Rape victims and Ramayana.

Atul: Hey bloggy, whats up?

Blog: Not bad. Why don't you install Google Chrome and run me on that?

Atul: Actually I did install Chrome but didn't like it. Well, or lets say that I still like Firefox better than Chrome.

Blog: Ok, never mind, so what's up with this Ramayana thing?

Atul: I watched this movie yesterday - Khaamosh Pani (Silent Waters). It's a Pakistani movie and actually, a pretty nice attempt. Btw, warn me if I start writing a review of the movie instead of what I intended to write. So this movie is based on the period when Pakistan was undergoing a political crisis.

Blog: Wait a minute, be specific. Because Pakistan has always been in a political crisis!

Atul: Allright, so it's on the backdrop of the events in late 1970s when Zia Ul Haq took over and Marshall law was enforced on Pakistan with ouster of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto.

Blog: I know who you are talking about, that Haq guy had the weirdest moustache and hair style.

Atul: Yep. So the story is based on a mother and her son during that period, living in a village immune to the political turmoil in big cities. But as the story progresses, her son starts getting Islamicized and intolerant to other religions. And from the flashback we get to know her story that how she was a Sikh woman, forced to commit suicide during partition by her own family members, but she doesn't jump into that well and instead runs away. Eventually she is caught by some Muslim folks, repeatedly raped before some one shows pity on her and marries her. I am not giving away the story here, was just building up the context of what I have to say next.

Blog: Oh man, that is tragic. We can go on and on discussing the human tragedy of the partition, but keep it for another blog post. Now I know how does the rape comes in the title of this post but how about Ramayana? Isn't that a great epic of you Hindus?

Atul: You are right, it's probably the most revered of the Hindu epics with Rama, the lead hero being the Super God of sorts for Hindus. Now assuming that you already know the story and know that how Rama brings back Sita abducted by Demon Ravana I will fast forward to when Rama asks Sita to leave him because people start doubting Sita and her purity.

Blog: Hold on, what do you mean by purity? So people actually thought that Sita had sex with Ravana?

Atul: That was a bit raw, but yes, you are right. It was the main accusation against her.

Blog: I don't get it. May be I am just a dumb blog and not as intelligent as you humans, but one thing is for sure, and it is that Ravana could have raped Sita but no way they had consensual sex.

Atul: You are right again. You see ...

Blog: There is nothing to see in it. Even if she was raped, that should lead to sympathy of people towards her not their antipathy. That's preposterous.

Atul: Well I am not saying that the people were right in saying or thinking so.

Blog: And nor was your Lord Rama. By that logic, every rape victim should be ostracized from society and sent to those rehabilitation centers where they earn their livelihood by knitting carpets or making cane chairs. The other day I read about Sati system, the craziest thing I ever read. And then these honour killings, always with innocent women being the victim. Don't you have any respect for women?

Atul: Why are you blaming me? I didn't rape any one. Instead, what I am trying to say is that what Lord Rama did was ...

Blog: Bullshit ! That's what it was. And you say that he is your ideal God?

Atul: No, he is not. And you mind your language least you want me to get killed.
I don't think Rama was perfect and for that matter Ramayana is a perfect story. And that's what bamboozles me, what could be the reason that the authors of Ramayana added this Sita Vanvaas episode in what is other wise a perfect story.

Blog: I know, because those guys were assholes?

Atul: Shut up. There can be three reasons.
1. It's a known fact that Valmiki, the author of the Ramayana didn't write the Uttara Kanda in which these events take place. So either the story was not very well integrated or there's a conspiracy theory that some one else added this story to the original epic to kind off denegrate the character of Rama. I am not a buyer of that theory.

2. The authors wanted to show that how a man who could fight the deadliest of all the daemons could not fight the mores of the society. So by adding this episode, the authors made the story more relevant and humane. It didn't make Lord Rama an ideal but used him as a tool to tell us that what is indeed ideal.

3. Well, I hope it's not true but ...

Blog: Hahahaha, I know you can't say it, so let me do the honors. The only other justification of Rama not accepting a supposed rape victim who had passed the 'Agni Pariksha' and was her divine beloved and was won back after a deadly war killing thousands of monkeys and a million Rakshas is that ... the author of Ramayana was an ASSHOLE.

Atul: You said it!

And finally Gandhi died!

Blog: What? Really? You are not kidding me, right? I didn't get any RSS news alert. How? When? Accident? Homicide? Oh man, she was going to be the president of your country!

Atul: Who are you talking about?

Blog: Sonia Gandhi, who are YOU talking about?

Atul: oh man, you got me wrong. I was talking about Mahatma Gandhi.

Blog: oh, do you think I am a fool?

Atul: Actually, yes. Because Sonia Gandhi would have become the Prime Minster of India, not the President you bloody obsessed-american-presidential-campaign-follower.

Blog: Oops. I am sorry for that. But I just checked my facts on Gandhi on wiki, this guy - Mr. Mahatma died in 1948. And in fact he was murdered by another guy Mr. Godse. Ah, you humans are the most interesting species, like I never heard a monkey killing another monkey .. but let me not rant about it. So now tell me, who died and when?

Atul: I meant the same guy you read about - Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi. And he died yesterday on Oct 2, 2008.

Blog: Dude, you need a break. He was born on October 2, he didn't die on October 2.

Atul: Don't you still understand? I am talking allegorically. There are only three National Days in India. Independence Day, Republic Day and Gandhi's Birthday. I know that these days may have lost their relevance now, but I still watch the Republic day parade or at least its' clipping on TV, I still read / watch Prime Minister's address to nation on Independence day but Gandhi Jayanti? I do nothing. There was a time when I would watch that rerun of the Academy award winner movie made by a non Indian about the greatest of the Indians. But yesterday, I did nothing. I came to Office, fixed a few bugs, discussed the current financial crisis over lunch and talked about the Palin - Biden vice presidential debate but forgot that it was 2nd October. So I said, he has finally died.

Blog: Oh I see. But do you know what is the mistake that you guys made? You didn't associate his birthday with a festival. People still celebrate Jesus' birthday, Buddha's b'day and though mythical but Krishna's b'day. But then Gandhi is no God.

Atul: True, he is not God. And probably that's why its more important to remember him more than you remember Buddha. He is a proof that Buddha did exist. He is not called Mahatma for nothing. Yes he was spiritual, but he was not one of those Gurus having their Ashram on river side in Rishikesh (no offense intended) selling spirituality to the wealthy foreigners, none of those either who built their own sect (no offense again), instead he help built an entire Nation. And yes, he was a political leader but unlike those fodder eaters and saari hoarders (offense intended) whose definition of 'mine' is limited to family members, instead his definition of 'mine' was an entire country, that's why his own son became estranged to him. I know there are too many critics of him, blaming him for the partition of India, of being anti Revolutionaries like Netaji Bose / Bhagat Singh and basically what not. Just the fact that he was finally murdered by a guy who belonged to a party which still has a huge stake in the Indian socio-political landscape says it all. I don't care about these criticisms, because most of these critics are biased. All I hope is that History does justice to him, and he is talked about a mythical Mahatma a 500 years from now. But dude, for me he died yesterday.

