Weaknesses of Hindu Religion #2
2) Division of Caste and Priests
Division of caste in Indian society has two different causes. First is the two different waves of human migration into India that I have discussed in Mixed race. This is a racial difference. Second is the division of society depending on the occupation. I say Indian society because caste system is not limited to Hindu religion alone.
The racial difference has dissolved over a long time. Now it is difficult for anyone to tell what caste a person belongs to just by looking at him or her except may be in some parts of the deep south.
The second one is division of occupation. The argument goes like this. Son of a farmer is a farmer, son of a priest is a priest, son of king is a king, son of a soldier is a soldier, son of a businessman is a businessman. Thank goodness, monarchies are gone and there are no kings or princes! The above argument is very illogical because the son of a priest may not be interested in priesthood. He might aspire to be a soldier instead. And the son of a soldier might want to be singer or an artist! No one can be forced to do something. One has to take up an occupation that interests him or her. Fortunately even this difference has dissolved in the modern society.
This dynastic succession is the main reason for Hinduism not being able to produce good religious leaders who can inspire 100% of the population. The son of a brahmin or a priest may not be interested in religious books but might want to be a businessman instead. If such a person is forced to be a priest, the quality will be lost.
And because the brahmin caste were caretakers of the religious books and teachings, others slowly lost interest in them and do not really care even if they are lost! It is like if you do not own something, even if it is destroyed you don't care.
Though brahmin caste is marginalized in modern society and are barely trying to survive and make a living, others still blame them. No one talks about the landlords who have really oppressed the common people because they still have lot of power. Other castes do not take ownership and think that brahmins are the custodians of Hindu religion and culture.
If we see either ancient history or modern history of India, most of the persons who inspired people were not brahmins. Rama, Krishna, Gautama were not. Gandhi, S.C.Bose, Vivekananda, Ambedkar were not! Lot of modern Gurus are not. If every section of Hindu society does not take collective ownership, Hinduism will soon be wiped out!
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
Weaknesses of Hindu Religion #1
Weaknesses of Hindu Religion #1
1) More Ritual, No teaching
Despite having its roots in the deep thoughts of enlightened beings (the Upanishads and the Bhagavad Gita), the Hindu religion that we see today is highly ritualized and lacks any basic moral teaching at temples other than the "do good" boards you see when you visit temples. Most of the moral teaching comes only by reading mythological books (puranas). Most children used to get their knowledge at home and the source was most likely their grandparents. Now children no longer live along with their grandparents and most Indian middle class parents are too busy trying to make a living. So far, I have only talked about educated families. But what about children with uneducated grandparents or parents? They are the most vulnerable to religious conversion because they must have not heard of any teaching in their lifetime except for a few lessons about inspiring persons at school. Unfortunately the priest has failed to do his primary job of imparting moral education from sutras and sastras to the common man. If generations are brought up like this, they do not even show any interest even if such a teaching is available to them. I have seen in ISKCON temples in the US where most Indians stay for the ritual and prasad but they walk away as soon as someone starts to give a talk or read from the Bhagavad Gita. This lack of teaching creates misunderstanding and varied and differing opinions about the great law of Karma.
But the biggest ray of hope today lies in the emerging Gurus who are imparting teachings to the great Indian middle class. They are creating a better understanding of the ancient teachings to the common man, giving techniques to make life happier for oneself and for the sangha as a whole. These are the real Buddhas and Krishnas of modern age and I offer my respects to all of them. The "age of priest is fading away and making way to the age of the guru". The guru can come from any class or caste! (no reservations here). I urge all the priests to start looking for something else to do. Even if you don't your governments will make sure you go ! I will talk about endowments departments later!
