Empathy

आदमी को  

औरत का दुःख समझना हो 

तो उसे 

एक बेटी का पिता बनना चाहिए 

औरत को 

आदमी की कश्मकश समझनी हो 

तो उसे 

बेटे की माँ बनना चाहिए 

Javed Akhtar sher

 नेकी इक दिन काम आती है, हमको क्या समझाते हो, 

हमने बेबस मरते देखे, कैसे प्यारे प्यारे लोग! 

- जावेद अख्तर 

What does power mean to you?

Someone asked on a group: What does power mean to you? 

She wrote that answering this question helped her understand herself better. 

Straight off, the first answer that came to me was: 

Vaishno Devi: Riding the lion in a bright red saree, with weapons in one hand and a lotus in another. Making an entire patriarchal society touch and wash the feet of the girl child, with love rather than conflict. That's what power means to me. Anne Frank. That's power. Power does not always have to mean conflict. In fact, the opposite - when your very presence leads to the desired outcome without you needing to lift a finger, and everyone does it willingly, out of a positive feeling like hope or love. That's power.

The power of Hitler, once over, is despised and regretted. The power of Martin Luther King and Gandhi, though long gone, is still a beacon to others. As people, they may have been imperfect, but their idea of power was based on something positive - love, inspiration, equality, non violence. And that is why, the power belongs to their ideals, and it is enduring. 

When we worship Laksmi, we worship the goddess. Same for Parvati and Saraswati. 

But in Vaishno, we, the North Indians, worship little girls as the embodiment of the goddess. This is a goddess that forces us to see the divine in that which is otherwise disadvantaged. We see that divinity, not because of fear, but because of our love of the goddess. That is power. 

Political discussions with mom

 Mom and I were sitting and discussing that Modi has basically impoverished the middle class while the poor get so many more benefits that they have no need to work. Mom spoke about how her staff got cash from a certain political party - once to vote, and once after the rains. (the said political party is not BJP).

Which got us to think - the middle classes will always be disadvantaged because they never unite. The business classes don't care that the taxation on the salaried is getting insane. The salaried don't care that GST has made business insanely tough - both for compliance and for transacting itself. The rules defy every principle of common sense.

While the govt has gone on to talk about the need to create employment, it has done nothing to make people employable. There is no limit on govt freebies for more than 2 children. This actually incentivises population growth among the poor, since their cash flow increases with every child, but there is no minimum responsibility upon the parent to ensure the wellbeing of the child.

Naye Saal Par, phir se.

On Happy New Year to a housewife: 

नए साल पर, पन्ना कैलंडर का बदलता है। घड़ी तो उसी रफ्तार से टिक टिक करती रहती है। 

हम घड़ियाँ हैं। हमारा क्या नया साल? 

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You can't raise an army of cockroaches. 

The cockroach has survived longer than the dinosaurs, and we must remember that. But the cockroaches have, other than getting together and breeding like crazy, no other claim to fame. The only value a cockroach has is nuisance value. 

- On China taking over Pakistan administration and using that against India. 

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