Delhi-The National Civilised Capital

Delhi-our national capital. The capital city of Mughal Dynasty, Slave Dynasty, a prominent city during British Rule which made them embrace it as their capital rather than Kolkata.

We all are proud of the cultural and architectural heritage of Delhi. We all are also proud of the Modern culture and Development of the our Capital. Metro Trains running along side Akshardham or it is the station at Chandni Chowk which provide us a door between New Delhi and Old Delhi. Qutub Minar or ISKON Temple, we are always been obliged as well as felt proud of these. We all remember the days of Anna Hazare’s Movement and Protest Against Nirbhaya. It all started with India Gate or Jantar Mantar and lead to Ramlila Maidan. Souls connecting to the soil. Modern India which usually prefers Malls went to these places during those days.
Modern India and Middle Age India living in the Capital has always thought of the proprietor and care taker of the modernization. They also keep updating in terms of new technology, new fashion, new business ideas. But this modern India is practically uncivilized.

We have developed a lot, us Delhites. But we can’t keep pace with the moral and civic responsibilities. Taking into account the fundamental duties that are in black and white mentioned in our constitution. We are not even a A-grade there. Delhites have one common statement in their defense- “These are all for the old times, we are in wolves era.” My dear friends, Wolves always lead to wolves era and Lions always lead to lions. Its your choice to be whichever you want.

While traveling in metro trains, I usually came across people with minimal civic sense. They talk aloud on cellphones. Ringtones are very loud. Words like “Excuse me” and “Thanks” have lost the value. “Excuse me” is a display of dismissive attitude or non-acceptance. “Thanks” has lost its meaning and also is scarce. These modern people lead a fast life, with fast food, but they never wait to throw the emptied cans and plastic packaging. Most of them could never make out the difference between Blue and Green Trash Boxes. They are rude into metros, buses and never leave their seats for Old and Needy. These evolved hunters are now snatchers. Basic Civic sense of these modernized people can be seen in the traffic jam, or on the roads. They can move into any direction. Honking is in fashion, and sometimes it is accompanied with abusive languages. They still trying to understand the usage of indicators. 7 out of 10 car drivers, whom I have observed aren’t using indicators. They don’t know their neighbours hence most of the time do not answer to their calls for help or support.

It is the Attitude, which is the main problem of our generation. They never give a damn to anything but them only. Their rights, their life, their job, their career, their house, their car. But this sphere is very small. It never increases to their responsibilities, thus their society, thus their region and there nation. This kind of attitude will lead to destruction only. We can be rich, we can be smart, but without morality we are doomed.

The Lone Damsel!!!

This was the Friendship Day. A day for friends, a day for your brothers and sisters from other mother, a day for your cousins. I have a few friends in this city, which happens to be the city where I work, away from my parents.
So the friendship day shouldn’t go without meeting them. It is because of them I am happy here. We plan a get together and a chose a meeting spot. Coffee Shops and restaurants are best place to hang out so eventually we land up in CCD. We were five in the plan and one could not make it to the get together. So, “the freaking four”picked up a nice spot and were chit chatting. We were so happy and it was pouring all over the place, the excitement, our laughter. Others were like, looking at us every now and then. Its always a pleasure and a matter of pride to have such a group which causes envy to others. We were enjoying it. It was Meghna, who brought our attention to a girl sitting at the corner table, staring into nothingness. I was sitting in the opposite direction, and she was behind my back. So I was relying on others, for the descriptions. Its been half an hour since we had our attention on her and now she was jumping every five minutes into our chit chat.

