Vishal Bhardwaj: A true gem

I was never a fan of Vishal Bhardwaj, I had not watched many of his films either. The fact that he was among the people who had led “Anti-Modi appeal from Bollywood personalities” had left me with a sour taste. So I was in a fix whether I should watch his latest movie Haider or not. Also since the script was co-written by a Kashmiri separatist, Basharat Peer, I thought it would be on a similar theme. Anyway, I decided to watch the movie, leaving behind my pre-conceptions as it was not about appeasement, but an adaptation of hamlet by Shakespeare.

The movie started with special thanks to the people of J&K, rightly so. The movie starts with father of Haider, an educated man, a doctor, helping terrorists. Please pardon me; they were not terrorists but militants. That’s how they have been referred to in the movie. The doctor was only doing his duty. But some shrewd officer arrested him for doing this act of humanity and also destroyed his house which had the commander of the terrorists group, er militant group. The movie hits the track right at the beginning and we are told about how the Indian Army is responsible for the plight of the Kashmiris. I am so thankful to Vishal Bhardwaj for letting us all know about it, for opening our eyes. We always thought that army was the victim as we lost a large number of soldiers in Kashmir. What I always thought was that their sacrifice was worth it as they have been finally able to restore peace after all this time and for this Kashmiri people too had to be at receiving end at times, but the end result is, that peace has been restored.  But Vishal Bhardwaj could, through this beautifully directed movie, tell us that real culprit was Indian Army and not terrorist insurgency from Pakistan. The movie shows that India has been the reason for plight of Kashmiris and words like Pakistan and Kashmiri Pandits were mentioned for courtesy maybe as an attempt to silence the radicals. But the most prominent reason for their plight was always Indian Army, AFSPA, rightly referred as chutspa (pardon me I don’t remember the exact term).

The movie develops and we are shown that the youth Haider was given a gun and for that reason he was wrongly sent to other parts of India. Later when he is given the gun again, he accepts it and at the end of the movie, chooses the path of peace(?). The movie also shows how Kashmiris live in a terror, when a guy remains outside his home until he is asked for identification (just the way Army does) and let go. The movie shows how the Indian army plays the dirty games and is involved in making innocent Kashmiris fight among themselves. There was one more innocent guy in the movie, whose role was played by Irrfan Khan, who comes as a savior to Haider and unearths all the wrong doings of everyone in the movie. I failed to understand why he was told to be ISI agent, may be to show us that good guys are often on the other side of the border. Also he was neither Sunni, nor Shia, neither pandit, secular self within me was in complete tears listening to this very statement, so touching it was.

AZAADI. We were told how important this term is for our Kashmiri brothers. Thanks to VIshal Bhardwaj we now know how Indian government cheated Kashmir and is still ruling them. Azaadi is the little thing they want, it’s their “janm siddh adhikar” and we are denying so. How cruel we are for not giving them what they want. I always thought that they got maximum subsidy and prime services from the Indian government, which spends thrice as much amount per person in Kashmir compared to rest of the India. I thought they lived a good life as every village in Kashmir has basic amenities like electricity, despite rough topology, unlike rest of the India. But that’s not what they wanted; it’s Azaadi that we have to give them. Let’s all thank Vishal Bhardwaj for making us aware of this simple fact. I stand by Vishal Bhardwaj.

As the movie was about to end, I started thinking that this movie should be made tax-free and that every Indian should watch it. Every person from Kashmir would be able to associate. I thought that in Kashmir the movie should be made free and government should pay for the tickets of the theater, but alas we forget that our brethrens in Kashmir have already demolished all the theaters in the paradise. There’s not even a single screen where the movie can be shown. It pains my heart to think that Kashmiri people might not be able to see how sympathetic our liberals are And How much they feel their pain.

Rolling credits had something different to offer. There were two points that’s I observed. First was appreciation of army for relief work. I wondered what might possibly be the reason to appreciate someone so evil. Probably it’s the reason why we call these artists liberals. Even after all these atrocities, the liberals have forgiven Indian army; forget about random instances when stones are pelted on them. The second point that I noticed was the following line “Principal photography for this film was entirely conducted in Kashmir without any disruption.” I was confused once again. A few days ago I came across a news article in the newspaper which we all know is the most reliable, The Hindu, with title “Kashmir University students disrupt shooting of Vishal Bhardwaj film”. It talked about how our victims got agitated seeing the tri-colour during the shooting of the film. Ultimately the film unit packed up without picking up a clash with the students. But we should remember that it should be seen through the lens of our liberal friends, as it is an act of peace, hence it can’t be called a disruption.

I would request my friends to watch the film in theaters, unlike me, and encourage our liberal artists. They deserve our money; after all they are the only hope. Only these people can enlighten us, the ones who are not aware of the truth. Only because of these liberal friends we get to know about plight of the victims. Please go out and watch the movie, and educate other friends of yours to do the same. Time to become “A lifelong fan of Vishal Bhardwaj.” We only have a few gem like him in India, we all should be proud of him.

Reference:

http://www.ndtv.com/elections/article/election-2014/anti-modi-appeal-from-bollywood-personalities-leaves-film-industry-divided-509616

http://www.firstpost.com/bollywood/writing-a-3d-kashmiri-basharat-peer-on-the-challenges-of-co-scripting-haider-1738665.html

http://www.dailypioneer.com/todays-newspaper/picture-abhi-baki-nahi-hai-mere-dost.html

http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/other-states/kashmir-university-students-disrupt-shooting-of-vishal-bhardwaj-film/article5387994.ece

AAP and Socialism

During a discussion with some people I came across this article. I have always believed that AAP follows communist ideology. Well, I am quoting the article here. You can read and decide it on your own. If you'll say that article provides a biased view, well you can't deny that in the article author has stated facts, quoting AAP manifesto, and derived logical inferences. Rest you can decide on your own. So here goes the article.

"With much fanfare, Aam Aadmi Party released its vision for India in the form of Election Manifesto or Lok Sabha 2014. Like other parties, there is a lot of rhetoric, a lot of promises, and a lot of utopian dreams of an everlasting life that promise a self rule, the quintessential ram rajya - the Swaraj.

Well, we do not believe in utopian dreams, instead, we are interested in topics, promises that will really move the needle; the things that will uplift the poor and take India towards social and economic stability in coming decades. 

For India, in 2014-19, it is important to focus on a well rounded economic policy thereby creating more opportunity and employment. The additional revenue thus generated has to be put in social causes to uplift the meek and the poor out of misery and poverty. This is no rocket science and most of you who have some common sense understand that government does not have money of its own. It either borrows money from International bodies, earns money by selling mined resources, regulating verticals or generates money via taxes. There is no other way to earn money. If government does not have money, they cannot help the poor. It is as simple as that. Let's look at each one of these avenues before we dive into AAP's economic vision.

The foreign money does not come free. It is always a give and take either in terms of trade, geopolitics or its a loan with interest. You stop Walmart, US will trouble IT companies with work visas. Thats how global trade works, its tit for tat, so crying foul on other countries does not help. 

Mined resources are finite, they do not last forever and India does not have unlimited supply. You can't bank on mined resources to run a large economy like India, unlike Venezuela. 

Regulations is a double edged sword; the more regulations you have the lower is the quality of service, more are the chances of crony capitalism, in other words regulation induces license raj. Imagine if there was no or little regulation on airwaves; there would have been no 2G or 3G scams.

Generating money via taxing its people is government's last resort. Taxation and Subsidies are tools in the hands of politicians to either govern well or defer a country's crisis. If you don't raise money via taxes, you will borrow it and increase the debt on the country and if you continue to do that without growing the economy, you are facing a sure shot collapse, in worst cases disintegration of the country.

Now, that we have set the context, let's see how does Aam Aadmi Party's vision stands against the rationality of debit vs credit and the balance between good governance, growth and subsidies. 

The first line of AAP's economic section in the manifesto is loaded with high sounding keywords that cry out loud ... REGULATION and SOCIALISM. They set the agenda by stating that they want equitable growth, when simplified this means we will tax one section heavily, and subsidize the other section, then distribute the wealth by taking from some and giving to others. 

Equitable means be fair, be unbiased ... and who will decide that? Obviously not the market, it will be utopian AAP government. This means they will centralize and force regulations to create huge number of checks and balances in the system rather than banking on market dynamics to self regulate. Hope they are not confusing the HRD ministry with Finance ministry. An unsolicited advice to AAP members who created this utopian economic (umm ... socialist) vision. First learn economics and understand separation of concerns, talking about benefits is not the same as running an economy by setting policy. Its a known fact, that the best way to run the economy is to get out of the way of private enterprise and assist them with infrastructure development. 

