An apology to the beloved brother BHAGAT SINGH!!!

Respected brother,

 I hope you are having a good time up there in heaven. Although you are essentially an atheist, but considering your actions in this nation 79 years ago, I am sure you must have found some honorable place in the heaven. Well, I was born in your beloved motherland in 1987,79 years after you attained MARTYRDOM on 23March 1931. I would like to update you about the fate of HINDUSTAN you left in the hands of the posterity.

 It was with the efforts of youngsters like you that we were able to finally attain independence on 15^th Aug1947. You should hear the speech ‘Tryst with Destiny’ on 15^th Aug 1947  powerfully delivered by Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru. It celebrated the proud moment with gusto. Indian freedom movement inspired many other nations of the world. 

 But sadly your beloved motherland was also torn into two separate nations on the basis of religion; HINDUSTAN and PAKISTAN, a culmination of the ‘divide and rule’ policy of Firangis/ Britishers and self interested politicians. Pakistanis would disagree with me on this point as they feel Hindus exploited Muslims before partition days, so they deserved a separate motherland for themselves(their version of partition). Although I would like to add here, that more Muslims chose to stay in Hindustan after the partition. The partition led to violent riots and bloodshed in which millions were killed, and many more were rendered homeless. It might come as a pleasant shock to you, but yes, Hindus and Sikhs did kill Muslims and vice versa.That wasn’t enough, so rioting continued for many years to come.


We still kill each other in the name of religion and caste.You and your compatriots fought valiantly against Firangis with unity. You felt Firnagis looked down upon us and exploited us. Well no more are Firangis left to exploit us now, so we do it to ourselves. We have become very corrupt and exploit this nation collectively. Lately, we have learnt hypocrisy too . We do show off the 9% growth rate to the world, but half of the population still lives below poverty line and more than 40% children are malnourished.....

This is no longer the 'AZAAD Hindustan' you dreamed for the posterity. There is no INDIA left to fight for. Some Sikhs fought for Khalistan; Kashmiris are still fighting for secession; Tribal’s feel cheated by the centre; Marathas want Maharashtra only for themselves. It doesn’t look like a nation anymore, but a conglomerate of mutually inimical states. Ayodhya issue is the latest bone of contention, but I don’t want to disturb you with further details.

It is not a very proud thing to be part of this nation today. Although I have always loved this nation but I am extremely saddened to say that THIS IS NO LONGER A NATION TO FIGHT FOR. It’s very basic structure has deteriorated by corruption and divisive politics has created fault lines among various communities.

 My intention of writing this letter isn’t to embarrass you. What you did must have seemed right to you in your circumstances. But I am sure this isn’t the country you dreamed of. And we all are equally responsible for creating the present day chaos. And  for that, all of us owe you an unconditional APOLOGY today, on the occasion of celebrating your 103^rd Birth Anniversary!!!

You are still seen as a major YOUTH ICON in this nation. And I am happy to see that many youngsters look up to you as a ROLE MODEL. The only ray of hope today is the YOUNGER generation who can bring major changes in the system by showing zero tolerance to corruption and by not giving in to ‘vote bank politics’ of today’s terrorists / politicians...God knows we need many more Bhagat Singh(s) today.May God bless this nation....
Regards,
Your Sister


P.S. -  The poem 'SARFAROSHI KI TAMANNA' is relevant even today. I wish we could sing it along with you and get the much needed inspiration from the brave sacrifices made by you and all the other freedom fighters involved in Indian independence movement.

