Nothing is impossible

Who said India is lacking behind. Here is the example.

Govind Jaiswal IAS!


Govind Jaiswal, 24, the son of an uneducated
rickshaw puller in Varanasi, had
grown up with cruel taunts like
‘However much you study, you will still
be a rickshawpuller.’ He had studied
with cotton stuffed in his ears to drown the noise of printing machines and
generators below his window in a poor
neighbourhood where small workshops
existed cheek by jowl with tiny
residential quarters.

He had given Math tuitions to
supplement the paltry sum his father
could afford to send him each month.
His ailing father had sold a small plot of
land to give Govind about Rs 40,000 so
that he could move to Delhi which would provide him a better place to
study.

Throughout his life, he had lived with
only one dream — to become an officer
of the Indian Administrative Service. For
him that was the only way. And when
he broke the news to his family, that he
was ranked 48 among 474 successful candidates in his first attempt at the
exam — it was the turn of his three
sisters and father to weep with
unbridled joy.

Icould not afford to have any other
career goal. My life would have been
absolutely futile had I not made it into
the civil services,” says Govind, just back
from his medicals in New Delhi,
mandatory for the IAS.

“You must understand that my
circumstances were such that besides
the Civil Services, I had no option. I
didn’t have much of a chance with
lower government jobs because they
are mostly fixed, neither could I start a business because I had no money. The
only thing I could do was work hard at
my studies.”

It was almost impossible for him to
study in the one room he shared with
his family. To add to his woes was the
power cut that extended between 10
and 14 hours every day. The moment
the lights went out, he had to shut the window to block out the deafening
noise of generators in the many
workshops around his home.

So in search for a quiet place to study,
he briefly shared a friend’s room at the
Banaras Hindu University. Since that did
not help him much, he did what many
civil services aspirants in northern India
do — he moved to New Delhi.

Working for ten years at the
government ration shop, Narayan
earned a living by weighing goods at
the store. One day when the shop shut
down, he bought one rickshaw and
hired it out. He added three more and at one time was prosperous enough to
own about 36 rickshaws.

On his meager earnings, the uneducated
rickshaw vendor with a hearing
disability continued the education of his
children. The girls were married after
their graduation — Narayan sold two
pieces of land for the weddings, the last plot was sold to achieve his Govinda’s
dream.

Narayan gave his son Rs 40,000 to
prepare for his Civil Services exam in
New Delhi and pursue his childhood
dream of becoming an IAS officer. For
the next three years, he sent his son
between Rs 2,500 and Rs 3,000 every month, sometimes foregoing the
expense of treating the septic wound in
his foot that continues to nag him till
today.

Outside his narrow lane, opposite the
Varanasi City railway station, where
Narayan Jaiswal parks his rickshaws
and spends most of his waking hours,
he still walks barefooted with a
bandage, one end hanging loose and scraping the dirty road.

“Beyond this year, my father could not
have afforded to send Govind any more
money. It was getting very tough for
him. Govind was earning Rs 1,500 from
tuitions, I don’t know what he would
have done if he didn’t make it to the IAS this year. My father could not sleep
for 10 days before the results came,”
says Govind’s eldest sister Nirmala,
whose son is almost the same age as
her brother.

Until now, courier delivery boys found
his house with great difficulty but now
even the fruit cart-wallah, one-and-a-
half kilometres away, will tell you
where the ‘IAS’ house is...

Hatsoff to both

Lead with an example for change you want to see.

