Let Me Love

The moment I close my eyes,
I see you passing by,
I just can't think anymore,
Touch my lips with yours, so pure.

The world looks so dark,
Come be my light.
Failure seems to be the only mark,
My success,come stand by my side.

Every time I look into that mirror,
A dead man laughs, to my horror.
Oh my savior, bring me peace,
Heal my wounds,put me at ease.

Remember, the long walk,
Words melted hearts, when we talked.
Hold my hands, just once more,
Like a sea,melting on the shore.

The wind, teases me,
loneliness, freezes me.
Will you come, be my spring?
Would you, take thy ring?

Let me love you,
every moment, each time.
Let me tell them,
You are mine.

Book Review : Serious Men

Serious Men, by Manu Joseph, is the winner of the Hindu fiction award for 2010 and that was the main reason for me to buy that book and give it a read.
And it turned out to be a classic. The writer has done a fantastic job in portraying the rise and fall of men through his vived characters which are woven beautifully in a deep and complex plot. The author has done a fantastic job as far as detail is concerned, whether in his description of the "Chawl life " of Bombay or in the portrayal of a thirty year woman falling in love with a near to retirement institute director.

The book attempts to explore the feelings of love, lust, envy, success and hatred and the characters have all shades of people out on the streets. The contempt towards Brahmins by the Dalit Ayyan Mani is one of the major themes the story seems to carry, how a Dalit views the world, ruled and controlled by the high class Brahmins and their white creamy women. The fascination for admiration and success has been beautifully portrayed by his ten year old son, Adi, who bluffs the whole world by faking to be a genius, by saying things like, " I can recite 1000 prime numbers, I find them interesting"

The author has made a brave attempt in portraying love and betrayal through the characters of Opurna and Arvind, and to his credit, the steamy romance between them is one of the high points of the story. Women are described from the viewpoint of desperate men or men who do not have time for women, and hence the book is heavily ladden with cheap thoughts of men fantasising about women, their dresses and so on. The way in which he describes the obstacle a newly wed couple faces in a Bombay Chawl to make love is both hilarious and brutally raw. A ten old year old son waking up in the middle of the night and asking his parents that what they are doing, he is not allowed to do with the girls of the Chawl of his agegroup, is so innocent, yet so sarcastic, I could not help laughing.

Serious Men is an engrossing read, provided it is read with the mindset of the characters it seeks to offer. The book is written in an easy and lucid manner and provides a fascinating experience of human emotions through it's plot and characters. I would recomment it for those who love complex personalities and those who can refrain from judging persons as good or bad, right or wrong.

Win Some Lose Some

It seems weird, but somehow I feel that the last two months have perhaps been the longest of my life so far. I have never ever learned so much about myself. The entire world has gone topsy-turvy. Change is life, and being the change, is perhaps as challenging as climbing Everest. I have learned that all change looks good, only if we are not paying for it or we are not asked to change. Changing mindset, habits, idealogies, values, priorities, is a challenge that can only be won by scholars in quest for fiction. Life, sadly, is lot more complex and change is only a sub-system of our priorities and value systems, for the reverse case is a distant possibility.

I have learned this the hard way, but have I really learned my lessons? Life is an unending war, with battles waiting to define our success and fall. You win some, sometimes you lose.

IAS HELP HELP HELP

I need a study circle in Noida/Indirapuram for civil services examination preparation.
My subjects are Public Administration and Geography.
I am preparing for the exam while on job, that virtually leaves me with three hours in the evening for the preparation.
Anyone aspiring for the same may please call me at 09313327660.

School Chale Hum

Congratulations India!!

Better late than never and even if it ranks as 132th country to do it, India has finally notified the Right to Education as a fundamental right. The move acquires an immediate significance as it promises delivery of Education to the one of the poorest and the biggest adolescent population of the world.
This is a bold move, one with the potential to change the destiny of this country of over a billion people in the coming two decades. Our politicians and leaders need to applauded for backing the RTE and passing this historic legislation, only to reminded of the fact that this is just the first milestone they have crossed in a tortous journey, which will only get tougher in the days to come. For the moment, Mr Sibbal and his team can afford a bright smile, so can the teeming millions of Indian kids, out there in the villages, towns and cities of India.
Sadly, passing a legislation on a sensitive issue like Education is not the solution as most of us think.
The Primary Education sector in India suffers from mammoth issues like:

• Accute shortage of quality teachers and high teacher absenteeism
• Lack of Infrastrucutre in Govt Schools
• High drop-out ratio of over 50 % and more so in case of girls, either due to social customs or lack of financial resources
• Only 7% share of private sector in primary education, as it is non-profitable in rural areas and non - affordable in many tier 2 and 3 cities
• Official corruption and red-tapism

And many more. The RTE bill has addressed most of the above issues, some of them like:

• Minimum Infrastructure to be provided has been mentioned as a legal requirement
• A minimum qualification for the teachers has been prescribed, which they have to attain within 5 years of their joining the job.
• Absenteeism over 10% will lead to official action
• 25 % of the seats of all private schools for class 1 have been reserved for children of economically weaker sections of the society
• Huge huge investment by the Central and State governments over the next 6 years amounting to approx 4 lakh crores to be spent on education

The centre as well as the states will have to recruit around a million teachers in the next 5 years in order to make this bill a reality, which, is the biggest challenge it faces. How are we going to ensure that the existing faculty and those going to be recruited will deliver quality education to the future of our nation?
From where will these million teachers come? Why any bright professional will venture into teaching profession with salaries lower than that offered to a class 4 "sarkari peon"? How will we ensure that tons of thousands of crores of public funds meant for our future generations are not eaten by the moth of corruption?
How are we going to ensure that girls won't drop out of schools that don't have a separate ladies toilet?

