Prisons under fire! It is time authorities wake up

Comayagua prison fire has killed not less than 355 helpless inmates! In a country were prisons are overcrowded with inmates beyond its capacity, such a calamity cannot be prevented by any fire fighting measures. Honduras Government tried its best to save the hundreds of inmates who got trapped within the cells. But it took hours to get the keys of the cells to rescue the people who were alive. More than half of the inmates were undertrials  or suspected criminals.

The above incident should be an eye opener for the prison authorities all over the world! Most of the countries continue to have overcrowded jails for several decades. And prisoners live in the most inhuman environment in many places. Majority of inmates in jails are people who are yet to be convicted.

This is the right time to push for prison reforms!

      In India,  this is the right time to push for prison reforms not only because an incident like this has happened in the far away land of Comayagua, but also as a positive response to certain instances of VVIPs being afforded an opportunity to experience confinement.

      Years back.   One day when I reached the college I found that our old auditorium is getting renovated.  It was in a very bad shape.  Poor acoustics, no proper ventilation, very few fans, rough floor, and a very bad stage. We, the students were very happy and thanked the Principal. Someone commented: “Finally the college development fee has been released for a good cause by the Management”.  Immediately our lecturer confided, ‘You know, our 'Leader' is visiting the college next week’! That’s why the auditorium and also the toilets (never painted in the last 30 years of its existence) got spruced up for the'Leader' and his escorts.  

      Another day I saw a flurry of activity on the main road near my house: Bulldozers, road metals, tar boilers, road rollers, and hundreds of labourers. It seemed they are on a war footing to convert a large stretch of potholes to a road worth for transportation. We used to say: There are no potholes in our district, because there are no roads. In a few days, we found out why there was a radical transformation in governance by the authorities. The National Leader is travelling through that road from the nearest helipad to inaugurate the centenary celebrations of an institution.  Really great! We had thought that the election manifestoes are full of false promises. But our assumptions were wrong. The manifesto had said: ‘Vote for this leader. He will lead the country to development!’  Well said!  

     Now, this is the time to spruce up our prisons too.  You know the reason!

 Let us see some statistics from India. There are about 1400 jails in the country, with a capacity of 3,07,052. But actual number of inmates are 3,76,969.  This is as per data published in 2010 by the National Crimes Record Bureau.

 66.5% are under trials!

    That means, charges against 66.5% of inmates are not proved yet. Only 32.9% are convicts (those found guilty) per as per data as on 31^st Dec 2010. And the rest are detenues (persons under preventive detention). 46% of under trial prisoners are in the age group of 18 to 30. How many more number of judges are required to decide on the fate of these under trials? Thousands of persons continue to live in prison for several years waiting for justice from the trial court.

    Overcrowding of prisons is a global problem. As per the statistics of International Centre for Prison Studies, London the rate of imprisonment in India per one hundred thousand of population is one of the lowest in the world.  Above data clearly reveals that the overcrowding in Indian prisons is due to the larger number of under trial prisoners. The statistics of the last one decade gathered by the National Crimes Records Bureau reveals that on an average 68% of prisoners are under trials.   

Ensuring reasonable dignity within prisons

In the case of Dharambir Vs State of UP (3 SCC 645), Honourable Supreme Court had given clear guidelines to ensure reasonable dignity to the prisoners. Some of the guidelines include, a) right to have necessary interaction with parents, relatives and friends, b) facility to lawyers for interviews, visits, and confidential communication with the prisoners, c) redressal of grievances by judges by making personal visits to jails or through representatives, d) provision of prisoner’s wall paper to ventilate the grievances, and e) proper training to prison officials about therapeutic approach and the rights of prisoners.

     Prisons should provide an atmosphere that would make the inmates introspect about the factors that contributed to their predicament and awareness about the need for self-reform. For this, there is a need for institutional reform in prison administration. Properly codified prison manual and its implementation would ensure dignity for every prisoner. Reformation of prisoners will happen only in a therapeutic environment. 

Prison as an Institution: Can we have a new approach?

Many times, we forget the fact that the ultimate aim of the punishments is not to be punitive but reformative. Whatever the nature of crime committed, society needs that valuable human being back as a normal person. But, as there are different categories of offences under the Penal Code, there are different types of punishments under the criminal procedure code. Therefore, there should be different type of institutions (why not call them institutions?) within the prison systems to cater to different types of offenders. The moment we realize that most of the criminal offences are committed due to pathological issues created by the society itself, we understand the logic behind naming the prisons as institutions for reformation.

Under trial persons who have committed an economic offence should go to an exclusive institution within the prison system. No productive purpose will be served by mixing them with a person accused or guilty of committing a crime of rape or murder. Although section 27 of the Prisons Act 1894 stipulates separate institutions within the prisons, the same are not implemented in its true spirit.

