The Common Man Speaks

The Common Man & his problems

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(Once more my friend Padmanabh Subramanian aka Pady has contributed an article for my blog. I appreciate his effort where he has highlighted the problems faced by the Common Man of today. Have a look at it.)

Dear Common Man,

I have been following your tweets, posts, Facebook status messages and blog writeups pertaining to the common man & his struggle, corruption, social evils, etc.

Just thought of sharing with you few thoughts, which have been cropping up in my mind since long. Just tried to connect the dots, and summarize it as under:

The Common Man & his problems

All the social / national issues, the Common Man Speaks about, are more or less, interlinked or rather ‘knotted’ with each other. Recall the dialogue from Mumbai Meri Jaan, by constable Kadam (Vijay Maurya) to Patil saaheb(Paresh Rawal). ”

“Patil sahab yeh jo galat hai na…ek ka undar ek itna ghichid michid ho gaya hai ki saala maalumich nahi padta hai ki iska shuruaat kidhar se hua tha…”

If one tries resolving one of them, the other becomes a bigger threat. And the solution also lies somewhere within the problems themselves.

Some of the issues we usually speak about are –

  • The exponentially growing population
  • Democracy
  • Politics
  • Internal Conflicts
  • Crime
  • Terrorism
  • Poverty
  • Development / Standard of Living
  • Corruption

Population, one of the well known issues in the nation, is the BAAP of all problems. Simple Mumbaiyaa logic boley toh Naukri k ghante aanth(8) hain, hafte mein din 7 hain, ghar pe khaane waale 8 aath hain, pagaar ek so saath (160) hai…ZINDAGI bole toh vaat hai !!

Development is something we have been trying to achieve since ages. But, it’s only few sections of the society that have been able to reap the benefits so far. And this section is the one responsbile for IT, technology and luxury boom in the nation. Today a call from a cell phone costs you 0.5 ps per minutes and the price of oil is almost Rs 100 / litre. So, there’s a paradoxical situation wherein, luxury comes cheaper than basic needs. And ultimately & ironically the brunt is borne by those who don’t fall in this bracket, i.e. the common man and the ones on & below the poverty line

Overall development of this huge population, isn’t frankly easy, because, to reach out 2 everyone is a Herculean task.

As a result,

1) There are few people who are lucky enough to get their share of justice and okay with the system.

2) Some of them don’t want to wait in queues or lines , but just want to get their work done ASAP

3) Some are too big / egoistic a persona to share the same space with the common man.

Talking about democracy, for name sake, we have freedom of this, that and everything….but it’s only few people who are actually able to exercise them and reach out their voices. Even among these, there are people who only want their rights to be granted “SADDA HAQ, AITHAY RAAKH” , but will never perform their duties and yet escape scot free.

Policies, rules & norms are subject to overnight modifications by the influential class.

Here is where come in CRIME, CORRUPTION & POLITICS

People who get away with Corruption, make it a habit, while those are not able to, resort to CRIME.

So, a frustrated soul has no other choice, but to choose one of the above mentioned.

Politicians play their usual vote bank,divide & rule, musical chairs, parliament chaos, kinda games, and add fuel to the fire, thereby creating internal conflicts as well

To get worse, some pool in relgious bias, wherein normal crime transforms into terrorism, courtesy our not-so friendly neighbouring nations.

However, when a terror attack occurs, it creates havoc no doubt, but if you see it from a different perspective, it targets the 1st problem i.e. population.

So as such, we have a dangerous dead-end in place to target all the problems, if we leave them as it is. Now it’s up to us whether we allow these to continue and the circle to find its own deadly solution or WE THE PEOPLE, work on each problem ourselves separately and in parallel.

If you feel I have made some sense, do share it with the world. Ek baar spell check maar dena please !!

Regards,

Padmanabh

Shopping extravaganza called arranged marriage!

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(Note: I am not against arranged marriage. Many of my friends and relatives are happy after getting hooked in an arranged manner. It’s just that I can’t help looking at the funnier side of the whole process of an arranged marriage. So, just sharing my thoughts here and hoping this would be looked upon as ‘just for laughs’ kind of piece.)

The whole idea of an arranged marriage confuses me. I find it weird how people try to ‘fix’ a marriage between two ‘total strangers’, against the forces of nature. And I can’t help but compare the whole procedure – of a girl’s family meeting a boy’s family – with shopping. Yes, you read it right!

Before starting their search for a suitable match, the boy and the girl prepare their list of likes and dislikes in their future partner. Just like the way we think before shopping as to which brand of jeans, colour for the top, type of footwear, etc we would like.

But the real shopping fun begins when the girl and the boy’s family meet each other. The party which starts asking questions first is the buyer while the other is the seller. For example, the boy’s family will start listing all good qualities of the boy just like a salesman trying to portray his product in a must-buy manner. On the other hand, the girl’s family will try to figure out the percent of truth in their claims, just like the buyers do to make sure the salesman isn’t lying.

Pic courtesy – CartoonStock.com

After the first round, the tables are turned. Buyers become sellers and vice-versa. Now, the girl’s family will start proving how perfect to-be bahu she is while the boy’s family will do some brain-work in guessing the percent authenticity in their claims. Most importantly, both of them (girl and boy) will check whether the list of qualities in the opposite person matches with the shopping list they prepared.

