They say failure encourages philosophy. Actually, the statement shuts a lot of questions which if rose would be difficult to answer.
The IAS result started many thoughts in my mind. I went to see the result with a friend who had earlier taken an unsuccessful interview for the same and I saw mostly gloomy faces and only few happy ones. Well, if I were to take the factor of result into consideration there would not have been much cause for concern for success is analogous to happiness and failure to sadness. But the fact that I wasn’t to be affected by the resulted allowed me a neutral viewpoint – an eagle’s view to the whole issue and thought in my mind, such that my mind could dwell on certain aspects that have hitherto, either escaped a lot of minds or have been unduly disregarded.
As I saw the faces around me, I thought to myself if there really was something that made a good administrator that the gloomy faces lacked . I could not fathom it. What I did feel strongly though, was that most of us are too result oriented (the consequence of the fast and competitive life these days I guess). I waited for my friend to react to the result (who was part of the gloomy faces) and he shrugged it off saying he hadn’t done well in the written and that the paper was tough. This I felt was ‘the hindsight syndrome’. When I look back at the exam I took for my present job, I feel it was easy. It is only when I think of my first attempt at the same that I feel it isn’t all that easy after all. Hindsight is a peculiar aspect of human character. It is, more often than not blinded by success / failure - the result. But something else that struck me, shook me. I was about to ask him as to what kind of questions were asked in the paper when it dawned on me that none of the questions that may have been asked were to be of any consequence in determining the requisite qualities required in an IAS officer as far as the nature of the job is concerned. Isn’t this an irony even with all the due consideration to the fact that the number of candidates taking the exam is overwhelming and given such a situation there has to be a way of straining out only as many as are required for the posts. So, at least the thing that emerges is that the initial emphasis is more on the quantity and not so much on quality. Is it that the organization is more concerned about selecting only the number of people required to fill in the vacancies and not so much on selecting the ones who are most suitable for the job? I say so since I am sure we don’t just want book worms or academic geniuses. Nevertheless, I feel, more strongly than ever, now, that in our country very often, immediate success and achievement is of greater prominence than aptitude or worth. Alternatively, if I may say, we judge ability by achievements. That is probably why for most of us ends matter more than means (anything else). Today Mohammed Azharuddin is not that great a batsman ( I wrote this in 1996) but just let him score a hundred in the next world cup match and he shall become one of the best batsmen once again (as he was when he entered international cricket). Prof Amartya Sen is a good economist because he has been awarded the Nobel Prize. Similarly, one would never have called Arundhati Roy a gifted writer had she not been nominated for the Booker Prize and then won it.
Anyway, just accompanying a friend to check the IAS results tuned out to be a revelation for me. Of course a lot of the problems in our country arise from our great propensity to produce children ( I wish we had this generosity elsewhere as well), but if everything were to be seen so deeply then our society is too frail to allow any satisfactory deduction and where all arguments and theories fail one maxim easily explains it all. NOTHING SUCCEEDS LIKE SUCCESS.
Monday, August 31, 2009
Thursday, August 27, 2009
MARRIAGE
For the majority marriage is but a ritual, a social custom. Only a selected few consider it a need (if it is one) and these are the ones who marry out of a certain belief.
The concept of arranged marriages as prevalent in India is so despicable. It is the greatest example of mental slavery, an attempt to force oneself into believing that, which otherwise one would vehemently oppose. Imagine two people who have just seen each other (and in many cases not even that) suddenly decide that they are going to be life partners, that they would be with each other through thick and thin. The irony though is that in India it works wonderfully well. It is as if a woman learns (or is taught) to reconcile to her fate whatever it be. I think in the case of India it may not be out of place to describe marriage as an institutionalized slavery of women.
The concept of arranged marriages as prevalent in India is so despicable. It is the greatest example of mental slavery, an attempt to force oneself into believing that, which otherwise one would vehemently oppose. Imagine two people who have just seen each other (and in many cases not even that) suddenly decide that they are going to be life partners, that they would be with each other through thick and thin. The irony though is that in India it works wonderfully well. It is as if a woman learns (or is taught) to reconcile to her fate whatever it be. I think in the case of India it may not be out of place to describe marriage as an institutionalized slavery of women.
