આપણા ઘડવૈયા બાંધવ આપણે

આપણા ઘડવૈયા બાંધવ આપણે 

આપણે આવળ બાવળ બોરડી,

કેસર ઘોળ્યા જી !

ઝાઝેરો ઝૂક્યો છે આંબો સાખથી ,

વેડે તેને આવે હાથ જી.

આપણા ઘડવૈયા બાંધવ આપણે. 

પંડની પેટમાં પારસ છે પડયો ,

ફૂટલાં ફૂટે છે કરંમ જી,

વાવરી જાણે તે બડભાગિયો ,

જળહળ એના રે જિવન જી

આપણા ઘડવૈયા બાંધવ આપણે.

                          - રાજેન્દ્ર શાહ    

Jaisalmer - desert Jeep Safari..!!

Desert Camp near jaisalmer

It was very early morning in coolest and silent desert camp which was located at 40 KM from Jaisalmer – known as golden city of Rajasthan. We were almost in half sleep ready for desert jeep safari settled in our jeep. I was on the front seat of one of the jeep. Jeepwala was totally covered in shawl and covered his face with muffler. I couldn't see his face at that time except her eyes with ‘kajal’, and our safari has started.

After almost half an hour of jerky and bumpy ride, we have reached near to sand dunes. It was all desert and you can hardly see a single tree in your sight in every direction. After climbing one of sand dunes, we were all waiting for sunrise to happen. 

Sunrise in Sand Dunes

Suddenly that Jeepwala was started greeting us in English and acting like guide by telling many facts about sand dunes. It was very surprising for all of us when he was speaking in English with fluency and not just greetings only. After seeing sunrise, we started towards one of last village near border for visit which was also part of safari and I was on the front seat started interacting with him. We got to know many things about village and difficulty they face in their daily life. Also we got to know that he didn't get any education in school or rather he has never been to school. He has learned all this by himself while traveling with tourists in desert and interacting with them. We were totally amaze when we saw him doing conversation in French as well. He learned all this out of his curiosity, interest and to serve his tourists well. For their living, they mostly depend on tourism and cattle business. It was really glad to know about him and some part of his pastoral life.

Meeting such people we realize that if there is interest and will to learn something, you will not see any obstacle in your way in terms of lack of resources…!!!

Below are some of the pictures taken during trip:

Rajasthani Folk dance

A villager at border village

Guard at our palace - mucche ho to nathulal jaise..!!

Jaisalmer Fort

About time..!!

We all have a limited time in life and  that sometime build a pressure on us to do our best what we can with this particular moment of life, because we only get single chance with that. Many times we can't make best out of a moment showcasing our best performance. That might generate resentful feeling in us because we know what went wrong and we are helpless to change it. Also, many times we have not lived that moment with our expectation. Usually most of the self-help books which I happened read and advises from our elders based on their conventional wisdom point us to change future rather regret on your past doing.

Few days back I saw a movie name "about time" - a very simple story line on person who holds some extra ordinary power to go back in time and improve his mistakes for the situations which he had messed up in past or the one which he has not lived up to the mark. After movie, I was contemplating about my life that even I get such powers than what will I change and I ended up making very big list (of course it is not inclusive of doing some extra-ordinary thing but just improving my livings in some situations). I guess it is true for me, i am sure many of us having willingness to seek such powers to change our past with big to do list. Many times even if we understood our mistakes and we don't want reiterate the same again, very unlikely that we get into such situations again because some events or situations occur only once in lifetime and they are very unique. Such regrets are always burning somewhere in corner of our heart even if we try to focus on future using our conventional wisdom.

Another aspect which this movie pointed was to live these old moments instead of just cherish - which can be time spent with your family or any other moments - by going back in time. Because these moments are precious and we can’t capture feelings associated with them in some photographic memory or some video clips. There is no way we can digitize such experiences of situations we have lived in past. They are so unique and not so easy for us to put them in words.

