Wednesday, July 18, 2007

Corruption and "ME" the future "Indian"

"Be careful ". "Ok mom, I will be" and i raced off on my bike to meet a couple of friends on necklace road in Hyderabad. In my hurry, or rather carelessness I had forgotten to put on my helmet and as fate would have it, I was apprehended by the traffic police guys and pulled over to the side of the road. The scene described in these few lines is not uncommon, infact i feel most of the riders reading this article would have been in the above situation, and i am very confident that most of them would have done what I did. Guesses??? Yes! you are right. "Kya sahib, chod do na sahib chaalan bahut zyaada hai sahib"."To? Galti to aapka hai na, aap helmet nahin daale, ab aap hi bolo hum kya karein?".After that i don a very innocent look on my face and hint towards a possibility of an "outside settlement"."Theek hai side mein aao aap", I take out a fifty and he says-"ye to kam hai,aapke paas Dl bhi nahin hai challan total 500 hota aapka..",and i make it 100 and he pockets it and lets me go free, and i dont even realise that i have just become a part of this cancer called "corruption at a very grass root level. "I", "Me", "The future Indian".
I had the opportunity of being involved in clubs at my university and many other groups of teenagers and elders alike in the past few years and one of the hottest topic of discusssion was always corruption, be it in politics or law enforcement or public services.I distinctly remember how all of my compatriots,including yours truly would lash out at the corrupt government, the corrupt officials and the list could go on,the point being that we would point out and depricate those we held guilty of it.These issues generally also led to a discussion of our development ,growth,blah blah blah..with each of them resulting in a conclusion that we were the future of this country and we are not only aware of the cancer but also have the hatred and strength in us to stay away and free from it.I guess even i had a very high self esteem and had many a times made derogatory comments against the "corrupt".
Now hypocrisy has always been one of the most sordid attributes of a man according to me and yet today when i look back I see how I myself was a follower of it,and here I use "I" to refer to myself only,but if there is a reader whose gone through similar discussions and a similar situatuion then it applies to them too. The point is that while i was in that situation I paid no heed to my anti corruption policies and was more concerned with saving some cash and infact honestly I never realised what i was doing.In fact, the sad part is how i would boast about having done it to my friends and yet again call the same guy i bribed a "Chor",while condoning the fact that I myself had become a bigger one, as i was the source of the incentive to that chor.
The whole issue burns down to the point where everyone wants to save his own skin and wants to be out of trouble the cheaper way,and well the oficials too are like us,they want easy money and hell they know I am not a maniac,I wont kill someone tomorrow,so no harm in them letting me go.While I have majorly concentrated on law enforcement guys here,people will always raise questions regarding other fields like government offices etc..etc..Now I can discuss them too all day long but it would be of no use! would it??
The realisation I had today was that I need to worry more about me being honest and following the law than worried about who is not and what names he should be called by.We are a young country they say, and i most certainly believe we are a very capable one at that.So guys if there is anyone out there like me,who has been a hypocrite,please realise what we are doing here and how "We the people" we the "Bundle of sticks" are making hollow our own future.I have realised by paying a challan that I will never again not wear a helmet,or forget mi DL at home.but more importantly I have learnt that if I am not corrupt on ten occasions,I stop 10 other people from being corrupt.We will be every where,guys like me,who are not very strong willed ,I request you all to just try...and hopefully succeed...
PS: the following lines are something i came up with while I was on a holiday this month..
"The only thing that brings down a rising tide in an ocean is a receding wave"

Sunday, July 15, 2007

after a long time..a brand new composition...

I write today a story of two songs..
one ringing life in , other death's gongs
the former, has many forms and is alive
it has happiness, surprise, routine and strife.
it flows in our moments memories and veins..
it gives us a kaleidoscope of pains and gains.
it engenders avarice and redeems our desires..
it has many vendors and a lot many buyers..
the song flows eternally,leaving us behind,
and a sting of our memories in beloveds minds..
It takes us for a joy ride and then leaves us with time,
with the song of death, known as the devil's rhyme..
the song of death ,feared by all,awaits its turn,
till we go on our holiday with life and return....
it waits silently till our tryst with life end's,
it lurks around the corner, everytime life bends..
we fear it in all our moments, be they of humiliation or pride,
while it stays eager as if waiting on the aisle for its bride..
I think of the song and what it would be like,
why it is feared by men and animals alike?
I think of what life gives us,and how it leaves us,
I think of the betrayal, and how it beguiles us
I question it's motives and it's charachter,
watching it play with us gives way to loads of laughter
I come back again to the song no one has ever heard and survived,
the song of death,the one to take us after life, still undescribed..
I then see the solace in those last moments of peoples lives,
when they are aware of life's betrayal in other peoples eyes.
I wonder whether the solace is from the song of death or the song of life?
I wonder is it worth living or worth getting lost in paradise ?
I sit and write of two songs, one of which i will never describe...
one shall ditch me and the other shall take me for a surprise ride.

