by Ravi Dabral
27
Smart Village Development Model
D uring the self-reform course, Guruji told us that the objective of meditation is to purify one’s soul to become a good human being, and there are four types of meditation techniques. The first three, ‘mindfulness’, ‘prayer’ and ‘knowledge’ meditations are centred on self-reform, whereas the last one welfare meditation is linked to reforming other people’s lives to make this world a better and more peaceful place to live in.
Today, after the completion of yoga and meditation session, during brainstorming and group discussion, I took permission from Guruji to share an idea for the welfare of the society, keeping in mind the concept of ‘welfare meditation’. The idea had come to my mind after listening to the real-life experiences of yogis of the Himalayas during my extensive research while preparing the report on the possibility of making Uttarakhand the spiritual capital of the world, interacting with ashram batchmates and Guruji during this self-reform course.
I began by saying, “People like us are under the impression that peace is attained once we purify our body and soul in two weeks’ yoga and meditation course. Once we leave this ashram and re-join our routine machine like materialistic life for livelihood, the question is, will we be able to continue this body and soul purification process or not? So, the idea is to plan something for the welfare of the society using welfare meditation route to make it a lifelong sustainable reform process.”
Mr. Chopra found the idea exciting and wanted me to further elaborate on it.
I said, “What I want to convey is that instead of limiting our self-reform activities at the individual level, we should come forward to broaden its scope by helping the deprived people in the society through social reform. Thus it is a win-win proposition for both society and us. We all are aware of the flaws and corruption in our existing system and blame politicians, but never try to improve it ourselves.
In layman’s language, self-reform is like cleaning our own house internally and externally. But if our neighbours do not clean their houses properly and regularly then the locality you are living in cannot be considered clean. So, both self-reform and other reforms (social, legal, political, economic, religious, and so on) should be done parallelly to clean the present corrupt system.
We need to educate, awaken and empower common citizens on a mass scale through various reforms, encouraging them to clean their houses and surroundings and thus overall environment in a sustainable manner.
Hence, it is both individual and the collective efforts which are required to make this world a better and more peaceful place to live in. This can also be done by approaching the country’s top institutional bodies for help through appropriate channels and authorities.”
Mr. Jain said, “Nice idea, but what can we do to make this system clean? The system is corrupt because of politicians, bureaucrats, police officers and greedy businessmen who are misusing taxpayers’ money and exploiting natural resources common for all citizens as a gift from Mother Earth.”
I said, “Mr. Jain, I beg to differ with your opinion. We are the ones responsible for the corruption and pollution, be it within us or outside.”
There was complete silence in the room as everyone looked at me expectantly to explain my statement.
Suman broke the silence and asked, “How can an innocent individual be held responsible and liable for a corrupt system?”
I clarified saying, “We are living in a democracy, and these politicians are our elected representatives.”
Mr. Jain agreed with me as he added by saying, “Yes, as per our constitution, we the public are ultimate rulers. Politicians are mere public representatives to use taxpayers’ money for public welfare.”
I said, “This is what I want to highlight. We are the ones who elect corrupt politicians to rule the country. If they are not working for the welfare of the country, then we are the ones to be blamed, not the politicians.”
Mr. Chopra was offended and said, “It is ridiculous and nonsense that you are blaming the innocent public instead of these corrupt politicians.”
Guruji intervened in the discussion saying, “The discussion is taking an interesting turn. We have deep-rooted beliefs which have diminished our reasoning power. To understand each other’s perspectives, we need to be more open-minded.”
Indu Bala said, “Suraj, it is not clear to laypersons like me what you are trying to convey.”
I said, “What I am implying is that for ages the public has had deep-rooted prejudices based on caste, creed, and religion. The politicians are exploiting these prejudiced minds through divisive politics for their personal benefits. Also, these ill-fed, malnourished poor voters are easily manipulated, lured and controlled by corrupt politicians through freebies, subsidies, schemes, reservations, unrealistic election manifestoes and false promises during elections. Using black money, they gather mob for the election rallies, and during elections distribute alcohol and free gifts to voters to cast votes in their favour. In a way, they are conning the voters by cleverly and cunningly using people’s prejudiced minds and taxpayers’ funds for their personal benefits.”
Mr. Ghosh said, “Making the public aware of their electoral rights and the importance of vote for the country’s development is the duty and responsibility of the Election Commission (EC) and media, not ours.”
I said, “Unfortunately, media has become a puppet in the hands of the ruling political parties, and as you are aware EC has some constraints and limitations like any other constitutional, statutory, regulatory, investigative, intelligence and financial institution in today’s corrupt political system.”
Haroon said, “Let us hear your plan.”
