Silence or Speech

It is often said that silence is a mark of knowledge and gravity. One must keep in mind that it depends on the context. In our daily life, silence is practically stillness, a tendency to accept whatever is going on, whether good or bad.

One must speak and engage with others on public issues. Conversations help break the barriers that divide people, often at their own cost. Today, technology offers great opportunities for such conversations on public platforms, and they remain open-ended. It should be used to appreciate each other and positive acts, and to resist negativity.

The best way to curb negativity is often to ignore it. By negativity, I mean any condition, place, or association that negates or undermines a person or refuses to accept them as an equal. Some such situations are unavoidable and part of life. One has to live with them but not succumb to them. The effort should be to limit dependence on them. What is needed is a state of withdrawn engagement, being involved, but not overwhelmed.

Niraj Kumar Jha

सच की नियति

संघर्ष ही सच की नियति,
नहीं कभी रहा उसका ठाठ।
करुणा व प्रीत प्रकृति उसकी,
कैसे फैलाए वह जाल?

नीरज कुमार झा

शोधपद्धति-विज्ञान

पाँव देखो,
हैं कि नहीं?

 
नीरज कुमार झा

डकार भी नहीं लेता

अति बुद्धिसंपन्न होगा वह
जिसने पहचाना होगा
सबसे पहले
कि झूठ के पाँव नहीं होते।

यदि यह सच है कि
झूठ के पाँव नहीं होते,
तो फिर झूठ पहुँचता कैसे है
हर जगह?

झूठ के पाँव नहीं होते,
पर उसमें फरेब होता है।
वह सच की पीठ पर चढ़ जाता है,
यह कहकर
कि वही उसे ले जाएगा
सही जगह।

और इस तरह
झूठ पहुँच जाता है
हर जगह।

पहुँचकर जहाँ पहुँचना होता है उसे,
सच को बाहर
खूँटे से बाँधकर रखता है वह।

पाँव नहीं होते झूठ के,
पर उसका मुँह बड़ा होता है,
और पेट भी।
वह निगल जाता है
संघर्षरत सच की संपत्तियाँ—
मानवीय सरोकार,
उद्यमिता,
सृजनशीलता
और क्रांतियाँ।

डकार भी नहीं लेता।

नीरज कुमार झा

लोकधर्म

जनतंत्र को जन शक्ति देता है, और जनतंत्र जन को। जनतंत्र विषयक धर्म व्यापक धर्म के अटल विधान के ही रूप में कार्य करता है -

 
धर्म एव हतो हन्ति धर्मो रक्षति रक्षितः ।
तस्माद् धर्मो न हन्तव्यो मा नो धर्मो हतोऽवधीत् ॥

जनतंत्र को पुष्ट करने निमित्त जन को सम्यक आचरण और उपक्रम अपनाने से पहले तंत्र के व्यवस्थित बोध को प्राप्त करना अभीष्ट है, अन्यथा ऐसे प्रयास विपरीत प्रभाव डाल सकते हैं। इसके लिए लोग प्रश्न करें, और जिनके लिए संभव हो, वे अध्ययन करें। यहाँ यह उल्लेख भी प्रासंगिक है कि वैश्विक संदर्भ में (अन्य सभ्यताओं की तुलना में) दृष्टिगत करने से यह स्पष्ट है कि भारतीय परंपराओं में मानवता और मानवीय गरिमा को अतुल्य रूप से श्रेष्ठ स्थान प्राप्त है, जिसका अध्ययन सम्यक बोध प्राप्ति हेतु ठोस आधार प्रदान करता है।

 
नीरज कुमार झा

Ideological Biology

Most people get their identity and ego fused with a certain ideology, and the lives they lead accordingly shape their physicality too. It is almost like biological growth. As geography shapes one’s physique and mentality, so the ideological milieu becomes biological.

Niraj Kumar Jha

Development or Humanisation?

Development often proceeds like a directed, almost dictatorial campaign where people are treated as cogs in a giant wheel. Even their participation is mechanical, fixed and pre-designed. It becomes more of a formality than something truly substantive.

What should be pursued instead is the humanisation of human beings. Development, as a goal, often ends up relocating or using people. The real need is to unleash the potential of each individual so that everyone can become a substantial human being.

The challenge is that human potential remains culturally and politically constrained. People need to be unchained to realise their humanity.

The task begins with pedagogy. Pupils must be cultivated with a sense of service and learn to value basic public work such as cleaning shared spaces, caring for the sick, and respecting other living beings and nature. At the final stage of education, they should undergo compulsory internships in places of intense humane work like hospitals, nursing homes, and municipal services.

They must also develop fellowship, rise above jealousy, appreciate others’ achievements, and strive to excel with humility. At the same time, they should be trained to stand on their own, be courageous, adventurous, and willing to take risks.

Human substantialization also requires the freedom to do what is worth doing. It means maximising autonomy and safety for all. A free market is a basic and substantive means of achieving this. The market is not a site of predation, as is often propagated, but the most efficient process through which people serve one another.

The government has a clear role: to ensure safety, protect property, and enforce obligations. The government, to be true to its purpose, must function as it is: a collective agency that fairly manages the commons.

If such pedagogy and practice shape public life, development will follow as a byproduct. It would mean clean living spaces, an unpolluted environment, undisturbed natural landscapes, comfortable and aesthetic habitats, safe surroundings, and reliable, humane public services like healthcare.

Niraj Kumar Jha