Once you get over the first sub-section of the economic section of Aam Aadmi Party's manifesto, it starts to appear that the people who sat down and drafted this vision are either leftists, environmentalists or communists who sincerely believe that "quality of life" can be improved by giving subsidies, creating a top heavy government and regulating the bureaucracy. Well, here is the news flash my friends: This experiment has been tried in 70 countries and has failed miserably. 

In fact, in one section of the manifesto they talk about SWARAJ and DECENTRALIZATION and their entire ECONOMIC VISION is all about CENTRALIZATION, REGULATION and CONTROL ... and they seem to love this keyword "crony capitalism". It is ironic that the more regulations they induce, the more are the avenues of crony capitalism. Are you getting my point AAPsters or AAPeees or AAPites or whatever you call yourselves? .. ah I remember .. you call yourself the aam aadmi. 

Further, they talk about integrating economic and environmental policies, as if it is a new thing. It is not being done already. Its a white lie, the central and state governments already have myriad policies that deal with environment. Let me give you an example: New Delhi has worked very hard to reduce its pollution footprint by inducing CNG in public transport in last 15 years. Besides that, there are 30 different certifications that have come into effect in 2012 all over the country that are related to environment .. so I must say this is populist bantor, rather than economic vision. It's like a kid in the candy store dreaming ... I will change all the shelves with chocolates, when you ask how? The answer is ... I don't know. I have not figured out the details yet. 

Next, they talk about creation of world class Infrastructure and participation of private enterprise. What a new idea? What a game changer? So you may think. Well, we all know almost all government projects go through tender systems and most projects are done by private enterprise. Have you heard of the term "government contractors"? Who are they? Well, so Aam Aadmi Party is saying that they will run everything via a central politburo and put more and more regulations to ensure that no project can ever take off. We will squeeze the private enterprise to an extent that they don't participate in tenders. What a great plan my friends. 

Then after two lines on populist promises, AAP manifesto turns to providing jobs and lifelong learning. Well, my AAPster friends, thats not an economic topic, its a topic that comes under human resource development. You can argue that job creation is an economic concern, not it is not. It is the result of a good economic policy. In your manifesto where is the economic policy? It is completely missing. Do you take all Indians for fools, that you will tell us that we will get chocolates without any clue on sowing cocoa?

The third subsection turns towards "administrative policy", simplification of rules. Well, once again my AAPster friends are confused, I don't blame them, they added a number of social activists, actors, and celebrities to their fold, its evident that they forgot economists. Well, if you have Prashant Bhushan and Yogendra Yadav write this economic vision, it is but obvious they will find it difficult to hide socialism and the people who understand micro and macro economics will read in-between lines easily. 

The next subsection talks about "unleashing the entrepreneurial energy and the honest business". Well, how do you induce honesty in the business? Well, by creating regulations, checks and balances .. correct? Once again AAPsters contradict themselves, on one side they talk about free enterprise and on the other they use loaded words like "honest business", that means they will be hawk eyed on small businesses and will make sure you don't steal taxes. In short, Mr. Small Business owner, they are already calling you all thieves. Well, some of you may be, but all of you, I don't think so. Then they also talk about creating funds for entrepreneurial capital .. well, I have taken note of this one and I really want to see how do you do this? Where do you get the money for doing this and how many entrepreneurs do you create? And how many of them are your relatives, friends and family ... you get my point girlfriends ... this is an utopian promise. They created subsidy for water and electricity in Delhi and did not allocate funds for it. How do you think they will keep this promise?

Next subsection starts talking about "empowering the poor", it has nothing to do with economics. Enough said.

Next subsection is titled "Rural Economy" and it is funny that it does not have a single sentence that talks about Gram Udyog (village industry). They talk about the socialist order .. the gram sabha. What a new socialist experiment. For those who don't know .. in 1970s and 1980s, India had a concept of cooperatives and laghu-udyogs. It never took off because Rural India specifically survives and thrives on agriculture. Again, its ironic that the manifesto does not say anything about connecting rivers, creating dams, water harvesting. I must say that it does make a populist promise to farmers that AAP will provide them with credit, loans and insurance. Well, this is not a new promise, all political parties repeat this promise every election season. You can't do better than that AAPsters?

Then comes the natural resources: Now this is a joke that AAP will never fulfill. I have no hesitation in saying that they are lying about this one. Can you imagine the coal mine being controlled by the gram sabha next to it? Can you imagine India's thorium reserves being handled by the village next to it? this means Gram Sabhas will regulate production, extraction and selling of natural resources of India. OH MY LORD? Are these socialist jokers crazy? 

Finally, comes the most dangerous section in their economic manifesto: NO CONTRACTUALIZATION of JOBS. This means .. they are asking all enterprises to give full time jobs to all the people they hire. All I can say is SOCIALISM, SOCIALISM, SOCIALISM ... and .. UNIONS, UNIONS and more UNIONS. Anyone who has lived through the communist West Bengal and Kerala can tell you how hard it is to run a business in these two states given their regulations and heavy influence of unions. 

All in all, AAP's manifesto is full of contradictions, confused, lacks depth and gives their core away .. and that core is a socialist leadership leading common man using corruption as a ploy to fool simple and ignorant indian masses. 

Crucify me, vilify me, hate me or love me, it does not matter. I said it the way it is. AAPsters, find some economists to help you out as you need help. You need help to understand the difference between economic policy, human resource development, social policy and environment policy. I don't blame you, I can understand you are still learning ... well, don't you think 2019 would have been a better option rather than getting your behind kicked in 2014 and cheating the real aam aadmi?"

If someone knows about the actual source of the article please let me know, I'll add it to the post.

Do political parties need to follow a "Political Ideology"

India will be witnessing one of the most interesting general elections within next few months. Why are they most interesting? Well, for me personally they are interesting because this is the first time I would be voting in general elections. Also for quite some time now I have been following politics in India. I have voted for assembly elections, for the post of mayor and ward elections but this is the first time I would be voting for a candidate aspiring to be a Member of Parliament. In 2009 too I was eligible to vote, but since I had just turned 18, I could not get my voted ID well in time to vote, more because of the slow process followed that time. However that doesn't mean I wasn't following elections back then. I used to read the discussions that used to take place on online forums. At that time I didn't favor any political party as such, neither was I clear as to what political ideologies are. I was legally eligible to vote, but I don't think I was aware enough to choose wisely back then. But this time I have a voter ID card, hence it is my duty to become aware and vote for the best possible option available.

I have talked to a lot of people about the importance of political ideology for a party.

So what exactly is a political ideology? It's more or less similar to theory of a subject. Over the time scholars have come up with their views. I would present my view as in what I think political ideology actually means. Political ideology can be described as set of beliefs that defines optimum mode of social organization. It's not descriptive; rather it's more or less normative. An ideology proposes view of the world as it should be, irrespective of current or past state set ups. An ideology defines how an ideal government functions. It tells how a government should change or function in general. It presents a subjective view, and hence an ideology can never be acceptable by all. It's impossible to form an objective ideology.

Ideologies can be divided into Statism and anarchy, while Statism believes in establishment of laws, anarchism is based on assumptions that actions by people would be driven by ethics.  In anarchy, an individual is not bound by any laws and rules and it is expected that his ethics would lead to goodwill of all, however that doesn't always happen. Ideologies, because they are subjective need constant refinement. These ideologies are then categorized on political spectrum, defined as left, center, or right wing based on their stance on role of government and individual in the society.

Political ideology for a political party is important at three steps:

• Formation of party
• Compilation of election manifesto
• Implementation of policies once the party comes to power

In India, there are a countless number of political parties. Some are formed to raise voice of a group of people while some are formed on foundation of a single issue. The number of parties existing in India is already significantly high, so we can safely assume that most of the issues concerning with the society are already taken up with same party or the other. Hence when a person works for a cause, there are always plenty of options available. However we see that there are new political parties emerging almost every other day. So what's the reason behind it? The person who forms the new party is either aspiring for a total control of power over the political party, or the person follows a completely new ideology that no other party follows until now.

