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Agneepath Agneepath Agneepath

flare of fire on wood with black smokes

‘MAKING WARRIORS, NOT WORRIERS’

This is the tagline of one of the coaching institutes in Surat. Whenever I happen to pass by the hoarding with an advertisement for this institute where I see a boy with a sweet smile, his hands folded at the chest and a tagline that states with pride that they are creating future warriors by preparing them for competitive exams, I wonder, why not make them Agniveers? A very recent and new career option. Let them apply to the Agneepath Scheme by the government which is recruiting youngsters from the age of 17.5 to 21 years. Let them join any of the three services of the armed forces and serve the nation. Let them be warriors in the real sense.

If they are not willing to do so, it should be a worry for parents that their children are on the path to becoming warriors for marks, universities and the best job placement in or outside their country. Parents should become Worriers. The institute’s claim of creating Warriors constitutes the notion that writing an exam is like fighting a war. The very idea of education being a war instills fear and anxiety in children, thus making parents anxious enough to consult a counselor. Not a career counselor but a wellbeing counselor. A mental health therapist. So, it’s like such institutions and therapists are thriving and students are striving.

Why do we want our children to become warriors simply to gain the highest score in competitive, nerve-wracking examinations? Are we not audience to wars around us, around the globe, literally and metaphorically?

I understand that for a bright future, one’s career is important. But the smiling faces of students we see on hoardings across the city with their scores or percentage mentioned below their photographs are just for that particular advertisement. Otherwise, most of the time, their faces seem to reflect tension, pressure, and stress. Why are we making academic life so competitive for students?

And I am not just talking about those preparing for such exams. I am also talking about children whose parents send their kids for tuition even at pre-primary and primary levels. As adults, we start instilling in them titbits of fear and reluctance for education at a very early age. We want them to become fighters at a very young age itself.

In any case, they will have to fight wars once they are out in the real world. Not just fight outside, but there will be battles within too. Don’t we all fight some sort of battle within us every now and then? The intensity and gravity might be different for different people, but we all fight battles in our day-to-day life. So, instead of letting children become warriors at an early age and expecting them to fight (compete) with others, why not teach them to fight with their own fear, anxiety, stress, failure? Why not teach them values like patience, respect, compassion, faith, gratitude, courage, discipline, and the like.

Aren’t the wars in the name of religion, culture, race, politics, and position enough for us? Today the youngsters in many states are at war with the government because of the Agneepath Scheme. I am not sure how many of them have actually weighed the pros and cons of the scheme. If these people feel that the scheme is a sham and it is unjust and unacceptable, they have the right to protest. Agreed. But protest without being disruptive. How sane is the idea of disrupting public property in fury, rage, and ignorance? 

We are a nation of Gandhi. The Mahatma. We take pride in his philosophy of satyagraha and non-violence. Then why such uproar and unrest?

यह महान दृश्य है,
चल रहा मनुष्य है,
अश्रु स्वेद रक्त से,
लथपथ लथपथ लथपथ,
अग्निपथ अग्निपथ अग्निपथ।

On the one hand, we have the youth fighting against the government, and on the other hand, we have politicians like Uddhav Thackeray who was fighting a battle within his government, against the Sena rebels along with his son Aditya Thackeray. The drama has finally ended with his resignation as the CM of Maharashtra. And as if this is not enough, in the northeast, we see people battling against nature. It has been almost one month and the people of Assam are still fighting against floods and rains.

And how can we forget Russia and Ukraine?

Making warriors simply for achieving the highest score is not enough. It is a subject of worry. Children need to be prepared for the exams of life because the real world is going to be different and challenging. At such times, marks and merit won’t matter. What will matter the most will be the will to survive. The patience to persevere in the battle of life.

तू न थकेगा कभी,
तू न रुकेगा कभी,
तू न मुड़ेगा कभी,
कर शपथ, कर शपथ, कर शपथ,
अग्निपथ अग्निपथ अग्निपथ।

– Sri Harivanshrai Bachchan

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I did some digging and I found this…

I hear the intermittent whistling in the distance. Yeah, the song too – Gadiwala aaya…kachra nikal…The song is playing in my head and I am anxiously alert. Today I can’t miss the garbage collector. If I miss them even today, my medium-size dustbin will overflow with two-day garbage. I can’t bear the putrid smell of gases when I open the lid to dump more in it.

