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Saturday, July 31, 2010

भारतीयत्व आणि प्रादेशिक अस्मिता

 खुप दिवसानी मराठीत लिहितोय!मस्त वाटतय...असो. आज अचानक अशा विषयावर चर्चा म्हणजे जरा विचित्रच वाटेल एखाद्याला..पण याच विषयावर काही वर्षांपूर्वी मी भाषण केल होतं आणि त्या भाषणावर तेव्हा बऱ्याच जणांनी भली बुरी मतं मांडली होती म्हणून आज पुन्हा एकदा तेच विचार जास्त लोकांना ऐकवावेत म्हणून ही पोस्ट...

इथे सर्वप्रथम नमूद करावसं वाटतं की जगातल्या कित्येक देशांमधे जन्मभूमीचा उल्लेख Fatherland  किंवा "पितृभूमी" असा केला जातो, भारत हा असा एकमेव देश असेल जिथे आपण जन्मभूमीला "मातृभूमी" म्हणतो. आपण अभिमानाने तिला आईचा दर्जा देतो, तिला "भारतमाता" म्हणतो. मग ही भारतमाता म्हणजे नेमकी कोण आणि तिचा जयजयकार करणं म्हणजे काय करायचं हेच आपल्याला माहित नसतं. भारतमाता ही थोड़ी लक्ष्मीसारखी, थोड़ी सरस्वतीसारखी दिसणारी कोणी देवी आहे की काय?असा प्रश्नही आपल्याला पडतो. पण आसेतुहिमाचल पसरलेला, विविध संस्कृतींनी नटलेला हा आपला देश म्हणजेच आपली भारतमाता आणि आपण इथे जन्माला आलो याचा ठायीठायी अभिमान असणं म्हणजेच आमचं राष्ट्रीयत्व, भारतीयत्व!!

मग प्रादेशिक अस्मितेबद्दल आपण का बोलायचा आणि प्रादेशिक अस्मिता म्हणजे नेमकं काय?भारतावर इंग्रजांनी दीडशे वर्षं राज्य केलं. या कालावधीमधे मराठी-कानडी, हिंदु-मुस्लिम सर्व खांद्याला खांदा लावून लढले. मग ते १८५७ च स्वातंत्रसमर असो किंवा १९४२ च "चले जाव" च लढा असो! सर्व जाती-धर्मांचे, भाषांचे लोक "भारतीय" म्हणून लढत होते. इंग्रजांनी स्वातंत्र्य  दिलं पण त्यांनी जाता जाता "फोड़ा आणि राज्य करा" या नीतीचा वापर केला आणि अखंड हिंदुस्तानाचे दोन तुकडे केले.फाळणी होण्यात सर्वांचं भलं आहे आणि याच्याइतका चांगला पर्याय कुठला असूच शकत नाही असं तत्कालीन नेत्यांना  का वाटलं कुणास ठाउक? पण फाळणी झाली. पाकिस्तानने स्वतःला मुस्लिम राष्ट्र घोषित केलं तर भारताने धर्मनिरपेक्ष सार्वभौम संविधानाचा स्विकार केला. जागतिक समाजकारणाचा विचार केल्यास हे कृत्य अर्थात स्तुत्य होतं. पण त्यात गोची झाली भाषावार प्रान्तरचना केल्याने! या प्रकाराने महाराष्ट्र म्हणजे मराठी, बंगाल म्हणजे बंगाली, पंजाब म्हणजे पंजाबी अशी आपल्या देशाची अंतर्गत ओळख होउन गेली.आणि मग एक भारतीय म्हणून आपली ओळख विसरून आपण प्रादेशिक विचार करण्यापुरते संकुचित झालो. ही भावना म्हणजेच प्रादेशिक अस्मिता!

