ये जो ख्याल है

बस साथ हो
समां है
मौसम है
कुछ दबा है
कुछ जवां है
ये जो ख्याल है
ये बेवजह तो नहीं  !!

प्यार कर लो
चलो एक बार फिर से
दिल ही तो है
ऐसा तो नहीं के मिला नहीं

कुछ समझ न लो
कुछ और समझ न लो
इसका भी तो पता नहीं
कुछ है जो ये
कुछ हो भी तो
ये कोई खता नहीं
ये जो ख्याल है
ये बेवजह तो नहीं

बगल पडोसी - a simple message to Pakistan

बगल पडोसी जिनके घर में रोटी है न पानी 

बस दो चार बम बनाये करने को मनमानी 

करने को मनमानी ना  देखी अपनी जनता रोती 

चले सिखाने हमको प्रेम ग्रन्थ की पोथी 

प्रेम ग्रन्थ की पोथी भाई तुम न पढाओ 

अपने घर जो आग लगी है जा कर उसे बुझाओ 

Get Airtel 4G

                How wonderful speed is! We all have always aspired to be quicker at things we can accomplish using our smart phones. But many a times we have been unable to achieve it because of slow internet speeds on our mobile phones. I remember the time when I could not book a train ticket using my phone. I needed a laptop and a broadband to be able to do the most dreaded thing online ever i.e. booking a tatkal train ticket on IRCTC website.
               But then came 3G and changed the way we percieved online operations on mobile phones. Today every other day we see apps getting launched for banking, online food ordering, social networking etc. There are apps now even for political parties and their policies. The whole world is a better place now for many reasons and one of them is that we have better speed of mobile internet. Now here is the good news. We all have loved 3G speed on our phones and anticipated greater speed and convenience in next generation 4G networks.

               We all have been waiting for cheaper 4G enabled phones and networks that could support 4G speeds. Our mutual friend Airtel has already setup a vast network for 4G operations. They have come out with great plans for us to use and they have made it extremely easy for us as well to get a 4G sim. Here are the details for you:-
    1. Airtel offers a unique 4G SIM delivery service, wherein any Airtel user with a 4G handset can tweet using #GetAirtel4G to get a 4G SIM delivered to their home for free.
    2. Once a user tweets #GetAirtel4G he gets a reply from @AirtelIndia handle directing the user to a link where a user need to enter his details for SIM delivery.

 Read more about it at www.airtel.in/4G
              So if you have a phone which is 4G network ready what are you waiting for. Open your twitter app now and tweet for it.

Steps of Evolution - 1

Dear Reader,

If you have not read the first part of the series , please read it here -

Story of Evolution - Get introduced to characters and story



3 years Later

 (1)

                         Dolphina was restless. Her heart was racing; she had never thought that this day would come. Matsya was dead. She was all alone but her responsibilities as the queen mother and chief minister of kingdom of waters did not afford her a moment of grief on death of her dearest. Just three years back on May 18, 2012 they had met with King of Forests Sultan and his minister Chanak to discuss problems caused by humans and decided to let it be for a while so that humans could learn from their mistakes and evolve with time. But it had proven fatal for Matsya, her love. How she wished today that she had decided to kill all humans and get rid of their ill plans.

She shouted for the guard and asked him to get Chanak from forests.

                                                                          (2)

                   Earlier that day Matsya was out for a swim with his bodyguards. He was enjoying the great expanse of the sea and loved the bitter salty taste of its water, after all he was born in it and since then had lived to love and protect it. There was no better swimmer in the entire kingdom. He was 42 feet long and weighed more than 20 tonnes but no one could control the speed and dive as he could. He was feeling fantastic that morning when kissed Dolphina good bye.

He was swimming a few hundred kilometers from the lands south of river Narmada. He loved the water in this part of sea which humans called Arabian Sea. He could see human fishing boats and other huge structures which were sailing across the sea with a lot of grains and other supplies for different parts of world where humans had made their colonies. He was always well informed about these routes as he always kept a distant watch on these areas.

Today he had decided to come closer to the shore to get a closer look at all the things that were being developed at the sea shore. He could see long lines of tall building less than 100 meters from the sea shore. He wondered if humans never learn from the destructions of the past, why they choose to live so close to the sea. He saw many outlets of dirty water that were freely flowing into sea making the whole part of the sea dark black. He was disgusted at the sight of it. He had not realized that he had come very close to the shore and the taste and quality of the water that they were treading into, was very different from what they had ever experienced. He took a sip of the water and felt dizzy, just a sip of it was enough to get him lose his consciousness. His body guards were in no better shape. They were struggling to see and breath. The water did not have enough oxygen for them. Suddenly their gills were full of a pollutant they had never known about, in effort to save their lives they were taking more and more water to get enough oxygen but that was getting their gills blocked and they were not able to push the water out anymore. They were drowning with the weight of water and all of them were losing control of their tail and muscles because not enough oxygen was available to their brains. They were slowing down and in next few minutes all of them knew that they were not going to make it back home that day.

Only one thing that was left for them to do before giving their lives was to push their king to the land in last hope that humans would be intelligent enough to save him. They had seen reports that a small fraction of humans were advocating measures to save the nature. They had never thought, but humans were their last hope in a bid to save their king. They mustered all the courage that was required and pushed the floating body of their king towards the land. They could never know if they were successful, for their life had already gone out of them.

