Comfort in Commonality

Humans are social creatures who thrive in groups. Social acceptance and recognition are fundamental to us, and this is how cultures, religions, and societies have evolved. Most of us naturally conform to social and cultural norms, which influence many of our personal and professional decisions. From the clothes we wear, the religion we follow, and the gods we worship, to whom we marry, how we perceive life and death, what we teach our kids, and the careers we pursue, these choices are often dictated less by individual preference and more by the collective script of society. The influence is so pervasive that we may not even realize how deeply these norms shape us. And yet, we follow them for one simple reason: there is comfort in commonality. Doing what those around us have done for generations brings a sense of security, even if those norms once supported harmful and unethical practices like slavery, racism, casteism, or gender discrimination. Many of these injustices were normalized simply because they were universally practiced. Even today, traces of such practices linger in various forms, despite being outlawed and widely condemned, just because of comfort in commonality; when everyone does it, it cannot be wrong. There is strength in mass bigotry. When prejudice or discrimination is shared by the majority, it gains a dangerous legitimacy that makes it harder for individuals to challenge. What is morally wrong becomes socially acceptable simply because it is collectively endorsed.

Why do we find so much reassurance in conforming to societal expectations? Why is it so difficult to step outside them, even when they seem trivial or irrational? From personal experience, I know how hard it is to resist deeply rooted and outdated cultural and social norms. When you choose a different path, people not only question your decision, but there is a potential risk that you might get excluded from social circles. One could argue that if you reject the rules, you shouldn’t want to be part of the group upholding them. But the issue is not always about the rituals or beliefs; it’s about human connection. I often find myself attending social or religious gatherings, not for the rituals but for the people. Yet, this nuance is rarely understood. Some communities view skepticism toward their values as a threat, making genuine inclusion difficult. It is rare to find a group that embraces you fully without demanding conformity. The tension always looms when you are in a minority that has rejected outdated rituals and values after much reflection, and sometimes this means grappling with this tension indefinitely.

The comfort of commonality extends beyond religion and culture into nearly every stage of life. Society offers a pre-written roadmap: go to school, excel academically, attend a prestigious college and again axcel there, pick one of the “hot” careers that promises a big paycheck, marry by a certain age, buy a house, take yearly vacations, have children before you’re “too old,” avoid divorce at any cost, and pass on the same “values” to your kids. This script removes uncertainty; you don’t have to question your choices because the path has already been laid out. This is a pretested prescription, and the reward for following it is a predictable lifestyle and a support system. Deviating from this plan, on the other hand, is intimidating. The road is unmarked, often lonely, and rarely comes with guidance. I have personally felt lost at times, with no example to follow or mentor to seek advice from. Even in parenting, there was no clear model for me to adopt. As parents, Reena and I carved out our own approach, with many mistakes along the way, and our children shared that uncertainty. Still, I hope that through this process, they learned something more valuable than what a conventional path could provide.

In the end, comfort in commonality comes with undeniable benefits: stability, security, and belonging. But there is another way. It may not offer the same perks, and it may come with rejection and risk, but it leads to a life that feels authentic rather than scripted. Choosing this path often requires rejecting the expectations around careers, family timelines, or rituals you never believed in. It demands courage to create your own roadmap, at your own pace, guided not by others’ approval but by your own convictions. It is a harder choice, but it is still a choice. And for some of us, it is the only choice worth making.

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

How is your social health?

Most of us try our best to look after our physical health. Regular checkups and various diagnostic tests help us to monitor our physical health. Post Covid we are also aware of mental health issues and slowly, and really slowly society is becoming comfortable with discussing mental health-related topics. We still have a long way to go, mental health issues are pervasive and widespread but their discussion is not that common, many families and individuals still hesitate to be open about their mental health. This is why I am bringing in the topic of social health. How are we doing about our relationships? These relationships include our family and other relationships like friends and colleagues. Various research studies and data suggest that our social health contributes not only to our mental health but also to our physical health. Therefore, it is important to pay attention to our relationships and nurture them, especially the ones that matter to us.  

