Tuesday, December 14, 2004

Reservations in private sector..Is this move justified?

I was busy, doing my work day before yesterday when I got this mail saying Govt. is trying to build consensus on giving reservation to scheduled castes in jobs in private sector also and if you are opposing this step sign on petitiononline.com. I don’t know the authenticity of petitiononline.com or the affect that this petition will create and neither I signed it, still it excited and provoked my thinking buds to grind my opinions on this issue.

Do we really need to provide reservation to SC/ST’s or OBC’s in education or services? Do they really need reservation? Will it improve their condition socially and economically and will this reservation policy bring them out of the tag of “deprived class”? I have tried to find out the answers and more appropriately I have tried to through some light on futility of this policy.

1. In my opinion, first and the foremost thing is, the term “reservation” is totally against a very basic right of every citizen that is given in the constitution i.e. “Right to Equality”. According to this, every citizen is equal and is entitled for all the opportunities and according to which no discrimination can be made on the basis of caste, creed, color, region or religion. This provision of reservation kills the basic idea of this right and is against the spirits of constitution. So first of all we need to delete this trivial right of ours.



2. Those advocating this reservation policy vehemently give this reason for this quota system “ They are the deprived class”. So, does that mean only SC/ST’s are deprived and all the others come under the creamy layer of the society?? Caste has nothing to do with the economic status of a person. A Brahmin may be in tatters and a harijan may be in all the luxuries and still, if the govt. is hell bent on giving reservations, then economic status should be the criteria and not the caste.


3. 80% of the “deprived” schedules caste population lives in rural areas, which is also deprived economically and academically. The basic aim of providing reservations is to bring these rural scheduled population to the main stream, which is deprived in real sense and to empower them by giving them jobs and by protecting them through reservation. While on the other hand what is required in Private sector is education and skills. The rural scheduled caste population has neither of them. So these posts will be absorbed by the their urban counterparts which are any way well-to-do and some are even living life of luxury. So the basic idea of providing reservation dies another death here.


4. Now, here is an eye opener for all those who are for reservation in Private sector. There is a phenomenal backlog of vacant posts in Govt. sector that are reserved for scheduled castes and even after trying hard, govt. is finding it difficult to fill these posts. Has anyone pondered over this issue before starting advocating reservation in Private sector? The reason for this backlog is, they are not fulfilling the bare minimum criteria of education. They are not educated, a condition which can directly be attributed to their economic background. They are below poverty line (so as other high castes people also, although their no. might be less). Instead of striking at the root cause of the problem i.e. poverty and illiteracy, we are pushing for reservations which only deprives suitable and more deserving candidates. And if I m wrong and if there are deserving candidates in scheduled castes that’s straightaway means that govt has failed to identify them and failed to provide jobs that are ear marked for them and if govt. is not finding suitable candidates how can we expect private sector to fill the posts for them successfully??

Strangely enough, there has not been any demand for this sort of reservation from the public but the government is trying to build the consensus on this issue. (If there was demand, I haven’t heard any!!) For me, it seems to be another political stunt. This time by UPA govt. It seems they just want to cement their place in govt till eternity by providing this illogical and mind boggling reservation in private sector!

This vicious circle of giving and taking reservations will continue to grow and would become grim even more in future. This is the time we need to sincerely bend our backs and work sincerely towards providing education and improving economic conditions of the poor population of our country. Providing reservations on the name of giving equal opportunity sounds similar to an Ostrich who dump its head in sand when it sees a danger coming towards it, thinking that it has evaded the danger….


Saturday, December 11, 2004

Strange Tears...

