Murdering the Messiahs?

Until recently the headlines would read about the killings of common men, thugs, state MLAs, terrorists...

Last week, they bore the news of the gruesome murder of an IPS officer, Narendra Kumar. An officer of the 2009 batch, he was young, honest and very promising! And whats more he was doing his job rightly! In relation to the sand mining case going on in Madhya Pradesh, he was trying to stop a tractor to check its contents. He even lunged on to the tractor to stop it. But the driver, simply drove on and crushed Narendra under the wheels! How inhuman can they get just to earn a little more money! His wife an IAS officer, is on maternity leave, as the couple was expecting their first child! Yet I saw her talking to journalists the other day recounting the lukewarm response of the politicians towards the shocker. One of them even dared to call the incident an accident! What kind of a country are we living in? Where the law does not withhold anyone, where wrong deeds have no repercussions, where the makers of law themselves break them?! The driver definitely has strong political and financial backing, or else how could a mere driver have dared to kill an IPS officer. What hurts more is the stir it has failed to create in the junta of India. Had it not been for the constant reporting by the media and the questions being raised by them, all sand mining activities wouldn't have stopped in Madhya Pradesh for the time being.

Another such incident came in the light two days ago. On the day of Holi, a constable in Calcutta, Ashim Kumar Dam, was beaten up and stabbed, at his own house by youths of his own locality, for trying to stop them from forcefully smearing colours on his niece. He died of cerebral haemorrhage three days later. What is worse is that the police officers at the nearest police station refused to lodge a complaint against the eight youths who had murdered a fellow of their own ranks!
The complaint was accepted the next morning. As it happens always, the men are absconding and our police hasn't been able to find them yet. As for our Chief Minister, Ms. Mamata Banerjee, who calls all rape and assault cases to be shajano (planned), there has been no comment from her in this case, yet. And the other politicians? The CPM says the youths are Trinamul supporters and The Trinamul calls them CPM activists!

Such is the curious case of India...

They change the game!

Advertisements have always fascinated me. And good ones can keep me hooked! They say so much in just 60 seconds! Two of the new ads which caught my mind recently --- because they are quirky, very now, and fun to watch!

Pepsi — Change the Game! In a country where people (at least me!) are now getting fed of our cricketer demi-Gods, this ad hits you right on the spot with a tagline which has never been so apt!

What better way of showing how efficient, customer friendly and any time availability your call centres have!

To their creators I'd like to say only one thing - you guys make commercial breaks a better part of television now! ;)

Others will soon follow!

Calcutta - the City of Joy?

As the day went on, and Calcutta sat through another bandh (after very long, though), I fell back into my thoughts. I have been brought up in Calcutta. I have always considered Calcutta to be my hometown. I love this city and would have happily spent all my life here. Until recently!

Calcutta for me is a city with boundless love for all those who come to her. It has heritage, it’s rustic, has an earthy feeling. It’s laid back, far away from the world’s rat race and yet you don’t feel like you’ve been left behind! Sometimes when you walk down it’s streets in the afternoons of summer, you’ll feel like you’ve landed in one of those R.K.Narayan stories centered on villages. The dusty streets, the scorching sun, only a handful of people around… One thing I’ve always felt is — No one gets lost in this city! They just can’t! Because someone’s always ready to help!

Yet somehow over the past few months, I’ve been feeling detached from the city. People are getting frustrated, mindless quarrels are waiting to happen at every corner, the youth is going away, the industries don’t even think of coming here. Calcutta’s been in the news for all the wrong reasons, of late! And our new CM seems to be making matters worse. Today, she declared another rape case as an attempt to malign the Government. Excuse me? Malign the Government? How exactly? More importantly, why exactly?

All those crib deaths happening in Bengal for the past year have been labeled as the Opposition’s conspiracy! The lady’s comments defy all logic! Basically, the Left didn’t do anything in their 34-year rule and now they are the ones who are doing everything wrong!

Every morning the papers bring news of another murder, theft, sexual assault or suicide!

It’s depressing to see that a city I once found to be so safe is now turning into a dangerous den of criminals!

I can only wish that Job Charnock’s City of Joy regains it’s allure and charisma before it’s too late...

One day at a time!

“All the world's a stage,
And all the men and women merely players.”

Golden words by William Shakespeare which still hold true. But unfortunately there are very few among us who actually live by these lines anymore! We’ve forgotten that we’re here to simply play our parts and leave when the time comes.

We are busy trying to create a niche for ourselves or planning for the days ahead or hoarding wealth, yes hoarding, or simply feeding our egos by the apparent material success achieved!

How many of us have dreamt about a bigger house, a bigger car, a brighter future? All of us I’m sure.

And how many of us are living entirely in the present without speculating or worrying and making elaborate plans for the future?

I’m not saying people should stop dreaming. That would be a rather unfortunate end to man’s passions and soul.

I’m saying people should start living. Living in the present, rather than waiting to live in the future.

Enjoy each day as it comes. Live life one day at a time. Today, we’re all in a rat race, trying to outdo each other and ourselves too. We don’t have time for our own self, leave alone time for others! There’s this huge rush to reach the finish line before it’s the right time.

