This morning I felt like having hot kachauris with alu ki subzi. So I walked down to the sweet shop that sells it and bought five kachauris. While I was eating it, I dropped a couple of pieces of alu on the floor. I picked them up and threw them into the dustbin. However, while I was having my breakfast, I kept feeling bad that I missed out on those two pieces of potatoes. I kept worrying about whether I had enough subzi to finish my kachauris. In fact, I was so preoccupied with these thoughts that I did not relish what I was eating and in fact, wasn"t even aware of having finished my breakfast!


This is how we go through life sometimes. We are so preoccupied with regrets about things we could not do or missed out on that we don"t appreciate what we have or are doing at the moment. Like me, we get so engrossed in the two measly pieces of alu that we miss out on the taste of kachauris.

Whatever happened to the renowned Rajput chivalry? There was a time when the Rajputs would lay down their lives to protect even an enemies if they were assylum seekers. Today, it seems they can't even provide protection to an individual! Shame, Shame!!!

My definition of a free society is a society where it is safe to be unpopular.� ~ Adlai Stevenson, 1952

By this definition, India, after sixty years of independence, is definitely not a free nation. Look at what happened to Taslima Nasreen in Hyderabad? She was murderously attacked for her views. And then to add insult to injury, instead of taking action against the perpetrators who very publicly continue to threaten her, the police decides to register an FIR against her! The victim of and not the perpetrators of violence, seem to be at fault! Shameful. Really shameful. It"s almost like publicly saying that if a woman gets raped, it"s her fault for being a woman and therefore an object of male lust! It"s her fault that she aroused the man"s passion.


Honestly, I haven"t read any of Taslima Nasreen's books. I tried to read Lajja, but lost interest after a few pages. She may be controversial. I may not agree with what she has to say. But since I live in a democratic and "free" country, I will speak against her if necessary. Call a press conference and denounce her. Write about her. Distribute pamphets denigrating her. But I would not condone anyone (and that too an MLA) taking the law into his own hands. And in this case, he did not take the law into his hands. He destroyed the law. And those who sit back and keep quiet about this are just as guilty.

And I remind you of what Benjamin Franklin said once again:

They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.

They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety. -- Benjamin Franklin, 1759

Sixty years of freedom. Sixty years of democracy. And most of us living today have been born in free India. After sixty years of Independence, we can no longer continue to blame colonialism for our failures and inadequacies. Definitely not the generation that started life in the past two decades.

I wish I were born on Independence Day. I"d be sixty in a couple of days and the whole nation would celebrate the day with me! But are we celebrating? Are we really aware of what being citizens of Independent India means? Or is Independence Day just another holiday?

Unfortunately, I also know an India where people still don"t know what the fuss is all about! It"s the day they get sweets from the "babus" and "netas" who visit them and hoist a flag and shout slogans. Their lives have not changed much in the last millenium. They are still isolated and ignorant. And they way they are treated, one would get the impression that they are second class citizens.

Yes, I am talking about the vast rural masses, especially the tribals, the untouchables, the poor. And believe me, this country"s majority consists of such people. People who don"t know what electricity is, have never been on a bus, never walked on paved roads, and going to school is something meant only for the children of the rich "sahabs".

So as the nation turns sixty. I will spending my time with them. That"s the least I could do. After all, people like me live better because of their toil. Because of the food they produce, because we can take away their resources without giving them their due. Becasue of their penury and ignorance, people like me can be on top of the pyramid.

And while I am spending time with them, I will also be thinking of all those who, in their misplaced idealism destroyed their own homes so that you and I could call ourselves "free". People who sacrificed their lives and their loves in the belief that they were leaving a free country for posterity. We don"t remember them. We don"t even know their names!

I"m glad I was born in India. If I had a choice, I would willingly be born again in this country. But hopefully as a dalit or a tribal in a remote village and be able to write a blog like I am doing today. Only then would I know that I am a Free Indian.

Happy Independence Day. Enjoy. Feel good. But spare a thought for those who gave it to us. And also for those who don"t know the meaning of "freedom" as yet.