A very strange thing happened to me yesterday evening…I was watching super singer on Channel V and the program was full of typical I-am-the-best thingie while most were true duds. It was mostly college crowd, which gathered to show their talent. Most were just entertaining themselves, some were happy as they were on camera while some were serious participants too.
Suddenly a small boy of 12-13 years of age appeared on the screen. He was accompanied by his aunt (Bua). He was there to showcase his talent. His father was preparing him for the competition as soon as he heard about this competition. He died exactly a week before the audition and this little boy was there to fulfill his father’s dream. He sang in front of Adnan Sámi. Although his voice was not polished and all but he was singing from his heart and was singing on pretty high pitch (which I m sure is difficult even for adults to emulate). The boy was looking completely sad and lost. Probably he was totally immersed in his song or he was paying a homage of sorts to his late father. His voice had all the depth of the world. He even cleared the first round and returned again for the second . Gave another touching performance. Channel V gave him special gifts and although he could not make it to the third round, he paid true tribute to his father. Hats off to him..

Now..why am I narrating this to u?? After his spirited performance, my eyes literally shed two tears. I don’t know where this boy touched my chord? Don’t know where I relate myself to him? I don’t know why I felt for him and become emotional !!!

Probably the 30th point of my last post (WHO AM I?) justified itself in the strangest of manner!!

Thursday, December 09, 2004

WHO AM I ??

1. An Atheist
2. A teetotaler
3. A vegetarian by choice
4. Tea addict
5. A guitar player; intermediate stage
6. Electronics engineer
7. A telecom professional
8. An avid reader, be it newspapers, magazines or novels but hates fiction.
9. A very casual guy in his approach
10. Loves to travel and explore new places.
11. Loves adventure
12. Don’t love pets!!!
13. Lazy guy by nature
14. Hates washing clothes
15. Loves to write but most of the times his laziness scores over the writer inside him!!
16. Wants to have all the clothes in this world in his wardrobe.
17. Budding interests includes photography.
18. Ex- district level cricket player
19. A future social activist
20. Non believer in astrology
21. Non believer in superstitions
22. “NOT SO BAD” cook
23. Not a party animal
24. Loves solitude
25. Music lover
26. Loves to walk aimlessly on road
27. goes to bed not before 2:00 AM.
28. Loves to work at night
29. Special interests included history and Politics!!
30. Emotional at times

I guess some of u can add to this list...i would like to see that!!!

Monday, December 06, 2004

Laws of life...!!

Sorry, couldn’t write anything during these days…actually am too busy these days…this office is grinding me like anything for the past 4-5 days and I was working like a donkey even on Sunday..

Got some nice laws of life thru a fwd….so for the time being am just doing the cut paste job and posting this…enjoy…


Lorenz's Law of Mechanical Repair:
After your hands become coated with grease, your nose will begin to itch.

Anthony's Law of the Workshop:
Any tool, when dropped, will roll to the least accessible corner.

Kovac's Conundrum:
When you dial a wrong number, you never get an engaged one.

Cannon's Karmic Law:
If you tell the boss you were late for work because you had a flat tire,
the next morning you will have a flat tire.

O'Brien's Variation Law:
If you change queues, the one you have left will start to move faster than
the one you are in now.

Bell's Theorem :
When the body is immersed in water, the telephone rings.

Ruby's Principle of Close Encounters :
The probability of meeting someone you know increases when you are with
someone you don't want to be seen with.

Willoughby's Law :
When you try to prove to someone that a machine won't work, it will.

Zadra's Law of Biomechanics :
The severity of the itch is inversely proportional to the reach.

Breda's Rule :
At any event, the people whose seats are furthest from the aisle arrive
last.

Owen's Law :
As soon as you sit down to a cup of hot coffee, your boss will ask you to
do something which will last until the coffee is cold.

Howden's Law :
You remember you have to mail a letter only when you're near the mailbox.

Cheers...

Monday, November 29, 2004

UNTITLED...

