Life is getting away from us!!!

For the first time, last sunday, I missed posting something on this blog. Firstly, because I wanted to give the story I wrote a bit more time than my other posts. Secondly, I was a little busy in life and this phase is going to continue into the next week too, but hopefully I will be free before next Sunday.

Though, I have always tried to mantain a certain sense of universality on my blog ( meaning anyone situated at any place in the whole wide universe should be able to read this without wondering what I am talking about), this time I am inclined to write a few lines on reservation, a subject that is rocking India and has the potential of getting uglier with time. The Supreme court's orders and the consequent joining of the doctors at their respective hospitals can not be but seen as a relief by all concerned. But, the strike by the medical students hasn't ended and should'nt end either. What has surprised me is the fact that the rest of the student community has, on a larger level, decided to stay away from the strikes.

I dont know about the whole country but in a part of India, which I will not name here, some students organizations gave me a couple of reasons as to why they were not really coming out in support of the medicos :

a) The last time when Mandal comission strikes were going on, the medical community had played only a dormant part in the struggle.
b) On a day-to-day level the medical students have their heads in the air and treat the other regular undergraduates a bit off-handedly.
c) When the student unions of the colleges are striking for other reasons and causing colleges to be shut down etc. etc. the medical students have often ridiculed thm and called their efforts a "waste of time"

Well, I cannot say how much these allegations are right or wrong but they do tell about the sorry state our country is in. Even, on such a big issue as reservation, that will effect not only the present students but the coming generations as well, we are not able to forget our petty differences and come together as one. History, it is rightly said, repeats itself.

Reservation was indeed, in the 1950's, a great idea. The social disparities were extreme and poverty was linked with caste to a great extent. No one can deny that the so called upper castes, at a point of time in history, were unfair, to the extent of being cruel sometimes, to the so called backward classes. But times have changed and so have the systems. Again, there is no denying the fact that in some states there still exist those old age structures of caste but those states and areas are few and far between.

The aim of the policy makers in India is social justice, which I think we should all support , but if it is obvious that the aim is not social justice but appeasement of a particular section of the society, then it works against the very concept of democracy. Reservation, I think, is a very important issue and with the economic disparities that we have in India, it should stay for some more time but the reservations should absolutely keep the creamy layer out of its purview, and make the criteria for making reservations strictly economical.

In this modern day, Money rather than caste is what decides your social standing and thats what should be used as a criteria to reserve seats for students. Reservation should not only be one-time-in-one-life but once-in-a-family. That will ensure that a maximum number of people are benefitted. Also, the purpose of reservation is not to make the backard strata of the society rich but bring them on a level where they can strive to make something out of their lives, on their own.

Disparities exist in all major socities of the world- be it developed, developing or Third world. This could be our opportunity in history to work out a model that is used by all nations throughout the world. Here's an opportunity for us to set an example to the entire world but we should take care that we dont make a law that makes us a laughing stock of the modern world.

This post was going to be about something else as the heading might have hinted, but I think its pretty long already and my take on how life is getting away from us will have to wait till next sunday.