DYNASTIES INTO DUSTBINS

May 16, 2014 : Red letter day in Indian history after August 15 , 1947. On this day Indians threw away two most powerful political dynasties into political oblivion. While the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty met with the worst electoral defeat of all time with a meagre 44 seats out of 543 ( 8 %), Kalaigner Karunanidhi dynasty in Tamilnadu was eclipsed beyond recognition with ZERO out of 39.

Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, the first  Prime Minister of India laid the foundation for the most political dynasty of the country.Indira Gandhi knew that to retain power in a vast nation powerful state leaders should be weakened. She branded the charismatic Kamaraj, Nijalingappa, Neelam Sanjeeva Reddy and other leaders as anti-people Syndicate; empty slogans like Garibi Hatao were raised to hoodwink the people ;  and split the Congress party to have personal control. In 1975, she declared National Emergency ; arrested popular leaders like Jayaprakash Narayan ; promulgated media censorship ; evicted urban poor from their habitats ; forcibly sterilised men and women of all ages in the name of family planning ; and unleashed fear across the country. The massive electoral defeat suffered by her personally and her party in 1977 was only a temporary shocker. The dynasty manipulated the weaknesses of the opposition, and returned to power with a bang in 1980. Since then, the dynasty has been in direct or remote control of  state power for a quarter century. State leaders were made sycophants ; grass root structures became weak or non-existent ; and all decisions were imposed by the dynasty and its High Command. Finally even the exalted position of  Prime Minister was made a JOB. Dynasty believe that Party is their fiefdom and even the country is its property. "India is Indira and Indira is India " was a famous or notorious slogan during the Emergeny Era. Absolute control of power by the dynasty wiith total lack of  of accountability. Corruption became the order of the day and people were taken for granted. Amitabh Bachan once remarked that "they (dynasty) are Rajalog". The arrogant dynasty became insensitive to the mounting anger of the people and was unprepared for the Electoral Tsunami.

The postmortem of the Congress Party's performance in the elections was on predicted lines. Pre-scripted resignation of the dynasty and the rejection of the same by the  weak Working Committee, a creation of the dynasty , was a boring drama . Congress leaders are afraid to take responsibility having enjoyed power by subserving the dynasty. FEAR OF FREEDOM as written by The Brazilian Philosopher and Educator Paulo Friere in his famous book "Pedagogy of the Oppressed ". The party functionaries have all along internalised hegemony of the dynasty from Indira to  Rajiv to Sonia to Rahul and Priyanka  to Priyanka's children and grandchildren. Dynasties are always optimistic ,and forget that the historic mission of all power hungry dynasties is to wither away over time :through the ballot or bullet.

TRADITIONAL KNOWLEDGE AND SOCIAL WORK PROFESSION

Indian and other traditional societies have a reservoir of traditional knowledge which has not been explored by social work teachers and practitioners. In a country with the majority of the population being rural and tribal,oral traditions of the people have not been given due recognition by social work professionals neither in research nor in practice. Creative literature ,oral as well as written , preceded social sciences in understanding social relations and human behaviour. Indian society cannot be fully studied without taking into account of the orality of the Indian rural and tribal culture and literature. The kind of insights that folklore can yield into our social life can seldom be provided by the objective and so-called scientific study of our society.

Social and individual development is the concern of social work. Application of folklore in social work practice is of high utility in social group work and community organization. Changes in attitudes and practices can be brought about by folk songs and plays, which are created by the people of a particular community  themselves., and which facilitate interchangeability of roles between the performers( change agents ) and the audience (client groups ). Folk songs touch the mind ( emotions and thinking) which signals heartbeats (feeling and sensitivity), and the combination of both make men and women to put these thoughts and feelings  into action or practice ; they no longer remain merely in the realm of knowledge . So  social work profession in India should take serious cognisance of the intersection between folklore and social work. Only Athropology ,including Medical Anthroplogy , has the wisdom to have close association with the folklore and folk practices.

KERALA'S MULTINATIONAL SPIRITUAL CORPORATION

"Spirit"and pseudo-spiritualism are in abundant supply in Kerala ,known as God's Own Country with Devils aplenty .Boys get baptised into liquor consumption as early as from the tender age of  12. Kerala is on the top with regard to alcoholism , sexual abuse of girl children by fathers and close relatives, harassment of girls and women in society, and suicide though the state has the highest literacy in India.People seek solace wherever it is readily available . So  priests, astrologers, Godmen and Godwomen, etc  thrive. Kerala is not an exception ;all over the country swamis, gurus, soothsayers and other pseudo-spiritual merchants (though many are in jails) are worshipped.. For instance ,Tamilnadu and neighbouring states in the recent past had the presence of KALKI Bhagawan(God), the tenth incarnation of Lord Vishnu , and his spiritual movement with numerous followers around him. Finally ,KALKI had a brush with law and police.

