Social Cause

Is This Right ???

2006-03-05T21:11:00.000-08:00

Couple of days back, George W. Bush visited India, for various reasons. One of them was to increase the energy security of India and give a equal space to India in the global picture. However, the Muslim community with the support of petty religious parties and the power thirsty politicians managed to put the entire city out of gear!
The Muslim community (about 2 lakh in number) assembled in Azad Maidan, in order to protest for a plethora of reasons. 1) The coming of Bush in India, 2) The publishing of caricatures of Prophet Mohammad, 3) US invasion of Iraq and Afghanistan, 4) Support for Iran, etc. Now, after the meeting under the eyes of petty parties like Samajwadi Party, the Left and other religious outfits, they went on a rampage (as if the city belonged to them) of closing the shops and damaging property (Billboards, cars, hoardings, etc.). They put the traffic system into complete haywire and showed absolutely no concern for the fellow Mumbaikars.
I began to wonder when in front of my eyes I saw, some young chaps who acted like they were some great heros in making the shops down their shutters. I was astonished and thought on which of the above issues does it make any of the difference to them. How does Bush coming to India affect them? Publishing of Prophet Mohammad was done in Denmark and not in India, not even republished in Indian media, then why the reason to destroy property on that name, when muslims all round the globe had done all that well before? No reason was big enough to disrupt the life of the normal Mumbaikar and cause so much damage.
At the same time, the police & the government machinery were seen to be ineffective when the mobs were busy terrorizing the shopkeepers. In a similar incident in Lucknow, two people were killed in refusing to down the shutter. It is really very sad and disturbing to see this.
India, since ages has supported & sheltered people from various religions & nationalities, but alas has always suffered. The political parties and so called religious outfits have managed to play games with the religions and make them to do things which one would not usually do. Earlier too, Nehru with his indecisiveness with Kashmir led to a conflict which ceases to calm till date. I think, the Congress, SP, RJD and other petty political parties are taking advantage of the minority issue and making further divisions into the culture of India. This is inturn leading to disrupting the future peace & wellbeing of the country.
Instead of removing all cultural boundaries and unleashing the creative force of individuals, they are politicizing every minor incident and making them into a big issue.
Their larger game is very simple. Ensure that the minority community (or so called, but the truth is different now, with more Muslims in India then in Pakistan) are uneducated, not holding good jobs, unhappy and poor. After that brainwash them with the belief that the whole world is against them. Hindus and other communities simply hate them, anything and everything they do is a crime whereas others can get away easily doing the same. Further instigate them by saying they have to be a part of Jehad to fight off the non-believers in any possible manner. Support them politically and financially in order to see that they are mere puppets so that they continue to give the strength to the otherwise worthless political outfits. A very simple game indeed but not understood by the largely uneducated minority classes.
They twist and tarnish the truth like in case of Laloo with the report of Godhra train incident. The investigating officer, Mr. Banerjee is a man appointed by Laloo himself and then reports are published conveniently before the elections. Interim report before Bihar elections and Final report before UP elections. Why so? Again, the intentions are clear. To make one party look as the oppressor of the fundamental rights of human beings and showcase one's own party as the saviour of the same.
However, I do hope that even the uneducated are able to understand the games and make the better man win (in case of Bihar Mr. Nitish Kumar, a engineer, a true leader) who truly want to work and do some social good. Other than that, I just hope that parties like BJP reach out to all sections in equal measures in order to ensure that people are judged freely on what they are and not based on their religions or caste.

