NEET EXAM atrocities

The visuals of cruelty and indignity to which the NEET candidates were subjected to has shocked the civil society.  It raises serious questions regarding the training  given to teachers who happened to be invigilators regarding the human aspect  in handling the students . Is it  not inhuman to make the students walk bear foot  through a stone studded , unclean stretch of an area to reach their examination   hall ? The NEEt exam’s  atrocities committed by the invigilators will result in lasting scar in the students mind .One can imagine  their mental stress while attending the Exam.  India boasts of it’s status a top emerging economy. But it also has a very poor rank in human rights violations . Economic progress without a corresponding social progress is not a matter to be proud of. Those who were the cause for these atrocities should be dealt with severely so that many dare not follow them in future.

Jeya laltha

People are  now talking and writing about the mystery behind  Jeya Lalitha’s life. But for the  citizens of Tamil Nadu , the mystery surrounding her entire personal and political life was not new. Her entire political actions were mysterious. Why she was not meeting the coalition parties’ leaders, her own ministers , her own MLAs and MPs , the press and her voters on regular basis no one knew. Why she sent out Sasikala and took her in again twice is another mystery . Why she was playing foot ball with IAS officers and IPS officers by their sudden transfers or suspensions and her own ministers and district secretaries , no one knew the real reasons . Why she was enjoying during the Assembly sessions her minister’ s habit of  praising her to the sky  level  before answering any questions posed  by the opposition members and why she never prevented even elder members of her party that includes her ministers from falling at her feet , no one understood. The only matter that was transparent about her life was the admiration she enjoyed among the women of poorer sections. They were the only loyal followers of her that resulted in her repeated political victory .

shame on Tamil Nadu

 Of late, every bye election in Tamil Nadu has become national news and the unimaginable atrocities committed during the poll campaign by all the financially  sound political parties  shocks the nation . The endless coverage by the electronic media  on the RK Nagar bye election exposes the police department’s deliberate  indifference to various  complaints made on violation of laws, the inefficiency of the  state Election Commission in checking the  daily breaking of poll conduct rules and the flow money power for exchange of votes and in silently  tolerating the fearlessness of the powerful political parties in throwing  challenges to the election machinery . It also exposes the shamelessness of the voters in demanding cash from every political party as if it  is their right. One auto driver told me that,  he has received Rs 15000 totally and few articles within a week . His justification is, all the political leaders have Crores  of ill gotten money looted by exploiting people through bribes and commissions  and hence, there is nothing wrong if he gets a miniscule share of it. Still we call Indian democracy as a vibrant and functioning  democracy  without realising that, widespread cash for vote practice demonstrate the weakest position of our electoral system. Tamil  had gained national importance in the past regarding its good economic and social indicators  and political  stability  . Now even the national media is extensively covering Tamil Nadu for all the undesirable happenings . we have become notoriously popular , day by day the hatred for politicians is  increasing among the responsible civil society and many think it is  wasteful to exercise our franchise when political morality is  at such low level .

lower rank of india in Human development Index

 Any welfare oriented nation  should be very concerned about the lower rank in HDI , because it only means that  ,  their nations are  lagging behind in  health, education and standard of living matters. India, slipping from 130^th to 131^st rank among 188 nations  in HDI ranking is not a matter to be ignored. Ever since, globalization era started,   privatization ,liberalization and deregulation  rules started dominating the economies of the world , only the corporate sector benefited immensely and  aggravated  the inequalities   .  Manufacturing of aircrafts, helicopters ,  defense  equipments , luxury cars ,  nuclear projects,  smart cities, tube trains , satellite and missile programmes   became top  priority projects and the social programmes were neglected .  The result is,  the basic needs  of majority of the population such as food, drinking water ,   clothing, shelter, education and health care  are not satisfied and they continue  to suffer due to joblessness and poverty .India which is loudly proclaiming as an emerging economy , should feel ashamed to occupy such a lower rank in HDI and bother to take measures to improve it . After all , higher rank  in  HDI indicate the wellbeing of the entire population  which would result in higher rate of human capital formation

A worthy Role model

                                            

                                                                      

Teachers usually and parents sometime ask the children  about their role models . Often the answer would be some popular or famous persons or some person with outstanding achievements in  their chosen fields of activity or one of their teachers Very rarely they mention a parent or grand parent  or  some one in their relatives circle as their role model. The reason (as per my view)   is that , may be they are all taken for granted and hence not observed closely. Had they observed them closely and spotted some admirable qualities in them, surly , there is a chance for them to accept one among them as a role model  .

