A sad life; but happy at death

Whenever a person dies, the people around him remember the person for his goodness & share the sweet memories they have. It is the moment when people forget the negative qualities of the person & remember him for all the goodness he had. This implies for anybody no matter if he is a dictator, movie star, a politician or even a dacoit. People forget their differences to mourn at the death of the person. Many at times we do see a lot of contrast between the emotions of people towards a person before & after death. But there can be no match to the contrast in emotions of people to what they had towards MJ, before & after his death.

Michael Jackson, popularly known as MJ died on June 25 2009. The shock expressed by the world can only be preceded by what was observed at the death of Princess Diana. Millions around the world joined in prayer & mourned the death of Michael Jackson, supposedly the “King Of Pop”. Even in India thousands of fans paid their respect to the star. The visual & printed media ran 24hours broadcast about the star’s life & the incidents which lead to his death. For weeks television hosts discussed about the possible cause of death & the various medication he was undergoing. The Internet blogging community praised the life of MJ & declared that there couldn’t be a better pop star. But where were these millions of fans & supporters when he was alive?

If he was indeed the “King” of pop why did he lead a lonely secluded life? Why didn’t his family who rushed to get a spot on media after his death, support him while he was alive? Where were all those people who now want the doctors to be prosecuted who administered him wrong drugs? Why didn’t they try to stop these doctors while his life could have been saved? Why do we have to only realize the value of a person only once its too late?

It is no secret that the “king” of pop in spite of his riches & fame, lived a lonely life. He was the character who was mocked by television channels around the world. He was ridiculed for his lifestyle, the way he looked & his personal likes & dislikes. He lived his life in the middle of controversies when the world around him truly despised him. While he was alive, people around the world called him a pedophile & a “weirdo”. The very same internet groups which mourns his death earlier depicted him as a beast. We would never know whether these allegations were true or not, they would remain a mystery like MJ himself.

But if MJ has shown us something, it is that people don’t value you in life but would rather mourn for you in death.

write for a smile....

I have written a lot of posts in this blog of mine, 60 in fact (I just checked). Some of them were related to my personal life, some related to current affairs & some plain stupidity. But this time, I wanted to write something for a cause. For the right cause.

The main reason for writing this post, is a piece of news I read the other day. The news article was about a DIG in West Bengal who employed an 8Year old girl as a domestic help & later tortured her. According to the write up, this was not the first incident of physical torture inflicted on the kid, but there were many prior incidents. The child mustered the courage to contact the local police, but they denied taking up a case until an MP had personally gotten involved, later on. How can someone do this to a kid?

I had read about a law being passed, couple of years back (2007), making employment of children a punishable offense. The person who breaks this law was supposed to pay a hefty fine & can be imprisoned for the same. But when we look around we see that children are still being employed at a very early age onwards. Looking around in Bangalore, you wouldn’t find a single road side eating joints which do not have a child as a cleaner or a waiter. Only the other day, a boy who would be no older than 10years was frying chips in hot oil at one of those bakeries which is located right at the street junction. How can the authorities be so blind to allow such practices to continue? How can we let children, who we say are the future of the country, lose out on education? How can we be so selfish to profit from the low wages given to children who are forced to do a normal man's work? How can we let this happen?

I wasn't entirely sure about the law which I remember reading in the paper, sometime in October of 2007. So I decided to check out in the internet, as to what "our country" & "our constitution’s" stand on Child Labor is. A search on "child labor in India" will point you to a law named "The Child Labor (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 1986". Now, I am no expert in law & neither will I try to act like one. But in plain English, the law prohibits a child from being employed in "certain" employments and to regulate the conditions of work of children in "certain other employments". Ok now the "certain" list which they mentioned about has 52 items in it. Now I really fail to understand 2 things- 

1) Why should be a list of "certain" employment? Why cant we abolish child labor as a whole? Why are we not focusing on compulsory primary education & instead giving loopholes by providing these lists with "certain" employments?

