MAJORITY – MINORITY: Have a fresh look

Since last few days, in the sight of Yakub memon’s verdict, many journalists, activists and political stalwarts tried to mix the debate of “removal of death penalty” and “verdict of 1993” bomb blast case. This is dangerous and highly irresponsible act. Have not it in India, they would have certainly behind the bars, facing serious charges of putting the country on the verge of another blooded war. In any case they have succeeded in polarizing a large section of muslims by infusing a sense of betrayal and injustice in them, which eventually was just a completion of judiciary process, which was upheld in not just once or twice but more than five occasions that too in the span of 22 long years.

The victim-hood card was the last option, and rightly played by the conspirator of the first of its kind cold-blooded incident in the history of India. The right wing government, which already have the tag of anti-muslim, is in power, on which these fear mongers tried to capitalized. But what they failed to convey, or deliberately didn’t conveyed to their followers, is that the case, running for more than 22 years, having 15 years of SECULAR governments, delivered the similar justice. In 2007 (Lower court) and 2013 (Supreme Court) have given their final decisions, right wing was not in power then. Claiming  government’s role in judiciary, is a serious allegation, and an act of contempt to courts, which is different topic altogether. So we will leave it. However, the direct interference in the justice system by the section of media is not only objectionable, but also dangerous for peace and hence dangerous for security of our country. All this for a proven terrorist, who have pleaded for mercy  not for not-guilty.

The biggest argument media has, and on which they justify the reaction of minority for the act of killing 257 innocents, is about the psyche of minority communities of India, and their insecurities. It is high time, we have to decide, who the hell is the majority? And despite of being minority, why political parties, who are corrupt to the core, try to woo the people from the minority section, try to create fear among them and keep them the way they are?

Here is the link to Government of India Census . Have a look in to the figures.

Hinduism, is the major religion of India. But it is simply a forced religion, which consists of all pre-islamic religious practices of India. The people who belongs to this religion are way apart from each other in terms of rituals, celebrations, festivals and many more. Also, there is a huge population, who were not even allowed to worship in ancient days. Hindus includes the section, which were not allowed to worship or have their own separate tribal gods. So the HUGE majority have false numbers inside, just for political benefit. Let me explain how.

The fear mongers, who infuse fear among Muslims regarding Hindus, often recite the incidents conducted by certain hooligans of the society, and who also are Hindus. While calculating the effect they put the entire 80% on one side and 17% on the other. So what is this 80% figure all about? I cannot accept this MAJORITY percentage. I’ll let you know why.

 I’ll also not accept the argument that certain people will start murmuring JAI SRI RAM and go on killing spree on the name of religion, who does not even know who the hell Ram or Krishna are, who do not worship any of the widely accepted Hindu God,. No that is not at all possible. So who are these section, who are included in the 80%. Dalits (SC) and Adivasis (ST). Dalits, who never have the privilege to worship and Adivasis, who have their own tribal Gods very local. SC/ST constitutes 23% of entire Hindus. That means, we can take the fear of the 23% SC/ST of Hindus, that is around 18% of total population of India, out of picture. So that will pull down the total to 62% “FEARNOUS” hindus.

If we see further breakdown, 40% OBC constitute Hindus. This is the community, which is either wrongly termed as backward by government or if it is really backward, will not involve themselves in rioting. This is a mixture of several castes, which in different parts of India are different. However, the tussle with the rest 37%, who are the so called upper castes remains same across India. So there is rarest of rare possibility that these NON-RAM worshipers will ever join any kind of rioting along with rioters, who are the real worshipers.

So that makes 37% of HINDUS, that is 29% of the entire population of India are the ones, who Muslims/Christians can fear about, in terms of religious fanatics. Muslims and Christians consists around 17% of total population, Sikhs less than 2% and Jain less than even 0.5 percent. Apart from one or two incidents, that too due to Khalistan movement, Sikhs have almost no problems with Hindus (29% upper caste ones), so are Jains and other small-small groups who Judaism religions. Trying to create Hindu-Sikh divide is an fail political attempt.

So the final figures are 32 % non-dangerous OBC hindus, 12% non-dangerous SC Hindus and 6% non-dangerous ST Hindus. Non-dangerous in terms of breaking religious harmony. So we have 29% Upper caste Hindus, even if we do not consider the further caste division and region wise divides. These 29% percent Hindus can be put against 17% minorities, who have been complaining or rather have been fed the fear of “MAJORITY”.

Now, I’ll try to further break the upper caste Hindus, on the basis of their religious practice, life style and other factors. The Upper caste, settled in metros or big cities are non-religious by large. In fact many of such hindus have turned atheists. If you look at the number of activists, protesting and “claiming to protect” the minorities are largely from the same upper caste, who have either turned atheist or live in metros.

Now is 29% UPPER CASTE HINDU MAJORITY against 15% MUSLIM is a MAJORITY?  IS IT FAIR that 15% MUSLIMS, claims to be minority, against the 29% of UPPER Caste Hindus? Also, remember, this 29% along with 2% of Sikh+ Jain, does not get any benefits from government because of their caste. Rest every other have government benefits in employment, merit and social justice. This 29% is real oppressed in modern days.

