Month: January 2017

A Delve in history

A Delve in history

east

Blind greed and power  has been the reason of  human miseries since time immemorial .In human history we have witnessed time and again when means to an end is ruthless  , the outcome is most unfortunate.

I am digressing a bit from my usual blog topics as I am unintentionally drawing comparisons of  the current scenarios with the happenings in the past .I am a history buff and had been a great fan of  William Dalrymple. His books prove his unadulterated love for history and India time and again .After all these years in India ,he does not betray a single emotion which states otherwise .He has contributed immensely to the art and culture scene of India .

I had the opportunity to read his latest addition to the list of  already existing best sellers , Kohinoor , The story of infamous diamond ;He undertook this project with his co author , Anita Anand .This book is about journey of one of the most famous diamonds of the world.As the diamond changed its physical location , so did the history of the subcontinent .Its the story of how a British business concern , set its foot in India as businessmen and then spread their tentacles all over India through sheer greed , cunning and conquests .

The diamond traveled its bloody journey from the eye of an idol in one of the temples of south India , through various dynasties ruling  the then India , The Tuglaq,Lodhis,Mughals Afghans and then the last reigning king of Punjab ,Raja  Ranjit Singh.

When East India company first came to India ,India’s  GDP was almost 23% of the  world GDP .Diamonds were not preferred as precious stones but Ruby and other precious stones were. Till the  18th century , India was one of the very few countries where  most of the world diamonds came from.Various myths associated with Kohinoor was cleared along the way as till  date most of the references  are not very authentic .

The journey of the diamond ends with the annexation of Kingdom of Punjab , from its ten  year old king , Raja Duleep Singh and the ultimate destination of the diamond , in the museum of Tower of London . Like most of his books it’s an unstoppable read with multiple interesting anecdotes .

Human history is unfair and it’s not a mythological journey where good always wins over the bad .But when we step into the web with our eyes and ears open that’s when the feeling of the helplessness creeps in .

Societal scums

In Bengaluru, certain miscreants molested women during the  New Year revelry .Bengaluru is a southern city in India . It is also an   IT  hub  and is considered an emancipated city .It is unlike its capital sister city where such occurrences are common ongoing events.No amount of public education ,legal threats or women empowerment is  causing its natural death .So instead of containment , it’s  growing its National growth .

The triggers for such behaviors are not known .On an unknown cue certain individual behave in an obsessive manner and their neurosis is relieved once these beastly acts are performed .National conscience is awakened and  and there is an introspection on a large scale but  it has been found that these maladies are very difficult to  eradicate.

Though women have outperformed men at different levels . the truth is as far as bodily strength is concerned they are the weaker sex .This is a sad , unfortunate and harsh fact .This primitive truth and trait raises its ugly  head time and again .

Genesis of this behavior is multi factorial .Sexism starts at home .Equality just does not happen nor is it accepted .Males are treated as superior race and women are objectified .Unsaid rules of dress code ,physical location of a place or the time of the day are needed to be followed as safety precautions .

India is a traditional country and this kind of medieval mindset has taken deep roots . Every body is at their wits end that  road to recovery is so long .

Cure can begin at home . Sons  need to be raised too.Moms have a greater role to play in social engineering as they are in a better position to do so .They have a greater impact on their offspring and hence on societal building blocks .

Excellent educational coating has no use without a moral filling .

 

 

 

Uncertain Air

As the country gears up for the take over by the President elect ,an air of helpless uncertainty hangs  close to the ground . Election results bestowed upon him the immunity for  unpredictability and he would happily saunter the  unprecedented course .We cannot lawfully complain .We all had a tacit approval to it  .The next few years would be full of surprises unless some divine intervention proves it all wrong .

In India , people are still absorbing the shock of demonetization and trying to figure out the actual reason behind it . Economists have one word for it .”Bewilderment”.

Though Demonetization is ideologically right but its sudden,partial , arbitrary execution was difficult to accept . It was not a well worked out plan and  it turned out to be a work in progress with its every day changing rules .

Old habits die hard and people are still trying to cling to their old accustomed ways of accounting wealth .That is the National new year resolution .But there are lots of unanswered questions which has no clear answers.

Would the newer currency fade away in future?

Would all and sundry get IT notices?

What would be the dealings in real estate?

Would farm workers woes ever end?

We all must have felt that there is a gradual drift of the political scenario and we are being ruled by rules never heard before.National and international treaties are being threatened and would soon be  changed to a pay for service mode .The newer ways of dealing would soon boomerang in some form or the other and we  all would have to pay a price for making or not making a choice at the right time.

Surprised Stupor

surprise

As we step out of 2016,we are still trying to come to terms with the surprises of 2016 .Biggest surprise came from Uncle Sam when we were still not ready for the first woman President of America .Her experience and qualifications lost ground to the fact that she was a career politician . Physical and mental inertia among the democrat voters did not have a plan B .By proving all the polls wrong , Republicans swept the majority and President elect is promising to undo the doings of the past  8 years .

In India , we were given a practical lesson in renunciation  to pave the way for Nirvana .Our  religion is all about renunciation but we try  to cling to worldly  possessions .In India , there is a significant parallel economy of unaccounted wealth .We like to hoard wealth , flaunt wealth but really do not like the practice of distribution of wealth .

In Incredible India , paradox  rules .We unearth ridiculous amount of wealth but are quick to innovate ways to hide it during the demonetization .People have died in the queues of Bank and ATM’s getting out their own money but our Bollywood crazy populace has still managed to give more than 100 crores business to our new releases .We dream of a cashless society but our infrastructure and Banking system is in a miserable state .

After the year of Brexit , as the new world takes shape ,we still wonder , if the elections of the greatest country of the world could be hacked by rogue states and the concept of credibility of a nation could be lost .

We wonder if the promise of an isolated world is the  winner’s slogan world over .

We wonder if one of the  the fastest growing economy of the developing world could be derailed by fanciful and discriminatory laws .

Hopefully we get a better  picture in 2017 .