What Men have made of men?

The title has been inspired from the poem, Written in early spring, by William Wordsworth. Man seems to have crossed the threshold of being human and has become so much cruel. This poem is my reaction to the increasing abuse and rape of women, who most deserve love, care and affection.

I write this with a sense of disbelief

and a feeling of amalgamated shame

My thoughts are smeared in grief

with a tinge of anger flame

 

How can you be proud of a nation

where women get misrep

In the chart of social evolution

we have been taking a toddler step

Mankind is now a misnomer

for Man has stopped being kind

and these thoughts around my mind hover

to help protect nature's best find

Man has shed his human-ness

and set the beast let loose

Strong laws and quick justice

how long can we afford to snooze?

If you say its the attire

that makes a man instigate

In all the sense of satire

I wish you a better fate

We kill her even before she plays the game

to every mother's sigh

We forget its the men to blame

who gave the X and wh'Y'

Lets do something to make them feel abash

and resort to deal them tough

I wish God could use a cache

and punish them quick enough

We have waited more than we should

and we cant do it longer

It's time we join hands and stood

against men who are less men and more ogre

lets spread the love most sought

and help her as she is shaken

let's all sit down and give a thought

and let the humane feelings reawaken

As this poem draws to an end

I hope men stop being sick

I ask for their ways to mend

to every tom, harry and DICK

-Sayee Balaji

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A day at Wharton

Last Saturday, I had the opportunity to go to Wharton to attend the 17th Indian Economic Forum. The speakers for the day were big names from various spheres that drive the Indian economy - Politics,Healthcare, Education, Infrastructure and Media( in the order of how they should be ). I was very keen on listening to each of these speakers and what ideas they have to shape our tomorrow. The first session was Arvind Kejriwal's. He spoke with passion. He had ideas. Not sure if those ideas are going to work. A political circus that India is today, where most of the show is run by animals and jokers trained to wiggle and act at the swish of a whip...having ideas and a futuristic thought is commendable enough. A chunk of the audience felt his ideas are just vaporware and might not address the problems to be tackled. I am not too sure about this. Being part of the race that mocked the Wright Bros when they said they would make flying a reality, I am not too worried. I'd rather let the misanthropic feeling gracefully sink in. Kejriwal spoke of how his party would function like a corporate( in terms of efficiency, not motives) and how measures would be taken to address some critical problems at the grassroots level. For one, no one has tried to take this level of granularity in addressing an issue. And if they were to work as planned, I'd look at them as harbingers of change and development. Whether Kejriwal would be able to survive the alligators of corruption-drenched politicians and dynasty leaders as he swims through a pseudo democratic India, remains to be seen. We have waited all along choosing between the devil and the deep blue sea. I wouldn't mind waiting for this.

The next session was Montek Singh Ahluwalia's, the deputy chairman of the Planning Commission of India. An Oxford grad he is, he was good with this speech. But I felt his goodness stopped with the choice of vocabulary. He didn't really explain why India is performing poorly compared to the other countries. He didn't really have a solution for the future. There are 2 types of planning that one can do. 'Plan today for today' and 'Plan today for tomorrow'. Then there was his, 'Plan today for yesterday'. What I mean here is, he seems to be someone who takes remedial plans than trying to do things upfront. I call this, 'Pizza Planning', where you can just work for a Margherita and then add the required toppings towards the end and still getaway with it. Might taste good, but good for health? Maybe not. What I am asking for here is a home cooked meal. He is after all , the chef of the planning kitchen and I'd expect him to know this.

Keeping up with the food topic, the next session was lunch! Was decent. Pasta, wraps, brownies and juice. Need I say more?. The session to follow was on Private Equity and Venture Capitalism. This is when I started to realize I was in Wharton, but I wasn't in Wharton yet! I stepped out for a walk rather than force myself to google every word of what they spoke. This turned out to be interesting. I saw several police officers lined up at the gate. Turns out, there were a group of protesters outside the building voicing against the decision of the Forum to un-invite Narendra Modi for the conference. The protest was a surprise to everyone out there,even the cops. The protest was done in Gandhigiri style, distributing hot gujarati food packed in lunch boxes! I accepted the box with a grin and started to "venture" into everything that was in it. My own version of venture capitalism.

The next session was on Women empowerment and Shabana Azmi just had to be there. The talk was good and this is a no-brainer. Women empowerment is very essential to our nation and we should do whatever it takes to root out female foeticide/infanticide, dowry and differential treatment. No country can be called developed, unless Women have equal opportunities. Gender has no role in dichotomizing rights. From what I hear and see, I think its getting better each day. So, let's keep up with that.

