007 Policy

The Double Zero Seven (007) Policy is my way of approaching the issues that are tearing apart our society and our Nation:

First, ZERO Tolerance for Crime:

Be it  any crime against any citizen, young or old, male or female; we as one social entity have to fight back to regain our rights to safety & security from the criminals that have infected our lives.  We must have a zero tolerance for all criminal activity.

Second, ZERO Tolerance for Social disparity (aka Reservations):

The national political parties consistently & constantly divide our  Nation along the fissures of Religion, Caste, Creed & Economy. This has turned us from being one proud & united nation to becoming enemies of ourselves, fighting & killing fellow citizens mindlessly, just to keep the various political parties in power. These vested interests are destroying talent, merit, honesty and credibility for their own agenda of massive corruption, nepotism, crony capitalism and treasury theft. We must have a zero tolerance for Reservations of any kind and insist on “meritocracy” for all. (No More Reservations).

The Seven Rules of Civilized Society that we must follow: 

“There is no place like home.” Find a congenial place and put down roots. Live in a home that you own (by yourself or in conjunction with family) and that is debt free. If you have a mortgage (literally “death grip” in Latin), make extra principle payments every month.

“The borrower is the slave of the lender.” The way out of that trap is to borrow as little money as possible, pay it back as soon as possible, and live debt free as possible. Don’t use a credit if you can avoid it. Consider carefully how and where you earn your money; aim for earning a “right livelihood”. Work with an inner understanding that you are following an honorable vocation that supports yourself and your family.

“Waste not, want not.” Minimize your energy use. Invest in energy conservation and alternative, renewable energies. Don’t use conventional high energy air conditioning (learn other strategies for dealing with the heat and humidity of summer). For transportation, the goal is to organize your life so you can live car free or alternatively, to minimize use of a personal vehicle.

“Gather your community.” Connect with your local neighbors and friends. This is not a time when the Lone Ranger will find much success. Be a good neighbor. Help your neighbors and friends and work with them to make your community more sustainable and resilient. Be active with civil society organizations or informal associations that are working for good causes and goals

“Be alert and aware.” Know what’s going on. Search out “side-stream” media for news and useful information. Tell others what is happening in your area and be generous in sharing knowledge and skills. Ignore the prevalent government and corporation propaganda. Don’t buy the lie that “what you do doesn’t matter” and avoid procrastination.

“Don’t let the perfect become the enemy of the good.” Do what you can, with what you have, where you are. If you can’t go all the way into sustainability right away, do small, easy things at first (“pick the low hanging fruit”) and as you get better at those, adopt bigger and more challenging goals. If you can’t do the best, it’s OK to be simply better, or at least good. Where your journey is taking you is important, and if you make some detours along the way and lose some time, get back on the road when and where you can. Avoid fools.

“Think globally, act locally. “ So, when the going gets rough, nobody gets thrown to the wolves. This is a basic principle of a civilization of life and love; we ignore it to our peril. Our first concern is naturally for those who are closest to us, but that can’t be the extent of our involvement. Our families, friends, and neighborhoods are impacted directly by world events. An injury to one indeed is an injury to all: we must make injustice visible and protect the poor and the powerless. The more solidarity and cooperation that is present in a society, the more resilient, just, and sustainable it becomes.

ACT TODAY, GAIN ALWAYS !

Protecting our Protectors: Protecting Our Protectors - Why Sachin Suryavanshi...

THURSDAY, 28 MARCH 2013

Protecting Our Protectors - Why Sachin Suryavanshi cannot be left to fend for himself

You can choose to be indifferent, but not forever. Your misplaced hope that someone else, somewhere, some how will fix this society for you while you keep trying to make the most of your life may well be driving you down a path of future regret and failure - In the eyes of yourself, your family and your society.

What is to come of you should tomorrow your daughter be molested, son murdered, parents heckled or worse? What if these acts were to be committed by someone who cannot be investigated and cannot fall within the realms of law? What if the perpetrators are one of the MLAs or their family member who just got a little more emboldened as ASI Sachin Suryavanshi lies at a hospital, suspended from police service, thrashed by MLAs in the Vidhan Sabha - all for ensuring that an MLA was duly challaned for over-speeding.

Go on, hope that the worse never happens to you or your family. Shirk your responsibility to the nation, your society and to yourself and fatally hope and pray instead. Donate to temples, give to charity and hope that because you pay a "moral hypocrisy" tax, bad will not befall you. Its not the first time for most of us. Lets shirk once again. Lets believe our life is more important and worthy of other things. Lets hope that someone else will fix the mess for us.

