100 years of life, 60 of them in litigation

This blog is about my maternal grand father Shri Subramaniam Acharya Akkivalli – better known as Subbannacharya. Yesterday his cremation was held in Hangal, Haveri District in Karnataka, his hometown. He was aged 99 years and 8 months. The number 99 years gives a sense of being so near yet so far, a tinge of sadness and empathy for not making some admirable milestone. While that damnation in the face of achievement has been a shadow in his life, but it would be a pity if that defines him, rather than triumph over insurmountable circumstances, through sheer will power and righteousness, of not succumbing to adverse situations.

He died on 31^st October 2015, as a Freedom Fighter for India’s independence, at the ripe age of 99 years. What is also shameful for all of us as Indians is that he also died as a litigant of a civil suit filed some 60 years ago in independent India. The litigation was over a plot of land that he had bought as a Freedom Fighter, which he never got.

  

Articles about his death in Vijaya Karnataka, Vijayavani and Prajavaani newspapers

A childhood marred by penury had taught him a lot about will power. He was drawn to the independence movement and at the age of 12, when there was a call by Mahatma Gandhi to boycott British administration & education systems for one day as a protest against the British Raj, he answered it and skipped school to attend a public function denouncing the British. When the school master of the village, rounded up all the students next day, he was reprimanded and suspended from school. This was a blow to his bright career, as in those times education upto the Std 7^th was a benchmark of Mulkhi exams and considered enough to become a schoolmaster which he had dreamt of.

Left out of school, he continued his contribution to the freedom movement in his own way creating awareness by singing paeans on roads, about the golden age that would come once we are independent and supported the activities of the Congress party by even defying curfews. He was a staunch Gandhian and truth was uncompromising for him. He told about an incident during a game of Pagade(Chaupar) when one of his elders asked him to lie- and he stopped playing the game for life, his understanding, anything that made someone as respected as that person to lie, is not good enough to pursue.

He was jailed during the Quit India Movement and booked for sedition. That period was painful for the family, of his three sons and wife he left behind. Abject poverty was the norm, but he being jailed only made matters worse. The family suffered when his eldest son was left without treatment for encephalitis as nobody would have any association with them because of his participation in the freedom movement. The boy suffered a permanent lower cognitive adaptive functioning which remained until his death.

My grand-dad said the happiest moment in his life was when India gained its independence. Indulgence in the freedom movement had taken its toll on him, yet when Acharya Vinoba Bhave asked for people to donate their lands to the cause of nation building in the Bhoodaan Movement, he responded by donating his piece of uncultivated land. He and his family worked hard and gathered some money. When the government announced a subsidy for Freedom Fighters while purchasing land to build houses in his village, he gathered Rs. 500/- and booked a plot. He had found a job in a nearby village so left for it. Meanwhile, in independent India, nepotism had made its mark. A member of the local panchayat, in grandfathers absence allotted his rightful land to one of their own relatives.

After this, began his second fight against the Brown British Raj. In late 1950’s he filed a civil suit, to gain right over his allotted plot. After innumerable counter suits, claims and counter claims in what was just a clear, open and shut case of unlawful allotment and nepotism, the land still isn’t yet declared as clear of dispute. Yes, after almost 60 years, the suit is still undecided, of a Freedom Fighter, for his allotted piece of land in the nation for which he sang paeans of ushering a golden era full of truthfulness and justice.

He witnessed the smothering corruption first hand in courts in all these years. More painful was that when he used to go to collect his pension as a Freedom fighter, the corrupt officials at the local administrations office wouldn’t give him his pension easily without a bribe and his Gandhian principles wouldn’t allow him to give in to bribing of any sort. He would sit since morning for hours together, at ripe old age of 80, for his pension and they would budge only by late evening. Later in the last decade, the medium for pensions became electronic and his harassment at the hands of those officials stopped. But respect for him to not give in the face of adversity only increased in the younger generations eyes.

Never to miss the national festivals of Republic Day and Independence Day, he would go around looking for some schools to attend flag hoisting even when visiting us, defying his age at 90 years, much to the admiration of the school staff and children.

He was extremely religious, an avid reader - who didn’t use specs even at age of 98 - and also has written several religious books on Shri Raghavendra Swamy and Shri Yadnyavalka Rishi. A compulsive learner, he would get his ‘doubts cleared’ from someone more knowledgeable, over a new book he had read, even when he was a nonagenarian.

On his death bed, at 99 years, he might have had thoughts of not getting the land he fought for all his life, he might be disgusted for not getting the ‘Golden Bharat’ that he had dreamt of, he might not have had made it to the magical figure of 100 years. Yet that can’t define his life, because he has achieved more than many could think is imaginable in one lifespan.

He had earned respect in all spheres of activities he had indulged in, with age taking a toll on his body, ushering the problems associated with age on the mind, but it still could not affect his indomitable spirit as a few days before his death, he announced, 'I'm destined to live 10 more years'.

One can only feel bad for the unnecessary suffering he and his family had to go through and such people around the country are going through daily. Lets be clear, the criminal delinquency on the part of the system that can't decide conclusively on a matter in 60 years, is unforgivable and the 60 years of litigation, doesn't define him, it defines us. May his soul attain peace.

How UPA's cash transfer will work

Story of Rural India post cash transfer scheme..