Blog: Don't you ever blame me for not understanding allegories. Do you think I didn't get the inner message of this blog entry? The father of your nation may have died yesterday, but you just resurrected him today.

The Morbid TOP - 5

Blog: Hey Man, whats up? I was expecting you to do a review on Om Shanti Om but you did not!

Atul: Well, yeah. The blogosphere is already choking with the number of reviews on Om Shanti Om and Saawariya. And some of them are so interesting that they were more entertaining that the movies itself. But most of them are totally biased and since I am an obsessed Shahrukh Khan fan, my review would have been a waste too. Web 2.0 garbage is already a reality. So you should be glad because I saved you from a torture.

Blog: Thanks a lot! So whats this Morbid top - 5?

Atul: These are the top 5 reasons or ways that THIS WORLD WILL END, well according to me.

Blog: Oh, thats morbid! But do we need to know that?

Atul: Of course not! When you don't know how long you yourself are going to live how does it matter if you know that the human beings will be extinct in next 1000 years or so. But IT IS important to be reminded every now and then that ultimately every thing comes to an end. And IT IS important to constantly be aware of our innate powerlessness. This is the only way spirituality blossoms in you. Understanding of Death has the capacity to enlighten you to attain Buddha hood or Krishna consciousness. And only when you know that you might die another day, you feel silly living as a Hindu or a Sikh or a Muslim or living as an Indian or an American; only then you laugh at your prejudices and stop feeling sorry for yourself. By the way, when you are at it, why don't you check out the chapter on Death from the Prophet by Khalil Gibran; which I have told you so many times is my favorite book.

Blog: All right! Can we now please have the list? By the way this list contains the reasons why Human Population may get extinct or all the species on Earth or something. And whats the order?

Atul: Both. And its kind of same, isn't it? The order is based on the probability of occurring, ability to avert and the SCARE INDUCING index of that method.

Blog: Ok, got it. So whats the number 5.



Atul: On number 5 is WAR. Where War is a super set of any act of terrorism, genocide, a world war, a civil war or any accident involving a nuclear bomb intended for warfare.
I know I know, a cynic (read an optimist) will disagree and say 'We have been fighting since Stone Age and still the human race has grown' and stuff. But that's exactly why a WAR has the ability to completely annihilate us because we have never stopped fighting. And when we have nuclear bombs that have the capacity to totally wipe out nations in seconds, the fear seems more real.
And do you know that there is even a theory that Dinosaurs got extinct due to behavioral changes rather than climatic changes. According to this theory those dudes started killing and eating each other, eventually leading to their extinction. And hell, we are not smarter than Dinos; because they at least killed to satisfy their hunger, we kill to satisfy our ego!!
So that's number 5 for you, WAR; a suicide by an entire species.

Blog: hmm, I thought you were going to talk about Star wars aka aliens and stuff!! Ok, so whats number 4.



Atul: Number 4 is DISEASE. Yeah, we have made a considerable growth in medical sciences but still there are incurable diseases and still there are undiagnosed diseases and still there are new diseases coming up which have never been heard of. And more over we have a history of diseases like Plague or Cholera decimating entire civilizations. So a new disease may come from no where and if not instantaneously, gradually taking its toll. And if you add to it diseases to our food crops or our livestock leading to widespread famines; the fear factor really increases.

Blog: And yeah, if you add to it the prolificness of Indian doctors going on strikes and fubared Health Insurance systems around the world, even I would agree with you!



Atul: Number 3 is a Meteor strike. Is it possible? YES. Is it probable? Why Not! But the fear of a meteor striking the planet Earth is the 'Mother of all fears'. I don't even need to mention what can happen if a meteor strikes us. Just look at that expression on the face of people when you discuss this! I mean, its like Universe is playing a multi dimensional Billiards and it has already hit the ball towards Earth and just waiting for the HIT.

Blog: Well I agree, its really scary. More scary than Ram Gopal Varma making 'RGV ki Aag - part 2'! Anyways, check out this video.





Atul: Number 2 is Climate Change. Actually it should be Number 1, but I will tell you why it is not. In fact I believe that this is going to be THE only reason of extinction of mankind.
I don't know what will be the change, will the Earth get warmer, or the Ice Age will advent again. I even don't know will the climate change be caused due to natural reasons or human intervention, but I am convinced something will happen.
For example you must have heard about this cycle the Earth goes in while revolving around Sun, when for a considerable period its very near to Sun and then very far from Sun may be causing an Ice Age.
Global warming is a big threat too but it is really over hyped. Who would have thought that you can win a Nobel Peace prize just by making a Power Point presentation!! (On a side note, 'An inconvenient truth' by Al Gore is a must see movie, if not for the content; definitely to learn how to use power point :-). But let me not undermine it, with some scientist even claiming that in 30 years Glaciers will melt enough to increase the water level by 1 meter; effecting half of the entire human population and displacing millions especially in developing countries like India and China. Dude, I am shifting to Denver :)

Blog: You are right man, there was a deluge of videos on youtube when Al Gore won the Nobel Peace prize, and check out the trailer of the spoof by South Park on Al Gore. Ok, time for the Numero One!



Atul: Number one is the DEATH OF SUN. Our Sun is a star and every star has its life cycle. Yeah, I am talking about the White Dwarfs, Super Novas and Black Holes!
Its number one because its inevitable, it might happen after million of years or after million of species are already extinct. But that will be THE END of the planet Earth and the whole Solar System.
Its number one because its so awe inspiring and beautiful. I can't think of any other example where insignificance is manifested in such a majestic way. If you see a picture of Supernova you will think if God is playing Holi and Diwali on the same day, or turned into a painter and decided to do some modern Art.
Its number one because there are Black Holes involved in it and our Sun may end up into a Black Hole too. And whats more mysterious than a woman's heart and more pulling than a woman's eyes! (if not having an infinite capacity of a woman's shopping bag). It's a Black Hole, the best poetic expression of God.
And its number one because it has a spiritual message to it. God is trying to make us see the underlying unity in everything by making everything ONE in the end. And by Black Holes God is giving a message that even though there is no escape from death, and there is no escape from that void and emptiness, there is still something about that absolute nothingness.

The Explosion - Part 1

Due da Blog: OH MY GOD! Where have you been Atul? Its nice to have you back. I thought you forgot me.

Atul: Hey bloggy, I know I have let you down. But what to do! So, tell me how did you pass your time dude.

Blog: Ah, don't worry about me. I was busy enough. There is so much crap out there on youtube that I hardly have time to feel offended. I am always busy watching a funny add or some documentary. And you know what, my favorite videos are of pakistani cricket players, like this one of Mohammad Asif. I guess if I was not a blog of an Indian, pakistan will be my favorite cricket team (may be it still is).

Atul: Good man, good to know you have been keeping busy. But tell me something honestly. Don't you feel that YOUTUBE has killed the BLOG?

