The Fire Within

It is the fire within. The fire within that makes us write, write and write. And the same fire within on some days burn so strong that it burns us into cinders and render us inadequate. On such days all thoughts simply burn into flames and do not come out of the pen or the keyboard. I wonder if all human beings are such mixture of emotions. They must be. But it must be true that only those people who have been able to control and tame their emotions are successful in what they want to do -- love or career or whatever... So do not lost control. And like the wise man control your mind and not let it control you.

Why does one Blog?

Somebody asked me what made me a blogger. Well here are my thoughts on that. I have these other blogs too:-

1. RELATIONSHIPS -- it is my blog on what I feel about relationships.

2. The Rate Race -- It is all about that parallel life that we lead to survive, just to exist. This life is different from the life which we would like to live had we not needed money to exist

3. Fascinating Nature -- This is a photography blog where I plan to post photos nature. I feel very close to nature and it affects me deeply. The sea, the mountains, the forests they all make me feel very different when I am amongst or near them. I would like to express my feelings through my photos.. If only I had time to go out. But nevertheless, I will do whatever I can under my constraints.

4. Flora and Fauna of India-- Another photography site where I plan to capture photos of flowers and animals that will show that humans may be the greatest creation of GOD but flowers and animals are as beautiful and no less worthy of sharing this world with us and also provide succour to the humans in form of simple beauty or utility. Again this site will need time to develop.

5. India through my Photoblog -- This is the site one of whose posts you visited and wrote to me from. This is what the name suggests. It will be photos on anything that is typically Indian... from eateries to to toilets to religious places to govt buildings.. to anything else. I have planned to depict photos that will show the world what we really are-- good or bad, ugly or pretty, humourous or sad... A complete India through my Photos.. Again a long task and a difficult one. I too want to see how best I can do it and whether I really have the talent to bring out what I want.

6. The diary of a confused man.... ..This ONE--this tells exactly what I am and why I am here through my posts. I think readers will see that I am a confused man indeed, not knowing why I am here on the web, what I want from life, what I plan to post and tell here, and how to do all that. So in short I am confused and so this name to my blog.

7. Fascinating India, Fascinating World -- this is a pure views blog. My vieWs on anything that is Indian or Global. I have always felt that this world and India works peculiarly, their govt works peculiarly and I would like to point out the pecularities and so this name. The ways of the woRld Fascinate me.

If anybody reads them and the posts they will get an insight on why I am here and how I cam here and what I am doing as a blogger.

I think Blogs in particular and the web in general are nothing but a manifestation of that inner thirst of the humans to create. This creation may result in information useful to others or plain sharing of thoughts which one would like to leave behind for the others to see. While creating we may also form bonds with each another-- be it in fhe guise of providing information (strutured or otherwise) in the name of science, history and all the subjects that we study or be it in the form of sharing thoughts or be it in the form of guding others or whatever form they take.

Barring the goal of earning money from the web by selling wares, information or even porn, I think all the matter that we see on the web are there only because someone took pain to create them there. And such pains are taken by people only because there is a foremost inner desire in all of us and that is CREATE. We as human beings have a natural urge to create and leave something behind us for posterity. This why mankind is evolving, had it not been so it would have died long ago.

After meeting the desire of creation I think the next inner desire in all of us is to form bonds with fellow human beings. When it comes to the web what better way is there than to create a blog or even a website of information which others read and maybe respond too? After all when readers respond, it not only gives a satisfaction of having created and being appreciated but also it makes one feel that there are some people who are reading one's thoughts.... even if one does not meet them ever- offline or online-- even the very people-count meter that says how many people have visited one's site probably gives a satisfaction to the creator of the page (blog or otherwise).... and sometimes we do meet people online and make friends too.

Q. What compelled or 'inspired' you to start your blog(s)?

-- As you can see from my 6 blogs, I have different reasons to start the same. One was maybe I was lonely even with family and work responsibilities. I am not a psychologist but an engineer by qualification and training. So I will not really know WHY I AM BLOGGING.. Perhaps a psychlogist would be in a better position to tell me or you why I am here. But on self introspection I can hazard some guesses. After all I know myself best!! So first was that I felt that my feeling of loneliness was not because I have no one to share my life with. But it something beyond. It is something about my thoughts. I feel my thoughts are something that need an outlet and if I only have a receptor to receive my thoughts.... Whether at office or at home somehow I do not feel like sharing them with anyone- because I do not find anyone suitable to share them with - because of the simple reason-- I feel my thoughts are too erratic, out of the context, difficult to understand for the people who are around me. But I needed an outlet. So I came here. Here at least I can write my tru thoughts and be damned about who likes them and who does not and who agrees with them and who does not.

Now this probably will tell you that as a human being I am one who does not want to listen to disagreements. It is not so. I am not talking of thoughts and ideas which I think are mine and correct. On such thoughts I am very open to debates but I only accept logical debates. And that is what is missing most of the times. But my thoughts are not always and mostly not on matters of debate.. i feel they are something that need to be shared and that is all. Someone should be there to listen that is all. They need not be commented upon or debated on. Most of my thoughts are not for debate to prove them right or wrong but are thoughts that should result in better / improved thoughts and feelings. Examples of this you will find on this site. And also on other sites.

