पंचर की दुकान वहीं पर है

 मेरे मुहल्ले में एक छोटा सा मंदिर है उसमे पांच हिंदु परिवार साथ-साथ रहते थे जिनमे से एक ब्राह्मण एक ठाकुर, एक बनिया और दो हरिजन परिवार थे। एक कोने मे एक टीन शेड था जो काफी समय से खाली पड़ा था। बहुत छोटा था इसलिए कोई उसमें रहने नहीं आता था। वहां एक अब्दुल नाम का भिखारी मंदिर के बाहर भीख मांगता रहता था। एक दिन उसकी नजर उस तीन शेड पर पड़ी और वो पंडित जी की खुशामद करने लगे कि उसे उस टीन शेड में रहने की मिन्न्तें करने लगा।

टीन शेड खाली था और अब्दुल एकदम सीधा-साथा आदमी था। पंडित जी बहुत सीधे और दयालु थे। वे अब्दुल की चिकनी-चुपडी बातों में आ गये और वो टीन शेड रहने के लिये दे दिया गया। मंदिर के बाहर ही शबाना नाम की एक अपाहिज भिखारिन भी भीख मांगा करती थी। थोड़े समय बाद अब्दुल ने चुपचाप एक मस्जिद में जाकर अपाहिज भिखारिन शबाना से निकाह कर लिया।

कुछ समय तक दोंनों ने अपनी शादी को छिपा कर रखा। पर कुछ समय बाद अब्दुल अपने साथ अपाहिज भिखारिन को भी रखने लगा और उन्होंने अपनी निकाह होने की सब को बता दिया। समय बीतता गया और अपाहिज भिखारिन ने मुमताज महल की तरह दस वर्षों में ही छः बच्चॉं को जन्म दिया।

अब्दुल के एक लड़्के ने मन्दिर के सामने ही पंचर लगाने का एक खोखा खोल लिया। अब्दुल के सारे बच्चे बहुत शैतान थे वो बाकी सभी बच्चों के ऊपर रोब जमाने लगे। साथ-साथ खेलते देखते अब्दुल ने दुसरी निकाह कर लिया दूसरी शादी से पांच बच्चे और हो गये। पहली बीबी से छ: बच्चे पहले से ही थे। कुल ग्यारह बच्चे हो गये।

हालांकि टीन शेड बहुत छोटा था। वो सभी जमीन पर ही टाट बिछा कर बाहर ही लेटे रहते थे और अचानक एक दिन टाट का टट्टर लगाकर पड़ोसी लाला जी का आगन घेर लिया। लाला जी डर के कारण कुछ न बोल पाये। बच्चों की मदरसे की शिक्षा के कारण वे बहुत कट्टर हो गये थे और मूर्ति पूजा के कारण उनके मन में ये बात भर गई कि हिन्दु काफिर होते हैं।

अब अब्दुल का पूरा परिवार मंदिर मे ही रोजाना की नमाज़ भी पढ़्ने लगा। वो सभी अब मंदिर मे दादागिरी भी दिखाने लगे। एक दिन अब्दुल के बड़े लड़्के आमिर की मंदिर के सामने साईकिल खड़ी करने के कारण हरिजन के लड़के अशोक से मारपीट हो गई। अशोक को अब्दुल के लड़कों ने घेर कर बुरी तरह से धुन दिया।  

जब अब्दुल के लड़्के गरीब हरिजन के लड़्ते अशोक को लाठी डंडों से पीटना शुरु कर दिया तो भयभीत हरिजन भागता हुआ अब्दुल के पास अपने लड़्के को बचाने की प्रार्थना करने लगा। अब्दुल भाई चलो नहीं तो तुम्हारे बच्चे मेरे लड़्के को जान से मार डालेंगे। इतना सुनने के बाद अब्दुल हंसते हुए आया और अशोक की जान बचा दी।

