Generation Gap

                                                    At the present point of time when I am 70 plus, I often  unsuccessfully try to understand the meaning of generation gap. Is it a fact of life or just a misnomer? I am a first class post-graduate with additional academic qualifications, I study at least for four hours daily, I keep fit and earn enough to equal my service period salaries. In all these outdoor activities my performance is appreciated. How it is that a young family member would just saunter up to me and tell that I am old enough to know these modern developments. He claims to know more because he sits hours together with his computer,  sleeps late in night, wakes up around 9’clock in the morning, can remember the names and affairs of film stars, will not go for a walk or do any exercise but will assume that he is the treasure- house of wisdom. He avoids to compete with his friends and derives sadistic pleasure by decrying the elders. From my own experience I can tell that their shallow comments appear to be highly disparaging. You can neither run away nor commit suicide. What to do then?

I invite the friends of my age group, euphemistically called senior citizens to share my humble suggestion, if thought right and practical. First, try to settle separate from relatives because more people create more problems. Try to remain fit by improving the lifestyle. Try to earn something to feel financially more comfortable. Even if you cannot earn, keep yourself engaged in some creative work. Last but not the least a bit of spirituality is a tonic highly helpful in challenging moments. The idea is just to share the experience and not to sermonize please.

YAWNING BIHAR WAKING

In the first three decades of freedom, the ruling parties encashed their efforts to liberate the country and amassed votes  on alluring slogans.  This generated a strong dissatisfaction among the cheated public so much so that the govt. had to resort to unpleasant Emergency. The po;itical parties at large got a clear message that they would lose ground fast if  they delayed any more the economic development. As a result since early 70’s growth was perceptible in different fields including agriculture.

Then came another phase when even performing chief ministers were shown the door. In this connection one cannot forget the plight of Om Prakash Chautala in Haryana, Chandrababu Nayudu in Andhra Pradesh and Shrikrishna of Karnataka who had done a lot for their states. It forced the political circles to believe that development alone could not take one to power. In English there is a saying: ‘it is not enough just to be honest, one should also look to be so’. Then emerged a formula of DPR (development and public relations). The success of this effective twin policy can be seen in Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Bihar. These states are quoted as models of development which other states are imbibing fast.

The experience of Bihar is by far breath-taking. Narendra Modi already  had a springboard and he had just to be stable to make jump. On the other hand Nitish had to proceed from a scratch – first construct the launching pad and then jump. Bihar quite wisely fixed the priority and went for performance in fields whch were easily visible to the people. His first task was to restore law and order in the society and then improve transport connectivity by spreading a wide network of roads. Nitish said that he wanted people to move any time without fear and from every district one could reach Patna in two hours. It paid the desired dividends when in the next election JDU-BJP govt. romped home with a thumping majority.

In last eight years, Bihar has recorded 12% annual growth which is the highest among major states. Similarly between 2001 and 2011, rate of literacy grew to 17% which appears to be a world record. Whether it is child mortality rate or life span of an individual, Bihar’s performance is quite laudable. He told his voters not to vote for him in the next election if by then electricity did not reach every village. He also committed to change the face of agriculture so much so that in future every thali in the country will have a Bihari recipe. Bihar is fortunate to have fertile land and sufficient underground and overground water. No one should wonder if Nitish translated his dreams into reality.

Here we do not want to hide the deficiency perceptible in the state. Between 2004 and 2011 poverty went down by 8.4% in the country whereas in Bihar it stood at 0.4%. Similarly in respect of purchasing capacity of individuals, Bihar is lagging behind. But we are sure that a well intentioned chief minister is well capable of tiding over that. Optimism is the mantra.

MUSHARRAF'S DICEY DECISION

                                                A tiger which has tasted human blood, becomes more dangerous. Similarly, a politician, who enjoyed the status of being in power, cannot tolerate to stay wingless. After a 4-year self imposed exile, Genl. Parvez Musharraf of Pakistan took a hasty decision of home-coming as the scheduled May general election appeared to him as an opportunity to grab power once more. The under-current indicates that the Saudi Arabian royal family brokered peace between Musharraf and  Nawaz Sharif as a result of which musharraf’s return road to Pakistan was paved. According to the scheduled programme, he was to be received in a big procession of his supporters at Karachi, which was disallowed by the administration.

Musharraf made a calculated move under the impression that under the present non-peforming Zardari regime, the people, out of frustration would automatically flock around him. They will recall how earlier he had appeared as a saviour when Pakistan was in a chaotic situation under Nawaz Sharif. In his estimation, his credential includes also a strong reply to India by going atomic. In Pakistan, to abuse India is a welcome quality of any politician and he adequately demonstrated that in Kargil. He not only strengthened internal peace but the economy of the country also started looking up. These are rallying points in his favour, the Genl. thinks.

