Illegal encroachment by GOD

This is a country where millions sleep without food daily and gallons of milk is spilled over the statues, where millions sleep under the stars and where temples are studded with Gold.

It’s all on God’s name! Nothing new in it and it’s not only Gurgaon’s story; this menace has spread all over India, in all the big and small cities, towns and villages. Illegal religious structures have encroached upon footpaths, streets and public spaces. And the nuisance seems destined to stay.

Does not matter how much God loving I might be, but the sight of these temples or dargah encroaching upon the footpath is bound to upset me and many more like me. But the apathy is we can’t do anything against it in this country, which is mad about their religion. Such illegal religious structures are un-likely to be razed, because the civic authorities fear it might hurt religious sentiments. All this, despite a clear Supreme Court direction (issued in 2009) that the State Governments ought to stop the mushrooming of such encroachments.

At HUDA City Center Chowk

Earlier I felt that the Supreme Court directive could make the removal of these structures easier, but it didn’t work out. Then Mr. Praveen Kumar Hooda has provided some optimism in this naysayer environment when he used Strong-arm tactics to rid the City from illegal encroachments, but his bulldozers were also confined to the homes and shops of the mortal ones, he couldn’t step forward towards these religious shops.

In last five years I had seen a 2X3 feet broken statue of Hanuman ji converting into 300 sq. feet temple on a footpath near Bristol chowk and there are many more; a big 3000 sq. feet temple acquiring green belt at Huda City centre chowk might have also been started from a some broken statue of some God or may be a Peepal tree.

Near Medanta Medi City (Sector 47)

They cut thousands of trees on the name of development (for metro construction / road widening) but they could not put their saw on Peepal tree; doesn’t matter if its in-between the road, doesn’t matter if it’s causing traffic havocs, doesn’t matter if someone looses his life in an accident because of that. Only God knows the link between him and the Peepal; I am sure these people who worship it, don’t have a clue about it.

It is quite impossible to remove these encroachments without flaring public emotions in a god-fearing country like ours. But we must need to do something; it needs both, hard line tactics by the civic authorities and the support of we citizens. But till now the indications are that the City and the country would just have to live with the existing structures.

Aman ki (Tam)Asha

It’s been 65 years to Indian Independence; some grieve it as the 65 years of India's partition, which killed a million people and many more were forced to flee across the newly laid border. Some people wish partition had never happened but I believe partition was inevitable; and considering the present scenario I will say it was desirable.

Media and the Indian Government were wheezing the killing of two Indian soldiers by Pakistan Army. But, is it the first time for Pakistan Army of such barbaric behavior with the Indian soldiers? Is this the first time that Pakistan has violated the ceasefire? Did they never before gave a friendly hand and then betrayed us.

I have no clue about what we need from Pakistan. Why Indian government is asking for a friendship, love and support from it? Why do we think that one day Pakistan will forget all the conflicts and will be a good neighbor then on-wards?  And, why we are ignoring a fact that a country whose origin is on the basis of partition which aroused with the religion hatred, will never shy away from its basic motto ‘Divide and Rule’.

Pakistani’s may also be saying these things about Indians and God knows who is right and who is wrong? But the truth is, India and Pakistan are two different countries and are enemies of each other. Here we can’t bargain that general public does not want any war or hatred, because it’s not the general public which matter at this level, it’s the politics and international environment.

Moreover partition was never forced over Indians; it was a mutual decision as both Congress and Muslim league failed to work together when the British put them together in the interim Cabinet of 1946-47. Furthermore, had the British left without Partition, Hindu-Muslim rivalry would have escalated into civil war, leading ultimately to an even bloodier Partition.

So, partition was inevitable and it had been a better outcome. The need of the time is that we should accept the fact that we are enemies of each other. We need to stay honest to ourselves and don’t get fooled by the false Aman ki Asha. Just live on our own and ignore Pakistan as S.Korea is doing with the N.Korea. There is no need to be friends with Pakistan and show love for that failed state, just overlook it on every front and consider as if there is another (dirty non-useful) ocean along the border of India.

