RESTLESS..

I was getting restless, yet again. I knew the exact way to get rid of that itchy feeling. It had to be yet another solo bike trip that i had to undertake to quench my thirst. A number of times earlier also, before starting a solo trip, and even while riding my bike all alone up in the hills, I have tried to figure out why the hell do I have to do it. What’s the whole point behind, taking risk of travelling all alone, on a bike, in unexplored areas. Believe me people, I haven’t been blessed with the enlightenment on this one as yet!. I often wonder, may be it is because of sheer love of biking (bulleteering...to be precise) in the hills, or may be it is because of the restless soul, that wants to explore, or may be it is because of that adventurous lil dude inside me, who wants to do exciting stuff all the time!! God knows what it is, but what ever it is, believe me, it is so damn compelling!

Anyways, to cut it short, I kicked off yet again, on a solo bulletering trip. The route selected by me this time was new for me for almost first 500 odd kms. I am sure not many would have tried a solo on such a crazy route. Anyways, the route selected was, Dehradun-Mussorrie-Chakrata-Tiuni-Hatkoti-Theog-Narkanda-Karsog-Chindi-Mandi-Macleodganj-Pathankot-Jammu. In all, a lil excess of 800 odd kms. A number of times while riding on those long, never ending dusty, non existent roads, I really had solid self doubt, God! I must be actually crazy to be doing this! The roads, were non existent, the areas were one of the remotest, with vehicles passing you at the rate of one/hr, hardly a soul to be seen and God save you if your bull decided to go FLAT in middle of no where! To top it all, I ended up travelling well into darkness almost everyday of my riding. So you see I had everything going for a perfect, getting-screwed-big-time kinda scenario. But I guess, as the saying goes, "luck favours the brave". Sure as hell, it favoured me BIG TIME! Not even one puncture in the entire excursion. I guess that explains the luck part quite well. Ya another one, I reached home as a single intact entity. That’s a lot of luck to ask for. But, people, believe me, it was one hell of a trip. Worth all the BP(*@#% panga), as I would like to refer to it! It was nothing less by any measure!

Nevertheless, people, If you have not tried solo bulletering in hills of Himachal Pradesh, you surely are missing something, Big Time. Forget about Shimla, forget Manali and even Macleaodganj for that matter. Stretch a lil beyond Shimla and go for, Theog, Narkanda, Hatu peak, Karsog valley. Try riding through interior roads of Himachal, east of Sundernagar -Mandi axis. You will witness, some of the most pristine and breath taking views. The interior, unfrequented villages of himachal, the virgin beauty of the surroundings and the villages, will submerge your entire existence into soothing peace and calm. You may never want to leave the spot, that you stand at, watching such sights. What a pace of life! You would suddenly start yearning to retire and just come and stay in one of these villages forever. Nothing really seems to be moving around here, the time also seems to be, too lazy to bother about ticking around here. Everything just becomes so relaxed, quiet and calm. Typical of OM Shanti, shanti...shanti.... Anyways, that was about the philo part of it. Now the other parts, well seriously, I am talking about parts, the body parts! Take for example, the ass that went missing. Just because it went too numb to be even make its presence felt. The shoulders, that felt as if they had been carrying a 200 kg Enfield on them, all of the 800 odd kms. The knees, they kinda make you feel guilty as if you forgot all about them, after keeping them in a refrigerator! So damn stiff! Ah the back, lets just not talk about it. Well people, I still say, its a very small price to pay for the fun the whole biking(Bulleteering...i meant) thing can be. Ok people, there is another interesting angle to this whole solo-bulleteering-high-up-in-the-hills thingie. That is the interesting people that you are likely to come across en route. Like in this one small lil village market, Tiuni (sounds French, but lies in UK..Uttrakhand i mean) I came across this woman who runs a dhabba there. I was kinda all rattled up n tired and had decided to plonk myself in a small lil hotel in the same market. So before I went to the hotel, I felt like having a small cup of tea at this lady's dhaba (Nothing to do with the lady guys, it was just the tea I was interested in). I asked this lady, "maam can I have a cup of tea"..of course in hindi. She replies curtly, nahi hai! Koool....anyways, dono what happened but she asked me, kitne cup chahiye? One only..I said. Lil afraid and hopeful, I still asked her, kya dudh patti milegi ji? Her reaction was...Dudh patti!!!? Soch lo, dus rupeye ki milegi...Phew guys, at that moment I just could not stop smiling and just stopped short of laughing out. I was so amazed at the innocence of this lady and so touched by the simplicity of the life in these remote villages. Nevertheless, I had told her that I had no problem with a tenner for a cup of dudh patti. Few mins later, she hands me over a steel ka big glass full of pure local milk boiled with tea leaves and sugar. I just smiled knowing well, how small is a tenner for that kinda purity and taste. Guys, irony of the whole thing smiled at me, when two days later, I was paying a twenty for a stupid cup of machine wali espresso coffee, at Macleaodganj.