I said, “Let’s adopt a few villages. We will conduct a survey in these villages. The purpose will be to find out farmers’ present household income, education level, existing natural resources like water, land, forests, the possibility of water harvesting, tree plantation, and other such basic necessities. We will try to improve the conditions of these villages without taking help from the government, but we will take financial help from local, Non-Resident Indian (NRIs) and foreign investors such as Tomo Nomura. The objective will be to create a parallel green economy at the root level under the control of farmers as an antidote or missile to destroy parallel black economy controlled and run by devils such as corrupt politicians, bureaucrats, international mafia, middlemen, touts active in Lutyens’ Zone Delhi, greedy businessmen and MNCs.”
Roberto said, “I can visualise Suraj’s smart village development model about reforming the society, but it needs to be calculated in black and white, monetary and non-monetary terms to attract investors.”
I said, “We will check if a farmer’s current household income say ₹ 40,000 per year, can be increased to ₹ 50,000 within a year? This growth in farmers’ income will increase their purchasing power with a trickle-down effect on the domestic economy. We will devise a business plan and can call it Smart Village Development Model so that not only farmers but local and global investors will also be benefitted.”
Mr. Chatwal said, “When farmers’ suicides are increasing in the country then the need of the hour is to invest in such smart village business projects instead of smart city projects. We need to convince local and international investors not to invest in unproductive investments such as speculative stocks, gold and individual multiple houses but invest in smart village development projects for the overall growth of the economy.”
I thanked Mr. Chatwal for his support and continued saying, “Regarding growth potential, let me share with you some data. India is a country having around 641,000 villages, and there are around 2.5 million villages in the world. In India, 70 percent of the population still lives in rural areas. If we assume that 50 percent of these villages are still not developed, then there is huge growth and investment potential for both farmers and investors. Food is the only product for which there will always be demand as long as the human race exists. If our farmers
are prosperous, then they will be alert, aware and conscious about their rights resulting in an enlightened society which will challenge the corrupt politicians against their false promises, freebie schemes and conning activities and make a clean political, economic, social and democratic system as envisaged in the constitution.”
Mr. Ghosh said, “If investors directly invest in the primary sectors such as agricultural and dairy farming through smart village projects then a lot of growth can be brought about in the manufacturing and service sectors thus resulting in the generation of employment in cities as well. Thus, the route to make smart cities is through smart village projects.”
Mr. Chopra said, “Thanks Suraj, for your explanation.”
After hearing the entire proposal, everybody clapped enthusiastically.
Guruji finally intervened in the discussion saying, “Suraj, it seems that you have been working hard on the fifth option of self-reform to reform the society, that is changing the world by changing myself.”
I thanked Guruji and said, “Now self-reform is not anymore a fifth option for me but has become the first option and social reform the second option.”
There was a smile on Guruji’s face, maybe remembering my revenge strategies discussed the other day. After today’s discussions, I was getting some idea as to how to take my revenge.
Guruji requested us to work out a concrete smart village development model, and then he would help us in identifying some nearby villages to experiment on. Instead of only doing yoga, meditation and spiritual discourse in a vacuum in classroom settings inside ashram, he said let us channelise our energy converting it into synergy using welfare meditation in actual fields to free the innocent public from the clutches of corrupt politicians.
28
Haroon and Bilal’s Suspicious Activities
A s per Guruji’s request, along with the ashram’s security, I was keeping an eye on the activities of Haroon. Ashram’s security had been strengthened after Suman’s honey trap incident. Today the security person informed me that as per the visitors’ register, Mohammad Bilal Hussain, brother of Haroon, had come to meet him and right now was in his room.
I went to Haroon’s room and knocked on the door. Haroon opened the door and invited me inside and said, “Suraj, let me introduce you to my brother Bilal. He is a final year postgraduate journalism student in Jamia Millia Islamia University, Delhi.”
Bilal stood up and shook my hand. I said, “Nice to meet you, Bilal. I am glad to know that you too are from my profession.”
Looking at my long beard and a swami look, he curiously asked, “Oh, but how come you have become a swami?”
I said, “This is a long story I will tell you some other day. Right now, I want to hear what brings you here so far from Delhi to Rishikesh.”
Bilal said, “As part of my journalism course, I am working as an intern to cover news for the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) News Channel and preparing a news story. To cover this story, I frequently visit Haridwar and Rishikesh with my senior and then come to meet my brother Haroon.”
I asked, “What type of assignment are you working on?”
Bilal said, “Use of drugs in the ashrams of Haridwar and Rishikesh. What is the source of these drugs? Who is involved in these drug dealings?”
I said, “Interesting! What have you covered so far?”
Bilal said, “Our investigative story starts from Delhi. I have found that students from Nigeria, Kenya, and the Middle East come to India through the foreign student quota. Some of these foreign students are part of this drug dealing racket. It is difficult for the Indian intelligence agencies to track and trace them as these students use satellite phones and laptops with IP addresses of a foreign location to track the drugs which they deliver to ashrams, local pubs, and nightclubs in India. Some of these international students are involved in the sale of arms and ammunition to naxalites, terrorists, extremist religious and political parties to instigate violence and riots inside India, particularly during elections.”
