Train diaries! - The Soldier and the Artist

The Soldier

On one such occasion, I had a chance to converse with Tapu, a tall and lanky person, who seemed to be jolly with everyone. His closely cropped hair style indicated that he was of defense fraternity and my guess did not go wrong. He started off the conversation by referring to the winter and the immediate question that came up was “where are you from?” His answer was – Indo Chinese border! To talk and know about our soldiers at border guarding us, interests me always and I started asking and discussing about the present Indo – Chinese tensions over Arunachal and other bordering states which Chinese eye to annex. The talk drifted to the NSG commandos who fought the painful Taj episode in Mumbai against the Pak terrorist and I came to know that he lost his room partner and a very close friend- a commando, with whom he shared a wonderful relation, in the battle. A talk with him made me realise that whatever we are doing is but nothing as compared to what they are doing for us. To keep in touch with the brave heart, I took his contact number and hope to meet him some time again in near future if I get a chance ever.

The Artist

I met Mr.Surjit Kumar, an artist by profession and an entrepreneur most importantly on way home. I boarded Falaknuma and first walked into the bogey and interacted with a grandfather who was travelling all the way from Kolkata to Secunderabad. A small inquiry and I passed the test to get a seat in the reserved compartment with a star mark condition – if the actual occupant comes then vacate the seat. I was comfortably seated by Grandfathers side when a man with a bag came up to the old man and requested for a seat, he failed in his interview as his time of journey was of 3 hours, mine was just 30 minutes. After him, in walked a girl who seemed to have the herculean responsibilities burdened over her. With a couple of bags as luggage to travel to the same destination as mine, she tried her luck and was lucky enough. I offered her my seat and stood for some time (not to flirt ok. She seemed too tired and fighting with the bags she carried) and then walked towards the door to stand in the crowd which had a portfolio of short distance travelers. It was then that I decided to try my chance and requested Mr. Kumar (who was a stranger till then); I passed his interview as well!

The interaction started with his question as to where I was going and it continued with yet another question – are you doing MBA? A smile and a polite no from me meant that the conversation would continue and it did. I told him I was a faculty. He praised me for my young looks (ufff! Why don’t girls ever tell me this??? Too much of boasting here…) and then it became interesting.

We then started talking where I asked him about painting which was his profession, what themes he adopted for his oil on canvas and came to know his main theme was peace and he found landscapes to be best associated with serenity and peace than the chaotic world that we live in. The talk then drifted to North Eastern states which are not the luckiest to be cared for by the ones who rule them.

While the talk continued and we started talking about entrepreneurial bend in both of us and how the same can be inculcated in today’s management students when the train entered Khurda Road junction. I shook hands with him and took leave for the day.

End of another day’s travel and a new acquaintance.

Train diaries!

“Chalte chalte yu hi koi mil gaya tha…” the song from the movie “Pakheeza” where Meena Kumari sings to the hoots of the coal driven rail engines, reminds me of my daily travel by train and the people I come across. It is not that I interact with all of them but at times some people are too interesting to be ignored. It either happens that I start a talk or that they start talking about something and it leads to something interesting.
Train travel which was at a time, a medium, only to travel long distances has now become a regular affair. A month ago, I was unaware of the train timings except for the Bhubaneshwar- Mumbai Chatrapati Shivaji Terminal, Konark Express, 11020 (don’t stare in awe! I remember this only because I have to hear the sweet lady announce this repeatedly every day, at least for 30 min. till a train picks me up :P). Now I can speak about the timings with the same ease as I can speak about the subject I teach.
Going to station every day is never a bore.
Watching the sun rise in winter mornings, early morning walks, whiff of freshness which was missing in Bhubaneshwar, the butchers mercilessly but with precision slitting the throats of helpless goats and chicks ( being a vegetarian, these murders grind the bowels more than what Baba Ramdev can do as a yogic gimmick), the sound of conch and drum and the smell of the aromatic agarbatti’s from a temple on the way, the vegetables market which opens up early morning to “boli” by different vendors who purchase their lots to be sold for the day, the tea stalls, Tiffin vendors, coconut vendors and the mobile paan BD shops are some of the visuals I come across every day.
Life is the same for them and so is it for me every day, I cross them twice every day and yet we are strangers to each other. The strangers with whom I travel every day in train also are familiar by now and yet, interaction is either zero or kept to minimum as if it’s a protocol to be followed. It is only when Prakash (attendant) or Anupam (student) accompany me that I talk when I go to Bhubaneshwar.
However at times I come across some people with whom I talk and wish to keep in touch with. I will give an account of the people I came across in the posts to follow...

