Main Kasab Ban Jaaunga

I know.... I know you all are missing me... and my posts, of course ! Well, I was busy with my exam preparations. Yes, MBA has semester pattern... Matlab university waalo ko saal mein 2 mauke milte hain humaari beizzati karne ke !!

And this one is not my original creation. I read it on Facebook. I liked it very much. Yes ! Its a poem. It is a Hindi poem originally titled "A poem by unemployed youth of India", but I feel this poem not just reflects the sentiments of unemployed youth, but it is a mirror of general Indian sentiments. 

Here you go !

माँ मुझे एक बंदूक दे दे

मै कसाब बन जाऊँगा

दो चार मंत्री को मार

रोज कबाब मै खाऊँगा

यहाँ तो इक चादर भी नहीं

वहाँ नरम बिछौना पाऊँगा

दिन रात मै जागूँ यहाँ

वहाँ चैन की नींद सो जाऊँगा

यहाँ मिले गाली और घूंसा

यहाँ रोज मार मै खाऊँगा

वहाँ मुझे छिंक भी आये

तुरंत दवाई मै पाऊँगा

घर की सूखी रोटी से तो अच्छा

रोज बिरयानी खाऊंगा

और जब मैं अदालत में जाऊ

तो मंद मंद मुस्कराऊंगा

मुझे देख भारतवासी गुस्से से तिलमिलाए

तो उनकी किस्मत पर तरस खाऊंगा

फिर देना जब जनम मुझे

मै ऐसा भाग न पाऊँगा

माँ मुझे एक बंदूक दे दे

मै कसाब बन जाऊँगा

I do not preach violence or killings. But the fact that a bloody terrorist is enjoying the Indian hospitality rather than being hanged hurts me a lot. Kasab is the safest man in India. And we, the citizens of India, are still unsafe !

Thodi kahi, zyaada samajhna !

Such is life.

PS: If the Government of India is citing silly reasons like shortage of hangmen, I would love to play a hangman for Kasab ! Kasam se....

Proud to be a BANIYA :)

Although I don't believe in the castes & the erstwhile caste system which was prevalent in India, but here's something which I couldn't resist posting on my blog. Here's a very very interesting story about India's castes...

A few weeks ago, the prestigious Forbes magazine has put out a list of the world’s 1,210 billionaires. 55 of them are Indians. A billion dollars is somewhere around Rs. 4,920 crore.

A Baniya is a member of the Vaish caste, originating mainly from the states of Rajasthan and Gujarat. They constitute less than 1% of India’s 1.25 billion population.

Here are a few interesting facts regarding the Indian billionaires who feature in the Forbes list of billionaires.

• India’s richest man, Lakshmi Nivas Mittal (Mittal Steel & Arcelor Mittal), world’s sixth richest man with $31.1 billion, is a Baniya.
• India’s second richest man, Mukesh Ambani (Reliance) with $27 billion, is a Baniya.
• India’s third richest man, Azim Premji (Wipro) with $16.8 billion, is a Khoja.
• India’s fourth richest men, brothers Shashi & Ravi Ruia (Essar) with $15.8 billion are Baniyas.
• India’s fifth richest person, Savitri Jindal (Jindal Steel) with $13.2 billion, is a Baniya.
• India’s sixth richest man, Gautam Adani (Adani Group) with $10 billion, is a Baniya.
• India’s seventh richest man, Kumar Mangalam Birla (Aditya Birla Group) with $9.2 billion, is a Baniya.
• India’s eighth richest man, Anil Ambani (Reliance-ADAG) with $8.8 billion, is a Baniya.
• India’s ninth richest man, Sunil Bharti Mittal (Bharti Airtel) with $8.3 billion, is a Baniya.
• India’s tenth richest man, Adi Godrej (Godrej Group), world’s 130th richest man with $7.3 billion, is a Parsi.

 Score: Baniyas - 8, Rest of India - 2.

If we consider the two Gujaratis, Godrej and Premji (from the Lohana caste), as coming from the mercantile communities, then actually Rest of India wasn’t even playing this match so far.

Well, lets continue further...

