During the present crisis in Kashmir, surprisingly many public intellectuals have expressed forcefully their views on why Kashmir should be granted independence (or a plebiscite should be conducted, which in the current scenario, amounts to the same thing). From Swaminathan Aiyar to Arundhati Roy, from the logical to the hysterical, a lot of people seem to have given up on Kashmir. They try to present their analysis from different perspectives, some from the economic point of view (Vir Sanghvi), some from human rights (Aiyar) and some from no point of view (Arundhati Roy). Wow! As these redoubtable columnists must have reached these conclusions after due thought process, let me present what are the most likely outcomes if their wishes were to be granted (i.e. Independence to Kashmir or to any of its parts).
First major fallout would be that the sleeping separatist elements in India, the ULFA, the Maoists, the Bodos etc would all gain immense strength from such a division. Today Kashmir, tomorrow we may as well bid adieu to the India as we know of today.
Second, giving away Kashmir would, in no uncertain terms, increase the proximity of Pakistani threat to the rest of India. To understand this, one must appreciate that what is known as Kashmir valley is surrounded by rough terrain of mountains, valleys and jungles. This also makes the movement from the PoK to Kashmir dangerous for the miscreants. Giving Kashmir away or making it independent would be akin to Indian government building roads between the two Kashmirs, expressly for the terrorists. India would have a much more terrible time dealing with terrorism that it has now.
Third, there is a complete lack of any give n take option, when it comes to Kashmir. Suppose Pakistan had a piece of land in which India had some interest. Then, it might have made sense to barter one piece of land with another (quite common internationally for settling border disputes). But unfortunately or fortunately, there is no such situation here. So what exactly would be India's gains after giving in to the separatists demands. Nothing.
With all due respect to the intellectuals, they have got it completely wrong this time. Mood of people change and so will the mood in Kashmir. Separating Kashmir from India, because of any reason whatsoever, would be an extremely foolish step right now (I dont know how the situation unfolds in future).
Aiyar justifies giving independence to Kashmir on grounds of liberalism. This is an extremely narrow view. If being a liberal means giving people whatever they want, then anarchy would prevail in no time. Being a liberal only means respecting different opinions, debating about them but always, within the boundaries of law and the agreed constitution. Hoisting flags of Pakistan, degrading Indian constitution goes beyond the purview of liberalism. Yet, one can do all these things in India and get away. India has always been pluralistic. Lets stay that way.
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
Hai Kashmir!!!
This is the cry of a desperate heart. Like the proverbial phoenix, the problems in Kashmir keep rising every time one seems to think that everything is getting better. The state government had almost completed its term this time and another fair election would have gone a long way in solidifying the democratic spirit. Alas! That was not to be. Who is to blame? Opportunisitc PDP and its leader, the state government, the governor or the sleeping and utterly incapable our home minister. May be all of them and may be all of us. Dont know. The damn problem of Kashmir has become too big and complex to be understood by professional security experts, leave aside amateurs like me. Like a cronic cancer in India's face (geographically), Kashmir makes a mockery of our democratic principles and institutions.
It was ok for India to have a problem like Kashmir when India was a nobody in the comity of nations. Today, we almost single-handedly turn the tables on the developed nations at forums like WTO. Today, we can negotiate an exception of monumental consequences (Nuclear deal). But still today, we can not or are unable to do anything about the problem named Kashmir. What a pity!
I wonder if Kashmir would still be a problem for us when my generation reaches the half century. For our generation, Kashmir was heaven in books and has always been hell in reality. A bomb blast in Kashmir (and Jammu) killing 10 people generates markedly less awe than a similar event in any other part of India. It is almost as if we expect nothing better from Kashmir. Heaven turned into inferno. What a shame!
Long before, I read Tavleen Singh (India Today) in an article where she argued that its only a pro-hindu party like BJP which can negotiate and solve the vexed issue. To her credit, Vajpayeeji did cover a lot of ground in solving this problem. However, the current BJP and its leadership behave like they are the agents of ISI - doing everything to polarize Indians along communal lines. It has been a really long time since its leader displayed original thought process. The current problem in Kashmir presented (and presents) a golden opportunity to display some leadership skills. He wants to be known as the new Sardaar (Patel). Then why not display some of Patel's thinking - judicious use of cajoling and coaxing to further national integration.
It is foolish to expect anything from our current home minister. Our Prime Minister has many qualities but handling a politically vexed problem like Kashmir is not one of them. Likewise for our finance minister who is anyway busy fighting bad economics right now. The one person who has the right political skills to set things right is Pranab Mukherji. He must lead the all party delegation to come to a temporary solution for now.
Permanent solution is and is likely to remain a dream for a long while in Kashmir.
