Cynic or Believer?

Recently, a dear friend of mine remarked that I was a cynic. I wasn't surprised - it wasn't the first time someone had called me a cynic. Yet, each time, it pushes me in to the throes of self-questioning. More specifically, it makes me wonder if I have the right outlook towards life and the world.

I wasn't always a cynic. In fact, even now, I don't think I am genuinely a cynic. I would probably describe myself as an idealist. Now, I don't want to confuse you with isms and so I will explain that a little more. For the longest time, I believed that the perfect world could be created/existed. That  more often than not, people are nice, follow the law and do the right thing. It is a matter of record that at some point in my life I even wanted to be Prime Minister. As cliched as it may sound, I wanted to be the change I wanted to see. One of my principal motivations for pursuing law was also this. I wanted to fight for people's rights. I wanted to make a difference. I really believed that the world could be made a better place and that I could do it. I wanted to live a life that mattered.

However, my idealism didn't come alone. It came with truckloads of expectations and immense disappointments. Each time I tried, I failed. The more I trusted others, the more I believed in the world, the more I involved myself with the world, the more I lost hope. To be fair, my cynicism is more a product of my unmet high expectations than any negativity in the world. I expected the best from everybody - that they would give their all. Perhaps, I still do. 

I am sure that my current state of mind is a product of several disappointments. While writing this post, I did list them out. However, it started to appear as a long rant and I had to let it go. Suffice to say, that there are several instances and on each of those occasions a warm and gooey part of me died.

However, writing this post made me realise that I was truly blessed. That resurrected some of the warmth and gooeyness. In specific, this year has been a roller coaster and I have come out fine. I finished by law degree. Finally, I travelled to Kedarnath and Badrinath. I bought a new phone. I composed tons of nonsense poetry. I met many wonderful people.  Danced like a crazy at many weddings. If I really try, I will see the immense love that fills my life. 

I am a theist. I am not going to go into details of my belief. At this juncture, it is enough to state that I would like to believe that the world is filled with pure consciousness. The essence of everything and everyone is that consciousness. There is nothing other than pure consciousness. If that be the case, how can I have a grudge with the world, which in essence is pure consciousness. Therefore, my cynicism is directly in conflict with my desired beliefs; and clearly the former has to go.

A New Year is about to start. New beginnings usually bring about some amount of hope and possibility of change. Here's to a less cynical and more grateful and contented new year.

HNY GBU.

Image Source - https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CYsyANSWMAAu7UW.jpg

Pitru Paksha

Every year, during the dark fortnight of Bhadrapada month, Hindus venerate their ancestors by performing Shraaddha pooja. It is believed that an offering of pind (rice) and tarpan (water) is received and accepted by the ancestors. The rituals usually involve feeding Brahmins as also making an offering to animals such as crow, cow, dog etc.

However, it appears (though I have no empirical basis for this), that the performance of Shraaddha among educated Hindus is declining. My guess is that increasing atheism, disbelief in caste, disbelief in ritualism, intangibility of the receipt of offerings, lack of knowledge pertaining to Shraaddha etc. are the reasons for the decline. I am not going to venture into the legitimacy of these reasons.

My concern is the total and complete abandonment of the practice. To my understanding, every ritual/practice has two aspects - the physical and the mental. The physical aspect is the physical act of actually carrying out the practice/ritual. The mental aspect is the thought that one must have/cultivate when performing the physical act.

To give an example, lets take the offering of water to idols. The act of bringing the vessel, collecting the water, offering the water etc. are the physical aspects. The thought that I am offering water to god and s/he is accepting water, like a mother accepts anything from the toddler, is the governing mental thought during the performance of the physical aspect. Please note, that the mental thoughts may change with the change in the gunas of the individual; however, the physical aspect remains the same.

Now back to Shraaddha. My hunch is that the abandonment of Shraaddha is primarily driven by objections to its physical aspects i.e.: alleged waste of food, the inability of food reaching ancestors through the pooja/mouths of Brahmins etc. Rarely, have I come across an objection to the mental aspect i.e.: veneration of ancestors. In fact, the concept of veneration of ancestors is common among various cultures/faiths across the world and also across the length of human life. On first principles alone, I believe there is reason for veneration - i.e.: we owe a lot of our present lives to our ancestors, not just in terms of inheritance, but also in terms of the gift of life. I am not aware of any objection to having gratitude towards ancestors.

