Joda Achcha Lagega

Last Sunday, I was out with my friends from school - Aditya, Astha, Jayanti and Udit; hanging out in Dwarka. Meeting school friends had always been quite a ritual, for we all used to come together whenever Aditya would be in the city. Though rest all of us reside not that far apart, but we hardly used to meet. Count that on the busy schedules and life otherwise we all had been leading. But whenever Aditya would come back from his university in Chennai, it used to be grandeur for we all could be together then. Aditya was to give treat this time for his birthday previous month. So, we all met at Dwarka sector-10 metro station. This was instantly followed by a ceremonial, warm hugging welcome, by each one to each one. Led by the ever puzzled but pretending not to be, friend of ours, Aditya, we traipsed on the eerie roads of Dwarka.

The series of events that followed I prefer not to talk of ‘cause they are not the cause behind my writing. So, I would resume it from here. After offering a sumptuous Italian lunch, Aditya was leading us to some ice-cream parlor. On the way we came across beggars; not two, not three but several. As if lined up in an array.

Well, these beggars, I can’t miss describing. All of them were kids. Girls but one. Mostly in their pre or early adolescence. Don’t know whether they do this on purpose or genuine lack of amenities; they all gave a look of not having bathed since last spring. Their parched skin and the hard sheet of blackening dust defied. Dressed in the shabbiest of the clothes, soiled n tattered. The girls having a rag on their heads. There was a whole flock of these kids, as if were waiting for us only to pass by. But then they catch every passerby. Perhaps only, someone could ever pass without being noticed and approached. They work on a network basis. The leader of the flock would station all to different cites and mentions their place of work where they have to be active enough to let any one just pass by without being caught. These are the road-hit managers, having their own organization to run. If one notice closely, he could judge there could be an in charge of HR, for administration, finance, R&D, so on and so forth, in the whole network. Well, I guess someday IIM’s would be conducting seminars where in these managers of the road would be rendering lectures.

With a much practiced fake, or perhaps, anticipation they would approach you and with their much learnt, and mastered rather, baritone and dialogues, they would ask you for alms and would bless you in the magnitude of pounds. They would follow you to quite a distance. At times even touching your feet. Many a people just to evade such embarrassing moments would give a coin or two to them. At times, when you don’t respond and move on, these kids would curse with something even they would be not knowing the meaning of, but were taught so, or even hit you. Whatever.

That day too, we were, as if stalked by the whole battalion of little beggars. Don’t know why but I have this benevolence for these kids. And this only ends me up having chat with them, every time. I never let a penny out though. This is specifically about the two of them:

First one; a girl having the same above described attire and perhaps of twelve approaches us:

With all her routine dialogues she began to ask for alms.

‘I don’t have money’, I said which I obviously was lying.

But she continued wooing the lambs.

‘Do you go to school?’, I enquired knowing that obviously she wouldn’t be. But this always works for me. Ask about school and they are vanished. I had assumed that she too would just vanish or give a regular ‘NO’ in reply. She indeed said no but what she said along with took me aback or rather I was mesmerized by the innocence with which she replied.

‘Nahi, hum nahi jate par hamare bhaiya jate hain’

Next was the girl in the video below. And just as any other kid of her age would recite a rhyme, she started pleading for alms.

‘Ae de de bhaiya, tumahri jodi achchi rahegi’

Once. Twice. Thrice. And again. And over again. She had taken Jayanti for my partner.

‘She is my sister kid’

But as if she had no attention to what we were saying. She was just repeating her lines. The subtle cuteness of the kid, made me take my phone out and capture her; but just as I started the camera of my phone, I guess she noticed what I was up to and got conscious. May be to the camera. Whatever.

I fear in getting some conclusion out of this. For I don’t know what would it be- mercy, shame, surprise, confusion, anger. Don’t know. I just know this is there.

Munni Sarvatra Hai :D

Ekadashi (eleventh date) of the Hindi month of Kartik(this month starts from the first full moon after Deepawali and most often falls in October-November). This has always brought celebrations around for on this day it is considered that all the Hindu Gods and Goddesses wake up. And this thus marks the advent of the marriage season in Indian Culture.

Marriage!!

