New Taxation that I would like to see

Everyone is saying that Income Tax rates are too high. I agree. I believe it is time to move from individual earning taxation to taxing on the basis of the burden an individual puts on the ecosystem.


So these are the 2 taxes I want:
1. Children Tax: The state allows you to have 2 children. You want more than that, you better be able to afford them and compensate for their carbon footprint on the world.


There's more: In a Christian wedding, before you get married, you have to undergo mandatory counselling in the church. I believe this is an excellent way to prepare people for life changes. There should be a mandatory mental fitness test that parents should have to pass before they have children. This will put an end to people who have kids just to get rid of pesky relatives. If you don't have it in you to be responsible for a child for 18 years, then please don't have children.


While adoptive parents have to prove a thousand things, the State takes no measures to ensure the safety and well being of biologically born children. If a couple is not fit to be a parent - they should not be allowed to have children. Because children are a nation's collective resource. And no child should be abused or ignored by indifferent parenting. Parenting is not a right or a fertility contest. Its a responsibility. If you can't take it, have the courage to tell your families. And to yourself.


2. Trash Tax: A person should be taxed on the basis of how much trash they generate. Commercial establishments too. This will ensure that 5 star hotels start serving their guests water in glass tumblers instead of generating plastic waste for every 200 ml of water their guests drink. This will ensure that people think before they buy. A mindful consumer will be rewarded in this way and the environment will be automatically better. Amazon will start shipping in containers that actually match the product being shipped. And people will learn to not waste food. If you do not do waste segregation at source, you should have to pay extra because someone else has to do it for you.


The Trash Tax will reduce consumerism, and therefore, will be bitterly opposed by the major companies of the world. I think it is time we decided, as a species, which we need more - the world, or the  growth of the companies.


The world has enough for our need, not enough for our greed. - This quote is usually attributed to Gandhi.

We Need Sanskrit in Schools

I want to make my stand clear on this one:

 I NEED Sanskrit in schools. To know Sanskrit grammar and its structure is to know perfection in language design. This is how things should be done.
IF Sanskrit was designed in the modern times by an American, we would call it "The Perfect Construct", "Genius and Beyond" and other things.

We would send our children in droves to learn this perfect language and we would be so proud of their achievement. We would speak about how learning Sanskrit teaches them to create more scientific models of thought, because they learn to envisage a thing and all its possible uses.

But that fact remains that over 2500 years later (at least), no one has been able to create a language as perfectly as Panini's Sanskrit with its flawless design of grammar and word construct.

So basically, in 2500 years, the world has not produced a linguistic genius like Panini (and his group).

And I am proud to be from the country where this awesome science of linguistics and alphabet design existed and was thus perfected.

 I Want Sanskrit in schools. None of our Intelligentsia will do a candle march to save Sanskrit in our education system, but I will.

Natural Born Children - the Orphans of our Policy Making

When you go to adopt a child, you have to convince the govt that you are financially, emotionally and physically fit to take care of a child.

You know why the IVF industry is flourishing? One reason could be that when you have a natural born child, you do not have to prove this fitness to anyone. IF they tried, a lot of parents wouldn't be able to prove this fitness.

And that's the thing. If the govt ensures a safe and secure environment for an adopted child, why are natural children the govt's orphans? Why doesn't the govt guarantee the same security to the natural descendants of their parents?
 

The Danger of the Single Story of Gender

I do believe in a Womens Day. But not in some of the messages coming my way - She is the nurturer, the creator and the bestower. She has infinite patience and love. She is the reason for our happiness.
.. Not saying that they are not true. These could possibly be true. Just not for all women.

I refuse to believe the Single Story of Womanhood just as one refuses to believe the Single story of manhood.

Not all men are good providers. Not all men are abusers. Not all women are martyrs. Not all are nurturers. Not all women are manipulative.

There is no one story of any gender, or even country, or society.

Womens Day is important because a lot of us are still facing similar challenges. Not all, a lot. It is time to go back and remind oneself that it is time to be you, and being a woman is a big part of who we are. But what is it to be a woman? and strangely, one cant think of any one objective that applies to all women. Not one.