तभी अजान की आवाज आने लगी। अब्दुल और उनके बच्चे सभी एकदम चुपचाप खड़े हो गये। तमाशबीन बने सभी हिंदु भी डर के मारे अजान के समय खुद भी शांत खड़े हो गये। अब्दुल ने हंसते हुए अशोक के सर पर हाथ फेरा। उसकी मुस्कराहट मे दुष्टता और कुटिलता खुदा की बंदगी की तरह टपक रही थी।

तब तक अजान पूरी हो गई। अब्दुल ने बड़ी धुर्तता से हरिजन से कहा, भाई अशोक से कहिए झगड़ा ना किया करो। साईकिल कहीं और खड़ी कर लिया करो। कल मै कहीं और् हुआ तो कौन तुम्हें बचायेगा। सीधे‌-साधे बच्चे है उन्हें क्या पता मारपीट से क्या नुकसान है।

अब्दुल के चेहरे पर कुटीलता भरा जीत का भाव था। हरिजन और अब्दुल के बच्चे साथ-साथ ही बढे हुये थे। अशोक की पिटाई के बाद सभी हिंदु परिवार अब्दुल और उसके बच्चौ से डरे-सहमे रहने लगे। हरिजन और बनिये की दो-दो बेटियां जोधा-अकबर और पीके जैसी फिल्मे देख कर सेकुलर बन गयीं और अब्दुल के लड़्को के साथ भाग गयी। डर और शर्म के आरण सभी हिंदु मंदिर ओर मोहल्ला छोड़ कर भाग गये और अपने मकानों पर पोस्टर चिपका दिया 'मकान बिकाऊ है।'

जो भी मकान देखने आता उसे अब्दुल के खुराफाती लड़्के धमका कर भगा देते। इसके बाद भी कोई खरीददार आता वो देखता जगह-जगह गदंगी, मुर्गों के पंख, हड्डियॉ आदि पड़ी देख कर भाग जाते। बदबू सुंघ कर सभी चले जाते।

फिर रात को अब्दुल के लड़्कों ने सभी मकानों के ताले तोड़कर कब्जा कर लिया। प्रशासन भी डरकर चुपचाप सोता रहा। सब खत्म हो गया। एक दिन अब्दुल की ज्यादा भांग की चिलम पीने से मौत हो गयी। उसके लड़्कों ने मंदिर नें ही अब्दुल को दफना दिया और वहीं उसकी नज़ार बना दी। अब्दुल की बीमार, दुसरी बीबी का, उसके बच्चों ने इलाज ही नही करवाया और मरने के लिये सरकारी अस्पताल में भर्ती कर छोड़ कर आ गये। कुछ सनय बाद उसकी भी मौत हो गये।

अब्दुल के बच्चॉ ने अपनी मां को भी मंदिर मे ही दफना दिया तथा शाह्जहॉ-मुमताज की तरह दोनॉ की मज़ार बराबर-बराबर ही बना दी। हिंदु भक्त उन मजारों को प्रेम के निशान के रुप में पुजने लगे। तथा विवाह योग्य लड्कियां मज़ार पर चादर चढाने लगी। संतानहींन ओरतें अब्दुल के लड़्कों के पास संतान प्राप्ति के लिये इलाज के लिये आने लगीं। सम्पत्ती के लालची लोग भी मज़ार पर आने लगे।

सेकुलर और वामपंथी जिवियों ने उस मज़ार को प्रेम, संतान और सुख प्राप्ति के लिये महान सूफी बाबा अब्दुल की चमत्कारिक मज़ार के रूप में स्कूल के पाठयक्रम में शामिल करवा दिया तथा उसे गंगा-जमुना तहजीब का नायाब उदाहरण बताया। 

अब्दुल का भाग्यवान पंचर का खोखा आज भी वहीं है।  

 

Delink research and teaching

 Higher Education system in India is facing so many challenges. The biggest one is quality or the standard of teaching.  In the New Education Policy 2020, the biggest thrust is on research. This makes one believe that developing a big pool of quality research and teaching is enough to conquer the fort.

