कोंबडी आधी की अंडं आधी

काल मावळलेला सूर्य सकाळी उगवलाय.  संध्याकाळी पुन्हा मावळणार आहे नव्याने उगवायला. सूर्यदर्शन घेऊन मी छाती भरून घेतलीय ती मी रिकामी करणार आहे पुन्हा भरून घ्यायला. संध्याकाळ-सकाळ-संध्याकाळ सतत चालू. काय आधी नी काय नंतर, काय नंतर नी आधी  काय.  उन्हाळा-पावसाळा-हिवाळा-उन्हाळा ऋतुचक्र सतत चालू.  दिवस रोज़ उगवतो पण ‘हर शाम की सुबह नई’. तेच ते तेच ते ,तरीपण नवीन ते. सुरुवात होते, नी संपते तीही सरुवातीच्या जागी येऊनंच. प्रत्येक शेवट हा नव्या सुरुवातीचा गर्भ असतो, प्रत्येक सुरुवात ही एका शेवटाची दवंडी असते. खरंतर आरंभ आणि शेवट हे आपण आपल्या समजूतीसाठी वापरलेले शब्द. नाहीतर कसली सुरुवात नी कसला शेवट. चंद्र पृथ्वीभोवती फिरतो, पृथ्वी सूर्याभोवती, तसंच इतर ग्रहांचं आणि त्यांच्या चंद्रांचं, मग ही आपली सूर्यमाला मोठ्या सूर्याभोवती फिरते,  अशा अनेक सूर्यमाला आकाशगंगेभोवती, एक आकाशगंगा दुस-या आकाशगंगेभोवती, अशा अनेक आकाशगंगा तिस-या आकाशगंगेभोवती, काही एकमेकांभोवती. पण फिरणं सतत चालू. कोणीही स्थिर नाही, काहीही स्थिर नाही. वर गेलंय ते खाली येणार, खाली आलंय ते वर जाणार. जवळ आहे ते लांब जाऊन जवळ येणार, लांब आहे ते जवळ येऊन लांब जाणार, मग पुन्हा सुरू. समुद्रातलं बाष्प वर गेलं, त्याचे ढग बनले, ढग पाऊस बनून जमिनीवर खाली आले, नद्यानाल्यांतून ते पाणी समुद्राला मिळाले पुन्हा ढग बनण्यासाठी.

आपल्या आयुष्यातही हेच, सतत. श्वास-उच्छ्वास-श्वास-उच्छ्वास, उठणे-झोपणे-उठणे-झोपणे सतत चालू. उठतो रोजच आपण, पण रोज उठल्यावर आपल्याला वेगळं वाटतं. कालच्यासारखं आज नसतं आजच्यासारखं कधीच नव्हतं, कधीच नसेल. नैसर्गिक क्रियाप्रक्रियांमध्ये आपण अशी अनंत चक्र अनुभवत असतो. तेच आपण आपल्या आवडीनिवडीत, आपल्या वर्तणुकीतही साहजिकपणे सामावून घेतलं आहे. अगदी आपल्या रंगसंगती, फॅशन सगळीकडे बदल करत करत परत पहिल्या जागी.  आपली कोळीनृत्य पहा. समुद्रच्या लाटांसारखं आलेआलेआले नि गेलेगेलेगेले. आपली आदिवासी नृत्य पहा किंवा लोकनृत्य पहा. संगीतात, गाण्यांत, पदन्यासात असेच पुनरावृत्तीचे अनुभव येत राहतात. भारतीय संगीतात शास्त्रीय पद्धतीने याची आवर्तानांत बांधणी केली आहे. गायन असो वा वादन असो, तालाप्रमाणे कुठेही फिरून कलाकार समेवर येतोच, नी तिथून पुन्हा उठतो. १० मात्रा, ११ मात्रा, १४-१६ मात्रा असतील, ताल कुठलाही असो, राग कुठलाही असो पण समेवर येणं काही चुकणार नाही. त्यात कंटाळवाणा तेचतेचपणा नसतो. प्रत्येक आवर्तन वेगळं , प्रत्येक आवर्तनाचं नाविन्य वेगळं, प्रत्येक आवर्तनातलं सर्जन वेगळं, सृष्टीचं व्यक्त होणंच जणू.

