There is one thing that has always amused me and I am quite confident that it will keep amusing the future generations as well. It is about the plight of my great clan, which destiny has purposefully decided or I will say conspired, so that I can be a part of it. However, after seeing the miserable condition of the male youth which has now turned to a do or die situation, I have no other option but to raise my voice. And therefore, through this medium, I implore you brothers!! Come and unite, we shall march together to redraw the lines.
After traversing 24 years of my life and seeing all this happening right in front of my eyes, it has become unbearable for me not to fight out the injustice meted out to my brothers. I have been made to wake up in the middle of the night, countless number of times with my friends telling me, that a girl has finally asked for their number, a girl has started a conversation, a girl has written a testimonial for them and finally a girl, by some remotest possibility of luck, has touched them. Their eyes keep wandering and it is an endless journey where they simply refuse to settle. After all, where they have not searched them? Starting with the holiest temples, loneliest parks to the busiest malls, they seem to keep setting their foot in every possible area. But it would have been still manageable if they had stopped here. In their unending pursuit, if they somehow find a one, they will start following locating all her whereabouts on a map with a precision that I am sure Israeli military can use in their GPS systems. And in their nomadic life, they forget their parents, brothers, sisters and above all, intelligent people like me!!! And all this sacrifice leads to few pious drops of salty water, with the convicted even ignorant of any crime being committed.
But the worst has not been told. When after all of their unsuccessful adventures, they finally feel defeated, they then turn to their own brotherhood and just to keep themselves titillating with the same feeling, they ferociously attack their male counterparts charging them with something that I cannot mention here. And in this game, poor souls who had not been able to venture into this foolish game, generally become the targets (probably their behavior shows a softness and tenderness that these young machos were desperately willing to feel!!).
Let me ask a few questions.
Why do only girls have the right to show attitude and at the same time, why modesty has been so sacrosanct to my clan? I hereby challenge the word “chivalry”!!
If you had not been completely blind, you must have observed that invariably, all the houses and all the corporate offices are being run by women, with male being the nominal head. Doesn’t this reflect too bad on us, considering the conventional wisdom that male is the stronger counterpart? Imagine, had we been considered as softer ones, what would have been our plight today. I am sure you must have said to yourself that they would have crushed us under their foot !!
Even if you would have been blind I am sure you must not have missed the significant evolutionary difference between the fashion of the two sexes. What is that that you and me can wear to look good? Don’t think much as there is nothing more than trousers or jeans with a shirt. And if you look at them, your jaw I assume must have started falling by now. And if that was not enough, they have the liberty to wear it to their level of comfortability. Now why, society has given this freedom of wearing less only to them? Don’t you want to look good? I hope you must have now reconsidered your decision to wear to your level of comfortability.
Brothers !! I know I must have brought you into tears by now. But this is in benefit of not only you and me but for our male children as well. I am sure they will never be more grateful to you for anything other than this. After all, this will give them a pride and confidence to relive a life without chasing them like rats as you had, all throughout your life.
Monday, May 11, 2009
Saturday, April 25, 2009
My sleep...
(I wrote this to prison my memories of first few days at FMS...they call it as "induction period")
If I had been allowed to write “sleeping” as my hobby, I would have been doubly confident of clearing any management interview during my preparation. However, the world is strange and so are its rules. However, I always ensured that no matter what the situation is, I am always following what I love to do i.e. to sleep.
Not any longer, I guess. Unlike others, my biggest worry while entering into the hallowed portals of FMS was loosing my sleep. I thought of sleeping for some extra hours before joining the college but thanks to pre induction assignment, my smart plans were not materialized. However, I managed to sleep for a “comfortable” number of hours and was quite excited to see myself getting adapted to the new system. But destiny had some other plans in store for me. The first day at the college was marked by an acute shortage of sleep. While I was doing the pre induction assignment, I was continuously looking at my bed which was crying to take me in its arms and I started empathizing with it. The silence of night was whispering something and I was getting more and more confused. Finally, I decided to take a break and take a bath for a short time in the eternal bliss of, “sleep”. But as it was destined, I got drowned only to wake up at 7.
