Invincibles

Of late I have understood (though not completely yet) about an astonishing breed of people. Theirs is the only other path to invincibility apart from Howard Roark's. Even though the below traits are present in all of us in varying proportions, there is an increasing number championing these qualities to perfection.

> There shall be nothing that is objective. Never say a blank yes/no when there is a conflict. This is how one can always have power and responsibilities and never be convicted.
> Do everything and anything to impress the "boss".
> Uncanny ability to dilute an issue, attribute enormous importance to banal issues and fabricate stuff beyond recognition.
> Art of manipulating people. A fine balance between "using" others when required and discarding whenever not.
> Capability of sugar coated speech and sweet tone as well as threatening and intimidating tone and the        knowledge of when to use what.
> Should be able to deliver the same content in different versions to different audience.
> Skillfully cover your ass when there is a question about wrongdoings.
> Flock with the same "kind".

I never fail because I never have a  firm stand and am flexible, on any of my commissions and omissions. 
Every one has their own definition  for morals, ethics, standards aligned to ones own balance sheets; since we are humans invariably these differ.
Going by the pragmatic world's most commonly agreed definitions of success, the above listed are the indispensably  its prerequisites. Look around, you will see them everywhere.. at work; in media, politics, corporates...in you and I.... its omnipresent trying to become omnipotent.

PS: I do not intend or wish that readers perceive this piece in the same way as I do. This is more of an introspection of a half-tainted in pursuit of "reason".

ప్రతిబింబం

పొద్దున్నే చెవులకింపుగా  కీబోర్డు టక టకలు 

ప్లాస్టిక్ ముఖాల పై అతికించుకున్న చిరునవ్వులు 

తినడానికి తీరికున్డదొక రోజు 

చెయ్యడానికి పని ఉండదు ఇంకోరోజు 

తిప్పలన్నీonsite కోసమే 

మరి మార్కెట్లో బాగా "రేటు" పలాకలి కదా 

మనకు మంచి రేటింగ్ వస్తే అలుపెరగకుండా  కష్టపడ్డట్టు 

పక్కనోడికి వస్తే మానేజర్ని కాకా పట్టినట్టు 

సంవత్సరం తర్వాత దోస్త్ call చేస్తే 

పది నిముషాల్లో పది సార్లు 

"ఇంకేంట్రా ... చెప్పాలి మామా.."

తెల్లారితే అబ్బా మళ్ళీ వెళ్ళాలా అని ఈసడింపు 

బయటకి  గర్వంగా S/W జాబు అని డప్పు 

చచ్చి సాధించింది ఏంటి ?

పిచ్చి తల్లీ !!
వైకల్యాన్ని ఎదురించడం సులువేమో
         ఏలిన వారిని సంతృప్తి పరచడం కన్నా
 నిలువునా దహించుకుపోవడం సులువా
           ఒత్తిళ్లకు ఎదురీదడం కన్నా

ఎవరూ పట్టిన్చుకోలేదనుకోకు .......

 వరద ప్రలయాన్నే వినోదం చేసిన మీడియా
      నీ విషయంలో ఎలా ఉపేక్షిస్తుంది
పాలక ప్రతిపక్షాలకి
     నిందారోపణల  ఆటలో నువ్వో  కొత్త బంతివి
జనాలకూ పాపం ఎవరూ చెప్పలేదు
     కొన్ని ఆత్మ హత్యల వెనుక హంతకులు ఉంటారని
ఈ చావు వెనక చేతకానితనం ఎవరిది
నీదా మనందిరదా

Woman official commits suicide; names MLA, two other public representatives in dying declaration
http://www.hindu.com/2009/10/19/stories/2009101950090100.htm

నేరము - శిక్ష (Crime and Punishment)

Man, a social animal formulated rules on the basis of ethics, law, religion which are to be adhered by an individual for the attainment of peaceful and progressive society. To err is human. Hence a method of punishment is devised in case of violation of the rules ie committing a crime. Here the words "crime" and "punishment" are used in wider context of any societal rule violation and the response against it respectively. The prime objective of such punishment is a) to abstain an individual from committing a crime in the first case and  b) if committed once due to ignorance or arrogance, imposed punishment would make him not repeat it second time.  Obvious inference is that this concept has been refined and improved over the centuries, since we are supposed to be thinking beings. On the contrary, a lot of contradictions glaringly point out deficiencies.