Often people claim that the party they support doesn't belong to the political spectrum. But that's not true because mere formation of the political party is not the end. A party has to put forward its views and policies, in form of manifesto, and that's exactly where the ideology's role comes into picture. As I defined that ideology is a way an individual thinks that government should work, and while drafting manifesto, that's exactly what a political party does. It lays its plans in front of the people. Mow these plans are more or less outcome of the ideology the party follows. And people associate themselves with the party when they find similarity in ideology of the party and their own views.

When the party finally comes into power, it has to implement the policies. The working of the government is outcome of the ideology followed by the people who are responsible for the running of the government. Every person has its views, generally they are similar to the views of other members of the party, and hence these views translate into the policies of the government. It's safe to say that ideology of the party has the biggest impact on running of the government.

Since a party has to deal with all sorts of issue faced by the state, it has to have an ideology. The stance on all the millions of issues can't be defined separately, there has to be a pattern and that's exactly where the importance of ideology is felt. A party without an ideology cannot have a firm stand. It can't organize a debate at each and every point. Also it's easier to arrive at a common consensus when members of the party follow a similar ideology.

Hence over the time, based on the actions of the party, it can be categorized and placed into the political spectrum. Some parties promote their ideology right from the beginning. The trend is more evident in left liberal parties, where they inherit ideology by some scholar. Most of the parties however can be categorized by their actions.

Now the question arises, do we really need to assign a position in political spectrum to the parties concerned? In my opinion, yes, we cannot be sure of the way a political party would function unless we are clear what their position is on political spectrum. We can always tell the position of party on a small number of issues, but on a larger scale it is difficult to predict in absence of knowledge of ideology of the party. However if we are aware about the ideology a party follows, we can often predict the policies which the party would focus on once in power, and the actions wouldn't come as surprises.

Hence I believe it is important to be aware about the different political ideologies and based on that decide which party you should support. Supporting a cause does not help in long run, supporting the ideology is a safer bet.

My Vote : Right or Duty?

As a citizen of India, we all have a right to vote. But rather than a right, I like to see it as our duty. In last few years I have seen a change in the society, Earlier some of my fellow friends considered it cool to claim that they didn't vote. But times have changed, and for betterment, as now the ink mark on the index finger has become synonymous to trends in which youth of Delhi usually gets engulfed. People vote, and then claim that they vote and often talk about it on social media. Long gone is the time when the consensus was that people active on social media only talked and never voted. I remember how earlier it used to be the case. On the day of election, people used to express their disappointment owing to the fact that the educated section of the society seldom votes.

First I would like to attack this very statement. What is meant by educated section of society? Does having a post-graduate degree make your vote more valuable or does it comes with an assumption that an educated person would be able to judge better when it comes to choosing the right candidate. If equality is to be established we would have to realize that each and every person who votes has equal stake in the government. It might be the case that the issue one votes on is dependent on education, class, caste or any other parameter, but that doesn't mean that those parameters are not worthy enough. Every person has his own set of issues on which he would decide the candidate to vote for. Also education does not essentially mean political awareness.

Yes education is important when it comes to development of a personality, it makes one more rational, I agree but that doesn't mean it gives us clarity across all spectrums. A computer engineer is not qualified to prescribe medication for typhoid, a literature student is not qualified to design digital circuits, and a psychology student is not qualified to design bridges. (I used qualified, not capable, because people do venture into different streams out of interest, so one can always be capable enough to carry out whatever task he is assigned.) So I would like to extend it further. Like I said, education does make us more rational, it doesn't really translate into political knowledge, which we have to gain on our own. Yes, education would definitely help us understand the issues in a better way, and look at the claims of political parties with rationality, but we need to understand what exactly should be our criteria for voting. This brings me to the second part of my article.

A question usually arises, who should I vote for? Should I vote for the party or should I vote for the candidate? What should be the parameters on which I should make my decision? What all should I consider before making the final call? The answer is simple, which issues you consider to be important. Then you should consider whether those issues can be taken care of by the candidates you would be voting for or not. I have always been part of discussions where people discuss the issues which are important for them; I'm in fact involved passively most of the times. And to my surprise most of the times people come up with the issues that are beyond the scope of the position for which they have to vote.

Let's look at civic structure of the way government functions in India. I wish we all had taken social studies more seriously when we were in school. It's far too interesting than it seemed back when I was in school. Sigh, back then we looked at it only as a subject we had to study to improve our percentage.
I would be talking about parts of the Indian government which we can elect. Since bureaucracy is not something citizens have direct control on, I would be focusing on the parts which are directly related to elections.

There are elections for MPs, MLAs, local government (Mayor, ward etc.) Member of Parliament or Member of Legislative Assembly is basically responsible for formation of laws and policies concerning the nation or respective states. While local government is responsible for development and management of the area.

So what are the qualities we should be looking at while choosing our candidate for various posts? Often all we talk about is electricity, water, roads etc at time of election. The politicians when seeking votes make their claims on similar lines. Often irrespective of the post politicians are contesting on, issues discussed with the voters are same. I would not say that politicians are at fault completely. The mass is not completely are of the responsibilities that they would be assuming once elected, hence they have to advertise in the best possible way. They have two options, either they can educate the voters about what exactly they should expect the elected candidate to do, or they can mould themselves into their expectations. The first option is a herculean task, reason, because if one actually tries it, he would not be able to impress the voters, because he would not be talking about the issues they want to hear and which might eventually result in a sacrifice of a well deserved chance.

From my understanding, I would like to summarize my point of view. MPs and MLAs are essentially responsible to take our views to the parliament and legislative assembly. So while voting for an MP or MLA I would look at the ideology of the political party he is associated with, because even though we have a parliamentary form of government, it more or like functions like a presidential form. The examples are evident; the politicians who go against the party policies are criticized heavily and portrayed as back-stabbers. We have countless examples. We, the citizens, don't have a very positive image of rebels. We often see them as opportunists. What it results in is that politicians often stick to the principles laid down by the party. Call it a bitter truth, but that's how things function. I don't see anything wrong in it. Politicians can always influence the decision making of the party by raising their voices. For citizens it is fair to assume that politician would in most cases follow the party ideology, and in case of any discrepancy, would raise the voice in party meetings and would help shape up party's decision.

Now MPs and MLAs are not responsible for working of street lights in your locality and condition of roads during the rainy season directly. So if you are judging them on the work done keeping in mind infrastructure development of your locality, you are doing it the wrong way. These works come under your city's development authorities, in which MPs and MLAs have no say. If they are trying to manipulate their working using their influence, I would call it a misuse of power, irrespective of what the intention of the politician is. We can always say that if politicians really want the development of the city, they can have their say in Parliament and Assembly. Now it becomes a more difficult task if the party of the politician is not in power. So essentially all we need to judge a politician contesting for a post of MP/MLA is whether he would raise our voice in Parliament or not and what the ideology of the party is.

Coming to the criteria of voting for politicians contesting for local government, the main focus should be on the image of the politician, whether he has a clean image, whether he can promise that bureaucracy functions properly or not, whether he can ensure transparency in the working of development authorities etc.

After the term, the judgment of performance of elected members should be on the same lines. For MPs/MLAs we should look at how many times they raised the voice in Parliament/Assembly. We should look at if any critical issue related to our constituency was raised properly in the parliament or not. If the elected member’s party was in power, whether he was involved in decision making, what kind of laws the ruling party introduced and passed. The ruling of the government as a unit defines the value of your vote. If the member elected is part of the opposition, we should look at how critical he was towards the government and in what manner. While the local development works could be seen as achievement or failure of the local government body representative.

Keeping in mind the general elections our country will soon have, I want to conclude my article requesting you all to vote for formation of government. After all if you look at the larger picture, it's the government we are electing, not only the Member of Parliament. That’s why I believe, we should not get swayed by rhetoric of people and rather support a political ideology. And that’s why it’s our duty to elect a stable government.

Our duty is to become political literate. Being a literate doesn’t mean you are politically literate. How much we want to know depends on the issue we want to get addressed. What we can simply do is raise a question, whenever a politician makes a claim; our duty is ask, “How?” How will the candidate bring about that change, is he really entitled and responsible to do that? Does the position he is contesting for allows him that liberty? And the candidate does not have to answer. If we are politically literate enough, we can see through the lies and tall claims, and save ourselves from the disappointment, that we always brag about later. Our right is to vote, but our duty is to vote sensibly.

Disclaimer: The article is based on my experiences and is not a result of some study. I agree that I have very superficial view of how politics in India works and my article might have numerous errors. So I welcome suggestions from each one of you, please reply in comments section or message/mail me, so that I can include your suggestion in the article. We are part of democracy and we all have our own views and interpretations, so that's mine.

