Liberty Bell

The word liberty assumes great importance in American society and almost in every democratic nation. Liberty bell is iconic symbol of American independence. Unfortunately the liberty that is provided by the constitution in some countries is and has been misused. America though declared independence on July 4^th 1776, the liberty was evasive for certain members of the society till the VRA, (nicknamed voting rights act) was passed on August 6^th 1965.

Philadelphia in the state of Pennsylvania was the place where the declaration of independence was signed by thirteen states that America had in 1776. In 1752 the bell was ordered to be casted to a firm in England with cast showing the words "Proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof."

 "Proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof."

This was more for religious freedom. The bell weighs over 2080 lbs is made from 70% copper. 20% tin and balance 5% contains lead, zinc, silver, gold, and arsenic. The bell was installed in Philadelphia in 1952 and got cracked when rung for the first time. The bell was recasted twice by two local craftsmen. The first attempt did not give the desired result but the second attempt was successful. The bell would be rung to summon lawmakers to legislative sessions and to alert citizens to public meetings and proclamations. The bell was rung on July 8^th 1776 to summon citizens for the first public reading of declaration of Independence. There are many versions, theories about when and how the bell got cracked. Some claim that small bores were kept to allow expansion, while others were critical about the alloy used. The most common story about the bell becoming unringable states that the bell rung for the last time in 1846 on Washington’s Birthday and never thereafter because of expansion of the crack.

Liberty Bell

The bell gained iconic importance after the abolitionists in order to put an end to slavery in America in 1830, adapted it as their symbol. Abolition of slavery was not the only aspect that was associated with Liberty and the symbol. There was denial of voting rights to women in America. Suffragist also adapted a replica of the bell for their agitation. Katherine Ruschenberger, a well known suffragist mentioned in March 1915 that “the original liberty bell announced creation of democracy; the Women’s Liberty Bell will announce the completion of democracy.” And this is how the bell became icon for liberty.

Independence Hall

The bell is owned by the city of Philadelphia and went round the country for expositions and patriotic gatherings. The last such journey of the bell was in 1915. The bell then after remained in the independence hall in Philadelphia. It was moved to glass pavilion in the Independence Mall in 1976. Now from 2003 onwards it’s stationed at Liberty Bell Center, close to earlier location.

 The bell attracts large number of visitors across the world. Many dignitaries have visited this monument. Nelson Mandela quoted, Quote: The Liberty Bell is "a very significant symbol for the entire democratic world." Unquote.

At times I wonder if the British would have allowed casting the bell in England, had they had slightest idea that the same bell would ring the end of their colonial era in America. And if India would ever need such a bell where Hinduism advocates universal brotherhood. Nineteenth century Americans have heard Swami Vivekand in Chicago (in 1893) about this.

Pseudo patriotism

Surge of seasonal patriotism is round the corner. It is created. I don’t see a natural surge. The question is why do we need to create such feeling? We live in a high context culture society and we need a celebrity or hero to ignite patriotic feelings. We remain dormant for most of the year but come January and August we get a booster dose to show the patriotism. The effects and side effects of this booster dose vary in different age groups, like Kal, Aaj aur Kal. We are divided in three categories. We have those who were born before the independence or born till mid-fifties. I dare not call them old. These are our senior citizens. This generation has seen a different India. Their expectations of present day India were so different. The present day ABC (Anarchy, Bureaucracy, Corruption) in governance is far different from dream that they cherished for India. This generation is the one that is most disappointed. They have lived their life with struggle. The Nehruvian socialism made them stand for hours in a queue for a kilogram of sugar or rotten wheat or adulterated rice. The politicians failed to deliver India the abundance. One had to go around Fountain in Mumbai or New Market in Kolkata or Burma Bazar in Chennai even to buy a smuggled blank audio cassette. One would have endless wait to get a scooter booked by depositing Rs.500 at the post office and pledging same in favour of the dealer. The generation grew old with hope for abundance. It Things improved, but it came with a price. Inflation, corruption and criminalization came hand in hand with the abundance. The sum total was the same. The generation paid a heavy price for what they had desired.