  Sarfaroshi ki tamanna ab humare dil mein hai 

Dekhna hai Zor kitna Baazu-e-Qatil mein hai

Aye watan, karte nahi kyun dusre kuch baat cheet

Dekhta hun main jise wo Chup tere Mehfil mein hain

Aye Shaheed-e-Mulk-o-millat main tere upar nisar

Ab tere Himmat ka charcha Gair ki mehfil mein hai

Waqt aane dey tujhe bata denge ai Aasman

Hum abhi se kya batayen kya humare dil mein hai

Kheench kar layin hai sabko Qatal hone ki umeed

Aashiqon ka aaj jumghat Kucha-e-Qatil mein hai

Sarfaroshi ki tamanna ab humare dil mein he hai

Hai liye hathiyar dushman taak mein baitha udhar

Aur hum tayar hai sina liye apna idhar

Khoon se khelenge holi agar watan mushkil mein hai

Sarfaroshi ki Tamanna ab humare Dil mein hai

Hath jin mein ho Junoon katt te nahi talwaar se

Sar jo Uth jate hain wo jhukte nahi lalkaar se

Aur bharkega jo shola-sa  humare dil mein hai

Sarfaroshi Ki Tamanna ab humare dil mein hai

Hum to ghar se nikle hi the baand kar sar pe Kafan

Jaan hathele par liye jo bharh chale hai ye kadam

Zindagi to apni Mehmaan Maut ki Mehfil mein hai

Yun khada Maqtaal mein kehraha hai baar baar

Kya Tamann-e-Shahadat bhi kisi ke dil mein hai 

Dil mein tufano ki toli aur Nason mein INQILAAB

Hosh dusman ke ura denge humein roko na aaj

Door reh paya jo humse Dum kahan Manzil mein hai

Sarfaroshi ki Tamanna ab Humare dil mein hai

Wo jism bhi kya jism hai jisme na ho Khoon-e-Junoon

Tufano se kya larhe jo Kashti-e-Sahil mein hai

A PRAYER

Life is such a dilemma. It is a clueless journey which we have to undertake anyway. There comes a time when you have to make major decisions for your unforeseen future. These are the times one is expected to brace oneself up for the new tasks ahead. But what if I don’t want to move ahead??? What if I just wanna spend rest of my life exactly the way I am spending it now from last four months – living in this paradise called Nangal where everything is blessed. Clean water, clean air to breathe, a comfy room, balanced diet and beautiful birds... Seeing beautiful clouds cheers me up .. Seeing pretty birds cheers me up.. Just being with nature gives me all happiness...

But coming back to the REAL world, I find myself in Delhi in next 10days. I love Delhi as all my relatives live there. In fact I was born there and stayed there till the age of 6years. I visit Delhi 2-3times in a year..

But!!!!!!!Living there like forever? How does one do that? Especially after spending 18years in Nangal and 7 Years in Chandigarh (City Beautiful), how is one supposed to move to Delhi???!!!

It has a population density of over 9000people/Square Kms. When you go there the only thing you see is people!!! So many of them!!! I sometimes wonder where they all come from??? (But offcourse they are like me, entering the capital in search for more opportunities). Then there is garbage, Nalas , pollution , Dengue and many such diseases; and latest mess is created in capital, thanks to CWG2010. People spit on the roads, people push each other to get on to a bus etc etc.. The only clean place is indeed Metro Station!!!

I wish I could spend rest of my life in A.C.Joshi Library, Panjab University, Chandigarh, studying great works from great authors forever. What a bliss indeed!!! Studying and studying hours together without any interference. It was one rocking year of my life(last year) where I studied like I always wanted to...!!!! Beautiful memories indeed!!!

But coming back to the real world yet again, Chandigarh doesn’t have much opportunity. So, moving to Delhi is inevitable!!! I have two options in Delhi. Either I study for IAS for next two years or opt for a job..These two are also diametrically opposite. The former is a dream, an obsession, and the latter is a REALITY, a need of the hour!!!

As I embark on this new journey ahead I just pray to almighty that I would be able to solve the DILEMMA I am presently in....

A C Joshi Library , Panjab University

It is funny that I am writing about a library of all the places in this world. But its significance can only be understood by a person who has been to this amazing place. When I entered it for the first time, I was thrilled to see so many people studying together under the same roof consistently for hours. I had never seen anything like it before.

My initial absurd reason of entering in this library wasn’t STUDIES. It was an escape from my roommate in the hostel. Not because she wasn’t a nice one. Rather she is the best roommate I ever got SANS her HARMONIUM and daily RAYAZ!!! She was in Music Department!!! And she did RAYAZ daily for 2-3 hours, when it was time for me to sleep in the afternoon. After initial bickering with her I chose to make some PEACE by opting outa that dreaded “Kaal Kothri” when she used to do her Rayaz. And I entered LIBRARY!!!

But off course PU hostel room is a ‘Kaal Kothri’. A small compressed room sans any ventilation except for slits which don’t open most of the times!!! Thanks to the great architect of those rooms, who instead of putting a much needed window in the room put a wide glass pane which was fixed on the wall and couldn’t be opened. It worked for the inmates (hostelers) as a green house gas plant where all the heat could enter but none could escape!!! And you are the luckiest of all if you stay on the 6^th floor. A blissful state indeed!!! And when in such a blessed ‘Kaal Kothri’ my roommate used to start her Rayaz, I used to get out of the room by the time her SUR reached Pa of Sa Re Ga Ma Pa( no offence to singers). One can imagine the added effect of ECHO in an airtight room!!!

