An Act of National Shame

We lost another innocent life in a brutal attack to mankind. We were forced to scamper in a corner and introspect quietly as a few non-human living beings assaulted the life out of a 23 year old, innocent, unarmed girl. The six men, whose parents must have prayed every night to the Almighty to bless them with a son, wouldn’t have even thought twice about their mother who raised them before committing the heinous act of incomparable proportions. The Indian parents, who can give anything for a male child, need to educate and raise their sons in a way so that they do not take themselves to be the king of the world but as soldiers to protect our society. No matter how many laws are made or how strictly the judiciary treats the culprits, the problem with our society is not the way the rapists are dealt with, the problem is that rapes take place. The real victory for our cause will come when such incidents stop to take place. Yes, stronger punishments are a good start to scare people from doing such acts, but do we want our ‘beloved dear sons’ to stop themselves from doing such acts because of the scare of the punishment afterwards or because of the respect for the women.

The real problem lies in the mid-set of our whole system. Girl child is aborted or killed right after birth. Girl child is left at the dumpsters. Prayers and offerings are made for a male child. Daughters are not given education and made to do household work instilling a sense of superiority in the sons of our society. The parents of a girl are made to fold hands and kneel down in front of the groom’s family, fulfilling their every demand, during her wedding. The uneducated, illiterate, sexist male is bound to feel superior when he sees this scene around his eyes everyday of his life. Why are these sons given so much of importance? Just because they have the ability to rape, and not get raped? What pride do these men bring to their society? What fulfilment of dreams can such boys do? It’s better to be childless than having such immoral, misogynistic kids.

The worst part is that the eminent dignitaries of our society, the MPs, the MLAs, the bureaucrats, the women psychologists, they think that the problem lies with the victim. The girls should not go out after dark. They should not wear western clothes. The girls should not visit nightclubs. The girls should not use public transport alone. The girls should give in when attacked or assaulted. If such is the case, why do we have laws? Why is there a constitution in place? Why is there a police force in every city, town and village? Then what right do we have to look down upon the middle-east for their strict and biased laws? Why is Taliban criticised in our country then? Every individual in this country has been promised the right to live freely and equally. How can these government representatives make such statements and roam scot-free on the streets of our country. They should be stripped of every public post they have been given. These kinds of incidents are bound to happen in a country where the men are treated as the bosses and where the government supports such notions of the people.

We need education; we need educated ministers; we need educated sons. Don’t blame the system for every shortcoming. Change the thinking and outlook of your father, uncle, brother and son. Stop treating them as the privileged class of our society.

CHANGE YOURSELF!!

Suicide - Illegal or a Right?

20^th December, 2012; the last day of the human race because supposedly the world ends tomorrow. So, the doomsday scare got me thinking- what if I want to end my life before the nature decides to end it for me? What if I kill myself so that I don’t have to face God’s fury? And then it struck me, it is ILLEGAL and socially unacceptable! Why is suicide illegal? And on top of that it is a punishable offence in India. So, if a person’s suicide attempt fails and he survives, he/she will have to face a proceeding in the court of law. As if the failed attempt to end’s one life wasn’t torture enough!

Why is suicide considered illegal? Why is giving life considered a noble deed and taking one’s own life a heinous act? Why is the decision to end my own life, whose sole and whole owner is I, considered unjust? Why is the power to end it not given in my hands when I didn’t even ask for the life? What meaning do the other fundamental rights hold when the basic right to live or die is not in one’s own hands?

When I was given life, no one asked for my permission, I was just born, naked and in tears. So, why should I ask for someone else’s permission before ending my life?! At least I will be at peace and smiling when I end my life on my own will. I see no reason why I should not be allowed to meet my maker when and how I decide to meet Him. If one commits suicide under pressure or threat, it is non-justified, but if one commits suicide just to end the monotonous, bland, unanimated life and for a bigger reason of not receiving the gift of life he/she had been given, I see no harm in it. It will not hamper the balance of the society, nor will it lessen the tolerance level of people. What it will do is give the people a sense of righteousness.

I’m not saying that committing suicide is a wonderful thing and it should be encouraged. We make a lot of relations when we come to this world and we should think about them before taking such a drastic step. All I am trying to say is that people should have the freedom and right to decide when they want to end it, especially in some medical cases where the patient is leading a vegetable life. 

