I’m going to write about three guys and their world views and I would try to figure out the credibility of formal education from it. 

The first guy is the taxi driver, who drove me from my home to airport on my way to US. He is a Somali immigrant to Australia and is a Muslim. He told me how concerned he was about the killing in Mumbai and one of the saddest days of his life was 9/11/2001. He was quite concerned about the misinformation, wrong teaching and murder of innocents in the name of jihad. I was quite impressed with this guy. He must have been an asylum seeker in Australia and he is not very educated. But his level of maturity, his world view, his guiding principle and his concern for Islam being used in a wrong manner are commendable. Contrast this taxi driver to the terrorists who carried out 9/11. Many of the terrorists were professionally educated. So my question is ‘Whether the modern education is really teaching us anything?’. All that the modern education is doing is producing workers for corporate. Otherwise how can we justify that a simple man, who escaped the killing fields of Somalia, has such a profound empathy for the humanity yet well educated blokes are killing innocents?

The second guy is a highly educated corporate worker in my office. A guy from China was having a conversation with this corporate guy. The Chinese guy was trying to say how Chinese way of life is different. Nothing more nothing less. But the corporate guy retorted back ‘If you don’t like Australian way of life you can go back to China’. I’m sure he does not really know what ‘Australian way of life’ is. He probably does not know that Australian parliament has said ‘Sorry’ for the atrocities committed on the aboriginal community. After the European arrival, Australia has been a melting pot of numerous cultures. So what is that elusive Australian way of life? It is a land of immigrants without a real culture and tradition. So I’m coming back to my question about ‘formal education’. How far formal education is helping us to be good human beings? I don’t think formal education is helping us in anyway except to be corporate rats. A century ago, Gandhi was absolutely correct to realize this.

The third guy is the taxi driver who drove me to Chicago airport. As he is an American I assume that he must have been educated. He is running his own transport company. I asked him the ‘Political’ question i.e. whom did you vote ‘Hillary’ or ‘Obama’? He did not support Hillary because of her outbursts, which is definitely dangerous. He was frank enough to acknowledge the stupidity of Americans (credit culture). He was also candid enough to speak his mind on ‘Trigger happy Bush’. Highly qualified people from Top-MBAs become Investment Bankers in USA. And we all know who screwed the economy and how. So let me visit my question again. How far formal education is preparing us to be good human beings?

Richard Branson is not highly educated and nor is Bill Gates. But any Harvard MBA will bend over his/her back to get a job at Virgin or Microsoft. So bottom line is that prevailing formal education will help you to be a corporate worker but it won’t help you to be a responsible and enlightened human being.

I’ve always been fascinated with the fundamental difference between Eastern and Western philosophy.
Here I’m listing down the key differences between the Eastern and Western philosophy and my take on them.

Principles:

East: Life is a circular journey. You can’t escape from your action. The real goal is self-liberation.

West: Life is linear. If there is a beginning then there is an end. The goal of life is self-appeasement.

Need of human is unlimited. Can we ever appease ourselves? No. Thus appeasing self is not a worthy pursuit. It is only when we liberate ourselves from the circle of need, we can achieve peace.

Leadership:

Eastern philosophy says leader should be behind the people, so that if anybody falls behind then leader will take care of him. East says ‘your work should talk for you’.

Western philosophy says leader should lead from the front and leader should differentiate himself from the rest. West puts a huge premium on talk.

After living in western society for so long, I do feel that ‘talk’ is the most important aspect of leadership; even through it is just hollow. I can’t think of a better example than Obama, who talked his way to be the president of USA.

Success:

East says success is spiritual. Discovering self is the greatest success. East asks us to give up everything to get everything. Success is not material.

West links success to material i.e. money, house, car and holiday. West asks us to work hard, play games and build an empire.

We come to this world empty handed and we will go empty handed. All we can leave behind is a legacy. In hundred years, history will judge whether we are successful or not. Benjamin Franklin Jr., Gandhi etc are regarded as the most successful in last century yet they were never been materially rich.

Work:

East asks us to dissociate self from work. Working without an expectation is the true work as per the Gita. Work is selfless dedication.

As per Western philosophy work is all about result and benefit. West asks us to merge play and work and keep working till we get the material we want.

