The Blood Donation Imbroglio

Day 2:

I walk out of the blood bank with a myriad of mixed feelings – vexation, frustration, helplessness, anxiety, sympathy and finally miniscule satisfaction.

Prologue: Day 1

A moist weekday afternoon. Heavy lunch. Perfect catalysts for a siesta. A routine check of the mail reveals a situation hapless enough to seize my attention off the siesta inducing conditions. A 3 year old kid suffering from blood cancer, admitted to a hospital at stone’s throw distance from my place. Social responsibility beckoning.

Interlude :

My limbic system [part of the brain that deals with emotions] demanded a solution to be found from the cerebral cortex [part of the brain that is responsible for reasoning]. With the contact numbers mentioned in the mail, I introduced myself as a volunteer to help the people concerned in this issue. A reminder of the callousness in today’s life was in store. Today, being a government holiday, was an “off” day for doctors in that government hospital; thereby the blood bank refused to collect blood from any volunteers, citing lack of duty doctors as the reason.

The Doctor Encounter: Day 2

Location : A Government hospital specializing in oncology.

Following a heavy breakfast, fully loaded, I reached the hospital by 1040AM. The estimate of this whole affair was about one hour. But there was a display of apathy pending. On asking the concerned doctor about the procedure for blood donation, I was subject to some grouchy comments, as I had purportedly annoyed her and wasted her time. First lesson in basic govt hospital behavior learnt. But the quality of teaching exceeded expectations and there was more to come. On asking the concerned nurse about the procedure, I was told that the patient should be giving a requisition for blood, and without that document I am not allowed to donate. So, her answer to my question was that I should be confirming tomorrow with the kid’s parents if they have submitted a requisition and then donate when it’s ready. Even with the demand for blood increasing every passing day, nobody was bothered about making use of a voluntary donor.

The “Bloody” situation :

Putting away the pleasantries offered by the hospital staff, I took the help of a security person to find the blood bank. Thankfully, I discovered that the treatment meted out to donors here is totally contrary to that in the hospital ward! The person in charge of the blood bank was obliging and immediately handed out a form to be filled which asked details of my health in the past few months. The duty doctor checked my vital stats and I was good to go.

As there is a platelet requirement for the patient, and also owing to the reason that I have a healthy weight, extra 50-100 ml was taken from me. This led to some weakness for some time but the refreshments that were offered after donation restored my comfort levels. After returning the ID card of the patient, the 3 year old boy suffering from blood cancer, I walked out, enriched with all the experiences that will last for days to come.

Post Script : Blood donation is completely safe and good for the body. Any healthy person above 18 years of age can donate blood every 3 months. Blood from each donor is separated into components like RBC, WBC, platelets and can save up to 4 people.

 

Aadhavan-Does the sun shine?

Pre-Script : This post doesn’t contain any spoilers and can be read by anyone who hasn’t seen the movie yet.

It had already been 4 days since its release. And I still hadn’t seen it. This was a gross digression from the ordained obligation that every Surya movie should be seen in the first two days of its release, with the exception of Varanam Ayiram [for reasons best left untold]. Me being in Chennai during Diwali was the primary reason though for this 4 days delay. The lack of theatres in Chennai for the abundant cinema going populace due to which the first four days were sold out in most theatres was another significant reason. Incidentally I had to get back to Bangalore earlier than I expected, and this made Mission Aadhavan possible.

Aadhavan – the one who rises first. The sun. Surya.

Surya reprises the commercial cinema genre after Ayan, under KS Ravikumar’s [KSR] direction, who after Dasavataaram tries to deliver a wholesome entertainer. The story, as most people know, Surya plays Aadhavan, a hired assassin, who never misses his target. But ironically, for the very first time in his career, he fails to kill the judge who would be responsible for bringing the baddies to justice. He is obsessed to pick off his target and thereby comes as a domestic help to the judge’s place, with the help of Vadivelu. The rest of the story is about Aadhavan trying to finish his mission.

Saroja Devi is downright irritating with her excess make up and overacting, and gets ragged a few times too!. Ramesh Khanna is being selfish in writing a role for himself just to take up screen space, with bizarre dressing and cacophonic singing. Nayanthara, for a change looks less vulgar [remember Villu?]. But she doesn’t have much to do other than dancing to Harris Jayaraj’s repetitive tunes and TRY to ooze some oomph. Murali, as the judge, throws in a good performance in what is unfortunately his last movie. Surya is as usual in fine form. Most of the difficult stunts are done by him and deserve a special mention. Be it the Casino-Royalistic chase in the beginning, or the superhuman helicopter stunt in the end; his efforts reflect on screen.

