Kaafir - Movie Review

Image Credit: https://zeetv.zee5.com/kaafir-character-promos-meet-kainaaz-akhtar-seher-and-vedant-rathod/

Few movies are so powerful that it makes you cry with the protagonists, feel what the actors are feeling. Few movies are so well directed that it focuses at several subtle and sensitive aspects of the society in a very powerful way. Kaafir does all that, and more.
(Kaafir is a Web Series being telecast on Zee5.com. Terming it as "movie" for sake of convenience)

There is a scene in the movie where the protagonist Kainaaz- a Pakistani woman- is sent to jail and inside the jail lockup, first, Hindu women tell her to move away sit on the Muslim women's side, and when she goes to the Muslims' side, Muslim women tell her to shift away sit in the Pakistani section of the jail lockup. The helpless, emotionless expression on Kainaaz's face, breaks your heart. 

In another scene, after a terrorist blast in J&K, some angry youngsters attacked the army officer's house where Kainaaz was staying (since she was a Pakistani). With kainaaz inside with her daughter, they set the house on fire. The two persons who came to rescue both had their relatives' killed in terrorist attacks earlier. One was Suri Uncle's wife who had lost her husband in the very terrorist blast, and another was Vedant, who had lost his army officer brother in a terrorist attacks several years earlier. The incident shows the great divide in society, the divide of blind hatred and matured conscience.

The movie is not only of a Pakistani woman stuck in Indian jails on flimsy grounds of "National security" (flimsy because there was no evidence, and no investigation) . It is also the story of the struggle in the life of a woman, who has to play the role of a daughter, a wife, and a mother in extreme circumstances of the patriarchal, misogynist world. What's more, the movie is also about a righteous man's resolve and conviction in doing the good. The movie is about the fight of good vs the bad elements of society, where ultimately the good wins, but after a lot of pain and sacrifices. 

A still from the movie, where Kainaaz, after winning her freedom from court,
falls on her feet crying, and her little daughter comes running to console her

Look at it- the woman protagonist Kainaaz played by Dia Mirza- first gets ditched by her husband in Pakistan, then she jumps into river to commit suicide, doesn't die but lands into Indian jails. There she gets served 15 months jail term, gets raped by a jailer, and has to remain under extreme circumstances in the jail, not for just 15 months, but for more than 8 yrs!

And look at the male protagonist in the movie- Vedant, played by Mohit Raina, he is from a military family- his two brothers are in army and his father is a retired Police officers. The irony in his life, is that his younger brother was killed by a terrorist, who he himself had got released from jail in capacity of lawyer, under impression that the guy was innocent and not a terrorist! And yet again, he takes up the case of a Pakistani woman Kainaaz! He also takes it up going against his father's constant opposition.

The movie touches upon several delicate issues, and focuses on many conflicting emotions in the minds of the lead protagonists. There is an angle of love and sacrifice, there is the element of guilt, and there is the depiction of great resolve and conviction in face of severe extreme circumstances. Dia Mirza does magic with her acting and expressions, she absolutely dives into the character making it to so real that you feel her pain as she faces. Mohit Raina in his role of the lead male protagonist too plays a great part. The Child actor Dikshita Jain is so cute, lovely and innocent. Several of her innocent questions bring smile on your face. The script writer of the movie has been superb. The movie is replete with several deep dialogues which touch your heart. All in all, this is one gem of a movie, one is a million kind, not to be missed at all. The director, producers and the entire team deserves a huge applaud for making a movie on such theme, with such nuance and depth.

Ending it, I would like to mention a few of the many, fabulous dialogues from the movie:-

"हम जेल वापस चलते हैं अम्मी, यहाँ बाहर मुझे अच्छा नहीं लगता है"

"कायनाज जी, हाथ खुले हो या जुड़े हो, कोई फ़र्क़ नहीं पड़ता; इबादत का तरीक़ा नहीं, नीयत मायने रखती है"

"जेल की खिड़की की सलाखों से जब मैं खुले आसमान और पहाड़ों को देखती, तो मुझे वही खुला आसमान और पहाड़ नज़र आते, जो मेरे मुल्क में भी है क़ुदरत सब के लिए एक है, इंसान ही लकीरें बनाता है"

"दुनिया को अगर नफ़रत की निगाहों से देखा जाए तो हमें नफ़रत का ही एहसास होता है। अगर हम दुनिया को प्यार की निगाहों से देखें तो, प्यार का एहसास होता है"

"मारने वालों से बचाने वाले बहुत ज़्यादा हैं, लेकिन बस बेटा वो चुप रहना सीख गए हैं"

"लोग लड़ते हैं मिलने की ख़ातिर,

पर अपनी तो बिछड़ जाने की लड़ाई थी |

जीत मिली हम दोनो को बस, बस आँसू की कमाई थी " 
(the small part of the longer "The Kaafir Poem" by Swanand Kirkire )

The losing Compassion and Empathy...

