The War

“Anna’s on a rampage”.

“The Lokpal bill needs to be passed.”

“The corrupt need to be punished.”

 “Congress has made a mess of the situation. They don’t deserve to be in power.”

Well they have made a mess of it, and Anna is the Hero of 2011. After all, getting up one fine day and deciding to rampage against corruption by supporting a bill that existed only in memory is no small feat.

Irrespective of what is proved later ( we all know someone or the other will come up with some conspiracy theory, raise doubts on true intentions maybe prove them as well ) this is no small feat. More the battle of Lokpal is prolonged, more skeptical will the people become of the intentions of Anna. It’s not uncommon for rumors to spread. On top of that people nowadays get bored easily. So if they are bored and they want to back out, they would start believing in one of the rumors and agree that Lokpal bill is a farce.

No matter what the intentions were, the important thing now is that the people should concern them only about the war against corruption and what they want to achieve of it. Of Course Anna is leading the battle, but it’s the army that has thrown government off. I doubt any of them expected a response of this magnitude from the common man, and the steps they took prove it. If you have joined this battle, than make sure you are ready to take it to the end.

But like all good things even this movement has a flaw. With all the cries over Congress misusing power, not being able to handle the situation, being corrupt left, right and centre, it is the government by the people, maybe not of the people and at this point certainly not for the people. Yet it is the government by the people. And this is the flaw with the current campaign.

You are a democracy, biggest in the world, with over a billion people, and yet the percentages of people who vote are around the 50% mark. To make the situation more grim, half the people out there on the roads raising voice in support of Lokpal bill are part of the educated middle class who don’t bother to go to vote as “lamba line hoga”, “abbey chutti hai”, “chor na, ek vote se kya hi kar lega”, and the more reasonable one “bhai, kisko vote de, yeh toh sabhi chor hai”.

A fact: After the recent election in Tamil Nadu, everyone who owns a “Rashan Card” got a free TV. Jaylalita sure knows how to tend the basic needs of people.

Let’s add some simple facts and do little math:-

In India around 30% of the population is below 15.

Suppose 50% of the people vote in election.

Literacy rate in India in latest census is 74%, and 41% of the people are currently below poverty line, fighting for daily needs.

So basically the so called government by the people is being elected by 26 % of the literate population. Of these, half of the people are working in places that are not there native. You can’t expect a person to fly down from Bangalore to Ranchi just to vote. On top of this 9% of the total 35% of the votes can be managed if one of the parties is able to influence the people, which isn’t very hard for the political parties, seeing that half the people have more important things to do today than think of future, like maybe get little food for the night, maybe little saving that can get a roof fixed. And than obviously we are guided by forces of nature, like cast, creed and above all religion. Make any of these an issue, give little incentives to the needy and they will follow, not because they believe in you, but because at that point the incentive shows them a hope of survival.

(The 9% maybe more challenging if both parties are corrupt, and can shell out cash. But in that scenario we are already screwed even before the election)

Hence most of the 9/35 % (25% of votes given) of the votes are already with the corrupt leaders you are protesting against. So among the remaining 26/35% people, the parties need to get mere 9/35% vote more. So basically a minister in our country can be elected if he manages to gain support of 18% of the entire population.

Campaigning for the Lokpal bill is required but the people need to realize one Lokpal against a million corrupt is still not the solution. You need to start using our rights properly. You have been given a choice to make a difference. You can change the way you think. You can spread awareness against the corrupt. You can guide people above social and regional barriers. Punishing the corrupt is one thing, but India still needs, capable non corrupt leaders to guide her.

Lokpal bill is a start of a long journey. The destination is a true democracy, with 0% corruption. To have a government that is truly for the people, rather than existing for the power and money that come along with their posts. So get on the bus only if you want to reach destination. It is not right that you get the bus started with your support and than say “oh I have some work, I need to get down”. If all of us make it to the end, we’ll truly be greatest nation in the world and that my friends is a pretty sight. 

