"I'm enough..."

And we perfect, most dangerously, our children. Let me tell you what we think about children. They're hardwired for struggle when they get here. And when you hold those perfect little babies in your hand, our job is not to say, "Look at her, she's perfect. My job is just to keep her perfect -- make sure she makes the tennis team by fifth grade and Yale by seventh." That's not our job. Our job is to look and say, "You know what? You're imperfect, and you're wired for struggle, but you are worthy of love and belonging." That's our job. Show me a generation of kids raised like that, and we'll end the problems, I think, that we see today. We pretend that what we do doesn't have an effect on people. We do that in our personal lives. We do that corporate -- whether it's a bailout, an oil spill ... a recall. We pretend like what we're doing doesn't have a huge impact on other people. I would say to companies, this is not our first rodeo, people. We just need you to be authentic and real and say ... "We're sorry. We'll fix it." 

"And we perfect, most dangerously, our children. Let me tell you what we think about children. They're hardwired for struggle when they get here. And when you hold those perfect little babies in your hand, our job is not to say, "Look at her, she's perfect. My job is just to keep her perfect -- make sure she makes the tennis team by fifth grade and Yale by seventh." That's not our job. Our job is to look and say, "You know what? You're imperfect, and you're wired for struggle, but you are worthy of love and belonging." That's our job. Show me a generation of kids raised like that, and we'll end the problems, I think, that we see today. We pretend that what we do doesn't have an effect on people. We do that in our personal lives. We do that corporate -- whether it's a bailout, an oil spill ... a recall. We pretend like what we're doing doesn't have a huge impact on other people. I would say to companies, this is not our first rodeo, people. We just need you to be authentic and real and say ... "We're sorry. We'll fix it."

But there's another way, and I'll leave you with this. This is what I have found: To let ourselves be seen, deeply seen, vulnerably seen ... to love with our whole hearts, even though there's no guarantee -- and that's really hard, and I can tell you as a parent, that's excruciatingly difficult -- to practice gratitude and joy in those moments of terror, when we're wondering, "Can I love you this much? Can I believe in this this passionately? Can I be this fierce about this?" just to be able to stop and, instead of catastrophizing what might happen, to say, "I'm just so grateful, because to feel this vulnerable means I'm alive." And the last, which I think is probably the most important, is to believe that we're enough. Because when we work from a place, I believe, that says, "I'm enough..." then we stop screaming and start listening, we're kinder and gentler to the people around us, and we're kinder and gentler to ourselves..."

RIGHT...!

We have only one planet but millions of species...!

We have only one life but millions of opportunities...!

We have only one VOTE but millions of possibilities...!

Might might be right but not always and

Power is sure to corrupt but not everyone...!

If you believe that you belong here and

Have all the right to fight for this planet... you are RIGHT!

To join Sir David Attenborough and Greta Thunberg 

Start with being a part of politics... 

By exercising your Right to voice your opinion... Responsibly!

DO VOTE... 

It's the only time you don't raise a finger, 

YOU USE it wisely to bring a CHANGE!

Think or Sink...!

10 Sec...?

For millions of years Homo sapiens inhabited this planet and evolved with time once they stood straight, making a perpendicular angle to the land beneath, unlike all other species that move parallel to ground. This one small change made a big difference and Homo sapiens not only become the super-species soon but also left their footprint on almost every traversable surface of the planet. However this journey took millions of years before the Man become settled and started a civilization.

At these times of Bullet Trains, Hyperloops and recent Bugatti Chiron Car [with record-breaking, literally, and unimaginably insane speed of 304 Miles per hour – 7 times faster than the fastest Horse of the planet!] it might sound absolutely unbelievable and almost crazy to imagine that our predecessors explored this planet on foot by walking all that cross-continent distance. Apart from their tenacity and perseverance to map this globe on foot, what’s more interesting is their patience and endurance to continue the expedition without having slightest idea of where to head, how far the destination(?) is, how long will it take to reach there and what are the challenges that are waiting en route.

The real development per se started with the invention of Agriculture and it shifted gears with industrial revolution when humans discovered various means of energy that could be put to good productive use. Latest phase of Digital revolution is the fastest one and within a span of less than 40 years it has changed everything that we used to do for ages in an evolved manner and pattern. It has not only changed our physical activities with invent of latest gadgets and robots that are able to ‘sense’ a pending ‘task’, complete it immediately and efficiently, also report it articulately in a most professional manner, but this revolution has also changed the way we cognize, sense, engage, think and act or (mostly) react!

The life (of only humans) has become so incredibly hasty (perfectly rhymes with nasty!) that the scarcest commodity of the date is TIME! Everybody is in a mindless hurry and hence moving from point A (Ambition) to point B (Business) at a rocketing speed in anticipation to reach point C (Contentment) at some point in future, couldn’t see the D (Delusion) it is hitting at every signal on route!