Blog: Hey dude, its in the nature of human beings like you to hate each other, not tools and concepts like us. I consider youtube as my cousin and I am very proud of it. And even youtube is in a nascent stage, I am sure it will become a better mode of self expression soon. And really, that has been the aim of all the Web 2.0 brothers, be it orkut, youtube, wikipedia or blogs. But well, never mind about me, you tell. Whats this EXPLOSION all about, the title you gave to this entry.

Atul: An explosion of thoughts. I am glad I have a friend like you to vent it out.

Blog: All right, so what are you gonna talk about?

Atul: Kashmir, India, Gujarat riots, Tehelka Sting, Osho, Bobby Jindal, Bollywood, Rahul Dravid, Pakistan, Musharraf, Ravi Shankar, Rajni Kant, Shahrukh Khan, American Desis, Stock Market, Currency Trade, Love, Betrayal, Life, Death, Truth .....

Blog: HOLD ON. One at a time please. All right, let me do it like what my grand father, News Paper would have done. Write about one political or socio thing, one entertainment or sport and I give you one space to write about anything surreal or spiritual stuff like your Osho. Man, how did you get into this spiritual crap? Don't you just like watching funny clips like those of Russel Peters?

Atul: Thanks bloggy. Since I have limited space, I am not going to talk about the most current development of Pakistan Emergency, or even the Tehelka Sting. I am going to talk about some basic issues with examples of Kashmir and Khalistan.

Blog: Khalistan? I thought it was a dead issue. Why even bother to talk about that?

Atul: You will understand. First let me tell you about some of my back ground. I belong to a Hindu family; My grand parents (mothers side) migrated from the Punjab now in Pakistan and my Nani used to tell me how some of the family members were lost (read killed) during that time. My Grand Parents (Dads side) also more or less belonged to the Punjab that is now in Pakistan. And now when I think of it, I of course feel sad of the human life loss but also because some one had to leave his home where they stayed for generations. Its true for a muslim too who went to Pakistan from India. And 30 years after partition, a movement called Khalistan rises that demands a separate state for Sikhs which would eventually mean that all the Hindus and that includes me leave their home again. Well, as a Punjabi I feel really sad and enraged about everything that went wrong but equally proud that we fought back, the terrorism was controlled and except some elements in Toronto, California, UK or ISI, no one really bothers about Khalistan.

Blog: Thanks for the history man, I would have read that on wikipedia. So will you please tell me whats the point?

Atul: Hey, thanks for not letting me go out of control. Well, the similarity I want to draw out of it is that there is something called 'HOME'. Punjab (Indian Punjab I mean) is not about a piece of land that is politically part of another piece of land bound by Himalayas in the North and the Indian Ocean in the South called India. Punjab is about the Punjabis and people that stay there. Similarly Kashmir has always been talked about as a piece of land that we have been taught over and over again is 'an Integral part of India'. But it is not, and neither its a land where Bollywood movies can be shot. Kashmir is about Kashmiris, the people who stay there. It doesn't matter if they are Muslim or pundits or Buddhists. It doesn't matter if they celebrate Pakistan's victory in an Indian cricket match. And the reason I am saying all this now is because I really feel guilty of cheering to those lines like 'Doodh maangoge to kheer denge, Kashmir maango ge to cheer denge'. Not only I was being arrogant, I was being ignorant. There is no doubt that Kashmir's annexion by India was not a smooth affair, and no doubt about Indian Army having committed human rights violations in Kashmir. And I have no right to say something like 'Kashmir is ours, if you want to go to pakistan, you can go'

Blog: Hey man, are you leading to a suggestion that Kashmir should be resolved with a plebiscite?

Atul: No, not at all. I can't make the same mistake twice. All my life I have been ignorant and said things I don't know about, I will not do that now. There are so many political, economic and god-knows-what concerns on all the sides that there is no ready solution for it. And neither I am a politician, or a scholar or most importantly a Kashmiri to even dare open my mouth on this issue. But yes, I have my sympathies with everyone who has suffered; be it an Indian jawan who lost his life in Kargil, or a Kashmiri Pundit staying in a camp in Delhi, people who have died in terrorist attacks, young kids whose favorite toys are AK-47s and in general towards all the residents of Kashmir whom I consider as the most gentle race in the Indian sub continent. I can only wish, that peace be there in the awe aspiring land of Kashmir.

Blog: hoof, that was really heavy stuff. You better not talk about anything related now.

Atul: Yeah sure. This is about OSHO. I have been reading his books and listening to his discourses for some time now. And nothing has ever been so convincing, moving and seems-to-be-truth-types, probably with the exception of The Prophet - Khalil Gibran. But then I also read about his history and the rise and downfall of the Osho commune, both in India and other countries particularly in USA. He was banished in USA as a tax evader and there was allegation on his commune of poisoning a whole town. He was touted in India as a sex Guru, which is really ironic because India is after all the land of Kamasutra (supposedly a scientific investigation), Khajurao Temple (mind you, a temple) and where one of the prominent Gods@ Lord Siva is depicted as the male reproductive organ as a symbol of creation.
Well, so some people condemn Osho for being cunning and manipulative and some even say that his discourses were not his own discourses, they were written by some of his employee and Osho just happened to be a good orator!
What I have to say about all this is that first, so many Osho critics have not even read some Osho ever and second (and its my theory), that even if in the later stages Osho lost control of the movement and got disillusioned by his success; does that make Truth a non-Truth? After all is it the person who matters or his words, is it the intention behind the spoken word that matters? Let me give you relevant and not so relevant examples.
Legend has that Valmiki was a dacoit who was transformed to a good guy by a chance encounter with Narad Muni and then he wrote the epic - Ramayana. Does it matter that Ramayana was written by a killer?
A guy likes a girl because she is very sexy, he courts her, they start seeing each other and in the process they fall in love. Does it matter what was the initial intention of the guy? After all isn't platonic love and amorous love both Love?
Salman Khan and the characters that he played in Hum Aapke hain kaun and Maine pyar kiya are like South Rim and North Rim of Grand Canyon. Does it bothers any one to appreciate his acting talent due to this?
So why do we have to challenge spiritual Gurus and condemn them for forming cults and say that their whole theory is False and that they always had a secret intention of gaining publicity so that they can have free sex and amass wealth. Even if the self styled Guru Gobind Singh of Dera Sacha Sauda is a scumbag, does it nullifies all the good that sect has done and the basis on which it gained its popularity@everone is equal?

Blog: I am sorry dude, but please don't ask me so many questions as if it was Bournvita Quiz contest. I can tell you what is the capital of Peru by looking at wikipedia and if you want; I can also try and find if Om Shanti Om will release in Portland. But I am at loss when you start asking esoteric questions like what is purpose of life and stuff. Unfortunately on Internet you can't find the answer. And by the way, I need to leave now and watch this final scene of Unforgiven, which according to me is the one of the best scene of all the movies I have seen.

Samjhauta Express bomb blast and the comet KL-13

When I read this news of Samjhauta Express Bomb Blasts, my first thoughts were again 'Fukk you Islamic fundamentalists, when are you gonna take a break'. I mourned the victims and cursed the bombers.

But then I read the details, that it was not Indians who were killed in the attack but Pakistanis who were visiting India and going back on that train. And suddenly I didn't feel the same remorse and was a bit relieved.