The prison can be an educational institution, which teaches the inmates in a rather harsh way. This should not be confused with the provision of educational opportunities to the prisoners to secure formal degrees. This is also different from the facilities provided for moral education and religious avenues, currently provided, which are of general nature. What is emphasized here is that, prisons should have specific awareness programs related to the offences committed by them. For example, a person who has committed a crime on rape should have specific awareness modules on gravity of his offence, the social, moral, psychological impact of his crime on the victim, and appropriate treatment and training to control such criminal instincts.

   We should not make the prisoners worse than they were when they entered the cells. In fact, each prisoner should be a reformed man when he is released out of the jail.

   And let all governments take measures to prevent any incident like what happened in Honduras! 

Sibichen K Mathew

(Photo: BBC(uk)) and blackmenjail.jpg)

Frauds, Scams and a Corporate Lokpal

       Anna Hazare and his people’s movement against bureaucratic and political corruption gained massive support from the public from all walks of life in India. Along with bureaucratic and political corruption, the corporate corruption is also thriving worldwide.    

    It is a fact that high level political and bureaucratic corruptions are facilitated by a cross section of corporates. Almost all the major scams in various countries and particularly in India are through direct or indirect involvement of big business enterprises. Apart from the scams and frauds that are products of an unholy nexus of businessmen, bureaucrats and politicians, many companies, large and small, are marred by corruption within itself. This results in large scale diversion of funds and inefficiency which invariably affect the interest of all external stakeholders.

    Corporate corruption has further strengthened the parallel economy, by moving from the conventional practice of ‘black and white’ transactions to Special Purpose Vehicles and sub-contracts giving a colour of legitimacy to the deals. Such unethical practices have resulted into companies becoming bankrupt and investors losing quite heavily. 

   In an interview reportedly to the Press Trust of India, the Chief Vigilance Commissioner of India said that Corporates may be brought under the purview of Lokpal. However, an amendment proposed by opposition MPs in Indian Parliament to include corporates within the ambit of Lokpal was defeated during a special parliamentary session convened exclusively for passing the Lokpal Bill. At this juncture, one needs to think loudly for an effective watchdog to check corporate corruption.

  The market regulator Sebi has finally woken up to advocate for the expeditious creation of an independent audit regulator in India. The demand for such a regulator to oversee the audits has come in the backdrop of increasing awareness about the dwindling standards of corporate audits in the country.  The lack of effective disciplinary action by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) has also prompted the regulatory bodies and others to think about the need for an independent regulator. Interestingly, but not certain whether it is an immediate reaction, the ICAI has reportedly barred two auditors of an Indian audit firm  from practicing for life and slapped a penalty of Rupees 5 lakhs each on them for their role in the 14000-crore Satyam scam. A probe by an ICAI disciplinary committee has found the above two chartered accountants guilty of professional misconduct while their firm conducted audits on behalf the PWC. The action of the ICAI came as a surprise for many as all along the statutory body maintained a position that what happened in Satyam is not an audit failure but a corporate governance failure. Be that it may, the series of corporate scams and scandals happening in the recent years point towards the deficiencies in the current audit system.

      

          Indian laws are not without any provisions to tackle offences by the auditors. The new Company’s Act provides for certain situations in which the auditors can be held responsible for negligence, incorrect statements etc.   Apart from the mechanisms of SEBI and Company Law Board, there are internal control mechanisms in the profession through ICAI. However such measures did not create any serious impact in the profession as the deterrence mechanism is very weak. The present powers and responsibilities of the audit committee are unlimited. Members of the Audit committees of many companies lack technical competence and fail in their role as an effective investigator and evaluator.

‘Auditor Independence’- Is it impossible in the current structure?

  Analysis of the corporate audits in India indicates that the auditor independence has been compromised due to several reasons as mentioned earlier. The problems lie in several areas: Appointment of auditors, payment of fee, audit and non-audit revenues, the threat of loss of contract, self interests, cultural and primordial preferences while appointing auditors, lack of technical competence, financial and non-financial relationships with the clients etc. Added to the above there are problems of lack of uniform and objective standards, disciplinary authority, over sight bodies etc. In the above circumstances it is necessary to think in the direction of making some radical changes.

Can we have an Independent Audit Regulatory Authority?

 As we seen in our discussion and review , there is a necessity for a strong  institution to oversee the entire audit work in the country. The set up should have certain necessary attributes. It should be independent, technically competent, representative, multi functional, and with sufficient legal powers. It may be headed by an Auditor General who is nominated by the President of India and should be a constitutional authority with a fixed tenure of at least 10 years. This would make them totally independent of the changing governments in the country. The post should be made constitutional and removal be made only through impeachment.

Following structure is suggested for the above authority. The structure consists of various autonomous boards with independent functions as given below.

