Every day is a sunny day

I have heard it many times. I had always known it. However realization of a truth is what is important. Its just like "taste". "Sweet" - the word will not ring bells, unless one has tasted what sweet is. Truth looses significance if it is not realized. I am lucky to have realized a profound truth. I was flying from Los Angeles to Hong Kong at an altitude of 39000 ft. When the sun rose on the horizon, I spontaneously exclaimed, "Wow! what a bright sunny day". The moment I said this, I realized a profund truth.

• Every day is a bright sunny day. We just need to rise above the clouds of distress and illusions and delusions.
  I continued to bask in the glory of this realization when I was given the opportunity to realize another one. The face of the Earth was covered with clouds - everywhere. It required one to rise above them to see the brightness and glory of the rising sun.
  When we were making a landing, I noticed that there were multiple layers of these clouds. Though rising above even one layer ensures "almost" always "more" brightness, we need to cut across all the many levels of delusions to enjoy the radiance of the ever-present Sun.
• The sun of joy and happiness shines at all times. It is always there. But at times we are unable to see it because of the delusions that cloud our vision. At these times we should keep the faith and elevate our level of consciousness to levels where these clouds of delusion don't marr our vision. We should look forward to such times with the motivation that they are opportunities for us to grow above the clouds of delusion and to finally enter into the ever-joyous blissful state of self-realization.

Time is Unreal

We should always remember that

• Time is a contrivance designed by man to help him in his activities
• The true power of man is not limited by this contrivance
• Man has infinite power. We just need to realize it
• For realizing this infinite source of power within oneself, one needs to first free oneself of the slavery to all contrivances
• The very fact that "Truth is Independent of Time", proves that time is but a delusion - a concept to which all of us have subscribed. We DESERVE, we NEED and we HAVE TO rise above this delusion
• All pain in this world has its roots in this delusion of time. Consider any pain - death, anger... all is caused because we don't realize that the truth will always remain. That what existed before will continue to exist in its true essense.
• It is the worldy delusion of physical presence and attachment/ love for the illusory physical form that causes pain.

Androgenous Gods

A one time meditation doesn't make one a Buddha. One doesn't continue to be in a state of bliss and joy when the "realization" dawns for the first time. The first realization is an awakening. But it requires will-power and determination and a motivation to keep awake in that blissful state.
One needs to remind oneself of the realization and consciously work towards not letting the delusions conquer the mind again.

One has to make a conscious effort to achieve this goal, to maintain this awakening. One has to be a spectator of ones thoughts. One doesn't need to criticize these thoughts - just observe them. Its not easy, but it can be done. It has been done. Everyone has done it at times. One needs to do its consciously.

We have to realize that we have infinite bliss and power within us. We just need to unearth it and we should also realize that such conscious effort of insistent reminders of each one of us being Gods helps us unearth the ever-present Godliness in us.

Another aspect of realizing the eternal truth is that one is neither a man, nor a woman. The fact is that one is not a body at all. We HAVE to realize this. We NEED to be conscious of this. This according to me is one of the preliminary steps to removing attachment to the body and possibly removing some of our ego. We have to rise above, "This is not the way men do it","This is not the way women behave" and the sort of thinking.

We have been conditioned by our society to believe in huge differences between each other, while there are none in absolute terms and minimal in physical terms.

Loving and caring are attributes of the soul. Strength and persistence are integral to the soul. So all these traits are there within us. We need to realize this and become aware of ALL these attributes in us, irrespective of what is branded as manly or womanly.

We have to be with the truth and we have to be conscious of the truth that we are.
Once we stop differentiating between "man" and "woman", we will start being "just" and "fair".

Soft-drinks, pesticides and the 'banning' drive

The recent revelation by the Stockholm Water Prize 2005 winner, Sunita Narain, that soft-drinks in India exceed the safe dissolved pesticide levels by as much as 50 times has ruffled lots of feathers all around.

It is true... The soft-drinks available in India have "huge" quantities of pesticides. And while other food material also have these pesticides clinging to them, the question finally boils down to - "While other things offer some nutrition, are we also ready to accept "junk" loaded with pesticides?"

But, is it fair to "ban" soft-drinks, just because they have pesticides, when almost everything that most of India drinks/ eats, is laden with (possibly higher quantities of) pesticides. Should it not be left as a choice to the consumer? Also, is banning the solution to the pesticide problem? Why are many non-profit organizations supporting the ban? Are there other issues involved? What are they? But then, can those issues get resolved with a ban? Can there be some solutions to those issues (other than the ban - if banning is a solution)? The note attempts to look into some of these questions - that a common Indian - like you and me - is asking!!!

I think wether a person wants to have pesticide laden food/ drinks or not is a personal choice. That choice exists also in food - in the form of organic food - and obviously in drinks etc - in form of nariyal-paani etc. So, to ban soft-drinks because they have pesticides doesn't at all sound justified. We may take much higher levels of pesticides in our food daily. So, this can not and should not be the reason to ban soft-drinks. This should be left as a choice to the consumer.

And banning soft-drinks is clearly not a solution to the problem of pervasiveness of pesticides. Pesticides are everywhere - in the water that we drink, in the food that we eat, in the fruit peels that we throw away. Wishing away pesticides by banning soft-drinks is to behave like an ostrich - to put one's head in sand and (then since the ostrich can't see anyone) believe that no one can see it. The problem exists, we are just hiding behind ourselves.

But then why are many non-profit organizations supporting the ban vehemently? What profit are these non-profit organizations getting out of it? Does someone have an axe to grind?

While I don't know about others, I personally am happy that the soft-drinks are being criticized and that bans have been imposed on them at different places in the country. I am trying to list down some of the reasons below.