• India’s 11th richest man is K P Singh of DLF ($7.3 billion). He is the first departure from the trend of mercantile castes. Singh is a peasant (not now though), the most populous caste grouping of India, about 50% of our population.
• From numbers 11 to 20, there are four Baniyas. They are Anil Agarwal of Vedanta ($6.4 billion), Dilip Sanghvi of Sun Pharma ($6.1 billion), Uday Kotak of Kotak Group ($3.2 billion), & Subhash Chandra Goel of Zee ($2.9 billion).
• The non-Baniyas are Shiv Nadar of HCL ($5.6 billion), Malvinder & Shivinder Singh of Ranbaxy ($4.1 billion), Kalanithi Maran of Sun TV ($3.5 billion), Mukesh Jagtiani of Landmark ($3 billion) and Pankaj Patel of Cadila ($2.6 billion).
• Between 21 and 30, there are five Baniyas. They are Indu Jain of The Times of India ($2.6 billion), Desh Bandhu Gupta of Lupin ($2.1 billion), Sudhir & Samir Mehta of Torrent ($2 billion), Aloke Lohia of Indorama ($2 billion) & Venugopal Dhoot of Videocon ($1.9 billion).
• The five non-Baniyas are G M Rao of GMR ($2.6 billion), Cyrus Poonawalla of the Serum Institute ($2.3 billion), Mumbai builder Rajan Raheja ($2.2 billion), Narayana Murthy of Infosys ($2 billion) & Gautam Thapar of Avantha ($2 billion).
• Of the non-Baniyas, three are from mercantile communities: Poonawalla (Parsi), Raheja (Shikarpuri Sindhi) and Thapar (Khatri). Murthy is Brahmin.
• Between 31 and 40 are two Baniyas: Rahul Bajaj of Bajaj Auto ($1.6 billion) & Ajay Piramal of Piramal Group ($1.4 billion).
• The non-Baniyas include three Brahmins: Nandan Nilekani, former CEO of Infosys & present Chairman of UIDAI ($1.8 billion), S Gopalakrishnan of Infosys ($1.6 billion), & Vijay Mallya of UB Group ($1.4 billion).
• Three of the others are from mercantile castes: Mumbai based builder Chandru Raheja ($1.9 billion), Brijmohan Lall Munjal of Hero MotoCorp ($1.5 billion) & Vikas Oberoi of Oberoi Realty ($1.4 billion).
• The last two are K Anji Reddy of Dr Reddy's Labs ($1.5 billion), from Andhra’s dominant peasant community, & Ajay Kalsi of Indus Gas ($1.7 billion).
• Between 41 and 50 are five Baniyas. They are R P Goenka of RPG Group ($1.3 billion), investment banker Rakesh Jhunjhunwala ($1.2 billion), Brij Bhushan Singhal of Bhushan Steel ($1.2 billion), B K Modi of Spice ($1.1 billion) and Mumbai builder Mangal Prabhat Lodha ($1.1 billion).
• The non-Baniyas are Baba Kalyani of Bharat Forge ($1.3 billion), Keshub Mahindra of Mahindra & Mahindra ($1.2 billion), Infosys co-founder K Dinesh ($1.2 billion) & S D Shibulal of Infosys ($1.1 billion), & Yusuf Hamied of Cipla ($1.1 billion).
• The last five, from 51 to 55, include two Baniyas: Mumbai builder Mofatraj Munot of Kalpataru ($1 billion) & Ashwin Dani of Asian Paints ($1 billion).
• Two of the others are from mercantile castes: Parsi Anu Aga of Thermax ($1 billion) & Khatri Harindarpal Banga of Noble ($1 billion).
• Delhi builder Ramesh Chandra of Unitech ($1 billion) ends our list of Indians with a billion dollars or more.

The list has three Parsis, two Muslims and Sikhs in one spot (shared by the Singh brothers of Ranbaxy). Banga is also a Sikh name but Harindarpal is clean-shaven. All of them, except Poonawalla, have inherited their wealth, though in the case of Premji, he took a small firm and made it global. There is nobody from the scheduled tribes or castes.

India’s large peasant castes have some representation (Singh, Patel, Reddy), but not much. There are 26 Baniyas on our list. Many of them inherited their wealth, but just as many (Mittal, Ruias, Adani, Dhoot among others) are self-made.

The list has 16 Rajasthanis, and 13 Gujaratis. Every single Rajasthani is from one caste, Vaish, though they are from two faiths: Hindu and Jain. Only Gujarat is capable of producing billionaires drawn from four different faiths: Hindu, Parsi, Jain and Muslim—and three different castes: Baniya, Khatri and peasant.


This is unique in India and there is something about this secular mercantile culture that produces great men across communities. What is it? Three out of the four biggest leaders of the subcontinent under British rule were Gujarati, and they were drawn from these three castes: Gandhi, Jinnah and Patel. Only 5% of India’s population, Gujaratis don’t have the numbers to dominate its democratic politics. But businesses are not run in democratic fashion. And to rise, you need quality, not quantity.

The heartland of India, where our quantity resides, is missing from this list. Bihar, Bengal, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Uttar Pradesh have little or no representation and this does not surprise us. On the list are 10 south Indians, in proportion to their 20% share of India’s population. The famous five from Infosys are obviously self-made. Of the others, four are first-generation wealthy. This is a good indicator for the future, and it restores some balance in favour of Rest of India.

One final observation. India’s greatest businessman is not on this list. Why is that? It is because Ratan Tata owns less than 1% of Tata Sons. He is exceptional in every way.

Proud to be a Baniya. Business is in our genes. We think business. We breath business. We live business. We love business.

With the hope that I make it to this list sometime in the future, signing off.....

Ayodhya

Ayodhya - the word itself revokes many memories - Ram Janmbhoomi, Babri Masjid, 6th Dec 1992, and the communal violence after that are amongst the few.

But Ayodhya dispute isn't that fresh. Its been there for decades. And whatever happened on 6th Dec 1992 can be termed as 'fresh'. The case over the title of the 'disputed' land has been there in the courts for more than 50 years.

