South India is now on the top of the world in terms of family suicides and Kerala is leading the nation once again in ‘social development’. Hundreds have committed suicide and thousands are getting ready for it. Usually everyone avoids looking for personal details of those who commit suicide. But recently one of our own social scientists decided to take a look at it and the results are indeed alarming. More than 75% of these ‘family suiciders’ in Kerala belong to the majority community, which is far in excess of their population in the state. There must be a definite reason for this strange affinity and it is high time the reasons are identified and corrections initiated in the society. If the deliberate indifference of those in power continues, the results can be disastrous and far reaching. The disease can spread and even the fate of Indian nation can be in jeopardy.
A sizeable proportion of our population is still illiterate and any one trying to analyse such social evils are tempted to conclude it as such. But this is far from true when we realise that Kerala is a cent percent literate state and social indices are world class thanks to land reforms and silent revolutions initiated by the leftists. Many of the so-called upper caste monopolies have been dismantled and all forms of ‘minoritism’ are flourishing. There are no issues like untouchability and discrimination on the basis of caste or colour in matters public. Kerala society has progressed quite a lot in terms of public amenities and availability of basic services. Poverty is not at all rampant and money is definitely available for those who know how to earn it. Then what is it that is letting individuals and families to commit suicide en masse? It is just because most of them are children of secularism.
End-of-the-Road Feeling
From a purely philosophical point of view, what is actually wrong if someone decides to put an end to his own life? But all legal and religious systems think otherwise. In some of the religions it is completely unacceptable and is considered a crime against God. Those who attempt it have scope for good life neither in this world nor in other worlds. Their future is considered sealed for ever because they had no right to take away what has been given by God. But all these faithful theories prevent only those have imbibed it at their young age. For others there is nothing that stands in the way of anyone determined to go for it. Most people attempt suicide only when they are convinced that their road has come to an end. They convince themselves that there is no light at the end of the long tunnel. It is here that their faith in God and mental strength are coming under test. And it is here that many of the untrained and unprepared fail.
Whatever way we look at it, life is a struggle for everyone. This is equally true for all those who ultimately succeed or fail. I think it was Nehru who said ‘Success often comes to those who dare and act; and never to the timid who are ever afraid of the consequences’. But what he said was only part of the whole truth. There are many dare devils who ultimately leaps to death because they never bothered to ensure at least a safety net at the bottom. They believed that someone else will take care of their needs and never believed in the policy of taking care of themselves. Majority of the majority community who succumb to the easy escape route of suicide belong to this category. Neither their community have the combined will or wherewithal to spread the safety net nor have they developed it themselves. Secular education has helped India to win the appreciation of outside world but have left her majority children helpless in front of unexpected failures in life. For many of these children of secularism it is end-of-the-road whenever there is financial crisis or shame & scandal in the family. And they fall easy prey to the fatal escapism of suicide.
Secure or Secular Education
India is a secular democratic nation and a majority of us have received only secular education in secular schools. Though secularism does not call for total avoidance of religious studies, this has been the case in India, especially among those belonging to the majority community. With the growing influence of left politics in the country, this avoidance is slowing growing into aversion for anything religious. While a sizeable section of our population is going to madrassas and Sunday schools right from very young age to understand the basics of their own religion, a vast majority are growing up as children of secularism. They are taught nothing about religion, beliefs, prayer and faith. All that they are taught is about Science, Social Science and Mathematics. And most of them leave the school with the firm beliefs that their ‘secular’ knowledge will take them to successful heights in career and life. The downfall starts there itself, but by that time it is too late to correct anything. The damage has been done. In India today, we have the maximum number of children of secularism who can only solve mathematical problems but none of the problems in their lives.
What is urgently required is the introduction of bare minimum of secure education in our secular system. Young children of secularism must be taught how to secure their mind and body. India’s own heritage has enough and more tools and techniques to achieve this. Be it Gita or Yoga or Meditation, each are unparalleled in their own fields for conditioning the young children of secularism to the vagaries of life. I am yet to hear a speech of any leader in any school which avoids mentioning the simple fact that today’s children are tomorrow’s citizens. If there is an iota of sincerity in what they say, it is already very late in the introduction of Gita classes for the children of secularism, if needed at government expense. That is the only way to avoid the end-of-the-road feeling to these children of secularism when confronted with problems in life. If we procrastinate further, majority of these children of secularism would have committed suicide by the year 2050. History and heritage of this great nation will not forgive us for not securing the future of our children in time.
