Celebrated Delusions…

“Do not use mobile phones at this instance, keep your seatbelts fastened, don’t smoke blah blah blah and be seated”. The aircraft was about to take off. Cabin crew was preparing for take-off. I’s seated on 1F (THE window seat :) ) and both 1E and 1D were left unoccupied still. And then he entered… him, a white kurta-pajama clad man in his sixties…kind of people we’ve learned to hate these days…talking loudly over his blackberry..."thik hai, is Vishay me adhyaksh se baithak karke he antim nirnay liya jaega" and then he switched his phone off…I continued reading my novel while he dozed off…And then that neurotic neural activity got kick started in my mind… which is continuing in midst of crowd chanting slogans and in episodes, with each passing day of Anna Hazare’s fast…

In the quicksand of events all around me in NCR and all over India, all those concepts of democratic republic have sucked down, down into incomprehensible puzzlement …
 

Anna is INDIA…Anna is GANDHI…Anna is ANDHI…Anna, we are with you…

He is a neutron bomb…he really is…producing more neutrons…triggering a chain reaction…encroaching and invading the supreme symbol of sovereignty… THE Parliament… whose so called representatives have given away its public image as of no more than a mere symbol of subjugation after the great leaders arrest… demoing overtly the right part of Fundamental Rights…asking for an espousal of our own true freedom in the real sense of it…people are becoming a fan of his genuineness …getting inspired by his passion…have started believing in the very idea of emancipation...and after his eventual win…everyone is delighted, celebrating…it’s time to party…All Smiles… :)

Only thing is...What’s important? The End??? or the Means??? We won…yes…but watching the proceedings on Lok Sabha channel, listening to the speeches made by all party leaders, I think we could all clearly hear the unsaid portions of their opinion on the bill…"So now anybody can warn THE Parliament of fasting till death and we’ll HAVE TO pass any random bill, that too differentiated across multiple draft versions, in a jiffy, just like that??? Ridiculous…But still I and my party will support the bill with all three conditions laid by Mr. Hazare. Period. We are left with no other option anyways. Period. Please now plan some disaster-aftereffects-management strategy."

Its pending with the standing committee anyways and another drama is yet to be witnessed on Rajya Sabha channel also...

We still don’t know whether the bill will be finally passed in the same draft as suggested by Anna and even if it will, how well Anti corruption legislation can work in a country suffering from corruption for as long as 64 years…But it’s a clear win and we ARE all celebrating and we should and we wish Anna a good recovery and a healthy long life ahead…

Only thing is, we never thought we’ll have to fight another war of independence, that somebody will have to suffer like Gandhi Ji again, students will have to return degrees again and we’ll have to stuff jails again in protest of those WE ELECT, every five years… Kiran Bedi is right, Anna has become India, we are happy about it…but we thought India is a democratic country where legislature is made by representatives elected by people, so in effect, by people themselves…or atleast that’s what we still teach our kids in schools…

  

Insects and Parasites… (We, The People)

Terror struck, helpless and sailing through an endless existential crisis, is the very identity of every single Indian today… In a space of just 10 minutes, something from somewhere, like a big bang, without any warning signal, can cause mayhem to your otherwise smooth life and you have no choice but to let it happen to you once, twice, thrice…you lose count of how many times…

In spite of having crucial evidence at hand as early as February, western intelligence warning, a threat assessment of the same organization following same methods each time, on same dates, not even a single warning was issued, not even disaster management was geared up for…Intelligence failure they call it, making us the sitting ducks, only a few days after our PM dared to declare publicly that he’s no duck...

It has become a repeat telecast drama for terror organizations it seems…They enjoy watching it with a different twist each time…

Just”Yet again” as headline in bold is sufficient for a national newspaper to report to the whole world, (including those watching fashion shows), what exactly happened…Mumbai has become verified blast capital of India…over time and losses…

 It’s as good as anarchy and we are as good as insects…we elect a few among us to govern and to qualify to become parasites, to live on hospitality of ours and to suck the very soul of national pride…let alone the patriotic chauvinism, but even the trivial sense of security…

Undone...

