Monday 31 December 2012

May "Nirbhaya's" soul rest in Peace

बहुत कुछ कहा जा चुका है "दामिनी" के बारे में।  हमने ऐसे कानून बनाये हैं जो मासूमो के बजाये अपराधियों का बचाव करती है। हमारे देश में एक नारी की अस्मत की कीमत बस कुछ हज़ार रुपये एवं कुछ साल ही होते हैं। ऐसा मै नहीं भारत का कानून  कहता है। भारतीय दंड संहिता के अनुसार एक बलात्कारी को मात्र कुछ  हज़ार तक का जुरमाना एवं  सात से दस साल तक की कैद ही होती है।


But, think of the agony that a woman has to go through during the entire life wrecking experience. And trust me, her soul dies even if the woman herself remains alive. And that is the price of a woman according to our society and its laws.


According to the legal procedures that actually happen (let me inform you, the law in letter says otherwise), the victim is forced to recite the painful and shameful incident again and again to various officials involved in the investigation and justice procedure. What kind of justice is this? The woman is already broken, but, the law breaks her further.


Instead of making the accused prove his innocence, the victim is forced to prove that rape has actually happened. The victim has to undergo a physically penetrative test (by mostly a male doctor, think what the woman has to go through). The entire procedure is rotten. The woman has to prove that she is of "right character", she has actually been "raped", has to recite it in front of many unknown males and all this if the police lodge the FIR at the first place.

The women are mostly threatened by the rich culprit to keep quiet and in this the police also help the accused. The recent suicide of a victim in Punjab is a sordid example of this 
(Punjab: Girl commits suicide a month after being gangraped Punjab, Updated Dec 27, 2012 at 07:03pm IST). 
The politicians are playing with laws and they neither try to bring in the strict laws nor they force the police to act with moral and legal responsibilities. The reason ? They themselves are rapists.

We need to change the law book seriously.  The need is urgent.

People and all citizens of INDIA are requested to  send their decisions and suggestions to ex-CJI of India for his committee that will be presenting the report for the DAMINI case.

mail your suggestions to: justice.verma@nic.in

Wednesday 14 November 2012

School Life: Days at School...

I was born, with an ambition to make a name,
and my parents wanted me to do the same;

I was admitted to a school, where, I have till now spent a part of life,
Those days and their memories, I will try to describe;

The first day when I reached the school, I wept,
It was because of the feeling of loneliness, in me that had crept;

All these years, some or the other led me the way,
My teachers, I must say;

I have had many friends all through,
But, the days have passed as if they flew;

Once, I had had a tiff, a bitter one and tensions got dense,
I said sorry to him and we are friends ever since;

I made many mistakes and am still learning from them,
The experience I have attained could be weighed by the most precious gems;

I have never been a good player I don't think I am game,
But, then, I was born with an ambition to make a name...

- Bane Havoc            

Saturday 27 October 2012

Hope and People

You don't owe any more to this city... you have given it everything...
 Not everything, not yet

Batman
(The Dark Knight Rises)

How many people do we have in this world who would simply give everything they have merely to see others happy and content? Not many. 
Next I will ask the obvious question, what is hope?

Is it the wish of a student, being unprepared for his exams, to pass his exams with good grades? Or, is it the belief of the patient that he will be cured by merely visiting the doctor?

Neither of these. Hope is something, it is said, unique to the very fabric  of the human nature. We put half of our best effort and "hope" that the most optimum result would be produced. We believe that there is somewhere some supreme being who looks after us. Who cares for us and would not leave us in an abyss. Hope allows us to cope up with the pressures of our day-to-day life and continue to exist.

Whatever one might say about hope, one aspect is pretty clear; we live by hope. Hope of a better life. It is argued by the non-believers that people try to prove the existence of alien beings that have superior knowledge than us merely to thwart that inevitable feeling of being left alone. Consider for example, that clerk you last saw in the electricity department when you last went to pay your bills. He might be churning in big amounts of money, but, definitely he never wanted to be there. He must have while in school dreamed of a life with more grandeur, luxury and respect. He did not or could not get that part of the gamble of life. Still he survives. Lives. Is it that he is content with his life? Or is it that he come to believe that this is how real life is?
No matter how dark the moment, love and hope are always possible.
                                                                                    -George Chakiris

No, the fact is, he has hope. Hope that "something" will happen and change his life altogether. Make an overnight overhaul in his lifestyle. This is how hope allows a man in general to persist. 

