Source : Google photo of the Yamuna river dolphin in India Synopsis : Animal protection and their welfare does not rate very high in many countries where poachers and legal hunters are decimating their numbers. This blog looks at the river dolphins that have been poached to extinction but many other animals face the same tragedy everyday. We need to be aware that all animals have a right to live the way they have always lived in the wilderness so we should leave them alone.
During my childhood whenever I used to take a boat ride in the Yamuna river in my home town, I used to see many dolphins playing near the fort where the water was deep but they could be seen elsewhere in the river as well. When I asked what these animals were called, I was told that they were called Susuk ( in Bengali ) . I doubt if the Bengalis knew that they were called fresh water dolphins that were very rare. They were grayish in color and came up for air but plunged back quickly showing only their back so we could never see the full shape of these animals. The illiterate boats men of the river killed these poor animals at will and decimated them until they all became extinct. There may have been laws to protect the dolphins but were never implemented so the slaughter continued until the last of the dolphins was killed. The boats men killed them for the oil they extracted from them and sold it for profit. I do not know if anyone ate the meat or not. Years later one day while bathing in the ghats of Benares, I saw the dolphins again playing in the mid stream and not too far from the throngs of bathers nearby and totally oblivious of the crowd so I was mesmerized. I missed them in my home town so I was very happy to see them again downstream in Benares but they were only a few in numbers. The locals called them derogatory names like dark as buffaloes because they showed no love or awareness of them as a rare animal that is found only in a very few places in Ganga but that is due to pure ignorance and apathy. At least they do not kill them in Benares so their numbers are not going down. Now there is a far greater awareness among the people who have started to see them as very rare animals that need to be saved from extinction from poachers but the poachers are still around so there has to be the implementation of wild life protection law. Ordinary people may look at the dolphins but do nothing to protect them so these beautiful animals are extremely vulnerable to poaching and need round the clock watch and protection from the animal welfare activists and the government agents. In Lucknow there is a crocodile breeding farm poorly run by the state where gharials are bred and the young ones are later released in some areas so it helps bring their numbers up slowly. But I have never seen a dolphin breeding program anywhere. I do not know if dolphins breed in captivity or how often so the only way to find out is to raise some of them in a breeding farm and see if they breed . The young ones can then be re introduced again in some areas of the river from where they have been hunted out. In China one can see the dolphins in some rivers but they are of different species in shape and size .The Chinese are serious about protecting them and are doing something about it but sadly India is way behind. They have started to breed the tigers in some zoos and release the cubs when they are ready so the tiger population is slowly rising. There is a stricter ban on hunting but the poachers are still active and kill some tigers and other big cats when they get a chance. India is blessed with a wide variety of flora and fauna but the animals and birds face constant danger from some people who have no love for them so it is a big challenge for the government to protect them all the time. Source : Google photo of a Nil Gai in India ( it is a kind of large deer ) Where in the world can you see Nilgai and peacocks in the countryside from your train windows except in India? Nilgai is a big deer that roams freely in the Indian countryside and the peacock is the national bird that is protected by law in India but very recently the farmers in Rajasthan killed over 30 peacocks because they were damaging their crops. The punishment for killing peacocks in India is death penalty but how many people have been hanged so far? I do not know. I have brought this issue to the attention of the hospital administrator in Lucknow when I told him that many peacocks are being killed by feral dogs and cats in the vicinity of the hospital so he should do something to protect them. He showed surprise and promised to do something but what is common knowledge does not reach him. You will be surprised if I told you that hyenas and wolves were plentiful when I was young and we could hear their howls in the evenings meaning they were living in the outskirts of our town and often came into the town in the darkness of the night. But that was some 50 years ago. Now we do not hear them anymore because the population pressure has forced them to retreat to the diminishing wilderness areas. As the population explodes everywhere, the wild animals are the first to