Religious Intolerance

2006-02-14T04:17:00.000-08:00

For starters, check this article out http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1400302.cmsIt is just an example of the greatest amount of leave aside Religious Intolerance but also Caste Intolerance.The question that bugs me the most is "How we as society and individuals have become so intolerant for not only other religions but also other castes?"There are no religious books which emphasize on the need for the divisions of the religions and based on that hatred for the other castes / religions. Lord Krishna had said in the Holy Bhagavad Gita that the person is not of a particular caste by birth, but by his virtue, by his Karma i.e., his deeds. If the person is religious, pious and maintains his sanctity in the worst of situations, the person is liable to be called a Brahman. Not just because he was born in a Brahman family. Similarly for the other castes.Lord Krishna had also said, in Kalyug (the current period according to the religious text) there would be no divisions as per castes, because essentially everyone would be doing little bit of what others are supposed to do. So, there cannot be divisions based on duties and religious activities.However, sad as it is, we are conveniently forgetting what Lord Krishna had said and only remember one thing "That the religion has to be sustained".There are generally no concrete justifications for carrying out such malafide acts. But from time to time it has been carried out against certain castes or other religions of the society. The onus of carrying out such acts is not specific to a particular religion, but it has become a general phenomenon in our country. We are easily instigated by small issues that have absolutely no concern to our daily routine. And, we fight with such intensity and such anger as if the hatred was there for years.How can we change the situation ?What are the issues we as individuals in particular and society in general should concentrate on?How can we be more tolerant ?Who is our real enemy "The religion or the inability to understand it?"

Corruption

2006-02-12T19:58:00.000-08:00

This is something, I came across in a forumn... I don't know if it would really go in with the purpose of the blog... but nevertheless.. .Very interesting....
Sorry for the poor formatting...

