This blog is about a wonderful program that I have attended at Hyderabad. On Oct 9th, Nirmaan has arranged an IT company exposure program In Mahindra Satyam for the children of the schools which it has adopted in urban slums of Hyderabad. The students of my village are fortunate to be part of this excellent program. Students have gone through the campus, the learning centers there, the zoo, the different facilities that Mahindra Satyam provides to its employees and finally to the big convention hall where the students are shown video conferencing and few inspirational videos. It’s been a wonderful trip both for students and myself. At the end of the program, Rajesh was kind enough to provide me an opportunity to speak to the students in the convention hall. The talk was mainly intended in telling the students not to get stopped in thinking big because they come from economically or socially backward families. The talk was mainly intended in telling them they too can become great achievers inspite of their troubled backgrounds.
Respected members of Mahindra Satyam foundation who have not only granted their permissions for this excellent program but also provided their full support and encouragement, members of Nirmaan who have made this possible with their exceptional planning and execution, members and representatives of other organizations who extended their support for this program, dear teachers and students - My whole hearted Namakars to you. I have a habit of starting my speeches by first submitting my pranams to our dear mother land, Bharat Mata.
Bharata Mata ki Jai. Bharata Mata ki Jai. Bharata Mata ki Jai.
Some of the volunteers and students over here very well know that if by mistake they handover the mike to me, I will not leave them without atleast half an hour of my speech. But friends, today I promise you that this time I will not speak more than 5 minutes. It’s because today we have come here to spend our time in a much better program than listening to my speech. Today in our country, more than 60% of our children study in Government schools. India has travelled a long way from 1947. Today India is growing at a rapid scale. Today our foreign reserves have grown to unimaginable numbers. Government is spending crores of money for improving infrastructural facilities in schools. Government is taking several measures on soft infrastructure development area. Yet, the children lack confidence and are not able to compete with children from Private schools. Four years of our uninterrupted research and experiments in Government schools in rural and urban areas reveals that schools lack programs that can inspire for dreaming big and for them to know the latest happenings in the world. It is in this context, Nirmaan, With a lot of effort and planning has arranged this Mahindra Satyam IT exposure trip. Today you have been provided this opportunity which even engineering students from reputed institutions could not obtain. You are really fortunate enough to get such a wonderful opportunity. You have been going around the Mahindra Satyam Campus and have been observing many new things and listening to people from the morning. Have you learnt new things today? “Yes”. Have you enjoyed this program “Yes”. Then I would definitely treat that the program is successful.
Today in this short time available, I would like to quickly tell you two things very clearly. First, do you Abdul Kalam? He is our former President. Yes he is not only our former president but he is also Bharat Ratna. Such a man has started his education from a small school in Island of Rameshwaram. And when Kalam wanted to move away from Rameshwaram for doing his engineering studies, Kalam didn’t had enough money to pay the fee. His sister has given all her gold ornaments and with the money that is received from the sale of those ornaments, Kalam went for his engineering studies and with the scholarships he received from college, he was able to complete his education post which we all know what happened.
Do you know Ambedkar? He is the architect of our constitution. He is just not an architect of constitution, but he is also a Bharat Ratna, highest civilian award holder, a great intellectual, a great fighter of the oppressed. Such a great man was discriminated in the worst possible manner in his school because he was born in a backward meher family. In school, Ambedkar was not allowed to drink water with the glass available near the pot. The attender has to pour water and Ambdekar used to drink it by joining his two hands together. From such a worst and shameful discrimination, Ambedkar has grown as a proud leader for India. At this moment, I would hesitate to say that it is because of his masterly work in writing an excellent constitution, India is able to distinguish itself from Pakisthan. We have corrupt leaders in both the countries. But India could survive because of the futuristic thinking that Ambedkar had put in defining our constitution.
Do you Know PV Narasimha Rao? He is a man whom we all should feel proud of. PV Narasimha Rao is our former Prime minister. He hail from a small village called Vangara, which is close to Warangal city. PV has studied in a small Government Junior college in Warngal which still exists today. The students of this college proudly say that they are students of the same college in which the great PV has studied. PV having studied in such a small Government college, has started from the smallest position of our democracry, Sarpanch of his village and occupied almost every important position like MLA, MP, State minister, Chief Minister, Governer, Central defense minister, external affairs minister, home minister and finally led the nation in severe economic and political crisis times as it’s Prime Minister and gave a new direction to the nation through rapid economic reforms which he introduced.
Do you Know Shastri? Shastri was born and brought up in economically troubled family. But, he has grown to the highest possible position in our democracy and has remained in Indian history as one of the greatest Prime Ministers we had.
Dear children, by narrating all such cases, I would like to tell you that being born in a socially backward family or economically family or studying in Government schools or small private schools is not a hindrance to your growth. If we are passionate about our goals, if we have the right attitude and if we follow the right path and if we work hard to reach goals, one can overcome all the short comings in life and still achieve the highest possible things in life. I wouldn’t like to convince you by just giving few good examples or just through my oratory skills, but I would like to prove this with a great philosophy. As you all know, Hindu culture is one of the most ancient and one of the most renowned cultures in the world. Such a culture has a great philosophy as its base. i.e.” Advaita” which means “na dvaitham” which means “two are not different”. God and we. Every human being is part of the creation of the sacred God. This means that every human being has unlimited and unimaginable power in himself. It’s all about exhibiting that power by following the best values, ethics and leading a disciplined life. That is the reason why, people from the ground, people from the oppressed sections, people who are discriminated have achieved the highest possible things in life.
Friends, the second point which I want to tell you is that if we keenly observe the life histories of great people, we can clearly see that there will be few incidents in their lives which turned as major turning points in their lives due to which they have become what they are. Let’s take Ambedkar life history. It is the severe discrimination that he has faced that filled a great fighting spirit in his blood and that has made him fight for the poor and the oppressed. That made ultimately him the Bharat Ratna.
Let’s talk about Kalam. Jalaluddin is a resident of Rameshawaram. Jalaluddin was a close friend of Kalam in his childhood. Even though Jalaluddin was around 10 years elder or so to Kalam, both were close friends. Jalaluddin was a very learned man. He was the only person in Rameshwaram at that time who could fluently read and write English. At a later point, Jalaluddin marries Kalam’s sister and becomes kalam’s brother in law. Being well educated, Jalaluddin used to closely follow the new inventions in science and he used to share all such information with Kalam when Kalam was at his school age. That made Kalam very inquisitive about things and made him develop his love for science and research and that made him a great scientist and thus a great leader for this country.
And same is the case with Gandhi. Gandhi after coming back from South Africa has toured the whole country, observed the worst poverty that country is facing, talked to people, understood the pain that India is going through under British and that made him dedicate his life for the independence of this nation. It is that tour which made him wage an uninterrupted fight against the British in his rest of the life and become champion of all sections of people In India and it is that moment which made him rise from man to Mahatma. Same is the case with Vivekananda. It is the meeting of Shri Rama Krishna Paramahamsa which made him a great monk, a great thinker, a great patriot who has given a great hope to India when India was in deep despair through his simple and yet inspiring and eloquent summary of all the great Indian scriptures.
Friends, it is few incidents and few moments in many people’s lives which offer them a permanent inspiration to become great achievers. I pray to God that this Manhindra Satyam IT Company awareness program organized by Nirmaan gives you such inspiration for you to become achievers and thus becomes a milestone and a turning point in your life.
With this I would like to end this talk by singing my two favorite sholaks.
mahaa mangale punya bhoome twadarthe
patatwesha kaayo namaste namaste
let our bodies be perished in the service of the motherland
param vaibhavamne tume tat swaraashtram
samrthaa bhavatwaashishaa tebhrusham
May our victorious organised power of action, by Thy Grace, be wholly capable of protecting our dharma and leading this nation of ours to the highest pinnacle of glory.
Monday, November 1, 2010
Monday, October 25, 2010
Grama Swaraj alone can bring Real Swaraj to India
Confluence, the NSEF Annual convention 2010 with the theme, "Social Entreprenuership and Youth" has truly been a great congruence as its literal meaning suggests. The MLR Convention Hall was fully packed with more than 300 audience passionate about social entreprenuership listening to some of the great and inspiring talks and discussions by social entreprenuers and leaders. Kudos to the whole organising team -Yashveer, Nitesh, Nishanth, Gaurav, Sujoy, Srikumar, Anil, Devendar etc for succesfully organising such a wonderful conference.
I was fortunate enough to be called by the organising team to present the inaugural address for such a great conference. Following is the text of the inaugural address.
On this great occasion, in the presence of such an august audience, let me begin my speech by sharing a few words about the greatest social entrepreneur of this country and probably the greatest of the whole world, Mahatma Gandhi.
Gandhi was not an emperor, not a military general, not a president, not a prime minister. He was neither a rich business man like a Tata or a Birla or a Ambani. He is neither a Harward MBA nor a Stanford MBA nor a religious leader. Yet he has touched lives of almost every Indian through his innovative approach and inspiring leadership. Being an adamant idealist, courageous fighter, a deep thinker, and a great leader of men and ideas, he could challenge the complex socio political problem of independence and fight for it. He identified himself with struggles and pains of the common Indians and became the champion of the downtrodden and the exploited. With a strong determination and commitment for common people, for their rights and dignity and with a powerful and innovative approach, he has not only championed the cause of millions of Indians but he has also stood as an example and as an inspiration for every Indian. His nature of thinking big, his dedication to cause and his deep rooted ethics have made him rise from a common man to a Mahatma.
His life and his work are great sources of inspiration for everyone right from the older generations to the generations to come, especially for people aspiring to become social entrepreneurs. Without Gandhiji’s inspiration, we would have never witnessed Martin Luther King Junior's "I have a dream" speech, or Nelson Mandela's struggle against antiapartheid in South Africa. Gandhiji has also been an inspiration to many other great social leaders and entrepreneurs like Vinobha Bhave who fought for land reforms, Jai Prakash Narayan who brought back the country from the darkness of emergency. I have no doubt in saying that Gandhiji is a perfect role model for each one of us who wants to challenge social problems for the welfare of the people. Even if his methods and principles cannot be practiced by each and every one, at least if one can understand the spirit of his thoughts, that can help us in bringing a great change. His deep rooted ethics, commitment to common man’s cause and courage are the qualities that are needed to be imbibed by every social entrepreneur to achieve high in his entrepreneurial deeds.
India after having achieved independence under the leadership of such a great leader and social entrepreneur is today facing a very peculiar situation. India is growing rapidly at a growth rate of 7%/8%. Stock exchanges are hitting 20,000 mark, India is competing with world leaders in science, atomic power and India is organizing prestigious common wealth games, India is witnessing huge infrastructural development in cities like Mumbai, Calcutta, Bangalore. But friends India is not just the metros. India is just not the booming stock markets. As Gandhiji said, India lives in village. Villages are the heart of our country. It is the culture, tradition, the customs and the life style that exists in villages which defines India.
Villages used to be self reliant. Village used to produce all the products and services by its people. Village used to have farms which produce the agri products, they used to have small flour machines and mills which process agri products, villages used to have carpenters, potters, excellent craftsmen, artists, land surveyors, architects, peasants, priests, teaches etc. Villages by producing the required products and services on their own in their villages in turn used to provide livelihood for its people. Village by itself used to be a separate world with its own resources and the system. But, today such villages are in a big chaos. With the of effects globalization slowly entering into villages and with the political leaders lacking a long term vision and strategy, with the Government adopting unthoughtful and illogical policies, our villages are put to chaos. Traditional occupations are slowly getting extinct. Traditional cottage industries are facing lot of pressures. Our craftsmen who once earned name and fame across the world for their expertise are today losing their livelihoods in villages and moving to Dubai and other Arab countries for third grade jobs. Due to climatic changes and due to illegal human intervention, lakes are disappearing; cultivable lands are becoming arid lands. Due to modern methods of farming and due to high cost fertilizers and seeds, farming is becoming expensive and becoming an ineffective value proposition for farmer. Costs of farming have gone up. Farmers are leaving farming. And as a result, Farmer who is the provider of food for the country, who once used to live with a great pride and dignity, is today working as labor in those SEZs, in small companies in urban areas.
Such is the condition of our villages, the real India. It is in this context, Social entrepreneurship assumes a far greater relevance than ever. It is in this context, social entrepreneurship assumes a greater significance than ever. It is in these pressing times, social entrepreneurship becomes a greater necessity than ever. And friends, it needs young and dynamic minds with full of energy and enthusiasm, with a complete understanding of the core of our country and with a commitment for the cause. It needs such youth who can pursue social entrepreneurship and challenge the socio economic problems of this country who can change the fate of this country. It needs such dynamic leaders who can put Gandhiji thoughts of Grama Swaraj into implementation who can bring the real Swaraj to the nation. And it’s in this context, NSEF has chosen “Social Entrepreneurship and Youth” as the theme for this confluence, The NSEF’s annual convention 2010.
I have started Nirmaan four years back when I was studying in BITS Pilani. It’s a non-profit organization which provides education and employment opportunities to unprivileged people. A good number of my batch mates and juniors joined the efforts and spent more hours with Nirmaan than they did attending classes. The result is that we were able to provide help to a considerable number of people. But the model was not sustainable. Four years of grass roots experience in Nirmaan has taught me that charity has its limitations and that it’s not a practical approach to lead sustainable solutions for addressing social problems even though charity has a continued place in society for its welfare. That’s when I realized that we need to help people build organizations that can apply innovation along with powerful tools and techniques to develop sustainable solutions.
In Mar 2009, I shared my thoughts of need for promotion of social entrepreneurship with a few of my colleagues, Sri Kumar and Yashveer at Nirmaan. And the result is what we are seeing today. NSEF with the sole aim of promoting social entrepreneurship among youth, with efforts and dedication by NSEF members, NSEF has grown from one member to three members and from one chapter at BITS Pilani to 6 chapters at Goa, IIM Lucknow, IT Kharagpur, Mount Carmel Bangalore, IIT Kanpur, BITS Hyderabad etc. conducting various events like NSEF Idea conferences, Start up exhibitions, business competitions, internships etc. Through its chapters, NSEF has been putting efforts to empower the students by exposing them to the field of social entrepreneurship. As a part of its activities, NSEF conducts an annual convention every year. In this year’s one day annual convention, we would have a series of talks by experts, panel discussions on various upcoming trends in the field by renowned social entrepreneurs and social leaders, interactive sessions among the audience etc. Convention would act as a learning platform for the audience where we discuss various topics related to social entrepreneurship and how youth can pursue it to challenge complex socio economic problems.
Friends, Swami Vivekananda, the greatest patriot of this country who has let the whole world know about greatness of our country and the culture and the traditions over here through his speeches has once said “Give me hundred pure and selfless men and women, I will shake the world”. I pray to God to let this conference inspiration to atleast ten of us whom Swami Vivekananda wanted. With this, I wish you all the best for the next 8 hours of inspiring and learning sessions.
param vaibhavamne tume tat swaraashtram
samrthaa bhavatwaashishaa tebhrusham
May our victorious organized power of action and social entrepreneurial deeds, with God’s Grace, be wholly capable of protecting our supremacy and leading this nation of ours to the highest pinnacle of glory.
I was fortunate enough to be called by the organising team to present the inaugural address for such a great conference. Following is the text of the inaugural address.
On this great occasion, in the presence of such an august audience, let me begin my speech by sharing a few words about the greatest social entrepreneur of this country and probably the greatest of the whole world, Mahatma Gandhi.
Gandhi was not an emperor, not a military general, not a president, not a prime minister. He was neither a rich business man like a Tata or a Birla or a Ambani. He is neither a Harward MBA nor a Stanford MBA nor a religious leader. Yet he has touched lives of almost every Indian through his innovative approach and inspiring leadership. Being an adamant idealist, courageous fighter, a deep thinker, and a great leader of men and ideas, he could challenge the complex socio political problem of independence and fight for it. He identified himself with struggles and pains of the common Indians and became the champion of the downtrodden and the exploited. With a strong determination and commitment for common people, for their rights and dignity and with a powerful and innovative approach, he has not only championed the cause of millions of Indians but he has also stood as an example and as an inspiration for every Indian. His nature of thinking big, his dedication to cause and his deep rooted ethics have made him rise from a common man to a Mahatma.
