Happy Independence day!

As India gets a year older than the last year, celebrating its 69th Independence day, I wish you all a Happy Independence day at the first place. There more days to cherish Indian culture, tradition , diversity and integrity. But this day is the one, that brings every Indian together, beyond the worldly things like caste, creed and religion. When life shows us many ways to conquer, we, Indians have the history of choosing the tougher among them, just because it is right. The freedom we got, as the Viceroy signed it with the Indian people, to leave this big rich nation is because of that non-violence movement. All that we learned on the History books.

What Independence has given us is a constitution and the laws that govern the people to right. What we have made from it is a system, that would be so convenient to safe guard ourselves from the grips of it, when something goes wrong in our part. Though there have been a lot of changes with regard to education, women empowerment and life style in general,we lag behind in things we want to give immediate attention.

Where was the law, when a minor, who cruelly raped and disfigured a woman? Where is the law, when small children  face molestation and harassment? Where is the law when people attack one community of people, just because they believe that their ideas and philosophy towards life is better than the weaker one? Where is the law?

I sure agree that law protects us. But, we never realize who it really protects, until Salman Khan walks out of the court after having all the evidences against him in the infamous "Hit and Run case" and " Hunting deers" case. If I had done the same/say any other common citizen have done this, the case would have gone  unnoticed and that common citizen would have had enough of his lifetime to be spent in jail. Laws have become just the rules and we always have an easier penalty to solve the case against them: the people in power and the people with lots of money .

What plays a major role is the media, that loves to project things, the way they want the public to illusionize in their mind. While real news are facts, nowadays, news has become the opinion of fewer group of people repeating their thought again and again to make the public believe it.

We are stronger than the other set of people, by sex or by religion, because we have the duty to protect the weaker one. If this would be remembered by all the citizens this independence day, we would grow to that height cannot be scaled by any other nation in this world.

Happy Independence day again!

To the love of humanity!!!

Peace lost,
A city of love once, turned into city of terror,
Ruined by suicide bombers and gun men.

As they attacked,
They shouted the name of a God,
He, who would never love this kind of war.

As they attacked,
They shouted the name of a country,
From where the people fled searching across seas and oceans for food and life,
For a life of peace.

In the stadium that held the foot ball match,
There lies a body of a dad doomed,
Who wanted his son badly to play the game like those players.

In the hall that held the concert,
There was a mom,
Who wanted her children just to have a happy life.

In the restaurants,
Sitting there were families and couples,
Who wanted say to the other that they loved each other so much,
Some would have wanted to patch-up,
Some would have wanted to break-up.
There would have been business meetings too.

Everything has become nothing,
Nothing at all,
In few seconds of hate,
Everything changed.
People with love and emotions were turned to blood and flesh.

They call it a pure war,
They call it a fight for their nation,
They call it a fight for Him.
Really??

In the epic Mahabaratha,
There is a character called Karna,
He was celebrated as a man of generosity,
A man of courage and success,
A hero of the era,
But he fought against the Truth,
He fought for his friendship which was true, 
But he lost the war.
A man who could have never been defeated was killed,
And everything from him was taken away,
For he was against Truth and human values,
For his success was stained by the blood of the innocent warrior and the sanity of the woman.

The same would be the fate of Terrorism,
They fight for a cause,
But will never win,
For they have against them, the love of every people,
Who want to live with nothing but peace.

It is not Paris,
It is not Mumbai,
It is not Newyork,
It is not Pakistan neither Bangladesh nor Syria nor Egypt,
They are against the love of humanity.
They will learn their lesson.
Sooner or later.

Let us stand together,
Let us get connected by love,
Let us learn to tell people what we want them to know from us this moment,
For no one have the assurance that we will live the next moment.
Let love and truth win.

Secular India and meat bans…

My article might be considered out of date for people who think that this intolerance topic and meet bans started two or three months back. But, if you see in a long run, I am too early to write about this because the New Year is nearing and the government would have to start the ban all from the first for the same festival will be celebrated next year too. And no way can the media remain silent about this. How could that happen? They would nag some unknown faces representing the right, left and center, gather some filthy comments from all of them and run those comments again and again until the viewer believes that it was the view of the entire party.

