tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-54131689418131786952024-02-08T10:30:01.456+05:30IroniesWorld is full ironies,and I pledge to prove itAbhishekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00612979197231356334noreply@blogger.comBlogger52125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5413168941813178695.post-68487124398294973632015-06-28T00:14:00.001+05:302015-06-30T14:11:39.222+05:30The American Myth Buster<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I haven't written in last 8 months. If you are a regular follower of my blog(which perhaps means that you are a friend and I shove my link into your inbox and implore you to read my new post), I apologise for being a lazy bum. If you are reading my blog post for the first time(which means you know me for less than 8 months), please don't judge me!<br />
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Okay, cutting the chase short, I am writing this post obviously because I went to meet Uncle Sam and came back with a lifetime of an experience, good, bad and amusing. There were a lot of advises given to me before I left, some stereotypical, others complete bull crap.<br />
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1) <b>Americans are dirty, look at their toilet habits</b>: Since we are on the topic of crap, how about getting this out of our heads? I will prefer euphemisms here, for obvious reasons. Imagine a plate which had served chocolate syrup, now you have two choices, wash it with water and bare hands, or, keep wiping the plate with napkin, until there is no chocolate syrup left on it. And when the time is right, run the plate under running water. I am not saying it's the best way to wash the plate, but it may not be as bad as we think it is. You get the drift, don't you?<br />
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2) <b>It is unsafe in some place, because you know, there's a bigger African American population</b>: It was said about Atlanta, and many other cities with high concentration of African American population, that the crime is high, wherever they are. It was said in hushed tones, but said nonetheless. Guess what? Race has nothing to do with crime. Education and poverty certainly has. Any community which has higher school dropouts and poverty(and not to mention history of extreme injustice) is bound to have higher crime rate, but to associate an entire community with crime is akin to saying all Indians are computer engineers and all Chinese work in factories.<br />
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3) <b>No poverty, awesome infrastructure</b> : America, like every other country in the world, faces problems of not always having adequate infrastructure. A quick visit to NYC downtown, and you will notice pot holes on the roads(yes, your heard me right), Taxi drivers jumping traffic lights, and lot of homeless people and over population. The NYC subway has stations which are so unkempt that you really wouldn't miss India. We have really good infrastructure there and here, and equally bad infrastructure there and here. Perhaps what differs is the ratio of good against bad.<br />
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4) <b>It is really easy to hook up with a person of opposite gender:</b> So basically, what Indians mean by this, is that American youth are slutty/casanova(which BTW is very condescending). Sorry to burst your bubble, the fact is, if you are not good enough, just like India and every other country, you won't be taken. If you are good though, you don't have to wriggle your way in. In a way, the girl wouldn't empty the first glass of water on your face and say, "How dare you approach me?". Americans are far more liberated than us, and do not hesitate in mingling and/or making the first move. How is that bad? <br />
5) <b>Amoral society, high divorce rates : </b>My uncle just read out a joke, which went like, "Father's day is the most dreaded day in America, because 80% of the people don't know who their father is, and the rest 20% dread that one from the 80% may turn up at their door to wish em". I have seen so many successful families there (even though it was just a month, my social interaction was high) that I don't even find this funny. The American parents give far more freedom to their children, than we Indians could ever imagine, and yes, they do not abandon their children, even if the child is born out of a wedlock or from a previous marriage. The divorce rates may be higher than India, but this is because they marry by choice(oh yes! They do) and when it doesn't work, they don't sulk and drag a failed marriage.<br />
6) <b>Americans hates Indians, are racists : </b>They certainly hate us much less than the hate we have for each other. Americans in general are one of the most friendly people I have ever come across. They don't judge you for what you do and where you from. An average American is far away from vagaries of technology industry(in which most Indians are employed), and do not care about the supposed 'job snatching' we do. Oh, and about racism, I didn't see American mothers put up ads on matrimonial site asking for a 'fair' daughter-in-law for their son. They also do not refer anyone who is dark as 'Kalu', 'Kaaliya' or 'Koyla'. And the Chinese, or anyone with oriental features is definitely not called 'Chinki'. So who's racist?<br />
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Having written everything that I wrote above, Indians too are stereotyped, but I will leave it to an American to visit us and be the myth buster.<br />
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Abhishekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00612979197231356334noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5413168941813178695.post-78355492468871661162014-09-21T17:14:00.000+05:302014-09-21T17:15:15.077+05:30A little over quarter life and the crisis<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">When I turned 25, I used
to smirk at the posts talking about quarter life crisis. And why not? I had
just turned 25, and realised that I could now officially consume all kind of
liquor in Mumbai(legal age 25). Why feel sorry about it? Why feel so low-brow about
it. Two years down the line, I am not particularly going through a crisis, but I
think I understand the exaggerations called the quarter life crisis. Let's talk
about some of the points mentioned in the famous and forwarded-many-times e-mail.
I promise, I will keep it short.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">You hate your job and
you wonder why you are doing it</span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">No sir, I do not hate my
job. I have a desk job, agreed. I do not go out like the hosts of discovery
channel or MTV into the wilderness or the most happening party in town. I also
do not get to travel a lot(forget about earning a living out of it). Neither do
I make a living out of tasting the best food around the globe. On the flip
side, I am not in a hot industrial warehouse, working on a machine,I am also
not cleaning the streets(no disrespect to the ones who do, rather they have my
respect), neither am I playing a nanny and cleaning child poop. I love driving,
and I am driving my own car, not someone else's car. I have got a lot to
complain about my job if I compare, and yet, I have got a lot to thank for, if
I compare. I am making a living, I am financially pretty much independent and
doing some interesting and challenging work occasionally(Yeah, before you raise
your brow, I know I am not a scientist).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">"You don't have
great friends anymore" paradigm </span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">Over the years, I have
been to various institutes and made a lot of friends. There are the school
friends, then the high school friends, college friends and then work place
friends. Even at workplace, I made friends in various projects that I worked
on. I trained a few people in some college as a part of my company's initiative
and I made friends there too. Guess what, I am always in touch with the ones
who really mattered. I may not get to meet all of them all the time, but when I
do meet them there are no awkward handshakes or nervous 'hellos'. It is generally
a tight hug and a volley of curses for how fat I have become or how I didn't
get them the birthday present. When I meet my friends from school, with them, I
am still the person I was in school, not a 27 something, mid tier corporate
employee. Your body ages, friendships don't( Disclaimer: not giving a quote
there).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">The Dating issues:</span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">While in college,
approaching an unknown girl was simple, it's either a hit or a miss.
Consequences generally didn't matter in an Engineering college, but in a
corporate environment, you are more careful about whom to approach(if at all).
The 'Indian' quarter life crisis suggest that, it is a bad time to be a single
guy, because the girls your age are all committed or getting married. But hey,
are these girls not hooked to guys older than them. So stop scanning your age
group and widen the horizon, the dating crisis may just be a figment of
imagination of a frustrated soul.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"> You compare
yourself to your peers and family and be sad about it:</span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">Human mind can never be
appeased, I certainly cannot be. That is something which keeps us going. Yes, I
compare myself to my peers, my family and sometimes I am sad about it. But the
fact of the matter is, I don't do it because I am 25(plus), I have been doing
it for as long as I can remember. I got really upset when my cousin got an A,
and I got A- in kindergarten, but no body said I was going through 1/25th life
crisis back then, so why now? Comparison within a peer group is what keeps a
human mind to strive for more(again, not giving a quote here), why associate it
with an age? And besides, for every more successful 27(or younger) year old
person that I meet, I know more than one less successful 27(or older) year old
person.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">Turning 27: </span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">Alright, this part of
this post has </span><span style="font-family: inherit, serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">nothing </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">to
do with quarter life crisis, but it's important, because this is the reason I
wrote this post. I was wondering aloud on Facebook about how singers like Kurt
Cobain had done almost everything before they turned 27(and dying), and here I
was, only able to talk about them. I also wondered, if it was a devious
plan(a-la-Matrix) that some greater force took away all the talented people at
27, which made me more sad, because that meant, I am not talented enough for
that greater force. At this point, Shivani, a great friend of mine wrote these
beautiful lines.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">"You might end up
being slow-and-steady and you might end up winning a long long race...<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">Bottoms-up are not
always fun you know...you might end up relishing every drop of life's expensive
champagne... u might end up telling loads and loads of awesome fun stories to
kids in a neighbourhood park...You might end being the only go-to-guy n
know-it-all for guidance on almost any topic related to
teenage-quarter-middle-full life crisis situations...coz you know what...
you'll see it all...with awesome cinematography, full zoom and in the finest of
fine details"<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">Finally</span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">: <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">The word quarter life
crisis in itself is an improbability. It conveniently assumes that we are all
going to live 100 years, for it to be a quarter of live that we have lived. My
life will often be in crisis, and I will always be cribbing about it, and at
the same time, my life will also be awesome and I will be happy about it. These
events, and my age are mutually exclusive.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Abhishekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00612979197231356334noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5413168941813178695.post-64584297635704447252014-05-11T17:42:00.005+05:302014-05-11T17:48:16.545+05:30So much for love<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<i>"Why hasn't he turned up yet?"</i><br />
I think aloud, sitting in my room all by myself. I have been expecting him today, especially today, but he doesn't show up.<br />
"<i>He must be busy with work, you fool, he has a lot of work, unlike you"</i><br />
I think aloud again, knowing that there is no one to hear me or my thoughts, not even him. But it is true, he works so hard, I understand, he may not have all the time for me in the world. He is an important executive in a big bank somewhere, I don't know much details, but he is pretty important. Sometimes, he goes to work early in the morning and yet never return at night. Of course, I don't stay with him, but such details don't escape, do they? <br />
"<i>Those times...."</i><br />
I let out a sigh. I did stay with him for a long time, until one night he came home,<br />
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"I got a job, with a big raise" He said with a glitter of happiness in his eye. Of course, that glitter made me happy too.<br />
"Wow, that is amazing, when are we moving then?" I said, a little loud, the prospect of exploring a new city showing up in my voice.<br />
"Uh, ermm, I don't think we can move together, it's an expensive city, and for me to make some money, I need to go alone" He rued.<br />
I won't be a burden, I say, but he simply bends down, kisses my forehead and promises to come back and take me soon. I know he means it, and I don't want to be a hurdle in his career, so I reluctantly agree. He did make it big in the new city. He climbed the corporate ladder very quickly for his age and at least now should be the time, he promised he would come back.<br />
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"<i>Hush, I hear some footsteps, it's him, he is finally coming"</i><br />
I am trying to silence my thoughts to hear the footsteps approaching the door, but my heart is racing, and I can't hear anything but my own heart beats. I cannot stop myself. I get up,open the door and shout out his name in the corridor, only to see a stranger passing by, giving me a look, with his lips forming the word 'crazy'.<br />
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Embarrassed, I shut the door, run into the pillow on the couch and lay there for a while. My thoughts again returning to him. It was around a year ago, when he had showed up after a long absence. He looked nervous and little jaded. He started,<br />
"I need to tell you something, I am....I got...married" He finally blurts out. His words hit me, pinch me, but I still love him.<br />
"I still love you" I say with a smile and hug him. "Promise me that you will take me with you, I know you can't stay with me any more, but we can be in the same city." I add, trying to empathetic.<br />
"I will continue visiting you" He says, evading my question with a smile.<br />
<br />
Still clutching on to the couch pillow, I realize that it is now warm and wet, probably with my tears. But I was warned.<br />
"I am telling you sister, he doesn't belong to you anymore. He won't come for you. He may visit you sometimes out of guilt, but it's not him anymore. He belongs to another woman, let go of him." My sister had tried to explain to me the situation.<br />
"I still love him." Is all I could mutter.<br />
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I have almost given up any hope of seeing him today. I reach out for the refrigerator to get some water, and that is when I hear the door bell. I drop the bottle from my hand and rush for the door. I am panting, but it doesn't matter. I hit the couch on my way to door, but it really doesn't matter. I reach out for the door knob to open it, but my vision is getting blurry, and the door is spinning in front of me. I am trying to hold out for the knob, but it is trying to run away from me. Finally I grab the knob and open the door, to see him standing. But I am being dragged down by something, some invisible force. And now I am lying down, I see a frenzied look on his face, everything is getting dark around me.<br />
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"I am sorry, I am late, <b style="font-style: italic;">mother</b>" are the last words I hear from him.<br />
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Image Courtesy - 1) thewrecking.net</div>
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2) artsy.net</div>
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Abhishekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00612979197231356334noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5413168941813178695.post-87998696473197500502013-11-03T17:09:00.001+05:302013-11-03T17:14:15.442+05:30Let there be (En)Light<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
A few months ago, before the start of a popular quiz show, its adverts showed a middle aged lady starting a wedding planning company, ignoring the need for knowledge, and eventually, how her business suffers, due to lack of proper knowledge. The advert ended with the host of the show explaining, how there is no age and limit to the extent of knowledge one should posses, as it always helps. The advert sure struck a chord with the intellectuals, and the teacher at my home, my mom, impressed by the advert, also started preaching a similar line. My sister shrugged off my mom, "Whatever".<br />
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It was March 29, 2009. We were returning home from an exciting and adventurous industrial visit to Udaipur and Mount Abu(Yeah, apparently BSNL have some cell towers there for us Telecom engineers to check out, which we did, by climbing atop them and clicking pictures). The economist in our group suggested an Auto-rickshaw ride, because individual share in a BEST bus would eventually amount to same cost for 3, as a single Auto-rickshaw would. Surprisingly, without having to strike a bargain, we got into an Auto-rickshaw driven by a humble person(of course, he didn't charge us extra, that is enough for me to brand him humble). Five minutes into the ride, he struck a conversation with us.<br />
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"Sir, you all look to be educated engineers, from your conversation" He said in Hindi, accent clearly northern.<br />
"Yes, we are educated, but not engineers yet" I replied with a smile, while my friends winked at me. Clearly, this man was in an unnecessary awe of us.<br />
"Since you are educated, can I ask you a few questions I needed answers for?" He asked. We were taken aback. Here is a rickshaw driver who was keen for intellect. "Yeah, sure, go ahead"<br />
<br />
"What was the name Flight number of the Indian Airlines plane which was hijacked and taken to Kandahar in 1999 ?" He asked, in a tone which suddenly resembled that of an interviewer.<br />
<br />
"IC 814?" I replied, with some self-doubt, while my friends looked at me shocked. "That is correct, congratulations, you became the first person to answer that question" He replied, smiling back from the rear view mirror.<br />
<br />
"Okay, When did the Titanic sink?" He continued.<br />
"April 12th!" I said jumping in my seat, " Oh no, that is when Jack sketched Rose, it is night of April 14th", I said, correcting myself.<br />
"You do watch movies, huh?" He replied with a smirk.<br />
<br />
My friends appeared shell shocked, and were silently cheering me, as if I were playing the actual quiz show, and a million Rupees were at stake.<br />
<br />
"Who was the last Mughal king, and how was he overthrown?"<br />
"Bahadur Shah Zaffar, he was imprisoned after the 1857 mutiny, in Rangoon" My friend replied, this time with some confidence.<br />
<br />
"You seem to know your history well, can I ask you a question at another level?" He asked and saying 'No' was not an option for me. "<br />
<br />
"Suppose you are in a sinking boat with your parents, and you can only save one person, your mother or your father?" He asked in an emotionless tone, with a straight face. And this time, not wanting to be left behind, my second friend jumped in.<br />
"I cannot choose, I will commit suicide" He said, in an obviously emotionally stressed voice.<br />
"So, are you telling me, that when you have an option of saving two lives out of three, you will let all three die?"<br />
"I think, I will save one person for sure at that moment, but I will be sad throughout my life for the other" I replied, trying to gauge the trick of the question.<br />
"I am sorry, but this is a trick question, frequently asked in civil services exams. You are not suppose to answer this question ,simply ask the interviewer to move on to next question, because they want to judge you on the basis of your reply" He said, in a back-to-humble tone.<br />
<br />
"Are you a journalist, driving rickshaw by the day, judging the so called intellectuals of Mumbai?" I asked, with a hint of sarcasm in my tone. Clearly, this was way beyond a simple Q&A. A mere rickshaw driver couldn't have driven us to our wit's end.<br />
<br />
"I am a rickshaw waala, sahab, sorry if I have offended you, I like having such conversations" He replied, in the humblest tone, since we boarded his vehicle.<br />
"Then, how come a man of your intellect is still driving a rickshaw?" I asked, perplexed, more than ever.<br />
"I am a 10th grade pass out from Jhansi. I ran away after that to make a fortune in this city, and this is my fortune" He said, pointing to his rickshaw. "I always wanted to learn, but could not. Because, I could either learn or earn. I chose the latter. However to make up for that, I often visit scrap paper dealer to buy books which is thrown away by the rich, and immerse myself in those books. It also helps that my wife shares my passion" He finished.<br />
<br />
"Well, you could try night school or something" I said fumbling. "Sir, I need to earn, so that my kids can earn degrees, just like you. So that they will have an attestation to their knowledge, which I lack." He said, his smiling turning into a grin. His reply gave me sudden sense of satisfaction and grief. Yes, I was glad to have parents who could afford my education, yet I was sad for people like him who were not so lucky.<br />
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How important is knowledge and the zeal to acquire it? Apparently, not quite. People with a keen interest in some field are often called upon only using the quiz show's life line or when some sort of information is needed, and then thanked with the words "You are an encyclopedia" appended to it. Being branded a geek ,'gyaani' often means you are not welcome in the group of normal people. Do not be fooled by the appreciation you get, because behind every appreciation, is a hidden mockery- "How uncool is he?". A discussion started by you, may often end with somebody pitching in with the lines- "Let us end this boring discussion" or "Let us talk something else" or worse still, very subtly, the topic will be changed, making you a pariah. Sitcoms and other shows often portray geeks as socially awkward individuals, only adding to the popular notion. Somehow, the world seems to have taken the idiom "Ignorance is bliss" at a new level altogether, and quite seriously at that. People cite Dhirubhai Ambani as a person, who created an empire without education, but does that mean, he created a business empire without having any know how of what he was doing, was he ignorant? So again, how important is knowledge and the zeal to acquire it? After my meeting with this rickshaw driver, a lot.<br />
<br />
If someone sounds pedantic, he is not being ostentatious. And, if some of the words I used here were a little hard to grasp, I only mean to enlighten. *Wink* </div>
Abhishekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00612979197231356334noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5413168941813178695.post-27123545509581951102013-08-15T01:14:00.002+05:302013-08-15T01:14:55.890+05:30The Incredible India<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Like every year, the fervour of patriotism is at its peak during the Independence week. Most of the display of patriotism is by remembering our glorified independence struggle, the wars we fought with Pakistan and out victories in them, and more recently, cleaning up the society of corruption. During one such display of patriotism on a reality TV show, I was reminded of an old song from the film "Purab aur Paschim", particularly the first stanza, which talks about how it was India which gave the world '0' and that without it, we would have had practically no new invention and no further discovery.The song lead me into some retrospection about us..<br />
