Ahawaan

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Ahawaan
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Naujawaan navyuvak, yeh hai samay chunao ka.

Utaar lena hai tujhe, mukhauta in netaon ka.

Jo maangte hai aaj tujhse mat tumhara bheekh mein.
Bhool jaayenge tujhe yeh kal hi ki tareekh mein.

Bhrashtachaari, durvichaari, paap inke ghor hai.
Maatrabhoomi ke looteere, yeh nirlajj chor hai.

Saintalis ke varsha tak, mai auron ke aadheen thi.
Meri garva-lalima ghulaami mein vileen thi.

Putra mere mar mitey, mili mujhe swatantrata.
Rakta baha kar kiya aarambha prajatantra ka.

Vartaman sthiti dekh, hriday mein vichaar hai.
Putron ka mere jo balidaan tha bekaar hai?

Mai aaj bhi daridra hoon, mai aaj bhi beemar hoon.
Nirakshar mai aaj bhi, mai aaj bhi lachaar hoon.

Kisaan apni bhoomi seechney mein asamarth hai.
"India Shining" ka jaane kaunsa yeh arth hai!

Hotelon mein goliyan, visphoton ki kataar hai.
Dharma ki bisaat pe, jalte jano hazaar hai.

Durdasha aseem, samay hai nahi vishram ka.
Naujawaan navyuvak, yeh hai samay matdaan ka.

Yuva shakti, josh naya sab tumhare paas hai.
Rashtra ka bhavishya tu, tujhpe mujhe vishwas hai.

Alasya-vash tu aaj yadi, ghar mein hi ruk jaayega.
Yeh desh apni durdasha ka mool tujh mein paayega.

Aa chun le putra is ghadi, sansad ke us sadasya ko.
Nishkapat udaar ho, hridaya mein jiske satya ho.

Tu chhod jaati dharma ko, bas yogyata pe dhyaan de.
Jo ho sadasya karmasheel, usko hi matdaan de.

Ek ek mat ko jod, samriddhi jutayenge.
Bin teri sahayata, asafalta paayenge.

Bhoomi ki kritagyata, yeh punya hai matdaan ka.
Naujawaan navyuak, yehi samay sangram ka!

Update

Have been trying to write something in for quite some time. But classes and all have started and it has just not been possible. For a change this quarter I am ACTUALLY attending classes :-) For many this may be the routine thing to do, but given my past history of bunking them, attending classes gives me an immense sense of satisfaction!

So what else ... well, my search for a job is on. Lets hope and pray that I land up in a reasonable place!

And yeah, my buddy Asim Shankar just got a cool job offer from Amazon.com. Hurray and congrats to him!

About postings on this blog, I will try to be as regular as possible. But my hunch is that with my busy schedule and all, it will prove to be really difficult!

Decision Tension

I composed this poem about half an year ago. Most of my friends have perhaps already read it. For those who haven't, have a look! My Sikh friends, please accept my humble apologies for the joke ahead. Its all in jest and no offence intended!

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It was a warm Sunday noon, a day of relaxation,
When the Patiala bus stand saw a strange congregation.
A few Sardars - eighty in enumeration,
Each wishing a long, happy vacation,
But none sure of the holiday destination!

One said, "Oye! Mussourie, the famous hill station!"
Could be Ooty as well, said another with hesitation.
And so they went on causing great commotion.
Foreseeing a quarrel of great proportion,
The wise bus-conductor attempted mediation.

My friends, said he, with great affection,
The audience listened on, in rapt attention.
The trouble, it seems is our indecision,
Which inexorably leads to this confusion.
So why not sit down and come to a decision!

All eighty Sardars sat down in synchronization,
And when the clock struck one, began discussion,
By two, they had already given much consideration.
If three was the hour of heated deliberation
By God, four brought with it harder negotiation!
Five PM witnessed a violent altercation,
To fray the tempers, followed a bhangra session.
As the clock chimed seven times in succession
Baljit bellowed, "Pappe take some action!"
At eight, all the Sardars bordered on desperation.
By nine, they felt 'twas a lost situation!

Ten however brought Bhupinder in excitation,
What happened, asked others by way of investigation
And thus the man replied with great concentration,
"'Deci' in decision, is for ten a substitution,
And in this hour of ten, must lie our solution!"