Vadivel is the other hero of the movie. His role encompasses the entire runtime and he deftly compensates for the slack storyline with his impeccable comic timing.

Surya’s much hyped 10 year old look has come out well in some scenes and is sloppy in some. Overall, a good effort with the CG. There are a whole bunch of characters who seem to serve no purpose other than fill the rooms. Sayaji Shinde is wasted yet again [where is the actor from “Bharathi”?]. Rahul Dev comes and goes as a typical villain.

Harris Jayaraj needs to learn a few lessons, and fast.

1. People are not so dumb to keep listening to his tunes over and over again in different movies, and not identify them. ‘Varayo’ is similar to ‘Un siripinil’ from Pachaikili Muthucharam; ‘Yeno Yeno Panithuli’ is ‘Manasa’ from Munna; ‘Hasili Fisili’ is again not a new tune, but the Kathik-Surya combo weaves magic after ‘Aadadha aatamellam’ [Mounam Pesiyadhe], ‘Oru Maalai’ [Gajini], ‘Anjala’ [Varanam Ayiram], and ‘Vizhi Moodi’ [Ayan].
2. Gajini and Anniyan are not the only sources of Background music in all his assignments.
3. Why are songs like ‘Maasi Maasi’, ‘Dekho Dekho’ even composed? They just take up time and slow down the already dumb storyline.

‘Yeno Yeno Panithuli’ is extravagant with Tamil audiences getting to see Iceland for the first time. The visuals from ‘Hasili Fisili’ are also a treat to watch.

Overall, Aadhavan is worth a watch. But it offers nothing new. Is it a worthy follow up to Ayan? Maybe not. Lesser the expectations, better for the viewer.

 

Corruption UnLtd – A Govt Enterprise

“Independent” India. 62 years young. Largest Democracy in the world. Secular, sovereign, socialist blah blah. Birthplace of Chess and Mathematics. Ironically, is that why, India is inadvertently competing with the top corrupt countries in the world to outdo them. India is at the 88th position out of the 160 odd countries, with the least corrupt being Finland; and the most being Haiti. Japan, on the other hand, after being razed to the ground in the second world war, is at the 21st position. There are demographical reasons that aid Japan over India, but still 62 years is a huge timeframe for progress in different fields. Corruption is so deep rooted in our blood corpuscles and neurons that life without corruption is next to impossible. Every one of us would’ve faced some situation at some point in life which forces us to give in to corruption. I shall quote an incident in my experience to prove this.

Problem statement : Water Leak from the inlet water pipe [to my house] from the corporation mains line.

Ideal solution : Lodge a complaint with the water supply board regarding the problem so that they can fix it.

Modus Operandi : Go to the Water supply Board, meet the official in charge of my ward, lodge a complaint giving the location of the problem.

It looked as simple as that. But I wasn’t too sure about it being this simple. And it didn’t turn out to be so simple after all. Any problem which involves the Government, leads to a problem greater than the problem itself! [Mr.Murphy, please take this statement as my corollary to one of your laws]. I approached the official in charge at the water board to lodge a complaint regarding the leak. To my utter shock and surprise, he told me that this leak had to be repaired by us, the owners of the house; and that the water board will not do anything about it. On blatantly questioning him if it wasn’t the responsibility of the water board to cater to such problems, he responded saying that they would cut off the supply to our road if they get complaints of a major leak or pipe rupture. He also said that he will send some of his workers if I need them, but I’ll have to make a ‘small’ payment. On asking him if I could proceed and ask my plumber to take care of the problem, he said that he’ll be permitting me to do it only if I produce a ‘road cutting permission’ from the corporation. Next stop, Corporation office.

I walked into the unusually calm corporation office [courtesy : tomorrow’s Gowri & Ganesha festival] and told them about my problem. The Junior Engineer [JE] who is in charge of my ward was supposedly out, attending a meeting. There was no other person to authorize this job to proceed. Getting the ‘road cutting permission’ [RCP] isn’t a simple task either. I have to first approach the JE, asking for RCP, pay the said amount to the corporation to cut open the road. This is like a penalty to be paid for damaging the already potholed road [as if it is in a pristine condition..!]. On producing the challan and a ‘small amount’, the JE will give a notice which serves as RCP. This RCP must be taken to the water board. The official there will then give a permission notice to repair the pipe, obviously after taking some tips. This is the procedure to be followed if any of your water pipes on the road break, for no fault of yours. This is what I was told. Please enlighten me if I am wrong.