Thanks Giving

Its time to make New Year resolutions. Dig within, and discover what you would like to have happen in your life this year. It is an affirmation that you're interested in fully living life in the year to come. 

The past year certainly was not good for India, but my New Year resolution is to shed all those negativities whatever had happened, whatever the corrupt government officials had done, whatever is happening around because of population explosion, the news media had hyped for their interests & TRP and the much glorified credibility which Indian cricket team has lost; and will try my best to concentrate on the few good things which are still present in this awful world.

On this first day of 2013 I would like to thank all those honest people who tried their best to keep this world livable by their sincere efforts. We owe a lot to such brave hearts who fight all the odds and stay honest in this corrupt environment just to serve us (the mango people). One such person is Mr. Praveen Kumar a senior Haryana IAS officer posted in Gurgaon as the HUDA administrator.

In past few months I have joined few FB pages of our administrators and politicians just to keep myself updated about what’s going on around our cozy comfort zones. One of those several pages is of GTP (Gurgaon Traffic Police), everyday they have updates about how many have been challaned, how hard they are working to improve the traffic situation in the city, this and that. But the situation is still same; same peak hour chaos at Iffcco chowk, same traffic conjunctions at multiple locations, unmanaged public transport system and same lazy police valas eager to fill their pockets.

But this blog is not for them, it is dedicated to all the honest servicemen who are doing everything to give justice to their post. Another FB page I joined recently was of Mr. Praveen Kumar, earlier I was sure that this person will be nowhere different from many other worthless servicemen; and these negative vibes are obvious when we talk about our government & system under it, be it politicians, police personnel’s or any other.

However, when I came back to Gurgaon last month after half a year visit to Europe I could not believe my eyes. It has changed a lot in these six months. When my Taxi took left from Highway Exit No. 8, I was very happy that the road got a much needed face lift. Then within next 10-15 days I have been on almost all the major roads of Gurgaon City and to my amazement almost all the roads seemed to be a F1 track, smoother than ever before; that reminded me one of the updates by Mr. Praveen Kumar on his FB page “As promised I am trying to deliver best roads but I need you all to help. Report me problems immediately” and I can say that this gentleman has done a great job in fulfilling his promises. Hope to get more chances of writing such thanks giving blogs in future to Mr. IAS and it will be even better if I will get a chance to write more stories of other public servants like him in the coming year.

The New Year stands before us, like a chapter in a book, waiting to be written. So, get inspired from such sincere people and write something good in this year’s book.

End of Humanity

21.12.2012- Came and Gone, but the world survived.

Perhaps the damn Mayans were right; the world is going to end.

We are alive; yes the humans are but the humanity is dead, it had failed. A son killed his mother; a teacher molests his student, a bride burnt, eve-teasing, gang rapes; are we still humans? Even animals are better than us.

All the upbringing we've had, all the education we've received, all the degrees we've collected - amounts to precious little if at the end of the day, we behave like this, as wild beasts. Things are not looking good - not for us, not for Delhi, not for India and not for humanity.

 The world is crumbling, not only outside Safdarjung hospital or India Gate but everywhere. Thousands of people are protesting, signing petitions, updating facebook statuses, writing to the PM - all to bring justice to the accused. As always a blame war is also raging. The BJP's blaming the Congress. The Congress is blaming Police force. The police force is blaming the society. The society is blaming the party in power. Everyone is shifting their baggage of responsibility to the next person.

They are also saying - measures are being put in place. No more tinted windows, more patrolling, speedier case hearings. These recommendations are desirable, and indeed necessary, but they are post facto responses to these crimes, not preventive measures. If what happens to women on the roads– is to stop, the change will have to come first at home, from the family. We must understand our responsibility, teaching history and chemistry in schools is not what is called education. We should teach our children humanity, how to live in this world, how to behave and respect.

