Of the Things I have seen

 Of the Things I Have seen

Of the brightest things I have seen,
Blazing Sun is not the one….
See the faces of the proud family of a dead soldier,
You will know what I just saw.

Of the purest things I have seen,
Crystalline river is not the one…..
See the tears of crippled dancer,
You will know what I just saw.

Of the darkest things I have seen,
Moonless night is not the one……….
See the futures of abandoned children,
You will know what I just saw.

Of the most beautiful things I have seen,
Scenic nature is not the most one……….
See the laughter of mentally challenged child,
You will know what I just saw.

Of the scariest things I have seen,
Creepy ghosts are not the one………………..
See the souls of mankind,
You will know what I just saw.

Of the most painful things I have seen,
Bleeding wounds are not the one.............................
See the eyes of the parents, who lost their daughter to dowry,
You will know what I just saw.

Of the holiest things I have seen,
Magnificent temples are not the one.......................................
See the heart of the mother,
You will know what I just saw.

My Life’s cure……………

I don’t know when life became like this,
My memory gives me a miss.
I feel I have lived in this misery forever.
Is it true that I won’t forget it ever?
Throughout my life I dreamed so big,
Chased my dreams with all my might,
But what became of my plight.
But when did the maps lead me wrong,
When did the tunes change the song?
Sometimes I feel so alone, so low,
And the tears are also hollow.
I miss being a part of my past,
I miss being a child at last.
So free was my soul,
Not empty as a hole.
Then what has changed over these years,
Why doesn’t happiness ring my ears?
Is this the cost of being mature?
Would I ever be able to find a cure……….

Walk Or Wait.....you decide

Waiting for hours, aching legs because of being in a sitting position too long, adjusting the seat belt so that it doesn’t kill you with suffocation and to top it all a wonderful sweaty weather. This is one exercise that is sure to make you sweat it out.What I am talking about is waiting anxiously to move an inch in the prevailing traffic situation of Indian’s capital city – New Delhi.

Delhi is hugely populated metropolitan city and the number of cars on the roads (or even in the footpath) is enough to make that wild assumption. I have being living in Delhi for the 10 years and the traffic problem has only become worse over these years.Many of you who have experienced Delhi roads will agree. Well, more than an experience it is an adventure from which there is no escape.

On various roads construction of flyovers and metros is going on because of which half of the road is blocked and the two-way traffic is made to move through the rest half. Although these metros and flyovers are made to reduce the level of traffic on road but their construction time stretches for years that sometimes you wonder the situation would have been better if there were no constructions.

The main reason Delhi has this traffic problem is because of the lack of space. Neither there is space for roads nor is there space for parking. So the results, vehicles are parked on the roads further reducing the space available for driving.

Another problem of Delhi traffic, and a big one, is the mad craze for speed. The normal speed limit permitted is 40 for big vehicles and 50 for small vehicles. The people behind the wheels think of themselves as some kind of formula-one racers or hunks breaking all the traffic rules making to their destination as if they were to break someone’s record. And if that’s the case they surely would have done that by now. To top it all the vehicles have these blasting music being played as if they want to do some kind of social service by making others around them listen to music without having to pay for a stereo system. All this further disrupts the traffic and people can’t even hear the voice of the horns over this music. One of feature that is very unique to Delhites is that they consider vehicle as a symbol of social status. So if you have 4 cars you are rich irrespective to the fact that all the cars are purchased on loan and you have a debt of more that 1 crore. Because of this every Delhi house has a minimum of two-three cars although you make actually use none. It is like choosing a dress for a party, deciding which car to drive so that you can make an impression.

Adding to all this is the contribution of public transport which includes autos, buses and rickshaws. Autos are the small speed monsters on roads which are always trying to squeeze in between the vehicles and win the battle against time. Buses in Delhi are termed as killers on wheels. These buses can be private buses, DTC buses or even tourist buses. The bus drivers are often drunk and drive very rashly. Not only that there are often competitions between the bus drivers to outdo each other. Now if you are traveling by bus and plan to doze a little on the journey, forget it, the bus drivers will make sure you hold onto your seats, eyes wide awake, and get to experience the roller coaster ride for a lifetime. A journey at a normal speed that will take you 45minutes will take only 20 minutes in a DTC bus. But the guarantee that you will reach your destination in one piece is doubtful. There is one very good thing if you are traveling in bus, you need not get down from the bus, just stand near the gate and everyone else around you will push you out. This increasing the chances of accidents and then that particular road is blocked causing a traffic jam. Rickshaw is the transport that moves the slowest only because it is manual.One important factor that adds to the traffic problem is the bad roads.

MCD makes it a point to dig up every road that is possible and to keep as many as manholes open again diverting the traffic. So finding people driving on footpath is not a rare phenomenon because that is the only place available. And as they say “when it rains, it pours” similarly in the rainy season, drainage system gets flooded so all the water is on the roads, and you can see how well your vehicle can swim and drive at the same time. In the rainy season it is advisable to get up at 6am if you want to reach some place by 9am as you find bumper to bumper traffic inviting you with open arms.

Delhi is a house to a large number of politicians so if one of (VIP) politicians plans to go out then that road is blocked for normal citizens and again you wait anxiously for the blocked traffic to move.You may hardly find traffic policemen on Delhi roads, worsening the situation. Now the question arises how can the problem be solved and the solutions lie in the problems itself.

Few of them that I could think of:-

•Increase the speed at which constructions of flyovers and metros take place.•Come up with the concept of carpools.

•Make stringent laws for traffic control and maintain more traffic policemen on the roads.

•Improve the conditions of the roads.

•Improve the drainage systems of roads.

•Give proper training to bus drivers and only whose pass all the tests should be allowed to touch the bus.

In the end I would just say that it is much more reliable to depend on your legs than a vehicle on Delhi roads.

The Smaller Issues In Life

“Where is the time for all this ! I am too busy.” I recall the innumerable times I have said these lines maybe to avoid something or because I always found something else more important to do. Now when I try to remember what exactly was important, all I am able to figure out are that they were just lame excuses. Not lame excuses to do the big things but to see the smaller pieces of life. Now you must be wondering what I am talking about……. Well it is question I am sure we all should ask ourselves at some point in our lives……at some point in our small lives. The smaller pieces life that we forget in our bigger issues.

Every morning I have made it a habit to read the newspapers…….indeed a good habit, but do I really read the news? My answer would be no……a big no. I, sitting in the luxury of my drawing room my legs fully stretched on the cushy sofa legs cannot understand the misery of a child forced to work in a firecracker workshop inhaling millions of poisonous gases, so that he can get a morsel of food. I am definitely not capable of understanding what a young girl goes through when her parents just to feed their remaining children sell her off. I thought I knew what pain was until I saw children at the construction site pick up bricks twice their weight. This is probably one of the many things I can never understand rather dread to understand. Sometimes I wish I could remain ignorant forever like I have lived all these years.
The election season is on and politicians are ready with their flashy manifestos. The newspaper is filled with news articles about what promises are made, conducting pre poll surveys and their hopes for the future. Ah…… it all seems like a mockery to me……………is our India really shining ????? when the children of this nation have no childhood left in them.
This time while coming back home with my friend in the train, I saw a small girl not more than 6 years old with her face all painted in different colours. On entering the compartment she immediately started doing Hoola-hoop around her neck and then around her waist. Her mother carrying a toddler was singing a song to whose tunes the young girl was dancing. She had a big smile painted on her face and on finishing her act when she came to me to ask for money, I saw her eyes. Her eyes bare of any emotions yet deep down I felt connected to her sorrows, and I couldn’t look at her any longer. For a 6 year old to dance like her I can imagine how much her mother must have beaten her. And then is when my friend said that the toddler’s face is also painted……..rather her fate is painted. I wondered how a mother could do such a thing to her daughters. I couldn’t do anything but stare at the empty fields where the wheat was brightly shining under the blazing sun. Indeed India was shining…………………
In my college campus, I used to often find small kids running and playing in the muddy waters. They used to play with the same mud and spade that their parents used for construction. One look at those kids and you just can’t escape their innocence. They used to always bring smile on my face.
Often waiting for the signal to go green at the traffic signal we come across many of those small children selling magazines…..none which they can read, balloons and toys…..none which they can play with.
The euphoria of Indians winning the Oscars still doesn’t seem to die down……..but probably the story of the slum children in Slumdog Millionaire is dying its slow death. Do we actually need a foreigner to come to India to tell us the story of the children of the nation that we claim to be so proud of? Obviously not! I strongly believe that the film did well not because it talked about the agonies of young slum children but because it talked about hope.

My father has worked for NGOs and he often used to state the enthusiasm poor young children showed. How the moment you ask them to dance and they quickly emulate the moves of the latest bollywood numbers, how they show their masterpiece paintings and are so very much willing to gift it to you if you like them. In them I see a true happiness……a happiness of being contented with life, not because life is perfect but because they have a hope that it can be made perfect.
Education makes a huge difference in the lives of any child. If we could sponsor the education of one child in our lifetime, it would be the biggest gift one could give to them. In this manner, we can keep their hopes alive ……a way to focus on the bigger issues in our smaller lives.

P.S. - Say NO to Crackers !

The Indispensible Television

Those were the days when my mother used to wake me early on Sunday mornings to watch Rangoli, the only film based show on Doordarshan and now are the times when you might just get a headache surfing
the channels to determine what to watch and what not to…..
The massive transformation that television programmes have undergone in the last decades is tremendous. In fact I feel that if we personify television it would be unrecognizable.
Twenty years back we had no options, all TV had to offer was DD-National. DD was full of programmes like news, Krishi Darshan, educational programmes, social awareness advertisements and entertainment programmes like Rangoli, Sunday afternoon movies etc. And yes people loved these programmes.
Then came the era of mythological serials, a medium through which we could connect back to our roots and culture. There was Mahabharata and Ramayana, which instantly became the talk of the town. Such was the impact of these serials that the roads were totally deserted when these programmes were telecasted. In villages where, community TVs were put up, people used to pray in front of the television sets as they considered it as a means of meeting God. I still remember my dance teacher changed the timings of our classes so that she could be at home to watch Mahabharata. Although TV had been there for quite a long time, this period was considered to be the real advent of TV in true sense. Suddenly TVs were no longer a luxury item but a necessity and every middle class family had to have it.
Soon DD came with the new concept called “Family Soaps” like Humlog, Buniyaad, - a mirror image of the Indian joint family of that era, their hardships and their struggles to survive all odds. They became a huge success and people could relate to the character’s lives and sufferings. The tears on the characters’ faces bought tears to our eyes. When Badki’s parents couldn’t find a suitable match for their daughter, whole of India sympathized with them.
Seeing the increasing popularity of entertainment TV, DD came up with a new channel called DD–Metro, a purely entertainment based channel. This was the birth of entertainment media. With DD- Metro came the new revamped view of the changing India. Many women based programmes like Shanti, Rajni, Udaan, etc talked about women power and the various facets of their personality other than that of a mother and wife. Next came programmes targeted at young adults, the bandwagon of a series of musical programmes like Superhit Muquabla, Aamne Samne, educational programmes, quiz contests, games shows etc. I still remember I was so much hooked on to television those days that the dinning room moved to the TV room.
The next revolution came with replacing the crying drama soaps with comedy shows like Karmachand, Tu Tu Main Main, Shrimaan Shrimati, Dekh Bhai Dekh, and Zabaan Sambhale ke. It was followed by new improved hi-tech special effect shows like Chandrakanta, Alif Laila, Shaktimaan that left no room for man’s imagination to run wild. Although the story hardly moved in these shows but we still were addicted to TV.
If we thought that TV had provided us with enough distractions well we were wrong, because man’s creativity has no boundaries and so does television. If entertainment medium took us by storm then Cable TV was definitely a tsunami.
Suddenly we had so many options rather channels to watch other than DD, that we just couldn’t stop surfing the channels. We can attribute the invention of the remote to the cable TV, how else can we imagine surfing the innumerable channels?? And thanks to the TV, the advertising houses were on a boom.
The Cable TV catered to the needs of all the family members. Women could watch the serials, men could check out the news all around the globe, elders could continue to watch their mythological programmes and kids could sing and dance to the latest movie songs. Along with that came the war- the remote war. Soon one TV in a family was less. And life was hard for students, balancing studies and TV, ultimately TV won the battle hands down. Cable TV provided us with all variety of programmes one could think of, entertainment, information of the world around, you just name and you get it. The concept of programmes was no longer restricted to dramas it moved on to thrillers, horror shows, game shows, musical shows and so on, the list was endless. This era gave birth to hundreds of memorable shows like Antakshari, Snakes and Ladders, Zee horror show and Mano Ya Na Mano. Serials also moved on to touch different aspects of life like college, army, nuclear families etc. and more serious topics like girl child, women abuse, love marriages and generation gaps.
Television moved on to achieve greater heights with creativity and innovation. With more advancement came more channels and more variety. Every channel was engaged in a bullfight to grab the attention of its viewers. Then came the era of the K-soaps, the pioneer success story being Kyunki saas bhi kabhi bahu thi, the longer the name and the more Ks, the higher the TRPs. Overnight Ekta Kapoor became the “Queen of Television” and every channel wanted to cash on the success of K- serials. So we had the likes of Kahaanis, Kkusums, Kasautis and so on. Cable TV was now spelt as “Kable TV” and characters like Tulsi, Parvati and Kusum became role models for Indian women. These serials have taken so many leaps that I wonder whether I will be lucky enough to see their end in my lifetime.
Then came Big B’s “ Kaun Banega Crorepati” which brought sparkling dreams of becoming rich and also the same kind of unity and craze among Indians that Mahabharata had achieved. Many shows tried to copy the format of KBC but none could match it.
Soon when the television media realized that they had offer more, they decided to take plunge into a new concept – makeovers. Following the suit to the world’s most high profile makeover of Jassi, every girl got a new look in every other serial. Soon serial directors and channel heads realized that every girl couldn’t be Jassi after all Jassi Jaisi Koi Nahi!
Now the present era is of reality television, every channel is coming up with new concepts of accommodating reality in some or the other way. Be it dance shows, celebrity game shows, business shows, singing shows, adventure shows and I can just go on and on. You have shows like Indian Idol, Business Baazigar, Nach Baliye, Mtv Roadies, Fear Factor flocking all channels.
How long this era will last no one can predict. But one thing is for sure that television will keep going through many transformations and each of these transformations will reflect a new picture of the ever-transforming India.