The Curious case of Article 370

Earlier this week, News channels of the country had a whale of the time when Narendra Modi, during his rally in J&K ,stir the hornet’s nest by reminiscing one of the RSS’ prime agenda : Article 370.Eulogy as well as Hue & cry followed instantly and media was brimming with various discourses all over.

To understand the hubbub, one needs to dive straight into the time of conception of the Article, back to 1940s and 1950s.The characters and their designations for the show are as following:

• Sheikh Abdullah : Prime Minister of Kashmir in 1948
• Hari Singh : Maharaja of Kashmir
• Gopalaswami Ayyangar : Minister without portfolio in the first Union cabinet, a former diwan to Hari Singh.

Historically, Article 370 was the brainchild of the then PM of India, Jawaharlal Nehru and Sheikh Abdullah. During those times, Kashmir was the locus of the tussle between India and Pakistan. Although Sardar Patel was on the job of unifying India but unification of J&K with the union was uncannily undertaken by Nehru. And as is a fact now, he did a shoddy job.

Nehru was taken for a ride by the Sheikh and he was able to convince him that due to factors like Occupation of one third of J&K by Pakistan, reference to the UN (again a Nehru folly) and plebiscite, Kashmir must be given a special status after accession to the Union of India. Nehru let the chips fall where they may and after finalising the text of the Article, he roped in Gopalaswami Ayyangar to get it passed in the Constituent Assembly discussions.

However, Ayyangar wasted his breathe and the draft of the article was quashed and torn into pieces by the Assembly and Nehru had to eat a humble pie. Patel was abysmally kept away from the matters of Kashmir during all this fiasco. But after this incident, Nehru swallowed his pride and rang up Patel to get it passed. Despite his own scepticism and misgivings and various others, Patel agreed to support and cut the Gordian knot.

What followed next what the stormiest uproar in the Assembly.  However Patel managed to convince the members of Constituent Assembly and Congress Party Executive. He pitched in that because of the international complications, a provisional approach alone could be made, leaving the final settlement to be worked out according to the exigencies of the situation at a later date, mutual feelings and confidence would have been by then created. The inclusion of word ‘Temporary’ was finalised.

On 17 October 1949, the Indian Constituent Assembly adopted Article 370 of the Constitution. However Sheikh started mincing words and dilly-dallying accession of J&K to India. He was finding the inclusion of the word ‘Temporary and Transitional Provisions’ in the text unsettling. He suspected that his autonomous rule over J&K through Article 370 might be abrogated at a later date.    

He wanted an ‘iron clad guarantees of autonomy’. Suspecting that the State’s autonomy would be lost, he advocated independence from India upon which the Union of India dismissed his government and put him under preventive detention.Bakshi Ghulam Mohammed was installed in power, who then got the accession formally ratified in 1954.

However Nehru did not let the idea of Article 370 slide into coffins. And the temporary provisions were never abrogated.1974 Indira-Sheikh accord after which Sheikh again came at the helm of J&K, further reinforced the rule of Article 370 in the state.

Sinister Provisions of Article 370 : This article specifies that except for Defence, Foreign Affairs, Finance and Communications, (matters specified in the instrument of accession) the Indian Parliament needs the State Government's concurrence for applying all other laws. Thus the Central Government can make laws only with concurrence of the State government, practically giving it the Veto power. Article 352 and 360 for declaration of national and financial emergency respectively cannot be applied in Kashmir. While a citizen of India has only Indian citizenship, J&K citizens have two citizenships. Anti Defection Law is also not applicable to J&K. No outsider can buy property in J&K state. The beneficial laws such as Wealth Tax, Gift Tax & Urban Land Ceiling Act and intermarriage with other Indian nationals do not operate in J&K State. Even Article 356 under which President of India can impose his rule in any state cannot be enforced in J&K without consent of the Governor who himself is an appointee of the President. State of J&K can refuse building of any cantonment on any site or refuse to allot land for defence purposes.

Thus J&K continues to be run autonomously by the Separatists who do not want to let go their power. Article 370 should have been abrogated long ago. However petty politics and vested interests kept the matter in cold boxes. Why should a state of Indian Union have a special status ? It conveys a wrong signal not only to Kashmiris but also to the Pakistan and indeed the international community that J&K is still to become integral part of India.

It is a welcome move that Mr. Modi didn’t let the sleeping dogs lie and is exhuming the matter. In the greater good, we hope that Article 370 is soon repealed and J&K enjoys the rights of the free India.

Hi,with a sigh !

Hi,
With a sigh
Introduction
Trepidation
First Impression !

Time Nine
Hey Sunshine
Wassup as First line
I am fine
Conversation sublime !

Romance
A wonderful trance
Cupid's plans
I like you,
You are mine
Red Valentine

Then He lied
And she cried
Trust strings untied
Justification
Explanation
Call Termination

Terrified
Petrified
Stupefied,He
And unreponsive she !

Wait
Hate
Forget
Erase the past
A new start

Hence once again,
Hi
With a sigh !.....

Colours of the White !

