I believe!

I saw him yesterday

I saw him in my dreams

He was right here

I tried to touch him

I wanted to strangle him.

He was the one who brought deception!
He was the one who brought division!

He looked me in the eye

Staring straight and deep

Knowing that I have caught him

Sigh! I hadn't

Because he rules

Because he deceives

Because he creates illusion.

He makes you sin

Makes you doubt!

He yet again went away

Just like the air or water or the flames

Just when I thought I had him.

But this too was his game

You see he deceived me in believing in him

In foolishly thinking that I had him

In naively trying to strangle him.

But that's okay.

You know why?

It is because I am aware

I may forget about it

I may astray

But my path is given

It is here

It is this

Because

I believe!

When something is amiss!

When is something amiss? Is it when we are missing something or someone? Or is it the idea of having something or someone around so overwhelming that we feel something is amiss?

I have often felt something amiss in a situation it bothers me quite a lot. It feels like you know that something is not right but you can't seem to understand what. It's like you have a puzzle in your hand and you want to solve it but something is not right even though you seem to be having all the pieces something seems amiss.

It feels the most when you know that something is amiss yet nothing can be done about it. When you have to deal with whatever you have got. When mindlessly browsing facebook seems like the only option. Things just don't work like how you would want them to.

It is sometimes easy and sometimes difficult to even consciously realize that something is amiss but when this consciousness is achieved then it gets worse because affects even more. But sometimes it is in the midst of feeling amiss that the situation suddenly makes the most sense,

Life begins at the end of your comfort zone

One of my classmates mentioned this today and it surely got me thinking "Life begins at the end of your comfort zone." The director of my previous college also insisted upon leaving the protected cocoon and coming out into the world. We may think about these as mere statements or we may not pay any heed to them at all. But on a little bit of introspection it can be said that the statement truly makes some sense. First it is very important to mention what is comfort zone? For me it is any protected environment or an unknown situation or territory. This is not constant throughout life, it keeps changing with time and is different for different people.

As kids, here I am only referring to Indian kids of middle and high income group families we are brought up like delicate darlings. How far will we remain like that? For some of us it ends when we become adults this would be when we turn 18 years old. But there are few lucky ones who remain so for much longer. I am saying this only out of personal experience.

How long can life be about trivial fights among friends or showing off among the peers? Till when will can one think about his/her superficial reputation that too among people who are anyways judgmental? Well I don't have an answer to any of the questions, however this in no way means that I am not troubled by them.

As far as my individual experiences go, yes I have had most of my learning experiences after I dared to come out of my comfort zone. This may be changing cities or living outside home or even handling situations at home which were unknown for me. My comfort zones changed with time and situations and I only learnt once I had the courage to leave the comfort zone whether permanently or temporarily. Thinking about the title statement is like crossing a maze in the mind. Every time I think I am nearing the answer I am thrown back to think more and reflect more.

Aapne India toh dekha hai aapoko hum Bharat dikhate hai

Its been a different experience in the state of Rajasthan when I got to visit some not very known places. And I a girl in an Indian suit popularly known as the churidaar was out of place. The place had moved on with respect to availability of mobile phones and its usage but not so much in values.

The Bharat that I saw had women clad in beautifully bright dresses (lehangas). And wearing beautiful jewelry from nose rings, to earrings, kamar band, bangles, tikka, kadi, toe rings, just about everything you can imagine. Every married woman was wearing it, young or old. These women take care of all the household chores, the cattle rearing, the children and various other tasks, all this in their traditional attrire.

But was it really beautiful or is it a symbol of being chained to the husband or the family. I saw a 16-17 years old girl who was married. I identified the same by her attire. She was wearing a bright yellow lehenga, it had painstaking embroidery. Along with that she was wearing all the above mentioned ornaments. The weight of the girl would have increased about 7-8 kgs because of her attire and the jewelry. There was hardly any place to stand in the jam packed bus. Yet everyone around and the girl herself didn't find anything amiss. For them everything was completely normal. This is Bharat.

