Happy Teacher's Day!

This post is dedicated to the teachers all over the country who have made me reach to where I am right now. Educating me all through and making me a nice human being. I express my gratitude, on this auspicious day dedicated to teachers, towards the sacrifices made by them in order to inculcate the right learnings, right attitude and right culture within me. A humble thanks to you my teacher for your invaluable contribution in my life. Wish you all a very Happy Teacher's Day! I am using the poem to express my heartfelt thankfulness to all my teachers - (Courtesy - iloveindia.com).

"If I could teach you, teacher,
I’d teach you how much more
You have accomplished
Than you think you have.
I’d show you the seeds
You planted years ago
That are now coming into bloom.
I’d reveal to you the young minds
That have expanded under your care,
The hearts that are serving others
Because they had you as a role model.
If I could teach you, teacher,
I’d show you the positive effect
You have had on me and my life.
Your homework is
To know your value to the world,
To acknowledge it, to believe it.
Thank you, teacher."
- Joanna Fuchs

Life Pursuits - Kabhi This, Kabhi That!!

I cleared my wallet today, tearing and disposing off those CCD bills, movie tickets and ATM receipts. It took me to the wonderful moments I used to be into few months back. That day, on 2nd June'09, as the guard waved the signal, he insinuated me to momentarily forget those comfortable and joyful days I was into, in the cyber city. But I couldn't stop myself doing so. I gaped at the New Delhi railway station, receding in size. The trees, the farms, the electric poles, the waving kids - all bidding me good bye with a mysterious smile. I had no option but to reply with a grin. It was a self chosen change for me which, at that moment, was not at all pleasing. I was deliberating hard on my decisions. I was leaving all those wonderful moments lived there with people whom I loved to be with. Those people had become a part of my life. I still believe the fact that it's the people who make the place worth living and not the place by itself. This is the reason, a city like Gurgaon -which has nothing as such to offer, except a spectacle of a concrete jungle which I used to detest badly - has become one of the nicest places I have ever visited in my life so far.

After around 2 and a half months from this journey as I write this from Goa Institute of Management, where I am currently in, to pursue my PG course of 2 years, I find myself confused and indecisive. Confused by instincts, confused by my desires, confused by my purpose in life. Does someone really think that he or she has just a single objective in life? If someone says so, I refute it outrightly. Ok, let me put it this way which might sound a bit cliched - At any point of time, you have an aim in your life, you run for it badly. You think about it day and night. You put your best efforts to achieve it. But what once you get it? There's another greed to run after. Another short term objective to target for. Another milestone to reach and before we actually realise what we want from our life, it becomes too late. Am I being too philosophical? Ammm!! I dunno. Perhaps Yes.

This is not the first time that someone is writing all these stuffs, many have written it in various forms numerous times. What is the thing to note about here is do we really deliberate on these aspects? Aah. Ya I heard your synchronous NOs. You know what, I left those back, whom I value the most and whom I don't know whether I would be able to meet again in my life. I really doubt that by March' 2011 when I would be leaving this place, I would be content. May be or May be not. Aah, c'mon. Lets move now - wasn't this what you all wanted to say to me. See, I guessed that. :)

I have to stop all this nonsense as the coming Monday is showing its scary face studded with Externalities Theory underlying in the "Congestion Charges in Central London" and the works of B.F. Skinner in the concepts of Organizational Behaviour and loads of other stuffs. I sign off here with yet another short term plan - an obligation that I have to meet and not the purpose I have to achieve in life. Take care all. May God gives us the sanity to achieve the state of self realisation. Lollzzz :)

'Ganpat' - The Chaiwala!! - Inner Strength Exemplified!!

With the break of the dawn, he comes at his small kiosk, at a, not so conspicuous, corner of Sector 23 Market. He has his carrier along with him, which is a worn out tricycle on which he carries all the paraphernalia to set up his, not so famous, 'Tea Stall’. The carrier bears the load of his own(as he drives it), a gas cylinder, a burner, few tumblers - large and small, some jars and few countable tea glasses - which he has purchased after much thought and becomes too disturbed if, unfortunately, one of them breaks. It costs him a half day earning of his to purchase a new set and also has to listen to their customer's abuses failing to serve tea in a glass. So by the time his small tea stall sets up, the clock ticks 30 past 5 of the morning. Yes a chilly winter morning - when most of us prefer to cuddle ourselves into our cosy blankets. Now you will ask, who has asked this idiot to come to work so early? I too asked him this one day. His answer was "Bhaiya, few night shift blokes visit for the early morning sip. So my 2-3 glasses of tea gets sold daily between 5.30 and 6.00". Immediately I shot my next question - "But yaar just for 2-3 cups, why do you spoil your sleep and bear the brunt of this freeze?” He just added with a gullible smile "Bhaiya bahot ho jaate hain". I dint have anything to say after that.

