ग़मगी

शाम जब ढलने लगी 

देखते ही देखते सूरज डूबने लगा ।

आर्जूओ  के समंदर में 

धीरे धीरे समाने लगा ।।

रौशनी के ख्वाबों में था 

हकीक़त से अंजाना ।

होश जब आया मुझे 

दिल बैठ सा ज़ाने लगा ।।

आँखें मूंदी सोचा वहम हैं 

तस्सल्ली दी फिजूल ।

ऐसा नहीं हो सकता 

दिल को मनाने लगा ।।

वहम जो होता तो 

छट जाता आँखें मूंदते ही ।

हो न हो ये सच हैं 

एहसास एक सताने लगा ।।

सन्नाटें गहराते गयें 

तनहा था मैं चाँद सा ।

गुजरतें हुए हर झोंके से पूछा 

क्या सूरज का कोई ठिकाना लगा ।।

बड़ी लंबी कटी रात दर्दनाक 

छत पर गढ़ें हर एक लम्हें के निशान ।

फिर आखिर सवेरा हुआ 

सूरज झरोंखों से मुस्कुराने लगा ।।

पूछा जब कहा थे रातभर 

तो कहा यहीं था कही न गया ।

अन्धेरें के कारण तुम्ही न देख पाएं होंगे 

दलिले मेरी ही झूट्लाने लगा ।।

----o----

Satyagraha!!! Really?

Dear Friends,

I was away for a pretty long time from this paradise of expression! But some recent turn of events have got me back here. After studying the various ongoing movements under the banner of 'India Against Corruption' or Baba Ramdev's agitation for nearly a year in context to India's history, I have certain learnings which I would like to share with you. 

In the first place, I find the word 'Satyagraha' to be pretty hollow or baseless. To break it up, 'Satya' means 'Truth' and 'Agraha' means 'Insistence'. I really don't think truth needs insistence. Truth cannot be insisted upon. Infact it is exactly opposite. What is not true needs to be insisted! That is why it is a common scene to see the politicians make a big noise of their agendas or any thing for that matter. Truth often goes unnoticed!

None other than the great soul Mahatma Gandhi launched several non violent agitations against the British regime. Millions of Indians joined the movements with unconditional support and Bapu's stature rose to what we know. Something similar is happening today with Sri Anna Hazareji and Baba Ramdevji's movements. Lot of our fellow Indians have joined the movement or have started support campaigns 'I am Anna'. This is typical of a crowd since crowd does not have a thinking mind of its own. It does not question. It takes herculean courage to question the crowd.  We are not to be blamed either. A helpless and moderately thinking individual tends to go to the crowd and join hands since he feels secure there and is able to hide is weaknesses. We all join hands in any movement that seems to bring a revolution. We don't even ask ourselves what is revolution. Living conditions change after a revolution, not necessarily for better, they simply change! After our revolution for  independence, things have changed in India, not necessarily for better, they have changed.

We don't for one moment ask ourselves is this non violent movement really a non violent movement? Sitting outside somebody's residence or office and threatening to starve or die fasting, is it really non violent? Does really hitting some one black and blue or until he bleeds  mean violence? Does inflicting agony mentally not qualify as violence? 

We don't know if this movement will stand the test of times. What happens on a day when all the political party workers decide to launch a non violent movement against them who hold them by the sword? The nation will come to a stand still. Are we setting a right example for our generations to follow? We don't want our children to fast unto death if we don't get them the bike of their dreams, do we? I know the magnitude of the example is far different than the movement, but I am talking about the fundamental principle.

Let us come to the meaning of non violence. We think of it to be the opposite of violence. Come to think of it, you would find that non violence is a very impotent word and is not the opposite of violence. Opposite of violence is love. Let me explain. When we do an act of violence, we inflict pain. In an act of non violence, we make it a point that we do not hurt somebody. But does it really ensure that we are giving joy to others, not really. If violence was inflicting pain, opposite could only be giving happiness, joy. Only love can do that, not non violence. Non violence could at best avoid pain or sorrow but doesn't guarantee joy!

