Nearly everyone who has moved past a certain age milestone in life misses his/her youth...What is it that we miss??...As I heard some old numbers the other day I realised what I miss most from that time. It is not the vitality or health of that phase(when no amount of sunburn can stop you from going out), it is not the college life or the people(thankfully Iam still in contact with most who mattered) nor is it the ''bindaas''(for the want of a better word) attitude of that time......What is it then??
It is the dreams that I miss the most. It is that phase of life when life has just started and the journey seems to hold endless promises, when dreams have no restrictions, flights of fancy seem to be possible in any direction of our choice, and when even uncertainities of life seem oh! so exciting!! and most importantly a time when hopes and positive outcomes have not been replaced by cynicism and criticsm. Childhood is perhaps even more beautiful but most of us do not clearly remember it but youth is a different ballgame altogether. You cherish it, you live it, and you never forget it.
As one moves on in life, milestones are achieved, success is relished, failures are learnt from and accolades are gathered.Uncertainities no longer seem to hold adventure and ones starts moving towards guarantees of material success..house, income etc.etc. Success becomes tangible but does tangible materialism ever have the taste of dreams?? I know what most would say ''What a foolish way of looking at life? Shouldn't one reach out towards one's goals?'' Of course one should...Even I have, with no regrets and yet ironically, that's precisely why youth never comes back. If you hold on to it you stagnate and if you move on the natural progress trajectory you do what Iam doing... remember it fondly. I guess, that's life or as the french say '' C'est la vie''.
Thursday, 26 August 2010
Monday, 8 February 2010
What is dignity of labour?
An excerpt from New York Times about Taj hotel in India read thus:
''In every men’s washroom at the Taj is a helper. As you approach the sink, he salutes you. Before you can turn on the tap, he does it for you. Before you can apply soap, he presses the dispenser. Before you can get a towel, he dangles one. As you leave, he salutes you again and mutters: “Right, sir. O.K., sir. Thank you, sir.”
Step outside, and you see sedans reeking of new affluence.India may be changing at a disorienting pace, but one thing remains stubbornly the same: a tendency to treat the hired help like chattel, to behave as though some humans were born to serve and others to be served.''…..and so continued the rest of the artile ....
As I read the abovementioned article published in The New York Times, Asia Pacific section, titled, Exploring India’s Prosperity Through the Eyes of the Invisible Men, my mind registered instant protest. It was not easy to immediately find the right words to describe it, for these are complex issues but something was not right somewhere, and I sought to bring it to light as cohesively as I possibly can to myself and now perhaps to whoever reads this.
Among my first reactions was incredulity, such a half baked portrayal of things. The second was amusement, it is so typically one of those articles which are so fashionably pro- poor nowadays, and which exploit words like inequality and disparity to their gain. Exploitation abounds in various forms and for various reasons. It needs to be condemned whatever be the reason for its existence, whether it be physical comforts, financial gains or as in this case, literary gains. ‘Oh, typically an article for the western world. It is what they want to believe of us’ people in India would say on reading the article under question.
The article largely came across as something written about India as it appears to the West , but appearances need to be delved into so as to unearth the real understanding. No doubt it was an article written for the west in a western paper but surely even the West likes to have the complete picture, complete with the context and reasons?
I write not because I completely disagree with the above mentioned excerpt but because its only part of the picture. One, the understanding of the situation is very cursory and shallow, and second, the facts far too generalized to be applicable to a vast population as in India. Besides, no written piece about a nation or a society is complete without a context. In an absence of the context, even the right figures, the right data may also generate the wrong picture as is so in the case of the piece that I seek to comment upon. I do not question the fact that there are insensitive people who deliberately erode the dignity of lesser priviledged people in India but unfortunately, sometimes even the more sensitive ones (like this article), in their march towards equality and sensitivity , end up trampling on peoples dignity without realizing it. The article and its beginning is a case in point….but first the background…
India....
India contrary to the west is an economy rich in its human resources. WITH ITS POPULATION TOUCHING A billion mark India has to take a path that is very different from the rest of the world. Its biggest liability its vast population has to be turned into its asset. Its human resources have to be optimally tapped if we were to make a suitable difference to our future , and admittedly handling human resources can be a far daunting task than many. Besides India started out late on its quest of equality and justice, as late as 1947-the year of its independence from a Raj where social disparities were at its peak. Considering that, and its vast population, India seems to be following the natural trajectory, which is ridden by struggle and contradictions but is nevertheless very natural, predictable and progressive. True, social disparities abound in India as they would in any country which has its population touching a billion mark, and true there are bound to be people who exploit the situation but by no stretch of imagination can we generalize the situation to suit ourselves.
