Musings Own Thoughts

What are we seeking as living entities all the time? When asked this question I often wonder about what the first thing or word that comes to one's mind. It could be something which has taken your fancy at the time, a gadget, money or a turnaround in health or even a wish to travel, or something to eat or drink. All these are tangible acquisitions. The other thing we seek is intangible in the form of love, acceptance, name fame and respect. However, the common thread underneath all this is is the desire to gain happiness. Then the next question to ask is how long do you wish to be happy and the obvious answer is in one word "Forever". All of us from experience know for sure that the happiness gained by acquiring something tangible lasts till it is acquired and this is immediately replaced by the next object of desire. About the intangible things one seeks, they too are temporary and ever changing according to times and environment prevalent at the time. This is the commo...

A clichéd title but the reason for blogging is the fact that this is something we smugly believe and take pride in. Scratch beneath the surface and remove the veil, even slightly and the truth is often different, mostly unpleasant and even at times ugly. A man is a social animal with a behavior pattern which is usually consistent with genetic and experiential factors. Therefore, often there is kind of typecasting associated with a person who is identified by gender, class, caste, religion, nation and profession. All of these seem to create impressions on an individual affecting his behavior. Therefore, this also, in turn, leads the persons who come in contact with each other to slot the person in front of them into any neat slot that seems fit. Vedantic teaching and all scriptural teaching agree that the real nature of man is Sat Chit Ananda which in Sanskrit means Existence or isness (Sat), Consciousness or Perception (Chit) and Bliss (Ananda) all of which are eternal and e...

Amidst the causes underlying the raging conflicts of the earth since time immemorial, religion ranks as probably a single most triggering factor. So then why do religions thrive, prosper and, in turn, consume the very same persons, they sat out to save in the first place. Every human birth into a family is a natural phenomenon governed by the laws of nature based on factors of which we have limited understanding and knowledge. However, the commonality of birth and evolution is the life principle imbued in the cell which replicates and specializes and creates forms of life from the unicellular amoeba to the evolved man, whom we arrogantly refer to as the highest form of life. The man has through his discoveries tried to unravel the vastness of the universe and as yet the expanse of the universe is beyond the scope of his imagination, It is inconceivable that equal or more evolved forms of life are not existing. In the midst of these facts, I feel that man's continuous  atte...

The fact that she is no more is yet to sink in. For every question of yours I have twenty answers. From cold to cancer the body is capable of reversing and healing disease. Celebrate health not disease. Connect with Mother Earth. Add Life to Life. This was what she lived for and will live as long as there is life on Mother Earth. My association with Dr. Vijaya Venkat started many years ago, in fact so ingrained are her principles that I don't remember when I really started. Initially l had met  Mr. Bhasker Save an organic farmer who opened my eyes to natural farming and living with nature. He was the first person to make me aware of the ill effects of the five whites refined salt, white sugar, white milk, white rice, white flour and refined oil. I read about Dr. Venkat in the papers and decided that I would need her help to avoid and if possible eliminate the five whites from my diet. I joined her course and saw her for the first time at the Dadar centre. She came across a...

Even at the cost being baited and targetted, I am compelled to say I told you so. The series of actions and the brazen attempts to make India a theocratic state are so numerous, that it will take me a few days to list them. Rationalists killed, sedition laws brought out to counter criticism of the government, modification of textbooks to create false history or correct the errors of colonial historians. In 2014 when the election results were announced and a so-called saffron wave surged and swept a BJP led dispensation into power, I was considered a recluse and pariah in my own family and friend circle. I have chosen to keep quiet for some time and allow things to pass. However, I consider not speaking up today to be a crime. Those who read my blogs, must know that I have repeatedly warned you about Modi's authoritarianism and his mask of development. The mask is now falling and revealing the khaki shorts, which are hidden under the sartorial designer clothes which are p...

Capital punishment, meaning death by hanging is in the statutes and is the law of the land. In a society governed by the rule of law, is capital punishment justified? To answer this question based on the nation and its people is going to be my en devour. This punishment has been now explicitly reserved for the gravest of crimes and has been given for such crimes. It takes decades of hearings and sifting of evidence before a case is decided in our system. After that , appeals and multiple benches, end up with a mercy petition which goes through layers of state government, central government each taking their own sweet time before opining on the petitions. While all this is going on under trials or those on death row spend their lives in abysmal conditions, known as jails in this country. I wonder if this is not defined as a punishment almost making a living man dead. Man is a paradoxical animal. Potentially, a single great man can alter the destiny of his country or that of the world...