Well here is Mr. Sachin Suryavanshi. He is trying to fix a big mess for you! He is trying to uphold his sacred oath of duty to maintain the rule of law and to hold all people equal in the eyes of law. He knew what he was getting into, but he stayed course. He says that he will rather leave the force and return to his village than to take this humiliation that now awaits him - something for which you are giving your politicians a free hand. A fine foot soldier who wanted to make a life built on the foundations of courage and integrity will go back to his village, disgraced.

And what will you do? WHAT will you do?

Do you think virtues of courage and integrity should be protected in testing settings like the police force which is hopelessly under the political thumb? Do you believe it is the right thing to do to let these virtues of courage and integrity be subverted by power hungry misappropriations? 

If you know what is the right thing to do, if you believe that Suryavanshi was doing the right thing, then how can you console yourself into inaction? As you act, so shall be the society you will build for yourself and your family. 

No society is built by random accidents. Its people take decisions on what they will stand for and against. Little drops of convictions converge and build a stream that whips up an ocean one day.

You can look at yourself as one little helpless drop again today. Or you could believe that this little drop too can merge with other little drops and make a sum larger than their individual parts.

It is no longer about Mr. Suryavanshi. It is about what must not be allowed. A policeman tried to protect all of us by trying to uphold the law and treating all people equal within it.

The price of inaction is severe and more of us need to shake out of the delusion that the sins of our collective inaction will never boomerang back on us. As Mr. Suryavanshi pays the price of political retribution for complying with his duty, it is time for more of us to resolve to protect our protectors. 

Gouging the Rich never helps the poor...

 

I have always been concerned that too many of our people are simple, too willing to accept all the propaganda that is showered upon them daily by the politicians and the government’s propaganda machine. That is why I provoke people into thinking for themselves, and not blindly accepting all that they are spoon-fed by the media.

And this brings us to an issue close to our hearts, or rather to our wallets. Taxation! It is time to get serious and tough about the tax policies in our country. Look at the size of our deficit. It grows every year. We could cut spending and we need to do that, but there is clearly a need for more revenue. We cannot and should not reduce defense spending and we cannot cut all of the middle class entitlements. We cannot cut expenses on any major fronts. And, we cannot continue to try and rob the rich. Tax evasion has been a major activity in our lives specifically because the government has been punitive against the rich in India. Because of this entrepreneurs are not motivated to invest into modernization of technology or Research and Development and instead try to either invest into tax-free environments or into farmland schemes. And who are the people who are hurt the most by this? The white collared middle class suffers the most.

Instead of trying to bring down the achievers in our country, who make a lot of money; instead of trying to punish these people for working hard and succeeding; what we should do is teach others how to succeed. We have to keep trying to motivate others to put in their hard work rather than be pacified by indictments of the rich and promises that they will be made to pay more than their fair share because they are rich. Of course, the government’s answer to increase revenue is simple; just raise taxes on the middle class. One of the reasons that India has a constant recession is because the middle class does not have any more money to give to the government. The middle class has been taxed at a confiscators rate for 65 years and is now broke.

Taxes go up every year. And they go up the most on the middle class & the rich, because that is where the bulk of the money is, that cannot be hidden from the government. Consider the taxes we pay on cooking gas, petrol, food, clothing, and entertainment. When you add it all up, is it any wonder that we are perennially broke? The average middle class family cannot afford to give their children good schooling or health because, instead of using their money to support their children; they are supporting a giant, bloated cow in New Delhi called the Government of India.

The middle class coupled with the rich should make this country work well. Should, but never does. What is slowing this country down? I will say out loud what it is. The Poor. And the Farmers. I can almost hear the howls of protest from many people, but the reality is that the poor, the farmers and the so-called backward classes of our country have been having a free ride since independence. It has become noble to remain poor or backward. Look at how we treat those who shun money and wealth. We celebrate them, make romantic figures of them. We make movies about them and teach people that it is wonderful to be destitute. The poor of our country, combined with the farmers are the largest herd of calves feeding off the mother cow in New Delhi. They feed off the largess of our government and give nothing in return. Nothing! They get all the benefits and they are the ones always pandered to by the politicians. 

The government has been encouraging poverty by subsidizing the increasing number of poor. And politicians love giving money away to the poor because it makes the poor dependent on the politicians and helps to ensure re-elections. And do the poor pay anything back to the nation? No. Do they pay any taxes? No; because they are poor and cannot afford to pay taxes. They do nothing, but take from the nation. On one hand there is the middle class who are infusing everything into the nation’s economy. These are the people who work hard every day, throughout their life; always obeying the rules and contributing their fair share and more. These are the givers. And who are the takers? The poor, of course!