And the judgement in this case will most probably be delivered on 24th Sep 2010. Yes, that's less than a week away. The government has appealed to maintain law and order and peace after the judgement is delivered. Now I realise how helpless the government is !!

Whatever the judgement is, it shouldn't be taken as a win or loss for any of the communities - be it Hindus or Muslims. Even if the case is delivered in any party's favour, there should not be any celebrations nor there should be any hatred. It should be taken as the win of the law of the nation.

A peaceful approach in this matter is what is the need of the hour. We don't need more communal clashes. In fact, we can't afford it. I hereby appeal through my blog, to maintain peace to each and everyone.

Let there be peace. Amen.

Incredible India

We live in a nation where a pizza reaches faster than an ambulance or police !

We live in a nation where you get a car loan at 5% interest but an educational loan at 12% interest !

We live in a nation where rice is Rs 40 per kg but a sim card is free !

We live in a nation where a millionaire can buy a cricket team for thousands of crores of rupees instead of donating a part of the money to charity !

We live in a nation where everybody wants to be famous but nobody wants to follow the path to be famous !

We live in a nation where the netas are more concerned for IPL rather than the population living below poverty line (BPL) !

We live in a nation where the agriculture minister is more interested in cricket politics rather than controlling the rising prices of the basic food grains !

We live in a nation where a union minister can remain absconding when declared guilty by the court !

We live in a nation where loads of money is spent to provide security to a terrorist when hundreds of people are killed every year in terror acts !

We live in a nation where people love to break rules and then get away by paying a petty bribe !

We live in a nation where people prefer tainted netas to represent them over educated ones !

We live in a nation where people standing at a tea stall reading an article on child labour say "Yaar, bachho se kaam karwane waalo ko goli maar deni chahiye..." and then they say "Oye chhotu ! 2 chai laa..."

We live in INDIA ! Incredible India !

PS : Some of the above points are a part of an SMS forwarded by a friend of mine. I added some points on my own.

PS2 : This post should not be taken in a wrong sense. Rather this post should be taken as the key areas where we can change the system.

Holi Hai !

Hey guys and girls !

Wish you and your family a very happy and colourful Holi !

Unlike me, if you play Holi, play safe and please please please avoid usage of water. I know I'm sounding a bit like an old man or something, but I hate the way water is wasted on this day. If you play, please play with gulaal only.

I still think the same as I did last year. Read my last year's Holi post (Happy Holi) coz the thoughts are the same, and I do not want a repeat telecast on the blog ;)

Enjoy guys ! Play safe !

PS : Sorry for the length of the post. (read : lack of words)

PPS : I still haven't started studying... :P

PPPS : And I'm not playing Holi.

Frustration of a sports lover !

Post-Independence, the only thing that we have done with keen interest is to ruin all our national symbols. Be it national bird, national animal, national monuments, and more recently the national game !

Poachers are killing peacocks and we stay silent. The number of tigers are decreasing day by day. I need not highlight on the condition of the national monuments. And the situation in hockey is not hidden from anyone.

Hockey players had to go on a strike to get their dues back. Just before the world cup, the national hockey team had to strike to get their demands met. And the government is still silent.

Hungry warriors never won any battle. And hungry warriors have always revolted. So did the hockey players. I stand with them. The stand they took is totally justified. I don't understand one simple thing. The government has NO money to save what they call their NATIONAL game? Isn't it shameful that the players who represent the country on the international level are not paid and the bureaucrats enjoy on their expense. Wow ! Welcome to India.

Every sports body is dominated by politicians. Lets take the example of Mr Sharad Pawar. Sorry Mr Pawar, but you being the boss (indirectly) of the richest sports body of the nation had to bear the brunt ! So, Mr Pawar is indirectly the boss of the BCCI. He's set to be the next President of the ICC. So he can not devote his entire time to one thing. He has to take care of his party matters. He has to take care of the BCCI. He has to take care of the Agriculture ministry, So while multitasking, one makes mistakes. And so did Mr Sharad Pawar. He has been in foot-in-mouth situations quite a few times. Recently his 'I-am-not-an-astrologer' remark on the rising prices of commodities had made an impact.

There are numerous examples of politicians in sports. To some extent, its good. But as it is said in Hindi : "अति हर चीज़ की बुरी होती है... ". So my dear netajis, since you guys can't devote your VALUABLE time to the sport, please back off ! And let the former sportsmen come forward and govern the sport. After all, its their cup of tea ! You shouldn't be poking your nose everywhere.

Mr Pawar should either become a full time sports administrator or a full time politician. So that either cricket is benefited or the common man is benefited. You know what I mean. Even the Prime Minister should tell him to concentrate on the ministry to reduce the price of per head thaali of a common man.

I'd like to quote another famous Hindi line over here :

हर शाख पे उल्लू बैठा है, अंजाम-ए-गुलिस्तां क्या होगा...

Actually, this line suits the current scenario. Isn't it?

