'MAKE IN INDIA' MAY TURN INTO 'MAKE UP INDIA'

‘MAKING IN INDIA’ MAY TURN  INTO ‘MAKE UP INDIA’?

Narendra Modi Government came into power with ‘Make in India’ campaign. What he in effect meant was that in times to come India will be a manufacturing hub for variety of products and services that will generate employment for millions of youth. This was going to be possible by making India a country where business will be done with ease. Indian and Overseas capital will flow into setting up of such facilities in infrastructure, power, communication and manufacturing. It meant that there will be no bureaucratic hassles, land will be available at reasonable price within specific time frame and there will be least Government interference.

It was not to be. The very first requirement for ‘Make in India’ is availability of land at reasonable price within specific time frame. The Land Bill is in limbo. The monsoon session was a washed out thanks to the tit for tat attitude of the Congress and ‘couldn’t care less’ arrogance. PM Modi the architecture of ‘Make in India’ not only kept silence but distanced himself from the parliament itself. He was possibly watching the proceedings in the Parliament sitting in his room in the Parliament house. What a pity? He was playing on his flute while the Parliament was in utter chaos.

 5 years of second term of previous Government have seen termed as years of corruption and policy paralysis. No major decision could be taken for fear of public scrutiny. 15 months of this Government can be termed as months of self imposed paralysis. They know where to go but do not know why and when. 75 months are a big time for a journey of development. This will never be retrieved.

By the time Government is in a position to resolve the issues, other countries would have marched ahead, leaving us far behind as happened in the previous decades when China and some smaller countries turned themselves into thriving economies, we would have lost our brilliant youths to growing economies and our own private capital would have been parked outside the country.

And then we would be saying we could have done this, we should not have done this, we could have done that and we should not have done that.

Instead of ‘Make in India’ the next election will be fought on ‘Make up India’ campaign.  

LIVING SEPARATELY BUT HAPPILY TOGETHER

LIVING SEPARATELY BUT HAPPY TOGETHER

 One recent report has suggested that average family size is shrinking. As compared to average size of a family of seven members some decades ago, the current size is below four. This has given a new term to family –nuclear family consisting of husband, wife and one or two children. Joint families are giving  way in favor of nuclear families willingly or otherwise.

There have been many reasons for this, migration being the principal one. This understandable because people have been migrating for better opportunities for centuries and as such this is not a recent phenomenon. While daughters went to other families after marriage, sons migrated to other towns and countries. There was always the feeling of family. There was always ‘our family’ and not ‘my family’. The parental home was the home of all irrespective of where the sons/daughters lived. Now there is my home, my parents’ home, my brother’s home and so on.

Another reason is need for personal space. Not only children, parents also need a little bit of independence. They no more like to be security guards or baby sitters at home. They willingly agree to allow, encourage and assist their children to live separately.

This is happening more frequently not only in service class families but in business class families. There can be any number of reasons for it but the most important is the financial freedom. Salaries have gone up. Families have double incomes-both husband and wife working. This freedom has given rise to the desire for personal freedom called space. In business also there are n numbers of business opportunities and there is no need to stick to traditional family business. Members of a traditional clothing house have shifted to fast food, electronics or any other profitable business. There no need to stay in the parental house also.

It has given rise to a new family system. The parents live in parental homes, if any or in some old age homes. The children live in their own homes sometimes in the same city. They meet occasionally mostly on festivals. They keep in touch with phones or internet. The arrangements suits to all. They live separately, yet they come together on occasions and are happy. Poor parents survive on Government old age pensions, the middle class parents on their retirement funds and the rich have many options.

In a way this is good except when the parents grow too old to look after themselves or cannot afford to hire help. But the question is not is it good or bad. This is the only option. Take it or leave it. Parents of the world do not grumble. You did the same when you were young, may be a little differently.

INTERNETLESSNESS RUMBLINGS

INTERNETLESSNESS RUMBLINGS

What is life devoid of Internet, No Face Book No whatsapp,

No LinkedIn, S/sites, No Tweeter Chit Chat and no Gup-sup.