The Terrified Terrorist

Mohammed Ajmal Amir Kasab- The name that terrorised the nation four years ago and continued to do so till he was hanged at the Pune Central Jail on 21^st November, 2012. Mohammed Ajmal Amir Kasab which literally means ‘The most handsome prince’ was nothing but a petty thief in the town of Faridkot, Pakistan before the members of the political wing of the ‘Army of the righteous’ (Lashkar-e-Taiba) persuaded him to join the terrorist organisation ‘to free the fellow Muslims from the atrocities they go through worldwide’. And thus the Ajmal Kasab was born who mercilessly killed hundreds of people on 26/11/2008 in Mumbai. The lone terrorist captured alive was hanged pretty unceremoniously on 21/11/2012 which left many aggrieved and agitated citizens disappointed. The judiciary system took four long years to pass the final judgement of executing Ajmal Kasab after he was captured alive from the streets of Mumbai with automatic weapons, explosives, GPS devices and mobile phone. The CCTV footage confirmed Ajmal Kasab firing at innocents mercilessly and still the law took its own course and spent four years in reviewing and rechecking all the evidence and taking statements from the witnesses and the terrorist himself.

India was furious with the delay in the execution of its biggest villain. Ajmal Kasab had earned the widespread hatred he was receiving. And personally I think he must have been getting a kick from all this. After all he was trained and preached to hate Indians, to dislike and distrust every Indian move, and to get the whole nation in hating him for his heinous activities must have been giving him a satisfaction which even killing all those innocent people might not have given him. Ajmal Kasab was a terrorist who had lost all human emotions, who had been brainwashed of achieving paradise by his terror acts. Ajmal Kasab was a living example of the by-products which radical terrorist groups like Lashkar-e-Taiba are capable of producing. Ajmal Kasab had no remorse or regret for his actions and the long wait of four years to meet his maker must have made him rethink entirely what he had been taught. The sluggish pace with which our judiciary system worked must have proved to be crueler for Ajmal Kasab than any other quick execution might have been. The four years in prison had developed hope in Ajmal Kasab. Hope is the biggest weapon one has, but in this case the hope which was developing in Kasab proved to be a weapon for the families of all the people who had lost their lives on 26/11/2008. A man without hope is like a body without its soul. You cannot kill a body which has no soul. If Ajmal Kasab had been executed just after his capture he would have been happy to die, because that is what he was sent to do- kill and die- and then achieve the paradise he was promised by all the “holy men” of Lashkar-e-Taiba.  Keeping him alive for four years in prison changed his mind-set, otherwise why would a terrorist sent on a suicide mission apply for a mercy plea! Executing a man who had been trained and brainwashed to die would have not brought the satisfaction to a bleeding country. Watching him plead for mercy before the Indian judges and President calmed me. This was the right end for a terrorist like Ajmal Kasab. The unceremonious hanging was also a perfect end. The nation should not celebrate this moment, but strengthen itself to counter any such attacks on its soil in the future. Celebrating someone’s end makes us no different than those radical groups which had trained Ajmal Kasab and brainwashed him into going on a killing spree. We are a peace loving nation and should always remain so. It’s better to change the world by love rather than changing it by wars.

“An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind” ~Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi

The Central Board of Film Certification- A forum for illogical restrictions!

What’s the similarity between Indian politics and the Indian Censor Board? Both are a bunch of illogical buffoons doing a job which a person half their age should be doing. At least I get it when a politician keeps his/her own interests over the country’s, it will benefit them financially, but what is up with the stupid decisions taken by the Indian censor board. I fail to find any sort of reasoning or logic behind the decisions they take up.

Subtitle Bans: Most of the English television channels have the subtitles feature which is totally useless because most of the words that are used in the English movies or television series are not allowed to be shown in India. Yes, that is how stupid our censor board is. Words like ‘ass’, ‘boobs’, ‘fuck’ etc are considered obscene and hence all you see is ‘***’ when such words are used. If this was not all, words like ‘beef’, ‘pork’, ‘weed’ etc are banned too, because they hurt religious sentiments. Of course vote bank politics is widely used by politicians because religious sentiments are hurt only when you see foreigners using words like ‘beef’, irrespective of what context it is being used in. The funniest part is that they do not even consider that a word like SEX has more than one meaning. Even if the dialogue refers to it in terms of gender, it is mostly asterisked off. Each time the character says a line like, “We had sex”, the subtitles show, “We made love”. It’s as if the ‘dumb kids’ in India will not understand that.

