Recently I was just browsing through the website ted.com and came upon a video which was kind of interesting. A video which spoke about why we cannot measure progress of a country by GDP and the need for other parameters to measure. The speaker in the video mentions about a certain index he calls as GNH or Gross National Happiness. Have a look at this.
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
Monday, September 13, 2010
The movement called maoism
TV channels are flooded with news related to Maoism and Maoists. Government considers them as the single biggest security threat. Some popular personalities like Arundhati Roy are of the view that it’s the Government who vandalize the constitution and Maoists just are trying to bring back the constitution. And above all these, the incidents like Dantewada, the abduction of policemen, the sabotage of Gyaneshwari express throw up just confusion and chaos and raise a very pertinent question. What’s the truth? Who is to be sympathized with? Whom should we as plain readers believe? Whose side should we be part of? – The Govt., Intellectuals, Maoists, Media or those who are destined to cry due to damages inflicted upon them because of the tussle between all these parties.
The media obviously is taking a safe stand. It is not pointing out fingers directly. But at the same time it is making sure that people’s fingers are raised and pointed to, automatically at the Maoists. Maoist sympathizers claim that it’s the Govt who is single handedly responsible for destroying the sole purpose of constitution. But then we all know that we do not live in a land which is under dictatorship. The Govt is not a single person. Its branches are spread much more than one can imagine, and may be much more complex than one can understand. But then if this is the fact, the question which raises in my mind is that, the needs of the multiple branches can be so different. Obviously at the end of the day, the object of power is power. But then the strategic objective of each stakeholder within Govt. can change as far the topic of Maoism is concerned. Then the question which pops up is that, what if the strategic objectives within the system are in conflict? The whole system would break down leading to Maoists easily bringing down the state leading to a situation which they describe as the dictatorship of the proletariat.
But the state has been powerful enough to prevent this so far which takes us to the conclusion that there is a strong undercurrent within the administrative system which makes sure that the strategic objectives of the multiple stakeholders are aligned as far as the topic of Maoism is concerned.
Now we need to analyze the situation from each party’s point of view. First let us take the media’s point of view. They have been clever enough to make sure that they project Maoists as the culprits in the game. But they have done it mostly in a subtle way as to make sure that the readers feel that Maoists are always at fault. I don’t recollect any attempt from the side of media to blemish the Govt. for this trouble. Why is it that they have picturized the Maoists in bad light? Is it because they are afraid of Govt.? Had this been the case, the media would have supported Govt. for each activity that the Govt. has performed in the past. However, this has not been the case. The media clearly understands that to justify Maoism with whatever reasons it can substantiate, would never be digested by the common man. Whatever reasons it puts forth, the idea of Maoism will never be appreciated by a man who sits down in the south of the country, which is relatively peaceful, sipping a hot cup of tea while reading the daily newspaper. The common man would not be able to digest even the ideology of Maoism, forget their actions. But then the reader would obviously digest if Maoists are projected in bad light and every action of theirs is melodramatically explained and criticized. Obviously by doing this media would be doing good business by selling the news what the common man wants to hear and can digest. Now if you take some other case where the Govt does look the culprit very clearly, the media brilliantly takes its stand against the Govt. Because that’s what their target audience wants to hear. We are talking about pure business here. I am not supporting Maoists here. Wait. My idea is different. I will explain it at the end of this essay.
Now let us take the point of view of Maoists. Their urge to bring down the state came from the fact that Govt. has done nothing to millions of people in this country. When one side of the country is booming, the other is clearly suffering. Our country is a cosm and not a microcosm. When we always argued that Capitalism gains from exploiting the poor, we forgot to think for one second that that has been the case with progress in every part of the world. The famous proverb in Malayalam which says –“One plant gets rotten and serves as the fertilizer to the other plant”. This is true. Because if USA is rich, it’s clearly because of the fact that many other countries have been exploited. I do agree that the country was smart in doing that. But it’s clearly to be understood that in its path of progress, a lot many countries have bit the dust. Why is Africa so poor for years and years? When it has diamond mines, why is the continent still in the dark? Is it because they have not tried to progress? No. That has not been the case. They have been duly exploited by the rich. And that is clearly how progress happens. The same thing is happening in our country. When we boast about our 9% GDP growth rate, we are forgetting the fact the rich are getting richer and the poorer are getting poorer. However there is a percentage which is getting above the poverty line. That has to be accepted. But the fact is that the growth is not a balanced one. The so called powerful people are always exploiting the system in such a way that the system delivers progress to those people who are well bred and it exploits the poor who have always been left behind. This has been the reason behind the ideology of Maoism. But then there can be huge difference between the ideology and the way it is executed. The people who formed the movement clearly have enjoyed the power it brings. And once the power has been enjoyed, the next objective would be to make sure that power always remains in their hands. This can only be achieved by constant agitation and chaos and expanding the empire. So they keep recruiting people and brain washing their followers to make sure that the empire remains strong and they remain powerful. Obviously this cannot be appreciated.
