Unity in Diversity

The image we get of India, when it is described using this expression, has people from different religions, castes, communities and sects living in harmony under one rule, one law and one constitution. But, the present day India needs to be looked at a different angle in the context of this expression.

Education and Business

In the ancient society, Education and Business were professions pursued by people of two different castes. Brahmins educated whereas Vaishyas ran businesses. Education was considered as the quest to gain knowledge and people were revered for the same. Business, on the other hand was to make money using tactfulness but not deception. Later, modernization led to the homogenization of all the professions. Any person of any caste can carry on the profession which he likes. There had arrived a time where education was necessary to run a business. But, now education has become a business. Quest for the knowledge has been replaced by competition without coordination. The aim of the education has become suppress everyone and stand at the top instead of learn from each other and grow. Business has acquired its new synonym, materialism. The incorporation of materialism and the overloaded work hours has affected the social life and what the society follows is a culture. A new culture is thus taking birth amidst the ancient culture for which India is renowned for.

Politics and administration

Politics were played by the administrators for the people’s gain previously. But, now, politics are played for the personal gain whereas administration is for the people. Politics are sometimes, hindrances to the administration. For example, Reservations in India were introduced in the constitution for the development of backward classes in India and the intention was to bridge the gap between the forward classes and backward classes. Ideally, it takes some time for the objective to be achieved after which the reservations can be removed. Our constitution has been under implementation from past 63 years but the reservations are still prevalent (with the inclusion of more reservations) whose reason is very different. The result is forward class now become backward.

Policies and Scams

Policies which were meant for the development of the country have become repositories of scams. It can be now said that where there is a policy, there is a scam. There is no question of the feasibility of the policies  and schemes designed but the matter in question is the effectiveness in implementation. The best to way implement a policy or scheme is to distribute a percentage of fund allocated to the particular policy or scheme among the people who implement. But, there are policies being implemented, policies reaching people. MGNREGA  and Mid meals can be quoted as the best examples reaching people and satisfying there needs in spite of anomalies in the funds.

Discrimination and Devotion

In the same land where the woman is considered as the incarnation of Wealth, Education, Bravery and Wisdom, the woman is subjected to the exploitation of utmost degree.  The same land has reservations for women in every field to enhance the foot print of women and the same land is a witness for the reduction in the gender ratio because of the female foeticide. Though, the awareness is increasing and the change is spreading, one can see many cases where the brutalities are subsided owing to the fame of the perpetrators, delay in the judgement and the discussion of what exactly the crime is. And, we still celebrate Saraswati Puja, Laxmi Puja and Durga Puja.

Justice and injustice

The exact definitions of justice and injustice would lead to an indefinite discussions. Justice, as seen by some people might be considered injustice  by others. Growing intellect lead to the growing arguments. If the crime is too famous, the justice is delayed because a minute fault in the judgement would be disastrous. What can this delay be called? Justice or Injustice? Can the delay in the prosecution of Delhi Rapists be Injustice? Or can the execution of Afzal Guru with out informing his family members or exposing it to the world be Justice?

Terrorism and Secularism

Terrorist attacks in India have been because of the reason, people of one religion wish to show their superiority on the other. India, being the victim of the atrocities of the Terrorism, supports secularism. Govt. of India has built the military forces, brought ordinances and acts against terrorism but never did it try to curb any religion. There have many incidents in the past where the people from different religions fought but there has always been peace treaties made, though the peaceful coexistence can be disturbed anytime.

Youth and Responsibility

Youth is the country's asset. Youth is to enjoy because you will not have the same enthusiasm and leisure in future. Youth is to work hard and take responsibility to pave way for an impeccable future. There are young people who are struggling day in and day out to bring a positive change in the society. There are young people who are not even concerned about themselves in the least. The attitude of young people is dependent on the atmosphere in which they are brought up, schooling and parentage being the most important factors. Whether the individual grows as an asset or a burden to the country is a matter of awareness and choice. 

Media and Hegemony

Media is meant to keep the society updated about the happenings around the world. But, it so happens that we get to know the news what the media people want us to know not what we want to know. Issues of national concern can be subsided just because the media is not willing to publicize. Its not exaggerating to say that media has become the bureaucrat. 

Exceptions are any day present, but the trend is set by the majority.