Ideal solution [modified] : Do not approach the water board. Do not approach the City Corporation. Get your plumber and a mason. Dig the road open at the required places. Replace / repair the pipe. Re-dress the road as if nothing had happened.

Time for some troubleshooting. Who is at fault?

Is it the corporation which laid low quality roads?

Is it the water board which shunned its responsibility?

Even if it is not the board’s duty to repair the pipes, is the system right in letting it be?

Even if I am a law abiding citizen who wants to set things right in the way they are meant to be, the system doesn’t allow me to do so. Why should people pay property tax / consumer tax / income tax, if the very government which collects them refuses to help its citizens? Every year there is a budget which quotes the money allotted to every sphere of administration. But there is no record which informs the general public about the expenditures incurred in that year. There has to be a system which accounts to the public in black and white. The money inflow and outflow, with deficit or excess has to be shown. With this done, there is transparency and belief in the system. That may act as a saving grace for people like me who are losing faith in the system.There is no greater a tragedy than fighting the system itself, rather than fighting with the system.

Disclaimer : The above text is based on real life experiences. Any reference to people, living or dead is purely intentional and not coincidental.

 

One Flew… Many times over…

I am sure that all my fellow movie freaks would have been awed by atleast one role of Jack Nicholson in his stellar career spanning over 30 years. I have been a great fan of Jack Nicholson’s after watching “The Shining”, directed by Stanley Kubrick, which is truly a masterpiece in its own sense. I should confess that I am dumb enough to miss most of his movies, a mistake for which I should start seeking atonement at the earliest. Here I shall be talking about Nicholson’s Randall Patrick McMurphy in “One Flew over the cuckoo’s nest”, the movie adaptation of Ken Kasey’s book, of the same name.

One flew starts off in a bland picturesque locale with a car driving in McMurphy to a mental asylum. This mental asylum presents a picture of disdain, with patients merely surviving, leading a mundane life, with little or no hope of getting better.
McMurphy faces five assault charges and fakes mental illness to come to this institution with the sole intention of serving his remaining time in ‘luxury’, than in the grim environment of prison. However, he quickly finds out that surviving the institution with its desolate patients and the monstrously repressive Nurse Ratchet [Lousie Fletcher] is much harder than he imagined. But McMurphy is aggressively optimistic and his optimism pervades the institution, uplifting the spirits of its battered inmates. He takes them fishing, plays basketball with them, places impossible bets with them and even sets up date for a stuttering kid. I am not aware of this actor’s name, but his portrayal of the stuttering character Billy is impeccable and is definitely worth a mention. McMurphy strikes a friendship with a deaf and mute Native American inmate[whom he calls ‘Chief’] which is of a great significance in the movie. This is the best I can say without letting out any spoilers.

Nicholson truly bags the best moments of the film. One brilliant scene has him doing an imaginary play-by-play commentary of the 1963 World Series to the group of inmates, who are not allowed to watch the game on TV. It is a poetic sequence and Nicholson goes crazy with his delivery, describing baseball with colorful anecdotes and profanity. Another scene which has to be mentioned is the one wherein the camera is fixed on him while he is drunk. His expression changes from a sheepish smile to one filled with hope to the next with a forced smile, and finally drowsy, completely overcome by alcohol. These two scenes are few of the many hallmarks of Nicholson’s caliber as an actor.
Coming to the different aspects of the movie; the cinematography is flawlessly bleak and sets a perfect backdrop to aid the director in conveying the mood of the story. The background score is apt, dead silent when necessary, adding that extra punch to the scene. The direction by Milos Forman is top notch, bringing out the best from all his actors, from being uniquely uplifting to devastatingly depressing. One flew culminates in a powerful climax which brings out a myriad of conflicting emotions in the viewer, very apt for the story and brilliantly executed.

All in all, One flew over the cuckoo’s nest is a must watch for all those lovers of intense cinema with a penchant for poignant films . . .

 

????

Why is it that what you want the most becomes least likely what you get?

