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Cheers !

Hitesh

Money

Money

Question:
How do you look at money?

Hitesh:
Financial and even emotional states are mental rather than actual.If you think you are happy,rich or educated,you start feeling the same and you also behave like that.I have seen people who are not very educated but they behave very sensibly and logically.On the other hand,very highly educated people sometimes can’t think straight and logically.Same with location.I have seen Indians in USA living a lifestyle worse than some Indians residing in remote villages of India and vice-versa.These are exceptions but they are indicative.People have a lifestyle,thinking,culture and character which after a certain age can not be changed by addition or reduction of wealth.

For living a middle class lifestyle,the first one or two crores matter.After that whether you have 2 crores or 10 crores,you will have the same problems and joys of middle class.The person having 2 crores will have a Maruti Car and one having 10 crores will have a Mercedes car.But they both will face the same traffic problems.Because neither can afford a helicopter.They share the disadvantage of not having their private helicopter.Similarly they also share the advantage that they do not have to wait for a bus.The person having 2 crores may be in a 2 BHK flat and the one with 10 crores may be in a 4 BHK flat.But both will have air-conditioned bedrooms to sleep in comfort.So how does money matter for one’s own comfort?And being middle class is not about financial assets but it is about way of thinking and culture.We all know that there are many rich people whose culture and mentality are simple and down to earth and therefore they choose to live with the middle class mentality though they do not need to.

Money of course matters for showmanship.Mercedes may impress the people around you.But we do not and should not want to impress and live for others.

As long as one’s comfort and dignity is maintained there is no serious reason to complain.And as far as showmanship or greed is concerened,it has no end.Even the richest man in the world wants to be richer.

Same with rich class.A top film star may have a 1000 crores and a top industrialist may have 10 times more than that.But they dine at the same five-star hotel.They both have latest models of Mercedes.And even their children fight over their property after their death…So how does money matter even there?For living a rich lifestyle maybe the first 100 crores matter,then whether you have 500 crores or 5000 crores is a non-issue.

And in today’s time,how do you know who is rich and who has got how much money?A person in Mercedes may be having a loan of 1 crore to be repaid.Do we check their income-tax documents and balance sheets?And are income tax documents truthful?

So I believe money should be made and saved for one to carry on with life with dignity.One should even chase money for certain periods of life if it gives one joy and success.But chasing money for a lifetime just to outdo one person after another is a waste of life.I know it’s intoxication and a difficult temptation to resist.

But life has many better things to offer than money.

Emotions and Relationships:

Let’s suppose you have a TV in front of you but you can not switch it on as you do not have electricity.Let’s suppose you have a book in front of you but you can not open and read it.Let’s say you have a car but it’s not working.
What will you do with that TV set or book? You repect it as you know it is a treasure-house of information and entertainment.But TV without electricity or transmission is no more than just a physical object.You sincerely value,respect and appreciate the programs/content of that TV or book because you have heard about how great it is but never experienced it yourself.You wish you could read each page of the book but can not.So you are left with no choice but to see the external physical beauty of the TV or the cover-page of the book.Nobody likes to stare at the TV without transmission.And nobody likes to stare at only the coverpage of the book.But if there is no choice,that’s what one is constrained to do when one is surrounded by hundreds and thousands of TVs or books around one.Without any access to its real content,you end up comparing physical features of various TV sets or books.

Same with women/girls.We men know that women have great minds beyond bodies.They have great virtues like compassion,caring and sacrificing nature,tenderness,sweetness,etc.But in order to know and experience that first hand, we need to know their psyche.For that, we need to talk to them.If we do not get to know their minds,and if we are surrounded by them,we have no choice but to appreciate their physical beauty only.And then women blame us that we treat them as sex objects.

