Goodbye, nice to know you !

“When you win nothing hurts”, Frank you always said this. But, you can’t win all the time can you? I will keep it simple and short, as I know that there would be only a handful people who will read this.

Ever since I was ushered in this world, I was told about how I should behave towards society and people. The sheer embarrassment and delusion that people surround themselves in order to appease others makes me choke on my own vomit. The fake smile, the show of money, the status, fancy cars, watches, gadgets and things, these things that surround people all the time. I renounce this dogma. I am sick of it. Do this at this time, do that at another time. Religion, government and all the people have told me to do things as they wanted. I have had enough of this and now I need to take control of the things that I want to do.

Frank, I will be honest with you. You have given me all the luxuries that any woman could ever dream of, but in the event of giving me things to live, you forgot to give me a life. A life, where you and I could be together when we want, talk to each other face to face, holding hands and not through skype. I want to see you in the morning when I wake up in the morning not the walls of this huge and lonely house. Although, I am legally married to you, but work has been your life. I have failed in everything that I have done. I have neglected my life so much that I can barely think of any positives about it. I can’t fake it anymore now. Death comes only once, but I have died day in and day out. Every hour that I have spent in this house alone, makes me die, and every time I try is when every time I die.

When I think about the aims and desires that I had as a child, I can’t help myself but sulk. Deep down there is a great amount of regret that is burning my heart each moment of every hour that I live here. When and where will I meet my fate? Confined in these giant walls where there is nothing that my mind can perceive of life. The more I look outside, the more I feel my life starting to disappear. But, it all ends today.

Take care of Maggi. She will not miss me, as she loves the things that you have given her more than me. There is nothing more to write, nothing more to give. Just my life to take and leave this world.

Goodbye.

Feminist and Misogynist.

“Why are you a misogynist?”

“What? I am not a misogynist, why would you say that?” I replied, amazed by the sudden accusation made towards me.

“I think you are an anti-woman.” She continued to put her thoughts forward.

“I am not against women, I treat them the same way I treat men. Both are equal in my understanding, well almost equal.”

“That is not how you should treat a girl. Girls think very different from how boys think!”

“I will agree on that part, we are very different”, I smirked making a sarcastic remark, hoping she wouldn’t get it, and she didn’t disappoint me.

“I have seen you making remarks about girls, saying that they behave in strange ways. You should respect women. We have tolerated for a very long time, and now we should be treated equal.”

I knew that I had sparked a fire in the conversation.

“To be honest, girls do not use their brains when they have to, they are always living in a fantasy world of some sort. I say to you and all the others, come back to earth and face the reality!”

If I could portray an emoji for her reaction it has to be the one with the red face. She continued not to back down.

“You are constantly telling that women should be more responsible, but then there are things that we cannot do, like being physical and lifting heavy weights, that is a man’s job. I can accept that, but we should stop having words like chairman, mankind, and spokesman. Instead, we should be using words like chairperson, humankind and spokesperson.”

“Oh please, suddenly you are against words, what kind of sick idea is that. See, I told you, where you need to apply brain, you don’t. You are worried about changing words.” I remarked with a good comeback, hoping that she will back down. But, she didn’t.

“Again the same topic, you are not treating women with respect. That is not how you should talk to a girl. Your tone is rude to me, and its hurting.”

There is no comeback from this. Spinning around the same topic all the time. I stood up to leave but I -remarked one last time – “If you want respect, you need to earn it. Don’t demand it. You can continue to live in your fantasy world while I have to go to office.”

“What do you want for dinner today?” she asked with genuine concern.

“Some Italian would be great. Bye, and I love you”

“Love you too.”

Inspired by George Carlin's stand up comedy.

Young Guns

Back in 1983, when Sujit Banerjee and his ally Jatin Dasgupta fled Calcutta after a robbery, they carried with them two bonduks (locally made guns) and twenty thousand rupees. Bonduk is called tamancha in Uttar Pradesh and desi- kata (sometimes just katta) in Bihar. A bonduk is a small hand gun which is indigenously made in parts of India. It comes in handy and is cheaper than the foreign made guns, something that the killers and robbers of the country favored before the nineties. These guns were made by gun smiths and were sold only if their identity was kept in the dark. During the British colonialism, when the rebels fought against the British raj, they obviously didn’t import guns from outside. There were special gun smiths that learned the craft of developing a locally made gun and supplied it to the rebels. As India is a country where occupation is heredity, this art is still in practice and is kept under the eye of the government. Some also claim that the police knows about it, but they never say a word, because they are fed, under the table.

Sujit was a school dropout and Jatin dropped out from the famous Hindu college of Calcutta, which is now known as the Presidency University. Both knew each other for a long time, since they lived in the same hostel- the Bakers hostel in Taltala. Not only did they share the room, but also the poverty stricken nights without food. There were nights when they would satisfy their cravings with puffed rice and green chilies. On some nights, neither of those was available. The planning of the robbery was simple, hold a gun to the face of a businessman and take his money from his house. The motivation was obvious- money. The idea of robbing someone is difficult to execute, it is entirely on a different level of danger, but the motive and the most important thing in their mind was not to get caught. The execution was next to perfect and they managed to run away with twenty thousand cash. The police were informed and the search was on. But, both were not found, because they didn’t stay in Calcutta, they were on their way to Siliguri and from there to Nepal.