These are tough challenges to tackle and require every bit of committment from every stakeholder, be it the politicians, or the bureaucracy, the teachers or the school administrators, the parents, the kids, civil society, NGO's and nonetheless me to ensure that the gift of oppurtunity reaches to each and every kid of our country in the name of Education.

N R Narayanmurthy studied by a lamp-post, Dr Kalam studied in a village government school, and why to go far, my father did his own primary schooling in a tribal school. Narayanmurthy has given India and every Indian a global recognition, Dr Kalam has tutored India to follow it's dreams and my father has educated me to be a good human and stand on my feet.
The onus is on us to extend a helping hand to the Murthy's and Kalam's, the Manmohan's and the Raman's , the you's and me's , waiting for that lamp post, that village school, that oppurtunity.
Let's teach them a new poem, " School Chale Hum, School Chale Hum"

I am back!!!!

Wow!!
This feels awesome.
I am back on my blog, writing again, inshallah, for another 60 odd years :)

Political Alchemy

 Well, an attempt to write a poem churned up politics, God help me !!

Political alchemy

Don’t shout

Put things on flame

Fumes rise

Use ashes to cover the shame

Beat someone

Its good if he dies

If dead are none

There’s room for lies

Inflict pain

The more you do

The more you inflict

The more you gain

Skull hunting

That’s the new game

Use blood for painting

Shed it and make your name

In Conversations With.... Part 2

On Adoptions, with Ankit Agarwal and afterthoughts

I don't know whether it was the effect of the weather or the Chai that we were having at a roadside tea-stall, but we were feeling back to good old college days. Returning back from the office at 11 30 pm in a chilling, foggy nite, we decided to have Maggie opposite the CSC office, sector 58, Noida.

We were toying with the idea of joining an NGO in Noida, impart education to kids, and even considered the idea of starting something at our own, towards creating oppurtunities in the life of under privileged kids.

Call it stupid, but then we jumped towards our own future kids. I wished I had a girl child, he wished he had a girl and a boy, an ideal pair. And then, out of nowhere, I suggested, is there a probability of adopting a child?

We both discussed the option. We both acknowledged the fact that motherhood is an essential part of the life for most of the women. Motherhood, the whole process right from fertilisation till the birth of the baby, transforms a lady. That whole period of nine months, are unique for the couple, and especially, for the lady. We men can only understand, but cannot experience that pleasure and pain. In that case, we may consider the idea of having one baby, and adopting another, was my simple reply to Ankit.

He brought out the various practicalities involved in the whole process and we decided to go home, for it was already close to midnight.

I reached home and kept wondering. I know there are thousands of reasons that come in way of adopting a kid, especially when the couple can bear a baby, or the couple already has a child.

Social status, economic status, genes, love, emotions, there is just almost everything at stake.

I know there are millions of orphan kids in the world, and that every man has his own destiny, but then, will I not help one change his?

I will give this a long long thought.........................

In Conversation with..... Part 1

The last few days have been quite exciting, and I have had some really intersting and enriching conversations with my friends.
I am writing the extracts here for future reference, for they are quite engrossing and may lead to a better clarity in my thought process.
On Reservation with Ananya Sri and the afterthoughts

Reservation to the SC, ST and OBC as provided for by the constitution of India is an issue which needs a matured relook and solution. Is the sacrifice of merit justified? Or, to be precise, does providing reservation to over 50 % of the population of the country, majority of which is under-developed, help in imparting social justice or strengthen the caste and class divide in our society? Is the provision for reservation a political weapon, or an essential component of the Indian democracy?

The fact cannot be denied that majority of the members of the reserved category have been exploited for ages by the dominant upper castes.

Also, the Indian government has been told by the Directive principles of the state policy to create social and political justice in the society.

Few intellectuals advocate providing reservation to the under privileged on economic criterion. Practically, this is not possible, for there are 500 million + people in India who do not form a part of the economic workforce, and stats can be manipulated by the remaining 600 million.

I as a member of the unreserved category, have seen my merit being under mined by the policy of reservation. If I look at the bigger picture, I see some sense in the policy of reservation, for we need to reduce in equalities. But then, it has been 60 years since independence, and yet, the situation has not improved much. Has the pain of losing on merit by a general candidate gone waste when he sees the benefits of reservation being exploited by generations of many of the so called reserved classes?

Or, if I as a candidate of the reserved class use the benefit of reservation, why does the state not make it my responsibility to seek social upliftment of my community, why does my child need the same qouta which got me a job, why?

Who gains here, and what?

Both the general and the deprived masses are on the losing side, yet, hold each other responsible for the outcomes of the reservation policy.

I am not sure, how are we going to eliminate the evil of caste from our society until such policies hold ground.