Marriage??

Marriage.

(Here this full stop has more meaning and worth than the word itself)

By simple permutations there arise four cases:

1. Boy is Angel (perhaps just saying ‘not bad’ would do the justice) and the is Girl is Witch(and that means a wicked witch) : kind of equivalent to that the boy is hanged by the noose, eventually for the whole life which perhaps would mean ‘till death’ only.
2. Boy is Devil (or even gross) and the Girl is an Angel : in this is the case I truly feel pity for the girl. May no girl ever has to be in this case.
3. Boy is Devil and the Girl is Witch : Oh gosh! Full on entertainment perhaps for the neighbors. But then I feel sorry for the kids.
4. Aww…this is the sweetest one. Both the Girl and the Boy are Angels : Perhaps this is the rarest case. One in a million.

Now let us come back to the point. Will it be anything, marriages mean celebrations, showing off, lots of work(for the families engaged) and lots of nuisance( be it ‘cause of dowry or boozed up attendees or anything).

In fact once I remember a fight broke out just ‘cause two men of the families couldn’t have a common agreement over whether the rasgulla were black or brown? And this led to the most memorable of the events, which we call the ‘rasgulla fight’ ‘cause that argument over the colour of rasgulla had led to both of them throwing rasgullas at each other. And this is a true story and I myself had attended that wedding.

With marriage also comes music associated. Earlier it was only restricted to ‘Mahila Sangeet’ and Shehnai. But as time passed ‘Dhol’ and band came into the scene. The latest in thing is the DJ’s. Perhaps for most of the people it though means dance floor with the music played loud over the sophisticated music systems devoid of any mixing and grooves, etc. I recently happened to attend a wedding this season. The dance floor there was full or in fact crowded and people were perhaps jumping to the beats of ‘Munni Badnam’. Once, twice, thrice, again. I then noticed a few drunk men who were standing by the man who was playing the music. (I wouldn’t perhaps disgrace the profession by calling him a DJ) And rest perhaps could be well guessed.

On our way back, we passed by a two or three weddings and everywhere the same song was being played. My brother who was alongwith me, said-"Brother , look this song is being played everywhere on a repetition basis. Doesn’t Munni herself get tired?" I calmly smiled to my brother and said-"Bhai, Munni ke anek roop hain. Munni sarvatra hai." :D

P.S. : In fact I was born on this Ekadashi of Kartik month too. :p

Acute Assignmentory Disorder

I remember once when during my engineering days a lecturer asked for a particular assignment as it was supposed to be the submission day for the same.

Damn, I had almost forgotten about the assignment. It was to be submitted today and I haven’t even started it yet.

Those days I used to sit in the second last row. The coolest one as I thought, ‘cause there neither would the last bencher tag be associated with me, nor it would be close to the teacher. So it would make eating during the classes and in fact even dozing during the boring lectures quite comfortable. But that day don’t know how out of the blue, the lecturer started calling out roll number-wise.

‘Roll Number 1’

‘Not done ma’m’

‘Why? Your class has made it a routine. I wouldn’t allow you people to attend the my class now onwards. Till you get the permission from the HoD to do so. Now go out of my class.’

Fish! Permission from the HoD. And he’ll ring the parents.

‘Roll Number 2’

‘Yes Ma’m’

‘Keep it here’

I am gone now. He’ll call up mum-dad.

‘Roll Number 3’

Dad will cut short my allowances.

Mum is going to scold me.

‘Here it is ma’m’

‘Keep it here’

No money, No movies, No eating out.

‘Roll Number 4’

‘Not brought’

Oh my goodness, now I don’t have time even to copy it from someone. Why are they calling parents? It would have been just a routine if they wouldn’t have been ringing them.

‘Get out and get the permission from the Head to attend any of my next lectures’

I am ruined.

‘Roll Number 5’

Its nothing that great, but my parents. Who’ll make them understand?

‘Roll Number 5’

‘Haanh…yeas ma’m’

Where’s your assignment?’

