My Best Friend - Atul

I could barely count above ten and A,B,C,D.... was a Rocket Science for me. Then also, I knew that he is my best friend. He was and is my first social link which I established on my own. His name is ‘Atul’, not only he was my best friend but also somebody from whom I drew lot of inspiration. He always got first prize in drawing (his family trait), very good hand writing, fit for any sport, a sprinter, laughs like Shahrukh Khan even looks like him :) and an impeccably dressed person. Not from my mother but he taught me how to tie shoe laces, sounds funny though.

We were simply connected to each other. I remember eating all his lunch - out of two paranthas, he used to bring, one was always mine. Our classmates used to conspire, sometimes, to set us apart and were successful at times; I used to cry like a lost baby whenever he did lunch with others, ignoring me. But then Atul always came back. He was bad at expressing his feelings, he remains so today also. Hasn’t changed a bit in all these years.

My eye sight started becoming weak, 8th Standard onwards. I used to have problem taking down notes from the black board. So his notebook used to be my blackboard. Till 10^th Standard, I had taken my notes from his notebooks, though I started wearing spectacles but I was terribly slow at writing. At times he used to be very naughty by not letting me see his notes, he simply enjoyed this act of his. My class work was never up to date and I was too lazy to complete my home work. My school diaries were all painted RED with ‘Class work and Home work not done’ – courtesy Mr. Atul Kumar. On being asked by teachers “How many of you have not completed your homework, raise your hand”, I used to hide myself to get saved from a punishment or embarrassment, but my dear friend used to push my hand up in the air, getting me noticed. I was always upset with this act of his, but he never stopped. It annoyed me then but today it has enabled me to face my mistakes and learn from them because my good friend never supported or covered my mistakes.

Our houses were nearby; we were part and parcel of each other’s life. My mother recalls giving him medicine for stomach ache during annual day celebration- we were in 5^th standard at that time. His father, aunties, brother are all very close to me. I was a regular visitor to his home till they shifted from Munirika to Bahadurgarh.

Hustle and Bustle of life has pulled us apart, distance increased between us. Still, we remain connected.

I wept in solitude knowing that aunty, his mother, expired in an accident. I got to know it when I called to wish him happy Diwali two years back. I could not believe this and still I am not ready to accept this reality. I feel that she is very much around us. Instructions she gave us, food she fed us and off-course her smile all remain very fresh in my mind.

Last time I met Atul was to invite him for my wedding. True to my belief, without disappointing me, he did not turn up. Today, we rarely meet, never chat and are very allergic to calling each other on phone. Still, we are best of buddies.

You can never rate your friends because all are special, some are inspiration and some help us to liberate. Atul is everything for me. We were never friends in need but we will remain friends forever indeed!!

I should have written this long back but actually his comment on my last blog inspired me to attempt this.

V-Day for me in short....

My first Saint Valentine’s Day, post marriage was dedicated to world peace and harmony, though we never intended for it to be so J. Being Sunday I really had no option but to celebrate and why not.

I will remember this V-Day for a very long time, and for many reasons like the first after marriage, no time limit to come to home, watching a movie, and then the Indo-Pak food festival at Dilli Haat. All in all it was a great day and the last two events added lots of love and flavor to it.

It was just like any other Sunday, much required for me though. After changing my job it was the first weekend without any prior engagements. In the late afternoon we went to watch My Name is Khan.... halfway through the movie I was thinking is it a movie to be watched on this day, the V-DAY! Message from the movie was conventional, re-packaged with crisis facing the contemporary world; focusing largely on the plight of minorities and prejudice against them. But such movies should be made and served to the society and there cannot be a day as perfect as 14th of Feb to watch it. Well, I noticed for 2 hrs and 40 minutes, my dear Wife had wet eyes. I did not interrupt it at all. On the contrary, I was trying to figure out locations at San Francisco ( I tell you...those who visit seldom visitors are so curious).

After the movie, we headed to Dilli Haat for Indo Pak food festival. No idea whether there were groups from Pakistan or not, but Kebab Lounge from Noida had done a great job. They were serving cuisines popular in both the countries at a very exciting price menu. For having our share of Biryani, Mutton korma and Shahi Tukda, we had to stand in a queue which was ready to burst into the INA Market across the road. Finally, our turn came and the food was tasty and filling . Long live Indo-Pak friendship, food from the countries is as spicy as relations. I settled my dinner with Ice-cream while my wife opted for south Indian coffee...we are poles apart. However, I think poles apart hold the world together.

So this was in short the day in its totality.... count-down begins for the next...

