The Mumbai blasts of 26/11 have left all of us in a state of shock. The thought of terrorists storming into the places which we all visit and killing people in a large number has instilled fear of how vulnerable we are.This act of terror shows that how in today's times no one is safe. Children have become orphaned, hundreds have been killed and injured.People at the sites of terror attacks have witnessed the horror of the near and dear ones being killed
and injured. We saw pictures of teen aged terrorists heavily armed flashing out on television, newspaper and internet. These people have no heart, they have become totally sick in their minds and have a dangerous mission of killing as many as they can before they die. Cries of the children, the fear of the people trapped and being taken as hostages, the brave officers falling prey to the bullets of the terrorists, the squabbling politicians, the stone hearted terrorists who went on a destruction spree....these images will remain embedded in my mind for a long time...
The city had turned into a war zone..but in the midst of these dark moments emerged
our real heroes...They were our armed forces, our NSG commandos, our police forces, our fire brigade...they even came in the form of the hotel staff who were out to help the trapped people...
To face the bullet for saving a family, to help the trapped people before helping their own families, to continue on duty even when you know that your own loved ones are dead, to refuse to help the terrorists and in return face the bullets shows how brave are the hotel
staff in the hours of crisis.They were calm, fearless, knew what their duty is...they could have saved their lives first but they stayed back to help the people out..
The terrorists had captured the entire building at strategic positions from where they could fire at anyone. But even in such difficult situation we saw our brave fire men rescuing the people trapped.They had limited resources, they didn't have any fireproof jackets, they operated for almost three days,they had to help the people trapped.They could have faced the bullets of the dangerous terrorists, but they were fearless, their main concern was to help as many people they can.
The police and armed forces gave their best.They faced the dreaded terrorists, gave them back a fitting reply. The NSG stood by its motto one for all, all for one.Brave commandos were there to rescue and pacify the panicked people. Their bravery showed us a light of hope. They showed us that when some one attacks us we can rise up, stand up and united can defeat the negative forces. The commandos gave a brave fight...the act of the deceased commando Sandeep Unnikrishna brought tears in the eyes...it is difficult to find people like him who sacrifice their lives for others without hesitation and fight till the end with the enemies without any fear.
How many of us can be like him...how many of us can think for others, how many of can help without thinking about our own benefit...I used to think such kind of selfless people do not exist, but now I do believe that yes such kind of people are there...
So many lives have been lost. But are we seriously thinking about them? In this whole incident we were let down by our own politicians. Instead of standing united against the forces of terror and instilling confidence and hope in the people, instead of acting like leaders they were squabbling and slandering each other.Most of them failed to realize the gravity of the situation. One of the state minister of Maharashtra comments "such small incidents happen in big cities like Mumbai".Oh really then why the hell didn't you go out and fight the terrorists if it was such a small incident. During the whole episode where was Raj Thackeray. The person with his goons who were out targeting the non-maharashtrians some weeks ago..who was fighting for marathis, who was dividing the nation on the basis of region was hiding like a coward. Why didn't his goons come out and beat the terrorists who were harming the marathis...is it because they know how to torture the innocent civilians and not the terrorists..why couldn't they come out in groups and torture the terrorists and beat them up with the same vigor that they had used in beating up the non-marathis and in destroying the public property.
What are the two major national parties doing? Busy in accusing each other over each other's policies. The opposition leaders do not attend the high level security meeting with the excuse that they are busy in election campaigning. Is campaigning more important or attending the meeting for formulating policies. The spokesperson of BJP comments the citizens who protest against political apathy and the women with lipstick and powder who shout against the politicians are equal to terrorists. Have the citizens no right to question our politicians. Have the politicians forgotten the fact that they are the servants of people of India and their responsibility is to hear their concerns and criticisms and take the required action. And what can I say about our central government.Why did it take so long to remove such an inefficient Home minister.Why they are delaying in implementing strong anti-terror measures. Do they require more destructive events for opening up the their eyes.
Our armed forces made us proud, made us believe good and brave people do exist who are ready to die for the country, but at the same time we also saw our politicians who again let us down, who made us believe that they are nothing but great opportunists who can never rise above vote bank politics and take brave and bold decisions in uniting and strengthening the social structure of our country.
We all fight within ourselves over petty issues, at least now we all should realize that it is high time we all act together for the nation with a motto of ONE FOR ALL, ALL FOR ONE and be brave like our armed forces and not like the chicken-hearted opportunistic politicians.

