Deepak Rana

RIP Equality

Another headline flashes! Another exclusive report! A farmer’s son has qualified the most prestigious engineering entrance exam of India.

Should I be shocked to learn about a farmer’s kid being an intelligent lad? Why do we highlight these professions each time we find bright students in their homes? What does that tell us about our perception towards these professions? I think we all know the answers.

equality in india — Being a farmer in India is not the best thing; could be the worst though.

Our prejudice towards certain professions, reveals itself in one way or the other, telling a dark secret about our mentality. While we look at some professions with a sense of respect, there are so many jobs out there, employing thousands and thousands of individuals, that do not get the appreciation (and of course money) they deserve.

Many people would argue that it is about the struggle (especially in terms of money) that people from these professions face. This is a valid point, but not the complete picture. If this was entirely about the economic condition, then how often have you seen the mention of writers, comedians, social activists, painters and countless other professions which are considered ‘elite’ but on so many occasions these professionals make little or no money at all? You haven’t… and the reason is simple. We do not have that disgust in mind when we think of a musician, but as soon as someone mentions a sweeper, our face changes.

The point is, despite the fact that we need to share the story of hard work of an individual and a family, we need to remove the certain terms from headlines, like the name of that profession. Like – Barber’s son goes to IIT, Watchman’s daughter makes it to IIM. Yes, it gives a romantic touch to the story, but more often than not, it has many undesirable consequences, which are capable of hurting the ‘equality’ part of our society. The only logical headline I saw, was on Logical Indian website, which said – His Family Couldn’t Afford Daily Meal; Today He Is An IIT Topper. This makes sense. Rest of the media portals did their job as it was expected from them.

The long term hazards of such mindset can be clearly seen in our society today. How many kids have you met, who wanted to become farmers, cleaners, barbers and not doctors or engineers? I bet the number would be close to zero, if not zero. And yet these are important professions. Aren’t they? So important that it is almost impossible to survive without these people. Today, we are seeing shortage of professionals at all these levels, which we consider unattractive, to say the least, and if that continues to happen, the future would be even worse.

The role of our media (both print as well as TV) demands criticism (yet again). The same media that pretends to care about equality fuels the highest levels of inequality in its own cruel ways and we don’t realize it. Same is true about you and I. We are equally guilty in this crime. So, if there’s any solution to this problem, it would be – all of us with improved sense of perceiving the world. Equality deserves its place in our society, otherwise the society will cease to find a good place in the world.

Yes, the caste and religion based divide has reduced, if not disappeared, but my worry is that our minds are so well programmed with inequality that it will take a long time to bring equality. I hope I am wrong.

Long Lived Zara – My Next Book

Writing a blog post after a long time. Indeed. For the last year and a half, I have been working on a fantasy fiction – Long Lived Zara. The book is about an ancient fictional tribe – Hoti that is facing the terror of darkness, and the life of Zara and her struggle against the dark forces. It has been a challenging project, and took everything out of me and I am relieved that I did my best to make it beautiful. I am still working on developing a new language which would be a part of this book. The book will get published by the end of this year. Meanwhile, I would request you to read the excerpts by clicking the below link and clicking on “Read Book” (make sure you are logged in).

http://bloodygoodbook.com/long-lived-zara#

Please share your review as that would be of great help. Will share more about the book and my experience about the same. Till then, take care. Cheers!

My Interview in Asian Age/Deccan Chronicle

20 things to do in college…

Note: If you have already lived through your college years, this post may not be of much relevance to you. But if you are yet to see the college life, or have some time left to be spent at college, then please continue to read.

College is the place where you spend the most important years of your life. This is when you are old enough to live on your own, and yet the youth inside you allows you to enjoy, whatever the college has in store for you. No matter what you do in your college, or if you do anything or not, it will have an impact in shaping your personality and consequently in deciding where you will end up in your life. Most of us don’t have much idea about – what to do in college, or how to make the best use of this time. There are many doubts as well. This post is based on my own experiences and the observations that I have made in all these years. Hope the below 20 points will be useful in your college journey.

All the time that you have in these four years – it is all yours. You will be the captain of your ship. Everything that you do, or you don’t do, determines the kind of person you will become in the future. Plan wisely.
Explore as much as you can. Particularly in the first or the second year of your college, keep exploring your interests, your likes and dislikes, or simply put – your own self. Make mistakes, be irresponsible, but then… Don’t forget to learn from them.
Pursue your hobbies. And try to be fairly regular in pursuing your interests. You will get enough time in college for that, and even if it impacts your academic results to some extent, years later you will realize that, it was a smart investment.
Make friends every day. College friendships do not end in your campuses but they go a long way. Also, this will be the only time in your life when people around you will have no egos but only generosity. There is no better place for networking than your college.
Go out on dates. Allow yourself to fall in love, but never rush in to it. It’s all right to have heart breaks than wondering how does it feel to go out on dates.
Dear boys, don’t be so desperate. And don’t complain about the poor girls/boys ratio in your college. Remember, there is a world outside your campus as well.
Dear girls, if a boy asks you for a date, he does not want you to marry him. Relax. Take your time and go out if you feel like. Once again, falling in love is a beautiful thing, but never force yourself in to it.
Do not miss the flavours of hostel life. Remember, for day scholars, college is just an extension of school with unserious education. Staying with Mum Pa sounds adorable, but please, grow up now.
Academic records are not always helpful in your career, but don’t become insincere. Whatever you do, do it with all your heart and give hundred percent. Passion and not talent, determines your success in any field.
Choose the optional subject carefully, purely out of interest. Sometimes, one subject if studied well, turns out to be career-changer in your journey.
Dream big. There will be a lot of people around you who will judge you based on your academic score, your higher education programs or your job options – ignore them. Pursue what you love. People’s opinions change with time. Do not let that negativity influence your plans.
Do not worry about the jobs. There are plenty of them out there. What matters is your expertise in a particular field. And if have developed enough of it, no one will deny you an attractive offer. In words of Rancho, “Chase excellence, success will follow.”
Learn to value money. During college, parents take care of our expenses and after that you will soon get a job, but in between you might forget to understand the value of money. Take a part-time job in summer breaks or go for the right internship opportunity. I learnt much more in my part time job as a waiter than I learnt in the corporate world, after the college.
Relax, if things get tough, the world does not end there. Flunking a couple of subjects would not make you a loser. And if any sort of failure comes, do not get disappointed. They will only help you become a better (and stronger) individual.
Maintain good relations with your professors. As a student I always considered them inconsiderate and cold blooded, but they have their reasons for that. It is a false belief that teachers’ role in your life with your college education.
More than teachers, your fellow students have a lot more to teach you. And if you do not let your ego come in between, then you can learn a number of things from them.
Learn as much as you can. This is the investment that you are making for a bright future. Make time-table and see how much time you are devoting to your learning.
Take care of your health. Your body is at its best in this age and taking it for granted, or not doing enough with this much energy and ability will be foolish. Good health and fitness is another sound investment that will pay you later.
Sleep for long hours. Because after college, you might not get the time for it or if you get time, you might not get sleep. Sounds funny, but true.
Read a lot. On a variety of topics, if possible. Open your mind to new ideas.
Make notes, whenever you can. Those who maintain a diary, are doing it right. But it is not possible all the time, and for everyone. Do not forget to write short notes, every time you feel like. Years later, you will find it more valuable, than anything else. Same goes for pictures. Click as many as you feel like. After all, what remains, is nothing but the memories. And this is the time to make them beautiful.