A couple of examples ... attempting to close the case of Bofors scam, after years of investigation, costing more than the alleged corruption payments and defreezing the accounts of the accused; no check on corruption in judiciary itself while letting allegedly tainted judges to sit in Supreme Court through an irrational and opaque selection procedure. We live in a complex society where such incidents have multiple perspectives and definitely do not have a majority acceptance aligning to one particular angle. Leave complexities, lets simplify. Here lets discuss a few real time examples which would help us look at the situation at an atomic level.

A school going kid, when fails to work on an assignment, fearing punishment bunks school for a day or two after which the assignment becomes a history. The punishment definitely induces fear but, the purpose gets deviated. On the other side it acts against the objective of student to attend school, and when seen holistically it moulds the mindset to evade punishment and commit a bigger mistake.  I vividly remember such practice of bunking on the pretext of ill health during my schooldays and is prevalent even today. This appears to be a silly and unrelated argument but I particularly chose this one to emphasize how our attitude is getting shaped right from the formative age.

To ensure safety of two wheeler commuters, Govt has proscribed travel without wearing helmets. Punishment for violation - a fine of Rs 50 - 500 which is mostly received as bribe. If one can afford to pay 50 bucks everytime when he gets caught, can comfortably break the law. The law itself prompts to commit the same mistake any number of times and get away.

Municipal Corporation of Hyderabad has recently legalized illegal constructions in the name of regularization. You construct a building without the following the prescribed MCH guidelines and you can still get an acknowledgement from the corporation by paying fine.

China is questioning Indian Prime Minister visiting a state, by claiming it to be a disputed territory, while the purpose of visit (election campaigning) is in itself a testimony that it is an integral part of India. Foreign entity questioning the soveriengty of India is a crime according to our broad definition above, and the reaction or punishment, is it atleast heading in a direction where in future no such ridiculous accusations will be made.
Almost an year after Mumbai attack(crime), are we sure that our approach ( ie punishment in our purview) guarantees no such attack in future.
The attitude towards "Crime and Punishment" is distorted in all spheres ranging from an individual to community behavior  or society response to local governing body to the Govt of the nation. As stated above these are complicated and complex situations, leave the future outcomes. Question is about mindset, approach, attitude towards minimizing violations or crimes and devising response or punishment which would ensure no repetition of such crime.

Skewed

From public opinions to Policies of the nation, we as a society have a skewed approach. Non existing utopia has been a desperate want since times unknown. But the widespread dumbness has made it indecipherable for us a subtle understanding that ideals while in implementation have to be followed more in spirit than in letter.

A lot of debate is steaming up in media and concerned sections of society about the declaration of assets by the Judges of this land. All the hue and cry that they are not above the society is all fine. The question is not about them making public their assets but the amount of importance attributed to it. With the selection process of the Supreme Court judges itself not aligned with the constitution, one cannot be 100% sure about the worthiness and integrity of judges. Declaration of assets in these circumstances will result in better earnings for those "intelligent" accountants. How will this be different from declarations of personal assets and election expenditure by our politicians?

