Where is Janlokpal?

Dear Mr. Arvind Kejriwal. 

49 days and just one question – Where is Janlokpal?

Last time, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) had pulled the plug on its chaotic government after 49 days. This time, same chaos during the first 49 days; the difference being that the disputes this time have come from within the party. Anyhow, I will not discuss about that but for your performance as a C.M. and just one question - Where is Janlokpal?

Historic mandate, No corrupt partner, No clear opposition, Most intelligent and Imandaar leader (as they say) still the brakes are on. still the same question lingers - Where is Janlokpal?

Free Power, Free Water, New SIT’s. Is it this for; Delhi elected you, Mr. Kejriwal? Freebies are not why Delhi voted for you. You are here to perform, here to be a role model, here to show other parties that ‘imandaar politicians’ exist. But sorry to say, in these first 49 days of your second innings you failed us.

Free water, Free electricity is being provided in Punjab by the SAD- BJP alliance from quite some years now; and let me tell you, this is the most corrupt regime I have ever seen. So please don’t try to fool us by freebies, instead of that concentrate on providing clean governance and corruption free Delhi; as you were promising from last two years; and yes, Janlokpal ?

 

Before elections you didn't have time for your ever-annoying cough treatment, when you had nothing much to do other than election campaigning. And when the Delhities trusted on your saying that 'I have more important works to do than my cough treatment' and served their beloved Delhi to you on a platter; You straight away ran for your weeks long treatment leaving the delhi office alone to fight its own battle. Oh sorry, not delhi office but your partners in crime. But leave that, still the more importent question is  - Where is Janlokpal?

You sat on Dharna, asked the public to join and ordered the then Government to pass the Janlokpal, which was ready with you. And as you said 'Nothing less than Janlokpal; sorry yourlokpal will be agreed'. So 49 days and counting - Where is Janlokpal? Where is yourlokpal? 'which was ready a year ago'.

End of VIP culture? Really? You promised for an end to VIP culture in Delhi. I had not seen own my own but recently, people posted on FB, VIP Parking VVIP Parking billboards which were used during your  crowd gatherings. Its normal if you have shifted from WaganoR to Innova; will not brag about that; but will surely write again if you shift to Mercedies or BMW, which I am sure enough to see in future. Do whatever you want, we are born and brought up in this bull shit culture; but - Where is Janlokpal?
To be continued... Till you implement Janlokpal....

They are scared of me

Yes, I said it right. They are scared of me; and I am so happy about it. It’s not only Kejriwal, the man with broom in hand but people like me also can scare the dirty Indians.

Last Saturday on Gurgaon Rising spot-fix at IFFCO chowk with Broom in hand, I along with a team of twelve more volunteers was clearing the area around Westin hotel side-wall. I was talking to a roadside vendor asking him to raise his voice whenever some passer-by throws trash on the road. He was equally motivated and was participating in dialogues regarding how to work further and maintain the cleanliness of the place. I was all ears to him as he was the person who knew the ground realties of that place.

Meanwhile a passerby purchased a pair of socks from the adjacent vendor and threw the envelope on the road, I was observing him and in seconds he realized what I was about to say; scared, literally scared he picked up the trash and moved further throwing it in the nearby dustbin. I was happy that only one stare of mine can do wonders.

About an hour later, while we were still involved in the so called dirty work a passer-by bought a Gutkha / Supari (don’t know what it is called in English) emptied it in his mouth threw the packet on the ground and begin moving on his way. ‘Excuse me’ loudly I clamoured behind him and as he turned back and looked at me with broom and trash-picker in my hand; he quickly picked the wrapper from the ground mumbling ‘Sorry sorry sorry’ tens of times. He came to me praising the work that we volunteers were doing and promising not to litter around in future.

This post, I am not writing to praise my-self or advertising our work. But to let people know that you, even an individual can make a difference; we only have to realize our potential. You have the fresh examples of Kailash Satyarthi and Malala; if you believe it’s possible, it will definitely happen. As Mr. M.K. Gandhi has said ‘Be the change you want to see in the world’. So, pick up the broom and clean the place you want to see clean. Keep Rising.

