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.

Road Trip to Mumbai

I love driving, No no I hate driving especially when it includes waking up at 5 am and starting in the dark to skip the unforgiving jams of the city and reach the expressway before the dawn.
So, it was decided that we will spend our Xmas in Mumbai at our relative's place and it sounded real fun to roam in the city that I have never seen before.
So, the three of us i.e. me, my footloose better half and and my sis-in-law with an even looser foot woke up at sharp 5:00 am and my red beauty started roaring at 5:30 am.
Wow!! that is an achievement, we all looked at each other as we inhaled the relatively less polluted air that was on offering .
Odometer was willing to reach greater heights but I curbed my instincts so as not to make today as any stray dog's last day. Even when there was too much of temptation to hit the gas pedal, logic prevailed over impulse. However, we missed the road to reach the Express way as there was too much to talk amongst ourselves even at 5:30 in the morning. Still, we were content as the old Bombay Pune Highway was not that bad and I had the experience of driving on half-baked roads all my life.
After we covered 60 odd kms, we managed to enter the Express-way and then the tables were turned. Now, the impulse was overwhelming and at least the logic was thrown to the winds, if not the caution. Odometer reached 100, then 110 and slowly made its way to 130, I was feeling like a jaguar with my eyes all over the place. I was looking left, right and of course straight as well. However, my desire to act like an eagle to spot almost everything in our way was not fulfilled as fog engulfed us like a mother wraps a sleeping baby in its lap.
                               With in next few minutes, the nerves were relaxed and I was at much more ease now. However, along with all the bad things attached to it, the good thing with impulse is, it is extremely short-lived and soon the logic admonished the odometer which started showing speed of 90 to 100 kms/hr.
Very shortly we entered the picturesque  valleys of Lonavla and Khandala. I saw the Rajmati garden which we visited last time around.
We entered Mumbai at around 8 am and it took us one more hour to reach Borivali. It was a very swift journey (though covered in i20 instead of SWIFT) and the combo of the speed and the scenic route made it 
even more enjoyable.
We spent two full days visiting to Gate way of India, Churchgate, Marine Drive, Gorai Beach and it was great to visit all these places. Great food that the city of Mumbai offers was an added delight. At times, I was either mesmerized by the speed at which the city moves or the British architecture that the building in the chruchgate area displays.
For the first time, I inhaled the same air that my all time favorite Sachin Tendulkar inhales and thanked mumbai for producing such an incarnation of the almighty.
Looking forward to many more such trips to explore the biggest and the most lively city of India.

Religion

As soon as one reads the word religion, one thinks of a sage chanting mantras. Don't stamp my loyalities as partisan as I respect all the religions and their teachings. However, as a born Hindu, I felt connected to the  thought of a sage. One may replace it with any Sufi singing about the almighty to suit to one's liking.
However, religion is not just about chanting mantras, it contributes a lot in bringing discipline and docility in an otherwise unruly world. Given a chance, the soberest of the man will commit the heinous-est  of the crimes if there is no authority to judge and rate his acts. However, as spider-man's step father says, "With greater power, comes greater responsibility", there is a greater chance that this power is misused by the demagogues.
I would like to share a story from one of the Osho's books, There was a community of dogs which used to bark without any reason. There was a spiritual leader of that dog community who used to advise dogs to abstain from barking. His lectures were attended by a large number, however left little impact and failed to bring about any change in the habit of dogs.
On one fine day, all the dogs decided to abstain from barking and this will be their biggest gift to their leader. It was virtually impossible for dogs to control their basic instincts when the moon lit sky appealed to them to bark at their highest pitch. However, out of respect to their leader they somehow remained quiet. As the leader of the dogs observed that there is pin-drop silence and no single dog is barking, he was very surprised, though not pleasantly and he became curious to know about the reason of this eerie silence.
His curiosity grew to become worry as he felt there will be no need of any spiritual leader if all the dogs will be so well behaved. He came out of his house and found all the streets empty. He himself got carried away by the beauty of full moon and sensed an urge to bark. He realized there is no one around and even if barks, no one will come to know about it. After pondering over the thought for a while, he finally barked.
As soon as the leader barked, all the dogs thought that the someone has broken the protocol and started barking.
The leader felt so elated at hearing these loud barks that he immediately called  all the dogs and admonished them for being so loud at mid night and all the followers quietly accepted their mistake and thanked the leader for showing them the right way.
Isn't the real life similar to this anecdote?

