The image of a old lady that is hard to Forget!

Gouna is a village in Lalitpur District of Uttar Pradesh (India). We(Officer trainees of the foundation course - 81st batch) went there as a part of our Village Visit Programme. On the first day of our visit i happened to see a shocking (may be for me!) sight. To get a preliminary idea of the village we went for a transect walk around the village. Our visit to the village has kindled the expectations of the people of the village. Wherever we went People keep on coming to meet us and express their grievances. I myself got convinced that people want someone to atleast listen to their greivances. For them we looked like saviours though they know that we can't do much. The sight that i saw on that sunny open area after the people left was very heartening. Tears started flushing in my eyes and was just about to come out. I saw an Old lady in her late eighties sitting in a bent posture and trembling. I was gazing at her when tears came out of her eyes spontaneously and she kept on wiping the tears as that of a little child. She never even spoke a single word but all i could understand from her tears is that she is certainly uncared by her kith and kin and she is not getting the old age pension that the government has assured. One of our group member, a lady officer spoke to her and assured that she will get what she deserved as soon as possible. But that image of a helpless old lady got imprinted in my mind. What security such poor people have when the country is treading a higher developmental path? Who will be the voice of these voiceless people? And what i can do for her?........Will God give the answers for these Questions that loom into my mind? Images speak for themselves......One of the worst things in the world is Poverty in Childhood and still worse is Poverty in oldage.

Trekking versus Life

One fine morning when i was on a trek to Lal Tibba in Mussoorie, a spark of thought hit me in my mind. And more amazing is the fact that it happened when i was finding it hard to climb one of the difficult terrain in the trek. I sensed a lot of parallels running between 'Life and a trek'. I started telling my senior friend Shanmugam about the parallels. Those parallels that i sensed were :

1. Like the different phases of a life which is mixed with happiness and sorrow in different times, a trek too has tough as well as smooth areas (i.e. undulations are a characteristic feature of a good trek). If one crosses the difficult parts of a trek the other parts are so simple and makes one feel 'easy going'. The same will also apply to a person's life.

2. If one slips in a trek there will be friends/colleagues to lift him , cater him or to nurse his wounds. Similarly if a person slips in his smooth going life, there will be friends who redeem him from the quagmire in his/her life.

3. A person attains a great sense of satisfaction if he reaches a stage where he is proud of his achievements if he takes a glance of his paths travelled in life. Likewise, in a trek a person achieves a sense of satisfaction if he reaches his destination and looks back his journey.

4. In a trek one is often annoyed by small obstacles in the form of Leeches, marshy areas and a steep hillock. It has in parallels in life too in the form of irritating co-workers, disobedient children and an official memo.

5. In a life one will be often accompanied by his friend throughout the path and if his/her friend happen to meet an accident that handicaps him he lends his hand for help so as to ensure his survival so as to accompany him till the end of life. It has its own parallel in a trek too, If a friend got injured , he will ensure his recovery and to continue the journey till the end.

These are some of the parallels that came to my mind. I would welcome more parallels from my friends who might have felt the same.

The Foundation of a Bureaucrat!

KARAMSHILA BLOCK

The foundation of a civil servant is well laid in the wonder course called 'Foundation Course' Offered by LBSNAA (Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy for Administration). The course is aimed at raising the level of successful candidates recommended by UPSC into moulded CIVIL SERVANTS who in the future be the backbone of administration. The FC provides a platform for many of us to intermingle and share experiences that they've come across in their arduous path of civil service examination.

The Physical exercises being offered are of great use in boosting the morale, discipline, courage and fitness which are all the imprtant traits required by the civil servant. The adventure sports like rafting, para gliding are sports which cannot be experienced otherwise.

The lecture schedules are quite tight and a probationer has to find time to think over his future plans.

All the activities are aimed at developin a sort of comaraderie on the probationers from different background.

These are all the experiences i've gathered so far.

The Wonder called Civil Service!

Friends! I am not writing this scrap for the reason that i've succeeded in this exam. But, also the various experiences i have gathered while preparing for this wonderful but equally thrilling exam. I agree that the exam is highly uncertain, but not always uncertain. The results are certain if one is prepared well and has raised his standards to the level expected by the UPSC. Only then can a candidate succeed!

The thumb rule is : " Ask your inner mind whether you 've performed upto the level to gain entry into the elite cream of the candidates" .If the Answer is "Yes", there is no need to refer the peliminary exam result, main result but only the Final Result. The Question is how do you know your position? . I hope to a great extent the self realisation can be obtained by interacting with like minded guys and coaching institute professionals.