Image Source:- lonelyplanet.com

Sometimes you do something and immediately after that realize the mistake. But by the time you realize it, you also realize that you can hardly do anything about that. So a sense of guilt encompasses you, a guilt which you can't do anything about! 

Today while coming back to my flat, a poor couple on road, with a kid in the arms of mother, stopped me and pleaded for money. This is fairly common scene in Hyderabad, and I immediately ignore and brush past such people. But this time, the guy called back saying he doesn't want money, even food will be great. I had almost moved ahead, when I recalled that my this month's quota of helping people in need was still pending. So like a shrewd businessman I smelled an opportunity there- an opportunity to fulfill my monthly resolution, an opportunity to get some instant gratification. I turned back, told the guy to come with me and I will buy them Dinner. I signaled them to cross the road with me to the other side, where I knew an affordable restaurant. I went there asked the person on reception, to pack a dinner for two. I paid for that, took the packed food, and handed it over to the guy standing outside the restaurant. That's where I did what I immediately felt guilty about.  While handing over the food packet to the guy, I showed great hurry for leaving, didn't even look towards the guy, and quickly instructed him to move away from the place (so that he doesn't cause trouble to the restaurant owner). All this while he was politely thanking me for the food!! The moment I moved away from them doing all this, I realized my mistake! I realized my mechanical nature, my inhumane approach towards the family, my selfish nature to fulfill my resolution without caring for the intent. But the moment had passed, there was no going back, I could hardly do anything about that. I was in hurry to reach my flat, but once I decided to buy them food, I should have done that with a sense of empathy. That empathy was missing, that humane nature was missing. I did that as if I was doing a favor to the family, with no emotions, no humane connection with the family! Particularly, the hurry shown while leaving them, put myself to shame. I might have helped the family, but the intention of helping was missing. I immediately felt a pang of guilt, which I felt so helpless about. I just promised to myself to do better now onwards... 

The incident made me think, why have we become so mechanical and so self-centered in our life? We are we always in so much of hurry, that we forget there are other humans around, some of whom may need our compassion and empathy, much more than anything else! Money seems such an easy way out. Spend some money and suppress the need of helping with compassion! Where are we headed! Life seems moving so fast that we don't even want to stop think about the pain and suffering of others....

The Journey of Life...

Image Credit:- andriathompson.wordpress.com ( http://tinyurl.com/j3rkxld )

So busy we get in our life, that we forget to ponder on it, reflect on it...

the various hues and the shades, the various ups and the downs, seem to have been dumped deep down in memory.

Things that used to matter most, seems to have went into oblivion...

people who used to be omnipresent, seems to have moved on to different world.

As our life keeps expanding to the wider horizons, our earlier, closer connections with things and people who used to matter earlier, keeps on waning...

newer people and newer set of things make entry into our life, grabbing space in our already cluttered life.

Can't we stop, take a breath, observe, look back at life, and contemplate over things happening around? Can't we take a break every once in a while to think over our life's happenings? Are we prioritizing things wisely, are we spending our times judiciously, are we bringing good changes around us, are we being humane? Can't we think over things that matters most in life... 

But then I thought...

I wanted to write something but then I thought, what good will it do?

I wanted to say something, but then I thought, will my words matter at all ?

I wanted to cry a bit, but then I thought, won't my tears go waste? 

I wanted to scream aloud, but then I thought, who will even notice them at all! 

I wanted to try a bit more, but then I thought, will it even lend any result at all?

I wanted to move a step ahead, but then I thought, will it even get me anywhere at all? 

So here I am, stuck, where I was....

What are we making of our Life!

Image Credit:- http://kurld.com/wallpapers/life-wallpapers.html

This blog-post is triggered by a weekly blogging exercise practiced at Indiblogger. The topic of discussion there was- "What is it that we are running after? Isn't it time to step back and enjoy life, nature, family or anything we really love"

Most of us get so busy with our lives that we seldom step back to ponder where is it headed. The world is changing so fast, that our topmost priorities always becomes- how to get on and get moving along, lest we get left out!! Changing dynamics of society, increasing materialism, increasing cost of life, all these things make a significant impact on the way we spend our life.

In my opinion, the motto should be simple- "Live, Love, and Enjoy". Imagine if we start loving every simple thing/person around us. Imagine if we love our friends, family, and a stranger poor all alike. Imagine if we start finding joy in living a harmonious life with our surroundings. In stead, most of our life, we keep struggling improving our career or gathering more and more wealth. In the race of gathering material wealth, we ignore our emotional and mental health. As we keep growing up, we keep losing our natural character- which is of joy, innocence and of pursuing what we love. In stead, we end up getting into a never-ending race of gathering wealth and physical commodities. We associate happiness with wealth , and love with convenience. Seldom do we step back and think what actually makes us happy and joyous.