To dodge the police, they changed their modes of transportation, sometimes they travelled by train and sometimes by bus. Sometimes they walked for many kilometers, just to make sure they didn’t leave any traces behind. Jatin knew someone in Nepal who could help them settle there with the recently acquired cash. They first stopped in Asansol, then Malda, then travelled for 3 days to reach Kishangunj and finally they had to reach Siliguri. Between Kishanganj and Siliguri, they made a stop at Bagdogra- ten kilometers away from Siliguri.

Back in the days, Bagdogra was a notorious place and there was a lot of illegal smuggling that went on via the border of Nepal. Both of them decide to halt for few hours and then continue their journey hence. The border through Panitanki was not heavily guarded and even the police didn’t care about it. But, they did indulge themselves in random searches. If your luck ran out, they could seize the money and you end up in prison, Chances of that happening was one in a hundred. Both Sujit and Jatin were aware of the possible danger, but they were prepared to take the risk.

They made a stop near Bihar more at a local bar called the Mohini bar. Mohini bar was located at a deserted place, where few buildings were constructed. Unaware of the fact that this bar was owned by a rich landlord, it was a haven for thugs and hooligans. There was a sign board that read- “Children are not allowed”.

“Why are children not allowed?” asked Jatin trying to think that there was after all some sanctity in people alive.

“So that they don’t learn drinking and smoking” Sujit replied with some disgust and dragged Jatin in.

Most people who came to the bar were laborers and they didn’t have much cash on them. But, there was an illegal betting room, where some of the well to do people gambled during the day. During the day it is safe, as the police are busy with their activities and once in a blue moon, the raid is performed at night. Betting during the day was highly classified activity and only a few handful of people were allowed to enter the private room. The bets went on for hours without disturbance from people. Only alcohol was permitted inside through a waiter called Subhojit. Subhojit was twelve years old and was absolutely harmless, hence the selection. Nobody actually knew how high were the stakes but legend has it that few thousands were on offer.

Sujit walked in and scanned the place. He didn’t see many people, owing to the time of the day. Jatin followed a second later. There were seven tables with seating for four at each one of them. If the crowd was large, the tables were joined manually. The bartender was a burly man of late thirties, with less hair on his head and more on his face. He had a scar across his forehead, from an earlier confrontation of a physical battle. He wore ragged clothes and gave the impression of running the place smoothly without much money on offer. He gave a ghastly look, at the new customers and assigned them a table from the corner of the eye. A man of few words, Pradeep the bartender summoned Subhojit to service the new guests.

“What do you want sir? Ki lagbe?”

“What do you have?” said Sujit.

“Do you want Indian or foreign?”

“How much for foreign, and what is the pri..?” questioned Sujit to know his options, when he was interrupted by Jatin.

“Foreign kano? (Why foreign liquor) Manush aamader shondeho korbe! (People would suspect us)”, with the hinge of discomfort Jatin tried to stop Sujit.

“Chaap nis na bada! Kichu hobe na, accha foreign nibo na”, Sujit in turn consoled Jatin to relax and that nothing would happen and that he wouldn’t order foreign liquor.

Jatin relaxed for a while. Sujit in the meantime placed the order for a bottle of Indian liquor. To complement the alcohol, he also ordered for some snacks in the form of ‘bhuja’, which is referred to as Bombay mix in Great Britain.

The order was served in a few minutes and both of them indulged themselves into a private conversation regarding future plans.

“Listen, we will leave this place here and go to Panitanki, from there we go to Kakarbitta and from there to Kathmandu. Three days to do so, after that we need to plan together and stay focused.” Sujit reiterated the plan just to keep the conversation going for Pradeep not to be skeptical.

“Accha ekta kotha, tell me a thing, is ten thousand enough for one person? What if we need more money to send home? What if we run out of options?” Jatin tightened his brows with a worried look on his face.

“Tor mane ki? (What are you implying?)”

 “What if this money is not enough? What do we do then? Should we steal again, but we can’t take this gun to Nepal.”

“Thik bolchis, you are right, but do you have a plan?”

“We need extra money, just in case we need to bribe the police or for dire circumstances.” There was a silence and Jatin spoke again “What if we loot this place? It’s kind of deserted here, few people, no police nearby and these people hold in a lot of cash within their drawers, my gut feeling is kicking in. If we show them the gun we can get the money without bloodshed.” Before Jatin could finish Sujit interrupted.

“Bahire dhore nibe, they would catch us outside. We can’t run till Nepal like this, you are crazy.”

“No I am not, I saw a motorcycle outside and I saw the waiter deliver the keys to the bartender, we can run away on the motorcycle and ditch it somewhere after 10-15 kilometers. We will go to Panitanki after that. Nobody knows us and they wouldn’t even suspect us.”

“This sounds too good to be easy, let’s be satisfied with what we have. If you need money you can take some from me.” Sujit tried to shun the devilish idea that Jatin was having.

“Okay, let me observe for few more minutes and then I will tell you to abandon or to execute. There are currently two people here. One waiter and one bartender, which makes it four, excluding us. 

These are laborers and they will comply when a gun is at their face. The waiter is a child he will not do anything. This leaves us with the bartender, we are two and he is single. He is outnumbered and he will be unarmed, at least I hope so. He will not take a chance with his life. There is nobody outside. It’s hot and except the petrol pump there is nothing that could house people. I say let us do it.” Jatin thought about this in haste, but he was confident that he was not wrong.

A robbery here would be much easier than the one they had pulled out five days back. The bartender would naturally fear for his life and he is surely not the owner, so he would give the money.

“Oh sob thik aache, kintu taka kato pabo?” Sujit counter questioned Jatin about the quantity of cash they could loot. He continued “Maximum, he will have five hundred nothing more than that. Let’s not risk everything for such a petty amount.”