Happy Being your own person day. Happy being you.

Narendra Modi loses elections to stray dogs

Namo is sitting in his office. Shocked. He thought he had nailed it -a GOOD manifesto, promising growth and development and positive policy change. With that, his Analytics team had assured him, the thinking public will vote, and vote for him.

They had voted, but they had unianimously voted AGAINST him and his party.

Namo lost no time in asking his team to find out what exactly happened here. Such defeat was entirely unanticipated.

The team came back in 2 days, having run focus group discussions and boy, were they lucky! They had got a unianimous answer from all the people they spoke to.

The story is simple. The condominiums had stray dogs. These dogs should have been sent to a dog shelter duly created and run by an animal rights NGO. BUT each of the residential complexes had received threats when they tried to evict the stray dogs. The dogs were a source of danger to the inhabitants, but that was not the concern of the animal lovers, who didn't move a finger to create a dog shelter. The main irritant was the letters - they were open threats.

In one case, the president of the RWA was taken to the police station and threatened with a case of physical assault against the 75 year old mother of the resident activist. When asked why the said activists did not take the dogs to their own houses, the residents received further insult and threats about their criminal behaviour towards the innocent, law abiding citizens who were also animal rights activists. Never mind that their activism was directed at social adoption of all stray dogs but no personal adoption.

The residents then did the only thing they could do. They found out who was the person behind all the threats, and where they derived their power from. (they were intelligent, remember?)  The power came from being a BJP MP.

En masse, the BJP was not voted for.

And that, my dear friends, is how NaMo lost a whole parliamentary constituency to stray dogs.

GLOCAL is not such a bad word after all.

Lohri Traditions - 2

Asking for Lohri

Once the Bai Khichdi and the Til Mooli rasm are over at home, young boys and girls, dressed in their finery, form groups and go from door to door, asking for "Lohri" . The Lohri songs, with full text, are here:
http://ki-jaana-main-kaun.blogspot.in/2009/01/happy-lohri-to-all-girls.html

And you can also hear the boys's song here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p_nEa7mhxD0

And this is one Lohri song that really took my heart away :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nkEUsupSpko

If they sing well, they are rewarded with popcorn, peanut, gajak, rewri and other Lohri goodies. If the group is happy, they sing: Dabba bhareya Leeraan da, Ai ghar Ameeraan da (A box full of rags, this house is of a rich man)

If they are not happy, they sing:
Hukka bhai Hukka , Ai ghar bhookha
(Hukka o Hukka, this house is of paupers )

At the end of this trip around the village, the children share their booty.

The Lohri itself
The sacrificial fire of Lohri is lit up in the courtyard. You can read about the celebration here:
http://www.happywink.org/lohrifestival/bonfire-celebration.html

Basically, one does the parikrama of the Lohri Mai and offers Lohri goodies to the holy fire. Only after that is the packet in one's hand considered "Prasad". it is then given to younger family members, and also offered to others as Prasad. People share each other's Prasad and goodies.

The Dancing
After the fire, comes the dancing. Gidda for women and Bhangra for the men.
 

Lohri Traditions

Lohri is very special to me. Every year. This year, its time to document some of the lesser known traditions of Lohri.

ਬਈ ਖਿਚੜੀ / बई खिचड़ी
 At night, the family makes chana dal khichdi. Please make sure that you add jeera, heeng and saunf to the khichdi. The khichdi is kept overnight. In the morning, the family is supposed to sit together and have khichdi together at breakfast. This Bai Khichdi (stale khichdi) is the last reminder of the year gone by. With the Bai khichdi, we bid goodbye to all the anger, resentment and disappointments of the previous year. We let go of the attachments and the things that hold us back. The Bai khichdi is saying Bye, to the year gone by.

ਤਿਲ ਮੂਲੀ / तिल मूली
This tradition needs at least 2 members of the family. On Lohri morning, each member of the family gets a small slice of radish in the right hand and a few black sesame seeds in the left. They dip the radish into the sesame seeds, hold it up in their right hand, and ask "Til Mooli Chakhaan?" तिल मूली चखा? (Should I taste this Til Mooli?"
The other member of the family responds to this by saying "चखो जी!" (Please do!)
After this first, the person with the Til Mooli uses the next 4 bites to mention the things that they want to keep/ wish for in the new year. A typical sequence for an older person might go:
Til Mooli chakhan? (Should I taste the Til Mooli)

Maa pyo rakhaan? (Should I have my parents in the coming year?)

