Civic sense ?

Education and Civic sense rarely go hand in hand ..

Recently I was talking with a taxi driver and the conversation veered to civic sense and he made a comment "Ma'am it is the educated people who behave worse than the people who don't know" .... I thought about it ..... I don't think the comment was wrong .....

Education and civic sense ... rarely seem to go hand in hand ..... I remembered some instances of such behavior by the so-called-educated people ... this includes Gen Y too ....

• Coming to the ICU ward/waiting room with a bad case of viral conjunctivitis ....
• Entering the society premises on a vehicle at 70km / hr ..... especially in the evening .. prime time when small children are playing / running / cycling.
• Asking to divert money that has been donated for charity to be used for other sundry activities ...
• One person is admitted in the ICU .. 26 people turn up in the ICU waiting room plus they have the gall to wonder if the other people really are relatives and all the 26 people want to enter the ICU ward en masse .... !! Jeez ...
• Spitting gutka within hospital premises ...
• Leaving plastic bottles and gutka wrappers on pristine mountain sides .....
• Throwing water/garbage from the balcony on to the road ..... with no care towards the people walking below
• Physically pushing children ..... in a crowd ( mall, after movie rush etc )
• Flight announcement is for parents with children and elderly people .. yet everyone rushes and makes a crowd at the gate !!!!
• Keeping the lift waiting ..... while busy chatting to someone outside their door .. uncaring of the people within the lift
• Of-course loud ring-tones / talking .... in inappropriate places ...
• Driving in an inebriated state ....

 ...... And so on ..... am sure there are many more examples of such uncouth conduct ...

I am not even touching the serious side of what education should bring about in areas of dowry, education of girl children, corruption, bride burning, land grabbing etc ...

I think ... education should also mean refinement and civility .... but is it asking for too much ??? Money, education and class .... rarely go together I guess ...

Book Review - The Argumentative Indian - Amartya Sen

The Argumentative Indian

I picked up this book from a friend eons ago .. and found it challenging to complete ! :) Not because it is not good but simply because history is something that I don't prefer to read !! Nevertheless I did finish reading this and I am glad I did ...

Having said that I would not suggest this book to someone who has an insular view of a Hindu India that has had absolutely no influence of any other culture on it !!! It would make for a flammable reading if one went with such an attitude. Instead I would think an open mind with an interest to counter-argue with research if one disagrees on the many points made would be a better approach !!

The writing is dry and caustic, well researched and in the form of a series of lectures. It depicts India as a civilization where public debate was not unknown , multiple cultures and religions were part of its vibrant fabric along with atheism and materialistic approach to life , he touches upon the topics of science and maths in ancient India, Indian calendars ( this is an amazing chapter ! ) , relationship with China, the Indian identity , Westerner's views of India .. etc


One of the major themes is that India's greatness lies in its diversity and tolerance of all religions. Although the author is aware that this tolerance has not stopped the social inequalities either.

One can consider the book as an attempt to encapsulate a few thousand years of Indian history that an Indian can take pride in even as the country looks forward to a global future which was not completely unknown before !

I did feel that the leanings on Ashoka and Akbar were a bit more than required. After all there were quite a few other kings but then .. those other kings probably did not suit the point being made !!

The inputs on Rabindranath Tagore whom the author eminently respects made for interesting reading. I don't prefer the deifying biographies that one reads of our previous leaders and the perspective shown by the author of this person is of a reasoning mind.

In our country more often that not - issues are tried emotionally ... the author dissects many topics of the Indian history in an academic manner with a whole wealth of references. It can be read as a book on history or just to learn something more about our country without falling prey to zealotry.

Book Review - The Audacity of Hope - Barack Obama

Audacity of Hope - Barack Obama

It has been quite some time since I read a book completely ! I have so many books in the half-read stage that I think ... when I finally get back to them .. I will have to start each one from the beginning !!! Anywayz ...

Never underestimate the power of a title !!! :) I was intrigued by the title of this book ... !!! Never thought hope could be audacious ! :) Ended up choosing to buy this book instead of "Dreams from my father" which is supposedly better.

