow those practices (I do end up following some of them just in order to not appear as an “outcast” but that's a different topic). On the other hand, I see people everywhere blindly follow superstitions. This is also true of people who are otherwise very reasonable. Which is again difficult to comprehend. How do people who are considerate and reasonable suddenly undergo a transformation when it comes to religion?
One sad point in the the whole matter is the perversion of the religion in the name of customs. There needs to be a clear distinction between “religion” and “custom”. Many of the atrocities which we pass off as “religious customs” have nothing to do with religion at all! Dowry, female infanticide, Sati, ostracization of widows – I do not believe any of these are looked upon favourably by Hinduism (or any religion for that matter). All the sins which are ostensibly committed in the name of family honour, I am sure, are nowhere promoted by the religion. These are just customs which came about for selfish purposes – for people who wanted to dominate over others – for example when man wanted to dominate women; or when people of a certain profession wanted to keep those of others “in check” (that's what must have led to the utterly despicable caste system).
The final point which I want to make is about another characteristic of Hinduism which has been diluted these days at the hands of self-appointed custodians (Mr. Pramod Muthalik and co. for example) – the absence of force. Religion is a guideline for people on how to lead their lives. The moment someone claims that my religion mandates something – the credibility is lost. In my opinion, many of the practices suggested by Hinduism might have been relevant to a certain period of time – but the contributors to the religion would have foreseen that the world might not stay the same forever. That is the reason I believe nothing was enforced in the religion. Just like science, religion too has space to accommodate for change. Religion is science!
I originally intended to put forth dozens of points in this post – but I think I'll stop at this. More on this topic another day. I conclude, as usual, with a hope – I Hope that people start following religion in spirit rather than by the word. Half of the problems of the world (well, India at least) would be solved if this hope sees the light of day!
The Self-critic Shutterbug (or SCSB, as we fondly call it), is a group photo-blog which is maintained by me and my friends. The main intention of this blog is to improve our photography skills, and try to get some creative snaps. We put up snaps clicked by us and, in addition to patting ourselves on the back for what we like about those snaps; we also consciously point out the drawbacks in those photographs. We believe this kind of self-analysis will help us make better photographers.
SCSB has gone through quite a bit of a life-cycle so far – starting off on wordpress.com in late 2008, when I was the only shutterbug; then being joined by Rax in early 2009; then sometime in March or April – we moved to the current self-hosted wordpress. Even then, although we were posting regularly, we were still playing around with the theme and stuff.
Now, we have reached a stage where we can throw it open to all :). We are reasonably satisfied with the theme, the logo, the widgets, the plugins and the site on the whole! This “announcement” also coincides with the induction of our third shutterbug – Rahul.
So, what are you waiting for? Visit SCSB now! Check the About page to know more about us. Subscribe to the feeds. And of course – provide your extremely valuable feedback on our photos. We promise – you will not be disappointed!
The top 3 in the world as far as “satire, with a meaning” goes are: Dilbert, Ramesh Srivats and Amit Varma. I have been a fan of Amit Varma and IndiaUncut for years now – and it was but obvious that I had to read his book!
Just imagine “What if IndiaUncut had been a book?” – and thats My Friend Sancho for you!
The Story: Well, this is no suspense story – but I'll still keep the story part short so as to avoid “spoilers”
Abir Ganguly, a reporter on a crime beat is informed by the police about an impending arrest. The reporter reaches the scene where the “arrest” turns out to be a shooting and one man ends up dead. Muneeza, is the daughter of the man who was shot dead.
The two meet when Abir is asked to do a story about the life of the innocent man who was shot dead. Abir takes Muneeza's help to know her father's life better. It doesn't help when Abir is later asked to make it a split-story; with half of it painting a picture of the person who shot the bullet – Inspector Thombre.
How Abir goes about writing this story occupies the rest of the book.
What's So Special About It? For one, there's copious amounts of Amit Varma's hallmark humor and satire. Secondly, the book abounds in Amit Varma's second hallmark – humor with a message. The main point of the book is about the kind of life journalists lead – and it made me regret the criticism I often hurl at them. It's also about the kind of life policemen lead – putting the reader in their shoes.
By the time you are done reading the book (by the way the 200 pages won't take you too much time – 3 hours, give-or-take); you will be happy with your life and end up wondering “Why the hell am I complaining about my life? Had I been in these people's shoes, would I have handled things as well as they did?”