My fear is the non-fulfilment of the mental aspect of Shraaddha. We have objections to the physical aspect of Shraaddha. As a result, we abandon the practice of Shraaddha. Since there is no longer a physical act wherein the mental aspect can be incorporated, and owing to the rigours of modern life, I fear that the mental aspect of remembering our ancestors remains unfulfilled. The abandonment of the physical aspect, without anchoring onto something else, causes a loss of both - the mental and physical aspects.

My submission is that a physical anchor is necessary for the mental aspect to play. Without a physical anchor, the mental aspect will last only for a few seconds, if at all. At the end of the day, most of us operate at the gross level and hence the presence/absence of gross elements has an impact on the mental processes. Unfortunately, we need triggers to be grateful. It is nice and fluffy to argue that gratefulness is a state of mind. But it is incredibly hard to make the mind constantly grateful. If it were that easy, then we would not have been this selfish and goods hoarding race that we are now.

If a physical aspect is important for the mental aspect to play, there are only two ways to resolve our objections to the physical aspect - (i) understand the ritual of Shraaddha and its significance; or (ii) find an alternate physical aspect.

I am not competent to explain (i). For this, I would recommend reading Chapter IX of Vol. IV of History of Dharamsastras by PV Kane. The book is freely available online. The book extensively deals with all the texts pertaining to Shraaddha. The book is an authority on the subject of Dharamsastras. The author is Bharat Ratna awardee.

However, I can recommend on (ii). If you do not believe that ancestors are fulfilled by the performance of Shraaddha, then simply donate food to the hungry/poor. It may not still fulfil the ancestors, but at least by the act of donating, you would have remembered them and felt grateful for whatever they have done for you.

While (i) is purely religious, (ii) is completely secular. One can believe in (ii), even if one is an atheist. There can hardly be any objection to donating food to the hungry, in remembrance of one's ancestors. The only religious aspect in (ii) will be the timing of the donation i.e.: the period of Shraaddha. If, however, you are able to formulate a new time period/occasion for making the donation, then from a secular point of view, that is okay.

Therefore, in summary, my conclusions/unasked for advice is as follows:

If you believe in Hinduism, start with (i). If you are not satisfied with (i), definitely do (ii).

If you do not believe in Hinduism, or do not want to go through the enquiry of (i), definitely do (ii).

Don't abandon the veneration of ancestors. Your entire life is not just your own making.

Image - https://www.yesmywish.com/image/magictoolbox_cache/8c95d73fec130487c102a73bf1ab42ce/4/2/423/thumb500x500/742683735/Shraddh.jpg

लोग क्या कहेंगे ?

जीवन भर रहा यह दुःख

की न जाने लोग क्या कहेंगे

फिर भी बनाया मैंने फेसबुक

अब नई तस्वीरें लगाता हूँ

और खुशी से प्रतीक्षा करता हूँ

की न जाने लोग क्या कहेंगे !

***

https://media.indiatimes.in/media/content/2015/Jun/2014-09-29-sikh-park_1433509330.jpg

3 Poems

Three short poems -

इंतिजार
पूछते हो की कब से कर रहा हूँ इंतिजार,

क्यों लेते हो ऐसी परीक्षा बारम्बार ?

अकले - अकले तुमहारे बिन,

निकल गए न जाने कितने दिन;

अब तो मुझ पर करो दया,
नहीं संभलती मुझसे तुम्हारी माया!