Wish you all the best!!

What is love?

Is it in mother’s hug,

when the child cries…

Or in the child’s cries,

if the mother dies?

What is love?

Is it when a father holds the thumb,

of his only child…

Or when the child stumbles, when father is not,

standing by his side?

What is love?

Is it when a brother asks his sister,

to search, and chase him…

Or when the sister crosses the ocean,

but, unable to swim?

What is love?

Is it when a friend shows up,

even if the distances have grown…

Or your longing for them,

when they are long gone?

What is love?

Is it when he writes her,

a love letter…

Or when she tells him,

his presence makes it better?

What is love?

Does it lie in the pleasures,

Of togetherness…

Or in the pain of distance,

and yet the belongingness?

Life is short, make it worth…

When I was a kid, every time I got a new toy or a video game, I was electrified. I jumped around the house and celebrated the arrival of my new gift. And when I first touched the gift; the feeling was exhilarating. But, that was it. It was the highest point of happiness and the feeling only faded away as I spent more time with it. I wondered why? But I could never find the answer. Years later, I think I have some understanding of this puzzle.

The above example may appear a simple case of the impermanence of materialistic pleasures but there are several other factors that are involved in our happiness especially as we grow up. The fact that we are dependent on various other things for our happiness apart from video games or toys, complicates our journey towards happiness. Some people suggest that happiness is about staying in your childhood which not just sounds childish but is in fact far from reality. Ignorance is bliss – but in this age of information, knowledge and extraordinary levels of connectivity, how would you make someone ignorant. And when we are not ignorant, we need to figure out the pragmatic ways to discover happiness.

Now let’s talk about the ground reality. There are countless things in our lives which affect us and our state of mind. Broadly these things could be classified in to the categories – work(karma), relationships and personal. Note that the personal here refers to what we feel about ourselves. It is interesting to see that in each of these categories how we make slight change and it completely changes our inner happiness levels and consequently the outlook. Let us try to see how…

Work – which occupies most part of our adult life is crucial in determining the happiness. Our ambitions drive us and take us to the different places in our career. However, there is a catch. While most of aspire to achieve something great in our career, we often forget about the value that we are providing for whom we are working. Our dreams are often restricted by achievements and accomplishments, which often limit our ability to contribute that we could have made otherwise. But how is it connected with happiness? It certainly is. Our happiness is derived from our work, the difference that we are making in this world and not from what someone else is giving us in form of rewards, compensations and prizes. The difference is that the latter give you the temporary pleasures and are crucial to motivate you but when it comes to everyday happiness, they have no significance.

Relationships are equally important in determining our state of mind. The relationships here refer to every interaction, every conversation and every meeting that one has with others who could be known or even unknown to that person. In some cases even without any interaction, there may exist a relationship. For example, how good or bad iPhone designers are, influence our happiness levels to some extent. In today’s world the influence and relationships are highly complicated and therefore it may be difficult to examine the case. Also, as we have covered the work part earlier, we could focus only on those relationships which directly influence us. For the sake of simplicity we will consider only those people whom we directly interact with. In this case, as soon as we spend some time with people we start to develop certain expectations from them and if they do not meet those expectations the feeling of liking may fade away. The closer we get to a person, more are our expectations from him or her. Once again we are making the same mistake here. Instead of making them feel happy, we are expecting happiness from them, which is not justifiable. For your happiness only you are responsible, no one else. And same is about your sorrows. Find some time to make others happy and you will be happy too.

The most important thing is – what we think of ourselves. Think about it. At the end of the day if you talk to yourself and no matter how much you have earned or learnt, there is no way you can be happy unless you feel proud of yourself. That you are living your life to the fullest. And what if it was the last day of your life. There wouldn’t be any other justifications but a simple thing in your mind – whether you lived your life or not. In case the answer is no, you are lucky that you still have some time left with you.

The answer is simple – give more than you take. Make a difference to this world so that the world before and after you is not the same. You are here for a reason – discover that reason, chase it and do what your heart says. If you do that, you don’t need to chase the happiness, but the happiness will chase you.

To My Home State – Himachal Pradesh

Another sunset in the clamor of a big city and I ask myself what it would be like in the calmness of my home state. Where the life is slow and relaxed, or I find it so as I am most comfortable in the lap of tranquil hills. It’s the state where I find no reason to get in to any hurry but cherish the lovely colours and songs of the nature with all my senses. Himachal Pradesh is undoubtedly one of the finest places to live in.