There was a time when India was numero uno in hockey. There was a time when  players like Major Dhyan Chand were national heroes. But today we ponder over it and only say "there WAS a time". Today is the time when hockey is doomed.

I'll ask you all a few simple questions :

• How many hockey players' names and faces do you remember?
• Who's the current captain of the national hockey team?
  
• Name the last five hockey captains of India.
• When did you last watched a full hockey match? Okay.. add the words "on TV" to this question.

Well, I know 99.99% of the readers won't be able to answer it. But if I replace the word "hockey" with "cricket", everyone would be ready with their answers. There lies the difference. We keenly watch cricket, but we don't have any interest in hockey.

We roared when we watched Indian women's team winning the world cup in "Chak De ! India". But we forgot. And we moved on ! Even Shah Rukh Khan forgot. He went on to buy a team in the IPL, just because he saw his profits there. Why just blame him. Everyone's selfish. You. Me. Everyone !

Well... I got carried away. Sorry for that. But all I meant to say is that its high time. We must wake up ! The least we can do is watch the sport ! And we must cheer our national hockey team.

The hockey players are not beggars. Let them get what they deserve ! If we can't respect our own nation, don't expect others to do the same.

CHAK DE !

Dec 6 - a day to be remembered !

December 6, that's today. Its a day to be remembered, for some bad things, and for some good.

Cut to December 6, 1992.

Ayodhya. Uttar Pradesh. India.

"Raam Lala aayenge... Mandir wahin banayenge !"

Around 1.5 lakh Kar Sevaks gathered with this slogan in what was supposed to be a political meeting. The Babri Mosque was demolished by a large group of Hindus, who had been camped out at the site for weeks. Members of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) were part of this large group. The VHP wanted to erect a temple dedicated to Rama at this spot. Many Muslim organizations, on the other hand strongly oppose the building of the temple.

Seventeen years later, the Liberhan Commission, one of the longest running enquiry commission with 48 extensions, submitted a report with no strong conclusions and no recommendations of a strong punitive action against anybody. The commission was to submit its report in three-months' time. But 17 years and 48 extensions later, the result was null.

Most of the Kar Sevaks have become old or are in the mid-ages. They are not as active as they were 17 years ago. And most of the people in young generation don't care about the issue anymore. They don't care even if there's a temple or not. They don't care even if there's a mosque at that place or not.

In fact, basically India does not need a temple or a mosque. Look at the grim situation of education in the country. Why not build up a nice educational institution at that place? I'm sure Lord Rama and Allah (and Mr Babar) won't mind to this idea. They won't have any hard feelings if the people of Ayodhya get good education. Its upto us now to take the decision. Do we still want to fight over the issue and guzzle millions of our hard earned money or do we want a good future?

Back to December 6, 2009.

Brabourne Stadium. Mumbai. Maharashtra. India.

"Jeetega bhai jeetega... India jeetega !"

The slogan has changed. India on the verge of becoming number one in test cricket. At the beginning of the fifth day's play Sri Lanka were trailing by 59 runs in their second innings. And India were just four wickets away from creating a history.

And Zaheer Khan struck. Three wickets in the first twenty minutes. And in the next ten minutes, Harbhajan Singh claimed the final wicket, thus making India numero uno in test rankings.

 This match, filled with ecstatic performances by Virender Sehwag (293 off 254), Zaheer Khan (5/72 in second innings), Rahul Dravid, VVS Laxman, Sachin Tendulkar and he entire team, will be overshadowing the Babri issue, at least this year.

This was something good that happened on Dec 6. And I hope, every year something like this happens, so that people don't remember December 6 as the saddest day in Indian history !

Amen.

Live-in Relationships vs Marriage - Your Take

Hey folks ! Hiiii.....

Helping someone doesn't fall in the category of crap. Still, I love to help. Not that I'm giving away my tag of a 'Crapologist', its just that helping someone makes me feel good.

A friend Manali wanted my help in her research study. She wanted a few responses to a short-n-sweet questionnaire. Five questions - all yes/no types. They won't take more than five minutes. All you guys have to do is just leave your answers alongwith your Name (optional), Age (mandatory), Sex (mandatory), Location (mandatory, you may not be specific; but be general) in the form of a comment. The topic of her research is "LIVE –IN RELATIONSHIPS v/s MARRIAGE"

Link:’’http://lifestyle.indianetzone.com/relationship/1/live-in_relationships.html

Questionnaire for the research study 

1. Do u think that live-in relationships are preferred over marriage?
a) Yes
b) No 

2. Are live-in relationships proved to be successful than marriage?
a) Yes
b) No  

3. Do you think that Live-in relationships should be made legal supporting an agreement so that no one can cheat?
a) Yes
b) No 

4. Do u believe in old traditional form of marriage rather than the modern concept of live-in relationship?
a) Yes
b) No 

5. Do u think that live-in relationship is like a traditional marriage with no cohabitation and no sex before marriage?
a) Yes
b) No

That's it !! Thanks for helping !

Mumbai 26/11 - Bhoole Nahi Hum....

