Blackmail or Protest?

India is a democracy, meaning government of the people, by the people, for the people. The people however are supporting the man who is fasting for his demand as a citizen of India, to pass a bill which he thinks will fight corruption more strongly. And this is not just his belief, but apparently this belief is backed up by thousands and thousands of citizens of India.

Why then has the government of India jailed this man? Why is non-cooperation illegal? I can understand punishing someone for doing something wrong, however punishing someone for not doing something, is that right? If the Indian Government thinks that non-cooperation is not the right way, then what is an alternate effective way to make the government realise what the people’s demands are? Do people’s right end at the end of the elections? Is democracy just a way of people to elect their new dictator?

And most importantly I fail to understand the term political blackmail in this case. If this man’s demands were for his personal benefit, thousands of citizens would not back him up. Since this is not the case I don’t understand Dr. Manmohan Singh’s words that this is a form of political blackmail.

No Mr. Prime Minister, this is a protest. I am not sure if/when the bill is finally passed, whether it will reduce any corruption. But I am sure it will at least teach some of us the important lesson that, when united as a group of people, it is possible to make a big difference just by inaction.

Also makes me wonder, if each and every one of us lose our faith in the political parties currently in India, and we all decide to not vote in the next elections, will this mean all of us will be thrown in jail?

While on the topic of voting, I would really like the option to vote for ‘none of you idiots’. And if enough people vote for ‘none of you idiots’ then re-elections should take place and the political parties should be given a chance to modify their campaigns and come up with better plans (with achievable due dates) to win over the trust of the majority citizens.

Also if a political party comes into power by promising certain changes to the society, they should be held responsible for this. If they fail to deliver by the target date, it should be possible to penalise them under the court of law.

It is about time that the public servants, start serving their real masters – the People.

Changes to the Existing Education system: some ideas

I don't know if there is anyone on this forum who can influence the educational system in India, but if there are, I would be glad if they can take a look at my suggestion and see if they are any good. The following ideas are based on my own experience of studying in this country, and what I felt I missed out on.

I would like to suggest 2 extra formal subjects of study between class 5-12 in India:

1) India today. Current affairs.

News. Political/scientific/economics/any other topic which catches the fancy of the child. Each child is expected to bring in a piece of news to class and talk about it and state his opinion on it. Later a discussion about this topic can take place with the whole class.

- Encourages child to develop reading skill

- Developes his GK

- Ability to think and have an opinion with reasons

- Ability to reason with others and draw conclusions

- Increases awareness of different things going on around the child

- Encourages the child to understand his area of interest from a younger age

The teacher of this subject should also be able to help the child correlate their findings with similar situations in the past, so that the child is able to look at history as a feedback to the making of the future.
The child should be marked on:- Correctness of the news- His/her grasp or understanding of the topic- Ability to defend his point of view

2) Class of invention and innovation:

This class should encourage the child to think out of the box. To do something new. To come up with new ideas. To create something. It can be made into a fun class where each child is expected to come up with

a) A new word (with reasons ofcourse, so that they can dig up roots of word and stuff)

b) A new device (and how they plan to design it)

c) A new strategy

d) A new art form

Basically anything original, which has not been done before.Some of the lessons could be extempore (in the class topics, and make the children come with new ways of designing/doing/executing/planning it.)

The child can be marked on -originality of the idea, -it's usefulness, -it's appeal/popularity with other children in the class, -the effort taken in the development of the idea (how well thought out is the idea)

Another subject which could be better dealt with is Mathematics. The following are the modifications I would like to make to it

1) Should make the subject more visual. Sometimes we have a problem with mathematics, because it is difficult to visualise things like complex numbers, calculus etc.

2) Should give a good idea about the application and usefulness of the different mathematical tools from everyday life.

3) Should encourage use of different computer tools like matlab/mathcad and I am sure there are cheaper ones as well, which make it fun and simple for students to grasp the subject.

4) teachers should take extra effort and come up with different teaching aids to help children think of (any subject, not just) maths as a fun, easy to learn and useful subject.

