Serious Men, by Manu Joseph, is the winner of the Hindu fiction award for 2010 and that was the main reason for me to buy that book and give it a read.
And it turned out to be a classic. The writer has done a fantastic job in portraying the rise and fall of men through his vived characters which are woven beautifully in a deep and complex plot. The author has done a fantastic job as far as detail is concerned, whether in his description of the "Chawl life " of Bombay or in the portrayal of a thirty year woman falling in love with a near to retirement institute director.
The book attempts to explore the feelings of love, lust, envy, success and hatred and the characters have all shades of people out on the streets. The contempt towards Brahmins by the Dalit Ayyan Mani is one of the major themes the story seems to carry, how a Dalit views the world, ruled and controlled by the high class Brahmins and their white creamy women. The fascination for admiration and success has been beautifully portrayed by his ten year old son, Adi, who bluffs the whole world by faking to be a genius, by saying things like, " I can recite 1000 prime numbers, I find them interesting"
The author has made a brave attempt in portraying love and betrayal through the characters of Opurna and Arvind, and to his credit, the steamy romance between them is one of the high points of the story. Women are described from the viewpoint of desperate men or men who do not have time for women, and hence the book is heavily ladden with cheap thoughts of men fantasising about women, their dresses and so on. The way in which he describes the obstacle a newly wed couple faces in a Bombay Chawl to make love is both hilarious and brutally raw. A ten old year old son waking up in the middle of the night and asking his parents that what they are doing, he is not allowed to do with the girls of the Chawl of his agegroup, is so innocent, yet so sarcastic, I could not help laughing.
Serious Men is an engrossing read, provided it is read with the mindset of the characters it seeks to offer. The book is written in an easy and lucid manner and provides a fascinating experience of human emotions through it's plot and characters. I would recomment it for those who love complex personalities and those who can refrain from judging persons as good or bad, right or wrong.
Showing posts with label Opinion. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Opinion. Show all posts
Friday, December 3, 2010
Thursday, November 25, 2010
Win Some Lose Some
It seems weird, but somehow I feel that the last two months have perhaps been the longest of my life so far. I have never ever learned so much about myself. The entire world has gone topsy-turvy. Change is life, and being the change, is perhaps as challenging as climbing Everest. I have learned that all change looks good, only if we are not paying for it or we are not asked to change. Changing mindset, habits, idealogies, values, priorities, is a challenge that can only be won by scholars in quest for fiction. Life, sadly, is lot more complex and change is only a sub-system of our priorities and value systems, for the reverse case is a distant possibility.
I have learned this the hard way, but have I really learned my lessons? Life is an unending war, with battles waiting to define our success and fall. You win some, sometimes you lose.
I have learned this the hard way, but have I really learned my lessons? Life is an unending war, with battles waiting to define our success and fall. You win some, sometimes you lose.
Monday, April 5, 2010
School Chale Hum
Congratulations India!!
Better late than never and even if it ranks as 132th country to do it, India has finally notified the Right to Education as a fundamental right. The move acquires an immediate significance as it promises delivery of Education to the one of the poorest and the biggest adolescent population of the world.
This is a bold move, one with the potential to change the destiny of this country of over a billion people in the coming two decades. Our politicians and leaders need to applauded for backing the RTE and passing this historic legislation, only to reminded of the fact that this is just the first milestone they have crossed in a tortous journey, which will only get tougher in the days to come. For the moment, Mr Sibbal and his team can afford a bright smile, so can the teeming millions of Indian kids, out there in the villages, towns and cities of India.
Sadly, passing a legislation on a sensitive issue like Education is not the solution as most of us think.
The Primary Education sector in India suffers from mammoth issues like:
From where will these million teachers come? Why any bright professional will venture into teaching profession with salaries lower than that offered to a class 4 "sarkari peon"? How will we ensure that tons of thousands of crores of public funds meant for our future generations are not eaten by the moth of corruption?
How are we going to ensure that girls won't drop out of schools that don't have a separate ladies toilet?
These are tough challenges to tackle and require every bit of committment from every stakeholder, be it the politicians, or the bureaucracy, the teachers or the school administrators, the parents, the kids, civil society, NGO's and nonetheless me to ensure that the gift of oppurtunity reaches to each and every kid of our country in the name of Education.
