miles to go before i sleep......

UP elections

2012-01-15T07:38:00.000-08:00

I come from central UP, the place where politics flows in the air. Where one would be regularly greeted by someone in Khaki half pants with a loud ‘Jai shree Ram’, the same three words if used in any other part of the country, may spark scepticism and doubts. Every nook and corner forms an arena for political discourse. The ‘hawa’, ‘mahaul’ and ‘sambhavna’ are discussed, everyone is an expert and everyone is an amateur. This a UP election analysis from a resident’s point of view, one who has spent his childhood and youth in the most populated city of Uttar Pradesh,

If I had to choose one word that describes the elections in UP, whether I may like it or not is ‘caste’. Calculations are made and equations are derived, voters are lured and promises are made, feet-touching and leg-pulling are a common affair. What ends up, more often than not, is a mess, unclear mandate, fight for the throne and horse trading. The article is not about how the elections are held and I may not use it to my luxury to digress from the topic. This is about what I see coming as someone who has witnessed numerous elections and issues ranging from ‘Mandir’ to ‘Manuwaad’.

To keep it simple, I see a BJP-BSP alliance as the most possible combination at the moment. BSP seems to loose but that is one place where SP cannot score, they themselves bring a lot of corrupt crowd to the chairs. If a normal resident is asked to choose among the two strong players on the grounds of corruption, Mayawati is the natural choice for obvious reasons. She may self-obsessed and wasted a huge sum on stupid statues, but she handles administration with an iron hand while Mulayam Singh’s regime allegedly bring ‘Gunda Raj’. BSP also holds an added advantage of a non-mobile Dalit vote bank. ‘Hathi’ remains the unanimous choice of the Dalit community and ‘Behenji’ the undisputed leader. If she can dent the traditional ‘Backwards’ vote bank of SP she’ll undoubtedly sail through and then a support from the BJP or Congress may well give her a consecutive second term.

Akhilesh Yadav the natural heir to the legacy of Mulayam Singh, is working day in and day out to propel the party to the to the top. The polarisation of Muslim votes tried on the grounds of appeal for re-investigation of the Batala House killings and the proposed reservation for Muslims may not appease the Muslim community but will surely not go well with the Hindu voters, more so with the backward classes who fear that they may have to shed a plum share from their quota. Moreover the Muslim community seems disillusioned with Mulayam Singh after his appearance with Kalyan Singh, and Rahul Gandhi’s consistent efforts will certainly work to thin the vote share from the community. The entry of players like the Peace Party will certainly harm the prospects of the Yadav clan.

BJP does not have great hopes and are not expected to do well in the scenario. They can bank upon the traditional Upper caste vote bank and hope to gain a respectable number. Without a clear Chief Minister candidate and debacle like the induction of tainted Kushwaha leave BJP in a severe trouble. The only hope that remains for BJP is that it may play key maker for Mayawati.

Congress even after all the hard work of Rahul Gandhi, and the rhetoric of Muslim wooing looks vulnerable to say the least. It may eat into the vote share of the SP but may not boots its own count. It is apparently fighting for the third place with the BJP.

There are just two thing that we can do, wait and speculate. What is on the minds of the voters and what goes into the EVMs, only the future holds.

कविता

2011-12-25T08:51:00.000-08:00

कभी तुम जो पूछो मुझसे, की प्रेम है कितना,
बताऊंगा कैसे, असीमित है इतना,
धरा सा है व्यापक, है वेदो सा पावन,
मीरा की सी भक्ति, है वीणा सा वादन.

मॅ डरता हू रीतो मे तुम ना खो जाओ,
की जब मॅ पुकारू तुम साथ ना आओ,
समाज़ो का कोहरा, रिवाज़ो की रातें,
इन दोनो मे ओझल, कही खो ना जाओ.

मॅ तुमको ही पाने की चाहत मे जीता,
तुम्ही मेरी राधा, तुम्ही मेरी सीता,
मेरी जीवन सरिता का तुम ही हो वेग,
मॅ प्यासी सी धरती, तुम घनघोर मेघ.

Untitled

2011-12-18T09:28:00.000-08:00

I woke up early morning,
It still was dark,
not a star to lit up the grim sky,
not a murmur to break the silence stark,

What woke me up from troubled sleep,
panting as if, immersed neck deep,
veins pulsating as time flies,
heart beating as if caught in a lie.