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So yes, starting with the discovery of '0', it was the field of mathematics we indeed excelled at. Practically, a big chunk of the fundamental mathematics we learn today was discovered by Indians. Aryabhatta discovered 0, to signify the absent, and so important was this discovery that we sing songs about it. Going a step ahead on it, it was the Indian Mathematical school of thought which gave the world its modern numeral system, Hindu Numeral system, otherwise, we would still have been using the big, inconvenient Roman numeral system. Going forward from primary grade mathematics to higher grade, Aryabhatta again is famous for approximating the value of constant Pi up to 5 digits and even suggesting that it is irrational, an insight, which did not occur to anyone else outside India until the 17th century. The entire field of trigonometry was discovered by the Indian mathematicians, and very recently, according to a sensational discovery, contrary to popular belief, calculus was first used by Kerala school of mathematics and not Newton. However, mathematics was not the only thing we excelled at. Indian Ayurvedic system had already made breakthroughs into invasive cataract surgeries before the dawn of Christ. Historical travelers have written odes dedicated to India and its rich culture, where people respect each other, where the cities have perpendicular streets and houses have no doors, where there is abundance of food and wealth. Where the intellectual levels are incredibly high and the essence of humanity at its epitome.<br />
<br />
In the modern times too, after Independence, after a period of a long socialist era, India opened up and so did our services sector. The IT industry has reached $100 Bn and is still expanding. India is one of the fastest growing country in the world. With every passing census, our literacy rate increases, and so does our Per capita income. Our middle class purchasing capacity has increased many folds, with easy availability of credit and high salaries at young age. Our capital, New Delhi hosted the common wealth games in all its glory, showcasing to the world the infrastructural glory it has reached.<br />
<br />
Speaking of New Delhi, it was recently in news for the merciless rape of a girl by a group of guys. So brutal was the assault, that the girl was thrown on the streets naked, to die. The guy with the girl was confident, someone would help, but no body came forward, too busy, they said. Nature unleashed its fury on on hapless pilgrims in Uttarakhand, leaving even the Gods in slush. Many died, some survived, but in all this there are a lot who thrived. The hotels which had some supplies left, started selling their stuff for a profit, as they say. Chapatis cost Rs 400, a bottle of mineral water cost Rs 300, a bowl of Dal for Rs 450. All this from the people who have just lost someone or something very valuable and dear to them, from the people who may have lost their entire life's saving. Some bureaucrats responsible to handle the free food supplies for these people found themselves more hungry in their comfortable home and were caught stealing and selling these supplies. Stand on any street in Mumbai and watch a disabled man trying to get a cab back home. Many of them will refuse fares, one cabbie will surely stop by and act like a good Samaritan, but for double the fare. Aboard any Indian bus, elders have to 'argue' with people to vacate seat meant for them, no woman can go not being groped. A braveheart is killed, because he argued with some local bullies to stop them from harassing his girlfriend, however, the police is still busy implementing the archaic laws, arresting young party goers or girls who make 'insensitive' facebook statuses and her friends who likes it, but is too scared to arrest local dons and mafia lords, who openly commit crime and give hate speeches or even the bullies who killed the braveheart. Hygiene and cleanliness is a term which has become restricted only to ones own home, because every place other than home is a trash can or spitting bowl. Because every public utility which is installed or deployed, is up for some vandalism and destruction or at the very least a place to litter. A country, where girl child is unwelcome, so much so, that it is let to die or killed. If she still survives, she made to lead a life of suffering, first at the hands of parents and then the husband. A country, where honour is more important than the life and love of the child.<br />
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The problem with us, is what I faced in the first para of this post, retrospection. We dwell in a time which is past us and cannot return. We feed our ego with the fact that we gave the world most of its stuff. We are unwilling to let go of the past because we have nothing left of present to defend ourselves. We get offended when we are called third world, and cite cities like Mumbai as example of India Shining, but no on cares to acknowledge that it is the same city which has 52% of its population living in slums. We clean up and fix our roads only when a foreign dignitary is to ride over it. And like every other entity in country we blame, we, ourselves react and wake up from our slumber only when the house is on fire. India is not united by a billion people, but divided into a billion people. We are truly, albeit unknowingly on the verge of self obsession. <br />
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<b>It is introspection, and not retrospection that we need, after being independent for 66 years. Time to wake up! </b><br />
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Abhishekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00612979197231356334noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5413168941813178695.post-72870336893171649842013-07-07T00:51:00.001+05:302013-07-07T13:09:09.070+05:30The Timeless Invasion: Final Chapter<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<i><a href="http://abhishektyagi87.blogspot.in/2013/04/the-timeless-invasion-chapter-i.html" target="_blank">Chapter I</a> and <a href="http://abhishektyagi87.blogspot.in/2013/05/the-timeless-invasion-chapter-ii.html" target="_blank">Chapter II</a> of this series, before you read this.</i><br />
<i>=======================================================</i><br />
<i>"God, there has to be something to stop these demons. Help us please." </i>Tiwari was pleading, in front of a Ganesh idol.<br />
His PA appeared discreetly and spoke once Tiwari was done praying.<br />
"Sir, we have an incoming from the CIA chief, he says he has information which might help us"<br />
"Put him on immediately" He said while running out.<br />
<br />
He went into the Indian embassy in Nairobi and headed to the communications room. The communications room was a small dingy room with a computer, a typer, a small radio unit and a telephone in it. The cobwebs all round showed how often this emergency room was actually used. Today, it was all going to change.<br />
<br />
"Mr. Tiwari, if I am not mistaken, this is a secure line, isn't it?" CIA chief asked, in a somewhat mocking tone.<br />
<br />
"Yes, it is, even if it wasn't, I don't think you have anything to worry about right now. Please enlighten me with whatever you know about the situation at hand" He replied, sarcastically.<br />
<br />
"It seems your guests are from a different time and nation altogether. They are humans, not aliens, but Humans from a newly created African country"<br />
<br />
"Newly created country? Are these people some kind of rebels, where did they get such machinery from?" Tiwari almost shouted his questions<br />
<br />
"Calm down my friend. These people are from future, they come from the year 2500, from the North African Union. They are heavily advanced, as you can see, and pretty intelligent" He added.<br />
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"And I am supposed to believe you, because you are the America ?" Tiwari snapped.<br />
<br />
"No, because, we have a guy, a white American, who has been enslaved by these North Africans, and who has ample evidence to prove that he is from year 2500. Switch on your computer, I am sending over the pictures." He paused for Tiwari to boot his machine. "Now look at the machine we found him in. He says he stole it in his master's absence. Who apparently was hatching plans attack India, Pakistan and China somewhere in the past. He just came back visit his land in its glory." He sighed as he finished. Apparently appalled by the fact that his future generations will be enslaved. <i>"Karma" </i>thought Tiwari.<br />
<br />
"That is indeed a lot of staggering information. We know what we are dealing with now, but we still don't know how to deal with them" Tiwari said thoughtlessly. He looked at picture of John, looking delighted at the Sun and visibly excited at the sight of Hudson river. " What is with your future man looking so excited with Sun and a flowing river?" He added.<br />
<br />
"Ohh, that. He says, he has never seen Sun and a water source. These people survive on basic synthetic water, created in labs. By the way, we have sent our F16s and Stealth bombers to assist your airforce. Let us all pray to God(<i>that the attack doesn't come to us).</i>" And he hung up the phone.<br />
<br />
"Sir!" His usually calm and composed PA barged in. "Our Airforce, combined with the USAF, PAF and Chinese PLAAF were doing a great job in holding back these demons. But, it seems, these artificially intelligent humanoids have developed aircraft out of nothing and are giving our pilots a very tough time. Given the rate at which these humanoids evolve, it won't be long before the combined air force is driven away."<br />
<br />
Kokala and Matsuba were relaxing in the luxury of Presidential palace in New Delhi. They had everything going according to the plan. They had just heard the news of the termination of General Musharraf and the Chinese Prime minister. The major cities in these three countries were dusted.<br />
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"It seems like, Rain, something we studied as a historical phenomenon, did occur till year 2000" Matsuba said. looking at the approaching rain clouds. "Are our humanoids capable of handling water?" Matsuba got up alarmed.<br />
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"Relax Matsuba, we had tested these humanoid under humid environment of our synthetic water generation facility. They will be fine" Kokala said, while breaking an Indian bread. Something he took liking to on this sojourn.<br />
<br />
While they were gorging on the natural food, it started raining outside. The weather turned pleasant. Kokala and Matsuba were not missing home. This is what they imagined world looked like, and now they were living their dream. They wanted to feel the rain. They went out and saw that one of the humanoid guarding them stood still.<br />
"Go and close the gates" Matsuba ordered. The humanoid didn't move.<br />
<br />
Matsuba noticed a few red spots on the humanoid. He moved closer and noticed that the humanoid had stopped functioning. He was shocked. His General had just mentioned that these humanoids were tested under humid conditions.<br />
<br />
Kokala understood what Matsuba was thinking. The humanoids should have been working. It may be a defective one, he thought to himself. He opened his mouth to taste the water and spit it out the moment he had it on his tongue.<br />
"Acid!" He exclaimed.<br />
<br />
"Welcome to the BBC 8 PM. In the recent turn of events in the strange attacks in Asia, the humanoids in New-Delhi just stopped moving after the heavy downpour last night. It seems the first monsoon showers over a thickly polluted Delhi produced what people call the Acid rain. Some of the captured humanoids who had some, as yet unknown alloy, corroded under the acid rain so quickly, that they were immobile within 5 minutes of the rain. The interim Governments in the affected countries have quickly deployed cloud seeding in the affected cities and success is coming their way. We are expecting an update on this attack soon. Stay tuned for more updates"<br />
<br />
Matsuba switched off the television in the hotel they were staying at in London.<br />
"We have to go back Matsuba, we lost the battle we were so confident about winning" He said in a soft tone.<br />
"I am sorry sir, we were under prepared." Matsuba said, as he deployed the Super Car'uba'.<br />
<br />
They took off, seeing the world of the past for the last time. Knowing that they failed. But happy that they weren't caught<br />
<br />
"Your Highness, we are sorry, we failed you" Kokala said, with his head low.<br />
"You did a great job general, do not worry" The king said, laughing out loud. Kokala was surprised. "Do you not see what you have accomplished? You have laid the foundation of modern Africa. After your departure, the Asian countries would reverse engineer our humanoids and become very powerful and form alliances. Your little trip will be kept a secret or made out to be an alien attack, while the our ancestors would have found out by then, that it was us who did this. Making them confident that they can rule. Soon, by year 2025, African Union would have been formed. The Americas and the west will oppose them. Asia will support us. A world war will break out, Asia, having now acquired power, will support us, to fend off the western supremacy, which had laid its eyes on growing power of Indian and china. This war would continue for nearly a century. The whites were already fearful, when your little servant John sneaked out after you to see his glorious lands."<br />
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Seeing Kokala startled at the revelation, he added<br />
<br />
"Don't look surprised, you read about him in the military history we taught you years ago, you just didn't think it was your John."<br />
<br />
"So, we actually triggered the events which would lead to our current position today, our supremacy?" Matsuba suggested<br />
<br />
"Yes, and now that you have accomplished the revised mission objective, lets gather ourselves and decide how to defeat India and China. We should start with..." The king was cut short by his emergency beeper. It was from the research lab. He answered it.<br />
<br />
"Sir, we had attacks on our Research and Development division by what looks like Indians.They came in something they call as "Samay Yantra". They took some our super car'uba's and destroyed the rest , even the humanoids, and are probably heading somewhere...". The voice just went off, and so did the electricity.<br />
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The words by the technician were the last, the king, Kokala and Matsuba ever heard. This invasion too, was timeless.<br />
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Abhishekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00612979197231356334noreply@blogger.com0Mumbai, Maharashtra, India19.0759837 72.87765590000003618.595792699999997 72.232208900000032 19.5561747 73.52310290000004tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5413168941813178695.post-10988485011424846712013-05-26T16:04:00.000+05:302013-07-07T13:09:41.132+05:30The Timeless Invasion chapter- II<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Note- In case you haven't, before you start with this part, why not read <a href="http://abhishektyagi87.blogspot.in/2013/04/the-timeless-invasion-chapter-i.html" target="_blank">Chapter I</a>. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">The super 'Car'uba was a first time experience for Kokala. He had been in 'Car'uba since as long he could remember. But this was new, travelling back to the modern medieval age, where they still used Airplane and Cars, all the precursors to their modern invention. It has been sometime since they have been travelling in this and this has been the longest he has been in this metallic cockpit. Suddenly, he had to shut his eyes, it became very bright. He realised, he was seeing the Sun, for the first time from Earth's surface. It was beautiful, but he knew that this sight would last only a hundred years more.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">"Sir, we are about to land in a minute, location coordinates <span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="line-height: 20px;">19°2'32"N 72°54'21"E, current name, RCF colony, chembur" Matsuba said in a Military command.</span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 20px;">"Any nearby place, whose criticality will help us?" Kokala replied, returning from his train of thoughts</span></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 20px;">"Yes Sir, BARC, RCF itself and some old world oil refinery" </span></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 20px;">"Let us plant our stuff then quickly"</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 20px;"><br /></span></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: #333333;"><span style="line-height: 20px;">They got landed exactly where they thought they would. Their landing could have caused a stir, had it not been for the disguise the 'car'uba was designed to take. It was now resembling a Daewoo Cielo, and no body bothered where it came from. They got down from the car, their attire still the new world, and they realised the mistake.</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: #333333;"><span style="line-height: 20px;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: #333333;"><span style="line-height: 20px;">"Aey Kalu, Where did you get this car and fancy dress from?" A middleaged potbellied policeman stopped them while they were at it.</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: #333333;"><span style="line-height: 20px;">"From the year 2500, I suppose" replied Matsuba, smiling at Kokala, their job was done, they could now announce their arrival.</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: #333333;"><span style="line-height: 20px;">"You think I am a fool, come with me, I will lock you up and you will remember exactly where you got this stuff from" He replied, crashing his stick on Matsuba's leg</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: #333333;"><span style="line-height: 20px;">"I don't think I would like that" Firing his laser impulse on the constable.</span></span></div>
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<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: #333333;"><span style="line-height: 20px;">"Let us do this quickly sir, we have covered all the cities we planned to, lets send the message back to start it. We should not delay this" Matusba said, looking at Kokala with a sense of urgency</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: #333333;"><span style="line-height: 20px;">"Don't you remember, the time conversion which was taught to us, we have been gone only for a second, but yes, every second counts, lets do this" Kokala replied with an easing smile.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333;"><span style="line-height: 20px;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333;"><span style="line-height: 20px;">He had to rush in, and rush in quick. He had no idea what was going on, and he wanted some ideas, even if it came from some old brains running this country. He barged in to the Home minister's room.</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: #333333;"><span style="line-height: 20px;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: #333333;"><span style="line-height: 20px;">"Tiwari, do you realise, this is midnight, and I am in an important meeting" the HM said.</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: #333333;"><span style="line-height: 20px;">"Sir, I am the RAW chief, and if a RAW chief is barging into your room, he knows exactly what he is doing" He said in an authoritative tone. </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333;"><span style="line-height: 20px;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: #333333;"><span style="line-height: 20px;">Calming down he added "Sir, some strange activities have been taking place, starting with Mumbai. A few explosions were reported near the RCF, BARC, Oil refinery, Borivili national park, Mulund Yogi hills. When the police and CISF reached the spots, expecting a lot of chaos, they were ambushed by strange men. Men who looked like men, but acted like robots. And they are many. They have destroyed half of the city and killed numerous people. The Army from Nasik cannt was called in, but they just walked into a death bed. These robots are so agile, that they cover distance of miles within seconds. Our soldiers, our artillery none of them survived. Currently, its only the airforce which is inflicting some damage on them. However, these robots simply evolve to avoid and defend an enemy attack.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333;"><span style="line-height: 20px;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: #333333;"><span style="line-height: 20px;">"Before they move out of the city and spread, contact the PM and prepare for nuking the city. I don't think we have a choice left" HM said in a tone of despair.</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: #333333;"><span style="line-height: 20px;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: #333333;"><span style="line-height: 20px;">"How many cities will you nuke sir? They have spread to New Delhi, Hyderabad, Pune, Bangalore and Chennai. And they have got the PM and the president. Their offices and residences were blown to bits.</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: #333333;"><span style="line-height: 20px;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: #333333;"><span style="line-height: 20px;">"What am I supposed to do now, the PM and the president are dead, and I am sitting far off in this African continent?" the HM replied " It surely must be a ploy by the joint Pakistani and Chinese defence to destroy us" he added in a jolt of anger.</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: #333333;"><span style="line-height: 20px;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: #333333;"><span style="line-height: 20px;">"Sir, these robots, wherever they are from, they have got Lahore, Karachi, Beijing, Shanghai and many other cities in China too. I have got in touch with General Musharraf and we are working on a strategy to thwart this, although we don't know where to start." Tiwari said in a helplessness tone.</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: #333333;"><span style="line-height: 20px;">General Musharraf was in his new acquired office when he got a call on hotline. He wondered why someone would call on the intelligence hotline directly to him and not the ISI chief. He was shaken to hear the RAW chief at the other end. However he had to pause the call, as his domestic hotline now started ringing. When he was done with the domestic line, he picked up the RAW hotline and blasted " You will pay for this, you have destroyed my cities, this is an act of war, and we know it is your new technology". He could be pacified only when he was told that 5 Indian cities had been nearly destroyed, and equal number of Chinese cities had suffered too. He knew he wasn't dealing with a regular enemy, but an enemy of the entire race. He used the best and the only possible choice, collaborate with the Indians. Though, he could only stand amused that he was collaborating with a nation with which it had gone to war 4 times and as recently as an year ago at Kargil </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333;"><span style="line-height: 20px;">John's curiosity had got better of him, he wanted to see the glorius lands of Americas and how superior his race was. He knew how his master had got into the Super 'Car'uba and he knew exactly where the other one was parked. He had to get some stuff though to prove his identity and to prove where he was from. He took a map, a book and some sketch his master forgot on the table and got in. He entered a date, exactly 500 years ago. 13-11-2000.</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: #333333;"><span style="line-height: 20px;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: #333333;"><span style="line-height: 20px;">You would want to see this Mr. President, a video of a strange man, but his strangeness shockingly is authentic.</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: #333333;"><span style="line-height: 20px;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: #333333;"><span style="line-height: 20px;">"Sir, let me ask you again, where are you from?" Asked the cop,</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: #333333;"><span style="line-height: 20px;">"I am John, I come from the North African union of the year 2500. Glad to see a white in command"</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: #333333;"><span style="line-height: 20px;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: #333333;"><span style="line-height: 20px;"><i>To be continued in the final chapter...</i></span></span></div>
</div>
Abhishekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00612979197231356334noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5413168941813178695.post-21860200613783415932013-04-21T00:04:00.000+05:302013-04-21T00:08:48.661+05:30The Timeless Invasion- Chapter I<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
A few days ago, after a lot of pestering by my mother, I sat down to clear my old books rack. It has been a mess and I had avoided getting into that mess for years now. Grade after grade and year after year, the pile of books just went on increasing. The rack had books since Grade 8th till my Engineering final year.It was then that I came across an old note book. Its first page had a date from the year 2000 and written for some pages was a story. A story I had written in 8th grade, lost and forgotten!<br />
<br />
It was around 13 years ago, when I, a brand new teen had started reading a lot of sci-fi fantasy books. H.G Wells, Issac Asimov were my inspiration and I started imagining that such a future would come, that such a thing as time machine is possible and that there are invisible men around us. I thought, that yes, I will write a novel and get it published. All at an age of 13! Obviously, I wasn't capable enough to write even a 150 page novel. I ended up with a short story. So here I am, publishing the short story. All I have done, after 13 more years of life and 9 years of more education, is to simply proof read the original text, divide it into 3 logical chapters and iron out some of the obvious grammar errors. If you find the story, a cheap science fiction, remember it was written by a 13 year old.<br />
<br />
13-11-2000<br />
<br />
"Hey you" He shouted<br />
"Yes master" John replied, the tray in his hands shaking<br />
"You white dog, why is the drink so cold?" The glass in his hands shaking, but not out of fear<br />
"Master, you mentioned 3 cubes of ice, I did exactly that"<br />
"Look John, this is not southern Africa, where white slavery is being abolished" He took a sip and continued "So you better keep that tongue of yours in check"<br />
<br />
He heard a voice from his tele screen mounted on the ceiling<br />
"Sir, I wanted to have a word with you in private, may I come in? I am currently only a few 100 miles away" On seeing John, he added " No whites either, Sir, they are dumb, but I don't trust them"<br />
"You may come in Matsuba, it will be an all black talk, don't worry" He replied.<br />
<br />
Within a minute, the door bell rang. He said "Allow access" in a microphone and the door opened. In came a 7 feet tall lean guy of around 27 years of age. He was wearing a dark grey uniform with white skull cap. Scars on his face indicated that he is a man who has seen battles, and more than one battle.<br />
<br />
"Sir, if this white can move out of the room, can we start the discussion?" He said, while giving a look of disgust to John.<br />
"John, go to the kitchen, and put your hand in the cooling machine, till it becomes blue. You would then know what cold is" He instructed John, in as cold a voice, as his drink was<br />
<br />
John left the room for kitchen, but not before seeing Matsuba opening his holographic projector and projecting a 3D image of a world map dated 28-05-2500. He enters the kitchen and sees the cooling devices, which he had used moments ago to create ice for his master. Since water was no longer available naturally, the machine chemically created water using hydrogen and oxygen and then freeze it instantly. His hand will feel pierced, like needles piercing, but he had to do it, his master had ordered him. He put his hand in it and closed his eyes. He remembered his grand father telling him a story.<br />
<br />
"<i>Let me tell you a story, which my grand father told me, about the land we belonged to, America, a prosperous and a very rich land. 600-700 years back, our ancestors had enslaved the people who had enslaved us now, however we freed them soon after. However, some 400 years ago, the people from Africa conquered our land of America, which put up a brave fight, but were outdone. Many of us were brought over to the African continent as slaves Since then we have been working relentlessly for our masters. It is our destiny John..</i>"<br />
<br />
He opened his eyes and saw his hand had swollen and turned blue. He took out his hand, he couldn't feel it. It was time to serve hot piping food to his master. The prospect of serving hot food enticed him, or rather his cold blue hand. He took the freshly fried latest synthetic food in his right hand, which was still blue, outside. He was about to enter the room when he heard his master talking to Matsuba and realised he shouldn't have been there, he was told to stay in. But his instincts told him to stay there..<br />
<br />
"Sir, China has now joined hands with India and they have set up bases in Quetta" Matsuba was talking with a tone of concern. "It is even rumoured that China and India will soon become one nation. India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Burma, Nepal, Bangladesh and Sri-Lanka had already become a single unified nation 200 years ago." He added<br />
<br />
"Hmmm, it is concerning, we need to do something about these Asian nations who have been a thorn for us." He said, while smoking a cigar made in African colony of Cuba. "It was so much easy for our ancestors to conquer Americas, they should have conquered these nations too, before they became powerful, we treated them as allies" He added while puffing out a plume of smoke.<br />
<br />
"To be honest, not underestimating the might of our emperor, however, such a huge landmass with such diversity simply cannot be conquered" Matsuba said in a helpless tone.<br />
<br />
"Then I think, it is time we pushed our latest invention to its first use, let us get them, when they least expect us" He said thoughtfully. "Let us contact his highness right away and seek his blessing"<br />
<br />
He opened the door and looked at the beauty that was waiting for him outside. One of the latest inventions by his team of scientists, he got into and keyed in the location coordinates of the emperors palace in former kingdom of Congo, he did not notice John watching him and Matsuba depart. As soon as he pressed enter, he was whizzing past the space time continuum, covering the distance of thousands of miles in matter of minutes. He could have had a holographic call with the emperor, but with the Asian intelligence on toes, he couldn't have risked it. As he came back from his thoughts, he saw his 'Car'uba in his highness's garage. He intimated his highness on the personal messaging device of his impending arrival and entered the guest room.<br />
He saw the Emperor waiting for him there already.<br />
<br />
"Your highness" He said with a bow of head, " I come to you with a matter of great concern"<br />
"I know, India and China will soon be one nation" The Emperor said with in a low tone<br />
"So may I use the.."<br />
"Yes you may use 'the' machine" The Emperor cut in," but remember it is still under development, be very careful" he added<br />
"Thank you, your highness" He said in a low bow "<i>The Emperor already knows too much, does he keep a watch on me too?"</i><br />
"General Kokala and Major Matsuba, I hope when you return, we would have conquered India and China in under a minute" The Emperor added and departed to his palace.<br />
<br />
Kokala turned to Matsuba, " Get ready to go back 500 years in time Matsuba. Prepare our army, this new machine has given us an edge, they couldn't think off. We can now teleport an entire army through time."<br />
<br />
"Yes Sir, I will get the super 'Car'uba ready to land in Mumbai, date, 13-11-2000" Matsuba said with a salute.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBEq9c22ZHGWUYhewDdrFoVsLq5hricH2o4WarIqcFy5gXyjMl9lYXSdF_2dR2Qkf5FyyJ48msU0F3McqTbjkdb4fGJYpMcszpF8DtxmRtxQFrOlQkO4NSbACaXHgYA229ehfb4cB4HPo/s1600/future_war_by_aspectusfuturus-d30c9mf.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="260" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBEq9c22ZHGWUYhewDdrFoVsLq5hricH2o4WarIqcFy5gXyjMl9lYXSdF_2dR2Qkf5FyyJ48msU0F3McqTbjkdb4fGJYpMcszpF8DtxmRtxQFrOlQkO4NSbACaXHgYA229ehfb4cB4HPo/s320/future_war_by_aspectusfuturus-d30c9mf.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
"<i>I wonder if there were any whites in India in year 2000" </i> He thought to himself, a thought which brought smile on his lips.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<i>To be continued...</i><br />
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<br /></div>
Abhishekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00612979197231356334noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5413168941813178695.post-50249211032585470812013-01-26T17:53:00.001+05:302013-01-26T17:53:42.644+05:30The Story of Offence<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
People think about me day in day out, they feel me every day, but are afraid to talk about me, if they do, they are made a pariah, but today I will talk about myself, I deserve a hearing. I am probably the most misunderstood feeling, I am felt by everybody, but everyone is scared to talk about me. People talk at length about love and the emotions which come with it, why? Because its the in thing? I say, even in love, I am the most common emotion. I have the ability to break every other feeling. And when I strike important people, I have the ability to break nations, bring about wars. I am the only one who can trigger myself everywhere, even love cannot do that, then why me, a powerful feeling is looked down upon?<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5xyTOYLwCUSNKuhstzh73pMBmsk1mumRkmCfEXAjFmHuJN7EW2pq7h5j9COwFSX4WntRJEupCR-FPVKpPbFazT02Isb8fbh9L-14BW5CgLEekkj-cN17GQadSvX1qofY85P7lShImbJ0/s1600/knights-templar-burned-at-stake.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="125" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5xyTOYLwCUSNKuhstzh73pMBmsk1mumRkmCfEXAjFmHuJN7EW2pq7h5j9COwFSX4WntRJEupCR-FPVKpPbFazT02Isb8fbh9L-14BW5CgLEekkj-cN17GQadSvX1qofY85P7lShImbJ0/s200/knights-templar-burned-at-stake.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
In the past, people who instilled me in others, suffered. Some 2000 years ago, a guy named Jesus of the Nazerath instilled me in the people of Jerusalem, and look what happened to him. He really should have stayed shut than face the wrath of an incited mob. Further down the time, a few people who claimed themselves to be intellectuals, played their hands a bit too much and got duly punished by the Roman church. My presence in some Southerners in the USA in 19th Century, had almost led to breakup of what you call today, the superpower. It was my presence in a young Serbian student in 1914, that led to the first great war, and it was my presence in a slight, but extremely strong willed man in 1939 that led to the second great war. In the recent times, I have caused civil wars in Ireland, Yugoslavia to name a few.<br />
<br />
However, the biggest boost in my CV comes from the Indian subcontinent. I really come out easily in people of such varied demography herded into small landmass. Even the religious texts, where even the Gods acted on my trigger, are replete with my presence. Shiva's father-in-law, on feeling me, decided not to call him for an event, and this triggered me in Shiva's wife, who felt me at such an act by her father and jumped into a pyre, and this triggered me in Shiva, who almost destroyed the world. Duryodhana on being insulted by Draupadi, and under my influence started the greatest war ever and required an immortal God to bring it to a logical end. Coming to the real world from the realm of epics, it was under my influence that some of the powerful Muslim rulers invaded and probably plundered India. It was my presence in the people at helm of affairs, that they decided to divide the country of India on religious lines. And since then, my presence and power has only increased, and documented, and sometimes even made a law.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCrHvUrtvbuasu7vn79qr829cDjdpiYxqrazEYyjIvVfKw5N8wEu3Y8QaHJZWajGIjJsMwWPxfSYi6M2m-lRIGL5JaYSRXvspAgqW92rq3fYRw6L-vAUoM-vNOUfFJ4TELE1kaKeb3ueU/s1600/137387653.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCrHvUrtvbuasu7vn79qr829cDjdpiYxqrazEYyjIvVfKw5N8wEu3Y8QaHJZWajGIjJsMwWPxfSYi6M2m-lRIGL5JaYSRXvspAgqW92rq3fYRw6L-vAUoM-vNOUfFJ4TELE1kaKeb3ueU/s200/137387653.jpg" width="200" /></a>When MF Hussain tried to make some paintings out of his artistic expression, he was reminded, by words and by actions, that I won't allow him to do this, because I was present in the people who mattered, their representation not withstanding. When Shekar Kapur made "The Bandit Queen" and Deepa Mehta made "Fire", it was I who reminded them, that I am above the law of land. If I am present in people, the law cannot protect you. Shahrukh Khan and Aamir Khan also realized this, when they did/said something to instill me in people. My presence became a law, and Aamir Khan's film faced a ban in Gujrat, while Shahrukh Khan lost money, the law bowed to me. I also led the lesser mortals like Mumbai University VC to withdraw a book from curriculum hurting some party's sentiment. And recently, it was me who reminded two girls from Palghar, that you may not see me coming, but I am always lurking there. I achieved all this roughly through the same set of people of course. Salman Rushdie came to know of my fear, when his book "Satanic Verses" was banned without being read, first in India, and then the rest of the world, only because the leaders feared my presence in people. Already facing my wrath in Bangladesh, writer Taslima Nasrin really should have known, I traverse boundaries, for they don't stop me. She has never rested in Peace while here. Currently, I am trying to ensure that Kamal Hassan is unable to release his movie in India. The people who are doing this for me, I am sure will not be influenced by feelings like reason and freedom, my foes. Ajay Devgn and Akshay Kumar would know by now, that Sikhs do not trim their beard or sport tattoos, not even in Movies.<br />
<br />
And it is not only religion which triggers me these days. Some people cannot see their favorite sports person being called anything but God. While others are using me in their campaign against the condom and AIDS awareness advertisements, calling them vulgar. And then there are some, in whom I show up when public transport is not on time!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbwrjBGW9E_VNK-JT4-9Te7_Zpc4L92yP5R43kxGio-yTij8lox2Wxy5PPL9Q9deOlQYyFKinrAPHM-hkzKvtZ3q4hq40rnV6wmqc0c2gjJK46TNVjkUl_zLIkmB-7bnWUEww0pDR20FE/s1600/delhi_rape_case.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="101" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbwrjBGW9E_VNK-JT4-9Te7_Zpc4L92yP5R43kxGio-yTij8lox2Wxy5PPL9Q9deOlQYyFKinrAPHM-hkzKvtZ3q4hq40rnV6wmqc0c2gjJK46TNVjkUl_zLIkmB-7bnWUEww0pDR20FE/s200/delhi_rape_case.jpg" width="200" /></a>Although I am basking in glory right now, with all the achievements behind me, I wish I could have been present at many more places. I really wonder why no body feels me when they see a thin man being bullied by a group on streets. No body feels me, when they see a lady being sexually harassed. And very recently, I could have had an awesome head count, had people felt me when a girl and guy lay naked on the busy streets of New Delhi, but strangely, nobody felt me! Alright, I know, I am being very demanding. I have had a successful run in the last few decades, and I should not be complaining.<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>A big thank you , to the people of this nation for keeping me alive.</b></div>
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Abhishekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00612979197231356334noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5413168941813178695.post-67962698859542818502012-11-17T23:15:00.000+05:302012-11-22T00:06:25.308+05:30The fickle existence<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
It was a hot and humid afternoon. Having had a sumptuous meal of Cannon Pav Bhaaji, the best Pav Bhaaji in Mumbai, situated at VT, I boarded the suburban train to get back home. Just as the the train was about to leave the station, a lanky lad, carrying, what looked like a huge cane bucket, huffed and puffed his way inside my compartment. I was enjoying my stay near the door, feeling in all the breeze, and trying to dry my sweat soaked shirt. This guy came and stood next to me while keeping his bucket down. The bucket contained the famous Mumbai snack, Vada pao. It smelled great, but he reeked of stink. I looked at him, he was looking at my hand, curiously, I asked him.<br />
<br />
"What is it, that you are looking at, friend?"<br />
<br />
"I was wondering what brand of water you hold in your hand", he said referring to the mineral water bottle in my hand<br />
<br />
"Ohh, well this is one of the local brand, not very popular" I replied, to quench his curiosity(for the time being)<br />
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"I wonder how it tastes like" He said, still looking intently at the bottle<br />
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"You are thirsty and you need water to drink, just say it" I said, trying to talk straight.<br />
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"Well... Yes.." He said, suddenly taking his eyes of my bottle<br />
<br />
"Here you go, take it, drink as much as you want" I offered him the bottle, along with a smile.<br />
"Thank you sir", and he gulped down the entire content of the bottle, "Thank you again" he said wiping the water off his mouth," And sorry", looking at the empty bottle.<br />
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"No Problems" I said, not bothering to take the bottle back. Then I looked back at the delicious looking Vadas and wondered about his business model. "How much money do you make out of it, and where do you sell it?" I asked him inquisitively.<br />
<br />
"I sell these Vadas to a Sweet shop in Kurla, he pays me around Rs 3/Vada"<br />
"Which shop?"<br />
<br />
"The shop near Tilak nagar station, he is a nice man, treats me well, pays me on time" He smiled, this man had some honesty in his smile, I wondered.<br />
<br />
"Well, the same guy charges me Rs 9 for the same thing you sell him for Rs 3, do you know this?" I said, trying to incite him, to break his smile, and see the other side of him.<br />
"I very well know how popular my vadas are, but I am content with what I get, it gets me a profit enough"<br />
He said, seeing my perplexed reaction, he added,<br />
"I earn around Rs 600 a day for the vadas I make for this shop, which is a profit of Rs 400 to me. Besides this, I work as a house keeping staff in a MNC which gets me Rs 10000 a month. So all in all, I earn around 20000-25000 a month. And, I have a wife, she loves me a lot, I love her a lot, and make love to her a lot..." He paused for a laugh, and I joined in his laughter. He continued " I have a kid, a nice 1BHK in Mumbai(inherited though!) . I have everything I want in life. I don't aspire for bungalow I don't aspire for an international school for my child. I just aspire to have enough to feed my family, and be happy. I do drink with friends, I have also visited dance bars. I have done everything that makes me happy." he finally finished with a sigh.<br />
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"That was nice...hmmmm" I said, while wondering in my mind, that this guy is not ostentatious, he is working only for his family, to keep them happy, for the love of them. "Come on, lets get down, its our station" I said and got down.<br />
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I got down and started moving out of the station, without looking back, lost in thoughts, of this man who gave me a view of life I never had, always whining about what I earned, or what I did. Suddenly, I heard a big commotion behind me. I turned around and saw people crowded near the place I got down from the train. I hurried down to the place to check out what is wrong. Pushing people out of the way, I reached the spot and saw a bucket and some Vadas spilled at one corner, I glanced around, and to my fear, found the same man lying in a pool of blood from an injury to his head. "He fell off the train in the melee to get down" I heard a murmur behind me.I quickly called the Ambulance helpline and checked his pulse, it wasn't there. He was dead.<br />
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My idea of seeking solace was to relinquish every thing you have, love, family, your prized possessions and lead a life of a saint. It is there everywhere, we are mortal beings, everything we own ,everything we love, is going to part with us one day, when we die. All those who claim to have seen life, say this and even go so far as to implement it. For they claim, any mortal affection only leads to desire, and desires lead to unrest within. If we give up any desire, we end up with inner peace. This is what I believed in, until I met this man.<br />
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We always see solace and inner peace as something which cannot be achieved without a sacrifice. A sacrifice too big to be made by a normal human being. This man taught me, that solace is nothing but being content and happy in your life. Even while making ends meet, a man can be happy and content. And this will be his solace, he was happy when he died. God made humans intelligent, an intelligent being only evolves when he desires for something better, to make him happy and that is how we have had inventions and discovery, the desire and the necessity When people talk of seeking solace through relinquishment of desires, it only implies being indifferent to happiness, and life itself. If the existence is as fickle as we know, why remain indifferent to the gift of God? Accept your fate, seek happiness within you, define what is it that will make you content, and solace will follow.<br />
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<b>I would rather die as someone, who was loved, who loved a lot, made a lot of love and had everything which made him happy, than as a saint, who remained indifferent to the feelings, and indifferent to life.</b><br />
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Abhishekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00612979197231356334noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5413168941813178695.post-25478930788008244832012-08-26T21:08:00.000+05:302012-08-26T21:08:54.380+05:30Nascent fragility <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<b><i>I am born- </i></b><br />
Yes, I am finally born, after being inside for almost 9 months, I am finally out. This is the first time I see light, it is so bright outside. I am telling the person holding me, to cover my eyes, IT IS SO BRIGHT, I am shouting, But, why is this person smiling? 'Ouch' ,Suddenly, this person hits me hard on my bum, WHY, I shout again, And now, someone else is holding me, Oh, wait, it must be Mother, I can sense her. Now, she is crying and smiling. I keep telling her, cover my eyes, but she isn't listening to me. Wait, I can sense my own tears, is it that they don't understand my language, or is my language crying, I reckon its the latter. I sense a few more people coming in, It is my dad, I have heard his voice from inside, but he is not smiling, he is making strange faces. He puts his hand behind my back to lift me, Holds me mid-air and drops me in an instant. It hurt, and I shout at him too, DON'T LIFT ME IF YOU CANNOT HANDLE ME, but, he ignores me and goes away. I have shouted too much , I am tired now, and I doze off. I dream about a lot of brightness and light, after all, this was the first time I saw what light is!<br />
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<b><i>I start crawling on my knees-</i></b><br />
Yippee, I can move around the house by myself. My mom drops me on the floor after I wake up, and I realise that I can keep my body stable on my knees.I try moving forward, and that is it, this is the moment I had been waiting for. It was so nagging, to shout, correction, crying(yes I realised that I actually cry when I am trying to shout) , every time I wanted to move around from my place. Not anymore. The first thing I do after starting move around is reach out to my father, I haven't seen him in a long time. I see him standing in the aisle, I go up to him and tuck at his trousers. He looks down at me and makes a strange face. He moves aside, I again go up to him and tuck at his trousers. And, suddenly I am flying, My chest hurts, Did he hit me? Before I can fathom that, I hit the floor, my head is spinning, Everything I see is blurred. My whole body is in a state of pain. And this time, I actually cry. My mother lifts me, I shout at her to put me down, I want to move around, but I can't shout, my body hurts when I try to shout. Crying and shouting takes a toll on me, and I doze off. I wake up, only to look at the first face I saw when I came outside. I cry and tell her, that I still haven't forgotten the hit on my bum. But she is gentle this time, She takes me in her arms and rubs my body. I feel better now, the pain is disappearing slowly. I smile, and tell her, Apologies accepted.<br />
