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Had a great experience at the vipassana dhamma center gorai.
Really excited at having uncluttered myself from the past / dreaming about the future now i know that the only time that i can act is this instant. hopefully the effect lasts.
Every day i live and see around me i feel the pain of lack of leadership, (i just read the eighth habit by stephen covey so i may sound delirious). lots of books have described leadership qualities and how to inculcate them or identify them. to my mind the most important are the ability to instill confidence , courage and values. bear with me while i explain.
Confidence is the ability to go forward, without this nothing can be done. a leader must instill confidence to the extent that the people whom he is leading are convinced and willingly see the leaders vision as achievable.
Courage is the ability to go forward even when the situation is not suitable, or the environment reacts unfavourably to the forward momentum. without courage the advantage of confidence is short lived.
Values is the ability to judge from within using a set of core principles. without values the confidence and courage will more likely generate momentum towards disaster.
in this context where are the leaders today ? our leader generate courage in the pack to do anything with confidence that they will get away, however the lacking thing is values.
do you remember the lynching of a company ceo by its workers? to my mind it is purely the lack of leadership that brought about the situation had the ceo been able to instill values into his company then perhaps this would have helped in averting the situation.
similar examples can be drawn from political events like mob attacks on inanimate and living objects.
why is it that the path to destroy will always inspire more followers than the path to creation ? the answer is that destruction takes very little time therefore little courage is required, the spark of leadership is enough. however creation is a long journey and needs a lot of courage and confidence this needs a leadership flame that can keep burning for a lot longer.
let us now take the every day examples that i face which brought me to write this article.
i saw some workers laying pavement dividers , they were moving the heavy blocks by hand. if there was a leader in the industry then he would definitely have thought of better faster and cheaper(less time consuming) ways to get this done. why because the more time it takes the more it costs not just in absolute cost for the job but also in terms of inconvenience to the users of the facility. invariably the existing facility is also destroyed so the hardship is double during the building period.
now multiply that with everything that is going on around you, see how many projects are under execution at the current point in time and you will know the amount of agony that users (citizens ) are suffering.
a leader would have judged the value in creating convenience and would have planned it.
the flyover in peddar road was rightly blocked by residents, you cannot create something by destroying without a backup plan.
while mumbai is busy creating roads for the millions of cars , what about the pavements ? no one is thinking about them. i work at a place 10km from my house and have found that walking is the best form of transport in the current situation.
however there is no pavement on a large stratch of the road, and where there is a pavement there are wires dangling from electric poles or manholes without covers.
is there anyone responsible for supervising(not governing) the city ? you cannot expect ordinary citizens to be supervisors all the time. even if they notice it the procedure to report is unknown or cumbersome.
Packed busses are stuck on roads due to traffic generated by hundreds of cars with a single occupant. the cost in petrol and diesel alone would be more than the cost of putting 200 % extra busses on the road and banning single occupant cars from the roads.
now look around you and see the state of affairs in every single department that is handled by the leaders of india. every thing is done with an objective to ensure that voter recall is there.
they plan only for the next election not for the future of india.
While we wait to welcome a leader with the above qualities, time is passing and will not reverse.
i suggest we at least begin with ourselves, let us inculcate values into our life with courage and confidence.
let us be at least the leader in our life for ourself. stop yourself from taking shortcuts that destroy values. i know that it is difficult to take a stand when you are in the middle of a crowd that is moving, simply because you will be taken for a fool or foolhardy.
it is time for a leadership movement called “Take a stand”
A hundred times every day I remind myself that my inner and outer life are based on the labors of other men, living and dead, and that I must exert myself in order to give in the same measure as I have received and am still receiving…
Read the Essay here
Voting is over, as a voter my job is done right ? now all those who will get elected will start negotiating for power and money..
in the past one month we have seen how the colors of the politicians change after the vote is cast. does india have to suffer at the hands of these jokers forever?
all those who come to power in this fashion have everything to loose by changing the system. and the only people who can change the system is they themselves.
There must be some solution to this conundrum. one thing that comes to my mind is why have parties at all ?, just have candidates and they can then form a party or elect a prime minister among themselves. this means educating them on the science of working together as a team. if the purpose for getting elected is to get the right to enact laws then how can we allow people ignorant of the current law to be law makers?. i agree that they bring the first hand issues from the people into the parliament. but of what use is raising an issue without having a mechanism/ will or resources to address the issue.
hope some one picks up on this.
