A nice approach towards rural empowerment

Unusually, this is not going to be a hard hitting post whipping the social mediocrity, but a positive, lively and motivating piece of work that may contribute a drop to the huge thirsty ocean awaiting the seer from countless Indians like me.

Enough of speaking about the ideologies, about the things to be done, this time I'm sharing my first hand experience on working at the grassroot level.

No confusion must exist on  rural empowerment being the need of the hour. The 2011 census results may be awaited for the proposed concept to gain more credibility.

The real and more populous India dwells in villages. Despite the IT revolution, India largely depends on agricultural exports. Hence, the point is clear. The HDI, GDP and more such jargons will reflect India shining only when rural India shines.

It's not more than a month since when I've started working for AIREP (Avbodh IQG Rural Empowerment Program) - a joint venture by two NGOs Avbodh and IQG (Innovative Quality Groups). I won't bore the readers by going deep into the history. Do visit www.aireprogram.blogspot.com for more details.

Three pillars of rural development have been identified.

1. Education
2. Vocation
3. Healthcare

AIREP has identified eight villages in the radius of 30km from Ahmedabad. The work has started with the village called Paldi Kankrej. Please visit http://aireprogram.blogspot.com/2010/05/introducing-paldi-kankrej-and-way-airep.html before reading further.

I'm sorry, if you found the above mentioned blog written as an advertisement, because it's for the first time, that I really relished writing about some organization.

The concept is simple - Spend one day a week for the country.

AIREP has started working towards Rural Empowerment, you may work for urban development, women empowerment, eradication of social evils (dowry, untouchability, racial discrimination to name a few).

But, while working; expect nothing but satisfaction. Satisfaction of having performed your fundamental duty to some extent, not of having done some great social work.

As the founders of AIREP rightly state: Work without the expectation of monetary gains, name or fame.

As the readers might like to go through the previous post in the same blog http://ashutoshjani.blogspot.com/2009/08/distribute-luck-rather-share-luck.html , there should be no ambiguity in accepting the FACT that working for the country is our moral duty and not some obligation.

I hope, this blog will be taken in the right spirit and all the readers will realize the debt, we owe towards our country and start doing some constructive work.

"Kasab got, what he gave : Death" - TOI

What a splendid way to put forward the news!!!

Finally the rage got pacified positively and not on account of forgetfulness. The decision is certainly welcome, but it would have been even more imperative; had it been convicted a year and a half ago. Out of the many interpretation that can be drawn from the verdict, the most positive is India's assertion (better late than never) against terrorism with a black spot of delay on the golden verdict. The fact that Kasab breathed nearly for year and a half after his fatal strike on India, disturbs me to the core. With more than 600 eye witnesses and more than millions of copies of the photos showing Kasab holding the gun in hand and killing innocent people ruthlessly, if a year and a half is taken to announce this most obvious verdict, I doubt, the snail may sometimes defeat Indian judiciary.

Human Rights Commission has gained considerable infamy and notoriety, (though much less than what it deserves) on account of its crystal-clear soft corner and bias for the terrorists and other thriving antisocial elements. I remember few incidents when Human Rights Commission has rightly advocated for the rights of some Human, otherwise it's always busy in protecting the rights of those, who snatch away the "RIGHT TO LIVE" from a common Indian, it would have done more harm than benefit to the country. Human rights can be for humans only and not for the demons like Kasab.

There have been many people spurting their anger out by saying that Kasab should be tortured and not hanged. Kudos to the spirit and passion, but think practically. Keeping Kasab alive means inviting more and more terrorists to make us watch the repeat telecast of the episode titled IC814. We desperately need more and more POTA, TADA and many such law enforcements dreading the budding terrorists. The ripe ones like Kasab, Dawood and Hafeez Saeed should just be cut off from life, since the quality control department of the terrorist manufacturing factory called Pakistan is over efficient and over ambitious, making it impossible to convert these ripe terrorists to humans.

Unlike India's judiciary, the government keeps on disappointing the fellow-countrymen. Instead of acting tough against terrorism, India is still in the process of collecting the evidences and presenting them to the USA, as if we are the public prosecutor trying to prove our point to thy majesty USA in the court where nothing but mockery of India's pain and agony is enjoyed. Why does Indian government miss out on a very basic thumb-rule, that it's only WE who have to defend our lives and not some USA? Why do we have to be independent only on paper and not in practice?