Men fight for liberty and win it with hard knocks. Their children, brought up easy, let it slip away again, poor fools. And their grandchildren are once more slaves. --D.H. Lawrence, 1922

Good friends are like the air. Always there. Even though we don't see them. But just as we can't survive without air, we can't survive without friends.  Sometimes our friendships are stormy, sometimes  boistrous and gusty. Sometimes a friend is like a gentle soothing breeze. But whether a desert storm or a gentle sea breeze, good friends are forever there.

So, to all my friends, seen and unseen. To those who are there and those who will be someday my friend  --  Happy Friendship Day. 

I"ve had a bad start to the day. I"m feeling sick. I wish I hadn"t switched on the tv or set eyes on the newspaper! Yes, that"s what"s making me sick: the news in the media -- "poor Sanju Baba"s incarceration. Such a nice guy being put behind bars like a mere mortal; being treated like "aam janta" by the law of the land. Is this really India? It"s India the country where the rich and powerful get exonerated? Isn"t India the land where the law applies only to the poor and powerless? And yet, look here! Sanju Baba, whose father was a politician and a fine man, whose sister is a politician belonging to the ruling party is being treated like a common man! Shame!!! Shame!!!

But sarcasm aside, it really made me sick to the pit of my stomach to see politicians, movie personalities and even certain newscasters trying to tell us how much Sanju had "reformed". How wonderful a person he is. God knows if he really is or isn"t. I like his acting. But I don"t like the fact that he was in possession of an AK47! He did break the law, and as such has to face the consequences.

The Memons too may feel that they were perfectly justified in carrying out the Mumbai Blasts! After all we all harbour a grouse or two against the system or society. Does it give us the right to be party to the shedding of innocent blood?

If the rich and powerful (who hide behind bodyguards and black cats) feel they can possess a gun (and that too illegally) to "protect" their families, we, the common Indians, have more reason for possessing arms! No one will defend the common man. Not the police, not the politicians, and in many cases, not even the law makers or law dispensers.

Sanju Baba has already spent a year or so in jail, and so he should be let off! Hey, what about those who have been languishing in jail for years for petty crimes like the theft of a few rupees or travelling by train without a ticket?

But as they say, birds of a feather flock together. So it should not come as a surprise that some politicians have expressed sympathy and found the sentencing too harsh. Many of them should be behind bars and are probably worried that their own sentenses may be harsh too. Many film personalities are either involved in shady activities or are definitely flirting with the shadowy world of crime. For them, of course, the sentensing of Sanju Baba would seem a crime. And the less said about the media, the better. I"m surprised that yellow isn"t the standard colour they wear? I have more respect for the women of red-light areas than I have for these yellow livered ..... (to call them animals would be to insult the canine fraternity).

I really feel sick...

Hmmmmm... I'm wondering why more people read and commented on EXCLUSIVITY and not many seem to have commented on FAITH AND FANATICISM. Both were posted at the same time. Is it because people read the last post first or is it because people do not wish to read about faith or fanaticism. I'm curious. Any insight would we welcome.

I'd like to thank Savi for sharing her experience regarding exclusivity in her comment. In fact, it reminded me about why we are now charging an annual fee in our village schools. DAKSHINAYAN had been providing free education for the past two decades. A lot of children would enroll but by the end of the year their numbers would have dwindled to a mere 20%!

But now that we have started charging an annual fee, there are no drop outs and the attendance is an average 90%! Because parents feel that they have to send their children to school because they have paid. When schooling would free, parents did not hesitate to engage the children in household or farm work.

As I write I realize that this has nothing to do with being EXCLUSIVE. It probably has more to do with putting value to something only when we have to pay for it.

Take yoga for instance. There are many establishments providing free yoga lessons in parks, rooftops, ashrams... and very few people attend! But places where a fee is charged for providing yoga lessons seem to be doing good business.

Maybe when we have to pay for air (I can see that happening in the near future!) perhaps we will learn to breathe properly and also keep the air clean!

A long time ago, in a kingdom ruled a very wise king who was good to his subjects and sensitive to their needs. The land was fertile. It was blessed with rivers and abundant rainfall. The people were hardworking. They produced a lot of paddy and everyone had plenty to eat. Everyone was happy.

Unfortunately, one year the rains failed. The rivers dried up and famine haunted this happy land. The people were suffering. And so was the king. He did whatever he could. Opened the doors of the treasury. Imported food grains and generally did whatever he could to ease the suffering of the people.

The following year, however, the rain came back. People were once again producing enough rice and everything was as usual.