Mata Amritanandamayi  Math in Kerala is the ultimate destination for laity,celebrity,political class of all ideologies,corporate bosses, and all needing spiritual cleanliness. From here "spirituality and divinity " are exported to all countries with spiritual bases and centres. The simple devotee of Lord Krishna became a Goddess herself over time ,perhaps like Lord Krishna himself ,with temple rituals and "poojas". A new spiritual order of monks and "sisters" is in place.. The Math has a battery of highly skilled marketing strategists and articulate "swamis ", a TV channel , corporate style organisations and community service. The Math has been engaged in outstanding health care and rehabilitation of families affected by Tsunami and other disasters. Thousands of believers are benefitted with emotional support from the Mata with her personal touch and "hug" . On the negative side, its medical college, engineering colleges, and other educational institutions are becoming corporate enterprises. Massive flow of foreign funding under the FCRA Act and huge donations from devotees are worrying  phenomena.

Gail Tredwell, who became Gayathri, spent nearly twenty years at the Math and was a part of the inner coterie of Amma (Mother ) Her book HOLY HELL became an explosive to Amma's believers demystifying the Mata. Sleaze, rape, sexual abuse, cruelty to inmates, witch-hunting of dissidents and critics, diversion of devotees' donations to family, disproportionate  accumulation of wealth by family members and relatives of the Mata, and other unpleasant matters are explained in the book of Gail. Popular TV personality John Brittas of Kairali /WE TV interviewed Gail. The interview was virtually a wide dissemination of information on the Mata and The Math among the Kerala diaspora and others across the globe. A concerned citizen went to the court. Though the case was dismissed,it is a temporary reprieve. The Kerala government has taken the stand that a book cannot be the basis for filing a case. A weak defence. But the dice has been cast. The wind of the present day can be a cyclone tomorrow. Mata is a Goddess to her followers. So it is her responsibility to accept an impartial investigation into the functioning of the Math by eminent citizens.

Mother Teresa is the only Mother India can be proud of. All other "Mothers" are pale shadows of Teresa, the Mother of all time. 

FROM WHICH PLANET ARE OUR POLITICIANS COMING ?

"Boys are boys ",if the boys rape  girls why give death sentence to them ?If  we come to power we will amend the laws. Outrageous speech by Mulayam Singh Yadav ,leader of Samajwadi Party. Purpose :to get some more votes. I wish the women of UP vote against him. But Mulayam knows that such justifiable retaliation will not take place in UP. His follower and prominent SP leader says that those involved in sex outside marriage should be stoned to death: this leader is from Maharashtra. Such anti-women politicians have mass following. Aam Aadmi Party gave rise to great hopes for the tired Indians. But it's leader Arwind Kejriwal became a 49-day disaster by running away from governance to capture power in the country as a whole:ambitious and politically stupid desire. His understanding of Indians as clay which his theatrics  can shape the way he wants was not from the IIT where he studied. His party has become an ALL AADMI PARTY welcoming anyone with a broom and a white cap.The total cost is just ₹ 100; no other credential needed.. So once a clean party has billionaires, secessionists, criminals,celebrities,corporate honchos, etc etc are admitted in the party. AK 49,as Kejriwal is called ,Got the highest number of slaps and ink bottles, and he tried to convert every muck and slap into votes. Now AK 49 admits that he made a mistake in quitting CM 's post. The language used by our politicians against  political opponents is often obscene. Unbelievably provocative rhetorics are used. Inflammable speeches and foul name calling are the order of the day. Money and gifts flow and the Election Commission is raiding as much as possible. Mamata Banerji,   CM of West Bengal, would like to conduct elections by herself with her henchmen. She  condemned the Election Commission and refused to obey its order. But faced with the threat of cancellation  of elections in West Bengal she meekly surrendered. One national daily suggested that her party could withdraw from contesting elections if she is not willing to abide by the constitutional authority's mandate. Politicians go on violating the Model Code of Conduct and scream BIAS when the Election Commission  initiates action. SAD our country is under threat from our politicians who definitely are from a different planet.

