Celebrating The Death Of A Terrorist

A. A. Kasab

Kasab was hanged. It was a quick decision from Pranab Mukherjee who has been a President for less than 4 months. He assumed office on 25^th July 2012. According to our best judgment, we may assume that Mukherjee’s predecessor, Mrs. Pratibha Patil, was busy with other more important Presidential duties.

We must understand that after the hanging of Kasab, the noose is being tightened on Afzal Guru. People of the likes of Afzal Guru are political pawns. Kasab was a pawn. And every citizen could be a probable pawn. To clarify, the preceding statement should not be read that Guru is innocent.

As a citizen of India, this is not a time to ‘celebrate’ the death sentence. It’s the time to ask questions.

The question that comes to my mind is that why an Arnab Goswami of Times Now doesn’t shout for the thousands of innocents who are wrongly implicated and deteriorating in Indian Jails? Similarly, why is it that only Sarabjit Singh is the only Indian that all Indians care about? After the media coverage of vandalism, who pays the damage to the public and private properties that are vandalized by the members of infamous political parties?

Independent media is not independent the way we all assume. It is run like corporations, backed by corporations and corporations are backed by parties in command. This is something what we all know!

Dear citizens of India, please understand that this is all a façade to keep us occupied in verbal banter. To overlook the more important areas that directly affects our lives. Yes, the media asks the questions; but are these really important questions?

As citizens we should organize and with or without the support of media, let us not just ask questions; Arnab and company are doing a good job of questioning; let’s ask the right questions and follow up till we get the answers.

Authority was the second point of Henry Fayol’s 14 Principles of Management. I would like to word it as, ‘Responsibility without authority is difficult. Authority without responsibility and accountability is stupid’. But this adage, in India, unfortunately reads like this: ‘Authority without accountability is a political right and responsibility without authority is ordained for the people’.

The basic problem lies in accountability. Let’s start with the biggest question and to the people whom we know the best, i.e. ourselves; the question being: How can we become accountable?

Corruption and delay in administration, etc. etc. are like the bacteria in our intestines. They were there and will be there. They were and will be present in all the countries. Once we accept this, only then can we move ahead.

The difference in the largest democracy (India) and the some other smaller, yet functionally better democracies is that they are accountable. And I believe, our democracy is not. If governments and its officials have authority, they should be accountable for their actions. And the same should be true for the citizens.

When an ordinary citizen writes derogatory comments on a social networking website, he is held accountable and is arrested without proper procedures and then let of with an apology followed by an inquiry. But when an official, appointed by the government, be it a minor babu to a minister, commits a crime, there is an inquiry first and then action later! Is it because the citizen is more responsible than a public servant? No, because the public servants claims zero accountability as a matter of rightful inheritance!

It is a matter of accountability and nothing else. The RTI Act is a wonderful tool in the hands of the citizens to measure the public servant's accountability. It is already proving to be a thorn in their dhotis. But it is a curative measure. We need a system to make the public servant's accountability acting as a preventive measure to avoid further pain to the ordinary citizen.

The day people holding public office are made accountable, that day we would be a better democracy. Let us build a case for accountability.

For that we need to stop obsessing that we are the largest democracy. Large is quantitative, lets aim to be better, which is qualitative and that is what matters!

 ----

Aamir Ayubi

Citizen of India

A Difference in Ambitions

Absence of a worldly ambition doesn't mean an absence of ambition. Ambitions are different. Some people want to be rock-stars  and some, choose to stay happy and peaceful. Too bad personal happiness and peace is misinterpreted as ‘no fire in the belly’ or being ambition-less  This materialistic world loves ‘go-getters’. And that’s the problem with this world; there’s too much of going and ‘getting’ things for yourself. Till the time one doesn't ‘get’ things, one is not an ‘achiever’.

To this world I ask, “Why do you label ‘go-givers’ ambition-less,  weak, under-achievers or failures?” Is it because they don’t fit a bill accepted by the majority? Or is it the fear that this minority of an aberration will shatter your illusive world? 

It hurts that go-givers are never noticed. It hurts that go-givers are considered ambition-less  It hurts that go-givers are sidelined.

Very few times the go-givers are forced to show their truth to the world. But I say, it is worthless do so. Because the world has blindly, voluntarily and without offering any thought, castrated itself to incapability to understand their stance.

When the focus is on getting, giving becomes an unviable option.

A deviation exists to question the majority of its conscience and thought. There is no way it can be silenced. Anomalies are wonderful. If you can’t celebrate anomalies, at least don’t squash it.