***

ईर्षा
कर दो मुझे इस ईर्षा से बरी,
नहीं कर सकता मैं तुम्हारी बराबरी;
नहीं करनी तुम्हारी हर कर्म की नकल,
नहीं करना तुम्हारा चिंतन हर पल;
नहीं करनी अपने हर प्रयास पर शंका,
स्वयं कि सुनने दो, चाहे मिले न तिनका;
नहीं चाहिए तुम्हारी मंजूरी,
 नहीं हैं तुम्हारी राय जरूरी;
भय करता हूँ की स्वयं को खो दूँगा,
फिर भी तुम जैसा कभी न बन पाऊँगा;
बान्ध कर ईर्षा का पाश,
मैंने कर दिया अपने जीवन का सर्वनाश।

***

मुस्कुराहट
कहते हो की मुस्कुराहट कि प्रशंसा नहीं करता,
क्या करूँ कोई शब्द पूरा नहीं पडता;
मंजूर हैं मुझे चुप रहना,
बस तुम ऐसे मुस्कुराते रहना।

Archana / अर्चना

A dear friend shared this poem by Shri Rabindranath Tagore ji. It inspired me to write the following:

Swirling and twirling in the gentle breeze,

The centre of attraction of all bees;

Hanging from the अमलतास*,

Oh, these flowers wondrous!

Should I pluck them for my offering?

Or will that invite sin and suffering?

The sight is perfect and pure delight,

Disturbing it does not feel right.

But beauty has never lasted forever,

Sooner or later, all ties sever;

So too, it will be released,

Better to take now, before the dust('s) siege.

Does it want to touch the feet of God?

Or be attached to the birth cord?

I don't know the answers to these,
My ramblings continue, please read!

I sowed hundreds of seeds,

Yet, only a few took the lead;

Sun, manure and water I gave to all,

Then, why did only a few grow tall?

By God's grace, the seed germinates,

By God's grace, it doesn't terminate;

By God's grace, the flower shines,

And so to serve God, they're all in line!

There's nothing that is not His,
He doesn't need anything, He is bliss;

He accepts a leaf, a flower, a fruit or even water**,
Like a mother from her toddler***.

What matters is devotion,
And not donation;
My धर्म, my study and my prayer,
Are to understand myself sans these layers.

I am back to the start,
Should I pluck or simply depart?
I am still unsure and so will give it a miss,
But, I will recite His name - to me, that is the simplest route to bliss!

*Laburnum; Do read The Laburnum Top by Ted Hughes. You may find traces of it in this poem.
**Bhagwad Gita Chapter 9, Verse 26
***Taken from the commentary on the aforesaid verse by Swami Maheshanand Giri ji Maharaj

अमलतास

जीवन

My cousin sister passed away a few days ago. She was in her early thirties. Her death has left me unsettled and shocked. She died in a car accident. It could have been anyone. It could have been me. Something like this can happen to anyone, anytime. There wasn't disease. There wasn't illness. There was nothing anyone could do to prevent it. In a matter of seconds, everything came to an end. You imagine life in a particular way and then something happens out of the blue and then that alignment gets completely distorted. My perception of life got altered significantly.

The incident had a sobering effect on me, albeit temporarily. The rigours of everyday life make it too easy to not think and reflect. Her death made me realise that the feeling that I am alive, in itself, should be a source of happiness. I should be happy and grateful for every breath that I am able to take. I should be happy and grateful for every second that I am alive. Everything else is a top-up, sort of like a bonus.

It is true that I believe in the concept of a soul and that it is the soul that is permanent and blissful. I also believe that objects are not a source of happiness. If they were, then they would always give happiness and would give happiness to everyone. That is certainly not the case. Therefore, by implication, the body cannot be a source of happiness. However, (currently) I do not have enough conviction in the first premise i.e.: I am a soul (which is bliss) and not the body. Given this limitation, for me, the body is important as most of the time I identify with the body.

And thus, for me, the gift of the human body is immense. The human body is filled with a vast set of equipments and they enable us to do so many things. I can't type this article without the assistance of my fingers, my brain, my eyes and perhaps some other parts of the body I am not even aware of. The fact that the body remains with us for one additional second is, in itself, a blessing. A dear friend of mine once told me that the human body is the most spectacular piece of machinery. I couldn't agree more. Being able to use it for one more second, oh what a fortune!

I realised that most of the time I ignore this magnificent blessing. I am trying to consciously focus on it now. When I am a little low or when things don't go my way, I try to focus on the experience of being alive and that this experience, in itself, is something to be happy about. Everyday, I come across news and information of lives lost - in accidents, through disease, through crime, in natural calamities and what not.  I realise that at any given point in time I will either live or I will not. The fact that I survived should make me happy. I should not take being alive as a given. 

