Family relations, between individual and family and between one family and other families, are very important in our society.  At every gathering of families, there are smiling faces, warm welcomes and hearty greetings.  Everyone seems to be enjoying.

But these are only the outer coverings and show cases.  The insides may be full of jealousy and envy. Nobody displays one’s real feelings which remain always hidden behind the masks of sweet smiles. There are only a very few persons who would really be joyful at the happiness of other relatives.  Given an opportunity, most of the persons would not hesitate to inflict pain and misfortune on the very person whose good fortune they seem to enjoy.

Of course, good and bad persons have always been there. Rishi Vyas has concluded the essence of all Vedas and Puranas with  the words Propkaraye punyaye papaya par peednam.  However, earlier, there used to be clear cut demarcation.  The outer coverings and the inside material was the same.  Now, we just cannot be sure. Since on the surface, all persons appear to be good and friendly, it is extremely difficult to identify and discriminate.

There are Uriah Heeps, whose main aim in life is to harm others although outwardly they appear to be epitome of humbleness and friendliness.   Our all soap operas are full of relatives who cannot tolerate happiness of others.  Such kins always appear to have an upper hand and with the passage of time, their clan is flourishing by leaps and bounds.

And we cannot do anything, even if we ourselves are at the receiving end.   

The main cause of all mistakes and accidents in life is lack of awareness and wrong judgment. Some mistakes may be minor and have only limiting affect, but others may even affect the lives of our near and dears. 

Our mind is constantly engrossed in a process of chattering most of which is meaningless.  It obstructs our consciousness and we are unable to focus on the work at hand.  The aim of all the meditational and yogic exercises to stop this flow of unregulated thought process.

Sometimes, we are at the cross roads in any given situation.  A wrong choice can have disastrous results.  However, most of the times, we are wise only after the event and then may try to reconstruct the event in our mind with the other options.  But that is all useless and prevents us from living in the present moment.

Awareness about outer things as well as the inner thought and the feeling process is the only solution.

As per a news item, BEST is planning to purchase a number of luxury Mercedes buses.  The Mumbai residents interviewed by a news channel, expressed a feeling of great elation and happiness.  Similarly, some luxury buses have been added in DTC fleet during the recently concluded Commonwealth Games and many more are expected to come soon. 

I do now understand how our politicians can think of spending crores of additional amount for the same facilities which can be bought with much less money.  Why do they want to show off their glamour to the outside world, when we are hollow inside?  Fifty percent of our people are poverty stricken and we have more hungry persons than any other country in the world.  In all major cities, including Mumbai and Delhi, most of the roads are broken and there is no proper drainage system. If BEST has spare money, it should lend it to BMC to overhaul the drainage system before the next monsoon and ensure sufficient drinking water for the residents in the summer season.

Should our governments work for providing facilities to maximum number of people or for catering to the fads of the few rich persons?

We do need to set our priorities right.

Indian sportspersons are giving spectacular performance at the current Commonwealth Games in Delhi and there is a general mood of euphoria over the grand achievement.

However, I am not happy about this success coming after spending thousands (or lakhs of) crores of rupees.

In my neighbourhood and among acquaintances, some person or the other is suffering from dengue, malaria, flu or some other deadly infection.  Had the city government spent a few lakhs of ruppes on timely anti-mosquito spray and taken other necessary health precautions, the health situation would not have been so bad.

At other places, people  have become victime of the water borne diseases as pure drinking water is still a dream for most of the residences who cannot afford bottled mineral water.

Except for some highways and VIP routes, almost every road in the country is broken, laden with potholes and there is filth surrounding all public places.

With the amount of money spent on holding the Common Wealth Games, most of the roads in the country could have been brought in a good riding condition.  Had the money been spent on healthcare, there would have been much less patients.

But instead of strengthening our infrastructure, the basic foundation of our country, we just want to show off the glitter and glamour and to assert that we are not behind any developed country in this regard. May be in some respects (e.g. in regard to medal tally at the CWG), we can compete with European countries.   But in regard to health care, road maintenance, pure drinking water supply etc., we are much behind even some African countries.

From Today, a  separate coach for ladies has been added in all Delhi Metro trains. This step has been hailed by various members of public, as shown in some new channels.  However, to me, this seems to be a retrograde step.  Segregation of sexes in public transports etc. is not considered a good step in any advanced country.

It has been stated that separate coach for ladies would make their journey more safe and comfortable.  Ensuring safety for each and every person, including women is the duty of our law enforcing agencies.  As for the journey being comfortable for women, why should it be comfortable for women only?  Why not for each and every passenger, including old and handicapped  persons?

Instead of tackling the problem of overcrowding in Metro trains through introduction of additional coaches and increasing the frequency, the authorities have thought about an easy way out, an escape route.

In fact, reservation of any sort, on the basis of caste, creed, religion or sex always seems to me to be a step in the backward direction.  However, for the last more than 60 years, our politicians have been carrying out the policy of appeasement of sections of society through reservations instead of solving the real problems.  The society is thus being  divided on the basis of caste, creed and religion.

A separate coach for women is a similar act of appeasement and an escape route, without catering to the real problem.