On talking to one of the male teachers of a government school in the area we found out that under age school going girls are silently married during vacations. This happens so that no one comes to know about it. They aren't sent away to their husband's houses (as that happens only when they are legally allowed to get married) but they are made to wear kadi in their ankles. Kadi is a heavy anklet usually made of silver, weighing 500 gm. This the married women have to wear in both their ankles.Other kids on seeing the kadi tease these girls. This is one of the reasons why girls leave school as they don't want other children to make fun of them. This is Bharat.

I was looking out of the bus's window and saw 3 women. The elderly lady was sitting on the bench sipping tea. The younger women were squatting in front, sipping tea with their ghunghats uptil their nose. This is Bharat.

When me and my friend (a girl) were staying in the block and everyone seemed to know about our arrival. We were looked at as though we were aliens in their land. It seemed very difficult for people to accept such boldness and independence from women. We were stared at by every passing person. We were asked as to why were we in the block, where were we from, where were we staying, and many other such questions. Clearly people couldn't accept it. This is Bharat.

Our country is full of paradoxes. On one side we are doing (whatever little) for girl's education on the other we silently accept girl child marriage. In the corporate girls are taken as equivalent to boys atleast it is an accepted assumption but in villages girls are a liability. The goddess Durga is given most respect but the daughter in law is like an unpaid servant during the day and an unpaid escort during the night. This is Bharat.

Are we Superior?

Man is at the top of the food chain. We can therefore, logically eat anything below us. We do too, no denying that. The question is, is it correct? Is it ethical? The non-vegetarians argue by saying, these animals exist because they are food for us. Technically and logically perfect. But is it ethically correct?

Do we as humans have the right to slaughter an animal for food? An innocent animal who did us no harm? Yes, I am a vegetarian, I do not ask any non-vegetarian, to agree with me. These are my views alone.

But, do we as a human have the right to kill an insect or an animal for our joy/food/irritation/etc? Whether big or small? Do we not share the earth with them? Isn't god supposed to decide when we are to be born and when are we supposed to die? Shouldn't it be same for animals? Why then do us humans get to make the choice for the "inferior beings"?

It has been proven that animals, insects, birds, plants, all have feelings. What right to we have to make them feel inferior and helpless? What right do we have to kill them? It is right, that the food chain demands it.Should we then continue this slaughter? We as humans posses something that no other being does, "knowledge". Knowledge of what is correct and what is not. What should be done and what shouldn't.

We are superior beings because we have knowledge! But we have molded things according to how we would want them to be. We no longer co-exist with nature we consider ourselves above it. We no longer use this gift of knowledge to make things better, or for the greater good, it is now used for our benefit alone. The bigger picture does not matter anymore, what matters is how can we make things better for us. 

All said and done it is a shame that we still do not hinder from calling ourselves "Superior Beings."  

The views projected are mine alone, if you have anything to say about this, I would be happy to know.

All this for humanity!!

It is astounding to see how we as humans can be so inhumane, its ironic isn't it? But the irony is true. "We humans are inhumane!" 

What I presented above is the conclusion of my observations; but, then again as Shakespeare says the end is not important what is important is how did you reach at that end.

So, that brings me to my observations which lead to this conclusion..
I recently watched a film the boy in striped pajamas.. The film was based on Nazi concentration camp and it shows how inhumane can we be. The documentary night and fog added to my knowledge about the concentration camp. The Nazi's killed 6 million jews and 12 million people in all. Is that how low we can stoop down on the assumption of being superior? It disgusts me!

That happened years ago what about today where we still have caste system widely prevailing in our country? Or what about how we as well educated individuals treat the workers.

Do we still have to fight for Human Rights? Are we so low in our thinking? Discrimination in every possible place is seen in our country only.

All this for being human....

There..

This one's a MERGER of 2 of my pieces... 

There’s more to life than you ever think

There’s more to see than what you’ve seen

So many times you think it’s all you ever could

But sadly enough that’s really not true...

Less is what you experience

More is what is in store

It might all seem bizarre and unknown

But behind all this pandemonium lies it really

A problem is more like a bubble which can burst anytime

It’s frivolously dangerous, like it’s knowingly unknown.

Here yet not there

There but where

Where is it so near?