And that is the best quality of My Friend Sancho. I would rate it at 3.5 stars. It is not outstanding, but is still a must-read. Go get yourself a copy right away! ********************** Other books I have reviewed:
An article that appeared in the Times of India a couple of days back quoted a comprehensive study and modelling done by the National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER) which says that: "Even if India grows by 8% every year with the current set of technologies and policies in place, its per capita emissions will not exceed 2.77 tonnes in 2031 — almost seven times less than the current per capita emissions of the US and almost four times less than the current per capita emissions of UK" [Emphasis is mine] This, even after taking into consideration the current and planned technologies and policies for the next two decades (infrastructure, industrialization, etc).
This report has now been taken as an excuse by India to oppose the “rhetoric” of developed countries that developing countries will overtake the developed ones in their emissions in the years to come. The article goes on to say that India and China along with other G77 countries have put forth a demand that since the rich nations have been historically the uber-polluters (ever since the industrial revolution), the rich countries should pay for the cost of any emission reduction measures undertaken by the poor and developing nations.
IMO, there are 2 “issues” here:
Excessive per-capita Emissions by developed nations It is obvious that the developed nations are committing horrific environmental-crime as far as emissions go. What is worse is many of them are not ready to accept this fact and take measures to set them right. Instead, they are looking for ways to deflect the blame onto the developing countries.
I vaguely remember some summit (APEC i think) where, if I remember correctly, US and Australia refused to sign a treaty (which several developed European nations and several developing nations signed) which sought a commitment from signatory countries to work on containing their emissions. What was highlighted in this summit was the probable consequences (drowning of island countries, polar and Himalayan meltdown etc). In spite of pressure from others, 2 countries refused to sign.
[Disclaimer: The preceding paragraph has been written off the top of my head – I could be wrong about the second country which did not sign the treaty].
Whenever I think of this situation, the first thing which comes to my mind is a program which I had watched on Discovery or NGC (I dont remember exactly which one) about 5 years back. The 1 hour program was about the scenic and tiny South Pacific island nation of Tuvalu. The first part of the program was about the culture and people of Tuvalu, while the second part turned towards the question-mark over its future. The country has an average height of half a metre above Sea Level. The program predicted that Tuvalu will be the first country to completely drown if global warming continues at current levels.
The natives were interviewed and it was very sad to hear them argue “Why should we pay for your emission excesses? Why should we drown to wash away your sins?” Many people have started migrating to New Zealand, Australia and elsewhere; while some people stand their ground and refuse to migrate. They say “This is our home – we will stay back; come what may”.
Who is answerable to Tuvaluans? Why should they face the consequences of heinous crimes committed thousands of kilometers away?
Increasing Emissions by Developing Countries The NCAER report stresses on per-capita emissions. However, Mother Earth is worried about total emissions – or maybe regional emissions to a certain extent, isn't she? What difference does it make to the environment whether the ozone layer is being punctured by a billion people or by one person? Its the nett effect – that the ozone layer has a hole at a certain location - that matters, is it not? At the end of the day, the ozone layer is being depleted; or the Himalayan snow-cap is turning bald; or the Antarctic ice-shelf is shrinking; or the forests in India are disappearing – that's the issue.
The point I am trying to make here is that the developing countries should not sit back and relax just because their per-capita emissions are low. The fact that India and China have billion-plus populations is their own fault. So, the total emissions being spewed out by these 2 countries cannot be neglected. I think it is time for the developing countries having bloating populations to act and act quick to rein in their emissions.
****************** A note on the conclusion of the study: “The study concludes that an imposition of carbon tax would also sharply increase poverty levels in urban as well as rural India” Imposition of carbon tax on developing nations is definitely a very bad idea; but these countries MUST voluntarily take steps to reduce their total emissions.
Looking forward to a world which is sensitive to its strain on the Earth; and responsible enough to roll back its emission excesses.
- The price of tur-dal has shot up over Rs 77/kg. But hey, the inflation is negative
- A fuel price hike, probably the largest ever in Indian history, was effected couple of days back. Parking rates are ridiculous. But, don't you know the inflation is negative?
- The world is in recession, salaries are being slashed, people are losing jobs. Hey, don't you ever listen? I'm telling you, inflation is negative.