AADHAR CARD

Aadhar card, the flagship project of the UPA government is now in tatters.
Cobrapost's sting operation clearly shows that Aadhar card is freely available to any one ready to give a pittance of just Rupees 500 to the agent. Anybody including foreigners could get the Aadhar card. Many non-Indians including those who are threats to our national security may be possessing the Aadhar cards. A frightening prospect. Further the card seeker need not personally appear for the card. The agent will take all the necessary biometric measurements including vital photographs from other genuine Indian Aadhar card for the bribegivers. Again all the biometric and other details can be sold to anyone for a price. It is learnt that international companies are involved in the preparation of the hardware and software of Aadhar card under UIDAI. That means foreign agencies can get access to the vital data of Indians. UIDAI is a government agency, and not created by any act of Indian Parliament. 18, 000 crores Rupees already spent for this project.A colossal waste of our tax money which could have ben used for providing drinking water and other useful purposes to our people.
The media brought the misuse of the Aadhar card distribution to the public domain. But UIDAI and the government ignored these exposures. The central and many state governments made Aadhar card compulsory for getting gas subsidy through banks, registration of property and marriage, and for many purposes making life difficult for the lawabiding citizens.Many reports are now coming out regarding the hardships faced by Aadhar card-compliant people in getting gas cylinders and securing subsidy. Recently the Supreme Court ordered the governments to withdraw all orders regarding the linking of Aadhar card with government services. A great relief for the ordinary Indians. But what about the security threats posed to the people and the country because of the  already issued bogus cards?

MARKETING DREAMS TO COMMON PEOPLE (AAM AADMI)

Social Activist Anna Hazare and his team brought  corruption to the centre stage of India's political scene. Aravind Kejriwal took advantage of being a part of Anna's Team and  formed the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and captured the imagination of people by offering numerous DREAMS. But as Chief Minister he  had no systematic approach to governance. Finally after 49 days he played martyr and resigned from the post of CM. Now he appears to be aiming at the PM's chair. He dreams and tries to make the dream-loving Indians to believe him.All over India corporate leaders, social activists, politicians from other parties, and the educated youth are joining his dreams. But the reality is the lack of ideology. Crusade against corruption alone cannot take a political movement forward. There must be an ideological base which should be shared by those who join the movement. Take two examples. Kejriwal told the Confederation of Indian Industries that he wants the government to be not in business and all business activities should be by private enterprises. A typical NEO-LIBERAL ECONOMIC IDEOLOGY, which will lead to exploitation of the vunerable and the weak, and will also breed corrupion. On the social life, he supports Khap Panchayats. The Khaps in villages , no doubt, help settle certain disputes, which  elected panchayats can do with committed village representatives. But Khaps are patriarchal formations of village men and the Khap Panchayats have dictated inhuman punishments against women. Directing rape of a young girl by nearly a dozen  men in public gaze for loving a man, not approved by the villaga elders, is a recent example. The Supreme Court of India declared the Khap Panchayats illegal. But our politicians treat the Khaps as potential electoral allies. Kerala, a state with progressive population, has no such Regressive panchayats. Arwind Kejriwal and his team of ideologues, with an eye on Haryana voters, say that Khap Panchayats are social organisations. Yes, they are social , but doing generally antisocial actions against women. India's bane :SLOGANS.VOCAL POLITICIANS, MASS MOBILISATION TO CAPTURE POLITICAL POWER, LEAVING PEOPLE IN THE LURCH.

PUSHED TO THE STREETS IN OLD AGE BY FAMILIES

Old age as a happy period of one's life free from serious family responsibilities under the loving care of children and relatives is only a dream for a large number of elderly men and women in India. Many are illtreated in the families and neglected. But many are thrown out of their houses when their utility is over or when their caregivers feel that they are a "burden" .  This is what is being witnessed in Chennai city.

Helplines operating organisations, old age homes , and kindhearted individuals narrate heartrending incidents , and the media like the Times of India(TOI) bring these distressing realities before the community. Recently the TOI reported  senior citizens being found dead at the Chennai Mofussil Bus Terminus. Many old people are found abandoned in garbage dumps, at bus terminals and railway platforms in a ragged heap, under flyovers, outside hospitals, and even in sewage canals.Some are sick or mentally ill, some are bitten by dogs and rats, some with insect-infected wounds, some with fractures, and some are dazed without knowing where they are. Cruel, some old women are sexually assaulted in the streets.
Head of an old age home says that  when elderly parents are bedridden or when they suffer from serious, chronic illness, children abandon them in some families.When old age pension gets stopped due to some reason, or when there is space constraint in small apartments, children leave their parents by the wayside. Children, in many cases, get the parents admitted in government hospitals under the pretext of medical treatment, and never return to take them back; in such cases, hospitals because of shortage of beds leave them in the streets in the night. Relatives from smaller cities and towns, and also from other states leave the old men and women in bus terminals, railway platforms, temple premises , etc.

Among the abandoned old people are men and women from all social classes. Former teachers, government officials, airhostesses, and others are seen sharing the streets with homehelps, labourers and beggars till they are rescued and rehabilitated . Not all are lucky. Many spend the remainder of their lives in the anonymity of the streets , and even die on the pavements. Ironically, the Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Act of 2007 has become a major factor pushing the parents from families to the  streets by children to avoid the provisions of the Act. Whatever it be, in recent years there has been an upsurge in the number of "STREET ELDERLY". Take the country as a whole, the magnitude of homeless, abandoned elderly is humongous,