But right now, I only feel guilty, guilty of evaluating the number of tears that have to be shed if an Indian dies than when a Pakistani dies. And I am sure, it is not only me, because I know back in India there are people who will be saying 'Its OK man, Pakistanis deserve this' and in Pakistan plans will be made to blast the same train, this time carrying Indian pilgrims back home.

And about USA, I should not even venture to mention, because fifty percent of the American youth can't even locate Iraq on a blank world map where people are dying as if it was a poultry farm and all the birds were being killed due to this bird flu.

All in all, the whole Human Race is pathetic. Dinasores killed each other, even their own kind. But atleast they did it for food, not for the cross (read religion) or for a banner (read flags).

Its time the comet KL-13 strikes the planet Earth and destroys us. So that after million of years when some one finds the reason of the extinction of homo sapiens (who once ruled the planet), they don't find that the homo-sapien species was self destructive.

And then he spoke about Love ...

Continued ...

Question: Guruji, I want you to talk about love.

Guruji (smiling): Sure. Is something troubling you?

Question: I have read many spiritual authors. And one thing common to them is that theri favorite word is Love. Talking about relationships I understand but even if they are talking about God, they will speak about Love, if they are talking about Death, they will mention Love, while talking about Sex they will mention this word, the topic may be Peace, Nirvana, Marriage, Friendship, Workmanship and emotions like pain, suffering, joy, ecstacy, they will end up talking about Love. Why am I not able to relate everything to this four lettered word? What is that you see but I don't?

Guruji : Haha, all of us try to make our books best sellers and as no Bollywood movie is a hit without the love angle, our books will also flop without this!!
Kidding.
You have to understand that 'Love' is just a word. It has different meaning in different contexts and for different people. Most of you identify Love with the typical man-woman relationship. And the reason is that you have heard this word only in this context. And you find it difficult to relate everything else with it because you are trying to relate a phenomenon with a word. And words are powerless. They make sense only when some one interprets it or defines it. And how do you define something? Again with words? You end up tieng yourself in the freckles of words and language.
I use this word for everything because I feel this word is the most potent word in dictionary. This word is complete in itself. It doesn't need definitions. And I see the energy and beauty associated with it in everything. So you may even say that we are compelled to use this word because we have no other option. The only other word that comes close to it is Truth.

Question: Why is it said that 'Love Hurts'?

Guruji: Because it does!! Though it's not the only verb that the noun 'love' does.

Question: But why does it have to hurt?

Guruji: Ok, there are two ways to look at it. Both are all together different and both are true. But don't try to find a common thread between them, because you won't find one.
First way is to realize that what hurts is not Love, it can't be Love. You don’t understand love or rather you are not even in Love when you think love is hurting you. What hurts you is your ego when your girl friend ditches you. What hurts you is your possessiveness when you see your wife talking gaily to her colleague. Sometimes it’s your sexual urge that hurts you and sometimes it’s your wrong notions of 'Love is possible in close physical proximity' hurts you when you miss some one.

But there is another way to look at it. Joy or sorrow, happiness or miseries are all emotions that Love has the power to arise in you. As I claim that Love is the most powerful entity, the entire gamut of emotions dances to its tune. But the problem comes when you start labeling emotions as good emotion – bad emotion. Happy is good - Sad is bad, Calm is good – Anger is bad and so on. But I say that human mind tends to enjoy every emotion and revels in every state of mind. And that’s why you even try to extend these periods. You drink if you are really happy and even if you are in a gloom. Don’t you? You will listen to songs like ‘Comfortably Numb – Pink Floyd’ when you feel helpless and songs like ‘Tere Bin – Bas ek Pal’ when you miss some one. Why do you do this? It is not going to uplift your mood, that’s for sure. There is only reason why you do it, because you like it. Don’t you see all type of movies? War movies, humor, tragic, drama, fantasy etc.? You will even spend your money to watch ‘Schindler List’ and cry the whole night. So why do you fret if Love provides you all the entertainment free of cost!!!!


Question: Guruji, since you were talking about movies, I have a question about one particular movie, Devdas. I am unable to make a judgment on the movie’s protagonist.

Guruji: Devdas is just a fictitious character. As fictitious as is ‘Gabbar Singh’. Why do you waste your energy dissecting a mere character? Every entity has a right to BE. Let him be. But I do understand your question. Your question is about what Devdas represents. Is he a true Lover, or is he a Loser! And since there is a Devdas in all of us, you are uncomfortable with his presence in you. Isn’t it?
So I say unto you that accept the Devdas in you. And know that he is just another name for all the Passion in you. And it’s good to be passionate. What you have to beware of is that does this passion manifest itself into an abusing drunkard who dies a miserable death or something like Taj Mahal! And it’s even more than just destructive passion and constructive passion. It’s about how you identify with Love.
Is your love bound to one person or one entity like when you say ‘I love you’ or is it unbound and you are in love with the whole cosmos.
Do you think that love is successful only when you get back love in return or just by being in love is the greatest success for you?
Do you go and ask for love, rather beg for love or you believe in only giving love?

No, I am not anti Devdas. I infact envy the Devdas who found a complete bliss in his Love and for whom nothing else mattered. But if your Devdas is a self pitying disillusioned Devdas, then its better if you kill that Son of a Bitch.

Student: Guruji, you have a very good capacity to write all the crap.

Guruji (winking): I know!

(Munna Bhai + Ravi Shankar) + Peace

Disclaimer: Any similarity with 'Lage Raho Munna Bhai' is purely coincidental. Only while writing this I saw the same format. But even if I was motivated by that I wouldn't have mind, because that concept is worth plagiarising. BTW for the people who have not seen Munna Bhai and are Indians (I really hope one day my blogs will be read internationly) either you go and watch this movie this weekend or .. well .. SUCK MY BALLS!!!

I was talking to my one of my friends who had recently gone to bangalore to attend lectures by Sri Sri Ravi Shankar (Of Art of Living fame). He told me about the kind of questions people ask him and his answers. I also unconsciously started framing questions which I would have asked him or for that matter any spiritual Guru. Questions on EVERYTHING. And back of my mind I was also framing answers: To this question he will definitely say something like this and to that question something like that. So the point is that I could actually conceive that what a Guru might answer to my questions. And the important thing is that I was actually convinced.

I have tried to frame answers on many of my questions since then. And the reason why this protocol makes sense is because all these questions are genuine and honest and all these answers though given by me myself are something that I KNOW but do not REALIZE, something I have EATEN but still not DIGESTED, something I will like to PREACH but don't FOLLOW myself. All these answers are by the way my interpretation of everything I have read / listened / talked about. Or let me put in a mathematical format. MyInterpration(('EveryThingRead' - 'ThingsIDontBeleive' - 'ThingsIDidNotUnderstand') + ThoughtsOfPeopleIHaveConversedWithOnTheseThings + MyLifeExperiences)

Topic for today is PEACE & HARMONY

Question 1. Guru Ji, I am very disturbed when I hear about Bombay Blasts or other acts of violence or terrorism. How can a Human kill a fellow Human? Where has all the Love gone? Will it ever stop?