Still I would say that there is another flip side of hope. The hope of improvement is not always an objective, materialistic view. It is often about someone. About some "Hero". We all want a hero to exist in our lives who would pull us out of our darkness and agony. As is rightly quoted:
A hero can be anyone. Even a man doing something as simple and reassuring as putting a coat around a little boy's shoulders to let him know that the world hadn't ended. 
 Men fail to understand the true nature of hope. We all need heroes in our lives. We stand in lines to just catch a glimpse of a movie actor. Why? Because he is a hero. He braves all odds and wins in the end. Finds the best life in the end. Gets the girl of his dream. We are fascinated by his success against obvious discomforts and obstructions. It is rightly said:

there can be no true despair without hope
 When we lose hope we lose our life or atleast the will to live. Had there been no despair in our life, there would be no need to hope for anything better. Life would become stagnant and we would cease to live. 

We need a hero and we need hope.

Friday 7 September 2012

Colours : A vivid thought for the joy laden...

          The intermix of colours, their entwining nature, cradling to beget a new form to rise up above the horizon of folklore and become the ecstasy of the elite, that are selected by their unique love for the vibrant, vivid beauty of world---

       In the ethereal existence of the vivacious sparkle, called life, often enough the diminutive lifeless compounds called colours, fill the missing blanks so as to paint the entire picture, the canvas being the individual's own retributions for the forsaken and listless world...

          the painter uses these colours to ride the wings of the unicorn of his imagination, to sway forth into the unfortold expanses of wisdom, forsight and anticipation... he fortifies his own calibrated picture of the joy of world, as, unseen by the yet unawakened general mortals.... he is an artist...

         pristine in his methods.... glorified in his vision.. obscure to the world and may be living in oblivion yet he is not dismayed by the apathy of the mortals.... he has the conjunctive medicine for his disease, ration for his daily survival, the need for sheer existence... he has the very meaning of matter.... vision.... sensibilities.... he has Colours 

Friday 3 August 2012

Life and Death

The fear of death follows from the fear of life.  A man who lives fully is prepared to die at any time.  ~Mark Twain

We often believe that we are born in a world full of opportunities, new heights to scale, new places to conquer. We are thrown in our own happy world and are happy in it. What we are generally not aware is that we are wearing away our time. Have you watched the movie "In Time" ? Yes, we all have a stopwatch on our lives. It ticks. Backwards. Our time on earth is counted. We do not live forever. None of us.
We live in illusions and think of "living life king size". How naive are our thoughts. How hollow our purpose; or must I say lack of purpose? We live simply for the sake of living. We live each day with the sole purpose that our next day be better.


There is a quotation:
All our knowledge merely helps us to die a more painful death than animals that know nothing.  ~Maurice Maeterlinck


Yes I believe that life is a stake one has to put up with to earn a peaceful death. Maurice's saying is rather contradictory one might say. He says knowledge leads to a painful death. Maybe true. However I cannot vouch for that. It depends upon what you did with your life and your knowledge. You are supposed to use your knowledge to earn a peaceful death. If all you did in your life was to run after money, riches, lust and other material luxuries and novelties then perhaps you will die an unhappy death. Or, when, you craved for each one of these and found none maybe then you will not find peace.

I recently lost someone who was directly linked to my earliest childhood memories. I was an infant and he was one of my playmates. A child usually remembers all love and affection showered on him or her. So do I. He supposedly suffered of Alzheimer's disease. He barely recognized his own kith and kin when he neared his death. Maybe he did not feel as much pain as by them who survive him. I pray to the almighty that so be the case. 

May his soul rest in peace and his memories be immortal.


