The Big Flag Hoisting Controversy

Guess what, this Republic day may be remembered not for what happens on it but what happens after it :)

The so called 'EKTA YATRA' started by BJP has left the whole nation debating over it. BJP started the yatra all the way from West Bengal and claims that by unfurling our tricolour at Srinagar's Lal Chowk they want to challenge the separatists and make it clear to everyone that J&K is an integral part of India.

Opinions seem to be highly divided on this issue. Most of the Columnists seems to opine against it. J&K CM, Congress and even some strong allies of BJP are openly opposing it. The opinion of Aam Janta is most intriguing. Most seem to support it citing various reasons. There are various arguments supporting it. Some of them are-

What can be more shameful and worrying for us, if we fear repulsions and unrest just because we are hoisting our tricolour in our own Country!!! Every Indian is having a right to unfurl flag in any part of the country, why should anybody object to it!!! If they can hoist Pakistani flags at Lal Chowk and burn our tricolour, then why shouldn't we unfurl our tricolour with a fully hyped yatra!!! Till what time will we keep fearing those minority separatists' threats, its high time that we go there and put a challenge in their face!!!

But here is my personal opinion over this issue- 

Well, first see how this is being made out to be- If I don't support BJP's flag hoisting plan then I am a traitor!!!! So now everyone has to fulfill the criteria specified by BJP, to be said a patriot..... This in my view, is totally rubbish. This also implies that thousands of students who deliberately skip flag hoisting ceremony, but later go on to join prestigious organizations like ISRO, DRDO or even ARMED FORCES, are not patriotic citizens. Howsoever big service they provide to the nation, if they don't participate in flag hoisting ceremony, then they are unpatriotic!!!!
Bottomline- My hoisting or not hoisting of flag (or support of this BJP's hoisting plan), CAN'T decide whether I am patriotic or not, but my intentions, my services to the nation and my feelings for my nation DO decide. Hoisting of flag is symbolic gesture. It can't be said to be a criteria of patriotism.

Its quite clear that BJP is politicizing the issue. They are making it a patriotic issue and are trying to gain political mileage out of it. There is not an iota of doubt about it. Even our PM issued a statement , urging them not to play politics over tricolor. They are deliberately trying to make it an emotive issue.Well, now they are saying that they want to challenge separatists, where were they for the past 19 yrs. During their rulings, Mr. Vajpayee had been quite willing to have cordial talks with separatists. I think even Advani was in support of talks with separatist until quite recently. But now suddenly BJP feels that they should challenge separatists by doing this flag Yatra!!!! I am quite sure, had they been in centre right now, they wouldn't have decided to go for it. They have got hold of an emotive issue and are trying to get political mileage out of it. Playing politics in issue involving tricolor is utterly shameful. Had they been such a big patriots themselves, they would have stood for National integrity and wouldn't have tried religion based divisive politics leading to Ayodhya and Godhra massacre. And now, they will decide whether we are patriots or traitors!!!! They are digging their own graves. They had got a very good corruption issue to corner Congress but they are now again being foolish.
Bottomline- Trying to score brownie points by raking up this emotive issue of patriotism and involving our tricolor in this whole issue is utterly SHAMEFUL of BJP.

Next is the point that, is such a hyped and publicized Flag Yatra all the way from WB-J&K, necessary to challenge the separatists and show the world (and the separatists) that J&K is an integral part of India?? 

Many say that yes it is, bcoz since they burnt our tricolour and hoisted Pakistani flag at that place, so we need to go in big numbers with all the pomp and show, and show those separatists that see, if u could hoist Pakistani flag here at our land, then we too did come here without any fear and hoisted our flag with full publicity.
But I beg to differ. It's not necessary. J&K is an integral part of INDIA and we don't need to prove it to anybody. Now,as far as giving a sharp reply to separatists is concerned,this whole hyped yatra thing , though definitely a challenge in face for them shouldn't be carried out. Next, you will say, all INDIANS should go there and fight those stone-pelters with stones(as they are attacking our security forces), OR sm1 may even say that let's go attack all those separatists there.

