Blogs I Follow(ed)

It's been a while since I sat to write something - forget about writing something worth posting! In fact it's been a while since I even visited my blogger page (I occasionally visit my blogger page to see if there are any updates and then to visit my friends' blog pages). No updates on my dashboard today too, as usual. Then I decided to visit the blogs of my friends - the links under the section 'Blogs I frequent'. No updates there too, as usual!

As I visited blog page after blog page of my friends, I noticed that many of them have also not updated anything for a long long time now. I was not the only one 'not writing', my friends are not writing too, or if they were writing, they were not posting it or if they were writing and posting, they were not doing it in their 'old' blog page, the links to which I have in my home page.

So where have my writer friends gone? Suffering from the same problems as mine - 'writer's block'? or perhaps 'no time'? or perhaps not updated their 'contact information' with me? Balancing families, children, marital responsibilities and work, career, future planning do take up a lot of time, but good writers not taking time to pen down something saddens me! Yes! Disappoints me.

Writing is a vent for pent up emotions. When I strongly feel about something or someone, words automatically fall through. Perhaps, that is one of the reasons, why I had not written anything for a long while. I did not feel so strongly about anything till now. But seeing my friends' blog pages too not updated for many months, I feel sad! Is the circle of everyone's life revolving so fast, that no one has time to even feel strongly about something or perhaps no one has time to give a vent to those strong emotions?

Well, at least thanks friends, your silence served as the catalyst for my writing. But no thanks! this is one 'fuel' I would never want to use for my blogger 'engine' again. Please come out of your sabbatical! Or at least give me your latest blog page url where I can read your latest posts! Please.

To Make People Vote

A couple of days back, when I was just skimming through channels, I came across this news item in one of the news channels: Some schools in Maharashtra award 2 marks as part of internals to students for the subject Civics if they ensure that their parents exercise their franchise. This initiative is as part of creating awareness among students to make their parents cast vote and hence take part in the democratic process.

When I landed in the channel, a few students were being interviewed and almost all of them voiced their opinion that their parents ought to vote, it is wrong on the parents’ part that they sit at home and enjoy the government holiday on the election date and hence they would urge their parents to get out of their cozy chairs and do their duty! It seemed interesting and I continued to watch the item. Then came the part which said that if parents do their duty their children would be awarded marks in the Civics internals. Would at least this initiative force people to exercise their franchise? – That’s how the news item ended.

And that’s what set me thinking. It is a good initiative in the sense that children would ask questions at home if parents do not vote. Parents may have lost their hopes on Indian Democracy but is it right that children are made to lose hope even before they do their duty? So perhaps, at least to convince their children a few parents may actually vote (whether to the ‘right’ party or the ‘wrong’ one is subjective and forms part of a separate discussion/debate). They would at least not sit idle on the election day.

But then one other thing started eating my head! Is it right that children be awarded marks for parents doing their duty? Isn’t it like bribing…mm.. the parents? That if your children should get those 2 marks, you have to do your duty? We are in such a pathetic state of affairs that we see corruption everywhere – even to the question of whether to do your duty or not to do your duty! But still… this ‘awareness initiative’ brings in a new dimension! Reminds me of the Kamal Hassan starrer movie “Indian”, where the Indian thatha claims that Indian corruption and bribing is different from the ones in many developed nations in the basic sense – In those countries, people are bribed and people bribe to NOT do their duty, but in India people are bribed and people bribe even TO DO their duty! Creating awareness among students is good but to actually make it part of curriculum and award marks for the same – a little too much.

Is this ‘awareness initiative’ right? Perhaps it is because children are involved in their parents’ (in) decision to vote or not and they are ultimately the country’s future. But then, perhaps it is not because we are in such a sorry state that even to make people do their duty, we have to adopt such measures as ‘bribing’. Still… thinking back I feel, the positives seem to outweigh the negatives here, so as always ‘chalta hai’ – ‘naalu perukku nalladhunna, edhuvume thappu illai’ :) :)