With such a high population, India invariably sees a lot of it’s work done by human resources rather than machines and invariably it generates more incidents, and stories-facts and fiction, for machines do not complain, humans do, and rightly so, but only when truth is not compromised.
What is dignity of labour?
There are two things we need to remember
1.No job is bad. Every job deserves dignity and every worker deserves to be treated with respect whatever be the job he is doing
2.The job should not be forced but be based on one, freedom of choice and two, the workers circumstances, namely level of education, job opportunities etc.
The article starts by lamenting the position of the attendant in the bathroom and how Indias’ progress is no progress from his point of view. I am sorry but I do not understand. Dignity of labour is not about what job you do. Rather its about how you get treated by others for doing that job. No job is good or bad, it’s the way we treat the people who are doing those jobs that ends up classifying a good job from a bad job. And that is what dignity of labour is all about. As I read the piece, what seemed wrong to me was the pathetic way in which the attendant was portrayed, as an object of pity by the observer. I found his portrayal by the writer more demeaning than the facts of his job. True, a soap dispenser would any day be preferred over a person putting soap on our hands but then in a country teeming with people and unemployment, every job created is a blessing! WHAT COUNTS IS HOW WE TREAT THE PERSON DOING THAT JOB. And of course, what that job IS, depends on the state of your economy. You cannot create a managers job for an uneducated person, and yet you cannot allow him to perish looking for the ‘respectable(?)’ job…for what is respect and dignity afterall ? Isn't it something which we should give to everyone who is trying to do something…whether it being an officers job or an attendant’s? The problem is not with the attendant or his job, or the hotel who employs him. The problem is with US who do not try and study in the right perspective, the myriad factors coming together in a situation.
This will shock many, but then, reality often does… do you know that the attendant in the men’s toilet in Taj whose plight the author laments, would actually be considered privileged by his peers in India? Why?.. because all he has to do is squeeze soap on a polite man’s hand in an air conditioned clean room, and hopefully be thanked for it too, whereas he could have instead landed up slogging in the harsh sun lifting weights, and earning one tenth of what he does in Taj ….You see, the facts are right, he is indeed squeezing soap, but the context is not …..for he does not consider himself underpriviledged, as the article seems to imply. He knows that what he is getting paid for can very easily be done with a soap dispenser, and is glad that it is not so; for given his background and education levels, he is not likely to get any better employment. We who pity him or mistreat him for being an attendant, degrade his efforts to stand upright.
Neither are we talking of forced labour here nor lack of choice. He like every other person on this planet makes the most optimal choice given his circumstances, and has the right to quit or protest at any point that he deems fit. Unfortunately, the fact that he is born in India makes it a choice between pulling a rickshaw or dispensing soap. In the west it would perhaps be a choice between being an executive or being self employed, but a CHOICE nevertheless. And that is what counts. Any society which grants freedom of choice will surely one day find its equality and rights...just give it time. The attendant, like every other Indian also knows that he belongs to a young country which is struggling itself, and needs him to put in that extra bit, which would see his next generations better off, educated, and in better positions. At that point , I am sure he will not mind being replaced by a dispenser. I once again reiterate that his job as an attendant is not objectionable, it is the attitude of people like us who forget to thank him or treat him like dirt simply because he cannot protest, which is wrong.....
There is no denying that exploitation exists...but contrary to ‘dehumanization ‘ as quoted in the article, India to those who know it well, is a perfect example of human resources working in tandem to their mutual benefit, and I highlight mutual benefit as against ‘exploitation of the poor’. India at present can boast of one of the largest social development network in the world right now. It happens to be a country where corrective measures against social disparities emerge quite spontaneously. In short, India has always had a self correcting mechanism, which when supported by external help like government support or international development agencies, or even responsible media has known to have far reaching impacts. Success stories abound.
Give India Time.......
