satyamev jayate!!

Aamir is an amazing man! I think, I missed the word 'actor' in the last sentence. Obviously, that was for a reason. He could have lived his life without thinking about creating a TV program named 'satyamev jayate'! But, he did. More than that, he didn't just restrict his act by thinking. I am not in the right position to judge his activities, but I see 'greatness' in him. Not a lot of people at his position, would do something he did. I would like to address him as a very 'determined responsible human being'! I'm inspired by what he has done as a social commitment to the country. There might be people who had sacrificed more than he did, there might be people who is still working much harder than what he is doing, but the kind of influence he can make in areas like this will be tremendous. 

I think, there is a reason for such a big praise from my side. Let me expose some personal secrets. I was almost thinking the same thing he is doing right now. 'Make the people see the world!'. It looks like he is doing what I have imagined in my life. When I am at a very high level of ego,self-respect and pride, I used to imagine of things I could have done. That thoughts had a lot of 'what ifs'!( What if I could hire an auditorium and invite people to hear my speech, in which I could explode my thoughts on life, ethics,self-righteousness  and selflessness. ) What Aamir is doing is much more effective( Yeah, no one can survive my ego and pride, as what others call!!). As a citizen of this country, I was disappointed by the way many people and things move around here. I was disappointed by many things I have seen and more than that, I have seen people who are desperately trying hard to hide from those realities. I wouldn't say that being a selfish man is a crime or a little unethical behavior is going to be a crime, but does it really hurt me if I choose to do things which might not come under my responsibilities, but still  I choose to be responsible(obviously, if I could). 

I am not always right and when I watched the first episode of 'satyamev jayate' TV show, I was stunned by hearing the stories of female foeticide in India. I couldn't think of how immature and selfish those people are. I do not think that they can just remove those people from our country, our only choice is to educate them on 'how to love and feel'. I feel pity about them and it must change by any cost. They do not need punishment, they need help. Help to save themselves from their own blind eyes. I honestly, believe that a lot of areas requires this kind of help to get motivated. May be, this program can bring some differences.

I know, there are people who would say that 'we should adapt to our situations'. But, I believe that we are the cause of these situations and sometimes, getting adapted is more like avoiding responsibilities. We have our choice and I believe that Aamir has chosen his. I do not know whether this initiative is going to be a grand success, but I honestly wish if it could. I seriously doubt whether this video will receive as much views as the "kolaveri" song had received. This is not entertainment, an entertainer doing some serious stuff. Life is not always about entertainment, accept it! support it!

Sincerely,

Raghu

Can you demotivate me?

A small story of a demotivated kid!! When I was small and immature, I had an experience. It was a time when I was doing 7th grade or something. Me, my dad and some others were in a discussion about some random subject and at some point, we were discussing about the area/diameter of a circle and an old man asked me something like this "Have you learned about circle in your school?". With all due respect, I said something like this "Of course not, but I know the formula of the area of a circle". He began to criticize me, as if it is my mistake that the area of a circle is not included in the syllabus of a 7th grade student! He 'demotivated' me with some harsh and provoking dialogues and at a point he asked me a question, "Are you getting angry at me?". I should have acted weird and survived with a smile. It is a fact that it had affected me a little, as I still remember that incident even after 10 years.  Today, I'm 'big' and mature(ahem!!) and I have a different policy (it can be wrongly interpreted as a survival policy). As far as you believe that 'you can't be nothing', no one can demotivate you for any reason.

Actually, is there something called 'motivation', 'demotivation', 'negative' or 'positive'? Everything comes under the category of 'facts'. I am a pathetic singer and I have no problem in admitting it (preferably by not singing. Why should I risk your comfort?). There are a lot of things in which I am not confident about, admitting them seems to be a good idea rather than giving others unrealistic expectations. Now-a-days, I can see things like this in our media. Let me take an old example( I should have used this example before. Pardon me for not being updated to media), when Indian cricket team was going to Australia for tournaments, the Australian team captain will probably come up with a fight with words through the media. The Indian captain responds, coach responds, or may be even the sweeper in an Indian cricket ground may respond which will eventually help some journalists to have their food. But, why would he(Indian captain) respond to such issues? Even if there were no record of an above average performance in Australia, the Indian captain would respond like "We will thrash Australia" and probably they would get thrashed by Australians, which will be food for the entire media for months! I know, I am a little pessimistic, but pessimists seem to be truthful. If you are confident of your abilities, be a pessimist. Indian captain should have shut his mouth and gave some surprises to Indian cricket fans when they get back. With no expectations, a small victory can make a lot of effects.