When there is a downpour and all the water streams and rivers are flooded overcapacity, everything that falls in the flow gets carried away with the strong current of the water and even the living beings couldn’t escape this drifting because of the power of the flow that drags them. Entire human civilization seems to have got stuck in such a powerful current that is towing it mindlessly and the species couldn’t do a thing about it… most helpless state of the most evolved species at most developed times... what a pity!

Coming to the point, this entire process of evolution that is in the top gear at the moment and moving almost with a speed of that Bugatti Chiron, has made some fundamental changes in the age-old behavior patterns of humans like, unlike their ancestors who walked from continent to continent, today’s Smart man doesn’t even move an inch before checking availability, quality of the provisions it needs and running a quick comparative analysis for the options it has for them. In another example it has become a thing of past to tune in the radio and wait for your favorite song to play as Gaana and Carvaan had made that entire experience obsolete.

At such hurried and self-centered times, it won’t only be insane but almost stupid to expect people to read a long 2-3 pages of (Social?) message (without images?) in anticipation of a paradigm shift in people’s mentality and demeanor. However it is not only imperative but almost inevitable to spread a word about a social change for a wrong-doing that is either unrecognized or presumed otherwise in certain set of conditions, like - peeing in open or smoking in public or telling lies for short-term gain at the cost of someone’s permanent loss. Technology has made it easy to share audio-visuals (videos) and it’s a fact that if a picture is worth thousand words, a short film is worth a book.

How short is long enough is the question, though! Well, an advanced psychological study of human mind says that the attention span of humans has reduced to 10 Seconds! Yes, you read it right… just 10 Secs! If you find it hard to believe, just pick up your Smartphone, go to gallery and open any WhatsApp video that is of about 2 minutes length. Now see how many times you would forward it to rush through what seems irrelevant to you and where you stop to find some meaningful ‘action’! That explains the findings of the study and what a marketer would be if he won’t make most of the psyche of his target audience?

The bottom-line is, it’s okay if you have a story to tell, its good if you know how to tell it effectively and its great if you have all the resources to make a full-fledged feature film… the million dollar question is… would it find any audience, lest being viral on YouTube with millions of hits unless it features Nora Fatehi…? So the biggest skill of the day is to share your story with an eloquent message that is not only spot on but fits within 10 Seconds and still has an impact of a full-length movie or a 1000 pages book. If you think this is impossible and could only be imagined, here’s what Facebook has come up with…

Thumbstoppers – A platform to showcase and celebrate creativity in Mobile Video Advertising by bringing together best of advertising & marketing talent that is launched in partnership with CCOs from the top 6 Advertising Agencies in the region to redefine storytelling that evoke emotions under 10sec to change human behavior. Thumbstoppers is aimed to inspire, educate and empower creative agencies to believe that powerful storytelling is possible in less than 10 secs video ads… Creatively yours, indeed!

Check out Top 16 films produced by Facebook, selected from 3500 scripts across 4 categories, out of which 4 winners will travel to Cannes 2020... and get inspired!

Way to go…

Leader...!

This man is not just realizing and living Gandhiji’s dream of Gram-swarajya but is also helping the society to take a holistic perspective of life. This Seventh Grade educated Sarpanch of village Patoda in Aurangabad District of State of Maharashtra is imparting the practical knowledge of education, active participation, coexistence, good governance and agriculture market dynamics.

Apart from being an ISO Certified Grampanchyat, his village has received about 26 Awards and about 3 Crore Indian Rupees as token of appreciation of his efforts. I salute this Management Guru Mr. Bhaskar Pere who has transformed a small village of about 600 households and population of only about 3,500 that is today living an enriched and fulfilled life under his able guidance. India definitely needs more such villages than the broken cities that are on ventilator despite their ‘SMART-ness’!

Lest his language and mannerism that might sound little crude at times owing to his strong roots of typical rural Indian background, his ingenuity radiating wisdom of a Varkari is extraordinary. In a completely urban-dominated scenario and a self-centered destructive understanding of 'developed' life and times when nothing seems positive to look up to, this discourse is not only absolutely comforting and optimistic but it transfuses inspiration and motivation with each of its word. Believe it or not, this seemingly ordinary uneducated villager who would easily go unnoticed in any ‘conditioned’ environment, has learned life extremely well and also posses the acumen to present it brilliantly with excellence of an orator and composure of a philosopher without any flamboyance of being any type of Guru!

He talks about Anthropology, Education, Agrarian Economy and Models of Good Governance with the same flair and authoritative disposition. His own example fits on him best when he says that Jijau, mother of Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj could spot the talent of a blacksmith for noticing the defilement in the sword iron just at a glance and appoint him the head of weaponry. Had this been that era of good governance, Jijau must have made Mr. Bhasker Pere Head of Chamber of Commerce, Industries and Agriculture, if not Minister of Agriculture, Finance or Human Resource Development. Alas, we have this FPTP (first-past-the-post) system of elective governance that can be manipulated and not the HTTP (no, not Hyper Text Transfer Protocol; honor-the-talent-performance!) selective system of governance.

