Has reservation outlived its significance

It were Gujjars few days ago, then Jats and now Patels. The agitation for caste based reservation seems far from over. In fact in last couple of decades it has only intensified as the scope of reservation has further widened and included in its ambit various state of the art technical, medical and management institutions. These institutions and services hold a place of high esteem in our country and when the admission to them is not just through merit but also on the basis of castes, they sure are going to breed feelings of disaffection against the reservation system.

The history of reservation system can be traced back during the drafting of Constitution of the country when unanimously it was agreed that the inequalities in society compel the government to take steps for the betterment of people who are low in the hierarchy of society. This positive discrimination quite justifiably was required for the empowerment of weaker sections in the society. It helped in making sure they they feel that the system and the opportunities it presents are not biased towards select powerful persons in the society but available to them as well. For this reason reservation was allowed for the weaker sections namely the scheduled castes and the scheduled tribes in the academic and government institutions, job as well as law making. After the Mandal commission, it was extended to Other Backward Classes too.

So far so good. But let us analyze if the reservation has been able to do justice to the aims it sought to achieve. To my mind there were two important goals which were targeted by reservation. First, to empower the weaker sections of the society and secondly to reduce caste consciousness as the basis of continuation of inequalities in our system was caste system. In both these aims it has failed miserably.

The benefits of reservation have not reached to the poor and lower sections of society as they should have. Rather they have been reaped by the top few who are using the benefits repeatedly thus denying the other needy their due rights. The very assumption of reservation based on caste is on a wrong ground as caste might have been an indicator of social and economic backwardness of the people at the time of independence  but not anymore. Our forefathers who drafted the Constitution  also desired to keep this provision on temporary basis only.

And this system of reservation has very well helped in reinforcing the caste system further instead of reducing or eliminating it altogether. Caste consciousness is strongest than ever before. This is because categorization based on caste has been linked to economic and political benefits. And this has acted as a positive reinforcer for people to maintain their identities based on caste.

Isn't this reservation system then again trying to handicap people's abilities by denying them opportunities because of their birth. This used to happen thousands of years ago and now its happening again. Only the roles seem to have been reserved.

So has the time arrived when we should have debates on ending the reservation system and instead think of other measures to improve the education system in our country. Isnt there a need to again have an open system of competition to jobs and academic institutions and selecting people purely on merit basis? The reservation system seems to have outlived its utility in its current form. There is a need for a serious reform to prevent further stratification of the society. But the bigger question is - do we have the will?

The first meeting

Siddhartha seemed to be in a strange hurry. He was walking at double his normal pace, but there seemed no sign of gate 2. On a normal day perhaps he might not have noticed the time, but today each minute seemed  like an hour. And the rush of the passengers at this peak time, which was further slowing down his pace, was adding to his frustration.

After roughly 15 minutes, he was standing out of gate 2. Outside there was a crowd of people, some clinging to the railing intently looking at each passenger who was coming out, checking for their acquaintances, some coming from hotels holding placard and competing amongst each other for a suitable place so that their placard would be most visible. 

Amidst all this commotion, Siddhartha wondered how he would find Ragini. He took out his phone but to his horror, the battery had died. He cursed himself for not charging the phone in the plane and began thinking that she might be trying his number and would be getting angry. He looked here and there for a charging point but none was visible. He started getting impatient, his head going blank.He sat in a bench near to where he was standing, took deep breaths and started explaining himself mentally that this area is not very large and if he looked around for her, he could find her. This reassuring thought calmed him a little bit. He wiped the sweat from his forehead, drank a sip of water from his bottle, and got up.

"Let's start from this direction", he told himself mentally, pointing to an area opposite to where he was sitting. There were a lot of benches and he started going to all those where a girl was sitting alone. Near each such bench he passed casually looking at the face from the corner of his eye in a fraction of second and moving away lest he be caught in an uncomfortable situation of staring at some girl and getting in trouble.

Ten minutes passed but without any luck. He was starting to get impatient now. Maybe she had left after waiting for sometime as his phone was not reachable. This thought gave a chill down his spine and he started cursing himself even more for being such a stupid for not charging the phone. But then he tried to comfort himself by logically arguing that it wasn't very long and she would not have left so early. Trusting on this logic, he turned and started looking at the other side. 