भारतीय परंपरेत, धार्मिक विचारांत विश्वाच्या चक्रागार गतीचा फ़ार खोलवर विचार केला आहें. आपल्या अनुभावांच्याच नाही तर आपल्या अनुभवक्षमतेच्याही मर्यादा जाणल्या आहेत आणि त्याच्या पलिकडे असलेली विश्वाची अगाधता जाणून घ्यायचा प्रयत्न केला आहे. समजापलिकडच्या गोष्टी उमगून घ्यायचा प्रयत्न केला आहे. अनेकदा आपले अनुभव एकदिशी असतात. काळ पुन्हा येत नाही, येऊ शकत नाही असे आपले अनुभव सांगतात. जन्म घेतल्यावर बालपण, तरुणपण, वार्धक्य नि शवटी मरून संपून जायचं असे आपले अनुभव आहेत. पण विश्वात काही निर्माण होत नाही नि काही नष्टही होत नाही. सृष्टीत जे आहे ते आहे. संपूर्ण सृष्टीचा आत्मा समान आहे, एक आहे. त्यामुळे जन्म म्हणजे आरंभ आणि मृत्यू म्हणजे अंत असं असू शकत नाही.  जन्म-मृत्यू-जन्म-मृत्यू अशा अथक अनंत आवर्तनांतला जन्म ते मृत्यू एव्हढाच भाग आपल्या पार्थिव अनुभवांना जाणवतो. म्हणून मग पुढच्या जन्मला पुनर्जन्म असं नाव दिलं. वैश्विक पातळीवर जसा पुनर्जन्म तसाच पुनर्मृत्यू, दोन्ही एकच. 

सृष्टी अशी आवर्तनांनी बनलेलेी आहें कारण विश्वच मूळी एक आवर्तन आहें. आपल्या समजूतीसाठी त्या आवर्तनांचे भाग करून त्यांना नावं दिली आहेत.  सत्यतुग, त्रेतायुग, द्वपारयुग, कलियुग नि पुन्हा सत्ययुग असा काल फिरत असतो. काल आणि कालौघाने त्याबरोबर फिरणारे विश्व अनादी अनंत आहेत. अनेक शहरांत पर्यटनासाठी चक्राकार फिरणारी हॉप-ऑन-हॉप-ऑफ बस असते ना, आपण पाहिजे तेव्हा पाहिजे तिथे चढतो नि पाहिजे तेव्हा पाहिजे तिथे उतरतो. तोच आपला प्रवास, तोच आपला विश्वाचा अनुभव. बस मात्र चालूच असते, अव्याहत. तिचा प्रवास संतत आवर्तानांचा, ना सुरुवात ना शेवट.

कळलं ना, कोंबडी आधी की अंडं आधी ते ? !

Had Gujarat Riots Happened if Godhra Incidence Had Not Happened

If a man claimed that another person has encroached on his land and if one of the two is hindu and the other muslim, the dispute between them is a personal, legal dispute and not a hindu-muslim dispute.  If there is a dispute between area boundaries of two housing societies, it is a legal dispute nothing do with religion. The Babri Masjid- Ram Janmabhoomi dispute should have been treated just the same - as a legal dispute over ownership of the land - and not as a dispute between hindu and muslim communities , nor as a conflict between all hindus and all muslims. But thats what extreme thinkers  at the time of L K Advani’s Rath Yatra attempted to project in 1990. In spite of assurances by Advani there was violence and riots at many places on Rath Yatra route. While Advani and BJP leaders kept a sober tone , VHP, Bajrang Dal and others upped the ante to very high  levels. In addition to depicting muslims, all muslims, as vicious, criminal, religious predators, as threat to women and life, muslims were also linked to Pakistan and described as terrorists. So if there was any inadequacy in inflaming religious fanatism, there was nationalistic jingoism to assist.  Stage was being set, battle cries were raised. All these were showing positive results for BJP with significant increase in parliament seats and winning majority in UP Assembly elections.

Gujarat has a centuries long history of tussles between hindu and muslim groups. But in those days such incidences were treated simply as tussles between any other groups. Only in the British Raj were they came to be defined as hindu-muslim conflicts. Since about mid-eighties hindu religious organisations with extreme ideology succeeded in building coordinated networks. They were able to cross caste barriers and reach even to adivasis. Their work was not only getting hindus together on religious foundation and increasing their religious ego, but they also preached militant and aggressive philosophy and actual training in arms. In the same breath they slowly preached hatred towards muslims. ‘We are great’ took secondary role to ‘they are bad’, ‘they need to be improved’, ‘they need to be taught a lesson’ !

Amidst this, A rally was decided to be held in December, 1992.  Big campaign was run all over the country by BJP, VHP, Bajrang Dal, Shivsena and other hindu organsiations. Huge crowds of animated followers convulsed at Ayodhya site. Either they really went beyond control or had tacit support of UP government and Central government, but they went beyond shilapoojan and demolished the masjid that was there. Not only were there huge jeering and cheering about the masjid demolition but big insults and intimidations were thrown towards muslims. Fanatics in muslim communities were not going to let the opportunity slip out. There were extended riots in different parts of the country resulting in loss of much life and property.

These hindu organisations had successfully managed to merge hindu religious sentiments with nationalism, and conversely being muslim was equated to being anti-national and supporter of Pakistan. This success was a huge help in inflaming emotions further. In spite of this BJP could not win enough seats in Lok Sabha to form government on its own and had to look for support. Vajpayee was selected as being more moderate than Advani. This tempered BJP a little but it rebounded through VHP and others. Limited success needed to be fortified and improved further.