Besides, coming across this amazing lady, I interacted with a couple of school going girls in a remote village in Himachal, while I was enjoying my another cup of dudh patti and was trying to give my rattled butt a break. Well these girls, walk twelve kms a day, for going to school. That was some effort to get literate in 21st century! Few more questions to them and I was a lil more wiser about the life in these villages. Believe me people, there is a lot to feel jealous of. Yes to get mesmerised too, I am talking about the beauty. You got it right, I am talking about beautiful women around these areas. You stand a very high chance of forgetting to watch the road altogether. These village beauties can give a run for their money to almost all Bollywood actresses, that too without even applying a tiny winy line of mascara or whatever gamut of things they plaster their faces with in the tinsel town. Anyways, people, believe me, I tried a lot of inconspicuous safe ways to capture such natural rare beauties through the lens of my camera, but my mobile camera fell way short of the requirement. I couldn’t take the risk of being too obvious in clicking those pics, lest the subject became wary and decided to chop my head off. Mind you, most of these innocuous looking village beauties roam around sporting a draati (Sickle! its sharp!). So, word of advice here, either, use a expensive long zoom camera and shoot keeping the safety distance in mind, or else just watch these beauties and try to commit as much to your photographic memory as possible(exactly what I did). Never....never try and get adventurous around these places, you might end up getting warmed up in a cauldron! Just on the lighter side.

Johannes Osterrath, was the name. I knew I would have a tough time trying to pronounce it correctly (so I just didn’t take a chance). A german giant I met at Macleodganj. I am no less a giant myself by Indian standards, but guys this dude was of German make, I guess you understand what I mean. Standing next to him, I looked like a lil dwarf straight out of Snowhite drama. Size besides, we struck up a great convo. Just like me, this dude was on a solo exploration trip, minus the bike of course. We spoke a lot about pros of travelling alone and we unanimously concluded that solos rock! He explained to me what "Das Auto" means. "The Car", he had said. Remember hearing that in Volkswagen advertisement?? He explained to me how there are three articles in German language, 'de', 'da' and 'das', which mean 'she', 'he' and 'a thing'. Anyway guys, my aim is not to start a German language lessons here. It is just to justify solo travelling I guess. You can never come across interesting people, when travelling in a group. You don’t have the luxury of that kinda space for interesting random people to step in and interact with you. Anyways, on the whole me and that German giant, had a nice convo going for close to three early morning-sunbasking- peanut butter- toast n coffee hours. At around two in the afternoon, after five days of rollercoaster of a trip n 600 kms, it was time to head home, some 200 kms away. My heart grew heavy, but my soul and my 'Braveheart' both knew that there were more solos for both of us...till then..it was..asta la vista..

PUNE BLAST: YET ANOTHER REMINDER

"No intelligence failure in Pune: Chidambaram"

As i read this headline, I am left confused, lost and completely clueless. I read more into the details trying to make head and tail out of it..but it leaves me even more confused. Is there something wrong with me??... I wonder..or is there something wrong with the reporter , reporting this statement..or is it the one giving out this statement..who needs to understand the correct usage of english..i wonder and i wonder.. Something was surely wrong somewhere I thought to myself.

I ask myself....Can a Home Minister of a country give a statement like this one? that too, right after, his nation has just lost another set of innocent lives and limbs to yet another IED Blast in a public place on unsuspecting civilians who had nothing to do with any kind of war or Jehad or anything of that nature.

Even if i take it that our worthy Home Minister is all sane and he knows the correct usage of english and also that the reporter also reported it rightly...I am left ..well not confused...but shocked!!

Mr Chidambram....If it was not a intelligence failure, then it should imply that the intelligence agencies were aware of it..beforehand!! Well..if they were aware of it..then what were they doing about it? till it actually happened. Is it that, Mr Chidambram expects us to accept and live with our intelligence agencies being aware of things beforehand and not doing anything about it??? Are we expected to buy such statements after the deed is done, and the nation has bleed once again? Why cant he just accept that he and his intelligent dumbos were caught napping away to glory?