INCREDIBLE !ND!A - Rustic Charms of Udaipur

Finally I boarded train for Udaipur. After envisaging and planning for the Lake city for quite a few years, finally a friend’s wedding in Udaipur gave me a chance to visit the city. Contrary to my recent experiences with Indian Railways, this time it was a smooth sailing through IRCTC and then the travel. When we arrived in Udaipur; I was in a shock. A pleasant shock, as it was very different from the image that comes to mind when we imagine Rajasthan; ‘It’s quite clean & green.’ The antique wooden and ivory carved door & cabinet shops just outside the railway station hinted me of the cultural heritage of the city.

Since it was my virgin trip to Udaipur, I wanted to pick the Taj Lake Palace as my home for the short stay; but my pocket didn’t allow that. We took shelter in a hotel arranged by our host near her home. After taking some rest and participating in some wedding rituals at our host’s place we moved out to wander around the streets of Udaipur, just for a leisure walk while exploring the city. And we heard that Lake Pichola and Foreigners market are best for that.

The best way to commute in Udaipur is TukTuk, which took us to city palace gates from where we started our stroll in the Udaipur’s narrow lanes. The main market street was like any other tourist spot market but as you drift away towards the inner lanes, you will smell the real fragrance of Udaipur. I am sure you will enjoy those tiled narrow lanes with European style small shops of Leather bags, Handmade paper diaries and the hand-painted T-shirts. Walking in streets you will never know which blind-turn will surprise you with the magnificent view of Lake Pichola. The craziness of the main market, the elegance of the slender lane shops and the calmness of the Lake, all co-exists there and believe me you can spend a whole day soaking all that within you without any hint of exhaustion.

Meanwhile while visiting Jagdish temple on the market street itself, I noticed few strange things - Sadhus are more interested in getting clicked than the Puja; couldn’t found any history note anywhere in the compound & when I tried asking someone they were not bothered to reply or maybe they didn’t know either; the strangest thing was – Kamasutra images all around the sculptured building. I believed these belonged only to Khajuraho temples but I was dumb-stuck wrong. The high point of the day was the evening Puppet show at Bagore ki Haveli. Don’t miss it at any cost, I bet you will be hypnotized by the sheer talent of the artists.

Next day we were to attend the wedding function in the afternoon, so we utilized first half of the day to visit Sajangarh-fort / Monsoon Palace  located bit away from the city rush on a hill top. The all-around view from the fort was mesmerizing; but alas, I must have visited this place during Monsoon as the sun-rays were so sharp that we squint more than the vision and missed soaking-in the beauty of the place.

 Many hours of day three in Udaipur, were dedicated to the City Palace. Big Museum for commoners, crystal Museum, Vintage cars gallery, Boat rides, Restaurants, souvenir shops everything in the premises. Walking through one of the largest palaces in the country, I couldn’t help but reflect on the business acumen of its owner Arvind Singh Mewar. He was really earning a-lot from every inch of the place. That privately owned and operated palace was so beautifully and cleanly displayed that for sure every visitor will be overwhelmed including my kind of sceptics.

Day four was our last day in Udaipur and we wanted to keep it relaxed and leisurely. Karani Mata temple was our first point, I opted this place as I was told by someone that at this place a temple and a mosque cohabit under the single roof. But the realty was somewhat different; you can check it once you visit the place. But yes, the rope-way ride and the view from the temple top were really beautiful. Next, our TukTuk took us to Shilp-Gram (a must visit place for the tourists, especially during the festival season – December end) that gave us the insight to the old forgotten culture and tradition of India. Interacting with the local handicraft vendors and potters was really an awesome experience and yes you must not miss the local food served there.

To conclude I can say that the very air of Udaipur was free from the element of exhaustion that is always evident in NCR, but it was filled with the weight of the centuries, the baggage of rich history. The essence of any place lies in the fabric of its local people and honestly, the local public was so warm and welcoming for the tourists that you won’t feel homesick. But you will definitely find yourself dim while arriving at station for your return train.

RELIGION Again

I don’t want to write about it again and again. But there are so many flaws in it and weather I want or not but I bump into those flaws frequently and it forces me to write. FLAWS – not in religions but in us, how we follow it.