India, having many distinct features, some of which can build the strength of the nation and some of which can collapse the country, still exists unified. Unity in Diversity indeed!

In General...

In my childhood I always fantasized about train journeys. I went to a school excursion in my 8th class where I happened to board a sleeper class compartment with general ticket. I have seen the clean compartments providing seats for families who made themselves very comfortable. I was completely jealous as I did not have even one such train journey experience till then. But, my dream of train journeys came true while I was admitted in a grad-college in a different state. I had to travel for 24 hrs in a train!

My first 24 hr travel was far from being enjoyable. I was completely sad as I was going to stay really far from my parents for 4 yrs. Though the climate was humid, the journey was comfortable. The next journey came when we had to come home for Durga Puja. We booked an entire compartment.  We, being students always reserved our seats in sleeper class. We had entertained the whole bogie with our pranks for the entire journey. And our energy was as high as possible since we were all going home!

Train journeys had become an inevitable part. My train journeys can be classified into two types. One is happy journey while going home and the other is sad journey while returning to college. But, later the classification has changed to comfortable and uncomfortable journeys. The reserved compartments of sleeper class started becoming crowded with each journey. The place which is reserved for 6 was usually occupied by 10, 4 being general passengers. The only comfort was during the nights as we had a berth all for ourselves to sleep. But again, the trouble begins early in the morning as people try to find a place to sit on the berth which we are sleeping. Initially, the general passenger used to request for some place to sit. Then, they would just come and sit without asking. If we ask them whether they have a reserved ticket, they just turn a deaf ear. The next improvement was they used to question our courtesy for fellow travelers as we are not allowing them to sit. The next stage was unbeatable, though. If you ask somebody why they are sitting in a seat which is not reserved for them, they would just laugh at you asking whether you are traveling in the train for the first time!

Being the responsible Indian Citizens, we used complain to the Ticket Conductors. Some of them were very efficient in evacuating the compartments but others would not even try. It has come to a stage where I am filled with all reverence if I find a strict Ticket Conductor.

Enough of whining, I guess. I would just like to impress upon the possible reasons and solutions regarding this. Indian Railways being the cheapest mode of transport and the most comfortable, people prefer to travel by trains. Train charges are usually 50% of the bus charges and 20% of the flight charges. If we take buses, you will not find any passenger travelling without ticket as it is small and manageable. But, the trains give a lot of scope. Usually, 4-6 coaches are patrolled by a Ticket Conductor which I guess is reasonable if they maintain constant vigilance and patrol the compartments strictly. But, considering the present mindset of Ticket conductors, automatic doors that open on valid ticket insertion might help. But, that needs investment for both the deployment of doors and issuance of special tickets. Instead of automating the train doors, the railway station entrances can be automated. But, that also creates a problem since people with platform tickets can also enter. There can not be question of erasing the need of Ticket Conductors in both cases because there are always ways to exploit and there has to be a way to control them.

Approximately 44k passenger trains seem to be insufficient to satisfy the needs of 1.21 crore Indian Population. Introduction of new trains in recent years has not been proportional to the increase of population., though it has been generating good revenue. Considering all these implications provides a large scope for the development of Indian Railways. Being a service provider, it should be more people focused than profit focused!

Retirement Plan

Now that I am employed, my company pays for my Provident Fund and Gratuity Fund. Honestly, I didn't know what they are initially but I just signed for them. Later I came to know that they contribute for our retirement plan, the money you get in hand when you retire. Is a retirement plan necessary?

My grand parents who were farmers never had any retirement plans as such. Their only plan was to stay with their sons till their death. It is parents' responsibility to bring up the child, provide him with good food, education and all the necessities to build his character and career. It is children's responsibility to care of their parents in their old age. But, the question is how many children feel responsible for their parents?

I worked with my mother for census 2011 in 2010 summer. We had to go to each and every house and ask them many details such as how many family members they had, their educational qualifications, the facilities the family could afford etc. The region assigned to my mom was a village nearby a town, poverty stricken. I was surprised to see old people staying all alone in dilapidated huts with their children living just beside the hut in pucca houses. The old people had to cook food all by themselves. Sometimes their generous neighbors would give them some food and would care for them when they are not well but their children's families would never have a look at them. Everyone we visited had the same story. Each of them made sure that their children would get good facilities at the rate of their comforts and hard work. Once their children got married, the parents would be driven out of the house. 