1) More Ritual, No teaching
Despite having its roots in the deep thoughts of enlightened beings (the Upanishads and the Bhagavad Gita), the Hindu religion that we see today is highly ritualized and lacks any basic moral teaching at temples other than the "do good" boards you see when you visit temples. Most of the moral teaching comes only by reading mythological books (puranas). Most children used to get their knowledge at home and the source was most likely their grandparents. Now children no longer live along with their grandparents and most Indian middle class parents are too busy trying to make a living. So far, I have only talked about educated families. But what about children with uneducated grandparents or parents? They are the most vulnerable to religious conversion because they must have not heard of any teaching in their lifetime except for a few lessons about inspiring persons at school. Unfortunately the priest has failed to do his primary job of imparting moral education from sutras and sastras to the common man. If generations are brought up like this, they do not even show any interest even if such a teaching is available to them. I have seen in ISKCON temples in the US where most Indians stay for the ritual and prasad but they walk away as soon as someone starts to give a talk or read from the Bhagavad Gita. This lack of teaching creates misunderstanding and varied and differing opinions about the great law of Karma.
But the biggest ray of hope today lies in the emerging Gurus who are imparting teachings to the great Indian middle class. They are creating a better understanding of the ancient teachings to the common man, giving techniques to make life happier for oneself and for the sangha as a whole. These are the real Buddhas and Krishnas of modern age and I offer my respects to all of them. The "age of priest is fading away and making way to the age of the guru". The guru can come from any class or caste! (no reservations here). I urge all the priests to start looking for something else to do. Even if you don't your governments will make sure you go ! I will talk about endowments departments later!
Thursday, September 3, 2009
Status of Women
I was looking on the internet for a quote relating to society respecting women and prosperity dwelling thereupon. I have heard it before. I thought there would be a sanskrit quote. But looks like there is none. If anyone of you know let me know by posting a comment. But I found one by Sathya Sai Baba. Here it is.
"Wherever women are honored there is prosperity and happiness. Women should never be slighted or treated with disrespect. A home in which the housewife sheds tears will be bereft of all prosperity. This is the ancient conception of the role of women in the home”.
It looks like in ancient India, women enjoyed more respect and freedoms than what we see today. It is evident from the concept of female goddesses and the existence of many literate and great women in the puranas (mythological stories). This concept is not seen in the west. It looks like the status of women was reduced because of invasions from middle eastern countries. Some people say that the practice of child marriage that was prevalent even to the early 1900s started because the invading armies were kidnapping young unmarried girls but were not taking away those who were married. To avoid their girls being taken away, people started marrying girls before puberty! Anyway, history is of not much importance to me but I would like to stress the problems faced by women and the Indian society as a whole in the present day.
1) Dowry
No one knows who in history came up initially with the concept of dowry, but that person or persons are responsible for a lot of ugly karma that happens today because of dowry. This practice has created a great frustration and unease in the society. It is one of the traditional practices or parampara that needs to be dropped immediately. It is prevalent among almost all sections of the Indian society irrespective of religion, caste, language. The severity varies among different castes with the maximum amounts seen in landlord or feudal castes.
Dowry system is one of the major factor that is hindering the people in the society from living happily and without worries. It is the major reason for peoples preferring a male child over a female child and the cause of the most evil practice of female foeticide that seems to be happening in India. People are worried right from the birth of a female child. Because the female child is seen as a liability, it gets lower status in home and gets lower priority in getting nutrition, education etc. This practice is causing misery for lots of parents with girl children. Also because of the lower status, a girl child is expected to be very obedient and disciplined by restricting her wishes and dreams and carry on like this so that she will be easily accepted as a bride by an other family even though her parents cannot afford to pay a big sum in dowry. I have to clarify that not every section of society is involved in receiving dowry. But the percentage is big. The progressive percentage is lower.
2) Female Foeticide & Dharmic religion take on abortion
Though India has banned the determination of a baby's gender before it is born, the modern techniques can show this and some people are taking advantage of it and terminating pregnancies with female fetuses. Again please do not jump at me. This is a very small percentage but it is being reported in news. Here I have to talk about dharmic religions take on abortions. A soul or consciousness chooses its parents from the very many choices available to it according to its karmic baggage. The intention of the consciousness is to take up the body to work out its karma. Selective to gender or not, abortion is ugly ugly ugly karma. I think abortion can be justified only in the cases of rape (where the rapist accumulates the bad karma) or if there is a major flaw in fetus formation. But if a couple do not want kids, they should take the proper precautions available to them.