Teaching is the hinge around which all the system of colleges/universities revolves but hardly anyone is talking about the component of 'Leadership' in the teachers. The Fortune 500 survey found that only 5 to 8 percent of managers are effective. So this is also applicable to teachers and due to this ailment, education is acutely ill in India.

Instead of improving the quality of teachers and teaching, the main emphasis in NEP 2020 is to improve the standard of research in colleges and universities. But this is a faulty notion. Colleges and universities are established to teach. They are not research institutions. College and University teachers are poor researchers. Failed and poor teachers opt for projects, research grants and visiting fellowships to hide their failures and grab fat benefits with comforts and promotions. Many such teachers are on leave for years and decades and their contribution to the parent institutions is big ZERO. They manipulate projects and research grants for years and decades.

When one thinks about the great teachers who were great leaders too, the list is very small. Vishvamita, Dronacharya, Parshuram, Chanakya, Rabindranath Tagore, Maharshi Karve, Dayanand  Saraswati, and Dr.S.Radhakrishnan only. So why do teachers lack leadership now?

The government should open a pure research institute. Teachers should not be involved in the projects and researches. They are appointed to teach and are given fat salaries to teach. So, they must teach. Teachers who do not teach and are involved in projects and research for years and decades are a big burden on the institutions. The eco-system is disturbed by such teachers. 

The NEP 2020 endeavours to make a pattern change. So teachers should not be disturbed. They must teach only. This is a big task. The NEP has recommended opening research institutes. So in each district of the country, specialized research institutes should be established. Multi-disciplinary research institutes should not be encouraged. Less developed states like Uttrakhand, Bihar, Jharkhand, Bengal, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, the North-East states, Laddakh, Jammu, Andaman and Nicobar and hill states should be given priority.

The success of Multi-disciplinary universities (MDU) institutions is very doubtful. Most of such universities have almost crumbled. Teaching calls for a high level of skills and knowledge. This needs small classes, monitoring the progress and difficulties, clarification of concepts, and motivating students with providing solutions. Teachers should use technologies, pedagogy, mentoring and career counselling.

Setting up of National Research Foundation (NRF) is a very good idea. Teachers and scholars who are interested in projects and research should be transferred permanently to these NRFs so that they may not disturb the teaching in the colleges and play havoc with the future of the students for their gains.

The collaborative teaching for creating effective eco-system for teaching that generates cooperation amongst teachers, students, industry and government should be used. Specialized NRF should also be established for quality research to address the need of society. Research skills are greatly different from teaching skills. This mixture of 'biryani' of research and teaching led to ineffective teachers and poor research in the nation. If HE, research and vision of the NEP have to be fruitful, we need to delink teaching and research.

This cocktail will spoil NEP. Such lovers of 'biryani' and cocktail of teaching and research should not be given any promotion like from 'Associate Professor to Professor.' The shallow publication of articles in journals has neither any value for teachers nor students. They are personal benefits to the teachers. Only dedicated, regular and senior-most genuine teachers should be given promotions. It will be a miscarriage of justice if such cocktail or 'biryani' teachers are promoted from 'Associate Professors to Professors.

Due to the poor standard of teachers, no Indian university ranks among the top 200  universities of the world although historically the country had excellent universities like Nalanda, Takshashila and Patliputra. The nation must think seriously about this aspect. For this, the role of teachers and researchers should not be blurred. It must be demarked.

Sadly, there is no sign that the pattern is possible to modify shortly. Not surprisingly, all want to maintain the status quo since it hand out their agenda well.

The nation had a good foundation as early as September 1944 when an 'Indian MIT' was set up. Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur, was envisaged on the pattern of MIT and started functioning in 1951. It truly had, with the best faculty and students available. Over the years, as the number of IITs proliferated, these have become outmoded institutions.

