Our Rabindranath Tagore

Sri Rabindranath Tagore was one of the great sons of the mother, India. He gave a new distinctiveness to the Indians. He modernized the existing Indian society. His creativeness was incomparable. He was a prominent dramatist, novelist, short story writers, philosopher, educationist, spiritualist, painter, humanists and national builder. He was one of the greatest lyric poets of the world. In the words of Count Key Sirling, Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore was the most universal, the most encompassing and the most complete human being. Gandhiji called him “The Great Sentinel”.

The word ‘Thakur’ means the holy lord. The local Brahmins used to address the Tagore family as Thakur. But, the Europeans, unable to pronunciate the word ‘Thakur’, started to call them ‘Tagor’. That is why Rabindranath Thakur was mispronunciated as Rabindranath Tagore. He was born on May 7, 1861 in Jorasanko mansion (Tagore House), Calcutta. His father, Sri Devendranath Tagore (1817-1905) influenced him significantly. As Rabindranath was the fourteenth child of his parents, his mother Sarda Devi could not pay the proper attention to him. He grew in the lack of love and affection. He was looked after by servants. But, he had to tolerate a lot. He expressed his pungent experiences of his childhood in his autobiography in the book titled ‘My Reminiscences’. He also composed a string of poems expressing similar experiences in ‘The Poems of Childhood’. Tagore wrote poems at the age of eight. It is an attention-grabbing fact to point out here that he always felt uncomfortable in school. Due to that he received all his education at home. Later, he read law at University College London. He was married at the age of 25. He established an ashram, the Brahamacharya asharma on December 27, 1901 in Shantiniketen. Presently, it is an international university known as Vishva Bharti. Its objective is to provide quality education to all. He wrote mainly in Bengali. The Gitanjali, the offering of songs, composed in Bengali and was published in 1910. It was translated into English which brought to him the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1913. He was the first Indian and Asian recipient to win the Noble prize. He supported the Swedishi Movement. He returned the Knighthood title during Jalianwala Bagh massacre in 1919. He opposed imperialism and supported Indian nationalists. He was sincerely concerned with the matters of politics, economic, society and religious. Tagore was famed throughout much of Europe, North America, and East Asia. Indian national anthem was composed by him. Besides it, Tagore penned the anthems of Bangladesh, Amar Shonar Bangla. ‘The Crescent Moon’, ‘The Gardener’, ‘ Gora’, ‘The Wreck’, ‘The Post Officer’, ‘Sadhana’, ‘The Home and The World’ etc are his most popular works. UNESCO is going to celebrate the 150th Birth Anniversary in year 2010 on the International level. Indian government has accepted the above proposal. The international institution has also decided to launch the new prizes and medals on his name. This action is taken in order to create mass awareness regarding the Literature. We lost him on 7 August 1941. No one is able to say everything about his personality. Really, he was a living incarnation of ‘plain living and high thinking’.

Students And Politics

Students symbolize the expectations of the country at its best. They are the future leaders, directors, proprietors and administrators. On the other hand, politics is an arena where the knowledge and experiences are exercised by the leaders and visionaries in order to maintain peace as well as to acquire the welfare of the citizens. Politics directs central administrations and keeps the bridles of the country in its hands. There has been a great hullabaloo over the issue of students taking part in politics. Many of us advocate keeping the students aloof from the political life. It is true to some extent. Schools and colleges are the centers of learning. Whatever they learn here, is put to apply in latter life. The acquired knowledge helps them to handle the responsibilities of life. The relationship between students and politics has become deep rooted in modern world. However, both seem to be quite different. In opinion of some people, students should concentrate only on the studies and they should avoid participating in politics. They think politics can do more harm than to do good to the students. But, one should not ignore the fact that a good politician for a healthy politics finds its roots in educational institutions. History, itself, is its witness. The glorious role of students in the struggle for independence cannot be forgotten. Students fought against the British imperialism in India while they were still in schools and colleges. The sacrifice of Bhagat Singh, Udham Singh and Bismal will be remembered forever. If students do not participate in politics, there will be the crisis of leadership.

The word politics has today become one and the same with deceitfulness. It has worsened into a tainted line of work. It has been foully commercialized. No doubt, everything is fair in politics. Changing the party, politicizing the national problems and calamities, supporting one party today and pulling them down tomorrow etc have become usual manias in political life today. The consequence is that honest and noble people make an effort to keep away from politics. But, it would be equally wrong to overlook this problem of cataclysm of the politics. Many honest, righteous, altruistic, principled and persons who really are dedicated to the service of the motherland are required these days to purify the political polluted environment. This can only be achieved through the participation of students in politics. There are many other advantages of it. If the students participate in politics, they will be more acquainting with its working and nature. It will also give them an opportunity to be popular. This will encourage them for agitations against injustice. The local politicians will also be more alert for the welfare of society as students may raise such issues which may affect their influence.

Each democratic country derives its power, future and source of inspiration from its citizens. Generally, the government has granted the right to vote to all those who have completed 18 years and above. It will help many students to exercise their vote in electing the representative of the people. Clearly, this system of democratic administration allows students to take part in politics. If students learn basic politics during their student life, they will groom well for national as well as global politics. It provides the opportunity to represent and lead the masses. This also paves the way of their betterment. This enables them to raise the genuine demands and utilize their political rights. If students take part in politics with positive views and peaceful manner, it is really fruitful. Such politicians will prove an asset for the country of tomorrow. It will not be an amplification to say that no one can be an ideal citizen without having political consciousness and understanding.

