Yudhisthira

At last he also started slipping and stumbling. Then he, who had never spoken untruth or supported injustice, in his kingdom and exile, who was praised both by his friends and foes , that exalted one lamented, "But I have been righteous and strict in observance of my Dharma, then why the fall ?". Hearing that the mongrel, who was actually DharmaRaj, that divine judge of man, replied, "your borthers and wives had to fall because of their sins, but you fall because of your virtue, for how can a God who himself is an illusion and deception survive in presence of truth".
As he fell in the abyss, it began makng sense to him.

The Butterfly Effect

He licked his lips tasting the dryness, his throat was parched. It was a hot day and end of shift still far away. Sweat was beginning to flow like tiny rivulets, stinging his eyes. He flicked sweat off his eyebrows. It was bleak and harsh, just like his fate, he thought grimly. He mused upon irony of a God assigning a man to life of misery and drudgery on this world in order to test his character. He had long concluded that such a god could not be benevolent, at best a god with sense of cosmic humour.
His reverie was broken by restless din of workplace . Sighing he lifted the shovel and stood. He was startled by a shadow. He looked up, clouds were spreading blocking the fury of sun. He could smell the rain. Gusts of western wind struck him evaporating sweat and cooling him.
He smiled, must be some butterfly somewhere.

Can someone really be this idiot !

'The Dalit movement is much more intense and dangerous now'

The burning of the Deccan Queen which shuttles between Pune and Mumbai has shaken many so-called upper caste Hindus. The Deccan Queen,a favourite of hundreds of daily commuters to Mumbai, was stopped by Dalit protestors on the outskirts of Mumbai. Commuters were asked to get off the train and an angry mob set the train on fire. Arjun Dangle, distinguished Dalit poet and one of the founder members of the Dalit Panthers in Maharashtra,told rediff.com,"For many decades the Deccan Queen was the symbol of Pune, seat of the Peshwa Brahminical rule. There is a meaning behind the burning of train."

Do these idiots realize by encouraging and justifying such kind of thuggery,they are just ensuring blow back.

Root of evil.

Now that since it has been established that Religion is root of evil , the question that arises is whether the scientific inquiry into the cause of evils is exhausted.
One may be deceived by the phrase "root of evil" in thinking that the question is already answered by above discovery, but it is not so because there still remains possibility of other roots.
Since the quest for fount of evil is quintessential aspect of humanity, the question is of more than academic interest. It is in this spirit that I propose few more "roots"

1. Since 20Th century communist inspired movements have resulted in death of more than 80 million. Now the question is so much carnage, so much mayhem. for whose sake? Why in name of poor, of course ! The conclusion is poor is root of evil. Therefore, if you meet poor on the road, kill him and make sure he stays dead.

2. One of the most horrible acts of history, whether modern or ancient, is the holocaust committed by third Reich . Now you are going to object, "Hitler killed Jews because of religion".
This is where you are wrong ,for the Nazism in essence was a racial theory , for promotion of Aryan genes by enforcing racial hygiene and genetic engineering. It had roots in eugenics about which we don't hear now but flourished in late 19Th century and early 20Th century. Therefore it turns out genetics is also the root of evil. Richard Dawkins is the spawn of Satan.

3. But the inquiry doesn't end here. One of the activities in ancient history was blood sports. Popular among masses as well as elites, the pursuit of entertainment has claimed too many lives. Entertainment is root of evil, and I find no reason why it should be spared any quarters. Down with home theatres

Politics of Fault lines

(Although this post has been preempted by Rohit's post, with which I agree, that is no reason not to write, right! Well it is Monday)

Desecration of Ambedkar's statue and its aftermath traces the political landscape with which Indians are too familiar, for our own discomfort.

But a digression, the insinuations that the flare up had to do with earlier massacre of Khairlanji where members of a dalit family were brutally lynched by a mob,

seems a typical case of spinning creative interpretation, the violent aftermath has all the hallmarks of well co-ordinated plan for political one up man ship ,

Second, to suggest that present incident was related to free markets or disparity out of economic growth would have been hilarious if not for the fact that people including a child have died. Of course it is still curious why violence by Shiv Sena is not explained in terms of Marathi marginalization (real or imagined).

