Recent Democracy of India

In baby steps, since independence the Indian democracy has created history and evolved to better represent its 1.4 billion citizens. Not all these changes have been necessarily positive or beneficial to the country.  Yet, true to the proverb, “Every failure is a stepping stone to success”, India’s multiple failures have evolved a bureaucratic resiliency which few understand. Imagine the headache that goes into governing a billion people, ethnically, linguistically and culturally as diverse as the African continent. The bureaucracy and civil society needed to sow the seeds of commonality and unity amongst their eclectic citizenry. And in turn with the cycle of time, these citizens recently banded together as a cohesive whole, to force their government to implement a popular change in a corruption bill. Anna Hazare, a gandhian(follower of Mahatma Gandhi) and soldier of the Indian army was just a leader. He was not an idea, or instrumental. The reaction of the people and their ability to see a common cause, their ability to coordinate with other Indians is what made the strike a success.

No success can ever be attributed to one party alone, and the Government of India deserves credit. Throughout history we have seen cases where democracies often repressed popular movements by force or just turned a blind eye. India today is not the India of the mahatma. The idea of an old man on a hunger strike could have been met as a publicity stunt. It could have been shunned. That did not happen, the people reacted and their leaders took notice. For whatever petty or magnanimous reason the government despite its initial stoic position, effected change.  This is where the bureaucracy comes in. Rapid discussion between the protestors and government agencies resulted in a change of a drawn bill. All this happened in 92 hours. Quick decisions and reactions such as these indicate that despite the dreary bureaucracy in India, certain matters can be handled fast. 

It also shows that the democracy is attuned to popular demand. Individual bills do not need just the support of the members of parliament but the people. The media ensured this (Anna Hazare) voice was heard by effectively spreading the idea and protest of a relatively small group, all over the nation. If I am to be pessimistic about India’s future role as a global power I will always add India’s democracy to its greatest strength. India is aiming for global power status not in the next twenty but in the next ten years. As the hyper economic growth of China, starts cooling and the median age of the Chinese worker starts rising, I expect China to overheat. From there, India will have an edge. India’s democracy should allow for the creation of positive policies and allow social tensions to be dispensed through the mechanisms of freedom and liberty. At this I’ll close with another analogy. China’s economic policies has largely emulated America’s leading to a lot of similar socio-economic problems. What has India done?

The genesis of amazing

Say you are a person granted certain amount of god given talent and intelligence. Say, you want to use it to make an impact on the world. How do you go from being just a college student to becoming a personality shrouded in glory and promise? How do you convince yourself to choose the road of extraordinary, when the well trodden path is so well lit, familiar and comforting? People have different ideas of success both qualitatively and quantitatively. To me, success is a lot like sex. Most, want it a lot when they have never had it and the desire burns out with age. Others never have the slightest inclination for it. A few, for better or worse are always addicted to it. There is nothing wrong with this diversity in people. Still, if someone wants to do better and yet does not out of some preconceived fear or idea, then there is something wrong.

There are many ways to emulate leadership but only one true way to actually be a leader; by example. On the other hand, there are many ways to actually inspire greatness. The best way I know is by drawing from the work of others. Inspiration in this way, works a lot when you really need to get something done but just don’t want to. Say you want to study and test out of Physics during spring break. You are also in Tennessee and really want to have a lot of fun with your friend and his family and friends. So during the day, you learn baseball, football, go hiking and travel to the museums, the Biltmore and enjoy some Deep South cuisine.  During the night, you plan on work and some sleep. The long fun day tires you out and by the time you try to study, you just can’t. 

Yet you must, but why? Just to test out of a class you can just as easily take and get an A? Why do you want to do so much more? Sure you have reasons but just then you really don’t give a damn. That’s where inspiration comes in. See I have some music which I keep just for these times. These were the music that I always listened when I had tough work to do that I eventually succeeded in completing. A little bit of Invictus (the movie) or a chapter from Letters from a Father to his Daughter, Long Walk to Freedom and The Freedom Writers Diary does the job just as well. The best part is the analysis I can do: what does all this brainwashing trigger in me? It reminds me of what I have done and what I have left to do. It pushes me forward by reminding me of the promises and possibilities of the future. Boundless optimism to just get the work done! This is the genesis of my amazing! And don’t get me wrong, I pretty clearly haven’t done anything amazing yet. The amazing thing is that someone can push themselves to try to do amazing things by just putting their thought in this perspective. Unlike getting an assignment done or studying for a final the night before, there is no inherent fear of risk behind this burst of effort. So is this a weird way to think? Maybe but I have to be a little weird to be where I am. Any takes?  XD

End of the Quarter Personal Abstract of my Life (EPAL)

And its time that I get my blog to myself again. English 110 has taken its space but I do not consider writing another blog post as I have reached my quota. I plan on returning to my regular blogging, so if anyone feels obliged to remove themselves from my blog list please do so. I will not notice or take offense. That said my first blog will be about how this quarter seemed to be one of falling standards and bitter conflicts.