What I urge through this medium to my friends is to question their own self before making a choice to support or go against somebody. What we need in today's times is a real ground level movement. A movement that would drive us to change our being, our thinking, our civic sense. And that cannot happen starting from Delhi downwards but from villages to Delhi upwards. What I would also like to add is more women should join and lead the movements because noblest of men could reach till as far as non violence but only women can cross over to love. The greats like Mahatma Gandhi, Mahavira, Gautam Buddha and some others could at best be non violent but could not scale the territories of love. And love is what our society needs badly!  

!!!Till the next time, love to all!!!

!!! The Aftermath !!!

A bomb goes off at a particular place in some city of our country, generally a place of tourist attraction or of strategic importance… Convoys of police, security forces, medical help, bomb squads, anti terrorist squads start running helter skelter… Media people rushing to the spot, traffic chaos, phone calls running through everywhere, confusion and panic mounting to the helm… None of the above have any clue of what has hit them… This has more or less become a common occurrence in our country… Something that happens at regular intervals, and happens without fail… When such a disaster strikes, law and order going for a toss is quite obvious… There is nothing embarrassing about it since such things happen in some of the most developed nations of the world too!!!
What is really shameful is the intent and thought process behind the panic… It is saddening to see media people rushing to the spot in a manner athletes run towards the finish line… The one who covers the story first and telecasts the blast first is the front runner in the run up to the TRP Bonanza... Police! It would be better if we don’t get there... Finally, we, the people... Being the citizens of the largest democracy, we take freedom quite literally!!! We don’t seem to understand that with rights come responsibilities... How does medical help, or for that matter, any help reach the spot and the victims? We have vehicles almost (why almost?) brushing each other... Two wheelers make use of every possible inch on the road, footpaths, dividers, if push comes to shove, they don’t mind changing over to the wrong side... Such is the state we are living in!!! And then one by one we start taking positions on the game field to kick off our favourite game... Yes, none other than BLAMEGAME!!!
We start blaming the local authorities, they in turn blame the centre, centre blames opposition and vice versa... Then we all collectively blame the neighbouring nation... Even before the blame ball has reached them, they throw it into the terrorist organisation court... Some terror outfits own up but not before they pass the ball to us for the atrocities their so called sects are subjected to... Where have we come? Back to square one may be...
More important question here is where are we going? We have elected a political system to take care of those nitty gritties that might be out of our scope to handle on a day to day basis... It is really shocking to see the speed of reaction from the authorities, the scapegoating between the ruling party and the opposition, the forums for discussions, unnecessary debates and never ending list of promises and advices... If this is all they are capable of doing, we might as well do it ourselves... Our home minister gets a pat on the back from the senior leaders including Hon. Prime Minister, reason being, there has been no attacks since he has taken over... What kind of twisted illogical rubbish is that? It’s a given that attacks shouldn’t happen... Now if we start praising our people for doing this bare minimum, days aren’t far away when we might start celebrating days when there have been no attacks... As much as I don’t like saying this, but our security is so porous and fragile that at some stage terrorists might drop a bomb for a photograph!!! The only piece of advice after every such blast is to not panic, avoid public places and do not touch unattended objects... Is this all? Could someone please carve out a slice of wisdom and tell us how do we avoid more such tragedies of this magnitude? How do we reassure our loved ones of their safety in the first place and that we would come back home safely too? How do we feel safe in public places?
We are standing agonisingly close to the doors of death, all of us... In such times, these so called leaders of ours are the ones we look up to, in vain... I think it’s high time we stop looking up to someone and start looking into ourselves... Yes, it is a time consuming and cumbersome task, but that investment is worth it... Let us ask ourselves how can we contribute to this cause? For instance, the technically educated people of our society can group together and help us get rid of the primitive security devices and methods... The judiciary sections put their heads together for a stronger (and let’s not forget fairer) law and order system which doesn’t crumble in difficult times... If we have an opinion let us come forward and voice it...

