Something serious for a change....

Relaxing at home with a cup of hot tea in the morning and thinking about what to blog about after a pretty long hiatus, my eyes fell on the day’s Hindu paper. An extremely shocking picture stared back at me from the first page. It jolted me out of my half- sleep. It was too much to take right after the Hyderabad blasts and the gory pictures splashed across front pages of almost all the leading dailies. And it set me thinking about the state of our country and the world at large. The very concept of some kind of “humanitarian consideration” seems to have been forgotten. How can people stoop to such levels? How can a crowd of people just stand and watch when a fellow human being (forget the fact that he was a petty thief) is being subjected to something so inhuman? How can people who are purported to be “law- enforcers”, be so ruthless in dealing with a mere thief? And most of all how come the “journalist” who captured the entire scene not raise even the most feeble voice in protest against this brutal act?

The NHRC has reacted “vehemently” to this “gross violation of human rights”, but one is left wondering what good it will do. Because it is not just a body called the NHRC who should be conscious about these things but the entire group of people called “Indians”. Why have people become so callous about things? A group of people once known for their compassion and tolerance, we Indians have been reduced to brutes devoid of anything humane. I wonder about the cause as much as I worry about the effects.

India is a country of paradoxes. Look at this- a film star walks out on bail within a few days of imprisonment whereas a poor thief who must most probably have been forced to steal because of his circumstances is subjected to the most merciless torture. Policemen wait in queue to congratulate the star (who has committed a far more serious offence than the poor thief), get his autograph and hug him as he leaves whereas they have no second thoughts about meting out the most inhuman punishment to a boy who has committed the “most grievous crime” of trying to steal a gold chain. Well status and money are determinants of the kind of treatment you get these days I guess.

Talking about the callousness of people I am reminded of many instances in the past. Think back to the schoolgirl who was raped in a local train in Mumbai in full view of a compartment half- full of people. Think of the girl who was set on fire by her jilted lover again in Mumbai as the crowd watched dispassionately and journalists were busy getting the best shots for their newspapers and channels. Think of the many other victims who feature in the news for a while till something “juicier” pops up on the scene. They capture our attention for a while before they move out, only to be replaced by others.

Coming back to the victim of the Bhagalpur violence, Salim Iliyas, there are many facts about him that have remained beyond the media glare. An orphan, he lives with his 14year old sister. Forced to learn weaving at the tender age of 14 he later took to pulling a rickshaw as it paid him better (Better was 50- 100 rupees a day). The lure of a better life pushed him to petty crimes, which according to the police make him a “habitual criminal”. Newspaper reports say that two FIR’s have been filed- one against Salim for chain snatching and another against the mob who assaulted him. No action has been taken against the policemen who were hand in glove with the mob. Meanwhile dirty politics is already at work with Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar charging Railway Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav of conspiring to instigate a communal riot (in the middle of all this that’s all he can think about- mud slinging).

When will India change, one wonders. Not anytime soon.

A Trip to the Ettimadai Village

When I was thinking of what next to blog about, a variety of things had struck me…But the thing that takes the crown has to be something removed from Life on campus. On Sunday, I joined a group of students led by an effervescent faculty member to the Village nearby. Look at my own writing: so bred from a Life that’s so removed from the realities of Life… I wouldn’t be sighing about how hard it is to keep with the schedules here if I didn’t have the opportunity for an education, in the first place, would I? Its hard-talk, but then, its true…

Have you ever felt, that there just isn’t enough love in this world? Then, my humble suggestion is: if you have the opportunity to do so- visit the Village. You will know then, why people say, that Love is something that comes without binds and boundaries, if you have the heart to give. We go there to teach children the basics of math and english. They live in utter poverty. Some of them might be seriously malnourished or ill. But you would never tell from their smiling faces. Honestly, what struck me the most is not just their intelligence or discipline (there were about 50 or 60 children in all), but their completely affectionate manner. You feel: Gosh, have I forgotten what it is, to be so free with my Love? Our love is so conditional… Its sad… We will never know the kind of happiness that those children get from that one sweet at the end of the lesson, or from signing a ‘good’ on their work.