• I will start with relating an incident. We were organizing a painting competition on World Environment Day (June 5), a few years back. On their way back, we were offering children a can of coke and some other soveniers. One mother abruptly stopped us from giving the can to her child. She revealed that her son really loved soft-drinks and that the doctors have strongly adviced him against it. We asked in unision, "Why?". She asked her son to show his teeth and as soon as he smiled, we knew the answer. The teeth were all gone. She explained that the soft-drinks are highly acidic in nature. They contain phosphoric acid - and it dissolves the bones and teeth of human beings. We were shocked to realize that bones and teeth - which survive the on-slaught of pyre after death - don't stand a chance against the soft-drinks. So, the first reason because of which I support the ban is the fact that they are "unhealthy" and can lead to life-long problems - like osteoporosis or dissolving teeth and bones. Children should be prevented from consuming soft-drinks at all costs. It should not be a matter of choice for them.
• While I considerably reduced my consumption of soft-drinks after the incident, I had still continued drinking them. (Just like, people know that smoking is bad, but still smoke.) It was when I came to know about the plight of farmers due to soft-drinks that I quit drinking them. Soft-drink manufacturers set up (or scale up) bottling plants in areas that are nodal to distribution. The area may be a desert also (like Coke plant in Kala Dera) and it may be luckily lush with greenery and huge water reserves (like the plant in Plachimada). These bottling plants extract "huge" quantities of underground water to make soft-drinks. (This is also the source of pesticides in soft-drinks). Farmers in the surrounding regions are also dependent on the same water. As water level recedes farmers don't get any water and their crops die. The company doesn't suffer, it can always dig a deeper well (when the present one dries up), but the farmer who has to spend Rs.20,000/- to dig a tube-well looses all profitability. However, many farmers still bore deeper wells - hoping that they will at least get some earnings over the coming years (if not this year). The next year even this well is dry and another well is needed. The poor farmer now doesn't have food to eat at home, where will he manage Rs.40,000/- (inflation + increased cost of deeper well) now. So, while the plant got water at Rs.0.50 a litre, the cost of this water was actually borne by the villages surrounding the plant. The profits of these soft-drinks are coming from at the cost of lives and livelihoods of thousands of farmers in surrounding areas. So, when we drink soft-drinks, we are in some way, adding to the plight of those farmers who don't have any means of livelihood left.
• To add to this plight, the sludge generated in the bottling plants was given to farmers under the garb of fertilizer. This sludge actually contained heavy metals and acids. When the farmers applied this so called "fertilizer" on their fields, the standing crop died. The fields became barren. Now, they can't grow anything even after boring a deeper well. Unethical practices like this don't allow me to drink coke.
• What adds on to the irony is also the fact that the purification processes that these bottling plants use, waste about 80-90% of water. So, to make 1 litre of Pepsi or Coke, about 9-10 litres of water is extracted from the underground aquefier. So, even if one drinks 1 litre of Pepsi or Coke, he/she is in fact, hitting the farmers 10 times harder. Drinking soft-drinks also means promoting this inefficient use of the most precious and life-giving resource - water. This is absolutely unacceptable to me.
• In other countries (like Saudi Arabia), bottling plants use desalinated sea-water to make soft-drinks. This water is not only distilled, it also does not adversely impact the surrounding areas. We don't have single such plant (that does not impact underground water levels) in India. Why?
• Why has it been that Coke consignments from India have been rejected by US FDA at least 10 times since January 2005 - on the grounds of poor quality? Doesn't this imply that quality of soft-drinks produced (and therefore sold) in India is not of the same standards as in other countries?
• In addition to all these issues, Coke management has also been 'allegedly' involved in killing of trade union leaders in Columbia. Such allegations were also levelled against Coke in India in March this year. Knowing legal system of India, I don't have high hopes of justice being meted out to the family of the poor trade-union leader.
• And last, but not the least, Coke (and many other soft-drinks) contain caffiene. It is addictive in nature and therefore the idea of getting addicted to something that involves detrimental impact on livelihoods of thousands of farmers and 'alleged' killing of enthusiastic community leaders doesn't gel well with me.

But then is banning the solution? Yes, at least to the problems that I mentioned above, banning will solve almost all of them.

So, lets change the question to - Is banning the only solution? Possibly "No". We can work towards a framework of better regulation and implementation and simultaneous promotion of alternatives. For example,

• While coke may not be ready to share the exact formula of their soft-drinks, they should definitely have some such figures as pH of the drink, amount of acids, and calorific value on each pack of the soft-drink.
• There have to be stringent standards on pH and other parameters which should be strictly adhered to. Absence of any quality standards for the soft-drinks is the first loop-hole that needs to be plugged.
• Soft-drink manufacturers should clearly state in their advertisements/ promotions etc. that drinking soft-drinks is injurious to health of growing children.
• Sale (and consumption) of soft-drinks should be banned in schools, colleges and hospitals.
• We have to regulate consumption of groundwater by bottling plants. All new bottling plants should be "fresh-water-neutral" to the ecology (like using sea water).
• If fresh-water neutrality is not achieved in the local area, then skill-based training should be given to local farmers to take up other occupations and support their families.
• Organic food and sustainable agriculture should be promoted. Presently the government offers subsidies for fertilizer and pesticide manufacture - but no promotional schemes exist for organic farmers. Therefore, organic food looses out to non-organic food in terms of pricing. The subsidy regime should subside (so that pesticide consumption etc. is automatically controlled) and sustainable agriculture techniques should be promoted.

The focus has to be public health and not private profit.

At another level, individuals like you and me should promote alternative / traditional Indian drinks. That will not only offer local employment generation opportunities (like jaljeera, neembu-paani, fruit juice, sharbat etc. used to be sold on thelas earlier). The onset of soft-drinks and packaged drinks have meant dying down of these employment opportunities locally. This will not only ensure that lesser water is extracted by the bottling plants, but also that we enable local livelihood generation activities. Lets pledge to serve one of these traditional and local drinks and not soft-drinks to guests at our homes and make it a matter of personal pride to give up soft-drinks.

US, EU, India and Public Transport

The title is funny... But yes, the difference in availability of public transport in the two places has a lot to say about the cultural differences there. I believe that this should be an interesting read.

Except in NY, there is almost no concept of public transport in the US. You walk to your office, and you are the only one walking. To go by bus means that you need to time your arrival at the bus stop precisely, or end up waiting for an hour. Mass Rapid Transport Systems are 'almost' non-existent.

There is a clear intent to make people use private means of transport. It seems very clear that this is done under the influence of automobile industry. People need private means of transport - so, they will purchase cars (profits to automobile makers). Since public transport is almost non-existent, more cars will ply on roads. This means more roads will need to be constructed (profits for infrastructure contractors). If the roads were not widened, traffic congestion would motivate people to go for small cars, but continuous intent of profits for contractor mafia motivates regular widening of expressways. As roads widen, people have no motivation to go for smaller vehicles - instead, due to high speeds enabled by wide roads, they prefer SUVs. This means, there are more fuel-guzzling machines. So, the oil dealers stand to profit through all this.

And Oil, was we all know, is a weakness of the US state. They went on a rampage in destroying countries after countries just to gain control over their oil-fields.

However, I was not supposed to harp on this industry-government nexus against the poor here. My idea was to in-fact tell that motivation of wider roads in western countries may not necessarily have been public benefit. Yes, good roads enable good communication links and therefore are important for economic growth, but India should adopt a model that is more suited to Indian needs.

And before I digress to the trans-Atlantic developed countries, I want to appreciate the extreme care with which pedestrian walkways are still maintained across different cities and rural areas in the US. These are critical to allow access to the differently abled. And they also in some sense promote healthy life-style of walking and jogging.

But before discussing further, let us discuss what happens in Europe. The expressways are absolutely great. They are wide. They do an excellent job of connecting different cities together. However, urban roads are narrow. They were not designed to be narrow. When they were designed, in those days, these were wide enough. Today, they can carry upto 1 car in each direction and many don't have curb-parking allowed along them.

The governments in Europe, however, did not eat up the pedestrian ways. They regulated traffic flow on these roads. Only one-way traffic is allowed on many streets. European governments did not spend on widening roads OR promoting private ownership of vehicles. European governments built public modes of transport. Almost every big city in Europe has a good public transport network - be it buses, rail, tram or any other MRTS.

Why did they do this? Why did they also not go the US way - and just widened the roads further? Why did they not eat away the pedestrian ways? What did they have to gain? Why did they invest heavily in public transport? What has been the impact of such decisions? Does the more social nature of European societies has something to do with this?