Why is it that when things seem to be going right, some miniscule element in the universe conspires to deprive you of that happiness?

When things are meant to go wrong, why do they happen in the first place?

Why does the one good thing that you yearn for become the reason for all chaos in life?

Why should one of the best things that have ever happened to you be let go?

Why is it so hard to recognize genuine people dangling in front of your eyes?

Why does callousness rule the hour?

Why does Silicon Carbide seem to be softer than some people?

Why does Hades seem to be stronger than Zeus?

Why doesn’t anything matter anymore?

Why doesn’t the pain inflicted further deepen the scar?

Why is this vacuum in life so unfathomable?

Mr. Murphy, do you have any answers?

 

Wonder B’La’h..!!

Frustration. Thwarting ill will. Our Coorg trip got put off indefinitely once again, leaving all of us fuming. We wanted to go out somewhere badly. As a respite, I suggested Skandagiri to the few in our group who too had the same frustration of the trip getting cancelled. Another alternative was to go to Wonder La. I was initially apprehensive as the drive wasn’t a great distance, but later gave in as the others voted for Wonder La over Skandagiri; and My God! It wasn’t a bad choice at all..!!

I left home at about 10 AM and picked Abhi from the hostel, had breakfast from a hotel nearby; and then embarked on “Mission Wonder La” with me piloting my Apache and Abhi being the Co-Pilot. The weather was sunny and bright for a good day’s entertainment. As I started giving in to the temptation of great roads take over my mellowness, we were brutally intercepted by the Kengeri Police who started asking me for my documents: license, insurance, RC Book. Am pretty used to the routine checks done by the police, but this was a tad too much; especially with the police asking me to repeat my address, vehicle Registration number and all that..! He suspected if the vehicle was actually mine, courtesy – my different looks in the photos of my Driver’s License, RC Book and my present look..! Finally, after abusing my convincing abilities, the cop let me go, and “Mission Wonder La” was back on track, with a 10 minute delay.

Wonder La is about 30 km from my place, with the latter part of the drive comprising the Rider’s Delight, Mysore road. We ogled at the NICE road to our left and I earnestly promised my Apache that she’ll atleast get to strut on NICE road. We reached Wonder La at about 1130 AM. The rest of the cavalry : Hari, Srikar, Ajay, Bharath and Yeshavanth, arrived 15 minutes later. We bought the tickets, dumped our stuff in a locker and entered the arena; looking for game.
On the ‘Wonder La Bamba’We started off with the ‘Wonder La Bamba” which seats 2 rows of people, and the whole apparatus moving clockwise and anti, with sudden accelerations. This seemed simple at the outset, but me being acrophobic [fear of heights], found this simple ‘walk-in-the-park’ ride itself scary. But determined to get over my fear, I sat through the whole 2 minute session without screaming. We then tried out ‘Wonder Splash’ which has a wooden raft, hauled up the hillock by conveyors, into a tunnel. There is light at the end of the tunnel, and also a steep incline, which ends in a pool of water. The raft hurls down the track at high speeds in to the pool, sending out a huge spray of water; drenching all of us in the water. We did this twice, as Bharath wanted a better pic than the first one. These two rides made me lose my fear to some extent.

That's Maverick.! We couldn't click its pics tho.

Maverick. This was the next; and true to its name, one of a kind ride. It seats two rows of people, about 20 maybe. It has many twists, turns, swivels, rotations and defies gravity; putting Newton’s laws to shame. This ride made me do two things which I thought I could never do. One was that it made my acrophobia get a phobia, so that I was really able to enjoy the ride. The second thing was that I had finally discovered that I could scream. Never before had I heard my voice cross the barely audible mark. Both these events are intertwined. Once the ride started, a voice in my head gave me two choices. One was to close my eyes and stays put, or keep my eyes open and enjoy the ride. But my acrophobia, being the evil that it is, didn’t allow my conscience to keep my eyes open. But my instincts got the better of it, and made me open my eyes. All these civil wars happening in my mind gave way to excess pent up energy; which showed up as a burst of voice.. and voila..! I was screaming..!! Post Maverick, there was a fulfilling feeling that I had achieved something great in life..!

We then finished the ‘Pirate Ship’, ‘Techno jump’, ‘Drop Zone’ and the ‘Net walk’, all of which were dwarfed by Maverick. Later we had lunch and got into the water gear to attempt the water rides.