Second reason of my coming here was my hobby of writing and photography. I can use them both here. I need to have something to do to keep my mind active after i retire and what better than dong something I like best? Writing and Photography- and maybe even better if I can combine them. So the blog or a personal web site seemed to be a good idea to get ahead on that distant goal of my life. This was one additional reason for me to come here others will have different reasons for their blogging.

Third reason was forming bonds with like minded individuals. I know the world is vast and I have proof that there are people like me.. who think like me.. and my blogs are invitations to them to link up. I have formed friendships with a couple so far and that is quite good an achievement for me I think and my good luck too. At least sitting from my home I am interacting with people whom I will probably never meet!! And I meet then nothing like it!!

Fourth reason of my blogging can be I have lots of free time now after work ... so to remain mentally active this seemed to me a good way.. I liked to read books and do gardening.. and I have seen my hobbies changed with age and time.. because of changes in circumstances supporting or prohibiting the hobbies. Like money is a problem in pursuing books.. you need money to buy or visit libraries at far places from home.. you need ground for proper gardening.. indoor and terrarce gardening in pots are not that feasible in such hot weather and waterless city. Swimming needs money toooooo - costly in Delhi and NCR... these are examples of why m hobbies changed with time.. the net is the cheapest way to spend time today. And so i took to the net.

Then I asked myself what I can do here? Well I have tried chatting and found that most of the people who chat are nubile fools bent upon some form of adultery or adult activities and only a few are really interested in pure friendships or believe in them. And even among them they are unable to separate the offline lives from their online ones. So even these people are not permanent on the web- they vanish when their offline lives clash with their online ones.

I saw sites which provide information and are very useful to readers. And I felt the urge to create something as I already have explained. So I went across articles on blogs and what they do and what can be the subjects. I found that blogs basically mean a daily log on the net. Web logs in short BLOGS. But that is best for some people who have created famous blogs of their experiences while travelling across the world constantly uploading text and images through their mobile phones and laptops. Others are maintaining their personal day to day logs of what they do everyday. But this latter one I find no use. Unless I can make it humorous why should others be interested in knowing what I am doing every day!!!??

SO I rejected the idea of a real blog-- a daily log on the web. And I have deviated into the different avataars of blogs as you can see from the description of my blogs above. The ones with photos are to help me develop my hobby of photography and get me some experience and satisfaction of having someone to see them. The other ones are to share my thoughts and form bonds with people and to make me release my emotions. So these blogs are basically helping me keep my sanity in a worryful world- they take me away for a while from the real world where I am bound by rules and demands. Here amongs my blogs I am a free man free to say what I want and feel and free to do what I like? Are bloggers escapists? No I do not think I am an escapist. I think because I want to be in the real world and survive there I am a blogger. Because being a blogger I am preserving my sanity by releasing my bottled up thoughts and then coming back to the real world charged up once again.

In the process if I make a friend or two-- what better I an ask for? Because they friends I will make here will be people like me!!

Unfortunately I find people do not like to reveal themselves even when appreciating my posts. There was someone who said my thoughts were exatly like hers.. as If I was reading her mind.. But then I DO NOT know who she is. I would have liked to know her because life is short and if we can find someone who is is like us we should bond as friends. and share our minds.. this is what I think.

Indian Govt Removes blockage of blogspot site

THANKS GOD!! Sense has prevailed upon the Indian Govt. I can see my blogs now!! And now I can post my photographs and thoughts once more... sighhhhhhhhhhhhh

Indian Govt Goes Haywire

Someone posted some instigating materials on some blog hosted by blogspot and so Govt of India went and censored the sites. ISPs in India in their eagerness to be stooges to this Govt of India have gone and blocked the whole og blogspot!!@~ And now how do people like us blog? After all the pain taken to build up blogs.. one day we find our basic independence being censored!!

This Govt has got to go!! From Quota to censorship to taxes... it is not doing anything rightly at all!!!!

Come next vote we shall see.

Fuel price: Govt, states gain more than oil firms

This is a copy paste of a news item from TOI, Delhi, 12th june 2006. It is not my article but the red colouring is. It is probably because of wrong policies of this country which is why we are all suffering- the oil companies and the citizens. I have nothing more to say.

Quote:

Are petrol and diesel priced lower in India than in the international market? Not if we are looking at retail selling prices. For instance, the price of petrol in the US is about $2.90 per gallon today, which is equivalent to about Rs 34.50 per litre, way below the retail price for petrol anywhere in India. Diesel too costs about the same amount in the US, which is quite similar to the price of diesel in India.

Then why does the government complain of oil companies making losses on these products? The price we pay for petrol or diesel is not the price the oil companies get for them. In fact, less than half of what we pay for petrol actually goes to the oil companies. Calculation done by the petroleum ministry before the latest increase in prices, the oil companies net realisation on a litre of petrol sold at Rs 47 was merely Rs 20, while on a litre of diesel sold at Rs 33.4 their realisation was Rs 20.9. The estimated cost of crude alone to produce a litre of petrol or diesel without adding any levies would be about Rs 23. Hence the situation of oil companies having to suffer losses even on petrol and diesel.

