Dry Fruits

Afraid of dark I close my eyes only to find myself in even more darkness. I had rather turn blind searching the most flickering of lights around than subject myself to this self imposed darkness. New Year is too far away and I can’t help it if there isn’t a special occasion just around the corner to make resolutions, therefore I’ll initiate a special change in me, and celebrate the occasion with a resolution that I’ll infuse pride into me. Pride enough to make me feel good. Who doesn’t wish to be the best? Everyone does but then there is scope for only one to be that.

Average is good. Above average is better. Being happy is the best.

Butterscotch

Pessimist, Optimist and Realist went to buy an ice cream. Pessimist was sceptical about the chances of their finding an ice cream parlour while Optimist was busy deciding the flavour he wanted. On the way Realist was robbed and Pessimist thought Realist had been stabbed once in the chest and twice in his buttocks and called for an ambulance. Optimist asked for directions from the robber. Once the ambulance arrived Pessimist made sure that Realist had been checked for all sort of injuries including slipped disc, internal bleeding and HIV infection. Optimist tried to console Realist and told him that he had already taken the money out of his wallet in the morning and had spent it on the party they had in the afternoon which had now become a surprise party according to Optimist. Realist was pleased to come to know that the surprise part of the party which he had not tried to guess in the afternoon and had also not been trying to guess since the last week when the first mention of this particular party had been made because he did not then know that it was a surprise party was that he was the one who had paid for it. Pessimist quickly checked his wallet for any further surprises but could not find it.

Meanwhile police arrived and before they could start their interrogation Pessimist spoke to his lawyer and talked about anticipatory bail fearing his arrest because the robber was of around the same height as him. Optimist finished deciding the flavour he wanted and thought about starting in the direction of the ice cream parlour. Realist reminded him that he owed a lot of people a lot of money which then was enough to upset Optimist as he had hoped that the head injury Pessimist was sure of Realist had suffered would make Realist forget all his credit history. Pessimist was relieved when he was off the list of suspects after one or two questions. Optimist was further upset when he was asked three more questions in addition to the standard questions that the police had asked as soon as they had arrived there which included his name as well. Pessimist was happy that he had only one name and he could not identify the robber and hence could not say what the robber’s name was but what troubled him was that he still had a name which he had to speak at so many different places and frequently too and feared that if someday he forgets his name and then speaks some different name instead he will then have two names. 

Optimist reached the ice cream parlour and asked for the flavour of ice cream he wanted. Pessimist too had reached the place with Realist and asked if they sold ice creams and whether they were cold enough and would not melt in their hands. Finally satisfied realist took the butterscotch he had asked for and ran without paying, speaking again to his lawyer just in case he gets caught.  

Whatever

Richer than ever, i sat too qualified for a depression.

Frenzied into a stupor, i waited for an expression.

I fell, declined, collapsed and rose, fell again and struck a pose.

I smiled, I saw in front of me God.

He asked me what is all this struggle for?

I smiled and smiled and smiled and smiled.

I kept on smilng, he lost his patience, he then damned me for my actions.

I still stood there smiling again, pained at heart but plain sane.

I said to him "There is a reason, you know very well"

The reason I smiled every time I fell.

"I made you this way is that what you say?"

"No, I wanted it this way is what I meant"

He smiled and smiled and smiled and smiled.

He smiled and left behind just a note.

'I am sorry for the pain I cause,

but I feel proud when you prove me wrong.

It is an honor to have created a dreamer this strong.

Whatever may come your way, never ever let your hope sway'

 

And I folded it and put it into my pocket,

Wondering, Why and with whom had God discussed me as a bet.

Secularism

Came across a blog entry which i forgot to publish.. I dont know how relevant it is now but I am still posting it..

L.K Advani may not be the iron man of India as projected by his colleagues but despite that he has lent to the modern political dictionary certain terms that are ubiquitous yet less talked about. Pseudo-Secularism is one of them. What surprises me is that in a country that boasts of countless spoken languages there is no word that can do justification to the term which is the brainchild of Shri L.K Advani. His political aspirations might have softened is hardliner image of yesteryears but he must present a firm stand on what he believes (that is if he really has those beliefs). Hindutva is no political plank and it never should be. This reminds me that hindutva is yet another gift to the political scene by Shri L.K Advani.

Earlier it was A.B Vajpayee who made me like the BJP but now I have different reasons. Theirs may be a political party like any other political party i.e power hungry, dishonest etc etc but what I like in them is that they don’t play a role in pseudo-secularism.