 There, its right here

Here yet not dear

Cheer you’re here

Fear all my dears

Queer?? all you mere

Just some times..

Isn't it just sometimes when you don't have any more words...
But the purpose of those words is what??

Isn't it just sometimes when you seek for so many answers...
But the questions are what??

Isn't it sometimes when you run away from noise...
But the running is for what??

Isn't it sometimes when you want to get away from everybody...
But then getting to what??

Isn't it sometimes when the journey never seems to end....
But your destination is what??

Isn't it sometimes when you get totally blank...
But then you are left with what??

Isn't is sometimes that the conclusions are too many...
But the problems are what??

Its probably those times when you just like Brutus are clouded..

Its probably those times when you just like Brutus have too much on your mind..

Its probably those times when you just like Brutus are fighting with your own thought..

Its probably those times when you just like Brutus don't know what to chose..

Times that you know..

Or times that you want to know..

Times that will occur..

Or times that might simply reoccur..

Times that you desire for..

Or times that you don't..

Times are time that will remain a time, will occur in time or have occurred in time!!

Hypocisy yet again...

Today morning while watching news which is a rarity in my case I got to know of something the various IPL (Indian Premier Leagues) imitations. And truly I was disgusted, because I experienced diplomacy / hypocrisy yet again.

As if IPL was not enough to divide us into states. We have now started state premiere leagues some of them being Jharkhand Premier League (JPL), Karnataka Premiere League (KPL), Orissa Premiere League(OPL), etc. Are we not ashamed of ourselves? Isn't this getting too much? Shouldn't we unite and talk about us as a country and not as states, religion, castes, colour, sex and many more.

We want to eradicate the division or bias from our system but we day by day keep adding more and more to the existing list. Is this EVER going to end? Will there be a day apart from winning the World Cup when we will unite as Indians?

In search of answers....

Harveen Narula 

A Day..

Someday..

Everyday..

Today..

Maybe the next day..

But a day..??

Only a day??

Among the days..

Something more than the day..

An unknown day..

Or maybe a known day..

A new day..

Or an old day..

A day to say

Or a day to listen..

Maybe to take..

Maybe to be given..

The day may come..

The day might have gone..

But its JUST a day!

Live the day..

Earn the day..

Smile today..

Smile everyday..

This is the day..your day.. yet my day..!!

Photo Courtesy: Ashish Chandra (first rays of the rising sun..A NEW DAY), for more please visit http://aasheeshchandra.blogspot.com/ 

ਇਕ ਫਰਿਆਦ....

Photo courtesy Google Images

ਜਦੋਂ ਵੇਖਿਆ ਤਾਂ ਦਿਸਦਾ ਨਹੀ 

ਜਦੋਂ ਪੁਛਿਆ ਤਾਂ ਦਸਿਆ ਨਹੀ

ਕਹਿੰਦੇ ਹੈ ਕੀ ਸਾਡੀ ਗਲਤੀ ਸਾਰੀ

ਮੰਨ ਕੇ ਵੀ ਮੰਨੀ ਨਹੀ ਤੂੰ ਗਲ ਸਾਡੀ 

ਬੈਠੇ ਹਾਨ ਤੇਰੀ ਰਾਹ ਤਕਦੇ

ਤੂੰ ਹੈ ਕੀ ਆਉਂਦਾ ਹੀ ਨਹੀ

ਇਨਾ ਨਾ ਤਰਸਾ ਸਾੰਨੂ

ਕੇ ਹੋ ਜਾਣ ਫੇਰ  ਰੋਣ ਰਾਕੇ

ਹੁਣ ਤਾਂ ਆਜਾ ਤੂ ਨੇੜੈ 

ਇਨ੍ਹੀ ਰੰਜਿਸ਼ਾਂ ਨਾ ਬਣਾ ਨਾਲ ਸਾਡੇ

ਮੇਰੀ ਵੀ ਸੁਨ ਲੈ ਇਹ ਫਰਿਆਦ 

ਨਾ ਤੁਰ ਆਈਏ ਫੇਰ ਮੀਲ ਹਜ਼ਾਰ 

..An incident..

