From Playfields to Battlefields: The Death of Sportsmanship

Sports have been an integral part of human civilization for centuries. It is an expression of strength, spirit, and unity. From the ancient Olympics to modern-day tournaments, sports have transcended borders and ideologies, bringing people together through shared passion. Even today, teams command cult-like followings, and rivalries, whether between schools, clubs, or nations, ignite intense emotions. Yet, when the whistle blows, and the final score is called, tradition demands one thing above all: respect.

A handshake at the end of a match, whether between boxers, wrestlers, or cricketers, symbolizes that the competition was in the spirit of the game, not a personal battle. That simple gesture reminds us that sport is not war, that winning and losing are temporary, but dignity and respect endure. 

At the same time, there are many dignified ways for athletes to express dissent or solidarity without compromising the spirit of the game or disrespecting opponents. History offers numerous examples like players taking a knee to protest racial injustice, wearing black armbands or colored ribbons to honor victims of violence or disease, or making symbolic gestures that draw attention to humanitarian causes. Such acts do not target rival teams or nations; instead, they use the visibility of sport to promote awareness and compassion. These moments remind us that athletes can be both competitors and conscience-bearers, capable of challenging injustice while still upholding respect, discipline, and fairness on the field.

Sadly, that line has begun to blur.

The recent India-Pakistan cricket controversy is a troubling reminder. Reports that Indian players refused to shake hands with their Pakistani counterparts and refused to accept the winner’s trophy from a Pakistani official reflect a disturbing trend, the politicization of sport. What should have been a celebration of skill turned into a performance of political symbolism. Commentators and social media voices, including the Prime Minister of India, went further, comparing India’s cricket victory to a military triumph, reducing the sacrifices of soldiers and victims of terrorism to the level of a game score.

This is where the spirit of sportsmanship dies.

If sports become extensions of political agendas, they cease to be sports. Players become pawns in a nationalistic spectacle where rivalry replaces respect. When we equate a game to war, we cheapen both—the discipline of the athlete and the sacrifice of the soldier. Even in actual warfare, military personnel are trained to respect their adversaries, dead or alive. Shouldn’t athletes, who represent the best of human discipline and grace, be held to at least that standard?

If a nation feels so strongly against playing another for political or moral reasons, the dignified course is simple: boycott the match altogether. Decline to participate rather than demean opponents who, like our own players, are ambassadors of their nation, not its politicians or generals. To show disrespect on the field is to insult the very principles of sportsmanship we claim to uphold.

Imagine if the roles were reversed, if Pakistan had won and celebrated it as a “victory” over India in warlike terms. Wouldn’t the outrage be swift and loud, condemning it as immature, provocative, and offensive? Then why do we excuse the same when it comes from our side?

Sport is meant to unite and inspire, not to divide and demean. The field, court, or pitch should never become a stage for political theater. True maturity lies not in shouting louder than your rival, but in walking off the field with grace, whether you win or lose.

If we continue down this path, where sports become war and war becomes sport, then both will lose their meaning. The cheers in the stadium will echo hollow, not with pride, but with propaganda.

Let’s bring back the handshake. The spirit. The respect. Because if that’s lost, then no victory will ever be worth celebrating.

Thank you for reading. Please share your views on this topic. 

© Vinay Thakur, All rights reserved. Vinay can be reached at thevinay2022@gmail.com

Is it enough to be a democracy?

Recently, during the visit of Indian Prime Minister Mr. Modi, India and the USA patted each other's backs for being the largest and the oldest democracies. This was such a pathetic display of self-praise without recognizing the respective problems these democracies are facing. Just because regular elections are held and people vote doesn't make any country a true democracy. If we consider the criteria of regular elections and voting, then many countries could qualify or claim themselves as democracies, but we all know that this is not true. Yes, elections and voting are important aspects of any democracy but they are not the only aspects of it. Freedom of expression, political prosecution of opponents, uniformity of voting rights, subjugation of minorities by the majority, and transparency of the electoral process are some of the other factors that can tell whether it is a functioning democracy or just a paper democracy.

When politicians, especially elected ones, behave in an autocratic manner like kings and queens, is it a real democracy? When the economic fortune of elected politicians multiplies by orders of magnitude after their elections and no one, either the government or the people, questions this, is it a real democracy? When people vote for a bottle of liquor and some money, is it a real democracy? When the voting rights of some people are suppressed because of their social or economic status, is it a real democracy? When voters are continuously misinformed and fed with propaganda and religious fanatism, is it a real democracy? The questions are many, and the point is when some sections are systematically suppressed can we call that system a true democracy?

Agreed, with all its flaws and problems, democracy is still the best system we have. It is messy and not perfect, but this is the reason it is not a big deal to be a paper democracy, where the processes are present but the effect is autocracy. Implementing some democratic process is the minimum any country can do, and the US and India do a great job at it. Also, there are many countries that do not even have these processes, but they also don't claim to be the largest or the oldest democracies. This is why it becomes more important for any country that wants to flaunt its democratic credentials to make sure that its process is not ridden with loopholes and problems making it inefficient and undemocratic. This chest thumping can be a good public relations event or may mesmerize respective political bases, but beyond that, it does not have any meaning. FIX the broken system. It looks pathetic when leaders of two important democratic countries praise each other while their countries are ridden with problems that need their immediate attention. Optics are great for PR, but go and fix the real problems. It is not enough to be a paper democracy, make sure that every eligible person gets the right to vote and no voices are suppressed either directly or indirectly, and then, let's have a party.   

Thank you for reading and please share your views on this topic. 

© Vinay Thakur, All rights reserved, Vinay can be reached at thevinay2022@gmail.com

India's problem was never her politicians

Since my childhood, I regularly hear one theme in conversations about India, everyone talks about India's potential. Everyone says that India has a lot of talent, rich history, diversity, and whatnot, but somehow can't live up to its true potential. Most Indians also keep on repeating the same lines again and again without realizing that it is they who need to help their country realize its potential, not some outsiders. However, most are happy just debating these issues, blaming each other or their political opponents, and complaining about politicians and bureaucrats. However, most Indians are okay with corruption and corrupt politicians regularly get elected in various elections. It is a common perception that politics is a dirty game and that politicians are dishonest. To be fair, India is not the only country that has this perception about politicians, but it is definitely one of those countries that blame its politicians for all problems, for example, the problems of corruption, communalism, poor infrastructure, poverty, unemployment, brain drain, and whatnot is blamed to dirty politics. However, India's problem is not its politicians, but the people who elect these politicians, again and again, from different political parties. These people not only support such corrupt, many times, with criminal background people, but idolize them, worship them, and even after that, expect their society to be just and fair. Also, in India, it is very common to change political parties, unbelievable, but people thirsty for your blood can become your die-hard supporter once you switch to the party they support. Unbelievable, but true.

Once elected people with a criminal background become lawmakers, no matter how many laws exist in the law book, how many courts function, or how many police personnel work, it is impossible to have proper law and order. This is because no elected person will allow to law to take its proper course unless it hurts their opponents. When people of any country start reacting to crime based on who has committed it, not what is the nature of the crime, that country is sure to get doomed today or tomorrow. Once people see crimes through political, racial, religious, or any other bias, they are not looking at the crime, but at the criminal's identity and react based on that. That means the reactions are not based on the nature or gravity of the committed crime but on the identity of the accused. The same crime based on who has committed it generated drastically different reactions, people either try their best to downplay or justify the crime or try to demand the harshest possible punishment possible. Politicians make very good use of this, they instigate polarized emotions within society and benefit from dormant hate that many organizations silently brew within the society. Hate is a very potent social weapon, politicians, religious fanatics, and terrorists all use it very well. People knowingly fall into this trap so regularly that one can hardly blame anyone but the people themselves for being a toy in the hands of antisocial elements. This is the point of today's post, India's problem is not its politicians but people who support these politicians and don't dare to speak when a politician or the party they elected does something wrong. Things don't change overnight, but to start any change people first should start from themselves, only complaining about the system hardly initiates any change. Once people change their attitude and demand accountability from the politicians they elect, things will start changing. Until then, the evergreen argument of India has potential, this is how things are done in India would continue for many more decades.