The people of India have suffered centuries of enslavement, exploitation, political tyranny, backwardness and ignorance. Students face an uncertain future these days because of the problem of unemployment, poverty and the deficiency of opportunities. The achievement of independence heralded for them the beginning of a new future full of radiant hopes and happiness and prosperity. Why should students not involve in the politics, then? Every student is not able to pursue a professional degree. Moreover, the education being imparted to them is defective and costly. It is a strange fact that even today, the average students come of a family of meager resources. All this stimulates them to join the politics. They know the potential of the politics as they have experienced the influences of the political domains. This has also revealed the better truth that students with complete indifference and ignorance to political consciousness will not help themselves in their adult life and their culture. Such one sided development of young men and women is not a good sign for the health of the nation and its people. But, students should not forget their main aim and mission. Studies and learning must occupy the most important act of their missions. Indulging in strikes, violence and disruptive activities for fun or in order to avoid study pressure should be completely given up. They should develop their political consciousness rather than making themselves tools of other politicians

We know that the masses in democracy are to be led by some party. Parties are led by individuals. In this way, individuals guide the nation. As far as India is concerned, she has a large number of young individuals. Perhaps, each individual has experienced the bitter truth that the Government and law enforcing authorities seem vulnerable in modern day Politics. Today MPs and MLAs are either have close associations with criminals or are men with criminal records. Criminals have gained access to socio-political survival and the expectations on democracy appear to be panic. Gangsters move about freely in order to eliminate their political opponents and creating terror. Unfortunately, nobody has the motivation to put down such immoral actions with and iron hand. If one has a sharp look to the working of democratic governments and the present situation as well as the future perspective of India, education and students are the need of the hours. Education is invariably needed in exercising one’s choice in elections and life. It makes us capable to determine, what is good or bad. It also helps in studying the problems of the states.

Democracy desires command and an enthusiasm to stick to a set of laws of self-control. We need the rule of law and a suitable agency to enforce it. For the perfect democratic administrations, wisdom and culture on the part of citizens, the participation of students is needed. The young and the students are always the persons who have proper understanding of behaviors of the countrymen. In India all weakness such as poverty, social backwardness, crime etc are rampant. Actually, Indian democracy has been abused since its very inception. Hence, these can be treated with a good touch by the students. If students are active in this direction, the features of the true democracy can be observed here. Such a democratic organization is bound to flourish and will assume a proportion which will be perfect and desirable. We, all, are witnessing growing lawlessness in our social life which inspires students to participate in politics so that they can uproot it. There is a need for a new beginning to make India corruption-free. Everyone should adopt zero tolerance towards corruption. Only patriotic feelings coupled with efforts in reduction of poverty, illiteracy, regional imbalances and inequality among people can successfully face and fight the menace of corruption. All these qualities are acquired by students during their student life. We cannot ignore the close association between students and politics.

Our Lal Bahadur Shastri

Lal Bahadur Shastri was a noteworthy figure in the freedom struggle. He was humble and broadminded. He was filled with inner strength. Steadfastness was his personality. He had faced the mountain of sorrow. He had neither an elegance body nor wealth to meet his basic needs even in his adolescence.He had remained without food for a month because he had no money to purchase food. As he could not afford the fare of a boat, he had to swim across the Ganga River to attend school. He had to lose one of his sons due to lack of money. But, he was bahadur (brave) as his name suggested. He not only tackled all his obstacles but also became the Prime Minister of India.

He was born on 2nd October 1904 at Mugalsarai. He came from a pauper family. His father was Shri Sharada Prasad and mother was Smt. Ram Dularee Devi. His father departed when Lal Bahadur was a child. It resulted into the worst economical condition of the family.

He studied at Varanasi. Mahatma Gandhi went Varanasi in 1911 during Non cooperation movement. Gandhi jee convinced the young to play a part in the freedom struggle of India. At just sixteen, Lal Bahadur also gets motivated and joined the movement. He was sentence to the rigorous imprisonment for 2 years. Later, at Kashi Vidyapith he was awarded a bachelor’s degree or shastri which became part of his name. When India got her independence, shastriji held several Union Cabinet port folios. He added a new dimension to the Railway ministry, Commerce and Home Ministry. He resigned as a railway minister after he felt responsible for a major rail accident in Tamilnadu. This extraordinary wave was greatly appreciated by the country. He became Prime Minister on 9th June 1964 after the demise of Jawajar Lal Nehru. Though he remained only 18 months in this post, the country developed in every aspect under his prime ministerial tenure. He did much praiseworthy work. Problems such as Indo-Nepal relationship, language dispute of Assam and the theft of holy hair of Hazarat in Kashmir etc were solved by him diplomatically. He showed consummate guts in taking a speedy resolution to attack Pakistan in self-defense in 1965.

He is well-known for the saying “Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan”. He wanted the safety and the prosperity of the country. Hence, he chose the soldier and the farmer as the national builder masses.