Human is a selfish animal. Unless there is benefit, it is difficult to strive. Eastern philosophy is grand in its vision yet not practical. If we follow Eastern philosophy we can build a heaven on earth but alas most of us don’t deserve it.

Win and achievements:

East says the greatest win is the win against self. So the real win is with in. You can conquer the world but unless you conquer yourself you can’t win the battle.

West says win is outside. Name, fame and glory are the buzz words of a grand win.

Name, fame and glory are as short lived as human memory is. A lasting legacy won’t be possible if we chase name, fame and glory. Who can beat Marline Monoro or Madona in fame? But what is their contribution to this world? I guess not much. So they will fade away. Leaders who conquered self have conquered the world and outlived themselves.

Individualism:

East thinks every person is connected to the rest. So collectivism is the essence. Individualism should be manifested through collectivism.

West thinks individualism is the essence of life. Collectivism should be expressed through individualism.

The most notorious crime that can ever be committed against a woman is rape. There is no doubt about it. And few countries can beat India when it comes to the number of rape cases. Well, my fellow Indians claim that India is the land of peace, harmony, values and ethics. Now a days we have moral police beating up women to prevent them from going to pub, because going to pub is against Indian culture. The number of rape cases registered in India in first three quarters of 2008 in India is 18359. I guess raping women is the true Indian culture!!!!

I believe the real reason for the atrocities against women in India is because of Indian culture and its attitude towards sex. I do feel that Indian society in its current form is quite hypocrite. I feel so because this society does not accept the thing that is so rampant and obvious. Sexual desire is the basic instinct of human and it is just the way we all are. We can’t change ourselves completely. If we can control the basic instinct then we will be God for sure. Yet Indian society not only disregards the basic human instinct but also brands sex as dirty. As a result society has stymied the outlet for the passion. Thus things happen under cover and many women fall prey to the desire.

The first step in the remedy for any problem is the acknowledgement of the problem. Indian society should accept the human nature of desire for sex. If we can’t control it, then let’s regulate it. If people can’t control themselves, then we have to provide a way to satisfy the desire. Illegal prostitution is flourishing underground, but it is not convenient for normal Joe. So let’s legalize prostitution as it will be the appropriate channel to satisfy the carnal desire. If we have legal brothels in our cities and towns, then people will have the means to satisfy their sexual desire any time, any where. Once sex is available in the market conveniently, people won’t commit the heinous crime of rape. At the same time let’s make the rules extremely stringent so that nobody is able to get away with it. This will drastically reduce the number of rapes in India.

Legalization of prostitution can have many other benefits. Regulation of the trade will bring down the number of HIV/AIDS cases. Women involved in the trade will get recognized as workers and exploitation by law enforcement agencies will end. Legalization will pave the way for insurance, health care, schooling for children of sex workers and numerous other benefits.

But politicians and the so called custodians of Indian culture will be up in arms because they can’t tolerate brothel in the market as this goes against the ‘non-existent’ Indian culture. Hypocrite Indian society can tolerate the destruction of an innocent life but can’t accept existence of the very basic instinct of human. Hope people get courage to accept the fact and the truth. Only if they do, we can stop rape menace in India.

Human is the best of animals because it has a brain and it is the worst of animals because it has a brain. To deal with human, we can’t afford to be humane. We ought to give a chance or two. But the more chance human gets the more he/she will get used to it and will abuse the leniency.

Since last 1.5 year, I’m reading about the violence in Melbourne’s Central Business District (CBD). I don’t think there is any lack of police protection in CBD during weekends. There is no lack of money to spend on toys to reduce the crime. But the menace persists and it continues to deter normal Joe like me to venture out to CBD especially during late night over the weekends. I think the reason for this alcohol fuelled menace is the kid-glove approach of the law enforcement agencies. What else can the reason be? There is lack of concerted effort to discipline the drunken mob. Solution can be in putting these drunks in jail, hitting hard on their wallet and giving a lot of press to drum public awareness. And I can guarantee that the mob will disappear in no time. It is really a cause of concern that a first-world country like Australia is unable to guarantee safety of its residents at the heart of Melbourne, which claims to be the most livable city in the world. What kind of image these never ending incidents in the heart of the city is projecting to the outside world. Had it been a poor, third-world country, it is quite understandable. But unfortunately it is Australia. The mob has to be controlled with iron feast. I would like to sight an example. Few days ago an utterly drunken bloke hopped on the tram with a bottle in his hand. He was wobbling and completely out of control. But to my surprise he tried his best to validate his ticket. But well he failed as he could not find the slot in the machine. But the bottom line is that a drunk could not forget the fact that if he gets caught he will have to cough up 200 odd $ and there won’t be any excuses. So why can’t we have similar formula in CBD. Last week a mob attacked a guy who landed in hospital fighting for his life. But I read in the newspaper that it is unlikely that anybody will be charged. Tolerance is really encouraging violence. Sometimes punishment is the best way to discipline people. I’m not an advocate of fear-psychology but public safety is absolutely important.