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<b><i>I start walking around-</i></b><br />
I know, you will call me a cry baby(talk of ironies!) if I tell you that it is boring to be crawling around, so one fine day, with tired and scrapped knees, I catch hold of the chair and try lifting myself. No, I am not always successful in my endeavors, and, I fall down. But I don't give up, Next day, I try the same stunt, and this time, I am lucky. I stand tall, everything seems so small to me. I see my milk bottle, wow, it looks so small now, I look at my mother, she is smiling, I smile back to her and tell her, very soon, I will be as tall as you. I try moving forward, but I fall, it hurt, but I am too excited to cry. I get up again and try moving forward, this time, I don't fall. I slowly start moving around the home. It is so much faster to move around like this.With each passing day, my speed of moving around increases. Each day, I make sure that I don't end up disturbing my father. One day, while my usual moving around the house, I felt a wet sensation in my bottoms, oops, I did it again, I realised later, that the timing is so terrible. I see my father standing, right across the room. He glares at me and comes to me with a great speed, wow, I want to move that fast one day. He picks me up, finally,I thought my father has picked me, finally, I will sleep in his lap, but, again go flying across, and it hurts again. He comes up to me again and raises his hand to my cheek, my cheeks are warm, and I sense something gushing out of my lips. My mom snatches me from father just before I dozed off again. When I wake up, I see the bum hitter lady again. I like her now, though. She rubs my body again, I feel warm, but all my pain doesn't go away now. She flashes a pointy thing to me, and pinches it on my arm and I doze off again.<br />
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<b><i>I speak my first word-</i></b><br />
Ok, I exaggerated this, I cant speak words, but then I can make some sounds similar to what my mom does. I don't know how, and I don't know why, but, the first word I speak, is 'Paa'. I don't know what it means, But sometime back, I heard a person, little taller than me, calling someone 'Paa' and I picked it up. I think, now, I won't have to cry when I feel like shouting. These people should now understand what I am saying. So, whenever I am angry, I say 'Paa'. Whenever I am happy, I say 'Paa'. My mother smiles every time I say 'Paa', even if I am shouting, she smiles. I think, crying was better, they don't understand their own language anymore. So, I decide to revert to my old language, but occasionally, I use their language as well. One day, I woke up when it wasn't bright yet. I sense that I wet my bottom again, and I still remember what happened, when I wet my bottoms while my father was around. I see two people around me. One of it is mother and other is my father, I can sense both of them, but which one is mother, I don't know. My bottoms feel itchy now, I want to call out my Mother, so I reach out to her and shout 'PAA'. She gets up and I hear a click and its suddenly bright again. Wait, it is not mother, it is father, whom I shouted to. He picks me up again, but I don't go flying across. But the way he has picked me, it hurts my arm. I am in his arms, till I suddenly feel breeze on my face. It is so pleasant. And again, after spending considerable(and probably the most) time in my father's arms, I go flying across. I wait for the pain to come, But I am still flying. I am enjoying this Wow, is this a dream. I feel so light, I am moving so fast. It feels great. How am I still flying? And then comes the pain, but the pain is momentary, I cannot feel my body, my vision is fading, but I see my mother rushing to me, but before she reaches me, I doze off again.<br />
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<b><i>The brightness again!</i></b><br />
I wake up, and never since my birth, has the brightness hurt me. "IT IS TOO BRIGHT", I shout out.<br />
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"You will get used to it child" a pleasant voice replies<br />
"Ohh, so you understand my language, Who are you, and how do you speak my language, are you the person who hit my bum when I was born, but you had a different voice!" I ask, refraining from asking too many questions.<br />
"I am your culprit, my child, I am the one who created you" the voice replies<br />
"Where is my mother, and where is my father?" I ask inquisitively<br />
"I am sorry, but, I won't be sending you back to them. You stay with me for sometime" He replies in the same pleasant monotone<br />
"Promise me, that you won't send me flying across if I wet my bottoms, or shout 'PAA' from time to time" I say, trying to strike a deal<br />
"I promise you, that, next time, <b>I would not make you a Human</b>"<br />
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<b>Baby Falak in ICU</b></div>
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This blog post is dedicated to the victims of baby assaults, in particular, baby Falak and baby Tanaaz, who died from continuous and calculated brutal physical assaults on them. While you are reading this, there are babies being assaulted all over the world, for crying too much, or for being a financial burden, or due to a drunken rage and worse, for being being a GIRL.<br />
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What can be the justification for an act of assaulting someone who is so helpless that he can't even stand on his feet. What can justify the act of assaulting someone, who doesn't even know what assault is, who he is being assaulted by or why he is being assaulted. Such a crime, should not be treated as homicide due to negligence, rather, it should be treated as a murder in cold blood. I truly believe in the saying, "An eye for an eye will make the whole world blind" , but , if criminals convicted for such acts are let away with only long prison sentences and not capital punishment , then, I would rather stay in a blind world than live in world with such living demons.<br />
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<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baby_Falak" target="_blank">Read Baby Falak news item</a><br />
<a href="http://daily.bhaskar.com/article/NAT-TOP-tanaaz-died-from-injuries-inflicted-by-parents-police-denies-3668813-NOR.html" target="_blank">Read Baby Tanaaz news item</a><br />
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Abhishekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00612979197231356334noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5413168941813178695.post-33336516514993289492012-08-15T20:50:00.003+05:302012-08-15T20:54:36.602+05:30The Indian life- Evaluated<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
An average Indian perceives life as a gift of God. The references from Geeta, Quran and Bible on life, act as supporting documentation. And, considering their rise in numbers, atheists considers life as a product of fornication between a male and female member of any eukaryot and the resultant meiotic cell division, or, result of an asexual mitotic cell division in lower species, which is "the wow thing" for them(I guess, being a believer is easy and short to explain!). Any which way, life , and the existence thereof is a source of amazement and awe for us. Because we know that life is important, we spend half our fortunes on quacks who enlighten us with the knowledge of life, salvation and even afterlife. And for the same reason, used by the crime syndicate and terror organizations to hold us at ransom, to give us grief and sorrow ,and, at times, make us vengeful. But, has life's importance been put at stake only by criminals(of all kinds of course) ? Think again.<br />
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The United Kingdom, prides itself on being home to multi-cultural and multiethinic communities, and on the social securities it provides to its citizens. It also understands its responsibility as a global power and being one of the five permanent members of the UN security council, it has sent its troops to Iraq and Afghanistan. It has also been providing aid to rebels in Syria to fight against the atrocious president Bashar-al-Assad. However, 93 years ago, in a small town of Punjab province, Amritsar, near Lahore, a group of Sikhs and Hindus had gathered to peacefully protest the British rule in India. But some Mr. Dyer viewed this gathering as a gathering of extremists, aged 1 to 90. He ordered his troop to shoot down all the terrorists irrespective of the age. Following the orders of their master, the troops shot down all the 'terrorist'. Even by official statistics, at least 500 people died in that incident. The General showed no remorse for his actions and was duly 'punished' by the British government. He was transferred back to Great Britain to continue his remaining service from there. He really got a severe punishment, didn't he?<br />
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In 1944, 320 African-American sailors(While reading, remember that Afro-Americans still did not have equal rights) were killed in port chicago,California in an accident, when the munitions, which were being loaded in the cargo, exploded. Such was a hue and cry raised about the accident, that the Navy insisted on giving each sailor a compensation of $ 5000. But since it was pre-Martin Luther era, the senate settled on an amount of $3000 for every dead sailor. The eighteen non-defense seamen who died in the accident, got a total compensation of $390,000, which comes roughly to around $21,666 per person. Some 42 years later, a bigger tragedy awaited the world. The biggest nuclear accident which the world witnessed occurred in Chernobyl, Ukraine(erstwhile USSR). It was a clear 'hollywoodish' case of science experiments going terribly wrong(only that no mutants were produced as a result). The load testing of the reactor, with lack of preparation, resulted in (even by the lowest counts) 4000 deaths and 100 thousands more being affected by cancer or other severe disabilities. A fully functional city(Pripyat, city housing workers and other people near Chernobyl) had to be completely evacuated and deserted. The economic impact on the already messed up Soviet Union was huge, However, even after the disintegration of the union, a compensation of around $10,500 was paid to every single person who was evacuated, along with consistent medical amenities being provided to them all their lives.<br />
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While all this was happening in the world, 2 years before the Chernobyl accident, the biggest industrial accident which the world ever saw occurred in India. On the cold winter night of 2nd December, 1984, while the residents of the lake city were in a cozy slumber, a human error lead to the leakage of Methyl isocyante gas from the Union carbide fertilizer plant. This accident resulted in immediate death of at least 4000 people and injured around 550,000 more. The first thing which happened after the accident was not the relief effort for the affected, but the doubtful escape of the CEO of the company Warren Anderson, right under the eyes of chief minister Arjun Singh(Former HRD minister, who introduced Quotas in IITs and IIMs) and the MP police. What followed for the survivors and the relatives, was an ordeal for justice. 56% of the people got lucky, after struggling for the appropriate compensation, the relatives of the dead got a 'justified' compensation of $1211, while those who were disabled got a compensation of $ 454 in 1992. The rest 44% were yet to be even examined for an eligible payout. The US federal court went on to comfortably quash Indian appeal for a compensation of $3.3 billion, citing archaic laws. DOW chemicals which purchased UCC in 2001, was a proud sponsor of the London Olympics, which India only threatened to boycott, but did not have the will to.<br />
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Its not just the dead(Indians) who are given a short stick. You, who is reading this, and anyone around you who uses a foreign product, had his/her life devalued by this world. Some years ago(and some years before that as well), BIS raised the issue of the quality of water being used in manufacturing of soft drinks in India. It found pesticides in the water, which was way above the permissible limit. Amir Khan, of Satyamev Jayate fame, promptly came to the rescue of the said manufacturer by appearing in a TVC, proclaiming the safety of the product he endorses. Some people claim, that the water used in colas is the same water we drink daily, hence we should not have a problem, point duly conceded. However, ask any Indian who is returning from the west, about the difference in taste of the colas there and here, the prompt reply for the Indian version would be that it is way below the western standards. Ask any west returned Indian about the pizzas and burger retail outlet there and here, the answer would be no different than the one given for colas.<br />
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Many of you who have read my post this far may come to think that an Indian life is really taken for granted, but really, is that so? Nobody takes us for granted until we allow them to. An Indian life is taken for granted because we move on, we are considered to be the people with great spirit, because no matter what happens, we move on, however, moving on is not a choice, its a compulsion . Try suing a company for faulty product and you will realize that the cost of transportation incurred for travelling to the consumer's court is more than the compensation which you actually get. We forget and forgive too easily for our own good. If we have to make ourselves counted, then stand up, wait, and do not move on until you get what you deserve to. Because, life, as taught to us, was always 'Amulya' (Priceless).</div>
Abhishekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00612979197231356334noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5413168941813178695.post-44191563966720135482012-07-29T16:10:00.000+05:302012-07-30T22:30:09.440+05:30The big fat Indian wedding of convenience<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
"Please keep quiet!!" My friend said to me, with a very constipated look<br />
"You know, it is a very difficult thing for me to do, still I would want to know, About what?" I replied with a chuckle.<br />
"That you have known Kavita before our marriage was fixed" He said, enhancing his already constipated look.<br />
"Of course, I did not know her before your marriage was fixed. You both fixed your your marriage the day you proposed her" I said, laughing at my joking abilities<br />
"Whatever, also, do not disclose my age to anyone, I am a month younger than Kavita"<br />
"Dude, what the heck? You are marrying your love, and the whole world knows that, why you making me look like a guy from CIA, hiding all the information?" I said, clearly irritated by him<br />
"Apparently, the whole world doesn't know its a love marriage, only our immediate family knows that its a love marriage, for the rest of them, its a marriage fixed by our parents" He said, relieved at his revelations.<br />
"I am planning to lock myself in the room, because among the 500 people who have poured in for your wedding, I do not have a way to know your "Immediate family" I replied with a shrug.<br />
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Although, Chetan Bhagat, is a pulp fiction writer, and thrives on spice and not literature, he made a good point in one of his books, that in India, you marry a family, and not the person alone. And when, we have so many people involved, so many people to be convinced, so many egos to be massaged, love and compatibility take a back seat, while convenience becomes the order of the day. Now, convenience for one, can be an inconvenience to other. So eventually, the type marriage is decided by the winner of the bout between clash of conveniences. Let me come up with the possible results in this clash of conveniences.<br />
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1)<b><i> Arrange marriage</i></b>- For starters, Arrange marriage means, the convenience of parents have won the bout hands down. To explain this concept, it is quite similar to buying a house. When you have the resources(read, a job which pays you well), you show interest in buying a house(read: getting married). For this, you approach a broker(read :Parents). This broker shows you the pictures of various potential investment options. Out of these pictures, you choose one, with strong recommendations by the broker of course. Once you do that, its time for site visit. You visit the site, and if you think, that what was shown to you in photograph, is close enough to reality, you give your nod. This is when, the brokers from both side start their negotiations and arrive at a middle path. And in a few months, ceremoniously(quite literally) you own the house.<br />
<br />
2)<b><i> Love marriage</i></b>- It stands for everything Arrange marriage doesn't. If you happen to go in for a love marriage, it means, that you have defeated the convenience of your parents hands down. This kind of marriage is not for people with weak hearts. For you need to be brave, to overcome the threats of disowning you from your parents, and you need to have a sustainable source of income, if they indeed disown you. During all this, you may also come across over-zealous neighbours and long distance relatives(the close ones are not talking to you, remember?). They will try to tell you that, Man, is a social animal and it cannot ignore the norms of society. For them, you marrying someone of your choice, will be nuisance to the whole society. You also will have to let go of your ambitions of a big fat wedding and along with that sometimes, the comfort of your parent's home.<br />
<br />
3) <b><i>Arrange Marriage with elements of love</i></b>- This is the new entrant on the Indian wedding scene. The convenience of parents has won the bout, but to show some respect to the losing team, the pride is restored in some way. Taking off from the broker-marriage analogy, this kind of marriage is akin to saying, the broker showed you a house and you fell in love with and bought it, and not because it carried strong broker recommendation. This kind of marriage has become a source of redemption for many young guys and girls in latest century. They want to prove to the world, that they are independent and that their opinion does matter. But the fact is, they are not independent. So, their parents choose life partner for them, and, almost instantly, they fall in love with each other. They proclaim their love for each other, with the blessings(read: permission) of their parents at every possible place. They fill each other's timeline(for the ignorant, the Facebook wall is now called timeline) with romantic messages and pictures. They would go on dates, but their won't be any good night kisses while dropping the girl back, and neither would the girl invite the guy in, for a cup of something. They would go shopping, but purchase only the stuff their parents think would be required for wedding. And one fine day, they get married, proclaiming to the world and generations to come, that they had a love marriage.<br />
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4) <b><i>Love marriage with elements of Parent's approval</i></b>- This kind of marriage is an exact opposite of what marriage no. 3. The parents have lost the bout of conveniences badly, and the children, out of respect and love, let the parents call it an arrange marriage. Carrying forward the broker-Marriage analogy, its like the broker claiming that the owner purchased the house on his recommendation and he got his brokerage too, when the fact is that the broker wasn't involved at all. Like marriage no. 3, this too is the latest entrant on the Indian wedding scene. The kids make their decisions clear, and parents decide not to be sore losers(like in marriage no. 2 ) and play along. They strike a deal with their children, to let them have elements of arrange marriage in the wedding. The kids don't mind, as long as they get to marry each other and not get disowned by their parents. The parents, who a few years ago would have been staunchly against love marriage, now start proclaiming to the world, that they are happy with the choices their children made, that they always gave the liberty to their children to decide their life. And one fine day, the children get married, and the parents proclaim, to anyone who cares to listen, that the wedding happened with their approval.<br />
<br />
There are many more scenarios and sub-scenarios on the Indian wedding scene, but why so many scenarios? Wasn't wedding meant to be, "Boy likes girl and girl likes boy and they lived happily ever after" affair? Why are there so many egos involved in the coming together of two people? Why, suddenly the opinions and reactions of the till-now-non-existent relatives suddenly start to matter?<br />
<br />
Now, people may accuse me of plagiarising Amir Khan from Satyamev Jayate, but I, along with you and many others have held strong opinions on this subject for long. Falling in love, is still a quasi-blasphemous thing for majority of Indians. We have been those hypocrites who cheer for our Actors and actresses since almost a century, when they win their love in movies. But, in real life, we quash the very same thing, right beneath the foot of our ego. It is time, we realised, that wedding is between two people and two people alone. They will be leading a life of at least 30-40 years together. And most of the guests at their wedding, would not either live long enough to see them in good and bad times, or, would not care enough to see them in good and bad times. Wedding should be a bond of love between two people and not a deal of convenience between two parties.<br />
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<br />
Sooner or later everyone has to decide, So, What is your convenience?<br />
<br />
PS- Come to think of it, I guess my friend(The one I had a conversation with at the start of this blog) falls in category three of the marriages.<br />
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<br /></div>Abhishekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00612979197231356334noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5413168941813178695.post-82238403665452405262012-06-11T19:34:00.004+05:302012-06-11T22:38:09.807+05:30Confessions of a natural mind<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<em>Phew...Boys room and holy shit can never be cleaned</em> <br />
<br />
She thought to herself as she was cleaning their room. She had been disturbed for quite some time now. Being married for over an year through the institution of arrange marriage, she had had a hard going. First, she had to shift to a new city, for which she had to leave her old job, and now, this new city did not have a job to offer her. Her husband is a successful banker, earning enough money for both of them, but not spending enough time with her. Disgruntled and alone, she had taken up to social networking, meeting up with some old friends and making some new. To get over her boredom, today, she had taken up the cleaning of their bedroom, which though is visited a very few times by her husband, but it takes only those few visits to mess it up. <br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
While cleaning the bookshelf in the room, she came across a neat hard bound diary, which she hadn't seen before. Carefully, she opened the case and turned the first page. It had her husband's name on the first page as title and "My confessions and feeling" as the subtitle. She turned to the next page...<br />
<br />
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<br />
<br />
Date- 01-August-2003<br />
<br />
Today was my first day at college. I was very nervous and anxious about how it would turn out to be, but fortunately for me it turned to be better than what I anticipated. It is always nice to be in a good college and being surrounded by ocean of intellect. But in this ocean of intellect, I happen to see a pearl. She was sitting on the first bench, and just so that I could gather more info on her, for the first time I took the risk of sitting on the first bench. She is such a beauty that anyone would be forgiven to overlook her intellect. Her name is Karen and.....<br />
<br />
<br />
<em>Ohh, so he had a crush, he is not heartless after all</em><br />
<br />
She did not read the rest of it, she turned the next page, it had the usual routine college life, boring, she thought to herself. She turned a few more pages until she came across a page mentioning Karen again.<br />
<br />
Date- 10th November-2003<br />
<br />
Karen is one hell of a female, rather one hell of a liberated female. She is quite vocal about the fact that she smokes occasionally and drinks socially, now, which female would have the guts to confess this to a guy she has met only a few months ago. She is par excellence….<br />
