SAVING A DYING DEMOCRACY......

“Sometimes even a shining day spells darkness,
Sometimes there is no light at the end of the tunnel,
Sometimes the path remains foggy even in the blinding sun,
Those are the times when we know that truthfulness is being mortgaged;
Oh yes, this is the time when a lie is justified beyond all conscience
Alas! There is no silver lining to this cloud of injustice.”

Today I don’t know how to greet all of you who are reading this. I am writing after a long time since I was busy with my exams, but I chose to write today for a reason, today is that fateful day of Mumbai massacre, today is 26/11. A year ago the security of our country was compromised beyond all reasons & explanations, and this is not just about the security; this is about the injustice done to our country, its sovereignty, to the people & with the single minded cruelty with which it is done. Today I am not writing from reading any statistics of our govt, or the newspaper, today I write from my heart; which is aching with the pain being inflicted to the fellow people of my country.
Ok, let me ask a question, why on earth, are ‘WE’ silent, & by ‘WE’ I do not mean the govt, or the judicial system, the police or the media with all its yellow journalism glory. By ‘WE’ I mean we the people. Any country’s govt is as good as its citizens, so when we are keeping silence we have no right to blame the system. Our govt is embroiled in the cornucopia of judicial proceedings & the religious implications it might bring with it & has spent more than Rs. 30 crores of taxpayers hard earned money on the safety & life of that terrorist Kasab, just to bring ‘justice to him’, isn’t that a bad joke on the people who have been hurt physically & emotionally because of the siege on Mumbai. Do our so called protectors of the republic of India have ever stopped for just a second & thought about the pain they are causing with this heartless act on the families of the Mumbai Martyrs. No they don’t. So WE have to, because somebody has to do it, somebody has to stand up & speak for them, somebody has to stop thinking that the people who died were not Hindus or Muslims or Jews or Christians, they were not only Indians or Americans or British, they were humans, they had families, friends who loved them, cared for them & who they lost forever.

The big question that always bothers me is why are we being so complacent? Why are we not thinking about the people who have been wronged in this incident? Major Sandeep Unnikrishnan who was thoughtlessly compared to a dog by the esteemed politicians of this country, ACP Ashok Kamte, ATS Chief Hemant Karkare, ACP Vijay Salaskar, Assistant Sub Inspector Tukaram Ombale, have they died in vain? What have we done in the past one year, except accusing the system, the govt, the politicians, why did not we speak up in a more constructive way? Are some peace marches, some emotional speeches enough? Have we ever, just once in our entire lives, fought for justice, even in small ways? Look inside your souls, friends, tell me what do you find. What is the answer to my question?
Have you ever refused giving bribe to the authorities, tried to stop eve teasing, tried to stop rowdies from bullying & harassing innocent people. Have you ever tried to keep your city, your surroundings clean, tried to be a responsible citizens. May be to some extent we have done it, but then we have to take it to the next level. Atleast we the youth of India have to fight actively against injustices of all kinds at all levels.
And to our govt, I have a request, why is it scared of punishing a terrorist righteously. Why do you look at him through religious glasses. Why are u spending our hard earned money on his upkeep? Enough unjustice has been done already, are you testing our patience levels. When will this sham of a trial finish, are you waiting for another city to be attacked or will you wake up when there will be a repeat of the attack on parliament. I think nobody will object if he (Kasab) will be hanged, he is a terrorist & terrorism has no religion. When he fired randomly in CST there were muslims too who died there. No religion preaches terrorism, no God feasts on blood & gore of innocent people. Entire nation has seen him killing people & laughing at that time, he himself has accepted in his testimony, what conclusive evidence the judiciary & the govt needs to hang him.
If they are hoping that our Kind Neighbor is going to accept any responsibility, then Mr. Prime minister & his cabinet should think again. When I write this, I write it on behalf of all those Indians who are fed up of being just resilient, compassionate, generous & all that crap. We need protection for what we are paying taxes, we need fruitful action from the govt which is still weighing pros & cons from America & China. And if we won’t get it still then I think that a day will come when we will lose all faith on this democracy & judiciary and we will not be limited to just peace march, human chains; we will take it in our own hands & not leave it on the impotent & ineffective govt. which is hellbent on insulting our martyrs & their unconditional sacrifice.