His wisdom earned him a standing ovation,
But their frantic search showed no signs of termination.
It soon was twelve o' clock in very little duration,
When Gurmeet, the youngest cried in exclamation,
"If 'deci' in decision is for ten a substitution,
Isn't decision just another name for tension?"

Amazed and astounded, they stared in adoration
Wasn't their youngest the pride of their nation!
It pained them to think that so much perspiration,
Went in finding something as worthless as decision!
Rid of concerns, they broke in celebration
While the conductor looked on in confusion,
And sighed aloud, "Barah bajne ka confirmation!"

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Bhagat Singh

I recently came across this website that has a number of letters and writings of Shaheed Bhagat Singh. Needlessly to say I was very inspired and moved by what he had to say. But two facts really caught me by surprise:

(1) That he was only 24 years old when he was murdered. Reading his writings and from whatever I had heard of him, I can only marvel at the immense maturity his thought had attained at such a young age. Its not that people do not get famous while young. Sports persons and other celebrities routinely strike gold in early twenties. But Bhagat Singh was different. He was a leader in the truest meaning of the word. As is clear from his writings, he held clear ideas of what he meant by revolution. Of what he intended to achieve by revolution. Rarely do we come across so young a man whose ideas and deeds inspire an entire nation. I read somewhere that the day he was hanged, a significant number of households in Punjab and other parts of India refrained from lighting chulhas.

(2) That he was completely devoid of the fear of death. Somehow, I have never been able to understand how a person can overcome the fear of death. Examples of military valor abound - but I have always tried to convince myself that most of these acts of bravery are in reality reflex actions under the influence of years of military training. Or in other words, I try to convince myself that most of these acts are rush-of-adrenaline affairs and a number of heroes may perhaps have chosen to act differently had they had the time to carefully think through the consequences of their actions. I am sure this inability to accept the bravery of people springs from my own weakness and cowardice. However, reading what Bhagat Singh had to say laid all my doubts to rest. Consider this letter in which he discusses his impending execution,

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[On March 22, the Second Lahore Conspiracy Case convicts, who were locked up in Ward Number 14 (near condemned cells), sent a slip to Bhagat Singh asking if he would like to live. This letter was in reply to that slip.]

COMRADES
The desire to live is natural. It is in me also. I do not want to conceal it. But it is conditional. I don’t want to live as a prisoner or under restrictions. My name has become a symbol of India revolution. The ideal and the sacrifices of the revolutionary party have elevated me to a height beyond which I will never be able to rise if I live.
Today people do not know my weaknesses. If I escape gallows those weaknesses will come before them and the symbol of revolution will get tarnished or perhaps it may vanish altogether. On the other hand, if I mount the gallows boldly and with a smile, that will inspire Indian mothers and they will aspire that their children should also become Bhagat Singh. Thus the number of persons ready to sacrifice their lives for the freedom of our country will increase enormously. It will then become impossible for imperialism to face the tide of the revolution, and all their might and their satanic efforts will not be able to stop its onward march.
Yes, one thing pricks me even today. My heart nurtured some ambitions for doing something for humanity and for my country. I have not been able to fulfil even one thousand parts of those ambitions. If I live I might perhaps get a chance to fulfil them. If ever it came to my mind that I should not die, it came from this end only.
I am proud of myself these days and I am anxiously waiting for the final test. I wish the day may come nearer soon.
Your comrade
Bhagat Singh
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and this,

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Letter to B.K. Dutt
[This letter gives an idea as to what Bhagat Singh expected from those comrades who would escape capital punishment.]

Central Jail, Lahore
November, 1930

DEAR BROTHER,
The judgement has been delivered. I am condemned to death. In these cells, besides myself, there are many others prisoners who are waiting to be hanged. The only prayer of these people is that somehow or other they may escape the moose. Perhaps I am the only man amongst them who is anxiously waiting for the day when I will be fortunate enough to embrace the gallows for my ideal.
I will climb the gallows gladly and show to the world as to how bravely the revolutionaries can sacrifice themselves for the cause.
I will condemned to death, but you are sentenced to transportation for life. You will live and, while living, you will have to show to the world that the revolutionaries not only die for their ideals but can face every calamity. Death should not be a means to escape the worldly difficulties. Those revolutionaries who have by chance escaped the gallows for the ideal but also bear the worst type of tortures in the dark dingy prison cells.