2) Are we at least enforcing this law for these "certain" employments? A quick glance through the list & I can see in my mind images of children whom I had seen employed in these very same "certain employments".

So we failed to give a solid proper law & we are unable to enforce the faulty one as well !

But above all this, more than the child labor, the lack of education or financial injustice, nothing is more sinister than the cruelty towards children. Has time made us so cold & selfish, that we would even hurt an innocent child? I keep seeing in the visual & printed media about the deaths of children in various part of the country. If somewhere it is due to medical negligence, then somewhere else a schoolteacher issues death penalty to a student. All these incidents become an issue of a huge controversy & discussion, but get easily forgotten once another controversy comes up. Do we always need a controversy or a death to identify what we are doing wrong? Should a 11year old die each time to make us realize that a teacher should be well trained for the job? Should half a dozen newborns die to remind us to check we manufacture & distribute the right medicine? 

As children, we looked upon & trusted our elders around us to show us the right direction, to keep us safe, to teach us. But what are we doing to our country's future? A person who holds a senior office in the police force, the upholders of justice, is actually committing a crime towards a child. If this is the actions towards a child, by a person who should be protecting us, are we safe? Is our country's future safe? How many innocent kids should die to rethink our path? How many tears should be shed to melt our heart which is hardened by our greed? How can we make a difference...

letters from another planet

Olla.. Here is my second post from ma cubicle. Come to think of it, it’s a really comfortable place to write from. It’s peaceful, quite & provides a good break from the brain draining work. Fine, I made up the last part. But anyways, it’s a nice place to write from. No particular agenda/topic for this write as well. Its just another write to capture/collect/collate my thoughts. There isn't much of them, but thought I might as well collect them anyhow.

I heard of stories where people hallucinate of seeing things which do not exist, ghosts, aliens, god..whatever. Such people were always termed to be either lunatics or spiritual. The former lands up in a mental asylum while pictures of the latter end up in frames on our prayer rooms. This is not about me seeing or feeling any ghost or alien. Instead it’s about me "feeling" like an alien myself. You know, the parallel galaxy thing. The last few weeks made me feel like an independent entity, disconnected & free from the human world. Lacking human contact, floating around in the human world, without having an interaction with the world. Like the parallel galaxy thingy..

I knew that the living alone thing would get to me one day, & it finally did. I tried running away form it & trying to make as much link possible with this human world. But it was bound to happen soon, however much I ran away from it. Tried making new links for the ones that broke & the cycle continued, but ultimately the inevitable came & all contacts was lost. Floating around in this human world, with all the activity happening around me. Felt like I didn’t exist, felt I was invisible; felt I was from the parallel galaxy. I spoke the same language, but it didn’t make much difference. Lot of activities seems to happen around me, but somehow I wasn’t related to any of those. I lived in a world where only I existed & that’s all it was.

Ok if anybody is still reading, bravo !!! Because I don’t think it would make much sense to me if I read this all over again. Anyways I am off to my house now, no, not the parallel galaxy one, but the one back in ma hometown in the human world. Hope it should revive the lost links & get me back inside. Else would return within a few days to continue floating...

A shelter for the free birds…

Its been a while since I have updated the blog & there has been pressure on me to write something. A lot has been happening around me, lots to write about. First there was the General Elections which I was following for some time now. The IPL (Annual Gambling event where cricket is sold by people who are already exceedingly rich) was something which got my attention once I visited my folks (I don’t have a television at home). Friends were getting married, a lot was happening. Work was pretty much the same though, yeah there was more work but the pay was pretty much the same. All thanks to the guy who discovered recession.

But this entry is not about any of these. Instead it’s about a place I visited recently. It was named “Sevika Samajam” & was 12kms away from my home. The place was a shelter for all those who were not bound by relations. They were the free birds of our world; the ones who came into the world to either live alone or were deserted by their loved ones. The shelter was home to more than 40kids & 20 elderly. The main building of the “Samajam” also provided lodging for the kids. The elderly had a building of their own, which was a 10mins hike up a small hill. The whole campus was atop a small hill & had a clothe mill, a bakery, a printing press and a library. The kids were from the age group of 2 ~ 17years old.

