The Living Legend !!!

In our obsession with the numbers and records, we might have lost sight of the real reason why the Swiss Genius is peerless – its sublime beauty of His art ! Is Mozart matchless because of his total number of compositions or because his music sounds the way it does to our ear ? Surely, to obsess with the numbers at the expense of aesthetic appreciation is a form of sporting philistinism. Aesthetic experience is not quantifiable, yet when you sit and watch Federer it occurs to you that few men in the entire history of sport might have played the way He does. Trying to break His game down to its constituent parts – serve, forehand, backhand, balance – would be a shame. You take it in with the same breathtaking awe, you might experience while viewing the Grand Canyon !

Roger Federer !

His near incomparable greatness has been lauded by the whole world, including perhaps by the piranha hunter-gatherers, deep in the Amazon rain forests. After all, He moves like a ballerina on the court; He hits the ball with such finesse that it almost feels like He is whispering sweet-nothings into the ear of a lover; He has power too but His angles are envy of even geometry and trigonometry !

Samwise The Brave !

You see, their morals, their code, it’s a bad joke. Dropped at the first sign of trouble.

When ‘The Joker Guy’ said these words pointing towards the so called ‘civilized people’, he was almost correct – ‘almost’. Generally we civilized people do not stress ourselves with anything wrong which is going around us or even if we do, all we  manage to do is – discuss the issue, point out the moral or immoral aspects of situation, may be a lots of criticism about the system, some may even feel pissed off or at max one writes another anonymous blog about these issues like I am doing right now. But when it actually comes to do something, we all lock our moral values in a safe corner of our ‘mind’ – The so common ‘hamein-kya-padi-hai’ attitude of our society. And we all learn to live one way or another without bothering about these issues. But exceptions are everywhere – so was the Batman and so was the Rachel Corrie !

The moment I’ll introduce you to Rachel Corrie, most of you would skip this post.

In a society where people are not bothered about whats happening in their neighbourhood, why would they bother about a girl who is an American and was killed by Israel Defense Forces in Palestine in 2003. But for those few of you who have decided to know more about this girl, I’ll continue writing. Rachel Corrie, a 23 year old American working among downtrodden Palestinians, was killed in the third week of March, run over by an Israeli bulldozer. Rachel, along with seven others, was acting as a human shield to try and prevent the demolition of Palestinian houses. Rachel, who was to graduate from the college in the United States later that year, had come to Palestine two months earlier. In an e-mail she sent to her parents shortly before she was killed, Rachel had described one such incident in which members of her group “stood in the path of bulldozers and were physically pushed with the shovel backwards, taking shelter in a house” The message went on to say that “the bulldozer then proceeded on its course, demolishing one side of the house” while the protesters were still inside. The incident that claimed young American’s life was eerily similar to the one she had described in her own message. According to one of here teachers at college, Rachel was very active in opposing the ‘US war against terror’ and justice for the Palestinian people was a cause that was close to Rachel’s heart. If you can spare one more minute, listen to this innocent speech by Rachel when she was just in fifth grade – “I’m here because I care” and she went to prove herself true to her words, she could hold on to her morals as long as she was there.

The very first question which I asked to my friend KK, when I finished reading about her in a magzine was – “Itni himmat kahan se aati hai logon main ?” I know I don’t have this much of courage – its a bit shameful but true. I can never ever be brave enough to go to an all together different nation and sacrify my life for those people. Neither that is what I am expecting from anyone.  What to talk of such bravery, I may not have even questioned back many times to those people in my daily life,  whom I know, were wrong.  Because who wants to get into the trouble ! The kind of such extreme examples push us to think for at least once about our responsibilities.  I asked again myself  what did she got after loosing her life there ? But I immediately  got corrected, there will be a lot many like me who would be at least forced to think about such issue by her courage. I am writing this post not to urge people to do something; but here all I am trying to do is to pacify these vicarious feeling within me. I am trying to find answers to so many questions – what is the ‘correct’ thing to do ? Do these moral values are actually more  than the bookish philosophy ? Or is it the sign of more intelligent species  to get  adjusted to the situations ? Or may be its not us who decide if we can do something or not; but its situation or destiny which allows an ordinary man to be an extra-ordinary one.