Where does the rest of the money go? The bulk of the remaining part of the price of petrol goes to the central and state governments in the form of various levies. In the case of petrol, for instance, the calculations showed that the Centre imposed various kinds of excise duties that totalled up to about Rs 15 per litre. The states, in turn, imposed sales tax that worked out to an average of just under Rs 10 per litre. Other costs like dealer commissions, freight and marketing costs between themselves accounted for barely Rs 2.20 per litre. In the case of diesel, which is taxed relatively modestly by both the Centre and states, the total amount of levies per litre was about Rs 11 per litre.

If so much of the price is in the form of taxes, why can’t they be cut? This argument has been made by many. The argument is that since tax rates include an ad valorem component — that is a component fixed as a percentage of the pre-tax price — the Centre and states gain windfall revenues when prices go up. Hence, it should be possible for them to moderate the price increase by forgoing some of this supernormal revenues. In fact, even the Rangarajan Committee — which was set up to examine the entire gamut of issues relating to petroleum product pricing in India — had suggested that the government fix specific duties — that is, duties spelt out in rupees per litre — so that the tax component of the retail price does not go up as prices do. The same Committee had also recommended that state governments agree on a uniform rate of sales tax. At the moment, the rates vary widely across states, which explains to a large extent why retail prices are so different in different parts of the country. On petrol, for instance, the sales tax rate varies from 20% to 34% and on diesel from 12% to almost 29%. The latest decision by Maharashtra to forgo additional tax revenues on the increased price is a small step in the direction and there are indications that other states, particularly Congress-ruled states, might follow suit.

Enquote

Assam plans to cash in on bird suicide village

There is a news item in Times of India Delhi, on 12th june 2006. It says "Assam plans to cash in on bird suicide village"

Is it the end of innovativeness that we cannot think of other means to get some money for a poor state or village that we have to resort to such paths. Instead of showing a concern for the deaths of the Migratory Birds, mankind is now going to earn money?

Where are the enironmentalists and Greenpeace and the rest? Are you there? I am sure the birds are NOT COMMITTING SUICIDE!! It is only humans who can think and so can feel pain and sorrow.Surely it is a scientific pheonomena that needs to be investigated by the world scientific fraternity and lovers of this world

PASSION AND THE EFFECT OF FEELING IN WORK

Do you see REMIX on star one? I see. This Banerjee Girl is so tomboyish! Such a fighter!! She is tough!! She is a rebel. Any youngster reading my blog will know what I mean when I call a girl tomboyish and more if he or she has seen TV SERIAL CALLED “REMIX”.

And yet in the last episode Yuvaraj her erstwhile boyfriend (Oh I know the serial will have a happy ending.. and he will come back to her!!) has attacked her thinking she has stolen his cassette without which he cannot rehearse because he thought she wanted to show her spite on him for not agreeing to perform for the charity show she was interested in. Now folks it seems that this chap did not know the purpose of the charity show being organized by Banerjee Girl (what was her first name? hmm Anwesha!!). So there was a split in the BAND CALLED “REMIX” and So yuvi thought She wanted to take revengce and so has stolen his cassette. So he comes and shouts and fights and TEARS UP THE POSTERS CREATED BY ANWESHA !! AND YOU KNOW WHAT THE TOMBOY DID!! After all THE EPISODES OF TOMBOYISHNES AND BRAVERY AND MISCHIEF.. AND HAVING HER BACK AT BOYS.. SHE THIS TIME BROKE DOWN!!
SHE CRIED!!

Now Like any LITERATURE CRITIC I will tell you what it conveyed.. (I feel like writing my literature exam answering questions on some para from Shakespeare!!)

When a person is passionate about something he or she gives his or her whole life and mind on that subject and so when they see their dreams being thrashed they feel miserable REAL MISERABLE.
When someone cries. THE WORLD STANDS STILL. That is the way it should happen. Because in that cry and the tears that flow are the shreds of humanity that most of us have forgotten. In that cry and tears we should hear our own death knells because WHEN WE (YUVRAJ type of guys who does not understand the intentions of the other person) BREAK THE DREAMS OF THE PERSON WHO HAS A PASSION THEN WE ARE ONLY SEEKING OUR END (because the person or persons in this HEARTLESS World WHO RUN after some goal WITH A PASSION is only helping the world progress- be it in medical research or be it in Narmada Bachao Andolan or be it in waking up Society.. .. and so many more..
Some how The cry of the TOM BOY that night on the TV made me realize that IF WE ARE PASSIONATE ENOUGH IN OUR ATTEMPTS.. THE WORLD HAS TO STAND STILL TO MAKE WAY.. – Yuvaraj too stood still!!!! And joined hands with her!!!

