Friday, October 19, 2007

None..

The man stood alone,
One with the serenity.
bronze figure with set eyes,
gazing in distance with certainty.

He stretched his palm
and held out the light.
The Sun spooled up
With vigour bright.

A man of fate,
of work and destiny.
A man stood there
Till Eternity.

The eternity stretched
into hours and days.
The figure still
In sun and in rain.

Deep blue eyes,
probing the horizon,
Unseeing the pain.

Shading across his tortured face,
A shadow fell.
The vision he had of himself
shifted back to hell.

contd...

Innocense

The Dawn arrived, Along came the sunshine. The valleys opened up and the fragrance floating up them was pristine. The little girl shook the tree and welcomed the sun. The rays kissed her gently on mouth. and joined her in the run. There in the bushes, a boy lay watching her. Gazing intently at the beauty dancing to nature, painting scenes of such innocent guile. As the boy heaved a sigh - All he could do was smile. The girl looked at him through the maze of beaming lighty, and the eyes had stories untold. Innocence with two hearts joined and entwined in a singe soul. --- contd

Friday, September 7, 2007

Back Again!!!

Phew!! what a relief to be back to blogging... Office firewalls and filters keep ethng important outside my reach... Now again will be a regular contributor.... My Wishes, my dreams, my aspirations, my thoughts and my space.... Wow.. feeling great again...

Tuesday, May 22, 2007

Tolerance.. continuation

In continuation to my last post.. i would add some more opinion.
Media in recent times has become a force that gives direction to many events. Be it the Dera controversy or the Danish cartoon, media had a great role to play.
One reason for increasing intolerance is also intolerance. I wud like to elaborate on that with an example.
I was reading a column about a Danish Muslim lady vowing to wear Hijab in offic. Now 48% of the people polled by media are against it and 48% are in favour of her decision.
Cant she have a right to wear what she wants to office?? If one can wear short skirt and hat to office, one can surely wear a headscarf. This intolerance of 48% of the people propell the rest 48% of the people to react strongly as they feel the objection to be on their fundamental right.
Its the responsibility of media to play the role of messenger of peace and tolerance and not provide undue provocationn to any sensibilities.

Tolerance... wherst art thou?

I am here again to pen down my deepest thoughts. The whirwind of emotions is trying to get out. And its the tolerance thats making me intolerant.
DERA controversy is in news. People killing each in the name of religion. Where the hell is tolerance?
I have been observing the pattern in which each section in the world is evolving. It might be wrong to declare it a pattern but it sure is a glaring trend. The whole world is getting polarised and that to the extent of harming each other and self.
For example, the fanaticism in Islam has reached its height. Never in Islamic history, has been such a bloodbath as that has taken place in last 20-30 years. ISLAM means peace... where is it and how is it increasing by the people who claim to be the saviuor of ISLAM?? The outcome is that all of us have started becoming more polarized, resulting in a chain reaction. Every activity triggers the seclusion more and more.
The Sikhs are protesting against one someone who besmirched their religious sentiments and as a result, many are killed. Is this approach right??
VHP goons vandalise an artist's right to express and we still fight for religion.
US bombs Iraq inhumanly and we still think which religion Iraqis belong to. Where has our morality gone?
I am really going emotional with the issue but this is how i feel. I have thousands of questions and no answers.
Can i have peace??

Monday, April 30, 2007

आंखें

आँखें खुली एक सुबह
सुबह जो सुनहरी थी
महकी थी जो
आशाओं से और कविताओं से

आँखें खुली ही
सपना ही सा तो था सब कुछ
कुछ धुंधला धुन्द्ला सापर शायद था तो सच्चा ही ।

आंखों में शायद कोई किर्ची थी पड़ी
achaanak से बंद हुईं वोखुली तो सब कुछ पानी था
बहता हुआ ढलता हुआ सा

देखा आंखों ने
सपनों को बहते हुए
कविताओं को रोते हुएखुशबु को कहीँ गुम होते हुए

आँखें बंद तो theen
पर अब भी था unmein एक junoon
beh jayein सब सपने
पर होंगे सब sach

एक anokhi chamak थी
un बंद palkon के पीछे
खुद से किये हुए vaade the
na haarne का था hausla

पानी तो baha
दर्द तो हुआ
पर
आँखें खुली तो unhein mili drishti.

