चाँदनी की धनक

साफ़-सुथरे आसमान पर 
खुलके पसरने की सनक,
आज दिखी है चाँदनी की धनक।
कुछ सितारे झिलमिलाए 
अलसाए, आंखें चुराए,
बहुत दिन हुए, ऐसी देखी ना दमक।
आज दिखी है चाँदनी की धनक!          (मृत्युंजय)

तुम्हारा ख़त

आज फिर तुम्हारा एक ख़त मिला 
संदूक के खुरदरे कोने से चिपका 
कुछ यतीम, आवारा यादों का सिलसिला।
लफ़्ज़ों में जड़ा प्यार, थोड़ी दानाई,
लिखावट में घबराहट की छाया-सी फैली रोशनाई,
बेतरतीब भावों की कुछ सूखी कलियाँ 
इधर-उधर खींची लकीरें
जैसे भरमाये पलकों पर ख़ुमारी की शहतीरें।
भौरों के गुंजन-से लरज़ते हरफ़
पर जमी तुम्हारे छुअन की बरफ
गल कर धीरे-धीरे
मेरे उम्र की नसों में लुढ़क आई है।
(Mrityunjay)

DELIVERY AND NOT STATISTICS AS PERFORMANCE INDICATOR

The Police, as a coercive arm of the state, traditionally enjoy a dismal position on the credibility quotient of our society. However, the police hold highest recall during dire distress or crisis - be it collective or personal.  Psychologically, this is a situation of 'Love' and 'Hate' being the same kind of response. It implies that the community at large has still not grown 'indifferent' towards the delivery potential of the Police, and neither has the 'Police' become as 'hopeless' as it is often portrayed. Moreover, the Police's dismal image is not so much due to its own ills and handicaps, but due to the way it has been treated in terms of its organizational needs and sustenance over the years. Its fate seems to be similar with the great warrior Ghatotkacha of 'Mahabharata'. He was a child born out of a non-conventional, non-recognized marriage between Bheema (one of the Pandavas) and Hidimba (a tribal woman referred as 'Rakshasi') during the Pandavas in exile (reminds me of government in exile). He was deprived of the love and caring as befitting to a son of the great Pandavas, but was used to his best potential when no one could face the wrath of the opposing forces of the Kauravas. He knew he would die on the battlefield, and this was also known to the great strategist Krishna; yet, Ghatotkacha pretended ignorance and fought until death for the glory of his father. On the other hand Abhimanyu was reared in royal traditions with all the classical teaching of state craft. Both youngsters laid their lives fighting for 'Dharma' yet Ghatotkacha's sacrifice is rarely remembered the way Abhimanyu is lauded and eulogized. Today’s Police is like a Ghatotkacha in our post independence, contemporary society - everyone needs it, everyone uses it, but no one owns responsibility for it, and finally no one wants to be identified with it.

It is only in the post-Independent era that the Police have begun to be considered as a potent tool of 'social engineering' due to its reach into the varied activities of civic society and its multi-cultural, multifaceted interaction with the widest possible cross section of people. It always is viewed as an instant delivery machine - be it for social justice or personal favors (legal or extra-legal). However, the cosmetic ethics of ‘social engineering’ has got smudged owing to its exposure to the unkind weather of conflicting expectations and manipulations. Today, the police stand at the cross roads of surging expectations of community on the one hand, and the archaic machinery of governance which fails more than it delivers, on the other. Strides in technology and the communication boom coupled with myriad interface platforms have added more to its handicap than its strength.

While I appreciate and tend to subscribe to the noble idea of 'delivery' being the basis of judging performance, I am afraid to wonder whether it is not anachronistic to the fact that every development or work in our country is indeed statistics driven.

Will it work if only the police become delivery oriented, and the rest of the agencies and sectors keep on donning the hats of statistics? Delivery is a conglomerate of many inputs and variables. For example, it is much needed to secure an area with multiple police actions rather than a ‘Person’ residing in a particular locale; but would the police have the liberty to even decide on that line, let alone implement it? I am sure we all have been keen to deliver, but have succumbed at various levels to the demands of statistics needed to protect the corroding image and pretended legitimacy of lopsided governance. Where each police action is decided and molded to suit the political masters and their malleable partners, very negligible is left to police to decide.

However, as I pointed out in the opening Para, a lot is still in our hands to correct invent and share. We may create and train our people to strictly adhere to some of the basic indicators of ‘feel good factor’ for people whom we are under oath to serve. Performance assessment on the basis of crime statistics leads to skewed emphasis on prevention and detection of crime. Our personnel get busier in managing and manipulating data to project a better scenario of crime in their respective area than the actual situation on ground. While it creates false sense of good governance for the system in power, it breaches the basic edifice of faith and good will that is a prerequisite for a better police-community relationship. No police can perform well without the desired cooperation from people. The police are not only a tool for maintaining law & order and prevention & detection of crime, though it is the most pronounced role in general. They are leading instruments of all kinds of security arrangements and enforcement thereof, traffic management, counter-insurgency, implementation of minor acts having great bearing upon our local living condition and environment, security of women & children, intelligence of all variety and kinds and dissemination thereof and so on. It is really disheartening when the police are assessed on the basis of crime statistics alone and not for that plethora of responsibilities that they share and deliver with pride.