Dhan daulat izzat ikhlaq rakhaan? (Should I keep money, respect and love?)

Ghar di such shanti, deh arogyata rakhaan? (Wishing for peace at home and health)

Aye paraune da maan, guruvaan da naam rakhan? (Wishing for respect for all visitors who enter my door and prayer in the coming year)

A student might wish for Vidya da daan (gift of erudition)

A young married person might ask for harmonious relations in his/her married life.

And so on.. its a beautiful tradition - that allows you to be grateful for what you have, and also to make resolutions for the coming year.

I love the way these resolutions are worded. They are not "should I ask for". They are "should I keep" - placing the onus entirely on the efforts of the  individual making the resolution.

One by one, all the members of the family make their resolutions.

Population Tax

I have this bright idea.. instead of income tax, we should have a population tax. Why? Simple. When we tax income, we are taking away from people who succeed. We are not taxing the use of our resources. But every child that is born taxes the resources of the country. And its time to start taxing them.

The thought was honestly a continuum of that post where a 2 year old child was out in the cold and adult women sitting near him were clad in shawls. These children are brought into the world so they can be free farm labor, free begging resources. Not to be loved, cherished, and nurtured, but to be used, abused and left to fend for themselves.

So methinks, in a country where female foetuses are killed bcs they will ask for dowry in some years, what is the fastest way to dissuage this practice which doesn't help anyone? And pat the answer came - start taxing them for producing more children, make it impossible to receive any govt benefits unless the child is registered, and you have a winner. nothing succeeds like money.

 

Demographic Dividend - more people means more jobs

This post is going to be short - because the point is simple, and other people have made it before me.

The idea of Demographic Dividend assumes that more people in a certain age group will mean more jobs and more income for the country.

However, this assumption has another underlying assumption - that the more people entering the workforce are all "employable" - i.e., they have the skills, attitude and infrastructure to enter the workforce and be productive.

Skill
There is global skill shortage. This report indicates that India has a skill shortage. But the skill shortage is way more than what is here. According to another research paper read elsewhere, the gap between skill requirements and skill training - esp in vocational skills, is very high.

Infrastructure
30% of the population lives in urban areas. An even smaller population in metros. The share of GDP from urban areas is 52%. This means that at least 70% of India's "Demographic dividend" lives in a place where it cannot be optimally employed because the infrastructure is not suited to high productivity employment. If we take away the non metro cities (Realistically, the non metro cities do not have  very conducive infrastructure) , then this gap surges even more.

Attitude
aka the Indian Work Ethic. Perhaps its a matter of global concern, but the Indian Work ethic just keeps getting worse among knowledge workers and students looking to land knowledge jobs.
This report has some key figures for us. This and this deserves to be read too.

So, the short point is, that the Indian worker may be looking for employment, but that does not automatically make him/her employable.

And therefore, the Demographic Dividend tempo must be tempered to be closer to reality. The reality may not be bleak, but if we dont stop bursting at the seams, we are very likely to burst right down the middle.

End of story. 

 

Demographic Dividend or Population Problem - Keeping them safe...

The third thing we spoke about in managing 14% of the world's population on 2% of area, was their physical safety.
Luckily for us, the National Crime Records Bureau has put all the statistics online - from 1953 onwards!

In addition to the numbers we see on this site, and their relevant correlations with the population, economic disparity and other factors, there is one more variable that we need to consider - the incidence of reporting. We know that the state of crime is bad in India. We know that the number of undertrial cases pending in our courts is staggering. We dont even need to see the numbers to know that in spite of trying our best, we as a country do NOT have the infrastructure required to :

1. Proactively predict and prevent crime
2. Find the guilty after the crime has been committed
3. Take the accused through a fair judicial process within "reasonable time" (Please note, we are not using the word "quickly" here. Just reasonable time, and even that is too much to ask for)
4. Once there is a verdict, one way or another, there is an administration system - ensuring that prisons are places that humans can inhabit, ensuring the parole system and where relevant, the rehabilitation system.

