Musings Own Thoughts

 While there is no doubt in my mind that the loudest voices heard in public and even private spaces are the ones proclaiming pessimism, danger, scaremongering and misinformation. However, as a student of Vedanta I also believe that left to oneself humans are fundamentally good and are capable of acts selflessness which are beyond ones imagination. The problem I face today is that this belief and faith in humanity is shaken to the core when one discovers the immense amount of hatred, suffering and violence we see all over  the world.  The very fact that these voices are becoming mainstream and louder to the extent that the discourse on all platforms is promoting division and disharmony is making me pose the question of the title of this blog. The times we live in are increasingly referred to as Kalyug or dark ages and the discriminatory abilities of most us are poor if not non existent. This is evidenced in many ways in the way we act in our daily lives. I will touch on as...

Come winter and marriages will take place as an annual ritual, déjà vu events with the vows of unending fidelity and eternal love. While this happens the reality of more than 70% of such events ending in messy divorces is an ignored statistic. A question crossed my mind while witnessing the ceremonies of marriages is that is it possible that these over the top celebrations are a kind of assurance that the memory bank of the celebrations and the effort, expenses keep the marriages intact for as long as possible. The contract and institution of marriage is in reality a  commercial transactional contract with legal safeguards to ensure property and assets get transferred and remain within the family.  Human behaviour is governed by a herd instinct and we are mostly living superficial lives conforming to societal norms without much questioning. Most of us take birth, play in childhood with toys and trinkets fulfilling our desires, and soon encouraged by adults learn to say my doll...

 Does this name strike a bell or a cord in any of us from the Indian common folk? Probably not but the name Aurangzeb is as well known as Dara Shikoh is unknown. In the present day of an increasingly polarised Hindutva agenda Aurangzeb is a name used almost as a slur or abuse for reasons which seem justifiable. Had  his assassination not occurred Dara Shikoh would have been an object of veneration and Aurangzeb would have been an unknown person, certainly not the puritanical radical Islamic emperor who hated and persecuted Hindus, imposed taxes and promoted a radical line of Islamic extreme religion. To understand this we must try and decipher the Mughal empire and how it influenced India and conversely how India influenced the Mughal rulers. While this blog is not a scholarly piece on the Mughal rulers, the popular narrative that native India was a homogeneous society under foreign rulers for centuries including about the last 150 years under British rulers were all bad for I...

 There is no doubt in my mind that economic reforms have accelerated India's progress and absolute poverty as I have witnessed in my childhood seems to be absent and is at least not visible on the streets and bustees of urban and rural India.  The socialist model where all are forcibly labelled as equals and wealth is forcibly redistributed seems logical but has failed miserably. The main reason I guess is that when creators of wealth are forcibly made to give up most of their earnings to the state for redistribution to the poor and jobless, they lose their drive to create wealth. On the flip side if the jobless are given doles which are enough to live in decent comfort without work they will be happy to live a life of mediocrity without striving to improve their condition.  Markets by their nature, especially free markets dealing with private goods, inevitably lead to an equilibrium of supply and demand and this leads to a fair price and the usual double thank you moment...

 Today, I am going to write about the AYUSH resident doctors I have come across and their stories of courage. As MBBS doctors and creatures of privilege we fail to recognize and remember the struggle to get admission to medical college. The difference between getting the coveted prize and missing it can be fraction of a mark. Add to this the reservation conundrum, the disability quota and the hacking of NEET. So in my humble opinion the ones who miss out think that they can study medicine through other branches like Homeopathy, Ayurvedic Medicine, Unani, Yoga and Naturopathy to become doctors. So with the basic medical education in place it is quite easy to obtain knowledge of allopathic medicines of common use and prescribe the same. While technically this is wrong and this practice is condemned as cross pathy I have mixed views about the same.  In India, the health policy recognizes the shortage of trained doctors in India and have attempted to create a loose legal framework...

Definition of health as a right is enshrined in the constitution of the World Health Organization which has 194 countries as members. Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity. The enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of health is one of the fundamental rights of every human being without distinction of race, religion, political belief, economic or social condition. Having established this right this blog is talking about two things, free of cost basic healthcare which makes this a complex topic.  The fundamental conflict in this equation is that of the Forms of government (capitalistic free market vs socialist welfare state) The difference between public and private goods.  Cross subsidizing of healthcare in terms of the healthy large number bearing the cost of treatment of the unhealthy smaller number by the tool of insurance.  Preventive vs Curative medicine.  Incentives of the s...

 Time is a healer and even as we feel that the associations of the moment are very important and vital, it is indeed surprising how memories fade with time. Yet all religious traditions have a fascination bordering on obsession to preserve the memory of past associations especially the immediate family who have left us. We all imagine that these persons are existing in some other world in the nearly same state as we imagine them to be. The physical form, the emotional tug and their inbuilt presence in me as a person makes this a fertile ground for imagination. As I personally reach an age of 64, I am increasingly conscious of old age and the memories of much of my life are rewinding like an old movie. As we go through this week before the Parsi new year prayers are on in the fire temples. The sentiment and faith rooted in belief that our ancestors somehow come back to visit us on earth in this week and we need to use some rituals and prayers which can be recited only by part time p...

 Recently I heard a Hindi podcast called Pulliyabaazi hosted by public policy experts from Takshashila Institute of Public Policy Pranay Kothasthane, Saurabh and Khyati. A framework of discussing issues was taken up to decide which ones were overrated or underrated in terms of importance and which ones were too complicated to slot into either of the above two categories. There are so many points of debate and the argumentative Indian revels in these debates with often extreme views? Sometimes there is a over hype to these questions and at other times there is a feeling that issues which are important are underrated. And sometimes they are too complicated to be categorized.  I will try and make this blog interactive and long and take few words or topics and try and give my opinion on whether the issue at hand is overrated by which I mean we give it more importance than it warrants or it is underrated in that it is not getting the importance it deserves or finally since both sid...

Time is so relative and almost like sand escaping from the clenched fist. The more you clench it the quicker it escapes. As I come to the end of my innings it almost seems that I am walking or running at frantic pace but the picture of my life is changing albeit slowly and steadily. However, it still sometimes feels that the same things are repeating again and again. All of us in positions of some form of leadership or as persons who are lead are dealing with personalities which fall into four main categories, risk taking drivers, the cautious analyzers, the blockers and the showman projector who promises to deliver but remains static. Amidst all this it is important to be innovative, creative and cautiously optimistic.  In the long journey of one's lifetime there come moments when you evaluate your life and wonder as you look back about your accomplishments and failures. At such times there can be moments of despair and joy but at such times patience is the one quality needed. The...

  This blog is a small reflection of the many institutions that have touched our lives and how they were created by visionaries and dreamers. The challenge of the times has seen some of them falling by the wayside, some becoming stagnant and some remaining relevant and prospering and a few seeing bad times but reviving again like the proverbial phoenix rising from the ashes.  In my life I will allude to my schools, my Medical College, my two major workplaces and the residences we as Parsis reside in.  At the outset let me talk about the Parsi Baugs and colonies. The community is blessed with respect to housing which ranks as a primary need provided at near zero cost. It is a tribute to some great stalwarts like Jerbai Wadia of the whose descendents are the Bombay Dyeing group Nusli Wadia and it leaves many of us wonderstruck that a relatively uneducated lady from a family of ship builders and ship breakers from Sura port followed the Britishers to Mumbai and created a nam...