EDUCATION AND POLITICS - POLES APART
It has been a queer enigma every time I have sat down to think about it. I am certain that its not only me, but almost every educated individual who has thought about it, felt strongly about it, wanted to take action about it and then gradually forgotten about it; ofcourse barring a few who have taken steps to change the situation, but have either miserably failed to create an impact or have just lost thier significance in works which are never highlighted in the media and fail to grab public attention. The crux is that, we as "educated" individuals, have got all the time to crib about situations, but have rarely found ways to change them.
I tend to remember a very intriguing line somewhere a long time back. It said that "All men desire peace, but very few desire those things that really bring peace". So true as it is, I find myself in a very similar state right now. The question I raise here is that "Why Politics and Education always seem to be running a race in completely opposite directions?"
Why the hell do we, I again quote, "educated" individuals, always run away from politics? We always want the government to behave the way we want it to, but if we just introspect a bit, what have we at all done to make sure that the governmets atleast hear what we need and want out of them. Do we really expect them to come to our doorsteps and ask things? I know they make promises which they never fulfill, but how many times have we punished them for not doing so?
Are we so helpless that we cant do anything? Or is it just our lethargy that has created so much of inertia that we fail to move a bit - even when the cities are taken hostage and the girls are raped under open sun? Are we all really waiting for things to happen to us before we realize that it is our onus to take action and set things right.
Why are the educated individuals so averse of even touching politics and taking the reins in our own hands? Most of the times you question an "educated" citizen about his involvement in politics, you would perhaps hear, "Main seedha saadha aadmi hoon, politics ke khel mein mera kya kaam?" ... Yeah?... So true, I know damn too much to enter politics, it is meant for criminals and illiterates. It really pinches me when I compare the backgrounds of our politicans with those of America or UK. Our politicians have histories of crimes, and an education they cant even prove they have. And at the same time, countries are being run by law scholars from Harvard and Rhodes scholars - the real intellectual lot. And then we crib of all the problems. Shame on us, shame on India's educated, who knows only rights, not duties; who knows only how to demand, not give. Let's rise together, let's pledge to be a part of the system - take your first step, Come together on a common platform..
I tend to remember a very intriguing line somewhere a long time back. It said that "All men desire peace, but very few desire those things that really bring peace". So true as it is, I find myself in a very similar state right now. The question I raise here is that "Why Politics and Education always seem to be running a race in completely opposite directions?"
Why the hell do we, I again quote, "educated" individuals, always run away from politics? We always want the government to behave the way we want it to, but if we just introspect a bit, what have we at all done to make sure that the governmets atleast hear what we need and want out of them. Do we really expect them to come to our doorsteps and ask things? I know they make promises which they never fulfill, but how many times have we punished them for not doing so?
Are we so helpless that we cant do anything? Or is it just our lethargy that has created so much of inertia that we fail to move a bit - even when the cities are taken hostage and the girls are raped under open sun? Are we all really waiting for things to happen to us before we realize that it is our onus to take action and set things right.
Why are the educated individuals so averse of even touching politics and taking the reins in our own hands? Most of the times you question an "educated" citizen about his involvement in politics, you would perhaps hear, "Main seedha saadha aadmi hoon, politics ke khel mein mera kya kaam?" ... Yeah?... So true, I know damn too much to enter politics, it is meant for criminals and illiterates. It really pinches me when I compare the backgrounds of our politicans with those of America or UK. Our politicians have histories of crimes, and an education they cant even prove they have. And at the same time, countries are being run by law scholars from Harvard and Rhodes scholars - the real intellectual lot. And then we crib of all the problems. Shame on us, shame on India's educated, who knows only rights, not duties; who knows only how to demand, not give. Let's rise together, let's pledge to be a part of the system - take your first step, Come together on a common platform..