In a society where most of the people have to struggle for meeting their both ends, they hardly can think about moral values. But our society also has a good percentage of people who are comfortable enough to think upon such social issues, people like you and me – who can spend a lots of time on blogs and internet, may be we can spend some time on such issues as well. Why are we not brave enough to stand against the wrong things which are happening around us ? Thats not an appeal to stand up against something but its just that I am trying to figure out how things should work in a society ! If we can’t go out and stand for others, can we at least manage to do, what we are “supposed” to do – always keeping our moral values in our mind ? That still remains a question for me ! Even if we are not brave enough to oppose the system, we still have some examples where people do contribute for the cause of society like Charity Water without fighting or opposing anyone. Again, I know I am not going to do or contribute for anything like that at least in the near future. After finishing this blog, I would be the same guy, who is sitting in his room , doing things which only concerns himself. But if I am feeling a need to do something, let these feelings be there. May be someday, I’ll realize what these feelings are meant to be ! One cause of all these feeling may be that I am still not exposed to the realities of this world rather ‘harsh realities’. May be when I’ll meet them I won’t be asking any such stupid questions about morality ! But I seriously wish, whatever be the situation, at least I may continue asking such questions, even if I am not contributing anything !

Its not that we don’t have such exceptions in our society. There will be a lot many people around us, who are still sticking to their moral values, some may be known, some may be unknown.  But clearly such people are outnumbered by the  major section of population. I mentioned Rachel here specifically because after reading about her recently, I was triggered to think upon these things again. There are many popular heroes in our society like our freedom fighters – Bhagat Singh, Chandrashekhar Azad who sacrified their lives for the sake of nation. There are some unsung heroes as well like Justice H R Khana who stood up against the system for holding onto his morals.  Probably we all still remember Shanmughan Manjunath who lost his life for his ethics. I am also getting reminded of one article on Gujarat riots of 2002, which told about some of the  courageous police officers who sticked to their duties and morals, even when it meant to be against the government and as expected they were rewarded with quick transfers. More recently Aradhana, who has been fighting against SPS Rathore for justice for her friend for the last 19 years.  Infact, ‘civilized people’ of  our country have also started to raise their voices and have made sure that their voices are heard – Jessica Lall case, Priyadarshini  Mattoo case , Nitish Katara case and I am sure case against SPS Rathore would soon be  added to this list as well. Something similar which civilized people of Gotham city showed to the Joker guy. And one more such hero for me is Sam Gamgee, which finally brings me to the title of this post !

Sam Gamgee or ‘Samwise the Brave’ has been my the most favourite character of all the series of Lord of the Rings. Because he represents an ordinary folk like you and me; who doesn’t think much about far away things. But as the journey unfolds he realizes his destiny through hardship and ultimately its his determination and strength which carries Frodo towards his destination. For me he is ‘The Hero’ of the story and just when I was trying to find a cause why one should hold on to his moral values,  I was reminded of these words full of wisdom by Samwise The Brave.

Sam: I know. It’s all wrong. By rights we shouldn’t even be here. But we are. It’s like in the great stories, Mr. Frodo. The ones that really mattered. Full of darkness and danger, they were. And sometimes you didn’t want to know the end. Because how could the end be happy? How could the world go back to the way it was when so much bad had happened? But in the end, it’s only a passing thing, this shadow. Even darkness must pass. A new day will come. And when the sun shines it will shine out the clearer. Those were the stories that stayed with you. That meant something, even if you were too small to understand why. But I think, Mr. Frodo, I do understand. I know now. Folk in those stories had lots of chances of turning back, only they didn’t. They kept going. Because they were holding on to something.
Frodo: What are we holding onto, Sam?
Sam: That there’s some good in this world, Mr. Frodo… and it’s worth fighting for.

[ This is one of the best scenes of all three movies, from the 'The Two Towers'. Even if you haven't clicked any of the links above, you can atleast enjoy this one - Watch it here , it sounds really great with the background music effects; Even Golum seems to be agree with what Sam told ! ]

… तो समझो ग़ज़ल हुई !

