An illusion on what the world around me was & is at present and thoughts on how often we are left gaping at the wonders of life that remains truly unknown before our eyes.
The sad state of affairs with the IPL was something that was expected to happen sooner or later. Any person would ponder to look on to the other side of entertainment and realize the huge amounts of bucks flying around when our own governments are going nuts on how to shelf down the food prices. Not only has there been a betrayal of public trust but also how corruption was written all over and no one recognized those signs.
Enough has been said on the IPL issue but take a step back and look onto some of its positive side, something which I happen to read lately. Last year’s IPL in South Africa gave in a huge boost to its economy during the bad times along with the good work of promoting the country’s tourism and infrastructure. Schools in each of the host cities where given scholarships and other opportunities which uplifted and brought back lost hopes to the students. The games then were a fine example of entertainment through cricket and community recognition as a social cause.
Unsurprisingly when IPL came to India, none of this even happened. Because everything here has to be tagged in with glamour, Bollywood, parties, ego clashes, cheer girls and Page3. Oh! And yes the big bucks on the roll. Cricket is no more a game. It’s another one of those emerging businesses where you embroil to make ‘easy money’.
I was wondering whether to actually write a post on the ongoing “Mumbai is mine! No, Mumbai is ours!” issue. But then I have written enough about the pathetic state of our country and I am done. I have stopped believing in the democratic policies of this country and my hatred for Indian politics has reached a new height. Mr. SRK, I hope you don’t falter on your stance like the others in the past. Of all the movies that you have done, this is THE showdown that has made me one among your million fans.
For the bollywood die-hard fans, this title may be quite familiar and personally I think its going to be another Askshy-Katerina blockbuster with a really lame and pathetic script. Surprisingly and fortunately, this movie comes along exactly when our country’s most prestigious politicians have a reason to smile. Oh yeah! I am talking about the two Singhs of India – brave, fearless and yet two-faced - AMAR and MANMOHAN dadas! And as per tradition that no movie (at least in bollywood) is made without a lead female, we have one here too, none other than from ‘the first family of India’ – SONIAji. Sigh!
With a craze for petite things like super cars and gold plated Rolex watches, Amar Singh has the UPA as a new entity to his list of ‘rich best friends’ the rest being the glamour honored Bachchans and Ambanis. A peep back into his history, it was this tiny man who influenced Mulayam Singh Yadav to kill Sonia’s prime ministerial dream years ago. Thumbs-up man!
As for Manmohan Singh, who has been mauled over enough, is a meek puppet playing along well to the music. And it surprises me that he still holds the chair of PM. And bravely he fought all the odds (with a big push from the strings attached) and came out smiling at the end of the day. It is a weird feeling of pity that falls over me when I see him on television. God Bless him!
The week kicked off big time with a thrilling and spiteful ‘thamasha’ live from within the Lok Sabha and I truly enjoyed watching the showbiz whenever I could. From the high-impact speech by Omar Abdullah, romantic filmy dialogues and comical talk by Lalu Prasad Yadav (as expected), tongue-in-cheek extempore from Rahul Gandhi, the raw and power packed dialogues by PM (surprise!), to the melodrama of greed and prestige in digging up a bag full of hot cash; it was a joy to watch these people desperately struggle, fight and beg to make their points heard. I bet they have never worked this hard to date.
This is my 2nd version of the post ‘Spirit of India’. I had made a reference then that I was inspired and stimulated by articles that I read through from a monthly magazine. So for those who haven’t read it, here are a few people who are the true pioneers of change.
Deepak Kumar, Bihar
A murder convict who served 14 years in prison came back to his village to provide help for the deprived children through setting up a school. Initially, the post-graduate was rejected by the villagers and his requests for loans were cancelled due his iniquitous past. But within five months, a few of his relatives and friends who had faith in him rose to extend their help and his dream was fulfilled. Today, the English-medium school has up to class 7 with more than 365 students, most of them poor, paying a fee of just Rs 75/month.
Veena Devi, Mukhiya (panchayat chief), Bihar
35-year old Veena serves her 2nd term as mukhiya in her panchayat situated in rural Bihar. Her mission is to promote women’s empowerment in the caste-polarized and crime-ridden district. Born into a poor family, married at the age of 14, a mother at 15 and a widow at 16, she has seen and gone through the hardships of rural Bihar. She realized she had to prevent the trauma from passing on to next generation only through fearless commitment. When she decided to contest for elections in 2000, the men mocked and shunned her away and also had her indicted into a false murder case.Fortunately the cases were proved wrong and the elections turned into her favour. Recently, she had launched a campaign to make widows self-reliant in the village and has been a success to date.
