Rat Race…..

That’s what I call life is today, it’s a rat race for money. From morning to night, Monday to Saturday, January to December the only goal in life today is to earn money. How we humans have shaped this world is quite extraordinary. A deer gives birth to a fawn and in about a few hours from its birth the fawn learns to stand on his feet and has to start surviving in the jungle.

In our man made world our children have to train for 20 to 25 years to stand on ones feet and to survive…. and they say we are the superior animal on the earth. Gimme a break!!

I still can’t at times get over the fact that my parents and all my elders and well wishers fooled me through out my life. They all largely said only one thing Beta abhi padhle phir to zindagi mein jalse hi to hai… (“ Son, study now once all this is over than you can have your fun”)

Okay I didn’t study all that well, but I never failed. So I guess I did ok. So where is the fun ??? Where are the jalsa??? Thank god I didn’t just listen to them and just studied. Thank god I had my share of fun while growing up.

Is going to office 6 days a week fun?? Or is it fun to scan the silly TV channels in the evening?? Is planning for my future fun?? Is investing money in stocks and losing them fun?? Trying to earn more all the time is it fun???

Fun was in playing cricket in the evenings, fun was playing do teen paanch on summer afternoons, fun was plucking mangoes, fun was driving cycles and racing, fun was in playing Aais Pais, bunking school and watching two movies from 12 to 3 and 3 to 6 and going home …wasn’t it??? Later in college fun was in chasing girls on bikes, getting wet in the rain without worrying bout clothes, sitting in the canteen and singing songs the whole time while sipping chai(tea), lying on the bikes at our adda and smoking and laughing for hours at a go, late nites at nyaymandir or some friends empty house…

This office life is not fun, some times I get irritated and today is one such day… Ever since I started earning there is only one motto in life to earn more and more and more… There were days when our house used to be very happy in only Rs. 6000 that my mother earned and we now earn even more than 10 times that but the hunger is just not satisfying… How life has changed… I used to get Rs 20 everyday and I used to go to baroda from bharuch and still managed to eat, smoke even see movies. Don’t ask how I did that but I did. Today when I see a nice movie about to release the first thing that I think of is here goes another Rs.1000 for this movie. Imagine I and my son manage to eat popcorn worth 200 in one movie… that’s not counting the cokes and the other snacks!!!

It was so good when you had to worry bout nothing and had parents to do all that for… Really why did we have to grow up?? Wasn’t it great with parents taking care of the responsibilities and we just enjoying…

In moments such as these I than again get a thought that my parents too spent a very good part of their lives worrying bout their responsibilities so that I could enjoy my childhood and youth. Guess nothing lasts for ever and now its my turn to look after them and to worry bout my responsibilities to ensure that my son enjoy’s his 24 years of learning how to survive in this world…

The one thing I will never be able to do though is tell my son to study to leave fun and just put this head down to plan for his future… I have to let him free and let him fly till he reaches the stage I have… because I now have realized fun is while I was a child, while I was young…

There are no complaints, I am not regretting anything but on some depressing days like this, I wish I hadn’t grown up…

Maharashtra Government gets a rap on the knuckles

Friday 26th September 26, 2008

This morning some good news first up, some one is not sleeping or atleast I must say some one is trying to do something good in the country. Pleased to read today morning that the High Court Judge Mr. J N Patel has rapped the Maharashtra Government for their non action against Raj Thackrey.

Since i started writing the most feedbacks came to me for writing on Raj Thackrey / Amitabh episode and most of my friends felt that I was using bad language and I was being too violent.

I will just reproduce what the noted High Court judge just said :

Taken from Hindustan Times today …
Quote :

“ Wake up and take steps to restore the confidence of the common man in the state administration. Now a days even terrorists send e-mails and warn about their plans before indulging in terror crimes. Raj Thackrey also sends written notices before he acts, and while you get hold of terrorists, you cannot arrest him (raj).” a visibly upset High Court judge said while hearing the petition by Federation of Retail Traders Welfare Association challenging the letters purportedly written by Thackrey to shopkeepers asking them to put Marathi Signboards in bolder letters.

