Random thoughts

This blog comes after the recent 'same gotra marriage' crisis that has erupted in Haryana and after reading today's TOI report on Navin Jindal and the explanations he has given. Traditionally people belonging to one particular gotraor clan are said to have a common ancestor and India as such has numerous gotras. Those who do not know there gotra are assimilated into the KASHYAP gotra. As far as marriage was concerned, children were never married in the gotra of the father. My paternal grand father went far ahead to issue a diktat that he would marry his children neither into the gotra of father nor the mother. You might be surprised to read this. He was a doctor and as children share the genes of both the parents, he said, they should not be married into either of the gotras. The new entrant into the family should come from a different gotra so that the children would not inherit genetic defects. This sounds a reasonable explanation. My father tried to follow the same princ...

Two men were heard in a conversation: Speaker 1: Can you eat chicken, daily? Speaker 2: No, I can not. I need a change. Speaker 1: Then how can a person live with one wife throughout his life? This is what our world is like. On the one hand, we celebrate women and womanhood on the 8th of March every year, 2010 being special due to the women's reservation bill. But the sad thing is that in a country like ours where women are compared to female gods and put on a pedestal during navratri, in everyday life they do not have any voice or say and are left compared to birds! That is indeed derogatory.  A girl has no say in the choice of her partners, except a very small percentage of the female population. Once married, the husband's house is her home where she must survive or perish (in terms of her identity). Generally people make attempts at survival through compromise. Nothing bad in that. But what do you in case of neglect and rejection and complains of boredom? This is where the ...

Its time for the new census.. census 2011 which will yield a new data base regarding our population. But the government and its machinery has come in for criticism on account of including 'CASTE' as a category in the criteria. How long are we going to make caste the most important characteristic of our population. Our Constitution talks of the Right to Equality as a fundamental right and states that discrimination can not be made on the basis of caste, class, religion etc. among the citizens of India. The question is then why does one need to have caste as a criteria for census 2011. Is it just to further certain political interests? It does not seem that averages worked out in this manner would help the cause of the most deprived. The various commissions over the years, like the Mandal Commission engaged in this act to no end. The condition of the most deprived has remained the same while those in the creamy layer are enjoying better life. Again this criteria does not seem con...

The papers reported that Bihar CM was bitten by a mouse while resting during his 'Vishwas yatra' at the Sitamarhi circuit house. An interesting question comes to my mind: Why did the mouse bite the CM? My colleague Benjamin showing his worldly wisdom says, "Mice are found in areas rich in agricultural produce." This would mean Sitamarhi is rich in agricultural produce and hence the presence of the mouse and the mouse does not like industries...so he bites the CM! Sounds reasonably good! Or is it that the mouse was attracted to the rich abundance of hair with which the CM is blessed - on his head as well as on his face! Moving from the trivial to the significant: Probably the mouse represents all the Benjamins of Bihar who feel that this yatra is an unnecessary expenditure where thousands are without food, clothes and shelter. It is insignificant compared to the one of the major problems inflicting the state: Education. Institutes are talking of bringing quality educat...

Its been two years now that new technology farms came into existence courtesy Napoleon and his colleagues at Animal Farm. They sent Snowball from the technology farm in the Hills to manage the new technology farm in the Plains and Snowball undoubtedly did a great job. He worked hard recruited workers for the new farm and also worked at creating the windmill which would give them power and increase their efficiency. After setting up this farm Snowball was asked to go back to his own farm. A new manager, Squealer, was appointed for this farm. Squealer arrived one hot summer afternoon and was welcomed by Clover, Boxer, Benjamin and Raven. At the first barn meeting Squealer told the animals that they would be given good working conditions so that they can work to their maximum. He said that all would be treated equally and given the same privileges. The next step that Squealer took was to arrange his work place. While the other animals were given cubicles in small barns, Squealer kept a la...

The latest pay revision recommendations by the Chaddha committee was a pleasant surprise for many. The news has been greeted with enthusiasm as well as skepticism. The enthusiasm comes from the fact that the Government has realized the need to keep the talented people in the education sector and prevent migration to the industrial sector. It is a sad thing that in our country teaching is associated with charity. Why don't the people in general as well as the administrators understand the fact that even a teacher may wish to live in the manner in which an I.A.S. or I.P.S. official lives. S/he may want to own luxury cars and palatial houses. Teachers, in the present times, can not survive on fees in the form of rice and pulses and vegetables. It would be worth waiting and watching if the recommendations given by the Chaddha committee are accepted or not! That will actually show whether the Government wants the country to progress or to rot! The other part of these recommendations is ...

Its been quite some time since the Govt. of India abolished zamindari. After the economic boom of the mid-1990s, a new class of zamindars has taken birth. These are the educated middle class girls and boys who are employed in the corporate field as well as the people engaged in the social sector working as teachers, NGO officials and lawyers. For this class their company or the work is equivalent to the landed estates owned by their forefathers and their monthly salary is more than what their ancestors earned but there is one significant difference. The modern zamindars use their sweat and blood to create the life style they are enjoying whereas the erstwhile zamindars were at times quiet exploitative. It's in terms of money and lifestyle that one can equate the two!