Life is not only about comfort, and material wealth. It's more about our emotional well being and inner happiness. And this is what we need to think about. What brings inner happiness to us? What energises us, and makes us joyous? What makes us playful, bringing out our childhood and innocence back? These questions are what we need to ask ourselves every once in a while. They are the keys to our happiness and emotional well being. Do I love nature, or a hobby which has ceased to become a "hobby" actually? Can't we take some time out from our busy schedules to pursue what we love to do? I am sure we can, and that's what will bring us real happiness. Career and some minimum wealth is necessary, but let's not go blind for them. So let's promise ourselves, that we will find out what we really love about life, and will make it a point to indulge in them. Let's get out finding them out!!

Are we really Independent?

Image Credit:-   http://www.mapsofindia.com/

This is the most common question raised by many, every Independence Day in India. People wonder about it due to many reasons. Some think why we should feel happy being Independent if we are still being ruled by politicians who are chosen by the votes of a very small section of people, some think why we should feel Independent if we are made to follow archaic laws which are hardly made through our consent in the first place, some feel why should we really feel Independent if we have to abide by society's culture and norms, many of which could be most stupid and nonsensical. And there are many more- poverty, scams, corruption, reservation, LGBT rights, transparency, accountability, to name just a few. So are we really Independent?

This is really a tricky, mind-boggling question. The answer to which depends on the way we interpret the term "Independence". Do we take "independence" as simply independence from Britishers? If yes, then surly we have become independent from British rule. In fact that's the reason "Independence day" is commemorated for - to mark the day we got independence from Britishers, and to remember the martyrdom of our courageous freedom fighters. 

But then, we are forced to think, after we got independence from Britishers, did we really get self-dependence? How good getting independence from Britishers have been to us? Have we got self ruling? Or are we still being ruled by, against our wishes? 

The question gets even more complex when we start thinking about more deeper meaning of independence.
Have we really been living in a free, independent nation, where we get to do what we wish, and be what we want? Or do we get bogged down by norms and expectations of society? Does every single citizen of India feel fully enabled to achieve his or her dreams? Or do some sections of people feel completely helpless and dependent on other privileged lot, for fulfillment of even their basic needs? The question looms back to haunt you every time you see child beggars on streets, poor farmers toiling in scorching heat on someone else land, and talented but poor people not being able to achieve their dreams due to poverty. All these instances make us think - Are we really dependent? Have we really independent?

Image Credit:- http://www.elections.in/blog/are-we-really-independent-in-india/

On top of that, certain sections in society are ostracized and have hardly any rights as general people. Transgenders people to name one. Moreover, in the name of morality and following archaic laws, Gay and lesbian people are considered violating law.

Somewhere, that does make it look like we have a lot to go till we achieve real independence. But then, is it really such an achievable thing ? Is there any country in the world which is prospering and can claim to have true independence?

True independence will be achieved when we achieve freedom of minds, and when our entire society become open to everyone's freedom. Overall change in mindset of entire society is very much needed. Several times, brilliant minds have been killed by society's mindset and restrictions. So independence in true sense can be achieved only with a great reform in society's mindset. And can that be achieved in absolute terms and by a given time-frame? I think not. Reform is an ever-growing process. People and society will have to keep reforming themselves. And achieving absolute freedom never seems an achievable  target. That's primary because good and bad are always going to co-exist in society. So expecting a perfect, fairy tale society, where nothing will go wrong, and everything will happen to satisfaction, really does seem to much to expect. But yes, we can still go a long way, and achieve much more degree of independence, than we have right now. Hope we do so!!

The Language Impediment: Need of learning new languages

picture source: www.ilmkidunya.com/lists/top-ten-challenges-to-students-during-studying-5.aspx 

Language is the most basic way to communicate(apart from expressions of course), and it can feel like a great impairment if you get stuck due to not knowing a language. You feel like being in a world of strangers and not knowing how to interact. The inability to communicate can be very frustrating, but even more frustrating could be the inability to understand what is being talked around. To speak and to be able to communicate, the very first thing one would need, is being able to understand what others are speaking. And when you are just not able to understand the language of the region, how can you expect to be able to mix up in the conversations going around! At the very first stage you are bound to be at a disadvantageous position. All the time, only you will have to initiate the talk and that too in the standard, non-regional language. Needless to say, knowing the basics of the regional languages, is the need of the hour, to be able to effectively converse in the region you are living.

Now, there are numerous advantages too, of knowing multiple languages. 

First of all, conversing in regional language will enable you to be able to connect to people more effectively. People will feel a better sense of togetherness while talking. The talks will be more informal, more friendly in nature, hence helping you to engage in a better conversation. Even if you are only able to understand, and not speak, then too it will help a lot. At least you will be able to understand what people are speaking and would be able to respond back in your own common language.

Secondly, knowing multiple languages can be considered to be enriching your knowledge base too. After all, learning languages is an essential part of any learning curriculum. Also, learning a new language opens up a completely new vista of literature. You can read works of so many authors which you earlier would have been unable to go through. 