Now the most interesting part is the Govt.’s point of view. It would be true to say that the Govt. doesn’t really have major worries as far as the Maoist movements are considered. This statement needs more explanation as the meaning is really very deep. The administration of this country is one of the most challenging endeavors one can ever get to do. Just because of the sheer diversity of this nation, the points of view have been so diverse. But then this indirectly does help the Govt. This makes sure that the country doesn’t unite against the state to over throw the state. With such a diverse nation, unity is never possible. So as far as the Maoists movements are considered, it always helps to divert the attention of those who might revolt against the state. Those who run this nation have so many other important things on their plate. They are fine with this war, and while all the time they openly proclaim that they are against the Maoists and want to end the war, inside they are fine with the chaos it has been creating. It is a complex logic to buy all at once because to make sure that one remains powerful needs complex methods. This is one of the reasons why the Maoist leader Azad who was ready for peace talks was killed. If they wanted peace, they would have let him live. They know that there are issues in North East. They know that Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur and Mizoram are in turmoil. They know that these states have issues which make them fight against each other. But the state won’t do anything to solve this. Just because to remain powerful, they need to make sure people do not unite and overpower the state. This is the same logic which the British used. Now our own Govt. is using it against us. But none of us will even know about all this, as we are not informed about all these things. We hear and know the perception of the media. But what’s truth? We need to go beyond all this to know that. Why isn’t media telling us all this? It’s because we cannot digest the fact that each entity has both positive and negative shades. The story looks interesting to us only if there is a hero and a villain. No one buys the story which has plenty of characters who are fusions of villains and heroes. But at the end of the day, the one thing which we need to understand is that, whoever does anything, does just for remaining powerful. And whoever wins, those who are caught in between this tussle end up losing.
“The object of power is power” – 1984, George Orwell.
The media obviously is taking a safe stand. It is not pointing out fingers directly. But at the same time it is making sure that people’s fingers are raised and pointed to, automatically at the Maoists. Maoist sympathizers claim that it’s the Govt who is single handedly responsible for destroying the sole purpose of constitution. But then we all know that we do not live in a land which is under dictatorship. The Govt is not a single person. Its branches are spread much more than one can imagine, and may be much more complex than one can understand. But then if this is the fact, the question which raises in my mind is that, the needs of the multiple branches can be so different. Obviously at the end of the day, the object of power is power. But then the strategic objective of each stakeholder within Govt. can change as far the topic of Maoism is concerned. Then the question which pops up is that, what if the strategic objectives within the system are in conflict? The whole system would break down leading to Maoists easily bringing down the state leading to a situation which they describe as the dictatorship of the proletariat.
But the state has been powerful enough to prevent this so far which takes us to the conclusion that there is a strong undercurrent within the administrative system which makes sure that the strategic objectives of the multiple stakeholders are aligned as far as the topic of Maoism is concerned.
