Digging for Meaning

A week ago I met these folks on the streets of Delhi, near Saket. 2 men, 2 women and a child. They were wearing clean clothes and they walked upright. They were trying to talk to people passing by but were quite meek so didn't always succeed. When I passed by, one of them asked if I understood Marathi. I said I did. It was quite dark, late in night & I felt that it might be one of those begging groups so I was cautiously moving ahead anyways. But their meekness, their clean clothes & them being Marathi made me pause and listen. I don't recall their names now. But I noted down one name that I think is relevant here - the name of the person who put them in a desperate situation - Rajiv Karade. According to the guy in white shirt, Rajiv is a labour contractor who brought them from a village in Maharashtra. They specialise in the work of digging earth for laying of telecom cables. The men & women had worked with the contractor earlier near Mumbai too. Aft

"The world will grow!" The word will grow. surfing on a speed boat in the sea of words, corporate predictions of economy & industries dash against reality ineffectually, withering away like soap suds. Those smooth upward curves promised by the analysts need to wear the wrinkles of human condition. The modern day charlatans, safely tied to a tie and behind glass skyscrapers, let the excel sheets do their legwork. They exercise the columns and rows, stretching the formula here & there. where's the variable of ineffective leadership? where's the variable of the will of the young? where's the variable of the villages burnt down by hatred? where's the variable of the dreamer's dreams? In the least, where's the rear view mirror? If you must let a quack exist, teach him to be entertaining at least.