A son…

Mother and ‘son’ played-

With the dying rays of the afternoon sun,
With the harmless waves on the sandy shore.
An oceanic zephyr conspire in their ears, as they ran-
Touch and go…catch me if you can!

Peels of laughter- sound of music
Gurgle of waves the background score
Wet footprints on the sands of time
Hurriedly erased by the waters ashore

Emotions perfume the air around
Blissful pain, it fills my soul
The distant palm sways to the wind
A ‘Laughter’s’ resonance continues to roll

What is love and what it yields?
Equations of life unbalanced remain
Woman and child though a universe form-
Still voids of life clog my brain.

Lady in white, in holy matrimony
Years ago a journey begun,
But the birth of love washed away
As nature’s fury hath its say

The search goes on, the emotions flow
Like waters of the bay from distant lands
With open arms she smiles in pain
Spreading her love…

And I stare at her with the sun on my back
Mother’s love for a boy unknown-
As nature stole our love from us,
Giveth many for love to reckon.

To be or not to be… friendz!

All that is there in friendship is all that we need from life. I mean it’s a cocktail of all human emotions, relations and yard sticks. With time, life has taken away the subtle emotions, or I would say reserved it for a chosen few and subsequently the friendship tag has also become costly, rather dear!
Pitted against one another in the sprints everywhere, we all have diluted the concoction of the highest order! Riding the waves of socio-economic progress, armed with strange gizmos we have looked back lesser and lesser; to wait for someone or maybe even long for someone. And at times when its not been easy we have howled, cried, tried to be brave and just labeled it as the ‘forgettable patch’! Somewhere we are all too proud to open up! We are too proud to wear it on our sleeves… or is it just a fear psychosis which tells us that we would be caught on the wrong foot and there would be no one near to lean on? Somewhere we have just made ourselves too vulnerable…
And even if this was not a big enough issue, we have an attachment to the email of woes! The Hum-Tum angle… is friendship above the gender aspect?
In simpler terms, the girl-boy dosti? Has it really become a virtual reality?
Cut throat, there is still a lack of mutual respect among the fair-unfair sexes. Whoever is to blame, it’s just that someone is not either wearing the right clothes, or having the proper demeanor or someone is too full of ego to really keep the grey matters churning inside the cranium! Be it the physical or attribute it to the psychological- we have just tried to blind ourselves partially! I mean, some things in life cannot really be put on the scales and weighed out! Friendship I guess is just one of them.
I would say why not?! I girl n boy can be good chums but ya, the level of maturity and mindscape span would have to be enormous. Life would always have the bird’s eye view and the fish’s eye view (there are technical details from the physics angle which I should spare!!) and we should learn to respect and honor both. Instead we try to overpower judgments! It can just happen with conviction, with an open mind and heart- the ability to exchange views and not just jump the lines. But most importantly it would come with mutual respect. We are never happy with the cards in hand… we want the trumps; and so in a relationship we get overboard. Paint fancy landscapes with ‘two to tango’!!
Boy! Can’t friends live happily ever after?! Actually even our bed time stories had the ‘love-shove’ angle with the prince and his mare while the princess is bowled over!
So that’s where our tuning has gone wrong and we always modulate differently!! But still, as there would be, friends like books, few and well chosen… I would say a girl and a boy can graduate to best of pals even as a man and a woman… no strings attached!!

she has all the answers... just all of 'em!

MOTHER

Mother do you think they'll drop the bomb?
Mother do you think they'll like this song?
Mother do you think they'll try to break my balls?
Mother should I build the wall?
Mother should I run for president?
Mother should I trust the government?
Mother will they put me in the firing line?
Ooooh is it just a waste of time?

Hush now baby, baby, dont you cry.
Mother's gonna make all your nightmares come true.
Mother's gonna put all her fears into you.
Mother's gonna keep you right here under her wing.
She wont let you fly, but she might let you sing.
Mama will keep baby cozy and warm.
Ooooh baby ooooh baby oooooh baby,
Of course mama'll help to build the wall.

Mother do you think she's good enough -- to me?
Mother do you think she's dangerous -- to me?
Mother will she tear your little boy apart?
Mother will she break my heart?

Hush now baby, baby dont you cry.
Mama's gonna check out all your girlfriends for you.
Mama won’t let anyone dirty get through.
Mama's gonna wait up until you get in.
Mama will always find out where you've been.
Mama's gonna keep baby healthy and clean.
Ooooh baby oooh baby oooh baby,
You'll always be baby to me.

Mother, did it need to be so high?

Pink Floyd number.

Has anything changed with time? The baby? The mother? The song just makes me believe that among the constant changes of life we can always come back to this particular aspect in search of answers… but it would always be too late. Still got to keep the faith!

all the pain, all the tears, all the moments of gloom, words of hurt- in spite of that, she would be there naa...

when would we learn?