May we see more and more such true philosophical leaders with practical approach that are truer in deeds than their words, transforming villages like Patoda leading from the front incessantly, selflessly and impulsively…!

Way to go...

Havoc...!

https://www.hindustantimes.com/pune-news/could-not-save-her-pune-man-saw-wife-disappear-in-flooded-stream/story-rNpA5w8tfb58834MwLJ83J.html

Neither CSR is just about spending 2% of booked Net Profit nor Governance is about finding the reasons, analyzing the situations and get into the blame game in aftermath of a calamity by labeling it a natural disaster. If we are to accept that such horrid things, wherein living beings including citizens get drowned and things including cars disappear making people feel like refugees, happen because of the heavy downpour, illegal encroachments and blocking of drainage waterways… who is responsible for all this?

If nature has changed its course and behaving erratic of late, climate change is the culprit, alright. But what causes Climate Change? Is it global warming? Then what causes global warming? If people are forced to live on banks of a waste-water stream by encroaching the reserved space, isn’t something wrong with the Slum Rehabilitation and Redevelopment Schemes? If the natural course of even the river, forget the streams and trenches, is ‘adjusted’ to suit the ‘development’, who is to blame? If heavy downpour has caused this, so is the ostensibly compromised Slum Rehabilitation Schemes, so is the rampant developments carried out with stakeholder’s hand-in-glove and so is the irresponsible Corporate Governance of all relevant bodies and regulating authorities who pushed all this absolutely imminent catastrophe that must have been foreseen in the policy and practice, comfortably under the carpet.

Social Responsibility is neither about philanthropy nor is it a way to show your generosity to donate and offer help and aids - a noble gesture, nevertheless - during an aftermath of a disaster; it is about adapting ethical practices in purview of larger good, it is about designing, defining and ‘practicing’ policies for ‘our common future’ and moreover it is about being proactive about long-term consequences of short-term decisions and actions for ‘instant gratification’… the biggest enemy of sustainable development.

Whatever Pune has been put under for last couple of days is neither tolerable nor forgettable, it is absolutely unacceptable and Punkears who lost their dear-ones, their expensive possessions and valuable belongings like laptop and mobile phones with loads of important data directly related to their existence and livelihood, deserve an answer, not an explanation. And giving that answer by accepting all the wrongdoings that caused this havoc would be real Social Responsibility!

Please talk, we are listening…

Coexistence...!

For the first time on this blog, I am sharing TWO videos in a single post for a simple reason, they are not just on the same page but on the same lines when it comes to thinking differently about the Status quo. 

In the TED Talk above, Nick explains how the Capitalism and the Neoliberal Economy Theory is fundamentally flawed and what needs to be changed and how. In the course of elaborating his topic of discussion, he advocates the principles of coexistence and cooperation drawing similar strokes of ideas that are intrinsically similar to concepts of CSR. For example in the following passage, Nick eloquently presents the inner force of humanity to become those super-beings and evolve as master-of-universe.

"But, if instead we accept the latest empirical research, real science, which correctly describes human beings as highly cooperative, reciprocal and intuitively moral creatures, then it follows logically that it must be cooperation and not selfishness that is the cause of our prosperity, and it isn't our self-interest but rather our inherent reciprocity that is humanity's economic superpower."

In this second video Capt Raghu Raman, an Ex-defense officer with not only his name rhyming with the great visionary economist of present times Raghuram Rajan, but having similar progressive perspective of inclusive vision to boost the unorganized sector for its potential to contribute to the GDP in a great way with decentralization of concentrated economic power, lucidly explains how this supposedly India unInc is actually more organized, more proficient and also has about 50% of its fair share in nation's GDP. This is a perspective that must be pondered on particularly in times of jobless growth and concentration of economic power leading to an apparent recession.   

To complete this with a triology, I have published my recent paper 'Status quo and Paradigm shift' on ResearchGate. Read it HERE.      

Way to go for a decentralized economy and a balanced ecosystem for peaceful coexistence...!

Mantra...!

'Disorder afflicts the land...' has been the most commanding narrative for all the Religious and Political Powers to spell their cast on their poor, helpless and vulnerable 'subjects', indeed and George makes a very strong point here by painting a picture of 'Restoration' that has been shown to us for centuries together. It's high time we wake up to all these false narratives of a Superhero as our savior and pretentious approaches with deceitful intents.

'These are the central, crucial facts about humankind: our amazing altruism and cooperation.' The much needed New Narrative could be built around the capacity of Humans to cooperate with their altruism rather than the heroics of an individual or a fallacious nexus wherein 'We' replace our imaginary savior Superhero.  

