First Flight

It was his first flight and he knew that if failed he would land on the rocks below and die.

He had been preparing for this flight for many weeks; nay, he had been dreaming and preparing almost from the time he opened his eyes.

He looked at the blue sky above and the deep blue sea below; both were just magnificent.

His father had already taken off and now he was gliding majestically like an ace flier.

As he took off he felt a lump in his throat and recalled what his father had once said, “Respect the fear rising in your heart, don’t be afraid of it, and it will make you an ace flier.”

*****

 A post for Five SentenceFiction

Word prompt- Flight

Fear

A malignant fear was spreading through every house.

In last three days seven girls had been attacked; every girl had her face badly scratched; every girl was too scared to remember who or what had attacked her.

No one knew who was attacking the girls. No one knew why someone was attacking the girls. There was an enemy out there in the forest but no one knew who that enemy was or how to fight that enemy. This ignorance made them vulnerable and nervous.

At this crucial juncture everyone was thinking of the old man. He was a wise man, even though he was somewhat quirky. He could talk to birds and animals and the spirits of the forest. He was fearless and even ghosts were scared of him. But they all had been foolish; they had annoyed him and he had left them. He just wanted to marry that girl. But the Chief had his eye on her.

The old man was sitting under a tree. He chuckled at the little monkey who was eating little berries from his hand. These berries were the best aphrodisiac he had ever tried. The monkey, like the old man, had taken a liking to the berries.

The old man said to the monkey, “They must all be yearning for me. They are scared and don't know what to do. Fear and apprehension is always killing. Should I help the ungrateful people? They are scum, don’t you think so? But if you agree I will help them.”

The monkey looked at his empty hand and growled; he wanted some more berries.

*******

A post for Three Word Wednesday

Word prompts- crucial, malignant, yearning.

Proof

                                                                               Photo prompt-copyright-Rochelle Wisoff-Fields

She stood still for some time; then she raised her finger and pointed towards the sky.

Everyone stopped and looked up. They could see nothing but deep blue sky.

She shrieked and started trembling, “Its happening. Yes, it’s happening.”

Everyone felt a scare. Everyone stood unsure of himself.

“There is something shinning in the sky, I see it over there,” said a girl. She was behind the woman who kept repeating, “It’s happening.”

One by one people started moving away; everyone appeared apprehensive; everyone expected something unseemly to happen.

The woman asked the girl, “Did I prove my point?”

*****

Word count 98

A post for Friday Fictioneers on a photo prompt

Call of the soul

Image courtesy of freeimages.co.uk

Almost everyone disapproved of his idea.

“At your age you should not even think of climbing any mountain, least of all K2.”

“Well, if you want to enter history you may very well succeed; but you won’t succeed in your climb, you will enter history as the oldest man who died while climbing K2.”

“Last time you had to abort your climb when you were not even half way through; and that was seven years ago. This time you would not even reach that height.”

“Is something wrong with you?  Why can’t you live like a normal man of your age?”

They all said something like this or other. They all did their best to dissuade him; even his team members. 

But no one understood him; not even those who had been with him on many of his climbing expeditions; those who had tasted success and failure with him; those who had seen him suffer after every failed climb.

No one understood why he desperately wanted to make one more attempt to climb K2; that made him even more miserable.

He was aware of his age. If he succeeded he would be the oldest man to do so. He was aware that his ageing body could not take any more punishment. He knew that the climb could be killing. And, worse, it could be heart-breaking.

But he had to take his chance. Something within him had been, for last so many years, pushing him to make one last attempt to climb K2 or die in the effort. He had resisted this call of his soul for so many years. But now it was almost impossible for him to resist this call.

The team had been anxiously waiting for his signal. Time was running out and they could not wait indefinitely. They had to either leave within next five days or drop the expedition this year. They all wanted to leave without him; they were worried that he might not come back with them.

But they did not leave and kept waiting for him to decide.

He chose to heed the call of his soul. He left with his team. The expedition was a success. All six members of the team reached the summit. At last he was at peace with himself; nothing remained to be achieved in the life.

The team came back; he was not with the team.

A post for Light andShade challenge on picture prompt (given above) and a quotation prompt give below:

                              It’s hard to beat somebody when they don’t give up

                                                                                                    Babe

Minimum Government Maximum Governance

Ever since Shri Narendra Modi expanded his Council Of Ministers, some experts have started  criticising him for not practising what he had been preaching all along.

During the election campaign Shri Modi had repeatedly talked of ‘Minimum Government Maximum Governance’. And when he had formed his government in May 2014 it was said that he was actually trying to give the country minimum government. But now, it is being said, this is slogan will only evoke sarcasm.

Council of Ministers, UK

I just looked into composition of ministry in UK. There are twenty two cabinet ministers including the Prime Minister. In addition there are eleven junior ministers who also attend the cabinet meetings. UK has a population of only 65 million people and an area of 243000 sq km and a council of thirty three ministers to govern the country. 

Minimum Government in India

India has a population of 1250 million people and an area of 1270000 sq km. How many ministers would form an ideal council of ministers to provide maximum governance to a population which is twenty times that of UK? It can be a debatable issue.  But a council of sixty five ministers would not necessarily imply a shift from minimum government to maximum government; the caveat being that every minister is required to do some meaningful work and not to just fill a billet.

The problem at the level of ministers is not primarily of numbers but of competence and commitment. A small council comprising of corrupt and or incompetent ministers can do more damaged than a large council of competent and honest ministers.