Social development takes time. Social development takes patience and social development takes understanding. Neither is charity the answer nor is blind support either to the poor or the rich . The requirement of the day is careful understanding of the situation, and provision of intelligent support. The poor is not likely to get rich in a day, and even if he does he would not be able to handle it. Development studies clearly highlight the need for people to get self reliant slowly and surely for the development to be consistent. The need for education cannot be emphasised enough. One has to work towards ones’s upliftment and the results are not obvious immediately. Sometimes they get reflected only by the time the next generation grows up. There are no miracles. Hence, the social disparities in India are not likely to disappear in a day but neither are they all pervasive nor as grotesque as the West is made to believe. All one wishes to see the west do is to study India and its problems in the right context...Indian context...not their western context.
''In every men’s washroom at the Taj is a helper. As you approach the sink, he salutes you. Before you can turn on the tap, he does it for you. Before you can apply soap, he presses the dispenser. Before you can get a towel, he dangles one. As you leave, he salutes you again and mutters: “Right, sir. O.K., sir. Thank you, sir.”
Step outside, and you see sedans reeking of new affluence.India may be changing at a disorienting pace, but one thing remains stubbornly the same: a tendency to treat the hired help like chattel, to behave as though some humans were born to serve and others to be served.''…..and so continued the rest of the artile ....
As I read the abovementioned article published in The New York Times, Asia Pacific section, titled, Exploring India’s Prosperity Through the Eyes of the Invisible Men, my mind registered instant protest. It was not easy to immediately find the right words to describe it, for these are complex issues but something was not right somewhere, and I sought to bring it to light as cohesively as I possibly can to myself and now perhaps to whoever reads this.
Among my first reactions was incredulity, such a half baked portrayal of things. The second was amusement, it is so typically one of those articles which are so fashionably pro- poor nowadays, and which exploit words like inequality and disparity to their gain. Exploitation abounds in various forms and for various reasons. It needs to be condemned whatever be the reason for its existence, whether it be physical comforts, financial gains or as in this case, literary gains. ‘Oh, typically an article for the western world. It is what they want to believe of us’ people in India would say on reading the article under question.
The article largely came across as something written about India as it appears to the West , but appearances need to be delved into so as to unearth the real understanding. No doubt it was an article written for the west in a western paper but surely even the West likes to have the complete picture, complete with the context and reasons?
I write not because I completely disagree with the above mentioned excerpt but because its only part of the picture. One, the understanding of the situation is very cursory and shallow, and second, the facts far too generalized to be applicable to a vast population as in India. Besides, no written piece about a nation or a society is complete without a context. In an absence of the context, even the right figures, the right data may also generate the wrong picture as is so in the case of the piece that I seek to comment upon. I do not question the fact that there are insensitive people who deliberately erode the dignity of lesser priviledged people in India but unfortunately, sometimes even the more sensitive ones (like this article), in their march towards equality and sensitivity , end up trampling on peoples dignity without realizing it. The article and its beginning is a case in point….but first the background…
India....
India contrary to the west is an economy rich in its human resources. WITH ITS POPULATION TOUCHING A billion mark India has to take a path that is very different from the rest of the world. Its biggest liability its vast population has to be turned into its asset. Its human resources have to be optimally tapped if we were to make a suitable difference to our future , and admittedly handling human resources can be a far daunting task than many. Besides India started out late on its quest of equality and justice, as late as 1947-the year of its independence from a Raj where social disparities were at its peak. Considering that, and its vast population, India seems to be following the natural trajectory, which is ridden by struggle and contradictions but is nevertheless very natural, predictable and progressive. True, social disparities abound in India as they would in any country which has its population touching a billion mark, and true there are bound to be people who exploit the situation but by no stretch of imagination can we generalize the situation to suit ourselves.
With such a high population, India invariably sees a lot of it’s work done by human resources rather than machines and invariably it generates more incidents, and stories-facts and fiction, for machines do not complain, humans do, and rightly so, but only when truth is not compromised.
What is dignity of labour?
There are two things we need to remember
1.No job is bad. Every job deserves dignity and every worker deserves to be treated with respect whatever be the job he is doing
2.The job should not be forced but be based on one, freedom of choice and two, the workers circumstances, namely level of education, job opportunities etc.
