E D I T O R I A L   P A G E

EDITORIALS

Red Fort breached
INDIA is dotted with forts — from the Agra Fort and the Purana Qila in the north to the Golconda Fort and the Rock Fort in the south. There are many more monuments elsewhere. But the Red Fort is special. It represents the national honour and pride. That is why the audacious entry of two Lashkar-e-Toiba militants and their killing three men have triggered a national outrage.

The politics of iftar
Tuesday or Wednesday should mark the end of the holy month of Ramazan. The next day would see the celebration of Id-ul-Fitr, an expression of thanksgiving to Allah, particularly by Muslims who followed the strict regimen of keeping away from food and water during daylight hours, for a month, during Ramazan.

OPINION

Need for a National Audit
For equality and justice
by J.L. Gupta
ECONOMICALLY, we are one of the poorest. Ethically, we are one of the most corrupt. Today, this nation of a billion faces a crisis of character. There is need for a national audit.

The Singapore success story
by Rahul Singh
I MUST have first come to Singapore (where I am at the moment), some 30 or so years ago. It was then not so very different from India, with a great deal of poverty and lots of dirt. Since then I have been to this island nation four or five times over the last three decades.

MIDDLE

Who is the boss?
by M.K. Agarwal
THE question “Who is the boss?” is not easily answered as it has many dimensions. Is the boss the one who is in-charge of an organisation and tells others what to do? Is it the paymaster, who gives wages and has the authority to hire and fire? Or, the one to make every important decision, leaving implementation to the rest? Or, the person, whose charisma, of strength, intellect, beauty, or accomplishment, is so irresistible, as to compel deference? Indeed, where and how to find the person or the entity with the power to wield the whip, call the shots, rule the root and pull the wires? Let us examine.

Trends and pointers

Women’s empowerment through radio
ALMOST half the population of India, meaning women, has grown faster in the developmental activities in the last five decades. The government and NGOs have worked hard to make them reach this status but, Radio has played a significant role by entering into their houses and being their intimate friend by imparting education, information and entertainment and transforming them from a weaker sex to being self-sufficient and independent.

Point of law

Battle between citizens’ lungs and workers’ stomachs
by Anupam Gupta
THE nation’s capital is being cleaned up under court orders, leaving behind a trail of confusion, bitterness and dismay. Polluting industries, non-conforming areas, closure, relocation — never before has ill-defined bureaucratic and legal jargon, backed by the sledgehammer of contempt, had greater impact on the daily lives of millions of citizens, for better or worse.

SPIRITUAL NUGGETS

Red Fort breached

INDIA is dotted with forts — from the Agra Fort and the Purana Qila in the north to the Golconda Fort and the Rock Fort in the south. There are many more monuments elsewhere. But the Red Fort is special. It represents the national honour and pride. That is why the audacious entry of two Lashkar-e-Toiba militants and their killing three men have triggered a national outrage. It houses several army units, including the Quick Reaction Team and the interrogation centre. More, there is the intelligence arm too. But late on Friday evening all these and their men were caught unawares as two heavily armed youth sneaked in without much difficulty and opened fire, killing two soldiers on sentry duty and a civilian. This is shocking enough. But what is totally unacceptable is their escape. One assumption is that they scaled the rear wall, on the side of the normally busy Ring Road, threw an AK-47 rifle into Vijay Ghat, the samadhi of Lal Bahadur Shastri, in a mocking salute of his “Jai jawan, jai kisan” slogan. In a belated security operation the Delhi police is conducting routine searches, reminding all of a scene from a Punjabi spoof of the late eighties. When there is a particularly heavy toll in a terrorist attack the king lambasts the police chief and the latter coolly says it will not happen again since his men have placed an additional drum across the road in an attempt to heighten vigil. The raids on guest houses in the northern and eastern parts of Delhi are the latter-day version of an extra drum. Nothing more.