Fundamentalist!!!

As a child and while pursuing graduation, I must have filled in innumerable applications… Most of those forms were a questionnaire in themselves… In some way or the other, most of them had an interesting question which didn’t sound worth a notice then… “Religion?”… It was ofcourse disguised in some of them as Caste, Creed, Faith, Ethnicity, but was always there…All of my friends did also fill in such forms… I would and was told to fill in ‘Hindu’ whenever such a situation would confront me… So would Vallabh, Hrishi, Aditya, Abhishek, Tejas and Rahul… My friends Zoeb, Ozefa, Iqbal, Matin, Ismail, Tausif would all fill in ‘Muslim’…

As far as I remember, that was the only difference that we bothered about because we all feared if our applications would be rejected… It did not matter to any of us if we were monotheistic or polytheistic, if we said the Kalama or the Gayatri Mantra, if we fasted in the Ramadan or during the Navaratas… If I ask myself today why I am a Hindu, the only probable answer I get is because I was born to a Hindu family…

As I grew up, the visions and horizons of the society also did and their thinking broadened (well so called)… By now it was a given that I am a Hindu… Now we started exploring newer ideas and tried fitting ourselves into another frames of faith… We started to ask ourselves if we are fundamentalists, extremists, moderates or liberals??? It needs a lot of belief and intelligence to fit into either fundamentalist or liberal frames… Mediocre or ignorant like me fall into moderates by default… Neither have I stopped worshipping my 33 crore gods nor is it that I have not read Gita, Ramayan and some others… But the irony is I cannot name even half of the 33 crore gods nor can I understand what is written into these great books… So for my convenience, I am a moderate… And I also know many other Hindus who belong to the same criteria for more or less the same reasons…

Just wonder for a while, do my so many other Muslim friends have an option of choosing on of these entities??? Does any of us think that there could be moderate or liberal Muslims??? With the recent happenings deeply and vividly engraved in our memories, we have branded all Muslims as fundamentalists, very generally… If every Muslim is an extremist, what about hundreds of my friends who are Muslims but drink alcohol, smoke, do not observe rozas??? Not that this is highly appreciated but nevertheless, it does happen that inspite of these unislamic things, they still offer namaz on all possible Fridays, still celebrate Id, aspire to go to Haj someday and are proud Muslims… Like all of us, they do not approve of the insane acts done by some of the Muslim terrorists… Killing non believers is not their idea of attaining heaven…

When I am ignorant about my culture, I eat meat on certain auspicious days, do not visit temples on the prescribed days, question certain beliefs that do not synchronize with my logic; I conveniently call myself a moderate Hindu… But every Muslim is fundamentalist… Now isn’t that like having double standards – one for yourself and one for others?

!!!Introspection!!!

I met lot of friends as the day passed.. Met colleagues, my boss, clients, some just known faces, some just tea friends.... I wonder when did I last meet my Aunt from my native town??? I wonder when in the day shall I meet my beloved.. I wonder if I would ever meet someone I met in train or a bus... Amidst all this I am suddenly wondering even if I once wondered when did I last meet my self??? When did I last measure the deviation of what I wanted to become and the man that I've become... If I wondered do you make your life or life makes you what you are... If I have crossed the point where me and myself could converge??? I really don't have an answer to this at the moment...

Environment!!! Lets talk of it less and practice more....
I have done my bit.. I have borrowed a bicycle from a close friend and make sure that I travel to & fro to the office on this basic motor invention. This not only saves a lot of fuel but also helps me keep fit!! Add to that no traffic woes and lesser contribution to the ever increasing pollution! Yes it does cost you those extra few minutes but the investment is worth it!
I urge the readers to consider this option.............