I will attempt to answer these questions in the Indian context and it will be easy to see the prudence in the way European countries managed their traffic flow.

There is no denying the fact that India needs better road infrastructure. What we should not forget is that India - at least Indian cities - can live without further widening of roads (if Europe can manage it well). What Indian cities most urgently need is a better public transport infrastructure. So, while highway construction and improvement is needed to connect rural areas across India - to provide better services and opportunities, the focus in urban areas should clearly be public transport infrastructure.

India would stand to gain enormously if it sets its priorities right in the public transport sector.

1. Public transport will result in lesser fuel consumption. Fuel consumed per rider is far less when people travel by bus, than when they use a private vehicle (car). Considering fuel efficiency of a small Indian car as 15km/litre of petrol, and that of a bus as 3.5km/kg of CNG (or 3.5km/lt of diesel) (source - Red Herring Prospectus of Indraprastha Gas Limited). Typical ridership in cars in Delhi is 2. Typical ridership of buses in Delhi is 50. While a car may take the shortest route, public transport will typically need to travel a bit more. Considering an example where a car would travel 30km, the bus would travel 45km (extreme exaggeration). So, fuel consumption per person in car is 1 litre of petrol. Fuel consumption per person in bus is 0.26kg of CNG (or 0.26 litres of diesel). So, this means gains of more than 70% (if we assume same cost of fuel) and much more (if actual cost of petrol / diesel/ CNG is accounted). So, if government promotes public transport, then it stands to improve the cost of Indian basket of crude imports. This will be a major "boost" to Indian economy as crude oil is one of the largest drains on pricing of Indian currency. The idea is very profitable for the country.
2. Fuel consumption in public transport is lesser (per capita) than in private transport (as shown above), and therefore, GHG emissions would reduce. Clean fuel fleets can use this reduction in GHG emissions to earn Kyoto Protocol credits and subsidize the cost of better fleet procurement. Not only do we become more environment friendly, the cost would be subsidized by selling Kyoto Protocol credits. The gains will be more if more and more cities adopt CNG as the fuel of choice for public transport.
3. Lesser fuel consumption also means lesser exhausts of poisonous gases in the air. This leads to lesser air related diseases in the general population. This has two-fold benefits, the requirements of beds in hospitals reduces (and the already stressed health-care sector in the country can get some relief). The second benefit accrues from the fact that as less people fall sick, there are more working hands in the country and the overall productivity of the country improves.
4. As more people travel by public transport, congestion on roads would reduce (space utilization is better in public transport). This would mean faster transit times. This would also mean "no need to widen roads" further - at the cost of pedestrian ways. As I said in the earlier note on "fly-overs and their role in one world" also, widening roads in response to traffic congestion is like "loosening belt when obesity arrives". But as we know for obesity, loosening the belt is not the solution. The solution is better regulation and control. Same thing holds for traffic congestion. The rate at which private vehicles are increasing in Delhi, it is only better regulation that can change the situation. Check out my earlier note here. If we follow these practices, funds would be saved while traffic congestion will simultaneously reduce. The saved funds can be utilized for increasing the speed of rural sector reforms and enhancing rural infrastructure. This will leapfrog India into the developed world trajectory faster.
5. When people travel by good public transport (and don't drive themselves), stress levels reduce (driving tension is driven away) and therefore quality of life of citizens improves.
6. Public transport is a good means to increase interaction amongst citizens. People form relationships on public transport and hence build a structure of social and emotional support. Better social structure reduces crime rates as communities become more self-reliant. While inequality is the major trigger for higher crime rate, better social fabric induces the spirit of inclusion and therefore reduces incidences of crime.
7. Lesser consumption (of oil, cement, charcoal, metals etc.) also means that all of us reduce our eco-footprint and ecology becomes more sustainable. Lesser number of mines need to be opened. Lesser people will be uprooted from their lands. More indegenous cultures will remain preserved and the huge cultural diversity of the country will be preserved.

Many a times we don't realize the "huge" impact our decisions have on this interconnected world. The world is but one. As we become more responsible for our actions and as we reduce our consumptions continuously, we will strive towards better lifestyles for more and more people. We will work towards increasing overall happiness level of the world - without compromising on our happiness.

India definitely does not need to go the US way. We can't afford to go the US way with the huge population and the large cultural diversity of the country. The costs will be flabbergasting. The impact on Earth's natural resources will be absolutely disastrous.

I sincerely hope that our Urban Renewal Mission takes a corrective recourse and the focus is shifted from simply infrastructure addition to better regulation and prudent promotion of reliable pubic transport systems in different cities across India. Not every city can afford to have a Metro system, but most of the cities would definitely do much better with better public transport network of CNG-based RTVs or three-wheelers and other energy efficient vehicles.

Experience vs. Intellect

I have always believed that experience is very important. That a good experience is worth many books. And even if you read 100 books, if you haven't experienced something, you will not be able to appreciate it.

Relating it to circuit design - my area of professional expertise - unless one has worked with MOS transistors, one will not get the "feel" of their working. One will know Ids-Vds characteristics, one will know Ids-Vgs characteristics, but it would be difficult to see the "reality" behind these.

I went to a convention organized by supporters of Narmada Bachao Andolan over the weekend. This idea only got further reinforced there.

There were speakers from Delhi and Mumbai. There were also some speakers from the valley. The first session was on "Failure of Governance in Narmada Valley". Speakers came, they spoke and they went away. All the speakers rattled endlessly about the huge financial discrepancies. They talked about the fraud of not rehabilitating and still claiming complete rehabilitation. They talked about the blatant lies that the government of Gujrat is telling its own people. They talked about the strong media influence that Gujarat government is weilding on national media. They said that these are all attempts to cover up the failure - and that this is a failure of governance in itself (if government needs to do any such thing).

When this brainstorming of sorts had continued for about an hour, Shanti behan, a farmer from Madhya Pradesh - whose land is in the submergence zone now - came to speak. While earlier speakers spoke in hindi, she spoke in a native dialact - which is not very different from hindi it seems, since I could understand it.

Her language was simple. She spoke for just 5 minutes. When she left the dias, I was agape. Not just me, the applause from the audience proved beyond doubt that everyone else too saw the difference between intellect and experience. She even tracked what she said poorly. But even then, appreciation abounds. Here is what she counted as failures of governance.

1. I am a farmer. If the government creates conditions in which I am sitting in Delhi - in this room - in the month of June - when I should be tilling the land in my fields, then this is a failure of governance.
2. When we started the Andolan, the government (esp. of Gujarat) alleged that the foriegn agents are opposing the dam. My skin was tanned working on the fields. We have brown skin. I was born and brought up here and so are the other people from my village who are fighting against the dam. I don't even know english. And the government alleges that I am a foriegn agent. This is the second failure of the government. (If the government doesn't even recognize its citizens, how can it take the responsibility of protecting their rights? How can it successfully accomplish anything else?)
3. The government's failure is in not recognizing the value of its people. It only counted land. It promised to give us "land for land". That it did not even take into account our human identity, our culture and our closely knit social fabric at the time of working out a rehabilitation plan, is in itself a failure. (If the government doesn't appreciate the civil and cultural structures in the society and the sustainable livelihood generation practices, are we not going in the wrong direction)
4. The fact that government has not even been able to provide the bare minimum land for land rehabilitation (even after promising only that), is a still larger failure of governance.
5. Government proudly proclaims "Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan" in its different publications. If it can not think about the "kisan", then it should remove this slogan. That the government has done neither (nor work for the kisan, nor removed the slogan), it is a failure of the government.
6. Government asks us to follow the principle of "chota parivar, sukhi parivar". It asks us that small is good. Then why does it not understand it itself. Why is it going for large dams, when small dams can actually accomplish the purpose?