I really wonder at times what are the so called intelligence agencies being paid for? what have we achieved out of expenditure of the tax payers hard earned money on intelligence set up of this great nation? any achievements Mr Chid? Any blasts or terrorist act averted due to timely inputs from the intelligence gathering setups?? Are these intelligent agencies fed so well, just to tell us after such attacks that ..they knew all about it beforehand??? and thats the end of story and their responsibility?

My India, your India, Our India..has yet again been attacked..blatantly, openly and shamelessly. While there seems nothing that we can expect from our spineless, incapable great and grand ministers, but lets not sit all quite about it and accept it as routine..at least i wont!!!

LOST AND FOUND

Well people i am back on this blog once again, after a long long ..very long time. Somehow a feeling of emptiness inside me, made me feel that i should get back to blogging and writing again and do something productive and creative, and also interact with with other interesting bloggers around. Somehow blogging has become a hit, and come to think of it why so? i guess ...we all have something to say...and saying it all, really makes us somewhat lighter, thats what sharing does to you..even if it is just blogging..talking to no one..but ourselves only. I am sure many of us bloggers out there often wonder..i am just writing what i feel strongly about..and i am nobody..not a celebrity ..just a small fry in this big ocean of big big whales..who would be interested in reading what i have to say? well somehow thats how i feel as i write this blog. Nevertheless, i still want to continue writing, bcos i really NEED to write. I remember one of the statements of Paulo Coelho...where he compared the writing to the process of giving birth..he says ..u feel like writing when its ready inside u..and after you have written it all..(given birth) you feel empty inside. I somehow never could get over this concept, bcos thats exactly the way i feel when i am full inside and i NEED to write..and feel so much more lighter when i am done writing it.

While i had been contemplating what to write about, i had so so many ideas in my mind..and i didnt want to write about them just for the heck of it...but bcos i feel really strongly about certain issues and i feel the need to express myself on those particular topics. Writing is not only expression of our thoughts..it is also a way of discussing, thinking, pondering and contemplating ...aloud. Thats what i take writing about a topic as...discussing with myself..as i continue to write about something....talking to self (as i am now).

well coming to the topics that i will be writing about in near future..one is the ...."VIRTUAL WORLD"....this is one subject..which fascinates me more than anything. so i guess i am gonna write a whole lot on this one. i am sure its gonna be a loooong read. So will be posting on that one soon enuf.

HINDU’S, MUSLIM’S OR INDIANS??

It is indeed very sad and disheartening to see that we are losing the very fabric of our Secular Nation to the Fanatics. Fanatics are Fanatics, be it VHP or Shiv Sena or SIMI or HUJI or whatever we prefer calling them. The end result is, that the entire community stands condemned for the action of few radical fanatics and misguided people. Whether it was demolition of Babri Masjid, or Bombay Blasts or riots in Ahmedabad, or attack on Akshardham temple or killing of innocents in Godhra, it is an innocent Indian who bears the brunt of it all just because he was a Hindu at the time of Akshardham Attack and a Muslim at the time of Ahmedabad riots. The Nation bleeds, the India, the Hindustan..... for freedom of which so many people sacrificed their lives continues to BLEED....

Nothing can be more regretful than the hatred and violence in the name of GOD and Religion, that too, when not even a single Religion in this whole wide world has ever professed violence against unarmed and the weak. I really wonder where did all this start then? Who are these fanatics, where did they come from? Do they actually understand anything about the religion in the name of which they kill innocents in various bomb blasts and riots. If someone is so found of fighting, they are welcome to fight but please fight against the enemies of peace, fight with enemy soldiers, fight against equals, because a true soldier never attacks the weak and unarmed. On the contrary, here are the gruesome incidents to the likes of the ones already mentioned above which only remind us of Religious Fanatics who not only kill innocent harmless civilian population and also feel great about it, calling themselves “Believers” and “Jehadis”. I used to wonder a lot about these words like "Jehad", "Kafir", "Fatwa", "Islam" etc which have been often used by fanatics and radical groups while attempting to justify their armed and violent activities in India and across the world. These very people consider themselves fighting for protection and propagation of Islam and call it "JEHAD". Do these people really understand what all these words really stand for?? For information of all readers, I quote few lines from a book called "The Quranic Concept of War" written by Brigadier SK Malik from the Pakistan Army and it reads...

