Celebrating Diwali's Silence

With absolutely nothing to do at my home, I decided to walk through the most restricted street of the town, the ‘Sarai Road’ . For all those not belonging to the town of Gaya, this street is famous for its prostitutes and brothels.  Yes, the  land of Buddha and Vishnu, known for peace and moksha, also has one of the biggest brothels of the state.

I remember that as a child I was strictly told not to wander around the road. Even if I had to go to a place just next to that street I was advised to take the long route. The reason my grandfather gave was that “ It is a bad place”. As a child I always avoided that bad place but today the journalist inside me forced me to enter the lion’s den.

The streets in the town, especially at this time of the year with the festivals approaching, is usually cluttered. You can see hundreds of ‘Thela Gadis’ selling crackers, sweets and idols of Gods and Goddesses, people yelling at the top of their voices, some to sell their goods, and the others at each other. Some young boys could be seen just staring at the girls, sporting black sun glasses even at the night.

But the situation of ‘Sarai road’ seemed to be just the opposite. There was a suttle silence in the environment, something this place is not known for.

On usual days you can see hundreds of men from 18 to 80 roaming around, bike riders gradually slowing the speed to stare at the first floor with a hope of getting to see ‘at least something’. The doors of the houses wide open for anybody and everybody to enter and an old woman sitting on the front door with a bundle of notes with an expression deadly enough to scare you before you get in to see what according to her is ‘heaven’.

But nothing of this sort was evident today. With barely any doors open and hardly anyone on the street, it seemed as if the people have suddenly attained the  ‘Buddha’s enlightenment’ and  have started avoiding this place.

I asked an old person sitting at a cigarette stall, “Kya hua aaj yahan itni shanty kyun hai?”

He replied’ “ Kuch nahi sahab mandi ka tym hai, parv ka season hai na, log pooja krenge ki ladki ch****”

“ bhagwan ka naam lene k tym pe ye sab krenge to paap nahi chadega?”   

In this part of thecountry, where cutting your hair and nails on Tuesdays ,Thursdays and Saturdays is regarded as a sin, indulging in a sex business in the month of ‘kartik’ can no doubt be a severe crime. But what hurts me the most is that this same crime will turn into an ‘enjoyment’ as soon as Diwali or Chath ends!

While the bosses of the place complain about no business, I look at the positive side of it. Atleast in the name of GOD, those girls get some time to spend with their own self. Atleast for one month in the year they can have a good sleep (not to mention alone). Atleast for one month they can live their lives with no one intruding their privacy. Atleast for one month there’s silence in the brothel, in their lives.

If such is the effect of Diwali, I pray that we have a diwali, or a dusseehra or an Eid on every calendar day of the year.

So this Diwali, I do not want to burn the noisy crackers, do not want to lighten my house but I want to celebrate the silence hidden in the darkest corner of the hearts of those girls ,the silence  that would return not before the next Diwali!

What’s your plan for this year????

Had Chicken today???

The scene on the butcher's shop was different from the ordinary days. It seemed as if everybody in the town wanted a dead animal for his meal.

I being a hard core non-vegetarian was not used to here "SAB KHATAM HO GAYA SIR" (at least at a butcher's shop).

In the last two months of my stay here, I have been a regular customer to that shop but for the first time in so many days, there was no meat left at 8 in the evening!

Disappointed with this, I then went to a restaurant and ordered," One Chilli Chicken please"

"Sorry Sir. Out of stock". Now this was another shocker.

Amused with the increased demand in the market, I wondered if chickens are going to be extinct

Meanwhile, I decided to go for some vegetarian item.

While I was pondering on the menu, my phone rang. My mother was on the other side.

“Hi Beta. How Are you,” she questioned.

“Struggling for food Ma”, I joked.

“Accha Suno, if you want to eat non-veg, eat it today itself, don’t touch any non-veg item for the next 10 days. Navratra begins from tomorrow.”

“What!”

“OK I’ll try”, I added half heartedly.

Now I could guess the reason behind people’s sudden love for dead chicken.

You must be finding this incident ordinary enough to feature on any blog. But this small incident actually describes the mind set of the people of this country who only believe in following a religion rather than understanding it.

I mean can any body on this earth make me understand how I can impress my GOD by not eating non-veg for 10 days.

And this thinking does not end merely to eating non-veg.

Have we ever realized that for the next ten days all of us will be worshiping a woman, a woman resembling the victory of right over wrong. We will bow our head in front of the idol of the women, pray for our safety  and as soon as we’ll come out of the mandir or the pooja pandal our innocent eyes would start searching if any ‘hot maal’ has also come  to offer prayers.

