THE SAD-DAM(N) EXECUTION

30th of December, one day before the new year's eve was celebrated with high spirits all around the globe, one man had to lay down his life. He couldn't see the new year's rise, maybe because he deserved it? Or rather, the jury was ruthless towards him? People from all around the planet had a jixed reaction. The Iraqis themselves were overjoyed to see the former dictator, the culprit of taking down 148 Shias in his own country, with over a million people, majority of them constituting the American Iraqis, who went against him in the dawn of the 1980's. While for the population of India, the incident was a ruthless one, the most barbaric act the world has ever witnessed. Maybe for the people who sat outside the state of Iraq during Saddam Hussain's reign, witnessing the suppression of the Iraqis would had been quite easy. Afterall, only the person who's got burnt in hell can describe how does it feel, and not the person who's been sitting outside all the while and hasn't felt the heat of it.
Some papers termed the dictator to be analogous to "Hitler", who single handedly, took over almost the entire Europian continent during his reign in the Second World War. Well, not many people would disagree to prove Hitler to be the most brutal man the world has seen. And his suicide was the ultimate reason for the World War II to knock out its existence (it was perhaps the surrender of the Japanese troops after the US hit the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, whom we still condemn..god knows why..??, but the reason that lead to all this was unarguably the German's down fall).
If Hitler was considered to be a person with a heart of...perhaps with no heart, then how come do we find people criticizing George W. Bush, the person who lead Iraq to run itself into all this. History's the evidence , way back in 1945, as well as in the last week, the US has played the most vital role in demolishing the dictatorship from the not so called "backward clases". (TO BE COTD)

TRADITIONS..??

One question that flies every now and then then in my brains, "Do we need to question traditions?" Hindu religion treats the traditions the cultures to be the ultimate...GODFATHER! They are considered to be the Bible, something that can be called equivalent to the Bhagwad Gita, or the Vedas. But is it really to believe into, not just the traditions, but everything that comes under our religion? Or is it the gen X that's made these "pure, divine" traditions fall into a big lump?

To begin with, consider a simple Hindu wedding. Why do people want to crack open their accounts for just an evening. Something that a person has sweat out for, something for which the person has stayed up numerous number nights so that his/her family could be counted among the well being families. I've had weddings in my family, and I've seen my relatives thinking hard for all the crapy bits, what present should be given to the groom's grandpa, or the groom's grandma, or the groom's uncountable relatives, who virtually haven't got any role to play in the damn wedding! Its just the two people who are indeed getting married, why on earth should anyone else be presented by anything? One earns hard, spends it on an evening, and then cribs for the rest of his/her life for not having cracking pockets! Weddings in a family unarguably bring out immense happiness into oneself, but why do we need to bring in the money factor into everything? Money doesn't favor anything. Wealth doesn't say it'll bring life just to those people who have a grand celebration. Even 40% of the people who live below the poverty line have their weddings. Unarguably, their weddings are last longer than the rich count. Instead of having three functions (namely the ring ceremony, the actual wedding, and the reception), one can stick to themselves with just the wedding. What role does a reception play in joining of the two minds into one? And if a marriage is considered to be a highly spiritual substance in our religion, why not have it in a spiritual place itself? Why are 5 stars made prior to the mandirs? All of us tend to worship Him, going to a mandir and sitting there, like forever, when we're in desperate need, or when we tend to doubt ourselves, but we dont feel the need to visit a mandir for not even an hour, in an auspicious ceremony.

Something that fears us all..I guess, by and large, is reality. We tend to abide by certain aspects, rules, but we tend to hide ourselves away from the cons of life. We tend to say something else, but not delve ourselves into the real world. Manjhe, no matter how much we tend to keep money out of our priorities, no matter how much we treat money as the some stuck to our feet, ultimately, its the money that rules..

One occasion, that virtually puzzles me for sure is when the autumn falls in, and brings along the Navratras. Well, not much people would have enough knowledge about it, but 1 thing that EVERYONE has the "gyaan" of is, one gets to eat some mouth-watering delicacies. Mythologically, one isn't supposed to have a "YUMMMYYY...!!!" feeling the entire day, and not grab onto or demand anything and everything that one desires to have. It is supposed to be a fast, and I guess people who do believe in this festival might know the technical meaning of a "fast".