*****
I’m not deviating from my blog rule i.e. I won’t criticize any country other than India. I’m a resident of Australia at this point of time and I’m paying tax to the Australian Government. So it is my right to demand proper security at least in CBD.

Religion is just a way of living. Religion is nothing more than expression of faith. None of us choose a religion; rather we are born into one. At the end of the day we are all human beings all flesh and bone. You will never find an iota of religion in the anatomy of a human. As there are many means to do something, there are many religions to achieve a common objective e.g. peace and happiness. Yet, why we become slave to a religion? Why it becomes a case of my religion is better than yours? Is not it foolish? If we turn the pages of history then the foolishness of human becomes more evident with scores of battle fought in the name of religion. It has always been the case that a small section of wayward always hijacks the spotlight and creates havoc. Just yesterday a group of vandals roughed up women in a pub in India and the same group justified its act by saying that it is the custodian of Indian values. But what is that Indian value?? I bet my month’s salary on the fact that the people involved are hired thugs. They have no idea of why they are doing this, except the fact that they are being paid for it (well I did not know that the ‘Indian value’ is all about beating up of women. Incredible India!!!!).

‘Indian value’ is a very broad term as the civilization has almost five thousand years of history.

Boozing is bad and everybody knows it. Yet at the end of the day we are all individuals and we have our own judgement and values. People should be made aware of the downside through education but we need to realize that it is impossible to force value down the throat of a person. We can do so much. So let’s not try to create a moral police force to rub people of their human right.

General election is round the corner. I hope people won’t forget this shameful incident. However much BJP tries to distance itself from these splinter Hindu extremist organizations, at the end of the day the foundation of BJP rests on ‘Hindutva’. And without small extremist organizations BJP can’t survive. I hope citizens of India can clearly see the evil nexus. I hope people of India hold political leaders accountable. I hope people don’t forget the fact that India is burning since the rise of Hindutva movement in late 80s and early 90s. I have nothing against any political party but I’m concerned about the role of religion in politics of a secular country.

Let’s say NO to the ‘Talibanization’ of India. Let’s live up to the true ‘Indian value’ that is respect and tolerance of diversity.

Am I witnessing the change in Indian politics that I was waiting for since aeons? I’m not sure. But a chain of events in last few months/years points to the right direction.

Win of Congress under Sheila Dikshit is one of the events that give me a ray of hope. Looking at her track record, I believe people of Delhi could not have asked for more. She has done a wonderful job as the CM of Delhi since 1998. On top of it, she has a highly distinguished career as a politician and leading figure in women’s empowerment movement. People of Delhi gave their mandate to ‘development’ rather than any party. Party does not matter but what matter are jobs, roads and electricity. Though Delhi is far behind other capitals around the globe but it is on the right track.

The way Narendra Modi rode into CM post for the third time, speaks a volume. And the way eminent industrialists such as Ambani and Mittal are pitching for Modi to be the PM of India, bodes well for India. I don’t doubt the self-centeredness of industrialists. But anyway everybody is selfish. As I’ve argued in past that if we need to take care of middle and lower class then we need to help the billionaires. It is the billionaires who create jobs not the beggar. So if Ambani and Mittal want Modi to be the PM then actually they are pitching for ‘development’ rather than Modi per-se. People of Gujarat have tasted the fruit of industrialization and all round development in last decade and they rightly want Modi to be at the helm for next few years.