At the same time, I see many families in my village who respect their old, disabled parents and take good care of them. I also see abandoned parents there. Why does this difference prevail? Who would take the responsibility of those people's attitude who leave their parents when they are in need?

According to the Indian Society which is held high for its values, its the duty of the children to take care of their parents in their old age not because its a responsibility but because its an opportunity to repay the care and attention they have been getting since childhood. Its the responsibility of the parents and teachers to make sure that their children learn absolute values. Given the present scenario, who wants values. All that is needed is high percentages through whatever means, a good job and a lot of money. Chuck the values! Parents make their own retirement plans and children have their own life after that. Here begins the story of another child with no values. Owing to the growing individuality of educated people, children do not bother about parents because they have impeccable retirement plans and parents do not interfere in their children's life as they are well settled and need privacy. The concepts of love, generosity and concern on which the society is supposed to run are long lost.

Worst situation is seen in villages which hang between the modernization and the ancient culture. Old people there neither have a provision for a retirement plan due to illiteracy nor have support from their children. I aspire to see that ideal society where people love their parents as much as they love their children. 

I am not against the retirement plans but  they should never build unbreakable and invisible walls between people!

The Telangana Movement

The burning issue of the state of Andhra Pradesh is the Telangana Movement. I usually find myself ending up in heated up discussions of the same. Here is an attempt to let you know my understanding about the issue. Let me begin with the history of Telangana.


The first to rule this region were the Satavahanas with Kotilingala in Karimnagar as their first capital which was later shifted to Dharnikota in Guntur District. Their rule lasted for 450 years. Their empire was spread in the regions of Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra. The Satavahana Empire was important in repelling foreign empires from India. There is a historic hiatus of nearly 800 years as to which dynasty rulers exactly ruled the region but this period portrayed the downfall of Satavahana Dynasty and the rise of Kakatiya Dynasty. 


Ganapatideva of Kakatiya Dynasty was the first ruler to unite entire Telugu area after Satavahanas. His empire was spread in almost entire Andhra Pradesh and a few regions of Karnataka as well. Golconda fort was built in his reign. Rudrama Devi and Pratapa Rudra were few of the famouns Kakatiya rulers.


After Kakatiyas, Telangana region was taken over by the Delhi Sultanate in 14th century followed by Bahmanis, Qutb Shahis and the Mughals. As the Mughal Empire began to disintegrate in the early 18th century, the Muslim Asaf jahi dynasty established a separate state known as Hyderabad. Later, Hyderabad entered into a treaty of subsidiary alliance with the British Empire, and was the largest and the most populous princely state in India. Thus Telangana was never under direct rule of the British unlike the Coastal Andhra and the Rayalaseema regions.


The Hyderabad state consisted of 9 districts all of which are in present day Telangana. The life under the Nizam rule was not an easy one. Except for the Hyderabad city, all the other regions were mere villages. Each village had a village head called 'Dora', the local feudal landlord and he lived in his palace called 'Gadi'. All the villagers were treated as slaves. The Dora had control over everything that was happening around. Most of the villagers used to end up indebted to him with all their lands  lost due to the inconsistency in the Monsoons. The Dora exploited each and every natural resource and human resource he could avail. The atrocities included exploitation of women and slaughter, if they revolted. There were 'Aadabapas', the palace maids who should succumb to the wills of the visitors of the palace. There were no means of proper education. Only few children of the families related to the Dora and other village officials had the privilege of going to school. The scheduled caste and scheduled tribe people were treated as untouchables and they were entitled to do awkward jobs which the so called elite class people would never even imagine to do.


Hyderabad state contained almost 93% of Hindus whereas the rulers were Muslims. Hence, the Asaf Jha rulers started a crusade called Muhammadiyah to convert all the residents to Muslims. As a rule, no one wanted to abandon their religion. But the Nizams allured the scheduled castes and tribes by promising them lands and schools which were never in their avenue. And the converted people suffered the wrath of the Dora for disregarding their religion. Hence, they were then bereaved of everything.


In Seemaandhra regoins, people fought with Britishers whereas in Telangana region people fought with their own people. Seemaandhra was a part of Madras Presidency then. Some people say that the Telanagana region had been exploited by their own people but the people who suffered were much more when compared to the people who exploited and the suffering was as good as suffering under the British Empire.