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
KINDNESS
KINDNESS: A WANDERING THOUGHT
So true it is that those who consider themselves the virtuous are actually the most barbaric of all people. The kindness that we know of today is, to be blunt, a symbol of self- delusion. It is merely a practice of closing one’s own brain and submitting oneself into accepting others’ opinion and views consciously or unconsciously, by habit or by belief.
So true it is that those who consider themselves the virtuous are actually the most barbaric of all people. The kindness that we know of today is, to be blunt, a symbol of self- delusion. It is merely a practice of closing one’s own brain and submitting oneself into accepting others’ opinion and views consciously or unconsciously, by habit or by belief.
LO AND BEHOLD THE SMART INDIANS (2009)
INDIANS : WE GET WHAT WE DESERVE
Is there a national strategy? Grand Strategy? Heaven only knows. I was just wondering how the people, who matter, the Bureaucrats at the top and more importantly the politicians, plan the nation's progress. The thought started as I was reading the newspaper today and I carried the thought to a lecture I got to hear of an eminent economist on Budget 2008. We are often misled by what the newspapers write. The fact that today’s newspapers speak barely anything of the developmental aspects towards govt policies tells us a few things. Firstly, our planners are myopic. Nobody seems to be aware of and / or concerned of the national task at hand, or so I would believe given that we seldom get to hear of what is on with a particular govt project. If anything we get access to the verbal diarrhoea of our parliamentarians, anything but specifics on the project at hand. Just try to follow any project, say the Bharat Nirman for instant and you will know what I mean.
Secondly, our media does no better than to cover - who raped whom, who committed suicide. Where is the update on national projects? But all we read gives a rather gloomy picture of India. If this is true do we actually deserve a permanent seat in UN Security Council? The issues covered reflect also on what the common Indian likes to read. I think the papers ought to cover issues seen in periodicals like CSR etc. they should be of concern not only for IAS aspirant but to the common man as well.
But why is this so? Surely the literate bosses of the society are not blind. Just that they seem to have become rather insensitive to the need of the hour. Another aspect points to our national character. Take a look at the theme of the Indian movies and you will know what I am talking about. They give us what sells in our nation. They also show us a mirror – what the common man thinks, how he behaves and the more I think of it the more disgusted I feel for taking birth in such a country.
The root lies in education, awareness, and focus of the average middle class Indian that needs to change. This in turn is not possible without removing poverty. Poverty cannot be truly tackled till we tackle population - the root cause of all our worries. Do I hear a ‘that will make little difference, for, the psychology of the common Indian and his attitude towards life and society is something that will never change’?
Is there a national strategy? Grand Strategy? Heaven only knows. I was just wondering how the people, who matter, the Bureaucrats at the top and more importantly the politicians, plan the nation's progress. The thought started as I was reading the newspaper today and I carried the thought to a lecture I got to hear of an eminent economist on Budget 2008. We are often misled by what the newspapers write. The fact that today’s newspapers speak barely anything of the developmental aspects towards govt policies tells us a few things. Firstly, our planners are myopic. Nobody seems to be aware of and / or concerned of the national task at hand, or so I would believe given that we seldom get to hear of what is on with a particular govt project. If anything we get access to the verbal diarrhoea of our parliamentarians, anything but specifics on the project at hand. Just try to follow any project, say the Bharat Nirman for instant and you will know what I mean.
Secondly, our media does no better than to cover - who raped whom, who committed suicide. Where is the update on national projects? But all we read gives a rather gloomy picture of India. If this is true do we actually deserve a permanent seat in UN Security Council? The issues covered reflect also on what the common Indian likes to read. I think the papers ought to cover issues seen in periodicals like CSR etc. they should be of concern not only for IAS aspirant but to the common man as well.
But why is this so? Surely the literate bosses of the society are not blind. Just that they seem to have become rather insensitive to the need of the hour. Another aspect points to our national character. Take a look at the theme of the Indian movies and you will know what I am talking about. They give us what sells in our nation. They also show us a mirror – what the common man thinks, how he behaves and the more I think of it the more disgusted I feel for taking birth in such a country.
The root lies in education, awareness, and focus of the average middle class Indian that needs to change. This in turn is not possible without removing poverty. Poverty cannot be truly tackled till we tackle population - the root cause of all our worries. Do I hear a ‘that will make little difference, for, the psychology of the common Indian and his attitude towards life and society is something that will never change’?
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