<br />
<em>Height of being mesmerized…Why the hell did he ever marry me?</em><br />
<br />
A few more pages of regular college stuff and she stopped again at the mention of Karen<br />
<br />
Date- 05th July-2004<br />
<br />
I finally enter the second year of my college. I am no longer a fresher, but I do not intend to bully the juniors. Karen is still looking as beautiful as she always looked. I am now habituated to sitting on the first bench. Today she reaffirmed my observation of her being a bold and liberated girl. She discussed the genre of porn she watches. I admit, I was embarrassed, I have never discussed this with guys, let alone girls, she even asked me if I could get my collection for her on a CD. She is the epitome of being independent…..<br />
<br />
<em>So this guy watches porn, and if that does not suffice, he discusses it with females, Mom, where have you got me into? I can’t take this anymore; this guy is a pervert and sick…</em><br />
<br />
She now started flipping through pages to nail this guy. She was sure that his fewer visits home meant more visits to this Karen’s place.<br />
<br />
Date-13th January 2005<br />
<br />
Karen has a boyfriend, Christopher. She will be getting married to him this year after we complete our degree in July. She told me I am a good guy, but she has already given her heart to Christopher, I guess she has been reading my mind off late and hence confessed her feelings before I could confess mine. Christopher is a very successful banker and is already earning Rs 2 million a year. It is only befitting for Karen that she gets a guy like Christopher…<br />
<br />
<br />
She did not bother to read the rest of it. She was happy, happy in a way devil is when he commits an atrocity. He confessed that he had feelings for a girl, enough for her to make her case and insufficient alibis for him to justify his case. Now that Karen was out of his life, she wanted to know more about the dark secrets of Mr. White collared banker. She turned a lot more pages until she came to the day he first saw her.<br />
<br />
<br />
Date- 12th December 2010<br />
<br />
My experience with Karen had taught me that I need to be successful and extremely successful at that if I am to get hooked to a liberated female like Karen, This is the reason I had been procrastinating my wedding plans. But today I had to give in to my mom’s whims. She took me to Kapoors today to meet their daughter, and for the first time I did not regret giving in to my mom’s whims. I was dumbstruck on seeing her and I could feel my mouth remaining open for more time than it should have been. She is every bit the intellect I always sought the company of. She is smart and suave. I regret that she will have to leave her current job to get married to me, but my infatuation got better of my regrets and I agreed to marry her, fortunately for me, she also agreed.<br />
<br />
<em>I cannot believe, he thought so highly of me, then why the hell does he stay away from me for such long durations?</em><br />
<br />
She was blushing for the first time after her marriage to him<br />
<br />
<em>Still, his feelings for me doesn’t take away the fact that he had a past with a female called Karen, Look how he started off by taking her name.</em><br />
<br />
Curious to find out what changed him, she turned to the pages detailing their married life.<br />
<br />
Date- 02nd September 2011<br />
<br />
Hello Mr. Diary, I get heart breaks every time I look forward to a relationship. Kanika was and still is the girl I would love no end. She is intellectual and at the same time blends well with my persona. However, today while she was surfing her mail, she had seemed to forget to uncheck the ‘Keep me signed in’ check box. This led me to her mail box straight away without logging in. I saw a previous chat window already open, it was a chat with her ex-boyfriend(ex obviously coz I am her husband now), they were discussing how I was a thorn in flesh of their love and how they had loved each other so much. I don’t want to be a thorn for anyone, but I don’t have the gumption to separate from her. I will just stay away from her so that she seeks separation and the blame falls on me. I simply want to see her happy, maligning her is surely not on my mind. I only regret, again, not confessing my feelings, leaving it for a little too late.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
She frantically searched for next few pages, but there wasn’t any entry after 2nd September, she kept turning pages till she reached the last page of the diary. She could feel tears in her eyes. She was falling short on breath; she could not take it anymore and burst out crying aloud. She cried till she fell asleep. She woke up a few hours later, picked up her mobile and dialed her husband, asking him to come home tonight, come what may. He agreed at once. She regretted how a flow of emotions had made her commit the sin of infidelity, and more so, the pain it was causing an angelic soul. She prepared the best food she could. Decorated the living room in the best possible way she could.<br />
<br />
<br />
He came home an hour later, but was not surprised to see the whole room decorated, smelling the aromas of the best food his wife could cook. She came out a few minutes later<br />
<br />
“I am sorry honey” She said giving him a peck on cheek<br />
<br />
“Why ,Sweetheart?” He asked giving a peck back on her cheek<br />
<br />
“Nothing, I am all for you, now, and forever. Just come back home daily on time.” She said smiling, but tears in her eyes. " I will be your diary" She added<br />
<br />
“As you say your highness” He hugged her<br />
<br />
He saw his diary left on the table. He smiled, he had gotten away with it, this mistake had almost jeopardized the whole thing, but it worked nonetheless. He had not realized before planning it, that <em><strong>The year on the diary was 2012</strong></em><br />
<br />
<br />
<strong>There is no saint out there without a stain on his past. Living in past perfect can only leads to a present tense and future imperfect.</strong></div>Abhishekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00612979197231356334noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5413168941813178695.post-39331914360296259562012-04-15T16:41:00.002+05:302014-04-05T14:08:25.686+05:30Better sorry than late<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<i>"You are no longer a fresher" </i>I said to myself as I entered the bay of my new project. I looked around and indeed, I was no longer a fresher, before I even got my new desk, my "would be" team mates started seeking my help in resolving a few technical glitches,the managers started introducing me to the various teams. However, I wasn't bothered about the technical glitches or knowing what work other teams did. I wanted my desk, I wanted my machine, I had a lot to be done before I settled down, and more importantly I wanted to know or rather see who am I sitting next to.<br />
<br />
"Does anyone actually sit here ,Kuldeep?" I asked the guy seated on a desk next to the empty desk besides me.<br />
"No, not really, there used to be a guy sitting here from a different project, I guess he left the company, some fresher is going to replace him soon" He said with a shrug<br />
<br />
<i>"Please God, let it be a girl, No, a good looking girl, no ,a Hot girl, but a girl"</i> I prayed, and sometimes, as I learned, Gods do give you a hearing.<br />
<br />
"Excuse me", I heard a soft feminine voice calling me out, " Is it your bag? Can you keep it over the table, so that I can sit on this chair?" I looked up from my screen to see the most pretty girl(yet) in the entire bay standing next to me.<br />
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<br />
"<i>Hail the Almighty"</i><br />
<br />
"Hey, yeah ,uhhh, sure, Sorry" I fumbled with my word and my bag as I pulled it out of her chair.<br />
"<i>Hey, I think I should ask her name"</i><br />
"<b style="font-style: italic;">You gone nuts? She did not even say a thank you when you pulled your bag, show some self respect, moron!" </b>A devil named ego shouted from inside me and I caved in to his roar<br />
<br />
I gathered that her name was Jagriti, at least that's what her desk name plate said. She had a simple routine to her day. She would come in at 9 am, put her bag on her chair and disappear with a small hand bag for around 10 mins and come back with a glowing skin and amazingly flowing hair. She would then sit at her desk, to probably check out some mails and after doing this for exactly 5 mins she would then pull out some meal vouchers from her purse and head for the cafeteria returning only an hour later. 15-20 minutes into her work after coming, she would shout out, "Nareshhhhhhhh, this piece of code sucks, how is one expected to debug this?" This guy Naresh would then spend an hour trying to fix her code, while he would fix her code, she would attend a few calls from her numerous friends(because I never heard the same name appended to her 'Hi' when she answered her call). After the tiring code fixing session, she would go to the break out to get some tea. And after calling out, Suresh and Jignesh to fix a sucking piece of code after lunch, she would sit down, surfing sites which always put a smile on her face, the shopping websites. The way she got engrossed in those sites made me feel that she could (window)shop online no end. And then it was time again, she would pick her small hand bag and storm out again, only to come back 10 mins later with glowing face and flowing hair. She would then pick up her rest of the stuff and leave for the day.<br />
<br />
I observed her routine for a month and I was surprised by her dedication to this routine of hers. And yes, once in a while if she ever met my eye, she would give out a broad smile, sending my pulse racing.<br />
<br />
"<i>I think it is time I introduce myself"</i><br />
<i>"<b>You think you are too smart? Has she even tried to introduce herself?"</b></i><br />
<i>"Enough, Sometimes, no, always, guys have to take the first step, don't you see how broad a smile she gives me when she meets my eye?"</i><br />
<i><b>"Fine, go to hell, do whatever you feel like"</b></i><br />
<i><b><br />
</b></i><br />
"Hey, Is your machine connected to the printer? I need a print out" I finally spoke to her, one month after fumbling with words<br />
"Yeah, why? Isn't yours connected?" She asked in a MATTER-OF-FACT tone<br />
"No, My LAN cable doesn't seem to be working" I said, a white lie<br />
"Okay, here is your print out" She held out the print out for me, it only had my name in bold letters written on it.<br />
"By the way, that's my name on the print out" I said with a wide grin, priding myself for being smart<br />
"Oh and this is my name" She held out her desk name plate on which Jagriti was written in bold. " I am planning to go for tea" she added suddenly, probably in a care-to-join tone<br />
<br />
<i>"Is it a statement or an invitation?"</i><br />
<i><b>"Sit tight, moron, don't pay heed to her, she is a fresher, you stop acting like one, don't accept her invitations so soon"</b></i><br />
<i><b><br />
</b></i><br />
"Ohh Great, the masala tea in the cafe is great, you should surely try it" I said in a it-was-me-who-told-you-first tone.<br />
"Cool", she turned around and left. And while she was leaving I thought I heard her muttering the word 'stupid'.<br />
<br />
"<i>Today is my birthday, I will offer her the chocolates at my desk and she would surely demand a treat, I would then take her out to an exclusive restaurant, a date, just me and her"</i><br />
<i><b>"Utopian dreams"</b></i><br />
<i>"Go to hell, I am not paying heed to your thoughts today"</i><br />
<i><br />
</i><br />
"Hey, why don't you have some chocolates, it is my birthday today" I extended her a box of chocolates.<br />
"Ohh, Happy birthday" She smiled as she picked up a chocolate.<br />
"Well......" I said, hoping she would demand a treat.<br />
"Ohhh, well"<br />
<i>"Here she goes, Hail Almighty"</i><br />
<i>"</i>I too have sweets for you, I got engaged this weekend" She said with the widest grin I had ever seen on her face<br />
"Uh-huh, I am on a diet, congratulations by the way" I said, trying hard to hide my disappointment<br />
"And ,I won't be taking a print out to tell his name, It's Akshat" She said giving a hi-five to Naresh who had just joined.<br />
<br />
In the following week, she took a long leave of absence, and the next thing I heard was that she had applied for a name change in the company database. Her Facebook profile read her name as "Jagriti Verma Mittal". She returned a month later wearing a bright red Saree and loads of bangles on both her wrists. An hour later, I got a mail from her titled sweets at my desk. I turned to see her opening two boxes of sweets. I picked one up and gulped it down. She looked at me and gave me her regular broad smile. A few hours later, some girls turned up at her desk and spoke to each other intermittently when they got some time off from their giggling. An hour later a few more girls turned up and to the relief of bay, took her outside for some more giggling.<br />
As "Her day" neared an end, she came to me,<br />
<br />
"Hey, This is also my last day in office, it was nice meeting you" She offered a hand for shaking. " Also, the next time I see you, I will surely have the masala tea" she giggled and left the bay for the final time.<br />
<br />
<br />
"Excuse me, would you please take your bag off this chair, so that I can sit" I looked up from my screen on hearing a strong feminine voice<br />
<br />
<i>"Hail the Almighty, circle of life, law of averages!"</i><br />
<i><br />
</i><br />
"Yeah sure" I picked up my bag from the chair " By the way, my name is Abhishek" I said while extending a hand for handshake.<br />
<br />
"<i>I am not going to showcase my bloated ego this time"</i><br />
<br />
"Hey Hi, my name is Khushi" She said, taking my hand<br />
"Do you mind a tea with me?"<br />
"Sure, why not" <i>Way to go, genius! "</i>However I usually have my tea with my boyfriend, do you mind if he joins us?" She said with a smile on her face<br />
"Oh, wait a second, I guess I just got some work, why don't you go ahead"<br />
"Sure, never mind, sometime later" She smiled and started moving<br />
"Do try the masala tea in the cafe, it is rumored to be good out here" I said aloud while she was exiting from the<br />
<br />
<b style="font-style: italic;">"Better be sorry, than late" </b>The voice inside me said aloud!<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<i><br />
</i><br />
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</i></div>
Abhishekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00612979197231356334noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5413168941813178695.post-44437924048357691942012-03-08T15:39:00.000+05:302012-03-08T15:39:04.942+05:30When the titans will shrug<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">"IT IS A WIN FOR EQUALITY AGAIN" screamed the headline out of the morning news paper. Puzzled, he picked up the news paper.<br />
<br />
"15-08-2035 New Delhi : As expected since a few days, the honorable government of People's state of India passed a resolution in the parliament reserving a percentage of seats in all public mode transport based on the scheduled list of castes and tribes as listed in the constitution of India and/or economic status. Speaking from outside the parliament Mr. Sudhir Paswan , the head of state of People's state of India said,<br />
" This bill ,although very trivial in nature, concerning only the public transport is a part of series of reforms to bring about equality of castes and classes. In our 88 years of independence, I can proudly say that we have truly moved towards equality. It first started by making a reservation in premier institutes like IIM and IIT for scheduled castes and tribes in year 2006. India wasn't a people's state then, but it was a step in right direction. Then in 2016, we introduced a bill, which made it compulsory for all private companies to reserve a certain percentage of job openings, and then eventually the position of CEO of companies was to be held only by a reserved candidate so that the hiring process could be overlooked in a transparent manner......"<br />
<br />
He knew the rest of it, IT sector was the biggest casualty in India, Philippines had now taken the lead in IT. Tired of reading politics, he moved on to read some other news.<br />
<br />
"RETAILERS CANNOT IMPORT EDIBLES, CAN PURCHASE ONLY FROM INDIAN FARMERS"<br />
.........<br />
"GOVT CLOSES DOWN THE CABLE CAR AT VAISHNODEVI FOR LIVELIHOOD OF MULE OWNERS"<br />
........<br />
"NEW TAX REGIME IN PLANNING, WILL MAKE A THIRD OF EARNING GO TO UNDERPRIVILEGED SLUM DWELLERS"<br />
<br />
He was getting late for work, if he reported late, he may lose his 30 year old job to a young 'reserved' chap. He kept the newspaper on the table, with a sigh, picked up his bag, shrugged and left home hoping that his company would last one more day, one more day of survival in People's state of India.<br />
<br />
The above scenario is obviously an extreme kind of hypothesis, but an impression that the scenario may not be realized would be callous. Our nation today wants equality for all, an equality of opportunity for all. If equality was ever given some thought years ago, the world would have been a different place now. The lantern makers would have fought for equality of opportunity on production of electric bulbs. Horse ranch owners would have had the motor cars banned for jeopardizing the livelihood of horse and horse owners. Telegraph manufacturers would have banned telephones and telephone manufacturers would have banned satellites and mobile phones, all new inventions would have been banned for the sake of equality. And if Maharaja of Baroda had considered equality as a factor in his decision making, he wouldn't have sent B.R. Ambedkar on a scholarship to USA, he would have sent someone of lesser intelligence to study so that he can have an opportunity to equate his intelligence with Ambedkar.<br />
<br />
Two kids, born to be neighbours, whose parents work in same organization, raised together, went to same school, both gave sole entrance exam for professional course. One gets 99%, but cannot get admission, other gets 90% and gets the admission. That is the justice of equality delivered by constitution of India, unquestionable? The kid who did not get admission is disappointed, applies for an admission in USA, gets prompt admit, the whole neighborhood starts crying brain drain. That is the judgement of equality delivered by the great ethical Indian society , unquestionable?<br />
<br />
A very old Parsi industrial group signs a deal with West Bengal communist government to set up a car manufacturing plant in Singur. They pay high price to all the farmers whose land was acquired legally along with a job offer in the same plant. After a few years, the plant is ready to roll out cars, but suddenly, the farmers realize they still want to cultivate jute on that very land. They decide to stall the unit with the help of some 'Didi'. They want the land back. The industrial group demands the money they paid back, but the farmers are helpless and poor, they exhausted the money on living expenditure. The industrial group refuses to bow down. 'Didi' calls this subjugation of poor by rich, a social activist known for stalling projects and a female bookers prize winner who could only write one popular book all her life with incestous theme and spends half her time in capitalist USA, join hands with 'Didi' to bring equality and justice to farmers. The farmers damage the unit and injure the workers inside the unit. The industrial group has enough, they abandon the plant and leave the state. The unit is brought down and land is returned to farmers. The farmers now unable to cultivate anything on that land, plead for help. The government then compensates the farmers. Happy ending?<br />
<br />
Two friends arrive in the city of opportunities together. Both have the same qualifications, however one of them has a penchant for hard work. He works hard and gets a job at a reputed company. With his first salary he moves out of the shanty in the biggest slum of Asia built illegally, which he shared with his friend to a nice rented apartment in a distant suburb.The person who is not so hardworking continues to live in the shanty and starts working in an illegal leather factory. The hardworking person continues to grow arithmetically, but is unable to keep up with the growth of realty prices and continues living on rent. He pays all his taxes regularly. His friend meanwhile continues to grow in leather business geometrically. He has enough money to buy an apartment now, but that would mean giving up the leather business. The hardworker reaches old age in the rented home. One fine day he reads a directive by government to move all the Shanty dwellers in the slum settlement to apartments which will be owned by them. His hardly working friend moves into a swanky new apartment built free for him by the government from tax payers money, while the hard working person dies a nondescript death in the rented apartment, having paid all the taxes on time.<br />
<br />
The pretext of equality has long been used to choke fair competition. Any sentence that uses word equality becomes an oxymoron. The concept of equality meant, equal opportunity for privileged and underprivileged alike, however it has long since been modified to mean an equality in opportunity for competent and incompetent alike. Any body who has had a reservation ready for him all through out his life irrespective of the opportunity he had economically or socially automatically stands to be underprivileged against someone who may have had same opportunity but was privileged, since he belonged to open category. Anybody who is rich by his/her own virtue is accused of being a poor hater, he is considered to be privileged and is doomed with the burden of supporting the underprivileged, who may be drunkard spending all his days income on buying country liquor. Any body who earns is a privileged one, and is cursed to pay taxes so that the ones who are too lazy to work, the underprivileged, living on land purchased by government from the taxes paid by the earning class, can be fed and given better place to live in. Is that the equality we strive for?<br />
<br />
When equality of privileged v/s underprivileged and not that of competent v/s incompetent is achieved, that would be the day of reason and justice of equality.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBjqhk9paYHPFJePJccYBjr9JVukkRGPPll-6Tdg253AU-_nHAkt7nrLpRIFGsly_hyphenhyphenOv-M2veK0rp96YgjkAK3cvaJXrmwUfDUkca1vwvy-XaJaexgbOniEpIdE4PT1uexc4qJZd6ZBI/s1600/Atlas-Shrugged-Movie.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="196" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBjqhk9paYHPFJePJccYBjr9JVukkRGPPll-6Tdg253AU-_nHAkt7nrLpRIFGsly_hyphenhyphenOv-M2veK0rp96YgjkAK3cvaJXrmwUfDUkca1vwvy-XaJaexgbOniEpIdE4PT1uexc4qJZd6ZBI/s320/Atlas-Shrugged-Movie.jpg" width="320" /></a> <br />
<br />
One of the central characters in the famous novel by Ayn Rand, "Atlas shrugged", asks the other central character<br />
<br />
what sort of advice he would give to Atlas upon seeing that "the greater [the titan's] effort, the heavier the world bore down on his shoulders". With him unable to answer, he gives his own response: "To shrug"</div>Abhishekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00612979197231356334noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5413168941813178695.post-81995251932529092992012-01-26T00:45:00.003+05:302012-01-26T14:21:46.023+05:30The President is coming<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">With a cup of coffee in one hand and other hand ruffling his hair, he stared blankly at the documents kept in front of him. Just when he was about to give up on it, he saw his enlightened 'boss' coming in, seizing the opportunity, he went up to him.<br />
<br />
"Sir, What do I do about this clause?" He asked, keeping the documents on his table.<br />
<br />
"Which clause?" The boss replied sheepishly, while checking out the show timings for the newly released movie 'Andaz' starring some new comers like Dilip Kumar, Raj Kapoor and Nargis.<br />
<br />
"This clause, sir, In the British constitution, we have the monarchical head, What do we do about it here, in India?" He asked with a sense of hurry.<br />
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"We will have a monarchical head as well then" The boss replied in a "Don't-you-know-it-tone".<br />
<br />
"Sir, however, our nation has decided to do away with Monarchy, and if anyway we were to select one monarch, who would we select, we have so many kings and emperors." He said, now becoming restless.<br />
<br />
"Yes, that is a valid point, we cannot have monarchy" The boss said, now a bit alert.<br />
<br />
"Exactly my point, then can we have a president?" He asked curiously.<br />
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"Yes, yes, absolutely, let us have a president then" Boss added, impressed by his subordinate<br />
<br />
<br />