Watching a peaceful death of a human being reminds us of a falling star; one of a million lights in a vast sky that flares up for a brief moment only to disappear into the endless night forever.  ~Elisabeth Kübler-Ross




All quotations from :  http://www.quotegarden.com/death.html 

Tuesday 31 July 2012

New poem by bane


An ode to parting frnds:


I walked alone on a path I tread
I met some women and men when life made me frayed


A word, a poke, a slap, a look
the strains of life and pain it took


I began to cherish the luxury of friends
never thought a parting, the heart it rends


Felt a parting would not be hard
wrong that I was, it hurt, inward


To lose a friend is to be born anew
when thou know not the world and view


I miss you my friends and all
barriers won't divide us nor would walls


Count me when thou count thy souls
bane of mortals shall only void my roles


Fear nay the known nor the unknown
the shield of your people's love you've always worn


May success be be thine... never you frown
The jewel of glory your name shalt it crown... !!

--- bane havoc (missing friends)

Tuesday 12 June 2012

Another poem by BANE

 दूर शितिज की ओर चला मै
उमड़ - घुमड़ घनघोर चला मै
कूके कोयल , नाचे मोर चला मै
शीतल बौछार छोड़ चला मै
मन पावन कर हर ओर चला मै
                                             
                                                     - BANE

Saturday 10 March 2012

Cyclic behaviour of Nature...


      We can find the cycles of nature everywhere around us. We even have been studying them in our school… the carbon cycle, the oxygen cycle, the organic matter cycle. However these cycles are not just limited to these elemental levels. Even the planets revolving around the stars, the satellites revolving around the planets all constitute cycles. Apart from these cycles we have the cycle of birth and death which we live out and in. I was reading an article in TOI on the same topic and my thoughts were set into motion: -

Cosmic Cycle Of Life And Death

By: Moni Mohan Bhattacharyya on Mar 01, 2012
Cosmic Cycle Of Life And DeathIf you walk continuously along a straight path, you will never be found again. But on a cyclic path, you come back repeatedly at the starting point and eventually cover endless distance, provided the energy and system remain intact.

Interestingly, most phenomena occurring in nature favour a cyclic rather than straight path. In the greater universe, we see planets circling around stars and stars moving, centring around the galaxy. The process has been going on in billions of other galaxies since creation. However, such movement is not without purpose.

Apart from gigantic celestial bodies, it is surprising that microscopic subatomic particles inside matter like electrons are also moving in orbits around the nucleus of the atom. These are all energy particles and are responsible for matter formation and destruction.

Returning to our planet, one of the most important phenomena sustaining the life process is plants photosynthesis. It continuously converts carbon dioxide released by life forms to oxygen in the atmosphere through cycles so that there is never any dearth of any component. Apart from this, there are myriad other cycles occurring in nature that protect creation.

Acharya Jagadish Chandra Bose wrote in his book, Abyakta, while going to explore the source of the Ganga, albeit philosophically, "Oh river, where have you come from? Where will you go? The river replied, "From the locks of matted hair of Shiva I originate and go back to the same place yet again."

Why does nature prefer the cyclic path so spontaneously all along Sadi Carnot, French engineer, discovered in 1832 that a reversible engine generates maximum output only when it works in cycles.

It is also independent of the working substance used.

If the cyclic path happens to be so desirable both for the material and the living world, then it is highly probable that the most vital phenomenon on earth concerning birth-death of human beings should also work in cycles and is very unlikely to be a one-off incident.

How does it work then? According to the Prasnopanishada, at the time of death, the old body being incapable of sustaining the life process any longer perishes along with senses and buddhi or intellect, leaving mind and soul intact to space.

While the soul behaves as an onlooker only, mind stores all sanskaras like a computer's hard disk. This soul-mind system acting as a link then enters a new embryonic body, the matrix of which is determined by the previous mind at the time of death.

The soulmind then directs the body as steam drives a steam engine away. However, evolution from raw mind to enlightened mind is a long journey considering that change in mindset is undoubtedly a slow process. To effect this time-consuming transformation, continuous cycles rather than a single one are the right answer. Had it not been so, all souls should have required the same state of attainment at the end of a one-off cycle. With the path remaining the same and with changed system (new soul-mind), each time at the start, the soul-mind combo can, therefore, repeat its journey afresh through a chain of cycles, which entails continuous cleansing of the fleeting mind from illusory bondage of negativity by selfless karma till it achieves liberation. This has been the purpose as also Divine Will, which the cyclic path delivers uniquely.

