Sound Quotes............

"It was wonderful to find America, but it would have been more wonderful to miss it."_  Mark Twain.

       
           "Ofcourse America had often been discovered before Columbus but it had always been
           hushed up."            Oscar Wilde

            "Poor Mexico, so far from God and  ."so near to the USA
                                                                                       Gen.Porfrid Diaz.


                                                    Teaching...
      
     "Teaching is a not a lost art,but regard for it is a lost 
      Tradition. Jacques Berzun.

      

  "The mediocre teacher tells,the good teacher explains,the superior teacher demonstrates.The great  teacher INSPIRES."   William Arthurward.

         " I prefer the company of peasants because they have not been educated sufficiently to reason
            incorrectly." Montaigne.        
         

call of nature

Call of nature.....grand mother of all scams.

C AG with unlimited authority to audit must look in this.A scam that actually stinks to high heavens;infact may turn heaven into a hell ...he wont be blamed .After all hell is paved with good intentions.Besides he is the only authority on earth in computing notional losses in astronomical sums.

WE are confining ourselves strictly to Independent India.Answering the call of nature in "communion with nature" is one of the pleasures widely and conveniently available to ordinary mortals inhabiting the rural expanse . The concept of  human excreta ,(cattle not included ,as the calculation of  notional  loss may strain even almighty CAG s imagination).as a resource for power generation  has made the indifferent and callous scattering of the precious resource over fields,dales valleys ,and railway lines ,for well over 60 yrs  with no allocation ,no auction,no discretionary allotment: the Grand Mother of all scams /scandals.In fact it is the crime of the aeon. Representing the one man civil society,and responsible opposition ,I insist the immediate resignation of all  Primeministers,extant and dead .A UBI (Universal B of Investigation to  be formed,.(..CBI   being the Govt. side kick) and all blamed to  be Hanged till dead.Not gifted with the CAG s intuitive and precise computational abilities,I  assess the loss in crores,to be 9 followed by about  43 kilometers of Zero s,give or take 10 or 9 kilometers.Every honest member of the the innumerable civil societies are to bind the Govt. and all humans participating in the generation of the precious resource,to stay constipated by a legal fiat (to be issued on a PIL by some body as August as the SC.. Baba Ramdev will only readily provide an asana that would ensure constipation sine die,.or till the govt decides the auction/allocation of the yeoman resource.Prolonged absence from communion with nature would be a windfall for Baba due to attendant ailments and a long  anshan etc. for him and others, blackmoney would follow. What great prospects  for the country above all .and ofcourse all concerned. After the auctions,the Govt would have enough money to buy out countries,starting with neighbors with nuisance value. 

If the spirit of accommodation,integration and the largeheartedness of Urdu as a Unifying force had not been systematically singed , A Jigar Moradabadi would have confidently asserted.g 
"Kabhi shakh o sabza o barq par,kabhi guncha o gul o khar par,
Main chaman main chahe jahan rahoon mera haq hai fasl e bahar par

Good for Bodos ,good for Muslims,good for Bihari s el.al.All citizens of India,and perhaps some day ,all citizens of the world.

   Motivation for "the etc"..............


What does the much flaunted,highly fashionable word mean to ordinary mortals;shorn  of all the management dressings;psychological watercress and philosophical frills?All the academic pursuit,grand in design and verbiage is only available and addressed to those that can afford an elitist, sophistication of a degree in management.In a country like India ,it is a small number.Even if it ,this small number,well placed by birth with  launch pads,with golf 'handicaps' understand and get 'motivated' to work towards  their personal /corporate goals; it makes but marginal contribution to the national effort,unless we think that  this very small number can carry on its narrow shoulders the struggling,teeming millions for all times to come. Such marathon effort is neither possible ,nor practically sound. In fact,it is downright absurd.
The crying need is to make understand, and motivate ,what I call 'etc'. These are the cogs and wheels of governance.The personnel below the 'officer'.The clerks,the inspectors, the constables,the patwaries,the peons.What, if any thing motivates them ever.Have we ever made , as concerted an effort as for the elite , the officers,the managers, the CEO s.
Do we know what this much touted word, motivation means.If looking for it is an inner compulsion,then the "etcs" struggling,monotonous life  throws up only one answer.That the arch motivation is money.In a capitalistic world that believes that generating wealth by hook or by crook is sound economics that makes the world prosper:the dim witted worker/employee also ,willy nilly comes to the same conclusion.  Bad , inadequate pay scales, measly increments are neither incentives nor motivators.Not in a country where ' 'have nots' are cogs in the wheel of progress/development.So what do they do.A small number decide to 'retire' and still 'serve'.Other more enterprising,with no morality or work ethics blurring their vision,step on the band wagon of  the national motivator, corruption.There are so many role models all around.The bureaucrats, the politicians,the businessmen.It is a model management capsule readily available. Comes for free.So easy to discover.Strongest motivation to do what you like to do.If ,the employers cant motivate you,you put your hand out and grab.Then you like the work you do.Even better you choose what you  are willing to do.
Is there a need to de link motivation from all inducement.Must we not look at it denovo. Are there links to duty,ambition,national character,ethics.More of this latter.

