Truth

Long back in my school days, we had to study a subject called "Moral Science". It was basically about God, good habits, ethical behaviour and compassion. Being in English medium, the lessons were heavily influenced by Christian tenets. Don't really know whether it has helped me or my class mates in life, but that is another story.

One of the things that was prominent in those lessons was the value of truth. We were always told to be truthful as truth and only truth prevails. But over the years , I have found out that truth may prevail but it can be be very uncomfortable and also dangerous, at some times. In effect, truth is like a medicine , which is bitter at times.

So, like medicines which may have side-effects, truth is often diluted and packaged in capsules to ensure that it doesn't damage. Sometimes, the absence of truth and even half-truths are used as palliatives. The excuse given is of course that it is for the greater good.

But like everything, truth has two sides to it . So the concept of alternate truth emerged. Earlier under the traditional information systems truth was what people got to know. It was accepted without much questioning as the alternate truth reached us quite late. By then, the truth which we accepted became such an integral part of our lives that dismantling it would be inconvenient for us. So, the alternate truth was resisted to maintain the status quo.

With the digital revolution, information is instantaneous. And not very surprisingly , it is now the time of alternate truth with its cousins, untruth and falsehood to rule the roost. Because truth, as mentioned earlier, is bitter and therefore psychologically not acceptable.

Random thoughts 20.03.2019

#Randomthoughts Travelling by Duronto from Howrah to Mumbai CSMT. The ticket includes the price of two breakfasts and a lunch and dinner each during its scheduled 26 hrs run. I find a huge amount of food going waste and passengers generally complaining of tasteless fare served to them. On discussion found that this is a general trend .

Don't understand what or whose purpose is served this way. From a guesstimate, the total food wasted on one run of this train could have fed one meal to children at some mid size orphanage. Passengers travelling in AC class may afford to waste food but that does not mean this should be encouraged to happen by design or otherwise . #Justsaying

Cult of Chowkidar

I have no problems with people adding Chowkidar before their name as a badge of honour or qualification. Obviously, there are no limits to idiocy and hypocrisy. But one good thing is that they are not leaving any doubt of their credentials and you know what you can expect from them. Actually, dangerous are those snakes in the grass who are not adding the honorific degree of Chowkidar before their name, yet rooting for it.

Morover, it is pathetic to see senior ministers like Rajnath Singh , Sushma Swaraj , Nitin Gadkari , Maneka Gandhi etc. affixing Chowkidar before their names. These are the same people who belonged to the cabinet which released Masood Azahar, lest you forget.

Holi day

#RandomThoughts The Holi festival (as in the present form ) is an example how a thing of joy can be shorn of its beauty and become ugly. Essentialy, this festival is celebration of something which is essentially a mild season or the spirit of love, friendship and romance. Playing with colours and enjoying a day out of the ordinary mundane life with a relaxed and somewhat unconventional way with mirth and slight indiscipline. Meeting and greeting people from the family and friends, even strangers. Eating, drinking and be merry.

But as it happens with  everything good and beautiful the crass commercialisation and the demands of popular culture has now subverted it into a sort of lumpen orgy. What was designed to be a riot of colours is now a show of pomp and power, even physical.

I'm not against any festival. Actually I am game for Holi and a splash of colour too. But, the loudness of it puts me off nowadays. Maybe , beause I'm getting older.  #JustSaying

যুদ্ধ চাই

যখন চারিদিকে কিছু লোক কে বলদের মত যুদ্ধ চাই , যুদ্ধ চাই বলে চীৎকার করতে দেখি , তখন সত্যি ই মনে হয় এই নির্বোধ জনতার বোধোদয় শুধু একটি উপায়ে ই  সম্ভব । সেটি হল স্ত্রী পুরুষ নির্বিশেষে প্রত্যেকটি শারীরিক ভাবে সক্ষম অনুর্ধ পঁয়ত্রিশ বছরের নাগরিকের জন্য বাধ্যতামূলক ভাবে তিন থেকে পাঁচ বছরের সৈনিক হিসাবে যোগদান । এবং তার মধ্যে দু বছর সীমান্তে বহাল করা । 

যখন নিজের বাড়ির ছেলেমেয়ের ওপরে যুদ্ধের আঁচ লাগবে তখন লোকে ঠিক বুঝবে কত ধানে কত চাল। সব হাওয়া কোথায় দিয়ে বেরোবার রাস্তা খুঁজবে তা নিজেরাই বুঝতে পারবে না ।  কোন কাজ নেই শুধু অনর্থক চেঁচামেচি করে দেশভক্তি দেখানো , তাই না ?

আমার ছেলে ভালো পড়াশোনা করে ইঞ্জিনিয়ার হয়ে ব্যাংকে চাকরি করে সুখে থাক । পারলে বিদেশে গিয়ে বসবাস করুক । লাল টুকটুকে গাড়িতে বউ কে নিয়ে হাওয়া খাক । মেয়ে হলে একটা চাকরি করুক আর আরো ভাল চাকরি করা মোটাসোটা নাদুস নুদুস ছেলের সাথে বিয়ে করে সুখে থাকুক । আর আমি যুদ্ধ যুদ্ধ করে আমার শিথিল ইন্দ্রিয় কে চাঙ্গা করি । এটা মামদো বাজি হচ্ছে ?

সেনা বাহিনীতে কার্যরত কোনো মানুষের পরিবারের লোকজন কে কোনো দিন যুদ্ধ চাই বলতে শুনবেন না । কারণ তারা জানে যুদ্ধ করার মাশুল কি ।

#RandomThoughts

I find many trains are tagged as Superfast and extra charges are levied for this particular feature. But do they really deserve this tag actually ? Has there been a study on their average punctuality ?  If it is below 75% then shouldn't the label of Superfast and extra charge be treated as misleading  and cheating of the consumer ? As it stands Indian Railways is a monopoly and therefore they are in a position to do whatever they want to .

Can this be a fit case to file a  PIL ? I wonder.

Arbitrary arbitration

#BitterPill This whole concept of mediation for building of a proposed Ram mandir sets a dangerous precedent. It is surprising how the apex court has, in all its wisdom, has allowed and in fact facilitated such an idea . To a layman like me , it is an arbitration process which is almost a glorified version of Panchayat .

Before going into the legality , merits, demerits, reasons and rationals for this arbitrary decision of arbitration , one should not forget the underlying crime that is connected to the whole matter. A situation is being created with a native sly cunning to make everyone forget the events which shook India on the 6th Dec 1992.

Before any decision to build anything is taken at the site , it is necessary to book the people who blatantly flouted law and instigated the vandals to break an archaeological monument. Why that case is dragging on even after 26 years and not being fast tracked need to be answered first.

An arbitration is resorted to with the express intent of an out of court settlement by all parties involved . Not on matters which test the very basis of our constitution. Such arbitrations can't be a short cut to the problems arising from a lack of judicial intent for a solution. Who will ensure that the judiciary will not cite this as a precedent to abdicate its responsibility in future ?