He prepares one of the best teas of the market, as per his abilities, putting all the necessary ingredients - Tea Leaves, Milk, Sugar, Ginger - to start his day and to make his customers start their day with a bang!! But unfortunately, not so many people turn up to his kiosk. So he takes delivery orders too - from Pan-Wala, Electrician, Barber, Tailor, Medical and General Stores around, Reliance Fresh staff, Spencer staff and all those who are convinced with the 'Ganpat'(his name) Brand of tea. After preparing the tea for delivery, he swings into his carrier, along with the kettle and tea glasses and pedals through the shops where he has to deliver. He sometimes loses few visiting customers in the process of delivery. But he never deters from this. 

Then comes the collection of glasses from the delivery points - In the evening, when I come back from office and watch him in this phase of his day, it gives me shiver down to the bottom, as he never takes his carrier along. He says each time he can't drive his carrier. He feels tired. He simply swings down his small stool, on which he sits, and sports his slippers on his palms and with all the smoothness, he crawls briskly on the road, with people towering over him. Yes, you saw it correctly - he wears his slippers on his palms and crawls. He has purchased the slippers for his palms itself, as he doesn't have legs to walk. Both his legs are polio crippled. When he walks with the help of his palms on the rough road,( we can't even walk bare foot), that creates one of the most painful scene for that moment to watch at as it seems anyone can crush this man anytime, who seems so tiny down the road with humans and animals around paying no heed to his presence.

But Ganpat is not an ordinary human being. He has all his strength inside which is his willpower and eagerness to survive on his own. He may seem a tiny creature physically but he is the man of substance. He deems himself just an ordinary man. It’s his inner strength which has fetched lot of respect for himself. He dislikes any sort of sympathy and no one even gives that sympathy to him. The very stroll of his, which has so much valiance and pride within itself, would coerce you to smile in eulogy for this superhero of Sector 23.

This is what I would call a self strength and a desire to survive with a self esteem. We all must learn from the fortitude, the will power, and the tenacity he displays for his survival because had there been any ordinary person he would have definitely chosen to sit in front of any Gurudwara or a Temple with a begging bowl in hand. I agree that not all people of his ilk would be having the same determination to survive in a self esteemed way as Ganpat has but we - The “ables” - can surely encourage them to go for this by citing Ganpat's example. Can't we? I don't encourage beggars. I don't give anything to beggars who are very much able to earn their bread but have chosen not to work by their will and instead went for such a disgusting thing as begging. If Ganpat can do, why can't you damn it, with all your limbs at their places? We have lot of opportunities; we choose ourselves what to take and what not to shrug off. Everyone has options. It’s the attitude which helps you taking your call on this. It’s all there in your mind. It's just about to take the right decision believing in your abilities. Can't we educate these people who feel that begging is the easiest job to do? We should make them aware that they can make their life much better if they choose to drive their lives by themselves rather than depending on others. This would be a self realisation for them if we stop giving the able beggars anything. Stop encouraging beggars!! By entertaining beggars we are making an individual's life more miserable. Help only those who you feel can't help themselves. Think once.

Just a Nice Quote to share!!

AB has mentioned this quote in his blog entry, which I found very interesting. So just sharing for those who don't follow his blog -

"There is nothing good or bad in this world, but our perceptions make it so. What people call ‘congestion’ in a train, becomes ‘atmosphere’ in a night club"

A great thought conveyed by a funny example. :)))

Responsibility - Not an Appendage to Education!! - Its a Realisation for the Good!!

The other day, when I was whiling away my time during the post lunch session, one of my office colleagues said "Dude!! Education is just not enough to change our country.....". I smiled and we dispersed with those words in my mind, to brood over later. I gave a thought and suddenly all the events started flashing in front of my subconscious mind.

A Consultant in Ernst and Young, driving a spanking new 'Accord', stuck in a traffic jam, honking incessantly, using all the sound energy HONDA has made it to generate - How much do you think this gentleman would have studied? Must had been an IIM or a good B School graduate!! Right?? Now with all his intellect inside, what was he trying to do actually, stuck between hundreds of cars, leading and trailing him? Can any of you explain me? Ahaaa!! Lemme guess then!! Perhaps he was trying to smash off the leading vehicles and clear the traffic by this cacophony. Sir!! Am I Right?? I would simply say that you are a complete jerk!!

Be it any queue, Railway reservation, Office Lunch Coupon, Movie Tickets, Vehicles on a busy road : I should be the first one to get the privilege, and I can go to any limit to seek the same. If it results in creating a mess around, I am least bothered. After all, I am the most insensitive person on this planet. I forget, that the Lord has made we humans, stand unique in the lot of animals since we are supposed to be more cultured, more organized and arranged - On the contrary we are in competition with each other in showing our barbarism, to this world. And remember!! We call ourselves educated. God save us!!

