Corruption means dishonesty by those in power, typically involving bribery. When an elected representative misuses his powers or changes his decision due to certain unfair circumstances it is referred to as corruption. A person who receives or gives bribe is said to be a corrupt person. For example, if a police officer accepts money, he is said to be corrupt. Although we say that India is a democratic country which got freedom 64 years ago, but we are still not free from the hands of corruption. The only difference is that the British have been replaced by the corrupt rulers. Now days, corruption rules us. Corruption is damaging the economy of India badly.

The major problem in India for its present state is corruption. We often blame the government when we see unhygienic circumstances but that is not true. The government is sanctioning financial aids to improve our country but it is not reaching the people because some corrupt officers are swindling it. Every day, in the newspaper we see different scandals and scams.

The government has passed several laws but none of them are being executed because of some corrupt officials who have been appointed by the government to ensure that the relief reaches the needy people. If the care takers themselves are corrupt then India can never progress. Corruption is caused by fear, the fear of losing power. People want to come into power these days not to serve the country or its people but to make themselves rich. The new name for politics is corruption .To earn high positions in the constitution they bribe the common people by making false promises at the time of election and on coming into position they change their goals and forget their promises.

Corruption has become a form of cancer and has started spreading like a epidemic.

In 2012 India has ranked 94th out of 176 countries in the Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index.

Some true patriots of the country like Anna Hazare, Dr.Kiran Bedi etc. are trying to fight and kill corruption but are yet to achieve 100% success. Have you ever imagined if one person all by himself can get the Lokpall Bill passed at this age, then if we all unite there is nothing which we cannot achieve? If we all unite we can kill the major problem i.e. Corruption.

It is very truly said that “Unity Is Strength”

My ideas to fight against corruption

1) We should all follow Anna Hazare and support him in this noble cause.
2) We should not offer bribe nor should we receive bribe.
3) If we find anyone offering or receiving bribe we should immediately inform the police.
4) Educate the people so that they can choose their right representatives at the time of elections.
5) Try and achieve 100% literacy in India.
6) Lokpal bill is not the end; it is just a new beginning of justice and a warning to the corrupt people.
7) All of us should follow the path of honesty and the youth should play the lead role.
8) Corrupt people should be punished severely.
9) Constant income tax raids and investigations on assets must be done.

Nowadays if you want to seek admissions in good colleges you need to pay donations, what is donation nothing but another name of corruption. Merit has lost its value. Today there is hardly any field which is not affected by corruption. Even a child is familiar with this word.

Corruption sounds difficult to control but if we all unite we can kill corruption very soon and live in a better India. Think of it and act immediately.

Writer: Vijay Ananth, SSC student, Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan , Kuwait

Historical Perspective:

Let us take a brief look at the mind blowing accomplishments of the ancient Indians. We spoke arguably the most refined and grammatically precise language till date viz Sanskrit. The Chola kings ruled over a territory extending as far as modern day Indonesia. Kalidasa ‘s literary feats and Adi Sankara’s theology (not to forget ontology and epistemology) make the works of the western scholars pale into insignificance. Indian mathematicians invented negative numbers in addition to zero and infinity. Aryabhatta, Bhaskarcharya and Varahamihira ‘s mathematical acumen and astrological insight have confounded modern researchers for the amazing precision that they exhibit. Udayana and other Jain thinkers excelled in Chemistry; while Katyayana and Panini’s masterpieces on grammar still make the linguists drool over them. Kanada spoke of a theory of atoms which was extended to elementary particles by later Jain thinkers. It is not a mere coincidence that the concept of ‘maya’ is so star kingly similar to a modern physicist’s conception of an all-pervasive invisible Higgs field.

Even in the Middle Ages, after the complete annihilation of the academic traditions of our country by marauding invaders and intolerant rulers, India was still better off. Visitors to Agra in Mughal times have described London and Paris as villages in front of it. As recently as in the early 1830s , Indians were involved in 30% of the world trade as compared to 1% by the United States.

Coming to the present, India stands at the threshold of a great future awaiting it. The transition from the Third World to the First World can be made within a 15 years time frame, if the people and the government realizing their obligations towards posterity discharge their responsibilities sincerely and take concerted efforts in the direction of the achievement of the objective.

Economic Front:

Half of India’s economic woes can be summarized by a solitary Jagdish Bhagwati statement :” By contrast, those countries that turned inward and had extensive regulations of all kinds on domestic economic decision-making in production, investment and innovation, are the countries that have really not done too well.” Realizing the long-term benefits of a purposeful integration into the global economy, the Indian government must embrace globalization more firmly. Further cuts in tariffs and a removal of quantitative restrictions have to be effected. Foreign Direct Investment remains at distressingly low levels; 0.5% of GDP as against 5% for China. Simplifying the approvals process, removing regulatory impediments and improving the infrastructure would definitely attract more foreign capital inflows. The pace of economic reforms must not be allowed to slacken.

The factor and product markets need significant structural reforms. Industrial deregulation (including eliminating preferences for small-scale producers), and reforms in the agricultural and power sector would be steps in the right direction. Controls over prices of agricultural commodities should be abolished and the government would do well to stop selectively patronizing farmers from certain states. Tariffs must be set at economically sensible levels, and distribution of power must be commercialized.

Food need not rot away in government godowns while millions starve in stark penury. The concept of Build-Own-Operate-Transfer (BOOT) must be encouraged. It is imperative on the GOI(Government of India) to reawaken the Keynesian-’animal spirits’ of the private entrepreneurships.  

Some serious steps must be taken to ensure that the BIMARU(Bihar+Madhya Pradesh+Rajasthan+Uttar Pradesh) states do not drag down the whole nation’s economic indicators to a dismal level. The report of the Prime Minister’s Economic Advisory Council correctly notes that ‘universal primary education is an effective anti-poverty measure that promotes equity.’ GOI should actively promote literacy campaigns through the length and breadth of our vast nation.

