BRAToSPHERE

Category: thought

  • How tolerant are we?

    I was at the Jaipur literature festival last week, and just when I landed in Jaipur on Sunday I hear that Ashish Nandy had to leave the place. He was supposed to be in a session on Sunday at 11AM, but he could not be present.

    On my flight back to Mumbai, the newspapers mentioned about Salman Rushdie not being allowed to the Kolkata literary meet.

    The whole of last week and this week we have been hearing about Viswaroopam, Kamal Hassan’s latest movie, not being allowed to release in some of the south Indian states. This is inspite of the fact that the censor board has given it a clean chit.

    Why? Why have we become such an intolerant state? Why do we assume that the religious sentiments of the public would be hurt at the slightest provocation?

    Were we always like this? Not really. This is the country where KamaSutra has flourished. Religious tolerance leads to creative thinking and as a famous poet put it, where the mind is without fear.

    In my opinion, we are still a very tolerant state. What else could explain our “chalta hai” attitude towards the daily hurdles in our life. The hurdles which are created by decades of corruption and mismanagement by our leaders and we still admire, respect and forgive them. We tolerate them.

    It is the same people in power, our so called leaders, who most of the times use the innocent amongst us to instigate fire to further their own personal agendas. This is what we should be wary of.

    Coming back to the topic, What exactly is religious tolerance?

    Religious tolerance is the policy to extend religious freedom to people of all religious traditions, even though one may well disagree with their beliefs and/or practices. Having tolerance toward another religion does not require one nto endorse that faith group’s beliefs; it simply indicates one’s respect for its right to exist and for its member to hold different beliefs without being oppressed. In simple words, it is “Live and Let Live”.

    In our 21st century globalized world it is all the more important that each one of us possess this quality for a harmonious living.

    For India to be a superpower, we need to encourage people of all dissidents to our country, and this would require a huge amount of cultural sensitivity for everyone to co-exist and flourish. We would all have to strive to ensure such a culture of mutual respect develops into the daily mindset of everyone and some vested forces cannot influence it.

  • Mindset Change Required

    December has been one helluva month. A quick day trip to Ahmedabad in the first week of December, and then a week long trip to Gurgaon. Yes! Mentioning Delhi shames me!

    On the fateful day of 16th December, I was in Delhi and was scheduled to return back to Mumbai. Little did I know that the very streets and roads I took to reach the airport during the day would be in national news the next day for all the wrong reasons?

    A 23 year old girl is gang raped in a moving bus on the streets of Delhi!

    From then on, thousands of people have descended on the streets across the country, protesting and demanding the harshest punishment possible to the culprits. Is it about that one incident?

    No! Such things keep happening at an alarming frequency in our country, and this one incident is the trigger which has caught the imagination of the country.

    We Indians are a reactive lot. Hear about anything that disturbs us, and we react, and as it is with reactions, it dies out gradually.

    Capital punishment, Castration, bobbitization, etc are the demand calls, and it may very well be awarded to the culprits of this case, and rightfully so. But does it end there? What steps are we ensuring that such an incident does not repeat?

    Till now everyone, ranging from Sushma Swaraj, Sonia Gandhi and Sheila Dikshit have spoken about the tough punishment that should be handed out the culprits.

    While better law enforcement, and stricter laws, is one part of the solution, the more sustainable long term solution is the very mindset.

    Trying to understand the psychosis of the culprits, what provokes them to act in such a ghastly manner? An attitude which tells them internally that they can get away with it. This is the very root cause which needs to be tackled. And How?

    It is time for a mindset change in the way we think.

    In a patriarchal society like ours, where women are not allowed to talk in front of others, such incidents are bound to happen, and most of them would go unreported! This is what gives confidence to the culprits.

    Right from folks at home, to the ones in power, everybody seems to be having a opinion on what a woman should do and what she should not. Why this discrimination. Are we not in a free country, and is the woman not an equal part of it?
    The respect that a woman deserves should be given, and is capital punishment is the precedent for the same so is it.
    What do you think is the sustainable solution to this growing menace?

    Harsh as it may sound, this surely is the moment, when I am not at all proud to be an Indian!

  • Career at Sale? or stake?

    This one I just had to write.

    I have previously written about the educational sector in India, and where we are lacking. The coaching centres have become the most important thing in a student’s life. Unfortunately, they have become more important than the very colleges that he/ she is getting coached for!

    Now okay! You get to all these different coaching centres, and do manage to hoodwink the entrance exams with the overdose of coaching and manage to get a seat in a very good college. Now what?

    You slog in the college there, take further coaching to get through the tortuous years and finally, lets assume, you make through. After many levels of such iterations right from the all-important board exams to the post-graduation you are now finally declared a post graduate. At least that is what your degree says.