We often laugh our hearts out, while discussing that we love breaking rules. 'Rules are meant to be broken dude' - so much passion oozes out while uttering this small statement, isn't it? Rules are just some well documented list of formalities for us. We enjoy flouting them to an extent that we forget that one day it would fall back on us causing a vicious problem for one or many of us; and it always does. We call it an accident. Who's the cause? We, ourselves. Rules are always broken and when questioned - we give a simper and utter one of the most disgusting statement of the world - 'Sab chalta hai yaar'!! Hoardings say 'Please don't spit here!! Kindly use dustbins to dispose off the litter!! Help us make our city clean!!' Who cares man?? Come, lets start a competition who can make this city one of the filthiest place to live. Why can't we deem the places we visit, our own dwelling space? For our very homes, we have a set of rules defined, which we follow so religiously. Any flouting by our kids, can cost them one of the biggest reprimands they must have ever faced. Do we ever spit on our bed room floors? Can we do that? Why can't we do that? Because we live there, we have our comfort associated with it. If a guest happens to see the same, they would deem us some one very insensitive, very untidy and uncultured. Why not being more responsible towards your city, your country and more necessarily towards ourselves, that if a guest lands in our country, he has nothing to say except the flurry of words in appreciation for our nation and its beings. But what happens in reality, can be more appalling for a very few 'sensitive lot' of the society - The reality is that in Switzerland, the hoardings at the famous tourist spots are bound to say in HINDI - "Kripaya yahan gandagi na failayein" (Kindly don't litter this place) - This is the image of our people in their eyes. This is a sheer disgusting thing and not at all a thing to laugh on. Please, for God's sake!! Lets do something to redress this image.

Oh ya!! In complaints, we are the leaders. The human conscience does not allow us to complain if we are not playing our part in the improvement. We should understand a stark fact that a country consisting of 1.12 billion people cannot be managed by any damn government of this world. Start taking our own responsibilities - towards ourselves, towards our society, towards our city and thus towards our country. Redress ourselves first, in all terms. Play our part in improving our own life. In this process you would come across so many things which need to be corrected. Then no body can point fingers on you when you go to the administration, taking the list of complains you have and make the expectations. That would be the time when we will learn the importance of voting in real terms. We will vote because we have played our part in improving ourselves and thus our nation and now looking out for a worthy helping hand in the form of a good governance. We will know then, why we are voting and whom should we vote? We must understand one simple thing that ignorant and irresponsible citizens are bane to their country. Don't let ourselves be a load on our country; it's already overloaded my dear!!

Come lets bring the right attitude within us to redress our nation's lost image in the eyes of our guests. Lets play our part, feel our responsibility towards each and every action we do every day. Think before each step you take and its consequences. For ourselves, for the people with whom we are living and most importantly, for our very own beloved country.

In the words of Confucious -
"To put the world right in order, we must first put the nation in order; to put the nation in order, we must first put the family in order; to put the family in order, we must first cultivate our personal life; we must first set our hearts right."

Ghajini - A Nice Musical Rendition!!

As I can recollect, its happening for the first time when A.R. Rehman has come up with his master works with very short gaps - Starting with "Jodha Akbar', going to 'Jane Tu...', and seemed to have ended with 'Ada' . But hardly some months have passed by and he came up with Yuvraaj - though the movie is a horrendous rendition by the so called 'Showman' but the only saviour was the 'Mozart of the East'. O Dear, why have I named this showman at all; my pent up anger came out yet again.. Fine, I would give some other time to this frustration of mine, as right now the time is for the appraisal and not for the invectives!!! Just to add on, if any of you haven't heard the song 'Dil Ka Rishta', then you music lovers are really missing something outstanding from The Rehman's genius. Its a perfect blend of the west and the east, composed with the perfection and the dignity within,though a bit esoteric in nature, for which this maestro is known.

So the last month was full of Yuvraaj and this month -is looking forward to - Ghajini. Yes, yet again a blend of both the perfectionists around in the industry - Mr. Aamir Khan and AR Rehman - has given the listeners, a fantabulous piece of work to enjoy. Ghajini's music is different in a way that it's songs don't need time to grow on you, as the very first listen would make you their fans.

First song - Guzaarish - has all the sweetness within it, vocalized by 'Javed Ali' - Rehman's discovery who has that oomph in his voice - which can take you to the heavenly pleasures of music listening. He too seems to join the fame club by giving this rendition after the very well sung 'Jashn E Bahara' from Jodha Akbar. This is my observation that given the freedom, Rehman has started preferring the fresh voices for his flagship songs of any album so as to give it a totally refreshing feel. Kudos to him for that. Though this song has nothing too special, but the very saccharine within it, makes you its fan. Prasoon's poetic lines and the soothing touch would surely intoxicate you.

