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1. Went on a trek to Rajmachi. Enjoyed it.
2. Finished Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.
3. Finally learnt swimming. Can now swim without the annoying "red-cap" on my head. :-)
Wednesday 2 July 2003
Do you think Policians are doing their job properly? If not what reforms do you seek from them?Hmmm.. makes an interesting topic. Alas! a straightforward one and absolutely worthless if put in a debate. Politicians, here or anywhere, have never won the satisfaction of the people they govern.
So, do I think they are doing their job properly? The answer to that has been, is and will be NO. Also, let us understand what constitues a politician's job. The answer to this can be either subjective or objectively given. Let us explore each of those aspects one by one.
Subjective: A person comes to me and says, "Hey there! I am Tam, you are a Tam too. I am an Iyer, you are an Iyer too. I am a Hindu, you are a Hindu too. We have always been neglected by the government.These blah blah.. rules are against our interests. VOTE FOR ME. I will ensure we people get JUSTICE."
Another one comes and says, "Hey there! I am a fellow citizen of this country. I see there were so many poor people living in the slums. I want to bring their standard of living up. I want to provide them proper shelter and food. I want to give employment to the unemployed. Btw, I do not have any specific agenda for any specific community."
And I think.. boy! the first person is doing so much for me. What the hell do I care for those people living in the slums. If I am able to get the blah blah.. laws twisted in my favour, me and my children can lead a better life in the society. Let me vote for him/her. The first candidate gets elected, does whatever he had promised to me to ensure that my loyalty to his party does not digress in the next election. The poor are left where they are. I am happy and I do not care if the candidate, in the meantime, has creamed off some of the government money.
To me, the politician works just fine and as long as he is in power, I am happy.
Objective: This is an extremely difficult answer to give. "It is impossible to keep everyone happy all the time". To understand and appreciate what constitutes true progress of our society, even if some of our own individual benefits are hurt in the process, takes a lot more than just literacy or awareness. To me, society is like a huge team where we all are playing a part to take the team ahead. Team-work is the key here. Anyone who gets individualistic hampers the working of the entire team.A few things that an average Indian lacks today are discipline, education (mind you, this is different from literacy), patience, self-esteem and contentment. Most of us carry a tendency to break rules especially when one is asked not to. Most of us are not educated enough to think rationally, scientifically and intelligently. We all want quick results, and will do anything to achieve it. This is evident in reckless driving that we all face on our chaotic roads, crowding at a ticket counter when a queue is mandatory, bribing officials to let our applications through the official machinery faster even though the machinery is fast enough etc.
Also prevalent is the tendency to foolishly and fanatically follow any individual or organization without analyzing their activites, falling at their feet and go on to cause trouble to others, if confronted. The great ancient Indian quality - Contentment is something that we no longer carry. We would still need the best shoes, the best car, the biggest TV, a big house, the best jewelleries, the best clothes etc. We support capitalism (which I equate to pure greed) that leads to exploitation of every available resource around us. But hey, who cares as long as I have all the materialistic pleasures in the world.
Without the above essential ingredients, it is impossible to even expect people to form a notion of what it takes to propel a nation forward. As long as an Indian looks at one's benefit and convenience before others', we will continue to elect politicians who will have self-centered outlook towards the people, soceity, their duties and towards the nation.
Hence, an objective answer to the question whether our politicians are doing their job properly is difficult.
To surmise, I can say politicians do what their people want. To take care of their self-interests. If tomorrow people were to wake up smarter, things would change. It is difficult, especially in a democratic setup, for a government to function against the wishes of its people. Politicians are selfish by nature. They would indeed even work for the welfare for the entire soceity and the country, IF ONLY THE PEOPLE WANT IT.
How do we improve the situation? Well, the initiation for this has to come out of us. We are the new generation. We have to improve ourselves, our outlook, our mindset. We have to think beyond ourselves and think for the country. Not only this, but also propagate this attitude in the next generations. Only then, would the situation improve. It will take some time, but it will definitely happen.
So, do I think they are doing their job properly? The answer to that has been, is and will be NO. Also, let us understand what constitues a politician's job. The answer to this can be either subjective or objectively given. Let us explore each of those aspects one by one.
Subjective: A person comes to me and says, "Hey there! I am Tam, you are a Tam too. I am an Iyer, you are an Iyer too. I am a Hindu, you are a Hindu too. We have always been neglected by the government.These blah blah.. rules are against our interests. VOTE FOR ME. I will ensure we people get JUSTICE."
Another one comes and says, "Hey there! I am a fellow citizen of this country. I see there were so many poor people living in the slums. I want to bring their standard of living up. I want to provide them proper shelter and food. I want to give employment to the unemployed. Btw, I do not have any specific agenda for any specific community."
And I think.. boy! the first person is doing so much for me. What the hell do I care for those people living in the slums. If I am able to get the blah blah.. laws twisted in my favour, me and my children can lead a better life in the society. Let me vote for him/her. The first candidate gets elected, does whatever he had promised to me to ensure that my loyalty to his party does not digress in the next election. The poor are left where they are. I am happy and I do not care if the candidate, in the meantime, has creamed off some of the government money.
To me, the politician works just fine and as long as he is in power, I am happy.
Objective: This is an extremely difficult answer to give. "It is impossible to keep everyone happy all the time". To understand and appreciate what constitutes true progress of our society, even if some of our own individual benefits are hurt in the process, takes a lot more than just literacy or awareness. To me, society is like a huge team where we all are playing a part to take the team ahead. Team-work is the key here. Anyone who gets individualistic hampers the working of the entire team.A few things that an average Indian lacks today are discipline, education (mind you, this is different from literacy), patience, self-esteem and contentment. Most of us carry a tendency to break rules especially when one is asked not to. Most of us are not educated enough to think rationally, scientifically and intelligently. We all want quick results, and will do anything to achieve it. This is evident in reckless driving that we all face on our chaotic roads, crowding at a ticket counter when a queue is mandatory, bribing officials to let our applications through the official machinery faster even though the machinery is fast enough etc.
Also prevalent is the tendency to foolishly and fanatically follow any individual or organization without analyzing their activites, falling at their feet and go on to cause trouble to others, if confronted. The great ancient Indian quality - Contentment is something that we no longer carry. We would still need the best shoes, the best car, the biggest TV, a big house, the best jewelleries, the best clothes etc. We support capitalism (which I equate to pure greed) that leads to exploitation of every available resource around us. But hey, who cares as long as I have all the materialistic pleasures in the world.
Without the above essential ingredients, it is impossible to even expect people to form a notion of what it takes to propel a nation forward. As long as an Indian looks at one's benefit and convenience before others', we will continue to elect politicians who will have self-centered outlook towards the people, soceity, their duties and towards the nation.
Hence, an objective answer to the question whether our politicians are doing their job properly is difficult.
To surmise, I can say politicians do what their people want. To take care of their self-interests. If tomorrow people were to wake up smarter, things would change. It is difficult, especially in a democratic setup, for a government to function against the wishes of its people. Politicians are selfish by nature. They would indeed even work for the welfare for the entire soceity and the country, IF ONLY THE PEOPLE WANT IT.
How do we improve the situation? Well, the initiation for this has to come out of us. We are the new generation. We have to improve ourselves, our outlook, our mindset. We have to think beyond ourselves and think for the country. Not only this, but also propagate this attitude in the next generations. Only then, would the situation improve. It will take some time, but it will definitely happen.
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