Smoking Warnings: It is not allowed to show a burning cigarette on Indian television. Yes, you read it right. It is allowed in movie theatres but it should be accompanied by the message “Cigarette smoking is injurious to health” every time. So basically, even if a kid had not noticed the character smoking a cigarette or a cigar or a pipe, the message which is flashed every now and then makes sure that the attention of every viewer is shifted from the plot to the burning cigarette. How thoughtful indeed!

In today’s time, where psychologists in every advanced country have proved that the graphical content on cigarette boxes and warning messages attract more young people to smoke, Indian censor board introduces such archaic methods of educating people about its ill effects.

Violence and Adult Content: The Board has very clearly categorised the certificates which is issued to films: U standing for Universal is for unrestricted public exhibition. UA standing for Parental Guidance is for unrestricted public exhibition but under parental guidance for children under the age of 12. A standing for Adults-Only is restricted for the age group of 18 and above. S standing for Restricted is restricted for a certain specialised audience, such as doctors. And still many films are asked to edit or cut scenes which are violent or have high sexual content. If you are so adamant about what should be shown to the audience, why are such categorisations included in the machinery? What I think is, when a film is being played in a theatre, it should be clearly mentioned if it contains heavy violence or sexual content, and then the decision to watch the film or not rests with the viewer. The rights of the board should not extend beyond the certification of the film. Needless to mention, playing an A rated film on the television is like ruining the movie experience for the viewer. All obscene, violent, drug abuse or horror scenes should be cut and removed, even if it is being played late at night.

What option is the viewer left with, than downloading films from torrent sites over the internet, when such restrictions are imposed on the media? Jaago graahak jaago.

Change

The most common complain I receive is the fact that I have ‘CHANGED’. What is change? How have I changed? I am yet to receive a satisfying answer to these questions. Change is when a person stops being how he had been a short time back in history. But is that not what evolution is all about? That is how you and I came into existence. Change is as important to the universe as gravity, friction or energy. Nothing can exist or continue to exist without change. If I would not have changed, I would still be drinking milk from a bottle and wetting my bed at nights. Change feels good to people around us as long as they are being benefited from the change. The change done for our own well-being often disrupts our relations with others. Relativity, as always, plays the most vital role here.

The definition of friendship would be quite incomplete if an asterisk mark is not given by its side. Friendship: The state of being a friend*

(*provided the person does not change over time. Change: The alteration in the characteristic which risks in affecting the benefits the friend-in-question is receiving.)

Change is what keeps our life moving in the forward direction. The opposite of change is ‘remain’. It makes our life remain where it is. We lose all meaning and purpose.

Of course I have changed over time, everyone has. I am not stubborn enough to let the occurrences in my life leave me unchanged. I adapt, evolve and develop. The things you liked in me were a result of constant change; so keeping all hypocrisy apart, you should still like me for who I am becoming rather than complaining.

“Nothing endures but change.” ~ Diogenes Laërtius

Baarish, boondein

बारिश की वह बूँदें भी क्या खुशनसीब होगी ,
तेरी ज़ुल्फों मे उलझ कर जो आज खोयी होगी ,
बालों को ना झटकाना अब ,
मोतियों की कीमत भी इनसे कम होगी ..

तेरे चेहरे पर भी बूँदें बरसी होगी ,
बलखा कर गालों से उतरी होगी ,
जलता हूँ यह सोच कर मैं ,
तेरे होठों को चूम कर कितना इतरी होगी ..

वह बूँदें जो तेरे हाथ पर गिरी होगी ,
अपनेपन के एहसास मे कितना झूमी होगी ,
नाच नाच कर पहुची तेरी उँगलियों तक जब ,
साथ छूटने के गम मे कितना रोयी होगी ..

कुछ बूँदें तेरे काँधे पर भी गिरी होगी ,
कमर की ओर बढ़ते हुए तुझे गुद्गुदायी होगी ,
क्या याद मेरी आयी तुझे तब ?
रोम -रोम उस बूँद ने जब मचलायी होगी ..

~Saurav Goyal

Relativity

The great minds have laid down many theories and laws that govern the human nature, the metaphysics, and the everyday life. But, the real question needed to be asked is, is every human being affected by a certain outcome of an event in the same manner? It all comes down to relativity. Every action will have an equal and opposite reaction depending on what we relate it to. Every emotion we feel is felt because of the relation with the person, thing or thought we are discussing. Relativity is the one sole reason for every characteristic in every single person.