Alone..

The music drifts by
Sweet smell of pine envelopes me
The mist paints the lake hazy
And the rivulet gushes by.

The birds and the bees
Are all so busy..
They find no time
To stop by...

The chirping rises to a high tune
The humming grows all so loud
I am standing on the edge
All Alone..

The valley presents a song
And i sing along
My heart beats to the tune
But why it feels so Alone...??

Tuesday, April 24, 2007

वाह वाह अब मैं हिंदी में लिख सकती हूँ !!

यह बहुत ही अच्छा काम किया है ब्लॉगर वालों ने ... अब मैं अपनी कवितायेँ हिंदी में लिख सकती हूँ अभी तो टेस्ट कर रही हूँ ॥ फिर कभी लिखूँगी आराम से ।

The phone rings again!!

Today morning my phone rang and to my surprise the "GOOD GUY" was on the other side. He apologised for not sending my belongings to me and informed that he would be doing it by today itself. How was i astonished as well as happy. Not that i was much enthusiastic about my lost wallet, but the person's attempt to return it surely touched my heart. I dnt expect that i would get back the cash in the wallet, but even i never expected the person to call me up just to inform that he was late in sending it. WOW! Mumbai is sure a great place. All i can say -- SALAAM BOMBAY!! ( for its spirit that is totally mumbaiya)

Monday, April 23, 2007

A journey..

Was going through my blog... one post at a time.. How i have evolved or rather have tried to see things through differently colored glasses.... The journey matters.. what i write now, how i write is not that important to me. The learning i had through my own words is something to cherish. It feels so good and strange at the same time. Myriads of emotions drift through... the kaleidoscope is invitingly put to display... Come Have a Look....

One Day to remember!!

This is about the most "INTERESTING" day of my life.... As usual the start of the weekend was a bit lazy, with me BUNKING my swimming class and utilising the time for a good sleep in the morning. Lazed around for few hrs and decided to take a trip down the town. Who knew i had quite an evening in store for me. I went to a book shop, got only one book ( as the stock was over before i cud grab one) and took a shared auto for station. All was going so bland till now...
Had a humid and sweaty trip to the last stop and finally decided to have a treat for my tummy at the railway station.
So went rock hard idli, washed down with FROOTY, down my throat.
As soon as it was over , i realised to my utter shock that i had lost my WALLET... GODDAMN WALLET...
It took me few mnts to compose myself before i could even think abt what to do next.
First paid up my bills with all the CHILLARS i had and then called up a frnd and sought an advice. That calmed me enough to start trying the ever engaged Bank's customer care service.
By the time i reached home, almost all that cud be done on phone was done. My greatest thanks to the person who invented a CELLPHONE and who started phone banking.
Still had to lodge an FIR for the stolen wallet and license.
Another interesting experience was that.
Well by the evening had everything sorted out...... and lo my phone rang to let me know that a "GOOD GUY" got my wallet and called me up to return it to me( the call was from a private no. though). As it turned out, i had to ask him to courier my belonging at my office address and made some excuse about my ankle being fractured and hence my helplessness to meet him.

That was surely a fun filled, exciting, adventurous saturday i had. Next time.. lets see if i can have some more fun.. :)

Monday, April 9, 2007

MYSELF...

For the first time in my blog, i am going to write about myself and not just my reflections. I was someone else for the larger part of my life and changed to someone else few years ago. I dont know how or when it happened. I felt trapped and inspite of wanting things to go differently, never did something to make it happen. I lost a part of me. I lost my free spirit, my humility, my confidence and most of all my innate nature to be myself. I can very well blame circumstances and get away with it, but i wont. Thats just not me.
Of all days, yesterday i suddenly realised what i was missing all these times. I was too bitter to let things go. THAT was the key... I needed to LET GO. My teacher and guide always told me to be a witness and let things go. It was me who agreed in theory but now i realise what it means to put it in practice. I can say its tough and easy at the same time. Tough because you have to work hard to realise it and easy coz once u have realised it, it takes an instant to follow it.
I hope and would definitely work to keep this understanding with me. I took a small step by letting things go which i had kept with me for years. I asked sorry from a person whom it was hardest to forgive and forget. Now i am free of my past and future. Only present remains with me and its a wonderful feeling.
Wish all of us could go through this experience once in life.

