Exciting times await India!

These sure are exciting times for our country! With a terrific Cricket World Cup win, to the outpouring of incredible support for the anti-corruption movement, it can prove to be a little difficult at times to comprehend and take in everything. But this being the 21st century, with instant communication abound, we are never too far from anything that is making news!

Having been here for the last six months, I have rediscovered India all over again. It felt very different when I had left, but the new India is teeming with energy and enthusiasm. Of course, there are still problems and plenty of unanswered questions around, but what's encouraging is the positive attitude and outlook that people have brought forth, whether it is during our indelible journey as a nation through the world cup season or the grass root movement against corruption, that has brought people from across the board together to ask and demand for concrete reforms.

The pro-activeness and the belief that the government is not the solution to all our problems, is indeed catching up with the masses, motivating them to stand up for what they believe in, or to go one step further to take a definitive action. We have a large population that is below the age of 35, and this 'youth bulge' can definitely prove to be one of India's biggest asset! With the huge amount of young people, with their tremendous creative energy and the strong will to progress, if tapped constructively, can certainly do wonders!

With the international media hailing India and China as the leaders of the new world order, and perhaps, potential superpowers, it's time for us to look ahead and not get overconfident. It's time to accentuate our strengths, while constantly acting on fixing our problems. Only then will success be ours!

India's Generation Now = Conformist. Really?

It's been some time since I have blogged, not because there hasn't been anything compelling to write about. On the contrary, since my return to my hometown in India, there have been a lot of issues that I have been reading and thinking about. In fact, often while sitting in the car in Delhi's traffic, I have the entire article ready to write in my head, but somehow fail to translate it onto the paper, or should I say onto the computer screen? Ah, the 21st century never fails to amuse me!

Therefore, I finally decided to write today about an issue that is both intriguing as well as raises some critical issues, especially for my generation. It's about India's Generation NOW. Mind you, not Generation X, but Generation NOW! (which, interestingly Wikipedia also calls the Generation Y). Since the past few days, I have been following the results of a survey conducted by one of India's leading national publications, The Hindustan Times (HT), aimed at trying to figure out what India's Generation Now (categorized by the newspaper as anyone between the age of 18-25) thinks about different socioeconomic factors such as career, romance, marriage, family, health and religion. The results, at least for me, have been surprising and unsettling.

The polls conducted across several major cities across India show that India's Generation Now, is in fact quite conservative when it comes to issues of family, romance and religion, but at the same time also comes across as confident and ambitious, striving to move ahead, although at too fast a pace at times. Being a part of this generation, I can identify with some of the characteristics that the survey reflects upon, but there are also a few things that that bother me about my generation's ability and future. Thanks to globalization and the critical economic reforms that have taken place in our country in the last two decades, the Generation Now has been able to dream big and better. And not just dream, but also have the confidence and resources to fulfill those dreams. This has led to an increased social mobility, providing the Generation Now with ample opportunities to prove their mettle.

And although, this all sounds exciting and worthy of recognition, the Generation Now might be losing out on something very important. And, that is the ability to think rationally, to believe in scientific reasoning and thought, and to encourage an atmosphere of intellectual discourse. It's upsetting to see that a majority of the Generation Now still regards religion as the prime source of reasoning and morality, and money and status triumph over rational thinking and knowledge. Of course, this blog is not a vendetta against religion or capitalistic values, but just an opinion of what I think my generation might be missing out on in this age of 15 seconds of fame.

So, how about encouraging an atmosphere where someone who questions religion or politics, or even decides to change the status quo, is given an opportunity to do so rather than frowned upon? Or how about along with the ability to earn money, also have the ability to give some away, and develop a social conscience? Not that the Generation Now does not do this, rather it doesn't do it enough. One of the promising thing the survey showed is that India's Generation Now is very much aware of it's responsibilities towards one's family and regards it as one of it's primary source of happiness. Although, a tremendous quality that I am proud of, we shouldn't let this strength become our weakness, which prevents us from questioning things around us, raising our voices to provide new answers and to expand our imagination and embark on cutting-edge innovations.