“The Muslims when they are engaged in fighting are not to transgress the limits within which war is allowed to be waged and, in principle, they are not to be cruel or become revengeful. The general command to be just and fair is discernable from Chapter V. Verse 8:
"Oh, ye who believe
stand out firmly for God as witness
To fair dealings,
And let not the hatred of other people to you
make you swerve to wrong and depart from Justice.
Be just, that is next to piety.
And fear God. Surely, Allah is aware of what you do"

Then there is that famous directive issued by the first Caliph of Islam, Hazrat Abu Bakr which seems to reflect the spirit of moderation and Humanitarian approach of the Law of Islam. Said he, "Remember that you are always under the gaze of God and on the eve of your death; that you will have to reckon on the Last Day....... When you fight for the glory of God behave like men, without turning your back, but let not the blood of women or that of children or the aged tarnish your victory. Do not destroy palm trees; do not burn dwellings or wheat fields; never cut down fruit trees; only kill cattle when you need it for food...........”

I really wonder if this is the same “Islam” these fanatics are following so passionately or are they following some kind of a, more evolved version!!!! Is it the same religion for protection of which the Jehad is being waged at the cost of blood of these very innocent women, children and aged?? Why the message of peace and love given in Quran remains incomprehensible to them? As far as I can reason out, it is the difference of perceptions....But Alas!! This perception has cost too many innocent lives already, Allah only knows how many more.......

Are all the Muslims alike?.......Misinformed Fanatics!! Should we categorize all the Muslims in the same class and condemn them and frame them as Anti Nationals? No, Definitely Not. The reason is plain and simple. Just like all Hindus do not belong to the same class of fanatic Hindus who demolished Babri Masjid, similarly all Muslims do not belong to the types of Abu Bashirs or Afzal Gurus.... Before you start condemning all the Muslim citizen’s of India next time just ask yourself this question:-

“Why do we tend to forget that the following people mentioned below, after all are, but........................ Muslims”

Dr Abdul Kalam Azad, Dr Zakir Hussain, Maulana Azad, Amir Khan, Feroz Khan, A R Rehman, MF Hussain, Sania Mirza, Irfan Pathan, Zahir Khan, Ustad Bismillah khan, Ustad Zakir Hussain (Tabla)....etc

Have they done anything lesser for the country than you and I as Hindus have done? Do you think these very people were any less an Indian when they spoke to the world as Presidents of India, or.......when they played for Team India? Were they any less an Indian when they composed the music and video of “Vande Matram”or.......... when they acted in the movies like “Lagaan” or “Mangal Pandey”?? I ask, was Captain Hanif-U-Din any less an Indian when be was braving the bullets at Kargil and finally gave up his life fighting for the Nation at the young age of 24 yrs. (For those who would like to know who he was, please visit http://www.kashmir-information.com/Heroes/hanif.html) There is a endless list of the Indian Muslims who were no less an Indian when it came to the Deeds......

I feel like quoting an personal experience here. I am a Hindu and very recently I came across a very lively young Muslim girl who addressed me as “Bhaiya” and today while I write this article, I have a rakhi on my wrist tied by my that very Muslim sister. Rakhi is a festival of Hindus right? Is there an explanation for this with our great “Professor’s of Religion” the VHP’s or SIMI’s ?

We are Indians first and later Hindus or Muslims and we have to resist the communal forces from dividing this great nation on the lines of Religion. Just Imagine....if you would be able to count the small little parts of India, if it was to be divided on the lines of Religions, languages, Cultures and Communities. As a Nation, we have to stand together in these trying times and resist all efforts of communal forces to raise and mislead us to bringing our religious sentiments before our love for the Nation. As a Nation we have to fight against the Anti Nationals and NOT...........the Muslims. An anti national is a Anti National and he does not follow any religion, for that matter, he does not even believe in Humanity at the very first place. We cannot afford to alienate Muslim minority of India, any further. Communalism and Fanaticism will break the very fabric of nationhood in this great nation. Let’s try and understand this and know for sure, As a Nation..........where actually we want to go........?

AMARNATH LAND ROW: IS IT ABOUT THE LAND??