The next couple of sessions to follow were on Healthcare, Education and Infrastructure. Not all aspects were touched. But the ones that were debated, I feel the panel did justice. Healthcare is the backbone of any country. Our problems are complex. We have multiple problem statements. We need to transition from paper records to electronic health network on one end, and we need to first make healthcare accessible to 57% rural India on the other. We need to promote and boast about medical tourism that's been on the rise over the last few years and we need to tackle the high rates of malnourishment among rural children. We might have to do this together, each of us taking different goals and meeting them. This should be the way to go for the future. Education - Things that I learn, I want to know why and how, not what, when and where. We need to prepare our societies to encourage children to follow their passion and this could become a reality only when all the avenues have enough job opportunities. In other words, we need to become a 'Hobby friendly' job market, where people could pursue jobs in the field they have always loved. Infrastructure - Can you please stop building makeshift flyovers and save us the embarrassment from other nations as it breaks down? Can you help me get home quicker and less stressful so that I have better time to spend with family? Open questions, answers lie somewhere.

The last session of the day was Media. Javed Akhtar, Shabana Azmi and Boman Irani on the dais. Was entertaining and had the biggest audience. Shows how much people love them and how much responsible they should be, as an instrument of Indian democracy. They debated films and journalism. Nothing can be perfect. But I feel we are in fact coming with good films these days. No point in going brouhaha over the bikini scene in a movie or a bad song lyric. Not a utopian world. Let's look at it as a choice basket and we are free to pick ours. Journalism has two sides again. I am seeing liability and accountability on the rise with news channels questioning more and more. But on the other hand, we need to stop having Aishwarya Rai's pregnancy as a flashing news headline. We also need to stop being stupid in live telecasting police operations( 26/11) and think about the nation before channel TRPs.

Healthcare, Education, Infrastructure and Social Health are the key pillars that will shape our future. We need to plan to orchestrate these instruments well and create a wonderful song, that is India!All these seem to be pieces of a giant jigsaw puzzle. But I am hopeful we will be able to put them together. After all, its a billion hands working on it.

Thanks,
Sayee

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The disappearing red tribe

Less pay, people starting to travel light, ramps and travel friendly bags all have a reason for their dwindling population. A decade or two ago, they were the sultans of stations. They were the go-to guys to know which train would arrive on what platform. “When in doubt, ask the porter” was the unanimous mantra followed by all travelers. Draped in soiled red shirt, a lungi or pant depending on which part of India you are and a towel wrapped around the head as a turban to ease the weight of the luggage, the porter was a very known figure among every traveler. For Rs.20, he would carry your bulging luggage( perhaps moaning about its weight which is almost half the traveler's) from your seat to the taxi or rickshaw stand outside the station. A porter was also the fastest creature in the station . With all that weight on his head, he would still be twice as fast as you and would sneak between people to reach the destination happily waiting for you.

This 5 minutes is quite a challenge. You would have to keep a track of where he is so that you don't lose him or more precisely, your luggage. The deal to fix a price to hire a porter is interesting in itself. He would start off with a quote to which you would instantly disagree and convince him of how the distance is not too long and the luggage isn't that heavy either. Makes me wonder why we need to hire a porter then!! After several rounds of negotiation and him narrating the plight of his family, you finally agree for a price. He wraps the turban on his head, bends a little and places the luggage on his head, hangs one over his shoulder and carries one in his hand. There have been several times when I have felt sorry for the guy, especially when his age looks unsuitable for this job but he has to do it to win bread for his family. The porter is also a very intelligent man. Some say, he can even guess all the items in your bag just by lifting it! That may be too tall a claim , and most of us would tend to disagree. But without him, traveling around the station would have been a hassle.

When you travel in trains these days, you see very few porters around. The ample display boards everywhere tell you which train arrives in what platform and when. Samsonite and the likes have made the phrase “ sliding your luggage” more meaningful than “carrying it”. Ramps have replaced staircases in several stations making our job all the more easier. I am not trying to put the entire red clan in good light. I have heard about theft of luggage by them. Some even get into a bad argument if you don't agree to their price. While these are totally unacceptable, I feel sad for the ones who are good but don't find customers for their living. They are the ones who have decided to carry your weight to carry the burden of their family. All they might earn each day would be close to two hundred rupees. We all fall prey to the exorbitant ask by auto-wallas. Some of us fight back, while some yield. It might be worth giving the red clan a second chance.