If among 10 people there are only 8 coconuts and each has Rs. 10/- to shell out, the first 8 people will get the 8 coconuts.. the last two rue being last in queue..

Then if u give Rs. 2 to each of them for free, the last two inform the coconut seller that they would have given him Rs. 11/- for the same coconut.

Next time coconut seller, increases the prices to Rs.11 to get more money for all 8 coconuts as he now knows he can make more money for same products. The first 8 people buy same coconut for Rs. 11/- Again this time, the new two left out people, tell him they would have given Rs. 12/- if he kept coconuts for them.

Next time again coconut seller, increases the prices to Rs. 12 to get more money for all 8 coconuts. The first 8 ppl who reach him, buy same coconut for Rs. 12/- 

The plantation owner who sells coconuts for Rs.7 to the seller, increases prices by Re. 1/- as seller is having more margin. Now coconut costs Rs. 8/- to the seller, he cant reduce the price now.

Farm labourer complains now coconuts cost more, so he wants increased salary. Plantation owner has to increase the selling price and cant reduce it to Rs. 7/- again now.

So more price rise, more inflation.

That's cash transfer scheme of UPA working for you..

What is lost is that prosperity meant, having more coconuts to suffice all, but that requires real solutions. 

This cash transfer is a solution through diverting the taxes paid, by the coconuts buyers & sellers & plantation owners & farm labourers, to the government to bring two more coconuts to suffice their needs.

My RTI victory

Chemist made to pay 3 lakh

TNN Feb 1, 2012, 05.32AM IST

BANGALORE: A 31-year-old techie working with a multinational corporation got an unregistered chemist in Banashankari to cough up a Rs 3-lakh fine to the commercial taxes department. All through a Rs 10 Right to Information application form.

Amit Deshpande stumbled upon the racket after he saw that the bills, given to a family member who purchased medicines from the chemist, didn't have a Taxpayers' Identification Number (TIN). There were even Scheduled H drugs given without a doctor's prescription . Drugs which cannot be sold over the counter were freely available.

"In October 2011, I wrote a letter to the proprietor questioning him about these things, but he never responded. I filed an RTI application with the commissioner of commercial taxes to find out whether he was a registered dealer. Based on that, commercial tax officers conducted an inspection of the chemist's shop and found he was an unregistered dealer," Amit told TOI.

Amit recently got a 'Thank You' letter from the office of additional commissioner of commercial taxes (enforcement) for being a whistleblower.

"During out inspection, we noticed that the chemist was not registered. All purchase bills for 2009-10 , 2010-11 and 2011-12 have been taken. The dealer has accepted the discrepancies and agreed to discharge the tax liability. The total tax liability is Rs 3 lakh," said MS Sathyaprakash , assistant commissioner of commercial taxes, south zone, Bangalore.

The dealer paid the tax due and was also made to procure a Value Added Tax Registration Certificate.

http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2012-02-01/bangalore/31012503_1_tax-liability-purchase-bills-dealer

India pays back 'India's Most Wanted' and how!

Icons who supplement sense of belonging towards a society, are hailed instantly as heroes. Such icons are 'most wanted' and sought-after in our society. At the same time, the ones who are bestowed with fame in the process, are also pulled down cruelly at the slightest hint of vulnerability. How would a man, who has helped in netting dreaded absconding criminals be made to feel? He would definitely be treated with utmost respect in any other society, but seemingly not so, in unfortunate India. My statement can be termed as gross cynicism, may be until I present an example.

Suhaib Ilyasi, pioneer of reality television show in India and anchor of first crime based program, 'India's Most Wanted' risked his career for a program listing 'wanted' criminals of various jurisdictions of India. Of course, it was a commercial venture and as commercial as the koo-chi-koo romantic programs or sitcoms that were crowding the television schedules. But instead of laughing his way to the bank by showing make-believe stories, he chose to utilise the reach of television to help fight crime plaguing the society. It requires guts to face death threats but persist with something one is passionate about. India's Most Wanted helped to nab 135 fugitives. The service he did to the nation is unmatched even to this date. Yet, after such a huge contribution, he is today remembered with suspicion, all due to the verdict of being held 'guilty until proven innocent' by kangaroo courts of media houses.

Suhaib's wife Anju committed suicide on January 10, 2000 by stabbing herself to death. Three months after the incident, he was arrested for a dowry demand of Rs.10000 He was charged under Sec-498a and Sec-304B of IPC. Sec-304B considers any unnatural death of a wife within 7 years of marriage as dowry death. The sub-divisional Magistrate in his report indicated that Anju's injuries were self-inflicted and suicidal in nature. But media had already declared him as a murderer. I remember, reading reports and 'analysis' in newspapers, of 'how staying in touch with crime news can turn one's thought process also criminal'.

When one understand the facts of the cases, it comes across that it was not only that he was charged after nearly 3 months of his wife's death, but also dowry claim was a ridiculous Rs. 10000. The fight was all about the custody of his daughter. A day after the suicide, his in-laws had rejected possibility of foul play and admitted of Anju, his wife, being short-tempered. But two months later, his sister-in-law Rashmi filed the cases after he refused to give custody of his child to her. Not only that, it was his brother-in-law and father-in-law who contested the allegations charged! He was later charged with murder as well and also got acquitted. This is a clear open-and-shut case of misuse of laws.