It appears that the Delhi police received information that terrorists would attack in the Capital but it was supposed to be on Monday or Tuesday. The force claims it did tighten security and conducted searches. But since nothing happened, it went back to its old relaxed ways. If this is even partly true, heads must roll. For one thing, the Lashkar-e-Toiba is a highly trained band of ruthless killers and has been busy since the armed forces stopped their combat operations in Kashmir. It has opposed the proposed talks between the Hurriyat leaders and government representatives. It is only natural that it will send its frightening suicide squads to New Delhi to cause maximum damage to peace prospects. All this is simple common sense and called for uncommon steps to frustrate and defeat it. But the opposite seems to have happened. Everyone seems to have pretended that the Red Fort was as impregnable as a fort, so the twosome had unhindered access, had full 20 minutes to empty their magazine and get out unmolested. There were nearly 75 empties (the shells of bullets) and these should be carefully examined to see if any of them came from an army rifle. Two, free entry is allowed through the Lahore Gate while the Delhi Gate has a strong check-post. This is so because tourists use the first gate and there is a curio bazaar; also residents in the houses within the walls use it. But the facility available to innocent citizens and visitors should not be extended to Lashkar-e-Toiba gunmen and that is precisely what happened on Friday. Nothing demoralises the armed forces and the common man alike as an attack on the heart of the armed forces in the Capital region.

Locking the Lahore and Delhi Gates after the shootout is no way to remedy the situation. It is time to raise a highly motivated security battalion, one that will fight the enemy with its mind and not machines. The Delhi police and the Army intelligence wing have failed and failed miserably. It is dangerous to entrust the task of protecting persons and places symbolising the nation to these ineffective outfits. The Red Fort and the Raisina Hill should enter the radar screen of the Intelligence Bureau. India has a fledgling security organisation whose head is more involved in a fight with a BJP leader of sorts than generating real time intelligence about national security. It is no use either for the Defence Minister to call on Pakistan to rein in militants so that they do not attack haloed places like the Red Fort. It is not Pakistan’s responsibility to keep the Red Fort inviolate; it is the duty and sacred obligation of the Indian government, nay, every Indian. The call by Mr George Fernandes sounds helpless if not idiotic. The Red Fort is where the Prime Minister unfurls the national flag on Independence Day and where the Republic Day parade ends. In the sentimental scale it rates higher than even Parliament House and, yes, Rashtrapati Bhavan. As the Supreme Court said in a different context, if it cannot carry out its basic duty, the government should hand over power to someone else who can. The only fighting sound inside the fort should come from the daily sound and light show and not the guns of militants and outlaws. 

The politics of iftar

Tuesday or Wednesday should mark the end of the holy month of Ramazan. The next day would see the celebration of Id-ul-Fitr, an expression of thanksgiving to Allah, particularly by Muslims who followed the strict regimen of keeping away from food and water during daylight hours, for a month, during Ramazan. At least one of the two rituals associated with the observance of "roza" by devout Muslims has lost its sanctity because of what the Sangh Parivar calls the introduction of the politics of appeasement of the minorities, particularly Muslims, by the entire political class. Iftar, the ritual breaking of fast by those who have kept "roza", has become a tool not only for humouring the Muslims but also for sending messages to political rivals. In their zeal to play competitive minority politics the political class has, in the process, trivialised a purely religious and simple ceremony by giving it the revolting name of "iftar party". Surprisingly, Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, whose Parivar is opposed to the politics of appeasement, outdid his political opponents by arranging this season's "Muslim-baiting" iftar at a five-star hotel in Delhi. Evidently, no one in his small coterie of Muslim advisers was himself aware that iftar is supposed to be a simple meal, and not a five-star festivity, which if shared with the poor enhances the value of "roza". Since the Imam of Delhi's Jama Masjid, Maulana Ahmed Bukhari, had given a call to boycott "iftar parties" the Bharatiya Janata Party event managers had to ship willing Muslims from Lucknow, Ajmer and elsewhere to justify the Ashoka Hotel festivity, presumably organised at State expense [not allowed by Islam]. But the Maulana was merely expressing his anger over the Ayodhya statement of Mr Vajpayee. Neither he nor any other Muslim cleric has ever opposed the hosting of political iftar by leaders of most parties for reasons which have their roots in the correct reading of the holy injunction.