One of the rare cases, where still people use orkut status messages for interesting stuff. The moment I saw this status msg, I asked my friend to give me reference or song for this one. He not only replied to my status msg but also sent me the song as well. Beautiful gazal by Ashok Khosla, beautiful lyrics, listen to it here, I am sure everyone will enjoy it ! Thanx Sumit ! By the way people it may be the case that its ‘only’ me who may not have heard this gazal before !

मिले किसी से नज़र तो समझो ग़ज़ल हुई,
रहे ना अपनी खबर तो समझो ग़ज़ल हुई !

मिला के नज़रों को वालेहाना हया से फिर ,
झुका ले कोई नज़र तो समझो ग़ज़ल हुई !

इधर मचलकर उन्हें पुकारे जुनूं मेरा,
धड़क उठे दिल उधर तो समझो ग़ज़ल हुई !

उदास बिस्तर की सिलवटेँ जब तुम्हें चुभे,
न सो सको रात भर तो समझो ग़ज़ल हुई !

वो बदगुमां हो तो शेर सूझे न शायरी,
वो मेहरबान हो “जफ़र” तो समझो ग़ज़ल हुई !

… रहे ना अपनी खबर तो समझो ग़ज़ल हुई !

Then, Now and the Future …

Its here again .. the day of new resolutions … the day of new hopes … the day of new beginnings … Happy New year ! I am enjoying the first day of this new year alone in my room. But the best part is this solitude has brought introspection with it ! And this time its a bit more special .. everybody is talking about a decade coming to an end ! 10 years .. a decade, a fair enough unit of time to introspect oneself ! Probably years are going too fast and will be too frequent to do that .. it would be boring rather ! So  I am winding the clocks back 10 years and trying to find out what are the top 10 things of this past decade which I would like to include in my autobiography -

1. Luxury is the feeling of being at home. I still remember the first time when I cried like a sissy while my parents were going back after leaving me in a hostel. And now I know that home is a place not to stay for always but rather its a place where you can always turn into whenever you feel despair in this wide world. Though I still wish that someday I’ll wake up again by that anger-filled-voice of my mom asking me to get ready for school !

2. Dreamlands are not only in heaven. There is nothing sweeter than seeing your dream materializing before your eyes. Cracking JEE was one for me. Being in the dreamland of IIT for 4 years, which helped me realize every single strength and every single weakness of mine, sharing that proud feeling of being an ‘iit grad’…. this is one dream for me which I would like to live in every life … again and again and again and still again …

3. Kitna bada hai ye sansaar! The first thing which Roorkee made me realize was that there is no dearth of learnings, enjoyments, challenges in this world. Be it the challenge of passing those exams with last-night-fight or be it the enjoyment of watching that TV series for 48 hours non-stop or be it the learning how not to hit a sixer with a tennis racket  !

4. Hanging out with idiots is blessing. My papa said before I was coming to Roorkee that the friends which you’ll have now, hold on to them for a lifetime. Having those late night bakars,  dinner at 1 AM in canteen, playing those CS matches,  after-discussion of those exams – though cliche but true ‘those were the best days of my life’.  Today I may not talk with my friends that much often but I know I can always trust them.  By the way, I haven’t watched ‘3 idiots’ yet !!!

5. Pardes rocks; but Swades rocks harder. Don’t worry .. I am not SRK fan. My first stay out of country was short, exciting and at the same time I realized that I don’t belong to that place. Its good to go abroad, have fun,  spend some time , but ultimately as A R Rahman expressed it, “ye jo des hai tera, swades hai tera” !

6. Cut, copy and paste. Technology has changed the pace of life. Be it my 3.2 MP camera in my mobile or be it is my lovely macbook, on which I am writing this blog right now or infact Chakravorty sir’s interesting wireless communication stuff and above all the power of Internet, facebook, google … We are lucky that the growth in the ‘reach’ of technology has coincided with growth of this decade. Had there been a delay of another 10 years, I would not have been the same !