Thank you for reading and please share your views on this topic. 

The saga of RaGa

I think most people in India know what NaMo and RaGa mean. These are the brand names of two of the most famous national political figures Narendra Modi and Rahul Gandhi. Unprecedented branding of political figures started in India with the rise of Narendra Modi. Mr. Modi and his team aggressively developed his brand just like any other product, this started during his tenure as a chief minister of Gujarat. When that strategy worked superbly, every party started doing the same thing, no one could match the fire and force of the BJP for quite some time, but all are still trying and the RaGa brand is Indian National Congress's answer to BJP's NaMo brand. 

Rahul Gandhi belongs to the Nehru-Gandhi family. There is no doubt that one of the major reasons behind where he is today is the family to which he belongs. He recognizes it, acknowledges it and I don't think there is any doubt about the role his last name played in his political existence. But dynasty is not an uncommon thing, it is prevalent in many parts of the world and India is not an exception. It is common to see dynasties in Indian politics, business, or any other field where there is a scope to have a dynasty. In the Indian film industry, some dynasties are in their third or fourth generation, big corporations are run by families where top management consistently comes from the same family, and Indian mythological stories are full of dynasties. It is difficult to ignore the presence of dynasties in various fields including business, media, film, and politics. Dynasties are present in most political parties in India, the level and positions they occupy might be different in different parties, but they are there. This all is not to justify the rule of the dynasty but to show that the Nehru-Gandhi family is not the only dynasty in India, but it is the most famous one. I think Rahul got into politics out of compulsion rather than his own choice. His father, Late Rajiv Gandhi also got dragged into politics after the untimely death of his brother Sanjay and then the death of his mother Mrs. Indira Gandhi. Somehow the Indian National Congress feels the perpetual need to have someone from the Nehru-Gandhi family at the helm. Somehow the party and its workers feel safe and secure under their leadership. Many senior leaders acknowledge this thing and they feel it keeps the party united. This reasoning never made any sense to me, but this is what it is. 

Rahul didn't have a conventional upbringing, his uncle, grandmother, and father all died unnatural deaths. Two of them (grandma and father) were assassinated brutally by terrorists. He was very young when his grandma and father were assassinated. His mother was forced to enter politics and then he had to follow her. In the beginning, he was not even considered as a viable option. He was visibly uncomfortable during his political appearances. Congress party suffered humiliating loss after loss at the hands of BJP and other parties, and Rahul was projected as one of the reasons for these debacles. He was attacked for who he was (a Gandhi dynast), he was ridiculed as "Pappu," his lack of stage confidence, and fumbles during interviews were highlighted, his comments were edited so that they sounded utterly stupid, and eventually it was unimaginable for people to even compare Modi and Rahul. But, somehow he survived all these attacks from outside. The main reason was that no one within his party asked for his resignation due to all those failures. This is the advantage one gets when your position within the party is secure. There was absolutely no challenge to his position within his own party. He became president of the Congress party even though the party was not performing well in election after election. Recent victories in some state elections might justify his promotion and may turn his party's fortunes in another direction, and people might see him now as a national leader who can challenge Mr. Modi. But, this is too early to predict any such thing, and Rahul has a lot to prove before he can present himself as a serious contender for the prime minister's position. Actually, the BJP helped him a lot by constantly attacking him and ridiculing him, they always kept him relevant for some reason, they used him as a punching bag and it seems that the punching bag punched them back really bad. In the same way, the Congress party helped Mr. Modi to gain prominence on the national stage by attacking him relentlessly. I am not judging Rahul's political acumen and capabilities, he needs more time to prove himself. I was purely drawn to his story because of his unique background and his roller-coaster political journey. As I already mentioned there is no doubt that he got many privileges and advantages just because he was born in a particular family, but for the same reason, his life took many unexpected turns and presented him with unique challenges. It will be interesting to see his future progression. 

I had very high expectations from Mr. Modi's government. After all, the BJP secured a single-party majority under his leadership and this government had a golden opportunity to introduce some reforms which only a single-party majority government could implement in a country like India. However, instead of focusing on that, he focused all his attention on conquering all states of India. Let's see how RaGa compares to NaMo as far as delivering reformative governance is concerned. I am happy to see that at least Rahul is not talking about eliminating BJP from India. The presence of strong opposition is necessary for any democracy to be vibrant and functioning. I wish both brands RaGa and NaMo deliver what they claim, and people hold them accountable for their promises and not get blinded by their glitter and glamor. If this doesn't happen, then the same old musical chair circus will continue without much change in governance, RaGa and NaMo brands might become successful, but brand India will fail and I don't think any right-minded Indian would like to see this happen.

Thanks for reading and please share your views on this topic.

Do Indians really love Cricket?

Cricket is considered the most popular sport in India. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is one of the richest sports organizations in the world and cricket players command a huge fan following in India. Even the International Cricket Council (ICC) has to be very careful while dealing with matters related to India and take every precaution not to hurt BCCI, such is the power and dominance of BCCI. This is all due to the immense popularity of cricket which generates a huge revenue compared to any other cricket-playing nation in the world. Indian Premier League (IPL) is an immensely successful venture of BCCI where all international cricket stars want to play not just for money but also for the popularity and fan following they get by playing in the IPL. So, one might think that the question of whether Indians really love cricket is meaningless because whatever I wrote so far clearly indicates that Indians are crazy about cricket. In the media also there is a strong perception that Indians love cricket. I pondered over this question for quite some time and I realized that Indians ONLY love a certain type of cricket, not all types of cricket. Their love for this game is very very selective. I did not realize the selective nature of this love until I thought about this issue and I consider myself a cricket lover. 

If we look at other sport-loving countries like the USA where sports like basketball and baseball are very popular, the distinguishing feature is that they have a fan following at every level of that game. College or university teams have a huge fan following, and their games also attract a large number of fans. NFL (National Football League) is very popular but college football is also popular. But in India college or school or even state-level cricket has no fan following. People don't even know when and where their university teams play their games, when are inter-university tournaments organized, and how many times their university won any such championships. State-level games also suffer from poor attendance even when star players play for their respective states. My observation is that Indians like to watch ONLY certain types of cricket. They love watching international cricket matches in which India is involved, all ICC world cups, and T20 tournaments with international stars, rest of the cricket they just don't care. This is a very unique and interesting pattern, this can also be the reason for India's inability to produce international-level sportspersons in other sports despite having so much raw talent. A certain type of cricket gets very disproportionate attention and revenue in India, and this phenomenon has resulted in overall poor sports culture. A sports culture where apart from cricket no other sports is not considered a viable career option. Even cricket gained this status very recently after the success of IPL which opened doors for many local players and helped them to earn a decent living. As long as this selective passion for cricket continues India will struggle to produce quality sports talent in other sports due to a lack of comprehensive sports culture like countries like the USA and Australia. Fans of any sport need to support that sport at every level so that there is recognition at every level which can help to build a sustainable sports culture. Until this happens India's unique love affair with cricket will continue but it won't make India a sports-loving nation.

Thanks for reading and please share your views on this topic.

Dilemma of NRIs about moving back to India

I immigrated to the United States in 2003. It was a life-changing decision for me and my family. There is a strong presence of the Indian community in the USA. I meet many NRIs most of them work in the science and technology field as I also work in the field of science. During most of the meetings, the subject of whether to go back to India or settle in the US comes more often. Many NRIs have been in a dilemma for a very long time about whether to settle in the USA or go back to India. A few days back, I read an article on Quora about this subject. The article is a good attempt to tackle this subject. The author tried to offer his take on this subject based on the opinions of people in his friend circle and his own experience. One thing that I found missing in the article is that the author didn't compare the data gathered in the US with the data of people in similar age groups who migrated back to India, this would have given some comparative picture. The article only presents one side of the story and draws conclusions based on only one set of data. What if people in the 21-28 age group are generally happy and enthusiastic about their work and social life, what if people who are 50 and above are generally worried about their kid's future and somewhat unhappy about their surroundings? If that's the case, then one cannot say that the feelings of NRIs are only due to the geographical location, but it could be also because of their age group, irrespective of where they live.