INDEPENDENT AUDITOR GENERAL (Reporting to President; Assisted by chairmen of the  following independent bodies)
AUDIT BOARD (Power over both public and private sector without any differential treatment; Chairmen of following independent bodies are members, fixed tenure)
STANDARDS BOARD (Responsible for formulating and amending standards)	QUALITY REVIEW AND INSPECTION BOARD (oversight board which reviews the audit work and conduct inspections)	DISCIPLINARY BOARD Enquiries on misconduct of auditors, Initiation of disciplinary  proceedings, and Decisions (Separate entities for each functions)	AUDITOR ALLOCATION BOARD Centralized empanelment of auditors –specialization wise and region wise based on set criteria. Allocation through random allotment from a list of ten preferences given by the client as well as the audit firm) Appointment for 5 years without any extension.	GRIEVANCE BOARD Dealing with grievances on Standards, procedures, reviews, inspection, auditor allocation , disciplinary proceedings etc) But appeals against disciplinary action imposed lies only with Audit board

           As seen above, the independent body can oversee streamlining of the accounting standards. Though ICAI has been successfully involved in the preparation of accounting standards, lately arguments have emerged questioning the ‘objectivity’ and ‘independence’ of the ICAI. The role given to ICAI was only for a limited period till such time the central government constitutes an autonomous body to prepare the standards. Since most of the problems related to ‘auditors independence’ is because of the current system of appointment of auditors, the independent authority can be in charge of empanelment and allocation of auditors. As we entered the phase of competitive business management there should not be any distinction between the standards for private sector and public sector. Both should be under the purview of this structure.

 Suggestion for National  Audit Fund

   It is seen that the independence of auditors are affected because of their dependence on the clients for fee. Therefore a National Audit Fund can be created to take care of the auditing expenditure. The entire expenditure for auditing (the audit fee and other audit expenditure for the auditors) should be borne by the Auditor General Office. Fund can be raised through one or all of the following sources: a) Portion of annual fee by companies, b) A very small portion of the investment of each investor c) a fee proportionate to their annual turnover, and d) Amounts collected as penalties and fines.

Conclusion

  The public responsibility of auditors as watchdog of companies is very crucial for overall stability and financial discipline in the economy and business. Most of the corporate failures in India and abroad pointed out the ‘audit failures’ in many companies. It is seen that the independence of auditors are under serious threat due to several factors. There is a need for an independent authority to effectively regulate and enforce the audit system in India. The authority should be totally independent of the government and would have uniform standards for both public and private sector. However no authority can be a panacea unless companies and audit firms understand that internal control, personal competency and ethics play crucial role in making the institution more efficient and socially productive.

You may also like to read Satyam: A case of worst audit failure

No privacy anymore? A critical look at Google’s new Privacy Policy

Sibichen K Mathew

   An ideal person need not worry about his privacy, because he is not bothered about someone else becoming privy to his personal data and interests. But all human beings are not ideal persons. And, therefore our society is also not an ideal society. People crave for data and information about others for various reasons. And there are individuals and groups who use the information for criminal activities.  In such a scenario, one needs to be guarded about his personal data and preferences.

     Internet has facilitated faster, cheaper and sophisticated modes of sharing of information and entertainment. But all these are at the cost of privacy. Commercial interests of the service providers overtake the interests of the users in due course.  As the domestic and international rules and procedures related to internet lack lucidity   and perfection, users are in a disadvantageous position to understand the negative impact.

     Google  is almost synonymous with internet for millions of people. Many are not aware that every action in the net are tracked, stored and probably shared with others. Google has notified its new Privacy Policy  which will be effective from 1^st March 2012. Here is an attempt to critically examine privacy issues in the net and the new Privacy Policy of Google.

   Google is one of the most favourite internet destinations for all net users. Google offers a host of services under its umbrella such as web search, mail, photo sharing, groups etc. One can search and contribute content, and communicate each other through Google platform. As millions of people use Google services to communicate and transact, it is necessary to ensure high standards of data protection and confidentiality.

 Privacy at risk?

We need to be aware of the following:

1.   Whatever data entered by us in the net are captured and stored by the search engine along with our identity

2.    The personal information we provide while opening a mail account or any other service is shared across various Google services and affiliated commercial and non-commercial services, directly or indirectly. Google would also associate our device identifiers or phone numbers with our Google account

3.       Our search queries are recorded

4.     Telephony log information like our phone number, calling party  number, forwarding numbers, time, date and duration of calls, SMS routing information and type of calls – all are tracked and recorded.

5.       Google can collect and process information about our actual location, like GPS signals sent from cell phones and other wireless devices. Google may also use various technologies to identify the location with the help of nearby Wi-Fi access points and cell towers.

6.    Google may also store information in our own systems (through web storage and application data caches)

7.      Like any other search engine or websites, Google also sends cookies or anonymous identifiers to our device

8.       Pixel tags are placed within the body of an email for the purpose of tracking our online  activities

9.       The reason given by Google for collecting all above information is ‘to provide, maintain, protect and improve’ the services and ‘to protect Google and its users’

10.    Google automatically combines the personal information given by us in one service with information in any other Google service and shares them with people we know

11.   Even after we delete information, Google may not immediately delete residual copies from their  active servers and may not remove information from their backup systems.