'Our good nature has been thwarted by several forces, but I think the most powerful of them is the dominant political narrative of our times, which tells us that we should live in extreme individualism and competition with each other. It pushes us to fight each other, to fear and mistrust each other. It atomizes society. It weakens the social bonds that make our lives worth living. And into that vacuum grow these violent, intolerant forces. We are a society of altruists, but we are governed by psychopaths...' This is the story of this planet and not of any singular country or society that we must understand, analyze, interpret and react positively to!

'The commons is neither market nor state, capitalism nor communism, but it consists of three main elements: a particular resource; a particular community that manages that resource; and the rules and negotiations the community develops to manage it. Think of community broadband or community energy cooperatives or the shared land for growing fruit and vegetables that in Britain we call allotments. A common can't be sold, it can't be given away, and its benefits are shared equally among the members of the community. Where we have been ignored and exploited, we can revive our politics. We can recover democracy from the people who have captured it. We can use new rules and methods of elections to ensure that financial power never trumps democratic power again.' This could be a hypothesis for rest of the world, we Indians have models of this theory very much active and effective in forms of Mendha Lekha, Hiware Bazar and Ralegan Siddhi.

'Politics of Belonging' is the keyword of this new story of fighting those nefarious forces by building rich, engaging, inclusive and generous communities that would restore harmony to the land. We definitely need a new restoration story to guide us out of the political mess we're in, a story that tells us why we're in the mess and tells us how to get out of this mess. 'And that story, if we tell it right, will infect the minds of people across the political spectrum. Our task is to tell the story that lights the path to a better world...' This ray of hope full of optimism should be our New Age Mantra towards a cohesive and harmonious society that we deserve!

Way to go...!

Milestone...!

Thank YOU All...!

I sincerely Appreciate all this

Love, Support and Recognition...

50,000 could be just another number,

But it still is a Milestone and 

An impetus to keep going...

Way to go!

Graduation...!

"What I'm saying is, when we treat grades and scores and accolades and awards as the purpose of childhood, all in furtherance of some hoped-for admission to a tiny number of colleges or entrance to a small number of careers, that that's too narrow a definition of success for our kids. And even though we might help them achieve some short-term wins by overhelping -- like they get a better grade if we help them do their homework, they might end up with a longer childhood résumé when we help -- what I'm saying is that ALL OF THIS COMES AT A LONG-TERM COST TO THEIR SENSE OF SELF. What I'm saying is, we should be less concerned with the specific set of colleges they might be able to apply to or might get into and far more concerned that they have the habits, the mindset, the skill set, the wellness, to be successful wherever they go. What I'm saying is, our kids need us to be a little less obsessed with grades and scores and a whole lot more interested in childhood providing a foundation for their success built on things like love and chores..."

No matter how philosophical Kahlil Gibran sounds when he says 'Your children are not your children' or how profound 'Abraham Lincoln’s Letter to his Son’s Headmaster' seems or how sentimental Alice E. Chase gets when she writes her heart down in a poem, 'To My Grown-Up Son', Juile Lythocott-Haims has nailed it with her absolutely stunning spontaneous style of delivery with a little humor to spice it up. I am wholeheartedly with Julie when she says, '...and it's my job to provide a nourishing environment, to strengthen them through chores and to love them so they can love others and receive love and the college, the major, the career, that's up to them. My job is not to make them become what I would have them become, but to support them in becoming their glorious selves...' Indeed!

And the metaphor of Bonsai is the one that I love like anything... I mean there cannot be any better analogy or explanation, for that matter, for how the over-parenting can harm the potential of any kid. Just imagine planting a seed with a potential of becoming a Banyan Tree with a dense foliage that can provide shelter to handful of animals in its shade is being truncated and reduced to a Bonsai just to make a show-piece of it for decorating the drawing room of one house; it's not only conveniently bourgeois and orthodox but strategically criminal and cold-blooded, I believe! No offspring is a possession or property of its biological parents, it is just a carrier of the DNA for succession planning by the nature with completely new, independent and self-responsible identity that develops in due course.

Secondly, being a CSR Consultant and an ardent follower of the 'Trusteeship' theory, I hold it that an Individual and the Society are inseparable and have a integrated course of existence explained by UBUNTU, and thus an Individual in its forming (or 'developing', as the 'politicians' love to put it!) stages receives a lot from the society and it owes everything to the society and should always feel indebted for whatever it has 'achieved' and apart from being grateful, 'paying back' is the great way of showing reverence for what's been received. The purest and most profound form of payback is to gift it Individuals that might have borne from us biologically but have developed into free-thinking and socially responsible active elements of the society who can lift it up towards peace and prosperity.

We are glad, and proud, that we have been successful to that end, at least till this point. And there cannot be any greater or better measure of meaningful life than being successful parents; parents who can bring up such children! Although we might have come halfway, we are still learning and practicing the Art of Parenting to become sensible and responsible parents, as there is no Convocation in the course of Parenting, only Graduation...!

Way to go...

Fantasy...?

