In the world of robust vocal chords, knowledge definitely takes a back seat most of the times....Not to mention what sells is what is considered to be right in contemporary scenario for instance personality vs character, information vs knowledge...etc etc

Sagarikas and Arnabs are one of those who are trying to gain from the existing system which is aimed at selling more....They are just being like many others, the products of the system for whom conformity and adaptation are sacrosanct or else they will lose.

The products of the system are equally responsible as the system itself...There needs to be construction of an understanding that objectivity and reason, even if they do not sell need to be assimilated and worked upon...but again it will cost much given the ism of capital prevalent today.

Its drucker being assimilated in debates on these TV screens... product mix, differentiation and bla bla...why wouldnt there be spin, tautology etc??

In nutshell, item by item we need to reason out to figure out that what sells need not necessarily mean right, need not mean to be objective, scientific, knowledge...

Politics of "capital" has many facets..TV debates are no exceptions

Freedom......

Corruption has several forms and dimensions: Economic, Political and Social. If we try examining, we will find that the drive that propels one to commit a corrupt practice is the “need for power” which for most of the times remains a precursor to enhanced social prestige and position or perhaps hegemony. In simple words a deliberate permutation and combination in one`s activity that leads to enhanced position and prestige of an individual or group or a community or a society or a nation can be put in to the broad spectrum of corruption. All this has indirect correlation with material benefits that power can provide easy accessibility to. The scope of material need determines the extent of the need for power and thus of corruption. Therefore, materialism is the prime precursor of the entire above mentioned social, political and economic phenomenon called corruption.  

The contemporary mobilizations of few thousand people by Ramdev , Anna and the respective teams apparently claim to stand for weeding out corruption from the face of this country. I have still not understood what corruption they are talking about? Is it the one which an effective Lokpal will take care of i.e. by checking accountabilities and putting the offenders on trials? Or is it against the basic framework of society and in turn our social consciousness that has translated in our subconscious minds? Or is it against the material condition that has led to such social structures in the form of caste and class hierarchies which are actively involved since time immemorial in making possible the exploitation of man by a man? And if it is not against these social institutions then I would ask why it is not?? The answer lies in the fact they are active proponents of the existing structures and very much in the race of materialism. Expecting something against corruption from the ones who are soaked in to it to me seems to be an utopian concept. And it applies to all not only Anna or Ramdev or their teams for that matter. No one can give a corruption free society unless I and you pledge honestly against it.

Corruption is a behavior. The social environment that sows its seed, irrigates it and cultivates it is what needs to be fought against. The constructs of power, prestige and position should be redefined in context of a progressive social structure which the new generation has to sow seeds of. The material conditions needs to be made accessible to one and the all in the same proportion as their demand or perhaps some more scientific social set up needs to be planned out. I would like to quote Bhagat Singh in my own language; item by item we have to question our faith till we find a reason in our existing faith or else a new faith based on reason and rationality has to be created. 

Freedom to our country shall never come in reality till we have institutions that make the exploitation of man by another man possible. And this exploitation is the ultimate form of corruption that has to be fought upon. It is not “they” but I and you who have to be accountable enough before Lokpal comes and checks us.. Jai Hind!

I feel extremely humbled to write this biography.Its about Laxmi. She lives in Karaikudi, Tamil nadu. Recently I happened to get posted in Karaikudi and it was when I met her in the guest house where she works as a caretaker. She spoke hindi effortlessly which drew my (as I being a North Indian) attention to her life and that is how I got to know more about her life story. Later on I discovered she had spent quite sometime in Mumbai.

Laxmi is about to cross her middle ages and has three daughters. Eldest daughter scored 450 out of 500 in the 10th Board Exams and is an extremely brilliant student and is studying in a good poly-technique institute. The second daughter is in her 10th Class and the youngest one is in 6th standard.

Why I am writing this story is because of the facts I am going to tell now. Laxmi`s husband abandoned her 10 years back when her daughters were still very young. She went helpless. She didn’t have any source of livelihood or support to run her family. It was a cruel phase in her life. She could have committed suicide or might have very well succumbed to the bad fortune in any form. But she never did so. Since then she had been working as maid servant, guest house attendant and many other things and had been able to somehow manage and shape her daughters` life and provide quality education to them. She starved at nights but ensured food to her daughters. She is constantly striving to shape up the future of her three young daughters.Perhaps she doesn’t want them to feel what she had experienced being a dependant woman 10 years back.

She fought life with courage and still she is fighting like a Hero which is incomparable. Her life is an inspiration to millions of people who think their little problem is the biggest problem in this world.

Certainly, she is a real time iron lady. I personally salute her spirit. May her daughters achieve the best of everything and take care of their mother. I am sure they definitely will, because the drive towards their aspirations is a lady who can be an inspiration to anyone on this earth. Salute to her indomitable spirit and womanhood!