Found as a category on imint website,
Yeah the way things are going there will only be rage , the roads will be gone.
yesterday was ambedkar jayanti , a great man no doubt. however his followers took to the streets with a vengeance and blocked traffic like it was thier birthright and the streets were leased to the vehicles and yesterday the lease expired…..
why cant we have community grounds where people can sing and dance to thier hearts content without blocking traffic ?. just suppose there is an emergency and an ambulance needs to pass. bad luck dude please die and go meet the man himself.
yesterday was just one of the many days on which we take out processions and take to the streets like a flock of ants gone wild. our gods , demi gods and leaders would like to believe that if they are successful in getting the people on the streets thier status is preserved. the bigger the jam the better.
lets assume that tommorow i decide to start a street circus right on the middle of a busy intersection, if a sufficient number of idiots gather around me then i am sure that no one will object to my antics causing hardship to the primary users of the road.
so what is the law of the land? if enough people break it then you are entitled (may be not eligible) to follow suit.
After i reached home in two hours on a route that usually takes 45 minutes( the distance is just 10 km ) i saw the speech of president obama. what a stark contrast to our leaders.
is there a way by which a group of like minded people could create an island of sanity inside this chaos called india ?? may be just a small city town or village, i would love to live there. if anyone knows such a place please let me know
Within the next two months a billion people will participate in the worlds biggest opinion poll ( the indian election) each opinion so different that the ultimate result is a fragmented car with the hood from some party , the engine from another even the nuts on the wheels have a commanding voice over the driver. this is good since democracy is all about diversity.
with all this its amazing how anything gets done in india, thanks for the few good men who keep the destination in focus and push the car now and then.
I dare the elected representatives to act on this list of taboos that would get india moving but would surely mean political suicide.
1. Remove Reservations
Reservations are the bread and butter of the politician, and a slow poison for india. what are we as a nation trying to prove by reservations ? that we have an oppressed class which needs to be looked after instead of helping them get on thier feet and joining the mainstream we are creating fragments among the people. we blamed the british on divide and rule policy but it seems that our politicians have mastered the art.
2. Common civil code.
This is a single country with a single constitution every citizen has equal rights and duties. then what is the purpose of having personal laws , hindu or muslim or christian ??? we can tolerate and practice any religion but should we not have a common law that allows society to bind rather than get divided. Again a sure way to commit political suicide.
3. Ensure Speedy justice.
This will drain the politician of his resources (funds and antisocial elements) however the resulting society will be free and law abiding. how many of the current bunch of candidates can hope to get elected without thier henchmen bullying or enticing the poor and greedy millions with free slums, illicit liqour and other evils?
4. Educate the masses.
Currently a majority of the people in india just think that if rice is provided at two rupees then the government is good and beneficial. how many know that this very subsidy could be used to educate them with skills that would enable them to earn enough so that they can lead a good life ??
Any government that doles out sops just to satiate its voters at the cost of the country will never want to educate its people.
5. Health Care for everyone.
No i dont just mean providing medical care, but complete health care with stress free lives, recreational facilities for all and not just the rich who can afford clubs. Building commercial centers is fine but can we not make them fulfill the recreational needs of the large population.
i doubt if those in power will dare to cut into the sources for their funds.
6.Basic infrastructure.
Power, Entire india is hungry for power ( i mean electric power) and what do our politicians do, give free power to the rich farmers, i am sure every farmer will be happy to pay if they are asssured that they can have power when they need it most. See number 4 to understand why they want us starved. a starving man will do anything for a few sops.
This list could go on. and i can do nothing about it except vote. and hope that the few good men will eventually push the car into the right direction with enough momentum to carry on.
And Yes I will Vote to keep my hope alive…..
my friends and i were having a philosophical discussion about the greater meaning of life, i was thinking why i was stuck in life and not moving ahead. here is the insight that struck me. my needs were binding me to my present situation, then i got to asking myself can i cut down on my needs ? to cut down in me needs i tried to figure out why i needed them in the first place,thats when i had a beautiful insight that i wish to share with all.
1. Why do we need to live ?
2.What do we need to live ?
answer the first question and the answer to the second will be easier to manage.
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