Baksheesh & Inaam

Kings are gone, but their practices are haunting India.

Come festival season or any perceived favour in the course of routine performance of any task, the ‘Baksheeh’ lurks around to embarrass you and remind that one isn’t as pauper as the seeker and neither as rich as the king to not mind parting the sum in that form. It becomes more painful when ‘Baksheesh’ is demanded as a right rather than received as a reward. People are so used to ‘Baksheesh & Inaam’, that they demand one even if they haven’t done anything extraordinary and even if the task performed is purely part of their duty and responsibility.

Government too has institutionalised this attitude of the ruler and the ruled among its employees by granting yearly bonus on some occasions.  The kingdom continues, servitude and slavery institutionalised with no addition to efficiency.

• Buy any big-ticket product, gatekeeper awaits ‘Baksheesh’.
• Your wife delivers a child undergoing painful labour, everyone from hospital ward boy to your driver become expectant of and entitled to ‘Baksheesh’.
• Answer your door bell before and after a major festival, every second person demands ‘Baksheesh’.
• The list is looooooong.

Even if you don’t want to, the workers expect an ‘Inaam’ from you. One can’t just give any sum as ‘Baksheesh or Inaam’ and get-away with it easily… there are RATES which you have to adhere or be ready to receive ugly looks, lowered standard of service or just refusal to accept ‘Baksheesh’ as a display of character, self-respect and defiance. Other names to ‘Baksheesh & Inaam’ are… “Khushi se & Chai paani”.

There is no escape from this ritual in this part of the world. One can’t equate it with either bribing or begging, but can merely justify it as a convenience fee… aren’t we spoiled by those ‘Maharajas’ of the yore! I hate it, like I love it…. when I have to give and receive respectively.

Under the Carpet

This post has got nothing to do with the most famous pass time of our political class and the second nature of the babus, hiding the facts and trying to present the irrelevant as the most important issue to the general public. It is about the most common occurrence in our houses.

“Anything which is not used for six months need not be purchased.”

The above statement should amply explain that I am referring to the habit of a household to keep on accumulating things which it seldom uses. We normally doesn’t realise how many once-used or unwanted and unessential things lie in our houses. We realise these useless things lying around, when we change our house or move to a different town.

Our memory too fails us in reminding that the thing which we go to purchase when required is already lying in some forgotten corner of the house. And even when we spot the thing, we might hesitate to dispose it thinking that that might be of some use sometime in future… which might never come.

Some websites offer us the opportunity to get rid off unwanted stuff, but our nature of holding things for some or the other reason including sentimental, holds us back from doing so. Some cultures or counter-cultures practice frugal living… I too think its time to do that to save money, effort and space in the house.

But I might not do so, because the fun of finding an unexpected thing lying in a corner of the house is nothing less than an exiting ‘DISCOVERY’.

Waking Up Early

Since a couple of years I have been waking up at an exact time of the day everyday, which can qualify to be called 'early', the time of writing and posting these lines is no reference to the time of the day. 

So, what is 'waking up early', is it a sign of disciplined living, a sign of ageing, indication of the previous day or night which was peaceful, a sign of adjusted and tuned body clock, just a habit, compulsion or need to attend to some task, or due to some tension, stress or disease condition!  But whatever may be the reason, I realised it is good in more than one way.

• You can enjoy life more than others, cause sleeping is such a waste of time (though sleeping used to be my favourite thing once).
• Watch TV without disturbance from and or giving-away to the pressure of other members of the family.
• Enjoy the play of colours and light in the morning sky.
• Have a good walk in the calm surroundings, pure air and birds singing along.
• Peacefully ponder on the not so peaceful thoughts criss-crossing your mind.
• Be prepared to face the day in a more relaxed manner.
• Lastly, retain the 'Right to Sleep' right away if you don't feel like doing any of the above...

I choose to sleep again today....!

Shouting is not sensible

The  Editor-in-Chief and News anchor for the news channel ‘TIMES NOW’ Mr Arnab Goswami maybe a very knowledgeable person, but he sure is one irritating and intimidating character. The news channel may have many viewers and it has managed to get those many number of people feeling repulsive whenever this man is seen on the screen.