On the palette of life,there are hues-Unknown,Undefined and Unaccompanied.Each representing something,doesnt matter what.There is Green,There is Red and there is Blue.And when you would think,are they the only one,Yellow would creep in,Black would roar and Pink will desire its mention.
When you debut opening your eyes in this world,Red is with you.Green defines the life to you,provides your brain coil something to hold.And When you mature,you realize that its the Blue that rules the world.It is the blue that bestows all the blues to the palette if you dont possess it.But at this moment,May I insinuate that Pink is no less in giving you sorrows.Agreed,it makes the world beautiful but its the Pink who also snatches all the beauty from the palette.
As you grow old,you gather that Red has grown old several manifolds and wishes your attention.But then Black eats up all of your time and then there are tiny lilliputian Yellow too for whom you are the Red.You cannot abandon Black,as it furnish you Blue but then other colours are no less important.In this chaos,you suddenly sometime find that its Time !
In the quest of consuming all your colours in the painting of your life,you forget that the paper was initially White.And then you discover that all colours alltogether also make up White.
They are just the Colours of the White !

Again be the King !

All that glitters is not gold
Not every day is dark and cold
Old is not always weak
He is not a fool who seeks
A hammer shatters the glass
But forges steel
It takes a strong fish
to swim against the sea.

Into the horizon will emerge a new sun
The light that faded will again burn
After autumn,it always comes the Spring
The Crownless shall again be the King !

My Guitar Gently Weeps

Flying past and remembering those last
Love filled days,
While my Guitar gently weeps.

Dont know how
I went so loud
Broke all my crossings
From then my Guitar gently weeps

How to forget
those tears you had
While I left you crying
And so my Guitar gently weeps.

Twenty years,
You not even in my dreams near
Inspite of all my tryings
Still my Guitar gently weeps

I have not
lived any day of any sort
Since when my Guitar gently weeps
Along with me !

A light Poetry I wrote in around few minutes listening to The Beatles :)

Dereliction of Nuclear Duty : A Possibility ?

Japanese Catastrophe Redux : Japan seems to have some grudges with Neutrons. After Hiroshima Nagasaki Duo, March 11-2011 is another infamous date going down into Japan’s History. A quake of 8.9 on Richter scale stuck the tech island giving rise to Tsunami. Now as if this was not enough, Nuclear breach occurred too redounding to the catastrophe. The Cooling systems failed, exposing the fuel rods to naked atmosphere causing radiation in the vicinity.

The Question then arises, Juxtaposing India and Japan, do we too stand a chance of any such breach in the future, when we have already faced some Tsunamis in the past ?

Why Nuclear Plants are mainly situated near coasts (where Tsunami threat is at peak )? All Nuclear plants require a huge supply of coolants and water for cooling purposes of Nuclear Fuel Rods. Constructing them near a coast where large mass of water is available is due to economy reasons.

Firstly, India has 8 nuclear plants(including under construction) as shown in the figure below.

India has two coast-lines. East that contains Kalpakkam Nuclear Plant,Madras and West,that boasts of Kaiga,Tarapur and Kakrapar Nuclear plants. NPCIL(Nuclear Power Corp.) maintains that no reactor should be within 5km radius of fault line while Fukushima was located directly on a fault line (No fault of planners though, Japan has too many fault lines).
Moreover, Only one of the reactors are in Zone-4 (High Probabilty of Seismic Activity Area) which is Narora .Rawatbhata,Kalpakkam and Kudankulam are in Zone-2.Tarapur,Kakrapar,Jaitapur and Kaiga in Zone-3.Though Narora is in Zone-4,We need not fear much by it coz its not near a coast (No chance of rendezvous with tsunami :D) and Reactors do not fear earthquakes (Japan’s nuclear apocalypse started when Diesel Generators and switchgears were ruined by Tsunami Waves)
Out of all Indian nuclear reactors, Kalpakkam has the highest possibility of being stuck by Earthquake + Tsunami Combo. Let us assume that in Dec.2012,there is a tsunami (much like Japan’s) targeting Kalpakkam plant. Then too,We need not fear.Reason : Difference in Design of Japan’s and India’s Reactors.

Basically,there are two types of Nuclear reactors : 1) BWR (Boiling Water Type ) and 2)PWR (Pressurized Water Reactor)
In layman language,A nuclear reactor produces heat with the help of radioactivity. This heat converts water into steam which further rotates the turbine to produce Electricity. In BWR type, The cooling water is maintained at about 75 atm so that it boils in the core at about 285 °C. In comparison, there is no significant boiling allowed in a PWR-type because of the high pressure maintained in its primary loop—approximately 158 atm.
Thus a BWR-type requires a more powerful cooling system. It requires active cooling for a period of several hours to several days following shutdown.At an event of an earthquake,the nuclear reaction is automatically stopped. However, radioactive decay of the fission products in the fuel will continue to actively generate decay heat at a gradually decreasing rate. If active cooling fails during this period, the reactor can still overheat to a temperature high enough that zirconium in the fuel cladding will react with water and steam, producing hydrogen gas. In this event there is a high danger of hydrogen explosions, threatening structural damage to the reactor and/or associated safety systems and/or the exposure of highly radioactive spent fuel rods that may be stored in the reactor building as happened with the Fukushima I nuclear accidents.
In PWR-type there is no such problem. It runs cool. In contrast to a boiling water reactor, pressure in the primary coolant loop prevents the water from boiling within the reactor. So containment of Heat is relatively easier in this case. And so nuclear breach not a problem.
As India employs PWR-type nuclear reactors (Only Tarapur being BWR-type),we do not face any immediate nuclear doomsday like Japan :)
But still there are some Civil Engg. Factors involved that needs to be looked upon too. I,along with some friends, am working on it and will come up with the analysis soon.

Abstract Photography

Took my first lilliputian steps in Photography
Motif: Abstact
Camera : Sony Cybershot 10.1MP
Scope : Internal

The Girl who sold the World

We passed upon the lane,
We spoke in was and when.
We made love years ago then,
But she told I was her friend.
Which came as a surprise:
I spoke into her eyes.
I though you died alone,
A long long time ago.