It has been a long time... Where was I?

It has been a long time since i posted anything. Not that i was out of words or thoughts :). Simply i was too busy coping with lots of things in my life. And here i am celebrating my comeback ( I know, I know, it is not THAT long.. still ;) )
These days were one of the best and most fruitful days of my life. I found the part of me i felt i lost somewhere in the haste of life and yes i am happy.
One of the most active and busy days in my life, they helped me reconstruct my life the way i want to live it. The pride and the power i hold to change my own future is so amazing. It is just BEAUTIFUL.
God Bless All.

Monday, March 12, 2007

BLACK FRIDAY

Yet another film about 1992-93 Mumbai bomb blast post mumbai riots and babri masjid demolition. BLACK FRIDAY. How black is it?? I am not a psychologist or phsychoanalyst, but it doesnt take much to see and lament over the state of US, people of India.... made by ourselves. Where is the trust gone? where is the respect gone for another? We might be on the brink of becoming a formidable forc in the world..... but havent we got hollowed somehow.

The Film deals with bomb blasts, innocents suffering and screaming for their life.... where is the true portrayal. No event in this world originates by itself. Why donte we have enough conscience to look into what we have become. An educated milieu with heart fulll of suspicion, hatred and anger, ready to pounce on any one who seems a bit different and films like Black Friday fanning it to the full.

I am so tired of asking questions.... why cant we get the peaceful and loving neighbourhood back?

Sunday, March 11, 2007

Faithful hope

My eyes blinked
Tears threatening to fall
Darkness loomed large
I wish i could stall..

Heart giving away
drifting away in the mist of despair
clenched fist...
Freezing cold air.

A hope all i need...
A faith to hold on
The love bringing me to shore
Urging me to go on

My heart grows warmer
just being full
Of faith and love
And a faithful hope

Friday, February 23, 2007

High courts should be last forum of appeal in most cases, says SC

So here it is again....... the ever increasing woes of Supreme Court of India. Can anyone answer this - Is the justice granted to an individual lesser than a group? Is the justice granted to a wealthy is greater than given to one who is living just hand to mouth? Is the justice given to dead person more of importance than a living person? Is a crminal justice more important than a civil one? Underlining it all -- Does the importance of justice differ from case to case??

NO... the answer is NO and can never be Yes.

The judicial system in any state is set up for one purpose - to uphold the rights of an individual or a group of individuals. Then how can one question anyone's right not to seek highest justice?

The need of the hour is not to disallow certain kind of cases to be brought to Supreme court. The emphasis should be on speedy and just trials. We do not have clogs in the SC's register coz some UNNECESSARY cases are brought to it. But we have it coz nobody bothers to clear it. We do not have efficient and fair judiciary system right from lower level courts to SC. How do we even expect to escape the side effects of allowing an inefficient system to run? And Do we deserve to blame the no of case? No.. we are responsible for this mess collectively and will have to take some measures to improve it... And teh first step is to improve ourselves.

SAMJHAUTA EXPRESS..???

Yet again... another blast that shook the believes of thousands, if not million. Isnt it an irony that the very vehicle of cordiality is now a bone of contention. Whatever Indian or Pakistani Government say, they are equally responsible for the hundreds of innocents losing their life when all they expected was a tearful union.. what a union it was.

I have lost my stomach to condemn any more blasts -- they have all the same gory ends. How much blood and tears will it take to drown these ulterior motives? I am so disillusioned now as to answer this - Not even the blood and tears of the whole world wud suffice. The people who fight in the name of region, religion or even atrocities upon them and their families( assuming all terrorists are made by circumstances- which is not true anyways) , have they gone blind? Cant they see that if a person suffer, its they who are wronged at the end.. not the ones who suffer. By causing misery to one person they are infact making hundreds others against them. Why cant we just be peaceful.... without turning against each other and in turn against our nature human inclination to love all?