Celebrated Republic Day in a school running under the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan Programme in a local village named Pallathur (few Kms away from Mr Chidambaram`s house). Felt like visiting a temple with "real deities". Honestly speaking, the energy multiplies manifolds seeing the innocence and naive patriotic zeal of the young students. I thoroughly enjoyed the moment, however, back in retrospection, I equally felt sad for them. Afterall, anything pure in this so called "real world" is exposed to vulnerability. I wished if we could be a part of India where purity of human values is valued and respected. I wished their naivety and innocence doesn`t get hurt when they grow up only to realize that the nation which they were once so ideally proud of is not so ideal for millions of people. I wished justice for those ignited minds and their spirits in this not so spirited nation............

I also wished if our nation were a real Republic of every single individual empowered not only by "political democracy" but also by "social democracy" which Dr Ambedkar, the chief architect of the constitution of India, had once quoted addressing the constituent Assembly.

Finally I wondered whether the real deities of that school heard my wishes and smiled.

Nevertheless, a Great Republic Day to all my fellow countrymen, women & NRIs once again. Hope the "real republic" is progressively under construction :)

A tryst with concepts

Conflicts are nothing but a clash of institutions in different wavelengths, when we become unreasonably protective to one norm and institutionalize it and that too because it seemed to be beneficial in a particular context and time.Institutions should be referred to as a guideline with a healthy scope for evolution. Man`s his"story" had been nothing but a story of defense and offence for some or the other institution for instance religious, regional, ethnic etc( there are numerous like that). Problem is not in ideological conflicts rather when it is mixed up with hard emotions arising out of Egoistic turbulences.

Religion for instance teaches certain norms which is standard for human being to maintain their "human ethos". As I understand all religious texts have the similar objectives. There seems no fundamental difference in terms of its purpose of existence. So, why these clashes are there? Right from earlier crusades to modern day riots, it’s been ridiculous on the part of the man. Isn`t it like for the same purpose if I speak Chinese in a Spanish speaking country, I will be hanged till death only for the mere reason that they don’t understand Chinese?

So where exists the root cause for all these? I think we can trace back its root cause in the group dynamics of human beings. The "cohesion" within a group which also can be defined as state where every individual interest are met to the fullest and with least effort, is the fundamental cause which along with many other factors co creates ethnocentrism of its own kind. Sadly, this ethnocentric behavior of man, which today has proliferated itself in many forms and dimensions, is institutionalized as paramount.

One can see its effects in the verdict which is coming out tomorrow. The whole purpose of religion seems to have lost somewhere and what is left is the power struggle between the two communities.

Undoubtedly, the patriarchal nature of religion arising out of personal interests reveals its true face. Sadly, today it’s no more religious in fundamental terms, rather a gruesome clash of two institutionalized egos.

"Between the idea and the reality, Between the motion and the act - Falls the Shadow...

The horizon beyond which the imagination unfolds its veil, the sky which ends with a nihilistic echo in the vacuum (the space), the depth of the ocean where the light fails to penetrate, the degree beyond which the water tends to transform its form……..only to drive the engine which marked a revolution in the history of the mankind.

An extra degree which lies between the water and the steam, an extra degree which can run a turbine, an extra degree which changed the course of history, an extra degree which marked the change of an era. This extra degree is nothing but the shadow between all what is accomplished and what is still to be accomplished. Life is a journey and this journey continues because there lies no shadow between the two opposite desires to live. What could be better example to this thought other than the “myth of Sisyphus” . In Greek mythology, Sisyphus was punished with a meaningless task to pick the rock back at the top of the mountain as soon as it rolls down, only till eternity. His life seems really meaningless until Albert Camu (an existentialist philosopher), pours down the idea of imagining as if Sisyphus were happy with the work he does. He enjoys every moment of his work and thus the entire thing doesn’t seem meaningless to him. The idea is that there is nothing in this world which can be categorized and kept in the labeled basket. What holds true for one may not be true for the other. The interpretation may differ with different context too. There always lies a shadow between the truth and truth. Interestingly truth also changes with contingencies.

Life remains untouched with this shadow and the real change takes place when there is a light to displace that shadow to a different location. That light can be internal or external. What could be better than the self interventionist light which enables the change and ensures the shadow being lost? Sometimes, we need others to help us cross the threshold and make a change. We seek light from others to serve our purposes. Well, whatever may be the source of light, the goal is to remove the shadow and realize our objective by action.

This action and inaction of the shadow is a continuous process. The shadow never dies. It only changes its shape, location and appearances. This implies that change is a continuous process and nothing changes for the final. There is no final stage and therefore, there is no permanent shadow or the light. Change is only to realize that it serves the most beneficial purpose in a given situation. But again, even the idea of what serves best is questionable as there is nothing which is final or the best. Hence, the quest for the best is a continuous process and is unfathomable. And so is the change because the change is always sought for the best and the best doesn’t really exist in actuality. Thus it implies that the shadow can never be reduced to nothing. It only smartly changes its position. In my view removing the shadow is a true analogy to the “Myth of Sisyphus”.

The shadow is like the horizon which seems to be a limit but in fact it opens in to an eternity. Change is nothing but the mere action to touch that horizon and thus is an unending process. According to the Gestalt`s theory the whole is the sum of its parts. Now the question arises what is the whole? The idea of the “whole” amounts to the universe and therefore what we call whole is actually a part of that eternal “sum of the parts”.