Its 8:30 pm and I m still sitting in office. Just don’t feel like going back today. Its been a while since I wrote about myself and my blog is looking more like the editorial page of “THE HINDU” specially two articles out of last three…So now the next two articles about the second and third pillar of democracy will have to wait for some more time and in the meantime I will recollect my composure. Life is a bit hazy (am not getting the correct word..God..Improve my English!!) these days..and I don’t even know the reason. This has always been a problem with me throughout my 23 summers on this earth. Sometimes I feel very dull..pretty low, without any reason to support that sudden dip in altitude!! It happens once in two months…So, as you can see the frequency of this phenomena is pretty less , so I m managing it nicely… Now forget about this crap…

Saw two movies last week in a span of three days…. VEER ZAARA and MUGHAL-E-AZAM…Liked the first one, although ,I personally feel that somewhere it lacked the punch and it wasn’t looking like a Yash Chopra product…probably that happens when u have lot of expectations…Anyways, it was a nice movie to watch…but I fell completely in love with Mughal-e-Azam…specially with the flawless beauty of Madhubala and the screen presence of Prithvi Raj Kapoor. Just hear him delivering his dialogues and u will go crazy.

Although the dialogues were too long and sometimes it was difficult to interpret them , still they were the soul of the movie along with (ofcourse) PRK.Three of madhubala’s dialogues that are still fresh in my mind:-

Madhubala to Dilip Kumar: “ Kaanton ko murjhane ka khauff nahi hota”!!
Madhubala to Dilip Kumar “ In aankhon se inke khawaab na cheeniye shenshah”
And this one takes the cake..
Madhubala to PRK “ Sahib-e-ala ki zindagi ke liye Zill-e-ilahi ko is kaneez ka khoon maaf hoga”

Appeared for CAT on 21st Nov and even I don’t have the faintest of idea that why the hell I filled CAT form!! Literally destroyed the paper (phod daala)…so now I m expecting calls from IIM-chinchpokli and IIM-Jhumritalaiya….In case, I convert any of those, will join the former as it falls in Mumbai..!!

A sensational news is doing rounds on all the news channels these days and all TV channels are trying to stuff as much as they can in their 24 hours (although some are still managing to show programs (read B grade stuff) like JURM , KAATIL KAUN and CRIME REPORTER!!) The rift between Ambani brothers. Now this is what your ego and hunger for power can do to u. I mean, leave apart a royal life, what the hell in this world are they lacking?? Probably to be at the helm of the most admired business house in India is not suffice. I can write an entire article on this issue but am not in that mood and also there is no need either as all the weekly magazines are filled with articles on this issue only!!

Chalo…am closing here…more later…

PS: wearing washed clothes these days as I have just returned from my home and everything is ARIEL washed!!

Tuesday, November 23, 2004

First pillar of Democracy --- Parliament

I have started reading a new book. No no , I haven’t finished Jack Welch as yet. But I have started this one also. It is “ No full stops in India” by Mark Tully. I have just finished few pages and came across a thought proving line.

“ Democracy has failed in India because leaders have RULED over people and not REPRESENTED them”

Now the obvious question that arises from this statement is “ Has democracy really failed in India?” There can be zillion answers in support of this question and also against it. And although it will be a little overstatement to say this but Yes, I believe democracy has failed in India. It has failed to live up to the expectations with which India decided to become a democratic nation. Probably it failed to bear the burden of 100 crores!! And probably the creators of our constitution failed to visualize this growth from 30 crores to 100 crores in a span of 50 years . As a result, democracy in India is crumbling under its own weight.

Reason?? First and the foremost is, India failed to produce LEADERS…it produced only POLITICIANS. The only worry for them is not how to make India better but how to win next elections. I was reading a piece of stats few days back which indicated that there were 130 odd parliamentary sittings every year for the first two decades which has now reduced to 50+ sittings and we all know what they do while sitting there. The actual time spent in fruitful discussions, logical debates and making policies is even less. That’s because most of the time we hear only about disruptions, adjournments and walkouts. Who’s bothered about eradicating poverty, educating masses and providing health facilities?

