Remembering Sardar, not forgetting Indira

Today is the birth anniversary of the iron man of India, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel. It is also the death anniversary of our late Prime Minister, Smt. Indira Gandhi.

Sardar Patel was amongst the tallest leaders of our freedom movement and newly independent India. In fact, today what we know as India is largely due to his efforts. Anyways, I guess we do remember our school books mentioning this particular aspect of our history. On the other hand, Smt. Gandhi was one of the strongest PMs India ever had. So strong, that once she curbed the very democracy that made her PM!

This post doesn’t attempt to be a history lesson. Though I hope that today’s youth understands the difference between a leader who unified India versus one who despite her many strong points, subverted the very idea of Indian democracy. (That particular episode, of forced emergency is not taught in our govt. controlled history curriculum.)

What this post attempts is to be a brief reminder of how we, largely fed by our media are gradually relegating those who really matter(ed) to only the history books while making gods out of those well, who don’t matter that much. See the number of ads devoted to Mrs. Gandhi in today’s newspapers versus the one ad remembering Sardar. All these ads have been carried out by the ruling party Congress or the various government ministries under its control. (And it is the taxpayers money, our money that fuels this sycophancy.) I would have been happy if it were only sycophancy on Congress’ part. Its dynastic cult is quite well-known to be talked about here.

What I’m more worried about is the gradual replacement of our true history by the one sponsored by those who have ruled us for the major part of our independent existence. Contrary to what Congress’ and its media managers want us to believe, Sardar and what he did for India is far more important than Indira and her way of ruling India. And this little, 370 odd words post is my attempt to set things right, in my own insignificantly significant way. Today is my day, our day, to first remember Sardar, while not forgetting Indira as well. Are you with me?

remembering Premchand

July 31 was the birthday of one of the greatest Indian authors Dhanpat Rai, more popularly known as Munshi Premchand. this post is an attempt to compile some web resources about Munshi ji, to serve as an introduction to those who haven't read him before (especially the younger generation), and as a resource to those who would love to remember him more often.

am not writing a detailed introduction here, because one of my favorite bloggers has written this short but beautiful piece on his importance and relevance in our literature and in fact our lives. do read the post, "Premchand is important" here: http://goo.gl/yJh9w

here's a link to his page on wikipedia: http://goo.gl/1m7UE just don't read the story summaries in the end, they'll act as spoilers :)

for majority of his stories and one novel 'nirmala' click here, "Munshi Premchand's creations": http://goo.gl/awf18

and here's a link to download majority of his novels as pdf, "Munshi Premchand collection": http://goo.gl/H3j5f

these links are great resources for new readers though i would really request you to buy a collection of his stories and individual novels as paper books, there are many versions available from a variety of publishers. happy reading!

and in the end, a reminder of what we do to our artists: "Premchand's ancestral home crying for attention" a news report from the Times Of India here: http://goo.gl/ojZTU

hope you found this post engaging. thanks for taking the time.

Goa calling

once again, Goa is calling, for Indian advertising industry's biggest annual show, Goafest.

i'm going there with five of my team members from the McCann Healthcare Delhi office. joining us will be our Mumbai team and many from other divisions of the Delhi office. and of course the whole of industry will be there.

meeting the Mumbai guys will be cool, so will be the beaches and the beers! there are some wild elements in our troupe who've been planning some interesting things. i on the other hand am looking forward to rubbing shoulders with the best in the business and just going along with the flow.

whatever the spirit, we all are definitely looking forward to having some fun. and a bit of learning too :D

will keep you updated with things as they happen. we are not going to be there for a long time, but as my dada Shantanu said, "it is not the number of days, it is the number of hours that i'm looking forward to!"

see you in Goa, soon!

p.s. if i get good network connectivity there, u might also get regular tweets from my twitter account @delhidreams and/OR my facebook page here.enjoy!

when mortals become gods

New Delhi, 02 April, 2011
some time before 12 in the night


Mortals have become Gods
We've won the Cricket World Cup 2011


i was down at the temple corner. they had put up a giant screen with a live DJ and hundreds of men, women, boys and girls gathered there, cheering each and every run team India made. it was electric. each shot, each run, each break celebrated with bhangra and madness. and we won, we won, we won!