I want to share my own experience in this area. Maybe it will add something to this debate or help some NRIs to make up their mind to resolve their own dilemma. I immigrated to the USA to get some professional experience in the area of drug discovery and earn some money. Lack of access to sufficient money even for necessary things like education was a big hurdle for my family's economic progress. It was practically impossible for me to earn enough money by doing a job in my field in India and uplift my family's economic status. Moving to some other country was the most common path taken by many researchers back then to solve this money problem and this also helped to increase their job prospects if they returned to India, and that's what I did. My initial plan was to work in the US for 3-4 years and then go back to India and work in the area of drug discovery. As per my plan, I seriously considered moving back to India in 2007, but it didn't work out. There were two main reasons why I didn't move back. First, I didn't see any benefit in doing that, and second, I fell in love with the USA.  

I met some incredible people in the US who introduced me to a great working culture and a plethora of opportunities that are available for everyone. I also met my mentor and a great human being, Dr. Devraj Singh during my initial stay in New Jersey and it was another turning point in my life. I not only found a very good mentor, but also a caring elder brother who advised me on various aspects of life, introduced me to some great books, and encouraged me to take on new challenges. I am eternally grateful to him for this. His guidance helped me to smoothly transition into this new life. I wish every immigrant to meet with a mentor like him in this country who can introduce them to the good things this country has to offer to every immigrant. I also consider myself extremely lucky to work with some great people in my area of research, my all bosses in academia as well as in Industry are extremely talented and helpful people. They all contributed something meaningful to my life and taught me something that helped me a lot to become a better person. 

Apart from all these personal experiences, my wife and kids got incredible opportunities that were impossible for them in India. This is especially true in my case due to my social and familial background. I understand that this may not be the case with everyone, but in my case, this was a huge plus factor for me. The kind of evolution I witnessed in my wife's personality and the way my kids enjoyed their schooling in the US education system made me love this country even more. So far my stay in the USA is an extremely enjoyable journey. As far as relatives in India are concerned, this is a big concern for most NRIs. This is one factor that makes most NRIs worry as they feel that the geographical separation and lack of their presence in India might affect and weaken most of their relations with their relatives in India. This concern is not unwarranted, this is a very genuine concern. I consider myself an introverted person, and I also went through this worry. But for me, this geographical separation helped to strengthen my bond with my parents. I was born and brought up in a very conservative and patriarchal environment. There was no culture of having any meaningful conversations with parents. The parent-child relationship was very formal, there was a lot of fear (labeled as respect), and also gratitude because of all the hard work parents did. But, there was no frankness in that relationship. There used to be very minimal and only necessary conversations between parents and kids in the society where I grew up. But now, I am in regular touch with my parents in India. I must mention that our relationship has become more strong and deeper than ever. I talk with them regularly on various subjects. Subjects range from women's rights, politics, superstitions, casteism in India, many family issues, as well as their own personal issues. I don't know how much my moving to the US contributed to this, but this happened only in the last 10-12 years. No matter how busy I am with my work or studies, I make it a point to find some time to call them or video chat with them multiple times a week. This is a snapshot of my own story. 

The subject of moving back to India is a big dilemma for many NRIs. It is regularly discussed in Indian gatherings and I also participated in many such discussions. My own observation is that people want to have all the comfort and advantages that life in the US offers them, and at the same time, they also crave for so-called Indian culture and geographical proximity of their relatives. Many NRIs also believe that India today is the same India that they left several years back. They willfully ignore all the socio-economic changes India has gone through during all those years since they moved out of India. The main reason why many NRIs don't want to move back is the same laundry list of problems like corruption, lack of opportunities for their kids, pollution, lack of discipline in social and public life, and many other day-to-day hassles of life in India. They complain about these things as if these things originated only after they moved out and hence India has become inhabitable for them, so they can't go back even if they want to. This reasoning doesn't make any sense to me. All these problems were present more or less when each one of us left India for better opportunities, maybe the intensity of some of the problems might have increased or decreased over the years since we left, but these problems were still there when I was contemplating to move back to India, but they were not the deal breakers for me. So, I can't cite these as a reason for my decision not to move back to India. Another reason is many NRIs keep on worrying about the effect of the US culture on their kids without even understanding what is the US culture. The US is extremely successful today because of its culture, not despite it. The freedom, individual rights, protection of the law, and opportunities that it offers to every individual are not available in other parts of the world (definitely not in India). Calling the US culture materialistic and Indian culture spiritual is foolish. Indian society is as materialistic as the US society and there is nothing wrong with being materialistic. This unnecessary fear of an invasion of the US culture adds unwarranted tension to the lives of many NRIs. The irony is that they fear moving back to India and they also worry about the consequences of not moving back to India, it seems many of them feel like they have two worse options to choose from.   

Many NRIs waste so much time in contemplating what to do that by the time they reach any conclusion it is too late, and they feel trapped. They feel trapped due to their kids, career, or some other reason. This feeling of entrapment brings sadness, but this can happen even in India as well. You don't have to be outside India to fall into this trap. My parents moved from one part of India to another (from UP to Maharashtra), and they faced the same dilemma. Many people in India live away from their families because of their jobs and face the same anxieties. I love the freedom that life in the US offers to me. I am involved with my work, and I am interested in politics as well as the social and cultural life of the US. This is why I don't miss India as much as I used to during my initial days in the USA. This doesn't mean that I don't care about India or I have forgotten everything about it. I just can't because it's my birthplace and I have spent a significant part of my life there. It is always in my thoughts and will remain forever. But, the big change is that I love the USA as much as I love India. 

I have a simple advice for all NRIs who are trapped in this dilemma. First, decide what are your priorities (caution: this is not as a simple task as it sounds). Second, decide which country fits best to achieve those priorities. Third, don't compare your situation with others as you don't know what are their problems and priorities. Everyone's needs and problems are different. Finally, there is no guarantee that what we plan will work for sure, but without implementing that plan we will never know, so work on your plan with full confidence. For some NRIs, India might be the best place to live and excel in professional life, and for others, it might be some other country. There is no universal solution that can work for everyone to resolve this dilemma. Each individual needs to decide what is best for his/her family and act accordingly. One last thing, Steve Jobs said, "It's easy to connect the dots backward," don't fall prey to the hindsight bias. Learn from mistakes and move forward, don't worry too much about the past, and look at the future as that's the only thing we can possibly change. 

Thanks for reading and please share your views on this topic.

India at Olympics - always waiting for some miracle

Since I started watching sports on TV I always loved to watch the Olympics. For me, it is a symbol of ultimate human struggle and triumph symbolized in the form of sports. We get to witness epic struggles and ultimate triumphs, old records are broken, and new records are set. Sometimes it is enthralling to watch and sometimes it is heartbreaking to witness an athlete missing a medal by a whisker. Today, I have the luxury of rooting for two countries in the Olympics (India and the USA), but I never watched the Olympics to support any one country. For me, it was fun to watch spectacular performances of athletes all over the world. Maybe, I developed this attitude as India rarely used to win any medals in the Olympics. There were some like Milkha Singh and P T Usha who came very close to winning a medal, winning an Olympic medal is an exception and not a norm for a country like India.

India started participating in the Olympics in 1900, and since 1920 they have sent their players regularly to the Olympic games. India's first Individual Gold medal came in 2008, by shooter Abhinav Bindra. The last Olympic Games (2012) was the most successful event so far when India won six medals, two silver, and four bronze. India has won a total of 28 medals in the Olympics so far (out of which nine are gold, eight for field hockey, and just one individual gold), not a spectacular achievement for one of the most populous countries in the world. Just for the sake of comparison, we can compare India with the most decorated Olympian in history, Michael Phelps of USA has also won 28 medals in just four Olympics, and 23 of them are gold medals! What can be the reason that such a big country can not match the achievement of an individual? Definitely, a large population or lack of resources and money cannot be the only factors responsible for this, because even countries more populated than India (China) or poorer than India (like Kenya, Ethiopia, or North Korea) also win medals at the Olympics consistently. It is also not true that Indians are not passionate about sports. India is considered a superpower in cricket. It is one of the most lucrative markets for this game and the Indian Premier League (IPL) is the most successful league for cricket all over the world. Is cricket responsible for killing all other sports? Many love to blame the dominance of cricket for pathetic infrastructure for all other sports, but then how come all other sports flourish in countries like the USA where basketball, baseball, and American football dominate so much? India even has a dedicated sports ministry to look after the country's sports activity, I don't think in the US there is even a position called the secretary of sports.