Nevertheless, as the subject Organization Design suggests, the change can be applicable to the parts if not to the whole. All the so called great deeds have happened because the heroes have been able to cross the threshold of their negative emotions. Had Gandhi discarded the need to serve the country, he wouldn’t have been able to pressurize the British crown to knuckle down. All the great men e.g. Nelson Mandela, Martin Luther king junior, Abraham Lincoln etc had put on a little extra effort and changed their contemporary socio-political milieu. Their valour lies in their action. Had the thoughts remained and had they not been able to overcome the shadow, their names also would have had lost in oblivion. Hence, between the thought and action lies the shadow. And for a better change to take place the shadow has to be overcome.

In the Holy Geeta when Arjuna asks Krishna when he had to face Bhisma during the war, that how can he overcome his emotions and shoot him. Then Krishna says that duty is the foremost thing. Do your duty and don’t worry about the results. Likewise we humans always face this dilemma of emotions while performing our duties. This dilemma is what shadow is and it can be overcome only by being focused towards our penultimate Goal.

In corporate world the Organization change is an action towards the fulfillment of the Organization`s mission and vision. Hence it is bound to take place with changing market or else it shall be left to its doom. There had been few examples in this regard e.g. Jack Welch changed the entire structure of General Electric in the late 90`s because he was sure of the Goal of the organization i.e. its growth and sustainability. It can be implied that Jack Welch had been instrumental in overcoming his shadow and acted positively in this regard. Other examples include Wipro technologies which changed from a mere vegetable company to one of the largest IT companies in India. Walgreens also changed itself from a restaurant business to drug store houses. Had their CEO`s not overcome the shadow, they would definitely have doomed.

All the inventions, discoveries, philosophies are investments for the transformation or change so that the society is able to invent more, discover more or think more for its benign interests.

The change is unending as well as self serving in nature. The adapting change tends to survive and vice versa. Hence utmost care has to be taken while deciding the change process which is to be undertaken. The real challenge lies in analyzing what change has to be brought about so that the change nourishes the growth and sustainability of the organization. The capitalistic mode of production since its inception has undergone numerous changes, for e.g. the shift from the commoditization of the labor to participatory environment in the present scenario. The rise of the personnel department and further the human resource management depicts the positive change that has taken place with changing environment and the need of the hour. Today, we talk about human capital and “people first strategy second”. It was not there before. It happened because today there is a need to enhance productivity through human resources as all other factors of productivity for e.g. technology, labor supply etc remains almost the same amongst the rival Organizations. There always existed a shadow between the philosophy of human resource management and its implementation. This is also an ongoing process and will continue till eternity.

Thesis and antithesis gives rise to synthesis. Needless to say how dialectical materialism in Marxian terminology depicts the change in terms of evolution of the ideas. Between thesis and antithesis lies the shadow. The shadow is toppled up only to enable the synthesis, for e.g. Marxism and Capitalism have synthesized to give rise to the present human resource management and it’s also an ongoing process. Interestingly, the evolution of ideas is continuous and therefore the change is again a continuous process.

In a nutshell I would like to summarize the whole essay by reiterating that change is a product of the action on the shadow which lies between the two subsequent thoughts. Unless one has not crossed the shadow the idea to jump to the next level is almost next to impossible. As famously used words by the great French warrior, Napoleon Bonaparte that the word “impossible” itself says “I m Possible”, we can say that the words “I m” is the shadow which has to be overcome for a positive and productive change to take place.

A quest.....

In the midst of the midnight hour as I walked down the lane to the campus, I was lost in the profound sea of interrogation and the waves of uncertainties. It is not surprising as they often come to me more especially in the times of solitude. I stirred my conscience as I went by and looked at the sky in to the space and gazed the moon. It was bright and beautiful.I wanted to look beyond that brightness but it didn’t really allow me to. Perhaps, the eyes are incompetent to look beyond. Perhaps, they didn’t want me to.

But a few drops of dew did add to the sea as those questions visited me again. I felt as if they waited for that particular moment to come. I wondered, who are they, where do they come from? Do they live in the “Dhabas” of the metros where a helpless minor works all day long so that he/she could ensure his bread and butter the next day, or does it come from the pessimism of all those young people who simply try to keep aloof hiding behind the curtain of pragmatism? The youth, who are suppose to be the leaders of tomorrow, who are suppose to shoulder the burden of a Country still struggling to free from the chains of neocolonialism?

“Nothing can be done”, I was shattered and could never dare to forget those haunting words which were not merely words but the hope of a youth from one of the premier Institutions of education. I saw the courage gradually succumbing to the duress of helplessness. Youth; the hope of a nation, of the poor, of the exploited and all those millions of people who believe in their prowess, in their ability to change the status quo and bring about a revolution of the progressive ideology in the society.

Far across the realm of idealism perhaps, the reality is as horrifying as this. The individualism is manifesting itself in the alienation from the society and its values. Is this the kind of society we are aiming for? I don’t know the answer. Do you??