Sibu Soren got thrashing in Jharkhand. It was so heartening to see uneducated voters (unlike those of Delhi and Gujarat) of Jharkhand turned the heat on Soren. Politicians such as Soren are extremely dangerous as leaders. Corruption and criminalization of politics are just few feathers on his hat. We can’t blame somebody without conviction by a court and by that account Soren is not guilty. But it is anybody’s guess. If law maker is a criminal then you can guess the rest. Just compare the development standard of Jharkhand and Gujarat in last 10 years and everything would be pretty clear.

At last, it seems, people are waking up to the reality. Petty movie stars, hardened criminals, dirty and uneducated politicians have always hugged the limelight in Indian politics. But I think with rapid development and spread of education, scene is changing. Development and progress are self-sustaining as the cycle of virtue. Once people know how it feels to have a stable job, a house and enough money to send kids to school, they will never turn their own future on its head. We have seen ample example of this scenario.

We can have a positive change when selfishness of individuals converges for a positive change. People want better quality of life, politicians want power and industrialists want, you guess, more. And the point of convergence is development. I hope leaders of India rise up to the challenge of delivering development.

Me: Israel
Neighbour: Hamas
Society: UN and other countries

Logic is very simple. I can’t blame Israel. You can’t always be hard pressed. If you don’t take action you will be judged as weak and you will invite more injustice. So get up and take the battle right to the doorstep of the enemy. And that’s what Israel did. With due respect to the choice of Palestinians, I can’t see the rationale of selecting Hamas in an election. I don’t think any rationale person would have difficulty to understand or guess the tragedy of an urban war. But it seems Hamas leadership either does not care about the death and plight of Palestinians or is irrational. As I’ve always maintained that you should cast vote by mind not by heart as your choice will determine your future. I sincerely hope that we all learn from this tragedy and take steps to avoid similar situation in future.

The key sticking problem in India is the question of ‘Muslim/Islam’. A Muslim in India is as Indian as any Hindu is as per constitution. But what is the situation on the ground. There were reports few days back that Muslims are having a hard time to get an apartment in Mumbai. Some said this is exaggeration and some said this is true. I don’t know the truth. But I had first hand experience of bias against Muslims. In 2001, when I went to get my passport issued the first question the agent asked me was ‘Are you a Muslim’. Before I left I asked him about this seemingly not-important question. His answer was that the chance of getting a passport for a Muslim is thin. Why is it so?

We need to be fair. Muslims in India are lagging behind in every aspect. As Muslim population is almost 12%, we can’t dream of a developed society until we pull this huge population out of the mess. Now let’s examine the ‘mess’. Who is responsible for this mess? Not pointing to an individual, I can say that the Muslim leaders, who wanted a separate homeland, were responsible for this mess. Historically Muslims in India are converts from Hinduism (due to the rigid caste system). All the while Hindus and Muslims were living side by side. But why all of a sudden just before independence, there was a requirement for a separate home land? There are few tough questions we have to ask.

1. Whose interest the Muslim leaders represented at that point of time?

2. Why Gandhi allowed the separation of India on religious lines?

3. Again if Indian was trisected based on religious lines, then why India allowed Muslims to stay behind in India?

Answer to the 3rd question first. The reason was that not all Muslims agreed to the idea of a separate homeland.

Answer to the 1st question was that Muslim leaders were not widely supported by Muslims. So leaders were following their self-interest in the name of religion.

Answer to the 2nd question. Gandhi was terribly wrong in his calculation.

Muslims who migrated to Pakistan were the well-to-do class. What left behind was the ‘unfortunate’ class. But due to policy failure Muslims in India did not get a helping hand from the Government. Because of their huge population they became a good vote bank for every political party. Even though Muslims are at very high positions, they are not fairly represented. I can’t put the whole blame on Government. Muslim community is not as open to change as its Hindu counterpart is. This is one of the reasons for the disaster. Lack of education/job and poverty has become the hallmark now. With poverty came madrasa and the brainwash. With the brainwash came bomb blasts. With bomb blasts came further marginalization. This is a vicious cycle and it has to be arrested urgently. I think we have to take some action along the following lines.

1. Affirmative action by Government: This should include education/healthcare/policy. But I don’t support quota in jobs/education at any cost.

2. Muslim leaders should try to understand the gravity of the situation and should steer the crowd in right direction away from extremism.