This is the mathematics, which most of the “Socialist Political Parties” have decoded. The greatest example is of Bihar, where Laloo Yadav, long back gave M-Y theory for win. It was Muslim-Yadav vote bank theory. If we simply consider muslims as one of the castes in the Indian vote bank system, you’ll find they are one of the largest vote banks, who vote in chunks, in favor of collectively decided candidates. The decision is mostly taken by their religious leaders. And that is where the wooing of “Minority” muslims lies. If the political parties or activists have really cared about the minorities, they would have been the voices of real minorities like Sikhs, Jains, Christians or people following Judaism. If they have really cared about even muslim minorities, whose votes have kept them in power for so long, the living conditions of these people have been bettered in several ways.

HINDU majority is a fake fear, and injustice to the several sections of HINDUS, who are forcefully put in the same bracket in the name of RELIGION, together, despite of having no similarities in terms of culture, style of worship, religious views or privileges.

"Akhil"

India votes for India

I’m from a state, where it is said that politics is in the blood of everyone. However, I beg to differ, but yes the interest in politics is there, especially in the down-trodden section of our society. This election, one of the longest running, and probably the bitter-most of all, which I’ve seen in my life time. Having said that, I feel the democracy of India has been strengthened.

When I look back I find all is not dark as portrayed. India is a democracy, where a newly born party, without any formal mechanism, without any proper structure, ruined the party of old established political parties, gathered faith of people and on sheer support of people, was able to form government in the power center state of Delhi. This is the only democracy, where both right and left wing have cadre votes, and this is the democracy, where more than 100 years old party, despite of incumbency factors keeps on coming back to power.

I feel it as the strength of my country, that despite of corrupt most leaders in the power, despite of goons running the country from inside and outside, a commoner can come in to power. An old man, becomes a youth icon and can pull out millions of people out of their homes to streets, and can take on entire government head on, with Gandhian way of protests. A son of tea vendor can become a PM candidate of the biggest alliance, a commoner and activist, without any formidable support of money and structure in organization, becomes a threat for old establishment.

Whoever wins in this election, daunting task is ahead for them. Enormous task to protect the longest running absorbing culture, unified nation from the pool of diversified culture. Mammoth task to protect their own people from their own and from outside. A gargantuan  task to lead country to a new era of development and immense duty to eradicate corruption.

Whatever negativity buzzed around this election, I feel, there is a huge positive vibe coming out. Let us this time, on the verge of last election day, pray, not for ourselves, not for our family, not for our community, but for our country. Let the best man lead the country.

"Akhil"

Dravid: The Humble Fighter

Rahul Sharad Dravid has been my favorite “Cricketer” since the summers of 1996. I’ve followed his cricket way before he came to international cricket, through sport magazines. This article was due since long and after many of such articles trashing out, finally I’ve decided to write for this humble, brilliant and knowledgeable cricketer.

We have seen so many promising cricketers not getting an opportunity at the top level or if they get a chance, not performing at international arena. The best example of the first category is “Amol Mazumdar”, the Mumbaikar who never made it to the big league despite of his extraordinary talent, at least for longer version of the game. Whatever the reasons may be, the chap never got a chance at the top level.

Rahul Dravid may had fall in the same category, when he was given an opportunity in a resurgent Indian One Day squad, the team with bruised reputation and dented confidence after 1996 world cup semi-final. The batsman (Dravid) considered a future hope for Test Cricket was given opportunity in limited version of the game. Such things happen in India and BCCI, but one cannot blame those “wise men” sitting in the board room about everything.

Dravid the “Test Batsman” has done a lot and there will be very few who’ll genuinely argue over his achievements in the longest format of the game. However, many of the experts, non-experts and critics have time and again raised the question about his ability in limited overs game. Let’s talk something about Dravid the “ODI Player”.

After a disastrous run in his debut series in Singapore, Dravid announced his arrival at the Lords, as a test batsman batting at number seven. Thanks to the injured Manjrekar and agitated Siddhu who decided to quit the test in between a tough series over some issues with the management. However, Dravid tasted very little success in limited overs with few innings against Republic of South Africa which were reputation saving innings for Indian Batting lineup. After few more matches and some failures, Dravid was dropped from the squad.

The fighter inside Dravid took every opportunity during his career positively and after each failure, he came back strongly and better equipped. After the New Zealand Tour in 1999 he never looked back. Be it a top scorer in 1999 World Cup, the tours of Australia, Pakistan and West Indies, he remained the main stay and proved his value in the team authoritatively. Just to provide the right balance to the team, he took up the job of wicket keeper; remember he was the vice-captain and a regular in the ODI team.

The contribution of Dravid to the ODI team cannot be quantified or measured. We cannot measure the discipline and utmost dedication towards his game and that so when he was on peak of his game and was almost having a fix place in the team. What Dravid showed all of us, that nothing should be taken for granted and no matter how big you make, keep your feet grounded, that will help you keep your head high. He also taught how to enhance your limited skill through hard work and dedication.

He took up the leadership when arguably one of the best leaders of Indian Cricket “Sourav Ganguly” had resigned and the Chappelgate had struck the Indian Cricket very badly. He led the team to a world record run of winning while chasing (16 in a row), that was the time when the Team India became better chasers. Thou the dip came during 2007 world cup disaster, but there also we witnessed that he was the lone warrior fighting it out there against Sri Lanka. The bad performance of team India has nothing to do with his leadership, which was also realized by the team of selectors and they continued him as the captain of the team. However, looks like the guilt of such disastrous performance of the team has invigorated the resignation from captaincy, which finally surfaced during England tour the very next year. And very quickly he lost his position in the team.

Thankfully after getting dropped unceremoniously, he was given the chance to retire on his own terms or at least gracefully announce his retirement.

With Dravid retiring from limited overs cricket, a different art of batsman ship has retired. With him a master of mastering the skill beyond one’s ability has retired. With him the best partnership builder has retired. With him has retired a sportsman who was often marked unfit for the shorter version of game and still managed to play 300+ games and 10000+ runs, and involved in top two 300+ partnership only because of his ability to sustain at the highest level.

The players like Dravid are born once in an era. He may not as gifted as Sachin Tendulkar, he may not be as flashy as Sehwag or Yuvraj, he may not be as aggressive as Ganguly, he may not be having as big a fan following as some of the players in his era had, but he is an example for all those players having limited skills that they can achieve big with their hard work, grit, discipline and dedication.

The ODI career of Dravid started and ended in the Shadow of the biggest sensation of cricket history, Sachin Tendulkar. But you cannot compare both of them as they are of different category. How can you compare the heat of fire with the coolness of iceberg? How can you compare the aggression of fire spreading in a jungle with that of overflowing river during flood? Dravid has his own, unique way of showing aggression, which is silent, less glamorous yet effective. His conduct on and off the field has earned a lot of respect for him in the cricketing arena including the toughest competitors.

“The Great Wall of India” (a title which he hates) will stand tall and will inspire many of us who may have a different career path than cricket, that if we follow good work ethics we can succeed. As every good thing has to, the “Dravidian Era” has ended in ODIs

"Akhil"

F.R.I.E.N.D.S.

Friend; a beautiful word, has a much more beautiful meaning and even better is the relationship. We often get confused with acquaintances and a friend and often use the word friend instead of acquaintances in most of the cases, which is actually harsh and demeaning for the great word. I’m also a victim of this habit and moreover I get confused and think someone is my friend but actually that person is an acquaintance. The dilemma continues for a long time before I come to know, okay, this person was never my friend, it was the circumstances which brought us together and we spent some time roaming together, talking during breaks, having conversations etc, but were missing the passion of friendship.

Sometimes it happens reversely, you think someone is not your friend but lately you come to know that the person you were ignoring is actually your friend. Like love friendship can also be one sided. Love and friendship have a very thin line drawn between but if you go by the mathematics, Friend list is the SUPERSET of your love list. But Love is the superset of the friends. Oh, I’m sorry for all those who don’t understand basic mathematics. Without love there are no relationships that can succeed and so is the friendship.

For me a friend is not one who talks too regularly or spends time with you. For me the friends are those who accept you with all your shortcomings, love you the way you are, no matter how many days you didn’t talk to each other, you feel them with you always and you know that person is just a phone call away when you need them, who is you critic but also an admirer, who may slap you hard but will own the pain, who will get happy in your happier times and gloomy when you are suffering. I’ve a few of them, thou they are lesser in number but they mean the world to me.

Friends are precious, value them, they are the treasure of your life………

“Akhil”

Patriotic, are we?

The reality shows have been using the human emotions over the years to attract the mass audience and to a great extent they have been successful too. Not only reality shows, but every event in our melodramatic society has been playing with human emotions these days. It’s getting cheaper day by day. Over the years the usage of patriotism in such events or shows has increased drastically.

Singing a patriotic song or using the tri-color in our dress code or dancing over a patriotic theme is good but only when it is not intended to publicize. If you start selling the patriotism, you are hurting the sentiments of the real patriots; we are disgracing the sacrifice of the unknown soldiers fighting for us on the borders who by no means are going to appeal you for votes or SMS. May be we are least bothered about them as we consider they are doing their duty and are paid for it.

Not everyone can be a Soldier. To be a patriot you don’t need to be a soldier either. If you are a real patriot contribute in the development of your nation. Save energy, pay tax, be a part of building your nation, that’s it you need to do. Instead of standing or clapping on a performance in a reality show or event, Stand up when you national anthem is played. Respect your country; respect your culture, respect your identity, no matter from which ever country you are. I’m trying my bit, but not always with success. I would like to be perfect in this regard. Let’s be a real patriot.

Using patriotism for publicity is contemptible, it’s despicable; it’s a sin. Patriotism is the ultimate feeling; it’s an honor and should be respected.

“Akhil”

Serene Lansdowne: Discover the Traquility and Quietude

Lansdowne, I’ve heard about this low profile holiday destination of Uttaranchal from one of my relatives, who is a great traveler and has visited a major part of Himalaya and for that matter Indian holiday destinations. As he says, the more you visit Himalayas, the more you love it and the more you want to visit it. Now I too feel the same. Rudyard Kipling and Ruskin Bond, both had portrayed Himalaya in the same way.

It was the year 2007 when I first decided to visit this place but somehow missed it. So when some of my close friends decided to spend a weekend, 13th and 14th March 2010, 1st destination that came to my mind was Lansdowne. The trip was initiated by two of the cute girls actually, Preeti and Tulsi. After few back-outs which was compensated by inclusion of one of the best human beings, the silent wind what we call him, Prashant, who joined us on a very short notice. The final troop consisted of Preeti, Tulsi, Jayasree, Amit, Manas, Sourabh, Deepak, Prashant and I.


The initial drift was over having two Innovas as Mr. Pahadi baba was reluctant to be on liquid diet throughout the journey, but the intervention of ladies forced us to go for one vehicle and we decided to have bigger vehicle, “Force Traveler”. How can the name of the vehicle suits to the situation we were in, especially Mr. Pahadi baba? It actually turned on to be a wise decision. Also the presence of ladies made it sure that the boys remain decent throughout. We’ve decided to stay in one of the best facilities available in Lansdowne and we went for “Fairydale Resorts”. This resort was built up in 1912 and is one of the finest staying places available in Lansdowne.

It was decided, we’ll be leaving Noida by 4 AM on Saturday morning. But due to some mechanical issue, we were able to hit the road around 5:30 AM. Not bad it was as it was still dark and the roads were clear. By 8:30 we crossed all the busy routes of UP and were heading towards the foothills of Himalaya. Around 11:30 we were in the arm of nature moving at around 50 KMPH in the zigzag and loopy roads of Uttaranchal. Around 1 PM we reached our destination, The “Fairydale Resort”, the reception was as hospitable as it should be and I was more pleased with the staff working over there. At the end we all were satisfied by their services and quality of food and comfort they provided. We all felt it was worth for the money they charged.

I must mention that the company of the people we were travelling was amazing. Be it cutie-pie Jayashree, Sweet and Salty Preeti, Caring and Commanding Tulsi, or the Boys Brigade consisting of silent yet witty Prashant, the local boy Sourabh, the brilliant canonist Deepak, the lovable Manas and non-the-less the man with a big smile on his face Sinu (Amit). The trip was more enjoyable because of these guys only. Thanks a lot to all you lovely people.

The good thing about Lansdowne is that it has nothing much to offer and here lies the beauty. You don’t have to search for tickets for any tourist place or site seeing, nor need you to get a nod from government authorities. All it offers is calm and serene environment and a place where nature is close to you. It offers a beautiful dawn and equally pleasant dusk. It offers the golden silence, a peaceful place away from the clamor of polluting vehicles, it offers the sweet rhythm that winds plays over the chords of the nature and the chilly breeze playing tunes over pine trees, it offers the small little world that we have forget over the years of technical revolution, It offers the means to discover tranquility, it offers the means to discover yourself.


Two days we were cut-off from the rest of the world as none of the mobile networks were consistently available other than the old BSNL network. It was a blessing in disguise actually as none of us were busy over mobile phones and were very much involved with each other. Spending some quality time with friends is itself enough to revivify, rejuvenate your mind and soul, and if it is spent in the palm of nature which provide such a tranquil and serene environment it even gets better. Spending two days there in Lansdowne invigorated a fresh life within us, we came back rejuvenated filled with extra energy and fond memoirs and also with a promise to ourselves that we’ll come back once again.

"Akhil"

My Golden Days …..

The college life is memorable for everyone and that so if you reside in hostel it gets multiplied. I’ve been lucky to spend my last few years of studies in hostel and that too in the best ones available in India, the great BIT Mesra Hostels. Yeah, there were many shortcomings including the food, but we use to find some taste in it, the facilities were okay but the best thing was the company of the hostel mates, my batch mates, a bunch of exuberant individuals. They were all amazing, different from each other. Few were aggressive, some were silent but one thing was common in everyone that they all were notorious in some way or other. I enjoyed the company of all of them. Few of my best friends are my hostel mates. Debu,Nachiketa Hakeem, Sanjeet, Basuki and Prakash were with whom I spent my maximum time during BIT days. But at times there were different people with me.


Right now I’m feeling hungry; so, let’s talk something about the food. Since my maid has not come today so I’ve to order the food from outside, and it’ll take at least half-an-hour to reach the food here, so by the time it reaches, let me tell you about the food I’ve during BIT days. It is always good to talk about food when you are hungry, right? The Breakfast, Lunch and dinner were the tough time normally in BIT hostels. Yet Chhole-Bhature on Sundays and puri-sabzi on Tuesday and Fridays were excellent, the dinners of Sundays, Wednesdays and Fridays were relatively good. Evening supper was comparatively okay as if you had something not of your choice you’ve always the option to go out to dhabba and have Jalebi-Samoshas over there.


Sharma Dhhabba and Aunty-Dhabba are inside the BIT campus and are the great place sto hang out with friends in the palm of the mother nature. It is a place full of trees providing shades in summers and the tunes played by wind over these trees create a great ambience, natural and exotic. The view from the dhabba is awesome apart from the flock of girls you may see over there. The couples thou preferred the OC (outer cop) canteen, which served its order with extra delays in time, which was actually a great pleasure for couples.


I’ve a very bad habit since my childhood, I hate eating alone especially in public places (unless I'm too hungry). In BIT hostels I’ve enjoyed company of different people while dining. We use to have Morning breakfast essentially in hostels, Nitin, Manish, Abhishek and Omi as they were the closest from my room, room # 251, Abhishek, 249, Nitin 250, Omi 252 and Manish at 253, more often than not accompanied me. That does not means that only these guys were during breakfast with me, it is that they were more frequently with me. The dinners were normally with Debasish, Nikhil, Prakash and Nachiketa. Nachi used to take us to the sweet shop opened lately during our, we eat up different kind of sweets, ice-creams or pastries over there after dinner. Lunches were often in hurry and almost whole bunch was present in the dining area.


The Saturday lunches are memorable thou, on Saturday’s, We, I mean Debasish, Manish and I, often planned our lunch in CHHAPRA Dhabba, which was around 5-6 Kilometres from our hostels. Let me tell you going out on Saturday lunch by BIT bus was a tough ask as it was jam-packed with all the studs going out either for shopping, movie or lunch. Chhapra Dhabba offers only one thing that we liked, Fish Curry. Awesome the taste was of the traditionally prepared fish curry, and it was available only with two other traditional companions’ rice and roti (bread). If you were 5 minutes late to reach the destination, forget about the food in chhapra dhaba, just travel to the town and go for the BOSE restaurant in the city.
TING-TONG!!!! The home-delevery guy has arrived with the food I ordered, so I’m going to have it 1st and then continue ….. Laziz, the restaurant I came to know from one of my friends provides yummy non-veg dishes. I’ve a filled up tummy now, so I cannot talk about the food now. Let’s talk something else.


BIT has a great environment. About 70% of its 780 plus acres is covered with trees and greenery. Nachiketa and I often had long walks across the campus and sometimes we were accompanied by Praveen and others as well. Our walks were more frequent during winters, the foggy atmosphere, the yellow and white lampposts and the chilling cold was an awesome combination. We used to walk silently for hours before getting tired and get back to our rooms to sleep.

The entire hostel life was a great experience and the memories are still fresh, the memories of the long walks across the campus, the card game and fight over it, the mid night TT games, the badminton in 50K indoor wooden court, the law-breaking parties, the MCA cup, which irrespective of all differences was able to unite us, the Sunday’s chhole-bhature and us jumping over it like doggies (I cannot get a better word for it), the half-baked bread, the daal-fry, the news-paper printing, the interaction-days, the mass-call, the Prof named JHEL and our march to his place to celebrate his anniversary, the BIT bus and the visit to the town only to have Litti-Chokha over there, The OC canteen and the IC canteen, The Sharma Dhaba and the aunty dhhaba , the December Bus strike and a walk from BIT mor to the Institute, the hot summers and the chilling winters, the chappal kaand, the cricket matches, the quizzes and end semesters with last minute preparations, the tough placement days, preparation for Technical, Aptitude, Puzzles and Interviews, the sleepless nights and the joy in each other’s success …. It all that happened in BIT and in some way or in other made us better human beings.


But they are the people, its all of them whom I miss …. Karia, Nishant, Abhishek, Kunal, Nitin, Parashar, OP, Naveen, Luv, Praveen, Debu, Dinu, Prasant, Sailesh, Rajesh, Vaibhav, Rastogi, Pandey Jee, Nikhil, Feraz, Srivastava, Basuki, Nandy, Razak, Sanjeet, Karan, Gupta and Nachiketa. They all were and are different but they all had impact in my life and I learned something or other from each one of them. The time may make us forget each other, but it’s the memoirs that may keep us along, it’s the institute that may make us abide as we are the Alumni of BIT and that we were the most versatile batch 2K3. I surmise, I construe those days as my golden days.

"Akhil"

Till the Sun walks into the Dawn …..

I’ve read a lot these days in the newspapers about the master completing his 20 years in international cricket and the pressure, the burden he has been carrying throughout his career since he established himself in the international arena.

It reminded me of a cricket match, India vs Pakistan, I saw as a kid on doordarshan. It was a friendly match, practice match what they call, and it was before 15th November 1989 for sure (but the year was 1989 and the month must be October or November). Doordarshan was sort of kind those days and because of non availability of so much of useless channels; it sometimes aired the not so important matches as well. I was a kid but have developed some sense for the game of cricket through my uncle; he was a professor of physics but also an ardent fan of cricket. I can recall few incidents, for example, Srikant imitating Abdul Quadir’s action during the two overs he bowled. Few of the cricketers from both the sides were wearing their pullovers in backside-front manner and everyone was enjoying as it was not an international match. India had to chase and were in trouble at some stage by losing 4 odd wickets, I don’t remember the scores but I saw a thin little boy wielding his bat like a sword hitting the most dangerous spinner of the era Abdul Quadir, hitting sixes and fours one after another, dancing down the track. The only shots I remember from that innings are those in which he advances or came dancing down the track hitting straight and disappearing the ball all over the park. He didn’t even score a fifty, but those 35-40 odd minutes he batted was a treat.

In the course Indian team lost that match but it was a beginning of an era, an era which has not yet ended. Those were the 1st rays of the sun which is not yet willing to set even after 20 long years. From that match only, that guy had set an expectation, expectation that he will come and tear off the bowling no matter whosoever is the opponent. He carried the responsibility and the burden of expectations with utmost dignity, discipline and respect and delivered more often than not.

Yes the sun has not yet set, but the dusk is knocking on the door. The injuries, human body and many more reasons might pull the sun to the dawn. For most of us, the game will no more remain the same, many of us might stop following the game as throughout some of has only followed the Sun and not the game. The ton, the bat raised to acknowledge the spectators and the eyes looking into heavens just to thank the GOD, there will be no such view again.

Before he decides to take a call and hang up his boots, I want and for that matter every admirer of him wants him to play the coming world cup final, leading India to its second world cup victory and his 1st. It will be a fitting finish for his incredible and astonishing career. Having said that, even if he fails, we must thank him for all his efforts and achievements and must be grateful to god that we were born in the era in which Sachin played.

Till the sun walks into the dawn, let's enjoy the sunshine.

"Akhil"

Kushal left Org, So does an ever smiling face

Kushal is the only person with whom I’ve studied as well as worked. During study days we were not the best of friends, neither bad. After joining the same organization and having selected for the same department I came to know him better. In Nov 2006 we moved to the same project thou in different roles and after few months were in same section of the projects.

Initially I thought he was a moody guy (which of course he is), but then he is a great friend as well. We partied, hanged out quite often during those days before he left for another project. After a year and half, he joined us again but this time only to leave the organization.

With Kushal leaving, left an ever smiling face, a friend at work place and a calming influence in hectic work schedules filled with tensions. With him left us a true party animal, a person whom you ask any time for partying or hanging out, and with an answer “Yes”. With him also left, a chilling material, a great dramatist.

This is a part and parcel of work life. People leave and join for their betterment. I wish Kushal a great success in career.

"Akhil"

The Second Fiddle….

Since I’ve developed senses, I’ve been in love with the underperformers or the people who are the next best or are in the second lead. Be it sports, movies, study or friends. I’ve always preferred, admired or supported those who are the next bests or are not the best. During my childhood, my favorite tennis star was Andre Aggassi thou number one position was held by the Great Pete Sampras. During Doordarshan days, I loved the movies of Dharmendra over Amitabh Bachchan. I always preferred non toppers as my friends. None of my close friends were the toppers from the class neither was I (I was an exception for few years when I stood second). My favorite Indian cricketer is Rahul Dravid whereas the world praise for Sachin Tendulkar (I too love the master's game but here I’m talking about favorites). I loved the role of circuit in the movie series Munna Bhai. I don’t know why I found the character of Ardeth Bay (by Oded Fehr) in the movie “The mummy Returns” worthy than the lead Richard O’Connell (Brendon Fraser).

I don’t know the reason(s). It might be because I’ve never been in elite list or I hate the aura surrounding the best. But the truth is I esteem the second fiddle and I love to eulogize under praised.

“Akhil”

The GOOD BADminton

In one of my previous blogs, I’ve written that I don’t know any of the residents of my apartment and only those whom I talk to are security guards, the electrician only because our wiring is too faulty to need an electrician too frequently, the IRON man who takes care of the cleanliness of my car and the KOORA WALAH.

Few months ago my flat mate and I thought of playing something outdoor to keep our paunch in control. We started with weekly Cricket on Saturdays and Sundays, but that was not as effective as it was dependent on lots of factors, people and also it was not happening daily hence was least effectual. Finally we decided to use one of the few amenities available in our society, Badminton Court.

The badminton court in our society is not the world’s best one. It has all sorts of problems associated with it, the base is rough and it has two lights out of which only one works; it has lines drawn, which are visible to some sharp eyed people only, the person like me, who is handicapped with the divine body part provided by the god, eyes, are the worst victims of it. I manage with my four eyes. Then there are bushes, trees, plants surrounding the court and are ready to invade it anytime, in fact few of them had already encroached and are giving all sorts of trouble to the human beings who play there. We cannot complain, they’ve learned encroachment of the areas from humans, but here we are the victims.

Anyways, despite of all sorts of shortcomings, this place provides the best of environment to play. When we started there were hardly any regulars. Me and my flat mate use to play for hours, without anyone standing or waiting to play. But now-a-days there are huge bunches of champions playing there. The game has become more and more exciting as few of the players are too good counting my flat mate, to ensure the eminence of competition.

Apart from all the entertainments and facilitating physical fitness, the badminton gives me an opportunity to meet few of the residents of our society. Meeting new people and talking to them has always been the best thing for me. It helps you understand different minds, nature and behavior different people possesses. Here also I meet different people of different region, different colors, having different natures and languages and accent. Some are quite, some are chirpy, and some talks little whereas some are talkative, some are dominant and some are mild.

Lets see how long our initiative continues. We all are enjoying the game and it’ll continue for long, I’m sure.

It's the Game that Won

Brilliant display with the bat by two Englishmen batting at number ten and eleven denied Australia a much needed victory. James Anderson and Monty Panesar are supposed to be the star with the ball, but today they saved the game for England with the bat. 69 balls what they faced together to get 19 runs undefeated. Each run was greeted by applaud and each block was greeted with the same enthusiasm.

No matter how T20 has become popular or how 50-50 has the charm, the traditional test cricket remains the same, great, charming, graceful and valuable. The proof of the same was the jam packed stadium. The new form of this game has always been welcomed but till date nothing has been able to eliminate the Test Cricket. Ask any cricketer, he will tell you that only Test Cricket completes his career. No matter what so ever shorter form of game comes, the Test Cricket will weather the storm. Today’s match has sealed the faith. Sorry for those who think the test cricket is out of fashion.

Today at Cardiff, may the match has been ended as a draw, but for sure the Game was the winner.

“Akhil”

The Evening Tea

The aroma of the evening tea has often lured me since my childhood. The necessity of it has been developed off late, but the love for the evening tea has there inside the depth of my heart since I was a kid. It’s quite a misfortune that I’ve not got the privilege to enjoy it often. I was not a tea aficionado till my hostel life. Tea is supposed to be an insignia for grownups in suburban families of India and hence those not having it are often supposed to be kids.

During summer vacations we used to visit our native place. Apart from our Mango orchards, farms and love from my Grand Parents, the afternoon tea was one of the lucrative offerings that my village has for me those days. We (Bro, our cousins and I) lovingly call our grandfather BABA. Baba was very particular about his morning and evening tea and for that matter with his all daily routines. But the point of discussion here is the Tea. To me the evening tea was more interesting, the reason was the visitors from every corner of the village used to come during evening and we get a chance to meet some of the interesting, knowledgeable, conversant and divine spirits of our homeland.

My father is very strict of having kids this obnoxious drink called tea, I and my bro used the power of our grandfather to shield us, as we knew that Papa will not oppose to Baba, he had never argued with him entire life, thou we do with him sometimes as we are not as disciplined as Papa. Coming back to tea, during summers the quantity of tea consumption of Baba would suddenly increase thou the number of dosage remained same. This all ends with the end of summer vacations till the next one.

Then came the post graduation era, during which we have the classes normally on second half. The evening tea was not as exciting as it used to be with Baba, but still it was an opportunity to get together with the hostel mates. Towards the end of the hostel days, the famous “Sharma Dhaba” of BIT was the venue for evening tea, more often if not daily. The tea sips in open air under the trees at “Sharma Dhaba” were more fun than having them in grand but closed dining halls of the Great Hostels of BIT. Post BIT the thing I missed the most apart from friends was the serene and joyous atmosphere of “Sharma Dhaba” and yes the evening tea under the trees sitting over wooden benches.

These days too I go out with my colleagues to have evening tea. But the smooth and delicate chairs of corporate cafeteria are not as soothing as the lap of Baba was, neither they are as comfortable as wooden benches of “Sharma Dhaba” were. The taste of the branded tea is not as good as the “Sharma Dhaba” offered. There is more heat when we go outside for the same, but the warmth is missing. The aroma of it is not even near to what it was in the summers of yester years.

Deep inside my memory, the taste, the aroma of the evening tea of those days are still fresh. The reason may be the sand or the ambiance of my homeland or the diverse cultures or the love of Baba, I don’t know, but the evening tea is not as tasty these days.

“Akhil”

The Truth that Prevails

Last week there was a death in someone’s family in our apartment. The departed soul seems to be an old man. The NOIDA SAMAJ ANTIM YAATRA VAHAN was there to take the body of the departed soul to its final journey; the journey from which no one returns. I inadvertently saw the van through my balcony as I was preparing to go out for lunch with few closed ones.

I suddenly realized that how near I was with that family, who lives in the building just next to mine. Still I’ve not heard their sobbing, expression of grief as I was comfortable and busy in my own closet. I thought to go and pay the last tribute to that gentleman, but I don’t know what restricted me to do so. They live so close to me and I still didn’t know them. Yeah, this is the apartment life. I love its privacy, my own space which it provides but somewhere deep in my heart I hate living in this comportment, where people keep aloofness from each other and share little most possible. Such a mean minded we’ve become and we say we’ve evolved.

I often tend to think about “who am I?” sort of things when such incidents occur. Yes the death is inevitable. Those who take birth must depart someday. But we can remain in the hearts of several even after departing, only by spreading joy, love and care. Everyone knows the truth, but still we fight for money, land, false ego and many more nonsense chattels. Every one wants to become a successful person at any cost.

For me the success lies in becoming what I want to be. I want to be a butterfly, unrestricted to visit each and every bloom in the garden. I want to be liberated flying bird, having no boundaries. I want to be the sky, giving space to each one through enormity and eternity. I want to be an ocean, vast, powerful and still serene. Before I come to the rest I want to live the life, talk to every soul on this earth, share their sorrows and spread my joy. It seems to be illogical these days, but it’s possible. The truth remains the same for all of us. I need love and care and so does all of us.

“Akhil”

Salaam Talent

The stimulus performance of Pakistan team in T20 World Cup is a big relief for the world of cricket. The Pakistan cricket brings the fresh bouquet of raw talent. Also it brings the exceptional quality of uncertainty. The Pak cricket has been blessed with such sheer talents in the past and surely it has too much to offer in the coming future as well.

The world has discovered the theory of reverse swing through Pakistan. Their contribution to the bowling in the world cricket is same as the contribution of India to the batting. Also this T20 World Cup has witness the sign of revival of West Indies. West Indies had dominated the world cricket with their power play in yester years. It will only be good for the world of cricket if they will come at the same level.

Thou India have lost its way early but I’m sure they are having loads of talent. Majority of Indians only supports the team when they are winning. In fact the winning teams need less support. The team needs it most when they are down and loosing. They’ll be surely back to the winning streak.

But, right now it’s time to praise the new champions. The victory of Pakistan is the victory of talent over technology. It means the victory of instinct over strategy. It means the victory of faith over planning. SALAAM TALENT.

“Akhil”

Thank you Mr. Bond

Penning your thoughts down erratically and to write a best seller are two poles apart aspects of writing. I was and still am not at all a good reader. Little interest I’ve developed in reading few years back when I read some Satyajeet Ray’s work. It was a short “Detective Novel” and then I read “Anne Frank’s Diary”. Both were different. Former was interesting and a fiction novel whereas the other was just the pages from the diary of a young girl. The later changed my view towards the novels, thou after that I’ve scarcely read something of that category.

Afterwards I read few more. Then I got the collection of short stories of Ruskin Bond, which one of the kids from my family gave me. It was almost for 3 months unread with me, kept safe on my bedside table. One day I was almost to return the book without a single page turned. I don’t know why I placed the book again where it was. Next day I started reading the book. Since it was divided in chapters and the stories were not related to each other, I started reading the chapters arbitrarily. The size of the chapters and the time available were the factors to decide which chapter I should read.

The writer has written about almost everything that happened around him, sometimes openly, sometimes keeping himself disguised, just letting the imagination of reader to find or relate with the characters. He wrote about his friend, friends, love, relatives, trees, plants, journey etc. The writer comes from few generations away from ours, may be 50s and 60s but still we can relate ourselves to his stories. I loved his story about a train journey and the one in which he explains his affection for a girl with basket at Deoli Railway Station.

Then I read “The Funeral”, awesome, it was a story about a 9 year old boy and his emotional or rather unemotional feelings during the funeral ceremony of his father. Today I read a new chapter “The Room of Many Colours” (after so many years I have written colours instead of colors, yes the author has English connections). This chapter explains about the father of the writer and his propinquity with the writer. The boy in the chapter “The Funeral” was the writer himself, I concluded.

We often fail to see the happenings around us. There is story or two or rather many stories running concurrently around us. Most of them are beautiful, emotional and silent. We fail to see them, but the great artists find something to describe and portray. Some write it in their stories, some sketch their emotions, and some outline it as poem. And we mere mean minded people don’t even give a look to it. Have we ever seen into the eyes of an old aged beggar asking for few bucks on the traffic signals, the beauty in the wrinkles of the elderly workers working around your living place, the dreams in the eyes of young rickshaw pullers, the pathetic state of the home of the maid working at your house. Neither, I’ve seen it. Nor we are concerned in the feelings of the people working around us, so mean we are. Let’s give it a try next time.

Ruskin, an Anglo-Indian, has shown lots of love for India, his childhood place Dehra (doon), The Himalayas, The forests, Trees, People of India and many more. I sometimes wonder that how he has been in love with this place, whereas we, so called pure Indians, are always ready to leave India to get settled abroad. How this man had developed love with all the shortcomings with India, whereas we didn’t remember even the good things about our own country. He insisted many times in the book that he is an Indian, thou his parents were from England and Norway. I developed some respect for this writer. Many outsiders had in past and in present portrayed only the dark side of India and won Great awards.

Thank you Mr. Bond, you’ve portrayed India in such a beautiful manner, through your books. And thank you, for invigorating the love for my country inside me.

“Akhil”

The Rebel speaks

I’m a rebellion by nature and often repudiate to be controlled by others, especially when it comes to personal things and working. I had never intervened in anyone’s personal choices till date, even if it would have been the person, whom I felt most important in my life, would had choose to leave me, I have had never asked him/her to stay back.

There are two special categories of people I’ve observed. First one, say A, they are always complaining and crying over the situation they are in. They often put the blame on others, their managers, peers, GOD, fate, food or even on them who don’t even exist, except for themselves. They are never satisfied with whatever situation or position they are in. If you ask them for work they’ll cry, if you don’t give them work, they’ll cry either. Their focus is never on the job in hand, but on other’s and other’s achievements. Thank god I don’t fall in this category and I’m happy with the things I’ve been doing. The day I’ll feel I’m not destined to do the work I’m doing, I’ll quit and will do the things I want to do. Till date, I’ve been doing the same.

Then there are another variety of people, say B. They will ask you to do the things their way. They are often in false impression, that they are successful in their lives and that they are the best and the only one in this entire world who know how to do things. They have done nothing constructive in their lives and in future too they’ll do anything constructive is doubtful. In reality, they are mere losers. I’m not of this kind either.

I often sense that if you give the ownership to someone and motivate them instead of showing the way how to do it will extract the best out of the person. May be they’ll come up with better innovative idea or even if they fail, they’ll learn.

I’ve sympathy for both the above categories A and B, but at the same time I’m thankful to them too. They have taught me a lot in how to deal with the people around you. They’ve helped me in growing personally. Till the species of the kind A and kind B of human race exist on this earth, it will keep the categories like me and most of us on learning track. Thank you ‘As’ and ‘Bs’.

"Akhil"

Ain't a Rainbow beautiful cuz it has seven colors?.

The attack over Indian communities in Australia has triggered some thoughts in my mind. I would not like to name any particular community, but what I’ve experienced during my short stay in United States, Certain people from certain community confined themselves to either themselves or the community they belong to. Also they think they are intellectually superior to others. These certain Indian communities not only keep themselves distant from the local folks in an alien country but also from the communities from their homeland.


Their behavior was irritating to me sometimes, but since they were neither in my project nor I was left with much time to interact with them, I was least bothered. I already was having few friends over there and made few new ones as well and one of them became a good friend of mine. But there are other problems as well with us, the Indians. We often hate each other and have disrespects for other fellow countrymen. This often surfaces in our conduct.


Lots of hullabaloo had been made over removing the North Indians (mainly from UP and Bihar) from the state of Maharashtra. Similar forces rose their heads in Delhi as well but the hubbub soon fade away as it was not possible the same in Delhi due to various political and geographical consequences. If our own people are scared of someone from other region eating up their jobs, why should we blame other countrymen? No, I’m not justifying their deeds, but first let us clean our own hands before pointing on to others. Beating UPites/Biharis in Maharashtra is no different from and Indian getting beatings in Sydney or Melbourne or for that matter anywhere in the world.


The day we will stop thinking like “a Marathi”, “a Bengali”, “a Bihari”, “a Tamil”, “a Telgu”, “a Punjabi” and start thinking like an Indian most of our problems will be sorted out. We often forget that, our strength lies in our unity in diversity. We’ve forgot the moral values read in the Moral Science books during our school days. Unite as they say “Unity is Strength”.

After all, a Rainbow is beautiful because it has seven colors together, similarly our India is beautiful because of many colors it has. Certainly it has more colors than a rainbow.

“Akhil”