Why does he SHOUT? Does he think that shouting is a quality and class act of presentation and the only way for attracting more TRPs! He may be having good understanding about the political issues, he definitely has a gift of gibber-jabber but he surely is and becomes irksome on some occasions. I have rarely seen him let the panellist on any discussion complete their points of view.

‘TIMES NOW’ belongs to the group that publishes the English newspaper ‘Times of India’, which is nothing but a popular and colourful tabloid in my view. The music on the TV channel too plays as if it is always readying the nation and the viewer for a war.

The channel surely needs a different theme, a change in presentation pattern and a good pleasant background music… a minimum to retain the viewers, if they can’t change their STAR ANCHOR!

Doodling

Doodling is a decent word describing idleness, what does one do if there is  nothing more important to do or has some time to wail away! In the past one just slept, watched TV, read or do petty tasks and attend to odds which get left out in the otherwise busy routine.

But with the city living and change in life styles it is far less expensive and convenient to seek entertainment and engagement on the internet. Social interaction may not be the aim always, the inherent human dumbness makes people to get fully engaged on social sites. The old timers and the uninitiated may call this addiction, but it is not. It is far more educative and informative, only if one knows and consciously engages in productive net surfing.

Multi-tasking is one thing which everyone must do to maximise and optimise the time and resources available in our immediate sphere of day-to-day living environment.

SUBSTANDARD AS A STANDARD

Accepting anything 'Substandard as a Standard' has become a norm in India, any act, product, or service falling into the categorisation of "SUBSTANDARD" is sure to escape the attention of even the most critical of the eyes as the Substandardness is so ingrained in our thought, deed, action and psyche that it is a status Non-Grata in the Indian scheme of things.

National psyche is so tuned to accept Substandard that there is no system, administrative delivery mechanism, which raises an eyebrow for consistent delivery of atrocious quality of service. Indian Standards have over the years become a synonym for Substandard approach.

The all pervasive attitudes of "Chalta Hai and Jugaad" have ruined the moral fibre of the people. "Substandard as a Standard" is such an 'arrogant engulfing Black Hole', that there seems to be no escape from its trap at this point of time.

It seems that Substandardness has creeped into social etiquette affecting one and all with a feeling given to foreigners that the whole country is committed to the cause of Substandard like no other, even urgency to remove poverty, fight corruption, implementation of systems reform and issues of national security seem secondary. The condition in the country leaves us with a question that,   'Do we really understand what a Standard is!!'

Take the case of Indian made equipment or Made for India goods, here even multinational firms have learnt the tricks-of-the-trade and seems to have adopted well to the Indian Standards while producing goods meant for domestic consumption. Shoes especially the sports shoes are available in different sizes of intermediate foot length, height, width in most parts of the world except India. From Farm equipment, Military hardware, research and development institutes, organisation of a sports event to hospital services the Standard is nowhere to be seen. The sense of quality is just not there in the industry in India there by increasing the craze for imported goods. Everyone claims that their product is of 'international standard' without specifying or even probably understanding what does that world standard mean and its relevance to Indian realities. The substandardness in services is so much so that even the individuals with ill begotten money stash it away in foreign banks. 

Indian indigenous capacity is ingeniously incapable to conceive or deliver anything of Standard.

It is not a harsh statement or said due to inferior feeling but a hard fact and out-of-frustration of inability to get a Standard product or service despite being willing to pay an extra amount for quality. Just look around you and be true to yourself without nationalistic fervour then you will come to know what kind of Substandard environment we all are living or accepted to live in and of any India made item and its Standard. Public transport(rail and road), the quality of roads, safety systems offered in our cars, preparedness for all types of unforeseen circumstances including war, matters of international relations, hospitals, medicines, postal service, electrical department, police, municipal governing bodies, schools (Private and government alike), research institutes and from soap to space including the food we get to buy is all Substandard.  Here I have no intention to type some more issues of Substandard attitude of our society towards meeting or even thinking about the needs of differentlyabled, aged people, women and children. May be we are not taught during formal learning or upbringing to demand quality, our genetic setup too must have got modified to accept Substandard as a Standard. 