The major difference I found between both countries is that in the US kids start playing competitive sports at a very early age and there are professional private facilities available to them for almost any sport. Sports are a part of culture as well as school curriculum, and most kids are either directly or indirectly involved with some sports activity. For many sports earlier you start better it is. In India, many primary and middle schools don't even have their own playground, and playing is often considered as a waste of time. I remember that we used to get punished if my dad caught us playing cricket instead of studying, according to him studying was a much more essential activity than playing any game. I don't think my dad was an exception as many of my other friends also used to get a similar treatment.

During every Olympics, a question pops up how come a country of more than a billion people cannot produce even a few Olympic gold medalists? It is fiercely debated, cricket and government are blamed, but nothing more happens. If some athletes win any medals because of their own hard work and efforts they are hailed as heroes and saviors, they are showered with gifts and rewards from all over the country, and everything else is forgotten until the next Olympics. This has been going on for so many years, so regularly that this activity has become a regular drill for many Indians after every Olympics. Whether it is Sindhu or Sakshi or Abhinav or Sushil, they all won their medals, not because of infrastructure and sports culture, but despite that. They defied all odds against them and triumphed at the international level, but how long a country of more than a billion people can depend on the efforts few individuals to bring the ultimate recognition in sports? During every Olympics entire country expects some miracle to happen and at least one of their athlete wins some medals. If the USA can do it, China can do it, Brazil can do it, why not India? Something needs to change if India wants to compete with these countries in the Olympic medal count. Sports should become a regular activity, only then talent can be recognized at an early stage and be groomed to compete at the international level. Lots of perseverance, dedication, and hard work are required to achieve success at international level in any sport. Let's hope that the achievements of Sindhu and Sakshi act as a wake-up call and not as an opium dose which makes the entire country high and forget about ground realities. Let's celebrate their achievements with the intention of making it a regular event, not just a pleasant surprise.

Thanks for reading and please share your views on this topic.

[Copyright: Vinay Thakur. Please contact the author for re-posting or publishing]

Indira Gandhi - an intriguing personality

I have been always curious about the life of India's third prime minister Mrs. Indira Gandhi. She became prime minister for the first time after the death of the second prime minister Mr. Lal Bahadur Shastri in 1966. She held that position until 1977 and then again from 1980 to 1984 until she was assassinated by her own bodyguards. I read her biography written by her friend Mrs. Pupul Jaykar, a long time back and recently I finished reading another book about her by Katherine Frank. There is no doubt that anyone who reads about the life of such an intriguing personality will be overwhelmed by the series of events such people go through during their lives, and I am no exception to this. Mrs. Jaykar's account is somewhat biased because of her close association with Mrs. Gandhi as a friend, but still, it has lots of useful information that only a close confidant can tell about her, but she is very sympathetic towards most of her acts, good or bad. I suggest reading Katherine's book to anyone who wants to read a somewhat unbiased account of Mrs. Gandhi. I am sure people can find fault with this book also but it is relatively unbiased compared to other books on the same subjectabout her.

My first traceable memory of Indira Gandhi is the incident when I heard the news about her assassination. It was way back in 1984 when there were no 24-hour news channels, cell phones, or social media. One of my friends told me that someone killed Indira Gandhi, maybe someone from his family heard it on the radio and told him about it. But I didn't believe him, I ridiculed that guy and said to him that it was Mahatma Gandhi who was assassinated, that too long back not Indira so he must have confused the names, but I was wrong. By evening it was clear that Indira Gandhi was killed by her own bodyguards. That time I did not know about her impact on Indian politics or anything about what resulted in the tragic end of her life. When I started reading about her, I came to know various aspects of her political and personal life. I never appreciated her socialist economic policies. I still feel that the nationalization of all major industries like banking, steel, and cloth was a horrible idea. I feel that 'license raj,' a term used to indicate excessive control of the government over the industrial sector via totally unnecessary rules and regulations hampered India's industrial progress tremendously. These policies were largely responsible for India's pathetic industrial and technological growth during that time. I guess everyone knows about her special love for Article 356 of the Indian constitution, which she used very freely for political purposes, the declaration of emergency was another decision that shows how she was comletely different politician than her father Mr. Jawaharlal Nehru. Actually, one can find such anomalies in the life of any powerful political leader, who has ruled any country for a considerable time and she is no exception to this. There is no doubt that she was a very powerful leader who wanted to have total control of her party and her government. As a woman, she must have faced many challenges and issues n Indian society and I think she discovered her own ways, of dealing with each of those issues. Whether those ways were right or wrong, is up to us to decide. There is lots of gossip and trash talk about her personal life, some of it might be true, but many of those things really don't matter much as far as Indira Gandhi, the politician,  is considered.

Whenever I try to discuss the impact of any political leader of her status in Indian politics, I find that most people talk based on information they receive from nonreliable resources. They go more by perceptions, they don't even bother to cross-check or confirm the information they receive. Very few really study the person they want to praise or criticize, and rarely there is an informed opinion. This is true for any leader of today's politics as well as for any past leader including leaders like Mahatma Gandhi. People go by their perceptions rather than trying to find facts, these perceptions are based on their region, religion, or party their family supports. This makes most discussions very futile and in the end, people end up arguing or abusing these people rather than trying to discuss and understand the person and their impact on India. I recommend readers who are interested in knowing about any person to read as much as possible about them. Try to read various accounts, positive and negative both to get the complete picture of that person. The life of Indira Gandhi was very interesting and her impact on Indian politics is huge, maybe more than her father Jawaharlal Nehru. If you want to understand her, please read as many books and articles as possible about her. I am intrigued by her personality, and even though I don't support many of her policies and actions, I cannot deny her impact on India and Indian political culture.

Thanks for reading and please share your views on this topic.

[Copyright: Vinay Thakur. Please contact the author for re-posting or publishing]

Chennai floods and story of unplanned development in Indian cities

The entire world watched the floods in Chennai on various news channels, the international coverage was not as prominent as it should have been but it was somewhere there in every news portal. Even most of the Indian media responded very late to report this natural calamity with the attention and sincerity it deserves. There can be various reasons for this lack of coverage in the Indian media, maybe they thought that useless debate on tolerance and intolerance going on in parliament was more important, or maybe they thought Chennai is not Mumbai or Delhi so not many people will be interested in that coverage, or maybe they had no clue that it was that serious, so we don't know what was the reason but national media was very late to show up on the scene, but finally they did show up. There were reports of severe damage to people's homes and other personal property, day-to-day lives of thousands of people were affected in a way they never imagined. Some scenarios were terrible and beyond imagination. My few relatives live in Chennai, and from them, I came to know how bad was the situation and how people managed to survive mostly by helping each other. In India, the government machinery is either unprepared for such a massive disaster or it gets crushed under the huge demand for help. There were also various stories of common people, celebrities, and rescue workers' heroics, and their brave acts during these moments of crises which managed to save many lives and helped many in distress. No doubt that these stories need to be highlighted, but they should not overshadow the real reasons behind this human-made natural disaster. 