This was followed by many other talks - again by Delhiites and Mumbaikars. The convention was closed by a talk by Prakash bhai - whose land will also get submerged at the increased hieght. His point hit hard again.

• We understand that power is needed. But power can also be generated by having small dams.
• We understand that irrigation is needed, but we have been irrigating our lands since times immemorial - by watershed management and by tanks and ponds and wells.
• Then why do we need to go for such a scheme that submerges so much of land and displaces lakhs of people.
• If we go this way, then even though we will have electricity, what will we eat.
• I am told that this year we had to import food (wheat from Australia). Isn't this a wrong trend.
• The newly irrigated land will be used to grow cash-crops. We can't eat cotton. Sugarcane is not food. Moreover, these are sold for money.
• We follow subsistence agriculture. We grow food. We eat what we grow. So, why is the government not even understanding this very basic fact? Why is the government intent on submergence? They might have some hidden agenda. But why have a hidden agenda with its own citizens?

The points are simple. Yet they are hard-hitting. I really thank Shanti Behan and Prakash Bhai for enlightening me. I am thankful for the opportunity to attend the convention. I pray to God that government recognizes its failure in this article. I hope that this article helps us improve the way we work. I hope that the urban middle class appreciates the concerns of this simple rural lady. I sincerely hope that sense prevails and something is done URGENTLY to save thousands of lives in the Narmada valley.

In life - as in death

Amongst many of life's tests is the one of death.

There are two aspects to it. One of the person who is passing into the new experiences and the other of the family and friends who are left behind.

Past week brought two bad news. And both with equally difficult tests.

Two of my friends lost their father this week.

One of them is in advanced stage of her pregnancy. Her pregnancy has complications. She has had a heamorrage earlier during the pregnancy. Her father's cremation was far away. The roads are bumpy and she will be putting her unborn baby at risk if she goes there. At one end of the balance is her child and at the other is the father who loved her dearly and spent all his life for her happiness. What does she do?

I firmly believe that God gives us those tests that he thinks we have the strength to pass. I hope that He gives her the needed guidance and protection.

My other friend lost her father yesterday evening. Her father would be cremated in Nagpur. But here again, she can't go. She has a suckling baby - just 50 days old. She doesn't feel like eating or drinking or talking or doing just anything. However, she has to do all these things for the sake of her baby daughter.

All her relatives are at the cremation. They can cry. They can express their sadness by crying out loud. They can skip their meals. She can't do any of that. She doesn't feel like eating, but she has to eat nutritious food. For the sake of her child. She doesn't want to talk. But she has to talk to her child - to keep her occupied and to keep her quiet.

I hope that God gives her the patience to cling on to the new life that she holds in her hands and is able to cut the strings of attachment to the soul that has left the body that was of her father.

Both the tests had the choice of future and of the past. They had a new life to take care of and they also had the attachment to the life that nurtured their own. God's tests are difficult. But I hope that both my friends move through them successfully. I pray to God that he gives both of them courage and strength to take the right decisions and see them through - in life - as in death.

The Mandal II and huge uproar

A few days back the government announced that centrally funded educational institutions like IITs, IIMs, AIIMS, JIPMER etc. should also have reservation for OBCs based on the guidelines of Mandal commission. This would take the total number of reserved seats in these insitutions to a whooping 49%. This when the population that is meant to avail this setup is about 5-10% of total Indian population.

There is at once a "huge" hue-and-cry in all parts of the country regarding this additional reservation - and that too in education system. This is largely because the present reservation system is misused. It has been misused for the past 30-40 years. To add more number of the already scarce resource (the seats) to this misuse is clearly unacceptable.

There are protests asking removal of all reservations. And there are protests that reservations, if any, should only be based on economic status. And there is also discontent amongst those who can avail these reservations that only the creamy layer amongst the caste get the benefits of these reservations and they are left behind.

So, the issue is not as simple as saying that all reservations should be abolished or that reservation should not be based on caste.

Though the present reservation system has outlived its utility, it doesn't mean that there should be no reservation. There clearly is a need for a reservation system - but definitely not in its present avatar.

The present system of reservation based solely on caste, tribe etc. should either be abolished or checks-and-balances introduced in it to prevent the flagrant misuse that is happening these days. These checks-and-balances should be put into any reservation system that is put in place.

I can think of a few checks-and-balances. Am trying to list some of them (in context of Mandal-II - related to admission to educational institutions) below:

All checks-and -balances should be reviewed by an expert committee every 5 or 10 years. The committee should include representatives of government, of non-government organizations, from different strata of society and also eminent social persons who have been working in the community for a minimum of 10-20 years etc.

• At the time of this regular review, there should be an advertisement in all major newspapers (public notice) asking people to comment on lacunae that they see in the system. The committee should tweak the system based on these inputs.
• In the event that this committee does not submit its review comments (including responses to a public advertisement for response on the topic) within the stipulated time, then the reservation in all categories should be reduced to 70% of total amount and only based on economic class kept at same levels.
• The committee should also continuously review different quotas and either scrap them or replace them with more relevant quotas (if needed). In an ideal situation, the need for reservation would gradually disappear and the reservations would be phased out over time.

Any person should be eligible for reservation only if the following criteria are met
- no one from the immediate family (clearly includes siblings/ parents/ chachas/ mamas/ grandparents/ great-grand-parents etc.) has earlier availed benefits of reservation

• this will prevent people who have already benefited from the system to not to misuse it. Like children of a government employee who has been recruited on the basis of reservation should not get any such reservation benefits.
• This limitation should be put on the basis of grade of employment in the service. A person hired at the level of a school peon may still need to avail this reservation, but not one who is enjoying the benefits of an IAS office.

The candidate has to qualify a subject-independent (analytical/ logical skills based) test

• This will ensure that people who can "live" with the system (say IIT system or IIM system) enter it.
• This will prevent mishaps like - children committing suicide or being unable to complete the course even in extended duration (6 years in place of 4 years). Such a person, who has entered the system on basis of reservation is in fact destroyed by this reservation. So, a qualification test is mandatory.

There should be a system to give fees concessions and/ or soft educational loans (independent of reservations - but definitely to the benefit of those who avail reservations).

• the concessions (either in terms of fees or softer interest rates) should be valid only for those who volunteer to take up a job in a rural area (or such parts that need development) in the first few years of his/her career.
• in an event that the candidate does not volunteer, he/she would need to pay the current rate of fees and should be levied interest at a rate equal to (or higher) than market. The funds generated from such individuals would provide cross-subsidy for those who volunteered.

The positions left vacant - because less number of students qualified the minimum threshold - should not be filled by people who are not eligible for reservations.