Coming back to AC Joshi Library, slowly I started liking that place. Eventually I too started studying 4-5 hours/day and left my afternoon napping habit for the first time in my life!!! It was an honour studying with the students there, most of whom were preparing for civil services, MBAs, M.Tech, PHDs. The whole atmosphere gets you into study mode within 10-15 minutes. There are some unsaid rules in the Library like pin drop silence (although 100s of students studies together), adjusting with the loss of your seat once you go out, etc. I still remember the “Happy Reading slogan” someone put on its wall. It is open for 24hours and hence a big bonus for boys!!! Only few girls have the courage to go there at nights but it is allowed.

The only problem in library is constant STARING by boys!!! They stare at girls as though this is their very last opportunity to see a girl, which embarrasses many girls outright. No doubt it is a place with majority of boys. The only way for a girl to survive such stares is to become indifferent to everyone to which I almost succeeded (99%) Well there is a 1% chance always in such a scenario!!! :)

Anybody who knows A.C Joshi Library knows STU-C/ student centre too. This is the place where one hangs around with one’s friends for coffee,tea,lunch or just casual talk. It is one of the most happening places of the whole campus of the university. From FM radio RJs shows to election rallies, it is the most vibrant place of the University.

My Department is known to be one of the most rocking departments in University and rightly so. Although initially I had no intention of doing MA in English Literature, but now I realize its significance. 1st year mainly contains beautiful plays,novels and poetry and literary criticism . But the second year is the challenging one. When the bomb of Contemporary Literary Criticism falls on you, you get disillusioned for a few months. The fact of the matter is that it is totally incomprehensible. From incomprehensible Deconstruction to Modernism to Post modernism to Structuralism to Marxism to my favorite Feminism, it disorients the student for some time. Then you open Peter Barry’s Book and start getting a little clue of the whole situation. Here I would like to mention Rumina Mam, Rana Sir and Raina Sir who helped us to a large extent to make some sense of Literary Criticism!!! The intellectual arguments during lectures of Rumina Mam, Rana Sir are the most memorable ones...

I have many fond memories of my two years spent in the University for my MA degree. My shifting to the hostel in 2^nd year was a turning point in my life. A place like university becomes a comfort zone for anyone. And moving ahead from such a vibrant place to a lonely cabinet of a boring serious office would be a big task for any student who experienced University life. It brings nostalgia to me every time I wander around PU....

I wish I could turn back the clock for once!!!

Saga of Woman - a Daughter, a Mother, a Wife

I have always been a little critical about the gangster and show off culture being propagated by Punjabi Singer’s use of lyrics in Punjabi songs in general. But today I came across this amazing Punjabi song by ‘Saint Soldier Sukhbir’ named ‘Sister’ which is an appeal against female foeticide. Its lyrics goes like this- “Kukh vich dhee nu maar den waliye, Rabb karkay bane na kade Maa" (As you kill the female foetus in your womb , may you never get a chance to become a mother)http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dL28yyhWxK8
That is an apt CURSE for all the people practicing gender genocide.....

Female foeticide is a menace of society. Statistics reveal that as many as 10 million girls in India have been killed by their parents either before(foeticide) or immediately after birth(infanticide) over the past 20 years..This menace has been created by people with a MINDSET where male child is preferred over female child. In our (show off) Punjabi culture, DOWRY has become a major STATUS SYMBOL , discouraging people from giving birth to girls as they are seen as a future liability on parents. Also, there is an immense GREED for money in the form of DOWRY. Shockingly, rural female sex ratio is better than its urban counterpart implying that education, prosperity and money plays no role in curbing the menace. I remember I saw a hoarding in Haryana long time back ; spend Rs 2000(Foeticide) now and save 2Lakh after 20 years (Dowry) !!!

Dwindling female sex ratio is a direct impact of the female foeticide. Female sex ratio in India is one of the lowest in the world (National Average-933females/1000males) with Punjab (798), Haryana (861), UP (898), Chandigarh (777), taking the lead..
Female foeticide is just the tip of the iceberg of the larger issue of exploitation of woman. It is reported that around 50million woman are missing in India till date due to gender genocide..The issue of exploitation of woman is much broader and encompasses evils like Foeticide (killing of foetus) , Infanticide (killing of infant) , Neglect of girl child ( birth to adolescence) leading to malnutrition and many times to death , Early Marriage and Pregnancy, Dowry Death , Honour Killings, Domestic Violence , Prostitution and Trafficking of woman..............