Not only that, knowing multiple languages makes you culturally diverse too, opening up multiple diverse cultures in front of you. Now, getting familiarised with multiple diverse cultures could be such an interesting experience in itself!

Also, studies show that, people knowing multiple languages have better task switching capabilities (source). Now, that is really interesting, isn't it? Basically it means that your brain becomes sharper by learning multiple languages! 

In the words of "Susanna Zaraysky"(source), who speaks seven languages and has lived in nine different countries:-

"Being multilingual is fundamental to who I am because I think in different languages. My mind starts a thought in one language, then finds a particular word in another language that fits exactly what I am thinking and then may switch to a third language by the end of the paragraph. 
Each language resonates with me in a distinct way, bringing out a different part of my character. Russian makes me more melancholic because of its minor tone. In French, I am super pensive. Brazilian Portuguese is a very flirtatious and sweet language. "

Imagine how exciting her life must be! Need I say more? Simply putting, learning new languages can never be a futile effort. It comes with it's own extra perks and benefits. You may not even be able to imagine what help a new language could render you at what time! It is never too late to learn, specially if it's about languages. Come, let's join this language learning bandwagon! 

वो दो पल....

                         

              वो दो पल का साथ, वो अजीब सा एहसास 

                  तेरे कभी तो पास आने की, जो मुझमें है आस.

                वो दो पल कि मस्ती, वो कागज कि कश्ती

                 तेरे जुल्फों के लट कि, वो बादल सी मस्ती...

                वो दो पल का मिलना, वो मिल-मिल बिछडना

                 तेरे पास आने को, वो दिल का मचलना...

                वो दो पल के साये में, मेरे ख्वाबों का पलना

                  तेरे दिल में जो बसने कि, वो मेरी तमन्ना... 

                  वो दो पल का साथ, वो अजीब सा एहसास ....

Hopelessly Relentless....

There are some things in our life, which we know we can never have, but still try to have!! Ironical statement, isn't it? But happens many times in our life if you try to notice. Things which are beyond(?) our reach, things which seem practically impossible to have, sometimes they even cause great despair , but due to our desire, we don't give off its pursuit. We are hopeless, but relentless.  

Specifically talking of relationships, sometimes we love and care for someone and wish to be with that someone for forever. Even though it may not seem feasible, even though it may seem practically impossible, we keep putting in efforts. Deep down we might be knowing that our paths are so apart that its completely foolish to expect some positive outcome, but still we can't stop trying. We may be knowing that ultimately it will leave us disheartened and hurt, but still we don't give in. So driven we are by our desires, that we are blinded off reality!! Its like we have a hopeless hope. We know its not possible but still we are not losing hope. We are hopeless but we are still hoping!

Even talking of materialistic desires, it seems to be all the same. We may be knowing that we can't acquire something we wish to have, but still we keep that desire burning in our heart. They say "Hope is what keeps us alive", and rightly so. Howsoever small hope we may have, it keeps us moving. We have goals in life, we have our dreams for our life, we may have very little hope of getting them, but sometimes we are relentless in the pursuit. The mere happiness which comes from dreaming about them, keeps us moving. Its quite like luring a child to keep coming towards you by dangling a chocolate!!

Thinking about all these aspects, I always get this notion that "If its in your mind, it can become a reality". Even seriously pondering over it, there is a very thin line between imagination and reality. It may seem weird to think, but it could be possible of being a reality. Its all in our head, if we can think of it, we can make it a reality too. Desires are what drives our life, if we have a desire in our mind, who knows it becomes a reality!!

Relationships

Relationships are mysterious things.... Sometimes I start wondering why do we even need it. Why can't we be happy without it. Why do we always need a relationship to keep us happy. It's like our happiness lies in relationships. It's like someone else drives our life. :/

We are always in search of someone(well, if not always, most of the times, for one reason or the other.) The search may not actually be intentional and directed, but our emotional state of mind is such that, it always wants to connect to someone. That's where I start wondering as to why can't we be content with ourselves! Ohh, it may look weird for sure, for being happy with our own self would surely be quite a insane looking idea. But then as Osho says-

"Aloneness is beautiful. It has an elegance around it, a grace, a climate of tremendous satisfaction.   Aloneness is SHEER independence. One feels as if one is one's whole world, one's whole existence...."

Does it sound weird? :)

Well anyway, I was wondering how we keep going through a cycle of varying relationships and the accompanying emotional states.  It seems so fascinating if you look at it from a distance. We always seem to be in an emotional-crisis-state, always looking out for some emotional solace from others! If we don't get someone, we get disheartened, and if we do get, then it gets so lively! Curious thing is that it always keeps going in a perpetual motion, never-ending cycle.