12.  Google will share personal information with companies, organizations or individuals outside of Google

13.   If our Google account is managed for us by a domain administrator (for example, for Google Apps users) then the domain administrator and resellers who provide user support will have access to our Google account information (including our email and other data). The domain administrator can also restrict our facility to delete or edit information or privacy settings.

14.   As per the Google’s policy, ‘it can provide our personal information to all the Google’s affiliates or other trusted businesses or persons to process it’ for Google, on a request by Google.

What precautions you should take to protect yourself?

Though you can’t totally prevent using or misusing your data or information or preferences by third parties, you need to take some precautions while online

1.   You should turn off the location identifier
2.  Avoid logging in to the Google account if you do not want Google to share your data across all  Google services. You can log into specific Google services independently
3.  Don’t give consent by default for combining Double Click cookie information with personally identifiable information.
4.   Set your browser to block all cookies, including cookies associated with the Google services. You can also activate the option to notify to you when a cookie is set by Google.
5.  Many times, when you click ‘No’ to the question ‘enable cookies?’, you may get a message that  ‘the images will not be displayed’ or  ‘files cannot be downloaded’. You need to exercise the option wisely. Google track your preferences through cookies. Is it necessary to have personalized  search experience at the cost of privacy? In any case, you should periodically delete the cookies from your system.
6. You should opt out of advertising services unless you really need them. For that, you can edit your preferences in Ads Preference Manager in Google
7. You should  review and control the preferences through the Google editor
8. You should not give consent by default to Google to share personal information to third parties
9. Use ‘incognito’ mode on the Google chrome browser for privacy

  Following address has been notified by Google to contact to know about the privacy issues and to register complaints:

       Privacy Matters, c/o Google Inc., 1600 Ambhitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, California, 94043

In following cases, selective sharing of information can be acceptable

• a)      In the interest of  security and law enforcement

Google Privacy Policy provide for disclosure of information to meet applicable law, regulation, legal process or enforceable government request. (There is a specific tool in Google for Government agencies to request information for criminal investigation)

• b)      To address issues related to fraud, or harm on Google  and its users

What will happen to our data stored by Google, if it collaborates with another company or enterprise?

Google is silent on the above. It just says that if it is involved in a merger, acquisition, or asset sale, and if our stored personal data is transferred, then Google will give notice to the affected parties. There is lack of clarity in this.

How Google will ensure non-disclosure of our data and prevent sharing of information to third parties by its own employees, contractors and agents?

Google says the access to personal information of users will be restricted to Google employees, contractors and agents and are subjected to ‘strict contractual confidentiality obligations and may be disciplined or terminated they fail to meet these obligations’. It is not known what mechanism Google has established to detect such violations (before the user becomes aware of leakage of information pertaining to him). Google also needs to disclose to the internet community, number of such violations detected in the past and action taken.

Google should demonstrate its commitment to protect privacy

One should appreciate Google’s effort to make its new Privacy Policy public. But the new policy has created more apprehensions among the internet users. Google needs to be not only accountable but also demonstrate its accountability before the online community by safeguarding the rights and interests of its users. In fact, Google should be the torchbearer of ethical practices in the internet world. This can happen only through bold initiatives that are beyond its commercial interests. Google’s attempt to monopolize the internet world is evident as it is trying hard to provide social networking services that are offered by facebook and twitter in its own platform. Whether the aim is to track the advertisement preferences of android users or to increase its revenue by placing appropriate commercials , Google should not forget one hard fact. In this highly technological era, it won’t require much time for developers to create a new platform or users to find what they want elsewhere. 

Tail Piece

I searched Google (without logging in) to check the availability of air ticket from Bangalore to Thiruvanathapuram and clicked search results (including that of Indigo Airlines and Air India), just before writing this article. I switched off the laptop, had an hour of afternoon nap, went for shopping, and had a long evening walk. After dinner, I started browsing Washington Post . Do you know, what was the advertisement that popped up on that site? “Fly from Bangalore to Thiruvanathapuram at the lowest airfares. Book Now”. Should I be happy to have an online well wisher who is very concerned about me? Or should I get irritated over the overzealous uninvited cookies that track my interests and preferences? Yes, I was not very happy for the unsolicited assistance. Because I am yet to become an ideal man and the society I live is yet to become an ideal society!

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Leave Me Alone: Privacy in a Snooping World!

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Your comments on online privacy are welcome!

Another Christmas sans Christ

The world celebrated another Christmas. 

The lights, the decorations, the shopping, the gifts, the plum cake, Santa, Reindeer, the lavish feast!

All in the name of a person who reiterated himself as son of God

All celebrations happened under the banner ‘Christmas’ have nothing to do with that unique incarnation!

'What' was real Christ?

Was he ever liked to be a celebrity?

He symbolized all what is humble, simple and ordinary!