N R Narayanmurthy studied by a lamp-post, Dr Kalam studied in a village government school, and why to go far, my father did his own primary schooling in a tribal school. Narayanmurthy has given India and every Indian a global recognition, Dr Kalam has tutored India to follow it's dreams and my father has educated me to be a good human and stand on my feet.
The onus is on us to extend a helping hand to the Murthy's and Kalam's, the Manmohan's and the Raman's , the you's and me's , waiting for that lamp post, that village school, that oppurtunity.
Let's teach them a new poem, " School Chale Hum, School Chale Hum"
Better late than never and even if it ranks as 132th country to do it, India has finally notified the Right to Education as a fundamental right. The move acquires an immediate significance as it promises delivery of Education to the one of the poorest and the biggest adolescent population of the world.
This is a bold move, one with the potential to change the destiny of this country of over a billion people in the coming two decades. Our politicians and leaders need to applauded for backing the RTE and passing this historic legislation, only to reminded of the fact that this is just the first milestone they have crossed in a tortous journey, which will only get tougher in the days to come. For the moment, Mr Sibbal and his team can afford a bright smile, so can the teeming millions of Indian kids, out there in the villages, towns and cities of India.
Sadly, passing a legislation on a sensitive issue like Education is not the solution as most of us think.
The Primary Education sector in India suffers from mammoth issues like:
- Accute shortage of quality teachers and high teacher absenteeism
- Lack of Infrastrucutre in Govt Schools
- High drop-out ratio of over 50 % and more so in case of girls, either due to social customs or lack of financial resources
- Only 7% share of private sector in primary education, as it is non-profitable in rural areas and non - affordable in many tier 2 and 3 cities
- Official corruption and red-tapism
- Minimum Infrastructure to be provided has been mentioned as a legal requirement
- A minimum qualification for the teachers has been prescribed, which they have to attain within 5 years of their joining the job.
- Absenteeism over 10% will lead to official action
- 25 % of the seats of all private schools for class 1 have been reserved for children of economically weaker sections of the society
- Huge huge investment by the Central and State governments over the next 6 years amounting to approx 4 lakh crores to be spent on education
From where will these million teachers come? Why any bright professional will venture into teaching profession with salaries lower than that offered to a class 4 "sarkari peon"? How will we ensure that tons of thousands of crores of public funds meant for our future generations are not eaten by the moth of corruption?
How are we going to ensure that girls won't drop out of schools that don't have a separate ladies toilet?
These are tough challenges to tackle and require every bit of committment from every stakeholder, be it the politicians, or the bureaucracy, the teachers or the school administrators, the parents, the kids, civil society, NGO's and nonetheless me to ensure that the gift of oppurtunity reaches to each and every kid of our country in the name of Education.
N R Narayanmurthy studied by a lamp-post, Dr Kalam studied in a village government school, and why to go far, my father did his own primary schooling in a tribal school. Narayanmurthy has given India and every Indian a global recognition, Dr Kalam has tutored India to follow it's dreams and my father has educated me to be a good human and stand on my feet.
The onus is on us to extend a helping hand to the Murthy's and Kalam's, the Manmohan's and the Raman's , the you's and me's , waiting for that lamp post, that village school, that oppurtunity.
Let's teach them a new poem, " School Chale Hum, School Chale Hum"
Friday, January 8, 2010
In Conversation with..... Part 1
The last few days have been quite exciting, and I have had some really intersting and enriching conversations with my friends.
I am writing the extracts here for future reference, for they are quite engrossing and may lead to a better clarity in my thought process.
On Reservation with Ananya Sri and the afterthoughts
I am writing the extracts here for future reference, for they are quite engrossing and may lead to a better clarity in my thought process.
On Reservation with Ananya Sri and the afterthoughts
Reservation to the SC, ST and OBC as provided for by the constitution of India is an issue which needs a matured relook and solution. Is the sacrifice of merit justified? Or, to be precise, does providing reservation to over 50 % of the population of the country, majority of which is under-developed, help in imparting social justice or strengthen the caste and class divide in our society? Is the provision for reservation a political weapon, or an essential component of the Indian democracy?