We all saw what happened and how people were fighting to overcome the problems caused by this disaster, but we also need to ask the important question, why this happened, and who is to blame? We all know that we can not control rain, drought, or any other natural calamities like earthquakes or tsunamis, but we can take some preventive or precautionary measures to minimize the damage and reduce casualties. We need to be better prepared for such types of incidents so that they don't create havoc in people's lives. Then, why doesn't any government in India whether it is a state or central make it their priority? To understand why I am saying this please go and visit any growing city in India like Pune, Bengaluru, or any other city, and observe what is going on in the name of development. It is literally unplanned construction on a massive scale, people are building something on each and every vacant land legally or illegally. Not only builders but also common people, and various institutions are occupying each and every available piece of land and constructing something on it, it feels like these cities are on steroids as far as construction is concerned. Land prices are skyrocketing in each and every city, town, or village where even a little bit of wind of development has reached. People are selling and buying land and apartments like stocks in the stock market, prices fluctuate daily, there are land millionaires who became rich just because they had huge ancestral land which is worth more than they ever imagined. These things are good for the economy and people if they happen in a planned way, but there is absolutely no planning in all this, the real estate boom just happened and exploded. There was no pre-planning about how to design and sanction new constructions and no one was even interested in any such planning as the system is deeply corrupt and inefficient. Illegal construction is not a new problem for Indian cities, this has been going on for decades, and the real estate boom has just made it worse. However, the real issue is that no government wants to do anything about it, even after disasters there is no action to correct any mistakes, if at all, they play politics at the cost of suffering people. I lived in one such very crowded neighborhood of Pune for most of my life, so I know firsthand how these neighborhoods come into existence and grow without any legal planning and approval. They are so crowded that in many places even ambulances or firetrucks can't reach if there is any emergency, so, just imagine what might happen in case of flood or earthquake. The amazing part is all these neighborhoods originate and flourish right under the watch of government and elected members of the legislature of every political party, and there are no exceptions to this. These people and corresponding government departments purposely ignore this dangerous situation until it becomes an unmanageable humanitarian problem, there are thousands of colonies like these in each city of India. This is not development, but this is like having a ticking time bomb that is waiting to explode. 

Why so much unplanned development is allowed when they could develop a city with proper planning? Two main reasons come to my mind. The first reason is the pressure of the growing population in cities, people migrate in large numbers to cities in search of better living, migration happens especially from northern states of India to cities like Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore, Pune,, Chennai, and many others where there are better job opportunities for unskilled labor. The second reason is rampant corruption in government offices and political parties that encourage such illegal settlements. Illegal construction is massive in all these cities and the government knows right from the time when it starts. There are colonies where thousands of people live with hundreds of homes, all of them constructed illegally. People already occupied dry lakes, shrunken river beds, hills, and canals, even they covered up drainage lines and built their residence on top of it. Whenever there is a significant amount of rainfall there is no proper drainage for that water to go. It has to flood neighborhoods, enter people's homes, and damage their properties. Does anyone know how to manage this mess? Can we just blame excess rain for this problem? This water has nowhere to go as all its natural paths are blocked by massive construction by this so-called development. We saw this happening in Mumbai, Delhi, and now in Chennai, but did we ever bother to take any steps to correct these mistakes? Did we ask ourselves why this is happening so frequently in major cities? Is nature screwing us up or we are paying the price for screwing up nature? Unless and until we ask these questions we are not going to find any solution to these problems. Next time it might be some different city or state, but the same scenario of destruction and loss of life will be repeated.

Thankfully natural disasters like earthquakes, floods, or hurricanes don't strike us every day or every year, but that doesn't mean we should not be cautious or prepared for them. Because when they strike and we are not prepared, then the loss is catastrophic, and tragedy is humongous. We can not control the occurrence of rain or earthquakes, but we can definitely prepare ourselves to minimize their impact. I hope these floods initiate some discussion about the need for planned development in Indian cities. I hope people and governments don't forget this tragedy and move on without taking any corrective measures. I hope other growing cities learn from this and plan accordingly. If nothing changes, then we all are waiting for another Chennai to happen and I don't think any of us want to witness this again.

Thanks for reading and please share your views on this topic.

[Copyright: Vinay Thakur. Please contact the author for re-posting or publishing]

Links:
1. Actor Siddarth's amazing efforts with his team to carry out relief work in affected areas.
2. आखिर चेन्नई में बारिश से बाढ़ क्यों?

Circus called tolerance and intolerance debate

Nowadays heated discussions are going on in India on the issue of tolerance and intolerance. Every news channel is having some panel discussion to decide whether India is getting more intolerant or not, on social media some people are busy proving that intolerance is on the rise and some are fiercely contesting this claim by abusing them for raising this issue. The issue has become so important that it is being discussed in parliament also! I personally value tolerance a lot and have written a couple of posts related to this topic. One is about why we need a tolerant society and another is about my own experience of intolerance in Indian society. Now let's come back to this topic of debate over the issue of intolerance (or tolerance). If you listen to most of these debates, then any sensible person can easily understand how misplaced these people's expectations are about tolerance and intolerance. Somehow tolerance is equated with complete acceptance, objectionless, and submissive type of behavior, and intolerance is equated with any objection or strong comment or dissent against your own views. So, if I object to anyone's statement, then I am intolerant, if I say anything against any religion or person, then I am intolerant, on the contrary, if I don't react to an abusive statement, then I am tolerant, if I don't express any dissent about anything, then I am tolerant. Basically, either you are with me or against me, there is no middle ground. Also, there is huge confusion about where the "freedom of expression/speech" fits into all this? I don't even know if these people know that there is something called freedom of expression. So, the first question everyone should try to ask is, do we accept that people have freedom of expression or not?

Now let's proceed in step-wise manure as this topic seems to be very complicated. If there is freedom of expression, (with some reasonable restriction like no incitement of violence), then, anyone can say anything as long as it is not an incitement to engage in a violent act. People need to agree on this first, if people have freedom of expression, then they can express their opinion. That opinion can be anything, like some people should leave this country or I don't feel comfortable about the current atmosphere in this country, or whatever. Any Yogi, Sadhvi, minister, writer, Hindu, Muslim, Christian, atheist, actor, or whoever it may be can say whatever they want and no one should challenge their right to say those things as they are not doing anything unconstitutional or illegal by using their basic right of freedom of expression. Making any statement or agreeing or disagreeing with someone doesn't make anyone tolerant or intolerant. It all depends on our actions and behavior towards people who say nasty and offensive things, it depends on how we react to those statements with which we disagree or feel offended. Just look at the reactions from both sides and you will understand what I am talking about and why I call this debate a big circus. I personally have no objection to any Yogi, minister, or actor expressing their opinions, they have the right to do that. I cannot question that right. I may or may not agree with their statement, and I may have very strong objections to those statements, but that person has equal rights to express them just like I have. But it seems people don't understand this simple thing, most of the reactions are like, how dare he or she say this? He or she should be punished or kicked out of the country for saying this or let's boycott them for expressing their opinion. Common, at least first try to understand what that person said, debate and discuss that topic in detail, and then come to any conclusion. But it looks like people are more interested in delivering verdicts of guilty or nonguilty rather than resolving the issues and having any meaningful discussions. The atmosphere is getting so polarized that it seems there is no possibility of any middle ground where people can agree to disagree and move on. Even in parliament, the discussion is pathetic, it is not that I expected it to be any different than whatever is going on in TV studios, but if you are putting some circus then at least make it somewhat entertaining and watchable. The recent protests and this 'award wapasi' movement were actually to protest against the increase of physical violence which is the ultimate form of intolerance. I don't think it has anything to do with the change of government or who is PM or who is president. The government should have taken these protests in the right spirit rather than taking them personally and trying to dismiss them altogether thereby giving them a lot of media coverage. Addressing the concerns of these people might have stopped this issue from becoming a national time pass. I also don't know why people complaining about intolerance want to paint the picture as if today in India you can not say anything against the current government, it seems both sides are only interested in going to any extreme just to prove their point. Tolerance or intolerance shows in our behavior. A tolerant person, society, or country doesn't have to say that they are tolerant or give any proof to prove that, their behavior is enough to prove it. Similarly, an intolerant society or person doesn't have to accept that they are intolerant their behavior is the ultimate proof of who they are. Our actions speak louder than our words, so, I think people should focus on their actions and let those actions speak whether they are tolerant or intolerant. I don't think this shouting at each other is going to bring any desired change, each person should correct their behavior and automatically it will bring change in the country. I hope both sides understand this, otherwise, this issue will become another never-ending topic of Indian politics like secularism and communalism.

Thanks for reading and please share your views on this topic.