His life and his work are great sources of inspiration for everyone right from the older generations to the generations to come, especially for people aspiring to become social entrepreneurs. Without Gandhiji’s inspiration, we would have never witnessed Martin Luther King Junior's "I have a dream" speech, or Nelson Mandela's struggle against antiapartheid in South Africa. Gandhiji has also been an inspiration to many other great social leaders and entrepreneurs like Vinobha Bhave who fought for land reforms, Jai Prakash Narayan who brought back the country from the darkness of emergency. I have no doubt in saying that Gandhiji is a perfect role model for each one of us who wants to challenge social problems for the welfare of the people. Even if his methods and principles cannot be practiced by each and every one, at least if one can understand the spirit of his thoughts, that can help us in bringing a great change. His deep rooted ethics, commitment to common man’s cause and courage are the qualities that are needed to be imbibed by every social entrepreneur to achieve high in his entrepreneurial deeds.
India after having achieved independence under the leadership of such a great leader and social entrepreneur is today facing a very peculiar situation. India is growing rapidly at a growth rate of 7%/8%. Stock exchanges are hitting 20,000 mark, India is competing with world leaders in science, atomic power and India is organizing prestigious common wealth games, India is witnessing huge infrastructural development in cities like Mumbai, Calcutta, Bangalore. But friends India is not just the metros. India is just not the booming stock markets. As Gandhiji said, India lives in village. Villages are the heart of our country. It is the culture, tradition, the customs and the life style that exists in villages which defines India.
Villages used to be self reliant. Village used to produce all the products and services by its people. Village used to have farms which produce the agri products, they used to have small flour machines and mills which process agri products, villages used to have carpenters, potters, excellent craftsmen, artists, land surveyors, architects, peasants, priests, teaches etc. Villages by producing the required products and services on their own in their villages in turn used to provide livelihood for its people. Village by itself used to be a separate world with its own resources and the system. But, today such villages are in a big chaos. With the of effects globalization slowly entering into villages and with the political leaders lacking a long term vision and strategy, with the Government adopting unthoughtful and illogical policies, our villages are put to chaos. Traditional occupations are slowly getting extinct. Traditional cottage industries are facing lot of pressures. Our craftsmen who once earned name and fame across the world for their expertise are today losing their livelihoods in villages and moving to Dubai and other Arab countries for third grade jobs. Due to climatic changes and due to illegal human intervention, lakes are disappearing; cultivable lands are becoming arid lands. Due to modern methods of farming and due to high cost fertilizers and seeds, farming is becoming expensive and becoming an ineffective value proposition for farmer. Costs of farming have gone up. Farmers are leaving farming. And as a result, Farmer who is the provider of food for the country, who once used to live with a great pride and dignity, is today working as labor in those SEZs, in small companies in urban areas.
Such is the condition of our villages, the real India. It is in this context, Social entrepreneurship assumes a far greater relevance than ever. It is in this context, social entrepreneurship assumes a greater significance than ever. It is in these pressing times, social entrepreneurship becomes a greater necessity than ever. And friends, it needs young and dynamic minds with full of energy and enthusiasm, with a complete understanding of the core of our country and with a commitment for the cause. It needs such youth who can pursue social entrepreneurship and challenge the socio economic problems of this country who can change the fate of this country. It needs such dynamic leaders who can put Gandhiji thoughts of Grama Swaraj into implementation who can bring the real Swaraj to the nation. And it’s in this context, NSEF has chosen “Social Entrepreneurship and Youth” as the theme for this confluence, The NSEF’s annual convention 2010.
I have started Nirmaan four years back when I was studying in BITS Pilani. It’s a non-profit organization which provides education and employment opportunities to unprivileged people. A good number of my batch mates and juniors joined the efforts and spent more hours with Nirmaan than they did attending classes. The result is that we were able to provide help to a considerable number of people. But the model was not sustainable. Four years of grass roots experience in Nirmaan has taught me that charity has its limitations and that it’s not a practical approach to lead sustainable solutions for addressing social problems even though charity has a continued place in society for its welfare. That’s when I realized that we need to help people build organizations that can apply innovation along with powerful tools and techniques to develop sustainable solutions.
In Mar 2009, I shared my thoughts of need for promotion of social entrepreneurship with a few of my colleagues, Sri Kumar and Yashveer at Nirmaan. And the result is what we are seeing today. NSEF with the sole aim of promoting social entrepreneurship among youth, with efforts and dedication by NSEF members, NSEF has grown from one member to three members and from one chapter at BITS Pilani to 6 chapters at Goa, IIM Lucknow, IT Kharagpur, Mount Carmel Bangalore, IIT Kanpur, BITS Hyderabad etc. conducting various events like NSEF Idea conferences, Start up exhibitions, business competitions, internships etc. Through its chapters, NSEF has been putting efforts to empower the students by exposing them to the field of social entrepreneurship. As a part of its activities, NSEF conducts an annual convention every year. In this year’s one day annual convention, we would have a series of talks by experts, panel discussions on various upcoming trends in the field by renowned social entrepreneurs and social leaders, interactive sessions among the audience etc. Convention would act as a learning platform for the audience where we discuss various topics related to social entrepreneurship and how youth can pursue it to challenge complex socio economic problems.
Friends, Swami Vivekananda, the greatest patriot of this country who has let the whole world know about greatness of our country and the culture and the traditions over here through his speeches has once said “Give me hundred pure and selfless men and women, I will shake the world”. I pray to God to let this conference inspiration to atleast ten of us whom Swami Vivekananda wanted. With this, I wish you all the best for the next 8 hours of inspiring and learning sessions.
param vaibhavamne tume tat swaraashtram
samrthaa bhavatwaashishaa tebhrusham
May our victorious organized power of action and social entrepreneurial deeds, with God’s Grace, be wholly capable of protecting our supremacy and leading this nation of ours to the highest pinnacle of glory.
Thursday, October 7, 2010
Is This Gandhi Real or Duplicate?
The Indian media specially the Indian English media often refers Rahul Gandhi as the youth leader of the country. Each time I hear such statements, it wonders me. How can someone at the age of 39 be called as a youth leader! Isn’t it funny? Under what definition someone at the age of 39 be called as youth? Had he got married at the age of 20, he would have probably had a son or a daughter of age 18 or 19. What would have this media called them? Kids? Ok fine. For the moment, Let’s agree to media’s argument that Rahul at the age of 39 is a youth leader. Then, what happened to Agatha K Sangma, Jyotiraditya Scindia who, Sachin Pilot, Dushyant Singh who are younger to Rahul and who are doing very well in political field? Are they not Indians or are they not youth? Why don’t the media call them as youth? Can’t the media calculate their ages using simple calculations? Are they so poor in simple arithmetic? Probably their arithmetic logic is different. It’s because Rahul is from Gandhi family and he is from the congress party, they call him youth at the age of 39. I think that’s the only logic that they can apply to call him so. Else, no other logic in the world can help them say so. And the funniest part is that Rahul Gandhi himself calls as a Youth leader. I am not sure how he says so? I think he should keep meeting his classmates and batch mates every now and then to help him realize that he is no more a youth.
Here are some of the statements he has made which I would like to analyze to understand how matured Mr.Gandhi is.
During the Uttar Pradesh election campaign in 2007, Rahul Gandhi said that "if anyone from the Gandhi-Nehru family had been active in politics then, the Babri Masjid would not have fallen". What an arrogant statement? Isn’t it a statement that underestimates and insult the socio-political talent in this country? Does that mean that only Gandhi family has the capability and the eligibility to rule this country? Has Indian constitution laid down any special provision that Gandhis alone can capture Gaddi in this country? I am not sure if Mr.Gandhi is unaware of the Sikh Riots that his own party has initiated during his grandmother’s reign? Or is he conveniently and wantedly forgetting this fact? One must understand the fact that none of the non Gandhi family congress leaders, be it Patel or Lal Bahadur Shastri or P V Narsimha rao, neither of them are recognized and remembered by congress party for their contributions to their party and to this nation.
In another instance, Mr Gandhi says its congress party alone which can protect and preserve democracy in India and that he would continue the tradition. Isn’t it a big joke? Isn’t it congress which has misused article 356 more than 100 times to dismiss the democratically elected state governments formed by non congress parties? Isn’t it congress party which distributed cash in the house of Parliament to protect their Government? Isn't it his Grand mother who has thrown this country into a complete darkness by illegally imposing emergency? Should we assume that he is unaware of such kind of worst history of congress and making such kind of statements? Probably for him, preserving and protecting democracy in India means preserving and protecting congress party and their Governments in India either by hook or crook.
In his recent congress youth meetings, he said there are equal opportunities for youth in congress party. Isn’t a hypocritical statement? Can ever in congress party, a term called equal opportunity exist? Can a party that’s known for its hereditary politics talk about equal opportunity. Let’s assume for the moment what he said is true, then how the hell Rahul has become the head of Youth Congress as soon he entered politics? When there were so many youth leaders working for the party for years? Can someone ever in congress’s history other than Gandhis occupy the Presidnet position? In my view, Gandhis have no moral right to talk about equal opportunity in politics.
Recently when Kashmir started burning and when everyone is so worried about the tensions prevailing there and when almost all the leaders in the power and in opposition including the PM and the opposition leader are worried about the way state Government handled the situation and taken the decisions, Mr. Gandhi showered Omar with appreciation saying Omar is handling the situation very well. Isn’t it a testimony for Mr.Gandhi’s judgment skills? Isn’t it an indication of what will happen to this Nation if Mr Gandhi is made the PM?
In a meeting yesterday at Bhopal, Rahul Gandhi equated RSS and SIMI and also added that the only difference is that SIMI is a banned organization while RSS is not. Both question and answer lies in his statement. He himself says SIMI is banned and RSS is not. Then how the hell this Gandhi scion says RSS and SIMI are same? If RSS is a terrorist group, then doesn’t his Government ban RSS? Had he even attended RSS shaka to comment on RSS? Had he at least tried to know what happens in an RSS shaka to comment on RSS?
The swayamsevaks in their daily shakas sing the following verses in their daily prayer:
mahaa mangale punya bhoome twadarthe
patatwesha kaayo namaste namaste
which means that let our bodies be perished in the service of the motherland
param vaibhavamne tume tat swaraashtram
samrthaa bhavatwaashishaa tebhrusham
Which means “May our victorious organised power of action, by Thy Grace, be wholly capable of protecting our dharma and leading this nation of ours to the highest pinnacle of glory.”
Can such patriots be compared with terrorists? Can a Vajpayee and a SIMI terrorist be compared? Is Kalam and Kasab equal? By making such statements, Rahul only proves his immaturity and poor judgment skills. Now, it’s up to the nation to think if they want such a person to lead this great nation. They need to realize if they want a Real Gandhi and Gandhian principles or the duplicate Gandhis and their appeasement policies and their power politics.
Here are some of the statements he has made which I would like to analyze to understand how matured Mr.Gandhi is.
During the Uttar Pradesh election campaign in 2007, Rahul Gandhi said that "if anyone from the Gandhi-Nehru family had been active in politics then, the Babri Masjid would not have fallen". What an arrogant statement? Isn’t it a statement that underestimates and insult the socio-political talent in this country? Does that mean that only Gandhi family has the capability and the eligibility to rule this country? Has Indian constitution laid down any special provision that Gandhis alone can capture Gaddi in this country? I am not sure if Mr.Gandhi is unaware of the Sikh Riots that his own party has initiated during his grandmother’s reign? Or is he conveniently and wantedly forgetting this fact? One must understand the fact that none of the non Gandhi family congress leaders, be it Patel or Lal Bahadur Shastri or P V Narsimha rao, neither of them are recognized and remembered by congress party for their contributions to their party and to this nation.
In another instance, Mr Gandhi says its congress party alone which can protect and preserve democracy in India and that he would continue the tradition. Isn’t it a big joke? Isn’t it congress which has misused article 356 more than 100 times to dismiss the democratically elected state governments formed by non congress parties? Isn’t it congress party which distributed cash in the house of Parliament to protect their Government? Isn't it his Grand mother who has thrown this country into a complete darkness by illegally imposing emergency? Should we assume that he is unaware of such kind of worst history of congress and making such kind of statements? Probably for him, preserving and protecting democracy in India means preserving and protecting congress party and their Governments in India either by hook or crook.
In his recent congress youth meetings, he said there are equal opportunities for youth in congress party. Isn’t a hypocritical statement? Can ever in congress party, a term called equal opportunity exist? Can a party that’s known for its hereditary politics talk about equal opportunity. Let’s assume for the moment what he said is true, then how the hell Rahul has become the head of Youth Congress as soon he entered politics? When there were so many youth leaders working for the party for years? Can someone ever in congress’s history other than Gandhis occupy the Presidnet position? In my view, Gandhis have no moral right to talk about equal opportunity in politics.
Recently when Kashmir started burning and when everyone is so worried about the tensions prevailing there and when almost all the leaders in the power and in opposition including the PM and the opposition leader are worried about the way state Government handled the situation and taken the decisions, Mr. Gandhi showered Omar with appreciation saying Omar is handling the situation very well. Isn’t it a testimony for Mr.Gandhi’s judgment skills? Isn’t it an indication of what will happen to this Nation if Mr Gandhi is made the PM?
In a meeting yesterday at Bhopal, Rahul Gandhi equated RSS and SIMI and also added that the only difference is that SIMI is a banned organization while RSS is not. Both question and answer lies in his statement. He himself says SIMI is banned and RSS is not. Then how the hell this Gandhi scion says RSS and SIMI are same? If RSS is a terrorist group, then doesn’t his Government ban RSS? Had he even attended RSS shaka to comment on RSS? Had he at least tried to know what happens in an RSS shaka to comment on RSS?
The swayamsevaks in their daily shakas sing the following verses in their daily prayer:
mahaa mangale punya bhoome twadarthe
patatwesha kaayo namaste namaste
which means that let our bodies be perished in the service of the motherland
param vaibhavamne tume tat swaraashtram
samrthaa bhavatwaashishaa tebhrusham
Which means “May our victorious organised power of action, by Thy Grace, be wholly capable of protecting our dharma and leading this nation of ours to the highest pinnacle of glory.”
Can such patriots be compared with terrorists? Can a Vajpayee and a SIMI terrorist be compared? Is Kalam and Kasab equal? By making such statements, Rahul only proves his immaturity and poor judgment skills. Now, it’s up to the nation to think if they want such a person to lead this great nation. They need to realize if they want a Real Gandhi and Gandhian principles or the duplicate Gandhis and their appeasement policies and their power politics.
Friday, October 1, 2010
Ram lalla wins the title of the disputed land in Ayodhya
It may sound very unusual. But it's true that Ram lalla in Ayodhya wins the title of the disputed land. Ram lalla was included as the petitioner in the petition filed by Hindus claiming for the title of the land. Indian law in its unique way considers and recognizes even idols as the petitioners. And in its verdict, Allahabad High court yesterday has awarded the title of the main disputed land to Bhagwan Shri Ram Chandra Murthy filling happiness in millions and millions of Hindus who believe that Ram is born at the disputed site.
Finally the path is cleared for building a Ram temple at Ayodhya. Ram is a symbol of unity, integrity, good governance, victory of truth over evils and protector of the common man. Ram is a national hero for Indians. Bhagwan Ram is the epitome of eternal, inclusive and tolerant culture of India. Courts recognizing and respecting the faith of Indians in such a hero and what he stands for will remain in the history forever. This verdict can be treated as a historic verdict respecting the sentiments of all communities and a verdict that protects the unity of this country and a verdict that believs in Indian culture. The final judgement given by Allahabad High court that the land should be split for all the three parties including Hinuds, Muslims and Akharas should be hailed and welcomed by all Indians belonging to all communities. One shouldn’t expect a better judgment than this.
I think the court's verdict is a befitting reply to all the pseudo secularists who branded all those who believed in Bhagwan Ram and who believed the existence of Temple at Ram Janma Bhoomi as communal. It’s a slap on the face of those pseudo secularists who questioned the belief of Hindus in Holiness and sacredness of ram Janma sthan. It's time to understand what kind of secularism Burka Dutt and Rajdeep Sardesai talk every minute and every day misleading this nation. Now, it’s time for everyone to realize who is communal and who is secular. It’s time for people to understand who fought for truth and who fought for vote bank.
It’s time for Muslims also to realize that they are being used as vote bank by pseudo secular parties and that they are misled by certain political parties for their electoral benefits. It's time for them to extend their cooperation for building a magnificent temple for Devine Bhagwan Ram and to invite Hindus cooperation for building a mosque. That will stand as a great example for our secularism and unity. That will strengthen the Indian secularism that we believe in and practice from time immemorial.