Most of us make the mistake of taking our relationships for granted. Just because someone loves us doesn't mean they should tolerate each and every nonsense from us. The relationship is a bilateral process, you give and you take, if one person is only taking or giving that relationship is exploitative and nonsustainable, and if it lasts long it is damaging to both, especially to the constant giver. Also, relationships help us to remain human. Humans are social animals, and being connected is one of our basic needs. This is the reason why social media has become so popular, it fulfills our need to be connected. But too much social media is counterproductive, instead of getting benefitted from increased connectivity with the outside world we start getting disconnected from our immediate surroundings. We start comparing our insides with the outsides that others share on social media. This is why I call social media a double-edged sword, it can benefit you if you use it properly, but if not, it can be damaging, and we don't even know the extent of the damage until it's too late. Also, every relationship demands and needs attention. Our attention is the single most valuable asset that we can provide in any relationship. Many of us know this but forget to practice in real life. Focusing our attention is very important if we want to be present for the person we care about. Our improved attention can improve our social health, and this in turn can improve our mental and physical health. Therefore, start working on your social health, take stock of your relationships, and review where you need to focus and which parts need work from your side. Remember, as long as they are there it is never too late to express your gratitude and love to a person you love. Spend enough time nurturing the relationships that matter to you and you will never regret it, as these are the things you will cherish and remember fondly in the long run. All the very best.

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

Is our work becoming the new religion?

Religion is still one of the biggest institutions. It is still relevant because it gives many the group identity that humans crave so desperately. It gives people the feeling of belonging and offers social and emotional support to a group that is bound by common beliefs. However, recent trends and surveys indicate that more and more people are moving away from organized religion. There can be many reasons to move away from organized religion, and society's intellectual and economic progress is one of them. But the need for that group identity still remains, and it seems our jobs are filling that void. If we look carefully, for most of us, our careers define our identities, we are known as doctors, scientists, actors, lawyers, diplomats, teachers, nurses, coders, or whatever job we are doing. This identity is no longer limited to our workplace, this is how people know us even outside our work circle. This begs a question, is our work becoming the new religion?

This question is a more hypothetical one at this stage, but I find it very intriguing. When we start deriving our friend circle, social life, thinking patterns, and other aspects of life from our work, our work becomes the most dominant part of our lives. It is no longer just an economic support vehicle, it also becomes our social and intellectual support system. This can have its pros and cons. One of the pros is that life will be structured as our work is going to be in the center, everything will be dictated by the demands and concessions of the work. But the flip side is that work controls everything, our family and social life. Almost every work, especially if it is a high-paying job involves stress, anxiety, and deadlines, this stress and anxiety going to spill over into our personal lives. This is why I think there is a lot of talk about work-life balance, as if when we work there is no life in it, life only exists outside of our work. 

Are we giving too much importance to our jobs? Are we dependent on our source of income so much that it controls every aspect of our lives? Yes, that's where we are as a society at this juncture. For most, our jobs and income control the quality of our lives. I agree that money is a necessity, and being poor sucks. But we have been brainwashed about our needs. Most of the time desires are presented as needs to live a happy life. This is where our income attains paramount importance. There is nothing wrong in chasing our desires and working hard to fulfill them. But when desires are presented as a basic tenant for happiness, and we all buy this logic, we are in a continuous mode of chasing. As desires are endless, the chase becomes endless. As the chase is endless our want for money becomes endless. As our job provides that money, it becomes the central and most controlling factor in our lives. Once we are trapped in this it is hard to come out as it is an endless cycle of a race with constantly shifting goalposts. As long as this phenomenon persists, I can safely say that our job has become the new religion. To come out of this cycle one needs to perform an objective evaluation of their priorities and create an independent space for other key aspects like family, friends, social work, and other hobbies along with the job. 

Job is important, but it is not everything. Do your job with the utmost sincerity and honesty. Work hard when at work. But also set boundaries and respect them. Go on that backpacking trip you always wanted to go, visit your friends and relatives whose company you enjoy and cherish, write that blog you were planning to write for many years, read the book you wanted to read, binge-watch the web series whose first episode you loved and can't wait, and spend some quality time to decondition yourself and unlearn that brainwashing. In short, do the stuff that makes you happy. Once religion ruled every aspect of human life and we all know how that turned out for most of society, let's not make the same mistake again with our jobs.    

