Dying Passion Or Dying For Passion?

There is saying in this country born out of the youngsters wisdom on the state of affairs here “In India, you become an engineer first and then you figure out what you want to do”

For a country that gave the world her zero her algebra, the Raman effect and a genius like Ramanujan we now have to lament in the fact that people leave a profession for another and do the same again in a year as soon as contractual obligations are complete is a cause for worry and also a reason for introspection.

People searching for what they are meant for is a rare case in this country however where people have become so bent on adjusting that we hardly notice what we are doing anymore. The dreamers are either able to succeed due to some miracle or they simple are leaving our shores for better markets and are realizing their dreams elsewhere. When you ask about what makes people leave the jobs they are doing and search for new jobs, we can have a lot of answers. The first and most obvious one is job satisfaction. I know people think and believe why a person is not satisfied by a job but believe me when I say no person is so simple that we can fathom out his true reasons. That being said however the most major reasons that this is happening can be classified into a few major subheadings or sub-reasons.

Majority of people in India admire and look for the word job security. Gone were the days when only a government job meant job security, nowadays a guy with a job out of campus placements is someone with job security. The first job in someone’s life is supposed to hold special meaning to him or her but unfortunately this term has pretty much forced quite a few youngsters in this country to take the first job they are offered in their campus recruitment. They give their best for the job out of uncertainty if they will be able to qualify in the future for other jobs. Supposing that they get it they become lax in their future efforts out of the confidence that they have got a job and that they don’t need another one or a few people get overconfident and go screw up their chances. These two cases result in one thing: you have a job, but it most likely is not the job you wanted or dreamed yourself doing. What happens later is that you hate yourself, kick yourself and try to get out of that job and try for your dream job later on. Some lucky ones succeed, for others well your just out of plain luck mate.

The second category of people, dream big. Indians following out Ex-President His Excellency Dr. A.P.J Abdul Kalam’s words “Dream, Dream, till your dreams are transformed to reality” and the second set of words “Dreams should not be something that you see when you sleep but something that shouldn't let you sleep”. I believe that the wise Dr.Kalam meant was that everyone should work exceptionally hard to achieve what they want. However these people being somewhat intelligent dream that them reaching or obtaining their dream job as a dream. They forget that getting the job is the easy part, keeping is harder. They give their everything to get their dream job but aren't prepared for the hard wok that comes after. After all dream jobs aren't easy otherwise everyone would have one. These kind of people are the high spirited dreamers who once n the job get cold feet because of the responsibilities and the work load. They start shorting out and unable to cope with the load just walk out of their jobs one day. They are simple lay people with high dreams and higher expectations of themselves and contribute a large amount of the deserters in any army.

The third kind are the people who might get a couple of offers but accept most likely the highest paying one because of a host of reasons such as societal pressure, parental pressure or financial affairs. The thought of what x’s mother’s y^th aunt might tin kiss a big factor in India and it causes undue pressure on someone looking for a job. These people though are declining in the current scenario still contribute a bit. They feel self pity/loathing depending on other factors. They usually are more worried about what others think and often take undue and un-needed stress upon themselves. A few bear up to it. A few put on bravado for some time and tuck tail and run away at the first sign of trouble or at the first opportunity available. These weak willed weasels can never get anywhere and will probably keep shifting jobs to more important looking and sounding titles for all of eternity. They just aren’t satisfied with what they got but neither are they strong enough to bear up with the bigger tasks. The other kind s parental pressure. Similar in circumstances but the major difference being that the influence of parents reduces as one grows older/marries/parents dying. This causes this kind to get out of the emotional turmoil perhaps with some support or perhaps due to lack of guidance from other sources(like constant parental advice). The degree of freedom will help them settle somewhere instead o being jumping jacks.

The last case is of the people in financial trouble. These people are the diligent handworkers. They are the people who take a job because they have to and the only reason they’d jump ship was if they were offered a job closer to their dreams (if not their dream job) while the pay was equal at least or better. They will work hard in any job but they will work with passion on their dream job. However a small problem with this kind of people is that they will only switch when they are young. Though getting older should make men wise it doesn't seem to be the case with these people. They get comfortable and averse to switching jobs later on even if it their dream job. Job security comes into play once they are settled.