We simply have failed on each one of these necessary and vital actions of the state.

Irrespective of what we might think is the "ideal" population for a country like India, we do know that the current population levels are far, far above that "ideal" number.

At current numbers, we are unable to provide basic citizenship amenities. Governance, though an important part of the equation, is NOT the sole culprit.

What we have here is a classic situation of too few resources and too many claimaints to those resources. Any government can only try to optimise the allocation of resources, but the challenges we put to our governments are huge. And our ask is quite simply, impossible. At these numbers, we are tearing at the seams and about to burst.

In the next post, we will discuss nother assumption that one often hears in the Demographic Dividend context - more people mean more jobs and higher income.  

Demographic Dividend or Population Problem - Incomes

In the previous post, I spoke about the second factor required to maintain population in a country -per capita income. aka, enough money to keep body and soul together.

In that piece, we spoke about the impact of individual choices on family incomes and standards of living. These individual choices aggregate as national poverty statistics. The worst part of these wrong choices is that they lead to actual child abuse meted out by parents. But there is very little punitive action against parents who are responsible for abuse and child labour by their children.

In this piece, lets look at the per capita income and population from a different perspective. I googled to find out if a study has happened on the impact of family size on per head income in the family.

Here is a chart taken from a book called Human Development in India:




Image Courtesy - book Human Development in India

Lets break down this total income into per capita income by family size.

If the family has:
1 member : per capita income i likely to be 13435

At 2 members, however, that number is not 26870, it is 24000. Per capita income - 12000

3 members : per capita income - 10067 INR

4 member : per capita income - 9863 INR

5 member: per capita income - 10510 INR

we cannot calculate per capita income because the report says 6+, so the number could be for 6 member households or 11 member households.

So, with every member that we add to the family, our average per capita income diminishes almost uniformly, except for one spike at family size of 5.

Ceveat: The book mentions that because of economies of scale, a large family living together will spend less and so their total net worth will be higher..

Endpoint: A bigger family by itself does not mean higher income for the family. More people do not, by definition mean higher income for the country.

Demographic Dividend or Population Problem ?

I love these big sounding words - Demographic Dividend. And how India is all ready for greatness and all that because of this "demographic dividend" and all that.

So i did what i normally do on these occasions (meaning when one is totally lost) - google god.
It turns out, that Demographic dividend was not what i thought at all! Its not just that we have more people, but that we have more young people, who can potentially earn and add to our GDP.

See, what a lovely idea! Take a look at this if you dont believe me.

Except, i dont agree. There are some very basic flaws with the assumption that:
A. More people means more money or higher GDP
B. More people is a good idea by itself.

India is the 7th largest and the 2nd most populous country in the world. We have 2% of the world's land area. And we have 14.28% of the world's population. That is only based on the no. of Indians living in India. We support 14% of the world's population on 2% of the world's land. Does that tell you anything?

Different estimates indicate that we will overtake China anytime from 2015 to 2050. But no study anywhere indicates that we will become the 6th largest country anytime soon. Or that our land area will increase.

Why is that important?
This is why.

To sustain a population,we need some basic things:
1. Food
2. Money (aka Per Capita Income)
3. Physical Security

Food
The average land holding in India is 1.16 hectares, down from 1.34 hectares in 2000-1. About 80% of our cultivated area is used to grow basic food items. Around 50% of our land area is used for agriculture. Though we are among the highest producers of several basic food items, our productivity is way below global numbers.

These numbers do not indicate a healthy trend towards feeding our people. Accounting for economic disparity, it is a fact that thousands of Indians are literally starving to their deaths.  There is a number to it - 7000 Indians starve to their death every day. And 25 Lakh every year. One third of the world's hungry people live in India. One third. Way above our national average of one seventh of the world's population.

This is how bad it is.

We may have the food, but we simply do not have the mechanism to feed all the mouths we give birth to. The shrinking average land holding is a reality directly caused by population.

