PARENTS – RESPONSIBILITY AND NOT OBLIGATION

Those shiny eyes,  that dare to see a dream of a child, which gleam to see the new born and are filled with tears  and once again they are wet as they are cornered by the grown up child.

How often we see these scenes in our neighborhood. Well the answers can be different but it won’t change the reality.

The child that once use to play in the arms of their parents does not understand the value of its parents once he grows up.

People will argue that we don’t do it and we love them a lot but mere self proclamation won’t do. How easily we forget that how by sacrificing their wishes parents fulfill all ours.

The other day a friend of mine countering on this topic commented that if we have old age homes then we also have the orphanage. But can we compare the two by counting their numbers? 

To understand the whole thing we need to go through the whole cycle.

To be crystal clear, parents don’t need children. Have we ever thought that why they need children and if they need it then why reproduce if one can easily go to an orphanage.

Well, the answer can be as simple as this: they need their own child to bestow all the happiness in this world for the little one. You will get all the answers if you happen to accompany your relative to the hospital in times of happiness. As the doctor handovers the child to the mother/father, you can see the tears of joy coming out of their eye. It is said that motherhood is the biggest gift woman have been endowed with.

Things don’t stop here. They help you come up the ladder and be successful in life by not only providing you the resources but also supporting you morally and emotionally.

Have you ever imagined how they don’t have that much money but still manage to splash the cash on you throughout the life. Well my dear friends they again sacrificed their wishes . Some times out of pocket and sometimes by taking a loan they always give you what you wanted. 

All throughout they were busy paying loans but you didn’t cared. They stood in the admission line of a college when you were relaxing. They paid for your luxury trips and them self stayed at home. They offered you their blanket when you need it, they gave you their meal when you felt hungry.

But we the children of this independent nation treat them as an obligation rather than a responsibility once have reached the stage of success in life. Either we treat them as slaves or we leave them in old age homes. The heights have been when the parents are forced to live in a servant room . The scenes can be as horrible as this one : a grandson shouting on grandparents but still our children remain silent and in some cases accompany in blaming the parents.

One thing we forget is that in our life we will be parents when we will expect a good behavior from our kids but what if our expectations are trashed and our children behave in the same way we behaved with our parents.

The day each and every child in this country will understand the situation being a parent, that day no father and no mother will be a burden on the children.

A Girl In My Life

A Cup of Coffee, Registers, lots of books under the light of a table lamp. Well that’s a perfect description of a room of a student who is about to appear for board exams and I was no different. I was lost in an Account’s problem when my phone vibrated, which was loud enough to break the silence in the room and my concentration.

My eyes glared on the screen as I picked up the call from an unknown number. “Hello” the voice struck my ears. It was a female voice and nothing was special about it. The voice said again: “ Jasmine can you help me with this Accounts problem”?

With this I realized that the girl is also appearing for account’s board exam tomorrow. Hence, I replied to her ”Miss ! I am not Jasmine but I can help you with your problem” . She was shocked to hear a male voice and replied promptly “ who are you and where is jasmine “ ? I cleared all her doubts and explained to her that even I am appearing in the same exam and can help her in some of the questions.

She hesitated initially but later on, agreed to share her problem. After solving her problem, she politely said “Thank You”. I don’t know why but I didn’t wanted the conversation to end but unfortunately I was falling short of words. Suddenly out of the blue, I asked her name to which she replied “ Tanisha” and that moment froze for me. Next day the exam was good and I was happy, As soon as I reached home , I found one unread message in my phone. It was from Tanisha in which she thanked me again , confirming that her attempt of the exam was good. I don’t know why her message had put a smile on my face.

After that day , there was a silence in my life until the day when results were announced. I was in a joyous mood having scored very good marks. The phone was ringing since morning to congratulate me. Once more the phone was ringing. I saw the screen. It was an unknown number but still it seemed to be very much known. I picked up the call. It was the same girl and I was blushing. She had called up to know my result. 

We started talking regularly for hours and became close friends. It’s been a month since we started talking and one fine day she asked me to go a step further with our friendship. I was a bit hesitant initially but finally gave up and fell in love with a girl I’ve never met or seen. Everything was going great and that lovely feeling of love gripped me and my love for her became blind.