"So then, the people of India will elect the president?" He added, to extract more from his boss.<br />
<br />
"No, how can that be? We have made so many drafts incorporating the British constitution, according to which Prime Minister is the head of the country, it will be a lot of rework, if we were to change this." The boss added with authority and already regretting why he ever got impressed by this chap!<br />
<br />
"However, the President is supposed to be the commander of armed forces and some other powers like passing the bill etc., What will the PM do, and what if there is a conflict" He added, still trying to keep his point.<br />
<br />
"We will give him all the power a president is supposed to have" The boss said, "However, let us have a clause that he can use all these powers only in consultation with the PM" The boss added after seeing the blank look on his subordinate's face.<br />
<br />
"This solves it then, thank you sir" He came out, satisfied with the answer and impressed by the solution given by his boss.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
The above scenario, to those familiar with the world of IT, may resemble a coder catching up with a team lead with a problem and the team lead providing a work around for it. The above conversation is as fictional in nature as India overtaking China in terms of economy and military might. However, the outcome of the conversation is exactly what happened to India, creation of a ceremonial post.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLx0XXozG53L9bshIhb-_K18PDHZJyoi-eT_9WV4cRlhmkrdrQJFvvA9hINlyXonkShvA0t0W19k9Z4OPlRzlpuVXDGDI5E9j68fSlZ0zqCi1Kq-YT3la9nvAvQXJXR4tjm70N6KMVHZ8/s1600/800px-Presidential_Standard_of_India.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLx0XXozG53L9bshIhb-_K18PDHZJyoi-eT_9WV4cRlhmkrdrQJFvvA9hINlyXonkShvA0t0W19k9Z4OPlRzlpuVXDGDI5E9j68fSlZ0zqCi1Kq-YT3la9nvAvQXJXR4tjm70N6KMVHZ8/s320/800px-Presidential_Standard_of_India.PNG" width="320" /></a></div> <br />
On 26th January 1950, India became a Republic. A Republic means , a form of government in which the people or a significant portion of them have supreme control over the government and where offices of the state are chosen by people. In a nutshell, a state which is not headed by a monarch. But, our constitution makers somehow ended up adding a president as the head of the state, to keep intact, the inspiration.<br />
<br />
The president is the Supreme commander of Armed forces, he can dissolve the lok sabha, he can remove the Judges of Supreme courts. He appoints the governor of states, he declares wars on countries and all the diplomatic treaties are signed by him. The President with all these powers may really be the superman of India, however to spoil the party, there is a small rider to it. A president can dissolve the Lok Sabha only on the 'advice' of council of ministers. He can remove the judges of Supreme court, only if a motion has been passed for impeachment in both the houses. He appoints the governor, who can at best be described as a miniature of president at state level. President declares the war against countries, but who decides when to go at war? All the diplomatic treaties are signed by him, but who negotiates the terms of these treaties? No prizes for guessing all of it.<br />
<br />
The boundaries of power and advise by counsil for president can easily be said to be thin .Powers, which are diminished by a single sentence in the constitution which says that a president be advised by council of ministers, can still be easily rendered if a President knows how to play 'Politics'(Quoting a former minister Jagjivan Ram here). There have been presidents who haven't taken too kindly too the advise by council of ministers. So we had our very first president Dr. Rajendra Prasad openly opposing the Hindu code bill by Nehru. Giani Zail Singh used pocket of veto in 1986 for Postal bill, whereby, a president can delay his assent to a bill by indefinite time by not actually reviewing it, thus eventually pushing the bill into dustbin. And more recently we had APJ Abdul Kalam sending the modifications to office of profit bill back for reconsideration. And here came one more catch, the president can only send back a bill once. The second time it comes to him, he has to sign it. Smart UPA, ignoring the reconsideration request by Mr. Kalam, sent back the original bill to him.<br />
<br />
The above facts and observations raise uneasy and probably blasphemous questions about the creators of our constitution. I have absolutely no doubt over the abilities of the drafting committee, however certain aspects of our constitution , like the ceremonial head of the country, which are lifted directly from the British constitution, make for an shabby copy and paste. Even if we had to have a head of the state, why wasn't a clear demarcation done about the powers he possesses and the powers he can actually wield? Why were the clauses kept so ambiguous? We have a President, who has a remuneration of Rs 150,000 a month, along with the Rs 220 million spent from annual budget on the activities of the president, who stays in one of the biggest palace in India(Rashtrapati Bhavan), the maintenance of which again is a costly affair. All this, for him to be a dummy in hands of the government,to be used like a rubber stamp, to be the face of the nation, probably the way Shahrukh Khan is the face of the N number of brands he never even uses.<br />
<br />
The President will keep coming, irrespective of we needing him or not.</div>Abhishekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00612979197231356334noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5413168941813178695.post-71280694193699837632011-11-27T17:21:00.003+05:302011-11-28T17:06:58.172+05:30Pakistan: A problem child of a troubled mother<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">It had been exactly an year since I had not visited my friend's home. Yes, he had traveled to UK for his higher studies, and yes, practically I had no reason to go to his place. But theoretically I had offended his mom and his kid sister. More so his kid sister because her supply of chocolates had been reduced drastically over the past one year. So when he finally came to India for visiting his family, I got an opportunity to wash away my theoretical sins and finally visited his home.<br />
<br />
"I am so sorry Gia, I could not visit you for so long, how are you?" I said, trying to sound like an 8 year old<br />
"This is not done, I won't talk to you" She said, sounding haughty.<br />
"Ok, here you go, Is a cadbury good enough deal for you to start talking to me again?" I offered, "Let me make the deal more delicious by making it a cadbury crunchy, How about it?" I added while taking out the chocolate from my pocket<br />
"Yeah it will surely do" she said and snatched the chocolate from my hand. "Can I share it with my Pakistani friend?" she said, showing rare obedience.<br />
"Pakistani friend? How do you know a Pakistani?" I said, showing all possible emotions of confusion.<br />
"Yeah, she comes to school with a white scarf over her head, we all call her a Pakistani" She clarified.<br />
"Ohhh" is all I could say to my this kid's mindset.<br />
<br />
A few days later, travelling with the same friend in the suburban rail transport towards the famous VT station, I was talking to him about how south east Asians live in UK. I was recounting, how one of my friend told me that most of the fights in the city of Glasgow are picked up by Pakistanis and eventually leads to Indians being crushed in their fights. Immediately, a bearded guy with a skull cap sitting in front of me, got up and stood in the passage. I looked at my friend and he was nodding his head with his tongue out to indicate that I committed a mistake. Later, he told me, how that guy must have felt that I was talking in context of Muslims being a trouble maker in UK. I wondered how and why?<br />
<br />
Almost every cricket lover in India remembers the T-20 cricket world cup triumph of India in South Africa in the summer of 2007. Chak De had just released and Mr. Shahrukh Khan, promoting the movie along with fulfilling his desire to watch an India-Pakistan world cup final, was present in the VIP box waving the Indian flag undeterred. India eventually won the match and SRK went down to give every player a hug. A Hindi news channel whose motto is to deliver news the fastest to its viewers spared no time in interviewing SRK. The last question of the interview went like this:<br />
<br />
"SRK, it is known that you are a pathan from Peshawar, and since Peshawar is in Pakistan, how do you feel today, that Pakistan lost the match to India".<br />
A stunned SRK somehow regained his composure and replied<br />
"I am an Indian, proof of which is my passport, I was brought up on Indian values and I was there to support India. Yes, Pakistan had a good team, but I would ALWAYS WANT MY COUNTRY ,INDIA, TO WIN".<br />
<br />
Does the news anchor know, that the Bollywood's first family i.e. the Kapoors, also belong to Peshawar. 80% of the Khanna's and Malhotra's in Bollywood are from Pakistani Punjab. Would the anchor dare to ask the same question to Ranbir Kapoor or Rishi Kapoor?<br />
<br />
After every terror attack that occurs in this country, before anyone, including the state, central and international agencies and government can condemn the attack, the Muslim community spokesperson(usually a cleric) comes out and strongly condemns the attacks. Any attack should always be condemned by all civilized people, However when the condemnation, although truthful has an element of compulsion in it, it raises questions. Not on the community, but on us and the system. The compulsion to condemn immediately is due to threats from right wing Hindutva groups, for they, before condemning the attack, bay for Muslim blood "for sowing the seeds of terror". So we have Aamir Khan calling a press conference to condemn the 26/11 attacks and some of the other big stars could do with a simple tweet or a Facebook update, because they don't have a Khan appended to their name.<br />
<br />
As clear, by many ,Muslims are categorized as Pakistanis.How many people know ,that the crescent and star flag which is seen hoisted in any Muslim congregation and is often mistaken to be Pakistani flag , is not a Pakistan flag. It is simply holy to the Muslims. How many people know, that one of the most orthodox Islamic school of thought, the Dar-ul-uloom in Deoband, which is infamous for publishing Fatwas against Sania Mirza for her skirt, Salman Khan for bringing in Ganpati and more recently, Muslim women for going for jobs, was one of the first Muslim organization to out-rightly reject the idea of partition of India into a Muslim Pakistan from the rest of India. It said that Idea of Pakistan was political and there was nothing Islamic about creation of Pakistan. How many people know, that the first paramvir chakra in the republic of India was given to a Muslim named <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdul_Hamid_(soldier)" target="_blank">Abdul Hameed</a> in a battle against PAKISTANI forces in 1965 war.<br />
If all Muslims indeed wanted Pakistan, then what can explain the fact that until recently we had more Muslims in our country than Pakistan. It was not very difficult to migrate to Pakistan, which was ready to accept all Muslims with open arms. <br />
Some people may come up with the argument of Indian Mujahidden and SIMI being Indian Muslim terrorist organization, then I can come up with equal number of terrorists organization which are not Muslims. Calling all Muslims Pakistanis and terrorists would be as blasphamous as calling all Tamils as supporters of LTTE , all Sikhs as supporters of Khalistan movement and all North east Indians as Chinese.<br />
<br />
For those who read the title of the blog and are confused how the content of the blog is related to the title, the answer is , no, I don't have a problem with Pakistan, it is a beautiful country with beautiful people with a problematic government and Army, however it is the Idea of Pakistan and its eventual creation which is the problem child and is the sole reason why the integrity of a Muslim is questioned in India,which is the troubled mother. Agreed, that a communal rift has been present in this nation since centuries, but creation of a Muslim theocratic state out of India only led to a bigger feud between the majority and the minority. Had we been together, yes, we would have fought, and fought fiercely, which we still do, but anyone's loyalty to the nation would have been unquestionable.<br />
<br />
Omar Abdullah(J&K chief minister) had once famously said in a parliament speech:<br />
<b>"I am Muslim and I am an Indian and I see no distinction between the two"</b><br />
<br />
I stand by his remarks.<br />
<br />
</div>Abhishekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00612979197231356334noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5413168941813178695.post-32804686387562701712011-10-23T19:35:00.003+05:302011-10-24T21:59:02.578+05:30Sacrificed Innocence<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">"I don't think she should be hearing all this, please send her in" Mom pleaded with my Dad.<br />
"She is a 9 year old girl, and she should know fully about the problems we face" He said, "Come out Paramita" He added in an affectionate but stern tone.<br />
<br />
"<i>What can it be about</i>?" I said to myself. "<i>Have I done something which has caused embarrassment to the family? Anindita Ma'am did not even call Dad to school this time for not standing first in rankings at school, neither have I pulled hair of my sister Mishti in a long time"</i>. Hesitant and embarrassed, I walked out into the room, having been hiding behind the curtain and listening to the conversation between Mom and Dad all this while.<br />
<br />
"So dear, We have been talking about some family problems here, Your elder brother has suffered a total kidney failure and our farm has not produce any good crop this year. We are in a deep financial problem. We have to arrange for a lot of money for your brother to survive or else find a donor for him" He said with a glim of tear in his eye.<br />
<br />
"Can we not buy it from shop? I am sure Banwari would have it, he keeps a lot of things in his shop" I said trying to suggest something useful at least.<br />
"No, we need to find a donor for this" He said in a authoritative voice.<br />
"What is a donor, dad?" Trying hard not to sound dumb.<br />
"Dear, a Donor is someone who can donate one of his kidney to someone who has none"<br />
"Ohhh, then can we not give him ?" I said, trying to sound thoughtfully.<br />
"No, one of my kidney is infected too, I can't give him mine" He said, sounding thoroughly disappointed.<br />
<br />
And then suddenly, My Mom started crying profusely. "If we don't get a donor or money, Doctors say your brother will die in 1 month, your brother may not have much time left, <i>pari</i>, not much. And we can't even sell off our land, what will we give in dowry for your marriage otherwise?" and she went on crying. And then I did, what was not expected of me, being a big girl now. I started crying too. Hugging my mom, I could not stop myself from sobbing hard, I could feel the pallu of my mom getting wet from our tears. I felt a hand on my head,I looked back. it was my elder brother.<br />
<br />
"Don't worry pari, We will manage" he said with a smile.<br />
<br />
That is when I decided, I will find a solution to our problems, I cannot see my mother sob, I cannot see my father so tensed and I certainly cannot let my brother die.<br />
<br />
"Dadi Maa, how old are you?" I said, in a lost tone.<br />
"Why do you ask, you have become very ill mannered", She said in a very harsh tone<br />
"Can you donate your kidney to my bro, he will die otherwise, please dadi, please.You are old anyway, my brother has such a long time to go". I said, pleading with all my might.<br />
"You Moron, How dare you shorten my age? I have a long life ahead and I am proud of that. If you want your brother to live, why do you ask me? Go give your own kidney" She said, shouting loud enough for the neighbors to hear. "Girls are always waste of resources anyway, and a burden on family, had you not existed, my son wouldn't have had to worry about your dowry" she added scornfully.<br />
<br />
Was I really the cause of all this. Is dowry the gift parents give their daughters at marriage? How do I tell them that I don't want any gift, I will marry a rich guy? Dad told me donor is someone who can give a kidney. Can I not donate my kidney? How does one donate a kidney? and what is a kidney?<br />
<br />
"You've gone mad" My best friend Suparna exclaimed.<br />
"But why? I think this is the only way I can help my family, Won't you like to join me? We had promised to stay together always, It won't be tough, trust me" I said, trying to sound convincing.<br />
"Go away, Else I will tell Anindita ma'am that you are disturbing me.<br />
<br />
My mom had once told me that when times are bad, no body helps, not even your best friends. She was right. I had always trusted Suparna, and today, instead of helping me out, she thought of complaining about me to Anindita ma'am. So many times I had lied to ma'am to save her from the scale whipping by ma'am. But I am a big girl, I can do it alone, I will handle it all alone.<br />
<br />
All things were in place, I cross checked everything once again. As I began climbing atop the stool, I remembered something. I got down and opened my drawer. And there it was. I thought of cross checking the letter. Anindita ma'am would be upset if I commit grammatical mistakes. I began reading...<br />
<br />
<i>Dear Mom and Dad,</i><br />
<i> I am really sorry, Because of me you could not save money for buying kidney for brother. I wanted to tell you that I do not want any gift after my marriage, I will marry a rich boy, but you wouldn't listen. Hence I decided to give kidney to brother myself. I had even asked Grandmother as well, but she said, she has a long life to live and cannot give her kidney to brother. I tried to find out ways to donate kidney, but couldn't find one. I tried to use a knife and fetch it out, but I did not know where to start looking inside my body. Hence I have decided to leave it for you to decide how to do it upon me. I guess, to donate something, one needs to die first. Hence I am ending my life, so that finally I can be useful to someone. Now you won't have to worry about brother, he will live long now, like grandmother. You even won't have to worry about my dowry gift as well. Please forgive me for giving you all the troubles.</i><br />
<i> </i><br />
<i> Yours Paramita</i><br />
<i><br />
</i><br />
I realized my mistake, scribbled my name and wrote it below <i>yours</i>. I again climbed back on the stool. More determined than ever. I saw the elliptical rope in front of me. I could see everything through it, it didn't look different. I put my neck through it.<br />
"<i>Would it pain if I do it this way? Does it pain a lot when people die?"</i><br />
<i>"Ohh, c'mon, it cannot pain more than it did when i broke my finger,it was so painful"</i><br />
<i>"Yes, it will not pain more than that" </i><br />
I smiled and kicked the stool from under me. I am trying hard to breath, but i am unable to catch any air. It is becoming harder. My chest is aching now. I am trying to get back on stool and stand up, but it has fallen too far. I am unable to use my hands or leg. My whole body had gone numb, I can't feel my body..<br />
"<i>Mom.....Broken finger was not this painful...................................."</i><br />
<i><br />
</i><br />
<i><br />
</i><br />
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This is a real story of Mamphy Sarkar of West Bengal who committed suicide on July 04th, 2011 because her brother had kidney failure and father had a degrading vision. She wrote a suicide note asking her family to use her organs, however a bigger tragedy followed, the note was found by the family after they had cremated her. Her Innocence was sacrificed under the burden of the mortal troubles. This blog is a fictional account of the events, only the premise of this blog is the same, and not the entire story.<br />
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<b>God bless her soul</b>.<br />
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Click <a href="http://ibnlive.in.com/news/girl-commits-suicide-to-donate-organs-to-her-kin/164969-3.html">here</a> to read the news item of the above girl<br />
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</div>Abhishekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00612979197231356334noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5413168941813178695.post-26855970771339893062011-10-06T21:34:00.002+05:302011-10-07T09:52:12.730+05:30Taxonomy into 9<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">"Bhai......." My kid sister mumbled, perched on my lap and scratching her head<br />
"Yes" I said, expecting one more of her questions, which have increased many folds in her growing up years<br />
"You kept all nine fasts for this Navratri, right? and today is the last day of it..?"<br />
"Yes, today is the last day of it, from tomorrow, you wont get to eat all the chocolate by yourself"<br />
"Today, mom called 9 girls to feed after some pooja, is that because 9 girls represent 9 Devis?<br />
"Yes" I literally exclaimed. "How do you know so much" asking her inquisitively<br />
"Doesn't matter" she said shrugging off my question "What i wanna know is, does this mean, girls can be of 9 types?"<br />
"ehh...errrr...huh" is all i could say in response.<br />
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Although her idea of girls being of only 9 types is an understatement. However, she did actually wash up my thoughts of all girls being of one type. I have written quite a few blogs on girls, always assuming them to be of one single type, but today i venture into a dangerous territory.<br />
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So after a lot of pondering on the 'Taxonomy', I came up with the following classification.<br />
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1) <b>The eternal whiner-</b><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzD6YDl0II1my2FL5vEDKcvX_EFMP4jeaLmGT3V3b7udppP_b0Gl5aFFgZIHvckkI4ix4MuuJFXcsiz4OPE3pEfV3NnAXzjIYJzr_12QP18prLR6uTpdbUSVLibqO00rt2PWaLr52_Pj4/s1600/stock-photo-a-crying-girl-with-a-mobile-phone-5613193.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="142" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzD6YDl0II1my2FL5vEDKcvX_EFMP4jeaLmGT3V3b7udppP_b0Gl5aFFgZIHvckkI4ix4MuuJFXcsiz4OPE3pEfV3NnAXzjIYJzr_12QP18prLR6uTpdbUSVLibqO00rt2PWaLr52_Pj4/s200/stock-photo-a-crying-girl-with-a-mobile-phone-5613193.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><br />
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</div> One of the very common types. Everything in this world has been designed as a scheme by the Gods up there to harass her. She whines when her boss gives them extra work,she whines when she has to cross the road, She whines when she has a friend who doesn't like her nail polish and she whines when her dog doesn't poop the way she wants him to. If you are a guy and interested in her, then giving her the shoulder to cry upon would go a long way in impressing her. But remember, you may be somebody whom she whines to, but it wouldn't be long before you become somebody whom she whines about.<br />
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2) <b>The Feeble one</b>-One of the endangered ones among the girls. She thinks that her sole purpose on this planet is to keep quiet and let someone else stand up for her. She is a spitting image of Hema Malini as Sita in "Sita-Gita". If she is shouted upon or scolded upon, she wouldn't think twice before accepting all the blame for the mishappening and chide herself for being reckless. If you are a guy and interested in her, please handle her with care,<br />
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3) <b>The Dominant one</b>-<br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqS5LID_o0-zJB43wIn7HX4QJV3OtT-4e7UNofBiRqieh3j1lWp0zLanqztQXARSQyF5yTkQjhUNBQ9Hwo_ndeQqiN36GCqSoCdXSyVXDMhWEIo8CszGFYXuHB6DC5UOG_uhWfvf-PVpo/s1600/skates3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="157" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqS5LID_o0-zJB43wIn7HX4QJV3OtT-4e7UNofBiRqieh3j1lWp0zLanqztQXARSQyF5yTkQjhUNBQ9Hwo_ndeQqiN36GCqSoCdXSyVXDMhWEIo8CszGFYXuHB6DC5UOG_uhWfvf-PVpo/s200/skates3.jpg" width="200" /></a></div> One of the emerging types among girls. She is exactly a spitting image of Hema Malini as Gita in "Sita-Gita". She never even for a moment thinks that her ways and opinion are mistaken. She loves to dominate and hates her own type of opposite gender.If you don't do something she does, you are a loser and if you do something she doesn't you are still a loser. So when you are with her, you eat what she eats, you drink what she drinks and you sleep when asks you to sleep. She would be "oh c'mon, you can't be like this" every time you say or do something which she doesn't approve of. If you are a guy and interested in her, keep aside your ego and male chauvinism and just tread the line she wants you to.<br />
