Another precious year is bidding us adieu! As we usher into the dawn of a fresh new beginning in 2009, let me make this remark - ‘the year 2008 has been the greatest of all in my life!!’ Oh how selfish and shameless I’m being while I say this, as the year has shattered many a dreams and even breathes!
Yes we know that our country and the world have faced tremendous upheavals in the past 366 days. Biggest Economies got crashed – well almost! In an edition of Wall Street journal, two of the top economists Oliver Hart (Harvard) and Luigi Zingales(Chicago) wrote:
“This year will be remembered not just for one of the worst financial crises in American history, but also as the moment when economists abandoned their principles. There used to be a consensus that selective intervention in the economy was bad. In the last 12 months this belief has been shattered.”
This has been a year of bankruptcies, bailouts, huge layoffs and what not! India was supposed to be insulated from all this but it is not so. Foreign Investors have pulled out over $10 billion from the market. The rupee has plunged to around 49 against dollar in comparison to under Rs 39 a year ago. Estimates of annual GDP growth has come down from the projected rate of 9% to 7.5%. Deceleration has been widespread. Industrial growth is much slower.
The company that I’m working for laid off 60 employees recently. It also cancelled the Annual Day celebrations. What else could be the reason other than ‘cost-cutting’! And anyways, what do we celebrate for?
For India, it has been the Year of ‘Terror’, leaving more than 400 people dead in various terrorist strikes across the country. Right from the serial bombings of May 13 in Jaipur that killed 68 people, to the deadliest of attacks in Mumbai on Nov 26 that killed 173 people - we have been attacked 11 times in last 8 months. And every time this has happened, our leaders have never failed to say - 'Nobody would be spared'. I really wonder whom they have been referring to.
Let’s come to the magic world of the world’s most prolific film industry – Bollywood. The year has been ‘ordinary’. More than 200 films were rolled out. 90 per cent of these ventures didn’t make any money. The biggest losers of the year were Drona, Love Story 2050, Yuvvraaj and Karzzz -- all big-budget films that failed to woo cinema audiences. Of course the year has ended on a very happy note with Aamir Khan’s Ghazini breaking all records and setting the box-office ablaze with a “bumper-opening” world-wide.
Let me take a break from the world here and come back to what I started with. Yes, the year 2008 has been a Dream-come-true for me. It has been a year of achievements and progress at individual level. So let me open my heart out and say it loud – I love 2008; for knowing ‘why?’ read on …
I became father on June 18, 6:34 pm. It was a tremendous feeling, believe me. Nothing could get bigger than this. To my surprise, for the first time I was holding a baby so small in my big hands. My hands were trembling but the baby was comfortable for sure. It was a miracle indeed, for both of us - me and my wife. We knew what we have went through all these while. We experienced the intensity of various emotions - thrill, anxiety, fear, anger, love and everything in those few hours. And now when our little princess landed, it looked like the world was ours! Our assumption didn’t go wrong. Very soon, we purchased our new flat in Pune, where we plan to live all our dreams. My intimate stranger, my life-partner has got more intimate and friendlier to me than ever. Also, as a guide and guardian to my sweet little sister, it was a joyous moment for me when she completed her diploma and joined her first job. My brother who lives in Chennai, joined us for our memorable trip to the land of rising sun – Arunachal Pradesh, place where our parents live, where we spent our childhood and got our education. Thus, the year 2008 has been one of the best years in my life as I see.
So why not go out, celebrate and give a grand farewell to 2008! After all, we should definitely treasure and salute the grand moments in our life. ‘Hey there, wait, stop you heartless creature’, calls out my conscience to me, ‘how can you be so indifferent, selfish and narrow-minded. When many of your brothers have been put to sleep forever, you plan to wake up in the night and dance. Is this the story of your achievement? Don’t you think that ‘You’ are the biggest loser than anybody else? You talked about the failures, crises and sufferings of the world - are you not an integral part of the same world. You told that you felt like the world was yours. So what did you do to rescue it? Did you stand up to fight against the evils? Did you make even the smallest of difference with your existence? My question is: ‘Do you even exist?’