I hope this is enough for now.

My rendezvous with the UPSC interview board!

My experience with the interview Board
While entering the interview board, I was bit confused with the table arrangements and couldn’t find a lady member (first member) and my seat. So, I couldn’t wish her separately as she was not visible from the entrance. The third member guided me by signaling the chair meant for me. The board allotted to me was that of Mr. Subir Dutta.
The questions were as follows:
Chairman: Don’t you feel hot? (As I wore a suit for the interview (in summer)}
Me: Yes Sir! It is bit hot. But, being a formal occasion in my life, I thought of presenting myself before the board in formal attire.
Chairman: Are you from Pondicherry?
Me: Yes sir, I am from Puducherry. (As Pondicherry was renamed as Puducherry)
Chairman: Why is pondicherry geographically scattered?
Me: To preserve the cultural identity of the state. The state exhibits the remnants of French culture. Moreover, it was the wish of Jawaharlal Nehru to preserve its identity.
Chairman: What were the different regions of Pondicherry?
Me: Puducherry and Karaikal surrounded by Tamilnadu; Yanam in Andhra Pradesh and Mahe in Kerala.
Chairman: Why did you choose Environmental Sciences for your master’s degree.
Me: I got my interest in Environmental Sciences during my under graduation days.
Chairman: (Seemingly not satisfied) I am not asking about that.
Me: Sir, the scope for Environmental Sciences in research was good.
Chairman: In Research! Have you registered for Ph.D?
Me: No sir.
Chairman: What are the problems facing Indian Agriculture today?
Me: Sir, Indian agriculture faces a lot of problem due to its agrarian set up as a whole. Apart from this, lack of credit facilities and extension services, market fluctuations further aggravate the problem. Moreover, the public investment in agriculture is decreasing steadily.
Chairman: What do you mean by public investment in agriculture?
Me: Sir, It is the money that the Government invests in agriculture infrastructure development.
Chairman: What is the ICOR (Incremental Capital Output Ratio) for agriculture at present?
Me: I don’t know sir. But, the public investment in agriculture is 1.8% of our GDP.
Chairman: When did you come to Delhi last time?
Me: I came to Delhi on March 29th. (I meant the IFoS-2006 personality test that I last attended).
Member1: You have a good interest in wildlife conservation. Isn’t it?
Me: Yes, ma’am!
Member1: How to conserve wildlife in India?
Me: I think we need a holistic approach to conserve Indian wildlife which has to start by involving the people so as to create a ‘Social Fence’ and to ensure livelihood security of the people in the protected areas. The recently enacted Tribal rights act, 2006 will address the problem to a great extent.
Member1: Which is the most endangered wild animal in Australia?
Me: Platypus.
Member1: No, it is Panda.
Me: Madam, but Panda is highly restricted to only China!
Member1: I am sorry! It is Koala bear.
Me: Yes madam. It is one of the most threatened animal in Australia.
Member1: How is it threatened?Me: Habitat destruction…
Member1: Be specific
Me: I don’t know exactly madam.
Member: Okay. It is due to Bush fire.
Me: Thank you madam.
Member1: Do growing trees increase or decrease Global warming?
Me: Growing trees decrease the phenomena of global warming as they harness the carbon dioxide present in the atmosphere and fixes it as carbohydrates.
Member1: But, recent studies show that growing trees increase global warming.
Me: I am not aware of the study.
Member2: Why do coimbatore region have lot of textile industries?
Me: Sir, The reason is historic as it is the British colonialists who started lot of textile looms as it is a cotton growing area and availability of labor is in plenty. And that obviously turned the region into a textile hub.
Member3: How to conserve Tiger in India?
Me: Increasing the Protected area network like Wildlife sanctuaries, national parks, etc; involving the people in conservation efforts; framing a environmental educational system that covers all the sets of people starting from children, common man, politicians, judiciary, etc. will increase the importance of tiger and other wildlife’s role in the environment.
Member3: What do you mean by Hotspot?
Me: Hotspot is an area rich in biodiversity and should face enough threats to announce it as a hotspot.
Member3: (Disagrees) I have been in Bhutan for 6 years and it was a hotspot with high biodiversity but no threats.
Me: Sir, Bhutan alone is not a Hotspot, but the entire North Eastern Himalayas constitute a Hotspot.
Member3: (Disagrees)
Me: Sir, there are two criteria to qualify a region as a Hotspot. They are It should have a plant diversity of at least 0.5% of the world and it should have lost at least 70% of its original habitat.
Member3: (Disagrees) Okay, I may be wrong!!
Chairman: (Intervenes) No, The member is correct.
Me: (Kept Smiling).
Member3: What is your Master’s degree research?
Me: Sir, I did research on the Biodiversity of Ants in the Western ghats.
Member3: Okay, How do studying Ants be helpful to human society?
Me: Sir, We have to learn a lot from ants. They have a altruistic behaviour which stands for ‘Selfless service’ and also personified by Mahatma Gandhiji. Also, study on movement of Ants is successfully used to avoid traffic congestion which would of great help to human beings in avoiding traffic jams.
Member3: (seemingly impressed) so, it could be a solution to traffic problems in Delhi?
Me: Certainly Sir!
Member4: How do birds migrate from one area to the other?
Me: Sir, birds use a lot of techniques to migrate to the exact location they want to like using magnetic poles, using stellar (stars) position during night.
Member4: What do you mean by Ant colony maximization? It is related to your master’s degree research.
Me: (I asked for a few moments to guess, But couldn’t give a answer for few moments)
Member4: Okay, You think about it later.Member4: how do study on ants applied in the field of robotics?
Me: By studying the movement of ants we can design robotic tools better based on the movement of parts of an ant.
Chairman: Your Interview is over.
Me: Thank you very much sir. Thank you, madam. Thank you, sirs.

