Guilty of not running :(

My Lord or as the overly enthusiastic Bollywood lawyers call it, Me Lord or Milord, the person standing right up there has been accused with the charge of MURDER!! Hell, No, why can't I get my lines right, actually he has been charged with an even serious offence of NOT RUNNING!!!
Oh yeah, this time it's as crisp as it can get, this guy named as Siddhartha has started making up for the loss of running by just walking. The judge took a demeaning look at me and order, Proven Guilty, he should be made to run until his last breath.
I protested, No Milord, this isn't true, I really want to run, I can run and I will run but no one paid heed to my cries and my voice returned to me after trying to negotiate with a few blank faces. Suddenly a cool December breeze hit my left ear and my entire left cheek got frozen. As I opened my eyes to see a struggling sunlight trying to make its way through the non-budging clouds, I realized it was a dream, or more aptly a nightmare but annoyingly close to reality. I have kind of given away running and taken up extensive walking. After walking for around 4 kilometers, my legs get all warmed up and rare to go for another 4 kms without any sort of trouble. I walk nearly 4 to 5 kms on a daily basis and really love the entire journey even though I had to walk on the busy streets of the city on my way back to home.
The hands move a little slow at first and the knees and ankles feel jammed but as the first 10 minutes pass, it feels all well oiled up and in great nick. I try to make it 10,000 steps a day but always feel that I am reaching to around 8,000 only. Still, these 8,000 steps do make me feel lighter and better. I know there is nothing like running in a cold morning breeze but I have happily accepted walking as its substitute as it requires less commitment and its virtually injury free as well.
I hope that I would try to run at least once in a week but for the rest of the week, I would be just slowly measuring miles on my foot. The only thing that is disturbing me are such foolish nightmares.

Things change and How?

I distinctly remember a hot summer afternoon of 2001, there were few college seniors along with our batchmates involved in an intense college canteen discussion. I was aloof to all the concerns and worries like lack of placements and a bleak future awaiting us right outside the college campus. I had my own plans of doing MBA and my simple math told me that by the time I would be out in the market with a management degree, this recession will just be over.
Although, none of my plans of pursuing further education actually materialized, I still wonder about the accuracy of my prediction about the recession. I don't know how but I landed up in a job that I was not initially looking for and eventually got desperate for, whereas others ended up being more despearte as it was them who actually deserved such jobs as it was them who had prepared for it.
Well, the discussion in that airy and almost non-existent canteen shifted to monetary expectation that one can have. I had a modest amount in my mind at the start and wondered if I would ever get such a coveted starting salary. I again did some mind math and decided that Rs 10,000 would be more than enough for me to have all the luxuries of life. Why on this mother earth, any one would want more than such an extravagant salary. I even planned to buy a branded white T-shirt with blue denims from my first paycheque.
Reality treated me with utmost care and gave me much more than I ever dreamt of. I got my first salary a little more than the amount I had thought of and in these 8 years, that amount has been mutiplied few times.
However, this huge sum still falls short as the luxuries have become necessities now and the necessities like a girl's age keeps on increasing at a rapid pace.
I simply wonder how things change with in a few years, however, I am not sure if the change is always for the betterment and is there is any end to such change. Well whoever said that it's all Maya and one should shun all the worldly pleasure, surely hasn't seen the newest SUV launched last week. I bet even saints from himalayas will drool over its curves.

Chaotic days

Actually, I had nothing to write. I have been going through a mixed variety of emotions in the past few days and each and everyone of it was worth living!! ok, so a much simplistic yet effective way of jotting down the things. The below list does include a few things which I have wanted to do since long
Period in scope is past fortnight.
1. Started playing cricket on weekend: Sad to know that sharp reflexes have given way to fatigue and a trademark sprint to chase a ball has been a thing of past.
2. Visited an orphange: All thanks to my friends who asked me to accompany them. Good to see the evils done by society have been unable to crush the spirits of young buds. Though, they have been HIV infected for no fault of theirs, they have stood up and supported by a few noble souls. Hats off to you guys, look forward to meet you soon
3. Mumbai Trip: Another visit tothe city which would serves as my temporary-would-be abode in near future. Though, this time it was a short trip for an official training. Got a chance to meet my childhood buddies and we talked for hours and hours non-stop. There was so much to catch up. We talked about our school days, summer vacations, silly games that we used to play, our favorite movies, our favorite places that we used to visit and then there were new things to discuss about our new jobs, new places, new restaurants, new movies and blah blah blah and further blah blah blah. At the end of each day, each one of us murmured, Oh those were the best days of my life.
There has been no stagnity in the past few days but did I miss it in the first place. Nahhhh!!

