The Weakest link in a chain is the strongest because it can break it....

First and foremost, my sincere apologies for a long void that followed my last post. It happened due to certain personal and professional exigencies. But, I am back (hopefully with a bang!!) and hope to start a chain of thought in your minds, starting with a piece of my mind!

"The Weakest Link in a chain is the strongest because it can break it".....that is how a well known English quote goes.....Applying simple common sense, it would be clear that any situation warrants the utmost focus on the perceived weakest link. But as another saying goes,   “Common sense is not all that common”, so following it to the mark, we let unprecedented but avoidable disasters strike us with ease, by very conveniently forgetting about the weakest link in our chain altogether. Let us delve into the world of governance to understand how this process works.

India leads the world in terms of the sheer length of its Constitution. To add to it, we have boxes full of laws, rules and regulations on any matter under the sun you choose to pick up. All this is very well, and more often than not, may have helped in resolving conflicts and bringing in clarity to situations. But having said that, we all know (or should know) that law making has always been one of our strengths. We are adept at formulation of policies at the drop of a hat. This has led to a whole web of legal paraphernalia surrounding us, though mostly unintelligible to the most of us and consequentially, of little interest.

In direct contrast, we have always been found wanting when it comes to the implementation of even the extant laws. To take an example, India leads the world in the number of annual road accidents, because it is beyond our dignity to follow road safety and traffic rules. We would not be in a correct state of mind if we expected the administration to ensure strict enforcement of the laws formulated by them in the first place.

With this background in mind, what do we do as a first step when confronted with a situation challenging the smooth functioning of our society? Again, as common sense would suggest, we dedicate most of our focus on our weaknesses, and the top of the list here would be the area of law implementation. But on the contrary but not surprisingly (because common sense is actually the rarest of commodities), we immerse ourselves, head to toe, in picking out the weaknesses in our extant laws, and devising newer ways to strengthen them. Scores of committees are formed to dole out suggestions by the million, to be finally put into a can of trash. True to our image of “Argumentative Indians”, we argue, and argue still more, and finally succeed in making some cosmetic changes, feeling ecstatic about our achievements and after an exercise in futility, putting everything at the backburner, only to be occupied with a fresh situation confronting us.

This sorry state of affairs is the result of our inability to self-introspect. Had we been sincerely doing it, we would have immediately understood where we lack. We would have realized, without any major effort, that the weakest link in our chain is the territory of law implementation. We are laggards at being able to follow the rules, or get them followed. We are laggards at strict enforcement of laws, mostly due to our own vested interests. We are laggards at forcing the requisite authority to perform, mostly because of our apathy.

The increasing incidents of rapes and violence, esp. against women, will not reduce by having stricter laws, but by strict implementation of the extant laws. The rampant corruption in our system cannot be wished away by passing a Lokpal Act, but by the sincerity of our resolve to be honest in all our dealings at all times, whether at a personal or a professional level. The increasing trend of deaths due to road accidents cannot be reversed by having newer Road Safety and Traffic rules, but by implementing the extant ones with impunity.

The intention of doing away with redundant and archaic laws is noble, but can be seen as just a first step in the right direction. When we are left with a pruned and up-to-date list of the laws and rules that shall govern the nation, we should look at the other side of the coin that has forever been our nemesis. The implementation saga, if ever written, will be far more complex to write, but will rank at the helm as one of the biggest and most daunting achievements of the nation.

The Intolerant Indian

I have been thinking of writing this piece for some time now, but for some or the other reason, couldn’t sit down to put my thoughts to paper. I finally made sure to take out time today to write this, lest the thoughts in my mind become fuzzy and lose their sharpness. The sources of inspiration behind this piece of writing are certain miscellaneous incidents that have occurred recently and some observations which I have been making.