We all have to leave this life behind at some day, no one knows when. Don’t you think you’d rather want to live to the fullest instead of regretting in the end and wishing you’d lived and enjoyed every moment of your life and learnt something new each day?

Do something new each day. Learn something new each day. Smile and face the troubles. God won’t make you face any troubles you can’t overcome.

Let go of the crease on your forehead. Let go of all the worries.

Sit with your loved ones. Share a joke or two. Smile at the people at work.

You’ll feel good.

Life itself will look better. Of course, your troubles will still remain, but your strength will increase. And what’s more, you’ll feel happier!

It’s now or never.

If you can’t learn to live ‘now’, you might just ‘never’ learn to live!

The precious smiles!

My day started like it usually does on all working days. The same rush to leave, inevitably getting late, getting a bus in the nick of time! But it surely wasn't meant to be the same after that.

Travelling in the mornings by bus means lots of school children too. Some travelling with parents, others in groups without any adult. I saw two young boys today in the same bus as mine. As their stop neared, they held each others’ hands and guided themselves through to the swerving bus's door. One of them started rummaging through his pocket for the exact fare when the conductor smiled at them, and said in Bengali, patting their heads, "You don't have to pay the fare. Leave it. Go to school and study properly, both of you."

Smiling at the incident, I forgot about it as quickly as it had happened.

In the evening after leaving from work, I was waiting for a friend. With nothing to do and not wanting to immerse myself in my cell as always, I started looking around. A young couple was having puchkas nearby. A small child, a beggar’s son, maybe around 5 years old, came begging towards the couple. Immediately, without hesitating or thinking twice, the guy handed over the puchka he was about to eat, to the child. The small child walked away with a smile on his face and such excitement in his eyes, it touched my heart!

It was then that I remembered the incident in the morning. 

It is these little things that we notice on and off which can make even a bad day worth remembering! And am I glad that I noticed not one but two such incidents in a day!

It feels nice to see a little humanity, a little humility and a little care when all you keep reading about in the papers are gruesome stories of crime, ego and passion!

Colours in the skies!

Recently while going through the Google News section, I saw a write-up on a solar storm approaching the Earth. What caught my eye was the part about Aurora. I remembered faintly reading about it in some school text-book but nothing beyond that.

Wikipedia says, "An aurora  is a natural light display in the sky particularly in the high latitude (Arctic and Antarctic) regions, caused by the collision of energetic charged particles with atoms in the high altitude atmosphere (thermosphere). The charged particles originate in the magnetosphere and solar wind and, on Earth, are directed by the Earth's magnetic field into the atmosphere."


I say, "Forget the science behind it, just look at the pictures below!"

Instantly I Google-d Aurora and the images which were shown rendered me speechless!

Here are some of my favourite shots :

Whoever's taken these, I salute them! Not only did they survive the bitter cold and witness the beauty but captured them and shared it with us!

Single rainbow, I've seen. But imagine yourself on a plain landscape and two rainbows adorning the azure blue sky!

And sometimes when the skies are adorned with beautiful shades of violet during twilight, it takes your breath away!

This one's for all the girls out there!

I came across this open letter written by some random bloke, addressing all girls in general. I don't know whether this is the general perception every guy has in his mind, but at the end of it you'll definitely have a smile on your face and be thinking about that special someone, I'm sure!

***

Dear girls,

We guys don't care if you talk to other guys. We don't care if you're friends with other guys. But when you're sitting next to us, and some random guy walks into the room and you jump up and tackle him, without even introducing us, yeah, it pisses us off. It doesn't help if you sit there and talk to him for ten minutes without even acknowledging the fact that we're still there. We don't care if a guy calls OR texts you, but at 2 in the morning we do get a little concerned.
Nothing is so important at 2 a.m., that it can't wait till the morning. Also, when we tell you you're pretty/ beautiful/gorgeous/cute/ stunning, we freaking mean it. Don't tell us we're wrong. We'll stop trying to convince you. The sexiest thing about a girl is confidence.
Yeah, you can quote me.

Don't be mad when we hold the door open. Take advantage of the mood we're in. Let us pay for you! Don't 'feel bad' . We enjoy doing it. It's expected. Smile and say 'thank you. Kiss us when no one's watching. If you kiss us when you know somebody's looking, we'll be more impressed. You don't have to get dressed up for us. If we're going out with you in the first place, you don't have to feel the need to wear the shortest skirt you have or put on every kind of makeup you own. We like you for who you are and not what you are. Honestly, i think a girl looks more beautiful when she's just in her pj's or my t-shirt and boxers, not all dolled up. 

Don't take everything we say seriously. Sarcasm is a beautiful thing. See the beauty in it. Don't get angry easily. Stop using magazines/media as your bible. Don't talk about how hot Chris Brown, Brad Pitt, or Jesse McCartney is in front of us. It's boring, and we don't care. You have girlfriends for that. Whatever happened to the word 'handsome' I'd be utterly stunned by a girl who greeted me with 'Hey handsome!' instead of 'Hey baby/ stud/cutie/sexy' or whatever else you can think of. On the other hand I'm not saying I wouldn't like it ether.
Girls, I cannot stress this enough - if you aren't being treated right by a guy, dont wait for him to change!!!!! Ditch his sorry butt, the disgrace to the male population and find someone who will treat you with utter respect.

