She smiled!

A smile is a wonderful thing.

Yesterday, I got back in touch with somebody I had been trying very hard to avoid for more than a month. We had been rather good friends, but certain issues had cropped up between us – more professional than personal. The result: I had gone off on a rather snooty high horse, pretending that she did not exist. I did acknowledge her mails and messages but did so in a rather cold tone, discouraging any further communication. I would see her on the chat but would not say a word.

Was I happy? The hell I was. I was miserable. Work hit a bad phase. I tried to keep myself busy but well, something was missing. Yesterday, I finally decided to drop her a few mails, just like I used to in the past. And she responded. We were both online for a while and chattered away amiably of this and that. Of course, we blamed each other for being out of touch.

And then she smiled.

Well, she did not really smile. She just put a smiley icon in her chat. But I realised that there is nothing – nothing! - quite like seeing someone you are immensely fond of smile at you. Even in a chat. All the trouble at work did not matter. The daft contract that a stupid client had handed to me did not matter. Who cared? She was smiling!

I know I will probably argue with her again. Something tells me that she will again do something that will break my heart or upset me. Or maybe this time, I will say something rude and she will do the walking away. And then we will once more go into this silent fencing routine - me sulking, she silent. And who knows, maybe next time no one will apologise and we will just go our separate ways with our memories of each other.

But until then, what the heck, I have plenty to be happy about.

You see, she smiled!

Some poverty line!

Twelve rupees a day.

Evidently, if you can earn that much in India, you are above the poverty line. I got the shock of my life when I discovered this in MJ Akbar's editorial in yesterday's Asian Age.

Let's see – twelve rupees a day. That makes it – about three hundred and sixty rupees a month. What is the bare essentials one needs for an existence – a roof over one's head, some food and clothing? Can one get all that in Rs. 360 per month?

Well, one must! Because if one is earning that much, one is above the poverty line! No wonder the Government claims that almost three-fourth of the country is above the poverty line. If you are earning Rs 13 per day, you cannot be poor. You may not be able to afford food, clothing or any kind of accommodation (heck, even a room in a slum in cities comes for more than Rs 12 a day). You may not have enough money be able to support a family, send your child to school or even afford a doctor when one of you falls ill. But hey, you are not poor if you are earning Rs. 13 per day.

Makes you wonder, doesn't it? With such a definition of poverty, who wants to be rich!?

Forget domination, just do your best!

The Times of India today came out with a full page ad asking its readers (of course, the term “us” is used throughout, indicating we are all one happy family) to “stop basking in our glorious past” and start “dominating today.” Of course, I could go on and rant about how disgraceful it is that the nation’s leading newspaper prefers to put an ad of its own initiative before the main news, but that is a theme that can be picked up on another day.

My main concern is with the words “dominate” and “lead,” both of which are used in the advertisement – incidentally, the initiative is called ‘Lead India.’ Both are perfectly legitimate words. And both sound wonderful and dramatic.

Both also have a hidden meaning. When you dominate, you dominate somebody. When you lead, you lead somebody. Both dominate and lead indicate the presence of a follower – a person who has to be led or dominated. To be ruled. We were dominated and led by the British for almost two centuries. Do we want to do the same thing now?

You can accuse me of being obsessed with semantics. Perhaps I am. But to be honest, I am not sure I want to dominate or lead. I am one of those who believes that leading is necessary only in times of crisis or panic. In normal day-to-day life, a person should be allowed to make his or her own choices.India does not need leaders. The lord knows we have had more than our fair share of them – some good, most abysmal. What India needs is equality – of opportunity, wealth, and justice.

I don’t want India to become a superpower. There is very little to be gained by becoming a superpower, apart from the option of forcing trade terms on weaker nations or invading them. What I want is a nation where children don’t beg on the streets. A nation where a policeman does not ask openly for a bribe to do (or not do) his duty. A nation where justice is dispensed in a fair manner to all. A nation in which everyone has access to good healthcare and education. I don't want great generals, I want a great army. I don't want a superstar captain, I want a great team!

You don’t need to "get up, stand up and be counted" to make a difference. You just need to do your best. To do your duty. Not as specified in a corporate or government manual, but your duty as a human being. This is, after all, the land of the Gita (which incidentally, was written in the same “glorious past” that the paper wants us to stop “basking in”) which told us - “do your duty and do not worry about rewards.”

Domination? Leadership? You can keep it. I would rather walk with someone than force him or her to follow a certain path. And I am not going to stop “basking in my glorious past” just because a publication that values an advertisement more than news tells me to!

A final note to TOI: ‘Domination’ is not the only word that begins with ‘do’. Some of the words that begin with those two letters are distinctly unpleasant – dope, doofus, doormat...

Does track record matter?

“Have you seen his/her track record?”

Those were the words that were offered by the head of an organisation as a rationale for the selection (and retention) of one of the most unprofessional people I have seen in recent times. The person had served in a number of very well-known organisations but still seemed to know appallingly little about the job, and worse, seemed more inclined to grab a pay cheque and run, rather than work.