Sleeping in, the lap of the shell

A zillion drops, left unshaped…

Resting in, the nadir of earth

That lump of soil, left unmade…

Mellowing in memories, random in diaries

So…so many thoughts, left unpaged

Still searching liberation, smashing these bars 

So…so many passions, left untamed

Unreachable distances, stretched till horizon

Still yearning for you, all unashamed…

Indifferent, impassive, apathy though hurts

Deeming your come-back, left unclaimed

Unaware Unawake into dreams encaged

Unbiased those feelings, left uncared…

Playing on lips, so tricky impossible,

Still some simple words, left unsaid…

P.S. Those are realizations while leaving Bangalore...while up I's going up above that world, into the black rain clouds...which, I believe, were the only things I managed to Love about that city...Thats so not true!!!

On the trail of novel beginnings...

So the time is…when you are supposed to be apprehensive about a new city/state, new project (read project manager) and strangers…And you are anxious about getting accommodation for yourself, unpacking your stuff and managing things in best possible way so that you get a niche at the new place…

They say all is well that ends well...I think, it’s incredible when something begins well...So, I’m transported!!!  to a Marathi land, where on the very first day of my arrival, I made some great discoveries…some really hardworking techies, a small cute workplace where everybody knows everybody, a cool lot of people who are determined to make new-joiners life easy, and the sense of inclusion… I must say, I am blissfully surprised by the last one…Smiles…

So, even before I could get my access card work for the new office, I’s told we are going for a trip…to Lonavala…Newer than the new joiners, I’s not sure how I’m going to enjoy the trip…But that thought soon got faded away in the rhythms of Antakshari songs (all the songs from movies released before any of us were born except for DK Bose of course)…

And then we landed…in between the streams of flowing waters...And then began my very first experience of rock climbing on a water trek…If you are following this blog regularly, you must be knowing that almost everything is figurative here… and sometimes it happens that I fail to understand the literal meaning of certain things while diving into the metaphorical meanings…So, I could have never thought that statements like these can have a literal sense…Nobody trips over mountains.  It is the small pebble that causes you to stumble.  Pass all the pebbles in your path and you will find you have crossed the mountain.

But you climb Lonavala water trek and you know what that actually means…

All done with the adventure, I’m back to new set of realizations…And here they are…I’ve crossed the mountain of apprehensions, bathed in the pool of waters shimmering with sunshine of a novel beginning…Cheers!!! 

Get-Goings...

I don’t mean the title literally…I’m extremely pissed off and sad and drowned deep into emotions/nostalgia… It’s only my “be-positive” dreamy self who has typed in those words…

They say you do not have your control on anything…Its all written…They also say Life Goes On…Move On...and that Reflections have no significance, they’re just shadows...
But I really doubt whether people who say such things actually ever confronted such situations as farewell, did they ever stored something as sweet as moments in their programmed memory chips… do they even realize that there are some people who make your so-called-pre-written fate and tough times easy going for you, who make you cherish the innocent laughter followed by those stupid jokes cracked on unbearable sarcasms of your life, who don’t even care to take your opinion on their oh-so-honest!!! attempts to make you smile even if it results in pissing you off even more…Do they know that after your life goes on without them and you move on, those reflections can haunt you and those shadows can cast darkness when you’ll start running towards mirage of success and achievements all alone…

I give a second thought to all the nonsense I’ve written above and feel extremely stupid and CHILDISH… Of course you need to move on…You can have a fun-filled adventurous journey only when you know more roads and meet more people and that’s only when you explore more…That’s what everyone should do…That’s what I do…Rock Ahead Guys!!! Smiles :) 

P.S: All that “They-say” is what I always counsel people who fall sick to nostalgia….eyuk!!!...But all that “I-really-doubt” is what I’m feeling somehow, since last two days…