While coming back from college we (me and Manali) found a dead puppy on the road, its face surrounded by its own pool of blood. It was lying dead in front of the new "katta" or hang out place called Golden Den, most likely hit by a vehicle. Must have been dead since one or half an hour and people were chatting and smoking at the "katta", obviously unaffected.

I got a torn polythene bag from the other side of the road, picked the puppy and kept it on the side. On doing so I started digging a hole to bury the poor little thing. In the meanwhile Akanksha (Jap) came and these 2 were watching me. Manali got salt to put on it. After I was finished the laborers on that side shouted from far and said:

"Isse yahan nahi gado wo wahan lejao jahan mitti padi hai, yahan kaam chal raha hai thakedar humme gussa karega"

I replied:  "Aap usse bol dena ki bachelog gad gaye hum kya karen"

He said: "Hum yahan par hi khana khate hain aur kaam karte hai isse idher nahi gado"

After that Manali and Jap tried to argue further but I said that it wasn't his fault either he is correct in saying what he did. So we took the puppy and buried it at the other spot. 

The incident made me think that what kind of a society are we living in really, 

1. A dead puppy lying immersed in its own blood does not bother us. In-spite of the fact that mostly people like to play with puppies as they are considered very cute.

2. Although guys are termed to be macho, etc etc. Yet while we were burying the animal (with the available tools which were stones), none of the 5-7 guys standing even bothered to ask, if we needed help.

3. What is the worth of human today? The laborer actually said that he eats food at the place where construction was going on, there was dust and garbage all around.

I wouldn't say that the incident changed my life but I would definitely say that it had a considerable impact on me.

Senseless and sensible..

Say what to say??

Think just something to think..

Wonder what to wonder??

Dream a cherished dream..

Pray what to pray??

Love just endless love..

Feel it know it..

Share it care for it..

Talk it out..

Let it out..

It shouldn't be left unsaid..

It shouldn't be left inside..

Tough it is tough..

But must be done..

A test to pass..

A task to be accomplished..

If unfinished, yearn how much ever

Its gone forever..

A classroom assignment..

Photo courtesy google images

Is it how it is? With just no sight and only sound, can you travel seas? Can you reach places unknown and feel the water untouched? Is this how it can go just on and on? Is is possible to experience a journey and not have a goal? Can't it just float just like it is now? Can I once reach the journey?Is it possible? 

I want to go and float sometime in water and other times in air. I want to be with myself. Once I will have it, I will go through the journey once. 

Oh! please see through and let me pass. Lest the time gets the power, and leaves me aghast.

Truth uncovered.

The question has been in my mind since morning's Ramaa Ma'am's class today.. How big hypocrites have we become today.. at one end we brag about our rich culture on the other hand we refuse to except the truths related to it.

Here is an example of the same..

As a fact there is a "Shivling" present in all the temples but have we ever been curious enough to find out what does it mean? 

I got the answer today "Shivling" in its true sense is the symbol of fertility and is made of two parts "Shalunka" and "Ling" where "Shalunka" is the female reproductive organ, which is the lower part of the of the "Shivling" and "Ling" is the male reproductive organ and is the upper part of the "Shivling." Thus, "Shivling" is actually a union of the two, which is also termed a sex. Also as a fact Shiva is being followed since the Vedic era, and therefore it can be seen that "Shivling" is present in the Indian culture since thousands of years.

Photo Courtesy: Google images

Yet, today we believe that sex is taboo and we think that talking about sex is as a sin. Even people do not utter the word sex, as bad connotations are associated with the same. How can we even think of progress and development for tomorrow when we are not even willing to accept our yesterday.

My nation.. My knowledge..

How much do we know about our nation? Even if we don't know about history.. do we know about our own country in the present? 

The Tri-colour
Photo courtesy google images

Well somehow I think that I don't, here is a simple example, which was talked about in class today by Prof. Nishit Kumar. 

India is a secular and democratic country right? Okay, lets talk about our National Anthem.. its "Jan Gan Man" the second sentence of the anthem is "Adhinayak Jaya hai" which means praise to the ruler. I myself did not know this till today. The reason for this is that, when Rabindranath Tagore wrote this song, India was ruled by the British and any songs which were written to oppose the British raj were banned. Thus, it could not be sung and therefore it was essential to written in such a way.