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

Vinay can be reached at thevinay2022@gmail.com

The myth of the "varna system"

If anyone has ever participated in a discussion related to the caste system and casteism in India, then they know what is meant by "varna system." The basic argument goes like this, the current caste system which is as disgusting as racism is not the original system, the original one, the Varna system was a much better and smart idea. Casteism, where one gets discriminated against just because of the family in which they are born is impossible to defend, but it still exists, people just label it as a derivation of the Varna system. The original system, the varna system divided society into four broad categories. Varna (वर्ण) was considered to be a noble, well-intended, flexible, efficient, and just system that was designed for the smooth functioning of a society. The blame for spoiling the original idea is put on the invaders by many supporters of the Varna system. It seems the invaders messed up that system which resulted in horrendous caste-based practices like untouchability. The argument is that the horrendous caste system is what's in practice, not the so-called original well-intended varna system, and that too even after India celebrated its 70th Independence Day a couple of years back. Some people blame it on the British, some on the Mughals, but I have not found a person who can accept that the original system itself was prone to exploitation and misuse, and it never worked as people claim it to work for any significant period of Indian history.

Now, why I am blaming the concept of the varna system for the current casteism in India? Aren't all societies have some social class or divisions based on economic status? Yes, they do, but none of them have resulted in something as ugly as the caste system in India and none of them justify such division as a well-intended and genius creation for the smooth functioning of a society. I always ask people who argue that the Varna system was a brilliant idea and it was a flexible arrangement that allowed people to move from one Varna to another based on their education and profession to give me a single example of a period of history when this system was functional like this in the real world. Even in mythological epics like Ramayana and Mahabharata, all we see is the rigid caste system, where people get a birthright to become a king or queen just based on the family in which they were born not by their virtues or education. The point to be noted is, that all these epics were written well before invaders even knew about India. So, tragically proponents of the varna system can't blame invaders for polluting or manipulating these books. People who really bothered to study or read about the varna system might cite some example of some Shudra king and claim that it was because of the varna system that a Shudra could become a king. Shudra was supposed to be the lowest strata of the four layers of the Varna-based society (Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Vaishyas, and Shudras). Ironically they still address that king as a Shudra king and claim that his becoming a king shows that the system was flexible. If the system was flexible, there would have been many more examples of this, not just a few exceptions. There are always some exceptions in any society who break the conventional ranks and achieve something extraordinary, not because society encourages it, but because they achieve great things despite society being hostile towards them. If any reader knows about any time period from the ancient history of Indian civilization when this Varna system was at work as people claim it to be, I am interested to know about it, please share the factual data with references. It will give me another perspective to analyze what went wrong that the Varna system got converted into a caste system and if the original system was so great why people did not revert back to it.

According to me, the original system is as flawed as the caste system. As I said the division of society based on economic status and profession is not something new. It happens on its own and people do move from one economic layer to another based on their income, education, inheritance, and other things. This is not a system but just a way how people feel comfortable to associating with a group of people to whom they relate most. Rather, to make such an association into some kind of a system is a horrendous idea. It is like encouraging and legitimizing segregation, and this is why I feel the Varna system, like a caste system, was wrong. Once again, if anyone thinks I am wrong, please provide factual evidence so that I can correct myself. I hope the caste system goes away. It has been diluted in certain parts of India due to economic progress, but in general, it is still strong and very much present in most parts of India. The ways and methods that people use to discriminate based on caste have evolved, but sadly it still exists. I hope that defenders of the Varna system work to eradicate the caste system instead of wasting their energy to defend the system that never delivered its promise.

Thanks for reading and please share your opinion about this topic. 

Importance of healthy relationships in our lives

Humans are social animals. We prefer to live in groups, and many of our oldest institutions like religion, and marriage are the result of our need to have some sort of organized social and family structure to live as a community. As a result of this communal need, we also believe in building and cultivating relationships. This is the reason we not only cherish and value our biological relationships but we equally care and value our social or non-biological relationships as well. The fact is that no matter what type of relationship it is, it takes time, effort, honesty, and sincerity to cultivate it and make it strong. Every relationship goes through ups and downs, there can be rough patches along with smooth sailings, but there are going to be variations, and during these ups and downs our patience, persistence, and sincerity are tested. 