Finally the path is cleared for building a Ram temple at Ayodhya. Ram is a symbol of unity, integrity, good governance, victory of truth over evils and protector of the common man. Ram is a national hero for Indians. Bhagwan Ram is the epitome of eternal, inclusive and tolerant culture of India. Courts recognizing and respecting the faith of Indians in such a hero and what he stands for will remain in the history forever. This verdict can be treated as a historic verdict respecting the sentiments of all communities and a verdict that protects the unity of this country and a verdict that believs in Indian culture. The final judgement given by Allahabad High court that the land should be split for all the three parties including Hinuds, Muslims and Akharas should be hailed and welcomed by all Indians belonging to all communities. One shouldn’t expect a better judgment than this.
I think the court's verdict is a befitting reply to all the pseudo secularists who branded all those who believed in Bhagwan Ram and who believed the existence of Temple at Ram Janma Bhoomi as communal. It’s a slap on the face of those pseudo secularists who questioned the belief of Hindus in Holiness and sacredness of ram Janma sthan. It's time to understand what kind of secularism Burka Dutt and Rajdeep Sardesai talk every minute and every day misleading this nation. Now, it’s time for everyone to realize who is communal and who is secular. It’s time for people to understand who fought for truth and who fought for vote bank.
It’s time for Muslims also to realize that they are being used as vote bank by pseudo secular parties and that they are misled by certain political parties for their electoral benefits. It's time for them to extend their cooperation for building a magnificent temple for Devine Bhagwan Ram and to invite Hindus cooperation for building a mosque. That will stand as a great example for our secularism and unity. That will strengthen the Indian secularism that we believe in and practice from time immemorial.
Sunday, September 19, 2010
Pandit Deenadyal, The BJP founder is a Gold medalist of BITS Pilani
It's surprising to hear. But it's true. We haven’t yet heard about it but am sure we all would feel proud to take a note of this. We have one more proud to be a BITSian. Infact, I would say that he is the greatest BITSian BITS has ever produced. Shri Pandit Deendayal Upadyay, the founder of BJP and one of the greatest and a rare ideal politician in Indian politics has not only studied at the then Birla college at Pilani which is later got converted to BITS Pilani, but he has also received a Gold Medal from the college. None other than the founder of BITS, Padma Vibhushan Late Shri G D Birla has awarded him a gold medal and Rs 250 cash prize along with Rs 10 per month as scholarship.
I heard from many politicians from BJP and from renowned personalities that Pandit Deendayal Upadyay is a great politician, a true nationalist, an ideal politician and a role model for those who want to practice good politics. I also heard a lot about his concept "integral humanism" which has brought him a great recognition all over the country. Being an active follower of Politics, from then onwards, I have been reading about him and have been researching about him and his principles. Recently, I found these interesting facts from his life history.
Panditji was born in a small village called Dhankia in Rajasthan in 1916. Since his school days, he was a bright student. He did his schooling in Kalyan High School in Sikar near Pilani. He has created a record in Ajmer Board Metriculation exams by passing the examination in distinction. It was the first time in Ajmer Board for someone to establish such record. In appreciation to that, King of sikar has awarded him a gold medal and a cash prize of Rs 250 along with a certain amount of scholarship every year till he completes his studies. After metriculation, Panditji wanted to join Birla college at Pilani to complete his inermediate education and his uncle who was his caretaker joined him at Birla College, Pilani. He has passed his first year examination in first class. Panditji's batchmates used to like him a lot for his friendly nature and for his nationalist thinking. His batchmates used to come to him to discuss various subject related topics and national topics. The number has increased day by day. Looking at the number of people interested in discussions, Panditji has initiated a group "Zero Association" in the campus. Members of this association used to regularly meet and discuss topics of national importance. Probably, the whole culture of clubs and departments at BITS has taken its birth from this initiative! Who knows? In 1937, Panditji has completed his education with a distinction from Birla College and that too with highest ever total in College's history. In recognition to his academic brilliance, G D Birla has felicitated Panditji with a Gold Medal who later went on to found Bharatiya janata Party, the second biggest national party today and a principal opposition party in Indian politics which is today ruling eight major states of India.
Panditji later got qualified for Civil Service Exams but he didn't join civil services as he was fascinated by the idea of making for and working with the common people. Probably that one decision has changed the fate of Indian politics! His brain child BJP today has thrown a challenge to congress's monopoly in Indian politics. It is his BJP and the other Janata Parties which fought emergency and brought back this country from darkness. It is his party which later took part in agitations on several national issues and won the confidence of people which ultimately helped them to form the Government at the center. If there is one politician who has never criticized his opponent in elections, it is deendayal Upadhyay. If there is any politician who has advised his partymen not to use any money in elections, It’s Pandit Deendayal Upadyay. Many of Panditji's party men won elections but in his whole political career, Panditji has never won an election due to his idealistic thinking. But he is remembered and greatly respected by both his party colleagues and the opposition parties for his principles, honesty, integrity and his statesmanship.
Many in BJP say that it is Panditji's principles and his concept “integral humanism” which is responsible for the earning a brand "A Party with a difference" for their party. Official website of BJP on its home page mentions about Panditji and his contribution to BJP and Indian politics. More details about Panditji can be found at http://deendayalupadhyaya.org/
As a BITSian, I take a great pride in telling the whole world that Pandit deendayal Upadyay, an all time role model in politics is a BITSian. I am sure the entire BITSian community will take a note of it and take pride of this and take inspiration from this towering personality.
I heard from many politicians from BJP and from renowned personalities that Pandit Deendayal Upadyay is a great politician, a true nationalist, an ideal politician and a role model for those who want to practice good politics. I also heard a lot about his concept "integral humanism" which has brought him a great recognition all over the country. Being an active follower of Politics, from then onwards, I have been reading about him and have been researching about him and his principles. Recently, I found these interesting facts from his life history.
Panditji was born in a small village called Dhankia in Rajasthan in 1916. Since his school days, he was a bright student. He did his schooling in Kalyan High School in Sikar near Pilani. He has created a record in Ajmer Board Metriculation exams by passing the examination in distinction. It was the first time in Ajmer Board for someone to establish such record. In appreciation to that, King of sikar has awarded him a gold medal and a cash prize of Rs 250 along with a certain amount of scholarship every year till he completes his studies. After metriculation, Panditji wanted to join Birla college at Pilani to complete his inermediate education and his uncle who was his caretaker joined him at Birla College, Pilani. He has passed his first year examination in first class. Panditji's batchmates used to like him a lot for his friendly nature and for his nationalist thinking. His batchmates used to come to him to discuss various subject related topics and national topics. The number has increased day by day. Looking at the number of people interested in discussions, Panditji has initiated a group "Zero Association" in the campus. Members of this association used to regularly meet and discuss topics of national importance. Probably, the whole culture of clubs and departments at BITS has taken its birth from this initiative! Who knows? In 1937, Panditji has completed his education with a distinction from Birla College and that too with highest ever total in College's history. In recognition to his academic brilliance, G D Birla has felicitated Panditji with a Gold Medal who later went on to found Bharatiya janata Party, the second biggest national party today and a principal opposition party in Indian politics which is today ruling eight major states of India.
Panditji later got qualified for Civil Service Exams but he didn't join civil services as he was fascinated by the idea of making for and working with the common people. Probably that one decision has changed the fate of Indian politics! His brain child BJP today has thrown a challenge to congress's monopoly in Indian politics. It is his BJP and the other Janata Parties which fought emergency and brought back this country from darkness. It is his party which later took part in agitations on several national issues and won the confidence of people which ultimately helped them to form the Government at the center. If there is one politician who has never criticized his opponent in elections, it is deendayal Upadhyay. If there is any politician who has advised his partymen not to use any money in elections, It’s Pandit Deendayal Upadyay. Many of Panditji's party men won elections but in his whole political career, Panditji has never won an election due to his idealistic thinking. But he is remembered and greatly respected by both his party colleagues and the opposition parties for his principles, honesty, integrity and his statesmanship.
Many in BJP say that it is Panditji's principles and his concept “integral humanism” which is responsible for the earning a brand "A Party with a difference" for their party. Official website of BJP on its home page mentions about Panditji and his contribution to BJP and Indian politics. More details about Panditji can be found at http://deendayalupadhyaya.org/
As a BITSian, I take a great pride in telling the whole world that Pandit deendayal Upadyay, an all time role model in politics is a BITSian. I am sure the entire BITSian community will take a note of it and take pride of this and take inspiration from this towering personality.
Friday, September 17, 2010
Sep 17, the day that represents common man's aspiration for democratic values
The day that reminds us the sacrifise of thousands of our heros and martyrs who fought against nizam to liberate Telangana from cruel nawabs rule, The day that has been forced to be forgotten in the history for selfish reasons by our rulers and the day that represents common man's aspiration for democratic society..the day that stands for the fighting spirit of people against injustice..Sep 17, It's Telangana Liberation day. Happy Telangana Liberation day.
Sep 17 fills the spirit in each and every Telanganite for our fight for saperate Telangana, for our fight for our livelihhods, for our fight for justified share of natural resources, for our fight for our self respect, for our fight for self rule. Souls of our martyrs will rest in peace only when common man is provided the justified share of the resources that nature has provided to its mankind. Their sacrifises would become meaningful only when none in Telangana suffer for basic amenities. On this occassion, let each one of us take an oath that we put our best possible effort for the fulfillment of the aspirations of our freedom fighters. Let each one of us take an oath that we will celebrate Telangana saperation by next Telangana Liberation day.
Its the day to remember and express our gratitude to lakhs of freedom fighters and submit our sincere tributes to the forgotten heros, the Telangana freedom fighters: Komuram Bheem, Chakali Ilemma, bandagi, kaloji, bhairanpalli martyrs, nandanam freedom fighters, parakala fighters, nalgonda communists, lebarthi heros and all the 4000 martyrs.
Jai Telangana
Jai Hind
Sep 17 fills the spirit in each and every Telanganite for our fight for saperate Telangana, for our fight for our livelihhods, for our fight for justified share of natural resources, for our fight for our self respect, for our fight for self rule. Souls of our martyrs will rest in peace only when common man is provided the justified share of the resources that nature has provided to its mankind. Their sacrifises would become meaningful only when none in Telangana suffer for basic amenities. On this occassion, let each one of us take an oath that we put our best possible effort for the fulfillment of the aspirations of our freedom fighters. Let each one of us take an oath that we will celebrate Telangana saperation by next Telangana Liberation day.
Its the day to remember and express our gratitude to lakhs of freedom fighters and submit our sincere tributes to the forgotten heros, the Telangana freedom fighters: Komuram Bheem, Chakali Ilemma, bandagi, kaloji, bhairanpalli martyrs, nandanam freedom fighters, parakala fighters, nalgonda communists, lebarthi heros and all the 4000 martyrs.
Jai Telangana
Jai Hind
Saturday, September 4, 2010
Vruksho Rakshathi Rakshithaha
It was a great privilege conducting community day for Citi GDM AAS with a theme "Go Green" and helping everyone involved in Green work. Following is the text of the speech delivered as a CSR lead of Citi at Community day function organised at Eco-Watch's site near All India Radio station at Haskote around 25 kms away from Bangalore.
Dear Rajiv Bhapna, MD, Citi GDM AAS, Manoj Piplani, Site Leader, Bangalore, Suresh Heblikar, Chairman of Eco-Watch and my dear colleagues-Welcome you all to our AAS Annual community Day 2010. The day is all set to provide you an opportunity to contribute to the community and celebrate together. The day in turn will also provide you a sense of fulfillment, inspiration, enthusiasm and new energy for good initiatives.
Friends, Indian civilization is one of the most ancient civilizations in the world. Indian civilization has a unique cultural and spiritual fragrance which has been gifted to us over generations by great seers, saints, kings, acharayas and visionaries who with their exemplary life styles, actions and literary genius became universal phenomenon and their timeless advices and findings are enshrined in the Ancient Indian Scriptures.
In such ancient scriptures, it’s mentioned “Darmo Rakshathi Rakshithaha” which means that Dharma, righteousness will protect the man kind only if man kind tries to protect the Dharma. Following certain morals and ethics will protect us and once we ignore such important aspects of life, mankind will collapse. Attaching similar kind of importance as Dharma for the sustenance of this world, our ancient scriptures said “Vruksho Rakshathi Rakshithaha” which means that only if we are kind to the tress and the nature then alone the nature will protect us. If we try to disrespect this law of nature, we know what can happen. Some of its symptoms are already being seen in our daily lives. Floods, severe droughts, rising temperatures, various kinds of breathing related diseases are all a result of degradation of environment Protection of environment being such a crucial step for sustenance of life on this planet, we thought we will set “Go Green” as theme for this community day.
The same also reflects your interest and passion. Recently three months back, when Sankalp, the volunteering wing of our AAS was initiated, we conducted a survey to find what kind of community work interests you. The survey has clearly shown that environment protection and education to kids are the things that you are passionate about. Education being the primary focus for the last two community days, we thought we will choose “Go Green” as theme for this year’s community day as per your choice.
If we are celebrating our community day with a “Go Green” theme, what else can be a better partner than Eco-Watch in Bangalore? The moment we have finalized the theme, we contacted Eco-watch and Eco-watch has agreed to involve us in their green initiatives and provide us an opportunity to contribute to environment. Eco-Watch has been responsible for creating Urban Bio-Parks at various locations in Bangalore and other regions. Eco-Watch is putting lot of efforts to convert hundreds of acres of land into green belts.
As a part of the community day in association with Eco-watch, we are going to get involved in awareness sessions on environmental protection and in tree plantation. India has rich traditional knowledge and wisdom in the conservation of nature and natural resources. Religious beliefs and culture have together treated nature and environment with sanctity. Conservation and protection of environment and love for nature have always been part and parcel of Indian ethos and culture. I hope that we get reminded and reemphasized about the love and concerns we share for our environment through this activity on our community day. Wish you a very happy time at these green fields far away from Bangalore involving in tree plantation.
Dear Rajiv Bhapna, MD, Citi GDM AAS, Manoj Piplani, Site Leader, Bangalore, Suresh Heblikar, Chairman of Eco-Watch and my dear colleagues-Welcome you all to our AAS Annual community Day 2010. The day is all set to provide you an opportunity to contribute to the community and celebrate together. The day in turn will also provide you a sense of fulfillment, inspiration, enthusiasm and new energy for good initiatives.
Friends, Indian civilization is one of the most ancient civilizations in the world. Indian civilization has a unique cultural and spiritual fragrance which has been gifted to us over generations by great seers, saints, kings, acharayas and visionaries who with their exemplary life styles, actions and literary genius became universal phenomenon and their timeless advices and findings are enshrined in the Ancient Indian Scriptures.
In such ancient scriptures, it’s mentioned “Darmo Rakshathi Rakshithaha” which means that Dharma, righteousness will protect the man kind only if man kind tries to protect the Dharma. Following certain morals and ethics will protect us and once we ignore such important aspects of life, mankind will collapse. Attaching similar kind of importance as Dharma for the sustenance of this world, our ancient scriptures said “Vruksho Rakshathi Rakshithaha” which means that only if we are kind to the tress and the nature then alone the nature will protect us. If we try to disrespect this law of nature, we know what can happen. Some of its symptoms are already being seen in our daily lives. Floods, severe droughts, rising temperatures, various kinds of breathing related diseases are all a result of degradation of environment Protection of environment being such a crucial step for sustenance of life on this planet, we thought we will set “Go Green” as theme for this community day.
The same also reflects your interest and passion. Recently three months back, when Sankalp, the volunteering wing of our AAS was initiated, we conducted a survey to find what kind of community work interests you. The survey has clearly shown that environment protection and education to kids are the things that you are passionate about. Education being the primary focus for the last two community days, we thought we will choose “Go Green” as theme for this year’s community day as per your choice.
If we are celebrating our community day with a “Go Green” theme, what else can be a better partner than Eco-Watch in Bangalore? The moment we have finalized the theme, we contacted Eco-watch and Eco-watch has agreed to involve us in their green initiatives and provide us an opportunity to contribute to environment. Eco-Watch has been responsible for creating Urban Bio-Parks at various locations in Bangalore and other regions. Eco-Watch is putting lot of efforts to convert hundreds of acres of land into green belts.
