Lost Friend

Time passes and memories fade,
But u cannot forget the friends who are diamond made.

Standing together in the test of time,
We created moments made of sugar, and thoda sa lime.

Next to impossible is forgetting them,
How can one not miss the fun through the sems.

I thought I'll stop by and say hi,
Remind you few jokes and give a high five.

I have loved to be your friend mere dost,
And I ll always love you the most.

I might not always ping you and say this orally,
Just close yours eyes and you'll know this, instantly.

The Choice is Simple.

Most of us ponder our whole life seeking a purpose and an inroad to lasting happiness, in other words, satisfaction. So why are we so occupied only by this question and have been overlooking the most obvious way to get there. I.e. service. May be because we don't intend to do something that is pain staking. We want satisfaction to come to our door steps, while we relax leaning back on the chair. "I'll do something this weekend " one would plan. But as it turns out, the weekend would go in pursuit of obliging to self's fantasies. The pondering continues until next weekend and so forth. Service, has to be ones life purpose. It's not easy but then, what's anyway easy in life. I saw a IRCTC catering boy selling water when I was traveling to my hometown. He took numerous turns of the complete train ensuring if anyone needs his service. You may say, it's his job and he's paid for that. But poise for a moment and think, did he choose that job? Will you as a child, dream about taking such a job, or being a driver of a public transport. Obviously not. But these people still do their part, whether by resilience or by choice. But we have a choice. Fortunately we have been endowed with a comparatively comfortable life. So let's make this Nobel and imperative choice to serve the nation. Educate someone, feed someone, visit a school and teach a lesson, or do anything that impacts a life. In our PM's words, " if each one of us take a step towards nation building, the nation moves ahead by 1.25 billion steps. " Similarly if each one of us to pledge to serve, each one of us serve one another and we could be in such great harmony. Milkman serves me, and I'll help his children get good education. Imagine. I envisage such a nation. Shoulder to shoulder and hand to hand. Let's nurture this dream and nourish it through our actions. I would like to end this blog by quoting Mahatma Gandhi, "The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others"

May 16th and Beyond

The number of times you have heard your name being called by someone, from your birth, might probably be less than the number of times you might have heard “Modi” in last 3 months. Such is the obsession, such is the phenomena, or you may even call it exaggeration. As India enters final lap of its 2014 Election, things are becoming more serious and more murkier than it ever was. The race to PM’s Post has seen it all. And so has Mr Modi. But what lies in store for him in the next month till the next govt. is formed or next 60 months if he himself forms the govt. Lets talk about this in little detail.

What has been branded as country’s most important elections in last 65 years has reduced itself to a mere war or words, calling names and calculating one’s credentials solely based on his opponents incompetences. Whoever is less incompetent is the most eligible. An election which is designed to be equally concentrated in 543 constituencies has seen 2 epicenters. Varanasi and Amethi. So what is that Modi has that has enabled him to take a dig at heavy weights so confidently. Is he a popular leader because of his leadership qualities and his vision for India, or, is it that people want a alternative and there is no one else but Modi. Does this popularity mean that people are so inspired to see a better India and expecting that there will be  “Rama Rajya” from day 1 of his tenure.

Friends, please note that all the promises that Modi is speaking of, is practically impossible to deliver in a span of 5 years. May be he can show his intent to fulfil all those by actually fulfilling few important promises, so that he can seek 2^nd term. By important, I mean, his method of functioning and dealing with corruption, his approach towards foreign policy(referring to recent spat with Pak Interior affairs minister and Army Chief over Dawoods extradition), his commitment towards anti-graft bill and bringing back the black money and how well he handles his own party(referring to Advani ji and Sushma ji ‘s disappointment over Modi-Centric Campaign.).

At lower levels of his party’s cadre, he will have to deal with weeds like VHP and Shri Ram Sena more strictly. Recently, we witnessed a leader from Bihar, Giriraj, saying that all those who don’t vote for Modi, should be sent to Pakistan. Trusting few opinion polls, BJP might garner a max of 200-250 seats, which is roughly 40-45% of the total seats. Which means the rest 55 % won’t vote for Modi. So are you telling us that you will send all those people to Pakistan? Such anti national elements must be kept out of power, sensitively and subtly, which might otherwise lead to a No- Confidence Motion.

So the road ahead for Modi is not as easy it might look to people. All I want to say is let us be patient and not prejudices about his performance as PM, if he gets elected. In next edition of this blog, I’ll try to decipher the possible challenges he might face in establishing Industrial Corridor and a concoction of “MUST DO ” things for Modi as PM. 