Lokpal and Anna Saheb's effect on democracy

He has always been a big crowd puller. Does that prove him right, all the time? It's a big question, I have dealt with all along my childhood. I never got the answer though. All I got were arguments and counter arguments. Some were adamant to catapult him to God-like stature and others were just happy demeaning him.
Yes I am talking about the toughest puzzles that even natives of old blighty struggled to solve, The Great Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi.
I always thought will anyone really pay heed to what a weak and seclusion loving man has to offer. His ideologies, his methods were far too simple yet difficult for my childish comprehension. I just knew one rule, if the opponent is weaker than you, don't spare him and if he is stronger, spare yourself. My closest encounter with Gandhian ways was the movie "Lago Raho MunnaBhai", where I got a chance to see the effectiveness of Satyagrah.
I also noticed a few positive changes around me when people started to behave courteously to each other. The instances were rare but I couldn't stop myself from being amazed when I notice a teenager looking for a dustbin to throw away his chocolate's wrapper. It gave me a kind of belief that things can and will change.
However, the magnanimity of the non-violence was yet to hit me. It took a 74 years old man clad in a plain white attire to convince me that this is the only way to success. I came to realize that even a non-violent man gets angry and his anger is even more dangerous than a violent man.
A violent man may commit a crime in his frenzy, however, a level headed person with deadly tools such as hunger strikes and mass support, can bring an entire nation on to the streets. He can bring down the government to its knees and can change the future of the generations to come.
I can very well understand government woes here. They have to face the public wrath, first for its inaction against corruption and then for its harsh action of arresting Shri Anna Hazare Ji.
What works in favor of Anna and works entirely to the disadvantage of government is the clean image that Anna carries. The very notion of maligning his image is like wishing for harakiri. And the  govt's strategy of terming the civil society representatives as Frankenstein Monster has been a flop shop.
There are a few intellectuals with a few extra gray cells are calling this movement a dangerous precursor to future where people will be able to hold the government of the world's largest democracy to ransom. However, it's a absurd notion to compare issue of corruption to any other issue. In fact, to the people of our country nothing is more important than Politics, Bollywood and Cricket. And I doubt the later two will ever be able to generate so much of public ire. Yes, in politics, there is a chance that people may take to streets again as it touches upon their day to day life. Issues like land acquisition, demands for separate state and lots of other sensitive issues are capable of creating a public disorder. However, to address such situation, we have voted for public representatives and allowed them to form a government.
These public figures have been entrusted with the responsibility of catering to the hopes of a great society. So, such agitations serve as a reminder to the members of the parliament who sit in the sanctum-sanctorum of the democracy that this game is not entirely theirs.
In fact it is a very healthy sign for democracy that such large gathering have been totally peaceful and have been able to convey the public message in a strong and effective manner. I hope this movement's focus stays on the Lokpal and its effectiveness rather than debating on the length and venue of the hunger-strike. May this man succeed in his campaign and the hopes of millions see a bright sunshine in the next few days. Amen!!

OH No, Yet Again

Look Mom, What I have found, the child ran into the house showing his prized possession to all his family members. His mom screamed at the alto of her voice. Put that plastic bomb down, right now. Don't you remember, your elder brother has torn his two pairs of pajamas playing with these stupid things. Your daddy cannot afford another pair of pajamas in the mid of the month.
I wish these little devils in the forms of IEDs and other forms of detonators would have been as harmless as apparent in the above story. Sadly, they aren't. They are destructive enough not to just shatter the bones and splash the blood and flash but they also posses an innate quality of spoiling millions of happy dreams. The news flash may have reported the death toll as just 20 and keep repeating about the same old crap that we have been bored off. Yes, you are bang on!!  the so called spirit of the human race to get back to its usual routine.  However, what these greasy palms of TV channels failed to touch upon is that each number which is reported as a casualty leaves hundreds of lives changed forever.
No marches, no political assurances can alleviate their grief. Ask a teenager who has lost his old buddy with whom he used to share each and every detail of his life. They started they kindergarten together, they shared their water bottles, lunch boxes, common interests and sometimes common crush too. Ask a fiancee whose would-be better half had promised her a life full of dreams. Ask a teacher whose years of hard work has been invested in creating a good human being. However, dare not ask a mother about her perennial loss.
Each time such situation occurs, we dial a few numbers and once we find all our acquaintances safe and secure, we get back to business-as-usual. I am not sure, what can be done and must be done but such re-occurrences make each of us feel impotent and question each value and virtue that we have been inculcated with.
The bitter icing on the already gross cake of democracy is that each Indian know that justice is not something that they can really hope for. However, all we can do is to pray for the souls of those ill-fated who unwillingly killed the bucket and left home never to come back. I Wish getting them back had been as easy as ordering a new pair of pajamas.

