“Things from the heart don't have an explanation."

Political thinkers have opined that but for the British quelling the 1857 revolt by native Indian British soldiers, the polity of India as we have today may have been several states, controlled severally, most of them Islamic. What may have been is not that significant as what it is.

Today India is a Nation that defies political logic. It is one unique polity in the world which survives as a unified Nation with such a diverse religious and cultural dispositions. Yet we are afraid to debate religion and cultures. A debate is but an expression of opinions supported by arguments. A debate does not aim to come to any conclusion either way. If at all, it is for the audience to come to conclusions.

Can India as a Nation, with its diversity, progress emotionally and evolve, if there are no debates on religions, beliefs and faiths?

In regard to a debate on religion, I say hurting religious sentiment is a misnomer.  Sentimentality is an emotional state disproportionate to the situation, and thus replaces extreme and generally unthinking feeling for normal ethical and intellectual judgment. Psychologically sentiment is an abnormal condition. While there can be a condition of religious sentiment, being abnormal it cannot be hurt but only aggravated.  

The very term belief is anathema to the intellect. A belief is something you suppose it to be true just because it has been said as such over generations or by somebody you trust. It you KNEW this belief to be true, then it ceases to be a belief. Constantly seeking the truth is a must for a progressive society. When any society stops seeking the truth, it will be exploited by vested inters groups. Similarly “I have faith in him (may be your lawyer) to get me out of this” is different from “I know he will get me out of this”. The latter is more reassuring.

Being critical of religion and religious practices is a must for an evolving society to free itself from archaic practices of the ancient and medieval era. Instead of shying away, discussions on religions and methods should be encouraged in a thinking (wo)man.

A discussion need not be derogatory of individuals or groups. It is after prolonged discussions and consideration of differing opinions the Pope had allowed the use of condoms – under certain circumstances. The change is a result of objecting to a belief in the first instance. And just yesterday, departing from laid down practice, Pope Francis washed and kissed the feet of underprivileged women during the traditional Maundy Thursday ritual. Afterwards he said that the gesture came from his heart as a show of love and service and added “things from the heart don't have an explanation."

Right and wrong

Oh! The leading lights of India,

You are truly ‘great’;

 On either side of Vindhya

 You want India to shine bright.

It has come to such pass,

Where fundamental rights

Are only for fundamentalists, alas,

Taking India everyday to murkier heights

You say, right to life is only for criminals,

The righteous are menials.

Those who die defending the law

To you, have an essential flaw.

Oh! The leading lights of our country

Who seem to fight for all and sundry

For the quintessential Indian (in uniform)

You seem to be alien

Incredible grandma

Grand ma called me last night out onto the balcony....

G:  Son, No ordinance or Lokpal will ever improve the Lot of Indians...

I:   But Grandma.....

G:   Putr sun...beech mein mat bol...more laws means more FIRs, more investigations, more litigation with same police, same judiciary, same everything....don’t you see the humbug and skewed thinking.....

I:   Ha! I see your point....

G:  No you don’t.  In my younger days there was this movie “The Good The bad and The ugly”...It was a Western and some of those cowboys talked more sense than many of our leaders.....

I: Now come on Grandma....

G: Don’t underestimate these cowboys (or cowherd or Shepherd)...they know their beans...even in this world historically the greatest teachers had careers tending the bovines...

I: OK...OK.. what about this movie?...

G:   In this movie there is a scene where Eli Walach (a great actor of those days..Not handsome but effective...) was lying in a bathtub when his enemy entered the bathroom with gun drawn...

I:  What sort of an intelligent guy this cowboy...not even latching the bathroom door...

G:  Don’t you see this every time in Hollywood movies; if the bathroom door is latched how can one include script worthy cashable scenes in the movie .....

I:  Ha! I get it.....

G:  Ok. Don’t imagine too much...so Eli Walach was staring up the small barrel of a shot gun aimed at his you know where....

I:  Hi! Hi! ...

G:  And this guy who was aiming the gun at Eli was gloating over how he will soon send Eli to hell et al.. when Eli pulled out a gun ( a real gun) out of the water and shot his nemesis dead..and for good measure mouthed “ When you hold a gun shoot don’t talk...”

I:  SO Grandma what this has to do with India?

G:   Everything my son, everything! Now listen “The problem in incredible India is NOT corruption but the absence of real Governance....” ( my Grandma says...and goes on to suggest the following measures to make India truly incredible....)

1. India should unequivocally announce in the UN Assembly that the state of J&K is historically and legally integral to the polity of India and add that a sovereign state never negotiated its territory. The shock and awe that will follow the statement will signal the arrival of a new and resurgent India ready to lead the world through the twenty first century. Then after the dust settles down ask Pak to leave POK.

2. Internally, India should deal with situations with an iron glove and only for the Nation’s interest.  The secessionist Hurriyat leaders should be given an option to either participate in the impending General elections in J&K or face sedition charges.

3. Afzal Guru, a terrorist convicted of masterminding an attack on the Indian parliament should be executed at the earliest.

4. Bring in a bill / ordinance banning religious and extremist groups directly or indirectly participating in politics.

5. The problem within the country is of un-employability and not unemployment. Revamp the education system such that after 15years of education (Graduate) the person becomes employable with acquired skill sets.

(I had to agree with her....after all, she is somebody who would have been President.)