जाज्वल्य देशभाक्तिकडून आपण प्रादेशिक अस्मितेकडे कसे आलो असा मुद्दा इथे उपस्थित होतो. मग सहज स्वातंत्रपूर्व आणि स्वातंत्रोत्तर कालाची तुलना होते. स्वातंत्रपूर्व पिढीने गुलामीची कडू चव अनुभवली होती. "चले जाव" चा लढा किंवा "आझाद हिंद" सेनेचं कर्तुत्व त्याना माहित होतं, आणि म्हणून  सर्वात महत्वाच म्हणजे मिळालेल्या स्वातंत्र्याची त्यांना किंमत होती. या आधीच्या पोस्टमध्ये मी स्वातंतोत्तर पीढ़ीबद्दल माझे विचार मांडले होते, त्या पार्श्वभूमीवरच मी म्हणेन, की या स्वातंत्रोत्तर पिढीने कधी पारतंत्र्य अनुभवलंच नाही, याउलट त्यानी पहिली असंख्य राजकीय आणि सामाजिक स्थित्यंतरे, भारत पाक, भारत चीन युद्ध, आणिबाणी वगैरे वगैरे..आणि इथेच कुठेतरी आपण राष्ट्रभिमानापासून प्रदेशाभिमानाकडे वळलो.

आणि मग धर्मंनिरपेक्ष भारतात हिंदु मुस्लिम दंगे झालेच, पण मराठी- कानडी वादही रंगला. भारत-पाक फालणी भविष्यात अनेक प्रश्नांना, वादांना कारणीभूत होइल असे म्हणणारे तात्याराव सावरकर मात्र शेवटपर्यंत हिंदु नेता म्हणुनच मर्यादित राहिले. एकेकाळी सोन्याची चिमणी वगैरे असणारा भारत मागासलेला, जाती-धर्म-भाषा अशा विषारी प्रश्नांनी ग्रासलेला देश होउन गेला. कधीकाळी अभिमानाने मिरवायच राष्ट्रीयत्व सुरुवातीला होंकी आणि नंतर क्रिकेट पुरतं मर्यादित झालं. याच कालात अनेक प्रादेशिक पक्षांचा उदय झाला. आणि वर्षानुवर्षं वाढत्या प्रादेशिक अस्मितेबरोबरच या पक्षांच महत्व वाढत गेलं. आज सत्तेच्या बाजारात हेच पक्ष किंगमेकर होउन बसले.

मुंबई ही देशाची आर्थिक राजधानी. देशभरातून हजारो लोक मुंबईकड़े कामाच्या निमित्ताने येणं साहजिक होतं. पण उत्तर प्रदेश्ह आणि बिहार सारख्या राज्यातून लोंढ़ेच्या लोंढे मुंबईच्या दिशेने आले. त्यानी इथल्या स्थानिक लोकांच्या जागा बळकवायला सुरुवात केली. पाहता पाहता पुणे नाशिक सारखी अस्सल मराठी संस्कृती जपणारी शहरे या लोकानी गाठली. आणि मग एरवी सहनशील म्हणवणारा मराठी माणुस खडबडून जागा झाला. " मुंबई आमची, महाराष्ट्र आमचा" या आंदोलनान्नी आणि चळवळीनी देशाचं लक्ष महाराष्ट्राकडे वेधलं. विचार करता प्रश्न असा पडतो की संविधानाने केली भाषावार  प्रांतरचना! मग परराज्यातून आलेल्या लोंढ्याना विरोध केला तर आमचं चुकलं कुठे हो?