For nearly a month newspapers have been flooded with photographs of leaders exchanging iftar pleasantries, looking comical rather than pious in what has been identified as Muslim headgear. As is their wont, column writers read politically earth-shaking messages by merely looking at the guest list of the hosts. Leader of the Opposition Sonia Gandhi was at Mr Vajpayee's so-called "iftar party", but he was missing from the select crowd gathered at 10 Janpath for the reciprocal festivity. His absence gave birth to a thousand interpretations, each as ridiculous as the remaining 999. Surely, Railway Minister Mamta Banerjee must have been trying to send a politically loaded signal to the Prime Minister, was the reading of the political pundits when she sent flowers on Mrs Sonia Gandhi's birthday and later turned up at the iftar, to which Mr Vajpayee was not invited according to 7 Race Course Road. Going through the images of the past one month, on television and in the newspapers and magazines, related to the hosting of "iftar party" by all the political bigwigs in Delhi may provide significant clues. How many Muslim faces in the crowd at these VVIP-do's can be easily recalled without putting the brain to the serious risk of irrevocable stress? What is disturbing is the fact that the political class has hijacked a purely religious ceremony and not a single Muslim leader of stature has had the good sense to stop it, through persuasion if possible or through judicial directive if necessary, from what amounts to insulting the very concept of iftar. But where are the leaders of stature who can claim to speak on behalf of the entire Indian Muslim community? Mercifully, the media-savvy politicians [how else does one explain the presence of TV crew and presspersons at most such do's?] have literally not woken up to abusing another Ramazan-related ritual of "sehri" [the morning meal before the commencement of the day-long fast]. Why? Because they would have to get up at the unearthly hour of 4 a.m. or 5 a.m. for what they would prefer to call "sehri party". But the event managers may still be able to sell to them the importance of being an early bird.

Need for a National Audit
For equality and justice
by J.L. Gupta

ECONOMICALLY, we are one of the poorest. Ethically, we are one of the most corrupt. Today, this nation of a billion faces a crisis of character. There is need for a national audit.

We can boast of a rich cultural heritage. Ours is the land of sages and scriptures. We have given the Vedas and the Upanishads to the world. But today we face a total devaluation of values. In the morning we pray. Then we look for a prey. Once upon a time we used to stand for principles. Today we fall for anything. No wonder, we praise the virtues of our ancestors. Probably, to hide the vices of the present generation.

More than 50 years have passed since we attained Independence. Still poverty stalks the land. So many Five-Year Plans have been executed. Yet we face a resource crunch. We have a billion pairs of hands. We use these to beg and borrow. Periodically, our ministers go beyond the shores of our country. To get aid. We are always requesting. For more and more. From everyone. And everywhere. Shamefacedly. It does not even seem to hurt our sense of national pride. Have we lost all feeling of self-respect?

Why? Where have we gone wrong? Who have failed us? The people? The laws? Our judicial system? Or our leaders? How can we remedy the wrong?

After Independence we have given unto ourselves a “constitution”. It embodies the hopes and aspirations of the people. It lays down the do’s and don’ts for the state. It delineates the duties of the people. It aims at eradicating the social evils. It promises a society based on justice — social, economic and political — where the individual’s person and property are protected.

Yet nobody is satisfied. We continue to have problems. In every sphere. Even those who have to run the administration are mostly fighting in courts. And speaking frankly. Why not? What can equality mean to the people who cannot provide two square meals a day to their families? How can we claim to do justice when the people are not free from want and fear?

We have too much of poverty. And too many problems. We have too many kids. But too few schools. Too many men. Too few homes. Too many who are old and sick. But too few hospitals. Too many people. Too little to eat. We have too many civil servants. We pay too much of salary. But for too little of service. Too many laws. Too many rules and regulations. Too many cases. Too much of delay. Too little of justice. We face a crisis of numbers. A possible asset has become a permanent liability.

It is a crisis of our own making. If we want a change, we must check the numerical growth. Strict measures are necessary. Hard decision, which may not be populist, have to be taken. We should make a law which should debar everyone with more than two children from holding any public office or civil post. The benefits for weaker sections should be available only to the families that observe the code of numbers.