Happiness is felt only when we can relate it to some past experience of sorrow, or with a futuristic fear of sadness. Without the opposite feeling, happiness doesn’t hold any meaning individually. We feel happy when we plan to meet a friend after a long time because at that very moment, we feel the sadness of not having met him/her in the last few days or months. We feel happy when we spend time with a close friend because of the fear of parting and the loneliness that will follow. Strength, superiority, absolute power- all these are felt only when we can relate ourselves to someone weak, inferior or powerless. We feel strong after defeating someone in a fight, but that feeling of strength also generates an emotion equal and opposite- the feeling of weakness, if we were to counter someone with superior strength compared to us.

People relate the happenings in their lives with different situations. We feel contentment and gaiety after a hard day’s work, but sometimes, even if we toil all day long, a smile does not appear on our faces. The latter often happens when we relate our hard labour not with what we earned or achieved, but with the time and effort it took for us to achieve it. Heartbreak might lead a person to become a hopeless drunkard, a social outcast- it may also lead a person to become a Casanova, a ladies’ man. It all comes down to what that person relates his loss to.

“When you are courting a nice girl an hour seems like a second. When you sit on a red-hot cinder a second seems like an hour. That's relativity.” ~Albert Einstein

Tumhara Ehsaas

तनहा अकेली रातों मे.. 

टूटे दिल और भीगी आँखों मे.. 

धडकनों मे छुपी हर बातों मे.. 

सर्दियों की उन  लम्बी रातों मे.. 

ढलते सूरज को देखती निगाहों मे.. 

उन  गली , गलियारों मे.. 

टेहेलते हुए उन सूनी राहों मे.. 

प्यार भरी उन  बाहों मे.. 

रात  के सपने और दिन के ख़यालों मे.. 

बस तुम हो.. 

तुम ही तो हो जवाबों मे.. 

हर जवाब से जुड़े सवालों मे.. 

कभी नज़दीक तो कभी फासलों मे.. 

मेरी रूह मे , मेरी साँसों में..

मेरे दिल मे और मेरी पनाहों में .. 

बस तुम हो... बस तुम...

~Saurav Goyal

Legalise Gay Marriage

“Homosexuality: Sexual attraction to people of one’s own sex.” 

This is how Oxford’s Dictionary describes homosexuality. It does not talk about a person’s mental state, societal stand or for that matter, his family background. But whenever we look at a gay person, a boy or a girl, we only tend to think about these aspects. Why have we created so much fuss over an individual’s individual choice about whom he/she wants to spend rest of their life and sleep with? Why do we need to tag them and interfere in their personal lives? 

We live in the 21st century wherein the Supreme Court has given a judgement and has granted the 'right to sleep' as a fundamental right to every citizen of India, but 'right to happiness' still remains a long lost dream. If a person’s happiness lies in marrying a person of the same sex, why does our society have a problem with that? They say that it is against the society’s rule, that marrying people of the same sex is not the natural thing to do. A society in which rapes and cases of molestation are a daily routine, preach about rules against nature? A society in which female foeticide is still a widespread concern, talks about the society’s norms. 

People say that it is an unnatural thing to do because a gay couple can never have babies. Well, in that case, all the infertile couples should be asked to file for divorce. People who have crossed the conceivable age should also be not allowed to marry and the whole idea of family planning and population control should be scrapped. If anything, we should be happy that a gay couple will not contribute to the ever increasing population of our country. There are many unfortunate children at the orphanages that might get a new lease of life through such gay couples. 

Another reason that is given against homosexuality is that a gay marriage is not supported by any religion. Here, I would just like to say that neither is drinking, smoking, gambling, committing crimes, cheating, waging wars and doing drugs permissible in any religion. We simply accept those parts of the religion we want to and happily sacrifice the parts we do not. We adapted so easily to cars after thousands of years of walking. We adapted so easily to air conditioners after years of global warming. We adapted so easily to better medical facilities after having an age span of 30 years for centuries. But we cannot adapt to a fact of life, that some people have different sexual orientation. How is it so hard to comprehend? 