                                                                      (3)

                           Humans always love a spectacle. A huge whale on their shore was another that they could not get enough of. They were too busy in clicking photographs and calling their relatives to come and see the wonder that they did not think of calling for help. All the show off and drama to save the planet and nature was coming to see the truth of light. A setup that was supposed to work in such conditions was completely absent. Everyone, who was there, was clueless about what they could do. Such shame. All technological development that humans boasted off returned no result. They could not even push the king of waters back into water let alone provide a safe place for him to live. Humans once again had failed the kingdoms of forests and waters. They had again failed God. They had again proven short of fulfilling their purpose.

PS: In a shocking incident, all the machinery and intelligence of human beings could not push back a whale into sea on June 26^th.

Source: Hindustan Times

Surf it All ! Surf it Fast!

Your smart phone is an integral part of your life today. You can’t survive a day without it unless you really want to prove a point. Every day a new phone is out in market which claims better performance and mind blowing features. Just to be fair to them, some of them do have great specifications and great features.

But problem is that most of us, if not all, bought our smart phones, as it seems, a little early in the timeline of smart phone evolution i.e. approximately a year back or a little more. All this development in smart phone industry has made our phones like Amitabh Bachchan from the movie “Pa”. They are not all that old but they appear and function like one.

When I bought my phone 1 GB RAM was fantastic and dual core processors were thing of the time. Apps were light and the default browser was able to get anything rendered on our screen even on 2G. OK, that is an exaggeration. However, if you remember that time (around 2013) we were happy with simpler things.

Now APPs are heavy and they are countless to say the least. Last week I had to get rid of my facebook and messenger both apps. They were beating the living out of my phone. My browser was hanging, my phone was dying more often than not and problems were countless. Many times I felt like throwing away my phone and getting a new one but then I remembered all the EMIs I had paid for this one, so decided to keep it for another year and get rid of all, I mean all, heavy apps.

Now, that is something which is not good. What’s the point of a smart phone which is a thing of past and does not have half of the things that save you money, time and hassle. Most importantly get you information fast and are reliable.

Then a day came, I had to disable my full fledged browser and go back to the default one. It has been doing the job but I am used to better things in life. As they say necessity is mother of inventions. It made me search for better options, if not really invent them.

US browser (http://www.ucweb.com/) may just be the answer to all our problems. It is fast, it is light, it saves data in browsing and it is available on your Google Play Store for free. Yuvraj Singh, our beloved cricketer is promoting this browser. You can watch him talking about the features of this browser in the following video.

At the time of any cricket series, we all want to keep ourselves updated on scores and commentaries. So many times our slow networks do not allow us the seamless connectivity that we desire. UBC Browser comes with a built-in UC Cricket feature which is one stop shop for all your cricket related information needs. You can get all that in just one click.

So here is what I recommend, keep your old browser for now, download UC browser and try it out.

Go get a flat belly! not tomorrow, today !!

Just like there are no shortcuts to success, there are none to a flat belly. You ought to work out and take proper diet to finally show off your toned abs. Many of us tend to believe that we can get great abs by working out and maintaining our diet for some time and then once we have it we can go around eating from this corner and other. The whole understanding is wrong, to say the least.

In movie, Pursuit of Happiness, Will Smith talks about his daily routine and calls that part of his the pursuit of happiness. All the struggles that he had to face in that movie made him think more than once that happiness was not something that could be achieved, it could only be pursued. But we later got to know that right amount of efforts and dedication can actually help you find “happiness”. In the same way, ”pursuit of a flat belly” is something that requires consistent effort and great determination.  On our way we should take all the help that we can. Follow a regular exercise regime, get your beauty sleep, stay away from stress, keep away from happy, sad or stress eating, do not touch alcohol, say no to smoking and most importantly set your diet.

Now, that if makes you feel dizzy better stop reading here. But if you have the courage and determination that you think you do, there are a lot of people, industries and forums that will help you.  

Dabur (@DaburHoney_Ind) has pioneered the process of bringing the goodness of nature into our lives through their wide range of products. This time it is going to their “Honey”.  They have come up with this great concept of “Honey Diet” which helps you sustain your efforts for fitness. They have created 7 days crash diet plan for you so that you can lose those extra pounds and get in the shape that you had always wanted. It’s not about getting slim only, it is about getting fit. You don’t have to be slim to be happy with yourself and enjoy being in your skin. But you must be fit.

I don’t intend to preach here about the importance of fitness. You must try to live a better life, so that you can pass on better values to the next generation.  

Like Lord Krishna said in Shree Mad-Bhagwad Geeta , “Karmanyevadhikaraste ma faleshu kadachana” which means focus on your karma and leave your worries about outcomes to me. Grab your glass of lemon water and 2 table spoons of honey and follow your Honey Diet (http://www.daburhoney.com/) get started on the path of a better tomorrow. All you need to do is, fill some basic information about your health and get your diet plan on your registered email id. Once you have it follow it religiously.

I wish you all a fitter and flatter belly.

 

 

Kapil Dev and #EkNayiLeague

Kapil Dev’s Ek Nayi League. What is this #EkNayiLeague ?  In all the videos Kapi Dev is saying “DIl se khela to Hit Wicket” which means that “If you played with heart, you would definitely fail”. How is that possible?  It is possible only if your mind is more important for this game than your heart. You would need to apply your brains to play in this league.

My best guess is it that it is going to be an online cricket strategy game. Where you would create teams, buy and sell players, manage and coach your team to win matches to go on and win top honours.

In one the videos he talks about players making a lot of money, which makes him happy. I am excited about a possibility that this league would offer players an opportunity to win a lot of money.

