In the name of national integration, don’t insult Hindi!

source: open compilation

It would not be inappropriate to say that the September month of the Indian calendar compels the Indian constitution to discharge a stinking smell from its part 17, in general and article 351 in particular. Come, 14 September and that unpleasant fight and the war of words between the central government and the anti-Hindi protesters begin. The reason why I am not quoting article 343 which prescribes the official language of the union as Hindi in Devanagari script is because of the self-satisfying efforts of the local politicians in placing ‘their’ language to the official language bracket thus doing away with the loneliness that the sole language would have faced as the official language of the union. The bone of contention is the article Article 351 of the Indian constitution which states that, “It shall be the duty of the Union to promote the spread of the Hindi language, to develop it so…”. Now, there comes the problem.

We boast of being a country with as many as 780 languages but why has that speciality become an impediment for us? Papua New Guinea, which is one sixth of the size of our country, has 839 languages but they are projected as an asset to the country. Our population is 166 times than this beautiful heterogeneous country and we fight in the name of languages. The lines are all parallel but efforts towards making a line longer appears to be imparting a sense of insecurity among the self proclaimed custodians of other lines.

So, the big question is, “Why should article 351 remain in the Indian constitution when there is so much stink around it?” Why even a non-Hindi person at the centre should be forced to grant his consent for the implementation or promotion of Hindi with adamant self declared non-Hindi people from different states opposing it point blank? This presents a clear case of conflict between personal and official interests that primarily are situation dependent.

Why this should be? The language, in no way so fragile to demand support from the union or the constitution to prosper. Nor are the people feeling any need for any support to communicate or to write in Hindi. Then why is the language abused every time, especially on 14 September? Is the ‘gang-rape’ of this beautiful language on every such occasion, not avoidable? Why should the language bear the brunt of the doings (right or wrong) of the custodians or the architects of the constitution? This is not acceptable. Do away with the articles or the clauses that give an opportunity to the language chauvinists to raise their fingers.

It is pertinent to note that Acharya Vinoba Bhave had said, “I respect all the languages of this world but I cannot tolerate insult of Hindi in my country:. It was our father of the nation, who called for Hindi to be given the status of the country’s national language. He had said that all talks of a ‘swarajya’ would be meaningless unless Hindi was provided national language status while giving adequate importance to regional languages. It was C Rajagopalachari who said that, “I equally strongly recommend the inclusion of it in the school curriculum everywhere”. The architect of our constitution, Dr. B.R. Ambedkar also said that it is the bounden duty of all Indians to own up Hindi as their official language. Subhash Bose and Sardar Patel went up to the extent of demanding that Hindi should be used throughout India without any exceptions and the states should also resort to the use of Hindi language because it would promote integration. It is very disappointing that even the so-called followers of these great personalities differ by large from their viewpoints.

Currently in the name of ‘Hindi Imposition’ it has become a fashion to start the hate trends on social media. It is a different story altogether that those trends in no way help reach the anti-Hindi voices to the concerned but generate a lot of pain in the hearts of Hindi speaking (read as loving) people. Why all this fuss? Scrap the stinking article 351. It will stop the need of ‘Hindi cell’ in the organisations that have officers fighting on daily basis to discharge their duties. The finance also may stop questioning the spending on Hindi citing funds crunch. The need for the fabrication of inflated records of Hindi implementation will not be there. Departments will not struggle to nominated people for training in Hindi. There will not be any fear of inspection by local or the parliamentary committee. The Hindi sign boards may not be blackened. The spending on Hindi Diwas and Fortnight etc. will be reduced.

Life will be easy, transactions shall be smooth. If a Bengali and Tamil speaking person meet in UK, they can speak in English. If they meet in Spain, still they can speak in English, why Hindi? When a Chinese Premier comes to our country, our PM can speak in English or Gujarati. If a person from Orissa visits Kanyakumari, he can speak to the tea vendor in English. If a person from Tamil Nadu goes to Hardwar for visit, he can try communicating to the locals in English. What big deal? Speak or not to speak is an individual’s decision, but please don’t make an official mockery of Hindi language in the name of national integrity.

So next time when one feels the need of those nasty means of insulting Hindi, please put the names of architect of the constitution on them or the names of union government at the centre. Don’t punish Hindi lovers for no fault of theirs!

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Honky Donkey!!!

I have my office in close proximity to my home as I am residing in the company’s township. I can really feel the joy of it. Not that my house is big enough or furnished to the level of star hotels but for the very reason that it is just near to my office. I have seen people struggling to reach the office. It is not the time that is important to them but the safety. Some drive for hours, some take a cab, and some use public transport but the threat on the road remains.

International Women’s Day

They say it is International women’s day (IWD) today, on March 8. One need not wonder what about the other days? Men should also not feel insecure about knowing or celebrating the IWD or breaking their head in finding the International men day. All days are for all the creatures in this planet which rotates on its axis that causes day and night which we count for 24 hours.

Yes, this is a special day for women (and men) as it is to celebrate the success of women in their respective fields and also to applaud the new areas the women are exploring and conquering. There is effectively nothing left in this world that can be termed as ‘man only’ domain which nature has not restricted. And that brings the needle of the gender balance to the middle.

However there is another aspect of such celebrations. What is the relevance and applicability of the seminars, conferences etc. organized on this day? Who benefits? Are the people attending them are unaware of those points highlighted in the talks? There need to be much more ground celebrations on this day. Especially among the poor, the tribal and the orthodox part of the world where the women are still struggling to get their due share of respect and equality.

On this day, let each one of us carry out an introspection on this day as to how much we have contributed towards the equality of women? At least to the women whom we are living with, to our sisters, our daughters and above all, the better half? As men we may not have much say on what goes through our mother or the sister but definitely, we are responsible to what kind of treatment we give to our daughters and wife. If we correct ourselves at personal level there, things will be definitely under balance.