The fact cannot be denied that majority of the members of the reserved category have been exploited for ages by the dominant upper castes.
Also, the Indian government has been told by the Directive principles of the state policy to create social and political justice in the society.
Few intellectuals advocate providing reservation to the under privileged on economic criterion. Practically, this is not possible, for there are 500 million + people in India who do not form a part of the economic workforce, and stats can be manipulated by the remaining 600 million.
I as a member of the unreserved category, have seen my merit being under mined by the policy of reservation. If I look at the bigger picture, I see some sense in the policy of reservation, for we need to reduce in equalities. But then, it has been 60 years since independence, and yet, the situation has not improved much. Has the pain of losing on merit by a general candidate gone waste when he sees the benefits of reservation being exploited by generations of many of the so called reserved classes?
Or, if I as a candidate of the reserved class use the benefit of reservation, why does the state not make it my responsibility to seek social upliftment of my community, why does my child need the same qouta which got me a job, why?
Who gains here, and what?
Both the general and the deprived masses are on the losing side, yet, hold each other responsible for the outcomes of the reservation policy.
I am not sure, how are we going to eliminate the evil of caste from our society until such policies hold ground.
Monday, December 7, 2009
Freedom Struggle Revisited-Revolutionary Terrorists- An Intellectual Quest-Part 1
In a message from the death cell, Ramprasad Bismil had appealed to the youth to give up
" The Desire to keep revolvers and pistols, not to work in revolutionary conspiracies and to participate in the open movement"
A die-hard communist, a rebel, a revolutionary, appealing people not to emulate his own path, why?
Going through the pages of the most reverred factual acount of the Indian struggle for freedom, by noted Historian Bipin Chandra,I was dumbstruck when I came across these quotes from Ram Prasad Bismil.
How can heores of our past debate their own stance so easily, did they repent the path they choose for themselves?
As I continued to read further, I came across one of the tallest figures of Indian freedom struggle, a young lad named Bhagat Singh. I was amazed to discover that this fellow had quite an apetite for books, and even at the tender age of 20 years, he was a giant of an intellectual.
His political ideology was shaped significantly by three things:
" The Desire to keep revolvers and pistols, not to work in revolutionary conspiracies and to participate in the open movement"
A die-hard communist, a rebel, a revolutionary, appealing people not to emulate his own path, why?
Going through the pages of the most reverred factual acount of the Indian struggle for freedom, by noted Historian Bipin Chandra,I was dumbstruck when I came across these quotes from Ram Prasad Bismil.
How can heores of our past debate their own stance so easily, did they repent the path they choose for themselves?
As I continued to read further, I came across one of the tallest figures of Indian freedom struggle, a young lad named Bhagat Singh. I was amazed to discover that this fellow had quite an apetite for books, and even at the tender age of 20 years, he was a giant of an intellectual.
His political ideology was shaped significantly by three things:
- The Jalian Wala Bagh incident, which showed him the naked nature of British Imperialism
- The taking back of Non-Violence Movement by Gandhiji when the movement was in it's full swing, which demolished his hopes for a free India at the prime of his youth
- In depth readings on Socialism, Communism, the Russian Revolution, Marxism and Capitalism
Before his arrest in 1929, Bhagat Singh had abondoned his belief in terrorism and individual heroic action. He had turned to Marxism and had come to believe that popular broad-based mass movements alone could lead to a successful revolution.
Prior to his execution, the great Indian rebel, wrote to his young political workers:
"The real revolutionary armies are in the villages and in factories.
Apparently, I have acted like a terrorist. But I am not a terrorist.Let me announce with all strength at my command, that I am not a terrorist and I never was, except perhaps in the beginning of my revolutionary career. And I am convinced that we cannot gain anything through these methods."
Few weeks before his death, he wrote an article, "Why I am an Atheist"
I would love to grab one copy.
And what did the word revolution meant for them:
The draft of the famous statement of revolutionary organisation HRSA, THE PHILOSOPHY OF THE BOMB, co-authored by Chandra Shekhar Azad, Yashpal, and Bhagwati Charan Vohra, defined a revolution as:
"Independence, social, political, economic, aimed at establishing a new new order of society in which political and economic exploitation will be an impossibility"
Are we anywhere near to this colossal definition?
