WHEN IS OUR 'DUSHERRA'?!?

Hmmm….it’s festivity all around and once again I can’t stop myself from penning down a few thoughts that are close to my heart and I can’t escape these…

So it’s the day that we celebrate the triumph of good over evil- we call it Dusherra or Vijaydashmi….the underlying spirit is let good prevail over evil and it does…this day we worship Goddess Saraswati, the Goddess of knowledge, reinforcing our belief in the guiding light of knowledge that can overpower the ever prevailing darkness-that guiding light of knowledge that can pull us through the shambles of superstition and regressive thinking..but the saddest part it-we don’t want to know the meaning of these festivals, so long as we get a holiday to ‘chill out’, to go shopping etc etc…we don’t need to know the reason and/or significance of any of it…but yes ofcourse-if it’s a ‘general knowledge’ question-we can tell that Dushherra signifies the TRIUMPH OF GOOD OVER EVIL!

But I seriously feel that like all other festivals that have given our lives some meaning, that signify the importance of goodness, even our ‘celebration’ of today has become completely symbolic!!! No, I don’t mean to say that we must do way with the traditions, not at all but I feel we must not forget the reasons, the true essence of these festivals and today is the day to let the evil in us die at the hands of goodness that is hidden in everyone-let it prevail over the evils that have engulfed us-let the goodness be set free in order to set ourselves free from the clutches of evil that’s within all of us-I guess that would give us the true reason to celebrate Dusherra in its true spirit and essence…

Ravanaa symbolizes evil and centuries ago that evil met with its end-that was just to show us a way to keep fighting the evil around us and today I must say that there’s a bit of Ravanaa in every one of us…and today it is important that we fight the evils within us-only then can we can understand the meaning of celebrating the victory of GOOD OVER EVIL!

At least I want to celebrate this way and I will… to begin with I am going to steal some quite moments for myself and list down the ten ill habits of mine, those which make me little mean, those which hampers my growth, those which affect my loved ones badly and those habits that I know are not good-it could be as silly as procrastination and as serious short temperedness and I would make all sincere attempts to conquer those to let the goodness in me prevail over everything else- that would be my tribute to the legend of Lord Rama’s victory over Ravanaa!

That is what we all need today…each one of us to wage war against the evil within us and only then can we realize and sensitize ourselves against the greater evil that our society is subjected to-the evil that is eroding the value system- evil that is making us ‘inhuman’!

Today, the evil within us surmounts over the little goodness that we all have and I need not elaborate how?!? The disgusting picture of our society today is nothing but a true reflection of our inner self and it’s TIME WE CLEANSE OURSELVES OF ALL THE EVIL WITHIN US TO CELEBRATE THE TRIUMPH OF GOOD OVER EVIL…

LIFE ON 'SALE'?!?

Hi there! How’s life treating you all? It’s been a bit busy this side …sometimes I like this ‘busy’ ‘ness’ and sometimes I just want to escape this maddening rush of ‘things-to-do’ and ‘targets-to-accomplish’ manic kind of life…where it’s all about getting somewhere in life...and that ‘somewhere’ always remains ‘that somewhere’, and our chase continues… because probably we are “cultured” or “tutored”: to lead a life that largely resembles a herd mentally-just go on and on….why.. cause we have to get to “that somewhere”…so, no stopping for anything- to steal those silent moments for ourselves-to feel the love around us-to feel the emotions that bind our families-to feel that happiness that lies within us---that happiness which you and I have cause we have wonderful people around us-our families and friends and even to feel the pain-of others-I feel we have insulated ourselves…and that’s how, like I said in one of my previous posts, we mean ‘business’ in everything that we do-that’s how our lives are commercialized- ON SALE-FOREVER….

That’s the kind of “culture’ which is the in-thing today and it hurts to see today’s children losing their innocence in this era of die hard materialization and ruthless and dirty competition!