Guru Ji. Hmmm ... there are a few things that you need to understand and contemplate on.
* When you say you get disturbed, do you mean 'afraid' too? Afraid of death which seems so inevitable when you see the falling twin towers? Do you think it may happen to you too? Don't you get disturbed when you see a car smashed up into a truck on a highway? Isn't it? So first of all you have to identify this fear and start viewing these incidents with out any personal fears.
* When you hear about a blast in Bombay it gets registered with you but what about daily killings in Iraq? Does that bother you too? I know it does but is it with the same intensity? Does a massacre in Darfur gives you the same chill? No, it doesn't because a blast in Delhi on Diwali is an attack on YOU. Its not the violence which is disturbing you its the violence against the ME in YOU. Try not to be selfish. It doesn't mean that if you are an Indian you go and solve the Middle East conflict, you have to solve Kashmir but you got to have a same sympathetic stand towards other such crisis too.
* Be hopeful and be practical too. The World has seen its biggest conflict of its entire history just a half century back. Terrorism is a direct out come of that War or an outcome of the Cold War which was again the outcome of the second world war. Be practical in realizing that the dust will take time to settle. But at the same time be hopeful that this violence will end for good some day. And by end I mean END, not that just its shape will change. Hope that the World will not find yet another reason to fight, a common enemy (It was for imperialist colonies first, then it was Socialism and now its Islam.)

* Gauge your first thoughts that come to your mind when you hear such news. Is it of Hate? Or of helplessness? Beware of this. You should be like Mahatma Gandhi, if you truly believe in Truth and Non Violence, these incidents should strengthen your convictions that is if you truly believe in these values. And never think its easy to do. If it was we would have had so many Jesus Christs, Buddhas and Gandhis.

Question 2. Guruji, can I personally do anything about it? Even though I am not a politician, not in Army or Police, and not even a religious guru who can sell love and non violence. Do I have any 'For your action' points?

Guru Ji Good question. First you have to realize the power of a single YOU, i.e. understand that even you can make a difference. And second I will tell you What to do.
* When you go to beach and buy a Pepsi bottle, don't you throw it in a bin? Or do you see so much waste lieing there, throw the bottle in the waves and say 'How does one more bottle matter'!! No, you don't do it because you feel responsible.
And when you go to your Living room from your Bed room, don't you switch off the Fan? You do it not because it will increase the electricity bill, but because you feel responsible. I can give you so many examples like these.
Similarly you have to believe that even a single person and his single act can change the entropy of the world by some delta. You don't have to be a Gandhi for this. Its a scientific fact that all the events are interrelated. And anything that a single person do does affect everything.

* Now coming to WHAT YOU CAN DO. All acts of violence occur due to lack of LOVE, and due to a FALSE EGO. Ego of being a Hindu or Muslim, of being an Indian or Pakistani, Higher Caste - Lower Caste, Ladke wale Ladki wale, and what not. So be in a state of Love and kill your ego.
If you are a Punjabi, then stop being arrogant about it. Be proud of it but not arrogant. Or for that matter, be proud of being an Indian but not jingoist. Now you will ask how do I differentiate between the two? You see so many egs. around you. The attitude of a cricketer towards a footballer. Of a classical singer towards a painter. A Linux developer towards a Windows User. Don't you see a mutual respect in these relations? (Well, I am not sure about the last example!!) Isn't such a relation possible between a Punjabi and a Tamilian?
When ever an auto wala in Chennai doesn't talk to you in Hindi, DON'T SAY: "Holy Crap, why don't these fuckers know their national language".
When ever a group of Northies get together in Chennai their favorite topic of discussion is "Chennai Sucks". Stop participating in these conversations.
You may like to eat what ever you want to, but DO NOT start cursing at the sight of Curd Rice or at the smell of Sambhar.
All these examples may sound very context specific, but they are the real life examples from your life where you are over whelmed by hatred towards an entity. All the Hate around you is the permutation and combination of manifestations of this same concept. And this very hatred turns into violence when taken to extreme. So, you got the point.

Question 3. Haha, Guru ji, what the crap are you talking about, do you think that if I go and celebrate Pongal, it will solve the Kashmir dispute?

Guru Ji (smiling a Krishnas-I-know-it-all kind off a smile): Yes.

The importance of being 'Draupdi' !

I was discussing 'Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna' with my roomie the day i saw the movie. It was pretty animated a debate. He completely disliked the movie because the story was so unrealistic for him, while I was telling him about the Einstein's theory of relativity which says that 'Everything is relative'. Like in this context the movie may be accepted by western audience and not by Indian!! Well well well, I am not going to write here what I personally think about the theme of KANK because I don't want to sound defensive. What I do want to write is about where did our talk then moved to. While discussing marriages, we figured that our ethos and mores regarding marriage are biased towards males. Like after a marriage, a girl will leave her home. Indian Maharajas could have so many wives and so on. And then I said "How about Panchali? She had 5 husbands". And he said, "thats just a story and other wise also her character is pretty controversial". He just had to say that, because after that my poor roomie had to hear a long lecture from me on MahaBharata and significance of the character Draupdi (Am I using the correct spelling btw ;-) !!!

First things first, Mahabharat is a story we have all grown up with (incase the reader of this blog is not from Alaska). And we all know about each character and every event. But I got a chance to study all these event/charcters in more detail when I read and adapted version of Mahabharat called 'Maha Samar' by Narendar Kohli. And I was really moved by his point of view, rather his explanation of so many things that constitue this great epic. Out of so many interesting characters, the most powerfull female character is Panchaali. First a thought !!!

The five pandavas are in exile. One day they go to a competition and since Arjun is a best shooter around, he wins the prize which is king's drupad's daugher Daraupdi. They bring her home and say to their mother Kunti who is in the house 'See, what we have brought today'. Kunti says, 'Since I am on fast, what ever you have brought, divide among yourselves i.e. five brothers'. Now what if Kunti was not on a fast that day??????????

Jokes apart, there are three things which I beleive the character of Draupdi represents.

First, the most talked about event of mahabharat, the 'vastra-haran'. When Dushaasan is disrobing Draupdi, its not only he who is the culprit and not only Duryodhan. Its their father Dhritrashtra too, Duraupdi's husbands too who shamelessly sit idle, and what husbands, the men who are epitome of bravery. Pitamaha Bhishma too, Dronacharaya too, Vidhur and what not. And though I may sound melodramatic, even I was there disrobing Draupdi. Even you.
Some did it just for lust, basically duryodhan and co. And duryodhan refuses to die, even now in India every 2 minutes there is a rape. I don't know a single guy who has never 'Eve-teased' ! And am I not disrobing Draupdi when I am watching that porn movie?
And then some did it because they were bound by something else, some kind of promise, oath towards King, kingdom, clan or they were just following the rules of a dirty game. Any thing that does not allow a person to save a woman's pride can only be one thing: BULL SHIT!
And the only person who had to come to the rescue was the one who is free from all bond and shackled, Lord Krishna himself!
Well, another thing to notice here is that this all stopped when 'Gandhari' intervened. And she mind you was a female. So all the women groups out there, take a cue :p

Second thing is Draupdi's controversial marriage to 5 men. I think that Draupdi is the only wife in our history who had more than one living husbands. One thing which it represents is that its after all an equal world. What ever is applicable for HIM is true for HER too. And the most significant aspect of this is the maturity of the relation the five brothers and their wife had. They all loved her and she loved all of them. There was no envy or jealousy. Among the brothers, there is no desire to prove himself stronger or better in some way to impress her. She is not biased towards any one of them. They even divide the time-zones, like, one year she will be with the big brother, then next year the younger one and so on. And these time-zones are sacrosanct for all of them.
I am overwhelmed by this, because the relation of Draupdi with the five brothers speak that only Love and Respect matters, and not conventions. There is no type of relationship which is not possible. Have you seen the Amitabh Bachan's movie 'Black'? What do you call their relationship? The only thing they shared was LOVE.

