The Inner Voice Can you hear it

"Mani Ratnam's Yuva is turning real, with five IITians deciding to join mainstream politics", reports TOI.
The party - Paritrana - was launched in Jodhpur today. Paritrana means 'complete relief from various causes of distress and that is what we want to do for our people'.
Brave. Foolish. Idealistic. All of that - and more.
Tanmay Rajpurohit, who's done his MTech from Georgia Tech after a BTech (Aerospace) from IIT B is the party President. Other office bearers include Ajit Shukla, Smit Bisen, Chandrashekhar and Bharat Sundaram - all IIT B and IITK graduates.
Says Shukla,"My inner voice told me I should invest in my efforts in country instead of making my pocket heavier... People think we are crazy so much so that our families have also failed to understand our motto, but we won't give up."
Deadly thing, this inner voice. That's why most folks pretend they can't hear it. Or choose to drown it out. Because listening to it may mean acting in ways which are strange and unacceptable in society.
Of course the families of these young men would be upset. IIT kya is liye bheja tha? But as Mahatma Gandhi once said: "There are moments in your life when you must act, even though you cannot carry your best friends with you. The 'still small voice' within you must always be the final arbiter when there is a conflict of duty".
Which, ultimately, is what these young men have done.
Two days ago another young man was facing a similar conflict. He too responded to his inner voice and decided to chuck what some would call a 'dream job'. To pursue his dream of being a full time writer.
This is what IIM A grad Sidin Vadukut had to say about his decision on his blog:
Dear All,Finally after weeks of contemplation and thought and watching Friends reruns I have decided to finally do it. A few days from now I will cease to be a consultant. Instead I will be a writer.
As we speak an email is hurtling its way across the nation to my HR and MD indicating my imminent departure from AT Kearney. From next Friday I will be a free bird and will immediately embark on a book, freelancing, columning and anything else I can force people to hire my writing skills for.
The reasons are numerous. But in the end I decided I needed to do what I was happiest doing...
For the amazingly talented guy who penned the now-classic Travails of Single South Indian Men writing is that source of happiness.
And yet it will not be easy. Because writing pays far far less than consulting. Because at times the pressure to churn out publishable material makes an exhilarating activity a task like any other.
Because staying motivated and free of self doubt is always a challenge. One that I am sure both Sidin and the 5 young men at Paritrana will meet head on.
Have you tuned in to your inner voice lately? If you have everything and still feel empty inside, it might be time to slow down. Stop. And listen.

The Best!!!

· He declared Indian independence as a day of slavery and declared it as a day of mourning. He fought for the separation of Tamil areas of India and Sri Lanka and for the human rights of the oppressed Tamil diaspora. He backed colonial rule and attempted to forge an alliance with both Ambedkar and Jinnah.

· His comment on Tamil as a “language of barbarians” haunted him later in life. He was a strong proponent of embracing English as the global language and dropping Tamil from academics. To this day, his followers choose to ignore discussions on this topic.

· Early in his political life, he had derided Tirukkural and an anachronism and a tool for Aryan aggrandisement. At a later point, he embraced it as the true guide and insisted it was a common guide for all religions. When prominent Muslims spoke out and commented that a man-made work, Tirukkural can never equal God-given verses (Qur’an), and his rationalist thought observed silence.

Guess who is this great personality whose only ambition is his sadistic pleasure in taking revenge against brahmins. He entered politics to quench his individual hatred against brahmins.

Guess who is this great leader who lived his values…. only that his values keeps taking complete uturns for his convenience… but still he was living his values…

He never believed in Gods… errr… sorry only Hindu gods… he never had a back bone to say to Muslims that their God doesnt exist as per his theory…. A man who lived his values…

At the age of 70 marrying a 18year old girl was a right thing for him! How great his values were….

Now find what is his name….

He is popularly called Periyar… Mr EV Ramasamy Naiker…. (Naiker is a caste name!!).

