Comedy of Common Names Author: Dr. K.S. Kang

 

Comedy of Common Names

Author: Dr. K.S. Kang

Generally in North India and specifically in the state of Punjab and Haryana it is very difficult to tell the gender of a person just by the name. That is why there is convention of suffixing Singh after the name of males and Kaur after the name of females. But mostly the family members call a person affectionately by his or her fist name without caring to put the suffix Singh or Kaur that leads to confusion, chaos and comic situation at least for some time till the light of truth dispels the darkness of doubt. This confusion has increased in the modern world of mobiles, e-mails, and even internet.

One such situation arose in the Singh family who had a son and a niece by the identical name Manpreet, though the name of their parents were also identical. Everybody in Singh family was worried about their son who was reluctant and hesitant in getting married due to a strange trait in the modern young people to bear the responsibility of looking after their life partner and family under the guise of so called liberty that they try to protect as long as they can. Even their relatives had no clue how Singh family is going to persuade their son in getting married.

Meanwhile Singh Sahib’s niece who had completed the graduation was sitting idly at home for the last one year as neither her parents were interested that she should do some job nor she was adequately qualified to get a one. So her parents decided to marry her to a suitable match. After a number of interviews and complicated deliberations a match was fixed for her that according to her parents was the best that she could have hoped to get in her life. In glee and joyful mood her parents informed Singh Sahib about the fixing of her their daughter’s marriage. While Singh was talking on the phone “ Manpreet’s wedding is fixed, o’ congratulations. What marriage is next month, oh very good”, their maid servant Lalitha, who had lazy hands but alert ears and eyes, overheard it and and after finishing her work went out of the house very quickly. Within twenty four hours this news spread like a wild fire in the whole colony through Lalitha and her colleagues who took this news to the houses where they worked. Within a day every body came to know about the fixing of Manpreet’s wedding except Manpreet himself, who was out of town on some errand related to his job.

Next day in the morning when Manpreet came by morning train and decided to cover the distance from railway station to his house, that was about half a kilometre by foot, at every corner he came across some of his colony resident who congratulated him on getting his wedding fixed. Far from being happy Manpreet was devastated,frustrated and angry at his parents who did not feel even the need of informing him before fixing his marriage. His temper nearly reached the boiling point when the gate of his house came in sight. As he opened the bolt of the door he threw away his bag and sat on a cot placed near the door and started crying loudly. His mother and sister rushed to the door on hearing the bang of the bag on the floor, and loud crying of Manpreet. They thought that Manpreet’s new boss had fired him that is why Manpreet is feeling dejected at losing his job that was mainstay of his reputation in society.

His sister rushed inside to get a glass of water for him while his mother caressed his hair and told him not to worry by saying “ Don’t feel disheartened, losing job does not mean the end of the world. If God closes one door, He opens ten more doors”. Looking angrily at his mother Manpreet nearly burst our “ Who has lost the job? But certainly somebody has lost mind in the family that has fixed my wedding without taking me into confidence. I had told you not to fix my marriage till my probation period is over and I am on more stable ground. His mother replied “ Do we have to go to hell by arranging the marriage of educated person like without informing you.” Manpreet retorted back angrily, “ then why everybody in the colony is congratulating me on getting my wedding fixed. Manpreet’s mother and sister were unable to get what he was saying but almost at the same time Lalitha entered the house to do her job and smilingly congratulated them. She said, Don’t think that I am such a fool that I will not know anything if you will not tell me, I heard Singh Sahib talking to somebody on the phone”. Now Manpreet’s mother got at the source of misunderstanding and she scolded Lalitha by saying “ O’fool it was Manpreet Kaur’s wedding that has been fixed, who is SinghSahib’s niece and not Manpreet Singh”. Both Lalitha and Manpreet looked bewilderingly at his mother as it took some time to settle the face that it was common name that has caused the confusion. Manpreet with bowed head picked up his bag and entered the house dialling some number on his mobile phone. His mother asked him, “ now the matter is resolved now whom you are dialling ?” Manpreet replied quickly with a smile on his face and mischief in his eyes, “ To congratulate Manpreet and her parents on this grand success.”