Pakistan’s aggression into Kashmir was ended in Pakistan’s defeat and the ceasefire in Tashkent signed by Shastrijee and Ayub Khan on 1966. Shastri died in Tashkent soon after signing the treaty. He was the first person to be posthumously awarded the Bharat Ratna in 1966. The country lost her great son. All his life time he was known for his honesty, simplicity and humility. We have several lessons to learn from his life history.

Our Swami Vivekanand

“Arise! And Awake! Stop not till the goal is achieved.”
                                                                -- Vivekananda

It was Swami Vivekananda who revived the greatness of Hinduism and the Motherland. He was an infinite dynamic reformer, a great orator and a natural spiritual leader. He worshipped energy and vitality. In the words of Nehru,” Rooted in the past and full of pride in India’s heritage, Vivekananda was yet modern in his approach to the problems and was a kind of bridge between the past of India and her present.”

Swami Vivekananda was Narendra Nath Dutta in his early days. He was born in the famous and affluent Dutta family in Calcutta on Monday, 12th January 1863. His father, Vishwanath Dutta was a well-known lawyer and took delight in the study of the Bible and the poems of the Persian poet, Hafiz. Narendra’s mother, Bhuvanaswari Devi was a very intelligent and pious lady with exceptionally intelligence and possessing royal dignity. The influence of the mother in the formation of the character and development of personality is always very great. Narendra learnt the Epics and Purans from his mother.

Whenever a sadhu came to his door; he would be delighted and would give him anything he found. He was the soul of social circles, a brilliant conversationalist, a sweet singer, a man with philosophical insights and leader in all creative activities. Purity of character was always with him. He had a monastic instinct underneath the surface of the gay life he seemed to live. So whenever his father urged him to marry, he rebelled and the idea was abandoned. He was restless in search of the ultimate Reality or God. For that he met a good number of spiritual thinkers and scholars and wanted to know if they had seen God and found the ultimate Reality. At last, the principal of the General Assembly’s Institution (now Scottish Church College), Hastie suggested him to meet with Sri Ramakrishna. Naren visited Ramakrishna and asked straightway if he had seen God. He replied in affirmative and said that he could even show God to him. This naturally took Naren by surprise. Later he started to receive spiritual guidance from him. When Ramakrishna passed away in 16th August 1886 because of cancer, he began to live together with other disciples of Ramakrishna. He founded the Ramakrishna Mission in 1897. This mission has probably alleviated human sufferings and spread education to a great extent. He traveled extensively throughout India. He was appalled to see the conditions of the rural people- superstitious, half-starved and victims of caste-tyranny. He attended the Parliament of Religions at Chicago in September 1893 to represent Hinduism. He made a tremendous impression. The press paid him the highest tributes as an exponent of India‘s age old value. It was the highest pride and the climax of international acclaim that he brought for his country. All the national leaders became aware of the strong and weak aspects of India. Rabindranath Tagore once told Romain Rolland ‘If you want to know India, study Vivekananda.’

The message that he preached was remarkable and scientific. He believed in a root and branch reform. He wanted the masses educated. What made him great was that he sought man before seeking God. He had great affection for Indian women. He stated that an Indian woman was living embodiment of universal motherhood. He gave a human interpretation to Vedanta. In short, he was a remarkable humble man. He left this world on July 4, 1902 but his ideals will ever lead the world to reach the Ultimate Reality.

Our MOTHER TERESA

Mother Teresa was a woman of exceptional personality and a prodigy of our time. She was the world’s most decipherable emblem of kindness and loving. She was always clothed in white sari with blue edge. She was born on 26th August 1910 at Skopje, Yugoslavia, in the kingdom of Albania and was named Agens. She was the daughter of an Albanian builder and the youngest of three children. Her father breathed his last breath when she was seven. At 12, she made her mind to grow to be a nun. At 18, she decided to join the Loreto Order of nuns in Ireland. She arrived in India during November 1928. After spending a few days in Calcutta (Kolkata) she was sent Loreto Novitiate in Darjeeling to begin the life of learner. She learnt Bengali and English there. That is why she is also known as the Bengali Teresa.

On September 10, 1946, she heard a ‘Call within a call ’. She left the convent and dedicated herself for helping the poor. Within two years, she had set up a dispensary for the dying underprivileged inhabitants. She, soon, became a distinguished name among her preferred people. She took her name Mother Teresa from a 16th century nun called St. Teresa. She first lived in Creek Lane and in the long run moved to an edifice on Lower Circular Road which came to be identified world greater than as Mother House. In 1952, she opened her first home, “Nirmal Hriday”. More or less 469 educational institutions, 1369 treatment centers and 755 residences run in almost 120 countries in her name today. However, Mother Teresa made Calcutta her home and also breathed her last on 5th September 1997 in this metropolis. In 1979, she was awarded by Nobel Peace Prize. She progressively achieved global appreciation. She donated the whole money to feed the sick and the poor. She was awarded Padamshree and Bharat Ratana respectively in 1962 and 1980. She was also honoured by the Megasaysay award, Leo Tolstoy International award and Pope John Peace Prize. Her record of honors is continual. She accepted over 50 national and international awards. Her outstanding influence of uncomplicated meekness and her indomitable devotion in divinity touched the spirit of millions on all sides the world. She journeyed assiduously the streets of the world, helping, caring and loving the poor and the children who were unwanted. She felt and gave a message to us -“The poor do not wish for bread, they yearn for love. The naked do not desire clothes, they want self-esteem”. She lived among the poor as a poor woman. She was an Indian woman; barely 5ft of height wearing an inexpensive sari, with neither riches nor helps. In fact, she was a legend of our time.