the image of Sachin rushing on to the ground (later i read that he had not watched the winning runs as he was praying inside the dressing room!), his time-stopping hug of Yuvi, the victory lap with youngsters carrying him on their shoulders, Dhoni - the humble leader making the back of the procession, these images will stay with me forever. the brightest moments of my cricket viewing career ;)


but i also felt very lonely. there i was, surrounded by hundreds of strangers, desperately needing someone to hug, someone to share my tears of joy with. missed her so much that i can't even explain. joys or sorrows are worthwhile only when shared with someone you love.


later we did get to talk, and we couldn't. it was overwhelming. i must have went on and on about what this cup meant for India, for the team, for Sachin... but she had already converted over to the cult of the 'God!'


and for me, it was an affirmation, my belief in destiny doubled; that yes, there is somebody up there who writes such scripts, that yes, there is redemption, that patience pays, that i should never-ever lose faith, because hard work and sheer dedication always pays, that the universe is with Sachin and me and with all those who believe...

...it is only belief that converts mere mortals into all conquering Gods

this is a video of the last few runs of the match, each ball cheered, music and dance at every step, it was sheer madness to be a part of this crowd on the streets of New Delhi.

"What the hell is going on in this country?" -Supreme Court

"SC pulls up Centre for slacking on money launderers", says a headline. A guy who is alleged to have stashed around USD 8 billion in foreign banks, was served a notice for a tax demand for about Rs 50,000 crore!!! Our government is not bothered about where and how he got this huge amount of money, whether he has anti-national connections, nothing, as if he is just a tax offender! No wonder the honorable court had to show its exasperation!!!

Another order by the Supreme Court today, quashed the appointment of P J Thomas as CVC, slamming the Prime Minister-headed High-Powered Committee for the appointment of a person facing a criminal case. Just think about the sheer brazenness of our government. Here is a post which is supposed to upheld the highest standards of probity in the country, and the person you are appointing for it is already facing a corruption case against him! Still he was chosen by the three member HPC in which the leader of the opposition was vehemently against this appointment! And now our PM will say that we looked only at his bio-data!!! C'mon guys, even in a normal corporate job, a thorough background check is done to see whether the person you are hiring is good for the post or not. Even for a housemaid the police advices us to check her background and credentials! Who are these guys trying to fool?

And these two are amongst the few issues in the news. I shudder to think of the many more future headlines still under wraps, waiting for a whistle-blower or diligent media person to uncover, like in the case of 2G scam.

How in the world can our so-called 'honest' PM be ignorant of these things happening right under his nose? Ignorant will be the wrong word, actually he and his party are just dismissive of these things now. 

I wonder what the Indian voter is thinking or doing. I'm asking the same question as the honorable judges asked, "What the hell is going on in this country?" Are you too?

ये कैसी अंग्रेजी बाबू

ये कैसी अंग्रेजी बाबू

माँ हुयी है मम्मी बाबू

काँटा-छुरी के हेर-फेर में

छुटी हाथ की ममता बाबू 

कुरते से पायजामा बिछड़ा

माथे से तिलक है उजड़ा

जींस-टॉप के फैशन में

बिंदिया हुयी परायी बाबू

ये कैसी अंग्रेजी बाबू...

देख ज़माना कैसा बदला

त्योहारों का रंग-ढंग बदला

valentine day के चक्कर में

बसंत पंचमी भुलाई बाबू

ये कैसी अंग्रेजी बाबू...

खेत से नाता टूट गया है

गाँव पीछे छूट गया है

इंडिया के संग भारत भी है

पर देता नहीं दिखाई बाबू

ये कैसी अंग्रेजी बाबू...

माना अंग्रेजी बेहद जरूरी

दुनिया से मिटाती दूरी

पर अंग्रेजियत के नशे में

भारतीयता क्यूँ भुलाई बाबू

ये कैसी अंग्रेजी बाबू...

disclaimer: more than a comment on the so-called westernization of the Indian society, it is a personal statement on loss of the traditions that make us Indians what we are. and the irony is, i'm writing this in English :)

हमारी गिनती हो गयी है! we've been counted!

