"UNITED WE STAND"

"Increadible India", "India Means Business"...etc etc..those were the words echoing everywhere, yes 'were the words'..come this 26/11 and the headlines went topsy turvy, the news flashes now show pictures of despair, grim faces have replced the effervescent smiles. I won't go into the details and numbers of terrorrist attacks, nor dive into history of terror attacks we have endured, but the sheer audacity of these attacks is apalling to say the least.

I faced this strange paradox myself. I was in Frankfurt at the time of attacks, there whenever the word 'India' came up, it was always associated to growth, properity, oppurtunities, culture, diversity and every thing that made me a proud and confident 'Indian'. But the after the news of attacks broke out, the mood changed rapidly, I couldn't hide my diffidence in admitting that these attacks are not a rarity in India, and that the number of people dieing is actually less than the historical numbers. It happens in such situation, you are a kind of ambassador of your country and answerable for everything happening out there. Hundereds dying and getting injured won't be the headlines that an Indian will be seeing for the first time, more so in the last couple of years. Like the previous (sucessful) attempts by the terrorrists, they managed to hit the nerve centers of India this time as well. Now I'm not at all lauding the terrosists whose inhumane activities bring shame to their country and religion. But there incessant strikes have definitly dented the confidence of any average citizen of India. To be honest, I am afraid to go into a crowded place these days, I do get suspicious about people with beards and carrying black bags, even more so when I see any deserted bag anywhere.

But the effects of these attacks in particular, are far worse physcologically if not physically. We, its so depressing to say, are used of seeing people die, which have seldom directly affected our daily lives. But what we are not used to see (unlike the people of pakistan), is foreigners being targeted (so now the headlines would read for eg, 6 foreigners die amongst the total toll of 101), cricketing nations deffering and canceling their trips, companies (like mine) asking its employees to cancel their trips to Mumbai specifically. But I won't blame them, I mean how many of us would be eager to go to Somalia, Iraq or may be even Pakistan. Well, if you think its exxageration to compare India and Iraq, you better check the numbers India is next to only Iraq when it comes to the number of people dying in terror attacks.

All said and done, what is our responsibility as 'Indians'..?? Ofcourse no one expects us to storm into the hotels and bring the terrorists to their knees. What we as a regular citizen can do is, to 'defeat their purpose' if not them as such. If we unite ourselves and say to the world that, the terrorists may have the gunpower which may take our lives, but they definitly can not kill the spirt of Indians..that however 'organised' their attacks might be, we will not loose our track, we will get up the next morning and head to our offices, schools etc. with even more zeal to 'defeat their purpose' and to take India to greater heights.

I won't be wrong in saying that terrorists are themselves a 'terrified' lot, they fear of India becoming a economic power, they hate India being acknowldged as the epicenter of Southern Asia, and if we could just smile to thier faces and say 'dude no matter what you do, I won't stop untill I have reached my destination (which by the way is not just overtaking US)'.
Here is a middle finger to all the terrorists..!!

"If god does'nt bother..why shoud we...?"

The above statement is an uncouth quote by neither of the esteemed personalities the times have seen (as it would have been politically incorrect for such a stark and belligerent remark). I am quoting the house help of my mother who doesn’t have to worry about her image, so she can speak her mind unlike most of us..But that is not the issue here.
I am quoting her to introduce her and her ilk and to elaborate the nuances of Indian society. The story..let me correct my self right away..I am not telling you any story because they can be biased towards the protagonist, but instead I will just unveil a situation before you and leave the judgment upon your pragmatism. Nita, another house help (another euphemism for a servant who mops floors and does laundry for money in households) is getting the second of her five daughters married next month, she (the daughter) is 17, as told by Nita, but by the looks she doesn’t look any older than 14 or may be about 15 and not by any means near the legitimate age of marriage (18 for girls).
Now why is she lying, might be to save herself and her family from the wrath of policemen, who might get her incarcerated for such a heinous crime (I am being sarcastic, as the policemen seldom imprison the opulent perpetrators of the most serious felonies..but again that isn’t the issue here). And why in hell is she getting her married at such a young age..when she knows that she’ll have to pay a hefty dowry for a decent groom, and already burdened by the loans she took for marriage of her eldest daughter, why is she further accentuating her scourge…?
Now most of you might as well blame her for procreating so many children, but she must have been helpless in front of her drunkard husband who might raped her many times over. Then again why didn’t she report the case of domestic violence against her husband..? May be because even if she did that with or without paying the bribe to the cops, she will be left alone at mercy of the canines (I am referring to the deceitful, prying and lewd men) living in and around her slum, and conventionally speaking husband, no matter however inebriated he might be, is the only sentinel to her family. Adding to it she might as well be declared a witch who got her own husband locked up, and once she looses her face in the society, who will marry her daughters..?
Ok so she can not help that situation..but why then get her daughter married at such a young age..? May be she is afraid that she might fall pray to her husband one day in his inebriated state, a crime most disgusting of all, but in the shoddy slums where she lives, such cases are a regularity, and even if that is not a possibility, there are still many out side with carnal desires, and plus she might also be getting her married just to get over with the obligation, because after all whenever her daughter gets married, Nita will still have to pay dowry, take loans and also the sooner she gets married the sooner her burden of supporting her expenses will end. What ever may be the case..?
Now the sensitive ones amongst the readers might feel for her abject circumstances and the odd ones amongst them might even want to help her, but the question is how..? By getting her husband locked up..? By getting every suspected person from her slum arrested..? Or by helping her daughter getting married..? Or will you provide an untrained, illiterate daughter of Nita an employment, and mind you that too, trusting the intentions of her prospective employers…?
And while most of you will blind your eyes towards her poverty and lead their normal lives, Neena, the house help, chose to sum it all up by her satire… “If god doesn’t bother, why should we..?”.

