by now the distinction between the terms nation and state is well understood. while state refers to that political entity covering land under common administration, nation is an imagined homeland of its inhabitants. great leaders use their charisma to convert a state into a nation. in europe, the nation-states emerged on the basis of common language and culture. the declining influence of catholic church and roman empire also aided this process.

but india as a nation-state is an interesting entity. the state of india and the nationhood does not appear to be in symphony. the land of many tongues and culture does share a common history. but still the roots, at best, are shaky. it is surprising how this nation has survived all these times with so much difference yet so much in common.

the credit of keeping this nation together should rightfully go to great men who emerged from time to time. these great souls used the time tested vedas and epics as vehicles to bind the people together. even gandhiji found that there is no alternate to the ancient wisdom to keep this countrymen together. if nothing else, it is these books and the timeless knowledge in them which has kept the collective sense of nationhood burning in the minds of people here.

the exploits of a charismatic baba in reviving the ancient tradition of ‘yoga-asana’ is laudable. the traditional books on this topic speak about eight practices which make up for this ideal called ‘yoga’. the practise of yoga should graduate from primary to higher levels to attain that ultimate goal of life. but the excess focus on one part of the entire process is worrisome.

yama, niyama, asana, pranayama and pratyahara are the first five components of yoga. they focus on the physical aspects which a practitioner of yoga should develop. it includes the do’s and dont’s and moves on to ‘asana’ which focus on exercises to keep body fit. the student wanting to practice asana’s should first follow yama and niyama and then graduate to breath control and withdrawal of senses from physical objects.

the last three aspects of yoga - dharana, dhyana and samadi are the metaphysical components. the practitioner will focus on physical object, mediate and reach salvation. learned men say that the asanas entered the yoga world as recently as in eighteenth century. but it has soon taken the centre-stage and unfortunately has blurred the importance of other essential components of yoga.

the reactions to an article published in the kannada newspaper about certain practices of a particular community has raised some important questions again. the article itself was written in original by a controversial author and was translated into kannada by (possibly) someone using a pseudonym. now the original author is claiming not to have given permission to translate.

but the question is something else. if someone wants to put forth his/her view on any topic, should the society tolerate them even when it ‘hurts’ the ’sentiments’ of a community? these questions have been raised from time immemorial and various solutions have been proposed. ‘freedom of speech’ has been enshrined in every community as an uncompromising principle because that’s the only middle-path answer to this question.

it is because of this reason, and this alone, we should stop protests and violence. whatever may the content be, however harsh the tone is, the society has the responsibility to tolerate diverse views. the right response for words is not action; but to respond through words. the protesters instead should write an article clarifying their stand through sound logic and this is the ideal response for this problem.

films have been commercial venture since its infant days. artistic pursuit is becoming incidental to the whole film business today. the so called ‘art films’ have enough avenues to recover their cost. but the commercial cinema has been suffering from huge loses. with no much institutional financing, the private moneylenders and goons are holding firm grip over the industry.

most of the problems involved in film making are also witnessed in other business. the scale of money involved in film making today demands the presence of knowledgeable men in this area. but the film studies have limited their role to teaching technical aspects of film making like photography and sound. the financial aspects are neglected as boring and dry even by seasoned directors.

it is because of this reason there is an urgent need, now more than ever before, to introduce new courses in film management. an executive mba in film making which can cover all business activities from planning to marketing and release should be the right prescription for the illness plaguing the industry. the film chamber and others concerned themselves may initiate this activity to bring the all required professionalism into film world.

coorg, the land of cauvery and coffee is one piece of land where greenery reigns supreme. despite the recent commercial exploitation in the name of tourism, there are still mountains and streams which have remained pristine. the constant resistance from the locals have kept polluting industries out of the district though smuggling have cleared many dense forests.

for a long time there was a talk on bringing railways to coorg. the issue never got any momentum due to two reasons. since its integration with karnataka, coorg has lost its political muscle. it does not have an exclusive  parliment representative or a powerful state leader. moreover the people of coorg never really felt the need for a rail line.

railways are mass transport system suitable for industrial regions. since coorg does not have any high commercial activity, this is unnecessary. and moreover the ecological damage caused by such projects are felt in long run. previous experiences have shown the project implementers are insensitive to delicate natural balance in the region. therefore, it will be better if concerned people take a re-look on the decision to bring rail to coorg.