It is the ability to communicate eloquently that has brought us this far making us a Super-Species sitting on the top of the food-chain, now it’s high time we put it to good use for promoting Sustainability by controlling the irreversible damages that we are causing to the ecosystem before we push the nature to expedite Sixth Mass Extinction from imminent to immediate; if it means anything to you, that is…

(The Other) Way to go...

The Quest...!

While taking a Bird's Eye Review (literally!) of the Only Livable Planet known to us, as we humans changed its Natural Geography, Topography and Terrains to suit our 'needs' and continue to do so every passing minute, Jonathan Foley tries to put it in a perspective in his quest to find the answer to the one and only question of survival on this planet -

How do we feed the world without destroying it?

"As the world grows by several billion more people, We'll need to double, maybe even triple, global food production. So where do we go from here? We need a bigger conversation, an international dialogue. We need to invest in real solutions: incentives for farmers, precision agriculture, new crop varieties, drip irrigation, gray water recycling, better tillage practices, smarter diets. We need everyone at the table. Advocates of commercial agriculture, environmental conservation, and organic farming... must work together. There is no single solution.

We need collaboration, imagination, determination, because failure is not an option. Yeah, so we face one of the greatest grand challenges in all of human history today: the need to feed nine billion people and do so Sustainably and, Equitably and, Justly at the same time protecting our planet for this and future generations. This is going to be one of the hardest things we ever have done in human history, and we absolutely have to get it right, and we have to get it right on our first and only try..."

If we fail Mother Earth, She will fail us in reciprocation; Let us face it together...!

Way to go...

Treatment...!

We are products of logic driven by emotion. Had it not been for emotions, EQ would have not mattered more than IQ when it comes to leading a successful, content and enriched life. Incivility indeed is a red flag that obstructs the holistic development of human mind and reach its potential. As the say, 'It's all in mind...', small acts of disrespect or demeaning and belittling anyone for any petty or even sizable reason will leave a scar on the hurt mind and nobody would be able to foresee what that scar can turn out to be over a period. Most of the crimes including terrorism have their roots in the 'treatment' to an individual in its self-concept forming period.

Ultimately it becomes very important to understand and act on the wise words of a learned soul like Maya Angelou when she says,

"I've learned that 

 people will forget what you said, 

people will forget what you did, 

but people will never forget 

 HOW YOU MADE THEM FEEL..."

Control...!

"Our democracy is broken, our laws don't work anymore, and it's not me saying this, it's our parliament published a report saying this. This technology that you have invented has been amazing. But now, it's a crime scene. And you have the evidence. And it is not enough to say that you will do better in the future. Because to have any hope of stopping this from happening again, we have to know the truth..."

"And what you don't seem to understand is that this is bigger than you. And it's bigger than any of us. And it is not about left or right or "Leave" or "Remain" or Trump or not. It's about whether it's actually possible to have a free and fair election ever again. Because as it stands, I don't think it is..."

"And this is not a drill -- it's a point of inflection. Democracy is not guaranteed, and it is not inevitable, and we have to fight and we have to win and we cannot let these tech companies have this unchecked power. It's up to us -- you, me and all of us. We are the ones who have to take back control..."

This is not only about Britain or Br-Exit, this has become a global phenomenon, thanks to Social Media, particularly to Facebook, and the only thing that we can do to bring it back on track of the Democracy as it was intended when it was first introduced to counter the Autocracy and Feudalism and decentralize the power to distribute it among the People, is to be absolutely aware of the facts and figures of everything around us and not get sold to the ideas and propaganda that has been fabricated, circulated and bombarded on us by shrewdly identifying targets for each piece of it to form a big picture that is scary.

Remember, when you are not paying the price for something that you get for free, you are the product!

Election is the only tool of Democracy that empowers You to be mightier than your Elected Representative, use it wisely with open eyes, open mind and by thinking laterally...

Way to go!

Magnum Opus...!

"Cultivation of mind should be the ultimate aim of human existence..."

"An ideal society should be mobile, should be full of channels for conveying a change taking place in one part to other parts. In an ideal society, there should be many interests consciously communicated and shared..."

"So long as you do not achieve social liberty, whatever freedom is provided by the law is of no avail to you..."

"A great man is different from an eminent one in that he is ready to be the servant of the society..."

"So long as you do not achieve social liberty, whatever freedom is provided by the law is of no avail to you..."

"Political tyranny is nothing compared to the social tyranny and a reformer who defies society is a more courageous man than a politician who defies Government..."

"Political democracy cannot last unless there lies at the base of it social democracy. What does social democracy mean? It means a way of life which recognizes liberty, equality and fraternity as the principles of life..."

"Democracy is not merely a form of government. It is primarily a mode of associated living, of conjoint communicated experience. It is essentially an attitude of respect and reverence towards fellow men..."

"What are we having this liberty for? We are having this liberty in order to reform our social system, which is full of inequality, discrimination and other things, which conflict with our fundamental rights..."

