Essays from the past : Practicality is now our great idol, which all powers and talents must serve.

In today’s world of cut throat competition every body is running after three things namely; power, wealth and carnal pleasures. These three indulgences have been conveniently named as practical things. Thus a monster who blindly indulges in acquiring them is termed as a practical person; a person who is very important in this world and in fact, people tend to believe, that it is these practical people who are shouldering the burden of entire humanity. It is thus advised to idolize practicality and people like the author believe it should be accepted as a universal religion.
It is true that man needs money and some sort of influence in society so that he can lead a comfortable life. But he should draw a line at point where comfort remains comfort and does not become greed. We have all heard the story ‘How much land does a man need’. In that story the protagonist as a part of a wager was to cover the entire length of land that he wanted to acquire in a day on foot. The amount of land, he needed to spend comfortably the rest of his life, he had covered within the first few hours. But later the monster of practicality made his mind nebulous and he continued running till he died. His dead body ironically needed only six feet of land for burial.
If all powers and talents were to indulge in crass practicality then who will perform the important works like building up of society, development of art, educating the masses etc.
Take for example the teaching profession. Teachers have been traditionally entrusted with the job of educating our young minds, the pillars on which the future of modern society lies. If they start charging exorbitant fees for their services, i.e they become practical then our young impressionable minds will not get molded properly and our social fabric will suffer irreparable damage. Already one can see the effects of practicality swallowing up this noble profession, with opening of coaching centers and prep schools for preparations of various examinations.
Appreciation of art is one virtue that separates humans from animals. Since performing arts and theatre gives little money in a culturally rich and fast becoming practical country like India, many artists have given up art to look for some more practical professions.
In my opinion, running after wealth and power is not an inborn virtue in humans. When we are born we are devoid of any avarice, any malice towards anybody. Slowly and gradually, we are engulfed by the monster of practicality and start leading a life in which we are not happy from the inside; our soul bleeds to death. Therefore these ideas that idolize practicality and call for all powers and talent to endorse and accept it should not be promoted

Essays from the past : If a society is to thrive, it must place its overall success before the well being of its individual citizens

Suppose your father is dying of cancer and your neighbor’s wife is expecting her first born child on the same day. And by the stroke of chance, the timing of the death of your father and the birth of a newborn in your neighbor’s family coincide. Will you be mourning the death of your old aged father who had nothing more to contribute to the society or will you hail the birth of your neighbor’s child, the future of the society? The obvious answer is that you will mourn your father’s death. This is because there is something in each and everyone of us that is close to our hearts, that is private to us, that which we cannot share with anybody. 'That' is what defines us and we in turn define the society. This 'that' varies from individual to individual and the fact is the defining something or a set of things that satisfies the need of society as a whole is a task that in the true sense fits the definition of the term impossible. On the other hand if we adopt a procrustean attitude and try to forcefully fit in everybody in a given frame( who defines that frame is another topic of debate) then there is bound to be dissent in certain individuals and this in turn can cause destabilization of society.
If on the other hand if certain individuals try to fulfill all their wanton desires, then poverty and widespread discontent would result and in the resultant paranoia and agitation, social fabric would face severe and irreparable damage.
So what options de we have to make society thrive? The answer lies in adopting an approach of moderation. In establishing small groups of people having the most similar features and needs and then taking care of most of their needs so that no or very little dissent results.
This model has been adopted in post independence India and so far the integrity of this geographically and culturally diverse nation has suffered little damage whereas socialist giants like USSR have collapsed without trace.
In India there is a practice of awarding economic subsidies to poorer and underdeveloped sections of society. The working class is not overburdened by taxes and the businessmen and capitalists have to pay up taxes proportionate to their income. Newer industrial ventures are encouraged and educational institutes are given land and other facilities at subsidized rates on a condition that they reserve certain seats for students from economically weaker section of the society. The success has not been exemplary, but still there has been almost no damage to the integrity of this country.
I am not saying that this model is an ideal one and everybody should follow it. The principle behind it is essentially correct, i.e. to allow everybody to flourish according to their means and ability but only to a point where they do not start interfering with the lives and destinies of others. But imperfections in its implementation in India have made the model look imperfect. There is a huge scope of improvement in the implementation of this principle and other countries can look to adopt this model with changes that suit their ways.
To conclude I would like to say that the principle of moderation towards the needs of both individual and society as defined above is the best way for the society to thrive. Its implementation however has to done carefully with right attitude in mind

Essays from the past : People in position of power are most effective when they exercise caution and restraint in the use of that power

Man lusts for two things: power and money. Both power and money are like two sides of a coin. They complement each other perfectly. With money comes power and with power comes money. People like rulers and heads of states of developed nations, businessmen heading cyclopean organizations, leaders of small yet militarily powerful nations and heads of nation having strong allies sit on the throne of power and play games with destinies of the people and nations of world. At times these games are nothing more than reckless pursuits towards selfish ends of these individuals. The conclusion of such games is nothing but devastation on a large scale. Devastation that destroys people, creates deep chasm in the social fabric of a nation and redraws the world map.

It is said that 'with great power comes great responsibilty'. Men in the position of power are most effective when they exercise caution and restraint in the use of power. There are many examples that elucidate that when power has been misused that consequences have been tragic. Take for example the mindless imperialistic pursuits of germany, france, england, italy etc during 18th and 19th century. These imperialist powers indulged in rapid colonization and left a gory trail of blood and destruction behind them. Taking the specific case of systematic colonization of india by east india company. After forcefully taking over most of india, the east india company had to deal with sporadic revolts taking place all over the country.The great revolt of 1857 shook their foundation and the crown had to take control of the indian empire. What followed was a continous struggle for independence both by violent and non violent means. And if the internal conflicts were not enough, the raj had to deal with the growing insecurities between various nations of power about the growing boundries of others. These insecurities led to world war I and subsequently world war II. These two wars particularly the later one saw the use of most potent weapons of destruction ever invented by man. Machine guns, AK 47, submarines, trench warfare, chemical and biological weapons and the most destructive of all atomic bomb were unleashed on both civilian and military establishment. Millions of people died and for what purpose? because some people on the throne or power had a voracious appetite for something that was not theirs.

Now looking at the present day scenario, after the fall of USSR and end of cold war era, governments, jaded by the mass destrution caused by these two world wars are more careful before engaging in military option. A pakistan indulging in misadventures like kargil faces severe economic sanction from even its closet ally (USA).An afghanistan sheltering a terrorist organization like al-qaeda faces military action. But later on the people in position of power(USA AND UK) take the initiative to rebuild the war ravaged country. Clearly the focus of the people in power has now shifted towards exercising restraint and caution before using power. This is the obvious need of the hour. The hydra headed monster of terrorism(our past haunting us) refuses to subside and it is in the best interest of everybody that we direct our resources and powers in quashing the monstrous reptile before it consumes the entire humanity.