Gujarat was a big player in all these, aided by frequent hindu-muslim disputes and riots in Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Surat etc. BJP won majority in Gujarat assembly elections in 1998. So in 1999 both Centre and Gujarat had BJP governments. It was time to govern . Under the pressure of governance Ram temple got pushed out of main political focus, though VHP and others continued working on their agenda. Governing was not easy, and in 2001 BJP suffered some significant setbacks in by-elections in Gujarat. Something had to be done. In December 2001 Chief Minister Patel was replaced by committed RSS pracharak Narendra Modi. And Ram temple issue was brought back into prominence. Senior BJP politicians kept talking peace and development but every time they also kept mentioning ‘traitors’ and Pakistan. VHP, Bajrang Dal and others became aggressive and abusive in their language, wielding trishuls often. VHP organised a maha yadnya at ram temple sight. Thousands of volunteers / devotees / ramsevaks from Gujarat went to Ayodhya, not just charged with building ram temple but full with hatred against muslims deeply ingrained in themselves. Even amongst this emotional high, in the by elections held on 21 February, 2002, BJP lost 2 out 3 assembly seats. Only CM Modi won his seat.

In February 2002 thousands of devotees (know as ramsvaks or karsevaks) had gone from Gujarat to Ayodhya at behest of VHP to take part in Purnahuti Mahayagna. On 25th February 2002  about 2000-2500 ramsevaks boarded Sabarmati Express for return journey, without reservations, and many without tickets. Each coach was filled with passengers douple-triple its capacity. Train started towards Vadodara. It is said that on all stations that the train stopped these volunteers would get down and create ruckus, often abusing muslims on platforms, making them shout “Jai Shri Ram”. (There are also hearsay reports of similar incidences on way to Ayodhya). It is not investigated whether this news had reached muslim community of Godhra, but strangely, government officials officials did not seem to have have any intimation or warning, before the train reached Godhra in early morning of 27th February. Godhra station is surrounded by residences of a muslim community. Some of them are reported to be involved in petty crimes at and around Godhra station and yard. On the platform of Godhra station there were same scenes as at earlier stations. There were incidences with vendors, many of whom were muslims. A old muslim vendor was abused. Some say the incidence happened on platform while some claim it happened in coach S-6. A young muslim woman was picked up by someone. Though she managed to escape and hide inside booking office, rumours started going around , or were deliberately spread, and easily believed that muslims women are being picked up and one is taken into a coach. Due to this and also due to troubles with vendors who had strong support nearby, fights erupted. Train started its onward journey to Vadodara but was stopped as Alarm Chain was pulled from multiple coaches. Some say it was stopped by muslim who wanted to stop the train and some say it was stopped by ramsevaks as many of them were left behind on the platform as the train started rolling forward. Report by the guard of the train said that many people from platform ran behind the train to get in. Arguments and fighting continued. Crowd also had gathered on one side of the track. Police theory claims that the crowd was part of the conspiracy, but there is nothing done to prove this. It could just be a crowd of people interested in finding out what was happening to their folks on platform, or it could be a crowd of mere onlookers. It is important to note that there were many women and children in that crowd. Train started moving again but the girl was nowhere to be seen. Some said she was in coach S-6. Meanwhile some in the crowd had started pelting stones at the train. So passengers closed all doors and windows. It became dark  and stuffy inside. The coach S-6, with capacity for 72, had 130-200 passengers in it, many were ramsevaks. Somebody from outside managed to make the train stop again. The train stopped at Cabin A about a kilometre from the platform. Stones were being thrown at the train. Some of the vendors had stoves with them. Probably using fuel from those stoves, burning rags were thrown into coaches - maybe to make the passengers open the doors. There were smokes from couple of coaches but passengers managed to quickly douse those. For reasons unique to S-6, fire inside that coach could not be doused and it spread very quickly inside the coach. Many investigators could not find conclusive evidence of what exactly made coach S-6 to catch fire so fast but everyone is in agreement that the fire was from inside the coach. Police theory accepted by the sessions court is that the accused got into the coach S-6 and set it on fire by dosing petrol. But none of the passengers have seen anybody getting in or throwing any liquid. All four Exit doors and doors towards both vestibules were stacked with luggage, some claim to prevent doors being opened from outside. Some passengers somehow managed to get three doors opened and escape started. One passengers has stated that there was some fire and lot of smoke and then big fire erupted at seat No. 72. When he was standing he felt intense heat on upper part of his body and so he crawled out. In a short while whole coach started burning. 59 passengers (some of them ramsevaks but others were normal passengers with reservations) were not able to come out and got charred to death. 

