Inspirational Politics...

Today morning, I woke up to the news that 'change' had come to America. After 8 years of Republican governance, the Democrats had captured the Presidency, the House and the Senate. I watched Prez-elect Obama on TV, delivering his post-victory speech and I was seriously moved. This man, who in his own words is a 'skinny young man with a funny name' had inspired millions of Americans to turn out in large numbers and elect him to the Oval Office with a resounding majority. What, I thought, is so different about this 48 year old, African-American that has brought the winds of change to the US ?

Barack Obama is indeed the right man at the right time. Irrespective of the predicted negative effect the Obama presidency will have on India, I admire him for some changes he has brought about in the US and in my mind even before he has taken up office.

Obama has very shrewdly used the discontent created by the Bush administration in his favour. He was on-the-ball when he equated his competitor McCain's projected policies with the Bush policies. He moved the hearts of the millions of American families who have sons fighting the war in Iraq, by promising to withdraw troops according to a well-structured plan. He inspired the youth to vote, and touched the hearts of the common man.

This can be seen by the massive turnouts his rallies saw, the largest number of small contributions raising one of the highest number of monetary contributions for a candidate and the young and old who turned out in droves to volunteer for spreading his campaign.

Because of his heritage, the blacks, Asians and Hispanics dared to believe that this man was their answer to racial prejudice. But he didnt alienate the whites and that says a lot about his people skills. Obama's oratory infused energy in the masses, his urging the people to embrace change paid off.

For me, following this election has been a great experience. Never in India do we get to vote for one person as our executive. I believe for a people to express their majority opinion, a two-party system is the best bet. In India, we end up voting for a small party which forms a coalition with different parties and a different government than we had voted for comes in power and again, we play no direct role in electing our executive. Never in India do we see the common public so enthused and so inspired by any candidate because our election system does not project any candidate as our future executive.

As Tagore said, our country has awakened in the Heaven of Freedom, our democracy is population-wise the largest in the world, but in principle is it so ? Why does our youth never feel inspired enough to take an active part in the country's politics ? Why do we still continue to elect old and unqualified people, sometimes convicted criminals to run our nation ? Why can we not start our own version of 'change' even at the grass-root levels ? India has it's own 'Obamas' but do we notice them ?

Obama rightly said, this victory is not the change itself, it is the chance for the people to bring about the change. There are many people in India who want this chance too. But with this state of affairs I can hardly hope to get the chance. And again, Obama comes to my rescue. At one of his campaign rallies he made this statement, and I believe we should take something from it. He said, " Hope is that thing inside us that insists, despite all evidence to the contrary, that something better awaits us if we have the courage to reach for it, work for it and fight for it."

And so I can only hope and act on another US President from Illinois Abraham Lincoln's words, " I WILL PREPARE, AND SOMEDAY, MY CHANCE WILL COME."

Save thy language !

After expressing my opinions on some universal topics, I now wish to launch into a topic that is not of life-changing proportion but is very close to my heart ! I fell in love with the English language when I was 6 years old. The love affair began with my introduction to Enid Blyton's uncomplicated prose and there has been no looking back since then.

My mother, who loves books herself and has introduced me to various genres of books, and my father, who has never refused me any book I have ever wanted to buy, were just the sort of parents needed to instill a good habit in me, which I believe will stay for life.

My fascination for English led me to read lots of books, experience different genres, compare the styles of different authors and try as I may, I cannot point out any single work as my all-time favourite.

The innocent tales of Enid Blyton, the adrenaline filled war and adventure books of Alistair McLean, the Jeffery Archer books which follow the lives of it's characters through the years, Erich Segal's books which tell tales of Doctors and Scientists and the timeless Love Story, J.K. Rowling's magical world of Harry Potter, Agatha Christie's delicious mysteries with murder thrown in whenever things get boring, Chetan Bhagat's books which offer an insight into not only young India but also the young Indian writer, the ageless and enduring saga The Thorn Birds, the eerie and sinister Rebecca, the witty works of Shakespeare, the poems of Tagore, Keats and Tennyson, the wide and varied world of books has been a very large part of my very small world !

And so, though I myself use the 'sms-lingo' in my smses because it is more practical from the point of view of saving time and cost and also as the name SMS suggests that it is a Short Messaging Service, I cannot tolerate the blatant ignorance people display to the proper, grammatical version of languages, and not just English here. I find it a sacrilege that grammar is thought useful only for scoring well in the languages and not as a practical and integral part of the language that needs to be used in our conversations and correspondences beyond the examination hall.