Pakistani government has the guts to say that Dawood is not in Pak, despite the photos of him and Javed Miandad being published hugging on their kids' wedding ceremony. I won't be surprised, even if Dawood appears for an interview on Pakistan's national TV channel and still Pakistan government sings the same old song of innocence and ignorance. This ignorance is really bliss for Pak government unless the Indian government realizes its fundamental duty - Protection of the citizens' lives. His name may even be flashing in Karachi's telephone directory!!!

The final outcry of India has to say: Don't let the motivation of the security forces down by acting so mercilessly towards your own Indians and so friendly with the hostile neighbor, it's a big Samjhauta to our security. At least have the credibility towards the country, towards the deity of democracy, and towards the faith that we have planted in you : VOTE.

Secularism

Secularism or pseudo secularism?

This is the unwritten, unread yet existing burning question against India.

The dawn of 21st century has brought many goodies for both.

Keeping the Indian context aside, let's try to understand what is secularism.

Upto the best of my understanding about secularism, it is assertive acceptance of peaceful coexistence. It is the most legitimate son of democracy. It gives meaning and space to one's existence. In a nutshell, it is a subset of the superset called RIGHT TO LIVE.

Coming back to Indian context, secularism is multifaceted here. It has multiple limbs, if one of the limbs is amputated; it loses its equilibrium. India cannot afford this equilibrium to be lost, because secularism carries a big responsibility on its shoulders, that of national harmony and peace. Unfortunately so called "secularists" (read pseudo secularists) have been axing certain limbs of it.

Secularism blossoms when a Muslim respects a temple and a Hindu respects mosque, and atheist respects both. The very idea of democracy gives me the freedom to choose my religion, my faith and that should exclusively be decided by me. I reserve all rights to follow my religion within constitutional limits, but when these limits are exceeded, the boon turns out to be a curse. The major problems that Indian secularism is facing today are minority oriented votebank politics and majority oriented extremism. As I've mentioned in my earlier posts too, why should there be a difference in the retaliation against demolition of a mosque or temple? Why should there be a difference in retaliation against what happened in Godhra and what happened as a reaction?

We cannot afford to have the luxury of spending centuries to understand that neither a single killing nor a genocide is justifiable under religious reasons. I hate those Hindus who curse Islam, and I hate those Muslims who curse Hinduism. To enjoy the luxury of democracy, we need to be libertarian, we need to be accommodative (by we, I mean Indians; not Hindus or Muslims). A state of mutual respect is ideal.

The government should not have any reluctance in curbing Islamic terrorism, neither should it be double minded in controlling anti Muslim activities of VHP or Bajrangdal in parallel.

The problem with extremist Hindus is that they think every person with a white cap and a beard is a terrorist (which proves their lack of common sense). The repercussive complexes in Muslims' minds do nothing but add fuel to the fire. The extreme Hindu complexes are driven by rampant Islamic terrorism, which is a result of twisted preachings in the Madrassas.

In all this turmoil the Indian common man is lost. He is the victim. Let this victim breathe. Let him live. Let him be whatever he is. Catch the culprits, not the victims. This is no idiocy; in current social framework, it is always the common man who loses.

Instead of fighting over Hinduism or Islam, why can't we think of fighting against poverty, lack of quality education and social evils? We need to wide open the petals of thoughts and let them merge with the horizon of humanity...


P.S. The piece of work published above is inspired by the book titled "સેક્યુલર મુરબ્બો" by renowned Gujarati writer Gunvant Shah.

India Shining????

Shocked to see this title being penned by me??????

Well, go on reading, you'll realize.

21st century will see India as the real superpower.

It's Indian brainpower that's running global IT industry.

Delhi and Mumbai will soon be on a par with the likes of London and New York.

Sound familiar???

Well, above mentioned are the statements that are always used as curtains to reality.

Golden curtains. Showing you big dreams.

Someone has rightly (though sarcastically) said, "If you keep dreaming, when will you pursue it?"

