I have been a distant observer of the Saibaba phenomenon over the years and my feelings swung between, is he a real god to ok let me not be skeptical he is doing admirable social work.
There were claims that he is a charlatan, trickster etc. but his phenomenon was always on the rise, to his credit none of the allegations stuck to him. He deftly evaded most challenges thrown at him by rationalists and went on to build his credo spreading his simple message of universal love. He was dogmatic and took into his fold all castes,creeds and religions with open hands.
Needless to say that there is something special in this man who could attract Presidents, Prime Ministers, Judges, Ministers and Doctors to his fold. I had an opportunity to see him in his Bangalore ashram, a diminutive figure in a wheel chair was rolled into the hall, he had a soft gleaming skin, I instantly could feel he is different from the rest of us but I do not know in what way. They say one should be “connected” to a guru to experience his warmth and love and that is what his followers might feel in his presence. Perhaps rest of us do not have such experience since we have not yet surrendered to a guru.
Over the past 2 decades Saibaba has used his trust funds well to serve the public and used his money generating power in executing projects which government couldn’t do. Drinking Water projects to the parched district of Anantapur and Chennai city are significant as also the super specialty hospitals in Puttaparthi and Bangalore. His trust has poured crores of rupees into these endeavors. He is indeed a god to many who go to his hospitals to get their surgeries done free of cost. He is a god for the denizens of Anantapur and other districts where his projects delivered drinking water. Saibaba has stepped in where governments failed.
He has left an empire worth anything between 40,000 to 100,000 crores and it is up to the trust to deliver on the ideals of service that Saibaba preached. India is a land of mystics and god men of all sorts; we are naturally attracted to these mystics for various reasons. Some of them are frauds, some of them are genuine and some in between, Satya Saibaba has definitely left a positive legacy with his work for the society and a role model for the rest of the spiritual gurus on how to harness their energy towards social good.
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
Sunday, April 24, 2011
Adverse impact of increasing alcoholism
While spending a couple of nights in a hospital to take care of a relative i could witness firsthand the havoc alcoholism is causing on young drivers. As per statistics a third to a quarter of road accidents are related to drunken driving. It is consuming young lives.
One need to recognize the role of irresponsible governments in the increasing rate of alcoholism in the country. Drive across the main highways and towns in the any of the states one can find multitude of wine shops dotted across the landscape. Alcohol provides a big revenue stream to the states and hence they turn a blind eye to the social impact of this dangerous addiction. They just churn out new licenses every year to eke out more revenue from liquor sales.
As per latest data nearly 30 to 35 per cent of adult men and five per cent of women are regular consumers of alcohol in India. The earliest age at which alcohol is consumed has changed significantly — from 28 years in 1980 to 18 years in 2010.
It is well know that Alcohol consumers have a higher incidence of mortality, hospitalization and disabilities due to injuries. Nearly one-third of night road traffic injuries and deaths are attributed to alcohol use. About one-fourth of violence and other forms of abuse against women and children were linked to chronic alcohol use.
A recent study showed India as the largest producer of alcohol in the world, contributing 65 per cent of total production and nearly seven per cent of imports within the region. The data from the International Wine and Spirits Record and said the sale of alcohol liter cases went up from 72,000 in 2000 to 200 million in 2009.
Country-made liquor and rum are common in rural areas. Home-made local brews continued to be popular in select communities, especially in the northeast and Goa. In general it is observed that social costs of alcoholism far exceeded the revenue generated from sale of alcohol. A recent study revealed that nearly one of three patients above 25 years of age entering emergency rooms has shown acute to chronic effects of alcohol.
Total prohibition is imposed in Gujarat and Mizoram while partial prohibition continued in Karnataka since 2007-08. The experience of prohibition across Indian States revealed that while prohibition had a marginal impact in reducing availability, it promoted smuggling. The policy of increasing taxes on alcohol by successive governments had only been generating more revenue and had no desired impact on consumption patterns.
Governments need to wake up to the reality of the social costs that alcoholism is imposing on the state and invest in policy and education to make citizens aware of the frightful consequences of alcoholism.
ref : NIMHANS study
One need to recognize the role of irresponsible governments in the increasing rate of alcoholism in the country. Drive across the main highways and towns in the any of the states one can find multitude of wine shops dotted across the landscape. Alcohol provides a big revenue stream to the states and hence they turn a blind eye to the social impact of this dangerous addiction. They just churn out new licenses every year to eke out more revenue from liquor sales.