AAPki Delhi?

Few days back, during a discussion I said that in due time people will lose faith in protests. If AAP doesn't deliver people would hesitate before joining any nation-wide protest at least for some time. The way people are reacting to the on-going protest by AAP, it seems that we are moving in that direction only. If these senseless protests don't stop, I doubt just like many other institutions, people would doubt the intentions of activists too.

I remember AAP supporters used to say that they believe in democracy. Whenever I have had "meaningful" discussions with AAP supporters, despite clash of views and ideologies, a decency has been maintained most of the time. Obviously, in a country as big as India, differences in ideologies is bound to be there and that is essence of democracy. But it seems like AAP has completely forgotten the meaning of democracy.

Somnath Bharti says he wants to spit on opposition leaders, while Arvind Kejriwal terms himself as Anarchist. Ashutosh who recently joined AAP and in no time has become one of the most prominent leaders of AAP said on TimesNow, "Kiran Bedi should be taught a lesson." As far as I remember when I was in school, most of us saw Dr. Kalam and Kiran Bedi as our role-models. Obviously not even a fool would doubt that Kiran Bedi has been on of the best and most "honest" IPS officers. Then what is the reason AAP believes that she should be taught lesson? Just because she does not believe in the ideology that AAP propagates? Is it a crime to hold a political opinion different from what AAP wants? If a prominent personality like Kiran Bedi would be taught lesson for holding different political views, what can we, as ordinary citizens of Delhi expect from AAP, rather I should say, as ordinary citizens of India.

The people who claimed AAP would work for safety of women are doubtful. The recent incident surrounding Somnath Bharti is clear example.

The narcotics drug usage is controlled in India by "The Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act (NDPS Act). NDPS is a very stringent act where mere possession of drug in commercial quantity makes a person criminal. Capital punishment is mandatory under the act in case of repeated offense. There is no scope of "Mens Rea" in this. This means while in other laws, punishment is given only when mind is guilty, this act considers an individual criminal even if intention was not wrong.

As the Act is too stringent, following proper procedure by authorities while arrest and investigation is compulsory. It is necessary as such a strong law can easily be misused by police or any other authority or even person. Not following proper procedure results in suspension or termination of the involved policemen.

Some of the important procedural points are:
1. Proper Search warrant
2. No search of premises after sunset unless strong reason is recorded in writing
3. Any search of a person has to be done in front of a magistrate
4. Search party should have a female member (as in this case accused was a female)
5. State Excise/Customs, Central Excise/Customs, Central and State police forces are empowered to do the search.

Strict procedures are there to save any innocent from being trapped under NDPS.

Lets come back to Somnath Bharti case.

In this case, there was no warrant. The time was also after sunset. No officer of magistrate rank was present. If policemen had gone for search without warrant, that could have resulted in their suspension. Policemen were doing everything as per the law. It was the duty of policemen to rescue the Ugandan people from AAP mob. Also, state excise/custom also have similar power of search. If Somnath Bharti was sure of crime, why didn't he take state excise/custom which is under Delhi State Government with him.

Who gave Somnath Bharti and the mob of AAP goons to hold the Ugandan people hostage? Who gave right to the minister to force police do things as per his wish? Is interference of ministers in police action acceptable? If some person of African origin are involved in drug racket, does that mean that every person of that community should be pre-assumed as criminal? Why was Ugandan woman forced urinate in public? Is this acceptable in a civilized society? What would be your reaction if same thing happens to any Indian girl in some other country? The point to be noted is that the women tested negative for drug.

Instead of criticizing the acts of his minister, the CM is supporting him and asking for suspension of the policemen (who had followed the law). The CM is also holding a dharna (read gimmick) against the policemen. If policemen are suspended under pressure from Kejriwal's protest, will police personals in future dare to put law over minister's instructions?

Some of the links for reference:

http://www.cbn.nic.in/html/ndpsact1985.pdf
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/delhi/Somnath-Bharti-activists-charged-with-rioting-molestation/articleshow/29075836.cms
http://www.ndtv.com/article/india/in-aap-minister-s-midnight-raid-woman-made-to-urinate-in-public-472377
http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2014-01-17/delhi/46300567_1_law-minister-sai-baba-temple-foreigners

To this Somnath Bharti tweeted: "Pl go through Sec. 42, NDPS Act and Sec. 15 of Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act for search without warrant in prostitution and drug cases."
https://twitter.com/attorneybharti/status/424193983170883584
This is clear case of misguiding the people. The link I have cited above clearly says that the search without warrant is possible only in case of written proof and that too before sunset. But no one will dare to question Somnath Bharti, how can they? He is the mighty law minister of Government of Delhi.

He is the same person who has been indicted by court for tampering with evidence. Yes, he is not being accused by the opposition, he was indicted by "court". And what our CM has to say on this? Mr. Kejriwal says that it was misjudgement of court.

Now what I fail to understand is, that is AAP above everything else. Is AAP above constitution? Is AAP above judiciary? I mean they don't respect Judiciary, they don't respect Constitution? Is this how the future governments are going to function? And to add to all this, Mr. Kejriwal called himself an anarchist and said that he cares least about the Republic Day parade. And he won't be bothered if it's affected by the protest he has organized to satisfy ego of his minister Somnath Bharti, who made women wait outside so that he could use public 

Even if you are AAP supporter, does that mean you should defend every wrong deed of your party? People should realize that such kind of governance is not going to help anyone.

Economics and AAP

I'm not a scholar in economics, but found the points quoted below to be quite true.
Read this answer on quora, http://www.quora.com/Aam-Aadmi-Party/Is-the-AAP-anti-business and unfortunately the answer was collapsed. I don't know who the author is as the answer was posted by someone as anonymous. Nevertheless, I thought I could share it. Please point out if you find any inconsistency in the post. Also I have not edited the answer. I'm just supporting the view.

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When asked  about the reasons of inflation and what he will do about it, he says-  'There is only one reason of inflation, and it's corruption.Our analysis  is that all these complex theories on inflation are there to make a  fool out of us.' What amazing analysis! A grade 12 commerce student can  tell that inflation doesn't arise out of corruption. Corruption might  accentuate it, depending upon the circumstances, but the root of  inflation is never corruption. I dare Kajriwal to make an economy  growing at a decent rate inflation free. Development and inflation go  hand in hand. The complex theories are there to understand the cause,  effect and flow and to make development as equitable and as   without  inflation as possible. Does he even know that some inflation is even  necessary for an economy? I am not even talking in terms of graphs and  complex mathematics, it's almost common sense!

Then he says that  if Goa can have petrol at 55Rs per liter, why not in Delhi? I am a BJP  supporter and it will give me much glee to point this out, but the fact  is that it's not possible everywhere. Goa is able to do it because they  hope that this will increase the carriage transport going through their  state, giving them transit tax, which will in turn effectively subsidize  the petrol prices. They get the Mumbai going traffic this way. Is it  possible in Delhi? Where would the extra revenue come from, if the  government does that?

The only valid point he says there is that  if corruption is less we will save money and that can be used to  decrease prices of other commodities.That even a child knows.There is  nothing new to it.

Then there is his  stance of fixing prices  of  essential commodities by popular consensus! Do we even need to know  any economic theory to know that this is an absolutely stupid and  disastrous  idea? Sure you will fix the prices, but how will you find  the suppliers  who will supply at those prices? When no one will supply  at those prices, people will get desperate and black markets will come  into picture! Anyone with commonsense can see what that will lead to. If  the answer is to subsidize everything to keep the prices fixed, I ask  him where he will get that money from? He  wants to lower taxes, lower  prices  of everything and then thinks he  will be able to subsidize  everything  (don't tell me he is planning to  simply print more money!  We will be Zimbabwe soon then!)? And what about the rise in inflation of  other  things? When people will save money on basic commodities, they  will  spend it somewhere else or invest it. Their spending will lead to   inflation (surprise!). If they start buying (investing in) gold (which   is of course a possibility), it will lead to rise in gold prices. When   people will feel its giving better returns, they will take out money   form banks and invest in gold. With  savings rate going down and no  money  in banks, how will domestic  industry get the money to invest?  The  economy will come to a screeching  halt, increasing unemployment. I  can go on and on, but I think its  pretty clear that it will be a  disaster. This scheme can't last for 1  month!