Oh no,not me !
I never lost control !
You're face to face
With the Girl who sold the World.

I smiled and shook her hand,
And made my way back home.
For years and years I have searched and cried,
Why and Where did she die.
Now I gaze a gazeless stare,
To find all thats unfair.
I must have died alone,
A long,long time ago !

Who knew ?
Not me.
That she never lost control.
I was face to face
With the Girl who sold the World !

Credit : Excess of Nirvana :)

The Kaleidoscope

Hate being the sinister mirror of love is rampant everywhere,even in seraphs.Extending Hate,let skirmishes and altercations be included into this evil set.The womb of this set would be seen as The differences in opinion at the plinth level.And is it not tacit that being different beings,we have all the priveleges to be different? Moreover if this difference is acquiesced,it would be a paradox to negate the differences in demeanour,for personage and his ideosyncrasies go hand in hand in tandem.With the presence of variations in the deportment,then why,unfortunately,it is expected from some souls to behave in a specific manner which if they dont,attracts decrying? Why there is a virtual invisible ubiquitous thread of control and limit? Why the majority stroll on the parochial causeway?
Why the Kaleidoscope is expected to show only one colour ?

The Unjust Virtue

The Unlucky being is the one that is cursed,or is the one whom the God wishes to be perfect and more astute ?
There has been myriad of debates over the existence of Luck.
What exactly is Luck ?
Is it for real or is just alive in phantasm ?
Is it a scapegoat for failures or a helpful friend for Success ?
Is it more powerful than Hard Work ?
I don't know !

Think of a situation.Two friends(Like Jai and Veeru),equally sagacious, are studying under a candle for a very important interview.They toiled by the whole available time together in preparation.Next Day,The first enters the room.The Interviewer asks questions which the friends discussed last night while when the second friend's turn comes,he is brainstormed with some new questions and he is unable to answer many of them.And Guess What ? The First Friend got selected and the second,unlucky one is left berserk to be competed with another lucky guy ! Is it not an epitome of same Work But different Result ?

There is an adage :- The More Harder I work,The More Luckier I get.A one liner that fools the ill-fated subject about the equivalence of Luck and Work.Definitely if our unlucky protagonist had studied more,prepared more,he must have got through but what about his lucky friend? Why was he given superfluous hegemony ? Is it not wrong that one guy has to toil more than the other for the same result ?(Ye Naa-insafee kyun?)

Thus it tacitly proves that there is something existing independently imbibed in partisanship called Luck.

So What to do next? Shall we just accept the dominance of this foe and be a failure ? Obviously No !
In fact let us see some brighter side of the situation,having a permanent membership of 'Think Good,Think Far and Think Opti' club.

The only thing that overcomes hard luck is hard work.

The unfortunate guy sweats again,not accepting the defeat(Lakshya to, har haal mein paana hai) and prepares for the interview from the scratch to be held next year.He worked by day and toiled by night.He gave up play and some delight.Dry Books he read,New things to learn.And forged ahead,Success to earn.He plodded on with faith and pluck.And then he Triumphed.But this triumph was different,different from what his friend was bestowed with.This was a more genuine one based on a more strong platform.After all,nothing great can ever replace knowledge.

Luck may delay your success but It can't deny it.

Now comes the recession 2008.The Mighty Lehmann Brothers collapsed.Both our stars are unemployed again.They apply for a job in Citigroup but the competition is intense and time less.Interviews Redux.Our unlucky friend fears of evil-luck again,but also have confidence on his new potent buddy Hard-Work.Interviews begin and there is vigorous acid-test.The Unlucky dude,having studied more,is able to answer the questions.Got Selected.While our Lucky character is just left baffled by questions of never-studied-things.

The only good luck many great men ever had was being born with the ability and determination to overcome bad luck.

Now you know,What exactly matters-'Luck' or 'Hard Work'? Ain't You ?

Points to Remember: (Like the old NCERT books used to disseminate!)

1.Never Confuse 'being Lucky' to be 'being successful'.Success cannot be a thrall of an unjust virtue.
2.The only side-effect of being unlucky is that you have to work somewhat harder.And Hard-work never killed anyone !
3.Though it may seem otherwise,Being Lucky is a curse.Think Deep and you will get it.Not everything has to be spoon-feeded.(Sab kuch main hi bataun?)
4.A Lucky person is an inferior one.He is less sapient.
5.If you first fail.Take easy.See movies like-Kung-fu Panda,The Shawshank Redemption,Lakshya,Taare Zameen Par,Guru and then prepare for Vengeance.
6.Be Proud on being called Unlucky.Luck is Fuck !

Abstract

When to kill the quotidian the being indulges into doing the sui generis for it is always thought that the monotony is the virtue of the bored,it is ostensibly forgotten that most of the noble inventions of the universe have breathed the air through the mundane lungs.Not long ago did Einstein gazed on the simple down-to-earth yet fecund keeper of time to show to the world the theory of relativity that astounded the macrocosm of believers of intricacies.And definately not further long ago it was recorded how Newton surmised gravity through Apple power,insane! Yet sinking in oblivion for all these there is a longing for the entangled,a push towards the arcane that murders simplicity and obfuscates for gratis,the epitome of which this article is !

Me,I like Reading !

