OH 'MY' GOD!

Faith in God and religion are like the two sides of the same coin. However, what a group of people show off is an unequivocal display of Blind Faith in both. Their stereotypical thoughts and views portray God as a radical fanatic, raging against reason and compassion. For them, He is the one who would divide and reign, kill and kidnap and would never stop arguing with history, which He thinks is the lost baggage of lies. A manufactured God, who has been composed, created and assembled to stimulate fear, instigate terror, ransack the world and shatter the hopes of million. He, a weapon of mass destruction, must be feared!

Every time I read or hear about the Amarnath shrine, Babri Masjid, Ram Mandir or Ram Sethu, I am gripped with a sense of helplessness and religious dissent. A feeling shared by many men and women of this country. India’s secular credentials and its innate capacity of tolerance have been badly shaken by what happened in Gujrat, Ayodhya and Mumbai 15 years ago and the anti-Sikh riots in Delhi and elsewhere in 1984. These ugly eruptions have been the handiwork of disgruntled politicians, anti-social elements, criminals and hypocrites. Their reasons for these misdeeds- uncertain ‘true’ facts (sic!). What these lunatics fail to understand is the relevance such facts hold today. What these fanatics pass off as religion is very often pure ritualism which is closer to superstition that belief in Almighty. They, under the pretence of religion, tweak around certain rituals and empower these rituals to propagate fear, terror and superior might in young and old minds. They lack religious tolerance and hence are unable to understand the true underlying principles of their own religion.

An unassailable thought flows through Rig Veda: “truth is one- the learned may describe it variously”. Every religion teaches us love, compassion, tolerance, the omnipresence and omnipotence of God. One sees, feels and hears God everywhere; in birds, animals, trees, running brooks, a cherubic child, the wrinkled face of an old woman, a dilapidated mosque, in the remains of a temple, in the collapse of WTC in New York, in the feat of a swimmer who has redefined human limitations, in all triumphs and tragedies and every birth and death. If this is so, why all this fuss and mess in the name of religion?

Religion and belief in Almighty, which were once a personal affair, have now become a global revolution. The world is being turned into a religious society. Religion, in recent times has become the italicised word in politics and in India it is the most blatant political con. It is mythological pretension for some and minority ghettos for others. This concoction of religion and politics has turned into a lethal weapon aimed at demolishing the secular, democratic and cultural roots of India. In this connection, distinguishing between belief in God and in religious rituals is necessary. The option of choosing a religion or following one’s religion should be left as an open choice in its truest sense and not just in terms of a constitutional statement. Religion should never be made a part of a political manifesto. The earlier this is understood and done, the better it is for our motherland, lest she’ll be a witness to her own division and annihilation once again!!!

THE INDIAN FARMER: LOST AND ALONE.

Said Gandhiji: “True India lives in her villages.” By this he referred to the millions of Indian farmers who shape up the real India.

But with globalization, free trade, runaway urbanization and changing socio-economic scenarios, the Indian farmer is all alone in this massive global village. He has lost his way like the solitary migrant in search of a new life in a mega city like Mumbai. The ruthless and gargantuan waves of globalization have either gobbled him or washed him ashore living him high and dry. While our farmers continue their struggle against floods, famines, droughts, inflation, penury, illiteracy, they have been suddenly jettisoned onto the rickety and shaky bridges of globalization and changing economic conditions. How many of them get across is the mind boggling question. Going by the reports of farmer suicides and deaths, it seems many have failed to swim safely through the turbid waters of the sea of globalization. Many drowned fighting, many simply surrendered and many are on their way to perish.

As a matter of fact most of these concepts sound Greek and Latin even to the educated class of urban India; so how will our illiterate farmers comprehend them? Well to put it straight how many of us know that globalization is a multidimensional, complex phenomenon that presupposes the integration of economic, social, political and cultural aspects of life at the global level. Globalization of international trade, technology transfers and capital flow will have tremendous impact on agriculture. And this impact on agriculture will surely affect India’s stand in the global world. About 60-70 percent of our population depends on agriculture for their livelihood. To achieve a 7 percent growth in the economy, agriculture must register a growth of atleast 4 percent. Now it is around 2 percent and is declining. This situation must be changed.

The agricultural policy drafted by the Indian government is a huge sigh of relief, but it just might not serve the purpose unless and until our farmers reap its benefits. For this the government has to reach every farmer’s door and embrace him as a part of the fast paced economy. With research, development and innovations in the field of agriculture at the backend and government support and supervision at the forefront, the day when our farmers can compete with those in the advanced societies is not too far.

CHILDREN:DO WE CARE FOR THEM???

If a child lives with criticism, he learns to condemn,
If a child lives with hostility, he learns to fight,
If a child lives with ridicule, he learns to be shy,
If a child lives with shame, he learns to feel guilty,
If a child lives with tolerance, he learns to be patient,
If a child lives with encouragement, he learns confidence,
If a child lives with praise, he learns to appreciate,
If a child lives with fairness, he learns justice,
If a child lives with security, he learns to have faith,
If a child lives with approval, he learns to like himself,
If a child lives with acceptance and friendship, he learns to find love in the world.

-Dorothy Law Holtz

A child, deep down inside the mother’s womb, is a human being in the making from moment of his/her conception. A little child is a creation, an image of some unknown superpower to be loved and to bestow love.

A question often lingers in my mind: Are we, as a nation doing enough for our children? Disturbing features like infant mortality, child morbidity, malnutrition, child abuse, child labour, child marriage, beggary juvenile delinquency, drug addiction, the broken homes…all these prove how by neglecting our children, we are jeopardising the future of the country. An entire nation at peril! While we boast of tremendous achievements in the fields of IT, space research, nuclear technology and medicine, we fail to provide the basic medicare and necessities to children. Even elementary education seems a distant dream for some. Without any care from parents and society, these children go astray and get caught in the vicious circles of crime and abuse. They become aberrant and become a recluse in the society. With such a bleak present, can we hope for a better tomorrow?

Though the Indian government has done a lot to better the life of our children, there still remains a gulf of difference between what has been done and what needs to be done. As human beings, don’t we feel a pang in our heart when we hear a child is killed before or after birth just because it carries the stigma of being a ‘girl’? Are not parents responsible for conceiving a child without proper planning and then either dumping it or blaming it? Such incidents are not just limited within the backward or rural areas. Even the so called educated class have turned a blind eye to the plight of children. Poverty, penury, illiteracy and apathy of the society ruin the young innocent lives on one hand and at the other extreme, children of rich homes feel alienated and orphaned despite all the riches lavished on them. All the wealth and material things in the world can never be a substitute for the precious time and loving care the parents alone are privileged to give to their children.

Look, look around you and you see an innocent child. Look at the child and you see his future. It’s up to you, whether you see a gloomy dark future or a mirthful, joyous one for him. Children are a joy by themselves. These cherubic beings need to be loved, need to be taken care off by every one so as to keep the joy in living and the joy of loving in our heart and share this joy with all we meet.