My reply to the Researcher

Hello Asim, I have put up this reply on my blogs too as I find this another material fit for posting on some of my blogs. I have these blogs if you may not have noticed and not just the one on Photography where you wrote to me. Specifically they are:-

1. RELATIONSHIPS -- it is my blog on what I feel about relationships

2. The Rate Race -- It is all about that parallel life that we lead to survive, just to exist. This life is different from the life which we would like to live had we not needed money to exist

3. Fascinating Nature -- This is a photography blog where I plan to post photos nature. I feel very close to nature and it affects me deeply. The sea, the mountains, the forests they all make me feel very different when I am amongst or near them. I would like to express my feelings through my photos.. If only I had time to go out. But nevertheless, I will do whatever I can under my constraints.

4. Flora and Fauna of India-- Another photography site where I plan to capture photos of flowers and animals that will show that humans may be the greatest creation of GOD but flowers and animals are as beautiful and no less worthy of sharing this world with us and also provide succour to the humans in form of simple beauty or utility. Again this site will need time to develop.

5. India through my Photoblog -- This is the site one of whose posts you visited and wrote to me from. This is what the name suggests. It will be photos on anything that is typically Indian... from eateries to to toilets to religious places to govt buildings.. to anything else. I have planned to depict photos that will show the world what we really are-- good or bad, ugly or pretty, humourous or sad... A complete India through my Photos.. Again a long task and a difficult one. I too want to see how best I can do it and whether I really have the talent to bring out what I want.

6. The diary of a confused man.... ..this tells exactly what I am and why I am here through my posts. I think readers will see that I am a confused man indeed, not knowing why I am here on the web, what I want from life, what I plan to post and tell here, and how to do all that. So in short I am confused and so this name to my blog.

7. Fascinating India, Fascinating World -- this is a pure views blog. My vies on anything that is Indian or Global. I have always felt that this world and India works peculiarly, their govt works peculiarly and I would like to point out the pecularities and so this name. The ways of the wold Fascinate me.

I told you all the names of my blogs so that if you find time and read the posts you will get an insight on why I am here and how I cam here and what I am doing as a blogger. Besides asking me questions and reading my replies I think this will give you additional information. In fact I feel you should do the same with all bloggers who take part in your research.

Well now to answer you.

I find your research interesting because your subject is one that touches the HUMAN BEING and its mental responses to external stimulii. Blogs in particular and the web in general are nothing but a manifestation of that inner thirst of the humans to create. This creation may result in information useful to others or plain sharing of thoughts which one would like to leave behind for the others to see. While creating we may also form bonds with each another-- be it in fhe guise of providing information (strutured or otherwise) in the name of science, history and all the subjects that we study or be it in the form of sharing thoughts or be it in the form of guding others or whatever form they take.

Barring the goal of earning money from the web by selling wares, information or even porn, I think all the matter that we see on the web are there only because someone took pain to create them there. And such pains are taken by people only because there is a foremost inner desire in all of us and that is CREATE. We as human beings have a natural urge to create and leave something behind us for posterity. This why mankind is evolving, had it not been so it would have died long ago.

After meeting the desire of creation I think the next inner desire in all of us is to form bonds with fellow human beings. When it comes to the web what better way is there than to create a blog or even a website of information which others read and maybe respond too? After all when readers respond, it not only gives a satisfaction of having created and being appreciated but also it makes one feel that there are some people who are reading one's thoughts.... even if one does not meet them ever- offline or online-- even the very people-count meter that says how many people have visited one's site probably gives a satisfaction to the creator of the page (blog or otherwise).... and sometimes we do meet people online and make friends too.

Well these are my feelings in short. Time is a constraint and so I cannot elaborate further on the other aspects of blogging and the web and how it affects us today. I know that is what you are planning to do, so would rather read what you conclude. even if it is eventually something which I already know but the work of the researcher is to collate & out forward to the world, what is already existing or wants to exist in a different form evolving from the existing ones, through his observations, questionning and reasoned conclusions.

Hence now I will just answer your two questions.

1. How did you learn about blogs? Well I am a computer friendly man- meaning I like anything that relates to computers and IT. And so I had an internet connection and have been surfing the web when it was possible in India.. as soon as I could.. and so knew about all that goes on in the www. Blogs are part of the same so I knew of blogs from the web only.

2. What compelled or 'inspired' you to start your blog(s)?
-- As you can see from my 6 blogs, I have different reasons to start the same.

One was maybe I was lonely even with family and work responsibilities. I am not a psychologist but an engineer by qualification and training. So I will not really know WHY I AM BLOGGING.. Perhaps a psychlogist would be in a better position to tell me or you why I am here. But on self introspection I can hazard some guesses. After all I know myself best!! So first was that I felt that my feeling of loneliness was not because I have no one to share my life with. But it something beyond. It is something about my thoughts. I feel my thoughts are something that need an outlet. Whether at office or at home somehow I do not feel like sharing them with anyone- because I do not find anyone suitable to share them with - because of the simple reason-- I feel my thoughts are too erratic, out of the context, difficult to understand for the people who are around me. But I needed an outlet. So I came here. Here at least I can write my tru thoughts and be damned about who likes them and who does not and who agrees with them and who does not.