Each and every relationship has to be a two-way exchange. One-sided relationships don't last long, and if they do, then one person gets exploited as another person has no contribution towards nurturing that relationship. I think we all need to pay special attention to our professional and personal relationships for our own mental well-being. Both of them occupy two major spheres of our lives, one is a personal and another one is a professional sphere, both are equally important. If we tilt the balance in the favor of one at the cost of another then the ignored part is going to hurt us and the people around us in that sphere. People might think why am I giving so much importance to professional relationships? After all, work is work how can it be so important? Actually, it is very important. Not only for your survival but also for a healthy and vibrant workplace where others feel comfortable and welcomed so that the overall performance of the organization is enhanced, and not only we personally benefit, but society at large benefits. 

Developing and maintaining a healthy relationship is hard work. It demands a lot of our time and effort, but if we look at the long-term benefits of having strong bonds with people around us we won't complain about all the efforts we have to put into developing those bonds. My only suggestion is, no matter what type of relationship it is, biological or nonbiological give it a fair chance, participate wholeheartedly and honestly, keep things sorted and simple, and don't make things too complicated when they don't have to be. Enjoy the relationships and don't feel burdened by them because when we enjoy things we don't care how tough they are or how much effort they take, be happy and try to make others happy. But remember, it is important to be happy first, then only you can make others happy.  Everyone needs companionship and support, and it is not that difficult to get it, just follow the right path. Relationships are important, so treat them with the respect and importance they command. When you are respectful and committed make sure that you receive equal respect and commitment from the other side. Don't be in a one-way and exploitative relationship, no matter what the relationship is. A healthy relationship makes our journey of life more exciting, after all, we all are going to become a memory one day, so make sure that you create a good one. 

Thanks for reading and please share your opinion about this topic. 

Are we getting too political on social media?

There is no doubt that social media has changed the way we communicate in today's world. I don't think anytime in the history of humans, there was a time when so much of our communication was in a written form rather than in a spoken form. The easy availability of the internet and smartphones has made social media accessible to many, and this has revolutionized the way we share our views with each other. A vast number of people are connected with each other via the internet than any other medium before. This number is huge compared to what telephone or radio managed to connect when they were at their peak. Various social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, and Instagram have made instant broadcasting of information very easy. Today, we can broadcast any event of our life if we want to do so, and there is an audience for it from all over the world. I also notice that people are more eager than ever to share with the world what's going on in their lives, and the concept of privacy is not the same as it was just a decade ago. Many gigabytes of data about our textual, audio, or video are generated every moment and stored in various places in the cloud. We don't even know where are our footprints on the internet, it is impossible to track them. This is all a recent phenomenon, we still don't know the pros and cons of this. Eventually, we should be able to figure this out in the coming years, but for the time being, we all are witnessing this explosion of data generation and sharing.

Another thing that I noticed is how much people discuss politics on social media. I see that many friends from my Facebook friend post only something related to politics on their personal walls. No doubt, politics is an important part of our lives as it affects all of us. It is also important to share our political opinions and voice our views on various political and social matters. But, if all we share is our political opinion and nothing else, then that conversation becomes extremely monotonous and boring, and nothing remains surprising in our posts as most people know what are our political views and what are we going to post based on our political leanings. Such postings might help in initiating some fierce political discussions or arguments, but definitely, they don't help to expand our social circle or to have some meaningful conversations on social media. Such repeated political postings make our social media account look like an unofficial mouthpiece of some political party or leader. It seems that for many people there is nothing worthwhile to discuss apart from politics on social media. This trend really bothers me a lot, this is one of the reasons why I reduced my presence on Facebook. 