The second generation was born post republic till mid-seventies. This generation made best use of the situation and grabbed the opportunities. Some from this generation changed the definition of politics. Social service laced with political ideologies turned in to profession. The poisonous ivy of state reorganization on linguistic basis that was planted in Nehru era had grown. Differences between the communities started becoming more prominent. This generation made best use of this. They grabbed the opportunity and furthered the British policy of divide and rule. They acquired what they desired, not necessarily deserved. Looking at the opportunities some from the earlier generation also joined the bandwagon. Some of them even became mentors for the younger generation to guide them to loot the society and the government under the disguise of social work aka political activities. This generation was on a different platform. They never contributed for the freedom struggle; they got the freedom and poisonous ivy on a platter that resulted in greed and hatred. This generation saw abundance for themselves. The abundance was at the cost of sacrifice of values and morality. Some from this generation still rule the country and play dirty politics. Some make such statements that one feel as if they are the ministers of enemy nation. This is done just to please the vote bank. The systems and politics resulted in brain drain. India lost many talented people to the developed nations. Their aspirations could not be fulfilled by these selfish mediocre politicians and the systems that they developed and propagated.

Fragmentation of political ideologies and the parties, emergence of new political parties resulted in this generation. Political nudity was at its low and unfortunately this became the benchmark for the coming generations. Corruption took its root and politicians started turning shameless (there may be few exceptions). This was the era that started marketing patriotism twice a year regularly and frequently if needed. Celebrations during national holidays became rituals.

Now comes the third generation that I referred to. My heart goes with them. Struggle for the independence and post-independence era are only a text book matter for them. This generation has observed the second one. They saw the higher magnitudes of corruptions and scams. Scams that were of few crores were up at lacs of crores. Murders and rapes that were sporadic became routine. Respect for law that was high during the independence era and declined thereafter is almost extinct now. Now it looks like everyone is above the law, especially the politicians. There is a great deterioration of law and order. There is politics everywhere, be it suicide of a farmer, or rape of a minor, or even expressing respect for Hinduism.

This generation has been fortunate to see the technological changes, the advancement. The comforts that were elusive to earlier generations are within the reach of this young generation. Their priorities are different. Social structure has undergone change. Individualism is setting in. One has become self-centered. Owning a house was last wish that a first generation male. Today owning a house has become first priority for any male or female in the present generation. Mobiles, bikes, cars, overseas vacations and many other things that were a lifetime ambitions in the past have become routine requirements today. Earnings have increased manifold and therefore the spending and resultant inflation. All this is fine and understandable, but not at the apathy towards the political systems and governance. Dynastic rule makes it difficult for a common patriotic soul to acquire political highs. The dynastic rule does not accept others in the system and this deprives the patriotic from joining politics that has been polluted more than the sacred Ganga. The way now Gangajal is unfit for consumption, the politics is also unfit for current generation. Those who stay at the banks of Ganga have no choice; similarly those who got dragged into politics, they too have no choice. They have to live with this reality. However those who can avoid this polluted Ganga, they stay away, rather than taking a plunge with motive to clean it. Lighting candles, conducting street plays, taking out morchas and many other innovative ways of protest are fine. These cosmetic activities cannot be curative. The movement against the corruption that was in the forefront has also lost its steam. Looks it’s going to be like this. A long weekend during national holiday is becoming more meaningful than celebrating the rituals and expressing pseudo patriotism. Mother India you have to live with it.

Jai Hind…. 

I want back my childhood India

I was a toddler when we became a republic. I don’t remember what India was then (in 1950), but I have grown with that. I remember the good old days; these were undoubtedly very happy days. Generally we say that every dark cloud has a silver lining. The dark realities have a possible bright future. In my young days it was all bright and there was apparently no scope for the any silver lining, rather there was no need for any. Everything was good and in order. 

The first dark lining to bright cloud was sensed by me on Nov 1^st 1956 when Nehru reorganized the states on linguistic basis. That was first attack on unity of India. I ignored this dark lining and compromised with new realities. In 1962 China attacked India and it was a shock for a teenager like me. I have been following Nehru’s policies of Panchsheel, very often we had raised the slogans of Hindi Chini Bhai Bhai (हिंदी चीनी भाई भाई)  and felt so humiliated with Chinese invasion, our ill preparedness and poor foreign policies. The cloud now had a larger dark lining. After Nehru’s death it was little bright again with great soul like Lal Bahadur Shastri as PM. His death again enlarged the dark lining. Then the era of Gandhis and coalitions started and the cloud was getting darker. The brightness was getting engulfed.  And today I hardly see any bright spot in this dark cloud.

Lack of discipline, corruption, erosion in values, low levels of morality coupled with economic turmoil and parallel economy are suffocating. During my school and college days we dare not ride the cycle double-seat or go out in the evening without light. I still have the old kerosene lamp that I used for my cycle. More than the fear of police our conscious did not allow use to break the law. Even in eighties when I had a scooter, I did not take both my sons at one time on scooter as it was illegal and is still illegal. Today we see a family of five riding a bike. I feel sad to see a person flushed with money driving BMW, Honda or Audi, showing complete disregard to the traffic lights. He may be rich but a bankrupt on basic social responsibilities. There is no difference between him and some ill-mannered, ill-educated unscrupulous rickshaw-wall. Both are bankrupt for basic discipline. Today one can show total disregards to rules and no one bothers. Sad, isn’t it?