The first incident is the much talked about meek submission of a famous publication house to an intolerant Indian’s irrational demand of recalling a published work of a writer. This decision taken by the publication house hit on the freedom of speech and expression of the writer, her freedom to express her opinions freely in a democratic society, her right to be heard and her right to intellectual freedom, as also the right of each and every individual to choose what to read and to form their own opinions. Some might argue that the constitutional right to freedom of speech and expression has certain caveats attached to it and is not an absolute right. But what constitutes public morality and decency and who decides on what might or might not be a threat to public order? In the Indian context, our judiciary has been made responsible for interpreting the provisions of the Constitution and hence, deciding on these questions. More often than not, it has done a commendable job in performing this function. It has not only kept alive the letter but also the spirit of the Constitution and has tried its best to align the intent of the Constituent Assembly, behind the making of our Constitution, with the changing dynamics of our society. The moot point, then, in this whole incident, remains as to why the concerned publication house had to buckle under pressure and agree for this unacceptable out-of-court settlement instead of letting law take its own course? May be it did not consider the time, energy and efforts required to be spent in fighting this battle worth it, and consequently, took the easy way. But this disappointing decision on the part of the publication house has put a huge question mark on the nature of Indian democracy and its ability to guarantee the rights and fulfill the promises that it has made to its citizens.

The second incident which I would like to highlight is the infamous “pepper spray incident” that will go down in the history of Indian democracy as one of the most inexplicably shameful display of intolerant behavior. To add insult to injury, the perpetrator of the act was one of the guardians of Indian democracy and governance, popularly elected by the people of India. Let us dwell a little deeper into the reasons that compelled him to behave in such a manner, and we will find the oft-repeated story of everyone catering to their own self-interest, least bothered about the benefit of the people, or the development of the nation, which they are assigned with and responsible for. The autocratic manner in which the creation of a new state (the demand for which had been pending for some decades now) in the election year has been brought about cannot fool the electorate. It only symbolizes the gross misuse of the Constitutional provisions to fulfill narrow self-interest cloaked in a sudden desire to fulfill the long-pending aspirations of a certain section of people. But if the action was wrong, the reaction was even more so, and two wrongs never make a right. The elected representatives of the nation are bestowed with right and honor of being a part of the Legislature of the nation and sit in the Parliament to make laws on behalf of the people. Along with every right is attached a duty. The Parliament of the nation is the face of the nation to the entire world. Its members have certain expectations to live up to and a code of conduct that needs to be followed to maintain the dignity of the institution. By displaying this hooliganism, time and again, the sanctity of the institution has again and again suffered huge erosion. Not to mention that the protests were not driven by public interest in mind, but again, narrow self-interest of a businessman parliamentarian, set to lose a huge chunk of his business. Such shameful incidents mirror the intolerance levels that we, as a society, have reached.

The third episode which set me thinking was the almost one-and-a-half month of daily soap opera that the country got to witness in the National Capital Territory of Delhi, featuring the Chief Minister (now erstwhile) of the territory in the main lead, and a capable supporting cast. The chaos that has been created only goes to show what happens when the thought is right but there is a complete absence of right action. However sacrosanct the ends might be, the means to achieve them cannot be blatantly disregarded in such ruthless a manner. Again, naiveté, driven by intolerance, was at a clear display here. The desire for instantaneous gratification and reward can bring to naught even the most well-meaning of intentions, which is amply clear from this episode.

Finally, I would like to talk about some day-to-day observations which I have made in course of time. The exponentially rising levels of intolerance in our society can be experienced in the course of our daily routine and interactions. One glaring example to which I have dedicated an entire article, but which I would like to mention again, is the experience of driving/commuting on roads. It is not a surprise that the largest numbers of deaths are caused by road accidents. What should have been an inconsequential daily routine becomes a challenging daily nightmare, with the amount of “Road (Non) Sense” that one has to deal with. Another amusing example of intolerance, that we witness daily, is the manner in which panel discussions and interviews are conducted on the 24/7 news channels. The interviewers have neither the patience nor the inclination to listen to the answers to the questions put up by them. The discussions more often than not end up taking the shape of comedy and action dramas.

In this fast changing and extremely competitive society, there is no place for laggards. Survival of the fittest was never truer than it is now. But I would request you to spare a few minutes from your busy schedule and reflect….Are these the values that you would like your children to imbibe and the kind of society you would want them to grow up in?