Decoding AAP

Aap ka haal kya hai? Am I asking about you or the AAP, the Aam Aadmi Party? Actually both. One word that has filled all the political ears after the recent Delhi assembly elections is AAP. A party which started off as a under dog, surprised everyone by winning as many as 28 seats, causing a irreparable damage to Congress and to some extent the BJP. The success story of AAP has been exemplary and mind wobbling. The party ultimately rose to power among severe ambiguation. This, as expected, gave food to cynicism. I am here to throw light upon few important things which all of us should know.

The party, aptly named as Aam Aadmi Party or Common man’s party, touched upon key issues a common man faces, in its election manifesto, which otherwise were untouched by main stream politics. To each of those issues , the party promised solutions. Elections got over and results were announced. Arvind Kejriwal, the man behind this revolution had time and again iterated that neither he will join Congress/BJP, nor he will take outside support from these parties. It was a hung verdict and suddenly there was a race between BJP and AAP as to who will sit in the opposition leaving almost everyone to wonder if elections are fought to sit in the opposition or come to power. The congress obviously had no place to hide. Then there was this very tactical move by “Shakuni’s” of indian politics, the congress party. The outside support rendered by congress and AAP accepting the offer kindled the speculation and questioning of AAP’s integrity. Congress must be hoping that AAP makes few mistakes and thus regain some vote base. The other thing behind this move might be the fact that congress was in no shape to fight the reelections.

IIT graduate arvind was smart enough to put the ball in the court of Delhites. I think this move reflected true democracy. But what we need to recall here are the promises he had made as not to transact at all with either  BJP or Congress, or the statement that he will never become the CM. So we now know about AAP’s flip flop nature. He had also stated that he’ll set up enquiry into CWG scam, implementation of Shunglu Committee report etc. my fear is that these promises will also be changed. I however want him to prove me wrong. And if he does not, AAP will certify itself as Congress’ Team B. I also want to reflect on some breakthrough’s AAP achieved in its 1^st week of power. Saying NO to red beacons and security were game changers. I want to congratulate AAP on that. If the party sticks to its valve’s, I ‘ll pray that AAP grows in leaps and bounds.

I have spoken so much till now, but what’s my actual point! Here it is I am a big supporter of Narendra Modi sir. One should watch few of his you tube videos if you don’t have any idea about his passion and vision for India. And now the time has come for him to be the PM. But, AAP is derailing it. I am afraid that AAP will split vote bank and create a Delhi like scenario in 2014 elections. The seats will get divided into wide number of parties and needless to say, Congress has this knack of “buying” smaller party’s support and reach 272. That should not happen, hence, its my humble request to all to take things little more practically and less emotionally. AAP is still in its infancy and it takes great amount of experience and wisdom to run the country. Kejriwal alone cannot look after all the constituencies. He would require an effective team which he clearly lacks. All independent candidates who had earlier won few elections would lobby for AAP’s berth and that will set a wrong trend. So, in the interest of the nation, please choose the right candidate, not necessarily AAP.

Truth Vs Hype; And a appeal to my batch mates!!

This October, I had this opportunity to travel to Delhi. The travel was through train and we all know how exciting  a train journey can get. I was travelling towards north for the first time and very soon I started noticing the diversity that reflected in the way people dressed, the way they spoke, the varied food items, etc. etc. and I was on the edge on my seat, anticipating a great journey ahead. I started speaking to complete strangers and very soon they became friends. We started sharing experiences, food and of course, we talked about politics. “No. He is corrupt. He wont come to power” one would say, and some other person would counter this argument. All were trying to be political analysts and gyanis. It was going smooth. But then, I had very little clue that something was awaiting me and my attention. 3 incidents, back to back, startled me to the core.

1.   A 12 year old kid fled his home and boarded our train at Nagpur. The Reason being that he was subjected to constant abuse at home and he could not take it any more. He said, he wants to go to Delhi and study until he gets a Ph.D.

2.  Another kid, not more than 8 years of age, dressed fancily in torn clothes, with his face covered by a huge moustache drawn from a black eye pencil stepped in front of us. He had a cap, from the center of which a thread protruded. The thread had a mass attached to its end and the kid would turn his head violently to make it look like the blades of a helicopter, which many people liked. He basically tried to create a mini circus kind of atmosphere in the bogie, with his mom standing beside and beating the drums to give it a flavor. He walked through the length of the bogie and sang a popular Hindi number to draw attention. No sooner, his mom started the music, he started performing various tricks which included him passing through a small dia hoop. He would then go to each passenger to demand money for the “entertainment” provided.