As Stanley Fischer pointed out in the course of his talk in India last year, the most important lesson that we have learnt from the East Asian crisis is the importance of a strong and well-regulated financial sector. We must ensure that there is no political interference in private financial institutions. Problems with the UTI and other urban cooperatives reinforce the need for strengthening supervision and governance for the resolution of non-performing loans.

The World Health Organization has documented in great detail the economic impact of human health. The innumerable amount of man-hours lost to illness and disability could be easily averted by preventive measures that the GOI should undertake. Economic progress should be sustainable in the long run and this implies environmental concerns be given precedence over short-term pecuniary gains to a select mercenary group of benefactors. The GOI could concentrate its energies on widening the tax net rather than deepening it causing heartburn among the salaried class of this country.

Fiscal deficit must be curbed at the earliest. Reduction in subsidies and tax reform would be welcome initiatives in the direction. A burgeoning foreign exchange reserve (now in excess of $84 bn) could be used to pay back some high interest loans. Vast investments are needed in order to improve the basic infrastructure in India. 

The pathetic power situation was highlighted rather bluntly by the Wipro chief recently in Bangalore. The Golden Quadrilateral project should give an impetus to the economy. China is today the fastest railway line laying country in the world. The Indians could take a leaf out of their notebook and implement similar schemes.

The GOI should give an incentive to select industries like the hardware sector. Easing of customs and making it easier to export and import items would make India at least as competitive as, if not better than Thailand.

Political Front:
The ubiquitous corruption and the widespread criminalization of politics especially in Bihar , Andhra Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh is a matter of great concern. The ‘permit raj’ which allowed the inept bureaucracy to make millions must be uprooted and eliminated. Educated people must be brought into Indian polity. There is presently a vicious cycle: Either educated people do not stand, or when they do, they are defeated by the all-powerful electorate. The politicians need to stay away from populist schemes like the late NT Rama Rao’s famous 2 Rs a Kg rice one. The people of India could also do without demagogues who wanted the GOI to award Rs 2000 Cr to Pakistan as compensation money for the Kargil war.

Communal amity is a sine qua non for progress and development of our country. The Gujarat experience should not recur. Our nation cannot progress if 15% of the population wants to destroy it. While minority rights must be safe guarded, politicians must restrain themselves from castigating the majority community for every ill in this country. 

Capital punishment for rapists, murderers and corrupt ministers would be a welcome idea. The Islamic Shariat implemented into with the punishments meted out (Saudi-style) in the full glare of the public would deter even the most incorrigible of the wrong-doers.

Intellectual Front:

In this information age, knowledge is power. Reduction on foreign technological dependence is essential for safeguarding the nation’s interests during any eventuality. The Indians in the last 25-30 years have demonstrated their capability to go beyond chalkboard diagrams and abstract theories to apply the concepts for practical purposes. Science & Technology self-reliance has to be achieved through successive steps of adaptation/indigenization capability and product innovations.

While the Schumpeterian paradigm advocates an oligopolistic scenario over a purely competitive one; one must realize that barring the entry of new firms dampens the incentive of the involved concerns to innovate. National laboratories can be awakened from their half a century long slumber by making them survive more and more on sponsored research from industry. The IITs and the IISC must take a lead in this matter, and at least demonstrate an absorption of ‘know-how’ if not ‘know-why’.

Making the Param series of Supercomputers has given a huge boost to the Indian scientific community. Further strides have to be made in missile and space technology. [The next war might be fought over water and it will be fought in space.] The development of a Nuclear Missile Shield by the US is an ominous indication of the insecurities that a prosperous nation faces today. The GOI appears to have underestimated the importance of indigenous fabrication and manufacture of chips; this lacuna should be rectified. Standardization of the unit sizes would aid the processes industry.

The ‘Made in India’ brand should be promoted similar to the way Japan projected it in the 70s. The newspapers must shed their negative and defeatist mentality and adopt a positive attitude. Project positive facts about our nation; refrain from portraying it as a country of beggars, and senile mendicants.

The ‘great eminent secular historians’ would be doing India an unparalleled favor by refraining from dubbing it ‘a fascist, racist and communal nation ruled by despotic Hindu warmongering zealots’ in stage-managed conferences in New York.

Strategic Front:

In a rapidly changing world, COMINT(Communication Intelligence) and TECHINT(Technical Intelligence) have superseded the traditional discipline of HUMINT(Human Intelligence). We no more need any permanent love affairs with any nation. Israeli cooperation suits our designs as we are faced with a common foe. The Jewish lobby in US could be of considerable use if its efforts and reach could be effectively utilized. The nefarious designs of the Chinese dragon have to tackle in a clever manner.

Working Groups for economic cooperation of the countries amongst the rim of the Indian Ocean should be established. India would also have to face the Pakistani crab mentality, which will prefer Mutual Assured Destruction (MAD) to mutual progress. A good rapport with old allies like Malayasia, Egypt and Iraq would bolster India’s case for a permanent Security Council seat.

India would have to reach out to protect the rights of its expatriate population in the rest of the world. A doctrine similar to Monroe Doctrine taking countries like Nepal, Bhutan and Maldives under an Indian security cover would act as leverage against growing Chinese hegemonistic designs. India cannot afford to remain neutral of any Fiji or Uganda type development.

Social Front:

India cannot go ahead with half of its population ie women steeped in medieval values and customs. Empowerment of women must be a top priority with the present dispensation; though it need not necessarily be attained through reservation in the parliament. Economic reservation has to replace the present scheme, the moment a fool-proof method of locating genuinely economically disadvantaged sections of society is established. Muslims have to be encouraged to provide secular education, inclusive of modern mathematics and science to their children alongside Koranic instructions in madrassas.