Now this probably will tell you that as a human being I am one who does not want to listen to disagreements. It is not so. I am not talking of thoughts and ideas which I think are mine and correct. On such thoughts I am very open to debates but I only accept logical debates. And that is what is missing most of the times. But my thoughts are not always and mostly not on matters of debate.. i feel they are something that need to be shared and that is all. Someone should be there to listen that is all. They need not be commented upon or debated on. Most of my thoughts are not for debate to prove them right or wrong but are thoughts that should result in better / improved thoughts and feelings. Examples of this you will find on my RELATIONSHIP site. And also on other sites.

Second reason of my coming here was my hobby of writing and photography. I can use them both here. I need to have something to do to keep my mind active after i retire and what better than dong something I like best? Writing and Photography- and maybe even better if I can combine them. So the blog or a personal web site seemed to be a good idea to get ahead on that distant goal of my life.

Third reason is was forming bonds with like minded individuals. I know the world is vast and I have proof that there are people like me.. who think like me.. and my blogs are invitations to them to link up. I have formed friendships with a couple so far and that is quite good an achievement for me I think and my good luck too. At least sitting from my home I am interacting with people whom I will probably never meet!! And I meet then nothing like it!!

Fourth reason of my blogging can be I have lots of free time now after work ... so to remain mentally active this seemed to me a good way.. I liked to read books and do gardening.. and I have seen my hobbies changed with age and time.. because of changes in circumstances supporting or prohibiting the hobbies. Like money is a problem in pursuing books.. you need money to buy or visit libraries at far places from home.. you need ground for proper gardening.. indoor and terrarce gardening in pots are not that feasible in such hot weather and waterless city. Swimming needs money toooooo - costly in Delhi and NCR... these are examples of why m hobbies changed with time.. the net is the cheapest way to spend time today. And so i took to the net.

Then I asked myself what I can do here? Well I have tried chatting and found that most of the people who chat are nubile fools bent upon some form of adultery or adult activities and only a few are really interested in pure friendships or believe in them. And even among them they are unable to separate the offline lives from their online ones. So even these people are not permanent on the web- they vanish when their offline lives clash with their online ones.

I saw sites which provide information and are veru useful to readers. And I felt the urge to create something as I already have explained. So I went across articles on blogs and what they do and what can be the subjects. I found that blogs basically mean a daily log on the net. Web logs in short BLOGS. But that is best for some people who have created famous blogs of their experiences while travelling across the world constantly uploading text and images through their mobile phones and laptops. Others are maintaining their personal day to day logs of what they do everyday. But this latter one I find no use. Unless I can make it humorous why should others be interested in knowing what I am doing every day!!!??

SO I rejected the idea of a real blog-- a daily log on the web. And I have deviated into the different avataars of blogs as you can see from the description of my blogs above. The ones with photos are to help me develop my hobby of photography and get me some experience and satisfaction of having someone to see them. The other ones are to share my thoughts and form bonds with people and to make me release my emotions. So these blogs are basically helping me keep my sanity in a worryful world- they take me away for a while from the real world where I am bound by rules and demands. Here amongs my blogs I am a free man free to say what I want and feel and free to do what I like? Are bloggers escapists? No I do not think I am an escapist. I think because I want to be in the real world and survive there I am a blogger. Because being a blogger I am preserving my sanity by realeasing my bottled up thoughts and then coming back to the real world charged up once again.

In the process if I make a friend or two-- what better I an ask for? Because they friends I will make here will be people like me!!

Unfortunately I find people do not like to reveal themselves even when appreciating my posts. There was someone who said my thoughts were exatly like hers.. as If I was reading her mind.. But then I DO NOT know who she is. I would have liked to know her because life is short and if we can find someone who is is like us we should bond as friends. and share our minds.. this is what I think. I AM SURE other bloggers have other reasons and through your site and research I hiope to gain insights on how the human mind works...

hope you keep me updated. Thanks.

Research on blogs and the web as a media in the new age

Somebody wrote to me on my other blog here at this link saying he is doing a Research .... "I am a researcher in Delhi university and I am exploring ways in which blogs are helping people to network. I would appreciate if you could pull off some time and visit my research blog at http://nmsoc.blogspot.com and write about something your blogging experiences. In case you do not feel like submitting your writeup on my blog directly, you can email me at newmedia.soc@gmail.com. I will be delighted to receive your comments".

A very interesting Research this should be so I thought yeah why not? Let me reply to him. After all I too did have reason of my coming here to blog and do have a reason to come back again and again.. albeit not so frequently. And likewise many of you bloggers too must be having your own reasons of coming to the web to blog and why only bloggers, maybe he can get more insights into how to world wide web is moulding our thoughts and building relationships- positively or negatively, creating opinions, moving govts, giving succour to the lonely and yearning minds and so on so forth.

He should get feedback from the readers too, who do not have blogs of their own but spend time surfing and reading.. so I welcome all those readers who come to my page to also click on the link above and respond to his questions. You will notice he does not have a question addressed to the readers (those who do not have blogs) but I can dare say if you write to him why you come to the net to read the blogs and how the blogs help you form ideas, solve your problems of information, spending time or whatever he will then get a complete picture and his research material will become another intersting read for all of us. After all somebody doing a research on bloggers and their readers as a part of the macro research on how web as a media is helping in the new age is only helping us understand the power of the web and we will surely benefit from the knowledge.