My recent trip with my parents to McleodGanj, started on a religious note and ended on one. And unfortunately both experiences were not that good. On the way mom saw the signboard saying, Maa Chintpurni Mandir – 2 Km’s towards left. And obviously she was keen to visit. And when we reached there, needless to say, there also the commonest scene of Temple’s prevails – shopkeepers forcing you to buy Prasad from their shops, plenty of Beggers almost reaching your pockets to snatch some money, even the trans-genders; but that’s not the reason I am writing this.

Part – 1

As we reached the main Temple for offering our prayers, the Pujari reached out to hold my Prasad to offer it to the statue of Mata chintpurni. There were five Pujaris cramped in that small room; and we had to make efforts to have a look of the statue. But I was happy as it seemed that the Pujari was making personal efforts for us to reach in front and pray together as a family unlike other big temples where the pujari’s itself push you away to make room for the others to come. But that happiness of mine, was short-lived. He took a minute or two for the offerings and then asked us to come to the side gate to get the Prasad. That’s where the story began.

The pujari asked us to bow to the banyan tree branch and we obliged, he gave me the Prasad and instructed us, where to place the Chunari and what to do with the other things. He continued his instructions looking strangely at each one of us; my Dad gauzed his intentions and he pulled out a fifty rupee note to give it to him. To this his eyes opened wide in surprise and my Dad put that fifty rupee note back in his pocket to pull out a rupee hundred note. As he handed it to the Pujari, he started begging for more ‘panch log hai hum sardar ji, iss se kya hoga’. I was stunned by his behavior. Seriously, are we in a Temple? Are you a Pujari? Furious I ran out battling the small beggars and Hizras asking for money at every step we took.

Part – 2

On our return journey, we planned to stop at Anandpur sahib to offer our prayers to the ‘birth place of Khalsa’. My prime motive was to visit the ‘Virasat-e-Khalsa’ a newly built museum dedicated to Sikh history; which the Akali government boosted about that it will be an eighth wonder of the world. I was really impressed by the architecture of the building. After witnessing the architectural marvel you will enter the building thinking of a joy ride to the history, but the miss-management and arrogant & un-friendly staff will spoil your mood. Fabulous building it was, but so poorly utilized. Billions have been spent on the project, and they don’t have few hundred rupees to repair the faulty audio guides. You will have to wait for ‘don’t know how much’ time to receive the audio guides which were in use by the people ahead of you. When they finish the tour, their audio guides will come to you. There were thousands of the devices lying there, but all faulty. Blame it on the management or the illiterate people who destroyed them knowingly or un-knowingly; the later one was more obvious.

The technology was at its poorest level, one of the animations of the Golden Temple displayed there was so poor that even school children will hang their head with shame. The Audio-Visual of the Sikh history which I thought will be the high-light of the place was not working properly; two of the five projector screens were out of order and the rest three were not clear. We were pushed further by the crowd who had no interest in this poorly displayed show. We moved towards the 3-D paintings and cut-outs of the history in other rooms but that too were far behind the present technological standards. Adding  to that, the staff was not cooperative in fact very egotistical and rude. At the exit gates the girl on duty literally fought with me when I just asked her to where to place the audio device.

From the condition of the services just in few months of its operation I can just say we Indians don’t know the value of periodic maintenance. In abundance public money is spent on the project and then it was left on its own mercy. Billions of dollars went down the drain.

Please for GOD-sake stop selling out RELIGION.

Academics - Let's change it

The purpose of teaching is not the memorizing of some dates & facts, that the student is not interested in knowing the exact date of a battle or the birthday of some marshal or other - Adolf Hitler

When did the battle of Plassey started? Who won the battle of Panipat? In what period Sindh Monarchy existed? These were the questions which toppled my mark-sheets in all standards. At that time I used to think what these Integral and Differentials equations of mathematics have to do with our lives, and I am still wondering. Those boring chemistry reactions and equations which we crammed day and night, but still got doomed by their fable.

While reading Adolf Hitler’s ‘Mein Kampf’ I took a pause at the above statement by him, and was forced to think that our educational system is still the same as the Austrians or Germans had at that time. I don’t know whether their academics has changed or not, but I can definitely say that Indian education system is still the same or we can say, it deteriorated a lot instead of improvements. Recently I was reading some reputation rankings announced by some international education authority and not even a single Indian institute figured in the top hundred.

