The Brave Pedestrian

“Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high… Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, Let my WORLD awaken.” – With apologies to Rabindranath Tagore I keep writing about freedom, but so far I’ve tended to write about it in a marital/sexual context. Freedom, if it is present, touches all areas of our lives and makes our lives sublime. It raises our lives above the mundane by liberating us from whatever is petty and crass in our lives. We cease to exist as men and women, and learn to live as MEN and WOMEN. We cease to exist as mere consumers of goods and services, and live as CITIZENS. We cease to merely think, and begin to SEE and FEEL. We cease to merely exist, and begin to LIVE.  We cease to be cogs in a wheel, and become little wheels in our own right. This I firmly believe. How does this translate into reality? How would it feel to live in a world where freedom dwells in a lot of hearts? Let me put it in the form of a short story (or a series of short st...

Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high... Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way Into the dreary desert sand of dead habit Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake. -- Rabindranath Tagore Like  ·  Comment  ·  Share

May 17, 2011, Mumbai: After our world-cup victory, our government awarded each member of the cricket team one crore rupees, and the coaches and others Rs 50 lakhs each. Overjoyed though I was at our team’s achievement, my heart sank. Rs 16 crore — roughly what the government gifted to the team — is the annual budget of our cash-starved Maharashtra State Information Commission. Over 13,000 RTI appeals are languishing because our SICs don’t have funds and stenographers. And my heart sinks every time the government announces Padma awards for people like Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and Sachin Tendulkar. I have no malice towards celebrities, but isn’t it absurd to hand out Padma awards to screen heroes and play-field heroes while there are thousands of real-life heroes out there? People like Subhash Chandra Agarwal and Prashant Bhushan, for instance, who have taken on the heroic task of making the Supreme Court answerable to the common man? Must the government ignore such merito...

Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high,  Into that heaven of freedom, my father,  Let my country awaken. THE NIGHTMARE OF A GROWING GIRL is the benignly smiling relative – the great man whose reputation is beyond questioning. No matter what he does with you in his private moments, nobody believes a word against him — not even your mother. THE NIGHTMARE OF A MARRIED WOMAN is the family guru – the great man with credentials that cannot be dented. What he says becomes the law. For decades he exploits your family, but his every word is regarded as golden truth. THE NIGHTMARE OF AN HONEST WORKER is the charismatic boss – the great man to whom all credit gravitates. He takes credit for your work, while you carry the blame for his failings. And you hide your rage behind words of praise for his astute management, and smile when your colleagues smile. THE NIGHTMARE OF A JUSTICE-SEEKER is the judge whose mask of unquestionable author...