Few days back, I was surfing internet to see where India stands. Before I go on analyzing, you may like to bookmark  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lists_of_countries

When I saw global rankings in terms of nominal GDP, India seems to have fared well, at least respectable, something you may expect out of a 1 billion populated, 60 odd years old country. It stands in top 15.

Exports are also good, foreign debt is also not unmanageable, much less than many developed countries including USA, UK and many other hotshots.

This gives me a kind of picture that India is shining.

A self made country....... with hostile neighbors............ you can't expect more.

But later I checked the lists of countries based on Human Development Index (HDI), percentage of people below poverty line, percentage of people malnourished etc etc.

I was gloomed to see India shining in the list of countries with highest no. of malnourished people.

It's true, even today many Indians don't have basic human amenities. No water, no electricity, no school, no hospital... that's the description of Indian village.

India's metros are getting richer and richer and crowded too. Most of great global MNCs are either present in India, or are eyeing to be in India. All the global brands are available in India, and that probably makes it a cynosure.

Wait, did anyone look at the villages?

It's height of ill governance that world's richest men/women belong to India (it's mEn/womEn, there are plenty other than Ambanis), and millions of Indians are still suffering every night from the uncertainty of earning the livelihood for the next day.

Decentralization of wealth is of utmost importance. There are many bottlenecks in the system, government just needs to take care of the bottlenecks, the wealth in the country is more than sufficient to feed every Indian.

ISRO is planning mission to moon, and we also have people who let their family members die, because they don't have money to take them to a better hospital in city, leave alone moon.

In terms of HDI (which, I feel is the most effective measure for a country's wealth), India is ranked 134 among 182 studied. This is dangerous, this is awful, I'd rather like it to be awakening.

Millioners are becoming billioners, and poor is getting poorer.

As once claimed by Rajiv Gandhi, not more than 10% of the total allotted aid reaches the real beneficiaries. It vanishes in the supply chain, to grease the joints of the chain - the so called Sarkari babus. Their pockets are getting heavier and the poor's stomach is getting lighter day by day.

If this devastation is not stopped, it will create an unbridgeable separation between the rich and the poor, resulting in social discrimination getting more severe, or in the worst case; civil war.

This can be prevented only by bringing all the Indians on the same platform, by providing equal opportunities to everyone, by realizing the effective implementation of all the government policies, and last but not the least, by curbing corruption.

Remember, if you pay a bribe of 100Rs to a traffic police constable, you are encouraging corruption, you are corroding the country, and digging the grave of national harmony.

This is not funny.

A country's action is nothing but the people's collective actions. What you do on a smaller scale does reflect on a bigger scale. If as an individual, you are not corrupt, you're a boon to the nation, and we need millions of such boons. When there's noone to offer bribe, who will there be to receive???

Give it a thought, and make your small but proud contribution by making a resolve of never to encourage corruption and to empower the nation.

Happy Republic Day

Happy Republic Day.

This is not yet another day like Valentine's Day, Friendship Day etc etc. This probably means a little more than that.

I was very enthusiastic at 7:50am when I left for flag hoisting ceremony held at IIT Madras, but disappointment and despair filled my heart as enthusiasm gave out looking at the attendance of less than 40 out of more than 400 professors and less than 100 out of more than 5000 students. It seems IIT judges India's nerves very well. The organizers were so confident about PATRIOTIC(!!!!) Indians' nature, that they brought not more than 200 chairs; and to prove them right, though sad, IITians didn't turn up for the celebration. (At least don't ask me celebration of what)

Not just IIT, even telecom service providers are also well versed with our Indianness. (Does it really exist???) Rates of sms and calls will touch the skyline on Valentine's Day, Friendship Day, Diwali, Eid, Christmas and bla bla bla, but on Republic Day or Independence Day, there's no need for any hike in the rates, as this probably doesn't even mean to the mass as a festival.

Ever heard anyone saying, I'll buy something on the Independence Day or Republic Day??? The superstitios lot of the Hindu population will buy new things on Diwali, Dushera etc, because those days are claimed to be auspicious, then what is this day? Isn't it a festival? To me, it is. I'm blogging about every possible social issue ranging from reservation to patriotism to casteism to religion to politics. How can I do so? I'm writing against the prime minister too. How do I get this freedom? This courage?