Hi friends.I wud like to share my shocking experiences which i have encountered during my career as a Government employee in my home state of Andhra preadesh.I know this is what happenenin in all the other states of India and because of which India is still underdeveloped till now.To start with,I was the regular run of the mill indian guy who was supposed to complete Engineering and move towards west for studies or on job.But due to my father's death i was forced to join Government service as soon as i have completed my graduation.I was like typical AAMIR KHAN of DIL CHAHTHA HAIN till then. And suddenly......i was made into MANOJ BAJPAI of SHOOL after my 4 years of government service.I have lot of bitter experiences during this career During my graduation i was very much patriotic and was thinking that India will be beating US at sum point in future and i was planning to be a major part of its development but after my career as government employee now i feel.."Will India ever get developed?".Because beleive me guys...whats happening now in India is a total BLUNDER.For an instance take a note of this BLUNDER.I work in a Public Works Department.We take up works like consturction of Water tanks in rural areas for providing hygenic drinking water to poor rural people on behalf of the government.The government provides the necesary grant and we have to call for tenders and the tenderer who bids the lowest amount will be givern the work.But just see the way in which the above process is being carried out in India.For example, sum people in sum village r facing acute driking water problems and they have to walk for about 5 km and take water from a near by source like river etc They get fed up after sum days and request the local MLA for sanction of a water tank for their village.The MLA after taking sum months proposes to the government for sanction of a water tank in that village and asks my department to make the estimate for the consturction of the water tank.We get sanction orders from the government and we estimate the total amount required for the purpose as (think as an example) Rs.10 lakhs.That means with the government standard rates we have with us we estimate that if any contrator follows the exact government rules and uses the exact and standard quality and quantity of government then he can consturct the water tank in Rs 10 lakhs.This is the WORK VALUE of the water tank.We call for tenders for the above work from the intrested tenderes through media advertisements..From here the real INDIAN MASALA GAME starts.
Estimate cost of the work" RS 10 lakhs. after seeing the ad think that 6 tenderes have approched to make tenders for the above work.At the time of making tenders the 6 contractors get to an underdstanding and 1 of them gives GOOD WILL to the remaining 5 for their withdrawal from making a succesful tender.generally the good will amount will be 5% of the estimated cost.So here the GOOD WILL amount will be 5% of 10 lakhs that is Rs.50,000.So the effective amount with which the contractor has to do the work drops to Rs.9.5 lakhs.After giving the goodwill the contrator make sthe tender at approximatesly 5% less than the estimated cost so that the media wont publish the GOODWILL things in paper due to which the tender may get forbidded.So 5% less than the estt cost means Rs.50,000 less.Now the effective cost becomes 9.5 laks minus Rs.50,000 .thats is Rs.9 lakhs.After geting the work the succesful contractor has to give 5% of the estt cost of the work to the local MLA for sanctionin the work through government.So now the effective cost minus 5% that is RS 9 lakhs minus Rs.50,000 that is Rs 8.5 lakhs.The contractor approches our department and we instruct our local ASSISTANt ENGINEER to accompany him and instruct and verify the work carried and performed by the contractor and after completion he has to give a certificate ot the efect that the work has been complted with agreement qunatities and qualities as per government rules.For this things the ASSISTANT ENGINEER demands 5% of the Estimated cost thats is Rs>50,000.So now the Effective amount becomes Rs.8.5 lakhs minus Rs.50,000 that is Rs.8 lakhs.The local leadres like the village sarpanch and MPTC and ZPTC also have demands sum % frmo the contractor for allowing him to do the work in thei area.They ask the contrctor." U have got the work and u make sum money.so if u want no obstrucons from local side pay us %".This amounts to 2.5% of the estimated cost that is Rs.25000.Now the effective cost becomes Rs.8 lakhs minus Rs25,000 that is Rs7.75 lakhs.The ASISTANT ENGINEER checks the work and the DEPUTY EXECUTIVE ENGINEER has to counter check his inspection.The DEPUTY EXECUTIVE ENGINEER demands 2% of the estimated cost for ding this that is Rs 20,000.So the Effective cost now becomes Rs7.75 lakhs minus Rs 20,000 that is rs7.55 lakhs.Now the contractor has to record the work in a book with signs of ASISTANT ENGINEER and DEPUTY EXECUTIVE ENGINEER and he moves to the office of THE EXECUTIVE ENGINEER where he gets the final approval for his payment. The recorded bill roams in the EXECUTIVE ENGINEER'S office with 4 people vreifying it and the respective %s r shown as followsTHE TECHNICAL OFFICER : 0.5%THE ACCOUNTANT :0.5%THE D.A.O :0.5%THE EXECUTIVE ENGINEER:2%TOTAL :3.5%So the contractor has to pay 3.5% for passing his bill in this office taht is Rs.35,000.So now the Effective cost becomes Rs.7.55 lakhs minus Rs.35000, that is Rs.7.20 lakhs.After final verifocation form this office the contractors bill goes to the PAO AND ACCOUNTS OFFICE for the final payment of the bill.Here also the office demands 0.5% as the payment charges,that is Rs.5000.So the Effective cost now becomes Rs7.25 lakhs minus rs.5000 that is Rs.7.20 lakhs.So,finally after so much of things the contractor gets his payment of Rs.7.25 lakhs.Now just take a look.The original cost of the government that is the actual cost which any person can make by constructing the water tank as per government qualities and qunatities is Rs.10 lakhs.The effecitve cost which happens after the bribe to all above persons is Rs.7.20 lakhs.Now the contractor has took the work to make money.So he will be definietly aiming for a minimum of making atleast 25 % fo the Estimated cost.that is Rs.2.5 lakhs. So now the effective cost with which the contractor is supposed to consturct the water tank becomes Rs.7.20 lakhs minus Rs.2.5 lakhs that is Rs.4.95 lakhs.My god.so just see the final figure.the amount has become HALF of the estimated cost.That means u just imagine what kind of the work the contractoi will do and what quality and quantity of cement,mortar,curing,steel he will be using for satisfying all the above persons apart from making his personal gain.And how long will be the so constructed water tank exists? And mind u.The contractors bill will not be paid if any 1 of the above persons is not paid his bribe.So friends this is waht happening in INDIA.I gave an example of water tank but the othre examples we ourselves seeing in our daily life....the damaged footpaths..zig-zag and poorly constructed drinages....the highway rods which gets damaged just after 1 month of their laying.....the street lights which work for just 1 day after they r installed.....the fans and the badly managed toilets in RAILWAYS....The ever leaking drinking water pipelines in metro cities....The never working water taps in BUS STATIONS.......The horrible journey on rural roads due to bad laying...........r all the living examples which r a resault of this MAHA % KAAND which is happening in each and every PUBLIC WORKS DEPARTMENT.So with this kind of things happening in government ..how can the roads be good ?how can be the street lights working????.....how can the public facilities which government provice will be working?????.HOW CAN INDIA DEVELOP???? like an AMERICA? Will it? or NEVER?