With these questions posed to me, I wonder, how should I celebrate my New Year! Should I not sit and analyze what to do next? Should I not revive all the energy in me and get into action mode to change what I can, and make lives of our people better? How long can I afford to continue living blind-folded trying to be away and secure and be happy in my own isolated world?
Yes, today I not only ‘wish’ you all a Very Happy New Year but ‘pledge’ to make it a happy one for you - for us! I urge one and all to join me and stand up in our fight against every enemy that comes our way – may it be economic slowdown or the monstrous terrorists! Let us all make an honest effort to flood happiness in everybody’s life by the strength and potential of our United Goodwill and of course a Power-Packed Action!
Let’s do it!
Happy New Year!!
Amit.
Tuesday 30 December 2008
Monday 1 December 2008
I am Guilty
I am no policeman, not in the army, not a commando and not a politician. Somebody who's a part of the Indian youth, who refused to look at the teething problems his countrymen faced and instead chose the cushion of an IT job.
I was proud of myself, that I am independent and earning a comfortable salary. With the turn of events- terrorists running amok in Mumbai, sending down chilling shivers down the spine of many an Indian; I feel guilty.
Guilty of being holed up in my home, tuned in to the television, indulging in living room gossip, playing blame games..pointing fingers at the Indian intelligence, security agencies and the political establishment.
I would like to apologise to my fellow men and to God that I am not one of the soldiers facing the bullets affront and for being a hypocrite.
Maybe.. If there were a few more people with purpose, the bullets would have dried up faster, and would have saved the tears of a mother as well.
I was proud of myself, that I am independent and earning a comfortable salary. With the turn of events- terrorists running amok in Mumbai, sending down chilling shivers down the spine of many an Indian; I feel guilty.
Guilty of being holed up in my home, tuned in to the television, indulging in living room gossip, playing blame games..pointing fingers at the Indian intelligence, security agencies and the political establishment.
I would like to apologise to my fellow men and to God that I am not one of the soldiers facing the bullets affront and for being a hypocrite.
Maybe.. If there were a few more people with purpose, the bullets would have dried up faster, and would have saved the tears of a mother as well.
Friday 30 May 2008
The Dream
I have written loads of stuff, about politics, romance, about my passions basically. Most of the it has been rubbish is what i know or should i say mostly inconclusive? Many of them, just selfish attempts at making people appreciate. Now, this appreciation is something of a misleading preposition. People often clap and nod and say nice things often out of compulsion rather than a natural urge to do so, or may be because they are expected to do so or even worse they are instigated into it by pathetic people like me :) As always.. i have dithered from the topic.
The story or rather the epilogue is about yesterday night. i had to visit a good friend who was not at a very comfortable distance from my place.
But yes, i had set out wearing my very very old tattered garb of appeasement and had fulfilled(well.. almost!) my mission-appease for the
day- one which saw frenzied and tiresome activity at office. (i hate the word appease:( Damn!! i have decided to be honest after all!) So i exchanged pleasantries with my "good friend" and started my journey back to my place.(just discovered..i hate "pleasantries" too..
i feel like reaching for the dictionary and counting the number of words i hate in it.. naah.. Too enormous a task.. Hey! Do i hate enormous? Oh forget it!! how does it matter?!)
[Time: 00:00 hours]
The abundance of time- courtesy the distance- and loneliness often leads us to some remote places within our own conscience. i started wandering.. The screaming and groaning of engines didn't wake me up, instead, they pushed me deeper into the unconscious. Many familiar faces swept past my eyes, a few of them yelled and abused somebody who shared his name with me. A number of them even hit me- slapped, punched, kicked- but i never cried nor did i resist. Surprisingly i didn`t react, i would have normally but i didn`t. i felt as if i deserved all of it. i wished they had shaken off a some of the filth that i had gathered during the quarter century of my existence. i saw some happy moments too, moments of prosperity, gaity and festivities- i was the host and the there were scores of people partying and there was laughter- loads of it. But when they left they slapped me again- each one of them and dared me not to be a part of the parties they threw. i was perplexed each time they said it with alarming uniformity. All of a sudden the scene changed.
i found myself swimming, with all kinds of nasty creatures, slimy-wimy things and the water, OMG!! it wasn`t water, it was something else. i would have preferred to be in the potty-tank instead. As if all this was less appeasing (gosh!!), i saw a disturbance at a distance, was it a.. a.. a whirlpool!! i was getting dragged into it and it was as if all the pukey things and me warranted the same fate. i went deeper and deeper, i was losing it.. i gasped for breath! I was struggling hard to come out.. But a sentence signifying perseverance has a full stop too. i had lost it, i had no strength, i had let-go and was sucked in completely, but then..
somebody pulled me out. Maybe there was more than somebody. i woke up ..