The police patrolling in New Delhi will be on its full swing to check that no ‘Durga Devotee’ gets a chance to abduct or rape a girl on the streets.

The girls of my home town, Gaya, would rather decide to stay in their houses itself because the definition of ‘Devi Darshan’ is slightly different for the young brats of the town.

And if you think that this is all- check the newspaper just after Dussehra, it would be full of reports of communal violence.

If worshiping for you has meant just praying in front of the idol of ‘Durga’ and not eating chicken, then this Navratra, lets redefine this festival.

HAVE A HAPPY NAVARATRA!

  

I'll NOT salute the tri-colour

Sare Jahan Se Accha Hindusitan Hamara

Ham Bulbule hain iski Ye Gulsitan Hamara...

The sweet words of this song coming from the loudspeaker of the society compound broke my sleep. I looked at the watch- 7.30.

Today’s morning seemed to have a different charm. The children could not control their excitement. The professionals sacrificed their formals for traditional clothes. Even the birds seemed to be chirping more than the usual days.

Exactly at 8.30, a respected old man of the society hoisted the national flag. With our utmost enthusiasm, we gave our salute to the symbol of our freedom. The sense of patriotism, respect and proud present in each and every individual could be easily felt as the national anthem encored in the society premises.

Only 4 hours have passed since the event. I am still standing at the same place. The tri-colour is still flying with great zeal. But the pride, the patriotism and the respect have suddenly vanished away from my heart. I can see a dirty place with used plates and cups thrown all around. In between the ruckus, a poor lady, accompanied by her two small daughters (around 5-6 years old), is searching for something to eat. While the lady wears a dirty torn sari, her daughters carry a paper flag with not a single cloth on their body.

 "The day is not far off when India will be rid of poverty, hunger, disease and ignorance."

These words of Dr. Manmohan Singh are now hurting my ears.

The flag that he hoisted represents courage, sacrifice, truth, peace, purity, prosperity and righteousness. And in front of the same flag, the Prime Minister of the largest democracy of the world said something which was miles away from reality.

And why should we blame only the PM?.Did we have these feelings incorporated in our minds while we saluted the flag?

If NO, then the tri-colours that are flying at our homes, our schools, our colleges and even at Lal Quilla are not flags but pieces of waste clothes.

All that is coming to my mind is to bring that flying cloth down, tear it into two parts and give one to each of the two naked girls standing in front of me.

I wish I could do that.I wish I could tear all those flags and distribute them to the poors who cannot afford to wear anything.

But I cannot .I am not 'independent' to do that because then I will be accused of disrespecting our national flag and for hurting the sentiments of the people that awakes twice every year.

But their's one thing I can definitely do, "I'll NOT salute the tri-colour. I'm not worth doing that."

Safety- Not for Commoners but for Police!

Crimes like murders in UTTAR PRADESH hardly make news these days. A report reveals that about 20 cases of murders take place on an average everyday in this highest populated state of the country. But the recent murder of the DSP in the pratapgarh district has actually raised an alarm because this time it’s not a common man who lost his life but a police officer and that too of a DSP level.

We have often accused police of not being prompt, not being cooperative and not being helpful for a common man. Yes I agree, but today after this incident I realize that it’s not the problem of the police alone. A police officer active enough to probe a death in that village of UP, honest enough to deal with the situation, tried to do something according to the law, but what happened to him? He lost his life, a mob killed him in front if the whole village and there are no eye witnesses at all! A young man enters the police to serve the common people, to help maintain law and no not to work as a slave of the politicians who can take their lives whenever they wish. How can a policeman work independently in this anarchic scenario? Yes he doesn't take actions swiftly and honestly because he also has a family to look after and he also has a fear that if anything happens to him what will happen to his family?, the politicians would not even abstain from eating up the grants meant for his family. We should remember that it’s not just a policeman who lost his life but also a Father lost his child, and a wife lost her husband.

 I also saw on the news channels people revolting against the ruling government, against the MLA Raja Bhaiya and against Akhilesh Yadav. But I wonder where the sentiments of these people were when they voted for Raja Bhaiya not once but for 5 times! This is not the first time that any criminal charge has been levied on him. He was accused of dozens of others severe crimes before he was elected during the last election. So why didn't the people revolt at the time of election with the power of vote that has been given to them in this largest democracy of the world. A police officer is killed in the middle of a village and nobody saw the culprits? Or was it a fear that made them turn their blind eyes towards the heinous crime. If we do not have the courage to fight for the truth, for the justice of a policeman who died for no reason then how can we expect the same from the policemen, aren't they a part of this society?