- Eating and cooking, fruits, milk and vegetables are now more expensive than ever before. But, don't you worry – inflation is negative.
- Commuting to and from work is now pinching – no, tearing apart – your pocket. Buddy, would you like to join the merriment? Inflation is negative, you see.
- Education is no longer affordable to even the middle class. You know what? The inflation is negative.
- They say real estate prices have come down – that holds ONLY if you are selling or renting out. If you are buying or renting a house yourself, prices are still around Mount K2 or Mount Everest levels. Don't you believe all that bullshit. Inflation is negative.
Come, lets all join hands and celebrate this wonderful achievement! The inflation is negative.
Update: This article has been published on YouthKiAwaaz *************************
The News
Union HRD Minister, Kapil Sibal, has announced his first steps towards revamping the entire education system across the country – de-traumatisation of education by making 10th Standard Board exams optional. The logic behind this proposal is - “Why put unnecessary pressure on students, parents and schools by forcing students to appear for a Board exam if the student wishes to continue in the same school till 12th Standard?”
According to the Sibal, the student would have to appear for Board exams only if they wish to enrol in a different school post their 10th Standard. The proposal includes other measures such as the marks system making way for the Grade system or percentile system and setting up a National Commission for Higher Education and Research.
Since the CBSE board is directly under the Centre's purview, the new measures could be implemented within a year in CBSE schools, whereas it would take some more time to implement this strategy across the country. Sibal has also stated that the stakeholders would be invited for discussion before final implementation – the current State Boards forming a major chunk of the stakeholders.
My Opinion
It is obvious that the Indian education system has been long overdue for a revamp. And it is definitely good to see that the HRD minister has decided not to follow in the footsteps of his illustrious predecessor – and instead try do something meaningful. The intent is right – un-burden the young students and their hapless parents from the tremendous strain that they go through during the dreaded 10th Standard Board Exams.
Having said that, I am not sure whether the implementation is a step in the right direction. This step has the potential to make the students complacent and it might impact their competitiveness. The students would have to face the Board exams for the first time in 12th Standard. That means even more pressure during the all-important, decisive examination. What impact will this have on the value of the 10th Standard certificate? The 10th Standard marks/grade is quoted everywhere – scholarships, college admission process, even job interviews dammit. IMO, the project is very ambitious – making away with all the State Boards and centralizing the school education system (with crores of students) across the country is sure to run into serious scalability, administrative and logistical issues. Further, the State Boards are already well-established and specialized to cater to the needs and composition of the particular state. One measure which makes sense is to make percentile as the standard unit of measurement as opposed to marks or percentage. This is all the more important as the standards of various State Boards in the country vary vastly. For example, In Goa Board, getting 90% in SLC is a big accomplishment. Correction is very strict. Top scores in language subject rarely crosses 85. In Karnataka Board, a student with 90% may not even be given a second look by any of the good colleges. There are tens of thousands of students with that kind of score. Correction is very lenient. So, when students from these two boards apply for a seat in the same college, is it not a comparison of apples and oranges? The percentile system will surely level the playing ground.
I think Kapil Sibal deserves credit for taking the first step in this education reform. However, the proposal is in need of a re-look. I will consider the Indian education system to have undergone reform the day rote learning is banished and a system which emphasizes on “learning” and “education” in the true sense of the words is in place.
Looking forward to an India where children do not waste their childhood learning lessons by-heart and instead receive meaningful education which prepares them to give back to the country in the future. Jai Hind.
An Indian MP, one Mr Yarad Shaadav, recently caused furore by threatening to consume poison if a bill which proposes to set aside 33% reservation for women is passed. This was just the beginning. Mr. Shaadav set the stage for a series of threats, counter-threats, demands and counter-demands. In this exclusive report, we present some samples from this tug-of-war being played out in the Parliament for the past few days.
Mrs. Mane Aka Gandhi has demanded that 33% of the seats (i.e, 181 seats) be reserved for animals. Nothing surprising for those who know her. What is surprising though, is that out of these 181 seats, Mrs. Gandhi has asked for a huge chunk – 100 seats – for lions alone. This has made experts wonder why the lady has not demanded more reservation for lionesses, not to mention other animal species. This reporter suspects it might be because of the Mane in her Name). Mrs. Gandhi has threatened that she will let lions loose in the parliament if her demands are not met.
