Tag: jatin sharma

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The most unwanted job in the country

Jatin Sharma wonders: if all of us really want change, why can’t we just join politics and be the change?

Ever wondered what kind of job you always wanted? Ever wondered about the things that made you decide whether you wanted to join a field or not? Ever wondered about the things that would drive you to make that one job your whole life, your identity, your source of earning and your passion?

I have always decided my career based on two things: My interest, and earning from it, plus the respect associated with it.

So let’s talk about the most neglected job in the world. No one in my country wants it or wants to be a part of it. It’s one of the jobs that has a lot of respect attached to it, but it’s not a respectable job any more. The earning is good and sometimes, the best. But it suffers from nobody being interested in it.

The job I’m talking about is: the job of running our country.

Ask yourself: how did you get interested in a particular field? Was it because someone in your family was a part of it, or because you had an awesome professor from the same field who taught you about it very well? The exposure towards a particular field always decided your inclination towards it.

So the whole point I’m trying to make is that although becoming a politician is considered to be the worst job, it is not. We hate our politicians, but we are not ready to replace them. If we want to change the world, we just become journalists who think that by writing about it, change will knock on our doors. Why are we not teaching our kids about politicians being good, too? Why are people not telling stories about how politics and politicians are meant to be? Why are we perpetuating the myth that politicians are people who only participate in scams?

Human beings fight for power and money and respect. A politician has the power to change the world, he can earn good money, and the respect for the people who bring a change in their area is incredible. So why is it that everyone compromises with a less powerful job, like becoming a doctor, journalist or an engineer? Why is no one taking up one of the most lucrative jobs in the country?

It could be because ignorance is the devil that kills you before you take your first step. People in my country are ignorant about how to run their country. We don’t know how to bring about a change. We are so ignorant about the systems in our country that we just try to ignore them by saying, “Let it be, nothing is going to change.” But really, do you believe that nothing will change if you want to change it?

I think the first step that should be taken is by asking all our politicians to come and speak to students about their experiences of running the country. Rahul Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Shashi Tharoor, Laloo Prasad Yadav, everyone should be given a mandatory notice to teach Politics and the problems they face as case studies in different schools. They should talk about how they get respect and how they are hated and how it is difficult to be practical while running a country.

Civics and Political Science should not be taught as laws, but in a way that seems more practical. It should be glamourised a bit more. All the major politicians of the world should come here and talk about politics in their country. It should not be just another photo opportunity for them, but a serious teaching assignment. They should speak about the problems they faced. Political Science should be taught as Political History; imagine having the chance to hear Barack Obama talk about what he went through when he ordered the killing of Osama, or how he faced the recession in his country and how he handled it. More to the point, politicians should talk about how they said ‘no’ to corruption.

In fact, the Government should have a degree for politicians – a Bachelors of Leaders in India or Diploma in Netagiri or Masters in Running India. The kind of respect and the power that this job holds should make people see that it is equivalent to being a CEO of a company. Students should be given assignments where they must come up with Bills and do a market research on why they are proposing a certain Bill.

Let the discussions happen and make them more about the future. Talk about the scams in textbooks and embarrass the hell out of the politicians who have been involved in them. Talk about the success stories of public figures and leaders who have brought a positive change in the society and for the country.

It doesn’t have to be boring. Why does politics have to be a name that brings out only negative emotions? Why does a Legislative Assembly or a Rajya Sabha or a Lok Sabha carry out its work in a manner and language nobody understands? They could be fun. Have workshops where people are trained for discussion and everyone works like in Parliament. Have books that speak about the blunders of politicians.

Make it more interesting. Make it glamourous. Make it contemporary.

If you want to serve the community, this is the best opportunity. Take this job. It’s now or never.

Jatin Sharma is a media professional who doesn’t want to grow up, because if he grows up, he will be like everybody else. 

(Featured image courtesy thekissof.wordpress.com)

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An open letter to our politicians

Jatin Sharma is furious over politicians’ irresponsible statements following the Delhi gang rape case. This is his letter of rebuttal.

