Has the power of the mighty pen depleted? (an honest question on returning of awards by authors)

Has the power of the mighty pen depleted?

(an honest question on returning of awards by authors)

Has the power of the mighty pen and the omnipotent word depleted so much that the wielders have to resort to the methods of the meek? I would humbly refrain from launching any arguments or words of advice towards the recognized wordsmiths except for quoting a verse, from Baalswaroop Rahi’s poem, that aptly captures the spirit of a poet or, for that matter, an author in such situation —

काट ले जाय न अंधियार रौशनी की फसल,

अपने हर दर्द को अंगार बना लूंगा मैं,

अपने हर छन्द के हाथों में थमा दूंगा मशाल,

अपने हर गीत को तलवार बना लूंगा मैं।

“Lest the darkness harvest and take away the crop of light, I will turn each of my sufferings into a spark, give a torch in the hands of each of my verse and turn each of poems into a sword.”

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Happy New Year - 2015

uoo’kZ & 2015 dh “kqHkdkeuk,a

rksM dj foxr dh fufcM vaf/k;kjh dkjk

cg mBs uoo"kZ esa le; dh fueZy /kkjkA

}s"k ds] Hk; ds] vkrad ds eSy ls cpk mls

cuus nsa] va/k&dwi ugha] txexkrk flrkjkA

 Rkks “kqHkdkeuk,a

fd u, o’kZ ds gj iy dks vf/kd ls vf/kd izdk'keku dj ldsa

—lqjsUnz cksFkjk

*****

Best wishes for Happy New Year - 2015

Shattering the dense dark dungeon of the past

May the pristine stream of time flow in the New Year.

May we allow it to become, not a black-hole but a shining star

Protecting it from the slime of terror, aversion, and fear.

So, best wishes for you to be able to add more and more glow to each moment of the New Year.

—    Surendra Bothra

आह्वान बदलना होगा

हमने आँखें खोलीं तो
वो सपनों की दुकान
बढ़ा कर चले गये

ये जिनको कल
गद्दी पर बैठाया है
देखो तो
क्या रखते सूनी टांडों पर

ये भी शायद
सपने ही रख देंगे

हम फिर अपने हाथों में
लेकर खून-पसीना
वैसे ही सपने खरीदते जायेंगे
और किसी दिन लुट-पिट कर
फिर जागेंगे
व्यापारी ये नये
चले जायेंगे हमको छलकर

अभी बदलना चाहो तो
सामान बदल सकता है
ये जो बेचें
वही खरीदें हम
यह नहीं जरूरी
हम जो चाहें
वह यह बेचें
ऐसा कुछ करना होगा

इनके बदले
नहीं बदलता कुछ भी
हम अपनी मांगें बदलें
चाहें बदलें
राहें बदलें
इनको अपने आप
सभी सामान बदलना होगा

दोस्त समय है
सोचो ही मत केवल
करके तो कुछ देखो
पहले इन्हें बदलने से
खुद हमको
अपना आह्वान बदलना होगा।
---
( पुस्तक: ‘मैने तुम्हारी मृत्यु को देखा है’ से )
(प्रकाशक: सर्जना, शिवबाडी रोड, बीकानेर - 334003.)

WHY SUFFOCATE UNITY IN DIVERSITY?

(What of honest answers? We do not even ask honest questions.)

1. Human nature and physical world both are dynamic systems individually. Their interaction is all the more so. All static social theories are meant to stagnate and become obsolete. Those who stick to them without necessary flexibility and fine tuning, popularly known as reforms, are sure to degenerate.

2. Unity devoid of adjustment and tuning becomes a threat to progress as well as others who are outside that specific circle of unity. The moment a group's unity turns into a dogma and threatens others it provokes violent reactions or counter-attack and is ultimately destroyed. That is why, ideally, long term unity should cover only broader themes like humanity, culture, and nation. For restricted and limited themes only short term and purpose-specific unity is healthy; the moment the purpose is attained it should be disbanded. Diversity is in fact the long term healthy concept to be pursued in a constructive manner.

3. Indian seers realized the importance of the intrinsic dynamism of social organization and so they evolved subtle methods to inculcate a feeling of tolerance for others. This diversity-conducive tolerance gradually evolved into a multi-faceted ethno-spiritual culture almost exactly on the model of a rain forest that lives and thrives in a dynamic symbiotic equilibrium. Though it is difficult to appreciate if evaluated on short term parameters of few decades or few generations, Indian culture has successfully done so for past few thousand years. Why suffocate it now in the name of political unity (or vote-bank unity)?

*****

भ्रष्टाचार: कुछ दोहे

Corruption : Some couplets

 by Surendra Bothra 'Manu'

किससे दुखडा रोइए, कौन सुने तकरीर,

राजनीति तो अब भई, गुंडों की जागीर।

Whom to complain? Who will hear the appeal?

These days politics has become the domain of rogues.

मंत्री-बाबू-द्वारपाल, सब करते हैं मांग,

किस-किस को समझाइए, पडी कुए में भांग।

Including minister, babu and peon, everyone puts forth demand.

Who all can be redeemed when the source of drinking water itself is drugged?

शासक शोषक बन गए, नेता हो गए नीच,

लूट रहे अब बेहया, हया सडक के बीच।

Administrators have become exploiters and leaders unscrupulous.

As a consequence the brazen are plundering honour in the middle of the road.