As a part of the community day in association with Eco-watch, we are going to get involved in awareness sessions on environmental protection and in tree plantation. India has rich traditional knowledge and wisdom in the conservation of nature and natural resources. Religious beliefs and culture have together treated nature and environment with sanctity. Conservation and protection of environment and love for nature have always been part and parcel of Indian ethos and culture. I hope that we get reminded and reemphasized about the love and concerns we share for our environment through this activity on our community day. Wish you a very happy time at these green fields far away from Bangalore involving in tree plantation.
Saturday, August 21, 2010
My Mission for a Grand Vision
Each time I sit with my friends or colleagues for a long discussion, we never end the discussion without discussing about our future plans. One after the other, each one starts expressing their distinct ambitions and goals. Whenever my turn comes, I say that politics is something that I am passionate about. The moment I express my interest in politics, a series of questions comes on to my way. The first and the very common question they ask is why politics?
Then I start giving my usual answer. Politics is something that’s inseparable from our daily lives and politics is something that has an impact on almost every aspect of our lives. It is the outcome of politics and political decisions that affect the lives of most people around us. But as a fact we know that the impact depends on what kind of politics we are involved in and for what. Politics when practiced in a good manner can bring a great awakening among the citizens and provide them a happy and a prosperous life and foster a value based society while when it’s practiced for selfish purposes, it has the worst possible impact on the society. It’s time for such great political awakening among everyone specifically among intelligentsia and spiritual people. If politics and politicians of the generation before us have degraded, then it is time for a change in our attitudes towards politics. People who are educated and full of fresh ideas are certainly needed to pull this off.
Having understood this and having seen the ground realities from my childhood and having got inspired by Swami Vievkananda’s ideology for a stronger India, I have decided to pursue politics as an instrument for a better society. I share Swami Vivekananda’s ideology on almost all the aspects of life and society and that itself is a guiding force to me throughout my way.
A stronger India needs good governance to people with a pride in our past and a hope for future. Good governance wouldn’t be possible if a Chief Minister or Prime Minister alone practice good politics and follow good administrative approaches. But it is possible only when even the public representatives at the lowest unit of our country like a gram panchayat sarpanch follow certain good governance principles. Following are the 13 simple ways which I thought of which can help a public representative in providing good governance to his or her electorate.
1. Being accessible and approachable
2. Understanding problems of people of different walks of life, understanding their priorities, interests and their aspirations
3. Developing vision documents for each village, each locality, each section of the society and each sector of the industry in your constituency
4. Strategizing the vision with time bound programs, approaching the Government, inviting non governmental agencies, enterprises and getting the required grants/permissions/projects
5. Creating an atmosphere of inspiration for people to move towards peace, progress and development
6. Making sure that the strategy is implemented without any flaws
7. Being accountable
8. Being transparent
9. Effectively Communicating of your vision, strategy, achievements and challenges to people on a time to time basis
10. Making information of the Government and my own programs available to every single citizen of your constituency
11. Making sure that the Government policies are reaching the right people at right time
12. Taking regular feedback and constantly working on feedback
13. Ensuring that a conducive atmosphere is created for those who want to do anything good to your people
I firmly believe that the above 13 points are basics for good governance. But just listing down the above 13 points doesn’t help unless good strategies are devised to make sure that each of them is perfectly put into implementation. For example, for one to be accessible to people and to be approachable, one needs to plan different ways by which one can do so. May be he needs to set up a full fledged constituency development office in his constituency listening to grievances of people or may be one needs to have a website where people can just login and raise their concerns or may be one needs to spend at least 10 hours in his office listening to concerns of people. In this way, proper strategies are needed to make sure that the above 13 points are put into implementation and thus to make sure that a good governance is offered to people.
For past few weeks, I have been spending a lot of time thinking about these strategies, discussing with many people and referring different ways or policies which different politicians have already adopted. It has been a great learning exercise for me. I kindly request you all to let me know your thoughts on how each of the above 13 can be put into implementation or if there is a 14th or a 15th point which you want to suggest. Integrating my own thoughts and all your good suggestions and different references, I would like to come up with a blue print for good governance by a public representative and would like to follow the same once I enter full time politics.
Let us bind every soul with the thread of love
Let us fill every mind with self-esteem
Let the whole nation march on the path of progress
Let the victory of Bharat reverberate in the entire world
Let the world overcome darkness and be full of light
Jai Hind
Then I start giving my usual answer. Politics is something that’s inseparable from our daily lives and politics is something that has an impact on almost every aspect of our lives. It is the outcome of politics and political decisions that affect the lives of most people around us. But as a fact we know that the impact depends on what kind of politics we are involved in and for what. Politics when practiced in a good manner can bring a great awakening among the citizens and provide them a happy and a prosperous life and foster a value based society while when it’s practiced for selfish purposes, it has the worst possible impact on the society. It’s time for such great political awakening among everyone specifically among intelligentsia and spiritual people. If politics and politicians of the generation before us have degraded, then it is time for a change in our attitudes towards politics. People who are educated and full of fresh ideas are certainly needed to pull this off.
Having understood this and having seen the ground realities from my childhood and having got inspired by Swami Vievkananda’s ideology for a stronger India, I have decided to pursue politics as an instrument for a better society. I share Swami Vivekananda’s ideology on almost all the aspects of life and society and that itself is a guiding force to me throughout my way.
A stronger India needs good governance to people with a pride in our past and a hope for future. Good governance wouldn’t be possible if a Chief Minister or Prime Minister alone practice good politics and follow good administrative approaches. But it is possible only when even the public representatives at the lowest unit of our country like a gram panchayat sarpanch follow certain good governance principles. Following are the 13 simple ways which I thought of which can help a public representative in providing good governance to his or her electorate.
1. Being accessible and approachable
2. Understanding problems of people of different walks of life, understanding their priorities, interests and their aspirations
3. Developing vision documents for each village, each locality, each section of the society and each sector of the industry in your constituency
4. Strategizing the vision with time bound programs, approaching the Government, inviting non governmental agencies, enterprises and getting the required grants/permissions/projects
5. Creating an atmosphere of inspiration for people to move towards peace, progress and development
6. Making sure that the strategy is implemented without any flaws
7. Being accountable
8. Being transparent
9. Effectively Communicating of your vision, strategy, achievements and challenges to people on a time to time basis
10. Making information of the Government and my own programs available to every single citizen of your constituency
11. Making sure that the Government policies are reaching the right people at right time
12. Taking regular feedback and constantly working on feedback
13. Ensuring that a conducive atmosphere is created for those who want to do anything good to your people
I firmly believe that the above 13 points are basics for good governance. But just listing down the above 13 points doesn’t help unless good strategies are devised to make sure that each of them is perfectly put into implementation. For example, for one to be accessible to people and to be approachable, one needs to plan different ways by which one can do so. May be he needs to set up a full fledged constituency development office in his constituency listening to grievances of people or may be one needs to have a website where people can just login and raise their concerns or may be one needs to spend at least 10 hours in his office listening to concerns of people. In this way, proper strategies are needed to make sure that the above 13 points are put into implementation and thus to make sure that a good governance is offered to people.
For past few weeks, I have been spending a lot of time thinking about these strategies, discussing with many people and referring different ways or policies which different politicians have already adopted. It has been a great learning exercise for me. I kindly request you all to let me know your thoughts on how each of the above 13 can be put into implementation or if there is a 14th or a 15th point which you want to suggest. Integrating my own thoughts and all your good suggestions and different references, I would like to come up with a blue print for good governance by a public representative and would like to follow the same once I enter full time politics.
Let us bind every soul with the thread of love
Let us fill every mind with self-esteem
Let the whole nation march on the path of progress
Let the victory of Bharat reverberate in the entire world
Let the world overcome darkness and be full of light
Jai Hind
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
Youth Empowerment Alone Can Revive India's Past Glory
Finally It was a moment of satisfaction for me. I myself initiated a number of social projects in many different places across the country but I never did anything to village. This always was my concern. But my concerns were totally taken care on Aug 15th this time. By God's grace, a concerete activity has been initiated. Recently in July when I went to village, I met the headmaster of our Government school in our village and shared my thoughts on how improvements can be brought in in the school and thus how a change can be fueled in the village. Headmaster appreciated my thoughts and asked to put them into implementation.
I have planned "Dr. A P J Abdul Kalama Merit Scholarships" for class toppers of 5th to 10th standard just as as an encouragement to students. Apart from this, I have also planned "Dr. A P J Abdul Kalam Grama Ratna" for the best student of our village for that particular village. The program was successfully conducted. Gram Ratna was a real Gram Ratna this time. This is awarded to a student named Rudrarapu Naresh who come from a very backward family financially. He stood as district topper by scoring 576 marks out of 600 and that too by studying in a Government school. Village youth, public representatives and many villagers have gathered and participated in the independence day ceremony. At the end of the ceremony many present over there appreciated my efforts in coming down from Bangalore to participate in the ceremony and to institute the scholarships for the benefit of our village. Ofcourse this wouldnt have been possible without the support of my freinds in my village.
Many said that the highlight of the program was the following speech that I delivered after flag hoisting. It was a complete extempore. I was alloted 15 mins but it went on for 40 mins. Children have totally enjoyed it. Speech was mainly targeted inducing patriotic feelings and certain moral values among students and to give them a direction towards working foir a better village.
Honorable public representatives of our village who are striving hard towards making this village a model village, Respected head master of our school, Shri Venkat Reddy who is working very hard to create all kinds of facilities to make our school a good learning place, dear youth, students of this school, guests, all the people of our village who have gathered here to participate in this ceremony, each one of you - My whole hearted Namakars to you. Wish you a very happy independence day.
On this auspicious occasion, I would like to start my speech with few patriotic slogans. Let this whole school vibrate with these slogans and let the whole village vibrate with these slogans.
Bharata Mata ki Jai. Vande Matharam. Jai Telangana.
Now the stage has gained a momentum and is set for a good speech. Friends, Today we all have assembled here to celebrate 64th independence day. Celebrating Independence Day doesn’t mean hoisting the flag and enjoying the sweets. August 15th is just not to be considered as another public holiday. There is much more to it. August 15th is a day when all the citizens should meet up in each and every village, every town and every colony and ponder over on what were the conditions before independence, how we have achieved freedom and what was the vision of martyrs and what were the golas that we have set for our independent India in 1947 and whether we have achieved them and if not, how can we achieve them. These are the things which need to be discussed thoroughly on this auspicious day.
Dear students when did our India became Independent? On Aug 15th 1947. From whom? From British. Who ruled us prior to British? Its Mughal emperors. Who ruled prior to Mughals? Its our Indian rulers. Yes that era of Indian rulers is called Swarna Yuga. In that era, there was no violence, no corruption, no injustice, no adharma. People used to lead a happy, peaceful and a prosperous life. It was like a Rama Rajya. In such Rama Rajya, ancient India has progressed in almost all fields - education, science, health, astronomy, sports, literature etc.
It is during this period India has led the whole world as a supreme power. Not like US through its economy but through unique qualities. The major contribution of India through which India became a Jagath guru is through its spirituality. Through its spiritual values India has conquered the whole world. In the field of education, ancient India made a huge progress. Thousands of students from more than hundred different countries have studied more than eighty different degrees in Nalanda and Thakshashila Universities which then existed in today’s Bihar. It’s through these Universities, Univeristies were named as “Universe”ities or “Vishwa” Vidhyalayam. Because students from all over the world have studied the whole universe together, these learning places were called “Vishwavidyalayam” or “Universities”. These terms are still by the whole world even today. In the field of mathematics, it is because of India, today we are able to send satellites into space, it’s because of India today we are able to send rockets into space. It’s only though zero and pi which India invented, all the complex astronomy calculations are possible which otherwise wouldnt have been a possibility. It’s India which has presented the whole world a sweet gift called music. It’s in India, sapthaswaras have taken birth. Swapthaswaras are basis for all kinds of music that we hear today. It is Sanskrit through which majority of European Languages have taken their birth. In today’s software world, It’s Sanskrit which is being used as medium to translate one language into other. In today’s world, scientists and doctors are appreciated for small inventions in medicine but many great inventions were made thousands of years back itself all of which are documented in well known Ayurveda. In this way, by making a mark in almost all fields of human life, India has conquered the whole world. That’s why I called this era as Swarna Yuga.
But today’s India is different. Its all violence, injustice, corruption and adharma which is ruling every where. No peaceful life for people. Numerous problems like Poverty, illiteracy, unemployment etc. are haunting them. One who knows this vast difference between ancient and today’s India would definitely have one question, why such difference between today and ancient India. It’s because ancient India was built on basis of two basic concepts – Knowledge and unselfishness. Our sadhus sacrificed their entire lives to research on all the wonders of this world, the science behind it and documented their findings in form of Vedas and Upanishads. Such findings were not only documented but also were spread among common people. These findings have transformed Indian society to a knowledge society. With this knowledge, people led life with a rational approach and with highest moral and ethical values. This led India to lead the whole world.
But today it’s all selfishness and ignorance everywhere in our country. We see people committing numerous sins. I would like to illustrate this with a small story. There is a person living in a small village in Warangal district. We all know that each one of us who have come to this world have to leave this world at some point or the other. No one is permanent. Similarly this person’s time has come to leave this world and yamadutas have come to take him to yama loka. This person enters yama loka with yama dutas. In the first room that he enters he sees Chitragupta reading out sins committed by different people and different people being boiled in boiling oil. After that he enters the next room. That is a big hall. There he sees a number of wall clocks hanged to the walls. He was surprised and then he says to yama dutas, “In our bhulokha, we generally use only one wall clock. Few rich people who don’t know what do with the surplus money that they have use one clock in each room. But why do you people use so many clocks in a single hall in your yama loka? Then the Chitragupta sitting over there replies saying that clocks of all the countries are put on that wall and that’s why he finds number of clocks. Then this person gets satisfied with Chitragupta’s answer and looks into different clocks. He observes that the minutes hands in each clock are rotating with different speeds. Surprised by this, he asks Chitragupta the reason for different speeds in different clocks. Chitragupta then replies saying that the speeds in different clocks represent the sins being committed in the respective countries. This raised the curiosity in this person to see India’s clock. He then repeatedly requests Chitragupta to show the Indian clock. Chitragupta listens to his request and says that India’s clock is kept in Yama Dharma Raja’s personal room but he would take him to that room since this person has made repeated requests. Chitragupta takes this person to Yama Dharma Raja’s room. As soon as they entered Yama’s room, they felt as if the room is air conditioned. Yama was happily sleeping on his bed and beside his bed, there is a big clock that is seen. And the minutes hand is rotating with such a speed that Yama is using this clock as a fan. Then Chitragupta says to this person that this is the magnitude of the sins being committed in India. So, friends this is how the ground situation looks like In India. One may have doubt why such a great India has become like that. It’s because Indians are put far away from science for centuries by our invaders. It’s because our invaders have destroyed our culture, our traditions and our values during centuries of their rule. During this time, people have lost rationality in their thinking. People lost moral values. People have started practicing superstitions. People have not only become ignorant but also selfish.
Having known the glory of our ancient india, wouldn’t you want to revive the past glory. A loud yes from the audience. Good. Great. Wonderful. This is definitely possible but there is only one means to achieve and that is by empowering the youth and children. Today more than 60% of our Indian population is below 30. And this generation is the future of this country. And therefore I say that It’s only through the empowerment of youth and children, this nation can be empowered. Developing patriotic feelings among youth and children and by inculcating highest moral values and by giving a good education to them can change the fate of this nation. In this process, the role of teacher becomes very important. Teacher is like a good sculptor. Like a sculpture who gives a life to a dead rock by his patience and creativity, a teacher can convert a normal child into a good citizen, a noble person and a great leader through his teacher and through his inspiration. Therefore I say that the role of teachers in reviving the past glory is immense and immeasurable.
At the same time, change is essential in the way learning process is carried out in schools. Instead of taking children to state legislative assemblies, they should be taken to gram panchayats. They should be explained how government functions in a small village. Children I want to ask you if you have ever visited our gram panchayats, if you learnt about the duties of a sarpanch, of panchayat members and if you know if these public representatives are actually performing their duties. If you donot know these how can you grow as good citizens, how can you question your sarpanch. Have you ever visited the Government hospital and found how different equipments function and how doctors use them. Have you ever visited the nearby railway station and have you ever thought why the steel railings don’t move when the trains moves on them? Have you ever gone to fields with your teachers and found why certain crops are not grown in our villages? Learning needs to be made local and practical. That develops curiosity among students and make them ask questions. Questions make the teachers also very enthusiastic to continuously upgrade their knowledge with new concepts and give their best to students.