Has anyone wondered how come just a piece of land can cause so much unrest amongst the otherwise peace loving population of Jammu, so much so that despite many efforts to suppress the movement, it refuses to die down... Is it only about the Land…..??
NO, IT IS NOT, it is about EQUALITY!!!! The Amarnath Land Row is a classical example of a revolution that takes place when the elasticity and flexibility of society to accept discrimination and exploitation is stretched to its limit over a period of time. Since Independence, People of Jammu have been met out a step motherly treatment and discrimination which ranges from day to day life to major policy decisions. People of Jammu are very peace loving and patriotic people with max percentage of them representing the Armed Forces and other security agencies. Jammu boasts of producing many brave sons of the soil who have laid down their lives for the motherland in past and will continue to do so. The love for the Tricolor and spirit of India is always visible amongst the people of Jammu. Even the protesters in the present Amarnath Land row carry the Tricolor on their shoulders with pride and love. The spirit of nation can be seen in Jammu when India wins a cricket match against Pakistan. People come out on streets with the Tricolor's and fire crackers are bursting every where, giving it a semblance of Diwali. And what happens in Kashmir? The scene is exactly the same, only if Pakistan has won the cricket match and the flag out in the streets is not the familiar tricolor but a Pakistani flag…. crackers are bursting all over, just like Jammu and the genuineness of the happiness is not hidden, it is more than evident. Over all these years since Independence the people of Jammu have loved their Nation and people of Kashmir have always been demanding Azad Kashmir, siding completely with the Pro Pakistani stand. The entire nation knows, that if ever a Plebiscite is held in Jammu and Kashmir what will be the outcome. The Kashmiri’s would go with Pakistan without any doubt and people of Jammu will always stand by their Tricolor. I ask, even when the majority people of Kashmir have a Separatist and a Anti National Stand why the patriotic people of Jammu have been suppressed and only the voice of Anti National Kashmiri's and their parties like PDP and National Conference is heard, even at Delhi? Why the Policy of Appeasement is followed by Center towards the Anti National Leaders like Mufti Mohammed Sayeed, Mehbooba Mufti and Omar Abdullah? Why the people of Jammu don’t really matter and their voice is not heard even when they shout and on the contrary, even a whisper of Kashmiri’s is heard without fail? Even in the present land row it was visible. It just took three days of protesting by Kashmiri people to get the order for land transfer reverted and here on the other hand it has been more than a month and even after a loss of seven lives that the voice of Jammuites is not heard. It was only yesterday the Prime Minister called for a meeting of parties on this issue after more than a months time has elapsed and seven lives have been lost but still the reason is not Jammu, it is Kashmir again. Because so called economic blockade of Kashmir valley has taken place and the essential drugs are not reaching the beloved valley, the beloved anti national people of Kashmir are in discomfort. The Kashmiri’s have even threatened to open the Muzzaffrabad axis if the road to Kashmir through Jammu is not opened. They have no problems with Pakistan, it is their beloved nation, their loyalties are with Pakistan and it is visible in this stance of theirs. I ask, Can any true Indian belonging to any other region or state of India even think of such an option of resorting to opening of a route through Pakistan???

It is not that people of Jammu believe in regionalism, but the fact is that they have been forced to speak out because enough was enough and the years long suppression and regional discrimination at the hands of Kashmir based leaders and Kashmir based State Government could not be taken any longer, the elastic had been stretched too much and it was forced to break….. People of Jammu do not believe in Fanaticism of any kind either. It is visible from the fact that despite emotions running high over incidents of violence against Amarnath pilgrims in Kashmir recently, there was no religion based rioting in Jammu. The fact is that it is not even a political issue and no political party really matters for an average Jammuite as far as this issue is concerned. Jammuites stand united on this issue, cutting across all party lines. The Amarnath Sangharsh Samiti which is leading this cause, constitutes of leaders and members from all parties including Congress. It is a people’s movement where the people of Jammu stand united for the first time since Independence and they have raised their voice as a community. These people will not be pacified and can not be muted till their demands for equality are met. “Please do not take our silence for granted and don’t push us against the wall….. Please do not alienate the patriotic people of Jammu” this is the message of a average Jammuite.