Nearly Lost Battle Author: Dr. K.S. Kang

 

Nearly Lost Battle

Author: Dr. K.S.Kang

Twenty twenty year proved to be more than extraordinary just like its strange figure. This year had unfolded a number of unprecedented things like its beginning with one of the worst crisis faced by humanity since World War II in the form of COVID-19 pandemic world wide and then the race to find its causes, prevention and race to find its possible vaccine. Meanwhile it was clear that till soe vaccine or definite cure to this malady is found we have to rely on preventive measures like using masks, washing or sanitising hands repeatedly and maintaining proper social distance, so as not only to protect ourselves but others as well from this deadly infection. Since it is seen that humanity faces one or the other crisis after hundred years. In 1919-1920 it was Spanish Flu so naturally this year had to be different for human race but nobody had thought that this year would create such a havoc to man world wide.

As this year was entering its last quarter administration of my state decided to hold elections for local civic bodies in rural and urban area though it was decided that in these elections COVID guidelines would be followed meticulously. A bottle of Sanitizer was kept at the entrance of hall where training was to be held. The rule of no mask,no entry was followed strictly and the seating arrangement was done with a view to keep social distance. After training on a particular date we were sent to our respective zones to ascertain minimum assured facilities in the polling booths allotted to us as the polling parties were required to stay there on the polling day. After a tour of a couple of days we returned back to district headquarters for the second training along with the polling parties and to escort them to their respective polling booths. Authorities had assured time and again during the training sessions that every material has been checked doubly and put in their kits in adequate quantity and similarly the machines have been checked doubly and are in fit and perfect condition.

But next day as soon as the mock poll at one of my booth started the machine showed error. Without wasting any time I informed the authorities at once exposing the hollow claims of the administration. Soon a master trainer and engineer turned up but they were unable to rectify it as a result of which change of machine was recommended and I replaced the spare machine that was given to me from the district headquarters in the morning of poll day. Mock poll in the new machine was also held as a result of which polling could start only at that booth nearly half an hour late. My problems did not end here that day.

But by the time polling started normally in this booth machine of neighbouring booth started malfunctioning, even though it worked during mock-poll. But as soon as poll started it started showing error. Thank God that Master Trainer and Engineer were still there and as they were unable to rectify it so they informed the district authorities and Tehsildar brought a new set of machines from the headquarters and replaced it in the booth but by the time the polling started it was already an hour behind schedule. Thank God there were no more further surprises for me that da. Thereafter everything went normal and at the end of the day the polls were closed, machines were sealed and all the documents with several envelopes and formats were deposited at different counters and we were let off by 9 p.m in the evening of that day. This time district authorities declared that Presiding Officer and Polling Parties will be relieved by their respective Zonal magistrates and not by Returning Officers that produced some strange unpleasant situations as in a hurry to be free some of the polling officers even forgot the common human decency that was quite depressing and unfortunate.

Great October Revolution in My Life Author: Dr. K.S.Kang

 