“True. Let me find out if he has more cash. If he doesn’t we pay the bill and go out. Else we wait.”

“Ja khushi kor (do as it pleases)” replied Sujit and finished his drink.

After eight focused minutes on the bartender and the waiter and some more drinks Jatin was sure that he wanted to rob this place. There was an instance when the waiter came up to the bartender and asked him something. The bartender gave him something wrapped in a cloth. Jatin was sure that it was the earnings of a few days and it could be more than five thousand. The bar was a single floor building so there had to be a safe somewhere inside. Possibly there could be more than that meets the eye. Jatin was absolutely sure that he wanted to execute the plan.

“Let us do it. I have done all my research and my plan is full proof.”

“Pagla na ki? Are you crazy?”

Sujit received a stern look “No I am not crazy, I am sure about the cash this place has and we are going to rob it in the next minutes.”

Sujit looked at Jatin to read his face, he was at the peak of his concentration and he was not at all joking. Sujit had no option, he had to carry out the task.

“Thik aache bada, but if I die, you will pay my share to my family in Bankura.”

“Sure” replied Jatin, he stood up and walked to the bartender.

“Dada, kato hoyeche bill? (How much is the bill).”

The bartender ran a quick check of his notepad and replied “eighteen” only to look at a gun that was pointing at his nose.

There was silence and Sujit, locked the doors of the bar, told all the customers to remain seated and called the waiter.

“Chotu, ja taka niye aai. Get the cash in this bag.” The waiter stopped and looked at the bartender for instructions. The bartender didn’t move. Nobody else did.

Jatin holding the gun even firm asked the bartender to give him the cash “give me the cash and you can live, do something silly and I will shoot you. Do not speak a word, just do what I say. Send the waiter to get the cash you sent inside and put the rest in this bag.”

The bartender didn’t blink an eye, he stood firm and said “No, I will not give you what is sent inside, we hardly have a hundred rupees here in the counter, you can take that and leave the boy.”

Jatin was unabashed “Give me what you have here and tell the boy to get the rest of the cash from inside.”

Bartender was stern again and replied “the child will not go inside, I can give you the money that I have here.”

Jatin asked him to fill the bag “Thik aache.” After receiving a thrifty amount, Jatin was not satisfied, he couldn’t agree that his planning was wrong and he was sure that there was more money. He told Sujit to take a look inside with the boy while he grabbed the motorcycle keys.

Two seconds later, there was gun fire in the inner room. There was a series of bullets that were fired and Sujit didn’t move. He fixed a gaze at the door and was sure that anybody walking outside that door would be shot. There were few more shots within the next seconds and then the sound subsided.

Nobody walked out from the door. Baffled about the recent events, Jatin asked for explanation to the bartender “What happened?”

The bartender tried to pull out his gun and point at Jatin. But, Jatin was quick and shot him dead with the first bullet. That was the first bullet he had ever fired. He saw the blood spill on the wall behind and his face was also covered in spots of red. One of the laborers tried to run, but he was shot was Sujit. There remained only one laborer, the waiter and unknown amount of people inside the room.

Sujit was scared so he ordered the last laborer to take a look inside the room. He was told at gunpoint so he couldn’t refuse. The laborer took slow measured steps. Turning around after each step and almost asking to let him go. He reached the door after a total of ten steps. He opened the door and almost in the next second he too was shot dead.

Jatin was sure that there was cash in there and he didn’t want to give up on his plan, but he had less time. So he decided to go in and shoot anybody who was in sight. He started to walk towards the room. Sujit wouldn’t approve “are you crazy, there is no way you are going in there.”

They had to know if there was an imminent danger in that room. Both of them looked at chotu Subhojit and asked him about the shooting. He was scared and he didn’t reply for a minute.

“Inside, there are four gamblers, I don’t know how many are alive or dead. They have a lot of money, please don’t kill me, let me go” said Subhojit and pleaded for mercy.

Sujit worried for his life said “Let’s get out of here, this doesn’t seem to be a good idea. There is money there, but risking our lives would be nonsensical.”

 Jatin was unabashed “No, I am not leaving without the cash that is inside. Chotu, go in and check if there is anyone alive?”

Scared for his life, Subhojit, took baby steps and said “Maalik, aami aaschi (master, I am coming in).” While following him closely were Jatin and Sujit. Both of them clasped the gun in front of their eye and were ready like a sniper. Slow measured steps brought them close to the door. They ordered Subhojit to open the door.

Subhojit, opened the door, which creaked giving shrill noise. Inside, the room was a bloodbath, there lay four men, with bodies punctured by bullets. There was approximately fifteen thousand cash on the table. After observing that all the people were dead, both Jatin and Sujit collected the cash and headed out. They had to dart for the bus to Panitanki, when they heard the sobbing of the waiter.

He had seen such a horrific incident and he was the only witness that was left behind. Jatin wanted to run away, but Sujit felt for the child. He grabbed a couple thousand rupees and told the child to run away and lead another life. He was twelve and he could start anew. The money meant nothing for the time being, as the trauma was more painful. But, they had to leave. Subhojit’s family would take care of him and time would heal everything. They told him not to cry and to take the money to his family and run away from here. Time was less and they had to move on. Sujit said a soulful bye to the waiter, but he didn’t respond.

Both of them knew something was wrong, Sujit showed his emotions while Jatin hid it. When they opened the door for a new start with more than thirty thousand rupees. They saw a young girl standing outside.

“Tui ke? Who are you?” asked Jatin.

“Aami Debo. (I am Debo).”

