A Drive Back Home.... In India :)

It was close to 7, the other day when I left my office in the evening. The evening breeze was unusually cool and the weather was pleasant as per Jaipur standards (for all those who have never been to Jaipur - Cool evening breeze here is like a cuddly toy of Saddam Hussein). I felt elated as it meant a great two wheeler drive back home. I happily boarded my vehicle and left for my home. The first turn brought me to a main road, which was too small and dingy for the traffic which had ended up here. The huge buses had decided to take a stroll in these congested lanes of the city, which unfortunately threw me in a corner of the road, like a domestic servant at the time of a party in the house. Suddenly, due to my (as well as the government's) benightedness my foot landed, in a heap of garbage which had been gracefully thrown on the open road. It was a mix of banana coverings, mango guthlis, and loads of other tits-bits, which had turned black and smelly due to constant ignorance.

Having been a very optimistic person, I regained quickly and continued my journey trying to get out of the lane as quick as possible. Little did I know, that a few seconds later, in an attempt to maintain my balance on the bouncy road, my other, the only clean foot now, would land up in a muddy puddle. My foot was now totally covered with mud as high as my socks went. I felt bad, but still maintained my composure. I continued and finally moved to an open and much better road. I sped up happily, when I realized that something terrible had happened. A few people had collected in the corner and were silently watching something. On staring and   sneaking, I found that an accident had taken place. A young man was lying unconscious. The people were creating a havoc around, and discussing the pros and cons of an accident. Nobody realized that the man was profusely bleeding from the cheeks. I don't know how but  a fight had also erupted between two men there, who were shouting abuses in the middle of the road at the rate of 2 per second, in some local language, which I failed to register. Like hundreds of other Indians, I moved on.

A few minutes later, I halted on a traffic signal. The cow which was standing right beside me (also following the signal of red obediently), suddenly decided to defecate. I felt inferior thinking about the freedom which the cows have as compared to humans in our country but I let the thought pass and moved my vehicle a few paces forward.
A traffic jam ahead, due to the sudden decision of elephants to cross the road, made me impatient. The pollution from buses, the honking of the drivers and the lethargy of the cyclists, in absence of any kind of 'lane driving' got on my nerves. Anyways, we follow 'lane driving, insane driving', so I was not new to any of these. Still, I remained calm and bucolic. As I took the final turn, toward my home, I sped up in an attempt to reach 'Home sweet Home' as fast as I could. But suddenly a series of potholes came which shook up all my insides and completely digested the samosa that I had gorged a few hours back in an instant. I felt as if my stomach had jumped up to my throat. I felt a snag in my vehicle and slightly turned my head to have a look at the rear tyre while driving. Another pothole - And my spectacles came loose and fell on the road. A car which had been following me, instantly crushed my red coloured specs, which breathed their last that very second. (R.I.P - specs).

I entered my home with one foot smelling and other foot completely covered in mud, lost spectacles, coughing  wildly and with my eyes paining due to pollution. I announced my return to my mother, as her warrior son was back. Not because I had a tiring 9 hour work at office, but because I had an exhausting 25 minutes drive. I stood in my balcony, now feeling the cool breeze and just then the first few drops of rain fell on my forehead! I realized that it was all usual and as normal as it could be.

Its best to enjoy the weather at home... Adios! :)    


Ye Haath Mujhe Dede Thakurrr.... - A Tribute to Indian Cinema

We respect Indian cinema and we love it to the core. After all, every Friday hundreds of crores are at stake and so is the future of so many actors, artists and film makers. And why not! We are the largest movie producing country of the world! We love the action sequences where people are flying around due to the punch of our protagonist, we completely adore the song sequences which takes us through 4 European countries in 4 minutes, we hold our breaths when the doctor typically terrifically announces "Ab sab uppar wale ke haath me hai...", we cry our hearts out when the hero announces "Mai yeh ghar humesha ke liye chod ke jaa rha hu..." ...