Indian Universities have proved to be irrelevant or not good enough for the rest of the world. We may be churning out the largest number of engineers in the world, or have millions of graduates each year. But until our universities perform better and create a reputation for themselves, the degrees do not carry much value. An Indian degree is still seen with suspicion across the world. And they are right too, as there are hundreds of such Universities which are selling degrees like cakes; and these so called distant education centers made the situation worst.

In India what are pupils expected to do? Read? Write? Memorize? Think? Socialize? In my view academics have a range of deliverables, prime among them is leadership, Social etiquettes, Character development and well-being. But sad to say, here we don’t teach children even the commonest things – love for the Environment, for the cleanliness, for the fellow students; all we teach is competition. You have to score 90 - 95% doesn’t matter how you achieve it; by putting your health down or your character.

Almost everybody watched and praised ‘Taare Zameen pe’ but nobody followed the lesson it delivered. It’s really common, we like those movies which shows a different side of the stories that don’t exist in India and we want those to exist, but don’t do anything for that to happen. We either do not know the way of value creation or we are unwilling to break down the barriers to working with our ideas and intellect. Be the change, let’s open up, encourage your children to diversify to think on their own, let them generate their own ideas, their own future. There is life outside the Engineering and Doctorate madness; there is life outside the mad rush of percentage.

RELIGION

Religion – that’s the thing which can be as soothing as the morning Sun, and can be as painful as Death. In India majority of the public follow their religion to the extremes. But do they really know the meaning of the Religion?

Bowing your head to the GOD or visiting the Gurudwara/ Mandir And possessing the five K’s/ wearing Janeu will not do any good if you don’t follow the teachings of your GOD. Same is the case with every other religion, you must follow the ideologies of your GOD then only you can say ‘I follow _ _ _ _ _ Religion’

SIKHISM - is based on the wisdom of ten Gurus. But do we really follow their teachings, or is it just the outer look?

Guru Nanak Dev (1469-1539)

Preached the equality of all humans. Guru Nanak said that all people are the children of one God. Guru Nanak spoke out against empty religious rituals, pilgrimages, the caste system, the sacrifice of widows, of depending on books to learn the true religion. Never did he ask his listeners to follow him. He asked the Muslims to be true Muslims and the Hindus to be true Hindus.

Guru Angad Dev (1504-1552)

Introduced Gurmukhi script and encouraged people to learn Punjabi. Started a school at Khadur Sahib to teach children through Gurmukhi alphabet. For the youth he started the tradition of Mall Akhara, where physical as well as spiritual exercises were held. He popularized and expanded the institution of 'Guru ka Langar'.

Guru Amar Das (1479-1574)

Guru Amar Das further institutionalized the free communal kitchen called langar among the Sikhs. Guru Amar Das not only preached the equality of people but also tried to foster the idea of women's equality. He tried to liberate women from the practices of pardah (wearing a veil) and preached strongly against the practice of sati.

Guru Ram Das (1534-1581)

Founded the city of Amritsar in 1574. The standard Sikh marriage ceremony known as the Anand Karaj is centered on the Lawan, a four stanza hymn composed by Guru Ram Das. Guru Ram Das stressed the importance of kirtan, which remains an important part of Sikh worship.

Guru Arjan Dev (1563-1606)

Compiled the Guru Granth Sahib in 1604. Built the Golden Temple (Harmandir Sahib). Started the practice of daswandh - contributing one tenth of one's earnings for community purposes. Author of Sukhmani Sahib bani - the Prayer for Peace. First Sikh Guru to be martyred. Guru Arjan Dev was imprisoned and martyred in 1606 by Emperor Jahangir for not amending the Adi Granth, the Sikh holy book to reflect his views. Guru Arjan Dev was made to sit on a scorching iron plate and had boiling sand poured over his body. Guru Arjan Dev tolerated this pain and sat there chanting hymns.

Guru Hargobind (1595-1644)

Transformed the Sikhs by introducing martial arts and weapons for the defense of the masses. Guru Hargobind put on two swords - one signifying miri (secular power) and other piri (spiritual power). Built the Akal Takht in 1608 at Amritsar in Punjab.