I am thankful because I have people around me to tell me that life isn’t a ‘chase’, life is rather a journey packed with experiences of all kind to make this journey a loving and memorable one-life is surely a jigsaw puzzle which wouldn’t be complete without our family and friends- what I mean to say is life is all about ‘living’ and ‘loving’ rather than ‘getting that somewhere’. Yes, I am placing highest regard/value to ‘HUMAN REALTION’-which is so important for a healthy life and a strong social fabric- STRICTLY NO 'SYNTHETIC' THREADS!

Would wrap up with this –

Before every movie is screened, we have NATIONAL ANTHEM recital in every movie theatre and that’s mandatory, (Trust me I am so very thankful for this, I get to sing my National Anthem) In one of the multiplexes in Mumbai, what we get to see is the NATIONAL ANTEHM recital by INDIAN ARMYMEN, hoisting our national flag at SIACHIN GLACIER and reciting JAN GAN MANN…I was literally frozen to see that-the sudden gush of blood in my nerves-that chill and sudden lump in my throat-it was such a chilling moment where I felt so much but today I am at complete loss of words to express that feeling-of pride, belongingness –of respect and yes of my ( hopefully ‘our’) indebtedness to them…and this assures me that I am not an insulated and mechanical soul out here-that like those at SIACHIN GLACIER-even my life is not for SALE!

EID MUBARAK...:)

Dignity of Labour- Heard this one before?!?

I must thank you all for taking time for reading these posts and sharing your views and I most sincerely welcome your comments, suggestions .I would love to see this as a platform for keeping the debate ‘alive’- as someone very rightly said, “ mere senee mein nahi,tere sene mein sahi, yeh aag kahi na kahin to jalni chahiye”!

So, what say, any thoughts on our “Shaurya”?!? Let me know what it means to you…it should mean something to each one of us...it could be as simple as a life lived with honesty and dignity. (Is it that simple!?!) Don’t you feel that these words ‘honesty’ & ‘dignity’ are used as mere ‘decorative’ words and probably we hardly bother about the ‘intent’ and ‘spirit’-we have been made to understand that these are rather “larger than life” phrases, hopelessly idealist! May be this is an interpretation of convenience…may be….

Long time back, I had read about ‘Dignity of Labour’ and I sincerely believe in this, I try my level best to never hold /show any disrespect to any form of labour ….and why not, everybody cannot afford a white collar job and everyone who works/strives hard to earn their living through hard work deserve all the respect in the world, (personally speaking, the only exception are those typical Indian ‘politicians’).

I want to dedicate this one to the “CLEAN UP!” gang of Mumbai , those men in green, without whom this city would choke and suffocate to death…I salute them, they are one of the real Khatron Ke Khiladiiis! Do they need any more introductions?!? Oh, most definitely yes. Because we just don’t bother to notice these men working round the clock to clean the mess that they don’t create…Come on… I am talking about the CLEAN UP MUMBAI squad, those guys who immerse themselves into the filthy rotten stinky garbage, that comprises of all the possible variety in the world, ranging from wet rotten and decayed food items, packed with unbearable, beyond description “stink” that can suffocate us in just 5 secs (or may be less!) make us go fasting for days… because after that experience we would probably puke at even the sight of a single morsel, forget about ‘eating’ food! These men have got one of the toughest job-CELANING THE SHIT THAT WE CREATE and yes, we at our ‘ungrateful’ best!!! After all why should we be-it’s their B***DY job and probably they mustn’t be qualified for anything else!

THAT’S OUR ATTITUDE! We don’t even acknowledge their presence and like them there are loads of other people, who we take for granted and also go to the extent of belittling them-simply for what they do! Surely then, ‘Dignity of Labour’ is Greek to us! I mean I really fail to understand how can we be sooo ungrateful to people who work to make our lives simple and better? Just imagine, if there is no CLEAN UP squad, will you and I even think about getting into that garbage van to clean our own mess! Oh, most definitely NO, because we don’t even touch personal dustbins that are parked outside our respective houses/apartments-forget about this community service! So what if all that piled up garbage has been contributed by all of us, we would rather hire people and get this filthiest job done by them!!! What respect, after all we are they are getting paid for their job!!! THAT’S OUR APPROACH! And it’s suffocating, it’s disgraceful and it surely reflects that we don’t have any sense of respect for individuals/humans, forget about inculcating something called as ‘DIGNITY OF LABOUR’!