suffer. We often see the videos of leopards or cheetahs come into the big city of Mumbai or other towns to scavenge for food in the garbage bins so the scared people call the police who then try to kill them. I do not know of any policeman who is trained to capture them and release them into the forested areas far from the city so for them it is easier just to shoot them. There are cougars, panthers, leopards, cheetahs, wildcats, jaguars, red pandas, bears, tigers, lions, foxes, hyenas, wolves, rhinos, elephants , deers, antelopes , nilgais, crocodiles and gharials etc. just to name a few that are still found in India but most of them are in wildlife sanctuaries, national parks and the Himalayan hills but the elephants often come out to ravage the crops of sugarcane and potatoes causing massive damage so the farmers are known to have poisoned some elephants. This conflict between the wild animals and the farmers is inevitable as the farm areas are being increased at the expense of wilderness so the animals feel hedged in and come out to look for food. We saw wild elephants in South India when we were passing by a national park where they were just near the fence that was flimsy and could be knocked down by the elephants if they so desired but the tourists taking photographs frantically from this side of the fence were oblivious to this fact that the elephants were wild and dangerous. Now a wild elephant looks just the same as a tamed domestic elephant so the stupid tourists could just take their photos but no. They have to photograph the wild ones. Source : Google photo of dancing bears in India Then there are people who catch bears and torture them to make them tame and make them dance for a few pennies. Once we saw at least 18 bears on the road to Jaipur from Agra whom the handlers pulled with ropes tied through the nose of the poor animals but one NGO has come to their rescue and has opened an animal shelter where the rescued bears are treated with veterinary care and given food and shelter. The bear handlers are given some money and trained in some useful trade so they can earn a living . The women are taught how to make bamboo or rattan baskets or other such useful things so that they can sell them to earn a living. India is changing and the people are becoming more aware of the need to protect the wildlife but it has a long way to go before the poachers are stopped and wildlife trade is brought to an end. In China the bears are kept in cages in cramped conditions to extract their bile which is a very very painful process for the bears. The sad part is that the bear bile is no longer needed as there are other alternatives that they can use as medicine but the Chinese tradition of using the bile continues and the bears suffer needlessly. The rhino horn is falsely claimed to have aphrodisiac properties so the poor animals are killed and the horn is cut off to sell to some markets where they do not value rhinos. The elephants are killed for their ivory by the poachers who are decimating their numbers drastically in Africa and elsewhere. Animals and birds do not belong in a zoo. They are protected there but have you seen how unhappy they are in a zoo? They are only happy when they are free. In fact the zoo bred animals cannot be released in the wilderness because the new born animals do not learn how to survive in the wilderness. They become totally dependent on the zoo keeper for their food and veterinary care. So I was happy to see the dolphins in Benares river playing because they were free to go wherever they liked and were independent. No one had to feed them. They are very intelligent animals and they know how to take care of themselves when they are free. But I have seen big dolphins that jump through the loops in a water parks and do other tricks because they get food each time they jump although they too want to be free in the ocean. There was a story of a very frustrated orca who was kept captive in Florida for the tricks that it played to ticket paying audience everyday. It took its trainer and drowned her because of built up anger so the story went viral and the pressure mounted from the Netizens to release the orca in the ocean where it belonged. I still do not know if the orca was released or not. Source : Google photo of the killer whale Orca drowning its trainer in Florida and people thought it was a part of the show. I wish the dolphins could be reintroduced in the river in my home town and be given protection from poachers. Re educating the poachers to teach them the value of these beautiful animals takes time but can be done by the NGOs or the government. All school children must be taught the conservation of wildlife so that some day they will become protectors. More animal shelters are needed where rescued injured animals can be given proper care and food because such animals cannot be released in the forests so they have to be cared for. I have seen a wonderful animal shelter not too far from Phnom Penh where I saw a wild gaur for the first time. Source : Google photo of a wild gaur in a sanctuary near Phnom Penh Source : Google photo of alligator captured