How easy is it for an adult men to talk or mix or make friends with girls/women in our country? In our country, finding a wife or husband is much easier than finding a boyfriend or a girlfriend.Arranged marriages are just so easy.Parents enquire about the financial and social background of the prospective bride or groom and then a meeting is fixed between two families with the potential couple.And after one or two meetings,it’s a Yes or No.Great !This is the most advanced way of getting married.After marriage,the partners may realize the lack of compatibility within them but simply drag their marriage for lifetime for the sake of society,children and other issues.Men and Women have different goals in life,emotional needs and different expectations from life which they do not know about because they never got a chance to mix with or make friends with each other.After marriage a souse tries to become his/her partner’s friend.But for any reasons,due to difference in personalities if the friendship does not develop,sourness develops and the relationship terribly suffers.After a couple of years a spouse may realize that his/her partner is not the type he/she can ever make friends with. This is a disturbed family.Family is the smallest unit of the society.And if that is disturbed in many cases then imagine where the society is headed.

Many Urban people will say that this is a very conservative viewpoint and now the time has changed.Girls and boys mix freely at coffee shops,nightclubs and public places.Yes, we all can see that.But that’s only a certain percentage of the society.Let’s say 10-20 percent of the society.Even when the richest and most elite people of opposite genders meet twice or thrice casually, they are considered to be lovers and not friends.For celebrities,the Gossip starts in newspapers.In college also the gossip starts…...and once a couple, they have to be committed to each other until they officially break up….So they can not mix with others of opposite gender….And if they do, they are labeled to be flirt or of loose character….The same old debate….Ek Ladka Ladki kabhi dost nahi ban sakte….

Before I go further,let me clarify that this whole general discussion is about the non-sexual components of the relationship between man and woman.There are many books and material on the topic of sexuality,so I do not want to discuss it.Here I will talk about the platonic,psychological and emotional components of a relationship and will touch sexuality only where it’s a must.

Women are as human as men…And they have the same qualities and virtues as men….then why can a man freely meet and talk to 10 different men in a day but not 3 women?….By stopping them to mix we are emphasizing that women are of different gender…...Gender SHOULD NOT matter….
Let’s see what generally happens in a common man’s life…..he goes to school and mixes with girls and boys.But as children grow up we teach them that girls and boys are different and they are not supoposed to mix with each other so freely.Which is fair.In college,and life thereafter, the distance between boys and girls continue to increase.Those few who mix with lots of people of opposite gender are labeled as flirts or of loose character….After college it’s even worse and having friends of opposite gender depends upon the person’s social skills and the risk apetite.Once they pass from college, just within a couple of years,parents persuade/force them to get married.Arranged marriage is preferred by parents.Though some parents are liberal enough to allow their children to choose their partners.In such a scenario,and with pressure from parents , people get married just as a custom and due to advice of parents and relatives.They do not know what is the purpose of marriage,what are their duties,responsibilities as a married partner,and what kind of person they will be compatible with.What are the psychological needs and expectations of the opposite gender is unknown to them as they have seen the opposite gender only physically but have not understood their psyche as they never got a chance to talk to them freely as an adult.

So two years after marriage they realize that their spouse has different goals,dreams,attitudes and thinking which is not compatible with them.In such a scenario it is generally the woman who sacrifices her dreams and identity to match with her husband’s.And in such cases things go smooth…But in case if the woman is not willing to do that,there is a clash.In India, divorces are not common so most people drag their lives despite being unhappy and frustrated in marriage.And we have another disturbed family.
That’s the realistic story of marriage and man-woman’s psychological relationship.

Now we need to introspect over the following.
Should we not be emotionally literate?
Should we not learn about emotions and relationships ?
Is flirting between singles wrong?

When you buy toys for your kids, you are sure that he will break it within a fortnight even if he promises to use it for a lifetime.But you still buy him toys.Because you understand that if kids don’t play,who will?playing develops them physically,mentally and most importantly…. it is actually the essence of childhood.If you stop kids from playing, you are depriving them of their childhood/innocence.

Proof: A poet has written , “Yeh Daulat bhi le lo,ye shoharat bhi le lo….bhale chhin lo mujhse meri jawani,Magar mujhko lauta do bachpan ka sawan, wo kagaz ki kashti who barish ka pani”

If kids break toys it does not imply that they will grow up to be terrorists.Though of course kids should not be given unlimited freedom otherwise they may actually become terrorists as adults.