Nature Of The Indian Federal System

The lexical meaning of the word, Federal is- “having a system of Government in which the individual states of a country have control over their own affairs, but are controlled by a central government for national decisions”. But, there is not a general consensus among the political scientists regarding the true meaning of the word, Federation. Sometimes, it is substituted with the word, Union. It is because of Article 1(1) of our Constitution that states- “India that is Bharat, shall be a union of states.” It is correct to a great extent.

It is important to note here that the word, Federation is not mention in the Indian constitution. However, India is a federation. A federation is characterized by some certain essential features. The Indian constitution has those essential features.
There are two levels of government – the Central Government and the State Government- in India. The powers and functions of the Central Government and the State Government are clearly defined in the Indian constitution. Both the Governments are autonomous within their respective areas of working. The Central Government has jurisdiction over 97 subjects whereas the State List includes 66 subjects. Also, there is a Concurrent List consisting of 47 subjects over which both the governments have concurrent jurisdiction. Disputes regarding the powers and functions of the Central Government and the State Governments are decided by an independent judiciary under the Constitution. Hence, Indian Constitution provides India the federal form.

A federal state represents a group of several states. Each state is not only an agent of the federal government but also draw its authority from the Constitution. Beside it, states have no rights to secede from the federation at its will. As a federal state derives its powers and existence from the Constitution, there is the supremacy of the Constitution in a federal state. The courts have a final power to interpret the Constitution and every power – either executive or legislation or judicial. In other words, the Constitution is the supreme law in a federal system. We observe that there is a division of legislative and administrative powers between the Union and the State Governments and the Supreme Court stands at the head of our judiciary.

Our Constitution serves both the Union and the States with the same fullness and precision but since some of the states of the federation differed in their historical origins and their political development, special provisions for different classes of the units had to be made. The State of Jammu and Kashmir was accorded a special status and was allowed to make its own State Constitution. Even all the other provisions of the Constitution of India did not directly apply to J & K but dependent upon an order made by the President in consultation with the Government of that state for which provision had to be made in Article 370. After the inauguration of the Constitution special provisions have been inserted [ Arts. 371,372 I], to meet the regional problems and demands in certain states such as Assam, Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland, Andhra Prasad, Maharastra, Gujarat etc. The Constitution provides an extraordinarily powerful Central Government. Article 249 gives power to Parliament to enact legislation on any subject in the State List, provided the Rajya Sabha by a two-thirds majority needs it to do so. Under Article 312, Parliament is allowed to create new all India services common to the Centre and the States provided that the Rajya Sabha passes a resolution to this effect by a two- thirds majority. Article 256 places a State Government under an obligation to exercise its executive power so as to ensure compliance with the laws made by Parliament. Article 257 places the states under the control of the Central Government in certain cases.
Further, Article 200 and 201 empower the Governor who is a presidential appointee, to reserve a bill passed by the State Legislative Assembly for the consideration of the President who has the power to veto it without giving reasons. The powers of the Central Government became dominant in times of emergency. The Union functions as a unitary state when the security of the country is in peril or when there is failure of the constitution in a state or when there is the financial unstable in the state.

Indian federation gives the states a temporary identity because Article 3 of the Constitution states that the Parliament may form a new state by law or may increase or diminish the area of any state. It may alter the boundaries or the name of any state. An Indian federal system differs from the typical systems of the world. It has some peculiar features especially in terms of the mode of formation, position of the states and nature of the polity. The Government of India Act, 1935 introduced the federal concept for the first time. Under this system the Indian provinces derived their authority directly from the British Crown. Interestingly, this system is not the outcome of any agreement but has been framed by the people of India.

In certain conditions Parliament can legislate on state subjects. They are discussed below: (a) According to Article 249 of the Constitution if the Rajya Sabha passes any of the subjects of the State List with two-thirds majority of the present and eligible voters of the House, declaring the subjects to have national importance, on that subject Parliament acquires the power to legislate i.e. to make laws. This can be implemented for one year. This can also be increased to one more year. (b) According to the 7th Schedule of the Constitution, Parliament makes laws if in any way states are related to this law or any state has implemented laws on the same subjects, then the laws by the Parliament will be implemented. (c) According to Article 353 of the constitution if in the whole country or in any part of it, emergency is declared (Art. 352(1)) then Parliament acquires the power to make laws regarding the subjects mentioned in all the list including State Lists for the whole of the country or a part of it, the same arrangements are implemented when emergency is declared under Art. 356.

A foreign critic Prof. K C Wherare in his book ‘Federal Government (1951)’ has written that the Indian Constitution provides a system of government which is quasi-federal ....... a unitary state with subsidiary federal features rather than a federal state with subsidiary unitary features. Prof. C H Alexandrowioz in his book ‘Constitutional Developments in India (1957)’ has expressed same views. He stated that the Constitution of India is neither purely federal nor purely unitary but it is a combination of both. It is a Union or composite state of a novel type. It enshrines the principle that in spite of Federalism the national interest ought to be paramount. Some other scholars in India have agreed on this point. Actually, the parliamentary form of government is federal in structure with unitary features.

