Mera Bharat Mahan!

This is a statement that is supposed to be made with lot of fervour!

I normally make this statement with a lot of sarcasm and probably exasperation.

You have a bunch of jokers aka politicians who first allow people to violate rules (obviously it would be for nothing but illegal personal gains...) and then cry inability to control when a responsible body wants to regulate this...

Yes, I am talking about the Delhi sealing issue... The Supreme Court is only trying to do what the MCD and the State Government failed to do... But they plead their inability in the court citing law & order problems... I am not sure if India is developing at all, despite all the media hype...

I am sure all the politicians would cut across party lines, pass a bill and place it beyond judicial review...

You still have hopes that India can develop... No way


Natraj

HEAD, HAND AND SOUL

I read this article on the Economic Times and tend to concur with this.

Education in cities is so divorced from physical work, said Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, that people are forced to get exercise through artificial means that would be ridiculous if it was not so tragic. Excerpts from his writings on education

MAN is neither mere intellect, nor the gross animal body nor the heart or soul alone. A proper and harmonious combination of all the three is required for the making of the whole man and constitutes the true economics of education! One who has appreciated the value of studies, is a student all his life. His knowledge must increase from day to day while he is discharging his duty in a conscientious manner.

The baneful effects of absence of proper coordination and harmony among the various faculties of body, mind and soul respectively are obvious. Take the case of our village folk. From their childhood up-ward they toil and labour in their fields from morning till night like their cattle in the midst of whom they live.

Mechanical drudgery

Their existence is a weary, endless round of mechanical drudgery unrelieved by a spark of intelligence or higher grace of life. On the other hand, what goes by the name of education in the cities today is in reality only intellectual dissipation. Intellectual training is there looked upon as something altogether unrelated to manual or physical work. But since the body must have some sort of physical exercise to keep it in health, they vainly try to attain that end by means of an artificial and otherwise barren system of physical culture which would be ridiculous beyond words if the result was not so tragic. As for the faculties of the heart, they are simply allowed to run seed or to grow anyhow in a wild undisciplined manner. The result is moral and spiritual anarchy.I hold that true education of the intellect can only come through a proper exercise and training of the bodily organs e.g. hands, feet, eyes, ears, nose etc. in other words an intelligent use of the bodily organs in a child provides the best and quickest way of developing his intellect. But unless the development of the mind and body goes hand in hand with a corresponding awakening of the soul, the former alone would prove to be a poor, lop sided affair.

Take the case of a child in whom the education of the heart is attended to from the very beginning. Supposing he is set to some useful occupation like spinning, carpentry, agriculture etc for his education and in that connection is given a thorough comprehensive knowledge relating to the theory of the various operations he is to perform, and the use and construction of the tools he would be wielding. He would not only develop a fine, healthy body but also a sound, vigorous intellect that is not merely academic but is firmly rooted in and is tested from day to day experience. His intellectual education would include knowledge of mathematics and the various sciences that are useful for an intelligent and efficient exercise of his avocation. If to this is added literature by way of recreation, it would give him a perfect, well-balanced, all-round education in which the intellect, the body and the spirit have all full play and develop together into a natural, harmonious whole.

There is too much of make-believe, self-deception and submission to convention. The field of education which holds the seeds of the future of the children of the soil requires absolute sincerity, fearlessness in the pursuit of truth and boldest experiments, provided always that they are sound and based upon deep thought matured and sanctified by a life of consecration.

- From The Harijan (May 8, 1937) and Young India (September 30, 1926).

MNC Bashing.. Desi Style

Well... It has happened again.

I cannot understand why Sunita Narain & co are taking off on Pepsi & Coke. To me it looks as though the hunting is on as they are MNCs.

Personally I am no fan of Pepsi/ Coke and prefer tender coconut water/ buttermilk to these.

Why should the colas be bashed up when residues are within the limits specified by the government? Has Sunita tested the other stuff like Milk, Packaged water and other stuff that are being sold? Good chance that the levels of the contaminants are much higher. Would they ban milk then?

I was watching a debate on NDTV on SUnday (Big Fight) which featured Sunita Narain and Jaya Jaitley apart from a MNC representative. To the question on levels of contaminants in other stuff like milk, Jaya said "Anyway pepsi has no nutritive value... So there is no justification in allowing them"... Give us a break.

And Sunita goes on to sy that the cola manufacturers are lobbying to ensure that the regulations are not tightened.

I am not sure if all these are marketing gimmicks by the MNCs to kindle some interest in them but it stinks.

I am not sure when we Indians are going to come out of this mindset and stirive to solve a problem wholistically!


Natraj

Indian Secularism

I have been reading about new words being introduced into oxford dictionary. They should include "Indian Secularism" - this means Hindu Bashing.

Agreed that the Sabarimala Episode is something distasteful. But why is the government interfering? It is between the employer - Travancore Devaswom Board and the employee - the Tantri.

An article found in http://o3.indiatimes.com/yossarin/archive/2006/07/26/1066336.aspx reflects my thoughts.

I also read an article about a proposed debate at Karnataka Assembly - whether not allowing women between 10 & 45 to Sabarimala temple is tantamount to discrimination. Give us a break. It is a religion and they have traditions.

Extending the idea - will the government have the guts to ban the holy communion given in the churches in Gujarat? Gujarat has prohibition and the communion is wine - which is covered under Prohibition?

Government - please govern. Other things would take care of themselves.


Natraj

Bye Bye Montoya

F1 has lost one of its colorful driver - he excelled in everything other than winning races (that was very occasional) - rash comments, taking cars out in the first corner, belittling team mates.

Sure the F1 world will miss all the entertainment that he provided

Natraj

Mumbai Blasts

It is quite a cowardly act to have done this. Hats off to Mumbaikars for risign to the occassion. And for those interested in the stock markets, the markets have posted good gains the very next day.

The question that keep popping up always - what happened to the intelligence? Are the police no supposed to keep their ears to the ground?

Natraj

Neyveli Disinvestment Imbroglio

It is the politician vs educated once again. Karunanidhi threatens the central government and the government meekly surrenders. That the divestment plan is on hold is only euphemistically stated. In reality it has been thrown into a deep refrigerator!

The article in rediff echoes my thoughts too.
http://in.rediff.com/news/2006/jul/06sheela.htm


In my humble opinion, the government should govern and not run businesses.

Profit making PSU's should not privatised... Loss making ones would have no takers.... So how does the government generate revenue.....

Tax the salaried class! Seems to be a brilliant solution!

Natraj

TamilNadu - Tinkering with Hinduism

I cannot understand why secularism = ant-hinduism.

MK brings in a rule that allows people of all castes to become priests.. Quite a welcome move. But why only Hindu?

Can a Munuswamy become a Maulvi in a Mosque? Or a pastor in a Church?

I am confused...

Tamil Nadu Elections

I should start with the recent event - Tamil Nadu Assembly elections . I cannot understand how the people judged DMK to be better than ADMK? I am not supporting either, but having gone through their manifestos and seen their track record, it beats me as to how anyone could make a decision favoring either.

May the it is insanity that is manifested leads the people to keep changing the government every 5 years!

Look at West Bengal, in contrast. The ruling party and the state have been having a win-win relationship and the state is improving.

We have a union minister, Dayanithi, stating that their Manifesto was the hero!

At this rate, even God would not be able to save us!

Natraj