Movement – An essence of LIFE

“The Red light – A symbol of danger” thought Neil looking at the red light above the door of the operation theatre. Sitting right in front on a steel chair, he looked normal with no expressions of fear or anticipation on his face. He sat straight holding a bag of medical reports in one hand and a water mug in the other. He looked calm and composed, only distracted by an ant crossing the corridor. There was a group of people passing through the corridor and he was following the ant’s movement, staring at it with eyes wide open wanting the ant to cross the corridor safely. Sensing the movement of people approaching, the ant started to move faster in a bid to cross the corridor. With its tiny legs, the ant was crawling on the floor and speeding up to beat the hefty and giant feet of human beings. Unaware of the tiny, helpless creature crawling across the corridor, the group went past it, involved in their own discussions. Unable to see the ant across so many legs and waiting for the group to pass by, he could finally see the ant lying on the floor, lacking any movement.  His posture erected and his face showing signs of sympathy, he waited for the ant to move but could not see any movement. He thought to himself – Was that it for the tiny creature? Was she gone without anyone around to look after her? Did her life mean nothing to anyone – her fellow creatures and human beings? While, he was feeling pity for her, she made a slight movement and tried hard to crawl to the other end of the corridor. Getting up from his seat at once, he held her on a piece of paper and dropped her safely on a nearby plant where she could rest and recover.

Walking to the nearby window, Neil felt a strange heaviness in his heart – a feeling of helplessness. Looking into the infinite of the sky, he realized that the thought of this feeble tiny creature was only a pointer to a bigger view of this world in his mind. He had seen the long queue of patients sitting on the floor outside the hospital, waiting in physical pain and mental agony for their turn. On the way back from office one day, he had seen an old family taking refuge under the flyover with an infant lying in a hammock made out of her mother’s dupatta tied between the trees. One of the other kids wearing just underwear and holding a worn out steel container, was begging for money. Among the so many moving vehicles, he had seen smile on this kid’s face; a smile that seemed like a drop of water in a desert.

Thinking of the “survivors”, he had thought that the only absolute that kept them moving was their WILL to MOVE. Their movement defines progress and that is what the essence of life is.

Lost in his thoughts, he heard the sound of a baby crying in the nearby operation theatre. He approached the door waiting for it to open, when a nurse came out and said, “Congratulations Sir, You have just become father to a baby girl.” With tears of happiness rolling down his cheeks, he saw his baby moving her legs and hands in the air. 

He held her baby in his hands, and keeping his hand on her head, he said – “Keep moving baby, Just keep moving”…

Self introspection

Felt like dwelling into a little personal space today. I am wrestling since morning with myself on whether to write this piece or abstain from it. But just felt like starting to scribble things down and see what shape it takes.

The crux of my thoughts today is what makes me act in a particular way, in a particular situation. What decides my specific response to a particular stimulus and why only that very response? I am focusing on my thoughts, my actions and myself alone because I can talk with authority only on myself. I do-not wish to generalize anything, for that, in my eyes is the single-most prominent error that is made with such care freeness that it isn’t even registered as an error. To my mind, every person and every situation is unique and no “One size fits all” rule is applicable under any circumstance whatsoever. Anyway, not digressing any further, I am only putting my thoughts on paper, just as they are flowing in my mind at this moment, with the motive that it might help me in knowing myself better and help you in the moments of your own self-introspection.

What prompted me to walk down this road today has no bearing on anything, so I would just skip that part. In any case, I am a frequent traveler on this path and not a major provocation is required to push me down this road. Of how much I have been able to observe myself till now, I have found that in any situation that confronts me, I more often than not am aware of what I should be doing in that situation, according to my conception of right and wrong. But I am somehow not able to follow what I think is the right path, all the time. That moment, that situation is somehow able to overpower me and mould my behavior. Once out of it, I own up to myself of every such fall, make a mental note of it, sometimes a written one, and promise myself to better myself in the future. I am still not sure whether I regret things or not, because each and every moment that I have lived has been chosen by me to be lived in that manner and I am not sure if I would do (or actually be able to do) anything different if given a chance to live a moment all over again. What I am good at though, is maintaining my balance-sheet meticulously. I am well aware of my credits and debits, not the net balance though, because I am not able to assign a weight to each credit and debit entry.