Mr-X-VIII Std Fail member of parliament

Who are our leaders today? are they qualified enough to take India to the next level, so called "Developed Nation"? Today, I was really irritated when all the illiterate ministers' names were popping up in my mind, for some unknown reasons. So i made a random check of the qulifications of our Hon'ble ministers and their work Ex and found the most impressive bio-data was of our Finance minister's, Prime Minister's and then was the IT Minister.How good are the others? Are they educated enough to accept the jargons foreign officials throw at them? Are they masterminds to defeat the foreign officials in their grounds?
I just googled "Indian Ministry" to search for an answer.
To be honest I was impressed with the overall qualifications. Many were Law grads and few science. I don't know how true it is. But on the whole I feel even more perplexed now. How did railways perform so better? I had to tell an answer and console myself. "He understood the ground reality and the business as well"

Kalaignar Tv

This was the day I was expecting for although I am not an AIADMK supporter. The divide between the SUN network and DMK party has forced the DMK party to start a new channel called "Kalaingar TV"!!! A channel for every politician??!!! Viako TV, Thol Thiruma TV, Mama TV, Mami TV... list is endless... and its quite possible only in TN... Back to the point. The DMK and the SUN network have fought battles and even masterminded several attacks together. DMK plans... SUN implements. D. Maran was the representative for DMK in the central synonymous to M. Maran. But he is kicked out. The only educated think tank is now out. Kalaingar TV is for sure not going to get even a tithe of the TRP SUN has. What in the earth politicians are thinking?? Audiences watch TV to see the hazzles and leg pullings in politics. No they need entertainment, fun, comedy and most of all the soapy serials. Will Kalaingar write scrips and Stalin, Alagiri, Raja etc etc play cameo??? Will be fun to watch (just like the latest TR's release!!!)What if the SUN network for some reason forms ally with AIADMK??? A 400 crore media industry can't be fought single handedly by this Kalaignar TV alone. Why dont these politicians think sense?? The entire south-Indian media is with SUN.
SUN HAS:
TV - sun, k tv, sun news, gemini, teja, surya, e-nadu, sun music etc.PAPER - Kungumam, Dhinakaran.FM - S fm, Surian fm (as far as I know).
DMK HAS:
Ting ting tiding.... Kalaingar TV....DMK is ruining itself... AIADMK wear your brains out and plug the deal on your side. Its once in politics offer. DMK see you around the next elections.

MGMT TIPS from the government

I am traveling a lot these days. Nearly a hundred kms a day. Not a simple task considering the roads I literally go-halt-go-halt-go through. The Hosur – Electronic City – Bommanahalli – Silk board – Koramangala & back the same way – road is not a joke to commute through. There have been many pot holes and the million obstacles that you literally have to skim through are making the journey even more tiring. But this is just the skeleton not the skin and flesh of my thought.

When a government procrastinates one of its essential duties what does it benefit from? Considering a duty like laying of roads I thought of penning down my ideas. The things that I could assimilate have been mentioned here. If you find more consequences of many other activities you are most welcome to discuss about that.

When a highly used road which is in the residential area is not laid on time the size of the broken patches increases both in depth and width. This increases the amount of suspended particles/pollutants in the air to unexplainable amounts. Thus every resident and the passenger is made to visit doctors for reasons varying from cold, cough, throat infection, fever, eye irritation, eye allergy, skin diseases and many more which are not striking my small brain now. The doctor earns and he prescribes tablets, lotions, drops, syrups, injections and even hospitalization. Also considering the number of accidents in that area which is rare but fetches good amounts to the doctor. So the sales of medicines increase multifold and the doctor earns hefty amounts. Thus the sales tax that needs to be paid for the purchase of medicines which is an amount like a lottery won by the govt.Also considering the fact that wear and tear of spares in the vehicles running through these roads is very very high. So add the tax that the government earns by the sales of the spares. It’s not a small number.

All this is done because the government saved huge sum by not laying the roads on time. Kudos govt.

Dear Kalaingar thatha, Stalin Uncle, other legends of the ruling party please visit my place as frequently as possible. Its not that people from my place want to see your cheerful, happy and merry making lifestyles and faces, it’s just that roads and the entire municipality is cleaned and laid properly when you all visit. So I welcome you all to come here and stay as long as you all want. If you find time please sit in your cars and go around the entire of T.N so that all places are at least cleaned if not developed.

Danksu.I would like to appreciate the govt. for predicting the rains even before the meteorological dept. Now that rains have stopped you can lay the roads. It’s seriously bloody irritating to go by the same old tattered roads getting to pay the doctor, pharmacist, spares dealers huge chunks of money and still I will have to pay my income tax and you will post ads on the TV saying pay your taxes on time. On time for what??? Bad words are flowing out of my mouth. But I swear I will pay my taxes on time.