                                                                          (ethicsoup.com)

He chose to be born in a carpenter family. The person who was chosen as his mother was a poor and pure young lady called Mary.  As the couple could not get any place to deliver her baby, they had to take shelter in a cattle shed. Mary wrapped him snugly in strips of cloth and laid him in a manger. The good news was first revealed to a few poor shepherds. He grew up as a unique person. He chose his disciples from the poorest, illiterate and weakest people in society. He befriended the sick, ugly, sinful, and hated people in that territory. Talked to them in simple language. Showed them a unique way to truth and life. One of his famous speeches to his large followers is called the ‘Sermon on the Mount’.

 At present Santa has overtaken Jesus. Santa represents the multitude of transnational business entities luring the people who are craving for happiness and enjoyment at any cost. Yet, the result is only dissatisfaction!

                                                                       ( craftastrophe.ne)

The message of CHRISTmas is the message to be compassionate to the fellow human beings who are not so privileged as you are!


The Good News is clear: ' Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests' .  Fortunate are those who find favor with the most High! Who are the fortunate ones? 

(solvefamilyproblems.com)

Wishing all a New Year full of joy and everlasting peace!

“If anybody wants to see us, you have to break open the door”!

    This was the note written and pasted on the door of their house in Bangalore city by a mother and her son. Don’t think that they pasted the above note and went out. Their lifeless bodies were very much inside. Police and neighbours found a sixty five year old mother and her thirty two year old son hanging from a ceiling fan. The son was an Engineer in a private company.

    Police found a four page suicide note in the shirt pocket of the son, Sreenivasan. It was written legibly in English that they took this step because they could not bear the loss of the elder son of the family, who died a few days before due to cardiac arrest. He wrote: ‘My brother, Kumaresan  was our hope, strength, love and everything for us’.

   Kumaresan was a government employee (Office of the Accountant General) and all the three of them were staying in the quarters of the Central Public Works Department. He had got this job on compassionate grounds as his father who worked in the same department died two years back while serving the same department.

   The police found the television and several household articles trashed. Following was reportedly written in the suicide note signed by both mother and son:

“We are damaging a few things (precious) to us. We have already dumped some things in the Cauvery river along with Kumaresan’s ashes. We don’t want anybody to use these goods. Please destroy these damaged items. Our recently purchased ‘Tata Nano’ car, a bike, chit fund investments and other house hold items may be donated to orphanages or for charity.” They requested the authorities to repay the loan of Rs 50,000 taken from Canara Bank by drawing the money deposited in the Vijaya Bank. It was also written in the note: “We have kept some money on the table for our final rites. Please take it. Treat us like orphans and perform the final rites just like the way we did my brother’s. Take our bodies directly to the graveyard after the legal formalities.”

The day after

   There was nobody to claim the dead bodies. No one was rather interested to give homage to the two departed souls  in their neighbourhood. Finally Police had to depend on the President of the Residents Welfare Association to get the final rites done. Where were the friends and colleagues of the company where the son, Mr Sreenivasan worked? Where were the officials and colleagues of his brother Kumaresan, who was a government employee? (Remember, they were staying in a government quarters!) Where were the neighbours? Where were the relatives? Even newspapers carried this report just because it was a case of suicide by a mother-son duo. What would have happened if they had a natural death living in continued depression and mental ailments? Of course, no ‘news value’.

Some statistics


As per statistics of the World Health Organization, every year almost one million people die from suicide. That is one death every forty seconds. And 10 to 20 times more people attempt suicide worldwide. There is an increase of 50% in suicide deaths in the last half a century. Number of suicides are on the rise across various countries. See the WHO report.

As per latest statistics from India, an average of 15 suicides take place every hour in India. 1,34,599 persons committed suicide in India in 2010 (Report released in October 2011). And there may be cases where suicides are reported as natural death to avoid legal complications and social stigma. There is an increase of 24% in the number of suicides in the last decade alone.One in every three suicide victims were in the age group 15 to 45. Bangalore city recorded highest number of suicides across all cities in India. 41.1% of suicide victims were self employed. 7.5% were unemployed and 11.3% were salaried employees. Government servants were only 1.3% of the total suicide victims. (Source: Reports of Accidental Deaths and Suicides in India in 2010, National Crime Records Bureau (India) (October 2011), Ministry of Home Affairs).

Social Pathology

   The above incident clearly points towards the Social Pathology in the current techno-society. When relationships are managed by the keyboards and the emotions are expressed the form of emoticons, the relationships get blurred and can be wiped off by a momentary pressing of the button. The  interactions are never face-to-face but through cams and albums, the happy and sad events are shared through status updates than personal visits, and the personal and sensitive aspects of our life are shared  with people living in diverse locations. The boundaries are really permeable and life revolves around one or more sparsely knit social network groups. We live in a virtual platform free of any commitments, expectations and real life obligations. All is well.