“Why are you standing here?” asked Jatin again.

“My dad is drinking inside!” Silence, and then Jatin fell to his knees, clutching his gun and teary eyes.

Stupid people using social media.

It is a sad day for the people of Nepal and parts of India, where thousands have lost their lives due to earthquakes. Many world heritage sites are demolished and infrastructure along with the people are in disarray. In this time we can only hope that people are safe and the ones who have lost their lives- may their soul rest in peace. I hope the families and the people of the affected parts have the strength to bear the pain of the trauma they are going through. Time will heal everything but scares always remain. Neighboring countries have extended their support and are helping the people of Nepal get through this difficult times. May peace be restored as soon as possible!

Now I have been following stories that are covering the social media. Some ass clowns are really dumb. They have updated their statuses as “Experienced the first earthquake.” I say to these people do you have a sense or have you sold that to the local garbage collector, because I can see how nobody would be interested in such kind of brains. Which sense makes you update shit like this and not feel for the people who have lost their lives? Is status updating so mandatory? Is getting like a part of your life? I know these kind of people who tend to take selfies and update it as “Earthquake selfies.” These are nimrods, who in paper have the necessary document to warranty that they are educated but lack it when it is most desired. Stop spreading garbage and think what you do. It may be fine with you but people who suffer will be hurt. You can get a 1000 likes from a friend but you can never get a friend from a 1000 likes.

I also see people saying God help us. Isn’t he the one who has done it? Isn’t he responsible for all the activities that happen in the world? He wanted people to die so came the earthquake. Why are you praying to him for help? It’s like asking the cigarette who has given you the cancer, to ease your pain. Here is a story I would like to share.

There was a person from the insurance company who was getting enormous amount of calls post such natural disaster. According to the company rules and regulation this was supposed to be an act of God. During such times the insurance company bears no debt to the insurant. After forceful and frequent calls, he dialed God.

“Hello”, he said.

“Yes, hello” replied God.

“May I speak to God?”

“Speaking.”

“Ahh!! Never expected you to answer.”

“What do you want?”

“Oh, yes, this natural disaster, is that you.”

“Yes, who else would it be?”

“Okay, just another small question, last week did you make the tree fall on my car? It was a black Mercedes near the hospital?”

“Date?” asked God.

“19^th April 26, 2015.”

“Hmm, no that wasn’t me.”

“Are you sure?” asked the man.

“Of course I am, that time I was busy giving AIDS and EBOLA to the children of Africa.”

The point is there is no God. If there is a God, I don’t believe in such kind of a supernatural power that kills children using natural disasters and diseases and leave out the terrorist to carry out their plan. There is no God. There never was and there never will be. Help people- that is the biggest currency. Give the faith that you are ready to help- that is the biggest assurance.

Story taken from the stand up by Ricky Gervais.

My Choice.

So these people are at it again. One video has created massive outrage throughout the country and every keyboard warrior is out on the streets of the internet mocking, spreading hateful messages and ridiculing Deepika. They are making their voices heard and stamping their authority to say that this video is wrong in so many levels and dimensions. There was a news too where a man was found peeing in public and he was heard stating that that was his choice.

Freedom of speech is granted by the constitution, but you don’t go and abuse your father do you? Do you challenge the constitution of India and demand that you should have a right to abuse whoever you want? You don’t.

“It is my choice if I want to have sex outside of marriage”- this is the statement that has hauled every so called lunatic out of his shell and onto the streets. Men can’t take it if women start to rise and say things like this. In this country women are not equal to men, I agree to that. Women are not equal to men. They are far superior in the aspects of life.

It’s has always been about men in this world. The history, the evolution, the wars, the destruction, the guns, the murders, the drugs, the killing and the mayhem on this planet we call ‘Mother Earth’. Have you ever given it a thought as to why it is mother earth and not father earth? It’s plain and simple- had it been a male he would have destroyed himself long time back. It’s the patience of the women that is tested time and again and on multiple occasions. These male chauvinists who claim that women are being given too much liberty should go fuck themselves.

It’s always been about dicks to these men. The bigger dick will rule the world. USA bombing other countries, just to prove that they have bigger dicks. They tried it with Russia, but hey, Russians have big dicks too, so they started a cold war. Everywhere it has been these men who have created violence and destruction in the life of other humans. All the wars till date have been fought primarily by men. The evilest men that this earth has seen have been men, be it Hitler or Stalin. So why the sense of pride if I may ask? Why is there a bloated ego that you are a man and you have a right to do things? Well, for your information, you don’t.

Let’s come to the topic of women empowerment. Most of you would have never heard about Maggie Doyne. Look up in Wikipedia, you will know about her. She is an American citizen living in Nepal. She had opened an orphanage there to take care of the orphans who had no one to support them after the civil war. She started with the orphanage, now she has a school where there are around fifty students. She has a health clinic too. She helps women by teaching them the art of sewing. She teaches them to be independent and self-reliant. She teaches them to read and write in English. Together these women are learning the art of doing something useful that can not only help themselves but also their families. This is called empowerment. These women who would have otherwise not done anything are now learning ways of life.

Women empowerment is not a video by Vogue. Vogue magazine that portrays slim, well maintained female models showing their body, cannot be the source of empowerment. Empowerment refers to increasing the spiritual, political, social or economic strength of individuals and communities. It does not refer to the flaunting of sexuality. It does not mean wearing a set of clothes, having sex with someone, returning home late. To be frank no one should be even awake at four in the morning let alone returning from somewhere.