I could not hold myself any longer, turned my face and had a look. She was pretty. Hazel eyes. Curls. Prominent cheek bones. Fair. Perfectly sculpted nose. Lips, you can’t dream of. Brown nail paint. Colored bangles, and a Purple Handbag. I could not stop myself thinking about her the second I turn back. “Why could she be alone and lost?””Why is she staring into the air?”Yet, why is so distracting?” People usually come to this place alone spend sometime with themselves and leave. But it did not seem to be the case with her. I felt that she wasn’t there for herself. Neither she was paying attention to any of us. She was lost. Checking out her cell quite regularly.
We were again into our melodramatic and exciting conversation, when suddenly Tashi bring her back. Now she was staring at us. It could be that we were louder and chirpy. But her looks were suggesting otherwise. She had her ears to us now. She was looking at us and she wasn’t calm inside. We ignore that and were again back to us. We were about pack it up, and we looked at her direction. She was gone. We never saw her coming in we never saw her going out.

We parted our ways, bid farewell and wished “good nights”. On our way back to my room I was thinking about her and suddenly I saw her staring at me from a car. I knew that car. I remember it. But that car was damaged. It was an accident last year.
“Öh My God!!!”
I took out my cell called Tashi, Meghna and Pragya on conference.
“She was Lavi”
“What??”
“What the hell?”
“Öf course she is!!”
We all went into the memory of Lavanya. A bold, smart, scholastic girl from our friend-group. She was great except she can’t control her rage. We were all waiting for her one day at our usual spot in college. She didn’t turn up even after half an hour, so we decided to go for movie without her. We were at the Tickets counter when she called. “You all went without me, right?? What will I do alone here in hostel?”
Fight over this went too far. Eventually she was being ignored or not welcomed. She was an outcast to us. Three months later we got a call. It said there was a girl who had met with an accident was in ICU and she had our number registered as emergency contact. We rushed to the hospital, and saw Lavanya there. Lying on bed on ventilator support. She was with some guy and they met with an accident. That guy ran away from the place while she was there in the crushed car. When we went so meet her she said “am Alone even when you all were there”…

“How could we forget her?”
“Ï am missing her”
“she was with us”
“but we were not, neither then, nor now”

The Misogynist India

She was all over the news. People were on the roads. Candle marches. Statements from politicians.
But, in the end it doesn’t even matter. People have forget Nirbhaya’s Case within six months. They are busy teasing girls on Metro in Delhi.  They are busy in acid attacks. They are busy in curbing their freedom. They are busy commenting on their thoughts and propositions.

When we all are busy doing this, politicians also are setting new heights to it. Comment like “tunch maal” was once for laymen and street dwellers. Now this slang has made it into the political diction. One leading daily is campaigning against Acid Attacks on Women. SC has ordered for monitoring acid sale. But do these measures are really effective with the mindset of people.

According to events published in daily newspapers, one can easily note that even after Nirbhaya’s Case and the protests from public, there has been a lot of cases of violence against women. “Khap panchayats” keep on quoting for curbing the rights and thoughts of women. It is a dilemma that the literate, growing, shining India is still have this approach for women. Government campaigns against female foeticide, rules to protect women, systems working for safety of women, women helplines shows how much we all are need to be tamed for being civilized. Recent JNU campus incident is another example which shows that Indian Men are incapable to handle Rejection. When this rejection comes from a female this incapability got mixed with our ideology of women and raise it to a level of Rage. Another example is from the political corridors. When Shobha De, an eminent writer, tweeted about giving Mumbai a stature of new state, some members of a extremist political party got infuriated. They went straight on the roads with placards writing some offensive slogans. Now if you have seen the slogan in the media, I would like to question you that whether it was okay. And if your answers are affirmative then my friends I have to suggest that all of us need to introspect. Get it real-We are a misogynist society. But we don’t want it to be. We want change that is why we have joined candle marches. We were on protest. But most of us still need to understand that women are of same stature as of men.

Don’t raise your voice, don’t raise your hands. Speak to back her up and give her a supporting hand.

The Dilemma!!!