• This will ensure that people who can't avail reservation don't influence the minimum threshold.
• As a side-effect, this will only improve the quality of education in the institute further because of improved student-teacher ratio.
• The improved student-teacher ratio will also improve the chances of those who joined the institute on the basis of qualification aptitude test get more attention for subjects in which they were weaker than the rest of the class.

But I started this discussion by saying that some kind of reservation is definitely needed. Why do I say so?

• Because, I have had class-mates coming from such far flung areas where electricity was only a 2-3 hours affair a day.
• Because, I know that I was lucky to get into IIT Delhi because I could afford the fees of IIT coaching classes. There are many with more aptitude who could not make it because they did not have the financial condition to take such coachings.
  - the present system in which people can appear only once and will be selected based on aptitude test will help in ironing out this discrepancy. But this is the plan only for IITs, what about other engineering colleges and medical institutes.
• Because, people who have been at the other end of the development initiatives need special treatment
  - like outsees from Tehri dam site, or Narmada valley, or millions who will be displaced if interlinking of rivers kind of project takes off
  - people whose lives have been completely uprooted, whose livelihoods have been impacted- for the sake of many others who benefit from the irrigation facilities or from the electricity
  - these people are as good as victims of war or terrorism for whom reservations exist. These people sacrificed their lives/ livelihoods and most importantly their cultural identity for the development of the country. We should respect their sacrifice.
• Because, even today, there is no secondary school in a area of 5-10 km in thousands of villages.
  - Even where there are schools, the present secondary education system fails the students and drop-out rates are very high.
  - If someone persists to study in such a scenario, we have to respect the person for his determination and persistence.
  - Such people can make a positive difference to the society because they have found success the hard way and will work towards improvement of conditions for others. Our president is a very good example of such individuals.
• Because, we have to give due respect to our soldiers and appreciate their sacrifices for the country.
  - Soldiers who spend a majority of formative years of their children away from home - on duty- fighting for the country - are not able to spend time with their children
  - Growth of children of such soldiers may experience many different kinds of pressures which impact their studies
  - Such children should be given special treatment

Having explained a bit about why I think reservation system is needed in an unequal society like ours, let me move on to think out loud on the kind of reservations that should be sufficient.

• Total reservation in any educational institution should not exceed 40%
• All reservations should be subject to checks-and-balances describe above
• All the reservation quotas should be declared at the time of registration - this is sacrosanct and can't be modified for the given exam.
• In all the categories/ sub-categories of reservations described below, 35% of reservation should be for candidates who studied from 9th to 12th standard in a rural area
• Candidates availing this rural area benefit have to commit to take up first job in a rural area (either with government or NGOs or self-employed) for at least 2 years.
• A candidate can be considered in at-most one of the categories of the reservations described below (except if specifically mentioned in the reservation description).
• A candidate should have the option to not be considered for reservation - at the time of filling the registration form.
  - this should be valid even if a candidate is appearing from rural region (that is he may decide to be considered for a type of quota - but not the rural region quota under it)
• Qualifying criteria (in the aptitude exam) should be different for candidates appearing from rural areas
  - candidates appearing from rural areas may not have enough exposure and hence may not at once be comfortable with the IQ exam that is posed to them

The categories of reservations (including sub-categories) are defined below:

• Reservation for SC/ ST/ OBC etc. based on caste/ creed etc.
  - this reservation should be upto 50% of total quota
• Reservation based on financial condition of the family
  - this reservation should be upto 30% of total quota
  - all other categories of reserved can also be considered under this quota
  - only this quota can be increased if none (or one) of the state dependent quotas don't exist - such that total reserved seats are at most 40% of total
• Reservation for physically handicapped candidates
  - valid only if the handicap does not impact the effectiveness of the candidate in the desired career option
  - this reservation should be upto 2% of total quota
• Reservation for children of soldiers who died on duty
  - this quota is valid only if the soldier died fighting (and not in an accident etc.)
  - this reservation should be upto 3% of total quota
  - this can be at all educational institutions
• Reservation for children of soldiers who spent at least 7 years (after birth of child) in the field - on fighting duty (not office job).
  - this reservation is only valid at state level - but in both states - where the person is posted and also the state where person belongs to
  - candidates that qualify the previous point (regarding soldier died on duty) should also be additionally considered in this quota if they belong to the given state (or if the child qualified the 12th class examination from the given state)
  - this reservation should be upto 5%
• Reservation for communities that have been impacted by displacement due to development projects but have not been satisfactorily rehabilitated - based on standard international guidelines and as directed by an national level expert committee (defined above in the checks-and-balances section)
  - this reservation is again valid only at state level
  - this reservation can be upto 3% of total reservation for each location where displacement has occured

I am not an expert on reservation quotas that exist today, and therefore I might have missed a kind of reservation that is very valid. It is for that that I have left a margin of upto 8%. This margin is more if a state has a good record of social rehabilitation and less if the state has a bad history. If I have not missed any critical reservation , then this can be added to economically backward reservation quota described in above.

Looking forward to your inputs on this.

Evolution and Rang De Basanti...

26th Jan 1950 was the day when India became a republic. The day is celebrated as a national holiday since then. Rang De Basanti was released the same day this year. It is a about a revolution. It is about the importance of having Bhagat Singh and Chandrashekhar Azad even today - today when India is already free from foriegn rule. But they are needed equally badly today because even today there is injustice and the poor (and their lives) are sacrificed on the altar of luxuries of the rich (and their consumptive desires).

What the British did to Indians then, Indians are doing to themselves these days. Injustice abounds. Government turns a deaf ear to people's calls for justice. Judiciary goes blind even in the face of stark evidence. It is in this context that we need people like Chandrashekhar Azad and Bhagat Singh even today.

The movie was released more than 2 months back, then why am I writing about it today. Because much water has flown down the Yamuna in the past 2 months. There has been an unprecedented response to injustice that was meted out in Jessica Lal murder case. Jessica Lal was a middle-class upcoming model. She was bar-tending at a Page-3 party one evening, when a group of roitous young men asked her for some drinks. She obliged. But when they came again, it was past the party-time and they were closing. She politely refused. They insisted. She was stern. Then one of the boys - son of a high-fi government official - allegedly pulled out his revolver and shot her in the head. She died even before reaching the hospital. Tens of people must have seen this. It was national headlines the next few days. But, seven years after the incident, the accussed were declared not-guilty. The judge says, "I know that you did it, but the investigating agency has not provided enough evidence". Strange...

The injustice struck a chord with the people. They had seen Rang De Basanti just a few days back. They felt that they can do something. They protested against the judgement. SMSes were recieved from far and wide. People from all over the place wrote against the injustice. Media flared up the issue far and wide.

It was strange. After a really long time was the middle class shouting. They had always been the quiet class. They recieved all the goodies - though not much in terms of "luxuries", but still a very good deal in terms of what they spent and what they got.

The poor were shouting from help, but it was rare that someone from the middle class would stop and listen to the problem and work for a solution. Or show solidarity with the poor and say that they deserved more. The middle class was never bothered about what was happening anywhere else. It was not content within itself either. It would ask for more freebies from the government - subsidies on Petrol and LPG, cheap ration, free water, cheap electricity, better roads, better TV stations and what not. But it never shouted.