There are things,of various sorts and of plethora of class,which all sane humans love to do and have a penchant for.May it be Rambling, Biking, Gadabouts,Lewd acts,sleeping etc for the males and tittle-tattling, shopping,embracing the idiot-box etc for the towards-extinction gender.But leaving aside the interests of others,permit me talk about myself.

Me,I like Reading.Reading the best-sellers novels.Novels that are intricate.
Well,There is an outre panache linked with books.Let it be Fiction or Non-Fiction coz when you love something you love the whole macrocosm and not any specific class of it.Though I personally feel that reading fiction novel do not let you gain
anything on the knowledge front.You read it and you dispose it.While a non-fiction novel installs itself at a pedagogic platform.It gives an insight,ask for some more space in your memory-palace and turns the page by transmogrifying voidness into richness as far as knowledge is concerned.So if you love phantasm,get a fiction novel but if you embrace something real,try a non-fiction novel.

My love for novels instigated with Harry Potter series when I was in,I suppose,in Class 8th.The world of witches,hags, brooms,Snitches,Horcrux and Avada-kedavra turned me on.This infact is a fact that unreal things attract you first! Then came Five-Point Someone,a Chetan Bhagat copyright that taught about IIT Delhi,Hari and Neha,Fraternity and all.I still have a conviction that that was a ubercool novel.Until now I didnt know what was the difference between Fiction and Non-fiction novel.But then TOI enlisted The Ignited Minds to one of the best Non-Fiction novel and so I scuttled to get a copy.I would say that getting real is really difficult.I found it banal,teaching what should we do and what not to keep India running etc.Therefore Fiction Redux! Came Jeffrey Archer with his Prisoner of Birth.Loved it!Then the ratings of Ahmedabad Times rated Robin Sharma's The Monk who sold his Ferrari snatching the top cliff.Again a paroxysm caused me to buy the book.Once again theoretical lectures,Life,Deaths,Success,Happiness and all.I made my mind that Non-Fiction is not my cup of tea and decided to leave it for ever.

I reached college.The Library was awesome but only for geeks.No Novels ! No Fiction !But then I found a copy of Business Legends that though belonged to the blacklisted list of Non-Fiction Novels but as it was on Business world I took it for I have a love for BSE,Ambani,Tata,Annual Reports,Profits etc.Amazed ! Excited ! Resonance ! Completely Loved it.I was wrong about that cup of tea.I rummaged for more Non-Fiction novels thereafter and got hold of Freedom at Midnight, You Can Win,India
Unbound etc.Absolutely Superb !After I really digged into Non-Fiction, I pondered that Fiction though exciting is Facade.It gives you nothing except an outstanding story that can hardly occur in the real world.While,on the other side,you get fringe
benefits like Facts,Education,Insights,Motivation,Knowledge with a non-fiction novel.

After a year of so,I heard about Salman Rushdie,A Fiction NRI Writer who was bestowed with the Best of Booker for his Midnight's Children.Hence after completing The White Tiger,I bought -'The Enchantress of Florence' as I didn't get the midnight's novel at the store.Absolutely Stunning.Such magnificent puns.Such grandiose personifications.Such Vocab-Bank.Such intricacies involved,I adulated Salman Sir.And the king of Labyrinth was still waiting-Midnight's Children! After much hardship,I got hold of the coveted novel.Started off and I found myself in another world.In Kashmir with Shikara's where Adam Aziz was ambulating and Kolynos Kids and Pakistan,India and China and Spitoons and pepperpots and Bombay and Lastly Salim.A true Sui generis novel.And also the longest time consuming novel thanks to its complexities.I am still reading it and I love every line of it.Infact such is the love that I do not wish to finish it off !

I have a long list of Novels I am waiting to read ranging from Philosophical Fountainhead to the Nobel Laureate's The Argumentative Indian.And I wish if everyone can develop this ritual as atleast its better than wasting time gossiping,rambling,watching fatuous movies,surfing stupid sites etc coz after all Time is a Virtue !

Happy Reading ! :)

The Great Midnight Mutiny: Strike at NIT-J

As it ended, a new start was orchestrised. An end that ended the festivity. A start that started a new festivity.This time ,Black and Char. A festivity of Revolt yearning for revolution.A celebration where the fingers united to become a fist to fight the despot.Presenting,Strike in NIT-Jalandhar.

Those three days,We enjoyed.We Played.We Participated and We Organised.But if good comes after bad,then cant bad expect its turn after good?The Colourful night of techNITi'09 gave way to the black.A black night.A night of an insult.A night of a slap.As the organisers were going for the dinner outside the campus after the closing ceremony of techNITi'09,Chief Warden and R****** S******,a faculty stifled them to do so.So they retreated back peacefully.But then R****** S****** started to spit slang at their back.Hearing the cursing,the seniors stopped and came back to him to ask for the reason of such a slang for them.At this,R****** S****** lifted his hand,wafted in the air,pumped up adrenaline and Pacchallio!...A Slap.
The sullen receiver of this slap was a 12th Passed Guest,Brother of a final year student who came to embrace the techfest.This incident triggered the revolt.Not able to disperse this incident as just another insult by the faculty,the students instigated the vengeance.

SMS flied.Calls spreaded.The Undergraduate underdog realized that the threshold has been crossed.At the midnight,the epoch-making started.The faculty with Director and Deans started to sweat,not knowing that they should save their sweat for the ensuing days.The protestors spended their night protesting at the Main Gate.At the first light of the sun,they started to burgeon coz the news was carried to all hostels.Girls came out of their haven to support.The Main gate was amazed to see such a gargatuan teeming for the first time in its history.