And why shouldn't we? After all, we are the emotionally active and sentimentally childish people. And what is wrong with that? Doesn't every mother feel proud of herself, when the mother in the movie, who is invariably an epitome of ultimate sacrifice, announces "Kya isi din ke liye tujhe paal pos ke bada kiya tha?". She has the right to say this because she is the one jisne apne bache ko Doctor ya Lawyer banane ke liye duniya ka har gum aur zaalim zamane ka har jakhm jhela hai. It is really bereaving to see her crying because "Hum kisi ko muh dikhane layak nahi rahe", due to the 'kookarm' of her daughter! Although the conversation between mother and son is limited to usually three dialogue filled with honey like sweetness which could give you a diabetes. These are - "Maa...Maa, mai aa gaya hoon" (where the hero announces his return to his home), "Maa dekh main tere liye kya laya hu..." (trying his best to surprise his mom), and "Maa...Maa...Maa..." (just like that...)!

Another stereotype of an old hindi movie could be the hero's/ heroine's friend. It is this character who gets some of the high-on-emotion dialogues sometimes. They can be instrumental in defining the financial status of the hero in front of the third party ("Uska dosh sirf itna hai vaqeel babu, ki wo ek...wo ek GAREEB hai"). They are also very less demanding, but when they demand, it is usually the precious life of their valuable friend ("Bhagwaan, maine aaj tak tujhse kuch nahi maanga...lekin aj..."). They might also be temporary doctors, announcing the medical condition of the protagonist to their parents, ("Arrey, isko to tez bukhaar hai maa ji..."). These characters can best be played by Chunky Pandey, Jugal hansraj, Shatrughan sinha, Jimmy shergill and Arshad Warsi.

Since this discussion can go on and on, we would prefer it to continue in the next blog. However, I would not dare to miss another stereotype of our bollywood, i.e. the inverse proportion between the financial condition and "neeyat" of the characters. The characters which are rich, are invariably extremely bad...oops sorry, they are neech, kapti, or maybe a gandi naali ka keeda. On the contrary, the characters from a humble background have a heart of gold, they are the saviours of their respective villages...in short, jinke paas Bhagwaan ka diya kuch nahi hota, siway pyaar ke...

On this note, I close with the promise to bring more on our very own country India - with a humorous touch...

Adios! ;) 

ज़िंदगी एक तलाश है...


वक़्त तो रेत की तरह उड़ता जाता है,
और मैं उसी जगह खड़ा रह जाता हू...
चोट ऐसी खाई है वक़्त से
की दर्द तमाम तो यू ही सह जाता हू...
वक़्त तो दौड़ता सा जा रहा है
तो मैं भी नीर बन के, इसमे बह जाता हू...

ज़िंदगी की इस दौड़ में, खुद के लिए एक लम्हा भी नही,
भीड़ में तो तन्हा हू, और अकेले पूरी तरह तन्हा भी नही...
ज़िंदगी ऐसी पहेली है, की खुद को ना समझ पाया हू, ना ढूँढ पाया हू,
चाहे कितने हो आईने घर मे, अक्स अपना ही मैं ना तलाश पाया हू...

क्यू संतुष्ट नही है इंसान, कभी बेचैन है, कभी हताश है,
खुश्क से होठों पे, एक अनकही सी प्यास है,
कही लहरों को साहिल की, कहीं ज़ख़्मों को मरहम की,
कही दिल को धड़कन की...बस एक तलाश है....



(21 May 2010 को लिखी, मेरी खुद की एक रचना...आज हिन्दी दिवस के उपलक्ष में आपके सामने प्रस्तुत की है...)

The Traffic (Non) Sense...

Driving any kind of a vehicle in India is a chimerical potion of sound, spectacle and an enduring experience. The roads and the vehicles are absolutely on their own, paying no heed to who or what is driving alongside them or whether any so called 'traffic rules' need to be followed. Even the traffic policemen truly and sincerely follow the worldwide rule of 'Customer is King'. We have an amazing tendency to assume immortality when we drive for ourselves and for fellow road users. In fact, Indian traffic is also like the Indian caste system, there are certain kinds of reservations for some sections of society. These are allowed to pass or overtake or cross the road on their own wish and in case of any accident these 'reserved' categories are never to be blamed! A few elements of this reserved sect include cows, elephants, pigs, bicyclists (which are evidently of two types in India - goods carrying and passenger carrying). 