O! The van is here. And it’s steering towards a different road. 

“Hey! Hello! Take this garbage.” 

Finally, one of the three workers hears my euphemistic shout. 

“Why aren’t you collecting garbage from every door in the street every now and then?” 

I get a curt reply with some displeasure on his face. “There are fewer workers on those days.” 

I wonder – Do they need more than three? Will more people fit on the vehicle?

So many times I have felt pity for these people who have to bear the unbearable stench of garbage. They dig their hands into the heap of unruly garbage to segregate it while on the wheels. Just as the Supreme Court dug into Sidhu’s unruly past, the road-rage case of 1988 for punching an elderly person to death. As sometimes some garbage collectors keep themselves inebriated to such an extent that they lose their sense of smell, it seems Sidhu was intoxicated by power and it took 34 years for such an insensible form of justice to bring him back to his senses. However, he will serve just 1 year of imprisonment. Thoko taali!

It’s good to know that the government is working towards Swachha Bharat Abhiyan, literally and metaphorically. But, at the same time, the work is done half-heartedly like some of these garbage collectors.

The average garbage collector’s gross salary in India is ₹2,12,465 or an equivalent hourly rate of ₹102 as per the survey by SalaryExpert. Frankly speaking, I don’t like the idea of asking or talking to someone about his/her salary. Immediately, it brings to my mind those Gujarati Uncles & Aunties (U/A) who are keen to know your ‘pagar’ (salary). Have you come across any of those who are neck-deep interested to know your pay package? 

Once they come to know that you are in this or that firm, they will remark – Pagar saaro malto hase ne? Ketlo male aasre? (You must be getting a good salary, right? Approximately how much do you get?) I can bet, it will be impossible for you to not answer them. The more you try to avoid such a rigorous inquiry, the harder they will try to shoot you with probing questions. Within 2 minutes you will surrender to their persistent interrogation unlike the alleged friends and colleagues investigated in Shushant Singh Rajput’s case. It is going to be 2 years in June and still the CBI has not been able to give closure to this case.

I also read somewhere that now the CBI has also denied the right to the citizens to dig for any information on this case under RTI query. Thank God, there is no RTI at a personal level to know one’s salary! 

No, by no means do I intend to take a dig on my dear Gujaratis. Not at all. 

Nevertheless, if you think through it, many of these good-humoured Gujarati U/A have the heart of a good Samaritan. They keep themselves updated about the status of the aspiring boys and girls/men and women who are ‘marriage material’. Our U/A would never let go of an opportunity to play the role of a marriage broker and that too without any brokerage. A good Samaritan after all! If some Jigneshbhai’s son has already crossed the age of 27 and has not found any Aishwarya Rai for himself in spite of a decent salary or a good business, or if some Sonalben’s daughter has not found an Akash Ambani even after 25, they will consider it their utmost, unsaid responsibility to find an appropriate match for him and her.

Overall, Gujaratis are hard-working, industrious people, be it in business, stock market, or family matters. They rise like a phoenix from the ashes after every failure. Even in the case of finding an alliance. If either of the parties involved in the alliance denies the marriage proposal, naturally the ego of our U/A is bruised, however, in no time, they get back into action. Once they have dug their heels in, they would not respite until the mission is accomplished. 

Generally, Gujaratis have two preferences –  beauty with brains or money with brains. The lucky ones may get all three – beauty, money, and brains.

As I said, I don’t intend to take a dig on Gujaratis, if I dig a little more, I am sure men and women across cultures will have similar preferences. By and large. 

You need an incredible amount of self-confidence to go digging around in someone’s brain – Ben Carson

Posted on by nikita · 1 Comment

I Need A Wife Too, Twinkle!

Clue 1: Do you remember the devil of the 1990s? The one in a green gown like a cape, 2 horns on his shimmering bald head, an ominous green snake around his shoulders, long green nails, and a mocking smile. 

Clue 2: Neighbour’s envy, owner’s pride!