Small and sensible

India is a secular country, said my Civics book when I was in 10th grade. I was also explained what secular really means. As far as I understood, we live together with our Muslim, Christian and Buddhist, Jain, Parish and many other counterparts. It was said that Indian constitution treats all the religions equally and the beliefs of one should not be a great concern for the other. I also remember studying about one of the fundamental rights, 'Right to freedom of religion’.

Before my Civics book, it was my school which always insisted that we should say the prayer of other religions on any one of the days and we did, because there were no big concerns about what God we prayed to. It was about the unfinished home works from which we always wanted to escape. I never felt a difference between a Diwali and Ramzan or Pongal and Christmas as every festival gave me holidays and there were new films on the Television which hooked me to it. 

There were friends, whose believes were different from mine, on God and food. They still chatted with me and laughed with me and my Tiffin box was stolen sometimes for it was packed with some really delicious vegan foods. I have seen my childhood friend, who was supposed to be a vegan like me, ate non-vegan foods from other friends who brought it. The food was not shared based on religion. It was really based on which Tiffin box carried the delicious food. There was no big drama about what should be eaten by whom, as long as everybody had something good to eat.

Right to food

As and when seen in my personal opinion, what others tongue loves to taste is in no way a concern for a person next to him. I have learned that the freedom of one person ends at the tip of the other person's nose. A tongue lies at a far distance according to this point. 

To those who ruled

We think that this meat ban started this September, when the Maharashtra government tried to ban beef for 8 days during the Jain festival. People forget history. This ban was put during the same festival by the once ruling, now opposition party led government too, which talks about the intolerance among people.

To those who are ruling

Politics and vote banks play their dirty games everywhere, forgetting the fact that the head of a party (ruling or opposition) or a state or a nation should respect the fundamental rights of every citizen, ‘Right to life’ upon every other rights, especially in this case. The present ruling party has to learn this lesson before anything else. They were not voted majority for nothing.

To the artists and rationalists
Returning awards is a way of showing your concern in any matter. But who are getting affected? This pressure placed on the government would not be enough. There are people, who really need to understand that all have equal rights to practise their religion or taste of food. An article in one of the famous newspaper about the people community in Mumbai stuck me hard, when it portrayed how some people really exhibited their bitterness and prohibited establishment of meat shops or hotels and restaurants of non-vegan foods in their locality. How would returning awards change those people?

Real concern

And don’t forget the media. They have a great part in blowing up things to improper proportions.  No end to this. The constitution will remain the same and promises will be made in the next election by parties to create a secular India, a less intolerant one and probably with no meat bans. Oh! Yeah. We were, by the way, never secular in past. Were we?

There are bigger problems to concentrate. I hope the party; whichever is in power (in the state or central) or comes to power, understands that and acts according to it.

WHAT IS YOUR RELIGION?

I follow Hinduism. I pray to the idols in the temple. I celebrate Diwali, Pongal, Dhasara and many other festivals. I share sweets with my friends during these festivals.

My best friend is a Muslim. He believes in one god and in non-idol worship. He celebrates Ramzan, Bakrid and many other festivals. I have heard many of my other friends talking about the taste of the Biryani during these festivals in his home (Being a vegetarian I couldn’t afford to take the offer).

One of my friends is a Christian. She goes to church every Sunday, celebrates Christmas, Easter and many other festivals. I have tasted the Christmas and Easter cakes myself and they were really awesome.

When we were born, we were just blood and flesh. There was no religion inscribed into any of us. But forgive the society; we were brought into a cycle of belief. It is for the good, I should say. Religion gives us a belief beyond the existence of man. We are given a path to follow. We are taught to love, live and thank someone beyond, which help us beyond the four walls of a temple or a church or a mosque.