Until recently, appointments in IITs were strictly based on merit. IITs became a respected global brand because they selected teachers who were the best in India. With the proliferation of IITs and quota system for appointments, the overall quality of future IIT teachers declined. Now, India has 21 IITs but not a single MIT as in America. Overall, in IITs, nearly 30% of faculty positions are lying vacant due to a lack of quality teachers.

Compare this with China. In 1998, the government of China decided to upgrade only nine universities out of 2100 universities in China. Those nine are now globally among the best universities. After this phenomenal success, China increased a few numbers. Again they are the world-class universities. Germany has also followed the same policies very successfully. In India, in near future, there is no possibility to produce world-class universities. Indian politicians, for the sake of short-term gains, have killed the goose that laid golden eggs!

To achieve excellence within NEP 2020, the quality of teachers and teaching has to be improved significantly so that genuinely deserving teachers are rewarded and students receive the skills they need for employment.

NCC and Employment

 

The National Cadet Corps has completed 72 glorious years in the Service of the Nation and the people. The NCC has developed from strength to strength since its foundation in 1948. The cadets, both past and present, ANOs, defence personals and civil staff, carry on the glorious work tirelessly and contribute heavily their energy towards the progress of the nation.   

NCC is the biggest youth organization in the world. It consists of students/cadets, teachers/ANOs, training staff, defence officers, and civil staff.  These dedicated peoples have been serving the nation and the society very gloriously since the commissioning the NCC as the reserve force of the country.

According to Col.S.Joshi, "The National Cadet Corps came into existence on 16 July 1948, under the 31st NCC Act of 1948, based on the recommendation of Pundit H Kunzru Committee. NCC was started with strength of 38,500 Boys Cadets. Girls Cadets were added in the Army Wing in 1949, Air Wing in 1950 and Naval Wing in 1952. In the initial stages, NCC was confined mainly to the urban areas. Today NCC has spread to every corner of the country, having more than 13 lakhs Cadets. The National Cadet Corps, which has both Boys and Girls as cadets, has the basic aim of developing the character qualities in the youth to make them good citizens of the society and worthy leaders of the future in every walk of life."

New challenges confront the nation in the 21st century. The biggest challenge is the problem of employment. To face this challenge of employment and emerge as a strong force, NCC has to equip itself suitably and it is in this aspect that the NCC has to play a very vital and crucial role. 

Still, NCC possesses huge potential to help provide employment to the people. It has huge potential but not been exploited fully and properly. It is capable of providing employment not only to the cadets but defence personals too. NCC can also solve the problem of a huge shortage of manpower in defence forces, para-military forces, security forces and state police.  

The NCC is a distinctive organization that can offer the young boys and girl cadets, new opening in defence services, security forces, para-military forces and state police. This is the only youth organization, which is also concerned about helping to provide employment to its cadets.

Nowadays defence forces, papa-military forces, security forces and states police have a tremendous shortage of jawans and officers. Since, NCC cadets are already adequately trained and skilled in different aspects and requirements of defence forces and security forces, including weapon training, these NCC cadets can very easily solve the problem of shortage of jawans and officers in defence forces,  para-military forces, security forces and state police force. If some special weighted is given to NCC cadets these forces will get trained and skilled NCC cadets to their files.  

Politically, in the modern context role of defence personnel is all the more important. It is a well-known fact that defence personals are highly trained, disciplined and skilled personnel. After their retirement, they can be re-employed as store in-charge, instructor, trainer and NCC officer with the NCC units of colleges and schools. These dedicated defence personals will not only be an asset to the educational institutions but they can also inculcate discipline and high moral values among the students. Apart from this fact, they will give much better training to the NCC cadets than the teachers, trained as ANOs.

There is another positive aspect of the re-employment of these defence personals. Since all these retired defence personals must already be getting pension due to their past services, so the government has to pay much less salaries to these personals after adjusting their pension. Educational institutions will get excellent personals in much less wages.