Literacy rates are dismal, as are other indicators of human development. (India is 111th on the list slipping some 29 places in the last 30 years.) The looming catastrophe of AIDS must be countered actively using the official media. Interlinking of the rivers might provide a solution to the water problem plaguing many parts of the country today.

Conclusion:

Though brief, various endeavors given, if undertaken could enable India to transmigrate from its current position to a formidable place within a brief time span of 15 years. There are bound to be impediments in the way like unforeseen calamities, intransigent pseudo-secular leaders and corrupt bureaucracy. There shall also be status quoits ideologues and privileged business groups who may be disadvantaged by any change in the present order. It is up to the Indian common folk to rise to this challenge and reciprocate in an appropriate measure. India cannot be driven ahead by a small group of ivory tower seated intellectuals. The feeling of nationhood and the emotion of collective responsibility have to sink in to every Indian’s psyche. Only a concerted effort by all of us can realize our fond dream of India surpassing every other nation in its way. Truly destiny and fate have thrown down the gauntlet and the ball is in the people’s court. 

Writer:T.K Rajesh

Of course, we also have to understand and analyze the purpose of our freedom. One can reasonably expect this exercise to be done after a decade or so, when things would have begun to take shape as envisaged before Independence. For a celebration of any achievement by an organization or an annual function, it is the past performance that is normally evaluated. If we look at India, increasing casteism, communalism, corruption, terrorism, etc, are not just the by-products of decadent social system; we all are equally responsible. After 65 years of Indian Independence we are still moving ahead with 64% of literacy rate (not even one percent per annum) along with the total population of 1.22Billion by 2011. In fact, some of the states’ population is all alone equal to the total population of many countries!  

The prime minister of India addresses the nation from Red Fort; a message is conveyed that we are free and this is something to celebrate. It is never mentioned that the country has yet not reached the heights it should have achieved after 65 years of Independence. Political freedom is one thing; economic well-being and the country’s unity and integrity are most significant factors. Dr B.R. Ambedkar warned that if political and social democracy does not go hand in hand, the former will crumble.

Intellectuals and socially and politically awakened citizens presuppose that social democracy will automatically come into effect if urbanization, education, industrialization and globalization happen. Alas! That has not happened. Who is most responsible for this situation? The blame can be squarely laid at the door of the nation’s intellectual class.

All over the world, it is the middle class that has had the maximum impact on the overall social, political and economic development of a successful nation.But somehow we have learnt to live like this; we have learnt to cope with the crowded places, dodge pick pockets in those crowds, face major power cuts, swim across the water logged roads, extending boundaries of poverty, and (most important of all) how to break rules and pay bribe to set free! Moreover, we are piling up our problems by adding: terrorism, racial disputes, regional disputes and violence against women & children.

Every day-each one of us struggles with either of these situations due to forbidden farsightedness of our previous generations. However, this is definitely not the future we all want to live with! So what can be done weed out so many problems without moving a mountain? The answer is simple; all we need is to be a little more careful about following things: 

• A little more awareness of our fundamental rights
• Accountable towards our duties
• Active in our surroundings
• An effort to rise above race, caste and creed  regarding national issues
• Development of National Integrity among the Indians
• Educate our people
• Choosing and electing right people and recalling already elected wrong people. Then only proper law & order situation can be created.

These are simple steps to follow and execute in our lives for a better future, for a better house of tomorrow.

Yes, India did progress and prosper. We are now going to be a Super Power (whatever it means to our 40% population below poverty line), we are now world champions in cricket and corruption, we have won a handful of medals in Olympics (though we don’t remember the name of those who won them for us), we have few of the richest people in the world who can gift airplanes to wives and sons, we have mastered the business of education, we have learnt to convert news into entertainment and most importantly we have learnt to remain clean of any guilt. You would question me the last point. The answer is very simple, we remain clear in everything by blaming.

A train accident takes place; – blame it on the railway minister and ask him to resign immediately.

Your son fails the tenth exam because he watched movies and hung out with friends more than sitting at study table; – blame it on his private tutor and his school teacher.

On the road, you see a car hitting a man who just decided to cross without checking left and right; – break the bones of the driver and everything of the car. Blame it on the government for not making good bridges when a drunken bus driver sees a river for a road and leads the bus down right to death waters instead of straight.

You do not make it to the IIT, – blame it on the reservation for ST, SC or OBC if you are a general category student or blame it on the government for not providing sufficient reservation if you are not. (No offences to anyone, agreeing not everyone thinks like this). Many more examples, – we know it better.

We never learn to take the second step

When Anna Hazare or Baba Ramdev started his movement against corruption, did all of us suddenly wake up from our sleep! Millions started to support and shout against corruption. People started fighting in Facebook why corruption should be stopped. People started criticizing those who wondered if Jan Lokpal would actually be helpful or not. But, how many of these people, all of us, really are against corruption? Fighting corruption does not mean catching a government official taking bribe red handed and sending him behind bars. Fighting corruption means to change the scenario from the root to the top. I would ask those millions who shouted against corruption in Facebook, – how many of you have the original MS office or windows in you PC or laptop? How many of you have never bought pirated music CD or downloaded MP3 albums for free (kicking the singer’s and the musician’s right at his stomach) and always bought original CDs to stop piracy? Is it not corruption too?

We all say that Hazare or Ramdev’s step is the first step and it is necessary but are we all ready for the second step? The second step has to be taken by us, creating a clean and morally strong young generation who would not be ruined by power and money when given an opportunity. Has this step started? No. We are not ready to learn.