If both parties are satisfied, they go ahead with the marriage. In my words – the deal is finalized with both parties benefiting as buyers as well as a sellers. In this way, a total stranger becomes the most important person of your life after just few meetings. Wow!

But wait a minute! Where the heck does love figure in this since it is the most important ingredient for marriage? Oh forget it! As long as the girl’s family can say, “Humare sar ka boj hat gaya!” and the boy’s family can proudly declare, “Humare ghar me oonche khandan ki bahu aa gayi,” nothing else matters! Not even love!

Celebrating Festival or Hooliganism?

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By: Keyur Seta

A ruthless bunch of people playing drums at an insanely high level, their fellows bursting noisy crackers one after the other while spoiling the air as well as littering the roads, drunkards eve teasing the ladies. All this while the traffic is simply unmovable because of these ghastly acts. Hence, the common man is forced to stay indoors. Those suffering from illness and the students trying hard to study are helplessly forced to keep quiet about the terrible situation.

Picture Courtesy – mumbaichaganpati.blogspot.in

After reading the above description one might wonder if this is a scene from a party thrown by an underworld don for his gang. No; this is how Mumbai welcomes and bids farewell to arguably its most loved God – Lord Ganesha. Can there be a more insulting way to welcome, respect and bid adieu to the most adored almighty? The origin of the celebration of Ganesh Chaturthi dates back to the pre-independence era when the great leader Lokmanya Tilak advised everyone to celebrate this festival in order to show unity against the British.

I bet today’s mischievous monsters don’t have an iota of idea about this. Or else why would they play sleazy item numbers in Ganesh Pandals? One friend of mine had to shut her windows this year since the Pandal near her house was ‘continuously’ playing Munni Badnaam throughout the day. And they call it a religious festival!

There are a number of pro-Hindu groups projecting themselves as the saviors of the Hindu religion and are always up in arms whenever they believe someone is hurting Hindu sentiments. Sadly and annoyingly, not a single person from any of these groups has ever raised a voice or protested against such acts; forget trying to make a difference. And needless to say, the problems with Ganesh Visarjan are much larger than mentioned above.

Picture Courtesy – mumbaichaganpati.blogpost.com

The fact that these groups are turning a blind eye on the situation, invariably rubbishes the logic behind their formation and existence. It seems they become active or their only purpose is to rubbish, criticize or ridicule ‘other’ religions or people from ‘other’ religions. If my accusation isn’t true, why are they ignoring such insulting acts against one of the most celebrated Gods?

We always pray to God to get ourselves out of a mess. Now, we need to pray to Him to save nobody but Himself from this mess!

 

Traditional Blindness!

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The more views this post of mine gets, the more are the chances of me facing the wrath especially from the likes of Sooraj Barjatya, Ekta Kapoor and their followers. Contradictory to your thoughts, I am not thrashing the genre of movies and serials they produce (that will require me to write a book than a mere blog post). The thing which I am going to express has been going in my mind since years. Finally, I have found time to explode this thing onto my blog, without giving a damn to the criticisms and gaalis!

Before starting off, I would like to make myself clear that I have deep respect for Indian culture and traditions. However, there are some beliefs and practices which appear to me as plain stupid or illogical. I am not one of those huge majority of Indians, who unquestionably and blindly follow some beliefs despite being aware of its absurdity. So, here’s the list of those practices or beliefs which I find trashy: –

  • Husband-Worship: A husband and a wife are considered life partners. They are two people who have decided to stay together since they love each other (in most of the cases I suppose). If this is the case, then why the hell is the wife expected to give a Godly status to her husband? Why does the society make the husband look superior to his wife by promoting beliefs like Pati parmeshwar hota hai and Patni ki jagah pati ke charanon mein hoti hain? The man is not doing any ehsaan on the girl or her family by marrying her. After all, isn’t he in need of a wife just like the girl is in need of a husband?
  • Right-Hand Theory: Innumerable times during my childhood I was ordered not to use my left hand while accepting prashaad or money. Yes, I know the left hand is used for some ‘other’ thing but don’t we wash our hands or take a bath after that activity? So what’s the big deal in using that hand? It’s just a part of our body yaar! And if the hand is considered so inauspicious, don’t use it for any purpose and just keep it reserved for ‘that’ activity. If discrimination amongst people on the basis of religion, region or caste isn’t enough, we also have discrimination between our body parts!
  • Karvachauth Hangover: After following innumerable number of movies and serials, these wives keep Karvachauth Ka Vrat for the long life of their husbands. But the big question remains – why only the wife prays for her husband’s long life and why not vice versa? And by the way, how can anyone be a fool enough to believe that such a thing actually increases someone’s life span? What biological changes does the body experience that increases the life expectancy due to this bloody vrat?
  • A Curse in Disguise: It is annoying to see phrases like ‘Sada Suhagan Raho’ and ‘Akhand Saubhagyawati’ being considered as the most auspicious of blessings. It is indirectly telling the girl, “Bhagwan kare tere pati ke pehle tu mare!” How can you hope or wish for someone’s death? Or do these people still believe that a woman won’t be able to live alone even in today’s era? You talk of women’s liberation but at the same time keep promoting such curses. Why not a single pro-women group has ever raised its voice against such a ghastly gender bias?

Today, modernism is only limited to clothes, appearance and way of speaking while the thinking continues to remain backwards courtesy these beliefs. Our society will be truly modern only when logic and equality will rule every institution and phenomenon. Until that time – Andhera Kaayam Rahen!