I hope I am able to cultivate this feeling of gratitude.

आंधी मे दीपक की तरह,

बारिश की बूंद की तरह,

भुकंप मे कांच के घर की तरह,
तूफान मे झोपडी की तरह,

तेज लेहर पर तेरती हुई पंखुडी की तरह,

पत्तझड की पत्ती की तरह,

 है  यह जीवन।

Benares

Image: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/67/Early_morning_view_of_Varanasi_city_from_opposite_bank.jpg

If I were the Examiner...

Perhaps, in all of us lies a closet valedictorian. However, in a very few of us, lies the closet examiner. I have my taxation exam on the 17th. Tax happens to be my interest area. So if I had the chance to draft the tax question paper, it would look something like this:

Attempt any 5 questions. 

All questions carry equal marks.

1. Shantaram belongs to a religious order called Ram Matha. Shantaram has renounced the world. According to the tenets of his religion, he cannot own and acquire any property and everything he has (or had) belongs to the religious institution (i.e.: Ram Matha) to which he is attached. Ram Matha has an educational institute where Shantaram teaches Sanskrit. The educational institute receives funding from the Government. The Government disburses Shantaram's salary to the educational institution. According to the tenets of his religion, Shantaram cannot own and acquire any property and hence the salary is never disbursed to Shantaram and it remains with the educational institution (which in turn is owned by a religious institute - Ram Matha).
   
   
   By applying the concept of application and diversion of income, determine if the income is taxable in the hands of Shantaram.
   
   
   
   
2. In the foothills of the Himalayas grows a wonderful and savoury mushroom called Guchi. The mushrooms cannot be farmed and grow sporadically in forests, meadows and orchards. They grow best during the monsoons and it takes months before enough can be collected for the market. The mushrooms are sold at an exorbitant price of Rs 15,000 per kilogram. Shroomchand is in the business of collecting and distributing Guchi. He employs several persons who go into the forest and collect the produce. It several weeks for the workers to collect sufficient produce. A lot of time and effort is put in.
   
   
   Determine if the income earned by Shroomchand qualifies as agricultural income under the Income Tax Act, 1961.
   
   
   
   
3. "Our courts must send a clear signal that India is not a banana republic where foreign companies can be invited to loot our resources and even avoid paying taxes on their windfall gains from the sale of those resources."
   -Prashant Bhushan
   
   
   "The courts merely interpret the law and if a transaction is not liable to Indian income tax, one must graciously accept the result."
   

   -Arvind Datar

   
   Analyse the correctness of the above statements with respect to the Supreme Court's decision in Vodafone International Holdings v. Union of India (2012) 6 SCC 613.
   
   
   
   
4. (a) Pinty works with a mobile-application based taxi service business called Ubla. Pinty is a driver and owns her own car. Pinty receives cab requests through Ubla's mobile-application, which works through a Global Positioning System (GPS). As a driver, Pinty can decide when she wants to work and when she does not want to work. However, when she decides to work, she cannot refuse a cab request that is sent to her. During any day, certain hours are dedicated as peak hours. If a driver, completes 3 rides/cab requests during the peak hour then the driver receives Rs 3000/- as incentive from Ubla. This is called the Peak Hour incentive. Further, the driver receives 5% of the revenue generated by such driver through all her cab rides/requests. This is called the Revenue Incentive. 
   
   
   Are these incentives (Peak Hour and Revenue) taxable for Pinty under the Head of Salaries under the Income Tax Act, 1961?
   
   
   (b) Haweli Kumar is a wealthy man and owns several properties. His wife Padma and son Bhanu also own several residential properties. Haweli Kumar dies. In his will, he bequeaths his mansion to Padma for her life and after her death to Bhanu i.e.: he creates a life interest in favour of his wife Padma. The terms of the will provided that Padma had a right to stay in the mansion but she could rent or lease or sell it. She only had a right to stay in it. After, Haweli Kumar's death, Padma did not reside in the bequeathed mansion and it remained empty till her death. 
   
   
   Is the income from the bequeathed mansion taxable? If yes, in whose hands is it taxable?
   