A din of opposition followed.First ever strike of NIT-J was under making. It started off with the Blocking of NH-1 just outside the campus for a jiffy.(We backed off coz we thought that we are fighting against NITJ administration and not the nation).The sullen students then reached for the staff quarters to assist the deaf hear. Envisaging that the peaceful protestors could turn into a tinderbox,the faculty called up the police.The heavy strident protest caused the faculty to come out of their hiding and open the mouth regarding the resignation of the involved faculty.

A Word from the faculty(Registrar,Acting Director:P* C******,S** M****** and few other dark luminaries) invited a thousand words from the students.Tacit,the talk was unsuccessful.Palpitating that its of no use to quibble,our leaders snatched a paper,took a pen and scribbled all the demands onto it which was then vouchsafed to the Registrar.The Police epitomising its legacy of being late came in afternoon but received a serious setback when the protestors turned them down by turning a deaf ear to them.
By the way,The Demands were:
1.Order of Suspension of the involved faculty(R****** S******,INE Deptt)
2.Ouster of Dr.SK Sinha from the post of Chief Warden.
3.Acquiesce the involvement of students before ordering any rule to be enacted.

After that on the next day,meetings were held in CSH.Slogans were casted.But no result.It seemed as if a deadlock have been clinched when on Tuesday(22th September,2008),a notice on the notice-board of Hostel-7(In which I live) caused a thousand rictus and took everyone by their breathe.It seemed like a game of Chess when we students on one side was check-mated by the side of the Administration.
The Notice signed by Registrar said:It is hereby declared that Institute will remain closed till 1st October 2009.

This stirred a strange consternation across the students coz due to holidays, there will be no strike possible. Two solutions found sense. The First: To go on Hunger strike and seduce plethora of media attention so that the administration is forced to accept all the demands or Second: To live a life of a Hedonist, Enjoy the Holidays, Shoot the breeze, Party Hard and then strike again on opening of College (5th October 2009).While the popular choice was to go for First Option, I with some other friends were severely and openly supporting the second one.
At night, a meeting followed in Hostel-6.A Hunger strike (Hence, Option 1) was declared to be enjoyed. I was disappointed.Lekin Koi Nahin; I thought I would support the seniors.

The Next day (Wed, 23th Sept) events were uneventful. Nothing happened. No Strike. No media.Nothing.In the afternoon, it came to be known that the seniors have decided to support the Second Option.Superb.After all, it was a nice decision. Happy faces were seen to depart for their home. I also joined those faces on Thursday,24th Sept.And now here I am compiling this article at my home in Ahmedabad.Hope that the denouement comes out in our favour...

Dance:Let me think Why !

Dance, Dance is a thing which always made me think that:”Who the dumb invented this?
”Definately,It might not have been invented by some Genius as other things are.

We are the descendants of Monkey. Aren’t We? It seems quite propitious that we have been bestowed this boogie-woogie by them. A monkey who would have been too happy to get a banana must have wafted his limbs to rejoice and seek attention. Seeing this bob, other monkeys too might have joined the chaos to flaunt that they could also move their body. This Legacy might be the mother of today’s Dance.

There are theories that Dance originated from Bees. Seeing two bees communicating by movements, Humans might have thought it to be a great communication skill. But then we can speak!

There is also a theory that Humans might have invented Rhythmic movements to please God! But then, was it was a wise decision? Could God would have been:”Hey Gal, You move really nice! Tathastu !” and “Hey, You pig. Do you think I’ll be impressed by those ugly movements? Get Lost. You will go to Hell!”

I really cannot understand why in parties people dance. Is there a need to lift your leg, waft your hand in air, twist your neck, shake your ass and sweat like a pig to express that you are happy and enjoying the party? Moreover, why do you need to do the thing which you don’t know? I believe 95% of the people in the World don’t know how to dance. Out of these 95%, half of them not-so-good dancers need others to join with them so that no one points to them and cracks a joke on their bulky body movements. Thus, though they know that they are doing something laughable and funny yet they do it! This clearly signals a herd’s mentality. Moreover, there is a tendency in the dancers to go to the peaceful sitting crowd and pull one or two from it onto the stage so that they could feel secure that atleast someone dances worst than them. Then there are drunkards roaming here and there in the party who are definitely very difficult to classify into dancing or non-dancing group.Coz at one instant they might be jumping like a Gorilla and at the other might be lying somewhere on the floor expectorating.

But obviously there is something in my blood coz of which I do not dance. My Grand-Father being a strict Military Officer saw dance as an extension of the bar business. My Mom was never interested in dance while my father prefers to walk peacefully with the Bride’s father in the baraat. So you see, it is coded in my genes that I can’t dance.

But coming to the main reason why I don’t dance is that I do not see a reason for it. Moreover if anyone is still not convinced, learn from Bollywood constantly giving message about the uselessness of dance, showing that the hero has to constantly dance round a tree and on the roads to get an average sari-cladded girl while the bad guy, the villain do not even shake a leg to get the hotter and wilder ‘Mona Darling’.

Indianness under attack...

This Post is a result of response to the article printed in TOI(13th August 2009).
Read the full article at : HERE

I was savouring myself in the mess when Anant barged past the entrance of the mess with his hand holding TOI.He signalled me to read in it an article titled-‘BREAK INDIA,SAYS CHINA THINK TANK’. I found myself in a stark consternation after reading it.

Unable to discard it as mere bogey, I vouchsafed to myself-“What a shit!. After all the Yellow men have traced the Achilles heel of INDIA that could result in we again falling prey to foreign despot again. Though the motif of this planning is not new which is more painful coz it reverberates that we do not learn from our mistakes.