Now, why fear those separatists. Why bow down to them. Well, it's not bowing down to their pressure. It's about taking decisions which maintains peace and harmony in the state. There is no doubt that Govt.- both central and state, have failed badly in putting in proper governance there. Look at past 3-4 years, how much misgovernance took place there. State Govt. failed to rein in the protests and bloodbath and Central Govt. kept sleeping for months. Whether it be AFSPA, too much of restrictions, excessive presence of forces, alleged rapes and encounters by security personnel, unemployment or something else; one thing is sure, that a significant section of people there are unsatisfied and infuriated with the Governance system there. In such situation, every single threat by separatists become headache for Govt. bcoz they can easily misled people to lead mass protests which could turn violent.
Now it's up to us. Whether or not we still want to go with all the hyped flag Yatra to challenge those separatists and hence risk another tense situation there. BJP claims they are expecting 50k people there. Separatists too have called for a counter Yatra there. In such a situation, a fatal clash between the two parties is imminent. State Govt. will of course never allow this, they can't handle unemployment, stone-pelters, separatists and terrorists, how can they handle this another trouble.
Bottomline- Any kind of provocative acts which may lead to escalation in tension, shouldn't be done. Hoisting flag there is not provocative. But leading people from all across the INDIA, in such a hyped way is definitely provocative for those separatists. We should not do anything that puts J&K people in trouble. They are our brothers and we should be more concerned about their lives than putting challenges to separatists. It would be better if we show brotherhood and concern for Kashmiri people and leave the issue of how to deal with separatists with our elected Govt.

I will end up my post by putting up a fine excerpt from a wonderful article in THE HINDU by Mr.SIDDHARTH VARADARAJAN (Source- http://bit.ly/hCI9Be )-

"If a sense of national belonging can be instilled and solidified by the mere hoisting of a flag, 60 years of official ceremonies in Srinagar ought to have ended the sense of alienation that is writ large over the valley. Even if the BJP goes ahead with their mindless yatra, it will not alter the realities on the ground one bit and would actually make the situation worse. Whatever we may say or do or wish, surely Kashmir will be an integral part of India in a meaningful sense only when the residents of Srinagar themselves throng to Lal Chowk and hoist the tri-colour themselves. The challenge for the Indian polity is to create the conditions for that to happen one day, however difficult that may seem today. But the BJP's proposed flaghoisting is not just an exercise in naivette or cynicism. It is the product of a mindset that considers Kashmir to be terra nullius, an empty landscape to be coveted and possessed rather than a land with a people and soul who acceded to India in 1947 on the basis of a covenant which must be respected in full measure and who have as much right to a life with dignity as those elsewhere in the country do."

The Balancing Act

Many times in our Life we end up screwing up ourselves. We end up saying something like- "Oh my God!!! Damn... I screwed myself :( " So I was pondering on how to avoid such situations.

Well, I think It has one and only one solution- Put your balancing act together. In our life we essentially need to balance between things. We need to prioritize between our goals. We need to learn how to juggle things properly.

As we advance more and more deeper into our life, the no. of responsibilities, the no. of things that we need to take care of keeps increasing. It used to be lesser in our Childhood and increases gradually with our age.

Sometimes we get involved in a particular job so much that we forget everything else. Take for example our studies, some  persons are so studious that they totally forget things surrounding them. While this is definitely good for a student to do so and throw themselves totally in studies but I personally don't appreciate it too much. After all we all are human beings and so we should be concerned about people surrounding us too. So in this case I think there should be a proper balance between the two.

Exactly opposite we have another situation in which a student gets diverted towards something other than studies (which of course should be one of his top priorities). Even if it is something for a cause I think there should again be a proper balance between the two.

Similar way as we advance further in the journey of Life, we get even more no. of things to balance our acts between. Job, marriage, children..... all these further increases the need for a proper management, a proper balance between our duties and responsibilities. That's why Childhood is the most enjoyable period, we have no responsibilities so no worries. But these are inevitable cycle of changes and we need to adapt to it.

So now the thing is- how to excel in this balancing act???
Well, I think it all boils down to what our priorities are. So set your priorities right and you will automatically excel in this balancing act :) In different stages of life we have different things to take care of and we have essentially different priorities. But yes, those 'priorities' too will differ person to person depending upon an individuals' perspective and mind setup. But I think if we talk of an ideal, proper, well agreed upon way of living then we will essentially have a common set of priorities for everyone in each stage of life.

So that's the point, learn to prioritize in your life and you will know how to balance between different things and responsibilities in your life.
My Best wishes be with you :)

P.S.- The irony is that I myself have terribly failed in this balancing act and thus suffering now :( :(  In fact my failure in this balancing act was what made me contemplate over this very thing and as a result this post came up.