And the second day started with a big yawn. I really wonder if it was the appropriate start for a business school student. All throughout the lecture, my mouth was breaking its last record of the maximum volume of oxygen that can be taken. Finally, I woke up to the call of my body and decided to sleep. I lowered my head and allowed the eyes to have it. And I slept for entire 5 minutes. Just then somebody asked a question and I thought of kicking him right where he deserved but the class decorum forced me to think otherwise. Then after taking a “deep breath”, I went on for another long journey.
For the next few days, all of my prayers to God to let me sleep for some hours went unanswered. Yes, I lost my faith in God and decided to complete the work in advance to earn those coveted hours of “sleep”. But my weak shoulders were not geared to handle the pressure of this mountain of write ups. And I crumbled. I slept on the third night despite having a number of assignments to be completed and paid off the appropriate fine. But, I must say, the sleep was worth it. Perhaps it was more than the fine and much more than anything else in this world, as it was “my sleep”.
If I had been allowed to write “sleeping” as my hobby, I would have been doubly confident of clearing any management interview during my preparation. However, the world is strange and so are its rules. However, I always ensured that no matter what the situation is, I am always following what I love to do i.e. to sleep.
Not any longer, I guess. Unlike others, my biggest worry while entering into the hallowed portals of FMS was loosing my sleep. I thought of sleeping for some extra hours before joining the college but thanks to pre induction assignment, my smart plans were not materialized. However, I managed to sleep for a “comfortable” number of hours and was quite excited to see myself getting adapted to the new system. But destiny had some other plans in store for me. The first day at the college was marked by an acute shortage of sleep. While I was doing the pre induction assignment, I was continuously looking at my bed which was crying to take me in its arms and I started empathizing with it. The silence of night was whispering something and I was getting more and more confused. Finally, I decided to take a break and take a bath for a short time in the eternal bliss of, “sleep”. But as it was destined, I got drowned only to wake up at 7.
And the second day started with a big yawn. I really wonder if it was the appropriate start for a business school student. All throughout the lecture, my mouth was breaking its last record of the maximum volume of oxygen that can be taken. Finally, I woke up to the call of my body and decided to sleep. I lowered my head and allowed the eyes to have it. And I slept for entire 5 minutes. Just then somebody asked a question and I thought of kicking him right where he deserved but the class decorum forced me to think otherwise. Then after taking a “deep breath”, I went on for another long journey.
For the next few days, all of my prayers to God to let me sleep for some hours went unanswered. Yes, I lost my faith in God and decided to complete the work in advance to earn those coveted hours of “sleep”. But my weak shoulders were not geared to handle the pressure of this mountain of write ups. And I crumbled. I slept on the third night despite having a number of assignments to be completed and paid off the appropriate fine. But, I must say, the sleep was worth it. Perhaps it was more than the fine and much more than anything else in this world, as it was “my sleep”.
Monday, April 20, 2009
In pursuit of CAT…
This is a true story of one of my friends. A story, of a person whose life’s fun got sublimated by the fire of the CAT’s dragon.
After passing from one of the reputed institutes of the country Ravi was looking ahead for a career he had always dreamt of. Oh! This reminds me of those days when you can find our little Ravi selling his teacher’s pen to the class while the latter was busy in taking the practical tests in the lab. Completely unaware of the fact that his little entrepreneurial venture has been caught by the owner of the pen, he enthusiastically kept on persuading the people to test his product. In the end, he faced the wrath while the class enjoyed the drama but that didn’t stop his newfound adventurial spirits, for he started selling again!!
If there was something that used to give adrenaline push, it was his own PJs, skillfully crafted with a complete plan of how to irritate the other person to the last possible extent. He and his gang of 7 guys whom he used to proudly lead were known for eating your brains and chewing your grey matter with panache.
