It started with one. The true power of one could have been apprehended had it remained existent physically since independence. But the non existence of anticipated application of one was the case applicable to all the other cases. Bharat was once a one-ation where there was no hatred based on religion, no communalism ever crept in, and people talked about unity to fight the greater cause, the cause of achieving independence. But the unity didn’t last a life time, a nation of martyrs got bifurcated into two-Pakistan and Hindustan. Never did anyone think of divide widening any further until recently when Kashmir gained the detestation of standing on the precipice of the contentious valley between the two giants, ready to make a move to one of the two sides, sadly. It is no denying a fact, that India did win three Olympics at Beijing Olympics, with three Indians being ranked amongst 40 richest Individuals in Singapore (Kartar Singh Thakral,, Mustaq Ahmad, Sunny George Verghese), and three Khans(ShahRukh Khan, Aamir Khan, Saif Ali khan) ruling the Indian film industry. But out of one corner, so does the inauspicious ‘three’ of two giants and a state in tussle starts creeping in! Yes, it’s Kashmir, Pakistan and India. And the manacles of it brings adversity to the life of three innocent people (Abrar Ali,Anwar Hussein, Rashid Hussein) in context to blasts that took place at two places with one rendered as a warning of undefeatable danger(again adding to ‘three’).
It was sad to have come across news where the three innocent citizens of our country were reprimanded for no fault of theirs, with no connection with the terrorist outfits unless the state forces convict them on the lines of Kevin Bacon’s theory of six degrees of connection with terrorist present all over. Equally sad was to know that people like Shabana Azmi were denied of owning a flat in Mumbai on context of being a person belonging to the minority religion in our country i.e. Islam. We should rather reconcile the fact that more Muslims live in India than they do in Pakistan and form an equally important part in comprehending the definition of Secularism in India. Where on one hand, ShahRukh/Aamir khan personifies every individual of the country in most patriotic Indian way; on other hand actors like them carry forward the bacon of harmony & brotherhood across nations with zeal. Only a dormant mind can rightly act the torch bearer of extremism & communalism in this ever evolving world. It is high time, we Hindustanis & Pakistanis shun the deplorable principles of hypocritical hatred amongst each other and start fighting jihad, a fight with inner-self in a more spiritual way!!! Let the Trinity (that God exists as three persons) be the only propitious unit of ‘three’ prevail in this world with God being present at the centre and balancing the two extremes of love & hatred, good & evil. Let us hope the numeral would only increment for the universal glory and not for the ill-fated discourse.
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Shiv Kumar Batalvi
Continuing with the questions about mysterious events in this world, today I bring to you yet again a mystifying figure, the person who was famous, yet so mystique, one who did break the code of life, yet couldn’t save self from the strings of death, one who died to live as a legend, or lived dying the death forever in his living. He was a great poet, a magical composer, an un-ordinary lyricist, a charming & adorable person, a lunatic lover, a charismatic individual and the undying patriot.
The person talked here is the great legend, Shiv Kumar Batalvi. He was someone who understood the meaning of life, accepted everything that was everything in the spiritual world, rejected everything that was anything in this materialistic world, with such an in-depth wisdom and enlightenment of peace within, free from external world and surroundings. Nobody would ever be certain about his unexplained death, the death of a young soft spoken lad born on the land of the warriors, the death of a romantic lover who loved in the land of turmoil, the death of a poet who explained the life in his work.Shiv Kumar Batalvi was the son of a tehsildar in Punjab, who never knew that one day, he would go on to become one of the greatest poets in Punjabi Literature.
He was an alcoholic, who was made to drink by his companions to exploit his genius, got disease ridden by epilepsy at a very young age, but simultaneously wrote great works in poetry and songs by the age of 28 and died at the age of just 34 years. Truly, he was the legend in poetry brethren and the undying soul in this morbid world.
