Monday, 17 October 2011

Teri Yaaden!!

Teri har yaad yeh aankhe num kar jaati hai..
Un beete hue paloon se is dil ko bhar jaati hai


Chahe kitni bhi koshish kar lun main man behlane ki,
par teri wo muskurahat aaj aankho me paani aur dil me dard bhar jaati hai...


Meri raaton ki karvaten tujhe dikhai nahi deti,
mere dil ki dhadkane tujhe sunai nahi deti


Tu sach hai ya fir mera dil ki koi ek kalpna
ya fir hai koi haqikat jo mujhe dikhai nahi deti..




Aaj mera man mujhse ek sawal kar raha hai,
Na jaane kab se yeh shor dhamaal kar raha hai


Kyun itni dur chali gayi hai tu mujhse,
Na jaane kyun Rab mujhse aisa mazak kar raha hai..



Thursday, 11 August 2011

Aarakshan – A fight AGAINST equality!!


“agar aap aarakshan k saath nahi hai to aap uske k khilaaf hain!!” “If you are not in favour of reservation, than you are against it!” I was watching the trailer of the soon to be released flick Aarakshan, when I came across this dialogue. Does this mean that if I am in favour of merit, I am against all those people who unfortunately come under the category of backward class? Well I don’t agree!

The trailer of the movie very easily gives a negative shade to the character that fights against reservation, but what is wrong in asking for a fair competition? Why can’t everyone compete on the basis of their capabilities and not on the basis of their caste?

According to the reservation system, those not belonging to the designated communities can compete only for the remaining positions, while members of the designated communities can compete for all positions (reserved and open). That means, the open category students can compete for just 50.5% of the seats where as the reserved category students can apply for all the seats. Studies based on the National Family Health Survey (NFHS) indicate that many communities that fall under the Backward Caste category in many parts of India are socioeconomically better-off than those belonging to Forward Caste category. Does this fulfil the idea of ‘equality’ - the basis on which reservation was created? Allocating quotas is a form of discrimination which is contrary to the right to equality.

The most important question is has reservation really helped the needy? Reservations have been present in the country since 1902. It has been 109 years and no backward class has moved to a forward state. Several generations have gone by and still there is hardly any improvement in the said backward classes. Then what is the point of having reservations?

The concept of having reservation in higher education is totally wrong.  A seat in a premier institute wouldn’t really help if the person cannot cope up with what teaching there unless and until he has the basics in place. A person who may lack the basic knowledge may get in a good institute through reservation and somehow manage to get a job again through reservation, but he will not be benefitted as sooner or later he will struggle to compete with the more able colleagues. Unfortunately, reservation in higher education and jobs doesn’t provide a solution, it just ignores the problems. Emphasis should be given to proper primary and secondary education so that groups under-represented in higher education institutes and workplaces become natural competitors. A proper basic education will assure that everyone would be able to compete solely on the basis of their competencies and capabilities.

The 60% of India that is rural needs schools, health care and infrastructure in rural areas, not reservation in urban institutions.


P.S. This is not meant to hurt anybody's sentiments. I am not against any individual, I am just against the faulty system.

Saturday, 18 June 2011

RESERVED


Here is my first ever poem.. I had written it long back. Thought to share it with everyone. Please do give your views and suggestions.



She was the one who left me alone
and that's the reason my soul is blown.

My spirit is broken n my eye contains tear,
But I still wish that we were near.

She hates me a lot and that I know,
But I love her so much I can't let her go.

My brain is screwed and my heart is in pieces
But I pray for her and make many wishes.

I hope that she might find what she deserved
There is a vacant place in my heart that says 'RESERVED'.

Wednesday, 27 April 2011

A Tale of long lost friends..!!!

After the first article on love, I hereby write my second article. When I started to think about writing another article I just couldn't make up my mind on what to write. Then I thought I should write on something that is as close to everyone's heart as love, and that could be only one thing; Friendship...!!! So I thought of sharing with you my real life story. Have fun reading it...!!!
  

Not very long ago in my life (or may be a li’l long ago) I met these two gorgeous looking and intelligent sisters (Yes you read it right.. beauty and brains together), Devanshi, the elder one and Reshma (obviously) the younger one. I was just out of school and making the most out of my vacations. The only thing to do was to roam around the awesome city of Ahmedabad and have fun with friends. That is the time when I met them. You might ask what was so special about these two to be worth being mentioned.. Well firstly they were my 1st outside school female friends and the more important reason is that the story of our friendship is something that can inspire a Bollywood movie.

Let me get straight to the point. We met through a common friend and started to hang out together. We used to meet every day, go out to parties, to hukka bars and all that. It was great fun. Devanshi was the typical elder sister; matured, intelligent, supportive and a shield for Reshma. Well not only for Reshma, she was equally supportive and caring for me too. She was the best person to depend on. She was my best friend. She wanted to become a fashion designer (or something related to fashion!!) and was studying in NIFT (I guess). Even today the most beautiful gift for me is the sketches she made for me with her signature below them.