Quota - Mandal II, Arjun Singh -- Congress Vote Politics

I never thought I will be drawn into the controversies that rage across our country. This was because in any situation there are always two sides and invariably both sides have arguments that seem to be logical. Now here is a subject -- quota in education institutes of India from schools to college (graduate level to post graduate level to super specialisation levels)

I do not belong to quota class. So here is the challenge to all all those who belong to the quota class to ABUSE ME.. ... after all my fault is that I am from the general class so whatever I say-- logical or illogical has no meaning.. the very moment they see that I belong to the general class they will throw all my logic through the window and shout me down!! That is what I think is Indian Politics of which quota politics is a very important part!!

But I have some basic questions...and my understanding of the answers to those questions.. CAN ANYONE ADD OR CHANGE OR MODIFY THESE THOUGHTS??

1. Why do we need quota?--->>>> Do THE DOWNTRODDEN classes need quota to help them get education so thst they can uplift their society / family// groups... ??

2. Why are they unable to do this normally? "Uplifting their kind"

a. ) because they neeed money to do so!!!

b.) because they are looked down upon as untouchables (YEAH!! EVEN today in the days of Nuclear power India does have this!! Is the world listening???? If the world is listening I beseech you all -- PLEASE PUT PRESSURE ON INDIA!!! ) and so do not get an opportunity to study in the same schools that upper / general class people study in.

c.) Coming from a backward background the children stand less chance if they have to compete on equal grounds with children of upper class/ general class children

FIRST QUESTION NOW.... IS THERE ANY OTHER REASON FOR QUOTA IN EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTES??


Now if they have money problem Govt needs to give them money and help them study... Quota is not the solution for this. Monetary solutions are!!!

(b) & (c) above can be tackled by quota.. Because if we have quota then these children will not be denied education at the time they are of school going age!!

But what about later? What is the logic of quota after the children get equal opportunity to study in schools from class 1 to class 12 (till college entrance) on equal terms with upper class/ general class/ better background chidren?

The only logic that a friend of mine put forward is that coming from lower classes these children do not get to spend EQUAL QUALITY TIME AT STUDIES BECAUSE THEY HAVE TO SPEND TIME ON THE FIELDS FARMING OR MILKING THEIR COWS.. just as--> examples --> a boy milkng the cows!!, farming!!!

But tell me does this not help us?

HOW DOES QUOTA HELP SOLVE MONEY PROBLEMS?? Do you mean to say that just because these people have to spend time on the fields so are unable to study at par with the more comfortable general class students /// so should get quota as an aid to enter colleges too? Is this too not boiling down to money problems? If these famlies had their daily bread will they not let their children study in peace??

Quotas are acceptable for schools.. Giving an equal chance to everybody is the logic here. But when that equal chance is given, what is the point of stretching it forever and forever to graduate and post graduate and super specialisation levels?

IF THESE STUDENTS CANNOT BECOME EQUALS EVEN AFTER 12 YEARS OF STUDY ON EQUAL TERMS IN SCHOOLS.. ARE GOVT OF INDIA AND THE QUOTA GROUPS THEMSELVES TRYING TO SAY THAT THEY ARE SO INCAPABLE THAT THEY STILL NEED SOME QUOTA TO TAKE THEM INTO HIGHER STUDIES TOO? After studying for 12 years in a school they still need the QUOTA to see them into college and then UPTO SUPERSPECIALISATION COURSES??

If these people need quotas to become super specialised Doctors for example..!! TELL ME HOW MANY OF THE PEOPLE FROM THE SAME CLASSES WILL EVER TRUST THEIR LIVES TO THESE QUOTA PRODUCED DOCTORS?

Forget what Kaspil Sibal said.. or Azim Premzi is saying... Merit does not only affect companies and national pride... it also affects lives.., IF for example we get doctors produced by Quota system... because they could not compete on equal terms and get admitted, they got admitted through the quota route.. will we get the same quality doctors and will we trust our lives to their hands?

WAKE UP INDIA... AND HIT ARJUN SINGH AND THE CONGRESS HARD... AND ALL THOSE WHO ARE PLAYING WITH OUR LIVES FOR THEIR OWN SHORT TERM GAINS..

WHAT IS NEEDED IS MORE MONEY FOR THE POOR,AND THE BACKWARD CLASSES AND MORE AND MORE SEATS IN THE COLLEGES../ MORE COLLEGES.. INSTEAD OF INCREASED QUOTA AND SUFFOCATING MERIT.

I Bleed for the downtrodden.. BUT DO THEY SEE that these are only Political Gimmicks?? You cannot sacrifice merit for votes!!!

Honesty and Dishonesty- Part- 1

Obviously part-1 means I am planning to share all my thoughts on this subject. When? Who knows.

Question:-

"If someone desires something because of some reason and adopts some means to attain that desire can the desire be dishonest if either or both the reason and the means adopted are dishonest means?

This is something biting me for a long time because some of us tend to mix the three : DESIRE, REASON AND MEANS.

