chennai is a mindscape.

i feel pretty good on knowing that the economic crisis has started to wrap up,i feel good because i had reasoned infront of many,many being educated men and women far much older than me,i had argued with a positive sense of perception that i can see april being the breakpoint.obviously,once the world economy ragains full fledged growth,india's recovery will be much faster and steeper than the rest of the world.and by the way,why is it that people always ignore the positive just because some eonomic news is negative.now as a matter of fact,what really makes me write now is a thought which struck my mind while having tea at 5 in the morning..

can development really be justified at the cost of our heritage..as a matter of fact,preserving our heritage is a significant step forward in developing our society,as opposed to developing a particular plot.yet some of india's top municipal authorities seem to think heritage gets in the way of development.to turn chennai into a city with smile,we need to go much beyond the fiscal framework.we,the people,want not just comfortable living and working conditions,but an enriching life in our leisure time,a surfeit of choices,night-life,day-life,options should be open all times.the attraction of a "great" city-new york,sydney,london,paris,san francisco and even new delhi lies in the fact that these choices exist.people dont have to adhere to particular regional languages or ancient customs,these cities are open to all and in everyway.

i would be glad to see chennai turning into he city which defines southern world,i say that,in full knowledge of the fact that this place has the potential-geographically(except climate) as well as economically,to be so. 

mainstream and the muslims.

One of the frequent opinions expressed in India is that ‘Muslims must join the mainstream’. It is seldom explained what ‘mainstream’ is though. Is it undiluted, constantly verifiable patriotism and blind loyalty to India? Hindus in their millions will not pass such a test or else we wouldn’t be having so much negative opinions expressed on India. Or is that one religion is mainstream and not others? If it were ‘common laws’ that will mean ‘mainstream’ , then how many sub sects of Hinduism will agree to join it? So defining what is ‘mainstream’ is riven with problems. 

But there is one mainstream about which no one will have a quarrel. It is ‘education’. As a perennial mainstream it can bear everyone to safe and rational havens. When a dominant rule ends people associated with it, lose their privileges and do become alienated. Anglo-Indians are a case in proof. Muslims too have felt disowned and stranded. They decided the ‘system’ was against them and withdrew into ghettos. It is a measure of India’s success as a democracy that Muslims have now identified ‘education’ as a beneficial mainstream. There is growing evidence for those who will care to look. 

Take Kashmir. You cannot but be struck by the facility with which even nominal graduates from there communicate while those from other states struggle. Kashmir’s educational institutions turn out numerous competent professionals. During the years of strife many Muslim parents sent their children to Bangalore, Pune and other cities so that their education was not impaired. It is another piece of sociology that their experiences in ‘India’ travelled back to Kashmir and convinced everyone where their best interests lay. Kerala of which a quarter are Muslims has the highest educational achievements in India. Again at least three of India’s knowledge companies --Wipro, Cipla and Wockhardt-- are led by highly educated Muslims. Not to mention of course, a certain gentleman named A P J Abdul Kalaam. 

Confirming this trend is a captivating story in the Hindu on Aug 22,2003. Jyoti Punwani writing on ‘Changing face of Pune Schools’ reports on the work of P A Inamdar who has turned the Anglo Urdu High School in Pune into an assembly line of high achievers. This year’s high school topper is Wajeda Karigar --a child of the slums who had to wake up at 4.30am to get some undisturbed peace for her studies. She is the ‘fifth in an unbroken line of Board toppers from the same institution’, of whom four were girls, three of whom wear burquas. They also stood first among all girls in Maharashtra. 

How does Inamdar do it? He urges Muslims to shed their persecution complex. He points out that in India one can overcome all odds as Ambedkar did to vault prejudice, persecution and poverty. He then goes about picking the promising ones and adds them to his Merit List, which then receives special coaching and encouragement. This might seem exlcusivist but remember he is trying to create success stories who will become role models. One of the success girls has persuaded her poor parents to turn down a marriage offer because she wants to graduate in medicine first. 

Inamdar has convinced Muslims that this education mainstream is a fair and equal home for all those arrive at it. He has proof that it is one stream that will merge all Indians: “teachers from RSS-run schools have not only come whenever invited, but have also taught his students diligently.” 

dear AS,

i have wanted to write since april 1st but a preoccupied mind cant work on many things at once.in the chimerical atmosphere of the sea shore here,it seemes to become far from clear where fact ends and fiction begins-or vice versa.i was hachuring,not to indicate the slopes in the shore but to try to figure out what the sea tells about my destiny,was trying to understand the language of nature(alchemist:paulo coelho).i was trying to fight on the behalf of my alter-ego about what really matters:against nescience,against inadvertance,against the supposition that anything is anything else.actually,that would be too much to write or express,much enough to the capability of my english diction for now,so i better leave it.

as it is,i have been spending money as if they were growing on trees and now when i feel poor , i come to the rescue of my best friend,this blog :).well i would like to be very frank,i just miss AS so much that for the last couple of weeks i have been talking to myself imagining her responding.she sill makes sense to me,everything about her is intact in thoughts,every seond,unswerving and absolute.if i had to answer a question,whom do i love the most-i would say:AS.if someone asks what is she? i would say life.and if asked,who is she,i would say love.beyond the impossibilities and the complications,i will love her forever.

now coming to a very interesting dinner we had(me and a friend of mine),it excites me.we had rabbit masala,oh yeah,i ate rabbit and he did too.we went to the ascendas in it highway here and were told that it tastes good,so we ordered and tried it.as a suggestion,i will say never try it:firstly,because rabbits are more beautiful when alive-actually everything is and secondly,they dont taste as good as a chicken does.

i have developed a fascination to come up with strange ideas and i see that all those around never reject any of them.so i am afraid,i might turn a proud guy soon,please interrupt me.will sleep for now,eyes are irritating and even i feel little soporific,perhaps because of the weather now.good night.