Literature and Society

Literature is simply great. It provides us with such contentment which is unmatched. It directs society. It contains the best experiences and thoughts of the people of society. It is said to be a mirror for society. We know about society through it. It reflects the ideas, feelings and people of the society. It enables us to peep into past as well as future besides present. It is our best friend in isolation. It contains elements of astuteness. It gives us the accurate moral advice. It is the literature that develops and elevates everyone. It keeps us up to date.

More than once it has been said that literature reveals society. It is an imperative documentation of what humans have seen in society, what they have practiced of it, and which has the most abrupt and long-term significance for all of us. The proper endeavor of literary persons ought to be providing in their works as a facsimile of society. No doubt, literature and society are interlinked. The truth of literature is not different from that of society. It tells us not only what is seen or learnt, but also the thoughts and feelings which are associated with other men and produced in their mind. It can therefore give us a more real and more truthful portrait of men and behaviors. The characters in literature are the creations of writer’s mind. They are the representations of the original as well. We always expect from a true literary artists not merely a picturesque presentation of life but a picture of life, at once real and ideal that is to say not a copy of what it is but what it ought to be. In fact all art is rooted to society and no literary artifact can be more separate creation. The personality of or the collective experiences of authors through which they observe life is greatly predisposed by life around them. Even the greatest genius like Shakespeare and Kalidas described the society into which they born. They were not totally free from the impress of time. Whatever the scenes of assassination, psychosis and maneuvers we find in their plays were the result of their efforts to furnish to the contemporary society. We should not fail to remember that the value and brilliance of literature is superior to life. It is the peculiar glory of great literature that it lasts longer than kings and dynasties. The political world of Homer is dead while his creations are living even today. The grandeur of Rome has gone but the fame of Virgil is yet animate. The visions of Kalidas still stir us like the living fire. The great medieval powers are forgotten but the songs of Dante are still relished. Similarly, the Elizabethan age will be remembered as long as the English language lives on account of its Shakespeare.
Literature, according to the lexicon, is the pieces of writing that are valued as works of art especially novels, plays and poems. Reading good books brings us closer to the best thought of the best mind and this habit gives us superb joy. Sir Richard Steele says, “Reading is to the mind what exercise is to the body.” Reading is our unfailing companion of solitude. It is s source of eternal joy and pleasure. In reading books we find an escape from the cares and worries of life. Books also revolutionize the public opinion and reform the moral tone of human society. We should be careful of avoiding bad books, also, which may spoil our good habit and character. In short, it presents the picture of the world in a more attractive manner than the world really is. Stories and novels are a great source of pleasure and recreation. It takes us into a new world of imagination and joy and we forget our worries and surroundings. The nexus between literature and society is crystal clear. We can take an example of Bandopadhy’s novel; “Pather Panchali” that depicts human quality. The story of the novel deals with familiar matters of today. The sorrow and joy of the countryside in a village that is passing away in a fast changing social environment before eyes are described in it. It traces the life of Apu from the childhood. The first part deals with social milieu in which Apu was born and it has been depicted sensitively. The portrayal challenges may be sought in society. Apu’s sister Durga is the principal character round whom the littlie boy grows up. What a loving character is Durga! It is through Durga that Apu enters the nature and for the first time in Bengali fiction; Nature becomes a living personality that weaves its spell on the human mind. Literature is instinct with the spirit of our society. it brings home the beauty of the society and its people in unexpected ways. The vivid description of nature appeals to our mind and we can see Nature with our eyes and hear manifold music with our ears. The novelist looks and grips mind and heart of the people of the society. Literature and society is the two sides of the same coin. Each gives life to each other. Without society, literature cannot be visualized. Similarly, society depends on the direction of the literature. The two great epics, the Ramayana and the Mahabharata have been guiding Indians and others since a long time. It indicates the impact of literature on society and vice versa. Both have greatly influenced the social strata, political arena, moral education, conducts, religion, physical and psyche of human society. Even today we imagine the Ramrajya. Literature and society is tied with invisible force which can never be separated. They exist together as the carbon copy of each other.

Criminalisation Of Politics

The word Politics has today become one and the same with disloyalty or opportunism. It has degraded into a shameless business. Everything is reasonable in politics. The result is that honest and noble people try to keep away from Politics. However, Democracy stands for the rule of law and the holding of free and unbiased elections to make certain the will of the people. But in quite recent times this peaceful method of community change has been much vitiated. Brutality, rigging and booth-capturing have become the order of the day. This actuality was highlighted during the elections to the local bodies including District Boards, Municipalities and Municipal Corporations as well as elections to the Lokshabha along with a number of state legislatures. It was found that confirmed criminals and even those who were behind the bars were given tickets by different political parties. What is more shocking is the fact that they won the elections. There was cruelty on a large scale in a number of places and hundreds of lives were vanished. The cult of the gun prevails and criminals are often hired for the purpose of capturing booths and violent behaviors or threats of violence. Without a doubt the entire democratic process is neglected. All this indicates the criminalization of Politics today.

The Government and law enforcing authorities seem vulnerable in modern day Politics. Today MPs and MLAs are either have close associations with criminals or are men with criminal records. Criminals have gained access to socio-political survival and the expectations on democracy appear to be panic. Gangsters move about freely in order to eliminate their political opponents and creating fear. Unfortunately, nobody has the motivation to put down such immoral actions with and iron hand.