Note:Last month in a remote village of andhra pradesh...a poor women ent for the LOO in her village near a water tank in the early hours of the day.She was making it beside a water tank so that no one can watch her.And on the ther side of the water tank 2 more women were fetching water from the tank/And the water tank suddenly collapsed on the 3 women and their heads were smashed in to peices.The tank was supposed to be bulit with an estimated cost of Rs.10 lakhs and the effective cost became Rs 4.85 lakhs due to the above "% KAAND" as a result of which the contrator used just 25 bags of cement instead of using the necesary 95 bags ...as he has to make profit and satisy all the above "% BASTARDS".THIS IS WHAT INDIA BROTHERS......MERA BHARATH ......."...................."?

The Death Ship

2006-01-23T05:37:00.000-08:00

well this post may sound like environmentalist...but indeed environment is a part of our society...
The French warship Clemenceau is being sent to Indian ship breaking yard Alang, where impoverished workers would break down the toxic ship, with more than 500 tonnes of asbestos. Organizations like Greenpeace are condemning this decision of putting marine life and lives of workers at Alang in danger. Even country like Egypt kept Suez Canal blocked for the ship as they thought the toxic ship may affect the marine life there. Is it worthy losing lives for some money?

i invite a healthy discussion on this issue and the opinions from readers...
and yeah do sign this petition regarding this dispute...

Post Rape Trauma & Suffering

2006-01-10T09:41:00.000-08:00

This is the post which I had left as comments to one of the blog on this issue.

Personally, I feel very sorry for the woman, or the women in general who are rape victims. Not only it inflicts a great deal of trauma when they undergo it but then it essentially leaves a dark patch in their minds. I can visualize the pain, the fear which remains at the back of the mind of the suffered woman. Every staring eye of men can bring about the fears of the pain and the suffering. No man would ever be trusted; no man would be friend enough. Every man would have evil intentions; every man is too good to be nice. On every woman’s mind this would be the thoughts that would be ringing all the time. Well, at one side this evil form of society exists for I dun know how many years, the actions to be taken are not at all clear. The only thing which can ensure, that women are safe and secure wherever they are, the people who rape should be handled with a iron fist. There can be no pardon. It’s a bigger evil; there is no justification for the wrong doing. If the justification is that the man was overcome by desires so strong that he could not control it, than the treatment should be that what we give to a beast that does adhere to what we want/desire. The social boundaries of men and women have to be maintained at all costs and no man / woman has the privilege to break them. No mercy for the persons who inflict so much agony, pain, humiliation on the other person, for the sake of personal satisfaction/gratification.

if there is no one ..at least i am alive!!!

2006-01-10T08:51:00.000-08:00

hello,
this is my second post on this almost..non functional blog... last time around i opened up the topic of rapes..i havent concluded it off yet..due to lack of respomse but i want to open an altogether different topic...
this gudiya issue, i recently saw ..gudiya had married a guy..she had a son then she was divorced and she married another guy..now as she has died..both her husbands claim the sone...and a tv channel conducts a public interview of both of them sitting side by side..asking both of them why son should be with them.. now this sounds ridiculous itself, imagine watching it on tv....i saw it and i saw this tragedy of fourth pillar of our democracy...this is purely tragic... and worse part was gudiya was muslim and so were her two husbands..so personal law board etc came into picture which even more complicated the issue.. finally first husband was given the custody of son..which according to me was right...but wat about this entire tv drama...was this all right?? and wat about that child which has seen so many things in such small age???

do reply guys...if you wont reply...well it doesnt matter..i will open another topic until someone replies...i am alive...and ofcourse alert....
signing off on a sad note of weatching that tv show...

hello

2006-01-07T06:20:00.000-08:00

hi guys,
this is ...well shakespeare has said..wats in name..
i just dropped in for reading and saying something about society..this is a real good step by my frnd...i appreciate his effort...
and well yeah..i am not just goin to do some intro stuff....i am trying to touch some issue...
well issue is exponential increase in no. of rape cases in so called advanced cities like delhi and mumbai...
i think this increase isnt an overnight change..with advancement and westernisation of virtually everything..we are losing our minds...and this westernisation has lead to some worst western traits in indians...and i know which traits i am talking about...
everything that arouses is called fashion...is it that way...well i personally feel so...
i see there are some female contributors here too...so i would like to have their views on this..and yeah male contributors are welcome too...
signing off...