Insp Sujata Patil v/s Cowards

This entire blog below is from Media Crooks www.mediacrooks.com 

I am reproducing it as my support to Inspector Sujata Patil; the only police officer in Mumbai to have the guts to take on the Muslim fanatics that are destroying my Maharashtra.

 "Sujata Patil wrote her poem in anger against those rioters at Azad Maidan who molested female cops and destroyed the AmarJawan memorial. The very activists who cried “death” to rapists couldn’t stand a poem against molesters of women. Sujata only wrote a poem with metaphors suggesting hands molesting women or destroying monuments be chopped off. She was actually lamenting the helplessness of the Police and public in general rather than calling for any violent action. Her poem was written in Marathi and published in an internal Newsletter (November 2012) of Mumbai police. Many translations of this poem in English are floating around. But I had this translated by a very reliable media person. This person is a Marathi and works in a prominent English-media house and I received this note and the translation:

“Here's my version... I think the attack she talks about is more about the attack on us as a people, who remained spectators to the crime of the Amar Jawan being vandalised. And all we needed to do was teach them a lesson then and there - and we knew how - with a lathi and pistol - but we just failed to understand this - we just failed to act.   Ironically the poem is titled Azad Maidan - Free Ground - and how their hands were tied”.

And below is the "reaction" of the IPS officers to this poem:

"Police journal carries apology for cop's controversial poem"

Source :

Last Updated: Wed, Jan 23, 2013 02:48 hrs

Mumbai: The latest edition of Mumbai police's in house journal 'Samwad' which came out today, carried an unconditional apology by female police inspector Sujata Patil, whose poem had sparked off a controversy.

Traffic police inspector (Matunga division) Sujata Patil's controversial poem in an earlier issue of the in-house police journal, had described last year's Azad Maidan protesters as "snakes" and "traitors", whose hands should have been "chopped off".

Patil had already apologised in writing, but today it was published in the latest edition of 'Samwad', police sources said. She did not intend to hurt anybody's religious sentiments or any religion through her poem, she wrote in the journal.

Joint Police Commissioner (Administration) Hemant Nagrale who is also Samwad's editor and publisher, has stated in writing that Patil had already apologised and she did not intend to hurt anybody's sentiments.

"I too agree with her. Samwad is a platform to encourage the creativity of policemen and it is circulated among them," he wrote in the journal's latest issue.

Patil's poem which was published in an earlier issue of Samwad read, "Hausla buland tha, izzat lut rahi thi, himmat ki gaddaron ne Amar Jyoti ko haath lagane ki, kaat dete haath unke toh faryad kisi ki bhi na hoti. Saanp ko doodh pila kar, baat kare hain hum bhaichare ki. (Their morale was high, women were being dishonoured. The traitors had the audacity to touch Amar Jawan Jyoti. Had we cut off their hands, nobody would have complained. We feed milk to the snakes and then talk of harmony".

Her poem, which also suggested that the police ought to have played "goliyon ki holi" (Holi with bullets), triggered off a huge controversy and prompted Mumbai Police Commissioner Satyapal Singh to order an inquiry. 

(NOTE: Satyapal Singh is from Uttar Pradesh).

Why "Reservations" are fatal to our society and our Country...

 

What is India's “reservation” system? It’s a war against a small number of performing and talented people by un-performing and unqualified majority.

The concept called 'Reservation' (which literally means, specific sections of society should be entitled to a minimum number of positions in an institution regardless of how poorly qualified for that position) in India's various institutions and departments; is the biggest problem restricting India’s growth in any sector. There should nothing called reservation - be it based on caste, sex, economics or any other differentiation.

Admissions to institutions should be based on performance standards & merit, just as success in real life is based on pure performance. Life requires competition, inspiration and motivation.

Just as there are no ‘reservations’ for Olympic medals (I have not yet heard that 33% of Gold medals will be reserved for those who belong to certain caste / tribe/ religion/ poverty level) or that Silver & Bronze medals will be reserved for “sub-castes” within these categories; then why should we need ‘reservations’ in our educational institutes or Government departments?  

‘Reservation’ in it’s very concept, is illogical and unsustainable, but it is also a crime against talented & hard working people. By giving the undeserved a place in any field, this policy denies opportunity to the success of a deserving candidate. Whenever the Government reserves specific portions in an institution or department, it kills the hopes & aspirations of those deserving people who can get access to better education or do a better job, and whose life is destroyed by denying him/her a place even though they deserve it.

Reservation based on any criteria - caste, creed, background, economy, sex... denies a good performer the opportunity that they have worked hard to attain. The ‘Reservation’ policy unjustly punishes a deserving candidate for the act of good performance.

