You are in our heart...We still miss you..!!!

Late Sri NC Jain

Its been 4018 days I have been away from those gentle hands which used to hold me while I grip them walking down the streets---"Jaijinendra"..."Ram Ram"..."Aadaab arz hai'...He was politely responding to the greetings of every passerby. I still feel like that 11 year kid who loved to accompany his "Babaji" wherever he goes. My grandfather, Mr. N.C. Jain was a Man of Honor.

I still feels nostalgic whenever I savour papdi-chat or lassi. I remember both of us skipping meals to these local delicacies which in-turn gave us enough energy to face angry faced grandma ("Badi-Mummy"). I miss those "White Reveris" he used to get specially for me; I miss sitting besides him at the shop, I miss him a lot in my life today.........What I don't miss are his values..as they are still alive in our family.

His modesty has been a source of inspiration for every member in our family. Today, our Home is standing on four pillars - His Values, Teachings, Dedication and Calmness; with Hard-Work and Devotion providing a rock-solid foundation. But we are left without a strong roof - The Man himself. 

On 6th May 2001, when that great soul started its journey to heaven, we all were deprived of the roof for our home. Bound by the four pillars and a solid foundation, although we were able to get a materialistic roof to cover us, the present roof can't match the qualities of that great human being who must be busy strengthening the values of his heaven-mates. Its been 11 years we are living without him, however I still feels his Aura in every corner of our home. Unfortunately, I haven't met a person like him in these 11 years.

"People say we have god in our heart---For me that God is my grandfather."

A couple of times I've met him in my dreams---those were not the meetings with my Babaji, those were the "Darshan" of the God who lies in my heart.

His sacrifice for well-being of the family and contribution towards society is immeasurable. He was always ready to help--whoever the person was..However tensed the situation, his calmness worked wonders for everyone. His attitude towards life was impeccable.

I want to be like him ...however hard I try, I know I won't be able to match his qualities. But I would be on cloud 9 even if I am able to become 10% of him.

With mixed feelings of grief and ecstasy of being your grandson, with my moist eyes, I make a commitment to being a good human being and never let your name down with my deeds. You may not be with us physically, but you will forever be with us in our hearts---for the generations to come.
Jaijinendra...

Coalition Government - Are we on the right track..!!!

A wise man from Barrackpore Constituency, an MBA from University of Texas and a Pilot out of interest - Dinesh Trivedi, a name that was not so popular before March 14th 2012, the day when he presented one of the most influential Rail Budget in Indian History, suddenly became a Top Story across Indian Media galleries. Thanks to a nominal hike in the passenger fare, a bold step that any Railway minister has taken in the last 9 years. Mr. PM, who also welcomed this bold move, felt lame in front of ugly looking Mamta Banerjee who led the rueful and untimely departure of "Trivedi Express" from Rail Bhawan. Mr. PM was poised by pointless looking Banerjee's threat to pull her support from present coalition.
This unnecessary drama was not yet over when DMK threatened our blue turban " Sardar" that they will pull out of the coalition if "Sardarji" votes against the US sponsored resolution put-in against Sri Lanka in UNHRC. A move which will cost nothing to Mr. Singh, but has already sown the seeds of hatred towards India in the political corridors of Island Nation with whom India used to enjoy healthy relations. This politically influenced decision made India's stand few degrees weaker in the Subcontinent when traditional opponents like Pakistan and China voted in support of Lankan Govt.

"Thanks to this political awkwardness - Internal hiccups were not just enough to derail our growth train, and now our domestic politics influenced our foreign policy too."

We used to gallantly feel proud during our school times when we read - "Indian Democracy is largest democracy in the world". And as we grow, gradually came to know its one of the most complicated and has become inefficient in the present system.

"Dr. Ambedkar would have committed suicide if he was here to witness this public molestation of Indian Constitution"

Coalition government - one of the aspect of Indian Political system - which was once adopted as a middle way to form the government in this dirty multiparty system- has now recoiled on the government's ability to take concrete decisions for its own good. Should we call this a success.??

NCTC - An agency to India's good

Rarely it happens that a bunch of state governments join their hands to come in the way of union government over a critical issue of national security. India's federal system of clear governance sometimes backfires when such issues are raised by insecure state chiefs.

A wise man sitting in the Home Ministry is trying to set-up a much needed counter-terrorism body for the nation, not in his personal interest. And yes, when we are talking about national security, the acting body needs to be strongly inviolable. The much anticipated repelling action from some of the Chief Ministers is a clear sign of their desire to just come into media lights for any baseless demands or reasons.

Chief Ministers say NCTC would infringe on their powers. As NCTC would have the power to arrest any suspect anywhere in India, State Governments wants it to follow the proper channel to arrest. This way - by the  time NCTC officials have all formalities in place, the suspect would have flown. Is that the state governments want???. Moreover, according to the Ministry of Home Affairs, it is much clear that any arrested person and article seized will be handed over to the nearest police station without any delay. The police stations are under of the jurisdiction of State Governments. I wonder what gap does state governments see here.

If this law is operationalised, what would not happen is Delay. The need for such a central agency is much supported with the instance that during 26/11, Indian Intellegence agencies had some clues about some illegal activities arising out of Pakistan.State government thought that the Centre is dealing with it, The Centre thought state government is proactively taking this issue. The net result was : information slipped through thecracks and what we saw a large-scale bloodshed in Mumbai.