The police, I believe, have been kept alienated by design to remain under pressure and control of their self-proclaimed masters. We cannot change the external conditions and factors beyond our control, but we can change and correct things within our limits of activity and control. We may start appraisal of our men on the basis of a standardized ‘SOP’ (Standard Operating Procedure) and gradually make it like a thumb rule governing activity and performance of our forces. It certainly requires a resolve in unanimity which can only come from the top, and meticulously observed and monitored at various levels of leadership to thwart subversion or attempted tampering.

It is impossible to ensure ‘Ghatotkacha’ a social position like ‘Abhimanyu’, but it is always possible to earn genuine reverence and goodwill of the people who know and relish the contribution of a ‘Ghatotkacha’.

-       Mrityunjay kumar Singh -

तुम चुनो!

तुम चुनो, क्यूँकि चुनाव तुम्हारी बपौती है,
हमारे लिए तो जीना भी एक चुनौती है।
सुबह गुसल के पानी से 
शुरू होती है हमारी खोज,
और रात तक कुरेदती है
नालों से नल तक के सारे उपाय।
नाले तुमने ढँक दिए
क्यूँकि तुम्हे बास आती थी,
नल हमारे हिस्से में आये ही नहीं;
तुम्हारे सारे विकास और जागरण के अभियान
उस मोड़ पर ही ठिठक गए
जहाँ से हमारे जीवन की
संकरी गली शरू होती है।
इस आज़ाद मुल्क में आजादी भी रोती है।

(mrityunjay)

Review on “The Oath of the Vayuputras’ of Amish

Historical characters of disputed time periods, ethical concerns of universal nature, power intrigue blurring the sense of good & evil, misplaced affinity and conviction weaved around a motley of myths and mythology related to movement and evolution of Aryans in Asia & Asia Minor led by Amish's hero figure Shiva draws the central line of Amish’s Shiva-trilogy, ‘The Oath of the Vayuputras’ being the latest. While discussing intricate subjects of 'Karma' and 'Dharma' (that which ‘upholds’), oft discussed issue of ‘Means’ and ‘End’ (in modern times the same debate over Machiavelli's dictum 'End justifies the Means') having dramatic influence on relational bonds and the ingrained capability of mankind to destroy itself, Amish has skillfully used Upanishadic, Puranic, Zoroastrian and Buddhist mythological images and its essence in a lucid and contemporary language. Esoteric has been cleverly brought to the common level augmenting its potential effect on readers' thinking. With millions still roaming glued to the breed of 'Babas' and 'Gurus', this young storyteller, through his very human and romantic hero 'Shiva' (who evolves in to the God mould and reminds us of the Tribal God ‘Shiva’) has tried bringing the knowledge of ‘supreme’ out of the Dogma-box approach.

On way it reminds me of many episodes, images and similarities - e.g, ‘Vasudevs' and 'Vayuputras' sound like 'Alvars' and 'Nayanars' of south, though they are known more for their conflicts rather than intellectual unison; 'Nagas' symbolic of various tribes we have in the sub-continent; the evil of 'Somras' coincides with modern day mining of radioactive substances causing health impairment and deformities among tribal of the region; threat and use of Nuke weapons in their primitive form as ‘Pashupati Astra’ (nuclear fusion weapon), ‘Brahmastra’ and ‘Vaisanavastra’ (nuclear fission weapon); war invention of throwing fire balls from the elephant's back by Ganesh & Kartik in ‘The Oath of Vayuputras’ very similar to what DD Kosambi describes in his ‘The Culture and Civilisation of Ancient India in Historical Outline’ as a device of throwing boulders on enemy using the energy of the Wheel-axel of war Chariots; and above all the passionate and blinding love of Shiva for Sati which let's loose devastating use of atomic weapon of mass destruction.

‘The Oath of the Vayuputras’ completes the final web of Amish’s tryst with mythical characters and images used more to give credence to a fictional tale rather than any authentic historical knowledge or perspective. However, despite a much criticized ‘clunky language and sloppy grammar’, the tale reaches its desired goal of attracting the gaze towards the riches of mythology and traditions as well as inspiring readers, which includes even boys of 12-13 years age, to take their history and mythology more seriously than just an anecdotal remains of their lives.

Amish’s journey can be summed up through a debate between Ayurvati and Parveteshwar (the two very prominent characters of the ‘The Oath of the Vayuputras’) on whether Parveteshwar should side with Lord Neelkantha with who his heart was, or fight for Meluha as it was his duty to protect Meluha (his homeland), Parveteshwar says: “It was better to commit mistakes on the path that one’s soul is meant to walk on than to live a perfect life on a path that is not meant for one’s soul.” Parveteshwar fights for his homeland. Amish has exactly done that, and sure enough, it brought him both success and money. What more can a young writer aspire for?

‘The Oath…’ is a pure work of fiction and not a work on history or mythology. It may sound convincing about mythical characters and philosophy with which it associates seamlessly, and that is the beauty of Amish’s perception and learning.

-Mrityunjay-