A Monday

                 It is very difficult for a person who is so fond of going office every day without fail, to stay at home on a day which is neither weekend nor a holiday and when he’s not feeling ill either. The world looks so calm and serene to him that he can’t believe how much he missed the life while he was busy all the day in his office..

                 It was a Monday. The previous day, though for the entire world, was not a holiday for Rattan. As the vacations for Diwali got over, he was back to the work, but only for two days, after which he fell sick. Coming home in the middle of his work on Sunday, he took a good rest and finally recovered. The Monday morning was difficult for him as he woke up late and had not decided whether to go office. Being absent without any reason was going to be disastrous for him, as he barely knew what to do for the whole day except his routine office work. It was 9’o clock already and there were little chances of reaching on time now. The years of work and hardship had given him a lot of leave balance and he had not used it much. Though, he was at home for Diwali, a vacation of 3 days was barely sufficient for him. So he decided to stay back and explore his own vicinity where he was staying for past five years.

                 Rattan was used to the office breakfast which had limited choices. Today, he decided to make something on his own. He tried to recollect any recipe that he might know. The list was small, so he browsed through it in his mind. Working as a computer engineer had made him expert in quick mental calculations. It took no time for him to realize that he can’t really make anything worth eating for breakfast. So he just opened his bag and started searching for something to eat. Accidently he found a packet of homemade ‘sevaiya’ that his mom had given him a few days ago when he was home for Diwali. Something rolled in his mind and he decided to prepare kheer for breakfast.

                  He ran towards the nearest dairy but unfortunately it was closed. He decided to try searching in the village that was behind his building. Rattan jumped over the compound wall and entered the tiny village which was somehow stuck in the buildings of this rising city. A man was sitting there with his buffalo. Next to him was a kettle full of milk. Rattan’s eyes shined with a glow. He asked the milkman to fetch him as much milk as it was needed to make kheer. The milkman dipped his bowl into the kettle and took out a liter of milk. Surprisingly, Rattan had not brought anything with him to carry the milk. So he brought the entire kettle from the milkman, paying the price for the kettle too!

                  When Rattan returned home after this adventure, it was well past 11’o clock. The breakfast time was long gone but he still decided to try his recipe. He put some ghee in a vessel, turned the stove on and threw a handful of sevaiya in it. Since the quantity of it was not too much, he emptied the whole packet in it. Then he poured as much milk as possible in the vessel. He didn't forget to add sugar and all the dry-fruits which were not taken out of fridge for several weeks. He started mixing it all with a smile on his face.

                   Jawed woke up and came out hearing the unfamiliar voice of Rattan singing a song.

“What’s up bro!”

“Hey bro, good morning!”

“Good morning ‘eh.. what you doing?”

“Nothing .. just making some breakfast”

“Wow.. looks like we’ve got a chef at home”

“Haha.. yeah”

“Hey wait shouldn’t you be at work by this time?”

“Nope. It’s a week off”

“It was yesterday, man… it’s Monday now!”

“Yeah.. still, it’s a day off”

                  Rattan finished making the kheer and started pouring it all in a big bowl. Jawed was going to insert his finger in the bowl to be the first one to taste it.

“Stop. What you doing?”

“Tasting it..”

“No. not here”

“Then where?”

“You know what I saw today morning….”

                   Both of them came out with the big bowl of kheer in their hand. They started walking towards the village behind their colony. It was Jawed’s first time there and Rattan was guiding him into the tiny streets of it. This morning, when Rattan was out to seek milk in his vicinity, he had seen a world which was so close to him, yet so far from him. There were children roaming around there, with a piece of biscuit in their hand which was a gift for them from some stranger. There were no clothes on them but still the broken toy in their hand was the dearest possession they were holding. On the day of Diwali, they must have looked at the children in the tall buildings of the vicinity enjoying with the crackers full of colors and amazing sounds. But here, their day might have gone without a meal. Rattan saw all this with his eyes and was shocked to see that a world outside his office was indeed in existence. This world, in fact held more challenges than his office!

                    Today, he had decided to make kheer, not only for him, but also for all those tiny angels of his locality who might have missed the fun on this Diwali. He, with Jawed reached the village where the kids were playing. As all of them smelled the aroma of something beautiful in the hands of their dada, whom they had met a few hours ago, they came running towards him. Jawed gave them all spoons but didn't forget to keep one for him. Everyone enjoyed the experimental recipe of Rattan. The children were feeding him sitting on his lap. It was a wonderful afternoon indeed!

                     After returning home with the empty bowl, Rattan smiled and promised himself to do this often. Jawed too was happy as never before. A week-day at home was well worth it! 

"Trusting like a child"

When I was an innocent child

I used to cry & shout like a dog gone wild.

That’s when things started going against my will

I needed someone who would understand how I feel.