 

my intolerant india

Why is it, that its perfectly legit to criticise some religions, and "intolerant" to even discuss some others?

I demand  the right to discuss the principles and practices of all religions with equal freedom. Not as a politician, but as a sociology student. These principles and practices affect the tapestry of the society we live in. Why can we not discuss them with candour?

Likewise, I think there is need for open debate on the various cultures from different parts of India, and how they contribute to the country that is India. Why is Bihar among the poorest? Why did Bangalore become the IT capital and not Hyderabad? How can we learn the lessons if we dont even speak! ?

All dimensions of society - religion, language, region, caste and others - contribute to the weave. We have a right to discuss each one of these dimensions - freely and openly. Not in closed drawing rooms where the negatives are whispered and the supposed positives are highlighted very loudly - without conviction.

 

The Child Labour you did not know about

Warning: Controversy ahead

There is this training for children. Every year, thousands of children go into depression because of this. A few hundreds even commit suicide. Yet there is no law against it and no one talks against it.

We say that children should not work. Yet we think nothing of burdening not just their bodies, but also their minds, with content that they are unlikely to use again for a long time. We see no crime in taking them away from curiosity and pushing them into memory games that they nothing for the spirit.

Why is it, that no one thinks of formal education as child labour? Because, inherent in this whole "education is best for children" lie, is the assumption that formal schooling is the only kind of "education" that a child should get. Anything else is "child labour".

Yet, to a child not interested in rote learning, or what we call "formal education" that is the worst form of child labour - where you tame the spirit and teach the mind to absorb rather than question.

Even in the new age schools that promote discovery and a spirit of enquiry rather than rote learning, there is a curriculum to be covered.

Obviously, there is nuffink that is universally suitable. So i want to know why parents of multiple generations have believed the lie that formal schooling is the "only best thing" for their children? Why did no one look at their children and say, "this one? he wants to learn vocational work. His heart is in wood."

I am not saying keep children unlettered. Nor am i saying that we should accept child labour for what it is. I just want to modify the definition of child labour - What a child is being forced to do is child labour. A child labours in school just as s/he labours in a vocation.

Why do we need a second name?

Some of my friends have a very simple naming convention. They just take the father's / husband's name as their last name and thats that.

Last night, i was thinking, its such a lovely way. And then it occured to me: Other than filling up forms and reinforcing patriarchy, a second name doesnt do anything. For anyone.

It helps us slot people into stereotypes. It hurts the society by reinforcing the very pernicious caste system that we are trying to get rid of.

There was a brilliant Idea advertisement, where the protagonist comes up with the idea that henceforth, people will be known only by their phone nos. No caste, no religion, nuffink.

So, why do we need a second or last name at all?

 

in this country, politics is in safe hands. the thinkers dont vote, and the voters dont think. :)
 

Hit and Run will continue in India

Last night, i saw an episode on TV(based on a real story) . A young man was hit by a motorbike and then, in a critically injured state, was hauled into the bushes next to the road because the inebriated riders wanted to avoid conviction.

All day, i thought about the heartlessness of it all. To hit someone in an inebriated state is bad enough. To physically throw them at a place where you know they wont be able to get medical attention, is pure murder.

Today, on the way home, someone ran to cross the road. It was a 5 lane road and i was in the 3rd lane. The person started running from the 5th lane. I had to apply emergency brakes. So did at least 2 other vehicles.

And then. I thought.

This is what would happen in a logical place had i accidently hit the person:
1. I take him to hospital.
2. While the patient is being administered medical aid, the police arrives.
3. IDs of both parties are checked and statements taken from both.
4. I was driving within the speed limit, with the seat belt on. He was running (not just jaywalking, running) to cross the road at a place where there was no pedestrian light, no zebra corssing. In short, no place or right to cross the road.

Here is what will happen in India:
1. I take him to hospital.
2. No matter what the condition of the patient, the hospital will not start treatment till the police arrive. Most likely, they will ask me to take the patient to a public hospital. Especially if he is not well to do.
3. The police arrive. Both IDs are checked. I am booked for rash driving, my vehicle is impounded and i spend the night in jail.

