Archive for the ‘General/Society’ Category
In reply to Karan Johar
Karan Johar, I read your heart wrenching post as how bad you are trolled on twitter and the rough life you have to lead due to this. I am saddened by the harshness that people meet out to you. I mean you are son to a rich father, yourself super rich, director, actor, judge of TV shows. But still these very bad people on twitter treat you with such bad words. I am appalled.
I can’t bear in much longer. I am breaking down in tears, listening to your pain. You suffered enough when the ‘freedom of speech’ was obstructed when Udta Punjab got cuts. So much so that you went on your knees, at least that’s what your post said. You didn’t feel the same when MSG was banned, is a different matter altogether. What is your fault if you and your Bollywood circle wished MSG to be banned? It was not a good film after all.
And now twitter. My God! How can people do this to you. Such suffering. Social media where a lots of profiles are fake. How can such fake people say bad things about YOU. Leave aside the fact that most of the celebrities are trolled similarly; mostly rich and successful. Modi is trolled, Shahrukh is trolled. Such has social media evolved. But how can they do this to you?
I share your pain Sir. Maybe the coolness of your Air Conditioner. Maybe the comfort of your SUV. Maybe the huge walls of your house are not able to comfort you. I suggest, lets you and me lynch these bast***s who say such bad things about you. Don’t they know how rich and successful you are?
And thanks to you Sir. Your pain and therapist interventions swayed my mind off the fake problems like farmer suicide, inflation, shortage of water, heat, dust, poverty, hunger, disease, dowry, rapes, molestation, female infanticide. My total concentration is on you First World Problem now. How a rich guy with multiple houses, who spend a lot of time abroad, is a Bollywood’s go to personality. How can you be trolled? How much more you have to suffer. Already 100% clean water supply is too much for you to bear. You have to bear, not facing the heat and dust. You have to bear not sleeping hungry at night. Hell you have to bear not travelling in local train like animals. How much pain. I again break down writing this. Hope you see my tears Sir.
And thanks to great NDTV, which listed your blog post on the front page of their News website. Without their endeavor, I might not have come to know of your pain. Thanks Great NDTV. Some might accuse you of some scratch the back thing. But NDTV, they would be so wrong. Please you don’t feel hurt like Karan by comments of such pathetic losers. You are great NDTV. Please do share such pain and first world problems of other millionaires. What if we live in India, we have every right to listen to First World Problems.
And Karan Sir, again, don’t feel bad. I am here to listen to you. I am here to console you. I feel your pain Sir. Please let your therapist know that there are people like me who adore you. And hell, you even have to bear visiting a therapist. When 90% don’t even have to bear visiting a doctor, ever. People would say that it is coz they are poor. But don’t let them fool you. These bad people make excuses to not bear the pain of visiting a doctor.
So much pain I feel from you. I might go numb of shock.
African Issue: Yes, there is racism, but this is not racism
The issue of African national getting beaten to death in Delhi, has hampered India’s diplomatic relations with said nations. This has been taken up heavily by Indian media and has been called spate of racist attacks. Indians who have always been on the receiving end of racism worldwide, don’t know how to react. Over the years we have called all white people racist, now what do we do? Most are rejecting the charge; some in opposition are blaming the Govt as usual. So what is it? Are is this racism or is it not? Are we racist or are we not?
Well, the answer lies in the question itself. Yes we are racist, but no current issue is not racism. Indians are born racist. North Indians make fun of color, accent of South Indians. South Indians make fun of North Indians brutish eating and drinking habits. Both North Indians and South Indians make fun of Indians from North east on how they look. The list is endless. It has been engrained in us. But is making fun racist? Yes and No. No in the sense that there is not physical harm, Yes in the sense that it opens up the possibilities of physical harm.
For those who know Delhi, the issue of African nationals is not racism. It is much different. The issue can be attributed to the law and order situation in Delhi. At the risk of being lambasted by PC brigade, let me lay out some facts. A lot of African students study in Delhi University. Most of them live as paying guest or on rent across Delhi. By and large, things are good. So what went wrong?