7. Job … it stinks dude ! And mind you I am not talking about only IT sector jobs. Who would like to be bound for 9 to 6 everyday, for 5 days a week .. my god !!! But jeene ke liye kuch toh karna padta hai, so sooner you develop the love for what you are doing better it is, otherwise change what you are doing ! And remember money is the thing, but not the only thing !

8. Crushes and buses. Both come at regular intervals. But the best thing about crushes is they help you to find out what actually you are looking for in your future life partner or if not, then at least they’ll help you to find out your ‘natural orientation’. But remember, the day when you feel that its ‘not-just-another’ crush for a person you are feeling, express it … But may be honesty is not always the best policy. Confused ??? .. it happens with everyone !

9. Its not T-20. I remember everybody used to tell me its just a matter of 2 years, once you’ll have a good acads, life would be  smooth like butter. But now I know, as long as you have aspiration in life, there is no substitute for hard work. Always think in  longer terms – think big, think fast and think ahead. Its more like a test cricket – plan the strategy, stamina, skills, to stay out there for full 5 days !

10. Heisenberg rules. Definitely, you can’t predict everything with 100% accuracy in life. But its the uncertainty which makes life interesting. Summing up 2009, I would remember it as one year for me- which will never come to front screen but would always be the most crucial ‘behind-the-scene’ … silent but still eloquent. And as I always say, He surely does play dice and this time dice has been rolled, lets see what do I get !

10 years back I didn’t have ability to think where I would be after 10 years and today after 10 years again I am not in any different situation than what it was then, except that now I can at least see where I want to be after 10 years. It would be interesting to list down at least 10 things, which I am expecting in next 10 years -

1 . To achieve my career goals. And, when you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it.

2. To plan a trip to Milford Sound. And a Vegas trip again or may be one Euro trip with my family as well or a world tour may be ! But surely a complete India visit would be there !

3. To have 8-pegs body. Or may be 6-pegs , at least 4-pegs  pleasssssssse,  ok final 80 KG, done!!! Mankey r u reading this ???

4. To play it like Tiger Woods. Don’t misunderstand me ! I am talking about golf only, the royal sport !!! Its only N D Tiwari who can beat him otherwise !

5. To ride a horse. Tugdi … Tugdi .. Tugdi … Tugdi .. Tugdi … Tugdi .. Tugdi … Tugdi .. Tugdi … Tugdi .. Tugdi … Tugdi .. Tugdi … Tugdi … neigh … neigh … neigh … neigh …

6. To be ‘Dr.’ Ankur Sharma. At least a post graduation degree and whats wrong in getting  a Ph. d.  from some Ivy league university, may be in economics !

7. To grow up a little more. So that my parents can at least stop calling me every 15 min whenever I am out of my room after 9 in the night. At least reduce the frequency mom – may be one call every 30 min. My friends laugh at me  !!!

8. To have a big happy family. At least a dozen children, oh miscalculations … ‘chota parivar, sukhi sansaar ‘ …  anyways we can always decide that later, isn’t it ??

9. To do at least one thing for a noble cause. So that I no longer feel helpless or guilty, when I see something which is wrong but still I can’t help in anyway !

10. To be the same, what I am today. I seriously wish that whatever my perspectives are towards life, I can hold on to them in coming years as well and they keep on growing strong with every new experience.

Somehow I am getting reminded of something which once one of my favorite professors, D K Mehra Sir told our class after we badly screwed our 1st mid term exams. I am quoting him here exactly,

There is a statement which again comes from Shanon that you have full knowledge about your past but no control over it, while you have full control over future but no knowledge about it. Still 87.5% is your future, my friends.

Once again, wishing you all a very happy new year ahead !

Stupid is as stupid does, Sir !!!

You know it’s funny what a young man recollects? ‘Cause I don’t remember bein’ born. I don’t recall what I got for my first Christmas and I don’t know when I went on my first outdoor picnic. But I do remember the first time I heard the sweetest voice in the wide world.

Tom Hanks

Forrest Gump: Will you marry me?
[Jenny turns and looks at him]
Forrest Gump: I’d make a good husband, Jenny.
Jenny Curran: You would, Forrest.
Forrest Gump: …But you won’t marry me.
Jenny Curran: [sadly] … You don’t wanna marry me.
Forrest Gump: Why don’t you love me, Jenny?
[Jenny says nothing]
Forrest Gump: I’m not a smart man… but I know what love is.