It seemed that Suhaib during the course of his shows had stepped on toes of some politicians and the politician-mafia nexus had did him in. India which had benefited from his service should have rallied behind him, but we as a society failed him with our silence.

Suhaib embraced oblivion. The wounds that his soul has nursed can be imagined when he describes himself, first as a 'father', then everything else. He is now Editor-in-Chief at 'Bureaucracy Today'. Continuing his streak of exposing crime, his team of reporters Shalini Singh and Vandana Vasudevan busted the nexus of Kingfisher Airlines and HPCL officials which unfairly favoured the airlines incurring hefty losses to the state-unit. 

They were helped by another whistle-blower Mr. Ravi Srivastava who was hounded out, by unscrupulous corrupt people from HPCL. He was also an activist with the Anna Andolan and volunteered at Navi Mumbai Chapter of India Against Corruption. This expose has nearly brought down the KingFisher Airlines.

Fighting prickly depression and sense of persecution, Suhaib has still kept his pledge with the nation intact and still wants to impact the society positively. He is now bringing in a movie '498a - The Wedding Gift' that highlights the misuse of the dowry laws in India. This time India has a chance to correct its mistake and reward him by making this film successful. 

The onus is truly on you and me to embrace him or continue to hound him. Lets see, how India pays back for the services of its 'most wanted' son.

https://www.facebook.com/498aWeddingGift 

Press Conference for IMD 2011

        

Press Conference at Press Club of India, Mumbai on eve of International Men's Day celebrated on 19th November, covered on DD Sahyadri

They take dowry. Excellent! Fascinating!

The title of this post might seem repulsive for many people. 'They take dowry', this statement would definitely unsettle people who see taking dowry as a heinous act. Many people would cringe at the regressive thought of pursuing a medieval tradition like dowry. The dowry seekers will be looked down upon and instantly sympathy would be, in favour of the victims. 'The victims must be helped. The greedy perpetrators indulging in such uncivil nature of forging relationships - that monetize the sacred bond of marriage in materialistic terms - must be booked and made to pay a price' would be the reaction of the majority of the people.

Imagine if someone reacts in an exact opposite nature. Imagine someone saying, 'They take dowry' and follow it up by the words 'Excellent! Fascinating!'. One would be curious to know if such people could be booked under criminal law. One would hope that they are penalised severely for encouraging it. The disgust that someone would feel on hearing such a statement would be understandable, more so, if the statement is made out by educated, urban, intelligentsia. Naturally taking dowry represents a kind of bullying that the dowry seeker is subjecting the victim upon. Such kind of domination will have its extension into the victim being abused further,after the marriage and many would suggest to not go for bonding such relationships.

All this while, when you have been reading the above two paragraphs, the image in your mind might be of a newly wed bride being harassed for dowry, or family members of the groom demanding hefty sums of money or expensive commodities as dowry for getting their son married to a girl. Without batting an eyelid, in the image, the abuser is the male and his family. The victim is the girl and her family. There are laws which will deal with such acts. The laws can arrest everyone from the husbands family, whoever have been named by the victim (the girl in question). There are also laws that will book people who say, 'They take dowry. Excellent! Fascinating!' for encouraging it...

BUT...

If there is a role reversal, in the image that has been formed in your mind, the flow of justice stops in its course!. If the dowry seeker is the girls family. The victim is the boy. If the boys family gives dowry to get him married to a girl, which by extension means he is being exposed to being further abused by the girl, then there is no provision in law to handle this situation.

The first reaction, a false one at that, would be such instances don't happen at all.

Let me introduce you to a tweet by a columnist who reacts as 'Excellent!'  to the news that men give hefty dowry to marry a girl. He is only joining the cheers of a noted journalist, who calls this news as, well what else, 'Fascinating!'

The tweet can be accessed here - https://twitter.com/#!/pragmatic_d/status/124116480978726912
The news item can be accessed here - http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/10/12/us-india-bachelors-idUSTRE79B1UV20111012


Here he is talking about the article which says, "The situation has also led to another reversal in custom, with some women and their parents asking for a lot of money from men to allow men to marry them, an inversion of the usual dowry system in which the woman's family has to pay the man's."

He gives an elated reaction of triumphalism. This reaction wont be restricted to any one person only. Our society has been conditioned to believe that any wrong happening with women is harassment, while a similar trouble for men is their weakness.

So, in short, a male seeking dowry is a criminal act. But if the dowry is being demanded by a female, then its termed as Excellent! (progressive?)

Ideally, the reaction should have been of the similar disgust as anyone would feel if the victim was a female. But since we are far off from the Utopian ability to perceive situations in a balanced manner and consider agony of men, the reactions usually smack of indifference to men's issues. The general misandry in the society stops us from genuinely addressing men's issues.

In this reaction, lies the gist of the movement of the 'Save Indian Family Foundation'. I am a member of the 'Protect Indian Family Foundation' which is an NGO under the umbrella organisation of SIFF. We alongwith Indian Family Foundation and M.A.S.H.A.L had organised a press conference at the Press Club of India, Mumbai on 18th November 2011 on the eve of International Men's Day being celebrated globally on 19th November every year. The press conference dealt with Men's Rights Movement highlighting the abuse of men. The main demand - that will take care of all other needs - being that men need a 'National Commission for Men' and a 'Ministry for Welfare of Men' .

