India under attack

This is definitely not going to be a pleasant week for us. 8 blasts in Banglore yesterday and 17 in Ahmedabad today. Seventeen! Couple of months ago, there were 7 blasts in Jaipur too. This inhuman slaying is not new for us. Terrorism. Bomb-blasts. Massacre. We have been facing it since time I remember. But every time, it brings a surge of anger, distress and helplessness with it. Then the rescue work begins. I salute those people who unselfishly and gallantly take part in this highly honourable work. Be it taking the count of the dead, helping the injured to the hospitals, clearing the rubble, looking out for other live explosives, defusing it or maintaining calm. Be it the police, the firebrigade, the army, the IB, the bomb-defusing squad or the common man. Be it Mumbai, Delhi, Varanasi, Jaipur, Banglore or Ahmedabad. The spirit of the country surfaces.


Then the call for peace is made. Various big shot politicians codemn the incident and offer condolences. I have never understood which politician will stand up and say "I support this act." Why does it always hit the headlines if some leader codemns it. What's so great about it? Then come the blame games. The ruling. The opposition. This all in the time when the common man is in dire circumstances. But the most disturbing part is the amplifier for this terror - the media. Except for a few news channels ( I really thank them), all I could remember is watching some action stuff or horror stories on an entertainment channel. I have been noticing the fucking (so-called) news for quite some time on these channels. Dhoni changes his hairstyle. Yuvraj and Deepika. Malfunctioning wardrobes. Love story of tigers. Mr. Bachchan gets his ass out of the bed. What use can we make of it? Is it going to change my life? Yesterday, today or on any of those sad days all I could see on these channels was a retarded arse yelling in a high pitch voice what had happened and speculating (baslessly, of course) that what could happen. Then some loud, agonal music along with a fiery animation filled with images of the event would follow. I could only switch channels only to see more of this stuff before listening to some sensible news. I am now really worried about the state of media in India. Media is supposed to give news - like news, not like some prime time show. I could sense that these channels are magnifying the fear of the already terrorised people. If India is under attack, these channels make it sure that its effects will last well beyond they are intended to. This is because the people trust media, who is the only one they can after their leaders falter. Pray, tell me, how come a person watching Aaj Tak (another of those fucking menaces, fantasy-minded speculators meant to intimidate people ,why don't they ban this channel?) can ever feel at ease, with this spread of "passive" terrorism? They create a scenario which may make people think that their very own country is not a good choice to stay in anymore; not that I consider such people blameless. As I said, except for a couple of news channels, I feel the massive power of media is either wasted or misused. But media does posses the rare power of 'influence', which when used rightly, can make decisions, can shape the future, can build a nation. It is high time the media realises its responsibility and gets back in the endeavour. It is not too late for the job.


It may seem like, at this moment, as I write, my emotions are riding over my senses. Maybe it is because of my young blood, or the realisation of another failed power, or an indescribably blissful urge to open the eyes of the innocent masses for their rights. Maybe it is because of the respect for the truthful self-acceptance of ignorance and scorn for the phony misguidance. Maybe it is because of the feeling of standing up against the exploitation of trust. Maybe it is because I am always like this, when it comes to my home, my people, my country.

Wasted Years

So understand, don't waste your time
always searching for those wasted years.
Face up, make your stand,
and realise you are living in the golden years....

                                                       - Iron Maiden



According to me, there are two categories of people in this world. One, those who believe everything happens for a reason; that all the entities existing in this universe have a purpose to serve. Second, those who believe that everything happening around is just another coincidence; one’s presence in a particular situation is a mere concurrence. Well, I categorically belong to the first category. But I do not question the other stand. This belief is like faith – you have to respect others’ as well. I am no expert on this controversy; there must have been countless debates over this topic in the world. Every religion speaks of it – taking either of the sides. These ideas, obviously as expected, have certain similarities and differences. Speaking about differences is not my cup of tea. The similarities, on the other hand, are the most experienced.

How many times have I asked myself – what am I doing here? Probably the count goes beyond my knowledge of numbers. For different people, for different situations, the ‘here’ in the question is, of course, different. But in the end, it refers to the same pinnacle of redundant confusion; sometimes sarcastically, sometimes in the hope for an answer. Just give a thought to this – when you are thinking about something negative that has happened in your past, you are making this very moment a sad one as well. Unfortunately, unlike mathematics, two negatives do not make a positive in life. One more negative memory, one more wasted moment in your life. It is but natural for human beings to waste time. I know that is not good. But what is worse is, cribbing about how I wasted my time then. Probably that is the worst way to waste time, in case the process of wasting time has degrees. Every person in this world would have had, at least once in his life, the serious apprehension of what he is up to. Instead, why don’t you just say – ‘Ok, whatever happened was past, I cannot change it. But the present is in my hands. This is the best time of my life.’ Believe me; this will do wonders for you. You must have heard the old saying – Past is history. Future is unseen. Today is a gift, and that is why we call it ‘present’.

I might sound like a hypocrite, giving unsolicited advice which I myself don’t follow. But hey, just tell me how do you feel when you flip through an album of your old friends. Bliss, isn’t it? That is because of the moments ‘you’ created. Decide for yourself – how do you want your today to be remembered tomorrow – something you’ll look back with regret, or something which will bring the urge within you to relive these moments again. Ultimately, it all boils down to you, my dear fellas. At this point, I would like to quote a line by Rajesh Khanna in Anand – Life should not be long, it should be big. How true. What is the use of a long life if you have nothing to look back and smile upon, shed tears and be proud of? Only you have the right to decide the course of your life. So, my sincere advice – Stop wasting time and start ‘goldenising’ it. Because life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away….