Greatest Migration

The only thing that is constant in this world is the CHANGE. As the time takes a stroll, things roll and they roll for a change. With this perpetual fact embedded in their mind, creatures move or migrate from one place to another. The pattern of their movement is as random as a hot air balloon caught up in a whirlwind. However, one has to read between their constantly moving legs to find the deep rooted purpose in all such random movements. As the study predicts, the migration of Zebras is meant to confuse the predators, whereas big cats move away, shunning all their luxuries to avoid a possibility of confronting a potential rival.

There is another species i.e. us, the humans, who is on constant move and a select few nomads at times have given away all the comforts of life to explore the world. I tried to relate the pattern of their movements to other species but the randomness of their migrations was hard to link with one single species.

The word migrate is comprehended in different ways by various individuals.  Some take it as a challenge and the new set of opportunities entice them to take up this gauntlet whereas some couch potatoes do not like to move away from the coziness that the familiar surrounding offer them. There are some foot-lose mavericks who feel satisfied only when their out of their comfort zone where as some nostalgic souls weep in silence and accept the change as their fate.

The Term “World is Flat”, coined by Mr. Thomas Friedman is the epitome about the Greatest Migration of all times, the migration of the workers from one place to another.  Since ages, workers from all over the world have shifted their abode from one place to another in search of work. It is much easier these days to go to a far place on a deputation and enjoy all the luxuries of the life or in other words, the process of migration has become less painful and this has fueled the increasing number of professional willing to migrate to other countries.

I do not doubt the pain one has to endure while leaving the motherland, however, the luxuries and the comfort that is being offered these days, certainly reduces the pain and emotional trauma involved. There is no way; one can compare the pain of software engineer, living in a plush apartment, to the pain of Mr. Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, which he endured during his stay at London. Food Habits, acclimatization to local weather, self-dependency for each and every small thing are some of the initial hurdles that migrant faces. However, as human has tamed all the wild things on this little planet, such hurdles are no different to humankind.

For Innocent lives who had a right to live

Spill the blood, Spill the blood,
It's so cheap, let's make a flood.

It's the poor and the oppressed, so no one would care,
If you see some white flesh, don't you dare.

There are loops and there are flaws,
Law is old and it has no claws.

It will be fun as it will get dark,
Only few will fight and rest will lark.

There will be an odd candle and it will glow,
World will not stop and life will flow.

They are coward and they are duds,
They don't even care to crush a few buds.

Someday, they will repay for their sins,
they will sulk and rot in the bins.

We all just wish and we all just pray,
Sinful souls will repay and their nerves will fray.

सुबह

सुबह सुबह, आदमी प्रस्सन्न रहने की कोशिश में रहता है. सोचता है दिन भर को झेलने के लिए सुबह की एक कप चाय, बीवी के साथ प्यार के दो बोल, उसकी दिल को खिला देने वाली एक मुस्कराहट और ताज़ी ताज़ी खबरों से लदा हुआ अखबार, दिन को खुशुनुमा बनाये रखने का रामबाण नुस्का है . तो १२० करोड़ लोगो की सुबह कुछ इस तरह ही शुरू होगी. अब आप ललचा रहे होंगे हमारी गलती निकालने के लिए की १२० करोड़ तो पूरी जनसँख्या है, इसमें औरत, बच्चे और बुजुर्ग भी तो शामिल होंगे. तो साहब, जब इस देश में शेरो के अलावा किसी और को परिवार नियोजन की नहीं पड़ी, तो फिर हम क्यों एक सही संख्या को जानने परेशानी मोल ले.
तो एक आम आदमी, सुबह के उन तेजी से फिसलते हुए लम्हों को पकड़ने की पुरजोर कोशिश करता है. कभी नहाने में देरी करना, तो कभी न्यूज़ सुनने की ललक, ये सब, घर के सुरक्षित माहोल से बाहर के जंगल की और जाने से बचने की कोशिश नहीं तो और क्या है.
उसे पता होता है की एक बार बाहर कदम पड़े तो उसे किसी चीज़ का ध्यान नहीं रहेगा और रहा भी तो लोग उसे ज्यादा देर विचार मुद्रा में रहने नहीं देंगे.
चाहे कितनी ही मुश्किल में हो, चाहे कितनी ही विकत और जटिल समस्याएं अपना ताड़का रुपी मूह फैलाये कड़ी हो, ये सुबह के कुछ पल, इस आम आदमी को कुछ सुकून के पल प्रदान करते है, उसे उर्जा देते है तमाम परेशानियों से जूझने की और उन पर विजय प्राप्त करने की.
सुबह सुबह यही सदविचार न जाने कितने ही लोगो के मन में घर कर जाता है की ज़िन्दगी इतनी बुरी भी नहीं की इसे आधा छोड़ दिया जाए और इतनी मजबूर भी नहीं की इसे पैमानों में तौल दिया जाए.

