Finding Ram

Over the years we have cursed, bad mouthed and finally sulked about the way politicians and bureaucrats run the country. Rightly so as irrespective of party, principle and manifesto every political party has looted the trust the people of India lay in them. Every alternate option that promised clean governance upholding the human spirit failed to deliver and more horrifying fact was that they scaled up levels from the previous government on the corruption & moral bankruptcy index. When we were facing such horrendous, shameless, parasitic political fraternity which almost jumps on to anything and everything that has a remote possibility of cashing in through a kickback, formation of team Anna came as a ray of hope for many of the tax paying citizens.

Over the years, great leaders starting from Gandhiji dreamt of a Rama rajya in the indian subcontinent. Now the concept of Rama rajya itself has become illusionary and needs some kind of explanation I guess as the current generation actually hasn’t seen what Rama rajya was like! Well to explain in simple terms, the society should have guiding principles (dharma) and then rules (shashana) to ensure society lives with in the ambit of the principle. It is not easy to practice the rule upholding the spirit of principles alive. Now mythology says Rama who ruled in Threthayuga governance in the spirit of dharma and strived for the betterment and happiness of his subjects (referred to as others than self in the current context). Now that the principles (dharma) stood as the corner stone, governance, law & order, justice eventually formed the next layer in the society with people, legislature, executive and judiciary abiding to that corner stone that laid firm in the kingdom. Hence everyone from rich to poor, king to peasant followed their dharma and denied to deviate from their conscious, spirit or soul. This lead to a very successful, happy and productive society and hence was termed as Rama rajya.

Now we have claims from the current day politicians claim their governance equivalent to that of Rama. Just to quote an example, we have divided society in terms of caste and religion. A devise made easy to fight an election by simply controlling the communal vote base. Unfortunately, we fail to realize that there is no religion, caste, creed in political brethren. Finally we have ‘be an indian message’, the famous song “Mile sur mera tumara…”. If the party which formed the government, wanted to the country to be united under the term ‘Indian’ then why fight the elections on caste, religion etc… With this example, we can easily conclude that none of the current day governments are anywhere near to Rama rajya.

Coming back to team Anna, I in principle agree with the fact that eradicating corruption is very much necessary in current context of society. We badly need a society at least half as good as the one in Threthayuga. However I disagree with the fact that forming rules to uphold the principles (dharma) will bring back Rama rajya. Every rule will have a hole if not implemented in the right spirit (dharma). We will have Ravana’s and Dhuryodhana’s ruling who still will show you the rule book and vouch that everything was done as per the written rules, ignoring the context of the situation. The need is to ignite the principles (dharma) that is dead in us, enlighten ourselves to be true to the soul not just on paper but in actions. Each one of us starts practicing dharma in body, mind. That is when I will be prosperous, peaceful and happy and we will flourish. That is when Rama will be re-born, we will have Rama rajya again… I shall wait in hope till then to see the day when dharma will rule my body, mind and soul.

Good day! Folks

Urbanization of indian Cities

I have lived most of my life till now in Bangalore and it’s really amazing how a sleepy capital has grown beyond everyone’s imagination. It was during these years of growth that city witnessed immense migration of the rural public from all parts of Karnataka, Andhra and elsewhere migrate to the new found dream land. It’s almost a flashback replay of what happened and is happening in Mumbai during the latter part of 1950! Industrilization…

Migration isn’t something new to the subcontinent; people across have migrated for specific needs up to down and right to left, vice versa in all ages. The only change here is the current migration is urban centric. It has also had its own impact in the rural region too… Though I m urban bred, I am connected with my roots back in my village as I m still the second gen migrant. I still get a chance to go back to my roots and this has triggered me to write these paragraphs

One major change I witnessed from my childhood to current day is that people are slowly stopping cultivating Kharif crop(the one which is grown during monsoon) which predominantly was rice atleast in the areas surrounding the western ghats and had moved to a cash crop(eg bettlenut or supari/coffee etc) The reason being loss of labor force to urban locale. The labor force who worked on the fields migrated for a better pay pack in urban infra industries, cabbies, hotel stewards etc…

Though the change was welcome for the individual, as they earned more and the income was stable across the year unlike the plight back home. I am wondering that we being a predominantly agri oriented society with so much of a populus to feed what would happen if we build more cities and encourage people to migrate one way! Down the lane, we might be importing rice from Cambodia or wheat from China…

After 65 years of independence, I am awed by the fact that we still have majority of the public who don’t have a continual stable income to support their basic needs. Employment is still predominantly contractual in nature. How hard is it to lead a life knowing that you wouldn’t have enough to meet your needs next 6 months? Unimaginable isn’t it? At home after every meal its customary say “Annadatha sukhibava” Did I really mean it when I said that?

It’s time for us to think! About the labors laws and ponder about the divide. Should we not have stricter labor laws? Don’t they deserve equal health care as we do? Education? Incentives for the one who toils in the field, insurances schemes for the crops, basic support price and a share in the selling price for the produce!

Now this is what the political parties have to worry about when they bring out schemes for our “annadatha”. Ensure enough support for a farmer to lead a happy peaceful life… Educate them in multi-trade, social security & healthcare, stable income plans & pension support etc. As long as the government after government neglect the real evils in the rural society and bring up strong constitution and scheme of defining agri based labor laws our generation will end up not having the luxury of having 2 meals a day.

One might say I have too many question marks here… these are the ones that rose in me, thought I will share with you all!

Thanks for reading, Healthy criticism welcome.

ಪ್ರವಾಹದ ಮಧ್ಯದಲ್ಲಿ

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