I said, “It is surprising. But how are you so confident while claiming the involvement of foreign students in these crimes?”
Bilal said, “Some of these students are my friends. They also invited me to join them. I belong to a well-reputed business family in Saudi Arabia, and I have a career plan to become an investigative journalist. So I refused their proposal. I need to get insider stories, so I am very friendly with them and have quietly prepared some sting operation video clips to support my story. These students are studying without any career vision. They take drugs, and always lack money, thus easily becoming victims of international mafia. The mafia provides them with the latest technological devices so that they do not come into the radar of Indian intelligence agencies and Research & Analysis Wing (RAW).”
I said, “I have never seen a satellite phone, what does it look like?”
Bilal took a phone from his bag and showed it to me saying, “I have one, borrowed from one of my Nigerian friends, you can see what it looks like.”
I saw that the satellite phone was different from a normal smartphone, more like a walkie-talkie with an antenna. I asked, “Generally satellite phones are used by terrorists, then how come you and your friends are using them?”
Bilal said, “Nowadays it is common for foreign students working for international mafia to have satellite phones.”
I said, “What is your dream as an investigative Journalist?”
Bilal said, “I want to work for BBC as a full-time journalist. I want to expose the nexus of capitalist countries and MNCs who for their political power and greed are exploiting the young generation of Islamic and other emerging countries to sell drugs and weapons.”
Haroon who had been listening to our conversation for some time now said, “Suraj, actually there are some international religious secret societies along with drugs and arms dealers who have caused disrepute to Muslims as fundamentalists. In many Islamic countries such as Syria, Somalia, Iraq, and Afghanistan there is poverty, unemployment, ignorance and superstition due to illiteracy, and they are labelled as fundamentalists through propaganda using puppet media. The fact is that they need money to survive.”
Haroon continued heatedly, “Big capitalist nations and MNCs create unrest and then sell their old outdated armaments to both the rulers and rebels in these countries as that happened in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Syria. This serves multiple purposes; to kill the innocent to terrorise the world, to cause disrepute to Islam, to sell their arms, and to expand their businesses to other geographies to source raw materials and to sell finished products particularly in under-developed and developing countries. I hope investigative journalism can throw some light on these aspects to make the global public aware, alert and aroused.”
A security person came there and said, “Swamiji, Guruji has called you to meet him in the Peace Hall.”
I asked, “Anything urgent?”
He said, “Mr. Vinay Prakash Jain’s sons and daughter have come to the ashram and are creating a commotion, so Guruji has called you immediately.”
While leaving, I said to Bilal and Haroon, “Interesting subject to explore, but let’s discuss this in detail, some other day.”
After talking to Haroon and Bilal, nothing looked suspicious to me, but you never know, as the world is full of people with double faces, one to show to the public, and another to hide behind!
29
Mr. and Mrs. Jain’s Court Case
I rushed to the Peace Hall and saw six people talking to each other in loud voices. One person who seemed to be Mr. Jain’s elder son was saying, “Dad, how could you do this to us? Without our permission, you have sold the ancestral property treating it like a self-acquired property. Why are you not giving us our money after selling the property? Hope you are aware that as per the law, right to a share in an ancestral property accrues by birth itself. So we have equal rights, and we are here to claim our share of the money.”
Mr. Jain said in anger
, “First of all, without our permission, why have all of you come here to disturb our peaceful life? You all have already filed a court case, so there is no need for me to explain anything. My lawyer will explain to the judge.”
Another person who appeared to be Mr. Jain’s younger son said, “But Dad and Mom, we are here to settle the dispute amicably, out of court. We don’t want to fight the case in court as it will take years to conclude.”
Mr. Jain said, “What type of settlement? Now you have realised this after making many rounds to the court. What happened to your common sense when you filed the court case? Hope you are aware that your action has spoiled our family reputation among relatives and friends. All of them are saying that the children have taken their father and mother to court for money.”
A lady looking to be Mr. Jain’s daughter said, “Dad, you forced us to go to the court. We did this because we had no other way to get the money from you.”
Mrs. Jain who had been holding her anger for some time now said, “Please listen carefully. We don’t want any settlement with you. You are already well settled in your lives, but now we have the responsibility of poor children who need the trust’s money to get higher education and settle down in their lives. You are here to settle the case for greed, but these poor children require this money for their basic need.”
Mr. Jain’s elder son said, “Don’t be so cruel Dad. We are your own children, and you have a responsibility towards us to help us buy an apartment. Do you have no sympathy for your grandchildren who are living in rented apartments? This country has millions of poor children. With this charitable trust, how many people do you think you can help? Why don’t you understand it is simply a waste of money? Be mature and behave sensibly. It is not your hard-earned money; you cannot sell our ancestors’ property to use as per your whims and fancies.”