We never learn to be equal

After six decades of enjoying a democratic environment, India’s trouble with the lack of national integration, languages, caste system, poverty, illiteracy, malnutrition and poor health conditions have only have got worse. Poverty in the country has seen no improvement with more than 40% of the population living below the global poverty line.The rise of the rich to richer has been phenomenal though, due to the monopoly of the capitalist class of India only whom the democratic government of India seems to support. Yet most of us, we urban youth say, ‘Wow, India is so developing’ fooled by the glamour and glitter of Malls in Gurgaon and Mumbai. Ever wondered why?

Not because of just politics. Because of us, ignorant ones, who have killed the fundamental rights of our democracy all by ourselves and thereby allowing our masters to rule us at will. We continue to discriminate between the different castes, males over females killing the right to equality. We continue to ignore each other’s problems. For example, we, North eastern, do not need to be reminded how many of “mainland Indians” ever heard about the draconian, un-democratic Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) or about the lone silent warrior called Irom Sharmila. On the other hand, child labor and trafficking continues to rule our corners, children being compelled to work in factories, mills, restaurants and as domestic servants. Probably we, the common people should have something called Right to exploitation!

We feel satisfied when some angry students protesting for something destroy the government office. We say “good work”. But when some of those students, further frustrated with injustice, take up guns and become extremists, we blame it on the leaders, not ourselves who encouraged them to take law on their hands when they were young. Are we learning?

And to make matters worse, we have the reservation system based on ancient caste and creed system. Yes, it must be agreed that this was done with a purpose. For example, our blood brothers, all the ethnic tribes and communities of Assam have seen injustice and ill treatment somehow or other by some well-to-do “chauvinist Assamese”, especially from some self proclaimed “higher caste” liberals. But the time has come now to think out of the box. We want everyone to be equal, yet we make some of our people feel aiienated and handicapped by giving them “special privileges”. Of course languages, culture, traditions, etc has to be safeguarded based on ethnicity and community. But education, employment, professional career, administration and every such thing which does not depend on caste or creed must be brought out of this sad box of inequality. Let there be reservations, if necessary, on per capita income. Let the poor be helped, the needy provided need irrespective of the surname or the religion he/she believes in.

The number of taxes that we, citizens of India pay is more than the fundamental rights we enjoy. Let’s create more value of it, let’s not blame and complain, let’s do some learning to make most of what we have or what we can. Let’s learn to become Indians.

Writer: Priyankan Goswami

We have the tendency to interpret and understand history by looking at events through a narrow snapshot in time. At every snapshot, there always invariably is a point where India seems to be riddled with societal, cultural and religious dissensions that cause the nation to crumble from within. Always in these most difficult times, one great leader is born who has the capacity to transform the society and reinvigorate societal and cultural ethos and re-instate dharma to its rightful place. During the period of Alexander’s invasion in India, not only were the small kingdoms divided, but also the social fabric had disintegrated. Meaningless and misinterpreted rituals were rampant and selfishness was dominant. At this critical juncture, one man, single-handedly, vowed to unite the vast country and establish a new dharmic social order and revive India to her rightful position as beacon of knowledge to the entire world. This extraordinarily talented man was none other than Chanakya.

Chanakya was a well known professor at the world-famous Takshasila University . He graduated from the same university in his early youth. He was aware of the corrupt practices of the Nanda king who was the ruler of Pataliputra (present-day Patna, Bihar) in the Magadha kingdom. The Nanda king was imposing unreasonable taxes on his citizens and was hoarding his treasure, while the people were dying from famine and impoverishment. Similar to the Magadha kingdom, all other kingdoms around the country were divided and they attacked one another without ever developing a feeling of belonging to the same larger nation. In this divided state, it was becoming easier for foreign invaders like Alexander to politically play one kingdom against another and annex territories. Chanakya identified that this lack of unity was detrimental to national security. When Chanakya picked up some leads about Seleucus’ plan to invade India, he realized that the only way to save the nation and its people from the impending invasion would be to give up teaching and set out to unite the countrymen first. He began his first mission with the task of addressing the issue of the corrupt Nanda king of Magadha. He marched into the capital city of Pataliputra after several weeks of journey. Chanakya’s reputation gained him an entry into the presidential office of the Magadha kingdom and thereby he began his massive social reform. He restructured the taxation system, magnanimously redistributed the wealth among the needy and strived to eradicate corruption within the system. However, like in any corrupt system evil elements plotted against Chanakya and had him removed from the post. Dhanananda did not defend Chanakya but took the side of the evil plotters and hence Chanakya was thrown out of the presidential post without reason. Angered by this adharmic action Chanakya vowed to defeat Dhanananda and his entire dynasty.

This was the critical point in history where the deep friendship between the legendary Chandragupta Maurya and Chanakya began. After leaving the palace in great anger, Chanakya sat down near the boundary of Pataliputra in deep thought, when he noticed a queer little boy intelligently playing strategic games with his other friends. On further inquiry this young boy was found to be the son of a street worker and he was Chandragupta. Chanakya knew that this smart young boy was the tool that he was going to use to unite the country. Through intense training Chanakya transformed the young boy into a brilliant strategic warrior and together, they slowly went from one small kingdom to another to build a strong army of supporters to overthrow Dhanananda and finally Dhanananda was overthrown in war. Dhanananda represented the bigger evils of society like corruption, greed, avarice, neglect of citizens, etc. So even though it appears that he used his army to merely defeat the Magadha ruler, Chanakya had ultimately succeeded in uniting hundreds of other kingdoms in the spirit of dharma. Chandragupta – Chanakya’s disciple was declared the king of Magadha and also the supreme emperor of all its allies. A strong united nation was now able to defend itself from foreign invaders.