Then, we have developed no work culture. For us, work is no longer worship. It is a burden. The labour does not labour. It is often on strike. The workmen do not work. The managers do not manage. The directors give no direction. The leader do not lead. The industry does not produce. Not doing has been really our undoing.

Thanks to our policy of liberalisation, foreign goods are a common sight in our stores. Like the Reebok shoes. These are sold in India. In almost every city. But all made in Indonesia. Canon cameras. Made in Korea. Why? Our labour laws provide the clue and the cause. If I have an itch, I have got to scratch. If we wish to prosper, we have to develop a work culture. It is a national imperative. The entire nation has to realise this.

We are also highly intolerant. Not of the intolerable alone. Of everything opposed to our own view. We wage a war. Against ourselves. We damage and destroy. Cars are smashed. Buses are burnt. Valuable public property is wasted. Very often, without any cause or provocation.

We must realise that it is violence to ourselves. It is selfdestruction. It is very difficult to build. Any fool can destroy. This mad destruction must attract the nation’s severest wrath. Deterrent punishment should be provided. That shall be the only way to do justice to the unjust.

We need to have a look at our system of education. Today we are producing only job-seekers. Not nation-builders. Mainly pen pushers. Not patriots. We must take corrective steps. Character building should be the main if not the sole objective of education. We must imbue the young minds with old values of “tap” and “tyag”. Hard and honest work. Selfless sacrifice. Only then can we hope to rebuild this nation.

We face the curse of corruption. At all levels. The existing law has been invariably invoked to catch the small fry. To check the petty corruption of the poor. Of peons and patwaris. The big fish invariably escape. It must be implemented equally and effectively. In fact, the existing law needs to be given more teeth. It must be realised that an ill-gotten rupee taints the entire property. All the family assets should escheat to the State. We must amend the law to make a specific provision in this behalf.

We are hypocrites. We worship God. But we torture man. We must lay down a code of conduct. For ourselves. For all people of India. For everyone. To observe rigorously. The chapter on duties in the Constitution should not remain a pious wish. Each one of us must realise that every right carries with it a solemn duty. The right to wages should be dependent upon the doing of work. We can claim services from the State only after we pay the taxes. Violation of the code should attract penalty. And it should be enforced ruthlessly.

Above all, we must remember that governments, laws and law courts cannot solve all the problems. We may have a government of one party or another till we run out of the alternatives. We may make laws till there is a shortage of parchment and pens in the world. Yet we may not have done enough to restore the old values. Or to help the poor and the needy. The foundations of an austere and honest existence, of good governance, have to be laid in the hearts of men. The habits of hard work and honest labour must be built in the minds of people. And we must also remember that the moral fibre always percolates from the top to the bottom. Everyone, not the leaders only, must set a personal example. The people trust their eyes more than their ears. And if we set good examples, nothing shall be difficult.

We have the potential. Our scientists have worked hard. They have put our satellites in the outer space. They have also given us effective means for ensuring our national security. We are a member of the exclusive ‘nuclear club’ of the world. We have the knowledge and the means to even reach the moon.

It does not matter how tall our ancestors were. We have to grow up on our own. We can make no progress unless we work hard. Controlling the numbers, developing a work culture and restoring the old values are important milestones. Each Indian has to help. Wholeheartedly. Only then can we move forward on the road to progress and achieve the goal of justice and equality. Within our lifetime.

The Singapore success story
by Rahul Singh

I MUST have first come to Singapore (where I am at the moment), some 30 or so years ago. It was then not so very different from India, with a great deal of poverty and lots of dirt. Since then I have been to this island nation four or five times over the last three decades. On the last occasion, in 1992, the Singapore Tourist Board looked after me. They were eager to show off the city to me. And they had much to show off: The glittering shopping malls, particularly on the famed Orchard Road, the old historical parts of the city, beautifully maintained, Chinatown and Little India, with their distinctive temples and styles of architecture. There were also the botanical gardens and Sentosa island, where you could while away the entire day at the various amusement parks and shows. The stunning aquarium, Waterworld, probably among the best in the world, has always stuck in my mind. I was taken on the public transport, the buses and the railways which traversed the city so efficiently.

