This is my land

The Bishnoi community people of Kankani village near Jodhpur in India revere all life. They know that their environment nurtures them  and they in turn respect and protect their environment. This was highly publicised in October 1998 when the local people agitated and had a group of irresponsible film actors from Mumbai arrested for poaching. Enacting in real life the senseless killing of several animals including endangered species of black buck and Chinkara deer.

What really transpired only God knows, but what was heartening was the local people arose in unison to protect and preserve their environment.  In most places this sense of belonging is now mainly visible by its absence.

I travel extensively across my beautiful country spoilt by garbage, filth, the polluted air and stinking water bodies.  Most people cover their nose and mouth and trudge along or merely drive past.

I despair not only for the desecration of our home and environment but at the total apathy of my people. Then I ask myself, 'my people?', who are these strangers? How come my people have become destroyers of their own land?

By nature people are neither fools, nor are they uncaring, then what causes them to become so indifferent to their impending self destruction?

Love gives rise to a sense of belonging and care. Such people need few laws and even fewer law enforcement people. They live by a code of honour and respect which has existed successfully for millennia. Societies living in harmony with their environment have thrived and those that have failed to do so are doomed to perish sooner or later.

Symbiosis of man and nature leads to both enrichment of the environment and its people. Skew the balance and the entire fabric comes apart.

However if people are shunned or made irrelevant they possess neither love nor belonging. But what is making people uncaring? The answer is big government and our current system of governance. The government is normally blamed and rightly so, for it is so disconnected from the needs, problems and possible solutions of its people. It has by way of legislation and bullying monopolised all powers, resources and means to deliver services to the people.

An officer or a department sitting far away manned by bureaucrats having no stake in the outcome of any situation can hardly be motivated to do what is appropriate. Bureaucrats and government exist only for their own self preservation.

The government consisting of politicians, bureaucrats, government officers and their select vendors can afford to show totally disdain simply because of the apathy of the people.

Apathy sets in when people do not have mechanisms for discussion, interaction, sharing of problems and possible solutions.

Be it medical facilities, education, garbage, crime, corruption, the only way forward is to force by political, judicial  and civil activism the government to vacate all areas of activities except defence, monetary policy, fiscal policy, and policing. Leave it to the people to evolve non governmental policies and structures.

Unfortunately many of those capable of initiating and sustaining such change are already in bed with the various non productive, obstructionist elements in government and therefore do not see any need for making any changes to the situation.

This is my land, these are my people and this is my world. Let us come together, start a dialogue, implement actionable plans and bequeath to our children a better world than what we inherited.

__________________________________

# Black buck deer and Chinkara gazelle images from wikipedia
Bishnoi girl image from Flickr;  http://www.flickr.com/photos/devriese/69629290/sizes/m/in/photostream/

Cave Dwellers

The other day our nephews aged (12 and 6) along with their parents came to visit us from Mumbai. They had driven all the way from their apartment in Mumbai to our apartment in Pune.

I asked the if they wanted to go out to the park and play or to go trekking in the hills or maybe go and play some soccer, but answer was a firm and emphatic 'no' from them and their mother. They wanted to either go to the shopping mall, a cinema show or play video games.

I suddenly realised our lifestyle had made us cave dwellers. We live in apartments which are modern caves. We rise each day and scurry off to another cave called school, college or work. Then we rush to another cave for special classes or meetings, returning home to our residential cave.  To break out of our routine we rush to other caves, called malls, restaurants, cinema halls, all highly sophisticated places but always indoor.

Like timid creatures which are always scared of becoming prey we dart from one cave to another. It is rare to stop and admire the wonders of nature, the time to while away with oneself in a park.

Condemned to the world of modern caves, we are losing touch with reality and ourselves, living other peoples ideas and dreams, programmed to respond in predictable fashion and uttering other people's thoughts and words.

We now know not who or what we are. What greater tragedy can befall humanity?

Why and because

WHY:
Why do men's clothes have buttons on the right while women's clothes have buttons on the left?

BECAUSE:
When buttons were invented, they were very expensive and worn primarily by the rich. Since most people are right-handed, it is easier to push buttons on the right through holes on the left. Because wealthy women were dressed by maids, dressmakers put the buttons on the maid's right! And that's where women's buttons have remained since.

_____________________

WHY:
Why do ships and aircraft use 'mayday' as their call for help?


BECAUSE:
This comes from the French word m'aidez -meaning 'help me' -- and is pronounced, approximately, 'mayday.'
_____________________

WHY
Why are zero scores in tennis called 'love'?

BECAUSE:
In France , where tennis became popular, the round zero on the scoreboard looked like an egg and was called 'l'oeuf,' which is French for 'the egg.' When tennis was introduced in the US , Americans (mis)pronounced it 'love.'
_____________________


WHY:
Why do X's at the end of a letter signify kisses?

