Dedications

Always thought the issue and problem was ‘my God is better than yours’ whereby we have evangelists from every religion preaching how good their religion and some even stooping as low as to prove how their religion or God is better than the others. This rot has brought the world to such a level where today religion has become root cause of all problems we are facing, and it is not restricted to one religion as we would like to make ourselves believe. Sexual scandals in the Catholic Church, Guru’s who preach Hinduism involved in scams and sexual slavery, acts of violence glorified by the Jews and Muslims, and the list is endless and to make it worse is the difference of opinions within the religions itself within its various sects or divisions.

In my childhood I remember the Church used to have a ‘crib competition’ which is even prevalent now where families would depict the birth of Christ, by erecting small cribs at home with small statues, of Mother Mary, Joseph and baby Jesus, and with animals around showing the poverty in which Christ was born in a stable. The innocence and the real purpose of the exercise is long lost, where it was meant to reflect and build the crib in your daily lives, and the crib competition was just to build on that message, and improve the fervor in our homes, and have Christ and his teachings as a central part of our homes. Instead today it is more a display of creativity and wealth and cribs are built like as if we are competing for a race. The whole essence of Christianity is lost in the process and needless to mention after the competition even Christ is lost as the crib is dismantled and statues packed and stored in some attic.

Been immensely fortunate and blessed to have an education in a very secular environment and having lived in a cosmopolitan neighborhood, religious festivities of the neighbor’s religion were longed for and participated in, as one family. Then the whole concept of neighbor or neighborhood is no longer there, as many don’t know who their neighbors are, besides maybe the immediate neighbors, and many don’t want to know who their neighbors are. In my days walking into any neighbor’s home was just like walking into my home and many a times even sit share a meal with then if I happened to walk in at a meal time. Today walking into another room within a home is a formality. With fellowship and love within families and neighborhood diminishing, gets me wondering what God or religion we are celebrating and competing with? To make it worse the increase of hatred within families and society is on the rise.

God and religion is now regaled to competition where at Bakri Eid it is a display of many goats or how big a goat is sacrificed; for Diwali it is display how much crackers (money) can be blown up in smoke; at Christmas it is which spirits will be downed and the spirit of Christmas is anyway down. The heartbreak is the latest competition of which Ganpathi idol is the biggest and the best. Can understand which is the biggest, but which is the best? How can one Ganpathi be better than another? Why are we making a competition of God and religion? The say life is a rat race and one needs to compete to stay on top, but is God in the race too. All I can do is make my petition and prayer to the rat, on whom Lord Ganesh is known to ride and carrier of prayers to Him, to drive sense into mankind and have them compete in charity, love, peace and harmony and not compete with the size of His idols.

The recent ‘Bharat bandh’ declared by whosoever makes no sense, achieves no result, and does everything contradictory and opposite to that of development of India. Then on the other hand has India really developed? Yes we may have better telephony, computers and cars, but that has only given better options for the ‘haves’ and the ‘have not’ have lesser of what they did have earlier, to the extent of even basic food becoming a luxury. To add to their woes we have the Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar, who remarked that if the common man can buy coke cola, he can very well afford to buy basic food. Has this joker lost his marbles? Is he trying to be another Marie Antoinette who remarked to the peasants, “If you don’t have bread, eat cake”? Atleast Marie Antoinette was sympathetic and gave an option of cake, but what is our dear minister offering, choice of coke cola over food? His hunger for power can stoop so low, that he would care a less for the hungry.

Historically has ‘bandhs’ achieved anything? Maybe a paid holiday for few lucky like me to chill at home over lager, and the larger chunk of population goes without a wage for the day. For those with hand to mouth existence, there is nothing in hand for the day and no brainer to realize nothing in the mouth too. So what do we do next? We have a government which is run by an Italian, and with Italians known for their mafia brain, the Congress party is nothing short of being a mafia. Not that we have any better choice either, as from the all the crooks we just got allegedly a better crook. Imagine the Prime Minister stating that we cannot compromise development for ecology. Then the Prime Minister is just another Stephen Hawkings all brains and impotent.

Admire the courage of few youngsters in Bombay who came with the idea of ‘Meter Jam’. The plan was on a particular day to avoid all forms of Taxis and Autos to teach the goons a lesson from their own book. They can’t keep a city hostage when they want too to raise the grievance. Can the average citizen do that? He has no choice, never did and never will, but there are ways we can hit back. Let’s take small baby steps. Imagine the whole country not buying gold for a year. No one has died not using gold, but yes you can have the gold market bandh. Imagine a day, no one shops for anything which is non essential, we do a bandh. Why not target businesses where politicians have a stake and we don’t patronize it? If food prices are hitting us how about a day we don’t buy onions, something small we try and it will bloody work. How about a day or two without non-veg food? Just that it has to be done collectively like how they collective harass us with bandhs. We do it non-violent, without stooping services, but then yes we hit where it hurts.

Economic progress has only progressed us to compare how much progress we have done over our peers or neighbors or to help us flaunt our material possession. If this is progress then yes we have played into the economic progress of MNC’s and companies. Can economic progress where we contribute to ensure all basic necessities of the common man or lesser privileged. This does not mean charity, it means if you see them deprived because of a bandh, you hit back by not patronizing say one industry we can collectively hit.

The choice is ours, either we become victims of bandhs or make them victims or as always like me keep my deemag bandh, kyunki mera baap kya jaatha hai attitude (as some Indians say “My Father what goes”). Then the day is not far with the bandhs it could be my father who may have to be rushed to a hospital and there are no cabs, and no staff in hospitals as they could not make to work due to the bandh. Then tho baap hi na raha.