That millions of people in thousands of villages do not even get clean drinking water did not bother them. They had their taps running. They used (and still use) the drinking water to wash their cars. Millions of Indians have been displaced to give electricity, minerals, water and food to this so called middle class - its actually less than 5-10% of Indian population.

But middle class had come out on the streets this time - since they felt the pain of injustice - possibly for the first time in many years...

I was hopeful that this awakening would continue. That having felt the pain of being meted out injustice, this set of influential people will possibly raise their voice whenever they see injustice. I was wrong.

On 8th March, Narmada Control Authority (NCA) cleared the decks for raising the hieght of Sardar Sarovar Project dam to 121.92 m from the present 110.2 m. They said that rehabilitation has been completed upto this hieght. It came as a shock to the villagers who were yet to be given any land. 35,000 families is not a small number. It counts to more than 1 lakh people even if you consider 3 members per family.

Jessica Lal was just 1 person. She was killed in a party attended by a limited few. The middle class had still believed the story and arose to ask for justice.

Here were more than 1 lac people, who were being murdered in broad-daylight - for everyone to see - but no one came for help.

Jessica Lal did not have even an organization giving out the details of the event, for Narmada hundreds of organizations across the world are asking for Justice (check out http://petitions.aidindia.org/narmada/), but the middle class is unperturped. The PMO is silent. The President doesn't seem to care. The state governments are lying in the face of evidence. The people are suffering. But the middle class is sleeping.

But this was not why I started writing this article. I was triggered by another event.

Union Carbide plant in Bhopal leaked "unquantified" amounts of Methyl Iso-cyanide in air on the night of December 3, 1984. This was more than 21 years back. Thousands of people died on that night. Mass burials followed. A few survived. But their survival was difficult than death. They were suffering from disorders unknown to mankind. Union Carbide fled the country. It valued every life to about USD500. It gave the compensation to the government (not to the affected people) and fled.

The government did not ask for more. The government did not evaluate the damage caused. It simply took the money. It gave a few thousand rupees to the affected people. It kept the rest with itself - to develop Bhopal. The money was meant for survivors and affected families of the Gas Disaster. It was not a tax that someone had paid - to be used at the whims and fancies of some Babus sitting in air-conditioned offices in Delhi.

The people were suffering. Their problems have not yet been diagnosed. They still encounter births with congenital disorders at a much higher frequency than any general population would. More than one generation have been affected.

The disaster is counted as the world's worst industrial disaster. One would imagine that government would give them some special services - like Japan government did to the survivors of the nuclear bombings. But these people don't even get clean drinking water.

The tube-wells in the area, have all been contaminated by chemicals from the factory. The chemicals that Union Carbide had left in the open - and fled - had leached into the underground aquefiers. The Supreme Court had directed the government to provide clean drinking water to the affected localities. Even two years after the order, and one and a half years after the Supreme Court directive, they did not get drinking water.

In desperation, the survivors walked from Bhopal to Delhi - a distance of 800 km (http://bhopal.aidindia.org). The middle class people in Delhi are afraid to walk even 8 km in the scorching sun. But they did not feel the pain.

I went to show solidarity with the marching people in the last leg of about 6-8 km. It was a pity. The marchers - who had walked 800 km - were being treated as cattle by the police. They did not even get water on the way to Jantar Mantar (from Nizamuddin).

But they continued to walk. I continued to learn. I learnt that their resolve was strong. I learnt that they still forgave the police-wallahs. I learnt that even though they did not get any drinking water by the sides of the roads, they still liked Delhi - not for its people - but for the beautiful roads.

I also learnt that they did not see what I saw - that while crores were spent in beautifying roads in Delhi, even if a small percentage of this amount was routed to the gas affected families in Bhopal, they would not have needed to walk 800 km to Delhi.

But there was more learning to come.

I reached home after the march. I was not very tired. I am used to walking. 8km was not a long distance for me. I was definitely overwhelmed. I was excited about meeting Rashida di and Champa didi and Satinath Sarangi and Rachna and many others who had walked the distance and were ready to go on fast from the next day on. I was humbled by their resolve.

A few comments/ questions came my way. "Did you accomplish anything by wasting a day there?" "Shouldn't you rather contribute to the success of the country by working harder at office - working for something you are skilled at?" "Don't you think that a person could be hired at Rs.60/- a day to increase the crowd there?" "Did you not waste your day?"

I chose not to answer the questions - lest a fight ensue. But yes, I learnt more that evening. I realized that the effect of Rang De Basanti was not as real as I had hoped it would be.

I wondered that if I had gone for the candle light vigil in Jessica Lal case, would my family have responded similarly. Or would they have proudly claimed to their friends that I was there. I am not sure. I think they would not have resisted my participation there.

In fact, so strong is the feeling against my fighting for these causes that even when I went to Dharamsala - on a completely personal excursion/ adventure trip - I recieved a comment from one in the family "I thought you went there to light some candles on the road." The satire and sarcasm in the voice hit me hard. But then you have to learn to live with it.

Rang De Basanti possibly did not bring about an evolution in the middle class after-all...

Equal Opportunity Employer (and Gender)

It is a kind of a fashion statement for organizations to claim that they are equal opportunity employers. What does "equal opportunity employer" imply? To me, it implies that they give equal opportunities to people with equal caliber, independent of sex, caste, creed, sexual orientation, economic status and so on - at the time or recruitment. It also means that they are fair in their dealings with all employees - after recruitment - and base their decisions without any consideration of gender, caste etc., but go for results based promotions and incentives.

I was talking to a female colleague recently. The conversation drifted to gender equality in work places. And then I realized that there is more to equal opportunity, at least in context of gender, at work places than what seems obvious. Definitely more than what was described above.

This takes us to a very relevant question - does "equal opportunity" mean visibly equal opportunities - like both men and women getting similar salaries for same kind of work, equal growth prospects in the organization etc.? Or does "equal opportunity" actually mean unequal visible opportunities - targeted to decimate physical and social differences?

I don't know the answer. I know the needs. And, I mostly speak of the knowledge based work-force here - and that too in a patriarchal society like India. That is because of my limitation of having worked only in this kind of organizations. And I do not claim to be correct. But I am free to voice a concern.

Physically, women have to bear more - independent of the society or country they are in.

Just as an example, carrying a child is something that puts a huge burden on the women - physically, emotionally and also socially. For men, at least the physical burden of this responsibility is clearly less. Most organizations (knowledge-based) do recognize the physical burden. Therefore, women get a special maternity leave - of at least a month (based on employment status) to upto 4.5 months. This is good. At least when the child is born healthy.

But what happens if there is a complexity in the pregnancy? Quite a few of my colleagues have been advised bed-rest or less stressful work-hours during pregnancy. This might be due to long working hours (around 8-9 hours, including lunch) during which the women can't take physical rest. This may also be due to stressful (at least mentally) jobs that knowledge-based corporates usually offer. So, this is a relatively common phenomenon in intelligent, modern work-force. However, there is no respite in this situation. Organizations usually don't offer such long leaves (which may extend upto 9-11 months - based on the stage in which pregnancy complications arise).