We reached the place around noon & upon arrival we were greeted by the caretaker of the Samajam whom the kids loving called “valyammayyi” (big aunt). We were seated in the building adjacent to the main Samajam building. After awhile we were taken to the dining hall where all the kids had assembled for lunch. We served them food & later joined them for lunch. They didn’t forget to thank the almighty for the food before starting lunch. As we sat & had lunch, I noticed the happiness in their faces. Something was different about their happiness, something I never felt. Three meals a day was not something which ever got me excited. In fact it was something we had taken for granted & these days skip to keep "fit".

After lunch we headed towards the building where the elderly were staying. 2 kids guided us up the hill towards the "old age home" block. The welcome we got once we reached the block was beyond words. We met the more than 20 residents of the old age home who greeted us as if we were their long lost kids. I was surprised by the energy they showed even at this age while they were showing us around the place or talking to us about their health & daily activities. We sat & spoke with all of them for quite a while. It didn’t feel any different from a family reunion.

The whole trip made me realize a few things & those were some good lessons learnt. It was really an eye opener when I watched, how the small things which we take for granted every single day, can be like a huge gift for those who are not as lucky. More importantly I realized how even small gestures like spending some time to show care, can mean so much, that it would make even a stranger feel like one of your own. I don’t know when I would be able to visit the "Samajam" again, but I know for sure, that this is one memory I would cherish lifelong.

is aNyBodY in cOnTRol?

The following entry is just my point of view at looking at a problem which exists in the sub-continent. I have added wiki links, facts & new links wherever possible to support my theory.

I will be honest with the reader, I don’t follow the newspaper regularly but, over the past 3months there one particular story which had captured my attention. It was the 26/11 attack in Mumbai. I was interested more in the aftermath of the attack rather than the attack itself. The attacks had actually happened in 8 locations within Mumbai killing 173 people & making considerable damage to property. The attack ignited widespread protests within the country. The people had entirely lost faith in their government which failed to protect them time & again. The country was still fresh from the attacks in Bangalore & Ahmadabad, when the Mumbai attacks hit them again. There was widespread unrest & effigies of politicians were burned in the country. People protested for days against the political leaders of the country & branded them as corrupt, useless & manipulative. People demanded the need for boundary less unity & criticized the politicians who supported linguistic or regional separation. A sense of fear developed in the hearts & mind of the politicians. It was a time for them to rethink their strategy, to come up with a new plan, a new strategy to manipulate their victims.

After 9days of burning the brain cells, the ruling party sprung up with a new strategy. A scapegoat was found, the very old rival, the neighboring nation of Pakistan. The government put pressure on Pakistan to surrender the terrorists it was "harboring". Through the help of world police, the process was accelerated. In front of the whole world it was established that Pakistan was on purpose harboring & encouraging terrorists. The voice of the millions of Indians who demanded justice was silenced by this transfer of blame. The blame game had won them back their stand, not only for the present, but for the upcoming elections. The purposeful rumor about a possible war added strength to their support & the government had become unshakeable as before. But is Pakistan really harboring & supporting terrorists? Well I thought of putting some facts & numbers from Wiki, to assist me:

Malegaon Blasts

Date: September 29 2008

Organization: Hindu Jagran Manch (Hindu Extremist Group)

Based Out Of: Indore, India

Bangalore Blasts

Date: July 25 2008

Organization: SIMI

Based Out Of: India

Mumbai Blasts:

Date: November 26 2008

Organization: LeT

Based Out Of: Pakistan

Lahore Cricketer Attack:

Date: March 3 2009

Organization: LeT(rumored)

Based Out Of: Pakistan

Well, my question is quite simple, if Pakistan is actually aiding & harboring terrorists, then how come these terrorists are attacking Pakistan itself. Exactly one day after Pakistan told Interpol that it would help them in the 26/11 attacks, Sri Lankan cricketers were attacked in Lahore. Now when our government says Pakistan is "harboring" terrorists, do they actually mean that Pakistan is well in control of "their terrorists" & actually aiding them? In that case, is our government well in control of the terrorist organization based out of our country? The Malegaon attacks took place in September by terrorists who are from within the country, but have we been successful in arresting them or bringing them to justice. The truth is that these criminals would soon be contesting for the coming elections(link to news article not available now). The terrorists behind the attacks in Bangalore & Ahmadabad are yet to be completely arrested & brought to justice.