“Not allowing gay marriage isn't gonna stop people from being gay...with that said, why not let people who are gay be happier in their lives?” ~ Unknown

Satisfaction

If one recalls the early days, when life was beyond monetary gains, beyond wealth and the pleasures it can buy you, there was only one motivating factor prevalent in everyone’s life – satisfaction provided by the work they do, to feel important through their hard work, to feel appreciated, to be praised. Then came the advent of capitalism, the all-important factor in everyone’s life became not the need to satisfy the self by what they do, but by the quantum of money they earn. Hence, hard work was lost in the rat race. Instead of providing the best one can give, people aim at providing the most profitable they can. We pull down one another to exceed, we don’t push ourselves up any more. We are lost in the misleading world which only knows how to slow your progress for its own good. 

The satisfaction of a congratulating hand on the shoulder, patting your success and hard work; the ecstatic feeling which a few words of praise bring to the heart; the ‘well done’ and the ‘keep it up’ which motivates you; the look of faith and confidence in the eyes of your parents. No amount of money or assets can compete with the joy which these human emotions bring. A pay-raise or a token of appreciation in kind always seem the easy way out to the bosses. But the applauses in front of the colleagues are what are remembered life-long. 

But are we ever truly satisfied? Do we ever feel that what we have made of our lives, what we have achieved, what we have sacrificed, is enough? We keep running, we keep lying, we keep pulling others down and we keep complaining. But these are also the things which keep us going. It is the biggest irony of life. If we look closer, we work to achieve a mirage, as soon as we get close to our goals; we set them farther, higher and start working harder. We crave for satisfaction because we know we will not let ourselves to be satisfied. The driving force, the fuel for our engines, the elixir of all our lives – SATISFACTION..!!

Cricket – A game of passion

It was invented as a sport by the English which became a religion in the subcontinent. The most widely followed religion, if I may add. A religion without caste differences, sects or any other sort of discrimination. The most perfect of settings. The fanatics are huge; the followers – innumerous; the priests – both old and new; and God – just one – Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar.

The game started off as a leisure time activity for the richer groups of the population but the game was too big to be chained down to such a small future. It grew like an untamed forest and before it could be realised it had extended itself to all corners of the Indian society. The Gentlemen’s game soon became a pandemic. It had taken over the hearts of billions. Every park, by-lane and corridor became a cricket ground in no time. The people of India welcomed it into their lives with arms wide open. Such was the grandeur of the game. The game transformed itself from the game of nawaabs to a common man’s dreams.

The heart aches to see how the people have started demeaning the game by saying that it has degraded from a thing of passion to a money making business. How young people are attracted to the game just because of the prospects of earning big. How the viewers are interested in following the game just for gambling and for making easy money. The game is beyond all this. The passion for the game is still the only driving force which motivates both the players and the viewers to make Cricket the centre point of their lives. In fact, I believe that the IPL can be renamed as India’s Passion League. Where else will you find the craze, the fanaticism, the patriotism – to follow the games in the summer heat of near 40 degrees centigrade? The game might very well have been invented by the English but the popularity it commands today is India’s giving.

For once, let us free our minds of the biases we have formed against our beloved sport and think about the whirlwind of emotions which the players go through; it will help us understand the real reason why a player willingly stays away from his family for the better parts of the year; why he undergoes rehabilitation and surgeries as if it is a normal affair; why he still wants to go out and perform in the field in spite of earning millions and in spite of proving himself throughout his illustrious career. For once, let us not think as news channels in search of ‘Breaking News’, but as human beings with feelings and emotions, with desires and dreams, with the passionate love we possess.

The sea of spectators surrounding the bowler as he measures his run-up with a brand new ball in hand, ready to bowl the first delivery; the deafening roars and cheers of the crowd as he comes charging in at the batsman like a steaming coach wit a single aim of breaking the defence, dislodging the bails and to see the stumps cartwheel itself out of its slumber. The adrenaline rush before he jumps into his action and the moment of sheer concentration when he releases the ball towards the imposing silhouette of the batsman ready with his wielding piece of wood.

The swinging, half shiny- moisten glistened ball, dying and then bouncing back to life before the batsman, with the stumps in sight, released to fulfil its bearer’s vow of knocking back the batsman and crashing the stumps, fast approaches the batsman. The moment when the voices of thousands of fans packed inside the stadium becomes so loud that it is impossible to listen to one’s own thoughts. The instant when the batsman needs to decide his shot and the magical sound that echoes around the stadium drowning the cry of the thousands of supporters when the middle of the chiselled bat meets the leather ball and the sight of the ball – battered and hammered – on its way to meet the clouds.