Extraordinary circumstances evoke extreme reactions and therefore need to be handled with extreme caution. The Mumbai terror strike brought death, devastation and shame. The vultures who wrote the script had planned it like this. What more could they have expected. They got round the clock television coverage as they held a nation of a billion plus population to ransom. And even though everything went according to their script what they failed to calculate was the enormous, once in a life time, kind of opportunity that they presented to the mighty Indian nation.

History is replete with examples. Opportunity travels alongside death and devastation. Japan was able to grab it because the death and devastation caused by the nuclear strikes on Hiroshima and Nagasaki were wrapped in shame. America's 9/11 also had shame written all over. And now if those who planned the terror strikes in India are not taken care of once and for all the opportunity that has come alongside the Mumbai shame would also be lost for good.

Of what good is the nuclear deterrent if we can be bled like this. Has the weapon of peace been good to us in any way? Peace sells, but who's buying it? The lives of those who are still lucky to be alive are in no way more important than those who have laid down their lives. Let not a single drop of Indian blood go waste. Those who are coming out on to the streets be ware, it is no candle light party out there. Everything comes for a cost and the cost has to be borne by everyone.

Let's not look up for any kind of action to the Singh who became king by buying votes in parliament. Nor from the BJP that abused the ATS chief a day before his death and later turned up at his residence to offer a compensation of Rs One Crore to his family. Nor the communists for whom shame is a decent word. Only a rabid dog could have said this: not a dog would have visited the Unnikrishnans' house had it not been the slain Major's house. Where and when in history has a martyr's father been treated like this? What could be more shameful than this?

The solution is lying somewhere around in the dark. We needed to act, and we needed to act fast. But we didn't. Who's responsible for this cowardly act? All eyes on Pakistan. All fingers point to Pakistan. We even had the proofs. But we couldn't do anything. We handed a number of dossiers to the neighbor, but no stern action taken till date.

Mr Manmohan Singh, a year is too much. For you, it might be just one-fifth (just twenty per cent) of your term, but to the families of the martyrs and deceased, each day passed as a year. And you didn't care. Only monetary compensation and showing sympathy is not the solution. The solution lies in curbing terror from the root.

Yes !! I feel shame when I have to accept that we have failed. I don't know what others feel. I don't know if Mr Manmohan Singh feels the shame or not, but I do. 'Coz we failed. We failed to provide security not only to our people, but also to foreign nationals. We failed to act against the perpetrators. We are merely watching the tamaasha unfold in Pakistan. We are helpless. We lack the spirit. We shouldn't have moved on with this until any strong action had been taken. But we moved on. India lacks leadership. India lacks courage.

I feel shame when I see the President of India having a gala time flying a Sukhoi, but she has no time to come down to Mumbai on the first anniversary of the deadly massacre. I feel shame when I see pics of the Prime Minister partying in the USA when people are paying homage to the martyrs and the deceased. It happens only in India !!

If India is crying for leadership, this crisis had the potential to throw up one. Only raising slogans against the government and the politicians is not enough. A few of us should have raised from the rubble to become leaders. But we chose to remain silent and protest. Candle light vigils can just add CO2 to the already polluted environment. Let there be no peace till the perpetrators of the Mumbai Mayhem are smoked out of their safe holes.

JAI HIND !!! JAI JAWAAN !!! 

May the souls of the martyrs and the deceased rest in peace....

Amen.

Gunda-Raj Season 2

Almost a year ago, I wrote a post (titled Gunda-Raj) on Raj Thackeray and his party Maharashtra Navnirman Sena's stand on the unnecessary fuss over non-Marathis. A year later, the issue has bounced back with the entry of a side hero (or should I say the sidekick of the villain) MNS MLA Ram Kadam slapped Samajwadi Party MLA Abu Asim Azmi for taking oath in Hindi. (watch this video)

Such an incident is a shame on the name of democracy. Its worst than dictatorship. Utter nonsense. I want to ask the MNS-men that is Hindi a language from Pakistan? Or is Maharashtra not a part of India? Is this what the Marathi manoos have reduced to do?
To me, MNS = Makes No Sense !

Even Abu Azmi is no saint. But he's an elected representative. And who says that one form of gundaism can be met with another form of gundaism? Azmi himself has a dubious past. There have been several allegations against him including links with underworld don Dawood Ibrahim. He was also accused in the 1993 Bombay Bomb Blasts, but was later acquitted by the court. Still, will this incident not make him a hero (at least to some people)?

But that's not the point of discussion. Azmi, being an elected representative, being an Indian citizen, had the right to take oath in any of the Indian languages. And Hindi is no foreign language.

I would like to quote one of Rajdeep Sardesai's tweets :

"linguistic chauvinism is hypocritical. most mns leaders send their children to eng medium schools, ditto with samajwadi party."

I agree with this totally ! Both MNS and SP are taking advantage of this issue now to gain political mileage from the Marathas and the minority communities respectively. But, in the long run, this is going to create a lot of differences in the minds of people over regionalism.

The fact that the MNS bagged 13 seats in the Maharashtra assembly is an indication that Raj Thackeray has succeeded in creating a fear psychosis in the minds of people. And due to this issue, he has also gained sympathy of some. But, his brand of politics would lead him nowhere.