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4) <b>Legally blonde</b>-<br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQi6cIey1zbwvQDPquCj-z3OeaajHHWppmp_eZ6S9V7j8m3sycrPv07GKbTaoG2RBIOvDl9v44rZl5RBAs6FdG2pPPhHyQQC5X3dsI0_DBZx0DutHmfUk5VhH5f7lUh7GXOGEJ50gYf30/s1600/legally-blonde-2-red.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQi6cIey1zbwvQDPquCj-z3OeaajHHWppmp_eZ6S9V7j8m3sycrPv07GKbTaoG2RBIOvDl9v44rZl5RBAs6FdG2pPPhHyQQC5X3dsI0_DBZx0DutHmfUk5VhH5f7lUh7GXOGEJ50gYf30/s200/legally-blonde-2-red.jpg" width="145" /></a></div>She is drop dead gorgeous, she is dumb and she accepts it. She doesn't make qualms about not being intelligent. On the contrary she is vocal about not knowing a lot of things(nothing to be honest). Her sole focus in life is to look more beautiful today than she was yesterday. She would be more than happy to delegate the decision making to others. She would finch when you try to infuse any sense into her already small in number ideas. So if you are a guy interested in her, then accept her beauty, ignore her lack of intelligence and accept the decision making process for her, she will be more than happy to be with you.<br />
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5)<b> Illegally blonde</b>-<br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjD_PKOOshwygZiZuhhhUWoX_bJs87OimcSVKu1Wohpj68iRQnCq_Su0RMc4wEoP35Y4xP4s5LKC1pHFFKNYLRzLBidUGCg6PZ89FGBcFW0zLvj7sjpPi1TkBWqFJ7QgyQ7h460ZJaHfDE/s1600/stock-photo-young-attractive-blonde-female-in-geek-glasses-eats-yellow-pencil-stress-pressure-concept-60812203.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="141" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjD_PKOOshwygZiZuhhhUWoX_bJs87OimcSVKu1Wohpj68iRQnCq_Su0RMc4wEoP35Y4xP4s5LKC1pHFFKNYLRzLBidUGCg6PZ89FGBcFW0zLvj7sjpPi1TkBWqFJ7QgyQ7h460ZJaHfDE/s200/stock-photo-young-attractive-blonde-female-in-geek-glasses-eats-yellow-pencil-stress-pressure-concept-60812203.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>She is drop dead gorgeous, she is dumb and she never accepts it. She thinks that she is the best creature ever made by God, for she has the looks and the brains. Her focus in life, other than looking more beautiful today than she was yesterday, is to brag to the world about her 'intelligent ideas'. She would go to any length to prove that "she knows what you are talking about". She would finch whenever you correct her 'knowledge repository'. She wants to make her own decisions and almost every time commits blunders. If you are a guy interested in her, accept her "Intelligent ideas" and keep reassuring her that she is the most beautiful and intelligent girl you have ever met.<br />
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6) <b>Too hot to handle</b>-<br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzvMdw4kiu-iLWJHUHfgpRQfmAb8V4LUhVheX-IfAtrDu3ob851YiQv3w9ycQX2WjEGGSIWipExapDknXA_scaSnW3uwyGdbHx-IvrhHbCIi1rLC-Oqgs88y9ZveH_7TT-Mm6Ajv8mk6s/s1600/megan-fox-26.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzvMdw4kiu-iLWJHUHfgpRQfmAb8V4LUhVheX-IfAtrDu3ob851YiQv3w9ycQX2WjEGGSIWipExapDknXA_scaSnW3uwyGdbHx-IvrhHbCIi1rLC-Oqgs88y9ZveH_7TT-Mm6Ajv8mk6s/s200/megan-fox-26.jpg" width="154" /></a></div> To begin with ,she is smoking hot ,would leave your jaw wide open for a long time when you see her for the first time and best part is that she knows you find her hot. She would never fit the "girl next door" bill. She would almost always shock you with your bold outlook. She never needs reassurance about her 'oomph' factor, she knows it. She would always be out of your reach but she would make sure you try reaching her first. She is the ideal girl friend you can have as a showcase trophy but the last girl you can take to your parent. If you are interested in her, then you have to be her male counterpart, else, you will always be trying.<br />
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7)<b> The brainy brawn</b>-<br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvLppu65TcfUHrvnbruT9qfMw0NqfiO1OtCMFqhECsF4qywoANdEz8VajUl6-PZrKKycxghwX3JB-Pg6w9gEVK6i9rQxaS76WvpGb7Y7LhE7Az7SjeYQ4tIM7tMQtQvemPECR3v-ssnKY/s1600/stock-photo-nerd-girl-with-calculator-and-pencil-smiling-2531344.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvLppu65TcfUHrvnbruT9qfMw0NqfiO1OtCMFqhECsF4qywoANdEz8VajUl6-PZrKKycxghwX3JB-Pg6w9gEVK6i9rQxaS76WvpGb7Y7LhE7Az7SjeYQ4tIM7tMQtQvemPECR3v-ssnKY/s200/stock-photo-nerd-girl-with-calculator-and-pencil-smiling-2531344.jpg" width="127" /></a></div> She is a nerd, a geek and she gracefully accepts all of that. She may be very beautiful, but she thinks looking beautiful is a waste of time. Sometimes she can be intelligent to the level of arrogance. She wouldn't mind correcting you when you are wrong, no matter what the situation be. She may also sometimes come to think that anyone who doesn't match up to her in intelligence is a trash can. She wants everyone around her to understand her and her ideas at one go, coz she understands them and their ideas at one go. If you are interested in her then better be intelligent or at least act like one.<br />
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8) <b>The career spawn</b>-<br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfLbOPuSXDqhyphenhyphen0TbMDllQW5_M1QhA225DqN8F5veuYg6-I9z2z6WPNusUPcG-UpT36Ik_ImKtI8RRcDon-Y27MmWz-VBOUXt4Fn1-__FUdsr1RWbXQWNNAIgFWXTYUpcDk1NRCv5N3VGc/s1600/priyanka-rajni.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfLbOPuSXDqhyphenhyphen0TbMDllQW5_M1QhA225DqN8F5veuYg6-I9z2z6WPNusUPcG-UpT36Ik_ImKtI8RRcDon-Y27MmWz-VBOUXt4Fn1-__FUdsr1RWbXQWNNAIgFWXTYUpcDk1NRCv5N3VGc/s200/priyanka-rajni.jpg" width="200" /></a></div> She may or may not be very intelligent, but she is the career focused girl. Anything which comes between her and her way to a successful career is an enemy.Her sole aim is to reach the top of the ladder, mostly by hook i.e, by hard work but if need be, she wouldn't mind being a crook. If you are a guy interested in her then prove to her that going around with you will be a profitable venture for her and her career.<br />
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9) <b>The one</b>-<br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWUez5LOy1Ybj0D8NqPAc9yikpMnTF__be0-T8Dp2HoOgf7-tS-lWrZI2qLl8roKZKLRqnJ4RexmMnZKFrxZaxNcqnOs5OYRTmGMVXrurZfLuNtyBlqO7W-cpW_D2OzIHlllz4hZ62cnk/s1600/Question_mark_3d.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWUez5LOy1Ybj0D8NqPAc9yikpMnTF__be0-T8Dp2HoOgf7-tS-lWrZI2qLl8roKZKLRqnJ4RexmMnZKFrxZaxNcqnOs5OYRTmGMVXrurZfLuNtyBlqO7W-cpW_D2OzIHlllz4hZ62cnk/s200/Question_mark_3d.png" width="103" /></a></div> Yes, the elusive one. Some sightings of this now believed to be extinct type have been reported, but the reports haven't been corroborated with evidence. She is the perfect girl which guys so often describe. All of the above girl types listed above would like to believe that they fit into this category. Her description as given by guys makes many think that finding a girl with such characteristics is an achievable dream,alas not. Just take out anything negative or offensive from the above types and combine them and put it into one girl and you have the perfect one. If you are a guy interested in her, then please contact and let me know about her location, I have been waiting to meet one like this all my life.<br />
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PS- If any of you can come up with further classification, do let me know. After all, taxonomy of girls is never accurate and certainly never easy,Charles Darwin would agree. </div>Abhishekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00612979197231356334noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5413168941813178695.post-71683219855887942722011-08-13T17:23:00.000+05:302011-08-13T17:23:28.396+05:30Fundamental Rights:Re-Defined<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">"So do you remember it now?" My mom said, with a smile, she knew she had won it,finally..</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">It has been more than 10 years since I last learnt them, our Fundamental rights, guaranteed to us by our constitution. To say the least, I was embarrassed , that all I could remember about them was their count i.e 6. My mom asked me, at least name them with proper definitions and I could only name 2-3 of them. 'Shame on you' she muttered as she went in fetched an old dust ridden Civics text book and asked me to skim through. Which I did. And this time I understood what it actually meant in present context(I admit, I mugged them up for exams in 7th std). </span><br />
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</span><br />
<div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">I am sure, there are many like me who studied the fundamental rights only for Social Sciences(सामाजिक विज्ञानं ) . Here they are, simplified, in sync with year 2011.</span><br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/55/Emblem_of_India.svg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/55/Emblem_of_India.svg" width="188" /></a></span></div></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit; line-height: 19px;"><b>1) Right to equality, including equality before law, prohibition of discrimination on grounds of religion, race, caste, sex or place of birth, and equality of opportunity in matters of employment- </b></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit; line-height: 19px;"><b><br />
</b></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit; line-height: 19px;"> It means that the State cannot discriminate any of the Indian citizens on the basis of their caste, creed, colour, sex,gender, religion or place of birth. However, its a law of nature that no two humans are equal. Lets understand it better. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 19px;"> On the religious front, the constitution guarantees that no discrimination will be done with minorities, however, if the BJP led NDA alliance is ruling, its is requested of the minorities to please adjust,you sometimes not find <b>employment</b> in govt due to your religion. If you are in Mumbai, you may also not be able to rent or buy a flat in some of the posh buildings,hence you are encouraged to live in minority populated areas.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 19px;"><br />
</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 19px;">The Constitution also considers every caste equal,and strongly believes that no one should harbor any castist ideology. However, it has made a provision of reservation for the backward classes. The constitution assures that the govt will try in its entire capacity to ensure that this reservation policy reaches to every member of the backward class and not the affluent few. The Constitution also requests the members of open category to forego any castist attitude, against any caste or the reservation system itself(even if they are suffering because of it) as it is a punishable offence to do so. The reservation system may tend to make castes unequal further,but the sole aim of the constitution is to ensure no caste is discriminated upon, really!.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 19px;"><br />
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</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit; line-height: 19px;"><b>2) Right to freedom of speech and expression, assembly, association or union, movement, residence, and right to practice any profession or occupation</b></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 19px;">but...</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit; line-height: 19px;">some of these rights are subject to security of the State, friendly relations with foreign countries, public order, decency or morality.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit; line-height: 19px;">Every Artist, be it writer, film maker or a painter also come under the purview of Freedom of speech and expression. However, the expression or speech should any of the millions of communities or tribes. It should also not offend some of the lesser civilized political parties, because otherwise a law and order situation may arise which the state is not in capacity to handle, not to mention the threat to your life. It is hence suggested that a prior review be done in consent with all the communities and political parties before expressing your polarized views.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit; line-height: 19px;">Constitution also gives you the right to assembly and association, however , if your union or association is not backed by any political party, its not gonna be dissolved. Hence before forming an association, make sure you have the blessings of any one of the political party's high command.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;">You can also live in any part of India freely, however if you are in Mumbai, you need to know Marathi and present yourself as a Marathi, better still, stay away from it. You also cannot practice any profession in Mumbai because you are not the "Son of the Soil", if you try to </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; line-height: 19px;">, you may end up facing the wrath of lesser civilized political parties</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; line-height: 19px;">. If you intend to visit Chennai, please make sure you don't use any other language than Tamil.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit; line-height: 19px;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit; line-height: 19px;">Keeping above precautions in mind, the constitution guarantees you your Freedom.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit; line-height: 19px;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 19px;">3) Right against exploitation, prohibiting all forms of forced labor, child labour and traffic in human beings-</span></b></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit; line-height: 19px;"><b><br />
</b></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 19px;">The right against exploitation, provides for two provisions, namely the abolition of trafficking in human beings and forced labor. Child labor is a heinous crime, and anyone who employs a child below 14 years is guilty under Indian law. However, this would apply to only those kids working in tea stalls or garbage collection. Any kid working for the entertainment industry doesn't come under the category of child labor, the basic premise may be same, a kid working for something and getting paid, but kids working in entertainment industry are affluent and are doing a novel job. Also the child labor rule may be exempted for contractors undertaking civic construction contracts for development of cities and towns. A kid taking part in such development will be a proud contributor in country's development after all.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit; line-height: 19px;"><b>4) Right to freedom of conscience and free profession, practice, and propagation of religion-</b></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit; line-height: 19px;">Right to freedom of religion grants religious freedom to all citizens of India. The objective of this right is to sustain the principle of secularism in India. According to the Constitution, all religions are equal before the State and no religion shall be given preference over the other. Citizens are free to preach, practice and propagate any religion of their choice. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit; line-height: 19px;">However it is entirely alright, if any particular religious community decides to propagate their religion by sometimes force and at other times lending money to poor people and asking them to convert and not return the money(in the name of LORD).</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit; line-height: 19px;">Also if however, any religious community(or a member thereof) doesn't follow the above mentioned ways of propagating religion and tries to spread the religion only in the name of God and and teachings of religion, he may have to face the wrath of people like Dara Singh in Orrisa and the person(s) run a high risk of being burnt alive in their sleep,be careful!</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit; line-height: 19px;"><b>5) Right of any section of citizens to conserve their culture, language or script, and right of minorities to establish and administer educational institutions of their choice-</b></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; line-height: 19px;">As India is a c</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; line-height: 19px;">ountry of many languages, religions, and cultures, the Constitution provides special measures, in Articles 29 and 30, to protect the rights of t</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; line-height: 19px;">he minorities. Any community which has a language and a script of its own has the right to conserve and develop it. No citizen can be discriminated against for admission in State or State aided institutions.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 19px;">However, as noted in the exceptions of rights above, your language or script should not offend any of the lesser civilized political parties. If you are in any regional city, you have to completely forget your culture and adopt the local culture. The local state government will help your cause printing all the official documents only in vernacular language and if you cannot cooperate and don't get a job or admission, please don't claim discrimination on basis of language . </span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 19px;">The Central government in its endeavor to make Hindi as official language of the nation, has decided to document everything in Hindi.So anybody who doesn't understand Hindi well enough, please find a tutor(Constitution also provides for free education!). The Hindi curriculum in school will be so heavily तत्सम (Tatsam-Sanskritized) that every instance of Urdu/Hindustani will be erased and eventually making Hindi and Sanskrit a single language.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 19px;"><br />
</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; line-height: 19px;"><b>6) Right to constitutional remedies for enforcement of Fundamental Rights.</b></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;"> -</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit; line-height: 19px;">Right to constitutional remedies empowers the citizens to move a court of law in case of any denial of the fundamental rights. For instance, in case of imprisonment, the citizen can ask the court to see if it is according to the provisions of the law of the country. If the court finds that it is not, the person will have to be freed. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit; line-height: 19px;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit; line-height: 19px;">However, the constitution doesn't take into account the time it may take for justice to be delivered, it is left on the better judgement of the citizen using this right to take into account these factors. It may also happen that the government out of fear of losing in the next election, declare a National emergency to get its working sorted eg. 1975 emergency, in such a case, this right first, and every other right will cease to be effective.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit; line-height: 19px;"><br />
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</div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; line-height: 19px;">Other than the citizens, the Constitution also provides for anyone who is not a citizen to file a </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; line-height: 19px;"> <i><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Habeas_corpus" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #0645ad; text-decoration: underline;" title="Habeas corpus">habeas corpus</a> </i>against any detention, the person in question may have been someone who may have killed 100 people in front of 100 witnesses, but our divine constitution doesn't differentiate, when it comes to judiciary!</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">So these were the new definitions of the Fundamental rights as defined in our constitution. Either the makers of constitution were terribly mistaken or may be the subsequent generations in India managed to tweak the constitution. What goes without saying is, today, the original definitions don't hold true.</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;"><b>In today's India, only a child in womb is the one who is equal to every other child in womb, the moment it decides to come out, his future,status and his equality would be decided by the condition of hospital he is born in(Lilawati, or Rajawadi!).</b></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;"><br />
</span></span></span></div></div>Abhishekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00612979197231356334noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5413168941813178695.post-84726471585468176212011-06-12T21:10:00.000+05:302011-06-12T21:10:05.343+05:30Immobile life<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">10..9..8..7..6<br />
<div>Cutting through the late night traffic in Mumbai on my sweet pulsar I saw last few seconds of the traffic light being green before it turned red</div><div>"I can make it, c'mon" I said under my breath</div><div>5..4..3..2..1</div><div>"Should I stop?"</div><div>"No I think I should move on"</div><div>"Oh shit, the car from other side has already started moving, SOS, apply breaks, quick quick quick"</div><div>"Why the F*** is my bike wobbling?"</div><div>"Oh shit,I have fallen down, why the hell ME, why me GOD?"</div><div><br />
</div><div>And there I was,down and out besides my bike right in the middle of the road under the Ghatkopar(E) flyover . Trying to act as if it was a minor accident, I got up instantly and tried to lift my bike up, in an instant, everything around me seemed hazy, an excruciating pain shot up through my left shoulder, I felt it, and the bones seemed a bit out of shape and I knew I have a broken collar bone. A few good Samaritans pulled the bike up and asked me to sit near a pole, I started with a step and fumbled, and knew, that my ankle doesn't seem alright.</div><div>I decided to give shocks to my family in installments rather than at one go, so Shock 1) I called up my dad and told him that I have taken a fall, come and pick me up. Shock 2) When he came I told him, I may have a broken shoulder. Shock 3) When we reached hospital, the X-ray showed I have a broken leg as well.</div><div>However destiny reserved its biggest shocks for me, Shock 1) When in a casual tone the doctor told me, I need to undergo my first ever surgery for ankle repair and I ll have stay in hospital for a week.</div><div><br />
</div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjp8Olp2hS6bd8Hxs2Qx0P0Hc_ogx23rKdEO9ZCoLFi8XE1GSbseOdMR2QGVf8kDSmYIJV_XcKRXO5uvYTuyHZU4VqY19Zp7RUBUMWaKhqsEnQ3eW6zOCCo9-PbAc1auS8mjVAjjwIIT7o/s1600/206328_1920774547394_1482980866_2187789_3387278_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjp8Olp2hS6bd8Hxs2Qx0P0Hc_ogx23rKdEO9ZCoLFi8XE1GSbseOdMR2QGVf8kDSmYIJV_XcKRXO5uvYTuyHZU4VqY19Zp7RUBUMWaKhqsEnQ3eW6zOCCo9-PbAc1auS8mjVAjjwIIT7o/s200/206328_1920774547394_1482980866_2187789_3387278_n.jpg" width="150" /></a></div>With drop of water dripping on your head and your hands and legs tied, this form of Chinese torture is considered to be the worst, but I beg to differ. I say, put a normal, agile and active person in hospital in immobile condition, and thats the worst torture. And when you are admitted into the hospital just a day before the semi final match of India-Pakistan, and the hospital doesn't even have TV, it becomes a living hell. So here I was, lying straight on a hospital bed with a broken left hand and a broken right leg. My daily routine started off at 4 am when the staff woke me up to take a bath(which I could never take due to my extreme immobility), then the same staff would ask me to sleep again, amidst their loud shouting and conversation. At 8 am, they used to serve Bread butter(Hardly any butter visible) and tomato soup(all I could see was red water). Followed by this, I was allowed a few visitors. Visitors quite understandably had only one query, how did this happen. Initially, I explained everything out of my pain and enthusiasm and agony of being immobile. But after a day or two it became a monotonous routine. Every middle aged visitor had only one conclusion, Bikes kill, which was never encouraging.That one week was so boring, that i still remember the pattern of a patch on the wall above and ceiling fan.<br />
<br />