In another video he talks about girls and sports for them in India. This is one field where we really need to do better that too when we have really great talent in India. Sania and Saina are making us proud along with many other stars in various other sports. I think there is definitely going to be something for girls in this league. A team comprising both male and female players or is it going to be male and female both competing with their grey matter in strategy to win this league?

In videos Kapil Dev has talked about many celebrities as well. I wonder where they fit in? Would they be part of teams, sponsors of teams or owners of team? There is a lot of excitement around it. I see on twitter that many lucky fans are getting to meet Kapil. It is just great. It is a great way to promote a sport in country and provide an level playing field to everyone.

After going in the direction that it is definitely going to be an online strategy game based on cricket, now I am getting many other thoughts. I have a strong feeling that it has something to do with tennis. He talks about Sania Mirza. I wonder why that is.

No matter what it is now, there is a lot of suspense around it. I am very curious to find out. I wish if there was any way to find this out right now. I have already combed internet via Google search results but no luck.

Kapil Dev is an icon and I am sure whatever he is bringing out is going to be phenomenal and it would benefit all sports lovers and his crazy fans. I, for one, am looking forward to play in this #EkNayiLeague. (http://www.eknayileague.com/) .

Wait, I have another guess, oh no I have got many. Waiting for the secret to reveal itself.

 

Change your Smart Phone Experience!!

When is the right time to change your phone? I feel it is when your current phone becomes too slow that you feel like it is from the Stone Age and you need to wait for a few life times before it opens the app that you touched and have stared at since. Worse is when you start getting a call in the midst of your app launch.

What were these “smart phones” invented for? To help you multitask, to help stay in touch with your emails, texts, tweets and statuses on various other platforms, in nutshell to help you stay connected, to help you do basic things with your phone that otherwise would require you to find a laptop with a decent internet connection.

If I am out there to find a new phone for myself which can give me a satisfactory performance or better, I would have my apprehensions. These days there are just too many brands which are boasting of great experience, I would steer clear of such claims and do my own research before I choose my next phone.  One phone which stands out in comparison and has received acclaim from my peers is ASUS Zenfone2.

Why, I think, this could be a game changer in redefining what a customer should expect from his / her smart phone is because of the amazing specification and features this phone boasts of. Here are top 5 –

1.       4 GB LPDDR3 RAM – that is 8 times more RAM compared to what I had in first desktop. For a layman, that means that you get about 4 times clock frequency and as many times data transfer rate which translates into great performance of your apps.

2.       4G Support – 4 G is here already and a few other phones have the support built-in for 4G networks.  Telecom providers are providing it almost at the same cost as 3G data services so why not use it while it is cheap (although I feel it would anyway remain affordable even after all phones would have it). A new phone should enable you to do something that your current phone did not. So 4G it is.

3.       Better Visual Experience – ASUS Zenfone2 has a 5.5 inch screen in a traditional body of a 5 inch phone. That means it would fit in your pocket same as a 5 inch phone but give you much better visual experience.

4.       Intuitive Rear Controls for Selfie generation – Everywhere you go, you can find people clicking selfies with phone which were not specifically made for it. Here is a phone with strategically placed controls for that perfect selfie.

5.       This phone has many features and great specifications but I would go to the Achilles Heel of many other smart phones which this particular phone tries to cover as much as possible, its battery. With 3000 mAH Li-polymer batter it promises your longer battery. A longer battery life has been a criterion for selection of phone since time immemorial. Fast charging feature available with this phone is cherry on top.

I could go buy this phone for many logical reasons like many of us but I would buy this one just because of the emotional connection that ASUS has with my computer experience. It was an ASUS chipset which hosted all other components for my first desktop. It changed my life then, I am sure it would change it again with ASUS Zenfone2. 

Digital Skills for India

Knowledge economy is not a new phrase. For long many countries have worked hard to increase their technological prowess. They have been able to generate a lot of economic success by doing so. Industrial growth is all about having skilled people who are ready to start working the day infrastructure becomes available. Under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi India has embarked on the path of creating sets and sets of skilled workers who are trained to work in particular sectors and not just rely on traditional knowledge of various low paying jobs.

Indian villages still are not part of India’s growth story mainly because people who live in villages have been disconnected from the mainstream development for so long. Although based on numbers you can go ahead and argue that they are the actual mainstream of this country. They are still forced to do what they have been doing for generations, the way they have been doing it ever since.

Under the purview of  #DigitalIndia campaign Government of India is trying to fill this gap. By taking the first world inventions to villages they are trying to connect the available knowledge with available workforce. Idea to train people with digital skills is going to be a game changer. People will be able to learn skills that will enable and empower them. They will be ready for the new world. One very important thing which will come out of this would be that they would get their voice in the increasing sphere of social media.

Intel’s (http://www.intel.in/) Digital Skills for India Program is a great boost for the vision of PM Modi. Intel has been a pioneer in computing field. They have taken an initiative to train 5 million people and take the technological knowhow to 1000 panchayats. I would like to thank them and congratulate them for their efforts and becoming part of our growth engine.

I was born in one such village and in my first 15 years of life I had not even seen a computer and did not get to touch one for another year.  I got to learn the use of a computer for the first time when I took admission in my under graduate course. That, if you think, delayed exposure to the rest of the world and technological developments by years.

This initiative by Intel is going to give people the kick start that they need in the villages. They will know that a smart phone or a laptop with a broadband connection is all that they need to stay connected with rest of the world.