There is another field where NCC can help cadets to get employment to cadets and retired defence personals and that is opening of NCC Academies. The government should encourage the state governments to open NCC schools and academies in every district on the pattern of Military schools. These NCC institutions can train the NCC cadets and youth in a much better way than the civil educational institutions. These trained and skilled cadets can get employment in defence forces,  security forces, para-military forces and state police force. There is a big problem of discipline in the civil educational institutions. So these NCC academies will be a role model for the other institutions.

These NCC schools and academies can also re-employ ex-Short Service Commission Officers. Their training, skills and expertise can be utilized in nation-building properly and positively.  In these troubled time when nation and society around us get its morals eroded by corruption and anti-national activities, the NCC can guide these student cadets to be better citizens wherever they are employed. 

There is another field where NCC cadets can get employment very easily ad serve the nation in the new millennium. The NCC cadets are perfect in physical fitness. So they will be very suitable as a physical training teacher and Yoga teacher. If some special training is given to them in the field of Physical Education and Yoga, they will be an asset in the Prime Minister of India's 'Fit India Mission.' There is a huge potential in this field. So, the NCC can fill this vacuum and give employment to its cadets. This can also improve the standard of games in the country.

In the fast-changing national environment, the NCC as a nursery of future makers of our nation serves to give a positive and creative exposure in varied fields with varied experiences to the cadets and defence personals which help utilize their strength and energies in the nation-building. Apart from this with the employment and involvement, the NCC inculcates much-needed discipline, morals, patriotism and hard work among the youth and the citizens of the country which they tremendously lacking.

With the defence forces, para-military forces, security forces and state police facing an acute shortage of manpower intake, the NCC can fill that emptiness and the largest youth organization that involves the young cadets to the life of adventurism, discipline, morals and career opportunities in available in varied fields.

रंग-रोली

 

 

आज है रंगों की होली,

खेलेंगे साथ आंख मिचोली,

करेंगे भरपूर ठीठोली,

बांधे रखना अपनी चोली।

 

ना बचा पायेगी तेरी टोली,

ना सुनेगा कोई हिचकोली,

दिल में छुपी सपनों की रंगोली,

बाहर आ जा करें अठ्खेली।

 

भुला दे सारे रंजो-गम ये रैली, 

लुभाती हमेशा रंगों की झोली,

धो डाले, सारे नफरतों की मैली,

पूरी कर चाहत, भर दे मेरी कौली। 

दे तज़गी, बनके मेरी हम जौली,  

घुल जा मेरे रंगों में, बन कर गोली।

जिंदगी के परम बान

 

पेड् हरे हैं, भरे हैं और घने हैं,

रखते काली दुनिया को साफ हैं,

प्रक्रति मां को रखते ठीक हैं,

जग को सुंदरता करते बहाल हैं।

 

झर-झर करती वर्षा आती है,

धरा को नहला कर करती साफ है,

नये पौधे धरा को दिखाते आंख है,

नर-नारी करते हर्ष-नाद हैं।

 

आप जैसा दानी, कोई दुसरा नहीं है,

तुम ना हो तो, जीवन नहीं है,

जिसको सींचा प्रभु ने, ये बही नाम है,

जग लुभाती, ये वही राग है।

जग की शक्ति, यही शान है,

जिंदगी के लिये परम बागबान है।

जय निठ्ल्ले

 

बैठे थे दो आज निठ्ल्ले,

खा रहे थे भुने छ्ल्ले, 

सोच रहे थे जुमले-वूमले,

नाच रहे थे बल्ले-बल्ले।

 

पडे‌ थे रात में थल्ले-थल्ले,  

सूत रहे थे मुफ्त के भल्ले,

खुशी से हो रहे पिल्ले-पिल्ले,  

हवा से कर रहे लव रिले-डिले।

 

बना रहे थे हवाई किले,  

झूम रहे थे हल्ले-हल्ले,

गरज रहे थे-भोले-भोले,

नाच रहे थे जय-बम भोले।

जय सुफी बाबा गुलछर्रे, 

बने रहेंगे तेरे चेले निठल्ले।