Bharat Ratna, not for commoners

Government of India announced the Bharat Ratna to be conferred on the former Prime Minister Mr. AB Vajpayee and late educationist Pt. MM Malviya. Up till now India has conferred this prestigious award to 45 people of which 26 have been active politicians rest were renowned people who contributed to arts, science and social reforms. Six of our Prime Ministers and four of our Presidents have been honored with Bharat Ratna.

I have no reservations regarding the choice of recipients but for the criteria and process. First, why is it so easy for the politicians to qualify for the awards where they never seem to qualify for awards sponsored by any non-government or International committee? Whereas the Bharat Ratna awardees besides the politicians have many such acclaims to their names. Second, if this is the way to express our gratitude to our politicians who have toiled hard to make us a nation then the awards should be rechristened to Raajneetigya Ratna for them. Third, we are a nation of 1.2 billion and does no common man has the ability and contribution that can make him a Bharat Ratna.

Strategically the selection committee should also consider the people from amongst the common man who dedicate their lives to the social cause. Rather it prefers to select from amongst the recognised faces, with its reservation for politicians. People who work without garnering media attention have no or rather lean possibility to be a Bharat Ratna. If I may say, a person living in Patna who chooses 30 unprivileged students and coaches them to be a part of the prestigious IIT’s, is he, not a Bharat Ratna? International media appreciates his efforts, but here in his own country government makes no effort to recognize him. Or Bharat Ratna is not for the common man?

The award is presented in “recognition of exceptional service/performance of the highest order" or in "any field of human endeavour."  How many of our politicians fulfill this criterion? Owing to several reasons the dignity of the awards is challenged in the past. However, the award still holds an honor and an effort to encompass the common man into its fold will encourage the spirits of people who invest their lives for human upliftment. Let's not make it a feather that glorifies the cap that is already adorned with the Padma awards and several others.

Learning to unlearn

He rubbed his eyes yet could remember nothing or recognize the place. It seemed to be a huge hall with no walls, or rather he could not see them. The hall was illuminated naturally and a inexplicable soothing sensation was grappling him. He could not correlate his arrival or the place? His body was responding to the innate rhythm of the surroundings, he never felt so invigorated. His mind assessed the same way, he appeared to be drifted from the routine complexities. He assumed to be acquainted with the routine complexities but retrieved none. Now, he murmured, the alienness was getting on him.

He saw another man walking up to him. His excitement waned as the figure draw closer; how would he communicate, he did not know his language? The stranger gestured at him and asked him who was he? He got perplexed as he could not decipher a word of what the stranger said, yet, he responded. The stranger too looked bewildered but appeared contented with the answer. It was unfathomable for him to converse with this complete stranger at an absolute unknown place in an incomprehensible language, yet they were understanding each other.

Their conversation got interrupted by the two beings who looked well acquainted with the milieu. They smiled and asked him and the stranger to accompany them. He asked them,"who am I, where are we, who are you?" The escorts giggled and replied,“this happens every time you come here. You forget everything, who are you, where are you, what is this place? But, no sooner than you go back to the earth you remember everything. You remember all the differences with your fellow human beings. You vent your lives in retaining and exploiting these differences. How you do it when no other creature coming from the earth does this?“

One of the escorts bored his eyes on to him and said, “both of you are being killed on earth in your own homes called ‘countries’ by the people of each other’s ‘nationality’. Tell me, can both of you distinguish yourself from the other? Before we arrived, you were conversing in an ancient incomprehensible language that binds all the souls. But, on the earth you learn the new languages and get separated on the lingual basis. Here you are elated to see a stranger and there you get suspicious.” Then he turned to his mate and said,"they rob us off our wits. The way they are differentiating it seems something is round the corner. You remember the holocaust time? Earth is such a beautiful place, their activities have made it difficult for us to visit it.”

Mortals protecting the Immortals

‘I sense it’s time for us to leave this world’ said Krishna with his ever enigmatic smile.

‘Why?’ retorted Amirani.

‘Because this is not the world we desired, our children are pitching each other in mortal peril,’ said Krishna.

‘Good lord! that’s only because they love us, and fighting is a signature of struggle for existence since ages. Since when has war become a sin? I do not expect this of you,’ asserted Amirani.

‘Yes, you are right fighting manifests the spirit of life, but consider what are they fighting for?’ said a forlorn Krishna. ‘They are belittling life, abrading the elixir out of it. Fighting for subsistence is commendable, but fighting for us is not vindicated, whom they interpret as per their perception. They are superfluously drowning us in this blood and gore. I inspired them to cherish life, live it and leave it. The morons are wasting their lives in protecting us. They are trying to protect us from humans, the mortals. They can’t bear nature’s wrath but claim to protect God, the immortal.’

‘They are ignorant, but amid all they love us,’ squeaked Amirani.

‘No, they don’t. If they loved they would have loved all my creations. They are scared of the doomsday inferno and these imbeciles believe by eulogizing me they will dodge it,’ squirmed Krishna.

‘Oh! but where is the hell and what inferno?’ said Amirani.

