The PlagiariZing Act

I shall be back!!

2009-12-28T10:24:00.000-08:00

It’s been an year since I wrote over here. A lot of things have changed in and around me in this one year. The only constant has been me. It still feels I am right out of the college, striving to make a cut above the rest. Striving to hit life back as hard as it has hit me. Striving to find that niche, that was created for me. Striving to find that soul that was meant for me. All in all striving to be me, to be the self I don’t know yet! Failing yet standing tall. Losing yet motivated to bet more. Drowning yet finding the sea beautiful.

I will and definitely will do justice to both my blog. For now I bid adieu, but I shall come back on both: The Plagiarizing Act and Catsnddogs!!

Future is all DRY

2009-02-20T23:33:00.000-08:00

A somber Saturday morning, it is already noon and I have no plans of getting up. Then suddenly, I see the white Times of India rolled right in front of my eyes. I see a camel and what seems to me as a drought stricken piece of land. My inquisitiveness overpowers the will to sleep and I put the blanket off my body, pushing it with my legs off the bed. I lift myself, and find a comfortable position to sit upright. I roll out the black rubber band from the newspaper and open it up.

Now the image is right in front of me. I see a dry lake, a few children playing cricket in the lake bed and a man pulling his camel. I search for the accompanied text and find the text "From Lake to Desert".

Lets walk back the memory lanes, to a time when I was in school. The year 2001 I think. Sitting at a shady place after school hours, whiling away time. Gossiping about the girls, planning about the upcoming sports day and planning out the weekend getaway. And then one of us popped with an idea to visit this fair by side of a lake, on the outskirts of Delhi. The plan was just too fine, and dropping it would be a decision of foolishness and nothing else. The drive to the place was a good one and a half hour and we were all game for it.

It started at 9.00 AM on a similar saturday morning. The sun was scorching but the wind was cool. The typical Delhi winters I should say. We were a group of six and had three bikes to take us there. Luckily, all of us knew how to drive and were carrying our licenses. So, driving there was going to be smooth and an enjoyable affair. We bought cans of COKE for the journey and for the time we were to spend there after. And with that preparation we were off to the Suraj Kund Mela. Yes, the famous Suraj Kund lake was where we were heading for now. The lake was an artificial one, a reservoir I should say. It literally translated to "The Reservoir of the Sun". And it was named so after the King Surajpal, who got the lake built so that he could harness the monsoon water, flowing downhills from the Aravalis.

I am right here sitting on the rocky structure that was built over a 1000 years ago by some king to save water for the arid summers. Sitting besides the lake the only thing I know is that I am living the best years of my life. The boards next year don't bother me. The exams next month, are just too small to play an important part in my life. I am living a life of freedom. The expanse of water in front of me is calling me, to let myself float. Float, with no weight of responsibilities. Float, with no weight of commitments. Still, I don't plunge into the water. Something holds me. Something inside me wants to take up the responsibilities and fight this life. And I give away the freedom, to get caged in the chores of life. To spend a life on shore.

I then moved on to the fair. My fondness for headgear, took over everything else. Starting from the Rajasthani Pagri, to the Sikh's Turban I tried them all. And again, I felt the weight of responsibilities that these men with the turban carried. The weight of running a household, the weight of earning a meal. I forced myself to divert my mind and the best way for me to do that was to indulge in food. I tasted the food from Andhra, which was really hot. And then the food from Gujrat, which tasted sweet. From Haryana, and from Punjab. I tasted them all. And with food in my belly I forgot everything else. I was satisfied and contented.

Coming to think of it I was happy, happy to be there and happy to learn about the people living in my nation. Happy to learn about man who had built that place. And happy to learn about the life I wanted. And more than anything, happy to learn about the water I never wanted to float on.

Here I am today, sitting in front of the newspaper. Seeing the same lake I had visited almost a decade ago. But I don't see any water. I see the same trees all around but I see the paleness. I see the same sky, but not the same land beneath. Something there has changed. Something in my heart, pinches. Somewhere inside of me, I felt I had a connection with that water. I had connection with those trees. And with the land and the rocks. The connection which now has been destroyed. The connection that has been plundered by human greed.