       Are we all not living through a cycle at all times? If yes then what are the effects of the cycle? What is a cycle at the first place? In any cycle, when we start from a location we reach back the same location after certain interval of time. So is it not obvious that even in birth and death we follow a similar pattern? We are born and we die. We are reborn with a new body and live a new life. As Mr. Bhattacharyya described in his article so well, the storage and soul (life causing something) never perish. They continue to exist and are passed on. Ancient sages said we are stuck in this cycle of birth and death and to be free we need to attain moksh. 

        Apart from this, should we not also consider this: if somehow we can recover the data of the storage that never perishes, will we not become immensely intelligent? Think of knowledge and languages that are now lost. We will be able to speak them again. We will actually know many Vaidic mathematics principles (assuming we ever learnt them). I have a belief that the homo sapien race does not inherently belong to the earth. We will even be able to trace back our whereabouts and know all our origins. 

        What my present writing has led me to is this: we must have some control over our mind. By control I mean the ability to actually disintegrate ourselves temporarily from the body and look at the birth and death cycle as an outsider. I will definitely write more on the topic of Kayagaman or astral experience, as the west calls it.

Sunday 26 February 2012

Love, Women and Indian Society


“First love is sweet despair”
-unknown

What is love? Of course there is no definition for it. When we are young our hormones are the predominant factor in deciding whom we love. Science is of the view that in men the brain functions in such a way as to allow them to choose the most productive of women that would bear their child. Women, on the other hand are geared to choose the man that would provide them with all sorts of support. And how exactly does either of them decide about their partners? Smell, gait, voice, eyes, the way of looking and other trifles that would otherwise hold no meaning. This is what a friend of mine once remarked, infatuation. But, what when they grow up?

The parameters doubtlessly change when boys and girls grow up. One has to remember that those just out of their teens are aimless and afraid of their futures. Fear gives rise to either to the fight for survival or to bullying. Parents and teachers would have the children take the former path. So should they, if they have to live and lead a luxurious life. Nothing wrong there. Society will not feed you.
Wait a minute bane, the heading says, “Women and society” and what are you talking about? Patience my dear reader, patience. Something our Indian society now lacks. Allow me to recount an incident.
 
‘A girl joins a college to pursue higher education. So does a boy. Of course the scene is set in the same college. The girl is not of best academics. The boy is better in studies. The girl lacks self confidence. The boy doesn’t have a clear aim. Having met the girl and finding that she suits him, he foresees a future. He helps her out in her studies and she finds for the first time in her life, someone who cares. They fall in love. [Pay attention now dear reader].
What are your views regarding their love? 

Do you think they were actually in love? Or was it just complementing each other. What one didn't get at home, one finds in a partner. The girl was considered a burden by her parents. The boy had yet to decide a path for his life and future. When he met the girl, he was suddenly taken over by the idea that he has a purpose in life. To protect his love, to care for her, to support her. She always wanted, but, lacked such care. They were now under the impression, they were made for each other.

Let us now take a look at the parents' perspective. The parents of the boy had obviously no objection (apparently) and as for the girl's family they were initially in agreement of their union. Initially I said and I mean it. Something happened and the result was something that was straight out of some Bollywood masala movie.

A highly posted official of that college saw her and fell for her. Considering she was 18, he was almost double the age. A year later he proposed to her family, and, the family, seeing his position and bank balance, immediately agreed. The girl had almost no say in this. She was forced to accept the marriage and she gave in.

The boy was threatened and warned of dire consequences if he even went near her. So, at age 19-20 she was engaged only to be married a few months later. She had no choice. The men in power always have their say.

So what is your point bane? This happens all the time. Why bother?
 
Yes. It happens all the time. It happens that a girls family considers her to be burden. It happens that a girl in India is never asked for her opinions for her life. It happens that a girl may not fall in love, may be married off at young age, to a much older fellow. It happens that a girl in India may have to bear a child and carry out the duties of a wife at an age when she hardly knows herself.

The girl in the above mentioned story asked her family only this much, that if they want her marry the man they want, atleast let her grow up. Let her complete her studies. She was beaten to silence and submittance.