On the other hand Reshma was the exact opposite; immature and always ready to fight; Strong at mind but soft at heart. Only those who knew her well might agree to this. And maybe it was this quality of her that made me like her so much. I was so in awe of her.

Now the plot thickens. We spent many months together and had lots of fun. We never realised that soon it will be time for our colleges to start. Reshma, the independent and confident girl that she was, always wanted to go out and experience the world on her own. With her firm decision and bold plans for future she moved to some college in Delhi for her undergrads. I didn’t want her to leave but had no courage to tell her. I remember telling myself that it would be a matter of just three years and then she'll be back. Unfortunately it was not meant to be that easy. She left for Delhi and that was the last time I saw or heard from both the sisters. I never realised we would lose contact. (Unfortunately, Facebook wasn’t there then) I had no contact numbers or email ids of any of them and so couldn’t contact them, and we lost touch.

So many years have passed and I still think of them (yes they are that special) and I tried a lot to find them through the Internet, but all I remember is their names, nothing else. No surname, no email id, not even the college Reshma went to. Searched hundreds of profiles on Facebook and Orkut, filtering the search every time, but it didn’t help. Even made a tentative list of surnames and searched for them, but that didn’t work out either. It has been so long and still I have had no success. May be that’s what fate wants, or may be some day I would just crash into them and re-live all those memories. But then would they still remember me?? Was I as special to them as they are to me?? Would they have ever thought about me in the last 5-6 years?? Well, as someone rightly said, some questions are better left unanswered. I'll keep my search on and hope the best to find them and reconnect with them someday.

One of the reasons to put this story here is the sheer hope that my long lost friends realize how important they are to me even after so many years. The other reason behind it is to tell all my friends that even if we lose contact for a while or if we get busy in our lives for some time, it doesn't make any difference to the bond we share. If you are my very good friend, I am sure you know you mean the world to me. I dedicate this article to all my friends..!!! Friends for life..!!!!

Note: The names in the article have been changed.

P.S. a special thanks to my very dear friends Devanshi Raichura and Reshma Asrani to allow me to use their names in the article.

Sunday, 17 April 2011

Crazy About Love Huh!!!

This is the first article I am writing. Didn't think I would do this ever but one of my frnds' status, another’s poems and a video (here's the link to the video if you are interested - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RmgbHbMLouw) inspired me enough to write this.. And for my first article I chose the subject that is very close to my heart :P but I still think I don't believe in it.. LOVE..!!!
                          
You think you love someone very much?? Have you ever told someone about how you feel for them?? Or have you watched a typical romantic bollywood movie??? If yes then you may realise that the most common response to a proposal is "How much do you love me?" or "What can you do for me?"
And your answer would be I can buy you a huge house, an expensive car and will always keep you happy..!! Any guy who loves a girl or the same girl you "love" will keep her happy, so you aren't doing anything different. So why do you think she should choose you??? What special or different things can you do that others can't...?

I don't believe in love not because I have never experienced it or I have had a bad experience or anything, but I don't believe in it because I don't think I am capable of doing something so very special for anyone. You may feel what is so special about love. Well let me give you some examples of what I feel can be termed as love. "A father running a marathon for his disabled son", "A son sacrificing his career to support his parents" that’s what love is.. Today we use the L word so casually that it has lost the importance. Every chat with every girl or a guy ends in "luv u". Well that might look cute to say, but your feelings are nowhere close to Love.

Father running a marathon just because his physically n mentally challenged son asked for it, Parents investing all their lifelong hard earned money to get their daughter married, or a girl sitting in the window seat of a bus staring outside remembering her lost love, a mother getting up after a sleep of 3 hours to make food for her son jus so that her son doesn't go out of the house with an empty stomach. These relations deserve the tag of Love. Love is the hard work and commitment of that father who is willing to do anything for his mentally challenged son, the emotions and numbness in the eyes of the girl who remembers her lover all the time, the happiness of the parents whose daughter gets married and the sacrifice of the mother who makes sure that her son doesn't stay hungry. Love in all above cases doesn’t have any limits, and only when there is no limit, you are crazy about love..

We have always heard and most of us also believe that love is blind. Well I tend to disagree. Love is not blind, neither is it done with eyes closed. You fall in love with someone only when you are able to see the good characteristics and the inner beauty of some person. I might be a good looking person, but if I am not good from within, no girl would fall in love with me. That’s why love is not blind. Do not disrespect the sacrifices, the emotions, the attachments and the feelings by saying that love is blind. Its jus that love is not done through eyes, it's done through the heart. It’s the second thing in the world after God that cannot be described but only felt. So next time you plan on telling your boyfriend or girlfriend that you are crazy about them or you are madly in love with them, be ready to prove it by doing something that is beyond your capabilities and your wildest imaginations.

Still Crazy About Love Huh????

P.S Thanks to all my friends who thought I was capable to give it a try..!!