Long Live India

Liquid Lust

Everyone wants or wants to be the whore. We wouldn’t call her that, of course. She would be mysterious and difficult, but still sexually available. You know she has “experience.” If we stop and think rationally, of course this seems ludicrous. But we’re not talking about rationality. We’re talking about desires. All the girls want to be her because all the guys want to win her. She’s sexy. But she’s subconsciously an object. To be or to possess. Even the good Christian guys admit, when desire overwhelms rational thought, it’s that girl they want. The one who seems untouchable, but who everyone has touched. And even the good Christian girls want to be her, because there’s a lure of being desired and relentlessly pursued. The culture tells us sex is the pleasure upon which everything else in the world hinges. It is the display of our status and wealth. It can make or destroy you. There are only consequences if you get caught. Sex is the only reason you are possibly going to be desirable. Who pursues the prude? We have become a culture dripping in lust. And no one is exempt from it. No one. Men objectify women and women objectify themselves. We have stopped fighting, and we’ve started to believe. Even those who attempt to push strongly against the culture push back because they feel the drips on their skin. It’s not righteousness that drives them, but the fear of being overwhelmed. Sex is either our god or our demon.

But wasn’t it supposed to be something beautiful?
Wasn’t it supposed to be something holy,
Not dirty?
We have polluted its name
We have made it our idol
Like Hosea, You find yourself
Married to us,
The prostitute.
The willing whore.
Forgive us,
Not for the desire,
But for the misuse
And abuse
And excuse
We’ve made the desire.
We drown in the liquid lust
Of our culture.
Drip. Drip. Drip.
And it glides down our skin.
Savior, rescue us from our sin.
And help us to learn to love again

The culture of gift vouchers

Literally speaking and as per dictionary.com “gift” is a noun meaning “ something given voluntarily without payment in return, as to show favor toward someone, honor an occasion, or make a gesture of assistance; present” or “something bestowed or acquired without any particular effort by the recipient or without its being earned” . In the context of this note, I will abstain from other meanings like a special ability or something.

What is the reason behind giving someone a gift certificate?

From a strategic and tactical perspective for retailers it works wonders. Just before Christmas when the retailers are struggling to cope up with demand the gift vouchers are available in abundance and when they are redeemed after new year – retailer are more than happy to see the lift in the sales. They shifted the demand from high period to low demand period in order to utilize their resources better.

We hardly know people enough these days. Hence buying a gift for someone is a real pain but I guess it is worth a try and effort. Especially when you want to buy you a gift as a real gesture (not for the sake of formality like Boss's birthday) and I guess an effort needs to be put to understand the recipient as a person. A gift was never about the gift alone. It was always about the care and time spent in choosing something for someone you care and love.

Do you like a gift vouchers?

Personally speaking I don’t. I hate them it is like a short cut and means buying some gift for the sake of it. Well in my opinion a currency note would have been better at least every one will redeem it unlike vouchers at any place they choose with fewer terms and conditions. If that sounds rude what about a wire transfer – a gift certificate is socially acceptable way of doing the same thing. The difference is more like sipping single malt vs. country liquor and irrespective of where it comes from alcohol is injurious to health.

Over the period of years I have come across situations when people asked “what do you want for your birthday”. This used to be more frequent in my younger years. Months before the occasion the wish list used to be ready. Some time it was as trivial as the new set of sketching pens, some time it was a watch sometimes more trivial things as well. As the count of years steadily increased (does it sound like am very old – am just 27 and you know what they say about it – 27 is the new 15) the number of people who asked this question suddenly decreased and I have started receiving vouchers. There is no fun to receive a voucher.


I guess we need to step back and preserve this beautiful thing called gift. I know it is complicated to ask someone or choose something on behalf of someone but knowing someone better was the idea of a gift. It’s a tricky line – we all don’t want to sound greedy but a voucher culture is not a substitute.

Just for the sake of doing it, let’s go out and ask people what they want as a gift. A “Wish List” is a good idea to have – a lot of websites allow that. Or at least when someone pops up the let’s be frank share the information about the budget or at least give some options. A lot of people are afraid of dealing with this but I am sure this is not difficult compared to hundreds of complicated decisions you make every day. If you don’t like flowers please go out and tell people. If you want something special we can put it up on our desks.

Let’s preserve the personal touch of the gift and save it forever. And if you are looking for something to buy for me – please let me know. I will ask you the same question soon if I can’t make the decision on your behalf but please don’t send me a gift voucher.

What do you say. Do let me know :)