The issues lie with Delhi Police. There is a big drug racket in Delhi. Handful of African nationals are involved (mostly as drug peddlers). It is an open secret from a number of years. When locals complain to local police, what do the police do? They do nothing. They don’t even register a case. Let alone jail or deportation. Off the record this is what police say, registering a case against foreign national is not that easy. Lots of permissions, lots of follow up. And then there is pressure from ministry that arrest and deportation too harms the potential students and bilateral relations. End result is that the culprits are left with just a warning. And they continue the business unabated.
It’s not just that. When common people try to stop them forcefully, they are lambasted as racist. Which is what happened couple of years back in Malviya Nagar. This roots the hatred against African nationals. Over the years, police apathy and inaction has fueled this anger. Had action been taken against handful of drug peddlers earlier, there would have been no bad blood.
Common people know that police will do nothing. They know if they try to stop such things by force, whole national media will label them racist. So they do nothing but the hatred swells inside. People who don’t live in Delhi, have no right to judge the localites. But still everyone judge them.
The exact details of this case will tumble out in time to come. But some rotten apples among Indians prey on this hatred and take this to extreme level, which happened in this unfortunate incident. By and large I don’t see any more racism against Africans, than there is against South Indians / North East Indians in Delhi. But the inaction of Delhi police and lack of directions from Govt has blown up a simple law and order issue to hatred against African nationals in general.
The resolution is simple. Police need to take action against African nationals found involved in drug trade (there are only handful, and police know them). And also take strictest action against the perpetrators of the murder of the innocent Congolese youth in the current case. You know what, neither of the two will happen.
Raghuram Rajan: Sanskrit, Brahmins and Finance
A lot has been said on the Raghuram Rajan tenure extension. Swamy is a known critic of Rajan and has written to PM about it. Which is fine, as it his fundamental right to share his views. Few people have asked me my views about Rajan. I have stumbled a couple of times on this question. The reason being where do I begin to evaluate how good or bad he is.
The roles and duties of RBI Governor are not easy to understand for a common man. No disrespect to anyone, the whole concept of economy is a fake and unreal. It’s same as Sanskrit to common folk. Brahmins made Sanskrit a God Language, they are the only ones who know it and hence are self proclaimed people who can talk to God. Thereby making themselves important in society. Same is the mumbo jumbo of economy and finance. There is nothing natural and obvious about it. People like me who work in this field, spend time to by-heart the scriptures. We become just like Brahmins in this sense.
I can bet on my life that 99.9% of population doesn’t even know what RBI Governor does. How can we then evaluate his work? Just like 99.9% population doesn’t even know what the Pandit chanted during their wedding ceremony in Sanskrit.
So what do we do? Do we listen to the Brahmins of Finance how good or how bad Rajan is? One school of thought says that whatever Rajan or any RBI Governor does shows effect only in long term (5-10 years). Hence at this point you can’t evaluate on basis of results as we don’t have the results yet. You can only evaluate him on basis of results of what he has done 10 years ago. Some complex and self serving logic, isn’t it?
About this all saga, what I don’t like the most is, many a people says he is a rockstar, tall dark handsome types, speaks well, carry himself well, dignified, renowned. I mean what the hell! Why does all this matter? Another school of thought says Rajan has a global image. Not may Indians have it. And hence lot of NRI’s are supporting him. They get to say, “Rockstar Rajan is an Indian”. They get some pride in it and quench their bruised souls/self-respect in the foreign land. It is not coz they understand Rajan or his policies.
For me it’s too complex to be able to evaluate. Hence I agree with PM Modi on this. It is an administrative issue. It should not elicit media interest. When 99.9% of us don’t even understand Sanskrit, how can we evaluate Rajan. If there is no one better than Rajan, it is more scary. If we can’t find an Indian out of 130 cr people, who is better than Rajan, country is anyways going to hell.
So for all those who support Rajan, please do, but don’t say there is no one else better. It is an insult to other 130 cr people. For those who oppose Rajan, well you might know Sanskrit more than me.
The Woman Card
Hillary Clinton was recently accused of using the “Woman Card” for electoral purposes. She reacted by selling a 5$ Woman Card on her website. Since Hillary is not liked among woman voters, more so the millennials, question is what is the Woman Card and does it really work?