Still, he/she had a good track record. Evidently, that gives one licence to do just about anything and get away with it. Because hey, look at their track record! Someone who has worked in such high-profile organisations cannot be an ass!

Is that so?

I would beg to differ. There is no organisation in the world that does not have its share of prime idiots. In fact, I would go so far as to say that a person who has worked in a smaller organisation is likely to be far more efficient or hard-working than one who has been in a high-profile organisation, simply because the former work so much harder. I have seen a team of three people generate far better content for a magazine than a team of about ten people working in a much bigger organisation. The reason? Well, the three worked much harder while eight of the ten in the other organisation were too busy avoiding work! And yet, if someone looks at their professional profiles, it is probable that the eight who did no work at all would be considered as having a better track record than the three who did.

If this is management, give me a break!

This is not to say that all those who work in well-known institutions are dumbos or all those who work in smaller ones are models of efficiency. All I want to say is that you cannot really judge a person solely by his or her track record. Actions always speak louder than words, especially those on your resume (heck, who writes anything bad in their resume, anyway?).

All of which reminds of a Hindi film in the 1980s called Jalwa in which Naseeruddin Shah plays the role of a police officer who has been taken off a sensitive case. When he objects, his senior tells him, “The new officer has more experience.” Naseer’s response: “Sir, insaan aur achaar mein kuchch to farak hota hai!” (Sir, there must be some difference between pickle and a human being!)

I rest my case. I have nothing against a good track record or stacks of experience. But I would trade them all for someone who is sincere and actually works, rather than pretends to.

David vs Goliath, October 29, 2000, Gaza

All your armies, All your fighters,
All your tanks and all your soldiers.
Against a boy holding a stone,
Standing there all alone.
In his eyes, I see the sun,
In his smile, I see the moon.
And I wonder, I only wonder.
Who is weak and who is strong,
Who is right and who is wrong.
And I wish, I only wish.
That the truth has a tongue.

(Poem by Qaseem Qaseem in tribute to Faris Odeh - the boy throwing the stone at the tank. For more on Faris Odeh, read the blog entry below. Picture taken from www.intifada.com)

When the odds are overwhelming...fight!

"It doesn't matter what you do, things won't change."

How often do we hear those words, advising us to just grin and bear something that is wrong simply because "the system is too corrupt," "no one really cares," and "what difference will it make?"

Similar words were perhaps said to twelve-year-old Faris Odeh on October 29, 2000, when Israeli tanks rolled into Gaza. He was forbidden to go out from his house because there was fighting outside. Bullets and shells were being fired. His father threatened to thrash him if he so much as stepped out of the house. His mother begged him not to go out.

Faris went out into the street. But he did not go unarmed. He went with all the weapons he could find. And when he came within range of the tanks, he unleashed them.

Faris Odeh threw a stone at a tank.

He threw a lump of stony earth against one of the most deadly fighting machines made on the earth. One that was made of several layers of reinforced steel and iron. One that had enough firepower to destroy his entire neighbourhood. Hoping to damage it with a stone was like hoping for an echo after dropping a rose petal from Mount Everest.

Still, Faris threw the stone. He could have stayed indoors like many other Palestinians. He could have shut the doors and windows and pretended nothing was wrong. Or maybe even wept silently in shame, and participated in a protest march on another day. Because no matter what he did, things would not change. Israel would not leave Palestine. The tanks would always be able to come and go as they wished.

But he didn't. The tank was on his land. And he would not tolerate its presence. So he went and fought with all he had – a little pile of stones.

He knew the odds. He knew he could not win. Still, he fought. He dared to light a candle in a whirlwind. Because anything – even certain death – was better than suffering in silence.

Cynics will point out that while Faris was brave, the stone he threw did not really make a difference. Israel is still in Palestine and can send in tanks whenever it wishes. They could not be more wrong.

By that one gesture – that one stone thrown at a tank – Faris inspired thousands of his countrymen. Rare is the house in Palestine today that does not have a picture of the twelve-year-old boy confronting a tank with a stone in his hand. He did not drive the tanks out of his land, but he gave his people reason to believe. And he showed the world that no matter what the odds, one can always fight.

The next time you feel something grossly unfair is happening, see if you can do something about it – sign a petition, send an application, donate some money, file a case in court...anything. And if someone tells you that it won't make a difference, just think about the Palestinian boy.

Whatever you do will have more chance of success than Faris Odeh had when he faced a tank with a pile of pebbles that day in Gaza!

(Faris Odeh was killed in Isreali gunfire ten days after the stone-throwing incident, and is revered to this day as a martyr of the Al Aqsa Intifada. Every year, Al Awda presents the Faris Odeh Activism Award to those who have stood up against injustice.)

Give up...move on...be happy :)

The title says it yet again (I realise I no longer enjoy reading or writing looooong stories and hence, would describe what's happening in my life in one liners). Well, this is going to be my style for the next few days till I really have many things to talk about.