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Initial Tantrums

To walk or not to walk? He kept waiting for the right time to wake up and walk

Brooding over the same, he lay there like a useless weed,

Ignorant he was as didn't knew, any time is right for such a deed.

He brushed aside the dirt off his motionless mind and started walking,

There are better things to be done in life than just talking.

He walked a few meters,  precarious enough to stand tall,

He walked past the famaliar surroundings and forgot the fear of fall. 

The trees, the roads, the people were all new and the air was so fresh that he never knew.

He felt stronger, his legs felt the joy, suddenly he was neither afraid nor he was coy.

He breathed hard and he breathed fast, as if he didn't knew which one would be his last.

His desire to explore further was unabated as each part of his body felt elated.

There is no greater motivation than a change in life, one should keep moving and chances will be rife,

No gain in sitting on the fence and dwell over the past, he should hurry up as life is moving fast.

Chocolate Swiss Roll

I have been a fortunate witness of 'THE' famous incident during my college years. I used THE here because this incident has been universally accepted as the most hillarious thing ever happened amongst friends.
We all know that Ignorance is a bliss and I am a firm believer of this adage. However, in a few funny siutations, ignorance can be a bliss to the surrounding people as well.
In the initial days of our supposed to be midnight-oil-burning years, four of us (Me, Bhargava, Nikhil and Sahai) planned to go to delhi and invited ourselves to a friend's place. As the friend was from Delhi and he had 4 long boring years ahead of him which he has to unwillingly spend at Gwalior, he decided to be our host.
He proved to be a really good host as he not only gave us his knowledgable company and showed us various places in delhi but also treated us with finger-licking delicacies which delhi as a city has to offer. So, THE incident happened in the one of the most happening places, I have ever seen in my life till that point of time. The scene was supposed to take place at a Baker's shop at Connaught Place(CP).
The setting was perfect and we were just slacking off after a tiring day of doing nothing. All of us have slept like bears of-course without the botch. So, we decided to hit the CP and do some shopping, as if we had our swiss coffers overflowing with money.
After running from one shop to another and haggling for measly bargains, we decided to treat ourselves with some pasteries. As we all were having limited amount of words at our disposal as far as English language was concerned, we decided to say the name that we all loved most, Black Forest Pastry. See, Easy to say, Good to eat, what else one can ask for. However, Nikhil had some other plans. On that particular day, he had the mindset of a fiyadeen and decided to blow himself out. He was curiously looking at a pastry which had chocolate overflowing from its sides. The name of the mouth watering thing was Chocolate Swiss Roll. I jumped in to advise him on the blunder he was about to commit.
I asked , Boss, will you be able to say this name. He said, why not, I should at least try else how will I ever learn.
I nodded with my head swinging like a upside-down pendulum and made my way to visitor's gallery to watch this epic incident. Nikhil wavered but looked determined, he slowly but surely moved to the counter and ordered, I want Chocolate.
See, it's not that difficult to say. But I think he missed something. The clerk at the counter said, Pardon, what did you say? Now, everything went out of gear and this poor chap mumbled a few words which are still ringing in my ears, Chik-Su-Roll...
What's that? The clerck beamed and gave a dirty look at him. Suddenly, Mr. Delhi appeared from nowhere and said, he needs Choco Swiss Roll. Can't you get it? The rudeness of that guy at counter diminished a bit and he gave the much coveted pastry to my friend.
Though, this has been one of the most hillarious episides in my college life but it still taught a great lesson to me. The man with biggest heart is the man who can laugh at himself. Such is the character of my dear friend Nikhil that he done two good deeds in a single go. The first being, the courage to try something new and then laughing at his own mistake. We still laugh at that incident and shout like monkeys , Give me a Chick-Su, Give me a Chick-Su.