BECAUSE:
In the Middle Ages, when many people were unable to read or write, documents were often signed using an X. Kissing the X represented an oath to fulfill obligations specified in the document. The X and the kiss eventually became synonymous.
_____________________


WHY:
Why is shifting responsibility to someone else called 'passing the buck'?


BECAUSE: 
In card games, it was once customary to pass an item, called a buck, from player to player to indicate whose turn it was to deal. If a player did not wish to assume the responsibility of dealing, he would 'pass the buck' to the next player.

_____________________


WHY:
Why do people clink their glasses before drinking a toast?

BECAUSE:
It used to be common for someone to try to kill an enemy by offering him a poisoned drink. To prove to a guest that a drink was safe, it became customary for a guest to pour a small amount of his drink into the glass of the host. Both men would drink it simultaneously. When a guest trusted his host, he would only touch or clink the host's glass with his own.

_____________________


WHY:
WHY:Why are people in the public eye said to be 'in the limelight'?

BECAUSE:
Invented in 1825, limelight was used in lighthouses and theaters by burning a cylinder of lime which produced a brilliant light. In the theatre, a performer 'in the limelight' was the center of attention.
___________________


WHY:
Why is someone who is feeling great 'on cloud nine'?


BECAUSE
Types of clouds are numbered according to the altitudes they attain, with nine being the highest cloud. If someone is said to be on cloud nine, that person is floating well above worldly cares.
_____________________


WHY:
In golf, where did the term 'Caddie' come from?

BECAUSE:
When Mary Queen of Scots went to France as a young girl, Louis, King of France, learned that she loved the Scots game 'golf.' He had the first course outside of Scotland built for her enjoyment. To make sure she was properly chaperoned (and guarded) while she played, Louis hired cadets from a military school to accompany her. Mary liked this a lot and when returned to Scotland (not a very good idea in the long run), she took the practice with her. In French, the word cadet is pronounced 'ca-day' and the Scots changed it into ‘caddie.’
_____________________


WHY:
Why are many coin collection jar-banks shaped like pigs?



BECAUSE:
Long ago, dishes and cookware in Europe were made of a dense orange clay called 'pygg'. When people saved coins in jars made of this clay, the jars became known as 'pygg banks.' When an English potter misunderstood the word, he made a container that resembled a pig. And it caught on.

..Not in Comprehensible at all...

I have been in many places, but I've never been in Cahoots. Apparently you cant go alone. You have to be in Cahoots with someone. 


I've also never been in Cognito. I hear no one recognizes you there.

I have, however been in Sane. They do not have an airport; you have to be driven there.  I have made several trips there, thanks to my government, work, family and friends.

I would like to reach Conclusions, but you have to mostly jump, and I'm not too much on physical activity anymore.


I have also been in Doubt. That is a sad place to go, and I try not to visit there too often.


I've been in Flexible, but only when it was very important to stand firm.


Sometimes I'm in Capable, and I go there more often as I'm getting older.

One of my favourite places to be is in Suspense! It really gets the adrenalin flowing and pumps up the old heart! At my age I need all the stimuli I can get!

I may have been in Continent, and I don't remember what country I was in. It's an age thing.

Please do your part! Today is one of many National Mental Health Days throughout the year. You can do your bit by remembering to laugh with, at least one unstable person. If you do so then I can consider that my job is done! 

Life is too short for negative drama and petty things. So laugh insanely, love truly and forgive quickly!

From one unstable to another;

I hope everyone in your head is happy - we're all doing pretty good in mine!  .

____________________________

My thanks to my insanely charming friend and sister Priti Quinn for this amusing piece of writing.

Tyrants in Uniform

School bullies rob younger and weaker children of whatever catches their fancy, be it their lunch, toys or money. The weak merely surrender whatever they have to avoid a beating or other forms of torment.

A majority of citizens are timid and therefore face the same situation. Hapless citizens are incessantly bullied and tormented by the entity of the faceless and nameless government supposedly for ‘the greater good of the people' or some other nonsense.  The notorious brigade include tax officials, policemen, various inspectors, most bureaucrats and politicians. 

We can’t paint everyone with the same brush, not all officials are bad or evil. Unfortunately the bullies now form the dominant majority.

___________________________

Nowadays no social interaction is complete without a reference to corruption. Everyone grumbles but few do anything, to free us from the heavy yoke of our own government's corruption and apathy. 

Confined within our homes most of us are mere armchair activists.  Complaining and finger pointing, we merely talk and talk. Talk after all is cheap and assuages us of our feeling of guilt and inaction. Talk is not completely useless because it primes individuals for action, waiting for someone to light the match. 

An assistant commissioner of police of Mumbai ACP Dhobale is now in the middle of a media and social storm. Only the courts and time will tell if this man with a controversial past is an overenthusiastic law enforcer, or an inquisitor-tyrant on a rampage to fulfill a hidden agenda.

However the actions raise some important issues, which should serve as a call for fixing many things gone wrong in our society and what needs to be done to control the corruption of power.