Criminalization of Politics is the greatest jeopardy that faces democracy these days. Leaders of all political parties and intellectuals want to remove criminals from the electoral process but anti-social elements are involved to ensure their success. Quite often the appeals are put forward for a protective measure against the activities of the anti social elements. But the menace is that the electoral process would pass into the hands of anti social elements. The access of criminals into the political field has caused chaos in the sphere of the administration or government.

Democracy desires command and an enthusiasm to stick to a set of laws of self-control. We need the rule of law and a suitable agency to enforce it. Such an agency is furnished by the courts. Criminal law may be considered as the most effective weapon of social defence. A large number of politicians take aids of muscle power during elections either to coerce voters for securing their votes or to degrade the opponent contestants. The consequence is that the exploit of muscle power has become a habitual characteristic of the electoral procedure. The cerebral may complain about this practice, the newspapers may transmit lengthy critiques in condemnation of it, the public strong-willed human beings may depict it as a refusal of free and reasonable elections but the fact remains that the vice leaves and one cannot flee from unsympathetic actuality. The electoral process thus leads to close linkages between the anti-social constituents and the elected officials. The close linkages of anti-social elements with the local politicians operate as a frightening feature for the law enforcement agencies from ensuing and taking sturdy deed in opposition to them. According to newspaper reports about 100 elected members of the legislature during the last five years had illegal records. We can well visualize the panic of policemen while dealing with such facets. Incident also enlightens us that just the once an individual gets elected to a legislature the election secures for him not only some kind of amnesty from legal course of action for his precedent actions but also affords him implicit invulnerability from further proceedings against him for violation of criminal law.

It is no suspicion and accurate that this is not legally acceptable and the law does not tolerate such circumstances of concerns but systems are at all times found to thwart the law. Once the consciousness exists that it is complicated to secure the assurance of an accused in a court of law, the sufferer of the offence of their close relatives, look to extra-legal techniques to reconcile score with the offenders. Such a state of affairs means a collapse of criminal justice and it outcomes in a situation of the turmoil and lawlessness. The efficiency and influence of the administration of criminal justice can be guaranteed only if we can abolish or at least curtail political and other inappropriate hindrance in the analysis of offenses. Indian democracy must be saved from the eminence of criminals and all the wickedness that it implies. Under no circumstances should law be taken into one’s own hands. However in this respect the leaders of the country themselves are not liberated from charge, for they have been blameworthy of stirring the people to take alternative to aggression.
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Corruption

Corruption is a global phenomenon. Bribery, money laundering, incentives, fees for services rendered and scams have become a way of life. Corruption is rampant in politics and in public services. A survey was conducted by the ORG-Marg for an NGO called the Transparency International India to find out the number of people affected by corruption in different sectors. The survey revealed that the greatest number of people affected by corruption (8.1 billion) was by the Health Department, followed by Power (5.9 billion) and Education (5.5 billion). About 1.3 billion people were affected by corruption in the Judiciary and 0.7 billion in the Taxation Department. Bofors case, Hawala Scandal, the securities Scandal, the Housing Scam, Urea Scam, the Fodder Scam in Bihar, the Telecom Scandal etc are some forms of political corruption. Ironically, economic liberalization has fostered big-bugs corruption. It would be suicidal for the society if corruption is not eliminated without any loss of time. Of late, India has been rocked by corruption scandals whose dimensions were so big that they left an adverse impact both on the political and the economic life of the country. Much has been done and much is being done on to curtain corruption. But it still leaves much to be desired for corruption is not on the wane, but on the increase. The public is not yet satisfied with the investigations done by the governments to unearth the plots involving multicrore scams. It is, therefore, needless to say that corruption in India has reached the climax. In fact, present bad economic situation is due to this evil of corruption. This menace has to be crushed with firm steps. Any delay will result in disastrous consequences. It is clear that it is the time to reduce the increasing corruption as soon as possible. In order to control increasing corruption the following things should be followed or paid attention to.

1.First of all, it is important to state here the suggestion of the former Chief Vigilance Commissioner; Mr. N. Vittal who suggested several times that a new fundamental right such as, the right to corruption-free service should be incorporated into the Constitution. This would allow judicial action if it was violated.

Moral education is the need of the hour.

2.The anti-corruption agencies such as the Vigilance Commissions, Anticorruption Departments, CBI and others are constituted to look into and trap the bribe-takers. However, the greatest obstacle in eliminating corruption is the fact that public morality is virtually non-existent.

3.Corruption at higher levels of political leadership leads to corruption in the bureaucracy and other wings of the administration like the police or the Public Works Departments. It spreads top to bottom. It is therefore necessary that People with moral integrity and honesty should contest elections and should be voted to power. Suitable legislation should be enacted to root out corruption associated with elections.

4.There is a need for a new beginning to make India corruption-free. Everyone should adopt zero tolerance towards corruption.

5.There is nothing wrong with Indian laws, nothing wrong with economy or with its political and judicial institutions. What ails India is its moral poverty.

6.But, there is a silver lining in every cloud. We took look towards our judiciary to mend things and punish the guilty. The way our Courts and the apex court are handling all those cases and the attitude of our present governments in the states and at the centre are giving a life saving drug for the Indian society and we do hope that corruption would be eradicated from our society.