I hope to God that the day should never come when the greatest democracy in this world will die a silent death in the clutches of terrorism without any protest.

SHARE THE JOY CALLED LIFE......!

Without beating about the bush i want to share some facts that were published in The Times of India on Sep 8th 2009, about organ donation, that many of you might have read & ignored or forgotten as soon as you put the paper down.

Eye Transplants Needed in India: 250,000

Eyes donated : 25,000 of which 30% are useless.

Liver Transplants Needed: 30,000 but only 400 odd performed.

About 1.5 lac kidney failures of which only 3,500 get transplants.

only 50 cadaver donars per yr in INDIA as compared to 25-30 per million p.y in USA.

4.5 LACS require transplants annually but only 35,oo0 performed in the past 10 years.

Well does that look alarming to you, it should because death is the only constant truth in our lives & we ignore it all the time. Many of us think that donating organs is disgraceful to the dead people, it disfigures the dead body or even not fitting for our Hindu Culture. We ignore the possibility of the fact that even we could be at the other end of the rope, either us or one of our near or dear one's life could hang in the balance & we might be hoping against hope that somebody from somewhere would come like a guardian angel & save the life we are about to lose.

How would that sound to our years, frightening, not true, we always think this could not happen to us until it does, why wait till we will come across such an incident, we can only pray that such a fate does not come across us, but if it does atleast we will have the satisfaction that we have done our bit. Humans as such are only takers by nature, every other creature or plant has some use in its lifetime, but we could be useful too, after our deaths if we pledge our healthy vital organs to be used after our death, & if regularly donate blood in our life. It could save life in our family & even outside it.

Now some useful information about it:

1) the dead body will not be disfigured after donation & the hindu religion or any other religion does not prohibit it.

2) after death of a person a doctor should be called immediately so that the body can be examined thoroughly.

3) the organs can be pledged in all the private hospitals or govt recognized hospitals when a person is alive.

4) any healthy person can pledge his/her organs.

5) eyes, liver, heart, kidneys, even brain can be transplanted if death is in normal circumstances otherwise doctors can be consulted.

6) organs have to be removed within 6 hours of a person's death.

7) following addresses can be contacted to pledge your organs :

# Narayana Nethralaya, Rajajinagar, Bangalore, Cont. No. 080 23373311

# Shankar Nethralaya, Bellary Road, Bangalore, Cont. No. 080 23622649

# Sekhar Nethralaya Eye Clinic & Micro Surgical, J.P.Nagar, Bangalore, Cont. No. 09844023130

080 26593210

# Kartik Nethralaya, Banshankari, Bangalore, Cont. No. 09844043353, 080 26674399,

09886789799

# Dr. M C MODI Charitable Eye Hospital Mahalakshmipuram, Bangalore, Cont. No. 080

23492233, 080 23495622, 080 41287198

# M.S. Ramaiah Memorial Hospital, Mathikere, Bangalore, Cont. No. 080 40502000

8) If a person has not pledged his organs during his/her lifetime, his next of kin, legal caretaker can do so after consulting his/her family members.

I sincerely hope for every person who reads it will go & do it just in case any of us might need it, if not for anybody else, it is one selfless deed which will spread the joy of life in this otherwise selfish world.

Only we can make this world a better place, its in our hand how we chose to do it.....

Too Much Ado About Nothing!!

A few days back I was reading newspaper & what hit me on the face when I opened the front page was its headline, "King Khan Questioned on Newyork Airport", screamed the frontpage, soon the whole country was talking about the injustice done to the Emperor of bollywood. What everybody conveniently decided to overlook or forgot was a few days back in our own country one of the most prominent person than Mr. Khan our own Ex-president had been frisked & searched like a commoner, nobody raised even an eyebrow, except some low-pitched murmers from news channels that are self imposed guardians of democracy, & a few newspapers' inside columns.

The question that frequently haunts me is, Are these so called celebs are that important to our national image or prestiege that we jump up & down whenever an inconvenience is caused to them however minor, even if it includes a traffic jam or some press misbehavior, we gossip & grunt over it as if it is vital to our being, but here an important man who contributed to the growth of our nation is searched & frisked like any other common passenger & he just shrugs & moves on like any normal person would do, there is where his greatness lies.