And yes, he was a brand conscious person. Nothing less than a bag of Nike will do and if that is still less, he plans to buy a BMW. He has some other plans, if you are interested. He used to buy 3 pairs of shirts and trousers from Van Hussein every month. But his first love was the party wear, which if you allow, he can come wearing at your funeral.
He was spending his life in the circles of smoke and his imaginations used to wander with them in the vast blue sheet traversing one horizon to the other. He just dreamt of one dream: NOTHING.
And lo! Here I entered in his life with my dream of becoming youknowwhat (see “in pursuit of more”). I always looked at him with contempt, for the people with low aspirations are like slum people for me, no matter whether you have it or not, you would not make it. But to flaunt, I started those intellectual and philosophical discussions in which I swim day in and day out. And he was impressed, damn impressed.
While he started looking up to me, I finally decided to take a pity on him. And then started the stories of glory of the managers of IIMs etc and how they earned million bucks. While I was selling him his new dreams, I was least bothered whether he will ever reach up to that level. “It won’t be difficult for you. After all, you are an engineer. DI and Maths can be done at the sleight of your hand. Just improve your English.”
And that day Ravi dreamt. He dreamt of a person working hard, burning “MIDNIGHT OIL”, and then joining that elite roll. And he has been dreaming it, dreaming that way since that day. He has stopped laughing, chirping and even selling. Cocooning himself in an attire of marketer, a war has started and he keeps wounding himself every now and then. Ask someone like me, I can recognize those wounds. They show themselves in Ravi not cracking those PJs, not carrying Nike’s bags and if that was not enough, not making those circles of smoke on whose voyage I never dared to volunteer. They are showed when he calls me to inform me about the work at the office that is breaking him from within. He simple does not like the work. So did I.
And despite my repeated attempts to assure him that MBA does not change much, I am not listened anymore. He asks me repeatedly, “Will I be able to make it? Will I be able to handle the pressure of their academia?” To hell with it.
What is the use of such a degree that makes the life of most of the people so miserable and a heavenly one for a very few of them? I had seen not ones, tens but hundreds of people solving AIMCATS, SIMCATS and all those mock CATS on their weekends, on those few days of sunshine in one’s life. And as expected, when they do not go well, they start the new week all over again with a raised expectation that this time it won’t be the same again. And the beautiful years of bachelorhood of one’s life are spent in the dreams of a wonder land. The beautiful evenings of Sundays are taken over by the analysis of the mock CATS in understanding why I did the way I did. Insane.
Was dreaming low, so punishable, I still ask myself. Wasn’t my contempt against his contentment? Can I smile and laugh the way he used to, even today? Questions and questions. Answerless ones and answerable ones. Sometimes, I feel like to run away, run to touch those clouds of smoke, run to touch those careless laughter, run to touch my own soul and just check if I really exist or if it is just an aspiration that is waiting for a time to get fulfilled. Amen.
After passing from one of the reputed institutes of the country Ravi was looking ahead for a career he had always dreamt of. Oh! This reminds me of those days when you can find our little Ravi selling his teacher’s pen to the class while the latter was busy in taking the practical tests in the lab. Completely unaware of the fact that his little entrepreneurial venture has been caught by the owner of the pen, he enthusiastically kept on persuading the people to test his product. In the end, he faced the wrath while the class enjoyed the drama but that didn’t stop his newfound adventurial spirits, for he started selling again!!
If there was something that used to give adrenaline push, it was his own PJs, skillfully crafted with a complete plan of how to irritate the other person to the last possible extent. He and his gang of 7 guys whom he used to proudly lead were known for eating your brains and chewing your grey matter with panache.
And yes, he was a brand conscious person. Nothing less than a bag of Nike will do and if that is still less, he plans to buy a BMW. He has some other plans, if you are interested. He used to buy 3 pairs of shirts and trousers from Van Hussein every month. But his first love was the party wear, which if you allow, he can come wearing at your funeral.
He was spending his life in the circles of smoke and his imaginations used to wander with them in the vast blue sheet traversing one horizon to the other. He just dreamt of one dream: NOTHING.