They call this nation Bharat Mata or Matrabhoomi . And this is how women are treated in this country . I think it is high time that this patriarchal structure should reconsider its age old conventions and rigid mindset . Strict legislations and measures by government & awareness created by NGO’s can also play a major role here. YOUNGSTERS are the agents of change in a nation and should come forward to vehemently oppose such social malpractices...SWAMI VIVEKANANDA was right when he said -“That country and that nation which doesn't respect women will never become great now and nor ever in the future”.

Giving PEACE a chance

24th September 2010 will be a memorable day for India. Media is in buzz about the famous verdict and its aftermath. Everyone is being requested to practise restraint through media, sms, and internet. We still don’t know if it would bring good memories or bad memories. It is the date when High Court will give its verdict on Babri Masjid/ Ram Janambhoomi case which is lingering around in this country since independence.

ISSUE-Hindus believe that a temple was constructed on this site in 10th A.D., which was destroyed by Mughal emperor Babar in 1528 and instead a Masjid was constructed here. Muslims refuse the claim of presence of a temple here. Many Hindu groups came together in 1980s in order to bring the issue to the centre stage and worked towards constructing of a temple here... It was finally On 6thDecember 1992, when RSS,VHP,BJP ‘car sewaks’ demolished the Babri Masjid leading to communal riots and breakdown of law and order situation in Ayodhya.

Riots has been a regular phenomena in India since Independence. Riots at the time of partition(1947), Anti Sikh riots(1984) , Anti Muslim riots(2002) are the black spots in our history. RIOTS THRIVE ON MOBS. A mob which contains highly infuriated and politically charged people who can go to any extent in killing people and damaging property. What I have understood from these riots is that it creates a generation of Muslims hating Hindus forever or a generation of Sikhs hating Hindus forever and vice versa. The wounds created by such bloodshed are also sometimes passed on to the next generation.

Speaking historically, India has seen birth of many religions (from Hinduism to Buddhism to Jainism to Sikhism). It is paradoxical to see that a country with SUFI and BHAKTI movements at its background can also get infuriated by such an issue. India is a nation where we have practiced communal harmony and tolerance throughout the history. We need to REVISIT OUR PAST and learn essential lessons on communal harmony and brotherhood from it. Maybe this couplet of Bhakti Saint , Kabir , which has also been included in “Guru Granth Sahib” can help us in revisiting our glorious past -

“Aval allah noor upae-aa, Kudrat key sabh bandey, Ek noor tey sabh jag upjia-aa, Kaun bhaley ko mandey...”

(First Allah created the Light. Then by His Creative Power He made all mortal beings. From that One Light, the entire universe came into being. So, who is good and who's bad, indeed???)

‎BULLEH SHAH’s words here emphasise futility of rituals and traditions which can’t lead to God, for He can only be found by searching within ourselves -

"Parh parh ilm hazaar kitaaban, Kadi apne aap nu parhya nahin
Jaa jaa wardey mandar maseeti , Kadi mann apne wich wareya nahin
Anven larda shaitaan de naal bandeya, Kadi nafs apne naal larya nahin
Aakhe peer Bulleh Shah aasmani pharna aen , Jehra man wich wasda unhoN pharya nahin”
‎(You have read thousands of books but you have never tried to read your own self.

You rush into Mandir and Masajid but you have never tried to enter your own heart.

Futile are all your battles with Satan for you have never tried to fight your own desires.
You endeavor to attain worldly heights but fail to catch hold of the one who resides in your own heart..)

Does it really matter which monument stood there centuries ago??? Can’t we simply construct a MONUMENT ON COMMUNAL HARMONY on this disputed land, thereby, CELEBRATING SECULAR ETHOS OF OUR NATION????

It would be a SHAME if this time also people decide to give in to the divisive policies practised by religious extremists groups. A secular and diverse country can’t afford hatred and mistrust among its citizens. The insecurity felt by minorities after such adverse circumstances (riots) give rise to social instability. There are bigger issues like poverty,inflation,development today. Maybe it is the time when divisive communal issues can take a backseat...

Let us give PEACE a chance on 24th September 2010 and set a precedent for future generations....