A few days back, there was a news item in TV about a billionaire sportsman who had asked for income tax rebate in respect of the money he pays to his parents every month as the same was paying back of the money spent earlier by them on his education etc.

This is not the first instance of billionaires asking for income tax rebate.  At different times, rebates have also been sought on import of gifted luxury cars and other goods.  In fact, most of our richest persons miss no opportunity in getting tax rebate or for making more and more money through cheap land purchase etc. etc.

The hunger for money in our richest persons is just unstoppable.  Even if you possess 1000 crores, the lust for the next crore continues.

In contract, in America and European countries, billionaires donate a major portion of their earnings regularly for charitable purpose.  In fact, the richest of them (perhaps now he is no more the richest) donated almost half of his wealth for charitable purpose.  There was also a news item that following the magnanimous Bill Gates, forty top American industrialists and businessmen had asked government to take away half of their wealth through taxation or otherwise and use it for the public welfare schemes.

In India, there more saints and spiritual masters than anywhere in the world, helping in the spiritual advancement of persons and telling about the ultimate uselessness of the material wealth. Why are then the rich people in India more materialists and self centred than their counterparts elsewhere?

Our country is passing through one of the worst phases.   Prices, particularly of the food items, have become beyond the reach of the common man.  In Kashmir, militants are becoming bolder day by day and issuing threats to Sikhs to either embrace Islam or leave valley. There have been no attempts to bring back the displaced Kashmiri pundits, the original inhabitants of Kashmir back to the valley.  Our government has failed to take a tough stand and there have been talks in terms of autonomy for the troubled region.  As per UNO reports, income disparities in India are among the highest in the world.  People in our many states are poorer than the poorest in African countries.  And while half of our population is starving, lakhs of tonnes of wheat is rotting in government’s custody due to lack of storage facility.  The Supreme Court has suggested that instead of allowing wheat to go waste, it should be distributed among the poor and hungry people. However, the government has other views and would rather let the wheat rot than let the empty bellies filled up without paying the cost.

Mr. Azim Premji, Chairman of Wipro has issued a statement in today’s TOI under the heading ‘Rs.28,000 crore Games expense sounds like wrong priority’, emphasizing that we are spending  on a grand sporting spectacle  instead of providing access to playgrounds, equipment and coaching.  “The capital already boasts of some of India’s best infrastructure.  Instead of spending crores to widen Delhi’s roads, should we not prioritize building roads and schools in Bihar where none exist in the first place?” He further asks, “If we have Rs.500 crore to spare, should we use it to build basic sports facilities in thousands of government schools, or should we spend it all on renovating one stadium?”

Otherwise also, the only noticeable thing about the Common Wealth Games projects is the mass pilferage and the corruption at its peak, as being highlighted by the media for the last many days.

Similarly, crores of rupees are being spent for Bharat Nirman series of advertisements on print media and TV chananels informing public about  ‘achievements of the government’.  Why so much boast about the non-visible achievements? Had the money been spent on infrastructure and welfare projects instead of on self-praise, it would have been put to a better use.

How can the gross misuse of public funds be prevented?

Besides the lootmaar in execution of Common Wealth Games projects, there has been inordinate delay in their completion.  With less than fifty days remaining for start of games, Prime Minister has stepped in and ten senior officials, who would report to the Cabinet Secretary, have been deputed to oversee the critical aspects of the preparations.  

Of course, I know that the projects will be completed before the start of the games which would be held successfully with full fanfare.

However, why have the preparations been so much delayed and why has the Central Government intervened only at the last moment? Why not earlier?

Perhaps no particular individual can be held responsible for the delay.  The cause of delay lies in our attitude of not caring enough before the deadline reaches near.  Jab paani sir par se uttar jaata hai, tabhi hamaari neend khulti  hai.  Even in making preparation of any individual function too, more than half of the work is left to be completed during the last few days at bottleneck speed.

The delaying attitude is deeply rooted in our nature.  Arriving late for any even is considered normal as this is according to Indian Standard Time!

I was watching a movie on TV in which hero’s name was Karan.  It came to my mind that in innumerable serials and pictures, hero’s name is Karan, though in Mahabharata, Karan fought from the side of evil and led Daryodhan’s army after the death of Dronacharya.  Though siding with the villain, Karan was basically a kind hearted, good man and was the greatest danveer of his time. 

Balmiki was a low caste dacoit.  But when he became rishi, a worthy teacher and a knowledgeable person, he was respected and worshipped even by great kings. In Ramayana, Meghnath, the Inderjeet was the son of the evil Ravana who had kidnapped devi Sita and was killed by Luxman.  Yet he was able warrior and his name is not associated with bad deeds of his father and even now thousands of Inderjeets can be found in India.  Then there was a low caste Ravi Dass, who became Meera’s Guru. 

In India, from the ancient times, persons have been revered and worshiped due to their own godly qualities and not because of their belonging to a particular caste or association with good or evil persons.  Each person is judged by his own thoughts and actions, his own karma, not through his lineage.

Yet in modern India, our politicians cannot think about any person without looking at his caste and have got included the caste column in the current census.