My dear mindless politicians,

I have had enough from you guys.  Don’t play politics when your daughter has died. Don’t play politics when the nation is feeling sad. And don’t try to teach us things when the nation is feeling wounded.

In the past few days, the rage over the death of our daughter has grown five-fold. There is no need to enrage us more. As a country, we know that you have failed as leaders to run our nation and make our lives better. And no, don’t take any credit for running our nation! It’s only because of the intellectuals and the people of India and their hard work that our country can boast of a good economy. You guys have had no part to play in it, except for the being part of several scams that have happened in the country.

You have constantly dirtied my city with your posters on the streets wishing me during Ganapati and Janmashtmi and Eid festivals. I don’t need your good wishes. You will never ever take up real issues in your lifetime. You are actually scared to lead us.

I am utterly disgusted – with the way you have started handling the Delhi gang rape case. And you’ve made some incredible statements, some utterly senseless and irresponsible statements that have shamed me to the core of my being. I have a few replies to make:

Statement 1: The rape victim should be given the Ashok Chakra

Whoever made this statement should be asked to go to the India-Pakistan border without a gun and fight with the enemy. When that person dies, we will give him the Paramvir Chakra.

Don’t make a hero out of that girl. She suffered. She was humiliated. She was out with her friend, may be her boyfriend. Please acknowledge that in India, girls have boyfriends. Girls have boyfriends in Bharat also. She was raped by five to six men. She didn’t want to face this situation, she just wanted to live her life. No girl wants a Chakra, she wants security. Give women security, and you can keep the Ashok Chakra.

Statement 2: To prevent rape, we will shut down establishments by 1 am.

Whoever said this should be asked to first shut their mouth, or should be taken around their city in the night to understand the new, progressive India.

This is like saying if you fear robbery, you should stop earning money. By this statement, you mean to say that people should stay at home so that when criminals come out on the streets, people are protected since they are already home. That’s just perfect. And I recently read a story where a man violated a dog. Hope you are asking the dogs to stay at home after dark, too.

Statement 3: Rapes occur in India, not Bharat.

Rapes occur in India because they are reported. In Bharat, because of mentalities like yours, they just die down.

It’s time that India takes over. A rape is a rape, wherever it happens. When we elected you, we elected for an entire nation. You need to understand both India and Bharat and govern. If you cannot understand that both these entities are the same country, you should just resign.

Statement 4: Sita was kidnapped after she crossed a line. There must be a Laxman rekha on women’s behaviour.

Please focus on not having Ravanas in society. Ravana didn’t rape Sita, and he was still taught a lesson.

Why do you blame girls for rape? You should blame your penis-wielding sons! You are a politician, you are responsible for what you say. Please remember that Sita was asked to prove herself with an agnipariksha, which she passed. And yet Ram abandoned her later.

Sita didn’t lose any dignity. But that is what it is. It’s time you came out of the Dwapar yuga and start being responsible for every human being, be it a man or a woman.

My take: If people are restrained and beaten up to avoid being troublesome to society, why can’t we stop politicians, too? Twisting a knife in a wound is not a solution. When the nation is burning, politicians shouldn’t be allowed to fan the flames further.

Jatin Sharma is a media professional who doesn’t want to grow up, because he feels that if he grows up, he will be like everybody else.

(Picture courtesy indianmuslimobserver.com)

 

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Issue of the year

There was a dramatic increase in crimes against women this year. Jatin Sharma explores the psyche behind these terrible crimes.

Part 6 of the Yearender Diaries

Did you ever hear a man say, “Kya maal hai,” and he was not referring to some object that he saw?

Did you ever hear a man say, “Kya item hai, boss!” and both were missing, the item and the boss?

Were you ever a part of a discussion where people talked about bosoms and butts?

If you answered ‘yes’ to any of the above questions, I would like to congratulate you, as you have just become a member of the ICBART. For the uninitiated, ICBART stands for I Can Be A Rapist Too.