जिंदगी....

जिंदगी के आईने बहुत से हैं 

आप ठीक से देखो तो इसके मायने बहुत से हैं 

जिंदगी की  पहेलियाँ तो कई हैं ही 
जिंदगी के अफ़साने भी बहुत से हैं 


जिंदगी के हर मोड़ पे कई ठिकाने मिलेंगे
हर ठिकानों पे रुकने को आशियाने मिलेंगे 


जिंदगी के इन्ही किसी आशियानों में अपना भी कोई आशियाना छिपा होगा 
इन्ही किसी आशियानों में अपना भी कोई फ़साना छिपा होगा 


अब बस देखना तो यही है कि उन फ़सानों में तराना कैसा बुनेगा
उम्मीद तो यही है कि वो तराना सुहाना ही बुनेगा


कहते हैं जिंदगी जिंदादिली का ही दूसरा नाम है 
कहते हैं जिंदगी में अपनी मुसीबतों पे भी हसना जिसने सीख लिया उसने जीना सीख लिया 


और जिंदगी के हर पल ख़ुशी नहीं तो क्या 
जिंदगी के हर पल दुःख भी तो नहीं
और फिर जिंदगी सुख-दुःख कि चलती फिरती गाडी का ही तो दूसरा नाम है 


जिंदगी इक पहेली तो है ही 
जिंदगी इक सुहाना सफ़र भी है 


पर क्यूँ ना हम पहेलियों को सुलझाना छोड़ें और जिंदगी जीना सीखें 
खुद भी हसें और दूसरो को भी हसाना सीखें  


क्यूँ कि जिंदगी जीना आ गया तो फिर 
जिंदगी इक पहेली ना होके इक सुहाना सफ़र बन जायेगा 


और फिर जिंदगी इक सुहाने सफ़र का ही तो दूसरा नाम है .....

तुमको सोचा तो ये ख्याल आया....

तुमको सोचा तो ये  ख्याल आया....... 

तुमको देखा तो ये ख्याल आया

तुम्हें क्यूँ ना पाया ये ख्याल आया.....

तुम्हें ना पाने का फिर मलाल आया

कुदरत ने जो नायाब बनाया उसपे नाज़ आया....
उस नायाब को पाने का फिर ख्वाब  आया

तुमको सोचा तो ये ख्याल आया....
मन में सोचा तो ये सवाल आया

क्यूँ कुछ ख्वाब, ख्वाब ही रह जाते....
रेत  के घरोंदे की तरह ढह जाते

क्यूँ  कुछ सपने बस सपने ही रह जाते....
आँखें खुलते ही हकीक़त की याद दिलाते

तुमको सोचा तो ये ख्याल आया....

कि बातें कुछ तुम्हारी बस दिल में घर कर जाती...

रह-रह के तुम्हारी याद दिला जाती

यादें तुम्हारी पल-पल मुझे सताती....

इक पल मिलने को उकसाती

पर फिर मन में वही ख्याल आता है...

तुम्हें ना पाने का मलाल आता है

लेकिन दिल में इक आस अभी भी है...

तुमसे मिलने कि प्यास अभी भी है

ख्वाब कैसे भी हों...

उनको पाने कि चाह अभी भी है

सपने कैसे भी हों...

उनके हकीकत में बदलने कि आस अभी भी है

तुमको सोचा तो ये  ख्याल आया.......

तुमको देखा तो ये ख्याल आया

*･゜ﾟ･*:.｡..｡.:*･'(*ﾟ▽ﾟ*)'･*:.｡. .｡.:*･゜ﾟ･*

*dedicated to someone special

Do INDIANS lack Art of Giving ??

Sometimes I wonder why Indians are so insensitive to the needs of the fellow countrymen. It makes me ponder if we really lack the compassion and empathy that we should have for the needy ones around us.

Having been part of two major fund raising Campaigns I noticed that people don't want to part ways with money even when it's the question of Life or Death for the other fellow Indian. While it's quite natural to be a bit possessive of what you have but I fail to understand why do people don't want to donate even some minimum amount of money for a cause when this can bring a ray of hope for someone's life. 
And though in this post I am talking more of donations, but this applies to other things too be it even devoting some time for a cause or spreading some time for promotion of a cause etc.