[2.00AM]
My phone was ringing. i realized i was still driving, but this time on a dirt road. There were no vehicles around this time, there were no lights as well. i forgot to switch on the headlight. i almost lost balance as i turned it on. i was shit-scared- as they call it, there were innumerable questions pounding the tiny little processor in my brain. Where was i? What was the place? Where was i going? Was it a dream? What did the preceding thoughts mean? All such queries were ignored and only one of them was getting processed:
how do i reach home?
i stopped by the roadside and checked my mobile- No network! i decided to take a U-turn, i had obviously taken a wrong road, i should have been in the city! The way back wasn't as easy as i had guessed it to be. i had taken a kutccha road off the highway-which i figured out later.
[4.30AM]
i had somehow come back to the Satara highway after two and half hours of wandering around nowhere. i could feel myself collapsing.. Every nerve within my body shook.. No better words at the moment as i relive the experience. There were no signs as to which way would lead to Pune. The petrol-meter too had hit an all-time-low as it appeared. i kissed the petrol tank- sometimes we do horrendously silly things, sometimes there are things which are more precious than blood, sometimes you don't fail to pray and plead every second.. Wait!! Wasn't I going hyper.. I wasn't dying after all!! It was the just the aftermath of the preceding thoughts. i decided i`ll take a right turn- sometimes the most practical people are superstitious.. it was the flip of a coin which had decided that left wasn't the right way to go:)
[5.30AM]
i parked my bike below my building and sat down, dropped down rather..
with a thud!
[5.35AM]
i climed up the three floors to reach my flat, opened the door and went inside, i was still shaking. I threw my cell towards the bed. The missed call which woke me up dawned on me then. I flipped open the cell and pressed the green button. The call history was blank except a solo missed call at 1.58 AM, and it read- 'Number Withheld'
The story or rather the epilogue is about yesterday night. i had to visit a good friend who was not at a very comfortable distance from my place.
But yes, i had set out wearing my very very old tattered garb of appeasement and had fulfilled(well.. almost!) my mission-appease for the
day- one which saw frenzied and tiresome activity at office. (i hate the word appease:( Damn!! i have decided to be honest after all!) So i exchanged pleasantries with my "good friend" and started my journey back to my place.(just discovered..i hate "pleasantries" too..
i feel like reaching for the dictionary and counting the number of words i hate in it.. naah.. Too enormous a task.. Hey! Do i hate enormous? Oh forget it!! how does it matter?!)
[Time: 00:00 hours]
The abundance of time- courtesy the distance- and loneliness often leads us to some remote places within our own conscience. i started wandering.. The screaming and groaning of engines didn't wake me up, instead, they pushed me deeper into the unconscious. Many familiar faces swept past my eyes, a few of them yelled and abused somebody who shared his name with me. A number of them even hit me- slapped, punched, kicked- but i never cried nor did i resist. Surprisingly i didn`t react, i would have normally but i didn`t. i felt as if i deserved all of it. i wished they had shaken off a some of the filth that i had gathered during the quarter century of my existence. i saw some happy moments too, moments of prosperity, gaity and festivities- i was the host and the there were scores of people partying and there was laughter- loads of it. But when they left they slapped me again- each one of them and dared me not to be a part of the parties they threw. i was perplexed each time they said it with alarming uniformity. All of a sudden the scene changed.
i found myself swimming, with all kinds of nasty creatures, slimy-wimy things and the water, OMG!! it wasn`t water, it was something else. i would have preferred to be in the potty-tank instead. As if all this was less appeasing (gosh!!), i saw a disturbance at a distance, was it a.. a.. a whirlpool!! i was getting dragged into it and it was as if all the pukey things and me warranted the same fate. i went deeper and deeper, i was losing it.. i gasped for breath! I was struggling hard to come out.. But a sentence signifying perseverance has a full stop too. i had lost it, i had no strength, i had let-go and was sucked in completely, but then..
somebody pulled me out. Maybe there was more than somebody. i woke up ..