Today we don’t see ourselves as Indian. We divide ourselves according to regions:Punjabis, Kashmiris, Biharis,Gujarati,Marathi,Bengali and Tamilian.If the state is same, then the division shifts itself to religion: Hindu, Muslim, Sikh, Christian which further finds way for caste and sub caste. This division is deeply embedded in Indians and is ubiquitous in India. Groups like RSS,Bajrang Dal,ULFA and Shiv Sena pour oil into such fires of division. No doubt, Divide and Rule seems to be an excellent acolyte to the invaders.

This is the thing which inspires the Chinese to think about the balkanisation of India.India is a fastest developing country which is second only to China. It has its own requirements which coincide with that of China. No doubt China feels India to be a threat to its development. Moreover, on the other shore, talks between China and India is on a new coefficient of smoothness which in fact is an augury of trouble coz China has a legacy to bestow its rivalry when the other is busy shaking hands of friendship.

With the Indian Army declaring that it would be foolhardy to compare Indian Defence to the Chinese counterparts, the latter being much more ahead on the tarmac, the Statement by the Chinese should not be taken lightly. Time is running down and the enemy’s intention are not in disguise. With the Independence day approaching, lets ponder over as to how to help India to continue this festivity without any malevolent gestures from enemies. Let us not take this freedom for granted and quibble over to which soil of India we belong. While sauntering on the seraphic hills of Himalayas,Let us only echo ourselves to be an Indian and nothing else !

Day 6,Dalhousie:The Curse of being Enchanted...

The Sun arose in the sky with trepidation, as if it has inherited our mood. I woke up at 7am when Anant was still in his dreams. I gave him a subtle push to wake up. Then I went for the showers, for against the mundane days, the bathrooms were not occupied. As I got ready, Anant bestowed me with his bizarre whim. He said that we should straight away rush to the church in Gandhi-Chowk at noon, as he thought it to be the holy site where we would sight our ENCHANTRESS again. Moreover, that we might be able to see her again was the thing that my Heart whispered too.

We ate our breakfast and headed for our surveying work. After completing the theodolite work, we had a new task today. Plane Table surveying. My Group headed out with our equipments for the Station.I spearheaded to draw Dalhousie onto the paper. Navjot,Manjeet,Nishesh and Jhanvi took the measurements. Lokesh who advocated for NIYANTRAN(discipline) in the group at the starting was slowly losing Niyantran himself. The dormant Vishal assisted in a general way while Angad was pleased with his Geddas !(Through his Geddas he helped us a lot).Though the starting was slow,we soon covered up until we reached station-1.Station 1 consisted in drawing the whole Youth Hostel and involved fastidious drawings. Moreover, we were confused over our basic concepts. It ate our precious four hours and we packed up at half-done Station 2.

The Clock showed 5pm and I had not forgotten the plan. Therefore I waited for Aayush and Anant to come back.When they arrived,I clutched my DG Cam and announced that if we sight our enchantress again then we'll have a snap with her for sure(don't know why I did that).Anant too backed my idea and we headed out. Savouring Pani-Puri at Subhash Chowk, we reached the Church at Gandhi Chowk. The same church where our heart dreamt to embrace the beauty again. There we prayed our individual silent prayers and then waited. Waited for the Enchantress. Waited for our whim to prove itself correct.

But sometimes, what we yearn for need not fulfill itself. Thinking that 'sometime' to be this time, we came out of the church. To play the last resort, we carried ourselves to the Tibetan Market, coz like yesterday she might visit Tibetan market again. But No success.
Feeling like being failed, we rambled to the Airforce Area diverting uphill from the heart of Gandhi Chowk. After some stroll, we felt it's not worth to go more and hence we descended. As we reached Gandhi Chowk, ALAS!

She was there. Our Enchantress has returned. I could not believe my eyes and asked Anant to confirm(I was confused as she had used make-up today unlike yesterday).Aayush and Anant jumped. Yes, there she was. A beauty unparalleled. And then Anant went mad as if not able to bear her pulchritude anymore, as if she now controlled him. He trotted behind her clutching my palms. As we reached near her flagrant circle, She was treating herself with Pani-Puri. Then, I remembered a principle which governs every girl. A Girl would never agree to prison herself into a stranger's camera (Coz then a devil called Photoshop do exist).I tried to explain them this thing but then Aayush tantalized that-"Teri phat rahi hai" ! By then, seeing our chaotic moves, she build a bad impression into her mind for us(I am just guessing !)

But when I saw her going away,I succumbed to her power too. This was the CURSE OF BEING ENCHANTED .I signaled Anant-Yes ! And we rushed to the shop where the beauty was standing, Anant leading the torch. As we reached, we sighted Navjot. Anant asked her to say to our Enchantress that we three have got a dare (Remember the Game-Truth n dare?) to have a snap with her. She went to her and spoke the same. Then Anant said-"Would you please mind being clicked"? But missing a villain in our cute story, It seemed as if her mother appointed herself for the role. She grimaced at our request with a horrible face but we waited for the girl to say something (For our request was with her and not with her mother!).We waited for an impossible Yes, challenging her own mother's decision.

But then our heart broke as she went with her mother's decision and signaled a NO!.We retreated and went away from her. We, the three broken heart bearers, were gloomy now and were pacing ourselves to the hostel. Thus, a shadow followed between the adored and the adorer (We three).The Adorers never now wished to see their adoration again though they would not cease to embrace her. The Curse now was broken.