   
   
   
5. To curb the air pollution in Delhi, the Delhi Government (with the consent of the Lt. Governor) instituted a policy of carbon credits for industries situated in Delhi. According to the policy, each industry was allocated a specific quota of air pollution emissions. An industry could not discharge air pollutants beyond that quota. However, if the industry discharged less than the allocated emissions, then it would earn 'Carbon Credits'. Such an industry would be free to sell these 'Carbon Credits' to industries that had crossed their quota. The idea of the policy was to control the overall emissions. 
   
   
   M/s MC Mehta purchased certain carbon credits from M/s Shriram. M/s MC Mehta showed the purchase of Carbon Credits as revenue expenditure. The ITO treated the same as capital expenditure. Decide.
   
   
   
   
6. Mr. Satyavan was pursuing LL.B. from Faculty of Law, University of Salwa. During his LL.B., he was working as a part-time editor with Yama Law Publications. The Publication used to publish books on law. Satyavan used to receive a stipend/salary in return for his part-time services. Ms. Savitri was the sole-proprietor of  Yama Law Publications. During his stint at Yama Law Publications, Satyavan and Savitri fell in love and got married after Satyavan's second year of LL.B. After their marriage, Satyavan continued to work at Yama Law Publications and drew the same amount of salary/stipend. After his graduation, Satyavan joined Yama Law Publications as a full-time editor. He now drew a higher salary.
   
   
   The ITO has sought to club the salary/stipend received by Satyavan with the income earned by his wife Savitri. Determine if the same is possible for the following three time periods:
   
   
   (a) When Satyavan was in his first year of LL.B.
   (b) When Satyavan was in his third year of LL.B.
   (c) After Satyavan's graduation
   
   
   
   
7. "The power conferred upon the ITO by Sections 147 and 148 is not an unbridled one. It is hedged in with several safeguards conceived in the interest of eliminating room for abuse of this power by the AOs." Discuss.
   
   
   
   
8. Explain any two:

• N. Bagavathy Ammal v. CIT [JT 2003 (1) SC 363]

• Whatever is a proper outgoing by way of expenditure must be debited irrespective of whether there is receipt of income or not.
  
  
• Bad and doubtful debts as deduction under the Head of Profits/Gains from Business and Profession.
  
  
  
  
  

Delhi Municipal Elections

Municipal Elections are due in Delhi on 23 April 2017 and from that standpoint this post is very late. I have taken a backseat when it comes to politics and this post should be seen as an aberration. Someone dear to me told me to post it and hence this post.

MCD Headquarters

Voting decisions depend on several factors. I am restricting myself to only one factor i.e.: strategy. My conclusion is as follows: In Delhi Municipal Elections, it would make strategic sense for a voter to vote for a party that is in power at the State Government as well. Due to the power dynamics of Delhi, it would be ideal that the Centre, State and Municipal bodies are held by the same political party. However, since this trinity is really like asking for the moon, a twin is preferable.

The basic premise for my argument is - shared functions and cooperative governance. The Delhi Government and the Municipal Corporations have several shared functions. I have had first hand experience with respect to pavements i.e.: pavements of a certain width are maintained by the Municipality and others by the Public Works Department. The Wire has published a detailed video of the shared functions (I have not checked its veracity). The video claims that the two bodies work in similar domains i.e.: healthcare, education, sanitation etc. The entire video can be seen here:

Anand Ranganathan rightly points out that "Municipal elections are ridiculous, an attempt to gain multiple power centres. You win a State, you should get charge of its municipalities." Effective work in a State/Union Territory can only be done if the Municipality and the State Government work in cohesion and cooperation with each other. Sadly, our politicians are not above their politics. The recent experience of Delhi is testimony to the same. I have no evidence to say this, but I will say it nonetheless - The Central Government (ruled by the BJP) has not let the Delhi Government (ruled by Aam Aadmi Party) work. In turn, the Delhi Government (ruled by the Aam Aadmi Party) has not let the Municipalities (ruled by the BJP) work. This discord has brought work to a standstill in Delhi. Like any political battle, the sufferers are the voters.