Above is the interview of the great whose message of love, pain, hatred, patriotism, brotherhood, friendship, needs to be spread around the whole world and in all literature. The interview shows the pain in his voice, the morbidity he sees in sorrow, the love in his passion, the attachment with people, and sadness in the way we are progressing. Salute to the greatest legend of all time!!!
One of his works:-
Monday, June 23, 2008
Thought
Life can not be explained with a mere definition,
it is something for which there exists no definition!!!
-Raghav
Destiny
Ever wondered what life is? Neither did Neo (from Matrix) must have thought what he was expected to do for the mankind and what all sacrifices he’ll have to make to achieve what he’s not destined for!!! Had he been a complete controller of his life, he would not have been the selected anti-Agent Smith to win the battle against evil machines. Was he the complete controller or a person selected as an anomaly by someone to break the matrix???
I never thought about the hackneyed yet so intriguing question about life!!!
And I still don’t see myself able to solve the mystery behind it, behind life and death, sadness and happiness, love and hatred, destiny and faith etc.
I never thought about the hackneyed yet so intriguing question about life!!!
And I still don’t see myself able to solve the mystery behind it, behind life and death, sadness and happiness, love and hatred, destiny and faith etc.
It feels like standing at the same place where I was originally and would continue to be at the same place where I am chronologically. Who asked me to write this piece here, what made me sit in front of the computer & made me think about life today when I’m supposed to be working for the job I get paid for? Is destiny driven by my control, all the actions I perform in daily musings, or is it the fate that defines my course of action for the future (that too whose??), and chalk out a plan about which nobody else knows; why would anybody else know even!!!
What is destiny?? I thought of it as something written for you by some supreme entity, which designed this universe, and dictated all the contents engraved on it. What I experience, what I live, re-live, learn, un-learn, grow, recede, is all as per my destiny. Or is not? Isn’t destiny something that is not controlled by me or by my actions? I’ve heard people telling me various paths available to reach to the desired destiny, I ask, what is desired destiny then??? How would an individual desire something cherishing out of a ‘thing’ that is pre-defined by the LORD (if so ever he/she exists!!!) himself? How can numerous paths change the destination if all of them points towards the same thing?
Yes, alternative paths are available to race towards your destiny, but what’s the point of running a single individual race where you would anyways reach one fine day (death)!!! Isn’t destiny an end where all our expectations begin? Isn’t it a black hole (an anomaly) from where all our desires emerge? I could never find answer to any of those questions and the quandary continues within.
Prevalence of GOD:-
Nobody knows whether GOD actually exists as some supreme entity that defines this universe or not! Even I have belief in Him, but the logics somehow do not allow His Omni-presence to intercept within my soul infinitely.
If everything in this world has a beginning, what was the beginning of the almighty?
If He has been there forever, then why isn’t there anything in this universe that doesn’t have an end?
If time flows, then what was the time when it was zero (t=0) and what was the time when it was below zero, c’mon tell in those Newtonian mechanic terms?
If evolution is answer to human development questions, then what is the relevance of Adam & Eve?
If I go as per my belief that God definitely exists, and it is because of the almighty that we are progressing the way we are, then aren’t we heading towards something that the Lord himself doesn’t want? Or is He trying to test humans to see to what extreme extent of negativity we can reach? But for everything negative, there’s positivity attached to it. God creates a balance in everything, day n night, male n female, sun n shade, left n right, right n wrong, good n evil, almost everything. But if positive aura is also present around, then isn’t this whole balancing act helping God to reach nowhere.
Another question that raises in my mind, if we people define our own destiny, then why can’t we get what we desire? Why do an ailing child can’t born in a resource rich country by deciding his/her destiny at the time when it is present in mother’s womb?
If destiny is individual controlled, then shouldn’t the destiny of everyone be independent from each other? But they aren’t. Our actions generate an equal reaction in every tangible/non tangible entity that exists around us. If destiny is so human controlled, why cant most of the people change from what they are & what they intend to be for their entire life even if they want to?