The THIRD thing about Draupdi is the reason why she was born. So according to the story, Draupdi was born from 'Yagya-Agni' (Sacred-fire). Now this guy, Dronacharya had insulted Drupad, because once Drupad had also insulted him and basically he was one son of an Egotist ! Ok, so Drupad had asked God of Fire to give her Draupdi as her daugher and the only mission of Draupdi was to be the nemesis for the whole Aryan clan. Which ofcourse she finally did become!
But in that great war, all her enemies dies, but also her own relatives, her brother and even her five sons. In the end, she was still a loser. I see this as 'Justice being done'. Because hate begets hate and here we have Draupdi whose whole carnation was for destruction. Ved Vyas (the author of mahabharat) has shown no mercy or sympathy towards her in this regard, and thats one of the things that makes this book an epic of all times!!

THE END !!

alright, now I am supposed to do a spell check but I am not going to correct grammatical mistakes and revisit sentence structures this time. Its so tiring and boring a job ;-)

Shiver - One of my fav. songs.

What kind of blogger will copy and paste lyrics of popular songs on their blog ????
Well I DO. This is the song which made me put Coldplay in my favorite list. I can hear to this song non stop the whole day. Amazing lyrics !!




So I look in your direction
But you pay me no attention, do you?
I know you don't listen to me
'Cos you say you see straight through me, don't you?

And on and on
From the moment I wake, to the moment I sleep
I'll be there by your side; just you try and stop me
I'll be waiting in line, just to see if you care

Oh…
Did you want me to change?
Well I changed for you
And I want you to know that you'll always get your way
I wanted to say…

Don't you shiver
Shiver
Sing it loud and clear
I'll always be waiting for you

So you know how much I need you
But you never even see me, do you?
And is this my final chance of getting you

And on and on
From the moment I wake, to the moment I sleep
I'll be there by your side; just you try and stop me
I'll be waiting in line, just to see if you care

Oh…
Did you want me to change?
Well I changed for good
And I want you to know that you'll always get your way
I wanted to say…

Don't you shiver
Don't you shiver
Sing it loud and clear
I'll always be waiting for you

Yeah I'll always be waiting for you
Yeah I'll always be waiting for you
Yeah I'll always be waiting for you, for you
I will always be waiting…

And it's you I see but you don't see me
And it's you I hear so loud and so clear
I sing it loud and clear
And I'll always be waiting for you

So I look in your direction
But you pay me no attention
And you know how much I need you
But you never even see me

Peace is a piece of shit ..

I am writing this on the day when 7 bomb blasts took place on the life line of the commercial capital of India, Bombay.

And this has reinforced my conviction that peace is an illusion. It is just a word created so that every year some fuck head can get a Nobel prize for peace. Have you ever seen the pigeon which is the symbol of peace? The shit of that pigeon is called peace.

Has there ever been a time in the entire history of human race when we have not been on war?
Is there any epic or any great book in the world which is not the glorification of war?
Do you know of any single nation, community or civilization that didn't have an army?
No, the answer is NO. Because there has never been peace and there will never be.

Messengers of peace will keep on coming and we will keep on killing them. Jesus Christ, Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King .. we will kill them all.
I some times pity these people that they didn't realize the truth that Peace and Harmony are an impossibility. But Napoleon, Alexandar, Hitler, Bin laden, they knew it. And they have become immortal, so what if they won't get a statue of their own, or won't get a street named after them: 'Laden Ganj', 'Hitler Nagar'.

I have all my sympathies for the people who died in this blast. But when I see the greater picture, I realize that I have to reserve some sympathies for the people who will be killed in another bomb blast in Delhi. Its a recurring event, which will keep on occurring. Just like I get common cold twice every year.

'Mumbai back on track' - this will be the headline after 2 days. 'This is the spirit of the great city Mumbai' - news commentator on NDTV will say. Spirit of Mumbai Bull Shit. Its the normal Human instinct to go on, which has been at work for so many days.

And one day, even I will die .. errr .. be killed in a similar blast. And when the guy who will collect my dismembered arm and legs is telling the news reporter that "I was the one who collected so many dead bodies, there was no police", there will be three young kids in the back ground unable to stop their smile for being on TV.

Football and Sex !!

Got you. This entry has nothing to do with sex. I thought that if I will mention only football, no ones gonna read. So I put in sex in the title. If you are disappointed and don’t want to read further then go visit debonairblog.com. Rest read on!

So football, there was a match between Germany and Argentina. I was favoring Germany (don’t ask me why, you just got to root for some team) and I was really glad that Germany won. As for records, I shouted really hard when Germany equalized in 80^th minute, shouted hard, this time clapping too on all the penalties that germany took and argentina missed. And when finally germany had won, I performed a step or two of Bhangra. That’s it. But one of my friends whose favorite team is Argentina, he COULD NOT SLEEP THAT DAY. Its not that he is more of a football fanatic than me, because there was a time when even I could not digest the innings defeats of India by South Africa. I kept on ruminating on the match, why don’t we Indians perform on foreign pitches, why can’t we handle pressure in crux situations? It’s the same old story.

The reason is that we take wins for granted and don’t accept losses. And this is not really only about sports, this is about every other aspect of your life.

You don’t get a good raise, you say you were wronged or unlucky. You get it, you always deserved it.

Your woman / man ditches you, you cry your head off, when they are not, you take them for granted.

Stock market, you win some money, you throw a small party, you loose, you commit suicide.

Always, any incident if not favorable will incite a reaction more in magnitude than if it was favorable as is manifested in the football example. (huh, sounds like a theorem).

All right, this is one thing that we love to cry over our misery more than we love to be happy. But going back to my initial e.g. why is that we are more interested in germany or argentina but not in FOOTBALL. In football, since India is not there, there is a possibility that we actually see football but in cricket, it’s a BIG lie that India loves cricket. This is a common statement from any average Indian cricket fan “What ever happens, Pakistan should not win”. And we call it love for cricket?

If I were going to give a Geeta Updesh, this is what I will say. If you are a player, then fight as if it was a matter of life and death and if you loose then join the winning team’s party. And if you are a spectator then just enjoy the beautiful game called life, oops I mean football!!

Super Man's girl friend ..