One thing that is quite worrying, is the discontentment caused by relationships (or desire of it?). It always takes us through such a roller-coaster kind of emotional ride. Sometimes we get enlivened up after interacting with someone, and sometimes we may even go in an emotional black hole! Relationships affect our lives to such a great extent that it virtually controls our happiness. We get happiness from relationships. A good relationship can be a great source of happiness for us. Being with that someone special can bring immense joy in our life. Relationships are always such a precious thing to cherish.

But then relationships cause emotional pains too. Not being able to be with someone, not being able to get close to someone.... these can cause great discontent and loneliness. We have our desires, our choices, our aspirations, and we get disheartened if we are not able to get into the desired relationships. It seems so worrying how much discontent these issues can cause.  And there seem no way out to address this problem (is it really a problem?).

Are relationships the problem, or are our desires the problem? I am still wondering.....

Corporate Life

Corporate life is strange.  It gives no time to think. You are always chasing one goal after another. This is good as well as bad. There is always a challenging goal ahead, which keeps you moving on in your life. It keeps you energetic, on-the-move, always busy, always chasing an adrenaline-pumping, nerve wrecking target. At the end of each individual target, one feels triumphant. Each target achieved gives a reason to celebrate, a new boost to the life. At the same time, each target achieved also gets followed by a new incoming challenge! You don't get time to think anything other than your own   closed-up world. Corporate life seems to enclose people in a completely different world, away from regular social life. The life seems to be so indulging that you hardly get anytime to be yourself, and explore your hidden abilities. A corporate set up wires your mind in a completely different manner. You are programmed to think, act, and behave in a particular manner. So as I said, it's good and it's bad.

But I think it would be wrong to be critical of it, because even a Public Sector life will have a completely different set up, and so will the armed forces life... It's just that the degree of flexibility offered varies in each of them. One can say that, it's not bad, it's just about the amount of flexibility being offered.

Talking of another aspect, I wonder how much effort an IT professional would  be able to apply towards social causes. Being in a corporate set up, first, one's mind is too absorbed in professional life, to think about doing something for society. Even if one would like to do something, I wonder how much time he would be able to devote :/ That said, good people are everywhere, and I am sure, a motivated person will always find ways to do what he loves doing most.

With this, I end up this post of mine. I think this must be one of the shortest post on my blog. Just got some thoughts in my mind, and felt like penning it down. And yes, since I am quite new to this Corporate world, so my perceptions may be wrong about it! :) Hope to experience it well, and enjoy it thoroughly. :)

Strange ways of Love....

How many times have we got confused about love or no-love? How many times have we got confused by the confusing signals being sent across by the other person? Isn't it quite strange that we take so much time to figure out a simple relationship! ( Or is it actually a pretty complicated relationship? ). So that's pretty strange, isn't it? That we may be in love, but may not be knowing that we are. And we may NOT be in love but may be thinking that we actually are!! :)

They say, "Don't fall in Love. Rise in Love!". So that's where I start wondering..... Does 'Love' brings prosperity and happiness, or does it spell doom for the person? Standard philosophical response would be of course that something as pure and pious as 'Love', can do no harm. But then do we not notice numerous of lives getting spoiled by this same "Love"? Doesn't it waste hell lot of time of those love-struck couples? Or is it like that every relationship demands time? And of course, in many cases we even notice people committing suicides!! So is it 'Love' which is playing devil here, or is it that people themselves are devilish!! Strange ways...... :)

Not having a wild side can be quite a bit of disadvantage for guys. There are umpteen articles lying around which concludes that girls find themselves attracted to bad guys. And this is not a matter of articles alone, this could be easily experienced by us. Haven't we noticed the most beautiful girls of our class taken away by the most notorious, mischievous boy? And it has logic too.

So point is, the nice guys-those with nothing wild and unconventional to show off- are put off on back foot. They are most of the times, on a disadvantageous ground. Even though they might have much better qualities than the other set of guys, they always fail to get a nice girl. Why? Because the nice girls are always lured to the bad boys!! That's really strange, isn't it? But then, that's the way things mostly happen around :) 

Is love all the same in every cases, or is it different in different type of relationships? It is always so puzzling. The love of a mother for her child, the love of two friends, the love of love-struck couples.... are they all the same, or they are completely different? The obvious response seems to be that they are distinctly different, but wait! Some people also opin that love has the same basic threads everywhere. After all, don't you expect a clear commonality between all of them? Care, affection, empathy..... the most basic but important ingredients of Love, don't they bring a clear, distinctive, quite an intrinsic kind of similarity?? So much that we can say that "Its all the same in all cases"? Confusing, isn't it? :)

P.S.- If you liked this post, then you will like these two even more :)  -->>this one and this one 

the Dream...

Today I watched a very frightening dream- I had lost my job, and I had lost it before I could even get on to it! 