Historically speaking women have suffered a lot. Ever since the patriarchy began, they were relegated to second class citizens by affluence males. Before the suffrage movement, even the ‘Free World’ did not allow voting rights to women. They were called witches and burnt at stake. Wars took a tall on women. They were raped, murdered by the victors ever since the first war took place. Men can’t even begin to understand the pain women have suffered over the centuries.
But the issue here is different. When Hillary is accused of using Woman card, it is about Hillary and not woman in general. To generalize this argument, Women who are in places of authority, who are among the elites of the society, who are in Power, they should not play the Woman Card.
Going a bit local, in India we have reservations for SC/ST’s, who as a group have been subjected to innumerable hostilities and atrocities by forward castes and affluent of the society. The reservation in higher education and Govt. jobs was seen as an Affirmative Action to correct this sin. Over the years what has happened is, once the person got the benefit of reservation, his family members and subsequent generations kept availing the benefit. Due to this the SC/ST’s who really needed it, didn’t get it. The people who already rose to the upper echelon of the society due to the reservation (which was the purpose), kept availing it again and again (which was not the purpose). Thus they kept playing the Category Card so to say. They hampered the growth of their own Category by gobbling up the benefit which should have ideally gone to SC/ST’s who are still in lower strata.
Same is the case when Hillary plays the Woman Card. She is not supposed to. She has been in Power too long to be allowed to play that card. She preys on the right of women who really needs help from society. She hampers the growth of deserving women.
Recently there has been a trend of affluent, politically powerful, elite women playing woman card and victim card. This is totally unacceptable. I think women in US understand what Hillary is doing and hence millennial women are supporting Bernie. In India too more and more women get it. They have come to realize that powerful women are eating up their share by playing the woman card. It’s time that deserving women should get their share.
The Do Gooders v/s Say Gooders
You would find two types of people, Do Gooders and Say Gooders. Then there are people who have bits of both and rarely none of them. Generally speaking most of people can be classified in these two categories.
Who are the Say Gooders (SG)? Well SG are those who are sweet to hear. They say all the right and “correct” things. They will talk about decency, humanity, values, global peace and what not. If you don’t know much, they would represent the best of humanity. The issue with SG is they get away even with murder due to the niceties. The class of prominent SG rule the world. They are the people who seem nice and How can one not like nice? The Prominent SG’s end up doing nothing for anyone but themselves. But they are always hailed. As when you do nothing, how can you be blamed for anything. Right?
Who are the Do Gooders (DG)? Well DG are those who do real work. If they see a problem, they will try and solve it. If they see misery, they will try and help. However when you do things, help people, you are forced to witness the evil in the society, tend to get frustrated at times. But these DG’s carry on even with the pent up frustration as they can’t help but help. The Prominent DG’s even sacrifice their own happiness if they believe in the Good they are doing. A lot of times this get them frustrated and they say a lot of true but mean things to people they help or otherwise. Once they utter these things, they become the Bad people. The very people whom they have helped and done Good for, start hating them. For you can always be blamed for anything you have done, as it bears your name.
Most of the readers should be able to associate people they know with one of the two categories. You would see more of SG than DG around. This is the reality. Also you would see SG’s being hailed (for they say nothing bad, do nothing bad, do nothing at all) and DG’s being denigrated (for they said some mean things, what-if they did good things).
The real apathy of a DG is, even after being bad mouthed and hated, he will still do Good things for other people. This is how God made him/her perhaps. And the real fun is, he will still say some true but mean things to the people he has helped. Not sure which category I lie in, but am sure feel a bit frustrated.
e-Volution: The WhatsApp Group and Human Interaction
There was a time when we used to hear how in future there will be robots to do everything. When Matrix movie was released, the hype went even further. How the virtual reality would be? Then we heard about robots might even replace the need for companionship.
WhatsApp has reached quite close. Before you get naughty thoughts, let me clarify. The need for a companion to share thought; talk to, has been addressed at some level. Consider this; I have a WhatsApp friend group, with people living in different time zones. At any given time at least one of them is active to have a chat.
Chatting on WhatsApp is non-intrusive too. You sit in the coziness of your house; safety and security. Chat, share jokes, share emotions. If you need any help someone is there. If you are in grief, people are there to cheer you up. Of course you need a real group of friends first. I have a friend circle which I made when I was in college.