Ram Sethu Secular Politics of the worst kind.

For past two days we have been watching this drama, triggered by the “Secular” Congress. Just see the chain of events…
- Government (led by Sonia Maino Gandhi) files an affidavit denying the very existence of Lord Ram.
- Major uproar on streets.
- Sonia’s – here to now abandoned –‘inner voice’ woke up from deep slumbers and she ‘intervened’ and Govt. and the dirty harries in the service of ‘Her Majesty’s ’ started pouring cold waters on frayed tempers.

Now being what I am “A Hot Blooded Communal Blogger of no significance”, here is MY TAKE.

But before, I start my ‘communal’ rant, let me make three points.

1. I support the ‘Save Ram Sethu’ movement and pledge my unconditional support.

2. I disagree with all those (many of them romantic poets with their heart at right places but severe lack of coordination between ‘Head and Heart’) who believe ‘politics’ is necessarily bad. And it is only BJP/VHP who plays dirty games. Well, I hold no brief for either so spare me of personalize attacks. But at the same time I have strong political views which may be reflected in my posts and before you accuse me, I accept that “I am biased and prejudiced”. At least I unlike - media – do not claim any objectivity or balance.


3. In this post, am trying to analyze the ‘political’ overtones and motives behind the Congress Sonia’s latest move on the “Guided and Intentional” assault on Hindu’s faith and belief.


A close look at the events and it is ‘evident’ that Her Majesty’s Govt did exactly what they wanted to-do. The affidavit filed by them was no mistake or mismanagement by the Congress’s Dirty Harries. On the contrary it was a well thought out ‘operation’ to gauge the public sentiment.


How? Ok, let me explain.


All that the Govt needed to do was to tell the court that there were no scientific reasons to believe the claim as made by the VHP. But the Govt went further, much far exceeding their brief. Center on Wednesday told the Supreme Court that there was no historical evidence to establish the existence of Lord Rama or the other characters in Ramayana.

Pray, tell me where the need to say all these things was? They could have simply avoided this with out actually diluting the strength/ merits of their arguments.

BUT then why did they say, what they said and questioned the ‘Historicity’ of Lord Ram and his existence? It is simple. It is now known to all that we are heading for mid-term elections. Only when- the timings of impending mid-term elections, is a matter of speculation. Congress with an eye on its ‘Muslim Vote Bank’ – as is evident with its ‘minority’ appeasing spree and a deluge of announcements – unnecessarily dragged the ‘historicity’ of Ramayana and Ram Charit Manas in a bid to appear more ‘SECULAR’, which is only possible when you denounce any thing related with ‘HINDUS’. The more you ‘berate’ Hindus the more ‘Secular’ you become. This is how ‘secularism’ is defined now days.


WHY?

Because Congress takes ‘Hindus’ for granted. As they believe – though sad, but rightly too – as a fragmented society. So they take ‘sadistic’ pleasure by ‘deliberately’ offending the Hindus sentiments every now and then. Sadly though, Hindus tolerate insults heaped on them by the ’secularists’ ,suffering in silence, but for this time.And I am glad.

I dare the Congress and its allies to challenge the ‘historicity’ of Quran or Bible!

The Game plan and what did Congress Sonia Maino Gandhi expect to achieve?
They expected the same what has happened. Ram has been an integral part of Hindu ethos. So the backlash was spontaneous and huge and natural– though this time evens the non VHP/BJP supporters too lodged strong protests. Hindus justifiably reacted the way they or any body of any faith would have reacted if a deliberate attempt was made to challenge his/her faith. But the sheer size and spontaneity of reaction made the Congress camp jittery and they panicked. This operation had gone ‘horribly’ wrong so the urgency of disassociating Sonia, lest her image is sullied. And as always, efforts were made to distance her from the issue. Congress needed a face saver, so suddenly Sonia Maino Gandhi’s “Divine Intervention”!

All of a sudden Congress’s dirty harries came out of woods to tell us just how much the Sonia Mata loves and reveres the Hindu !?

May I ask? Where was her ‘deep belief’ in Hindu Gods and Goddesses when this affidavit was being drafted? Do not kid me by saying she didn’t have any knowledge! Any body who has even an iota of sense knows how the Congress works; equally know it is impossible for even an ant to move without her ‘explicit’ consent.

