Facts n Fiction

The weekend was bad, rather not so good; my back ache had buckled me to the bed, not allowing me to stay in one position for more than 4-5 minutes. I was surfing through the television channels lying on bed, and soon I noticed that I was doing nothing but going from 0 to 54 (that is the only number of channels I have on my television) and then again 0 to 54, and then again and again. I was tired watching that Indo-Pak terror debate, reality shows were irritating me, and I couldn’t handle any more breaking news with my broken back, neither was I interested in any kind of saas-bahu or the rona-dhona type of soaps, south Indian films dubbed in hindi were a big NO, I was in no mood for business news either, I had also had enough of Ghajini and Rab Ne trailors, songs, and reviews. I remember, only thing that possibly kept me glued to any particular channel was the advertisements – Limca (I love this ad for its jingle, the zing, and the babe, of course), Raymond, Bingo , few insurance ...

I remember, as a child, and then many years later, seeing small children playing this game of forming a round chain holding hands, and singing “Ring-aa-Ring-aa Roses” , turning round in circles and then jumping down onto the ground. I see a similar situation today, when I keep browsing through the news channels for proceedings on the recent 26/11 Mumbai terrorist attacks. Yet, still I do not see anything concluding and convincing. The political leaders, both ruling as well as those in the opposition, along with Pakistan, US, and many other countries, security agencies, intelligence units, media have formed a similar round human chain, merrily singing tunes of hatred, cooperation, agitation, and running in circles. I just wish that they collapse soon. At least, some one more capable would rise and bring things into action. Almost a month now, and we still are playing around the proofs that we have, Pakistan blows them off, we go to US and other nations for help, and things again start f...

In my last post, I wrote about how our nation has been disintegrating and that unity has almost diminished. However, I seem to be changing my opinion looking at the strong protest rallies, candle lighting campaigns, and listening to the voices that echoed at the Gateway of India yesterday and all across the country. Though I strongly condemn the notorious acts of the terrorists, I also somewhere wish to thank them for provoking the youth of this nation, getting them united and making then think, retort, and question the governance. I have seen the “Incredible India” and “India Shining” , and I now see “India Rising” , which hopefully is to preserve the glitter of that shining India. “United we stand” today. I feel a sense of pride that for once we have forgotten our regional boundaries, and got together to analyse the situation and come up with possible solutions. I see the “Spirit of Mumbai” rapidly transforming into the “Spirit of India” – we all are ready to fight back. Having g...

60 hours of battle, 180 dead, around 350 casualties, and loss of some of our patriotic heroes – could be a wrap up of disheartening mishap that Mumbai faced last week. And we have faced many attacks of varying magnitudes in the past. Then there were a few at the domestic level as well. The instability, the communal intolerance, the political greed have left us all scared, tortured, and emotionally tormented. A phrase I learnt in school, “United we stand, divided we fall” (also had scripted a skit on this theme then), soon appeared to be diminishing over all these years, and we were taking pride in the opposite. Blaming each other, neglecting the issues, talking about the problems over a cup of tea and forgetting them later, and so on, are only things that mattered to us. While on one side we have the heroic deeds of the commandos, the police, the army, and sacrifices of innocent citizens, on the other we have security lapse, callous and ignorant government, and illogical opposition le...

I am sometimes astounded when some people enjoy breaking or disobeying the rules – they just love it, more particularly in case of traffic rules or acts on streets. I cannot really comprehend their sense of pride. Spitting, littering around is very common on our streets, even if there is a thrash bin few steps away. Right at the gates of a hospital or a school, crackers will be fired at eardrum crackling decibels just to announce that some politician is visiting or visited or just passing by through that lane in the locality. A truck driver once spat so much of paan debris out of his truck window that it coloured my little white Maruti 800 with red, as if my darling car had just had her first menstrual cycle. “Bhennn………” , I swallowed rest of the word as I muttered furiously looking out of the windshield, but the driver had accelerated away without being bothered at all. I travel to office everyday, say from point A to B. At peak hours, it is quite obvious that the traffic, at some pa...

The much awaited US elections were finally over with many anticipating that the crisis and global meltdown situation will be brought under control. A lot of happiness and optimism is seen not only in the US but also across the globe. Almost everyone in the US is celebrating over this historic win of a black walking to The White House. Barack Obama, the new President of US, had shown that it takes determination and sincerity to make it to the top. It is said that Obama has worked at the grassroots level and had not political backing. The highly qualified, charismatic Obama had only work to show with his integrity. A very composed man and an excellent orator has triumphed bringing together people of the United States across diverse colours, regions, and religions. He spoke of only one single aim, whether he will be able to achieve it, is to be seen, but for now the aspirations and the expectations are high. The much required change is about to happen, it seems. India too, celebrated Obam...

I had resigned from my current job. I am joining a company, which happens to be in the northern part of India. All set, having confirmed the accommodation, traveling facilities, exact location of the office, and packed for a day, I begin my journey to the new state. I will be traveling by train this time, convenient and cheap, air travel has become costly now. I board the train and occupy my seat after placing the luggage. I start to look out of the window until the train begun its acceleration. I was traveling alone and it was getting boring. Meanwhile, I call a newspaper boy, who rambled in the compartment trying to sell the dailies. I could not find anything in English to read and thus picked up a Marathi newspaper to put some of my spare time to good use. The compartment was getting filled with people, mostly north Indians and a mix of many others. We all begin the journey – few of the oldies praying for a safe journey, while some still waving good bye to their relatives on the pla...