Wishing you a Happy Men's Day!

Kiran Bedi's speech: War of perception through Media

In the ongoing 'agitation against corruption' after 10 longs days of protests, agitation, fasting and difficult diplomatic and arm twisting parleys between the govt. and Team Anna, yesterday was a comparatively low rabble-rousing headline day.

The media is playing out to the gallery, be it in favour of Team Anna or against it. Yesterday was a day when in the game of media perception ping pong, Team Anna was targeted.

Apart from Rahul Gandhi's speech in parliament - which itself was directionless and added to confusion, rather than offer a solution - there were not much visuals to relay in a loop and still keep viewers interested.

Kiran Bedi's speech and Ompuri's speech were targeted as being, what else, 'unconstitutional, vituperative, against democracy, etc; *yawns*

What they said was nothing new nor was it a feeling held by a few, but their bad luck the nitpickers got a chance to pick on them on a 'low breaking news day'.

It is interesting to see how a single speech is presented in two different forms from two different media houses, showing its an all out media war in a large proportion.

First, is a highly emotional Kiran Bedi talking about how MPs have only extracted money out of the people and a frustrated organizer's outburst at the inaction of govt. in response to a 74 year old's 11 days of fasting.

This is from The Times of India and shows her talking about the MPs. It has been edited to not show the elements that might be deemed embarrassing for Team Anna.

Second video is from NDTV.com, it naturally being as always in favour of the ruling dispensation has put only the parts that seem embarrassing to Team Anna.

The truth is a combination of both these videos. The crowd has been awaiting for a long time now for some action. The wear out of a prolonged protest was setting in and Kiran Bedi just tried to keep the crowd amused in a manner that would keep them interested, but alas the 'disconnected-from-reality-intellects' expected her to speak always with a stiff upper lip.

Time these guys just woke up... A 'Jaago Re' campaign required for the intellects now?

What detractors of Anna Hazare's campaign need to know

Detractors of Anna Hazare's call for a 'protest against corruption', might have been shocked with the disconnect they had with the reality.

I am not talking about the political parties which dragged themselves down with their self-destructive rhetoric nor the ones that have flip-flopped between supporting 'India against Corruption' on the streets but opposing it within the parliament.

A few 'intellectuals' had predicted that Anna Hazare and his team - lets not call them civil society as it was only one of the many terms they could have used- would be largely disappointed when they go ahead for their protest on 16th August.

Some people say the protest gained prominence when the govt. shot itself in the foot by arresting Anna and putting him in Tihar Jail, the same one which is housing Raja, Kalmadi and Kanimozhi - all major role players of recently unearthed scams.

Anna would have become a phenomena with his fast, irrespective of his arrest. His April fast had evoked strong reactions as well, without he being arrested. What happened with his arrest was that the govt. dragged itself further down on credibility index.

The protest would anyways have been a success and Congress could have gained some credence if it had still agreed to table both the versions of the Lok Pal bill. But seemingly, the recovery of election expenditure, coupled with lost opportunities for postings within organisation and government have made the political managers of the Congress lethargic, over-confident or arrogant or all of the above, which resulted in committing political suicide and getting alienated from the masses. The blunder that Congress allowed to happen is that it became an almost Congress vs Team Anna war. If it had allowed opposition parties also onboard the Drafting committee, the damage inflicted upon itself could have been reduced.

The other point that is being made out by 'intellectuals' is that people generally do not vote; they wont even know the names of the municipal corporators of their region; protest is being seen as an alternative to voting, as things can now be seen to be done by organizing protests, etc;

I would disagree with most of them. It is true that middle class is the one that shuns itself from voting and the poor sell their votes and rich buy politicians, leaving out an exasperated middle class whose delusion keeps growing at its helplessness. But it is not to be generalized that all of poor sell their votes or all of middle class is indifferent to elections.

The ones who vote are the ones who will come out to protest. The indifferent class is neither represented nor is active enough to bother to protest. While the ones who would bother to come out to protest peacefully would be the ones who go to vote and would be further interested in the political process because frankly there is no alternative to it. A fight against corruption and protests of such magnitude are not a regular occurance nor can anyone mobilise support with regularity, even Anna for that matter. For anyone to think they will have policies in their favour by simply protesting would be naive, which the people are not.

It is neither undemocratic nor tyrannical for the electorate to propose changes in laws or give constructive feedback about how they want them to be. The govt. takes opinion before formulating any laws and keeps constantly acting on the feedback while making amendments. There is opposition to this bill because they are directly going to be hit due to this bill and want to get only their version out.

It is misplaced to say that a failure to see a magic wand ending corruption, would distance the middle class from the electoral process. If anything, it would imbibe confidence that things can change, because the agitation has already brought a change of stance from the govt. It wont be the hope that would die, but the general cynicism about politics that would decrease. NOBODY is looking at Lokpal to cast a magic spell and end corruption.

This agitation is at crossroads, how it shapes from here doesnt rest upon the Team Anna nor the people who are protesting, but the political class and think tanks who have to now reciprocate. It can be utilised positively by the intelligentsia to make the youth more politically literate and let the nation gain by their active participation or dismiss this gathering of disgruntled agitators as a jingoistic blip that would disappear with the next national distraction.