Lo and Behold! “Secular, Liberal and Progressive” Main Stream Media (MSM) too joins the circus.

The stinking and stinging MSM throw its hat in the circus, so u see a ‘deluge’ of reports and prime time shows depicting Hindus (protesting against the deliberate vilification of its most revered God) as some ‘blood thirsty’ demons. Communal, fascists’ forces obstructing the progresses of the Nation! How the ‘communal’ VHP and BJP are hell bent on destroying the ‘secular fabric’ of our country! We are told incessantly how the BJP is playing the ‘communal’ card for the Hindu votes! “OH you COMMUNAL Hindus, you are disgrace to the ‘secular’ nation”, they said!

An aside- I could never understand why seeking HINDU votes is communal but alluring Muslim Votes (even disgustingly using Osama look alike in election campaigns) is secular!

Anyway! I know no body will answer.

Then a ‘somersault’ and some verbal ‘gymnastics’ by the MSM informing us how the Sonia Mata has ‘intervened’ and restored the ‘sanctity’ of Hindus cultures and ethos!

And when did u hear media was “independent, objective and unbiased”? Oh! Really?

Effectively Congress has achieved its twin objectives…

- To prove to Muslims that they (Congress) are more ‘secular’ because they have ‘dare’ done what no body had ever done, yes not even communists…. Challenging the ‘historicity’ of lord Ram.!!!

- It has effectively portrayed BJP as a communal force as they stood for Lord Ram and protested against the Govt’s move. Muslims are warned by the Congress about the resurgence of BJP so they (Muslims) vote strategically with the sole purpose of defeating BJP candidates. After all if BJP is contained then all the ‘secular’ allies will again form the UPA (Unholy Perverse Alliance) post elections. Just like they managed post last elections.

So this is the Game. And Congress is the master of this game, after all it has been practicing it since Nehru’s time and Indira was a past champion of this game. Well! Sonia too is learning fast and has mastered the art to great extent.

As for BJP, well they might still think and correct selves sooner the better. I believe BJP failed to do well in last elections despite being fairly efficient in governance, not because they were seen as a Hindu Party. They lost because they were not seen as HINDU ENOUGH PARTY.
÷

Must read what my good friend Yossarin has to offer.

An Offstumped bhajan for 10 Janpath in these torrid times, it can be recited to Jagjit Singh’s tune for comfort and solace.

just when the polls were looking up

Karat’s goose all cooked up

we had no inkling of this impending storm

that sinking feeling … Hey Raam Hey Raam

Yogendra had it all sewn up, this election

all I had to was make people believe his fiction


I am now left all at sea with SethuSamudraam

that sinking feeling … Hey Raam Hey Raam

here I was doling out freebies, thanks to my man Manmohaan

Sachar doing an item number I was assured of the Musalmaan

but along came Dorjee with his blasphemous excavatiaaan

that sinking feeling … Hey Raam Hey Raam

she betrayed my trust, Ambika, how be-imaaan

deliver us this one election, Rahul is still naadaan

save us from the people’s wrath, even Lalu is pareshaan

that sinking feeling … Hey Raam Hey Raam

May Democracy rest in peace

May Democracy rest in peace…
I’ve deliberately given such a morose title to my blog because of the disturbing event that has completely emasculated the very foundations on which democracy rests. Three innocent people lost their lives in mob violence at Madurai which broke out at the Dinakaran office (Tamil daily newspaper). The reason- a poll conducted by the newspaper asking public opinion on whom between Stalin and Azhagiri, would be the able “successor” of DMK heavyweight M. Karunanidhi?
I was brought up with the view that in a democracy there is no room for a word like “successor”, “regime”, “dynasty” etc. for those belonged to monarchy and despotic rule which India took pride in abnegating. But a clear look at contemporary state of Indian politics, this notion would be negated. The so called “young blood” that we love to love be it Sachin Pilot, Jyotiraditya Scindia, Milind Deora, Supriya Sule, Priya Dutt and of course- how can I forget the revered, admired souls- Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Vadra (I heard she doesn’t like being called a ‘Gandhi’, so be it.) invariably has a strong political background- a political family. Is this the kind of democracy the crusaders of our independence aspired for? I doubt…
Till the times of Indira Gandhi, things hadn’t completely gone out of hand as she was actively involved in politics (she was a minister), but once Rajiv Gandhi entered the scene, the definition of Indian democracy changed like never before…masses are also to be blamed for this sorry state of democratic institution in India. We still have poor, illiterate, rural masses who revere the kids of politicians as ‘chhote sarkar’ (young master) and admire Sonia Gandhi because she is the Gandhi bahu (daughter-in-law) and is so gori (fair skinned). Royalty is still looked upon with loads of awe and the ex royal title holders get to taste their popularity once they contest elections. It’s pathetic and disgusting to say the least! Unfortunately, we progressed from monarchy to dream of a democracy but ultimately ended up having a hydra-like oligarchy! I feel we’d have been better off with a monarchy than this- at least there would be one single ruler and people would know whom to admire rather that get ‘confused’ over so many options of chhote sarkars!

