International Literacy Day

Apart from birth date of famous persona like Asha Boshle and Wiz Khalif and apart from being celebrated as victory day in Pakistan, this day has its own meaning. It is also celebrated as literacy day. It will not come as a surprise if this reminder may have slipped out of your mind. September 8 is a special day. In fact it has been a special day since 1966 when it was first celebrated. The moment was November 17, 1965 when finally September 8 was decided to be celebrated as International Literacy day by UNESCO. The memories may have faded, but the power of that magical moment must never be forgotten. And from then we have never looked back. The world’s illiteracy halved between 1970 and 2005.

“Literacy is a key driver for sustainable development” This is what unesco.org states apart from ‘Literacy and Sustainable Societies’ being the theme of this year’s literacy day. But why education and literacy? That is one of the basic question that may dart across your lobes.  There are other factors that have the capabilities and possibilities to be the key driver for sustainability. But the world insists on eradicating illiteracy; It has an edge over other world’s problem like poverty, gender inequality etc. Gandhiji believed that mass illiteracy is India’s sin and shame and must be liquidated. “Literacy could be ladder out of poverty and Literacy is a bridge from misery to hope” The former statement was said by Morgan Freeman while Kofi Anan concluded the latter one.  However the essence and instinct of both sayings halt to a basic intuition and that is the importance of the literacy and education.

India is a young nation and will be younger by 2020. Let me support mine argument with facts and figure. By 2020, the average age in Japan is going to be 47; China will be heading well past 40; Europe 46; United States will also pass 40 and India's average age is going to be 29. So we are potentially the people who are youthful, productive, dynamic, young population, ready to work, and transform the world, the kinds of role that, say, China played in the last generation could be ours in the next. But do we have the ability to equip the people to take advantage of this, to be the workforce of the work engine for the world? We have come a long way. The Britishers had left us in 1947 with 12% literacy rate and today we have moved to 75% (2011 data).  And the leaders of our nation must be applauded for the same but it’s not the time to relax.  We have to go miles. Eradicating illiteracy is not only ‘sarkari netas’ problem. It’s our fundamental duty too to contribute to our society. Our society is the mirror of our contemporary era. You may love your people and you may hate too. You may criticize your people and you may praise them. But you can never ignore them. We need to step out and scream our voice loud for the same. Help the local NGOs which are already fighting for the same cause. Help your society. This society has always matters to you a lot. Its time when you could matter to them.

Gift a book. After all a book is a gift that you can open again and again.

The man who has no inner life is a slave to his surroundings

When I heard about the topic, the first thing that came in my mind was to Google it. I hadn’t heard about the same in years. And then after googling it I finally came to know that this is a quote from the Swiss philosopher Henri-Frédéric Amiel. So does this quote matters? Can you relate yourself with the topic? Are you living your life with passion? I don’t know myself. And do I have enough credentials to talk on a certain topic about which I, myself don’t know where do I stand.

When people grow, the basic and the most inevitable thing that they begin to do is to think. They begin to think about their surroundings. They begin to think about their parents. They begin to think about the people who care for them and somehow and somewhere they begin to think about themselves.  They begin to mould their dreams and then they begin to choose their role models. They begin to search for someone to whom they could relate to and someone to whom they could look up to. But somehow down the line they stop being themselves. They begin to supress their inner voice for someone else’s voice. They begin to compromise and finally they don’t realise themselves when they become a slave of their surroundings.

The most basic question that haunts anybody from his/her very tender age is the question about his ambition. ‘What you want to become in your life?’ And whatever may be your answer, the essence of each and every answer halts to a very basic intuition and that is success. I want to be successful and you too want to be successful. In fact every other guy in this world wants to be successful; even those guys who don’t know the proper pronunciation and enunciation of the word ‘success’ wants and quests for the same. But still few guys make it to the greener side. Why? In fact I don’t know myself. Have you ever searched ‘success’ on Google. Believe me; they have 1,07,00,00,000 search results for the same. And now search for ‘hard work’. And guess what? They do have 55, 80, 00,000 results for that. The numbers have not been manipulated or exaggerated. Do you see the difference?  Hard work is the first step of the ladder of success. Hard work is tough.  It’s not easy. It if had been easy every guy would have been done it. But still we couldn’t make it. The real problem is that, we live in a world where fishes are taught to climb the tree. And the amusing part is that we have begun to enjoy the same. We too have joined the same league. We don’t allow ourselves to hear our heart. When you have a dream, it doesn’t often come out screaming in your face. Dreams always come behind you and doesn’t come in the middle of our eyes. Dreams do whisper and never shouts. It’s very hard to hear. And you have to act for that thing that merely whispers in your ears and rarely shouts. You have to make a declaration and you have to go all out for the same. You don’t need to survive. You need to live. You must choose a profession that satisfies you. The only way to do that is to do what you believe is a great work and the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking and don’t settle. But in reality, guys do give up their dreams. They begin to fake themselves and mostly they fail down their journey. They start looking for someone to blame, so that they could pile up all the bitter and wrong-doings on someone else’s back. Life ain’t sunshine and rainbows. It’s a very mean and nasty place and it will hit you straight in the middle of your mouth. It’s going to paralyse you and will beat it to your knees, if you let it. But in spite of all those beatings, we need to keep moving and doing things that are considered out of the box. The moment you say ‘no’ to your inner voice, you push you dream for further weeks, for further months and even for years. The last chapter of your life hasn’t been written yet. And it doesn’t matter what happened yesterday. What matters is what you are going to do about that. You could both fall back and join the league or either stand back and throw a hell of a jab. Your time is limited. So don’t waste it living others life. Do you remember what you did on 15^th August, 2015? The moment when you were enjoying the independence of our nation, millions of guys out there were working hard for the reliability and sustainability of our nation. The Sensex surged 3.05 % and the companies became million more valuable. For you it was a day to enjoy but for others it was just another day. They all were working hard. They all were listening to their inner voice. They all were doing what they love and believe is a great work. And somehow at the same time you and I were gossiping, were talking ill about others and were doing unfruitful work.