3) Eve Teasing
To some extent boys and girls teasing each other is natural and fun as long as it is consensual. But there is a term called eve teasing in India which is only one way and done by force. It takes up ugly proportions and go as far as rape and throwing acid! Yes, it is true throwing acid! The ugly practice has its roots in mans lust and it is magnified by the separation of genders culture (which has eased a lot now). Boys and girls do not get to interact much thanks to the middle eastern invasions again. Also we see in the news that most of the worst eve teasers are boys of politicians and police officers who abuse power.
4)The Monsters in Law
To end this in a comedic note again, mother-in-law and father-in-law are a big problem not only in Indian society but everywhere I guess. They are literally monsters. This problem has its roots in ego and this problem is the most difficult to solve! Father-in-law can be excused because he is not a woman but I have no sympathies with a bad mother-in-law. If she suffered due to her in-laws it is not good thinking on her part to carry that parampara. It is just accumulating bad karma. If you really had issues with your bad mother-in-law, give her a hard time when she is a old woman and about to die if you really really cannot forgive her. If you did not get a chance to settle scores, I pity you. (But remember forgiveness is always the best karma.) But don't take it on your daughter-in-law. You will be accumulating more bad karma. This women problem is very difficult to solve and I think the male chauvinist Manu guy recognized it well. Ditch the Manu and let Buddha or Krishna help you.
Because of the large percentage of stereotyped in-laws prejudices are built up and the new daughter-in-law also is very cautious from the beginning and could give a hard time to in-laws also.
I might be expanding this post more or add a follow up post after you send in your comments.
"Wherever women are honored there is prosperity and happiness. Women should never be slighted or treated with disrespect. A home in which the housewife sheds tears will be bereft of all prosperity. This is the ancient conception of the role of women in the home”.
It looks like in ancient India, women enjoyed more respect and freedoms than what we see today. It is evident from the concept of female goddesses and the existence of many literate and great women in the puranas (mythological stories). This concept is not seen in the west. It looks like the status of women was reduced because of invasions from middle eastern countries. Some people say that the practice of child marriage that was prevalent even to the early 1900s started because the invading armies were kidnapping young unmarried girls but were not taking away those who were married. To avoid their girls being taken away, people started marrying girls before puberty! Anyway, history is of not much importance to me but I would like to stress the problems faced by women and the Indian society as a whole in the present day.
1) Dowry
No one knows who in history came up initially with the concept of dowry, but that person or persons are responsible for a lot of ugly karma that happens today because of dowry. This practice has created a great frustration and unease in the society. It is one of the traditional practices or parampara that needs to be dropped immediately. It is prevalent among almost all sections of the Indian society irrespective of religion, caste, language. The severity varies among different castes with the maximum amounts seen in landlord or feudal castes.
Dowry system is one of the major factor that is hindering the people in the society from living happily and without worries. It is the major reason for peoples preferring a male child over a female child and the cause of the most evil practice of female foeticide that seems to be happening in India. People are worried right from the birth of a female child. Because the female child is seen as a liability, it gets lower status in home and gets lower priority in getting nutrition, education etc. This practice is causing misery for lots of parents with girl children. Also because of the lower status, a girl child is expected to be very obedient and disciplined by restricting her wishes and dreams and carry on like this so that she will be easily accepted as a bride by an other family even though her parents cannot afford to pay a big sum in dowry. I have to clarify that not every section of society is involved in receiving dowry. But the percentage is big. The progressive percentage is lower.
2) Female Foeticide & Dharmic religion take on abortion
Though India has banned the determination of a baby's gender before it is born, the modern techniques can show this and some people are taking advantage of it and terminating pregnancies with female fetuses. Again please do not jump at me. This is a very small percentage but it is being reported in news. Here I have to talk about dharmic religions take on abortions. A soul or consciousness chooses its parents from the very many choices available to it according to its karmic baggage. The intention of the consciousness is to take up the body to work out its karma. Selective to gender or not, abortion is ugly ugly ugly karma. I think abortion can be justified only in the cases of rape (where the rapist accumulates the bad karma) or if there is a major flaw in fetus formation. But if a couple do not want kids, they should take the proper precautions available to them.