One has to understand that it is not about the land only. Land is only the issue that tipped it over for the Jammuites and the fact is that, there are so many issues that need to be addressed when it comes to Jammu and (or under) Kashmir. Take for example the famous Article 370. People of Jammu have been demanding removal of Article 370 for so many years now but to no avail. “If Jammu and Kashmir is part of India then why people from other States of India cant come and buy property in Jammu and Kashmir and settle down here?” I am sure that this question must have crossed minds of so many Indians. What is the relevance of this Article in our democratic and secular nation? Should it be there at all? By still continuing with this Article in Jammu and Kashmir are we not accepting that it is not a integral part of India? If that is so why sacrifice so many valuable lives of our brave men in uniform, in Kashmir? If we are accepting the special status of Jammu and Kashmir by continuing with Article 370, then Pakistan has every right go around telling the world that it is IOK (Indian Occupied Kashmir) or Azad Kashmir or whatever but least of all another State of India just like Punjab or Gujarat. The struggle for removal of this Article has been continuing for many years in Jammu. Many political parties have come and gone but none of the political parties including BJP (Which went to the voter with removal of Article 370 in its agenda) ever tried doing anything about it, even while they were in power. Sad but true, that there is not even a single political party in Jammu region which can meet the true aspirations of the people of Jammu. The irony of the situation is, that the Anti National parties like PDP and National Conference calls the shots in the state and also represent Jammu and Kashmir at the Centre, where as they actually represent only Kashmir and not Jammu or even Ladakh. There has been a constant and large scale discrimination against the Jammu region since Independence. One such glaring example of regional and political discrimination against Jammu, is the imbalance in distribution of Assembly Constituencies between Jammu and Kashmir. Jammu region in spite of having a larger area and population has been allotted 37 Constituencies where as Kashmir holds 46 Constituencies. Similarly the rationale behind allotting just six seats to Doda district (Part of Jammu region) which has an area of 11,000 sq km and the valley on the other hand with an area of 15, 000 sq km, being allotted 46 seats could never be explained. One can’t help but wonder what kind of logic or mathematics could explain such distributions. Maybe 2 + 2 = 5 theory could explain it. However if someone thought that “What’s the problem with these Jammuites?” Maybe some statistics and imponderables stated below could explain where exactly the shoe pinches.


Kashmir Jammu
1 Area 15948 sq.km 26293 sq.km
2. Govt (Revenue) 20% 75%
3. Voters 2288395 3059986
4. Assembly Seats 46 37
5. Lok Sabha Seats 3 2
6. Cabinet Ministers 14 5
7. Unemployment 29% 70%


SEE IF SOME LOGIC COULD BE APPLIED!!

1. Why the order of was revoked at the very first place? Govt could have stood by it. Was it a secular action on part of the Govt?

2. Why transfer of Land to Amarnath Shrine board not acceptable to Kashmiri’s?

3. Why cry for secularism only when Hindu’s raise their voice?

4. Are we really a secular nation? If yes, then is it the responsibility of only Hindu’s to be secular?

5. Why kill people those who are holding protests with INDIAN flags in their hands? Is British Raj back again?

6. Why a total black out of Jammu being attempted?

7. Why BAN on media? Is freedom of Press in Democratic India not applicable to Jammu?

8. Why BAN on SMS service?

9. Why Article 370 cannot be abolished?

10. Why Govt. tried to cremate the Body of Shri Kuldeep Verma at Night?

11. Why the land for Budh Shah Ghulam University and Islamia University was given without any cost? (Where as Shri Mata Vaishno Devi University had to pay Rupees 12 Crore for the same)

12. Why Govt cannot control Kashmiri hardliners? Why are we accepting non sense from Anti National leaders and people on our own soil.

13. Why those people who unfurl the Pakistan flag in Lal chowk are not arrested?

14. Why Omar Abdullah, was not arrested after he made the statement in the parliament that even one inch of land will not be given to Amarnath Board? Whose land was he talking about? Who does it belong to Kashmiri’s or India?

15. Why Kashmiri leaders threaten to use the Muzafarabad road?

16. What is the reason of appeasement policy of Central Govt. towards Anti Indians?

17. Are Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, Mehbooba Mufti and Omar Abdullah really Nationalists? Does the entire India not know what these leaders actually are? Why are we accepting non sense from people who are Pro Pakistani’s and fanatics themselves?


Specific to the Amarnath Land Row, the issue has been mishandled by the State Govt and the administration right from the beginning and as a result it has blown out of proportions. God only knows how much of politics will be played over this issue in times to come and how much of a POLITICAL MILEAGE will be earned over the dead bodies of innocent citizens of the state. The order to transfer land to Amarnath Shrine Board was revoked just after few days of protests in Kashmir Valley. Why could that pressure not be withstood by the State govt?

I hope this issue of Amarnath land will be resolved peacefully without losing anymore human lives. I just hope the people who matter understand these undercurrents and do something about them rather than wishing them away. There are too many issues and unanswered questions when it comes to Jammu and Kashmir.