At this moment, i am feeling all the grief that people all over the world have felt.. the terror they have hidden inside themselves .. of being dead any moment by any terrorist attack...

I am here saying to the insatiable urge of blood... inside the so called Terrorists.... U WIN.. LETS JUST GRANT US PEACE NOW...... Its not my defeat i am admitting.. its urs... If u think u can win by force... u have no right to think.. as u cant. U can kill people but how will u kill the indominable spirit of mankind... be it a Hindu, a muslim, a christian, a jew, a sikh.... just a single person alive who is a man of reason and justice.

Let us all LIVE.......

Friday, February 9, 2007

To Be or not to Be

I came across this line in BOLD at the place i love most to be, my teacher's place. Batul Da's Place. It has somehow remained always with me after the moment i had set my eyes on the frowning expression of a cute baby... with the perennial question. I always asked myself.. to be or not to be.... a question that is fathomless. In times of doubts, when i am faced with a choice.. any kind of for that matter, i question my being. I is so important , we hardly ever realize.
Just sitting here and thinking about I.. an entity.. a soul.. a love.... a being.. One life.

Monday, February 5, 2007

Some more..... cant get enough

A professional writer is an amateur who didn't quit.
Richard Bach

An idea is never given to you without you being given the power to make it reality. You must, nevertheless, suffer for it.
Richard Bach

Argue for your limitations, and sure enough they're yours.
Richard Bach

Ask yourself the secret of YOUR success. Listen to your answer, and practice it.
Richard Bach

Can miles truly separate you from friends... If you want to be with someone you love, aren't you already there?
Richard Bach

Civilization... wrecks the planet from seafloor to stratosphere.
Richard Bach

Don't be dismayed by good-byes. A farewell is necessary before you can meet again. And meeting again, after moments or lifetimes, is certain for those who are friends.
Richard Bach

Every person, all the events of your life are there because you have drawn them there. What you choose to do with them is up to you.
Richard Bach

Every problem has a gift for you in its hands.
Richard Bach

Evolution made civilization steward of this planet. A hundred thousand years later, the steward stood before evolution not helper but destroyer, not healer but parasite. So evolution withdrew its gift, passed civilization by, rescued the planet from intelligence and handed it to love.
Richard Bach

Happiness is the reward we get for living to the highest right we know.
Richard Bach

Here is a test to find whether your mission on Earth is finished: If you're alive, it isn't.
Richard Bach

I don't want to do business with those who don't make a profit, because they can't give the best service.
Richard Bach

I gave my life to become the person I am right now. Was it worth it?
Richard Bach

If you love someone, set them free. If they come back they're yours; if they don't they never were.
Richard Bach

If you will practice being fictional for a while, you will understand that fictional characters are sometimes more real than people with bodies and heartbeats.
Richard Bach

If your happiness depends on what somebody else does, I guess you do have a problem. Richard Bach

In order to live free and happily you must sacrifice boredom. It is not always an easy sacrifice. Richard Bach

In order to win, you must expect to win.
Richard Bach

In the United States Christmas has become the rape of an idea.
Richard Bach

Jonathan is that brilliant little fire that burns within us all, that lives only for those moments when we reach perfection.
Richard Bach

Learning is finding out what you already know.
Richard Bach

Listen to what you know instead of what you fear.
Richard Bach

Live never to be ashamed if anything you say or do is published around the world, even if what is said is not true.
Richard Bach

Not being known doesn't stop the truth from being true.
Richard Bach

Rarely do members of the same family grow up under the same roof.
Richard Bach

Strong beliefs win strong men, and then make them stronger.
Richard Bach

The best way to pay for a lovely moment is to enjoy it.
Richard Bach

The bond that links your true family is not one of blood, but of respect and joy in each other's life.
Richard Bach

The mark of your ignorance is the depth of your belief in injustice and tragedy. What the caterpillar calls the end of the world, the Master calls the butterfly.
Richard Bach

The meaning I picked, the one that changed my life: Overcome fear, behold wonder.
Richard Bach

The more I want to get something done, the less I call it work.
Richard Bach

The simplest questions are the most profound. Where were you born? Where is your home? Where are you going? What are you doing? Think about these once in a while and watch your answers change.
Richard Bach