for the skin in the USA There is a TV program here that shows people in the swamps in the United States slaughtering hundreds of alligators for their skins and constantly brag about how many they killed in one day. Their constant chatter about their greed for money and their need for more kills makes the TV program nauseating but the slaughter continues. What we need to teach our children is that all animals and birds have a right to live the way they have always lived. We do not have any right to capture them or kill them for our pleasure or money so hunting them should be banned in all countries. If you are the type who brags about the fur coats, then know that many animals were killed to make just one fur coat for you so be ashamed. Be very ashamed. Source : Google photo of shameless women in fur coats. When these beautiful animals are killed for commercial reasons, they become extinct. We owe it the next generation to protect them , care for them and be aware that the animals have rights too. It will be a pity if the kids of the future will only read about them in books. Note : My blogs are also available in French, Spanish, German and Japanese languages at the following links as well as my biography. My blogs can be shared by anyone anytime in any social media. Mes blogs en français. Mis blogs en espagnol Blogs von Anil in Deutsch Blogs in Japanese My blogs at Wix site tumblr posts Blogger.com Medium.com Anil’s biography in English. Biographie d'Anil en français La biografía de anil en español. Anil's Biografie auf Deutsch Anil’s biography in Japanese Биография Анила по-русскиu
Source : Google photo of Prayagraj Kumbha Mela fair. Synopsis : The home town has a special place in the heart of all who claim it as their own even if they do not live there anymore. My home town is also special to me after all these years although I now live in another country that has no resemblance to it in any possible way. I share with you what makes my home town so special that makes me nostalgic even today. I always get a bit nostalgic when I think of my home town where I was born, raised and went to high school and later college. I believe that everybody has a special feeling for his or her home town because we all spent so much time there , played with our childhood playmates, went to school together and proudly attended college together. It is where all of our childhood and early memories were made and registered, never to be forgotten no matter where in the world we live now. We knew all the different parts, all its landmarks, played in its parks and went shopping in various markets. It is where we bought our books and got our clothes made by our favorite tailors. It is where we knew where to buy our favorite snacks and where to look for the best bargain. But most of all we remember our home town for its unique character, aroma of its food and fruits, its festivals, its circus , its museums and its numerous charms. Source : Google photo of the hospital in Prayag where I was born Source : Google photo of Minto Park where I played as a child Source : Google photo of the college I attended. Our campus is a beautiful one and has been made more so by plantings trees everywhere and now with numerous new buildings and departments. Source : Google photo of the library of our college where I used to spend a lot of time . But like everything else in life , I also notice the inevitable changes that have taken place since I left it so long ago. Change is the law of nature so my placid and sleepy hometown that I loved and reminisce on has undergone tremendous changes that are hard to believe. It now has a modern airport where jet planes land, wide boulevards illuminated by neon lights, numerous circular parks in cross sections where many statues of national heroes are placed. There are elevated roadways, overpasses, 6 new bridges on the river, newly refurbished railway stations, new fancy malls, restaurants and 4 star hotels in large numbers. Soon it will have a new metro crisscrossing the city. My home town is so old that it was mentioned in our scriptures that were written thousands of years ago. It was then known as Prayag where a great sage called Varadwaj rishi lived near the banks of the sacred river Ganga. Lord Ram stayed with him in his ashram for a while as well as Buddha and many such historic people but a thousand years ago Prayag was really not a city as it is now but full of trees and wild animals . Only a few people lived here then. When Mughal Emperor Jalaluddin Mohamed Akbar came to visit Prayag, he decided to build a massive fort and laid the foundation of a city nearby that came to be known as Allahabad or the city of Gods in the year 1583. Only recently that name has been changed and the old name of PrayagRaj has been restored. But the city grew slowly along the old Grand Trunk Road that runs through it and remained a poorly planned place with narrow irregular streets and blind alleys until the British came to rule India and laid out a grand city with strictly grid patterned wide roads and a huge central park where they with their ladies strolled in the evenings. This meticulous