Inspired from the Indian freedom movements, a rebellion called Peasant Revolt started in Nalgonda district against the Nizam rulers in 1946 and was spread like wild fire in entire Hyderabad state.This revolt was supported by the Communists. Peasant farmers and labourers revolted against the local feudal landlord and against Osman Ali Khan, Asaf Jah VII. 


In 1947, Indian Union was formed after the dismissal of the Britishers from the country. Hyderabad state was then pressurized to join the Indian Union. However, the Nizam was very anxious to become independent and it had been Nizam's ambition to secure Dominion Status for his State. A few people of Telangana under the leadership of Swami Ramananda Tirtha formed Andhra Hindu Mahasabha which sought integration of the state with the  rest of India. In order to curb the peasant revolt and Andhra Mahasabha, Osman Ali Khan launched the Razakar Movement with help of Khasim Razvi.


The Razakars were a set of brutal hooligans who were also responsible for the forcible conversions of the Hindus. The Andhra Mahasaba which was initially non-violent became violent because of the barbarity of the Razakars. The leaders were banished from the state by the Nizam. The growing violence of the Razakars and the Andhra Mahasabha jeopardized the law and order. The Government of India decided to curb these tendencies by launching a Police Action against Nizam rule. The Indian Army, led by Major-General J.N.Chaudhuri, entered the state from five directions. The motive was to weaken the ruling party and achieve the goal of getting the state to join the Indian Dominion. On 18th September, Nizam's forces surrendered to the Indian Army and the officials were arrested. Hyderabad state was then merged into the Indian Union with M.K.Vellodi as the first chief minister in 1950. 1952 elections led to the victory of Congress Party with Burgula Ramakrishna Rao as the first democratic chief minister. Meanwhile Telugu speaking areas were carved out of Madras State on the fast unto death of Sri Potti Sriramulu to create seperate Andhra State.


In December 1953, State Reorganization Commission(SRC) was formed to form separate states on linguistic basis. Telangana and Andhra with their common language were considered for merger. However, SRC had to get the consent of both the states for this. People of Andhra State were in favour of the merger but people of Telangana had some concerns. Telangana had a less-developed economy than Andhra but with a larger revenue base which people of Telangana feared might be diverted for use in Andhra. They were also concerned about the proportionate distribution of the irrigation projects on Krishna and Godavari rivers. They were bothered about their scope to seek the govt jobs as people of Andhra had access to higher education under the British Empire. Chief minister Mr. Ramakrishnayya, however was in favor of the merger despite the concerns of the people of Telangana.


In 1955 a resolution was passed which assured the people of Telangana that the development of that area would be a special charge, and that certain priorities and special protection will be given for the improvement of that area such as reservation in services and educational institutions on the basis of population and irrigation development. With lobbying from Andhra Congress leaders and with pressure from the Central leadership of Congress party, an agreement was reached between Andhra and Telangana leaders on 20th February 1956 to merge Telangana and Andhra into Andhra Pradesh with promises to safeguard Telangana interests. On the basis of Gentlemen's Agreement, Andhra Pradesh was formed on 1st November, 1956.


People expressed dissatisfaction over the implementations of the agreements and guarantees made during the formation of the state. After 12 years of the formation of the state, students protested against the discrimination of govt. jobs to Telangana people and organised a rally in Osmania University. This was the first rebellion of the Telangana Movement. Protests continued all along and Osmania University still remains the center for this movement. 

A Journey

I compare life with a journey. One cannot find direct transport to the destination sometimes. Then what we do is a break journey. During the break, the time we wait or the risk we take might seem tough increasing the journey time but still we head to our destination. Every journey takes us to a destination based on the path we choose. Here is a story of a Journey.

With the usual introductions, once there lived a boy in a hamlet long ago. He was an ordinary boy without any charisma. He was the first son in a middle class family with absolutely no ancestral property. He was pretty famous for his dashing attire and manners amongst his family. His father was a farmer and his mother used to help him in agriculture. He had 5 siblings.

His father though illiterate wanted his children to study well. He woke his children up before sunrise and made them study under oil lamp. The soot made its way clear into them than education. Still they struggled to satisfy their father as he was strict in the case of Education. The boy was sincere in his work. His level of perfection in the farm work gained appreciations of many. He had to walk 18km to sell farm products and the remuneration he got was Rs.10. He also used to work as daily labour till he completed his schooling. 