Weather outside has taken a pleasant change.It is raining with cool breeze around.But side by me lies the newspaper carrying pictures of dead bodies with blood splattered all over.
It is difficult to comphrehend which part of the body is it.Is it the head, or is it the hand, or is it the leg?? Who is the unfortunate person who had to face this kind of tragic death?Who wants an end to one's life in such a way where your own ones have difficulty in recognizing you?No one wants it...
But does everything happen according to what we want??
We want to lead an independent life where we are in control of what we do.We want to move without any terror in our heart.But everything is changing.Terror is spreading its tentacles all over our country.We the common people have an air of uncertainty hovering around us.We are afraid of what will happen to us the next moment we step out of our house.
We may be the next victim out there lying in the pool of blood crying out for help in grave pain.Well maybe I am becoming paranoid.But what can I do...These are the thoughts that keep coming into my mind...The fear of becoming the next victim..the fear of witnessing such event...
The frequecy of blasts have increased indicating that we are no longer safe...We can be attacked by terrorists at any point in bus,in market,in hospital or which ever place they want..
And on the top of that add to it the apathy of an inactive,impotent government which refuses to make stringent laws..which fails to see the pain and insecurity that the citizens of this country are made to undergo...And finally we have this set of terrorists who are nothing but stone hearted demons who
find extraordinary pleasure in killing innocent people..who cherish the sight of bodies being strewn apart..who find the cries of the helpless people dying out in pain soothing to their ears..
Will this scenario continue..are we compromising on our freedom...are we becoming accustomed to what is happening to us...are we so patient to suffer the injustice done to us...Will we ever raise our voice..Will we ever revolt against the terror..Will we ever find the required courage to do that??

Why is being a Dalit a curse?
Why they don't deserve the right to lead their
lives with dignity? Why are they humiliated even after sixty years of independence? Why are we not ashamed of ourselves for denying our fellow Indians the right to equality?
A Dalit woman and her daughter were stripped and beaten up by the upper caste people in Ajmer. What was the crime for which the two women had to suffer such
gross humiliation in front of the entire village? The only mistake that was on their part was the mother resented some upper caste people from taking away her sixteen year old daughter forcibly. A resentment which infuriated the upper caste people to the infinite extent of stripping the two helpless women in front of the entire public.
The question that arises in my mind is that does belonging to a higher caste grant you the right to perpetrate such ghastly acts against the lower castes.
If you are born as a Dalit then what is your fault? When God considers every human to be equal who are we to create boundaries based on caste. What is this kind of dharma that rips off the humanity present in us and makes us ill treat our fellow beings and creates a monster out of us.
I don't understand this caste system. I don't understand
why this system should get the right to create inequalities, sufferings and miseries.
Laws are there in the constitution to protect the Dalits. But it is only for namesake. Dalits are always ill treated, sometimes it gets noticed and sometimes it doesn't. Politicians derive political mileage out of the incidents, convince the Dalits that they will get justice, gain votes
and then forget the promises made.
This malaise of caste system is so deeply rooted in our psyche that we refuse to come out of it. But one thing we forget is that India will never be completely free until every individual in this country is free, equal and secure.

American president George Bush's remark that India is responsible for the existing food crisis proves that how ill-informed is America about the situation in India and how easy it is for them to blame us for the price rise.
Bush commented that the Indian middle class has started to gain wealth and when you gain wealth you start demanding better food and better nutrition and when demand is higher the prices go up and as Indian middle class population is about 350 million which is larger than the American population India is responsible for the ongoing global food crisis.
Some may term this as a good observation statistically, but one doubt persists in my mind. Why is America getting worried when Indians are demanding for better nutrition. Statistically a large portion of India's population is suffering from malnutrition. People do not get enough two square meal per day to feed themselves. The middle class is feeling the pain of price rise as financially they are not that prepared to handle daily rises in the basic commodities. India's major portion lies in the rural belt where people do not have enough money to feed themselves. Farmers are committing suicides. According to United Nations India is among the countries where a majority of the children are suffering from the problem of malnutrition. Poverty is a problem that has been lurking as a bug in India for the past decades.
So now when India is slowly making progress and people have started to gain wealth obviously they will demand food of better nutrition value. What do people work for? For money and what is money required for? To ensure that the family gets food and is not starving. When people in America do that Indian president never questions them but when people in India do that an American president feels that he has the very right to question us.
Being the super power does not give a country the right to interfere in every country's matter. The under developed and developing nations are trying to overcome the problems of poverty and malnutrition. What is the harm if the people of these countries are trying to earn and become financially stable. It is not that only developed nations have that right to do.
Regarding the price rise it is a global issue. Why blame the countries like India and China?
In many countries the production of grains has decreased due to droughts leading to price rises. The African and Asian countries are the ones who are feeling most of the heat of price rise. What is expected of the developed countries at this stage is to stop blaming the other countries and extend help in counter attacking this global crisis of inflation.