3) Eve Teasing
To some extent boys and girls teasing each other is natural and fun as long as it is consensual. But there is a term called eve teasing in India which is only one way and done by force. It takes up ugly proportions and go as far as rape and throwing acid! Yes, it is true throwing acid! The ugly practice has its roots in mans lust and it is magnified by the separation of genders culture (which has eased a lot now). Boys and girls do not get to interact much thanks to the middle eastern invasions again. Also we see in the news that most of the worst eve teasers are boys of politicians and police officers who abuse power.
4)The Monsters in Law
To end this in a comedic note again, mother-in-law and father-in-law are a big problem not only in Indian society but everywhere I guess. They are literally monsters. This problem has its roots in ego and this problem is the most difficult to solve! Father-in-law can be excused because he is not a woman but I have no sympathies with a bad mother-in-law. If she suffered due to her in-laws it is not good thinking on her part to carry that parampara. It is just accumulating bad karma. If you really had issues with your bad mother-in-law, give her a hard time when she is a old woman and about to die if you really really cannot forgive her. If you did not get a chance to settle scores, I pity you. (But remember forgiveness is always the best karma.) But don't take it on your daughter-in-law. You will be accumulating more bad karma. This women problem is very difficult to solve and I think the male chauvinist Manu guy recognized it well. Ditch the Manu and let Buddha or Krishna help you.
Because of the large percentage of stereotyped in-laws prejudices are built up and the new daughter-in-law also is very cautious from the beginning and could give a hard time to in-laws also.
I might be expanding this post more or add a follow up post after you send in your comments.
Mixed Race
This post might not fall either in Cool Dharma or Ugly Karma category but I would like to post it.
Indians are definitely a mixed race. Some people refute this but just by looking at the different skin colors and nose shapes, we can easily tell about a mixed origin. Look at people from China or Africa or Europe and notice that there is not so much diversity.
I feel there were two waves of human migration into India. First one from Africa and the second one from somewhere in Caspian Sea area or Southern Russia. Those people would have brought the cows and horses along with them and this could be one of the reasons why cow is sacred!
We are what we are and we need to accept it and integrate much more.
Indians are definitely a mixed race. Some people refute this but just by looking at the different skin colors and nose shapes, we can easily tell about a mixed origin. Look at people from China or Africa or Europe and notice that there is not so much diversity.
I feel there were two waves of human migration into India. First one from Africa and the second one from somewhere in Caspian Sea area or Southern Russia. Those people would have brought the cows and horses along with them and this could be one of the reasons why cow is sacred!
We are what we are and we need to accept it and integrate much more.
Saturday, August 22, 2009
Corruption and Ugly Karma
The greatest evil that has been plaguing Indian society is corruption. Corruption is the main cause of the high poverty level in India and has been the cause of misery, despair and frustration of the common man. Corruption is prevalent almost everywhere and the root cause for this is the greedy politicians and public officials who want to make money through every possible resource available to them while they are in power.
The greatest extent of corruption will be seen the public sector or the government services. One has to keep paying more than the prescribed fees ( 2 to 3 times or more!) to get anything done. For example get a drivers license, permit for building, extension of current dwelling, getting a passport, a birth or death certificate, obtaining a clearance for manufacturing, getting a new power connection, getting a transcript / marks list from a public university, getting an income tax clearance, and the list is endless! The extra money collected is distributed from the big bosses to the clerk who collects the money. It extends to law enforcement where criminals can get away with anything (even terrorism) and to judiciary. I am not saying that 100% of the public officials and politicians are corrupt, but according to my experience it is a majority. I think the honest minority will be ridiculed everyday and their lives will be miserable. I pity them.
Corruption does not stop there. It shows its ugly face in the private businesses like real estate, health care, education and many other places like this. The reasons are high demand and low supply due to overpopulation or connection to government permits for building etc. What I have personally observed is that though lot of people do not like this practice (both taking bribes and giving), they are led helplessly into the system. If an individual tries to resist it, that person will be ruined economically, socially and mentally by hook or crook. The rule to survive is though you are honest, do not protest and play the game for your safety!