A reservation of 50% for women at all levels in panchayatraj is laudable step. But cant we ensure women's presence in political scenario in a much better and fruitful manner. On what grounds is it logical that one particular village should be represented only by a woman and not by any body else who could be more capable? Instead of reserving the seat, it would be wise to have political parties field minimum percentage of women candidates in any of the constituencies. Such a step would not be taken for the obvious reason that winning seats is more important than empowering women for any of the political parties. Also it is a widely acknowledged fact that many women representatives ( especially in rural areas ) are puppets in the hands of their husbands. Empowering weaker sections of the society is a must, but something else has got higher priority. That is electing capable individuals with integrity no matter what their gender or caste or religion is. Because without ensuring the latter, former will always remain a dream.

Another hot topic these days is the test results of Pokhran-II. Whatever might be the yield 15kt or 50kt, it will cause immeasurable damage which would be much higher than what was seen in Hiroshima. So China or for that matter any other country is so dumb to discard the nuclear potential of India. In the age of de-nuclearization, debate about the new tests or assessing the yield again is obsolete.

A recent government decision to issue ads in newspapers which portray the naxal menace and causalities they inflict, proves our skewed approach once again. Today the educated populace of this country is more than convinced that naxalism is anti-social and should be treated with an iron fist. Gone are the days when naxal recruits comprised of intelligentsia. It is the discarded, under privileged, destitute sections of society who in their disgust are fighting for the movement. So what is the point in wasting taxpayer's money on ads?

Pride and Honour

One the most honourable end one can possibly achieve- die fighting for tickets of new Telugu movie. It should be a matter of pride that one is a part of such society.

What a great honour to die crusading for a movie tickets of favourite star.. no no demigod. This is what purpose of life means. The intelligentsia will never understand the adrenalin rush. Its a pity that they name it senseless, immature . Family, education, life itself .... a fitting tribute to all these. We have raised the standards. Now the movie's success will not be judged by its collections, hundred day centres, but by the count of the martyrs.

Producers and "Heroes"... poor people what can they do. Production costs and remunerations are skyrocketing. Is it sin to create hype. To compensate costs one has no option but to lobby for higher ticket prices. Netas and Babus .. they take their share but never co operate well. Even in such dire situations they pay ex-Gracia out of their own pockets. Government needs to do somehing about the deaths.

Now don't argue.It is outrageous, preposterous to ask fans to wait. How can anybody,.. even a "Hero" request his followers to restrain from watching the movie on the first day. It is denial of a fundamental right.

It is Distributors who bid high for the movie, there is always competition for quality. So obviously theater owners get the boxes at the premium prices. Now to get their share of returns, they are help less but to sell black tickets. Do you think this is easy, not at all. Manage police, fans associations, chota mota galli leaders.

Yeah they were mere unfortunate incidents, who can predict a stampede or an accidental electrocute. Yes yes bade bade deshon mein aise chote chote baatein hote rahte hain.

Idiosyncrasies of power shifts

Who is the next leader for Congress(I) ?--- Rahul Gandhi. A school going kid would have answered that. On the other hand many are scratching their heads trying to guess who could be the next after Advani in BJP. The electoral defeat and the ongoing internal differences in BJP have dented the ground of the party but it was back from the brink surviving such situations in the past. The fight for the future top position also hints a different point altogether.

When it comes to power transfer in political parties family is the best option. It is an established fact that in family run parties, an outsider can never aim for the top spot. On the other side in other parties transfer of power is neither smooth nor planned, mostly.

Is there any one who could be considered a future alternative for AIADMK after Jayalaitha. Murky feuds among its leaders marked Andhra Pradesh Congress for decades. Kanshiram to Mayavathi, MGR to Jaya could be considered as exceptions, but they are different for their own distinct reasons. It is imminent that parties like DMK, NCP etc would be led by Stalin, Supriya Sule, Abdullahs, Owaisis, and the list is ever increasing and endless like Hanuman's tail. Bingo that is the advantage with family, no confusion, great combination.

It is omnipresent, take Kennedys, Clintons, Bush clan in US of A, but we have championed it. After every election whatever might be the outcome they say, voters are intelligent and they can’t be fooled. We wishfully get fooled trying to choose a known exploiter to an unknown.