Aurat ke hefazat

Aasra and Sir Allama Iqbal......


"ek zinda haqeeqat mere senay may hai mastoor(hidden)
kya samjhe ga woh jis ke ragoon main hai lahoo sard 
na parda ,na taleem,nai ho ya purani,
nuswaniat e zun(feminity if women) ka nigahban(protecter) hai faqat (only) mard.
Jis quom nay is zinda haqeeqat ko na paya
uus quom ka khursheed (sun) bohat jald huwa zard"

Aasra ,an SOS seeking "Aasra"

 ,a village meaning support........

If police can not rush in response to SOS calls,because it is indifferent,inefficient,corrupt and callous or worst helpless,if those who try and help the damsel in distress are killed by the molesters(Mumbai.1/o1/2012)with hundreds watching the show,as also at Gauahati and a thousand other places,with perverts lurking at every nook and corner; how are women to be protected.Made especially difficult by scantily dressed females visiting bars and discos,late at night.Who is to save these branded kids from being 'branded'.If the national conscience is sedated,the nation character ,a relic of the past.Then, such 'regressive' measures as taken by the villagers to protect their women seems to be the only remedy.Rather than resort to typical media sensationalism,agitated responses from the self appointed upholders of female  freedom,we must see behind the desperate SOS...Aasra looking for "aasra".Alas, even here they find the passive onlookers. 

Poetry of Dress..

The Poetry of Dress..................
whether poetry has gone out of dress,or dress has gone out of poetry,is a moot point.We still come across symbols of feminine pulchritude,but ,alas no longer such beauty in poetry ....

"  Whenas in silk my Julia goes,                                                  Then then me thinks how sweetly flows                                    That liquefaction of her clothes.                                                Next ,when I cast mine eyes and see                                         That brave vibration each way free;                                             O how that glittering taketh me!  "    R Herrick.

 It is obviously not about some scanty apparel.It is the gorgeous silk gown,so full of life,so vibrant.so full blown.The undulating movement of the the materiel so grandly depicted in so pedantic a word as" liquefaction " and "Whenas".Ample dress gracefully adorned modestly paraded inspires such beautiful poetry.
         
The other day it was it was a London school, banning skirts,now it is an appeal by the Shanghai Metro asking female passengers to dress up in a "dignified" manner. It says "scantily clad women attract molesters" .Is it asking for too much ... Attract poets and inspire poetry rather than molesters.
Flowing gowns ,long skirts, tastefully wrapped saries  make more lasting impression( even on the MCP). Let us try and revive the extinct tribe of  the Romantic poets.Leave nudity to the painter's niche. In the era of software ,skinware is not  all about feminity.Or did  TS Elliot,make heart only an object of angioplasty by comparing its throbbing to a early London taxi.
      "My heart is throbbing like a taxi parked" ...ofcourse with the engine running.

                      

         

 

If I and...

If I and every one else..............
Correct and polite English would perhaps be,Everyone else and I. But if  "I"  is the building block in the life of the social animal called man, some things  must start with "I".
If  I and everyone else stopped at the red light, if I and everyone else struck to our lanes,if i and everyone else accepted the ticket gracefully ,instead of arrogantly testing the integrity of  the policeman by offering him a bribe.If I and every one else resisted the temptation of boarding the train,without reservation,confident that the ticket collector has not the strength to refuse the money offered? If I and everyone else did not offer 'incentives' to the delivery boys ,to get  a gas cylinder out of turn? If I and every one else would rather wait  our turn than readily offer 'speed money ' to hasten our ration cards,driving licenses,caste certificates, police verification, false medical certificates? If  I and everyone else refused to lubricate  the  official machinery,from peons to secretaries,from village panchyat functionaries to revenue officials to get the right and wrong things done?If I and every one else refrained from destroying  the public property at the slightest provocation.If I and every one else did not wax patriotic and nationalistic ,only on the  Republic day and Independence day?If I and every one else did not............................................ 

