जमीन पर खड़ा आदमी ही आदमी है आज

बड़े बनने की धुन में बड़प्पन खो रहे हैं लोग
बड़ा बनने के चक्कर में आदमी नहीं रह गए लोग
गंदगी की ढेर को ऊंचाई मान रहे  हैं लोग
विकृतियों की तुष्टि को उपलब्धि मान रहे लोग
जालसाजों की  संगत  से प्रफुल्लित हैं  लोग
अपमान हर किसी का करना मान मान रहे हैं लोग
कुत्सितता की कामयाबी के अहंकार से उन्मत्त हैं लोग
छोटा आदमी ही ज़्यादा आदमी है आज
जमीन पर खड़ा आदमी ही आदमी है आज

- नीरज कुमार झा 

Media

Indian media (mainly the electronic) has been on the firing line for quite some time, particularly in social media. This is bizarre because to me the media is not the fourth estate or the fourth pillar of democracy, but it is the mainstay of freedom and democracy. Indian media has been fighting for these for quite a long time. They fought the Brits and later all attempts of scuffling democracy in India. The beauty of all these is that they have done this under private ownerships, which have their commercial interests to guard. The journalistic profession deserves unqualified eulogy for its valiant efforts all the way and in particular I would salute the field journalists who brave a lot of hardships and risks. At the same it is also true that a large number of them are black ships and many of them lack culture. But this is so commonplace in all walks of life, applies to almost all professions in the country. The question is why is the media being singled out? First, for the reason that they are doing something and secondly and more importantly, by being the agents of freedom on the basis of the very nature of the profession, the agency is always at the target of the powers that be and people who largely find their comfort zones in the spaces of unfreedom and love to side with positions of power, find media irritating and jump on the slightest slippages of the agency. This is ironical and unfortunate that the media is tarnished as a whole. To me what should be bemoaned is the very flawed processes of our acculturation, our system of education, which is throwing out half baked individuals in every walk of life.

History

History speaks through people. In their utterances,  in their articulations, and, even in their  silences, and in their actions and in their inactions history manifests itself. Particularly when an Indian opens his mouth, I can listen to the millennia gone by. History is there in our lives but not in our pedagogy. Most of our historians in place of unearthing the past have put massive load of earth on that. Incompetence (of a good number of them) combined with ideological disorientation has undone history in India. This problem combined with another pedagogical  lacunae, which makes one feel that text-books contain gospel truths and there is no scope for probing or questioning, makes education, whatever  we have, counter-productive. Result we can see - a menacing sway of ignorance. 

Empire of Evil

Inside each of us, there is the seed of both good and evil. It's a constant struggle as to which one will win. And one cannot exist without the other.

Eric Burdon

Each of us has a vision of good and of evil. We have to encourage people to move towards what they think is good... Everyone has his own idea of good and evil and must choose to follow the good and fight evil as he conceives them. That would be enough to make the world a better place.

Pope Francis

The first idea the child must acquire is that of the difference between good and evil.

Maria Montessori

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One of the gravest of crises we face is that people do not have the sense of good and evil. In our society mostly greed and  fear dominate human thought and action and in such a scenario, persons who are depraved, thuggish and swindlers are not only held in esteem but sometimes are even deified. At the root of this moral decadence are uprooted families, soulless education and debased social milieu. As a result such people abound who are very innocently devilish. To them, evil is normal. And they do not only view goodness with suspicion but also they shun it. More troublesome is that there develops an unholy alliance of those who are the worst and they gang up to suppress good at any cost, everywhere, at every layer of existence. 

Niraj Kumar Jha

On Monologuing and Diagloguing

Monologuing has always been the trait of demagogues and charlatans. Democracy and humanism demand dialoguing. Even more democratic and feminine (as opposed to masculinism, the drive for domination of a person irrespective of her/his sex) is the sharing of ideas and feelings. Social media is amazing for advancing this dialoguing and sharing of ideas. Awakened people must be at guard against persons prisoners of their old habits who seek to pollute the space by seeking domination (psychological), and their monologuing, by their attempts of self perpetuation and patronisation while trying to dispose off ideas though mostly in the sense of appreciation. This media emerged in our times; we must be at guard against getting it hijacked by the people whose self perception is incongruent to democracy.

तुम ही ज्ञान हो तुम ही अंधकार हो

कोई इतना भी बड़ा नहीं हो सकता
कि तुमसे बड़ा हो जाए
कोई इतना भी छोटा नहीं हो सकता
कि तुमसे छोटा हो जाए
तुम नहीं जानते कि तुम क्या हो
तुम सब कुछ हो
और तुम कुछ भी नहीं हो
तुम ही ब्रह्माण्ड हो
तुम ही हो कण लघु
तुम ही आदि हो
तुम ही अनादि हो
तुम अंत हो
तुम ही अनंत हो
तुम ही सीमा तुम ही असीम हो
तुम ही आकार तुम ही निराकार हो
तुम ही भंगुर तुम ही सनातन हो
अस्तित्व का यह अगम अगोचर अज्ञेय विस्तार
है तुम्हारा ही विराट रूप
यह सृष्टि भी तुम ही हो
तुम्हारे ही साथ यह उत्पन्न
और तुम्हारे साथ ही हो जाएगी यह नष्ट
तुम नष्ट भी नहीं होते
तुम अजन्मा भी हो
इसलिए यह सब कुछ भी वैसा ही है
नश्वर ही शाश्वत है
शाश्वत ही नश्वर है
तुम नश्वरता में हो शाश्वत
और हो शाश्वत नश्वर भी
तुम सब कुछ समझते भी हो
और कुछ भी नहीं समझते
तुम ही ज्ञान हो तुम ही अंधकार हो

- नीरज कुमार झा

Thinking Education

The world is in great flux. The global revolution, which is under-way, would far overshadow all previous ones and even the great wars in its consequences. It would be so even if they are put together. The scope of changes is going to be so vast and deep that it cannot even be imagined at this stage. This is despite the fact that during these couple of decades the world is already changed beyond description. Stating this obvious has a context here. For us, the Indians, forming the largest democracy, the imperative is to visualise the unfolding changes and not only prepare accordingly for all these but also to lead humanity out of strife and guide them towards sustainable prosperity. But the very arena where these things can be worked out is in serious disarray. Yes, I am talking about the whole paraphernalia of education in our country. I am not competent to talk about the numbered institutions of excellence in the country but I am sure in saying that they are like few oases in the vast desert what our educational reality is. Even these few and discrete institutions do not stand global marking for excellence. At this stage not only we need to mobilise the best talents available in the country but also need to invite or hire the best minds from across the world to build up a top order of education and a benchmark for the rest of the world. This would not happen by itself or merely by appealing to powers that be, but what is needed is to make it a general public demand. This can be done if the educational institutions put up concerted efforts. This does not require extra resources or efforts; they can do this only by orienting their routine work. Through seminars, workshops, interacting with the media and by using social media and most importantly by talking to their students they can build up the momentum by which the critical issue of education for national rejuvenation becomes a national priority. The teachers from universities to preparatory schools must put their mind together for bringing the issue of education at the top of social agenda for the sake of humanity, for the sake of the country and for the sake of their fellow beings. 

- Niraj Kumar Jha