The main problem with the whole rape issue is that most of the rapists have not done it because of a sexual urge. It’s mainly because they wanted to punish someone or humiliate them. Rape is an attitude of a mind that says that girls are not worth anything. And they have seen girls always as an object, or someone who doesn’t have a right to even walk on the road freely.  Most rapists have had an upbringing that mainly speaks about girls as victims. They have been brought up in an atmosphere that has given them to understand that boys can do whatever they want, because ‘Ladka hai na,’ and that girls can do only a few things in life, because ‘Ladki hai, zyaada mat udd’.

But the main question is, why do we as a society fail to respect women? I think it’s because of something called ‘raw power’.

This raw power makes a man feel that women are inferior to them. And stop right there before you think that this is just a rural mindset. Wherever we may be, in cities or in villages, directly or indirectly, we are all guilty of passing on these messages to our generation. Even the learned have set different behavioural mores for their sons and daughters.

Ladka hai, night out maar sakta hai.

Ladki hai, dus baje tak ghar pe aa jaana.

These biases are so strongly instilled in us, our ideas of what a boy should be like and what a girl should be like are so entrenched, that even when we are proud of our girl child, we appreciate her by saying, “Yeh toh mera beta hi hai!” It speaks volumes of us a society if our pride in our women is measured in terms of success parameters that are defined by men.

Isn’t it the very foundation of the whole debate that speaks about the superiority of men over women?

The entire nation is boiling with shame, and everybody’s blaming the rapists. But all of us are responsible for this rape, and many more that are happening around the country. We have clapped when Duryodhan molested Draupadi in front of everyone, and we listen, thrilled, when a colleague comes to us and tells us about what kind of an butt or bosom a girl in the office has.

All of us are rapists. It cannot be stressed enough that if we want to stop crimes against women, then we should stop demeaning them, even if we’re doing it in our minds. The next time you hear people discussing women as objects, stop them from doing so. It’s all about becoming more responsible for the women who give you love and respect in your life.

Start respecting the womb that bore you for nine months. Start respecting the womb that will let you prove your manhood by giving you a child. Start respecting women.

Jatin Sharma is a media professional.

(Picture courtesy futurity.org)

‘Diaries’ is a series of stories on one theme. The Yearender Diaries seek to capture the most telling moments, happenings and people in the city this year. Watch out for Idea of the Year tomorrow.

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A taste of two Indias

Jatin Sharma writes about how we’ve spoken enough about taking control, and that now’s the time to actually do it.

I live in two countries now. No, I don’t travel a lot. In fact, I don’t travel at all. My passport is still a virgin. But yes, every now and then, I feel that I have been teleported to a country where I don’t belong. I stay in India but every now and then, reality strikes me and lets me know that I am also in Bharat.

A Bharat where people judge others what they wear, a Bharat where girls don’t have any power and the boys are the laadlas, a Bharat where if girls enjoy their liberty, they are being ‘adventurous’ and if boys down a few pegs, they have become adults.

I live in a Bharat where people are biased and the leadership is weak. I live in a Bharat where my leaders can classify a rape as a ‘rarest of rare’ rape. And this last statement can come from a State whose Chief Minister is a woman.

I live in a Bharat where the police don’t shy away from hitting women who are protesting and asking for justice. I live in a Bharat where the Government’s precautionary measure to reduce rapes is to ask people to confine themselves in their homes post-1 am. I live in a Bharat where those in power think that the best way to control crime is to make the victim understand the anatomy of the crime, and not the criminal.

Bharat has committed a lot of mistakes. Grey hair and bodies corrected by surgery are deciding, time and time again, how the country is to run. I am not asking for anything more but for the powers that be to realise that the majority population of my nation is young and raring to go; it is the real India.

But enough has been said by all quarters about how India needs to unleash itself now. It’s time that we start controlling Bharat; for once I feel that we do need retirement houses for these old people who are just a step away from sitting in wheel chairs permanently, but who are presently running Parliament.

But how does that become a reality? By sitting in protest at India Gate? By descending on Jantar Mantar? By sitting in front of your laptop and sharing a few pics and videos? Or by really going out to achieve our kingdom, our country, a country where the shameless are shamed and criminals are punished hard?