Faith, Spirituality, being religious..all of it proves out to be proportional to the culture and tradition bit. But if one would have a stroll out on the streets asking "some" people something on faith or spirituality, half of the population's lips would turn numb! Perhaps, its just the show off thing that makes "faith", and "spirituality" factors persist. The thing is, we have to have regular prayers, so we have it. We have to have poojas on festivals, so have it. We have to have frequent jagrans and kirtans at our place, so we have it, no matter what ridicule imitations of the bollywood numbers are being taken. And all this for what? The answer would be "coz our tradition asks us to do all this". Why does one need to spend the entire earning trying to purify himself, when he knows the next day he might be seen at some party gulping in uncountable pegs of alcohol (I don't mean alcohol being REAL disastrous), why can't that same person trap his faith within oneself, and try to "purify" himself by his works, and not by showing off his wealth ('coz i believe having jagrans and kirtans with all these rich canvas tents is a work of real heavy pocketed people) People don't need to sit in a pooja, or rather organize some "spiritual" function (yeah, the same jagrans), which solely "cleanses their mind and souls" to prove themselves as individuals who have faith in Him. "How can you not sit in a hawan? More importantly, how can you not believe in Him?" I've heard quite a crowd of the "older generation" questioning their siblings.

"Spiritualism and Sciences go hand in hand." - Albert Einstein. So, in a way, every religion has some science behind it and every science has some religion behind it..hmm?? Sorry to contradict you while saying this, Mr. Einstein, when I say this while looking up at the sky. But how can burning wood with the fire leaping onto one's face with regular splashes of oil being poured into (scientifically, its combustion of wood, that surely releases a few toxicants) can help oneself mould his life? (not wanting to offend anyone, just wanting to question, because all science requires is proof!)...

Turning back our faces towards the blending of the traditions with modernity, I mean encountering a simple case of any relationship. Girlfriends, as observed, are more self imbibed into the traditional make up. guys , on the other hand, have the cut above the girls to be more practical. Feature this, and many relationships would hold this fact true: No matter what crude circumstances were to fall upon two people who are dating, the girlfriend would never dare to, or lets just say, wouldn't swear upon her man if it were to be for a fake cause. The reason?? Probably, even the girl wouldn't be aware of her reason. "Our tradition doesn't allow us to swear upon the person whom we love if it weren't to be truth.", would be their answers. (Crap..?? For some guys, sure it is..!!) How many times has it ever occured that the time when any girl has sweared upon her love for the untruth fact, her man has actually been found buried under some ground, or has he been found dead on some street? Infact, if we drill our thinking a bit more into this issue, one can tend to conclude that the kasams and the swears (if one cant at all lie upon them) are just any excuse to make the other person trust you. Infact, its not just the girlfriends who tend to get involved the kasam bit (because you can't clap with one of your hands inside your cosy pocket!!), even the guys dont tend to believe their girlfriends until they make the girls swear upon themselves. (no single gender's got to be blamed, but....) So, is every relationship holding a backhand that leads to a lack of trust. If two actually love each other, how does it even matter if you swear or not, the bottom line is, you just need to be true to your partner.

The swears don't just prevail within the love birds. I've often seen toddlers holding the front portion of their necks using the thumb and "mother swearing". (Huh..?? Perhaps now you know what I meant, what the hell's everybody upto??).

The majority of the population in India did criticize director and producer Karan Johar for his recent movie, Kabhie Alvida Naa Kehna (KANK). I fail to understand why was that so. The movie picturised and revolved around the idea of a divorce, which according to my friends and people around me, who perhaps possessed the same critics, is totally unreasonable and unacceptable in the Indian society. Why? I don't mean divorce is something for which some couple should be emphatic about, or that divorces like a prime compulsion in every marriage. But why do we people not realize if any relationship in our lives has turned us down? Why do we still need to tag ourselves with a relationship when we know that phase isn't going to get us anywhere? I have myself seen many people who aren't one bit glad about their marriages or their pre marital affairs, yet they still want to trail with them in a desperate hope that one day, no matter if that day's too close to eternity, would come when things would work out between them. We'll perhaps feel free to burn ourselves in the seventh circle of hell, but not break ourselves from th affair that's causing the widespread damage. And this is perhaps the only topic where, we Indians tend to prove ourselves dominant over the westernized people, that we have enough strength to hold our marriages and our relationships till our "seventh birth", unlike them, where it lasts for just seven days. Whom are we actually kidding? Even the feeling of being emphatic has an excuse behind it. Again the excuse of not wanting to face the reality comes into play.