posted by vaneet kundra at
Friday, April 17, 2009
17 Comments:
Rightly written sir. Education empowers the mind of the downtrodden to dare the system and the people who run the system. Education is the agent of change. But the people at the helm are aware and design the education system in such a way as may not reach each and every Indian. Right to education confers a right of every child to go to school between the age of 6 to 14 yrs. But the ground realities are different. Child labour and exploitation is rampant in our country. I personally went to a labour colony and asked the parents to send their children to schools. What was their reply? Babuji hum to 3 mahine ke baad chale jayenge. To dusri jagah bachchon ko kaise parainge. (We will shift from here in the next 3 months after complettion of the job. How shall we be able to send our children to schools then?) The answer made me aware about the reality and I started thinking that "Mobile Schools" and an intitiative of teachers or education department can solve their problem. Environment need to be changed. Change will not come to these people who are fighting for their 2 square meals. I bought some books and copies and gave to their children. Children were very happy to see pictures and started fighting to claim that books belonged to them indvidually. They were happy to see pencils, pens, eraser and sharpner.
Moreover, education is a self-financing investment on the individual. Though many rules and schemes are made for "education loan" easier but the babus in banks scuttle such schemes. They have same attitude and pattern of thinking for loans for business and loans for education. Both should be treated separately. Independent agency which is sensitive to the need of education should clear the loan and loan for education must be sanctioned and paid on priority basis. Many parents fear to go to banks for loans seeing the plathora of documents asked for by the banker. In western countries, about 88% students are getting education on loans from banks whereas in India about 3%. Just see the difference and attitude of "The builders of new India" Prof Keshap
Rightly written sir. Education empowers the mind of the downtrodden to dare the system and the people who run the system. Education is the agent of change. But the people at the helm are aware and design the education system in such a way as may not reach each and every Indian. Right to education confers a right of every child to go to school between the age of 6 to 14 yrs. But the ground realities are different. Child labour and exploitation is rampant in our country. I personally went to a labour colony and asked the parents to send their children to schools. What was their reply? Babuji hum to 3 mahine ke baad chale jayenge. To dusri jagah bachchon ko kaise parainge. (We will shift from here in the next 3 months after complettion of the job. How shall we be able to send our children to schools then?) The answer made me aware about the reality and I started thinking that "Mobile Schools" and an intitiative of teachers or education department can solve their problem. Environment need to be changed. Change will not come to these people who are fighting for their 2 square meals. I bought some books and copies and gave to their children. Children were very happy to see pictures and started fighting to claim that books belonged to them indvidually. They were happy to see pencils, pens, eraser and sharpner.
Moreover, education is a self-financing investment on the individual. Though many rules and schemes are made for "education loan" easier but the babus in banks scuttle such schemes. They have same attitude and pattern of thinking for loans for business and loans for education. Both should be treated separately. Independent agency which is sensitive to the need of education should clear the loan and loan for education must be sanctioned and paid on priority basis. Many parents fear to go to banks for loans seeing the plathora of documents asked for by the banker. In western countries, about 88% students are getting education on loans from banks whereas in India about 3%. Just see the difference and attitude of "The builders of new India" Prof Keshap
Prof Keshap..
You are on of the rare persons on this planet. I salute you to have bought books for the poor children and i fully endorse your view of mobile schools. But who is going to do it ? It is a shame that people in power for the last 60 yrs have deliberately deprived poor children of education. Educated people ask lot of questions and and our rational people. Who wants rational people in India ? The ruling parties just create vote banks and they make it sure that no poor gets proper education. These poor people are the meat and vote banks for our short sighted politicians..Alas.. people like Sardar Patel wd have the PM of independent India, true patriots. Things wd have been quite different. But still it never too late..WE are searching for our very own Obama who would atleast talk of change..Inshallah. One day it will..
Honourable Kundraji,
Thanks for the quick reply to my comments. Sir, the people who gather degrees and can debate at length are not educated. They are just like bullocks carrying loads of books. They are having the secondary knowledge not the primary one. Primary knowledge relates to understand the problem of the human beings and working to solve their problems whatever be the status of the solver in the society. For this purpose, a person is required to practise meditation so that he may transform his personality from uni-thinking to universal thinking. Gur Parsadi Vidya Vichari par par pawe maan. With the grace of Guru when a real learner has understood the meaning of education and has become the true learner, he started getting respect from all quarters of society. Gu means darkness and ru means brightness or light. Guru is the person who leads from darkness to light. Teachers are aplenty in this world. Gurus are rare. When God blesses man meets a True Guru who is beyond "if and buts". Guru is like a mother, teacher is like father. Father prides himself so long as the child remains successful. Mother feels happy when the child is successful and feels sad when he tries but fails. But mother never leaves the child whatever be his/her mental, social or eonomic condition. This is the difference between teacher and Guru. After getting education, one becomes teacher, understanding what he has learnt and applying the same for himself he leads others then he becomes guru. And guru perfecting himself more and rising above petty self rises to the next level i.e. called social transformer. So, only a social transformer supported by gurus, teachers and taught will definitely bring the changes needed to m ake our country " a golden sparrow" I mean a sone ki chiriya. Please don't lose hope. Hope sustains life. Regards.
