The finest Teacher

                "Sisters and Brothers of America"; It happened probably for the first time that someone received applauds and a standing ovation for just his greetings. This line and the following speeches by Swami Vivekananda in Chicago in 1893 helped gain Hinduism, for the first time, an important position among major world religions. In an era where countries like India, considered as the third world nations, had yet to break the shackles of slavery and atrocity of the British tyranny, these words made the world realize the potential of India and its people. It made them aware that India is not a land of uncultured and uncivilized people but one of the most ancient civilizations of the world.
                Through his speech, Swami explained the importance of Spirituality in a person’s life and the role it plays in shaping a person’s overall persona. After this introductory address, he gave a number of speeches on various topics such as Yoga, Spirituality, and Buddhism. His vast knowledge and the articulation of his thoughts instantly put an everlasting impression on everyone’s mind. Not only did it acquaint the westerners with the new knowledge about spirituality, but also reminded Indians how important asset it was for them.
                Not many speeches in the history have been so strong as to touch so many hearts and influence so many souls. The reason for this is the eloquence and honesty it had which was the direct reflection of Swami Vivekananda.  Swami Vivekananda, in many places of his speech, related various spiritual concepts with their scientific counterparts. He explained how the laws written in the form of vedas were similar to the law of gravity which existed from time immortal but only realized after it was discovered.  The scientific minds of the westerners were instantly influenced by this and it made them believe in his ideology.
                After coming back to India, he founded a social organization called Ramakrishna Mission, an organization whose ideals were based on Karma Yoga. Swami Vivekananda believed that the supreme power of a country vests in its people, and particularly the youth. He wanted “to set in motion, machinery which will bring noblest ideas to the doorstep of even the poorest and the meanest. His teachings are still taught and practised in his founded institutions.
                On the eve of Swami Vivekananda’s 50th birth anniversary, let us celebrate his intellectual genius by learning as much from his personality as we can. I would like to end this post with Swami’s message to the country’s youth
"Take up one idea. Make that one idea your life – think of it, dream of it, live on that idea. Let the brain, muscles, nerves, every part of your body, be full of that idea, and just leave every other idea alone. That is way great spiritual giants are produced."                

The jinxed fate

       The acrid smell of fumes coming out of vehicles and their honking horns woke her up. This had always been her morning alarm. The dusty, frigid ground felt punishing against her back. But she was grateful. It was the only shelter for people like her. And obviously, bitter gourd would not taste bitter if you don’t know the taste of sugar.

       She woke up amidst the din of traffic around her on the footpath of a chowk. It was a sunny day and she squinted as the broad sunlight hit her eyes. It was just like any other morning. People wake up in the morning to chase their dreams. Each day brings something new to their life. But people like her; they just live because they have to.

She sat on the road divider staring at the usual chaos around her. The Gandhi chowk was full of people like her. Watching the happenings around her was her favourite pastime, rather the only one she had. The beggars had already started their only chore of begging. Her gaze was broken by a baby’s cry somewhere near her. A beggar, a girl slightly older than her was feeding her child. The baby seemed hungry but the woman had nothing to feed him. She wondered why people like her even marry. They bring a new life into the world and leave them to live a life of misery. Probably, the similitude of their problems brings people together. Devoid of happiness, they try to lessen their grief by sharing it with people who experience the same pain. She was born in a similar way. But as if her fate wasn’t done screwing with her life, her parents died before she even learned to talk.

       She hated what she had to do every day, living a life without dignity and meaning just to get enough money to keep herself alive. In spite of this, there were times when she had to go on without food for days. At times, she felt alone and scared. She wept for hours at nights but there was no one to console her. Finally, when her tears would dry up, she would go to sleep.

        She saw a car stopping at the signal and went to the car. As soon as the driver saw her coming, he shut the windows of the car. She hovered there for some time and then moved to another car. At the end of the day, all she could gather was a rupee. It had already been 3 days since she had eaten anything. She begged a small chaiwala for a biscuit but he angrily pushed her away. A group of young lads were watching the scene. One of them called her over. She went there hoping for their sympathy. The guy who called her was looking at her intently. There was some evil perversion in his eyes.