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
5 Past Midnight in Bhopal
03.12.1984
Something happened 5 past Midnight in Bhopal, the capital of the Heart of India, Madhya Pradesh which left it's most bloody imprints on the face of mankind.
The Bhopal Gas Tragedy.
03.12.2007
I was in the final year of my engineering in NIT Bhopal, when I heard the name Warren Anderson, seriously, for the first time in my life.
Out on the streets of Bhopal, there were ghostly creatures, for they looked too special to be part of the same brethren of mankind to which I belonged. One fellow had joined limbs, another one had the face that would have given the Marsians a run for their money and what not.
Yet, they had that peculiar syndrome of mankind, pain, agony and disgust.
Something happened 5 past Midnight in Bhopal, the capital of the Heart of India, Madhya Pradesh which left it's most bloody imprints on the face of mankind.
The Bhopal Gas Tragedy.
03.12.2007
I was in the final year of my engineering in NIT Bhopal, when I heard the name Warren Anderson, seriously, for the first time in my life.
Out on the streets of Bhopal, there were ghostly creatures, for they looked too special to be part of the same brethren of mankind to which I belonged. One fellow had joined limbs, another one had the face that would have given the Marsians a run for their money and what not.
Yet, they had that peculiar syndrome of mankind, pain, agony and disgust.
Anderson ko waapas lao, Anderson Hatyara Hai
Gas Peedeton ki Madad Karo
Bhopal awaits for Justice
It could have been you!!!
Gas Peedeton ki Madad Karo
Bhopal awaits for Justice
It could have been you!!!
Slogans such as these could be heard across whole of Bhopal, be it MACT square, Mata Mandir, Topn Town, Railway Station, Lake.
Stirred by curiosity, I turned to the doors of the sacred British Library of Bhopal for help.
And then, Eureka, I found it!!
Five Past Midnight in Bhopal, by Dominique Lapierre.
After I finished reading the book, I wished it was fiction, I was not ready to accept that it was not a Ghost story of our childhood, but a glaring account of the genocide of about 5000 innocent Indians by a corporate, and of the millions of survivors by the petty system of our country.
03.12.2009
The memories of reading about the Bhopal Gas Tragedy, meeting it's survivors last year in Bhopal, and the pathetic state of the government authorities in dealing with the whole matter remind me of the fact, it could have been me too, it's just chance that I was not one of them.
But Yes, today, I can be one of them, stand with them, for them, for myself, for our common shared future.
As a responsible citizen of India, I will strive towards bringing justice to the victims and ensure that the lessons of Bhopal are well learnt and we should lobby in favour of stricter safety norms for our industrial as well as civic safety.
And as an informed and active citizen, I will strive towards exposing and filling the loop-holes in our system.
Stirred by curiosity, I turned to the doors of the sacred British Library of Bhopal for help.
And then, Eureka, I found it!!
Five Past Midnight in Bhopal, by Dominique Lapierre.
After I finished reading the book, I wished it was fiction, I was not ready to accept that it was not a Ghost story of our childhood, but a glaring account of the genocide of about 5000 innocent Indians by a corporate, and of the millions of survivors by the petty system of our country.
03.12.2009
The memories of reading about the Bhopal Gas Tragedy, meeting it's survivors last year in Bhopal, and the pathetic state of the government authorities in dealing with the whole matter remind me of the fact, it could have been me too, it's just chance that I was not one of them.
But Yes, today, I can be one of them, stand with them, for them, for myself, for our common shared future.
As a responsible citizen of India, I will strive towards bringing justice to the victims and ensure that the lessons of Bhopal are well learnt and we should lobby in favour of stricter safety norms for our industrial as well as civic safety.
And as an informed and active citizen, I will strive towards exposing and filling the loop-holes in our system.
Monday, September 14, 2009
Healthy Terrorism!!
CASE I
I was going through an article on terrorism in Guardian, UK, and it stated that India loses more no of people to internal and external terrorist strikes than any other country in the world, roughly about 3000 civilians and soldiers.