And lo! Here I entered in his life with my dream of becoming youknowwhat (see “in pursuit of more”). I always looked at him with contempt, for the people with low aspirations are like slum people for me, no matter whether you have it or not, you would not make it. But to flaunt, I started those intellectual and philosophical discussions in which I swim day in and day out. And he was impressed, damn impressed.
While he started looking up to me, I finally decided to take a pity on him. And then started the stories of glory of the managers of IIMs etc and how they earned million bucks. While I was selling him his new dreams, I was least bothered whether he will ever reach up to that level. “It won’t be difficult for you. After all, you are an engineer. DI and Maths can be done at the sleight of your hand. Just improve your English.”
And that day Ravi dreamt. He dreamt of a person working hard, burning “MIDNIGHT OIL”, and then joining that elite roll. And he has been dreaming it, dreaming that way since that day. He has stopped laughing, chirping and even selling. Cocooning himself in an attire of marketer, a war has started and he keeps wounding himself every now and then. Ask someone like me, I can recognize those wounds. They show themselves in Ravi not cracking those PJs, not carrying Nike’s bags and if that was not enough, not making those circles of smoke on whose voyage I never dared to volunteer. They are showed when he calls me to inform me about the work at the office that is breaking him from within. He simple does not like the work. So did I.
And despite my repeated attempts to assure him that MBA does not change much, I am not listened anymore. He asks me repeatedly, “Will I be able to make it? Will I be able to handle the pressure of their academia?” To hell with it.
What is the use of such a degree that makes the life of most of the people so miserable and a heavenly one for a very few of them? I had seen not ones, tens but hundreds of people solving AIMCATS, SIMCATS and all those mock CATS on their weekends, on those few days of sunshine in one’s life. And as expected, when they do not go well, they start the new week all over again with a raised expectation that this time it won’t be the same again. And the beautiful years of bachelorhood of one’s life are spent in the dreams of a wonder land. The beautiful evenings of Sundays are taken over by the analysis of the mock CATS in understanding why I did the way I did. Insane.
Was dreaming low, so punishable, I still ask myself. Wasn’t my contempt against his contentment? Can I smile and laugh the way he used to, even today? Questions and questions. Answerless ones and answerable ones. Sometimes, I feel like to run away, run to touch those clouds of smoke, run to touch those careless laughter, run to touch my own soul and just check if I really exist or if it is just an aspiration that is waiting for a time to get fulfilled. Amen.
Monday, March 30, 2009
In my pursuit of more...
It has been a long walk now. And when I look back, the past seems to be hazier than the future. What was that I was searching and running all this while? In my unobtrusive sleep, I dreamt of becoming a big man. How big, I don’t know. The packages seem to be getting smaller and smaller and I am getting more and more desperate shifting every now and then in my sleep. The more I grow old, more is my urge to become young, immature. Is the wisdom dawning upon me or am I starving more than ever?
When was the last time I started writing like this, carelessly, aimlessly, hopping from one world to another? That calm and composed self used to welcome the withdrawn person and the two used to chirp, sing, dance, and laugh holding each other’s hands. I still search for him. Where are you? I haven’t woken up.
That childhood friend of mine seems to be lost somewhere in the race of becoming a big man. How I used to spend hours lying under his blue umbrella wondering what would have been going, on the other end of the horizon. That overwhelming feeling of being the owner of that vast sheet allowing only circles and a few sparkling objects to encroach and make their huts, still haunts me. And in that aimless tour, I used to revolve my index finger estimating the area I possess. Why on the earth, I have grown old?
And when in some primary classes of Delhi, a newfound love was trying to establish its foot and in their complete unawareness of this psychotic world, the two birds used to exchange glances even without knowing the reason behind them. And when that little princess obliged me and sat beside me, I got the chance to look at her small tender hands and fingers, some of them trembling. And when she looked at me, I never realized that it was the time to freeze and take millions of snapshots as every shot is worth living million lives. But I was busy in dreaming to become a big man.