Yours
Bhagat Singh
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This was clearly a man who carefully evaluated what he wanted and chose death for a just cause over life. And that is why people still chant Long Live Bhagat Singh while no one really cares a damn about Lord Irwin, the then British Viceroy.

Long Live Bhagat Singh!

Ganguly ka Andaaz!

Of late more and more people have started wondering what has happened to the Indian cricket team. Only a few months ago, India were THE side to beat and Ganguly talked about challenging Australia's pre-eminent position in world cricket. Today that same team is finding it difficult to win matches - leave aside series and tournaments!

Something must have happened and I feel I know exactly what! As the pic below shows, our captain has more on his hands than he can handle!!



[PS] - Sourav da, in case you happen to read this, no offence intended. Please do not sue me! For others who are packing their bags for Kolkata to pelt Dadda's house with tarcoal and stones, please relax! The image's a fake I just created in PaintShop Pro.

Veer Savarkar and ultra-veer Aiyyar

For many years now, an atrocity of terrifying magnitude had been quietly perptrated within the confines of a mostly-forgotten Andaman island. This island was once home to the infamous Cellular Jail when the British ruled India. And it was on this island that former Petroleum Minister Ram Naik had a monument installed which extolled the lifes of a few freedom fighters - Veer Savarkar being one among them. The others were Bhagat Singh, Madanlal Dhingra and Bahadur Shah Zafar. So what's so atrocious about such a setup? Well, it seems your eyes are also blinded by NDA propaganda like mine and everyone else's in the nation. Only a messiah like Mani Shanker Aiyyar could see through the haze and notice that the plaque did not mention Gandhiji and hence was an insult to the great man! Surely the situation demanded rectification. In Aiyar's own words,

"Why did you remove the plaque dedicated to his memory?
The Swatantra Jyot is mounted on a plinth that has four sides. On all four sides are plaques dedicated to the freedom struggle. Two of the plaques commemorate Madanlal Dhingra and Bhagat Singh, both renowned shahids. A third plaque contains several stirring patriotic sayings. Bizarrely, there was no mention at all of Gandhiji.

I thought it essential that we had a plaque recording Gandhiji's contribution to the freedom struggle. But there was no fifth side to put a plaque.

The only way we could have accommodated this plaque was by removing one of the existing plaques. The fourth plaque remembered Bahadur Shah Zafar and Savarkar and that was the one I removed.

Do you regret that?
Certainly not. As a patriotic Indian I was appalled to find a representation of our freedom struggle that completely ignored Gandhiji. As a responsible citizen, it was my duty to undo the insult to the father of the nation.

I'm proud to have done that."

God I am so relieved! I never suspected even once that the NDA government was guilty of such henious crimes as casting insults upon the Father of the Nation. And I must remain forever indebted to that ultra-veer Mani Shankar Aiyyar, who bravely sacrificed his own political well-being, to set the record straight. May more amongst us be blessed with his determination and grit.

So what's up next? Well, one can imagine that every monument that stands as a symbol of free India and that does not extoll Gandhiji would be "corrected". I remember reading somewhere that the India Gate extolls the 70,000 Indians who fought in the First World War. It seems difficult to give Gandhiji a place among them, doesn't it? Try explaining that to Aiyyar though.

When asked whether the public campaign against him in Maharashtra has a potential of diminishing Congress' chances in the upcoming Assembly elections, Aiyyar appeared confident that the storm would weather away. He even said that it was the NDA that would lose votes because of the joote-maro campaign because the effigy being used looked more like Ram Naik than him! And no, this wasn't a joke. HA HA! He even claimed that the campaign is an insult to Madrasis because the effigy has been dressed in a traditional Tamil costume. More HA HAs!

While Aiyyar's comments dragging Gandhiji into the issue have surely added a new angle to the controversy, I suspect it worsens the Congress' situation even further. Earlier the Congress had conveniently distanced itself from Aiyyar's remarks. However, now that Gandhiji's been brought into the equation, it seems the Congress will find it difficult to stay quiet and uninvolved. Does the Congress agree that the earlier plaques constituted an insult to Gandhiji? If yes, then why did they distance themselves from Aiyyar's actions and remarks? If not, then why has the Congress high command not taken any action against Aiyyar for so obviously and needlessly insulting a freedom fighter? These are questions the Congress will have no easy answers for. With this drama sure to continue at least till Maharashtra elections, it promises to be a really exciting time indeed. Stay tuned!