The video is an effort to say that women have their choice in terms of sexuality and sex. It has nothing to do with empowerment and it has nothing to do with the people endorsing it. So to the men who think that a women cannot do what she pleases, well neither can you. So stop poking your dick in others matter. My point is that people are being made role models for things that they do not support and feel. Wrong people are being put on TV for wrong things, and we need to stop that. On the other hand being men, we need to say to our dicks- let the brain do all the thinking, you should rise for sex.

To all men, let women be empowered (see the meaning above).

To all women, empowering doesn’t mean you wear the same clothes as men and join the exact corporations that they join and ruin the lives of the others making money and going after materialistic items. Be different. Sexuality is not democracy. You can be more.

Deepika- do shampoo and moisturizer advertisements, don’t make a fool out of yourself coming on youtube and saying you support empowerment. Let’s face it. You don’t.

Maggie- you are the real hero.


Inspired by the words of George Carlin.

The easily excited men of India

Recently on 4^th of March 2015, the official broadcast of the documentary called ‘India’s Daughter’ was blocked by the government of India, 4 days prior its release. The official release was supposed to be broadcasted on NDTV 24X7 on the 8^th of March, on international women’s day. However, due to the court orders BBC had little to no options, so they complied. The documentary was however channeled throughout the UK on BBC four and was soon uploaded on Youtube.com and within no time it went viral. On the 5^th of March the government of India ordered Youtube to block the documentary. Youtube complied as well.

“Do you want a working wife or a housewife”, I asked one of my close friend who was an engineer from a very reputed university of Andhra Pradesh.

“Housewife bhai, you should always marry a housewife. Working women will ruin the house.”

“Oh! How is that so?” I asked trying to dig his thoughts.

“If women start working, who will take care of the house, who will take care of children and who will teach them our customs and traditions.”

My friend was oozing with machismo and I didn’t want to hear from him any further. So I walked away from a pride filled engineer, bloating with male chauvinism. From the brief discussion that I had with him, I could only comprehend two things. First, women do everything from cleaning the house, cooking for the family, raising children, teaching them values and feeding them. Second, and most important, they bear the children.

 I could also infer that all of the men’s activity can also be summed in two broad engagements- earning money and having sex, because obviously rest of the work is taken care of by the women folks.

Coming to the topic of sex, there was an interesting question asked by my biology teacher during the discussion of the chapter called reproduction.

“When is a frog’s birthday?” he asked trying to get an answer. None of us replied as we didn’t know the answer.

“It’s mostly during June and July, because they only reproduce during that time, but in the case of humans, it’s different, humans are always ready. That is the reason people share their birthdays from January to December.”

We all laughed at that time, but that simple example makes so much sense now. Men are always ready to have children, more importantly ready to have sex.

Every 20 minutes a female is raped in India. If that is not a shame for these so called macho hunk dudes, claiming to call themselves ‘MARD’, then I cannot fathom what is? They want a son as a child because a daughter will not take care of them in the future. A son will bring dowry whereas, a girl will siphon all the money during her marriage. That is some utter blasphemy right there, and no matter how hard you try to convince them that women are equal, they will just walk away. I don’t call them educated, I call these sick viruses of the society as literates, because all they can do is read and write. They do not know the difference between right and wrong, all they care about is themselves and their pride.

One of the lawyers from the defense council of the rape accused was ready to burn his own daughter if she had relations with another man before marriage.

Burn her down!! I mean what is she? Is she a paper or a piece of trash? She calls him dad and expects him to be her first line of defense from all harm. But, in return he claims on a documentary that he would burn her if she had relations with other men before marriage! I have no words to describe such a monster. He should be refrained from all sense of family. That might teach him a lesson or two. But I doubt that, these people can feed on their pride and survive for years. They are very close to cockroaches and mosquitos in terms of survival.

Coming back to the topic of sex. There is a quote by George Carlin which needs to be mentioned – “I wonder, does a rapist have a hard-on when he leaves the house in the morning, or does he develop it during the day while he's walking around looking for somebody.” None of the above might be true in all fairness. Some rapes might be planned, like the bastard had nothing to do with his life. But, most of them are out of the misunderstanding that they can get away with it. This is the common misconception they have, and so far it has proved to be more or less true. Thousands of rapes go unreported. Family pride is involved. I say to hell with this family pride and give the devil what he deserves.

I sometimes think why the women don’t lodge a complaint. Sure, there is a thing called family name involved and the omnipresent “neighbors” who always speak at the wrong time. But I really think why they can’t. Then I remembered the police, the doctors and the lawyers are the three worst people you could get tangled to if you want problems in your life. Doctors and lawyers can still be fine, but on an average, I haven’t seen people praising the policemen. I don’t generalize them based on most of them, but the most people would agree with me on that. Oh the policemen, money thirsty government employees. All they crave is money, as if they will be in procession when they die. To tell you the fact the police have the power to stop it. The people have the power to stop it. But nobody is stopping it.

This is the exactly the chance that a rapist needs, a chance to think that he can get away. A chance that he thinks, no one will notice and a chance that everything will be buried in time.

Today, one of the students were denied internship in a German university because the professor was troubled by the amount of rapes that were happening in India and she wanted to ensure that nothing of that sort happened (as we all know from the biology class, that humans are always ready to have sex). This letter went viral. The ambassador to Germany wrote a mail to the professor and she later apologized.