Then comes 'Aye Bacchu'. For me this is one of the best songs of this album in terms of everything. Lot of experiments - with drums, chords, vocals and lyrics - to make it one of the most creative songs of the year. Well done Ms Suzanne, to give your beautiful voice in your genre. It seems you have grown better after your flagship song - Mahiya. Prasoon Joshi with his very simple and impressive pen, makes a difference in the lyrics and stands different from those regular and cliched bollywood lyrics stuffs. Rehman has made this song so peppy that the very first listen would make your feet tap without your knowledge. Just feel the uniqueness in this song in its stanza. It would make you crazy having a fun statement within it.

'Behka' is the another creative offering from the maestro. Though lyrics might sound a bit eccentric in its own ways but you would appreciate it as you listen the whole song once. It has that 'Je ne sei quoi', it needs to give a magical feeling to the listeners. Vocalized by a new singer 'Karthik', this song has that international touch, the freshness and the much required charisma, to hit the charts.

Then comes a rendition by the 'Tu Meri Dost Hai' singer, Benny Dayal, 'Kaise Mujhe'. This is also a very placid song on the lines of 'Tu hi Re' and would need time to grow on the listeners unlike the other songs of the album. The instrumental version of this is simply mind blowing as I would just call it the composition exemplified.

Last comes Shreya Goshal's 'Lattoo'. This song seems to be an ordinary party track having no hallmark of Rehman within it. The only good thing about this song is to listen to Shreya in a complete new mood. After 'Ye Ishq Hai', Shreya's another commendable attempt to sneak out a song from Sunidhi or Alisha's laps and live up to the expectations. It would hit the discos and pubs successfully. Nice fast number to listen to.

The music of Ghajini is all set to make waves way into 2009 after the Christmas release of the film. Its music is certainly better than Jodha Akbar, Jaane Tu .. or Yuvraaj. Ghajini is what one calls as a chart buster album in the offering. When 'best of the best' list would be compiled at the year end, it would be hard to ignore Ghajini.

Happy Listening!! :)

Do we need another 1857??

As I repose today and introspect on the last two days' mayhem that shook the nation by its roots, I was bound to renounce my phlegmatic state of mind. It's not the time to repose, is it?? But we always do and wait for the terror to strike us someday. Till then who cares?? Haah!! Who would give you time to repose then? You would be a part of those hundred dead bodies and billions others would be gaping at their televisions to browse through your your corpse amidst the thousands' others and forget yet again. Are we playing any game here? Have we become so apathetic to such incidences that we hardly care that our very own nation is in jeopardy now. Its enough of showing the national spirit. Mumbai spirit, mumbai's resurrection, what is it all? Mumbaikars are not getting their bread and butter for free. Just like others, they also earn them. So they have no option left but to stand right again and start a new day, forgetting what had happened and thank the Almighty that they are safe this time. Media calls it mumbai's spirit and forgets the cause of the discussion. Few more speeches, few more committees, few more inquiries, few more coverages, and a deafening silence follows for those who are really worried about their safety. They have their questions unanswered yet again. To add to their worries, the perpetrators get a green signal to act to a new plan which can cause much more devastation next time. Now this has become a way of life for India and its citizens.

The terrorists have their plan ready each time. Where are our plans? Are we the mute spectators? Could these son of the swines have ever dared to commit such crimes, had we been as potent as the US is, currently. What signals are we passing to the world? Are we showing the globe that we are the most impotent nation in the world and beg them to come and invest here despite this unpropitious and ghastly environment? We are losing what we have gained. If we lose our reputation on this global map, we are vanquished. Forget development completely.

Now its high time we should act. We have to show that we are all powerful to respond back and do this with the Iron Hand, as Mrs Azmi said today. Whom are we waiting for? We have to convey a global message to the perpetrators that we are no more vulnerable. Enter their territory, search them and take them to a horrifying destiny that they deserve. We have to respond as violently and as vociferously as we can to make that gong echoed in the complete periphery of this globe.

Voting the right party is something next to impossible. We have to live with these impotent leaders. But we have no options left but to make that happen through these servants only. So lets awaken them. Lets have a loud nation wide protest. Lets reach to each and every individual of this country and let him know that we, as a nation, can respond. All united for that eternal sunrise, for which we are waiting for long. Lets pledge today that we wont let a single foot of the anti nationals, lie on our "Matri Bhoomi" for whose safety some of our brave hearts sacrificed their lives in the past two days. Lets pledge that no more such sacrifices would be needed that to for the reason whose very roots could have been removed way back, had we been a bit awake since beginning. Lets move now. Then only we would be in the right position to repose yet again.