Every aspect falls onto just one point, NOT LIVING IN THE REAL WORLD.

WHO GETS THE PIECE OF CAKE..??

...Just having a sneak peek into what was mentioned in the Rang De... article, the actual fragerance among all the odours was that we shouldn't be cribbing for the land on which we all reside. If we can't stand the condition of this land and if we got no strength to change ourselves to further this nation, who gave us the right to utter nonsense pieces of crap against this land?
Tasting the same flavour, if we find ourselves helpless and relentless to the Mumbai 7/11 or the Malegaon explosion (blasted 2 days ago), who are we to yell and soar our voices against the SIMI..??
Okay!! Too big a deal I supposse!! Let me air down myself to a bit more social and relevant issues.
Being in a college, life's not just about academics, friends, aiming to make up great grades...protests, strikes, politics..!! and surely one has to be a part of the political scenario, one just can't try to hide or rather escape from the so called "non academic" part of the college life.
Its a disgrace sitting and cooling of the nerves in a comfy AC'd hostel roomwhere one doesn't want to be a part of the messy crowd standing in the sultry heat raging their voices for something that's highly discriminating. What role are these jerks playing, who would prefer not messing their hands in cleaning up the garbage in retaliating and protesting for their rights, and consequently, they shouldn't have the right to be indiscriminated!! Perhaps, they feel that they got nothing to lose, if something worthwhile actually happens, its going to help in any way, so why scream in the blazing heat outside instead of "chillaxing"..!!
Why should these "sophisticated, spoilt, insignificant brats" who are more of a family like to their AC's than to their actual families, get the piece of cake for which they haven't earned even a single grain?
But no matter what, atleast someone's fortunate enough, and perhaps ironical though. If these jerkos would've existed in the 19th century, they would've refused to fight in the 1857 war, claiming the excuse of the sultry heat outside..!! ;))

HOW FAR HAVE WE TRAVELLED AFTER THE SUCCESS OF Rang De... ??

Rang de... Counted as the best grosser in its opening weekend, both in India and overseas. It swept like the golden sparkles throughout the water surface under the beating sun. Probably the only source of entertainment in the history of our cinematic world that tackled its way through the politics of our nation.
But the question left for us to ponder upon is, are we just left with the movies as our last priority to open our eyes to help shape and mould our nation?
Rightly said so, life isn't just about updating ourselves with the latest flicks and relaeses each week or having boyfriends/girlfriends that keep altering every season. Life isn't just about "LOSE CONTROL", or is it?

Okay!! Now its certainly not a matter of shooting a minister in vacuum who doesn't have the respect for an air force ace pilot of our nation, and then probably sacrificing our lives for the love of our nation, so that our hailing voice reaches each and every corner of our country. But then its we who have to do something to make our nation follow the path of progress. Having done our bachelors' course here and then flying away to the US doesn't count for our progress, it counts for our failure, our fear to live in a country which is termed as one of the "THIRD WORLD COUNTRIES". Paving way one's loss for his/her life is surely not the prority to opt for (no offence, Mr. Director!!)

"Kya sach mein apni is desh mein koi aukat nahi..??" Are we just dummies being toyed in the hands of the so called 'administrators, politicians' or the "The Democrats"?? Who are WE in our own land??

The mass who've seen Rang De... might approve of one thing. The character of DJ was perhaps the most happening role that had fun, that had life in it, and the role that the mass would want to live with in their age. Just ask the crowd walking down the street as to whether would the want to adapt within themselves the DJ before the intermission (the party harder hunk) or the DJ after the intermission (the ready to die for for his land), and the answer would pop out as the former one (duh..??). Why should that be? If there is a heads on a coin, there's a tails as well (forget the Sholay days, they wont come back!!). The pinks and the blues, the blossoms and the brittles always go hand in hand with each other.