The girl and the boy may be wrong. They may be rash in deciding their life's route, but, tell me do you find it meek that a girl in India should have no right to choose? There was a time when women in India chose their husband in a ritual called swayamvar. It is a thing of the past now.
The women are suppressed inspite of numerous women welfare and rights laws. They do not yet have a say. A society that can not respect its women is bound to doom. It will eventually fail. And this is quite visible. The values are losing their merit  and acceptance among the youth. Not only the boys but also the girls use language that might be called beggarly or filthy. They do not have respect for elders and scoff at parents advice.

These young boys and girls will become parents of tommorrow but will they be able to impart any culture or value to their children? No. The society will break. Evil will run rampant. All this just because we today will fail to give the best values to our children. 

Every parent wants the best for their children. However, in their decisions, the children's feelings should not be hurt.

I know the girl will fall in order of events in her life. She will eventually forget her first love and learn to adjust in her new environment. She will be a good wife and a good mother. Her first love? Sweet despair.

I believe the women will be liberated from such hapless conditions and will have a greater choice  and say in their life. Hoping for the general good.

(This is not fiction; it is based on a true story of my friends and the fate of their love)

Friday 17 February 2012

What is thy aim ?


The world doesn’t know who you are underneath; it’s what you do that defines you
-          Batman
I was asked by a teacher what my objectives for my life are. I simply replied: “I want to innovate in a new software system.” To this he replied: “will the completion of this objective give you ultimate satisfaction? Will this suffice all your wants?” It is true that I didn’t have an answer to this question. Then I thought, after much musing, does any one of us have an objective? A purpose? The ancient sages told us to meditate, to introspect and find the purpose of the gift that the lord almighty has given us. It took years, to know it. When one stumbled upon this truth, he was considered to be enlightened. What or how then we, young men, who haven’t had much experience of this world, could possibly know the purpose? Again what is this purpose? One of my dearest friend said that our aim should be to strive for knowledge and be of service to mankind in general.
Now comes the big question, in the real world scenario, is such mentality feasible? In a country where to earn food is one of the most difficult task, is there any time or health for others? Do we care for others, for philosophy? For values? No. We all will be too busy earning our own livelihood. I will know a technique and my peer will know one more. I will be busy taking on him so that I get beyond him in career. I will be hungry for money, respect and superiority. I know I will be not the best of the citizen; I will pay bribes to get my work done. I will walk along the set lines of fanciful and immoral conduct, and become a legal trickster. Objective whoever talked of that? I will be alive.
I think it will be almost impossible to be the idealist that we think of, if ever we do think of it. At the end I know I will hate myself for being what I would become in life. Considering these thoughts all I would say in the end is this: “whatever or however I live my life, I will die a respectful death.”
May all those who are aimless find a purpose in life. Read the first line now. Again, carefully.

Sunday 5 February 2012

Indians and the Agneepath way !

Should the youngsters of today's India resort to weapons?

"...यार इन सभी नेताओ को लाइन में खड़ा करके गोली मार देनी चाहिए... " We most often than not may have heard the more ardent of the patriotic youngsters say this. I have myself said this more times than I can recall. Now, a question has arisen in my mind, is it really the right way? Is it the only way to subdue the obnoxious presence of the omnipresent corruption? Will this cure the country of this disease and restore it to some pristine state?

          Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi was only 24-25, when in 1893, he was thrown off a train in South Africa. He did not fight back with the racist englishmen who considered themselves a superior race. He took up path that was peaceful, long term, diplomatic and non-violent. Ahimsa (अहिंसा), was his supreme tool of action. He was fondly called Bapu (बापू), or the father of our nation and it is the belief of historians and people alike that it was his non-violent struggle and his persistence that won the Indians their freedom. True, but, is  it absolutely true?
           Have you ever considered the flip side of this?
Do you not think that if it were not for the forceful struggles and resistance provided by the so called extremists; Subhash Chandra Bose, Bhagat Singh, Ram Prasad Bismil, Chandra Shekhar Azad and other not so famous men, freedom was not possible?
When most men were talking of non-violence under gandhiji's teachings, there were some who were killed or who lost their loved one's to british bullets. So, when they were killing us why should we have not struck them back in the hearts and minds? We did and the above mentioned men were the most prominent in these attacks. A  जलियांवाला बाग़ massacre was reciprocated by Bhagat Singh, Azad killing Dyer, who ordered the killings.
Shubhash Chandra Bose was earlier a common indian politician, the first indian man to break the taboo that indians cannot enter civil services. He had differences with Gandhi, and he left Indian Congress and was exiled by British Indian government. He went on to take refuge in Japan and built the Indian National Army. He planned to attack India and win it back from the british. He couldn't succeed, but, he showed the rulers what Indians are capable of. He used force, but, highly organised force.