As per latest data nearly 30 to 35 per cent of adult men and five per cent of women are regular consumers of alcohol in India. The earliest age at which alcohol is consumed has changed significantly — from 28 years in 1980 to 18 years in 2010.
It is well know that Alcohol consumers have a higher incidence of mortality, hospitalization and disabilities due to injuries. Nearly one-third of night road traffic injuries and deaths are attributed to alcohol use. About one-fourth of violence and other forms of abuse against women and children were linked to chronic alcohol use.
A recent study showed India as the largest producer of alcohol in the world, contributing 65 per cent of total production and nearly seven per cent of imports within the region. The data from the International Wine and Spirits Record and said the sale of alcohol liter cases went up from 72,000 in 2000 to 200 million in 2009.
Country-made liquor and rum are common in rural areas. Home-made local brews continued to be popular in select communities, especially in the northeast and Goa. In general it is observed that social costs of alcoholism far exceeded the revenue generated from sale of alcohol. A recent study revealed that nearly one of three patients above 25 years of age entering emergency rooms has shown acute to chronic effects of alcohol.
Total prohibition is imposed in Gujarat and Mizoram while partial prohibition continued in Karnataka since 2007-08. The experience of prohibition across Indian States revealed that while prohibition had a marginal impact in reducing availability, it promoted smuggling. The policy of increasing taxes on alcohol by successive governments had only been generating more revenue and had no desired impact on consumption patterns.
Governments need to wake up to the reality of the social costs that alcoholism is imposing on the state and invest in policy and education to make citizens aware of the frightful consequences of alcoholism.
ref : NIMHANS study
Sunday, April 17, 2011
Ugly journey to reach the beautiful
How many hours should it take to travel 250 km under Indian road conditions. @50 km/hr may be 5 hrs that too on what we call NH-2 (National Highway-2).
It ultimately took 7.5 hrs to reach Agra and a lesson in the challenges that the country is facing because of rapid Urbanization, Huge Population, Poor urban and Infrastructure planning and Lawlessness. I am back to Agra after a decade and this is my experience.
You get out of Delhi to get into a series of villages that are totally chaotic and one wonders if the villages have expanded to occupy the Highways. Rapid industrialization and real estate boom in the NCR region has brought in lot of employment seeking population to Delhi and its Suburbs.
What is visible is that agriculture is vanishing along the highways and farmers are getting out of the vocation selling lands to land mafias. All sorts of Small industries, Eateries, Engineering and Management colleges are cropping up along the highways. Delhi doesn’t end up to 100 km from its outskirts. The sea of humanity getting out on to the roads is intimidating even for an Indian.
At the heart of the matter is lack of urban planning, zoning and regulation. I would say no state in the country is good at it but in the NCR region it is acute. DDA and the other agencies must be throwing all rules to the winds in approving projects around the NCR region.
If the travel from Delhi to Agra through Faridabad, Ballabgarh, Palwal and Mathura is a nightmare in itself, travel within Agra to reach the elusive Taj is even nightmarish. Any other country having this fabulous monument would have gone to lengths to ensure the town is developed as a world class tourist city and attracted more tourists. Agra is like any other North Indian city, there is nothing like city administration it runs by default.
Since being declared a UN Heritage site in 1983 the situation is better for the Taj and its surroundings but much more needs to be done (they still allow plastic into the Taj campus and one can see plastic bottles lying around in the mausoleum itself – very bad). A beautiful Taj and an ugly Agra town stand in contrast. Shahjahan would be surprised to see the lack of town planning which he envisioned 350 years ago.
The Yamuna Expressway may ease things in terms of travel to Agra but the larger question of urban and town planning practices across the country remains. In the name of development we should not end up with ugly structures as eye sores around the country.
Town and urban planning departments are amongst the most corrupt in the country, they need to be fixed.
It ultimately took 7.5 hrs to reach Agra and a lesson in the challenges that the country is facing because of rapid Urbanization, Huge Population, Poor urban and Infrastructure planning and Lawlessness. I am back to Agra after a decade and this is my experience.