In the past people were hesitant to offer bribes. Mostly the person who gets the offer would feel offended. Today one may get offended if bribe is not offered. The value systems that we had have just disappeared and new western norms are finding roots. Morality has taken a big blow. No one raises eyebrow at the vulgarities in the society or when someone hurting or even killing a person. There are no deterrent punishments. One can commit crime, take pride in it and roam around freely. Justice is delayed, at times denied. Corruption has not spared this system too.  

Relations between different communities were clean and healthy. There was no appeasement of any community and there were no terrorist, but there is a drastic change now. Today if a Hindu pronounces himself as a Hindu then many politicians feels that the secular fabric of India is under threat. There is ugly competition between the politicians to appease different communities and to shield the culprits. Today there is not only a dark cloud but also darkness.

On economic front we were very happy. The small little one paisa had a value. It had a buying power. We did face the era of shortages and ill effects of Nehruvian socialism, but we still were very happy. There was no inflation and US dollar was just four and half rupees. Gold was affordable and so was silver. Food was cheap too. This abundance reflected on attitudes and behavior of the public and society. However all this disappeared under the shadow of the cloud that got darker each passing day.

Today I feel that we should have ministers like C D Deshmukh, Sardar Patel, Justice Chagla, Shyama Prasad Mukherjee. I want well educated cultured persons in politics and as ministers. The criminals and illiterates should not represent the masses. Leaders have to be well educated, irrespective of their political ideologies. Gandhi and Sawarkar both had studied law. Nehru and Tilak both were well educated. Education makes the difference.

I want India of my childhood. I want India where there were no fights on linguistic basis. I want that India where we valued discipline and the demon of corruption did not exist. I want back my India where one feared law and refrained from committing crime. I want that India where the money has value and good buying power (inflation taken into account). Can this dark cloud now have a silver lining? Can there be a reversal?  Can history repeat? Can I get back India of my childhood?

Independence or Liberation

Story of a common man in India. I am sure everyone must have noticed this or similar.

Rahul spent whole day waiting in a serpentine queue outside the college for his admission. His hard work to score over 98% in twelfth standard was evident from his frail figure. Right from ninth standard his growing years were confined to the four wall of his small house studying hard to score well in twelfth standard. He was shaken when he found his name in the waiting list for admission in the college. By end of the day all that he saw was admission to a mediocre student under some quota and rejection of his application. Clutching the crumpled mark list in his hand he headed towards his home, uncertain of the future in independent India. The system had rejected the talent.

Ramu walked eight kilometres to the nearest police station with his application. He had a small piece of land that he cultivated diligently. The approach to his farm was through a narrow strip of land in between the farms of two landlords. A local goon had encroached on this passage blocking way to his own farm. Ramu had no access to his farm as the neighbouring landlords did not allow him passage through their farms and the goon had blocked his path. The goon had started an illicit liquor distillery that was blooming with the blessings of local politicians. Ramu waited whole day holding the papers in his hand to meet the police sub inspector. By end of the day all that Ramu saw was the goon speeding away in his SUV along with the sub inspector. Clutching the crumpled paper soaked with his sweat Ramu headed home, uncertain of the future in independent India. The corruption had vetoed an honest worker.

Naresh joined civil services nearly thirty five years back. He was on verge of retirement. After faithfully serving the government he was falsely implicated in a scandal as he did not oblige the kin of a minister. Naresh was restlessly moving up and down the corridor in minister’s office for an audience. He wanted to be heard and his suspension order to be revoked. Whole day he has been pleading less than half of his age twelfth standard pass personal secretary of the minister for few a minutes’ audience. By end of the day all that Naresh saw was the minister leaving his chamber with his kin who was responsible for the problems that he had. Clutching his suspension order in one hand and wiping his tears with another, Naresh headed home, uncertain of his future in independent India. The nepotism had anguished a loyal worker.

Sita suffered from tuberculosis. She got the medication from government dispensary. For some strange reasons the medication did not work. The organism had become resistant to the drugs. It was feared that substandard medicines were supplied to the dispensary. The medical social worker helped her to reach government hospital. Sita was lying in one corner of the female ward in the government hospital on a small piece of gunny bag. There was no bed available for her. No one attended her for whole day. Late evening Sita saw a bed being prepared, she had a ray of hope. All that Sita saw by end of the day was the bed being allotted to a patient with mild fever, who was the housemaid of the doctor. She gathered strength to be on her feet, clutching her prescription in one hand, she picked up the gunny bag with another and headed for home, uncertain of her future in independent India. The favour had overruled the need.