A Small Gesture.

2005-12-06T05:58:00.000-08:00

Today I feel, very sad and let down, by you guys. This blog was supposed to be a kind of social forum whereby good, learned people share some concerns regarding our social responsibilities. This blog is not a money making machine, as some may have misinterpreted. My only purpose in creating this blog was that we guys discuss, regarding social problems and their possible solutions, so we can carry out small gestures whenever we have the time and oppurtunity. We should have a social aspect, otherwise, no matter how successful we are or how much money we are making, it is of no use. This endeavour is meant for good alone and I would sincerely appreciate if you guys, give some thoughts to existing social issues and bring it up here.
One incident I would share with you today. I met two kids today, one was ten who comes to my house every other day for delivering flowers for pooja and other I came across on the signal. The signal boy was smaller, I reckon around 6/7. He was selling roses. Both of them did not go to school, the signal boy did not have clothes either. He was selling 5 roses for Rs. 5. I could not see such a small boy having no clothes on (except for a half pant), no slippers, standing under the hot sun, trying not to beg but earn a decent living by selling roses. What should we do for such kids, who are trying to live a life without begging but with hard work ? It is difficult for us to actually teach them at our homes, because of our increasingly hectic life, also we cannot ensure whether they do go to school if we sponsor them. So, how can we see that they are educated along with earning something for themselves?
I know I ask questions which are difficult to answer or provide quick solutions, but I expect that atleast we discuss about those issues, we can eventually find some way out. They are the future of India, we cannot see them rot their lives out. Hope for a more enthusiastic response, this time around.
Till then, Take Care & God Bless u.

Value of Human Life

2005-11-29T03:21:00.000-08:00

My sister who is currently pursuing her Doctorate from the University of Leeds in the topic of Enivronmental Impact of Transportation, did a MSc thesis on the study of economic impact of environment. Effectively, the study was regarding what would be the impact of cutting one tree economically as well as environmentally. Similarly, when we make dams so many villages are submerged, and forests are destroyed, what would be the economic and environmental impact then !!!
I was wondering then, when we are working towards determining the value of everything we have around us, but do we determine value of human life ?? What good are we at determining that value? How can one justify the complete neglect of people who spend their lives on the roads, what are we doing for them ??? Do we intend them to remain there, till they give birth to 3 to 4 kids and wait for the numbers to multiply. We see them with utter disregard for their existence. How can we uplift them from the abject poverty and give them a life where they are able to sustain a livelihood for themselves and their family. How is the society responsible in letting them be as they are ??? What role we have to play ?? These are questions I do not have answer to, you are welcome to come aboard and share your views !!!

Killing of Street Children.........................Police Abusing

2005-11-16T21:33:00.000-08:00

Indian street children are routinely detained illegally, beaten and tortured and sometimes killed by police. Several factors contribute to this phenomenon.

The police generally view street children as vagrants and criminals. While it is true that street children are sometimes involved in petty theft, drug-trafficking, prostitution and other criminal activities, the police tend to assume that whenever a crime is committed on the street, street children are either involved themselves or know the culprit. Their proximity to a crime is considered reason enough to detain them.

Street children are also easy targets. They are young, small, poor, ignorant of their rights and often have no family members who will come to their defense. It does not require much time or effort to detain and beat a child to extract a confession, and the children are unlikely to register formal complaints.

Police have financial incentives to resort to violence against children. Many children report that they were beaten on the street because the police wanted their money.