This is a striking similarity between superman, bat man and the spider man. You have mary Watson who doesn’t love peter parker but loves spider man. And whats-her-name-who-loves-batman or let me say Nicole kidmann, who loves batman but not the real one and then you have this latest whats-her-name-who-gives-birth-to-superman-kid but doesn’t love the bespectacled Clarke?

Then you have all the princesses who waited and finally met their Prince Charmings who were not less than any super heroes. Why is that, this concept has been accepted by people from so long? I can see two reasons.

Super man is the alter ego of a Male. This male is a normal guy, decent looking, good humored, kind hearted, hard working. But he has that inner most urge to be more than that. He wants to save the world from evil, he wants to be popular, he wants girls to drool over him, actually one in particular! And he wants to be every other thing that makes him perfect. Hence he creates a super hero, as I said to satisfy his alter ego.

But what about the spider man’s girl friend? What does she represent? She represents the age old saying that “The women are never satisfied”. They are always looking for that prince charming which alas they never find except in movies. They want the guy to be witty, but when he lampoons her, she becomes insecure and says “mera mazaak kyon udaate rahte ho”. TWTGTB (short for they want the guy to be) sporty, but won’t discuss the form of sachin tendulkar: “cricket, cricket, cricket, aur kuch soojhta nahin hai kya tumhein”. TWTGTB intelligent and aware but will never discuss the Indian policy over LTTE: “Mujhe kya karna hai ki sri lanka mein kya ho raha hai”. TWTGTB to be self dependent and have a personality of his own, but wont allow you to wear a black shirt with a black jean: “matching kapde to tumhein pehanne hi nahin aate”.

Ok Ok, I will stop here, other wise I will be accused of plagiarizing from the song “ladke not equal to ladkiyan” from Hum Tum which I was NOT.

So coming back to the original topic, I want to mention one consistency which I so dearly love. And that is the James Bond’s girl friends. He has a new girl friend in every movie, infact three. One of them will be in the first scene when james bond will receive the secret-new-mission message. Other will be an accomplice and will join forces with him, yeah yeah helly berry, and the third one will turn out to be a vamp, you will come to know this in the later half of the movie. So we are going to have a new james bond, I hope he is as good as brosnan.

Why the world does NOT need Super Man !

This is a review of the movie “Super Man Returns”. And I have all the inner dope on it which I will share with you. Anyone who has not seen this movie please read this review so that you can be enlightened and instead of watching the movie you can spend the evening watching the pathetic re runs of “Indian glorious moments in cricket” on ESPN. And in case you have seen this movie and are out of shock then this review will give you more insight and news.

Ekta kapoor has finally accepted that she was the back ground director of this movie. And that’s why you see such a slow paced, boring, mellow dramatic far too stretched movie. On her debut on holly wood she was unavailable for comments but the whole movie fraternity is involved in solving the puzzle: Where is the K of Ekta Kapoor in “Superman Returns”.

Kevin Spacey, yes I know you can’t believe that was it really Kevin spacey? The same guy who acted in The American Beauty, the usual suspects? How can he deliver such a DUD performance? But reportedly, Kevin spacey was suffering from CONSTIPATION while doing this role. And not only this, he was letting go such bad air on the sets that no one, including his side kicks concentrate on acting.

George Bush, after watching the premiere remarked that this movie has betrayed the whole nation. “How can you make a movie with out any reference to Islamic terrorists?” said he. But apparently the reason why he saw the movie was for the latest fashion cues on the art of wearing underwear. For all of those who don’t know he has been featuring in a Times of India daily comic strip “Dubyaman” for quite some time now.

And for the super man himself, he has been missing ever since the movie released. But I just came to know that he has been kidnapped by the other super heroes aka Spider Man, Bat Man and a whole bunch of X Men. The reason they give is that Super Man is a big threat to the fan following these super heroes enjoy. They are afraid that if Super Man gives one more such movie, people will stop watching their movies and they will out of job.

On a personal note, I will say that Krish, which is really a bad movie is much better than Super Man. I want to congratulate Rakesh Roshan on this. Hrithik looks so much better and charming. Its difficult for a Bollywood movie to match the standards of Hollywood in terms of special effects, but none the less we have to keep trying. And Krish is a good attempt.

As a final word, I will say that only those people who are suffering from sleep deficiency should go to watch this movie. Its worth 100 rupees in that context.

Arjun Singh and Bhim Sen ki maggie ..

First things first.

What is Maggie: Maggie is the staple food of all the bachelors of India. Its one of the first 'ready to eat' thing to strike the Indian market. Easy to cook, its tasty too and even healthy @ Atta Maggie.

Who is Bhim Sen: Bhim Sen is the name of one of the most loved Hindu Gods @ Hanuman. But to be context specific bhim sen was also the name of the guy who used to sit at the nestle counter in my college, Thapar - Patiala. And his speciality was Maggie for which he charged I guess rs. 14 ??? Don't remember really.

Who is Arjun Singh: He is Indian HRD Minister. He doesn't have hair on his head but has a characteristic moustache. Recently he has been in a great controversy on the Reservation debate in India.

Now about the relationship they have. You may think that its pretty contrived, but everything and everyone is connected somehow. Like the friendship networks on Orkut !

In my college there was something that happened every year. There were two magazines, and later on there was only one. And in the edition which was published near the end of the academic year, many final year folks will write their heart out in some sort of 'goodbye college' kind off articles. They will write about their friends whom they will miss all their life, lecture halls where they used to sleep, hostel rooms where they used to fight, TV room where there used to be stampedes during cricket seasons, but one thing that was mentioned always was that 'I will always miss bhim sen ki maggie'. Now I used to hate this so much, how does every one mentions bhimsen ki maggie, is it fashionable to mention it or something ? I am sure people who had not eaten that maggie more than 10 times in their entire lifetime in thapar used to mention it in their good bye emails.
But now I realize that it actually represent something. And that representation is what matters. After all as they say, its not the words that matter, but the meaning behind it.

And same is the case with Arjun singh. He has been the biggest villian of all the upper caste folks revolting against the reservation all over India. (Well all over india minus - tamil nadu, no one raised a finger here) But Arjun singh is just a representation. Its not Arjun singh behind it, its the congress govt., not only the congress govt., but the UPA govt., and really not only UPA, but the whole political structure of India. Arjun singh represents everything that is bad and wrong with Indian politics for the people revolting against reservation. So if Mr. Arjun singh, you are reading this blog entry ( yeah, there is a probability of everything), then you must realize that its not you whose effigies are burnt but of all the filthy politicians of India. Because YOU represent them.

Just as bhim sen ki maggie represents "all the memories of my college" !!!!

Some related thoughts ..
One of my team mates came from US to India. He is an american. He wanted to see some hindi movie, and we took him to 'Rang de Basanti'. Now I thought he should have some back ground to this movie, other wise he won't get a thing. We started telling him about Indian freedom struggle, bhagat singh etc. and he didn't get a word (Why do we Indians think that every one in the world knows about the history of India, that it received independence on 15th August ... ). Anyways the guy was not getting anything and he said, 'hold on hold on, just tell me that at what point in the movie does the hero and heroine START SINGING AND DANCING AROUND THE TREES'. I was flabbergasted.
'Singing and dancing around the trees' is what represents the bollywood, for that matter represents kollywood (tamil) and tollywood (telugu) too.