• To cut electricity bill by 50% (i.e. 780 crore plus per month subsidized) within 7 days of forming gov
• To provide 700liters of pure drinking water per day per household within seven days of forming gov
• Free land line to every house hold by D15
• Dilli free of mosquito by D5 hence free of Dengue and Malaria and the likes
• Rupee 10 per kg of Onion by D3. 

The  AAP may signal the birth of honest politics (I believe it  does) but it  most likely signals the birth of Luddite and extremely  dishonest  economics. Until I read the AAP manifesto, I believed that it  was a  close race between Ms Sonia Gandhi and Mr Hugo Chavez of Venezuela  for  the title of Populist of the Century. In her spurt over the last  five  years, the close race is no more—Ms Gandhi is the champion. But I   believe the title should go to Mr Kejriwal as revealed by his economic   views as quoted above.

With AAP, where are we headed?

Delhi disappoints.

For all those people claiming that AAP was the actual winner in the elections and Congress the actual loser, well you need to reconsider.

First let us imagine the two cases, first, had AAP not been there.
In Rajasthan, Congress was portraying itself as a symbol of development, similar to Delhi. Image of Gehlot and Sheila being quite similar and also unlike Rajasthan, in Delhi government also had a tarnished image due to corruption and security of women, had it been a two way contest, it is fair to assume that Congress would have lost big and that being the case BJP would have emerged victorious. Just ask yourself who you would have voted for had AAP not been there. I'm sure had you all not been spoon fed over last one year with baseless tall clams and half baked truths, most of you would have rooted for BJP, may be just to uproot Congress from power if you would not have found any other reason.

But unfortunately that didn't happen.

What actually happened is AAP came into the scenario, resulting in a hung assembly in Delhi.

Had you asked Congress, what would they wish from 2013 Assembly Election in Delhi, given that they would lose big, they would have simply said that they would wish to prevent BJP from forming government. In which they succeeded. Now let us look at the points which support this argument of whether it's a possibility or not.

Mr. Kejriwal had been claiming that he would get complete majority in Assemble elections, sometimes he said that he would get all 70 seats while sometimes he claimed 38-50 seats, courtesy surveys they conducted through Cicero Associates & Consultants, owned by a Congress leader. Also Congress didn't campaign that extensively in Delhi. Neither the national leaders neither the ruling government. Why would they let that happen? Did they want AAP to actually emerge victorious and promote them for Loksabha elections?

Mr. Kejriwal during his entire term never revealed a single colleague or official from income tax department who was corrupt. He repeatedly says that he was fed up with the corruption in the office which led to his resigning. We all know how many politicians he claims to expose. Then why not even a single person from his office which he observed so closely?

Secondly, wife of Mr. Kejriwal is a bureaucrat in Delhi for last few years. During the whole time Congress had government in both Delhi and center. How many times was she transferred from Delhi? Seeing the power the governments have, I'm referring to cases of Durga Shakti and Khemka. How many genuinely truthful bureaucrats get this special treatment?

Talking about genuinely truthful personnel,  the first name that comes to my mind is Kiran Bedi. I'm confident that not a single person can deny that fact. Let's rewind clocks back. Kiran Bedi, who everyone saw as the role model along with Anna Hazare, the person who led the movement for RTI decide to launch a campaign against corruption. They form a team with three other people namely, Prashant Bhushan, Agnivesh, and Mr. Kejriwal. The movement got famous because of the first two people I have mentioned. They gained popularity and people associated with them. Then what happened?

Agnivesh himself confessed he was dong Congress' work. He was asked by Congress leaders to be integral part of the movement. The rest two formed the party en-cashing the popularity that the movement got solely because of Kiran Bedi and Anna Hazare. Prashant Bhushan too was famous at that time, but for his anti national stand in matter of Kashmir.

So why can't it be a possibility that Mr. Kejriwal and Prashant Bhushan too were fielded by Congress just like Agnivesh?


Now let us talk about Mr. Kejriwal too.

late M C Sharma, encounter specialist of Delhi police sacrificed his life in fight against terrorism. Two politicians claimed that it was fake. One was Amar Singh, who we all know either for his friendship with Bachchans or for his illogical comments. Second was Digvijay Singh. I don't need to tell you, but let me give an example of what he has done, he called Osama Bin Laden Ji a martyr and suggested that he should have been given proper farewell. Nevertheless, Indian judiciary gave a judgement in favor of Delhi Police, claiming that there was no reason to question martyrdom of late M C Sharma. why am I telling you this?

Mr. Kejriwal, respectfully became the third person to call the encounter fake. He even e\went to the lengths of questioning judgement by court. Where was his national spirit then? Didn't he let down the tri-colour? Thing didn't stop there, he met controversial Muslim cleric Maulana Tauqeer Raza Khan in Bareilly who has been accused of riots in Bareilly and has been source of numerous anti-nation fatwas. What does that tell us about Mr. Kejriwal? We all know that Prashant Bhushan believes that Kashmir should be separated from India. How come are they patriot they claim themselves to be.

Tehelka chairperson Tarun Tejpal is generally associated with INC. He recently was responsible for a shameful act. Shazia Ilmi, one of the biggest leaders of AAP and the one who was caught claiming that she would organize protests in exchange of money, defended her. Where are the people who claim that AAP is firm to make Delhi a safer place for women? Their biggest feminist face is busy defending a rape-accused, who confessed of all the charges. I found that shameful.

Kumar Vishwas has been most eloquent all this time. He is confident even though he was caught boasting about the black money he mints via his shows. In initial phrase of election campaigns, he claimed, "hum yahan jeetne nahi aye hain, hum to rayta falane aye hain." A common person can't miss the point, what he meant was that they want to spoil the party for BJP. Now please don't say Congress was winning this time.

Mr. Kejriwas claims he left his job of IT commissioner and could have made crores. Fact his he was never IT commissioner, in fact none of the persons in his batch is even now IT commissioner. Then why lies? False claims and misguidance, that's what AAP leaders have been doing all along.

Their arrogant supporters give illogical statement and show double standards.

AAP - we don't believe in coalition government and won't support or seek support form either BJP or Congress.
AAP - We would fight Loksabha election and would try to emerge third biggest party.

If they don't want coalition government what would they do by becoming third biggest party then?
It's clear that ultimate aim of AAP is to prevent BJP from forming government in center.

I urge you all to realize this and not let India suffer as Delhi did. We want to have a stable government with a strong leader.

For people saying "he deserves a chance" or "at least he is doing something". Don't let this chance spoil the next five years. Others might deserve the chance more.

AAP might not have been a Congress b-team, but even in that case do they  deserve the support?
Please consider these elections more than fashion statement in which you support AAP because that would give you a cool dude tag. We all know how trend savvy Delhi youth is.

Politics is not a fair game, there are always possibilities, please look into them.

PS. Thanks for reading, I'm open to all discussions. But I would request you to be precise and logical while putting forward the argument.

We owe it to them

It happened a long time back. I was in school then. I came back home after the flag hoisting ceremony. By that time dad had come back from the office too. Mom as usual was busy in her work. We started watching TV. There were some patriotic songs being telecasted on some channel. I don't know what happened all of a sudden I started crying. I was saddened by the state of the country then. I don't think I was old enough to realize these things, but I could conclude, using the little intellect I had that this was not what our freedom fighters had hoped for.

My father used to read a lot about freedom fighters and Indian history out of interest. And he used to tell me about it a lot. But I was too young to realise the gravity of the sacrifice they had made so for me they were just like the fictional characters who were ideal in each sense. Netaji, Bhagat Singh, Azad, I knew about them but never realized what their ideologies must have been.

I grew up and probably dad thought that it was more important that I should focus more on my studies or may be he got busy, or may be I got too old for the bed time stories. But that feeling of patriotism found its way to the surface every now and then, when some movie based on Bharat's martyrs used to be made. Also movies, like Swades, it was the first time i had watched a movie alone in a theatre and also it did something unique. I liked a Shah Rukh Khan movie for the first time may be. Each time a movie was made about India, highlighting patriotism I used to be moved by it. I used to decide that I'll do something for my country, may be join defence services.

But it takes a lot to give lesser importance to self. Time's different now. The need is different. But that doesn't mean it was easier back then. The sacrifices made were beyond our imaginations. Now we can't even imagine what it might have been back then. How difficult it might have been for a mother to feel proud of her son being a martyr. How difficult it would have been for young boys of our age to mould their thinking in such a way, that seeing Bharat free became their ultimate goal in life. And life? It didn't matter much to them, otherwise where did that passion that led to such a sacrifice come from?

