Acidified Roses

Flower buds are soft and lovely. They blossom later to spread resplendent smiles. Children are still softer. We call them the future of a country. This expectation is conditional on the family, society and institutional support that is to be given to these human buds to enable them blossom fully.

A kid's palms are very soft. These are spared from becoming coarse. The soft palms need to stay soft so that bright evolving destiny takes a shape; slowly, gradually solidifying into concrete hardened realities. Elders use their leathery knuckles and stony palms to allow fine maps on the kid's palms so that they grow up as successful, happy individuals. But there are kids who are yoked into the merciless grind of survival game right from the beginning. They earn for themselves. These human buds do not get the time to blossom fully before becoming the fully functional part of the productive society. Their palms are never at ease to allow fine lines to evolve and chalk out lucky pattern for a happy future. The lines get cut by the razor sharp edges of harsh reality they tread upon on a daily basis.

On an impersonally honking and noisy crossing in Delhi, two kids pulled their heavily laden rickshaw out of the traffic mess. Horns blared. Getting-late-to-office elders threw curses. Traffic policeman even gave stares as if they had broken all the rules in his rulebook. Unconcerned they just expertly managed the odds heavily stacked against them by this uncaring world. There was no kiddish scare on their faces. These two boy-men cared a damn about the situation getting worse around them. They tended for themselves. I do not think we have any right to nurture any expectation from them as adults. Society and institutions have not given them anything. These have just robbed them of their childhood. Equipped with stony experiences and needle sharp instances, these kids have the right to draw any damn line on their palms. They reserve every right to cock-a-snook at the so called civilized and rule-based society. By killing a childhood, the society loses its right to lay claim on the desired, suitable adulthood.

Jana Gana Mana

'Jana Gana Mana...' It started at hyperpitch in the cinema hall before Kaabil would start. I didn't stand up as a symbolic mark of respect. Just a little, harmless revolt. Almost unobserved in the dark corner of a cinema hall. I was feeling cheated by the system. It was my mute protest against certain things that have darkened the spirit that pervades through the national anthem. It felt like breaking a law. A revenge. But that's the maximum level an otherwise law-abiding citizen can harmlessly reach in protest. Twelve years back a gross injustice was done to a very bright, duly selected Haryana PCS batch. The Congress government opened the floodgates of institutional manipulation. They misused the state vigilance commission to put put the most farcical report. Certain candidates were denied appointments on the basis of such crazy remarks like "the evaluator has cut down marks in one answer from 4 to 3". It was interpreted as a malafied means by the candidate to get undue advantage to get selection. Imagine somebody manipulating the system to get a cut in the mark to get an advantage in the merit list. Craziest and heights of official misuse of power. Hooda government manipulated judiciary later to keep the sanctity of this illogical document. This report stands as the legal basis of denying appointments to the candidates who had worked for a decade to succeed in the exam. Well, it now gets proved that when it comes to misusing power, the Congress in no exception. The present rulers, the BJP, have also smartly upheld the status of this funny, criminal report. Well, that's how things stand in BJP ruled Haryana. 

As a sufferer of this report, guys please tell me, wasn't I right in not standing up to the national anthem?

Hate and death

Of all types of death, including by disease, accidents, ageing, death born of someone's hate is the worst. Hate-born death slaughters the core principle of being humans. It strangulates the the basic constituent of our collective consciousness to survive individually as a part of the social set-up, a literally must-have for our identity as much as oxygen is must for our biological survival. Hate has potent carriers. It breeds death with the weapons of religion, caste, creed, race, ethnicity. From Nazi Holocausts, communist purgings, to modern day ISIS slayings, hate wreaks the worst form of death. Death born of hate is the very negation of the meaning of life.

A stone

Though destiny has been kicking me but I have decided to be a stone so that it breaks its toes!! 

Nature's impartiality

Nature is not with anybody. Neither is it against anyone. It is for us to decide whether we are with it or against it. The onus is on us! Since we are a part of it, it suits our purpose if we go with it!! Going against it means going against ourselves. But that is what we are doing presently!!