Rape is the culmination of a deep-seated hostility against the female gender that is ingrained in our society. It isn't an isolated act; its a chronic condition. And it begins when a female foetus is formed in the womb and often killed for the sin of belonging to that gender; if not there then on the roads after raping like this and if it survives this brutal world then may be by her father or brother (protectors as they call) on the name of honor and if she still endure then she will be on the mercy of her in-laws, not to get burnt for dowry or for the desire of a male child.

Certainly cases of rape and other assaults on women should be fast-tracked in special courts. The penalty for such crimes should be made far more stringent. The law enforcement authorities must be sensitized on how to deal with victims. The real truth is that the reducing rape statistics will take time. But we must begin immediately. And we must have both soft and hard approaches. Hard approach will help in healing the wounds of the victims but soft approach is what will help in long term society development and to change the psyche of this male dominated world.

Be Mortal - Pledge your EYES

Try to feel the world around you with your closed eyes for few moments and you will realize how difficult it is to even walk properly leave aside experiencing the vibrant life surrounding us.

India is one of the fastest growing economies in the world. But we are leading another race also – Blind Population. We harbor one-fourth of the world's blind population. What is even more shocking is the fact that even though we had about one million deaths last year, only ten thousand actually donated their eyes. We have more than four million people with corneal blindness that is curable through corneal transplantation made possible by eye donation. A corneal transplant is an operation that replaces the opaque cornea with a clear cornea obtained from a human donor.

Eye donation is the noblest of all causes and people do feel passionate about this cause but fail to convert their feelings into action either due to lack of awareness or due to unavailability of proper information. All one needs to do is to take a simple pledge to donate the eyes after death. You can fill the Eye Pledge Form online: 
http://www.bharateyebank.org/eyepledgeform.php

Or dial a 24-hour toll-free number i.e. 1919 from MTNL for eye donation.

You don't need a degree, any special skills, or even perfect vision. All you need is a completed eye donor card, and a desire to help. And I think it’s the best and easiest way of doing something for the society moreover who will not be interested in living after death? So, Pledge today and Let someone see this wonderful world through your eyes.

Don’t just leave a will, leave a vision.

Europeanized Thinking

I am not among those who show their foreign return attitude to their friends and public. I will not say “Hamare wahan Europe mein to aisa hota tha” “It’s so tidy here in India” “India can’t be like European countries” or anything of that sort. I am born and brought up here in our great India only. Whatever it be and its system, only this is my home my own country (Apne to Apne hote hain). But I would like to share some of the qualities of European people which I would love to see in Indians, not those of cleanliness or non-corruption which everyone knows.

Rules are rules – There is an Indian notion which I also followed: Rules are made for the people; people are not made for the rules. But here in Europe rules & regulations are strict and law is above all (there shall be some potholes in European system also which I may have missed). I witnessed one such incident - There was a Pizza corner outside my house, its owner was an Indian and being an Indian I had a good connection with him. Once he was fined for three thousand Euros for lack of cleanliness, next day I saw him requesting one of his customers’s for helping him getting that fine canceled, that fellow was at some high post in Municipal Corporation or something. But he straight away dismissed his request even though he was his regular customer and knew him from many years. His plain answer was “you should follow rules properly”. We know it well, if that were a scene in India then what would have been the options for this guy from bribing to the inspector to a political approach for MC. In Europe there are hefty fines for breaking traffic laws, for destroying public property, Littering etc moreover those laws are implemented strictly.

Mind your own business – We Indians are very good at poking our nose into others business. We are always eager to search into others personal matters but these Europeans are always at safeguard on their personal front. They don’t talk much about their personal life and they don’t ask much about your personal life. Nobody cares about what other person is wearing or what his/her hair-style is? On the other hand we Indians are mastered in squeezing information from others life and then blowing it out without forgetting to add spices.

Do it yourself – We need a person to help us from delivering water bottles in office to loading papers in photocopier even at home we have helpers for every kind of work. But as everyone know there are no helpers or house maids in Europe, they are used to work for themselves; there are more bicycles than cars in Germany but still there is no cycle mechanic, everyone has their own air-pump, puncture kit etc, they themselves work on their cycles and all the small mechanical or electrical stuff at home. Over to that, all the wood-work at my place was done by my landlord himself and surely there is more wood than concrete or bricks in that home. There are plenty of such examples.