I do recognize the relevance and use of social media in keeping in touch with friends and relatives with whom it is impossible to interact in person. This is why I joined all these platforms and I am still active on most of them. Social media is of great help to bridge the distance gap and makes it possible to interact with people who are miles apart from us. I wish people use it to discuss various other things apart from politics. I want to have meaningful conversations about other issues as well, I want people to be less political and more social on social media. Let politicians discuss only politics, it is their profession and they have a job to do. We are not professional politicians and our social media posts should show this diversity. We need to be conscious about not becoming the unofficial spokesperson of any political party. This might also help to reduce the spread of fake news and rumors through social media. The increasing political nature of social media makes it possible for some people to use it to spread fake news and disturb social harmony. Only vigilant and alert social media users can stop such misuse, let's be more social and less political.

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

Superstitions - Being possessed by deity

Being possessed by some deity, devi (goddess), evil, or God is one very common superstition. Once it was very rampant all over the world, many women got killed because people suspected them of being a witch. This belief is still present in some parts of rural India (as well as in some parts of cities also), Andhashradha Nirmoolan Samiti (ANS) defines this act as follows,

 "Being possessed by a ‘Deity’ ‘Devi or ‘Dev Angat Yene’ (in Marathi): During this condition, the individual completely transforms his or her expression and behavior (personality) to resemble some abnormal individual or a deity. The person is then supposed (pretends) to be possessed by a deity during that period he behaves in a convincing manner making appropriate actions and sounds to appear as if he is in a trance and pretends to know answers to all questions posed to him or her by gullible devotees."

As I mentioned before, it would be very wrong to assume that this superstition was only present in parts of India, but I personally witnessed it only in India that's why my views and opinions are exclusively based on these incidents. I used to see some women behaving in a very weird way on some days of the year. These days used to be some special days as per the Hindu calendar and it was believed that some goddesses used to possess these women, transforming them into some sort of proxy of those goddesses. Many people used to visit their homes with lots of queries and grievances. These people used to ask questions and this possessed woman used to provide answers. These questions covered a variety of topics, personal as well as social. Questions like: will my son get a particular job, when will my daughter get married, will there be enough rain this year to get a good crop, my daughter-in-law give birth to a baby boy or a girl. People used to ask anything and this possessed person used to give very brief answers. This question-answer process was very interesting and entertaining for me. I am sure no one bothered to check the accuracy of these answers, but they came every year to ask these questions. I have no idea how this superstition started, but I saw it in UP as well as Maharashtra (the two states where I lived in India).

My own grandmother also used to get possessed by some deity once a year. I mostly saw women being possessed by some deity, I am sure there were men also who suffered from this problem, but at least I didn't witness any such incident. As a kid, it was really scary for me in the beginning as these women, when possessed, really used to behave in a very strange manner, but slowly I realized that they were not going to harm me and I became more curious about these incidents. When I started doing some research about this I realized that this is a type of psychological problem. This problem can be cured with proper counseling and medical treatment, but hardly these people get any medical attention to manage this issue. The victims (like my grandma) and people around them all believed so much in the divine nature of this incident that they refused to accept that this was a medical issue. The victims used to get so much attention and importance that they also didn't feel that there was any problem with them and they should seek some medical advice to address it. After knowing all this I really started feeling very bad for all these people (including my grandma). I also realized that many people used to do these things knowingly or unknowingly to seek that extra attention and respect that they never used to get during their normal lives. I think this is why I saw mainly women suffering from this problem as their status in the family or in society hardly gave them any authority, but this phenomenon used to give them a chance to be a dictatorial authority at least for a day every year. I am glad to see that now these incidents have reduced significantly, there are still some isolated incidents but largely this practice is gone for good. I hope that if anyone finds someone in their family or friend circle suffering from this problem they seek proper medical help to address this issue as this is a curable condition. Superstitions should be challenged and eliminated not respected and preserved as a part of culture.