A helpless constable

It was a typical hot and humid day of north indian summer. I was assigned a huge responsibility of traveling to Gwalior by train and I had to take care of the cutest member of our family, our 6 year old Pomeranian, Naughty. The journey was supposed to be 12 hours long but it was made to be 24 hours long because of an accident and as a result the rail tracks had to be relaid.

As a dog cannot travel in the sleeper class and has to be locked in the guard's compartment, Me and my brother thought of taking this responsibility in shifts. Naughty growled when I tried to push him in the cage. The cage was a small room where even a full grown male can be stuffed into.
so, my poor little naughty tried to put up a fight and tried all mean to avoid the humiliation that I was forcing him to go through. I had to repent my decision as it took me almost a week after that to reconcile with him.

So, when all the means failed, the cute little creature resigned and entered into cage. So, in that little dingy guard's compartment, I was sitting there with naughty and a guard and a railway police constable. The constable in his mid fifties was explaining in detail, the terror a local dacoit has in the area through which the train was passing through. He was feeling very lucky that he was still alive after having a close encounter with the dacoit's gang.

He narrated the entire incident where the train was looted and people were beaten as they tried to hide their valuables, he thanked to the almighty that no one was killed btu felt sorry about a young man who tried to hide his wallet and was beaten up very badly.

The train was giving a great background score and the wild barren lands outside the window were creating the perfect atmosphere for eulogizing the legends of the greatest dacoit ever walked on this planet. This whole magical scene created by the underpaid and ill-equipped constable was disturberd by another underpaid but well-equipped-for-job person "Guard". He asked innocently, what will you do if this dacoit attacks this train, will you save the people.

This question somehow perplexed the cop and he opened his paraphernalia. He showed his little bamboo stick which people call laathi, he showed his whistle, his log book and his various other official douments which he has to fill in case he has to take action against anybody or has to report it to local rail police authorities. Instead of replying to Guard's question, he blatantly asked him to advise, what should a cop do without proper training and equipments. He had no shame in accepting that he will simply run for his life if any dacoit attack happens.

Before this incident, my outlook towards police department was same as the outlook held by most of people around me. However, after listening to this story from this ramshackled old cop, I couldn't agree more with him. For the first time in my life, I was having a soft corner for the very department which has been projected as the devil of our society.

I asked him, Isn't there any govt. plans for overhauling the system. He got even more confused and asked me if that means to stop the corruption. I said, yes but no, not just corruption but also the training and providing proper arms and ammunition, better intelligence and better salary.

He was able to catch hold of the last word salary and said, yes there was some plan in some pay commission but it was put on the backburner and never got implemented. However, he candidly accepted his ignorance on other points and said, we the lowest level guys never know and uttered a few north indian bad-word-delicacies for his bosses. He then went on to narrate the ill-effects of his service on his personal life.

I avoided to probe him further because as we say in our society, With police, it's better to be at an arm's distance with them. The cop kept blabbering, No-money , No-respect and No-self-satisfaction, this is the summary of a cop's life.

I took a look at the cage in which my naughty was sitting near the bars and even he was feeling pity after hearing the sad story of the person who was assigned with the responsibility of serving and caring for an entire train full of humans.