The only Standard in India is Substandard... Live it, Love it, Loathe it but   Lump it up.

It all comes to accepting Substandard stuff, the core question is... why nobody demands? why nobody questions? its an unsolved puzzle! Social activists and other nice hearted people with concern, for quality of life talk off big issues leaving the small but nagging issues neglected. The Substandard has become an omnipresent thing missed even by the 24x7 story hungry media. Maybe we all have accepted and resigned to the reality that there is no escape from Substandard as Standard. Maybe there is mental peace and calmness for soul in accepting and resigning without giving a fight and let things as they are where they are... by doing this we all Indians are a hundred thousand steps closer to attaining 'Nirvana'. Then one must not complain about anything and might jolly well accept the state of affairs as they are. 

One wonders what the BIS or ISI is doing or has been doing to improve the Standards in the country, it seems grossly ill-prepared to cover all the concerns of quality and standards by the citizens in all the spheres of their life.

Lokpal Bill, whenever it sees the light of the day will also be delivered Substandardly. Bring it on... I am loving it. We have to include the Standards in the curriculum of education lest the children will grow up on the culture of Substandard and assuming the Substandard as a Standard will deliver to the society in a Substandard way when they are at a position to affect and execute.

Some trivia... 'Who is India's satellite and spacecraft manufacturer?' (we all know the answer, then try...) 'Who is India's leading manufacturer of safety pins and nail cutters?' (I bet no one knows the answer). Made in xyz country retains quality and no sooner its technology is transferred and it becomes Made in India it becomes Substandard. Lest we forget 'IST' the famous Indian Standard Time.

Accept the fact that India has Alchemical properties to convert any thing into Substandard, with an Eternal Patent to the formula of Substandardness. 

If not confirming to any Standard gives us absolute freedom to be Indians, then so be it!

No Substandard comments Oops... No Standard comments will be accepted.

The silence of honest men seems somehow more dishonest than the lies of the dishonest.

On Free Speech

I have a long awaited query and an unanswered question, still open for answers... "Is Democracy and too much Freedom a bane for India?"

Are we stumbling as a group of people living in a nation, which is formed by default on various societal, structural and systematic fault lines. The issues which come up each day in the national media are mostly trivial issues and provide comic relief to the majority of sane and discerning grey cells. 

It is painful to see the freedom of the country, achieved with so many pains and sacrifice of many generations, going down the drain on pointless and petty issues. Democracy seems to be fast becoming the 'Demonstration of the Crazy'. 

The situation even after so many decades of self-rule is failing to trigger a serious introspection in the administrative quarters those yield power and have the capability or responsibility to show a saner path. This is fuelling the support to strong views of state control, but who in the state in these situations can be trusted? or capable to do the 'tight-rope-walk' of allowing 'Free Expression' and ensuring free space available for 'Fair Expression', I wonder, the answer is none!

 It is true that discretionary power and discerning capability about the decisions made are best left to the individual. Provided even the strongest of the strong views are kept to oneself and not try to impose or enforce on others against their will. Certainly the state is not expected to play a role in these decisions and try to censor what to see, whom to love, whom to pray and what to read? But, these are all the side-effects of electoral politics, which people fail to understand and allow themselves to be exploited. The state too is run by the individuals elected resultant of this political system which likes to play to the gallery. These leaders of men are also found to be cynical to the core on more than one occasions. 

The state must concentrate on important issues and the issues of culture are better left for the time and society to decide. No one could stop invasion of our society by foreign religions, language, goods, culture, system, spread of consumerism, invasion of technology and even new festivities... Change can't be restricted with regressive and forceful impositions by a section of people, the majority of people will automatically stay away from something that is unpleasant or impractical in the current societal settings. 

The state shouldn't decide and mustn't allow any disruption to anything(legally allowed) that is done at the individual level, more so, when it is an expression of art.  

I also hoard a contrary opinion, that 'There can't be and shouldn't be anything that is absolutely free', "Lest it will become obsolete and will be abused obsessively".

The last para is open to discussion and debate in a different media...   

In response and responsible reply to Sanjay Chetia's article.