Cheers to Democracy !!

Democracy is a bad word in the lexicon of many. Radicals hate it, Liberals feel cheated, Minority feels that they have been let down, Majority feels deprived of their rights and Terrorist feel it is the biggest threat to their objective. Discontent and Disenchantment is the prevailing norm and no one seems to be for it. Yet if I ask any of these so called disillusioned gentlemen a more functioning alternative, they would churn in their bed, cringe their brains, bite their nails but will come up with no answers.

The more you come to think of it the more one gets convinced that this is the way to go. The Radicals have their voice here, the liberals anyways like it, Minority feels that at least they are being heard, Majority still has its say and the terrorist think that they can get away with what ever they want.

One might argue that a presidential form of government or a autocratic rule or even a monarchy or a Oligarchy could be a plausible alternative and my counter argument is a presidential form or a autocratic rule is a recipe for complete disaster, we saw what happened with Germany under Hitler, North Korea under Kim Jong II or closer home Pakistan under a slew of autocratic president. Monarchy is already an archaic concept and I am not sure whether it is being followed in any country of the world.
So; that leaves with very little to choose from. You can twig democracy a bit, make alteration, add some pepper, salt or other spices to suit your taste but have to settle for it.
I don’t see any plausible alternative and is open for any viable, enlightened suggestion but if your suggestion is remotely hinting on a form of governance based on religious lines then I would advice you to take a asylum in Afghanistan.

Now coming to our democracy, it is certainly not without flaws and a lot needs to be improved. Every country has to form the principals of democracy in its own way and have a unique way of functioning, with of course keeping the basic tenants intact. That explains why we are so different from States or other democracy of the world.
One of the many benefits of democracy is the right to opinion. I always believe that if all people thought in the same way the world will be the most boring place to live. The intellectual debate, the nerve wracking discussion, the stimulating thought flow and counter arguments all of these and many other niceties of life will be a thing of past.
In my earlier blog post I talked about opinions and its different shades. I also talked of the on homosexuality issue and that I haven’t been able to form an opinion on the same.

It was great to see so many readers expressing their view, in fact we haven’t had such an outpouring of feeling in any of our previous post, so that was clearly a high point. But among this I also found many radicals who would not consider the opinion of others. As I had said earlier, I respect differing opinion and am delighted that so many stepped out to express themselves. I hope the radicals on both side will leave aside their prejudice and try to give a more rational and humanitarian thought to the whole issue.

Thank god we live in a modern society, by modern I mean adjusting, functioning, vibrant and evolving society, in some other part of the world I would have been behind bars to write such sacrilegious post(At least in the eyes of some)
Cheer to Democracy.
Sac..

Unseen side of mumbai terror

Stumbled upon this video on a friend's msgngr...... anybody connected to mumbai in any way, should watch this to get a reality check of 26/11 .

Channel 4 - Dispatches (June 2009) - Terror in Mumbai from Mskadu on Vimeo.

Opinion Galore...

(The above pic. are of some gay rallies in Sydney).

Opinions presents a queer set of quandary, it ranges from grand moral withstanding, a liberal overtone, radical to the point of no return, chameleons like, changes with every event or like a whore, ready to shift places at the most opportune time. Excuse me for using such a ignoble example to make my point, but the more I think of it the more convinced I become.

Of course people are entitled to change their opinions based on knowledge, understanding, experience and research, also changing opinions based on these activities is the sign of learned, mature and evolving society but when opinion change happens out of convenience rather then conviction, petty compulsions then out of rational judgments then it assumes a whore like character.

Opinion formation is also quite a task, for me its the collection of information, assimilating them, reading editorials and getting to know of differing views, looking into my experience on the topic, weighing the arguments in favor and against and finally coming with a kind of opinion. Of course its evolving process and can change based on reason and logic. At times opinion formation can take long and having given much thought to it, I still remain indecisive, on other occasion it comes without much effort.

One such issue that has been baffling me for some time now is the legality of Gay relationships and the acceptance of the same in society. Last few week Delhi high court passed a judgment legalizing the gay relationship among individuals. This has created quite a stir and lots of heated arguments were presented for both sides and to be honest both had quite a meaty point.

Here is my take on this, though I still haven’t been able to form opinion completely.