People spend money without much thinking on religious rituals and they even give money generously to religious trusts but ask them to donate some money for a social cause and they will give you a stern look as if you are out to loot his money. They just won't like to even hear you and if at all they listen to you then they will make a hundred queries regarding that. I don't imply that they should not inquire about it. I mean, I concede that when a person is giving a particular amount (howsoever little that be), then he has all the rights to inquire about it and ensure its accountability, but at the same time I want to point out the difference in the two cases.


Talking about our elite class whom common men see in high regard and expects to come out with some help, its no better there too. The rich Celebrities, Politicians(good ones), businessmen are all the same. We think they have lots of money, so they would help if the cause gets noticed by them, but its just a big illusion for us. They live in their posh bungalows, and never care for individual cases. Yes, they might be associated with a few NGOs in some cases, but rarely do they come out to help individuals. Some might argue that it might be due to high no. of cases coming to them. But then why can't they spare a little for every few Genuine cases coming there way. And if they feel it unable to help monetarily, then they can help in numerous other ways like by appealing to media, mentioning it on their blogs etc. But no, they just don't turn up with any significant help.

I am really unable to understand INDIANS' lack of empathy and concern for the fellow citizens. Why can't every Indian donate a small part of money for some genuine causes. A student can easily spare Rs 50-100 for saving someone's life and similarly a Celebrity can very easily donate a few thousands for such emergency, genuine causes. But nothing of this sort actually happens. Celebrities donate lacs of money to some famous temple's trust but they won't give a single rupee for such individual causes. Its as if, giving small amount would look demeaning for a person of their stature.


In short, everyone from Celebrities to famous Corporate honchos to the common people are to be blamed for this apathy. Compared to this, our western counterparts are far better. They are far more generous in giving away their wealth for noble causes. This leaves me wondering why we Indians are like this!! Well, I am no expert in this field so I invite you readers to give your opinions on this.
But anyway, here is my view as to why this difference in attitude is there between us and our western brothers.


First thing is that in Western Countries there is no legacy of leaving behind hugely amassed wealth for the coming generations. There, children start living independently (on their own expenses) early and parents get their minds off the worries to support their children. All this may be attributed mainly to the prevailing culture there and partly to the high employment rate.

In fact in the words of the Great philanthropist Warren Buffet-" I want to give my Kids enough so that they could feel that they could do anything, but not so much that they could do nothing."


On the contrary, we in India have family values firmly engraved in our Culture. We remain connected to our siblings and elders forever. While this is very good culture but what happens is that this gives rise to a family-centric approach from the very childhood. So when we grow up, we are less likely to help someone outside our family. We fail to understand that though not blood relatives, but others too are our own brothers and sisters. And thus most of us rarely take trouble to come out and help other fellow Indians.


Another reason might be that Indians are generally quite religious in nature. Indians blindly believe in many religious things and practices without giving it much thought. The overall result is that we end up getting unfairly inclined towards religious acts than some much needed humane efforts. In my opinion, it's much more important to get indulged in some social, humane efforts than following some religious acts and rituals. I believe, GOD can't be made happier by doing anything else other than serving His own creatures. But it's really very sad to see few Indians actually believing  in this.


One more reason that must be accounted for is the financial status of the people. The financial status of the citizens of a country too determines the mentality of the people there. If there is a vast gap in economic status of two countries then it is bound to have some great differences in the thinking of the people too.

Apart from these, there may be so many other reasons and I hope to find them in the course of my Life. But  for now I just hope that the better sense prevails in our fellow Countrymen and they indulge in social causes significantly more than they do right now. I just hope that we INDIANS learn the Art of Giving and make it a part of our Life. CHEERS !!!

The Right Attitude leads to Empowerment

A young girl walks on the lonely street, unhappy with herself. She is not beautiful like others are. "My friends have boyfriends and I do not. They are happy. Since I am not beautiful, I have no boyfriend." 

A strong breeze blows against her face and her silky hair starts dancing. It says to her: "Be like me my child, go with the flow and you will glow." The breeze teaches her to have an attitude which will lift her beyond mere physical beauty.
The breeze is constantly moving; so to move with the vastness of life without getting stuck, be like it, constantly move. The breeze says to her: "I do not move for happiness but out of happiness. I do not dance for happiness but out of happiness. A youth should learn this art to operate from happiness and not for happiness. Happiness is an attitude. To be a winner in life is also an attitude." 