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. http://antisuperstition.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=145

Farmer suicide - please stop this politics on death

There is an intense battle going on between the ruling party (BJP and its allies called NDA) and the opposition party (mainly Congress and its allies called UPA) in India. The main reason for this current political battle is the issue of the recent land acquisition bill and the farmer suicide issue. The opposition is trying to get maximum benefit from this issue, and the ruling party is trying to dodge the issue of farmer suicide by painting the rosy picture as if everything is under control and suddenly everything will change by the new land acquisition bill that they want to implement. Actually, both the issues, the land acquisition bill and debt-ridden farmers committing suicide are not new. These issues are being exploited for political gains in every election. The land acquisition bill has become a more controversial subject in the last few months mainly because of the bullying attitude of the current government which brought an ordinance to implement the bill rather than choosing the path of discussion and bipartisan collaboration as happened in 2013 to pass a similar bill. Now they have to get it passed through parliament and this is where opposition parties are sensing an opportunity to put the government in a difficult spot as they don't have the majority in the upper house (Rajya Sabha). But the more serious issue here is of situation of many farmers who are forced to commit suicide because of reasons like crop failure, poor weather, and lack of proper value to their crops which results in huge and unmanageable debt on them. There are so many reasons why many Indian farmers get into deep financial trouble where they feel no hope of revival of their situation and are forced to end their lives. Most farm lands are owned by men so they are the ones who are dying, no doubt that their families also go through tremendous trauma and hardships but normally farmer who commits suicide is the male head of the household.

BJP used the issue of farmer's suicide in previous general elections along with many other issues against the ruling UPA government, now Congress is returning the favor by attacking the NDA government on the same issue by linking it with the land acquisition bill. I studied this issue briefly and found that there are many reasons why some farmers choose to take the extreme step of suicide, but the main reason is that they lose hope in a system that is supposed to help them in distress. This system looks reasonably good on paper but its implementation on ground level is so pathetic that it is almost useless for these farmers. The farm sector in India is very ignored and unreformed sector, all other industrial sectors get some reforms and assistance to increase their income but the farm sector and farmers are always treated as a liability. It seems they are continuously asking for help and subsidies to rescue them from endless debt. The attitude of all political parties towards farmers is not very kind, they all exploit them as vote banks or use them as instruments to trouble the government but rarely do they take any substantial steps to help this distressed class when they come into power. This crisis reached its worst point when a farmer committed suicide right in front of the media, police, and thousands of people including the chief minister of Delhi during an AAP rally in the national capital. Since this death, India has witnessed a pathetic display of political opportunism where political parties are busy playing a political blame game over the dead body of a farmer. This blame game which started immediately after this tragic incident doesn't seem to end which displays the pathetic face of all political parties who want to politicize this issue to their advantage. The death of farmers is a result of a failure of the political, economic, and social systems at every level. It is a problem of years of neglect by successive governments to implement their schemes efficiently on the ground level. They declare so many schemes but rarely do they bother to check if those schemes are producing the desired effect or if the benefit of these schemes is reaching the people who really need it.

As per available statistics, more than 60% of people in India are dependent on the farm sector, so it is the largest private sector of the Indian economy. But the truth is that it hardly gets attention proportional to its size from Indian political and economic experts. Farmers and farm laborers are worst affected by this neglect. Every government announces so many schemes for them. Based on political slogans and government announcements one may think that this class is the biggest beneficiary of subsidies and relief packages from all governments, but then the question is, why they are still in distress? If such a large section of the population is dependent on farming and related things why union budget of India do not reflect that percentage in resource allocation for them? Why it is so difficult for farmers to get a loan even from nationalized banks whereas any salaried person whose job is equally uncertain can get a loan easily? Why do relief packages declared by all state and national governments from all political parties fail to reach their most deserving beneficiaries? Why a dead farmer is more valuable than a living one? "Jai jawan, jai kisan" is a very popular slogan, so, why does jawan's (soldier) death trigger completely different emotions among political and social classes compared to kisan's (farmer) death? Instead of discussing this issue seriously, and trying to come up with practical and viable solutions, why our political class is busy playing endless blame games for years? There are many questions like this, but there is no one who is even willing to listen to them, and this is a very scary scenario for those farmers who entirely depend on this broken system for help. This problem is political, economic, and social. But political and economic angles are most important as both can change the situation. Respective governments in state and center need to work towards making farming a profitable enterprise. Today it is not considered a profitable business for most farmers, among the social classes that benefited from the economic boom in India for the last two decades farmers are not one of them. Governments need to design policies that help in increasing farmer's income so that they are not dependent on rescue packages. I request my readers who understand Hindi to watch this brilliant report by Ravish to understand what difficulties farmers face on the ground level even after the declaration of so many schemes by the government to help them.