Yes, the mining in the Aravalis has led to the drying of the lakes in and around Faridabad. The over exploitation of the natural resources has led to such a situation. The water that once attracted tourists from all around the world to this suburb of Delhi is no more there. All what is left is a dry piece of land, and a few children honing their cricketing skills.

The big houses and those marble corridors. The mammoth structures, and those architectural wonders. That I see and praise. Have lost their charm. Have lost their grandiose appeal. Because, for these we turn a blind eye to our nature. To our past. And to our future. The water has gone. The greenery is missing. That glow in my eye is now missing. All I see is dryness ahead. All I see is a gloom ahead.

Unveiling the Truth

2009-01-01T23:24:00.000-08:00

Driving early in the morning, on the first day of the year has always been a dream. But this time on, I guess the first day was much of a dream come true. Yes, the fog had hit the roads. The visibility at a few stretches, was near about zero. But, as the dawn broke. I could see much ahead of the bumper of the car I was following for almost an hour now. Though I couldn't trace the rays hitting the earth, but there was a sudden glow in the atmosphere. The whiteness, was spreading its wing and was to dive out of its nest into the emptiness of the dark, that surrounded me. Yes, here I was with a coffee in my hand, and on a road that I had never conquered. Driving, as they say, to nowhere. Whiteness all around. I was driving, with all the smiles on my face. My spirit, on a high, with all the happiness I felt last night. And there in the distance, I could see, gold. Gold it was to me, shimmering, the way I had never seen before. I pulled my car on the side, walked across, to join the two men who had their hands over the golden flames radiating from those amber colored jewels. I noticed a shop just a few meters from there, where from the two men had bought a tea each to sip. I went over and ordered for the same. And went back to get the frozen blood in my hands to melt down. Till this time, I could see the silhouettes of the houses, and the dung domes that were stretching over till the fields, that were all along the path I had come from.

I was in a village, some village in UP, I couldn't manage to figure out the name. The man with the Grey beard had told me in his rustic pronunciation. I couldn't get the name, but I had so many other things to share, and to listen, that "the name" was really the last thing on the earth I would want to know. The two men, did not really accept me in their personnel space, and their personnel fire at first. But my polite namaste and the wishes for the new year were enough to break the ice.

I started the conversation, by asking them about their places of origin. And not at all to my surprise, one of them, pointed out a house where he had been born, and the house that was in the next lane, where he had lived his whole life. I told him about my place of birth and the way I have wandered about from one place to another all my life, seeing, the glow in his eyes, with each name. His life was confined between his house and his field, with some occasional trips he had made to Delhi to accompany his son, who was now working at a mill in Shahdra, and was now sitting besides him, sharing the tea and the beedi. I asked the father about how the agriculture production had been from the past few years. And I could hear a change of tone is his voice. The voice that was husky had now suddenly, changed to a baritone voice. I could gauge that hint of melancholy in his voice. He somehow managed to say that all was well, only that the government has not increased the rates of buying his produce as compared to the increase in his inputs. He said that, he had to take loan for sowing, this time, as his earnings from last time, had gone mostly in the increased cost of fertilizers. And ya also in his daughters marriage, which he was proud to inform. But, from what i perceived, he was only hand till mouth, yet there was something about his words that reflected contentment.

He had his problems, all problems that could possibly ruin his life. Like they have in the past, done to so many farmers across the country. Poverty stricken he was, right in front of me, probably better than half the population in the country. At least good enough to sustain living. But then where was he going to. He had no idea. Neither do I. But he had what most of us in this world do not have. A smile to pose. A contentment to get his daughter married. That laugh to share when I asked him about his childhood days. The pride of being a grandfather. And most of all, the courage to tell me, that bad days are there for everyone. What we should be happy about is that they are always followed by the good times!! That is what according to him, the almighty does always. I had a smile on my face. The one that was missing for so many years.

We are living in a country, where about 40% of the population is below the poverty line set by the Indian government. The poverty line is itself, below the world poverty line of USD1.25 (PPP). And that poverty line also just ensures, money enough to buy adequate calories important for human survival. What about, the clothes, the education, the shelter. So many people are reported dead in the winters. Is only food important for sustainability of humans?

But, at the end of the day, we still survive. As a nation, what is the quality, that makes us live through all these grim figures?