What am I doing, is this all true ?
where world stands adversary, will I make it through ?
her divine beauty, my love so pure,
will they ever unison, I m not so sure.

Its all your fault, you planted that seed,
and when I need you, you don't pay heed,
I m alone, and I don't want to cry,
my heart aches, my spirits die.

So often I try to build this guilt in my mind,
life was at stake, choice was mine,
but deep inside me someone knocks and says,
you followed your heart true were your ways.

You drove me out..

2011-10-13T13:05:00.001-07:00

I had this journey of ups and downs,
green valleys and barren grounds,
a struggling ship caught in a storm,
the deck broken, the sail torn.

A fagged voyager in a desert alone,
not a tree for shelter just the hot Sun shone,
a soldier spent trough ages of war,
locked in a dark cave,
light not near, hope not far.

and then you came into my life,
that dying spirit had somehow survived,
you held my hand and guided it through,
let me out of the cave, in a bright and sunny view.

The drowning ship just got a new sail,
tattered deck tardily repaired,
oasis emerged out of nowhere,
the Sun went behind the clouds,
thirst quenched, I don't know all happened how.

Only one thing that I can do,
just bow down and thank you,
Thank you.....

You'll be mine....

2011-10-01T14:06:00.000-07:00

Why I try,
and why I dream,
why I cry,
and why I scream.

When you're not there,
to listen to my woes,
you were the only one where,
I was surrounded by foes.

I won't lie to you,
but there's nothing I can do,
I 'll wait till the end of time,
for I m sure,
someday you'll be mine.

I’ll never let you Cry….

2010-04-04T02:44:00.000-07:00

some day, when your spirits are low,

you fear, you’ll loose all your glow,

someday when you feel surrounded by swarm,

when none’s with you, the Sun’s no more warm.

Some day, when your companions desert you alone,

The mouths those praised you, now just moan,

When your ebullient eyes, tend to loose their sheen,

When the courage to hang-on, feels so lean.

When your truth goes unheard , in the echoes of lies,

When your breath gets heavy, your heart just cries,

When pain gets unbearable, and all hope dies,

When you struggle to cope, and the time just flies.

When all your efforts end in vain,

When the whole world’s after you, like turned insane,

When the pillars of faith, fall like leaves,

When all your strength disappear, as in sieves.

In such hour of gloom,
Don’t loose sight of your aim,

When feeling dejected,

just call my name.

I’ll appear besides you, holding your hand,

No matter how far, I be on land,

There ‘ll be me, standing by your truth,
when all others utter lie,

And this is my promise, come what may,
I’ll never, never let you Cry….

Strikes...

2009-11-23T07:18:00.000-08:00

Cars were zipping on the road, vendors were wandering, people chatting on the streets, this was all that Roshan could see across the translucent window. He was sitting besides his father, who was there for a regular check-up at an ophthalmology clinic. It’s been twenty five minutes and still there were eight more appointments prior to theirs. A mathematics student by birth, he was busy calculating the time remaining in this condemned cell, it was getting unbearably boring.

The waiting hall was morosely stuffed with middle-aged people with dark glasses and bandaged eyes. The only pleasure in that dull ambience was a little girl of about three who was sitting next to Roshan and would giggle at any trivial event on the streets. The attendant called loudly “Priya Verma”. The lady beside the child caught her up in her arms and moved towards the doctor’s cabin. Roshan signaled the lady and asked, “what’s the problem with her”. “Nothing serious, just regular check-up” came the reply with a wide grin. The only lively element was gone, the seat was vacant, the ticks of the clock were clearly audible. The blue was getting on Roshan, he badly wanted to get out of there.

The door opened with a feeble sound and broke the silence of the hall. You don’t expect a girl in her early twenties to visit an eye-clinic, and even if one does, she would be the sporting thick spectacles and long salwaar kamiz. Similar thoughts came to Roshan’s idle mind and he didn’t care to have a look at the new arrival.

Suddenly something happened, something that a boy in his early twenties fantasizes for, but without his father in the scene.

“May I sit here?”, asked a sweet voice. He looked up and was dumbfounded. In his stint of three and a half years in engineering college, he could not recall a instance when a girl of such flawless beauty ever approached him. The reason being, partially the dearth of good looking girls and partially his average grades.

