Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Bio Technology Rajiv Gandhi Indian Institute of Management, Shillong (IIM-S) Indira Gandhi National Tribal University Rajiv Gandhi National Fellowship Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Petroleum Technology Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research Indira Gangi Institute of Medical Sciences Indira Ganghi Institute of Co-operative Management Indira Gandhi Institute of Technology Indira Gandhi Institute of Aeronautics The North Eastern Indira Gandhi Regional Institute of Health and Medical Sciences Indira Ganhi Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences Indira Gandhi Institute of Physical Education And Sports Science Indira Gandhi Institute of Cardiology Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA) Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research (IGCAR) Indira Gandhi Agricultural University Indira Gandhi Memorial Library, University of Hyderabad Indira Gandhi Government College. Affiliated to: Rajiv Gandhi University Indira Gandhi Memorial Fellowships Indira Gandhi Post-Graduate Scholarship for Single Girl Child Rajiv Gandhi Univerisity, Arunachal Pradesh Rajiv Gandhi Institute for Contemporary Studies Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Technology(RIT), Kottayam Rajiv Gandhi National Institute of Youth Development (An Autonomous Organisation of Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports, GOI) Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences Rajiv Gandhi Institute of IT & Biotech Rajiv Gandhi Proudyogiki Vishwavidyalaya Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Aquaculture Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Aquaculture (RGCA) Rajiv Gandhi Postgraduate Scholarship Scheme 2005 Rajiv Gandhi Scholarship Scheme for Students with Disabilities. The Rajiv Gandhi National Fellowship (RGNF) Scheme for Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes. Rajiv Gandhi Homoeopathic Medical College Jawaharlal Institute of Post Graduate Medical Education and Research Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research
If you think I have given you a directory of all major higher educational institutions owned by the government in India, you are thoroughly mistaken. Then, what is this list? This is a list of government owned higher educational institutions (schemes etc.) bearing the name of a family member of the first Prime Minister of India, Mr. Jawaharlal Nehru. Interestingly, Nehru's name doesn't feature in the list as much as his daughter's and his grandson's. Mind you, this is just a name of institutions, scholarships, programs etc. connected with education. And even with regard to education, this is not an exhaustive list, but just an inclusive list. Add to this, innumerable number of development projects, other institutions etc and just read the list, you will have uttered the names Rajiv Gandhi and Indira Gandhi, more times than your grandmother uttered the name of God.
So, can you conclude from this list that the greatest human beings this nation/civilization of more than a few thousands years are Mrs. Indira Gandhi and her son Mr. Rajiv Gandhi. I am certainly not the one to draw such a conclusion. Though I tried my level best to link these people with academics, I failed. Both the mother and the son were academically average, if not below average. And during the process, I also came to know that a lot of our leaders had much much better academic credentials. Notable examples include Subhas Chandra Bose who stood 4th in the Indian Civil Service examination, at a time when Indians rarely cleared this prestigious examination, Arabindo and Ambedkar among hundreds of others.
Isn't this a shame that our leaders are doing this to just impress the Congress President Ms. Sonia Gandhi? A name- be it that of an air-port or a sea-port or an educational institution or a road- should tell a story. It should have some relevance. Look at the names of the top business schools (private or otherwise) of the USA or the UK like Sloan, Judge, Said, Rose, Kellogg etc. Though they are mostly the names of a donor to the university or the MBA course, they tell a story. It is thousand times better than naming it after Indira and Rajiv who have got nothing to do with those institutions. It is none of my business if a private individual names his own institution after these two people. What is objectionable is the central and state governments' shameless naming acts. These names hide from the world, India's glorious past and her thousands of great sons and daughters. I will not blame him/her, if a foreigner tells me there was no civilization in India before Jawaharlal Nehru. I will assume he must have been misled by all these names. I won’t be surprised at all if there is a Rahul Gandhi Indian Institute of Management or Priyanka Gandhi Indian Institute of Technology at some point in the future.
I will conclude this post by telling the Vishaka story that happened not so long ago. Hyderabad's Vishaka cricket stadium was sponsored by the Vishaka Group. Once its construction was completed, it was transferred to Hyderabad Cricket Association. The state government, particularly the Chief Minister Y.S Rajasekhar Reddy, did not like the name. So they decided to name it after Rajiv Gandhi. But only after paying Rs.6.5 crore for breach of contract to the Vishaka Group. Rs. 6.5 crore was thrown away by the Chief Minister who came to power on povert alleviation plank. And that too, just to please his boss.