The quest for a helping hand begun then

I cried in front of all men & women;

They laughed at me thinking I would soon be fine

But never listened to me or feelings of mine

I didn't need sympathy or support

For that, I was not weak

I was man enough when listened to

But when ignored by all, I would be a freak

I may not be strong enough, not as you

Try being ‘me’ sometime, walk in my shoe

I will bother you not, nor will ask for anything

Let’s talk for a while, then dance & sing

One day then, my friend appeared from nowhere

His name now forgotten though, ‘coz I didn’t seem to care

I grumbled under my breath in  my uneasiness

‘Tell me’ he asked ‘what’s bothering you these days?’

Now I was stupefied when he asked me to speak out

I collected my thoughts, ready to spout 

With the words from heart, all the worries came out

Slowly, then I felt lighter, and did not have to shout

I was happy to have  someone listening to me

For all the peace I needed, this was indeed the key

All the pain in your heart will seem so mild

When you try opening up your heart to someone and start trusting like a child!

= = =

Often the bridge between despair and hope is 

an open, honest conversation

SAMARITANS HELPLINE, MUMBAI

022-3247-3267

Tiger and his fish

              Back when, in the dense forests of Sundarbans, lived two gargantuan tigers, one was called ‘Shera’ while the other was known as ‘Bagha’ to the jungle. Not to mention, both of them had established a terrifying rule in the stretch of the forest.

             Shera and Bagha used to go in the Hooghly river every day to take bath. While they submerged in the shallow waters of the river, catching a fish or two for a quick snack was common for them. It had become a daily activity, as no one ever had shown any dissatisfaction over it. Rather no one dared to do so. Both used to have a fun time catching fish and throwing it over one another. Swallowing it without giving a time for that fish to open eyes in the air. Every now and then, there used to be rivalry among them over ‘who catches more today’.

              Slowly they realized that the number of fish in the river was decreasing rapidly due to their thoughtless consumption in the last few months. Bagha suggested to Shera, “ Hey look, here we have to stop and think. I just realized the number of fish in the river downstream has started declining rapidly. See, these orangutans are not being able to get anything even after hours of patience, just on the other side of this river. Don’t you think we should reduce eating fishes here?”

              

                   “Why do you bother about it when nobody has complained about it yet?”, asked Shera.  "Besides, we are the ‘Tigers’ of this jungle. We are supreme and it’s our right to get whatever we want. Or else what is the use of this authority which our ancestors have established in the jungle?”

                  “But” Bagha exclaimed, “ Don’t you think it’s unnecessarily snatching something from someone which is really not ours? We get plenty of preys in the jungle all the time..” Shera interrupted in between, “Who told you we are snatching from others? We are eating fish there for such a long time and no one ever has asked us to stop doing it. I don’t think there’s a point in going without fish from this river, even after having no obstacle for it. In any case, I will continue doing it, no matter what.”

                  

                   Now looking at the Shera’s obstinate stand, Bagha decided go alone with his new protocol. Earlier, both of them used to catch fish every day of the month. Now Bagha stopped catching fish for twenty five days of the month, while retaining the habit for the last five days. He also tried to convince other tigers of the area to do the same in order to have a balance among the animals in the jungle. Some of them agreed too. Soon he had a lot of followers in other jungles as well.  Meanwhile, Shera continued to do it for full thirty days of the month.

                   Animals in the jungle were surprised by this 'pro-prey' policy of Bagha and soon they were talking over with another about his greatness.

                Someone said, “Bagha is now realizing what it is like giving up selfishness.” “He can be a messiah for the animals of the jungle to save them from hunters”, somebody gave an opinion “He is a wonderful beast as, in spite of being a tiger, he has put on display a rare act of sacrifice.”

               

                While this admiration of the acts of Bagha was going on, a bright young baboon finished his banana , hurled the peel away and came down from a nearby tree. 

                  He interrupted everyone with his loud burrrp. “Bagha may have given up fishing for the twenty five days” everyone listened “but you know what, this so called messiah of the jungle still catches fish for the rest five days of the month”. Everyone started looking at each other’s face in bewilderment. Though not very shocking, but this news was indeed new to them and deserved an attention.
                “This is so ridiculous!” the baboon continued, “While on one side, you pretend to care for other animals of jungle and on the other side you are betraying their trust. This Bagha is making fool of us. We want explanation for those last five days of the month” Everyone appreciated the way that little baboon had saved them from such a conspicuous betrayal.

                 
                  All of them were now talking about the bad effects of Bagha catching fish from the river.

                 “How can he suggest us to consider common good of jungle when he himself is not following it?”, a tiger said who had recently stopped catching fishes from the same river. “What he thinks he is.. How can he call himself benevolent when the last five days of the month are so dark in his month?”

