On My Mind

I n 2005, the Central Government constituted a committee headed by former Chief Justice of Delhi High Court, Rajinder Sachar to study the social, economic and educational condition of Muslims in India. The Sachar Committee submitted its report in 2006. The report found a range of disabilities hampering the Muslim community in the country. It placed Indian Muslims below Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes with respect to backwardness. It especially highlighted the poor representation of the community in decision making positions like the IAS, IPS and in the police. [1] To understand the intricacies of the issue, we need to go back to the creation of the modern nation of India.  India was independent in 1947. At the very onset, attempts were made by the state to bring reforms in the Hindu (here it implies anyone who was not a Muslim, Parsi, Christian or Jew) personal laws. The first elected government came to power in 1952 and by 1956 it was able to g...

Long ago, the world was different. It was simple but with its own challenges. In a corner somewhere, lived Pandora. It is said that she opened a box, freeing up all kinds of evils to spread through the society. While violence, dishonesty, greed, selfishness may be some of the "better" known ones, the evil of "Pretentiousness" has its own far-reaching impacts. Things as basic as food can be pretentious today. A box of candies, assorted from the very best of Mediterranean fruits, hand picked by the renowned chef from the exotic country of Luxembourg are basically the candies you purchased 4 of which for Re. 1 from the nearby grocery store. The box now sells at INR 1000/- only, and if you are lucky, you get 25 instead of 24 candies. Golgappas have magically transformed to a delicious serving of Indian Bread made of nutritious whole grains dipped in tamarind sauce with a pinch of salt and filling of healthy boiled peas or potatoes. Sounds yummy! Sports is some...

कहानी पुरानी नहीं है, आज कल ही की बात है | यह कहानी मिसाल है बदलते हुए ज़माने की | भिन्न- भिन्न प्रकार की साग सब्ज़िओं में फ़ैल रहे जातिवाद की निर्ममता को बढ़े आसानी से दर्शाती है ये कहानी | कुछ विद्वानों का तो यह भी मान ना है की यह कहानी आर्य पुत्रों का द्रविड़ समुदाय के ऊपर वर्चस्व ज़माने की दास्ताँ है | यह कहानी है चावल की | भारत के उत्तरी भाग में स्थापित जो समुदाय है, उसके भोजन करने का एक अलग ही अंदाज़ होता है | एक आम दिन में ये लोग जो खाना खाते हैं, उसका विभाजन कुछ इस प्रकार किया जा सकता है : सर्व प्रथम होती है दाल | इसको ब्राह्मण का दर्ज़ा प्राप्त है | गरीबों की पहुँच के बाहर इसकी अलग ही एक शान है | रोटी के साथ बढे करीने से इसको खाया जाता है | बुद्धिजीवियों का मान ना है की यह प्रोटीन का एक अच्छा स्त्रोत है, कुछ अकड़ शायद इस बात की भी है |  इसके बाद बारी आती है माँस की | इसको क्षत्रिय का दर्ज़ा प्राप्त है | खेल के मैदान में या युद्ध भूमि पर झंडा फहराने वाले बढ़े फक्र से मांस का सेवन करते हैं | गरीबों के लिए ये यूनिकॉर्न के सामान है, सुना सबने है, पर देखा किसी ने नहीं |  भ...

Nothing represents the essence of Delhi like its metro. It is chaotic while being passed off as orderly. It is hustling and bustling with all sorts of people from all walks of life. But it has something which emboldens you. In its own ways, it prepares you for the life ahead. More importantly, it empowers you to be what you could only imagine once. The subtle transition of human beings from the solid state outside the metro coaches, to the gaseous state inside, trying to squeeze in whatever little is available in the name of space, is mind boggling. On an average day, I find many characters inside the metro. This one guy always jumps the queue, saves 7.6 seconds and then waits for his bag to come out of the X-Ray machine while you collect yours before him, because, well the conveyor belt doesn't allow the bags to jump. Once you check in and wait for the train to arrive, you see another guy. He has identified his coach and he follows it. If need be, he will walk miles to get ...