There was a remorse in his eyes, nose was bleeding, lips dried up. Rishi knows what’s going on in that boy’s mind. After all he was once at that same stage in the drama of life. He asks the boy about his home, his parents. And the answers, he already knows.
He brings the boy to his house. Washed his wounds, gave him clothes and food. Boy seems to be terrified still. He was limping also. Rishi took him to the guest-room, gave him blanket and switch off the light. Every step he takes away opens a window to his past. Rishi was not his name, in fact he never had any name.

“It was a time of dawn. A boy all drenched because of the rain, was looking at the dustbin and the garbage area. There was a country-bar from where a few people were coming out. One throws his sandwich and a empty bottle in the trashcan. The boy ran to the place, picked that sandwich and started eating.”

“The boy now older than before was being scolded. His master was telling him if he hasn’t cleaned the house, do the dishes and laundry, he will not have his bread for that day.”

“The boy’s eyes were fixed on the bread in the shop. He seems to be malnutrition-ed. Rib-cage, collar-bone even the vertebra can be seen on his body. His back has fresh wounds of cane. Suddenly he picks up the bread and ran away.”

“The boy’s appearance is now more of terrorizing. Eyes swollen, wounds bleeding. He was being beaten by crowd.”

Rishi still weeps of all what has happened in the past. He wanted to go to school, he wanted to make friends and play with them. But all he had been through is pain and being away from what he dreamt of. It was all because both of his parents died when he was of five. He struggled to mainly fill his stomach. He was born in very backward and underdeveloped area, so this was his only struggle. Food Food Food…
It is now late hours of night, but Rishi could not sleep. His eyes wide open. He come down from his bed, move towards the almirah. He take out his diary and started writing-

Why still we have this difference in living standards?
I opened up my newspaper today, was feeling good. It has various reports to tell me that my country is developing. It has achieved heights in terms of food production, infrastructure, economy.
But when I move down to the lane in my housing society I found beggars still begging for food, prices of food items gone up. I saw children eating food that was into garbage-can.
I am 65yrs old now and I was at that stage around 50yrs back. Do we really have developed? I don’t know what is real. But I know, I can feed a child properly, I can make him stand on his feet. And I will definitely do this. This child, I will make something better of him. I can. I still can…

What I Want…

Scene 1
Location: Parliament
Members discussing upon prevailing environmental problems.

Member 1- In my constituency, according to the last stats 50% area was covered with forest. Which, according to present stats, has come down to 12%.

Member 2- From last 3yrs your party is the ruling party. It was because of you people let businessmen to cut down trees.

Member 1- We never let businessmen enter our territory earlier. It was your party who opened up the place for various businesses with your anti-environmental policies.

Member 2- The areas which we had given access to, were of barren land from the territory. You people have done bad. Your ministers must resign.

Member 1- Your government had corrupt ministers who gave land against money. Reports also tells us.

Member 2- We will prove we do have clean hands. You are corrupt.

(Both the members and other party-men started arguing and session got adjourned)

Scene 2
Location: Parliament
Members discussing upon improving medical services and facilities.

Member 3- Our country lacks at various fronts when it comes to Medical services. We lack in number of qualified doctors, dispensaries, availability of medicines and their cost.

Member 4- When we were the ruling party, we have given sanctions to open Private Colleges all over in the country. Your government has not been able to extend hands to support to them even.

Member 3- Your ministers then were involved into corruption cases like receiving money from various people to open the colleges. Your ministers were corrupt.

Member 4- Those cases are only for our defamation. Cases are still under jurisdiction. We don’t want to comment on that. But at present it is your government and your ministers according to report have sent money outside the country, illegally. We want that money back.

(Again situation went out of control, opposition walks-out, session adjourned)

Scene 3
Location: Parliament
Members discussing on Improvements that can be done into Agriculture Segment which can make our country Self-Sustainable.

Member 5- In order to improve our Agriculture sector we have to work upon development of our villages in turn upheaval of Farmers.

Member 6- The ministers are corrupt. They have sent money outside the country. We want that money back.