This incident clearly highlights the fact that the basic principle of "Unity in Diversity" lies nowhere. Should we assume that the MNS has no respect for the law and the Constitution? Why should we not tag them as anti-nationalists? Aren't they a threat to the security of the nation? If the UP government can impose the NSA on Varun Gandhi, why can't the Maharashtra government do the same on such extremists?

A lot of questions in my mind. But, from whom should I seek answers?

हिन्दी हैं हम, वतन हिन्दोस्तां हमारा...

Let there be peace !

PS : I'll speak Hindi even in Maharashtra and I am not afraid of Raj Thackeray or anybody !! And as they say in Hindi : 

"जो उखाड़ना है, उखाड़ ले...."

The National Song and the Fatwa

Fatwa issued against Vande Mataram

This piece of news is shocking to many. But, to me, it is disgusting ! Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind of Deoband has issued a fatwa (n.  A legal opinion or ruling issued by an Islamic scholar) against the National Song 'Vande Mataram'. (Watch the Times Now video)

Jamait Ulema-e-Hind or the JUH on Tuesday issued a fatwa against singing national song ‘Vande Mataram’. According to a resolution, Muslims should not sing ‘Vande Mataram’ as its reciting is against the Islam.

The resolution, which was passed at the Deoband national convention meet, says that Muslims should not sing ‘Vande Mataram’ as some verses of the patriotic song are against the tenets of Islam. The JUH leader said that the some of the line in the song is against Islam.

In the first place, I'd like to ask these so-called scholars is it necessary to issue such a fatwa against a song which inspired a lot of freedom fighters (including Muslims) to fight for the country's independence? And if you do so, I'm very sorry to say that you don't deserve to be called a 'scholar'. And if you have a problem in reciting Vande Mataram, nobody's compelling you to do so. In turn, you shouldn't impose your thoughts over other Muslims brothers and sisters.

I'm not against Islam. I respect Islam as much as I respect my own faith or any other faith for that matter. All I can not stand is this 'extremism' and imposition of thoughts on others.

Isn't it a deliberate attempt to create differences in the minds of common people? Will in not create rifts between Hindus and Muslims? And God forbid, if something happens, who the hell is gonna take the responsibility? Will the clerics hold themselves responsible?

Why didn't they issue fatwa against A R Rahman for his much successful rendition of Vande Mataram? Wasn't it un-Islamic at that time? Hats off to A R Rahman for that marvellous rendition. I loved that song ! I don't think A R Rahman would stop singing Vande Mataram at his concerts. And the clerics would agree that he's a perfect Muslim. So here you go....

I just want to say that I detest those people who poke their nose in other's lives. You live yours, and let others live theirs. Thats it !! In my opinion, the nation should be primary, and religion or faith should be secondary.

Meanwhile, the Muslim Law Board justified the decision saying that (Muslims) can’t offer prayers to anyone but Allah. Kamal Farooqui, a prominent leader of the Board said, “We love the nation but can’t worship it.”

Dude !! Who tells you to worship? If you don't want to sing, its ok. Don't force it on others. GROW UP !!! Get a life !

On the contrary, many of the Muslim political leaders and other prominent Muslims personalities have thrashed the fatwa against the national song. Renowned scriptwriter and lyricist Javed Akhtar said, “The objection is redundant. You don’t want to sing Vande Mataram? Don’t! Who is forcing you? I sing it. I don’t see it as objectionable. If you do, don’t sing it. Why do you insist on bringing such irrelevant matters centre stage?”

Javed Akhtar, who is considered as nationalist believes in strengthening the country not dividing its people on the basis of religion said, “ It’s a non-issue and unnecessarily provocative. I’ve written songs with Vande Mataram in them. I used the term Vande Mataram in Priyadarshan’s Saza-e-Kala Pani. Then I used the term for a song in Phir Bhi Dil Hai Hindustani and finally for a song that’s used at the military academy at Dehradun. Please don’t make an issue out of a non-issue. These are non-entities.”

My advice to everyone : Singing or not singing Vande Mataram is entirely your personal choice. Please don't let others make it an issue. If you don't want to sing, its better you don't sing rather than publicise the matter and create rifts.

And by the way, here's the song Vande Mataram followed by its English translation, which will help you understand it.

वन्दे मातरम्
सुजलां सुफलां मलयजशीतलाम्
शस्यश्यामलां मातरम् |
शुभ्र ज्योत्स्ना पुलकित यामिनीम्
फुल्ल कुसुमित ध्रुमदलशोभिनीम्,
सुहासिनीं सुमधुर भाषिणीम्
सुखदां वरदां मातरम् ||

वन्दे मातरम् ||

And here's the english translation :

My obeisance to Mother India!
With flowing beneficial waters
Filled with choicest fruits
With cooling breeze
Green with the harvest
O mother! My obeisance to you!
Ecstatic moonlit nights
The plants blooming with flowers
Sweet speaker of sweet languages
Fount of blessings,
Mother, I salute you! 

