Begging for help....!

While Driving back home...

Waiting on a traffic signal

I heard a knock

and looked out of window

To find a small girl!

Her hair out of place...

Her clothes begrimed
They were all tattered

She was fagged out,
incapacitated eyes...
Hands stretched open,
She pointed towards her tummy...

"Don't give her money!!"
My friend warned
She didn't even care
while I was stunned

I wanted to help
but I stopped myself
To know the sheer reality
of the beggary business

Abducting kids
to earn income
Even cutting out their limbs
to depict helplessness!

Each time I see
A child yearning for a rupee
I see in him
A child longing for escape

An escape from beggary...
to a world where
He can study, eat,
And most importantly,
Live.........!

Undying Love...

I am not good with fiction. But I liked the concept of 77 fiction. So here's my first attempt...

It was his birthday. She was going to meet him…

Dressed in the best gown, she looked beautiful. Excited, she left home with her charming smile.

She reached there to find complete silence. She could even hear her heart beat!
She moved ahead and touched his grave. She could still feel him. She moved ahead, kept the beautiful flowers she had brought for him and kissed his grave. With tears in her eyes and a promise to come back, she left...

The objective of my education....

I am on the verge of completing my B. Com(Hons) degree. Some folks feel proud about me. But I feel awful. This degree is merely a piece of paper. A paper which I cannot even sell it to the local radiwala.
So I decided to reflect back at my past. Because I wanted the reasons. The reasons were obvious. My education system was just wasn't good enough. I was trained to by heart things like a parrot. Even if I tried and went through the concepts, It was always from examination point of view. Maybe we all did the same. The history was too localized only on India(compare this to America where they are taught about teachings of Mahatma Gandhi) at a very young age. Also, what I could see was that the education system does not work on the practical aspects at all! But I will be wrong to blame the system!

No matter what my education system was but I just never questioned it. I just studied gravity, and took it for granted... No matter how many apples or bananas fell from the tree, it didn't affect me. I had an open mind, but no application. Knowledge becomes wisdom only when you use it.

People who have been to IITs and IIMs say to others who haven't been to these premier institutions, you haven't been properly trained. What they teach at an IIT or an IIM is simple, think logically and do the basic things right. Also, They are trained at practical work and actual work situations!
I am no Copernicus to give the world Heliocentrism, but I finally realized without the slightest doubt in my mind that as Robert M. Hutchin puts it,

“The object of education is to prepare the young to educate themselves throughout their lives.”

Slow death to God!

They take God down to the river
They say it a tradition
They get hold of the horns
Land up it's beard
Rip off it's ears
and entomb it into the bank

And one day, sea takes it along....
The "rotten God" to the endless sea
"Free.. Free... Free"
The birds sing around!

People propound it...
Say its water pollution!
But its a slow death....
Death to god....

I wonder their reasoning...
to submerge the idol
to set it free
into the eternal waters!
And as I leave....
Water goes on flowing
The trees keep growing
But with the singing of birds
God's small voice remains stilled
And unheard...

Fool

This post has been published by me as a part of the Blog-a-Ton 9; the ninth edition of the online marathon of Bloggers; where we decide and we write. To be part of the next edition, visit and start following Blog-a-Ton.

I have no clue about how things go about in other countries. But in a country like India, you cannot help yourself from being a fool in one way or another. Every place you visit... almost everyone you meet, you will find people codding others very conveniently. Before you make out, you have become a fool yourself! It will be wrong if I say that I have never been into that trap! Yes.... I have been gulled a lot of times.

It is not about being April fool on 1st of April! It’s about being a fool almost every day! As Mark Twain puts it,

“The first of April is the day we remember what we are the other 364 days of the year."

No doubt, I have always loved fooling my friends on 1st of April. But it is a different game altogether. And most importantly, it is always for fun! But people in India do it for some serious business!

Yes... They dupe people almost every day! Some do it to earn their living... some for the power... some do it for additional business profits...

Have you ever visited stores like Levis, Reebok, etc at the time of discount sale? No matter what percentage discount they offer to you but have you ever bothered to notice that they always jack up their prices before offering discounts? Obviously, The Company would not bear any loss in terms of unsold inventory at the end of the season. So they jack up their prices, put them into sale and then sell them at the same prices as before! From a business point of view, they might be doing it right! But then, what is the whole point of keeping their stuff for discount sales to lure people into the stores! Yes... people can be easily be duped!

Recall the terror attcks in India. Let us take up the recent German bakery, Pune attack! Just after the attack, the PM announced a relief package of Rs. 2 lacs from the Prime Minister’s National Relief Fund to the next of kin of those killed in the terror attack, and Rs. 1 lacs to those injured. It sounds so good to see that government cares... But the ground reality to this one is that people wait for years for this reimbursement but it never comes! I have no offence against the family members of the affected people. But they are fools if they wait for such reimbursement from the government.

For India, best time to expect anything from government is the time just before elections. You can find all the pending developmental activities picking up pace for some time. But actually, they are the measures to lure people for getting votes. I am sure majority of us vote. But think about it.... Why do you vote? Is it because you actually feel for the government or it because everyone does so? In my opinion, government in a place like India cannot be formed only by the opinion of unbiased people. Political parties entice poor people to vote for them. In return... they even get cash sometimes! So you might be duped by the government itself.

Have you ever seen a tourist travelling through Auto-rickshaws or taxis in India?? They do not know the place and so, the drivers charge almost 5-10 times the fare from them. For a distance of 10 kilometers, when an auto should charge Rs.55 from the traveler, He charges Rs.500. I wonder what will happen to the fares during Commonwealth Games 2010. Tourists become the easiest target for the drivers, shopkeepers, Hotels and even the historical monuments. When an Indian has to pay Rs10 for entering Qutub Minar, a foreigner pays Rs.250. I wonder why?

I have no offences for any company trying to sell their products. Obviously, they need promotion for the product. But some advertisements cross that limit. They build up false notions in the mind of a consumer to build up the sales. Advertisements are meant to depict their product. But sometimes, it misleads consumer and creates the false demand! I have rarely seen advertisements, like Fair & Lovely, Domino pizza, etc; depicting the truth. Yes... Even the big business houses fool people.

I agree that it differs from person to person. A person who has been coaxed by the government may not fall into the trap of discount sales. But then, we are fooled almost every day. As Abraham Lincoln puts it," You can fool all the people some of the time, and some of the people all the time, but you cannot fool all the people all the time."

If you still believe that you are befooled only on April Fool’s Day then think again!

The fellow Blog-a-Tonics who took part in this Blog-a-Ton and links to their respective posts can be checked here. To be part of the next edition, visit and start following Blog-a-Ton.

Awe-Inspiring Performers

This couple is a renowned disabled dancers in China. Both lost their limbs to accidents and were not exempted from pain and despair. I won't bore you with their history but watching their performance brought tears to m eyes. They illustrated the meaning of perseverance through their award-winning dance routine. They somehow seem to be telling life who screwed them, "I am still here and I am doing well. I can certainly do better!" This couple possesses the strength that I don't think anyone is capable of mastering.

I dont feel safe anymore...

Suddenly , the world which I live in is falling apart. People are dying from bomb blasts ,stampede, floods....... Terrosism has now become an everyday affair! Politicians are ruining our country! Common man can do nothing but complaint!!

So what is wrong with the world? I have no idea. Should I ignore all of this and be happy.Maybe, Yes! But ultimately, I will be affected too......

Sometimes, I feel scared to board the metro train. You can listen to the people talking about blasts and all that jazz. But nobody bothers to do anything.

Why dont the politicians understand? Why only the common man suffers?
Why we cannot be free?
Is this democracy?
Is this what we call Independence?

Awaiting Escape....

Those eyes.. eyes of the storming seas,
Your crown of thorns gashes deep through me.
My flaws flow ceaseless, through my brains,
my blood dissolves, breaks up within my veins.

Inhuman.... you clutch my back,
tightening vines around my neck.
Your hollow screams replicate through my soul,
My inaudible cries freezes the night so cold.

I bear your scars... being a woman of shame,
Unable to break out from this cruel unceasing game.
You jab me with ignorance, blistered me with words
Crowning me with disgrace, break me inwards.

Am I despicable for being me,
Unseen, unheard, hoping to be free?
Virago, why do you despise,
Blaming me, cursing me... Why do you chastise?

How do I escape from those burns,
Mangled flesh everywhere I turn?
Why do you press me against the wall,
Bang me in my bones, making me crawl?

My blood spills out like a perpectual stream,
Your hate I resist, unable to scream.
You can see me but not yourself,
You judge me like a swinger, put me on a shelf.

I detest your stand, detest your hate,
Yet you loudly exalt this as my fate!
You stipple my blood on your porcelain skin,
My grief becomes your pride! my declention fires your grin.

You trip me, drown me in the soil,
Snap me, combust me, mock my toil,
Rip me apart, bruise my soul,
While I weepingly await rescue that makes me whole.