9 से 28 फरवरी 2011 तक, डी और उसके जैसे हजारों स्कूल शिक्षक एड़ी-छोटी का ज़ोर लगायेंगे, हमारे घर आएंगे, दुनिया के सबसे बड़े जनगणना कार्यक्रम में. हमारा फ़र्ज़ बनता है की हम इन मेहमानों का स्वागत करें और हर तरह से इनकी सहायता करें. और फिर गर्व से दुनिया को बताएं, हाँ हमारी गिनती हो गयी है! :)


from 9th till 28th of February, Dee and thousands of teachers like her will run from pillar to post in the biggest census exercise in the world. friends, let's welcome these guests to our homes, help them to the best of our abilities and tell the world with pride, yes we too have been counted :)

this time, there are 2.5 million enumerators this time with thousands of teachers amongst them.

i feel more concerned for the women teachers because they are the really hard-pressed ones. sending them after school, on holidays, to complete strangers' houses where they are not even welcome... and we know how thankless we all can be :(


that's why this little attempt to spread some awareness. hope it'll be of some help :)

news flash: my first published article

"As a part of my New Year resolutions, I decided I’ll start writing a diary about my favorite sport - cricket. You see, while growing up I was dubbed the ‘Rahul Dravid’ of my mohalla cricket team. Though my playing career didn’t go any further, I feel am as much a student of the game as the esteemed Mr. Dravid. And now that life has brought me into a position where my main job is daydreaming and writing advertisements that not many like to read, I can devote ample time to writing about my passion that cricket is."

So here it is, my first cricket related article in a mainstream website.

Childhood Memories

Do click on the title and leave a comment or two at the page. I'll be really glad if you share it with your friends as well :) Hope you'll like it enough!

Swami Vivekananda and the social networking generation

"Take up one idea. Make that one idea your life - think of it, dream of it, live on idea. Let the brain, muscles, nerves, every part of your body, be full of that idea, and just leave every other idea alone. This is the way to success." - Swami Vivekananda.

It is Swami Vivekananda's birth anniversary today. But does this matter to we the facebook, twitter generation of young Indians? Pity is, many amongst us don't even understand what he was and what he did for our nation, for our spirituality. That our government has labelled this day as National Youth Day is ironic at best!

I'll keep this post short, very short. All i would request you, my young friends is to study some works by him. Because if you are an Indian, if you've to know and understand the idea of India, and if you are interested in the spiritual aspect of Hinduism (though you don't have to be a Hindu to appreciate him!) you've to know, understand, study, the life and works of Swami Vivekananda. I've read some of his works, that's why i can say this with surety.

And maybe, by the time we celebrate the next youth day, we'll have better understanding of him and his contribution towards the making of India.

diwali mubarak

Diwali is my favorite festival and i wish all of u, my dear friends a very very happy and enjoyable year ahead :) May your homes and heart always be filled with the light of love *hugs*

a day at the Durga Puja

October-November are the months of festivals in India. and one of the most important festival in northern and eastern India is the Durga Puja. the little Bengali dominated enclave of C R park is the heart of Durga Puja celebrations in New Delhi, the capital of India and the city i call home :)

Bengali's are the people who take their festivals seriously, with the Puja being their biggest and most important festival. The arrival and stay of Mother Goddess Durga during nine days of Navratri is celebrated in many other parts of the country, but nowhere with this fanfare and
passion.

If you are in Delhi at around this point of time, it is highly recommended that you pack one day of your life visiting different pandals (venues) and pay obeisance to the Goddess. gaily dressed crowds, lots to eat, lots to click and yeah, so much to observe and marvel at, these are the
things that make my Durga Puja celebrations.

hope you'll like a few glimpses of my day in these pics :)


 

On the upcoming Ayodhya verdict

A tense, nervous India is waiting for the Ram Janmbhoomi-Babri Masjid land title verdict today. Unprecedented security measures have been taken by the governments at both centre and state levels, political parties have urged their supporters to maintain peace and respect the law of the land, media is spreading messages of peace and brotherhood continuously. Nobody wants a repeat of what happened in '92 and afterwards.

