tanvirsalim.com Blog

On 9/11, I was at work at Pilgrim Nuclear Power Plant in Plymouth Massachusetts. One of my colleagues passed by me in the hallway, and asked me if I have heard anything about the planes crashing in New York. He heard something in news while driving to work. We rushed to the nearby TV and what we saw was unbelievable. For the next many hours, we all were glued to the TV, as the events unfolded. My immediate concern was about my daughter, who was at her school, and the school was an Islamic school. There was a chill in the air, and the future started looking uncertain.

America changed drastically. Why America, the whole world changed. Lines were drawn in the sand, and soldiers were put to fight in strange territories. Regimes changed and the collateral damage was immense. The man-hunt was for the leader of Al-Qaida, Osama Bin Laden. The hunt went on for over a decade and in the end we were able to find the master mind at a very unlikely place in Pakistan. The saga will not end with the death of Osama Bin Ladin.

He killed people, and preached hatred. He stood for all the things, which Islam is not.

The recent gathering at the Jantar Mantar in New Delhi, where a gentleman by the name of Anna Hazare- a person of impeccable personal integrity, was fasting on the Gandhi an principles, had all the makings of a mass movement. It was a euphoric moment for the “aam-Aadmi”, when the government was brought on its knees. It was also an opportunity to the others who were making every attempt to seize on the moment to ride the band wagon in quest of their own personal glory. The government was careful in reading the mood of the people and was not willing to take any chances. It is good news that the demands were met, and it is the power of internet which has a lot to do with the way the things happened. If this would have been seventies, then the outcome might have been different. That time the leadership was in the hands of Mrs. Indira Gandhi, a person who had the reputation of not blinking, unless necessary.

People’s expectations are scary. They may be quick in celebrating victory when they don’t even know how treacherous the path may be. The path forward is not simple either. Every attempt will be made to hijack the movement. True, the general public is always for the change and is eager to participate and lend support to a good cause, but if history is any indication, then the change public is anticipating always takes the path of least resistance and falls into wrong hands. The slogan of “Total Revolution” by Jaya Prakash Narain, and the formation of Jan Morcha by VP Singh, although are the news of yester decades, but they are still fresh in some minds.

Anna Hazare’s crusade is against a system that is mired in corruption, and has the reputation of resisting minor attempts of change. This system has the ability to withstand minor disturbances and has the ability to correct itself. The reason is simple; a vast majority of people, knowingly or unknowingly, are the patrons of this system.

Then what the blame game is all about? We never leave an opportunity to blame the ugly politician or the corrupt public officer, but never intro-inspect deep within ourselves to see where the fault lies. Yes, to some extent, the fault lies with us too. We have made the mockery of the political system by selling our votes for freebies, and above all we are always eager to jump the queue by whatever means, either by hook or crook. Even if the bribe is not asked for, we will be ready with our pockets full so that to thwart the attempt of someone who is more deserving than I.

My grandmother was once telling me about the times just after the first general elections in early fifties. My late grandfather got elected as a MLA from the Gorakhpur assembly constituency and immediately just after the election results were declared, there were throngs of visitors, who invaded our house, not only with congratulatory notes, but with gifts of all hue and dimensions. Of course, we only kept the congratulatory notes, but I am sure there were many who got more focused on the gifts and it all started this way.

The role of money power in politics is not new either. Not everyone was able to afford getting into this game. In the earlier times, the entrants were either independently wealthy or were the ones who were eager to serve the public. Some of us must have read the short story “Namak ka Daroga” by Munshi Prem Chandra. This story depicts how deep rooted the malaise is?

Tanvir Salim from Boston remembers his friend Dr Khalidi
Dr. Khalidi was the type of person for whom it was said that, “you can get out of India, but India can never get out of you”. Without him, the Indian community in and around the Boston area can never be the same again. It was an honor and a privilege to know a person of his caliber. I came across him in early nineties, when the Babri Masjid in India was demolished by the religious zealots. At that time he was one man army, doing all by himself, for a good cause. It was his sheer determination and friendly personality, that people in the United States, although from different corners of India with diverse backgrounds, flocked to him. And yes, the rest is history.