It was therefore, unsettling when I read the headline of the survey, which said that India's Generation Now is a conformist generation, that sticks to the status quo, and contended with the way things are overall. However, though we have a lot to applaud ourselves about, our generation still has a long way to go, where we can break the old-age constructs of reasoning and progress, and instead develop a new paradigm of development, free from biases and prejudices. Being a conformist is not the way to go, instead being a rebel at times is better, more important and relevant now, more than eve before.

The simple answer: Poverty

Recently while filling out an application for a scholarship for a global volunteering program, I came across the question " If you could remove one thing from the world, what would that be?"

This was a hard one to answer, considering there are so many things in this world, which if not there, world could be so much better and easier to live in. However, before I tell you what I put down my answer as, I would like to tell you how and why I answered it the way I did...and no the answer I put down was nothing extra-ordinary or fancy. In fact most people would call it as the obvious and the cliched answer to the above question. Although a cliche, it still has a lot of resonance in the times we live today.


There are a lot of things that are wrong in this world, but the root cause of all these things can be traced to a common link: poverty. As someone has rightly pointed out "Its all about the money!" and money is what drives this world. Some of the grave problems that our society faces today, whether its corruption, malnourishment in the developing world, , high level of illiteracy, rise in crime, etc are all a result of poverty, regardless if poverty is a direct or indirect cause of these problems. The desperation to earn money and provide basic amenities like shelter, food and clothing for one's family is still the main concern for a majority of people around the world, and although we regard the 21st century as the age of technology and progress, in many ways we are still stuck with a lot of problems that have been there with us since a long time.

I find it interesting how the definition of poverty changes depending on which part of the world you are in, for example, we all know the desperate poverty that has become the face of Africa, but then we also see homeless people right here in New York City, which is another face of poverty in the developed and industrialized world. This decade has also given rise to the new kind of poor, which though may not compare anything to the poor in Africa or the homeless in the big cities, are also finding it hard to make ends meet with massive credit card debts and no savings.

Poverty is what forces families to sell their children into slavery or prostitution and to work in unhealthy and hazardous conditions to be able to send some money back home to their families who have nothing else to fall back on. Poverty is also what forces young and frustrated people towards religious fundamentalism, which gives them a false promise of a better and happier life. It's also what forces kids to drop out of school in order to work, denying them education and healthy childhood. So indeed my answer to the question was poverty, because if I could remove that from the world, most of these problems wouldn't exist.

A lot of us fail to see these problems around us because they don't affect us directly, however I feel that the first step towards effectively dealing with poverty is to become aware about it. Governments around the world are responsible to take effective action against eradicating poverty, but there is only so much that governments can do. We are as much part of the society as the government is, and hence its also our responsibility to become more aware about poverty and related problems that affect people around the world today.

And if you are wondering where to start at, I have a suggestion...you can visit the website of Nicholas D. Kristof, the amazing New York Times journalist, who travels around the world documenting the devastating poverty and its related issues that are widespread in the developing world today....its just the first step you can take to become more aware and perhaps it may inspire you to take some action!

Here is the link to his YouTube channel...take a look at it!

http://www.youtube.com/show?p=iRzC3O3mQ1U&feature=fvsp

Paradox of the Paycheck

Have you ever wondered how the salary for different professions is decided? Why is it the way it is and more importantly who gets to decide? Why is it that an actor or a banker gets paid far more than say someone who who works as a social worker or a teacher?

If you think about it rationally for a second, you may come to the same conclusion that I did...that the wage distribution system has some serious flaws, regardless of which part of the world you happen to be in. I have always wondered why someone who plays an instrumental role in educating children or who contributes significantly to helping the downtrodden and the underprivileged in the society paid far less than someone who perhaps appears on a trashy reality TV show and basically does nothing valuable in terms of constructive development.

My history professor for a human rights class that I took while in college, asked the class to rank professions in a descending order of what they deserve to be paid. I remember that majority of the class agreed that teachers and doctors should be paid the maximum, followed by scientists and engineers. Apart from doctors, which is one profession that probably is paid closest to what it deserves (although some might disagree, since you can debate about the difference in the income for different specialties), most other professional fields are severely underpaid.