Bhaag Bhaag: Belly Belly Nice

Before I even usher a single word about your movie, Khan Saheb, Please take a bow, yeah that's right, you can bend even further and further. You have every right to claim the kind of adulation and praise flowing your way as you have created another cult movie. Great film makers strive to create a single epic in their life time and you have the distinct qualification of being part of many such cult movies. Be it Qyamat se Qyamat Tak, Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikander, Rang De Basanti and to top it all Lagan.
However, today we are once again amazed by your ability to surprise and entertain the audience. As a producer, you had taken the biggest risk by asking the families to not come together for this movie. You have even taken the pain to ask for an Adult certificate for your movie. By doing so, you certainly have beleaguered yourself from the masses. However, at the same time, you have shown that your sense of insecurity is buried deep down somewhere in the pacific ocean and there doesn't seems even an iota of chance for it to resurface. Even the biggest superstars of our times aren't able to overcome their feeling of insecurity and repeat their masterpieces zillion times again, just to make sure their balance sheet doesn't bad at the end of the day.
Delhi Belly, right from the word go, enthralls the viewer and asks him to shade away all his darkest fears and be part of protagonist's suffering. The script is definitely not new and we have seen lots of mayhem scenes where everyone is running around to grab a piece of cake. However, this time around, each scene in Delhi Belly grasps viewer's attention to such an extent that the viewer completely forgets about the next scene and remains oblivious to the main plot or cause of the chaos.
Each dialogue is not delivered just for the sake of it but thrown away like a shrewd pugilist's punch and knocks down the viewers, laughing. The movie moves at such a neck breaking pace that it leaves no scope for the songs itself. However, I doubt even the ardent music fans will complain about the absence of songs as the insanity of the movie makes up for it.
On a scale of 1 to 5, movie certainly deserves 5 and a half stars. An extra half is solely because of I being partial towards my favorite, Amir Khan. He appears in the song at the end of the movie. His Mithun da antics and Anil kapoors beary (hairy) chest adds another burst of laughter to the already laughter filled movie hall. Amir Khan has done justice to the negative roles as well and his ghost-direction is evident in many a such scenes. The background characters, who has nothing to do with the scene, are appropriately placed and has played their part to perfection. For ex- When the burqua-clad man enters a stranger's toilet and the entire house is filled with the sound and the scent of his wrong-doings, the house owner's face expressions try to disown the sounds of farts and plead for their innocence. There are many more such scenes which makes this movie a far more than just another movie.
If I am not wrong, decades from now, this movie will be treated as a cult and will hold a special place in our hearts like Andaaz Apna Apna does. However, this time around, even the timing is also perfect which Rajkumar Santoshi failed to realize and made a movie much ahead of its time.
Oh, teri tirchhi najar ne dil ko kar diya pancher!!

International Women's Day

She clinched the bedsheets with her fists, she kicked the bed with her feet, the pain was excruciating and all the means to alleviate the suffering were diminishing. Her eyes were looking as if they had lost the battle of life and were in some kind of trans. Just when the hope has booked a ticket to travel to another world, things started to get better.
Suddenly a cry baby, crying as if he has lost millions in the stocks, arrived in this world. I am sorry to use HE, to refer to the newly born baby, apologies for acting as a male chauvinistic pig (MCP) and all my MCP instincts were rightly slapped in the face by this story teller's more rational mind. It was a girl !!!! The one who brought this little fairy into this world was a little apprehensive as she looked around to find a glimmer of hope but sadly there was none.
She frantically looked at the pillar of her life, her husband, and this pillar was already shaking as if it has been hit by a Tsunami even larger than the one wreaking havoc in Japan. To her dismay, no one asked her if she was well after bearing so much of pain. No one massaged her hairs to comfort her and congratulate her on doing such a pious things by bringing a life into this world.
The so-called-wiser people of the village gathered to be the partners-in-the-crime. There was no doubt in their minds, the only confusion was about the method. They thought, burying the little curse deep down in the cemetery would be apt and it will be less painful as well. They pulled away the baby from the arms of the crying mother and started walking.
They didn't talk too much amongst them as the little baby cried for little mercy. She was minuscule but had the strength of a goddess and she mustered all the courage and strength and unknowingly grasped the little finger of his father. His father felt a sudden burst of rage and threw her in the pit. The pit was dutifully covered and they walked off as if nothing has happened.
A dog with innumerable licks whose lives dependent on the four-legged creature, walked towards the newly created grave and started digging it. A few minutes later, he found a corpse with no life left in it. He jumped on the body and bend his head to take a closer look. Still, perturbed by the sequence of events, he took his tongue out and cleaned the mud from the face of the baby. The little goddess must have been waiting to see this hidden humanity in the cage of an animal's body. she grabbed the dog's ear and pulled it off. The dog was taken aback and started barking. He barked in the cemetery, no one heard him, he barked in the main market, still no one heard him. Then he thought of doing something on his own. Again, I really don't know if it was a male dog but the caring nature and the zeal to save a life does qualify for female characteristics. Anyways, the dog grabbed the white robbed in which the baby was wrapped and started running towards the market place.
I am not sure how the things would have ended up but one thing I am assured of is that the baby won't die. I f she had to die, she would have died in that little cozy grave or she would have died seeing the hatred in the eyes of her loved ones. She will definitely survive and I hope she spreads happiness into the lives of millions. Isn't it what women are best at doing, Spreading happiness!!