Now we need to analyze the situation from each party’s point of view. First let us take the media’s point of view. They have been clever enough to make sure that they project Maoists as the culprits in the game. But they have done it mostly in a subtle way as to make sure that the readers feel that Maoists are always at fault. I don’t recollect any attempt from the side of media to blemish the Govt. for this trouble. Why is it that they have picturized the Maoists in bad light? Is it because they are afraid of Govt.? Had this been the case, the media would have supported Govt. for each activity that the Govt. has performed in the past. However, this has not been the case. The media clearly understands that to justify Maoism with whatever reasons it can substantiate, would never be digested by the common man. Whatever reasons it puts forth, the idea of Maoism will never be appreciated by a man who sits down in the south of the country, which is relatively peaceful, sipping a hot cup of tea while reading the daily newspaper. The common man would not be able to digest even the ideology of Maoism, forget their actions. But then the reader would obviously digest if Maoists are projected in bad light and every action of theirs is melodramatically explained and criticized. Obviously by doing this media would be doing good business by selling the news what the common man wants to hear and can digest. Now if you take some other case where the Govt does look the culprit very clearly, the media brilliantly takes its stand against the Govt. Because that’s what their target audience wants to hear. We are talking about pure business here. I am not supporting Maoists here. Wait. My idea is different. I will explain it at the end of this essay.
Now let us take the point of view of Maoists. Their urge to bring down the state came from the fact that Govt. has done nothing to millions of people in this country. When one side of the country is booming, the other is clearly suffering. Our country is a cosm and not a microcosm. When we always argued that Capitalism gains from exploiting the poor, we forgot to think for one second that that has been the case with progress in every part of the world. The famous proverb in Malayalam which says –“One plant gets rotten and serves as the fertilizer to the other plant”. This is true. Because if USA is rich, it’s clearly because of the fact that many other countries have been exploited. I do agree that the country was smart in doing that. But it’s clearly to be understood that in its path of progress, a lot many countries have bit the dust. Why is Africa so poor for years and years? When it has diamond mines, why is the continent still in the dark? Is it because they have not tried to progress? No. That has not been the case. They have been duly exploited by the rich. And that is clearly how progress happens. The same thing is happening in our country. When we boast about our 9% GDP growth rate, we are forgetting the fact the rich are getting richer and the poorer are getting poorer. However there is a percentage which is getting above the poverty line. That has to be accepted. But the fact is that the growth is not a balanced one. The so called powerful people are always exploiting the system in such a way that the system delivers progress to those people who are well bred and it exploits the poor who have always been left behind. This has been the reason behind the ideology of Maoism. But then there can be huge difference between the ideology and the way it is executed. The people who formed the movement clearly have enjoyed the power it brings. And once the power has been enjoyed, the next objective would be to make sure that power always remains in their hands. This can only be achieved by constant agitation and chaos and expanding the empire. So they keep recruiting people and brain washing their followers to make sure that the empire remains strong and they remain powerful. Obviously this cannot be appreciated.
Now the most interesting part is the Govt.’s point of view. It would be true to say that the Govt. doesn’t really have major worries as far as the Maoist movements are considered. This statement needs more explanation as the meaning is really very deep. The administration of this country is one of the most challenging endeavors one can ever get to do. Just because of the sheer diversity of this nation, the points of view have been so diverse. But then this indirectly does help the Govt. This makes sure that the country doesn’t unite against the state to over throw the state. With such a diverse nation, unity is never possible. So as far as the Maoists movements are considered, it always helps to divert the attention of those who might revolt against the state. Those who run this nation have so many other important things on their plate. They are fine with this war, and while all the time they openly proclaim that they are against the Maoists and want to end the war, inside they are fine with the chaos it has been creating. It is a complex logic to buy all at once because to make sure that one remains powerful needs complex methods. This is one of the reasons why the Maoist leader Azad who was ready for peace talks was killed. If they wanted peace, they would have let him live. They know that there are issues in North East. They know that Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur and Mizoram are in turmoil. They know that these states have issues which make them fight against each other. But the state won’t do anything to solve this. Just because to remain powerful, they need to make sure people do not unite and overpower the state. This is the same logic which the British used. Now our own Govt. is using it against us. But none of us will even know about all this, as we are not informed about all these things. We hear and know the perception of the media. But what’s truth? We need to go beyond all this to know that. Why isn’t media telling us all this? It’s because we cannot digest the fact that each entity has both positive and negative shades. The story looks interesting to us only if there is a hero and a villain. No one buys the story which has plenty of characters who are fusions of villains and heroes. But at the end of the day, the one thing which we need to understand is that, whoever does anything, does just for remaining powerful. And whoever wins, those who are caught in between this tussle end up losing.