SAALA इश्क !!!!

ये इश्क नही आसान बस इतना समझ ले ....आग का दरिया है..और डूब के जाना है॥!!! yup i knw its an age old cliche..par i feel it is the best way one can define love..!!ya ya iknw love is unconditional..love is friendship..this that..everything and what not..!!..i'm not soundin like some one in luv but it is true..love is'nt as romantic and as glamourous as it seems from the bird's eye view..the ground realities is that..love is difficult man..imean to love some one..to give some one priority over urself is tough..especially for a person like me..who loves himself very much..(which is a euphemism for a self obsessed narcisist)!!
see..my straight forward ideology is tht man by nature can never be satisfied..!!so if hes desperate to find his/her love..he won't be satisfied once he gets that..rather he'l find another reason to be upset..for example..chal chadd..this does'nt need examples..!!now here i'm takin big risk of upsetting my girl friend (darlin i realy realy love you and u knw it, and u also knw hw frustrated i cn be..)..shes my anti knocking agent..my catalyst..my refresh button..my step up transformer..but in times of trouble between us,.,.and for people with no prior experiance in this domain..such times can be often..one (read I) gets very irated,irritated..and such not so good '..ted's,..and then only ur obstainence (hope i splet that right)..perseverence..and ur belief in urself,the other person and the relationship can rescue..
i dun wana give a slightest of hints that one shud avoid gettin involved in this..its jus that..one shud come prepared..and not get carried over by the initial highs..some of the key areas of concern can be..difference in perception..a very comman observation..after al evry person is different..all u gotta do..includin me..is to respect the other person's ideology without comprimising urs..and most importantly comparin it with urs or ur family's..its as tough..(at least for me) as it is confusin..!! listen up..it is'nt tht this is happenin jus to me..its an epidemic when it comes to understanding..the conflict between ideoligies..and if u disagree..ur in a premature state..wait n watch..!! any ways..the hues of love..and being in love has been potrayed by many..and mind u..you will never be able to infraction the rainbow..u can not just go and say that i just want the violet from the VIBGYOR..and no matter how much u abhore yellow (as in case of my girl friend)..u'l always get that in the package..!!
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CARE for a minute...ATLEAST..!!

Its 25TH JAN'08, not a special day in my calendar, when while reading newspaper, which is a daily routine, a strange paradox struck my eye, something which is very visible in any good daily everyday, but which we often oversee and ignore.
There was a news that a man, a kite maker by profession had pushed his two sons into a gushing river, they were aged 10 and 4, he was planning to drown another of his son and then take his own life when a passerby saw him and reported him to the police, he is now incarcerated under section 302. from where I see, poverty is all he is guilty of.
Turing another page I saw that the much talked about PDS scheme (public distribution scheme) where in essential commodities like wheat, rice sugar and kerosene are distributed to the ones below the poverty line, are being siphoned in the way towards their target, also as much as 39-49% of the goods is being distributed to those who are above poverty line, which is not at all shocking in our country, and I’m sure that onlookers like me will feel pity and turn the page, the govt. will promise setting up a committee to look into the matter, there will be some pseudo inspection, even if there is any, any ways time for the next page.
Well for those who do not know, the World Bank definition for poverty line for developing nations like India is US$ 1/day/person or approximately Rs 40, which means that 75% of India is under poverty line.
But we here in India we take the liberty of further marginalsing the line to Rs 10/day/person or US$ 75 for entire year. That amount which just means a movie at the multiplex for us (3 hours of entertainment), means a meal, shelter and clothing for 50% of India, for an entire year.
Turning another page I see yet another statistical data of the no. of peasants who took there lives in Vidharba and else where, well I had already done an in-depth analysis of how god forsaken those people are, so I didn’t have the guts of further depressing myself.
Now came the turn of the Business column, a page full of billions of dollars and the blabber of how Indian is trotting down the development lane. Sky rocketing sensex, amplitude of mergers and acquisitions progressing geometrically etc. etc. now I don’t say that it is bad, what I’m trying to say that why such an ironic situation doesn’t perturb any of the masses, why can’t the Indian growth story be more inclusive.
All said and done, I was at the end of my newspaper, and my clock signaled that it was time for the new blockbuster Hollywood action film which will be aired in minutes from now, so I just wrapped up my newspaper, grabbed a cola and wafers and got ensconced in my sofa, unperturbed….!!