MAHATMA MUSINGS...

MAHATMA MUSINGS...

 As I glanced through today's newspapers, I was surprised not to find a single advertisement by the Government commemorating the Mahatma's martyrdom on this day some 64 years ago. I'm not complaining, for I have always found it annoying that various Govt. departments and ministries spend crores of taxpayer monies on wasteful "media extravaganza" to please their political masters. But the prominent absence of any such eye-sore in today's newspapers surprised me. And so it did raise a question -- What is the Mahatma's relevance today?

My first encounter with the Mahatma was when I was barely 5 -- on a 10 rupee currency note. My dad flipped a new note out of his wallet, showed me a smiling bald bespectacled old man's picture with "MAHATMA GANDHI" written below it. What really caught my interest was when my father held up the note against the window and tilted the note. I was amazed to see another Gandhi materialize behind the layers of paper which, my dad later explained,was called a watermark. Thus began my discovery of Gandhi, from how he went to South Africa, his return back to India, his launch of many satyagrahas and marches, his negotiations with the British, Independence and his assassination on this day 64 yrs ago. He was accused of giving in to the Muslim League's demand for a separate nation and having committed the "Greatest Sin" of "Dividing the Motherland" into two. Obviously, tempers ran high and one Nathuram Godse concluded that Gandhi was no longer to be around. "Hey Ram!!", the Mahatma swore as the bullet pierced his chest.

I don't know much about Gandhi. Universities have been setup to study him and his teachings. The man who was once called "The half-naked Fakir from the East" by Winston Churchill, has inspired leaders across the globe, right from Martin Luther King to Nelson Mandela to The Dalai Lama to Aung San Su Kyi to Barack Obama. Then it struck me, why are there no prominent Indian names in that list? Have we no national leader of prominence who has lived by the Mahatma's teachings? I was ashamed of not being able to recollect even a single one. Had the womb of Mother India gone dry? 

 But that brings me to whats happening around in his name. Gandhi was the fiercest opponent to Jinnah's Two Nation theory. He argued that Hindus and Muslims did not necessarily have to be on different sides of the line to achieve a cohesive nationhood. He argues also that any State built on the construct of a theology would undoubtedly be a failure. We see what has become of Pakistan today. Looks like he was right after all. But wait... Are we any different?? Or are we getting there eventually? 

Gandhi was a very religious and spiritual man.  His idea of secularism was that which was inclusive of all religions. What have we now reduced this to? Majority bashing and minority appeasement, quotas and reservation promising speeches, narcissistic propaganda of doling out sops to the poor Indian. Isn't it shameful that poverty elimination is still an election issue even after 65 years of Independence? Politicians of today seek refuge for all their misdeeds under the garb of secularism. They find it easier to do their job if we're divided than united. But seriously, why is it that a Hindu have to be an apologist to prove that he is secular? Why does a Muslim have to prove his patriotism? Why is "Bharat Mata Ki Jai" a communal slogan? Why is any discussion about Kashmir a Hindu-Muslim issue? Why is M F Hussain assaulted for his paintings? Why is  Kamal Hassan being hounded for his movie?

Our Independence movement has been a tribute to the power of art, music and culture in uniting us against the British. A Vaishnava Janato evoked a sense of Indian-ism in spite of the fact that it was a religious hymn. And what are we up to now? -- censuring art, burning down recordings, banning movies. Whats the rationalization? -- To avoid hurting sentiments and to uphold secularism espoused by Bapu. Does the State really believe that the Mahatma would have ever supported such actions? Honestly, I don't think they care, as long as the events fit their political narrative. Peace is being sought through appeasement.

What is with this culture of intolerance? Why can't we agree to disagree?  India's diversity is to be celebrated, not whined about. Its the Indian-ness that unites us. We are a people who are to be revering our rivers, not fighting over them; celebrating our Gods, not smashing them; studying and writing books, not burning them; promoting art, not banning them; respecting authors, not banishing them. Why is it that we choose to assert ourselves by violently targeting those who we disagree with? Why can't we instead counter them by propounding our belief? Are we going to define ourselves as being opposed to something forever or are we going to have a positive narrative of our own?

India is learning. Her children are an enormous source of untapped energy, seeking for a leader to lead them in the right way. Notwithstanding the cabal and venal political, cultural and spiritual leadership that prevails over her children, India seeks to emerge as a nation of Hope. We need to start contributing to nation building and share a sense of ownership of the country. Lets not forget that we were the cradle of civilization, art, knowledge and culture and led the world by example. Magnificent literary gems were composed hundreds of years ago in many of our vernacular languages when English was still an infant. We need to celebrate our nation, not bring each other down. How then can we contribute to the world?  We need a leader. And The Leader lies within. All we need to do is to flip the note against the window to visualize the veiled Mahatma within each one of us.

There's nothing neat about NEET

There's nothing neat about NEET

Its been quite sometime since I was taken over by the idea of writing on my blog page. In fact, it was on the evening after I gave my National Eligibility cum Entrance Test conducted for entrance into post graduate medical courses. Despite the fact that I hadn't performed spectacularly "well", I felt liberated. NEET was, until then, the only exam proposed by the Medical Council of India for admission into various PG medical courses. With no more insane MCQ rabble-rousing to do, I had time at my disposal. Or so I presumed.