Till then,Happy reading!

Are we left with any personal space

Valentine’s Day: moral policing starts a week ahead of the D-Day. Strategies and warnings to all those love birds who dare to meet in parks and public places. Shops are vandalized and youngsters harassed. There is media all around.

Movies: protests start a week or couple of days ahead of airing the movie. Public is restrained and posters torn! Processions, vandalism, debates and political mud sling fest starts over the dialogues or scenes shot.

Games: Players are machines. Continuous efficiency for the amount of money paid is expected without a consideration that these players are humans and they too have a family. A series lost or a game underplayed evokes emotions and wider criticism than a win. Every one speaks- housewives, attendants, kids who just know how to play copter shot like Dhoni or those who follow his mane style. There are advices from every quarter and the players are analyzed. In fact post mortem done without understanding the mental condition. They are more of gladiators in the arena ready to thrust swords into each other and spill blood for the public viewing and enjoyment than sports persons who play for passion of the game. There is politics ticking into the games- the bigger the game the more political will be the environment surrounding it. Media shutterbugs do not lose a moment to capture the movements- which star has gone where, what they do and how they do are all covered and aired as if it’s a part of the assignment or internship project for which viva would happen.

Be it film stars/players/common man, the only question that comes up is – is there any space left for our own living? There is no zone where in interference is minimum. Every sphere is poked into and every event or matter converted into a debatable issue.

The recent issue of Aarakshan clearly shows that the politicians have no work than to poke nose into every thing that concerns us. Being concerned is good but when that concern grows beyond expected lines it’s time to trim it. No one is given a right to interfere into the personal liberty or zone of any person and today, that is something which happens very often. Too many heads storming over irrelevant trifling issues-formatting required!

The only question that comes up is: are we left with any personal space??

Honor Killings!

Read these:

One of the most notorious "honour" killings of recent years occurred in April 1999, when Samia Imran, a young married woman, "was shot in the office of a lawyer helping her to seek a divorce which her family could never countenance." According to Suzanne Goldenberg,

Samia, 28, arrived at the Lahore law offices of Hina Jilani and Asma Jahangir, who are sisters, on April 6. She had engaged Jilani a few days earlier, because she wanted a divorce from her violent husband. Samia settled on a chair across the desk from the lawyer. Sultana, Samia's mother, entered five minutes later with a male companion. Samia half-rose in greeting. The man, Habib-ur-Rhemna, grabbed Samia and put a pistol to her head. The first bullet entered near Samia's eye and she fell. "There was no scream. There was dead silence. I don't even think she knew what was happening," Jilani said. The killer stood over Samia's body, and fired again. Jilani reached for the alarm button as the gunman and Sultana left. "She never even bothered to look whether the girl was dead."

The aftermath of the murder was equally revealing: "Members of Pakistan's upper house demanded punishment for the two women [lawyers] and none of Pakistan's political leaders condemned the attack. ... The clergy in Peshawar want the lawyers to be put to death" for trying to help Imran. (Suzanne Goldenberg, "A Question of Honor," The Guardian (UK), May 27, 1999.)

On Oct. 16, 1995, ... Hassoon got out of a car with her younger brother on a main street of Daliat al Carmel, a small Israeli Druze village ... Over 10 years before, Ittihaj had committed the unpardonable sin of marrying a non-Druze man. Now, after luring her back to her home village with promises that all was forgiven and her safety assured, her brother finally had the chance to publicly cleanse the blot on the family name with the spilling of her blood. In broad daylight in front of witnesses, he pulled out a knife and began to stab her. The witnesses quickly swelled to a crowd of more than 100 villagers who -- approving, urging him on -- chanted, ululated, danced in the street. Within minutes, Hassoon lay dead on the ground while the crowd cheered her killer, "Hero, hero! You are a real man!" (Suzanne Zima, "When Brothers Kill Sisters," The Gazette [Montreal], April 17, 1999. See also Walter Rodgers, "Honor Killings: A Brutal Tribal Custom", CNN World News, December 7, 1995.)- Israel/Palestine

India is no exception to the above act of inhumanity!

India is still in the past notwithstanding the developments and the advances in various fields of science and technology. At this point many may raise a brow and allege that it is just written out of ignorance of the developments that have put our country on the "Most Wanted"list of the world map and that the country has considerably advanced economically after LPG.

True.

But, how can we ignore those practices which have also put us in the lime light for not advancing our thoughts and changing with the changing times?