‘I haven’t done’

‘Even you? Go out and get…’

‘Ma’m actually I have Acute Pulmunatory Disorder and I had an attack of it a few days back. So couldn’t do the assignment as I had to visit the doctor on the regular basis and he used to check my blood pressure and its viscosity and oxygen carrying capacity on a regular basis and was given the fumes of condensed oxygen with the other medicinal fumes.’

The lecturer as if skipped a breath. There was silence of the sea. Drop dead silence.

‘Okay then submit it in a week’s time’

‘Thank You ma’m’

‘Oye, is it?’ my friend sitting by my side said.

‘Is it? You think?’

Astrology and family of like disciplines

Astrology -an inseparable part of the Indian lives. Here people, in general, more than themselves believe in their stars. Here astrologists, palmists and all other of the same creed, thrive as much as do the doctors. Rather at times people rather than consulting a doctor for some illness, prefer rather to consult an astrologist.

People believe in the powers of the celestial bodies. And that everything is governed by them. In fact, in Hindu mythology there are citations that these planets have proved their strength over gods even. Even the mightiest of all gods, Shiva, couldn’t ward off the harsh period of the planet ‘Saturn’.

Possibly this all may be true. But has anyone ever heard that planets ever changed their course that often and then how many times? The earth is inhabited by some six and a half billion of the human race itself and then there are millions of others too inhabiting earth from fiercest and wildest of the animals to invisible to naked eyes micro organisms. And what a havoc it would have been if the planets had to move as in accordance with everyone. Who knows. Or did they ever start revolving in some other direction? Don’t know about the rest but I never observed anything like that. But we have always heard people saying-

“Din kharab chal rahe hain”, even in the finest of weather.

“Grah kamzor hai”, even though we know that all the planets have their definite mass and we know that nothing is going to happen to happen to them even in some hundreds of years.

“Grah-Dasha kharab chal rahi hai”, as if it was not for some planet but some rickety bus which ruled Delhi in not very distant past.

“Grah-Dasha badal sakti hai”, of which we know that they had been in nearly the same orbit ever since they got burst out of the Sun.

And tha Saga continues. But the question is still there as firm as ever. Do planets in actual govern us and our lives. To which I would say ‘yes they do’.

An old and wise sage once equated energy and mass in just one seemingly simple equation. Einstein Baba gave E=m.c-squared. Following that sage’s words we know that energy varies directly with mass. And thus we could say that the planets like Jupiter and Saturn which are manifolds bigger in size and heavier in weight than mother earth, possess a magnanimous amount of energy and with this amount of energy they do exert some pull or force (as given by another wise sage of the modern sciences that we study, Newton in his theories of gravitation) pertaining to their mass. And thus neither the earth and nor any of the earthlings remain unaffected of it. Thus the reasoning for the stars and planets affecting our lives. But we know and are sure of the unity and synchrony of each of the heavenly bodies. Then how could they affect the lives of each of us so uniquely and so distinctly from each other’s. To this there arise two possibilities- one that celestial bodies just mould the path as in accordance to what moves an individual takes but to move and how and where to move is in each individual’s backpack. The other possibility is time whose might cannot be neglected either.

The energy and time together make work possible. This we know pertaining to our knowledge in physics and thus the events occur.

When staunch followers of the GOD process disapprove of some scientific reasoning, I laugh at them but when people who believe in science disapprove of GOD and yet show reason for every occurrence, they make me laugh even harder. For as I see neither science ever disapproved of GOD and neither GOD ever rejected any of the reasoning provided by science. In fact, both the phenomenon are so well cogged into each other that there arises a clear outlook to both and yet validating the each other without disapproving of one another.

The being of GOD phenomenon

Often it comes to head that this world: the world around, is so perfectly knit in itself. Every event is so perfectly cogged and driven. And yet remains the uncertainty of every moment.

Amidst all this there still remains a thought in the minds of many- “The human civilization has developed its spectrum of knowledge so much that it has found a reason to everything that there seems to be no space to the ‘GOD’ phenomenon.” Truly there seems nothing to justify the presence of GOD.