Police theory is that there was conspiracy to burn coach S-6 but the theory has not given any details about what was special about this coach that it was particularly chosen to be burnt. Police claim that accused came to spot with 7 carboys of 20 litres of petrol each, cut open the vestibule (which 5 ft and above from the ground) between coaches S-6 and S-7, cut open the upper parts of carboys, got into the vestibules with carboys (20 litres of petrol in each carboy) , broke open the door going into S-6, got into the coach poured all the petrol, and came out by opening a door, set the petrol on fire -  totally unhurt and unseen. Nobody from coach S-6 have seen any of this, nobody from other coaches have seen anybody getting in, nobody from the railway staff or onlookers had seen any of this. Theory seems completely implausible with circumstantial evidence against it. The Sessions court has accepted the Police argument on the basis of confessions of the accused made in front of the Magistrate, though these confessions were retracted later during the hearing of the case.

There are some more points to be noted:

• None of the railway staff was touched, even those who were hindu
• None of the people on the platform or in the station were touched.
• None in the crowd were touched, though it is not verified by the police whether the crowd was 100% muslims or there were hindus in it too.
• There were no incidences of rioting against hindus in Godhra town
• When a army man passenger jumped out of S-6 and was held by the gang of youth on the track, he pleaded that he was a armyman. On seeing his ID card he was allowed to go. Though seeing name he was hit saying “Oh, this man is hindu’, but in the end he was safely escorted away from the track
• Some of the main conspirators accused of planning a conspiracy were acquitted by the court. 
• No traces of carboys, neither of the main bodies nor of the upper portions which had been cut off, were recovered from the site - neither from coach, nor from vestibule, nor from track.

All these things strongly suggest

• There was no conspiracy
• Conflagration had happened on the spur of the moment
• The incidence, whatever it was, was not against general hindus by general muslims, but it was directed only at passengers, particularly ramsevaks by some people on platform and around.
• There does not seem to be intention to set a coach on fire, certainly not a specific coach S-6.
• Unfortunate deaths did happen due to a coach catching fire, some of the dead, though not all, were ramsevaks returning from Ayodhya

Around noon of that day, Collector of Godhra, Jayanthi Ravi had announced that it was an incidence of violence and not an act of terror. But by the evening, CM Modi had declared, without an iota of evidence, that it was a terror attack. At the moment police had no clue about what had happened and it was weeks later that they filed a conspiracy chargesheet. It may appear that CM was directing the conclusion of police investigation.  All the passengers of that train, even those who were merely gone as devotees and those who had nothing to do with ram temple, were called ramsevaks. CM and BJP leaders and hindu religious leaders  kept on highlighting that there were women and children amongst the dead. 

Next day, against the advise of some senior-most bureaucrats, government gave permission to get dead bodies to Ahmedabad for identification. Dead bodies were brought to Ahmedabad civil hospital before day-break, some accuse, in a big procession, with pilot gypsys and vans made to look like raths. VHP and BJP called bandh for 2 days. Again, in spite of the advise by senior bureaucrats to ban this bandh, it was not banned. Generally when there are possibilities of mass trouble, political and other leaders are detained till situation starts normalising. I have not seen anything suggesting this was done in Gujarat at that time.  There were announcements by senior leaders expressing grief which was ok, but the death of women and children was highlighted time and again till the election campaign in December, 2002. It was called an attack on hinduism and consequently an attack on the nation. Questions were asked to the citizens whether they will be mute spectators to attacks by muslims. It was told that the time has come to discard Mahatma’s philosophy. All these created a spark to the already overheated fuel. And the carnage started before noon that day! It continued next day, and next day and went on. At places muslims defended, at places counterattacked. There were some muslims who saw this as opportunity in adversity. This went on for three months. 

All the time later BJP, VHP and Bajrang Dal leaders kept on shouting how 59 ramsevaks were mercilessly burnt alive , women and little children among them, how these muslims hatched this inhuman conspiracy, how these demons were against our religion, our nation, how these devils need to be taught a lesson. And then they would entice the crowd to respond yes or no. They would ask if you want to be impotent when your women were raped and burnt. When it was found out that ramsevaks in the train had had fights in every station, had misbehaved with women on platforms and also inside the train, instead of checking whether that could be related to the subsequent incidence, leaders shouted “for 2 rupee cup of tea they burnt our women and children”. During and after the carnage these leaders proudly proclaimed how they had given up Mahatma and followed a true path. 

When the state government was severely criticised internationally for the massacres that happened under its rule and was accused of conniving with the culprits, and CM Modi was called ‘Maut ka Suadagar’ , he came out with Gujarat Gaurav Yatra. He toured all over Gujarat and held rallies enticing and asking people to shout against burning of women and children, to stand up against terrorists, to stand up behind those who gave justice, to be a nationalist and stand behind patriots of Gujarat and so on. And it bore tremendous fruits - from loosing by-elections in late 2001 and early 2002, to two-third majority in December 2002! Politicians accused of coordinating and directing the frenzied crowd won with thumping majority. BJP’s electoral wins were more fantastic in places where riots were worse. Party and leaders claimed being absolved of any blame for the riots. If there was any indication that government had helped in riots, then it would be taken to its credit. RSS man, a real hindu patriot, was king of Gujarat now. Years of hard work and planning had paid off. VHP and friends claimed to have earned the right to pronounce themselves to be sole representative of rising true hindus, that they say should be treated as voice of all hindus. It wasn't only about Gujarat. Eyes turned to Delhi and vision all over India.