भारतातल्या लोकांचा एक जिव्हाळ्याचा विषय म्हणजे चित्रपट! या विषयाचा आपण चित्रपटांच्या अनुषंगाने आढावा घेऊ. उदाहरण म्हणून आपण एक गुणी "मराठी" दिग्दर्शकाचे ३ चित्रपट विचारात घेऊ!आशुतोष गोवारीकरचा चित्रपट "लगान"!चार साडेचार तास इतका लांबलेला सिनेमा असून "क्रिकेट" सारखा राष्ट्रीय एकात्मतेचा विषय होता म्हणून बहुदा चित्रपट चालला, हिट झाला. "जोधा अकबर" च्या निमित्ताने दिग्दर्शकाने एक नितांत सुन्दर प्रेमकथा पडद्यावर दाखवली. दोन धर्मात अनेक शतकांपूर्वी समझोता होउन एकत्र आलेल्या एका राजा आणि राजकन्येची गोष्ट सध्याच्या परिस्थितीत समाज प्रबोधन म्हणूनही  उपयोगी ठरली असती पण कुठल्याश्या लोकानी स्वतःला जोधा बाईचे वंशज म्हणवून घेत चित्रपटाबद्दल वाद निर्माण केला, त्यांची शेकडो वर्ष अनुपस्थित प्रादेशिक अस्मिता कुठुनशी जागी झाली आणि त्यानी चित्रपटाचे खेळ बंद पाडले. याच प्रेक्षकांनी राष्ट्रीयत्व या विषयावर निर्माण झालेला "स्वदेस" नावाचा सुन्दर चित्रपट मात्र सपशेल नाकारला. निर्मिती मूल्य, तगड़ी स्टारकास्ट, संगीत अशा सर्व बाबतीत हे चित्रपट तोडीस तोड़ होते, पण निव्वल कथावस्तुचा विचार करता इतर दोन चित्रपटांपेक्षा काकणभर सरस्च असणारा "स्वदेस" मात्र प्रेक्षक नाकारतो तेव्हा राष्ट्रीयत्व खरं की प्रादेशिक अस्मिता हा प्रश्न पडल्याशिवाय राहवत नाही!

मी फक्त प्रश्न उपस्थित करण्यासाठी ही पोस्ट लिहित नाहीये! उद्याचा विचार करता या प्रश्नाचा खरच विचार करण्याची वेळ येउन ठेपलेली आहे असं मला वाटतं. पाकव्याप्त काश्मीर, चिनव्याप्त अरुणाचल असे मुद्दे समोर असताना स्वतंत्र विदर्भ, तेलंगण असे मुद्दे निकालात निघायला हवेत! महाराष्ट्र कर्नाटक सीमा प्रश्न सुटायला हवा आणि या सगळ्यासाठी केंद्र सरकारने पुढाकार घेउन प्रसंगी हस्तक्षेप करून निर्णय घेतले पाहिजेत. देशभरातल्या शिक्षण संस्थामधून विविध राज्यातल्या संस्कृतीची, उत्सवांची माहिती विद्यार्थ्याना मिळाली पाहिजे आणि त्याना या गोष्टीचा अभिमान वाटेल अशी शिकवण मिळायला हवी. सरते शेवटी जगाच्या पाठीवर असलेल्या भारत किंवा इंडिया नावाच्या भूभागावर आपला जन्म झाला आणि आपण "भारतीय" आहोत ही भावना मनात असणं महत्वाचं!गुलामीची किंवा पारतन्त्राची चव चाखायला न लागता हे शहाणपण आलं म्हणजे मिळवल.तुम्हाला काय वाटतं??????

Thursday, April 15, 2010

Generations...!!

Hello people,

Quite a different subject title!Hmmm..why I decided to write on this topic??

There are quite a few reasons. Firstly, I'm a responsible citizen of my country and constitution has given me full rights to express my views. Second, Few days back, I have started with my masters course, so being a part enlightened community ,now I can express my views to which people would definitely pay some attention (That's my guess..dunno reality!) and lastly,sad to say, I'm accepting that, now I cannot represent the youngest generation!so I feel I can be impartial about my views on generations, their cribbing about the next generations etc etc.

Opinions mentioned below are not influenced by any book, any person, any event. and of course, they are generalized!So may be you'll agree or disagree, You are free to comment!We may come up with something good!

Huuh..Generations!!