Imagine what the extent of their misery that drives them to take up a job of this nature…and they have to do it-to feed their families, to arrange two meals for themselves and yes they have to eat to survive- I really wonder how do they manage all this?!? They should be classified as working in one of the most hazardous environments and all thanks to us! We wouldn’t dirty our hands even in sorting the garbage at home-everything in one basket, cooked food, rotten vegetables, leftover, etc etc etc, why should we sort the dry and wet garbage ( Ideally we must do a thorough sorting of the household garbage)after all we have hired these men to do that for us! We are surely devoid of the basic civic sense and yes, hygiene to us is restricted to Dettol bottle and fancy face wash gel/cream!

If we cannot do our bit to be responsible citizens, if we just don’t have the ability to clean up our own mess/S**T, probably the least we could do is given these men their due-the respect and the recognition that they deserve for what they do everyday and still they haven’t forgotten to smile- CAN WE SMILE AT THEM TELLING THAT WE REALLY APRECIATE THEIR GUTS AND WE RECOGNIZE THEIR EFFORTS, CAN WE JUST SMILE TO SAY THAT MUMBAI SHINES-THANKS TO THEM!

JAAGO RE!

JAAGO RE!

Hmmm…I guess the thought on celebration with responsibility didn’t seem to appeal to anyone…well much to my expectations….

Neither do I expect overnight changes nor am I looking forward to generating a mass following, this is just to clarify- I guess may be to myself! What was little surprising that be it good or bad, positive or negative, I didn’t get to see any reactions/responses and this is a more apparent danger that we face, i.e. our nonchalant attitude, that we don’t even feel it important to have an opinion on issues of public importance-I guess we enjoy being cynical-that’s easier!

Was just watching Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra’s “Rang De Basanti”, on UTV Movies- remember that ‘dialogue’ that no country is perfect, one has to take steps to make it perfect-yeah , that still remains a filmi dialogue!!! I know I am sounding like a self proclaimed patriotic preacher. Most definitely you must be wondering what on earth have I done prove my patriotism, that haven’t I enjoyed my sessions of long cynical chat and discussions to conclude that its a hopeless situation in our country; And that’s true, I have been a part of such discussions and it is also true that I have felt horrible after chanting the pessimistic notes doing nothing! I mean that was being hypocrite- cribbing and chanting patriotic slogans-what was missing was any action/act to prove otherwise and that’s when it dawned to me that this way I am no less a culprit than all those who are active participants in the systemic degeneration of the country!

I mean it’s like if I cannot do something to improve the situation I must atleast stop promoting cynicism! After all, unless we ‘dream’ it, we cannot achieve it! And this isn’t sheer idealism! Every small step that we take is going to go a long way in building that desired momentum that India needs today and probably what we really need is persistence and patience to keep that little ray of hope alive! We need to stop cribbing and start questioning, and question ourselves first!

Of course am not indicating that each one of us should become either I.A.S or and I.P.S officers, that we all must leave our respective fields and join the army etc, but what I intend to put across is that wherever we are, whatever we are doing, we can resolve to ‘not’ become a part of or participate in any manner in the ‘systemic degeneration’ of the country, even if that means sacrificing a lot of our material aspirations and desires, even if that means settling for a humble life that we must not have even dreamt of for ourselves- Are we ready for such ‘sacrifices’, if at all?!?

The other day I was watching the movie Shaurya and I have watched that nth number of times-it shakes my spine to see Caption Javed Khan’s INTEGERITY, his resolve to uphold the faith of his countrymen, his resolve to protect humanity above everything else!!! That was indeed the Shaurya of INDIAN ARMY, should it not be the same for every one of us?!?

To put it in simple terms, if each of is honest in whatever we do, in our personal and professional sphere, I guess that would mark the beginning of a change and we will start living in that INDIA for whose freedom, millions and millions have laid down their lives…

Ofcourse- “Ab khilana band aur pilana shuru”- Jaago Re…I like that one for sure!!