The tragic death of Lieutenant Susmita Chakraborthy is the fourth since April 30.
Eight months into the army, she was in charge of a transport company of the Army Supply Corps’5071 battalion, posted at Udhampur.
She was unhappy with the job profile and its requirements and as her mother Sadhna Chakraborthy said ‘disillusioned with her present job’.
Though the 25 year old had tried to kill herself twice, Col. Vijay Pande, a psychiatrist in the Udhampur Command Hospital had put it as mild anxiety and depression.
She even had had her share of counseling but the behavioral irregularities had continued.
The penalty of breaking a bond was the financial stigma that forced her to continue in the forces in spite of being mentally distanced. And why not!
“She hated the girlish assignments that were given to her”, Mr. P.B Chakraborthy, her father rued. Organizing late night parties, arranging transport, welcoming guests over bouquets were expected of her! Would any ambitious self-esteemed officer bear this ignominy?
A few weeks ago she had brought sexual harassment charges against her superiors which is just a piece of information immaterial after her death. Retribution in the Indian system is a cynical process of long winding procedures and hearings that are ‘lost in translation’!
Already the defence minister, Pranab Mukherjee says,” We want more and more lady officers to join the armed forces. Those who have joined are doing well. There are problems but they can be tackled.”
The insensitive hollow words are an insult as recursive problems tarnish the image of the army. Major G. Shobha Rani had hanged herself on May 29 and still the panacea eludes!
Again the ‘astronomically’ high percentage of women in the Indian Armed Forces is appalling! 3%, 1.7% and 2.6% in the Air Force, the Navy and the Army respectively hurts the gender issues already tickling the army.
Some certain jobs are not assigned to women even with the right credentials and capabilities. Flying combat aircrafts and touching down on an aircraft carrier are just a few ‘men only’ domains. Post June 17th, after the tragic suicide of Susmita, the air force has pulled out lady pilots from the frontline sensitive zones in Kashmir.
Nothing official about it but this ridiculous move shows the immature standards in the ranks above.
Then the vice-chief was quoted in a newspaper as having said that the army could do without the services of lady officers. Two days later Mr. Pattabhiraman seemed to have forgotten his statement, deeming it as ill advertised press!
But the ‘long hand’ of Indian politics forced an apology -courtesy Sonia Gandhi.
Is this all that we are capable of after the death of an army officer? Gender discriminations, bias and distrust have tarnished the social fabric and even the positions of prestige, power and pride have been disrespected.
Are we still in the MCP mode of living where equality of sexes is just a far cry or a hypothesis we respectfully ignore and conveniently apply!
A mere bond of service pressed the lady to carry on till she fired the bullet. The lowly tasks, the corruption in the ranks and insults would not be addressed instead it’s again got the political angle as Sushma Swaraj demanded suspension of the army vice-chief. She would even visit the grieved family at Bhopal!
Are these the need of the hour? Mere political mileage and fragrance, stealing media flashes; as even the army shows the psychological angle to wash hands off!
A gold medalist in Chemistry, she leaves behind much more than a shattered family! She leaves behind the army greens with lots of dirt on them; a system which binds people to service in such demanding (pun intended) conditions but can’t monitor and balance the stress levels.
Mere words of respect and equality for women make us hypocritical as in the true sense it’s still a man’s world where women fight for their rightful place and questions are never asked!
The army retaliates that there were no formal requests for leave of service but why did it carry on with an officer not mentally in the proper frame to do justice to her job?
From 2002-2005, according to data placed in the Lok Sabha, suicide rates have been one every five days! And still the kaleidoscopic excuses fly all over and wither away.
It is about time we realize the importance of applying the doctrines we preach and bring transparency to the highly regarded services of this country. For it would be beyond our imagination when mental trauma makes you your own prey… and more so when all she had wanted was to serve the country in glory!
Maybe there is glory in death- when in life all she got were all that she had never wanted!

The Bet..