We need to believe in ourselves and we need to hear our inner voice. That’s pure probability. Either you win or lose. But the probability of failure is 100 % when you don’t even attempt. Make a choice. Just decide, who you goanna be, how are going to do it.  People are rewarded in public for what they do for years in private. Live your life with your passion. You need to step out of your comfortable zone and work like a hell. You need to act. 
And remember that you can’t climb the ladder of success with hands in your pocket. 

Independence Day Special

It was 15th august 1947 and Pt. Nehru said, "Long years ago we made a tryst with destiny, and now the time comes when we shall redeem our pledge, not wholly or in full measure, but very substantially. At the stroke of the midnight hour, when the world sleeps, India will awake to life and freedom. A moment comes, which comes but rarely in history, when we step out from the old to the new, when an age ends, and when the soul of a nation, long suppressed, finds utterance......”  The memories of the 1st Independence Day may have faded, but the power of that magical moment must never be forgotten. India became independent and it was an effort of many nationalist leaders. Freedom gave us hope, independence gave us courage, democracy gave us rights and responsibilities; nation-building defined our charter.

India has always been great because of its diversity. You can be a good Keralite, a good Muslim and a good Indian, all at once. We are what we are because we have the right to be who we are. As Shashi tharoor says," If America is a melting pot, then to me India is a thali, a collection of sumptuous dishes in different bowls. Each may not mix with the next, but combine on your plate to produce a satisfying repast ". For a long time America  had its Latin motto ' E Pluribus unum ' - out of many one . If India had a similar Latin motto then it would be 'E Pluribus Pluribum' - out of many, many.

But still being so rich in ancient history and civilization there are some loop holes and we have to work collectively to make India a superpower of 21st century. India is not an underdeveloped country.

India is not as people keep calling it an underdeveloped country, but rather in the context of its history and cultural heritage, a highly developed one in an advanced state of decay. Our situation is just like half-filled glass of water. For an optimist it is half-full and for pessimist it is half empty .We can't pretend more that we don't have problems. We are having problems and we have to uproot them from very core level. There is an environment of dissent in our country and dissent is like Gurkha 'khukuri' ,once it emerges from its sheath it must draw blood before it can be put away again . I don’t want you to bombard the streets with placards. I don’t want you to do the dharna. I just want to tell you that doing such things doesn’t make you a good patriot. You are better one and you deserve best. Picking up a sweet wrapper and throwing it into dustbin, asking for a bill when you purchase any product: these are some basic things that you can do. These are the things that you should do.

India is a developing country and we Indians have to be optimist. Grass is always greener on the other side of the fence and now it’s time to make grasses greener on our side of the fence. It will take time. Rome was not built in a day. We will wait and so are waiting billions of Indian hearts full of wishes, desires and patience.

Freedom isn’t free at all. It comes with the highest of costs. The cost of blood. Blood of martyrs and fighters that were drained away. And now after years of independence, we take our democracy for granted. We often forget that it was leaders like Nehru and Patel who ensured that this newly formed state may not get into the hands of any dictator. Their respect for the democratic conventions and institutions ensured our democracy and we need to sustain that. I just want to tell you that next time when you post a page long article on social networking sites questioning about your fundamental rights, do ensure that you may give a thought to your fundamental duties too. I know that these things are not going to raise your CPI or SPI just like inflation. I know that these things are not going to save your broken relationship. But somehow it matters. I know it’s late. But you have heard the saying. ‘Better late than never’. India has always mattered to you, to us and to everyone. Its time when we could matter to her.