We are born in a secular country which respects the culture and tradition of all religions equally. My stand is that, you need not accept others beliefs. You don’t even have to be secular at all. But remember, others have the same right too. This does not imply that anyone can disrespect any religion because they are not following it.

Religious tolerance comes naturally to people who really admire their beliefs. People who fear their existence alone, admits violence as their weapon. So if disrespect towards other religions is purely based on fear that the religion would die, then even your own religion would never accept you. A religion never fears. It knows it will be followed. It knows it will have followers. Because, it shows the path of love and beyond.

And to be precise,

I am a Hindu who desperately wants to end my last breath at Kasi.

I am a Muslim who wants to perform the Hujj Yatra before I die.

I am a Christian who wants to attend the Mass every Sunday.

I am a Sikh who wants to keep the beard and hair uncut throughout my life.

I am a Jew, I even follow Buddhism and Jainism. I am a Parsi too and the list goes on and on.

After experiencing to be all, I am proud to accept I have my own beliefs. I am not secular at all. I declare myself to be a religious extremist, only that my religion being Humanity and my belief being love and compassion- A lesson thought by all these religions. 

So, What is your religion?

~A dedication to Gandhi, the same man who inspired me to write this.

VISION-2023: As the TN Pegasus tries to fly high

A peek in to the Global Investors Meet 2015- Part 2

As I closely watched the live program of GIM 2015 (both the inauguration and the valedictory functions), I should say this is no time to troll Chennai and the entire TN about it’s under developed areas. But some things should get their attention anyways. I appreciate the investment of Tomohide, a Japan company in digitizing Ponneri in the Chennai-Bengaluru industrial corridor and also a 200 crore investment by Malaysia in Madurai-Tootukudi industrial corridor. A total of 80 MoUs (Memorandum of Understanding) have been signed in manufacturing, energy and medical sectors. The government has requested Apollo to introduce Tele-Medicine in remote villages which to its credit has successfully connected various remote parts of India through Tele-Medicine. 

All the newspapers are covering about the GIM 2015, the promises made by multinational and nationalized companies and small industries in various sectors. People say me that Chennai is the fastest growing state in India and these investments would certainly place TN ahead in all respects. 

Where the concentration is needed after all the paper works and implementation?

Obviously, Infrastructure…

As I mentioned in the previous article in my blog, it’s the infrastructure where the state needs to concentrate. There is dissatisfaction in my heart about the statement, “Tamil Nadu has enough electricity and it is in the verge of becoming an electricity surplus state”. I travel between the Singara Chennai and my village (as my present situation demands that) and I have experienced enough current less hours in both the places.

"Electricity is a different sector. Why are you talking about that in infrastructure?", I could hear some of the voices rising. 

Yes. Electricity belongs to energy sector. But, do we not live in a building with electrical wiring?  Don’t we expect to have the Air Conditioner on all the time? So, my definition of infrastructure includes this too. A major positive change in this sector would be the wish of all the people in TN, I think. Giving all the energy available to the investing companies and keeping the people in dark would reflect on the votes in the election. The present political party must remember that electricity crisis was among the few other reasons for the failure of the DMK lead government in 2011. I should mention here the MoU signed in the energy sector with the Adani group for 10,000 crores. This should be realized as fast as possible to satisfy the general public’s needs apart from sufficing the investors.

Another important aspect in which TN needs attention is the environment and sanitation. I hope people can understand that developing a clean environment to live is another important facet of infrastructure. There is a lot of buzz all over India about the “Clean India” campaign introduced by the central government. 

Tamil Nadu needs to implement this personally for its own good. The places like Perungudi and Kodungaiyur, where the entire Chennai’s waste are dumped, need to be given an attention. They are collected and dumped in these two places predominantly. Considering a city which generates a waste of 5000 tonnes per month and a dumping yard which has not been expanded for years holding a 30 feet of unprocessed and infected wastes, it’s a high time for the government to divert the remaining 10 percent of investment that has not been categorized to be invested on any sector based on the news so far. 