Some say, Gujarat riots happened because Godhra happened. If Godhra had not happened? … This question by itself is an utopia. After years of planning, getting quick response teams ready, inflaming emotions , creating hysteria you just can’t remain a mute spectator to things not happening. Had it been not been Godhra it might have been some other place, if not train it might have been temple, if not people getting burnt it might have been idols getting destroyed. Something had to happen, hindu pride had to get its due respect.   

Whatever has happened or not allowed to happened, can not be changed. Then CM of Gujarat has now been elected PM of the nation. Ruling party is same. But people of the nation seem have learnt a big lesson. If election results in past months are to go by, if reactions to speeches and actions of religious extremism are to go by, people of the nation are not willing to get brainwashed into violence. There are people who are trying to create violence and there are people, even from religions’ fraternity, who are standing up against it. That may be a big long term positive for the nation !

References :

• Judgement of the Court of The Sessions Judge, Godhra - Sessions Case No. 69/2009, 86/2009, 204/2009.
• Books ‘Gujarat Files’ and ‘Scarred: Experiences of Violence in Gujarat’
• Documentaries ‘Raam Ke Naam’, and ‘Final Solution’
• Wikipedia and other internet pages
• My own interpretations of what could happen and could not happen and so on to what would have happened.

विनोदी साहित्याला स्टेटस

विनोदी लेखनाला मराठी साहित्यात कधीच उच्च दर्जा (elite status!) मिळत नाही.

वेदनेचं धुकं बाजूला सारून अश्वत्थाच्या भळाळत्या रक्ताचा उगम समजावून सांगणा-या लिखाणाला निश्चितीच फार महत्व अाहे, पण त्याच रक्तात भिजलेली जिवणी फाकवण्याचं सामर्थ्य असणा-या लेखनाची ताकद काही वेगळीच असावी लागते

(अाताच लक्षात अालं की काळ्या डोहातल्या जळात बसलेल्या अौदुंबरा इतकीच ही अशवत्थाची संतत भळाळती जखम मला भावून राहिलेली अाहे.

असंही जाणवलं, अात्ताच, की ह्या संतत जखमेतून सतत वाहणा-या रक्ताने कधी कुठला पदर भिजलेल्याचं किवा एकादं धोतर रक्तम झाल्याचं एेकिवात नाही ! )

Consent

All men and women, lets get clear with ‘consent’. She HAS to say Yes 

• very clearly and explicitly
• to you
• to what you want to do
• to do it NOW
• till the end you are done doing it
• when she was conscious and alert

It is unimportant whether 

• she appeared to be saying yes
• she did not say no
• she had said yes in the past
• she has agreed to say yes in future
• whether she is hungry / thirsty for it
• she has said yes to 1000 others
• she has said yes 100 times to you
• she is your wife or mistress
• she was asleep and could not have said yes
• had said yes , but changed her mind
• she is dating your son
• her husband / brother has insulted your father   

No, all that is irrelevant

She HAS to consciously say YES, to You, Now, to whatever you intend doing.

And there HAS TO BE consent

That’s it !

होली है

होरी (सरला भिडे):
तुम राधे बनो शाम, हम नंदलाल

रसिया (पं. कुमार गंधर्व):
नार बनाअो जी रसिया को


कन्हैया बने नारी
शंकर खेलत होरी
जिथ रंग तिथ गोरी
आअो खेले होरी


Let your inside out
Let your hair down
Holi hai, bhai
HOLI Hai !!!

10 Easy Steps to Reduce Solid Waste

10 Easy steps to reduce the solid waste that is generated at our urban homes and is further sent to dumping sites/ processing plants 

1. Cook what you need and eat whats cooked. Reduce wastage. 
2. Buy what you need and use whats bought. Reduce wastage
3. compost kitchen waste by wormi-culture in the pits in garden of your house / apartment / neighbourhood-
4. Avoid buying grocery in plastic bags. stitch appropriate sized cloth bags for your periodic grocery shopping. use only those shops / malls which allow you to take your reusable bags inside. Else use mom-n-pop grocers.
5. To the maximum extent possible carry cloth bags and reusable containers for all your shopping of grocery, vegetables, fruits, eggs etc.
6. Prefer local fresh foods instead of processed or imported across continents
7. Reuse. Prefer reusable products over disposable. Look for repeat use and alternative use for purchased products
8. Increase number of use-cycles or use-duration. e.g. if you are used to throwing your razor blades after 20 shaves, see if it remains good for few more. If you tend to change your cellphone after every year, see if you can extend the period by few months or weeks.
9. share products during use or after use
10. segregate recyclable waste and dispose it through wrag-pickers / NGOs / agency

Free Markets

Free Markets

In modern economics markets are supposed to be running purely by market forces of demand and supply. But in recent years we have often seen governments intervening into markets, for various reasons. Every such time there are many people who feel concerned with interference in free market. Let us see that this ‘free markets’ means.