"Unlike a drop of water which loses its identity when it joins the ocean, man does not lose his being in the society in which he lives. Man's life is independent. He is born not for the development of the society alone, but for the development of his self..."

"I like the religion that teaches liberty, equality and fraternity..."

Yes, you guessed it right! These are the pearls of wisdom by one of the greatest minds from the past who was an ardent Educationist, a strategic Economist, an Independent thinker, a steadfast Social Reformist and an evolved and enlightened human being who has reached the top of Maslow’s Pyramid in his Self-Actualization state… also one of the most misunderstood historical character, in many ways, confined only to his rebellious works of caste annihilation or incredible contribution to designing the Constitution of Independent India to make it a Modern one.

Dr. B. R. Ambedkar was a multi-talented and ever-evolving generous soul that committed its life for liberty, equality and fraternity. Mahatma Gandhi used to advocate the theory of empowering villages by inhabiting there and making them independent as the smallest self-sufficient unit of a large nation. While Dr. Ambedkar required the village youth to move out and migrate to cities for a better and decent living.

Many historians, political analysts and people who claim to be followers of these Stalwarts of Humanity but seem to have completely failed to understand their teaching, somehow find it interesting to juxtapose these seemingly contradictory stands of these two great souls whose contribution in Social Reforms as well as Independent India is enormous.

However if looked at it from a subtle perspective, Dr. Ambedkar was not against villages but he loathed the caste-system that was the central force of organizing community at villages and to him cities, being economically-driven rather than social-systems-oriented, seemed to be more open, liberal and inclusive in comparison. At the core both these noble souls wanted their people to be free, learned, equal and serve the society in the best of their capacities.

In the scenario of Democratic System of Governance for Independent India, politics took the driving seat and trusteeship along with socialism flied out of the window sooner than these visionary masters envisaged it to go out of practice. Caste-systems remained the forte of politics and the new evolved and smart crop of politicians born in Independent India was too shrewd to take the path of their predecessors and chose to reinforce the caste-systems for socio-economic political purposes by resolving to make their 'valued' forefathers immortal by hanging them in decorative frames on the walls of Government offices and making them standstill in those sky-high statues enthusing tourist and adding the tourist revenue to the GDP for development of the nation, selectively!

Today, on 128^th Birth Anniversary of Dr. B. R. Ambedkar, it would be most prudent of the gesture if we try and learn what he meant by all those quotes that are not only quotable but notable! When Dr. Ambedkar said, ‘Get out of villages and move to the cities…’ by village he meant the poor mentality of confined social structure and the city he imagined is one that is like Auroville – Magnum Opus of Humanity – described in the video above.

Let us hope to have more 'Auroville's and less 'Delhi's in the Independent Nation as our forefathers envisaged it and pay them real tribute by living the way they believed it to be the real path, growth and independence of humanity…!

Having a rational view of everything and casting your vote in the democratic system of governance is the epitome of being progressive human according to Dr. Ambedkar... Don't forget to vote and pay him tribute by being a citizen of his dreams...

Way to go…!

Matrix...?

"What was more pertinent, and continues to be so about ancient Athenian democracy, was the inclusion of the working poor, who not only acquired the right to free speech, but more importantly, crucially, they acquired the rights to political judgments that were afforded equal weight in the decision-making concerning matters of state..."

"So we need to reconfigure, we need to reunite the economic and the political spheres, but we'd better do it by democratizing the reunified sphere, lest we end up with a surveillance-mad hyperautocracy that makes The Matrix, the movie, look like a documentary..."

"The world that I am describing to you is simultaneously libertarian, in that it prioritizes empowered individuals, Marxist, since it will have confined to the dustbin of history the division between capital and labor, and Keynesian, global Keynesian. But above all else, it is a world in which we will be able to imagine an authentic democracy..."

"Will such a world dawn? Or shall we descend into a Matrix-like dystopia? The answer lies in the political choice that we shall be making collectively. It is our choice, and we'd better make it democratically..."

With this concluding remark, Yanis has made it very clear that the World with an Authentic Democratic System Integrated in its Economic System is neither a daydream nor a political propaganda, unless it is strategised and implemented in fullest of the democratic values of the governing system... An extremely optimistic vision of the World that can be...! 

Way to go...

Err...?

A lot of heated debates and discussions of virtue are going around about the 'Mankading' of Jos Buttler by R. Ashwin in one of those IPL T20 Cricket Matches, yes that evolved form of Great Indian Royal Circus extravaganza organised to entertain the Elite-Upper-Middle class of Indian society. I just fail to understand why so much hullabaloo about a Captain's legitimate act to win a crucial game when everybody else is doing the same leading from the front (or top)...? I mean, why so many concerns about 'sportsmanship spirit' while every other trick – in the book or out-of-the-box – is not just accepted but presumed in every other form of contests? When every bowler is balling all no-balls, wide balls and even Bodyline when it is restricted long back as illegitimate, and every batsman is attempting all the unconventional, improvised at the very moment, including ‘Reverse Sweep’, shots to score as many votes... err runs, as possible, why R. Ashwin is to be blamed for doing something extremely dutiful to its country... err Team, with complete selflessness and full integrity? Moreover, he is at least playing by the rules of the game! So what if this is happening outside the Cricket ground... its election time, you know! Election in India is the Mother of all National Festivals as it is rare than even a Leap year that happens every 4 years; it occurs every 5 years and hence could be called as a Flip Year... On the flip side, err...!