(After this situation worsens, series of arguments to and fro and session adjourned)
**************

From these scenes, I just want to share my perspective of the Parliamentary Proceedings in my country.

Perspective: Ministers have done wrong. They are corrupt. They have send lots of money outside my country. The money, which if present in my country, could have made the place more developed. We know the proceedings will take time though we have to fight against the system to bring that money back and to penalize the corrupt. But is it correct to focus only on that.
We can understand that all of this process will take time and meanwhile we are adding to the loss we already into. How??
Let me explain. While discussing upon various issues of national importance our political leaders dramatically take a turn towards corruption and the discussion stops. Either the discussion move towards bringing that money back or session is adjourned. So our leaders most likely discuss about corruption. What about the improvisation of various policies of government, which have now turned OLD??? What about the discussion on various new policies on new challenges that we are currently facing??? What about the discussions upon topics of National Importance and adding up or removing of any topic from such list as per the present scenario???
To me, I would like to have few agenda on the List of National Importance. Government control over Health & Medical Services, Self-Sustainability in terms of food grains, Education, Rights of Citizen and their security, Internal Security of my Country and but of-course Corruption. I never saw discussions on these issues in my Parliament. All they growl about corruption and public goes with the tune.
I never said that, I never want that money back or not to penalize the corrupt authorities, even I want that. But not at the cost of other things. I wish if we could ever understand that for our development and sustainability we need to take care of every aspect. These parliamentary sessions also cost to our National Treasure. And what our politicians do, is all that are depicted in the scenes above.

So, we are also corrupt if we are letting them do nothing but waste our time, money and ruining our standards. They will be earning Name, Fame and Money with this but we will lose everything. Rise before its too late because imbalances in the structure have already started impacting us.

Your Love or Arranged Love??

What I have written in this blog post, is as described by my friend. Now whatever you read is in his words only…

I love a girl. In fact we both love each other. I met her during my post-graduation. Initially we were friends only, in fact batch mates. We shared the same bench in the lectures and thus got to know each other. Gradually as time passed on we got know about families, living status of each other. We also shared our dreams, our goals in life and how we are going to make it. As a matter of fact this all started when we turn out to be each others critic. We, by then started discussing on each others approach to the goals we have decided. Here one thing was common, we both are loners. We generally never have shared our dreams even with our parents. For me the reason was, I am way to ahead in terms of open-ness to adaptability, and have very loud thinking and approach towards life than that of my parents. For her, she belongs to an orthodox family and they would not have let her follow her dreams.

So in the lack of mental support and guidance we started to meet each other quite frequently. Later now we have decided to marry and live together.

After deciding this we want to take this to our parents. As a matter of fact this was the toughest part of this whole episode. I am a Hindu Brahmin and she is Marwari. We knew that this was going to a full Movie-Style drama at home. We started discussing on our approach to give this news at our home. Mean-while during all this, when we were busy discussing about our decision and wondering what our parents reaction would be, Mr. Aamir Khan brought his show on-air “Satyamev Jayate”. Being two of his fans, we still watch every show. One of his show was based on the couples who have married the person they love and facing disregard from their own family. I was very much impressed with the show and the views that it delivered. I decided to download it and let our parents watch it. This is because in spite of the show is very popular, I was doubtful whether my parents have given a serious thought to this.

I went back home and after two or three days I was able to manage it all as I had planned. While watching the show they keep on telling me that whether this all is on television they would not expect this from me.

I was shocked even all of this could not diverge their thoughts. I asked them if I could not be able to find a girl, in our community, to be good in etiquettes and understanding then can I look for a girl in other communities. The reaction was shocking. They blame the show and Mr. Aamir Khan for my thoughts. I decided to play along in a different path, I told them it was just a thought that I am sharing I have not done anything like this. After all the discussion and heat that I have received, they have certain points. While having a discussion with other friends of mine these are the same points which ultimately every parent gave us.