It was ok for India to have a problem like Kashmir when India was a nobody in the comity of nations. Today, we almost single-handedly turn the tables on the developed nations at forums like WTO. Today, we can negotiate an exception of monumental consequences (Nuclear deal). But still today, we can not or are unable to do anything about the problem named Kashmir. What a pity!
I wonder if Kashmir would still be a problem for us when my generation reaches the half century. For our generation, Kashmir was heaven in books and has always been hell in reality. A bomb blast in Kashmir (and Jammu) killing 10 people generates markedly less awe than a similar event in any other part of India. It is almost as if we expect nothing better from Kashmir. Heaven turned into inferno. What a shame!
Long before, I read Tavleen Singh (India Today) in an article where she argued that its only a pro-hindu party like BJP which can negotiate and solve the vexed issue. To her credit, Vajpayeeji did cover a lot of ground in solving this problem. However, the current BJP and its leadership behave like they are the agents of ISI - doing everything to polarize Indians along communal lines. It has been a really long time since its leader displayed original thought process. The current problem in Kashmir presented (and presents) a golden opportunity to display some leadership skills. He wants to be known as the new Sardaar (Patel). Then why not display some of Patel's thinking - judicious use of cajoling and coaxing to further national integration.
It is foolish to expect anything from our current home minister. Our Prime Minister has many qualities but handling a politically vexed problem like Kashmir is not one of them. Likewise for our finance minister who is anyway busy fighting bad economics right now. The one person who has the right political skills to set things right is Pranab Mukherji. He must lead the all party delegation to come to a temporary solution for now.
Permanent solution is and is likely to remain a dream for a long while in Kashmir.
Wednesday, July 02, 2008
Life with the rainbow of Songs
I don't remember when I got hooked to this habit of listening to songs. But whenever it was, I am grateful for it. They always have such a soothing effect, it is almost miraculous. I have a bad day, I come home and put on the songs. Voila! I slowly start forgetting the real and get into the ethereal. It is as if when Rafi says 'Dil ka bhanwar kare pukar.. pyar ka raag suno', the mind actually starts listening to the internal 'pyar ka raag'. No matter how terrible the day has been, just listening to Ghulam Ali singing 'Kabhi aah lab par machal gaye...' or Asha crooning 'Dard jab teri ata hai...' make me forget everything and hang onto every single word of these songs. I wonder (always) how the writers of yore could come up with such beautiful compositions. What did they go through in life to write 'Jane kahan gaye woh din...'? Was it sheer artistry or expression of a rebellion when the write wrote 'Pyaar kiya to darna kya...'? You cannot feel dejected enough to listen to 'Yeh duniya, yeh mehfil' and still feel dejected afterwards.
I can see my life till present through the prism of songs. My earliest memories are of waiting for Wednesdays and Fridays for the Chitrahaar at Doordarshan. Oh, that half hour period used to be complete bliss, even though most of the songs broadcast were below average. Then, the Sunday Rangoli, which was the most important ingredient of Sunday breakfast. Of course, all this depended on the electricity god. Tuning to the radio for Aapki Farmaish was almost a regular event whenever I was in my village. Then, came the Sainik school period and 7 years of boarding education. Ragging was a way of life there, going on for 4 years (yes you read it right). Every year it just used to get worse, with more and more physical thrashing. The only solace was of course the Philips top 10. I still remember getting slapped left, right and centre with 'Aisi Deewangi, dekhi nahin kahin' playing in the background. 'Jadoo teri nazar...' and 'Ek ladki ko dekha to aisa laga...' were our mantras to escape the tough life emotionally. Vacations used to be the best time with songs like 'Pyar mein dil ka murga bole kukdukoon' playing full volume in my house, disturbing everybody all around. But who cared.
Then came engineering. The dreaded ragging was over for me before I could even completely enjoy 'Taal se taal mila'. Engineering ragging only lasted around 5 months and for a thoroughly 'ragged' person like me, it was more like honeymoon. Anyway, 'Taal se taal mila' gave way to 'usne bola kem chhe, kem chhe;maine bola aim chhe, aim chhe...' and life became completely rudderless. Engineering is the most chilled out period of an engineers' life, how much ever they fake it. I knew(did I?) that what I was studying was worthless from the point of view of getting a job which seemed to be the only goal of 4 years. So 'Dil Chahta hai...' was the daily prayer and Matrix the only reality. Then, after a short break (for job), came the B-School. And I have absolutely no idea what went on in those 2 years. I only remember clearly getting the admission offer (through email!) and then after that, everything went fast forward. Of course, the Wednesday breaks at KC, with heart singing 'ek taraf uska ghar, ek taraf mayqada...' were the periodical recharging stations. The second year was a lot better, with coming of age of 401 gang and feeling 'Dhoom machale...'.