If we watch closely, you could see people who would demotivate you with your surroundings. There was a friend who used to make comments on almost everybody, who have a different native place than his place. The comments will be about your area or their behavior or their culture etc. "Oh! Are you from 'abc'? People of that native won't behave good in public". He deserved a lot of punches on his nose! Why can't you just ignore him? If it was me, I know that I always have a choice to be different from my surroundings and I always have the choice to behave good in public even if I am coming from a place where people who couldn't behave good in public. I definitely do not have the responsibility of my native place's behavioral habits. The point is, they are just playing with your confidence and if you fall for it, you have just lost one good opportunity. The confidence plays a major role in what you are. Sometimes, 'demotivators' are some people who are desperately trying to outsmart you with the knowledge or skill they have. You will have your unique knowledge and skills too.For every single human in this world, the skill and knowledge he do not have outsmart the skills and knowledge he have. So, there is no point in getting demotivated by those desperate people, no one can outsmart you in being you! 

NB: You can follow me if you are ready to fall on a rock on your pointed nose, just because you ignored a very valuable, logical and intelligent 'demotivation'!

Sincerely,

Raghu

Me and the Jan Lokpal bill

I've been promoting the Jan Lokpal bill in my buzz and facebook for a while. Later, I came to realize that I've no clear idea of what this bill can do in this country. This thing is really making some move over the internet anyway. The reason behind my promotion is a fact that I really like to see the demolition of corruption from this country. As far as I see, Jan lokpal does have something to do with it. I was astonished to see the number of promoters for him in the internet. It was more like a new game is being released in fb. But, beyond a joke there is something good in such a move because there were still communities posts like finding 0s in a huge number of 1s or like if you support a stupid thing or else comment if you support another stupid thing other than this.

It is some kind of nice to believe that people who are so 'busy' doing such things really cared to respond in such issues. I believe that the number of participants will be higher if the real idea of making such a bill is properly communicated among the public. At present, I do not know whether I really support him or not as I came to hear some astonishing criticisms from some other people. I can't make a decision just by seeing a website over the internet who helps to write emails to the prime minister. Today, when I just searched about the bill over the internet I came to see an article which says that it is unconstitutional and dangerous. (read here)

I'm not against the bill for sure. The real victory of Anna Hazare is not in making the government accept the bill, but it is in making changes in the pessimistic thoughts of a large number of people who believed that 'one man can do nothing' in this country. I've seen a lot of people who say rubbish about Indian politics and politicians and I couldn't exactly go for a debate as I couldn't find a solid reason to believe in the opposite way. This is a part of an Indian dream for many of the Indians and it is definitely positive. I was thinking about a small push that could change the entire country and the Jan Lokpal Bill might be a beginning of it. No matter what happens by the bill, I am confident that it will never make things worse.

Sincerely,

Raghu

A world cup for patriots!!

I'm writing this post just because I came across a little serious discussion with my friend about the subject cricket and patriotism. Actually, I have a feeling that we are playing a lot with emotions rather than we play cricket in our country. I have already written my views about the sportsmen in this blog(read here). The current trend in sports is definitely not healthy to us. I have heard that "Cricket is a religion in India!" ! I regretfully hate to hear that, because it affects my view of religion as well! The way we give priorities to the things we do in our lives is little weird! Unfortunately, it applies to me as well. I like cricket(mostly watching)! We are moving beyond the limit of the game.  If cricket is supposed to be a religion in India, it is not supposed to be called a 'game'!

What is so special about cricket? I do not know! Cricket has grown too strong in our country, very strong! A game need not be this important to us. At the same time, other games are almost completely neglected. It is pity to hear that we couldn't manage to find a descent football team from our 1 billion people. It is heard that BCCI is rich! richer than ICC! It makes a lot of money from the cricket fans. It will be advisable to promote other sports through the money of this 'little over enthusiastic cricket fans'! All sports are equally important! Everyday, I am noticing some of the most important comments about cricket in the social networking sites. When it come to cricket, there is some sort of patriotism in everybody's mind. But, game is just a game and we should never give this blend of patriotism to it.

