Alienation Down Under

It’s only a couple of decades back that Globalization as a concept percolated to the common man’s intelligence/understanding. With the advent of science and technology, and consequently communication, people realized how small the world is. On a broader note, the barriers such as nation, state, province, religion, etc. remained customary only. No one paid heed to that; at least, those who grew with time. The identity became one, i.e. a world citizen. But, like the indispensable villain in a drama, fundamentalists kept their flag fluttering through rain and shine. Thanks to their bloody struggles, people of the world continue to run into troubles because of their birth, ethnicity, religion, or nativity. What better instance do you look for than the Aussie assaults on the Indian students?

One just wonders how high a respect Australia as a nation commanded, from the people in this part of the continent! These stray incidents of violence, in media terms, racist attacks, brought the real Aussie mindset to the fore. It is dangerous to think about the outcome if the youth there grow with such a narrow mindset. For them, all those who are not from Down Under, are from Mars! And Indians, perhaps an alien species that poses threat to their very survival in their home land!

Business with the Buddha*

In a small city in Thailand, there was a Buddhist temple. Though the temple was a small one, people used to flock there very often as a famous Buddha Guru was residing there. Festivities of different kinds were being held in the temple premises, courtesy the voluntary contribution of the devotees. Above that, the offerings from the people of the surrounding villages kept adding to the temple funds.

Once a business man from a nearby city donated twenty gold coins to the temple in the hands of the Guru. The Guru took the bag of coins and placed it in the desired place and kept doing his work, with little attention to the donator. The donator was hurt at heart for the Guru’s indifference; he was very much expecting a minimal ‘thank you’ in return for his valuable donation. That even made him angry to an extent and he kept following the Guru wherever he went. Once able to draw attention of the Guru, he quipped: “You know, there are twenty gold coins in the bag?” Guru responded: “I know. Didn’t you tell that when you handed over the bag to me?” Unable to contain his desperate reactions this time, the business man cried: “Do you know the value of twenty gold coins these days? Don’t you feel I deserve at least ‘thanks’ for that?” A calm soul, the Guru reacted: “See, if you got pleasure and self-satisfaction out of that donation, then that’s your return. Why else should I thank you for that? Rather, you should thank the Buddha. But if you will be happy to receive thanks in return, it’s not a donation then. It’s business, to me. As you offered this money to the Buddha, he is your business partner. I can at best give you a thank you note on His behalf. You can then proceed further in your dealings directly with your business partner. I won’t intervene. But you shouldn’t expect thanks from me.”

The business man got the message the Guru wanted to convey, felt ashamed of his stand, and deserted the place.

[*A translated version of a write-up in the column ‘Kathatie’ in the Oriya Daily, The Sambad]

A Rare Traffic Experience

Something strange happened last evening. I was on my way home when a traffic police stopped me at a junction and asked for all that the irresponsible or careless bikers often forget to carry– vehicle registration card, insurance papers, driving license, and a valid pollution clearance certificate. To his utter disappointment, this responsible biker, that is I, readily produced everything (disappointment … because he failed to earn a few bucks)… But in a hurry, I forgot to collect my vehicle registration card. I was not even aware of that until I fell prey to another traffic police at a junction a mile away from the previous one. Despite my repeated trials to convince him that I left my vehicle registration card at the previous traffic junction, he compelled me to choose one out of the two options: 1) pay him 100 bucks and go, or 2) pay 300 bucks to the Govt.

I took no time to decide, and paid him 100 bucks and rushed to collect my vehicle registration card as I was worried that I might lose that forever. Thank God, I got it, but not without giving clarifications, which were unnecessary. A cool soul now, I came back to the place where I paid 100 bucks moments before. When I produced the vehicle registration card, the concerned traffic guy looked into my eyes for a while. I don't know whether he understood what my eyes so emphatically stated. But, when I said I’d complaint against him to his senior officer standing a few furlongs away, he with all reluctance gave back my 100 bucks. ... He must be feeling defeated for the day!!!

Let such defeats repeat!

Love and Respect

Whether Love comes out of Respect or Respect finds its source in Love, or both of them are complementary to each other with a thin line in-between – that’s been quite confusing for me over a considerable period of time. And to draw a conclusion every time, I believe in their complementary companionship and close the issue. Wish someone helps me out in demystifying the inter-relationship between the two!

Pernicious Political Culture

‘Pernicious political culture’ – that’s the term The Times of India chose to use in one of its editorials to refer to the current election campaign financing norms and other related issues. From paying bribe to get a party ticket to offering the electorates hefty sums of money or freebies, the political parties are seen to scale new heights of corruption every day as the general election nears. Add to that, their consistent trials to divide the electorate in lines of caste, creed and various other communal grounds in order to garner more votes in their kitties – there is rank corruption everywhere. The Central Election Commission is either ill-equipped to stop such odious developments or is a mere bureaucratic body with no independent authority to weigh aspiring political leaders and their motives in real terms. Things go the wrong way. The only way left to disallow the corrupt practices to flourish the way they do now is to VOTE … to vote conscientiously. Political experts say, this time, India is going to the elections with the most conscious electorate ever. Let’s wait and watch how far their claim is true.

Work in tender hands

The other day I got late to go out for dinner. The reason, I was busy watching the much talked about Ghajini with my honey … on a pirated DVD my friend lent me. … I rushed in to the nearest hotel and ordered for a parcel. I was counting the minutes for the parcel to come when I overheard the conversation between the hotel boy and the manager. The boy in the age group of 11-13 was pleading to go on a week long visit to his native place on the eve of New Year. Well, once the boy went inside, I enquired of the matter with the hotel manager. Unlike a usual rough reply, the manager was humble enough to talk to me about the boy in detail. I could very well sense that he was quite aware of his wrong-doing, that is, encouraging child labor. Sonu’s work efficiency is such that he can comfortably substitute an adult worker, the manager quipped. The workers at his hotel get a different treatment altogether, they are well-mannered - he kept adding things.

Sonu’s innocent eyes, his humble way of talking, and his heavy face at the manager’s negative response – these all pushed me to a different world for a moment.

Knowing that Sonu is the only breadwinner in his family – a thousand bucks a month, excluding boarding and lodging expenses – I couldn’t decide how else his family would survive if he is denied the opportunity to work there … only due to his tender age?

Wish the policy had been such that Sonus would have been taken care of well before they choose such ways of life!

New Year Day Experience at Puri

First Sunset of the Year at Puri Beach

Unlike yester years, this time I had the chance to visit the Lord Jagannath at Puri on the first day of the year. Undecided till late, we left Bhubaneswar at about 11 AM … wading our way through the slow traffic throughout the highway. Despite that, youths in New Year frenzy, with speeding bikes, overtook us almost every second minute. Once we touched the city of Puri, the traffic got even slower, thanks to the mad rush of devotees to begin the New Year with a visit to the Lord.

Naturally it was quite cumbersome a task to find a safe place to park your vehicle or keep your shoes. Once we managed to finish that task, we still had to wait for more than an hour to have the Darshan of the Lord. It took another half an hour to come out of the temple. An hour in the sea beach, and then we started our homeward journey.

Next day, media reported the devotees had a ‘peaceful’ Darshan of the Lord at Puri on the New Year day. They showered thanks, quite deservingly, on the concerned authorities for imposing restrictions on the VIP visits to the temple on that day. Well, there was no stampede, though it was imminent every moment when we were on the queue. But I would never term that as a ‘peaceful’ Darshan at all … except on the pretext that ‘peace’ is often relative a concept.