Childhood

When I was five

Any height was easy to dive

But now I think twice

And they say

Mate! You’re confident

When you are a child

You don’t think otherwise

Because you’re still naive

World at large seems nice

And you go on doing things you like

Child’s heart is wide open

It understands no worldly notions

Now, notions are the main stay

Life is no more playing with clay

I wish to be a kid again

Play in the rain

Dance with the friends

Want to sing loud, dance on the clouds

I wish to be a kid again!

The Day when Luxury became Tragedy!!

“They came, they again conquered us and we kept saying that Sprit of Mumbai/India can’t be defeated.”

Let’s not fool ourselves anymore; the fact is that somewhere down the line we are failing as a nation. Last few days every Indian would have pondered enough to arrive at a conclusion that our individual and regional priorities are overshadowing our identity as a nation.

I also came to a conclusion that our political system needs to work on the rationale; right now it seems, only guiding forces are unguided emotions (jingoism). It is extremely sad state of affairs for the world’s largest democracy. Now, issue is not exclusively about terror and terrorism but also about the way we conduct ourselves. I am sure in a week or so all these events would turn into a hazy memory. I am ending these worries here only because each one of us knows these things very well.

Terrorism has gone parallel with the globalization and it seems that they have better global networking and cooperation among themselves. Nothing seems to curb their activities and it is for sure terrorist are not affected by recession. India’s biggest problem is that it had tried to be unrealistically super modest with its neighbours. Our geopolitical situation is such that, terrorism is always risk to us. For these terrorist, we manifest the western world due to our liberal outlook and secular style of living. Therefore, western world should understand our circumstances comprehensively and support us strongly to wipe out terror from the sub-continent. If we have a dream to be a prominent power center then we need to act like one, let’s not be soft on terror and we should now take them by surprise something they keep doing with us. West doesn’t actually know what terror is all about; India is surviving it for years.

Why are we calling it India’s 9/11… I don’t really understand; do we really need to follow these naming conventions. To be a super power, it is required to have your own standards otherwise we will always end up looking for imported solutions. Before this bloody event probably attack on Parliament was India’s 9/11. It is high time we should come above all this and understand that it is an attack on the very existence of India and a continuous heinous attempt to rip us apart.

It is the time to give real meaning to our independence and make those souls proud who altruistically stood for our freedom. Next time when we vote, we should vote for INDIA not for our petty individual identities.

“Understand yourself better to let others understand you better”

Wrote this immediately after 26/11...

Gladiatorial attitude of our times

Once, there existed Rome, a modern city of the olden times, which was the first to establish political systems and social institutions. Rome had a very unusual means of entertainment for its people, the gladiatorial fights. These games were held between the prisoners of war (slaves) who were trained to be professional fighters. Games caught up with the public, and at times these were financed by the State for the entertainment of its subjects. Colosseums were built as permanent venues for these brutal and blood-soaked tournaments.

This reveals that barbarism has existed even in the most civilized societies of the world. 

Now, can you apply the gladiatorial attitude of the olden times in the world today?

“I think, yes." The only difference is that assaults have become more mental than physical and are far more demeaning, but we tend to enjoy them because they entertain us. If you have observed the kind of entertainment that is being served to us, you will get my point.

In the name of entertainment, the production houses are focusing on stimulating human beings' very mean and selfish instincts. Participation and competition in these programs have degraded to a hideous level, but why should we complain, as it is entertaining us? Let it be hunt of singers, roadies, and actors or housemates living aloof from real life for reality TV; none of these can succeed if there aren’t arguments, abuse, or altercations (at times). I do not understand how much real frustration, aggressiveness, and cunningness are on reality TV. Every program swears to have a tiff between its players; otherwise, who is watching them, “competitors are rivals or vice-versa.” This is injected into the psyche of each participant, and it works. We find them coming out of their so-called Page3 face, and then they are no more than street-side bands. Not even that once these events are finished, channels make sure that we continue to live on the legacy of these disgusting serials and they provide us with a ‘rearview’ of the whole plot, where some of the most abusive pals meet to share their most f%&*@ experiences. We still enjoy being glued to our TV sets and enacting the same onscreen plot in real life, but we sometimes mess up.

Gone are the days when we used to enjoy serials like Malgudi Days, Buniyaad, and Hum Log. Society was less outgoing but more in harmony at home and even outside. Choices were limited, but they were more defined and qualitative. Today, options are flooding, but not enough.

Maybe this is what we want to watch, which is why it is selling; media reflects society, but how much media affects society must also be observed.

I call this the coming of gladiatorial times; assaults have turned more mental than physical; tactics to entertain viewers are simply barbaric. I will wait for the time when the media performs more of a cleansing act, no matter what it takes on their part. Also, society needs to adopt a more restrained attitude; I am personally tired of watching crappy stuff on TV