In the end, I'd just like to add one more thing :

Be an INDIAN first, then be a Hindu or Muslim or Sikh or Jain or Buddhist or Christian or whatever.....

PS : You decide !!!

Rest in Pieces

Well to start with, this article is related to the legendary pop artist Michael Jackson. Sorry I am just not able to grasp that he is now Late Mr. Michael Jackson… thanks to the media!!

To be honest I never listened to his songs. I was just a fan of his dancing and specifically his signature step- MOON WALK!! I am or rather was not a fan of Michael Jackson the king of pop, I was and still am the fan of Michael Jackson the fighter. Michael Jackson for me is a man who struggled, fought and achieved his life, fame and popularity.

He was born on the 29th of August 1958 and on 26th June 2009; he left the worldly peace only to enter a phase of disrupted calm after death! Confused? Most of us might be wondering, what made me think that the living world has peace and that after death calm is destroyed, wherein people always look up to death as a medium to attain peace and relieve themselves from the troubles, worldly pressures , conflicts, etc. Well, what I stated isn’t wrong. Although it doesn’t go with the majority, It is at least true for Michael Jackson.

He is a man who lived his life in front of the cameras, a person who was always involved in controversies, and then may it be anything!! From child abuse to taking drugs, from undergoing 11 plastic surgeries to injuring himself to death (almost), Michael Jackson’s name was associated with everything. I can’t take away his popularity as the most sensational pop artist. As a person who made millions cry over his songs and a person who burnt the stage with hi s tapping feet. His music still live and so does him in it!! This reminds me of an SMS I recently received. It said:

“You are remembered for what you give and what good you do.”

But as far as Michael Jackson is concerned don’t u reckon it should be a bit different. While he was alive he was into news mostly for all the wrong reasons.

When was it that an Indian newspaper bore the announcement of the launch of his new album? Never!!and now, we have people remembering him and his music and paying tribute to him all over the world!! I do not question their sentiments. As far as paying tribute is concerned it is good, it is acceptable but the way media is following Michael Jackson even after his demise is shameful. He may have died because of whatever reason… maybe a drug overdose. FINE!!! Why do the media make it a pain for his family and fans by digging harder and deeper into the matter (than required)? Why are they trying to scrape the already peeled fruit? Questioning the doctors who treated Michael Jackson, and that his ghost was seen by some lady, and that he had a rare skin disease, and that he had a loan of 1 million $ to repay, and that he had divorced his wife because he was not sexually straight, and the media crossed all limits when there were rumors that Michael Jackson is faking his death and has gone into hiding!! What bullshit! What nonsense!!

A man who entertained all, who gave us(most of us) our most treasured collection of music, a man who faced all questions thrown at him, a man who did wrong… accepted it and grew as an artist over the years, deserves some peace in his after life. The priest in the funeral says” may his soul rest in peace forever”. Why do we need to make it difficult for Michael Jackson even after he succumbed to death, he already had a difficult life!! We (read: media) are actually rephrasing it into meaning “may his soul rest in pieces forever!”

Here is a humble request to all… please relieve the king of pop of all the disgraceful and worldly accusations when he is no more a part of it!!

Cruelty to Peace Prize !

What is the difference between a Google Wave invite and a Nobel prize? Anyone can get a Nobel (Rohit Khetarpal)

Kissinger, Begin, Sadat, Obama, etc. But not Mahatma Gandhi? What kind of peace prize is this? (Vir Sanghvi)

They once gave Winston Churchill the Nobel for literature! So they have a history of sucking up to the powerful (Vir Sanghvi) 

Do you think the Norwegians want something from America? The Nobel to Obama makes no sense otherwise (Vir Sanghvi) 

Do you think Obama got the Nobel for making peace with Hillary? Can't think of any other achievement.. (Vir Sanghvi) 

Personally think that while im an Obama fan, a Nobel is utterly disproportionate. Nobels should be given for achievements not passion (Barkha Dutt)

nobel goes to obama the brand, not obama the individual. in the age of marketing, guess branding matters more than substance. (Rajdeep Sardesai)

Well, these were just a few tweets that I came across. And I'm sure there would be a millions showing their shock over this award. Nobel is losing the status it once had.

I'd like to throw some light on why this controversy has arisen. There are a few points behind it :

• The nominations were due to the Nobel committee on Feb 1. Mr Obama took the office on Jan 20. So what Obama-ji did in 264 hours wins him the prestigious award !!
• The committee cast their votes in June. Even at that time, four months of Obama's steps (or rather ideas) towards world peace and nuclear proliferation were so great that they won him a Nobel !
• Even if we take the time of the declaration, which happens to be 9 months after becoming the US Prez, its a very short period for someone to receive such an honour.

If someone can win a Nobel just on the basis of how much can he talk about world peace (rather than work for it), I think our very own Mahesh Bhatt and Rakhi Sawant (with due respect to both) should concentrate on 'world peace' and 'nuclear proliferation' instead of poking their nose in every other matter. That could win them a Nobel. ;)


I do not hate Obama. In fact, I preferred Obama over John McCain to be the US President. I just feel that he, at this point of time, does not deserve the Nobel.