I want to quote an incident from Kalam’s life at this juncture. As we all know Kalam comes from rameshwar of Tamil nadu. Shri Sivasubramania Iyer was his teacher and he used to teach science in Kalam’s school. He was one of the very good teachers in that school. All the students used to love to attend his class and hear him. One day he was teaching about bird's flight. He drew a diagram of a bird on the blackboard depicting the wings, tail and the body structure with the head. He explained how the birds create the lift and fly. He also explained how they change direction while flying. Nearly for 25 minutes he gave the lecture with various information such as lift, drag, how the birds fly in a formation of 10, 20 or 30. At the end of the class, he wanted to know whether we understood how the birds fly. Kalam said, “I did not understand how the birds fly.” When Kalam said this, the teacher asked the other students whether they understood or not. Many students said that they also did not understand. He did not get upset by our response since he was a committed teacher.
Iyer said that he would take all the students to the sea shore. That evening the whole class was at the sea shore of Rameswaram. They enjoyed the roaring sea waves knocking at the sandy hills in the pleasant evening. Birds were flying with sweet chirping voice. He showed the sea birds in formations of 10 to 20 numbers. We saw the marvelous formations of birds with a purpose and they were all amazed. He showed us the birds and asked us to see that when the birds fly, what they looked like. We saw the wings flapping. He asked students to look at the tail portion with the combination of flapping wings and twisting tail. Students noticed closely and found that the birds in that condition flew in the direction they desired. Then he asked students a question, where the engine is and how it is powered. Bird is powered by its own life and the motivation of what it wants. All these things were explained to students within Fifteen minutes. Students understood the whole bird dynamics from this practical example. How nice it was? The teacher was a great teacher; he could give them a theoretical lesson coupled with a live practical example available in nature. This is real teaching. For Kalam, it was not merely an understanding of how a bird flies. The bird's flight entered into kalam and created a special feeling. From that evening, he thought that his future study has to be with reference to flight and flight systems. That one incident has not changed the fate of Kalam but also the fate of this country. Kalam has not only studied rocket science but also became the president of India. Not just a president of India but also the best president of India. For that matter even Vivekananda has become a maha yogi because of Sri Rama Krishna Pramhamsa. Its only because of the teachings of Sri Rama Krishna, Vivekananda has become a maha Yogi. The whole world got benefited from it. From this we understand that practical learning is essential for a better and quick learning and that a teacher has the power to change the fate of the nation.
So, friends as I said the empowerment of children of youth and children of this nation alone can revive our past glory. If this is done, we won’t be very far from our dream of becoming a supreme power, a supreme power not by the state of our economy but by the state of our values. A supreme power which commands respects from the whole world and not a supreme power which creates fear among people. I am sure we all will see this in the near future. Yes, definitely during our life time.
Dear children I have thought of five principles which I want you to take as pledge and follow in your daily lives. Simple points like these can bring a great change.
1. I will pursue my education with full dedication and hard work and will excel in it.
2. I will constantly endeavor to remove the pain of my suffering brethren.
3. I will plant at least 5 saplings and shall ensure their growth through constant care.
4. I will lead an honest life free from all corruption and will set an example for others to adopt a righteous way of life.
5. I shall always keep myself, my home, my surroundings, neighbourhood and environment clean and tidy.
Children, You are the future citizens of this nation and therefore your future is the nation’s future. I hope you all do well in your lives and make India proud. I wish you all the best.
param vaibhavamne tume tat swaraashtram
samrthaa bhavatwaashishaa tebhrusham
May our victorious organised power of action, by Thy Grace, be wholly capable of protecting our dharma and leading this nation of ours to the highest pinnacle of glory.
Jai Hind
Jai Telangana
I have planned "Dr. A P J Abdul Kalama Merit Scholarships" for class toppers of 5th to 10th standard just as as an encouragement to students. Apart from this, I have also planned "Dr. A P J Abdul Kalam Grama Ratna" for the best student of our village for that particular village. The program was successfully conducted. Gram Ratna was a real Gram Ratna this time. This is awarded to a student named Rudrarapu Naresh who come from a very backward family financially. He stood as district topper by scoring 576 marks out of 600 and that too by studying in a Government school. Village youth, public representatives and many villagers have gathered and participated in the independence day ceremony. At the end of the ceremony many present over there appreciated my efforts in coming down from Bangalore to participate in the ceremony and to institute the scholarships for the benefit of our village. Ofcourse this wouldnt have been possible without the support of my freinds in my village.
Many said that the highlight of the program was the following speech that I delivered after flag hoisting. It was a complete extempore. I was alloted 15 mins but it went on for 40 mins. Children have totally enjoyed it. Speech was mainly targeted inducing patriotic feelings and certain moral values among students and to give them a direction towards working foir a better village.
Honorable public representatives of our village who are striving hard towards making this village a model village, Respected head master of our school, Shri Venkat Reddy who is working very hard to create all kinds of facilities to make our school a good learning place, dear youth, students of this school, guests, all the people of our village who have gathered here to participate in this ceremony, each one of you - My whole hearted Namakars to you. Wish you a very happy independence day.
On this auspicious occasion, I would like to start my speech with few patriotic slogans. Let this whole school vibrate with these slogans and let the whole village vibrate with these slogans.
Bharata Mata ki Jai. Vande Matharam. Jai Telangana.
Now the stage has gained a momentum and is set for a good speech. Friends, Today we all have assembled here to celebrate 64th independence day. Celebrating Independence Day doesn’t mean hoisting the flag and enjoying the sweets. August 15th is just not to be considered as another public holiday. There is much more to it. August 15th is a day when all the citizens should meet up in each and every village, every town and every colony and ponder over on what were the conditions before independence, how we have achieved freedom and what was the vision of martyrs and what were the golas that we have set for our independent India in 1947 and whether we have achieved them and if not, how can we achieve them. These are the things which need to be discussed thoroughly on this auspicious day.
Dear students when did our India became Independent? On Aug 15th 1947. From whom? From British. Who ruled us prior to British? Its Mughal emperors. Who ruled prior to Mughals? Its our Indian rulers. Yes that era of Indian rulers is called Swarna Yuga. In that era, there was no violence, no corruption, no injustice, no adharma. People used to lead a happy, peaceful and a prosperous life. It was like a Rama Rajya. In such Rama Rajya, ancient India has progressed in almost all fields - education, science, health, astronomy, sports, literature etc.
It is during this period India has led the whole world as a supreme power. Not like US through its economy but through unique qualities. The major contribution of India through which India became a Jagath guru is through its spirituality. Through its spiritual values India has conquered the whole world. In the field of education, ancient India made a huge progress. Thousands of students from more than hundred different countries have studied more than eighty different degrees in Nalanda and Thakshashila Universities which then existed in today’s Bihar. It’s through these Universities, Univeristies were named as “Universe”ities or “Vishwa” Vidhyalayam. Because students from all over the world have studied the whole universe together, these learning places were called “Vishwavidyalayam” or “Universities”. These terms are still by the whole world even today. In the field of mathematics, it is because of India, today we are able to send satellites into space, it’s because of India today we are able to send rockets into space. It’s only though zero and pi which India invented, all the complex astronomy calculations are possible which otherwise wouldnt have been a possibility. It’s India which has presented the whole world a sweet gift called music. It’s in India, sapthaswaras have taken birth. Swapthaswaras are basis for all kinds of music that we hear today. It is Sanskrit through which majority of European Languages have taken their birth. In today’s software world, It’s Sanskrit which is being used as medium to translate one language into other. In today’s world, scientists and doctors are appreciated for small inventions in medicine but many great inventions were made thousands of years back itself all of which are documented in well known Ayurveda. In this way, by making a mark in almost all fields of human life, India has conquered the whole world. That’s why I called this era as Swarna Yuga.
But today’s India is different. Its all violence, injustice, corruption and adharma which is ruling every where. No peaceful life for people. Numerous problems like Poverty, illiteracy, unemployment etc. are haunting them. One who knows this vast difference between ancient and today’s India would definitely have one question, why such difference between today and ancient India. It’s because ancient India was built on basis of two basic concepts – Knowledge and unselfishness. Our sadhus sacrificed their entire lives to research on all the wonders of this world, the science behind it and documented their findings in form of Vedas and Upanishads. Such findings were not only documented but also were spread among common people. These findings have transformed Indian society to a knowledge society. With this knowledge, people led life with a rational approach and with highest moral and ethical values. This led India to lead the whole world.
But today it’s all selfishness and ignorance everywhere in our country. We see people committing numerous sins. I would like to illustrate this with a small story. There is a person living in a small village in Warangal district. We all know that each one of us who have come to this world have to leave this world at some point or the other. No one is permanent. Similarly this person’s time has come to leave this world and yamadutas have come to take him to yama loka. This person enters yama loka with yama dutas. In the first room that he enters he sees Chitragupta reading out sins committed by different people and different people being boiled in boiling oil. After that he enters the next room. That is a big hall. There he sees a number of wall clocks hanged to the walls. He was surprised and then he says to yama dutas, “In our bhulokha, we generally use only one wall clock. Few rich people who don’t know what do with the surplus money that they have use one clock in each room. But why do you people use so many clocks in a single hall in your yama loka? Then the Chitragupta sitting over there replies saying that clocks of all the countries are put on that wall and that’s why he finds number of clocks. Then this person gets satisfied with Chitragupta’s answer and looks into different clocks. He observes that the minutes hands in each clock are rotating with different speeds. Surprised by this, he asks Chitragupta the reason for different speeds in different clocks. Chitragupta then replies saying that the speeds in different clocks represent the sins being committed in the respective countries. This raised the curiosity in this person to see India’s clock. He then repeatedly requests Chitragupta to show the Indian clock. Chitragupta listens to his request and says that India’s clock is kept in Yama Dharma Raja’s personal room but he would take him to that room since this person has made repeated requests. Chitragupta takes this person to Yama Dharma Raja’s room. As soon as they entered Yama’s room, they felt as if the room is air conditioned. Yama was happily sleeping on his bed and beside his bed, there is a big clock that is seen. And the minutes hand is rotating with such a speed that Yama is using this clock as a fan. Then Chitragupta says to this person that this is the magnitude of the sins being committed in India. So, friends this is how the ground situation looks like In India. One may have doubt why such a great India has become like that. It’s because Indians are put far away from science for centuries by our invaders. It’s because our invaders have destroyed our culture, our traditions and our values during centuries of their rule. During this time, people have lost rationality in their thinking. People lost moral values. People have started practicing superstitions. People have not only become ignorant but also selfish.
Having known the glory of our ancient india, wouldn’t you want to revive the past glory. A loud yes from the audience. Good. Great. Wonderful. This is definitely possible but there is only one means to achieve and that is by empowering the youth and children. Today more than 60% of our Indian population is below 30. And this generation is the future of this country. And therefore I say that It’s only through the empowerment of youth and children, this nation can be empowered. Developing patriotic feelings among youth and children and by inculcating highest moral values and by giving a good education to them can change the fate of this nation. In this process, the role of teacher becomes very important. Teacher is like a good sculptor. Like a sculpture who gives a life to a dead rock by his patience and creativity, a teacher can convert a normal child into a good citizen, a noble person and a great leader through his teacher and through his inspiration. Therefore I say that the role of teachers in reviving the past glory is immense and immeasurable.
At the same time, change is essential in the way learning process is carried out in schools. Instead of taking children to state legislative assemblies, they should be taken to gram panchayats. They should be explained how government functions in a small village. Children I want to ask you if you have ever visited our gram panchayats, if you learnt about the duties of a sarpanch, of panchayat members and if you know if these public representatives are actually performing their duties. If you donot know these how can you grow as good citizens, how can you question your sarpanch. Have you ever visited the Government hospital and found how different equipments function and how doctors use them. Have you ever visited the nearby railway station and have you ever thought why the steel railings don’t move when the trains moves on them? Have you ever gone to fields with your teachers and found why certain crops are not grown in our villages? Learning needs to be made local and practical. That develops curiosity among students and make them ask questions. Questions make the teachers also very enthusiastic to continuously upgrade their knowledge with new concepts and give their best to students.
I want to quote an incident from Kalam’s life at this juncture. As we all know Kalam comes from rameshwar of Tamil nadu. Shri Sivasubramania Iyer was his teacher and he used to teach science in Kalam’s school. He was one of the very good teachers in that school. All the students used to love to attend his class and hear him. One day he was teaching about bird's flight. He drew a diagram of a bird on the blackboard depicting the wings, tail and the body structure with the head. He explained how the birds create the lift and fly. He also explained how they change direction while flying. Nearly for 25 minutes he gave the lecture with various information such as lift, drag, how the birds fly in a formation of 10, 20 or 30. At the end of the class, he wanted to know whether we understood how the birds fly. Kalam said, “I did not understand how the birds fly.” When Kalam said this, the teacher asked the other students whether they understood or not. Many students said that they also did not understand. He did not get upset by our response since he was a committed teacher.
Iyer said that he would take all the students to the sea shore. That evening the whole class was at the sea shore of Rameswaram. They enjoyed the roaring sea waves knocking at the sandy hills in the pleasant evening. Birds were flying with sweet chirping voice. He showed the sea birds in formations of 10 to 20 numbers. We saw the marvelous formations of birds with a purpose and they were all amazed. He showed us the birds and asked us to see that when the birds fly, what they looked like. We saw the wings flapping. He asked students to look at the tail portion with the combination of flapping wings and twisting tail. Students noticed closely and found that the birds in that condition flew in the direction they desired. Then he asked students a question, where the engine is and how it is powered. Bird is powered by its own life and the motivation of what it wants. All these things were explained to students within Fifteen minutes. Students understood the whole bird dynamics from this practical example. How nice it was? The teacher was a great teacher; he could give them a theoretical lesson coupled with a live practical example available in nature. This is real teaching. For Kalam, it was not merely an understanding of how a bird flies. The bird's flight entered into kalam and created a special feeling. From that evening, he thought that his future study has to be with reference to flight and flight systems. That one incident has not changed the fate of Kalam but also the fate of this country. Kalam has not only studied rocket science but also became the president of India. Not just a president of India but also the best president of India. For that matter even Vivekananda has become a maha yogi because of Sri Rama Krishna Pramhamsa. Its only because of the teachings of Sri Rama Krishna, Vivekananda has become a maha Yogi. The whole world got benefited from it. From this we understand that practical learning is essential for a better and quick learning and that a teacher has the power to change the fate of the nation.
So, friends as I said the empowerment of children of youth and children of this nation alone can revive our past glory. If this is done, we won’t be very far from our dream of becoming a supreme power, a supreme power not by the state of our economy but by the state of our values. A supreme power which commands respects from the whole world and not a supreme power which creates fear among people. I am sure we all will see this in the near future. Yes, definitely during our life time.
Dear children I have thought of five principles which I want you to take as pledge and follow in your daily lives. Simple points like these can bring a great change.
1. I will pursue my education with full dedication and hard work and will excel in it.
2. I will constantly endeavor to remove the pain of my suffering brethren.
3. I will plant at least 5 saplings and shall ensure their growth through constant care.
4. I will lead an honest life free from all corruption and will set an example for others to adopt a righteous way of life.
5. I shall always keep myself, my home, my surroundings, neighbourhood and environment clean and tidy.
Children, You are the future citizens of this nation and therefore your future is the nation’s future. I hope you all do well in your lives and make India proud. I wish you all the best.
param vaibhavamne tume tat swaraashtram
samrthaa bhavatwaashishaa tebhrusham
May our victorious organised power of action, by Thy Grace, be wholly capable of protecting our dharma and leading this nation of ours to the highest pinnacle of glory.
Jai Hind
Jai Telangana
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
A Salute to our Inspirational Guru
After a three and half years long time, I have once again been to the great Oasis of Rajasthan deserts. This time it's to bid a farewell to our inspirational Guru Prof L K Maheshwari, the Vice Chancellor of BITS Pilani.
Two weeks prior to the event, as soon as I saw a personal mail from LKM, I have decided to book my tickets on the same day without any other thoughts in mind. This was an opportunity for me to express my gratitude for all the inspiration and the great learnings that he has provided me. BITS has given him a grand farwell where a large number of students, faculty, pilani locals and alumni across the globe have attanded. Sir deserves it for all his contributions in last 4 decades. Sir has invited me at his residence the next day and we had a good chat for around 15 mins after which Prof V S Rao has joined us. Had a good breakfast at sirs house and finally left his house with sirs wholehearted blessings and a small gift he has brought for me from US. This time too, I havent observed any difference in the affection he has towards us. That itself makes him very unique.