Soon we joined our respective colleges. Our talks were reduced to few minutes in a day as we got busy with our new daily routine. I felt the lack of contact. I decided to Meet her and take her out for a movie; unknowing of the fact that things are worse then I have thought.

I called her and before I could have said anything , she called it quits to our relation. I was stunned and wanted to know why she took this decision. But , before I can open my mouth, I was shocked again to hear a male voice. The guy introduced himself as her boy friend and soon she nailed the coffin of our relation by stating that she doesn’t love me and disconnected the call. I was in tear’s thinking that she is surely cracking a joke at me.

Everyday, every moment I use to wait for her call, which never came. My hopes were shattered with every passing day. Soon, I realized that my friends were standing besides me in support, doing everything to keep me happy. I started to enjoy again, putting my past behind. In a blink of an eye, days, months and years passed by as my life was back on track.

Four years hence, I was working for a reputed organization. I was in a train and was about to sleep when my phone vibrated as it received a new message. First I felt like giving it a miss but suddenly I picked my phone and was shocked to see Tanisha’s number. She had said ‘Hi”. I wanted to ask her why she left me and never called back but instead I decided not to talk about the past. We chatted the whole day during which I came to know that his boy friend has ditched her for another girl. The world has moved 360 degrees. She was going through the same phase of loneliness as I had faced once.

And then she said those words which my ears wanted to hear for the past 4 years. She apologised for hurting me so much. She stated that she wants to be back in my life. I was hesitant again and just then she broke down into tears and I accepted her proposal again. Everything started on a bright note. The 6 months mark was crossed easily and then she dropped a bomb on my heart again. She had a new boyfriend who was of the same caste as she was, stating that her parents won’t allow inter caste marriage.

I had thought that the lightening never strikes twice at the same place but that was not to be the case with me. This time I was prepared for it and my heart was tougher then before. I changed my number so that she cannot contact me again. It’s been so many years that I’ve not listen to her voice.

Today is the biggest day of my life. I am getting married to a very beautiful and charming girl. Amidst all celebrations I am still thinking of her, the girl I know due to the most abnormal reason in this world and I fell in love with her without even meeting her and knowing how she looks like.’

But today is the day to delete her memories from my brain as I enter the new phase of my life. I have overcome the biggest fear of a man; a fear of witnessing your heart being thrashed by the same girl not once but twice.

Because the Lightening has struck me twice !!

Note : This Is a true story of my friend. All the content in this article is as stated by the person .

Rail Yatra : A Journey Of A Life Time

Before you go through this article, I would like to declare that this is not a work of fiction but an account of 24 hours from my life.

1^st Feb, 2011. Me along with my friend Rahul was waiting for Goa Express at Hazrat Nizamuddin station. During my childhood I have always travelled by sleeper class but as the people possess a higher purchasing power and with the railway’s fare almost unchanged for many years now, the same man travels in an AC compartment with me being no exception. I was a bit sceptical of travelling in sleeper. As one says that the luck runs out when you need it the most, the same applied to us that day. Despite all jacks working for our cause, we ended up in sleeper class. We were the first one’s to enter the coach as we found almost no one standing outside our compartment. With 10 minutes left for the train to depart, I started praying that less people turn out today to board the train. Just then a flurry of people entered the coach and in a blink of an eye the coach was full. To sum up my neighbour’s in the coach; two gujjar couple’s, a Punjabi army guy with a friend, 3 agri labourers and a typical goan guy, I stared at my friend and found him already glaring at me. We had a small conversation and decided to upgrade our seats in the AC compartment. We took turns to approach the ticket checker. It was my friend’s turn first to get up from his seat. As he saw the man in the black coat a smile embellished his face and it vanished soon as he saw the length of the queue surrounding the checker.

Still he surged ahead with confidence only to be told to come after an hour. I can feel his emotions as our heads and shoulders dropped down. Can we sneak to that AC compartment? Was the question in our minds. Suddenly we saw the labour guys staring at our luggage down under our seat. It was only 30 minutes past the last time we approached the Checker, but the incident was enough to take me off my seat. I went to the TC and was told to come after Agra. I came back with my hopes dying slowly but gradually.