It is documented in several books in history that Chanakya’s constant military and political training enabled Chandragupta to achieve great heights. Together they made an invincible team and their most impressive strategy was completely based on dharma. It is known that Chanakya fed Chandragupta small amounts of poison with his food every meal without his knowledge, so that he would become immune to poison and hence an enemy’s effort to poison Chandragupta would be rendered futile. However, the unassuming Chandragupta on a particular occasion fed some of the food from his plate to his pregnant wife. The queen was not accustomed to the daily dose of poison and it was clear that she was going to die before childbirth. But Chanakya acted fast. He skillfully removed the foetus from the womb of the dying mother, so that the kingdom is not left heirless. But a small drop of  the fast spreading poison had somehow entered the head of the foetus, but his life was saved. This prince was named Bindusara (Bindu – Drop, Sara – head; meaning a drop of poison in the head). Bindusara followed the footsteps of his father as an unparalleled dharmic emperor of the country under the tutelage of the genius Chanakya. However, there was another scheming evil minister in the court of Bindusara who was plotting against the removal of Chanakya as the chief advisor of the emperor. This bad man Subandhu was jealous of Chanakya’s closeness with Bindusara. No one in the country had told Bindusara the story of his birth. Subandhu decided to distort the story and told Bindusara about how the man he trusted most had in fact actually killed his mother. This immensely angered Bindusara and without further questioning, he banished Chanakya from the kingdom. The elderly Chanakya by now realized that he had succeeded in his goal of uniting the country, and he was confident about the abilities of his student Bindusara to take on the task of maintaining unity and peace going forward. Time had come for Chanakya to retire to the forest in meditation.

After he left for the forest, the others in the court narrated the real story of his birth to the emperor, and he felt deeply ashamed about himself. Subandhu, still being a trusted courtier of the emperor was sent on the mission to convey the emperor’s apology and bring back Chanakya to the kingdom. The story now becomes very clear. Subandhu hunted down Chanakya’s hermitage in the forest and pretended to convey an apology, underestimating Chanakya’s ability to see through the trick. However, the older Chanakya had given up on life and did not defend himself. On the way out, Subandhu secretly set fire to Chanakya’s hermitage while he was asleep. This was the unfortunate way in which the great Chanakya died.

Chanakya has been recorded in history as the legendary character that shaped a nation through his focused vision, impeccable judgment and exemplary actions. Chanakya authored  books about far-sighted ideas on nationhood, foreign policy and warfare, the principles of which were later adopted by other regional authors like Machiavelli from the 15^th century Italy and Clausewitz from the 18^th  Century Germany. During his political partnership with Chandragupta, Chanakya produced his masterpieces – the Niti-Shastra: a treatise on political science, and Artha Shastra: a treatise on statecraft, economic policy and military strategy. Chanakya also wrote under the names of Kautilya and Vishnugupta. Chanakya was not only a shrewd statesman and a ruthless (yet dharmic) administrator but also probably the smartest diplomat in the history of the human race.

Chanakya Quotes:

• A good wife is one who serves her husband in the morning like a mother does, loves him in the day like a sister does and pleases him like a prostitute in the night.
• A man is born alone and dies alone; and he experiences the good and bad consequences of his karma alone; and he goes alone to hell or the Supreme abode.
• A man is great by deeds, not by birth.
• A person should not be too honest. Straight trees are cut first and honest people are condemned first.
• As a single withered tree, if set aflame, causes a whole forest to burn, so does a rascal son destroy a whole family
• As long as your body is healthy and under control and death is distant, try to save your soul; when death is imminent what can you do?
• As soon as the fear approaches near, attack and destroy it.
• Before you start some work, always ask yourself three questions – Why am I doing it, What the results might be and Will I be successful. Only when you think deeply and find satisfactory answers to these questions, go ahead.
• Books are as useful to a stupid person as a mirror is useful to a blind person.
• Do not be very upright in your dealings for you would see by going to the forest that straight trees are cut down while crooked ones are left standing.
• Do not reveal what you have thought upon doing, but by wise council keep it secret being determined to carry it into execution.
• Education is the best friend. An educated person is respected everywhere. Education beats the beauty and the youth. 
• Even if a snake is not poisonous, it should pretend to be venomous
• God is not present in idols. Your feelings are your god. The soul is your temple.
• He who is overly attached to his family members experiences fear and sorrow, for the root of all grief is attachment. Thus one should discard attachment to be happy. 
• He who lives in our mind is near though he may actually be far away; but he who is not in our heart is far though he may really be nearby. 
• If one has a good disposition, what other virtue is needed? If a man has fame, what is the value of other ornamentation? 
• It is better to die than to preserve this life by incurring disgrace. The loss of life causes but a moment’s grief, but disgrace brings grief every day of one’s life.
• Never make friends with people who are above or below you in status. Such friendships will never give you any happiness. 
• O wise man! Give your wealth only to the worthy and never to others. The water of the sea received by the clouds is always sweet

   

Cut to 1970s! The Tamilnadu state was primarily governed by Congress party, which was systematically toppled by the Dravidian moment. It was a significant change for the people of Tamil Nadu, which provided a platform for the film stars to enter into main stream politics. Primarily the Dravidian moment was launched by Periyar in 1925 to restore ‘self respect’ among lower caste people, which formed the lower side of the society. A powerful yet simple medium was required to reach these uneducated, rural and poor people to proliferate the Dravidian ideology. Initially it was people like Karunanithi, who fueled the Dravidian ideology by writing revolutionary thoughts in the form of movie dialogues. Even today nobody can forget movies like ‘Parasakti’ (first movie of the legendary Sivaji Ganesan) which planted these thoughts among common people. However these dialogues always acted as a ‘back-end’ and needed a powerful front end to mobilize the masses.