So when our own nation has been so incompetent to punish our internal terrorist organizations, how are we expecting a country like Pakistan, which is already in the middle of chaos to have control over Let which is a terrorist organization much bigger in terms of magnitude? Pakistan isn't far behind the blame game & has started catching up, by making its allegations against India for the Lahore attacks. All these makes me feel, do either countries have any control of their situation. Is this blame game merely a curtain to their incompetency & failures to protect its very own people. Is our & our neighbor’s government helpless onlookers while terrorists tear apart our nations by suicide bombings. I really hope, somebody is in control.....

Blind Eye or Blinded ?

Finally I get to post this one. Its been a long time since this was in my drafts section. I should admit, the last 2months was not the best time of life. But at the end of it all, I am recovering. So I thought I might as well back into finishing this one. So here goes…

In the last 6months, my country had seen a lot of bloodshed. The terrorist attack in the country in November, still finds the columns of the newspaper because of the way it changed people's life forever. The whole world stood by my country & condemned the attack. The television channels around the world aired pictures of the attacks. People around the world united to provide help & support to those who lost their loved ones. We felt we were not alone, but there were a million hands to reach out & help us.

                Then there was the corner of the world nobody cares for. The land of the doomed. A place where the air is filled with stench of blood &  babies are born directly into the battlefield. The small piece of land called as Palestine. The land & its people often ignored & left alone to die. We are either blinded or prefer to close our eyes to the atrocities on this land. Thousands of Palestine people fled their land in search of peace & find shelter in dingy refugee camps. Other stay behind, awaiting death. Images of Palestinian children killed in the attack is nothing new for the rest of the world. They hear the cries only through these images & even these are forgotten after the page is flipped.

                It was less than a month back when Israeli forces slaughtered & killed thousands of innocent Palestinian men, women & children. This was in retaliation to the rocket attacks by some militant group, which had destroyed 3 buildings on the Israeli side. The human casualty for Israel due to these attacks was 0. The present Israeli government who was at the brink of elections saw this as the right opportunity to gain the trust of their people, by lashing out against its neighbor. Over the next 3 weeks Israeli forces launched massive attacks in Gaza which killed more than 7500 people. The world looked on for weeks while thousands were rendered homeless. Then the most shocking thing happened, when the leaders of the powerful nations, the leader of the so called “world police” justified the actions of Israel. It justified the tough stance taken by Israel & went on to even advocate that as a policy to fight terror. Well to be honest, I wasn’t entirely surprised because I had seen similar actions taken by the “world police” to fight terrorism.

After a month & half of war, the UN stepped in & demanded peace. By then the war was no more news for the people. I remember trying to find out the details about the war in the daily newspaper & finally gave up. It seems sports was more important that day, than the few dead school kids killed in Palestine. The land of the doomed continues to be centre of war no matter the day or the time & the people living in the fear of death. Presidents changed, governments fell but the innocents continues to die. The actions of the powerful are seldom questioned & the consequences ignored. And at the end of it all, to think, that all of this wouldn’t have happened if the Fuhrer hadn't left his job half done...

Christmas, New Year's & the Year Beyond

It’s the holiday season, though not the best of times for me, but thought I might as well pen down something. The last few weeks were horrible. I would say, the worst 2weeks of 2008. There is a saying, that before the candle is about to be blown up, it spurts & burns most vigorously. Maybe that’s what happened. The professional side of life was already giving me a beating & then the personal side crashed. Quite a crash that I am yet to decide what to do with it. So that’s another reason why I am writing this. I haven’t yet decided whether I want to post this entry or not, but nevertheless it makes me feel much better once I write stuff down.