And to the world, I dare say, the go-getters are remembered when they pass away, but it’s the go-givers who are missed. 

- Aamir Ayubi

Cartoons Against Corruption

A lot has been said about Aseem Trivedi.

I have checked most of Aseem Trivedi's work on his blog. If one has some basic understanding of political cartoons or cartoon strips or comics in general; at first glance, one can understand that the his work is amateurish and merely stating what we all know. A good political cartoon evokes thought.  It shouldn't necessarily state things 'the way they are' - for that we have prose left to lesser mortals like us .

(Branching out to make another point, even R. K. Laxman's 'Common Man' is observational or 'merely stating what we all know'. However his cartoons have a sixty year legacy hence nobody ever talks about it openly, albeit it is done very tastefully)

Trivedi's cartoons seems like a work of an angry school kid who is venting out his anger/frustration against his repressive school system.  

Whatever little bit I have read about him in papers and journals, cartoonists, artists and writers unanimously have said - Aseem Trivedi is high on anger and low on talent. (unfortunately I do not have any link to support this but you would have to believe me)

Have you noticed that his cartoons are just expressing what we all speak in crude Hindi? 

In a newspaper, a cartoonist who didn't wish to be named said, Aseem Trivedi shouldn't have been jailed for sedition charges, he should have been jailed for bad art. 

Another confession. At least he did something which got the people talking and the world interested about the corruption in India. For that he needs to be saluted.

If I may offer an analogy to express Aseem's standing.

Aseem Trivedi : (Political) Cartoons :: :: Poonam Pandey : Twitter

Independence Day?

On the eve of our Independence Day, I was pondering. It could either be the state of my mind, or the state of my State, that I penned these words...

*****

With a dream of Independence,
You laid your lives; my forefathers.

Scoundrels! You thought of the British,
You thought, they stole your Freedom?

How wrong you were my forefathers,
Lo! Worse than scoundrels your countrymen have become.

I'm glad you're dead, my forefathers,
For you would've died everyday a li'l.

On the eve of That day, you wished Utopia,
On This eve, we give you Dystopia.

*****

Happy Independence Day?

Are You Really Awake Or ... ?

You get up in the morning and you don’t know the reason why you got up.

You know what you need to do. You need to go to work, punch in the hours to keep the meter running. You finish work and you return home and stare the idiot box trying to find your life in that pretense. Or you might socialize with friends or family. Or if you consider yourself distantly enlightened you might spend some time with yourself. Or if you have are remotely connected to your true human side you might indulge in a hobby.

These are the WHATs of your lives which are lived in the WHENs and WHEREs and HOWs. Your lives are defined by the WHATs, WHENs, WHEREs and HOWs of this world.

Where were you born? What do your parents do? What education you have? What kind of a job you have? How did you do get into a relationship with that person? How could they do something like this? Etc. etc. etc. etc...These questions will only be answering the frivolous.

The real question you need to ask yourself to get a true answer is WHY.

It will answer the simplest to the toughest questions you have.

For example you want to buy the latest cellphone. Most of you will say it’s the best phone as it has the best OS or it’s an Apple/Nokia/etc. product or  it’s the ‘in thing right now’ or I have the money so I want to buy it. These answer s satisfy the WHATs and HOWs. If you want a true answer ask why you need the latest cellphone? Try it!

The humble yet insightful WHY is capable to answer a life altering question of something as important as the future of your relationship. If you’re with someone for   their looks, sex, money, fame, societal status, etc., you are fooling yourself and the other person. Ask yourself the question, WHY do you need to be with the other person? Ask this sacrosanct question in solitude and listen to the true answer. Try it!

If you take a moment and recap the questions that Life has posed at you, by now, in all likelihood, you would have realized that most of your dilemmas can be answered with the WHY.

The WHY will truthfully answer all your questions but you need courage to ACCEPT them and ACT upon it.

It’s not at all easy to act upon the answers. 

Deep inside you all know that the WHY will answer all the questions that your life has ever thrown at you. Perhaps you also know that the path you need to take. Then why won’t you tread ahead?

You do not act upon the answer because you are afraid to fail. You fail to act upon the answer because you are afraid that you won’t know what would happen if you succeed!

Humans need courage not only to rise up from failures, but also to embrace success.

The day you gather this COURAGE to act upon the answers to all your WHYs, will be the day that you will WAKE UP and not merely get up.