This area was relatively vacant with very few people seated on the benches. Suddenly, he saw that to his left a girl was sitting alone in the bench. She was facing the other side and only her hair were visible to him. Praying that this be her, he walked close to the bench and reaching to the side of the bench, he cleared his throat and said. "Execuse me"

The girl turned her face towards him. In a fraction of second he realized it was her. She was exactly like school days but with some difference. She was wearing a black salwar kameez with a black dupatta across her neck. Her hair was open and falling on her shoulders, partially covering her earrings which seemed to be tiny inverted silver bowls hanging by a silver chain. There was a golden chained watch on her one hand while the other had a metallic bangle, suitably chosen to match her attire. He had always seen her in the school uniform and she was looking very pretty and beautiful.

"I said hi". She smiled and Siddhartha realized that he had been standing there awkardly just looking at her and didn't even greet her.

" Oh, sorry. Hi, how are you? Waiting for long?"

"No, just for last one hour. Phones don't work in the airport?"

"They do. Why?" Siddhartha trying to look innocent.

"Yours seems to be out of battery for some time", she remarked.

" Yeah, hardly around the phone. Don't care if its charged" Siddhartha tried to play down, not willing to expose his stupidity.

"Big people", she chuckled.

Embarrassed, he sat down on the bench.  It was all seeming like a dream. Just in the morning it was decided that they will meet and they were sitting next to each other in a strange place meeting after six years. 

There was few minutes of silence. 

" Do you like cold drink?"

"Coke", she said.

He rose and bought a Coke from the counter nearby.

Offering her he said, " Quite humid today".

"Yes, Mumbai gets humid at this part of the year. And then there are rains. You would want to come here in rains. The whole city is flooded. Last year, this airport had water upto the knee height for some time.", she exclaimed in excitement.

They started talking about different things. Life after school. How they never talked to each other during school. Joked about few teachers and school friends.

All this time Siddhartha was looking at her face while she was talking. She had beautiful dark black eyes which she used to close at time when talking about some exciting and funny thing. Breeze of air made her hair lock fall over her face across her cheek which she was picking and tucking behind the ear, not getting bothered about the repetitions.

Then suddenly she took out a tiffin from her bag and offered him some kachori. 

Without thinking Siddhartha blurted " No, thanks!". Suddenly smile disappeared from her face and she kept it back in her bag, seemingly hurt by this response. Siddhartha realized his stupidity immediately and guessed that she would have prepared it herself. He wished he could disappear at that moment, feeling so embarrassed with his sudden reaction. He didn't have the presence of mind to ask for forgiveness and just sat there with a blank head. Anyways he thought the damage had been done.

But this didn't seem to have a very lasting effect on Ragini's mood and she started talking as cheerfully as before. Time seemed to be running very fast as within few minutes it was time for Siddhartha flight and if he didn't proceed immediately, he would miss his flight. Both of them didn't want to leave but had to. Shaking hands, and bidding goodbye to her, Siddhartha started moving towards the entrance gate. At the gate he turned back. Ragini was still standing there, looking towards him, smiling and waving good bye. He smiled, raised his hand, and next minute went inside.

Choices in our lives

It was Sunday morning and my supplies of ration had already exhausted, making a visit to the nearest grocery store necessary. My list was short so I thought my visit would be quick and I would be able to enjoy my afternoon watching some old classic movie combined with a peaceful nap of couple of hours. But how wrong was I.

Any person who has some experience in shopping would agree that buying anything today is no less than an art. It's a game of selecting one among the myriad choices present. It's a situation of abundance. The problem of comparing and choosing based on your personal preferences.

I remember when as a kid we used to go to buy milk, or bread, or cooking oil, we just had to tell what item we wanted to buy without going into extra specifications about the brand and quality. Because there was only one type available. Mostly.

But today, buying a simple thing as milk would mean you have to take at least 5-6 decisions before finalizing on your product. Toned, half-toned, cream, full cream, vitamin d enriched, chocolate flavoured, semi pasteurised bla bla bla. Makes me remember what Tom Hanks said in some movie that in buying a cup of coffee from a Starbucks store, an average person has to take so many decisions - caf/decaf, sugar/ black and so on.

There was  a funny incident in my childhood when I went to a big shop to get some milk and when the shopkeeper asked which of the red, blue, green milk I wanted. Not understanding that he was apparently referring to the color of the packaging, I innocently replied that I wanted white milk and came back without buying anything.