This incident was reffered just to acknowledge in the kind of Society we are putting in.

""Don't You Think Something Shud be Done by accepting the responisibility to release all those children from police custody with the Provision of Right Path.?""

There is no Dispute..................

2005-11-16T04:26:00.000-08:00

There is no dispute:

That before conception there is no person.

There is no dispute that after birth there is a person.

There is no dispute that during the intervening period of nine months there is something living in the mother’s womb.

Is it a person or only a potential person? Scientifically, we have a problem. Although we can measure the development from a cell to a baby, we cannot prove when it becomes a person because that is beyond science. Some claim that it is a human being from the moment of conception. To others it becomes a human being at the point of viability, when it can survive outside the womb. Still others state that it is still only a potential human being until the moment of birth. Considering it logically, however, we find that location is the only real difference between a baby in the womb and a baby in the world. What distinctions are there between a baby not yet born and a baby born prematurely which would allow one to be killed and the other left alive? What makes someone a person?

The unborn child: We kill him or her while in the Mothers womb who cares you do not have to see this with your own eyes. But let it be born and the minute it breaths air if you now kill this baby it is murder.....................

Rabindranath Tagore has also mentioned in his poem that...............
""It is time for me to go, mother: I am going.
When in the paling darkness of the lonely dawn, you stretch your arms for your baby in the bed,I shall say, "Baby is not there!"- mother, I am going.""

"" The mentioned lines personify that the unborn child has the voice of god by which he can express his feeling to mom in the womb when the mother getting child abort, especially when a girl child is approaching.""

"These lines were prescripted just to create a fair awareness on how we THE SOCIETY is picturing the facts for new generations. One cannot simply forget to remember a well society today will conclude a well behaved generation tommorrow"

Children's Day

2005-11-13T20:00:00.000-08:00

Tommorrow is 14th November, Children's Day. On this day, let us do a reality check of the situation of underpriviledged children in India. Everyday, we turn our faces away from these innocent faces, whom we encounter at every nook, at every signal and at every juncture. At this point, I would like to highlight the work done by a organisation in Andheri, namely, Asha Kiran Foundation, they teach street children, on the 'Street' at the morning hours. That means, they are significantly contributing to the society, by dedicating, their precious working hours to the betterment of society. I am sure they must be getting some pay, but not definitely to the scale in private institutions. Seeing, them was the only inspiration for starting this blog. The intention is to finance them and one day, with God's Grace, let the street children study in proper facilities (a basic need) and keep them at par with other kids. I intend to finance this institution with everyone's support. This blog is a platform, to attract people to such kind of work and contribute in a positive manner.
In the words of Swami Vivekanand "Let you be pained on seeing the extreme plight of the poor and the underpriviledged, Pain ! Pain ! Pain ! let it hurt you so much, till you do something about it !!!!!"
Let us create such pain in our heart and kind deed in our minds. We are better poised now to do this than ever before.
Lets get everyone we know support this great cause.
Thank you, for visiting.

Social Responsibility

2005-11-10T19:29:00.000-08:00

Hi Friends,
This new blog is a attempt towards making people aware, regarding their social responsibilities. The ads and other revenue models which are linked to this blog are for the purpose of helping people who cannot get any. My purpose here is to make some issues like, compulsory education to children under 14, girl discrimnation, the rising problems of poverty and necessary measures to eradicate from the root. My intend is to not only make people aware of our social responsibilities but also contribute in order to get a better society.
Because at the end of the day we cannot, and we should not isolate ourselves from the ills of the society but work towards removing it, to the best of our capabilities.
May God's Strength be with us in achieving this noble cause.
Love.

Firstly....

2005-11-10T08:47:00.000-08:00

Firstly, let this not die like the spcetrical blog thts already dead... even bfore we are out of college.So I would certainly try to play an active part in supporting women and girls.
I am a firm believer in girl's rights .. and do at certain times not agree in system that has suggested equal rights for women.. but it itself makes provision for girls reservations..
I will write a lot more about it later.

Cheers!!.. Please remove the Ads here.... even if they are for a noble cause.