That front-end came in the form of M G Ramachandran, who was popularly known as “MGR”. These “three letters” literally became a chanting mantra of every poor in Tamilnadu even today. After becoming a popular film hero, he became the primary vehicle to promote Dravidian ideologies. It was sent to common man in multiple forms including dialogues, songs, jokes packed with his own “MGR” style. He was the first person who successfully tied the cinema with politics in a very significant way. In almost all movies he played role of “savior-of-poor”, who helped them to fight against Zamindars and industrialists for their basic rights, thereby raising their self esteem and self respect of the poor. During pre-independence times multiple forms of dramas (puppet-shows, street plays etc…) were used as a medium to communicate the need of independence. It was very critical because not everybody understood the deep ideologies of Gandhi and his Satyagraha. An illiterate farmer living in a village can connect to these dramas much better rather than listening to radio or reading a newspaper, which was too “high-fi” for these folks. They needed a very a simple form with which they can connect and internalize the message. I call it as “version 1.0″ of media playing significant role in altering the political landscape the country. Then the “version 2.0″ came in form of the movies to communicate the self-respect of Dravidian ideology mentioned above. Whatever may be the future, one cannot rule out the impact of these movies among people of Tamilnadu. It has caused such a deep impact that the Dravidian parties are ruling the state for the past 40 years. It was a well planned act by Dravidian politicians to reach out the people.

On the other side, not everybody really understood the real ideology behind the dialogues delivered by the hero (read it is MGR). They started seeing MGR as their “savior” who will lift them from the miserable life they was leading. He was admired as an undisputed super-hero. This image gave him the much required popularity, to mobilize the people, attract them and make them vote for his party. He was so powerful that, in spite of splitting from his parent party DMK, people voted for him just because it was “MGR’s party”. He remained in power for 10 years (from 1977-1987) till he died. I can draw similar lines with N T Rama Rao (NTR), who was  popular as “ Rama” and  ”Krishna” among the people of Andra Pradesh. Upon moved by the question “Sir, we have treated you like a God but what have you done for us?” by one of the audience, he started his Telugu Desam Party (TDP). Similar to MGR, NTR was seen as their savior. The lord Rama and Krishna image gave him a huge leverage. The Telugu Desam party was founded by Dr N T Rama Rao in 1983 aimed at safeguarding the political, economic, social and cultural foundations of Telugu speaking people in the country. In Principle and also in Practice it is the mission of the TDP the party to protect the dignity and self respect of Telugus and also ensure provision food, shelter and clothing to the common man at affordable and sustainable prices and achieve empowerment of women, youth and all backward segments of society in Andhra Pradesh. The preamble of the TDP was to provide a welfare state based on the basic tenets of social justice and equality for all. “Society is a temple and People are deities, Dr NTR had asserted repeatedly.

Now, why am I talking about MGR and NTR in 2012? The reason is simple – Even today uneducated, rural, poor people see movie stars as their “saviors”. It’s nothing but “version 3.0″ of the South Indian cinema! If it was MGR and NTR in ’70s and ’80s it is Jayalalitha, Rajanikanth, Vijaykanth, Chiranjeevi and others now. Nothing else changed except time. The educated, urban, middle-class gets ruled out in this whole saga mainly because they won’t vote. No amount of globalization, urbanization, economic policies, media, and Internet has changed the basic psyche. If Rajanikanth can become rich by selling milk in the movie ‘Annamalai’ people still believe that he can do the same in real life; If Vijayakanth fights and kills many militants in Kashmir (that’s what he does in most of his movies) people believe that he can provide solution to the long-debated Kashmir issue; If Chiranjeevi can play the role of a professor, who fights against corruption in the movie ‘Tagore’, people still believe that he can clean up the whole political system. Even today people believe that cinema and real life are same. They are living in their own world, which is far different from what the media projects as “Modern India”.

I have high regard for Version 2.0 politicians of Andhrapradesh and Tamilnadu, because they had a strong ideology behind them. Their moment was very powerful, mainly tfight against societal backwardness. They played significant roles in various Dravidian parties and movements apart from cinema and worked for the poor. What do these 3.0 actors, turned politicians have done? Nothing! What ideology, policy or societal ground work they have they got? Nothing! All that they did is very simple – played modern day super hero roles and created a huge fan following.

Many of the film actors and actresses joined in the politics for last few years. The vote bank has not changed in the past 65 years of independence and instead of taking individual responsibilities, everybody wants their “super-hero” to come and save their lives like he does in the movies. The system we have built up is having such a fundamental flaw that it has still not provided the basic knowledge and education to average citizen. Generations have changed, years have gone by – but many of us still live in a “dream” world not even knowing the basic difference between cinema and reality. All we have is big dreams, but no actions!

Anna Hazare the crusader against corruption was born on 15^thjune 1937 in Bhingar, Bombay Province in British India. He is unknown to the rest of India till he took up the issue of corruption at National level in the esteemed company of Kiran Bedi, the former super cop, Arvind Kejriwal, a  social  activist, and Prashant Bhushan who is a prominent lawyer. Anna Hazare served in the military in 1963. He also participated in India- Pakistan war in 1965. He was influenced by a book ‘Call for the Youth in the Nation Building’ written by Swami Vivekananda. He took an oath in 1975 after his retirement from military to serve the humanity.

He transformed his Ralegan Siddhi village in Ahmad Nagar district in Maharashtra State in to a model village from a poverty clad village. He made the village self sustained in Power Generation with the help of solar power, bio fuels and wind mills. He concentrated on providing Educational facilities and conducted collective marriages in his village. He ran a crusade against liquor shops and untouchability in his village. He was also responsible for watershed management projects there. He fought against corruption in the Government of Maharashtra. He was awarded padmashri in 1990 and  Padma Bhushan in 1992 for his social work by the Government of India.