Please let her ‘Sleep in Peace’ !!!

Her day starts and ends at metal bed of ward no. 4 in Mumbai’s KEM hospital. The cold metal bed has been the center of her life since 1973. Her teeth have decayed, her bones have become brittle, wrists have twisted inwards, and fingers have bent at the joints and fisted into the palms. Mashed food is being administered through the throat to keep her alive. It was not as if she never had a different life. Her world crumbled on Nov,1973, for no fault of hers – Ms Aruna Shanbaug, a victim of lust, crippled for life.

And even more, the bastard who is responsible for her such condition was never charged for rape. But instead got only 7 years of imprisonment for attempting to murder and robing Ms Aruna. Just a mere 7 years of punishment for making someone go through a hell for last 36 years and may be some more years ahead … the equation simply doesn’t match … thats totally insane. This is one of those absurd instances of Indian Judicial system, where I feel the brutal system of execution like in some islamic countries for such bastards is totally justified. Our judicial system couldn’t even provide her a ‘natural justice’ but now judiciary can atleast let her sleep in peace.

I really had to fight hard not to shed my tears when I read this whole incidence in today’s newspaper. I agree life is never fair to us, but atleast we are ‘living a life’. It may be sometimes – enjoyment or sufferings, joy or sorrows, celebrations or struggle – but all of this together makes life as – “Life“. But think of a person who has been only breathing in and out in the same state for past 36 years – without saying anything, without listening anything, without feeling anything. Doctors call her brain-dead or in a vegetative state. It is to the credit of the hospital authorities that they look after her and bear all the expenses entailed in her upkeep, especially because she was on duty when the incident happened which transformed her life forever. Compared to this, Aruna Shanbag’s middle-class family gave up on her after some time when it became clear that there was no hope for Aruna’s revival. Likewise, her fiancee who was a doctor and had been engaged to the pretty Aruna too gave up after sometime, realizing the futility of waiting for her recovery. But it goes to his credit that for a very long time he would visit her regularly every evening, sit besides her and talk to her even though she was in no position to hear or even respond to him.

Supreme Court (SC) says that under the law of the country, we cannot allow a person to die. Because there is nothing like ‘Right to Death’ in our constitution and even if they declared it as a fundamental right, what would and whose would be the complementary fundamental duty. Fine, for a moment I accept their argument … but there is ‘Right to Dignified Life’ enshrined in article 21 of our constitution …. isn’t it the SC’s responsibility under article 32 of our constitution to implement an individual’s fundamental right as soon as possible. So if it can’t allow her to die, can SC implement her fundamental right of dignified life for her ??? No .. Supreme court can’t do that. She is living a disgraceful life .. even the usage of word ‘living’ doesn’t seem to be correct for her !! The continued vegetative existence of Aruna is a violation of her right to live with dignity. In other words, she has a right to not be in this kind of sub-human condition. If she can’t be provided with a dignified life, at least let her have a dignified death !!

And even if I assume that the next morning a miracle happens and she wakes up all ‘normal’ next morning – what would she find – the trauma of that fateful night which would be as if it happened yesterday for her. How would she face so many question arising to her ? Who can give her back those 36 years? What would be her future? And more so how would she feel when she’ll come to know that the bastard, who is responsible for her such condition was not even charged for the crime he did and he’s still living freely out there … probably she would choose to go back to her vegetative state again !!

I came across the views of Mahatma Gandhi, which he expressed in the Gujarati weekly Navjivan in October 1928. The killing of an ailing calf in Sabarmati Ashram, at Gandhi’s instance, had caused much commotion, and he had received some angry letters on the subject. The following is an extract from his long response. “A calf, having been maimed, lay in agony in the ashram and despite all possible treatment and nursing, the surgeon declared the case to be past help and hope. The animal’s suffering was very acute. In the circumstances, I felt that humanity demanded that the agony should be ended by ending life itself. The matter was placed before the whole ashram. Finally, in all humility but with the cleanest of convictions I got in my presence a doctor to administer the calf a quietus by means of a poison injection , and the whole thing was over in less than two minutes. Would I like it to be applied in my own case? My reply is yes.”