Same with young adults and singles.Young people work hard for money,career and appearance to attract people of opposite gender.Yes,they do.Whether they should or not is a different issue.Whether they admit it or not is a different issue.They may fool themselves and everybody else.But they do.That’s their motivation.Take that away and they are finished.Some may admit and some may not.The same people after marriage slog for their wife and children.Take their family away and again they are finished.But after marriage,they will proudly admit it and will even show off that all that they are doing in life is for their family.Before marriage they may be shy/hesitant to admit the same for their love interest.Some things we hide from ourselves also.

Should one not learn to date as a single? In my humble opinion,flirting among singles is like drinking.If one drinks responsibly it’s not wrong.If it is an addiction,it’s a problem.Harmless verbal flirting develops social skills in young adults.It’s a phase of life.If young singles don’t learn to flirt/date,who will? In harmless Flirting one should of course not cheat/hurt someone and not cross the limits of decency.By harmless verbal flirting,I mean communication.

Let them learn emotions first hand..I am talking about singles.It is understood that Married/committed people are not supposed to date or flirt.And from man’s viewpoint,most men are not even interested in married women in any case.

Proof: In our country,when even a film heroine gets married,her popularity reduces drastically.Nobody wants to see her even on screen.
Arranged marriage is like Family Wealth, as it is based on the family background.Love Marriage is like self made wealth.You need to impress the partner on your own merit with your charm,personality,social skills,confidence and financial assets

Nowadays,people die at the age of 35-40 due to heart attacks.So what are their partners supposed to do for the rest of their lives?Spend the rest of their life in loneliness?

”Pyaar Zindagi Me ek baar hota hai,Baar baar nahi”.Does this filmy logic work?

Logic and modern thinking says one should move on and find someone else. And if you are shy to date,it maybe difficult for you to find anyone.
Woman’s Viewpoint.

Women have to safeguard their interest and can not mix with every man.Agreed.Women can not allow every man to come closer to her as she does not know whom to trust and whom not.But generally speaking, in public places women are safe.And if we think negative then they are not safe in their own home.They might be having other problems which I as a man can not understand or imagine.But I have presented the man’s viewpoint.
Contrary to the popular belief,for men also,Love is actually far more important than sex.

Proof:I heard on Discovery Channel once,” You don’t kill yourself or somebody if you do not get to sleep with someone,but people do kill for love.”

I have personally known boys/men who expect nothing from their love interest except her happiness.Not even reciprocation of his love.What do men slog for?What did Shah Jahan build Taj Mahal for?
We men are mostly misunderstood.

Solution:

I am no expert to provide a solution on this topic but still humbly present my viewpoint as under just for brainstorming and introspection.Your viewpoints are also welcome in the discussion.
Schools and Universities talk about including sex education in the curriculum and maybe some have.But a human experiences emotions and love much before sex.

The million dollar question is “What is love?”.

Answer to this question in even psychiatrists’ research papers start with a note that, “Love is a complicated emotion and difficult to explain accurately.”
Our knowledge about love depends upon films and novels.Film makers themselves may be ignorant about what love is. Emotions are their bread and butter so they have been manipulating and selling emotions since ages. Most common people have no answer to this question and I have seen even psychiatrists answering this question with a blush.

I believe that the most basic ingredient of any relationship between two adults is friendship.Whether it’s the platonic relationship between father and son,father and daughter, mother and daughter,mother and son, brother and sister or the romantic relationship between husband and wife.Without friendship no relationship can exist. Friendship is understanding each other and caring for each other. Even enemies have a slight tinge of friendship in their enemity.Enemies understand and know each other very well.Though unlike friendship,they use that knowledge to actually hurt each other.Even husband and wife are practically platonic friends for most of the time in 24 hours.Romance and sexuality is only for a couple of hours.So relationships between boys and girls should go through the following stages.

1)Introduction.
2)Friendship.
3)Flirting/Dating/Romance
4)Commitment/Marriage.

And let me ask.How do you differentiate between flirting,friendship and respect?How do you know what’s going on in another person’s mind?In fact,when we fall in love, in the beginning, are we ourselves sure whether it’s love?So we do not know what is happening in our own mind.If everybody knew what is happening in his/her mind,everybody would have won the full prize money in that TV show “Sach Ka Samna”.When we ourselves don’t know our mind,how can others judge whether what we have in our mind is flirting,romance or respect?