The article starts by lamenting the position of the attendant in the bathroom and how Indias’ progress is no progress from his point of view. I am sorry but I do not understand. Dignity of labour is not about what job you do. Rather its about how you get treated by others for doing that job. No job is good or bad, it’s the way we treat the people who are doing those jobs that ends up classifying a good job from a bad job. And that is what dignity of labour is all about. As I read the piece, what seemed wrong to me was the pathetic way in which the attendant was portrayed, as an object of pity by the observer. I found his portrayal by the writer more demeaning than the facts of his job. True, a soap dispenser would any day be preferred over a person putting soap on our hands but then in a country teeming with people and unemployment, every job created is a blessing! WHAT COUNTS IS HOW WE TREAT THE PERSON DOING THAT JOB. And of course, what that job IS, depends on the state of your economy. You cannot create a managers job for an uneducated person, and yet you cannot allow him to perish looking for the ‘respectable(?)’ job…for what is respect and dignity afterall ? Isn't it something which we should give to everyone who is trying to do something…whether it being an officers job or an attendant’s? The problem is not with the attendant or his job, or the hotel who employs him. The problem is with US who do not try and study in the right perspective, the myriad factors coming together in a situation.
This will shock many, but then, reality often does… do you know that the attendant in the men’s toilet in Taj whose plight the author laments, would actually be considered privileged by his peers in India? Why?.. because all he has to do is squeeze soap on a polite man’s hand in an air conditioned clean room, and hopefully be thanked for it too, whereas he could have instead landed up slogging in the harsh sun lifting weights, and earning one tenth of what he does in Taj ….You see, the facts are right, he is indeed squeezing soap, but the context is not …..for he does not consider himself underpriviledged, as the article seems to imply. He knows that what he is getting paid for can very easily be done with a soap dispenser, and is glad that it is not so; for given his background and education levels, he is not likely to get any better employment. We who pity him or mistreat him for being an attendant, degrade his efforts to stand upright.
Neither are we talking of forced labour here nor lack of choice. He like every other person on this planet makes the most optimal choice given his circumstances, and has the right to quit or protest at any point that he deems fit. Unfortunately, the fact that he is born in India makes it a choice between pulling a rickshaw or dispensing soap. In the west it would perhaps be a choice between being an executive or being self employed, but a CHOICE nevertheless. And that is what counts. Any society which grants freedom of choice will surely one day find its equality and rights...just give it time. The attendant, like every other Indian also knows that he belongs to a young country which is struggling itself, and needs him to put in that extra bit, which would see his next generations better off, educated, and in better positions. At that point , I am sure he will not mind being replaced by a dispenser. I once again reiterate that his job as an attendant is not objectionable, it is the attitude of people like us who forget to thank him or treat him like dirt simply because he cannot protest, which is wrong.....
There is no denying that exploitation exists...but contrary to ‘dehumanization ‘ as quoted in the article, India to those who know it well, is a perfect example of human resources working in tandem to their mutual benefit, and I highlight mutual benefit as against ‘exploitation of the poor’. India at present can boast of one of the largest social development network in the world right now. It happens to be a country where corrective measures against social disparities emerge quite spontaneously. In short, India has always had a self correcting mechanism, which when supported by external help like government support or international development agencies, or even responsible media has known to have far reaching impacts. Success stories abound.
Give India Time.......
Social development takes time. Social development takes patience and social development takes understanding. Neither is charity the answer nor is blind support either to the poor or the rich . The requirement of the day is careful understanding of the situation, and provision of intelligent support. The poor is not likely to get rich in a day, and even if he does he would not be able to handle it. Development studies clearly highlight the need for people to get self reliant slowly and surely for the development to be consistent. The need for education cannot be emphasised enough. One has to work towards ones’s upliftment and the results are not obvious immediately. Sometimes they get reflected only by the time the next generation grows up. There are no miracles. Hence, the social disparities in India are not likely to disappear in a day but neither are they all pervasive nor as grotesque as the West is made to believe. All one wishes to see the west do is to study India and its problems in the right context...Indian context...not their western context.
Friday, 5 February 2010
Right to Education
There are many things in the West here that left me really impressed on my arrival here. While wastage of power and water left me appalled, certain practices were very impressive. The easy accessibility to basic necessities of life like water and power for instance. It is so unlike the situation in developing countries where even nature's bounty like water cannot be taken for granted, and is a part of everyday struggle for the majority of people. However, what has impressed me the most is the ''right of people to education''. Everybody has the right to education. We say the same words in India too but they are more like a war cry or a protest slogan....there is desperation inherent in it....but here in France, my current but temperory country of residence, it is a statement of fact as cool and natural as a human's right to breathe, and education is as accessible as the air we breathe in.