she was in one word perfect. Like a vortex that draws one in itself, her presence seemed to generate the lines of force,I know not what.
the cascading black seemed to absorb every emotion that escaped from the gathering; her face had the colours of life and her eyes could bore down to the depths of your being, stealing all your private thoughts.
she wore a simple black dress quite unlike the fashions on page three but that was enough to leave us all enchanted. a rope of pearls added to the celestial beauty, as i thought she was! rahul was the host of today's party. the trance beats around, the subdued lights and the effect of the necessary evil had taken its toll. we were all amazed, rather drawn towards her- enamoured.
'who's she', raj turned to rahul with the qustion that was hounding all of us.
'i dont know. i dont remember inviting her to the party'. rahul was confused as all the others were. still they could not compose themselves.
'i bet she'll be mine before we pack up' everyone stared at me!
'no way buddy, she's already turned down a dance request from prakash. she's not interested and certainly not you!' a rumble rolled around the group.
'i bet a thousand that by tonight i would have danced with her', i turned towards rahul. he had already scroughed enough money from his parents for the party but then he was game! 'you bet old fella!your gonna lose this one!'
i dont know what came over. maybe the alcohol in my nerves, numb senses, maybe the lights n the music that made life a big blurr of....
i stood up- i, the veteran of many a relationship, with the smile that i knew just gave away a touch of affection. just walked down that drawing room length, picked up two wine glasses, red wine.
she was sitting near the balcony, and i managed to look straight into her eyes, as i stood in front of her,'Hi... care for a drink'.
i dont know what happened. it all just fell into place like some heavely conspiracy! i could feel the envious stare of my pals burning into me but then could i look away?
as the evening progressed, the party sinusoid completed, it was time to head back home. we had talked, laughed and danced and now it was time to roll back.
i thanked rahul for the blast and could not help as he strained himself to give me the thousand. it was my win but still i did not know how it all happened.
i accompanied her out and flagged off a taxi.
'Its ritika', she said with a bewitching smile, as i gave her the share of 'our' win from the bet.
'you were not so bad after all... it was nice, thank you for a wonderful evening', was all she said before the vehicle rolled off.
and i, the veteran of many a relationship, stood standing, with that expression captured inside.

ps: quite an old write... somehow like this one a lot

TALE SPIN...

As the Indian Cricket Team (or is it Team India?) displays its kaleidoscopic talents, English alphabets are tuning into the wrong frequency.
With the Videocon series clicking for the hosts, the disintegrated unity of this nation has come up. Internet hate campaigns for Sourav Ganguly may be cowards wagging their tail behind the ethereal screen but what about the stinging remarks in the morning daily?
‘He (Harbhajan) had found himself in the disciplinary front by unwisely taking sides in the Chappel-Ganguly showdown’, S. Dinakar attempts a reverse sweep at the former captain.
The picture portrayed is that the man management of ‘gentleman’ Dravid brought the magic back for ‘turbunator’. Does anyone care to remember who created this magic? Not just in an individual but in a gang who could dream outrageously and perform to that extent? Can the meek, boyish charm of Dravid save the team from an Australian glare or an English hara-kiri? It’s just one series and the bad breath that steams from the sports section is heartening. Getting together some forgotten ‘greats’ of Indian cricket to dump their lofty ideas ‘Mixed reactions to exclusion’( The Hindu,30th Oct) is appalling. Combining all, would they have made 10,000 ODI runs? Have they showed courage, comparable to defying the English at Lords, giving a befitting reply to the high handedness shown in our country? We still seem to find comfort in the silence of back door politics where cricket is a mere tussle to fit in a south zone rookie for an east zone handicap! And what more can be more relishing than the captain’s blue? Ganguly had to be excluded but not with this amount of rancor. Did Sachin, the darling of cricket fraternity exude so much pulse when he just could not pull his act through?
Dravid never tried his cricketing acumen as a make shift captain, says Dinakar, cause of respect for the regular man! And just when a Dhoni spark lights up Diwali eve, its all attributed to the newly instituted captain- his cricketing brilliance!
We should not dwell in the past or try to bask in the glory of the days bygone but the southpaw deserves a lot better than words dipped in cruel intentions. End of an era, asks Nirmal Shekar (The Hindu, 20th Oct), even when in the first domestic match he played, Sourav had a century to his name- on what basis are expert opinions and views going for print?
There’s no support in the bad patch, maybe this is professionalism being inculcated in the team but somewhere there’s music of the pied piper that Sourav was for them.
Slow over rates and emotional upheavals do give this game the personal touch bringing it close to the common man who can relate to the pride and joy when one dons the ‘Indian Blue’. Sourav shaped this team and there are lots of flashes that call for respect and honor.
For the captain, and his ways of management. With the necessary change, the sudden taunting and mud slinging just shows that we never really honored the man who held the team when match fixing and players’ integrity were question marks! Does Dravid have a more difficult stage to perform? Moreover Dravid has his own laurels that are envied and never comes in conflict with the ex-chief.
He was always neglected and over shadowed during the Ganguly age, is what is brewing and being served in doses.
Its just four matches, maybe one series against Sri Lanka, who certainly does not have the maximum fire power now, and Dravid is man of the year!
The Australians have been doing this for a dozen years now, aren’t we being too fast in making a hero for the commercials?
The new coach-captain camaraderie would take India to the numero uno slot but again the tale of cricket’s treasured moments would always have space for the ‘dadda’.
Ganguly has served the national colors with passion, with courage, with a lot of heart. And we have all basked in the glory. So, in the tale spin of Indian cricket, the ignorance for the Prince of Calcutta would just be tomfoolery.
There’s no one to write him off, no one to pen down a fairy tale for the new man in office but only for the betterment of cricket, the contribution of individuals, can we pledge.
Sourav Ganguly as a cricketer has given us a lot of prized moments, in return he deserves more than the arrows of smirk and disdain.
For every time Dravid would bite his nail on field, analyzing, making a crucial change, eyes hidden behind the reflective glasses, be sure flashes of his ex-team mate, his ex-captain and a cricketer par excellence would make him a wiser man.

