Reflections

Another day, and another incident… one that shook me to the core of my deepest existence. I still shiver in shock and deep sadness at the upfront brutality of it. What is worse, it is so common to see – in many forms everywhere. A poor man comes to a store for a cup of tea; he is dirty & smelly, probably hasn’t bathed in a long time, and what does he get? A gets beaten and chased away, with a stool. Like an Animal. A man so poor, and yet – all we can see is how he discomfits us? We, who call ourselves Human Beings {Insaan}, cant see his pain, his haplessness, his abject status? Where is our pity? Where is our pity? Where is our feeling of mercy? Where is our feeling of insaniyat? Gone south for the winter?Those of us, like me, who feel bad – cant even speak up, due to the public furore, and the risk to self. That is the worst of it; it reduces us to the level of everyone around us, making us just like the rest – insensitive heartless people. Today, I am blaming mysel...

This is the first part of a 3-part analysis on the Union Budget 2018-19, in which I propose to go into the basic strategy behind the budget, and look at its  pluses and the minuses pointwise – in two parts;. The third part will be the background, history and Macro-Economic Framework analysis, which has been my standard approach in studying the budget. And my first impression of this budget, was listening to it / reading about it, was “ interesting ”, but requires deeper analysis. My second impression, after talking to various people, reading extensive opinions, and going through the entire set of budget documents : “ Excellent Budget ” THE UPPER AND MIDDLE CLASSES A lot of my friends are disappointed in the budget; all of them are highly educated, and are from the top 10% of the population – exceptions prove the rule, so please excuse me. To them, I can only state: India is about the rest of the 90% as much as it is about us, privileged top of the heap. We, the people...

Reference Material : Churchill's Secret War by Madhushree Mukherjee The years 1942 and 1943 will remain etched in Indian History as one of the most horrifying in recent memory, with the onset of the Bengal Famine, a famine in which nearly 5.4 estimated Indians perished. This famine has been researched by Ms Madhushree Mukherjee in her book Churchill’s Secret War, and reveals a stunning story of official apathy and brutality. Scorched Earth policy was implemented by the "gentle" "civilized" "human" British in Bengal, Assam and much of East India. The horrifying impact of this has to be read to be understood! Fact 2: food was continuously sent to Europe to feed the newly-liberated European lands, to build a stockpile for the Invasion, and to buttress British food stocks. This was done even when there was no need for such heavy stockpiling. This was done even as Indians were dying by the millions... if anyone stock-piled food during the famine...

It has been stated that Industry level growth is the key, the answer to India’s many woes, that industrialisation and its attendant advantages will ensure growth eventually percolates to all levels of society. The caveat in that line of thought is “Eventually” : just how long is eventually supposed to mean? How many lives and generations will have to suffer the pangs of poverty till that eventuality transpires? And, what do we do in the interim? These people are equal to us, the privileged class – the ones with education and great {or good or even average} well paying jobs. They are our equals in every single way; they have the same rights as us, they have the same dreams and desires as us. The luck of birth, and the chance of education that has been provided us has ensured we live well, by the grace of God. Granted that some among the poorer classes do manage to break the shackles and grow out of poverty; but does that mean we forget the rest of them? There is a tendency...

Continuing the series of thoughts on farming, let us  look at some real examples of human tragedy – not suicide, but examples of poverty in farming and rural India to put things in perspective, and look at the scale of the problems facing us as a nation. We in Urban India wax eloquent on industry, technology developments; the question is how to give amelioration in the rural tracts of the country? How can we ensure participative growth? I am not looking at the economic argument of trickle down versus inclusive growth; I am looking at the human side of things – which, in my opinion, is the only way to look at things. That is a question that requires an understanding of the scale and nature of the problem confronting us. In a previous article, I had listed the problems facing agriculture; and had also analysed profitability from farming Wheat and Paddy for a period of seven years. Those articles list a series of research reports that provide hard data on the abysmal status of...

The past few months {and more} have seen a whirlwind of news regarding great moves by the NaMo Government; highlighting a series of developments and laudable initiatives by this Government by the Media as well as the Bhakt Brigade on Social Media. That is indeed good; a positive environment engenders a powerful impetus towards growth, and is a significant factor. Positivity engenders growth and development, problem resolution in a manner negativity can never do. In all this euphoria and positivity, one factor lies ignored; the status of the Agriculture Sector. This article isn’t about The NaMo Government, but about our {Urban India’s} response – or lack of it – regarding the Agriculture Sector, about how it has taken the back seat, and about how we just don’t respond, or are not even aware of, the status of this sector, its issues and the problems that plague it. While news regarding Farmer Suicides reaches us due to the sensationality factor, the real issues and problems this se...

The title says “Insaaniyat Kahaan Hai?” That is my question to all of my readers. Insaaniyat kahaan gum ho gayi hai? Where is our feeling of humanity, of oneness, of compassion, and of love-  all those lovely feelings humans are supposed to have – heavy emphasis on the word supposed? For, even a cursory glance at contemporary society would prove beyond any shade of doubt that not one of these is in common prevalence... This is a society that can watch a Nirbhay {May God Bless Her Soul and Grant Her Moksha}  lie naked and bleeding on a road in a cold winter morning; this is a society that can watch a wounded man writhe in agony on the road, or can watch a man bleed to death – and yet do nothing.These are just examples;  does no remorse ever touch such people? Doesn’t their conscience prick them, and say anything? How is it that we as a society have become so insensitive? This is a society which can rise and raise a hue and cry when a question is raised on a p...