Fundamental Duties in our Constitution - A dream left unfulfilled

I mostly tend to stay away from religion and politics and I have firmly believed a person’s faith, religious and political opinions are extremely personal to him/her. Unfortunately, most people cannot accept this simple fact and try to educate and/or save-others-from-hell and/or try to impose their own opinions on others. I believe this is the root reason for most of the problems we have nowadays. Along these lines, I also observe common folk, intellectuals and pseudo-intellectuals* throw around the Fundamental Rights that the Constitution of India gives them. But most often they don’t mention about the attached Fundamental Duties.

One of the reasons for Fundamental Rights being considered more important compared to Fundamental duties is because of the different nature of their implementation as prescribed by the constitution-writers. While Fundamental Rights are binding for all and protected by law the Fundamental Duties are mentioned as non-binding by law and only as recommendations that all citizens may or may not follow. Actually, these duties are also very subjective in nature and enforcing these might be up to the interpretation or in most cases misinterpretation of the enforcers. Also, unfortunately, this ‘may or may not’ clause might work in a developed country; but for a developing country like ours where each has to struggle or compete with so many of our own people, this clause wouldn’t work. We either interpret the duties according to our benefit or stay silent and forget the Fundamental duties as has been going on. To a large extent, the Fundamental Duties have been only a dream which has been left unfulfilled.

But even if it is just a dream it may be important for all of us to remember the dream as these are actually advises of our great forefathers who fought for our nation’s freedom. At least we can try our best to follow these pieces of advice on our own and maybe one day all of us will also discharge these duties. Such a golden day it will be when all of us follow these duties/ advice that the people who got us freedom and wrote the constitution. Let’s go through these Fundamental duties together just for remembrance sake.

FUNDAMENTAL DUTIES
Part 51A: Fundamental duties.—it shall be the duty of every citizen of India—

(a) To abide by the Constitution and respect its ideals and institutions, the National Flag and the National Anthem;

Note: This is not difficult to follow. Although standing up for the National Anthem has been lately termed ‘lame’ or ‘un-cool’ or ‘cheesy’. Many pseudo-intellectuals confuse jingoism with patriotism and hence say that patriotism should be introvert and not shown off. But patriotism is all about pride for one’s country and if we cannot give the above token respect to our country then we should stop calling us a part of this country

(b) To cherish and follow the noble ideals which inspired our national struggle for freedom;

Note: If only we would have cared even a little for those struggles. I can’t even imagine showing my face to our forefathers for the shame of what we all have become and what we have made of the country they fought to free. Those brave freedom fighters would be weeping and mourning the death of their dreams/ideas for India. But we ignorantly go on leading the same atrocious lifestyle shamelessly.

(c) To uphold and protect the sovereignty, unity and integrity of India;

(d) To promote harmony and the spirit of common brotherhood amongst all the people of India transcending religious, linguistic and regional or sectional diversities; to renounce practices derogatory to the dignity of women;

(e) To value and preserve the rich heritage of our composite culture;

Note for c , d and e: What sovereignty are we talking about when all that foreign powers have to do is bribe a few corrupt politicians and they can influence the nation’s decisions?  Our spineless governments trudge on in a dreary stupor not even noticing the breeding evil of intolerance all around moving towards the festering doom. What Unity and integrity are we speaking about? For us we are Hindi or Muslim first; we are Hindi or Tamil or Bengali or Marathi first; we are Brahmin or Jat or Rajpoot or Gujjar first. Many of us are ashamed to say we are Indians outside of the country and if not because of our skin complexion the same would love to claim to be belonging to some other country. But the shame is on the country not on them; the kind of shameless activities that many of them are doing abroad the whole country’s name is being tarnished. These people have to remember that they are representing the country abroad and at least think of the pride of the nation and what their actions would do to that pride before they do anything. I say we all should be ashamed because it is all of our responsibility. I don’t even want to get started on respect for women. No morals, no ideals no goals we are just termites eating away the very hands that fed us. Shame on all of us for doing, encouraging or turning a blind eye towards all these atrocities!!!

(f) To defend the country and render national service when called upon to do so;

Note: The sad facts is for most of us the country comes much low in our priority list. The list goes on like – Self, Family, Friend, people of the same caste, people of same religion, people of the same language, people of the same state, and at last comes to Nation. Who cares about defending the nation we have other more important things to defend right??