Every state (or nation) has its own culture and customs which determine the kind of life one spends there. In case of Himachal Pradesh, the culture is extremely rich but at the same time flexible enough to accept the modern alterations, which adds more beauty to it. A large majority of Himachal’s population is Hindu, yet one will find a large number of local deities whom they worship along with other Hindu gods.

The state uses both Hindi and English language for the official purposes, although most of the people speak pahari dialects. The interesting thing is that the dialects change after every few kilometers and every district speaks a different one. In some cases the change is so huge that people from two different places within the state may not be able to understand each other’s words. Even inside a district you will find many variations in terms of the usage of words or the pronunciation of the same words. If India is a unity in diversity, so is Himachal Pradesh.

The quality of life in Himachal Pradesh is extremely soothed, which is the result of high literacy rate, decent economy and the availability of the basic necessities to everyone. Everyone lives such a comfortable life that most people from outside would be jealous of. The life in Himachal is itself a luxury and no other luxuries are required to achieve the highest levels of happiness.

A state so beautiful, so lovely, I feel proud to be a part of it and I carry the feeling of it within me, no matter where I go.

A Flight So Cruel…

She called me, it seemed. She spoke words which were not decipherable to me, but I could easily tell that she was inviting me. Her hands were waving provocatively, her face was ascending and descending as she made those undecipherable sounds and something inside me kept telling me that it was an invitation. The sounds of Aaahs and Ooohs were being repeated by the young woman and no matter how alien she was to me, I had already started liking her. This was the same house where I came every day, but I had never seen her before. Perhaps she had moved that day only or the day before. Otherwise I couldn’t have missed her. I mean, come on, how many times people call you when you are minding your own business? Not many people do that, especially when they are beautiful, and she was…

I scrutinized her body which was mostly covered and I realized the relevance of hiding certain body parts to raise the fantasies in the minds of onlookers. Her features were sharp and her gestures were seductive, or at least I found them so. I kept leering at her with wide open eyes for some time while she lowered her voice a little, as if she was losing her hope that I would accept the invitation. It wasn’t easy for me. How could I trust a stranger? I thought.

“Don’t trust people these days. Both men and women are of criminal nature and they can harm you, my innocent kid,” mother had warned me many times. It was a rare occasion when I had gone somewhere without her and I secretly felt good about that. The woman stood there and my mind kept questioning about unknown things. But suddenly at that moment, I felt like – taking a chance, to follow my instincts and do what she was asking me to…

I ambled towards her, in a hope that she would do no harm to me. We were so close, very close, and my heart beats had understood the meaning of closeness before I could… She offered me what I was hoping for and I went back to my home. I didn’t tell mother anything about that.

The next day I went to the same place again. I remembered the place correctly, which appeared exactly like yesterday, only that she was not there. I called her by imitating the sounds that she made yesterday, but no one responded. The house was locked and there was no way I could enter, and it wouldn’t have been of any use either. I decided to wait for her and I did – the whole night, the next day, and the next night.

I went back to my home. But mother was not there. She should have been there, I thought, but she wasn’t. I waited again. This time the wait was long, and she didn’t come back ever. Then I realized I had lost her, for some foolish reasons, but it was too late… Now I rarely fly outside and spend most of the time in the memories of the life that we lived in this nest. Sometimes I cry, sometimes I chirp the songs she had told me and I wonder what other sparrows would think of me though I don’t care much about that. I live in a hope that someday I will fly again with the same zeal and explore the world as I had once dreamt. I hope when I fly, mother would join me and guide me towards the destination. I hope that I will fly and come back to home again and mother would be waiting for me. I hope…

How I wrote my first novel – Sky beyond the clouds

October 2011 –Hi Tec City, Hyderabad – It was not the kind of Friday evening I was hoping for. Working in Deloitte was certainly a great feeling and most of the days had been marvelous so far. But this was not one of them. I was badly frustrated with my boss’s attitude, his unhealthy sense of humor and talking about this particular day, his unreasonable interference in my work. So, I left the office and started walking towards Madhapur. I didn’t know where I was going but I continued on my path. The rain had started and soon I had to seek a shelter. I stopped at a Chai shop and asked for one cup. I noticed two girls were already standing there, enjoying the puff of cigarette with Chai. They were discussing something which I didn’t bother to listen until they happened to mention the word “Army” after which I paid close attention. I was about to finish my Chai and then I had to ask for another one to stay there and listen to them.

“No matter what, army officers are far better looking than these corporate tycoons.” One of them said.

“Of course yaar.” The other one said. “But these people are smarter than army men. So, if you ask me to choose any, I will go for corporate guys.”

The first one nodded. And it killed me. I wished I could go up to them and tell them they were wrong. I wished I could tell how hard it was to become a military officer. I wished. Only that I didn’t. But when I reached home I was sure about one thing that I would share my thoughts with everyone. I thought about writing a blog post but I had multiple things to tell and blog wasn’t the best option for that. Then I decided to write a long article and share it with others – through which medium I was still not sure. But I had to write, I knew that.

I started contacting people who had been with me during my NDA exam and those who were in Indian army. During my interactions with them I heard few intriguing experiences and one of them appealed me so much that I decided to write that story. I was still not sure where I was going with this. But I started my research and collected enough information. It was November when I wrote the first page of my story. As I wrote more and did more research, more interesting things appeared and I could not stop. For six months I kept writing without knowing where I was going with that. It was then I realized that it could become a novel on reality fiction. Interestingly I had no idea about the publishing world. I was not a writer, only that I wanted to write. And I was not going to stop. I continued. And after two years of writing, I am here. The novel – Sky beyond the clouds is completed and will be released in November 2013, exactly two years after I wrote the first page of it. And I have come a long way. I am not sure who should be given the credit – my boss, those two girls, my frustrations, those people I met during my research. But it changed my life, completely. In a parallel world I might be doing an MBA or climbing the corporate ladder, but here I am all set to go for this challenging journey as a writer. It’s not easy for me, it never was. This is just the first step of a long journey. And I have never been so excited.