And while most students thought that a teaching job should pay as well as an engineering or science related job does, no one thought about the non-profit sector and certainly not about a factory worker. Why should they be paid less than other professions? This brings in the question of whether one should be paid depending on one's skill or depending on the amount of physical labor that one's job entails, therefore in the essence, its skilled labor vs unskilled labor.

Many would claim that skilled labor should definitely be given more importance, that is the reason after all why people go to college or graduate schools and it provides them with something special that others lack. However, that seems absurd because everyone could gain that something special, if only they could afford to go to college in the first place. It is not that they lack the skills that others have, rather the society is structured in such a way that only a few can afford to learn those special skills. More over, do you really think that working at a factory does not require you to have any skills at all? And even if you decide that skilled labor should be paid more, how do you decide which skills deserve a bigger paycheck? The prestige associated with these skills? skills that you stay longer in school for in order to acquire them or skills that simply require more intelligence and brains?

Its hard to answer these questions without taking into account various other social and economic factors, but it sure is interesting to think and be aware about what is the real significance and value of something that is so dear to us...our paycheck of course!

THE REALITY OF FAST-FOOD

I recently finished reading 'The Fast Food Nation' by Eric Schlosser and it has provided me with a different, although an upsetting perspective on fast food. As with most things in life, where nothing appears to be what it actually is, this book gives an insight into the hidden and little known world of the fast food industry, all the way from production of fast food to its distribution and consumption. But before I go ahead with telling you what I learnt from this interesting read, I must mention that I am not against fast food. On the contrary, I enjoy it once in a while just like everyone else does. My aim of writing down my thoughts on fast food is to promote awareness about what goes into the making of the delicious fast food meal and although fast food may be cheap on the menu, its because of the various other costs which the consumers like you and me are not aware of and are deliberately not told about.

The first thing that crossed my mind while reading this book was the appalling way that the cattle and the poultry is treated from the time of it's birth to the point when it's slaughtered. Any rational and logical person would agree with me when I ask that shouldn't we respect the animals who ultimately will be consumed by us as food, a source of nutrition and growth? It is important to realize that these animals are living things as well...just because they can't express their feelings in words does not mean they can't feel anything. Industrializing the way they are kept and grown, with the only aim of slaughtering them to satisfy our food cravings comes across as blatantly inhumane. But wait a minute...why is important for you to know? Well because treating animals like this affects the health of these animals, causing them stress and making them sick. And if you remember, you are the one who will be consuming this meat in the end after all, therefore it's natural that how these animals are treated up to the point when they are slaughtered should concern you.

If you really don't care about the animals, then at least you might think about the fellow human beings who work in the various slaughterhouses across the country, often under horrible working conditions, with little or no workplace safety, meager wages, often no health insurance at a place where they may suffer work-related injuries from carpel-tunnel syndrome to amputation of a limb. Some of these workers perform jobs that may make you want to throw up, and yes although they are not being forced to do it, it is still our responsibility as consumers to ask the meatpacking industry to provide better and safe working conditions for these workers because they play an integral part of the process where meat is handled by them before it ends up as our fast-food meal.

Perhaps, the working conditions of these workers may not interest you either, and so may I take this opportunity to tell you how fast food can directly affect you and your health. Most of the fast food is rich in salt, fats and sugar...a lethal combination which is certainly not good for us. In fact all that workers at a fast food restaurant do is assemble different parts of a meal together, since most of the stuff is frozen when bought. Event the french fries are bought frozen by most fast-food joints, and all that the employees have to do before they serve them to you is to heat them up. No doubt they taste so good right? Obesity, which is soon going to overtake smoking as the number one cause of death, has already become a huge public health concern. And of course you can't and shouldn't blame fast food entirely for people becoming obese, since individual choice and responsibility should also be accounted for, fast food does contribute significantly to obesity because of it's unhealthy composition and also because it is quite addictive, so people want to have it more and more of it.

