Why Things Don't Change for the Better

 We live in a world where power is concentrated in the hands of a few- monarchies were a good example. Now, many countries have democracy. But the common man/woman has very little say in governance priorities, once elections are over. 

For instance, potholes on our roads. Many governments later, the Indian roads are full of them. The nexus between the builders of these, and the ones who award contracts and monitor quality (?) is strong and unbreakable.

Policies that encourage people or institutions to do their best should be a given. Yet, we have regulations that stifle, rather than encourage. Perhaps the quintessential Babu or bureaucrat is to be blamed for some of these.

But as members of society, civic sense is also a culprit why we have a lot of filth on the roads, or in public spaces. Or why we don't come on time anywhere, or why we don't do our job as well as we could/should.

Multiple reasons, therefore, why things remain as they are. Mobile phones and technology gives you an illusion that they are better, but are they, really? It's a moot point. 

A sense of humour does help one survive, though. Nurture that..

Purush- A play in Marathi

 Written by Jaywant Dalvi, a revival of this play is on in Pune.

A powerful indictment of the way a woman is treated in our society by the powerful patriarchy. It has a lot of messages about politics, corruption in public life, the susceptible judiciary, and so on.

The story unfolds through an upright social worker, whose daughter is in love with a low caste revolutionary. But when push comes to shove, he and most others turn their back on her. Desperate for revenge and to teach a powerful man a lesson, she takes the law into her own hands, after the justice system fails her.

A lot of twists in the plot and good dialogue, acting keep you engrossed. It's a social statement within a play. Actors including Spruha Joshi playing the young girl excel.

Forecasting in Life

The ability to forecast is interesting. It can also be scary. If you knew what would happen to everyone around you accurately, you may be scared to tell them. If you knew what would happen to you, you might be even more so. Ignorance is bliss, in a way.

But more than clairvoyance, it takes observation and experience to make reasonably good predictions about our actions and their consequences, I think. For example, it requires no genius to figure that if you study well, you will do well on an exam. Or that sooner or later, the electorate will get fed up with the party in power and throw it out (in a democracy). That a husband and wife will quarrel. That a marriage will produce kids (in spite of the above quarrels). That a woman will do the household work (at least for another century in India).

Further, that 90% of the celebrity gurus will one day get caught in a scam or a fraud. Actually, make that celebrities and people in positions of power (political, economic or other kinds). The good ones may never (want to) be celebrities. That people will Copy and Paste if they can get away with it. That handwriting is a vanishing art ( I am reading a book about this, more on that later).

That lawyers, to survive, need someone to fight a case against someone else. Judges, ditto. Dentists would be out of work if everyone maintained discipline in eating and drinking habits. Coke would fold up if Americans (and their ad agency) did not exist. Potato production would drop if Germans did not exist. Or, that Abhishek B. will never learn to act. Nor will Arnab learn to listen.

And finally, that I would stop writing this blog if I was the only one reading it. 

Blackouts

India was shaken by two blackouts on Monday and Tuesday (today is Wednesday). This was aimed at making us spiritual, and bringing us closer to nature. And to make us watch less TV- sorry, all the creative people at the TV channels! If India were winning medals at all the Olympic events, it might have been a different story!

We are too dependent on the material world, and not spiritual enough. Once the lights are off, it is easier to meditate. Also, we have a pool of arrogant (electrical) engineers who think they know what they are doing. They now know what they don't know. How to Manage a Grid. So now we can sue the colleges that gave them a degree and recover all our lost GDP.

How's that for a quick solution to multiple problems?

Coal, Telangana and the "Power" crisis

Half the country is struggling coz apparently, the coal got wet. Also, the AP govt. undertaking, Singareni Collieries, is on strike. There seem to be two 'power' struggles going on here. One for the yet-to-be formed state of Telangana, and in particular, the Nizam crown jewel, Hyderabad (do I hear the Nizam laughing?) Apparently intractable problem, making Kashmir and Palestine look like a 3 year old's jigsaw puzzle by comparison. What's so intractable about it, I am still not too sure. Maybe the next committee will tell us.

The other struggle is far more interesting, and I believe, presents us with a great opportunity. Why not go all out for renewable energy sources, now that we know what the future looks like- BLACK, or dark, if you prefer, if we continue depending on coal and oil. Actually, the U.S. and Greece could start doing this research too, to bring them out of debts/bankruptcies, etc..might be good for everyone.