This was exactly like what had happened with me in real life. I usually don't remember my dreams, but when I watch some very deadly one, then it does gets etched in my memory for the next day..... The tremendous, nerve wrecking pressure on me in the dream, was exactly like what had happened with me in real life about one year back. 
Loss of job with Infosys had come as a deadly blow to me. I still remember vividly- 3rd August was the day it was. I had to board my train for Bangalore (Infosys Mysore campus) next day. In the afternoon, I was in market getting some documents xeroxed, when I had got that dreaded call. The rest coming was all horror for me. After the call ended, my mind had gone completely numb. (And as I am writing it, I don't know why, I am almost in tears :( )

I made a phone call to one of my friend, he didn't pick up. I was not prepared to go back home in this state. I went to a nearby empty play ground, parked my bicycle, and just sat there on ground. My mind was reeling with hundreds of fleeing dreadful thoughts- why did it happen only with me, why did it happen at this moment, how will I cope up now, what will I tell my parents, what will I do now, how will I get my next job now...... For the next half an hour, I just sat there thinking,.... Well, No. Actually I couldn't think much at that time. I was just trying to stabilize my minds from all those emotions. I hadn't disclosed the matter to my parents yet- "the matter" as in the matter which had led to the loss of my job. So this was another pressure on me, as to how will they take this double shocking news- the loss of job, and the fact that I had lied to them about my semester performance. 
Finally, I made up my mind, decided to go back home. I knew it would be as dreadful a news for them, as it was for me, but then I had to back up and break it up to them. After all, I couldn't commit suicide! 

I entered home, and noticed them preparing sweet dishes for me to take along with me next day. My mother, along with my sister and one of her friend, was hurrying through the works. The sight itself had brought tears into my eyes..... How do I break the news to them? With a very heavy heart, I calmly told- "Maa, hm kal nai jaibau" (Maa, I will not be going tomorrow). After that I shortly told them to stop preparing those dishes for me and then simply headed to take a sleep. In the evening, after waking up (had I been able to sleep?), I told the matter in detail. It was a shock for them too. 
But pressure on me was just unbearable . There was first anger of parents for having lied to them about a matter which became the reason for this loss of job. Then there was pressure of this loss of job. And added to that was the worry, as to what do I do next? 

The following times had been tormenting as hell. I get goosebumps when I think of them. Personal pressure along with parental pressure had made the life hell for me. Thank God, that I came out of it.

The whole incident made me reflect on my life. Why did it happen? I found that it was due to my weakness to balance various jobs in my life, and also due to me being extra emotional at times. I got too much involved in Rahul's and Harshita's matters. This of course helped them a lot, which was what I always wished, but those two events left a shocking impact on my career. I didn't know how far to go. I couldn't decide how much I could give in to help them,keeping I mind that I am able to save my own career from scratches. I got too much emotionally involved in both the matters, I just lost hold of my ability to balance my study life with non-study life. 

Anyway, finally now, I am in a far better position than I had been, in those dreadful times. I have got a job, and got it in an area which I always dreamed to work in, and I have got a job in a very reputed company. The end is well, and I am very thankful that those events didn't completely changed the course of my life (as I was fearing). I am treading on the same professional life-path which I always wished to :) 
I learned a few very good lessons, and I finally reached where I wanted to. It's just that I got delayed a bit. But then I don't mind it. After all, I can take this much pain for saving a few lives. My career is important, but so are some innocent lives. I don't regret my actions, it's just that I think I should have acted a bit more judiciously. Hope I will, henceforth :)

OMG: Oh My GOD, and my thoughts...

pic source: koimoi.com

"मजहब इंसानों के लिए बनता है, मजहब के लिए इंसान नहीं"

(what happens is the exact opposite!! people fight to save the name and fame of religion and GOD!!)

Pretty nice movie, having very powerful message hard hitting at the religious hypocrisy in society, in a very light way. More than 95% religious-looking-people in India are actually NOT religious. They are blindly religious, they are hypocrites, they are stupid people of the highest order!! And that's what this movie focuses on, and that too in a light vein. I am quite glad that such a movie was made, it resonates exactly with my sentiments. One doesn't need to go to any religious place, or to follow any particular religious tradition to worship GOD. In fact GOD doesn't need to be worshiped at all!! Why should one worship GOD?!! GOD is my friend, GOD is inside me, I love GOD, I don't need to fear GOD, and I don't need to ask for anything from GOD. GOD is inside every living creature around us. We don't need to go anywhere in search of GOD. Helping the living beings around us could be the best way of expressing our love and affection towards GOD. Help others, care for others, and love thy GOD :)

By the way, this movie also reminded me of OSHO's way of putting forth powerful arguments. And I am sure, had OSHO scripted the story and dialogues of this movie, then it could have been much more impressive and powerful movie :) (On a scale of 10, I would rate this movie 7/10)