Moreover, the trajectory moving forward with Team Anna is already present in the form of

(a)Right to Reject - rejecting all the candidates and choosing none of the above option making a re-election compulsory;

(b)Right to Recall - constituents can recall a misgoverning MP between elections too and a candidate cannot visit his constituency only once every five years;

These are the electoral reforms that might have a massive bearing on the electoral process.

The critics were there when RTI was being debated. The cynics were fighting tooth and nail to get the file notifications out of the purview of RTI. But now the same intellects have used it for their advantage. The same govt. is advertising it as a medium of transparency.

If past record is anything to go by, with RTI and other laws that Anna's agitations have bought, it could be safe to say, Janlok Pal or Right to Reject and Right to Recall can only strengthen the democratic set-up with accountability becoming a prime virtue.

Walk your talk - I did my one bit, now your turn

By now we have all gone through the ritual of watching the comparison between Lokpal bill and Jan Lokpal Bill.

By now it is clear to most of us that Govts. Lok pal bill is nothing but a sham.

We might have reservations about Jan Lokpal in its totality, i.e. all the clauses might not be in the best interest of the nation in case a corrupt bigoted person becomes a Lokpal.

We have seen the consequences of assuming the people chosen to do a job will do that job honestly. We might need better checks and balances, before giving as much power to a single authority as proscribed by the Jan Lokpal Bill.

But... what we all need to agree upon is that the current system has failed to maintain propriety of public office and additional checks are required to arrest the onslaught of corruption on our society.

One point worth mentioning is that neither corruption is new nor post-independence phenomena, it is as old as the famous oldest business in the world - prostitution. But that doesn't mean we let prostitution become mainstream and allow it unabated. Similarly, corruption in such a massive scale and as destructive as much as it is dragging our country's progress, development and success cannot be accepted with a sense of cynicism. When we strive for zero tolerance will we achieve something acceptable. Indifference wont work.

Sense of cynicism is all prevalent when a change is sought. The same people who are saying, 'Kuch nahi honewala' had kept saying 'Kuch nahi honewala' when Anna Hazare and his team had fought for RTI (Right to Information Act). Today UPA itself is advertising RTI. RTI has helped in unearthing a lot of scams. RTI is helping people get their jobs done which previously would have been impossible without bribe.

The experience with RTI activism could be a benchmark for the Jan Lokpal to take shape. Indians have unequivocally slammed indifference and lethargy by supporting Anna Hazare. This is India's turn to shout back that we wont take the crap thrown at us quietly anymore.

I visited Azad Maidan today albeit for a brief period, but yes the sense of having contributed is giving me a pleasant feeling. The atmosphere was electrifying, something that cant be explained. But something you would want to narrate to your grandchildren. You MUST be there to experience it.

Here are some pics...

People were getting arrested and were being put in police vans. There was a queue of police vans to arrest people.

BhArat MAta ki jai! Vande MAtaram were the slogans that filled the air. Most people couldnt talk on their cellphones. As the sound of sloganeering was quite high.

Raghu Ram of MTV Roadies fame was present at the stage. Music director Vishal of the Vishal-Shekhar duo also addressed the crowd.

People were queuing up to court arrest. The police was arresting people and taking them to a place far off and dropping them off. Police vans made several rounds like this. The arrested people - young, old, children, men, women, able, handicapped - all were returning to the queue to court arrest.

Police Commissioner Arup Patnaik wanted to reach the stage but just could not find his way amongst the sloganeering crowd. He was then surrounded by the press and electronic media. He returned to the gate and held an impromptu press conference.

Yours Truly.

The permission at Azad Maidan is for 7 days and make your existence count. Give even a half hour to the cause and help yourself...

I wouldnt want to gloat about it nor sermonize but frankly although I could easily do more, I feel I have walked my talk, did my one bit. Now, its your turn...

________________________________________

Update :1 Thanks to Shakti, who commented here and asked for my permission to publish this blog in DNA, this blog has appeared in print in DNA Mumbai edition in the 'Around the blog' section on page 6 on 22nd August 2011.

http://epaper.dnaindia.com/newsview.aspx?eddate=8%2F22%2F2011&pageno=6&edition=9&prntid=147741&bxid=30573726&pgno=6

Pre-independence Map of India

Map of India before independence under British Rule

It is interesting to see how the names were changed.

Rajputana lost its centuries old name and became Rajasthan.

United provinces were renamed as Uttar Pradesh.

Central Provinces became Madhya Pradesh

What is more interesting is that the British did not directly control most parts of India, they were still under royals and monarchs earning the name princely states. The effect of divide and rule is prominent when we see almost 60% of India not under direct British rule but still they managing to rule a populace of 30 crores with a strength of 55,000 Britishers dispatched from Great Britain.

We must value this independence and not take freedom for granted.

Initiatives towards responsibilities do bring results.