Does the bell ring for you? Yes, I am sure you do remember – the ones who are in their 40s and above will do – the advertisement for Onida TV with the above tagline. The company has of course changed its tagline since TV is no more a commodity to envy. Unless you suffer from envy because you do not have a Smart TV. 

Hey, wait! I have no intention to add to your knowledge of the definition of ‘envy’ and its 2 kinds – ‘malicious envy’ and ‘benign envy’. You can just read it, if you want to, by clicking on the hyperlink. 

What I intend to talk about is how sometimes I envy #TwinkleKhanna. Of course, I enjoy reading her works with scintillating humour and scathing sarcasm. Her puns are fun. The reason for my envy is because of the time she can invest in writing. But you know what, I got to know that she envies #AmishTripathi – the author whose novels have a mythological aspect associated with them. Twinkle has confessed her envy on one of the talk shows.

In the talk show held by the Hindustan Times, both the authors, Twinkle and Amish shared their daily routines. What time they wake up, their writing hours, the change in their career. Basically about an author’s life and their works. Twinkle goes on to say that a man doesn’t have to worry about sending kids to school and running around the house in the morning. He is not a wife and a mother. This is the major reason for her being benignly envious of Amish. Yeah, stereotypically true. 

It seemed that Twinkle had done proper research on Amish. How he spends around 30 – 45 minutes reading four different newspapers and does pooja for about half an hour. How he keeps some cream biscuits handy while writing.

While he could use a few morning hours in knowing what’s happening outside in the world so as to get some inspiration for his writings, Mrs Khanna would remain busy sending her kids to school. And somewhere during this show or a different one – I don’t remember – she remarks that she yearns to have a privilege like Amish, but for that, she continues – ‘I need a wife’. 

This statement stuck with me. I realised. Hey! I too need a wife. 

No, no. Don’t get me wrong. I do not fall in the ‘other’ gender category. I always check the box against ‘F’ on forms. 

This reminds me of a hilarious incident that happened to me when I started designing after my college. I know I am diverging from my topic but, you know, nowadays diversions are what we see all around in the city. And as if this is not enough, there are people who think that their fathers have built the roads and they have all the rights to use them as they want. They block them, barricade them by parking scooters or putting a multitude of bamboos whenever they please, either for marriage or some religious functions or some political bhasan. So, it’s like a subset of a set of diversions. 

Diversions seem to have gotten into my small head. 

Back to what I was saying. One of my cousins and I were, and are, quite close to each other. We were partners in women’s wear design. We would chat for hours outside my house discussing designs and other things. At times she would lean against my scooter in such a way that her face would be quite close to mine. Naturally, we also had secrets. But our body language seemed to have sent the wrong message to someone who was always watching us from above. I am sure it would not have mattered to the Father in the heaven that we were different from others as He didn’t mind it in the time of Mahabharata and Ramayana as well.

Purush napunsak nari va jiv charachar koi / Sarv bhav bhaj kapat taji mohi param priy soi.
(Any man, any transgender, any woman, any living being, as long as they give up deceit and come to me with love for all, they are dearest to me.) – Immortal India by Amish Tripathi

– https://www.hindustantimes.com/

We realized that it was her nani who kept an eye on us. She lived across from my ancestral house. She seemed to spy on us and our behaviour. Maybe, she wanted to make sure we followed the PDA policy. Why? Because during that time Deepa Mehta’s movie ‘Fire’ was in the news. And our dear nani with big diamond studs fancied us to be in some unnatural relationship. I am sure she would have been elated and relieved when my cousin chose a man to marry after a few years. 

So, back to the context – ‘I need a wife too’. 

It is almost a year without any job and I am comparatively free and relaxed. I have created an opportunity for myself to read and write. However, as a middle-class woman, I still can’t manage to live my life like Twinkle Khanna. Nor even like Amish Tripathi. Many times, fruitlessly I have tried clapping my hands with authority in the hope of getting my work done by some attendants. Sadly, no one came through the wooden doors. But it makes me feel good to think that even if I don’t have people at my beck and call, I still have some people who envy my life as well.

You see, life is a full circle, with some diversions of course. 