People wrongly categorize many guys like me as "atheist". Just because you don't confirm to their typical beliefs about religion and GOD, you are tagged as an "atheist"!! If you don't follow the well-set traditions and religious practices, then you are bound to be non-religious and "atheist"!! If you start questioning their blind beliefs and traditions, you become atheist and non-religious!! This is sheer stupidity, and blatant orthodoxy. One doesn't become non-religious simply by questioning or objecting another person's religious beliefs. The point of contention here is what is understood by "religion", "being religious", and "atheist". "Atheist is the most simple yet most misused term. Simply ask someone- "Do you believe in anything like GOD, or an invisible Superpower?" The answer in Yes or No, should be taken as the conclusive opinion about the person being an atheist or theist.
"Being religious", is far more complicated term, and you can't find it out simply asking a few questions. To conclusively determine it will require to have a well detail examination of the person's ideologies, actions, beliefs, and behaviour. Participating in religious ceremonies or religiously following some "pious traditions" are no sign of being religious (Unfortunately, that has actually become the unsaid benchmark!!)
What is of paramount importance is one's ACTION. Only by observing one's actions closely, over a considerable time period, can one determine this property of being religious.
"Religion" again, is a bit complicated term. How would you define it a few words? For me, it would be simply a noble, holistic, humane way of living one's life.

If I had two EXTRA hours in a day.....

We have been writing on these kind of topics since childhood- "If I had....", "If I were....". It always feels nice to let loose our imagination and just pen all our crazy wishes.

Talking of this one, having two extra hours in a day won't be a usual thing. It would be a miracle to have so. Won't it? After all, who can imagine having 26 hours in a day! But miracles do happen. Yes, it does, you only have to be in the right place at the right time to witness the miracle. So, since having two extra hours will be a miracle in itself, so I would like to spend those two hours to help create further miracles, albeit of another kind. Am I confusing you? Wait, let me explain a bit.

Miracles can be basically of two kinds- One, totally inexplicable, divine miracles, and two, the miracles of equally surprising nature but brought about by human efforts. This second kind is what I am talking about of creating. Miracles can be created by human efforts too.

A 3 year old, cute girl child fells sick and is diagnosed of some very serious birth defects. India's topmost doctor specialising in that specific area, gives up and says there is only 1% chances of her survival if operated upon. Parents seek foreign consultations. One US doctor gives assurance of success but approximate expenses involved comes out to be around 60 lacs INR!! Parents are from middle class background and they have already spent 2-3 lacs in the child's treatment. What can you expect?? Fact is that, they go on to collect money from public as donations and  after having collected sufficient money they fly to US to have their child treated. By now, more than 90 lacs INR have already been spent, all coming from public donations, and the child is totally fine now. She has even started attending her playschool now. So, what India's topmost doctor  opined to be almost impossible, and even after getting medical assurance, what seemed an impossible task due to the huge expenses required, that impossible looking thing became possible. If this is not a miracle then what it is? This kind of miracle is what I am talking about of creating.

A poor girl goes on a daily working ritual, working in unsafe, untidy, unhiegenic conditions and earning a meagre sum of Rs 100 daily. Suppose now, our organization picks her up, educates her, trains her in some technical education and voila, she starts earning Rs 20000 per month!! Now she lives a healthy life, works with dignity and earns enough. Isn't it a miracle for her? This is precisely the kind of miracle I am talking about.

I would like to spend the extra two hours in creating miracles. Yes, it may sound a bit strange, but really, I would like to create miracles in the lives of other not-so-blessed people.

Its all about how we put our available time to use. If  we use the extra two hours in an intelligent and well planned way, then I am sure lots of big objectives can be achieved. Suppose I decide that I have to provide job oriented training to 10 females from a particular poor locality. The main challenge will be to arrange the fund for doing so. I will rope in our organisation for this. Being a registered organisation, we would be able to apply for grants being provided by many national and international organisations. So I will prepare a well drafted plan and send it to those organisations applying for funds.

Another issue that will need to be taken care of is 'manpower'. If I want to do something really significant, I will need to rope in other like minded people. Spreading words, inspiring others to join the cause will be another major objective. So basically- choose the miracle to be created, think upon how to make it a reality, and then start working on it in a well planned way- these are the things I would like to do in those two hours in my effort to create miracles.

We all know time is very precious, much more precious than money. When a person is in need of help, rather than helping him monetarily if we spend some time trying to spread the word about him and urging others to help, then it will be of much bigger help. Any extra time that we get should be spent judiciously. We can achieve surprising results by putting our time to use in an intelligent and productive way.

If we wish, we can bring about lots of miraculous changes in the lives of people around us. Two hours daily is a good amount of time to do so. Only thing is that we really wish to do so, and I wish to do exactly that- I would like to spend those extra two hours to create miracles in the lives of people around us.

*****           *****             *****            *****           *****

P.S.- This blogPost has been written for one of the indiblogger contest organised by HUL and Indiblogger team. If you liked my post then please leave your feedback and comments in the comment section below.

Be the Child in You

"We grow up and we are never the same again!"