What the caterpillar calls the end of the world the master calls a butterfly.
Richard Bach

You are always free to change your mind and choose a different future, or a different past. Richard Bach

You are never given a wish without also being given the power to make it come true. You may have to work for it, however.
Richard Bach

You don't want a million answers as much as you want a few forever questions. The questions are diamonds you hold in the light. Study a lifetime and you see different colors from the same jewel.
Richard Bach

You teach best what you most need to learn.
Richard Bach

Your only obligation in any lifetime is to be true to yourself. Being true to anyone else or anything else is not only impossible, but the mark of a fake messiah.
Richard Bach

Richard Bach's Quotes

I am reading Richard Bach again.... my love for flight since i was an adoloscent has brought me here to post few of my favourite quotes by my favourite author... for all to see and experience their own flight.

You are led through your lifetime by the inner learning creature, the playful spiritual being that is your real self.

Don't turn away from possible futures before you're certain
you don't have anything to learn from them.

You're always free to change your mind
and choose a different future, or a different past.

- from "Illusions, The Adventures of a Reluctant Messiah"




Argue for your limitations, and sure enough, they're yours.


- from "Illusions, The Adventures of a Reluctant Messiah"




Your only obligation in any lifetime is to be true to yourself.
Being true to anyone else or anything else is not only impossible, but the mark of a false messiah.


- from "Illusions, The Adventures of a Reluctant Messiah"




The simplest questions are the most profound.


Where were you born?
Where is your home?
Where are you going?
What are you doing?

Think about these once in awhile, and watch your answers change.

- from "Illusions, The Adventures of a Reluctant Messiah"




You are never given a wish without being given
the power to make it true.

You may have to work for it, however.


- from "Illusions, The Adventures of a Reluctant Messiah"




Every person, all the events of your life, are there because you have drawn them there.

What you choose to do with them is up to you.


- from "Illusions, The Adventures of a Reluctant Messiah"




Your friends will know you better in the first minute you meet than your acquaintances will know you in a thousand years.


- from "Illusions, The Adventures of a Reluctant Messiah"




A cloud does not know why it moves in just such a direction and at such a speed, it feels an impulsion....this is the place to go now.

But the sky knows the reason and the patterns behind all clouds, and you will know, too, when you lift yourself high enough to see beyond horizons..


- from "Illusions, The Adventures of a Reluctant Messiah"




The gulls who scorn perfection for the sake of travel go nowhere, slowly.
Those who put aside travel for the sake of perfection go anywhere, instantly.


- from "Jonathan Livingston Seagull"




For most gulls, it is not flying that matters, but eating.
For this gull, though, it was not eating that mattered, but flight.


- from "Jonathan Livingston Seagull"




If our friendship depends on things like space and time, then when we finally overcome space and time, we've destroyed our own brotherhood! But overcome space, and all we have left is Here. Overcome time, and all we have left is Now. And in the middle of Here and Now, don't you think that we might see each other once or twice?


- from "Jonathan Livingston Seagull"




The gulls who scorn perfection for the sake of travel go nowhere, slowly. Those who put aside travel for the sake of perfection go anywhere, instantly.


- from "Jonathan Livingston Seagull"




That's what learning is, after all; not whether we lose the game, but how we lose and how we've changed because of it and what we take away from it that we never had before, to apply to other games. Losing, in a curious way, is winning.


- from "The Bridge Across Forever"




We're the bridge across forever, arching above the sea, adventuring for our pleasure, living mysteries for the fun of it, choosing disasters triumphs challenges impossible odds, testing ourselves over and again, learning love and love and LOVE!

- from "The Bridge Across Forever"





If it's never our fault, we can't take responsibility for it.
If we can't take responsibility for it, we'll always be its victim.

- from "Running From Safety"





Can miles truly separate us from friends?
If you want to be with Rae, aren't you already there?

- from "There' No Such Place As Far Away"





You have no birthday because you have always lived; you were never born, and never will die. You are not the child of the people you call mother and father, but their fellow-adventurer on a bright journey to understand the things that are.

- from "There' No Such Place As Far Away"





Fly free and happy beyond birthdays and across forever, and we'll meet now and then when we wish, in the midst of the one celebration that never can end.