You get out of Delhi to get into a series of villages that are totally chaotic and one wonders if the villages have expanded to occupy the Highways. Rapid industrialization and real estate boom in the NCR region has brought in lot of employment seeking population to Delhi and its Suburbs.
What is visible is that agriculture is vanishing along the highways and farmers are getting out of the vocation selling lands to land mafias. All sorts of Small industries, Eateries, Engineering and Management colleges are cropping up along the highways. Delhi doesn’t end up to 100 km from its outskirts. The sea of humanity getting out on to the roads is intimidating even for an Indian.
At the heart of the matter is lack of urban planning, zoning and regulation. I would say no state in the country is good at it but in the NCR region it is acute. DDA and the other agencies must be throwing all rules to the winds in approving projects around the NCR region.
If the travel from Delhi to Agra through Faridabad, Ballabgarh, Palwal and Mathura is a nightmare in itself, travel within Agra to reach the elusive Taj is even nightmarish. Any other country having this fabulous monument would have gone to lengths to ensure the town is developed as a world class tourist city and attracted more tourists. Agra is like any other North Indian city, there is nothing like city administration it runs by default.
Since being declared a UN Heritage site in 1983 the situation is better for the Taj and its surroundings but much more needs to be done (they still allow plastic into the Taj campus and one can see plastic bottles lying around in the mausoleum itself – very bad). A beautiful Taj and an ugly Agra town stand in contrast. Shahjahan would be surprised to see the lack of town planning which he envisioned 350 years ago.
The Yamuna Expressway may ease things in terms of travel to Agra but the larger question of urban and town planning practices across the country remains. In the name of development we should not end up with ugly structures as eye sores around the country.
Town and urban planning departments are amongst the most corrupt in the country, they need to be fixed.
Saturday, April 9, 2011
Is it the last stand
Will the path breaking (or back breaking for our politicians) Jan Lok pall bill be the beginning of the end of corruption in the country? The mood of the civil society is one of hope and in Anna they found a man who could push the government on the back foot. Squeaky clean, short in physical built and a Gandhian to the core there could not have been better person to lead the agitation. It is a genuine victory for the civil society and one could see the UPA government trembling on the potential damage this agitation could cause to its already tarnished reputation. For the government there could not have been a worst moment with the Supreme Court breathing down its neck on the 2G and the CWG scams it had no way out than to accept the demands of the agitators.
The congress spokesperson tried to talk down Anna and his team on the question of constitutional propriety of forming a joint committee with a co-chairman from civil society, there were no buyers to this line of argument, government has shown alacrity in agreeing to the demands and moving on with the deliberations.
It needs to be seen if the deliberations of the joint committee, subsequent approval of the cabinet and formalizing of the bill in the parliament will happen. There is long way to go and the terms of the bill could be diluted and the process could derail at any time.
However is the civil society ready to face a corruption less system, are we not an integral part of the mess. No doubt we hate it, but many of us would have greased palms or given baksheesh to get out of a mess or get work done out of way. A small recommendation for a school admission, job, using “influence” for moving files in a government office etc, we are not used to play by the rules. We need to re-build our society’s value systems with respect to conduct in public life. Playing by the rules should be the norm only then can we really dream of a society devoid of corruption.
The next question is for the Political class and bureaucracy. Are they ready for a corruption less system? Do we have an Institutional frame work to tackle corruption at this level, will the Jan lokpal bill help.
It is a gargantuan task to get rid of the evil of corruption that is tearing the society apart. Politicians pushing their policies, Corporates getting cosy with bureaucrats and politicians for big contracts, rape of natural wealth by some, Judicial corruption, big time corruption in PWD and water works projects across the country, daily life small time corruption by constables, RTO, CTO etc. There is no end and we are all in it.
Has the time come for India to come out clean; is the defiance of the civil society the last stand? Let’s wait and watch.
The congress spokesperson tried to talk down Anna and his team on the question of constitutional propriety of forming a joint committee with a co-chairman from civil society, there were no buyers to this line of argument, government has shown alacrity in agreeing to the demands and moving on with the deliberations.