He went to the school just to satisfy his father. He was more interested in sports and games than education. He was a mediocre at school. Of all the subjects, he feared English the most as he never reached the decent score level. His teacher who knows all about him called him and asked him to memorize the first line of the first poem in the middle of the term and gave him a week's time. He could never even spell or pronounce a word correctly in his past 6 years of schooling. To memorize almost ten words at a stretch and to recite them in front his teacher before whom he had never uttered a word was going to be an Herculean Task. He tried sincerely and memorized the first line without understanding the meaning. But when he had to recite in front of his teacher, he forgot everything and received good punishment. This was his first failure.

His education was far away from the perfection levels till he wrote SSLC exams. He failed in five subjects out of six with least marks in English( 7 out of 100). Provoked with this failure, he thought of giving all the subjects again. This time he failed in all. He came back to his senses and gave all the subjects again. Devoid of hope, he gave up on education and chose agriculture, the only option left as his career. When the results came, he gave up agriculture as he was going to be in a college!

He always wanted to be a doctor. But he was too innocent and ignorant to know that there were options after secondary school. His teacher joined him in some course and he went to the college.

In his first class, the lecturer asked about students' future plans. When the boy's turn came, he confidently told that he wanted to be doctor. Entire class started laughing. The lecturer asked him why he has chosen HEC (History Economics and Commerce) if he wanted to be a doctor. The boy directly went to the principal and asked him,'Sir, I want to be a doctor and why did you put me in a course which is not meant for it'. The counter question from the principal was,' Did you look at your SSLC marks? If you take three attempts to pass tenth standard, how many attempts will you take to become a doctor?'. With this, he gave up on being a doctor.

During the early days of his Intermediate, District Collector happened to visit his college.He was amused by the way he was received and the way his teachers revered him. He wanted to achieve some such position in life.  The only thing he knew to achieve such a position was to study well. He got to know what real education was, what hard work was and what  struggle was. He learnt 600 pages of his English textbook by heart. He studied dictionary in such a manner that he knew at least 5 words on each side of every page.In Intermediate, he stood first in his district.

Until then, he studied in villages. To pursue his education he must go to the city. He knew that his parents cannot afford his higher education. His real struggle began then. With the same commitment he started his under graduation at Nizam College of Hyderabad. He took a flat there which had only one room. Being the eldest son, he also had to support his brothers' and cousins' education. All 5 of them stayed in the same single room. He purchased only those books which are absolutely necessary in second hand. For the remaining books, he visited book shops in koti, a place where all the book shops are present and studied a chapter standing in each shop. By this time, all his sisters were married. He managed 75% in his graduation.

To continue his education further, he wrote entrance test for M.A. and stood 7th in the state. He was also qualified in B.Ed which was necessary to pursue a career as teacher. Notifications for government teacher posts were usually out at a frequency of once in two years but for lecturer posts, the situation was worse. Still , he chose to become a Lecturer. He got into the university college i.e., Osmania University. Education in Osmania was free of cost including boarding and mess facilities. He could have easily chosen this and continued his education comfortably. But as he also had to support his brothers and cousins, he didn't leave the room where he lived. He had to take tuition classes along with his academics in order to meet the expenses of food and education of all his brothers and cousins staying with him. His struggle fetched him a Gold Medal in M.A. along with qualities like endurance and persistence. He also completed M.Phil in the same University.

Next phase in his life was to get a job. He waited  for 3 years working in private colleges, taking his usual tuitions and preparing for competitive exams meant for lecturers. During the meantime, he cursed himself for not taking B.Ed as the financial conditions worsened and allowed him only to eat rice with pickle. Then came the most awaited notification, a notification for Junior College Lecturer posts. There were 149 posts in his stream i.e., Economics. By then, he was fully equipped. The notes he prepared for references filled his room. He went confidently to the examination hall. There was choice in the paper. So, he carefully chose those questions with mathematical analysis thinking that they would fetch him full marks. He counted the number of questions he had to answer and the number of questions he chose. They matched exactly and he wrote the exam with utmost satisfaction. He was home when he realized that instead of the original question numbers he numbered his answers serially. His anguish knew no limits. At the age of 28, he was still jobless and there was a large family awaiting his support. No one knows when the notification would be out again!