Overall the more alarming thing is the fact that inspite of all the jumping around that people do trying to find their dream job India is hardly the place to support it. Most of all the system is to blame for turning the people this way. We are a country that votes by caste, votes for money or alcohol  and yet complains that no development takes place. We are a country that crushes the young people’s dreams and make enigmatic statements like “if one Abraham Lincoln was born in America then 100 Abraham Lincolns should be born in India”. Dear sirs and madams if you crush the dream of every childhood Abraham Lincoln then he will remain stitching slippers or writing code for another company instead of becoming the president or prime minister. For a country known for its It coding prowess we haven’t created one coding language or built one plane on our own. The innovation of the ancients is all but gone in the current country. Those with intelligence and resources are leaving the country and those without resources are jumping around trying to find “dream” jobs. While the rest are either trying to maintain status quo or doing their best to spoil what name is left of the country. Only a few intelligent fools are trying to maintain the balance by staying back and trying to repair all the damage. It is yet to be seen which way the outcome will sway.

This article was originally written and featured in www.pandaartworks.com

WHY A FAILED STATE??

August 14^th 2014: Pakistan’s Independence Day

The leader of the Pakistan Thereek-e Insaf (translated: movement for justice) party announces the Azadi march to rid the country of the current government that he claims was elected because of electoral rigging committed by them. More importantly he demands for electoral reforms and for eliminating corruption.

August 16^th 2014: The Azadi march reaches Islamabad

September 1 2014: Clashes reach a peak in Islamabad and protestors even enter the secretariat and the government channels PTV’s premises and cause destruction.

September 12^th 2014: Many PTI workers involved in the attacks and arrested and the protests in Islamabad wind down but the movement in overall is moderately alive

December 1^st 2014: PTI chief threatens to shut down the country on 16^th December since no action was taken on his demands for a better democracy. Many people of influence criticize him for trying to hijack pakistan’s black day. Imaran Khan changes the dates to accommodate this sentiment.

December 16^th 2014: Tehrek-e Taliban (Pakistan) terrorists attack an army school in Peshawar and kill a 133 innocent children, Injure a lot many more of them and also end up killing 9 adults who were with the children as their teachers and caretakers.
Prime Minister Nawaz Shrrif says that there is no good or bad Taliban and a day of reckoning would arrive for them.

December 17^th 2014: The dreaded terrorist  Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi is granted bail by a court in Rawalpindi.
Imran Khan announces an end to the protests (temporarily)

The confusion about the two events being mentioned continuously is baffling generally. The link is as such that it is capable of explaining why Pakistan is called a failed state and how it keeps proving that over and over.

Terrorism and Pakistan go hand in hand. The Pakistani establishment has for long used the terrorists to first oppose the USSR in Afghanistan and then to wage a long and deadly proxy war against India. The words of the Pakistani Prime Minister are noteworthy. He never said there were good terrorists and bad terrorists. He only stated that there is no good Taliban and bad Taliban. For all the people who claim I see ghosts where there are none and his statement should be interpreted as applying to all terrorists please answer his. While the whole nation was in shock and mourning the next day morning a court in Rawalpindi goes ahead and releases a man marked as a terrorist by the rest of the world except Pakistan. Pakistan doesn’t consider anyone who attacks India as a good terrorist and anyone who dares attack Pakistan as the Taliban. Gentlemen you people fail to realize that the very same snake that is biting you now was one you and the USA raised together with British help to help counter the Soviets while they were in Russia. They very same Taliban that you helped come to power later in Afghanistan. The very same Taliban that you evacuated under the cover of your citizens through the kunduz airlift and the very same Taliban whose leader you provided with shelter very close to your garrison. As a state Pakistan was ruled by its military more than anyone else. Its people still believe that India portioned Pakistan into Pakistan and Bangladesh into two for our own interests and that the reason Pakistan lost the war according to their own president was because the armed forces didn’t fight properly. Their own commission told them otherwise and the rulers fearing backlash classified the report and quashed it. The military always ran the country with what you can say was an India-fear centric approach. The Political rulers to say haven’t fared much better owing to the enormous influence of the armed forces and the intelligence and also the entrenched belief among the people of Pakistan about India wanting to conquer them. Also for the politicians in Pakistan, India is a way topic to divert matter just as caste and religion are for the politicians in India.