If possible, many such situations which i would like to live again - a wonderful walk with my dad holding his hand or playing cricket with him or saving a chocolate for my younger brother whenever I used to receive it from my school because of someone's birthday during our childhood days or spending wonderful summer holidays with all my cousins at grandpa's place...!!

Life is very precious gift given to us with very limited in time.We all should live carefully with showing out our extra ordinary performance in each life’s situations and at the same time enjoying them utmost.(until such time travelling machine invented and handed over to ordinary people like you and me..!!)

excerpt from An Ecological Approach to Sociology

Excerpts from essay entitled "An Ecological Approach to Sociology" published in American Journal of Sociology in 1930 explained very well about human and nature's relationship.

“This is a balance between the natural and the vegetable and the animal environment, including human, in which nature delights. It is maintained by chain of actions and interactions, which link man with the rest of his living realm, reaching up and down and all around as his invisible biological and social destiny. Such a balance assumes great significance in old countries like India and China. Here we can discern, especially in the mature, densely populated plains, every stage of the process by which the regional balance is kept stable and how it is upset both by natural fluctuations such as are caused by cycles of rainfall or changes of landscape and river, or by long continued human actions such as the destruction of forests, non-conservative agriculture, and artificial interference with natural drainage...

    Human, animal and plant communities are subject to similar rules, though shifting ones, which maintain a balance and rhythm of growth for all. Each community cannot appropriate more than its due place in the general ordering of life, from which nothing can be obtained without influencing everything else. Working symbiotically, they represent interwoven threads of a complex web of life. No one thread can be isolated. None can be snapped or removed without the whole garment of the life of nature and human society being disfigured. The warp and the woof of the garment have become increasingly coherent as organic evolution has advanced. The inter-linkages of a fig tree, an earthworm, a rat and a bird are many, but the threads make such more intricate patterns as we reach the social economy of man. Though man often tears asunder the fabric through ignorance or selfishness, social progress no doubt consists in consciously weaving the forces of nature and society into finer and finer patterns of correlation and solidarity. It is the knowledge of and respect for the intricacy of the web of life that will guide man to his highest destiny".

તું તારી રીતે જા.

કોઈ જાતું હળવે હળવે કોઈ ઘાએ ઘા 

તું તારી રીતે જા 

તને ગમે તો આ પા જાજે , અથવા પેલી પા 

તું તારી રીતે જા

બંધ ઓરડા કદી ન ઝીલે કો શ્રાવણની હેલી 

ઊલટ થાય તો ખોલી દે તું તારા ઘરની ડેલી 

દોર મૂકજે બજાર વચ્ચે દેહ ઉઘાડો મેલી 

ને ફરી ફરીને ન્હા 

હોય અજાણ્યા કે જાણીતા - છતાંય મલકે હોઠ 

રોજ ધૂળેટી ઊજવીએ માગી નજરની ગોઠ 

હળ્યા મળ્યાં તો ઘેર ઊતરશે અવસરની કૈ પોઠ 

રે ઉતાવળો કાં થા ?

કોઈ બાળકે ફૂલ ચીતરતાં મ્હોરી ઉંથી ભીંત 

પતંગિયાને કોણ શીખવે છે ઉડવાની રીત ?

કોયલને ક્યાં કહ્યું હતું કે ગા ફાગણનું ગીત ?

તું મન ફાવે તે ગા 

તું તારી રીતે જા.

~ મનોહર ત્રિવેદી  

My Income-Tax Money and its Disappointing Returns..!!

With financial year ending, few days back we have received our form 16 to file our income tax return. Today when i am going through form 16, I am feeling literally disgruntle about my tax money payment to Indian government.

