The shorter end of democracy

The morning newspaper showed me pictures of an erstwhile limbo development authority suddenly in the thick of action….repairing roads, filling potholes and painting medians..... To what fundamental right do you refer when you suffer and endure rickety and bumpy rides every morning and yet the authorities will not budge and repair theumpteen broken roads and crater-sized potholes? But they will and with astonishing alacrity repair every road on the ‘rosy path’ where a Prime Minister will tread! A Minister cannot bear a few hours of bumpy journeys but the citizens of the country can and should suffer the inefficiencies of a ‘non-public serving’ public department!

But the images of a jubilant ISRO team and messages flowing from all over the world did swell my pride and unknowingly I too joined the celebrations…..But as I rejoiced and prided in the country’s Mars mission; I heard a set of disgruntled ‘democratic’ voices cynically pointing fingers at the money spent on the mission. The voices of concern are suddenly raised over India’s poverty stricken millions and the hunger that prevails across the country…Is this paltry money (compared to the billions spent by other countries for space missions) going to change the course of India’s economic journey? What about the money literally spent on momentary ecstasy….fire crackers,ganesh pandals, elaborate wedding feasts? What about the money looted by our bureaucrats and politicians from state coffers? What about the money spent on movie extravaganzas…temples for demi-gods of Bollywood,tollywood and all the other ‘woods’ that exist in tinsel town? What about the money wasted on ministerial journeys to different parts of the world with their spouses? THAT was the money that can change our country’s fortunes and its living billions. Trying to strangle India’s scientific growth is NOT the recipe for happy citizenship!

While we are oozing with pride on the amazing feat achieved by our scientific brains; will we care to honour the brains and the sweat behind this feat? Will we create an atmosphere where the brains of India can work on missions that will catapult the country into the next millennium? We will continue to do what we do best…make merry at every six hit on the boundary….heap money on a few star cricketers (and no other sportsman in the country of course)…kill and die for unknown causes…But as we sit on the fence and take part in the peripheral celebrations, can we at least not dampen the spirit of our scientific community and take the luster off this incredible feat?

The Pretensions of Choice

When life throws at you

A basket of choices

You dig into its depth

Fooled and ‘buffooned’

Born rich and die poor or;

Born poor and die rich

School topper turned corporate ‘zero’ or;

School dropout turned millionaire

Bookworm with zilch knowledge or;

Street-smart with book aversion

Scholastic heights with professional demotion or;

Corporate success with academic ignorance

Career of soulful passion mingled with minimal dough or;

Straightjacketed experience with a roaring provident fund

Marriage to a man loved that may turn into hatred or;

Loving the man you married and live with the choice

Wholesome motherhood with frustrating professional hunger or;

Career fulfillment with fleeting stings of motherhood

Vagabond fulfilling youth with cracking old age or;

Contained ‘under 40’ existence with crackling old age

A health free ‘greens’ only living with a cancer death or;

Blessed ice-cream and chocolate living with diabetic old age

Choices that are myths bundled into mirages

Choices that float and burst at the touch of reality

The word ‘choice’ left meaningless as destiny and fate make your life! 

Soulful Therapy

Sometimes dive into therapeutic healing

Away from yogis

Away from medical centers

Away from self- help books

Sometimes immerse in life’s simple healing

A No strings No money therapy

One look into the eye of your grinning child

One touch of your baby’s spongy hand

One master stroke that alleviates ‘corporate poisons’ of the day

Two minutes of heart rending melody

Two minutes of silence trickled with musical notes

Two nights sleep of blissful detachment

Three minutes of nonsensical laughs with a dear kith

Three minutes of conversations of ‘nothingness’ with a loving kin

Three days of ‘being loved’ paradise

Four fingers of your mother stroking your hair

Four shopping bargains with your mother

Four months of blessedness and gratitude

Five days in a foreign land

Five days of mountain and river gazing

A lifetime of liberating freedom dipped in soulful living

Sometimes it takes a day

Although I am generally averse to the over emphasis on certain meaningless days and the overall apathy towards the same cause on the other 364 days of the year…this Teacher’s Day I realized that sometimes it takes that ‘special day’ to remember certain milestones in one’s life and to cherish and express gratitude to the good souls who made us reach those milestones.

So this Teacher’s day, I took a few minutes to reflect on my good old school days and those stalwarts of the education arena who guided, moulded and mentored us into the big bad world !

They equipped me with life saving tips that I use every single day of my life…when life throws at me fatal ‘verge of drowning’ scenarios..at home, at work, in relationships! They honed my value system and etched some principles into my being which years of external influence and internal temptations could not erode! They set the stage where I could let my hair loose and indulge in things of passion and till date I am never afraid to do that thanks to that stage they created!

There is not a waking moment in my life where intentionally or otherwise I am not using one of the skills/virtues instilled by my teachers and each scenario, situation and challenge that crops on the way is easily averted, met and overcome with those simple techniques that these living legends taught me in school. They can make or break a child’s destiny and to my good fortune, most of my teachers took it upon themselves to play their best part in making my destiny and dream almost synonymous.

I only wish that the new crop of teachers in this world take more of the yesteryears passion and genuine interest into their system…let teaching not be a ‘job’ but a real passion for those engaged in moulding the next generation and to the general public – while we honour and idolize every cricketer, movie star and local leader at the drop of a hat….can we spare a little of the reward, recognition and mere appreciation for the eminent teachers in our society who are hitting those silent sixes and making many a Tendulkar as we speak?