When ever you meet an israeli, you talk to him about palestine.
New Zealand just represents another cricketing nation for us.
Brazilians start kicking around in their mother's womb.
Chinese eat snakes, and japanese work 25 hours a day.
Every russian is the member of KGB, and every Afghani a terrorist.
And this is the best, I am sure in some porn infested part of the world, people think that 'all indians are taught kamasutra in their school'.

This is all about representations, everything.

DEATH

I was some 12 years old. Was sleeping on the terrace, and was talking to my Mom and I asked her “Mummy, hum sab ek din mar jate hain kya ? “. Well I don’t really remember what her exact words were. But I remember some buzz words: “ache kaam karo”, “bhagwaan ke paas”, “darne wali kya baat hai”. And this reminds me that I was once talking to my Dad also on the same topic, again on the terrace. Oh man, I was so inquisitive sort off a kid. Actually I still am, well though not inquisitive! So back to “discussion on death with my dad”. Again I only remember one liner that I said. I told my dad, “papa, agar marna hi hai to aise marna chahiye na ki aadmi so raha hai, aur phir agle din utha hi nahin”. And my Dad was affirmative. He remarked that that will be a nice way to die, peacefully.

But is it, do you actually want to die while sleeping? Without being aware in the most dramatic moment of your life… I don’t know what was the sensation of Bhagat Singh all that time in the jail . or the moment before he was hanged. Or the sensation of all those Jews, walking towards the death chambers where they knew they will be put in the blast furnace. Well, two unrelated examples. I am really bad with examples. But what a knowledge, knowing that when you are gonna die. We all know ONE day it’s bound to happen. But what a state of mind: “I am gonna die on this Friday the thirteenth when the comet K9 strikes the planet Earth”. Or a terminally ill patient: Rajesh Khanna – Anand. What makes them breath the next very moment ? what makes them eat ? drink ? talk ? What do they think ? Do the realize the futility of life or realize some other bigger truth ? And worst part is that if this some one is an atheist, then he knows he is not even going to heaven. Here I must say that the people who invented heaven and hell must be genius, what a concept! Well, so if this guy is an atheist, he knows that after death the only thing that happens is that your body is burnt to ashes. Or for that matter you can also be buried and then the insects will have a feast. This is the same body, you care so much about. Go to a Gym, so that you can melt your tummy into abs, go to a hair saloon to get that chic look, wear that adidas t-shirt, rolex watch, frameless glasses. Damn. This is so ironic.

Sorry for interruption: But Spain just scored an equalizer against Tunisia!!!! If you are reading this in 2100, I am talking about football world cup 2006 Germany.

Coming back to the point, I have started wondering if it actually makes a difference if we know WHEN we are going to die. Why does that make a difference? Isn’t the knowledge that WE ALL WILL die someday enough? May be you will say that if we are always conscious of death, we won’t be able to live naturally? But what does living naturally mean? Get up in the morning, go for a shit, put some caffeine in your body, again go for a shit (for people like me who have an uncontrolled abdomen!), bath, ready, auto, office, gossip, work, more gossip, auto, home, news, fag/sex (bachelor / married), sleep. DUH! So much for a normal life. Tell you what, we have been blessed by consciousness for a purpose, and I think that the purpose is to make us conscious of the inevitable. But the catch is that we don’t know why we have been told this. And in this answer lies the ultimate truth. To be continued.
Until then, if I find that answer, I will share it in this blog ;-)


LESSON: If you are writing a blog entry and you are writing for the first time, then please don’t watch a football match parallely. Switch OFF the TV.

So much hate is suffocating ..

I was listening to this discourse by Osho on 'Love and Fear', and some of the things that he mentioned just blew my mind. And I was so full of thoughts that if I don’t write about it or talk to some one my mind will explode. Here I will only talk about something I could actually relate to because I experience that all the time.

Have you ever wondered or asked "Who we are”? I bet you have, this is an age old question and every one at some point of time has asked this. But we have been giving all the wrong answers to it. From so long…

Now, sample this.

My name is Atul Dua.

I am an Indian.

I am a Punjabi.

I am a Hindu.

I am a upper class Hindu.

I am a upper class Hindu who belongs to some Khatri caste.

I belong to salaried middle class.

I am a North Indian (read, I am not a south Indian).

I am an engineer.

I am a non - IIT engineer (IITians are after all upper caste engineers)

I am a vegetarian.

I am brown.

I am a chapatti khane wala and speak Hindi (again a diff species if you are in south)

I am a scorpion.

(Does is sounds like Bulla ki jana mai kaun ? )

Its such an innocent profile, but can you see that where I am trying to lead to ?

I hate all Pakistanis by default.

I think Punjabis are the best race in India and sing that song "loki vasde duniya ch vathre, punjabiyan di shan vakhri" with jingoism.

I am dead against the reservation thing. I forward those ugly messages like "Why does arjun singh have sex only on 3 days, because other days are reserved for SC / ST / OBC".

I hate it when an auto wala in Chennai doesn't speak in hindi / english when he actually can.

I hate it when they charge for a spoon in murugan idli shop.

I hate all Gemini zodiac (because once I read in Linda Goodman, that scorpions don’t go well with Gemini)

Ok, this is now getting funny ..

But the truth is that there is so much hate around us that its now SOFFOCATING.

Be it in any context..

Islam and the west.

england and ireland.

usa and mexico. india and pakistan.

north india and south india. And can you believe this ?

even within south india, telugu vs tamil !

Upper caste and lower caste (Bihar is the living example of this caste hatred)

Sample this, one of my friend's parents are against her marriage because it is out of caste. Both the guy and the girl are Brahmins, but of diff. lineage. Can we get more stupid than this?

And this reservation issue (how can I not mention that), both sides are so full of hate. Mayawati unabashedly say "We have been stamped down for years, now its our turn". Wow, what a theory.. and all the protests by the upper caste folks, the smell of hatred is so strong there !!

On the funnier side, go to orkut, and search for communities, you will find "I hate Chennai", "I hate Ekta Kapoor", "I hate kareena kapoor", "I hate salman khan", "I hate this", "I hate that".

Then you switch on the TV, and listen that there was a bomb blast in sri lanka, protest in srinagar, a lower caste girl raped by upper caste butchers in some remote part of rajasthan, okk, let me not get into all these clichés.

But the point is that every act of hatred boils down to our false identity.

yes, we have been taught to identify ourselves with all the wrong things, all those things that divide.

Our schools, our education, our parents (yes, even our parents because the were also the victims), our society, media, friends, everything has destroyed our real I. And we are unaware of it.

Well, I want to try and find my true self who doesn't know how to hate. But the fact that I am writing this blog out of immense HATRED towards "all the hatred around us" means that I have a long way to go!

Dear Blog ..

Dear Blog,

I see that the first and the last scrap I wrote was months ago.
I promise from now on I will try to be regular.

With regards,
Dua