We are each an island

This morning my daughter read out to me an email sent by a close relative to the staff of the very successful, well known and reputed Institution he built over a decade and a half. It was to share the news of his stepping down to tend to  his wife suffering from a serious ailment that requires them to move to the USA for a year for medical treatment.

I could write paragraphs of this relative, his maturity and his graciousness. That is not my purpose today. I am hunched over a laptop, sitting in a balcony of   a fourth  floor apartment in one of Gurgaons better known gated communities. There is a still a nip in the air, as a delayed winter makes its parting calls. All is silent and a deep comfort envelopes me.

I am aware we are each a very personal, very unique being and can never , ever feel the pain and emotions of another, however , much we may believe the stories and movies encountered in our lives. What to me may be a supreme sacrifice, to my close relative is a no brainer decision.. What to me is the tension of a years stay in a foreign land and the enormity of the expense involved, to my relative is an act that requires no review. What to me is the uncertainty of the future post the  return to India, is something that is not even in my relatives mind.

I can only from my  cosy comfort zone pray to the Almighty for their welfare. I also recollect the truth of this dialogue from a Hollywood movie..

Love is not a place where we come and go as we please ,it’s a home we enter in and commit never to leave .So lock the door behind you , throw the keys work it out together and let it bring you to your knees.

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A Tale of Two Universities

It will be sometime before the addiction to the daily paper delivered at home wears out and I move over to  the Internet driven options. Till then I continue to be a victim of not so subtle biases of urban journalism. Not having the gumption or the physical strength to ascertain the truth first hand, I indulge in adding to the numbers of armchair writers with views to share, searching for “likes” on the Face book page! 

I share my views today on the happenings at the two Universities in the North and South of the country.

Of the two, the first episode in Hyderabad is the more tragic. Rohiths suicide note[1] reads like a work of poetry, full of meaning and anguish at the environment around him. Rohith does not hold anyone responsible for his act. If, however, this act received momentum from the humility of being driven out of the Hostel, then that is truly tragic and avoidable. That second  act was clearly political, initiated by an immature Minister dabbling in student politics and aided by an equally immature Minister at the Centre desiring to score brownie points for the party. 

  

Our nation holds the promise of becoming the fastest growing economy of the world, raising millions out of poverty, the manufacturing hub to the free world. This depends on the availability of an educated young class. Sadly the crown jewels amongst the Universities are falling prey to political machinations of a few, dictated and driven by selfish immature politicians. Vice Chancellors however erudite they be, show their true character when they fail to live up to their conscience and sense of fair play.

The JNU saga is one more case of an Administration gone to the dogs. Nobody feels it odd that the University is recognized as a Leftist one. A University may have students sprouting various ideologies, but for the University itself to claim that recognition is clearly indicative of political interference. To me the events on Campus ( if at all it is honestly reported) relating to a hanging months ago, coming so close to the happenings in Hyderabad is too coincidental for words!! One party is playing politics here to make up for loss of face in the other. Sad, sad…

With apologies to the Bard,”…something is rotten in the state of education” in our country.

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[1] I read the note in: http://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-news-india/dalit-student-suicide-full-text-of-suicide-letter-hyderabad/