The swirling ball on its way down to meet the earth with the force of gravity working with it, and the humid air making the ball heavy and making it sway right and left; while the fielder measures up towards the falling ball, eyes on target, fighting against the rising turmoil in the gut area and the feeling of ecstasy when the ball silently rests in the cupped hands. The outburst of praises from the spectators and the small victory run by the better player on the field.

These emotions make a player give out his life to the game. The player who gets addicted to these emotions is the one who makes it big, the one who has the longest career, the one who worships the game....

“But eventually it is a game of cricket” ~ Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar

Another poverty stricken kid..

I'm no philanthropist myself but the heart does ache to see a poor child begging for food or money or just for a few prayers for his/her ailing mother.  A lot has been written on what we can do for such underprivileged children and our own conscience knows the answer to such queries too. I'm just here to write on what that child goes through every morning, every afternoon, every evening, every night of his survival. How that child fights with the selfish, cruel world to live- every day of his life. 

I feel over-blessed when I think about the lives of these unlucky few in our society. Let's take a vow to help each one of them in any small way we can. 

I have written a short poem to convey what a poverty stricken child feels. How he is braver than every single one of us reading this. How he strongly and boldly faces difficulties in his life- daily, which we can't even think of undergoing.

Pray for me brother !!

I'm tired of the pitiful looks,

Of faded clothes and second-hand books,

I'm tired of begging for alms,

Of the empty stomach and the stretched out palms..

I hate the winters, I loathe summer heat,

The half-naked body, the boils on the feet,

The monsoon floods the heart with spite,

The so-called crop season, but not a grain in sight..

I silently pray for elections every night,

As politicians line up to give us food- to show their might,

It may not last forever, but it gives me new hopes,

To see another day, as life has me on the ropes..

I wish, at times, for a better life,

To have a home, two children and a wife,

To have a shelter and two meals a day, 

To feel wanted and loved, to feel complete- some day...

~Saurav Goyal

Arranged Marriages - A true reflection of our modernisation..

Marriages are said to be made in heaven, but in a typical Indian society, only our parents seem to possess the visionary powers to see this great bonding between two people. The parents have the special ability to foresee the future and the compatibility between two people in one look whereas the concerned children can’t be sure about the future even if they have spent years together now. 

The world has changed a lot in the last decade. Saddam Hussein was killed in public, Osama was shot dead, India’s population increased by a few millions, Apple Inc’s liquid assets increased more than the US’s government - but marriages are still ‘arranged’ in India. The age old formula of meeting the to-be bride’s and groom’s families. Exchanging pleasantries, serving cholesterol filled - arteries blocking food, praising each other’s under achieved, over grown families and then the children are sent out to “talk in private” while the “Adults” of the two families can fix a price on their children’s freedom. Now this can create a controversy as I am talking about the dowry in an informal language. And as we all know, asking for dowry is a punishable offence in India. For this very reason, people don’t ask for dowry, they ask for “things which will make the life of our children easy in future”. Such a sophisticated way of fulfilling one’s greed just because the groom’s father’s X chromosome was dysfunctional in the embryo. A privilege the bride’s father does not enjoy. It really shows the maturity of brains which decide the children’s future. But who am I to go against the culture our society has preserved for centuries. This is the ‘paramparaa’ which I need to imbibe in myself. How delightfully exciting! 

The parents ask their children to meet each other so that they get to know their future partner in the one meeting after which they need to give their assent. We are also supposed to take it for granted that the other person will be their own self in the all important one time meeting and they will not just try to be nice and lovable. How delightfully convincing! All our lives we are taught not to talk to strangers and one fine day they ask us to marry one. 

The irony starts now, in spite of all the negatives, the criticisms; the arranged marriages seem to work just fine. All the married couples seem to agree on the fact that they were mature enough to adjust and mould their life according to their partner. This in turn only made the bond of love between them stronger and everlasting. 

Arranged marriages, for me, is like a game of cards in which you gamble with all your chips. If the outcome is in your favour, it gives you manifold returns; but if you lose, you have nothing left to continue with.

The Hypocrite Society..

I have written below a short poem through which I want to convey the society's low tolerance level for the 'rebels'- the people who chose to create their own path. The society expects the new blood to bring a kind of a revolution in every field they go to but a part of the society is unable to cope with the changes that the youngsters bring with them. This is the dual nature of our lives, stagnant; yet forward looking, open; yet closed, friendly; yet cannibalistic. 