7.The laws of the country should be made strict and stringent. The measure of punishment must be increased.

8.The agency should be made there to serve as a watchdog of the activities of high officials and civil servants.

9.More courts should be established to disperse of cases of corruption.

10.The menace of corruption needs to be tackled on many fronts. The cause of corruption should be clearly and precisely identified and remedial steps should be taken.

11.There should be clear understanding and cooperation between public and officers to check corruption.

12.Only patriotic feelings coupled with efforts in reduction of poverty, illiteracy, regional imbalances and inequality among people can successfully face and fight the menace of corruption.

13.Tough regulation that contains the induction of broader and transparent quality in the working pattern will help to reduce the corruption in the government as well as society.

14.There is a need to involve maximum possible officials in financial dealings to avoid monopoly of single hand so that the chances of corruption can be minimized.

15.There is a requirement of frequent turnover of the staff where they are dealing with sensitive matters. It may be money dealing, custody of stores, allotment of license, allotment of land, recruitment etc.

16.There is a need to fix the minimum tenure for each category of the officials who are working in such type of sensitive appointments.

17.There is a need of firm checks and counter checks by inducting the fair procedure into the system without any loopholes in the operation. There will be a need of accountability of each one involved in carrying out this job.

18.The budget control is another important aspect. It guides that the expenditure is to be incurred when actually required. That will also create doubt of misappropriation and corruption.

19.There should be a policy in all the government offices that none of the officials whose integrity is doubtful even once should not be allowed to work in the jobs involving financial matters.

20.There should be a rule to carryout regular surprise and vigilance checks over the dealings and the transactions to avoid malpractices and corruption.

21. The departmental and judiciary laws should have provision of imposing exemplary punishment to the accused commensurate with the gravity of the offence and create fear amongst others to avoid such undesirable activities.

22.Enhancement in the salary of the officers and staff will also help to reduce the corruption.
23.It is generally seen that the responsibilities of the officers are passed on to their subordinates. Some out of them are involved in malpractices and corruption cases. This is obvious. The corruptibility in the case of few subordinates, who are not as responsible like officers, cannot be ruled out. There is a need to deal with such slackness on the part of officers vigorously.
Besides other things, the above suggestions are necessary in order to control increasing corruption.

Child Labour

According to the Human Rights Watch (Article-1) of UN,” A child means every human being below the age of eighteen years unless under the law applicable to the child, majority is attained earlier.” Childhood is the state of life where love and care are needed greatly. But who cares? None! Children constitute about 35 percent of India’s population and it is national shame that bulk of them still suffer from malnutrition, poverty, diseases, malicious mistreatment through forced child labour and beggary. One of the worst forms of child exploitation is child labour. . It is a disgraceful act that we, the crown of the Nature, take advantage of children for our comforts and benefits. Many children have to work for long hours and are physically abused. The children are engaged in the various large as well as small industries. Their tomorrow is ruined. Child labour is a grave stain on our endeavors in directing India as a go-ahead nation.
According to International Labour Organization (ILO) statistics, India has possibly the largest child labour power in the world, which is around 16.5 million. Off the record, though the estimation is something like 45 million; of which roughly 20 percent are in inner-city regions and what's left is in countryside areas. Nearly 87 percent of the child workers are in rural areas working in farm, plantations, fisheries and cottage industries. Statistics tells an appalling story about Mumbai and Goa. It says that the 20 percent of the 1 lakh prostitutes in Bombay alone are below 18 years of age. In Tamil Nadu children are employed in many small scale match and firework industries. In Varanasi around 30 lakh children work in the sari industry. These are only some examples of child labour. Actually, the said problem is present almost each and every state. As child labour is very economical, each work requires a helping hand of children. It is the time of modernization and globalization. Every work needs a great cheap and dedicated employee. The children are considered a secure dealing. It is unfortunate that in metropolitan cities the children are sexually exploited and labeled as ‘Pleasure Packages’.

In a country like India where a lot of the inhabitants live below the poverty line, it is basically not simple to get rid of this societal problem. The origin of the child labour is always in poverty and to some degree, it lies in unawareness. But, it is a harsh fact that without getting into an employment, these child labourers would have nothing to eat. Their close relatives cannot have enough money to nourish them. They have to simply compel their own offspring to labor. To obtain the indispensable necessity of living, the families overlook all their sense of mortality and quit their broods to work in industrial units and they insist them to drop the schools. These children, left without the valued reminiscences of infancy, mature into ignorant persons with scarcely any variety of cerebral expansion.