The king, however, realized that though he was a good king, he had no control over the vagaries of nature. So in order to be better prepared next time, he decided to introduce a new staple as an alternative to rice. He, therefore, sent out emissaries to every corner of the earth to find out if there were other crops that could be grown in arid conditions.

A few came back with new and exotic crops. The king distributed these to the people. But the people refused to switch to any other staple. Rice eaters they were and rice eaters they would like to remain. The farmers refused to learn how to grow the new "foreign" food. For generations they had been growing and eating rice. This was too much to ask of them. Even a royal decree could not force them.

One day, the people living near the palace saw that a huge area was being marked off. In a few weeks the area had been fenced in with high walls and guards had started patrolling the area. No one was allowed to go anywhere near the place. The people were intrigued. They were curious. But there was no way of finding out as the king had placed his personal body-guards to guard the place. They kept a watch from a distance.

One day they saw the king enter the area along with his entire compliment of gardeners and a long caravan of covered bullock-carts. The figured that the king was planning to plant something. But what? Was he trying to build a garden? Or was he planting something so precious and special that it needed to be guarded day and night?

The king would visit regularly and supervise the hand-picked palace gardeners. And after a few months a few bold people who ventured near the gates noticed through it, that some crop was growing. But what was it? Was it some special food fit only for kings and nobles?

When their curiosity got the better of them, a few people managed to sneak into the garden and they stole some of the saplings. They brought it back and planted it and watched it grow. And though the plant bore no fruits the roots, when cooked, were both delicious and nutritious. It was tapioca. And very soon the whole kingdom was growing tapioca! And were enjoying eating it too!

That is precisely what the wise king had wanted. He had tried to introduce a new crop which the people had rejected. But when he planted something that seemed exclusive and elusive, they all wanted it!

We see this phenomena even today. Put a well-known label on a pair of jeans and it will sell at five times it's cost of manufacture. Produce limited additions of a rug and it will sell at exorbitant prices. Take gold for instance, it's a useless metal and yet people would kill for it! The value of anything is determined by it's exclusivity.

I can't vouch for the veracity of this story. I don't really know if tapioca was introduced in this way. But it was a story told to me by a wise friend who was illustrating to me how the commonest of things gain value simply by packaging it as exclusive. Hope you enjoy the tale.

There's a very fine line between faith and fanaticism. Faith is when you believe in something strongly. Fanaticism is when you believe in it so strongly that you wish to impose it on everyone else. Anyone who does not believe what you believe is an outcast.

Fanaticism does not have to be confined to religion -- even though it is perhaps provides the most glaring examples of bigotry and fanaticism. You will find fanaticism in politics, social values and mores and even in art and music.

Very recently a friend of mine found religion. I was happy for him (still am!) because it certainly improved him. He stopped drinking, became health conscious and his people skills improved. But a few months into practicing his new religion, he became so convinced that it was the ONLY TRUE religion that he has become unbearably persistent in insisting others should follow suit.

Call him out for a cup of coffee and he's most likely to ask you to attend a religious discourse instead. Call him over to lunch or dinner and he will insist that you first become a vegetarian. Tell him you are not feeling well and he will ask you to perform certain religious practices instead of going to the doctor.

If I tell my friend that someone has met with an accident. I am most likely to be told that it happened because that person did not follow the teaching of "his" religion. Tell him someone's child had died, and he he's most likely to say that anyone who does not follow the "true path" will face suffering. Those who follow other faiths are caught up in a whirlpool of ignorance.

To me, this is not faith. This is fanaticism. Though perhaps in a more subtle and non-violent form.

Faith does not preach or threaten. Faith does not entice or tempt. Faith is being faithful to one's belief. If one really has faith, it should not be difficult for that person to accept the faith of others. If I really love my wife should I have problems believing that someone else loves his wife just as much or maybe more?

True faith is not deterred by what others say. Nor is it swayed. Faith is firm as a rock and can move rocks. But faith, when it tries to bring others to the fold through threats and manipulation, it's fanaticism.

The truly faithful attract others by becoming living examples that attract others to their faith. They become lighthouses for those who are storm tossed by hopelessness and despair. They never become policemen of morality. Nor do they wear the judge's wig.

True faith is attractive. Fanaticism is repulsive.