President of India - By the UPA, of the UPA, for the UPA!

The First citizen should atleast be selected based on the Merit of the post. The people of India would definetly expect some person who is not politically biased in the seat of the President. But what is happening in the election of the president seems to be biased selection. Congress is bent upon a candidate who would just sign what ever drafts that it forwards.

My support would be to Abdul Kalamji who perfectly fits the post for the president. I appreciate the third front that has elected him as the candidate. Hopefully we can see Abdulji to take on the second term and guide india to a developed nation. (How over optimistic i am!!)

But having more than enough votes.. UPA’s candidature would walk the easy cake in the elections!

President - By the UPA ,of the UPA and for the UPA… might be the outcome at the end…

Should we have a Monolithic world

How we define Religious Tolerance?

I guess, religious tolerance is to allow other religions to co-exist and respect that they have their own right to follow their own faith.

If this is so, why some religions are converting the rest of the world to itself? Please do not get emotional, lets look at this at a very rational way.

If we think one religion is very great, that you feel is the best one to follow, would it not automatically observe people to it?

If this is considered true why do we need conversions?

I feel, the necessity of conversion should have existed when the religion started(evolved), where you would have very few people following it. So, feeling insecure that it might get destroyed, we convert others to it and prevent our religion from extinction.

Lets take the case of Christianity:

Since christianity is the major religion followed by the entire world why would we need to convert others into christianity, if others feel it(Christianity) is good they would automatically start following ours(Christianity) and become a christian!

Why do we still have the same fear to get all others converted! Why huge machineries with so much funding to make this world a christian world.

Imagine a monolithick world of single religion ! Would it not be boring! When we have no choice? I would definetly not prefer it!

I am pained to see the bakbone less Hindus are getting easily converted to christianity for money! (Yes, some missonies offer money if some one gets converted to their religion and this happens in India).

I feel very bad that at some time we would never have any choice to follow a different faith except christianity.

How do you feel in such a monolithic world!

Why Should SONIA and PM sing Vande Mataram

Why should have SONIA JI and PM sung Vande Mataram? WHY? WHY? WHY? WHY?
On Sept.7th, School, my children go to, organized a mass gathering for celebrating and singing Vande Mataram.What I felt after singing with the children, teachers, parents cannot be expressed in any words. Divine I suppose. However, as I reached home and switched on my TV set I heard the news that both REVERNED SONIA JI and HONORABLE Prime Minister did not attend the function organized by the CONGRESS. My reaction was initially anger…then dismay………and finally frustration.
Surely they could have, honestly they should have.

Not sure of what made these two worthies to abstain I started to look for a Congress wala or wali. First they were not around but I kept on looking; after much hard scouting I found one who avoided me like PLAGUE. But my persistence paid and after two cups of tea he just blasted. This is what he said.

“We all are very angry that you are asking a question that has no meaning. They did not sing and so many others like our secular and faithful VOTERS. You communal, fascists have made such a political issue out of it. Shame on you!

You people communalize each and every issue. Nationalism is the issue you communalists say, OK fine, what is Nationalism? If it means being loyal to your motherland/provider than both of them are, you folks both of them are.

How? You asked! Silly Communalist! Let we all enlightened and “secular” explain.Nationalism is praising the MOTHERLAND and SHE DID PRAISE HER MOTHERLAND (INDIA is an adopted country only). Sasural is not motherland at any rate ask any one.