This was the story of the Enchantress of Dalhousie. But the Story of Dalhousie do not ends....It continues....

Story of the Black Sun...

The Sun is emerging into the Horizon trying to drain the mankind with his humdrum beams fatuous of the nature’s orchestration to rebel. Though no late did he figured out the plot. The Lunar friend seemed to be the renegade under the sedition.

This is not the first time he is suffering from such betrayal, he remembered the day before 105 revolutions of Earth around him. And today he stands in a straitjacket as he stood on that day too. The mighty sun is being betrayed but it is his predicament that he could not retaliate, coz he understands it is not his idiosyncrasy to be juvenile. Coz it has a paramount onus to serve the world. Moreover, he is not melancholy due to the plot, but that it will pause him to serve makes him sad.

At 5:30 according to the clocks of his intelligent most servant, instigated the rebellion. The Moon started to confront him, yes the same moon who gets the fair beauty just because of him! The vibrant vivacious Sun soon started to fade to black.

As he sees himself dark he gazes onto Earth to avoid the shame. And here he is bestowed with shame again, stirring into him a question as to why he serves such a world. He sees people looking on him with an extreme ecstasy as if they are delighted to see their patriarch fall. Avoiding them his eyelids then turns to a swathe of sophisticated beings, who are trying to exploit the opportunity for something good which salvaged his plight, as even in this dereliction of duty, he is proving himself salutary ! He then turns to an echelon of people called astrologers and soothsayers who were chanting slokas and mantras trying to save themselves from the non-existent danger as if the plot is not on him but on them and deeply lamented on their vacuous reckoning.

At Half past Six, Seeing the Sun disporting himself by sighting Earth, Moon lost his temper and covered the Sun completely, though then after 4 minutes he resigned as he could not evade the ubiquitous forces. Smiling at the Moon’s failed attempt,Sun resumed his pastime again, and saw millions of his sons gaping onto him without actually sighting him,with the assistance of a gadget that provided direct pictures of his sufferings without the curse of his beams.

Seeing people go in rhapsodies over his embarrassment, in apoplexy he contemplated to fade to ashes forever, an anger so powerful that it forced the Moon to go aside fearing his anguish at Half past 7.

The Rebel has backed off. And now the Sun shined again in its full effulgence. But he was burning. Burning with contempt towards his sons. Burning for they liked to see him suffer. But then, serendipity occurred. He saw a five year old girl smiling and dancing on the thoroughfare, for he has started to shine again. She was joined with some other Lilliputians who flooded him with praise and encomia. Birds, foxed by the double sunrise, kissed him eulogy with their gay chirping. Flowers that went dead by the sudden fall in sunlight came to life again. The Earth seemed to resurrect by exhaling panegyrically.

At this instant, he understood his birth.

And now he shines brightly in the paradise with a new zeitgeist...

Harishchandra and this World !

Well, Raja Harishchandra, as we all know was a hindu king of Lunar Dynasty ever famous for his always truth speaking guts and candour. Never in his life, he ever uttered a lie and didn’t ever back off. But what did he get for that? A Life where he was made to work as an assistant to the guard of Cremation place, his wife and son as a servant to royal palace? The only result for truth was extreme penury for this King. Though his aplomb at that time was much extolled by the Gods and was invited to share the heaven, but did he get another life to live? No!

But Today, We have relegated to such a extent that a lie has become part and parcel of life. But its claims that it is unfortunate do not touch my heart. Actually, incorporating speak-no-lie and always-speak-truth principles in our life can lead us to big problems in this world.

Imagine yourself under speak-no-lie charm. When your professor asks you as to why you didn’t do your assignment, your answer could have been for being ill which could have opened gates for some clemency, but now under the charm-‘Sir, I was not feeling like doing as I thought a movie to be a much brighter option’. No Harishchandra might be able to evade this situation and if he practised his truth principles, he might have come under professor’s wrath and would have been bestowed with supplementary.

Now if we conceive that a gadget has been invented, size being like a watch, which beeps when someone talking to you lies. ’You are my best friend’-BEEP.’I love you dear’-BEEP.’I always believed that you are smarter than me’-BEEP.’I didn’t eat your Tiffin’-BEEP.’No never I flirt with your girlfriend ’-BEEP. The life would be a heaven if only you had that weapon but if another person too had that thing ,it could be apocalyptic. Life would be monotonous and melancholy. Everyone uttered the same fat old truth. There would be no flattery, obsequious servants. There would be more suicide rates after hearing the bitter truth. Murders would flourish coz it needs an iron’s heart to hear ones’ criticism. World would be easy for Police though ,as mere asking of whether one is a thief ,it will be able to get the truth. No enquiry, nothing. Politicians might die before this epoch as there would be no life for them without their lies.

Thus, such a world will extricate many problems though life would not be liveable. Therefore Mr Harishchandra though hats off to you for your ever truth speaking idiosyncrasies but we don’t want to ruin and forlorn our world. We understand that Truth is seraphic but you should also understand that a Lie is not always satanic. Even God Sri-Krishna relied on a lie in Mahabharat to conquer victory!
Because Truth is a shapeless thing,it can change accordingly depending on persons and conditions.Therefore the thing that matters is perception.Until the perception is not bad,Truth or lie are immaterial.According to me,a person should possess enough wit so that he must be able to choose when,if necessary,to speak a lie so that least detriment is caused.I support Truth but under certain miscellaneous circumstances,I support a Lie too...