What happens if she suffers a miscarriage? While some organizations may offer the employee to go on maternity leave, others may treat it as any other medical condition. Those who offer maternity leave - cut it out of the total allowance of 2 maternity leave incidences. Those who treat it as any other medical condition are unfair because of two reasons. First, men never suffer it - so it can not be treated as any other medical condition that any employee can suffer. Second, the condition extends beyond the physical realm to emotional and social realm also. Therefore, some flexibility should definitely be offered to the person who suffers this loss.

Are organizations wrong in doing so?
Possibly not. Businesses exist to make profit. If they don't put such conditions or limitations - then in the equal wages concept of "equal opportunity employment" - they see female employees taking away more than the fair share. Because, while on leave, employees are on the rolls of the organization (and therefore get benefits -even if no salary) - but no work gets done.

The burden of being a equal opportunity employer - in the present meaning of the term - does not let the organization to pass on this loss of business interest to the women. Therefore, in its (and the share-holders) supreme business interest, an organization needs to put such limitations, or prefer to not hire female employees.

Not hiring female employees is definitely detrimental to interests of the organization. So, it doesn't get any share of the slice of "equal opportunity employer" pie. And therefore it loses in terms of business esteem and integrity. Therefore organizations prefer to put limitations on leaves that employees can take.

But what does putting such limitations do to the life of women. Most of them end up deciding to choose between career or family. They can't continue working (if they want to give higher priority to family - which is an expectation in patriarchal society like India) simply because their jobs are not flexible enough.

The problem gains higher significance because incidences of miscarriages and complexities in pregnancies are increasing - esp. in the knowledge based work-force. This is not only because of the stressful jobs and the need to sit in a place during the working hours, but also because of an attempt on the part of women to keep going to office - despite physical discomfort - to save some more leaves for post-delivery needs.

I understand that we have been asked to believe that men and women are equals. They should be treated equally. I fear that in this quest for equality (in the face of real physical and emotional differences), we may have ended up making the field more skewed against women - at least in the knowledge based industry. The present concept of equal wages poses limitations and therefore something needs to be done.

A logical suggestion to this end would be - allow women more leaves (when they need them) even if at the cost of pay. This will at least ensure that the women retain their financial independence and that the basic needs of the child are met. While this will not compromise on the business interests of the organization it will also be beneficial for the female employees.

But there is more in it for the organization than what I mentioned above (and things are not as simple). When an organization offers more leaves (even if non-paid) to its employees, then they are in a complex situation. They had that employee in the team because that person was doing some critical work. Now, this person is away on a long leave. Even though the leave may not be paid (and therefore not a direct financial burden on the organization), it does mean that some job function in the organization suffers. To avoid this, the organization will have to bring in a new member. But what happens to this new employee when the old employee returns?

Knowledge based organizations spend a lot of time and effort (and also finances) in training people for their respective job-functions. If the new employee is to be hired on an ad-hoc basis for 3-4 months, then he/she would not add any much value to the organization anyways - for by the time he/she understands the system and working methodologies in the work-place, it would be time to move on. So, what do organizations do? To prevent the business from getting impacted, the organization may decide to hire some additional employees to fill in for the employees missing on account of leave (paid or non-paid).

Redundancy in the work-force is also not a lucrative solution because typically employees needing long leaves will be at different job functions. So, even though at a time 2-4% of the work-force would need such extended leaves, the organization will end up supporting at least 10% additional work-force. So, this again is a financial burden on the organization.

However, this is exactly where the concept of "corporate social responsibility" and the claim of "equal opportunity" comes in.

Women should have a more flexible work-space. For the years/ months when the women need more flexibility (in terms of more leaves), they may ask and be paid less than their male counter-parts for the additional leaves. They should still be considered for any salary increments (that other employees are due for) and promotions. When they decide, they can ask to switch back to the normal mode and therefore, same number of leaves as male counterparts and equal salaries. It would be great if this facility is extended to all employees (and not just females).

But the secondary financial burden (like cost of special arrangements or redundancy in work-force) should not be passed on to the employees. This is where the company will be making its contribution to undo the differences that either nature or society have introduced into the life-styles. It is after this that an organization should claim to be an equal opportunity employer. Just giving equal salaries for equal work should not qualify an employer as "equal opportunity" employer - but simply a "fair" employer

While this is one aspect of providing equal opportunities to all employees (and may be valid almost anywhere), there is another dimension to equal opportunity that organizations have to ensure.

To be able to grow like their male colleagues in the organization, females may want to work late in the office (just like their male counterparts). So, to be an equal opportunity employer, the employer has to ensure that it is equally easy for female employees also to work late. But in a place (say, like Delhi) where safety and security of females is clearly a concern, the organization will need to take specific actions to ensure safety of the female employees. These actions may not be extended to males (if the financial cost of providing it to all employees is a concern), but are definitely needed for the females.

This additional effort will ensure that females really get equal opportunities to grow in the organization, despite inequities in the society. But this also means that women will end up introducing higher financial burden on the organization.

More such gender specific needs exist - esp. in a society like India, where expectations from the women - to contribute to the family - are high and the disparities in the society against the women are big. And each of these needs may require the organization to make special efforts to make the work space as equal for women as for men.

All these efforts should come under the ambit of Corporate Social Responsibility and should be counted to give the organization a title of "equal opportunity employer".

So, many organizations that claim to be equal opportunity employers may not really be. I say so, because to be an equal opportunity employer - visibly different policies for male and female employees are needed. It is only then that an employer will be able to provide equal opportunities to men and women.

So, am I professing different salaries for male and females even in a knowledge based work-space? Yes, as a choice and for a limited period of time. And I am also professing more responsibility on the part of the organization (as part of CSR) to ensure that the work space is equal for all people.

But, is this concept of lesser salaries not retrograde? No - because this "lesser" salary is applicable only in the years when the women need the flexibility. And more importantly because I am also seeking to change the job structure to suit women more - and therefore give them "really" equal opportunities to grow without compromising on the responsibilities of the family - at least as they exist in a patriarchal society.

And, what are the checks and balances? Won't this system be misused? During my discussions with quite a few people I realized that this system - though noble in thought - can be misused by both the employer and also the employee. Therefore an elaborate check-and-balance system has to be put in place. It can be in the form of having a 'special needs cell' that has members from all departments and levels in an organization. This cell would meet as and when they recieve a request for "switching ON or OFF" the special mode of employment. They would consider every case objectively - understand the need in terms of medical reports or condition of the employee - and approve. There can also be an additional ceiling that at a time, 1-2% of work-force can be in this special mode. This should be more than sufficient because normal pregnancies will be in normal operation mode and will go on regular maternity leave. But having this mode as an option will enable special cases - which are not an ignorable number either - to be able to contribute to the organization at the best possible level.

Prayers

When one prays, what should one ask for?
Should one ask for anything at all?

Its an interesting question that popped up in my mind some time back. I don't think that I have an answer. Can one have it?