Through this post, I would like to share a recent experience I had, about what we could achieve with a little alertness from ourselves. In our country - with attitudes where, helping a blind person to cross a road is considered as a social work or activism - we are far too much engrossed in our own lives. Activism is something described as an action taken to make a change. With our duties we wont attempt to make changes, but to fulfill our responsibilities towards our society. The activism of 'India against Corruption' and 'Bharat Swabhiman' in the recent weeks have had a profound impact on me, at least to not shy away from a social responsibility if confronted with. This post wont be about sermonizing nor about bragging, I am as much guilty of the things mentioned as any average Indian would be.

Time and again we keep reading about instances where the India map has been compromised with. Most nations and publications world over show the Pok as a part of Pakistan and Aksai Chin as part of China. A few years ago Bajaj Allianz group had put up this map on their website and were riled for it. At the height of our complaints about racism in Australia, we found that their maps were all depicting our country wrongly and we found one more reason to blame their attitudes. The maps were there before too, but yes pointing at them at that time gave us brownie points and we shamelessly used them to twist a few arms.

Last year, we had to publish a few India maps for our company brochure and bingo I found out why it could be such a big deal for publications to make such mistakes. We needed a 300 DPI or higher resolution image of the map and our foreign counterparts published the map found in UN and elsewhere in the world, except for India. On our objections, we were assigned the task to get the right maps. We were unable to find a suitable one. I understood that it is not an easy task to find a good resolution, politically correct map of India. We did find one and published it, but the experience remained with me.

A few months ago our whole media was up against 'The Economist' magazine's arrogance. It had shown a map with Pok as part of Pakistan with the real borders, not the textbook ones. It had anticipated trouble and had written at the end of the article that censorship in India - which according to it was more stringent and suppressing freedom of speech than Pakistan or China - might leave Indian readers deprived of viewing the map. This had caused outrage in the Indian media.

This incidence might make us believe we are very strict about our territorial boundaries and take our own publications seriously. But in reality it is not so. I was travelling Jet Airways and saw that the June edition of Jet Wings magazine, specifically designed and distributed for domestic flights, had enlisted and marked places for all the important music festivals in India. You guessed it right, the map they had shown was not the politically correct one.

Just a day before I saw the maps, reports were all over media how a few Indian politicians had complained to National Geographic's maps of India in offices of foreign countries, world over. It was implausible for me to believe the same set of gentlemen would not have seen the maps in Jet Wings. I registered my objection with the magazine on their site and I got a reply from them saying the illustrator wont be employed again, it was his mistake. I pointed out to them that the purpose was to educate people that national boundaries have to be taken seriously, snatching someones employment might not be the solution.

I pointed out this to Mr. Rajesh Kalra of Times of India. He put it on his blog post on The Times of India website, to highlight the fact that while we would want to take to task others on matters seemingly important to us, we dont follow the rules ourselves. He attributed the initiative to me on my Facebook profile, although I must thank him for pursuing the issue.

Then something happened that I had not anticipated, Jet Wings editorial team replied to the blog and the reactions it evoked. It was put up by Rajesh on his next blog post. Jet Wings had decided to take out the page containing the map from all the magazines on board.

The effect of my initiative was felt when I was travelling Jet again last week. The torn page from the magazine is in one way a trophy for me as well as a symbol inspiring me. As if crying out loud saying, you never know what results your small innocuous initiative might bring. This was even more overwhelming when there were reports of informal deals with Pakistan vis-a-vis Kashmir. As long as the official line is that Kashmir is an integral part of India and Indian territories mark it as her own, we need to be vigilant against making any other version an accepted reality.

For, disintegration starts in the mind, be it an individual or a society or a nation. We have a duty to fulfill towards others and our society and it really wont demand much from us.

Hope we can all remain vigilant and contribute!

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Update1: Jet Wings has added a corrigendum in its July issue apologising for the mistake in representing the Map of India :)

Wikileaks, Rahul G and Diggy Raja

The times that we are living are indeed interesting, as any time ever when anyone has lived in, would have been. Only the manner of surprise changes, but shocks and surprises have always kept times interesting. We become shock proof or fail to be surprised at events that no longer remain a rarity. Bomb blasts were a HUGE thing in the late 80's for Mumbaiites. Now multiple blasts, make people to go through the motions - check for your kith and kins' whereabouts and once you are sure they are safe, display robotic emotions and get on with your work.

Should it be a surprise that in the age of internet and digital information, top secrets should become public information in the manner which Wikileaks is taking out TOP SECRET data on the net? Every thing transmitted over the net becomes a public property. It might be protected now, but over time it will be dug out with advanced tools and utilities. Rest assured of that! Wikileaks was waiting to happen and this wont be the last time secret info passed over internet is made public. Although, in this case, it does make the lives of informers and diplomats difficult and risky.

Wikileaks is making US diplomats scurry for cover and to cover whatever leaks come out. The situation US diplomats are in is like that of a family, whose 'good-for-nothing' nephew is giving out innermost circle secrets to other relatives and friends. The question that comes is what would a family do in such a case? Will it not try to preempt to tell other friends the information that would be given out later by the 'traitor'.

This idea makes the connection between statements given out by Congress spokesperson Digvijaya Singh few days ago, about he having spoken with ATS chief Ajit Karkare on 26/11, when the ATS chief confided in Diggy that Hindu fundamentalists have threatened his life. Now for any honest police constable too, threats to life are a common occurence in India. Diggy failed miserably to explain how Karkare confided with him such a matter and why. But not getting into that debate, the question that arises is, Is US administration making its own version of leaks to preempt loss of face for its allies, friends and 'elusive contact of the past, who are now clearly interested in reaching out to the US admin- Read Rahul Gandhi (Praise Be Upon Him)'?