Shahrukh Khan did not show his greatness or the power he wields over Indian society & politics by calling out an outright press conference over the injustice that was done to him in The US, it was just his inflated ego & shallow mindedness with which he can think that he actually controls the nation. It was actually the greatness of Mr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam that made him play down the incident in a nation that is arrested by the mindset where celebrities & VIPs are held next to God the almighty.

We forget that they are humans & hence are mortals, & therefore should be treated with a sense of equity, if we fail to do this we are placing them on a pedestal & when they fail to keep up to that divine image we slander them & try to pull them down which is another exterem that should be avoided. They should be treated like all others, made to follow the queue, wait for their turn, pay their taxes prudently, punished when in wrong like all other common rule breakers, & over all they should be made to stop taking the country, the society its rules, the Govt. & our constitution for granted.

So Mr. Shahrukh; Go, Get a Life!!

A Legend Called Life

Today Iam going to share sometihing which is very dear to me. Its about my ailing grandfather who is 86 years old, he is diabetic, a heart patient & is suffering from high blood pressure. He is having these troubles since 3 decades (well most of it), but he is someone who will put life itself to shame by showing a mirror to people who whine about how their life sucks & just how tough it is.

He will be 86 in two days & he is right now hospitalized for an operative procedure. Last week he fell at his home & accidently fractured his hipball & he & nobody for that matter could make out that he has actually fractured himself since he is on medication for diabetese & hypertension, his bones are brittle & he couldn't support himself independently to stand or walk, he uses a walker all the times. Due to his heavy medication nobody notice any difference in his postures accept a slight discomfort in standing & shifting posittion, when my uncle took him to doctor & an x-ray report was taken only then it came to light, but now the situation is worsened & the doctor has given two options of either a traction for his hip joint for the rest of his aging life or an operation which needs atleast 4 months of extensive post-operative care & caution.

Any lesser mortal could have dwindled his/her confidence & could have had a traumatic realization of the truth that his/her being will be imprisoned & limited to his/her bed, but not him, it was he who gave the go ahead for the operation & wants to get it over with as soon as possible so that he could be on his own after the recuperation.

The operation itself is a tiring & extensive procedure which means caution of utmost level on doctors' part & stressful for the family too. He admitted into the hospital 2 days ago, underwent through all medical test which his GP, cardiologist & the anesthesist required, he is on an injection to help clot his blood during the procedure so that there would be no risk of hamorrage during the procedure, he was given blood (B+) to make his body accept the blood & get adjusted to the transfusion & when the operation will finally start on Monday morning 7.00 a.m. we all know that it will be a celebration for his legendry persona after the 3 hour operation gets over & a lesson for the present generation on how to live life king size & accept all the challenges life throws at us & be an optimist even if it takes us by surprise.

And if I do not mention my angel of a grandmother who is his pillar of strength & his support system all this while then it would be an injustice because they are 2 people truly made for each other who celebrated their Golden Jubilee Year of marriage just 4 months back & I know that they will continue to shine as a beacon of strength, love, hope & what life stands most for perseverence & understanding towards your significant other which makes one's life complete & gives the family happieness & security.

Grandpa this is for your long life & good health, many, many, many, happy returns & our prayers & good wishes to you, you are surrounded by our prayers & your guardian angel is watching you.

All the best.