I am a hopeless swimmer, barely managing to float. The others, barring Ajay, Hari and myself were good swimmers. We started warming up, or rather cooling off, with the Baby Pool, which is about 5 feet high. Then we ventured into the wave pool, and spent about 45 minutes there fighting the apparently ‘gentle’ waves. Then came the other thing which I had never done before. Rain Dance. The beats of the music coming as a crescendo along with the heavy rain in the rain disco managed to make my dead-stiff body make a move or two with great difficulty. We then finished off the water slides, along with our self made ‘races’; and the ‘Water Pendulum’. Water rides were fun altogether.

The Y-Scream

The best was yet to come. We had left out the mother of all dry rides. The ‘Y-Scream’. We hadn’t got the quorum required to start the ride in the morning, but we had a few seats left when we came back after the water rides. Hari, Abhi and myself were up for it, and seized the opportunity thrown at us with both hands. The Y-Scream consists of 8 sets of capsules suspended from a bow-like structure. The bow swings and whirls like a giant wheel, and the seats spin about their own axis; giving the rider a unique experience, on the lines of co-piloting a Sukhoi..! I could literally feel the blood rushing to my head. The evil Acrophobia popped its nosy head again, but my instincts, now made stronger by ‘Maverick’ routed it out from its roots. Y-Scream was the icing on the cake.

Next was the classic, entertaining ‘crazy cars’, in which we need to keep bumping into each other; followed by a splendid LASER Show. We took some snaps as memorabilia and then dispersed.
What followed was a stupendous night drive on Mysore Road with the night air making its way through my helmet, giving that titillating feeling a biker needs to push his vehicle to its limits. My Apache, listening intently as always, obeyed my orders without any huffs. I dropped Abhi back at the hostel, and returned home at about 9PM, with memories that will last for a lifetime. The Wonder La trip is truly an experience to remember…

 

Ani[mation]mania

I have been a great fan of animation movies and cartoons for as long as I can remember. I am told that, as a kid, I never used to have lunch without the daily dose of Tom & Jerry Cartoons which used to air on DD..!

I have my share of favourites of which Pixar movies top the list. Be it the toys that talk in ‘Toy Story’; or the monsters that power their own city by scaring people; or the quest of a clown fish to find his son in ‘Finding Nemo’; or the story of anthropomorphic cars in ‘Cars’; or the tale of a gifted rat that aspired to be a chef in ‘Ratatouille’; or more recently, the academy award winning movie about a Waste allocation Robot, ‘Wall-E’; Pixar always comes up with something new and innovative. As Steve Jobs puts it “Pixar is the most technically advanced creative company; Apple is the most creatively advanced technical company.”

There’s also Dreamworks studios, a brainchild of one of my favourite directors of all time, Steven Speilberg, that has made many good animation movies like ‘The Prince of Egypt’, ‘Spirit : The stallion of Cimarron’, ’Madagascar’, ‘Bee Movie ‘ and the comical ‘Kung Fu Panda’. But Pixar is a tad above Dreamworks when it comes to quality and innovation. As a result, they have more Oscars to their credit.
Away from these two giants and the Japanese Anime monopoly, comes Persepolis, a touching story about a young Iranian girl set in the times of the Islamic Revolution. The movie opens with the protagonist, a young woman Marjane, waiting at the Paris airport to board a flight to Teheran. This is followed by a black and white account of her past: her childhood and teenage years. The movie shows Marjane growing up from an innocent, inquisitive girl to a matured woman; with the Iranian political oppression as the background. One of the things that makes this movie unique is that a lot of it is told from the point of view of a child that does not really understand the politics of what is going on around her.
The tone of almost the entire movie is dark and this helps in emphasizing the injustice that the women were subjected to during the conflict in the 70s-80s. The simple animation that we haven’t seen for a long time, thrusts the viewer into her shoes. I don’t want to let out any spoilers. There are many moments in the film which can make us feel lucky that we are living in a democracy. There are also many hilarious moments in the film which were accentuated with the simple animation. Post her break up with her boyfriend, Marjane relives the moments with him where he is shown to be a freak..! And at the beginning a flashback shows the British government’s role in manipulating Iranian politics for its selfish motives. This scene is depicted as a puppet show, providing a new, fresh, and very apt angle. Detailed animation may have killed those moments. A character which is definitely worth a mention is Marjane’s grandmother. She provides complete moral support to Marjane and shows her the few rights from the many wrongs.