Check this out....For every few houses here in France, there is a school in the neighbourhood which cannot deny the children of these houses admission. These are state run schools which do not charge fees and have education levels at par with the best anywhere in the world. The proof of their efficiency is that the majority of french children go to these schools unlike in our country where anybody with any means doesnot want to send their children to government -schools because the standards of education and maintainence are so deplorable. I have no problem with private schools, they are necessary in the current Indian scenario. My problem is with the poor priority that education has in our system and our mindsets....there are enough slogans and claims but most are political....Concrete actions and time are the true tests of priorities, and unfortunately, poor government -school standards reflect the truth which no amount of slogans can hide.
Human mind is curious by nature and once exposed to knowledge attracts more knowledge.....this process is called 'EXPOSURE'...exposure to unlimited possibilities. Children in turn are God- blessed with natural curosity. It is nature's way of telling us that exposure to ''overall- development'' opportunities at that age through an ''overall- development'' based education system can put these children and hence their societes on a path wherein they will never have to look back. India clearly needs a dynamic rehaul of its education policy with primary education recieving special thought and consideration. While literacy is half a battle won, we need to be more ambitious so as to provide our children knowledge and not just rote learning in the name of education.
The world has always been in a turmoil for some reason or other. It has always been a boiling cauldron perpetually on heat. Different situations in different eras have called for different solutions and we need to be flexible to adopt those. In the present world troubled with terrorism, economy failures, poverty etc....I feel our best hope lies with education for children and financial sustainability for adults so that they do not end up pulling their children out of schools. Education in my eyes is like a buffer between man and disturbing influences which threaten to destabilise us again and again... Influences like communal and relegious incitations. Influences like desperations of hunger and poverty which in turn lead to crime. An educated mind exposed to limitless possibilities and alternate avenues, has the power to face these influences.
I do realise that development requires multi- pronged efforts. Not just in the field of education but also health, financial stability, self help initiatives etc....but if I were to lay my bets on one as a guarantee for a bright future...it would be high quality education for one and all...especially children. My personal belief is that education, when given a chance, will be that tortoise from the tortoise and hare race, which can slowly but surely lead us to overcome most of our odds....and it would be a sustained victory.
Check this out....For every few houses here in France, there is a school in the neighbourhood which cannot deny the children of these houses admission. These are state run schools which do not charge fees and have education levels at par with the best anywhere in the world. The proof of their efficiency is that the majority of french children go to these schools unlike in our country where anybody with any means doesnot want to send their children to government -schools because the standards of education and maintainence are so deplorable. I have no problem with private schools, they are necessary in the current Indian scenario. My problem is with the poor priority that education has in our system and our mindsets....there are enough slogans and claims but most are political....Concrete actions and time are the true tests of priorities, and unfortunately, poor government -school standards reflect the truth which no amount of slogans can hide.
Human mind is curious by nature and once exposed to knowledge attracts more knowledge.....this process is called 'EXPOSURE'...exposure to unlimited possibilities. Children in turn are God- blessed with natural curosity. It is nature's way of telling us that exposure to ''overall- development'' opportunities at that age through an ''overall- development'' based education system can put these children and hence their societes on a path wherein they will never have to look back. India clearly needs a dynamic rehaul of its education policy with primary education recieving special thought and consideration. While literacy is half a battle won, we need to be more ambitious so as to provide our children knowledge and not just rote learning in the name of education.
The world has always been in a turmoil for some reason or other. It has always been a boiling cauldron perpetually on heat. Different situations in different eras have called for different solutions and we need to be flexible to adopt those. In the present world troubled with terrorism, economy failures, poverty etc....I feel our best hope lies with education for children and financial sustainability for adults so that they do not end up pulling their children out of schools. Education in my eyes is like a buffer between man and disturbing influences which threaten to destabilise us again and again... Influences like communal and relegious incitations. Influences like desperations of hunger and poverty which in turn lead to crime. An educated mind exposed to limitless possibilities and alternate avenues, has the power to face these influences.
I do realise that development requires multi- pronged efforts. Not just in the field of education but also health, financial stability, self help initiatives etc....but if I were to lay my bets on one as a guarantee for a bright future...it would be high quality education for one and all...especially children. My personal belief is that education, when given a chance, will be that tortoise from the tortoise and hare race, which can slowly but surely lead us to overcome most of our odds....and it would be a sustained victory.