The first one unnaturally enough was incited by English 110. I have never taken a long term structured course and the anomalies of the same language in the United States presented challenges different from the ones I am used to. I must say that I am happy that the course is over, but also happy that it has imparted me with an appreciation of the writing style in this country. Standards also fell to an extent academically as I seem to be losing the idealism that had buoyed me in the beginning of my American Saga. The prospect that this “adventure” is growing old is frightening. The mistake I seem to be making is that I am failing to notice the wide range of change that happens to my life every day.

The positive of this quarter were primarily two folds. I have discovered a most luxurious retreat in “the Gutter”. To the uninformed it does live up to its name in the weekend mornings. Else time it hosts some of the more efficacious and engaging bunch in Taylor. The second positive is meeting a person of importance in my life. While our meeting was a windfall and has a rocky road I am confident that it will have a far longer and happier story. A certain unexpected addition at the end was meeting up with someone from the earlier quarter. I have grown to realize that we share more in common than I presumed last quarter. That too has an interesting journey ahead.

The failures this quarter were fewer but more substantial. The worst was certainly on Saturday, 12^th of November. I let myself be swept away by impulsiveness and made extremely stupid decisions. I find this embarrassing and troubling since I always try to set a high standard for myself. I am human and so I suppose the best I can do now is accept failures and make sure they never repeat themselves. I certainly hope others are more forgiving as I am to myself. That would be unrealistically awesome. I apparently must also:

1.       1. Stop Judging, prethinking and demeaning others at least directly and hurtfully

2.       2. Start consider just being myself instead of posturing to try to please certain people

The latter I do subconsciously but I can affect if I really want to.

As of now I will determine that the next quarter will be significantly better than this one. I will probably return to the personality I was at the beginning of this quarter. It reflected happiness, confidence, care and a dash of dare/ cockiness in a good measure. That is my quarterly resolve and this was my abstract for the winter.

Blog 68: Something that scares me

Every person has a shell. Without this shell, one cannot live. It protects us from the outside, the people, the environment and most importantly, the society we live in. But the shell is special. It covers us outside. It can protect us from anything we want. But the one thing that the shell can’t protect us from is the most dangerous of all of them. The shell can’t protect us from ourselves.

This shell appears when someone lies to themselves. It hides its feelings, torments itself and manages to cover their true form. The reasons for doing so are endless. Nonetheless, the shell begins to grow. Think of it like mould. The more something rots or goes bad, the more the mould grows. It’s the same with the shell. The lies and the secrets build up. As does the shell. But one needs to ask themselves this. How can one break out of their shell? Is it possible?

So my fear is pretty self evidentiary. I am afraid of not being myself. Throughout society we are asked to conform and do what is done everywhere. Yet it is our individual differences that make us worth more. Without our differences we do not bring in the fresh perspectives that make solutions and ideas more dynamic. I am always afraid of conforming to expectations set by others. Again there is a fine difference between adjusting to be not hurtful and adjusting to suit external stimuli. I hope I have enough judgment to distinguish between the two and do the former over the latter.  

Blog 64: The biggest mistake I ever made

The biggest mistake I ever made was trusting someone too much. This is going to be a ranting room for the next 235 words so here we go. I am a happy person. I consider myself an optimist and a realist. I like to make people happy and it naturally helps to trust people. In this way I can create positive vibe and a fun surrounding which I adore.

So I met this person once, a long time ago, who I thought was rather interesting. The more I got to know the person, the more I got a feeling that they were lost and needed good company. I failed quite a few times and I took that as my fault. I thought I could actually help someone and when I became emotionally attached those failures hurt. So I tried to detach myself and that worked partially but the emotion was always there. I did not realize that I was the person changing more than anyone else. I was becoming different to suit someone else. I was being mean to good people because I felt envious of them.

But the most important thing was that I trusted this person to use common sense; to not jump from one guy to another as quickly as   Paris Hilton moving from Prada to Gucci. So when I realized that she had done the switch faster than Hilton ever could, I was more than a little shocked. I did the first good thing I could, I apologized to the people I was mean to. I do not think I am going to stop trusting people but I will have to change my understanding of certain types of people. I made a mistake but I can write about it. In times like this I am glad that I have the friends I can lean on. It makes mistakes so much easier to live with.

Blog 63: My best friend

My best friend was someone I met in the second grade. He was a pretty cool guy though a little on the introverted side. What probably drew me to him was that I being new to the school seemed attracted to the least intimidating person. He was just that and as I got to know him more than others I discovered something amazing about his personality. I figured the reason he was so withdrawn and different was that he was pretty mature for a nine year old. It was a little hard being his friend though. We were kids and in our immaturity we often demanded or had to make unreasonable demands of ourselves. Clearly, my other friends thought I was crazy for spending so much time with him and told me to either choose them or him.

I did not like this and I chose to do neither. I became less friendly with him but did not get completely gung ho with my others friends. In a way I was kinda trying to send them a message. The eventually realized I was serious and just let it drop. My friend did teach me some things that are important to me till date. Most important amongst them is to always try to be happy. Being positive is very important even and especially when everything seems to be going against you. He also taught me to take inspiration from others. The best example of this is how I always try to read about people and their achievements. I realize that if others can so can I.