I think desire cannot be qualified as honest or dishonest. But its reasons i.e. cause and means adopted can. And if they are dishonest or not proper the result can be improper and harmful. But that does not make the desire dishonest. But yes we can call such desires as undesirable- one that should not be desired as it causes harm. I think it is just a matter of english word usage and anyone just using the word Honest and Dishonest is not using the worda correctly. Am i right I wonder now.

Oh! for a life of softness

I close my eyes and see...
By the gurgling brook we lie...
Hands holding, fingers entwined..
Two bodies as one enshrined...
White buterflies hover over us..
Rabbits playing in the grass.
Birds singing in the spring..
The whole world seems to sing..
I smell the lavender in you..
The world attains a colourful hue..
Then suddenly I wake..
To find that it all was a dream..
A dream, I wish it was true.. and
this life is just a fake.

Calcutta through the eyes of Vir Sanghvi

Now do not ask me who Mr Vir Sanghvi is! So naturally his writing style will be superb. I am not posting this because I am a Bengali, which I am, but because he is right about the ethos that flows in the city during Durga puja. Even a Bengali would not have been able to put this better like he did. So I hope he does not mind my putting his article on my blog. In any case this has been circulating in emails all over. And mind it I am a Bengalig who knows all the faults of Calcutta now called Kolkata. And I do know the faults of Delhi and Mumbai too as these are the cities I frequent or stay. I have another article by some other writer which will be next blog today. I post this article only because of its literary excellence and the way it has brought out the true picture of Calcutta.

I once sent this to my colleagues at office by email to test the reaction and the reaction I got is an eye opener of sorts. It told me why we are still a country full of regionalism and casteism and why our minds are still shallow and full of narrow regional mindedness. One Bengali Friend of mine who has never stayed in Bengal thought he had to say something against this article to prove his alleigance to his adopted state and said this :-"Shantanu,
Vir Sanghvi might say anything but it is a matter of debate - has lot of pros and cons - whatever may be the size of a journalist, pl. don't go by his statements about such things."- Alas!! Who is going by what Vir Sanghvi saus? Do I not know myself what he is saying is true!! Or do I not know that of all the states in India barring Bihar, Bengal has got left behind because of its ways and faults? But one cannot deny the strengths of a city can one? Just like one cannot deny the strengths of Delhi just because it is full of rude people! (More on this later in another Blog).

Another chap who is not a Bengali reacted even more strongly "I agreed with Mr. ...And if Pandal competition echos emotion, relegion,togeatherness than visit Mumbai during Dahi handi or Ganeshotsav, Visit Jaipur during Diwali week, Visit Mysore during Vijyadashmi. I think each region of India echos similar sentiments during different festival..."

Now who denies this? Not even Vir Sanghvi, I think! But all these shows that we as Indians are not ready to work as a Team or Feel as one YET. YES. Whoever says whatever we Indians are much Behind most countries when when it needs to team up as a nation. We do team up when we play cricket against Pakistan or we team up when we fight wars. No doubt about that. But when it comes to living in India we are groups and so we have trouble. Instead of just reading a good article from Mr Vir Sanghvi, who has probably written equally moving articles about Delhi or Mumbai or Bangalore or other cities, people feel they have to object. Why?


Since everybody has opinions I do too since I am one of the everybody. Here were my thoughts when I sent the article to my colleagues at office.

"I got this from a Bengali. I asked myself - Why send this to Bengalis only? BENGAL is not for Bengalis nor is Calcutta. So why not send this to others who have never stayed there? Or have stayed there? Or have the impression that Calcutta has only dirty roads or that it has a second class car in the tram which means it is so poor that people cannot even afford to pay for first class fare in the trams[exact words of someone to me] or that Calcutta is the only city where still you see 25 paisa coins??

When I went to Calcutta on leave recently, I said to my friend at our office at Calcutta / Kolkata that in Delhi there is something that drives people to do better for themselves, and that is what is probably needed by this country. That all people should WANT to better for themselves. For if they want to do that, they do it and in the process of achieving a better living automatically the country's economy grows. One should not wait for the govt to do something for them but rather do it themselves. But in Calcutta nobody seems to want to do better for themselves and are somehow content as they are and so has got left behind. And look at Delhi how people are better off and how they have progressed through hard work and grit. And today the highest country per capita income is in Delhi. The quality of life is so better here in Delhi. [I am not an economist but I have a feeling that I may have probably made an observation which forms the basis of Economic Growth of a Country]

When I said the above to my friend at Calutta, he said Shantanu Calcutta has a different quality of life ........ I, being a Bengali, understood what he meant. But at the same time having stayed outside of Bengal for more than 14 years, I can compare and find good in other cities and other people too.. ... when I go home I love it, the ways of Calcutta.. and when I come back here I love this too..... each city is different... and so are the people.

If you want to know about Calcutta then here is what Vir Sanghvi, a much more widely travelled man says about it.

** Begin Vir Saghvi's Article***

Subject: Pujo By Vir Sanghvi

What 'Pujo' means to a Bengali
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Most modern Indian cities strive to rise above ethnicity.