Great October Revolution in My Life

Author: Dr.K.S.Kang

One of the most significant event that took place in human society nearly a century ago, also known as Bolshevik Revolution brought revolutionary changes in the history of Russia and the life of Russisans. One such event that took place in my, suddenly out of blue, last month, was order of my employer naming as the head of the college in which I was teaching. And the thing became more significant as there were nearly five members of faculty, who were senior to me and even one claimed to be senior to everybody in the college. On the top of that this order came at tail end the last week of the month. I could have refused to accept the change but my own colleagues cajoled me to accept this assignment as not accepting the assignment would delay the salary of nearly hundred employees unnecessarily. So after much heart burning among my peers and seniors I took over as Principal of the college. After a couple of days the month of October came and as in this month state was celebrating 150^th birth anniversary of Father of the Nation Mahatma Gandhi. As there was pandemic in this world this year so government decided to create awareness among the people regarding the use of masks, sanitizers and significance of social distancing among the people to encounter the pandemic. So the first function that I attended as the Chief of the college was to chair a symposium on the significance of the day 2^nd October that was birth not only of the Father of the Nation Mahatma Gandhi but of second Prime Minister of the nation Shri Lal Bahadur Shastri as well. The Chief guest of this function was District Education Officer- a lady who was daughter of our teacher and senior to me in the college. It was followed by another webinar which was hosted by the college, and as it was hosted by the college so naturally I chair this webinar which was perhaps the first webinar of my life that I chaired. It was followed by inauguration of rallies, administering of oaths to the young people of the country.

At that time another important event that was going on in the campus was exams not only of Mohan Lal Sukhadia University Udaipur but of Indira Gandhi National Open University, Delhi and Vardhman Mahaveer Open University,Kota. As Chief of the College Staff I was expected to act as Central Superintendent of the Centre. These exams were held in three shifts from 7 a.m to 10 a.m, 11a.m to 2 p.m and 3 p.m to 6 p.m. These exams kept me quite busy that some times I went to college in the 7.30 a.m in the morning and returned back at 6.15 p.m in the evening. Due to these exams I did not feel when the whole month passed. I was able to handle these exams without any interruption in my daily routine due to the fact that my house was just five minutes walk from the office of the college. So I could come to my home according to my need and convenience for example on a normal day I went to college in 7.30 a.m in the morning then I used to return at 9.0 a.m for breakfast, then after wash and change i used to go to college at 10.30 a.m to college and then returned at 1.30 p.m for lunch and then finally to college at 3.00 p.m and return back after the end of the exam. One thing that I observed was that as soon as I took over the charge the level of respect suddenly rose in the eyes of my colleagues, and they started seeing positive attributes in my personality. In the period of one month God empowered me to do the normal routine work of a number of my retired and ex-colleagues. Now I was beginning to feel the heat of administration stress and I started wishing ardently that now change should come soon. My wish was granted as I received orders from my employers to hand over the charge to the senior most faculty member and I readily complied it the very next day though it was honour and privilege to head the institution in which you have studied nearly forty years ago and have served it for nearly two decades.

Realization Author: Dr. K.S.Kang

 

Realization

Dr. K.S. Kang

It never occurred to Mangat Ram that he had come alone in this world and will have to go to the next world alone till he was infected by Corona virus. Till then he was being  looked after reasonably well by his son, daughter-in-law and grand children. After the demise of his wife two years ago he preferred to live in the outer room of his four room house that he had constructed by taking loan from the bank against his salary. He had paid back the loan well before the year of his retirement so as to avoid post retirement trouble of any sort. He had chosen the outer room of his house so as to avoid any type of interference in the lives of his son’s family. Now due to his growing age he had lost much of his appetite but still his daughter-in-law was giving him enough food that he used to give surplus food to a stray dog that used to sit in front of the room of his house.

                A night before he fell ill, he felt uneasy and developed fever and sore throat. As his fever did not come down his son informed the nearest medical facilities of the town that brought in an ambulance full of medical workers in their PPE kits and masks and took him to hospital at once and took his sample by inserting a long narrow stick in his nose. They also took sample of other members of the family.  After a couple of days the ambulance returned back to take him to quarantine centre as he has tested positive for Corona. As soon as they came to know that he was infected everybody tried to avoid him as if he was a pariah, an untouchable cur. Even his son stood at the threshold of his house while medical authorities were putting him forcefully as if he had committed some crime and his daughter-in-law was standing at the innermost edge of the house holding his grandson who wanted to see where these medical authorities were taking his grandfather. At that time when he needed sympathy, care and attention of the people as he too was shocked to get this news that he is suffering from a malady that is simply incurable. As ambulance was carrying him to Quarantine Centre situated outside the town he saw from the window of the ambulance that the stray dog whom he used to give his leftover food was following him.