Happy Birthday Vikram Batra

7^th July, 1999 – Point 4875 – Near Tiger Hills – Altitude 17000 feet

Lieutenant Naveen is severely injured, finding it almost impossible to retaliate the counter attack made by the enemy troops. Indian Army has captured this point two days back but it is now that the enemies have come up with their forcefulness. Captain Vikram Batra who is also a part of the operation, goes to rescue the injured officer. While he is dragging the injured back under cover, Naveen insists on continuing with the operation.

“Tu baal bacchedaar hai. Hat ja peechhe.” Vikram tells him and he continues himself. (Translation: You have family to look after. Get back.)

Only a few moments have passed, when a bullet coming from enemy soldier, pierces his chest. Before he gets any time to react, he gets hit by an artillery splinter in the waist.

“Jai Mata Di.” He speaks as he realizes he doesn’t have much time to spare and he assails the enemy soldiers and kills five of them before succumbing to his injuries.

Point 4875 was a part of India now.

9^th September, 1974 – Palampur – Himachal Pradesh

The day was special for Batra family as the family celebrated the arrival of twin sons. They were nicknamed as Luv and Kush. Luv, or as we know him Vikram Batra was a smart, intelligent boy right from his childhood. The kid scooped away most of the awards at school while he studied in DAV Public School Palampur (my school too) followed by Central School Palampur.

After completing his senior secondary education, he went on to join the college in Chandigarh. This was where he met the love of his life. Few years later they would go on to plan their marriage also, but it did not happen. After completing the education when he was all set to join Merchant Navy, he changed his mind, and decided to go for Indian Army instead. He made his entry to Indian Military Academy in 1996 and the next year, he joined Indian Army as Lieutenant of 13JAK rifles at Sopore, Jammu and Kashmir. Back in Palampur, many young kids who idolized him, were dreaming to become military officers too.

1^st June, 1999 – Kargil

The war like situation had erupted in the Kargil region and Vikram’s unit moved here to take control over it. The first challenge for the 24 years old officer was to capture Point 5140 which was under enemy’s control at the moment. The peak was at an altitude of 17000 feet and was a crucial point in Drass region that could pave the way for further victories. Vikram had a conversation with the terrorist commander over radio. The enemy commander challenged him by saying, “Why have you come Sher Shah (Vikram’s nick name given by his commanding officer), you will not go back”. Captain Vikram Batra with immense confidence replied, “We shall see within one hour, who remains on the top”. Lieutenant Vikram decided to attack the enemy from the rear and they did that. In this decisive battle, their squad fought diligently and won a decisive victory.

“Daddy, I have captured.” Vikram’s father still remembers the phone call that his son made through a satellite phone.

After a small break of two days, Vikram was sent to capture the Point 4750. The war had reached its fiercest state during this time and capturing the point was going to be even tougher. Once again an enemy commander threatened him over radio and he responded bravely once again, not only through his words, but actions too. And the point was captured by Indian Army.

The next point was 4875. And the rest we all know is a part of the history that still makes us feel proud. It was won but we lost our hero.

For the act of bravery and heroism that Captain Vikram Batra had displayed in the battlefield, he was honored with Paramvir Chakra – India’s highest award for gallantry, posthumously. Today on his 39^th birth anniversary, let’s take a moment to salute the brave-heart who sacrificed his life for the country.

Happy Birthday Vikram Batra. You will always live in our hearts.

What Is So Special About Military Life?

Tired from the routine work at office? Or complaining about the insensitive behavior shown by your boss? Or perhaps you are among the majority that never achieves work satisfaction. In all these cases, there is something that we (civilians) can learn from the military life. The key things to avoid the above mentioned problems are – discipline, commitment and dedication. And no matter what you do, there is no better place to learn these aspects than the military settings. The idea here is not only to make career in military but also to learn certain things from that life to make it better for yourself.

First of all, there is too much uncertainty involved in the military world, the biggest of them all is the uncertainty about life and death. Given the hostile environment that a soldier faces on multiple occasions, there is little time to think whether they are satisfied with their jobs or not. They cannot afford to do that. This gives them an undue advantage so that they can live in the moment. We civilians on the other hand are accustomed to a planned routine. If anything unexpected happens, we make a big fuss about it. Once I visited Indo-Pak border in Kashmir, near Gulmarg, and got a chance to meet few military personnel. It was a snowy evening and they were relishing Kahwa at the border. The temperature was 5-7 degrees below zero and there were not many reasons to celebrate, in fact there was not any, for a civilian like you and I. But they were. They cherished the old memories, talked about their families and said how much they loved being there. It was then I realized that military people know how to live in the moment.

Adventure is something that is deeply engrossed in military life and makes it full of thrills and surprises. One Indian Air Force Officer who happens to be a friend of mine, tells me how often he goes for sky diving. And that is not it. Be it about launching the machine guns or the special operations with the snipers or flying the fighter planes – these are some of the things that you can never do in civil life. Even in day to day lives, the soldiers follow a rigorous training schedule that tests their body and mind thoroughly. We on the other hand love the comfort that we experience with inactions. There is hardly any situation where we test the limits of our body and that is where we miss out on one of the greatest treasures of life. Let me quote a beautiful message from the movie Into the wild, to make it more lucid – The sea’s only gifts are harsh blows, and occasionally the chance to feel strong. Now I don’t know much about the sea, but I do know that that’s the way it is here. And I also know how important it is in life not necessarily to be strong but to feel strong. To measure yourself at least once. To find yourself at least once in the most ancient of human conditions. Facing the blind deaf stone alone, with nothing to help you but your hands and your own head.