A week after Digvijaya Singh's 'revelations', Wikileaks put up the damning conversation Rahul G had with US Ambassador to India, Timothy Roemer that India had a bigger threat from Hindu fundamentalists than Lashkar-e-Toiba.

Considering how every statement, is calibrated to suit the approaching uncomfortable event and how every new move is an attempt, to deflect attention from a previously uncontrollable circumstance, it should not be any surprise either, that UPA2 knew exactly what is coming out of Wikileaks.

So try to 'preempt' what will be the news in TV in the evening, based on what headlines you read in your newspaper on that morning.

Ayodhya - Ram Janmabhoomi Case

The verdict is out in the Ram Janmabhoomi Case, Allahabad High Court Bench has decided Ramjanmabhoomi Nyas, Sunni Wakf Board and Nimrohi Akhara as party in the ownership of land and divided it amongst them. The verdict has been a victory for the liberal democracy propounded by our Constitution. Debates and verdicts like this - and the NYC mosque - can come up only in liberal democracies like India and US. In nations like Saudi Arabia there will never even be a debate about such issues. For that and for the verdict having passed out peacefully in the entire nation, we all Indians deserve credit.

Now the next step will certainly be the building of a grand temple at the site, if the Sunni Wakf board doesnt appeal in the Supreme Court against the HC decision.

What should be taken into consideration that a Grand and functioning Mosque will also come up at the site on the land awarded to the Sunni Wakf Board where the non-functioning mosque was demolished. After having dealt a sensitive issue with patience, we should be careful not to make the place an epitome of oneupmanship.

Hope there would not be a contest amongst the temple and mosque designs to make one 'more Grand', 'more magnificent' than the other.

Hope there would not be a contest to make the minar and shikhars taller than each other.

Hope there would not be a contest on the decibel levels emanating from prayers from each shrine.

Hope the approach road to the site is made a little more logically accessible.

Hope devotees visiting the shrines are careful enough to have better civic sense.

Hope after another 60 years, history records the site as a once disputed but no longer contentious piece of land.

Rupee gets new Symbol

New Rupee Symbol

Today heard that Rupee has got a new symbol as shown above.

A five-member jury chose IITian D Udaya Kumar’s design and forwarded it for Cabinet approval.

Kumar’s symbol represents the Devanagari ‘Ra’ and the Roman capital ‘R’ as visualized by the FM. “We intend to formalise a symbol for the Indian rupee which reflects and captures Indian ethos and culture,” Mukherjee said in his Budget speech this year.

As is the wont in India, with no other important and relevant issues to fight for, imagine a ruckus for not having a Dravidian 'Ra' representation. There are other languages, but most language chauvinists would not mind a Devanagari representation considering it closer to Sanskrit, the root of all Indian languages. The most opposition, if any at all ever comes, could come only from the Dravidian region.

Keeping in line with the demand, also cross-checking again the no. of MP's that UPA depends from Dravid land, a new symbol might be proposed as follows:

New symbol acceptable in Dravid Land

This covers 'Ra' in Roman, Dravidian and Devanagari. It takes a lot to make everyone happy and the symbol is open for further distortions(errr... improvements) from offended parties who have sizable no. of MP's in the parliament

Truth about Paul, the Oracle Octopus!

Truth behind Paul, the psychic Oracle Octopus' accuracy in correctly predicting the results of 8 games out of 8 in the recently concluded FIFA Football World Cup 2010.

And you thought this is a psychic Octopus?

CRAZY!!!

Are you consulting the neighbourhood Popatlal for your stock trading?

What Vegetable Are You?

Spinach You are well accomplished in your field and are sufficiently secure and proud of your individuality. You think about alleviating the pain and sufferings of mankind. You wish that people who waste their time talking about Joel Stein raised their voices and acted against the banes of our society such as, illiteracy, hunger, poverty, war, torture, which are prevalent even after so much advancement in science and technology

Fun quizzes, surveys & blog quizzes by

India's loss at Twenty20 World Cup

There have been different reactions all around after the drubbing of Indian team in Twenty 20 World Cup. Many blame it directly to the IPL. I found a hilarious image describing how monetized performance in IPL dilutes players commitment to the national teams cause.

Caste-based Census, Disaster in the making

Parliament is all set to adopt the column of Caste in the next census which has already began for 2011.

There could not have been a more regressive step at this stage when India is trying to usher in its struggling populace into the global stage and is spreading its wings on its flight towards prosperity.

History will definitely judge, this as being in no small terms any different than Pakistan's Shariah Law by Nawaz Sharif. This negates all the efforts by nationalists to bring in social equality. Right from the time of Mahatma Jyotiba Phule, Raja Rammohan Roy to Veer Savarkar and Mahatma Gandhi, all visionaries have strove politically to eliminate this menace. Post-independence too India has had many heroes for this cause. Similarly, there have been no dearth of religious saints who have advocated social equality. But caste lurks back. Like a hydra headed monster, now we have different spectacles of castes. We have Dalit Sikhs, Dalit Christians, Christian Brahmins, etc;

There is a good piece by Swapan Dasgupta in ToI 'Face it, India is all about caste'. He refers how India had always taught its children that the British had used divide and rule and how vilified they were. Ironically, the same tactics are being used by the politicians of present day.

