The term COMRADE bears political overtones.Congress President Sonia Gandhi has used the term as an adjunct to late communist patriarch Jyoti Basu.This may yield political controversy . In the context we may look up the word in the dictionary for a fair idea about it.
According to The Pocket Oxford Dictionary, Comrade is 'mate or fellow in work or play or fighting, equal with whom one is on familiar terms.'
Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary says,Comrade is 'a person who is a member of the same trade union as oneself, or of the same socialist or communist political party,etc.'
While the first meaning is wider,the second one is restricted. We don't know in what sense Ms Gandhi has used the word in reference to the late communist leader.
As society evolves, our behaviour also evolves.Speech also is a kind of behaviour.The meaning,connotation,overtone and undertone of a word undergo changes over time.Besides,it is a fact that words frequently have several meanings and meanings change in time,just like other elements in language.Thus,in Old English 'tartness' could be attributed to winter and could encompass such possibilities as freezing to death. Today the meaning has changed considerably.
Samuel Johnson in his dictionary defines a 'humanist' as 'a philologer,a grammarian'. We now know these meanings have changed considerably.In Frank Norris's 'Octopus'(1901),a '...typewriter rose and withdrew,thrusting her pencil into the coil of her hair',in the 1990s 'typists' rather than tywriters engage in such activities.In brief,meanings change.
Dialogue
How would you assess his rise to power?
It is simply brilliant.
Is it? How?
He is a master manipulator.He wants only success,whatever be the means.
If it is brilliant,what is not?
That I can't say,and nor am I bothered.
Morality does not count?
It is of many hues.There is political morality,business morality,professional morality,and what not.
If you wade through blood to power,what kind of morality is it?
Don't forget politics is for power,and it is only power that counts.
So,there is bankruptcy in every field.
When you are in power, you command respect and awe because you can punish and reward.
You have power sans authority.
That matters little when you are in a position of power to enjoy life at the expense of the public and can dole out favours as well as award punishment at will.
Is it morally correct?
People,by and large, accept it.Those who are against it stoically remain passive-they are a miniscule minority.
Then we should live with it?
Let's see.
It is simply brilliant.
Is it? How?
He is a master manipulator.He wants only success,whatever be the means.
If it is brilliant,what is not?
That I can't say,and nor am I bothered.
Morality does not count?
It is of many hues.There is political morality,business morality,professional morality,and what not.
If you wade through blood to power,what kind of morality is it?
Don't forget politics is for power,and it is only power that counts.
So,there is bankruptcy in every field.
When you are in power, you command respect and awe because you can punish and reward.
You have power sans authority.
That matters little when you are in a position of power to enjoy life at the expense of the public and can dole out favours as well as award punishment at will.
Is it morally correct?
People,by and large, accept it.Those who are against it stoically remain passive-they are a miniscule minority.
Then we should live with it?
Let's see.
Honesty is casualty
Honesty is now-a-days the casualty.Why?To answer is,perhaps,difficult.Maybe we are,by and large, dishonest,more or less.Most of us try to have quick gains,anyhow.We don't have the mind to go by the Gandhian teaching : the goal must be noble,and also the means.Rather we find it convenient to follow Machiavelli :end determines the means. It appears,everywhere it is the go of the day.The honest people are the victims of circumstances.
With honesty is linked the personality.What is personality? To-day most people confuse personality with street smartness.A well-dressed person talking fluently and cunningly is taken to be a man of personality.Is it so? Then what about Socrates,Plato,Aristotle,Tagore ,Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose and Mahatma Gandhi?Were they not men of personality? If they were,then honesty in thought and action were the dominant attribute of their character.
But now such people are rare and often suppressed.They are not respected and talked about openly.Their honesty is often taken to be their weakness.We measure the worth of a man by his money and muscle power.Honest people cannot be wealthy overnight ,and they don't flex muscle to be respected.They are in the habit of calling a spade a spade,and this is their nemesis. They don't call a bad man good,a vice a virtue.We are equivocators,and,therefore,cannot appreciate plain talk.We are for tall talk,hollow talk.We clap when someone makes hollow promises. This is the irony of the situation in which honest people are undone.We have Iagos, all around , reigning.Honesty is,therefore,the casualty.
With honesty is linked the personality.What is personality? To-day most people confuse personality with street smartness.A well-dressed person talking fluently and cunningly is taken to be a man of personality.Is it so? Then what about Socrates,Plato,Aristotle,Tagore ,Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose and Mahatma Gandhi?Were they not men of personality? If they were,then honesty in thought and action were the dominant attribute of their character.