Wait, if you think that is the end of the story then let me tell you more. That wasn’t the end. The easily-troubled middle class erupted on social media to voice their opinions. “Rape the professor”. “Germans are racists”. “Western countries do not have sense”, and so on and so forth. If you haven’t guessed it, these are the aforementioned literates. They only know how to read and write. Applying thought and knowledge they never learned. On one hand they go on to say that you cannot generalize every Indian because some are rapists, and on the other hand they go on and generalize the entire German population as racist, based on the comments made by a single Professor.

10000 people in Nagaland invade a prison and lynch a person who was arrested on rape charges. The public was fast to react. In the words of one of my friend these are “blood thirsty and vengeful public.” They will not sit down and stage a nationwide protest. They can certainly lynch a person who was arrested on charges of rape (he was not convicted yet). Isn’t this the problem of the middle class in India, they will only rise and fight for it, if and only if it is directly hurting them. As long as they are not hurt, everything can lay in its place. This attitude is the main reason that politicians are not put in jail. Corruption is a major problem, hunger is an epidemic, where the rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer.

This country, with the large bulk of middle class has given the priority to burgers and not beggars, and if this attitude does not change then there will always be poor people in India who will sleep without food. There will always be rapes in India, where the rapist still thinks he can get away. The police will only act if the government tells it to act. The government will only act when the people force them to act. Every middle class needs to be hurt by every rape so that they understand the pressures and the pain involved in this trauma. It is only then when the nation will hear if we all stand up in one voice and say that this ends today. If a party can come in full majority to win the biggest democratic elections in India playing the middle class card, then I have all the more reasons to be supportive that the same middle class can stand up and fight against the epidemic called rape.

The above was the actual writing that were suppose go online. But, yesterday I read about a rape of a 6 year old. Did she wear less clothes or did she excite him? How did he get turned on by a 6 year old child? I hear of these incidents and think to myself whether we do have freedom. A freedom to say no to a guy’s proposal and not be attacked by acid over our face. No we don’t and sad that we can still pour our fake remorse and empathy over the internet and not take one step towards the betterment of the society in general.

Dream for the blind

My world is diminishing with every breath I take,

A conscience effort to make right goes all in vain.

Crowded by this cumbersome feeling,

I wonder, whether there is any escape?

The condition is petrifying and demotivating,

It feels like a heightened state of tension,

The questions that arise are fast and loathsome,  

And the answers are beyond my comprehension.

I have always let my tiny mind, magnify the agony,

Thinking and worrying I punish myself again,

Dejected, rejected yet never resurrected,

I walk alone through the path unknown.

Through the fallen leaves and the stones,

Among all the troubles that hurt my present,

There finally comes a vision to my mind,

When I think of an eye and dream for the blind.

(Pic courtesy: http://www.zingzoo.com/2013/02/14/riveting-vision-breakthrough-for-the-blind/)

Bomb

I have seen the politics of this country turn around in these years. Cricket is no more a sport now, it’s a religion. People are making more money than ever and the poor are getting poorer each day.

I am a retired government servant who lives on pension. I had to bribe the officer to get my pension started. The other day there was a burglary in the neighbourhood, the report was filed at a local police station and the case is pending. Murders happen and still no action is taken. Women are not protected; even the garbage is not collected. I have come to the end of my life, after suffering from prolonged illness. The governance is so bad that people are scared to come out at night. By the time anybody reads this I will already be dead. Under my bed there is a ticking time bomb. The way I built this bomb is irrelevant, but the fact that it is ticking is more important, and you all have twenty four hours only.  

The code to detonate this bomb is a six digit number, all the numbers are non-repetitive and the game starts after the point. I hope now the police will get to work. Keep counting.

By,

Cristiano Ronaldo.

Sister

They thought for months and plied you would not be born,
Kept their fingers crossed and prayed to god till the candles burnt,
They tried more than once, and hoped it wasn’t you this time,
Finding the sex of the foetus is all they wanted to determine. 

They didn’t care about your first cry or the first smile,
They didn’t see your tender hands and feet so fragile,
They didn’t watch over you when you took your first steps,
All they saw was a boy’s face who had to be in your place.

Oh sister, little sister, you have a choice.
Oh sister, little sister, you have a voice.

There is no use they said when you wanted to learn,
Go to the kitchen they said, and make the woods burn,
When you started to play and have some rejoice,
They slapped you in the face and enforced you to devoice.

Oh sister, little sister, you have a choice.
Oh sister, little sister, you have a voice.

So let them try to stop you now, lay hurdles in your path,
Don’t stand down or give ever up, even if the way is black,
Take you stance and fight for your right, as there is a long way to go,
Don’t ever feel helpless and alone, even if they tell you so.

UnMalala

All I wanted- was a father on whose shoulder I could rest my head,
a mother to stand by me, who could teach me the ways of life.

All I wanted, was to be a sapient and read a few books,
to learn a little, and to know a little more,
Talk what I felt was right in the country so frail,
And to go to school with my friends not covered in veil.

All I wanted, was to have a little freedom,
Wear the things I like, and dance to my rhythm.

All I ever wanted, was to be at peace even in a state of war,
Strive ahead to learn, and teach them all,
From the ones so young, those carry a gun,
To the ones so old, who ought to drop the weapon.

All I ever wanted, was to go to school and play with my friends,
and return back a happier and a wiser person.

All I wanted, was to live a regular life that is promised to a child,
when they are ushered with hope, happiness and reliance,
to grow up in this mundane world and be successful,
and learn to give it back in right time, to be more respectful.

All I wanted, was to be fearless, and do the right.
To live by the truth, and walk with my head held high.

All I wanted, was to fulfill my dreams and reach my destiny,
The thing that people call the motive of life,
But, when I walked through the school corridor to take a test,
I breathed my last, when I took three bullets in my chest.