He started fast until death on 5^thApril 2011 to exert pressure on the Government of India for initiating Jan Lokpal Bill (The Citizens ombudsman bill) in the Parliament. The Government of India was forced to concede all his demands due to the people’s support. The Government held a number of meetings with his committee members for drafting a common Lok Pal Bill. Both the parties could not come to an understanding.  Two different bills were prepared by both the parties. But the Government decided to put forward its bill in the Parliament ignoring Anna Hazare’s bill. So Anna Hazare and his committee members decided to boycott any further meetings with the Government since they feel that the bill of the ruling party members  diluted the Jan Lok Pal Bill  to a larger extent.

Anna Hazare gave notice to the Government that he would resort to fast unto death from 16^th August 2011 onwards due to the rejection of the Government proposal by his committee members including himself. The Government arrested him on 16^trshAugust 2011 at 07.30 hrs at his residence along with his committee members even before he reached the venue for fasting in New Delhi. All hell broke loose in entire India. Thousands of his sympathisers are arrested in places like New Delhi and Mumbai etc. People came in support of Anna Hazare en masse. Never before such massive voluntary gathering of people was observed post independence in India. Ultimately the Government of India decided to release him from prison at 0905pm within 12hrs of his arrest. But he refused to get released on any conditions.

It is the duty of every socially conscious Indian to support out and out the crusade against corruption at all levels by the young at heart and energetic Anna Hazare. Certain vested interests are trying their best to breakup the core committee members of Anna Hazare. Their mission breakup is sure to fail.

‘’ Anna Hazare is the shining example of creativity and service by Field Marshal-K.M.Cariappa”

Telugu vaishyas migrated to vidarbha, part of Maharashtra, many decades back and are called by the Surname ” Wars” such as ” Regundwar”. Many Telugu Padmasalis have settled in Solapur, Maharashtra. Similarly there are many Telugu people settled in Mumbai(Maharashtra), Kharagpur(West Bengal), Kolkata(West Bengal), Odisha , Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh etc. in India.

More than a million Telugu people are said to have settled in America. A large population of Telugu people can be found in Countries like Mauritius and U.K. A size-able population of Telugu people can also be found in Singapore, Malaysia, Countries in Middle East, Canada, Australia,  etc.

Andhra Pradesh is the first State to be formed on 1^st November 1956 on the basis of language in India. Andhra Pradesh has 2^nd largest coastal line (972 kilometres.), 4^th largest in area (275,045 square kilometres) and 5^th largest population (84.655 million) in India according 2011 census. Many people in the State speak other languages. Andhra Pradesh  comprises 23 districts (10 in Telangana region, 4 in Rayalaseema region and 9 in Coastal Andhra region). Official language of the State is Telugu. Telugu people outnumber the population of many Countries in the World. Telugu is not given proper recognition at the National level mainly due to infighting among two different regions of Telugu people and indifference of politicians of the State. The identity of Telugu people is a big question mark itself due to frequent infighting among two regions, indifference of politicians and caste politics.

There are three regions in Andhra Pradesh. They are Coastal Andhra, Rayalaseema and Telangana regions. Rayalaseema and Telangana are backward regions. There were four Chief Ministers from Telangana region and the rest of the Chief Ministers came from Coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema regions since the formation of Andhra Pradesh State. Out of 23 districts in Andhra Pradesh only Hyderabad and Visakhapatnam are industrially developed. Visakhapatnam is a port city. Eastern Naval Command has its head quarters here. There are some big industries set up by Central Government in Visakhapatnam. Some small scale industries are also located here. Hyderabad, capital of Andhra Pradesh, is developed industrially much better than Visakhapatnam. Chandrababu Naidu former Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh gave a big boost to Information Technology in Hyderabad. Rich people from Coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema made huge investments in Hyderabad. People from other districts of the State shifted their base to Hyderabad for seeking better employment opportunities and also for providing better education to their children especially higher education.

Before independence Coastal Andhra people were governed by East India Company of the British Government. The official language was English. So people learnt English. Telangana region was under Nizam Nawab. Official language was Urdu. After independence and after formation of Andhra Pradesh State those who were conversant in English got jobs and Urdu language was relegated to the second position in Andhra Pradesh. Telangana people could hardly find employment. Further Coastal Andhra region has fertile lands due to Krishna, Godavari, Penna and Tungabhadra rivers. People there are comparatively rich when compared with Telangana people due to the fertility of land. One acre of farming land there is approximately equal to 5 times the cost of farming land in Telangana. They sold their land and purchased much bigger land for the same cost in Telangana region and developed them with their farming skills and became super rich.

The political leaders of Andhra Pradesh have not planned the development of the State properly. They did not resort to district oriented industrialization like Maharashtra politicians. There is no choice left for the people of all the 23 districts of the State but to seek employment in Visakhapatnam and Hyderabad. Coastal Andhra people always felt they speak better Telugu when compared with those from Telangana region. They insinuated Telangana people in general because of their Telugu accent and also due to their educational and economic backwardness. Further the Chief Ministers from Coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema regions did not implement the gentleman’s agreement of 1956. They never bothered to appoint Deputy Chief Minister from Telangana region and also did not give much importance for the development of the Telangana region. Further they did not give importance for developing Rayalaseema region either. Even the four Chief Ministers from Telangana region Marri Chenna Reddy( twice chief minister), P.V.Narasimha Rao, T.Anjaiah and Jalagam Vengal Rao did not develop either of the backward regions in the real sense. Therefore the gap widened many fold between the people of Coastal Andhra and Telangana regions. They started behaving like bitter enemies.

The present Telangana agitation complicated the matters further due to the behaviour of certain Telangana political leaders. Some time ago they demolished statues of eminent Telugu personalities in Hyderabad on the pretext that statues of eminent personalities from Telangana region were not installed. Who prevented them from installing them?. They could have installed them either with their own money or with the public money. Further the same elements are insulting the official song of Andhra Pradesh ” Ma Teugu talliki mallepoo danda”. This song literally praises the Telugu language. Ironically these people also speak Telugu with a different accent. It is like insulting the mother. This reflects badly about the sorry state of affairs of the administration. It is completely administrative lacuna.