I have noticed that good songs take their own sweet time to grow on you. First time I heard 'jiya beqaraar hai, aayi bahaar hai...', I was like what the hell! Same with 'man tadpat hari darshan ko aaj...' or 'mujhe tumse kuch bhi na chahiye...'. Now, I rate these songs as one of the best ever composed and sung. It is also the same case with most of the Rehmaan songs, be it 'tanha, tanha...' or 'kabhi neem neem kabhi shahad shahad', the songs always feel better the more I hear them. It is as if there are new emotions getting uncovered with every repeat recital.
Then there is the question of the favorite singer, favorite song etc. I have long given up on such things as it is too difficult for me to judge. Who is better - Lata singing 'aaj phir jeene ki tamanna hai' or rafi singing 'mera to jo bhi kadam hai...'. Mukesh with 'hothon pe sachhai rehti hai' is as outstanding as Mahendra Kapoor crooning 'tum agar saath dene ka waada karo'. Kishore da is obviously rated a master by many but is Manna Dey any less heart touching with 'Laga chunari mein daag'. On what parameters can you give any lesser point to Ghulam Ali when he cuts through your heart with 'Jinke hothon pe hasin...'. For me, the songs, their singers, writers and composers are all part of a great family, engaged in exploring the finer emotions of our heart and quite often, challenging our beliefs. Ending this with a line by Mukesh:
'Zaahid sharaab peene de masjid mein baith kar';
'ya woh jagah bata de, jahan par khuda na ho'
I can see my life till present through the prism of songs. My earliest memories are of waiting for Wednesdays and Fridays for the Chitrahaar at Doordarshan. Oh, that half hour period used to be complete bliss, even though most of the songs broadcast were below average. Then, the Sunday Rangoli, which was the most important ingredient of Sunday breakfast. Of course, all this depended on the electricity god. Tuning to the radio for Aapki Farmaish was almost a regular event whenever I was in my village. Then, came the Sainik school period and 7 years of boarding education. Ragging was a way of life there, going on for 4 years (yes you read it right). Every year it just used to get worse, with more and more physical thrashing. The only solace was of course the Philips top 10. I still remember getting slapped left, right and centre with 'Aisi Deewangi, dekhi nahin kahin' playing in the background. 'Jadoo teri nazar...' and 'Ek ladki ko dekha to aisa laga...' were our mantras to escape the tough life emotionally. Vacations used to be the best time with songs like 'Pyar mein dil ka murga bole kukdukoon' playing full volume in my house, disturbing everybody all around. But who cared.
Then came engineering. The dreaded ragging was over for me before I could even completely enjoy 'Taal se taal mila'. Engineering ragging only lasted around 5 months and for a thoroughly 'ragged' person like me, it was more like honeymoon. Anyway, 'Taal se taal mila' gave way to 'usne bola kem chhe, kem chhe;maine bola aim chhe, aim chhe...' and life became completely rudderless. Engineering is the most chilled out period of an engineers' life, how much ever they fake it. I knew(did I?) that what I was studying was worthless from the point of view of getting a job which seemed to be the only goal of 4 years. So 'Dil Chahta hai...' was the daily prayer and Matrix the only reality. Then, after a short break (for job), came the B-School. And I have absolutely no idea what went on in those 2 years. I only remember clearly getting the admission offer (through email!) and then after that, everything went fast forward. Of course, the Wednesday breaks at KC, with heart singing 'ek taraf uska ghar, ek taraf mayqada...' were the periodical recharging stations. The second year was a lot better, with coming of age of 401 gang and feeling 'Dhoom machale...'.
I have noticed that good songs take their own sweet time to grow on you. First time I heard 'jiya beqaraar hai, aayi bahaar hai...', I was like what the hell! Same with 'man tadpat hari darshan ko aaj...' or 'mujhe tumse kuch bhi na chahiye...'. Now, I rate these songs as one of the best ever composed and sung. It is also the same case with most of the Rehmaan songs, be it 'tanha, tanha...' or 'kabhi neem neem kabhi shahad shahad', the songs always feel better the more I hear them. It is as if there are new emotions getting uncovered with every repeat recital.
Then there is the question of the favorite singer, favorite song etc. I have long given up on such things as it is too difficult for me to judge. Who is better - Lata singing 'aaj phir jeene ki tamanna hai' or rafi singing 'mera to jo bhi kadam hai...'. Mukesh with 'hothon pe sachhai rehti hai' is as outstanding as Mahendra Kapoor crooning 'tum agar saath dene ka waada karo'. Kishore da is obviously rated a master by many but is Manna Dey any less heart touching with 'Laga chunari mein daag'. On what parameters can you give any lesser point to Ghulam Ali when he cuts through your heart with 'Jinke hothon pe hasin...'. For me, the songs, their singers, writers and composers are all part of a great family, engaged in exploring the finer emotions of our heart and quite often, challenging our beliefs. Ending this with a line by Mukesh:
'Zaahid sharaab peene de masjid mein baith kar';
'ya woh jagah bata de, jahan par khuda na ho'
Sunday, June 22, 2008
Is There Any Purpose?