And when a friend of mine knocks the door hoping that I will come, I search for the back door to run and take a safe haven to continue my dream unobtrusively. How our aimless march in our unknown world can make you forget the march of the military as ours was a carefree, meaningless life where we often took flights to different worlds but in complete resonance. Why I do not get tired of shifting myself in this long sleep?
And today, when my mother stand beside me feeling proud of the wonderful son she is gifted, I feel I have perhaps sacrificed for her and my future. But when she looks at me asking for the same exchanging of glances we had 25 years ago, when I was completely unaware of my relationship with her, I remind her cost she and me have to pay to become, youknowwhat. Isn’t it enough or at least sufficient and if not what will then be?
I fear asking questions. It seems they don’t have any answers. Perhaps, I will never get them as I know what they are and that is a pity which I fear I will take to my deathbed. Amen.
When was the last time I started writing like this, carelessly, aimlessly, hopping from one world to another? That calm and composed self used to welcome the withdrawn person and the two used to chirp, sing, dance, and laugh holding each other’s hands. I still search for him. Where are you? I haven’t woken up.
That childhood friend of mine seems to be lost somewhere in the race of becoming a big man. How I used to spend hours lying under his blue umbrella wondering what would have been going, on the other end of the horizon. That overwhelming feeling of being the owner of that vast sheet allowing only circles and a few sparkling objects to encroach and make their huts, still haunts me. And in that aimless tour, I used to revolve my index finger estimating the area I possess. Why on the earth, I have grown old?
And when in some primary classes of Delhi, a newfound love was trying to establish its foot and in their complete unawareness of this psychotic world, the two birds used to exchange glances even without knowing the reason behind them. And when that little princess obliged me and sat beside me, I got the chance to look at her small tender hands and fingers, some of them trembling. And when she looked at me, I never realized that it was the time to freeze and take millions of snapshots as every shot is worth living million lives. But I was busy in dreaming to become a big man.
And when a friend of mine knocks the door hoping that I will come, I search for the back door to run and take a safe haven to continue my dream unobtrusively. How our aimless march in our unknown world can make you forget the march of the military as ours was a carefree, meaningless life where we often took flights to different worlds but in complete resonance. Why I do not get tired of shifting myself in this long sleep?
And today, when my mother stand beside me feeling proud of the wonderful son she is gifted, I feel I have perhaps sacrificed for her and my future. But when she looks at me asking for the same exchanging of glances we had 25 years ago, when I was completely unaware of my relationship with her, I remind her cost she and me have to pay to become, youknowwhat. Isn’t it enough or at least sufficient and if not what will then be?
I fear asking questions. It seems they don’t have any answers. Perhaps, I will never get them as I know what they are and that is a pity which I fear I will take to my deathbed. Amen.
Friday, February 13, 2009
Eternal truth
One of the major complexities I am trying to solve is if whether the shades of life really are greyish or is it the result of the man’s nature to find the shortest route to the most challenging questions. Simply put, it has always been easy for the people to terminate the discussions on “IT DEPENDS”. So, if righteousness of everything is incumbent on the individual’s upbringing, it should have been very easy for each one of us to justify the most indefensible acts. And also, where will you then find any room for the least understood drivers of humanity viz. contemplation and thereafter, self reprimand that helps us in analyzing the acts objectively.
This philosophy of the eternal truth sometimes makes things very complicated. It has always been easy to finally settle for the grey shades but for a black and white world, you need to strip off your prejudices and stereotypes which inadvertently will be amalgamated in your objectively analyzed problem. It is here, that extreme prudence needs to be shown and the impossibility of error free solution is the aphrodisiac for those for whom shores of the seas are dangerous areas.