I judge people on the basis of the respect they show to the languages they use. I am not against infusing humour into the language by deliberate mispronunciation or intentional alteration of grammar. But when the situation needs perfect language, I won’t gonna tolerate no foolin' around! :-D !
I guess nobody cares much about the way we handle our languages, but I certainly do. So if you can, try and make the effort to use languages in their correct form as much as you can! I beseech you, implore you, let the languages live and help them flourish!

My perspective of Religion..

I am a Hindu. And I am proud of my heritage and what it brings to me. This is true of most people I think. I do not think that it’s a sign of aggressiveness or intolerance to be comfortable with your religion and spiritual beliefs, and to acknowledge it openly. I believe religion is a necessity, and it does not matter which religion you choose to follow if it provides you with moral principles and the much-needed stability in your life.

What matters is in what way you use your religion. What matters is whether you have enough confidence in yourself and in your religion, to not only tolerate other peoples' beliefs but also co-habit with them. A lot of brouhaha is created on the issue of religion, God, spiritual beliefs and the lot. Impressionable minds are misled and uncalled for terror, destruction and division results. The main reasons for this range from distorted projection of religion to brazen politics.

But should we, the educated, thinking citizens of a democratic nation subscribe to such politics in the name of religion ? Should we condone these acts which openly defy the right of innocent humans to try and have a life ? Can we, as individuals do anything to fix this deterioration ?

Yes, I think. Religion is nothing but a way of life. It is a path we follow because it promises to lead us to our ultimate destination. It encourages us to adopt a moralistic and philosophical way to look at life and it eases our journey. It provides stability and solace to our minds when we are faced with troubles. When our life seems out of control, it offers comfort in the idea of The Almighty whom we can blame for our griefs or beg forgiveness for our sins. By endorsing the concept of God, it makes us aware just how insignificant we are as individuals in the larger context, but it also makes us think that we surely must be important enough to God for we are given so much and so much is expected of us. Religion is a comfort in times of grief and a stabilizer in times of happiness. It is essentially a way of life as I said before. So what does it matter that different people choose different ways to reach the same destination ?

As long as the way chosen does not violate other peoples' right to live their life, as long as it does not infringe their mental and physical space and respects democracy, each religion is valid.

Each individual has to adopt a similar approach. I am not advocating this very approach for it will be restricting other peoples' right to make the choice. I am just saying, let each one of us aim to live our religion in its proper way, and give the other person enough space to have his or her own beliefs. The world is big enough to accommodate you and me and every other person. The question is, are our hearts large enough ?

We have a choice...

What affects you the most as a person ? What affects the way you turn out to be ? Primarily, your birth. I do not wish to sound prejudiced here, but your birth determines your family, and the surroundings in which you grow up. The moral, social, financial, educational and geographical situation of your parents and your family has a direct influence on who you turn out to be.

So, the initial you, the formative years, depends on a whole lot of factors that you cannot possibly control...you just flow with the current, and learn to swim. But there comes a point when you have to take a decision. THIS is the point where you can assert the influence of your choice on your life.

The crux of my ramblings is that whatever your background, whatever you are because of it, can be either strenghtened, or rectified, only by you.

I believe that when this realisation hits you, that maybe your destiny is pre-written, but, its not pre-ordained that it will come to you even if you do nothing. What I mean is...God has a plan for each of us. But to discover what that is, and to lead it to its fitting conclusion, is in our hands.

Let us not be so wrapped up in ourselves and in our immediate surroundings that we do not wonder exactly WHAT is it that we are ordained for. Let us try to face every failure, as if its a test that will determine whether you are fit for the better things to come. I have read somewhere, that God gives you only as much failure and as much grief as you can handle. Failure is not the end of the road, it is just a pointer that you were wrong somewhere. Let us take some time out and think how to rectify our mistakes.

Let us excersize our right of making a choice...and let us make the choice to look deep within ourselves. For that is where most of the answers lie. Let us try to make progress at every step. Let us try to find goodness, happiness, success and satisfaction in every situation we are in...and let us try to better our own selves everytime.

For only when we take time out for ourselves and be self-satisfied and self-confident, can we think of contributing something to our family, community, nation and the world. So, I believe, let each one of us focus on ourselves first, make the right choices for our educational, moral, social and financial enhancement, and then only can we make choices for others.