Friday, July 06, 2007

The traditional woman and the "today's" woman

SEX EQUALITY..now please don't mistake me for a male chauvinist. What i have presented below are merely a set of views which can be termed as gratuitous but still i would like to name them the result of my deliberations.
I take my culture ,traditions and religion into picture and try hard but yet fail to condone the way in which women are praised and given a status far greater than that of man. She has been bestowed with appellations that would leave a flatterer gasping for breath, I mean if there was a word to describe " exaggeration beyond limits" then it would suffice, but i guess the phenomenon is ineffable. The apotheosis of woman in every role she plays simply leaves me wondering about the inscrutability of these appellations as i see no justification behind them when "today's woman" is juxtaposed with them(no offence meant).
I am sure ,for many of the readers, the above article would have been infuriating and a chauvinist image of me, would have been instilled in their minds by now, but please be patient and let me clarify my outrageous comments.
I guess i have a worm in my gut which keeps making me ponder over and question every adage, if I may call it that.I look back at what "woman" has gone through in our society over the last milleniums and what many of them are going through even today and i look at the "new avtaar" or "today's woman", who is independent,ambitious and maybe has compramised on certain values her predecessors did not even think of neglecting.
The manner in which women have been treated in our society can be described by only one kind of expression,disgust !For centuries now,she has been harrassed, tortured, disrespected, made irrelevant in discussing family issues,considered as bad fate when she is born and yet inspite of all that, all she has given in return is LIFE and LOVE in the very roles i mentioned above thus accquiring the status of a GODDESS, which by the way according to me is a mere pat on the back considering the magnitude of agony they go thru(after all you just call them that, you dont treat them like one..do you? hypocricy at its height).
For the reader who is going through my article solemnly, the above paragraph will seem like a U-turn.Well it isnt and i will tell you why.While all the above stated things are true,it is also true that for these milleniums it has been a woman who has illtreated a woman the most,or plotted or conspired against her(Indian society's saas-bahu pair ! for the brazillian pals..well mother in law and daughter in law ).While often man's attrocities are highlighted and trumpets blown, these go unnoticed.What's funny is that the oppressed becomes the oppressor!Does she then deserve the godhood? I wonder!
That scenario however is now changing in the modern India, thanks to the "today's woman".And who is this today's woman?She is the one who says she is equal with man..ans asks for reservation!,She is the one who is as competitive,probably more and as capable as successful as man in every feild of life we can imagine to have.She is also the one who is not as compassionate, as tolerant, as forgiving as her ancestors..she is not and the readers(Indians) i believe will agree with that..again its not an absolute that i state but yes, it is true for a majority of them found in our metropolitan cities and other developed cities..The point again being that,she no longer has the basic attributes that led to her apotheosis in the first place..!
Often I have heard and theres also a comment that was posted before the completion of this article by a very dear friend,about trying the experience of delivering a baby.Well,i personally feel, and no offence meant, that is a very lame excuse to give.I mean women are blessed with this gift of not just sowing but also nurturing and producing life and protecting it at the expense of their body ,till it is fit to face the world, and you use such a divine thing and call it a pain and ask others to try it as if it were a burden on you..?If you do..then i have no words..cause i always considered that to be the most enchanting thing about life..how women could raise it in their womb.
The articles throws light on a few aspects but has not been clear about what its trying to convey..I know,but thats because its not supposed to convey anything till now,Its just meant to make you ponder over certain things you may not have thpought of.while the next tells you the message behind the article..
Many times when i see my mom in the kitchen working hard to make a good dinner after a full day of work every day of the week,while we sit and enjoy,I often wonder what she's thinking..and i know its about some issue or some concern she has for the house or its members but she certainly is not complaining.She is God for m,and every such woman is a God.I despise the very sight of a man who would disrespect a woman and totally support the fact that women can outdo men in every feild if they want to..but i would like "today's woman " to remember ..while they are on their quest to glory and equality and other stuff, they should not leave behind those few qualities a man would have to die over hundred times for to acheive, in the dump.For if the baby is thrown out of the tub along with the water then,well you are no different and as common as me..the way alana put it ..macho man..

Wednesday, July 04, 2007

his bride

a day dawned and went by,

giving way to a lonely night

the stars were up , a crystal clear sky,

with a full moon looking milky white

dew on the grass filled two eyes

depleted with hope, towards the sky

the drops did fall as the ground bore sweat,

with the burden of his grief, the fate he had met

the wind grew moist from the tears in his eyes..

tears in memory of his love, heart and life.

agony caused by the loss of his wife..

She would make his problems disappear in a snap,

find a way out for him, through every cul-de-sac.

She would rejuvenate him,often make him a child,

pamper him, with her love make him go wild..

She gave him a thousand reasons to smile,

with her no agony lasted for more than a while..

Now she was gone,flashes of the past crowded his mind,

how she had been selfless and always very kind..

how he had often not noticed her cry,

instead of having wiped them,he let them dry..

Love her, he did, but also his own pride,

he had forgotten to LOVE back his own bride..

The pain of loss, had long left him,

the affliction of repentance now plagued him..

He had lost his chance, and also his pride,

for he had not truly treated her like his bride..