“hello???”, she asked again only with a surprised look this time.

“sure you can”, he obliged with a fumbling smile, the same that boys have when they talk to great looking girls.

She was extremely attractive with a low-neck pink top and a denim jacket. the blues of the room were taken over by the bright sparkle. The life was back but only with a cost, his father was beside him.

Everyone was staring at her and so was Roshan, the only factor in his favor was him being the youngest and by far the most charming compared to the middle aged lot. She looked at him and smiled, so did he, but the fountain of joy that was flowing in Roshan’s heart was far more than what his grin proclaimed. He wanted to initiate the conversation but his father, first time ever in his life, was the hindrance. He was badly searching for a way when his prayers were heard. His father’s cell phone rang, he received the call and moved out of the room. This was it, “Paa” was out of the scene but the bigger problem remained. As a boy its very difficult to a start a trivial chat session with a girl, and more so when she holds far better looks than you. The same apprehension was getting on Roshan, how to begin it, seemed like a huge sem project.

Then again someone heard him, may be God himself. It was a miracle, she was again the one to begin.

“what is it you are here for?” she asked. Dumb again but recovered soon, “ here with my father, just routine visit”.

“I thought you had some problem at such an early age”, she said with a smile.

He regularly wore spectacles, -1.0D from both eyes, but the best thing was he forgot them today. “No my eyes are perfectly alright, as good as they come…”

“Hmm… impressive”, came the reply. The main question, was she really impressed.

One thing engineers love to boast is their education and future planning. They find it an easy way to impress commerce and biology girls who hold fear for alpha , theta , gamma and beta from early school life. This time it was a gamble, nobody knew whether she was from arts or science or may be held better education than him.

“I hate this stuff” Roshan said pointing to the huge poster on the wall, holding a cross section view of the human eye.

The disapproval on her face showed that she was not impressed. Strike one, two more to go. This is the way with girls, once you misjudge their likings, the strike count starts.

Now was the time to use the brains and to undo the damage.

“I think you got me wrong, I do not like the poster, it would be better to have a video display of the eye”

The lost smile was back, “that’s a nice idea, you are good”

Still there was a problem he was facing, the problem that’s normal while conversing with girls with soft and fair skin and sharp features. His eyes were slipping of the flawless face to more appealing places, the pink top predominantly. He got himself back with a conviction to concentrate on the face and leave other places for the future…. Maybe.

“I was a keen student of biology in school, but had to give up for the sake of maths”

“I liked that phenomena of iris contraction on entering a brightly lit room”, Roshan said boasting his bio gyan.

“Its pupil”, she corrected with disgust on her face.

Strike two, one more to go and she would be gone.

“I m sorry, that’s what maths does to you, it sucks”, he disowned his most prized possession.

“I m in final year, one more to go and I’ll be a doctor”, the doubt came true, she was a biology freak, may be opposites attract.

The pink top was still luring, it was hard to concentrate, yet he was still trying “just the face” he mumbuled.

“that’s great, doctors move this world, god’s angels”

“thanks, and you, what are you into”

“final year of computer engineering”

“good, the IT guy haa, nice cars, US trips, furnished rooms, foreign clients… “, even she was one of the many who held wrong idea of the “IT guys”. People never realize the meager salary that they get.

“yeah, may be”, he pretended the false smile.

Was this the time to ask for coffee, he calculated. No, came the judgment, some more time to go.

“and how’s been your engineering”, she said removing a strand of hair from her forehead.

“wonderful…. Infact awesome”.

“and yours”

“was great, got a boyfriend in the second year”

“damn’d”, he mumbled.

“but broke up with him last week”

Great opportunity in severe recession. The best time to woo a girl is, when she had just broken up.

“even I m single” he went with the shot.

The suspicious look appeared on her face but it soon disappeared. To judge what was going on was not easy.

“now I have decided, I won’t fall in love….. ever”

This was not good, anyways love was just an added incentive, there were other benefits he was targeting.

“its great if you make a friend in a clinic, what do you think”, he tried the shot.

“I take a lot of time to judge, friends cannot be choosen in a hurry”, she was tough nut to crack, as all good looking girls are.

“I think you are right, you need time to judge”

“anyway, I m Ro......”