The terrorist being anyone killed 133 souls who had never wronged them even in thought. They created 133 coffins of unbearable weight just because they wanted to. I don’t condemn fighting in principle but if you want to fight, kill go fight with the people who are willing to fight you, go fight and kill the soldiers if you can. What have you achieved n killing so many young souls some of whom might have saved Pakistan for the better in the future. There are no words to describe a parents loss. Even in the words of one of them, he says “They finished in minutes what I had lived my whole life for”.  The military which holds so much sway in the country and attacks other countries couldn’t  even protect the life of a few of its children. No use having such a military in place, much less having one with so much influence.

The failure of Pakistan lies in the fact that it refuses to learn from its past mistakes, instead it chooses to lie to its citizens and keep them living in a dream. The soviets tried doing that some time back and we all know what resulted from that. One man who tried changing at least a bit of the country too seems to have given up now(though he says its temporary, It will be some time before he starts it back and the movement in all likelihood will never regain the momentum it had earlier because half the people are disheartened and the other half are afraid). The movement for change in Pakistan has lost its steam, its children lie six feet under, their parents destroyed lacking the will to even live, Their women afraid of going out and their citizens afraid of death more than they concentrate on living and all that it took was one big attack. Does the world need any more proof before calling Pakistan a failed state.

Terrorism and its evolution from Religion

The concept of terrorism from religion isn't something that is new in this world or it isn't something that surprised the various armies all around. The fact is that its been existing since the middle ages but it was confined to only middle Asia and some part of Europe especially the ones where the crusades were fought.

The concept of killing people of the opposite religion because you think they were trying to destroy your religion is an old concept which started with the crusades. During the crusades the church and the mosques constantly fought with each other for domination. The Christians formed The Knights of Christ to attack the holy cities and to take control of them for fear that expanding Islam would deny them even visiting rights to the places. the Soldiers of Islam meanwhile only fought what they too considered to be holy land against the Christian aggression. The war on both sides became about the holy land and hence was called Holy war in English or Jihad in Arabic.

The word of Jihad or holy war thus originated initially died down after crusades ended sometime in the mid 13th century but the recurrence of it is a rather interesting phenomenon. As all of us know the soviets invaded Afghanistan in the 1960's. It is generally known that everyone even a peasant would consider the country his mother and hence holy to him. the war for protecting one's motherland which was considered holy once again brought up the concept of jihad.This jihad was augmented by the Americans who fed and fueled the fire. Since not everyone understood the patriotism or the reason for fighting ni the remote places of such a country. The shrewd leaders there used the one thing that they could to unite their country to fight. THEIR COMMON RELIGION. This lead to the concept of common people believing that their religion was being desecrated and that they should fight against those desecrating. This caused further tensions to escalate even in other places simultaneously. Once their purpose was served the Americans withdrew and the people there started to grow and support other similar causes both against the USSR and the USA. The arrogance from winning a war gave them the confidence to operate form anywhere. The riches and the boredom of the Saudi oil sheikhs gave them their finances. The tree of religious terrorism slowly spread its poisonous roots all throught the world. They started acting at and against anything they considered was against their religion. From the concept which was used to unite a country against foreign aggressors the concept became wildly twisted and now plagues the world. They blow up civilians in a country which they believe has offended their Muslims even if that country does everything in their power to protect the very Muslims it contains. They try to kill people just for speaking their thoughts denying them the basic fundamental rights in any country on this planet. Their clout has grown so wide now that they command entire areas on this planet openly and threaten other peace loving democracies around the world just because they aren't following the path that the terrorist are. This concept and philosophy is not isolated to Islam alone, even a few Hindu's in India tried this and a few radical Christians from Europe and america tried it. The blame majorly rests on Islam for majority of the terrorists now present are from it. But personally Islam prohibits violence in all forms, especially against civilians, women and children in specific. Alas i guess the terrorists missed all the beautiful stuff Islam has to offer and caught on to only what they wanted. Misinterpreting it and causing untold mayhem throught the world.