Someone who will honor your morals.
Someone who will make you smile when you're at your lowest. Someone who will care for you even when you make mistakes. Someone who will love you, no matter how bad you make them feel. Someone who will stop what they're doing just to look you in the eyes....and say 'i love you' ..and actually mean it.

Give the nice guys a chance.

Life is too short to complain about everything that comes your way so stop and smell the roses in life because you might never have another time to take it, so take your time because they are all different in every way, so take chances in life, if it doesn't work out then fine, there are always more roses to smell....♥

***

Are you smiling?  :)

 

A modern love story!

To all those spurned and scorned lovers and people who love to read love stories, come take a look at a modern love story. Sprinkled with tragedy, not penned by a Shakespeare or a Nicholas Sparks. And your heart still goes out to the people who were forced to choose anything but love.

Remember Aung San Suu Kyi? Yes, the same one we'd all read about in Political Science in school.Those who don't seem to know or recall her, simply put she is a popular leader of Myanmar who'd been under house arrest for nearly 15 years of the last 22 years she spent there.
Away from her husband and two young sons living in the UK, away from a marriage, a very happy one at that, of 16 years, away from the comfort and luxury of family life! She had a duty to fulfill towards a nation she called her own.Myanmar was in a political turmoil then and desperately needed a leader. Suu had then gone to Myanmar to meet her mother who was not keeping well. Being the daughter of a famous general, she seemed like the obvious choice for the people's leader.

Over the years which unfolded, she was placed under house arrest by the government, visa applications of her sons and husband denied and all means of communication with the outside world snatched. She was left with little choice herself, because if she left Myanmar even once, it would mean permanent exile for her. And she knew that very well. So did Michael Aris, Suu's husband. When Michael was diagnosed with terminal cancer, she could not even go and meet him! His love for her was boundless too. He would not hear of her return. He had silently campaigned for her cause throughout her house arrest tenure and supported her in every way he could.
As Michael's health faltered, Suu realised she might never see Michael again and put on a dress of his favourite colour, tied a rose in her hair, went to the British embassy, where she recorded a farewell film for him in which she told him that his love for her had been her mainstay. The film was smuggled out of Myanmar, only to arrive two days after Michael's death!

Who would have thought that behind the steel facade of this strong lady, lies a heart so full of love and longing?

In this harsh world, when you hear "Love has more hits than fear", a smile of hope crosses your face! :)

East or West - who treated Anuj Bidve better?

Yesterday night while flipping through news channels, I stopped at a leading Indian news channel where a debate was going on about the recent murder of Pune-based Anuj Bidve who had apparently been shot by a Briton in Manchester without any provocation. Many label it as a racist attack, many a hate crime n some as just a psychopath killer. Whatever be the reason, a family lost a son without any rhyme or reason, a 23 year old son whom they'd sent for higher studies to the UK, a boy they'd raised so that one day they could proudly say this man is my son. A bullet shot, a moment had taken it all away.
The debate started from sending condolences n heartfelt grievances to the family and continued along the lines of hate crime and racist attacks ending with the British media handling the crime better than the Australian media during the 2008 racist attacks on Indians.
Irritated, I put on the next channel. BBC. Bidve here too. But the stark difference was that the journalist was sitting with the Bidve family and sharing the moments they'd spent with Anuj. No mention of race, religion, nationality or hatred. Simply the sharing of a loss.

What struck me was the way the same murder case was being handled by the media.
While one was sensationalizing, the other sympathizing.

I am in no way comparing and evaluating the two groups of journalists. Rather I am simply laying down what I saw and what I felt as a common man.

I hope to God that the family finds the strength to endure this test of time too. And wherever Anuj is, may his soul rest in peace.

Happy New Year! :)

Every New Year Eve I take resolutions and then by the next week it is long lost and forgotten!

Often we come across quotes and wonder how true they are. We think about them for a minute, share it with someone close, maybe they linger on with us a day or two and then with the lapse of time they fade away.

Words which touched me in the journey of life in 2011...

• Change is static.
• God helps them, those who help themselves.
• You've built your castles in the air, its time to lay the foundation beneath!
• When the world says, "Give up," Hope whispers, "Try it one more time."
• Life is mostly froth and bubble,
  Two things stand like stone,
  Kindness in another's trouble,
  Courage in your own.
• The robbed that smiles, steals something from the thief. 
• What we are is God's gift to us.  What we become is our gift to God.
•  Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak; courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen.
• Worry never robs tomorrow of its sorrow, it only saps today of its joy.
•  Live life to the fullest, you get it just once! :)

 This year, more than resolving to do a particular thing, I wish I could remember to live life along these lines....:) 

Happy New Year to all! :)

May the world not end on 20.12.2012!