Sunday, May 28, 2006
INTERNET BHAGAWAN
There was a time when we Indians enjoyed unlimited religious freedom by having our own personal Gods for each and every one of us. In addition to a dozen odd popular Gods, each region, community, class and even each profession had a version of God associated with it. Whatever is beyond our comprehension and whatever is sustaining our very existence became eligible for being a God. We have always considered Ishvar as unique and Gods (Bhagawans) as its manifestations or reflections to suit the aspirations and ideas of each section or individual. What we are boasting today as India’s heritage is a direct result of this unhindered freedom that existed in our society thousands of years back. Without any facilities for experimental work and scientific institutions for research, our ancient rishis could think of the speed of light, supersonic aeroplanes and evolution of cosmos only because of their flights of imagination fuelled by unfettered freedom that prevailed in our society. What outsiders ridicule as the foolery of Indians in worshipping rats and trees was indeed the very forte of our ancient seers. To recognise a manifestation of Ishvar in everything and vice versa requires faculties and humility unimaginable for those who ridicule us. To regain our past glory, we should be thinking of returning to those days of unlimited freedom when we could discover newer and newer Gods everyday.
Omnipresent and Omnipotent
Whatever is omnipresent and omnipotent has an automatic claim to be considered as God. Water, Air and Light got direct entry into our pantheon of Gods only because of this. And without these Gods it is almost impossible to survive in the present day world. In the same lines, if there is something new that is omnipresent, omnipotent and life-sustaining, it is the INTERNET. It is all pervasive, all powerful and above all one of the greatest levelling forces that we have ever seen. It can bring down iron curtains, dictatorships and unwanted governments in no time. State secrets and secret deals to keep common man under eternal subjugation can no more exist with the advent of uncontrolled information highways over the net. Taking people for a ride for the present and de-classifying documents that point to the opposite after a while to show off democratic transparency are all becoming stale crafts of state management. There is very few that the governments can do now to keep information away from common man thanks to the internet.
Internet has empowered vast sections of society in almost all countries. Women and children are the foremost beneficiaries of information explosion that happened (and is happening) over the net. Women in remotest corners of the earth have access to the latest in family life and fashion if they want. Their voice can reach anyone anywhere even if they are under physical or emotional imprisonment in a society dominated by men. Servants (the current form of slaves) can expose their masters of their atrocities if only they are bit clever. All forms of creativity are booming thanks to effortless marketing available on the net. Thousands are deriving satisfaction out of free outlets for their writing abilities only because of the easy availability of the net. People like me who could never have published even a single article have recognised the virtual messiah in the form of internet. It is no more possible to go forward without accepting the INTERNET BHAGAWAN that has blessed us with so many facilities. It is only logical that the deification of internet started in the land of Vedas (knowledge) and our software gurus carried the ‘new good news’ to all parts of the globe. For this to work out, we need a starting point, a modern Bodhgaya with the peepal tree of wisdom.
Oachira Parabrahmam and Man-hour Offerings
It is still common in India to find annual congregations of people of same profession in certain temples. The temple deity is considered as the presiding lord of their profession by these people. There are so many temples in India for various types of craftsmen. But if and when we are thinking of conceiving a Bhagawan for IT professionals (software & internet), I don’t think there is any better choice than the Parabrahmam at Oachira (a small town in South Kerala). Parabrahmam, meaning the absolute, is all powerful but incognizable. It is without form and the said temple of profound ambience has an open architecture with no idol to worship. What can be more apt for a set of professionals indulging in highly intellectual exercise like software development and attempting internet connectivity with the known and unknown. All software is powerful and internet is incognizable. And the professionals connected to the two come from all sections of the society which calls for a formless form of Bhagawan to worship. Oachira Parabrahmam can satisfy all these requirements and is cent percent worthy of being anointed as the presiding deity of software and internet professionals (in general, all IT professionals). Those at the helm of professional bodies like Computer Society of India and Swadeshi Science Movement must take note of this and take the lead in anointing Oachira Parabrahmam as the Lord of Mrithupanya (the nearest Sanskrit equivalent of software).
