Whats wrong..

This topic has been running around my mind for some time now, so just thought of posting it. I have never been good in essay writing or any such literary matters as a matter of fact. But I always have points,and this is gonna be disorganized..but I do hope to reduce its effects.On to the field now..

I have been thinking about America and its influence on the world economy,politics,science and most importantly on the minds of each and every individual of the so called third world. What gives it the image of Mr.Invincible, even though a peek into its history would reveal lots of flaws and even now there are lots of deep flaws in its systems(ok residents of glass houses shouldn't pelt stones at others).

What gives them the infinite power to get things done,to move on in any field,unlike in our country where every project comes to a standstill days within making a decision? Ok, these questions lead to thousands of reasons and points of accusations and discussions.But I want to examine a few points that arrived at via some particular route. Let me unfold those as clearly and coherently as possible..

My thoughts emanated from a brief overview of what each major country was renowned for(1900 onwards). It was in this stream of thoughts that I came upon this block and strange connection of America to India. As most of you know, the Germans were known for their machinery and perfectionism, the Brits for naval supremacy and economy, America for the oil and many other rare materials found only in that continent..etc etc. In addition to these, all the countries were colonial in nature, having colonies at far fetched places, earning them military power and revenue. In a single peek, we can say the World War weakened every colonial country and practically brought colonialism to its end,but not USA. It started becoming a major player in world politics from then.

India, being a colony at that time, didn't have enough strength to free itself become a global player. But,I feel that India, with all that we had then could have made a huge uprising and routed out all weakened colonial fools and changed the course of the world. Though there are many logical and valid reasons that prevented such a course of action, lets examine closely. This is where I make my point..and its significance is at the peak in current times. Lack of unity, fueled by regionalism,communalism and petty issues is what had originally led to the colonization of India..and is still the issues plaguing our progress and allowing the USA to retain the spot we could have had.

Consider the rich and developed nations of the world, all except USA and India have fairly homogeneous population in terms of race,colour,caste,religion,language and culture. A few exceptions do exist,but the magnitude of variety is highest in India, followed by the USA. USA, being a fairly new country, and home to immigrants draws its strength in all fields from its multicultural population. On the other hand, the same variety is what hampers all kind of progress in our country.Why is that?

I would say, our sense of nationality and attachment to our different cultural,lingual, regional and communal identities all together make us such dumb fools, incapable of thinking and acting straight. In my point of view, the Americans don't have much of a sense of unity, but then don't have any objection to the presence and progress of others. They seem to be just motivated by the profit motive.
Lately, that has been proved wrong as America is slipping in power and respect. How many Americans care if something happens in their neighbouring state?

EDIT:The above text was typed up in 2009 June and kept in draft as I was sure it was a biased and half correct view of things. But I am publishing it nonetheless as I neither intend to keep it in my dry dock nor just delete such a valid set of ideas.
Off late I hate the vested interest groups that run the things in USA and India as well. And such agencies are working all over the world, spewing out lies to the people who end up just gobbling up those, without getting to taste the nectar of truth(though truth is much more harsher than the lies in most cases).

Anyway I am not qualified in any sense to make authoritative claims regarding policies and operations of Governments, societies and cultures. I am just another speck in the desert. Adios amigos..

What are you to your nation

This question is quite difficult to answer, especially in a developing nation like India. It is funny and sad at the same time to think that our nation, blessed with huge natural wealth , near perfect strategic location and abundance of talent is still in the "developing" category.

Is our entire nation really in the same category of developing, or is it just a brand chosen by the top brass?

I feel, that India has a huge section of undeveloped population, a sizable community of developing and a relatively rare developed population. The undeveloped population can be found in the slums of small and large cities, the far flung and remote villages, islands and other inhospitable locations. And the seemingly majority of developing population is found in the well-to-do villages, towns and everywhere in the cities - large and small. Referred to as the 'Common Man', by both media and politicians alike, this community is the reflection of the general condition of the nation. Or so it is purported.

Now, what about the developed class? Who are they? Where are they? How much does one get to hear and see about them in the media? Very less, or rather just enough to position themselves suitably yet keeping the shady parts away. No, I don't mean that all rich and well-to-do business tycoons and politicians are goons in reality who earn their money in illegal methods. I just want to point out that, this class of people have more matters hidden than exposed, even from the law of the land.

Coming to the point, if you, the reader,belonging to any of the classes mentioned above, have ever had the same question in your mind as raised by me in the title of this article, can connect faster. But if it is new you, then start thinking now.