Of all the thoughts and practices, the most gruesome is butchering of own kids for not toeing in line with the traditional and cultural values and running away with their loved ones- how insane is that??? is it a problem of some families or is it that this runs as a disciplinary act in the blood of those people who claim themselves to be the upholders of the moral and traditional values of the society in which they live since ages?

Despite the fact that Supreme Court ruled this act as rarest of the rare acts and pronounced death for the parents or kin who dared to kill their own for the honour in society,the sentence seems to fall flat on the deaf and dumbest parents who dare to repeat the acts with least thoughts.

Some years ago, I heard that Pakistan and other countries practised this act of killing own son/daughter/brother/sister/nephew/niece for the very reason that they dared to marry some one outside their community or against their wishes and now since some time, I hear the same happening in our country especially in the northern parts,where it is assumed that the lifestyles have aped the western culture well. then, where does this damn culture of slitting of throats or putting the lives of the young ones to the edge of the sword come from?

What is shameful is the fact that these are more planned than out of impulse. What sort of parenting is this? If the children commit mistakes its upon the parents to counsel them and show them the right path instead of drawing swords and slicing them for the act of choosing partners without parental consent. Now coming to the point of Honour in the society, I would ask one question as Jesus asked when a mass of people got ready to punish the lady whom they considered impure : he who has not committed a sin,may punish the sinner!"

If choosing a partner is a sin,then,did not the parents commit any sin during their life time which perhaps would be the best kept secret during their life time.

What is required here is not a directive from the Supreme Court or a death penalty but a public punishment for all who dare to commit this sin of killing their own child for what so ever reason- kill these bunch of wise fools every day by making them realise what they have done does not add to the prestige or honour but makes them criminals in the eyes of the country men/folk and the world as a whole.

The death should be tragic and more gruesome than the pain the children must have felt with every stab or shot from their own people, the heart should feel more pain than what the children would have felt to have been killed by the one's whom they lived with since birth and death should not be so easy for those who dare to plan it for their own blood. This all comes from my heart which loathes these acts of unwise incorrigible stupid bunch of animals which are devoid of a heart and least know what love is.

What I wish as an ode to the dead innocent fellows is that we should come up,revolt against this practice and try to bury this crap alive! It perhaps started with a society and should end with that and not creep into the veins of those who are educated and know the difference between humanity and barbarianism!

for a better understanding of this heart wrenching practice click on the link below:

http://www.gendercide.org/case_honour.html

Sorry for those who perhaps cannot bear with the gory incidents mentioned from different sources only to highlight what it is like in other parts of the world and that we need to stand up against this barbarian act!

Comments if any!

Love

Every other day, we hear someone having a crush on someone or falling in love. What is it all about?

Is it a magic, a psychological disorder where in an imbalance of the heart and mind coordination happens or is it a virus which prevails without an antidote?

Wars happened, happen and will keep on happening for it.

It is not necessarily the love between a young boy and a girl that is the centre of the whole talk here but love as it is, creates expectations between relations and if there be any gap in the expectations and performance, it is then that the storm unknown creates a mindless havoc.

Strange is the nature of the word and the world itself.

The word that is supposed to spread smiles and peace is hated while hate is least loathed! While love is supposed to win over hate, in today’s world it’s the reverse- hate wins over love. Think of all the honor killings and the mean minded decisions of the parents and the governing bodies which decide against love for the sake of the prestige of family and society – that’s an underdeveloped thought in a nation that see’s itself at par with the super powers!

What education can literate and illuminate a person’s mind where in the element of common sense is lost to something as emotional foolishness! What is gained? Prestige by killing a couple or stigma of killing the loved ones merely because the society would speak ill – the end result is erosion of prestige and respect from every nook and corner of the society for which they commit this heinous crime of butchering young love.

We can never prosper if we keep on nipping the bud even before it blooms and no one bothers to stop it.

Love is divine. It is one of the greatest feelings engineered by God – an unseen feeling that binds the hearts and souls. Why be devilish and disturb the peace when a world can be built out of love??

In India, there are many who feel a lot about morality and do moral policing, not understanding that they can better utilize their energies to better tasks like working for the upliftment of poor or earn in a legitimate way for their own family and bother about the problems at personal level than be a police of sorts!

When would we start behaving in a manner that is expected to be at par with other countries in terms of etiquettes and manners??? If not at par with other countries, when would we be expecting our fellow people to be sober and matured in thoughts with regards to many aspects including love and let people decide what they want, than what society wants!

Live and let others live!

A Safari sans tigers!

Today,I went with my cousins to Nandankanan after a decade perhaps. The idea behind the trip to NandanKanan (Zoo) was to see the white tigers and the lions from a closer range but to our dismay what we saw in the arena was far from what could have been imagined!