Thursday, 7 January 2010
Love?
Every time I look at Taj Mahal, I am overcome with confusing and overlapping emotions. The predominant one is of course awe and pride but nagging somewhere behind is yet another feeling- something that takes away from the joy. ….It is perhaps the image of Mumtaz Mahal dying in her 14th childbirth at the age of 38 all in the name of love!
Make no mistake, I still believe in Taj as India's pride and an architectural marvel. Neither am I blaming Shahjahan. On the contrary infact. He thought of dedicating something so beautiful in her memory when he could have got away with doing nothing and simply moving on to many more Mumtazes. We cannot judge a man of 17th century with our definitions of 21st century!! That she was his constant companion and pillar of support is well known. There is no denying that he loved her intensely, and confirmed to the rules and definitions of those times when bearing a king's 14th child in rapid succession spoke of their love and commitment to each other, despite harems and two other wives.....pun unintented. Yet I cannot but lament the state of women in those times...at the definition of love that existed (still exists in many rural areas).
Nineteen years of marriage, 14 children, 8 of whom died at birth or young age!!!Anybody familiar with the human body knows that every pregnancy takes its toll on the woman's body. Mumtaz's condition must have started deteriorating early on in her string of pregnancies, and yet she moved on to her fourteenth pregnancy!! What were her compulsions, and more importantly what were Shahjahan's compulsions? Love? Society? Relegion? Sadly, none of these seem to provide the understanding, for nothing is greater than life itself- in this case, life of a dearly loved wife and queen. What then I wonder must have been the fate of the ordinary woman?
Why comment on the past? Aren't we still plagued by the same ailment today. Aren't there still ways, means and methods to subjugate a woman and make her fall in line with the male dominated society. One single peep into the ignored back alleys of rural India would confirm it. The Mumtazes of this world still happily(?) and sometimes helplessly succumb to their fate- not as defined by God but by man or society.
We are no doubt moving forward, times are changing and more importantly mindsets are changing. The definitions of partner, husband, wife, companion are changing- Thank God for that...and yet miles to go before concepts like ''true loving caring and sharing'' get translated into deeds across the board, across the Indian society.
Shahajahan was reportedly inconsolable at the death of his constant companion and love. It was an end of a life of someone kind, beautiful and loving. Today, the Taj Mahal stands as the ultimate monument to intense love, and a homage to her beauty and life. If only she had been given more of a chance at life.......
Make no mistake, I still believe in Taj as India's pride and an architectural marvel. Neither am I blaming Shahjahan. On the contrary infact. He thought of dedicating something so beautiful in her memory when he could have got away with doing nothing and simply moving on to many more Mumtazes. We cannot judge a man of 17th century with our definitions of 21st century!! That she was his constant companion and pillar of support is well known. There is no denying that he loved her intensely, and confirmed to the rules and definitions of those times when bearing a king's 14th child in rapid succession spoke of their love and commitment to each other, despite harems and two other wives.....pun unintented. Yet I cannot but lament the state of women in those times...at the definition of love that existed (still exists in many rural areas).
Nineteen years of marriage, 14 children, 8 of whom died at birth or young age!!!Anybody familiar with the human body knows that every pregnancy takes its toll on the woman's body. Mumtaz's condition must have started deteriorating early on in her string of pregnancies, and yet she moved on to her fourteenth pregnancy!! What were her compulsions, and more importantly what were Shahjahan's compulsions? Love? Society? Relegion? Sadly, none of these seem to provide the understanding, for nothing is greater than life itself- in this case, life of a dearly loved wife and queen. What then I wonder must have been the fate of the ordinary woman?
Why comment on the past? Aren't we still plagued by the same ailment today. Aren't there still ways, means and methods to subjugate a woman and make her fall in line with the male dominated society. One single peep into the ignored back alleys of rural India would confirm it. The Mumtazes of this world still happily(?) and sometimes helplessly succumb to their fate- not as defined by God but by man or society.
We are no doubt moving forward, times are changing and more importantly mindsets are changing. The definitions of partner, husband, wife, companion are changing- Thank God for that...and yet miles to go before concepts like ''true loving caring and sharing'' get translated into deeds across the board, across the Indian society.