RELIGION AND FANATICISM

I had heard a lot about Taslima Nasreen’s novel Lajja, so finally after so many years the book finally came up and I have just finished reading the so called controversial novel. I really didn’t understand why was it called controversial, just because it put into words what was a reality? (I guess reality is considered controversial nowadays) just because it mentioned about the brutalities committed against one set of humans by another set of humans who had the numerical superiority in Bangladesh. Somehow I found that the book is not at all anti Muslim or anti Hindu in isolation it is rather anti communalism and pro patriotism and carried a message of peaceful coexistence of all humans irrespective of their religion. It was rather a statement of facts giving out a explicit and very detailed account of how fanaticism in any religion weather Hindu or Muslim or any other, breaks the very fabric of secularism and nationhood. It describes how a systematic degradation of a patriot takes place in a communal setup, weather he is a Hindu in Bangladesh or a Muslim in India. Also how religions can divide and create walls between humans, how humans can lose their humanity and humility in the false sense of being religious and go to the extremes of behaving in a animalistic manner par excellence. One of the readers of this novel, who happens to be my wife, before I started reading this novel, warned me “it is a very disturbing novel, I could not finish it because the atrocities mentioned were too much to handle”. With this presupposition I had started reading the novel. I had thought to myself that I can handle all this. But to my surprise, I was very much effected and pained by the reality of the things that would have happened and those that found their mention in the book, but I did manage to finish the book. The thing which pained me the most while reading the book was the description of how helpless young girls and women were subjected to rape and murder during these riots and the emotional trauma their family member’s went through. However, the fact of the matter remains that women have always been the victim of such lawless situations and mindless rioting irrespective of which country it takes place in, irrespective of religion, irrespective of age, there are no holds barred when it comes to rape. Rape is not only committed during riots or lawless situations, we witness it in our day today lives too, it is only committed so vehemently and openly during riots that’s all. It is quite a other thing to hear of rape being committed on so and so girl or woman and quite another when it happens to us or to those whom we love. I cant even imagine the trauma a woman goes through when she becomes a victim of such a heinous crime. It sends shivers down my spine to think of it when I realize that I am father to two beautiful little daughters and some day, few years from now they could well be facing this reality of our civilized life. For the peace of my mind as of now I just push such thoughts away, far away and only pray that I should not see such a day in my life. Reading about such things at times makes me feel shameful because I am a man myself just like any of those men who commit rape on helpless women and young girls or also even kids. Sometimes when I find myself staring at a beautiful woman and her so called good assets (which is considered natural for a man) I feel ashamed of my manhood and even go to the extent of thinking that there should be no such thing as physical attraction between a man and a woman. I know it would take a lot of excitement out of our lives but if it could stop rapes from taking place, don’t u think it would be worth it? Ask a girl who has been raped. Sometimes, I wonder what is the psychology of a rapist? Is he not a son? Does he not have a sister or a wife? How would he feel if it happened to someone whom he loves or is related to? I really don’t have answers to these questions, but sure would like to research it myself. I am sure a lot of research must have been carried out in understanding the psychology of rapists and also a number of efforts being taken towards rehabilitation of rape victims. But I don’t really know if a rape victim can be rehabilitated really. Are there no ways of eradicating this crime from our society? If I am given a choice I would like to wipe this crime away from the face of this earth (wishful thinking I guess!!). May be capital punishment is the only answer to this crime, I for one strongly recommend it. Coming back to fanaticism and religion, Imagine this… Rape being justified in the name of religion!!! the fact is, this is what it comes to ultimately if exploitation and riots in name a particular religion are to be justified. It beats all my logical reasoning to accept rape in the name of religion, there can be no justification for it, in fact it is a matter of great shame for any religion on the face of this earth and I am sure all people in their right sense will agree with me. So it finally boils down to that riots and activity of killing and rape has got nothing to do with religions. It is just expression of someone’s personal animalistic and sadistic desires and lawlessness and riots are only the excuse. Riots and lawless situations exhibit the true nature and character of a man and level of evolution of a society as a whole. I don’t know all the religions of the world but whatever little I understand, I know for certain that there can be no religion on the face of this earth which teaches violence and not peace and coexistence with other human beings and even nature. Then why do fanatics exist in all the religions? And the irony that these very people consider themselves fiercely religious when they cant even behave like humans at the first place, how can they be religious at all? Fanatics as I understand are all those who have got nothing to do with the religion they profess to be following, they do not understand the first letter of that religion leave alone the path and final goal of their religion. May ALLAH/BHAGWAN/GOD show them the real path of the religion!!!!. Killing, Raping looting and terrorizing in the name of religion can never do any good to the existence and propagation of any religion or lead to Nirvana or open the doors of Heaven/Jannat for anyone.