And finally, the marking system should also be revised. Yes it is a competitive world and we want our next generation to be prepared for it, but at what cost? Do we want them to be little robo-lets, who spend the most important part of their lives, their childhood, memorising facts? I hope not!Why don't we have a more unbiased system which gives importance to sports and arts? Why does the student who never plays a single game, or sketches or sings or dances come first in class because he did well in his theoretical subjects? Whereas an athlete who does exceptionally well in sports, comes last in class only because he didn't score as much in other subjects? Why not make it difficult to come first as well as last in class? why not make tuition classes a thing of the past, by making learning in school easy and fun?

Be Angry. Be Very Angry.

The terrorists are back. Innocent people are killed. Heroes are martyred. Politicians mumble platitudes. It feels like this is never going to stop.

Not unless we take matters into our collective hands. And that means all Indians, as one. No divisions, no implicit partitions. Nothing that allows loopholes for terrorists to slip through.

First, demand accountability. File your RTI applications, petition your elected representatives. Make a nuisance of yourself until you get an answer, even if it be "I don't know" or "Nahin batayenge."

Second, use the power of the web. Communiate - thoughts, doubts, questions, ideas. Let's build a consensus on what works.

Third, fight corruption. Especially black money and processes that link to black money. That's what funds terrorists - and their accomplices who make our borders and coasts porous, our cities vulnerable, our loved ones defenceless, our brave soldiers martyrs.

Fourth, fight discrimination. Stand up and make yourself heard unless you support the new Hitlers who seek to create disunited, disjointed Us and Them sub-Indias, Hindus and Muslims, Domiciled and Inter-state Migrants, Gujjars and Meenas, Haves and Have-nots. The latter become prime targets for terrorist recruitment, and mutual distrust between groups creates grey zones in space and time that militants freely exploit.

Finally, vote. Make a choice, even if a sub-optimal one.

To fight terrorism, we must first fight corruption, communalism and casteism. Else there will always be loopholes for terrorists to slither through.

Empowerment is never given, it is always taken. Someone took our Bombay; we must now take back our India.

Hail Patil!

Move over Shabnam Mausi and Suraiya Nayak the eunuchs who were content just being mayor or MLA. Indian home minister Shivraj Patil has done eunuchs proud by reaching to topmost echelons of Indian politics.

But eunuchs have all reasons to be upset with him since he has not revealed the fact publically till date. It is very difficult to find about sexuality of people in India and that too of a senior minister, it were his actions which gave away the secret.

However many experts on this matter do not agree to this report as they say whatever may be the personality traits of eunuchs they are assertive and not undecisive as the minister. They are deeply pained by their community members and take any act of violence against them very seriously, whereas Mr. Patil doesn't do anything except lipservice by condemning the blasts that take place regularly. If he was even a little bit concerned about lives of his countrymen there would not be serial blasts all over the country.

Few other experts say that Mr. Patil could be physically and mentally handicapped person since there is no hint of any action in whatever he does. (These experts went on to add that the fact that a mentally disabled person has reached such a top post shows that India is a disabled-friendly country.)

Whatever be the sexuality of Shivraj Patil he has won many 'nationalist' friends who call themselves fondly as 'Indian Mujahideen'. Their messages expressing love and respect for Mr. Patil can't be published here due to space constraint.

And not everyone is concerned with his sexuality as reporters in Jaipur, Ahmedabad, Bangalore and Delhi tell us that when they asked people about their opinion on this, they got same reply: "Shivraj Patil, fuck off!"

Eunuch Speak

This is what Shivraj Patil spoke about Delhi blasts:
1) "Whether it is Rajasthan or Gujarat, we always have intelligence information about such attacks, but we never know where and at what time the attacks may take place. We always try to stop such things."
What he meant: India is a big country and anyone can attack anywhere. I CAN'T DO ANYTHING!

2) "Let us not play politics over this issue. I am not aware of what Advani has said. He is a responsible person. We are all responsible people and should behave responsibly."
What he meant: OK, he was a better home minister. So what I will speak some gobbledygook!

3) "We should not jump to conclusions. Stringent punishment would be given to whoever is responsible for this."
What he meant: We should not jump to silly conclusions like anybody will ever be caught!

(This post was written on the night of Delhi blasts. My deepest condolences with bereaved families.)