This disappointment is not because a lot of money going as tax, but there is no/enough return benefit or services from the government. I am just questioning to myself, is this money going to help in development of my country or help needy people through government funds or help in creating better services for people or it is just going in some corrupt politician’s Switzerland bank account?  I am filing my tax return as this month’s end dead line approaching with a feeling that I am throwing this money in gutter of corrupt politics. I am wondering what else we can do and come up with few suggestion to this problem, why government can’t provide a detail summary of investment they have done using my tax money. Don’t you think so people who are paying tax right to know where this money going?  Another approach will be tax payers should have rights to say or select to put his/her tax money with break ups in this particular areas/scheme of development from government or may be development of sustainable technologies? Never know this will help or not, but at least I feel that this will reveal out exact usage of money and reasons for lack of services which we face as problem from government.

There is another point to highlight about number of people who is paying taxes in India. From the article in economic times, I found that the number of income-tax payers are just about 35 million (2.9%) in a population of 1.2 billion. These 2.9 % people are mainly salaried people who have no choice (trying to hide earning from government) because employer has to cut their income tax. Looking at the number do you think that this taxation money will be enough to help out or give benefits to all 1.2 billion people? We sometime blame government for corruption, but first reason to get this corrupt government because we are corrupt. We, as in buyers, are responsible for buying things without any bill in all transactions and hence these retailers don’t pay any tax on it. So this money turned in as black money.   

At least to improve this, we as in people must buy things from mega retail store and use credit card/debit card for payment instead cash payment. This way money directly credited into bank account of retailers. So that at least whenever government/Tax Dept. wants to check the account of retailers, they can see transactions in store keeper’s bank account. Another approach what government can take is that, buyer’s needs to file all bills of its spending over the month to income-tax dept., so income-tax dept. know transactions of every shopkeepers from buyers submission and force them to pay right amount of tax and there is no way of hiding money here. Make more and more services online, so people don’t have to ask for favors to agents and government officers. This will give choice to people to avoid corruptions and favors. Making an online application for passport and Indian railway reservation is some of the big example which government has taken to improve situations and many more is in pipeline. Give extra/different benefits to the people who are paying taxes beyond some amount, this will help in encouraging to those who don't pay taxes at all.

At last file your tax return on time, pay right amount to tax on your earnings, question government about where did they spend our tax money?, and provide help in improving this country...!!

Process vs Power..

Few days back, a political party has announced its leader for upcoming election. It seems that a big move in terms of party’s next set of agenda and obstacle for country’s ruling party. The reason behind this movement was that new candidate has already proven track record at state level so expectation that this will help them at country level to make party’s position strong in upcoming election.

On a way back home from office, I was with my cab mates criticizing on this topic. Many were in a favor of this movement. They heard a lot of this candidate’s work at state level, development and change which he brought for betterment. But on the other side, we also heard that he did all these by taking all power in his own hands, more like one man army. Handling everything, keeping all powers with him, interferes in all and even small decision making as well, and not relying on processes which needs to be followed. It has shown more like King and his kingdom kind of ruling.

So the question arises from this discussion that which has more weightage, a process or power? As a democratic country, we believe in candidates and keeping our immense faith in him/her, we elect them and leave everything in their hands. After that they govern supreme power in the country. Then there are no boundaries which can keep them under control for not doing any corruption or using their power in selfish way, even though they do lot of development for country and solve many issues of mango people.

But, is this correct to give a power in one person’s hand instead of processes, by assuming that he will do all right things?

Giving a power to one person has shown very cruel and inhuman results. It has happened not only in politics but in many industries and even in religions. In my view we should give a power to processes. Let process decide what is right and what is wrong. Processes must hold supreme power to keep others in control – But these processes should be created, designed and placed in such a way that there shouldn't be any loopholes.

In a true democratic country, power must retain with people to elect right candidate and with processes to keep that candidate under surveillance.Choosing something good will stay for a while but if you foster an environment/process of making good forever, you will see many choices in future. I personally believe if processes are in placed properly, it will definitely help keeping under control of power’s wrong usage. Giving a chance to a right people for right position will definitely help, but also consider a notion that “human psyche has not shown definite behavior forever”. So you never know today’s good will become tomorrow’s worst.

So, ask for implementation of process and demand that they must be followed with due respect..!!

  

PS: This post shows my own personal views and they have no relation with any politics and political party in any way.