Lets have a look at Obama's failures (towards world peace) :

• Pakistan continues to get US Aid (and that too tripled) even after suspicious links of the Pakistan Army and ISI with the terrorists.
• Failed attempts to curb the activities of Taliban in Pakistan and Afghanistan.
• US Army still there in Iraq and Afghanistan.
• Failed to stop Iran and North Korea's nuclear programmes.
• Delay in releasing Guantenamo prisoners.

With this award to Obama, the prestigious Norwegian Nobel prize has lost its credibility. I call this a cruelty to the Peace Prize. Still, Congrats Obama-ji !!!

Hindi Diwas - Sep 14

दिल की तहों को खोलिए जनाब
अजी हिन्दी में कुछ बोलिए जनाब
अपनी जुबां से अनबोला नहीं अच्छा
जुबां की ताकत को तोलिये जनाब

मैं यह जान कर अचंभित नहीं होऊंगा कि आज के दिन के बारे में बहुत कम लोगों को पता होगा । मुझे यकीन है कि ज़्यादातर लोग इस बात से अनभिज्ञ होंगे कि आज 14 सितम्बर को हिन्दी दिवस है । ऐसे ही लोगों की जानकारी के लिए बता दूँ कि 60 वर्ष पूर्व आज ही के दिन भारत की संविधान सभा ने हिन्दी को भारत की राजभाषा के रूप में मान्यता दी थी ।

हिन्दी भाषा अभिव्यक्ति के माध्यम के रूप में हमेशा से ही मेरी पहली पसंद रही है । मैं जितने अच्छे तरीके से अपने आप को हिन्दी में अभिव्यक्त कर सकता हूँ, उतना शायद मैं अपने आप को अंग्रेज़ी में भी नहीं कर सकता । आज आपको लग रहा होगा कि ये बन्दा कहीं सठिया तो नहीं गया है, आज सब कुछ हिन्दी में ही लिखे जा रहा है । तो मैं आपकी जानकारी के लिए बता दूँ कि मैंने इस लेख (post) का शीर्षक (title) मैंने अंग्रेज़ी में ही लिखा है ।

वैसे हिन्दी जैसी सुंदर और सुव्यवस्थित भाषा कोई नहीं है । मुझे हिन्दी से बहुत पहले से ही काफ़ी लगाव रहा है । ये एक विडम्बना (irony) ही है कि मेरे ब्लॉग में मेरी कुछ कविताओं के अलावा हिन्दी के कोई लेख है ही नहीं । खैर, देर आए दुरुस्त आए । आज हिन्दी दिवस के सुअवसर पर ही इसका शुभारम्भ किया जाए ।

हिन्दी एक ऐसी भाषा है जिसे आज कल अपने ही देश में हीन भावना से देखा जाता है । आज कल भारतीय लोग़ हिन्दी के बजाय अंग्रेज़ी को ज्यादा महत्ता देने लगे हैं । सरकारी कार्यों में भी हिन्दी का चलन काफ़ी कम हो गया है । कई सरकारी कार्यालयों में हिन्दी केवल हिन्दी दिवस के दिन ही बोली जाती है और वो भी इसलिए क्योंकि सरकारी आदेश (order) होता है । खैर, इन सब पचडों में न पड़ते हुए मैं आपको हिन्दी दिवस की शुभकामनाएं देना चाहूँगा ।

मेरे मन-मस्तिष्क में विचार तो काफ़ी हैं, लेकिन मैं इस लेख को यहीं विराम देता हूँ और आपको छोड़ जाता हूँ एक कविता के साथ जो मैंने यहाँ पढ़ी थी....

हम कब तक ये हिन्दी दिवस मानते रह जायेंगे
हिन्दी में कार्य करने का सिर्फ़ संकल्प दोहराते रह जायेंगे
हम कब तक माँ को मॉम (mom), बाप को डैड (dad) बनाते रह जाएँगे
हम कब तक अपनी हिन्दी माँ को ठुकराकर
विदेशी अंग्रेज़ी मम्मी (mummy) को अपनाते रह जायेंगे
पिछले वर्ष जब हमने हिन्दी दिवस मनाया
मैंने सच्चे मन से अंग्रेज़ी छोड़ हिन्दी को अपनाया
अपने आप को कुछ कठिनाइयों में ही पाया
मैंने ऑटो रिक्शा वाले को हिन्दी में बतलाया
क्या विश्वविद्यालय ले चलोगे भाई
उसने मुझको समझाया
यहाँ तो कोई विश्वविद्यालय ही नहीं है
यूनिवर्सिटी (university) जल्दी पहुंचना था जब बतलाया,
तो उसने झल्लाते हुए बतलाया
क्यो अंग्रेज़ी में विश्वविद्यालय कहे जा रहे हो
अपना तथा मेरा वक्त बर्बाद किए जा रहे हो
हिन्दी मैं यूनिवर्सिटी कहने से क्या डरते हो
लगता है अपनी हिन्दी भाषा से प्रेम नहीं करते हो