(g) to protect and improve the natural environment including forests, lakes, rivers and wildlife, and to have compassion for living creatures;

(h) to safeguard public property and to abjure violence;

Note g and h: The caricatures and lewd remarks engraved on our national monuments are enough proof of how rigorously we are following the above duty. Hunting animals for fun, destroying monuments and places of National importance is best past time of all of us. It is as if we have taken an oath of defecating and desecrate all that is holy to India. The very existence of the people who indulge in and who encourage such activities is meaningless.

(i) To develop the scientific temper, humanism and the spirit of inquiry and reform;

Note: Scientific temper and spirit of inquiry – what foresight our forefathers had to write this in the constitution in 1949. But most of us are still uneducated or wrongly-educated*. We still believe in old and decadent superstitions and blindly follow even more wrongly-educated leaders. If only we had even 10 % of the population sharing the same ideals as the constitution-writers of 1949.

(j) To strive towards excellence in all spheres of individual and collective activity so that the nation constantly rises to higher levels of endeavour and achievement;

Note: We have excelled in corruption and vandalism is our speciality in collective activity. With this, we have forced the nation to rise in the negative directions at an outstanding pace. With our endeavour and hard work, we are discovering newer lows of disgrace and shamelessness.

(k) Who is a parent or guardian to provide opportunities for education to his child or, as the case may be, ward between the age of six and fourteen years?

Note: This is the only duty that all of us follow. If only equal importance was given to the other points, India would be already developed and a much better place.

So wonderful and noble were the dreams and ideals the constitution-writers had envisioned and what we have made of those. When will we forget the petty conflicts based on language, religion, state, faith etc and begin to think collectively as Indians? When will we proudly say and act as an Indian? Many would lose hope but I would not. I will try my best to follow the above ideals to the best of my abilities and ensure that everyone follows the same at least with or near me. I would like to urge the PM through #BlogToPM campaign if the government could do more make the public more aware of these duties. I sincerely believe all of us want India to do great and would do our best provided we knew what our duties are. This remains for me a dream unfulfilled.

*Pseudo-intellectuals are normal people like you or me who have absolutely no idea about the topic of discussion and argue like experts with facts available on local news channels, Google and/or heard from some other pseudo-intellectual friend. For e.g. most of our usual discussion on Crickets or movies etc. would belong to this particular category. I believe all of us have at some point or the other have or will belong to this category too so we need not be embarrassed and must acknowledge the presence of the ‘pseudo-intellectuals’

*Wrongly-educated are the people who are worse that educated. No education is better than little education. Because when little education mixes with a lot of superstitions and a twisted mind; we get influential leaders who are the worst evil on planet earth. These leaders are responsible for brainwash innocent youth and through them spreading evil throughout the world.

Declaration: This is not an expert opinion on the constitution or law so what is written below are solely the writers own personal interpretations and may not be taken as citable references. This is solely a personal blog and any ‘over-smart’ or ‘over-intelligent’ misinterpretation or misconstruction of below-given Article is absolutely no responsibility of the writer.

The Legend of the Black Commandos: The beginning of the end...

Statutory Warning: This is a satire of one of the groups I was involved in during my days at college. The names are changed . Taking any offense on the content is entirely the reader's responsibility and his/her own problem. Please stop reading if you have a faint-heart.


When the atrocities of the strong and pain and sufferings in the world increases there comes a HERO who defies all logic and saves mankind. With time this story would history, history would become legend and the legend would become myth. It is hence of paramount importance that someone who knew the true story pens it down before everyone forgets this vital piece of history. Following were the chief characters.

Black Commandos:
Tejinder Zing Tada
Zeb Furkap
Girish Beshumar
Ravish Methi

Also Part and/or Close Support:
 Janvar Neta
Guldain No-Sorry
Nar-kaal Tinde
Hrithik Karma
M. J. C. Karigari
Ankahit Tarkaari
Na-shool Tonsil
Now-nav No-sthaana

Villian and Sole opposition:
Daanav Dharamapal

The Problem:

As leaders in the  field of mugga-balti-bannewale-material all of the above came from different parts of India selected as the very last among the best or the leftovers of the exam called Zahaan dike Isiko Todo (ZIT). They were extremely hardworking and using their mastery of tricks/illusions (chits or farreys) and help from next-bench-topper; were able to clear the first 2 years of ZIT. But then the leader of their leader owing to lot of insects entering into his ... (bus samagh jao ab...) took it upon himself to finally do the one mistake that all ZITian consider taboo. He decided to study and hence planned to choose an elective (exams in which you don't need to do any work but are guaranteed good grades) called 'Jo-Mann-aaya-Banao' taught by legendary teacher Gori. Gori proved true to his legendary status and taught so well that he converted the subject from 'Jo-Mann-aaya-Banao' to 'Jo-MERE-mann-aaya-Banao'. Poor students how could they even think what Gori thought and hence faced immeasurable pain and suffering. Especially for Zeb Furkap the pain was so unbearable that he was contemplating to give Daanav Dharmpal his specility massage called 'peell dunga' And finally this lead to the formation of the legendary Black commandos.

And so the fight went on from then on about which electives should be chosen. About the fights of the black commandos will be written is a story for another day. This how some of the most evil and insufferably lazy guys banded together to change the destiny of mankind (I am not sure about this fact and am still searching studies, survery or references which I can cite to connect this event with a cataclysmic event of the magnitude of extinction of the dinosaurs or 2013 end of the world. Some help would be extremely appreciated ;) )

Aaah yes!! just because I like stories with happy endings and since this is my story, i must say ..... And they lived happily ever after !!! :P

PS: Still trying to fathom what how or why I wrote this. I must acknowledge the talk and support of Tada saab. I hope you can forgive me for ruining your mental piece .. :P

Good day. Keep smiling.
 

Live and Let Live......

So much intolerance is everywhere that it seems we all are hurtling towards a 'Big Bang' larger than what created us. All around we see 'Great' people preaching and influencing the vulnerable minds of the youth.

Politicians say the next century is India's because it has a huge young workforce. But what use is a huge workforce when there are not enough work. Of course there are lot of jobs but the problem is everyone is an engineer/doctor. And added to it is the feeling of hierarchy of the jobs. If you have a 'good' job then you are supposed to have elevated yourself to the status of Gods. And unfortunately these are the very people who encourage this more to make themselves more exclusive. And because of these we have a huge your workforce of engineers who have no job but who are too good to start at a so-called-lower job position. And these are the very youth who are whipped up by corrupt religious leaders and political leaders to fulfill their nefarious objectives.

The problem which is more worse is religious intolerance. A person's faith/religion is his/her own, no one has any right over it. Why can't people just be satisfied and proud of their own religion while respecting other religions??  Why do we have to impose our religion on other?? Why do we have to compare ?? The bottom-line is we have to grow-up and become more mature in our outlook. Even if we can't do anything about opinionated and brainwashed people into doing harm to themselves and others, atleast we can stop encouraging and glorifying them as Gods. And instead to being insecure and being intolerant we have to learn to Live and Let Live.

Who said we were evolved??

Day in and day out every time we open any news column or website unfathomable barbarism is all that greets us. Within a week we saw two of the most disturbing incidents which makes us believe that the evolution of humanity has stopped since long and is in fact reversing fast. First the brutal Newtown Shootings in Connecticut and the second being the recent disgusting rape incident in a public bus in the capital city of India which has finally forced me come out of my sabbatical and write this piece.

Lately we are observing that as the world is becoming more and more closer because of rapid globalization  instead of bringing us all closer it is just breeding more and more intolerance. As much as we may blame the government or system or unemployment or poverty or any of the numerous conspiracy theories; it stands to reason that it is our own frailties and disrespect for law that is allowing these worthless vermin to do these unimaginable evils. It is our own selfishness and narrow mindedness that is getting reflected by the actions of these few invertebrates.


We can say that there's nothing one person can do ?? but if each person thinks the same then there is going to be chaos. We must stand up to oppose all injustice. period. We must stand firm against everything corrupt and narrow minded. Also just because something is an age old practice doesn't mean it has to be correct, we must think for ourselves before believing. Too often our aloofness encourages the mentally sick. THIS MUST STOP !!!

Talaash....

Talaash bahot ki alfaazon ki magar,
ehmiyat sahi tumhein de na paye.
koshishein bahot ki sambhaalne ko lekin,
Jalim hansi ko rok na paye.

Nakshon ko tawajjo pehle to na di thi,
jaroorat thik raste ki thi nahin kabhi,
Tasveer hi aisi banayi tumne ki,
puri Qayenaat barbaad hai abhi.