Imagine red color.OK.You saw red color in your mind’s eye.Now imagine a dog.OK.You saw a dog.Now,don’t imagine a cat.You still saw a cat! Didn’t you?

That’s how the mind works.If you repeatedly tell a boy that he likes that girl he will actually start liking her.If you repeatedly treat a person like a fool/pervert he will actually become a fool/pervert.

Let’s say a boy aged 19 years studying in college respects his female teacher.He sits on the first bench, studies hard to impress her,is obedient to her and picks up the chalk whenever she drops it by mistake.The teacher appreciates him thinking he is a very nice boy.So far so good.2 years pass.After 2 years,the teacher hears a rumor from few people that the boy is actually a flirt.The teacher is now prejudiced against the boy.The boys is same but in her opinion the hero has become a villain. Whatever that boy did positive is now considered negative by the teacher.For her,whatever was his respect is now his perversion.She thinks that the boy sat on the first bench not because he was interested in studies but because he was interested in me and wanted to stare at me without disturbance.He picked up chalks for me to flirt with me.The boy’s behavior is the same like before.But the teacher’s psychology is changed as rumors have poisoned her ears.Her viewpoint is contaminated by prejudice. So she starts insulting the boy every time he tries to help her or picks up the chalk for her.

Slowly,the boy is treated like a flirt/pervert by the whole college.A hero becomes a villain in everybody’s perception.Everybody looks at him with suspicion and he is humiliated/avoided by everyone.Nobody talks to him.Finally,he thinks that since everybody already thinks I am a villain let me be a villain in reality. So a hero actually becomes a villain or he stops going to college.

There is one more factor here.The boy might be actually impressed by the female teacher’s personality at a subconscious level.He likes/admires/idolises her in platonic sense.But he may not know it for sure.Is it his fault? We like so many people and we hate so many people without reasons.Some of them maybe of opposite gender. It happens spontaneously and subconsciously.We can not and do not need to control our mind.We need to control our behavior.As long as one’s behavior is socially acceptable and as long as one does not misbehave ,he does not deserve to be punished or ill treated.If everybody keeps one person under observation and scrutinizes even his thoughts and talks about him,is it his fault?Did he ask for all that attention ?He is like any other normal person and should not get any special good or bad treatment.

Nobody has full control over his/her mind.One may even murder someone in his imagination.That’s not a crime.In our mind,we all are attracted to and date thousands of people.That’s no crime. If anybody disputes this,let’s keep him/her under observation with cameras,spies and clairvoyant devices to read his/her mind 24/7.Then we will realize how fake or great he/she is and he/she will realize the value of freedom.Even psychiatrists and law says that mind can not be controlled.

And therefore I repeat,one can not and does not need to control one’s mind but one needs to control one’s behavior.

So what’s the solution ?

According to me,the long term solution of this is as follows.
People should be officially educated about love,emotions,relationships and marriage.If you think this suggestion is weird or funny,just consider this.
Getting married is easier than getting a car driving license.For driving car,you need a training of a week or 10 days and then must pass a test to get the car driving licence.For marriage, you just need a person of opposite gender.So in our society,people are better equipped to drive a car than to drive/live their life.

I suggest that like a driving license,ration card,Pan Card and passport it must be compulsory for every adult to have a Marriage/Relationship License.For getting this Marriage License, every individual should be given a training/counseling for a week or so and then give and pass a theoretical test individually. And this training should not be for couples.Even if one does not have a spouse/girlfriend/boyfriend or a plan to get married,he/she must go through this training individually at any time after being an adult.This training should be given separately to men and women in different languages and different locations at nominal charges.It should be as easy as getting a driving licence.

The syllabus of this training should include the following theoretical topics.
1)What is the purpose of life according to various theories?
2)what is love and emotions?
3)What is the purpose of family & marriage?
4)Dos and don’ts of Dating/Flirting.
5)How one should choose a partner?
6)Advantages and disadvantages of arranged and love marriages.
7)what are the duties and rights of a husband/wife and parents,
8) Differences in thinking of man and woman.
9)Laws of marriage,
10)Effects of marriage ie. how the life will change socially after marriage,
11)what is infidelity,how it should be tackled,
12)what is divorce,how it should be avoided and how and when it should be sought,
13)laws for divorce,
14)Sexuality should also be touched upon theoretically.