Another aspect that I can think of, about democracy, keeping in view India only, is the provision of ADULT FRANCHISE. One who has attained 18 years of age is eligible to vote, his educational credentials not withstanding. This practice has gone with absolute smoothness in the west where basic education is not an issue but copying them here is costing us dearly and will cause more damage in the years to come. In the west, more or less, everybody is educated. In India approximately half of the population is still illiterate. It means they are not even literate forget about educated. In India, a literate is a person who can write his/her name and read it. So, this way, constitution has given the opportunity to a person, who barely knows how to write his name, to choose his representative and who in turn will take the decisions, make laws and regulate policies. And in this way a person who is spending his entire earnings of the day (labour class) boozing and beating his wife in the night, is selecting representatives to run this country. No wonder, politics is full of Phoolan Devis and Arun Gawlis these days…

The practice of electing representatives (read rulers) that started way back in 1952 is still continuing and going strong. We have elections for everything now..Parliamentary elections, State assembly elections, Panchayats elections even elections for Municipal councils and wards. And the issues on which these elections are fought and won are (surprisingly enough) still the same and most of the people in our country are still waiting for Food, shelter, clothing, electricity, water , roads, health facilities and education!!!

People are still dying of hunger (in Orissa and Chhhatisgarh) although we became self sufficient in food grains long back. A sizeable population is still managing without shelter and proper clothing. There is no electricity at all at least in 25% of India, roads are not visible as they are made only on paper and I don’t even want to comment on health facilities and education. So in short, democracy has given us this beautiful drama of elections.

Now the question is what point I m trying to drive home?

The need of the hour is a total revamp of the laws to select the representatives who are one of the three pillars of democracy. Otherwise, the cracks which are easily visible on this first pillar of democracy will soon widen enough to break it altogether. We need to analyze closely the need as well as the effectiveness (keeping in view ground realities of India) of the rules and laws to select the representatives, laid down by the makers of constitution long back. There must be minimum educational qualification for both the candidates as well as for the voters (This is very essential). Somehow, they must be made more accountable to public whom they are representing and a strict vigil is needed on the money spent on various public welfare schemes which never see the Day light. After all that money is coming from the pocket of the exchequer.

And for all this to happen, strong political will is required which I am not seeing in the next 20 years!!! Am I advocating dictatorship??? ;-)

Wednesday, November 03, 2004

Popcorn Khao Aur So Jao...

Not much to write..but one of my friend insisted on a new post..so I decided to write something and while I m writing these lines I really have no idea what I m gonna write.

Saw “Vaastushashtra” three days back. Movie was OK but not too much scary...Still it was OK….I mean what else do u want from a horror movie, that too for an Indian audience. After all u cannot ask the director to make a movie which will take u r heart out from u r mouth!! I have got friend ( female obviously!!) who is afraid to go to the kitchen alone after watching the movie and is seeing “Manish” and “Jyoti” at all places in her flat!! RGV passed with flying colours if we take the case of my dear friend as the benchmark for horror!!

Forgot to write about a movie which I tried to watch a few days earlier. I brought a CD of movie “Popcorn Khao Mast Ho Jao”. I was brave enough to fight with the torture for full 25 minutes. Then fainted. I mean making a movie is OK but how somebody can come up with such a masterpiece after spending 6-7 Crores!!!

Have got a new book now. Autobiography of Jack welsh “Straight from the gut”. Haven’t started it yet. Probably I will finish it during my journey to my hometown..which is scheduled on 10th of Nov and ticket status is still Waiting-13!!(Pray for me..)

On the guitar front, Yeah I m playing strings far better than before and rhythm is also coming good..( This is strictly my perception and cannot be subjected for jurisdiction to any court in india.!!)

Rest all is as as monotonous as it could be…It will be a welcome break for full 10 days when I m leaving for my hometown…Hope to come up with something interesting then..

Byee…

PS: Got this beautiful quote from "Abby"..
"LIMIT IS IN THE MIND. SKY IS JUST AN EXCUSE!!"