‘That’s the disparity between human and God, they punish we do not. They allied us with sacraments and ethnicities. Sometimes I ponder if they learn that Gods do not wage war with each other, they will make us resign. Will fashion another God who acclimatizes to their convictions,’ said Krishna with his notorious gleam back in his lotus eyes.

‘You have decided something ain’t you? What is it?’ questioned Amirani.

‘Nothing, only that we are leaving. Yes, we are no more entailed. Humans have vested all their energies, compassion and love in protecting the effigies. Let them live with them. If their beliefs are true they will endure, prosper and raise themselves to be the new Gods. However, if their path is iniquitous they will pay for their deeds, we still can’t save them, it’s the law of karma,’ said the rising Krishna.

When ostracized norms are accepted

My mother often tells me about the abundances and scarcities of her childhood and the transformations over decades. She also educates me about the arrogance of social hierarchies and the cohesive society configuration of those times. I scorn those traditions of untouchability and ignorance, but what bewitches me is the practise of ostracising families owing to misconducts. The people ostracised the family and condemned anyone maintaining associations with them. This instilled fear and responsibility in people to practise righteousness.

Today we do not witness such customs of ostracising families due to misconduct. If this had been prevalent I wonder what would be the structure of today’s society? I don’t know when exactly this tectonic shift in ideology took place? But, we evolved into a benevolent society that embraces fraudulent, slayer, rapist and adulterous without a frown. People retain their respect and dominance in spite of being known for stashing money by dishonest means. Such dominance can be experienced in families where such rich relatives gain respect and influence over pertinent issues. A ridiculous example is the pursuit of a groom. A low salary is accepted only because ‘ooperi aamdani to hai hi’.

Incidents of atrocities against women are mounting and have become part of our lives. Women are unsafe within the fortifications of our homes and situation is doomed outdoors. Their silence is expected to uphold the family’s dignity and perpetrators take liberty. Affluent fraudulently usurp common people’s hard earned money yet, continue to enjoy the privileges of society. Society has also accepted the adultery though under wraps. It might be audacious, but we granted these laxities in the social structure owing to our lust for monetary advancements. Had we been the same old ‘primitive’ people who preferred banishing than befriending the immoral, we might have not evolved materialistically.

Accepting the ostracised has not unleashed the pandemonium. But an incorporation of such predispositions into the social fabric has certainly accomplished the task. We chose to accept the unlawful and look what mayhem we have entered?

There are no villains

A significant accomplishment of one and a half decade of 21st century is one world, one civilisation. One civilisation because people are unanimously aspiring for a model style of living, thus shrinking the world. Besides the increase in inter-continental citizens, the most threatening emerging course is the revolutionary movements gobbling the ethnicities. The scenario becomes grim as most of the third world countries that harbor a majority of the population are infested by them. The most prevalent protests are to protect the religion or the human rights. In spite of the ever increasing global communication, the global community is making inadequate efforts to cure the unrest. They are left like an open wound to rot and aggravate the emergency.

The rationality of these armed uprisings is debatable, but the conviction behind them is not. They are categorised as militants by the opponent but are saviours in their dominion. Adversaries paint them as assassins and followers as crusaders, masses are massacred in the name of revolution and oppression. Everybody is fighting for a cause and prosperity of their people. However, if the world is full of diversities, then nobody can be convicted as people have assorted intentions to support their cause of action.

People are suffering the brunt of these wars that gives sufficient thrust to understand the nature of the protests and bring them to an agreeable end. The only caution required is that the ideology breeds in thoughts that conquer numerous imaginations so to curb it by brute force is futile. Ideological warfare needs logical prescription. One needs to believe that human life has no value, but humanity is valuable. Every sacrificed human life wanes humanity as it asserts the persistence of preponderance by the human, on the human.

Sacrifice of a soldier or a suicide-bomber, in both the cases a character dies defending the purpose of its people, he is a martyr in his own expanse. The sufferers are the people associated with him. The offender is the inability to regard all the humans to be equal thus giving birth to this disparity that culminates in violence.

Empathetic professionalism

“His father was on death bed but he chose his commitment for work. He finished the presentation and then went to attend his father, the following weekend” bragged by boss with the gleam in her eyes. She was fond of my this colleague for his docility and boss is always right attitude. But there was more to it than what my boss told us, an example of perfect commitment and professionalism. “Every inch of me protested, and I wanted to leave but did not. I could never say it and the boss knowing about papa ji never asked me to go. I had to design her presentation,” said he with moistness enveloping the repentance of not mustering the courage to voice his requisite. He disconcerted between the relevance of the work and people. 

What is professionalism? People put their personal predicaments aside to facilitate profession; does this qualify to be professionalism? Some people advocate it and the rest of them make it self-obligation to prove their competence. If this is professionalism, then what about the emotional indifference dissipated by it? We need to understand that person and profession are counterparts; they should support each other than compete for dominance. Before establishing such example of professionalism, please contemplate about the relevance of laying such a legacy.

Professionalism should bring discipline but should not become an instrument to rip us off our empathy.