It’s very difficult to start. Anything. This comes from Newton’s first law. You want to be in the same state. Change, though inevitable, is not something that comes naturally. So you would assume that it is no different with, lets assume, writing an article. But you see, my problem is a little different. I do want to leave my inertia and want to write an article on a topic. The issue is that it is the topic itself which stares in my face and asks: “Why am I writing this article?” Interesting, you would say. There could be several answers – fame, money, self-education and so on. But this article concerns itself with raising a question and in my opinion, a very fundamentals one. The accepted trend in today’s literature is that if you raise some questions, you also try to answer them. I make no such claim for the simple reason that I feel myself totally incapable of even starting to think of an answer. Moreover, I want you to think without any biases. Coming back to the original question: “what is it that stops me from writing this article?” The answer is that I do not have or do not see any purpose in writing this article just as I do not see any purpose in anything that is going on in this world!
Cynical. Yes and it is much more that you can call me. Stop reading now. You don’t need to spend your time reading this kind of a trash, do you? But may I suggest something. Go and look yourself in a mirror and ask “What is it that you are doing in this world?” “Why are we doing what we are doing?” Most of us, after some deliberations, will think of one reason or the other why we are leading your lives the way you are doing now. Some of us would say to ourselves something like this:
1) I am leading my life because I have a family to support. I am taking care of my family.
2) I want to achieve something in my life and be well-known.
3) I want to contribute to the growth of mankind in my own humble way.
It seems that on an individual level, each one among us does seem to have some purpose. It is definitely a little easier to define purpose of existence at the individual level. But ask yourself one more time: “Does this whole scheme of things in your life make sense to you?” We go through so much pain and happiness. What is the point in all that? What do we get out of all that? Some would say, we learn new lessons about our lives. What lessons…and why? Normally speaking, we learn something so that we can apply the learnings later. Yes, during the course of our lives, we get some experience and we make use of them in the later course of life.
But what happens when we die? As an individual, we cease to exist. In my opinion, it is not as difficult as it has been made to be. Look around. Locate an object, say today's newspaper. It has a life. What happens to it once its life is over? It is thrown out, given away as scrap. Or the paper is put to some other use. Eventually, it gets burnt or gets decomposed, going back to the nature from where it originated. Is there any reason why nature should mete any different treatment to us? What happens to a piece of wood or an ant is exactly what will happen to us after we cease to exist. This is critical to understand because only when we get this straight can we start to think about the purpose of our lives or probably the pitiable lack of it. So, lets just pursue our happiness and make our miserable lives a little better while we are here. We all are just passing time. So we may as well pass it on our own terms.
Afterthought:
What is it that Buddha or Christ or Mohammad or Vivekananda came to know during their deliberations and meditations? Did they come to know anything at all?
Cynical. Yes and it is much more that you can call me. Stop reading now. You don’t need to spend your time reading this kind of a trash, do you? But may I suggest something. Go and look yourself in a mirror and ask “What is it that you are doing in this world?” “Why are we doing what we are doing?” Most of us, after some deliberations, will think of one reason or the other why we are leading your lives the way you are doing now. Some of us would say to ourselves something like this:
1) I am leading my life because I have a family to support. I am taking care of my family.
2) I want to achieve something in my life and be well-known.
3) I want to contribute to the growth of mankind in my own humble way.
It seems that on an individual level, each one among us does seem to have some purpose. It is definitely a little easier to define purpose of existence at the individual level. But ask yourself one more time: “Does this whole scheme of things in your life make sense to you?” We go through so much pain and happiness. What is the point in all that? What do we get out of all that? Some would say, we learn new lessons about our lives. What lessons…and why? Normally speaking, we learn something so that we can apply the learnings later. Yes, during the course of our lives, we get some experience and we make use of them in the later course of life.
But what happens when we die? As an individual, we cease to exist. In my opinion, it is not as difficult as it has been made to be. Look around. Locate an object, say today's newspaper. It has a life. What happens to it once its life is over? It is thrown out, given away as scrap. Or the paper is put to some other use. Eventually, it gets burnt or gets decomposed, going back to the nature from where it originated. Is there any reason why nature should mete any different treatment to us? What happens to a piece of wood or an ant is exactly what will happen to us after we cease to exist. This is critical to understand because only when we get this straight can we start to think about the purpose of our lives or probably the pitiable lack of it. So, lets just pursue our happiness and make our miserable lives a little better while we are here. We all are just passing time. So we may as well pass it on our own terms.
Afterthought:
What is it that Buddha or Christ or Mohammad or Vivekananda came to know during their deliberations and meditations? Did they come to know anything at all?
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