This theoretical knowledge can make a world of difference and people will be emotionally literate and will choose better girlfriends/boyfriends and partners.
Anybody who does not have this license can not register his/her marriage,can not file income tax returns, can not vote,can not get loans and can not get visa for foreign travel.Variety of such hindrances should be put to compel people to get this training.

To sum it up,

1)Communication is the key.We need maximum communication/discussion about emotions and relationships to understand them better. Love is explained well in the book titled “The Road Less Traveled” by Mr.M.Speck.

2)In public places and within limits of decency,boys and girls should be encouraged to communicate and mix to understand each other’s psychology.

3)As a long term solution,a Relationship/marriage licence should be introduced.

Your comments and questions are welcome.

PS.
The above post is not to challenge/boycott against any social traditions/customs or to bring about change in anybody’s life or in general culture.It is only a general discussion for introspection and brainstorming.I do not claim my ideas/opinions to be the best/final and am not rigid about the same.I will be happy to alter these ideas if convinced via discussions.The examples given in the above article are fictitious and any resemblance to any person living or dead is purely coincidental

Success Formula

Success Formula

Recently I attended a seminar in which a discussion was going on about how important is luck for success and how important is talent/ability.

Well,it’s a known fact and many top actors,industrialists have admitted in their interviews on TV that only talent/ability without any luck may not make you successful.They were successful because they had the talent plus luck.There maybe many more with equal talent who are struggling but are not lucky enough to get the right opportunities or work.

In our discussion some people said luck is 50 percent important,some said 70 percent,etc.

Finally one photographer Mr.Atul came up with an impressive explanation.Luck is actually 99 percent important.And talent matters only 1 percent.But as he rightly said that the talent is your ticket to be qualified for being lucky.If you don’t have the talent you are disqualified for luck and have no chance of being successful.So one should first develop his talent and then leave it to luck.

Impressive thought.

Reducing Stress

How to reduce stress?

I read the solution in one Yoga book.It is as follows.

The major reason for stress is your I-sense.I-Sense means your image/persona about yourself which is created by what you think are your qualities,drawbacks,education,house,cars,relatives,friends and all other assets which you have.You think you are so good,you have such good education,you have such good friends/family…all that makes your image/I-sense/ego.

This gives you happiness as well as pains.

Say for example let’s say you go to your friend’s house in your Red Car.You are chatting with your friend and suddenly a watchman comes to the door and gives a message that, “A tree fell on the red car below”.You immediately panic,spring from your seat and rush out of the door to see your car.And suddenly the watchman says,” Oh no.Sorry sir.It’s not red but yellow car on which the tree fell.”

And you take a sigh of relief.Now you are relaxed and go back in your friend’s house and continue chatting with him.

So your problem was not that a tree fell on a car.Your problem was that a tree fell on YOUR car.The problem that a tree fell on a car is still the same.But you are relaxed because that’s not your problem because it is not YOUR car that is damaged.

So the moment we believe that this is my car,my house,my son,my daughter,my money,my family, we have all the problems attached with all of them.The more we have,the more burden we have.

But if you start believing that you have nothing,you can not have any problems either.If you believe that this is not my car,my house,my family,you will be free from their problems as well.

Yogis and sanyasis have this attitude.

Though for a normal person this attitude is impractical to implement fully.But it can help one combat stress when one is in a situation which is not under one’s control.

Cheers !

Hitesh.

Symbolism in Films

Symbolism in Films

There are some films which are realistic and fantastic.Like “Satya” of Ram Gopal Verma starring Manoj Bajpayee depicting the underworld.

On the other hand there are films with Sybolism which give their social message indirectly.The following films are good examples of symbolism.

The following is my interpretation of the fiction ie. Films only for the analysis of thought process in the art. I do not claim this interpretation to be fully or even partly truthful in reality.

1) Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro

Released in 1983 starring Nasseruddin Shah and Ravi Baswani.

It’s a popular film known as a black comedy.

I interpret it as under.

The film has many funny events which symbolically show the dark side of corruption in our system.The beauty of the film is that these bitter truths are sugarcoated in humor and sattire.