“Are you hungry sweety?” he asked. He held her hand and pulled her closer. 

“Well, I can help you. But you see, I am hungry too. How about we both help out each other?”

The girl stared at him in horror and tried to free her hand. But his grip was tight.

“Let me go, you rascal.” She spat on his face.

       He slapped her twice. He motioned other boys of the group to hold her tightly while he started undressing her. She cried and begged but it was of no use. She cried for help but there was nobody around her to hear her wails. It seemed even God had turned deaf ears. She tried using force but could do nothing. After a while, they left her on a corner badly abused and unconscious.

       When she woke up, desolate and got her senses back, she started crying hysterically. What had she done to get a fate like this? She could not take any more of this. She went to a lake nearby and plunged into it. As the water flooded inside her body, she slowly closed her eyes, finally free from the shackles of this ruthless world.

The Train of Thoughts

Lying on the bed I dream with open eyes,

the upshots of the day, the truths and lies...

The dark blue sky and the pounding autumn rain

unable to suppress my mind's thought train...

Lying there in the humble room of my physical self,

my mind cherishes the riches of life and all that pelf...

Boundless of all confines it drifts through the void,

away from the dogma of ideas which millions have toyed...

Away it goes through the mountains and valleys,

where the heaven showers only happiness and merries...

Oblivious of the ails and pains of the ruthless world,

it takes delight in watching the world unfurled...

They call it childish, they call it foolish,

but the very same dreams, they themselves cherish...

The pursuit of happiness

I wandered thousand places,

Trudging along alien roads,

Through tall mountains and deep valleys.

The mirages of joy and euphoria,

In the brightest of the sun,

Inducing a craving in my heart

That propelled me ahead.

I met a thousand souls,

Some happy with their journey,

And some lonely in the battle.

With some I thought my heart clung

But were only the treacherous ones

Who, under the veil of serenity,

Gave a fake sense of belonging.

I tried to find happiness,

Sometimes amidst chaos of sounds,

And sometimes in the solitary self.

Little did I know that

It isn’t the acolyte of wealth,

Or the follower of desires

But the upshot of dreams that come true.

Then when I queried the saints of tranquillity,

I realized that happiness is where my heart dwells.

Searching for my heart I wandered night and day,

And found that in the company of toiled it lay,

Pumped every time a heart was elated,

And flinched every time one was wounded,

United with my heart, my pursuit ceased,

And finally could I lay in peace.

chotu...ek chai....

The current “me” is a changed person. From a shy, over sensitive and under-confident person in school days, to a fairly confident, positive person in college, this has been a very valuable journey in my life. I still remember being sad over petty matters like not scoring well in my exams, losing an argument with friends or not getting a thing that I wanted. Many instances in my adolescent years have taught me better.

It was the last evening of my second semester in BITS. After a ‘not very descent’ performance in the exams (not that I regret it), I sought some relief in the rehdy in front of Shankar Bhavan(my hostel for the first year). Rehdys in Bits are more popular than the college canteens. With local varieties of delicacies(they actually are delicacies) like Sam-chat (samosa chat) and papadi chat and poha and what not, they are just everything that the students want; meeting spots for ghots(or ghosts, for folks like us) to discuss, love points for couples, and vella-panti hubs for others.

I sat on the blue bench and ordered a sam-fry. Everybody seemed happy, with exams over and the prospect of the coming holidays. Some people were already leaving the campus with their rucksacks on and cabs ready. My hostel’s rehdy was owned by an aged man in fifties. He had a small boy working for him. Everybody called him chhotu. I had seen him many a times there and he always used to greet me whenever I passed by. He was a dark, stout boy, not more than twelve years of age and had a grim face.

‘Tumhara naam kya hai?’ I asked him when he came to me with my order.

‘Vijay’, he said with a sheepish face.

‘Kitne saal ke ho tum?’ I said him with serious but polite expressions on my face.

‘unnhh....14 saheb, 14 saal ka hoon.’