The friendship that blossoms in the military settings is one of the most beautiful types that can exist. They care for each other, the military people. They know what it takes to think of their nation, their squad, and obey their seniors before making any choice. They do not take life for granted and understand the value of their families. Therefore when they get the opportunity to spend time with their family and loved ones, they truly appreciate it. Being in military doesn’t only make you brave and strong but also a person who lives his or her life to the fullest. And till this day I have not forgotten the advice given by a military officer – It’s all right not to be a military person, but it’s sad to miss military life.

5 Lessons to Learn from Asaram Bapu Case

Asaram Bapu has long been a part of the controversies, but it was only a few days back when the first time, criminal charges were framed against him. No doubt he is a religious leader and when it comes to religious matters we are expected to show certain degree of reverence but the fact is – no one is above law. And the Asaram Bapu case is one of the most interesting cases where a renowned person has been involved in the crime. The issue gives us a reason to reevaluate ourselves as Indians and teaches us a number five important lessons.

We do not respect our law. Whenever there is inaction from police or other authorities, we march on the roads to protest against it, which may not be completely justifiable. But even worse is the situation where police is working on the case, filing the charges and arresting an eminent person, and the fans start to cause the interruptions in the whole process. They even get violent. When Asaram was to get arrested last week, his followers protested outrageously. They said it was a part of the conspiracy of Christian Missionaries and other political elements. Assuming that it was a conspiracy, that doesn’t mean police should not take its action. We have gotten in to the habit of dancing on the streets to show rebellion, doesn’t matter how many boundaries we are crossing.
Hypocrisy is in our blood. No matter we accept or deny it is there. On one side we pressurize governments and law-makers to make strict rules and on the other when a person is accused of those charges, we try to defend him based on our judgment. Neither me nor any of you can tell with absolutely certainty – what’s wrong and what’s not. We should let our judiciary take its course of action. On one side we talk about education and the modern sciences, and on the other we seek wisdom from criminals. On one side we talk about individual freedom, and on the other we whack it with provoking ideology of people like Asaram. On one side we firmly believe in equal rights to women, and on the other the rape victims rarely get justice.
When it comes to sex, we are illiterate. Mr Asaram once said about Valentine’s Day – “Chhora Chhori ko phool de, bole main tumse pyaar karta hoom; chhori chhore ko phool de, bole main tumse pyaar karti hoon. Satyanaash ho jaata hai. Pyaar ke bahane gandi gandi harkatein kar ke khali ho jaate hain.” It’s ironic when someone severely criticizes romance and love making, gets accused of sexual harassment. But that’ not the point. The point is that we seek sex education from people who are not qualified enough to do that. That makes us nothing but a society where sex is a taboo and sexual harassment or similar issues are not dealt with prudence.
We politicize everything, almost everything. When Asaram’s case became a national issue, the political parties joined in. Mr. Asaram initially said that it is a conspiracy against him planned by Sonia Gandhi and her son Rahul Gandhi. Later, many politicians from BJP joined in and said that it was true. There is a clear threat to a country where religious powers get merged with politics. Again talking about the valentine issue, Asaram proposed state governments to declare February 14 as Maitri Pitri Pujan Diwas and Chhattisgarh state government led by BJP even agreed to it. There has to be a clear distinction between individual freedom and values. If a religious person wants to spread noble values in the society, he doesn’t need to become a part of politics. Also, you cannot impose values on others. If people want to celebrate Valentine’s Day, let them. As long as someone is not doing anything against law or hurting others what is the point of the whole thing.
We are not a great nation, accept it. But as Shahrukh Khan goes on to say in Swades – We have the potential to become a great nation. If a minor girl has been victimized in a sexual harassment case, we will do anything from discussions to setting vehicles on fire, except being able to provide justice to her. How much did we learn from Nirbhaya’s case? Asaram told people that she could have called those men “Bhaiyya” to avoid rape. This is the kind of country we live in. Where old people are not sent to jails because they are saints. Juveniles are not sent to jails because they are too young. But both are young enough to rape women. A country where women do not feel safe should not dare to call itself a great one.

22 Survival Techniques for Day to Day Life

In our daily lives we come across a number of things that take our time. If we can apply some interesting logic there, we can not only save our time but also avoid the frustrations that we could face otherwise. Besides it’s a fun thing to learn. Here is a list of simple hacks and tricks that will help you in day to day struggles.

If a chewing gum gets stuck on your shoes, do not worry. Rub some ice on it and remove it easily with a scrapper.
If it’s itching because of a mosquito bite, apply hot spoon on the affected part for few seconds. The protein that causes itching gets destroyed with the heat.
Telemarketers are troubling you? Then use this prank. Pick up the phone and say hello and ask them to stay on hold. Then go take a shower, enjoy your coffee and come back and say thank you but I am not interested. Most telemarketers are not allowed to hang up the phone until the conversation is completed. So, there you go. Troll them.
Wikipedia is helpful but can be a complex source of information for many people. In that case replace “en” in the URL of the article with “simple” and you will find lesser complex article of the same topic.
If you are buying something from Apple, add it to your shopping cart and do not purchase. Wait for few days until they offer you a discount.
If you clear your internet history, chances are that you will get better discounts on travel websites like Expedia.
While shopping, look for the items that are on the lower shelves. The expensive items are usually kept at eye levels and the cheaper ones on the lower shelves.
Use baking soda along with your regular detergent powder. It freshens and softens the fabric.
Speaking of washing the clothes, always dry them in sunlight. The sunlight has the ability to break down the compounds that cause foul odor in them.
A lot of time a tab gets accidentally closed in your web browser. Press Ctrl+Shift+T to reopen that tab.
These are stress relieving foods – Bananas -Pasta -Almonds -Grapes -Green Tea -Oatmeal -Chocolate -Water melon -Orange Juice -Cornflakes -Tuna. Eat them whenever in stress.
If you want to appear more attractive buy a better perfume instead of working on other things. People perceive you as attractive more through the fragrance rather than looks.
Want to reopen an envelope without tearing it up? Put it in fridge for few minutes. It will automatically unseal the envelope.
Force yourself to smile and your brain will assume that you are happy. It is a quick way to cheer you up.
Yawning helps in releasing the stress. It cools down the brain and helps it to stay calm.
If the weather is too hot, run your wrists under cold water for five to ten minutes. You will feel much better as it will cool your blood down.
During a long speech, take a sip of water while recollecting the thoughts. It helps in effectively gathering the information without distracting audiences’ attention.
While writing anything do not take break at the end of an article, a paragraph or page. Instead take a break at the beginning of a new one. That way you will be more excited to do the pending work.
If you have to pee or smoke or take any other break while drinking in a bar, leave your coaster on top of your drink. It is the universal code for – “I am coming back.”
Behavioral scientists suggest that it takes us 21 days to make or break a habit. If you can go on with a habit for 21 days, you can go on for a long long time.
Trying to hiccup is one of the best ways to stop hiccups. The other ways are – stop breathing, keeping your tongue out for few seconds or touching the palate with your tongue.
A number of pizza companies offer heavy discounts on the pizzas that were ordered but were not taken. Always ask for such discounted pizzas if you want to save money.