[Copyright: Vinay Thakur. Please contact the author for re-posting or publishing]

Sara's encounter with rural India

During my India visit this time, my daughter Sara visited my ancestral villages in the state of Uttar Pradesh (UP) for the first time. She was less than a year old when she visited my paternal village, but she didn't have any memories of that visit. There is a huge difference between the lifestyle of today's city kids and life in undeveloped rural places. Because of this, I was really curious about how she would react to this visit. The weather in August is not very kind in most of UP, it is extremely hot and humid, and occasional rain brings some relief but otherwise, it is somewhat extreme weather, especially for someone who is not used to living there. When we came out of Lal Bahadur Shastri International Airport, it was like entering a hot oven, one could clearly feel the difference between the temperature and humidity of the air inside the airport and outside of it. 

Her first impression of the holy city of Varanasi was not that great, she really disliked excessive honking by drivers on the road. Initially, she tried to count how many times my cousin who was driving the car honked, but after 10-15 times within a short span of 2-3 minutes, she gave up that task. The presence of stray dogs and other animals on the road was also surprising for her. Actually, she has seen these things in movies, however, in Pune where we spend most of our time during India visits, this scene is not very common, but this is not the case in Varanasi or other parts of the UP. Also, her utter discomfort with Indian-style toilets and lack of toilet paper was clearly visible, she didn't complain about this, but I could see that she was trying as much as possible to avoid using such toilets. Then there were these mosquitoes, who bothered me also, I was at least familiar with these problems, but for Sara dealing with them was a nightmare. The presence of a cow shade in the close vicinity of the room where she slept didn't help the cause, but she managed to survive and still trying to figure out why the heck people keep cows in their home when cow dunk stinks so much? She also visited a few homes in Varanasi with air conditioners and really loved the cool and less humid environment, it was like an oasis for her. Thanks to one unwritten political rule in UP, which is if an MP or MLA representing your area is occupying some important post in government, that area gets a good supply of electricity and preferred treatment. The current prime minister Mr. Modi is an MP from Varanasi, therefore, it has a reasonably uninterrupted supply of electricity, so, Mr. Modi should get credit for this. I do criticize him or his government whenever I feel that they are not doing a good job, so, I must give him credit wherever it is due. One should appreciate Mr. Modi's effort to make his constituency a better place, I hope people cooperate with him. 

From Varanasi we went to my paternal and maternal villages, we just stayed there for a couple of days. The supply of electricity follows the same political rule in UP villages also, as our village representative is not from the ruling party, it didn't get any preferred treatment. Electricity went off at 8 PM on the day we reached and supply was not restored for the next 36 or 40 hours. We had to rent a power generator to survive that brutal heat and humidity, even sitting right in front of the cooler was not that comfortable, but it was better compared to not having anything. Among all these inconveniences and discomfort, Sara had a great time meeting some really wonderful people. Wherever she went people greeted her with a lot of enthusiasm and joy. They all went out of their way to make her feel comfortable, they tried to make sure that she didn't feel discomfort because of the harsh weather of lack of certain facilities. This was a really special part of her experience, she disliked the place but loved the people. She was amazed to see their tolerance level and ability to adjust to harsh conditions. I was also surprised to see her efforts to adjust to a totally alien environment. This was a surprise for me as it was coming from a girl who used to make a big deal about a slow internet connection. She also tried her best to communicate with those people and engage in conversation to learn about their lives and problems (especially with kids of her age). Wherever required she tried to break the ice and initiate discussions and also tried her best to make those kids feel comfortable. She commented on various gender discriminatory practices like ghunghat pratha, which is similar to the burqa where women are expected to cover their faces in front of elders or strangers. Most of the time, people ignored her comments, but even then she tried to tell them that these things were not right. We also traveled to the river Ganga near my village, I love to visit the Ganga River at this spot rather than on any ghats of Varanasi. At Varanasi, the ghat water is very dirty and the atmosphere is heavily commercialized, a lot of so-called holy men (pandas) try to mob you to do some useless rituals and extract money. But the same river near my village appears really calm, clean, and friendly. Its natural surroundings with birds like peacocks and many trees along with one small temple make it more beautiful. For me, this river is not any more special than many other rivers, but just because some of my childhood memories are associated with it, I love to visit this place whenever I can.

Sara's encounter with Indian railways was not that pleasant, two of our trains got canceled on very short notice, and the one that actually departed left almost 16 hours later than its scheduled departure time. I wrote about this experience in my one of previous blog posts. Actually, this experience had a really negative impact on her mind about the state of governance in India, she was shocked to see utter chaos at the train station with no one having any clue about at what time exactly the train would depart. I had to make a lot of effort to tell her that this was not a regular scenario, but she was not at all convinced. I don't think she will dare to travel by Indian railway again. But the good part is that her overall experience was positive, she really loved people and will always remember their loving and caring nature. I am sure love and affection for these people will bring her back again to this place. I wanted her to have a wholesome experience of India, I wanted her to know that India is not just a city like Pune or Mumbai where things are very comfortable (except for traffic and pollution). When we experience things personally we learn more compared to just hearing about it, watching it on screen, or reading in a book. I am glad that she chose to come with me on this journey to rural India. I also discovered a new person in her which I didn't know so far. It was a learning experience for both of us and I hope she takes all the positives from this experience and uses them to grow as a person.

Thanks for reading and please share your views on this topic.

[Copyright: Vinay Thakur. Please contact the author for re-posting or publishing]

Dr. Kalam - a symbol of hard work, honesty, and passion

Former president of India Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam died on July 27th. India lost a great visionary, a very dedicated scientist, and a great teacher. He died while doing what he loved most while sharing his ideas to inspire students. He always believed that students hold the key to the future of any country and it is very necessary to keep an open dialogue with them. He always tried to engage with students all over India, his lectures and seminars were mostly directed toward students and the young generation who were looking for some advice and a little bit of motivation. I personally heard some of his lectures during some conferences, and I found his enthusiasm very infectious, this man loved to talk about science, and he loved to project a very optimistic picture of our future. I even read his autobiography "Wings of Fire", this all happened when I was passing through a really tough phase of my PhD studies, his words and book were some of the things that inspired and encouraged me to continue my struggle. His honesty, simplicity, and enthusiasm always inspired me, and millions of others.

When he became president of India, it was the first time there was a person who didn't belong to any particular political party. Traditionally, the president has a very nominal role to play in the Indian democratic system, the post is more of a ceremonial, but even there also he made his presence felt and performed his duties to the best of his capabilities. Teaching was his first love, he loved to teach, and give seminars and lectures. There are many of his speeches available on the internet where he talks about his vision of India and his optimism about future generations achieving the impossible. But it is ironic that even though there are many inspirational speeches delivered by him, there is not a single speech matching those other speeches delivered by him in the Indian parliament. This shows how a president is made just a mouthpiece of the ruling government, they are supposed to read the speech provided to them by the current government in parliament. I have not seen any president including Dr. Kalam delivering their own speech with their own thoughts in parliament, this is why I really feel sad that our political class failed to take full advantage of the presence of such an inspirational personality in Rashtrapati Bhawan. Whereas the whole nation drew a lot of inspiration from Dr. Kalam and revered his work, dedication, and honesty, our politicians didn't even bother to learn anything from him. His simplicity, honesty towards his job, and dedication to solving the problems of his country are something that they could learn from him.

There is no doubt that Dr. Kalam will be missed in India, that too in an era where religious fanaticism is growing and people are more interested in playing the blame game than solving the problems. I wish people, especially politicians in India, would listen to his speeches or read his books and learn some lessons. I wish tribute to him doesn't only come from words but also from actions. I personally felt really bad when he didn't get a second term as president, that was a terrible move by the UPA government. But that is history now, Dr. Kalam is no more but his legacy should live. For me, he is a symbol of honesty, hard work, and never-ending passion for his country and its people. He loved what he did and that's the one lesson I learned from him. I hope he inspires many people to work hard in whatever field they choose and deliver their best. Not everyone gets to work in a field that we want, many times that is not in our hands, but we all can work hard in whatever field we get the opportunity, this is in our hand. Goodbye, Kalam sir, thank you for all your hard work and inspiration, you will be remembered as a great teacher. 

Thanks for reading and please share your views on this topic.