                At the Quarantine Centre also everybody treated him like an untouchable. Even doctors feared to come near him and attendant staff threw pills and capsules from a distance as if he was some stray dog. They treated him like a sinner as if his getting infected is responsible for their lives too. Next day he saw that the dog who was following him has somehow tracked him and was sitting outside his room. From the meagre meals he received at the Centre he managed to send some food by greasing the palm of one of the medical attendant who used to clean his room twice. Though this attendant used to deliver food to the dog but he was unable to comprehend why this man was sharing his food with a stray dog even at the time when it is not certain whether he will live or die. Even his friends and relatives did not inquire about him and they even refused to take his calls as if virus travelled through radio waves of the instrument. Mangat Ram had led a respectable and decent life as he was a middle rung government employee and even after retirement he was leading a reasonably good life on his pension and out of his income he had tried to help his friend and relatives in their need according to his capacity but now everybody was neglecting and ignoring him. Even the medical staff who was supposed to be doing noble work of serving humanity with humility and politeness treated him rudely and neglected him at every point. Even he had provided sufficiently comfortable life to his family out of his income and even after retirement he tried to bring something for everybody on the festivals out of his pension that his uncle used to say that would remain with you till the last day of your life. But still even his near and dear ones have ignored and neglected him that he was completely broken down and he was more inflicted with this neglect than with the virus. He felt more pain at this than the disease.

                Though he did not wish to live any more in this selfish, egocentric world but still due to his inbuilt immunity from child hood and as a result of his taking prescribed medicine religiously he recovered and became normal in a fortnight. After he got well he took his faithful dog and took a stern decision not to return to his son’s house this strange disease had made him realize that he had come alone in this world and nobody is going to accompany him on the journey from this world. So he left quarantine centre along with his faithful dog and left for some unknown destination as he had enough pension on which he can take care of himself and his faithful dog for the rest of his life. When Mangat Ram did not return for a month his son came to Quarantine Centre to inquire about him the only reply that he could get was from the medical attendant who used to clean Mangat’s room that he did not disclose his destination when he left the centre along with his dog but the only thing he said was that he wished for everybody’s welfare but now he will lead the rest of his life alone so that he can get used to travel alone after his death.      

 

Mother in Western Literature Author Dr. K.S.Kang

                                          Mother in Western Literature

Author: Dr. K.S. Kang

God could not be everywhere, so he created Mother

Mother is the symbol of creativity,positivity, affection and devotion. Not only human beings but even the mothers of birds and beasts can go to any extent and struggle to save the life of her young ones. Literature has given adequate space to mother in every kind of literature. In Russian literature there is even a work by the name The Mother by famous Russian author Maxim Gorky in which the protagonist becomes the mother of not only an individual but of the entire nation and tribe. She not only serves her son but also the cause of revolution by helping her son in various work like distribution of pamphlets.

Another work on mother is also a work by Maxim Gorky but it is a short story Mother of a Traitor in which a lady’s son becomes a rebel who wants to conquer his own town where he had spent his childhood. This lady is in dilemma whether to support her son or her town where she had spent her youth and given birth to this ungrateful wretch. She is looked down upon by the people of the town as they now that she is mother of a person who has become a threat to their city. But they do not harm her or kill her. One day she takes a decision and goes to the rulers of the town to take their permission to leave the town. They give the permission reluctantly. She leaves the town with a heavy heat and reaches the camp of her son, who is overjoyed to see his mother as he was restraining to attack the town as his mother was in it. Now he makes plan to attack the town. Mother tries to persuade him not to create violence and slaughter in his own hometown just to satisfy his ambition and lust of conquest. When she sees that he is blinded by ambition and lust for power she takes decision and fulfills dual responsibility of acting mother towards her son as well as mother towards her town. She stabs him with a knife and kills him and thus becomes a mother of her town by saving the innocent people from the bloodshed and violence and she acts as mother of her son by killing herself with the same dagger.