Yes ladies and gentlemen, it has happened. Yet again, a promising young man has sacrificed himself at the altar of peer pressure.  We are at the spot where this happened - Nikhil's room. Nikhil was a promising young man with a real life, outside the social media and beyond office gossips. So much so, that after office hours he had enough time at his disposal to study and read. But that's true no more! He was smart since his college days. Be it the urge of smoking, or the ridicule for not watching Game of Thrones, he didn't give into things he didn't like because of peer pressure. However, his spirit has finally been broken. The desire for quick promotion took its toll over him.  As we discuss his situation, he is in a room. Away from the world, he is binge watching the 7 seasons of GoT, learning about Football leagues, and more importantly, learning to hate Bieber and Chetan Bhagat. He has already picked up Ronaldo over Messi. It is possible that he direct...

Indian Education System finds a place very often in news, mostly for all the wrong reasons. As India traces its path to development and economic growth, the massive demographic dividend that it carries lies on the borderline of becoming a demographic disaster. Among all the factors of production, the most valuable and cherished, in this era of globalization, is unarguably human capital. Humans are the most productive resources if invested well with education. Unfortunately, our education system lacks awfully in all aspects - coverage, quality, and content. Persistent Problems Enrollment Woes:  The Lower primary education or play school lags in its coverage. As of 2011, the enrollment rate for pre-primary schools is 58%.  [1]   The Gross Enrollment Ratio stands at 99.21% for Primary schools and 92.81% for Upper Primary Schools. [2] While this looks good, a cursory glance at its counterpart - Net Enrollment Ratio - highlights the issue of education system’...

Dear Diary, As usual, I am stupefied by people around me. The world is terribly slow, it barely crawls. I feel constrained, not by the lack of pace in my life, but in those of around me.  Just today itself, when the flight landed, no one stood. I repeat, no one stood. They kept sitting in their god damn seats! I was the lone passenger standing in the aisle, waiting for the door to open. No soul behind me, not one in front! Such was the lack of competition in this race running in my mind.  I strongly feel such brazen display of common sense should be outlawed.  The other day, I stood at the counter waiting for my turn. The receptionist was calling us by the token numbers but how does it even matter! There is no better pleasure than a crowd gathered around, and people creating a ruckus in a system that can be orderly. Luckily, I wasn't disappointed then. The impatience, the constant hovering around the counter, the sweet smell of sweaty humans askin...

It is impressive, bigger and better than what I imagined it to be. It is situated in the heart of Delhi but remains hidden. The market of ideological jargon is booming and is filled with teeming buyers for the most part of the day. There is something for everyone here. Much inspired by the penchant of Trump for good deals, my right-wing friend who accompanied me got a great deal himself. The shopkeeper gave him a complimentary list of Islamic countries where people could be asked to go when he purchased a bottle of nationalism. I was amazed and kept looking around. My eyes soon fixated on a big store. I took leave from my friend who by then had taken a dose to test the efficacy of the potion. While I was wandering around the store, I managed to catch hold of a salesperson (no, not salesman! I bought tablets of political correctness myself). He was helpful and gave me a detailed account of this hidden market. I remember a part of the conversation which I have jotted down for yo...

If you have read something about Gandhiji, you are likely to have come across the three monkeys. He had a small statue of them. One of them covered his eyes, the message being, "see no evil". The second monkey had his ears covered, urging to "hear no evil". The third monkey covered his mouth who "speaks no evil". I believe we have grasped the message well and are doing the same; the teeny tiny difference being our ignorance of diversity. The three monkey today signify the principle - see no diversity, hear no diversity, speak no diversity; else you're a racist, xenophobic, narrow-minded, et cetera. A simple google search tells that racism is "prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism directed against someone of a different race based on the belief that one's own race is superior." Pretty simple to understand, right? Apparently not! Homo Sapiens reside in different parts of the world. Owing to the geographical conditions and lack of...

"Nah, this isn't catchy enough.Add something to it. Be a little creative Manoj!" "Ma'am, she's Muslim. Should we draw the image of a Muslim woman beating conservative attitudes?" "Isn't good, besides, it looks communal. Make her an underdog. That sells 100 out of 100 times." "Ok! Consider it done." Next day, newspapers carried the headline of a poor girl succeeding in an examination -  the story which motivates, the story which inspires, the story which unfortunately killed the girl! [1] The story I am talking about is of a girl from Kannur. She scored 1180/1200 in her HSS exam. But she committed suicide. The media gave her the kind of publicity she didn't want. She had been hiding her background from her classmates by choice. Media didn't bother about respecting her privacy, spiced the story up a bit and served a headline which grabbed eyeballs. The girl felt humiliated and committed suicide. For those who ha...