Mere outrage and anger will result in the occasional flare up only to fizzle out. Powerful change can only occur when well conceived strategies and plans are implemented sincerely by committed people. 

Napoleon once remarked, "Evil things happen not because of the deeds of a few bad men, they are the result of the apathy and silence of the majority of the people." 

________________________________________

People have exhausted themselves, fruitlessly attacking the symptoms rather than the disease. The root cause of the disease of corruption is the massive number of laws vesting dangerous punitive powers in almost every officer in the government. Even the junior-most officer can put in jail any member of the public with a snap of his or her fingers. 

The constantly demonstrated ability to obstruct normal life whether personal, social or professional is more frightening than any physical weapon. The harried citizens have to spend huge resources of money and time in legal fees, bribes and the courts just to prove their innocence or to get what is rightly due to them as envisaged in our constitution.

To make matters worse there is no effective system to redress complaints of the people. Where and to whom can the frustrated and exhausted citizen turn to?

In addition to throwing the legal book at citizens, many government officials cruelly leverage the media to their advantage and hammer the oppressed people by issuing malicious statements in the newspapers and television about the person being charged with some offense or the other.

Often destroying reputations and lives thoughtlessly, the media's focus unfortunately has shifted from providing balanced news to entertainment, and nothing entertains more than the whiff of scandal.

Preventing corruption is better than trying to cure it. Here are some ways to mitigating the menace of corruption;

•        Reduce by 95% the discretionary and instant punitive powers of individual government officers.

•        Introduce an effective system to redress complaints of the citizens and this should form part of the senior officers duties and action taken must be open to public scrutiny.

•        Form panels headed by eminent citizens consisting of experts from various professional bodies including respected and competent lawyers. These panels must review ALL laws within the next five years, withdraw, modify or add laws that are needed. It is estimated that more than 90% of the laws are either irrelevant or outdated and mostly unduly complex and sometimes even convoluted. Laws passed by colonialists to oppress the native people and monopolies benefits for a privileged few, are still in existence, empowering new indigenous tyrants to perpetuate misery.

•        Introduce guidelines that, unless genuine and valid objections are raised by government officials applications to government departments and officers should be deemed to be automatically sanctioned.

•        Hold to serious account by law,  government officers for misuse of their position and also for dereliction of their duties.

Reduce the powers of government and other officers to bully, to act arbitrarily to arrest people, to hamper their livelyhood, etc. for most matters and instead follow a system of due process of law. 

Barring exceptional circumstances alleged offenders should be given notice and permitted to defend themselves before a court of law before being condemned by the authorities and the media.

A man in uniform now represents something not to be respected but feared and even despised. Let us return to the time when the badge sported and the uniform of a government official was something that provided us the people a sense of respect, support, security, and justice. 

Bullies are impatient people and pursue instant gratification. Deny them this right to bully, harass, obstruct and destroy and most of the frivolous or mischievous cases of harassment will die a natural death.

True, a few offenders may escape the net of the law but surely countless innocent people will also escape the harassment of corrupt officials.

Life is like a game of bridge

"Life is like a game of bridge ... 


We did not invent the game or design the cards; we did not frame the rules and we cannot control the dealing. The cards are dealt out to us whether they be good or bad... 


But we can play the game well or play it badly. A skillful player may have poor hand and win the game. A bad player may have a good hand and yet make a mess of it. 


Our life is a mixture of necessity and freedom, chance and choice... we may not change events but we can change our approach to events."


— Dr. S. Radhakrishnan, Philosopher and former President of India.


My thanks to Mr. Srinivasan Sundaresan and Mr. Janak Hathiramani for this inspirational piece.

How to choose a General?

Soon after getting freedom from British rule in 1947, the de-facto prime minister of India, Jawahar Lal Nehru called a meeting of army officers to select the first General of the Indian army.

Nehru proposed, "I think we should appoint a British officer as a General of Indian Army as we don't have enough experience to lead the same."

Having learned under the British, only to serve and rarely to lead, all the men in uniform and civilians present nodded their heads and agreed

However one officer Nathu  Singh Rathore asked for permission to speak. Nehru was taken aback by the independent streak of the officer, he asked him to speak freely.

Rathore said ,"You see, sir, we don't have enough experience to lead a nation too,  so shouldn't we appoint a British person as first PM of India?"

You could hear a pin drop.

After a pregnant pause, Nehru asked Rathore, "Are you ready to be the first General of The Indian Army ?"

Rathore declined the offer saying "Sir, we have a very talented army officer, my senior, Lt. Gen. Cariappa, who is the most deserving among us."

This is how the brilliant Gen. Cariappa became the first General  and Rathore became the first ever Lt. General of the Indian Army.

My thanks to Lt. Gen (retd) Niranjan Malik  (PVSM) for this article.

The characteristic of courage with a sense of duty and honour displayed by Lt. Gen. Rathore, is increasingly rare to find, unfortunately even in our armed forces.

Most people in present day society suffer from bone problem, too much in the head and too little in the spine.