What have we done !

The jipsy moved briskly through the uneven terrain , a road that was carved out amidst the forest that was now a national park. We were entering the Agratoli range of the park . I sat there, looking at the dense forest around,  occasionally jolted by the impact of the vehicle on the bumpy , irregular track . I was constantly looking through the glass , hoping to see the majestic creature this place was famous for  - One horned rhinoceros .
Lakhi da ( elder brother in assamese )  slowed down the jipsy to halt .
" Gaur asse... " ( There is a wild Buffalo )  , Lakhi da exclaimed .

And in a minute a wild Buffalo emerged out of bushes and passed our vehicle with only few feet to spare . It crossed the road and moved to the other side of it , towards the beel .

" Its time for them to get back after the day out along the beel "  , said lakhi da.  Lakhi da has been driving in the park for years now . He would often sing assamese songs to entertain us on way .  " Chol Gori lei jabo tuke mur gaon ... "  being his favorite . But today he looked serious , probably because he had to be careful inside the park .

Soon more wild buffaloes followed . A few stopped to give a confused glance to us with tilted heads . They were used to seeing the vehicles on road.The tourists often passed their way . We stopped and they moved on . Once the way was cleared , we moved ahead .

We were close to the watch tower now .

Once there, we climbed up the steps to have a wide view of the park and spot some animals . Facing the watch tower was a large beel  , beyond which we could see grasslands and plains . Dense forests followed the same .  Its was time for the rhinos and elephants to have a final dip in the waters before the sundown .

Watching them through the lens of my binoculars , I saw the spectacular animal trudging along the waters. Probably he was done with the days job of wallowing in mud and water and was ready to recede back to the forests . The 'tick bird' rode on top of the rhino , being accepted by the giant as a symbiotic partner . 

On the far end view , a herd of elephants made their way to the tall grass called the elephant grass , and into the dense forest .

A pod of pelicans flew past the beel .  The view was serene . The creatures looked in harmony with nature . I could sit back there for hours , looking at the seemingly untouched wilderness.

'This was how it was suppose to be ! ' , I thought .

...Didi, darwaza kholo...

It was 4 in the evening . Shobha didi had come to clean up my room . She had left assam years back and had come to Delhi to earn livelihood .She would work in more that 10 houses a day to make her ends meet . Obviously, she was always in hurry .

I realised I was late for the class. The dream had taken me back to the days when life was different . The place that had no traffic , no heavy vehicle noise  , no pollution  , no rush , no crowd . There was  peace and harmony . That was the creation in its pristine form .

Soon I got ready , moved down the  stairs and to lane leading to the main road. As I moved , the water from the ACs dropped on my head.  One of those on the ground floor blew hot air  on the lock of hair on my forehead , spoiling the way I pinned them .

On reaching the main road , I sensed a foul smell . Oh yes !! Delhi municipal corporation was on strike . It had dumped the garbage on roads. The view was appalling .

I had forgotten to tie scarf today in hurry . PM 2.5 would soon invade my lungs . We didnt even have to smoke a cigar here. It all came so naturally.I could see some using the masks to reduce exposure to deadly pollution .I was too lazy to get one .I had tried to buy it from one of the stores the other day , but the guy increased the price with increase in the reported PM 2.5 level . " Chuck it " I thought . Let the pollution reduce a bit , it will  become cheaper .

I hurried towards the class bumping on some fellow pedestrians . I moved past the local park .That was the only green patch in the area nearby. I stopped and looked at those sitting in the park . They seemed to enjoy the open space and little greenery that was left in the city.

 I was reminded of the dream.

 'What have we done ... !'  , I thought .

(Images are for illustration purpose only )

A social animal !

"Man is a social animal. He who lives without society is either a beast or God"~Aristotle

Being social animals , we are constantly trying to fit ourselves in this social structure. In the process   we meet many people, good and bad (a subjective opinion). Some stay for long, some don’t. Some though stay with us for a short time yet leave a deep impact on us and we consequently have everlasting memories of them. Some do not leave very good impressions on our minds and we loath to recollect them. In the whole process we and our minds in particular are so engrossed in the societal issues that we forget there is something more to us than just being a social animal. 

Consider a situation in which a person wakes up in the morning and the entire humanity has vanished. There is just him and him alone. The society that had so far shaped every thought of him, had been so deeply engrossed in his mind that he could not imagine a day without it  , had vanished. What then?  

The first thing that would probably happen is denial. His subconscious would take a little longer to come to terms with the fact that it happened. And finally when he realizes that it happened and that he was all by himself now, he would feel the pain of being alone.  Those whom he loved deeply are no more.  There is void, there is silence, there is nothingness! Possibly the same feeling he had when he lost the person he loved the most at some point in life earlier. But then there were others to substitute the lost friend. The endless list of people who kept coming in his life made up to the loss in some way or the other.  The time healed the wounds  to some extent if not entirely and life went on. But this was a different situation. No substitute. Just him!

What now?

This is a question we confront at some point of time (Most of us, if not all!) But the substitutes in life are so readily available that we do not get enough time to ponder over it. And why not, we are social beings after all. We are craving for company. For our survival!

But what if …?

We, the philosophers...

Philosophy as a term means the love for  knowledge . A philosopher on the other hand is one who is in quest for knowledge and the one who is seeking answers to the whys , hows and whats of life.

The very first image that strikes ,  when we talk of a philosopher is that of someone with a long beard , sitting somewhere aloof under a tree ,  completely uninterested in the happenings around him , occupied in the thoughts that might seem alien to others .  But contrary to this the fact is that each and everyone of us , irrespective of age and backgroung , are philosophers in some way .

The sense of wonder has been an inherent thing in each human being ever since he or she was born . Consider a small child of 2 to 3 years of age . The curiosity that a kid of that age shows in everything around him is unparalleled . But as he grows up , he is conditioned by the society to accept things as they are . The curiosity in him slowly subsides and he is no more fascinated by the beauty of life . But there are some who do not let the child in them die . The sense of wonder prevails as they grow and in fact becomes stronger than ever . These are the men who go on to become the great philosophers .

If it was not for the philosopher in Issac Newton  , we would not have come this far in the field of physics  and science . An apple falling from a tree was a thing people have been seeing for ages . They were conditioned to believe  that this is how things happen . An apple always falls to the ground and not go up in the sky  . Newton was the one who questioned this simple thing  , and the rest is history. In fact , every great scientist was a great philosopher before he turned the quest into a verifiable entity . The only difference between the two is that science tries to verify and philosophy is not something that can be verified .

When some misfortune srtikes us  , the philosopher in us awakens . The loss of a dear one make us question the meaning of life . We seek answer to the mystries of life . But then , as the life goes on , we leave these queries behind and once again flow with the time and become busy in the daily lives . Every one  , invariably , has in some part of his or her life has been a philosopher . We only fail to acknowledge it .

Humans are the only species , of 8.7 million life forms on the earth , who have the ability to reason . Let not this sense of wonder die . Let not the philosophers in us evanesce…

Not getting it easy !

Those who get things easy in life are considered as the lucky ones . But I also consider the ones who do not get things easily as lucky,  because the rough times teach us things we wouldn’t have known otherwise. Through all the crests and troughs I experienced , there are some things I learned which may seem not so obvious to others because all of us are unique and all of us learn same things in different ways. We may also differ in our opinions and ideas . Mine might seem totally disgusting to others and I think this is perfectly OK . 

Some things that I would want to share , not because they are some exclusive experiences or universal truths but because they helped me through the twists and turns !

One most important thing I have realised over the time is that the change is the only constant ! Quoting Charlie Chaplin here ~ “nothing is permanent in this world , not even our troubles”. Worst things happen on times unexpected ,yet if we hold on and realize that things will change for better because that’s the law of nature , we can face things straight on. Accepting change makes us coherent enough to face any tough situation in life .

I learned that there is a power above us that is unfathomable ( The atheists out there , I have nothing against you . This is totally my experience and yours can differ ). I cannot say much about it because this is something I can’t express but only feel . Call it God or the supreme power . My consciousness is too small to understand it ! 

I learned Karma ! Believe it or not , what we give is what we get . As they say – ‘ Life has a funny way of making you deal with what you make others go through ! ‘ This law of nature applies to all without exception and I have over the time become a strong believer of the same .

I learned that we are all complete on our own . We are all extremely strong as individuals . Some of us only fail to realize the immense power we have within. But somewhere we all know it , we only fail to acknowledge it . The circumstances teach us the same . As Swami Vivekananda said ~ “ If there is a sin , this is the only sin – to think that you are weak or others are weak” .

I learned no matter how bad things get , there is always someone out there for us . Help comes from unexpected sources . I read stuffs like these while in school and sometimes later too . But when I look back through the rough patches , I find this is absolutely the case ! If you hold on , aid will come . It’s only a matter of time!

I learned that the path appears when we are ready to walk and the journey never ends . Life goes on...

HAIDER!

Haider was one such movie that I couldnot miss . The most important reason being the IMDB rating of 8.9 and the second being the reference to AFSPA that I read in one of the reviews ( Hamlet part did not prompt me much though! ) . Once I secured the tickets in Satyam cinemas , it was time to browse through the details of the AFSP act ( already there were too many acts that had to be mugged up , but the movie had aroused special interest in this particular act. I wish that bollywood had initiated making a movie on every act passed by parliament so as to fecilitate easy memorisation techniques for UPSC aspirants!!)

 So what is AFSPA?

 In May 1958, Dr. Rajendra Prasad, the then President of India, in response to the continued unrest in the northeastern territories of the union, including self determination activities by Naga tribes that spilled over into the state of Manipur, promulgated the Armed Forces (Assam and Manipur) Special Powers Ordinance. The ordinance entitled the Governor of Assam and the Chief Commissioner of Manipur to declare the whole or any part of Assam or Manipur, respectively, as a “disturbed area”. The AFSP Act replaced the ordinance later that year. The Act was passed by both Houses of Parliament on 18 August 1958 and received presidential assent on 11 September 1958.

 Today the Act is applicable to the northeastern territory of India, comprising of seven states, namely, Assam, Manipur, Tripura, Meghalaya, Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram and Nagaland. In 1990, a similar Act was enacted to cover the state of Jammu and Kashmir.

 AFSPA is often termed as the 'Draconian law'. The act grants extraordinary powers to the military, including the powers to detain persons, use lethal force, and enter and search premises without warrant. These powers are formulated very broadly and framed in vague language. Despite the inherent risk of possible abuse in the context of such broad rights, the act doesnt contain any provision to safeguard the rights of the citizens. The overall effect of the AFSPA has been the defacto militarization of northeastern region. This has resulted in unaccounted deaths , dissapearances , arbitrary killings , and suppression of human rights as par the constitution and the international human rights law. 

Coming back to the movie 'Haider',though this movie wasnt completely based on AFSPA and most reviews were more concerned about the HAMLET part of the story, but I chose to focus more on the act! But Haider had a mixed blend of almost everything .Of late , I have come to believe hat there are broadly two types of Indians ~ One the UPSC aspirants and other the rest. The thinking methodology and the analytic process of both the species being very different, this was one such movie that has done justice to both of them . There was a philosophical side to the whole story and that was precisely and very concisely shot in the song ~ ' Aao na ' written by none other but Gulzar ! At first listening the song seemed creepy and funny at the same time . But the intricacies of the simple wordings kept one thinking .The seemingly mad Sahid kapoor scene that detailed the act with insane touch was one epic scene. The equally beautiful and complicated character of Tabu ,paralleling Gertrude of ' Hamlet'had its own significance. The fantastic idea of integrating the Hamlet and AFSPA is what made the movie even more intriguing. By highligting the plight of the locals being effected by the AFSPA in Kashmir , the movie raised issues of legality of the act .

 Ever since AFSPA was imposed , there had been cases of frequent violations of basic human rights in the hands of the army . For an instance , the military, while driving along the streets of Kohimain 1995, mistook the sound of a burst tyre from their own convoy for a bomb explosion and opened fire indiscriminately. Individuals who were considered to be terrorists’ accomplices were dragged from their houses and arbitrarily killed. As a result, seven civilians lost their lives. In another instance , on 11th July a 32 year old was arrested from her house in Manipur under the act and later her badly mutilated and bullet ridden body was found nearby. After the investigations the Indian army vice chief of staff stated that the incidence was indeed an unfortunate one . 

These being a drop in the ocean of the atrocities inflicted under the umbrella of AFSPA . The fight led by Irom Sharmila has its relevance in the history . But the irony is the person who has been fighting for lives, for 14 years now ,through a fast is being imprisoned under different provisions of crpc and section 309 of IPC for attempt to suicide. Sometimes the laid down text defy the common sense. I wonder if the law differentiates between the 'Jauhar' and a protest ! 

So, finally , the movie was one worth watching and I enjoyed it to the fullest in an uncertain afternoon!! But ' Maktub ' as it goes! I was destined to watch the movie.

Pehle AAP !

It’s the time for yet another Lok Sabha election. Though I am not a political commentator, nor I had been keenly interested in politics ever, but this season around there is too much happening in the political front and ignoring all that is a luxury very few can afford.

The most interesting of all has been the recent Delhi elections. Though there were other four states too, but the show was clearly stolen by the Capital city.  It wasn’t the usual two majors putting up a fight, but the golden triangle was completed by the majestic AAP!

Being the first timer , AAP not only managed to be the second largest side of the triangle but also put congress  , the three time major , in a condition that they barely managed to be the smallest corner. What could have been a more interesting show for all?

Despite all sorts of attempts made to defame the party AAP stood victorious that stunned not only the entire nation but our neighbors too. No wonder ours is the biggest democracy in the world and the strongest as its strength has been proven once again!

I had always been an admirer of Sir Arvind Kejriwal. Not because his party has done so well lately, but ever since the anti corruption movement began and all the Anna Hazare crusade took over our nation, Arvind Kejriwal appeared as the most genuine and sincere personality to me.  Someone who wasn’t always in limelight while being in Anna’s team (remember there were others more prominent leaders then!)  

The Modi effect has been huge. But what made the AAP movement different form the modi wave was the way AAP connected to the people. On one hand people were  busy debating over late Sardar Patel statue , there were others going to the root level to win the trust of common man. There were no huge hunkar rallies, no high profile meets, but the work at ground level was such that they managed to win the confidence of common delhiites. There were Jhadu stickers all over Delhi, be it the shops or the chaiwala stall or the taxis. Not big posters with catchy lines, just the small Jhadu stickers were enough. This was the beauty of AAP. Though outside Delhi the AAP effect wasn’t very prominent, but people of Delhi had clearly chosen the Jhadu.

With the new party begins the new hope for Indian politics of being changed from a ‘dirty’ one to a ‘clean’ one. I wish all the luck to the Aam Aadmi party and hope this would inspire few incumbents to work in a similar way (as Rahul Gandhi had put it!)

Rat race

During one of my journeys from Delhi to Dehradun I happened to meet a guy studying in NID (national institute of designing). As a small boy, he dreamt (in his own words!) of designing cars. Why design a car?....Well he belonged to a small village where a car coming in the village was a rare sight. He kind of developed a fascination with cars and made up his mind to be a car designer when he grew up (am not sure if there is any such vocation!). Coz of lack of awareness in his village he didn’t really know how he could get to his dream. But because he felt he had to keep going he finally ended up getting into mechanical engineering in some college I don’t much remember. During his engineering years he still dreamt of designing cars. But once his engineering was over he had to face up to the fact that there was no car designing in mechanical engineering!...on the contrary he had to work rather with the pedals. This guy was broke emotionally… All these years of hard work seemed worthless to him. But he didn’t want to give up to his dreams. He wouldn’t spend his life working around with pedals. So he decided to gather all the information he could on things related to car designing and concluded that it was only through an admission in NID that he could get closer to his dream. He gave up engineering and started all over again. Finally he managed to get admitted in the institute and guess what??....he was just designing a car and drawing its layout while on the way to Dehradun- the thing that he always wanted to do!
This encounter kept me thinking. What on earth was I doing in an engineering college when I never ever wanted to get into this stuff?
I guess it’s always been a kind of rat race or whatever one calls it. Each one of us wants to do what everyone else does. If you are different and want to stay out of the track you are tagged as crazy or still better a loser. This fear of being alienated is precisely what keeps us from taking up the roads less traveled. Also the fear of the unknown makes the idea of going the other way appear to be less appealing as everyone would prefer to live in comfortable zone. But at the end of it all I don’t know how much satisfaction one can derive by going on in an aimless journey while we follow everyone else (provided the race wasn’t the aim).
Following ones dreams was never easy…It’s never been! But I guess it’s the uncertainty on the way that makes the journey stand out from the rest and only those who have the will can conquer the way!