Secondly, we take the use of horns as our birthright and can abuse anyone any time in case we are denied that right. We use the sonic fender in a number of ways. One is the 'urgent' call, usually used for clearing dogs, pedestrians and the flock of sheep which suddenly decided to graze the road. Next is the 'desperate' call, which we use along with the flashing of the headlights. In a decent and straightforward language, by this desperate call, we simply mean, "I am going too fast and have no intentions of stopping. So unless YOU decide to stop, we shall both meet in heaven"... And even after these two types, there still exists a third one, 'casual' call (my favorite one). It is basically used when we spot someone out of the 122 crores Indians who we recognize, or more often than not, we haven't used the horn for several minutes... ;)


 We have also gained expertise in multi tasking over the years (thanks to the development of MS Windows). While driving we love performing the amazing feat of text messaging our friends or even updating our facebook status to 'Driving in helluva Traffic.. :) '. We do not realize that these manoeuvres may be the reason of the traffic jam and the blaring horns behind us. another important aspect is overtaking. Come what may we always have the right to overtake. Every moving vehicle irrespective of its size, side or shape has the right to overtake every other moving vehicle also irrespective of the fact that it has just overtaken you! 


Another chronic problem of Indian vehicles on road, which is as serious and widespread as yellow fever in Africa, is of Overloading! But for this, I have devised a simple formula. The number of passengers a vehicle can carry = A2  , where A is the actual number of passenger allowed on a vehicle. As an example, the number of passengers allowed on a bicycle is 2, but the actual number that will be seated comfortably on an Indian bicycle = 2X2 = 4... So the next time you see an overloaded vehicle, do apply this formula for the test of its applicability and truthfulness. 


With the increasing number of accidents on Indian roads, I just wish that some sense is infused in the drivers for more safety in future. Finally, just one advice of crossing an Indian road - Look left, then right, then left again before crossing a ONE WAY road... ;)


Adios...

The Bath with Daily 'Soaps'...

SCENE 1 - 11 year old Yash enters his house without ringing the bell and goes straight to his mother. His mother, has the lunch ready for him as he rarely eats his tiffin in school and usually returns hungry and famished. But today, he seems quiet than usual. He does not scream on top of his voice for food and does not start recounting his school incidents to his mom like every day. His mom enters his room, where he is serenely seated on his bed. She observes him and realizes that he has a bleeding thumb which is hurting him. She immediately rushes to the other room and arranges the best first aid she can. She pampers him more than he actually needs. She sits with him and feeds him with her own loving and motherly hands... Yash is happy... and immediately cured.

SCENE 2 - (5 years later) - Yash is 16 years of age now and like other weekdays enters his house. The things have changed. His mother no longer has the lunch ready for her because she has her favorite daily soaps lined up back to back till 3 pm. She asks him to wait for some time or take everything himself from the kitchen and eat. He does not eat. He straight away walks away and gets locked up in the confines of his room... he starts crying his heart out. Not because his mother ignored him (that has been a daily instance for some years now), but because today he is facing a difficult teen problem and is going through a great dilemma of his life. He is in depression and wants to share things with someone close and personal. His friends are of the same age and therefore, as immature as him, he knows that...Time passes by and by the end of next three days, Yash learns to live like this... Yash is sad.

These two situations are a very basic and underlying problem we are going to face (or we already are?) due to the daily soaps being aired on television. Today, mothers are more interested in the tears of the protagonist's sister's sister-in-law because her husband is in love with her brother's wife. They do not care if there little kids are lying unattended in the cot next to them. The illness of the protagonist's mother-in-law's sister's husband might be of a greater concern than the illness of her own daughter crying in the next room. This has become a chronic problem of the over-emotional and highly impractical population of our country. And the main problem - the serial directors realize this fact. They have content not even worth of a single minute's attention which astonishingly continues for five years. Most of the women watch the episodes daily and more regularly than they would bathe or eat, and also abuse the directors for creating such an asinine episode, thus creating a juxtaposing situation.

I have no solutions to present on this, nor do I have any liniment of this perennial disease that a large chunk of our intelligent and bright population has been affected by. Anyways, I just wish and hope that some sense is infused in the creators and promoters (read: viewers), of such daily soaps, to stop creating such utter piece of ****, and switch to some better and more perspicacious content on television and please let the family system and family love of India intact.

Adios! :)