1.Person from other community will never give regards to our customs.
2.People from our community will not respect us, if you want to do this, do it and we have our heads down always in our community.
3.”Ex” from our community have opposed this a lot and when “Ex’s” son/daughter have done this people laughed at “Ex”. We will also have the same fate.
4.Did she will be able to do all the work that we do in our houses and if she is having a job will she ever give preference to family??
5.Its all your choice, we will not give our affirmation to this. If you want to do you are on your own. I have always tried to make my parents happy. What could I have done? After listening to all these stuff from our family we have decided not to marry each other.

But, I have questions which none answered.
#If parents feel insecure about their respect, I don’t have feeling to feel insecure about my understanding with the new person?
#I guarantee, that the lady I bring to my house will respect them, take care of family, in spite of having a job, will be responsible. Do, parents guarantee that the lady they bring will understand me and support me?
#Parents say that I have to take care of my problems by my self when I marry a girl of my choice. Do I assume that, if some problem or a little scene of deviation in thought occurred between me and the lady of my parents choice, they will be responsible to take care of my problems?

My parents are regular viewers of the show “Satyamev Jayate” but this “Satya” of mine they couldn’t digest. The differences in thoughts will always be there and children will always be sacrificing their dream girl/boy in the respect to the parents. Or they will made to sacrifice. I would not like to be a parent whose child can not feel free to boast about his love.

It is better to be an Atheist.

Atheism.
Strong, too strong.

You don’t believe me?? If I tell my parents that am an atheist, I would be like dead to them. In Hindu families, being atheist is like a curse. Either one has to succumb to the continuous and irritating family tantrums or one have to leave them.

This year after my 24th Birthday, I gave it a thought that “I would be doing better as an Atheist”. But I am a Religious person at present. A firm believer of God. This transition of mind would be tough for me. When one tries to fight with himself, it is always tougher than fighting with others. You can not kick yourself but have to kick your ego. You can not punch yourself but have to punch your urge. You can not pin yourself down but have to pin your thoughts down. You can only debate a long debate, to turn your thoughts to the direction you want them to flow. It is just in favour of being an Atheist.

If I don’t believe the God or its presence, it would be easier for me to move on from blaming every loss, every failure on God. I would be improving on my skills, practicing more, recalculating myself and be more self reliant.
If I don’t believe the God or its presence, it would be lot more easier to move on from urge of paying Alms to beggars in the name of God. It would be easier to move on from the faces of hungry people without offering food to them because then there would be no fear of God nor feeling of Guilt. If most of the Population are Atheist then there would be minimal begging and people will be working, doing jobs and then try to be more self-sustained.
If I don’t believe the God or its presence, I would not be believing the stories about my Gods or your Gods. I would rather be looking for ethics in the so called religious books. I would not follow what is being said or preached by Temple-heads, Mosque-proprietors, Church-holders etc. I would rather be checking out the intellect from the scriptures, the ethical teachings and would be looking out for history.
If I don’t believe the God or its presence, I would not follow the rituals that are not relevant to our times. I would be thinking and discussing the need of these rituals questioning elders about the idea behind these.
If I don’t believe the God or its presence, I would not be going to temples, churches or mosque because some God is there. I would go there to see the Architecture, praise the work and craftsmanship of humans.
If I don’t believe the God or its presence, I would not be seeing carvings as a God and start performing rituals and pray to them. I could be feeling to know what these carvings mean. I could be searching and reading the history.
If I don’t believe the God or its presence, I would not believe that we have Goddesses, and men pray to them. Men fear them. Men have respect for them. It would be lot practical to know that we live in a society where woman is raped, burned, physically accused.
If I don’t believe the God or its presence, It would be obvious that every so called religious place is a Business Enterprise and should come under IT ACT and file ITR.
If I don’t believe the God or its presence, Its all practical, Its all science and then unexplained phenomenon, Its all Business, Its all Human Behaviour, Its all Imbalance, Its all Greed. Nothing then be GOD