It is the hope. It is the faith. The "3 lakh" gods that live in this nation have bestowed their blessings. They have given people hope to see a future. They have taken away the sadness, the mental agony from them onto their shoulders. When a person goes to his deity, he for once and for all takes his problem from his head. Having faith that there would be a solution that I needn't think of. He is there to think. And there he does it? He lives through. Trying not to crib, having faith that it'll be good.

With an hour spent, sitting on the road side, with two strangers. I decided to go back to the place I came from. But not empty handed. The fog had cleared up. The beam of sunlight was there. I could sense the joy in everything around. I drove through the field that I never saw when I was coming. Enlightened I was. I could see for the first time in such a long time, the world around that wasn't visible. I had in me, the hope. The hope to expect happiness.

Whats in your head?

2008-12-13T02:01:00.001-08:00

November 26th' 2008, 2115 hrs.
The beginning of the most dreaded three days in the history of a nation, which claims itself as a free & sovereign republic. Where the very sovereignty and the freedom of the 19 million people living in the second most populous city in the world was curbed by less than a dozen infiltrators from a "claiming" to be a supportive nation. Whose fault is it after all? Who is to be blamed? Each one of us? Each one of them? Or The world that condemns acts of such violence but still waits for the next one to happen? The Media has made efforts to play the blame game but do such games bring about the much required change. The strong word "change" which has got Barrack Obama the seat in the White House. Are we doing enough to bring about that change, the sterilization of the minds and souls of the Jehadis, the Politicians, the World???

Terrorists: Whats in your head???
"Jehadi s" I wont call you. Because I know you are no Jehadi and there is no Holy War which will result in your victory and loss of all the Non-Believers. All you do is to instill fear in the minds of the common man. Today when I go out to my favorite hang out in Delhi, and I see the places where you planted those weapons of destruction, I am left with all but a feeling of fear and grief. You've been successful that ways. But was this the motto of your attacks. The people of your groups who lay their lives for conducting such gruesome attacks, were they told this was what their aim was? Oh!! By the way is this what you were born for?? People spread happiness around and you spread fear. Is this what your religion taught you? Or is this your interpretation of such a sacred religion. When I Google your religion, the first sentence I read is that, your religion wants submission to god. Is this your way of submission to God? Killing other creatures created by the same god?

Its all messed up in your brains. You who brainwash the strayed youngsters, need a brainwash too. A cleansing. To tell you, what you are here for. For letting you be a source of inspiration to the world, and not to be someone to be condemned by one and all. Even by the people of your own nation. By the way, do you call this fame? Are you happy being famous this way? Ask yourself. And you'll get your answers. And if you do, I have faith that the world would be a peaceful place to be at.

Politicians: Whats in your Head?
The first thing I read in the newspaper, on the front page, after the gory Mumbai incident was a campaigning advertisement by the Opposition Party blaming the serving party for their inefficiency to cease such incidents. Are you guys insane. Something so dreaded has happened in our nation. Mind you "OUR" nation. And all you have to say is that it is a failure on the part of the government. It is a time to act. And not to find out who is responsible. It is a time to find out ways out of which such or even minor incidents can be stopped. But no, you don't understand this talk. You have been so deeply buried in the sand of politics that all you want is the chair to make you comfortable there. The chair to authority. But why do you want that chair. To earn handsome salaries and to be famous. Oh I know there are no handsome salaries connected to your being a minister. Its to become famous then? But who is going to remember you if you don't use that chair to the interest of the nation. No one will even remember your name.

And for the the party who has been serving the nation. Just bringing about "change" in the cabinet is not going to help. A change in ideologies has to be brought. A change in the the way things are done is required. A change in the mind set of people. A change in the focus of the government. You need to have a vision to bring in this change. I was greatly hurt after listening to our head of the state just mourning over the lives lost in his first public address. We need people who are visionaries and who motivate each one of us, at such instances to do something about it. I need such a man to lead the state. Not a person who is a mere puppet. Bring about such a change in the leaders and then see the heights to which the county heads.

The World: Whats in our heads?
I want the entire world to stand up to condemn such actions and to pressurize every individual present on this planet who can lead to avoidance of such a tragic event to work, work hard enough to provide himself and to all of us a better place to live.