HATED WHEN ALIVE : GLORIFIED WITH DEATH

People are worshiped when they are dead, but they are criticized to death when they are alive, this is what we actually are, this is how a human mind works. We can see it happening all the time, the most recent example is The Great King of Pop - MJ; Michael Jackson. He was a drug addict, a philanderer, a paedophile, a womanizer, a child molester & abuser when he was alive, people used to make racist remarks on him, he was wanted by IRS in USA, he was declared bankrupt, a flop, & written off completely after his recent lawsuits due to allegations on him about molesting kids. Newspapers had a riot & a field trip on him, cracking nasty jokes, following his every move, that he is buying property, selling property & blah blah blah, poor fellow, nobody new that he is fighting not just diseases but his demons too which are in his closets since long. About him being a dark skinned negro, his struggles, his fights, his path to success & glory all etched with his sweat & grime. Its sad that many are not able to balance their heads when they are confronted with success & glory and of all people he was the king right.
But what's with us, this is just one example, there are others like Jade Goody who became a hero when she was diagnosed with cancer. The problem is that we treat people who are celebrities as if they are not real people as if they do not have flesh & blood & bones, we chase them, we haunt them & we are always judging them & when we find out that they have some problems some grave & larger than life problems, we sympathize & make a hero out of them. If we look around we will find many people amongst us who might have same illnesses, same problems but we are insensitive & ignorant, we look up at the sky & complain about the sun being too hot, we do not look around us & do not plant trees to get shelter from the heat. We are always finding an easy way out.
Why do we glorify death.....??? Are we sadistics, do we derive some kind of pleasure when we see celebs in trouble & pain because we are not as successful as them. Well its a sad situation if this is the truth, everybody has problems even famous people, being famous does not warrant them a safe passage out of this miserable world, we should understand this & let them have some breathing space & not make heroes out of them when they are dead because they do not have easy lives & we usually make their death even more painful due to our attitudes towards them.

Marilyn Munroe,Princess Diana, Parveen Babi, Pramod Mahajan, Jade Goody & now MJ, I sincerely hope this list will not include Bill Clinton, Shiney Ahuja, Salman Khan, Matthew Heyden, Paris Hilton, Britney Spears & Lindsay Lohan. They are no Angels but please let us not make them Demons also, they are just humans & they deserve their share in this planet.

Moral Policing : Do we really need it??

Moral policing is a newly coined phrase for our politicians & for our society too. It has been hardly seven or eight years since the first very violent incidents started such as; Beating, threatening & looting up flower shops prior to or on Valentine's Day, forcefully closing up card shops, gift shops & restaurants, or breaking & entering there forcefully, resulting in loss of property & creating a racket.

Now it has turned into threatening kids on buses, beating up peope on the streets unnecessarily, raiding discos & pubs & molesting girls in the name of cultural policing, even supposed forceful marriages on valentine's day.

The question is, 'Do we really need this hyped nonsense about saving our culture, or is this just a cheap publicity stunt because elections are near?'

What are we trying to prove to the world that India is not even safe for their own youth, then how can we warrant a peaceful atmosphere for our guests from abroad? Have we not suffered enough because of the terror attacks & communal differences created by peope outside & in our country. We have more important issues to think on than the utter nonsense of moral policing.

If some so called torch bearers of Indian culture think that by beating up people & harassing the society they are doing a service to our country then it simply shows hom immature their ways are. What are they going to achieve by this hate campaign? If anything they are driving the youth further away from our culture. The modern youth is inqusitive & curious as well as aware of their rights. They cannot be threatened or bribed into anythnig. We should understan that our culture will not get hurt by wearing western clothes or listening to pop music, everything is going global. When our music, dance & art is being appreciated everywhere then will it hurt if we do the same here by appreciating theirs. If doing such acts is hurting our culture then our movies, TV serials, novels of foreign authors, english papers & channels & even western clothes for men should be banned.

But think carefully are we actually living in a democracy or is this a self imposed autocracy by a handful of fanatic people. Everything has its place in today's world & every coin has two facets. We should take the good & leave the bad. These organizations can actually help by starting an awareness campaign, a fest or seminars on our culture, where our epics, litertature, ancient culture, vedas & heritage can be discussed & explained through creative discussion by people who have a knowledge of these things. They should try to protect our contry's heritage cities & buildings & ensure a clean & pollution free atmosphere around the country. Not just them but it is even our duty to do so.

Culture cannot be saved in one day, traditions should be a part of our daily life, it should be preserved in our rituals, imbibed in the living since childhood. It cannot be forced upon also it cannot be destroyed since that is how our culture is practiced across the country, we can look western in our appearences but we cannot abandon it from our hearts. As they say, "you can take an Indian out of India, but you cannot take out India out of an Indian." This is how we are all brought up & we are too proud to leave it in unsafe hands or abandon it for that matter.

If only our leaders would concentrate on the broader vision of Indian culture which is made up of heritage cities, vedic literature and which teaches peace & harmony among people, the Pink Chaddi Campaign wouldn't have been needed at all.