Star Indian cricketer, Har-dozen Singh has partly supported Mrs. Gandhi and requested her to include a clause that sets aside 10 seats for monkeys. Mr. Singh has also dropped a hint that failure to comply may mean that he will slap the Speaker of the House.
Another Indian cricketer – medium-pace dancer and (make-or-)break bowler Mr. Pappu-Kentdans-Ala (also known as Free-Santh)- has demanded 12% reservation for those backward sections of Indians who cannot dance, failing which, he reportedly plans to torture the entire House by shaking a leg near the well at Parliament House. Upon being asked how he arrived at the number 12, he responded that 12 is the average number of balls he bowls per over – hence the figure.
Noted actor Emraan Kissme, meanwhile, has started a campaign to highlight the plight of bad serial kissers in the country, and is reported to be meeting the President today with a representation requesting 1% reservation for serial kissers. Mr. Kissme has issued the most serious threat so far – he claims he will kiss every female MP for two full minutes if his demand is not met. If this act does not yield any results, he says he will start kissing the male MP's - in the ascending order of their age; and he will continue until his demand is accepted.
The Commissioner of Police of Bangalore, Mr. Pandu Havaldar, has jumped on to the bandwagon, and is lobbying for a 5% reservation for corrupt policemen in the Parliament. This in turn, has prompted citizen groups and MP's alike to question the motive of such a move as there is already a 100% reservation for corrupt people in the Lok Sabha. Mr. Havaldar also blackmailed the public by declaring that until his demands are met, the Bangalore Police will not maintain law and order in the city. This statement has confused the media and citizen forums. Questions like “Whats new in that?”, “How is that a threat?”, “Isn't that the state of Bangalore for the past decade any way?” resonated across newspapers and blogs alike.
This correspondent will continue to bring such juicy inside details for our esteemed readers as the women's reservation bill debate continues and the noises build up into a cacophony. Stay tuned .. er .. feedburner-fed.
How else does one explain the urge of people to make obscenely expensive donations to the Gods, like this one, a whopping Rs. 40+ crores by a minister at Tirupati?
Here's a (wild wild ??) thought, Mr. Minister. Have you ever thought How many under privileged people you could have uplifted with the same amount? Heck – judging by the budget of a recent school renovation project (carried out by an NGO) that I witnessed recently – I wouldn't be surprised if all the schools in an entire taluka can be completely revamped with that kind of money. That you could appease the Gods far more and receive blessings several times greater than what you have got now, by using this amount to set right the imbalance in the society around you?
Let's not even go into the discussion about how a minister made so much money (after all, he is a mining industry baron). Let's not even go into the ethics of whether a minister should be making such exorbitant donations. The question is what the Gods would prefer – that a wealthy human makes such gestures which serve no meaningful purpose whatsoever (Come on now – what is Tirumala Venkateshwara going to do with a diamond-encrusted crown?); or they keep the spirit of God alive by spreading goodness with the same amount in the name of God!
Would the Gods still brand me an atheist?
Update: This post has been selected as one of "Spicy Saturday Picks" for 6th June 2009 by BlogAdda.
****************
Up until yesterday, if one asked me what it takes for anyone to get into an IIT, I'd probably say Coaching from one of the top institutes (BASE, Brilliant etc) Money to even enrol in these coaching institutes (they don't come cheap do they?) And of course, the indispensable trio of talent, hard work and determination.
But that was yesterday. If one asks me the same question today, I'l probably mention only and only the last point. For, a Government Junior College in Hyderabad has busted the myth regarding the first two points.
The students at the Andhra Pradesh Social Welfare Residential Junior College are from the extremely poor sections of society. They are children of daily wage workers, and many of these students have spent their childhood grazing cattle or toiling away in farmlands. The college itself runs in a small 5-room building and boasts of little to no infrastructure or facilities. And what is so special about this college?
Of the 35 students who are passing out from the college this year, 19 secured top IIT ranks. 7 of them are actually headed for IITs and the others have secured admission in reputed institutes like Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology (of which Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam is the chancellor).