If we can accept the death penalty for ‘rarest of the rare’ cases, why can’t we allow euthanasia for ‘rarest of the rare’ cases. In such cases, along with judges of apex court, there should be a panel comprising of treating doctors,human right thinkers & attendants of patient. The essence of human life is to be able to live a dignified life but when some law forces you to live in intense pain and humiliation, there is something wrong with our society. Who are we to prolong the life of one who is suffering and has decided without any undue pressure that he would like to be put to rest? Obviously legalization of euthanasia should not include anyone wanting to end their life at the flimsiest of excuses but a patient should be allowed to decide when he has suffered enough. After all as an individual, you decide where to marry, you decide where to work, and at the last hurdle of your life, you should be allowed to choose how do you want to end your life.

If SC allows euthanasia in this case, which is till now illegal in our country, it would be a landmark decision. Euthanasia could be legalized, but the laws would have to be very stringent. Every case will have to be carefully monitored taking into consideration the point of views of the patient, the relatives and the doctors. But whether Indian society is mature enough to face this, after all it’s a matter of life and death, is yet to be seen.

Hindu mythology says that whatever happens to us in our life is a result of our ‘karmas‘ in our past lives. So even if there was something wrong which Aruna had done in her past lives, its time to end her ordeal. God, its been quite a long time now, 36 years have been passed, please call her into Your arms !!

इस मोड़ से जाते हैं …

Here is a lovely poem by Gulzar ji, which is also immortalized as a beautiful song in movie “Andhi”. This movie has other famous songs as well namely “Tum aa gaye ho…” and “Tere bina jindgi se…” , probably thats why I never happened to listen this song before. Listen it here and you’ll njoy this poem even more !!

इस  मोड़  से  जाते  हैं
कुछ  सुस्त  क़दम  रस्ते
कुछ  तेज़  क़दम  राहें

पत्थर  की  हवेली  को
शीशे  के  घरौंदों  में
तिनको  के  नशेमन  तक
इस  मोड़  से  जाते  हैं !

आंधी  की  तरह  उड़  कर
इक  राह  गुज़रती  है
शर्माती  हुई  कोई
क़दमों  से  उतरती  है

इन  रेशमी राहों  में
इक  राह  तो  वो  होगी
तुम  तक  जो  पहुंचती  है
इस  मोड़  से  जाती  है !

इक  दूर  से  आती  है
पास  आके  पलटती  है
इक  राह  अकेली  सी
रुकती  है  न  चलती  है

ये  सोच  के  बैठा  हूँ
इक  राह  तो  वो  होगी
तुम  तक  जो  पहुंचती  है
इस  मोड़  से  जाती  है !

इस  मोड़  से  जाते  हैं
कुछ  सुस्त  क़दम  रस्ते
कुछ  तेज़  क़दम  राहें

पत्थर  की  हवेली  को
शीशे  के  घरौंदों  में
तिनको  के  नशेमन  तक
इस  मोड़  से  जाते  हैं !

Why so Serious ???

“Come here. Hey! Look at me. So I had a wife, beautiful, like you, who tells me I worry too much. Who tells me I ought to smile more. Who gambles and gets in deep with the sharks… Look at me! One day, they carve her face. And we have no money for surgeries. She can’t take it. I just want to see her smile again, hm? I just want her to know that I don’t care about the scars. So… I stick a razor in my mouth and do this ….to myself. And you know what? She can’t stand the sight of me! She leaves. Now I see the funny side. Now I’m always smiling!”

The Joker Guy !!

“Do I really look like a guy with a plan? You know what I am? I’m a dog chasing cars. I wouldn’t know what to do with one if I caught it. You know, I just… do things. The mob has plans, the cops have plans, Gordon’s got plans. You know, they’re schemers. Schemers trying to control their little worlds. I’m not a schemer. I try to show the schemers how pathetic their attempts to control things really are. So, when I say… Ah, come here. When I say that you and your girlfriend was nothing personal, you know that I’m telling the truth. It’s the schemers that put you where you are. You were a schemer, you had plans, and look where that got you.