While growing up, we seldom realize the gradual change in ourselves. In the quest of materialistic success we tend to forget the undergoing psychological changes in ourselves. All we care about is the future, and in order to have a bright future we keep working blindly, totally unaware and careless of the subconscious changes taking place in us. So we keep getting away from the child in us. We keep getting covered with an artificial aura. We lose our natural instincts, we lose our innocence, we loose our inquisitiveness, we loose our truthfulness; we in fact become a new person- a different person altogether. But the irony is that we love those childhood days and in fact sometimes we wish we were still child!! Why don't then we simply be the child in us? Why do we let ourselves change so drastically?

Once I had gone to meet 'Mitthi'- my Jijaji's niece. I was meeting her after 3-4 yrs. Last she was just 4 yrs, and now she had turned 8, studying in 4th Std. She recognized me easily but was really shying off. Thankfully, I had brought lots of chocolates to bribe her. I was feeding her chocolates and chatting with her. I was coaxing her to come with me to my home. I said- "तुम मेरे साथ मेरे घर चलोगी? 2-3 दिन रहना, चाची (my didi) से भी मिल लेना, और फिर हम तुमको वापस पहुंचा देंगे." She said- "नहीं, हम मम्मी के बिना नहीं जायेंगे, मम्मी जाएगी तभी जायेंगे." I said- "Plzz चलो ना." She again replied in negative. I said- "नहीं चलोगी? :( :( Plzz चलो ना :( " She said- "आप तो एकदम बच्चों जैसे कर रहे हैं" !! I was left amused at her straight, innocent reply. But later, I was also left pondering over the changes in her. She thinks acting your natural self is childish!! Back then when she was 4 yr old, she definitely wouldn't have said the same thing. But now she has grown up a bit, now she thinks that grown up people needs to act serious, not behave sentimental in front of others.

The surrounding environment changes children a lot. We start undergoing change from the very childhood. First our parents teach us the right and wrong, how to behave,how to react and all; and later, when we have grown up a bit, we ourselves start observing and learning from our surrounding. Friends, teachers, books, magazines, TV; these start changing our behaviour. Unfortunately, almost none of these teaches us to preserve some of the most needed childlike traits. We learn, we evolve, we grow up and we are never the same again!!

Many will say that we can't carry our childlike traits for long. We have to keep evolving, keep changing with growing age so this entire talk of being the child stands nowhere. Well, true to some extent. Of course we can't remain the same always. We need to change, keep adapting, but to what extent?? Sadly, being surrounded by shrewd minded people all around us, most of us, in order to cope up, change so much that we totally lose the child in us. We become a completely changed person. We start taking things too seriously, we stop having fun, we start hiding our natural emotions, we start taking a pragmatic approach (to things) rather than acting on our natural instincts.

Children are one of the most marvelous creation of God. They say "God resides in small children." Look at a child's behaviour intently, it is so fascinating. The innocence, the truthfulness, the frankness, the inquisitiveness, the easy-to-mix-up friendly nature.... everything looks so lovely, so enchanting (and that's the one reason we love children). But unfortunately, we tend to lose all those qualities one by one. As we grow up, we start departing from our natural self and keep drifting towards an artificial being.

But why is it so hard to be the child?!! I don't think it's really so difficult that we change ourselves so much. Try for it, throw your artificial aura, embrace some of those childlike traits back, you will love it. You won't lose anything by being your natural self. You will, in fact enjoy the new experience. So go ahead, 'Be the Child in you'!! :)

चला जा रहा हूँ ....

अन्जाने रास्तों पे चला जा रहा हूँ ... 

गमों को भुलाने चला जा रहा हूँ ......

इन्ही रास्तों पे, कहीं न कहीं तो, मिलेगा मुझे वो ख़ुशी का खजाना, 

बस यही ख्वाब लेके चला जा रहा हूँ ....

गमों के साए में, बस इन्ही ख्वाबों को दिल में संजोये, 

गमों को भुलाने चला जा रहा हूँ ....

हसरतें बहुत सी हैं, उन हसरतों को पानें की चाहतों को दिल में दबाये, 

इन अनजाने रास्तों पे चला जा रहा हूँ....

घना है अँधेरा, घनेरे हैं बादल, घने बादलों की बारिश में भीगे, 

गमों को भुलाने चला जा रहा हूँ ...

कभी तो मिलेगी मुझे मेरी खुशियाँ, कभी तो मिलेगा वो खुशियों का सागर, 

समंदर की लहरों के हसीं ख्वाबों में खोये, 

गमों को डुबोने चला जा रहा हूँ ...

सुना है समय का चलता है चक्र, ख़ुशी और गम दोनों की आती है बारी... 

इसी समय-चक्र के भरोसे चला जा रहा हूँ ....

गमों को भुलाने चला जा रहा हूँ, अन्जाने रास्तों पे चला जा रहा हूँ ...