ps: this a relatively old scribble of mine n it might be ill timed now that indian cric has gotten used to the new charms... am not a ganguly fanatic, but somehow i hoped cric is still a gentleman's game with no strings attached!!

POLITICAL MANIFESTATIONS OF EDUCATION

“Members are expected to maintain high standards of morality, dignity, decency and values in public life.”(Clause XIV, Committee on Ethics, Fourth Report, Presented on March 14, 2005)
Are parliamentarians aware of the lexical meaning of the words used or was the report even adopted?
Mamata Banerjee, the fire band politician or the ill educated, confused, volatile and unconstitutional leader? Questions have been raised around an ‘issue’ and the root cause of this oft repeated misdemeanor in the House somehow remains in the shroud of knowledgeable politicians and citizens alike.
Have we forgotten the televised session of the UP parliament where chairs were flung? Or down in the cultural capital’s assembly the members forgot even the basic decorum having fist fights?
It’s easy to see the rancor between politicians where brick bats are hurled with little restraint.
“I said she is a liar and ferocious. She lied about her educational background and named a US university from which she, as she lied, got her so-called 'Doctorate degree', simply does not exist. And when she sprang that lie, she was not a spoon-fed baby, thriving on milk…In spite of all this I fail to understand why people vote for such an imposter!" From a senior politician, Mr. Jyoti Basu in his interactive autobiography, Jyotibabur Sangey. Is this the manifestation of education? Or does the senior politician doubt the maturity and decision making capabilities of the electorate?
She flung the papers on the Deputy Speaker and the hi-fi technology carried it far beyond to the Uncle Sams’ and John Bulls’! We are questioning her “grossly defamatory insinuations", as the words used by our respected Speaker Mr. Chatterjee but how many elected representatives realize the essence of the words they read out or stand for?
The resignation letter was not formatted properly and was not accepted- who decides the proper format of a letter when we have chief ministers with barely the primary school education! We are putting the cart before the horse and trying to stage a melodrama of sorts.
Education is not just about trying to put the crawling letters after the name like slaves over burdened. It needs to be applied; it needs to be pragmatic and pro-national. We have different colors on the ballots but what each stands for is what we are supposed to be clear about.
The then Union Finance Minister Dr Manmohan Singh, in 1993 took the initiative to set up a Standing Committee to ensure effective control of Parliament over public finance, but the majority of politicians lack such prudence and vision. Important Bills like the Lok Pal Bill have been on the boards since 1968 not for requisite parliamentary support but for lack of commitment on the part of members to root out corruption in the higher strata of administration.
After all it’s this misty weather in the portals of power that is breeding corruption. It’s easy to see that Ms Banerjee crossed the line but then the tinted glass of our politicians can be nerve raking. The rule books have so many tributaries and distributaries conflicting that it’s easy to toy with them. She wanted to address the house on an already discussed matter, why is this a crime? It’s a simple matter concerning the masses! Who would stand to gain or lose? The voters! Have the so called democratically elected leaders forgotten the democratic doctrine itself?
Justice J.L. Gupta, former Chief Justice of the Kerala High Court, says, “There are similarities between politicians and pigeons as both have exhibited cosmopolitan appearance, good appetite, and large mouths for swallowing large foods and fruits”.
And education itself has taught the office bearers to play with words. Education is the manifestation of God already in man, but Vivekananda lived in a different age.
We need a heart and not just a head. We need emotions too, even though mercurial, we need someone who can learn not to play with the funny language. The confused connection between leadership and education can only be handled with a clear conscious.
The ideologies should be challenged; the debates should be on national issues. Both the government and opposition work for the common cause of national building; somehow the focus has shifted. And the lines or principles of governance have been hurt. The wizardry of words and the media savvy mouth piece of each party reach out to the masses with the dirty linen stolen from their rival’s back yard. What do we gain? What does the common man feel proud of?
Education has lost its hold over the seats of power. Leadership and governance have the translucent veil that confuses us.
To India my native land- should be the pledge and not words penned down which never come alive… even when hurled wrapped in sheets of paper, makes no effect!