Before I put my thoughts regarding this book , I must say I am handicapped in my review by a couple of things

-- I don't follow American politics so I am not sure exactly how the "timing" of this book's release affected his presidential dreams and hence how calculated / slick the contents of this book are !!! :)

-- It follows from the above that I obviously cannot gauge how his real life veers from the said content of this book ..... on his stands over various problems ....

So ... about the book ... I found the writing lucid in a chatty style and definitely readable. Obviously it focuses entirely on America .... what comes through is the author's love for his country and a sense that he is doing his best in a job that poses myriad challenges especially to one's belief's and morality.

The chapter on the machinations behind American politics is interesting ... especially regarding the hardening of political stances. I feel it is something that happens all too frequently in India .. and the middle path seems more and more obscured .. since it is a path that gives no political gains !!!!

The main theme is that the author comes across as someone who embodies the American middle-class dream and is not too politically correct .... which is refreshing. Yes for most of the issues a neat middle-of-the-road path is taken but the reasoning behind the said stances are nicely portrayed. It is easy to identify with since it feels like the author is just a regular guy ... and so ... the book contents seem eminently believable ..

There is an absence of jingoism and acrid bashing , still he manages to paint the Republicans in a not-so-good light and is candid about his views upfront ... that he leans towards democratic ideals being a democrat himself !! :)

Nevertheless it obviously finds an echo somewhere in America ( and the world ) or I don't think this book would have been so popular so as to find itself even on the Pune streets !!! :)

There was a vague sense of deja vu on some topics and that was because I realized that some challenges that America faces have been highlighted in my recent read - "Hot, Flat and Crowded" by Thomas Friedman including the oil dependency woes and competition for jobs from across the world and US's foreign policy.

My take would be - read only if interested in American political machinations and to learn something about the American president !! Otherwise the other challenges/viewpoints can easily be read in other books or articles on the web.

If I had to pick the best statement in this book it would be - "In the world's greatest deliberative body ..... no one is listening" .. which happens when someone wants to explain / introduce a new bill.

Teenage Angst and hindsight ... :)

Yesterday my daughter and I spent time singing songs from my High school song book. I never expected that the book I maintained would last so long .. or that it would actually be useful !!!

While retrieving the book I found another set of books - diaries ... ! Maintained when I was a teen ... :) So when I got a chance I skimmed them .... :)

And I think after reading them ... they can be safely chucked in the fire !!! :) Why .... ??

- For one thing I don't even recognize the teen who wrote those entries !!!! :) Was it me who vacillated between those kind of highs and lows and terrible blues ? :)

- WOW .. I had a big sense of paranoia then .... I have names in code and the most mortifying incidents ( I don't remember them ) are not even penned down !!! Just who did I think would be interested in reading about them ? :)

- Did I really think that people cared to plumb the depths of my personality when I said "Nobody will ever understand me because I wear a mask" ? :)

- And who is this person I have sworn to hate forever ? One would think I would be able to at least recall the face and the reason why ? :)

- Why oh why did I not enjoy being more than 15 kgs lighter and younger :) ??

- Seems like the color gray did not exist in my world at that time ... things were black or white !! :)

- Just why did I think it was all-firing important to dissect the incident with my friend and her guy - facial expression by facial expression - with her ??

- Did I really take all those personality tests and read Linda Goodman's books from cover to cover ... and actually use that to glean meaning into my behavior as well as that of others ?

- How did I think that poem that I wrote was a masterpiece ? Ugh ?? :)

- I spent that much time writing about clothes/music/likes and dislikes ? :)

- Feelings towards my crushes ( always long distance ... ) range from ... disbelief .. [ I mooned over that moron ?? Whatever happened to my taste ??? ] to ... just who is this person again ? :) I do recognize couple of them thankfully .... :)

- And just when did I study ? :)

But all in all ... I felt my drivel was very predictable .. typical teenage angst !!! :) Guess not all things nostalgic .. have a value !! :) But wait may be all is not lost ... perhaps this will help me understand ..... when my daughter hits the teens and thinks .. that her feelings are unique .... just like every other teen in the world !!!