I suppose there would be 100’s of those questions left unanswered within my soul and would either have to wait for my destiny to show me the answers for all of them or have to turn the stones around to find an answer for all of these bugging questions (of course by changing the destiny); don’t know what would happen, asks you out there to solve this real life Rubik’s cube with those 6 exhilarating faces of life, death, sadness, prosperity, love & hatred!!!
What is destiny?? I thought of it as something written for you by some supreme entity, which designed this universe, and dictated all the contents engraved on it. What I experience, what I live, re-live, learn, un-learn, grow, recede, is all as per my destiny. Or is not? Isn’t destiny something that is not controlled by me or by my actions? I’ve heard people telling me various paths available to reach to the desired destiny, I ask, what is desired destiny then??? How would an individual desire something cherishing out of a ‘thing’ that is pre-defined by the LORD (if so ever he/she exists!!!) himself? How can numerous paths change the destination if all of them points towards the same thing?
Yes, alternative paths are available to race towards your destiny, but what’s the point of running a single individual race where you would anyways reach one fine day (death)!!! Isn’t destiny an end where all our expectations begin? Isn’t it a black hole (an anomaly) from where all our desires emerge? I could never find answer to any of those questions and the quandary continues within.
Prevalence of GOD:-
Nobody knows whether GOD actually exists as some supreme entity that defines this universe or not! Even I have belief in Him, but the logics somehow do not allow His Omni-presence to intercept within my soul infinitely.
If everything in this world has a beginning, what was the beginning of the almighty?
If He has been there forever, then why isn’t there anything in this universe that doesn’t have an end?
If time flows, then what was the time when it was zero (t=0) and what was the time when it was below zero, c’mon tell in those Newtonian mechanic terms?
If evolution is answer to human development questions, then what is the relevance of Adam & Eve?
If I go as per my belief that God definitely exists, and it is because of the almighty that we are progressing the way we are, then aren’t we heading towards something that the Lord himself doesn’t want? Or is He trying to test humans to see to what extreme extent of negativity we can reach? But for everything negative, there’s positivity attached to it. God creates a balance in everything, day n night, male n female, sun n shade, left n right, right n wrong, good n evil, almost everything. But if positive aura is also present around, then isn’t this whole balancing act helping God to reach nowhere.
Another question that raises in my mind, if we people define our own destiny, then why can’t we get what we desire? Why do an ailing child can’t born in a resource rich country by deciding his/her destiny at the time when it is present in mother’s womb?
If destiny is individual controlled, then shouldn’t the destiny of everyone be independent from each other? But they aren’t. Our actions generate an equal reaction in every tangible/non tangible entity that exists around us. If destiny is so human controlled, why cant most of the people change from what they are & what they intend to be for their entire life even if they want to?
I suppose there would be 100’s of those questions left unanswered within my soul and would either have to wait for my destiny to show me the answers for all of them or have to turn the stones around to find an answer for all of these bugging questions (of course by changing the destiny); don’t know what would happen, asks you out there to solve this real life Rubik’s cube with those 6 exhilarating faces of life, death, sadness, prosperity, love & hatred!!!