Republic Day gives me that courage. It gives me space to breathe. It allows me to assert. It gives me freedom of speech and freedom of expression. It humanizes me and makes my life livable. Thus it is probably the biggest festival for me, and I feel, should be for every Indian.

There had been some nice experiences seeing an auto driver carrying the national flag with the auto. Illiterate he may be according to Indian census, but I would call him a laureate. At least he knows the significance of the day in a crowd full of so called IITians, so called future of India, for whom Republic Day is nothing but yet another holiday, a day to rest peacefully after the four days' hangover of Saarang (annual cultural fest of IIT Madras held between 22 to 25 Jan) or a day to go on trips or movies.

I am not juvenile to say that only he/she who comes to flag hoisting is patriotic, and not others. If you're doing some constructive work for the well being of the fellow countrymen and human race as a whole, it would be better not to halt and continue; but sleeping peacefully in the room or just roaming around is certainly not something I can appreciate.

It feels disgusting when I have to remind someone of the flag hoisting ceremony.

Looking at the tricolour waving in air and reciting the national anthem is not our duty, it's our right. It's a celebration, it's a reminder of being Indian.

But with the present scenario, it even feels in vain to blog about this. It's really going to be an exhausting task to revive the feeling of being Indian in the Indians, but to achieve something, you must begin.

And this was my humble beginning. I hope you would introspect and make your integrity even stronger and dedication towards the nation versatile.

Happy Republic Day...

Perseverance

It was 7:20pm today evening, and I was on my way to Media Resource Centre, IIT Madras, to attend a lecture specially organized by Vivekananda Study Circle, a group of IITM students.

The speaker was Sarath Babu. A person from poor background, brought up in slums of Chennai, making it to BITS Pilani and IIM Ahmedabad; and a successful CEO, heading foodking, successfully at 29 years of age.

The above statement is more than capable to awe you about the greatness of this person, I'd rather use the word fighter.

It was 7:25, I reached the venue, and saw the man himself getting down from his car, very simple, noble; and above all punctual. Unlike many so called celebrated speakers preferring to make a pseudo style statement by arriving 20 to 25 minutes late, this man was ready on the venue, five minutes early. Seeing the lecture hall empty, he was made to wait for 15 minutes; something really shameful on the organizers' part.

Here starts the wonderful tale.

He shared his life story, the struggles, the hurdles in his path, but he had his mind focused.

Despite living in a hut, in the lack of basic amenities, he was always the ranker.

He earned money by book binding, so that he could pay his fees for 11th standard.

He joined BITS Pilani, did BTech in Chemical Engg, worked in Polaris for three years, cracked the toughest cookie in the country, IIM-A. This really is inspiring, but not rib-tickling.

The rib-tickling part comes now.

It's needless to say that IIM-A graduate will be welcome by any firm in the world, so was the case with Mr Sarath Babu; but he preferred going the less traveled way.

He turned entrepreneur, in hunt of his dream, with a meagre 2,000Rs capital, (I didn't miss any zero, it really was two thousand), not more than three years ago from now; and today he is heading a firm of more than 7Cr Rs turnover!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Being an entrepreneur must be the dream of so many, but the reason I am writing about Mr Sarath Babu, is that he chose this with a view to creating employment opportunities, and not wealth.

His statement keeps taking round in my mind.

"Through a job offered to me by IIM-A placements, my family could have been well-off, but by being an entrepreneur, and by employing 250 people, today 250 families are earning their livelihood through me."

Surprises are yet to end. He contested in 2009 Parliamentary election as an independent candidate from South Chennai.

Aspiring to be education minister one day, he has a long way to go, but looking at his perseverance, it will not surprise me, if I see him in the cabinet in a decade.

Look at the Sarath Babu now, and look at the Sarath Babu two decades back.

A transformation from a son of an Idli seller living in slums to a potential minister and a successful CEO.

If this tansformation is possible, perseverance can do anything and everything, all you need to have is a dream, and never say die spirit.

His life story looks like a fairy tale, could really be a role model for the current generation, and at least for me.

Hats off to you Sarath Babu...