Every Tamilian would wish a better sanitation in all the places. The fine amount of 500 rupees for dumping non-degradable wastes in public places has never reached the people. Most of the people don’t even have any idea about this rule. This should be implemented the same way the rule of wearing helmets was established in the recent past. A “Clean TN” campaign is needed to save the state immediately from future disasters due to unprocessed wastes.

Resources: The Hindu, Quora, Times of India 

Many other problems will be discussed. Stay tuned!!!

I request all my readers to send a picture personally or in my timeline in any of the social media to prove that Tamil Nadu needs concentration in the electricity and environment. Use #TNVision2023. Join hands for TN. Create a ripple in the society. Plan to gift an energy surplus and clean TN to the future.

VISION-2023: As the TN Pegasus tries to fly high

A peek in to the Global Investors Meet 2015- Part 1

 Pegasus is a sign of lightning and it is believed wherever it lands it brings spring says the Greek mythology. Now it has made its presence in GIM 2015 (Global Investors Meet 2015), first of its kind in Tamil Nadu. With the literal translation of the flying horse’s name from Latin, we are bound to believe that the spring of Tamil Nadu has arrived and the growth would be like lightning and thunder. The profile of the state, ‘Why Tamil Nadu?’ in the official website of the meet presents itself as one of the fastest growing state in 9 of the 12 sectors in India. The GIM has a target of attracting 1 lakh crore investment (16 billion USD) which the government sources say, have already surpassed. Partnership from 9 countries and 21 organisations, housing about 1000 foreign investment delegates and 4000 from various parts of India in a single roof in the Chennai Trade centre, GIM has showed its might in the inauguration event. 

There are lot of factors to be considered which have been a great hinder to the past investors like delay in clearance of documents, the electricity crisis and the unknown unions formed in the manufacturing units that participate in strikes most of the time. For the above mentioned problems, the government have answers. 

The government in the GIM has promised the single window clearance in 30 days for the Memorandum of Understandings signed in the event. The government has registered its point that it is in the verge of turning in to an electricity surplus state. The statistics in the state also gives a clear picture that the strike rate in the state has decreased to a great extent from 2003 to 2012. It has also clarified that the closing of Nokia manufacturing unit in Chennai was not because of the Government.

Let us assume, TN gets the 1 lakh crore investments as planned and even surpasses the target. What does that have to do with the normal citizen living in Chennai or anywhere in Tamil Nadu? The investments have been guaranteed to be taken 40% from energy sector, 40% from manufacturing and 10% from IT and IT enabled Services. 

First of all, this promises surplus employment opportunities in the future in the energy and manufacturing sector. ‘Do we have the skilled labour to achieve this target?’ is the next question that pops in our head. ‘Yes, we have or we will create it’, says the government and this statement were backed by HCL in the event, which has promised a skill development program for about 20,000 students in various fields all over the state.

Second, this would help improve the infrastructure of the state. Third, if all goes as planned Tamil Nadu will achieve its Vision, to achieve 14% growth rate per annum and a total 15 lakh crore investment by 2023.

Infrastructure 

I have intent to explore this second point. A state that is a hub for 6 international airports, lot of manufacturing units in automobile sector and textile and leather industry has posed itself a great challenge in this concern. The government has to realize that it is not enough to develop and maintain the areas of Meenambakkam and that of the areas stayed and visited by VIPs. The entire state needs the best infra to project to be the leading state in India, a feat the government has beset to achieve. In the past, the development in the state has destroyed a lot of natural resources. One such example is the Koovam River in Adayar. This generation would never accept it as river but as drainage. Lot of ponds and lakes have vanished in the name of urbanization. 

 

Today’s state of Koovam River, Adyar.

“The lost beauty-Buckingham canal”

Picture and quote credit: Arvind an IT professional at Athena health

Will the investments, in various parts of TN, destroy the left over natural resources? This question irks my mind. So does for the many other people in the state. The answer lies in the hand of the government which has given Environmental protection infrastructure subsidy up to USD 50,000.

Resources: Wikipedia, The Hindu, GIM website

Public views are being collected through various social media. Stay tuned for the next part!!!