I also vividly remember taking a taxi ride to my hotel. The taxi-driver, took a wrong detour (I would have been none the wiser, since I did not know the city). On my arrival at my hotel, he told me that he was going to charge me less than the meter showed because of the wrong turning that he had taken! I was completely taken aback. I cannot think of any other city where you could find such honest taxi drivers, certainly not in Mumbai or Delhi. As I said, I have been to Singapore several times over a span of some three decades. Every time, the city has looked better, more prosperous, and the people just as honest. There is very little crime in Singapore. You can walk the streets and use the public transport, without bothering about pick-pockets, touts and muggers, as you have to do in most big cities in the world.

The financial crisis which hit most of South-East and Far-East Asia a couple of years ago, somehow bypassed Singapore. The island-nation has continued to record economic growth rates upwards of 8 per cent, among the highest in the world. As a result of such continued growth, year after year, from being one of the poorest areas in the world in the 1950s, it has become one of the richest.

What I find most admirable about the place is its ethnic mix and how all the races live in communal harmony, proving that when people are doing well and working hard, there is less to divide them. The majority, around three quarters of the population, are ethnically Chinese, with Malays and Indians (mostly Tamils), constituting about 20 per cent of the population, the rest being what are called “expatriates”, that is those who are there temporarily in Singapore on work (which includes quite a few Indians).

The only complaints I have heard from those who have lived here for some time is that Singapore can get quite “boring”. There isn’t too much cultural life, simply because everybody is busy making money. Singapore, like Hong Kong, and to some extent, the United Arab Emirates as well, are huge success stories of good old fashioned capitalism. But unlike Hong Kong, which has always had quite a bit of crime and where the underworld has always been active, in Singapore, the authorities come down on law-breakers with a very heavy hand. Corruption, even petty corruption, is rare. The country’s civil servants are paid enormous salaries, unlike in India where they are paid a pittance and thereby become vulnerable to bribery and venality. Foreign investment is welcomed with open arms and the red carpet unrolled for investors.

There is the downside. I mentioned boredom. There is also a strong streak of puritanism which can be somewhat offputting, but which the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) would approve of. Films are rigorously censored and unorthodox behaviour stamped on. You can be fined heavily if you litter in public. Criticism of the authorities in the press can have serious repercussions.

If you lose your job, for whatever reason, and are not a citizen of Singapore, you are given 14 days to leave the country. The message is clear: a non-Singaporean is here only to work or as a tourist, not for any other reason.

The heavy hand of Mr Lee Kuan Yew, the man who made Singapore the success story it is but who had the thinnest of skins where criticism of his policies was concerned, remains stamped firmly on the country, though he has long retired as Prime Minister (he remains active in public life as a “senior minister”). He imparted a sense of discipline in the people — Chinese, Malays, Indians and expatriates — that is both admirable, yet a little frightening.

In the three days I was in Singapore, I happened to read Arundhati Roy’s emotional diatribe against privatisation and globalisation in a recent issue of Outlook. I can just see how she would react to Singapore and its success story, a success story made almost entirely through privatisation and globalisation — and, of course, sheer hard work and discipline.

She would call the people “deculturised” and “Americanised”. And, to some extent, she would be right. But Singapore has got rid of poverty and dirt while giving its people a higher standard of life than any other country outside the West and Japan. Isn’t that what humanity is at least partly about?

Who is the boss?
by M.K. Agarwal

THE question “Who is the boss?” is not easily answered as it has many dimensions. Is the boss the one who is in-charge of an organisation and tells others what to do? Is it the paymaster, who gives wages and has the authority to hire and fire? Or, the one to make every important decision, leaving implementation to the rest? Or, the person, whose charisma, of strength, intellect, beauty, or accomplishment, is so irresistible, as to compel deference? Indeed, where and how to find the person or the entity with the power to wield the whip, call the shots, rule the root and pull the wires? Let us examine.