But now such people are rare and often suppressed.They are not respected and talked about openly.Their honesty is often taken to be their weakness.We measure the worth of a man by his money and muscle power.Honest people cannot be wealthy overnight ,and they don't flex muscle to be respected.They are in the habit of calling a spade a spade,and this is their nemesis. They don't call a bad man good,a vice a virtue.We are equivocators,and,therefore,cannot appreciate plain talk.We are for tall talk,hollow talk.We clap when someone makes hollow promises. This is the irony of the situation in which honest people are undone.We have Iagos, all around , reigning.Honesty is,therefore,the casualty.
Siliguri Dilemma
The Congress-TMC Coalition in Siliguri appears to be a marriage sans love and arrangement sans principle.The coalition won the municipal elections of September last on the strength of the negative votes against the Left Front,more specifically against the CPI(M).Immediately after the results, the partners ,possibly ,began to be in the make-believe world that the people voted for them overwhelmingly against the incumbents.True,their strength increased significantly and it could be read as a popular verdict enabling them jointly to form the municipal board.They won with party symbols 29wards and one ward went to an independent candidate supported by them. However, they should not,perhaps, lose sight of the fact that Left Front won 17 wards with CPI(M) retaining 15 seats.
When both TMC and Congress staked claim to the post of Mayor and filed nominations separately,it became clear that the voters,in fact , were wiser than the politicians to award identical strength to the major contenders-Congress-15,TMC-14+1(the independent siding with them) and CPI(M)-15. Hats off to the wisdom of the electorate who,apparently, wanted to tame the politicians and expose their greed for power and unprincipled stand they are wont to take.
Congress formed the board with the left support.The people of the town were frustrated and felt they had been betrayed by all the three major players.TMC failed to live upto the expectation of the people as they,being the dominant partner in the coalition against the incumbents in West Bengal,were unable to keep the formation intact and the partners in good humour.Congress came under fire when they sought and got the left support.Pro-changers could not accept the manoeuvre of the party. CPI(M) rank and file found the decision to support congress unacceptable as it was counter to their opposition to the Congress policies they demonstrated during the poll campaigns.
Mayor Gangotri Dutta is yet to have her Deputy Mayor, MICs and Borough Chairmen ,perhaps,to get TMC into the Board. TMC,however,made it clear they would not join the Left Front supported board.Whatever be the contention of the alliance partner,the mayor must have a way out to allocate portfolios
When both TMC and Congress staked claim to the post of Mayor and filed nominations separately,it became clear that the voters,in fact , were wiser than the politicians to award identical strength to the major contenders-Congress-15,TMC-14+1(the independent siding with them) and CPI(M)-15. Hats off to the wisdom of the electorate who,apparently, wanted to tame the politicians and expose their greed for power and unprincipled stand they are wont to take.
Congress formed the board with the left support.The people of the town were frustrated and felt they had been betrayed by all the three major players.TMC failed to live upto the expectation of the people as they,being the dominant partner in the coalition against the incumbents in West Bengal,were unable to keep the formation intact and the partners in good humour.Congress came under fire when they sought and got the left support.Pro-changers could not accept the manoeuvre of the party. CPI(M) rank and file found the decision to support congress unacceptable as it was counter to their opposition to the Congress policies they demonstrated during the poll campaigns.
Mayor Gangotri Dutta is yet to have her Deputy Mayor, MICs and Borough Chairmen ,perhaps,to get TMC into the Board. TMC,however,made it clear they would not join the Left Front supported board.Whatever be the contention of the alliance partner,the mayor must have a way out to allocate portfolios
BROTHERS DAY
This is brothers day,19 October '09.This is the day when sisters pray for long,prosperous and happy life of brothers. It is an auspicious day which marks the love ,affection and mutual respect of brothers and sisters. I understand it is not a religious ceremony, rather it is a social function like Raksha Bandhan. I enjoy the day very much like any other brother.
This occasion again reminds me of the beauty of the eastern way of life with all its originality.It is in the process of social evolution that such celebrations might have evolved. It is rich with all the feeling,emotion and wisdom of the east.
This occasion again reminds me of the beauty of the eastern way of life with all its originality.It is in the process of social evolution that such celebrations might have evolved. It is rich with all the feeling,emotion and wisdom of the east.
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