“The object of power is power” – 1984, George Orwell.
Saturday, September 4, 2010
In the times of human 'g'ods
I am no kafir. I believe in God. Many non believers can question me or even mock at me. I do not have any particular reason to give them. This belief has instilled confidence in me. It is also partly due to the fact that after 25 years of existence I have understood that there are zillions of things which are beyond my understanding, and all such things I have summed it up and attributed it to some factor which lead to such a state of being. But then these times are really interesting. I am kept in awe at the multitudes who behave almost all the time irrationally or perhaps whatever is “irrational” to my senses.
But then I have to be specific about what I am talking about. So let me explain. I am living in a place where the belief in human gods is increasing by the passing hour. Whether it is the Shankaracharya of the Adi Shankara lineage or the modern saints like Sai Baba, Amritanandamayee or the well positioned Sri Sri Ravisankar, people have started believing them like never before. It seems to me that they believe them more than the real Gods. The funnier fact is that we are living in a country which is the birthplace of the oldest religion which has 33 crore gods, as claimed by the Vedas. And still human beings here are in search of new gods.
I also hear that some crazy folks have built a temple for actress ‘Namitha’ in Tamil Nadu. Let me discount this incident as a case of excess cash reserves and orgasmic exuberance added to a general case of irrationality and lack of intelligence. But the one thing which is not comprehensible is the fact that the multitudes who go behind the human gods include people who have got great exposure to the world. Many of them are really educated and have got an opportunity to have a good look at the various aspects of life in a logical manner. Still they are not able to evade the enchanting web of irrationality. This brings me to one interesting aspect of human beings. Human beings do acknowledge the unpredictability and ignorance about the outer world. They like to believe that there is always someone who will help them tackle this wilderness when they call for help. And they believe that more the no. of Gods, lesser their problems would be. One cannot argue based on reason here. This is how normal human beings think. Everyone is draped in a blanket of insecurity. And it is this insecurity which makes one move towards such human Gods.
But the fact which makes me worry is not this. All these human Gods are very well aware of this fact. Still they endorse this belief. If they were true saints, I hope they should have acted in a manner as to make the believers believe in God rather than the saints. None of us would dispute the fact these saints initially pitched themselves as media or a messengers of God. But when the devotee starts believing the medium rather than the source, then things start to look ugly. I do appreciate each of their ability to attract human minds. It is obviously nothing less than amazing, but at the same time I despise them all for misleading the already mislead mankind. Let me conclude by saying that, it is indeed interesting times that we are living in. Whoever has made this maze is having real fun up there watching all these mice getting lost in the maze. Hats off God!!
I also hear that some crazy folks have built a temple for actress ‘Namitha’ in Tamil Nadu. Let me discount this incident as a case of excess cash reserves and orgasmic exuberance added to a general case of irrationality and lack of intelligence. But the one thing which is not comprehensible is the fact that the multitudes who go behind the human gods include people who have got great exposure to the world. Many of them are really educated and have got an opportunity to have a good look at the various aspects of life in a logical manner. Still they are not able to evade the enchanting web of irrationality. This brings me to one interesting aspect of human beings. Human beings do acknowledge the unpredictability and ignorance about the outer world. They like to believe that there is always someone who will help them tackle this wilderness when they call for help. And they believe that more the no. of Gods, lesser their problems would be. One cannot argue based on reason here. This is how normal human beings think. Everyone is draped in a blanket of insecurity. And it is this insecurity which makes one move towards such human Gods.
But the fact which makes me worry is not this. All these human Gods are very well aware of this fact. Still they endorse this belief. If they were true saints, I hope they should have acted in a manner as to make the believers believe in God rather than the saints. None of us would dispute the fact these saints initially pitched themselves as media or a messengers of God. But when the devotee starts believing the medium rather than the source, then things start to look ugly. I do appreciate each of their ability to attract human minds. It is obviously nothing less than amazing, but at the same time I despise them all for misleading the already mislead mankind. Let me conclude by saying that, it is indeed interesting times that we are living in. Whoever has made this maze is having real fun up there watching all these mice getting lost in the maze. Hats off God!!
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