The judge further added : “ If any other common man was in his place, he would have been arrested and put behind the bars,” observing that the state was a mute spectator to the Thackrey’s ‘misdeeds’, the judge said the government was not following the law in letter and spirit. “Be serious, otherwise every arty will bully you,” the Judge warned and asked the state to file an affidavit by October 16th, detailing what steps it proposed to take against Thackrey.

Unquote :

Thank god, there are people like these to do something about the whole mess. One of my friend thought I should not be writing in such a way because Raj Thackrey was a leader and not just a politician. Some one please explain to me what is this leader now trying to do by making shop keepers turn their boards into Marathi??? One friend told me my writing was very abusive. Does this man deserve anything else???

This man is digging his own grave. I can only watch and laugh… One suggestion to the retail traders association, why don’t you ask Raj if he will pay for the new sign boards in Marathi?? If he is financing, suggest they all go for neon lighthing boards in Marathi and make him pay !!!!!

Marathi, Gujarati, Bengali et all are a part of our country. Don’t discriminate and don’t support people who use this discrimination to their advantage. India is unity in diversification personified and don’t support people who try to change that.

Singur Saga – Ta ‘Ta

25th Sept 08

Every coin has two sides they say.

Finally it seems Tata’s are pulling out their project from Singur. I don’t know if its right or wrong but I would like to bring to notice the two sides of the coin in this entire episode. I am not on either side as I don’t know whats right. Dear reader this is for you to judge.

Tata’s going out of West Bengal not only means a loss to Tata but it spoils the image of West Bengal among corporate India. Already Infosys and Satyam have announced that they would stay away from WB. This cannot be good for the state can it?? The Industries would generate employment and investments for a state surely they don’t want it to go away. This was not a hazardous plant that would have harmed the WB ecologically.

What Mamata has achieved amidst the whole Singur saga is unrivalled popularity in the rurals in WB, who incidentally are the biggest vote bank. The urbans are never electionally reliable as they seldom are in those numbers plus lots don’t vote.

Where the Bengal government failed was to ensure that the land loosers were not only compensated but they would also be given some sort of employment or given some means to earn even after being compensated for the land loss. The lack of transparency in the entire procedure has allowed the locals to be misguided.

I understand that for corporates it doesn’t make sense to employ land loosers as they would rather take up efficient staff and only the optimum labour. However there are means of getting the land loosers to provide contractutal services to the plant etc. The government had to ensure this a lot earlier. But they were slow in acting on this and did not probably push the industry big wig enough. Once the protests started, Mamta Banerjee took over the voice of the people and it seemed that she had more control than the Chief minister in WB. The violent attacks on the plants also meant the skilled and superior employees of Tata Motors weren’t willing to go to Singur.

I am not justifying that the lands should never be sold. Its very easy to sit in your dressing room watching TV and say that if you want industries in your state you have to sacrifice some part of land and people must sell and go away. Really its so easy to say that. For a moment just take this case on self and try and think. If tomorrow an industrialist comes and asks your entire colony to empty as he wants to put in a company. Each house here costs 25 lakhs, where as he is offering you 35 lakhs are you ready to move out??? Not sure eh!! Think again the answer from most of you will be no, I wont move out. Also please take note this is your residence, you don’t earn from this. You can easily move out and buy a new house. The land losers are farmers who earn their living from the farms. So even if they get good prices, if the uneducated farmers are not helped to properly relocate and rehabilitate they would probably lose all the money in a little time and that would be a nightmarish situation. The responsibility lies with the Government to ensure they are properly compensated and relocated and also provided means of earning livelihood.

Because the government failed to provide the assurances, guidance and know how to the locals and went on a land acquiring spree to bring the Tata project to their state today they face a Mamta Banerjee who is breathing fire on the state government. The Tata’s are going which is probably a loss for the State and the people of Singur. The Tata’s will also be losing a lot of money and their Chairman’s dream project delayed!!

Don’t know who is the gainer in all this. The Tata’s?? The farmers of Singur??