- from "There' No Such Place As Far Away"





Nothing happens by chance, my friend... No such thing as luck. A meaning behind every little thing, and such a meaning behind this. Part for you, part for me, may not see it all real clear right now, but we will, before long.

- from "Nothing By Chance"

Another piece of artistry

Yes, i call writing as artistry.... I am not a great artist neither have the capacity to judge one, but i surely recognize any kind of art...
Art in its all forms in nothing but an expression of a whole. When one paints, a part of him/her comes on canvas... when one writes, the unspoken words float and are no more destined to be unheard.
Cheers to the sublime....to us human for having the capability of expression...

Thursday, January 25, 2007

wanted to test this

 

Got this feature and wanted to use it

Ghazala Tabassum

 

Mr. Bush - Does he deserve to be spoken about?

I would say Yes and NO to that. yes, because he has surpassed his predecessors in damaging the world. No, beacuse his actions are not worthy of being talked with any amount of reasoning and well intention. I read yet another editorial and couldnt agree with the author any more about the nature of the prsident of United States of America.

His intentions, by far, are but a cloud of contradictions. He had remained seemingly unaffected when 9/11 happened. The best he could muster to do was to launch a war against a soveriegn nation and bring its President to gallows with the excuse that he was a threat to the world. The judge appointed by Lord Almighty himself.

Thousands of americans and Iraqis could not move him or his decision. Nor could the victims of Katrina stimulate compassion in him, if its to be judged by delayed and not-so-sympathetic adress after the catastrophe. The number of hard core issues solved by him in a tenure of 8 years are not even worthy of being counted on fingers.

Yes to him for being an ageis for the oil majors, and hardly bothering to notice the incresing threat to environment. Yes to him, for bringing terrorism to a stage where it has now become a fashion. Yes to him, for ruining a nation and not even having his conscience challenged. Yes to him, for telling lies in public and supporting his whimsical ideas by going back on his own word.

And finally, NO to him for being the person most responsible for the chaos in a rapidly degenrating world.

Its just another day!

Its just another day,
Daisies blooming over the hills,
Clouds gathering to hint a shade
And Sun playing hide and seek.

Its just another day,
Creek running down the stones,
Jingling and giggling ,
and here the birdie croans.

Its just another day,
Hopes splashing up the sky,
Wishes lasting longer
and sadness is left to die...

Tuesday, January 23, 2007

Dard

yeh kaun tha
kaisa tha
kahan se aaya tha

kya tha yeh
jisne mann ko kulbulaya tha
aankhon ko rulaya tha
hriday ko machalne ke liye
uksaya tha

kaun tha yeh
kis rang ka tha
neela peela sabz ya laal
kala ya safed sab kuch to tha

dard tha yeh
jo aankhon se byaan hota tha
hoton ke kinaroon per jamaa hota tha
aur dil ki gahrayion mein ghar ker jaata tha.

Indian Economy - Where does it stand?

Economy as described in the glossy papers - emphasis upon the continued bull run of the sensex, large foreign investment, booming job opportunities and ever expanding indian businesses. Reality - Less than suffient food for more than 30% of the population, No education for 40% of 102 crores of Indians, Bad road even for the tax payers, Swelling population eating away at all the efforts to maintain equilibrium between demand and supply. I agree that no nation can be developed in 5-10 years, but the root of our problem as Indians is very unique in itself. We crib about sanitation, road, governement aides or rather lack of them , but we hardly do anything from our own side. Nithari happened and all we could do was to gape at the horrible story and shake our heads in disgust. Blamed everything on Police and just said aloud that something should be done. But who will do that? WHO?
Be it USA, Japan or any other country, it was not built just by traders, businessmen or booming indices. They were made by people, their collective effort, their refusal to accept things as they come. Nation is build by the willingness of its citizens to build it , to shape it and to be proud of it.
Are u the one contributing to this joint effort? How can u face ur child when u r the one increasing the mess she is going to be in after few years? How can u just watch when ur hoem is wilting away? HOW?