This trip would also be remembered for few other things. Firstly for seeing Nirmaan working with same passion and same momentum even after five years of starting it. That was a proud moment for me. Its an achievement by all Nirmaan members who graduated till now. Entire credit goes to all exceutive committee members of last five batches who have put the maximum efforts to sustain it. Luckily Krish, Anil and Pridhvi have arranged a meeting where I got an opportunity to meet our members. Very happy to meet them and talk to them. I just felt as if I was still in my 3rd year of BITS addressing all Nirmaan members. By the way, I visited even Gyan Vihar while returning from LKMs house. That was another emotional moment and before leaving the campus, I had an hour long talk and interaction with psentisemites attending placements. It was a great interaction. BITsians with same passion and same enthu. Thanks to Vijay who provided this opportunity and I hope that my inputs really help in their career. Then the MBA guys found me on the way and had discussed about their course structure, their fest, how to improve their placements etc. I just had two hours left to leave. After all its my own discipline with just a change in name of the degree. So, I couldnt deny them.
That's how I ended my trip travelling from Pilani to Delhi by same old Rajasthan Road ways Bus with a good chai in Nuthan with my pilani friend Girirajji and Anil, Pridhvi and Karthik. Got a flight in the early morning to bangalore and reached bangalore and felt missing Pilani badly.
I was the only lucky alumni to get an opportunity to speak a few words about sir in his farwell ceremony. After my speech, I have read out 6 select messages from well knwon alumni like Baba Kalyani etc. out of 100s of messages recieved from alumni across the world.
Here is the text of the speech delivered at Prof L K Maheshwari's farewell ceremony in BITS Pilani Audtorium on 4th August reminding my association with Prof LKM:
Respected Prof LK Maheshwari, Prfo BN Jain, the new chancellor, all the Directors, Deans, Faculty members, alumni, guests and my dear BITSians - A very evening to all of you.
40 years of journey at Pilani crossing various milestones and reaching the highest possible position guiding this world class University. From the very grassroots to the highest possible position at BITS. From student to Vice chancellor of the same University. What an amazing journey! What an illustrious career! This alone speaks volumes about Prof Maheshwari. His commitment, sincerity and dedication to academics, love for BITS, affection towards students has made it possible. Prof Maheshwari is a living embodiment of knowledge, human values, spiritual values and entrepreneurial spirit.That makes him a very unique personality.
I am one among the few who is fortunate enough to know Prof L K Maheshwari very closely. I have been closely associated with sir from last eight years. I have closely worked with him on various initiatives in various capacities, as General Secretary of Students Union, as President of Nirmaan, as Vice President of BITSAA International and more as a BITSian. I have had several interactions and several discussions with Prof Maheshwari on various occasions. Having known him so closely, I can only say one thing that BITS Pilani is blessed to have such a Vice Chancellor. We are blessed to have him as our inspiring leader of this University.
The good teacher explains. The superior teacher demonstrates. The great teacher inspires. Prof Maheshwari is one such great teacher. Because he has just not taught in EEE classes and he has just not led this University as Vice Chancellor. But he has inspired a number of people around him May it be students or May it be faculty members or administrative staff to accomplish good tasks in their lives.
I want to share one of my interactions with Prof Maheshwari at this juncture. Each time I meet him, I used to learn something new and something great that I remember it throughout my life. That’s why whenever I used to meet Prof Maheshwari, I always used to take one or two of my friends or my juniors along with me so that they too can get a chance to meet such person. Once I have taken two of my friends along with me for some meeting. After greeting sir, I have opened my dairy and was about to put the first point in the agenda for discussion. All of a sudden, sir asked my freind Mayur how many shirts he has. I was surprised. I was thinking why sir is asking such a question. We were in a dilemma. My friend said he has eleven shirts. Then sir asked can you live with eight shirts. My friend said Yes. Then he took out 10 mins and started explaining us the inherent greatness of our Indian culture saying that Indian culture is a conservative culture where people lead a simple life, satisfy their needs with the minimum number of resources and then try to assist their fellow being with the additional resource they have. This reaps two benefits to the mankind. One is that we can ensure that we do not waste our country’s resources and the other one; we can try bringing up our fellow beings around who are in need. What a great message! My friend even remembers that message even now Such is the kind of inspiration that sir has left on many of us.
On another occasion around 3 years back, once there was a flag hoisting ceremony on the occasion of Independence Day. All the students have assembled in the C lawns. All of us were sanding in C lawns and waiting for flag hoisting. Suddenly It was announced that Babaji, a very old aged person, an employee working in SWD will be the chief guest and he will hoist the flag. Prof Maheshwari accompanied babaiji and babaji hoisted the flag. What an inherent great message sir has given through his initiative? Everyone is important in an organization to progress and prosper. Be it the Vice Chancellor or babaji. And another message that he has given us is that one needs to respect elders, their experience and their service.
Such is the personality of Prof Maheshwari. He is a role model for each one of us, for the generations who have graduated and for generations of the future. A genius with human values alone can make it possible.
Sir, from my perspective will be remembered for ever in BITS for four of your major contributions.
1. Developing a culture of entrepreneurship
Promoted CEL, entrepreneurial endeavors of students and inspired students to pursue entrepreneurship
2.Inspiring students towards social activism and social entrepreneurship
Promoted Nirmaan which is providing a platform for at least 50 students from each batch to make a social contribution to the society. Promoted Women studies, RED activities
3.Upholding BITS Values and Strengthening BITS culture
Took pride in BITS culture like attendance, several discussions, giving freedom etc..
4.Creating a Vision for making BITS a world class university
Personally I share a very close relation with sir. Sir you have been my mentor and inspiration and I have no words to express my gratitude for that except saying that If I have done something good till now and I am going to do something good, it’s definitely because of the inspiration you have provided me.
Sir, on behalf of members of Nirmaan, BITSAA International, batch of 2002, alumni across the world and on my personal behalf, I wish you a very good health and happy life in this new phase of your life. We are glad that you will be around us as advisor to chancellor while BITS continues its journey its excellence.
Thank you.
Two weeks prior to the event, as soon as I saw a personal mail from LKM, I have decided to book my tickets on the same day without any other thoughts in mind. This was an opportunity for me to express my gratitude for all the inspiration and the great learnings that he has provided me. BITS has given him a grand farwell where a large number of students, faculty, pilani locals and alumni across the globe have attanded. Sir deserves it for all his contributions in last 4 decades. Sir has invited me at his residence the next day and we had a good chat for around 15 mins after which Prof V S Rao has joined us. Had a good breakfast at sirs house and finally left his house with sirs wholehearted blessings and a small gift he has brought for me from US. This time too, I havent observed any difference in the affection he has towards us. That itself makes him very unique.
This trip would also be remembered for few other things. Firstly for seeing Nirmaan working with same passion and same momentum even after five years of starting it. That was a proud moment for me. Its an achievement by all Nirmaan members who graduated till now. Entire credit goes to all exceutive committee members of last five batches who have put the maximum efforts to sustain it. Luckily Krish, Anil and Pridhvi have arranged a meeting where I got an opportunity to meet our members. Very happy to meet them and talk to them. I just felt as if I was still in my 3rd year of BITS addressing all Nirmaan members. By the way, I visited even Gyan Vihar while returning from LKMs house. That was another emotional moment and before leaving the campus, I had an hour long talk and interaction with psentisemites attending placements. It was a great interaction. BITsians with same passion and same enthu. Thanks to Vijay who provided this opportunity and I hope that my inputs really help in their career. Then the MBA guys found me on the way and had discussed about their course structure, their fest, how to improve their placements etc. I just had two hours left to leave. After all its my own discipline with just a change in name of the degree. So, I couldnt deny them.
That's how I ended my trip travelling from Pilani to Delhi by same old Rajasthan Road ways Bus with a good chai in Nuthan with my pilani friend Girirajji and Anil, Pridhvi and Karthik. Got a flight in the early morning to bangalore and reached bangalore and felt missing Pilani badly.
I was the only lucky alumni to get an opportunity to speak a few words about sir in his farwell ceremony. After my speech, I have read out 6 select messages from well knwon alumni like Baba Kalyani etc. out of 100s of messages recieved from alumni across the world.
Here is the text of the speech delivered at Prof L K Maheshwari's farewell ceremony in BITS Pilani Audtorium on 4th August reminding my association with Prof LKM:
Respected Prof LK Maheshwari, Prfo BN Jain, the new chancellor, all the Directors, Deans, Faculty members, alumni, guests and my dear BITSians - A very evening to all of you.
40 years of journey at Pilani crossing various milestones and reaching the highest possible position guiding this world class University. From the very grassroots to the highest possible position at BITS. From student to Vice chancellor of the same University. What an amazing journey! What an illustrious career! This alone speaks volumes about Prof Maheshwari. His commitment, sincerity and dedication to academics, love for BITS, affection towards students has made it possible. Prof Maheshwari is a living embodiment of knowledge, human values, spiritual values and entrepreneurial spirit.That makes him a very unique personality.
I am one among the few who is fortunate enough to know Prof L K Maheshwari very closely. I have been closely associated with sir from last eight years. I have closely worked with him on various initiatives in various capacities, as General Secretary of Students Union, as President of Nirmaan, as Vice President of BITSAA International and more as a BITSian. I have had several interactions and several discussions with Prof Maheshwari on various occasions. Having known him so closely, I can only say one thing that BITS Pilani is blessed to have such a Vice Chancellor. We are blessed to have him as our inspiring leader of this University.
The good teacher explains. The superior teacher demonstrates. The great teacher inspires. Prof Maheshwari is one such great teacher. Because he has just not taught in EEE classes and he has just not led this University as Vice Chancellor. But he has inspired a number of people around him May it be students or May it be faculty members or administrative staff to accomplish good tasks in their lives.
I want to share one of my interactions with Prof Maheshwari at this juncture. Each time I meet him, I used to learn something new and something great that I remember it throughout my life. That’s why whenever I used to meet Prof Maheshwari, I always used to take one or two of my friends or my juniors along with me so that they too can get a chance to meet such person. Once I have taken two of my friends along with me for some meeting. After greeting sir, I have opened my dairy and was about to put the first point in the agenda for discussion. All of a sudden, sir asked my freind Mayur how many shirts he has. I was surprised. I was thinking why sir is asking such a question. We were in a dilemma. My friend said he has eleven shirts. Then sir asked can you live with eight shirts. My friend said Yes. Then he took out 10 mins and started explaining us the inherent greatness of our Indian culture saying that Indian culture is a conservative culture where people lead a simple life, satisfy their needs with the minimum number of resources and then try to assist their fellow being with the additional resource they have. This reaps two benefits to the mankind. One is that we can ensure that we do not waste our country’s resources and the other one; we can try bringing up our fellow beings around who are in need. What a great message! My friend even remembers that message even now Such is the kind of inspiration that sir has left on many of us.
On another occasion around 3 years back, once there was a flag hoisting ceremony on the occasion of Independence Day. All the students have assembled in the C lawns. All of us were sanding in C lawns and waiting for flag hoisting. Suddenly It was announced that Babaji, a very old aged person, an employee working in SWD will be the chief guest and he will hoist the flag. Prof Maheshwari accompanied babaiji and babaji hoisted the flag. What an inherent great message sir has given through his initiative? Everyone is important in an organization to progress and prosper. Be it the Vice Chancellor or babaji. And another message that he has given us is that one needs to respect elders, their experience and their service.
Such is the personality of Prof Maheshwari. He is a role model for each one of us, for the generations who have graduated and for generations of the future. A genius with human values alone can make it possible.
Sir, from my perspective will be remembered for ever in BITS for four of your major contributions.
1. Developing a culture of entrepreneurship
Promoted CEL, entrepreneurial endeavors of students and inspired students to pursue entrepreneurship
2.Inspiring students towards social activism and social entrepreneurship
Promoted Nirmaan which is providing a platform for at least 50 students from each batch to make a social contribution to the society. Promoted Women studies, RED activities
3.Upholding BITS Values and Strengthening BITS culture
Took pride in BITS culture like attendance, several discussions, giving freedom etc..
4.Creating a Vision for making BITS a world class university
Personally I share a very close relation with sir. Sir you have been my mentor and inspiration and I have no words to express my gratitude for that except saying that If I have done something good till now and I am going to do something good, it’s definitely because of the inspiration you have provided me.
Sir, on behalf of members of Nirmaan, BITSAA International, batch of 2002, alumni across the world and on my personal behalf, I wish you a very good health and happy life in this new phase of your life. We are glad that you will be around us as advisor to chancellor while BITS continues its journey its excellence.
Thank you.
Friday, July 30, 2010
Telangana voices its verdict Loud and Clear
It's time for people of Telangana to celebrate. It's simply amazing to see TRS and BJP combine making a clean sweep in the by elections and that too with record majorities. It's yet another milestone in the fight for Telangana. It's almost like a repetition of 1971 elections where Telangana Praja Samithi under the leadership of Chenna Reddy won 11 parliament seats of Telangana with thumping majorities reflecting the aspirations of people of Telanagna. Even this by election in 12 constituencies only reemphasize the fact that people of Telangana always wholeheartedly supported for their long pending aspiration of separate Telangana. And nothing can prevent them from doing so.
Nothing has worked in the way of anti Telangana forces. Money power, muscle power, liquor, Babu's babli drama and misuse of power by Congress...Nothing has worked. The victory of BJP candidate Lakshmi Narayana in Nizamabad Urban over DS is a good example to say that leaders can't fool democracy if proper awareness is created among people about what is Dharma and what is Adharama. This election is a befitting reply to those who want to fool democracy and to retain power through short cuts.
It's almost like a suicide for TDP and DS. DS has not only lost Rs 50 crores he spent in the elections but he has lost the moral right to continue in politics. His defeat may even lead to he losing his PCC president chair. He very well deserves it for all his deeds. Atleast now DS should stop exhibiting his stupidity and start extending his support for Telangana demand. TDP lost deposits in several places. Chameleon Babu, the biggest enemy of Telangana and the biggest loser in these elections has to realize politicians cannot ignore the aspirations of the people and make electoral profits. It's never possible in a democracy.
Finally it's culminated to be a great victory for all of us, for the entire four crore people of Telangana. The results are a dedication to hundreds of martyrs who sacrificed their lives for the cause of Telangana. With these results, people of Andhra region will understand that the demand for Telangana is not an artificial creation of politicians and that people of Telangana fully approve the demand for separate Telangana. These results will also help them understand that people like Lagadapati and Jagan created false campaigns for their own selfish reasons. These results will give a wakeup call to Delhi and their Shri Krishna Committee to understand that the people of Telangana will go to any extent for their demand of Telangana.
Congratulations and sincere thanks to all the people of Telangana, leaders and members of different Telangana political parties, leaders and members of JAC committees of different sections of the society for making sure that we won all 12 seats with thumping majorities. This election will be written in golden letters in the history of Telangana movement.
Jai Hind
Jai Telangana
Nothing has worked in the way of anti Telangana forces. Money power, muscle power, liquor, Babu's babli drama and misuse of power by Congress...Nothing has worked. The victory of BJP candidate Lakshmi Narayana in Nizamabad Urban over DS is a good example to say that leaders can't fool democracy if proper awareness is created among people about what is Dharma and what is Adharama. This election is a befitting reply to those who want to fool democracy and to retain power through short cuts.
It's almost like a suicide for TDP and DS. DS has not only lost Rs 50 crores he spent in the elections but he has lost the moral right to continue in politics. His defeat may even lead to he losing his PCC president chair. He very well deserves it for all his deeds. Atleast now DS should stop exhibiting his stupidity and start extending his support for Telangana demand. TDP lost deposits in several places. Chameleon Babu, the biggest enemy of Telangana and the biggest loser in these elections has to realize politicians cannot ignore the aspirations of the people and make electoral profits. It's never possible in a democracy.
Finally it's culminated to be a great victory for all of us, for the entire four crore people of Telangana. The results are a dedication to hundreds of martyrs who sacrificed their lives for the cause of Telangana. With these results, people of Andhra region will understand that the demand for Telangana is not an artificial creation of politicians and that people of Telangana fully approve the demand for separate Telangana. These results will also help them understand that people like Lagadapati and Jagan created false campaigns for their own selfish reasons. These results will give a wakeup call to Delhi and their Shri Krishna Committee to understand that the people of Telangana will go to any extent for their demand of Telangana.
