A writer I admire Ramachandra Guha

http://www.telegraphindia.com/1110813/jsp/opinion/story_14371185.jsp

Please read this , by my favourite writer Ramachandra Guha.

I know there is a doubt on people's mind that I comment on other blogs, using my page. Yes, I do. I get inspired by some blogs,and I want to add my thoughts to it. Sometimes, I have this grandeur idea of wiritng a big text, and then I end up with trivia.I can't write too much on others blogs.:-)
Very often, when I get to a topic of interest to me, the comments section is already closed,or I am unable to comment on that site due to my limited internet knowledge.

Anyway , I cant help it. I have to draw attention to topics I feel about:-).

Ramachandra Guha is a writer I admire. I feel that in Public life, the highest post held by a person is of immense importance. In cricket , which is as much emotional for Indians, the person who holds a post should be one with some exposure to the game. We see very often, or all the time, sports being administered by guys from Political arena, wielding their clout. Why is there no protest form public on these appointments? Public need to demand that "one man One post" concept for sports, so that it is free other influences apart from sports.

harassment in public places

//There's been a consequent flipside to Anna Hazare's movement against corruption in the country. A number of people have been complaining of some fringe elements in the movement creating a nuisance - harassing and misbehaving with women, raising vulgar slogans and picking pockets.

Shanta Sharma, a student of Delhi University, said that she was harassed by a group of men returning from a protest site on Wednesday evening.//
http://www.deccanchronicle.com/channels/nation/north/harassment-and-obscenity-during-rallies-backing-anna-hazare-792


I saw this news item in today's papers. And it reminded me of the blogs I had seen earlier in the week. Harassment of women is a irksome problem all over India. Anonymity helps those cowards to behave badly and get away with it. It is a fundamental flaw in many men/guys/boys.The seriousness of it is felt only by women . It is time someone took up this cause as well. And who else could be better than...
I think the next civil society agenda can be a good one for women. They can take up this cause, as they have done so much improvement in villages, by using a very strict moral code. Have a look at this.

//Anna Hazare recognised that without addressing the menace of alcoholism, no effective and sustainable reform was possible in the village. He organised the youth of the village into an organisation named the Tarun Mandal (Youth Association).[20] Hazare and the youth group decided to take up the issue of alcoholism. At a meeting conducted in the temple, the villagers resolved to close down liquor dens and ban alcohol in the village. Since these resolutions were made in the temple, they became in a sense religious commitments. Over thirty liquor brewing units were closed by their owners voluntarily. Those who did not succumb to social pressure were forced to close down their businesses when the youth group smashed up their liquor dens. The owners could not complain as their businesses were illegal.[21]

//When some villagers were found to be drunk they were tied to poles/pillars of the temple and flogged, sometimes personally by Hazare. He justified this harsh punishment by stating in an interview to Reader's Digest in 1986 that “rural India was a harsh society”. //
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anna_Hazare

I could not help giving a reference to this:

//The bottom line, however, remains-and this is the National Tragedy in which Anna Hazare is playing the part of Hamlet- is that we have a model of rural Development and Empowerment which institutionalises corruption, stupidity and availability cascades of the silliest sort. Thus, if there is a way forward, it is to be found in Modi's Gurjerat, not Hazare's Maharashtra. Otherwise, yet more momentum will be given to the great rural past-time of everybody forming his own Brashatachar Andolan and filing f.i.r's against everybody else in the village for assault, battery, anal rape, abetment to suttee, being pissed on from a great height, having one's land encroached on, not washing hands after doing tatti etc, etc.
The greatness of Anna Hazare is he finally ran away from the village and came to Jantar Mantar and sat down and declared a tatti bandh and humbly fasted till he got something or the other which would keep him out of the mad-house of N.G.O overpopulated Indian villages and their tremendous moral integrity and pure Gandhian values.
The extract from the Comission's report given below features a complaint by an aggrieved bus-conductor who started up his own Brashtachar Virodh outfit. Truly, we so called 'liberal' middle-class Indians have much to learn from Hazare and his ilk about the real meaning of 'Hind Swaraj'.

//http://socioproctology.blogspot.com/2011/04/justice-sawant-commission-on-anna.html

mmm...... If only wishes were horses , women could walk without fear!

Tehelka article on Anna Hazare

Here I go again,
But I can't help it.
Ranjit Haskote , whom I admire a lot has this wonderful write up on Jan Lokpal Bill agitation.

A must read.

http://www.tehelka.com/story_main49.asp?filename=Ne230411Coverstory15.asp

Impressive blog

//The Great Indian Conundrum
What makes India so interesting, is its sincere, hypocritical, self-righteous nature. Some of the things that makes one wonder, some great paradoxes that are unique to India as I know it, perhaps many other places too I am sure.//

Once again, I am hit by a sensible and thought provoking page from here
http://harimohanparuvu.blogspot.com/2011/07/great-indian-conundrum.html


I wont write anymore, let the page impress and provoke you as it did me.

Being an Angel?

I know whoever reads this blog, which aren't many , actually, will think that she is a copy paste expert and she has nothing to say. But even at the fear of being what you think I am, I get hit by some emotions when I read good stuff/or what I think is good stuff. I would really like to know the experience of others to this reactions of mine. Welcome... to criticise me.

Did you ever experience these emotions and feeling explained in the article?.

//INSTANT ANGELS
by Susan Jeffers, Ph.D.

Many years ago, I decided to travel from New York City, which was my home at the time, to attend a week-long workshop at Esalen Institute, a beautiful spiritual retreat located on a cliffside a few hours drive south from San Francisco. With great excitement about the upcoming week, I flew into San Francisco, rented a car, and began my drive south on the picturesque Highway 1 which runs along the coast.