Sometimes words are not enough to express what we want, but at the same time a single picture
depicts what we desire. Observe this picture and tell what you think. Seeing this image the single thought that hits my mind is the desire to succeed. The wish to be on the top, to be the best, to win over all the odds, prove oneself in the worst situation is what the heart wants.
To rise over the failures, to climb the rocky terrains and finally reach the zenith and shout at the top of your volume telling the world "look i have done it" is the challenge that the mind is ready to accept. So what are we waiting for,lets get started for this Everest like journey called life which is all set to rock us.

What to celebrate about?

Today we celebrate the 60th independence day of our country. A glorious day scripted in the history of our nation where we attained freedom from the subjugation of the British rule. We celebrate this day by remembering the people who made great sacrifices to see this nation free so that we the present generation can live breathing the air of freedom with full of self respect and dignity.
Their dream was to see India as a nation which is independent, democratic, secular, where no boundaries of caste, religion, rich or poor exist. A nation which is high on priniciples, moral values and ethics, a society free of corrupt practices, where the leaders selflessly work for the people was what they had envisioned. This vision sparkled in their eyes till their last breath.
But think have we done enough justice in converting this dream into a reality. What tribute are we paying to the people who sacrificed their lives just for the sake of our freedom. Today as a nation how proud do we feel about it? Well it is true that India is progressing. It is making a lot of name in the various sectors like IT, Telecommunications, Retail. It's economy is booming. Lifestyles are improving, spending power of the people is increasing. But does this logic extend to all the sections of our society. Answer is a definite no.
Development means not buliding big structures and starting to have a great lifestyle. Just look at our villages. They comprise about 70 percent of our country. How much attention do we give to them? How much efforts are invested in the
agriculture sector? We have a food and agriculture minister who is more concerned about a rival cricket association rather than the increasing number of suicides among the farmers. In the land of Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan the son of the soil dies and no one is at all bothered. It is just read as another piece of news. Haan many people die and this is just another death, why bother about it. This is the typical thinking of we Indians. And this is what we must be proud of, isn't it?
In the name of development poor people are displaced from their homes, beaten by the police and if they oppose we label them as anti to the development process. Instead of giving them alternative option of equivalent compensation in terms of land or employment the government sends the police who like the terrorists without any hesitation don't even spare the women and children and what we educated people do. Just be blind to this situation, for development few people should be displaced, so why take it so seriously. So simple theory is it really? An outsider comes to your house, beats you up and tells that you cannot live in your home, appears very simple, so will we really apply the above theory and give up our house?
Women are progressing a lot. They are becoming presidents, ruling India, becoming CEOs. But are we really respecting them and giving them equal respect.
What respect for women why, this is what most of us think. They are still subjected to the horrific crimes of domestic violence, dowry, rape. Recently only a fashion designer was doused with acid and set to fire.Women get beaten up in their in-laws household just for dowry. What women now even the children are sexually assaulted just for fun and pleasure. Before a girl has come to the world the very right of birth is snatched away from her. And this is all happening in the land where people worship Durga, Lakshmi and Saraswati. Even the Goddess will be ashamed to see such kind of people in our nation who are more worse than devils.
Satymave Jayate, are you saying this to me to follow, no way is what we Indians are. Right from the watchman to the minister we all are corrupt and as black as
the tar. It is urgent, it is necessary, please do it according to the rules are all listened from one ear and thrown out from the other. We are so and so's son, take the money and do the work, oh sure definitely sir is the instant reply you get. Students are getting late for exams, people are unable go to office, work has come to standstill, but for what. Oh a political party is taking out a dharna, traffic jam is obvious. Destruction of public property, burning of buses and law and order is out of hand. What is the police doing? They cannot take action after all they are servants of the political party and not the public. Then who will pay for the heavy
losses, oh don't worry, we the people will. After all our hard earned tax money is for what use. Fill up the losses, invest it in the birthday parties of the politicians. After all it is public's money, so what to worry about?
See what great people are we, aren't we? Oh no we have even more great persons in the list Who are they, oh the great villians of our country our politicians. They are supposed to be the servants of the people. What are you saying, they and servants, forget it? In planes and helicopters they will ride and
according to their wish they will land anywhere they want. They will take huge amount of money in terms of corruption, and say later it is because of the
funds of our party workers. They will play with people's religious beliefs and caste for vote bank politics. And we people blindly fall into their trap and fight among ourselves and result communal riots and caste fights,death of innocent people, blood everywhere. The terrorist who attacked the parliament and must be hanged, will be given a VIP treatment and the widows and families of the soldiers who without any
fear selflessly gave up their lives to save the motherland will be forgetten. This is the India we have invented and for that we must be given a nobel prize.
So on the eve of Independence day I am supposed to rejoice over these facts. What a waste was the sacrifice of the millions of brave people for heartless people like us. But still at the end it is we who can change it, well we have hope and lets hope that the situation changes. The least we can is to remember our freedom fighters and try to follow on their foot steps to build a better nation where there exists no evil and where everyone can really live without any fear.
Jai Hind.