This college is a model – of how “getting things done” is far more important than “patting one's own back”. I am sure any private institute would have used such an achievement as an excuse to waste newsprint by the kiloton, and shout from the top of their voices in an attempt to assert themselves as the “best coaching institute in the country”. And the private institutes would not have stopped there for sure – they would also have used this as an opportunity to hike their fees. And to think that the principal of this particular college gave all credit to students! As the news article puts it:
A beaming principal E Lakshmaiah modestly attributes the success more to the hard work and determination of the students than the alma mater. “The facilities are bare minimum here. But despite that, our students succeeded in the highly competitive nations-wide tests,” he said.
I feel the Andhra Pradesh Social Welfare Residential Junior College deserves all the credit it is getting – so do the students who study there. In an era where education is fast turning into a lucrative business rather than an essential service; and when seats at professional courses are sold, exhorted or auctioned; this particular college is standing out from the crowd and doing a real service to the nation. Hats off to them.
Looking forward to an India where decent professional education is inclusive of the economically weaker sections of society. JAI HIND.
My pal, Mr. Professional (MP) is very upbeat about his child these days. Every conversation has to have at least a few mentions of his 10 year old daughter. Like thousands others like him, MP is a very proud parent, and wants the best for his child. He always goes the extra mile to give his daughter the best he possibly can. The best of clothes, toys, education – everything. In fact, MP revealed to me once that the amount of resources consumed by the child has been the single largest expenditure for the family ever since his daughter was born.
And now, I arrive at the real point of this post. When I met up with MP recently, he was with his Childhood Friend (lets call him CF). CF has an 8 year old son. CF has radically different views about bringing up a child. He put an entire new angle to this child-care thing.
CF insists that although he yearns to give his child the best, he does not equate “the best” with “the best that money can buy”. For example, he has chosen not to enrol his son in one of the “exclusive” schools (even though he could have afforded one had he stretched his finances a little). Instead, he has sent his son to a good middle-class school. He wants his son to interact with children from all backgrounds. And being a middle class guy himself, he believes that his son should go to a middle class school too. “There is no dearth of excellent-quality middle class schools is there?”, he argues. I think I agree with CF here.
Secondly, CF believes that a child brought up in such a protected environment will find it difficult to face the challenges of the world out there. A child who always travels in an A/C car, who has never boarded a city bus, who only rides an upmarket bike to college is out of touch with reality, he says. I am not sure whether I agree entirely with this opinion. I feel that no matter how protected a child is, as he grows, he will get acquainted with the ways of the world and will learn to stand up for himself.
CF's third point was about the child's sense of social responsibility. He feels that the trend of projecting only the best of the world to children makes them unaware of the sufferings of, and reality about their fellow human beings. His contention is that such children are less likely to do anything for the society. I guess he has a point there.
CF's final, radical punch was yet to come. He put forth a question to MP: “Imagine you had not had a child; and that you had spent all the amount that you are now spending on her, in philanthropy instead. Can you imagine how many under-privileged children's lives you could have turned around in that amount? And, can you imagine how many children's lives those kids might in tun improve when they grow up?”
I find this argument to be .. well .. far too extreme. Suggesting one not to have kids because one will end up spending a lot of money on the kids – instead, spending the same amount of money on dozens of underprivileged children!!! I mean .. if CF had suggested that – for example – imagine cutting down on the amount you spend on your kid by, say 20%; and imagine putting that money into social causes; well that would have been a far more reasonable and acceptable argument. Or would it? I wonder how CF would respond if I challenged him to undergo a 20% cut in his pay with the assurance that this amount would be used for philanthropy!
There is one thing I agree in this far-fetched point of view though. It has been my observation (and by no means is it a generalisation), that people who have come from not-so-rosy backgrounds are more active when it comes to charity – than people who have never had to struggle in their past. They would even undergo some sacrifices in order to give to the underprivileged. And by the end of the debate between MP and CF, the only take-away I had was that it might be a good thing to expose a child to the real world from an early age in order to make the child a good citizen in the future.
But hey, why am I worried about all these things? I ain't having kids anytime soon! I would like to know the opinion though, of those of you who have kids or are planning to soon. At least that way, when I bump into CF next time, I am more prepared to enter into the debate rather than remain a mute spectator!
Disclaimer: This is my personal blog. All the views and opinions expressed on this blog are entirely my own and do not reflect the views of my employer, organization, relatives, friends, acquaintances or any other person/entity.
|
|