Say for example,

The funniest part of the film is the last sequence of Mahabharat.This entire scene indicates how an Enquiry Commission pretends to investigate any scam.

The scene in the film is like this.

Satish Shah was murdered and his dead body was the last and only proof to punish the murderer.The two honest protagonists who were Naseeruddin Shah and Ravi Baswani were running away with the dead body to take it to police station so that the real murderer Pankaj Kapoor could be punished.Pankaj Kapoor,his staff and supporters were chasing Naseer and Ravi to get the dead body from them and destroy it to save Pankaj Kapoor.Pankaj Kappor’s enemies were also chasing the two protagonists to get the dead body so that they could blackmail Pankaj Kapoor.So all the three parties had a single aim which was to get and then use or misuse the dead body.

On the run, the two protagonists accidentally landed in a Theatre where the show of Mahabharat was being performed.All the other characters also landed at the same place as they were chasing them.The two protagonists were hiding in the backstage.By mistake,they made the dead body wear Draupadi’s saree.The real actors who were performing on stage pulled the dead body from the backstage as they mistook it as Draupadi.(the director has taken a poetic license by making the dead body stand on its feet without any support).Now the dead body is right in the middle of the stage but fully covered in saree as Draupadi in view of the audience and the show of Mahabharat is going on.As per the script, Dushasan was supposed to disrobe Draupadi.But all the people at the backstage knew that if Dushasan disrobes draupadi,the dead body would be exposed in front of everyone.So they all decided that by hook or crook they would not allow Dushasan to remove Draupadi’s saree but would somehow manage to take Draupadi/dead body off the stage and then run away with it without letting the audience realize what was happening.

So the fun starts.One after another person from backstage replaces the real actors by playing their characters on stage.Actors,Script,dialogues,story and even the background of the original story is changed and turned upside down by each fake actor to hide Draupadi/dead body from being disrobed.This was against the script of the play.But the audience is shown to be enjoying this fiasco even more than they would have enjoyed the original play.

The film suggests that similar thing happens in an Enquiry Commission as well after most scams.Here the dead body is a symbol of the scam or the real culprit.Story/Script is a symbol of the Law which is to be strictly and honestly adhered to.Actors are the symbols of the officers involved in the enquiry commission.In the play,Actors could expose Draupadi if they honestly adhered to the script.Similarly,in an enquiry commission,officers can investigate the scam and expose the real culprit if they honestly adhere to the law.But it does not happen.In fact Dishonest officers,twist the law to hide and help the culprit. Facts,witnesses,proof are all manipulated like the dialogues,actors and script of the play to not expose the real culprit.(Like, contrary to the script, they did not want to disrobe draupadi in the play).The officers which are honest and who want to adhere to law are first brainwashed,then threatened, and finally transferred if they don’t agree to be corrupt.(in the film when a real actor could not be convinced to not disrobe Draupadi,he was taken in the wings of the stage by the fake actor and then replaced by another fake actor who would do what he wanted.) In this way,all the honest officers are either turned dishonest or transferred and replaced by dishonest officers.Dishonest investigating officers turn the whole story upside down to help the real criminals.They generate new stories which are irrelevant,funny and entertaining but far away from truth.These stories are like foreign hand in the scam or some monkey bothering people,etc.Truth never comes out and enquiry goes on and on.And during all this we audience do not protest but enjoy the headlines.

There is one more scene in which Naseeruddin Shah eats a cake and throws a piece outside the window for his friends waiting outside.Satish Shah says, “Yeh Kya Karta Hai?Yeh Switzerland Ka cake hai. !”
Naseeruddin Shah says, “Humare India me log khata kum hai,fekta zyada hai.Thoda Khao Thoda Feko…Tum bhi karo…mazza aayega.”
Satish Shah also throws a small piece outside the window.Naseer asks,” Mazaa Aaya?”.The friend outside says ,”No”.Naseer says, “Yeh Bada wala piece feko….Ab mazaa aaya?”His friend says ,”Yes”

In This scene,the director shows how other officers make noise when one officer takes bribe.But when that officer gives them a share in the bribe,they keep quiet.If the share is a small amount,other officers still protest,but when it is a big amount,they are satisfied and then keep quiet.So that dialogue, “Humare India me log khata kum hai,fekta zyada hai.Thoda Khao Thoda Feko……mazaa aayega.”