As for the name Persepolis, it was coined by the Greeks to denote the ancient Persian capital, which in contemporary world is in ruins. The movie Persepolis works because it handles an uncomfortable subject with grace, using a simple and effective storytelling technique. Animation is no longer just for kids. This is a mature film which just happens to be animated in form…!

 

The IPL2 Tamasha

The first season of the IPL was a huge success as we all know. The schedule of the second installment is on the rocks if it is to be conducted in India. There is always a risk of terrorist infiltration and moreover thanks to the attack on the Sri Lankan cricketers in Pakistan, we are in dire need of additional security measures for the smooth conduction of the tournament. This can be the right time for the terrorists to attack us, as a breach in security will tarnish the image of India on the global platform. With the multi-phase general elections coming, security has to be beefed up at all voting centres, leaving little for the IPL.

The incompetent Indian Political League seems to be one of the main reasons for stalling the schedule of IPL2. The primary reason quoted by BCCI was the non co-operation of the UPA led AP and Maharashtra governments in providing security. We fully well know that we do not have enough security to have elections and IPL2 simultaneously. In spite of that, BJP, being the ‘sincere’ opposition it has been, capitalized on this opportunity to blame the inefficiency of UPA in organizing any event. There is also an open spat between Narendra Modi and P Chidambaram regarding this issue. Dirty Politics.

Lalit Modi has shown us his formidable managerial skills with the inaugural IPL, and this time too, he has been impressive with managing the logistics at such short notice. It is finally official that IPL2 will be hosted by South Africa. But it is a shame that IPL, being a multi million dollar franchise, cannot be hosted here. On one side we have millions of money invested on players [by Indians]; on the other side, there is a basic issue of security due to which it can’t be hosted here.

One solution he could have considered was to involve the franchise owners themselves in providing security for their players, as the players are their liability anyway. There are various security agencies that can act as ‘bodyguards’ to the players. That way, security is outsourced, lessening the burden on the Govt.

But the hard truth is this. IPL2 will be hosted by South Africa, which means we’ll not get to see any matches [or the Washington Red Skins..!] in live. IPL2 will never be the same as IPL1. But there is still optimism, for atleast we have an IPL. We fans aren’t disappointed, and the investors are smiling all the way to the bank, even with the recession still on…!

 

Sorry seems to be the right word to say. . .

As children, we are taught to say “I am sorry” whenever we make a mistake, or hurt someone. At that stage in life, “thank you” and “sorry” have a lot of meaning. But as we grow into “mature” individuals, ‘Sorry’ and ‘Thank You’ seem to lose their significance, because of the callousness and apathy that the ways of the world infuse in us.

Many a time, inevitable misunderstandings surface in relationships, for which the reasons may be very trivial. A simple misunderstanding may keep an otherwise happy person brooding over the absurd issue for a long time.

When we unknowingly hurt a person close to us, with the intention of setting things right by making him/her repent for his/her mistake; there is a tinge of this acquired indifference that shows clearly. But when that person hurts us, and is genuinely feeling bad about it, all the pain caused seems to vanish. “I am sorry” are the three magic words that bring you back to the zealous realm of life; making you feel why you bothered to make such a fuss out of it in the first place.

The anguish induced by the thought, that the person whom we pine so much for can distance themselves from us due to this misunderstanding, seems to be more to take than the pain inflicted by him/her when he/she hurt us. At this point of time, when emotions transcend ego, Sorry seems to be the right word to say.

This post goes out to all people whom I have hurt, knowingly or unknowingly.

P.S : This is a random post and doesn’t reflect any particular incident

 

India Shining?

BJP surely cannot use their old slogan to garner votes this time around..!

What does a nation of 1.1 billion people need to indeed shine? Political Clarity.Economic growth, A safe society etc etc. Of all, the basic aspect necessary is to try to uphold the principles of its constitution.

Lets look at each of the parameters that we promised to give ourselves, and then see how good we are keeping promises, even to ourselves.

The Preamble of our constitution states:

“We, the people of India  having solemnly resolved to constitute India into a SOVEREIGN, socialist, SECULAR, DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC and to secure to all its citizens: JUSTICE, social, economic and political; LIBERTY of thought, expression, belief, faith and worship; EQUALITY of status and of opportunity; and to promote among them all FRATERNITY assuring the dignity of the individual and the unity and integrity of the Nation; in our constituent assembly this twenty-sixth day of November, 1949, do hereby adopt, enact and GIVE TO OURSELVES this constitution.”