Shahajahan was reportedly inconsolable at the death of his constant companion and love. It was an end of a life of someone kind, beautiful and loving. Today, the Taj Mahal stands as the ultimate monument to intense love, and a homage to her beauty and life. If only she had been given more of a chance at life.......
Sunday, 3 January 2010
Idiots?
Once again we witness a phenomenon which is by no account new. Its an age old conflict...not between talents.. but between egos...pure simple egos..which makes idiots:-) out of intelligent people.
The people involved in the spat are all great talents with great egos.Unfortunately ego is known to grow faster than talent and thats when problems such as these emerge.
The creative team of idiots does not want to share credit with Chetan Bhagat beyond what they deem necessary, and Chetan Bhagat who actually gave birth to the concept is not ready to hand over the baby to the legal surrogate adopters....Actually what both are doing is trying to tell the world that one is more talented than the other and hence, do not want to share the credit. I wonder, wouldn't it have been easy on all concerned to give due credit to the original creator as well as screenplay writer. The story is indeed Chetan Bhagat's....however the situations and the creativity are the screenplayer's, equally important ....What's the issue?
Before this controversy broke out, this creative team, in my eyes(its a personal opinion of a fan) was a sensitive one which thought of great phenomenons like Gandhigiri. Today the talent and success perhaps have gone up but perhaps the sensitivity has gone down. Same for Chetan Bhagat. If everybody thought like him then its Thomas Edison alone and no one else who deserves credit for all the subsequent innovations made with light and electricity. Idiotic indeed..pun intented.
The issue is EGOS! We do not want to share, we like to possess each and every word that we write or even think of. It blinds us. Proven over time, sharing credit has always made a person seem big hearted and generous and yet when ego rules, the same sharing appears to us to be taking away our credit!!!...Subsequent actions, when we assume that we are protecting our rights, are actually the ones which actually make small hearted idiots out of us...
As for Amir Khan saying that Chetan Bhagat is trying to take credit away from someone lesser known than him...Strange logic!! Perhaps, then it is time for Amir Khan to stop acting and let other lesser known actors get a chance for limelight..Weird logic, isn't it? The issue here is not how popular one is but rather MERIT!....
A fruit seller needs as much credit for bringing fruit to people as the gardener who planted the seed, both need to give each other due respect.... I wish they would not be so miserly with their appreciation for each other...true respect doesnot cost anything(in most of the cases at least) and goes a long way in ways far more intangible than contracts or awards are tangible!
The people involved in the spat are all great talents with great egos.Unfortunately ego is known to grow faster than talent and thats when problems such as these emerge.
The creative team of idiots does not want to share credit with Chetan Bhagat beyond what they deem necessary, and Chetan Bhagat who actually gave birth to the concept is not ready to hand over the baby to the legal surrogate adopters....Actually what both are doing is trying to tell the world that one is more talented than the other and hence, do not want to share the credit. I wonder, wouldn't it have been easy on all concerned to give due credit to the original creator as well as screenplay writer. The story is indeed Chetan Bhagat's....however the situations and the creativity are the screenplayer's, equally important ....What's the issue?
Before this controversy broke out, this creative team, in my eyes(its a personal opinion of a fan) was a sensitive one which thought of great phenomenons like Gandhigiri. Today the talent and success perhaps have gone up but perhaps the sensitivity has gone down. Same for Chetan Bhagat. If everybody thought like him then its Thomas Edison alone and no one else who deserves credit for all the subsequent innovations made with light and electricity. Idiotic indeed..pun intented.
The issue is EGOS! We do not want to share, we like to possess each and every word that we write or even think of. It blinds us. Proven over time, sharing credit has always made a person seem big hearted and generous and yet when ego rules, the same sharing appears to us to be taking away our credit!!!...Subsequent actions, when we assume that we are protecting our rights, are actually the ones which actually make small hearted idiots out of us...
As for Amir Khan saying that Chetan Bhagat is trying to take credit away from someone lesser known than him...Strange logic!! Perhaps, then it is time for Amir Khan to stop acting and let other lesser known actors get a chance for limelight..Weird logic, isn't it? The issue here is not how popular one is but rather MERIT!....
A fruit seller needs as much credit for bringing fruit to people as the gardener who planted the seed, both need to give each other due respect.... I wish they would not be so miserly with their appreciation for each other...true respect doesnot cost anything(in most of the cases at least) and goes a long way in ways far more intangible than contracts or awards are tangible!
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