     

                               

                    He was now known as a liar and a tiger that no one can trust.

                     Soon, the entire jungle started blaming Bagha. “Who are you to tell us what to do and what not to, when you yourself are a liar and untrustworthy?” They also found that his brother had links with the tigers of the neighboring jungle. Somebody found “this tiger had once killed an innocent tiny rabbit for no reason” Someone got a clue for possible links of Bagha with a hunter who had animals of this jungle on his target. One animal questioned, "why the cave of Bagha  was located at the best place in the jungle” “this place was snatched by his ancestors four generations  ago from the local animals here”.

                    Bagha cried in his cave. 

                   “Bagha, why did you even think of abstaining from fishing for those twenty five days when you won’t be following it for the next five days? Don’t you know the five days will sooner or later outweigh the righteousness of twenty five days? All your sacrifice and your ideologies are useless when you possess something to be caught between a rock and a hard place.”

                     He had to eventually leave the jungle.

                     ...

                     Shera composedly came out the river with three fishes in his mouth. He grinned as he gulped down the tenth fish of the day through his throat. 

                      He sat under a nearby tree where a baboon was quietly eating bananas and thought, “Lame animals!”.

P.S. This story doesn't have any connection with the anarchists trying to change the system. Any similarity is purely a coincidence. 

Second opinion

No wonder, looking at the recent developments with the aam aadmi party, it is natural to feel that they are self-proclaimed-idealists, leftists, opportunists, cowards, B team of BJP/congress, anti-industry, delhi centric, dramebaaz, feku. There is no harm in looking at the freshly created party with conjecture. Also, it is but obvious to feel disappointed by them when they failed to bring the janlokpal bill in delhi, when they attacked vehemently the Gujarat development model, when they made allegations against some corrupt politicians and did not follow through. The feeling of betrayal against AAP when we see a senior party leader discussing what to show and what not to show in his interview with the anchor is nothing but natural. However, it doesn’t’ take much time to introspect and think over it- What exactly is the thing that this party, created by people-of people lacks and where there is the scope for improvement.

                  The party lacks experienced candidates to contest in elections. True. Because it was formed only fifteen months ago and had contested in only one state assembly election. Wait, but they formed government there and brought anti-corruption helpline and.. (list of works AAP did through Delhi government in 49 days). It won’t be wrong if we count this as ‘experience’.

There are things or two to consider before we talk about lack of experience. British had experience of ruling the country for 150 years and Nehru had none. Still, we preferred handing over the control of India to the inexperienced Indians. Why? Because we knew that a common man in India has the potential to run this country through democratic system of governance. Though we were not sure about ability of our leaders to make the India of our dreams a reality, we were confident that the youth of India has the ability to create miracles when they are included in government through universal adult suffrage.

               

              Yes, we had hopes and hence we had taken the chance. Now the time has come to revise our system. People reaped the right to elect their own leaders through voting sixty six years ago, as they were sure that their representatives will serve their purpose best when we support them. Today however, we need to add mere one more step to this. Showing support to the representatives is not enough. Helping them achieve the goals set by government through public participation and keeping a watch on functioning of state so that no mafia takes control over it, is to be seen as the voluntary responsibility of citizens. For this, we need leaders who will listen to us. Better, if they are the ones among us. So let’s look at this- (candidates who care for people)

                Every citizen needs to have a role in taking administrative decisions of public interest. For this we will require rule of people, ‘Swaraj’. Meaning of this- for example, we need mohalla sabhas to get opinion of citizens on various issues so that public decisions are taken by people, with the help of leaders. (Telengana Bill passed behind closed doors in Lok Sabha)

There is an idea of self-rule by people, worth having a look at- ‘how we can be a part of government’. To express the views in this regard, provisions of which were asserted as the manifesto of IAC campaign by Anna Hazare during the JanLokpal movement, is absolutely necessary. Diverting from the center of party ideology, which is Swaraj may lead to dereliction by again, people of this country and this indeed is an area for improvement.

             This graffiti made by me three years ago makes much more sense today than ever. Who said the problems of India will be solved just by electing honest and capable candidates to parliament? They are wrong. The responsibility of citizens cannot and should not end here. Everyone believes that politics is filthy and you need to be stubborn and tough enough to be in it. But how much time we take out to think about the freedom struggle, which was more or less incarnation of common people and their efforts to bring freedom to their motherland? All over the world, people have shown that will power of mass of individuals makes impossible things possible. ( by the way Dan Brown agrees with this, in his book ‘The lost symbol’, must read! )

             A common man should get credit for the positive developments in society which eventuate as a result of their collective thinking. (http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/caught-in-sting-two-up-leaders-sacked-from-aap/article5814655.ece)  (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=25mG_qHWcfA) Though the tough step was taken by a party, the credit goes to public. Because, it is the positive pressure created by people which eventually reflects in decisions of leaders. The party might be doing it for political gains, but there are the civilians who scrutinize the moves of political players, keep a watch on them and assert them to take the right path. There is a scope for improvement when we conceive here that nominating only and only honest candidates will get firm backing by the aam janta whom they are fighting for.