It is an important day for India. Let us remember we are Indians first and then only a Hindu or a Muslim. And as a poet, as a person of faith, as a human being, let me share with you what Kaifi saa'b wrote years ago. More than any day, this nazm is important and relevant for us today...

सोमनाथ

बुतशिकन कोई कहीं से भी न आने पाए

हमने कुछ बुत अभी सीने में सजा रक्खे हैं

अपनी यादों में बसा रखे हैं

दिल पे ये सोच के पथराव करो दीवानों

के जहाँ हमने सनम अपने छिपा रखे हैं

वहीँ गज़नी के खुदा रक्खे हैं

बुत जो टूटे तो किसी तरह बना लेंगे उन्हें

टुकड़े-टुकड़े सही दामन में उठा लेंगे उन्हें

फिर से उजड़े हुए सीने में सजा लेंगे उन्हें

गर खुदा टूटेगा हम तो न बना पाएंगे

उस के बिखरे हुए टुकड़े न उठा पाएंगे

तुम उठा लो तो उठा लो शायद

तुम बना लो तो बना लो शायद

तुम बनाओ तो खुदा जाने बनाओ क्या

अपने जैसा ही बनाया तो क़यामत होगी

प्यार होगा न ज़माने में मुहब्बत होगी

दुश्मनी होगी अदावत होगी

हम से उस की न इबादत होगी

वहशत-ए-बुत-शिकनी देख के हैरान हूँ मैं

बुत-परस्ती मेरा शेवा (आदत) है के इंसान हूँ मैं

इक न इक बुत तो हर एक दिल में छुपा होता है

उस के सौ नामों में एक नाम खुदा होता है

-कैफ़ी आज़मी

Somnath

Let no idol breaker arrive ever

a few idols are preserved in my heart

and in memories old

Before you cast a stone on my heart, o believer! remember

that the hiding place of our loves

and of the God of Ghazni

is the same

Should these idols break, i will recreate them

pick up the pieces, hold them in my arms

and establish them again, in my once vanquished heart

But if it is God that breaks, there will be no re-creation,

and no picking up of the pieces

You, however, may be able to pick up the pieces

and create a new God

But God alone knows of the God you will create

God save the world should He be like you

There will be no love in our world,

Just a lot of hatred, a lot of enmity..

I will not be able to worship that God

I am amazed at this madness of idol breaking

Idol worship is my habit, for a human i am

because every human heart houses an idol

one of the million names of which, is God

-Kaifi Aazmi

thanks to 'How Do We Know' for helping translate it into English

a note on yesterday's Bharat Bandh

for the first time since late 80s, the Opposition Left and Right in India united against Congress I party's misrule and gave a call for complete 'bandh' (total shutdown) of the country. a lot has been and is being said in favor or against this. while the opposition parties say it was a resounding success, the ruling Congress I says it was anti-people. and this cockiness of the riling party is what i didn't like.

whether a success or not, it was important for the Opposition to get united and forcefully tell the Government, that price rise is an issue that gravely affects the people and cannot be brushed under the carpet anymore. yes, any kind of bandh affects the day to day life of people involved, yes, it extracts a cost, but sometimes, disruption becomes important to draw the attention of the ruling Government towards the plight of common people.

if a peaceful, democratic, bandh is so anti-people, as the Congress I today claims, then the Satyagraha and the Civil Disobedience movements of Gandhi ji and the original Congress party against the British raj were equally anti-people, 'cos they also disrupted so-called normal life, financial transactions and functions of the Government of the day.

the fact is, whether a bandh or no bandh, everything, including the most essential commodities have seen run-away inflation in the present misrule of UPA-II (of which Congress I is the head). and the most affected by this are the very segments of society whose beneficiary Congress promises to be. it is very easy for some media houses, commenting from their air-conditioned spaces, to write this bandh off only as a disruptive attempt by the opposition parties, to write that this bandh was anti-people, to say that India 'lost' 13 thousand crores in a single day... it'll be very difficult for them to highlight the agony of the same 'common-man' on rest of the non-bandh 364 days of the year!