PS: i may be wrong in my opinions
please fell free to voice you'r opinions out in the comments

The Meaning of Our Indian National Anthem

There are a lots of pages where you can find the literal translation of the Indian National Anthem, but few of what we find are as meaningful and as useful as the video here. This video is not new news as is normally posted here, but it is important news and above all it is something that not only gives the users something meaningful too see but also helps another noble cause

The blogger doesn't have any personal affiliations to the organisation but is amazed and awed by the message in it Wishing you all A Very Happy Independence Day and hoping for an even brighter future for our country.

Jai Hind

The Workings of Intelligence

The art of analysing what your enemy does is not as subtle as any novel or movie makes you believe. The enemy in any place is every bit as complicated as you are, every bit as simple as you are, every bit as deep and shallow as you are. The reason for those adjectives in the intelligence business is pretty obvious. The enemy also has a host of political, social, economic and psychological factors featuring in his decision. No enemy is simple. You have hassels getting clearance to run an operation, he too has hassles, not th same one or maybe not even similar ones but he has hassels nonetheless. For example take the examples of india Pakistan and afganistan. In india you would have to deal with the politicians currently in power and your own boss’s ego, In Pakistan you would have to deal with the army, the ISI and depending on where you are working the mujadiheen/fidayeen, In afganistan you would have to consult with the ISAF, The president/chief of intelligence and also wonder if the plan you have is right especially for the place you are working.

As field spooks will probably tell you working in every terrain and condition is as different from another as a cabbage is from an apple. The point being simple, you have a standard se tof rules, but u have to adapt those very rules to do your job properly. If you can walk in Kashmir like a local then you can blend in well there but if you try the same in Hyderabad or muzzafar nagar you probably will stand out instead of blending in, and standing out is a nightmare for any operative. The problem with any intelligence structure is the gap between its field agents and field officers. The field officers know best what to do when a gun is staring you straight in the face, but not how much it costs to bury  the mess. A field officer will grumble about being sent to some places, he will do it don’t u doubt that but he will grumble too about all that he is doing in the name of his country but he wont know why he is being ordered to the certain place. Of course anyone reading these arguments will tell you that compartmentalization is highly valued and extrememly important in any intelligence business. The fact that no one knows more than he needs to know is somwthing that every agency operated upon but the question always remains who is it that decides how much a field operative should know?? The same problem exists with analysts too. They are given all of their need to know data and asked to analyse and form conclusions from it. The thing about that is that, half knowledge always leads to wrong conclusions, every individual might understand the others in a different way. So the conclusion drawn out may be accurate but if they are not it might only be due to their lack of data. Hence the advisable thing to do is to have one chief analyst above all the  minions and have him analyse the whole picture at once. Unless that happens no proper analysis can take place. Of course this mechanism may already be in place in many of the organization but nevertheless one person second guessing 10 peoples opinion playing the devils advocate never arms anybody. However this is a procedure that can and should be undertaken for data for whose analysis atleast a day or two time exists. If the data need sot be handled quickly it is better to place the onus in the hands of a senior analyst and let him work, or for the sake of redundancy two senior analysts may be asked their opinion on the topic and their consolidated outputs taken into consideration.

As for field officers their command structure is to be entirely different, they cannot have a centralised command to keep an eye on them regularly. For officers working under diplomatic cover the centralized methodologies might work, but for agents who are not trying to centralize them is potentially asking for disaster. The intelligence agencies can themselves learn from the terrorist’ s book in this case. The sleeper cells of the terrorist are silent cells activated at the certain time. The intelligence agencies can use that methodology and pass information, all information they have on the agents target to the black agent once a while and at the same time retrieve all the intelligence he has gathered for th intermediate duration. Such practices will also boost the trust agents hav eint heir agencies. The security risk of handing out such data is paramount but the risk of not doing so is great too. The advantage of such agents is their ability to blend into the local populace and acquire intelligence with boots on the ground. The factors of risk are ever present in this business but the rewards when reaped are great in themselves.

I believe that intelligence agencies are already practicing the above said protocols and they are far more intelligent than any of us. However the above article is just an attempt to look into their functionsing and maybe justify their work to the common people.