Whenever it comes to the debate about Moral vis-à-vis Ethics, I resort to a story that I use in 'Corporate Governance' Sessions of my CSR Workshops.

A man purchased a box of very rare, very expensive box of cigars and insured it against fire among other things. Within a month he smoked his entire stock of cigars and without having made even his first premium payment on the policy, the man filed a claim against the insurance company. In his claim, the man stated the cigars were lost “in series of small fires”.

The insurance company refused to pay, citing the obvious reason that the man had consumed the cigars in the normal fashion. The man sued and won. In delivering the ruling, the judge agreed that the claim was flippant. He stated nevertheless that the man held a policy from the company in which it had warranted that the cigars were insurable and also guaranteed that it would insure against fire, without defining what is considered to be, “unacceptable fire,” and was obligated to pay the claim.

Rather than endure a lengthy and costly appeal process, the insurance company accepted the ruling and paid the man $15,000.00 for the rare cigars he had lost in the “fires”. After the man cashed the check, the insurance company had him arrested on 24 counts of ARSON! With his own insurance claim and testimony from the previous case being used against him, the man was convicted of intentionally burning his insured property and sentenced to 24 months in jail and a $24,000.00 fine.

It is for the Conscious-Keepers and Culture-Police of the Society to debate about what this Man’s Act should be termed as – Ethical but Immoral or Unethical but Moral or something else; we sure have this mentality approaching us with the intent of buying our rare, precious and invaluable ‘Vote’ and burning it in smoke of the factories of ‘development’ without even appreciating, let alone insuring it. And this intent is both Unethical and Immoral for sure. 

American Film Director Chuck Russell known as astute maker has stepped into Hindi Movies with ‘Junglee’ that released today. There is more to this film apart from Live Real Breathing and Running Elephants and Vidyut Jammwal’s Kalaripayattu skills but Atul Kulkarni once again takes the cake with his cunning poacher Keshav who ‘loves’ the animals for their ‘value’ that he can put a price on, for example Bhola’s 6 feet long Tuskers. Now, no matter how appealing, convincing and powerful Keshav’s expressions seem and lure, it needs to be remembered that he portrays a villain because of his commercial intentions that are equivalent to camouflaged agenda of crony capitalism.

Meanwhile RaGa seems to have struck a right chord, no, no not with the Rangeela Girl Urmila, that is a causality (or would be, sooner or later!) but with NYAY based on the principles of but different from UBI in execution. This Nyuntam Aay Yojana – Minimum Income Scheme is neither a boon nor a magic wand but, no prizes for guessing, is an election tool, a poll vow as it is generally referred to, but still it has definitely helped to bring a Real Issue (at least one) to the surface as the election momentum garners the heat. That way RaGa has surely taken an advantage by touching upon an issue that is close to Majority of the Indians who are too underprivileged to enjoy IPL T20, with or without its intrinsic controversies! Now the Billion Dollar Question (literally!) is, with 3.4% fiscal deficit, where all this money would come from? While Congress has claimed that it will reveal its ‘PLAN’ with details in its Manifesto, it could be safely assumed that owing to the unprecedented risen levels of income inequality in India in the post-liberalization era, the over-privileged(?) would be taxed creatively to fill the gap which seems possible with counsel of hardcore Economist and International Academician and Expert like Raghuram Rajan!

I have written about Social Justice in my Blog-post CSR is not about Profit but Justice! It is easier said than done, I know and understand but there is no other way to co-exist peacefully and thrive for inclusive sustainable development. And nobody said that it would be a piece of cake and whoever assumes it to be so is certainly overconfident or living in a fool’s paradise. It’s high-time for all the contenders as the People are well awake and aware now than ever and with about 10 Crore First-time Voters who are presumably uninfluenced by political views and focused more on ground realities dear to them, it doesn’t get any tougher. No Jos Buttler should make an advance by taking it for granted for, there is one R. Ashwin for every Buttler who can catch the later on wrong foot and send him home by Mankading! Vinoo Mankad couldn’t have imagined in wildest of his dreams that his simple spontaneous ‘thinking-on-the-feet’ act would go deep in history to change the course (and narrative) of the game... May His Good Soul Rest in Peace! Be it R. Ashwin’s legitimate but supposedly un-playful act or the Propaganda by the political parties prove to be the Pandora’s Box, it remains to be seen who succeeds in grabbing the Vote... err Genie and lock it in the ballot... err bottle!