For long, man had given himself the airs that he was the boss at home, or its managing director, to use the current jargon. As the family’s bread winner, protector and purveyor he got used to being regarded as its unquestioned master. But, times have since changed. Woman is now leaving the backyard and coming to the fore. She has begun to assert herself. She has given ample evidence of her capacity to combine mind with mettle and hold any position with dignity. It should, therefore, surprise nobody if, increasingly, it is the wife who fixes the decor of the house, chooses the annuals to be grown, prepares the list of guests to be invited, decides the menu to be served, even the merchandise to be purchased and the relations to be visited. There is a difference, though. The new boss is gentle of mien but firm of command, slow to promise but stern of resolve, and knows full well how to procure obedience and chasten dissent.

A story is told about the taming of man by the better half. A factory in the USA, for some strange reason, hired only married men. On receiving perplexed queries about this preference, the manager explained: “You see, we like our employees to obey orders without demur, get pushed around uncomplainingly, and keep their mouths shut when yelled at. Only married men, by habit, can fill the bill”. Peter Dunne echoes the same idea but in his own characteristic manner: “Many a man that could rule a hundred million strangers with an iron hand is careful to take off his shoes in the front hallway when he comes home late at night”. Even the mighty Caesar lay prostrate before the imperious charm and enervating presence of Cleopatra.

The dilemma of the boss at home has another aspect. It is a delusion that one can lord over the maidservant, the cook, the mali, the charwoman, or the driver. These creatures, if you fire them, can find another employer in no time, but you will be hard put to search their replacement. Gradually, wisdom dawns on you, and you begin to recognise another seat of power, if you want your kitchen clean, garden trim, house in order, and life to schedule. You also learn to tolerate unannounced off-days, forget broken pots, humour sullen moods, and eat every humble pie, but never ever to throw about your weight or boss around.

On the office front chain of command is so tortuous, authority so diffused, and power so circumscribed that it is difficult to lay hands on the boss. He is so very elusive. The orders issued with fanfare, by one boss, are undone by his superior, or by the courts. The high bureaucrat is at the beck and call of the politician. The minister occupies his august office at the pleasure of the chief executive. And politicians of all hues, put together, never tire themselves or saying that the people are the ultimate masters, and that it is their verdict which is paramount. Who, in all this rigmarole, pray tell me, is the boss?

Truly speaking, man is not even his own boss. Every time he is impelled by one desire or the other. Some are slave to the stomach, some to beauty, others crave for a drink, yet one more drink. As the English bishop Hall says: “The proud man would have honour; the covetous man, wealth and abundance; the malicious man, revenge on his enemies; the epicure, pleasure and long life; the barren, children; the wanton, beauty”. But the satisfaction man seeks is always absent, and the happiness he aims at, illusory. Starting as a vainglorious hero and the master of all he surveyed, he ends up a lackey of his own yearnings.

So, what is the conclusion? Simply this, my friend! Thank the Lord for His myriad blessings, obey His will, and give up all notions of being a lord, or the boss you wanted to be. For, He is the supreme Boss, the final Arbiter, the benign Bestower, commanding the most fidelity and the most love.

Women’s empowerment through radio

ALMOST half the population of India, meaning women, has grown faster in the developmental activities in the last five decades. The government and NGOs have worked hard to make them reach this status but, Radio has played a significant role by entering into their houses and being their intimate friend by imparting education, information and entertainment and transforming them from a weaker sex to being self-sufficient and independent.

The programmes directed at women listeners cover subjects related to socio-economic development of women, health and family welfare, food and nutrition, scientific home management, women entrepreneurship, education, including adult education, etc. These programmes also aim at creating wide social awareness about rights and privileges of women through the propagation of legal literacy. Topics like women’s education formal/informal, legislation for improvement in the status of women, employment opportunities for women form an integral part of the programmes. These broadcasts are both utilitarian and informative and women listeners look forward at specific timings to listening to these programmes specifically designed for them.

Almost all the primary channel stations, about 186, spread over in the country, broadcast women’s programmes. Allahabad station broadcasts Grihlakshmi, Ghar Angan, and Panghat everyday. Rampur Station broadcasts Anchal programme for women twice in a week. Dharmshala Station in Himachal Pradesh broadcasts Mahila Sabha once a week. Ahmednagar in Maharashtra broadcasts programmes once in a week under the title Mahila Jagat. Sambalpur Station Orissa broadcasts Ghar Sansar thrice a week.