He believed in high thinking and simple living. He was a great unifier and always went the extra mile to ensure that two persons, if they have something in common should meet. He was constantly providing me information about people originally from Gorakhpur, in case I may want to get connected with them. In him, I found a friend and a well wisher. He was the first one to arrive at the gatherings at my house and always was the last one to leave. Our interests were same, so the conversation could never end. From now on, without his company, I will be at loss at the gatherings.

Although he was originally from Hyderabad, but his knowledge of Uttar Pradesh was quite comprehensive. He was very much attached to AMU and its affairs, and was an avid participant in the AMU related activities here in USA. He was well travelled and impressed many and was quick in making friends everywhere. His books can be found at many book stores. I was surprised to see that he was widely quoted by the intelligentsia in India and elsewhere (i.e., “Confession of a Secular Fundamentalist”, by Mani Shankar Aiyyar). He was equally challenged by his opponents. I remember Advani once saying in an accusing sense that “people like Omar Khalidi and Arundhati Roy who lives abroad…” This is a manifestation of the fact that he was successful in making the life miserable for the ones who were not playing as per the dictates of the Indian constitution. He campaigned hard to ensure that the architect of Gujarat pogrom Modi is not allowed to keep his foot in USA and elsewhere. With him gone, the mischief mongers may breath in relief. But he has set the standards, which will ensure that the down trodden and the ones taken for granted are not taken for a ride. Now it is up to us to keep his legacy alive. But for any of us, it will be an impossible act to follow.

He will be missed by all. His was an untimely departure. May Allah provide him a place in the heaven.

Inna Lillahe Wa Inna Elaihe Rajeoon.

Last time it was in 1931, when the caste of a person was considered in the Indian census. The issue of caste based “counting” is giving heart aches to many. I feel that there is nothing wrong in considering the caste of a person. I also know that it is not going to be easy. There are many reasons for that. First of all, we may not have an uniform criteria on which the caste of the person will be based. The list of the states may vary and be different from state to state. But this should not deter us from exercizing this option.

It is very important to know the numbers because that way we may be able to allocate the resources adequately. Without having the right numbers, we may be gazing in the dark. By knowing the exact numbers we may tell the ones without the numbers to take a hike.  This way the irrelevant ones will be completely wiped out from the scene.

Will that be not a good thing?

Tanvir Salim

Now this stench is widespread and is coming from all quarters of the life.  Unfortunately,  like always people are simply covering their noses, rather than finding ways to eradicate the source.  The stench is not new.  It was always in the air. We  simply got used to it and accepted it as a part of our lives. Yes, the fault to some extent lies within. 

Many may have not read the story, ‘”Namak Ka Daroga”, which was written by the great storyteller, Munshi Prem Chandra in the middle years of the previous century. It was about a topic which was unheard during those days. Yes, corruption was not in the vocabulary of every household, as it now. Our great Prime Minister, Mrs Indira Gandhi, once called it a universal phenomenon. There is a story about a leader from Haryana, who took out wads of currency notes from his pocket and gave it to one of his constituents, who was there to complain about the bribe that is being asked to get him a job as a teacher. The leader offered the money from himself, so that the person can bribe and get the job as a teacher.  I remember that in the seventies, in a state in the north, the ministers who were known to be corrupt were couple. Today, in Uttar Pradesh, the list of the corrupt IAS officers ( the list which is maintained by the IAS officers themselves), is amazing and tells volumes about the state of the state.

The slogan of “Total Revolution” by the late Sarvodaya leader, Jai Prakash (JP) Narayan raised the issue of  corruption, but failed to provide any solution.  At that time, the masses seemed ready for a revolution, but their leaders failed to realize that here they were facing the formidable Indira Gandhi, who was hell bent on preventing the revolution at any costs, even if the cost was the democracy itself.  Then, later on, corruption in high places became a major political plank and governments were demolished and raised on this single issue. The feud between late Vishwanath Pratap (VP) Singh and Rajiv Gandhi brought a whole  new dimension and again captured the imagination of the masses for a while. But over the time people started to realize that although these scams are the tip of an iceberg, they are beyond the capability ordinary people to contain them. People adopted the attitude of “chalta hai”.  Before wades of currency notes were pulled out in the Parliament during the debate on India-US Nuclear Treaty, there were other low moments where democracy was put to a test in India. 