What needs to be done next is to think of novel ways of offering to the lord of IT profession by people of Indian origin all over the globe. Software personnel always think in terms of man-hours and it is only natural that their offerings too are in the same units. It would be a reasonable figure for all the Indian IT professionals to offer at least 5 man-hours of their efforts every year to the lord of their profession. As an example, an Indian IT professional in USA earning USD 50,000 per year must be thinking of offering at least USD 28.5 (INR 1200/-) to Oachira Parabrahmam every year. They must also make it a point to pay a visit to Oachira once a year (with their families) and enjoy its uniqueness compared to other temples of India. Irrespective of religion, caste and creed, all have complete access and every one will be mesmerised by the concept and architecture of the temple that was conceived thousands of years back. Only noble minds could have thought of such all inclusive concepts of God for carrying the entire society together. Internet Bhagawan has really come to stay at Oachira.
Omnipresent and Omnipotent
Whatever is omnipresent and omnipotent has an automatic claim to be considered as God. Water, Air and Light got direct entry into our pantheon of Gods only because of this. And without these Gods it is almost impossible to survive in the present day world. In the same lines, if there is something new that is omnipresent, omnipotent and life-sustaining, it is the INTERNET. It is all pervasive, all powerful and above all one of the greatest levelling forces that we have ever seen. It can bring down iron curtains, dictatorships and unwanted governments in no time. State secrets and secret deals to keep common man under eternal subjugation can no more exist with the advent of uncontrolled information highways over the net. Taking people for a ride for the present and de-classifying documents that point to the opposite after a while to show off democratic transparency are all becoming stale crafts of state management. There is very few that the governments can do now to keep information away from common man thanks to the internet.
Internet has empowered vast sections of society in almost all countries. Women and children are the foremost beneficiaries of information explosion that happened (and is happening) over the net. Women in remotest corners of the earth have access to the latest in family life and fashion if they want. Their voice can reach anyone anywhere even if they are under physical or emotional imprisonment in a society dominated by men. Servants (the current form of slaves) can expose their masters of their atrocities if only they are bit clever. All forms of creativity are booming thanks to effortless marketing available on the net. Thousands are deriving satisfaction out of free outlets for their writing abilities only because of the easy availability of the net. People like me who could never have published even a single article have recognised the virtual messiah in the form of internet. It is no more possible to go forward without accepting the INTERNET BHAGAWAN that has blessed us with so many facilities. It is only logical that the deification of internet started in the land of Vedas (knowledge) and our software gurus carried the ‘new good news’ to all parts of the globe. For this to work out, we need a starting point, a modern Bodhgaya with the peepal tree of wisdom.
Oachira Parabrahmam and Man-hour Offerings
It is still common in India to find annual congregations of people of same profession in certain temples. The temple deity is considered as the presiding lord of their profession by these people. There are so many temples in India for various types of craftsmen. But if and when we are thinking of conceiving a Bhagawan for IT professionals (software & internet), I don’t think there is any better choice than the Parabrahmam at Oachira (a small town in South Kerala). Parabrahmam, meaning the absolute, is all powerful but incognizable. It is without form and the said temple of profound ambience has an open architecture with no idol to worship. What can be more apt for a set of professionals indulging in highly intellectual exercise like software development and attempting internet connectivity with the known and unknown. All software is powerful and internet is incognizable. And the professionals connected to the two come from all sections of the society which calls for a formless form of Bhagawan to worship. Oachira Parabrahmam can satisfy all these requirements and is cent percent worthy of being anointed as the presiding deity of software and internet professionals (in general, all IT professionals). Those at the helm of professional bodies like Computer Society of India and Swadeshi Science Movement must take note of this and take the lead in anointing Oachira Parabrahmam as the Lord of Mrithupanya (the nearest Sanskrit equivalent of software).
What needs to be done next is to think of novel ways of offering to the lord of IT profession by people of Indian origin all over the globe. Software personnel always think in terms of man-hours and it is only natural that their offerings too are in the same units. It would be a reasonable figure for all the Indian IT professionals to offer at least 5 man-hours of their efforts every year to the lord of their profession. As an example, an Indian IT professional in USA earning USD 50,000 per year must be thinking of offering at least USD 28.5 (INR 1200/-) to Oachira Parabrahmam every year. They must also make it a point to pay a visit to Oachira once a year (with their families) and enjoy its uniqueness compared to other temples of India. Irrespective of religion, caste and creed, all have complete access and every one will be mesmerised by the concept and architecture of the temple that was conceived thousands of years back. Only noble minds could have thought of such all inclusive concepts of God for carrying the entire society together. Internet Bhagawan has really come to stay at Oachira.
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