I just did what I do best. I took your little plan and I turned it on itself. Look what I did to this city with a few drums of gas and a couple of bullets. Hmmm? You know… You know what I’ve noticed? Nobody panics when things go “according to plan.” Even if the plan is horrifying! If, tomorrow, I tell the press that, like, a gang banger will get shot, or a truckload of soldiers will be blown up, nobody panics, because it’s all “part of the plan.” But when I say that one little old mayor will die, well then everyone loses their minds!

Introduce a little anarchy. Upset the established order, and everything becomes chaos. I’m an agent of chaos. Oh, and you know the thing about chaos? It’s fair!”

The ‘Unclothed’ Future !

“Rikshaw … Rikshaw ” I shouted loudly.

One of them came and I hired him. At the next traffic signal, the red light went on and rikshaw came to a halt. A few in the traffic started honking their horns, some bikers edging their way through the smallest available space, a few Audi’s and BMW’s to look around … and at the pavement around the center circle of the intersection of roads – a few homeless poor families. If you are in Delhi, this is not something new for you. You can see such people everywhere unless you are not blind ! And whats more, Delhi makes you tough enough to face such people almost daily. You no longer feel bad or don’t even think about the conditions of such people.

But then I noticed someone staring at me.

About a 5-year-old kid along with his siblings was crossing the road while red light was still on. First impression of this bare-footed kid with uncouth hair and dusty appearance to me was that he was ‘naked’. I looked at his face who was still carrying an innocent smile and little spark in his eyes. This is when I realized that he was not naked, he was only without clothes – ‘unclothed’ . The reason – he was carrying a good amount of white bandage – which started rolling down from top of his head towards his left cheek, covering below his chin and then again rolling up towards his right cheek and completing the circle at his top of head again – so to say he had got something on his body. He was badly hit at his head. I was not even able to return him a smile back, before that the lights went green and his sister who was carrying a bag of garbage pulled him quickly to the other side of road and rikshaw started pulling again.

Does this even matter to that kid that he was not having anything to wear? I am sure, this kid would never had realized that he is deprived of something so basic which most of us take for granted. Getting a two times meal a day would be his only concern, even which I guess would be difficult on some days. And thank God he never had realized what a childhood means, else he would not have been smiling like that. What wrong these children have done ? Why they can’t enjoy the very basic needs of survival ? Why they are denied their childhood ? That kid definitely not be feeling awkward for being without clothes but definitely I was feeling ashamed. A lot many questions came to mind, each left unanswered. The ride was feeling more chilling: was it the wind that had turned colder or my thoughts more disturbed.

“Bhaiya, kahan utroge ? ” asked Rikshaw wala. I came out of the sphere of thoughts I was in. I asked him to stop there it self and started walking towards my room. The day passed and I went to bed still perturbed.

Its not everyday when you come face to face with both ends of a spectrum. And generally in such situations I try to keep away from the eye contact, as whenever I see in those eyes I feel like stripped of my rights to enjoy. Moral values are something every person carries out on a daily basis, navigating through the million abrasions of the daily grind. Constrained by our own needs, we can and do walk off from situations and places without necessarily carrying a bleeding heart. Once at CP, I have seen a poor guy near the dustbins waiting for the privileged one to throw something in that dustbin, so that he can find something for his hunger. Every time someone threw something there he went up quickly and checked if he is lucky enough to get something this time. At traffic signals, the small children who should have been performing at some school stage, they perform those circus tricks in hope of getting a few coins.

I just wonder what kind of society we are living in. Despite being the second-largest growing economy in the world, there is an entire generation of parent-less children growing up in India. They are everywhere. Some scrounge through trash for newspapers, rags or anything they can sell at traffic intersections. Others, often as young as two or three years old, beg. Many are homeless, overflowing orphanages and other institutional homes to live on the streets where they are extremely vulnerable to being trafficked into child labor if they’re lucky, brothels if they’re not. They are invisible children; their plight goes virtually unnoticed, their voices silenced.