My father wasn't allowed to weep, and my mother couldn't cry.
As I was left blood stained, with empty shells, abandoned, to die.
All I ever wanted, was a life that was free,
all that I eventually got, was what they had decided for me.


(Above inserted pic is taken from a video: Jawab de )

Anthony

“Only the dead have seen the end of war”, I have always regarded that a quotation has more impact than a boring dictated paragraph. Remembering Plato, I threw one of his favoured quotations to take a glimpse at the reaction of my students. They usually, just stare blank at me. Some of them stay with eyes rooted in their books, while a small portion of them stare at the wall behind me, as if the answer to all questions were inscribed there. Very few of them actually possess the optimum amount of concentration, as they are grilled by all the teachers to excel in studies.

A class full of bright students is a myth which is carried on from generations and brought forward in each class of each school and of every country. On most occasions, I am on the lookout for just a single hand that is raised or a plain nod. But, as it turned out, today was different; nobody was interested in what I was saying. It seemed the entire juice of excitement has been siphoned out by other teachers, and classes in the second half on most occasions are soporific.

Clueless faces sat on the wooden chairs, as if I had thrown in a math equation of a higher standard, at them. This was supposed to be an unconscious body language gesture for me, indicating the course of the day. So I take the textbook, close it and slam it on the table- “No lesson for today, today we hear a story. How many of you, boys and girls want to hear a story?”

Watching them the next moment was like watching a bud opening up into a flower. The life that is infused with a single word echoed is worth observing. As expected the drooping faces suddenly lit up with the sound of the word- ‘story’. They closed their books in unison and looked up towards me for a start.

As a history teacher of Kendra Vidhyalaya, I could tell them any story that I wanted to. But, I wanted them to explore their imaginations. Few things in life are more exciting than watching a young bird fly, or for that matter, the first tender step your child takes. For me, the only captivating thing is the way students explore their vivid imaginations. The ability to think and reason differently under similar circumstances is the unique characteristic of a human. I find that quite enchanting, but as time passes by, and we start to age, the answers conform being similar, and the ability to think different is a quality that is being highly sought after.

As the environment had changed to being like one in the morning, or rather as the students would feel like on a Sunday morning- I made myself available to every eye in the classroom.

“I want all of you to listen to this story, and answer me a simple question. Would you all be able to do that?”

“Yes Sir”, replied all.

Informing someone that there is a tunnel on the way gives them an element of surprise, but telling them that there is something unexpected at the end of the tunnel will get their adrenaline rushing. Everybody started thinking about the question and wondered less about the story.

“What is your ambition in life? What would you be or who do you see as your role model?”

There were discrete answers to my question. Part of the crowd wanted to be doctors, save people and help them recover from their disease. That is a great profession, where you can come directly in contact with the patients and cure them. All classes in India have aspiring doctors, if I am not wrong. That is a well-known reason for producing the best doctors in the world.

Some of them wanted to be engineers. There are so many disciplines in engineering that the students themselves are unaware of it. A couple of girls wanted to be pilots or astronauts. Some wanted to be teachers, some politicians, some police officers, some actors and finally, there were three students who had no idea what will happen to them in the future. A common thing that is haunting most students these days- lack of vision regarding ones future.

 I expected such replies and I also knew that during the course of their lives, they would change their ambitions and careers. I remember when I was young, I wanted to be a pilot, then a doctor, then an actor, and then a cricketer but, I finally managed to be a teacher. A decision that I don’t regret, and I hope I won’t in the near future also.

After collecting the required data, I began.

“Have you heard of thanksgiving?”

Once again cluelessness filled the room and I had to speak again to stop the murmurs.

“Thanksgiving is a custom in North America, most famous in United States. It is celebrated on the 2^nd week of October, every year. On this day, the entire family joins together for a hearty meal, and share the day together. A lot of time goes by for the preparation and the main recipe is a turkey.”

“Excuse me sir, what is a turkey?” asked a boy with profound innocence, while some of the students laughed at his ignorance.

“A turkey is a bird, it is larger than a chicken and it is favoured by many as better than chicken. But, it is more expensive and not so common in India.”

He thanked me and I could sense that under his breath, he was cursing himself for such a silly question.

“So, one time during thanksgiving, there was a family of the Robbins. They lived in a small town in the state of Michigan. It was thanksgiving and the entire neighbourhood was celebrating, eating their favourite ‘turkey’.”

“The father, the head of the family was John, who was jobless for quite some time and his wife, Nikki, was washing dishes in households to bear the expenses for their living. At thanksgiving they had no money to buy a turkey or even a chicken. All they ate was porridge every day. John and Nikki had two children, William and Anthony. Both of them were young, but they understood the complications their family were going through. So what was the name of the father of William and Anthony?”

“John”, said the majority of the students convincing me that they were paying attention.

“As a custom, they needed to have good food that day, but the Robbins’ had no money. The children were disappointed but they didn’t let their parents sense it. Meanwhile, Nikki was complaining all day about John and his drinking habits that got him thrown out of his job and brought them to this condition. John was cursing his luck and threatened Nikki repeatedly.”

“Both the boys watched their parents fight, but they couldn’t do anything. The racket went on for about an hour, while Nikki prepared the last porridge left in the house. Suddenly there was a knock at the door. Shocked at the sudden knock, John thought that the neighbours had come in to complain of the fight and noise.”

“John, ordered Anthony to open the door. Anthony hesitated for a second, but followed his father’s command. To his surprise there was no one at the door, but lying ahead on the floor, close to his feet was freshly cooked food. He looked out to see if anyone was visible, but no one was in sight. On procuring the food delivered at the doorstep, he brought it in.”