Market is a noun applied to the collective of actions of and pertaining to buying and selling, and results thereof. Actions are done by people. So the rules and regulations applicable to people should appear to be applicable to their actions. But market has got identity of its own and its freedom is looked by many as absolute.

In historical times individual was grossly dependent on society. His life was defined by social norms and rules. There were additional constraints by bullies, and by Popes and kings. Advent of industrialization fundamentally changed this picture. Power and marvel of technology created possibilities to enable individuals to free themselves from existing social chains. Powers of kingdoms, religions, cultures started weaning. Devoid of anything powerful enough to challenge, individual freedom became an entity in itself. Freedom of individual became an absolute idea, superior to anything else. Economics conveniently piggy backed itself on this idea of freedom. Anything that increased trade was termed as freedom. These people readily accept constraints on individual liberty, but staunchly oppose anything that is even remotely looking to constrain market behaviour. Market promoting actions are isolated from consequences and are, by default, seen as free actions. Buying a gun is a fundamental right as it promotes trade. But what happens of fundamental right to live of people who are killed by those free guns?  In practice, no action can be excluded from its consequences, no action can be viewed exclusive individual(s) who execute that action.

Whether it be markets or freedom or anything else, it must be considered in relation to others, in relation to past and future, in relation to intent and consequences.

कला

वेदनेला जेव्हा पान्हा फुटतो

तेव्हा बागा नाचू लागतात

असुरक्षितता

गाभाऱ्यातून काढून शिखरावर ठेवलं की

देवालाही भिती वाटू लागते खाली पडण्याची

जलन

ऐसी तेज धूप में
इतना कोहरा कौनसा है
निखरते ऑंखोंके सामने
धूँधलापन ये कैसा है

शायद कोई जलन है
जो ना जलती है
ना ही बुझती है
धुँवा बिखरती है

जल जाती तो अच्छा होता
जलकर राँख होती थी
बात खत्म होती थी
नजर खुल जाती थी

ना जलती अच्छाही होता
ऐसी जलती धूप में
कुछ तो ना जलता
कुछ तो ना जलता

तत्‌ त्वम्‌ असि

वाटमारू वाल्या कोळ्याचा वाल्मिकी रुषी‌‌ कसा झाला ही गोष्ट वारंवार ऐकली. पण मला मात्र दरवेळी वाल्याऐवजी त्याच्या कुटुंबियांचच आश्चर्य वाटायचं. तो आणत असलेल्या संपत्तिवर ताव मारायला सगळे होते पण ती संपत्ती मिळवण्याच्या मार्गाची जबाबदारी घ्यायची वेळ आल्यावर मात्र सगळ्यांनी हात झटकले.

तसंच मला परवा अण्णा हजारेंच्या उपोषणाच्या निमित्ताने लोकांच्या प्रतिक्रीया बघताना वाटलं. बेकायदा बांधकामं, बेशिस्त वाहतूक, अनियमीत करभरणा अशा गोष्टी आपण सतत बिंधास्त करत असतो, यांसाठी सरकारी अधिकारी, राजकीय नेते यांची मदत आपणहून मागत असतो. नियम पाळण्यापेक्षा पळवाटा शोधत आपण फायदे पदरात पाडून घेत असतो. त्यासाठी अधिकारी, नेते यांची मनधरणी करत असतो, त्यांना लाच देत असतो. यात आपण स्वत: काहीच चुकत नसतो. चुकतात ते फक्त ’ते’!

’राजा तशी प्रजा’ असं म्हणतात, पण लोकशाहीत ’प्रजा तशी राजा’ हे ही तितकंच खरं आहे. कायद्याला, नियमांना घट्ट पकडून वागायची आपली इच्छा जोवर प्रबळ होत नाही तोवर आपल्याला स्वच्छ नेते मिळणं कसं शक्यय? आपपल्या देशातून भ्रष्टाचार निपटून निघणं कसं शक्यय?

आपल्या देशाचा विस्तार बघता प्रत्येक खासदाराचा मतदारसंघ सरासरी ६००० स्क्वे. किमी होतो आणि त्यात २२ लाख नागरीक असतात. प्रत्येक खासदाराने आपल्या मतदारसंघाची, मतदारांची कामे करणे तर अपेक्षित असतेच तिथपासून ते देशाचे धोरणात्मक निर्णय घेणेही त्याचेच काम असते. म्हणजे खासदार हा अत्यंत उच्च कुवतिचा असणार आणि तरिही इतक्या प्रचंड गोष्टी मदतीशिवाय होणे केवळ अशक्य! मदत म्हटली की त्यासाठी खर्चही आलाच. आणि या सगळ्यासाठी खासदाराला पगार किती मिळतो तर महिना १२०००, खर्चासाठी महिना २४००० फ़क्त. यावर वीज आणि फोन बरंचसं मोफत.
यातून वाचलेल्या पैशातून त्याने आधी जिंकलेल्या निवडणूकी खर्च बागवायचा आणि पुधच्या निवडणूकीसाठी पुंजी जमवायची. बरं निवडणूक तरी जिंकायची खात्री आहे का, तर नाहीच. अनेकवेळा लढलं तर एकदा जिंकण्याची शक्यता.त्याआधी उमेदवारी मिळण्यासाठी पक्षाच्या निवडणूका इ. इ.

