Drug menace in punjab

Unfortunately the land of 5 rivers have now become famous for one more river and thats of drugs.Punjabi youth once famous for his energetic potential and charisma in eyes is increasingly looking towards drugs as means of contentment and satisfaction in this brutally competitive world.There are some mind boggling datas on that like

1)As per affidavit filed by Punjab govt in Punjab and haryana high court nearly 2/3 rd families in Punjab have at least one family member suffering from drug addiction.Though the exact number of Punjabi youth involved still needed to be confirmed as icmr data is pending and it will take some more 2 Nd half years to be completed.

2)Most of the youth is addicted towards heroin though its addiction is more in younger population while somewhat older population is more inclined towards opium and poppy husk.not only this but rise of synthetic drugs like methamphetamine or fondly called ice and ephedrine etc along with designer drugs like mephedrone is a severe cause of concern.

3)Nearly 400 kg of drugs seized by bsf lately.

4)Severe shortage of doctors per addict population.....

                                                                                     

Reasons for this gigantic problem are many -

1)disguised unemployment in Punjab as Punjab have not promoted industrial development and diversification of employment activities enough to give jobs to its increasingly graduated generation.

2)Punjabi culture of alcoholic consumption and drugs become just as an add on factor to booze.

3)drug consumption being promoted in movies and songs like a song titled weed pila de .Punjabi youth as being highly aspirational get addicted towards such showoffs

4)neglect of care by parents as our culture though is shifting more towards independence of youth and allowing them to take the decisions they deem fit for them but it also demands that parets take care of the very fact that failure of those decisions dont make a young man or woman emotionally handicap and result is looking towards drugs as a means of salvation.

5)last of all i believe is the failure of authorities as buck must stop at the desk of those who have authority to rule.If this menace is not nipped here only then not faraway will be the times when Punjab will face another insurgency out of the frustration of disgruntled youth.

But solutions has to be found and that needs cooperation and support of whole society in practical terms 

1)first will be to destigmatize those who are involved in drug menace and making it sure that they are not to be treated as criminals but as victims.Start can be done from inmates booked under ndps act 1985.

2)deaddiction centres with certain strictly enforced guidelines  and drug anonymous societies in each district .

3)creating a favourable emotional atmosphere for growing child so that he or she dont feel like alone when any difficulty arises in life and be always optimistic that society will accept him or her in originality.

4)thrust towards vocational education along with rehabilitation so that person can get a job after deaddiction treatment and minimum cases of relapse happen.

5)administration should focus on high profile cases and kingpins.

                                                                                              AT THIS JUNCTURE OF TIME EVERY PUNJABI NEEDS TO TAKE AN OATH THAT HE OR SHE WILL NOT LET HIS OR HER YOUTH GETTING WASTED IN THIS MINDLESS ADDICTION AND WILL BE AN ASSET TO PUNJAB AS WELL AS NATION.

Indian railways -from my perspective

It all started on 16 april 1853 when hauled by sind sultan and sahib ,first train in india ran on mumbai thane route for 45 minutes and 21 miles.IR believed to be the masterstroke of raj also became a glue for indian ambitions regardless of any class caste occupation religion language.Though IR is being considered as spinal cord of this country but it itself is suffering from various ills which if not rectified will belie the very notion that IR is too big to fail.my whole focus on these articles will be to first go into problems faced by railways and then to go for solutions possible.i wish that readers will give their valuable feedback.

now i want to enumerate the various problems faced by IR-

1)capacity saturation

you must have observed the trains waiting at outer.reason for that is no avalability of platform for the incoming train and thats because we are runing more trains including goods trains or passenger trains or mixed trains than the line capacity of track and result is overall fall in avg speed of trains and so happen the gruesome delays.

2)unmet consumer demand

Our route ength increased by 23% al these years while passenger oad increased by 1500%.Its  very common in our experiences that for example you book a ticket on rajdhani/shatabadi/other mail/express trains even well in time still you get a waiting list number.The plight of freight customer is even bad as he has no idea about when his consignment will get delivered bcz there is no time tabling of goods trains.Here road sector is taking its leads.Once while during a jouney i happen to meet a truck exporter on delhi mumbai route and what he told me is that a truck service from delhi will run as 24 hr or 28 hr or 48 hr delivery basis depending on the money paid while in case of rail transport only the almighty knows ehen a train after marshalling will reach its destination.

3)no clarity of role

Its very unfortunate that we are not able to recognise even today that either we are for social purpose or going for comercial profitability.Social cost for indian railways like carrying foodgrains at lower freight rate or running trains or unremunerative routes etc costing it 2500 cr.Though committee f secretaries decided to reimburse railways for this but no action on ground yet.

4)departmentalism

indian railways have nearly 10 services(including medical and police force).There are some posts which are common for all services like post of general manager or divisional railway manager and for those posts fierce competition is there.Not only this there is a fixed quota of these top posts getting filled by either service and that introduction of quota itself limits the merit of an officer.GMs and DRMs got lot of their time wasted in managing this inter dept rivalry 

5)no sense of ownership

i believe this is the problem common from side of both passenger and railways.from the side of passenger,how many of us make it sure that a cup of tea we drank while travelling on train is being disposed in dustbin adjoined with coach.There is common scene on platform where after a train departs there use to be lot of empty packets of chips,biscuits etc lying on tracks.From the side of railways,DRMs or GMs have very less sense of ownership as they are birds of passage and moreover out of box ideas are not given their due regard in the system of ''yes sir ''.

                                                                                                                      There are many more problems facing IR and i will write more on it.All suggestions and comments are welcome.

if u cry bcz sun have gone out of ur life .....ur tears will nt allow u to see the stars

                                      Our great ancient india has in its ambit a good story regarding its centuries old glorious poet kalidasa .the author of meghdoot and malvikagnamitra was not so bright from childhood and was married to a girl more intelligent than him in all the virtues of knowledge .being neglected at home one day at hands of his wife,kalidasa had not gone into vanaprastha or forest wandering phase of life,but instead tried hard to improve his intellectual knowledge.end result was that glory of ancient india is studded with jewels of his writings.isnt it the hope and determination to fight back that was shown by kalidasa?