Many people have told me that they envy my life. Life with lesser responsibilities and the privilege and freedom to do what I want to do. Yeah, at least I do not have to wait for a husband who also returns from work and spends more time on the mobile than spending time with the family. At least, I don’t have to make haste in preparing meals for the family immediately after I freshen up. And, at least, I don’t have to handle my kids and their homework singlehandedly most of the time.  

Hey! Should I take some pride to be the owner of such a privilege while making my neighbours writhe in envy? 

Source of the image – https://t.pimg.jp/061/780/991/1/61780991.jpg

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All Text And No Emoji Makes You A Dull 👩🏻/👨🏻?! 

diy yellow easter eggs


Source – https://omniglot.com/writing/egyptian.htm

Do you understand what is written in this pictorial image? Nor did I until I read the translation. This Ancient Egyptian Language or Hieroglyphic script means – ‘The crocodile eats the king’. 

The English we use today is the filtered form of hieroglyphics. And our love for symbolic language, what we call emoji, seems to bring back memories of primitive times. Needless to say, hieroglyphs have a specific meaning attached to them but emojis do not.  

In one of his interviews, Mr. Shigetaka Kurita, the man who designed emojis in 1999, has said that he came up with this idea of emojis to help people communicate their emotions if they can’t find right word to describe them. 

Mr. S (I will call him so), you have been too kind to create wonderful emojis, especially for those who always fall short of words to communicate their thoughts and emotions. But Mr. S sometimes your emojis seem to confuse me, especially when they are used in isolation. You tell me, what should I make out of these three different emojis for the same piece of writing sent by three different readers?

🔥

👌

😄

  • Was the content fiery or enlightening or destructive?
  • Was the language fantastic or was the idea of writing such a piece a wonderful idea in itself?
  • Was the piece of writing humorous or laughable?

This pictorial idea of communication seems to have replaced man’s command over the language. It seems that we do not wish to put some effort into thinking about the right vocabulary. We want to accomplish things very easily and quickly. We do not want to spend time mulling over the right word at the right place. We simply want to use a few emojis and get it done with it. 🙂

The fun part is at times many of us don’t even know the right meaning of many emojis. I myself have used the emoji 🤓 while acknowledging the feedback I receive for my write-ups. Since I wear a similar pair of glasses, I would send this emoji along with a few words of gratitude. But who knew that it meant ‘nerd’? A ‘geek’! Of course, I am not a nerd. 

Recently, I sent a 🤟 emoji with a GM message as a reply to one of my good friends. A happily-married 👨. When he asked me the meaning of the emoji, I confidently said that it was just a Yo! – a happy exclamation. Something like a hip-hop style. But the actual meaning of it is ‘I ❤ you’. Of course, I didn’t tell him that. 🙈

Sometimes chatting with too many people at the same time may also give rise to amusing or I would rather say embarrassing episodes. Have you ever sent a 🖕 instead of a 👆? 

Emojis are fun to use in communication. However, they shouldn’t replace words. Can I call them pictorial adjectives? They were created to be added to the written text for entertainment as well as to avoid any miscommunication through a written text or message. Many times even written text messages fail to communicate the exact message in the right tone. I have had several such experiences. In such a case, I would add a 😊 emoji so as to convey to the receiver that whatever was said was said in all earnestness without any malice. Emojis like 🙂😄☺ work. 

At least for me. Don’t know about you. 

                         ***

Hey! Just remembered one more personal experience. I don’t know why people always considered me (or do they even today?) grave and unapproachable. Obviously, from the look of my face. I just wonder what would be an appropriate emoji to describe my face or gesture in my days of yore. 

🤔…

Didn’t find any suitable emoji. ☹

Mr. S, you got some more work to do. 😉


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What’s Your Ikigai?

Let me begin with an example. My job required me to wake up at 5 in the morning and leave home to be at my stop five minutes early. While waiting for my bus, I would see mendicants sleeping peacefully on the footpath, amidst the chaotic honking of the passing vehicles. It was still a good-night-sleep-tight sleep for those people. The parity between us could be the feeling of joy – doing something we enjoyed : the disparity would be the purpose of life. (I doubt if mendicants have any purpose.)

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