We need to repair Bharat so that it becomes our India. And that would be possible when India reclaims Bharat. Today, these leaders are in their high offices only because India sits or goes out on a vacation when elections are announced. They are ruling us, because we only raise our voices when something really gory things happen to us, and not when things  go wrong in other spheres. We don’t raise our voices when a criminal fights an election, we don’t say much when a Facebook user is arrested. We don’t raise our voices when we have to give a tenner to get a cop off our backs.

We’ve theorised enough. Let’s go out and do something that makes a difference, and not something that is merely symbolic.

Jatin Sharma is a media professional who doesn’t want to grow up, because he feels that if he grows up, he will be like everybody else.

(Picture courtesy antarmukhi-ashu.blogspot.com)

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A Bihari in Bharat

We’re all Indians, right? Then why do we always mentally compartmentalise people based on their community or where they come from?
by Jatin Sharma

“I hate this hatred that we have over Marathis and non-Marathis, and Mumbaikars and non-Mumbaikars,” said a man sitting near the window in a local train.

“I hate all the politicians who infiltrate people’s minds on the basis of such separatist ideology. They are supposed to be our leaders!”, replied a man who was vada-paoed between two others in the train.

One man was listening to these comments with a lot of curiosity. He was ‘new’ to this old city of prosperity and wealth. He had heard a million gems of wisdom while his mother packed his bag with laddoos and people gave him a lot of advice about how he should behave in Mumbai. After all, he was a Bihari. He had been sufficiently warned about not getting into an argument with any person wearing a saffron scarf or a saffron tikka.

So the aforementioned conversation, which actually challenged what he had been told about, was like a sweet melody to his ‘new’ ears. And while he was still digesting this conversation, he suddenly realised that he was reaching closer to his destination. The train was screeching to a halt at the platform. Springing up from his seat, he bravely plunged himself in the crowd of unorganised, frustrated and tired Mumbaikars standing in his way, to try and reach the door.

Suddenly someone asked him, “Kahan jaana hai? (where do you want to go?)”

He replied, “Bhayander.”

Someone else replied, mocking his Bihari accent, “Bhayander. Toh bhai tum andar hi rehna.”

He pleaded, “Mujhe jaane do, utarna hai.” His voice was peaceful, his tone still calm.

But the other popped a question, “Bihari ho?, Laloo ke desh se?”

He knew where this conversation was headed. And probably with the earlier conversation he’d heard still ringing in his ears, he very proudly replied, “Nahin, Bhartiya hoon, Gandhiji ke desh se.”

If this had been a film, we would have whistled and cheered and clapped at this rather excellent reply. But the tragedy was that this wasn’t a film, and after this dialogue, all we heard were punches and the man’s screams. No one came forward to save a Bihari then, not even the people who hated the fact that the leaders were infesting our minds with the poison of regionalism. Everyone was silent, and even plain logic was muted on the spot.

And please don’t even try to fool yourselves saying that you are not like that. You may not bash up Biharis or anybody else, but mentally, I am sure you bash some community or the other. We have developed this habit of asking people their names, and then following it up with, “Oh, Harsh Shah, so you are a Gujju,” or “Oh, Bejan Batliwala. So you are a Parsi.” We have been associating people with their faith for such a long time now, and somewhere along the way, we have all demeaned the whole idea of co-existence.

To add up to the woes of our nation, we remain silent when we see something going wrong. We discuss a lot of things, but we don’t stop them from happening when they happen right in front of us. Some may excuse themselves as, “Jaane do. Mere baap ka kya jaata hai?” But a dialogue is not something that should happen between two minds, it should happen within societies and communities. If one feels that something is wrong, then he or she shouldn’t keep quiet when it happens in front of them.

That’s why the wrong voices are becoming stronger and the right voices are becoming weaker.

The wrong is multiplied and the right is just dying a quiet death. Leaders are nothing but the ones who voice their opinions with strong voices, where they believe in what they say. Become a leader and change the world.

Jatin Sharma is a media professional who doesn’t want to grow up, because if he grows up, he will be like everyone else.