3.   A very old man, probably in his 80’s came to me near Mathura. He was so thin that his nerves projected out of his skin. One could easily compare him to an anatomy chart. His eyes were all red. He was trying to maintain his balance in the moving train with a basket in his one hand, containing salt stuffed groundnuts. He came to me and asked me if I wish to buy a packet.

Each one of these 3 incidents took away my peace for that night. Does it not question the very values that we Indians boast about? Does it not reflect the state of India amid the hype of branding India as a country with great culture. This was definitely not the way we are going to realize vision 2020. Folks, we are living under this myth that we are progressing towards a brighter tomorrow. A society where we don’t care about children (tomorrow’s youth) , where we leave our elders to be on their own, where hunger and malnutrition is so prevalent and dominant, what kind of a society are we constituting??

In the first case, the child was so devastated that he went on to take such  a big step. He remained silent for most of the journey with his eyes wet. We finally handed him to RPF, Bhopal to deliver him to his family. God knows what happened next. In the 2^nd case, I saw a innocent kid who did all that his mom had taught. I took a closer look and realized it was the poverty and hunger that taught him what he did. He enjoyed it and it goes without saying, he was disguised. In the 3^rd case, I could draw a lesson; the will to work and earn his own bread. But having said that, I have absolutely no idea if this will was out of helplessness.

All these 3 events, although out of context to each other, teach us something in common. i.e. our responsibility to help the poor and the needy. We all are going to graduate this year and I am sure, all of us will be at some good position sooner or later. So let us pledge that, we will, bear expenses of educating at least 1 child until matriculation. We will, for sure enjoy this noble cause once we start it. Let us bring the difference in one’s life, the virtues are sure to follow. 

Be Original!

How often do you come across people who imitate? Or who mock? Or who flatter? Flattery that will be so evident and yet they pretend that  to be natural. Now introspect, are you one of them? May be yes , may be no, may be you don’t know or may be you don’t want to know. To help you comprehend what am speaking about, let me introduce you all to a term- “Idealized Self”. This happens to be the root cause for all sorts of mockery, flattery and fake personalities that exist in this world. Although few people are aware of this demon, they just give in to it to gain acceptance, to gain popularity;  acceptance that will be pseudo and popularity that lasts not long.

So what is Idealized Self? Idealized Self Is a image a person paints about himself in his mind, that resembles how he wishes to look like in the society, and that which differs from what he actually is! For those who identify it and yet they continue with it, the reason is cryptic.   For the rest, the initiation point of this condition may go down to ones childhood or adolescence. For instance while you were in 10^th std, someone said disheveled or spiked hair looks cool and you started spiking your hair, whereas  the inner “you” liked cropped hair cut. Or a girl stuffed her bedroom with teddy’s just because someone said it looks cute to people, whereas she hasn’t got any particular liking towards them. To add on, boys using “dude” as a suffix or prefix to every sentence they speak and girls using “aww” every now then to look extra sweet etc. The point is where does that lead one to?

Anyone with little sensibility and fair amount of judgment will catch you in a flash and that would leave a lasting impression of you in their minds. Am not at all speculating whether or not you should change your behavior, adapting to changes is a must but  what am emphasizing is stick with your real self. Stick with what you like, or what you dislike and stand by it when time comes.

I have also seen people who refrain from telling their perspectives  when a collective decision is to be taken, only to vote at last,  in favour of what the majority thinks. This parasitic approach gains you disrespect from the same majority and also hampers your own growth. People having this tendency  to flip flop their views will end up wishing  “had it been this way?” or “ had I done that?”. They’ll be eventually called losers,  and someone with just a wishbone and not a backbone.

But friends, here’s the good news, its never too late to rectify. Try to bridge that gap between the “REAL YOU” and “ IDEALIZED  YOU” . If you are a boy and very emotional and you act to be raw, drop that mask. If you are a  girl who is tomboyish  and you pretend to be fragile, let go of it. Be proud of what you are. Chuck all those people who try to influence your decisions.  They ‘ve got nothing to lose whereas you ‘ve got everything at stake.  You decide what to do and what not. Of course you’ll face hurdles, you might completely fail, your judgment of things might  be 180⁰ to the proper ones. But remember, good judgment comes by experience and experience can come only through bad judgment. Be original, and if you have to be eccentric for that, so be it!