                                        World of today is in an eternal gloom.somewhere in the Iraq,innocent people are killed,in communist countries ,liberty of people is captured in lieu of state security,in poor countries ,children dying of hunger inspite of overflowing food stocks.all this is making impressions in minds of some that whether it’s the only fate of humanity or is there something yet more to be seen?hope and determination of human mind is needed in today’s world more than ever.

                                                                                                                                       Guru rabindranath tagore in these famous lines is pointing to the fact that even one major failure results in so much disdaine in our minds that we are not able to look to bright side or opportunities better than that offered.gurudev was himself a famous humanist of 20^th century and so his words must have deep and wide meaning for humanity as a whole.

                                         Currently in various parts of world ,there is lot of anarchy as well as ingression of lots of vices in mankind.whether it be Ukraine or Syria or Iraq or knife massacres of china or threats of terrorism ,climate change ,poverty ,joblessness and much more ,yet these lines of great humanist are pointing to available solutions and opportunities if and if only hope and positive attitude dnt die from our minds.

                        First of all in the political scenario all over world ,there is rise of power hungry political class with frequent unstabilities in political governance as well as corruption gaining ground all over world .not only this,some countries are showing trend of reversing back from democracy to dictatorship for example the case of Egypt where the democratically elected government was toppled in 2013 by military dictatorship or the Thailand ,where army took control over democracy and its institutions.

                                                                                                                                                                   But there is a hope and it comes  from rising middle class especially youth who is quite apprehensive and aspirational,rising tide of democracy which is getting its fuel from increasing connectivity of today’s world via internet.result is demonstrations like arab spring which jottled middle east or standing man protests of turkey which made the government of the day to look to following words of Abraham Lincoln –govt is of the people ,ffor the people,by the people

                                                                                                Then comes arena of social sphere in the world as a whole .degrading conditions of women in many ways whether it be by domestic violence or by way of Islamic state soldiers selling yajidi girls as sex slaves ,is a matter of serios concern .neglect of childhood is another problem in social sphere and its quite acute in rich countries because parents are finding less and less time for their children.not only this,social discrimination between haves and have nots of society if hallmark of many societies especially poor ones

                                                                                                        But there arrives a hope whenever a  woman comes out of home and starts working .if this time is marked by the increasing atrocities against women ,then this is also the time when many of the leaders of today whether be president of brazil or head of international monetary fund or some multinational companies like pepsico are women.isnt it an irony of this time?democracy with its inherent concept of one person one vote and one vote one value is resulting in mainstreaming many of those marginalized and discriminated till now.vibrant civil society is a catalyst in all this positive change

                                                                 Thirdly comes the issue of international relations where the words of gurudev hold relevance.international relations of today are marked by increased animosities between nations in various fields like border disputes between india china or disputes over Falkland island between united kingdom and argentina .covert support by countries in fuelling disturbances is the rule now a days rather than exception for example iran had pointed to a computer virus that was being used by usa for stealing important nuclear data from iran.weakness of international inst. To uphold the peace is also a main concern of today like nato attacks in middle east inspite of non allowance from un

                                                            But a burning desire of peace is still there.rise of multipolar world on basis of equality bw nations as well as basic understanding among people around world that’war don’t determine who is right but who is left’ is certainly a good step in right direction.political systems all over the world are now maturing with single focus in their mind of welfare of people and communities.

                                                                                                           Fourthly it’s the economic sphere which is reflecting the essence of words of gurudev tagore .there is a global crisis of 2008 which happened following fall of lehmann brothers,euro crisis with all its effects echoed in all over the world .not only this,high instability of currencies in third world countries like turkey south Africa india brazil is making the financial scene more volatile than ever ,inequality in economic terms is so much that in a recent study it was shown that 10% of people around globe hold more than 40% of total money worldwide

                                                                   But stars are scintillating even in this field when the governors of central banks come together and discuss these issues with positive attitude that their fate and destinies are interlinked to each other.opening of trade barriers is infusing a new life in commerce and fortunes of people and leading to virtual borderless world as pointed out by former chines prez”b of business is more important than b of border”.youth of today is becoming more and more financial literate which will emerge as a treasure for our common future.

                                                                                                Then comes the field of environment and ecology in which the sun is setting consistently though not as rapidly as thought for.forests are increasingly been cleared like what happening to lungs of world that is pristine amazon forests ,increasing number of animals are becoming critical endangered or extinct as pointed out by iucn,temperature is on rise specially after industrial revolution and its associated changes like rise in water levels etc.

                                                                      But there is also a positive side in this field.recently as pointed out by scientists that ozone layer is recovering fast and ozone hole disappearing.this is all because of efforts of people all over the world in sync with montreal protocol of 1987.world leaders are increasingly becoming sensitive to the plight of those affected by climate change.unfcc ,global climate fund are all positive results of that.moreover,rise of vocal civil society in promotion of environment related issues is a heartwarming trend for example greenpeace society mission against unsustainable oil welling in Russia and in Scandinavian countries .

                                                        Lastly there is the philosophical field which can be an apt example displaying the deterministic attitude of Bengali poet.there is rise of materialism in society.there is commodification of each and every thing whether it be the time or human being itself.some countries have even legalized such commodification for example child labour is now legal in some latin American countries .world of today is now structured in such a mould that greed of personal profit over opportunity of social benefit is not only accepted but appreciated .result is the fall of morality and values to its lowest ebb in this world.

                                                                       However there is glittering hope even in such an environment and as per this hope ,ethics and morality in today’s world is not an option in itself but need in this highly interlinked society.people are warming up to their fellow beings irrespective of border ,class ,race,sex.isnt it evident by the fact that the oldest democracy of world thts usa has given its position of head of state to a person from that race which had been neglected and oppressed till now?