You guys are so narrow-minded and said all those nasty things because “Q” got his “earned” money back. WILL YOU NOT HELP YOUR FELLOW COUNTRY MEN? COMMUNALISTS are those who ask, we despise communalist.

You dare ask about the PM (now which one? we have so many), all right you mean Dr.PM? Such a good man and such an “eminent” economist, no matter you have been paying thrice the prices comparing during communalists regime, nevertheless he is an “eminent economist”. PERIOD. And as for the Vande Mataram, “PROVIDENCE” clause is applicable. As motherland provides with her benevolence to all of us lesser mortals, so all the good things by SONIA MAA to the PM.And does he not offer his prayers to her?(OO BHHAI KURSI BADII KE IIZZAT? HINDUSTAN HAMARA HAI SONIA KA HE TO SAHARA HAI). He did go and sang

Rome…JAI SONIAA MATTTA!Rome…JAI SONIAA MATTTA.
And now you ask where was the COULD HAVE BEEN PRIME MINISTER @ 25 SHRI RAHAUL GANDHI JI, lay off man. He might have been busy with BRAZILLIAN friends (so now we understand, why the Honorable PM is keen on going there than UN general assembly meet).”

After that He ran away and I have yet to meet him again.

Now seriously a look at the excuses offered by the Congress.

Excuse No.1
She was unwell.
Really? And PM too? Strange coincidence!

Excuse No.2
It was a Seva Dal (?) program and she was not invited.
If any body who wants us to believe this is either too naive or too clever.
Excuse No.3
Security was the issue so she could not attend.
Fake again. The function could have easily been conducted at anywhere else. After all Sonia Ji do attend functions.
And any way I strongly feel that our all leaders who call themselves as mass and popular leaders should be seen with public. Since they are so popular who would like to harm them?

And just now (as I m punching my key board) I heard them saying that all this 7th.September Vande Mataram hype was wrong.
The Hindustan Times today quotes Shri Janardan Dwivedi “Due to some reason, a mistake was made and we admit it”.
Else where I read that now Congress is planning to take refuge in Mahatma Gandhi and plans to pitch against Vande Mataram.

Mahatma Gandhi VS. Vande Mataram?
Very grave injustice to both of them. Let me warn Congress friends you are again making a MISTAKE. A VERY BIG MISTAKE.
Vande Mataram

Persecuted community and Tamil Nadu politics.

I see that Brahmin community in Tamil Nadu is the worst sufferers in the country; The people of Tamil Nadu are brain washed by their leaders that all the problems that they are facing is because of a well to do Brahmin community;

When you need votes and you need wealth; You get it by targetting the most weak community in your society. To choose them, its easy, there is only one community that is envied for its good education and culture; the brahmin community and the politicians used them full to their advantage.Also they are few in number and their votes dont count; They are soft people who dont come down to streets and protest; They dont have backing of any political party; They dont have any support of power what so ever.

How could people of Tamil Nadu believe that these(Brahmins) are the ones that are cause of all the miseries in their life; Because they do poojas in temples; And this is the cause of all the sufferings in tamil nadu; Great logic that needs to be appreciated.

If you list all the richest people of Tamil Nadu and who rule Tamil nadu; you could easily see that these list would contain only the big land lords and buisness men who would belong to the so called “OBCs”;

I feel its these OBCs who were very much against the social justice and were discriminating the other guys before independence and now they are discriminating against brahmins.

These OBCs are always powerful and always rule ; and yet they preach to the outer world that they are backward;

One expert from wikipiedia :

Brahmins are a persecuted community and they are distinguished as the community on whose rabid hatred, the polity of the modern south Indian state of Tamil Nadu is founded.

Possibly related posts: (automatically generated)
· Bread upon the waters, sort of…

OBCs are the Exploiters of the every other castes- Says Hindustan times.

Chennai, May 24, 2007
First Published: 00:35 IST(24/5/2007)
Last Updated: 00:37 IST(24/5/2007)

Ban caste itself, say Tamil Dalits

“The constitution has made untouchability illegal, but caste is still alive in our society. Our goal is to have caste itself banned,” says Ravi Kumar, a Dalit MLA. A noisy meeting of tribal students in Cuddalore District, south of Chennai, leaves Ravi Kumar hoarse. But he resolutely prepares for his next meeting in his constituency — the historic Vaishnava temple town of Kattumannarkoil.