Hence,  I was really surprised  when my thirteen  year old niece told me, when I asked her about her  role model that,  “Lakshmi” the domestic assistant working in her family for more than a decade is her role model,. Wanting to know the reason for selecting her, I further probed  . The following  statements made by her about Laksmi were very interesting  and thought provoking.

 It seems lakshmi has three children , one boy and two girls , an elderly mother and a very irresponsible husband  who is very lazy to go for regular job. Her salary which she gets by working in 4 homes as domestic help is the only regular source of income . Within  that income, some how,  she manages to look after her family by meeting their basic needs and educated all her children up to school final level and given them some skill training with which they could  get decent jobs . Their salary goes only towards the savings meant for their marriages and for some emergency expenses . She  has studied only upto 3^rd standard, yet she manages her finances well.  She hates indebtedness and never ask for loans from her employers . But , with right she will demand increase in salary when ever prices go up, since she understand the dignity of her labour .She never expect tips for doing some additional work, saying that she is not petty minded.

When she enters our home at 7. 30 AM , her appearance is neat  and the smile on her face is  contagious. I have never seen her  narrating any sad story about her irresponsible husband and share her worries about settling her children in marriage.  She takes leave only on unavoidable circumstances and always punctual while rendering her service to the four homes she serves.  She behaves like a family member when her employers home face some crises and shares their distress in her own way ‘

She is very humane at heart . She serves for an elderly couples and a single women, She is  over protective about them .She runs additional errands for them like paying electricity and milk coupons bills and even offer to cook for the elderly couple when they  fall  sick telling them that out side food is not good during sickness. When the single woman is distressed over some matter , she spends some additional minutes in spite of her roller coaster life to cheer her up. This information was shared with us in an appreciative tone by the single woman herself .

 Due to long term service in our homes ,  she takes liberty a like responsible family member and remind us about our monthly  payment of our bills such as for electricity , milk etc., She has never shown irritation , if the work load is more in our home ,some times, due to guests or festivals . She politely tell us, since she has to go in time to other homes, she will do the left out work after she finishes  her routine works in other homes . This shows  that punctuality is important for her   and at the same time she does not “work to rule”as the organised labourers do. For her personal relationship is more important  than material attitude.

She has shared her worries about her husbands irresponsible behavior towards the family obligations and his escapism from them by making her shoulder  more responsibilities. But she has learnt to suffer this situation silently , telling us that, it is her fate and God’s  wish and she can not do any thing about it and her only prayer to God is that, He should give her enough strength and stamina and prolonged life till her children are well settled in life. I understood  from her simple philosophies of life that, this is how Karma Yogis are expected to live .

Once her mother met with an accident and she had to take prolonged leave i.e. for a month  during her hospitalisation and  for after discharge care . Even during such distressed time she arranged for substitutes  for all her employers homes proving that  she is not a mercenary . No one thought of cutting her salary for that  month and called her to get the salaries . She was so moved by the gestures of her employers . Initially she was reluctant to accept the money saying  that, it would be  an unearned money . After much coaxing, she accepted the money saying that . may be it’s  Gods way of helping her through good souls .

I have never seen her with distressed face or complaint about her  financial difficulties . She some how manages her life with the resources available at her disposal . They are- her good health, time management skill, her intelligence , planning skill,  crisis management skill and positive attitude towards life and economic independence without knowing  these terms or the meaning of these concepts which are often narrated by feminists while talking about the qualities required for an empowered women. .

 My niece further told me that, she has never obsered all the  qualities of  Lakshmi closely, . It was her mother who was all the time pointing out her good qualities ,like honesty, hard work ,devotion to work, punctuality , human attitude and perfection in appearance and work , ability face challenges of her life and positive attitude . Then she started observing and amazed at her personal qualities and decided one day that, she would be role model if she really has  to be an  “empowerment women”, so that she will have fulfillment in her life and becomes an as stet to her family and the nation. I too was impressed with her analysis for choosing Laksmi as her role model  and thought there many unsung heroines in the world , who are not equipped with tools of empowerment like higher level education, skill training , healthy food , job with decent pay and family support . they are worthy role models to emulate .