Tell anybody who lives in Bombay that he lives in a Maharashtrian city and (unless of course, you are speaking to Bal Thackeray) he will take immediate offence. We are cosmopolitan, he will say indigenously. Tell a Delhiwalla that his is a Punjabi city (which, in many ways, it is) and he will respond with much self-righteous nonsense about being the nation's capital, about the international composition of the city's elite etc. And tell a Bangalorean that he lives in a Kannadiga city and you'll get lots of techno-gaff about the internet revolution and about how Bangalore is even more cosmopolitan than Bombay.

But, the only way to understand what Calcutta is about is recognize that the city is essentially Bengali. What's more, no Bengali minds you saying that. Rather, he is proud of the fact. Calcutta's strengths and weaknesses mirror those of the Bengali character. It has the drawbacks: the sudden passions, the cheerful chaos, the utter contempt for mere commerce, the fiery response to the smallest provocation.

And it has the strengths (actually, I think of the drawbacks as strengths in their own way). Calcutta embodies the Bengali love of culture; the triumph of intellectualism over greed; the complete transparency of all emotions, the disdain with which hypocrisy and insincerity are treated; the warmth of genuine humanity; and the supremacy of emotion over all other aspects of human existence.

That's why Calcutta is not for everyone. You want your cities clean and green; stick to Delhi. You want your cities, rich and impersonal; go to Bombay. You want them high-tech and full of draught beer; Bangalore's your place. But if you want a city with a soul: come to Calcutta.

When I look back on the years I've spent in Calcutta - and I come back so many times each year that I often feel I've never been away - I don't remember the things that people remember about cities. When I think of London, I think of the vast open spaces of Hyde Park. When I think of New York, I think of the frenzy of Times Square. When I think of Tokyo, I think of the bright lights of Shinjiku. And when I think of Paris, I think of the Champs Elysee. But when I think of Calcutta, I never think of any one place. I don't focus on the greenery of the maidan, the beauty of the Victoria Memorial, the bustle of Burra Bazar or the splendour of the new Howrah 'Bridge'. I think of people.

Because, finally, a city is more than bricks and mortars, street lights and tarred roads. A city is the sum of its people. And who can ever forget - or replicate - the people of Calcutta?

When I first came to live here, I was told that the city would grow on me. What nobody told me was that the city would change my life. It was in Calcutta that I learnt about true warmth; about simple human decency; about love and friendship; about emotions and caring; about truth and honesty. I learnt other things too. Coming from Bombay as I did, it was a revelation to live in a city where people judged each other on the things that really mattered; where they recognized that being rich did not make you a better person - in fact, it might have the opposite effect. I learnt also that if life is about more than just money, it is about the things that other cities ignore; about culture, about ideas, about art, and about passion. In Bombay, a man with a relatively low income will salt some of it away for the day when he gets a stock market tip. In Calcutta, a man with exactly the same income will not know the difference between a debenture and a dividend. But he will spend his money on the things that matter. Each morning, he will read at least two newspapers and develop sharply etched views on the state of the world.

Each evening, there will be fresh (ideally, fresh-water or river) fish on his table. His children will be encouraged to learn to dance or sing. His family will appreciate the power of poetry. And for him, religion and culture will be in inextricably bound together.

Ah religion! Tell outsiders about the importance of Puja in Calcutta and they'll scoff. Don't be silly, they'll say. Puja is a religious festival. And Bengal has voted for the CPM since 1977. How can godless Bengal be so hung up on a religions festival? I never know how to explain them that to a Bengali, religion consists of much more than shouting Jai Shri Ram or pulling down somebody's mosque. It has little to do with meaningless ritual or sinister political activity.

The essence of Puja is that all the passions of Bengal converge: emotion, culture, the love of life, the warmth of being together, the joy of celebration, the pride in artistic expression and yes, the cult of the goddess.

It may be about religion. But is about much more than just worship. In which other part of India would small, not particularly well-off localities, vie with each other to produce the best pandals? Where else could puja pandals go beyond religion to draw inspiration from everything else? In the years I lived in Calcutta, the pandals featured Amitabh Bachchan, Princes Diana and even Saddam Hussain! Where else would children cry with the sheer emotional power of Dashami, upset that the Goddess had left their homes? Where else would the whole city gooseflesh when the dhakis first begin to beat their drums? Which other Indian festival - in any part of the country - is so much about food, about going from one roadside stall to another, following your nose as it trails the smells of cooking?

To understand Puja, you must understand Calcutta. And to understand Calcutta, you must understand the Bengali. It's not easy.

Certainly, you can't do it till you come and live here, till you let Calcutta suffuse your being, invade your bloodstream and steal your soul. But once you have, you'll love Calcutta forever. Wherever you go, a bit of Calcutta will go with you. I know, because it's happened to me. And every Puja, I am overcome by the magic of Bengal. It's a feeling that'll never go away.

**** End Of Vir Sanghvi's Article ***

Times of India and TV programs

Times of India Delhi Edition most of the times do not correct their TV program information. This is happening for Star One program for last one month. You keep awake till the previously announced time (in the news paper) and then you see a different program being beamed!! Keep it up TOI. After all why not? You people are busy proving yourself over HT all the time.