नेता वोटर से कहे, माता तेरी भूल,

ठगने पर भी चुन लिया, हिली देश की चूल।

Leader says to the public, ‘Mother! Fault lies with you not me. In spite of my swindling, you have reelected me and see, now the foundation of the country shakes.’

उनको मत चुनिये कभी, जिनके भीतर खोट,

संतति-सुख हित दीजिये, सोच समझ कर वोट।

Never elect those who are unscrupulous.

For the wellbeing of the progeny think before you vote.

संविधान की आड जब, शासक करते घात,

क्रान्ति ज्वाल तो जलेगी, बुरा न मानो तात।

Brother! Don’t mind but when rulers resort to striking under the guise of constitution, the flame of revolution is sure to burn.

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The Bombay rape : An appeal to women

Once again a heinous rape….

The wailing of the past rape victims has stopped. But what of the inner agony that inflicts in silence every passing moment? The soundless suffering of the innocent is for life and even beyond. And for what? No plausible purpose at all. It continues to happen simply because the system, which was created and fed and nurtured with hard earned money of the masses to protect and support the masses, has been made blind by hunger for wealth and power. Try to realize that if this state of inefficient governance continues, time is not far when no one will be safe, no matter how highly placed or tightly secured he or she is. History has ample evidences of this.

Once again a heinous rape….

Try to understand that the survival and health of human society depends on the survival and health of its women. Man has miserably failed on this count; as such it is time women of the country took over the responsibility. Rise and unite for the cause of the family, society, country and humanity. Forget all differences of colours, shades and hues, political or otherwise, and put this issue of survival and health of human society on the front burner. The existing trend of divide and rule will do all it can to divide you and keep you divided on one pretext or the other. It is you who have to remain firm and unwavering.

Once again a heinous rape….

Remember you have the strength to punish man. You have the power to reform the society. If you stop your son or brother or father or husband when he commits first mistake, reprimand when he repeats and punish if he still does not change, you are sure to rejuvenate the society. Look around and you will find yourself occupying seats of power and decision making in every field but are still under some unseen yoke of attachment. You have an overpowering influence over man. What is needed is the will to exert and the dedication to persevere. You are wise and sharp enough to devise the right methodology and you are also patient enough to implement effectively. Shed the prolonged slumber and step ahead with the awareness that the dastardly crime is not against that single innocent victim but against your collective dignity.

Once again a heinous rape….

Once again statements and counter statements. Once again, maximum noise with minimum results. Even the recently promulgated stringent laws have failed to curb rape incidents. The number of such incidents remains same if not increased. Giving statements acts like a safety valve for release of pent up anger. Those responsible and those who turn a blind eye love such statements and speeches of anger and protest. They at once jump into the fray and effectively shift the anger of masses from action to hollow diatribe. Those in power have enough experience to extinguish the fire of vocal threat to their power.

Once again a heinous rape….

Enough is enough. It is time some new and radical ideas were tried. Instead of high decibel sound why not try silence. Those who genuinely want to protest against rape may stitch their lips and join protesters with a resolve not to reply to any question or give any statement. The bang and echo of silence is impossible to dissipate. Let all women, specially those in power and those related to and associated with men in power, any where and in any walk of life, take a vow that they will protest with threatening silence. Why not resort to this silence? Why not all women of the country unite and hit the system with silence, a complete and resounding silence? Why not hit with chilling silence even their own men, particularly those responsible for running the system efficiently?

Yes, the bang and reverberation of silence is impossible to dissipate. 
*******

Are we producing noble and able citizens?

No matter what the system of education is, the measure of its success should be just one and that is — ‘is that system producing noble and able citizens’. If a system fails to produce good citizens, irrespective of all its other achievements, it is inappropriate to call it a good education system.

In order for a human to be humane the two essential qualities are intellect and vivek (sagacity; discerning attitude; reason; rationality). These two are beyond sentiments; beyond, not in context of importance but in context of field or realm. Sentiment belongs to the inner realm and wisdom to the outer realm. Vivek plays the role of a guide in both the realms. It also plays an important role in coordination and assimilation of these two.

Education comes within the scope of wisdom or intellect whereas creativity falls within the scope of sentiments. Thus in growth of a child an assimilation of both is required. As sentiment is the controlling power of humanity and human beings it is very important to pay attention to its direction and development. This microscopic division is not being done for the purpose of developing or controlling these faculties. It is just a part of the effort to properly understand these. First we will have to understand the pieces than the whole and then think of control and development.

Sentiment is the primordial power. Its direction is vitally important. We will have to first understand the expectations from a human being in context of society and then the direction of sentiment will have to be evolved accordingly. This is the field of samskar (intrinsic attitude). The combination of samskar and education helps create a humane human being.

Education facilities have three basic components -- primary or basic infrastructure, teachers, and curriculum. Once these three facilities are available the institute comes into existence. After this the popular yardstick of the performance of the school is the examination results. The primary requirement for a healthy change is that this yardstick has to be changed. There is no dispute about the importance of passing the examination. But the popular or prevailing form of examination is the written examination. We have to understand that education is not limited to the written mode. Education is the endeavor towards all round development of the student or the receptor.

Our educational institutions will have to change the yardstick of measuring their success. It should be the number of able and upright citizens produced by the system. The conventional examination results should form only a component of this scale.

It is the responsibility of the managing organization of the school to ensure that disciplines that have no direct bearing on the examination results but are certainly useful for all round development of the student should be taught with the same zeal and sincerity. And at the time of evaluation equal importance should be given to them.

*****