3. Muslims should start to embrace change. Living in a cocoon will push the situation from bad to worse.

4. Communalization of politics should be stopped.

5. Politicians should try to resolve the domestic issues first before pointing finger at Pakistan. It is a very common guess that without local help terrorists can’t carryout the deadly blasts and massacre.

So let’s clean our house first before blaming others. Once we have an united India we can fight external threats effectively.

Update: 11/01/2009

1. Communalisation of politics has to be stopped.

a. Ban any political party with overt link to communal organizations. BJP is strictly linked to RSS and RSS is a Hindu organization. There is regular bonhomie between the leaders of these two organizations. So it is obvious that BJP is trying to represent the sentiment of Hindus.

b. Ban any minority appeasement. Any political party trying to extend favour based on religious line, has to be banned. The leaders of that party should be shopped from contesting election. Congress’s policy of minority appeasement has done enough damage to India. Why Muslims get subsidized Hajj? I don’t get paid for my trips to Puri or Brindawan.

c. Every Indian should be treated as equal. Our constitution should be secular. Uniform civil law is the key. We can’t afford to have laws based on religion. Refer to Shah Bano case.

2. Muslims should embrace change

An example: I was talking to one of my acquaintances few months back in Orissa. He told me that Muslims in Orissa are in dire state. I asked why it is so. His answer was ‘Their jobs are vanishing’. What does ‘their jobs’ means? Most of the Muslims in Orissa are either butchers or vehicle mechanic. Now with the warrantee and Service station (i.e. Hero Honda service point), Muslims are at the receiving end. With the onslaught of organized retail, butchers will be jobless soon. Quite true. Question is why Muslims are not upgrading their skills? Answer is ‘resistance to change’. Can I change another human? No. Change has to come from within. When it comes to change of a community, leaders play a very important role? Name a single Muslim leader of prominence in India. There is none. Post Mumbai crisis Amir Khan and Shah Rukh Khan tried to give a voice as ‘Muslim’. It is a good beginning. More Muslims should be vocal. Educated and enlightened Muslims should come forward to lead the mass.

Am I responsible for the situation in India?

Yes.

Bomb blasts in India can be attributed to the distrust between Hindus and Muslims. I do feel proud to be an Indian but I’m ashamed when a bomb goes off, people die and nobody is accountable. If I trace the history of communal violence in India, it goes deep into the past. But I felt the vice of violence in 1991/1992 when I was in school. I still remember that day when somebody in school told me about the massive bomb blast in Bombay (now Mumbai). When I was on my way back from school, I saw black smoke and I was so very worried about my mother. At the age 12, I could not really understand the geographical distance between Mumbai and Rourkela, but I was extremely worried. I was relieved to find that the black smoke was from a massive fire at a depot quite far from my home. What preceded that incident was the demolition of Babri Masjid. That was one of the most shameful incidents in India’s history. We can’t undo historical mistakes by pulling down a mosque. If we commit the same mistake then we are in the same boat with the past perpetrators. Now how am I responsible for demolition of Babri Masjid?

I did not protest when Advani was running around in his ‘rath’ trying to be Mr. Ram of Ramayan fame. I could not remember whether he had the arrows and bow with him. I did not exercise my vote. As usual I showed my helplessness in the face of communal force. It is not only Deb that committed this but millions of cowards like Deb did. Millions of Indians don’t exercise their vote. People who vote are those who dance to the tune of 100 rupees, a girl for 1 hr and a bottle. What can we expect to get out of this kind of voting exercise? If 100 rupees, free sex and a bottle decide our future, then we certainly have bomb blasts, riots and gang rape of a nun in our horoscope. We can’t run away from it. Let’s accept our part for the failure of India. Only when we accept and realize, we can grow up and go beyond.

I talk a lot about corruption. But do I have moral right to talk? Let me scan my past. As bulk of my working life has been outside India I did not have the necessity to bribe. But last year when I needed something urgently, I had to bribe. The job that would have taken 60 days was done in less than 6 hours. When we talk about bribe we see one side of the coin. We always blame politicians, bureaucrats and police. But we forget that we are party to it. We pay and that’s why somebody gets it. If we all vow not to pay bribe we can erase bribery. Is not it simple? We always complain about corruption but we fail to realize our part in it.