In the past, some measures were taken in the developing countries by the developed countries to control this social immorality of child labour. But, there was hardly any impact because of the reason that the developing countries simply did not worry about that. Hence the dilemma continues to grow. The reality that this social vice is inextricably knotted with other familiar problems such as poverty, illiteracy, violence etc makes it a ferocious loop.
Laws were made to remove this social evil and a national organization was set up against child mistreatment. The Child Labour (Prohibition & Regulation) Act 1986 was enacted. The Act seeks to prohibit employment of children below 14 years in hazardous occupations and processes. Unfortunately these efforts did not bear much fruits. A National Policy on Child Labour was announced in August 1987 then. We know what these acts do for the children. Articles 24 and 39 of the Indian Constitution provides for protection of the children from involvement in activities and from avocations unsuited to their age. But these provisions also remain principle.
The problem of child labour has influenced Indian economy to a great extent. International Labour Rights Funds accused India and warned that if Indian carpet industry does not guarantee the production of goods without involving child labours, Indian products will be boycotted. The strong step taken by European administrations in opposition to import of goods whose manufactures engage child labour compelled the authorities to take some tangible steps to eliminate child labour. Stern measures are being taken such as punishing those who go against the child labour Act.
Education and economic richness is the only key to the complete elimination of the problem of child labour. First of all, it is necessary to identify the hazardous work which exploits children. Secondly, particular attention should be drawn towards the troubles of child labourers. Thirdly, such policies must be put off in which non- formal schooling is allocated to the children for two hours and then they are obliged to labor. Though primary education is free and compulsory, a large number of children do not go to school because the rural India is again caught in vicious cycle of poverty. Child labour is necessary to keep the hearth glowing. It is not a good sign. Child labour creates a face ill equipped in terms of skill to compete in today’s globalized economy. It perpetuates the poverty in general population.
Fourthly, complete exercise of mass communication should be made for wakefulness about the problem of child labour. It is true that it is an assiduous work to eradicate this problem wholly. But we should keep in our mind that the European countries have already destroyed it. We should take a lesson from them. In fact, it is our enthusiasm which determines the level of reduction of this problem. We should take this problem seriously and personally. Our dedication directs the higher goal to achieve the welfare of the whole mankind. We should form responsiveness about the extent of the problem and this can be accomplished through economic liberalization. The Supreme Court gave its historic judgement on 10th December 1996 and ordered the owners to pay Rs 20,000 per child if the defiance of child labour law is set up. In its 36 page judgement, the court noticeably stated that an adult from the family of every child labourer will be given an employment so that parents should not be compelled to send their children to work. Such steps are welcome. Child labour is economically wobbled, psychologically catastrophic and ethically erroneous. It should be stringently banned.

Marriage

Are u married or unmarried? If u are married, I think u are enjoying this bond of love and happiness. If u are unmarried, u are likely to dream about ur bride or ur groom. U may never ask yourself a question. The question: why should one get married? Interestingly, there are many positive and negative responses if the above said question is asked to anyone.

A boy is interested in a girl. Similarly a girl is interested in a boy. It is a natural phenomenon. It should not be avoided by most of us. But it is also true to a great extent that Indians (especially) believe in being Brahamachari which generally means one who does not indulge in sexual activities. In the words of Mahatma Gandhi, Brahamachari means one who is in search of the God. Here, a general view is explained. Marriage is a great complex social process.

Dogma

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  Religion is misunderstood by many. It should not be so. Actually the positive aspect of all the Religions provide an opportunity to grow in spirit.
  
  
  
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  It is seen that all the Religions have three fold vision- the institutions, the principles and the dogmas.
  

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  A house is not an identity to a person. It only provides shelter where one can relax. Similarly, the temples, the mosques, the church etc are not identity of a person of particular religious community. I think these are the shelter where one's spirit can get relaxation. Unfortunately, some dogmas and narrow mindedness of orthodox create chaos and suffering for humans.
  
  
  
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  All the religions should be opened for all mankind. All human beings are equal and should get equal opportunity to flourish.
  
  
  
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  The Religion should be a gate through every good spirit can get in. Its door should be closed for those who are adding differences to us.
  
  
  

UNemployment

The population of humans is increasing quite vastly. It has created the problem of un-employment. Generally it is seen as economic point of view. I think it has other dimensions too. It also shows one's attitude. The young are always anxious to it. It is true that it creates an ambivalence situation. However it requires a new thought. It is considered as a curse. Is it not our negative attitude?

There is always a way to reconsider everything. Everything has its own intrinsic quality which is precious. Survival is everything for animals. We, all humans, are animals with wisdom. That is why we have a biological name that signifies our wisdom. According to the rules of Biological Nomenclature humans are named as Homo sapiens i.e. The man of wisdom. Wisdom is not a word with narrow meaning. We have to find out its spirit. Simply the meaning of words does not serve our purpose.

Her Only Daughter

She was a maid servant. What was her name?. I remember Shakespeare at this situation. Once he wrote- " What is in name?" However, I would like to name her for writing purpose. She was Laxmi. she had the only child, her daughter, Shradha. Shradha had successfully completed her 10+2 degree in Arts. She was giving tutions to the students upto 10th standards. she was earning a little money but it was sufficient for her daily needs.

Laxmi was always worry about her daughter's marriage. Her only daughter had reflected several lessons for understanding the so-called successful life. She was not educated but had experiences. She felt that a daugther was always a headache for a poor family like her. As Shardha was not a girl with white skin, her marriage was directly related to the proportion of amount in dowry. Laxmi had only one pair of saris but she was very enthusiastic to wed her daughter. she managed a boy who was illiterate but had paternal lands of about 3and half Kattha. She was ready to give that boy the sum of 3 lakhs, the whole amount that she had earned in life to wed with her daughter.

A girl without father, without fair skin and with full potentials to do every good thing has to face the problem of natural development in the modern and advance times.

STRANGE!!!

silence

Silence is a way to learn a lot. You may ask - HOW ? . It is very simple to realise. Suppose one wants to make an email ID. what will one do? Simply, one will follow the steps in silence. One will able to create what one wants to create. This is called the power of silence.