Not just the martyrs, but everyone involved played a crucial role. I too like some used to think that role of people like Mahatma Gandhi could not be  compared to the ones who sacrificed their lives. My mom was the one who made me think otherwise. She told me to look at the work that he had done for people independent of his ideologies and biases. He too had made sacrifices far superior than an average person can even think of. And indeed he was successful in binding the nation together.

Probably people like us, people like me don't have the stature to comment on the lives that these national heroes lived. Probably we will never be able to realize what their ideologies were. We would not be able to realize how they were infused with so much passion for their motherland. We would never be able to feel the situations that can motivate a person to consider his life secondary to a purpose. We can only feel the aftermaths of their sacrifice, as we breathe in a free Bharat.

Yes we haven't achieved what they had thought of or hoped for but we still have a life time to make things right. The day will come when women would be able to roam fearlessly on the streets of Delhi at midnight. The day would surely come when politicians would be concerned for the people. The day would come when equality would prevail by all means. The day would come when we would be able to say that we have evolved as a nation our martyrs had hoped for.

A day would come when

Shaheedon ki chitaaon par lagenge har baras mele vatan par marr mitne vaalon ka yahi baaki nishaan hoga!

I hope.

Jai Hind.

Just another day

What should I do? It’s 1AM on October 3. For others this might be just a date on the calendar. But for me, it’s the day I celebrate each year. Some people say, what’s so special about a birthday, it’s just a day to remind you that you are a year older. But shouldn't we be looking for the ways to celebrate, to enjoy, finding ways to be happy? Isn't that the reason we do everything, just to smile a little bit more? Well, that’s my take. I just love to be happy in all the little ways I can.

I was in a dilemma whether to go home or stay at hostel. Last year it was an altogether different kind of celebration that I was part of at hostel. It was sarcastic and funny but at the same time worth enjoying. This is my last year at IIT but I still preferred to be at home. Mom and Dad, and both my sweet sisters have always been the ones to be happier than I could be to celebrate the day. They were the ones who actually celebrated my presence in this world right from the day one.

I have some really good friends at hostel, some might not have been present ever to wish me though during last three years, but still they are the ones who made my stay so awesome. They can wait, may be next year will celebrate with them, will give a reason to meet and remember the old times. Sounding funny? No? I intended to be.

As the clock ticked to 12, I got the calls from the persons I love the most, almost simultaneously from Mini di and Viji di. Got wished by Riya for the first time as well, she tried last time too but somehow was not able to wish me. A call from Abhishek was to follow; Arpit was the next to call, then Ayush and a message from Shubhankar telling me not to sleep for another hour as he would call then. I’m assuming rest of my friends didn't have my alternate number and hence did not call. I wish I had a spare handset. Anyways Facebook notifications remind me I have some acquaintances too who are not as lazy as I am.

What will I do for the rest of the day? Probably will go out with mom and dad, have them buy me something as a gift. Obviously I still love to have them, what if I am a year older, something that happens every year. Then, may be, will go back to hostel or may be, will postpone it till the next morning. I won’t plan anything right now; I will simply do what I’ll feel like. That’s what I've been doing all this time. Now I had never thought I would be writing this non sense at least. I mean if anyone might be reading it, I bet no one might actually read till this point, might be wondering what I really wanted to say. Is it just to let you know that I was at home, or to thank people? Well I prefer other means to do so, now at least if not earlier, to do so. I just felt like writing and I won’t bother even editing it. Sometime you just do things.

I would take some resolutions for sure this year too, like, I will study more seriously, will take out some to actually play some sport, will read some good non-fiction, will sketch more often and most importantly will try to make a girlfriend. Kidding, of course, rather I am sure am going to carry this single status to my next birthday as well.

It all comes to one last thing, being happy. Some people want a big cake to be happy while lots of gifts are what some people wish for, some like to have a drink with friends while some just wan to go out and eat some good food, some like to spend time with their loved one while some like to spend time with their loved ones, some like to hear their phone ringing every other minute while some just like to sit alone in front of their computer screen and reply to all the Facebook wall posts. It’s all about what makes one happier. I got blessings from my parents, wishes from my sisters, calls from the close friends and spent half an hour writing this blog post. And I am happy.

A panoramic mystique

I had a dream last night. Well, that’s not something unique, I remember it even now, and well that is something that usually does not happen. In the dream I was walking in some dense forest. There was a slight hint of sunlight which made its way through the dense network of leaves. There was no trace of any human existence. I ran to find my way out. The creepy creatures hindered my way, I did not know the way out, and neither had I had any hope of surviving. But what did I want? What was I running from? What was my destination? Did I want to return to the life I was so far living, or did I want to see a whole new world.

I stopped by a brook, bent down to drink the clear water that was flowing very slowly. As I picked it up it turned into a dense glittering liquid. Astonished, I took a step back as the bright silver liquid found its way through my fingers. I was taken aback by whatever it was happening. Curiosity got me to have a closer look at the water. All I saw was a plain surface, replica of a mirror. A face looked back at me as I fixed my gaze where my reflection should have been, it looked familiar, as if I had seen it all my life. It looked exactly as I had wanted myself to be.

Trees grew thinner and the battle was being won by the bright sunlight that made the place shine like a giant mirror. All the vegetation was disappearing; the tiny creepy creatures were drowning in the hard surface of a long flawless mirror. The silver dense liquid flew out of the river to cover all the ground and solidify. I looked in all the directions, as far as I could. And nowhere could I find any sign of life, just a big minor which had engulfed my whole surrounding in a span of around ten seconds. I stood there staring at Sun which was now getting dimmer.

I was sitting in darkness. I could feel the giant mirror beneath me, fighting for its identity in absence of sunlight. I could not even see my silhouette in it. Over the time I had become habitual of living in solitude, but had never experienced such loneliness ever. I have my own world within myself where I am free to imagine whatever I like. But here I was in a world where there was no inside and no outside. There were no boundaries and no restrictions. There were no rules and no limits. I thought about my existence, was anyone aware of it or was I the only one? I thought about others, did I know anyone and even if I did were they just part of my imagination? Were they part of my inner world? But there was no inner world; there were no boundaries, no separations, and no classifications. I doubted my existence, I tried to find the mirror below my feet, I bent down to touch it, but it was gone.

I tried to feel my feet, but with what, I had no fingers, no hands, and no arms. I had no face, no head, and no brain. I closed my eyes which did not exist and flowed in the air that had never been there. Despite all this, I could feel. I could feel the eerie calmness that transformed into eternal peace as I accepted the reality. There was nothing to seek, nowhere to go to. I could feel the solitude which transformed into companionship provided by the darkness; the darkness which transformed into a heavenly light as I opened my light brown eyes. The mirror beneath my feet cracked to make way for the trees that had grown. The broken bits of mirror flowed back into the river. The water splashed on my face. The insects no longer looked creepy. The sunlight was warm and comforting as the Sun grew brighter and mightier.

I moved forward to look at my reflection in the water that had now become calm. There was me staring back, the person I had always known, with a slight grin on the face. It seems as if he wanted to say something, but was not ready to speak. The constant gaze was expressive enough. I grinned back at him, closed my eyes to open them and come back to the world I was familiar with. I woke up, with a message to decipher, the code had been cracked. I had a question as well as the answer.

Latched window and the closed door

I often look back at things, I often need some introspection to find out what I did right and what all went wrong. I listen to music, sometimes pass my time writing, rarely I would sketch something but most of the time I keep myself occupied thinking about all sorts of things, mostly related to myself in some direct sense. I'm not yet mature enough to qualify my actions appropriate or childlike. Before doing something even now at times I think very little, not weighing the consequences or what all my actions might translate into. Next month I'll turn 22 and I am yet to grow up.

I often walk to Abhinav's room to talk. In a way he is a lot different from any other friend I have here at college. Actually everyone is different, be it pseudo-intellectual talks with iSid or discussing about personal life with Ayush. Abhishek is always in a mood to tease while Siddharrth is always there to make me realize that there would always be people who are far lazier than I am. Aatish would walk past me while discussing what to do with our respective professional lives, while simply greeting others on my way to room is sufficient with most of my hostel mates.

Abhinav sometimes exaggerates way too much that things might appear impossible but in some ways he gives the hint of how things really are. We talk about all sorts of things and he leaves no chance to make me realize that I’m still away from the real world. Sarcastically I said that may be people still think that I’m not old enough to share some sorts of talks, he took less than a second to portray my statement as truth.