Day 5 : The Enchantress of Dalhousie....

The Morning of 26th June brought an epoch with itself. The Clouds seemed to romanticise with the Sun and there was something eerie in the air today. Rizwan sir too could not even evade this zeitgeist and declared the day as half day. The next part of the day was desolated for a trip to Panchpulla (its pulla and not kulla!) at a distance of 2.5km from Gandhi Chowk.

After surveying in the first half,at 3pm we geared up to stroll in Panchpulla. But hit by the Punjabi melee who were quite indecisive whether to take bus or taxi, we lost time. At last, we grounded for a private taxi leaving our Punjabi friends behind. We, here consisted of Angad, Aayush, Anant, Prabeen, Vishal, Nitin and ofcourse me!

By 5:30pm we reached Panjpulla and found it having nothing more than Sardar Ajit Singh memorial and a market until we found a way leading us for mountain trekking. Delighted, I ran naively(even those who had done it before ran as if its a plain ground) on the rocks with a tumultuous breeze to reach Rizwan Sir with Arshdeep, Rajat, Suveera, Sanah, Chand and Paramjot(they headed somewhat early and hence were ahead of us). The Result was we drained our energy and were out of breath when we reached them.Nevertheless, gathering some adrenaline by taking rest near a cool Lilliputian waterfall, we stood to conquer the rocks. Precisely taking every step and singing the oldies,we reached at around 400meters vertical on the precipice hindered only by the time constraint of 1 hr the taxiwalla threw before us(The nature was working in disguise for something)Instead of traversing back to hostel at 6:30pm,we destined ourselves to Gandhi Chowk.(Our mind abetting the nature too).

Rambling out of the same fat old Tibetan market, we were blinded by someone! A Feminist marvel. She possessed a pale, fair beauty so intense that no man could look at her without falling into the state of molten adoration. She possessed an eerie charm that blinded the eyes against all only to see her as if denying to gaze at something inferior. Her sight caused others to be non-existent. She was an ENCHANTRESS. When she went inside the Tibetan market with her girly group, me and Anant unable to bridle ourselves to this beauty of heaven, decided to go back to Tibetan market from rear (This was the first time in my life I was chasing and strolling behind a Girl!).On entering the market and forwarding few steps, we sighted her. Seeing us again, she giggled in a sort of élan that left us frenzied. We came out with a deep breath full of her flagrance.

Weave a nest for youself in the depths of my eyes.O your slender body that resembles a young tree growing in the garden of my heart.At the sight of a bead of sweat on your face I may suddenly die.

The Time is a devil which is not enchanted by anyone and keeps on running. Due to this devil running out, we left our enchantress and dragged back to the hostel for dinner .At night ,I confessed that I have seen no such pulchritude anywhere else, being rambled on the streets of Chandigarh, Delhi and Ahmedabad.Anant too agreed not to have seen such an unparalled beauty.

Was this the end of our story or the beginning of a new world, Neither I knew nor Anant. We were just austerely bewitched by our enchantress. Let the time sing the song....

Work is Religion:Dalhousie DAY 2,3 and 4

The Sun emerged to do its justice again. Being the first day of work, there seemed no problem to wake up and rise, after all the pain was to be felt in the ensuing days. Till then, we enjoyed our first lovely Dalhousie dawn. Breakfasted, we got ready for what we treaded all the way here-Surveying.

We were divided into 7 groups and I was filled in Group 5. Lokesh, Manjeet, Navjot,Jhanvi, Angad,Passang,Vishal and Me. A mixed nugget, our group consisted a sort of perfect blend of fun and work. Lokesh took care of the Fun part assisted by Navjot. Jhanvi found a clinch in scribbling down the readings. Vishal and I took the reading while Manjeet hounded to recheck it. Passang was dexterous with staff and Angad found pleasure in Geddas...

Sometimes ,it seems that the luck is against you and you are the one unforgiven .The same we thought when we were gifted to start the work with Station-12,near the bus stand. Every bus and car of Dalhousie seemed to cross our debut station,deafening ears to all sounds and we felt cheated. To add oil to the fire, Rizwan Sir came out with his own wanton remarks that caused us to boil. But in this hardship lied our success. Coz a hammer shatters a glass, but forges steel. At the end of the day, we completed a satisfactory numbers of stations championed by equal contribution from all the members.


At 5pm,Anant,Aayush and I decided to uncover the ecstasy of Dalhousie and we treaded on the tarmac to Subhash Chowk and Gandhi Chowk. On the way, our delight to prison ourselves in camera got unleashed. Tibetan God could not also save himself from having a snap with us evils.

Gandhi Chowk spearheaded to be the shopping hub of Dalhousie. We walked through Tibetan market there and various shops selling timber items like tray and penholder, pullovers, blankets, shawls, handicrafts etc. On the first day itself, we bought a beautiful wooden tray for our mom. Then, we seated ourselves in a restaurant for a quick partake that gave away the sight of hot gals for free! In sightseeing, we could not follow the watch and therefore realising that dinner might miss if we do not beetle up, we did the required. There was an insouciant walk in the garden after dinner and at 10pm,we went back to our rooms. Reading a novel, I bid goodbye to the lovely first day and gave way for dreams !

The next two days were just the extension of this day, where there was theodolite work and the evenings were spent in the same way eating Pani-puris and rambling in Gandhi Chowk.There happened to be Rakesh's(Our beloved CR) birthday on 25th June but i ll expand it in another article.
Something eventful occurred only after it on 26thJune that took me by my breathe....