    Why did you slog all these years? Obviously, you want a good paying job!

    But well, The recruiters are no fools, and they can see through your years of coaching.  Looking at your resume itself they would find out your worth, and trash your candidature. How do you tackle that?

    Fret not! There are enterprising people out there in the market to cater to that need too. As they say, a good CV is half job done during job search, and here is where the so called “friends” and “brothers” come into picture. No, I am not talking about your siblings. This is the way these companies talk to you.

    Enter – “The CV Builders!”

    “YOU SPEND LAKHS ON GETTING DEGREES AND SPEND YEARS TO ACHIEVE THAT EXPERIENCE BUT IF YOU DO NOT HAVE THE SKILLS TO PORTRAY THEM NICELY IN A CV THEN ALL IS WASTE. SO CONTACT US AND LET US DESIGN A DESIGNER CV FOR YOUR BOOMING CAREER…….” touch the emotional chord of the unemployed person.

    I was aghast when I received this mail!

    “Do you Need a Resume Urgently? Get it in as soon as 30 mins with our add-ons!” is that a Pizza that I just ordered?

    For clarity sake I am reprinting this entire mail that I got

    Dear Brother,

    You Have Experience. Talent. Competence.
    You have it all. But you dont know to Portray them effectively.
    If you have good experience but you do not make a good CV, Chances are much that you may get rejected.When you go for interview you see other candidates have very impressive CVs , You think from where they make these nice CVs.

    Friends,
    We are the one and only Company in India which is helping Candidates to make their GOOD RESUMEs ,

    Key Highlights

    We Highlight your extensive work experience, managerial skills and achievements
    Attractive and reader-friendly resume format
    One-time detailed telephonic consultation with the Resume Writer
    Multiple iterations over email, until you are satisfied
    You will get Over 95% satisfaction rate
    We have In-house team of experts with over 10 years of experience

    Do you Need a Resume Urgently?
    Get it in as soon as 30 mins with our add-ons!
    Total Working Days for first draft
    10
    6
    2

    NormalExpressSuper-express

    Do you Need a Cover Letter?

    Effectively introduce yourself to prospective employers

    Delivered in 2 working days after you approve your resume

    LETS MAKE GOOD RESUMES……..just give us a call from any where in india and we will make your cv in minutes and send it on your EMAIL ID

    Minimal Charges, we charge just Rs. 1100 for PORTRAYING YOUR EXPERIENCE, YOUR SKILLS,YOUR CAREER SUMMARY, QUALIFICATION….

    YOU SPEND LAKHS ON GETTING DEGREES AND SPEND YEARS TO ACHIEVE THAT EXPERIENCE BUT IF YOU DO NOT HAVE THE SKILLS TO PORTRAY THEM NICELY IN A CV THEN ALL IS WASTE. SO CONTACT US AND LET US DESIGN A DESIGNER CV FOR YOUR BOOMING CAREER…….

    We give our services ALL OVER IN INDIA,PAKISTAN,BHUTAN,NEPAL,& SriLANKA

     

    This is where our education system is tending towards, and it just scares me. Would we miss the bus?

    What next? A company to help you perform better in your job?

    Maybe! Maybe it already exists and I am not aware of it! Maybe!

  • who will cry when you die

    This is going to be a slightly depressing post, and for the weak hearted, and the ones who frequent the sphere to get their regular dose of fun, I would not suggest this one.

    I just stumbled across this article Steve jobs to die in six weeks.

    Death, though inevitable, is an obvious thing impending each one of us alive. It is bound to come someday. This SOMEDAY is the question. Are we ready to die today?

    All of our today’s decisions are based on the assumption that we are not dying tomorrow, or in the near future.  And good that this is the way we operate. I pity the person who lives everyday with the fear of death. This probably would kill him many more times than the actual death. As I keep repeating to one of my good friend, “Bhayam unte sachipo!” (go die, rather than fearing!)

    Live life fully, completely, not thinking about the thing that will anyways hound you one day.

    Quoting SRK on this, “Jiyo, muskrao, khush raho.. raho.. kya pata.. kal ho na ho”

    Kal ho na ho.. this is the bare truth staring at each one of us, and rightfully so. The more important thing that we should be thinking about is, are we doing justice to the life today?

    Leaving you with this thought, and a suggested read – Who will cry when you die? By Robin Sharma.

    Note: A part inspiration for this thought also arose from this pluggd.in post on an L alumni’s death.

    p.s.: So much are people worried about his death, and avoiding rumours spreading that there is actually a website on steve – http://www.isstevejobsdead.com/