All of the above is my story and has nothing to offer you for spending your precious time in reading it. But based on my experiences and my journey of self-introspection till now, there is something that I would like to share with you, which you might find useful at some point in your life. Firstly, it takes a lot of courage to even allow oneself to tread down this path because you find yourself face to face with truths, facts and realities that might not always be pleasant. If you are able to brave the initial storm, you might find your perception of yourself undergoing a change. You might find many of your notions changing. You might end up acknowledging many things, if not to the world, to yourself at least. The key at this stage is not to get bogged down and overwhelmed by what you see or feel but to continue moving ahead, however impossible it may seem. Further down the road, you will find a mirror which shows a much clearer and radiant image of you. Every time you undergo this churning, you are bound to emerge with a more resplendent glow than last time. And finally, there will come a day when you will have outgrown the need to enter this tunnel again, the dawn of your FREEDOM.

The Unnecessary

Wrecked by a wave of emotions, a man was seen laid on sand beside the sea. Lifeless and apathetic, losing himself to the whims of his mind, he chose to keep his eyes closed, embracing the darkness persistent to his mind. Unaware of the scorching heat above and the hot mud below, he was lying there engulfed by the grip of his emotions. He felt as if he was floating in the air, not because he felt light hearted, but because he wanted to rise above the ground, untouched and unseen by anyone. He wanted to reach a state of total nothingness, both inside and outside his mind, forcing himself to be alone and far of everything and everyone.

He had often seen himself lying beside the sea, unable to understand the nature of forces that acted on him. He only knew that the forces had acted as they desired and that he, though considered himself strong and tried hard every time, ended up being a puppet in their hands. He thought to himself, while staring at himself in the mirror of his restroom and punching hard in his chest, that he had the power and that he was not made to taste the mud every time. He had often seen himself looking at the horizon and desired to go beyond it, to feel the quietness he had always attempted to achieve in his mind. He had often tried to achieve the equilibrium of the horizon, acting as a single absorbing entity for brightness and darkness.

He had once jumped from a bridge, in an attempt to feel the silence at the bottom of the river. He had opened up his arms and legs, lying with his forehead touching the riverbed. He had felt stillness he had always wanted to achieve. He had slowly come out and lay on the river side with his hands pressing his head on both sides, to stop any thought from traversing his mind, in a bid to maintain the stillness of riverbed, in a bid to avoid the unnecessary.

I still see him, indulging in “the unnecessary” and then correcting, talking to himself in a bid to remind him of the space beyond the horizon. I still see him around me, engrossed in his own world, trying to clear the mud off his soul. I feel him whenever I feel the unnecessary – the anger, pain, agony and hatred. I feel him whenever my expectations rise to unnecessary limits. 

He has become my only hope against hope, the only force against all forces and the only inspiration – the horizon I want to feel and the riverbed, I want to experience.

Free Will or Destiny

Is every event and occurrence of our lives predestined or do we have a role in shaping our destinies? The debate between fatalism and free will is perhaps as old as philosophy itself.

Human beings are different from other living creatures due to the possession of mind and intellect which makes them capable of the process of thought and decision-making. If the thought processes of this mind and the decisions made by it were of no significance, its presence in the first place would become redundant and questionable. On the contrary, if mind, intellect and free will were to reign supreme, then the law of causality would hold good in each and every situation and there would not be any unexplained phenomenon. But as is evident, that is not the case. Each one of us, irrespective of our beliefs and notions, has observed or experienced some role of some external force affecting the outcome of our efforts. Whether one chooses to call it nature, fate, luck, God or whatever other name, its existence cannot be denied.

Man has come a long way in his quest for knowledge about the unknown. Our intellect and reason constantly push us to test the limits of what we know and expand our knowledge of the unknown. With the advancement in various fields, the realm of the explained and known keeps on increasing and that of the unknown and unrevealed goes on diminishing. This is a continuous process, a journey whose destination is not yet in man’s sight, because the road to be travelled is unimaginably long. The more we seem to know and understand, the more enigmatic the journey becomes. A single answer gives birth to multiple new questions.

A day might dawn when man gets the answers to all his questions, when every cause has a directly proportional effect, when reason reigns supreme and when every occurrence has a well-established and valid explanation. That day we might also be able to solve the riddles of fate, chance, luck and God. The boundaries or boundlessness of our free will may become crystal clear to us. But till that day, we can just move ahead, giving our best in each and every situation that confronts us, leaving the Universe to decide the consequence of our actions.