planning of the British has given the beautiful character that the city enjoys but even they will not recognize it now. They built the railway bridge on the Yamuna river to bring the railway lines to the city and beyond, built the university that is still called the Oxford of the East, built a great church in 1871 that is a jewel of Gothic architecture and established numerous English schools that provide excellent education to all. They set up the High court, a grand public library that is another example of superb Gothic style, numerous other churches, a grand memorial for the Queen Victoria in the Alfred park , numerous colleges of higher learning, posh areas in the newly planned part of the city called the Civil Lines where they all lived in fabulous mansions of Indo European designs. But mainly they built very large cantonment areas where they kept their troops and made the fort their main military outpost from where they controlled the state. The fort still remains a military fort today where it is difficult to visit but once I obtained a pass to do so to see many grand palaces of kings and queens and the pillar of Ashoka. Source : Google photo of the old Railway bridge on Yamuna that I used to cross everyday to go to college on the other side. Source: Google photo of the old Railway bridge on Yamuna that was brought from England and assembled here long ago. It is a very busy bridge carrying railway traffic above and heavy vehicular traffic below. The river level is high during the rainy season. Source : Google photo of the modern bridge that now graces the river while the old bridge is seen in the distant background. Source : Google photo of Sangam meaning the confluence of two rivers Yamuna and Ganga in Prayagraj where the blue waters of Yamuna and whitish water of Ganga do not mix and where the Hindus take a dip to obtain Nirvana so it is a very Holy place. Source : Google photo of Hindu pilgrims taking bath in Sangam in Prayagraj My home town is famous for its Kumbha mela that is held here every 12th year when millions of pilgrims come here to bathe in the Sangam. It is the largest congregation of pilgrims in the world so Prayagraj sets up a huge temporary city to accommodate them.
Source : Google photo of Kumbha Mela in Prayagraj held every 12th year The massive fort of Prayagraj is still a military outpost but some pilgrims are given access to its limited area where there is an underground temple. The dolphins used to play here just near the fort when I was a kid but they are now extinct due to poaching.
Source : Google photo of the massive fort in Prayagraj built by Emperor Akbar in 1583 Source : Google photo of the mausoleum of Khusro in Khusro Bag who was the son of Emperor Jehangir. The park has several other mausoleums of Mughal royalty. Source : Google photo of the interior of the mausoleum of Khusro in Prayagraj Source : Google photo of the Church built by the British in 1871 in Prayagraj that is a classic example of finest Gothic design Source : Google photo of the Public Library built by the British in Gothic style of the past century that has over 600000 books and documents. Source : Google photo of the place where the statue of Queen Victoria used to be when I was a kid but now the name of the park has been changed to Shahid Chandra Shekhar Ajaad memorial park . The statue of Victoria now collects dust somewhere. Source : Google photo of Chandra Shekhar Ajaad who died here fighting the British. My father heard the gun shots while going to his office that day. Source : Google photo of the University of Prayagraj also known as the Oxford of the East was set up by the British as the second such university in India in the past century. It has produced many great leaders of India. On its gate reads the inscription Quot Rami Tot Arbores in Latin meaning as many trees as the branches. Source : Google photo of the museum famous for its large collection of artifacts found in Kaushambi among many other objects. My home town is no longer a small town but a large city with modern jet port, rail hub and a very busy business center as well as the education center of the entire state. There are medical colleges, agricultural universities, main university, printing technology college, Institute of technology, Institute of management, Sanskrit academy, head office of the board of high school and intermediate colleges and numerous other educational institutes that are too numerous to mention here. My home town is known for many things but one thing that stands out is the food. The variety of food available will boggle your mind so I will give you just a few examples here to make you salivate.
Gulab Jamun
Imerti
Chole bhature
Kachori sabji
Samosas
Gol gappa
Dumplings
Kebab
Chaat
Lassi
Kulfi ice cream
Source : Google photo of street food in Prayagraj where lassi tops the list. One fruit that has made my home town famous for its sweetness and size is guava. Source : Google photo of guava from Prayagraj that is very sweet and famous. I wish I could include many more photos here showing the beauty of my home town so I will post a power point here that will show you all the rest .
