Is it really worth

In this journey of life, death is the ultimate destination. The moment we are born, we start dying. There is no escape route. Death is certain. But we are scared of death. We don’t want to talk about it. We think we will continue to live for ever. We are busy throughout our life in accumulating wealth. More wealth we acquire, more we are concerned of losing it. A beggar is not scared of death, because he has nothing to lose but a wealthy person is scared of death, because he is scared of losing his possessions. It is a myth that wealth gives security. On the contrary, wealth gives anxiety, insecurity and fear. A rich person’s life is in danger. He is exposed to getting threatening calls from underworld dons for extortion of money. His son or daughter may be kidnapped for a ransom. If he has earned money through tax evasion or other unfair means, he is all the time scared of I.T. raids and prosecution leading to Jail. In trying to acquire wealth, a person does not take adequate care of his health with the result he may develop several diseases. His relationship with his spouse, children may suffer on account of lack of time given. During his last days, when Dhirubhai Ambani, who amassed wealth to the tune of thousands of crores of rupees was asked if he has any regrets in life, he replied, “Yes I regret I could not give enough time to my wife”. Incidently, he died at a very young age. He was suffering from high Blood pressure and coronary heart disease. One has to pay the price for accumulating wealth. Is it really worth ?. Money is important to the extent that it helps us lead a comfortable life beyond which it can only be used to satisfy our ego. We should not get trapped into this rat race. We should lead a balanced life. We have certain responsibility towards wife, children apart from duties in workplace. We have some responsibility towards the society also. We have to keep aside sometime for regular exercise and other physical activities so as to keep ourselves fit and healthy.

My dear daughter

This one is for you, my dear child. Yesterday, while I was chatting with you, you expressed your desire that I write something about you, my expectations from you as a father and whether you have been able to live up to my expectations. It is a very touchy subject for me but let me try.

I still recollect very clearly, as a child, you were very lively, full of energy. You must be around 10 years of age or so when you participated in a solo dance competition organised by our housing society in Krishna apartment and you won first prize in the competition. I was amazed to see the enthusiasm and excitement with which you performed on stage. Everybody in the building who saw your dance performance appreciated it very much. It was a big surprise for me as I never knew you had so much hidden talent. I wished I could nurture this talent in you further. There is no doubt that you are a good leader. This has been amply demonstrated by you in your childhood. I have keenly observed that you preferred to play with boys instead of girls and you invariably controlled all of them giving instructions on how to play. I find you very transparent and straightforward . If you are sad, you will tell us why you are sad, what is it that is bothering you. If you are happy, you will express your happiness openly. I consider you a very creative person although you were an average student in school. Human brain is composed of two parts. The left hemisphere which gives intelligence related to creativity and right hemisphere which gives intelligence related to logic, analytical skill etc. Your left hemisphere seems to be very strong. You can be a good Artist, Painter, writer, Leader etc. Your greatest quality is that you have great self confidence and determination. When you are determined to do something, you do it no matter what happens. You are very positive and do you know that when you are positive, you think positive, you talk positive and you get positive results.

When you are hurt, you cry. When you get angry, you exhibit your anger and cool down the next moment.. This is a very good quality since by doing so, you release negative thoughts from your body. If you nurture negative thoughts inside of you, you will become sick,depressed.

On the minus side, I think you lack concentration and focus. I hope you will improve on these areas.

As a father, I have always wanted you to be a good human being which I think you are. My second wish was to give you the best of education. How much I have succeeded in this so far is something which you can only tell me. I have no regrets in life. As my daughter, you have far exceeded my expectations. I thank God for blessing me with a lovely wife and two beautiful daughters.