Martyrs' Day

Le di hamein azaadi bina khadag bina dhaal

Sabarmati ke sant tune kar diya kamaal

On the 66^th death anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, I pay my heartfelt respect and homage to the great soul. I observed the customary two-minutes silence in the honor of this great departed soul as also all other freedom fighters who gave their all to fulfill the dream of seeing India as a free country.

On this day today, I would like to spend a little more time in reflecting on the legacy left behind by the man we call Mahatma Gandhi. He has been loved and hated, followed blindly and ignored blatantly, revered and reviled, and many a times misunderstood.

The most famous legacy that he left behind was his message of non-violence. He not only followed it in his personal life, not only preached it in words, but raised it to an unprecedented level by turning it into an active and successful strategy for gaining freedom. That he could do it with such great results was only possible because of his conviction in himself and his beliefs, his commitment towards his ideals and his undaunted spirit of perseverance.

Attributing the success of our freedom struggle only to one man and one strategy would be unfair to the multitude of people who had significant roles to play in this long drawn struggle. But judging just on its own merits, the novel concept and the unique strategy worked in a way that was second to none.

The efficacy and relevance of non-violence in the present times has been increasingly debated and questioned. It might not be easy to follow or guarantee quick results but is surely sustainable and effective in the long run. But its success will depend on the level of commitment and perseverance that is put into it. The battle for abolition of apartheid in South Africa, fought by Nelson Mandela on the principles of non-violence, forgiveness and peace is sufficient testimony to the relevance of these ideals in present times. The only hindrance in its path is the extra-ordinary amount of will-power and an ability to stay committed to it even in times of adversity that it requires.

Though Mahatma Gandhi’s name has become synonymous with non-violence, there are various other noteworthy characteristics of the man that attract attention. His personality was such that it was prone to be misunderstood, mostly by those wanting to be judgmental but on no sound basis and without trying to get to know about the various facets of his life. I also belonged to the same category of people for some time. But it rattled my peace of mind because I believed something without having any real reasons for my beliefs. Then, one day, my father suggested me to read Mahatma Gandhi’s autobiography – “My Experiments with Truth”. I am thankful to my father today for his timely advice, for I am much the wiser today.

His autobiography is not about “Mahatma” Gandhi, but the man who was Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, and his journey from the man to the Mahatma. I might still not agree with all his ideals and beliefs, and the means he used to reach his goals, but all the same, I have heartfelt respect and reverence for the man today. The sheer grit, will power and courage of conviction with which he overcame all his weaknesses, is nothing short of unbelievable and is truly inspiring. His ability to stand by what he believed in the face of all resistance was exemplary.

Mahatma Gandhi died a disillusioned man. On the eve of India’s independence, he was fighting his lone battle in the village of Noakhali, trying to bring some order into the chaos. His dream of Hindu-Muslim unity had been brutally crushed by the creation of Pakistan. He could-not prevent it even with all the weight and influence that he had, and considered it his greatest failing.

His efforts towards abolishing untouchability bore fruit with the legal abolition of untouchability as per our Constitution. But the eradication of this ill from the hearts and minds of people still needs a lot of work to be done.

We might not concur with all that he said and did, but our real tribute to this great man will be if we at least make a sincere effort to understand and accept him for the man he was, with all his positives and negatives, and try to walk on the path he showed, if it appeals to our convictions.

Road (Non) Sense

My work place is just a 15-minute drive away from my residence. I commute daily through my personal car to my work place. Considering that I normally enjoy driving, this short drive should not even register in my mind as something out of the ordinary. But unfortunately, every ordinary has somehow found a way to get the prefix of extra attached to it.

This half-an-hour of daily drive has increasingly taken the shape of an ordeal for me due to various reasons.

In my view, taking a vehicle out on the road is a big responsibility, wherein the driver of the vehicle implicitly undertakes to be responsible for not only his/her own safety, but also of other vehicles and pedestrians on the road. A driving license entails with it the undertaking to follow certain rules and regulations. Following any kind of rules, regulations and discipline is increasingly becoming out of fashion. The treatment one is subjected to on the roads, can be termed as no short of hooliganism.