                                              All this discussion is clearly an adaptation of the lines of gurudev in this modern world .the idea of hope and never fall back attitude that was given by this intellectual still holds relevance in all the subjects of human life.hope for a better time and fight for a generous world was and is and will always be a lighthouse for humanity as a whole.this was also echoed by mahatma Gandhi,who was contemporary of guru tagore,when he said”in all through history the ways of love and truth have always won.there has been tyrants and murderes and sometimes they seem invincible but in the end they always fall.think of it always” its hopeful that in future ,when the sun of opportunity will set for mankind,it will instead of sobbing under the veil of darkness ,enjoy the beauty of stars and will gear up for sunrise.

Preparedness of our society for global leadership role

“where there is a will there is a way”

                                                                     Its often said that folk tales of a country carry the crux of greatest wisdom of that country .the above written truth,which has its origin from a folk tale ,is abound with deep meaning.indian society who is both aspirational and capable for taking challenges and turning them into opportunities have to play this role at global level and should realise the true meaning of this wisdom.but is it prepared for this huge responsibility?

                                                                     The issue of preparedness of india society comes to the table because of increasing economical,political and diplomatic clout of the country in global sphere .multinational companies turning to india for their production and commercialization,nations anticipating the active Indian role in world sphere ,entrepreneurs growing in india who are making their mark in top riches of world is all that which makes the image of india transformed from a country of snakes and multiheaded gods to a country of intelligent and exceptional brains

                                                                                              The concept of leadership whatever at personal or at bigger level is the idea of moving forward as a whole and let the unbound energy realizes its potential.global leadership in itself carries a wider meaning though aim is same and that is ‘everyone matters’ in this race of development.for Indian society to provide global leadership ,it needs to reintegrate with world society and help the latter in unmasking human capabilities and abilities

                                                                                                              Currently there is a lot of anarchy in world.be it the violence in Iraq ,Syria or Ukraine and increasing triumph of greed of personal profit over public good in every facet of life and nation ,yet there is a hope in the mind of everyone that time will change for better.indian nation in general and Indian society in particular has in its very ambit very powerful ideas,approaches and examples which can act as lighthouse for the world in this time of need

                                                                                                                          First and foremost is the idea of peaceful coexistence and non violence that is etched into the life of Indian society.this powerful idea ,though appears simple in its approach ,but has trembled the most powerful rulers at one point of time.mahatma gandhiji ,who religiously followed this idea in all through his life had said once

“in the history,the ways of love and truth have always won.there had been tyrants and murders and sometimes they might seem invincible but in the end they always fall.think of it always”

    This idea needs a leader who will first emulate it and show it to others about its udefulness.indian society is apt in that and if this idea properly implemented,it will be a huge relief for strife torn areas around the world.

                   Second is the existence of multiculturicity,multilinguistic,multiethicity and multireligiousity in Indian societydue to which many scholars have rightly pointed out that Indian society shows the phenomenon of ‘diversity in unity’.all over the world where the people getting divided on issue of religion like in nigeria of Africa where book haram is killing Christians,on issue of language like in ukraine’s eastern half which felt alienated because of abolition of Russian as national language ,on issue of culture like in united kingdom’scotland where people had gone for referendum of independence because of the peculiar hill  culture distinction they aspire for,are the various areas where Indian society ccan act as pole star for solving disputes and moving forward..

                                                                Third peculiarity of Indian society where it can guide the path of world community is in the field of implementation of democracy and its principles.most important principle of democracy is freedom of speech ,about which it was rightly said by a western philosopher that-“I may not agree with what you say but I will defend your right to say it”.indian constitution prescribe for this freedom as one of its fundamental right.many parts of world ,ehich are slowly shedding the principles of democracy like Egypt or Thailand ,can learn from Indian society example which had directy migrated from colonialism to democracy and has maintained it inspite of its neighbours who had gone from democracy to all the way to military dictatorships.

                                                                               Fourth arena in which Indian society can serve as leadership role for global people is in the concept of sustainable development.whether it be the sacred groves or chipko movement or appiko movement or conservation plan of bishnoi community or recently held jal andolan ,its always the concept of taking development not as an economic prosperity but as social prosperity and environment friendileness as a whole which is the central concept of Indian society.in the words of mahatma Gandhi-“the earth ,the air,the land and the water are not inheritences from our forefathers but are on loan from our children and we have to hand ovcer to them atleasr as it was handed over to us”.till the time world community not held this idea in its highest esteem ,it should be sure that its not chosing between idea of more or less development but between development and doom and man will be the first species to orchestrate its own destruction.

                                                                                 Fifth is the pristine idea of humanity which is in itself the hall mark of Indian society and its the single most powerful idea which can change the way of functioning of societies around the world.it will make the people look forward not as a mean to some end but as a dignified living beings and when this approach will be realized then its only the love and goodness that will prevail.indian society has been fortunate enough to have humanists in every span of time whether it be raja harishchandra or ashoka or akbar or mahatma Gandhi,swami Vivekananda,mother Teresa and many more.the excerpt from the life of mother Teresa is worth mentioning in the light of concept of humanity-“in the slums of calcutta ,when one leper patient was dying in the hands of mother Teresa then he said “in all through my life I have lived like a demon but now I am dying like an angel”.this incidence shows the humanism as a soothing reality.isnt the world be a better place to live if it just learns from Indian society this idea of humanism?

                                                      But as every coin has two sides and so is true for Indian society.it can perform and give able leadership to world community but first it needs to introspect itselfand clears itself of many unwanted increepings.

                             First is the prevalence of colonial mindset in Indian society.this mindset is solely drifting india towards westernization and not modernization,which ia unwanted.result is that india is slowly and slowly shedding its ancient pholosphy of ‘welfare of all’ with welfare of some’.it should not be astonishing in this light that though four out of top ten richest persons are from india yet four out of ten poor pesons are also from india.division between haves and have nots and trend of consumerism is doing greatest possible harm to india.

                                                                      Second blot on india society is the hypocrisy of it.the most aptexample of it can be the condition of women in this society.our society though treats girls as goddess and take blessings from them at various auspicious ooccassions is also the one that is having one of the highest cases of domestic violence and crimes against women.nirbhaya case of 2012 had forced Indian society to look towards itself and had raised serious questions about leadership ability of Indian society for world.