Good Marketing strategies can do wonders – In last six months I have been to many European tourist spots and believe me after seeing many of them you will definitely ask, Is this worth that much hype? But these people know how to market their product. After seeing all these places I will say India has more tourist spots than anywhere else in the world but we need to learn the way to cash them.

We are the greatest – Last but not the least, whatever may be; only we are the best. Whomsoever I talked to German, Britisher, French or Italian one thing was common they won’t stop praising their country. That’s what we must learn from them, what so ever is the political or economical conditions are in India but please don’t disgrace our country in front of foreigners. Blame or abuse anybody or anything about India in front of Indians (of-course for genuine reasons) but outside India please keep yours and your countries' esteem high. I tried my best to portray "Incredible India" Image and improve their (foreigners) knowledge about India but I had seen many Indians here who by their bad mouth are not doing good for India.

East or West India is the best - There are many good Indian habits which the Europeans lack, Good Hospitality, Cultural diversity, Family Bonding, Kindness, Helping and Docile nature and last but not the least our English speaking skills ;) I will try to Europeanize my thinking a bit while keeping these Indian qualities intact.

HUM TUM

Yesterday I was talking to a friend of mine; she was annoyed on her Boyfriend’s silliness. I listened her patiently for some time but then I gave-up as she was targeting intelligence of all the boys (after all I also have that stupid male ego). So I started defending male community and told her some of my own experiences with the girlish behavior (I will not call it stupidity, as it is their basic nature and we boys love that).

Today, I thought why not write an article on that. I will not write about girl’s navigation superiority☺ as it is quite common, even girls will agree to that. They will say left and raise their right hand, and while pointing to left they will say right. I will tell you some of the good incidents and you tell me your own experiences…. Isn’t it great?

Those good college days - I walked out in the parking lot of Thapar University, a girl was fighting hard with her Scooty-pep, pushing self start button and kicking hard again and again but in vain. I was happy as I was looking for a reason to talk to her from quite some time. I entered in a Bollywood hero style “Can I help you” she had no choice so  stepped back with her friend and the Scooty was all mine, I was even afraid inside as if it will be a disaster first meeting if I will not be able to do that. I looked at the Scooty and asked her “can I get the keys”. She looked at me and then the Scooty and then at the keys in her hand and we all were laughing madly. I inserted the keys and it was burrrrrrrr at the first self button push.

This one is even better - Few years back I and a friend of mine were standing outside DT City Centre Mall, talking about Punjabi songs.

“Oh I love this song” she said for a Punjabi number ‘Challa’.

“You want it? I have this on my mobile” I said while sitting on my Bike, we were ready to move as it was getting darker.

“Yes, send it to me” she said and activated her mobile Bluetooth. I started to search her Bluetooth connection.

“Ok, I am getting late so moving now. You send it” She started her Activa and zooooommmm.

At first I couldn’t believed it and then I called her “Dear, Bluetooth range is few meters only not kilometers” and she was laughing on her stupidity (ooppsss sorry, not stupidity just girlish nature).

The best one is just few months old, I am sure you will love it. My friend wants to get some cash from the ATM so we were waiting outside an ATM in sector 22 market. There was a girl inside so we were waiting patiently as we knew it will take a bit longer for her. But that bit long was now equaled 10 minutes.

Finally she came out, “Can you please help me?”

“Yes, off course” We were glad as the girl was very pretty.

We entered and “How could I type a point (decimal) here” She asked politely.

“We were looking at each other” at first I thought even I don’t know this, but how this girl was able to put decimal in her password as there is no option of decimal in the machine.

I asked her and what she said was just awesome, please don’t laugh at that.

“This decimal” she pointed on the number where the machine gives us an option for choosing the money we need 1000.00, she wanted to type that decimal between zeros. I tried to control my laugh but sorry…….

There are many such stories and I am sure you also be having many of them. I am eager to hear those specially the ones involving boys, but real not the fake ones. So let’s share……