It needs to be seen if the deliberations of the joint committee, subsequent approval of the cabinet and formalizing of the bill in the parliament will happen. There is long way to go and the terms of the bill could be diluted and the process could derail at any time.
However is the civil society ready to face a corruption less system, are we not an integral part of the mess. No doubt we hate it, but many of us would have greased palms or given baksheesh to get out of a mess or get work done out of way. A small recommendation for a school admission, job, using “influence” for moving files in a government office etc, we are not used to play by the rules. We need to re-build our society’s value systems with respect to conduct in public life. Playing by the rules should be the norm only then can we really dream of a society devoid of corruption.
The next question is for the Political class and bureaucracy. Are they ready for a corruption less system? Do we have an Institutional frame work to tackle corruption at this level, will the Jan lokpal bill help.
It is a gargantuan task to get rid of the evil of corruption that is tearing the society apart. Politicians pushing their policies, Corporates getting cosy with bureaucrats and politicians for big contracts, rape of natural wealth by some, Judicial corruption, big time corruption in PWD and water works projects across the country, daily life small time corruption by constables, RTO, CTO etc. There is no end and we are all in it.
Has the time come for India to come out clean; is the defiance of the civil society the last stand? Let’s wait and watch.
Saturday, April 2, 2011
Waiting for the Leaders
India has been waiting for the younger generation of political leaders to take over the mantle from the seniors and lead from the front, the wait is getting longer. The number of young legislators is progressively increasing along with a good mix of diversity but what we are seeing is deafening silence from the young legislators on issues of national importance. None of them have spoken anything significant either on matters of policy, current political situation, current national issues.
It was expected that the younger leaders would be progressive, will be above party lines on crucial issues, be vocal and would stand against the debilitating ailments affecting our society (corruption, under- development etc). Alas it seems we have expected too much. We have ended up with a bunch that is playing shadows to their seniors.
The person who has the pole position Rahul Gandhi himself is delivering sweet nothings for years now. Except for his pitch on the state of women like Kalavati during the nuclear debate his performance in and out outside parliament has been pedestrian. With such an influence he could have driven the national debate on many issues. Unfortunately his views on corruption, ongoing scams, Kashmir etc are not clear. He has a definite shot at the premier ship of the country and hence has to shed his shyness and speak up. The country is waiting for him to come of age.
Omar Abdullah has almost been a disaster but looks like he has pulled back, but again he has done nothing special or think differently to solve the Kashmir imbroglio. One expected he talks more about development, employment, diplomacy etc, he is getting caught in the political wrangling that is consuming his attention. He needs to lead from the front and by example to get the Kashmirie’s on his side. Need new ideas from you Omar, the nation is waiting for a leader to decisively move the Kashmir issue to India’s favor.
Not seen much from the rest of the younger lot on any path breaking policy or other initiatives Sachin Pilot, Jyothiraditya, Agatha Sangma, and Jitin Prasada etc.
The wait for young India to take over is getting longer.
It was expected that the younger leaders would be progressive, will be above party lines on crucial issues, be vocal and would stand against the debilitating ailments affecting our society (corruption, under- development etc). Alas it seems we have expected too much. We have ended up with a bunch that is playing shadows to their seniors.
The person who has the pole position Rahul Gandhi himself is delivering sweet nothings for years now. Except for his pitch on the state of women like Kalavati during the nuclear debate his performance in and out outside parliament has been pedestrian. With such an influence he could have driven the national debate on many issues. Unfortunately his views on corruption, ongoing scams, Kashmir etc are not clear. He has a definite shot at the premier ship of the country and hence has to shed his shyness and speak up. The country is waiting for him to come of age.
Omar Abdullah has almost been a disaster but looks like he has pulled back, but again he has done nothing special or think differently to solve the Kashmir imbroglio. One expected he talks more about development, employment, diplomacy etc, he is getting caught in the political wrangling that is consuming his attention. He needs to lead from the front and by example to get the Kashmirie’s on his side. Need new ideas from you Omar, the nation is waiting for a leader to decisively move the Kashmir issue to India’s favor.
Not seen much from the rest of the younger lot on any path breaking policy or other initiatives Sachin Pilot, Jyothiraditya, Agatha Sangma, and Jitin Prasada etc.
The wait for young India to take over is getting longer.
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