            Third vice of Indian society is prevalence of corruption in the society .presence of organized workforce is like a drop in the vast ocean of unorganized workforce and unemployment which have made the Indian society ,a hierarchial one in economic terms.result is exploitation to so much extent that second administrative reforms commission had dubbed Indian society as the society which worships power.an Indian sociologist had also said about this condition in a more  critical word as-“Indian society is the one in which persons doing corruption are not shown prison but promotion”.any society which fosters corruption,faces subversion ultimately at the end.this is a major deterrent in Indian society acting as a hope for global society.

                                                                                               Fourth deterrant as well as obstruction coming in way of Indian society aspiring for global leadership is the divisions which are surfacing in Indian society.these divisions are on the basis of religion like communal riots which are claiming nearly hundred lives per year,on basis of region like son of soil theory brewing up in Maharashtra,on basis of language like belgaun dispute between maharshtra and karnatka ,on basis of ethnicity like between nagas and kukis in our north east.if this fissiparious tendency just goes on increasing ,then sooner will be time when instead of leading global society ,it will lose its own leadership also.this tendency needs to be curbed ,not only with words but with actions.

                                                                                       Fifth dangerous trend which is emerging in Indian society is the opportunism.this tendency is a side effect of rise of cut throat competition which looks at failure not as stepping stone to success but as a loss of faith in the ability of those who fail.then starts a vicious cycle of using available overt or covert means to success.in this mad race ,ideas of cooperation got replaced with competition and then conflict which is a challenge to peaceful coexistence of Indian society itself.

                     Sixth challenge to Indian society aspiring for global leadership comes from the rigidity of the social institutions of our society.this results in making our society hostile to the individual freedom and liberty.this can be seen from banning three girls to perform music or arresting a cartoonist who put a satire on the system or honour killing seen in north india .this certainly cant be the way by which Indian society will attract globally people,for its leadership role.

                                                                                                       But as it was said that there Is a way to those who are willing to find the way,so is true for india and its problems.our society certainly needs improvements not cosmetically,but in real if it wants to be the leader and motivator of this whole world.

                                                              First is the role of family in weeding out vices from Indian society .among the family ,it’s the mother who has to play a role.for the wider role of mother in this rechristined society ,it’s the education which will serve as support.as said by Indian prime minister that-“when a boy gains education,it’s the gain of one person but when a girl gains education ,it’s the gain of whole family”.education which minimize prejudice and stereotyping and make a person to thinkin rational way is the need of the hour and when it focus on women in particular,it will and it shall change the dynamics of Indian society.

                            Second suggestion for improvement is the instillation of culture of reward and punishment in Indian society.for Indian society who wants an increased role in worldly affairs,it needs to institute such a value which in the words of napoleon Bonaparte ,craves for-“to let the good people do what they are doing and to stop the bad people from doing what they want to do”.this will minimize the tendency of corruption,regionalism and communalism in indian society albeit it will not eliminate such tendencies altogether.

           Third solution for Indian society so that it can gain bigger role in global affairs is to learn from its past and to practice all those learnings in the light of reason.rationalism should be the basement for Indian society above which it has to built its dream of happiness and welfare for all.this is the concept as aptly summarized by swami Vivekananda that-“if you are able to wipe out the tear from the face of a single individual,you have done enough.this is the single most important truth I have learned in all through my life”.

         Fourthly for Indian society ,it needs to shift from the concept of nation in making to nationa being made.that will give rise to idea of oneness of all the disparate features of Indian society and will make it a vital force of leadership as said in words of ancient Indian thinker and strategist chanakya that’one india,glorious india’.

                                    Having said that ,it can be concluded that Indian society is fully prepared not to lead the world but to motivate it if and only if it solve some of the problems finding way into it.not only Indian society,but the whole world should not let the vice of weakness in its endeavour because that will destroy the very basis of hope on which they think to make things better.as said by swami vivekanada-“strength is life and weakness is death”.the final goal as a motivational role of Indian society for whole world should be to make it possible that a girl coming from a school,in the remotest hinterland of world,with her mind sharper than yesterday and smile on her face.

                             

                                                                                       

Indian role in changing global order

   “geography make us neighbours.history make us friends.economy make us partners.necessity make us allies.so why to break the notions of world created by god himself?”

       j.f. kennedy ,the former usa president had said these words summarizing the beauty of relationships among nation states of these times which are not only determined by static realities of geography and history but also by dynamism of economy and necessity.when he was saying these words ,a new nation that is india ,was rising in south asia after a long period of colonial domination and years of painful partition.india as well as world of today is tremendously different from what it was a few decades back and its imperative now to look at the question of whether india has maintained its pace with the rest of world or not?

                   Global order is in effect the balance of power as well as embodiment of values of peace and prosperity among nations as well as States.change is fundamental property of this order but the speed at which change is happening is quite robust in today’s time than it was in the past.

        Issue of strong Indian role in this scenario is gaining ground because of the confidence with which world is looking towards it in fields spaning from culture to security and philosophy to practice.recent electoral verdict in this largest democracy of world ,which have voicedthe will of 121 crore people in support of stable government is acting as a catalyst in that direction.

                   Indian role in changing global order needs to be looked at like a travelogue.it needs to be seen how much and in what way change is going on and how india had played a role in itand what can be done to increase Indian contribution to global reality?

                               First and foremost ,in political field,the most important change world has witnessed is rising wave of democracy .whether it be arab spring which had rocked the thrones of arab monarchs in favour of democracy or higher voter turnout in Afghanistan even after the warnings of extremists ,it all points to the fact as bluntly told by a western commentator pointing his finger at dictators of theworld that”power they took from the people will return back to the people”this is not just the power to rule but it’s the power to voice their grievances and concerns to a replaceable authority whose replacement will also be decided by people themselves.

                 Indian role in democracy in not just astonishing but worth emulating.this country in its very first elections,conducted under the able leadership of first chief election commissioner shri sukumar sen had shown to world that democracy is not the prerogative of rich but it’s the right of all.whether be it the construction of parliaments of Afghanistan or Bhutan or sending electoral officers to guide the nascent democracied of Africa to the path of ideal of democracy,india had played a keen role.