There is one particular aspect that I would like to be included in this digital literacy campaign. We all know that when people get something new their hands they first learn to misuse it. In all the trainings and educational sessions, they must be taught what not to do as well. The growth needs direction and should be imparted from the very beginning.

Very best wishes to all the partners, especially Intel and BBNL, in this endeavour.

 

Spread Happiness with Coca-Cola

I live in Delhi NCR. If you ask people who reside in Delhi and work in Gurgaon one thing that troubles them most and would like to have solution sooner rather than later. It would be traffic jams. I understand that traffic jam is not one problem, it is manifestation of multiple problems acting together. Bad civic sense, little or no knowledge, or regard for that matter, for traffic rules, no sense of lanes and worst of all, attitude of daily commuters.

I do not know why, but in India everyone is always in hurry. People feel triumphant when they are able occupy the narrowest available place on the road between lanes ahead of everyone else. All this is still bearable. What makes this situation unbearable is when there are prolonged stares from angry people as if they have followed all the rules for all of their lives and today they have found someone who has scant regard for anything like rules. I get this urge of getting out of my car and thrash them in and out until they beg for mercy but then I realize that they too harbour similar feelings.  

Our intolerance for stupidity has made this world a worse place to live, people are scattering anger, frustration and all sorts of negativity all around when they should choose to spread love and happiness. I feel, very strongly, that any such incident can be avoided with a simple smile and a “sorry”. When you are getting stared at or you are staring at someone, it is better to smile and say sorry if you are in wrong than react to the situation. On the one hand where it protects you from any further provocation, it makes sure that your mood remains happy.  But it is easier said than done. It makes me happy when I receive a smile from a fellow traveller or an acknowledgement from someone for my good behaviour on road.

What is it that can help us achieve a world where people are always happy and they don’t react to provocations or stupidity committed by others on the road?

 I feel that Coca Cola http://cokeurl.com/96jnc can help in this situation by putting up makeshift outlets all along the national highways and at all traffic lights. At first they would have to identify situations where a “who blinks first” is going on, then rush to the spot with Coca-Cola bottles and give them to drivers and ask them to smile and spread happiness. It can be the next big revolution towards improving the national happiness quotient. Then once people are used to it, they should be allowed (made) to buy each other a Coca-Cola bottle.

Let’s make Coca-Cola a currency of happiness and let’s exchange it as much as we can.

 

 

 

Hum Hain to Kya Gum Hai!

I get bogged down by this consistently demanding universe.  Pollution, corruption, traffic jams, doubly getting taxed on expenditure from already taxed salary, vendors trying to extract every extra rupee from my pockets, politicians making absurd comments and everything else around these things are a constant source of frustration and despair.  Then there are middle class aspirations of owning a good car, having a good house(https://housing.com/), some bank balance and arranging for my retirement. All this sometimes feel so heavy that I feel like running away from all this and live a nomadic life. I believe this is the case for many people who are like me.

While all of the factors mentioned above keep pulling me down, there is one person who always makes me feel confident that all these problems are trivial and all this can be overcome with just a smile. That person is no one but my mother. Her strength in adverse conditions, her ability to manage situations and her way of solving problems makes me wonder about material that she is made of.

She makes me believe in a world where giving is more important than receiving. She makes me believe in transcendental love and complete devotion. She makes me feel that she will make things easy for me whenever I set out to achieve them.

I remember the day she set out to get our homebuilt in our ancestral village. There was a lot of opposition from neighbours and our relatives. I was about 5 years old. I do not remember the details but I know that she had to run from pillar to post managing finances, making sure that contractors were working properly, ensuring sufficient supply of building construction material, neighbours and relatives were in check and all this working full time as a teacher in the government primary school.

I get tired just commuting to my office and then surviving through the day while she did many times more than that and yet found time to be around me. This remains close to my heart probably because this whole thing gave me the home (https://housing.com/), where I spent all of my childhood.

She has managed every aspect of our lives and built her life around us putting us first, way before her own comfort, convenience or pleasure.

Even today when I am married and way older than what she was when she got built my first home, she still takes every step to ensure that I get all her help in fulfilling my aspirations.

Every time she sees me worried about anything she would always say “Hum hain to kya gum hai ?? (What’s the worry when I am here)” and that always cheers me up. I #lookup to her for courage and strength.

 

What I found in Goa !

I had just posted on my Facebook wall that I was going to be in Goa for the rest of the week and my close friend and former roommate Rajeew messaged me and asked when I was reaching there. I replied with my time line but I did not discuss it further on that day. I was very busy with office and planning for my trip so it did not cross my mind that he might be planning to be there during same period.

On the day I arrived in Goa I messaged him and asked what was his plan and if he was about to visit Goa. He informed me that he was going to be there in the same week and that gave us 2 days of overlap in our vacation.

Some background, Rajeew and I have been friends since our time in Noida. We had been roommates first in Noida and then in Bangalore until he got married and I moved back to Delhi NCR. We have had similar lives and almost similar aspirations during our days as flatmates in Bangalore.

Our lives have changed quite a bit since our time in Bangalore, thus I was really happy that we would be able to meet without any prior planning, out of sheer luck. Rajeew has played an important role in my life in the way that his experiences with jobs and handling matters of life have been good insights into future for me.

Goa was a refreshing trip. I had plenty of time to spend with my wife. I spent a lot of time on beach and driving along the shore from north to south Goa. Meeting Rajeew and his wife was a bonus.