" What is freedom of expression?Without the freedom to offend,it ceases to exist." thus spake Salman Rushdie.If intellectual  greatness is thrust upon pygmies with perverted world view,this is what freedom of expression ,and other freedoms would degenerate to.Freedom is an attribute of refined individuals and societies.Restraint is the bed rock of freedom,not offence.Causing offence in freedom of expression is either inability to express oneself effectively,or total lack of refinement and elementary civilized behavior. Unrestrained behavior  described the behaviour of the cave man,a crude stone weapon in one hand and the other hand dragging the female of the species  by its hair. Streaking,undressing in public to attract attention to make the point is absurd enough though once novel ,attempting to disrobe respectable humans to attract attention in abusive language ,is the methodology of sub human intelligence  to get noticed.If his language is magical,it is the gibberish preceding the magic,not magic.The rickshawalas ,street urchins,the dregs of society can match him word for word and  expression for expression.    .  

Dressing down

A London Girls School has prohibited the wearing of skirts by the girls.They may wear jeans.The reason,given is "over sexualisation" of the females of the species.What a step for societies claiming to be liberated and emancipated.Is it the beginning of a return to better clothed times,or just the beginning of a new cycle. Do  most human activities follow cycles.Or the yearning to return to more conventional values.Values that evolved over centuries by the social animal for self preservation.From the caveman's hirsute,to the victorian  top to toe respectability in dress to today's scanty wraps.Will the west come precariously close to the their bete noire ,the Islamic sobriety in dress,which is very visible in the non Islamic east.That is ,when we are not aping the west.     

Killing with kindness,is an apt description of what is being done to URDU,the worst victim of the partition,on the TV.After a couple of decades of  blatant discrimination, thanks to the HINDI films the language survived under the caption HINDI. Hindi itself became absurdly Sanskritised.Now it is a little easier to comprehend,though Urdu words are frequently used in news and reporting,nothing wrong with it at all,infact a very happy development.The only hitch is that the half a dozen words used frequently do not mean what they are intended to mean.Just two eg.s would suffice to make the point. "Quawaed" can only mean,regulatory stringent format based on fundamentals.It is never used in that sense.In fact it appears to the joker in the pack of cards.Use it where you dont know what to say.Everybody ,not knowing Urdu is impressed.It sounds so heavy and solid.The other one is "banam"----Dhoni banam Gambhir. Banam means in the name of.What the user means is Dhoni Vs Gambhir,and not Dhoni in the name of Gambhir.I am not wanting to be pedantic,other wise "tallaffuz" ie pronunciation would be a big issue.Some great attempts at "moderanisation" such as Hindising   the pronunciation and changing the script ,could certainly take Urdu a long long way ,far far away from its origins and character into  a designer product totally non -descript and sterile.  

PC to women officers in defence

Views based on 37yrs as an officer of the Administrative Branch ,even short commission to women in armed forces is an indiscreet and populist measure.(except in Med.branch).Briefly,the facts revealed during a review board held at Air HQs.Just one typical case is mentioned of a women officer of ATC (Air Traffic Control).

Got married within year or so of joining I A F,became pregnant ,said she could not climb ,three or four flights of stairs ,to her place of duty ie the ATC tower,a very comfortable airconditioned place,had to be accommodated willy nilly as asst.adjutant or asst. admin .officer ,went on maternity leave and yet got a better assessment at the end of the year than her male counterparts,who performed their primary and secondary duties ,except for their absence during annual leave.Most of them also are spared night shift duties.This is not an isolated case.Armed forces ,since the induction of women,are a great  marriage mart..Widest selection ,great environment,a posting in about two and half year to another  station with a new set of eligible bachelors.

PMS would take its toll ,lots of adjustment required in duty rosters.Besides, other problems, it is widely accepted by researchers that split second decisions in ,especially fighter flying needs a more tranquil mental state.

There is no dispute on their competence, aptitude in many other areas of human activity,infact  a whole range .

In defense,they are no more than show pieces,that the austere forces can do without.The decision to grant them any commission,short or permanent is on flawed premise.

WATERSHED

It is a watershed in Samajwadi politics-From
pehalwan's akhada to a higher plane,hopefully.Wider national ( some
years in south,ie engineering from Karnataka) and international
exposer(Austrailia) has given the son the sheen of sophistication and
maturity that may matter.His was the most sober and dignified
campaign.He can work wonders if the seasoned old brand of  the  Azam
Khan type will let him.While goonda raj and a scruple free approach is
alien to the UP politics,an attempt may be made