With WhatsApp group, the connection has gone to a new level. Any new movie we see, first thing we share with the group. Promotion in job, rejection in love, from going to gym to stomach indigestion, we end up sharing. I feel there is always someone to listen.
I feel it takes away a lot of loneliness. It is like a personalized Siri; a group of friends which matches your thought process. However this might lead people to stop looking for interaction in real life. Since there is no loneliness, where is the need to find someone to kill it?
To predict future is too tricky. But one thing is sure; we already are living the future we used to read in sci-fi during childhood. We are not able to realize as it is happening run time. I call it e-Volution of humans.
Sri Sri and the Herd that follows
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar has said in an interview that he rejected Nobel Peace Price some time back. Also he said that Malala Yousafzai should not have been awarded the prize when asked specific question on Malala. I don’t contest Sri Sri’s views as it is his personal opinion and everyone is entitled to it.
What I laugh at is what’s going to happen next. The herd that worships him will go ballistic defaming Malala. For those who think I am being cynical, just wait a few days. I don’t feel either ways about Malala getting the award. Just want to put it on record, lest the herd call me biased.
The fun part is there will be a lot of Sri Sri’s followers who would have liked and supported Malala getting the award. The very same people will go ballistic against her, now that the God has spoken. This is the kind of cult mentality that obscures our independent thinking. The Gurus have to cultivate it to get the following.
I don’t question his comments or what he does. I do for sure mock the herd mentality of the followers. Hope I am proven wrong and we don’t see barrage of abuses hurled at Malala. But I am sure I won’t be.
Sanskrit in IIT’s: Playing Devils Advocate
HRD Ministry has asked IIT’s to teach Sanskrit. The aim is to leverage the study of science from ancient literature. This literature is primarily in Sanskrit and hence the need to study the language first.
At this point it is not clear if these courses will be optional or compulsory. As much as I know IIT’s, the courses would be optional. Somewhat like the humanities subjects. The reaction to the decision has been mixed. Some have welcomed, some have laughed at it.
Is the decision any good? Is there any harm if Sanskrit is taught? Is the backlash valid or is it just because we think little of Sanskrit. Would the backlash be same if it was Spanish or German? A lot of aspects need to be looked at. Let me play the devils advocate for now.
Pros:
- Back to the roots: Due to better job and research opportunities abroad, every year there is a mass migration. The sense of pride in our own legacy has gone missing. Hopefully study of Vedas from scientific point of view might instill some much needed belief. What I most like about Japanese and Chinese people is the pride they take in their traditions and beliefs. If teaching Sanskrit gives us an insight into the uncharted treasure, would be good to have.
- Fact vs Fiction: We all have read as to how Sanskrit is the most scientific language. How we can use Sanskrit for technological advancement. How our ancient literature was way ahead of its times and can even compete with the contemporary. The study of Sanskrit will give us an opportunity to vet these topics. Since it will mostly be optional, those who want to they can choose to.
- Fight the ills of society: The biggest of the ills of our society has been propagated by people who held on to Sanskrit. I am talking about the so called Brahmins. They monopolized the religion and religious rituals by understanding or simply by-hearting Sanskrit Shlokas. If Sanskrit study kicked off, hopefully these people will not be able to make fool of the populace. The need for the Panditji will subside when we could recite the Shlokas ourselves. This will take time and would require teaching Sanskrit in all colleges and not just IIT’s.
Cons:
- May become compulsory: There are chances that after a trial run, Govt. might make it a compulsory subject for the 1st semester. This might cause the grades to suffer as Sanskrit is hard to master. Most of the students haven’t been in touch with it from some time. This might take away from the time which the students would have otherwise spent on technical curriculum.
- An attempt to propagate myths: There have been attempts to propagate myths such as presence of flying objects during Ramayana era (Vimana). There is an attempt to push through unsubstantiated reasoning’s in the name of ancient literature. Sanskrit might end up just being right wing propaganda to spread such beliefs. Beliefs which go against continuity of advancement.
- Going backward: Top IQ students spending time on an almost extinct language is akin to going backward. India requires urgent development and reading Sanskrit is not going to give us that. Better would have been global language like Spanish through which we would be able to connect to the world better and help in job creation.
Eventually time will tell if Sanskrit is helpful or not. Lets wait and watch!