[Copyright: Vinay Thakur. Please contact the author for re-posting or publishing]

Mr. PM, I am sorry but I never felt ashamed for being Indian in my life so far

During one of many foreign tours, Indian Prime Minister Mr. Modi said that before his government came into power Indians used to feel ashamed about their Indian nationality but now they feel proud. I really don't know why he said this and what was his intention behind it apart from scoring some brownie points against the main opposition party Congress, which ruled the country most of the time since independence or maybe he is still in election campaign mode. These types of things are said very frequently during election campaigns where various political parties try to take potshots at each other and try to score brownie points against each other. Most political leaders do this during their campaign speeches but I don't understand the purpose of saying something like this on an official foreign tour as a PM of the country. When he said this, he was not speaking as a BJP leader there but as a PM of India. Mr. Modi loves to deliver speeches with a lot of rhetoric, he loves positive responses from the audience, and as a performer, he gets encouraged by all this. We saw on multiple occasions how much he enjoys delivering his speeches with a supportive audience, he can say anything to please his audience. I think in these cases also he got carried away due to a very supportive audience. I am sure people close to him know this but no one is going to apologize for this mess up, this is not how Indian politics works, top leaders never apologize or say sorry, no matter what. 

I personally have several objections to many things happening in India. I hate casteism and discrimination against women, and corruption is still very rampant but these and many other problems are not only India specific, they can be found in various other parts of the world in various forms, one can debate about the intensity of them but they are present everywhere. But none of these issues made me feel ashamed of my nationality. This thought never came to my mind either now or in the past. I don't think anyone is ashamed of their nationality, most people love the country they come from. I proudly say that I am Indian but yes at the same time, I also acknowledge that, like many other countries my country also has some problems along with some good things. Many of my friends went back to India from the USA leaving comfortable jobs and they didn't go back just in the last year but most of them went back before this government came into power. They all went back for several reasons, some went back for personal reasons, some for professional, and some for visa problems but they all loved their country of birth and also got opportunities that matched with their interest. For all of them, it didn't matter who was the PM or which party was ruling India. I know people who even after renunciation of their Indian citizenship love India and feel proud of their Indian heritage. We all have our favorite political parties, we feel closer to some particular political ideology, and we even debate very passionately against or in favor of some political party but if our choice doesn't win the election, we don't feel ashamed of our country or hate it. People can love their country even if they may not like the government of that country. How does Mr. Modi feel if his opponents say that they are ashamed of being Indian because he is the PM of India? Wouldn't it sound disgusting and pathetic if someone said such things? This particular statement from him was totally avoidable and I hope in the future person of his stature will choose their words carefully.

As far as I see so far his government is sincerely trying to change a few things, they are really trying to improve certain sectors, only time will tell how much success they get in all these efforts but definitely such comments and many other statements made by PM or his colleagues are not helping this cause. It is too early to say anything about their performance, but I see that they are trying. They should focus on their work rather than making such stupid comments, I am sure they have a lot on their plate that they need to take care of. Taking political gibes is easy, politicians do this all the time but sometimes on some platforms it is good to show some restraint and control your emotions. There is no doubt that this was a serious lapse of judgment from the PM. He went a little too far to project a positive image of his government. He is new to this job so I think we can ignore and forgive this time but if this continues then maybe even all the good work may not save this government from escaping the perception that they are only interested in winning elections and nothing else.

Thanks for reading and please share your views on this topic.

[Copyright: Vinay Thakur. Please contact the author for re-posting or publishing]

Who owns Jawaharlal Nehru?

The ugly spat between Congress and BJP, the two largest national parties of India over the legacy of Jawaharlal Nehru during the celebration of his 125th birth anniversary has generated a lot of political drama. The issue was really a trivia. The Congress party organized an international symposium to celebrate the 125th birth anniversary of India's first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru. They invited leaders from various political parties (like Mamta Banerjee from Trinamool) to take part in the symposium but not the current prime minister of India Mr. Narendra Modi. This has created a political storm and wrestling match between the BJP and Congress over who owns the legacy of Nehru. Who can appropriate Nehru and who can't. This controversy is totally unnecessary and displays the primitive and shallow nature of politics which both national parties are trying to play just to score some brownie points. One can agree or disagree with Nehru's policies, one can analyze or criticize his tenure as first prime minister of India, but one can not deny his contribution to India's freedom struggle and his role in establishing a democratic system in India. One also can not ignore his role in recognizing the importance of science and scientific aptitude for a young country like India. He took an active interest and all the necessary steps to establish some of the major scientific institutes which we cherish even today. No leader is perfect, they all have their own strengths and weaknesses, and that is why we debate and discuss them, and Nohru or Gandhi were no different. But it is really unfortunate to see such a pathetic tug-of-war between two major political parties over the legacy of a national icon.

The question people are asking is, who owns Nehru? Is he Congress party's personal property as he belonged and represented Congress for his entire political career? Is he the personal property of the Nehru-Gandhi family which is still a major player in Indian politics? Do India and its people own him as he was their first prime minister? According to me, no single political party or family owns the legacy of a leader like Nehru. Of course, the family in which such individuals are born and parties or people with whom they were directly or indirectly associated might feel more strongly for them, but any public figure is open to praise or criticism by anyone. Saying that only Congress can appropriate Nehru and no one else should dare to honor him or celebrate his birth anniversary is a sign of extreme narrow-mindedness. National icons belong to the entire country irrespective of any party or group. It is not easy to become a national icon, winning an election is fine, becoming prime minister or chief minister is also okay but not every PM or CM becomes a national icon and Jawaharlal Nehru has the status of an international icon. He belongs to everyone. Any praise and criticism about his policies or actions should not be considered a direct attack on his legacy or personality. People who don't believe in Nehru's ideology or his policies are free to disagree with him or criticize him. Of course, people will feel odd if the group or party that continuously insults and discredits Nehru or Gandhi suddenly tries to claim their legacy. At the same time, one also should understand that people may change their opinion and if now suddenly they feel that Gandhi or Nehru's policies or ideas were right, and they should respect them, then this opportunity should be given to them. Only time will tell us what the real purpose behind the sudden change of hearts of these groups is. One should not doubt anyone's intentions without any evidence, a chance must be given to prove that their feelings and intentions are honest.

I feel this drama was totally avoidable and unnecessary. Unfortunately, political parties are making personalities like Mahatma Gandhi, Pandit Nehru, or Sardar Patel tools of political tug-of-war between them (especially Congress and BJP). Both parties are actually insulting these people by engaging in such public spats. The whole of India is proud of these people and everyone who is influenced by their work should celebrate their legacy, at the same time, any constructive criticism should also be welcomed. No particular party should claim ownership of these national icons. I hope this controversy settles down soon and we get to celebrate the real legacy of these people. Let's hope that people remember them for the work they have done for India not just because of the party they represented.

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[Copyright: Vinay Thakur. Please contact the author for re-posting or publishing]

Some impressions from my recent visit to Uttar Pradesh

Last week, I visited Bhadohi and Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh (UP). I try to visit my ancestral place, Bhadohi, regularly as there are still many people who I know personally and it is always a pleasure to interact with them personally. There are many sweet childhood memories associated with this place and my visits bring back those sweet memories. The last time I visited this place was in 2010, so it was four long years after which I visited again. This time I was also curious to know what people think about the current government of India as this is the first government after 1984 that has won an absolute majority in parliament and UP is one of the major reasons why this things happened (BJP+ won 73 seats out of 80 in this state).  I did not expect to see any drastic changes as it is just five months since this new government came into power but was mainly interested in the mood and expectations of people.