Because, if you ask for Moksh, even then there is desire. That desire will not let you reach the goal.
Also, does it make a difference what we are asking from "a" God. I mean, Hindu pantheon has thousands of representations of God. Who should you ask for one kind of thing? Who should you ask for - say justice - and who for forgiveness? Is it right to say that Shiv ji manifests the energy of guileless forgiveness and Kali ma represents the energy of fighting for justice and equality? Is it right to say that Hanuman ji represents the ability to respect and love someone - to serve someone - without any expectation of a return? So, if we are unable to muster enough courage or energy or selflessness to serve someone (be it our parents or our boss at office), would it be the right thing to pray to Hanuman ji.

As far as I understand, hundreds of different manifestations of God in the Hindu pantheon has essentially been done so that we (the devotees) find it easier to focus our attention on one kind of energy at a time - the one that helps us overcome the deficiencies that we ourselves have. So, when you don't have the spine to fight back injustice, pray to Kali ma to give you strength to fight it out and destroy the perpetrator or to Ram ji to help you follow the path of love and resort to violence as the last resort or to Krishan ji to give you tact and also skills to defeat all the different attempts of injustice on you.

So, does that mean that we don't have an Isht dev - a God who we should pray to at all times. I don't think that this interpretation of the above text is complete. I consider this as something like "crystal therapy". In crystal therapy, one is advised to wear crystals that will compensate for missing energy from your aura body. Like if you get angry often, you essentially are short of energy that brings in patience. So, you are advised to wear a pearl. So, continuing the same line of thought, it may happen that our intrinsic nature is say that of not being able to forgive someone who did something wrong with us. In this case, having Shiv ji as your Isht dev will help you get energies of forgiveness and guileless love.

However, as anyone would understand, it doesn't happen automatically - or mechanically. That you pray to Shiv ji and you start forgiving people. It is equally important that we understand why we are praying to Shiv ji. OR, what aspect of this energy conglomerate is the most critical for our success. Once we change our focus accordingly, the deficiency of that kind of energy will be compensated.

So, this essentially brings us down to the first question again. Should we ask for anything when we pray to God? The answer is tricky. If one aspires for "Godliness", then just remembering the desired Godly form should be good enough to bring in the Godliness in oneself. In this aspect, the meditating posture of any God ji - Krishan ji in Yogavtar roop, or Shiv ji - meditating or Guru Nanak ji meditating - will bring about that transformation (gradually) in whoever puts his/her thought on that manifestation of Godliness.

If someone associates Godliness with the ability to guile-lessly forgive one and all, then Shiv ji in Nilkanth roop will bring the ability to not get impacted by negativity of any person that we are dealing with - and therefore forgive that person.

So, the idea is, that one should not exactly ask for blessings, but meditate on that manifestation of the Divine force that will help us succeed in our goals. Success will follow.

Just a thought...

Fly-overs - and their role in "one" world

"Fly-overs are a sign of development." I can not possibly count the number of times people have praised the fly-overs to me.

In fact, I myself have praised the fly-overs in the same vein so many times.

A recent comment, though very innocuous, set me thinking. It was in context of a new fly-over planned in Delhi. "With this new fly-over, traffic will completely bypass the congested slum areas." Very promising indeed. So, we will zoom past the dark under-belly of this huge city without getting disturbed by slum children playing on the streets or pedestrians making way to their livelihood.

This is what fly-overs do. Almost all of them. They by-pass the underdeveloped parts of the city to ease the life for those living in better-off areas. So, that those with fast moving vehicles don't get bothered by pedestrians and rickshaw-pullers.

The people in those fast moving vehicles therefore ignore the presence/ absence of the people on foot. They help the rich forget the poor. They essentially divert the attention of the rich from the poor to the rich and richer.

This is possibly where the unsatiable desire to earn more and become richer than the richest starts to take birth. This is possibly where the government officers and decision makers, who move in cars - air-conditioned or otherwise, loose the sense of reality. This is possibly where the decision to make a new fly-over is taken. This is possibly where, greed metamorphoses into need. This is possibly where the "one" world gets divided.

Government of Delhi spends hundreds of crores of rupees in building these fly-overs. The need for these fly-overs arose because there was a need to speed up the traffic. It was possibly the definition of traffic that was wrong. Traffic is not just cars and scooters and SUVs. Traffic is also pedestrians and rickshaw pullers and those who need to travel by public transport to get to work.

The government should provide for speeding up the second traffic. The first one will automatically gain speed. If the hundreds of crores of rupees that the government spends on building fly-overs are rather spent on beefing up the public transport system and providing facilities in the slums, then the not only will the city develop in a more holistic fashion but the problems of traffic will also get mitigated.

Building more fly-overs can be directly compared to loosening the belt to control obesity. Yes, when your waistline increases, it is necessary to loosen the belt, but that is not the solution. The solution is to control your diet, eat healthy food and to do physical exercise. Similarly, making more fly-overs in Delhi is not going to solve the problem of congestion on the city roads. Number of vehicles on the roads need to be controlled. Focus should shift to policies that improve over-all health of the city.

Reducing the numbers (examples from elsewhere that can be adapted in Indian cities)

• Singapore has a policy according to which cars are cheap, however their registration is costly. Its an annual auction of registration plates. This makes private ownership of vehicles a not so lucrative option in addition to raising more money with the government.
• In another country, vehicles with only odd registration numbers are allowed on the roads on 3 days of the week and even registration numbers on the other three.
• In another country, car pools are given special preference and they have separate fast moving lanes.
• In another city, public transport is so good (and affordable) that it saves time to go by public transport.
• In another city, public transport is so predictable that people plan their schedules according to bus schedule.
• In most other countries, the pedestrian ways (foot-paths) are systematically designed and are designed on priority. These ways are not only handicap friendly, but also well-lit to ensure proper safety of pedestrians. If the foot-paths are given due weight in any road widening/ construction, pedestrian traffic is automatically taken care of. What is happening in Delhi is exactly the opposite - footpaths are broken to widen the road.

Correcting the focus

The money raised from auctioning of registration numbers and saved from building fly-overs mindlessly should be spent in a manner that the underpriviliged sections of the society also develop and contribute more effectively to nation's growth. The money should be invested in many of the following things which will again help in improving traffic speed.

• Special lanes for bicycles and rickshaws
• Providing better hygiene and sanitation facilities in city slums (so that people don't need to defecate on footpaths - thereby making them available for pedestrians)
• Designing disabled friendly and senior citizen friendly pedestrian ways
• Building pedestrian over-bridges or subways for crossing roads and providing pedestrian signals at all road crossings
• Improving public transport (buses and metro) such that people prefer to travel by public modes.
• Have public transport operate on a publically available schedule so that uncertainity of travel by public transport is reduced
• Have GPS installed in all public transport vehicles to monitor and provide help in case of problems
• Cross-subsidize public transport for low-income groups and daily wagers by providing better (and lesser congested) services for those who can pay.
• Have dedicated car-pool lanes on high-traffic routes to motivate people to travel by car-pool. Buses and public passenger carrying vehicles have the access to these lanes.

A cultural shift in drivers is also needed. Instead of "bigger vehicle has its way", the rule should change to "pedestrian gets right of way".

Its already been a long post... I will possibly post more on this topic again. But till then, give it a thought. Let fly-overs not let us fly-past the reality.