Success is counted Sweetest

Success is counted sweetest
By those who ne'er succeed.
To comprehend a nectar
Requires sorest need.

Not one of all the purple Host
Who took the Flag to-day
Can tell the definition,
So clear, of Victory,

As he, defeated, dying,
On whose forbidden ear
The distant strains of triumph
Break, agonized and clear.

-- Emily Dickinson


One of the truest things I've ever read..When I first read the poem, it struck me as something which people crib about most of the times-failure. But as I read it over and over, it brought home what Dickinson was trying so hard, yet so simply to say. I remember having goosebumps the first time I understood the depth and agony of the lines..N it will continue to haunt me..It's one of my favourite poems.

Freedom with a change

As the day dawned not-so-bright and cloudy, I looked out of my balcony to see if anything was new. It all looked the same: same streets, same rain, same people and the same life. Somehow I thought the feeling would have been different. Why? Today is 15th August- India’s Independence Day. And today, we celebrate our 63rd year of freedom. And maybe I had assumed that the feeling of being free would hit me in the face, as though a mighty wave of liberty would break upon my balcony and drench me in a feeling so overwhelming, it would be impossible to ignore. I thought that the birds would fly from every direction proclaiming the news that India was finally free.

But we’ve been free for 63 full years. How much of that time has truly affected us? Can we even tell the difference? Does it matter to us that there were millions of people who had struggled with their lives and their beings to grant us this day today?

Somehow, we are never satisfied. Inspite of all the things that our nation has achieved, we still want more. We still choose to over-look all the great and glorious things that have happened and brood over the short comings.

I may not have been in the midst of the fight for freedom, so if you ask me I might not be able to compare India of then and now. I know that there are countless things that India is yet to tackle. Millions of problems that are yet to be solved. And hundreds of questions that have yet to be answered.

But sometimes I feel that if we’d rather focus on the progress India has made, I think we’ll realize that we’re much better off than we think we are.

And I’m not talking about big things that may or may not change the world. I’m talking about simple things that have undergone a transformation and we may not even realize it.

A month ago I remember visiting a few roadside children with a passion for studying, and who loved going to school. They never missed a single day. I know that people around the country complain that child labour is still rampant, but there has also been a tremendous rise in the number of school going children. Even if they have to work in the rest of the day, school is still a priority. You will meet a kid raggedly dressed who will come up to you and surprise you with a “how are you madam?” You will find kids on street corners and roadside stalls pouring over their books with an interest that was missing over a decade ago. This is change.

A couple of weeks back I visited the Baroda Cricket Association and I met a group of young girls who played cricket as a full time career, while some of them balanced school alongside it. This is a sport that was essentially termed as a “gentleman’s game” and today these girls not just play the sport but are good at it. They have played at various state and national levels, one of them even coaches a girls’ team, one of them was selected to attend a camp in Bangalore- the only girl from the city to be chosen, and many others who have achieved incredible success and fame through the game. These girls come from modest and conservative family backgrounds and to think of women playing cricket years back would have got a million tongues wagging in disapproval. This is change.

I think of the people around me whom I’ve gotten to know in the past year, and the list makes me proud. These are people who, at such a young age, have taken up the task of making the world better. Of using the limited resources that they possess and putting it to use for the good of mankind. I see them teaching children to read and write, I see them helping the old to make themselves independent and encouraging them to use their years of experience and wisdom to good use, I see them helping out the poor and downtrodden, enabling them to see a life they must have only dreamed about, I see them bringing the women out of their homes and engaging them in work that they love and excel at, I see them caring about this earth even more than our leaders do, taking up the responsibility of making the world a better, greener and cleaner place to live in. I’m proud of these people. I may not have joined the bandwagon yet, but I know that the work they do is exceptional and truly remarkable. You don’t need to have power or money or be a leader to make the country better, you simply need a heart. This is change.

I can think of so many things that make me feel that India has truly come a long way since gaining independence. We might be lagging behind in some areas, but I think we’ve done well so far. I’m proud of who we are as a nation, no matter what everyone says. Even though I may have not done anything to make India who she is, but I know that there are so many people who have given her this pride and beauty and I love them all.

Happy Independence Day, India!