If we look beyond this political farce and endless TV debates where only the blame game is played we can see the sad face of an Indian farmer who is confused and wondering why his fortunes are not changing even after all the hard work. Why his family is excluded from the picture of shining India? They are already practicing the mantra of "make in India" so why they are not getting the attention and care that they need and deserve? Why their death is required to initiate all this discussion which every time ends in nothing but a blame game? I am sure there are many WHYs in the minds of many farmers and their families but unfortunately, I don't have any answers to their questions. I hope people who can answer them bother to look beyond their party politics and think at least for once about farmers and not about their own political fortunes, until then, there will be one more prime-time show, one more blog, one more headline, one more debate, one more chaotic parliament session but among all this, somewhere, in some village, a farmer will be preparing to end his life and we all will be guilty of allowing that suicide to happen.

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. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Land_acquisition_in_India
2. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Farmers%27_suicides_in_India
3. क्यों कर्जे से नहीं लड़ पाता किसान?

Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar - Most used but least understood political and social icon of India

April 14th, 2015 was the 124th birth anniversary of one of the great thinkers of modern India, Dr. Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar, also known as Babasaheb. I don't think I need to introduce him to anyone from India, but for others who don't know him, he is considered a great political and social leader who started an awareness campaign and mass movement among suppressed classes of India (mostly Dalits) for their equal rights and social upliftment, especially his work to eradicate the social evil of untouchability. His contribution towards the social upliftment of the suppressed classes of Indian society is more than any other leader of his time. His name and image are used by almost all political parties in India to reap political benefits, but hardly do they bother to read his books, understand his views, and follow his advice. Even political parties who claim to carry on his legacy lack the clarity of thought and level of his thinking that he displayed almost six to seven decades back.

Babasaheb was a Maharashtrian and because I was born and went to school in that state, I was introduced to him at a very early age as there were lessons about him in our school textbooks. I was impressed by his writings and personality in my teenage years mainly because of his rebellious nature. He was not scared to take on well-established traditions, customs, or ideas. He challenged them not just out of emotional rage but argued rationally, with logic, and by producing a lot of evidence to support his argument, which is a very rare thing even today in our political class. Rarely do we see such a spirit of scholarship and rational thinking now not only in a political class but across the board. I think he was one of the greatest thinkers that India ever produced who was way ahead of his times. Unfortunately, his teachings and thoughts didn't get the importance that they deserved in Indian social and political circles, maybe because even his so-called followers were not willing to accept many things that he wrote or said. His name and his image are reduced to tokenism to show empathy and sympathy towards a particular class of Indian society. No doubt that Babasaheb cared a lot about the situation of Dalits in Indian society, he was against casteism and the practice of untouchability which was rampant during that time (unfortunately, it still exists in one form or another). He fought really hard for their rights but to brand him only as a Dalit leader is a gross injustice to the intellect and scholarship of this great man. His scholarly work covers various aspects of social and political life, he was a very well-read and well-educated person. One should read his books and articles to understand how well-read he was and how much research he did to question many discriminatory practices that were socially accepted back then. Sadly, after his death, there was a big leadership vacuum and there was no capable leader of his caliber to fill that vacuum. That vacuum was filled by many political parties who claimed to be caretakers of the suppressed classes of Indian society, they used this class as a vote bank for years, but none of them matched the intellect and conviction of Babasaheb. There is no doubt that the policy of reservation and other social welfare schemes has brought some change in the social and economic status of these communities but still lot more work needs to be done.

If you roam around India, you will see many statues of Dr. Ambedkar and many streets named after him. His name is well known, and he is used by all political parties to exploit political gains. I feel Ambedkar's name is used more than Gandhi's name for political gains. Even though he is one of the most used political icons in Indian politics, he is least understood. When I look at the reason why they ignore his writings or messages, I find it is not because he was not very clear about what he thought about Hinduism, casteism, or reservation, but because it is very inconvenient for them to follow his advice. Even his so-called followers don't care to read his books and follow most of the things recommended by him. It is ironic to see that despite being one of the most used political icons in India his teachings are least followed. I hope people who take his name day and night and all political parties who claim to carry on his legacy at least make some serious efforts to read his writings and reflect on them. If they really care about Babasaheb, then they should show courage to discuss all the issues raised by him openly, they should dare to question the things which he dared to question. Many things that he questioned are still in practice, celebrating his birth anniversary is a great thing, and tokenism has its own importance in our society and culture, but if we really want to honor this great man, then we need to discuss and debate all issues which he raised in his books and articles. If we can remove the evil of casteism from Indian society, it will be a real tribute to this man.