   The excitement over increased friendship requests, vicarious satisfaction by seeing the profiles and snapshots, and obligation free contacts cannot bring in the warmth of a well-nurtured friend or relative,  living in the vicinity. It is equally necessary to have friends and relatives in real life who are physically proximate to us, who listen to us, share with us and support us in ‘real time’, face to face. There is a need to have a ‘network neighbourhood’ and the local social network should overtake the virtual social network. The deleterious impact of overdependence to the virtual friend network is the decreased time spent with friends, neighbours and relatives who stay nearby. Indeed, we become ‘isolates’, though claim to be a socialite in the cyberspace.

(Picture courtesy: impulse.org.in)

  The above happening is also a strong indication of the highly artificial relationship structure and interactions in the organizations we work. Colleagues need to build relationships of mutual sharing and support. Employers should not forget that they can play a crucial role in building healthy ties within the organization and they need to extend their support to activities that can make employees more active socially in a society plagued by selfishness, unhealthy competition and professional jealousy.

  One of the worst quotations I saw in my office entrance the other day. “Pressure in Work brings Perfection in Work”. My sympathies to my organization!

   Read the following poem. Written in 1883. Still relevant!

“Laugh, and the world laughs with you;
Weep, and you weep alone.
For the sad old earth must borrow it's mirth,
But has trouble enough of its own.
Sing, and the hills will answer;
Sigh, it is lost on the air.
The echoes bound to a joyful sound,
But shrink from voicing care.

Rejoice, and men will seek you;
Grieve, and they turn and go.
They want full measure of all your pleasure,
But they do not need your woe.
Be glad, and your friends are many;
Be sad, and you lose them all.
There are none to decline your nectared wine,
But alone you must drink life’s gall.

Feast, and your halls are crowded;
Fast, and the world goes by.
Succeed and give, and it helps you live,
But no man can help you die.
There is room in the halls of pleasure
For a long and lordly train,
But one by one we must all file on
Through the narrow aisles of pain.”

(Poem ‘Solitude’ by Ella Wheeler Wilcox    

Published in 1883 in New York Sun for which she received $5 for her effort)

Sibichen K Mathew

Aleph, Paulo Coelho and my Friend: The Journey Within

Aleph, Paulo Coelho and my Friend: The Journey Within

Book Review : ‘Aleph’

(A novel from Paulo Coelho)

By Sibichen K Mathew

                                                                  

       Thousands of years have passed.  Still, life is a mystery for human beings. The creator and the creation are beyond the comprehension of the created. Philosophers like Aristotle and Plato searched for meanings. Theologians like Thomas Aquinas  and St. Augustine delved deep into the subject. Scientists from Einstein to Stephen Hawking had to satisfy themselves with incomplete information while dealing with unresolved mysteries about life. None could provide any valuable insight about what was before life or what is in store after death. But the universe continued to bring miracles in the form of lives, each one of them unique in many respects.

Croatian Edition

          Here is an autobiographical book by Paulo Coelho that would take readers through an eventful journey where life is reincarnated. Those of you who have read ‘The Alchemist’ by Coelho should definitely read this book too. The Alchemist, translated into 72 languages and sold close to 65 million copies, had brought in radical transformation in the lives of many readers.  The Alchemist is a magical story of Santiago, an Andalusian shepherd boy who yearns to travel in search of a worldly treasure and ultimately discovers that life is indeed generous to those who pursue their destiny. Aleph showcases a long journey where lives transcend centuries to rediscover and fulfil the unfinished tasks and unrealized dreams. In fact, the story depicts the encounters all of us face in this world with our fears and our shortcomings. And it points to the fact that only love and forgiveness can make our life meaningful.

                                                                

           We all face crises, conflicts and disappointments in life. Even when everything goes well with a good career, family and friends, we would still feel a sort of vacuum in life as years pass. Even though we have firmly believed in certain ideology or faith all these years, there are moments when doubts emerge from within about those deep-rooted ideology or faith. The consequences are disturbing and sometimes devastating. The author also experienced similar confusion and unhappiness amidst the routine. And the teacher tells him: ‘Go and experiment. It’s time you got out of here. Go and re-conquer your kingdom, which has grown corrupted by routine. Stop repeating the same lesson, because you won’t learn anything new that way.’ And Paulo starts his journey, taking the readers along.

          Faced with the grave crisis of faith, he sets out on another journey, this time not to find the treasure in the pyramids of Egypt, but to a series of destinations to seek a path of spiritual renewal and growth.  J., the teacher says: ‘Our life is a constant journey, from birth to death. The landscape changes, the people change, our needs change, but the train keeps moving. Life is the train, not the station.’  The author experiences the same as he undertakes the long journey in the Trans-Siberian railway. For him it was not just a travel to meet publishers or participate in many book signing functions, but to experiment and to reconnect with people and the world. It was a trip to his soul, past, present and future. The story underscores the need to re-conquer one’s lost kingdom, a journey within.