The Modern Tale of Eklavya

It was a miserable morning for Eklavya when the JEE results flashed on the website and he was prompted to check them without any delay. He could not believe his eyes when he saw an embarrassingly low score, which was not sufficient to make it to any IIT. The dream had shattered! The tears started to pour down like the monsoon rains and they seemed to wash every hope along the way. It was his last JEE chance and he knew he had missed out on a critical opportunity. There was no one else to console him, which made it even worse, and he kept cursing himself with all the filthy words he had learnt in school. The tears took a long time to dry up. But he had realized that he had to get up and become an engineer all by himself. He took a deep breath, closed his eyes and thought for a while. There had to be a solution and he had to find it. He did not fail this time.

He ordered a porcelain statue of his idol – Viru Sahastrabudhe (Director IIT Bombay), from e-bay (which happened to be their first order of the year) and it was delivered in a matter of a few days. Virus – as it was clearly written on the sticker, Eklavya preferred to call it “Virus Guru”. The nude statue was placed in his bedroom so that he could meet his hero in the dreams – the dreams that also witnessed the might of lord Indra. Once Eklavya thought about putting a piece of cloth on the statue but he changed his mind for some conspicuous reasons. He prayed to the statue every day and every night. And even though the original Viru Sahastrabudhe had completely ignored the emails that he had sent to request for admission in IIT Bombay, he still preferred to worship his own Virus and learn engineering from the statue.

After a while, IIT Bombay started its distance learning course and Eklavya was the first and the only person to get enrolled in it. He downloaded all the course material, including the high quality videos of Viru Sahastrabudhe and he studied all of them, sitting beside the statue. The statue proved itself as good (or as bad) as the real Viru. It was of no help, except the fact that it served as a good seat where Eklavya rested his butts. Eklavya was a mechanical engineering student, which meant it was not unacceptable. The statue did not respond when Eklavya asked questions and he had to learn all by himself, which he did in the end. But his most important achievement came at the end of the next year, when he cleared the CAT exam and made it to IIM Ahmedabad. By that time, Eklavya had fallen in love with the statue and wanted to marry it.

When he walked in to IIM Ahmedabad, he introduced himself and told everything about how he made it to the institute. His words were – “It was the unconditional love of Mr. Virus’s statue and the touch of its soft and lustrous body that helped kicked my ass.”

News spread, Twitter flooded with #VirusMissingPenIsFound and the story ultimately reached Virus’s ears. He called Eklavya to his place.

“So, you are the one who…” Virus could not even complete his sentence.

“You are even more beautiful than the statue…” Eklavya exclaimed.

“What are you saying?” he sounded angry.

“I am serious. Your charm is mesmerising. I could never imagine the intellectual genius wrapped in an alluring body.”

“You are making me blush.”

“I want to make you blush.”

“But I am your Guru.”

“Yes, you are my Guru. So?”

“I want Guru Dakshina…”

“And what would that be?”

“Your pen.”

“My pen?”

“Yes your pen.”

“But that would make me not-a-man-anymore.”

“Guru Dakshina forbids saying no to any request.”

“Amen!”

After that day, Eklavya didn’t remain the same man. In fact he didn’t remain a man. Interestingly, Virus’s son-in-law Rancho suddenly became a man. It is Eklavya’s pen that he is holding – kids from Ladakh’s school occasionally tease Rancho whenever he goes to pee.

Three Parrotriotics of India

When the three parrots saw each other for the first time they had little clue that they were supposed to be caged together. Pappu who was the youngest of all, was naïve and equally dull. He could not utter a single word by himself and only recapitulated what was told to him. When Shankar, the owner of the three parrots asked him – “What is your name?” Pappu replied – “What is your name?” The shopkeeper said that Pappu came from investigators’ family and was very smart. “Pappu has received his education from world’s best institute and he is intelligent enough to present a counter argument with his inquisitiveness. He will never answer your questions unless his questions are answered?” – the shopkeeper had said. But that day didn’t come. Even when Shankar told him all the answers, Pappu only repeated the answers and said nothing else. Shankar had realized now that he had been fooled. But it was not the first time for him. It had happened with him before, not once but twice.

Twenty years back Shankar bought his first parrot – Mohan. When Shankar went to the shop to purchase his first pet, he was very angry. His wife had eloped two days back and he was hoping to take the shelter of pets to get some comfort. But he couldn’t control his anger and started screaming in the shop. All the pets got terrified and ran away. Dogs, cats, rabbits, snakes, lizards, porcupines – all left. Even the fishes hurled themselves blindly through the water. But Mohan stayed. And Shankar really liked that. Mohan kept gazing at him quietly and didn’t speak anything, as if his eyes were trying to bring peace on earth. Shankar was impressed and purchased him for a hefty price. Later that night when Shankar finally got in a good mood after watching unethical pictures, he tried to talk to Mohan, but the parrot didn’t respond. After repeated efforts, Shankar realized that the parrot was deaf and dumb.