He was interrupted.

“Kashish Shah”, the attendant called loudly.

She got up, smiled at Roshan and went to the doctor’s cabin. She had a pre appointment.

His heart was pounding, she may come out and share her number with him or ask him for coffee or better, may be dinner…….

Five minutes went by as five years. The sliding door went open, she came out like a walking angel. He waited eagerly, came close to him, he could feel her perfume. Her lips moved, hard to call it a smile, but that was it. Went to the door and out of the clinic. He heard the engine roar, the car zipped by, she was gone.

The third strike, only this time it was not his fault, the bowler did it……

Empathise

2009-11-14T07:17:00.000-08:00

Do you have any idea how it feels to be pregnant. Not that I want to know the feeling , but was just wondering how opposite sexes can empathize with problems and pleasures of their counterparts.

The marketing world shows that the human race is increasingly becoming sharper and smarter. My reference here does not relate to faster cars, super computers, smarter banks, space travels etc. My assessment rises to a higher degree of analysis. If you have been carefully observing the internet and television marketing then there is high possibility that you would agree with my point. The media marketing proves and reassures our faith that the human race is ever evolving phenomena . In fact it proves that the day when men would carry the fetus and women would shave their rough cheeks, when men would be driving gearless scooters (or scooties as female version of the muscular scooter) and women having “All the fun” are very near. If you are baffled about what’s going on and what is it that’s bringing out such a weird analysis out of such a weird mind , well I’ll try to clear the nebula.

Ever thought what the beautiful and…. Should I use sexy if u don’t mind.. ok sexy model was doing in the “Gillette” advertisement. Does she know how it feels when a blade rips through the skin and leaves it bleeding or has she ever felt how painful it gets when the razor swipes through the chin. Ever wondered how the sensation moves to the lady’s face when she actually applied “Old Spice” on the man’s face. How is it that the real tangible male “Axe” is far less important that the intangible, highly talked about “The Axe Effect” on the females. Moving to the other side of the coin, talking of the female stuff with male involvement. If you feel its less prevalent you are probably right, but it exists and its catching up fast. The commercial said “Come, be part of the most exciting feeling of your wife’s life”, the reference was child birth and the “most exciting feeling” was off course the labour. I m not married, I know, but yet I tried to empathise with my would be wife’s feelings, but all went in vain. I m still in the stage of evolving and would take quite a lot of time to reach the point where I can actually empathise with the pains and pleasures of the Eve.

The point here is to bring forth the development of human race ( barring poor me), the race where a women does not need to have beard to feel the pleasure of close-shave and where a man does not need to be in delivery room to feel the motherly pleasure and pain offcourse. Yes , atleast the marketing world feels we have evolved and are ever evolving. That makes me say with this pace its not far when men will have swollen wombs and women would sport beard…..

Hope I empathise with my wife…..some day……

Caught in the wrong job

2009-05-01T20:32:00.001-07:00

Past few days have been very enthralling. There was the IPL (Indian paisa league), there were numerous marriages(boys sentenced for life), then there was the great indian festival of democracy- the elections and offcourse never to be missed out, the news channels with coverage that would embarrass the best of thrillers. Amidst all this festivity I caught few people who were trying their luck somewhere out of their realm. After a lot of consideration and working my brains for hours, I have come up with alternate jobs for them, which I think suit them the best. Then, here we go..............and yes, if you can get to one of them do suggest the wonderful opportunity in the hard period of recession.

Shahrukh Khan - why him..... whats wrong with his job? He's earning huge sums, acts well, is a brand in himself and owns the KKR. Thats all very fine but the man bit the dust with IPL. His ambitious dive in the ocean of cricket ....oooopppps.... turned out to be a fiasco.The men in black and golden jerseys are surrendering one match after another. No silver lining only the dark clouds. Whats the fault of the poor Mr.Khan if the team is not performing, why should he suffer.Afterall he's the man, the innovator who came up with the most exciting innovation of our time, "The Multi-Captain theory". Don't get disheartened Mr.Khan, I have a person who offlate has been working on a similar theory and very much like you, has not witnessed success. So here is an opportunity for both of you to come together and work together. May be his expertise may help you and yours him. Mr.khan take my advice and meet Mr.Prakash Karat at the earliest.