Sovereignty:

This term means that there is a political system which is free from external control.

In India, the political system allows multiple parties to form a government through coalitions. There is a set of ruling parties, and a set of opposition parties; who don’t hesitate to defy their fundamental principles to come to power. A very good example of this situation was demonstrated last year when the UPA govt almost fell from power owing to its take on the Nuclear Deal. Ultimately, when something good seems to happen in the interest of the people, either side wants credit. The opposition meaninglessly opposed the nuclear deal citing “submission to US dominance” instead of looking at its positives. Apart from this, there are kingmakers in every state who decide the functioning of the political system there.

India needs a two-party system in order to have healthy politics, instead to opportunistic politics.

Secularism:

Secularism advocates religious tolerance. India is also called Hindustan [Land of the Hindus]. Indian history speaks of innumerable foreign invasions, but also boasts of the fact that no Hindu ruler has attacked a foreign land in the interest of territorial/religious expansion. On paper, secularism is loud and clear, as Hinduism is not the state religion. All religions are the same to the constitution. But, do we see it the same way?

The Babari Masjid issue is one of the many nails in the coffin for secularism. Babar built this mosque, supposedly after bringing down the Rama temple at Ayodhya, in the early 16th century. This was obviously a huge blow to Hindus then and it still is now. But is it right on our part to bring down the mosque after 400 years?

There is a controversy surrounding the Taj Mahal. For those of us who aren’t aware, the place where the Taj stands today was once a Shiva temple. Shah Jahan brought it down to make room for the Taj Mahal. The lower chambers of the Taj have evidence of a Shiva Idol and a temple, this place is obviously not open to tourists. This shocking fact was discovered by Prof. Oak in the 70s, who authored a book called “Taj Mahal: the true story”. Fearing political backlash, Indira Gandhi’s government tried to have Prof. Oak’s book withdrawn from the bookstores, and threatened the publisher dire consequences.

The Taj, in all its glory, is an architectural masterpiece which every Indian should be proud of, none of us would want to bring it down to restore the Shiva temple on which it is built. The present Govt can acknowledge this fact in public, as Taj Mahal is an epitome of secularism: A Muslim monument built on a Hindu temple which none of the Indians would want to destroy.

Liberty and Equality :

The latest outrage in our minds will be against the girls who were assaulted in Mangalore, by the Sri ‘Ram’ Sena. This act not only shows how immature our leaders are, but also tarnishes Lord Rama’s name..! The motives of the Ram sena are to revive Hinduism, there are many ways to do it, why stop women from drinking. Hinduism doesn’t approve of men drinking either. And this is when the constitution promises “liberty and equality for all”. Leaders like Muthalik are seeking to gain public attention through cheap means. To start off, revival of Hinduism can be done by maintaining the pilgrimage centres properly. It pains me to see the photos of dead, bloated bodies floating on the Ganga at Kashi, one of the holiest places a Hindu should visit in his lifetime. I would never think of going to Kashi, forget about bathing in the Ganges.

There is a protest against the installation of Charlie Chaplin’s statue near Udupi as it is supposedly “hurting Hindu sentiments”. How much more absurd can this get? Firstly, I don’t see why a Chaplin statue is required in a small town of Karnataka. Even if it is required, it doesn’t cause any harm, so why protest against it? We aren’t installing a Veerappan statue, are we? Another reason cited was that this was “Christian, but not Indian in spirit”. Does that mean any non-Hindu prominent in his/her field shouldn’t be entitled to have his/her own statue? In that sense Einstein, Newton, Edison are all anti-Indian. Am sure the erection of a statue of Kalpana Chawla or Sunitha Williams will not have any opposition. The latter just has Indian roots, she didn’t even do her schooling or college here. But she has made India proud [I sincerely don’t know how]; and this will be Indian, not Christian/ pro-US.

There is still complacency in us. The right people aren’t getting elected because the right people aren’t voting..! If people with proper discretionary abilities do not go out to vote, right leaders can never be elected. And yet, this is our Democracy.Unity in diversity, and national integration are just fancy phrases that are used off and on in any social event. There is much more to being Indian than just cribbing about the system and not doing anything about it.

We’d better start being a part of the solution; for we already are a part of the problem…