Congratulations and sincere thanks to all the people of Telangana, leaders and members of different Telangana political parties, leaders and members of JAC committees of different sections of the society for making sure that we won all 12 seats with thumping majorities. This election will be written in golden letters in the history of Telangana movement.
Jai Hind
Jai Telangana
Friday, June 18, 2010
DJ gets married....
DJ finally gets married to the girl of his choice :)... First one to get married in our close circle... It was a thrilling experience to see a close frend getting married. Pellitho finalga chuyinchadu vaadi seemani, vadi oorini... Hearty congrats and wish you a very happy married life...All the best my dearest frend DJ..
Friday, April 16, 2010
"Janapada", the heart touching rural folk needs rejuvenation
"Janapada", the rural art form is one that reflects rural environment, culture, traditions, customs and the lifestyle over there. janapada brings the rural lifestyles close to your hearts. It is appropriate to call janapada as the voice of rural culture and lifestyle.
Unlike classical, janapada follows no specific rule or raaga or musical pattern. The only rule that it follows is that it takes birth from the hearts of rural people, out of their lifestyle, out of the pleasing nature around them, out of their hardships that they face in their daily lives, out of the exploitation that they experience. janapadam is an art form that rural people develop and perform or sing during their work hours in green fields, while ploughing the fields, sowing seeds, harvesting the crop or during their rest time in the evenings while siting under the trees with their children, while in a gathering of the neighbours in front of their huts. janapada brings out the beauty of rural life and marvelous culture that exists there. janapada is performed by villagers to express their feelings in an artistic form about things around them and to forget their hardships while at work. But they never sing to win any prize or earn any money.
I still remember the janapada that I used to enjoy in my childhood in my village. Every morning while walking from my home to our village bus stand to catch our old village RTC bus that takes me to my school in Hanamkonda which is 15 kms away, the beautiful melodies of the janapadas enthrall me. The farmer while on his way his to his fields on the bullock cart , the lady farm labour with a sickle in her hand while going to her daily work, the old man with a turban on his head and a stick in his hand walking across the lane, the old woman while drying the food grains in hot sun with a cloth on her head, the small boy grazing the cattle with a stick in his hand and a towel on his shoulders, the children enjoying in the rain sing beautiful melodies expressing their feelings about things in their life and their observations in the surroundings. Such janapads rejuvenates them and fill new enthusiasim among them and make them forget all their hardships. Janapada plays a vital role in preserving the Indian values in villages. janapada not only entertains people but also educates people about the values that are needed to be followed for a better society.
During "jatara" time and during melas, I used to hear people singing variety of janapadas. Telangana has a unique tradition of celebrating "bhathukamma", a flower festival worshipping Goddess Gauramma during the Dusshera festival. During the bhathukamma celebrations, the villagers make a well framed bhathukamma (Flower bundle on a wooden plate with all kinds of special flowers that are available in fields around them. Gunugu and Tangedi are the very special ones. There is no bhathukamma without these two varieties of flowers). Women from each house take the bhathukamma to a nearby place beside a pond or a lake and all the women divide into batches of around 30-40 and put the flower bundles in the center of the circle they form and start singing all the famous janapadas by moving round the circle and by performing a very special slow folk dance. It is no surprising fact to tell that almost each and every woman in the village knows some or the other janapadam. They take turns and sing and while one sings, others form the chorus. They do this for nine continuous days till the Dusshera day. Watching the bhathukamma is an amazing experience that one can never forget in his or her life time. Watch this bathukamma video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7q7K_q-fW60&feature=PlayList&p=B8CBD9F202A1E982&playnext_from=PL&playnext=1&index=3
There is another tradition that we can observe in the villages of AP. A special art form called Kolatam which similar to Maharashtra dandiya is played along with janapadas. Janapadas are heard in Coastal parts of AP during the Sankranthi celebrations.
Such a janapada, like any other form of rural art is today facing a danger of extinction in rural areas. These art forms which got passed on from time immemorial from generation to generation are slowly dying. Yaksha gana, Burra kathalu, Tolu Bommalu, Yelamma, mallanna kathalu, sindhi vari natakalu are also slowly facing an extinction in rural Andhra. Today we rarely see such art forms in villages. Along with these art forms, the ancient and the traditional musical instruments that the villagers used to make and use are also seeing a danger of extinction. Such instruments are very indigenous and very special. I don’t remember the exact instrument but last time when I went to my home town, I attended janapada jatara organized by Rudrama Girijana Peetam, Potti Sri Ramulu Telugu University. There I heard from a villager that they possess an instrument that is being passed on from generation to generation which is gifted by Lord Shiva to their family. I was really surprised to hear that. Isn’t it really amazing? Passed on from centuries and probably from yugas! Who knows? The artists in rural areas are trying their best to preserve their artistic forms but due to the competition from the modern TV and movies and due to several other modern entertainment avenues, these rural folk art forms are not being appreciated and they are not finding platforms to exhibit their talent.
"Rela re Rela" the initiative by Maa TV is a very great initiative from the perspective of providing platform for rural folk artists. It is giving a new hope to rural folk and folk artists. Watch a song of rela re rela at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KA23rDourlQ&feature=related . To an extent, even the people movements from time to time have given life to dying janapada. The movements demand effective ways to reach rural people with their message and the movements find janapada as the best way to do so. That is the reason why today we see number of folk artists engaged in Telangana and united Andhra movements. It is also important to note that Potti Sri Ramulu Telugu Univeristy is doing a significant service in this direction to preserve and promote these rural art forms.
Janapada artists like Goreti Venkanna, Vangapandu, Madhu priya, Viumalakka have been working very hard as brand amabassodors to give a new life to janapadas. But I think initiatives from Government and also from civil society and the modern social entrepreneurial circle are needed. Universities should play an important role in this direction. The cultural and youth fests should provide platforms for folk and folk artists. The entrepreneurial divisions should work along with the folk artists for promotion of their art. Social entrepreneurs should think of new ways of building revenue model around the promotion of these art forms, NGOs should think of ways to identify such arts and artists to develop them. Government should find ways to encourage and incentivize the rural arts and artists. Media should focus on ways to promote these arts.
With efforts from all sides, we can preserve our rural art forms which are very indigenous and very special. By this we not only preserve arts, but we preserve our rural culture, traditions, customs and the unique rural lifestyle, our values. By preserving these folks, we preserve our glorious ancient Indian culture.
Jai Hind
Unlike classical, janapada follows no specific rule or raaga or musical pattern. The only rule that it follows is that it takes birth from the hearts of rural people, out of their lifestyle, out of the pleasing nature around them, out of their hardships that they face in their daily lives, out of the exploitation that they experience. janapadam is an art form that rural people develop and perform or sing during their work hours in green fields, while ploughing the fields, sowing seeds, harvesting the crop or during their rest time in the evenings while siting under the trees with their children, while in a gathering of the neighbours in front of their huts. janapada brings out the beauty of rural life and marvelous culture that exists there. janapada is performed by villagers to express their feelings in an artistic form about things around them and to forget their hardships while at work. But they never sing to win any prize or earn any money.
I still remember the janapada that I used to enjoy in my childhood in my village. Every morning while walking from my home to our village bus stand to catch our old village RTC bus that takes me to my school in Hanamkonda which is 15 kms away, the beautiful melodies of the janapadas enthrall me. The farmer while on his way his to his fields on the bullock cart , the lady farm labour with a sickle in her hand while going to her daily work, the old man with a turban on his head and a stick in his hand walking across the lane, the old woman while drying the food grains in hot sun with a cloth on her head, the small boy grazing the cattle with a stick in his hand and a towel on his shoulders, the children enjoying in the rain sing beautiful melodies expressing their feelings about things in their life and their observations in the surroundings. Such janapads rejuvenates them and fill new enthusiasim among them and make them forget all their hardships. Janapada plays a vital role in preserving the Indian values in villages. janapada not only entertains people but also educates people about the values that are needed to be followed for a better society.
During "jatara" time and during melas, I used to hear people singing variety of janapadas. Telangana has a unique tradition of celebrating "bhathukamma", a flower festival worshipping Goddess Gauramma during the Dusshera festival. During the bhathukamma celebrations, the villagers make a well framed bhathukamma (Flower bundle on a wooden plate with all kinds of special flowers that are available in fields around them. Gunugu and Tangedi are the very special ones. There is no bhathukamma without these two varieties of flowers). Women from each house take the bhathukamma to a nearby place beside a pond or a lake and all the women divide into batches of around 30-40 and put the flower bundles in the center of the circle they form and start singing all the famous janapadas by moving round the circle and by performing a very special slow folk dance. It is no surprising fact to tell that almost each and every woman in the village knows some or the other janapadam. They take turns and sing and while one sings, others form the chorus. They do this for nine continuous days till the Dusshera day. Watching the bhathukamma is an amazing experience that one can never forget in his or her life time. Watch this bathukamma video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7q7K_q-fW60&feature=PlayList&p=B8CBD9F202A1E982&playnext_from=PL&playnext=1&index=3
There is another tradition that we can observe in the villages of AP. A special art form called Kolatam which similar to Maharashtra dandiya is played along with janapadas. Janapadas are heard in Coastal parts of AP during the Sankranthi celebrations.
Such a janapada, like any other form of rural art is today facing a danger of extinction in rural areas. These art forms which got passed on from time immemorial from generation to generation are slowly dying. Yaksha gana, Burra kathalu, Tolu Bommalu, Yelamma, mallanna kathalu, sindhi vari natakalu are also slowly facing an extinction in rural Andhra. Today we rarely see such art forms in villages. Along with these art forms, the ancient and the traditional musical instruments that the villagers used to make and use are also seeing a danger of extinction. Such instruments are very indigenous and very special. I don’t remember the exact instrument but last time when I went to my home town, I attended janapada jatara organized by Rudrama Girijana Peetam, Potti Sri Ramulu Telugu University. There I heard from a villager that they possess an instrument that is being passed on from generation to generation which is gifted by Lord Shiva to their family. I was really surprised to hear that. Isn’t it really amazing? Passed on from centuries and probably from yugas! Who knows? The artists in rural areas are trying their best to preserve their artistic forms but due to the competition from the modern TV and movies and due to several other modern entertainment avenues, these rural folk art forms are not being appreciated and they are not finding platforms to exhibit their talent.
"Rela re Rela" the initiative by Maa TV is a very great initiative from the perspective of providing platform for rural folk artists. It is giving a new hope to rural folk and folk artists. Watch a song of rela re rela at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KA23rDourlQ&feature=related . To an extent, even the people movements from time to time have given life to dying janapada. The movements demand effective ways to reach rural people with their message and the movements find janapada as the best way to do so. That is the reason why today we see number of folk artists engaged in Telangana and united Andhra movements. It is also important to note that Potti Sri Ramulu Telugu Univeristy is doing a significant service in this direction to preserve and promote these rural art forms.
Janapada artists like Goreti Venkanna, Vangapandu, Madhu priya, Viumalakka have been working very hard as brand amabassodors to give a new life to janapadas. But I think initiatives from Government and also from civil society and the modern social entrepreneurial circle are needed. Universities should play an important role in this direction. The cultural and youth fests should provide platforms for folk and folk artists. The entrepreneurial divisions should work along with the folk artists for promotion of their art. Social entrepreneurs should think of new ways of building revenue model around the promotion of these art forms, NGOs should think of ways to identify such arts and artists to develop them. Government should find ways to encourage and incentivize the rural arts and artists. Media should focus on ways to promote these arts.
With efforts from all sides, we can preserve our rural art forms which are very indigenous and very special. By this we not only preserve arts, but we preserve our rural culture, traditions, customs and the unique rural lifestyle, our values. By preserving these folks, we preserve our glorious ancient Indian culture.
Jai Hind
Friday, March 19, 2010
A small contribution to a great movement
Telangana has always been very close to my heart partly because I am born and brought up in this region and partly because this is one region in our country where people are exploited for centuries by invaders and then betrayed and put to sufferings for decades by our own Governments in an open democratic set up.
It's very fortunate to see the movement reaching peaks in the recent times. Till Dec 09, every politician and every so called intellectual thought that these people of Telangana would always be betrayed and that they can play "T" factor forever for their personal benefits. But what they forgot to note is that 2010 is different from 1969. People have become educated. They have become aware of their rights and realized the need for their rights. Today, even a common man has started questioning the Government and Political parties about their rights.
When even a common man is participating in the movement with a great conviction by spending all his time, efforts and resources, if we being the most fortunate people of Telangana having received the best possible education do not participate then there is no meaning for our education. These thoughts keep on bothering me day after day. But this bloody professional never left any time to lead a natural life. Had I not studied in BITS, I wouldn't have had this pressure to continue in this corporate world and become a slave. I would have happily taken up things of my choice. I am sure most of you share similar such feelings. Unfortunately, this suffering doesn’t seem to end in the near future.
Nevertheless, it’s our duty to do our best within the constraints and contribute to the cause. So, around 10 of us who share similar thoughts came together and planned to submit a memorandum to Shri Krishna Commission representing professionals of Telangana region. The moment we planned to submit the report, the work has started. Each one of us have put lot of efforts and time in deciding the format, data collection, analysis and then presentation and finally coming up with a comprehensive report in weeks time. here is the small contribution that we made to the great movement in independent India. Part1 and Part2
Thanks and congrats to all (Rajesh Tamadapally, Suraj Saineni, B Avinash Babu, Rakesh Anugula, Mukunda Sri Ram Athreya, Bhikshapathi Dommati, Yadagiri Muthineni, Snehith Borgaonkar, Chethan Murari, Bikki Sateesh, Vishnu Thurpati, Rajkumar Pallerla, Nitin Devara, Mayur Patnala, Sabitha Thota) who contributed in creating this report and sending it. Special thanks to Dr. Shail Khaleel Rahman who inspired us to create this memorandum. Hope this report not only helps in letting the commission know our views but also in educating people about Telangana issue.
It's very fortunate to see the movement reaching peaks in the recent times. Till Dec 09, every politician and every so called intellectual thought that these people of Telangana would always be betrayed and that they can play "T" factor forever for their personal benefits. But what they forgot to note is that 2010 is different from 1969. People have become educated. They have become aware of their rights and realized the need for their rights. Today, even a common man has started questioning the Government and Political parties about their rights.
When even a common man is participating in the movement with a great conviction by spending all his time, efforts and resources, if we being the most fortunate people of Telangana having received the best possible education do not participate then there is no meaning for our education. These thoughts keep on bothering me day after day. But this bloody professional never left any time to lead a natural life. Had I not studied in BITS, I wouldn't have had this pressure to continue in this corporate world and become a slave. I would have happily taken up things of my choice. I am sure most of you share similar such feelings. Unfortunately, this suffering doesn’t seem to end in the near future.
Nevertheless, it’s our duty to do our best within the constraints and contribute to the cause. So, around 10 of us who share similar thoughts came together and planned to submit a memorandum to Shri Krishna Commission representing professionals of Telangana region. The moment we planned to submit the report, the work has started. Each one of us have put lot of efforts and time in deciding the format, data collection, analysis and then presentation and finally coming up with a comprehensive report in weeks time. here is the small contribution that we made to the great movement in independent India. Part1 and Part2
Thanks and congrats to all (Rajesh Tamadapally, Suraj Saineni, B Avinash Babu, Rakesh Anugula, Mukunda Sri Ram Athreya, Bhikshapathi Dommati, Yadagiri Muthineni, Snehith Borgaonkar, Chethan Murari, Bikki Sateesh, Vishnu Thurpati, Rajkumar Pallerla, Nitin Devara, Mayur Patnala, Sabitha Thota) who contributed in creating this report and sending it. Special thanks to Dr. Shail Khaleel Rahman who inspired us to create this memorandum. Hope this report not only helps in letting the commission know our views but also in educating people about Telangana issue.
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Bharat Ratna Our Sachin Tendulkar
Finally the dream is realized. The dream of millions of Indians and Sachins fans is finally realized. I have always believed that there is only one player in this world who can make a double century in ODIs. Some people used to say its Sehwag or Gayle who will make it but I always believed its Sachin and finally he did and I was amazed to see him to prove our belief. The moment he crossed 100 in 29 overs, I thought he is on his way to his double century and the moment he crossed 190, my only worry was whether he would make 225 or not. He would have comfortably done it had Dhoni cooperated. But whatever, he finally did what none could do in 3000 ODIs. What an achievement for himself and for India and for all of us!
