What we tend to believe in, is not exactly what we will end up doing. Life is always a complex maze. It is actually little paradoxical that we tend to believe that we understand all our actions. On the contrary, I have come to believe that it is not so. Let us analyze ourselves for a minute, when we try to do a certain something, the one influencing factor in most cases is how to get over with it.
"...help me to be ME"
She hesitated, perched at the edge,
that malady called doubt pervading her thoughts.
Would her wings be strong enough?
Battling one another in her core.
With herself as the single casualty
She sensed the footsteps approaching
… The palms pushed her from behind
…The ground slid out from beneath
And then the wind became her harness
Too weak to sustain her, she sank…
But her descent met its end
Her wings suddenly broke out of paralysis
Propelling her towards the Heavens
And she rose, higher and higher
So when she turned to thank him
He was no more than a blur in the distance…
Galaxies away,
He smiles at the newly-formed star of the night sky.
Satisfied, he continues along the edge
Seeking out another of doubt’s victims.
(This is not a personal work of mine, and is a true reproduction of the original piece. I wanted to record it today, for I felt the time has come...Her wings finally broke out of paralysis, and the ascent has begun.)
Nothing is inevitable in life. I have come to believe, there is an intermediate state between being ignorant and being arrogant in life. It is when we seem to consciously ignore various elements, to have a happy existence that one tends to be sucked into the vicious circle of thought going down the spiral to a state of solitude.
Everyone has got their moments in life, when one feels left out, but what makes such experiences even more unique is the fact that, it is during such moments that we finally get an appointment with logic. I sincerely believe, and strongly advocate that miracles are possible, and are beyond logic. But, when you get to understand the larger picture, miracle is not a singular moment, but it is a collection of events which result in the same, and logic is clearly seen in how these events shape up.
What I wish to conclude from the above discussion, is the fact that one is always sucked into the vicious circle, when one is searching for logic to explain and understand various events. In such cases, it is important that we understand when a singular event fails the logic, it is better that we include various related events in the larger picture and then search for a possible logic. I have experienced an understood ease in analysis when I applied this postulate. I hope it helps the reader as well.
It will be an interesting meeting between destiny and dignity, if that will ever happen. I have noticed many instances in my life, when in struggle to achieve my destiny, I in a subtle, unknown way compromise on my own dignity. If it may happen, that with dignity, destiny can be attained, then it would be a pleasant anomaly to this reluctantly agreed upon nature's order.
Location: Pride Hawaii
Date: 23rd March 2009
When land slips from beneath our feet, is it the fear to hold ground? or is it just the casual anxiety of a new beginning that creates the difference in our feet? On my first trip offshore, I had the experience of staying on a jack up platform. With water all around, I wish to call this phase of my life, ' Aquatic Surrender'.
What makes this experience unique is the fact that, even when I was surrounded by people, I felt as if I was deserted on a platform with no way to escape, no route to take. It is a weird feeling to stand on the edge of the platform, and look down into the water...
Seeking beyond the landscape my eyes can capture, I still stand here... all alone, with my own self for company. And all that I understand is...life is all about bridging the thin gap between what you desire and what you get...that is where it begins, and where it ends...
Seasons come...
Such is her warmth,
Date: 18th February 2009
(This post is a result of a recent conversation/realization about what I am trying to do in my life. At this juncture, it is necessary on my part to impress upon the reader that this post speaks of a personal account and might not excite you, if you are looking for a voice on global issues.)
This question comes up every now and then. Why is it that we wish to establish equality by means of having double standards when it comes to implementation. It is baffling to notice, use of different methods of judgment and yet speak of achieving equal treatment. This striking contrast is reflected in various aspects of our society : Be it AIIMS incident of preferential care in regard to treatment for Prime Minister Vs Commoner (Why do we focus on highlighting that the victim is from the tribal fraternity, yet another case of artificial attempt to seek equality, we cannot bridge the gap by highlighting the differences), or the anticipation that NCW should never say that there can be mistake on the part of women (Common, women are special beings, they can never be wrong, how can they!) (It is depressing to say the least, that our leaders [read: few ministers] think the best way to support women is to drive them to seek "independence", needless to say, my hopeless prayers to see people realize that, we can never really have "independent women" or "men who are truly independent" and yet maintain a civilized society are not bearing fruit.) are just few examples.
The MDGs represent a global partnership that has grown from the commitments and targets established at the world summits of the 1990s. Responding to the world's main development challenges and to the calls of civil society, the MDGs promote poverty reduction, education, maternal health, gender equality, and aim at combating child mortality, AIDS and other diseases. Set for the year 2015, the MDGs are an agreed set of goals that can be achieved if all actors work together and do their part. Poor countries have pledged to govern better, and invest in their people through health care and education. Rich countries have pledged to support them, through aid, debt relief, and fairer trade
(This article is a part of my essay on MDG # 8 : Develop Global Partnership for Development for Voice on MDGs)
Sometimes, change becomes a necessity. It is definitely interesting to get used to a situation, certain lifestyle, but it is equally boring to stay the same. When I speak of change, I speak about the necessity for a change in our thinking, in our representation of situation and our outlook towards life. Possibly, solutions vary from situation to situation but what remains key is our will to seek change.