The train stopped on the outskirts of Agra and as usual few people got off the train. As I was sitting on the window seat, a man from outside the train asked me to pass a plate of ‘Chaat’ to his wife on the other side.  I passed the plate to others so that it reaches the lady. Finally , a gujjar boy delivered the item and told the lady that I’ve offered this to her. She turned back and refused to accept the ‘chaat’ with anger. The confusion between the couple made me a culprit. As if this was not enough, the gujjar guy who delivered the item had an impression that I am playing games with him. In no time he got aggressive and the people sitting nearby took care of him.

Meanwhile, when these incidents happened we made numerous rounds to the checker but to no avail. Soon, the two army guys started chatting with us. They disclosed that both of them are without tickets and are ready to pay for the seats as we were in the hunt for AC compartment. I again went to the TC and he asked me to wait outside his cabin for 10 minutes. Every minute was difficult to pass by as I crossed the 30 minute mark waiting outside. Finally, he appeared only to tell me an inflated price for the up-gradation which I promptly denied and with that our hopes vanished. Now it, was clear that we have to survive the night among the unsettled environment of the sleeper coach.

One problem ended and just then another started. The army guys!! They want our seats and we will not vacate them. We explained them the scenario and they agreed to it. Suddenly, the things started to ease off. Everything was going on smoothly until the dinner time, when the two army guys hopped on to our upper births and started drinking alcohol. We were not very optimistic that we will be able to bring them down. Soon, they offered us the drinks which we politely refused. Both of them, since the start of the journey were speaking a word ‘JOGA’ and we were not able of crack its meaning, but now we realized that it meant alcohol.

All credit to holy spirits, they climbed down and agreed to sleep on the floor. But then, there were more surprises left for the day. As we prepared  to call it a day, another gujjar boy of around 20 years came yelling at his friends with all sought of abuses coming out of his mouth. Soon we found out that he was slapped by 15 army people for misbehaving with girls. He called up his friends to fight but no one was in a mood to fight 15 man strong army group. And then appeared the army group surrounding the gujjar boys. I was thrilled and my eyes were all set for a battle royal. But here came the twist, army group apologised for their misbehaviour and everything was settled.

The lights were turned off, everyone asleep, I laid back on my birth with earplugs on listening to soothing music and hoping that the longest night of my life must end now, but it was a day when nothing went my way. I was lost in the music, when I saw that all the lights were turned on again, everyone getting up from their seats in a state of shock and suddenly there were smiles on everyone’s face. I removed my earplugs and discovered that 3 homo sapiens were snoring so loud that it was impossible to sleep with that noise. I decided to ignore anything which happens now on, listening to music my eyes closed and I slept unknown to the fact that not many people slept last night.

Next morning, people started to de-board the train at their respective stations. The coach was half full now. I sat back on my seat , looking through the window and thinking about the people I met during the course of this journey. I still don’t know anyone’s name, but they were a part of the 24 hours of madness that I will never forget.

That’s why it was a “Journey of a Life Time” !!

ORKUT : It taught us the meaning of social networking

It was a routine day during the winters, for a change the sun was shining bright as I was busy playing cricket and the board exams were fast approaching. As the play time ended, one of my friends invited me to his house. I obliged to his invitation. He started his computer, connected the internet; and then came the moment. He opened a site which was about to change my perception about the utility of internet.

It was called “ORKUT”. At first I was not able to spell it correctly and my retina faced difficulty in adjusting with the colour schemes of its homepage. Finally, the site opened. I started going through different applications and tabs of the site. For some one who has always used something as simple as yahoo messenger , Orkut was a complex thing to deal with as it was a totally different way of social networking.

I regularly visited the café and my friends who had access to internet. I also demanded my father to install a net connection as soon as my boards end. It was time to learn a few things about social networking. The learning started from the concept of scraps. As the chats were live and visible to all, thanks to the scrapbook, every one was interested about whom you are chatting , what you typing, which use to make it interesting for every one though at the cost of your privacy.