कायदेशीररित्या मिळणाऱ्या पैशातून हे खर्च भागवणंच अशक्य आहे तर शिल्लक, बचत यांचा प्रश्नच येत नाही.

ध्वनीची प्रकाशरेषा

विश्राम बेडॆकरांनी एका ठिकाणी म्हटलंय, "ध्वनीची एक सूक्ष्म, अत्यंत अचपळ, अतिशय लाजाळू, लपकती आणि भित्री प्रकाशरेषा"! एका इंद्रियाचा अनुभव इतर इंद्रियांनी घेता येणं ही तर एक प्रकारची अनुभूतीच आहे. काहींना ते जमतं. पण आमचं बघा. . . सगळा आनंदच आहे. ज्या त्या इंद्रियाचा अनुभव त्या त्या इंद्रियाने सुद्धा धड अनुभवता येत नाही.

एकदा कुमार गंधर्वांच्या मैफिलीत माझा शेजारी अचानक विव्हळून ओरडता झाला, " . . अहाहा !!!!" मी काळजीने त्याला विचारलं, "काय झालं? ठीक आहात ना". यावर त्याने माझ्याकडे ज्या नजरेने बघितलं ती शब्दात वर्णन करता येणं केवळ अशक्य आहे. त्यानंतर अनेक वर्ष जावी लागली, अनेक अनुभव-अनुभूतींमधून तावून-सुलाखून निघावं लागलं, तेव्हा कुठे कळलं की त्या माणसाचं ते ओरडणं हा हृदयविकाराचा झटका नव्हता. तो एक हृदयाच्या अगदी आतून आलेला झटका नक्कीच होता. विकार नव्हे तर साक्षात्कार होता!

ध्वनीची प्रकाशरेषा, मधुर स्पर्श हा दोन इंद्रियांचा मिलाप झाला. पण त्याच्याही पलिकडे जाऊन लाजाळू, लपकती हे भावानुभव ऐंद्रिक गोष्टींमधून घेता येण्यासाठी मनाची तरलता, लवचिकता, मोकळेपणा लागतो. हे जेव्हा जमायला लागतं तेव्हा आपण स्वतः देवच होतो एक प्रकारे. देवाने दिलेल्या इंद्रियांच्या मर्यादा नुसत्या ओलांडतच नाही तर आपण एक प्रकारे आपलं स्वतःचं अतिंद्रिय विश्व निर्माण करतो.

Cost of Cleanliness

For past few there is lot of talk on the filth and anarchy at Commonwealth Games preparations in Delhi. Western countries have been particularly upset about the conditions. One of the organising officials attributed this cultural differences in perception. There was big hue and cry against this officer. But the fact that what he said is really true. Be it cultural or genetic or something else, Indians ARE unclean, undesciplined, lethargic. You go anywhere in India, you will find these characteristics abundant. Those are some of 'unity in diversity' specialities. Indians might be unique in the amount of filth they crate around themselves, in the degree of recklessness about their own lives, and so on.

In a different perspective this lethargy has benefits attached to it. Indians did not go around marauding and massacring in the name of peace, trade, conquest or politics. Indians do not terrorize countries in 'war on terror'. Indians did not erase forests for Indonesia to Africa to Brazil. Indians did not plunder natural resources, be it underground, on surface or in sky, as if those are infinite, as if they are costless, as if they have no waste.

Indians do have their own houses dirty, shabby, smoky etc. Their backyards are worse. And then there are societies who have great houses, and they have big pipelines throwing all their waste beyond their neighborhood. Its no coincidence that casting and hot forging industries in India boomed the time Europe tightened pollution laws and increased energy tariffs. Now Europe boasts of clean air and scoff at smogs in India and China. Unfortunately smogs are not like rocks, they spread.

I am not sure who is worse, the man who lives in filthy house or the man who keeps his clean and throws his filth all across continents. There must be some mid-way which can be called good.

WTF, why should I care! My economy is doing great in automatic single-use products that I manufacture and sell. But I am aware that when I point one finger at anybody, other three fingers are pointing at myself. This humility is a door towards brightness into long future ahead.