                                           Second important change the world is witnessing is in the social sphere and that is growing of equality between man and woman as well as rise of invisibles until now.woman are making their mark in every field whether be it the presidentship of brazil or germany ,chairmanship of top companies like pepsico or that of international organizations like international monetary fund ,women are coming forward stronger than ever.but there is dark side too.recent united nations report showing that more than 50% of women are still suffering of domestic violence.world economic forum has pointed to otherwise gloomy picture of women rise by showing up the data on discrimination with women at work place.but still after three concrete feminist movements world had witnessed in all these years has improved the position of women.

                                         Invisibles are the other class whose rise in social sphere is encouraging in today’s world.these invisibles are those who were discriminated till now like black people of united states of America or poor and downtrodden of latin America or former slaves in some countries.when a person of black race becomes president of usa or when a truck driver rise upto position of head of state of Venezuela or when the head of Liberia,a country populated by former slaves,rise upto speak at united nations auspices ,it itself shows that world has changed.

                                                                   Indian role in social sphere realities of world is marked by cautious optimism .though it was the india ,who had given the right of vote to women at the time,when western nations were discussing on such a radical measure in their language.but india is also a country often  deemed as rape epidemic centre of world and such a preposition need introspection .when it comes to tthe right of invisibles till now,india had taken a lead and had written down article against untouchability in its constitution.not only this,Indian notion of ‘one person one vote ‘ and ‘one vote one value’ along with land reforms it pursued after independence had given push to its downtrodden.but still india is a country where 35% people of its so called lower castes are in poverty compared to 12% of upper castes.

                                                                Thirdly it’s the economic sphere in which the world is undergoing a significant change.rise of developing economies is a major implication of this change.recent human development report with title ‘rise of the south’ has pointed towards this fact that combined wealth of countries from developing world had crossed that of developed world.like it was agriculture in feudal times or industry at times of renaissance ,it’s the service sector which is the currency of today.developing countries have tapped this sector efficiently with their high demographic dividend nd thrust to education.globlization of trade had acted as game changer in all this with a robust dispute redress mechanism of wto which have upholded rights of poor nations against rich countries and so helping them in achieving their capabilities.

                                                                               Indian role in this sphere cn be gauged from the very fact that india is deemed as growth engine of this world.high demographic dividend along with independent judiciary and stabilityis all that needed for promoting growth.economic stability of indi t the time of 2008 global financial crisis nakes the world confidant in Indian capabilities.but changing global order in economic field is demanding for india and china both to be partners with each other and with the world as whole to create a favourable condition for future economic powerhouse.

                                                             The other major arena in which world is witnessing a change is the matter of security.rise of china as an aggressive entity,decline in the power of usa owing to its domestic pressures as well as its long drawn engagement in middle east,rise of state sponsored terrorism s well as ideology linked terrorism are the biggest challenges to be faced by the global order.

                                      China’s influence is a valid concern not because of the fact that its quite tremendous and that too in short time but because of its expansionist tendencies.whether it  be the south china sea islands dispute with south east asian nations or east china sea disputes with japan or land border conflicts with india,Chinese response has been vocal and authoritarian like instituting oil rig near to Vietnam or air free zone near to disputed islands with japan or issuing stapled visa to persons from arunachal Pradesh.

                                     Usa ,the only superpower left after disintegration of ussr,is facing its own distinct challenges at home as well as abroad.financial problems that got exaggerated after 2008 financial crisis as well as fall of its credibility specially in the eyes of middle east people because of its frequent realiging with dictators of the region,is strongly hurting its position as global super power.japan’s recent reinterpretation of its constitution by which it has given more power to its rmed self defence forces is clearly indicative of its cautious reliance on the usa who had promised it protection at times of conflict.

                                                           Then there is the rise of state sponsored terrorism,the concern of which was expressed by Indian prime minister at recently concluded united nations general assembly.whether be it the instability in Afghanistan or Ukraine or even india ,this kind of terrorism owing to its vast supply of money and arms is proving to be more serious to tackle.global order has changed so much so in the field of terrorism specilly fter9/11 attacks on usa that problem of terrorism now a days,not deemed as law and order problem as was some decades back but as a challenge to very existence of human race.ideology linked terrorism is other branch of terrorism whose propelling fuel is provided by extremist ideology like wahabism for the recent rise of isis.

                                                             Indian role in such a global order had been supportive ,enthusiastic as well as protective.india had been able to position itself as an alternative power in asia other than china.asean’s response to engage with india for collective security in region is a testimony of this fact.usa has also voiced its willingness for engaging with india in its so called pivot for asia pacific.in the field of anti terrorism ,india had been supportive because its itself a victim of terrorism.india had supported the global war against terrorism when it provided naval ships in indin ocean,in their endeavour against terrorism hubs.indian support is phenomenal in case of Afghanistan so that it don’t fall back to terrorists again specially fter the withdrawl of usa forces.this was even appreciated by afghans themselves.

                                Indian role in this changing global order though is quite appreciative but still there needs more to be done in Indian context so tht its contribution materilises into a peaceful world as well as to make it prosperous.

                             First thing india needs to do is to make its democracy much more vibrant by instilling the necessary reforms.along with it,india needs to support those nascent democracies who just fall back to dictatorship again.the effective and efficient use of un peacekeeping forces ,to which india is the largest contributor,can be very useful in in this regard.india should act as lighthouse of democracy not only for its neighbours but for whole of world.

                                                          Secondly india needs to bring reforms in its social sphere and present to the world a better picture of cohesiveness as per its social ideal of ‘vasudeva katumbkm” which implies that ‘whole world is my family”.improving position of women in society,helping downtrodden to rise and shine,making a child realize his or her potential is the need of the hour.in short term,laws nd policies can help in this regard but in long term ,its only the education which will bring a long lasting change.

         Thirdly it’s the economic sphere in which india has to shed its pacifist tendencies relating to business by private entrepreneurs and has to take the opportunity presented by this changing global order in economy field.recently launched make in india campaign in india is a welcome step in this regard.india needs to thrust upon the domestic private entrepreneurship along with making economy of scale a possibility.