This is why Hit and Run will continue in India:
1. When planning roads and flyovers and fancy toll roads, pedestrian subways and crossings are not planned at all. Its as if pedestrians dont exist, much less their rights.

2. When traffic lights are installed, pedestrian lights should be installed too. They seldom are. Where they are installed, they are rarely used.

3. Two wheelers think that they dont have a vehicle. They have a stunt machine, and the road is not for transportation. It is a stadium for their racing championshiops. Bigger vehicles need to look out for a motobike appearing out of nowhere suddenly, then apply emergency brakes. If they happen to be rearended by the vehicle behind in the process, too bad. The other vehicles are life insurance providers anyway.

4. Bicycles and Cycle Rickshaws want to use the same roads, but with no intention of using also the same rules. There is no lane discipline for them, no one ways and no traffic lights. they go where they please, just because they can. When they get hit, the blame lies squarely on the other person. I have never understood this.

So, Hit and Run will continue in India. Not because people are heartless, but because our administrators plan badly, and we have poor citizens. Very, very bad citizens. And thats the scourge of India.

Why i dont talk about Jiah Khan's suicide..

We think we can neatly label everything and put it in boxes. "This? oh this belongs in that category. "That? oh thats in that box."

15 year old in love? oh thats under the label "infatuation" - she will get over it.

40 year old in love? if its male, thats "middle age afflction" - he will get over it.
If its female, "cougar syndrome, it will never work out."

25 year old and unemployed? "These days kids dont like to work. No wonder there is so much unemployability"

40 year old and unmarried? "Its so hard to get married these days if you dont do it at the right age"

We know, in advance, the cause and outcome of everything. We are so good at labeling and packaging. Suppose, we stopped, at some point, and looked at the GOODS?

Labeling helps us understand stuff, because after all, things do fall in some patterns. But the risk of labeling is that we tend to do it as a matter of habit - ALL the time, and fail to see the distinctive nature of some things. In missing those some things, we miss out on a lot in life. Because it is the distinctive stuff that makes up the special moments in life.

Today, almost everyone who cares has a theory about why a young girl committed suicide and whether or not her boyfriend should be charged with abetment to suicide.

But sit back and think, do we know enough? To speak and opine, one way or another?

The 1984 riots and how they deprived us of the one thing - hope.

The 1984 riots are a miracle in human history, because NO ONE KILLED THEM, and yet, 2700 people burnt to their death in the biggest known occurence of spontaneous human combustion(look that up).

 

For 29 years, the victims have waited patiently, hearing after hearing, court after court.. for SOMEONE to be convicted. But miraculously, NOT ONE of the leaders who killed thousands in the most brutal way, not one of them was convicted.

 

Today, as Sajjan Kumar was also acquitted, i lose all hope.

 

Waris Shah, a well respected Sufi poet from Punjab, wrote of the plight of Heer - a daughter of Punjab. Many centuries later, Amrita Pritam, a Punjabi poetess, saw the massacre of partition, the rapes and the forced conversions, and wrote a very famous poem, in which she exhorted Waris Shah to rise from his grave and see. When he saw one daughter of Punjab cry, he wrote a long story about her. What will he do today, when millions of daughters cry in the land of Heer?

 

Today, this comes, straight out of grief. There is no other emotion. No anger, no rage, not even a hollow sense of injustice. Just. Grief. and an emptiness that cannot be filled.

 

The piece is in Punjabi, and borrows from the original of Amrita Pritam.. because today, i know what it is to not have a single living soul to look up to for hope or solace.

 

ਆਜ ਆਖਾਂ ਅਖਬਾਰਾਂ ਨੂ,

ਕਿੱਤੇ ਪ੍ਰੇਸਾਂ ਵਿਚੋਂ ਬੋਲ

ਇਕ ਧੀ ਮਰੀ ਸੀ 

ਤੂ ਲਖਾਂ ਅਖਰ ਵਗਾਏ (ਅਥਰੂ ਵਰਗੇ) ..

... ਆਜ 2700 ਲਾਸ਼ਾਂ ਪੁਛਦੀਯਾਂ ,

ਕੀ ਸਾਡੇ ਲਹੁ ਦਾ ਮੋਲ ?