Whatever may have been the genesis of the “Reservation” policy; it is no longer required for a strong country. The ‘Reservations” policy is today meant solely for the survival of the political parties that use & abuse this concept for the creation of ‘vote banks’ and to consolidate power.

The real effect of “reservation” is the polarization of Society on the basis of Caste & creed; leading to segregation in social life, increased strife due to frustrations in various segments of society and the lack of growth of our Nation (as one single entity).

Five Habits that make Political parties to fail spectacularly:

 

Habit # 1: They see themselves and their party as dominating their environment Shouldn’t a party try to dominate the political environment, shape the future and set the pace for growth? Yes, but there’s a catch. Failed leaders who never question their dominance fail to realize they are at the mercy of changing circumstances.They vastly overestimate the extent to which they actually control events and vastly underestimate the role of chance and circumstance in their success.

Habit #2: They identify so completely with the party that there is no clear boundary between their personal interests and their political interests People want leaders to be completely committed to their ideology, with their interests tightly aligned with those of the party. But digging deeper, you will find that failed politicians weren’t identifying too little with the party, but rather too much. Instead of treating party as enterprises that they needed to nurture, failed leaders treated them as extensions of themselves. And with that, a “private empire” mentality took hold.


Habit #3: They think they have all the answers Leaders who are invariably crisp and decisive tend to settle issues so quickly they have no opportunity to grasp the ramifications. Worse, because these leaders need to feel they have all the answers, they aren’t open to learning new ones.

Habit #4: They ruthlessly eliminate anyone who isnt completely supporting them Leaders who think their job is to instill belief in their vision also think that it is their job to get everyone to accept it. Anyone who doesn’t rally to the cause is undermining the vision. By eliminating all dissenting and contrasting viewpoints, destructive politicians cut themselves off from their best chance of understanding and correcting grassroot problems as they arise. Sometimes politicians who seek to stifle dissent only drive it underground. Once this happens, the entire organization falters.

Habit #5: They stubbornly rely on what worked for them in the past Many politicians on their way to becoming spectacularly unsuccessful, accelerate their party’s decline by reverting to what they regard as "tried-and-true" methods. In their desire to make the most of what they regard as their core strengths, they cling to a static (non-changing) model.They insist on providing a solution to a voter group that no longer exists, or they fail to consider changes in areas other than those that made the party successful in the past. Instead of considering a range of options that fit new circumstances, they use their own careers as the only point of reference and keep on doing the things that made them successful in the past; leading down to the path of spectacular failure.

Death does not stop this leader from inspiring his people.

 Today we remember the man who built the foundations of the strong Maharashtra. Yashwantrao Balwantrao Chavan, popularly called "YB" (12 March 1913 - 25 November 1984) was the first Chief Minister of Independent Maharashtra after the division of Bombay State. A man with a strong personality, he established the Cooperatives, and further enhanced his stature as a social activist and writer.

  Widely known as "Leader of Common People", he advocated socialist democracy in his speeches and articles. His concept of establishing the co-operatives in Maharashtra for the betterment of the farmers led to the rise of agricultural production in the State.

  YB obtained his B.A. in history and political science from Bombay University in 1938. During this time, he was closely associated with the Congress party and its leaders such as Jawaharlal Nehru, Sardar Patel and Keshavrao Jedhe. In 1940, Yashwantrao became President of Satara District Congress. In 1941 he passed his LLB. In 1932, he was sentenced to 18 months in prison for hoisting the Indian flag on 26 January 1932 in Satara. He was a delegate to the historic Bombay session of the A.I.C.C. in 1942 that gave the call for Quit India and was subsequently arrested for his participation in the movement.

  This first Chief Minister of Maharashtra, also served as a cabinet minister in the Central Government of India heading the portfolios of Home, Defence, Finance and External Affairs and went on to become the Deputy Prime Minister of India. One of the most outstanding features of his career was that he never lost an election.

YB contested from varied constituencies like Karad, Satara & Nasik, mostly from the Congress Party and once from the Congress (S) party. But he never lost the trust of the people that he represented. A personal aspect of his nature, not widely known outside his close circle of friends was his deep love for his wife, Venutai; whom he married in 1942. He always called Venutai his best friend, soul-mate and source of his strength to overcome all obstacles. The death of his wife broke the spirit of this strong man and he was not able to survive this loss beyond a few months.

Yashwantrao Chavan died of a heart attack on 25 November 1984 in Delhi. He was 71. We salute this stalwart on his birthday today, 12th March.

 मन मनास उमगत नाही, आधार कसा शोधावा?