Ek Raah Rukh Gayee To Aur Jud Gayee... Ham Mude To Saath-Saath Raah Mude gayee !! What changes are visible in Bihar from your earlier visits? Any Bihar connect?

 Youth icon Chetan Bhagat needs no introduction. Ask any youngster if s/he has read his books, and the most common reply is: "I've read Chetan Bhagat". With five fiction and one non-fiction best-seller titles to his credit, all Bhagat wants now is a balance of family, work and health. Bhagat was in town on Saturday to speak at a motivational seminar and candidly answered a few quick questions asked by Vithika Salomi. Excerpts:

Your message to the IIT/NEET aspirants?

Follow six steps. Set a time-bound goal, have a solid reason to support your target, be around people who would encourage, form a detailed action plan, form a setback dealing mechanism and have faith. The two examinations are difficult and need regular preparation. But all examinations in life are difficult.

Nearly 13 lakh students are taking the JEE Mains 2013. What about those students who don't make it?

Life doesn't end at IIT. Not everyone can get through as the seats are limited. If one door closes, then another opens. Parents should also understand that not everybody can become an IITian.

As an IITian, your suggestion about what ought to be done at IIT?

After getting into IIT, make the most of that time as it is a very important phase of your life. We used to learn a lot, but we should also focus on personality development.

What does young India lack?

Youngsters lack proper guidance and role models. There's no one to advise them about the correct path in life.

What changes are visible in Bihar from your earlier visits? Any Bihar connect?

One can see more malls in the state capital. Sonakshi Sinha and Sushant Singh Rajput, who hail from Patna, are good friends. I think there should be Bihari restaurants all over India. Bihari cuisine is unique, especially "litti chokha".

How do you handle success?

For me, even getting into IIT Delhi was a big success. People who taste success for the first time are not able to remain grounded, but I'm used to it. I want to reach more Indians and know what my value is among them.

You've often been accused of pioneering "100 rupees literature" that has "substandard language"? Comment.

(Laughs) "Ab to rate zyada ho gayi hai." It used to be said that literature does not reach real India. And when someone writes for real India and prices it accordingly, then they are accused of lowering the class. We kept the price affordable but not at the cost of incurring losses.

Your upcoming projects?

Currently, I'm working on the script of Salman Khan starrer "Kick", a Hindi remake of a Telugu movie. Fiction fans would have to wait till the film goes on floor. I also want to write a book on Bihar.

Your tweets have frequently kicked up controversy, so have you. Comment?

It's the job of a writer to raise issues and create awareness. Even if it gains media attention, the focus is on the issue. I don't promote a book or myself.

source:TNN

The plight of the KAYASTHAS- The Almighty Brahmin !

I have a consuming interest in caste without having the slightest bit of prejudice for or against any of them.

Whenever I am in a conference, seminar or a social function, I count how many of the most important belong to what castes. It has never been more than a matter of curiosity. But one conclusion is inevitable: Whatever be the sphere of curiosity - literary, scientific, bureaucratic, or whatever, the Brahmin remains the top dog. It may be ethnic, or it may be the result of several generations of learning, of which they held the monopoly till the last century, or both combined. Before I give details, we should bear in mind that Brahmins form no more than 3.5% of the population of our country.

My statistics come from a pen friend, Brother Stanny, of St. Anne’s Church of Dhule in Maharashtra. He has compiled figures of different castes in government employment during British rule, the largest proportion of government jobs (40%) were held by Kayasthas. Today* their figure has dropped to 7%. Next came the Muslims who were given special provileges by the British. They had 35% jobs in 1953, in free India their representation has dropped to 3.5%. Christians, likewise favoured by the English, had 15%, their figure has dropped to 1%. Scheduled Castes, tribes and backward classes, who had hardly any government jobs, have achieved a representation of 9%. But the most striking contrast is in the employment of Brahmins. Under the British they had 3% - fractionally less than the proportion of their population; today they hold as much as 70% of government jobs.

 

 I presume the figure refers only to gazetted posts. In the senior echelons of the civil service from the rank of deputy secretaries upward, out of 500 there are 310 Brahmins, i.e. 63%. Of the 26 state chief secretaties, 19 are Brahmins; of the 27 Governors and Lt. Governors 13 are Brahmins; of the 16 Supreme Court Judges, 9 are Brahmins; of the 330 judges of High Courts, 166 are Brahmins; of 140 ambassadors, 58 are Brahmins; of the total 3,300 IAS officers, 76 are Brahmins. They do equally well in electoral posts; of the 508 Lok Sabha members, 190 were Brahmins; of 244 in the Rajya Sabha, 89 are Brahmins. These statistics clearly prove that this 3.5% of Brahmin community of India holds between 36% to 63% of all the plum jobs available in the country. How this has come about I do not know. But I can scarcely believe that it is entirely due to the Brahmin’s higher IQ.

--------- Khushwant Singh

[Courtesy: The World Sikh News]

THE article reproduced above is downloaded from Internet. *This article was first published in the column GOSSIP SWEET AND SOUR contributed by writer and columnist Mr. Khushwant Singh under the heading "Brahim power" in 23 - 29 December 1990 issue of an english weekly SUNDAY then published from Calcutta (publication now stopped) by Anand Bazar Patrika a number one in bengali news paper.