““Who was there?” asked John in a stern voice””

““Somebody has left food for us”, said Anthony”

““Food? Why would someone bring food for us?” Commanded John”

““I don’t know dad”, replied Anthony with his pale voice.”

“Silence was common to all, as their eyes lay fixed on the food that was delivered. William wanted to make a move but he held back. He, as well as the rest of the family had grown tired of satisfying their hunger with porridge day in and day out. Anthony being the youngest of all couldn’t resist anymore and asked his dad.

““Dad, can we have this food, I am hungry””

““No, absolutely not, someone must have deliberately kept food at our doorstep to make us look petty and miserable”, said John suppressing any thoughts of eating the charitable food.”

“Meanwhile, Nikki who was watching everything from the kitchen came closer to Anthony and looked at John. She saw a shrewd man, whose bloated ego could lead their children starving even on thanksgiving.”

Amongst the serious atmosphere, where the story was taking a turn, a hand moved vertically upward with a state of confusion. I had to stop my story and tend to the immediate problem faced by the zealous, back-bencher. This was the first time he had raised his hand in my class.

“Yes Sandeep, what is your question?”

“Sir, I didn’t understand the word you mentioned before ego.”

“Did you mean bloated! You see bloated means something that is pumped or swollen up, like a balloon. Hence, bloated ego simply means his big ego or being stubborn, or notorious.”

He let me continue after a confirmative nod.

“Nikki tried to intervene and told John that this could be a sign from God and that they had to accept it as it was thanksgiving.”

“Although John was outnumbered, he still didn’t budge from his initial decision. He ordered Anthony to throw the food outside. The next few seconds of silence was awkward. Nobody spoke and everybody stared blank. There was no intention by Anthony or Nikki to throw away the food. But, there was John who would not allow them to eat. In this family everything happened as per John’s command, and to be fair his decisions were not good for the family’s current state. He was reckless to quit his job and to add to the misery he got drunk every day, ruining thanksgiving.”

“After few more seconds, John rushed towards Anthony to snatch the plate. But, Nikki was quicker and she stopped him midway.”

““John, if you try to throw the food that has been delivered to us on thanksgiving, I swear to God I will leave you and take the children with me”, said Nikki taking a stand against John who was crueller than ever.”

“He tried to shove Nikki to the side with his sheer strength, but failed to do so because of the high amount of alcohol in his body. The two boys stood behind their mother and supported her stand. They held her by the shoulder signalling John that he was outnumbered. ”

“John was angry and upset, and watching his family turn against him, he left the house in a fit of rage and slammed the door shut. Nikki stood there immovable for the next few seconds. She finally breathed a sigh of relief that nobody was hurt.”

“The main reasons that prompted John to leave at that moment were three things- the food that is delivered is charity, it means that he is worthless and he has to leave his family. So, without further ado, kicking up the dust, John set out on his own journey. That was the last time the rest of them saw John. The situation was the same but the decision made by Anthony on the other hand was different. I would like to point this out- The ability to think and reason differently under similar circumstances is the unique characteristic of a human. Anthony thought otherwise, the first thing he thought of was that they had food. That was the best thing that anyone could have provided, to him and his family at that point of time. The second thing that he thought of was that even in this dog eat dog world, there was someone who actually cared about someone else and didn’t want anything in return. It made him believe that strangers care. The third thing he thought of was that if somebody cared about him, then he should do the same and that he will make a difference in his life.”

“Anthony grew up without his father for the rest of his life and at the age of seventeen, he gathered enough money to feed two families at thanksgiving. That was the most moving and humbling experiences of his life. It brought solace and peace of mind and the best part was that he loved it. He didn’t even tell anybody or even asked for help. He just did it, because strangers care. The following year, he assembled enough money to feed four families doubling the number every year henceforth. This went on for many years and after decades into helping others, Anthony along with his foundation fed more than four million people in hundred different countries on festivals and holidays.”

The next moment I could sense the self-realization that was overwhelming few of my students. That brought me to my question- “What is your ambition in life?” But before I did that, I wanted them to take a moment and understand the meaning of the story. It is very important that children grasp the meaning of the story; else the entire story remains unimportant. I took a quick glance at the faces- some were perplexed, some were happy and some were waiting for me to talk. I took some more seconds before I finally spoke.

“So, what do you think about the story? Now is the time for my question.”

I once again saw those exiting eyes and felt happy.

But, before I could say anything the school bell rang, signalling the end of the academic day. I wanted to ask my question but the children were in a hurry to leave. The entire school burst out shouting and running for the exit. I didn’t want to stop them from going home, so I postponed my question to yet another boring second half class.

I felt bad that nobody wanted to listen to the question at the end of the story. Everybody was in a hurry to go home. This made me realise that school is such a burden on the children. They are only looking to pass the time whilst they are here. Hopefully the next day would be a better day.

I gathered my text book and decided to leave when I saw Sandeep approaching me. He stood determined and resolute.

“What happened Sandeep, is everything all right?”

“Sir before this class I didn’t know what to do. But now, I want to be like Anthony Robbins.”

(P.S: Anthony Robbins is an American life coach, self-help author and motivational speaker. He has spoken at Harvard Business School and was ranked by the school among the “Top 200 Business Gurus” (Harvard Business School Press, 2003). In 2007, he was named to Forbes magazine's "Celebrity 100" list. Forbes estimated that Robbins earned approximately $30 million USD in that year.)