                          Then comes the security sphere in which india has to play for bigger change in global order.reforms at un security council,when its going to attain its 70 th anniversary are very much needed and indi should pursue it not only for its own benefit but for the collective global security.to balance out the other rising power in asia,india needs to bind up with its neighbours more strongly so that balance of power can be maintained.indian support to anti terrorism should be based on geographical realities and focus should also be shifted to funding part of these terrorist organizations.

                                In the wider meaning ,though global reality is changing like the introduction of democracy in some areas or rise of developing economies or rise of oppressed or drastic security challenges,yet Indian response had been that of an active,responsible and a benevolent nation.

                                                                  Having said that,it can be concluded with optimism that coming times will be more peaceful and progressive not because there will be end to human suffering but because there will be beginning of end to humn suffering.for such a world,india needs to build towards that global order which is reflective of human needs nd aspirations. Beautiful thought of mahatma Gandhi ,which can be a guiding lamp for the world is-“the future depends on what we do in the present”.

       Hopefully ,the future of world will be bright with all its nations as allies and people as partners in each other’s development with india playing the role of a thread binding the pearls of these friends.

Coeistence of religion and science in india

“true religion is not a narrow dogma .it is faith in god and living in presence of god.”

           Mahatma gandhiji had said these words a many decades back when this deeply religious country was fighting for its independent and sovereign existence .he was living in such a time when science had started coming out from labs and influencing day to day life of an ordinary man and womanlike by ways of telephone or printing press.at these crossroads,he viewed religion in its wider perspective ,certainly that perspective having path of reason embedded into it,which is itself a cornerstone of science.but its quite imperative to point now that whether these ideas and perspectives exist even today or we have lost in floods of superstition and modernization?

                                                                                Religion is a concept having in its ambit, a person who profess,practice and propagate the ideas of his or her conscience.depending on that idea of conscience,person may belong to any religion like Hinduism,islam,bahai and many more.while science is all about making the hypothesis and then testing it on the altar of reasoning. An ideal religious person gains his idea of conscience only when that idea confirms to his own reasoning and from these starts the path where religion and science not only coexist but catalyse each other.

                                                                                             There happen to be certain events in india which bringfore the idea of coexistence of religion and science.last year,there was huge conglomeration of crores and crores of people at sangam of Allahabad for mahakumbh.this year,nearly about a lakh people have gone to haj.on the other hand,india became first country to reach to mars in its maiden attept.not only this,our Indian constitution embodies religious freedom as fundamental right while promotion of scientific temper as a fundamental duty.isnt it the coexistence of religion and science that india is witnessing?certainly yes but with some riders.

                 

                                                                Even though in india religion and science exist as partners in progress yet there are multiple facets of this partnership.it needs to be seen in which areas both the conceots coexist and in which areas,these concepts go against each other and what can be done to resolve the paradox of their coexistence and animosity?

                                                                                                    First and foremost area in which religion and science have shown coexistence in india is its historical development specially the age of enlightenment and renaissance which happens to be the first half of 19^th century.religion then provided the base on which scientific reason was built by many great personalities like raja rammohan roy,ashwini kumar data,iswar Chandra vidyasagar,gopal ganesh agarkar etc.an apt example would be that of practice of child marriage.while raja rammmohan roy argued that none of shstras mention about utility of child marriage ,ashiwnin kumar data took it in medical perspective when he argues that such a marriage puts burden on the body of a child which results in deterioration of her health.due to resonance of such ideas in society,british govt was forced to pass child marriage restraint act.

                                                                                              Second area where religion and science have reinforced each other is the political sphere.religion has given the ideaological binding to the people of this country while science have given the means and modes of new vistas of life which has woven the country into fabric of materialistic well being.nothing can be more prudent example of this than that many of our neighbouringf countries whose existence is on the basis of single religion have got divided because they had retainbed the fruits of scientific development on one part of their territory compared to another.

                     Thirdly it’s the democracy which has the imprint of religion and science in itself.a true religion favours democracy not because of its populist propaganda but because democracy offers the freedom of conscience which is a bed rock ofreligion.science is conjoined with democracy because the democracy offers the freedom to fairly criticize what is not as per the reasoning of average human mind upto the last man of the society.nothing can be a more forceful example of this than Indian democracy which is a multireligious country marching on its path of scientific development.

                       Fourthly it’s the social sphere where religion and science overlap each other.social sphere is all about dealing with others and with oneself.in Indian society,it will not be exaggeration to say that religion is part and parcel of life of an Indian.but this religious association many a time have scientific meaning as pointed and being discovered later on.for example ancient Indian texts mention about the importance of mother’s milk as an amrit while the recent scientic studies have pointed out the benefits of mother’s milk for her baby as its rich in all sorts of essential minerals.its importance get more exaggerated in recent Indian society in light of fact that 42% of Indian children are underweight.other social sphere examples where religion an science catalyse each other are like yoga or prayers or recently discovered wonder herb which is having immune booster properties.

                                                                                      Fifithly it’s the economic field where religion and science together have bring wwonders in the lives of many.there are lots of religious places in the country where millions of people visit ought to sense of devotion.this is a kind of religious tourism which provides livelihood opportunity to local populace..science has helped in religious tourism by providing improved means of transport and communication.result of this combination is that the number of tourist visiting the religious places have increased multifold opening up many opportunities for local population to transform into microentrepreneurs.this trend has picked so much so that recent budget also announced for increasing tourism in some religious circuits by improving connectivity further.

                                                                                           But in the world of mortals,nothing is perfect and ideal.if religion and science coexist as multifaceted partners then side by side in many areas,there existence is deemed as threat to other one.