Everyone Wants Reservation
A time was there when people were eager to climb up the so called higher levels of the society.
But as times change, things change. Now a time has come where every strata of the society want themselves to be labelled as a backward class for achieving that golden goose named reservation.
What happened recently in Rajasthan is a perfect example of this changing wind blowing across our nation. It presented us the ugly side of caste politics that threatens the very basic fabric of India's unity. This time the burning issue of caste has spilled over into violence, destruction of public property and loss of life. The demand of the Gurjars to be included in the Scheduled Tribes (ST) has brought the Gurjars and Meenas into a dangerous conflict.
The Gurjars in Rajasthan, traditionally a shepard community are already listed in Backward class, but noticing the employment advantages and political power that ST like Meenas possess in Rajasthan, they have demanded ST status for their caste. The Meenas have opposed this fearing that their ST benefits have to be shared with the Gurjars. Then finally what's the result? The result is, the country witnessed one of the worst violent situations over the caste issue.
Now who is to blamed for this situation. Of course it is we the narrow minded people who go on giving caste prior importance in our lives. Well how can we forget our politicians who are the main trouble makers. The Rajasthan chief minister Vasundhra Raje while campaigning during the elections promised ST status to the Gurjar community as a political tactic to garner more votes and once in power forgot all about it. It is a well known fact that the state's role in giving ST status to a community is limited. It is a long process which requires center's participation as it involves a parliamentary amendment in the existing list. The Gurjars agitation must serve as a remainder to the greedy politicians that they must restrain themselves from making false promises to the people which they themselves cannot fulfill and above all that it is the people's responsibilty not to fall into this dirty trap of vote bank politics. We must make a sincere attempt in breaking the walls of caste and work together for the making of a united nation where a word like caste does not exist.

Thoughts for the Mind
To the world you might be one person, but to one person you might be the world.
Take the first step in faith. You don't have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step - Dr Martin Luther King Jr.
They can because they think they can - Virgil.
Do not follow where the path may lead. Go instead where there is no path and leave a trail -Ralph Waldo Emerson.
Some men see things as they are and ask why. Others dream things that never were and ask why not - George Bernard shaw.

The Invincible Ones
Can you imagine a team claiming cricket world cup title three times in a row?Well the Aussies have made this imagination a reality.Here comes a team which challenges the rest of the world by a simple saying "Stop us if you can".Like a hungry tiger which is ready to pounce on its prey this team always manages to get the best out of themselves.With their brilliant strategy they succeed in making the opposition team look like a bunch of weak mortals.
To defeat such a team which symbolizes the fact that "The world is not enough for us" you will definitely require another team of equivalent caliber and team spirit. Only future can tell us whether any such team will be able to stop the Aussie Juggernaut and as far as the present is concerned it is the Aussies who are the Czars of the cricket world.

This weekend i happened to watch the movie Parzania a movie by Rahul Dholakia. The central theme of the movie was about a Parsi family who lost their seven year old son in the Gujarat riots.The movie depicts the human emotions at the best. The actors Nasseurdin Shah and Sarika are simply brilliant, one can say a lifetime performance.
This movie is a direct attack on the exisiting system which is decaying like a rotten tomato. This movie made me cry, make me think about the society in which we are living in. Is this the India our freedom fighters had dreamt of? Is this the India for whose independence millions of people had fought and laid down their lives?
What kind of nation is this where people place religion above their country? What kind of religion is this where humanity and peace do'nt find a place? Who gave us the authority to kill people in the name of God? Have we ever thought of the sufferings that the victims of communalism have underwent? How can someone in the name of religion kill someone, rape someone? Even God will be terrified at that thought.
What kind of system is this where common man is devoid of a protection over his head? What is this goverment and police which instead of protecting the innocent citizens like to watch the riots as if some tamasha is going on?
What kind of people are we who are willing to act as puppets in the hands of the communal forces? What kind of nation is this which refuses to learn the lesson from its past that is "United We Stand, Divided We Fall"?
These questions continue to revolve in my mind. But the answer to it lies in our soul, in our consciousness. Finally the onus is on us whether we want to be the child of Love or the child of Hatred.