Your attitude is more important than facts for the right attitude can empower you. When you are empowered, you are bigger than a problem rather than a victim to a problem, and living in such a space makes you a winner. An easy task becomes difficult when you have a poor attitude. A difficult task becomes challenging when you have a good attitude. 

Change your body posture. A trainer talking to students on the subject of public speaking told them: "When you talk of heaven your face must be glowing and radiating joy. Your eyes must shine and lips should reflect heaven." "What about talking of hell?" asked the student. "Your normal face is enough," replied the trainer.

Change your mind. Always entertain healthy thoughts. Positive thoughts are a great asset. A pessimist sees difficulty in an opportunity and an optimist sees opportunity in a difficulty. Understand that when one door closes another opens. Trust life. Insecurity invites you to be alert and not worried. It tells you to be creative and not complain. One has to know how to take it easy and float in life and not fight with life. You can't fight with the waves but you can learn to float. 

Change your emotions. The quality of your life is the quality of your consistent emotion. When your emotion is low, just change it; think of a happy incident. Change your values. Have values that connect to goodness and connect to people. 

Follow these psychological exercises: Always stand and sit erect. "If you want to be a colonel, walk like a colonel," is an expression in the army. Keep the body posture like that of a winner. Fill your mind with positive thoughts. Keep your emotions on the top of the world. Exercise and keep the above alive in you; see and picture yourself doing this. 
Lots of people fear failure, death, insecurity and rejection. Come from a commitment that failure is only postponed success. Failure is the fertiliser for success. If you bring this energy into your life, it will give you methods of handling fear of failure. Also understand that fear is a movement of thought. Thought is nothing but a movement of the mental word. 
If you get identified with a fear which is actually just a thought, which again is just a word, then this identification makes you a prisoner of fear. Also, this thought-fear unconsciously pulls in the previous memories of fear and with the past fears, a snowballing effect happens. 
So when fear happens, just become totally aware and don't get identified with that thought. With wordless awareness, just watch. This watching will not allow the previous fears to have a snowballing effect. This is called objective watching. 

You feel insecure because you have a concept of what is security and from that concept you are seeing life. Anything that does not fit that concept makes you insecure.
If you have the spirit of adventure in you then insecurity is a great adventure for you to explore. You will have fun with that insecurity. Learn to trust that insecurity is inviting you to be creative.

****           ****         ****           ****              ****               ****        
P.S.- The above thoughts are actually of Swami Sukhabodhananda. I had read this article a long time back in 'The Speaking Tree' column of TOI. The Original article can be found at http://bit.ly/aQJJ1z

Cigarette's Smoke !!! The one thing I hate most....

Every time I go out, one thing that leaves me fuming is persons smoking here and there and me having to inhale that damn smoke. Cigarette's smoke is the one thing that I hate most and its just too repulsive for me. I just can't bear its smell. As soon as I smell someone near me smoking, I just feel like giving him a big punch on face and disfiguring his face so much that he doesn't dare smoke next time. I wish, I could get some superpower some time and thus could go around beating those smokers. 

I hate Cigarettes more for its smoke than for its health hazards. I hate it much more than liquor. Liquors have at least some medical benefits too but Cigarettes.... it is totally useless and fully harmful. More notable thing is that in Cigarettes, double harm is caused, both active and passive smokers are harmed by it. There is no such thing in Drinking and moreover, I have heard some kinds of Drinks have less repulsive smell. But whatever, right now I hate both things- Smoking and Drinking.

I am forced to write about Smoking because its almost daily that I get caught up in a situation where I find someone smoking near me and thus I have to move away farther from him so as to save myself from the unbearable situation. I get infuriated on facing these situations.

I fail to understand why does Govt. allows such things to thrive and prosper!!! If sale and possession of some drugs like Marijuana, Hashish have been made illegal then why not make the Cigarettes illegal too???? Are there some beneficial effects of Cigarettes that is stopping the Govt. from banning it completely???  I just fail to understand these legal intricacies.

Whatever, Smoking and the Cigarettes' smoke is one thing that I am sure, I am going to hate till eternity. I just hope that our fellow people gets some sense of mind and stops smoking, and one day, India gets totally Cigarette free. Hope this really comes true one day. CHEERS :) :)