Ten years later, Shankar looked for a change and therefore decided to buy another parrot. This time he preferred a parrot which didn’t remain silent but talked a lot. And so he found his blabber-mouthed parrot – Feku. The shopkeeper told Shankar that Feku knew anything and everything under the sky. Shankar tried to test him and asked – “Feku do you know me?”

“Yes I know you. You are the one who made a big mistake by purchasing Mohan, the dumb parrot. You should have known that earlier Mr. Shankar. Now don’t worry. I am here for you.” Feku said.

Shankar was flabbergasted. He had never seen such a wise non-human creature. He couldn’t wait and paid twice the amount that shopkeeper had asked for. Shankar knew that the parrot was going to answer all his questions. So he asked many. But Feku this time didn’t answer. He said – “Where is my solution guide?”

“What solution guide?”

“My master kept it for me. I only used to tell what he had written in it.”

It was a facepalm moment for Shankar. He decided to put all three parrots in the same cage and kept only small amount of food and water inside. Survival of the fittest – Shankar thought and went to sleep. When he woke up in the morning, all three were playing together and appeared healthy. Next day he did the same thing again. And the same result. It went on for a while until he realized that it was he who was getting weaker and it was he whom they were feeding on when he went to sleep. But the realization was so late that he couldn’t do anything else except waiting for his own end.

Unforgotten Indianness In Forgotten India

Quite recently, I have started noticing that most Indians have become over-conscious and over-enthusiastic about the whole idea of nationalism. If you mention United States, people would ask you to think about India first. Talk about your own state within India, they would tell you that India comes first and then the states. Even when it comes to religion, they say there is only one religion – that’s India. Which is nothing but utter absurd, not because India is not important but then so is a religion.

Allow me to cite an example here.

Few days back, I was at Wagha Border. It was an enthralling evening and I had to stand in a queue at 3 pm when the gates were supposed to open at five. I was not alone, but with thousands of my fellow Indian citizens. The waiting part was not easy as is the case with any queue in India. People were pushing each other, trying to get inside first. When the gates were finally opened, everybody ran. No one cared about the person standing next to them. An old man fell on the road while others were running almost over his body or trying to avoid him. I was hurt too. At least four men had run over my left foot.

When the Parade commenced at the border, everyone joined the celebrations. Bharat Mata Ki Jai, Hindustan Zindabad, Pakistan Murdabad – the chants were flying in the air. Same people who were mercilessly crushing their fellow citizens, were singing patriotic songs now. They said – We are proud Indians, We love India. But did they understand – What is India?

India is as much about us as we are about India. While we accept the latter part, we often ignore the former. We take pride in the actions of our ancestors and our culture but at the same time we forget that we are equally responsible for shaping the Indian culture. Our ancestors are a part of history and very soon, we will join them too.

If you pay attention to the conversations of our grandparents’ generation people who witnessed the freedom struggle, those are mostly about independence of India and how did we get there. Similarly if we come to next generation that witnessed post independence era, the talks are mostly about the frustrations and troubles that they face while living in India. The main villain is often the system. These thoughts, these conversations, and these actions and inactions shape the following generations. In this case – us. Similarly, the coming generations will learn from us and their idea of India will be more influenced by our actions and not by that of our ancestors.

Equally important is what we are going to do in order to grow our culture. We all understand that culture is not steady but keeps changing. It cannot remain stagnant and it should not. Most of us consider it as some sort of rule book and worship it. While some people follow these rules blindly and others show rebellious attitude, we fail to add our own value addition to this wonderful culture. No matter what we do or we do anything or not, it is going to shape our society and our culture. Bringing foreign traditions and creating an amalgam by mingle it with ours, has been a part of our history and in fact is a beautiful thing. Bringing more colors to a culture not only enhance its flavor but also helps it moving in a sustainable way. Which means we have to constantly evolve so that when the future generations read history books they could find more interesting things. It is an important responsibility that we often shy away from.

Coming back to the point of Indianness, India is our identity but then it is one of our identities. For example first of all we are humans, then we have a religion, and we have a profession too. The point is, we can differentiate ourselves by putting ourselves in any category whose premise could be different. In case of a country, geography is that premise. Of course being an Indian doesn’t mean to reside within India but to belong to a particular entity that shapes our identity.

Ask yourself what you are doing for your country. And by country I do not refer to a geographical area or hypothetical Bharat Mata, but your country men, the culture, the environment, the atmosphere, basically – anything and everything that surrounds you. States will keep on changing. The same Pakistan which many people hate today could have been the part of their own great nation, if few things had gone slightly differently. Similarly if you take pride in the Indus valley culture, the river Indus now flows in Pakistan. So whom does that culture belong – India or Pakistan? No one can justify that. Yesterday’s Andhra is today’s Telangana. How would you distinguish the two. With that logic, how would you distinguish the two countries? Merely on the actions of few governments and organizations we should not miss the bigger picture.

The underlying message is that if you are doing a noble work that would ultimately benefit everyone. Not only your state or your religion, but the humanity. Even the smallest part of your work has the ability to affect the lives of those who are around you. Make sure that effect is positive. If you are conducting rallies to show your Indianness, you are doing it wrong. If you really want to express that emotion, help at least one Indian every day, and that’s all. The person who would clean the road after your rally is clearly a better citizen. The idea is – serve the humanity which includes your country, do not whine over the idea of patriotism.

I Am Yours and You Are Mine

He whistled. It was not the usual whistle that he blew to sing his favorite Kishore Kumar songs, with melody, romance, and emotions in the right proportions. It was a harsh one. The melody was missing completely and the tone was as inappropriate as the words of a newborn baby. No one including him had heard it before. Perhaps he had just composed it, thinking about what was coming next in his life. And even though the moment was not appropriate for a whistle, he could not stop himself. It made him to feel better, without regretting anything that he had done.