I had expected that. These child-workers are well trained to answer such questions. I knew he was lying but I remained composed.

‘School jaate ho?’ I asked though I knew the answer. I could sense the rehdywala (owner) staring at me.

‘nahi sahib.’ It was the rehdywala this time.

‘kaha jayega sahab school? Agar ye school jayega to iska ghar kaise chalega?’

I gave him a questioning look. ‘Kyu, iske maa baap kya karte hai?’ I asked him.

‘Hai na saab, baap ek number ka bevda hai. Poora din padaa rehta hai., he said.

‘yeh jhoot bol raha hai na? Ye 14 saal ka nahi ho sakta.’ I tried to ask politely.

‘Nahi sahib, ye 14 saal ka hi hai.’, he curtly replied.

After a while I saw my friend coming and waved lazily to him. He sat beside me and ordered a shikanji (lemon juice) for himself. As usual he started complaining about the course and teachers and what not. I saw the boy looking towards my friend with eloquent eyes. I wondered what the boy was thinking about my friend. Probably he wished to tell him, ’my friend, I would face a thousand more problems than what you have, to lead a life like you’.

After a while, a college student with posh clothes and branded shoes stopped his cycle at the rehdy and shouted, ‘chotu, ek chai!’.

Kaash....

KAASH...

kaash tum mere dil ko samaj paate,

is chehere ke piche chupe chahat ko

kaash tum bhi dekh paate.....

yu toh khuli kitaab hai meri zindagi,

apni nazaron se kabhi ise,

kaash tum bhi padh lete.....

akeele jo hum chal pade is raah pe,

manzil milane me mujhe

kaash tum bhi mera saath dete.....

dosti to hai hum dono ke darmiyaan,

kaash is dosti ko tum pyaar mein badal paate.....

muskuraahat ke toh kai deewane hai tumhari,

us ek hansi ke kaash hum bhi haqdaar hote......

sapno me to mere tum hi ho basey,

kaash baahon mein bhi hum tumhe samaa paate.....

dil ki baat jo keh nahi paate hum tumse,

kaash tum use meri aakhon mein dekh paate.......

Chasing dreams, slowed by hurdles...

Living and chasing dreams, is the way life goes for ambitious people. I thought about this seriously for the first time after my high school, when I somehow exceeded my own expectations. I passed my Board examinations with "so called" flying colors and (though on a local level) came in the limelight of aunties and oldies who (for no reason) thought of me as someone extra-terrestrial who knew far more than those on earth. Well, they hardly knew that scoring good marks in a board exam don't mean much in this competitive "today". Well, on the positive side though, this increased my self -confidence immensely.
Well, the next two years ended up quite well with me ending up in a good engineering college, to add to the happiness of me and my family(the later part being very special to me).Now that I am in BITS-Pilani, I am dealing with an all together different crowd. My dreams are also bigger now and so are my ambitions.
Coming to the point now, we have a Music Club here in Bits-Pilani. It's the cream of our college. Only the most talented artists can make it to this club. And it's quite obvious that they are the most respected and known personalities in the college. Well, I am also kinda into Music and after watching the Music club perform in the college for the first time, I decided that I am gonna land up in there. I tried my luck in the 2nd sem but failed to reach their standards. Still, it was quite a great learning experience and it made me even more passionate and desperate in getting into the music club. I started practicing and also learned some basics of classical music (vocals) in my summer holidays back in nagpur.
Then the 3rd sem started.I had already planned and practiced the songs that I was to sing in the auditions. But special things just don't remain special if they come by easily. Just about 2-3 days before the auditions , I fell sick badly and had to be admitted to the only hospital in pilani. All my hopes got crushed when I expectantly asked the doctor about my discharge on the morning of the auditions and he smiled and said that I was too fragile to be discharged this early. That was the longest day of my life.
But as the dialogue goes, "picture abhi baki hai mere dost". Though this sickness has delayed my goal by a semester, next time it will be all the more fierce and tough from my side. The ant that had fallen midway on the hill, is ready to climb it once again, more cautiously this time.