Essentials (?) for Happiness

Received this in an email and found worth sharing :::::::

mnmlist: 10 essentials

I was reading a series in GQ called 10 Essentials where a designer or stylish celebrity names 10 things that are essential to them. I love the idea, but the lists seem like such tributes to luxury consumerism.
I’m the last guy that GQ would interview for this series (I have no sense of style, to start with), but it got me to thinking: what are my “10 essentials”?
And so I made a list:
1. What I wear: jeans. I love the thick texture of jeans. I wear them every day. Some people like synthetic fabrics because they’re lightweight and dry fast, but jeans are just comfortable. I only buy my jeans at Goodwill.
2. What I also wear: T-shirt. I only have a few — black, blue, and grey — but I wear them everyday until they get thin.
3. How I hydrate: water. I do drink coffee and tea, but neither compares to plain water. I drink from the tap, throughout the day.
4. What I love to eat: fruit. Fresh from the farmer’s market, or berries picked straight from the bush. Mmmm.
5. What entertains me: books. Any type. I get them used, from friends or the library.
6. My essential writing tool: a text editor. I’ll also take a pen and small notebook, especially if I’m out and about and feel like writing.
7. What I do for fun: walk. I like to go outside and just take in the city, or nature. I don’t even need shoes — barefoot walking is even more enjoyable. Even better: walk with someone I like.
8. Where I go for inspiration: nature. A nice park, a garden, a forest, the ocean, hills.
I ran out of things at this point — and the last couple aren’t exactly things. I really tried for 10 items but I can’t think of more. If I have the 8 items above, I’m very happy: jeans & t-shirt, water & fruit, a book and a notebook, a walk in nature.
I could live on just those items — of course I’d need other food for nourishment, but not much more. I don’t even need a computer — I could write in a notebook and use a computer at a library to post to my blog.
You don’t need consumerism to be very happy — in fact, I’d argue that life is better without it.

- written by Leo Babuata

expression lagging imagination

How to evolve my expression to cope with the speed and expanse of my own thoughts and imagination! ?

Multiplication by Addition of 1

Location: Hyedrabad (India)and many place all over the globe.

Till last week, on the streets of Hyderabad, there were fights with one conflict - proponents and opponents of seperte state of Telangana. Come Hanuman Jayanti, a full moon day and lunatic tendencies spread out like rumours in mist. Hindus and muslims are fighting colourful battles. Saffron and green, the colours of peace and piety, have donned red, the colour for blood and hatred. There is addition one conflict. but I am wondering, as usual, about consequences of this single addition. what would anti-Telangan Hindu and anti-Telangana muslim do when they come across a anti-Telanaga hindu. First fight among themselves and jointly fight with the anti-telanaga. Or first fight among themselves anti-telngana hindu chipping in for hindu and then the two anti and pro Hindus fight against each other with the muslim chipping in for Telangana ? ! ? ! ? !

Oh My, addition of just one fight has opened a Pandora's box! hindu anti against hindu pro. muslim anti against muslim pro, hindu anti against hindu pro. Just an addition of one has multiplied the fights-number to I don't how many, eight, sixteen, thirty-two, sixty-four, or even more. And its raised even more comple questions in my mind. How do you love or hate a person when he is for against you at the same time. Or is it that wars and fights are similar to sports ?! Teammate in club team is your opponent when you are playing for state, or country. Play professionaly - nothing to heart. Can humans fight with such professionality, without taking it to heart?

Oh maybe. And maybe we need to be aware and wary of this profession - profession on blood and profession of blood.

Happiness

Don't use ivory because it comes from killing a tusk.
dont use furr bacause it comes from a killed animal
dont use wood because it comes from killing a jungle
dont use a product because it comes from exploiting a chinese labourer
dont use oil because it will end up killing everything in fresh air
dont use plastic because dumping grounds are overflowing
.
.
.
.
Oh God, whats left to use but myself
me, my sweat and my happiness.
Use happiness because thats how it grows

Wanderings in Wonderlands

These are simple random wanderings into the wonderlands of inside !

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Some people say "Nobody is perfect". Some other people say "Everything is perfect" and "World moves from perfect to perfect". I feel the first statment is a seeking one. We define what is perfect and then look, seek such a thing in people, things around us. While the later statements have acceptance ! ! !

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First World has made it impertinent for themselves that third world have money and start spending. What a amusing corollary, wonderful circularity !
'Poor must get rich if rich are not to get poor'
But . . . what a rich can tolerate about how much rich poor gets ?

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How to measure success if it is not to be counted, neither by counting of notes owned nor by counting of claps of appreciation received ?

What is worth of a quantity but the quality we perceive from it or the value we attach to it ? ! ! !

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There are many experiments I have rad about on to describe physiology behind behaviour. But I have seen hardly anything which tries to see at origin of physiology. Say, we know about co-relation between a behaviour and secretion of some harmones. But w e hardly know anything on how conscious thought, beliefs, faiths, emotions, feeling affect this secretion itself

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Wanderings in Wonderlands

There are simple random wanderings into the wonderlands of inside !

Sweet Chilly

Sweet chilly !
if you kiss her
you will taste sweetness,
but if you bite ...
. . . . . .
you will get hot shock
of your life.
:
:
:
:
:
Ah, woman!!!