Bureaucracy

And in this discussion we seem to ignore issues  at the level of bureaucracy and the bigger issue of plethora of laws, rules, regulations, orders, bye-laws, instructions, directions, guidelines etc, written or otherwise, that are in force and are implemented by the huge bureaucracy as per their own understanding and will.  It is the bureaucracy and the laws etc that generally make the life of an average Indian almost impossible.

Bureaucracy thrives on empire building; there are inter-departmental and inter-service rivalries. Innovation and improvisations are not favourably looked upon.  Very few people are willing to take decisions and stick their necks out. Even those who are not corrupt are more concerned with their career and growth and less with professional integrity

Rules etc

And of rules etc less said the better; I will just quote two examples to make my point.

While examinig a representation of a scheduled caste officer we found that Department of Personnel & Training (DOPT) had issued two orders on the same subject and that one order contradicted the other. Both could not be implemented concurrently. We took up the issue with DOPT to find out as to which order was valid. DOPT advised that both orders were to be applied harmoniously. How two contradictory orders could be harmonised in implementation, that they did not explain.  We were in a quandary; matter was resolved when it became sub judice.

In 2008 my son wanted a passport on Tatkal basis. We went to the passport office, waited in one queue and then second queue. After two hours of waiting our turn came and we were disposed of in less than thirty seconds. The official threw the application back at us saying that people born in…….. were not eligible to get a passport on Tatkal basis. Why was not that mentioned in your website, we tried to argue but to no avail. I literally bulldozed my way into RPO’s office and convinced him to issue passport on Tatkal basis.

I was holding a responsible position in government and could find access to RPO. But what of millions of people, most of whom have no understanding of systems and procedures, but who have to deal with different authorities, day in and day out; anyone can show any rule and make the life of common man miserable.

Minimum Government 

It is here that we need to have minimum government and not in council of ministers. We need far less laws and rules and instructions and guidelines. And every rule etc must be carefully worded, ensuring that scope for interpretation and litigation is minimized, if not totally eliminated. And we definitely need a smaller but competent bureaucracy.

Why is youth connecting with Narendra Modi

I recently heard an expert in one of the TV debates saying, that as per some study Indian youth under the age of 35 are conservative. As per that expert youth are connecting with Narendra Modi because they are conservative.

Before I discuss further let me confess that I did not see the complete debate, for I am generally averse to all TV debates; I find them more entertaining and less enlightening.

Is Indian youth connecting with Modi? Obvious answer is yes. Without the whole hearted support of youth, BJP could have never won such a huge mandate as the party has won in the last general election. But why are youth connecting with Modi and not with Rahul Gandhi or even with Arvind Kejriwal?

Is Indian youth conservative? As per the Oxford dictionary, conservative means ‘opposed to change and holding traditional values’. Indian youth is surely conservative for most of them still respect parents and, even after marriage, don’t mind living with them; they still rely on parents to get them married; many go to places of worship; many, if not most, are unable to break the caste barrier. One can go on and on.

Broadly speaking, by these standards, youth of every part of the country can be categorised as conservative; even those who followed Kejriwal in series of dharnas organised by him and eventually voted for him and his party; and also those who still have some faith in Congress party and had voted for that party, the part received about 20% votes in the last election.

Youth is attracted to Modi not because they are conservative but because he dared to present a vision to Indians and the vision appealed them. The bane of Indian political system has been the rise of political families. Nehru- Gandhis, Abdullahs, MSY and his family, Karunanidhi and his clan, Lalu Prasad, Badals, so and so forth; it is sad tale of families  ruling Indians like feudal lords of the yore.

There has not been even one person from any of these political families who had some vision that he could present before the young Indians.  Every family is surviving on caste, religion, language, and region politics. These families have lived and thrived in pomp and glory while every average young Indian has to struggle to achieve anything worthwhile.

Lakhs of student compete year after year for few seats in IITs, Medical Colleges and IIMs. In last fifty years they could not even create one IIT in each State, and many if these states are bigger than European countries. And when they pass out of second, third and fourth grade educational institutions, they have to struggle to get even a clerk’s job.

The bright ones who get an opportunity to go abroad are shocked to see the standard life enjoyed by the common people of those countries. It hurts them for they know that Indians could also have enjoyed reasonable standard of life but for the corrupt and venal political elite ruling the country.

Indians below the age of 35 may or may not be conservative but they are definitely more informed than the youth of 60s and 70s. They know what is happening in every part of the world. They know what could have been achieved in last sixty years.  And, therefore, they have less patience with leaders who are bereft of ideas. Lineage means nothing to them. They want to get on with the job.

Modi, like many other heros of Indian youth (we all who they are), has risen by dint of his sheer hard work and ingenuity. His success gives hope to those who are not born with silver spoons in their mouths.

No, it is not conservatism that attracts youth to Modi. It is his own success in an unjust system, perpetuated by political families, and the dream that he is presenting to the youth that connects Modi to Indians below the age of 35.

Envy

“I don’t envy anyone for, in my opinion, no one is worth envying; every man desperately longs for something or other.”

“Well, then you must be the only person on earth who is above envy?”

“But I did not say that I am above envy for I too am envious of…..of many things.”

“Like what?”

“For one, I am envious of birds; they are not bound by anything; how I wish I had been born as a bird.”

A post for Five Sentence Fiction hosted by Lillie McFerrin

Word prompt-envy.