I have the fortune of speaking to my grandfather (who was a 28 year old young man in 1947 when India got independence) regarding his opinion about corruption in the early 1990s. His opinion was, though the British had an agenda of exploiting the vast natural resources of the country and using its strategic position in trade between Europe, Africa and East Asia, they did not let corruption to be seen in public services. They hired the best and honest among Indians, built good infrastructure in the big cities. Some people say that even today the big cities in India like Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata are running on the same sewage systems and public transportation systems that were built by the British for 1/4 th of their current populations! After independence the new found freedoms saw avenues for making easy money in public services. Also the quality of people who were recruited has degraded so much due to various reasons and corruption mushroomed. All the money earned by corruption is being stored in Swiss banks and some unofficial figures tell that Indians have the largest reserves in Swiss secret accounts. It is ridiculous for a country like India where almost 25% of the population is below poverty line to has such money hidden away.
The way this problem has been built up and penetrated every aspect of the society, it is hard to untangle it just by passing more laws (by the same politicians who indulge in corruption?) , agitation or protests by a few people. The solution for this problem lies in an increased level of moral values and discipline of the future generation. And this can be achieved either by believing in the wrath of a higher being like the monotheists do or by understanding the destructive power of bad karma. Ones accumulated karma can be a good friend or ones worst enemy. The Law or Dharma is neutral that does not show favoritism but one should realize that it is unforgiving when dealing with ugly karma. The individuals who indulge in such actions should realize how much physical, mental and emotional harm they are committing on others and to the sangha or society as a whole by indulging in corrupt practices.
Buddhism asks us to seek the sangha as a refuge. Corruption ends up making the sangha impure and one who corrupts cannot take refuge in the same sangha in times of need. Krishna says in Bhagavad Gita about the demoniac nature as follows. "They believe that to gratify the senses is the prime necessity of human civilization. Thus until the end of life their anxiety is immeasurable. Bound by a network of hundreds of thousands of desires and absorbed in lust and anger, they secure money by illegal means for sense gratification."
My advice for people for now is try to avoid getting involved, but if you find yourself in a situation where you have to give a bribe to get things done, please play safe and play along. I strongly feel that the solution does not lie in protesting and getting into trouble but by correcting it in a long term fashion.
The greatest extent of corruption will be seen the public sector or the government services. One has to keep paying more than the prescribed fees ( 2 to 3 times or more!) to get anything done. For example get a drivers license, permit for building, extension of current dwelling, getting a passport, a birth or death certificate, obtaining a clearance for manufacturing, getting a new power connection, getting a transcript / marks list from a public university, getting an income tax clearance, and the list is endless! The extra money collected is distributed from the big bosses to the clerk who collects the money. It extends to law enforcement where criminals can get away with anything (even terrorism) and to judiciary. I am not saying that 100% of the public officials and politicians are corrupt, but according to my experience it is a majority. I think the honest minority will be ridiculed everyday and their lives will be miserable. I pity them.
Corruption does not stop there. It shows its ugly face in the private businesses like real estate, health care, education and many other places like this. The reasons are high demand and low supply due to overpopulation or connection to government permits for building etc. What I have personally observed is that though lot of people do not like this practice (both taking bribes and giving), they are led helplessly into the system. If an individual tries to resist it, that person will be ruined economically, socially and mentally by hook or crook. The rule to survive is though you are honest, do not protest and play the game for your safety!
I have the fortune of speaking to my grandfather (who was a 28 year old young man in 1947 when India got independence) regarding his opinion about corruption in the early 1990s. His opinion was, though the British had an agenda of exploiting the vast natural resources of the country and using its strategic position in trade between Europe, Africa and East Asia, they did not let corruption to be seen in public services. They hired the best and honest among Indians, built good infrastructure in the big cities. Some people say that even today the big cities in India like Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata are running on the same sewage systems and public transportation systems that were built by the British for 1/4 th of their current populations! After independence the new found freedoms saw avenues for making easy money in public services. Also the quality of people who were recruited has degraded so much due to various reasons and corruption mushroomed. All the money earned by corruption is being stored in Swiss banks and some unofficial figures tell that Indians have the largest reserves in Swiss secret accounts. It is ridiculous for a country like India where almost 25% of the population is below poverty line to has such money hidden away.