It is a natural event, that sometimes, we tend to do things exactly the other way, compared to what we wish to. In this process, the conflict within ourselves, presents an interesting dynamic. What we tend to judge others with, will be largely influenced by what we experience ourselves. I wanted to record this observation and the memory of an interesting experience which resulted in the observation.
I wish to record my understanding about the impact of 2008, and the opportunities in 2009. 2008 was a year marked with decent achievements and great tragedies. It was an unfortunate year, to say the least. I wish to see 2009 to be more balanced, and calm if not anything else.
(This article is written by one of the School kids from
The siege on Mumbai left even the most experienced of us stunned. Even those who have become immune to grief and tragedy stopped for a second. The 48-hour encounter with these extremely sophisticated and trained terrorists left
However, we are not here to talk about the grief that these victims suffer. Nor do I wish to discuss the various and repeated intelligence failures and lackadaisical attempts of the government and its security agencies. We are here to figure out what exactly is wrong with us, because it is evident that there is something horribly amiss in this country and it's people.
People are not born terrorists. Teenagers do not get up one fine day with the conviction that violence is the path of their lives. The terrorist that battled with NSG in the Taj hotel for over 24 hours was not more that 25 years old. Can any of you imagine the kind of courage and determination that this young boy exemplified in accomplishing such a feat. He is a terrorist, a terrorist who is responsible for the death of over 150 people. He is also a mere boy. A boy whom we have forced into becoming the man he died as. The IM consists of young boys from the
Every kind of terrorism stems from extremism; and extremism is the most obvious ramification of discrimination. Discrimination is sadly practiced in every nook and corner of our country. We think it's insignificant, we think that it's just the way people are. But it is discrimination and if only we were brave enough to face it.
It is discrimination when the age-old story of Hindu parents refusing to marry their daughter into a Muslim family repeats itself. It is discrimination when parents of Muslim children refuse to sing Hindu bhajans. It is discrimination when Christians refuse to participate in Hindu and Muslim festivals. All of this is discrimination. And every form of terrorism and extremism finds it's roots in this kind of discrimination, which is practiced in each and every one of our homes. That is why we need to look at our homes and our thinking before we cry out in rage and protest against the government and security forces.
Last night you had emotional and angry Mumbai mobs screaming out anti Pakistani slogans. That is the beginning of terrorism. Have we all gone mad? What does the normal Pakistani family who is probably in their own way praying for the Mumbai victims have anything to do with this? This is the quintessential problem that we are facing. When will we realize that by blaming each other the problem will only intensify?
The Hindus destroyed the Babri masjid. The Muslims blew up a Hindu coach. The Hindus killed a city full of Muslims. Wave after wave of madness. Stop! How long can we go on like this? An eye for an eye has never been the answer and it should not take us a thousand years to accept the truth of this statement.
You had Raj Thackarey chasing out the north Indians and Biharis from
In another 60 years we'll have Bihari terrorists attacking
Today you have every news channel proudly acclaiming the army, NSG and Marine commandos as heroes. People in Mumbai are running out on the streets to congratulate them. These heroes weren't born today. They have been here all this while. Where were these people of
You want to know what the problem with
I'll give you a small and perfect example of what is wrong with us. We all complain about this country's dirty roads. We love holidaying in
We have enough and more to say about Manmohan Singh, Advani and every other useless politician and rightly so. But the fact is that in all honesty we couldn't care less. The best of us don't vote, don't contest in elections and don't even help out N.G.O.s When we can't do anything for our country how dare we, I repeat, how dare we expect anyone else to do anything.
We can go on talking about stepping up security, straightening out our coast guards and eradicating terrorism. But the problem lies not in our security system but in us. It lies in our Madrasas, in our temples, in our schools, in our homes and in our minds. And until we realize our role, until we open our eyes to this truth, not a thing will change.
Everyone talks about this new
Don't tell me that we won't be able to reach out to the people who need to hear what we have to say. These people live among us. There is no limit to what people can achieve when they set out to do something. You are talking about a country whose founding father won a war without raising a weapon, who have lived on stories of Subhash Chandra Bose calling out for blood and promising freedom. Well we've bled. Now it's time to get our freedom. Freedom from our own mindsets. Freedom from shackles we've placed on ourselves.
These last two days have been the worst attack that
How many more people have to die before we respond to
This post is an attempt to record my feeling today, about how things need to unfold in the coming year. I do not say Year 2008 was boring or unpleasant, but I strongly feel things can get better. I wish to see more clarity in my thought, and also the needed strength to turn my thoughts into action.
Date: 20th Dec 2008
Life seems to play an interesting game with all of us. All our efforts, throughout our life are directed towards achieving a single goal, control of information/knowledge. Our actions in any role seem to revolve around this vital point. It is important to understand how this knowledge acquired, is to create an hierarchy on the basis of its control.
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