Way to go...

मुन्ना...?

तकरीबन ३० साल पहले स्वर्गीय शरद जोशी द्वारा लिखी गयी 'जिसके हम मामा है...!' ये व्यंग कथा आजभी उतनीही, बल्की कुछ जादाही, सच मालूम पडती है I पढ़नेमे और सुननेमें भले यह व्यंग चाहे कितनाभी मजेदार लगे, विटंबना तो इस बात की है ७० सालके बादभी हर पाच सालमें एक नया मुन्ना हमें मामा बनानेमें कामयाब हो जाता है, वो हर बार गंगा नहा जाता है और हम तौलिया लपेटे उसे खोजते फिर रहे है I इस बार अगर हम सावधान न रहे तो यकीन मानिये तौलियाभी न बचेगा...! इसलिये तीन चीजोंका खास ध्यान रखें –

१. यदी आप भारतके निवासी है और आपकी उम्र १८ सालसे उपर है तो आपका नाम व्होटर्स लिस्टमें है इस बात की  जाँच कर ले I ये लिंक आपको मदद कर सकती है – National Voters Service Portal

२. आपके प्रभागमें मतदान का दिन और समयकी बराबर जानकारी रखें और उस दिन, उस वक्त दुसरा कोईभी काम न ले क्यूंकी इससे महत्वपूर्ण काम करनेका मौका आपको अगले ५ सालतक मिले न मिले I २०१९ के लोकसभा चुनावकी शेड्युल आप यहां देख सकते है – General Elections 2019

३. किसीभी मिडिया, सोशल मिडियासे मिलनेवाली खबरें जाँच लें और अपनी खुदकी परिस्थिती, अपेक्षा तथा भविष्यके हिसाबसे अपना मत बनाये ना की किसीके भुलावे, दबाव या राजनैतिक छलकपटसें प्रभावित होके I

‘मुन्ना’को छोडीये, अगर तौलियाभी बचाना है तो इतना तो करनाही पडेगा I और चलते चलते एक और बात बात दूं, प्रजातंत्रमें जनसहभागकी बात तभी मुमकिन है जब जनतंत्रका प्रत्येक नागरिक सुशासनमें अपना योगदान दे जिसकी शुरआत नागरिकके अग्रिम संवैधानिक अधिकार एवं कर्तव्यसे होती है जो है अपने क्षेत्रका अभ्यास करके अपना मत बनाना और हर चुनावमें मतदान करना I

राजनैतिक दलोंके नारे भुलाकर दिलोदिमागकी आवाज सुने और चले, सचमुच बनाये एक नया भारत, एक बेहतर कल...!

We will have A Nation of OUR Dreams,

NOT of THEIR Mission or Vision...!

Way to go...

'Avatar'...?

I am not actually a fan of Artificial Intelligence, particularly of the frenzy it has evoked, but neither a hater of it, for sure. I have always maintained it that if the end objective and purpose of any application, innovation, tool and technology is for larger good without compromising anybody or anything, it must be welcomed and supported. The picture of politics all around the globe was never this gloomy in the history of civilization and despite 63% of World Countries (123 of 195) having a Democratic System of Governance, Democracy never seemed to be so much abandoned by its protagonists and exploited by its beneficiaries who have a singular and similar agenda of gaining absolute power that is believed to corrupt absolutely...!

In this context, no matter how utopian, romantic and hence impractical it seems, César has nailed it by marrying AI with Democracy, at least in his imagination and envision, that is! I couldn’t help but rejoice even with just the idea of having my own Personal Representative in a Democratic System who could learn about facts, analyze them rationally, think independently about the issues at hand and express it's opinion in policy matters that would lead to Strategic Decisions that could become the legislation in process. It doesn’t get any romantic than this, only if it could be made possible by one way or other!

I know and understand, as well as César, that this is neither fantasizing the situation nor promising something that can never be achieved – neither of us is a politician, you know! However, no matter how perfect this idea of having your own 'Avatar' in a Democratic System that will keep an eye on all the developments and keep all the developments in check gives a stimulus to the proactive mind and make positive vibes run down the spine; it would have a fate of struggle and strongest resistance from all the political powers of the world as it will try to keep a watch on them and govern their actions – exact role-reversal of the situation that they have toiled to create for centuries together!

Nevertheless, with a political fact that we cannot even bring a Lokpal Bill in effect that is principally agreed by all the politicians, presumably, I am not living in a fool’s paradise to assume that what César proposes is imminent anywhere around the globe, let alone in this part of the world. However as the all-time-great Shayar Ghalib has said it precisely and profoundly –

“हम को मालूम है जन्नत की हक़ीक़त लेकिन

दिल के ख़ुश रखने को 'ग़ालिब' ये ख़याल अच्छा है...!”

We know very well about the situation of Heaven

The very thought of it soothes Ghalib’s mind, nevertheless!