A JOURNEY CALLED “LIFE…………..DEATH”

There are too many things one can learn from “The Alchemist”. Its all about following your dream and about taking the risk of following your dreams, which is actually so difficult to do and there are very few people in this world who actually do, I mean risk it all, just to follow your heart and your dream. Beauty is, the author is so right in saying that when u decide to follow your dreams the entire universe conspires in your favour which he called as the “beginners luck” and we all have been witness to this beginners luck at one or other point in our lives. Also, he talks about a stage in our journey towards realizing our dreams, where everything just goes haywire and there is everything working against us and it almost takes us to the brink of abandoning everything and just getting back to what was so familiar and comfortable (i.e. our usual daily life which we get used to) this is actually the time when we are being tested for one last time and it means also that we are really close to our objective. The example given was really great and yes nothing new but we forget simple things in our life like "the darkest hour of the night is just before the dawn". It is actually true that so many of us just leave the struggle when it gets really tough and the chips are really low, whereas actually we were so close to the objective, if only we would have had a little more patience we would have been there. In one of the episodes he talks about death, yes the fact we always forget, the only reality about our life, it is a constant which is not going to change rest everything is uncertain. There are a lot of us who either think that it happens to others and then there are others, who are so busy running after the materials that they don’t have time to think about anything, leave alone death. Yes, and those who do think about death, mostly fear it, some fear death because of the physical pain attached to it (such people actually fear the pain rather than the death, I am one of them) and there are some who think they do not want to die because its not time yet for them to go. Ironically but true, this decision about timings has thankfully not been left to us. So, how do we get over the fear of death or make it our friend, a companion? And not waste our beautiful life worrying about dying all the time. One of the possible solutions lies in this book, it reads "if i have to fight, it will be just as good a day to die as any other". Yes very much right, one would never know when he or she wakes up in the morning that if it was the last day of his or her life and in fact, that day would not be any different from all the other days already spent. So, why not take everyday as the last day of our lives and live it up. Anyways, so what I personally follow is, everyday when I wake up, I say to myself "what a beautiful day to die" and there on, I just do what I have to and go through all the motions and concentrate on the job at hand rather than worrying about my death and I am really at peace with the fear of death. Another beautiful thought which I came across about death was in the novel by the author called "Confessions of a pilgrim". I derived from it that death can be visualized as a beautiful person who is always sitting besides us, so close to us that it travels with us wherever we go and it also accompanies us to our bed. Its a beautiful companion, a faithful companion, the only one who will never be unfaithful to us, rest all the companions are just lesser mortals and have been unfaithful at one point or other. Death always stays with us and actually speaking that’s the only companion who would accompany us all through our lives right from the moment we acquired some shape in our mother’s womb to the moment when we would get the vision of that white light and that feeling of lightness when we would finally leave this body also sometimes expressed as "VASTRA" (clothes) in the Indian mythology. As per the Indian mythology, the soul never dies, it is indestructible, it only changes a body just like we change clothes. Our soul is a part of God and it goes back to him. We can find the mention of the mighty soul of ours around the last portion of 'The Alchemist' where the shepherd realizes that ultimately it his own soul which is the “hand that wrote all” and his own soul was the part of soul of God. I firmly believe that there is no fiction involved in this story of the shepherd, but this is a true expression of mysteries and realities of our life, which we never pause to discover. There is massage that this book wants to convey to us!!! I have never been into writing anything ever in my life, yes not even a personal dairy, but since the time I actually started writing which was just a month back, I realized that if we just write our thoughts as they occur, the resultant has a touch of mystery, because what we wrote with all our heart and soul, sometimes tends to surprise us. We tend to learn from what we ourselves wrote. We never realized that we had so much inside us and we don’t know from where, it all came. “The hand that wrote all”, yes I think its our soul that speaks out, the soul we never recognized, the one we never knew, the one which is part of soul of God…. …All religions have over all the years have preached a man “Know thyself, you will find God”, “look within yourself u will find all the answers”, these words are so common but how many of us actually are ready to pause and give it a try. It may sound crazy, may be the book has a effect that may appear really crazy but I am sure there are some people who would identify with me. May be when Paulo Coelho wrote this book his soul was revealing itself and that’s why some of us can identify with it because our souls are the part of same soul of God, just like his is. May be these lines of his novel were written by the “Hand that wrote all……………”