Right to live with Dignity

Average lifespan of a person is 70-75 years. There are people who stay alive till the age of 90 or more. The fact is that we cannot arrest the natural process of ageing . With the advancement of age, body’s limbs start weakening slowly. Bones and muscles become weak. Hairline recedes. Wrinkles appear on face, Reflex action slows down . We cannot resist this change.. Some people refuse to accept that they are getting old. They try to look young desperately. They will dye their hair regularly, undergo cosmetic surgery at frequent intervals to remove wrinkles from face. No matter, how hard they try to hide their age, the fact remains that they cannot remain young foreever. It is better to accept the transition from youth to old age gracefully. Nobody is immuned from this natural ageing process. More than the physical appearance, old age brings about transformation in lifestyle of a person. He no longer enjoys the same status and power that he used to while he was young and at the peak of his career. While young, he is too busy with his business or his job to spare any time for his children, when he retires, he has all the time in the world but his children are grown up by then and they are busy in their profession with the result they don’t have the time to spare with him. He becomes lonely in his own house. If he does not have enough of savings, he will become financially dependent upon his children. With the advancement of age, he can also be afflicted with health related issues which will increase his medical expenses manifold. Unfortunately, unlike countries such as US,UK etc wherein state undertakes responsibility to provide financial assistance to elderly people, Indian government does not provide any social security to old and helpless people. Under the circumstances, they become extremely vulnerable to exploitation by the society. It has been estimated that 10% of Indian population fall in the age bracket of 61 years and above. That means, assuming current population of the country as 10 billion, there are 1 billion people who are estimated to be old. With globalization, the urban Indian population is fast embracing western culture and values with the result, joint family system has disappeared and is replaced by nuclear family resulting in separation of families and weakening of family ties. The influence of western culture has also eroded traditional Indian values and culture with the result old people no longer enjoy the same respect and care in the society as before. They have become strangers in their own homes. It is futile to expect Indian government to do anything worthwhile for them considering the type of politicians and beaurocrats who are ruling Indian states. Non Government organizations (NGO) working for the cause of elders are working in isolation and therefore not very effective. They should work together with other organizations or groups like Mohalla committee , sensitize the society and community about the issues of elders like loneliness, security and medical care. All NGOs should come forward and develop suitable strategy jointly to address larger issues of old people in our country. Government officials should also be made to participate in this project. First and foremost, state level survey should be undertaken to estimate the population of old people, and to understand their day to day problems so as to know what kind of rehabilitation work can be planned. It may vary from state to state, district to district. The survey will give an estimate of funding required for rehabilitation work such as separate colony for old people at subsidized rates with appropriate security arrangements,medical facilities including hospitalization and regular medical checkups, canteen facilities, domestic help for groceries etc. A trust should be formed to manage the affairs of such colonies. Corporate companies should be approached for funding of such projects. Deduction on income tax should be allowed to corporates on such donations to encourage participation.

A separate tribunal should be formed to look into complaints of neglect, physical injury,mental cruelty or other matters requiring redressal without delay for faster decisions and actions. Suitable amendments should be made in the legislation to protect the rights of old people. For example, if a senior citizen wishes to transfer the property in the name of his son or daughter by way of gift, he can do so provided the transferee gives to the transferor an undertaking that the transferee will provide basic amenities and maintenance on a monthly basis and if the transferee fails to do so, then the transfer of property will be deemed to be made by fraud, coercion or under undue influence and will be declared void at the option of transferor.

Medical expenses which is very high in India take a heavy toll on savings in old age. Most of insurance companies in India do not want to give health insurance to people over 60 years and in some cases where the scheme is available, the insurance premium is very high. Most of retired people do not have any source of income and they cannot afford to pay such high premium. The health insurance scheme is highly biased in favour of insurance companies. Govt of India has recently announced a tax saving scheme wherein an individual is liable to get Tax deduction under section ...on the premium amount paid on health insurance scheme taken by him for his aged parents. This is a good scheme and govt deserves to get congratulations for this scheme.

In view of the complete absence of social security system in our country, young generation must understand that a day will come when they will step into shoes of their parents and they will also have to face the same difficulties as their parents are facing today. If they don't show any love and respect towards their parents, their children will also not pay any respects to them when they grow old. They must show compassion, respect and love towards their parents. They should start financial planning right at the start of their career so that by the time they retire, they have enough of savings so as to lead comfortable life for the rest of their life.

Truth is God

Truth is God. Everything else is Maya or illusion. The whole of universe is Maya, false, temporary. Only God is everlasting, permanent. If we want to come close to God, we have to be truthful. Every Religion says “ Speak the Truth”. When I was a child, I read in the textbook which said “Always speak the Truth”. When we grow up, we tell our children not to tell lies. But do we practice what we preach. The answer is probably not. My own experience is that Truth is very bitter, unpleasant and difficult to digest whereas Lies are sweet, Pleasant, good to hear. We lie to avoid embarrassment. We lie to boost our self image. We lie to please others. There are people who lie for no reasons whatsoever. Such people are habitual liers. They don’t feel guilty when they lie. They justify their lies by another bunch of lies. Politicians fall in this category of liers. People who are not habitual liers feel guilty when they lie. Their body language is not in synch with their tongue. Such people can be easily caught while lying. No matter how good we are in lying, in the long run, it is the truth that prevails over lies. If the whole world is destroyed, lies will perish but Truth will survive. Speaking Truth is not so easy. It requires lot of courage, commitment and determination to remain truthful. Are we prepared to pay the price for being truthful. If we are truthful, we will alienate our friends, relatives, colleagues. We will face difficulties in our workplace, at home. or wherever we go. We will have to face humiliation, embarrasment.,insults. Are we prepared to withstand difficulties that come in our way in exchange for being truthful.