I always know that every grand achievement has a humble beginning. The other day a guy asked me how can my vote (a single vote) can change the system. And my answer was ‘Had Gandhi thought in similar lines, we would not have achieved our independence’. Everything starts with an individual. A single step in right direction is like a magnet that pulls others. But if I look at my life I don’t think I’ve walked my talk. I’m an escapist. I chose the easy way and I escaped India. But can I really escape? I’m not a person to party hard on weekend, chase my career during weekdays and forget my home. How can I disassociate myself from the place where I’ve my near and dears? How can I cut the chord? Exchanging passport is easy but dissociating self is impossible. I can’t erase 20 years of history. I can’t adapt to a culture that is so alien. I could wear a mask but I can’t change my face. Had I wanted, I could have washed my hands off my blue passport long time back. But I can’t be an escapist for ever. I can’t run away and hide in Oz. I talk of change and I have not initiated it. So the bottom line is that I have to align my walk with my talk.

But I think I’ve taken a step in the right direction with my decision for MBA from India and my post-MBA plans. I don’t know where I’m heading. I don’t doubt my ability but I always suspect my ability to bend and twist the rules and regulations to get the things done. I’ll give my best try to achieve my goal without bending, twisting and paying bribe. I don’t think I’ll fail. If I fail and I realize that Indian system/society is the reason then I’ll accept my defeat and exchange my passport and wear another mask.

I could not concentrate on my job at office. I’m extremely worried about the deteriorating situation in Mumbai. Till now 100 people dead and still counting. I always ask a simple question after every event. Who is responsible for this? Well I can’t blame terrorists as they are inhuman without any sense. The real culprits are Indians. Corruption has gone so deep in India that you can’t find the word ‘accountability’ in Indian dictionary. Bombs are going off in regular intervals. But has there any action been taken? No. Politicians are busy in dividing the society in the name of ‘n’ number of parameters e.g. caste, religion, place of birth, language….and it is an endless list. But I can’t blame politicians. They are doing this to survive. I should go to the root cause of the problem and the root cause is Indian attitude. It is a common Indian attitude to look for yourself and forget the society. It is a common Indian attitude to look for short-cuts, which gives rise to corruption. It is a common Indian attitude to break rules and regulations. Well, if you do nasty things then nasty things will happen to you. I’m a normal human with all sorts of flaws and I can’t preach morality to anybody. But I have the common sense to look beyond my immediate surrounding. And normal Indian does not have the simple common sense. Why vote for a politician who is telling the lie over and over again? Why crib but never take action? Why the fatalistic attitude? Why blame others but never look at the rot in your own bed room?

A country is the reflection of its civil society and the civil society is the reflection of its citizens. Corruptions, resistance to change, lack of education and fatalistic attitude have almost destroyed the country. Supreme Court has handed over death penalty to a terrorist but Govt. does not have balls to execute the order. We have a Prime Minister who said he lost sleep when Haneef was arrested in Australia but he is having a good time when 100s are dying in weekly bomb blasts in his back yard. What kind of a leader Manmohan Singh is? A leader should be able to lead the people by example but he is losing his sleep when an individual got arrested. He is a coward. God save India.

We need a strong leader, who can unite the country and pull it out of the mess. We need a leader who will rise above party politics. We need a leader who will set precedence. We need a strong leader who can take decision in the broader interest of a billion people rather than losing sleep. We don’t need a proxy as our leader. I can see only two persons at this moment who have the guts to carry this burden without losing sleep. They are Laloo Prasad and Narendra Modi. I don’t care which party they belong to or their past. They have shown the leadership quality by being fearless. Modi has proved his skills over and over again in Gujarat. There is no need for any proof for this. Laloo is a person who knows how to get things done. I will love to see any one of them as PM of India next year.

Just now I had a chat with a guy in India regarding the situation in Mumbai. He made the following two statements (copy and paste below) and it proved the point that I’m trying to make.

prasad: I am in nag
too far for bullets

prasad: its like this from last 50 years in india
you pay the polioce man and you are free

This is a very typical Indian attitude. As long as this attitude is not changing, bombs will go off and the guy who says ‘bullet won’t reach Nagpur, will face the bullet in his own home’.

]]> http://www.debashishsamal.com/blog/http:/www.debashishsamal.com/blog/indian-attitude-and-bomb-blasts/feed