My home town does not look the same and feel the same as it did so long ago because of many changes that have taken place since I left. The transformation continues at a breakneck speed the way all of India is changing. My childhood playmates are as old as I and some of them have died while others have moved to other parts of India. Many have sold their houses to relocate elsewhere. Our family home has also been sold and we the siblings have scattered to all parts of the country so there is nothing that ties me to my home town anymore. Although I have decided to live in a country far from my own and die here ,there is still this pang in my heart when I remember it the way I used to remember it. A friend once said that we can all leave but never go back. How true!
Source : Google photo of rural doctor serving remote villages Synopsis :The shortage of doctors, high cost of hospital care and medicines plus long wait to get the required treatment in a good hospital hurts poor people more than the rich. The universal healthcare system in some countries show the way to cover everyone in need through taxation and strict control of prices of medicine but it goes against the healthcare industry that is based on greed and quick profit in some countries. The system of family doctors has also vanished leaving the poor people in trouble. The blog looks at these issues and the reasons behind the soaring healthcare costs.
When I was young , there used to be doctors who were called the family doctors meaning almost all the families had a doctor who knew them well, knew their medical history and often visited the family on social occasions like wedding or festivals. No one needed to make an appointment to see him and he could visit the patient in his house in case of emergency. He charged very little for his medicines and professional help so even the most poor could afford him and got well. Sadly such family doctors have all but disappeared in India and have been replaced by greedy and very expensive doctors who want you to have an appointment days in advance but do not have the diagnostic experience the old family doctors had and demand all sorts of expensive laboratory tests and x rays before he can decide what is wrong with the patient. If he agrees to a home visit in case of an emergency, he would charge a big fee but mostly he refuses to see a patient outside his clinic. This is particularly true in the Philippines. The doctors now spend their day by keeping their offices in several hospitals where they sit on alternate days or once a week where a long line of patients are kept waiting for hours to see him because he shows up late and never apologizes to the patients. He is haughty and says his time is more important and valuable than of the patients so they have to wait to see him. Then there are hospitals where they will refuse to admit you in the emergency ward by saying that you should have come immediately when you had a problem but by going there a day or two later means it is not an emergency so you have no choice but to see a doctor who sits there only once a week and may not see you at all due to the crowd of people waiting. A young girl had an accident and was bleeding steadily but she was kept waiting in the emergency ward for 6 hours before a doctor could see her and died bleeding . Her frantic mother could not get the help the child needed because they said that the doctors were busy . It is a true story and it happened in the USA. There are horrendous stories of careless doctors who gave the wrong medicine based on wrong diagnosis so the patient died or the doctor removed the perfectly healthy organ and realized that a mistake had been made after the surgery on a patient who had a problem. There are incredible stories of a doctor who drugged his patients and secretly removed a kidney that he sold at a high price to someone who needed it badly. In Haiti a doctor was found to be very neglectful in his duty so a patient died . The relatives did not accept it and tried to kill the doctor so he fled the town in the middle of the night never to be found again. There are many such cases that are frequently reported in the media but nothing really changes. In India people always ask if they know someone influential who can get them admitted to a hospital for a surgery or specialized treatment because without knowing some one it is quite impossible for a patient to find a bed in a hospital. They always say that there are too many people and not enough beds so they have to be put in a waiting list for several months or until a bed becomes available. So those who can afford go to nursing homes to get well where the cost is high but you do not have to wait like others. This has given rise to thousands of nursing homes everywhere because the business of getting well has never been so lucrative as it is now. That leaves the poor people on their own who have no recourse to medical help when they need it. It is said that there is only one doctor for one thousand people in India so there are not enough doctors in the country and those who drive fancy cars and charge hefty fees for the consultation prefer not to go to rural areas where most people live. It is so much easier for these greedy doctors to sit in the air conditioned offices and make people wait for hours than for them to practice in rural areas where the health care centers are primitive and lack the basics. I have lived in Burundi where a sick person is carried in a make shift