Dhule and Akola stations of Maharashtra under the titles Stree Sakhi, Nagpur broadcasts Vanita Viswa, Obra in Uttar Pradesh broadcasts Grih Lakshmi, Grihini and Apna Ghar and Mahila Sansar. In this way all the stations include women’s programme in their broadcast.

All India Radio strives, through its programmes, to seek to raise the social consciousness of the country in regard to various problems of women. These programmes essentially project various problems of women with reference to their status and poverty and suggest possible solutions. Adequate care is taken during the production of programmes for women to avoid sensationalism instead, the women listeners are exposed to various schemes and projects aimed at their socio-economic development. Their rights and privileges are frequently spelled out in clear terms. All these programmes are prepared in local languages for better understanding and comprehension by every section of women’s community.

The programmes directed at rural women cover all the above aspects, besides the subjects related to the participation of rural women in agriculture, dairy, poultry, fisheries, etc. (Grassroots)

Feeling in control

Older adults who feel that they have control over the role they most value — be it homemaker, provider or volunteer — may live longer than adults who feel less in control, researchers report.

According to findings published in the December issue of Psychology and Aging, people who felt in control of the roles they most value were more likely to report healthy lifestyle habits such as exercising and not smoking.

On the other hand, adults who felt that they did not have such control were more likely to be obese, drink alcohol and smoke. They were also more likely to die prematurely, the report indicates.

“When we are able to perform a role well, for example, be a good provider, it gives us a sense of satisfaction and meaning,” lead author Dr Neal Krause, a psychologist from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, said in an interview with Reuters Health.

He explained that people who feel in control believe they can handle problems that arise and that the plans they make will be realised.

While there is no way to make older people feel in control, it is possible to encourage adults to become fully engaged in the roles they most value, Krause said. For example, the belief that aging is a time of inevitable decline might lead people to go out of their way to do things for older people, which can undermine their sense of independence and control.

“Active engagement in highly valued roles should promote feelings of control, and feelings of control are good for one’s health and longevity,” he added.

The study included 884 retired US adults aged 65 and older who ranked eight roles in order of importance. (Reuters)

Battle between citizens’ lungs and workers’ stomachs
by Anupam Gupta

THE nation’s capital is being cleaned up under court orders, leaving behind a trail of confusion, bitterness and dismay. Polluting industries, non-conforming areas, closure, relocation — never before has ill-defined bureaucratic and legal jargon, backed by the sledgehammer of contempt, had greater impact on the daily lives of millions of citizens, for better or worse.

Suffering double injury, first in the event of pollution, and then in the event of the removal of pollution, they remain unwept and unsung in an otherwise blazing jurisprudence of the environment which springs from no specific legal source and knows no definite legal boundaries.

Spiritual Nuggets

In the beauty of the lilies Christ was born across the sea,

With a glory in his bosom that transfigures you and me;

As he died to make men holy, let us die to make men free.

—Julia Ward Howe, Battle Hymn of the Republic, stanza 5

***

Jesus of Nazareth was the most scientific man that ever trod the globe. He plunged beneath the material surface of things, and found the spiritual cause.

—Mary Baker Eddy, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, page 313

***

Blest Christmas morn, though murky clouds Pursue thy way,

Thy light was born where storm enshrouds

Nor down nor day.

—Mary Baker Eddy, Christmas Morn, stanza 1

***

Was Christ a man like us?

Ah! let us try

If we then, too, can be such men as he!

—Mathew Arnold, The Better Part

***

And all through life I see a cross-where sons of God yield up their breath;

There is no gain except by loss

There is no life except by death;

There is no vision but by faith.

—Walter Chalmers Smith, Olring Grange, Book 6

***

After this manner therefore pray ye:

Our Father which art in heaven,

hallowed by Thy name.

Thy kingdom come.

Thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread.

And forgive us our debts,

as we forgive our debtors,

And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil:

For thine is the kingdom, and the power and the glory, for ever. Amen.

—The Holy Bible, The Gospel According to Matthew, VI, 9-13