There is a joke back in the 1990s about children’s day in India: it comes exactly 9 months after Valentine’s day. You do the math.
Another joke doing the rounds on SMS and email these days is about the similarity between Michael Jackson, Jawaharlal Nehru, and Aurthur Clarke (the author): they all loved children!
Jokes apart, let us get down to the business of the day: no cabinet changes for now – not until January. Big deal, let us wait (and speculate as ever) for another two months. And meantime, remember one of India’s great sons.
The Dharma Bhoomi…
India has been home to saints and scholars, people who made great sacrifice for the uplift of the poor and down-trodden. It is also mother of leaders and statesmen who got recognized the world over as visionaries. Mahatma Gandhi was one: we celebrate his birthday with a dry day! And then there is Jawaharlal Nehru.
The son of a wealthy Indian barrister and politician, Motilal Nehru, Nehru became a leader of the left wing of the Congress Party when still fairly young. Rising to become Congress President, under the mentorship of Mahatma Gandhi, Nehru was a charismatic and radical leader, advocating complete independence from the British Empire. In the long struggle for Indian independence, in which he was a key player, Nehru was eventually recognized as Gandhi's political heir. Throughout his life, Nehru was also an advocate for Fabian socialism and the public sector as the means by which long-standing challenges of economic development could be addressed by poorer nations.
He was heir to Mahatma Gandhi’s legacy of peace and non-violence. As one of the founders of the Non-aligned Movement, he was also an important figure in the international politics of the post-war era. He was instrumental in putting India firmly on the democratic path. Many industrialists of the pre-independence era were influenced by Nehru and his brand of paternalistic socialism, like GD Birla and JRD Tata.
Happy Birthday Chicha Nehru. [That ‘chicha’ was deliberate: that is how Chacha is called in Hyderabadi.]
Bill Gates and His Evil Foundation
The foundation of Microsoft is foul. It meant producing software and stuff at a low production cost, and extracting maximum profit from it. Thereon, you donate a part of the earnings, score browny points, get tax exemption, and some merit points in St Peter’s register at the Pearly Gates. Whereas Dhirubhai told his sons – Mukesh and Anil Ambani – to make phone calls cheaper than post cards. They have done one better: they made communication (between reliance and reliance phones) FREE. Can you beat it?
India’s unemployed and underemployed
The unemployed and under-employed in India have a great time. In the western countries, if you don’t have a job, it is a social stigma. You are cut off from a lot of things: but here, we have large famblies, various celebrations and rituals, and one can keep oneself busy through out the year.
One of my brothers is a real estate dealer. There is no business for the past three years or so (ever since he entered the field)! But he cares not. He goes to the shivalaya on Mondays, Hanuman temple on Tuesdays, Ayyappa temple on Wednesdays, Sai temple on Thursdays, and so on. He is a busy man, earning not a ‘dammidi’ (the old copper coin).
In the west, people work with extra vigor until they retire, and then don’t know what to do with their free time. In India, ‘retirees’ have a lot of fun. As do the unemployed. So which part of the world is best suited for the age of entertainment? Like when all jobs are done by machines and all that humans have to do is to find means of keeping themselves busy? The answer is India: this is where the most number of movies are produced, and viewed (on the basis of ticket sales).
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