Kumar is one of the two MLAs from the Viduthalai Siruthaigal (Dalit Liberation Panthers) in the assembly, which has 44 Dalits. His party leader is Thol. Thirumavalavan of the Parayar community, that for centuries announced village deaths by drumming on the parai (a local drum). From the name of this formerly ‘untouchable’ community had originated the derogatory ‘paraiah’. Today, however, 64 per cent of the 1.1 crore Dalits in the state are literate, just 10 per cent behind the state average of 74 per cent.

“This high literacy level among Tamil Dalits is not due to the Dravidian movement,” says Ravi Kumar. “In British Raj, only two communities had a good English education: Brahmins and Dalits. The Brahmins, because they served the British in offices and the Dalits, for serving them at home as cooks, bearers and personal attendants. A Tamil Dalit, Rettamalai Sreenivasan, attended the Round Table Conference in London with Dr Ambedkar.”

Dalit political awareness in Tamil Nadu began as early as 1895 with the Adidravida Mahajanasabha founded by M Chinnathambi. His son, MC Raja, made a Rao Bahadur by the British, published a Dalit magazine Parayar (which also means ‘to speak out’) between 1893 and 1900, with a circulation rivalling The Hindu.

However, the last 40 years of the Dravidian movement have not helped Tamil Dalits because of caste demographics.

“Forward castes, including Brahmins, Muslims and Christians, constitute 13 per cent of Tamil Nadu. Scheduled Castes are 19 per cent and Scheduled Tribes one per cent. The rest are intermediary castes who control political power,” says P Radhakrishnan, Professor of Sociology at the Madras Institute of Development Studies and author of the study, ‘Religion, Caste and State’ (2007).

Says Ravi Kumar, “Of the 234 MLAs in the present assembly, only two are Brahmins: Jayalalitha and SV Shekhar of the Mylapore constituency. Middle castes have run the government for 40 years. So who is responsible for Dalit non-inclusion?” In the 2004 general elections, the Liberation Panthers and another major Dalit party, the Puthiya Tamilagam, were kept out of the Democratic Progressive Alliance (DPA) led by M. Karunanidhi of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK).

Atrocities against Dalits continue, mostly perpetrated by the two most dominant backward castes — the Thevars (mostly AIADMK supporters) and the Vanniyars (the PMK’s vote bank). Two years ago at Thinniyar in Tiruchirapalli district Thevars forced Dalits to eat human excrement. Six months later, Dalits were forced to drink urine at Gounderpatti near Dindigul.

“The only radical solution is to ban caste. No wearing caste marks or retaining caste surnames, banning caste-based organisations and abolishing government caste-counting mechanisms like official forms. But will any political party have the guts to do it? Particularly in TN?” challenges Ravi Kumar.

Is this a constitutional amendment whose time has come?

http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/Print.aspx?Id=56b96ae0-e5f4-454d-8c89-f1f746868380
© Copyright 2007 Hindustan Times

Hail Mayawati- Let her Live Long.

I am atlast able to support one leader whom i can trust. I support Mayawati Yes she is a dalit leader, so is she a leader for Brahmins.

Dravidian moments always portay that a miniscule 2% Brahmin community was the reason for all their suppresion. If you really see its the OBCs that actually supress the Dalits and at the same time supress the Brahmins as well.

The OBCs (take an example of Thevars who always kill and ruin dalits live near their towns in Tamil Nadu), discriminate the Dalits in their acts and while talking politically present themselves to be supporter of Dalits.

Ask an OBC what they have done for the upliftment of the Dalits for the last 60years, when actually they were the rulers of Tamil Nadu. Why is the dalit’s condition not improved with the governance of Dravidian parties!

It is simple, OBCs are the exploiters and offenders of the Dalits. But they happily put the blame on the brahmins. Its easy to play a blame game;Its more easier to blame a silent,soft ommunity that doesnt have any political backup what so ever. What people say, beating a dead man and claiming victory.