Another feature that took people by surprise was the privilege of uploading photos. This meant that now people can share their images with others and can comment too, instead of creating bulky mails for the same. Also, some of the notable features were : To become some one’s fan, rating people on coolness and trustworthiness, Message box, expressing your thoughts by writing testimonials for your closed ones. The best and most popular tab was the one which use to say “ Add as a friend “. Every one use to like hitting the key  But the main thing that simulated social networking in netizens were orkut communities , not only you can vote on the polls but also can be a part of an ongoing discussion on forums. At least in India, there would be very less homosapiens that were not feeling addicted to orkut.

Then came the doom of a fabulous creation by google. The reasons were clear, lack of innovation and marketing of the brand lead to the downfall , Then came “THE FACEBOOK” walking straight into the den of the lion called orkut. With the basic features of orkut and a bit of innovation , they completely ousted orkut out of the market. They went a step ahead and were known as a social networking as well as a micro blogging site. As the orkut team realized that the market is slipping from their hands, they started copying facebook features. Some of the highlighted duplication were : Dedicated chat window, status updates and profile changes and updates. By the time google’s orkut team discovered that they need to make amends, the market was already captured by Facebook. This high profile drama just emphasized on the lesson that being first is not enough but the key to success is to keep innovating.

Today orkut is a deserted place which acted as a training ground for a bigger thing call “ THE FACEBOOK” . Lets not forget that orkut taught us the meaning of social networking, adding a new dimension to the world of internet.

But the present and future of networking lies with FACEBOOK !!  

NEW DELHI – A CITY OF CRIMES OR A THEATRE OF DREAMS

Delhi, Dilli, Saddi Dilli, Delhi Meri Jaan and the list goes on. There are numerous names of this wonderland and we all are no less than Alice. This city has seen it all ; from the glorious past of the Mughal empire to the devastating times of the British invasion. Apart from these, Delhi is also vested with the honour of being the national capital. To continue with, the city have some of the architectural gems in the form of Red fort, India Gate, Lotus Temple, Akshardham Temple, Civic centre and many more.

This is the place where the control panel of the country which is the “ Parliament” is situated.  The first ever Commonwealth Games and Asian games of the country were held here and this is the city where for the first time in the history of India, our countrymen will hear the roaring sound of the Formula 1 engines.

A localite will tell you that the inhabitants of this Utopia celebrates Durga Puja, Eid, Muharram, Christmas, Ganesh chaturthi with same zeal n vigour as we do on Holi and Diwali. But for some years now, some high profile crimes have dented the image of Delhi immensely. Incidents like Nithari case, Rapes, Eve teasing , and a couple of murders have been the order since Delhi bagged the rights to host the Commonwealth games. One might say that Delhi has suffered the side effects of growing at a fast rate. An economist would comment that as a place develops and grow, the inflation rate also increases but I would say that with development comes an increasing crime rate, though the correlation between the two is difficult to prove as in the case of inflation.

Delhi F1 Track

 As I think more about Delhi’s rising crime rate and insecurity, I am reminded of what happened in Godhra, where a train was set on fire , a strong labour protest pushing Tata’s Nano project out of Singur, The Telangana issue is forcing bandhs regularly for many months now, a social unrest and terror strikes in Jammu & Kashmir for so many years, and most recently a terror attack in Mumbai costing innocent people from within and outside the country their precious life’s.

Well Delhi is not all about crimes , it has been a theatre of dreams too. To take a leaf from Delhi’s diary of Dreams, this city was home to many big personalities before they earned their fame on the big stage, like Shahrukh Khan, Akshay Kumar and Amitabh Bachchan, Mirza Galib, M.F.Hussain and many more. Also one of the most memorable event in Indian cricket’s history came on the turf of Feroz shah kotla when Anil Kumble took all 10 wickets in an innings against arch rivals Pakistan on this very ground.

While writing the article, a news channel playing in front of me was telecasting a show and the anchor asked a question that “ Is Delhi Safe for women” ? and almost simultaneously I answered yes its very much safe. Why do people forget that this is one state where a female Chief Minister is playing her trade for more than 10 years  and this is the city where a women takes her seat as the President of India everyday.

The idea here is to convey a message to the public that crime can happen in any city and it does not have anything to do with any city, province or state.

On a closing note, I would like to say that Delhi is called the heart of India. So when your mind stops working, have faith in your heart.!! 