A few days before when India won against Ireland, I said "Ireland has played really well!". I was trying to be honest! Being a team which has just entered into the cricket world, it was a very fair performance! I liked the performance and tried to appreciate it. But, some of my friends didn't like it(a few others liked it though!!). I received a tweet mentioning me which included some sort of patriotic words in terms of cricket! And today, I saw some other tweets that mixes the British history with Indian cricket team (an appreciation to Bangladesh for their victory against England!).Do Indian cricket team represent us? If so, it is time to interfere! Some people(including me) believe that BCCI has failed to find one more specialist bowler for our team and if you can do something, you must act now! As far as I know, I do not have much to do about it! :(

Let's take the patriotism into focus! What is patriotism? The love towards one's country! There are much more relevant patriotic heroes in India who deserve a little more appreciation than what they are receiving, soldiers who died for our country! A life is worth a million times more than a century in the field. I know, they are not so good in being exhibitionists or glamour freaks, but still they deserve some appreciation. Give priorities according to the relevance and after all, cricket is still a game!

NB: What if I could stop using Indian flag and the name of the country from the team jersey, in my view it can be used for much more sense-making activities.

Sincerely,

Raghu

A teacher's responsibility!!

A few years before, I made a terrible mistake when I was riding a bike. I did something which might cost me my life. It was a funny incident also. But, whats relevant is not what I did but what I have learned from it. A man watching my weird act responded something like this "Who taught you to drive?". It is a funny fact. I did a mistake and the one who is blamed for my mistake is the teacher who taught me.I was too young and too immature. I was not permitted to drive that bike as I never had a license at that age. But, from that day onwards, I considered 'teaching' as the most responsible job in this world. I was disappointed to hear some words from my friend "Responsible job? What is special in it? Just go to the school, come back from the school and that's it! It is just an easy job!"

I still remember some words of an another friend saying "Look at your marks, man!! If you continue like this you will end up being a 'school teacher' or something!". It was a time when I nearly stopped learning anything (studies) and my scores proved it and for that lazy, irresponsible fellow, my friend offered a much sophisticated  job, teaching!. It sounds like a joke to me now!! For the last few years, I've been a fan of a guy who said that teacher a stops learning when he gets his job. I believe that he is right but, that is not the way it should be. Actually, no one can ever stop learning anything from their lives. There is something to learn when you sit idle at your home doing nothing. How can a teacher stop learning anything from his life? The only curse of that profession will be a very wrong belief that teaching is the job for those who can't learn efficiently. If I look at some more examples, I've seen people people who has tried for a job for a long time and ended up being a teacher! The most senseless decision! Teaching is a smart job which requires talent and knowledge. If you believe that you are not talented or a bad student, never go for the teacher's job. Students can make jokes about you (I really meant it, you will become the 'sardarji' of that school!)

Everybody is a teacher in this world. No one can predict how we inspire or influence people around us and we are unknowingly following the path of a teacher. But, teacher has got a much more complicated responsibility. In my native, there is a teacher who is well renowned for his 'entrance coaching'. He began a school for coaching students. In his view, a student should learn at least 13 hours a day to make his future safe. Unfortunately, I was also a student of his coaching center. He was very strict and harsh to his students. What disappoints is not his strictness but his ill-mannered harsh words that was being used during his torture   of his students. I haven't met him because I rarely went to the class and stopped going there after one year. I heard a lot of stories about his manner from my friends at that time. If it was today, I have a plan to react against him. I will use the same harsh ill-mannered words in-front of him by saying that he is my role model of my life. I'm a student for the last 17 years of my life and with such a long experience, I made a decision about one thing, I will not let my child go to that coaching center for any reason. A teacher is supposed to be a role-model or a guide for his students. In some aspects, some teachers are like this, they will turn out to be the villain of the story and they will  teach a very important lesson by saying "you should never do like this!". I've seen a lot of them in my life.

Some people believe in one thing 'Strictness is the only way to success'. Some parents are proud to say that their children are studying in the most disciplined school of the area. In my personal opinion, that doesn't matter. In my view, discipline is the outcome of knowledge and wisdom. So, it is better to search for a school that provides knowledge and wisdom rather than running behind strictness. When I became free to think and decide, I never thought of any discipline from my old school or college but, I've heard of some people who says that I'm disciplined. Whatever I learn, I am doing what I like to do and such an activity does not have anything to do about discipline! For me,the words 'self-analysis', 'self-realization', 'wisdom', 'knowledge' etc made a better sense than the word 'punishment'. Education is supposed to make sense to our lives not to destroy its purpose!