Homosexual relationship has always been existing in the society since the time we can trace History. I have tried to draw a parallel with mental disabilities and homosexual behavior. From what i have gathered from Shakespeare plays in school days and a quick glance at wikipedia, mental disabilities was looked upon a curse from god. People with such disabilities were treated as a social stigma, thrown in prisons, punished with hunters and treated as scum of society. Even in Indian society they were treated as a result of bad karma from past life and thus left to the fringes. With the progress of science and evolutionary process one has come to realize that its a biological disorder and just as any other disease it can be treated and cured. Today a person with such disability can live a normal life with no such stigma attached. It is also true that though we acknowledge disability although we don’t treat it as a normal behavior and try and find cure for the same.

Now coming back to homosexual relationship, this too has had a similar fate and over the years people with such tendency were ridiculed and cursed. It is only now that we have begun to acknowledge it and regard it as just another human behavior; also it has the direct co relationship with commitment to the values enshrined in the fundamental rights of the Indian Constitution that no person shall be denied the rights to equality, freedom of expression, and life, on grounds of sex.

We have to realize that such a behavior, though have been there for ages is still an aberration and does not confirm with the existing socio culture. An open espousal of such activity can only lead to more discomfort and make things more complex. Unlike mental retardation we cannot classify homosexuality as a disease and therefore i am not sure if there is a cure for the same.

I always believe that in acknowledgement likes the solution and denial can only accentuate the problem. Acknowledging homosexuality by making it legal is the first step in solving the problem, beyond this my opinion still remain indecisive...

Sac...

few days back

Pitter patter on the window and rain snakes slithered down the glass pane. Presenting a distorted view of the world outside. The engine awoke setting the wheels in motion on a damp road. Beads of water hung loosely from the window rubber frame like sentries standing in straight line... dropping and loosing their form one by one.

Still soggy , overcast skies qualifing brightness and the wind ,cool and soothing.gushing in on my face had an effect of openness, of freedom.I was heading towards town. I needed the view.

Water film stretched across the drive as the gears moved .Tyre grooves of passing vehicles sprinkled broken water droplets in every direction like the desultory conversation of the radio jockey. While i kept at it ,rain drops like a barrage of tiny harmless arrows came in heavy in at slant soaking the seat. Red tail lights streaked the fuzziness of evening and night as the car neared the queen's circle.

I was there .I was convalescing .I was glad.

Rahul

Goal Setting - II

Its the begnning of July, half year gone and half still to go. We have treaded some distance ...much more to go. I remember some one saying me long back that if you do a goal setting exercise and go public you would be compelled to take it to its rightful conclusion or at least you would make a greater effort to take it through because you become answerable to so many. Well, i thought he had a point and a very valid one. When we started this blog last year it started with a goal setting exercise. We decided on the short term measurable goal so that we can access the achievement at regular intervals and rectify the areas where we have gone wrong and decide on the next set of goals. The idea was these measurable goals will serve as a lamp post showing us the path until we stumble on newer ones. Clearly in the hindsight it seems that life without goals is like playground without goalpost you don’t know where to score and at time end up scoring for the opposite camp much to delight of the opponent or like trekking in the jungle where if one gets used to the terrain he/she can just loose the way without realizing that they are in the wrong track all this while.... 1st week of July seems to be a good time to review and revive, to analyze and revamp and to a new set of new targets and to look forward to new achievements, of course it doesn’t comes without failings.

I would not like to go into the details of targets I kept for myself but I would divide theses goals into professional and personal. On personal front I am about 90% from my target which is not bad at all, as for the professional target I am about 50% of what I had set for myself and have to re look at my efforts and the way I went about it. Obviously there has been a gap in my aspiration and my effort and also the path I took to achieve it. Another area where I would like to score some brownies is in respect to a social initiative. I have a vague plan in mind but haven’t been able to implement it or rather let me put it this way, have been reluctant to move ahead. Now that it is on papers and on record I should be able to focus on this aspect as well.

Aside to the readers: You can post ur goals in the comment section or mail us at sac2goal@gmail.com and we'll make a post out of it and you can review it yourself after six months or a year, depending on the time period you have set for urself. Even if we can be about 80% of what we had set, we can really say...yes, we have earned it.

Sac..