I drove to Rajeew’s hotel and from there we headed towards beaches for an evening #together in the shacks built on the Baga Beach. It is obvious that meeting an old friend after 3 years in itself is a cause for celebration. We sat reminiscing, all the crazy things that we had done #together.  

During our conversation what struck me most was that, even he was thinking about the same things in life that I was planning for, for example investments,  retirement plans, job security and most importantly a house of our own(https://housing.com/). He had started planning for buying some land almost at the same time last year when I started researching for a good flat. We are in the same phase of life, so it was reassuring to hear his plans and find them to be similar to mine. His plans gave me some ideas and his confidence gave me some assurance that even I was moving in the right direction and most importantly all this, having a house and investments for retirement and maintaining a family with enough days for vacation in a year was really possible.

This vacation not only gave me plenty of time to roam around, see a new city, meet an old friend but also made me more optimistic for the future lying ahead. It made me believe that all that I want to do is, indeed, doable.

Peaceful at Railway Track

When do you think a man is at peace? Is it when he has just returned from work or just after a boring meeting? When do you think he gets some time to think about himself? One place, at least once a day, closer to himself in just a few minutes of solitude. Yes, you have guessed it right. If you haven’t do not worry.

It has been my favourite place, and for many other thinkers, for many years. Here I get to read a few pages of a book every day; I get to think about some of the most important issues. If nothing, then I, at least, get to stare at nothingness of the marble flooring with absolutely no thought in my head, such peace. No wonder, I, like many others, never “need” to meditate, It happens automatically. Why would anyone ever want to give this time up or trade for any other pleasure?

Many of us aspire to achieve a state of mind which is so content and peaceful that no situation how grave or embarrassing can disturb us. One cannot attain it without a lot of hard work and practise. If I ask you to guess how many people are there in this world who possess this capability, you would be very confused and may guess the number to be very small. But, then I would ignore your innocence and remind you of railway tracks.

Close your eyes and remember the last time you were in train looking out the window, early in morning, when the train had just entered in the city. Long queues of people practising their meditation in “Malasana” pose with small bottles of water for “shuddhi” at the end. If you look closer you will notice their composer, calmness of their behaviour, complete disregard for human gazes and complete focus on what is coming out. These are the men who have mastered this most sought after art. Once they are done with their meditation, they leave their waste produce and move forward in life with no worries about the next day for there will always be a railway track. In all the noise of trains passing by not to mention the danger to their lives not just by high speed, who am I kidding, normal speed trains but all the insects and reptiles nearby, these men get up every day to prove that peace of mind does not require a five star setup. Although they could always skip buying a television set and construct a toilet but they would not. Why waste such talent! Why not learn and master an art of attaining peace in most chaotic situations. I just hope that after all this hard work they would at least be aware that they possess this skill of keeping calm in face of poverty, deprivation and danger because it is a fantastic skill to have.

This article is written for “The Great Indian Litterbug (http://greatindian.timesofindia.com/)

 

Peaceful at Railway Track

 

 

 

Book Promotion - A Passionaate Gospel of True Love

                    At some point of time we will have to start thinking about “sex” differently. First thing first, Sex requires a lot of maturity.  One must know what, why and how of it, as better as possible. But, should there be a question on when? Should it be only after marriage? Should pre-marital sex be a complete No-No?

                   Considering the current social conditions, saying that pre-marital sex should not happen, is as impractical as it is foolish. It is happening and it will continue to, whether we like it or not. There are many socio-psychological aspects to this question (or Problem, whatever you choose to recognize it as). Teenagers who are experiencing nascent puberty are more and more curious about it. Now, as a parent or guardians of moral policing, you may go on and try to stop everyone and prevent it from happening. But, can you?

                   I know, as a society, we are not ready, yet, to accept it as a common occurrence and we may have a lot of arguments to justify our thinking. But let’s focus on what is it that we are, actually, preventing from happening. By not having an honest dialog with your friends, kids and parents you are preventing development of healthy thinking about sex and it’s impacting physical and mental health of our teenagers and youth. As our society matures, average age of marriage will go up because people would want to be financially secure before they start their family. Going by social conventions, it will deny them any physical relationship which is accepted by society. Consider the impact of this on them. I know the question which popped in your mind. “Why is it even important to have sex, there is a lot that people should focus on?” I will not answer this question for you, please take your own time to find “your” answer.  

                  We, as Indians, have understood the importance of “Brahmcharya”. Even now when we preach brahmcharya and insist that it should be practiced by every individual in a certain period of time of his/her life, we are right and perfectly so because it has a lot of benefits in the development of an individual.  But, just for a minute, if you think, the social condition which facilitated successful period of celibacy (brahmcharya) is not prevalent any more. Our kids are not sent to “Gurukuls” anymore. They are being made aware of their sexuality by movies, advertisements, social media and print media long before they understand it. This heightened awareness will never let them be celibate. Purity of a soul is from “Mann, Vachan and Karma” (Heart, Speech and Action). When heart and speech are not ready to accept celibacy, how long can you prevent action? If at all you could, consider the impacts of your success.

                 I am not advocating either side of the argument, all I am saying is that as a society we must practice what is sustainable based on our condition. We must focus more on education, honesty and mutual respect more than satisfaction of our own righteousness. We must focus on love and understand it in its truest form. We, as a society, should teach love, care and respect as fundamentals and standards. Here is a new book by Poonam Uppal which teaches essence of True Love -  Poonaam Uppal's True Love - A Mystical True Love Story on Flipkart.