I think, I've written somewhere in this blog that 'media acts like a teacher to the society!'. Lets make an analysis!! I've seen a movie called "Race" in Hindi. It was a thriller with unexpected twists and turns! It was my friend who recommended it to me.  I really enjoyed it. Today, I have a different thought. Every movie is supposed to have a message for his viewers and the message of that movie is really weird. The story is about two brothers. A brother cheats the other and killed him and in the climax, the dead one came back and killed his brother(Sorry, I forgot a fact that even their wives did the same as well). Everything was so negative! It was a good example of how a brother should never be. That movie is doing a teacher's job and whatever we learn from it the responsibility rests on its creators! Lets take another example. Rajnikanth movies movies have a usual flow. I've watched Sivaji a long time ago. During the intermission, the story was that, Sivaji has turned to nothing from a very high condition and he had just 1 ruppee in his hand. After the intermission, he changed the whole scene with that single coin and destroyed the evil power(villain). What is the message in his movie? Whatever happens in life a man can win anything if he have a good heart and determined mind. We cheered for the "Race" and we considered Rajni as a joker(Rajnikanth jokes are spreading very fast through our mobile phones,isn't it?) Rajni's movie might look like a cartoon movie but, I respect the message he conveys. So, the point is simple. You cannot blame your teacher for everything, what you learn depends upon what you extract from their lessons.

Sincerely,

Raghu

NB: I highly recommend a movie "school of life",  directed by William Dear regarding this subject!

Defining humanity!

A few years before, when a train accident happened in Kerala, people were talking a lot about the helping mentality of some fishermen who helped to save a lot of lives. They got a lot of publicity from the media. I value their efforts! I value their dedication and I was proud of them until I happened to watch a program in TV where a fisherman abused a renowned paper for not publishing and congratulating their efforts! It may be a unique fisherman but, I do not believe that I should expect some publicity by wearing a mask of humanitarian! If I could meet him now I will ask a simple question “Are you ready to die for publicity?”. Today, it feels like he is not completely wrong! If someone believes in his own efforts and commitment towards the others, they deserve some reference and appreciation! But, humanity is supposed to be a part of every human in this world but at present, it is not! Yesterday, I heard about some news about a lorry which killed 2 men which is then driven away without even a mind to provide them proper medical support!

Humanity has nothing to do with selfishness but, inhumanity can’t be defined without selfishness! A humanitarian need not be an unselfish person! If I happened to see an accident and gave some more priorities to my car rather than helping them, I am inhuman! It is a usual case now-a-days; I have seen it in the movies and life! I got just one thing to remind them! They need not pray to god for any help from anyone if they are in the same condition because, you do not deserve to get help! I have seen people who used to call humanity as foolishness! I remember some words from an acquaintance “A wise man will not go for any help!”. I still do not know how he defines “wise” but, that wise man will never make any sense to me! Is it better to be selfish?

In this world, people are getting used to learn from experiences! It is just like they are waiting for some things to happen for taking a better choice! Until it happens, everything is just a game! I have seen a photo in the news paper recently! In that photo, there are 4-5 people who are fighting hard to take pictures using their mobile phones! It seems like they are in a fight to get a perfect shot on something! I astonished to read the description which says that they were trying to take a photo of a man who is fighting for his life under a bus! Rather than helping him, people are interested in taking his photo! This is not a unique incident! Recently, I saw a report about a bus accident which killed about 10 people in Kerala. A newspaper reported the pathetic condition of ambulances and fire forces who were trying to reach the incident area because of the crowd which is assembled to take photos of the bus which is nearly destroyed by the accident. What is human intelligence? It was not a Hollywood movie stunt; it was an accident where many people were fighting for their lives! What is common sense? They learn only if their or their closer ones are in trouble! How many of them remember our pledge? “All Indians are our brothers and sisters”, isn’t it? Every Indian should be your brother or sister and it makes us relatives! Let patriotism do the work..

