I am not referring to the accountant's inventory management acronym. I am referring to 'fishy' matters.And normally accountants don't like to meddle in such things.
Exactly a month ago,on Margashira day,the Bathini Gaud brothers for 2 days were pushing small fishes laden with a medicine down the throats of asthma ridden patients. And there was an unprecendented traffic problem in Hyderabad and elaborate bandobust had to be made. And this is an annual ritual for more than 30 years now.
Every year once,under the right constellation,the brothers administer this medicine.It is a secret handed over to them by a Sadhu and they will not reveal it even to the High Court whose intervention was sought by some organisations.They said faith in the medicine was its strength.Some 26 food items have to be avoided for 40 days for the medicine to be effective.Thousands of patients who came from all over the country could care less.We are getting relief,why should we bother with all this opposition was their typical reaction.
And in Kolkata,Satyendra Nath Boral,a Vaishnavaite and living in Bowbazar,once every week,at high tide releases 3 kgs of fishes that he has bought from the market bitten by penitence for all his past killings of fishes.He has been doing this week in and week out for the last 25 years or so.He even feeds cows,dogs and pigeons in the neighbourhood.He has also given up drinking milk (Maneka Gandhi would be very happy to hear that). He is now forming a trust to carry on these activities when he is gone.
And in both the cases-the Gauds and Boral,the fisheries department of the respective states have been more than cooperative.While AP supplied more than 65,000 murrel fingerlings at 32 counters priced at Rs 10 each, the WB government offer him fishes better able to adapt to the Ganga at a reduced rate and that too Bhetki for his indulgence.
Who says the bureaucracy does not have a heart?
2 comments:
instances like these makes me want to believe that indeed our bureaucracy does have a heart. but then looking at people like goswami, the tainted DM of patna and many others who had their premises raided by the CBI last week, i tend to slip back into despair!
makes me want to ask does the bureaucracy really have a heart where it really counts?
and uncle, since i am a non-vegetarian i strongly believe in the circle of life, i can never feel guilty of eating meat or fish. but yes, too much of everything disrupts the natural balance so over exploiting is not a smart thing to do.
i have a friend who, according to me, takes her eating restrictions to unusual heights: she is a vegetarian but eats only fruits and vegetables that have fallen on the ground, she will not touch food that has been plucked!
people like goswami shatter the little hope that we have in our bureaucracy.time magazine had even selected him as one of the top civil servants in this part of the world.dynamism and leadership.both qualities which he displayed for personal gain.
on the other hand, we do have exemplary officers who have their heads rightly placed and their hearts too.they work with a missionary zeal and without expecting any rewards.the system must encourage them so that their qualities become contagious.
in life, one must strike a balance.food is of three types as per ayurveda-rajasic,tamasic and saatvik.one develops food habits depending on the individual personalities and needs.of course childhood eating habits play a very dominant role.i have some views on fish and meat eating which i will put down in my next blogpost.
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