the indian perspective on work culture can be consolidated by looking at the ‘karma yoga’ philosophy as expounded by krishna in bhagavadgeeta. in addition to his famous take on ideal, non-committed view on work - “do your work, that’s your only duty; to ask for rewards is not” he has also spoken at length on the nature of worker.

an ideal worker, krishna says, should immerse in his work in right spirit. he should neither look down his work as mean nor should he feel elated about it. in a neutral mindset he has to go on doing his work. he should be prepared to put in years of work to attain perfection without yearning for it. this way he will neither regret when he loses, nor celebrate when he wins.

the real yoga is to ‘attain perfection in work’, he declares. that the path to perfection is tough should not deter the worker. ‘work’ in the context of this discussion refers to activity we do to earn our daily meal. in a sense what is proposed by krishna are the basic tenants of equality in society which were later incorporated into many political ‘isms’.

if the news about the opening of agriculture to private investment is true, it really sets the alarm bells ringing. the already fragile agriculture sector is sure to collapse completely under the new mou. as if the meddling with seed and land policy is not sufficient, altering the rules of extension services will herald the start of end in food security.

one fails to understand what makes the people in the position to sign such ridiculous agreements. it will be naive to believe that they are not well informed about the potential dangers of such acts. when people in power, regardless of their parties, sign such stuff we lose all love for democracy. if this is not betrayal of trust, what else is it?

in spite of active judiciary, competent bureaucracy, living media and tolerable citizenry india continues to be a party to unfavourable agreements. is greed among our ruling class so powerful that it blinds their own good? if so, then the time may have come to finally start thinking about alternate ways to govern this country!!

there is an argument that we are not producing enough engineers to meet our national requirements. but thousands of seats remain vacant in engineering colleges every year. the disconnect lies in the misinterpretation of the first statement. this country needs two kinds of engineers. it needs enough workforce to fuel the economy and also needs brilliant minds to solve burning problems.

the students who join average engineering college are looking for safe jobs and nothing else. with acceptable infrastructure and workable staff, these institutes are fulfilling their duty of being regular supplier of workforce to industry. these institutes should be left to do their job and policy makers should not burden with additional roles.

to produce people who can take on national challenges and solve them, separate institutes with liberal grants have to be established. these institutes should not be burdened with mass training. while bachelor education in engineering has benefited from private participation, higher education should be funded by government or by philanthropists. it is dangerous to ask same institutions to perform both roles as the vision, mindset and facilities required to perform these roles are different.

when google says that its employees have been wrongly indicted in a case , we are reminded again about the inherent problems in today’s internet. with internet becoming a de-facto channel of global communication and information sharing, such questions will be raised again and again. but the answers, unfortunately, are no where in sight.

to make the company (and its employees) responsible for the content uploaded by users has been a practise from quite some time now. every time such an event occurs, we hear the familiar arguments. the law is extending the rules of real world to cyber world. their stand is - when an editor of newspaper can be held responsible for newsitems, why can’t these companies be responsible for the contents in their site?

while we can counter this argument in a simple way, the question demands deeper analysis. how do we make someone responsible for the content they upload on this information superhighway? though technology can be used to monitor and check these things, its impractical. the best way forward is social grooming of net users in these complex issues. this is a human problem and should be handled so instead of painting it as technical malice.

cinema seduces everyone but will ditch many after first kiss. to be more specific, even when first kiss is good, its the second that matters. there is a long list of directors who promised much in their first attempt but who crashed in their very next venture. it is the second film which seals the fate of many directors.

the choices before a director whose first films becomes a hit are few. he is compelled to repeat his earlier success formula on one hand, and on the other he is forced by his conscience to try something different. if he repeats the earlier formula and fails, he is labelled fluke. if he fails while attempting different formula, he is branded as ‘formula man’.

to clear this acid test, directors should stop giving it all in their debut film. this is not to say that they should under-represent their talent. the enthusiasm in making first film drains all the creative and emotional energies of a newcomer. so when he is asked to do the next film, he goes blank. therefore, it will be good if first-comers think beyond their first film and stop depending overtly on their initial attempt.