Remember the Karan's dialogue, which many people would contradict, "Is desh ka kuch nahi ho sakta, yeh desh aisaa tha, aur aisa hi rahega." Pondering upon the same thing, 20 years hence, if Rang De... does not get its justice and is just a mode of entertainment running across the series of televisions all across the nation, we'll probably see LeT, SIMI and the ISI undertaking the position of the present political parties, fighting battles for the election posts. And no surprise, the symbols for these would be the AK 47, AK 56, and perhaps a whole range of AK's would be developed by that era. Or maybe till that time, the turbanman would still rule the country, only the difference being instead of Manmohan Singh, its going to be the Al Qaeda dominancy, lead by Bin Laden.

Thinking about the educational scenario..the engineering institutes would no longer have courses like computers, mechanical, electrical etc., everything would be contained in a single category.."The Arms and the AK engineering".

Are we ready for all this..?? Are we still trailing with the success of Rang De...???

MUMBAI 7/11

WHAT NEXT..??

Mumbai: One of the busiest and the buzziest places on the globe.
11 July, another day full of business and buzziness spread all around in the lives of the Mumbaikars. People pacing off to their places after a hard day at work, in the "locals", one of the most frequent convinces considered.
"AARGHH!!", screamed on of the passengers, waiting for the local outside the Bandra station, when a bomb exploded outside the station. Chaos struck the station, haphazzardness trailed. It was a state of rampade for the people. In a sudden flash, the orange and red flames started to vapourize from the station. People's minds started boggling.
But then this wasn't the only "devastation", the Mumbaikars had to witness, as someone has rightly said, when something has to deviate from its path, it does so in the worst possible explanation.
The Bandra station bambardment was sequentially followed by another explosion that struck inside a local pulling out of the Mahim station. But the people couldn't keep a track of the number of explosions. The Mahim explosion (which took place at 6:23 pm), was followed by one at Khar (at 6:24 pm), Jogeshwari (6:25 pm), Matunga (6:30 pm), Mira road (6:31 pm) and the eventual one at Borivali (6:35 pm).
The hideous explosions (al of them) took place in the first class compartments and on the Western line (the majority of the people that travelled by the Western line were the Gujaratis). Intelligence has concluded these attacks was a retaliation for the Gujarat riots.
This wasn't perhaps the first time when the clouds of terror have hovered over this glamorous city. Its seen its limelites shatter into pieces. March 12, 1993, that marks the day as "BLACK FRIDAY", for the people of Mumbai, paved the way for over 250 Mumbaikars losing their lives and an uncountable nuber that succumbed to injuries. Its the second time the "BLACK FRIDAY" has been guested. The immediate question thats been raised to government after the sequel blasts is "Will it take 13 more years to put the people, who've done this, behind bars?"
So, whats next to be witnessed in our lives.. DELHI..??

ARE SUICIDES HOLDING OUR BRAINS..??

17 June, 6:40 in the evening, another suicide was reported from the Janakpuri district area. Neha Kakkar, a first year DU student committed suicide by jumping off the sixth floor of a building in Janakpuri. Reason..??Academics..family issues..finicial crisis..?? She ended her life just 6 minutes after she ended her relationship with her boyfriend. Who's the accused..??

These incidents have been raising the eyebrows of many psychologists all over the country. But still the cure hasn't been found out. On the contrary, perhaps there is no medical cure for it. however, psychologically speaking, there is. Its all a mind game. How does our mind work & think when we are exposed to such situations is all that is needed to be questioned & analysed.

Just analysing this frame, one of the plausible explanations for such a thing to happen after a relationship "break off" could be that we keep our "partner" prior to ourselves. We try & turn ourselves in the best possible way for them. We may keep a track of the thinnest & the tiniest of the touching moments that have been spent in thier lives, the only thing that fades away from us is "ourselves". We forget who we are, what do we want from life, our hopes, our aspirations, out desires, our accomplishments, our own identity... So who's to be blamed for all this..??

Its all about mental strength. One question that we all, especially teens need to ask themselves is "Are we capable enough to suffer to 'blues' of our relationships..?" If the answer from within comes as no, then its not reliable to be glad enough to live with its 'pinks'...