From Flintstones To Jetsons

 

Well, Flintstones and Jetsons need no Introduction. They are equally famous as Tom & Jerry are. The man from the past & the man from the future have made people of all ages laugh for several decades . Both of them are another hit creations from the Brains of Joseph Hanna & William Barbera.

   

From Flintstones to Jetsons is a journey we all have witnessed. Some things people will never forget about the two fellows are ; “YABA DABA DOO” the famous lines from Freddie Flintstone and the way Mr. George Jetson gets reprimanded for no fault of his by his very own boss Mr. Cosmo Spacely on the T.V screen .

While our smiles stretch like a 70 MM screen while watching these shows, we oversee a very important  message, which says : “Materialistic things will change but the problems of life & the way to tackle them will remain the same” .

To start with, the Stone age man uses flying dinosaurs as their aircrafts. And on the other hand the man from the future is having a flying car powered by rocket propellants. Conclusion : We still don’t have a machine which can just transfer

a human being to the desired place on a blink of an eye, implying we still have to rent or drive to the desired location.

Another one !!

In stone age, your boss calls up and scolds you but at least you don’t have to see his horrible face yelling at you, but in the future according to the Hanna-Barbera, with the ability to have a video conferencing, you cannot hide yourself and you have to face the music. Poor Jetsons , on the receiving end due to technology overdose. Conclusion : You still have a boss who represents a Devil in your life no matter what century you belong to.

But at least humans won’t be out of work due to the presence of Artificial Intelligence as many have feared. A reason to cheer about.

Hanna & Barbera, not only made us laugh but also presented us a scenario of how the past was & what future would look like. But let’s not forget the contribution of the families and friends of the Flintstones & the Jetsons. They all have a special place in our heart.

I always use to wonder , what will happen when the past will meet the future. Will Freddie and George understand each other? What will they talk about?  Well I’ll leave this for your brains to dribble around with .

But at least we all know one thing , that they will continue to put a smile on our faces.

The two Legendary Men who Never met but live the same life in different generations.

THE FLINTSTONES AND THE JETSONS !!

India : A young State, Old Leaders !!

Strange Title , but a true statement . India, an independent state for almost 64 years and still ruled by old leaders. The fact is that we are the youngest nation of the world then why over reliance on the dropping shoulders of our leaders. But then, this has been our main problem for ages, having all the resources and we fail to utilise them. Wasting the best years of our leaders, when they are young and have fresh minds and then we expect them to lead the country at an age when they should be retiring from service.

India may have the youngest population , but it has the oldest leader and oldes ministerial cabinet. In most of the world’s top economies, the aaverage age of a cabinet minister or his equivalent is just a decade or so higher than the median age of the population. But in India, the average age of a cabinet minister is almost two-and-a-half times the country’s median age

At 78, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is the oldest head of government in a major economy. In fact, Singh is only one of two heads of government older than 70 in 15 of the world's biggest economies, which account for more than 70% of the world's GDP and 60% of the population . Italy's Silvio Berlusconi, 74, is the other.

 In our nation, we consider Akbar as the greatest ruler to have ruled the country but we fail to acknowledge the fact that he was just 15 when he was crowned the king. Can we expect Sachin Tendulkar to play for India at an age of 60 or Katrina will have the same fan following when her grandchildren are around. The answer to both the questions is NO.

 We are in a habit to let our young talent go to other countries and then we cry a foul play of Brain Drain.  Rahul Gandhi who is already a member of parliament and in his late 30s is still not vested with any major position of responsibility. Is congress waiting for his hair to turn white ?

We have always believed that the eldest person in the family has to be the leader but no one thinks of giving the youth a chance. We have to learn from Japan, where as the time is passing the nation is growing old. I do not intend to convey a message that youth is the solution to all the problems, but it can show the way where even the most experienced fails. There are exceptions to everything , such as Mr. E. Sreedharan , the metro man of India.

What India need is to promote the youth in varying capacities. To start with , we can delegate some of the departments to young people or for a change can form a partnership among youth and experience. With the knowledge of the experienced and energy and creativity of the youth we can surely be a bigger power than what we are today.

Let’s not forget that humans are not wine “ Older the Better” but “ Younger the Best” .