Coming home after a week to home with a heavily laden plastered leg and an extremely delicate shoulder, I was showered with all the home made delicacies. Visitors who missed out cribbing about bike travel at hospital, came to meet me at home to finally crib about it. Almost everyone either brought a bouquet or fruits, fed up with gifts which I couldn't use I had to tell my friends to bring something like chocolates which only "I alone" can enjoy. However, in absence of wheel chair, I was left to the mercy of my poor revolving chair(which became my mode of transport for a lot of weeks to come!). With only one leg and one hand active, even my daily chores were very difficult for me to handle by myself. Occasionally, I would move my shoulder out of habit in sleep and I would get up shouting in pain.<br />
<br />
Finally after two weeks, doctor removed my stitches(I have talked about pain so much, that it would look petty if I talk about the pain of removing stitches) and advised me to take physiotherapy sessions. Two weeks after experiencing excruciating pain of a broken bone, I experienced the next level of pain. Day after day, the physiotherapist went on tearing into my leg, a movement by even a few degrees gave me jitters(This went on for Eight more weeks). While my leg was being tortured, my shoulder was quietly recovering and after four weeks, it became more mobile and less painful, which came as a relief, because now, some of my daily chores were now managed by myself.<br />
<br />
Any one who has fractured bone will ask only one question to the doctor, "How much time will the bone take to heal?" and the answer would be six weeks. I counted each day and each week for six weeks. And away I went to the doctor the day I completed 6 weeks. He advised more physiotherapy, and destiny gave me shock 2) The doctor prescribed a walker to me and I was expecting to walk straight away on my two legs the moment my accident turned 6 weeks old. The walker was to be used for 4 weeks!.<br />
<br />
After gaining enough confidence of using the walker, I decided to join my office back. I was glad to see my office desk back, though I had never thought I would miss it, but 8 weeks of absence from office and immobility made me realize that there are things more boring than office. All my team members swarmed my desk inquiring about my health. I was pampered to no end by my team mates. The watchman at the access gate asked me to get a special card made, Surprised at his suggestion I asked him why, and he pointed at the walker, indicating my disability, while I was talking to the watchman, a girl asked me if she could fetch an auto for me, and I realized what a disabled person goes through, he/she doesn't need help, they need acceptance, that they can manage things on their own, We try to help them on pettiest of things, trying to be good. I denied the offer and thanked the girl for her offer(which under normal circumstances I would never reject!).<br />
<br />
And now I am writing this blog on a day when I have finally started walking normally with a stick(quite normal considering what I had gone through over last 11 weeks). This accident has virtually taken 12 weeks of my life, but these 12 weeks have been memorable for me. But these are some memories I would never like to re-encounter!<br />
<br />
PS- God forbid if you are in such a situation, never reject a girls offer, because this offer may offend your ego now, but it will always boost your love. Don't let ego kill love!<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
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</div><div><br />
</div><div><br />
</div></div>Abhishekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00612979197231356334noreply@blogger.com10Mumbai, Maharashtra, India19.0176147 72.85616440000001118.826811199999998 72.7533269 19.2084182 72.959001900000018tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5413168941813178695.post-21056628859170463132011-02-27T19:56:00.000+05:302011-02-27T19:56:45.994+05:30Women-The reason for our existence<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">Alright, I know, I have written so many blogs on the female variant of the species Homo-sapiens that I can claim expertise in it. However this time, its different(please don't consider this as just another marketing gimmick!).<br />
<br />
8th March of every year is celebrated as International Womens day across the globe. I would not dwell into its history as it doesn't hold as much significance as the day itself. Many may consider it as a western world's just another reason for celebration. I would not disagree either, after all, all countries are not blessed with so many holidays as India is. However I would still like to see it from India's perspective.<br />
<br />
India has always been a country where women have held a special place. Amongst the 330 million odd Indian gods, the Goddesses hold a special place. Be it Durga or Parvati or Kali. All of them are revered by the faithfuls, Not to mention that up in the heavens too, the decisions and policies of Gods are often believed to be driven by wives of Gods i.e Goddesses. Coming back to the mortal world, Kerala, God's own country is proud to be a matriarchal society(quite rightly God's own country). What that means is, women are the leader of the family, its the husband which goes to his wife's home after marriage, that was quite long ago,not anymore it seems. Coming closer in history, the Indian independence movement was driven by powerful females like Sarojni Naidu amongst others. After Independence, the most powerful Prime minister India ever had was a woman, Indira Gandhi. Her daughter-in-law controls the current political scenario quite adeptly. Indian women are going places, be it Indira Nooyi(pepsico's CEO) or Late Kalpana Chawla(astronaut).<br />
<br />
Of the shining Indian women movement, a few things stuck me.......<br />
<br />
"Whats your name dear?" someone asked her<br />
"Mehek" she replied, rolling her tongue out<br />
"How old are you? and who do you stay with?"<br />
"I am 4, no 5 no 4.5, I stay with my uncle, My parents have gone to meet God. But my uncle is taking good care of me. He gives me ice-cream everyday. And he plays a game with me everyday after coming home" she said, confused what else to say<br />
"What game?" he curiously asked<br />
"He removes my clothes, and then he removes his clothes, then we lie together on bed. He does something to me and I feel a tickling sensation between my legs. Its so much fun" She said with all the excitement in her voice<br />
"WHAT??????" he said.<br />
<br />
The so called uncle was arrested by the man himself who was asking these questions to the little girl perched up on a bench in a park all alone. The man is an IPS officer, and the uncle, a successful man who took advantage of this orphan girl.<br />
<br />
Little girls are not always the target and common man is always not the accused.<br />
<br />
A girl in Banda district was inhumanely raped by the MLA from SP. Worse still, the police made a blooper by disclosing the girls identity and arresting her for theft instead. The girl has threatened to become a dacoit if she doesn't get justice(as if phoolan devi was not enough). If you think, this is a one off case. A NCP MLA from jalgaon is accused of a similar crime against a girl on the pretext of giving her job. And if even this is not sufficient, a cop attached to a police station in Mumbai committed suicide, reason, he was accused in a rape case and had been absconding. If the lawmakers and law protectors indulge in crime against women, who will safeguard them?<br />
<br />
And if people think, rape is the only crime that can happen, think again. An Indian diplomat attached to Indian embassy in UK was accused of domestic violence. Cases of dowry harassment and female infanticide are taken in pride by the Indian society. Everybody and anybody who has stared at a woman, tried to seek any attention out of a woman in any form is an accused for sexual harassment. Everyday when a girl leaves her home, she anticipates and expects that she will be stared at in public, she will be suppressed in office. Unfortunately and shamefully for us, the women have accepted it as a part of their life.<br />
<br />
For a nation which recites Durga chalisa with ease. Takes pride in Indira Gandhi and Kalpana chawla. For the set of politicians who pass the bill Women reservation on one hand, and are accused of rape on other hand, its shameful and pitiful.<br />
<br />
If we can get rid of the 'Sati' system efficiently, then why not these crimes? <br />
<br />
<b>A man is not a man because he can control a lady, he is a man if he can protect a lady. And if we can't protect women, the reason why we exist on this earth, then we cant protect our existence either</b>.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgo814VKKdM8MoDTZ9xxNYvAMr8uasTrmdiCwgpeiU8ABMvznh_PthZlYcnBYdvE-_DSxIa6dzx09aXiXBqJa7mJ5dcex2L5655LUVpaZ9Y1Kz6RnFw_RxvrrGaHatnCoNgNA_s5t88tmk/s1600/India-portrait-girl-dhanji.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgo814VKKdM8MoDTZ9xxNYvAMr8uasTrmdiCwgpeiU8ABMvznh_PthZlYcnBYdvE-_DSxIa6dzx09aXiXBqJa7mJ5dcex2L5655LUVpaZ9Y1Kz6RnFw_RxvrrGaHatnCoNgNA_s5t88tmk/s320/India-portrait-girl-dhanji.jpg" width="254" /></a></div><b><br />
</b><br />
<br />
Signing off-<br />
Abhishek<br />
A proud pro-feminist<br />
<br />
<br />
</div>Abhishekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00612979197231356334noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5413168941813178695.post-76883015912772520492010-11-28T16:00:00.003+05:302010-11-28T20:16:50.073+05:30Till Death do us apart I have never been in any relationship whatsoever, or to put it in a better way, no girl has found me good enough to be in a relationship, however, their are a few things in life which are better enjoyed from a ring side view. It may be a fight between two people, a wrestling match or a guy proposing a girl. Yes you heard me right, it is always enthralling to watch a guy propose a girl with "true love", big promises and the heart breaks that follow when the promises are not met or when the people don't want the promises to be met. I have come across some of the cases during my not so long lifetime of 23 years. So lets chronicle them.<br />
<br />
<b>Case-I:</b><br />
<br />
<i>Day of Proposal-</i><br />
"I Love You", the boy says, slowly steadily yet nervously.....<br />
"Yippeee, You idiot, you took so much time to say this, I Love You too ,duffer", The girl replies and hugs the guy tightly.<br />
"Thank you, I ll love you for ages to come, not even death can torn us apart", the boy says and hugs her back even more tightly.....<br />
<br />
<i>A month later.....</i><br />
<i><br />
</i><br />
"You know you are a jerk", the girl says it aloud to him<br />
"I know", the boy says with overflowing sarcasm<br />
"I can't stay with a possessive fool like you"<br />
"Not that i want to continue with a bi**h like you"<br />
<br />
The ages and reincarnation which the boy spoke of, lasted only for a month. This kind of love can be associated with high school where love has a fickle existence.<br />
<br />
<b>CASE-II</b><br />
<b><br />
</b><br />
<i>The day of proposal</i><br />
<i><br />
</i><br />
"I.....I....I just wanted to tell you that....I... I....love you", the boy says putting in all his heart and overcoming nervousness<br />
"Ok, I was kinda expecting it, but do you think we will click?", the girl says with a expression of corporate czar about to sign a big business deal.<br />
"We will give it our best shot, I just wanna stay with you, I am unable to think beyond you, I ll flunk in my exams if you say a no now", the boys says switching to desperate measures to save the deal.<br />
"Alright, I think I like you as well, we can give it a shot", she says with an authoritative tone only comparable to the US president signing on a go ahead for a nuke deal.<br />
<br />
<i>One year later.......</i><br />
<i><br />
</i><br />
"You don't love me anymore,all the time you speak only of Java, can't you speak love, like you used to?", the girl says with wet eyes<br />
"Oh dear, I am so sorry, this work is getting on my nerves, but I ll surely spend more time with you hence forth", the boy says, knowing very well, how tough it would be and trying to sound as convincing as possible.<br />
<br />
<i>One more year later........</i><br />
<i><br />
</i><br />
<i>"</i>I can't stay with you any more, You are not making my life easy by calling up everyday while I am at work", the boy says in a "no option left" tone.<br />
"But you said you can't think beyond me and would not be able to stay without me" she says in a tone which will even persuade god to weep<br />
"And you said, lets see if we click, which as I see it, we don't, so lets end it before I hurt you any further"<br />
<br />
The case is of a college couple who are unable to continue the affair like they did in college due to the added responsibilities of life. Its not a case of fickle existence of love, but its a case of giving precedence to life than love.<br />
<br />
<b>CASE-III</b><br />
<b><br />
</b><br />
<b>"</b>I hate you, I hate you" she said in a tone which only girls can describe......<br />
"I am sorry dear, but you know that college can be so demanding", he said, trying every possible way to convince her.<br />
"aaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh" She gave out a loud screech<br />
"Ohhh c'mon you never shout like that,what happened, Hello, Hello, Aarti you there? Hello?"<br />
<br />
<br />
<i>"Now that was unreasonable, she hanged up on me? and she switched her phone off? she has never done this, Only god can convince her now" </i>Sunny thought .<br />
<br />
Little did he know, that it was not unreasonable, it was rather unfathomable. While talking to sunny, Aarti met with an accident which left her paralyzed. Her world became immobile and his world, was shattered to the last possible piece.<br />
<br />
Seeing Aarti Makwana at Summers job in 2006, Sunny pawar had fallen in love with her. Things were all rosy for him as Aarti too, reciprocated the love. He never promised to love her till eternity or reincarnations, all he wanted was to love her as long as he could. One terrible day in December 2007 Aarti met with an accident which left her paralyzed on the right side . Sunny could not bring himself to continue with his education, although he never considered himself to be a true lover, he could not see someone he loved lying on bed waiting for help. He took a sabbatical from his education and started tending to Aarti along with her mother. Crying occasionally when Aarti could not recognize who he was or when Aarti was in pain, all she could do was make incomprehensible noises, he kept up his spirit and love, Spending almost 12 hours a day at her home, feeding her, singing for her and making her sleep. His effort of 2.5 years started to reap benefits. Aarti had gained 15 kgs since her accident, which was a good sign. Doctors had declared that for them to remove the clot causing the paralysis, Aarti has to start responding to commands. To everyone's surprise, she started doing so pretty soon. Seeing all this, Sunny joined back his college to complete his education. But as they say, fate always has the last laugh,just when things started looking good, Aarti was diagnosed with pneumonia resulting in high fever, she died within 2 days of being diagnosed in June 2010 due to her already fragile condition.<br />
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When people proclaim their love for ages to come, I don't doubt their intentions, but its all about will, how many of them are willing to love for ages to come? True love is not about words, but actions and Sunny sets the example of true love. I did not write this blog to comment on his gestures, because his gestures speak for themselves, I wrote this blog for people to know the extent love can reach. And when i say love, it would include everyone you ever loved, your family, your girlfriend, your pet. He never proclaimed to stay with her till death does them apart, but it was ultimately death which had to set them apart. If this is not love, then there is no love. For many, Life is all about love, but for him , his love was his life. My condolences for Aarti and my tribute to Sunny's true love.<br />
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<b>Love Lives on.........</b><br />
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PS- This story was covered by Mumbai mirror in december 2007 and june 2010(on Aarti's death). Following is the coverage by a news channel prior to Aarti's death.<br />
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</div>Abhishekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00612979197231356334noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5413168941813178695.post-37048529661983638292010-11-08T00:30:00.001+05:302010-11-08T14:28:43.215+05:30The Great Indian Language Divide<b>"Language is the biggest barrier to human progress because language is an encyclopedia of ignorance. Old perceptions are frozen into language and force us to look at the world in an old fashioned way</b>."<br />
-Edward de Bono, Famous Maltese physician,originator of term Lateral thinking and author of best seller <i>Six thinking hats</i><br />
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<b> </b>During the second semester of my engineering degree, we had a subject(which we never accounted for) called communication skills. Though this was a subject which one could clear with relative ease(when compared with mother of all horrors, Mechanics), I took time to mug up one answer, "Barriers to effective communication". One of barrier which holds true in the Indian context ,is Language.<br />
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I wrote a few blogs in the past one year which showed how a constant bias is being developed against speakers of one language(Hindi) by others(namely tamil and marathi). What I saw is what I wrote. But what is the reason for such a huge prejudice and bias? The rivalry of Indian languages goes back a long way in our very old history.<br />
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<b>1000-1500AD: The Arrival of Muslim rulers in India</b><br />
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<b> </b>The Islamic era of India is something we owe a lot of current tourism revenue to(read Taj mahal). But one thing which this era gave us was our official language. Surprised? Yes, Official language of India, Hindi was not in existence before the Muslim rulers came to India. We had Brij bhasha, Maithili amongst others, but not the khari boli dialect. The Muslim rulers who arrived in India spoke persian and arabic. To gain ground among the locals, the rulers adapted ,and with mixture of persian and brij bhasha came the khari boli(Urdu/Hindi). The father of this khari boli movement was Amir Khusro, famous poet of 12th century, who had mastered brij bhasha along with his own native persian language. Following prose gives us a fair idea of his mastery of the two languages,<br />
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<b>zihaal-e-miskeen mukon taghaful (Persian)<br />
doraaye nainaan banaye batyaan (Brij)</b><br />
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The development of the khari boli went on for a long time and not surprisingly, it is still under development(more on that later)<br />
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<b>The British Era:-</b><br />
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The Britishers, taking a cue from the previous Islamic rulers, made Urdu the official and national language of communication in India. Almost all the literates of the North Indian belt could read, write and comprehend Urdu, so not surprisingly Urdu was made our national language. What the Britishers did not account for, was that a language could be associated with religion. After the 1857 rebellion, the Hindus started distinguishing themselves by calling the language they speak as Hindi. The very same language, developed by Amir khusro et al, written in devnagri script. This was the first seed sowed for the communal tensions which were to develop between two religions which had so far lived in peace. In response to this, Sir sayyed laid the foundation for the now prestigious Aligarh Muslim university, focussing on educating the Muslims in Urdu, as a counter response to this, the foundation for Benaras Hindu university was laid. The offensive and counter offensive went on till the year 1900, which was a significant year in the history of languages in India. That year, Hindi and Urdu were accorded the equal status. Two dialects of the khari boli, which when spoken colloquially had no difference, were given a status of two official national languages. The Hindus rejoiced, finally they had an equal standing with a "foreign language imposed upon them". What they did not realize was ,the language they were rejoicing for, was given to them by the very same foreign rulers. From that year, the supporters of Hindi, to make it distinct from Urdu, increasingly 'sanskritized' the language, while, Urdu was constantly drawing from persian. And this is what I meant when I said, the Khari boli is still evolving, because even till today, the languages are getting influenced. When the demands for the creation of Pakistan was raised, Gandhi, Nehru amongst others, propoganded the language Hindustani(the khari boli, Hindi/urdu) and even assingned the famous Hindi and Urdu author Munshi Premchand to compile his work in this common language. They wanted Hindustani to be the official language, which could be written interchangeably in Nastaliq(script of Urdu) and Devnagri. But it was too late, to save the language, and to save the unity.<br />
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<b>Post Independence: </b><br />
The very same congress, which proclaimed India to be a secular country(which fortunately it still is), and propoganded the use of Hindustani, made Hindi the official language of India(not national), along with English as a <i>defacto</i> official language till 1965. Every effort was made, to increase the reach of Hindi to everyone, sometimes by words and sometimes by force. The Hindi, which liberally used words from persian language, was being 'sanskritized' at a faster rate. Meanwhile, our neighbors left no stone unturned to make Urdu increasingly 'persianized'. Hindi and Urdu which were like conjoined twins a century before, looked like non-identical twins now.<br />
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<b>Anti-Hindi agitations in Tamil Nadu:</b><br />
Apparently, Urdu wasn't the only nemesis for Hindi, bigger nemesis for propoganda of Hindi was the dravidian states in south India. Anti Hindi sentiment in Tamil nadu goes back to 1936, when the then congress govt<b> </b>led by our first governer general C rajgopalachari, made Hindi a compulsory subject across all schools in Tamil Nadu. This came as a bolt from blue to Tamilians. They were forced to learn a language which was a polar opposite of the language they spoke. They felt no need of introducing a new language, when just tamil was enough for administration. Instead of addressing their concerns, the chief minister of Madras, used brute force to quell the agitation. But the agitation did not die down and the Congress govt resigned in 1939. After Independence, Congress decided to make Hindi a National language, which would mean all the communication hence forth would be in Hindi to all states. It was only after the threat of secession by the Dravidian states that it was decided to keep Hindi and english(defacto) the official language and not National language, while a scheduled list of 22 national languages would be maintained. English would be the defacto official language only till 1965, but all attempts in the year 1965 to remove english as the official language were quashed by massive protests by DMK and their landslide victory in the state polls(Trivia-Congress has never managed to come back in power since). This prompted Indira Gandhi to make English defacto official language indefinitely. Agreed, their was a hint of linguistic chauvanism in the protests in Tamil Nadu, but the use of force to impose Hindi only increased the Anti-Hindi sentiment in the state. Though the Anti-Hindi protests led to English being made a permanant official language, which is now the source of the Service Industry boom in India.<br />
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<b>Current Scenario-</b><br />
The linguistic chauvanism has reached heights never seen before. The Anti-Hindi sentiment is gaining momentum in Maharashtra and West bengal is not far behind. Their will be no dearth of parties like Shiv-Sena, MNS and DMK for a long time to come<b> </b> <br />
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The country which feels proud of being a land where language changes every mile, is suffereing due to the very same reason. The Hindi language which was envisioned to be a uniting factor for all Indians has instead ended up dividing the nation.One solution to this can be going back to the colonial ways by completely adopting english. But for a problem as old as a millenium, I am no one to offer a solution. I only believe in what is said by Abhishek bacchan in one of the ads for a telecom operator,<br />
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<b>"Language needs no words"</b>Abhishekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00612979197231356334noreply@blogger.com3