Article 21 of our constitution says that every citizen of India has the right of life and personal liberty. And according to the liberal interpretation of Supreme court, ‘life’ doesn’t simply means breathing in and out, rather it means ‘dignified life’. Lets not mention the dignified life here, but I don’t think these children have even earned the right to breathe in and out.  In Human Development Report, the parameters set up for the measuring the poverty are entirely different for developed and developing nations. In developing nations the standard of living for poverty index is measured by the % of people not having safe access to drinking water and % of children who are underweight and undernourished for the age of 5 yrs. No wonder that is why people in developed nation wonder when someone from India goes and ask them, “Can I drink the tap water ?“  We can’t even imagine how much care they provide for their children. If one half of the world is enjoying such basic needs as inalienable part of their lives, why they are still such a monster issues in countries like India ?

In India still 2 million children die every year of malnutrition and preventable diseases some of which cost as less as one dollar to cure. India’s record on child mortality at 72 per 1,000 live births is worse than that of neighbouring countries such as Bangladesh and Srilanka. India ranks 171 out of 175 countries in the world in public health spending. On the issue of child labour – a glaring, everyday truth that probably every Indian witnesses despite a law banning it – there is much that needs to be done by the government to make laws more stringent and implement them. By government estimates, seven million children are still out of school in a country where education is a fundamental right. India has reasonably good laws, but they are seldom enforced. Laws are a very good start – but if the country is to take its place as a true global power, it cannot afford to be weighed down by millions of uneducated young people.

At this children day, which many of these fateful children definitely not be knowing, if they would have to ask for something, probably Faiz’s these line may give voice to them -

“Inko sholon ke rajaz apna pataa toh denge
Khair, hum tak woh na pahunchein bhi, sadaa toh denge
Duur kitni hai subah, bataa toh denge”

Happy Children’s Day ! Its indeed a day only for ‘Happy Children’ !!

Headless post

Right now I am enjoying the IPL final, watching ‘Roelof van der Merwe’ playing those lappu shots along with treat-to-watch cute little ‘zoozoooooos’, following bbc updates of Murray vs Chela match, sometimes picking up guitar and trying to play papa kehte hain (one of the winning totkas for my teams in this IPL season) and all this along with 8-9 friends who were busy with their cards game but eventually left that for IPL. One RCB wicket down, half the group goes up shouting, one or two boundaries, other half goes up. And in between all these I am trying hard to think for a header of this revival post on this blog, but till now its ‘Headless post’.

This weekend though I was supposed to shift to Malviya Nagar, but as they say whatever happens it happens for the good. So I am still enjoying in Gurgaon and writing this post. This month has been real hectic for me, reminds me of my Roorkee days. But I guess its just the start of long ordeal coming ahead. Last week read ‘The Alchemist’, though I knew the story long back but didn’t read it till last week. And then I realized why its counted as a Modern Classic. And you guessed it right, I took this book as one of those good omens for me.Though I do have that fear still inside me, but its time to set out in search of treasure. Wish me good luck. Some of my favourite quotes from the book are

Every search begins with beginners luck and ends with the victor’s being severely tested.

It’s the possibility of having a dream come true that makes life interesting.

And, when you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it.

Anyways this weekend was a bit relaxing and a bit happening. At least there was not another tiring Delhi trip after three continuous weekends. Tried my luck in teen patti with Mahak’s frnds and as they say ‘Beginners Luck’, it really works. Opened my account on facebook and though it was a bit confusing in starting but I really liked that twitter-like-what’-on-your-mind-feature and overall its a nice time pass. One thing which I found is that you can restrict your profile viewing for particular group, which is not the case with orkut where everyone can atleast see the profile of anyone. At the same time there is no profile tracker in facebook unlike orkut which shows who visited your profile. Got a new game from Batsa’s status msg – ‘Gravity’ and i crossed all its 24 levels, physics of game is really mast, try it here. And in the evening watched Button winning another race of this season.

And by the way RCB lost (totka didnt work this time ) and Murray won. I know that feels like a pointless conclusion but when post is itself headless, conclusion hardly does matter.