Let us begin with the very beginning. The beginning of life. A sperm fuses with an ovum and a zygote is formed which attaches to the mother’s womb for forty whole weeks, developing each moment to take up human form. And hence begins a new life. Crawling, peeing and pooping in beds. This new life takes up nutrition (by various means), grows and everything occurs as we study in our science textbooks at school. How a foreign body enters our well fortified body; to which at times we fall prey and fall ill. How medicines and vaccines work against them and how this biological framework is repaired. Everything has got a reason and purpose attached to it; whose knowledge could be accredited to the expertise that human race has achieved over science. The ageing also could simply be accredited to the shortening of DNA over and over again due to replication. This ultimately leads to death. And after death: well nobody came back to tell about the afterlife. Many people have many beliefs. But out of our knowledge and logic we know that this is how it is.

So where was the GOD in this whole process? When something that has to happen will eventually happen, and its occurrence has got a well justified reasoning to it in the modern world. So what this ‘GOD’ thing actually is. Is he ‘Shiv’ or ‘Jesus’? Or is he just a figment of imagination turned into staunch unparalleled and unrivalled belief? The thing is that well no one actually is sure of it. And I am sure that no one is sure of it. Because GOD is the only phenomenon, science has no reasons to.

Though no one has exactly known what his form is or could be. But he is and makes his presence felt. He is there and watching over us. He is the spark within; the driving force that leads to discoveries and inventions and philosophical outlooks. He is the desire to possess things and care for them. He is the hope that makes it easy to live even the harshest of circumstances. He is the calmness that the dead has. He is the charm that that a cradled one has. He is the gallop that the horses take. He is the sea whose tides rise and fade. He is everywhere-in you, in me. One may question- “Where in me? I am so much of a biological system.” He is in the strides that the human mind takes. He is in the mount of emotions it makes. Albeit he is the one who makes minds out of brain. Ignites the spark of synaptic impulses of the neurons.

Science gives reason to everything, but GOD is the cause to everything.

Remember, science and the best of human knowledge has reasons for how everything started but only the being of GOD makes it understandable.

Nostalgia

Running running all hard,

I paced up so much

that even the mighty time, I surpassed.

And now that the cup of my being is empty

I can feel the pain in heart.

Come back O sun! and shine over me

The way you did,

when I was a kid.

Come back O wind ! And flow in my collar

The way you did when I was smaller.

I won everything, still I got nothing.

All I am left with is two cups

of happiness and spirituality

with nothing inside

no vitality, no functionality.

Now,

I want to be set free.

Free of everything, every worry.

The thought process is blocked

Perhaps the mind is clogged

Indeed clogged.

Soul drenched

Waiting for its thirst to be quenched.

Perhaps I want to get smaller again

When,

Only bruised knees caused the pain

When with siblings; over a chocolate

were the fights we had.

And the strongest person known was-”MY DAD”

When the only known GOD was-”MY MUM”

But now,

What has become.

I want to go back to my kindergarten

where counting we knew was only till ten

when we made friends with one,

who were all neat and clean.

It was then all fun.

When we used to hide behind the pillow

to evade some frightening scene on a TV show.

Used to see “Tom & Jerry Show”

and giggled.

Used to escape grand-dad

Only because he would tickle.

I know,

Those days can never come back.

Only if they could be like shoes on rack,

I could always pick and live them

Whenever I felt low.

But then there is no repeat telecast show.

Only left with me is this-

This monotonous and treacherous life.

I wish,

The childhood would never have got over.

It would have been such a bliss.

My old days.

My happy days.

I loved life that ways.

lost love..

Dedicated to all those, destiny took away their love from

Before it gets too late

return back to home

For its scary and gloomy

and I am all alone.

The lights will fade

and the dark night will cover soon

You know no that I am

scared of dark nights without moon.

Better you step fast

or this dark will gulp me in

I am waiting for you

And I won’t be sleepin.

Did I ever tell you

that I love you a lot

I won’t ever play prank to you

and I admit the last one was all my plot.

You are my darling, you are my sweetheart

you are my everything

Come soon, I’ll be seeing your way

and my eyes won’t even for once blink.

Come soon my baby

Step faster

The day has fallen

The bats are crackling their laughter.

My heart’s thumping

calling out your name

Come to me my baby

enough of this hide n seek game.

You cannot leave me alone

For bereft you even I would die

Come to me in a jiffy

or I would start to cry.