              Coming back to present times, we have seen that youth of India boiled at the idea of reservations and discrimination on the basis of caste. Some went on to say that the minister who brought it in should be killed. Their inspiration: Rang de Basanti,  a movie that depicts five youngsters killing the corrupt defense minister of India because of whose actions their friend died. Although, it tried to depict youth awakening  and patriotism, it simply showed some revenge taking. Justified?
              Coming to almost the end of my discussion, I will talk about the title of my post, Agneepath. A movie that made waves when it was shot with Amitabh Bachchan as its lead actor and causing a frenzy still when it has been remade with Hrithik Roshan. The point? "Avenge the wrongs done to you", the violent way. We see corrupt and the shit about it, criminals taking up elite positions in the Indian government. It is not restricted to any one party. All are same. We talk about being the youngest country, but, we do not yet have a bright future. Not with criminals having the balance of power. Crime is rampant and although it may not affect everybody resulting in the illusion that we are safe, it is spreading like a wildfire. Political, Cyber, social everything. Our laws are good, but, outdated. Many clauses have lost their significance, but, the amendment procedure is too long and cumbersome. Result? Justice delayed and justice denied and most unfortunately justice inappropriate. 
               Law and politics is becoming the game of power brokers and when there is law-lessness, there rises violence. To settle their disputes, the ordinary citizen takes up weapons and hell breaks loose. Think about it all my readers and suggest the ways to make a peaceful, non-corrupt and dignified, decent society. Take care.!!

Friday 3 February 2012

Promote Indianism !

                 I have been told time and again..."Anurag, why don't you wear a jeans and a nice shirt instead of those loose and hanging clothes? You look so morosely old fashioned....".
                This insistence of my friends has made me think about the fate of Indian culture. We are one of the oldest civilization in this world. 5000 thousand years and on. We have a dress sense that is old and time tested. However, the young Indians do not seem to be much interested in the history rather they want some toung-in-cheek type hype to be created when they wear anything.
                It all happens because the young guns grow up watching the idlers (read movie actors) wearing all those fashionable clothes besides the fact that the MNC's that provide bread and butter to these young guns when they grow up is the incentive for them to wear fancy clothes.
                A girl once told me she wears jeans and tops because she is more comfortable in them for her day to day chores rather than salwar-kamez which I had suggested her to wear. Now, as for her day to day chores, I don't really think jeans-top does her any good. Never mind, the other fact that they do not want to look odd amidst their peers.

               Now, such attitude can be changed only if we are our own bread producers. The west controls us financially. We have to break free of such bondage and make our own empires that do not profusely depend on western help. Only then can we regain the respect for Hindi and Indian attire back in the hearts of our young Indians.

Monday 30 January 2012

Vote with Brains

Indian Election

As our general elections have approached, we have definitely decided to vote, haven't we? However, are the candidates contesting the elections are worth our votes?
Consider this: our present government has barred four senior scientists of ISRO from government jobs. His guilt? 
The action comes in the wake of the controversial deal in which a private company was allotted scarce S band spectrum by ISRO allegedly in violation of rules. The contract with Devas was signed during the tenure of Mr. Nair as the chairman of ISRO.
source:  http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2012-01-25/india/30662524_1_devas-deal-antrix-devas-antrix-and-devas
"We are citizens of India, residing in India, we have cell (mobile phone) connection and email connection, we have postal address and every thing is there. Actually, we have not hijacked an aeroplane or something so that between hijackers and the agency there will be dialogue and what not", Nair said.
source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Restore-my-honour-Ex-ISRO-chief-Madhavan-Nair-writes-to-Manmohan-Singh/articleshow/11687052.cms
  
Now, the esteemed ministers who have similar charges on their heads not only roam about with their heads held high but also hold their offices. Why is it that our scientists are being treated like criminals? Vote for those who are worthy of your choice...