Editor,
We the Khasi people are complacent and self-satisfied with our standing in society. We don’t have the desire to learn more or to achieve more. I can take the example of my own college and university life. When I would want to go to the library, my friends would say, “Now you’re trying to be an intellectual. Come go with us to the dukan-sha”.I’m tracing this complacency right from my life as a student of which I will elucidate further. We often blame laziness for our inability to get certain marks as a student or our inability to pass an employment exam. But the fact is that we are lethargic. And we are lethargic because we are self-satisfied.
The people of mainland India love coming to Shillong. They say that the Khasis are “laid-back”. They are familiar with the persevering and progressive attitude of their city folks and they come here to derive that relaxed and easy-going nature from the Khasis. The irony is we Khasis tend to think that they are more laid-back than us when in fact they are just trying to be like us as a means to escape and evade their busy life. And then,there is the influence of pop culture-be it movies or music videos. The epicurean belief, the “drink and be merry” ideology has led to many of the youths to drop out of school or college and later being unemployed. What we Khasis have to understand is that we should take the positives from urban western life, for example that most waiters in the U.S work to get a college degree.
I feel that Khasis need to learn from the Bengalis. They are people who have a tremendous work-ethic. They are curious and inquiring (which we Khasis lack)and they love to discuss things-be it their subjects as students, current affairs, or anything that deserves discussion. I feel we need to be curious individuals. We need to question and inquire more. It is from the desire to get answers that there comes a discussion. And a discussion automatically leads to a solution. For example, when a group of students sit in a café or a dukan-sha, they should discuss the problems they encounter in their subjects. This will help them find answers and also get rid of their complacency. No matter how average or mediocre they feel, they have to say something about their books. This will develop a passion in them for learning. And from this passion that is being developed in their student life, they will gradually be persevering in employment exams too. And they will get a job even in tough times and hence will become successful. This would only lead to a self-supporting life for them in adulthood, when they would have family and children.
Yours etc.,
Willie Gordon Suting,
Via email
Congress in a mess
Editor,
Apropos the editorial “Congress in Mess” (ST 24th July 2014) the deep crisis that the Indian National Congress is going through is symptomatic. The party is thirsting for inspirational leadership and direction to restore its fortune. It is clearly apparent that the INC is not yet ready to look beyond the Gandhis. The time is now to take on the challenge or make way for someone else before it is too late. Political parties and leaders are still in the process of reconciling with the outcome of the recent parliamentary elections. Parties that faced humiliating defeats at the hands of Damodar Narendra Modi have yet to overcome the shock. The future course of the INC appears unclear and uncertain.
Yours etc.,
VK Lyngdoh ,
Via email
India a corrupt nation
Editor,
Amnesty International, the anti-corruption watchdog ranks India as one of the highest corrupt nations in the world. There is no need to ponder why India excels in this dubious club as corruption is the mainstay of our economy and is probably the second line of our Government’s financial resources. We may boast of stringent laws in place to tackle this scourge, well supported by fear-invoking law enforcement agencies e.g. Central Vigilance Comm., Anti-Corruption Bureau, Central Bureau of Investigation etc. but the crux of the issue is total lack of commitment and non-existent zero tolerance to corruption by every Government in power. The anti-corruption agencies are void of independence for forceful actions and continue to be leashed by their political masters. Hence with liberal Government spending (read tax-payers funds) the appointed heads of these agencies enjoy all the perks and amenities lavished upon their status and are flexible to looking the other way. The CVC has been around for some decades now, but their track record of minimising corruption, forget about eradicating the menace in this country is certainly dismal given that high profile cases are protectively dumped and swept away from public memory. The system of selecting clean and high integrity people to head these crucial agencies is fraught with convenience of compliant and loyally abiding ex-Govt. servants who remain sworn to secrecy for the security of their aging years ahead. India may tell the world of their serious efforts to stem corruption but their pronouncements are never backed by hardcore evidence of convicted names of the powerfully rich and famous who remain prominent among the political ranks as masters of the nation. If India has to achieve honour among nations, it is about time they stop the hogwash of anti-corruption hysteria and show commitment and dedication to ensure that rules apply to everyone irrespective of status. India should stop making special considerations and privileges for the convicted. Every citizen should remain equal before the law of the country and let no one be sheltered or given special treatment upon conviction. Alas the lawmakers don’t care about these niceties!
Yours etc.,
Lewis Sooting,
Via email
Learn to respect diversity
Editor,
Apropos the editorial “The Shiv Sena factor”(July 25), the barbaric and unpardonable behaviour of the Shiv Sena MPs have hardly come as a surprise for the true Indians who had not voted for the parties affiliated to the saffron brigade during the last general election. When power gets captured by the bunch of rabids who are hell-bent on degrading the multi-lingual multi-religious secular democratic heterogeneous India into a mere ‘Hindi-Hindu-Hindustan’, all norms of diversities and tolerance towards “alien” languages and religions are bound to get seriously assaulted.
Yours etc.,
Kajal Chatterjee
Kolkatta – 114 .