And because the common people have not seen anything the case becomes complicated and there would be a CBI probe and not to mention this probe would never end. I believe before raising questions on the police or on the government we need to look into ourselves, because shouting on the streets for a change is easy, working for that change needs courage. Rest in peace Zia- Ul Haq.

Just a Simple Calculation

Before I write anything let me confess that if there's one thing in this world that has threatened me like hell it is mathematical calculations and economics.But still I am taking this risk of writing on a topic which involves a lot of economics and calculations that have always gone over my head, so I might sound foolish to many of you but I would still write because I believe that what can strike in the mind of an idiot sometimes gets unnoticed by a genius.

So my discussion here would be based on just one statement made by the finance minister in his budget speech and I quote Mr. Chidambaram"To the women of India: We have a collective responsibility to ensure the dignity and safety of women. Recent incidents have cast a long, dark shadow on our liberal and progressive credentials. As more women enter public spaces - for education or work or access to services or leisure - there are more reports of violence against them. We stand in solidarity with our girl children and women. And we pledge to do everything possible to empower them and to keep them safe and secure. A number of initiatives are under way and many more will be taken by Government as well as non-government organisations. These deserve our support. As an earnest of our commitment to these objectives, I propose to set up a fund - let us call it the Nirbhaya Fund - and Government will contribute Rs 1,000 crore."

Now my calculations would be based on those 1000 crores mentioned above because in this crucial time of slowdown we also need to think about our ailing economy. Have you ever imagined how much is a thousand crore? A middle class household purchases about 12 cylinders in a year out of which only 9 are subsidized.  For the other 3 the household gives as much as 300 more that is a burden of 900 rupees is bared by it every year. Now if those 1000 crores would have been allotted for subsidies then as many as 1 crore households could have been benefited.

Imagine how many unprivileged students could have got their share of learnings had this money been spent on them. Lakhs of people living in the worst of slums could have got a better sanitation with this money.A 1000 crore is enough to set up hospitals in  a whole district, imagine how many lives could have been saved with this money. This money could have helped a common man tackle his everyday expenses had it been used for giving him some tax rebates in this inflated economy.

But all these things could not happen because there are a bunch of boys who have lost respect for the opposite sex and we need as much as 1000 crores to save the women from them! As I had already confessed that I am a big fool in terms of economy and calculations but the brain of this fool says that if you teach your sons to behave you can actually contribute to the economy in a big way!

A letter to a 'Yuvraj' in a 'Democracy'

To,
Mr. Rahul Gandhi
Vice President
Indian National Congress.

Sir
My heartiest congratulation to you for a yet another monarchic decision taken by your party and your Family.I am not writing this letter for congratulating you on your new achievement of becoming the no.2 in the congress party (As if you were not the no.2 before this announcement) but rather I got influenced by your emotional speech that made many on the stage and in the auditorium cry(the crocodile tears of the politicians you know).

Starting with what you said about your mother:"My mother cried because she knows that power is poison". I would suggest Mr. Gandhi that you don't need to take this poison(certainly not for the sake of this country as you described in your speech) because we don't want you die out of poison, there are other people who are much more qualified and at the same time eager to take this power and use it as an antidote for poison .And when you call a power in democracy a poison it actually shows your understanding about democratic powers.

You also spoke about the sad demise of your grandmother. I can understand the feeling of loosing a grand mother sir, but just to remind you if you have forgotten (which i'm sure you haven't) that the huge massacre that followed after that killed many other grand mothers,mothers,sisters and fathers but unfortunately those who lost their loved ones do not have the means to cry in public(or rather they have not learned to play politics on the death of their near ones).

You also called your father a strong person because he was on the television addressing the country the day his mother died. Have you ever wondered how strong those fathers are who see their children and mothers die everyday in poverty(at least your strong father did not think about them while negotiating for bofors).

I am amazed why you said that you don't know how the congress party runs, you don't seem to be so innocent that you don't understand that it runs on family politics(your swearing in as the VP is the perfect example of this.)

So, Mr Gandhi you may earn loads of applause,media coverage and some tears for your speech,but the ground reality is that these speeches do not earn votes any more(I am amazed that even after the tragic UP election you have failed to understand this).

Take this as an advice of a common man of this country.(because ultimately it this common man that would decide your fate)

Regards,
Shubh
A voter