खेल के मैदान

झाँका पड़ोस में मांगने को एक अदनी सी खुशी, हर घर में हाथ तंग मिले।
सूने सपाट खेल के मैदानों में बच्चे मुझको चंद दिखे।

Friendship.. Part1

There are bad things, there are worse things and then there are broken friendships. At a very tender age of 6, Joy was feeling punished while sitting at the window seat of his school bus. World was closing on him and he was feeling the first signs of claustrophobia. He was on the brink of breaking and daily, the life seemed to hit a dead end when he left his parents to board this bus.
His young and moronic philosophic nature was unable to understand the motives of his family by forcing him to go to school.

Suddenly, a 5th grade senior pushed his face on the window and twisted his ear to prove his clout to his select group of sycophants. Joy had no choice but to leave the seat. Suddenly, he felt a comforting hand on his shoulder, he turned to find a lanky boy 'Deep' standing there with his nostrils fuming.

Deep asked him, do you want to hit him? Joy: he is much stronger than I am. Deep: Still, it's worth trying!! Quite an adacious idea deep but No. Deep turned away from him and said, Now see this and lent a full blooded Rocky Balboa style left hook to the chubby face of the ill manner 5th grader. This was unexpected and the victim was lying on the floor with his nose bleeding.
Deep was sure that hard times were lying ahead and he has to go through the ordeal of listening to parent's rebuke and his name is going to be in the very bad books of the principal. Still, he was smiling and whispered in Joy's ear. Someday, try this out and you will love it. Attack first and attack hard.
Whoaa, Joy had an eventful day today. He was still shaking but certainly felt cuddled by this lanky little boy. Who knew, they were going to be part of a legend!!

Day by Day, we loose it?

Looking at this calendar that has become part of my daily schedule, I wonder what life will be after a few years if I follow the same schedule.

Am I loosing touch with my folks? certainly not as I love all of them so much and they reciprocate the same. However, it constantly itches me that I am loosing the best years of my life in the worst possible way!! Anyways, time for another meeting.. Ciao

The Zoya Factor- A Review

I have finished the book two days ago but I am not out of my bad mood yet. This book by Anuja Chauhan makes fun of the art of book writing itself. There has to be a mix of crisp and elegnat words with slangs appearing once in a while. However, Zoya factor relies on slangs that runs through one entire line and sometimes dare to break that limit too.
The character potrayed are so weak and fickle that they fail to grab your attention. They contradict their own set of beliefs that you keep forgetting the initial nature of the character potrayed.
The reader can easily loose interest at any point of time unless he have the patience and ability to handle the low quality of literature served to him. The overdose of foul language (though necessary at times) bores you and looses the punch which authors like Shobha Dey delivers at crucial points.
The author in her first attempt at writing, has ignored a few basic fundamentals that every good novel have, it's the lack of details. The details about each character, the details about the crucial matches that team India plays and many more scenarios where she could have mesmerized the readers with her words are missing.
In short, this story is about a girl who is considered lucky for her country's cricket team and this becomes the hottest talking point of the cricketing community which has its side-effects on her private life which remain no more private. In the end, I will leave it up to reader's own wish to risk 300 odd rupees and a week's times on that book. In my humble opinion, it's a must-not-read kind of book.

Life @ full throttle

There are fast moving trains, aeroplanes, fighter jets, space rockets and then there is my life. Past few months have been packed to such an extent that at times, I literally had to check my calendar before planning anything.
I always see a true reflection of my life in the system which our society has adopted. I always have a long list of things to do and almost all the time, I miss all the items which I prioritize. So, it was quite a fulfilling experience when I did most of them which I had prioritized in past 4 months or so. I have been an excellent planner and a pathetic implementer and I have no qualms in accepting that I always end up doing worthless things which eat up major chunk of my time. However, this time around life has forced me to do only the most important things and compelled me to ignore the worthless items which I wanted to do.
It was like a fight-for-survival kind of situation. If someone hits your eye, your brain doesn't think about poetry or the latest SRK movie, all it thinks is to close the eye with a hand to minimize the impact. Well, imagine such Mind-Eye-Coordination going on for a month or so and sometimes I had to stop to catch a breath and I would be lying if I deny that I loved every second of it. Life is still in top gear if not at top speed but am staring hard down at the earth, panting and slowly but surely murmering, Let's do it again!!