Mr.Karat has been working on on the multi-captain theory in the political arena for quite some time now. There are so many captions in the so called Third front that he is getting nightmares in deciding the official one. Mr.Khan having applied the same theory on players from different continents will come in handy for Mr.Karat to deal with the situation. May be we can hope to see ten Prime ministers in term of five years or may be twelve or may be more...............real good innovation haaa.

Mandira bedi- It was the second match in the IPL, B'lore RC scored some 130 odd in the first eannings and Mandiraji was out there in conversation with Gaurav, another person from the world of glamour ( but with far better cricketing knowledge than Mandira Bedi). Now came the best point of the chat (or the worst...... rests on you to decide), the lady said, "the score is far from sufficient, a good score would have been somewhere about 265-270".The lady has huge expectations...... they are batsmen not Supermans. I know its not shocking, it has been the same story of abysmal cricketing judgement from the lady since the 2003 world cup. But this may not go a long way and people may start demanding a anchor with atleast some idea about the willow and the ball. So I came up with an alternative job for her. No doubt lady you still look pretty and catch many eyeballs during the matches(thats the reason they have you), and you love cricket (atleast thats what you claim) but the biggest hitch is that you are poor with cricketing judgement and there are no signs of improvements. Then what..... don't worry I have a mid way job for you, there's a huge demand for hot and sexy cheer leaders during the IPL and the ICL and now the APL, and darling you still look hot and stunning. So you get your job and will stay close to your beloved game. .... miracle of an idea, thank me for that.

"behen" Mayawati- I m not here to raise the ubiquitous slogan, "behenji for PM". If she takes the post of PM in the coming future, I'll be put behind the bars for this post, so I will not appeal for her but will suggest her a job as I have been doing it for others.

With the below average voter turnout and above average apathy of the people and their growing disenchantment with the whole political system of the nation I don find great scope for the Mayawati ji in indian politics. So again I thought of it and came up with a lucarative job that she can take up in the time of crisis. Ok, tell me when was the last time you saw behenji addressing a rally or press by her own, I mean not reading from a peice of pre written material. Not work your brains, you will not find any such incident. So, there lies her skill...... I find her very similar to the newsreaders of eighties and early nineties ( remember "namskar doordarshan ki pradeshik prasharan seva....". Since the people still find Manna Dey and K.L Shegal to be ear pleasing therefore I find a great scope for her as a newsreader ( and she can even bring the masala touch heard her "mannaniye Mulayam Singh kahta hai....").

Besides all this she can take a part time job of clearing all doubts of people ( especially brahmins) regarding their jatis and Gotras and rashis and kundlis. This I can say because she has a doctorate in caste politics and awards tickets after considering lot of caste equations. May be she can get some Aishwarya out of her Manglik problems....

reinstate the faith....

2009-03-28T01:15:00.000-07:00

Recently the media was flooded with news that presented a very gloomy picture of humanity. At one end there was Varun Gandhi yelling all stupidity in the name of 'Hindutva' and trying to destroy the communal harmony. While on the other end there were couple of incidences of fathers sexually abusing their own daughters for nine to ten long years. These incidences really shocked me and I was utterly disappointed to witness the perverted picture of religion and sacred human relations. This goes to all of the human community to rethink our values and our faith......

oh, when I look around,

cacophony galore, no pleasing sound,

people quarelling like bulls and hounds,

has the world turned a battleground;

blood everywhere, none to wipe the tear,

death raising head, every eye in fear,

fathers raping daughters, who held them so dear,

and the kingdom of the devil, seems so near;

asylums turning to slaughter houses,

cannibals killing with Trishools and Crosses,

humanity mourning at unbearable losses,

truth hard to find in haystack of falses;

no Christ will come,

to show the right path,

no Krishna will play flute,

to mitigate the pain of your heart;

Its you who has to change it all,

and step forward to fight,

Its you who has to reinstate faith,

and truth and the holy light;

lets bow and pledge to revere,

all religions around,

and learn to honour the faminine power,

and establish her stolen crown;

stop this nonsense.....

2009-02-08T10:17:00.000-08:00

It was the morning of 27^th January, I knew I was getting late for college and will need to hurry. In a haste, I opened the gate and dragged my bike and was just about to kick start it when suddenly my eyes got stuck at a heart-breaking sight. I was disappointed but not surprised by what was lying just in front of my eyes. The national flag, our very own ‘Tiranga’ was lying helpless as a mendicant in rags who is dying of leprosy but there is no one sensitive enough to provide a helping hand.