Let me put it in another perspective. In case you believe in God, you can safely assume that he cannot set different criteria for different people. The rational mind given to the human being is of no use if he takes refuge under his past circumstances as there will hardly be any difference between him and an inanimate object whose physical strength is decided by what has been done by the external circumstances to it. Even if you are an atheist, take the case of films. As an external individual, how do you analyze a character? You rarely give him the benefit of the circumstances (unless you find yourself in the similar situation) and thus the person is analyzed without any prejudices.
Monday, March 31, 2008
To The Unknown...........
When I used to look at stars in my childhood, I used to think that destiny had conspired and put them beyond my reach. But the same destiny conspired once again to put all those stars in one person and obliged me to take the hand of that person. And when that moonlight used to soothe my feelings I used to wonder whether there is anything whose light can dim moonlight. That day, when I saw you, I felt as if the moon itself has come on earth and asking you to show the path for him.
Oh! Dear! Your smile pulls the soul out of me and it starts flying around you. It tries to touch your lips gently, fearing as if it can burst the beautiful bubble. And when your eyes blink, life seems to me moving in pulses where I find myself getting birth and dying continuously. And when you pull the knot out of your hair and lean your head backwards in order to let them dance, I feel as if the winds of romance start blowing and hammering my heart. And when you lean towards me and I get a chance to see how you breathe, I wish to freeze that moment and let you and myself spend whole of our lives in that freezing position.
Dear! I just wish to keep myself swimming in the ocean of love where I see a lot of fishes and when I see my starfish, I feel the currents of ocean pushing me away from you so that the final pleasure of touching you becomes unbearable. And in this beautiful journey of mine where all roads and their destination end on you, I wish I can hold you beside my seat for just a bit longer duration that can last till the last breathe of my life.
Oh! Dear! Your smile pulls the soul out of me and it starts flying around you. It tries to touch your lips gently, fearing as if it can burst the beautiful bubble. And when your eyes blink, life seems to me moving in pulses where I find myself getting birth and dying continuously. And when you pull the knot out of your hair and lean your head backwards in order to let them dance, I feel as if the winds of romance start blowing and hammering my heart. And when you lean towards me and I get a chance to see how you breathe, I wish to freeze that moment and let you and myself spend whole of our lives in that freezing position.
Dear! I just wish to keep myself swimming in the ocean of love where I see a lot of fishes and when I see my starfish, I feel the currents of ocean pushing me away from you so that the final pleasure of touching you becomes unbearable. And in this beautiful journey of mine where all roads and their destination end on you, I wish I can hold you beside my seat for just a bit longer duration that can last till the last breathe of my life.
Truth of His Holiness
The annexation of Tibet by Britishers in the early 20th century to contain Czarist forces was not something uncommon in those days. But nobody felt the sliding of the plates underneath the China-Tibetan border. Tremors of the earthquake were felt recently in the wake of Olympics going to be held in China in October 2008
China has gifted the highest roof of the world with the highest railway in the world. With the opportunity of participating in China's growth story, Tibet has indeed come a long way. With the abandonment of slash and bury technique of farming and switch over to modern ways of farming, development has not left any corner of the country. However, the dark side of the story is the social and cultural disintegration through which the country underwent during Cultural Revolution. But the question to be asked is whether Tibetans are in euphoric or gloomy mood. If they are satisfied, then let vested interests keep fishing in the troubled waters, China knows how to handle them. However, Tibetans are extremely spiritual people for whom the fabric of development is immersed in the red color of their Dalai Lama. It will be not an exaggeration if I tantamount it to illiteracy and poverty which they had seen for the last 100 years and prevented them to see the other side of the story.
It will not be entirely futile to evaluate Dalai Lama’s decisions and their impact on his people. When he fled away to set up a government in exile in Dharamshala, India took a big risk and laid the condition of not using Indian soil for any anti-seccesionary activities. However, the blatant violation by the Noble Peace Prize winner is an open secret. He even seeked UN assistance for Tibetan autonomy much against the wishes of J.L.Nehru. And to add another feather in his peace loving cap, he colluded with CIA to train people to resist Chinese oppression.