It has been a while since I blogged. In fact over a year. However, my Modicentric blogging led to an expectation that I need to talk politics all the while. However, while national issues and political developments engage my mind, I will write about that some other day. Today, I want to share with you musings and thoughts about my adventure to become a student once again. More than a year back, while reflecting on career and life in general, I realized that I was gradually entering a decline phase in my Orthopedic career. My lack of success in my field has been mainly due to my temperament, laziness and a casual attitude. This realization made me want to make change for the better. In short I wanted to learn to "manage" my life better. So I decided to learn management literally and try and train my self to improve and manage myself. While a full MBA seemed beyond my reach, I decided to challenge myself and apply for a course in healthcare or hospital administration. After a ...

Ten days after the verdict in favor of NDA in Election 2014, I would like to say that I am surprised, at the scale of the victory achieved by the NDA. However, my views on NaMo remain unchanged. Electoral legitimacy cannot make one change ones view about a person. However, there is hope for each and every person including Narendra Modi. His actions rather than utterances will be under close scrutiny. For starters an optimist like me cannot despair at the complete defeat of good in this mahabharat, but as they say the battle is lost but the war has begun. This is a war to rescue the soul of India and to win this war even a handful of crusaders is enough. The fallacy of the system first past the post leads to this skewed result. I am quoting from stats from an article by P. Sainath. Nationally, the BJP got 31 per cent of the vote and 282 seats. The Congress got 19.3 per cent of the vote and 44 seats. As Siddharth Varadarajan writes,  that’s a 12 per cent difference in votes, but ...

As a concerned citizen I write with a deep sense of responsibility today to express my anguish about Elections 2014. While democracy and elections in a parliamentary system of representation has its pros and cons, a nation and its leadership and the wisdom of the voters can and should overcome the flaws of the system. The country has seen so many reforms and amendments to the constitution and the electoral laws over the years and particularly in the last few years. However, Elections 2014 has been one of the worst in living memory. The abuse and charges and counter charges and personal attacks along with the blatant use of money power has been unprecedented. Is this now a permanent malaise or will this be a temporary phase? At the cost of sounding unpopular and predictable, Elections 2014's slide began the day , BJP declared Mr. Narendra Modi the Prime Ministerial candidate, and abdicated the power to run the campaign to Modi and his inner coterie. They left no stone unturned to...

As election 2014 comes closer the cacophonyof this election is more than many elections of the past. This is inversely proportionate with the substance and content of the issues discussed during the campaigns of the major stake holders. Therefore it becomes paramount that each of us reflects on the real issues and makes an informed and correct choice. Every citizen must exercises his right with a clear sense of duty to the nation. I cannot preach or directly or indirectly influence the voter, but can  only speak for myself as a voter. Rights of Voter: The most obvious is the right to elect a representative to Parliament, the highest decision making body of the Government. So the question in a Parliamentary democracy is do we choose candidate or party. I think for me a local candidate with integrity and a clean record and who is capable of articulating the aspirations of his constituents effectively at all levels is important. He or she must represent the interest of all sections...

For a long time I have silently viewed the scenario and refrained from commenting. However, with the clear battle lines being drawn up by the adversaries, it is time to make ones choices. The moribund Congress and UPA has woken from its slumber. It has started to play its divide and rule game. Politics of creating fear among the minorities, tom tomming past achievements, reviving the legacy of the glorious leadership provided are all typical old style jargon. Then what is new, an aggressive assertive Rahul who seems recklessly abusive and ready to take on a communal Modi without pursuing a soft Hindutva line. Is this because in this election Congress is a dead duck so it wants to go down with bravado? or it wants to make sure that Modi sinks. Congress has done nothing nor does it seem capable of reviving its fortunes. All the sops in the world cannot mop up the tears of the Congress worker who sees his leaders incapable of turning its fortunes. The only saving grace is the media pre...

At  4pm on a Sunday the Indian electorate has delivered a verdict. About Delhi first. While I have been a fan of idealism, the cynic in me has often despaired and wondered wether the times in which we live will has any place for any idealism. The electorate has shown that idealism is not dead and given a choice they have with some caution given encouragement to a green horn Aam Aadmi Party. The fact that more people voted in this election than ever before, first time voters came out with a fresh mind and one in three voted for Aam Aadmi Party is an important pointer. When going to vote, voters vote on issues affecting them and express either their happiness and give a positive vote or vote against the dispensation which they perceive as corrupt and bad and chose the other option. So is it only a question of changing horses and the voter be damned?  In this context the emergence of AAP presented an alternative pro people option. The major difference is that without being righ...