        He meets the young violinist Hilal and identifies her as his ‘past love’, dates back to more than five centuries. The awareness culminated in Aleph, which is the right place where the entire universe is present and provides for a new incarnation in order to finish something that was left incomplete in the past. And the author discovers his past love precisely at this point and a great Aleph occurs. He asks: ‘Where is my first kiss filed away? In some hidden corner of my brain? In a series of electrical impulses that have been deactivated? My first kiss is more alive than ever, and I will never forget it. It’s here, all around me. It forms part of my Aleph’

           Author very vaguely describes Aleph as a point in the universe that contains all other points, present and past, large and small. Jorge Luis Borges wrote in ‘The Aleph’ that it is the only place on earth where all places are – seen from every angle, each standing clear without any confusion or blending  .  This is a point where time and space converge. Coelho was really excited but confused at the same time as he was faced with another chance to fulfil his dream.

Serbian edition 

            On the one hand he faces an ardent and uncontrollable desire to tread on the path to the body of his rediscovered love of the past. On the other hand he feels terribly guilty to commit an act that would disturb his bond of the present. But the mind justifies the desire as it was aimed at a process of purification and healing of a young girl who was severely hurt by an abuse of her childhood innocence by a neighbour, whom everyone thought of as gentle and helpful. She said: He touched my body; but distorted my soul.

      As I read the above passage, I remembered a mail received by me from a friend of mine a few months back. She wrote:

   

 Dear Sibi,

I had told you about  my childhood abuse by a person close to my family.
As far as I can remember, I was angelic, calm, quiet, and innocent as a little girl. Moreover, highly intelligent too. I stayed at home till I was 7 and then cried to go away to another place,(may be to escape from my abuser) I never used to talk and so never had friends, never needed one. Though I am not from a prayerful family, somewhere along the way, a person called God became real in my life. He became my everything in my secret world, and I used to predict many things out of instinct, which was, to a little girl, told by Him. The more such things happened, I became happy with His companionship. I stood first in class, without much efforts, I didn’t feel proud of that first rank either. Nothing mattered at all.

But later on, I knew that someone did something WRONG to me and I was so sad about that. I started feeling bad, deceived. Gradually I became alone, I left my companion, I never spoke nor prayed to Him personally for many many years. 

I thought I was used as I was so innocent and ignorant. So I wanted to help and protect myself. I became my god and guardian. I thought I was doing me a big favour. But it resulted in losing my innocence, my character, behaviour, all that was originally created. My world collapsed and went out of my control and I realised about ten years back, what the problem was.

It took many years' struggle to deal with the abuse, as an adult. First I had to confront him, which was easier than forgiving him. I had to forgive him, as I wanted to get rid of the feeling of his touch which I could feel even after years. I finally looked into his eyes with God's power of forgiveness and shook hands with him and made peace. Then came the most difficult part, to forgive myself. Years and years of efforts didn't make it possible, till God did it His way.

When I thought my life is going to start again, there came the worst shock of my life. I identified a small little girl, inside me.The original me. She was there, around three years old, asking me to let her free. I suppressed her as I was scared to lose my self-created personality. I ignored her cries all these years. It turned out to be an urge to have a girl to love and care for. But she never came. After years I understood that I was the girl who needed love and care.

Things which happened recently in my life were weird, but all had a reason. With all the boldness and confidence in me, I was just a slave to many hurts and humiliations.  Nothing that I created worked out. 

The girl inside me lived all these years, as my suppressed ignored personality, and I never derived any good feeling from my artificial personality. The night I told myself and God that I hate myself, I understood that there is more to it. I prayed over it and found out that I hate my artificial personality, which I wore for years around that little innocent girl.

The little girl cried for herself and I cried along with her. I knew what she suffered all these years, what she was asking me constantly.  The moment came, that her cries came to the point of her liberation either through death or life, and I had no other choice but to take heed of her sobs. That was the time of the highest realisation in my whole life. INNOCENCE IS THE GREATEST POWER IN THE WHOLE UNIVERSE. Nothing that I thought or the way I lived could ever make a slightest change to the thought or life or the little girl inside me. She stayed and waited decades, to win her battle, through the power of her innocence. I decided to liberate her to life by taking away all I had created around her. With God, and only God, all things are possible.

I saw her, the innocent little girl, her smile, her joy, near her stood her childhood companion, who proved faithful all through her journey.

I wanted to know more about my childhood. So I called my aunt who loves me as her own. She told me that I was an angel. I asked her to show me one girl like that in the family or outside. She told me that she has till date never seen such a special child or person who even resembles me. These were the exact words I used to describe my childhood. I used to watch and search everywhere for a kid like me. But I could not find anyone like me.

I thanked God for keeping that angelic personality of mine live in me (though she was a constant cause of inner conflict, many times I thought of killing her, or giving her to God).

Now that little girl gave me back my lost identity and life. I have that strongest desire to go to Heaven after total purification on earth, and  to be called a saint, by God. And I am sure that if I had to live in my real self, I would've been so close to God and lived in His power as His instrument.