Abhyanand, Additional DGP, Bihar
This IPS officer tutors hundreds of unprivileged young IIT aspirants helping their dreams come true. The programme called Super30 offers free IIT entrance coaching for 30 selected youngsters from unprivileged families in rural Bihar. They are brought to Patna, provided with accommodation, food and exhausting coaching for seven months-all for free. In 2003, the first batch saw 18 out of the 30 enter into the prestigious institution. Each year the numbers increased and in 2007, 28 students had their dreams come true.
N. Krishnan, Founder of Akshaya Trust, Madurai
A catering technology graduate quit his job at a 5-star hotel in Bangalore to serve food to the hungry on the streets of Madurai. What provoked the 27-year old was the sight of an old man on the street eating his own faeces. He took the man to a nearby hotel and bought him food. The man ate and drank without pausing and after finishing he walked away with tears in his eyes. This deeply moved Krishnan and proceeded to set up the Akshaya Trust in six months after quitting his job with his life’s savings. Today, he along with his three friends delivers breakfast, lunch and dinner to around 300 people daily. The funds come in from a few local companies and individuals. Other than feeding the poor, he cuts the hair of the mentally-ill on the streets, which led him to give up being a Brahmin.
For the past two days I have received immense approval for my blog. Thank you to all my friends who have supported me. What started as a ‘let me see what’s so special about writing blogs?’ has turned to my major activity now. You may laugh or think I am silly if I say that these days I even dream about blogs! Honest; it’s not an exaggeration. The true fact is that I want to reach out to people through what I write. 'Chef's corner' is dedicated to my friends working at Amrita Technology. I had guaranteed them I would bring them all that I would cook but that didn’t work out as planned. So I decided to put up the instructions to all the foodies I prepare. Not a great cook myself but I would love them to give a shot themselves.
The post ‘The Spirit of India’ was an aftermath of the articles I read in India Today and also my urge to contribute in a small way to change the mindset of people. A close friend after reading the blog told me that this is what every youth says and nothing will ever change. I do realize it’s so easy to write but tough and perhaps dangerous to bring ourselves to action. But if a magazine or a movie like ‘Rang De Basanti’ could awaken me then so can I rouse my friends who read the post. When you read it, I want you to realize that you are today’s Indian youth and you have the immense power to change and dawn our country to new beginnings. I am not talking about going up to the streets and protesting for a change. If I had to stand on the ‘great well’ near my house and make a speech about change, there’s no doubt I would get tight slaps across my face and maybe pushed into the well. As a matter of fact I myself haven’t got a clue of how to bring about this change. But I did have an idea which wouldn’t work out. I wanted to teach English during these few months at a nearby institute where they teach the language to children as well as adults of the village. I wanted to do this because English is the only strong point I have in spite being an engineering graduate and I felt I could pass on whatever little knowledge I have to these people. But the idea was rejected by my family since they had better hopes from me as an engineer. Typical Indian household scenario. Again I am left helpless but to patiently wait for my time to come.
I stumbled upon this month’s issue of India Today. With nothing much to do, I resolved to have a read through it. I was lucky enough to get this copy since it was a special issue voicing the toil of common civilians around our country trying to make a difference. Each individual featured in the magazine had a wonderful story to quote along with their sweet fruits of hard work. Our country has a long way to go. While some parts have reproduced the western culture aura with a damaging upshot other parts are deep-rooted under the ancient taboos whereas a few others are strangulated in communal violence waving an atmosphere for pessimism and intolerance. I come from a village where people are obdurate to change and reject transformations blindly. I have neighbors who complain their sons haven’t got enough dowry or have people gathering around tiny shops gossiping about the girl who they saw talking with the next door boy. I also have neighbors who consider their women impure and forbid them to daily chores once in every month. During my college days, I had to walk to the junction twice a day to catch a bus where men would stare as though they had never seen a female and had to listen to their nasty comments. And yet all that I could do was to give a callous look and speed away as far as my legs could carry. This is indeed the vibrant taste of India where women are left choice less. I will one day perhaps be a mother and I would want my children to live and be bought up as proud Indians but the truth is that I am hesitant. I am so, because unless people change their mindset and come out to the open to face reality, nothing is going to change. We are the present youth of our nation and we have the power to change the country more than any government. If this happens, the change along with the impact would be a massive. Earlier the question used to be ‘what can the country do for us?’ but at present age the question should churn as ‘what can we do for our country?’