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
Letter to TOI
Article published in TOI on 18/06/08
Those of us who have some hope of remaining alive for the next 20 years will be very worried about the doomsday predictions for the environment. Looks like the world won’t just be a hothouse, but a very bleak house — ACs in Srinagar, no rain in Cherrapunji, Londoners without overcoats, Bangladesh under water and base camps almost at the top of Everest because the mountain sans snow and fog won’t be half as treacherous as it is now. Of course, the Chinese would have made the whole thing easier by building metal roads that would take truckloads of T-shirt clad tourists right up to where Hillary and Tenzing planted their victory flags, but that’s besides the point. The issue, really, is that in the absence of proactive steps by governments across the world, who obviously choose economics over ecology, letting developing countries do the emissions saving for them in the name of carbon credits, who will take care of the environment, global warming, vanishing pandas and tigers? The capitalists, who else. Just privatise the environment and see what a difference it makes. For money, they will gladly make a business of it and even go to the extent of saving humanity from imminent collapse. This is how the model will work. Each eco-entrepreneur — let’s call them that until something more apt is coined — will bid for “spaces” in an auction by the government. Ghaziabad will go to someone and Noida to someone else. Mumbai, of course, will go to one of the Ambanis. It’ll be the sole responsibility of the winners to ensure that their space is as clean as what is mandated by a global body. This will mean that the air in their specific areas of operation is permissibly clean, the rivers have no effluents, endangered species don’t go extinct, the water table doesn’t dip further, the hills don’t become naked without pines and both flora and fauna are secured well. For his hard work — because he will have to tackle the industry, poachers, agriculturists, bus operators and autorickshaw guys, almost everyone who’s out to make a fast buck at the cost of earth — the eco-entrepreneur will get a good portion of the taxpayers’ money. Everyone will be happy, except maybe netas fattening up on huge cuts from various cartels. In which case, we can go one step ahead and privatise politics.
To quote a few; Africa (read as resource rich nature), being a nation with a hugely growing vegetation & highest rate of forests growth in the world, is cut down by countries like US (read as those private advanced nation players) excessively just to serve their own interests. Another example to quote here is again of US economy causing most terrible impact on environment. Kyoto protocol did create a technique of saving eco-system using Carbon credits, but the day wouldn't be far when an equal encouragement to pollute would be made to earn more profits monetarily in one place on the expense of the other (nation) just like arms race.
Privatizing the space-width would not be a wise decision for protection of the environment. It reminds one of the novel 'Frankenstein' by Mary Shelly which had a living being named Frankenstein with all likelihood of a human, but went on to be a lot more powerful and a gruesome monster. Playing with the forces of nature and taking control over them would never result in anybody's good, the race can go beyond all human expectations one day!!!
In the article, author talks about the sharing of space geographically amongst the big shots for the good of the environment, plants and animals. But that idea has a very acute & dominating limp attached to it. When individuals run business, ethics & moral values receive a toss, and stakes are automatically higher when it is the question of safeguarding our environment. The tendency to save the environment using capitalism would definitely lose it's objective in long run and eventually one day become a warring battle between players to make the most out of it. The only entities that would bear the brunt would be plants, animals, common man and the environment. Privatization would lead to privatization of basic amenities of nature, which may include inhaling a clean air, drinking clean water, eating a non-genetically induced vegetation. And on same hand, it would lead to severe catastrophes like cloning of the endangered species, creating of artificial food, revoking the rights of the individuals, tussle between people for agricultural land, security concerns over other's industrial set-ups, exploitation of workers, inflation going overboard, government losing control etc.
Protection of environment, reducing greenhouse gases, planting trees, reducing effluents discharge are the objectives for the future. But more viable, feasible, practical and environment friendly steps need to be devised as a course of action needs to be carved out. Use of more renewable source of energy, employing the benefits of carbon credits, creating awareness amongst individuals and nations, exploiting the best use of Solar energy, nuclear energy etc would help in protecting the eco-system. Alternative fuels like ethanol etc. can be studied as a replacement for combustible fuels. As the adage goes, with great power, comes greater responsibility. Now it is the responsibility of humans to define a track that would define future for us and our generations to come.