Two Hours Before:

The whole village was busy in celebrating the wedding, in their own traditional style. Old ladies were singing folk songs in their croaky voices, while the younger ones were soliciting their men to consume more drinks so that they could explore more of their wilderness, which was otherwise not possible. Men were busy in drinking local wine and were least bothered about anything else in this world. They were equally excited about the night as they could pretend that they were doing with someone else’s wife and meet their fantasies in the drunken state. Children were busy in hiding and seeking, while singing the latest songs that they had heard on Akashwani last Sunday. Some were eavesdropping to the conversations of the adults and getting amused, equally surprised too, about the masked wickedness of the elder generation.

This was a typical wedding scenario in the village. Except this time, the bride was not in a mood to follow the rules of the society. She had her reasons. Her lover and her groom were two different men. In her whole life she had never imagined that. When she was a little girl, she would tell everyone that she would marry someone who would look like Rajesh Khanna. They laughed at her, and she blushed and hid her face behind her hands. When she found him, her perfect man, she told him that he looked like her favorite actor. He took pride in that. But unfortunately the groom was no hero. He looked more like an old man who would not even go to cinema with her. Her lover however was a different man. He had a big heart, as many people said. When her marriage was decided, he asked her to force herself to love her husband and forget everything about him.

I was the past. You will get over me and have a happy life – he had said. If only it was that easy. It was too late for her to forget him. She had gifted him her body, her heart and her soul. I am yours and you are mine – she had told him countless times in her life. And even when he had made it clear that he wouldn’t come back, she was still expecting him. She knew that he would come and take her away.

She waited.

The ceremonies commenced. The tears in her eyes were not noticeable because of the Pardah. Love as they say is the most dreadful disease. It leaves you in a state where you die every moment but the hope of being together doesn’t let you die in actuality. And she was in love.

The wedding continued and almost all the ceremonies were completed. Except the final one – Where the bride and the groom were to be taken to the hill top to offer prayers to the river. And they did. When the last ritual was performed where the statues of bride and groom were thrown from the hill top, no one noticed that it was not the statue of the groom that was thrown, but his dead body.

Inside the palanquin, bride’s lover was whistling softly. He was murmuring – I am yours and you are mine. Everyone seemed to be ignorant about what all had happened. However, even he was ignorant too. That in the other palanquin, there was only the statue of the bride – the bride who was slowly drowning in the river.

And the time stops there.

From the dark grey sky,

The rains fall,

On the land that is dry.

I stand alone on the lonely sphere,

Think about nothing.

And the time stops there.

When the deep blue ocean roars,

In its vastness,

My dream soars.

I get strength from its flare,

That waves possess.

And the time stops there

If she touches my hand,

By mistake,

Together we stand.

I feel like going nowhere,

But feel it.

And the time stops there.

Change Yourself With Body Language

Before you read any further, I have a small exercise for you. Force yourself to smile for a few seconds. Do that now. Now ask yourself – how did you feel? The most likely answer would be – Happy.

Not many people are aware about this fact that our gestures, our body movements and our way of expression affect our emotions, exactly the way opposite happens when emotions affect our body language. For example, if you are introvert or being afraid in front of other person, or you are submissive, your body language will look something like the person on the right side in the picture below.

If you are being able to express yourself and feel comfortable while dominating the other person, then you will look like the one on the left.

Of course, this is the basic example depicting how you unconsciously express your traits through your body language. Well, that’s the truth. One needs to accept that. However, the good news is that you can alter your behavior, your own thoughts by forcing yourself to follow certain gestures. This is not as easy as it sounds and requires a lot of practice. But first of all, we need to understand how this works.

Psychologists suggest that our behavior, our actions are mostly affected by who we think we really are. It is our perception about ourselves that drives us. Where does this perception come from? It comes from our actions. Which means it works in a circle. What we think about us drives our actions, which in turn drive our perceptions about ourselves. When we were kids, most of these things came in to us through the habits that we developed and also from what other people had said about us. This makes us believe that we are certain kind of people and we get in to a shell, where we define ourselves with an identity and relate ourselves to that identity at all times. As we grow up we start relating ourselves to our profession. For example, you will see the difference in the body language of academicians and the dancers. This is because they perceive themselves in different ways. All our thoughts and actions are the results of this perception.

Now that we have identified the cause we can work on the solution part. The solution is to work exactly in the opposite manner. That means we need to force ourselves to do certain gestures in order to feel different. Let’s say you feel shy and afraid in front of people you haven’t met before. But when you make the gestures like the person in the left in the above picture, you are more likely to feel being dominant. Even if it initially makes you uncomfortable, you are going to enjoy that soon.

A study showed that the athletes always open up their arms as shown in the picture below, after winning the game. This was due to the fact that they subconsciously wanted to express their dominance.

This is understandable as they feel better about themselves after winning. A fascinating finding however is that a blind athlete who has never seen how people react after winning a game, shows the similar gestures after winning a game. This means that it is a natural human tendency to express their strength in form of body language. The opposite is also true. If you stretch your arms like this after running alone, you get the feeling of being strong.

I hope that the message was clear. If you can work on your body language you can become the kind of person that you want to. As mentioned earlier, it requires a lot of practice and it can make you uncomfortable at times. But once you are able to do this, it’s going to be a nice journey from then onwards.

The Two of Us

I was born somewhere,

You were from other place.

One day we discovered each other,

And we found our solace.

You were different,

Different from who I was.

When our eyes engaged,

There was a brief pause.

Two of us met, and

Discovered a new world.

In the dictionary of our language,

Love was the only word.

We started a new life, where

I was yours and you were mine.

Didn’t have anything but,

A reason to smile all the time.

The two of us lived, and had

A life of our own.

In the darkness of this world,

Every moment you shone.

In that far off land,

We built our home.

Then we had a family,

When Zara called you Mom.

We never left each other,

In each other’s arms, we stayed.

The love grew day by day,

And it did not fade.

Today the two of us are dying,

We know we’re dying together.

And we have kept our promise,

That our love was forever.

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