T.V. Journalism in India

I personally feel the standard of Journalism has gone down in our country. I remember having seen an interview of "Satyajit Ray", perhaps the greatest Director of Realistic Cinema India has ever produced sometime in 1979. The Interview was conducted in a very polished and dignified fashion. The person who was taking interview chose to remain in the background. Not once did the camera focus on him during the interview session. The voice of the journalist was subdued, barely audible. The entire focus was on Mr Ray who was answering the questions put up by the journalist. Today's journalism is just the opposite. The focus of the camera is more on the journalist and less on the person who is being interviewed. It looks ridiculous. In most of the chat shows that I have seen, there does not seem to exist basic protocol. Most of the time, while the host speaks in Hindi , people participating in chat shows speak in English. Sometimes, it is even worse than this. The same person while expressing his views switches from English to Hindi and vice versa every now and then. What kind of Viewer the program is targetted at. Is the general public expected to understand multiple languages. In a situation where the participant expresses his views in a language other than the language in which the participants are supposed to speak, it is the responsibility of the host to interrupt and spell out clearly what the language of chat show is supposed to be. In extreme scenario, wherein the participant cannot speak in that language for whatever reasons, he or she should be allowed to speak in English as an exception which should be translated immediately by the host in Hindi for the benefit of the viewers. It appears to me that most of the participants have fairly good knowledge of Hindi but still they prefer to speak in English given the choice. When will we learn to respect our own language.

Real Heroes

Yesterday morning at around 9 o'clock , I was watching a program on NDTV news channel. It was a program organised to pay homage to our brave soldiers, commandos, policemen who lost their lives while fighting terror attack in Mumbai on 26/11. This program was so touching that it brought tears in my eyes. For the first time after many years, I saw the glory of our unsung heroes. Generally, in almost all channels, we get to see glorified images of politicians, bollywood actors and actresses and other high profile beaurocrats who have hardly contributed anything to the society. The same holds true of cricketers. Our real heroes are those ordinary people who are not scared to lay down their lives for the sake of the country. There are many other heroes who are selflessly serving the communities without any support from the government. We need to bring them into limelight. They should be made role model of our kids and not Bollywood actors and actresses as is prevalent now a days .Our T.V channels who are busing increasing their TRP through sensational news of murder, rape, vulgar dances, obscene comedies, Reality shows, meaningless saas bahu soap operas should instead focus on good work done by our unsung heroes. There appears to be a positive impact of mumbai terror attack in the sense that at least for few days, our channels stopped showing the usual dirty and useless programs. I only pray to God that after few days, when fear of terror strike subsides , these channels don't refert back to showing same old silly programs. Successful launch of Chandrayan 1 moon mission sometime in October this year was a landmark in the history of Indian space science. This news should have come as a headline in front page of Times of India on the next day of launch, but I was shocked to find some other news occupying the main headline instead. What a pity. When do we learn to appreciate good work done by the real heroes of our country.

Terror strike at Mumbai

The last terror attack in Mumbai has once again exposed the security lapses of our agencies. It looks like our police force with age old rifles and lathis are unable to fight terrorists who are armed to the teeth with AK47 automatic rifles and other electronic gudgets.Mr Karkare was killed because he was wearing a bullet proof jacket which was not good enough to protect him from bullets. Are our beaurocrats so corrupt as not to spare even those who fight for our safety and security. Our leaders are more concerned about their own security rather than the security of common man. Everytime there is a strike, our home minister gives the same old statement expressing sorrow and concern over the death of innocent people. Security of the common man in this country is always given the last priority. Unless common man puts pressure on the ministers and government officials to step up his security needs, no concrete action is going to be taken. Last terror attack at Mumbai is a grim reminder of what price we may have to pay if we neglect security needs of the country. Ordinary people in the country no longer feels secured. Terror can strike anytime, anywhere, in market, in schools, hotels, Hospitals, public places, at home. There is a need to create an awareness among the public as to the urgency with which our government should create special task force in each state to deal with this situation. Our security guards must be fully equipped with the latest fighting machines. Our intelligence agencies must be put on high alert. Our electronic media and print media should play active role in arousing the sentiments of the public towards terrorism. The question that we contineously need to ask ourselves is, should we display apathy towards the loss of life of other people and wait for our turn. Life is very precious and must be protected at all costs. Terrorism has become a global threat as of now and no longer confined to a particular region or territory . All peace loving countries must unite and fight terrorism at all costs.