Things are not going that great at work. In the past 3 weeks, I have been asking a question quite too often "What am I doing? Why am I still working?". Well, I didn’t get an answer, I guess it should be to maintain equilibrium, keep the cycle going, or such crap. Now, whatever we do, we intend to get some result out of it. The result can be anything from happiness, wealth, love, hunger.. whatever. But for my work, I am yet to see the purpose, or the result. I try to think, what would be the difference if I didn’t work, what if I didn’t stretch that little extra, didn’t sit that extra half hour, didn’t skip lunch the other day, would it have mattered? Could it have possibly made anything worse? Would it make me any lesser average than I am, right now? I don’t really know, but like I said before, lets maintain equilibrium & keep the cycle running.

The personal life crash was not something I expected. Yeah, I cannot lie to myself, I did see the signs of something bad which would happen. But I didn’t maybe expect it quite this fast or with such intensity. I don’t want to go into the details & bore the reader (if there is any). But anyways, my personal life crashed & I was devastated. I just realized I didn’t have anybody to talk to or not much friends as I had before. Yes, time had pulled all of us apart with both physical & emotional distance. You sort of start to think twice before calling up an old friend, "will he/she still remember me?","will he/she be interested in talking to me or will be too busy for me?” Well yeah everybody change, even I did, a lot. So when all hell broke loose at work, my personal life also hit rock bottom. Not the time of my life I would want to keep a memory about.

So in the midst of all this came the holiday season. Couldn't go home because I was at work & had an uneventful Christmas. It was the first Christmas I was away from my family & missed them to the most. The thing I missed the most definitely would be mom's homemade wine & cake. Yah there were other things like the star which we hung outside our house or the celebrations out in the street. Here everything was quiet, except in the pubs & bars. Now there they celebrate & make it big. Well you can’t always complain, so I joined in to celebrate a very much hallmark celebration this year.

It’s only a couple of days away from New Year's Eve & I am really hoping that it is much better than my Christmas. This year was a mess, a real mess. Lot of learning in the year though, learnt it the real tough way. So I decided to come up with the list of resolutions for the new year. Now these are the things I really want to pursue & get it done during the course of the next year. So, here goes:-

1) Have Fun - By having fun I meant really having fun. Enjoying life to the max & living as if there is no tomorrow. Yeah, quite often that is the way I do live life, but planning to make it more regular going forward. More importantly trying not to get bogged down by all the crap which goes on around me. Towards the end of the year pretty much nothing effected me, but going forward want to be way tougher than that.

2) Quit my job - Honestly, I had half a mind to put this as #1 & when I had started writing this, that’s what I had decided on doing. But hold on, life is not all about work & decided to gave it the #2 position. Well by "Quit my job", I didn’t mean stop working completely, but at least make a significant change, at least with the place I work at. It’s been too long & too much to take, if you can’t move things out of your way, its smarter to move around it.

3) Travel, a lot - Visit as much places as possible. I don’t want to make a list here, bcoz it would be too long and unrealistic for me to complete in a year. In the last years, wasted too much time trying to make sure everything falls into place before going somewhere & that pretty much never happened. So in the coming year, no point waiting for the time nor the people, going to see the world. As much as possible.

4) Not to fall in love - Learnt the lessons the hard way & realized the thingy called "love" is not for me. I don’t want to argue about how much true or fake it is, different people, different perspective. But I am better off without it. And after all living life alone is not as dull as I had expected it to. Yes, it was difficult at first, but you sort of get used to it & later start enjoying it. So for all the ladies out there, I am sorry, I don’t want to end up in a wreck again.

I guess that should be it. The list seems realistic & certainly doable. So, let me wish a Happy & Prosperous New Year to myself & anybody who had the patience to read through all my nonsense.

Peace.