In one of the enclosures which read white tigers safari, all that we could see were some beautiful peacocks perched on tree branches and an arid land with brown patches which marked as a path used for the bus to travel. All the while while my eyes searched for the white tigers to prowl on the roads or in the woods, peacocks were visible resting peacefully without being mauled by the Tigers we looked for.

While I expected at least a cub to be visible,the bus carrying 42 members with great expectations of viewing a White Tiger from close range approached a much known destination point- the huge gate which was opened to let us in!!!!!!!!!

The Lion's safari was next.

At least the lions did not disappoint us. there were 3 lions present. Now, these three Lions seemed to be basking in the glory of their years gone by,in the afternoon sun unaware or may be bored of the daily show and attendance they give to n number of visitors who come to see them.

For a while, the Lions looked as if they were on the verge of retirement. The mane of the lion was missing,it seemed as if it had been to Habib's for a hair cut to follow Dhoni's example of short and groomed hair,instead of long hairs. While all the people in the bus were trying to listen to a growl and a mighty roar from the mighty power paw,it just yawned and stretched itself to sleep on the cool sands!!!

While the lions- three of them,resembled the national emblem,there was something missing - ferocious nature of these animals which make us tremble when they roar!

Once out of the gates and out of the bus, all that we could do was to take some pictures and stroll around the other section- water birds aviary and walk out of the gates to wait for the caged machines fitted with motors to transport us from the Zoo to the city walls where our parents were awaiting us for lunch.

A trip to zoo would not be as effective here as would be an episode in Nat.Geo for the children but for the love birds,the Zoo promises a lot with no animals in the enclosures :)

Cor(e)ruption!

GHApla.Ghotaala,Scandal......synonymous with swindling of money and materials and everything that can be had,infact consumed without any issues of digestion or constipation!
Micro Economics has a law which says that continuous consumption of anything without a break leads to or results in diminshed interest with every increase in unit consumed. This law is known as Law of Diminishing Marginal Utility.
Its applicable to everything which is consumed in quick succession and without a break by anyone,but it seems there is a category which is exempt and doesnot find an application of this law- the corrupt and the glutton class who have higher satisfaction margins which are not so easily reached!
What has happened is that while there has been an antidote found for cancer and even AIDS, there can never be an antidote found for this creepy virus called as corruption which has, rapidly spread like a venomous lethal virus into every one mortal!
One glaring example is as exhibited in the following lines:
In our area or say ward, there is a state govt.run school for the children who cannot afford to go to schools where the biggies and the middies can afford to shell lakhs to educate in an international environment with state of art infrastructure(well,Globalised economy impact as u see,can't help!).
As per the scheme they are supposed to provide the students or rather say the tiny tots, mid day meals comprising of rice,dal and a curry with a provision for an egg per student every alternate day.
what actually is provided to the students is not what is expected. The performance in actual differs from the budgeted. The margin of error here is more than 5. Courtsey the care takers of the scheme who know how to put osmosis to practical implementation!

what ever good quality raw materials come are diverted to their homes and the inferior quality products like the dal and the lentils are fed to the children who dare not complain for whatever reasons one can think of....
The girl who stays near our house in a shanty home speaks about the inferior quality food that is served- half boiled rice,dal floating in boiled water, egg goes missing every alternate day and comes as 3 eggs in a month!!!! what about the rest of the eggs quota???

God Only Knows as to how much quantity consumed will satisfy these paranormal beings who even after being humans are no less than Adam and Eve post apple eating!
The fact that there are termites which cannot be killed with any medicine is true and very hard to digest that these termites are none other than superbly evolved brained creatures called as humans who wield the power to dominate and rule the roost without being questioned and held responsible!

As always the sufferer is the common man who is perplexed with the question of " whom to approach?" for complaint and redressal of the grievances. The reason why "dont care and chalta hai"attitude builds up in us is purely due to the deliberate delay in justice being met out....why would one bother to run from pillar to post to lodge a complaint for a vehicle stolen and pay under the table??? Is it necessary to get a marriage registered with names changed if there are numerous formalities created deliberately for the want of Vitamin M??? Why would one wish to be a law abiding citizen with a licence when u can do away with a Rs.50 or a Rs.100 currency note every time you get caught by the Traffic officials who intentionally show up before dushera and other big occassions???

Now one needs to be street smart and not be someoone ready to show the left cheek if slapped on the right.... as said,if you cannot change the system,change yourself-

Rest depends on what you want to do- weed out the corrupt from within or be one of them!!!!

Happy living...