I often think, is it part of my nature, or the cloak of values and ethics that has led me to lead this life containing constraints I have set for myself. I often ask myself if my behavior is synonymous to the conservative attitude. I have, depending on the expectations of others, my own past experiences and also words of wisdom from people who matter have set some rules for me. There are certain things that I have decided would shape my life in a way I want.

I try my best to be good to everyone. Sometimes I do well, sometimes I fail too. But nonetheless, I try not to offend anyone in anyway. But acting well, at least to some people, is it always the right approach? I live a life which is very different from the people who are around me. I'm not someone who would crumble under peer pressure, but at some point in time, I’m bound to realize that may be my definition of happiness was not perfect. Should I have tried to change? Or am I the best the way I am? But what's the use of all these polite gestures when there's no one to appreciate. Should I be content with just my self appreciation? Or should I go with the flow of the times. There is a lot to answer. I'm yet to find them out. 

I’m different and I don’t like bragging about it. I don’t impose my thoughts on anyone and don’t expect them to do so either. So what exactly is the right way, the one I’m leading or the one which I could have? I see from a distance people enjoying different things, but I am always at a distance, prohibiting myself from all. Important thing is being aware of everything. And while talking with Abhinav, I always have come face to face with reality, though an exaggerated version, but I can always alter them to fit the possibilities that exist.

Whatever I say or write might not always make sense to you, the one who is reading it. I would not like to explain it either. But the interesting thing is, how you would interpret it. There are only a few people who would know what I mean, and that’s what makes it so exciting. So am looking at my inbox, may be I’ll get a message or two asking and clarifying. I’m waiting.

The helping hand

One day a man saw an old lady, stranded on the side of the road, but even in the dim light of day, he could see she needed help. So he pulled up in front of her new Honda Civic and got out. His old car was still sputtering when he approached her.

Even with the smile on his face, she was worried. No one had stopped to help for the last hour or so. Was he going to hurt her? He didn’t look safe; he looked poor and hungry. He could see that she was frightened, standing out there in the cold. He knew how she felt. It was those chills which only fear can put in you. He said, “I’m here to help you, ma’am. Why don’t you wait in the car where it’s warm? By the way, my name is Rahul Mehra.”

Well, all she had was a flat tire, but for an old lady, that was bad enough. Rahul crawled under the car looking for a place to put the jack, skinning his knuckles a time or two. Soon he was able to change the tire. But he had to get dirty and his hands hurt.

As he was tightening up the lug nuts, she rolled down the window and began to talk to him. She told him that she was from Dehradoon and was only just passing through. She couldn’t thank him enough for coming to her aid.

Rahul just smiled as he closed her trunk. The lady asked how much she owed him. Any amount would have been all right with her. She already imagined all the awful things that could have happened had he not stopped. Rahul never thought twice about being paid. This was not a job to him. This was helping someone in need, and God knows there were plenty, who had given him a hand in the past. He had lived his whole life that way, and it never occurred to him to act any other way.

He told her that if she really wanted to pay him back, the next time she saw someone who needed help, she could give that person the assistance they needed, and Rahul added, “And think of me.”

He waited until she started her car and drove off. It had been a cold and depressing day, but he felt good as he headed for home, disappearing into the twilight.

A few miles down the road the lady saw a small cafe. She went in to grab a bite to eat, and take the chill off before she made the last leg of her trip home. It was a dingy looking restaurant. Outside were two old petrol pumps. The whole scene was unfamiliar to her. The waitress came over and brought a clean towel to wipe her wet hair. She had a sweet smile, one that even being on her feet for the whole day couldn’t erase. The lady noticed the waitress was pregnant, but she never let the strain and aches change her attitude. The old lady wondered how someone who had so little could be so giving to a stranger. Then she remembered Rahul.

After the lady finished her meal, she paid with a thousand rupee note. The waitress quickly went to get change for her hundred dollar bill, but the old lady had slipped right out the door. She was gone by the time the waitress came back. The waitress wondered where the lady could be. Then she noticed something written on the napkin.

There were tears in her eyes when she read what the lady wrote: “You don’t owe me anything. I have been there too. Somebody once helped me out, the way I’m helping you. If you really want to pay me back, here is what you do: Do not let this chain of love end with you.”

Under the napkin were nine more 1000 rupee notes.

Well, there were tables to clear, sugar bowls to fill, and people to serve, but the waitress made it through another day. That night when she got home from work and climbed into bed, she was thinking about the money and what the lady had written. How could the lady have known how much she and her husband needed it? With the baby due in a couple of month, it was going to be hard.

She knew how worried her husband was, and as he lay sleeping next to her, she gave him a soft kiss and whispered soft and low, “Everything’s going to be all right. I love you, Rahul Mehra.”

Together we win

Sometimes people come into your life and you know right away that they were meant to be there, to serve some sort of purpose, teach you a lesson, or to help you figure out who you are or who you want to become. You never know who these people may be – a roommate, a neighbor, a professor, a friend, a lover, or even a complete stranger – but when you lock eyes with them, you know at that very moment they will affect your life in some profound way. But sometimes inspiration comes from people you don’t really expect would inspire you. And those are the ones that leave the deepest impact on you.

I was in 3^rd year of my graduation. The college had organized a sports meet and I was the member of student organizing team. IIT Delhi being a reputed college, the sports meet had to be a big event. As our side events, we decided to organize some events for physically disabled children from a nearby school. We thought it would be best to organize it along with the opening ceremony, otherwise gathering audience for the event would have been problem. Turned out that it was the best decision we took.

After the march past of all the participating colleges and a speech by our institute director, a 100 meter race was scheduled for the disabled kids. Nine contestants, all physically or mentally disabled, assembled at the starting line. All the college students were waiting eagerly for best march past award to be declared. The stadium was jam packed. We thought that it would turn out as an encouragement for the kids to perform in front of such a large audience.

At the gun, they all started out, not exactly in a dash, but with a relish to run the race to the finish and win. All the participants slowly started running, the best they could do, except one boy who stumbled on the asphalt, tumbled over a couple of times, fell down and began to cry. The other eight heard him, slowed down and looked back. Every one of them stopped running, before any volunteer could reach the boy to assist him, they all went back to him. One girl with Down's syndrome bent down and kissed him and said, "This will make it better."

They slowly picked the boy up and consoled him. Then something happened that none of us really expected. All nine linked arms and walked across the finish line together. Everyone in the stadium stood, and the cheering went on for several minutes.

The aim of organizing the race was to give those little kids some confidence, but rather they taught us a lesson. There are things which matter more than winning. What truly matters in this life is helping others win, even if it means slowing down and changing our course. They taught us all to win together.

Heads or Tails

There may be days when you get up in the morning and things aren't the way you had hoped they would be. That's when you have to tell yourself that things will get better. There are times when people disappoint you and let you down. But those are the times when you must remind yourself to trust your own judgments and opinions, to keep your life focused on believing in yourself. There will be challenges to face and changes to make in your life, and it is up to you to accept them. Rohan was tired of facing failures, from within he was broken. Eight months, since he graduated, yet to find a job. “Only if I had a better luck.” He said to himself.

Every day he would wake up and have the same schedule. Check e-mails, hoping for a positive reply, then checking mailbox outside his apartment. Getting fresh, eating cereals, looking for new job opportunities in classified section of four different newspapers. Going for lunch, in the nearby restaurant, ‘9-7-5’. Coming back, checking e-mails, then mails again. Posting new job applications, listen to songs, mostly by Nirvana or Evanescence, then wait for dinner, go to 9-7-5 again, coming back to home, lying in bed, watch television for some time, hoping for a better tomorrow.

He used to be very social, had lots of friends when he was in school. Literally everyone in college knew him. No one had ever thought he would be so isolated after passing out from the college. But things changed, he loathed it now when someone he knew would call him and show his/her concerns. The only people he talked to now were his mother who knew that the best way to tackle this situation would be to let him do whatever he wishes to do, his cousin Neha, who would regularly call him to talk about herself and Ishan, manager of 9-7-5 who was about the same age. Initially Rohan hated him, for he was always way too friendly than what a restaurant manager should be. But now he was one of his best friends. He still hates him though.

Ishan was the kind of guy you love to hate. He was always in a good mood, wearing a smile and always had something positive to say. When someone would ask him how he was doing, he would reply, "If I were any better, well that would be a new species!" He was a unique manager because every employee he had was happy working under him, unlike what you usually have. The reason was his attitude. He was a natural motivator. Worried about anything? meet Ishan. Confused what to do? Meet Ishan. He always looked for positives no matter what the situation was. If an employee was having a bad day, Ishan was there telling him how to look on the positive side of the situation. He was the kind of person you could never imagine being worried about anything.