Swalpa Adjust Maadi…

The Bus was jam-packed…and so was my mind, with pure hatred…I can’t stand my life anymore here…failure is breaking me down, politics is pulling me back, homesickness has become excruciating, DAMN this city, DAMN these people…Replay of “Into The Wild” ran through these gloomy thoughts and I felt like running away…far into the jungles…”Society…You are a crazy breed!!! “

 And then some complex equation coming out of the confusion decided the number of the next bus I’ll take…to Innovative Film City…But that was far away and I had about an hour to my disposal, that too in an uncomfortably crowded bus…Just than an old lady boarded the bus and said “Swalpa Adjust Madi Ma”(Adjust a little)…I squeezed myself further in…So I though even air cant enter the bus now, and I still found the place, lolz…We Indian have a real passion about cooperation when it comes to adjustment…Buses are the best examples…just try to board any state transport bus and you’ll know what I mean…(I wanna check out the mumbai local train next)...

I scanned the old lady, a typical south-ee… grey hair, lot of sindur, small bindi, long tika, mouth red with betel juice, orange white flowers, and a south silk cotton saari…And just then two more aunties entered, with two kids…The old lady stepped back, to give the new comers room…and then requested me again…swalpa adjust maadi ma!!! I could not…so I only pretended to move but they still found their place again...Clearly there was no answer to How’s here…only How I’s finding difficult to answer was…How the hell poor driver is driving and HOW the conductor is giving tickets to passengers…And just when I’s lost in these thoughts, a TC appeared from nowhere and started checking the tickets…Till my turn I can tell, there was no defaulter...I’s impressed…Really…

Pretty small incident people, just daily life…But left me wondering why we refuse to adjust in life while there still remains a lot of room…while we can really cope with situation, why do we complain like- enough is enough and I can’t stand anymore…Why do we crib for friends when we are all alone and cry for some time for ourselves when we are surrounded with group of people we call our friends…What’s that makes us always dissatisfied with everything no matter how fortunate we really are to have it…Why can’t we fiddle a bit with the situations to craft happiness for ourselves…it’s not such a great price anyway… I can see an Accord in the traffic in front of me immediately after writing these lines…They have written “Happiness Reloaded” on the back glass… 

P.S. Had a great time today…Really…its fun to have a date with yourself sometimes… 

Reflections...

“You are religiously and legally ours” … And she started feeling the vibes of change all around her…the sensation of transition, the numbness which happens when you have a zillion thoughts and don’t know which one to single out and think about…

Her beautiful eyes went blank and their reflection in the mirror informed her clearly that sleep won’t come to them for many days to come…Her curly hair started feeling the Bangalore breeze like the most awaited touch…The swing in the balcony garden welcomed her to sway between the past and the future, between old and the new relationships, between apprehensions and anticipations…

Five long years of a successful relationship stood in front of her like a beautiful journey.  A wish that was granted, a dream that came true…She could not ask for more…That “only-a-classmate”, “friend”, “best friend”, “guide”, “special someone”, “boyfriend” was ready to become her “life”…She wondered how meanings can change with time…Once “aunty” was becoming “mummi ji”, once “uncle” wanted her to say “papa ji”...everybody wants to know how she feels but words won’t come to her…people assume she is extremely happy to say anything, but her happiness is not able to sort itself into what to tell whom…Strange but true, she’s not even sure whether HE will be able to understand …This feeling is so HER own…No wonder, nobody else can understand really…

There have been transitions, from prep to school then to college, to a new city, to a new job, new people…but this one is HUGE…Though she knew from like years… she had a perfect mental picture in like a thousand dreams, she knew which color will go with which occasion, what is going to be the guest list, which flower will suit the decorations, and what must-be’s should be there in the menu…she was always ready, all set…But still she feels that time has run extremely fast, that she’s only a kiddo, how can this happen so early…

Like me, she ponders over thoughts and questions, only to conclude that this was destined to happen…for best...And then again, she tries to welcome sleep, in vain…drowning yet again into feelings all sweet…

P.S. Congrats Dear…All the very best for the future ahead…God Bless!!!

P.P.S. Oops! Do I need to mention, this was about a very close friend, getting married soon!!! :)