             Sometimes, while forming an opinion based on a statement, we take short-cuts. This is human tendency and there is absolutely nothing wrong in it. But disadvantage of these short-cuts is that we miss the whole picture. We solely need to understand the meaning of a statement rightly. In other words, looking at both sides of a coin. When a news channel anchor proclaims- "to say that millions of people studied JanLokpal bill and then came out on street to demand for it to be passed, is wrong." In one instant, the immediate interpretation of these words comes out to be – “no one cared about JanLokpal bill, everyone was out on street because of anger against corruption”. But if we stay here for an instant and look at it again, we realize that it indicates to something else too. The other side of coin reads that- indeed there were people who cared for JanLokpal bill (not everyone though) and came out enthusiastically on streets to support it! The moment we will be able to see the positive side of such statements, we realize where we have scope for improvement.

               The one thing that easily escaped the attention of public was that, the funding AAP gets for running this mission is cent percent coming from legitimate sources. It is a great victory for people when they have enabled the candidates to campaign and contest elections with pure white money. It gets enormous weight in a country like India where there was no accountability for party financing and nobody even cared for it, as we assumed very conveniently that you need ‘connections’ to contest elections. (https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=701438936588330) We had made up our mind that without truckload of cash, we can’t get elected. But thanks to the people of Delhi, they showed us what can be done by a party with donation of rupees twenty crores by public and their ceaseless support for honest politics. (http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2013-12-26/news/45592936_1_delhi-assembly-elections-aap-delhi-polls) It blows our minds when we see that an extraordinary thing was done by an ordinary party- They stopped taking donations when the target of rupees twenty crores was met. Unthinkable thing in Indian politics! Extending the sincere appreciation to people, for accentuating the power of honesty, does have a scope for improvement here.

                    The leaders of AAP have often changed their decisions. Bad. Very bad. But can be a positive interpretation of it? Being flexible(opposite of STUBBORN?) is one thing, being fake nice to people and then talking shit about them behind their back is another. If you're truly being FLEXIBLE then you're not being two faced, you're just being mature.

आता मागे वळणे नाही

गर्द काळोखात निराशाच्या साम्राज्यात

काट्यांच्या वाटेवर उतरलो मी त्या निराळ्या युद्धात

एकट्या वाटतील वाटा नि दुरावतील आपले काही

तरी क्रांतीच्या वाटेवर आता मागे वळणे नाही

सोडावे लागतील जरी रत्नांचे ते हार

तेवढाच कमी होईल डोईवरचा आसुरी भार

सोसावे जरी लागले शब्द नि अस्त्रांचे प्रहार

लक्ष लक्ष घावांतून न्हाऊन निघावा देह चिरकाल

सिंहासन अर्पिले ज्यांना मी कोट्यावधी अपेक्षांनी

कोट्यावधींच्याचच अपेक्षा होत्या त्यांच्या ठायी ठायी

असंतोष हा मनात आपल्या, की मनात सर्वांच्याही

मनाच्या क्रांतीच्या वाटेवर आता मागे वळणे नाही

झोंबते ती साठी, आली घेऊन व्यवस्थेची दुर्दशा

योजनांचे भिनले जाळे, मात्र सामन्यांच्या पदरी निराशा

झोपड्या वाढत जाती अन् त्यांचे इमारतींवरून जुंपले

विकासाची पाहता स्वप्ने, कोसळती लोकशाहीच्या पत्त्यांचे बंगले

आवाज न माझा कुणी एके ना ओरडणे मला जमते

सुरु करता एक लढाई, स्वातंत्र्य तेथे आपले संपते

सहनशक्तीचा अंत पाहून झाली अंगाची लाही लाही

तरी क्रांतीच्या वाटेवर आता मागे वळणे नाही

उठून राहावे उभे पण सांगावे ते किती अन् कुणाला

कान सर्वदा टवकारलेले दलालीसाठी सरसावायला

पडला पिडितांचा विसर त्यांना, भरताना आपले खिसे

मतांची करताना अपेक्षा , उपेक्षा सामन्यांची न दिसे

खरडले कितीही तरी न मिळे उत्तर ना प्रतिसाद

आता बदलांचे वाहू लागले वारे, केला स्फूर्तीचा शंखनाद

अडथळ्यांसोबतच आशाही दिसली न्याहाळता दिशा दाही

म्हणूनच क्रांतीच्या वाटेवर आता मागे वळणे नाही

क्रांतीच्या वाटेवर आता मागे वळणे नाही...!