Surviving the Black Day!

Today is a Black Day in India! Sixteen years after the demolition of the Babri Masjid mosque, the angst is still felt everywhere in India on this particular day! On every 6^th of December citizens of all religions are chanting only one prayer: “there shouldn’t be any mishap today and I and my family should return home safe and sound!” Frankly speaking I did not know much about Black Day till yesterday. Many of my friends started getting alert messages over their cell phones to be careful about December 6^th, the Black Day of India! They warned them to stay against all troubled areas, people and public spots too. Several of them in fact were strictly asked to stay back at home too.

My day today started off with news reports regarding the beefed up securities across India. All the metro cities and prominent places in the cities were put on high alert! The police spent sleepless nights over the past few days to ensure that the security measures were flawless. All places including hospitals, airports, hotels, malls, temples, market areas, mosques etc were all under radar, inspected, searched and protected. The Police people were all around the country, cities and everywhere highly vigilant and active. Wow! To be frank, for a change they were all actually performing their duties, that too sincerely! And luckily thanks to our dear police men or our own dear stars, nothing happened today (at least till I wrote this post!).

Hmm however as I resort to bed, this wild thought crosses across my mind! I wish every day was a Black Day in India! The same angst that was felt today was felt by the police and the other authorities in India all through the 365 days in a year! I wish the police and the security forces were as responsible as they were in the past two days or so in order to ensure there was no security breaches in the cities and the country. I wish we people were protected the same way as we were secured and protected today, the Black Day! I wish the police would be on the streets and all around us, earnestly performing their duties and being the proud citizens of India rather than collecting bribes and harassing civilians! I wish! I wish! I wish!

If all of the above were to happen throughout the year and if the governing bodies and other authorities were performing their duties aptly, with vigilance, then we need not have to see another 26/11 or a Malegaon bomb blast or any such incidences where the innocent people are killed in hundreds and thousands! If this thought of mine were to come true, then we need not lose our dear mothers and fathers or brothers and sisters or even sons and daughters for that matter any in bomb blasts or any such terrorist or anti social activities and be left orphans! If this thought of mine were to become a reality, then all of us could all lead a peaceful life and not blame our best buddy Pakistan or any other terrorist organizations or an external factor or element for our internal failures!!! 

Sachin Tendulkar – The Prodigy!!

 

Humble’s the man, as he always is

Shy as he always appears

Quiet as his dignified mannerisms speak

Actions that silence all critics

Personality that wins all battles

Cricket History that speaks volume together

Batting that is world class as always

Records that salute his talents & efforts

Nation that like always, worships him

SACHIN TENDULKAR is his name!

The best cricketer that the World has seen

The Priceless Gift that our Nation has given

He is a phenomenon that I always love!

A magnificent Cricketer that I & the world always adore!!!

Love you Sachin!!  

When and what is too much of Indians???

 

India, my proud country is where daily mundane things are also to the extremes. It is a country where things are never usual things to the outside world that they can just fail to sit straight and take a note of, yet very simple and common to us, Indians. India is the only country where such things can happen all times and still people can get away with things like this always and still manage to still manage to sing songs like I Love My India… I Love My India…

Hmm today morning I read in the paper that 147 people died in the stampede at Chamundi Devi temple, Jodhpur and it was a total chaos taking away so many innocent lives. This is not the first of its kind event, for just few months back a similar incident had happened in one of the shrines in a hill station. Hmm I really find it unbelievable to accept that fact that something like this can actually happen. People go to holy places to worship God, get rid of all their sins and free their souls, but it turns out to be a nightmare for them and they end up losing their innocent lives.

India is also the only country where women is several rural areas are beaten to death, stripped off their clothes, made to walk nude around the village, forced to share husbands etc and still the society and the proud citizens of India are still blind spectators to these dramas and pretend as if nothing at all has happened. And still claim and act as if India is a land where women are worshipped!!!!! Hmmm interesting…..

Our proud mother land can also be the only proud place in this whole wide world where the people with most criminal records are elected to the parliaments, made ministers and trusted with our futures with broad smiles. We also never fail to welcome them back and vote for them again shamelessly in spite of the fact that they actually do nothing at all for the community. We never even stand up to claim our basic rights and duties.

Hmmm we are also only the country on this planet where people worship cricketers and film stars equivalent to God and love them more than their kith and kin. They even go to the extent of giving-up their lives and careers for these idols of theirs whom they worship day in and out. Incidents have been reported where fans have chopped their fingers etc just to have a glimpse of their beloved idols.

Hmmm now I am left with this question when and what can actually be too much for India?? For India is such a vast country with so much diversity and so many different people. Any kind of madness, foolishness, is acceptable in the country that no one ever really questions as long as it’s not about their religion. Religion and culture are two buzz words where anyone does anything he wants and still get away with it. And mind you, if you ever raise your voice, you will not be spared.

For nothing is never too much for us Indians…… 

Green Frog with a Big Mac!!!!

 

 

The man stood in full grace. He looked confident like never before and a glow on his face lit the room. He wore his jeans pants and a light green shirt. The man of 48 years old looked as if he were 28 and was set to go out on a date. And this handsome man in his middle age was none other than my dad. Today is a big day for him for he wore a pair of jeans pants for the first time in his life and was all smiles for he always aspired to wear one, but never dared to do it before. A man like him who has been brought up in an orthodox and secured back ground, it was a great leap ahead.

As I saw him in this new form of his, it left me pondering over several questions….

Today I see around me several middle aged men and women who are in their mid forties and spend their weekend watching movies at PVR, dining at Chandni Chowk, spending their routine weekends at UB City, attending calls on their latest high-end phones like N 95, Moto Razr etc, shop clothes at United Benetton and Brand Factory listening to music on their I-phones and I-Pods

• But then looking at these people can one assume that yes, these are the open minded people of the globalisation era?
• Can we actually get carried away by the new lifestyle of theirs? 
• Are they really open to issues like Nuke Deal, religious discriminations, Indo- Pak relationships?
•  Are they global enough to accept inter-caste marriages? live in relationships etc???

Hmmm these questions really amuse me for when I look at the new lifestyle of theirs it is definitely deceptive that yes, not only are they ready to accomplice globalisation, international brands etc but they are open to new ideas and thoughts that are unconventional. But frankly speaking, if we sit back and see, I for sure know, that is the not the case actually. Today’s elders are doing whatever they are doing, only because of aspirational value. They feel that they were denied of certain things in their childhood and adult hood. They want to live the life that couldn’t because either they did not have the resources or did not have the time to. Hmmm this has nothing to do with their changed or evolved value system. They are still the same proud citizens of India who have very little patience to other religions, cannot for nuts see the larger picture and the common good of all.

In short they are still the frogs in the same old small well, but wearing Benetton jackets, Adidas floaters, listening iTunes music and a Mc Maharaja in their hand and a CCD coffee at their table. To them the well is the world and just cannot grow or evolve beyond it.