A little search by me brought me to this website http://www.sikhsangat.com/index.php?/topic/38358-did-you-know-meaning-of-indian-national-anthem/ where the meaning of our national anthem has been thoroughly given. I urge you to have a look at it.

The idea of this post is  not to say that I no longer respect our nation or our national anthem. And in no way do I want to encourage you to do so. Rather it is a shameful situation for us as citizens of India to not know this.

A special relationship..

Photo Courtesy: Google images

It is often said that the relationship between grandparents and grandchildren is one of affection and love and that today it is changing because of urbanization. It is being said that today the families are adopting the culture of DISK (double income single kid) and DINK (double income no kid) and are largely converting to nuclear families, thus the children are not able to experience the same affectionate relationship with their grandparents any more... 

How true is the above mentioned statement? Can it be 100% true or are their other factors which are leading to this deterioration in the relationship of children and grandparents? 

Well I know of one such factor..

It is not always true that children do not like their grandparents, or parents do not let children go to them. It might also be true in some cases that grandparents behave rudely with the child, they do not care for them at all. Even if the parent wants the child to get along with their grandparents, they are averse to the children. It might be true that the child goes to his/her grandparent and he/she is sent away and not bothered about at all. It could be that the child yearns for the affection of his/her grandparents but never gets it.

Have we ever thought about this side of the story? Or is it JUST too convenient to generalize things? 

Also, in cases where girl child is given less importance, thus less affection than the boy child.. wouldn't she feel the vacuum of that affection. Will she not want to be cared for as her own brother? Wouldn't it further lead to jealousy towards ones own brother? Doesn't this scenario need to change? I surely think it does. 

Inter-culture leads to new culture..??? true?? untrue??

Indian Culture..

Courtesy Prof Ramaa,  I now know many things related to our culture that I previously didn't and one of them is the concept of clothes in the Indian society.

Well I wold like to share my views with the example of Hariti.

Indian version of Hariti

Greek version of Hariti

Hariti is the goddess of protection of children. She has been followed since the Bactrians or from the time of Lord Buddha or the presence of Greeks (references given for better understanding of the reader). The sculptors which were made by the Greeks show Hariti in Hellenic clothes where the folds in the cloth can be distinctly identified. In contrast to her sculptor in Ajanta caves where she is shown to be wearing negligible clothes and a lot of jewelry. As shown in the images above..

On seeing this I asked my Professor if this was the case then why is the Indian society today so rigid about the concept of clothes and averse to nudity in comparison to the western countries. At this I was told that because of the Mughal invasion in India, this concept began, and is still being followed. Even today there are many tribes in India where both men and women wear clothes only to cover the lower genital parts of their body. Thus, proving  the above mentioned concept. 

It is in this way that inter-culture mingling leads to formation of new culture altogether. 

Photo courtesy google images

H.O.P.E.

This is just something that our Professor Joel Xavier told us today in class,...

Do you know what is the full form of Hope?
If you don't here it is:
High order purpose for existence..

How true does this statement go.. doesn't it just tell us so much about our actions?? Well I think it sure does.. how else would you define it???

A sadhu was once found by a bunch of people who belonged to various nationalities at 15,000 feet. These men were mountaineering when they came across this semi naked dying man. But, their desire to cross a pass was much more than saving a man. Doesn't the HOPE for that Sadhu come to this???

Just some food for thought

Photo courtesy: shutter stock

Just a while..

Photo Courtesy Ashish Chandra

It was all just some time ago when things seemed to be so simple. 

Life took a turn a while ago.

I couldn't understand where it went, just kept falling. 

How I want to dance, play, love, eat and talk endlessly. 

Only that now I can't. 

I wish to be healthier and better, to handle things the way I want to. 

How I yearn to play, just how I wish to show my happiness through my dance. 

How I want to go on talking as though I wouldn't ever get a chance. 

Troubles and responsibilities have overshadowed my desires. 

Please help me to get past through them now. 

Who knows when my end arrives it may be just a while from now....