Journey Continued

He was unemployed till he was married at the age of 29 to a government teacher. She was the eldest daughter of  a government teacher and wanted to marry a person, without giving dowry. She got a government job at the age of 18. She rejected many alliances and finally chose him. His employed wife added fuel to the fire of his aim of being a government employee.He still stayed in the same single room along with five others as his wife stayed with her parents in her hometown because of her job. When his wife paid  her first visit to his room, he wanted to change the usual menu of pickle to a delicious dinner with options. For that he had to sell the only gold ring which was a present for his marriage as it was month end.

His self respect stopped him from staying with his wife as he didn't want to be her dependent. He continued to stay in the same room for more notifications to be out and preparing at the same time. He took his first failure in the competitive exam as his main source of inspiration. He prepared sincerely with increased effort. He knew no time, no hunger while studying. Thus he gained immense command on his subject. But, he didn't know for how many years he was going to work like that without knowing when his hard work would be rewarded. As he waited long, his burdens increased and his hope faded. He was frustrated more when there was no notification even in the year he was married. And the next year he also had a daughter to manage.

There came the occasion of his daughter's cradle ceremony in his wife's hometown. There was not even a single penny left in his hands. One of his well settled sisters wanted to gift some gold to the new born baby. He asked her not to gift the baby anything and give him the money as substitute. His sister who knew everything gave Rs.800 to him. With that money, he took his brothers and sisters to his wife's hometown bearing all their bus fares along with a frock to the newborn.

He waited and waited with increased despair. He lost all his hope. He had faced the worst phase financial crisis possible and peaks of people's embarrassment during his long wait for 4 years after his first attempt. He was totally frustrated when the notification came again, this time for degree college lecturers. But there were only two posts in his stream for the whole state. His hard work knew no bounds and his frustration, at the same time knew no limits. He was supposed to give two papers on the same day with lunch break in between. He gave his first paper and decided not to judge anything. In the break, he met an old friend who was in the same situation. Both of them shared their agonies. Unable to bear anything anymore, they went to a bar. They came back to write the second paper. After he finished the second paper, he had a very good feeling that his paper went very well. But he was unable to trust his feeling because of his hang over. When he mentioned about his visit to the bar to his wife, his wife was recklessly angry and was immersed in deep sorrow. Then he realized how irresponsibly he behaved. That was it. He now had to kill his desire of being a government lecturer as he would be over aged next year for any government job!

He now concentrated on continuing his career as lecturer in private institutions. He forgot all about the exam and its results. He came to know about the results through his fellow lecturer who also gave the exam but didn't manage to get through. He was initially afraid to check the results. He prepared for the worst and then went through the result. He was startled and happy as well to find his number. The next phase was personal interviews.

He came to know that a professor from the panel of interview for his stream stayed close to his vicinity. He met the professor and asked him about the pattern of the interview. Professor just said 'Be confident about whatever you are and whatever you know' and asked him to leave. He went to the interview. He knew all the answers of the questions asked by the panel. He was asked to demonstrate a topic. He demonstrated it with ease. He would demonstrate any topic with ease as teaching has become his passion by then. But he was surprised to find the professor, he met silent during the whole interview. Next day he met the same professor and enquired about his performance. The professor just said ,' I don't know where you stand in written exam. But, you stand first in the interviews'. He didn't remember how he thanked the professor. He didn't remember how he reached home. For the first time in the life, he felt like floating in the air. When the final results came, obviously he stood first in the state. Out of two posts, he grabbed one. His long interim break of 7 years finally came to an end!

Now, he coaches students for M.A. entrance exam every year and the top rankers would be undoubtedly his students. He was selected as one of authors for Telugu Academy textbooks for intermediate which were published in the year 2010. He now earns more than twice the earnings of his wife. He is revered by all his students as their favourite professor. He now stands as a respectable personality in the society. He is an all time learner. He never forgot the principles that placed him in his present position- sincerity, punctuality and hard work. He describes any journey as an appropriate combination of objective, vision and mission.

Success and failure are two imposters in life. A most strenuous journey is destined to yield the sweetest possible results.

He is my father and inspiration begins at home! :-)