I have no more adjectives left to describe Sachin, the God of cricket. I have been praising him for last fifteen years and I don’t think any such praising were sufficient for his genius and for his love and dedication for the country. It's only because of Sachin, I watch cricket and the day he announces his retirement, I too shall announce my retirement to watch cricket unless someone like Sachins makes an entry to the game. There has been no one who has entertained me as much as Sachin did in my life time. I am sure this is the case for the most of us.
That’s why I would say that its immaterial for me whether Indian Govt awards him Bharat Ratna or not. I would definitely call Sachin a Bharat Ratna and a Kohinoor diamond for all his contribution. What an amazing Indian! I am sure he is gonna make such records which would be met by none except by himself again.
I have no more adjectives left to describe Sachin, the God of cricket. I have been praising him for last fifteen years and I don’t think any such praising were sufficient for his genius and for his love and dedication for the country. It's only because of Sachin, I watch cricket and the day he announces his retirement, I too shall announce my retirement to watch cricket unless someone like Sachins makes an entry to the game. There has been no one who has entertained me as much as Sachin did in my life time. I am sure this is the case for the most of us.
That’s why I would say that its immaterial for me whether Indian Govt awards him Bharat Ratna or not. I would definitely call Sachin a Bharat Ratna and a Kohinoor diamond for all his contribution. What an amazing Indian! I am sure he is gonna make such records which would be met by none except by himself again.
Social Entrepreneurship, you, me and the society
Following is an article recently written for NSEF blog. I have included the text of my talk delivered at TEDx BITS Goa conference organised on 5 Feb 2010 in this blog. This article can be found on NSEF blog at http://www.nsef-india.org/blog/?p=12
Social entrepreneurship is one of my favorite topics to talk about and write about. I am happy to get a chance to write the first blog on this portal which is aimed at promoting social entrepreneurship. The moment I have seen the new blog that’s started by our tech team, I remembered Advanijis statement made during his campaign in the last general elections. He said ”a portal without a blog is like a letter without a signature.” What an appropriate statement! What better system can we create than the dynamism of blogs which help us know the day to day happenings and the diversity of thoughts that people share about an issue. I hope this blog makes a mark in promoting social entrepreneurship, in updating the audience about the latest happenings in social entrepreneurship and of course in promoting NSEF, its objectives and programs.
The moment I was asked to write the first blog, I thought what better topic can I choose than talking about Social entrepreneurship in general, why social entrepreneurship, how it is relevant for you and the society. Since these days I spent almost all the days and nights at office, I have chosen not to do anything new and therefore I have just opened the audio of the talk and written down what ever what I have talked in the recent TEDx conference that was organised in BITS Goa to share with you. This is how my talk went on to tell the audience why social entrepreneurship and how it is relevant for you and the society. I started with my own village.
“Dear friends, Let me share with you my observations and experience in my own village. Friends, I come from a remote village of Warangal district of Andhra Pradesh. My village in itself is a world that is different from the world that we know. With abundant natural resources, with agricultural fields all around, with a pleasant environment and with traditional arts and culture pleasing you, it looks like a world to be in but friends today my village is facing the most challenging problems. I see a farmer worrying without any credit solution, I see another farmer selling his agricultural raw produce to a merchant who makes the most profit, I see a degree holder having no awareness about the opportunities, I see a crafts man making beautiful sarees and other garments having no idea about the markets, I see a potter making beautiful articles who doesn’t know the quality control methods, I see a child suffering from malnutrition, I see women walking miles to get drinking water, I see children studying under the lamps.
All these put together makes my village a world that has a great potential facing the most challenging problems at this moment. And you find similar stories in other villages in my state, in other states and probably other countries as well. It wouldn’t be possible for the world to move forward ignoring this world that’s unexplored. It’s not a great idea either to not to unveil the potential that this world offers us.
Therefore, it needs people who can pioneer innovations at the grass roots and people who can apply their entrepreneurial skills to organize, create, and manage a venture to solve these complex socio economic problems and bring a social change. That is we need social entrepreneurs who can fuel socio-economic change at the grass roots with their innovations.
I am not talking about something that’s impractical and impossible. We have live and great examples to learn and to get inspired from. We all know how Nobel laureate Mohamed Younis has built the biggest bank of Bangladesh by providing banking to the most marginalized section of Bangladesh. We also know how Gram IT providing BPO solutions across the globe with its 600 employees by just sitting in the interior villages of Andhra Pradesh. I am sure you might have heard and even visited Mother Earth retail stores which is promoting handicrafts and is doing an annual business of around Rs 40 crores. So, I am talking about something that’s most practical and most valuable. I am talking about a concept that’s generating an annual turnover of around 2.5 Trillion dollars. I am talking about a concept that not only brings a change in lives of the people but also bring brings a change in your life too by earning numerous opportunities and financial returns.
Today we need people who can take up that one idea which is stronger than all the armies in the world i.e social entrepreneurship. That alone has the capacity to bring a social change and therefore I say it’s stronger than all the armies in the world.
In this 21st century, the word entrepreneurship is going to be redefined by social entrepreneurs. Social entrepreneurs are going to change the way business are run. They are going to renovate this world through their innovations for the society. I wish you and me become a part of it to make this world a better place to live for both you and me.
“There is one thing stronger than all the armies in the world, and that is an idea which has the capacity to bring a social change.”
Social entrepreneurship is one of my favorite topics to talk about and write about. I am happy to get a chance to write the first blog on this portal which is aimed at promoting social entrepreneurship. The moment I have seen the new blog that’s started by our tech team, I remembered Advanijis statement made during his campaign in the last general elections. He said ”a portal without a blog is like a letter without a signature.” What an appropriate statement! What better system can we create than the dynamism of blogs which help us know the day to day happenings and the diversity of thoughts that people share about an issue. I hope this blog makes a mark in promoting social entrepreneurship, in updating the audience about the latest happenings in social entrepreneurship and of course in promoting NSEF, its objectives and programs.
The moment I was asked to write the first blog, I thought what better topic can I choose than talking about Social entrepreneurship in general, why social entrepreneurship, how it is relevant for you and the society. Since these days I spent almost all the days and nights at office, I have chosen not to do anything new and therefore I have just opened the audio of the talk and written down what ever what I have talked in the recent TEDx conference that was organised in BITS Goa to share with you. This is how my talk went on to tell the audience why social entrepreneurship and how it is relevant for you and the society. I started with my own village.
“Dear friends, Let me share with you my observations and experience in my own village. Friends, I come from a remote village of Warangal district of Andhra Pradesh. My village in itself is a world that is different from the world that we know. With abundant natural resources, with agricultural fields all around, with a pleasant environment and with traditional arts and culture pleasing you, it looks like a world to be in but friends today my village is facing the most challenging problems. I see a farmer worrying without any credit solution, I see another farmer selling his agricultural raw produce to a merchant who makes the most profit, I see a degree holder having no awareness about the opportunities, I see a crafts man making beautiful sarees and other garments having no idea about the markets, I see a potter making beautiful articles who doesn’t know the quality control methods, I see a child suffering from malnutrition, I see women walking miles to get drinking water, I see children studying under the lamps.
All these put together makes my village a world that has a great potential facing the most challenging problems at this moment. And you find similar stories in other villages in my state, in other states and probably other countries as well. It wouldn’t be possible for the world to move forward ignoring this world that’s unexplored. It’s not a great idea either to not to unveil the potential that this world offers us.
Therefore, it needs people who can pioneer innovations at the grass roots and people who can apply their entrepreneurial skills to organize, create, and manage a venture to solve these complex socio economic problems and bring a social change. That is we need social entrepreneurs who can fuel socio-economic change at the grass roots with their innovations.
I am not talking about something that’s impractical and impossible. We have live and great examples to learn and to get inspired from. We all know how Nobel laureate Mohamed Younis has built the biggest bank of Bangladesh by providing banking to the most marginalized section of Bangladesh. We also know how Gram IT providing BPO solutions across the globe with its 600 employees by just sitting in the interior villages of Andhra Pradesh. I am sure you might have heard and even visited Mother Earth retail stores which is promoting handicrafts and is doing an annual business of around Rs 40 crores. So, I am talking about something that’s most practical and most valuable. I am talking about a concept that’s generating an annual turnover of around 2.5 Trillion dollars. I am talking about a concept that not only brings a change in lives of the people but also bring brings a change in your life too by earning numerous opportunities and financial returns.
Today we need people who can take up that one idea which is stronger than all the armies in the world i.e social entrepreneurship. That alone has the capacity to bring a social change and therefore I say it’s stronger than all the armies in the world.
In this 21st century, the word entrepreneurship is going to be redefined by social entrepreneurs. Social entrepreneurs are going to change the way business are run. They are going to renovate this world through their innovations for the society. I wish you and me become a part of it to make this world a better place to live for both you and me.
“There is one thing stronger than all the armies in the world, and that is an idea which has the capacity to bring a social change.”
Monday, February 15, 2010
Ruthless action by Govt reminds us of emergency
The first and the immediate question that came in my mind today when I saw my dear brothers and sisters of Telangana and the journalists being ruthlessly lathi charged by the police is whether we are living in a independent country or still living under some colonial rule.
It's shame to call ourselves an independent country and to say that we are a democratic country that is by the people, of the people, for the people. It has no meaning today. Leaving apart the exploitation of the constitutional rights that citizens should enjoy in terms of fighting for a cause, the way the Government is treating the protesting students of Osmania is complete inhuman first of all. If this is the way issues are resolved in an independent country and if this is the way the government treats its citizens if voilence is the only way to control movements then the conditions are no different the way they prevailed during the colonial rule and during the emergency.
The Government and congress party should first remember that this country has achieved freedom long back from colonial rule and that we are living in an independent country. The people of this country have fought the most cruel emergency that was brought by Indira gandhi and the congress party has paid the price for it. Mrs. Gandhi had no option but to face the ire of people. And am sure, the same is going to repeat now.
If this is the way Government wants to resolve the issues, then i can only say that Mrs Gandhi, Mr Chidambaram, Mr Rosaiah and Mrs. Sabitha Indira Reddy are simply fools and that they donot understand the spirit of our democracy. People have the right to fight for an issue. The moment you try to exploit their rights, then you will see valconic erruption of the anger and frustration which will lead to voilence. How the hell can you expect peace in the state when you yourself are promoting voilence by your non sense action? How the hell do you think you can ensure a good governance when you yourself set bad precedents?
It's time for the government to realise their foolishness and try to understand that they are not british and we are not Indians and that we are not under colonial rule. Else, people are going to teach them a big lesson. It doesnt matter whether we are Telanganites or Andhraites or a pakisthanis, we are all human beings. No one has the right to exploit our human rights. Its timr for everyone to unite and condemn such inhuman action of the Government and fight for justice.
It's shame to call ourselves an independent country and to say that we are a democratic country that is by the people, of the people, for the people. It has no meaning today. Leaving apart the exploitation of the constitutional rights that citizens should enjoy in terms of fighting for a cause, the way the Government is treating the protesting students of Osmania is complete inhuman first of all. If this is the way issues are resolved in an independent country and if this is the way the government treats its citizens if voilence is the only way to control movements then the conditions are no different the way they prevailed during the colonial rule and during the emergency.
The Government and congress party should first remember that this country has achieved freedom long back from colonial rule and that we are living in an independent country. The people of this country have fought the most cruel emergency that was brought by Indira gandhi and the congress party has paid the price for it. Mrs. Gandhi had no option but to face the ire of people. And am sure, the same is going to repeat now.
If this is the way Government wants to resolve the issues, then i can only say that Mrs Gandhi, Mr Chidambaram, Mr Rosaiah and Mrs. Sabitha Indira Reddy are simply fools and that they donot understand the spirit of our democracy. People have the right to fight for an issue. The moment you try to exploit their rights, then you will see valconic erruption of the anger and frustration which will lead to voilence. How the hell can you expect peace in the state when you yourself are promoting voilence by your non sense action? How the hell do you think you can ensure a good governance when you yourself set bad precedents?
It's time for the government to realise their foolishness and try to understand that they are not british and we are not Indians and that we are not under colonial rule. Else, people are going to teach them a big lesson. It doesnt matter whether we are Telanganites or Andhraites or a pakisthanis, we are all human beings. No one has the right to exploit our human rights. Its timr for everyone to unite and condemn such inhuman action of the Government and fight for justice.
Friday, February 12, 2010
Price being paid by Telangana for bad politics and indecisive government
An indecisive and impotent central Government with its opportunistic stands has once again decieved the people of Telangana.
On Dec 9 2009, The Home Minister of Govt of India has made an announcement saying that they are initiating the process of Telangana. Then, after hectic lobbying by the selfish leaders of Andhra for their businesses and real estate in Hyderabad, Government in a few days then changed it's stand and made a favourable statement for United Andhra. And then after Telangana protested against the U turn by Govt, Govt called for a meeting and todays it says the shri krishna commission will look into demands of Telangana and United Andhra.
With this Govt once again with its indecisiveness and with its opportunitsic politics has betrayed Telangana. Where is the need of committe first of all? what happened to the recommendation of first SRC? The govt didn't respect the recommendation of SRC1 and whats the guarantee that they will respect Shri Krishna commission's recommendation? What happened to supreme court ruling on Mulki laws. The govt didnt even respect Supreme court ruling and what's the gaurantee that Govt will now listen to Justice Shri Krishna? What happened to Pranab Committee which was formed 7 years back? He recommended for Telangana because of which Govt announced telangana on dec 9. Why didnt the Government stick to its stand? What happened to Rosiah committee which was instituted by the then CM two years back?
Government has no intension of respecting the demands of people who are fighting for their resources and their betterment. Government has no intension of forming Telangana. Instead with its own political agenda, Goverment has decided to betray people of Telangana.
Atleast now, people have to realise that Telangana is politicised all major political parties of AP including Congress, TRS and TDP and that they shouldnt trust parties for formation of telangana. Instead only through continious protests and through non cooperation, they can win over parties and Government. Dr. Ambedkar said Democracy is all about fulfilling the aspirations of people and Goverment is the institution that will take care of protecting such democracy. The same was reiterated by our beloved ex-president of India, Abdul kalam when someone asked about Telangana in a meeting in Vijaywada. If that's the case then Government has to finally come down one day and create Telangana. If people are determined, I am sure that the day wont be very far.
Jai Hind
Jai Telangana
On Dec 9 2009, The Home Minister of Govt of India has made an announcement saying that they are initiating the process of Telangana. Then, after hectic lobbying by the selfish leaders of Andhra for their businesses and real estate in Hyderabad, Government in a few days then changed it's stand and made a favourable statement for United Andhra. And then after Telangana protested against the U turn by Govt, Govt called for a meeting and todays it says the shri krishna commission will look into demands of Telangana and United Andhra.
With this Govt once again with its indecisiveness and with its opportunitsic politics has betrayed Telangana. Where is the need of committe first of all? what happened to the recommendation of first SRC? The govt didn't respect the recommendation of SRC1 and whats the guarantee that they will respect Shri Krishna commission's recommendation? What happened to supreme court ruling on Mulki laws. The govt didnt even respect Supreme court ruling and what's the gaurantee that Govt will now listen to Justice Shri Krishna? What happened to Pranab Committee which was formed 7 years back? He recommended for Telangana because of which Govt announced telangana on dec 9. Why didnt the Government stick to its stand? What happened to Rosiah committee which was instituted by the then CM two years back?
Government has no intension of respecting the demands of people who are fighting for their resources and their betterment. Government has no intension of forming Telangana. Instead with its own political agenda, Goverment has decided to betray people of Telangana.
Atleast now, people have to realise that Telangana is politicised all major political parties of AP including Congress, TRS and TDP and that they shouldnt trust parties for formation of telangana. Instead only through continious protests and through non cooperation, they can win over parties and Government. Dr. Ambedkar said Democracy is all about fulfilling the aspirations of people and Goverment is the institution that will take care of protecting such democracy. The same was reiterated by our beloved ex-president of India, Abdul kalam when someone asked about Telangana in a meeting in Vijaywada. If that's the case then Government has to finally come down one day and create Telangana. If people are determined, I am sure that the day wont be very far.
Jai Hind
Jai Telangana
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