Here we are in a country which is home to numerous religions. Religious sentiments here are guided by a few, Political leaders being one of them. Here we are in a country which is a majority Hindu inhabited nation but is yet secular and also affectionately referred to as ‘Hindustan’ at times, with no objections but not for long because sooner or later some political leader’s pseudo-secularism policy is going to find it hard to digest and then we will have to be content with the names India and Bharat only.

Each one of us is here is free to follow whatever religion he believes in be it the latest addition ‘Juggadism’.

100 acres of land for the Amarnath Shrine Board will not add to any Hindu’s ego neither will it rob any Muslim of his dignity but our political leaders have this habit of making a potent mix of politics and religion which in the end leaves hundreds dead and a million horrified. It only takes 100 acres to create a rift in sentiments deeper than the Grand Canyon and wider than the distance between mars and mercury. Ever thought of who gains from all this? A Hindu or a Muslim? Neither.

Perhaps we should learn from our experiences that religious sentiments should never be hurt because of political aspirations as in religion lay the strength that can turn a beast into a modest human and vice versa. Godhra saw the beast in some of us come to life because religion was involved. Assassination of Indira Gandhi and its aftermath should be another eye opener. Religion can never be used as a fuel in politics, it is too explosive.

Back to pseudo-secularism, all I have to say is that now we live in a country where anything done against the Hindus is considered to be secular. Is it a Hindu’s fault that he is with the majority and that gives the political misfits the right to deny him what he genuinely deserves. It is not just about 100 acres of land but it is about much more than that, it is about the unequal treatment and double standards in politics. 30,000+ pilgrims are perhaps not good enough for a demand of 100 acres. I wonder how the situation would have been if land of the same dimensions had been given to build a Mosque or a Gurudwara or some other religious building. I am sure most parties would have welcomed it as a secular move and no news channel would have found it worth their precious airtime which is primarily aimed at garnering high TRPs. However I am also not advocating that the land should be given to the Board but the point is that the way the issue was handled raises serious doubts. PDP ministers first approve it and when they find it to be in conflict with the religious sentiments in the valley all they do is to back out and the government falls. What was initially an administrative decision is later transformed into a political issue. Mehbooba Mufti cannot do without the Muslim votes in the Kashmir valley and if that means she has to withdraw her support from what was an otherwise prudent decision taken with every bit of justification, she will not hesitate the slightest. Congress has its political turf in order. Whatever hurts the Muslims in the country will hurt them in U.P and other majority Muslim inhabited constituencies. Strange I mentioned UP which the Congress has already lost to the caste based politics of BSP. There is a divide being created everywhere be it a religious one or a caste based one but it speaks only one language, ‘Divide and Rule’.

How ironic it is that we talk about secularism and in the midst of all this we have universities where we have reservations for certain religions. How something like this can be justified as an equal treatment is beyond my comprehension. Naming a building or an airport is being done to please one community or the other. Ram Mandir is to be spoken in hushed voices. His Sethu is a coincidental geographical feature which was once again by coincidence mentioned in Vedic scriptures but we do not have the time to read them as we are too busy being secular. Well the point is that only Hindu sentiments are attached to it hence it qualifies as a non-issue, had it been a part of the sentiments of some other religion the government would have surely thought of some other way around it. Fatwa is issued as nonchalantly as possible and a kirpaan is a religious right but a Rath Yatra is a source of communal tension and so is a Trishul. For a certain community certain laws are not applicable while for others they are binding and final.

It is strange that we live amidst such double standards and yet talk about being secular. There are people who use the term being secular to fuel their own ambitions than striking a chord of harmony between the different communities. Left finds the BSP as an alternative to the Congress, Congress finds a worthy ally in SP. All that is being done is the formation of alliances so that the 2009 elections are based on local issues and not national ones. Parties are very keen to add a local flavor to the national scene because of which marginal parties like TDP, DMK, JMM, BSP, SP, RLD etc can make the big players dance to their whims. But don’t be surprised when secularism once again becomes the talk of the town. BJP stands at the receiving end because it bluntly states its policy and is also not good in disguising its ambitions as the other parties. The good thing about BJP is that it is now learning from its past mistakes and one can see that now it has a more clear policy on secularism. They may openly stand for Hindu rights but in the process do not incite them against any other community. BJP will still not be acceptable to many of us but the fact is that if someone stands for a certain community it does not necessarily mean that he stands against all other communities. Whatever is your perspective but the truth is that no party is secular but the difference is that most parties know how to be diplomatic. They will find N number of ways to show that they are secular and yet will not try to separate religion from politics. In the end what you will see is pseudo-secularism. Whether you take the bait or not it is up to you to decide.