I wasn't in the car any longer than ten minutes when the skies darkened and the rains came down fast and furious. It was a difficult drive, to say the least, but my mind kept focusing on the wonderful workshop I was looking forward to attending.

When I finally arrived in the little town just north of Esalen, I thought to myself, "It won't be too long now." So you can imagine my disappointment to see a barrier in the road as I was driving out of town that said...ROAD CLOSED...FLOODING AHEAD. What a blow! Since it was the only road that leads to Esalen, I wasn't going to get to the opening of my workshop in time. Drat!

It's then that I made a downright stupid decision. I said to myself, "The road's probably not too bad. They're just being over-cautious." I then proceeded to make my way around the warning signs and continued driving. Stupid, indeed! As I drove, I noticed I was the only car on the road for an obvious reason...all the other drivers were wise enough to obey the ROAD CLOSED sign! For those of you who've never driven the magnificent Highway 1, let me explain that it is a turning, twisting, road with many areas that had no guard rails to stop one from hurtling down to the cliffs and the ocean below. If the truth be known, I began to feel a bit uneasy as I surveyed what I had gotten myself into.

Suddenly I was aware of a strange sensation. Instead of moving forward, I could feel the car being lifted as it slowly began "floating" toward the edge of the cliff. What had looked just like road was actually a big crevice in the road filled with water! I thought to myself, "This is the end! I'm going over the cliff!" I tried opening the door but with no luck; the water was blocking the door.

And, then it happened. At that very critical moment in time, a highway patrol tow truck rounded the corner. The driver immediately saw what was happening, quickly ran out of the truck, attached a rope to my car, and pulled me and the car to safety...thereby saving my life. What makes this all the more remarkable is the fact that Highway 1 stretches for hundreds of miles and the likelihood of that tow truck coming around the corner just as I needed it was remote, to put it mildly! In fact, I put it in the "Miracle" category as I put the driver in the "Instant Angel" category.

I might add that he was an Instant Angel who couldn't stop cursing at me, calling me an idiot for disregarding the sign, and telling me if I didn't go back to the little town I just came from and stay there until it was safe to proceed, he would have me arrested and thrown in jail! (Instant Angels come in all forms.) I meekly apologized, sheepishly thanked him, and headed back into town wondering how I could have been so reckless. An important lesson learned: When it comes to personal safety, there are times to "feel the fear...and DON'T do it anyway!"

It was a few days before the rains stopped and the road was once again passable. But it was a life-changing few days. At first I was understandably disappointed. So near and yet so far! Reluctantly, I checked into a cozy inn. When hunger pangs made themselves felt, I made my way to a local restaurant and bar which looked over the ocean. After spending a few hours there, I decided it was a great place to just hang out and enjoy the crackling fireplace and the sensational view...which I did for a few days until the road was free and clear and ready for travel.

Unexpectedly it became a workshop of a different kind and certainly one that I needed: I learned the pleasure of having nothing to do and nowhere to go. I spent hours just looking at the view and happily passing time with interesting people. I laughed a lot. I appreciated a lot. In fact, I am convinced that I learned more about what I needed to learn there than I could have learned at the workshop I was supposed to be attending. (It's all happening perfectly!) I then realized that the rain was a blessing in disguise.

Years have passed and I have never stopped thinking about my tow-truck Angel who kept me from going over the cliff so many years ago. Nor can I forget the enlightening few days I was "forced" to spend in Big Sur where I learned so much about life. All "grist for the mill".

Often I wonder, "Was my rescuer really an 'Instant Angel'? Or was the fact that he rounded the bend just in time to save my life merely a coincidence?" While I can't offer any proof, I choose to believe that it was something more than a coincidence...that it had something to do with the Grand Design - the Grand Plan for our lives that our mortal mind's cannot see.

I also choose to believe that we can all be "used" by a Universal Energy to be Instant Angels to others. I know I was an Instant Angel to someone recently. I was standing in a pharmacy I seldom frequent when I overheard an elderly women telling the pharmacist that she was in pain and needed her prescription filled but she didn't have any money with her. The pharmacist wouldn't give the medication to her without payment. Business is business... unfortunately.

Without giving it any thought, I said, "I'll pay for your prescription." And I handed the pharmacist my credit card. The elderly woman turned around and looked at me in amazement and exclaimed, "Are you an Angel? I just know that God sent you to me." I answered, "I never thought of myself as an Angel, but maybe God did send me to you. After all, how come I showed up here just when you needed me?" And I thought to myself, "Why did I show up at just the right time?" Coincidence? Maybe. Maybe not. Who knows? But for the first time in my life, I realized that all of us can become Instant Angels as we step in to "rescue" others who need our help. When we do, it's as though the Light of a Higher Power comes shining right through us. And as many of you may have already discovered, the feeling is divine.

The good news is that it's so easy to become an Instant Angel. All we have to do is focus our awareness on others who may need our help. As we find creative ways to feed the hungry, heal the sick, give comfort, and just be there for others in a multitude of ways, we embrace the status of Instant Angels, embodiments of a Higher Energy of love coming through us. I can promise you a heavenly result, a feeling of joy like nothing else. And when someone says to you, "Thank you. You're such an Angel." Bask in the glory that you truly are!//

I have felt this many times . I had taken comfort when I was used by people. I have felt helping hands when I needed. I had encountered angels, have been "angel" many times over.

It gave me faith in our society and people. It makes me realise there is something extra-ordinary in my life.

Life is great.