WWW = Wierd Wild World

Much's been happening. And almost all of it is quite hilarious. For instance, that ultra-secular obsessively-casteist party, otherwise known as the RJD has decided to field a rather deserving candidate in the upcoming Assembly elections in Maharashtra. Ladies and gentlemen, would you please welcome ... Mohammed Afroze. What! Never heard of him? C'mon! Here we have a man of such impressive credentials and you claim you haven't even heard of him? Mohammed Afroze, an erstwhile Mumbai slum-dweller, is a brilliant pilot, tutored at the very best and costliest flying schools in US and Australia. Since then, Afroze has been charged by law enforcement agencies with planning a conspiracy to use his newly obtained flying skills to crash aircrafts into prominent buildings across the world.

Here's what BBC had to say in an earlier report about our MLA wannabe,

"Detectives from Scotland Yard in London and the Australian police are currently in Bombay to discuss the case of an alleged member of Osama Bin Laden's al-Qaeda organisation, Mohammad Afroze.

Mr Afroze offered to make a confession in a city court here on Friday that he was part of a conspiracy to blow up the House of Commons in London, the Indian parliament and the Rialto Tower in Australia."

But if you think real deep, you'll hardly take a minute to get to the bottom of this puzzling affair. See, Afroze is an al-Qaeda member and al-Qaeda is not part of the Sangh Parivar. So according to the de facto law of the land, Afroze represents the secular forces. The RJD of course is another secular force, one which has for years been making commendable sacrifices in its fight against the communal forces. So isn't it but natural that these two join hands?

While the above may be humorous, another even funnier fiasco has come to light in the Delhi University campuses. As HT reports here, this July's payslip of all Delhi University employees has a curious item under 'deductions'. It says: Sexual Harrassment: Rs 10. Understandably, it's become something of a joke in DU circles. The truth behind the matter being that amidst rising cases of teacher to student sexual harrassment, the university has decided to set up a complaints division and is charging its employees for the expenses incurred for the division's operation. The least they could have done is come up with a less accusatory, more benign name for that innocent ten rupee deduction on employee payslips.

And while Delhites laugh themselves to nuts at the DU's fumble, residents of Hubli have a strikingly different trouble on their hands - a woman in red! Or rather a woman in saffron who is wreaking havoc on that otherwise peaceful place. Uma Bharati, the erstwhile Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh, has decided to extract every ounce of media sympathy from the unexpected turn of events around her. So we get quotes like, "I smell the revenge of Sonia Gandhi. By seeking revenge against me, she forgot she is insulting the tricolour. To protect the honour of the tricolour, I am ready to face any consequence."

Revenge for what? is a reasonable follow-up question. Here's what Miss Uma says to that, "[because] I was the person who blocked Sonia Gandhi from becoming prime minister." Some ego that!

Political pundits are understandably confused as to who's come out on tops in this your-party-is-more-corrupt-than-mine game. First the Congress targets the NDA government for having George Fernandes as Defence Minister while his name was not cleared in the Tehelka scandal. The NDA returns the favor by creating unprecedented furore in the Parliament over tainted ministers in the current cabinet. Much hublaboo is heard about a guy named Sibhu Soren. Advantage NDA, it seems. But the NDA's jubiliance dies a quick death when an arrest warrant is issued against Uma Bharati in a decade old case about hoisting the tricolor at a disputed site. Advantage UPA! But in a brilliant last minute flourish, Uma Bharati turns the tables on her opponents by squawking phrases like "tirange ka samman" and stuff. Add to that the age-old Bofors scam, the millions of charge-sheets filed during Narsimha Rao's times, cases relating to Ayodhya and the coffin scam during Kargil and no one can say for sure who has the better of whom!

And to top it all, here's a classic soundbyte from the director of the film Julie, "Sexy films need not be sleazy!" I must say that the above quote raises some rather grave questions about Deepak Shivdasani's mental health. Surely, anyone who's managed to survive Julie will testify that the lesson to be learnt from the movie is, "Sleazy films need not be sexy!" But then Bollywood's the land where even hyper-liberated women like Mallika Sherawat shy away conservatively from discussing their past broken marriages. Hypocrisy's just not an issue here!