About humanity of different regions, I always used to notice that our rural areas are still strong in spreading love! When I was in Delhi for a small trip, a car driver told me about a fact in Delhi “You will be dead if you can’t walk into the nearest hospital after an accident. Don’t ever believe that someone is going to help you to get there!” Why is it applicable to Delhi only? Delhi is a metropolitan city and it seems like it is cursed by this ‘insane mentality’ which can be applicable to many other cities also! If we consider villages, they are a lot better than cities! At least, they will get you some water to drink! Does intelligence and knowledge make man crazy and selfish? I just want to say that knowledge or intelligence need not be a barrier to show humanity!

After a long analysis, it feels like I should support people who wear the mask of a humanitarian today. At least, they did what they are supposed to do even though they aim publicity as a result! Media is doing a lot of work to reveal such incidences and I must appreciate their determined effort! I can’t estimate their result but, they are trying to make some sense! Humanity is a special word which is applicable only to humans because we got brain and intelligence! We are not humans if we can’t find humanity among us! If I honestly consider it as a truth, it is already time to count the number of ‘real humans’ rather than counting the number of tigers in India!!

Faithfully

Raghu

How to provoke a war?

How to provoke a war? This post is going to reveal the ways in which a war can be provoked! A few years before I got a dvd of the movie "The Alexander" and became a fan of him. I even created a community for him in orkut(It had nearly 800 members).Recently, I saw a movie "schindler's list" and deleted that community at the very moment!! After seeing that movie, I can't be a fan of a man who loved wars!! Today, I hate Alexander.!! A war is not what we see and hear from TV or newspapers. The real story is always bad! I know, I am not eligible to say something like this but, I used to write what I never used to say or do but, what I really like to do.

A few months before I saw some comments about India-China collapse in facebook. I was really surprised by the attitude of Indians who commented there. The discussion was about Chinese activity against India. I was really astonished to see some 'forbidden four letter words'(I know, I need not explain) which may inspire any Chinese citizen to take gun against India!! Some of them were calculating the amount of armour and the number of soldiers available in both countries, some others believed that Chinese army is much stronger than ours and even analysed the war will be over after some serious kicks on Indian side(A three letter forbidden word can also be used instead of "side")!! For that comments I commented that a Chinese soldier is always a "Chinese" soldier and beyond quantity we give priorities to quality. But, I added one thing "We have our pride and we should not provoke a war as our army is just for defence!". Once, my cousin told me about a great fact in Kerala. "The most outstanding firework in Kerala's point of view will be a firework which creates louder noices! We never used to face wars or anything of such sorts. It may be the reason why we like this tremendous violence!!". It is right.. We are away from dangers of war even if we are nearly facing a war against pakisthan. Sorry, I would like to make a small correction in the above sentence "I am away from...." . We used to hear a lot about wars in India. But, one thing is clear, none of them affected me.

If a war is going on in Kashmir, I would say "It is in Kashmir, we are far away from it!!". (I know, our capital is not so far from Kashmir). I do not know why this happens but, I consider this as India's fall in unity!! But, when it comes to entertainment, we have a strong unity between us. (Especially in sports.). I used to notice that we have a separate page for sports news in newspapers and every incident will be reported in detail regarding the game. But, I have seen a small column of news which says about the death of a soldier in Kashmir due to enemy gunfire. But, when it comes to a soldier of native state, the priorities may differ. I think, we should not give different priorities to different people in India as everybody is 'Indian Citizens'. So, a person like me in Kashmir who has seen enough war may talk different things regarding a war. If I am responsible for provoking a war, it will be a disaster to some others. I would like to remain in peace whatever the condition is.

The reason why I deleted the Alexander's community was a movie "Schindler's list", which is a must watch movie for all war lovers in the world(A must watch movie for George W Bush). It was a heart-breaking picturization of Nazi's cruelty against jews. No one is expected to watch that movie unless you are ready to sacrifice at least one night's sleep!!

Everybody likes to live in peace and we should maintain it. But, in some conditions, I used to feel that a mentality for a war can be seen in many people around us. My college used to face a lot of problems regarding seniors and juniors where our principal used to remind us that "We are cultured people and fighting in streets like this is an animal nature" and some scenes in discovery channel and animal plannet reveal that many animals are violent in nature. But, we are humans and we have a god given gift "brain"!! So, we have to prove that we are using it! A war is not a problem solver, it is the problem creater as we are inventing a lot of tools and equipments of unimaginable power using the unimaginable power of brain! None other than us used to have such great power!!