Once again its time for olympic shame..

Again the time comes when we prove to the world that all we are good at nothing. Again 50 to 100 so-called olympians go out embarrassing us all. We can say lack of sporting facility, lack of sponsorship, all money going to cricket but the truth is  our athletes don't have the attitude to succeed. We don't want to win meddle to excel in a sport we want to go to olympics so we can get a government job. Other players break records but we will break the lowest records and on top of that have such huge ego that even the whole world cannot satisfy us. Countries smaller that a state of India get numerous time more medals than us and we cannot find even a contender in all fields from a population of over 1.2 billion!! We are satisfied by fighting among ourselves like losers and boosting our ego but don't have the guts to face the world. Once again the time has come for another Olympics and once again the time has come for another spate of disappointments and national shame.

Evolution in the Age of Internet

So dependent have we become on internet that if for some reason the internet is switched off for even a second then we start becoming restless.Watching videos, listening to music, playing games, reading e books, emails, working on Google docs are just to name a few but we also have some really awesome apps now a days on mobiles which are gradually becoming a must have on a handsets. I am tabulating some changes that have happened compared to past  maybe you too will realize how much internet is changing us,

Importance of Computer/Internet Speed - I remember the days of Pentium series processors and added to it the costly and slow internet. I sometimes think how  survived them but the truth is I didn't feel any different then than I am now. It was he same excitement of exploring something new. Having said that I have to add that please don't try using a older/slower computer and internet now. It would then become very harmful for all those around you because you'll be so frustrated that you would like throw away the computer somewhere far or break something nearby. It has happened to me many time so I must warn you.

The Lost Age of Internet Cafes & Gaming Parlors - There was a time when internet was a new thing in market and a whole generation of internet cafe mushroomed into existence. For a few years internet cafes and gaming parlors became the favorite hangout place for us friends. We used to spend all our pocket money into them and had some of the most legendary Tekken 3 and Mortal Kombat wars not be known by the world. Yes, friends you survived because I fought for you day and knight to keep out the internet freaks. (..lol.. :P..) . Many of the younger generation who were born after this time when computer was a natural part of a home's interior decoration just won't get why we wasted so much money but still the whole uniqueness of the experience will be always remain with us who were there when internet first arrived ..:)

The New Jeweleries & Status Symbols - Earlier there were jewels which signified the social status of a person or Cars or Bungalows, those are still there but a new generation has joined them. The prestige of being a P4/Dual Core/I series Bearer, iPod/iPad/iPhone bearer - is so hyped up now that one is not even considered human if he doesn't have a iSomething sticking out somewhere on his being. Most times these tech-gadgets are used just as a social symbol than for their various useful applications hence I call them as new jeweleries of the current times.

The Boom of Social Networking - With the explosive growth of internet the social networking sites have gone viral. One can meet thousands of people just while sitting in front of a console. Gone are the days when us poor guys had to work hard just to frame a few words to the girl we liked now a days entire relationships are getting formed and broken on internet. If you are not fast enough in today's world your loved ones would already have about a million other loved ones. SO buckle up people and start spamming. I think everyone knows more about this so no need saying more ;)

Advent of the Age of Misinformation -  Earlier only a few News Papers and News Channels used to give correct information but now in the age of internet we see whole public opinion changed by a single chain-mail. Useless pieces of rubbish and absolute garbage is being fed to impressionable young ones who still have not the maturity to filter through the truth. We must in all forms stop this. Everyone has the right to express themselves but only until their expressions starts becoming a problem to others. This age of misinformation is one the negative impacts

The Age of Impermanence - We are all addicted by the bug called 'change'. It is the same bug from whom all are afraid of when it comes to one's outlook, thinking, nature, habits and narrow mindedness. We will stay entrenched in age old superstitions and stupid senseless practices since we don't have the guts to stand up to the society but when it comes to electronic gadgets we need 'change' after every few months. The ever decreasing prices of electronics reflect our various whims and fancies one minute the gadget is selling as holy cakes and immediately after a newer version is released the old ones can't even be sold to a scrap dealer. The same with the movies to no movies stay for month on like before if a movie stays more than 1-2 week then it is a super-hit. What I want to ask is whom are we all fooling by promoting and advocating change like this. Change is not a commodity which is only to be used when it serves to our personal goals. Accept it in all forms of life head-on and maybe we can finally break through the various bigoted shackled holding us back.