                                                                     Firstly it’s the area of religious superstitions and wrong beliefs where scienitific explanation is seen as interference in religion by ardent supporters of such beliefs.there are lot of examples in this regards.for example that of witch hunting practice in which the young girl is being bitten up by self professed godmen in lieu of taking the witch out of girl.but as per science,all this disordered behavior of a girl is because of some mental disorder like schizophrenia and not by influence of any ghost.some people believe such ideas as interference in their inner sphere.the  killing of narendra dholbole in Maharashtra in broad day light points to  the resistance offered by such fanatics against reason.secondly it’s the area of social ills that prevail this society from many centuries.a dangerous trend seen in this respect is that these social evils use to be defended by tenets of religion on basis of their mention in a religious text.for example the practice of untouchability and conditions of those who faced it.this practice is centuries long and followed even till now because as per the opinion of  some higher castes ,it got the religious backing as mentioned in ‘chaturvarna order’ of religious texts.but science is all out opposite to it because of its very existence on pillars of liberty,equality and fraternity.when these explanations come face to face,then there is rise of bhoomihar senas or alit panther movements.

                                       Thirdly it’s the women,her condition and her life which becomes an arena of struggle for superiority in between religion and science so much so that an Indian commentator commented”body of women is the battleground of all ideologies.”the various practices regarding a woman like sati,widow neglect,child marriage and polygamy and many more are reared up as commands of a religion.recent incident from rajasthan where a girl buried into ground ,hile still she breatrhs,is a testimony to this fact.science have always opposed it and will oppose it because any person with sound mind capable of making reason cant accept such practices which more relates a person with life after this life ,not seen by anybody till now.

                                                      Fourthly it’s the mistrust that develops in a religion with regard to some othere religion.this tendency isreferred to as communalism and its extreme form is the one in which religious communities start seeing each other as enmical to their existence.india suffers from this so much so that every year nearly 100 people die because of the riots that follow such communalistic attitudes.on the other hand,science look to the solution of this enmity not in violence but in increasing production and productivity so much so that interests of religious communities get linked with each other.

            There are many other issues where religion and science take a different path like the issue of religious minority where science preaches there equality in all respects or the issue of monotheism vs polytheism.but if there are problems,there must also be solutions to these problems and these solutions should not only cure the symptoms but the disease itself.

                                                                                       First and foremost solution to all the animosity and divergence between religion and science is through the way of reasoning.this needs to be instilled right from the childhoodwhhen the mind is able to print on itself the teachings taught by elders.this ability can only be gained if child is free to contemplate his views which might or might not be in consonance in prevailing one.this is a difficult task which can be easily accomplished by the participation of parents and teachers.but this is like a chain reaction as any reasonable person will spread themessage of reasoning to everyone he or she comes in contact with.

                                                                    Second solution for making religion and science confirm with each other is by teaching young minds,the knowledge of all religions.the ultimate root of all religions is same as said by swami vivekanada”the basi truth of all religions is the love and welfare of mankind”.this will in long term binds the nation not in small groups of different religions,but in the larger group of a religion binding each individual in its faith.

                                                               Third strand of solution pertains to making it a reality that fruits of scientific progress become available to every faith and religion.in india,this willinvolvee interregional and intra regional development as well as improving the quality of life of religious minorities in this rapid paced urbanization phase.this will need motivation as well as more funding for such communities who have been left behind.india has many successful examples regarding that like elimination of polio which involved the participation of many religious leaders to call for vaccination of newborn.such things need to be used more and more because these affect a lot in very short span of time.

                                                         Fourthly its the idea of dynamic secularism that this country needs to be followed .in india unlike west,religion is not separate from state but is under protection of state irrespective of its type.the concept if got coupled together with thrust on research and development in science can work wonders for this country.though india has followed it partially till now,but complacency and satisfaction with the progress till now will only breed inefficiency and so this concept needs not only be followed but implemented as swami Vivekananda had said “one ounce of practice is worth twenty thousand tones of big talk”.

                                                             Having said that though religion and science complement each other in fields of democracy,political unity,economic well being,social practices and historical achievements yet these contradicts in other fields like of superstitions,condition of women,communalistic tendencies and many more.but there solution lies in preaching and implementing religious tolerance in life,teaching basic tenets of all religions and development and welfare of all.

                                                                          The very issue of religion and science’s coexistence in india is the very basic issue of existence of humanity on this ancient land.humanity,which is coupled with life of each and everyone till the last one standing in the row,hold importance very much than that in the past.the words of Socrates express the crux of whole issue when he said that “the unexamined life is not worth living”

          Finally,it can be said that if religion is the path to liberation then science should be taken as means to achieve that very end.the narrow dogma of religion attains its width only when it got science by its side on the way to prosperity and development of all in this great country.

Geography may remain same history need not

“I am neither Athenian nor greek ,but a citizen of the world”

             Socrates had said these powerful words at a time when all just mattered was the nationality limited by a geographical region.but his account as a citizen of world shows the acceptance of a greater truth and that is recognition of change going on in world as a whole whose history was a continuous change and whose future will be a continuum of change.but its quite imperative to know that in this world,where the mere change in air or climate may forge fetters among people to ascribe for their separate identity ,is there any chance to mould the history towards thepath of welfare and progress of even the last man standing in the end?

                                                                  Geography is all about the physical features the earth has on itself ,whether be the mountain reaching the sky or the trenches touching depth of oceans.change in geography is always there albeit time taken for change varies from a wink of an eye to thousands of centuries.on the other hand,history is the study of condition of all those who lived and wandered on mother earth before the question of history came up to the present generation.as it relates to people,who are bound to change their historical,social,political and other prerogatives with time ,so is the history.

                       The issue of dynamicicty of history alongside the reality of geography comes to the fore when the world events of last few decades are recalled.indian subcontinent can be an apt example of that where a single identity present from some 50-60 million years ago ,which was called india by Greeks ,Hindustan by Persians and bharat by its natives ,stretched from sulaiman to Chittagong ,got divided into three different historical units.history in this region had changed for worse,from culture of brotherhood to bloodshed ,from love to hatredness nd result was partition and four wars.isnt it the embodiment of fact that though geograph may remain the same,but need not the history.

                                                                                                                                       It needs to be seen as to by which factors,its possible that history changes inoverall context of geography with so much quantum that it should be called a change.it should be examined as to what can be done so that as the change happens because its all about human tendency to have change,that change is in the overall interest and welfare of all.