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. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B._R._Ambedkar
2. प्राइम टाइम : बाबा साहब अंबेडकर का लोक रूप

Baba Amte - My superhero

In a post about my visit to Snehalaya and other similar institutions during my last India trip, I briefly mentioned Baba Amte. These institutions are doing some great humanitarian work in various areas and they all consider Baba Amte as their inspiration. He is one of the people who always impressed me and inspired me since my college days. Unfortunately, his name is not very popular outside Maharashtra and I don't know why. I am still trying to figure out how such a great personality can not be known to the entire India, his work is so inspiring that each and every Indian can take immense pride and inspiration from it. I have read about many people who were inspired to do some social work for religious or political purposes but this was the man who dedicated all his life just to humanitarian purposes, not to get any salvation or place in heaven or any sainthood or any government award or any election victory. He served people because he felt their pain and really loved them as just humans irrespective of their age, caste, religion, or nationality. His project Anandwan (which means garden of happiness) is an ideal example of his vision and dedication towards humanitarian work. Amazingly not only did he and his wife dedicate their lives to this work, but he was lucky enough to have kids who carried forward his work with equal sincerity and dedication. Dr. Prakash Amte, his younger son's work at Hemalkasa (Lok Biradari Prakalp) is well known. Dr. Vikas Amte, his elder son, takes care of Anandwan. It is really amazing to see how this whole family is involved in helping people in need and distress.

I am not going to go into details about the work done by these people, I request readers to read more about them on the internet or from books published about them and read more about Anandwan and other projects to know about their work. The best way to know about their work is to visit these places and interact with the people who are living there and working there. I also understand that it may not be possible for everyone to find time and resources to visit many of these places which is why the internet is a great place to know as much as possible and then if possible grab any opportunity that allows you to visit these places. I feel extremely lucky and privileged to know a few people who are very closely involved in helping these projects, they keep me aware of what is going on and I am really thankful to them for all their efforts to educate me about the work done by such amazing people. 

But for some reason, the work of Baba Amte and his sons didn't get much recognition in India. People know about their work but they don't know like they know about the work of Mother Teresa or the work of some political organizations like RSS or the work of some cult movements like ISKON or Art of Living. Maybe because Baba Amte never sided with any particular religion or political party, rather at times he stood against the state government like in the case of Narmada Bachao Andolan. I think all this might have made him a not-so-attractive option for any political party and media as they can not use his name to attract any vote bank. He did not even get Bharat Ratna, actually, people like Baba Amte don't need that award but I think that award needs people like him so that its dignity and honor are elevated. But I am glad that he is not on that list of Bharat Ratna awardees, even Mahatma Gandhi is not on that list so I think it's fair that even they didn't consider Baba for this award.

He didn't even claim to be a superhuman or incarnation of some god or messenger of some god who landed on this earth or was sent by God to serve his people. Many so-called babas or gurus use these tactics to get money and power. He stayed away from all these gimmicks that many political and religious groups use to popularize themselves, he just did his work silently with dedication and selflessness. I respect him for this. He showed me the path that you don't need any religious, political, or any other affiliation or support to do any good work. I may not believe in any god or religion, and I may not also subscribe to any political ideology or cult but still can help my fellow humans as I really don't need any affiliations to feel compassion and love for my fellow humans. I can feel their pain and help them just because I love them and respect them as humans. We all know this but very few dare to set an example for others as it is not an easy thing to do. Baba Amte was one such person who proved it with an example of his own work. Baba Amte is my real-life superhero he did something that was considered impossible for normal humans. Thank you sir for showing us the path. Sadly he is no more but his work and legacy will live forever and keep on inspiring many people to carry out selfless service to humans in distress.

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

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