For this nation of a 100 billion plus, doesn't care much about you , an individual. That statement has to be taken with a pinch of salt though. If you are not well off, don't have political connections, or don't have the will power and shrewdness to prove your point in this big crowd, no one will turn their attention on you. If the entire nation is deaf, it will take quite big a bang to make them listen to you.

As a kid, I had wished to a policeman. It was not with a sense of duty of that role, but motivated by the power of policemen to bully and beat up anyone. Later on, the armed services took its place, bringing in honour, servitude and calm sense of duty in place of plain power. Though I am not shrewd enough to handle the running of the government of this nation, and haven't thought through ways to eradicate issues like nepotism and corruption , rampant in our nation, I do feel that as an individual, if I strive to maintain my sense of duty and spread the attitude to those around me, my part would be half done.

This article is part of a HUGE thought process, and hence might seem confusing and broken to some. You can see various parts of this popping up sometime later. Till then, sayanora.

(Nowadays, I am into the practice of writing articles which don't have conclusions. The intention behind it is to instigate the same thought process as mine, into the readers's minds and engage them in an intellectually interactive manner. Hope you enjoy.)

A nation burning...

The news is everywhere...all know...the facts...not going into it..

Eyes burn and heart bleeds,watching the live coverage on TV on the Mumbai attacks(I would rather term it 'war' or 'siege').I announce here in my blog,where I get to post my views that matter to me:I really feel now that my nation is burning in all sense.

Terrorist attacks,fidayeen,blasts have always occurred in northern parts of India,for quite a long time now.J&K related stuff is almost like daily news,and with the growing media coverage the ones in cities and metros are also given lot of limelight(though only when it is hot news,not later on ..like investigation etc...clearly indicating the TRP as goal).This year itself,there has been numerous blasts ,killing many people and also this time the south coming under the scanner with the emergence of the group called Indian Mujahideen,which is believed to have networks in Kerala(thats chilling,but compared to an average Kashmiri,Naga,Assamese,Mumbaikar or Delhiite,it is nothing).

But what makes the current situation different and scary,is not a single reason,but many of them.First of it being the very idea of fully armed men freely attacking important public places of the top metro of the country(also the financial capital+a city used to attacks).I cannot express the shock I felt when I came to know of the proper situation by late evening of 27th.These men clearly looked like highly trained(and I mean highly and thoroughly,unlike the shabby terrorists usually shown in TV) personnel,using the perfect amount of arms,provisions and environmental facilities to conduct such an operation.Their modus operandi is quite unknown to the media used to covering incidents and the local police force as well.The moment I saw the images of those guys caught in CCTVs, what raced through my mind was images on commando operations and hostage standouts that are seen in foreign countries and which I have seen in some video games(believe me,they make it as real as possible that some are used for training combat soldiers).I could imagine the risk and threat these guys posed,and I really felt horrified on realizing that the nation has come to such a situation.

The intensity with which the security forces were resisted and the strategies employed by these guys,just strengthened my hunch that this was not going to end soon,unless something dramatic happened.But nothing like that happened,possibly owing to the sensitive and soft civilian targets that were chosen.Another fact that was brought to light by the media nearly made me fall from my seat.The route of the terrorists being through the sea was something I didn't expect to happen,at least not directly into a huge city like Mumbai,with strong coastal patrolling plus the naval base being located there.

Among several important things to note here are these:
--Scale of infiltration
--Precise co-ordination between attackers
--Almost perfect choice of targets
--Armed to the teeth with modern weaponry
--Tactics to confuse media and/or security forces to strike fear and confusion

This is being termed as 'India's 9/11'.Truly,this is what it seems like.It deserves that label owing to the scale and intensity with which the attacks have been carried out.It has shaken the very sense of security of each Indian citizen.I congratulate the NSG commandos for taking up the tough task head on and slowly but surely cleaning up the conflict zones(who would have imagined calling the five star hotels of Mumbai conflict zones).After the dust clears,all lot of heads will roll.Politicians will soon be back into doing their duty of pointing fingers and giving token speeches.But there needs a proper understanding among the people and the administration as well,all over the country on what steps should be taken to avoid such a situation in the future,and in case it happens,how to smoothly handle the situation.

Hope the situation in Mumbai clears as soon as possible without further heavy damages(I fear that the last standing guy could do something desperately).The lives of thousands of people will be transformed due to this event.Many have lost their kin,friends and suffered losses which may never be recovered.Let's pray for the departed souls and try our best to stand by those in grieving.Let's not waste our time and energy in pointing fingers or speculating.The world watches,as the emerging power of the world struggles to handle the situation.The mark of a strong nation are strong-willed people who share each other's happiness and sorrow.

May my nation stand tall in all kinds of crisis, and its people find the heart to live on ,learning from the experiences....