Environment Inc(Anand Soondas)
Those of us who have some hope of remaining alive for the next 20 years will be very worried about the doomsday predictions for the environment. Looks like the world won’t just be a hothouse, but a very bleak house — ACs in Srinagar, no rain in Cherrapunji, Londoners without overcoats, Bangladesh under water and base camps almost at the top of Everest because the mountain sans snow and fog won’t be half as treacherous as it is now. Of course, the Chinese would have made the whole thing easier by building metal roads that would take truckloads of T-shirt clad tourists right up to where Hillary and Tenzing planted their victory flags, but that’s besides the point. The issue, really, is that in the absence of proactive steps by governments across the world, who obviously choose economics over ecology, letting developing countries do the emissions saving for them in the name of carbon credits, who will take care of the environment, global warming, vanishing pandas and tigers? The capitalists, who else. Just privatise the environment and see what a difference it makes. For money, they will gladly make a business of it and even go to the extent of saving humanity from imminent collapse. This is how the model will work. Each eco-entrepreneur — let’s call them that until something more apt is coined — will bid for “spaces” in an auction by the government. Ghaziabad will go to someone and Noida to someone else. Mumbai, of course, will go to one of the Ambanis. It’ll be the sole responsibility of the winners to ensure that their space is as clean as what is mandated by a global body. This will mean that the air in their specific areas of operation is permissibly clean, the rivers have no effluents, endangered species don’t go extinct, the water table doesn’t dip further, the hills don’t become naked without pines and both flora and fauna are secured well. For his hard work — because he will have to tackle the industry, poachers, agriculturists, bus operators and autorickshaw guys, almost everyone who’s out to make a fast buck at the cost of earth — the eco-entrepreneur will get a good portion of the taxpayers’ money. Everyone will be happy, except maybe netas fattening up on huge cuts from various cartels. In which case, we can go one step ahead and privatise politics.
Thoughts (An Opinion sent to TOI Editor):-
Privatization of the environment?
Sounds good, but not an ideal solution in this far stretched world out there. Where we have sub-Sahara African countries like Mali etc., to places in Middle East and other developing nations all sustaining at the whims & fancies of the great super powers of the world, one just cannot anticipate the participation of private players as a blessing in disguise for protection of environment.To quote a few; Africa (read as resource rich nature), being a nation with a hugely growing vegetation & highest rate of forests growth in the world, is cut down by countries like US (read as those private advanced nation players) excessively just to serve their own interests. Another example to quote here is again of US economy causing most terrible impact on environment. Kyoto protocol did create a technique of saving eco-system using Carbon credits, but the day wouldn't be far when an equal encouragement to pollute would be made to earn more profits monetarily in one place on the expense of the other (nation) just like arms race.
Privatizing the space-width would not be a wise decision for protection of the environment. It reminds one of the novel 'Frankenstein' by Mary Shelly which had a living being named Frankenstein with all likelihood of a human, but went on to be a lot more powerful and a gruesome monster. Playing with the forces of nature and taking control over them would never result in anybody's good, the race can go beyond all human expectations one day!!!
In the article, author talks about the sharing of space geographically amongst the big shots for the good of the environment, plants and animals. But that idea has a very acute & dominating limp attached to it. When individuals run business, ethics & moral values receive a toss, and stakes are automatically higher when it is the question of safeguarding our environment. The tendency to save the environment using capitalism would definitely lose it's objective in long run and eventually one day become a warring battle between players to make the most out of it. The only entities that would bear the brunt would be plants, animals, common man and the environment. Privatization would lead to privatization of basic amenities of nature, which may include inhaling a clean air, drinking clean water, eating a non-genetically induced vegetation. And on same hand, it would lead to severe catastrophes like cloning of the endangered species, creating of artificial food, revoking the rights of the individuals, tussle between people for agricultural land, security concerns over other's industrial set-ups, exploitation of workers, inflation going overboard, government losing control etc.
Protection of environment, reducing greenhouse gases, planting trees, reducing effluents discharge are the objectives for the future. But more viable, feasible, practical and environment friendly steps need to be devised as a course of action needs to be carved out. Use of more renewable source of energy, employing the benefits of carbon credits, creating awareness amongst individuals and nations, exploiting the best use of Solar energy, nuclear energy etc would help in protecting the eco-system. Alternative fuels like ethanol etc. can be studied as a replacement for combustible fuels. As the adage goes, with great power, comes greater responsibility. Now it is the responsibility of humans to define a track that would define future for us and our generations to come.
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