 

ਕੋਈ ਇਕ ਨਾ ਅਖਰ ਬੋਲੇ,

ਕੋਈ ਇਕ ਨਾ ਅਥਰੂ ਰੁਡਯਾ ,

ਬੀਬੀ ਬੈਠੀ ਸੁਬਕਦੀ ,

ਕੋਈ ਇਕ ਨਾ ਲਁਗੇ ਕੋਲ...

 

ਆਜ ਆਖਾਂ ਜ਼ਮੀਰ ਨੂ,

ਕਿੱਤੇ ਕਬਰਾਂ ਵਿਚੋਂ ਬੋਲ 

ਤੂ ਉਸ ਵੇਲੇ ਵੀ ਚੀਖਦਾ , 

ਜੱਦੋਂ ਬੁੱਲ ਰਹੰਦੇ ਅਡੋਲ 

 

ਆਜ ਆਖਾਂ ਚੀਖਾਂ ਨੂ,

ਜਿਗਰਾ ਫਾੜ ਕੇ ਪਾਓ ਸ਼ੋਰ 

ਡੋਰੇ ਸਾਰੇ ਜਜ ,

ਸਾਡੇ ਹੌਕੇਯਾਂ ਨੂ ਕਰਨ ਖਮੋਸ਼ .

आज आखां अखबारां नु,

कित्ते प्रेसां विचों बोल 

इक धी मरी सी,

तू लखां आखर वगाये (अथरू वर्गे)

...आज २७ ० ०  लाशां पुछ्दियाँ ,

की साडे लहू दा मोल ?

 

कोई इक न आखर बोले 

कोई इक न अथरू वगेया 

बीबी बैठी सुबकदी ,

कोई इक न लंगे कोल ...

 

आज आखां ज़मीर नू 

कित्ते कब्रां विचों बोल 

तू उस वेले वी  चीखदा 

जद्दों बुल रहंदे अडोल 

 

आज आखां चीखां नू 

जिगरा फाड़ के पाओ शोर 

डोरे सारे जज ,

साडे हौकयाँ नु करण खमोश .

 

Please see the comment for a translation.

Indira Priyadarshini

25 years ago, on this day, I was a perky 7 year old. Stuck in a friend’s house in Jammu bcs the road to Katra was blocked by snow. Sometime at midday, when uncle came home for lunch, he told the elders that Indira Gandhi has been killed. All of us laughed in his face, asking him to stop spinning tall tales..
In a while, there was a curfew, we were told to forget abt Katra, and I remember being driven through curfew, to “safety”. I remember boarding a train to Delhi. I remember the journey, and what happened at Delhi.

25 years is a long time to wait for justice. It’s a long enough time to see an entire generation, left fatherless and education-less, gone nowhere.. children massacred and the sheer ruthlessness of the whole thing..

In 25 years, I have not understood the logic of this plan.. not understood why it had to be so barbaric , and not understood why no justice has been possible, in all the 25 years..

Not ONE culprit punished. However, all of them have been elevated by the Congress High Command. Answers, anyone?

Oh, and if u are planning to write in the comments section, a la Manmohan, that 1984 should be “forgotten”, here is my reply:
If you want me to forget 1984, sure, I will do it. Just allow me to pull your men and your young male children, drag them out of the house, pour kerosene on them, and then, put a burning tyre around their neck. Allow me to let you see all this, and you should also see me laugh hysterically at your wails, and at the wails of the one being charred to their death. Let me hack your child to pieces, a little 2 year old, who was caught while he was still wondering what just happened. Let me do this in your full view, forcing you to see this right after you have seen your husband and /or young son being burnt with a tyre around his neck, when none of your neighbors could, or did, come out to help. Let me leave you with 3 generations of just widows.

Now, tell me, how long do you need to forget all this happened? How long will you wait for the judiciary to bring you justice? How long will you wait before you become a terrorist to avenge your dead? How many of the victim Sikhs went on to become terrorists in this country after 1984? They could have. And they have waited, patiently, year on year, for the justice system of this country, to deliver that justice to them. 25 years.

And you think it’s a sin to remember?