Anyway my life is not over and God doesn't need time to do miracles and fill the blank of all these years. 

In every story, God appoints characters. There is a father, a mother, a teacher, a friend, many more, in mine. But among the few main characters, there is a friend, only one, who played a very direct part towards my return to myself, and that friend is Sibi, you. And very surprisingly, I used to call only you by the name "friend". 

I am so thankful to God for all the people and incidents which changed my life. Thank you so much dear, for being God's instrument in my life. I can never repay you in any way and I must not do that for your Divine work. But the Lord who you obeyed, will bless and reward you from His abundant Divine wealth and make you prosperous in everything on earth and heaven. 

I love you so much friend.I am excited to share this joy with you. Take care.

Love,

G

   

   

          I read the letter again and found how real Coelho’s Hilal is. In fact there are many Hilals and G's in this world whose innocent childhoods were abused by devilish incarnations in shepherd’s clothes. The experience haunts their entire life. Hilal said the same way G wrote to me: ‘..because I carried all that guilt around inside me, because victims always end up considering themselves to be the culprits, I decided to keep punishing myself. So, in my relationships with men, I’ve always sought suffering, conflict and despair’.

Painting by my friend Sanjay Chapolkar

          Author was on a mission to set her soul free of unwarranted guilt. She said: ‘The girl forgives you, not because she has become a saint, but because she can no longer bear to carry this burden of hatred. Hating is very wearisome. I don’t know if something is changing in Heaven or on Earth, if my soul is being damned or saved, but I feel utterly exhausted and only now do I understand why. I forgive the man who tried to destroy me when I was ten years old.’ She continued: ‘I also forgive myself. May the misfortunes of the past no longer weigh on my heart. Instead of pain and resentment, I choose understanding and compassion. Instead of rebellion, I choose the music from my violin. Instead of grief, I choose forgetting. Instead of vengeance, I choose victory’.

        A few are really blessed to get healed through the divine touch. And some are fortunate to have friends who are ‘imperfect’ angels. This is a story that depicts passions and struggles one face within oneself. This is a story about  one’s determination to complete the pilgrimage by living every moment.   
                                               

       It is rightly written as follows. ‘We human beings have enormous difficulty in focusing on the present; we’re always thinking about what we did, about how we could have done it better, about the consequences of our actions, and why we didn’t act as we should have. Or else we think about the future, about what we’re going to do tomorrow, what precautions we should take, what dangers await us around the next corner, how to avoid what we don’t want and how to get what we have always dreamed of’ 

   Author has quoted many interesting and meaningful stories. Following one is particularly interesting:

     “ …. ‘When he left the shop, Ali noticed that an icy wind was blowing. He felt afraid and decided to ask his best friend, Aydi, if he thought he was mad to accept the wager.

After considering the matter for a moment, Aydi answered, ‘Don’t worry, I’ll help you. Tomorrow night, when you’re sitting on top of the mountain, look straight ahead. I’ll be on the top of the mountain opposite, where I’ll keep a fire burning all night for you. Look at the fire and think of our friendship; and that will keep you warm. You’ll make it through the night, and afterwards, I’ll ask you for something in return.’

Ali won the wager, got the money and went to his friend’s house.

‘You said you wanted some sort of payment in return.’

 Aydi said, ‘Yes, but it isn’t money. Promise that if ever a cold wind blows through my life, you will light the fire of friendship for me.’ ”

Edition (Brazil)

        All of us might experience the ring of fire at some point of time in our life. The novel makes it clear that love always triumphs over death. And there’s no need to grieve for our loved ones, because they continue to be loved and remain by our side.

        The author thought he has re-conquered the lost kingdom. He rejoiced for being part of the healing process. Was Hilal really healed from the trauma? Was Paulo trapped between the forces from two lives in his experience of incarnation? Did the journey for a new experience up-rooted him from the bliss and blessings of present life? Was the happiness evanescent and ephemeral? To know the answers, readers are invited to complete the journey with Paulo Coelho in ‘The Aleph’.

     Book was published in India on Sept 10, 2011 by HarperCollinsPublishers Pages 300, Rs 325/-                    

Indian edition

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In my last birthday note I wrote:  ‘My assets are the occasions I made others smile and the situations I experienced inner joy and peace in these years. My liabilities are nothing but the opportunities I lost for excellence to become a world class citizen’. I am glad to find a similar thought in ‘Aleph’: ‘Hell is when we look back during that fraction of a second and know that we wasted an opportunity to dignify the miracle of life. Paradise is being able to say at that moment: ‘I made some mistakes, but I wasn’t a coward. I lived my life and did what I had to do.’ (p.21)

Please find time to read the comments below. Before that, do not miss the comment by Paulo Coelho (and many of his readers) about the above article. Click here

Read my review of 'Adultery' by Paulo Coelho here.