Coming back to the main point, the frequent outbursts of violence resulting in destruction of property (public as well as private) as well as loss of human lives arise from three main factors.

First, the fact that Indian society is far from being homogeneous, whether on basis of caste or religion or language, there exists various identities, and diverse affiliations.

What is more, this diversity is not a result of recent migration, but deep rooted in the history and organic in nature. Also the fact that despite the presence of Constitution, power and even appeal for justice is decided more often than not by the hierarchy in the society. Therefore potential for fissures and conflict, however minuscule already exists.

Second, To expand on the point of inherent inequality in Indian society, the fact that it is the power and more important its unambiguous demonstration which dictates the position and even ensuring inviolability of dignity, there is natural inclination to assert the power by aggressive and violent acts. In a nutshell, India, even the urban one, is still haunted by feudalism.

But even these are not the final cause, for historically speaking Indian society has been relatively peaceful and stable. Further since Independence Indian polity has revolved around the slogan of "Social Justice" in its various avatars, whether "socialism" & "central planning" ,or "garibi hatao", so there is a case that social tensions should have shown a decrease after 6 decades.

But the factor which really tips the balance is competitive politics. To garner support across a broad segment requires either a coherence of purpose backed by ideas which can actually achieve it, or personal charisma.

On the other hand, it is much more easier to win the backing of a self-identified group, by appealing to this identity. This is further exacerbated by playing up on (real or imagined) grievances.

This is what happened in case of India, since Independence while Indians had lofty goals, they were neither backed by workable ideas or institutions. Even then as long as there was a central authority in presence of Nehru-Gandhi dynasty, there was a semblance of coherence. However with the unfulfilled promises and a reduced charisma, the vacuum is being fulfilled by fractious politics.

While it may gratify some misguided who labour under the (incorrect) impression that present trend is a harbinger of federalism, or a parity between different regions, or a voice to voiceless , the bitter truth is that undermining of central authority and pandering to narrow interest has not only left a void in foreign or security policy, it is also muddling the already muddled road to reform, allowing subversion of not only constitution, but also law and order enforcement, and instead of making society egalitarian, just giving birth to a new set of tyrants. This may satisfy some one's thirst for revenge, but for the society is nothing but bad news.

There is a solution (even if tentative) against this, this is for middle class, which has less to gain and more to lose from the vendetta politics of narrow parochial interests, to adopt a policy of zero tolerance against such acts wherever in urban areas, where it has control. By acting as a bulwark against such pandering and also injecting a sense of purpose in polity the tide can be turned, but who will bell the cat is the question. (Apologies for committing the great crime of mixing the metaphors)

Dude, where is my foreign policy

While I am ambivalent about the entertainment value of car wrecks, I pretty much don’t want to be a part of it. Therefore, it is only with dismay that I can react to the direction (misdirection will be more accurate in the context) UPA government is steering our foreign policy to.

A case in point is Sri-Lanka, it is nobody’s contention that the history of conflict is a simple one, or that there is necessarily black and white narrative.
However what one can not argue against is the necessity of a stable and pro-India Sri-Lanka. This will mean active engagement of India to broker an agreement between the opposing parties, this also means that India have to work out the ways to neutralize LTTE, for the simple reason is that very presence of LTTE which has a history of ruthlessness and brutality against rival Tamil politicians mars any chance of settlement.

However the under constant pressure of Dravid parties, UPA government has adopted inaction as the policy, hoping to maintain status quo. Yet with US, China and Pakistan actively supporting Sri-Lankan government in order to gain strategic foothold, status quo is the last thing which is possible, instead the initiative is slipping from India, so is ability to leverage situation in Sri Lanka.

If this continues it is likely that India will become irrelevant, and what is worse would have allowed her to be encircled by forces at best competing, and at worst hostile.

Related Post Rohit

Whither humanity

Newborn dies as cops grill mother

It is unbelievable, so much callousness. While we discussed socialism, we let go of society, we let go of institutions. This is where we find ourselves. A common refrain among middle class is to blame "the system". You know what, we are part of this system, we have made the mess we find ourselves in.
Glory of democracy !

From report

The mother was picked up the previous evening for bearing a child out of wedlock

What the hell police was doing, what have they got to do with how one bears child.