Jaan ne ka Haq (We have the Right to Know)

The following song has been written and performed by Vinay Mahajan and Charul Mahajan on the Right to Information. Vinay is Post Grad Agricultural Engineer and Charul is an architect. In 1992 both of them quit their lucrative jobs and set up a NGO called "Loknaad" (People 's Voice) and since then they completely devoted their life for raising voice for Peoples Rights.

mere sapnon ka janne ka huk re
kyun sadiyon se toot rahe hai
inhe sajne ka naam nahin

mere haathon ko yeh janne ka huk re
kyun barson se khali pade re
inhein aaj bhi kaam nahin

mere pairon ko yeh janne ka huk re
kyon gaon gaon chalna pade re
kyon bus ka nishan nahin

meri bhukh ko yeh janne ka huk re
kyon godamon mein sadte hain daane
mujhe mutthi bhar dhan nahin

meri budhi maa ko janne ka huk re
kyon goli nahi sui davakhane
patti tanke ka saman nahi

mere kheton ko janne ka huk re
kyon baandh bane re bade bade
toh bhi faslon mein nahin

mere jungalon ko janne ka huk re
kahan daliyan woh patte tane mitti
kyon jharno ka naam nahin

meri nadiyon ko janne ka huk re
kyon zeher milaye karkhane
jaise nadiyon mein jaan nahin

mere gaon ko yeh jaan ne ka huk re
kyon bijli na sadke na pani
khuli ration ki dukan nahin

mere voton ko yeh jaan ne ka huk re
kyon ek din bade bade vaade
fir panch saal kaam nahin

mere raam ko janne ka huk re
rehman ko yeh jannne ka huk re
kyon khoon bahe re sadkon pe
kya sab insaan nahi

meri zindagi ko jeene ka hak re
ab hak ke bina bhi kya jeena
yeh jeene ke samaan nahin



Translation into English


My dreams have a right to know
why they have been shattering for
like they do not want to get fulfill

My hands have the right to know
why they have been empty for years
they till today do not have a job

My legs have the right to know
why they walk from village to village
why there is no trace of a bus

My hunger has the right to know
why are food grains rotting in the go-downs
I don-t even have a handful of grain.

My old mother has the right to know
why are there no medicines in the clinics
why there are no bandages or stitching aid.

My fields have the right to know
why are there big dams being built for water,
and still there is no life in my crops.

My woods have a right to know
where are the branches, leaves and earth
why there is no trace of springs.

My rivers have the right to know
why are the factories poisoning the rivers
as though the rivers don't have life.

My villages have the right to know
why there is no electricity, road or water supply
Nor ration shop open

My vote has the right to know
Why one day we hear big promises
And for five years, no work

My god has the right to know
why there is bloodshed on the streets
as though we are not human beings.


My life has a right to know
if my life is worthy of living without promises
is it even equivalent to living.



the video is available on http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oOSq2KtrWY4

Puzzled

There are a few things that have come to my mind in the past few weeks and I've been trying to understand them. I'm going to break it up into parts:








1) You know how the profession of medicine is always targeted when doctors ask for donations, or abort a child or refuse to treat a patient for many reasons like lack of money or a disease like HIV-AIDS or leprosy or give a diagnosis even though they might not be qualified for it? And at times like these they quote the famous Hippocratic Oath, a few line of which I too, am going to use to make a point.

".....I will prescribe regimens for the good of my patients according to my ability and my judgment and never do harm to anyone.
.....If I keep this oath faithfully, may I enjoy my life and practice my art, respected by all men and in all times; but if I swerve from it or violate it, may the reverse be my lot."

So despite this oath, doctors still fail to perform their duties "to the best of their abilities".

Anyway, my point is, is there any such oath that Journalists take? Because there really should be one. Not to say that they'd follow it though, considering the lack of common sense or humanity that some of the journalists today possess.

When the media needs to show a tragedy or something along those lines that depicts bloodshed and violence and injury, isn't there some sort of rule that you shouldn't show or print gory pictures? That showing blood splattered on the streets or a cut off arm of a person doesn't actually prove a point and there are a million and one ways to do it otherwise. Like taking a recent example, page ONE of a popular daily newspaper dated August 3, 2010, has the picture of a man with blood spewing from his leg in an incident of violence in Baramulla district of Srinagar. Or the haunting picture of the child who died in the Bhopal Gas tragedy that now adorns every poster on the streets. Or a recent page One picture of people washing the blood off the roads. Whatever happened to being sensitive towards the feelings of the readers??

And not just print.I was watching the news on a television news channel that featured the recent Leh floods. The correspondent spoke to many survivors of their near death experience. But not only that, they even spoke to survivors who'd lost everything from family to property to cattle. Alright. So maybe its required. But do they really need to be so pushy and so insensitive about it?Do they have to ask a father to describe his son being washed away in the floods before his eyes? Do they need to ask a poor shop keeper how his shop came crumbling down and with it crumbled his life savings and earnings? Why??? Just because you need a story? Do you think the audience cannot fathom the gravity of the situation without watching a family cry over its lost members?