In this age of “Time is money”, everyone is in a hurry. There are no rules followed apart from survival of the fittest. When I got my driving license about 6-7 years back, I had come to understand a few basic guidelines to be followed when I was on the road. These, inter-alia included, Overtaking from the right, following speed limits, using indicators, maintaining distance from the vehicle ahead of me, following the signals, no unnecessary honking, using dipper at night, wearing helmet when on two wheelers etc. Some of these guidelines like overtaking from the right, limiting the usage of horns to a bare minimum etc. have long become extinct, whereas many others are quickly on their way to extinction.

I would like to recall a personal incident here. I and my husband were one day returning home at about 9-10 P.M. As we neared a traffic signal, we saw it turn to red and diligently stopped, switching of the engine of our car. Engrossed in our personal discussion, we suddenly heard loud honking. To our utter amazement, we turned around to see a vehicle behind us honking frantically. Undeterred, we stood our ground, and unfortunately for the driver of that vehicle, he could not find a way to pass us and had to wait behind us till the light turned green. No prizes for guessing what happened next….as soon as the lights turned green, he zoomed past us hurling a ton of abuses in the process! I don’t know what our reaction should have been, but this incident could evoke only amusement and laughter from both of us….

This incident is an apt and clear reflection of the state of affairs on the roads today. You will be mentally harassed and tortured if you dare to follow rules. Keeping within speed limits will attract blaring horns and staring and abusing people from all sides. The rights of the vehicles on the roads are directly proportional to their sizes. The driver of the vehicle behind you will not leave even a centimeter of space between his/her vehicle and yours. These are just a few examples. The list is long and difficult to cover here.

The pathetic condition of our roads only compounds the agony. However, this is a whole different area and would require separate and dedicated coverage.

So, is there any light at the end of the tunnel? Not wanting to let go of my optimism, I would say yes. It would again have to be the combination of two steps forward by the law enforcers and two steps forward by the law abiders. Rules and regulations are not meant to be just formulated and forgotten. They need to be implemented and implemented strictly. The space vacated by discipline is taken up by chaos, and if discipline does-not come from within, it needs to be enforced. On the other hand, there is no match for self-discipline and having to abide by certain essential rules should not be taken as a restriction but a necessity, in this case, for the safety of the one’s own as well as others’ lives.

Once again, I leave you with these thoughts to ponder over, and decide for yourselves what is sensible and right for you and what isn’t.

Estranged from Reason

God must have been a great engineer to design such an intricate entity as human beings. One life seems short to understand the behavior of individuals and its takes a lot of effort to realize and create patterns originating from a person’s thought process.

Based on my interactions with people around me, I have come to believe that most of us have a thought process that doesn’t even originate from our mind. The seeds of such thoughts are mostly sown in someone else’s mind as per their will but are reaped in our mind. There seems to be a herd behavior that prominently drives us into drawing a line in the sand, curtailing an introduction of rationality in our own thought process. What follows is the formation of a mass opinion that is not our own and we start considering it our prerogative to broadcast it with such confidence as if, it’s one of our own thought. Thus we, once trapped in other’s opinions, start trapping others resulting in creating a bigger trap called alienated opinion trap (AOT).

We live in a society and it’s impossible for us to be ignorant to others around us. While we do have our own thought process, sometimes when we find ourselves confused in a situation, it becomes easy for us to follow the actions / suggestions of other people around us. While it’s still justified as long as we have rational reason behind following other people’s actions, it becomes disastrous when we accept their opinion without seeking the logic behind it. This, is my sense, is the biggest mistake anyone can make, leading a life of a robot controlled by others.

The biggest irony is that the people entangled in AOT don’t even realize their own irrational state of mind and the way they broadcast it, poses a bigger threat to the society. Soon, this alienated opinion becomes a stereotype, a part of everyone’s life and a semblance of normality for the society.

We, as independent individuals must learn to free ourselves from the shackles we have created around us. We must not allow ourselves to become so vulnerable as to let others exploit our sense of existence. God has given uniqueness to all of us and we must maintain it till the end of our lives.

The only righteous way of living is the one that we decide for ourselves and we must always keep our mind stable and our weapons ready to take on anyone who’s a part of AOT and who tries to impose even a slightest piece of their estrangedness over us.