Swachh Bharat Mission - Experience 1

I was pleasantly surprised by the clean look of Kashmere Gate ISBT in Delhi. I felt that may be some of us have got the message and are working for it. As I walked into the facility I saw a crew continually cleaning around and crew was dressed in uniforms unlike “sarkari” cleaners. A few empty chips wrappers were still lying around some chairs which were acting as reminders of our immediate past. I was tempted to go pick them and up and drop them in dustbin, as I moved towards one of the wrappers another uniform picked it.

I was on bus stand to pick up my parents. While I was waiting for their bus to arrive I walked around as if inspecting the cleanliness of the place. I saw a middle aged man having coffee on one of those waiting chairs and my 6^th sense said that he was going to place the empty cup strategically under his chair just as to avoid any contact with his dangling feet. After a few minutes as I kept an eye on him , it happened. Victorious in my heart that my sixth sense was right I walked towards him and made an eye contact. After a few second of connect I pointed my finger toward the cup. He quickly caught my point and took the empty cup to its destination. #AbMontuBolega is one initiative which talks about being more vocal about our desire for a clean India. It will not happen until we do our part. Here is a short introduction of the initiative –

The Power of Voice to Clean India

There are places that need cleaning, people who deserve your attention & authorities who need to hear your opinions! Don’t be a silent spectator. Raise your voice and make a difference.

We know that raising our voices against all that is dirty in our country is a power that we all have. Let’s exercise the power of our voice & work towards a Swachch Bharat.

Kyuki Bin Bole Ab Nahi Chalega #AbMontuBolega.

Get to know about this campaign from  http://www.abmontubolega.com/.  Find them on facebook here - https://www.facebook.com/StrepsilsIndia

On Twitter here - https://twitter.com/StrepsilsIndia

My wait was still not over. I waited for my parents, I found a bus conductor having tea from a plastic cup and carrying some tea in a plastic bag. I did not go over the harmful effects of plastic with him but I stood guard until he was finished and had thrown all the plastic into dustbin. Old people will not change their habits. We will have to force them. We will have to talk them out of their bad habit of throwing garbage around.

It still was not the most difficult experience of the day. Most difficult one came when one of the shopkeepers on bus stand decided to have some snacks with his tea. He tore off a “namkeen” packet and threw on floor next to a dustbin which was 3 feet away from his shop. I walked up to him and asked him to pick it up. He did not obey neither did he deny to pick it up. He kept smiling at me as if that would hypnotize me to pick it. There was stubbornness in his smile which is difficult to explain. But it was as if he felt it was his birth right to throw around garbage and someone else’s duty to clean it. It was frustrating but my persistence worked I stood there pointing his mistake and finally he picked it and threw into garbage bin.

I am not sure if he would continue to be a good citizen and not create a mess around his work place and home. People like us would have to keep reminding him until it becomes his habit. A habit, for all such people. 

Lost Again..

(1)

Current day –

He was staring hard into his book, doing all he could to read words in the dim light of the sun set. Sun was already dipped almost half into the horizon. He wanted to finish that paragraph before he could put the book back in bag. After that he would not get time to read it he knew Bangalore was going to be busy.

As the bus moved it became impossible to read even a single word, so he decided to fold the page to resume later. He took a sip of water from the bottle and leaned back into his seat. “Railway crossings are too painful” he thought “they made one wait an hour every time a train crossed”. He closed his eyes and murmured under his breather “pathetic!”

(2)

2 Weeks Back –

He was returning to his parents after 12 years. Such a long time 12 years is ! All this while when he was away he did not even know whether his parents were alive or dead by bow. He was sure his parents could not have been sure about him either. Back then he could not imagine a life without his parents and suddenly 12 years, almost a life time, passed without them. He had missed them. But he had to leave home, he did not have an option, he thought. He could not remember faces of his parents clearly. That argument with his dad set him on a separate path. He was successful today. Married to a lovely woman and father of the cutest son. Maria, his wife, was from a different religion. It was another of his worries, if his parents would accept his marriage? Would it matter? Will the return of the prodigal son mean anything to his parents ? “Mom would have missed me!!” he thought.

Maria was there with Rahul ( son ) at the airport to see him off. She hugged him good bye as he kissed Rahul on the forehead. In just 3 hours he was at Delhi airport. He could not wait to board train to Lucknow and then a 3 hours road trip to Bahraich, where his parents lived. He did not know if they lived in the same house anymore. There was no way to find out. But he was determined now to find them and tell them that their son was back, for good. The day passed swiftly in journey. He reached Bahraich before sunset.

Anand Nagar, his locality did not look anything like he remembered. He asked around for his father. "Do you know where does Mr. Mukesh Mishra live?" he asked a stranger "oh, apko pata hai ki mukesh mishra ji kahan rahte hain ?" he translated it in Hindi for that person. "Aaage se teesri gali me chale jaiye, master sahab wahin rahte hain.( Take the third street from here, he lives there )" stranger replied. His heart was pounding as fast as it could, his palms were sweaty , he was nervous as he knocked on the door.

(3)

Maria had always been supportive. She knew that he missed his family. She did everything to make him comfortable and fill the empty space in his life. Rahul's arrival in their lives definitely helped. He loved him for all the love that he had lost. He understood the attachment for his son and everyday wondered how his parents would have felt when he walked out, never to look back.

Maria had always wanted a complete family with Ronit's parents. But he was not sure if he should try to get in touch with his parents again. He was scared. He did not know how to face his parents. How to look into their eyes and make up for the 12 years when he abandoned them. Time, probably when they needed him most.