The City of Varanasi was as clean (or dirty) as it was during my previous visits. The airport of Varanasi is in very good shape but the roads of the city are in horrible condition. There is garbage lying around in many places and cattle (especially cows and buffalos) roam on the road freely creating a nuisance to traffic. When I asked people around me why they were not participating in the "Swachha Bharat Abhiyan" (clean India movement) started by our PM Mr. Modi who also happens to be the MP of their city they just laughed at me and called me too naive to expect such movements will work. I literally tried to remind people about this movement whenever I saw anyone throwing litter on the street but every single time I was welcomed with a cynical smile or why don’t you mind your own business look.  My son was shocked to see his cousin tossing chip wrappers on the street while traveling on a cycle rickshaw, when he asked her why she did that she innocently replied, “Everyone does that, it’s not a big deal.” But after a couple of days when I saw him spitting right in the middle of the street and asked why he did that he gave me the same answer, people pick up bad habits very easily. I have to remind my son that it doesn't make wrong things right just because the majority of people do it, wrong is still wrong and don’t try to mend your ways just because you are a minority. It was really sad to see the lack of interest of people in the Clean India drive; they were not at all passionate about such a good initiative that too in the constituency of a man who started this movement just a few weeks back. Some roads of this city were wide enough for two-way traffic and in reasonably good condition compared to many others, when I asked people about who did this work? They all replied that it was because of the district magistrate Mr. Pranjal Yadav. There were also a few roads which were newly paved and smooth when I asked about them people told me that they were repaired recently as our new PM Mr. Modi was supposed to travel on them. I really wish that Mr. Modi chose a different road every time he travels in Varanasi so that every road gets a nice makeover because of his travel.  

In my village things were even worse, there was no electricity, and out of two days I stayed there we received power only for 8 hours that too in-between 10 PM to 6 AM. I wonder how young kids will study in such poor infrastructure, people have cars and good houses but no electricity. One good thing I saw this time was that every home in my village has a toilet now, I was very happy to see it. At least some good work has been done by the current government. The situation of roads and electricity was really pathetic but people seem to have learned to live with these conditions. Another incident that shocked me was when I saw a huge traffic jam during one of my road travel in Bhadohi (my village is a part of this town). The entire side of a major highway (Grand Trunk Road or GT road) was blocked by police and people were forced to use only one side of the road creating huge chaos and a very long line of trucks as this road is the main transport road for this part of the state. I have seen many traffic jams in my life but this was utter chaos. I thought what if someone falls seriously ill and needs to go to the hospital urgently how they can navigate in such a mess as there is no one to control this chaos. But I guess I was the only one who was having this stupid question in my mind, everyone else around me was fine with this mess. When I asked people what happened? Why do police block the entire side of the road? I was told that there is a Bharat Milaap ceremony (a function celebrating the meeting of Ram and Bharat) that is going to take place on the road and that’s why it is closed. I really couldn’t believe my ears that they could block a major highway in the middle of the day for such a stupid reason but it was true. I wondered why they were doing this show on a main highway. Why can’t they do it on some school grounds or open fields where everyone can watch it comfortably and which won't result in such huge traffic jams and inconvenience to so many people? Why all these people stuck and suffering for no fault of theirs are silently watching this stupidity? When I raised some of these questions to people around me they all agreed with me but they said "Kya kare, ye aisa hi chalega, abhi kuchh bologe to Pakistani kehake marne lagenge" (what to do, this will go on like this only, if you object to these things they will attack you and call you a Pakistani). It took more than 12 hrs to clear that jam and then someone told me that there would be "Bharat milaap" functions performed by different villages on different days and that's the moment I remembered the slogan "mera bharat mahan." These people really deserve a round of applause for tolerating such plain stupidity with so much grace and patience. I salute their patience but also feel sad about their compulsion to tolerate such nonsense regularly.

I hope things change for good in this amazing place. I love the people of this state, they are really good, kindhearted, and very welcoming. They definitely deserve better infrastructure and opportunities than what they are getting now. They need more job opportunities as the youth of this state are forced to move out of the village and even out of state in search of better job opportunities. There is a lot of work that needs to be done and it can be only done with honest intentions and strong political will which seems to be lacking in all parties which ruled this state so far. People here have huge expectations from this new government and its head (Mr. Narendra Modi). Many people from this state seem to be in love with Mr. Modi as they don’t want to hear any word against him, I hope he fulfills their expectations and brings that change in these people’s lives. Mr. Modi has the power and all the resources that are required to bring that change. He cannot offer any excuse for failure to do this, it will be a huge betrayal if he doesn't do that. These people are used to these types of betrayals but I hope Mr. Modi changes that trend and fulfills his promises of development and job creation. 

Thanks for reading and please share your views on this topic.

[Copyright: Vinay Thakur. Please contact the author for re-posting or publishing]

Clean India - not a easy task but not impossible to achieve

On the occasion of Gandhi Jayanti (2nd October 2014), the Clean India (Swachh Bharat) movement was launched with a big fan fair and media coverage. Many celebrities and politicians seized this opportunity and published their photos of cleaning some already cleaned areas with brooms to display their sincerity and commitment towards this movement. There were even some brand ambassadors who were nominated to take up this challenge and they are supposed to continue this work. The beginning was like any other ambitious government scheme, with a lot of fanfare and media coverage. A lot of noise and chaos was created but soon all this faded and now I guess things are back to normal. Photos of garbage piles, open drainage, and dirty roads are back on the web to show that nothing has changed. It is possible that these people are trying to be cynical or are commenting based on their experience with previous government schemes. When I landed in Mumbai yesterday, I saw that nothing has changed as far as cleanliness is concerned, maybe it was clean on 2nd October I cannot comment on that as I was not here on that day but today it wasn't any different than what I saw when I visited last year. No one will object to the point that the Clean India movement is desperately needed. At the same time, people should know that this was not the first time any government tried to initiate some campaign to clean India, previous governments also tried to do something like this under different names and different schemes but nothing produced the desired result and I hope this one does produce desired result. Public desire and participation are the key to the success of any such campaign. The main reason why such government schemes fail is that we seldom see any bipartisan collaboration in India on any such issues related to public interest. This limits public participation as people react based on their political affiliations not based on the usefulness of these schemes. Unless this attitude of political parties and their supporters changes it is impossible to expect such schemes to succeed no matter who launches it and how much they publicize it. 

Accumulation of garbage in public places, dirty roads, open drainage, open defecation, and urination, careless attitude of people to throw garbage wherever they want, and heavily polluted rivers and lakes are major concerns of every town, city and village in India. It seems that people are only interested in keeping their own homes clean but the moment they step outside their own homes they just forget about cleanliness and behave as if it is not their responsibility to maintain cleanliness of their surroundings. The government is also at fault as it is not able to provide all necessary infrastructure like dustbins, and proper and prompt removal and disposal of garbage. This problem is result of failure on multiple levels. First, people don't think it is their responsibility to keep their city clean and then the government cannot cope with the increasing demand for resources. People always blame government for not doing their job and government authorities complain about lack of funding and people's noncooperation, so both sides keep on blaming each other. The result is there to see for all, many places in these cities stink, and they literally look like garbage disposal sites. People live in such unhealthy surroundings, they complain about it all the time but rarely try to do anything to change it.

I personally know what it means to live in such an environment, kids in our neighborhood used to play cricket with garbage right in the middle of our cricket ground. There was a huge city garbage disposal site within walking distance from our neighborhood where all the kids used to go to look for some useful stuff. Open defecation was very common as there were very limited public toilets so we were used to living with garbage and filth around us. But our homes used to be very clean, we all used to clean our homes multiple times a day, but the same attitude was not displayed towards our neighborhood. I still see this mentality among people, and unless this changes I doubt whether such schemes will work or not. The idea of a clean India is appealing but this is not going to happen without active public support and participation. How many celebrities who posed for a picture on that day (including our PM) continued with this work the next day? How many bothered to check that the area which they cleaned remained clean after one week? How many politicians or actors continued to work with their supporters and fans to make sure that interest in such activity is not temporary but becomes a permanent habit? Wherever I talked with people about this scheme they either just laughed it off or just ignored which is really disappointing. I really hope that the people of India don't take this cleanliness drive so lightly, this is a very serious issue that will require nationwide support. It is very disappointing to see that during the current election campaign in Maharashtra and Haryana, no political party (including BJP) looked interested in talking about this idea. If it continues like this, this scheme will also go down in history like many other government launched schemes who were launched with good intentions but failed to deliver any desired result. Let's wait and watch, I hope I am wrong because like everyone I also dream of seeing a clean India.

Thanks for reading and please share your views on this topic.

[Copyright: Vinay Thakur. Please contact the author for re-posting or publishing]