Image via WikipediaA few days back, I was walking along the busiest road in the city of Trivandrum. The road is named M G Road. As I reached in front of the Secretariat, a middle-aged woman approached me with a sheet of paper. There are always some strikes going on in front of the Secretariat and I realized this woman belonged to one of the striking groups. She wanted me o put my signature on that paper. I looked at it and it already contained a lot of signatures. She said they wanted to make it 1 lakh signatures and then submit it to the President of India. I was too tired to spare even a few seconds. I glanced at the banner and just walked away. As I was walking past them, I heard the lady’s comments, “He saw the banner and the photo and he is running away. The strike had something to do with dalit rights and the photograph was that of Dr. Ambedkar.
I thought of what she said and also my action. I wondered why I didn’t stop and signed on that paper. Anyway, my action was representative of the typical Indian upper caste, middle class mentality. We have no sympathy for the dalits. We feel they are unjustifiably given job reservation whereas we have to compete really hard to get a job. They can easily get in to the IITs and IIMs, which are symbols of modern Indian middle class dreams. We despise Dr. Ambedkar as a dalit icon rather than as a visionary.
Sadly, we are far away from truth. The dalits are still in a pathetic shape. Barring a limited number of dalits, most are not even aware of the opportunities available to us. The terms that we hear and use in our day to day life such as IT, globalization, BPO, Infosys, TCS, Microsoft, Google, Yahoo, retail boom are all unheard of in their world.
So, what is new about all these? What am I talking about? One palpable difference between today and the past is the difference in the attitude of the upper caste, middle class urban youth of India. They are more self-centered than ever. They simply can’t accept the reality. Many factors resulted in this attitude. One among them is the reservation in jobs for OBCs introduced in 1989 by V P Singh government. That angered the upper caste youth. Many of the communities were given job reservation unjustifiably. At least the economically well off among these communities would have been excluded so that the benefits would have gone to the needy in these backward communities. Anyway, it is not the OBCs but the dalits who are blamed for the differential treatments against the forward castes and consequent opportunity losses.
It is high time we viewed the dalits from another angle. They are not benefiting greatly from any positive differential treatment extended to them by the government. Their representation is still very poor in the private companies. They don’t get any respect in our world. They are aggrieved more than ever because the urban upper caste middle class never had it so good when it comes to opportunities.
What should we do? Let us not talk about any action now. We should be first ready for a change in the mindset. We should start accepting the reality. We must realize that we can’t combat any threat the nation is facing such as terrorism or naxalism when these dalits are starving. We must welcome them in to our middle class world. They are not a burden. We should realize that people like Ambedkar were not just dalit icons but visionaries. Today we hail globalization and liberalization. Dr.Ambedkar had advocated it at the time of independence when our grandfathers and their heroes like Nehru couldn’t even imagine adopting that path. Hinduism should thank men like Ambedkar as much as we thank Swami Vivekananda. But for people like Ambedkar, the dalits would have converted to other religions in large numbers and Hindus would have been a minority. Yes, Ambedkar and his disciples converted to Buddhism, but then it was more of a protest than of a conversion in the strict sense of the term. I am not saying I agree with whatever Ambedkar said or did. All I am saying is we should consider him as a national icon rather than as a dalit leader. It is time we develop a new socio-economic philosophy which is rightist in spirit but as inclusive as the leftist ideals, and without the defects, demerits and impracticalities of leftism.
About the Blog: If you are socially inclined, passionate about India and is a keen observer of the events unfolding around you, then this blog might interest you. The basic premise being, if it appeals to the authors, then it will appeal to a typical urban semi-urban middle class young Indian. We intend to cover the following (inclusive, but not exhaustive) list of topics through this blog- Politics, Cricket, Entertainment, Startups, Entrepreneurs, Social Activists, Internet, Mobile etc……
About the Name: The name "Maharajas and Snake Charmers" signifies many things. It signifies the two extremes of India. It signifies the age old stereotype about India in the western world. It also signifies, India's glorious past, its pathetic situation in the first 40 years of Independence and its journey to regain the past glory. The name also gives an idea of the nature of the blog as well. We may talk passionately about India’s march to super power status. We may talk about starving millions as well.
About the Authors: The contributors to this blog are Arun M and Mahesh R.
About Arun M: Computer Engineer, Marketing MBA, worked with a couple of startups, currently with a big 4, passions include Startups, Entrepreneurs, Finance, Web 2.0, Films and Blogosphere.…
About Mahesh R: Lawyer, MBA, now with big 4, passions include cricket, religion and philosophy, advertisement and branding, fitness etc.
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