Next work on the mother is a play by Bertolt Brecht Mother Courage and Her Children in which a lady runs a canteen in the battlefield during a battle to look after her children. Though she had taken a bold decision to carry on business even during the uncertainties of war. But she takes this risk for the sake of her children. The real mother courage that emerges in the play is her daughter who is dumb but she saves the innocent lives of the people of the town by giving then a warning of approaching foe by beating the drum though she loses her life during it. So she sacrifices her life to save innumerable lives of the people living in the town by upsetting the plans of the enemy. Another work on the mother is a beautiful lyrical poem by famous poet William Cowper whose title is On the Receipt of Mother’s Picture out of Norfolk which is the story of an orphan who had lost his mother in his childhood and after a gao of twenty years he gets a portrait of his mother from one of his relative living in Norfolk. Mother has figured almost in every genre of literature whether it is play, poem , short story or a novel.   

Keep your knees off our neck and I can't Breathe Author: Dr. Kang

“Get your knees off our necks” and “ I can’t breathe”

Author: Dr. K.S.Kang

Another incident that has gained world wide attention is death of an Afro-American gentleman George Floyd in police custody in USA. Though he died in police custody but the action of the white police officer who put his knee on the neck for nearly nine minutes became the cause of his death. During this agony he could utter only two sentences “ I can’t breathe” and “Keep your knee of my neck”. These two sentences have become the icons and symbols of revolt and rebellion against oppression and exploitation. This incident had triggered rallies and protest against exploitation of any kind in the world  be it based on race, colour, gender, caste, religion or minority, region or language. There is hardly any part of the world that is untouched by exploitation of the one or the other kind. In fact in every age humanity has suffered under the discrimination of  the one or the other kind often leading to violence and riots.

            Sometimes administrative set up of the establishment becomes so insensitive and ruthless that it does not give heed to the genuine demands of human society in order to lead a reasonable decent and dignified life. A man does not live by food alone he needs respect, dignity, affection and friendship that makes his life worth living. Though it is true that the perfect and true equality in human society is poetry, it is only an ideal that can be visualized but never achieved. Yet the most basic rights and amenities of life need to be assured by the establishment to all the people without any distinction so that every body gets chance of equal opportunity to lead he life of his choice and to express his views without any fear even if his views do not toe the official line of the government of the day. But in today’s societies rich and the powerful people deny even the basic minimum rights to the poor. They are not even given the option to choose the way to die leave aside life. In every epoch of human history the resourceful people ride over the resourceless and poor people in the name of feudalism, slavery, capitalism, and even in a theocratic state. So the slogan given by this movement have become the symbols of revolt and rebellion of suffering humanity against the exploitation of any kind in any part of the world whether it is from one section of society or from the establishment of the day.

            Normally the government expects every citizen to obey its law and pay taxes and duties honestly. Though it is a form of legalized loot yet people pay taxes in the hope of getting better life facilities. But most of the fund collected through taxes is rarely utilized for public welfare. Most of it is used to strengthen the power of the state by procuring the latest weapons of mass destruction and strengthening the security agencies like police and army that can be used to scuttle freedom, including freedom to express your opinion. And in this process the genuine human demands of the society like health , education and justice are grossly ignored. Most of the states use Police and army to silence their opponents both external as well as internal and sometimes try to silence the voice of protest, truth and righteousness. When citizens of a country find the environment too stifling that they have to think twice before uttering even a truth out of the fear that it may not be liked by the establishment of the day. When governments keep their knees on the neck of the people too much and too long, with the help of police and army, they have no option but to say

                  “ I want to breathe” and “ I can’t breathe”.     