So next time when you watch this great film please watch it with this angle.Maybe you will find many more symbols in the film.Please share the same.

2) Khakee

Released in 2004, starring Amitabh Bachchan,Aishwarya Rai,Akshay Kumar and Tushar Kappor.

The moral of the story is how the system does not allow a policeman to do his duty honestly though he wants to and is capable of.Amitabh sums this up in one of his dialogues in the film, “If the police wants and the government allows,then nobody can steal even a toy from a child.But unfortunately it does not happen.”

While “Satya” of Manoj Bajpayee was a realistic film,the director here chooses to give his message symbolically.

The director has created 3 characters as three symbols.

The first is of Tushar Kapoor who has just joined the police force.He is honest,idealistic and his ideal is Amitabh Bachchan’s character of the film.

The second is Akshay Kumar who has 10 years experience in police force.And this experience has made him corrupt and manipulative.

The third character is of Amitabh Bachchan who spent his whole life as a Policeman and is on the verge of his retirement.He is honest and idealistic and lived his whole life suffering with his family because of lack of money and promotions.

In the very last scene of the film,Tushar Kapoor also turns corrupt by doing a fake encounter of the villain.So the film gave a message that it is very difficult or almost impossible to be honest in the police force.And if one chooses to be honest,he suffers like Amitabh’s character did throughout his life.

The rest of the film is self explanatory.

3) Slumdog Millionaire:

Oscar Winner film released about 2 years ago.

The film indirectly says that

“In this big bad world,everybody tries to push you down whether he is a pimp in Dharavi slum or the most popular and powerful person as a host of the TV show.The only person who can help you here is yourself.”

The hero here is a simple,idealistic and a noble boy/man who meets people from different socio-economic status throughout the film and realizes the above fact that human nature is the same no matter how wealthy,poor,powerful or helpless you are.Everybody tries to exploit you for his benefit or even for sadistic pleasure.The pimp in Dharavi sold kids for money.But the corrupt host of the TV show had nothing to gain or lose even if the hero won full prize money of Rs.1 crore.But he misguided him in any case for sadistic pleasure.Despite being on top it was his nature/ bad habit to feel gratified when he saw others losing/suffering.

Education System

Scope of Improvement in our Education System.

I remember a story where a King had a very naughty monkey who would bother the king all the time.The King could not even sleep at night because of him.The king got frustrated.After thinking,he found a smart solution.He gave the monkey a ladder and asked him to go up and down the ladder for as much time as he could.This kept the monkey busy throughout 24 hours and the king could do his work peacefully.

Did Britishors have similar intentions in mind while designing our syllabus that is taught in our Universities till date?They keep our students busy for the initial and crucial 21 years of their life in memorizing irrelevant database which is of no practical use in real life.Memory of students is tested and trained to the ridiculous extent.But their intelligence,personality,social skills,creativity,spirituality and self confidence are severely and irreversibly damaged in the tender years when they can develop and use these qualities to the best of their ability.Britishors probably wanted clerks from the Indian Population so that they could rule over them by taking all the creative and administrative decisions themselves to rule India.

By designing this syllabus they mentally ruined a number of generations of our population.

The worst part is none of us is protesting enough to have this syllabus changed even 60 years after the independence.

In my opinion,the problem is with what is taught and not how it is taught.How we teach is fantastic.The proof is that when our students study in foreign universities, they top the universities.But what we teach is of no practical use in real life.I am especially talking about the syllabus from 5th Standard to 12th Standard.These are the most fertile and foundation years of life.We are putting monumental efforts on wrong subjects and wrong details like chemical equations,trignomentry and digestive system of frogs. This information is irrelevant and of no use in our practical life.

Additionally,some of the information which they make us memorise may even be false. Say for example, we were taught in school,that there are nine planets in the Universe.I read in newspapers about two years ago that there are only eight planets in the Universe and the nineth one is not a planet but something else.