For if this humiliation of the national honour was not enough there was more to come. I got of my bike, picked that paper flag kept it aside with respect and bowed my head out of respect to the mother nation. This very normal activity looked so strange and awkward to one of my neighbor that it took him just a second to yell out at me “are pagaal ho gaye ho kya, aise to hazzaro jhande sadak pe pade hai, kitne utaoge”. This was again very much expected and I ignored his discerning advice and took my way to college.

Well, my neighbor was very correct when he had predicted the fate of the flags. I saw myriad of flags in real awful condition. I was helpless or may be not patriotic enough to get down and give them the respect and honour that they rightly deserved.

This is the normal scene which is witnessed on the next morning of ‘The Republic Day’ or ‘The Independence Day’ . School going children purchase these paper flags out of sudden eruption of patriotic feelings augmented by desh-bhakti songs played by the very popular FM channels, play with them in the school and on their way back home, they throw the useless piece of paper on every possible street they explore.

The question is why am I writing all this now when its already 8^th feb today. The reason being that this day lies somewhere close to the ever controversial ‘Valentine’s Day’. No need to mention that lot many new recruits of the so called “Moral Police” are training for the D-day. They shall be kicking and beating the young couples whom they will catch ‘damaging and showing profanity’ to our pious and pure Sanskriti. I raise this topic to question these “Moral Gaurdians” of the culture that where were they when numerous flags were brutally lynched on roads. Where were they when my neighbor was making a mockery of my act.

I know they would not have picked up the hapless and helpless flags and I m very sure, they will not do this even in the future. The reason being , scavenging for flags will not yield any media attention or any political mileage.

I want to change this altogether. I don’t want to change my neighbor but his mindset. I don’t want to change the people but their outlook towards the country. Its not just about saluting your national flag, its not just about standing on national anthem, its not just about other similar issues. It is about a much larger concern, it is about respecting your mother nation, it is about showing reverence and sincerity to mother India. I hope the coming years will witness the Tricolor fluttering high with dignity and self-respect.

So be it........ JAI HIND

The pain of India....

2008-12-03T04:42:00.000-08:00

the fear , the trauma, the anger, the pain,

that fill my heart ,dilate my veins,

is prevalent in the heart of every citizen of the nation,

and will not be appeased by just resignations;

there need to be steps taken to show,

that this weed of terror can no longer grow,

if still it does, it'll lead to an evolution,

the candles of peace will turn to torches of revolution.

where the mind is without fear and the head is held high,

we demand such a country where all can survive,

no more attacks on our mother are we gonna bear,

who ever will touch her now will get his share.

............. Akhil

do our leaders still need a wake up call....

2008-12-02T00:26:00.001-08:00

We have been facing the demon of terror for soo long now.Every now and then people die of terror attacks, children become orphans, and women turn widows.Many are disabled for whole life but difference does it really make to the people who are leading us ,who savour on the taxes which we pay after working hard for hours.

After every incident, the self proclaimed "leaders of the masses" come out of their shells, utter crap, show their false grief for the martyrs and the victims, even highlight their concern by promising certain sum of money and leave. These insensitive and worthless sons of the nation, after a couple of hours are then found on the live t.v , playing the blame game, trying to throw the ball of accountability to the other half. The worst thing regarding this ball game is that here the opposing teams conspire together to take the game a long long way. This is the irony of politics , here the opponents and proponents have the same face.

Its high time that we , the taxpayers, must take the responsibilty to clean this system, to remind the politicians that they are choosen to serve the society, not to rule the same. Its high time we remind them that they had come to our doors begging for votes, beyond that to tell who are the beggers, there's no prize money.

In the end, i'll only say that the youth must compulsorily utilise all the resources available, to proclaim candidly what they feel about the scenario prevalent in the country and thus persuade the deaf "leaders" to do their job with honesty. This will definitely bring about a significant change in the whole political arena. And for the politicans, welll sorry guys you don't have an option but to work according to the will of the nation. Remember "BEGGERS CAN'T BE CHOOSERS " and i m sorry to say "leaders" you are no different.