                         First and foremost factor that brings about historical changes with alongside the tangible effects on geography is the environment.its the dynamic relationship of air,water and soil of region which can change the course of history in both ways.indus valley civilization can be a case in point.many researchers ascribe to this theory that this bronze age civilization got vanished because of change in course of rivers specially Indus and saraswati river.its geographical fallout was the desertification that results in northwest part of Indian subcontinentand its historical effect was that the statit Indus community got replaced by horse riders Aryans who can migrate from the area,if such event recurs.the effect of environment is exerting itself on both geographical and historical facets toda more than ever as the population as well as its density is rising

                     Another important factor that puts a pressure on historical facts to get written again though without the comparable effects on geography is the politics played out in the region of consideration.whether it be the civil war of usa or the disintegration of usssror the segregation of arab world after treaty of severes in 1920 or the rise of dreadful Islamic state militia in today’s times ,it’s the historical change backed by political needs of the hour with little or no effects on geography.this political push may be by the people as they say ‘power withdrawl by people’ or by the leaders who say ‘a state won by one sitting in the office with help of a typewriter’.but the former is bound to change till the people not get what is due to them while latter is bound to change till one get what is promised to them.

           Another forceful push to dyynami of history bound  by static geography comes from social views and their implications.when these views start echoing or reflecting ,they start building the framework of a major change.civil disobedience movements of india or the mau mau rebellion of Kenya or the guerillas fighting of latin Americas or the birth of state as well as nation of Israel is all embodiment of it.when the society gets warm upto the atrocities or the aspirations of some among it,then it makes the stage for an overhaul of all that in favour of peace as said by mahatma gandhiji aptly-“in all through history ,the ways of love and truth have always won.therer has benn tyrants and murderers and for a time,they may seem invincible but in the end they always fall.think of it always”

                                                                                                                                         Then comes the economy whih has its repercussions felt not only on the lives of people but the geography also though how much small it is.its a continuous inherent factor in the life of all those facets of humanity from the age of hunter-gatherers to the industrial and subsequently service revolutions of the present.nothing can be more apt description of this factor than colonialism witnessed in world in past centuries.on the one hand where colonialism changed the history by making the people westernized instead of modernized ,on the other side ,it brought about substantive changes in geography by commercializing the use of forests or by pushing up the growth of shabby overstretched cities .though its always sure that its double edged sword,but walking on it was always the prerogative of man.

                                                                                                                                      Fifth factor which had brought about substantial historical changes within the bound of geography is the direction in which foreign affairs were dealt with time to time.a good example of it can be taken from the state of Liberia in Africa.this state itself is born out of the policy of slavery followed in late medieval centuries.not only this,the population in this part of the world is wholly composed of the descends of former slaves of north America.birth of hongkong under the ‘one nation,two systems’ policy of china is another substantial factor in the effect of foreign affairs on the historical changes of a region.

                                                                                                                                                   Another thrust to historical change comes from geographical factors itself.its the geography only due to which the plains have always been the cradles of civilizations while the mountains and other inhabitable areasgeet only thin slice of human habitat.it can be gauged from simple fact that 66% of world population resides in between two tropical lines.

                                        The change has neither been good or bad only.it becomes bad at a time when a single drop of blood get shed not in the process of occurrence of change but in the outcome.historical changes in the confinement of geography were good when they improved the condition of women or the so called invincible like blaks of America or untouchables of india.they were good when there aim was to make society think on reason or to make nation look to democracy and equality to solve the plethora of problems facing it.but they were bad when they were aspired for creating space for their own on the basis needs of others.

                                             But as the golden rule says that if there is problem,there must be a solution.so if the change happens in history with the geography may or may not accounting for it,there needs to be inherent qualities and principles so that change is for the best interests of one and all.

                                                                                                                                 First such principle should be the ‘culture of animism’ which means that all humans are partners in peace and progress.this culture has its roots in contentment which was aptly summarized by an ancient greek philosopher in following words “contentment is natural wealth while richness is artificial poverty”.

                                                                                                                           But the question remains as to how to ingrain in the minds of the coming generation the ssignificance of this culture?certainly its possible only through the agency of education which minimizes prejudices and stereotyping and such an education should start from home itself with the mother as the parent epitome in this endeavour.this ssingle thing will going to have catalytic effect in the moulding of change in positive direction.

                                                                                                                                  Second solution for managing all the way rapidly happening historical change ,is the presence of an international body,free of bias and capable of taking action at time of need.there were two organizations witnessed by world in this sphere.first was the league of nations whose unfrucatbility was also a reason for second world war.second is united nations which ahd done a commendable work right from its setting but its lack of change along with realities make it unuseful today more than ever.it has started not representing the reality of modern world and if this trend continues,then it will also start to decay like its predecessor.

                                                                                   Third solution in the context of historical change amid the presence of a static geographycomes from preparing the communities for unthoughtful changes that may come up in coming times.these include man disasters whether be biological or environmental and other rising challenges like terrorism ,nuclear proliferation etc.this needs the sense of being human compared  to the sense belongingness to a particular region.only then it can work and help one and all in facing some drastic challenges.this is possible by letting people to learn the practical aspects of life and civil society can play an important role in this regard.

                                                                                                   Having said this,its quite clear that geography though remains same or not,but history need not and cant be same and that’s due to the interplay of environmental,political,social,economical and geographical factors.the change a history get in its reflection is in both ways but its through the use of culture of brotherhood,a peaceful international body and by preparing towards unwanted change,a human being can mould the path of history to intended purpose of welfare of all.

                                             Though geographical factors were remaining same or not and the history was always in the flux of change,yet it’s the mankind that has to bear the brunt or heap the accolades for all these changes.it teaches us the significance of very fact that human kind is like a thread joining all the pearls of this great interplay of factors affecting it.this was even recognized from age long as an ancient saying is “history is the best teacher”.

                                                               Its always hopeful that though the history change and coming times will write a new history of the present,though the geography change or not,with the new physical features cropping up and old demolished ,yet the mankind in the garb of world citizenry will make its way for an even better and wishful future whose index will be the smile on the face of a girl coming out of a school located in the most underdeveloped region,with a smile on her face and mind sharper than yesterday.