Interestingly there was a question asked in the popular American TV Programme ‘Jeopardy’ twice, the second time on 11th February 2012, about a Telugu word. The question is ‘Which American word got it from Telugu word ‘ Pandikokku’. No one could tell the answer. The host gave the answer ‘Bandicoot.’

Telugu people are too good in cutting the branch of a tree on which they stand. They are also very good in caste politics. I am keeping my fingers crossed and wonder when better sense will prevail among my people since I am also part of the sinking ship.

Another disturbing trend observed among Telugu people is the negligence of their language and culture mainly by the middle class and rich urban parents and their children in their fascination to learn English. There is nothing wrong in learning English but ignoring their language and culture is pretty bad to say the least.

I pity the Telugu youth who have neglected their glorious Telugu culture and have aped the negative side of the western culture and are crazy about the present day ridiculous Telugu and Hindi movies in a big way. How can they ignore

1) Padyam(Poem/Poetry)

2) Gadyam(Prose)

3) Lalitha Sangeetham(Light Music)

4) Jaanapada Sangeetham(Folk Music)

5) Telugu Sahityam(Telugu Literature)

6) Ashtavadhanam(A Poet meeting the challenge of 8 Poets in an unique way)

7) Satavadhanam(A Poet meeting the challenge of 100 Poets in an unique way)

8) Carnataka Sangeetham(Carnatic Music)

9) Kuchipudi Nrutyam(Kuchipudi Dance)

10) Harikatha and Burrakatha etc.( Narrating Mythological, Historical stories etc. in a typical dance form.

11) Jaanapada Nrutyam(Folk Dance)

12) K.Viswanath’s Telugu aanimutya movies.

తెలుగు జాతిని,తెలుగు భాషను, తెలుగు సంస్కృతిని మరిచి యాదమరిచి నిద్దరోయి తెలుగు తల్లి నవమానించి తెలుగు విగ్రహాలు ముక్కచెక్కలు కావించి తెలుగోడిని కాను తెలాంగాణోడినన్న భ్రమలోనున్న తెలుగు సోదరీ సోదరులను, తెలుగు మాట్లడుటే బూతుగా భావించే తెలుగునాటి అన్య ప్రాంతీయులను దేశభాషలందు తెలుగు లెస్స అని బహు చక్కగ పలికిన శ్రీకృష్ణదేవరాయలు మతిభ్రమించి అన్న మాటలివి కావని తెలుగోడు తనలోని తెగులుని విస్మరించి తెలుగు వెలుగుని జిగేల్ జిగేల్మనునట్లు జేయుటకు వుద్యమించుటకై సమయమాసన్నమైందని సవినయంగా మనవిజేయుచుంటి.

I happened to read a wonderful article. I thought it would be appropriate to share it with the readers. I am placing the link below.

http://pravasarajyam.com/1/nri/2012/03/26/art-for-the-dissemination-of-telugu-culture-in-mauritius/

రష్యావోడు చైనావోడు జెర్మనీవోడు బెంగాలీవోడు అరవోడు మలయాళీ అరబ్బులు మెక్సికోడు ఫ్రెంచోడు జపానోడు ఎవరెవరో ఎంచక్కా వాళ్ళ వాళ్ళ భాషల్లో చకచకా టకటకా మాట్లాడుతుంటే మనకేమి మాయరోగం తెలుగులో మాట్లాడకుండా మిన్నకుండటానికి?. 

 

We the Indians are proud of achievements of our country in various fields. In the past few months news papers and electronic media reported any number of incidents about corruption. Corruption reached ridiculous proportions. The corruption has spread its hands far and wide. Everybody would have come across corruption in their life any number of times. There are reports about corrupt officials, corrupt ministers, corrupt cops, corrupt priests and sometimes, even a corrupt Swamiji every other day. Corruption has become an integral part of our daily life. We have to pay a price to everyone starting from the highly privileged Chief Ministers to the lowly paid sweepers in the Government Offices for getting our works done. Corruption is a very integral ingredient of Indian politics. They were (and are) really good and successful crooks, who excelled in the art of treachery and made many times more than sufficient money. They also have high end contacts to keep them out of jail and from all sorts of trouble. 

For the last few months social networking sites and email chains are pleading to support “India Against Corruption”, will that help change eradicating this mega problem? First we must start by saying “No” for giving bribe. We must be honest and do not use illegal, un-ethical or corrupt means in fighting the corruption menace. We all must work for a change by contributing to build a better society. The rest of the World will follow us if we change for better. Rallies may help in generating awareness and change the laws. What if we don’t follow the laws? We must kill the beast at the origin. We should eliminate the root cause of corruption. All of us need to take steps on individual basis and on collective basis. We still do not have independent and effective anti-corruption system even after 63 years of independence. It’s our right to make sure our Government is accountable. It may take some time to reach there but we have to start somewhere to bring the change. Also the Government should initiate big changes in the administration and in the Government sectors with commitment to tackling corruption. 

What happens if the corruption keeps growing and we don’t even try to stop it?  Will our Government pay more attention against corruption to eradicate this biggest problem and bring better changes in our country? What do you think, post your thoughts and views about Corruption? Let’s join against the corruption and be part of the change.                                      

                                               “Corruption is worse than prostitution.

                                    The latter might endanger the morals of an individual,

                                    the former invariably endangers the morals of the

                         entire country and may affects the growth of a country badly”

 Formation of small States is necessary for proper governance, development and also to meet the grievances of people of certain regions such as Telengana, Bundelkhand Harit Pradesh, Purvanchal and Gorkha Land demanding the formation of these small States. These people claim that their regions are neglected badly because of large states.

 So, users, what do you think should be done for inculcating National Unity among Indians in such a scenario???