Intolerance Debate: Understanding the Celebrity Shaming
A lot of celebrities were shamed, trolled for speaking their mind on intolerance. According to me they have every right of sharing their feelings. No one can take that away.
Somewhere media belittled the issue by highlighting the cases of Shahrukh and Aamir. What started off as celebrity trolling was relegated to an issue with religious undertones. In reality it was not just about the two superstars, a lot of writers were trolled too who did not share the same religion. But this angle was forgotten.
I want to explore the celebrity shaming issue in totality. I feel that even if Akshay Kumar would have said what Shahrukh said, he would have been subjected to the same. I am not defending the social media abuses that were hurled at anyone who said the country is intolerant. I am trying to understand why these celebrities were taken to task.
What I feel is, when common people saw these well off people cribbing about intolerance, somehow the anger erupted. It was like, when common Indian were struggling for water, food, shelter, the people who have everything were busy cribbing about first world problems.
I was talking to a friend of mine and he had this to say. “So the country is too intolerant for these stars who have all the luxuries in the world. They who spend most of time abroad, whose children study abroad, who have havens abroad, they find the country intolerant. By that reasoning, we who have no money to go abroad and have been living in India and will continue to live in India, are ch****a.”
People might have perceived it as rubbing the salt in their wounds. I don’t think it was related to national pride, as it was related to being laughed at. A rich person cribbing is never a humble figure. Feeling is like, “they crib with all the wealth, we who don’t have much should commit suicide then”.
Better would have been if these celebrities would have cribbed after donating part of their wealth. It would have given them some moral weight. In the absence of that, they came out as greedy people who are not content even with the entire world at their feet.
I might be wrong here. But this is what I feel.
I stand with Kangana Ranaut
3rd class as Times of India newspaper is, it sunk to new low yesterday when it published leaked emails allegedly between Hrithik and Kangana. What’s more pathetic was the tone of the article which without any verification, insinuated that it was a one sided affair. That Kangana was obsessed with Hrithik. That it was an imposter who was emailing Kangana. That she was all at fault and not Hrithik.
When a leading daily has this sort of skewed mentality, what can we say about others in its ilk. I am appalled with media which is directly or indirectly siding with Hrithik. Such chauvinistic mindset is not helping anyone. Just because Kangana is not as big a brand as Hrithik, no one is coming out to support her? Just coz Kangana’s father is not Rakesh Roshan, everyone will laugh at her?
What right does Times of India and other pathetic papers have to publish about her illness? Why no news channel has taken this attack as a debate topic? It is evident now that Hrithik’s side is the one leaking the stories and email correspondences to the media. Why the need for character assassination?
I tell you why. Coz it doesn’t suits Hrithik’s stature to be associated with someone who does not come from family of Bollywood; the Roshan, the Khan, the Kapoor, the Bachchan cartels. If she were related to some Bollywood cartel, Mr Roshan would have been hiding and not attacking her.
She is a single lady who has come up on her own. She has been attacked all along. The Johars, Chopras and other big banners have stayed away. They would better work with other cartels’ sons and daughters. Despite all that, she has made a place for herself. Won National Awards.
I stand by Kangana in this hour. I am not a big fan, but I side with her on principle. It is saddening to see people like Bhoomata Brigade who would fight for women’s rights to worship inanimate stones but has nothing to say when a woman is attacked by a Superstar. God knows Bhoomata is Hrithik’s fan too? I haven’t seen National Commission for Women (NCW), taken suo moto action here. Maybe this doesn’t give them political mileage. Or maybe they too are Hrithik’s fans.
No other female Bollywood star has come out in support of Kangana, when the whole spineless industry was out in the open supporting the infamous Sanjay Dutt, who was then a terror accused. Even Mr. Kher is silent here. They are all ‘You scratch my back, I scratch’ yours’ kind of people anyways.
Don’t lose heart Kangana, millions of people scattered around the country are with you. The Media, Bollywood, Feminist cartels are silent today or are siding with Roshan. But people are with you. Hrithik’s attempt to attack you publicly (when no one even knew about this matter), has only shown that one may become a Superstar, but that doesn’t make one a Gentleman.
When skirts in pubs are banned, it is attack on women’s rights. But when a Superstar attacks a woman, she had it coming. That’s the apathy of the society we live in.
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