Guru Har Rai (1630-1661)

To the Sikhs he proved to be the very symbol of service, purity and truth. The Guru gave his life while serving and healing the epidemic-stricken people in Delhi. The young Guru began to attend the sufferers irrespective of cast and creed. Particularly, the local Muslim population was much impressed with the purely humanitarian deeds of the Guru Sahib and nicknamed him Bala Pir (child prophet).

Guru Tegh Bahadur (1621-1675)

Build the city of Anandpur Sahib. Sacrificed his life upholding the "right to freedom of religion". Guru Tegh Bahadur saved Kashmiri Hindu pandits who being persecuted by the Mughals, but had to lay down his own life to protect their freedom of religion.

Guru Gobind Singh (1666-1708)

In 1699, Guru Gobind Singh baptized the Sikhs and created the Khalsa (the "Pure"). The Khalsa consists of Sikhs who have been baptized and dedicate themselves to living by the high standards of the Sikh Gurus at all times. Instructed the Sikhs to keep the five K's. Compiled the 1428 page Dasam Granth Sahib. All four of Guru Gobind Singh's sons were martyred by the Mughals. He instructed the Sikhs to follow Granth Sahib as the Guru after him.

Guru Granth Sahib

The Guru Granth Sahib is the holy book of the Sikhs. It is the eternal spiritual guide of the Sikhs. Compiled by Guru Arjan Dev, it has writings of the Sikh Gurus and other saints. It contains a total of 5867 hymns in 1430 pages.

For the common Religion is True, for the wise its False and for the Rulers its Useful.

Exploring the D of Delhi - Maharaja Agrasen ki Bowli

I want to travel the whole world one day. And one day I will. But before that I must travel my India and to start this I must tour my neighboring city, APNI DILLI. There are numerous monuments and hundreds of beautiful places hidden amidst the concrete jungle.

Few months back while doing casual net surfing, the picture of Maharaja Agrasen ki Bowli caught my attention. And I decided to visit the place, but it took me few months to act on my decision.

So, one fine Sunday afternoon I picked up my camera and decided to explore this unexplored place. Plenty of times I visited the Connaught place and still not visited the Jantar Mantar and this Bowli which are just adjacent to the Heart of Delhi, C.P. I decided to go to Bowli first and then to Jantar Mantar.

As told by Google baba, we reached Barakhamba, nearest metro station to the Bowli. Weather was getting prettier with a little drizzle, and after satisfying my taste buds at the CCD adjacent to the metro station, I started my hunt for the Bowli. I asked the CCD staff about the directions but they knew nothing about the Bowli. I headed out at Tolstoy road and then KG Marg and then looked for the Hailey road. I traveled from one corner of the Hailey road to the other but couldn’t find the spot. Again after coming out at the KG Marg I asked from a city patrol police about the location of the Bowli and to my surprise even they didn’t know the place, but only the vague directions at narrow Hailey road. At the second attempt I looked closely and entered a narrow lane which I left during my first effort and that lead directly to the silent monument.

As you enter the monument a huge banyan tree on the left of the entrance with entwined branches and hanging roots welcomes you with open arms. On the other corner a big stone board with the Bowli history marked on it, attracts your attention. The Bowli was built during the Mahabharat era and is one of its kinds in Delhi.

Enter through a small door and you will notice a beautiful mosque structure on the right and fifteen meter wide and sixty meter long Bowli on the left. As you move down the stairs, as the skyline moves afar and the view of gigantic city buildings disappear; the gurgling of pigeons and fluttering bats seems like they are eagerly trying to tell you the magnificent history of this historical structure. The silence deepens as one moves to the bottom of the stairs. Some parts of the well, with 103 steps, are permanently immersed in water, which we can’t see now. And the visible parts of this historical well consist of three levels. Each level is lined with arched niches on both sides It’s an unique blend of architecture with an impressive design known to have existed centuries ago The popularity of this Bowli, has seems to be evaporated with its water. That’s why despite just being a twenty minutes-walk from C.P. and ticketless entry it hardly sees any visitors. May be because of that, it’s quite clean and well maintained or may be because it is a protected monument by the Archeological Survey of India (ASI) under the Ancient Monuments.

P.S. The Agrasen Ki Bowli in Delhi is considered haunted and is placed at 10th position in the list of ten most haunted places in India.