[2.00AM]
My phone was ringing. i realized i was still driving, but this time on a dirt road. There were no vehicles around this time, there were no lights as well. i forgot to switch on the headlight. i almost lost balance as i turned it on. i was shit-scared- as they call it, there were innumerable questions pounding the tiny little processor in my brain. Where was i? What was the place? Where was i going? Was it a dream? What did the preceding thoughts mean? All such queries were ignored and only one of them was getting processed:
how do i reach home?
i stopped by the roadside and checked my mobile- No network! i decided to take a U-turn, i had obviously taken a wrong road, i should have been in the city! The way back wasn't as easy as i had guessed it to be. i had taken a kutccha road off the highway-which i figured out later.
[4.30AM]
i had somehow come back to the Satara highway after two and half hours of wandering around nowhere. i could feel myself collapsing.. Every nerve within my body shook.. No better words at the moment as i relive the experience. There were no signs as to which way would lead to Pune. The petrol-meter too had hit an all-time-low as it appeared. i kissed the petrol tank- sometimes we do horrendously silly things, sometimes there are things which are more precious than blood, sometimes you don't fail to pray and plead every second.. Wait!! Wasn't I going hyper.. I wasn't dying after all!! It was the just the aftermath of the preceding thoughts. i decided i`ll take a right turn- sometimes the most practical people are superstitious.. it was the flip of a coin which had decided that left wasn't the right way to go:)
[5.30AM]
i parked my bike below my building and sat down, dropped down rather..
with a thud!
[5.35AM]
i climed up the three floors to reach my flat, opened the door and went inside, i was still shaking. I threw my cell towards the bed. The missed call which woke me up dawned on me then. I flipped open the cell and pressed the green button. The call history was blank except a solo missed call at 1.58 AM, and it read- 'Number Withheld'
Thursday 20 March 2008
The Miracle Man :)
[This is just an abstract thought. Ignore if it irritates you!!]
Miracles do happen. I have a firm belief in miracles, and to be very honest I pity and sympathize with people who don’t. This belief may depend on an individual’s interpretation of a miracle or sometimes on the boundaries he confines himself in.
Even as a child I had always dreamt of the Miracle Man. He was my idol, the savior, the superhero, the ultimate. He still is, all of these albeit from a different perspective. As earlier he doesn’t fly around in fancy dresses. Maybe he is not as unblemished as I had thought, a tad not as awe-inspiring in some ways.
It’s the belief in this miracle man which leads us to do things which may resemble miracles in the least and gives something priceless: Hope :)
Miracles do happen. I have a firm belief in miracles, and to be very honest I pity and sympathize with people who don’t. This belief may depend on an individual’s interpretation of a miracle or sometimes on the boundaries he confines himself in.
Even as a child I had always dreamt of the Miracle Man. He was my idol, the savior, the superhero, the ultimate. He still is, all of these albeit from a different perspective. As earlier he doesn’t fly around in fancy dresses. Maybe he is not as unblemished as I had thought, a tad not as awe-inspiring in some ways.
It’s the belief in this miracle man which leads us to do things which may resemble miracles in the least and gives something priceless: Hope :)
Monday 25 February 2008
Sons of the Soil: Which one can I call mine?
Politics is not my forte, not yet. Neither do I enjoy an in-depth understanding of the vote bank and its intricate composition. I am, most unfortunately unable to identify myself with any of the factions that exist- the Maharashtrians, the Bengalis, the Biharis, the Tribals, the non-tribals, the Marxists, the Right wingers, [Seriously not talking about hockey here J ] the Kannadigas, the Hindus and the Muslims. Sorry for the expansive list but each one them are equally worth a mention. Personally speaking.