Prof Keshap,
You are great and philosophical. I have to learn a lot from you. No jokes ! I admit it.. I am very impulsive by nature and a man in a hurry. But being impulsive, i have realised that you tend to get angry when things, you think are not right. Patience is a virtue i must learn Guru-ji..
Thanks for your reply. Learn, unlearn and relearn are 3 stages that make a man really successful in any field of life. The world itself is school that teaches new lessons to everyone, everyday, every moment whatsoever be his age gender or intellect, social or economic status provided the individual is conscious to learning. Learning needs puncturing the inflated ego i.e. being humble and keeping the senses receptive to the dynamism of the universe.
Prof Keshap,
I second your view. We keep on learning throughout, till death. Every day we learn a new chapter of life. I think this is ongoing process. Thanks, Prof.. Remain my Guru and chek me if i go haywire.. I do go haywire sometimes..
Honourable Kundraji,
I hope this finds you and your family members in high spirits.
Sir you are elder than I. How can I be guru to you? Whatever little I know I will share with you. But I learn from each and everything and person NATURE has created. I feel happy by doing so. Similarly, I have learnt many new fundas of life from your postings on the blog. Thanks for the previlige. Sincrely Prof Keshap
Prof Keshap,
Age is no criteria for knowledge. It is the awakening. I hv learnt lot of things from you and wl keep on learning. You are Sagar of knowledge. I wl keep on taking dips to gain some..
Hi Vaneet, Excellent thoughts but call me a Cynic or a Loser... I am strongly of the opinion that the So called Pseudo Educated Intelluctual Indian has always and will in the future only live and have lived for themselves... I being one of them have no qualms admiiting it... Start from the Freedom Movement and you will see that it was the Common Man on the Street who fought the British.. The Intelluctuals sat with the Brits and talked about Scotch and Fish N Chips !!!Nothing has changed and nothing will.. We only have the Art of Grabbing not of Giving.. Anyway all the very best in your Endevour ... God Bless
Dear Krisnakumar..
I agree with u totally. Can we do something collectively ? My main motive of putting the article was to get a feed back, if joining politics was possible for an aam admi ! Though v.difficult, but we must strive for it. Collectively we can make a difference..
Hello Vaneet, Please let me know how you plan to take this forward... Regards krishnakumar
Dear Krishnakumar,
I just recd. a message from someone, if we can take it forward, I said lets do it.. Wl keep u updated.. Sometimes it works, sometimes it does'nt. We are in the churning process, exchanging views and ideas. AN idea sometimes does work..Revolutions dont happen overnight. It takes yrs of work and hard labour to come on a common platform, Devise a strategy and work on it.. Its a slow process, although, but it clicks sometimes. That's the reason we are on the same platform, discussing.. Let me know if u hv any idea in mind.We all are open to it..
who says educated pl r running away from politics, but fact is otherwise , the educated ahs proved more corrupt, ad hv apathy towards the downtrodden , due to our educational system they consider them as a class apart..
Pramod ji,
There are 2 aspects of educated people. One, who are v. corrupt and other who use their education for the upliftment of the needy. Both are relative. The problem is that all educated ppl with a positive bend of mind, do not join politics and some being educated use their education to exploit. I am talking in the context of educated ppl like u and me, who wd like to contribute something, but our hands are tied as we are not sons of political masters of this country. This is our irony..
why are you not writing anymore
I am busy on Facebook making like-minded friends.. Implementation is more important.. That's why i hv stopped writing the blog.. Facebook is an ideal network to make like-minded friends, discuss, debate and perhaps do something too, when the time comes...
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