(4)

His mother stood stunned at the door, tears rolling out on her cheeks continuously, unable to speak a word, she could not even manage to raise her hand or call her husband at the sight of her long lost son. She looked older than he had imagined. He fell on her feet and tears made their first appearance in his eyes. She went down to pick him up as he hugged her in a tight embrace.

"Where is dad, ma ?" he asked , she managed to point towards the drawing room where television was on. India was playing Pakistan in world cup semifinals. He went in and bowed down to touch his father's feet. His father looked at him and took a few seconds to register and realize what just had happened. He did not know what to do he raise his hand gently touch Ronit’s head.

For minutes no body spoke a word. They just kept smiling at each other, tears did not stop.

Current Day -

(5)

Two weeks had passed in no time, too less to listen all the stories of past 12 years. Too little a time to gather all the love. It went so fast, that the pain of yet another separation had started haunting them. But this time, it was different.

He did not expect it, but his parents were more than happy to Know about Maria and the way she had been there for him all this while. They could not wait another day to see Rahul.

They talked to Maria and Rahul on phone every day morning and evening. God took away their son and returned him with interest of a daughter in law and a grandson.

Finally the day arrived when Ronit had to leave for Bangalore. He promised to bring Maria and Rahul to visit his parents in Bahraich the very next month. He got the tickets booked for the trip and asked his mother to prepare to meet her grandson.

His mother packed everything that she could in the check in baggage and his hand bag. She had so many things to send to her grandson, space in the bags was not enough. She was dying to hold him in her hands and hug him.

His mother was fighting her tears as she waved good bye. Mukesh was already planning for Ronit’s next visit.

(6)

After a long the Mishra family did not have any complaints with god. They had a lot of work to do, just in a month they were going to meet Maria and Rahul.

"Let's celebrate this day, our son has returned to us. We do not need anything in life now" Mukesh was ecstatic. Reena did not say a word, she just smiled. After 12 long years they had all they wanted. Happiness had knocked at their door once again.

They did not have to worry about their son anymore. Unending series of questions, where is he? Is he alive? What had become of him? Does he remember us? Would he ever come back, did not haunt them anymore.

With every passing year the hope of return of their son had faded away.

Now that Ronit was back, they had nothing to worry about. Mukesh thanked god in his heart as Reena handed him the tea cup.

They sat comfortably in the sofa and switched on television. With the screen still coming up the sound reached their ear

"In a breaking news TAir flight from Lucknow to Bangalore was blown away into pieces by a bomb blast. No survivors. We are waiting for more information."

Story of Evolution

                                                                    (1)


He sat on a rock beside the waterfall chewing on the last piece of carrot. Deep in thought, he did not realize how the day had passed. He stared at the waterfall and tried to remember his days as the smartest graduate rabbit in the forests. He rolled his eyes and turned his back to call for his men, “Roy !! Roy !! get me my stick”. He was getting old and could not run as he did in his youth. Roy came puffing and panting up the rock with the stick tied on his back. “ My lord ! your stick “ bowed Roy by putting his back towards Chanak, the chief minister.



Chanak took the stick and started walking , Roy followed him two steps behind. “Roy ! what do you think we should do ?”, he asked. Roy was bewildered at the sudden question “About what my lord ?”. “About humans, the have been destroying our forests. We kept quite all these years thinking that they are evolving and they would need means. But their greed is insatiable. “ Chanak frowned.



Roy was furious, with anger in his voice he replied “We should have destroyed humans at their first mistake. They do not understand our warnings. They have a very volatile short term memory. Our tsunamis are forgotten in a day or two. We have no option but to annihilate them from the face of the earth else nobody else would survive”. Chanak was shocked at the reply he turned back and stared at Roy for a moment. Roy realized that he may have spoken more than he was required too.



                                                                         (2)

Sultan , the king of forests, was fast asleep when queen entered his bedroom. “ Dear lord, you are still asleep. Our subjects are going nuts since humans have started deforesting Corbett. Please wake up.” Sultan rolled in the bed and tried to pat himself with his tail. He got up slowly and sat in the bed with multiple pillows around him, as if to support him from falling in the bed again. “ I need time to think about the solution” he murmured. “Do we have the luxury of time my lord ? “ queen Meenakshi asked while handing him the cup of tea.



“I know I do not have time to decide, but gods made me take a vow that I would not destroy humans until it is impossible to tolerate them. Gods feel bad that humans started evolving after all of us. Don’t you remember we were as boastful when we realized the power of our brain as humans are about their new found brain. They hardly have a 4 % active brain , you cannot blame them if they do not understand the repercussions of their actions. We have passed that stage years back and now we have evolved completely with a brain 100 % active. We understand reason behind everything , thus our actions are coherent with nature. They have a long way to go and it would not be soon that they start maturing. As alpha species of the planet it is our duty to give them the chance to reach our levels.” Sultan said softly.



Queen was left with no words but she was worried about the state of the earth. She said worriedly “ But my lord, as king of the forests you have to ensure the safety of our subjects. Some of them have already started rebelling by attacking humans and trespassing their territory.”

“I know, I will send ministers to talk to other animals. Problem is that humans do not understand that we are more evolved than them. Our calm and reserved nature makes them think that they rule the planet and can control us. I do not know how to make them understand that they are the most stupid ones on the face of earth. I blame gods for this, they should have created humans with all of us so that they can start evolving with all of us. But no, they just could not do that. “ King felt a surge of helpless anger.