There are many social and technological parameters that have affected the behavioral pattern of generations! Let's take a simple example with Information & Technology!Internet has revolutionized the concepts of being gregarious and extrovert! Now a days, almost every second or third kid in metropolis is seen on social networking sites at the age of around 12-14. These guys are well versed with handling computer, surfing internet, chatting, gaming and so many things! I remember, when I was 12, computer wasn't alien for us but the best thing possible was to have a SEGA 16 bit video game at home with CARTRIDGES of different games. For a generation before that, it was Television, and before that, I really don think that they had this kind of indoor entertainment!So how this has affected the behavior?? In my opinion, Technology made people shaper and smarter. Someone may say that this goes hand in hand with concept of evolution. But I would just correct the statement as "After rapid growth of technology, we should rewrite a new theory of 'R'evolution!" Well are there any negative effects??yes there are- All Good things come in packages wrapped with sad things!!Since the world is changing so rapidly, Change has become the only constant word in the world. We are not stable with things we have. Yes,there's a significant role of something called "Greed for more" but still we wish to have remote control for every appliance, we want faster vehicles, Ready to cook food packets and stuffs like that. Laziness or lethargy in definitely not a reason for this! So what exactly this is??My be lack of patience? May be quest for variety?I had hard time thinking about this!

Lets think about the older generations in a bit more detail. I feel, social parameters created a G -gap' in last two generations. Generation older of the two belonged to mostly pre-independence era where as the later belonged to post-indepedence era. The older generation had seen two world wars, freedom fights for own land, understood what slavery means and still they bought up their families and eventually came up good in life post indepedence. The next G of the two, mostly born post-indepence, never really looked back at history seriously. This generation experienced infinite political and social instabilities, Indo-Pak ;Indo-China wars, recession,corruption, poverty and unemployment which all went to their highest levels in this span. Someone may have an answer to why this happened? but result was these people were always pissed off with a system they made, a system of which they were a part of! I have seen people in this generation who are in their fifties and still confused..!whatever they did in life was right or wrong? Generally newer generations are blamed for not respecting elders and rest of things, but it was this generation when family decentralization begun from our joint family cultures!I'm not blaming this generation for whatever they did, but their deeds left a mark on the social & moral values which continued to denigrate in the next generations. The positives that we got from this generation is something called 'Patience'. These people, now in the their 50s or 60s, are really passive and ready to wait. They waited for increments and promotions in the same company for years, they waited many years;even post marriage in cases; to have their own house and many things that they dreamed of! This particular quality lacks in our generation to much extent and to much higher extent in next generation.

I know, one may feel like "This is getting to biased and one sided" but as I have mentioned above, this are strictly my views after looking at the scenario. but we are open to new ideas or views. I would love if I get inputs on this subject from all age groups.
Much more to think and write. Take care!

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

"Power Elites" the right title!!

Yesterday I read an article on a portal about personalities who can be called as the top 10 power elites of the country!As I'm staying in United States, I felt that this will be a good post to begin writing after a long time. This article will not only allow me to express my views on few of them but also joy of staying in touch with INDIA! so here I begin-


The list begins with:
1. Mr. Ratan Tata:
Undoubtedly, This man in the the real entrepreneur. After failing earlier in his career with NELCO or EMPRESS mills, he still came out strong and joined in Tata group as director. Under his guidance Tata motors and TCS got listed on the New York Stock exchange. He bought Jaguar and Land Rover from Ford motor company. In his tenure TATA group has emerged as largest business house on Indian stock market with companies like Tata steel, Tata motors, Tata consultancy services, Tata tea etc. But these are not the things for which a common man like me should be proud of him! He is known to common man because "The trust" he maintained with all his products and services and we can proudly say " TATA ka bharosa (Tata's trust)".The other and more important reason is he understands our dreams.He announced that his company would come out with a car, that would cost just a lakh of rupees.Many experts, critics claimed that this was impossible, but with his team of engineers; Ratan Tata came out with "NANO"- The cheapest car of the country.He kept his word & that's why he is the first power elite of the country. People would remember him for his quote "A promise is a promise"...he literally fulfilled that!!
2.Mukesh Ambani & Anil Ambani:























After a feud broke between them, they have divided the Reliance group, I'll still consider them together as "The Ambani's". These two men have an unsaid monopoly as far the Indian economy is concerned.Many times people say that it was genius of late Mr. Dhirubhai Ambani who established the name,but they have even grown on their own. Mukesh Ambani is the first trillionaire of the country and richest Indian all over the world. He holds all the Petrochemical flag of the group with the name RELIANCE after the split. Once in January 2008, due to high jumps in stock market, he was even called the RICHEST MAN IN THE WORLD. Currently his dream home worth $1 billion is in news. Anil Ambani on other side started with a new group called ANIL DHIRUBHAI AMBANI GROUP (ADAG) keeping industries like RCOM, Reliance energy. He is the one who took Reliance out of their conventional sectors and began exploring areas like entertainment, retail markets etc. He is the fourth richest Indian in the world. However One can surely say that Ambani's together or individuals are elite!
3. Sachin Tendulkar:
What Should I write??I really falling short of words & short of his records in world cricket. It might be possible that a person reading this post may have more information & more things to talk about him. still being his fan, I would mention a few things-
1) Batsman with maximum number of centuries in both One day and test cricket.
2) Record of scoring not out 200 runs in an ODI.
3) Maximum runs in both test & one day formats.
There are many many and many more. One day I'll write a different post entirely about Sachin. As far as this discussion is concerned, he affects lives of millions in India.People forget their personal lives when Sachin is playing. An entire generation of Indian cricketers has grown looking at this little master.There are many famous lines said about him. I would mention the one I like the most- " He is an individual who showed millions of middle class families in India, that one can become billionaire with the a piece of wood in hand & determination in mind". Above all he is not just the best cricketer, best sportsman but best person. We salute you master!
4) Amir Khan:
The Ace Khan, The Perfectionist, Sensible director, Great actor, Good producer and there are many more roles he has played in Indian cinema & in Social India. He has this strange habit of doing everything impeccably ( One of his famous dialogue is "Waise bhi prefection ko improve karna mushkil hota hai- It's very difficult to improve perfection"). After being the chocolate hero of the Industry he then turned to few selective roles,and how well he has done that!!His flicks like Dil Chahta hai, Lagaan, Sarfarosh, Rang de basanti, Taare zamin par, 3 Idiots have been blockbuster films. He has shown dedication towards his roles by changing look, physique every time. He decided to take producer's seat for Lagaan and after many years an Indian film was nominated in the final five at academy awards in the category of best foreign film. He wasn't always successful with his experiments and "Mangal Pandey" is a good example of that. But then again it was Amir Khan because of whom a film like "Ghajini" became a big hit.Today, he stands out in all other actors of his generation. He is the promoter of Incredible India campaign and he has even shown his participation in issues like "Narmada andolan". His every act, every performance in films increases expectations of people across India. I would say that, for Amir Khan, "We hope Best is yet to come"
5) Shahrukh Khan:
Right from the days of television (Circus,Army), this man has flourished in his career. While doing so, He has proved himself to be a Good Entertainer, Romantic Hero, Good Friend & Of course heartthrob of millions in the country. His fans believe that he is "The KING" of bollywood. there are debates on that, but one must agree that this man is "selfmade". Without any godfather in the industry he has become a brand name today. He never got involved in any type of personal life controversies in glam world of B-Town but invited quite a few debates in his social life (recent issues with a political party). He proved his skills on silver screens with power packed performances in Swades, Chak de India, Don. Even then, his fans like to see him doing romantic films like DDLJ, KKHH, K3G etc. This man has an amazing knack of connecting with his fans.He is one of the very few celebrities in India after Cricketers, with whom fans are attached emotionally.and that is where "He is the King" (Personally speaking I would Like to see him exploring more of his acting skills rather than just being a entertainer).

The later names mentioned in the list were not so familiar with me. I have no doubt that even these people are a class apart!I would just mention their names to complete this post. the list includes, Shashikant and Ravi Ruia; Samir and Vineet Jain;Kumar Mangalam Birla; Anand Mahindra.

I hope I can spare some time to keep writing( Quality writing)!!Take care!