 As far as the official scenario is concerned, there is a lot improvement required. But if we understand our responsibility and remain true to ourselves, there will be drastic improvement. Can we imagine a scenario where:

In office as the boss, we ensure that the women subordinates are treated equally without any prejudice.

• In public places we keep our eye focus on the women same way as we do it for men.
• In isolated areas we do not get the adrenaline rush pumping out seeing a lonely woman.
• We treat our daughter –in-law equal (if not better) to our daughters
• The police personnel nail the ‘crime against women’ culprits on war footing
• A pregnant woman is treated as Goddess.
• The worker class women are treated with respect and pride and not someone who can be taken for a ride, literally.
• The cases in the court bear priority tag with lawyers pushing for speedy justice.
• The mercy petitions for ‘crime against women’ are out rightly rejected.
• The administrators at local and district level see that the women applicants are given their due.
• The husbands share the household tasks equally especially the kitchen.
• The diapers of the kids are equally changed by the fathers.
• The fathers take care of the kids for a considerable amount of time.

This is definitely not a comprehensive list which takes care of the inherent inequality that is embedded in the system nor is the commandments for a balanced society. If anywhere we feel we fit in, let’s improve upon that area with the efforts that come directly from the bottom of the heart. That certainly will be a great tribute to the society (not women) on this IWD.

Image courtesy: Google

why we fight the wars ?

the humans are born to die, then why we fight the wars

these wars are cruel and ugly, they only leave the scars

the nature too kills many, by its fury via water and air

the diseases too are ready, to ruthlessly grab their share

every step is a chance of death, the life is a fallen feather

then why we fight the wars and why we kill each other

every moment there is an accident, every second there is a crash

every moment lives are lost and the bodies are in the trash

then why we fight the wars, when we don’t live in peace

when we don’t have certainty, any time we may rest in peace

lets open options for life, lets close our options for death

the human life is most precious, count on every breath

Angel on earth

Beauty that the Mother Nature offers to us is just awesome. People visit the places blooming with flowers and the greenery and feel elated. My friends visited places rich in natural beauty, natural resources, flora and fauna, this New Year.

But I was at home. The reason was quite simple. I have a cute little daughter. And  One of the greatest gifts I’ve ever gotten is my daughter (Ace Frehley). Probably others have not carefully noticed their little ones smiling, but when my daughter smiles, I feel that there have been flowers blooming all around.  As she walks slowly and cautiously on the while tiles of the house, it appears as if I am visiting the Antarctic area with Penguin walking to reach me in its unique style.  She laughs and it seems that the small pearls inside her little mouth will beautify the entire surroundings.

As David Duchovny says and I too agree that “The happiest moment of my life was probably when my daughter was born”.

She calls people around with names she is slowly taught and it appears that the sweet voice of cuckoo is making the environment delightful. Her playful actions, her crawling, her standing and falling down, her rolling, all comes like a delight pre-programmed by the Mother Nature to soothe the eyes and souls of the parents and the onlookers. Why one need to go to temple when the Almighty Himself has descended in the form of the daughter.

That is one of the reasons why I rush back to house after work. As Hugh Jackman mentions, “When I come home, my daughter will run to the door and give me a big hug, and everything that’s happened that day just melts away” the same is true for me too. I may be bit cruel but sometimes I feel pity on those who either do not have any daughter or do not spend time seeing the angel growing up. No amount of money gathering exercise can replace this wealth. Once this phase passes away, no matter how many million dollars one invests he is not going to get anything back.

A daughter makes the life of parents special and that is nothing less than an achievement!

(The above write-up is in response to the request by one of my close friend and a well wisher)

New year Resolutions

As New Year arrives people tend to adopt many resolutions and try to follow them. The number of resolutions may vary. Some feel they are too perfect to make any resolutions, some do not believe in waiting for a new year to make resolutions. Some make a single resolution and see that they follow it throughout the year and also thereafter. Some have a list of resolutions which they try to attempt and succeed in few or all of them.  Some make a resolution not to make any resolutions.

why do I come here?

why do I come here?

to quench the ever-growing longing of literary orgasm

to extinguish my burning desires

to satiate my greed of scholarly wisdom

to let the greats interact with

to let the knowledge show its power

to remain acquiescent

to drink the nectar seeping out of conversant souls

to submerge

to drown

to let the ocean of intelligence release the tsunami

out of the volcanic eruption of the convoluted brains

why do I come here?

to realize the supremacy of the inner self

to convey, to communicate, to connect

to discover and get discovered

to learn how to avoid being offensive

to take away things what human want

to stay human!

Death-the ultimate truth

Death is the only truth in life. This is very true statement. We all think that we are living to enjoy, to prosper, to achieve fame, to accumulate wealth, to rule the world etc. etc. but the fact is that we all are living just to die another day.

…Should we help others?

contd….from earlier part

Sitting on a railway platform and watching the arrival and departure of the trains is the best pastime one can have. At least for this, one need not have the smart phone or the internet. Since you don’t have to catch a train, you can sit relaxing, perhaps sipping a cup of tea and watch passengers rushing for their seats. The hawkers, the porters, the movement of trains, all make it a carnival like atmosphere around. I enjoy this dynamic atmosphere a lot.

Should we help others?

This straightforward question started troubling my mind when I encountered a situation which is quite common for all.

Recently I had to go to the railway station to pick up my wife as my happy days as forced bachelor were coming to an end with the arrival of my wife from her mother’s place. She always insisted on me picking her up from the station. Possibly she wanted to read my expressions on encountering her after a lull. But I am doubly sure even if the expectations on the expressions were not up to the mark she is not going to catch a return train back home in any case?