India's voting public possesses a notoriously short-term memory, and Congress I has highly skilled media managers, and that is why i hope that the Opposition keeps this issue on the 'front page' for as long as possible. we need not go back much to understand this, look where the Bhopal tragedy is in the news these days! Bharat Bandh's and Opposition's next trial will be in the monsoon session of the parliament, let's hope it doesn't become another Bhopal story by then!

i'll close with Bhagat Singh's words, "If the deaf are to hear, the sound has to be very loud." and this present Government has not only been deaf, but dumb and blind too. lets hope for salvation.

on Sachin's 38th Birthday

we all sing paeans for Sachin, put Him on the pedestal of a living God, but then what do we learn from Him? do we inculcate His humility, His commitment to work, His love and pride for the country...believe me, if we did any one of these things, we would be closer to the God He is then only remaining his fans for life. On His birthday today, i promise to myself (and to nobody else) that i'll try n inculcate these and many more learning from the only individual i've 'idolized' in my life.

thank God that i've Sachin to look up to. i wish Him all the best in everything He does.

23 March, 1931

do you know what this date stands for? i guess most of us amongst the Twitter/Facebook generation won't know. two years ago, i wrote this post, and sadly it still stands true :( when will we learn to respect our past?

can i expect a few thoughts from you?

Who killed Bhagat Singh?

India Passion League

For two months now, the biggest film industry in the world will not release any big-budget movie, the biggest soap-operas followed religiously in millions of middle-class households will run only re-runs during the prime time, productivity in offices, grades in schools and friction between government and opposition will reduce drastically; for two months now, nobody will count the number of tigers left in the wild, the number of fake godmen arrested in sex rackets, the number of jawans killed on the border; for two months now, this biggest democracy, number 134 on the UNDP Human Development Index and second most populous country on planet earth will live eat talk walk a sport that generates a collective euphoric amnesia like no other sport has ever done in the history of sport.

The IPL has just begun.

the candle and the night

As the day was setting, a tiny candle was lit. The night, proud of its powers made fun of her, “Little one, soon you’ll tire out and I’ll take over.”

The candle replied, “Soon the day will be gone and yes, you’ll get stronger by the hour. But don’t you know, the darker you are, the brighter I get?”

Today I’ll tell you about a similar candle and how it is bringing light to so many lives. And maybe, we all could help this candle burn bright in our own little ways…

Founded in January 2005, Esha is a non-profit initiative that is enabling visually impaired people live a better life. In words of its founder, “We are a team of volunteers spread across the country, who believe in equal opportunities for the blind and work towards the same.”

Esha stands for making visually impaired:
• Self-reliant and independent
By generating employment for the visually impaired
• Sensitizing the non-blind
By interactive theatre workshops
• Partnering with corporates for their CSR initiatives
By conducting workplace accessibility audits

You can help bring this light into more people’s lives.

• Help me spread the word, visit the Esha site www.braillecards.org Bookmark it, twitter it, share it on your Face Book or Orkut profile or write a blog post about Esha.

• Ask your boss or HR department to get your visiting cards ‘Braille enabled’. You can also request them to have an accessibility audit at the workplace.

• Take part in other activities of Esha, like its theatre workshop.

Esha does not ask you for any monetary assistance. All it asks for is an open heart and a desire to bring light where it is needed most.

Remember what the candle said to the night, “the darker you are, the brighter I get.”

Please read and comment

The following questions,

01. In India, is it possible to get braille on your visiting cards?
Yes/No.

02. Do you know of an organisation called Esha - People for the blind?
Yes/No.

and answer in the comments section before July 12th.

thanks a ton,

Adee

polling day

delhi goes to vote tomorrow. it'll be a public holiday, so that people at least don't have the excuse of office, to not vote. i hope that the maximum number of people exercise their choice. it's too easy to crib and comment on a government you didn't vote for, becomes a little difficult when you see what your chosen ones are doing.

16th of may is the result date. i wish my dear country the best of luck.

she can do with a little bit these days

:)

India all set for Moondance

India's maiden moon mission is ready to take off tomorrow, early morning.
Read the full report here. And related coverage here, and here.