Can you believe they were sharing the one piece of sweet they got with others? That, to me, is what true generosity is. They were ultimately concerned at the sight of a bandaid at the bottom of my foot…

I’m proud that Amrita has such an initiative running… At the sight of such disparity, my reaction has always been a feeling that Life can be so unfair in some ways… It is true that there is no one-stop solution to such situations (Yes, Im so naïve… I still talk of a ‘solution’ to this kind of thing…) Do what we can and make whatever difference we can, within our limited time and capacity, eh….?

There is more I would like to say… But sometimes, the strongest of feelings are often not capable of perfect expression…

Think about these things, people… (Sometimes I feel my head will explode with this multitude of thoughts!! :P)


Until later

Rajeswari

The World of an M.B.A student….

You know how people (like our Proffs) talk about people who manage stress badly to end up insomniacs by the age of 50? Imagine how it feels to be one at 21,then. :P

Well, I don’t think Im quite an insomniac seeing as how I can unfailingly feel sleepy in some lectures, but when its 2 A.M and I cant sleep, 'coz the list of tasks for the next day is running through my head, I feel like one stressed out manager!! Im sure it happens to the best of us- one of those days when you just can’t seem to get work out of the way (or should I say head). The week just seems to go on, and on... I cant even remember how it started...
The funny part is, what you really want to do, is to just get the work outta da way and enjoy some well-earned hours of chilling-out in your room and forget about the 16-hour day you had on Wednesday, the Presentation you made at 9 P.M last night, and the day-long Forum selections coming up in a days’ time… But then, you have this assignment you haven’t even begun… A class tomo you know you’re going to blink through ‘coz the Operating Cycle using Pipeline inventories so whizzed above your head in the last class… And atleast three other submissions for next week which requires you to be at your analytical best... (It, somehow, is increasingly difficult when your sleep hours diminish slowly, but surely... :P)

Not sleeping can make you a zombie, ye know… Today, there was this hugely amusing episode when the Professor found, much to his astonishment that a large number of his students had slept only 4 hours prior to the morning class time. I was a safe seven hours off, guess my safety net for today has effectively evaporated. :P

I once upon a time, used to convince myself to just ‘Hang in there’ and get the work done with, no matter how inhuman a time it stretched on for. Now, Im not so sure, ‘coz unless we are smart enough, or we were told today- ‘strategic-minded’ enough, we are never going to survive this!! Life moves on, you know… It doesn’t wait- so if you forego that phonecall you want to make to an old friend, or that one hour of sleep you want, or that movie you badly want to see saying ‘Later, once this is over’… you’ll find time doesn’t return for you.. I don’t think this is ‘getting over’!! It’s the beauty of an M.B.A programme: everytime you think you’ll cope with it- the threshold is upped… always… This year’s norm seems last year’s maximum!!

The Life of an M.B.A student, at times like this, is spent convincing oneself, that this is really, truly what one wants!! There really is nothing else that can make one go through this rigour! Its hard…’coz even though all that ‘wanting’ takes you to class on time tomorrow, but its not going to stop your eyes burning tomorrow from lack of sleep, or your feeling a bit blunt, and you mix up which group is for which paper…(O, at which point did I mention we always handle atleast 4 groups at any one point?)

I think a good laugh, helps!! In case anyone offers me a hanky now, (or better: A pillow) :P. let me end with a joke by an IIM student I read somewhere on the web:

‘I know there are a lot of guys out there who’re dying to be in our shoes… Well, we wish you were here too!!’

They get killed in there too, and much worse, I suspect… All good things come at a price, eh?

‘Let’s see this through…This Sunday promises to be fairly free.. Of course: notwithstanding the 3 submissions outstanding… One more day.. Let’s do this, then there's time to sleep… ‘

:) It resumes…

Rajeswari