The way this problem has been built up and penetrated every aspect of the society, it is hard to untangle it just by passing more laws (by the same politicians who indulge in corruption?) , agitation or protests by a few people. The solution for this problem lies in an increased level of moral values and discipline of the future generation. And this can be achieved either by believing in the wrath of a higher being like the monotheists do or by understanding the destructive power of bad karma. Ones accumulated karma can be a good friend or ones worst enemy. The Law or Dharma is neutral that does not show favoritism but one should realize that it is unforgiving when dealing with ugly karma. The individuals who indulge in such actions should realize how much physical, mental and emotional harm they are committing on others and to the sangha or society as a whole by indulging in corrupt practices.
Buddhism asks us to seek the sangha as a refuge. Corruption ends up making the sangha impure and one who corrupts cannot take refuge in the same sangha in times of need. Krishna says in Bhagavad Gita about the demoniac nature as follows. "They believe that to gratify the senses is the prime necessity of human civilization. Thus until the end of life their anxiety is immeasurable. Bound by a network of hundreds of thousands of desires and absorbed in lust and anger, they secure money by illegal means for sense gratification."
My advice for people for now is try to avoid getting involved, but if you find yourself in a situation where you have to give a bribe to get things done, please play safe and play along. I strongly feel that the solution does not lie in protesting and getting into trouble but by correcting it in a long term fashion.
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
The Great Indian Modern Ongoing Injustice
There have been many injustices done to individuals or to certain sections of society throughout history. I would like to talk about the "The Great Indian Modern Ongoing Injustice" which is ruining the Indian society by dividing and corrupting it and making things worse day by day for the past 62 years! Well you must have guessed by now what I am talking about. The Indian Reservation System or the Affirmative action system.
Here I list facts, ills and oddities of this system. I might add more points after reading a few times.
Please post your comments and thoughts.
1) It has been put in place to help certain sections of the society and was intended to be active only until 10 years after independence in 1947.
2) But politicians kept it alive till now and grew it from a small weed to a big monster (in terms of the extent of reservations). Now they want to keep adding different sections of the society for vote bank politics.
3) Instead of taking the venom out of the wealthy land lords who have oppressed the weaker sections of the society, the reservation system attacks the economically poor so called forward castes.
4) The system ensures entry into public as well as private educational institutions for certain individuals ahead of others who scored better in the entrance examinations.
5) It does not stop there, it ensures securing jobs in government and public sector organizations. Well it does not even stop there. It ensures them to get promoted ahead of others who perform better than them.
I think you can see why the public, municipal and government services and the public sector are pathetic and under performing.
6) I think though this system has been created with an intention of providing social justice to certain sections of the society, it is doing long term injustice to the Indian nation as a whole by promoting under performance, corruption and lower morality.
7) If the deserving people were given the right opportunities, they would have created better opportunities and lifestyle for the society as a whole.
8) The emergence of the private sector came as a boon for many deserving candidates. Private sector does not discriminate (as of now! But some politicians are trying to force this system into the private sector also after eying its successes.) and created many opportunities and avenues for exhibiting brilliance. Hiring a person with a science degree (B.Sc) who could not utilize reservation proved better for a private organization rather than hiring a person with a more sought out degree (B.Tech/B.E) who got entry through reservation.
9) The politicians should work on trying to provide a better and free public education system for all rather than putting this reservation system in place. There should be a time line to end this system forever.
9b) Even if it is not ended completely at least there should be a rule making sure that if a person has already taken advantage of this unfair reservation system, his or her children and grand children will not be eligible for reservations. The person who has taken advantage of this system should have made provisions for his children to get a good education and compete in the "open market".
10) People talk about injustices done long time back and try to justify this system. Injustices were also done by invading armies from the middle east as well as by occupying imperial forces. Can we ask them compensation now?
11) The real injustice was done by the land lords and even now they cannot be touched! because they are the dominant castes in politics. Only the poor forward castes are targeted.
12) One great thing is the politicians did not want the armed forces (army, navy and air force) to have reservations! May be they were fearing disloyal officers who can indulge in coups and take over the so called democratic government that they run. They want honest and moral people there! and fortunately it has been that way in India.