OBC Reservation : Who reaps it ?

Reservation is concieved as a measure largely to overcome the 'HISTORICAL INJUSTICE' faced by our society sicne time immemorial.We the people of india has given ourself a chance to raise against the tide of casteism by giving reservation to ourselves. But, the recent trend of casteist elements quequeing to get backward classes status is a worrisome trend. Also, the lack of identification of the creamy layer for OBC's and poor implementation of the same while considering them for reservation perpetuates the top cream of OBC's squandering away the benefits actually conceived for the lower rung of OBC pyramid. The need of the hour is for the Government to take bold steps to undo these two dangerous trends in OBC Quota misuse. We Indians have given ourselves the benfit of Quota to uplift ourselves so again we have to weed out the inappropriate beneficiaries of the OBC Quota from endangering the interests OBC's in the lower level of the social pyramid.

Development Vs Destruction

One of the Biggest topic of Debate Nowadays is the above one!
I Invite like minded environmentally aware individuals to share their ideas on this topic?

1. Which is beneficial for the Environment/
2. Whether Technology can offset the illeffects of Development?
3. Better said than Done.Is it feasible?
4. What is the fate of the Innocent but knowledge treasure Tribal people/
5. How to strike a balance (If any exists) between the two?

Are we Indians vulnerable to Racism?

Racism is any action, practice or belief based on the ideology that humans are divided into separate and exclusive biological entities called races. Also, it promotes the prejudices that a person of particular race has a certain amount of intellect which often goes wrong. India with its vast cultural diversity (can aptly be called vast human diversity), the word 'racism' hardly has any meaning at all! In India each of the umpteen numbers of caste systems, linguistic groups and cultural groups have their own identity but they keep 'Indian identity' above such caste systems. Such a view often gives a healthy entity which is envied by the entire world. How a country of such diversity (differences!) can coexist? Look at the situation in the middle east wherein people of same religion fight among them for dominance. In India, North Indians call the south Indians 'Madarasi' and North Indians are called as 'Vada Naattan (North Indian)' in the south. The recipient of such remarks often doesn't bother about such petty things.

The Shilpa shetty 's drama cannot be taken as a case of a Indian being bullied as it is an entertainment show for which she has been paid. Moreover, she is not an average Indian to have a level of tolerance and carefreeness to pooh pooh the so called racist comments. A common Indian will have more tolerance than many of the bollywood stars. But unfortunately, it is these bollywood stars who represent Indian on the entertainment shows around the world. What does it mean to a common man (think of R.K.Laxman's Common man) when a little known actress cry over a racist remark which is not at all racist as India is not prone to any sort of racism. The issue has occupied a vast number of pages in the print media in the last few days. Let us not get deviated by these petty issues for which we Indians are completely not prone .Let us not give opportunity to these things in our media lest it will introduce a new concept of racism into the Indian society.