Well, Rohan could see that Ishan was completely opposite of what he was. Seeing this style really made Rohan curious, so one day he went up to Ishan and asked him, "I don't get it! You can't be a positive person all of the time. How do you do it?"

Ishan replied, "Each morning I wake up and say to myself, Ishan, you have two choices today. You can choose to be in a good mood or you can choose to be in a bad mood. I choose to be in a good mood. Each time something bad happens, I can choose to be a victim or I can choose to learn from it. I choose to learn from it. Every time someone comes to me complaining, I can choose to accept their complaining or I can point out the positive side of life. I choose the positive side of life."

"Yeah, right, it's not that easy," Rohan protested.

"Yes it is," Ishan said. "Life is all about choices. When you cut away all the junk, every situation is a choice. You choose how you react to situations. You choose how people will affect your mood. You choose to be in a good mood or bad mood. The bottom line: It's your choice how you live life."

Rohan reflected on what Ishan said. Often after dinner, he would have a small chat with his new friend. He became more positive in his approach, performed better in job interviews and soon thereafter, he got a job offer from a multinational company in Bangalore. Obviously Ishan was the first to know. Rohan moved to Bangalore and soon lost touch with Ishan, but often thought about him when he made a choice about life instead of reacting to it.

Several years later, he heard that Ishan did something you are never supposed to do in a restaurant business: he left the back door open one morning and was held up at gunpoint by three armed robbers. While trying to open the safe, his hand, shaking from nervousness, slipped off the combination. The robbers panicked and shot him. Luckily, Ishan was found relatively quickly and rushed to the local trauma center. After 18 hours of surgery and weeks of intensive care, Ishan was released from the hospital with fragments of the bullets still in his body.

Rohan saw Ishan about six months after the accident. When he asked him how he was, he replied, " If I were any better, well that would be a new species! Wanna see my scars?" Rohan declined to see his wounds, but did ask him what had gone through his mind as the robbery took place.

"The first thing that went through my mind was that I should have locked the back door," Ishan replied. "Then, as I lay on the floor, I remembered that I had two choices: I could choose to live, or I could choose to die. I chose to live.”

"Weren't you scared? Did you lose consciousness?" Rohan asked.

Ishan continued, "The paramedics were great. They kept telling me I was going to be fine. But when they wheeled me into the emergency room and I saw the expressions on the faces of the doctors and nurses, I got really scared. In their eyes, I read, ‘He's a dead man.’ I knew I needed to take action. The Nurse asked if I was allergic to anything. ‘Yes’ I replied. The doctors and nurses stopped working as they waited for my reply. I took a deep breath and yelled, 'Bullets!' Over their laughter, I told them, 'I am choosing to live. Operate on me as if I am alive, not dead."

Ishan lived thanks to the skill of his doctors, but also because of his amazing attitude. Rohan learned from him that every day one has the choice to live fully. So when the days come that are filled with frustration and unexpected responsibilities, one should remember to believe in himself and all one wants his life to be. Because the challenges and changes will only help one to find the goals that are meant to come true. Afterall, it’s your attitude that matters. As you know, you are the one to choose.

The Gift from Katie

Six minutes to six says the great round clock over my study desk.  There are still more than six hours before I turn twenty one. Every single time my birthday approaches, I’m forced to remember Katie.

Hi. My name is Harry. Sometimes I wish my life was as adventurous as Harry Potter’s was. But I am more than happy to live my more than ordinary life. Some people say I talk like old folks when I say life is all about being happy, but I don’t care. I have another half century to live and I’ll live it in the best way I can. And for me best way would be to see everyone smile.

Birthdays have always been the most exciting days of my life. I used to start waiting for January 20 from January 21 itself. As a young child I can always remember waking up and looking around myself for the biggest box. I always believed that within the biggest box lied the most expensive and best gift. What I dearly wanted as a birthday gift was wings, I dreamed to fly, fly above the clouds just like birds, fly so high that I could see what was beyond the blue sky and tell my mom that stars were not actually that far as she told me.

In life you always have such experiences that you can never forget, some haunt you for the lifetime while others become the sweet lovable and adorable memories. They shape your way of thinking and change your approach towards life. I didn’t know one such experience would be on my birthday, and it would have such an impact on me. It was Friday afternoon. I was happy; of course I was, as finally it was much awaited January the 20^th, my 11^th birthday. What a feeling it used to be to celebrate birthday in those days, no school uniform, distributing toffees, you could skip homework as teachers won’t punish you.

I had an awesome day so far. Mom had gifted me a Nintendo just as she promised as I woke up. I was walking back to my home, as I always used to do. I loved my way back home. The avenue was lined with dense oak trees. I loved the patterns of light formed on the road as light slithers past through the tiny slits between the leaves. Even though mom warned me not to, I used to play with the new born puppies that were always waiting for me to give them my sweets. Just in front of my house was the park where I grew up playing. The rare bright sun was so inviting that I could not resist going to the park. I gave my schoolbag to the maid housekeeper and went straight to the swing.

The park was empty. No one plays there on a Friday afternoon. In about two or three hours it would be completely filled with children playing football. There was no friend of mine there. Nevertheless, I marched towards the swing. A girl was sitting there. I walked to the swing beside her and sat, intentionally ignoring the crutches she was holding in her hands.

“Hi, I’m Harry.”

“Nice to meet you, Harry. I’m Katie”

“Pleased to meet you too. Do you live here? I’ve never seen you.”

“Yes, two blocks down the road. I don’t generally come to the park. Daddy brought me today, as I was not feeling well enough to go to school and was getting too much bored at home.”

“You know, whenever I’m sick I feel better because I don’t have to go to school. But today I would have gone even if I was sick, it’s my birthday.”

“Happy Birthday Harry! I think I might have a gift for you.”

She hesitantly moved down. She was walking very slowly holding tightly her crutches towards her bag and as was about to sit stumbled on the grass. I ran to her and asked if she was fine, she nodded with a smile.

“I’m really sorry.” I showed my concern.

 “You don’t worry, am used to it, happens a lot of time with me.”

“What happened to your legs?” I asked.

“Nothing much, doctor says, I’m a bit weak.”

“Oh! Are you suffering from some disease?”

“Hmmm, sort of.”

“Get well soon.”

“Thanks!”

As we continued our talk, I got to know her more. She said she was happy with her life. She didn’t regret being born with a disability as it made her special, she grinned and said, at least she was not like any other ordinary kid. I doubted whether she really meant so.  She said she was sure one day she too would play football. She said that if she would get an opportunity, she would dance better than Michael Jackson. She was sure that one day there would be a miracle that will bring her on her feet. “Being ordinary too isn’t that bad I think. Worth a shot!”

The two of us played for some time. We made sand castles and made really funny sounds which made us laugh real hard. We continued to talk about our friends. Time passed so fast. Then Katie's father came with a wheelchair to pick her up. I ran over to her father and asked if I could have just two more minutes. He agreed.

I said to Katie, " I wish that there was something that I could do to make you walk and run like other little boys and girls. But I can't. But there is something that I want to do for you."

I told her to slide up onto my back. I then began to run across the grass. I ran faster, carrying the little Katie on my back. Faster and harder I ran across the park. Soon the wind just whistled across our faces. She stretched her arms wide and closed her eyes. My dream to fly was being fulfilled.

Katie's father began to cry as he watched his beautiful little daughter flapping her arms up and down in the wind, all the while yelling at the top of his voice,

"Look Daddy, I'm flying!"

I dreamed of flying. May be I never would be able to, but through Katie, I soared high above in my sky of thoughts. I felt happier than ever. For the first time I was the reason for someone’s smile.

I ran towards my home. Went inside, fetched a few toffees and a couple of chocolates and gave it to her. By the time I returned she was ready with a card she made. It had just two words, “Thank You”. I waved her goodbye, as she went in her wheelchair with her father. I glanced at the card she gave me. Those two words meant a lot to me. I never met her again. I used to look for her each time I came back from school. But the swing was always empty.

Ever since then I try to put a smile on someone’s face every day. I start conversations in the elevators. I compliment strangers on their clothing. I even make jokes in a crowded Delhi Metro. People may think I am stupid, but I know there is a chance that I’m making someone’s day, who may one day give me a note that says, “Thank you”.