The man who makes no mistakes does not make anything

Dear Readers,

"The man who makes no mistakes does not make anything," so said Thedore Roosevelt.

I happened to have an interesting conversation with someone the other day (let me not name him here, apart from saying that he is one of the few mentors I have in Bangalore). According to him, it is essential for us to be kind to ourself and to learn to forgive ourself. Our biggest friend and enemy lies within us.

Why then it is so easy to forgive someone else and move on, and yet be stuck with our own mistakes, howesoever small, committed years ago?

I personally think the process of forgiving yourself begins with:
1) Taking responsibilty for your own actions;
2) Comprehending that you made this mistake out of choice (which at that point of time seemed the right thing to do) or out of ignorance;
3) Taking remedial actions, if possible and to the extent possible;
4) Moving on, no matter how difficult this may be.

However, expert advice always abounds on the internet, so here are some links - perhaps I shall read these article in-depth some day.

Post on Oprah's blog
Post on Daily Wisdom

Would love to hear your thoughts on this subject.

Cheers,
Lubna

H T Sangliana – a man of his words

HT Sangliana, a former Bangalore Police Commissioner and first time MP, Sangliana had supported the UPA government in the confidence motion despite a whip issued by his party BJP to vote against the UPA over the nuclear deal with the USA. Soon thereafter he was no longer a part of the BJP.

He has always stood behind his words, he walks the talk. Today he is standing on a Congress ticket (UPA coalition)and from my constituency in Bangalore.

Mr. Sangliana has and will always get my vote!

During this tenure with the police force he was known to be brave, upright, honest and fearless. I am so glad that I will have the opportunity to vote for him.

On the other hand, in a surprising move, last year's Times of India, Lead India- winner, RK Mishra, joined the BJP and is actively campaigning for them. Now, he as an Indian citizen has the right to join any party.

However, I am saddened that he chose not to create awareness about what needs to be set right, but instead sang praises of the current leadership in the Karnataka state.

Perhaps, RK Mishra would have played a more useful role by creating awareness of our right to vote and our need to vote for honest, upright, non communal candidates. After all the current Lead India campaign is telling people to make a rightful choice. It is not telling us to vote for either Party X or Party Y, but to think and make the right choice.

As someone wrote in a letter to the editor in The Times of India, RK Mishra has just proved himself - that is he merely another politician and not a leader.

Well, I am sure he had his own reasons which are not obvious to me. Each to his own.

I though younger politicians had more sense, I was so wrong

I happened to catch this on television and I found it shocking. I just could not wait to pour my feelings at the earliest. I thought the younger set of politicians could provide us a glimmer of hope of a united India which together fights hard to eradicate: corruption, poverty, illiteracy, illhealth.

Unfortunately, Varun Gandhi doesn't provide such a ray of hope, rather he spells disaster for India.. Apparantely, the BJP has not tutored Varun Gandhi (son of Menaka Gandhi) on these lines, as they also appear quite taken aback by his outrageous behavior. Maneka Gandhi, his mother, is a staunch supporter of animal rights and non violence, how could he then turn out to be so "violent"? Guess, votes matter and anything else can be thrown out of the window.

He wants only the Hindu's to stay here and the Muslims to go to Pakistan. I would like to tell Varun Gandhi that India is my country as much as it is his. Go back and read the Constitution of India.

The Preamble states:
WE, THE PEOPLE OF INDIA, having solemnly resolved to constitute India into a SOVEREIGN SOCIALIST SECULAR DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC and to secure to all its citizens:
JUSTICE, social, economic and political;
LIBERTY of thought, expression, belief, faith and worship;
EQUALITY of status and of opportunity;
and to promote among them all
FRATERNITY assuring the dignity of the individual and the unity and integrity of the Nation;

Did Rabindranath Tagore have an inkling of how our politicians could drive us to doom, when he wrote Gitanjali?

Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high
Where knowledge is free
Where the world has not been broken up into fragments
By narrow domestic walls
Where words come out from the depth of truth
Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection
Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way
Into the dreary desert sand of dead habit
Where the mind is led forward by thee
Into ever-widening thought and action
Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake.

It is quite sad. The dance of democracy is getting mukier day by day. I do hope the Election Commission takes steps to ensure that we do not end up doing more harm to ourselves during this democratic process, than good.

I know this is a strong emotional post, but this is exactly how I feel about it. Having been a journalist for sometime I have known leaders in all political parties - be they from the BJP or the Congress. These leaders sure need to tutor the irresponsible members of their party. We need true leaders today, we don't need trouble makers and vote grabbers.

Perhaps the other youngesters like Rahul Gandhi (Congress party), Milind Deora (Congress party) Sachin Pilot (Congress party), Jyotiraditya Scindia (Congress party) Mavendra Singh (BJP), Omair Abdullah, current CM of Jammu & Kashmir, will prove to be better Indians? One can only hope.

Addition made to this post on March 29: In a bid to become a hero Varun surrendered at the police station in his constituency. His mother, Maneka made a hue and cry of how a Muslim policeman (who was not even in the vicinity and had been transferred elsewhere to avoid controversy) shooted at the crowd. Yes, the police forces did have to fire in the air to control an unruly mob, since Varun was not seen telling them to maintain peace and harmony. Click here for the news update.

Politics is only getting dirtier. Sad.


Photo courtesy: Wikimedia

Charlie Chaplin would have made a movie of this...

Pause for a second. When you see Sharukh Khan perform on the big screen, do you think - Oh, he is a Muslim actor? Or when you see Big B, do you say that - he is not only a great actor but a Hindu? I am sure you don't. Why then is Charlie Chaplin being dubbed a Christian? Installation of his statute has run into big time trouble. Or perhaps art is no longer appreciated in some quarters? Rather it is regarded as an "insult to Indian culture. If you thought you had seen the last of these thoughts, here is more.
Times of India's front page today says: The last laugh may be on Charlie Chaplin, cinema's funny man who mocked prejudice and fascism. The Left-leaning, suspected communist sympathizer was called many names during his eventful life, but `Christian' wasn't one of them. But the new tag comes courtesy BJP activists in Baindur, near Udupi. They have blocked installation of Chaplin’s statue saying it would hurt Hindu sentiment.
I bet Charlie Chaplin would have made a movie mocking the so called Hindu protectionist forces, who do naught to help in areas of education, employment, and health but fritter their time and money on trivia, even as the BJP led state government appears to be helpless.
So we are unlikely to see this 62 feet high Charlie Chaplin statute, anytime soon, nor a place in the Guinness Book of World Records. All because poor Charlie Chaplin is not the world's best comedian but a Christian!
Imagine all the people. Living life in peace. You may say I am a dreamer. But I hope I am not the only one. I hope someday you will join us and the world will be as one. Enjoy the song.