“ I will talk to the king of waters “ he walked out of the room whispering.



                                                                             (3)



Matsya, King of waters was restless, Sultan had not arrived at the meeting venue. “He just does not understand punctuality. No wonder forests are being destroyed by humans long before Pralay ( doomsday ).”

Sound of conchs rose from all sides, Sultan had arrived. “Apologies for delay in my arrival brother Matsya. We had to change our route because humans encroached deeper into our territory. We did not realize that until it was too late.”



Sultan and his ministers took seat with Matsya and his queen. Matsya brought only his chief minister with him , not many. His queen was his chief minister. The most intelligent and admired in waters Madam Dolphina.



Matsya started “ Have you thought what to do about humans, they are not going to stop anywhere lesser than complete destruction of ecosystem. Gods wouldn’t have thought that this day would come. “



Sultan sighed and said “ I agree brother, but what should we do about our oath to not destroy humans? “



Chanak took the opportunity to share an idea “ We must show humans that we are smarter. We have concealed our evolution from them just because we are more evolved. Flaunting half the knowledge of anything is harmful, this they would have to understand”.



Matsya ,interested in the idea, spoke “But how do we do this ? Humans are too arrogant to listen to us.“



Sultan lost his temper “ Darn ! “



Finally Dolphina spoke , there was nobody who was not interested in what she had to say. She had already proved her ability to all. Dolphina started “What is it that is common between extinction of many species over time?“



The question left everyone thinking. They were not ready for a quiz. Sultan said “Please come to the point”.



Dolphina irritated with Sultan’s attitude continued “A balloon bursts when air is pushed into it beyond it’s capacity. Greed is that air and existence is that balloon. Our beloved dinosaurs went extinct in similar conditions, they just could not control their desire to rule the planet in the beginning of their evolution. Same thing happened with other species. Humans would extinct sooner or later if they continued on the current path. Let the end of Mayan calendar come, I am sure they would learn something. If they did not change their attitude, time is not far when we would remember them as the less privileged ones who could not make it.”



Chanak added “Everything takes it’s own course. We must not worry and remain in our territory and wait for them to either evolve or extinct”



Sultan and Matsya nodded in agreement because they knew that there was nothing that they could do about it.



--period--

UA08-4356

UA08-4356, he drove it like a fighter plane right before take-off off a warship. No wonder he never lost to anyone in “self-determined” races on the roads of Dehradun. He always allowed elders to pass him on any given day but he hated it when anyone overtook him on the road with zooming speed. It was not his ego, it was his comfort with his first ever two wheeler, his Hero Puch 3G that made him follow and beat them by the speed or skill of cutting through the traffic.

His friends wanted to ride with him. He loved speed and more than that he loved the feeling of rolling wheels under him. He stared at the road passing below the tires for long stretches and admired man’s arguably most important invention i.e. “wheels”.

His friends had more powerful bikes but he had the heart to go out to any stretch with his puch. Call it a ride up the hills to Mussorie or a ride along with Ganga to Rishikesh or Haridwar or a ride in the Raja Ji National Park, He was never behind. His friends always exclaimed – “ we had never seen a guy riding a puch like CBZ “. After any ride up hills whenever he stopped and looked back at the exhaust puffing out white smoke. He looked at the engine and thanked his engine oil, just because it kept puch’s heart healthy and by that his J .

His philosophy was simple “life is too short to miss any opportunity of having fun” and he always knew that his hero puch was a true partner in this endeavor.

Bikes in our lives mean a lot of things from a piece of metal with a running engine to a partner in our happiness. There are many who would have faster bikes, but none had one like his.

My Diamonds

(1)

“I want those diamonds Ma ! “ I said emphatically staring at those precious marbles in market’s jewelry shop. “Did you listen what I said ma “I grew impatient with her silence. She smiled and looked at me. “We do not have money to buy them now, but I know something better”,She said “when the time comes I will show you how to get better ones”. I was not convinced. I was curious but to no avail. She did not say a word after that about those diamonds. Their shine faded off my memory sooner than I can remember now.

(2)

My father was a farmer and farming land we had produced just enough to feed our family of three. I was young when suddenly my father passed away leaving us to the fate. Life became a struggle for survival for my mother since then. She practically had no savings, no life insurance policy, fancy jewelry or relatives to support her. She worked in households cleaning and cooking, getting abused to make the ends meet. Her petty job at village “anganwadi” did not fetch enough to arrange food, shelter and education for me.

(3)

I was 16 when my mother took me to our fields which had not been ploughed for 8 years now. She took a fist full of sand in her hand, looked up and said “This will help you fulfill all your dreams, including buying those diamonds”. I was pleasantly surprised that she remembered. “What do you mean? “ I asked. She replied “You are 16 now. All grown up. Why don’t you start looking after our fields now so that we can save for future”. “This would give us some leverage and may be we will save enough for your college and marriage”, she continued after a pause.

(4)

6 months had passed; my first crop was ready in fields. Everyone was surprised at the yield. I had grown more from same size of field than others. My crops were a matter of envy for many. Whenever I looked at them, my heart felt the joy of success. Once the grain was filled and transferred to my home. I ran to kitchen where mom spent a lot of time cooking. I knew she would be there. On my way I caught a glimpse of my reflection in mirror. Sweat drops were shining like diamonds. I shouted in exclamation “Ma! I got my diamonds , and they are better than the ones in the jeweler’s shop”.

I wish if sunlight was gray...: Rise and Shine

I wish if sunlight was gray...: Rise and Shine