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

Self Assessment

One of the most difficult job is self assessment. Accepting that you're not what you think you are. Well, I have been going through this phase lately where I am determined to accomplish this daunting task of scrutinising myself. So I laid down certain ground rules first- 

1. No self praise (Here, modesty is the best policy)

2. Not agreeing to everything, everybody has to say about me (Everyone's opinions about me doesn't matter)

3. Focussing more on the parts that need to be worked upon (I know I'm not perfectly imperfect)

4. Not putting the blame of my certain actions on others (Although I know it's not my fault always)

As I see myself, I am a man of contradictions and complexions, of ethics and egos, of feelings and fallacies and much more than what meets the eyes. Introspection at this level is seldom good for people like me. I end up getting a very disturbing image in my head. An unadulterated, unedited, real image of the real self. I'm not talking about the physical appearance, it hardly perturbs me.

I can both love and hate a person at the same time. Hate might be too strong a word, so I should re-frame it as, I can both love and detest a person at the same time. I feel we like or dislike certain qualities in a person, and therefore it is quite possible to have such contradictory feelings for the same person at the same time. The fact that I observe the people around me very closely, contributes to this as well. 


I know that everybody doesn't feel the same way about me. On any given day, the number of people who have something good to say about me, will be overrun by my 'haters'. But this is not the worst part! The worst part is that it doesn't affect me at the least. I can't change myself for others. As I had read somewhere, "I wasn't sent to Earth to please you"! If there are a few habits which I dislike, it is going to stay that way. Now, for example, I can't start gossiping or start listening to somebody gossip just because it is the best way to pass some time for them. 


It is said that we should look at ourselves the way others look at us. I say it is complete balderdash! If I started doing that, I would develop suicidal tendencies. I regard too high of myself, and that is exactly what is needed to survive in this world today. Why should I feel inferior about myself just because someone else thinks he could have done my job in a better way? Why should I feel like a loser if someone else thinks that I made certain wrong decisions in my life? Why should I.... you got the point, right? So I'll just move ahead..


For me, it is never about doing things the right way. It has always been about doing things my way. I don't want things around me to be perfect. I just want things around me to make me happy, I want the people around me to remain happy, I want to be imperfect in my own stupid ways. I do not want people to remember me as 'the one who did everything right', but as 'the one who made everything feel right, in spite of all the imperfections'. 


Every person is egoistic, so am I. The world teaches you everything as you grow up and as we all know, we catch the bad habits way before and way easily than the good ones. There are many kind of egos. I'm not very certain about the ones I have, but I am definite about the ones I do not have. I am not a male chauvinist. I do not suffer from  any superiority complex. Simply said, I am a person with self respect, you can term it ego if you want.


The self assessment has to stop now. I do not want you to know me too well since I do not want the list of 'haters' to increase after this write-up. I would like to quote one of the best Indian writers as an apt end.


" I am not a nice man to know " ~ Khushwant Singh