Rita, right from midnight was standing in queue for darshan of her favourite deity. On an auspicious day the temple attracts large number of devotees, that includes a common man on the street to the powerful politicians and Bollywood actors. Holding the puja thali (पूजा थाली) in her hand she was praying and patiently waiting for her turn to get the glimpse of the deity. Sun was rising over the head and she was sweating. The queue was moving at snail’s speed. Just after the dusk her turn came. She was dictated by the priest to offer the payers as fast as she could. See looked at the deity, stood still, and closed her eyes for a moment, to pray for a better future, when someone pushed her out. All that she saw be end of the day was a Bollywood star being escorted to the temple to have close darshan  (दर्शन) of the deity. On her way out she was clutching the puja thali ( पूजा थाली) in her hand and was uncertain of the future in independent India. The devotion was crumpled by position.

Sixty four years after the independence, we are still uncertain of the future. We got the independence but not liberation. The independence has resulted in dependence on power centres. We were slaves of foreign rulers and now again we are slave of unscrupulous politicians, corruption, nepotism, systems, bureaucracy, redtapism, politics etc. Independence is a thing of the past, what we need is liberation.

Jai Hind




Disclaimer: Resemblance with situation or any person living or dead is purely coincidental.

New TV Channel

 New TV Channel

C Channel India inauguration was to start in a short while.  At the stroke eight the EBC test card disappeared and a bright montage started appearing on the screen.  The Alps, the US one hundred dollar bills, gold coins, façade of Swiss Banks and a crisp white Gandhi cap figured prominently in the montage. In the background was the exciting music that was fused with the sound of coins pouring out of slot machines. For a moment the screen went blank and then appeared the gold moulded logo of CC India. The imposing logo disappeared and what was seen on the screen was a posh office cabin with a huge executive table and the CC India Chairman sitting behind the same. He got up from his chair, waved and started walking towards the camera. He stood under a spotlight, paused for a moment and started his inaugural speech. He emphasised the need for his channel. He vouched that he is the pioneer to start such channel. He mentioned that there are large numbers of channels dedicated to different interests and activities. The Chairman continued, ‘switch on the TV and you have channels from news to nature, from fashion to food, from sports to spiritualties, from monks to money. You name it and you have a dedicated channel. But CC India is different, it’s the first of its kind in the world to have a dedicated C channel. It’s for the C that has become an integral part of daily life of every Indian. It’s this C without which no Indian can ‘see’ the desired. This C has not only survived the odds but also had a spectacular growth.

Yes, this C stands for corruption. Nowhere in the world has corruption had such magnificent growth as it has in India. Corruption has successfully blunted the conscious in all strata of our society. What was done in the past infrequently and for few rupees is now a routine and involves billions and billions of rupees. With globalisation the rupee has become convertible (partly officially and fully unofficially) and found a solace in form of USD in Swiss Banks. Corruption is no longer limited to taking bribes in Indian Rupees. Wine and Women are rampant but relatively insignificant in today’s corrupt society. These are still the stepping stones for the multibillion dollar scams that are here to stay. The vision of CC India is to make every citizen well-versed about corruption. We need to teach our citizens to effectively practice corruption. We will telecast interviews of prominent personalities who successful practised this art. In fact we plan to station OBVs in Tihar and similar jails for instant and better coverage. We also have in mind talent search programmes and reality shows for showcasing innovative ways of corruption. We will on grand scale organise the award presentation ceremony for corruption practices in different fields. We would call for nominations, though the process will not be immune to the corruption.  CC India also plans to have a management school for the post-graduate diploma programmes in Corruption Management and Corrupt Practices. E-corruption will be offered as super specialisation. We have a long list of eminent faculty for this. We feel those who graduate with this diploma will have an edge over others in government jobs. The details for this programme will be available soon.

Broadly we will have dedicated programmes like talk shows, quiz etc on corporate corruption, political corruption, household corruption. Corruptions in service sector will have priority and will include banks, insurance, hospitals, sports, schools etc. Our focus will be on younger generation. We have already bribed the school authorities to show our programmes to them as these are our building blocks and will take India to newer and unsurpassable heights in corruption. May the demons bless us for success. Long live corruption” The Chairman concluded.

Fortunately there was a power failure and TV went blank. Perhaps CC India missed out on bribing the power distribution company.

Disclaimer: This is a fiction and there is no resemblance with any living or dead person or with any institution. If any then it is just a matter of coincidence.

This blog aims at creating awareness to curb corruption. The blog is a part of a fiction written by the author. Those who desire to read full story may electronically request the author.