I and my millions of friends didn’t really care whether there are 9 or 90 planets.Even if every student wasted 10 minutes of his life learning/memorizing this false piece of information,imagine how many manhours were collectively wasted every year by millions of students.And this is just one example.Tomorrow, more scientists will challenge more so called facts and we probably may realize that an atom of water is not made of two molecules of hydrogen and one molecule of oxygen.Let scientists debate among themselves as it is their job.Why should we be bothered? Why should we be forced to memorise how many planets are there in the Universe or how many molecules of Hydrogen are present in an atom of water.And for those who want to join the scientists in the debate, should be given an option to study that subject at the Higher Education level.Please do not force all students of every secondary school to memorise these details. Many students commit suicide due to failure in exams.Come on guys…are these pieces information worthy of human life? In fact some information in textbooks is such that one should rather commit suicide than memorise it…..just kidding !

When teachers in school are asked why children are made to memorise the irrelevant data printed in our textbooks which seems to be of no practical use in our life,they console by saying that it is to discipline students.But discipline can be inculcated by memorizing telephone directory as well.We should inculcate discipline in students by teaching sensible,practical and useful things. But in this case, teachers are helpless as well.They don’t design the syllabus.They are supposed to teach whatever is in textbook.

Students securing 75 percent and above marks give at least 125 percent efforts during the years of their education.But in return,they get a degree certificate which can not get them good jobs,good relationships,personal satisfaction or self esteem. So they feel cheated,frustrated and revengeful against the society.So we have crime,corruption,terrorism,murders and suicides.

Instead,let’s change the syllabus.How many years it will take for us to decide what is not needed in the syllabus? 1 year ? 5 years ? or maximum 10 years? But generations of mankind will be saved.Indian scriptures have so many better things to offer than the western theories.Teach our students about yoga instead of Chemistry.Teach them about how to breathe or meditate instead of teaching them about the digestive system of frogs.Teach them how to maintain relationships,what is the purpose of a family and marriage instead of making them memorise on which exact date the second world war was started. There are so many things to be learnt for which a lifetime is not enough.But we force our children to memorise what chemicals are generated when we add Hydrochloric Acid in Sodium Chloride.

And practically,education nowadays is not easy.Education involves blood,sweat and tears of not only students but even their parents.Children study while even parents suffer.They put their hard earned money and sacrifice decades of their life waiting for their children to grow up and graduate.Students lose not only their time but their innocence of childhood,energy and enthusiasm of youth while memorizing textbooks.Some even lose their lives as they commit suicides due to failure in exams. How long will we accept all this?

I suggest a solution as follows.

1) I do not have any complaints against Teachers or heavy schoolbags.I do not want air conditioned classrooms.I have no complaint against stiff competition and number of exams.Everything is fine.But PLEASE CHANGE THE SYLLABUS.Teach us what makes sense.Teach us what makes us better individuals,better family members and better social beings.Make us useful for ourselves,family and the society/country.
Subjects like Chemistry,Trignometry should be introduced only conceptually.Those who are interested can study them in detail after 8th, 10th ,OR 12th Standard by choice.These subjects should be replaced by more human and practical subjects like Yoga,Meditation,Martial Arts,HealthCare,Cooking,etc.I agree that these subjects are taught in schools even today but they are just touched conceptually.The emphasis is on theoretical topics and students remain busy memorizing short notes on cockroach and mosquitoes.Students slog for 21 years of life and finally can not even cook a meal for themselves but are dependent upon their maid,mother or wife for the same.Food is what you need everyday and if students are dependent upon others for such a basic necessity then our education lacks a lot.

2)Textbooks should be divided in two sections.60 percent content of textbooks has technical data like specific dates,chemical equations,etc which should be there in textbook only for reference and should be printed in italics.This text will remain only for reference for understanding and need not be memorized as no question should be asked from the reference section in any of the exams.
In exams they should ask what is necessary to develop logic .

More ideas should be discussed and some action should be taken to improve our education system as it involves lives of so many youngsters who are the future of our country.

P.S.
This post is with due respect to my teachers,my schools,colleges and universities who taught me whatever I have learnt today.I appreciate and thank everybody’s efforts. The above post is specifically about the education from 5th Standard to 12th Standard.In Higher Education,the scenario maybe different depending upon the college and the course.Thanks.

Hitesh