hammock by people over a great distance on dirt and very difficult roads to bring him to a hospital so the patient suffers and often dies on the way . It also happens in many countries where ambulance service is not available in remote areas. Here in the Philippines an ambulance may arrive quickly enough to carry the patient to a hospital but if he is too poor to pay for the hospital charges then he is in big trouble. The hospitals keep guards 24 hours a day who check if the patient has paid his full fees and want to see the receipts before the patient is allowed to leave. Some poor people do try to run away without paying so the guards are kept by the hospitals. When my wife needed a surgery, the doctor refused to get paid by the hospital and wanted cash from me. When I protested by saying my wife had a medical insurance to cover some of the expenses, the doctor replied that she did not trust the hospital to pay her so she wanted the cash right away. Just before checking out of the hospital, the anesthesiologist, the lab technician and even the janitors and the guards all lined up to get paid from me in cash. Over the years I have seen a steady deterioration of the health care services in many countries and the cost rising sky high so everybody has to buy insurance that often fails to cover all the costs. They will not insure a person with pre existing condition so they want to insure only a healthy person and take his money but the poor and sick people are the ones who need medical care and not a healthy person. The universal health insurance scheme in the United States called Obama care was very popular because for the first time the patients with pre- existing conditions were insured but the new administration has tried very hard to replace the Obamacare with something that favors the rich insurance companies,the pharmaceutical companies and hospitals but so far they have failed to replace it. The plight of the poor people is quite universal that includes even the so called rich countries. A group of poor Americans who were sick and could not afford the costly medical treatments in their own country went to the Guantanamo American base in Cuba to seek the help of the base doctors but were chased off by the gun toting guards. So they went to Havana seeking medical help from the Cuban government and asked people on the street where to go. They were guided by the sympathetic crowd so they soon found themselves in a modern hospital where the doctors promptly attended to their needs , diagnosed their problems and did all that was necessary without charge.The Americans were overwhelmed with gratitude and shed tears when they were given all the medicines they needed at a very nominal cost and were given gifts by the hospital staff as well. Michael Moore made a documentary about it showing the appalling conditions of healthcare in his country for which he is vilified by the media and the politicians. Watch the video below on Cuban health care system
https://youtu.be/PGL6xPZyh14 Source : U tube video on Cuban health care system The health care system varies from country to country. In some countries like Cuba ,Sweden ,Denmark and Norway they have universal healthcare system where anyone in need gets the maximum care at practically no cost because it is subsidized by their government. They fund the healthcare system through taxation so people nationwide share the cost this way. In other countries like in India ,the government now has started a nationwide program to cover all poor people who need medical help for free or at a very low cost. The rich people or the middle class people have insurance that covers them but the shortage of qualified doctors there is a serious issue that needs solving. When we were in Mexico City, our son had an accident and fractured his left arm but soon a social worker appeared and quickly called the ambulance. When we reached the hospital, we were promptly interviewed by the doctors and our son was taken to the operating room soon where the skilled surgeons fixed his broken bones and put his arm in a cast. He stayed in the hospital for two days after which we took him back to our hotel. The modern and very well equipped hospital did not charge anything for this extraordinary service but we donated some money just the same. Naturally we were very impressed by the quality of their health care system. There was a stop gap measure introduced long time ago in India called the Licensed medical practitioners ( LMP ) who were not full fledged doctors but had some medical knowledge and training so these LMP doctors worked in rural areas but they were not specialized to handle serious cases. The rural India still lacks good roads , modern hospitals and well trained staff so I have seen these LMP doctors riding their horse to visit patients in remote villages. There are traditional herbal doctors or people with knowledge in herbal medicines who helped rural folks for a nominal fee but they are slowly vanishing as no one takes their place now. Please read my blog here called Gabar Burithat I wrote quite some time ago. In Africa there are still the herbal medicine men and women who help people in remote areas but those with serious conditions who need surgery or hospitalization under expert care need to go to cities at a great cost that they can't afford. The healthcare is a serious issue that affects everyone everywhere but it concerns the poor people more than others. The shortage of doctors who are needed