This discord can be avoided if the same political party is in power across power centres. For this, lets see when elections are due:

National Elections - May 2019 (~2 years from today)

State Elections (Delhi) - Feb 2020 (~3 years from today)

If my premise is true, if you vote for AAP (and if AAP wins), then you may get 3 years of cooperation between the State Government and the Municipality.

If you decide to vote for any other party (Congress, BJP, Swaraj etc.), then the status quo of discord will remain. But by voting for the same party in the State Elections in 2020, you maybe able to score 2 years of cooperation from 2020 to 2022.

To my understanding, the above are the two options based on the factor of strategy.

At the cost of repetition, this is only one of the factors that should influence a voter. There are a million other factors that a voter should keep in mind while deciding to cast her vote.

In the end, I must express my reasons for staying away from political writing (even if you are not interested in knowing). For me, all politics is now the same.  I see all politics as inconsequential as no matter who comes to power, the same nonsense continues. The bottle changes but the wine remains. All parties and politicians employ the same tools to impress (nay deceive) voters. The swiftness with which political leaders shift camps only goes to show their convictions in ideology. Therefore, it is difficult for me to believe that any party or person will come around and save the scene. But this is just my view.

Good luck for tomorrow!

Image Source : https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/50/MCD_HQ.jpg

समय का अभाव

जीवन मे है बहुत रफ्तार,

करने है काम हजार;

सांस लेने का समय नहीं,
तेजी से चलती है समय की घडी।

१०० वर्ष न पडते पूरे,
सारे काम रह जाते अधूरे;
समय फिसलते पता नहीं लगता,
काल का चक्र सबको ठगता।

काश थोडा समय और होता,
एक जन्म तो है बहुत छोटा;
भगवान के पास तो है सामग्री अनन्त,
हमे तो चाहिए बस कुछ ही क्षण।

अायु भडाने के लिए किया फिर जप,
१५ मिनट भी नहीं हो पाया वो तप;
तब समझ अाया १ मिनट का खिंचाव,
अब नहीं हैं लगता समय का अभाव।

ImageSource: https://fthmb.tqn.com/Wttn3WZYL9DMHfrkl2oGhZGcj90=/768x0/filters:no_upscale()/about/Konark_Sun_Temple_Wheel-56a484033df78cf77282cbf5.jpg

Har Har Mahadev!

By His grace, I say these words,
With His blessings, there is freedom from this worldly herd;
He is the keeper of all shunned objects,
He is the welcomer of all castes and sects.

In the trinity, He is the destroyer,
By drinking the Halahala, He is our saviour;
Personified knowledge, He is our teacher,
As गंगाधर, He is the purifier!

No one is more innocent than Him,
He accepts all offerings - no matter if proper or prim;
He is admired by all pilgrims,
His infinite glory can’t be captured in any hymn!

Inspires the ascetics and householders alike,
He is the eternal indestructible light;
He is the grantor of all boons and दण्ड,
He is सच्चिदानन्द!

The gods play the instruments for His dance,
O! Mahadev! When will I get a glance?
I seemed to have wasted several lives,
But now I bow to thee -
Free me from this illusionary world immediately!

Har Har Mahadev!
Har Har Mahadev!
Har Har Mahadev!

O Maa Saraswati!

To speak something clever, I need not whisky or rum,
My life is adorned by your pearls of wisdom;
Your grace has helped me make many a difficult decision,
Now, I can see even beyond my immediate vision;
How can I forget those times when I wasn't sure,
And a guess of the mind turned out to be the cure!

Study has never been a torture for me,
Philosophy and Finance, I have learnt with glee;
Each time I picked a book to read,
I was afraid I would not finish the deed;
Despite my failings, I think I know a decent lot,
Without your blessings, my intelligence would have certainly rot!

To which door do I drop my gratitude?
The temple or school or library - I want no feud;
Should I light the lamp and the incense?
Or should I donate to a school to break the ignorance fence?
Perhaps, it matters less what exactly I do,
So long as my heart is faithful and true.

O Mother! I owe all my life to you,

Like the painting to the painter's view;

Forever, I hope I am at your feet,

No matter the highness of my seat;

My salutations to you, O Maa Saraswati!

I bow to thee,

I bow to thee,

I bow to thee!