13)To end this with a comedic note, I think politicians should force reservation system into the music and entertainment industries of bollywood, kollywood, tollywood, punjabiwood, bengaliwood etc also. The high caste Kapoors, Khans, Bachchans, Mangeshkars, Mukherjees of Bollywood and Kammas from Tollywood are making too much money ;-)
Here I list facts, ills and oddities of this system. I might add more points after reading a few times.
Please post your comments and thoughts.
1) It has been put in place to help certain sections of the society and was intended to be active only until 10 years after independence in 1947.
2) But politicians kept it alive till now and grew it from a small weed to a big monster (in terms of the extent of reservations). Now they want to keep adding different sections of the society for vote bank politics.
3) Instead of taking the venom out of the wealthy land lords who have oppressed the weaker sections of the society, the reservation system attacks the economically poor so called forward castes.
4) The system ensures entry into public as well as private educational institutions for certain individuals ahead of others who scored better in the entrance examinations.
5) It does not stop there, it ensures securing jobs in government and public sector organizations. Well it does not even stop there. It ensures them to get promoted ahead of others who perform better than them.
I think you can see why the public, municipal and government services and the public sector are pathetic and under performing.
6) I think though this system has been created with an intention of providing social justice to certain sections of the society, it is doing long term injustice to the Indian nation as a whole by promoting under performance, corruption and lower morality.
7) If the deserving people were given the right opportunities, they would have created better opportunities and lifestyle for the society as a whole.
8) The emergence of the private sector came as a boon for many deserving candidates. Private sector does not discriminate (as of now! But some politicians are trying to force this system into the private sector also after eying its successes.) and created many opportunities and avenues for exhibiting brilliance. Hiring a person with a science degree (B.Sc) who could not utilize reservation proved better for a private organization rather than hiring a person with a more sought out degree (B.Tech/B.E) who got entry through reservation.
9) The politicians should work on trying to provide a better and free public education system for all rather than putting this reservation system in place. There should be a time line to end this system forever.
9b) Even if it is not ended completely at least there should be a rule making sure that if a person has already taken advantage of this unfair reservation system, his or her children and grand children will not be eligible for reservations. The person who has taken advantage of this system should have made provisions for his children to get a good education and compete in the "open market".
10) People talk about injustices done long time back and try to justify this system. Injustices were also done by invading armies from the middle east as well as by occupying imperial forces. Can we ask them compensation now?
11) The real injustice was done by the land lords and even now they cannot be touched! because they are the dominant castes in politics. Only the poor forward castes are targeted.
12) One great thing is the politicians did not want the armed forces (army, navy and air force) to have reservations! May be they were fearing disloyal officers who can indulge in coups and take over the so called democratic government that they run. They want honest and moral people there! and fortunately it has been that way in India.
13)To end this with a comedic note, I think politicians should force reservation system into the music and entertainment industries of bollywood, kollywood, tollywood, punjabiwood, bengaliwood etc also. The high caste Kapoors, Khans, Bachchans, Mangeshkars, Mukherjees of Bollywood and Kammas from Tollywood are making too much money ;-)
Friday, August 14, 2009
Dharmic Vs Monotheistic religion : A logical comparison # 11
Dharmic Vs Monotheistic religion : A logical comparison # 11
11) Reaching the unwilling Vs Un-conditioning the willing
Mono-theistic religions try to "reach the unreached" without considering if one is willing or unwilling. It used to be done forcibly before and now it is done by offending and associating other beliefs and practices with evil.
Dharmic religions on the other hand do not try to reach unwilling people. They try to un-condition the conditioned minds of willing individuals to see the reality. Buddhism can do a great job at this because it states the problem statement first, works towards eliminating the problem and can be practiced with least amount of paraphernalia.
11) Reaching the unwilling Vs Un-conditioning the willing
Mono-theistic religions try to "reach the unreached" without considering if one is willing or unwilling. It used to be done forcibly before and now it is done by offending and associating other beliefs and practices with evil.
Dharmic religions on the other hand do not try to reach unwilling people. They try to un-condition the conditioned minds of willing individuals to see the reality. Buddhism can do a great job at this because it states the problem statement first, works towards eliminating the problem and can be practiced with least amount of paraphernalia.
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