in remote rural areas is a serious problem that has no solution because the good doctors stay where they can make a lot of money quickly. The system of family doctors has almost disappeared in many countries where the doctors used to have close relationship with their patients. I think the root of the problem of not having enough doctors lies in the high cost of medical education in most countries, difficulties in getting admission to the good medical colleges, shortage of medical colleges and shortage of training hospitals where doctors train for some time under a senior doctor. The students in medical colleges in the United States chalk up huge debts because they borrow money to pay for their education. This discourages others to become a doctor because they know that they have to struggle for many years to pay off their massive debts before they start earning a decent salary. All over the world there is a need for doctors , medical technicians, laboratory workers, nurses, paramedics, people who operate complicated medical equipment, radiologists, anesthesiologists and specialists in every field. There are doctors who only work in research to develop new medicines and treatments so they are of no help to people who need help although research is needed to develop new cure and medicines. The soaring cost of medicines and hospital care is one stumbling block for many plus the shortage of doctors and hospital beds all complicate the matter. I remember going to many drug stores everyday to look for pain killers that my father needed but always came back empty handed because they said they had run out of medicine. I was never told why there was this chronic shortage of urgently needed medicines. I get nostalgic about the old days when there were family doctors who took care of you at low cost. Sadly they are a vanishing tribe in the new world of greed and self centered lifestyle of care givers. Please also read my earlier blog called Where are the hakimsthat is related to this blog.
Source : Google photo of shooting stars Synopsis : Not everyone can become a star but anyone can rise above his mediocrity if he tries hard enough. The blog looks at ways one can find his hidden potential to improve himself.
Who has not seen the falling stars that leave a long streak of light in the sky? It means the death of a star but it is not a daily occurrence anywhere among the people because unlike the stars in the heaven, our stars who have made a name for themselves are few and far in between. They too die someday leaving behind them a legacy of greatness and a bright shining streak just like the stars in the heaven. They were once ordinary people just like you and me but became stars to shine forever in the annals of the history of mankind through sheer hard work and perseverance. Someday in the distant future the generations to come will scarce know the sacrifices these fallen stars had to make to become the stars because people have short memories and tend to not read the history. Who will remember how Nelson Mandela suffered for 28 years in prison crushing stones that broke his health and made his eyes poor? Who will remember the beatings of Stefen Biko in the hands of the policemen in jail that caused his death? Who will remember the punishment Veer Savarkar suffered daily in the hands of his torturers in the Andaman jail? Someone someday may put up a statue of such stars in a public square that children will ignore while passing by because they will not know unless taught by their parents or teachers. I saw the golden statue of Joan of Arc in the public square of Philadelphia recently but the tour guide just mentioned her very casually almost like an afterthought while I looked at the beautiful face of Joan of Arc and wondered how she suffered the excruciating pain being burned alive in France so long ago. She was only a young girl who wanted her country to be free but was betrayed by the very king for whom she fought. To be a star is not easy for anyone because it requires tremendous struggle and great sacrifices so such people are rare and very special. They are called the extraordinary people who had the resolve to see them through all of their challenges. I recently wrote a blog called Determination that you may like to read in this context. If you see a herd of sheep, you will notice the sheep at the head of the long column that all the sheep follow because he is the leader and decides where he will go. We are also like sheep and follow a leader because most people are not leaders and are content to be like the sheep. So ask yourself why this is so? Why the leaders are so few and rare? The answer is not a complicated one. It is because most people cannot rise above their mediocrity to become leaders and stars because to be a leader is dangerous and very difficult. Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and his daughter Benazir were killed for their leadership roles because of powerful enemies they had. Rajeev Gandhi was blown up by a bomb and his mother Indira was gunned down by her own body guards. Anwar Sadat was killed by fanatics who opposed his peace treaty with Israel and Lincoln was gunned down by an assassin who favored slavery. The political leaders have always faced danger from those who oppose them so we see them as falling stars whose lives are taken in a flash. The spirit of Joan of Arc is probably looking down at her golden statue in Philadelphia from the heaven and wondering if people knew how much pain she had to suffer to become a golden statue somewhere. But artists, singers, movie stars and writers who become great stars have also paid a price for their fame. An innocent singer like John Lennon who sang about peace and love was gunned down by someone who hated him. David Carradine, Robin Williams, Marilyn Monroe, Margaux Hemingway, George Reeves are some of the numerous stars who took their own lives for reasons of their own but surely it was a high price to pay for their fame as stars. Why Whitney Houston died and why Michael Jackson overdosed himself with drugs when they were famous and successful? They too paid a price for their success but was it worth it? Today the news came from India that the famous actor Amitabh Bachchan is in a very critical condition in a hospital and may have a limited time in this world and a very famous singer Lata Mangeshkar is gravely ill but do you know how they had to struggle so hard to become a star? They did not give up when faced with challenges and struggled on so this tenacity separates them from the ordinary people who give up easily when faced with difficulties. So I ask the question.. How do we rise above our mediocrity? It is a simple question that is difficult to answer because it requires tenacity, resolve and determination that most people do not have. However, it is not impossible. I have a wonderful example of a Sudanese girl who rose above her hopeless life and made tremendous progress because she found the hidden energy that she did not know she had and needed only a spark to light it. That spark came from me when one day she invited me to her wedding engagement party. She was a very headstrong girl of only 17 who did not like to listen to her father or anyone about the bleak future she would have if she married so early and produced numerous children in short order. I told her that she should postpone her marriage for some time and get more education in the meantime like learning how to type and get education in computer science. She listened to me quietly but said nothing so I did not know what she would do or not do. Besides I was leaving Sudan. Imagine my surprise when one day many years later I received an e mail from her saying that she had taken typing lessons and computer course as I had suggested and she and her whole family immigrated to Australia where she found job easily and was very happy. She had the resolve and determination to make something of her bleak life in Sudan. She also broke off her engagement. There is another case that I should mention here. There was this Tamil boy in Saigon during the war who had joined the voluntary service as an animal husbandry worker. He was so home sick that he sought out the company of Tamils in Saigon who enticed him with native food and the language that he missed sorely but it came at a price. They started borrowing huge sums of money from him that he failed to recover. One day he spilled out his problems and asked me what to do and how to shape his future so I said that he should forget the Tamils and start saving every penny he can that would come in handy when he goes back to college somewhere someday. He then showed his resolve, got admitted to a very good University in the United States from where he graduated and got a job somewhere. He had to find temporary part time jobs to pay for his expenses in college but he struggled on and became a successful person. He became no star but he did rise above his mediocrity and took the plunge. So there are people who only need a spark to light their inner energy that then propels them to success in life like that girl in Sudan. The stars I wrote about earlier in this blog are extraordinary people who had extraordinary courage and resolve. They were willing to die for their cause and many did so but the ordinary people are not like them because they lack the resolve and determination. However, there are those who need just a push to realize that they too can do something extraordinary if they can find a mentor who helps them realize their potential and encourages them to struggle on. Not everyone wants to be a hero and suffer the consequences the heroes suffer. All they want in life is to be successful in job or business in their chosen vocation. They do not want to go to jail or be beaten up by the police for taking part in some political demonstration although great changes in many countries have been brought about by the ordinary people in Poland, Tunisia, South Africa and such. They are the unsung heroes no one knows about but many of them have given their life for the cause of freedom in their country. They rose above their humdrum life and got inspired to do something extraordinary. What I want to say here is that almost anyone can rise above his station if he determines to do something about it. There are numerous ways one can do it. There are competitive exams that anyone can take to get admitted to prestigious schools and colleges, military academies and the armed services where all expenses are paid by the government. There are competitive exams that anyone can take to get into foreign services or other administrative services where the future is bright. You just have to study very hard and prepare yourself for such exams although the success is not guaranteed. The Sanskrit wisdom says that you have the right to work but not the right to expect results so one has to learn how to carry on in spite of difficulties. That is how one can rise above mediocrity.