The word terrorism figures as many times an intellectual drama is airing across tons of thousands of news channels, the new found delicacy of the aam aadmi.
The aam aadmi fears for his life, and the government promises to fight terrorism at every cost.
CASE II
Indian government spending on the country's defense and home security is a whooping figure, even by official figures, which make India the biggest international buyer of arms and military equipment.
Strategic experts have time and again pointed out the use of "third world" equipments by our armed forces. India has lost more than 100 pilots due to test-crashes, either because of failure or malfunctioning of the outdated Soviet flight equipments. It would be interesting to find out the total no of pilots or flights that have been crashed due to terror strikes across the world.
I wonder, given a choice, they would have loved to crash their planes on the enemy lines and glorify death.
The aam aadmi reads these headlines, and every tom, dick and Harry comments," Is Desh Ka kya ho Raha Hai", cribs at his government, yet we don't feel insecure by these accidents, neither do we feel at loss, until a dear one vanishes into the abyss of serving the nation.
CASE III
One article on Health Safety services in India caught my eye recently.The author, expressed languish over the fact that two people die every minute in India because of TB, that makes it 2880/day and nearly over a million deaths per year.
The combined toll of Malaria, Diarohea, Cholera, AIDS, is way over the total population of some countires of the world.
Surprisingly, the public expenditure on the health sector was merely 0.6 % of the GDP in 2005.
The NHRM, a central government health care mission, aims to raise this spending to 2% of GDP by 2012.
In a country of over a billion people, more than half live under one dollar a day, those who cannot, succumb.
But the aam aadmi is helpless, he is himself fighting corruption, inflation, joblessness and many more evils. A middle class family income generator spends his life trying to secure his/her family, forget the rest.
So what to do?
Blame the bloody government, the selfish petty politicians and sleep in peace.
What does the government do?
Announce awesome plans, allot funds, and make sure that everything never falls in place.
When every argument fails, both the government and the aam aadmi blame the involvement of a foreign hand:
Terrorism!!
I was going through an article on terrorism in Guardian, UK, and it stated that India loses more no of people to internal and external terrorist strikes than any other country in the world, roughly about 3000 civilians and soldiers.
The word terrorism figures as many times an intellectual drama is airing across tons of thousands of news channels, the new found delicacy of the aam aadmi.
The aam aadmi fears for his life, and the government promises to fight terrorism at every cost.
CASE II
Indian government spending on the country's defense and home security is a whooping figure, even by official figures, which make India the biggest international buyer of arms and military equipment.
Strategic experts have time and again pointed out the use of "third world" equipments by our armed forces. India has lost more than 100 pilots due to test-crashes, either because of failure or malfunctioning of the outdated Soviet flight equipments. It would be interesting to find out the total no of pilots or flights that have been crashed due to terror strikes across the world.
I wonder, given a choice, they would have loved to crash their planes on the enemy lines and glorify death.
The aam aadmi reads these headlines, and every tom, dick and Harry comments," Is Desh Ka kya ho Raha Hai", cribs at his government, yet we don't feel insecure by these accidents, neither do we feel at loss, until a dear one vanishes into the abyss of serving the nation.
CASE III
One article on Health Safety services in India caught my eye recently.The author, expressed languish over the fact that two people die every minute in India because of TB, that makes it 2880/day and nearly over a million deaths per year.
The combined toll of Malaria, Diarohea, Cholera, AIDS, is way over the total population of some countires of the world.
Surprisingly, the public expenditure on the health sector was merely 0.6 % of the GDP in 2005.
The NHRM, a central government health care mission, aims to raise this spending to 2% of GDP by 2012.
In a country of over a billion people, more than half live under one dollar a day, those who cannot, succumb.
But the aam aadmi is helpless, he is himself fighting corruption, inflation, joblessness and many more evils. A middle class family income generator spends his life trying to secure his/her family, forget the rest.
So what to do?
Blame the bloody government, the selfish petty politicians and sleep in peace.
What does the government do?
Announce awesome plans, allot funds, and make sure that everything never falls in place.
When every argument fails, both the government and the aam aadmi blame the involvement of a foreign hand:
Terrorism!!
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