But alas! Like the proverbial good-things-don't-last-long situation, my "liberation" wasn't destined to last either. MCI had, the private medical institutions alleged, circumvented them and unilaterally deposited the authority with the National Board of Examinations to conduct a single pan-Indian medical examination, thus usurping the private colleges of their right to conduct their own exams and allot seats accordingly. Predictably, the private colleges began filing writ petitions in various High courts seeking a stay order on NEET. 

Though the colleges were successful in obtaining a stay order, the MCI sought permission from the Supreme Court to go ahead with the exam, pending further hearing. There was a glitch however : the private institutions too could conduct their exams, but none were to publish the results. Thus began the mega NEET kumbhmela; the Special Leave Petition by the MCI vs Private Colleges was to be dragged on till all eternity like a snake half beaten to death. It was almost as if the Hon Supreme Court was procrastinating by putting off the hearing of the case for a later date, for the stakes were sky high, on both sides.

It is now in retrospect that I remind myself that there has really been nothing neat about NEET!! If my memory serves me well, it was in early 2012 that the Hon SC had taken suo moto notice of the extent of malpractice in the conduct of All India Pre-PG exam, NEET's predecessor until now, and admonished the Government of India for its less than sincere efforts to clean up the process and conduct a pan India single PG entrance exam. Thus began consultations between the HRD Ministry and the MCI and finally a notification was hastily circulated in late March by the MCI declaring that a single pan-India PG entrance exam would be conducted from 2013 onwards. Not surprisingly, the "aggrieved" private colleges sprung up in protest and threatened legal adjudication. But none really did, not at least until mid 2012. For they presumed that it was another one of the Govt's survive-the-blow-now-think-tomorrow instances. There are quite a few strategic mistakes that the Govt and the MCI did while handling this issue.

Firstly, the manner in which the NEET notification was circulated without wider consultations. The Govt, in an attempt to save its face following the SC's rap, hastily notified NEET, thus practically enforcing the exam on the private colleges. The idea of a pan-Indian exam was brilliant, the execution was sloppy. Its obvious that there can never be unanimity, but there can always be a consensus. 

A Parliamentary approval by modifying the MCI Act would have formally legitimized NEET. Rumor was that the then HRD Minister  Mr. Kapil Sibal was fighting tooth and nail to get an amendment to the MCI Act passed. But as everything with our Parliament, that didn't materialize. This would not only have strengthened the validity of NEET, but also would have effectively negated any future legal recrudescence. The exam's fate would not be languishing in the corridors of the SC as it is doing now.

Secondly, the MCI's decision to authorize the NBE to conduct the exam. Yes. Its worth more than just a #facepalm on twitter. Who was the Einstein behind this decision? Really?? A board which can barely keep its website from "catamenial" crashes was handed over the responsibility of conducting a pan-Indian "online" exam? Not to mention the "innovative" idea of selling "Registration Vouchers" at select branches of a certain bank with limited exam slots to be grabbed. I happened to pass by that bank on the day prior to the sale of the vouchers. I felt sad for  those homeless who slept on the pavements by the bank at night, even tossing a coin at one of them looking bleakly at me as I meandered through the traffic.Yeah, you got that right....They were my fellow medicos who'd camped by the bank's pavement all night to grab the vouchers first thing in the morning. I realised that when I found myself standing at some 500th position in the queue the next morning.

To some, writing NEET has been more like an undesired pilgrimage. Quite a few of my friends could not make it into the Bangalore centres and had to pick up exam slots located right up there in Chandigarh, Jaipur and the previously unheard Faridabad which, I googled to explore, was in Haryana. 

Thirdly, the hype about NEET being designed to assess the candidate's prowess in conceptual understanding of the subject was, in fair words, just gas. And a foul smelling one at that. As it happened, the questions were nowhere on the expected lines of the USMLE, but turned out more to be one of those medical quiz types. And with no negative marking at stake, inky-pinky-ponky was always an option. I couldn't help but laugh at the coaching class marketing-walla when he handed me a pamphlet which read: "NEET pattern, Concept based and Updated". 

The Surreal Diatribe is that a brilliant idea has gone down the gutter. We still splurge money on various other exams hoping against hope that we'd hook onto SOMETHING. Rumors are that a deal has been clinched between various stakeholders (No, that does NOT include the students) to facilitate the "smooth disposal" of all the grim and arrive at an win-win situation. Aimed primarily at eradicating corruption in medical entrance at various levels and of various magnitudes, the concept of NEET is collapsing under its own weight. It does not need a court order to bring down, for it has no edifice. I hope I'm wrong, but the chances of its survival are bleak. Only an activist judiciary in the larger interests of the fate of medical education can revive it. We sit, waiting for the result which remains trapped under the Hon Judge's mallet. Until then, fingers crossed and the seemingly never ending "PG preparation" stays.