In his plan of things, what he ignores is that for his lust for power, he dethroned an elected government and forced him Sharif to leave the country. It is something else that the same punishment boomeranged on him later. Even today in Pakistan a good number of aware people charge him with the assassination of Benazir Bhutto and Nawab Akbar Bugti, a Baloch leader. The court cases in this connection, involving him are still pending. Musharraf sacked over 50 judges who challenged his absolute power. The people have still not forgotten the massacre of Lal Masjid. Last but the least, who can forget that through his erroneous Kargil misadventure, he brought Pakistan on the brink of a devastating hot war with India.

If the above pros and cons of Musharraf’s  plan are taken into consideration, there will be no problem in deducing that he is on a dicey course. In future, instead of occupying the presidential chair in Islamabad, he may land in a strictly guarded cell of a Pak jail. Moreover, he has also to protect himself from the lurking threat of the Pakistan Talibans.    

                                               

MAN AND ANIMAL SEX BEHAVIOUR

today i saw a comment of taslima nasrin. she says that dolphins should no more have human company as they have started raping their offsprings. what is new in it? except human beings, in the animal world no matured mating partners are aware of their parentage. civilisation means going against nature as we impose restrictions in the name of morality to obviate the chances of chaos in the society. it may appear irritating but  is true.
in bestial world, sex causes more fatal frictions. when a new lion replaces an old leader, first of all he kills the other male members of the group, so that there is no challenge to his possessiveness over the lioness. When the lioness becomes pregnant, she hides herself so that the cubs could escape the ire of the father. is not this world strange? jara sochiye.See More

CROWD PULLING MANTRA

In post-Independence India, the politicians have learnt  the mantra of crowd pulling to demonstrate their mass following. It has come on the fore that such leaders enjoy enough clout to compel the government to concede their demands. We have seen such huge rallies of the Dravidian politicians of Tamil Nadu at the Marina Beach, Dusserah Shiv Sena rallies of late Bal Thackeray, Kisan rallies of Mahender Singh Tikait in Delhi, P.V. Narsinmha Rao’s rally at the Delhi Lal Quila, Lalus repeated rallies in Patna, Janta Mantar crowds addressed by Anna Hazare for Lokpal,  Baba Ramdev’s Ram Lila ground show and recent continuous demonstrations at the India Gate and Jantar Mantar demanding death for the Dec.16 Delhi gang rape criminals, which compelled the govt. to constitute a fast track court and frame an immediate law to stem the rot.

As an astute politician, Nitish Kumar, aware of this tested effective weapon, decided to try it to press his demand of special status to Bihar and similar other backward states. As a preparatory move, first he held districtwise rallies  to  create awareness, which culminated into the massive national show in Delhi. Very tactfully he left a hint that he would support the govt. at the Centre which came forward to espouse his demand. Calculatedly he had hit the iron while it was hot and accordingly there was an immediate positive response. He was invited to meet the Prime Minister and the Home Minister who disturbed by the desertion of the DMK, decided to oblige the Bihar CM, capable of pulling his chestnut out of fire after the 2014 general election.

We understand that the Centre is ready to redefine backwardness which will include Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha and Chhattisgarh. To start with Bihar will immediately get a relief of over six to seven thousand crores of rupees in the shape of concession in the repayment of central loans. Similar other major benefits are in the pipeline which will definitely help the state to outshine other states in the race to development. Well done Nitish!  

I FEEL

I feel that india does not have dearth of talents. The tragedy is that these talents are neither recognised nor given an opportunity to prove their worth.  The just ended gavaskar-border trophy matches  serve as an excellent example. Shikhar dhavan, cheteshwar pujar. M. vijay, rabindra jadeja and buvneshwar kumar could not hve overnight turned into international hero of cricket without allowing to don the india test cap. The old guards should not decry such futuristic changes  because no tree will bear fruits if flowers refuse to give way.

Similarly, an educated and aware person  is one who studies and interacts with others to generate new ideas. He will be a frustrated person and his creativity will dry out if he has no platforms to give expression to his thinking. In a developing country like india, we are aware of paucity of openings in organized sectors. In this backdrop, blogs offer an excellent opportunity to such people to broaden the friendship circle, explore oprrotunities elsewhere and help those in need.

I feel that by joining this blog, I could open the floodgate of new opportunitie for me. It is bound to bolster my decision and catapult me to rededicate myself in amassing more and more knowledge and experience.