This and that: conflicts and collateral damage

This and that: conflicts and collateral damage

Here is a familiar scene from either a movie of yesteryears or a tearjerker soap on the idiot box. The father is expectantly pacing the corridors outside the maternity ward. It will be their first child. Everything was fine and the joy of becoming a father was just about to burst out. He was waiting for the doctor to emerge and announce ...the doctor did finally emerge after what seemed an eternity...not all was well...there are complications. It has to be either the child or the mother.  A bit cruel...the choice was simple “Kill one to save another”. Thankfully, the recent developments in medicine hopefully spare such situations in real life these days.

Switch scene...the famous epitaph on the tombstone of the Unknown Soldier in Imphal, “When You Go Home, Tell Them Of Us And Say, For Your Tomorrow, We Gave Our Today"...Is the soldiers’ martyrdom a collateral damage, eminently acceptable to a Nation?

We have to accept that every conflict throws up collateral damage. When the conflict is in the public spaces and not confined to defined battlefields the damage is usually manifold. Probably the burning of Lanka by Hanuman is a major collateral damage of the war between Ram and Ravan. The act of burning down a capital city was undertaken because Ravan was holding a hostage who was a citizen of Ram’s kingdom,  within his territory. While Sita was illegally confined  in that country the Lankans, with the exception of Mandodari (Ravan’s wife) and Vibhishan, did not vehemently object to or revolt against the act.  If the people of the country had risen in revolt against Ravan, Lanka would have been saved.

There cannot be subversion, militancy or ‘terrorism’ without the connivance of the state (Libya, Yemen...), society (Afghanistan, Pakistan), or both. Just as a wild fire starts from a spark and is stoked by external forces like the wind, the spark of terrorism (initiated by right or wrong ideals)  is fanned by vested interests and terrorist organisations function like a polity with or without geographical boundaries as a base. Soon the ideals are forgotten and in most cases the organisation is dominated by criminals.....a section of the society plays along either due to fright (terrorised) or for material gains, thereby making them vulnerable.

Not even in our dreams we can experience Utopia (Ram Rajya). Even the King’s wife was not safe in Ram Rajya!!! History tells us that all conflicts have wrought immense destruction – collateral or otherwise. I do not want to sound villainous; you may turn around and say my near and dear ones were not among the hostages...but consider this – if we had not exchanged jailed terrorists for hostages in the infamous hijacking of an Indian aircraft IC 814 to Kandahar in December 1999,  would today’s subcontinent be different.

I leave it your imagination.....

Armed conflicts do not end like a soccer match – on the pitch.... I repeat conflicts wrought damage – collateral and otherwise.

I wish that there are NO conflicts!

This and that: pragmatism and a ray of hope?

I see a ray hope...a light at the end of the tunnel, hopefully NOT an oncoming train.

Among the ebbing value system and growing intolerance, both inimical to a healthy democracy, there is an encouraging development.  A group of scholars who are also members of the powerful All India Muslim personal Law Board (AIMPLB) has invited Salaman Rushdie to debate on Islam in the wake of his book “satanic Verses” and imminent release of a movie based on his book “Midnight’s Children”. The author’s controversial novel The Satanic Verses created a storm in the 1980s.

What a refreshing idea...this debate....I only hope Salman Rushdie is up to the challenge and accepts the proposed healthy confrontation. We need open debates where every opinion is expressed. Debates are generally inconclusive and (should) avoid decisions. Democracy is strangled if debates are precluded. Stifled voices spread rumors. Open debates are places where expressions find a way out which allows for easier breathing and healthier living. Just debate the positions and let the listener decide what is right and wrong for her. Let us NOT presuppose events and feelings based on ignorance and blind faith.

Open debates exclude possibilities of complexes, which herald insecurities. This is a situation rife with raw sensibilities and pregnant with disastrous possibilities.  All this nonsense of communal feuds and caste fights ares only due to insecurities caused by ignorance.  It is very simple. I do not become a bastard overnight only because somebody decides to proclaim me thus. Conversely if I am a bastard, I am one even if none says so!!!

Now, you tell me is it a straw (the offer for a debate) we can clutch at...and hope?

Grandma recommends tippling

Grandma was awake. It is very unusual for her not to be in bed at 11.30 PM on a Saturday night.  No paper, no knitting, just sitting on the patio and staring into oblivion.  The night temperatures of around 18^o Celsius helped. I became worried though and rushed to inquire after her health. Everything about her was fine, she assured me. However, it seems she just could not sleep.

G: (With a stunned, blank look) Have you been drinking?

I:  (A bit taken aback) come on grandma, you know I have not touched that stuff, yet.

G:   Then start drinking.....

I: (Well you don’t expect such stuff from Grandma...I reached for the phone...) Grandma are you alright, shall I call the doctor?

G:  Putr, put down the phone. The trouble is you youngsters do not read newspapers.

I: I do...

G: Yes only  page 3. Well the point is that there is a honorable SC judgment which has commuted the sentence of a rape cum murder convict from death to life sentence.

I:  So, what is the big deal grandma?

G:   He has done it because the criminal, the convict, committed the crime under influence of alcohol.

I: Ah!

G: This implies that the degree of heinousness   of any crime is inversely proportional to the state of inebriation while committing the crime.

I:  So, drunken driving is safer than sober steering, for the driver you mean....

G: Exactly, that is the derivative interpretation would you say?

I: (Grandma has never asked my opinion earlier...)er...er..er... yes true (I blurted out) . Who is to blame the judiciary or the law? (my escape route).

G:  Son, it is the law which should be blamed...the archaic law says that in any culpability, the offence and the offender is to be considered while sentencing. The argument is that in this case the offender was NOT in his complete enses while committing the crime...

I:  What a load of bullshit.....

G: You see, now you are swearing in front of your grandma...

I: Sorry grandma, I did have a glass of beer..pardon me.