He mentions about Valentine Chirol who attributed Hinduisms failure to conjure up a nation to the fact that 'the vital structure of Hinduism negates everything that can constitute a nation, namely caste system.'

Caste system is so deep rooted and prioritized, that a person is first loyal to his caste, then his nation. This pulled down any nation building and invited foreigners to make merry.

Chirol stands vindicated, when after 60 years of nurturing, a supposed modern, democratic, educated society falls back on a concept whose annihilation was once predominantly the goal of a modern India.

Here we are, trying to be the next super power and then we are bringing back the divisive element to the forefront. In the race to the bottom as opposed to the Sanskritization of earlier decades, may be each caste will win and squeeze more than its deserved share, but India will lose.

The Khap panchayats demanding that honour killing cases be pardoned and Inter-Gotra marriage be disallowed by Hindu Marriage Act is just the beginning of the avalanche that this approach will bring.

Politicans being truthful to their tribe, Navin Jindal - yes the futuristic, American educated Congress MP, who fought for the common man's right to hoist the national flag on behalf of all Indians - has met the Home Minister to lobby for the Khap Panchayats. Om Prakash Chautala of 'Indian National Lok Dal' has pushed further, for a ban on Inter-Caste marriages as well!

Not surprisingly, Rajdeep Sardesai and Barkha Dutt have advocated the caste-based census. They had to justify it, its the Congress which is bringing this law!!

Rajdeep Sardesai says, it is hypocritical for the people to oppose caste-based census when we have pages and pages of Caste-based matrimonial adverts. Great Rajdeep, so go ahead now justify the Khap Panchayats demand. Someone whom you were showing as the villains of 21st century until last week. You find yourself standing together with them now. Support them or call yourself a HYPOCRITE!

This is all only to include the OBC - Other Backward Class category, in the census, to know their actual numbers, so that in future we can have more and more debates, push and pulls for reservations.

Apparently, an OBC person earning less than 4 Lakh Rupees per annum is considered poor, while all General Category people are considered rich by our nation. Disaster in the making. By all means caste-based reservations for which this whole exercise is being taken up only looks to replace the elite from one supposed caste to another set of people from a different caste.

What we needed was a count on the no. of poor people, not the no. of people belonging to a particular caste.

As Swapan has concluded "Chirol was right and we may as well acknowledge it."

When we dole out incentives to the winners of the 'Race to the bottom', we are treating, a seeming to be in pitiable state as a virtue, rather than treating someone who is actually pitiable.

We might try hard to forget our caste, but the politics and reservation policy will not let us forget it.

Ajmal Kasab - Held Guilty!

Finally, Kasab has been found guilty of the crime which we all saw in horror. I had blogged about Kasab and how we are making a mockery of not making a good example out of him, in 'Of Kasab, civility and the criminal justice system'

Kasab, we need to get rid of this guy, not cause it will help us to stop other terrorists, but for the fear of Kandahar - II, at least that. We dont want to see him languishing in jail for long, munching on tax-payers money and then some fine day being exchanged for a few patriots.

When we send him to his old, fat and ugly virgins, we need to make it look foolish for him, to have had joined these organisations. So that he isnt made a martyr amongst his people, the people who use a sewage canal as a swimming pool ,as is reported to have been the case from his village, where he was used to enjoy the fun and frolic of pushing others into the canal. Any chance of him being considered as a martyr and the whole exercise of going through judiciary and the agonizing wait and patience endured by the people of India will be lost.

We had a good chance to make an example out of him. Hope we make a good example. If we make his death heroic, then may be next terrorists would be praying, 'Jannat bulane se pehle, EK baar Mumbai police se pakadwa de'

When there were reports that an entire ward was being cleared off for security reasons in the J J Hospital, Mumbai where he was supposed to visit for his hernia operation, it seemed as if he had gained more after getting caught than even joining the morbid ideology. It should be made clear that he is paying a price for his deeds and is not enjoying the hospitality of a wannabe civil society. If the wrongdoer is not getting his dose of punishment and the message doesnt go across that 'you mess with us at your own risk' then all talk of being an advanced civil society smacks of futility.

Beyond that, we comfortably forget that his handlers are 'safe and sound' plotting the next attack. We cannot consider to have moved much if they are let free. Why Hafeez's or Lakhvi's, we couldnt even nail the other duo caught in this case. The judge ridiculed at the evidence saying, Google could give better maps than those found with the two guys. They are acquitted and signs are that their cases wont be appealed against in higher courts.

If this is the condition of our legal retribution to people caught attacking us, then we could be fooling none but ourselves in rejoicing about this being as a victory over terror and a triumph of our judiciary.

Imagine if Hawaldar Ombale had cared for his life a bit more and had killed Kasab when Kasab attacked him. No Lakhvi's or Hafeez's name would have ever been out.

Saying that I guess we achieved only that much, getting the names out of the plotters of the attack, nothing more.

Kasab's death was a surety once he pulled that trigger at CST. How he dies is of not much consequence in the larger context of fight against terror.