So you must be wondering what I am trying to suggest through these examples. Is having a choice a bad thing? In fact our whole effort in the modern world is based on providing freedom of choice to the consumers. Absolute socialism is a thing of past. Capitalism is the new thing. And capitalism relies on competition. Giving the consumer the power to choose things. An end to monopoly.

I am suggesting none of this. Having choices is always a good thing. My only innocuous query is to what extent we need choices. And are choices instrumental in bringing more comfort and happiness in our lives.

Let me take an example. Was I any less happier when there were no cell phones and I had to go and meet someone if I desired to talk to them. Or did I feel more happy when the new phone which I bought had an extra choice of sending voice messgaes as well as opposed to the text messages which my old phone could send. While one may argue they keep people close. But in what way? When we are at home, we are checking the messgaes from other friends. And when we are with friends, our attention is diverted to some other place.  So in a way, we are getting closer to people who are living far off but getting far off (at least mentally) from the people who are closer.

Bhutan is one country which hasn't given too much importance to material advancements over their cultural and traditional customs and values. And certainly by no means they are less happier than people of USA.

So where does this bring us? To my mind, there can't be a single answer to this question. It varies from individual to individual, from culture to culture. But one thing is certain. That happiness can't be found in having greater choices or greater variety. It comes from within as it is an internal thing. So instead of worrying about so many choices, I would rather like to spend my time in having experiences - exploring world, meeting new people, tasting new food, spending time with best friends.

A chance encounter

Siddharth checked his watch for the sixty-sixth time now.There was still  an hour left for the flight to land at the Mumbai airport. He tried to get a nap by trying a different body posture in the already constrained space of the flight seat. But in vain. His fellow passengers were sleeping, some busy listening to music, and others chatting with each other. He tried one last time to concentrate on the article in the magazine he was holding and finally surrendered. His mind was somewhere else.

Siddharth was in his third year  at IIT Delhi and was on his way to Bangalore for the summer internship. He had been selected for two months internship programme in a reputed IT firm and had to report the next day. The assignment was sure to be challenging and he was expecting some busy schedule during this period. Moreover, there was also the pressure of performing to the best and also an opportunity to showcase his skills which could earn him a pre placement offer in this reputed organization thousands die to work for.

But this was not something which was occupying his mind. Something else was going on his which wasn't allowing him to do anything else.

His connecting flight to Bangalore was after 3 hours. During this time, someone was coming to meet him. An old school friend.

Ragini was Siddharth's classmate for six years in the school. After school, he went to Delhi to pursue engineering while Ragini enrolled in NIFT, Mumbai for the design course.

And it was first time after the school that they were meeting. In fact this would be the first time they would be talking face to face with each other. Strange as it may sound, but they had never talked to each other in the six years during the school. Not even studies related conversation. After starting their college courses, somehow they got connected through internet, mailed each other occasionally and once in a month or so, Siddhartha used to call her.

This routine would have continued as usual had Siddhartha not told her in the last conversation that he would be in Bangalore for the summers and he will have a halt of 3-4 hrs in Mumbai. He jokingly asked her to come and meet him at airport. Though she replied she would, Siddhartha didn't take this very seriously as one she was having a busy schedule preparing for her tests and two the airport was 50 km from her hostel.

But only till today morning. He got a call in the morning from her and she enquired about the flight timings. He had forgotten this conversation about meeting as a joke but sensing the seriousness in her voice and after being scolded for five minutes, he shared the flight details.

Sipping the orange juice, he began to think about how the conversation would be. They had just started talking and were getting friendly with each other. But talking face to face after so many years, with no conversation ever during school. Is it going to be awkward. How would she be looking? During school he vaguely remembered that she used to be very reserved and he had hardly seen her talking to other girls as well. The only thing which he knew was that she had an amazing handwriting. This he got to know when once he mistakenly opened a notebook to see a beautiful handwriting and closed it back to see her name on the cover.

The flight had landed and the pilot announced to remove the seatbelts and switch on the mobile. He took out his mobile from the pocket and switched it on. There was a new message. It was from her. "Waiting at gate 2".

He stood up, collected his bag and hurriedly started walking down the aisle before the queue for departing passengers start getting longer. With excitement, apprehension and happiness he started pacing towards gate 2 to meet a new friend from old times.