I figured out something from the movie "AVATAR" recently. Actually, the people in "Pandora"(Sorry for everyone who hasn't watched the movie) were wiser and stronger but, they tried to live a life closely related to their nature. I think, it is time to think like that. Animal fights were safer than the human fights!Human fights even destroyed a lot of animals as well.Imagine if a third world war begins and results in the human extinction. Imagine that we are in front of god who asks "I gave you brain to think, what have you done with it?".And at that condition, our probable answer will be "We fought and destroyed everything", which will be the most shameful thing in human history. So, we should avoid it.

I know, some of you are here to study 'how to provoke a war' through this post. Sorry for the disappointment!! But, this post is really meant for people who likes war and that is the only secret behind the title of this post.

(NB: This post is dedicated to Osama bin Laden and George W Bush!!)

Raghu.

An impression from our medias!!

I always used to feel that media is the strongest thing which determines the thoughts of a country. It is the best tool to spread the thoughts. I used to think about the real effects of our media. Media is the way through which we know the outside world. I feel like this post will be similar to a speech of our former president A.P.J Abdul Kalam. And I remember a lesson about his views in which he narrates the present problems of media. I accept that our media have done some remarkable work in charity, politics etc. But still, I feel that they are concentrating more on negative part of our country. I can feel a "business mind" behind every report.

Media is really exploiting our people's interests now. Just consider advertisements, I used to note the theme of every advertisement. If you watch closely, it is really funny to narrate. If the product is expected to be marketed for male youngsters, the theme of the advertisement will be concentrated on 'impressing girls'. For some examples: face cream, deodorant(axe),tooth paste, Buiscuits(hide and seek), sun glasses,soft drinks,clothing, engine oil (castrol) etc. Please do not get astonished to see the last example, now-a-days the only thing in the advertisement maker's mind is to 'market the product effectively' so that even engine oils can impress girls. If we consider female youngsters, the only aim of advertisers is to make girls believe that anyone can be a celebrity by using that product. If we consider some household products, the only aim of the advertisers is to make the viewers believe that their product can make anyone smart(Now-a-days even the whiteness of the shirt can make a child smarter or even sharper!!). Some of the health drink companies claims that their product increased the growth rate of children. I advice them to stop using it as it may lead to gigantism!!I guess it can happen, isn't it?

I do not know how far these advertisements are honest. I do not feel so honest about it as I fall under the category of male youngster and I am still single(okay, my next try is with some engine oils)!! And about my previous experience, I used to drink health drinks in my child hood and my mother used to wash my white uniform with some specified washing soaps which offers smart kids. But, I am at normal height with below average 'smartness'.

Let's move to cinemas!!! Recently, me and my friend saw the movie "Race" . I made a comment about that movie "The most rubbish movie I've ever seen". But, my friend didn't like it. He said that it is really a good movie as its story have a twisting nature and it is a good entertainer too. I accept that story of that movie is really exciting but, I cannot accept the message from that movie. A brother kills another brother, a girl friend cheats boy friend etc. are some of the incidents in the movie. I think the hero in the movie can be a 'virtual role model' to the enthusiastic viewers and at some condition, we do not have the power to discriminate real and fantasy. We used to adopt latest trends from movies and the present mentality of the people is not so far from the story of that movie. Media have the responsibility to avoid such possibilities.

About newspapers!! I used read two newspapers at my home. When budget was called in kerala, I was confused by the headlines of both newspapers. One newspaper says that "Farmers in trouble" and the other newspaper says that "Farmers at heights". What should I believe? Even though these two newspapers are controlled by different political parties, I must reach to a conclusion, right? And the condition in Kerala was really honest as in the second newspaper. The farmers used to reach the very high branches of trees to hang themselves to death! What should be the assumption of farmers from that news?

I would like to change the present condition of our country. I would like to create an advertisement of a tooth paste which says "We bring you a toothpaste which will be useful to brush your teeth". I would like to write a story for a cinema where there is no negative characters. I would like to start a newspaper which is not supported by any political parties. Just stupid dreams, isn't it?? Who cares all these things?? ("Whatever the condition is, we should stand with the majority")

"faithfully"

Raghu