Where we go from here is not clear at all. Even if we start the journey alone in the quest that many wayfarer will join us later on, there is no guarantee about who these fellow travellers are going to be. But simply complaining will take us no where. If we learn from the history, then we will realize that a journey of thousand miles starts with a single step,  no matter how small the first step is.  History also tells us as to what happened to JP and VP. They were caught in the maze when they tried to take the path not often travelled. Is this going to deter us from doing what is right? How long are we going to complain and not do anything else but complain? Yes, there are lessons in history from which we may learn. There is a Gandhi and Maulana Azad to guide us. However scarce, but there are plenty of examples for us to follow. We can learn a lot from our former President Abdul Kalam, who was dumped for a second term. How sad it is for India.

Someone on the other day commented that the world is getting crowded, flat and warm. This is not “news”.  We have been knowing it for a long time.  The news is that we never bothered to do much about this. The fact about the crowding of the world was always there but only the serious types paid attention to it. Some went too far, like China in the olden days and made a policy of not having more than one child to a couple. India took a serious note to it and implemented many family planning programs which were mostly voluntary. Even at one stage forced sterilization became the order of the day for which many heads rolled later on.

The flatness of the world was denied for a long time. It was a crazy philosopher who challenged this concept and in his time was laughed and scorned by all. As a matter of fact even though the world was flat we failed to use it to our advantage and created so may boundaries around us in a quest that the other person may not be able to see us. We used to be happy living in our own shell as long as our authority was not challenged.

Now the world is getting warm. Some say that the summer of 2010 is going to teach us quite a few lessons. Please put on your seat belts.

Tanvir Salim

May 18, 2010 is like any other day of the year. The news are usual, the weather is almost like yesterday. It is not unusual to see a day like this going to pass like any other day. Even the thoughts are getting staled. The life moves on, awaiting for a new day, with a hope that whatever comes will be different and will be with fresh ideas. That is our hope for today.

We look around and see the same setting, the same environment and the same folks. It is not the time to moan and lament. We have being told to count our blessings each day. It is a matter of great solace that the setting is there-unspoiled, the environment is there-with some traces of harm being done, the folks are there-healthy and wise.

These are all good things which Allah has bestowed on us. We should be grateful for having all the bounties here in this world which has been promised in the paradise. Tanvir Salim

Very soon UPA II is going to complete one year in office. It came on the crest of the euphoria that was created after a stunning victory in the elections to the  Lok Sabha.

The euphoria is dwindling and the harsh realities are surfacing.  One of the drawbacks is the lack of  a clear majority and hence dependance on erring partners. But one should never forget that politics makes strange bed fellows. Other wise, who would have thought that a person like Man Mohan Singh, who claims himself to be the “accidental politician” will be doing the acts which he would have never thought to be doing. If you want to know more , please pay attention to the guest list for the dinner which he will be hosting to mark the completion of one year in the office.

Tanvir Salim

Hello,
My name is Tanvir Salim.

I strongly believe that the world will be a better place, if all human beings are treated equal. For the last fifty years, my family has been instrumental in championing the cause of social justice, especially for the backward sections in the Muslim community. My father was in the 7th Lok Sabha and my grandfather was a MLA, MLC, and a cabinet rank Minister in the Uttar Pradesh Government.

The highest Degree I received is M.S. in Energy (Nuclear Engineering).

The schools and colleges I have attended are:

• Colvin Taluqdar’s College, Lucknow, India
• Aligarh Muslim University (AMU), Aligarh, India
• University of Lowell, Massachusetts, USA

Professional Experience

Over twenty years of engineering and project management experience at various companies in United States, i.e., Yankee Atomic Electric Company, Energy Incorporated, Boston Edison Company, Entergy Corporation, and Shaw Stone and Webster.

Memberships

• American Nuclear Society 1998 onwards.
• Was Member of the Academic Council at University of Gorakhpur in 1987-88.

My teaching Experience – I was a lecturer of Mechanical Engineering at Malviya Engineering College in Gorakhpur, India in 1987-88.

Hobbies

My hobbies are reading, writing, and gardening.

Personal

 My family consists of my wife Seema, daughter Saman, and son Shaaz.

Address in the US

30 Skyline Circle
Canton, MA 02021
Home: (781) 575-0510
ssallim@comcast.net

Address in India

306 Wazirabad
Gorakhpur (UP) – 273015
Ph: 0551-2255875