Things start settling if one dives a bit deeper. Dalai Lama asks for an autonomous Tibet whose defense and foreign affairs will be in the hands of China. He even wants Tibet to be divided into four provinces, thus dividing it ethnically. Now, Tibet forms a quarter of China’s territory and demands like these are a direct assault on the country’s sovereignty. The comparison with Hong Kong, Makau and Taiwan is irrelevant as they have germinated from different books of the history.
Incidentally, the Indian response in this context is a slightly less balanced one. Though we have reiterated, time and again, our stance on Tibet and prohibited the meeting of Dalai Lama with any of our senior leader, the appeasement of US keeps taking the sanity out of Indian diplomacy occasionally. Allowing Ms. Pelosi and Dalai Lama to meet and issue a statement on Indian soil is, in fact, quite hypocritical. What right does India, and for that matter US, have when in its own backyard, the integrity of army operations in J & K and in N.E. states have not been entirely unquestionable. More so, when China has taken the Indian side on both the issues. Perhaps, it could have been given as a good token for diplomacy on the unresolved issue of Arunachal Pradesh., in future.
The indisputable fact that no country has recognized Tibet as an autonomous state, will take time for Dalai Lama to reconcile with. Nonetheless, a secular country like China welcomes Dalai Lama with open arms. With Tibetans getting a holistic development under the shade of Chinese banyan tree, what more can he ask for than to just guide his followers spiritually.
China has gifted the highest roof of the world with the highest railway in the world. With the opportunity of participating in China's growth story, Tibet has indeed come a long way. With the abandonment of slash and bury technique of farming and switch over to modern ways of farming, development has not left any corner of the country. However, the dark side of the story is the social and cultural disintegration through which the country underwent during Cultural Revolution. But the question to be asked is whether Tibetans are in euphoric or gloomy mood. If they are satisfied, then let vested interests keep fishing in the troubled waters, China knows how to handle them. However, Tibetans are extremely spiritual people for whom the fabric of development is immersed in the red color of their Dalai Lama. It will be not an exaggeration if I tantamount it to illiteracy and poverty which they had seen for the last 100 years and prevented them to see the other side of the story.
It will not be entirely futile to evaluate Dalai Lama’s decisions and their impact on his people. When he fled away to set up a government in exile in Dharamshala, India took a big risk and laid the condition of not using Indian soil for any anti-seccesionary activities. However, the blatant violation by the Noble Peace Prize winner is an open secret. He even seeked UN assistance for Tibetan autonomy much against the wishes of J.L.Nehru. And to add another feather in his peace loving cap, he colluded with CIA to train people to resist Chinese oppression.
Things start settling if one dives a bit deeper. Dalai Lama asks for an autonomous Tibet whose defense and foreign affairs will be in the hands of China. He even wants Tibet to be divided into four provinces, thus dividing it ethnically. Now, Tibet forms a quarter of China’s territory and demands like these are a direct assault on the country’s sovereignty. The comparison with Hong Kong, Makau and Taiwan is irrelevant as they have germinated from different books of the history.
Incidentally, the Indian response in this context is a slightly less balanced one. Though we have reiterated, time and again, our stance on Tibet and prohibited the meeting of Dalai Lama with any of our senior leader, the appeasement of US keeps taking the sanity out of Indian diplomacy occasionally. Allowing Ms. Pelosi and Dalai Lama to meet and issue a statement on Indian soil is, in fact, quite hypocritical. What right does India, and for that matter US, have when in its own backyard, the integrity of army operations in J & K and in N.E. states have not been entirely unquestionable. More so, when China has taken the Indian side on both the issues. Perhaps, it could have been given as a good token for diplomacy on the unresolved issue of Arunachal Pradesh., in future.
The indisputable fact that no country has recognized Tibet as an autonomous state, will take time for Dalai Lama to reconcile with. Nonetheless, a secular country like China welcomes Dalai Lama with open arms. With Tibetans getting a holistic development under the shade of Chinese banyan tree, what more can he ask for than to just guide his followers spiritually.
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