If NCTC had existed, someone could have been caught, arrested and questioned, and maybe 26/11 might have been foiled. That could have been a tight slap on the face of Pakistan.

The danger is the distortions that creep into the system when it comes to fighting terrorism. India needs an organisation that can analyse intelligence. NCTC will be that organisation that will process information from different agencies via the National Intelligence Grid and will follow this up to its logical conclusion.NCTC is visualised as being run by a standing council that will have representatives of anti-terrorism forces in each state on it. What it will be is a single point of control to coordinate all counter-terrorism moves.


I wonder why these people in power don't even realize the importance and need of such an agency, wonder what's going on in their mind behind this opposition to NCTC. I would rather tag them as Immature Leaders.

This was also not expected out of Narendra Modi's thoughts. Possibly, if there would have been a BJP government in Delhi, his stance could have been different.

We have seen Baba Raamdev and Team Anna raising may eyes on Balck Money and corruption. I would be give them a "LIKE" if they could support this cause too.

What we have a just feeling of optimism that soon we will be having a Indian chapter of National Counter Terrorism Centre.

GREEN - how it came to us

Green is the symbol of growth; an indication of continuity; it communicates hope, improvement and safety; Green is also associated with fertility and regeneration. It describes plants and oceans, also describes someone who is inexperienced or gullible. Several minerals like emerald also exhibit green color.

In our daily engagements, we are accustomed of witnessing green as positive symbol, but we seldom think why the color has got so much importance in every aspect of life. Some of us may infer that it has been accepted as a standard color globally. Some may ask why only green, why we can’t use blue or red or brown or yellow……

This is a logical world and all the entities in this ecosystem have a reason behind their existence. Green is related to old English verb growan, “to grow”. It is engulfed by a unique aura carrying a lot of positive energy. Contrary to red which gives a sense of danger, it delivers a fearless feeling of moving ahead. The most common associations with green are found in its ties with nature. In many folklores and literatures, green has been used to symbolize life. In Ancient Egypt, as the God Orisis was depicted as green-skinned, green was a symbol of resurrection and immortality.

Green has become a symbol of environmentalism due to its natural association with foliage and sea. This led to green being accepted as a traditional color worn by hunters in 19^th century. Little bit of chlorophyll content in our flora led the human society to take green as a principle color in all environment protection and social movements.

Most of us notice a lot of green color in Islam. They always have a green cloth around them. Flag of every Islamic country includes a sense of green. The fact is backed by the logic that Islam expects the paradise to be full of lush greenery.

Green is also associated with wealth and prosperity. As the currency notes in many countries bears a green color, it carries a connotation of money, wealth and capitalism. In United States, “greenback” is used as slang for cash.

Thai people consider this as an auspicious color for those born on a Wednesday. Chinese associate this with east, sunrise, life and growth. Indian women too consider it is auspicious to wear green bangles.

It is also scientifically proven that green is one of the most soothing colors to the human eye. Green is used in majority of aspects of our life. We find this color in natural minerals which are known to emit positive energy, Traffic lights use green to communicate safety to proceed for vehicles, We do prefer to have green curtains in hospital, Toys for children are often green in color, We also like to wear green color.

All that is not by choice, it’s a sheer fact that green is a part of our life since ancient times and the choice for this color comes to us naturally. Somewhere in our thoughts, we carry a green flavor which gives us energy to move forward and keep the momentum in right direction.

Do we really mean our Country...???

62 years on…. We are the largest democratic body on Earth, Sailing through queasy waters of “Independence Ocean”, somehow managing to pass through the tempestuous forces of the rowdy ocean.

People may say that we are living in a country that is built on a strong foundation of brawny constitution which is capable of holding us for years to come. But the question is “Do we really mean the Country we are living in..??”. Certainly Not.!! For outlanders, we are Indians. This is true for us also, but only on papers.

“We Indians are accustomed of addressing our-self as INDIANS, but we don’t have an inner feeling of being an Indian which makes us proud”

In this huge population of 150 crores, we can easily figure out a devotee Hindu, a namazi Muslim, turban clad Sikhs, overpaid film stars, underpaid farmers, politicians togged in their best ivory khadi, corporates, Biharis, Kashmiris, South-Indians, Marathis, etc. Country comes below their community for them; and this makes us brittle as a unit.

Unlike Americans and Britons, we Indian are not a single party; we are a coalition of parties that can dissever comfortably into numerous parties and sub-parties. People don’t value our Tricolor, youngsters will wear American and British flag on their forehead, but opt to stay away from their very own “Tiranga”. When any good happens, we like to celebrate on roads, display our delight, a very few people will have that flag in their hands.

It is said that India has Unity in diversity. This saying needs to be rephrased as “Unity within Diversity”. We are not united as Indians, we are a bunch of united communities and the bunch is tied with an old infirm thread.

We just need to replace that thread with an impregnable cloth woven with strong values of oneness.
“Our’s is a great country” everybody says this, but no one empathize that just saying this is not enough. We need to exhibit an attitude which depicts a real Indian within all of us.

We just need to explore the Indian who is lying somewhere deep inside us, who is not from a community or a party or group; he should be an Indian by both heart and mind.

Once we have these kinds of citizens in our country, then we can majestically say that we are Indians and India is the largest Democracy in the world.