2) As I rejoined the much talked about and always in the news "Facebook", it had barely been a day and my inbox was flooded by, believe it or not, 89 requests!! Now I had no idea I was that popular or that people missed me so much. Feels kinda nice, no doubt. But then I took some time to think about it. Why would people, whom I haven't spoken to in a million and one years, want to add me as a friend...?Even when I was using Facebook earlier, we still never so much as acknowledged each others' presence. Take classmates in school for example...or batch mates even. Yeah, so we shared the same classes. We were in the same school. but we barely spoke(and in some cases Never spoke) unless it was to..well..call out attendance or something. Take seniors or juniors in school or college. Why would they add me?I ain't anything special. Then why? We never hung out together. Or even take distant, and I mean Really really distant relatives whom I have to ask my parents about and even then have no clue who they are. I know I sound terribly rude and gloating with self importance and all, but I truly want to know... Why do people add people on their friends' list if they don't intend to ever keep in touch with them once they're added on the list? Don't get me wrong, but this is something alot of people have wondered and I'm simply voicing their doubts as well.

I did ask a couple of people about their opinion in this matter. And I got a few responses that make sense:

a) because some of them remember the old times and its a case of nostalgia.
b) because they might need your help some day
c) because its a popularity contest for some, greater the number of friends on your list, the more popular you are


Couldn't think of anymore of my own. But who knows what is it about Facebook that makes people go crazy.





3) Some days back somebody said something to me that drove me mad. And not in a good way, definitely. I was told, in a very casual, matter-of-fact way, "Fictional books never taught me anything." And it made my blood boil. I couldn't imagine what made that person even think of such a thing, let alone say it out loud. I think back to all the books I've read since I was a kid and I realize that everything I've learnt in life, other than of course from my parents, has come from books. And I rarely read non-fiction. I couldn't imagine picking up a book and not feeling a thrill as I breathed in its familiar smell. I'd flip through the pages and I could see a whole new world begin to unfold before me. A world that will teach me something I've never known before; of experiences both good and bad, of love lost and found, of life in all its glory and misery, of happiness and gloom, of judgments on life and actions, in favour and against, of seasons that come and go, of times cherished and forgotten, of moments of laughter and tears.

I have learnt to be myself through the lives of those I read about.

They might not be real people, but their emotions are real. What the writer feels is real. And what I've seen through the characters' eyes is real.

I think of Shakespeare, at this point, and I wonder if a man as great as he, would be turning over in his grave at the innocent statement made by my friend...

Glass half full or half empty?

For all the things that happen around me, I have never reacted in the same way. The good, the bad, the ugly: all have evoked varied responses at different points of time. Something that would obviously make me sad, would, in another situation, satisfy me. So there's no way to know if I'm the kind who sees the good side of things or the bad. I don't exactly know if I'm a pessimist or an optimist. The proverbial glass would seem half full at one time, but half empty at another.

Its like, the knowledge that an estranged friend needs me, means different things to me. There were times when the thought would pain me. And I would leave everything and be at his/her side in an instant. I would never stop to even think about what has happened in the past. I'd think of it as an opportunity to make things better and leave behind the things that had once upon a time hurt me. At times like these, I'd be willing to see the glass as half full. I'd be positive about our chances of being friends once again.

But there have also been times when, in a similar situation, I would refuse to see the good in that person. I'd think of it as a ploy or a way for him/her to hurt me again. More like, the situation would make me pessimistic rather than the person. And what makes it worse is that I would actually 'enjoy' the fact that I'm needed. OK, so 'enjoy' is too strong a word. But you get the drift, right? It would make me feel good; that without me the person is miserable. So that would make me a selfish person, right?

Another situation: There was an online writing competition last month. Entries from all over the world were invited for a picture story. I gave it my best shot. It was one of those times when the words simply flowed as though I knew about it all along, like I had been prepared for it since years. I didn't win, though. Somebody else did. Had it been one of those super cynical times of mine, I would have resented the fact that my story wasn't chosen. That my story was just as great as the ones that were selected. But surprisingly, or not, it didn't matter. I didn't mind the fact that I hadn't won. I simply loved the fact that I had been given a chance to write. And the piece, according to me, was one of the best things I have ever written. I put myself in that story and let it flow as naturally as it were happening that very instant. And I was proud with the outcome. I'd proved to myself that, with the right kind of motivation and the perfect mood, I can write really well. And I ain't boasting about this fact, I was just really proud of myself and just as happy. So the glass was most definitely half full for me.

I have never been able to decide for myself which side of life I want to be part of: the one who always sees the silver lining or the one who'd rather notice and brood over the dark clouds. I have been proven wrong many times when I have chosen to see the brighter side of things. I have been thoroughly disappointed by people and by life. I have wanted to give up on happiness altogether because its difficult to hope that something good will always come out of a situation.

So, the fact remains is that I am nowhere close to discovering what sort of person I am. Am I good or am I bad? Am I an optimist or otherwise? Am I right in continuing to see the good in people or am I also right in being aware of the bad that could come out of it? There's no harm in staying alert, right? But there is harm in letting it overrule the good. So...Is the glass half full or half empty?