The optimist in me answers no to both the questions, however the danger of one or both happening is distinctly possible. Hinduism has been defined by the supreme court and by the first real international representative of the religion , in the form of Swami Vivekananda, as an ethos or a way of life. This is very well expressed as a sanatana dharma,  a code of ethics, a way of living through which one may achieve moksha (enlightenment, liberation). The religion evolved from the Vedas which are author less books, passed on from generations through the spoken and the written word culminating in the Vedanta or the end of knowledge. The upanishads and the last one the Bhagavad Gita, are the end or epitome of real knowledge. The adherents of this faith never seeked to proselytize or conquer or subjugate others. The absence of a single universal teacher or papal structure allowed the Hindu to evolve from lowest forms of worship to the highest discovery of the presence of divinity in all...

Well finally the question which a few years ago was asked in inaudible whispers, but lately had become completely audible whispers, has been answered. Will he? won't he? When will he? should he? shouldn't he? Where will he? were all being asked. The game of cricket has always been a game of talent skill and above all temperament. Special talents bordering on the genius come but once in a generation and the cricket crazy nation India was lucky to get one such in the form of a young cherubic boy named Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar,who burst on the scene 24 years back. He had even before starting his international career, been noticed as a prodigy waiting to burst on the scene. Many a talent of this kind has fallen by the wayside and examples of such so called prodigies and the next Bradman's and Gavaskar's have flattered to deceive. The fact that Sachin was able to carry these huge expectations as one of the youngest player ever to have ever played first class and internatio...

Greatness is defined in many ways and is always relative and comparative, however in the rare cases a person excels in his field, but even if he is not the greatest he is a class act, a class apart. Rahul Dravid well and truly in my books comes in the latter category. Even if statistics and numbers are taken as a measure of greatness, Rahul is a legend, but Rahul's greatness lay in terms which are immeasurable. In a career spanning almost two decades, there is not even a whiff of controversy. No tantrum, no cheating, no dissent, no wild gesture, no show of inappropriate emotion, no financial impropriety, no indiscipline. I doubt there can be any person in any field who can play at the highest level for so many years in this way. At the same time, despite his great qualities, he was not lacking in passion and exuberance, but like his game, everything was measured and precise. While he was a copy book, technically sound player, he had the unique ability to reinvent himself and a...

These are a few observations and thoughts about the continent and country Australia, my own observations with love for all and malice towards none. While Australia and India qualify to be literal continents, they are really a melting pot of different people and cultures. While one is a nation of immigrants, the other has a bewildering mix of indigenous cultures and people as different as chalk and cheese. The contrast that hits one in the face is the inverse relation between population and space. Australia with large barren spaces, with majority of its people living in Sydney Melbourne Brisbane, Perth  and Canberra but still the populated zones not nearly as densely populated as small towns of India. On the other hand dense cheek by jowl urban slums and large rural populations, with  less space and small land holdings characterize India. The sheer noise, odours and vibrant colours contrast with the very standardized look of every center street or town with nearly the sa...

The NaMo interview is too tempting for me not to blog We will analyze each answer and see. Is it frustrating that many people still define you by 2002? People have a right to be critical. We are a democratic country. Everyone has their own view. I would feel guilty if I did something wrong. Frustration comes when you think “I got caught. I was stealing and I got caught.” That’s not my case. You can say what u want but i do not care since i was not caught. I made sure that i destroyed as much evidence i could, bought over and threatened as many witnesses i could and rewarded or punished the police officers who obeyed or disobeyed me. So who can catch me??? Do you regret what happened? I’ll tell you. India’s Supreme Court is considered a good court today in the world. The Supreme Court created a special investigative team (SIT) and top-most, very bright officers who  overlook oversee the SIT. That report came. In that report, I was given a thoroughly clean chit, a thoroughly cl...

This is an issue existing for a long time and in particular in a vulnerable soft state like India, the popular view can easily lead to dangerous consequences. An overburdened inefficient criminal justice system, along with pliable unaccountable investigative agencies will often allow criminals and terrorists to escape, the clutches of law. So then many citizens believe that terrorists whose crimes are inhuman cannot expect to be recipients of human rights. When someone wages war against state in the name of religion or in retaliation for perceived injustice then that person risks getting killed like in a war situation. Is this acceptable for a democracy like India? Specifically where the political polarization on religion lines reaps rich electoral dividends and even national security becomes a victim of adversarial politics, should we accept encounter killings of suspected or confirmed terrorists as the price for national security. While no state or political system is perfect, we ...