The whole world seems to have changed. The vast continents that were so close only a few days back have drifted away again. I am marooned in a tiny deserted Island at the remote corner of the limitless Universe. But let me first tell you how it happened. Normally the Cable thieves take away the underground telephone cables, while the Police and other security guys look away and the landlines telephone lines go dead for weeks. This time it is the handiwork of family members.  

The multiple Government agencies are the hands of the same establishment and therefore are supposed to live as a family. But as with humans, it does not happen in practice. The Electricity department does not see eye to eye to Telephone Department.  The Water Supply Department has age old enmity with the Telephone Department. They pretend to co-exist with each other underground by laying their cables and drainage system side by side but deep in their hearts they hate each other like MIL/ DIL/SIL. The PWD and CPWD also disturb the network in the name of improvement. They spare no opportunity to downgrade and humiliate the weakest member- the telephone department. The golden opportunity comes when either of them has to dig the ground for any of their repair or improvement work. This is the once in months time to take revenge for Water Supply Department by cutting the cables of Telephone or Electricity Department. The Telephone and Electricity Department in turn do so by choking the drains with mud and leaving the debris on the sideways after their work is finished. This time PWD has disrupted the telephone service by damaging the cable network of the Telephone Department. Tit for Tat.

My friends on Face Book, Whatsapp, LinkedIn. Tweeter and various other social sites have also forgotten me. They seem to have concluded that I am gone forever. How come, no one has missed me? Some of them had my mobile number with them. They could have at least tried to get in touch with me and enquire about my welfare. All these years they have been swearing in the name of their Gods that our friendship was forever, come what may. I have also decided to keep aloof. If they do not care, why should I.

My body denies stirring. Lethargy has set in.  Life has come to a perfect circle. I am back in the days of boredom. The spice of life is missing. Cannot advertise my ‘status’ anymore. Cannot post my ‘original’ write ups, obligatory likes/ comments on friends’ postings or photos anymore. Food does not taste the same, ‘pegs’ do not uplift the mood. There is so much to boast of, so much to holler about, so much to bitch on, so much to share with friends but damn this internetlessness.   

The only pass time is to read and re-read the daily news paper or surf the TV channels. It is a great revelation. Most of the news and contents are repetitive. This is bound to happen in 24x7 nonstop journeys. Some of the news channels invent news to fill in the promise of ‘100 breaking news in ten minute’.  Reading e-books stored in my laptop legally or otherwise, do not interest me anymore. In fact, the laptop that was once my pampered brat has lost its luster. What use is a laptop if it cannot connect me with my friends?

THE IMPACT OF WRITTEN AND SPOKEN WORDS

THE IMPACT OF WRITTEN AND SPOKEN WORDS

It is said that written words are buried in books but spoken words have wings. Written words have little or no value for those who cannot read or do not like to read and therefore they remain buried in books only. From the time humans invented and started writing, trillions of books and magazines have been published and stored in the libraries. Trillions of copies of these were printed and sold and possibly read too. Possibly because there is no way to find out how many of these books were actually read and how many were bought to adore the libraries of the so called ‘book lovers’. There are people out there who would buy a book or painting just because it is fashionable to have it in your library or on your walls.

On the contrary spoken words have much greater reach. Who can forget the spoken words of Tilak’s- ‘Freedom is my birth right’, Netaji’s- ‘you give me your blood I will give you freedom’, - Martin Luther King’s ‘I have a dream’, Vivekanand’s -‘brothers and sisters of America’ or Nehru’s -‘tryst with destiny’. Spoken words have wings to fly and reach all over the universe. Spoken words are few in numbers and easy to understand.  Spoken words leave an ever lasting impact in our life. Illiterate people and people with disabilities like dumbness or blindness can listen to these words or ask someone close by the meaning of those words even if the language is not familiar.

It is not that written words leave no impact. In fact there are thousands of quotable quotes taken from books of fiction poetry, plays and learning that impact our daily life. But this became possible because some people took the trouble of spreading that knowledge amongst the masses in one form or the other. Otherwise these words would have remained buried in the confines of the pages on which they were written or printed. Shakespeare’s plays became popular because they were enacted on stage. This holds good for all play writers whose plays became popular because they were enacted on stage by competent actors. Same is the case with religious books like Gita, Ramayana, Bible and Quran.

It therefore looks that spoken words have more impact than written words.