Thursday, January 18, 2007

Frivolous litigation by busybodies wastes time, says angry Supreme Court

Yet another Editorial, TOI, Jan 17th. PIL - Public Interest Litigation is yet another tool designed to empower general public and now serves more as a means to gain cheap publicity or for political gain. No doubt PIL ensures that justice in public interest prevails but what can be said about all and sundry filing PIL just to get a paragraph in the day's newspaper. We have come across PILs that do nothing but clog the judiciary which is already burdened. PIL should not be scraped because even if 5 out of 100 PIL are genuine, the purpose is served and someone gets justice. To reduce the clogging of judicial machinary, seperate PIL hearings should take place. India is facing an acute shortage of judges and lawyers who can administer justice. This scenario needs rethinking and refromation in near fututre. PIL cannot be made an excuse to delay justice and neither should be stopped from being the sole voice of 'JANTA' .

Wednesday, January 10, 2007

Mumbai A Grope Fest - A Pride or Shame

Read this article few minutes ago on 8th page of today's TOI(Times of India). By the time i reached the final sentences of the article, i found myself asking some questions. The men around, who find all kind of 'Innovative' ideas just to feel a woman's body for a fleeting instance, have they ever thought what it feels to be violated. Can they ever feel the agony a human goes if his or her body and space is invaded without his/her consent? Can they bear to be alert 24x7 while others claim that they are priviledged section ( yes, men do call women priviledged)? Can they ever understand what it feels to be always protecting oneself from touches, sights and pervasive comments? How will they manage their life if their dignity is threatened all the time? I sometimes feel ashamed to be born, simply because the ugliness of men's desire for a female body is so all consuming and obscene. Mumbai, which prides itself be the safest metro, should feel ashamed that it derogates a woman to an object of desire.. women of all ages, of all societies. Imagine ur own daughter being touched by a stranger... violating her body which is the most sacred thing she owns. Imagine men, being violated all the time.

Monday, January 8, 2007

IIT in Bihar... Dream or reality?

Just finished reading the Editorial of today's TOI... the topic of view : HRD ministry proposes to set up IIT in Bihar.
The Times view advocating it and Mr. A. Srinivas having a counter view.
I dont know whether both have seen the issue from a 'BIHARI' perspective or not, here i am to put in my words to my thoughts.

IIT is a dream.... a dream that remained unfulfilled for some and realised for some... a dream of realising one's own potential though the gruelling discipline needed to clear through one of the toughest entrance examinations in the the world. Bihar being another dream.. unrealised.. struggling... a dream that bears the tag of being 'BIHAR' for decades. How many of us have stopped for a moment and thought about what makes BIHAR as we know it now.. the people?? may be Jayprakash Narayans and Rajinder Prasad or may be the maximum no of IITians from this single state actually belong to somewhere else.. how can they be from BIHAR.. a backward, culturally inferior, politically exploited and criminalised state.

IIT in Bihar will be a fresh start... I do say things will not turn out to be the best overnight for either for the Bihari IIT nor for the state.. whats wrong in being pragmatically hopeful? We all know that maximum no of IITians are from Bihar and Jharkhand and they are the ones who have been nurtured in the same land for more than 17 years. If the grim situation in Bihar can turn out so many talents, i dont think we should have any doubt about the fourishing of an institute in the state.

Also, IITs have never been aloof or in a vacuum. The example of IIT Kanpur is all i can say a poor choice as we can find out for ourselves that other premiere institutes opened up in UP beacuse IIT was there. IIT in itself is sufficient to start the rolling of the wheel of growth in the surrounding area. We can rake up evidenecs that would suggest that would IIT Kanpur be not there, many other economic and educational advances would not have been in the area around Kanpur.

No scince or technology institute is nor can be constitued with the single motive of improving the condition of the area in which it is opened. But it is always that the benefit of the area is an unavoidable byproduct. Isnt that reason enough for us to lend an arm to the effort?

I agree that the criminalisation of politics has resulted in the downtrend for whole of Bihar, but i have complete faith in the ability of a premiere institue like IIT to reverse the trend... well IITians have never followed a trend except that of high rising curves of learning and innovation and they have dared to dream impossible and realize it ...Havent they? Yes... they have and soon we will hear this affirmation from the people of Bihar itself.

Paper Name: Times of India; Date: 8/1/2007 ; Page No: 16 ;