(Picture courtesy aglaia.co.in)

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Do your job, do it NOW

Jatin Sharma writes on our collective tendency to not make those who serve us accountable for their (lack of) duty.

Jatin SharmaI’ve been writing on several issues – public apathy, making a tamasha out of a funeral, celebrating festivals over mobile phones. But today, I am writing about a domestic issue.

Please don’t stop reading. Sure, other people’s domestic issues are very boring, but I need an intelligent head to help me out here.

A month ago, my maid didn’t turn up for work. She didn’t even inform me about her impending leave. I was quite handicapped as all the household chores were now my problem. I didn’t do them as I thought she would turn up the next day. But she didn’t arrive the next day as well. So, juggling my office schedules, I finally did all the housework.

But laziness made me sit out one more day. Plus, my mind started playing with questions: I had hired her to do my housework, I had never been late with her payment, I had always shown her consideration, so why did she treat me like this? My thoughts made me so adamant, I decided not to move a finger till she showed up next.

Three days later, she arrived unannounced. By now, the house was a pigsty, and I was about to burst with anger. I asked her how she could leave my house to be dirtied, to be infested by cockroaches and spiders. She reacted to my comments as if I was playing Mozart to her – with only half an ear on my voice. Realising that she was not paying any heed to me, I became angrier and made myself clearer. Or rather, I laid down a few rules: if she failed to come to my house for work and also failed to inform me that she wasn’t coming that day, I would deduct the day’s dues from her salary. Further, if there was the slightest deviation from these rules, I would fire her.

I can’t see someone dirty my house. If I don’t lay down the rules for her, she will feel free to act with impunity and leave my house open for filth and pests. Don’t you agree?

And if you agree that I should be stricter with my domestic help in order to discipline her, I am sure that you will also agree that we need to discipline our public servants. I am not saying they are domestic helps. But I am quite appalled by the way our public servants are currently working. They have no fear of retribution and some of them, like the police, are creating no fear in others.

I was reading the story of an acid attack victim the other day, where the attackers were caught after two months. They were given a mere nine-year jail sentence, and they secured bail after just four months of being locked up. Even after the attack, the criminals had the audacity to threaten the family, while the girl’s father was trying to seek justice. Of course, justice was denied – shouldn’t punishments be able to stop crime? – but I don’t think it made any difference to the criminals’ lives.

I was so irked by this story and the so-called public servants responsible for the mess. But this happens because we as a society have failed to make our servants work. They have been shirking their duties and sometimes denying to perform them, and our failure lies in not performing ours.

Our failure in getting work done from our government is quite shameful. This is a country that is considered to be intellectually enlightened, and this is the same country where everyone boasts of sanskaar, pratishtha and sammaan. But our ‘intellectual enlightenment’ makes us decide things on the basis of which side of the equation we are on: the victims’ or the victimisers’. If we are a victim, we talk about the crappy state of this country and its laws, and want to raise a voice. But if we are the vicitimisers, then we very conveniently let the law take its own course and see to it that it doesn’t.

We may try to bribe, modify and influence people’s opinion. For the sake of love and emotions attached to our loved ones, we pressurise the judicial system and use our influences. We let public servants become our puppets; we become the puppeteers who make others dance to our tunes.

I could go on and on, but let me just say this: why do we wait to support a matter of justice only when we are victims? Why don’t we raise our voice when somebody we don’t know is seeking justice too? It is just gossip when it happens to our neighbours, colleagues or peers. Why do we say, ”Mujhe kya karna hai?” or “ Yaar, ismein padke koi faayda nahin hai”?

Things can work when we make our system work, when our public servants work properly. Today, those meant to serve the public feel that they can do whatever they want to because we are not making them accountable for their work. We are simply shrugging off their ineptitude. It is time that the masters take charge and start controlling the servant better. If we are not going to act like a responsible master, our houses are going to be infested by much worse than cockroaches and filth.

Jatin Sharma is a media professional who says he doesn’t want to grow up, because if he grows up, he will be like everyone else.

(Picture courtesy outlookindia.com)

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