Jai Corona Mata Author: Dr. K.S Kang

Jai Corona Mata             

           Author: Dr. K.S. Kang

            When any trouble become unsurmountable  Indian learn to adjust and live with it by granting it the status of a deity,. In ancient times they accorded this status to the forces of nature like fire, water, earthquake, rain, thunderstorm the Sun, The Moon and the Ocean. Then the same status was given to some seemingly unconquerable maladies like Chicken Pox,  Small Pox, Measles and typhoid. It is believed that my appeasing this destructive force through worship and offerings it will spare them and the peace and prosperity will prevail on the earth. It is believed by the Indians that by offering red clothes and bangles to a particular goddess the disease is cured as the goddess causing it is appeased.

            Similarly in the current crisis Indians have decided to adjust with it as it is going to stay with the human society atleast for some time. Though the scientific method of avoiding it is by wearing masks, gloves, using sanitizers and keeping social distance. But women of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and even Assam have created a new goddess Corona and even devised the system of worshiping it. They make offerings to its small idol made in the earthen lamp and then they take it to the bank of some river and bury it there and then hope that it had gone and now it will not return to harm them or atleast it will spare them even if it harm others. Perhaps with time some people may master some technique to tame  this virus in such a fashion that it will harm only their opponents and enemy and not their friends, family members and followers and then it will become a business that can withstand any shock of the share market and any depression in world economy.

            This pandemic seems to have infected not only human being but even Gods too and even non-living beings. So as to give message to the people on the importance of wearing masks and keeping in isolation a number of idols of Gods and goddesses in the temples are with masks. In Rajasthan even one God went into quarantine for a period of 14 days and He gave darshan to devotees only after the period of quarantine ended. Corona seems to have infected non-living mechanical things too. Administration machinery is considered as mechanical, impersonal and insensitive and some times even ruthless. In the hurry to be the first India became one of the first nation of the world to impose lockdown. Though elsewhere the Curve of the number of Corona Patients had flattened and gone down in India the number of patients kept on increasing till date. Instead of flattening the curve of number of corona patients it appears that country has succeeded only in flattening the curve of economic growth. Due to lockdown the wheel of economic growth came to stand and still with the closure of industries and factories and unemployment spiked due to loss of jobs causing hardships to the poor and resourceless people of the country. It appears as if India has repeated the history. After independence India has chosen the path of mixed economy in the hope of reaping the benefits of both Capitalist system and Socialist or Planned Economy but it has ended in getting the demerits of both the systems rather than its advantages. It seems we have again tripped between the two stools first of hurriedly called lockdown and now premature easing of restrictions that may increase the number of cases with the movement of the people across the country.

The Pandemic seems to have infected even the Indian Railways, that were known world wide for its excellent services and punctuality. But only God knows what happened to the special Shramik trains that were run by the Government or Indian Railways to ferry the migrant labourers to their native states. First of all these trains these trains stopped at number of unsecheduled stops for such a long time that by the time it reached the destination after a journey of 90 hours they were late by twelve to fourteen hours. Secondly the original route chart handed over the drivers was laid aside, only God knows at whose orders that trains were diverted and digressed so much that the train that was bound for Ranchi reached Huderabad. It is true that India is a land of miracles but such a miracle had been seen with Indian Railways for the first time. Finally since railways were plying only goods trains during the lockdown so they seem to have forgotten that railways are also meant for human beings so they did not care for the food and water for the passengers as a result of which Railways made its own humble contribution to the toll of this pandemic as railway has killed sleeping people under its wheels as well as the people traveling in it due to lack of food , water and even air. One theory that was in the air behind this rail mismanagement was that the industrialist and capitalist lobby deliberately did this so as to discourage the labour to go to their native states other wise who will run these factories and industries once the lockdown is eased. Though people also believe that this muddle could have been avoided if the drivers of these trains had begun the journey with a loud shout of “ Jai Corona Mata” equally echoed by the traveling passengers.