Most of the people in our society suffer from Misoneism: The fear for the new and the unknown. They are happy and content with what they have achieved and how things are going on around them. People don't want to adapt to the changes we (the rebels) might bring in. I am a rebel, creator of my own path, a fighter. And here I have written an account of what I (and every rebel) need to go through every day to achieve what we want to. What I (and we) go through to change the way society functions, to bring a change.

The Unknown Road

The rules were never clear to me,

How could have I ever followed,

I kept walking alone in the darkness, 

Every word I silently swallowed..

There were thorns strewn upon the path,

And I knew bare feet I had to walk,

The blood kept marking my progress,

I didn't know the demons would thus stalk..

I kept going assiduously,

Absorbed in the recollection of the past,

The cannibals were on their heel behind me,

They jumped and fought at last..

It is all about the journey they say,

And this is where mine ended,

Just because I made my own path,

The world felt a bit offended..

~Saurav Goyal

India's new obsession - Lokpal

India's history has been full of movements- political, social, democratic. It started as means to end the tyranny of the Queen's rule, and continued to dominate free India to keep the elected government from changing the country from a democracy to a monarchy. Some of the movements were genuine efforts by true patriots of the country while others were just a move by the politicians or the political parties to woo the citizens in contributing to vote banks. The question which comes to mind is: Is the most talked about Lokpal Bill an effective way to curb and cure corruption in this rotten and infested country like ours OR is it just being hyped unnecessarily to create a feeling of discontent against the ruling government. The interpretations can be in-numerous- all that matters are the results, in the end.

A few questions first to ascertain the role of Lokpal in our country and society:

1. Where does corruption arise from?

Corruption is in the blood of every citizen today. We teach our children, student, siblings, spouses to bribe. As parents we say, "Do this and you'll get this." Our teachers tell us, "I'll teach for 20 more minutes and then the rest of the period will be free." "If you give this present on my birthday, I'll give you that on yours" is what our siblings say to us. From the very childhood, we are fed with the idea of giving something in return of some work which others are meant to do. We never hesitate in giving an extra fee for facilities which we are bound to receive as tax-paying citizens.

In an overpopulated country like ours, paying a little extra is never an issue in the masses. It is a privilege to be wealthy and the rich tend to exploit it to the fullest. The Lokpal might punish the people who take bribes, but what about the people who feel bribing is an easy way out of the red-tapism. People start taking bribes so easily because we, the citizens, like bribing to make our jobs easier.

2. Who will administer the Lokpal?

The Lokpal is a hot cake right now and all the power seekers cum radicals want a piece of it. They want to ascertain their control over it by being a part of the administration section. They might put the needs of the country before their own needs but what about the successors. In our over-populated country where there is a survival of the fittest, everybody wants to fill their own pockets first. What if the administrators become corrupt? Who will look after the whole affair then? Even if the road is paved and the vehicle is ready, one cannot reach the destination without a good driver. 

I do not mean to say that every individual is a corrupt, money eating leech. The area of concern for me are the persons who will appoint the people to administer the Lokpal. Politicians and bureaucrats will always look for a way to make their job easy by making someone take control of the body who is completely influenced by them. This again will lead to corruption of the anti-corruption body. Public voting is a system of fooling people because in the end coalitions and alliances are formed in such a way that the person/party with highest number of votes relatively, never get the post. 

3. How will the corrupt react with the sudden restrictions?

Corruption is most widespread in government offices because of the job security. When the employees know that their job is secure they do not tend to feel motivated to work and perform their duties. Thus, the frustration among the citizens lead to paying that extra "fee" to get their work done. This develops into a habit amongst the employees as no one minds making a few extra bucks. Now, when the employees feel threatened before asking for a bribe, what will be the motivating factor for them to work again. 

To cure this problem, the employees should be accountable for any mistakes they make or any delay in work from their side. Else, they will exploit on the point that they cannot ask for money themselves but if they do not work properly, a significant portion of the public will be willing to pay an extra fee just to get their job done.

I would request you not to take me as someone against Lokpal. All I want to point out is that all the hype created around the Lokpal might end up disappointing people more than curing the epidemic corruption in the country. Corruption is not something which can be solved by passing a bill in the parliament and creating a body of a few not-so-corrupt individuals. Anti-corruption bodies have always been present in the country. It is not an idea being conceived and implemented for the first time. If a few speeches and hunger strikes could have freed us from the clutches of corruption, then West Bengal would have been the best state to live in. Alas, the harsh reality bites hard at us. 

"Power corrupts. And absolute power corrupts absolutely" ~ Lord Acton