Capt. Shaji Kumar

When is it or rather what factors lead one to decide that it is time to move on. What is the satisfaction factor !! What is it that we yearn for ? If you just stay right where you are, how will you end up getting anywhere else. Sometimes, things happen for a reason. Sometimes too, they fail to happen even for a better reason. Our disappointments are often blessings in disguise.

What is it that we want eventually ? Do we actually ever try to fathom this, or we are just content with leading the existence as it is. Why do we have hopes & aspirations. Why are we always embroiled in achieving more than what we achieved yesterday. Where is the final satisfaction quotient ? Do we have any upper limit. How much ? And for what ? Where will all this lead to eventually. The answer to this is indeed ambiguous ? Man has never been content. Man by nature is not only a social animal, Man is also a selfish animal. We actually do not know When to Stop. Never have !

What is wrong with this Government. MacTeam is hellbent on going the extra mile to prove its incompetence beyond doubt. Political issues blunderings notwithstanding, it has decided to go a step further and question the fundamental democratic rights. What business does it have of going and mixing up with the Lit Fest? The Salman Rushdie episode does indeed leave a smear on the World’s largest Democracy. I would say that comparatively the Indian cricket team has performed much better Down Under.

If we are asking the mid 30’s club of Seniors in the Indian Cricket Team to retire on their own, then we should demand the 100+ Congress Party to not contest in any election hereafter.

Does the Government or the Political set-up of this Country have the guts and the political will to abolish and strike out this system of “caste” based reservation in one swift final blow. Well I certainly am into wishful thinking. Definitely NOT, it most definitely would be a political hara-kiri, and no one party would ever bell this big cat ever. Reservation which was started when it was started by the stalwarts of yester years did so with all the well meaning intentions. However the error in judgement that they comitted was by keeping this open ended. The policy should most definitely have been with a close ended deadline of 30 – 50 years. It would have been a sufficient enough period which would have allowed at least two generations of the “backward” community to uplift themselves within the time-frame given the opportunity. Instead today it has became a matter of right somewhat like a democratic right, something which has come to a state of birth right of the “backward” community. Even though the class divide today is more from an economic perspective rather than a caste divide. Paradoxically, we on one hand want to abolish the caste system and keep making such observations and hold conclaves etc, while on the other hand keep it alive by keeping the practice of reservations intact.

Has the political or bureaucratic set-up ever bothered to monitor or collect and analyze the data of how much positive impact this system of reservation has had? To what strata of society does the people who use this system actually belong?
We may be neighbours living in the same apartment block. But when it comes to “admissions” thy neighbour’s child does hold the ace – a Backward Caste Certificate, despite having performed way below par than his classmates. Such is the practical use or mis-use of the system of Reservation.

Yes the Government should have a very strong socio-economic policy for the upliftment of the poor or the citizens living in the lower strata of the society, but it should not be based on caste or creed, but be drawn on the people who live below the poverty line. Poverty does not differentiate between different caste, so why should the Government? The entire policy needs to be relooked, re-drafted and re-implemented. If India should attain the position of relevance and play a significant and vocal role then it needs to alleviate poverty and not stoke the fires of casteism and reservations just to keep political ambitions alive.

I somehow have always been fascinated by the old world charm of Kolkata. True it is a bursting city, quite chaotic and filthy, but all the same it holds a definitive attraction. Be it the congested streets, or the colonial aura that it has managed to retain. Shakespeare Sarani, Tollygunj, Park Street, The Strand, there definitely is an attraction.

Even before the British it had been a major trade centre. It still is the Head Quarters for Birlas and its contemporary Companies. True today it is a city in shambles, but it still retains the oompj of yesteryears.

I have visited this city many a times. A few visits physically and of course many a visit through the pens and imagination of Rabindranath Tagore & Co. Their writings certainly transforms this bustling City situated on the banks of Ganga as she finishes her journey here.

One of my main purpose this time has been to visit Dakshineshwar. The temple of Godess Kali and the abode for over 16 years of one of her most ardent devotees Sri. Ramakrishna Paramahansa. I have been planning this visit for quite some time now, but have been able to fulfill only today.

– Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Location:Kolkata

I have often heard, read and listened to this term – Good Parenting. Have always wondered why suddenly this is becoming so very important. My parents may not have had to deal with this term as much as I am confronted in dealing with my elder son, I am sure of it. Why then has parenting (which is the most natural and integral part of existence for mammals). Cows, goat, sheep, monkeys, dogs and humans. Why then has parenting in humans become such a complex issue, so much so that it now definitely is quite a lucrative career avenue for many. What has happened over the last 10 years that the entire concept of parenting has undergone such a radical change. How have we managed to convert this natural process into a complex one.

Being father to two adolescent boys i find it quite exasperating. Where do I draw the line? Just how much is too much? Are we scared of our Children? Or is there some inner subconscious yearning to re-live our own childhood using our children as the medium? In the process we end up creating something of the child where it becomes difficult for us to accept and by then it has almost gone out of hand.

But then if that be true then it should affect both my sons and not diametrically opposite natures. I guess there is more to it than just this matter of fact explanation. How do you explain being blamed for anything and everything? No matter what you end up at the rsceiving end. It actually is quite a precarious situation. You cannot decide on how to deal with the situation ?

So I guess there must have been some radicAl and drastic socio economic changes that must have taken place not slowly but at a alarmingly fast pace. It is like the viruses that spread viciously – medically or in computers alike.

I do not have any answers, but do seek them. I hope that I find them fast before it loses its relevance altogether.

– Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Time – creative thinking process. The time spent every day towards thinking of your goals. The purpose in life. Set goals in your life. You can use the unlimited power of your mind.
No worthy goal is impossible.

The secret is to keep reminding yourself of your goals at least once every day. It should be totally and indelibly ingrained in your mind. Make a list and keep it handy.

– Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

The achievement of goals are possible if it does not violate the principles of God and violate fellowmen. The achievement of impossible goals is possible.

So long as you are able to help some people genuinely the goals set are achievable. God will surely lend a helping hand.

– Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone