Ode to marriage!

I will be lost in your eyes,

For eternity and beyond.

But I will find myself,

The moment you are gone.

On my soul, on my heart,

You shall have every right.

But your face will be forgotten,

Every time we indulge in a fight.

I will remember all the vows,

Forever shall I respect marriage.

But there will be times, my love,

When I will forget all with your age.

Sometime later, we shall have children,

Our family would be complete.

And those will be the exact times,

I shall have my poison...neat.

We shall always be together,

Till death do us apart.

So I will never leave your side,

Till death actually plays its part.

Never Again!!!

In the middle of the game came a voice “Can I play too?” the voice was followed by a slightly dented figure of a boy who couldn't even stand straight. “Aah, such a poor soul he is. He should definitely play with us.” came a righteous voice from within. But at the same instant came another and more empowered voice from within, this time my lips were moving. “How can you? Have you even seen yourself? Even if we make you the umpire you will end up disturbing the bowler.” My friends gave me a look of shock and shame. The poor boy meekly smiled at me, gave a sideways look towards the bat he so dearly wanted to hold, and started walking away from us.

“What had just happened? I could have never said those words, no...not possible” I thought to myself. But yet I did; I did say those words. I was in denial. An instant excuse was needed to be found to feel better of myself.

“Don’t worry, world is full of bullies, you just helped the guy by not being gentle towards him. You are simply preparing him for the cruel world.” I consoled myself.

Yes, this excuse seemed genuine and like a good defense. It could definitely stand the trial in the court of my conscience. I felt slightly better. Alas, the very next moment I was filled with anger and shame. The defense had failed me; it didn't work.

My friends continued with their look of disdain. They kept staring towards me as a crowd stares towards a drunkard who was beating his own family. I repulsed them. I tried to put my failed defense across to my friends hoping for a different output. I tried sounding like a mahatma who had just prepared a pure heart for this impure world.

One of my friends came and gave me a big jolt. “Yes, you are right, yes the world will be mean to him, cruel at every possible step but you, my friend, just lost that one chance of being different, proving that you are better than this cruel world. There still will be many people who would be respectful and accepting of that soul, but how will you accept yourself if you continue to be like this? This world has enough evil; don’t add one more to the list. Be different, be better”

“Oh, don’t patronize me” I blurted as I pushed him away and walked off the field in anger. Anger towards my words and my actions. In my effort of being realistic I had forgotten the most real of human emotions, “respect”. I wasn't judgmental of that boy, I was simply disrespectful. That day I was confused between the realism of the world and my own reality.

“Never again shall the world would influence my actions” I decided. “Never again!”

P.S : : As it turned out, I was actually judgmental of this world. The boy is currently working in a big corporate as a kick ass coder.

To ma'am Chief Minister!!!

To respected CM of Delhi,

In the past I have been among your ardent followers, till obviously the grand debacle of C.W.G. I still kind of believed in you as I blamed everything on that Kalmadi guy. But then the incident of 16th December shook me. No, don’t get me mistaken; my reverence for you didn’t vanish immediately after the incident. It could have been a one off incident after all. But what really shook me was your reaction when you hopelessly asked the girls not to venture out in night and tried to shed tears at India Gate. That was the day when I truly believed that you have lost it. Instead of becoming the symbol of our hope, you became the face of our hopelessness. If a CM of the state is helpless about a crime committed in her own state then what right does she have to lead? What way can she possibly show to the masses?

I am a teacher in Delhi and daily I come face to face with the ugly face of the education system here (in particular). Your claim, which you so shamelessly keep shouting on every radio and TV channel now a days, that government education system has improved a “million” times is simply hilarious. Ma’am, trust me when I say this that anyone who is in the education sector in Delhi knows the appalling conditions of the education sector here, and by anyone I mean even the tea vendor who sells tea in front of your schools. Any government which is advertising its failing education system in its re-election campaign should be ashamed. Let alone the government of the capital city of a country which is one of the fastest growing economies in the world.

Government school kids are turning into local goons; midday meals are anything but edible; and even though the enrollment rate is pretty high, anyone who checks the daily attendance sheet can easily get the real picture. Anyways, I don’t want to go into the details because I am pretty sure that you already know them but your blatant hypocrisy is stopping you from accepting it.

Respected ma’am, I know living in Delhi, you automatically inherit this bold nature, but just one small request, please be bold, not shameless.

Your ex-supporter

A new life!!!

Something new, something exciting

That’s all I ask from life every morning

And I am thankful that a blank slate, a loving mind,

Every day, that’s exactly what I find.

Yesterday’s anger that I might have vented,

All gone and no spirits dented.

These little hearts never hold grudges,

Aah, such great minds on such small benches.

These lovely smiles always inspire,

Their eyes have such huge dreams for which they aspire.

As soon as I enter, they greet me with their eyes lit up

And power of their innocent smiles charges me up.

Life is simple, life is beautiful

Life has become all about school, school, school.

Daily these kids make me enact so many fictions,

And just like that, life seems perfect with all its imperfections!!!

I am grade 2 teacher in a low income school, if you want to help, here is the "Link for donation to my class".

Thanks!!!

DEATH will not be enough!!!

The night of 16^th December, 2012 was the night that showed us the grim image of the society we live in. The night one “nameless” girl was brutally tortured by 6 “faceless” devils of our society. I call the girl “nameless” because firstly, I hate the names given to her by the TRP hungry media houses and secondly, because it isn’t about that one girl who died a horrific death, a point all the protestors shouting at the India Gate so easily forgot. I call the 6 devils faceless because it isn’t just about these 6 men, such men continue to exist within our society and such gruesome events continue to happen all across India. If we really believe that by just hanging those 4 devils we will be honouring the memory of that “nameless” girl then may be, we really are naive.

Since that cruel night of 16^th December, there has been a death lust across the country. Youth gathered all across the country to form a protest that could have ashamed the then recently concluded “I am Anna” protests.  At that time, these youths had the power and even showed the will, at times, to change the system. But sadly, they never understood their responsibility. They never could be sure what they really wanted. Few of the banners at India gate actually were asking to torture these men in similar fashion. I remember a famous Bollywood actor who had joined the protest actually talking about using his licensed gun on eve teasers. One thing we all fail to understand is that the source of the problem cannot be part of the solution.

For all those who think that the nameless girl has got her justice, I have one question for you “What happened to the PCR vans attendants who were fighting over jurisdiction while the girl and her friend were in semi nude state on the road?”

For all those who think society’s mindset has changed after that incident, I have one question “Where are those people who never stopped to help the two helpless souls? Are they reformed?”

For all those who think that all the rapists across India have got a lesson through this judgement, I have one question for you “Will there be any decrease in the number of rapes across the country because of this so called ‘landmark’ judgement?”

For all those who think our society, especially our youth, has unified after all this, I have few questions “Why is this unity limited to only one case? Where was this unity when a brutally raped 7 years old girl’s father was being bribed by the police asking him not to file an FIR? Where was this unity when a lady after being brutally raped was hanged by the tree in semi nude state in Guwahati? Why such a selective reaction?”

If you are satisfied by this judgement and you think incidents like these will not be repeated then may be posting facebook statuses is exactly what you should be doing. And if you are not, then it’s time to find the root of the issue and start fixing it. Our country may have never faced such a huge value deficit in our society. The incident of 16^th December isn’t the fault of only those 6 men; the truth is we failed as a society. Our values are lost and these incidents will keep on happening until and unless these values are reinstated from root level.

I am a teacher in a low income private school, and I have seen and experienced the root cause of this value deficit in my own community. Our classrooms are nothing but rote learning centers. A country which was so proud of its values once has completely spoiled its base. The truth of today’s classroom is that a 4^th grade kid is “teasing” girls to show off in front of his friends, an 8^th grade kid openly “pushes” girls and is proud of it, a gang of 10^th grade “kids” gathers on the road in front of their school to pass lewd comments on any “item” that comes their way. This is the reality that all these blood thirsty people have ignored. This is the reality that needs to be dealt. Hanging those criminals can’t stop anything now, what’s done is done. But handling these valueless kids can stop almost everything that’s wrong with our society.

I am a teacher and i am writing this article because i am appalled by the lack of values in our system. My imminent focus is a value based class. I take it as my responsibility to go around in the community and see the kind of values my kids are learning. If a teacher cannot instil the right values in his/her kids, then may be, he/she should be doing something else. If you are a teacher, it is your responsibility too.

But if you think it’s only the responsibility of the teachers to instil values in the kids then keep waiting for another 16^th December to happen. It is our responsibility to demand for a value based system. Our system should be a preventive one instead of being a system that caters to the mob mentality. By not doing this, we are failing our kids, our future generations.

Lastly, it’s good to put facebook statuses if you can follow your words with actions. If you think that you cannot contribute then keep reassuring yourself that you actually care when really you don’t.

LET US FIX OUR DEMANDS ...

(Following is in reference to the ghastly act of crime comited by 6 individuals against a 23yr old girl in the capital city of India and the protest that follows)

In the wake of such heinous crimes against the women of this country, the inaction of our police, the gender bias by our society, the lack of implementation of law by our judicial system and lastly the ignorance of our government has led to such huge protests.

So far we have had no fixed demands apart from our quest for a speedy justice. Which we thought our government would empathise with. But seeing the ineptness of our own elected representatives, we the citizens of INDIA, the citizens of each and every state in India have the following demands.

1.       Setting up at least 5 fast track courts at all level which includes (SC, HC, and lower courts) for cases of Rapes, sexual assaults, sexual harassment in each and every state.

Even small cases of eve teasing should be aptly addressed so that such criminals are not given a further push.

2.       Death Penalty or Life imprisonment at least in the cases of Gang Rapes and rapes. Since Gang Rapes should be accounted as Rarest of the rare cases nothing but death penalty should be awarded to such criminals.

An appropriate action should be taken against criminals who are minors .

3.        Immediate suspension of all employees/MP/MLAs or anyone in public service who has been charged with Rape or sexual assault.

Also they should be banned from contesting elections in the future.

4.       Immediate implementation of effective police reforms which deals with inept and insensitive police officers. Police reforms should be such that they include the society too to take part.

Also increase in number of police personnel in all the states. If the police is giving more importance to protecting VIPs, how do we expect them to address our issues?

5.       Implementation of social reforms towards gender sensitisation.

Steps like sensitising people through billboards, hoardings, TV commercials should be taken into consideration.

Such values should be entrenched at base levels in our society, specially in schools all our the country.

6.       Once any person is charged with any crime against women (or otherwise), they should be brought under UID immediately so that they can be tracked at all the time.

Also the Ids of Bus drivers, auto drivers should be mandatorily displayed.

These crimes are happening all over the country and not just Delhi, they should be addressed as a national issue and not as issue of a particular state.

I wish…

Off late, life’s just been long,

It seems nothing but a lost song

On the verge of this transition,

Life seems nothing but a meaningless expedition.

I have stopped waiting for tomorrow to come,

In this slow journey, I have gained little and lost some.

Started many things, but they were never finished,

As every time I saw my efforts get diminished.

I can no longer be true to myself,

As I keep stacking my dreams on a hidden shelf.

Looking at the rain drops, my heart used to feel elated,

But it’s an experience with which I am long jaded.

Still, deep down I know,

The seeds of dream I sow, will someday grow.

Someday, some time down the lane,

My time will come and I will be jubilant again.

I will be brimming with hope and confidence; I will be excited and childish,

For today and for now, that's what I miss and that’s all I wish.