In spite of being devoid of all such worldly wisdom, I can still speak with all my heart and soul. Whatever (in recent times) Raj Thackeray and his many prototypes in different linguistic and regionalist flavours say or have said is unacceptable. Correcting the previous statement- it is hands down ridiculous.
We Indians redefined the word Nation. We wiped off all established protocols when we got together and started our journey. Or in popular words: India awoke even as the whole world slept, with all its diversity and vibrant colors tied together with the symbolic thread of oneness. Even after 60 years have gone by, we continue to march ahead as the world watches in disbelief. It does give me gooseflesh when people draw lines. Never stopping us, but yes, slowing us down. Do the sons-of-the-soil really need such aberrations in between?
Maharashtra for me is not represented by RT or the MNS- far from it. It is in fact led by a few other lesser known genre of people:
- by my ever-so-affable ma`am who tells me Pune is my home (without giving second thought to the fact that I’m a so-called outsider)
- by my very very Maratha friends who keep on cajoling for another of those chat sessions over chaha and vada pav.
By my society watchman who pleads ‘Saab tum waapas aana to idherich rehna, thik?’
Apparently, what RT hopes to achieve is expanding his miniscule support base, blindfolding people by fuelling factionalism.
What he does not realize though, is the youth of today is fiercely independent and educated, and their sheer passion would be more than suffice in tearing the shackles of the uneducated short sighted mind to shreds.
I am proud to be associated with different cultures. I thank God profusely, for having been able to escape the sickening myopia. For not being found at anytime laying down claims of a Tamil or a Bengali or for that matter Bihari supremacy in a subject. And unknowingly doing irrevocable damage to my national pride and my Self.
For having been blessed with the energy and soul to cry out loud and clear- Jai Maharashtra!, Jai Jharkhand! and Jai Hind! in the same breadth.
(This is not by any means an answer to Raj Thackeray’s comments or a reaction to his words, neither is their any animosity harboured towards any person. This is just an emotional plea towards building a new India. And the plea goes out to all people not with cold stares but with open arms. Even for you Sir, Mr. RT)
In spite of being devoid of all such worldly wisdom, I can still speak with all my heart and soul. Whatever (in recent times) Raj Thackeray and his many prototypes in different linguistic and regionalist flavours say or have said is unacceptable. Correcting the previous statement- it is hands down ridiculous.
We Indians redefined the word Nation. We wiped off all established protocols when we got together and started our journey. Or in popular words: India awoke even as the whole world slept, with all its diversity and vibrant colors tied together with the symbolic thread of oneness. Even after 60 years have gone by, we continue to march ahead as the world watches in disbelief. It does give me gooseflesh when people draw lines. Never stopping us, but yes, slowing us down. Do the sons-of-the-soil really need such aberrations in between?
Maharashtra for me is not represented by RT or the MNS- far from it. It is in fact led by a few other lesser known genre of people:
- by my ever-so-affable ma`am who tells me Pune is my home (without giving second thought to the fact that I’m a so-called outsider)
- by my very very Maratha friends who keep on cajoling for another of those chat sessions over chaha and vada pav.
By my society watchman who pleads ‘Saab tum waapas aana to idherich rehna, thik?’
Apparently, what RT hopes to achieve is expanding his miniscule support base, blindfolding people by fuelling factionalism.
What he does not realize though, is the youth of today is fiercely independent and educated, and their sheer passion would be more than suffice in tearing the shackles of the uneducated short sighted mind to shreds.
I am proud to be associated with different cultures. I thank God profusely, for having been able to escape the sickening myopia. For not being found at anytime laying down claims of a Tamil or a Bengali or for that matter Bihari supremacy in a subject. And unknowingly doing irrevocable damage to my national pride and my Self.
For having been blessed with the energy and soul to cry out loud and clear- Jai Maharashtra!, Jai Jharkhand! and Jai Hind! in the same breadth.
(This is not by any means an answer to Raj Thackeray’s comments or a reaction to his words, neither is their any animosity harboured towards any person. This is just an emotional plea towards building a new India. And the plea goes out to all people not with cold stares but with open arms. Even for you Sir, Mr. RT)
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