Wrong Times, Right People

25 years Ago:
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He looked unsettled today, failing miserably at the attempt to hide tears. The demons that he feared were roused again and troubling today and he looked helpless and thirsty under the scorching sun. He looked at his water bottle which was empty by now and felt restless at the thought of spending the whole day in the school. Well, that doesn't sound that daunting but for him it was as daunting as counting the teeth of a hungry Lion.  I would have opted to count the teeth of crocodile but they look like extended relatives of lizards to me and I hate lizards.
He looked at his grandpa's face and decided to plead for a holiday. However, the honking horn at the corner of the road intimidated him and the fast approaching school bus appeared like a demon, ready to gulp, racing towards him.
Usually this was not the case with him and he used to race towards the school bus with a smile on his face. However, he was always accompanied by his elder brother who literally acted as a shield for him. No one can dare to mess with him while his big brother was around. Even the fat guy at the front seat used to avoid any confrontation. I am amazed to observe that fear and sense-of-security are close friends and when one leaves your heart, it asks its friend to accompany you for a while.  So, my fear filled heart somehow managed to spend the day without its care-taker. I still remember that day vividly and pity at that 5 year old kid who was afraid of taking even a step without his brother. His brother can hit him, eat his lunch, take away his gifts but will not leave him alone to face any crisis". This unquestionable love never abated in the coming years however that sense of insecurity was locked down and thrown away in the deep of the ocean.


10 days Ago:
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That insecurity suddenly broke down all the shackles and found its way straight to his heart and the 30 year old turned into a 5 year kid. He looked at the various equipments his brother was surrounded by and saw the battle to take one breath at a time. The shell of a 30 year old body overcame the thoughts of a 5 year old heart and didn't gave him much time to think. Living up to the reputation of being a fighter, his brother bullied away all the complications that surrounded him. 

There is a famous saying  "When things go wrong, you get to know the right people". 10 days ago, I realized how true, these words can be. In my case, I was happy to find out that I am surrounded by all the right people. Thanks to all such pious and pure human beings.

A long road to Hinjewadi

Vis-à-vis a blockbuster bollywood masala movie, there are many similarities to the road that leads the commuters to Hinjewadi as it has EMOTIONS in the form of frustration, DRAMA in the form of tussles that commuters get involved in and TRAGEDY that gives way to the back pain of the bikers. I am yet to find other two elements like LOVE and the other much tabooed basic instinct.
HINJEWADI,  The zone which belong to high-tech companies. Quiet rightly, it is supposed to be a jam-free area with lush gardens and pot-hole free roads. However, the reality is in stark contrast to this blissful assumption. The road is full of gravel, half baked patches which have been hastily covered with mud, football sized boulders lies here and there and luxury cars and their luscious curves rue their fate when they hit a sever manhole cover.
Now, it is imperative to talk about these manhole covers, they do their duty very efficiently and this reflects in their proud heads raised above the ground. Abrupt human reaction to avoid their proud heads results into many accidents. However, such incidents hold no ground as the cool headed dudes of municipal corporation have many other things to worry about. A few bruised knees, some dented car doors and a few distraught motorist are the only sufferers. Who cares when it's not your knee or your car?
There a few patches that makes your feet hit the gas and enjoy the ride for a while. However, one should not miss to look out for earth movers and other heavy vehicles which ply on this road 24X7.  If one thinks, he or she is done with the ups and downs of this epic road then think again as there will be relentless jams waiting your way. Nobody would be willing to give an inch and one needs to be as cool as an ice-tea, if not the often-said cucumber.
Though, it a 10 km stretch from my door but during the peak hours, it seems like light years away. The agonies that the body goes though in traveling these light years is another frill attached to the multi-feathered cap of this road.
I haven't yet touched upon the demonic nature of this turf in the rainy season. Like the blood-thirsty hills of a gory movie, the road transforms into a demon and unfurls its fangs to take you away by surprize. Those who have been less-blessed as they have not traveled on this gravel path should not feel like child of a smaller god as there will be many such hinjewadis all across the county where they can enjoy such rides and can feel blessed, serious pun intended.