So while advertisements on TV will never tell you about these hidden issues related to fast food, they definitely misguide you about how fast-food is healthy and present to you a fallacious world of happiness and ever-lasting joy that you get when you eat it. As consumers, it's our responsibility to be aware of the real costs that go into producing the fast food, because while you may only pay a dollar for a value-priced dollar meal, its only because there are others who are paying the real costs so that you can enjoy that delicious super-size meal of a cheese burger and fries.

Graduation: A reflection

Yes! You did it!

Hearing these words at the college graduation ceremony recently reminded me of the four long years that I endured in college, that some how now don't seem to be that long after all, and I also wondered that although college graduation is considered to be a milestone in one's life, it probably is just a small step into the 'real' world out there, which you could either embrace or try your best to escape from...depending on what you think is best for you.

It is hard to put in words how I feel as a new college graduate in today's tough economic times. With the initial excitement of finally finishing college and celebrating this achievement with family and friends wearing off, I am tempted to look back and reflect on my thoughts. And the fact that I am doing this at one in the morning says a lot, doesn't it? Well, for starters, it definitely indicates that I don't have to go to work tomorrow morning, or else I would be in bed trying to get a good night's sleep. And this very example should tell you about one of the realities that a new graduate has to face...the job of finding a job!

With the dream of already having a well-paid job right out of college now just a dream for most people, one has to first dedicate his/her time looking for a job. And no matter how good you are, it's stressful and nerve racking to apply for jobs, and then just having to play the waiting game. You may or may not hear back from any of the jobs you applied for, and so you are back at square one and you start the whole ordeal again. Though it would be wrong to say that everyone looks for a job after college, a majority of people do, with only a few on their way to graduate schools or having other envious plans, say going on a world tour!

However, if you do not intend to do the above two things right after college just like I don't, you probably either have a job, are waiting to hear back from one, looking for one or haven't even given any thought to the prospect of looking for one (umm.. job? what's that?). Although, I started to apply for jobs months before graduating, I am still waiting to hear back from some and have had a few interviews and waiting for a reply...but what bothers me is the uncertainty of things right now. What if I don't get a reply from any interviews I have had? What if I have to apply for jobs all over again? What if I end up getting nothing, and have to pack my bags and leave for India? It's hard to keep things in perspective sometimes, and not get pessimistic, especially when I hear about the number of well-qualified people who are unemployed.

It seems like graduating in the 21st century is not hard, but to survive after you graduate and make your way ahead in this ever changing world is what's truly hard and the toughest exam you have to face, tougher than any other kind of exam you ever faced in the four long years you invested in college. And while you get the grade for the college exams within a few weeks, a grade for the exam you face after graduation can some times take years to know...with very few people realizing before hand if they eventually passed or failed.

Deep conversations a way to happiness?

I recently read an article in the NY times about a new research that claims that people who have deeper conversations about things tend to be more happy than people who just engage in small talk. The research, conducted at University of Arizona, found that people who talked about stuff like current affairs, philosophy and religion seemed to be far happier than people who talked about weather, a t.v show or other random stuff.

I couldn't agree more. Deep and meaningful conversations definitely help you to enrich yourself both intellectually as well as emotionally...they help you to think analytically and question, which is something that small talk does not offer. So while just telling someone about a TV show or a movie may not be meaningful, analyzing it critically may help you realize something more than just whether you liked it or not.

However, as most people pointed out about this article, its very hard to engage in a meaningful conversation with people around us...with the instant technology like Twitter and Facebook, where the number of characters you can use to say something is limited, a deep conversation is almost impossible. Instead, instant status updates regarding what one is doing, wearing or even smoking have become the norm. Also, I think that you can not have such conversations with everyone...rather its limited to people who share similar interests as you do and also like talking about them. From my own experience, there are not many people who like engaging in such deep discussions, either because they don't have time or they just are not interested.

Personally, deep and meaningful conversations for me, have been very enriching. I have learnt a lot about new and different things, and more importantly learnt to question which I did not do before. They have always made me happy and eager to learn more. Though happiness is subjective and everyone can define it for themselves, if you know or have someone in your life with whom you can have such conversations, it's definitely worth it.