Take an example of the Tamil Nadu government and tell me the total amount of Brahmin MLAs in the assembly, its just two, one is Jayalalitha and the other is SV Sekhar. The remaining lot is the OBcs who are still working for last 60 years to bring the dalit’s life to a better one. But all these 60 years of their rule, have you ever seen the dravidian parties did anything good to dalits? All they did is to offend Brahmins and their disciplined life. All they did in 60years is to systematically offend Brahmin community(hitting a dead man) and neglecting improvement of the actual underpriveledged.

If they have done any good to dalits, why is dalit’s conditions have not improved in last 60years, dont tell me two brahmin MLAs were the whole reason for their non-improvement!!

This is the reality, its the ruling class(OBCs) who are the exploiters of every other castes. They were the exploiters of Dalits and Brahmins.

It has just started that the two opressed communities (dalits and Brahmins) are just joining their hands together. Let us march forward and get our self respect back from the ruling OBCs.

But Why Not the Youth

Politics is perhaps the most commonly used word in every sphere of life these days. Now, when independent India has reached the age of 60, why not have a look at the youth and their perception of politics? Independent India has completed a journey of over 60 successful years. During this period, we have witnessed the worst and the best. The changes our country went through have helped it to evolve as a stronger and progressive nation in the world. For our generation, politics as a career comes way down in the career option list. It is no secret that politics is losing its appeal amongst the youth of India.

Reasons are many, like rampant corruption, criminalisation of politics, apathy towards people’s needs, lack of accountability and the list goes on. When we have so many other options to explore, why should we dirty our hands in politics?

We put the blame on the government and our elected members whenever we see or feel that our representatives are not doing their job efficiently. But, more than 50 per cent of population does not take part in the political process of our country. Thus we have no right to blame anyone except ourselves. We all feel that the system needs to be changed but we don’t want to take the responsibility on our shoulders. We have potential human resources who can change the scenario, but they choose to go to UK or US for studies and jobs and restrict their lives only to their “secured” jobs and settle there permanently.

The perception of our generation about politics has generally been negative. Though we have few young politicians, they have not been allowed to stretch their wings. The politicians need to open up and promote the young generation in the mainstream politics. It is stereotypical to think that only people with gray hair can become successful politicians. In UK, Tony Blair retires at 58 while in our country the chief posts are mostly occupied by the politicians above 50 years of age. The younger generation does not have any outlet to show their principles of leadership. Now ask the youth of India about the politics and there is the straight rebound question: Who wants to join the politics?

However, is turning away from politics and maintaining a distance form political class really a solution?

Changing dysfunctional behaviour is difficult but not impossible. If we as a nation have to move ahead and build the country of our dreams, we have to use politics as a medium to ensure that government remains sensitive and accountable to the people. We come back to the same question. Who will take this country into the era of prosperity, economic growth, sustained development and all round progress?

It will have to be a collective effort. We will have to work together with a common goal in mind. We have come a long way but journey by no means is over. It is important to make this growth sustainable. India has large productive and young population as her asset.

If we truly believe that the future of any country lies in the hands of the youth than we need to take a step forward. Only the youth can change the pace and the course of our nation’s progress and make India a global giant. If we want to see a better India, it is time to take charge. We have to build a foundation now for a prosperous future. Unless youth feel concerned and gets involved in politics at all stages, we cannot expect a nation to grow.

Remember, it is not good for a nation when its citizens only complain and expect someone else to fix their problems.

Actual Backwards should be helped.

I would want some policy that would help the backward classes’s state to be improved. Do not mistake this to caste based backwardness which is purely politically motivated. What i am concerned is the improvement of the actual backward people, the poors. THe poor people do not belong to just one or two castes. Every caste has a percentage of poor people whose’s life should be improved and we should help them raise their standards of living.

We should definetly help them by giving them more moneraty benefits so that they have equal footing to complete with the best in the society. This way by providing them enough scoralships and free tutions, they would be brought to the equal standards that a richer student would get. This help should be provided strictly on the economical factor of the person and should be favoured irrespective of the caste he is born in. Whether he is an SC/ST/Brahmin/OBC, if he does not have enough economic strength to afford education, he/she should be supported by giving access to facilities like books, tution waivers, free tutions so that he would have every resource at his hand to compete.

Instead of doing such an effort where it would help the actual backward, the rich in the so called SOBC (So called OBC) are depriving the poor of thier basic rights. My suggestion would be to help these Actual Backward classes and the help should reach the needy and not the rich people.

one of the biggest old age home - in india