So, the next time, whenever you travel, hire a porter and support him. All I ask is for you to “Carry” this thought as you travel.

P.S : This post was not in exchange of a free service by a porter. Except my laptop and my coffee mug, there is no personal affinity with the color red.

Thanks, Sayee

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Unique 'Rail'ationship

Last week, I took a train from Chennai to Bangalore and what you are going to read for the rest of this post, is about my love hate affair with Indian Railways. Travelling on Indian Railways is a life in itself. The public sector is so intertwined with our culture and way of life that it goes a step beyond helping you reach places, to teaching you the art of living. If you have read enough philosophy books or have even quickly glanced at the italics under the title of every chapter, you know this important lesson : Never give up! If you have booked a ticket through IRCTC, the online reservation system, you know exactly what I am talking about. The website has been carefully designed to test the patience of Indians and give the fruit of success to the one who survives through it. Hindusim says, "Only if you commit a sin, you take a birth. Else you are given moksha". Well, IndianRailism says " Only if you commit a sin( agents/bribe ), you get a berth. Else you are given ' Website not found / Server Error ' ".

The joy one gets as he breaks out from the cocoon of IRCTC is beyond words. Not the height of joy, but the person becomes so tired and tested along the way, he loses the power of speech. "Never give up" doesn't stop there. It is a very powerful mantra uttered by all senior folks, while at the ticket reservation counter, hoping to get the lower berth. The poor senior folks have climbed enough, that they don't want to take that ladder again. More on the Hinduism-Railism parallelism later. Back to my trip. I sinned, so I travelled. If you ever want to see a place with over 10 thousand people, bustling with activity at 5 am, come to Chennai central. The next challenge - Make your way to the correct platform. It isn't really a challenge to reach the correct platform. But it becomes one if you have just about 10 minutes before the train departs. Challenge taken and job well done. Engine chugs. Train departs. All trains are not the same. Some are fast, some are slow. Some are on time, while some are consistently late. Some pamper you with food and beverages, while some treat you as yet another mere mortal. The one I took is fast, is on time and serves food.

Ever since I was a kid, I used to love being on the trains. I love to watch the passing towns, villages and paddy and I love waving to the kids, mostly ending up getting a similar acknowledgment. If you travel general class, you can sense the real India. Back to Religion-Rail parallelism now. "Men are of several kinds, shapes, sizes and smell. Treat everyone with love and care". Well, not quite. I am not sure how you can love a co-passenger who comes in with 10 over dimensional luggages for a family of 3. How to love a co-passenger who is loud or burps louder. How to love someone who stares at you the entire journey without a smile, as if you are a convict who has just escaped from prison? My current journey did not have any of this. But, have experienced these before.

In a cabin of 8 berths, you have 8 different characters. Some keep munching all along. A real issue comes if you have a lower berth and you want to go to sleep. You can't unless all the others go to bed. And if you are an early morning person and if the person on the middle berth is a travelling salesman sleeping with the disgusting stincking pair of socks, good luck!. You have to adopt, what is taught in Yoga as the C curve posture. Because the middle berth cannot be brought down yet, and you have woken up because you had nothing else to do, you have to stick your head and legs out, while resting the middle portion of your body on the seat. You do this until that person gets up, or if that doesn't seem like a near future event, you just go back to sleep. You will then be frequented by beggars and hawkers to lessen the weight of your wallet.

Remember, most of these journeys are long. So, when you travel with family or friends, you come prepared with some games like cards or snakes 'n' ladders to kill the afternoon boredom. As a kid, I always wanted to step out of the train during stops and scare the hell out of parents by not boarding back till the train starts to move( Actually, I would be twice scared. Just that we tend not to show it! ). As you do all this and finally make it to the destination, you come out a whole new person. You have met new people, seen new things, heard different languages and even tasted different food. All this just over a train journey. This is the love I have with Indian Raliways. It gives you a new experience, every single journey.

As a kid, we used to travel a lot between Mumbai and Chennai. Reaching Chennai, I used to love the auto-rickshaw( Madras autos are brighter yellow and also sound more). I use to love the merry go round ride on the Gemini flyover and I used to love the first cup of filter kaapi on arrival. This time, When I returned from Bangalore, I still enjoyed and loved all of this. It is good that some things in life don't change. As they say, you love it or hate it, you just can't ignore Indian Railways.

-Sayee

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