Drift! (858)

 Tom and Jerry where standing on the same iceburg , when it suddenly cracked. As the ice sheets started flowing freely in the water, they moved away from each other. This was lucky for Jerry , of course. Because i have seen him being chased by Tom for almost 20 years and this time he most certainly would have been done for.

Try putting  ice cubes in a bucket of water and observe how they move. They drift apart from each other , even if the water is still. There is no repulsion, no attraction, no laws of physics here. They just move freely at their will. Maybe two cubes come together in due course of time, but only to separate again.

With time, I have come to see important things in life work in the same way. Be it love or friendship.

When we were together at one place, it was all too easy, but with time things have changed. We are working now, we are miles away from one another and to add to all this, our work timings and days also differ. Basically making sticking together as difficult as it can be.

Being swamped with work for most of the day, even if we are in the same city, there are times  when we don't meet one another for weeks. 

It is said good friends can pick up a conversation from where they left even after ages. but does this happen?
With time people change, maybe slowly, but they do change. So what happens to this conversation that was lost in past. When you regain it, you might be a different person and the one you are talking to might not think the same way as the one who you remember. Well this would be awkward , wouldn't it?
(Imagine me, thinking gaping at chicks is perverted !!! Don't worry not going to happen)

According to Simon and Garfunkal  "Silence like a cancer grows". As i have noticed in past couple of weeks , this is actually true. Longer you don't talk to a person harder it is to start getting back in touch again, even harder to be in touch the same way that you used to be.

Let's say there is someone who is near you and yet so busy that there is no time for the two of you to meet, or talk , whereas once upon a time you couldn't  stay apart from each other. and now suppose one of you keeps trying to put in efforts but other is just too busy, what happens than? I guess by the time other person realises what's happened you have already moved to an other place. A place where you don't feel that breaking the silence is a top priority. You still want to talk, just that now it's different, you don't know what to talk about , and when you do talk it bugs you that how come there is nothing to talk about !!!

The closer you were, once upon a time, more painful is the growth in silence. Especially if this silence has come because of a trvial reasons, and worse if one of the two person thinks that the other one is the cause of the silence.

Earlier it was a challenge to keep in touch with everyone. But now it's pretty easy. With arrival of mobile,  chats, facebook and the latest BBM people should not have any reason not to stay in touch, apart from well not wanting to. But it's amazing to see that people still manage to drift away !!!

As mota puts it " i don't see a reason why people critisize facebook" , i feel it is one thing that has slowed down the drift. We are connected , not as well as we would have liked to be, but we are still talking to one another! we still know where our friends are! and how to reach them.

But is this enough? That's something we need to figure out. From being together all the time to writing on wall once a week, will we still be the same?
 

If Tom really wanted to catch Jerry, he would have to put lot of efforts on rowing that iceberg to reach closer, also the efforts is proportional to the distance. If Jerry on the other hand kept rowing away, it would become even more difficult for Poor Tom, and sooner or later he would give up the chase and look for something alternative. Alternative wouldn't be the same as Jerry but he would have to make do, what other choice does he have?? 

We aren't Tom and Jerry here, one is not chasing the other one to kill it ( i might be an exception), but to be together. So no matter how distant you are it's high time to start rowing back. Because there is someone whose desperately trying to row towards you and you are not making things easy for him. Be back before you get too far away, before he turns around, before you loose something amazing just because you didn't have the time to reconsider, to rethink and to return !

Lonely Eater!!!

It was quite a while back, when i had heard one of my friends grumbling. I remember getting irritated about it. " I don't feel like eating alone" she said, as she continously kept skipping lunch.

I had heard another one exclaiming to his mom over phone " Ma, eating alone, for me, is like a punishment"

I was never really able to figure out what the big deal about eating alone was? Atleast not till last couple of weeks. It's been like 10 days( leaving weekends apart ) since i have eaten lunch at office, and being lazy is just a part of the problem. But going down 9 floors, walking another 150 m to reach a jam-packed cafeteria just to eat alone doesn't make sense at all, atleast not to me.

Initially, i used to think it was just the distance( i hate walking) but i have found myself walking long distance with flatmates for dinner, longer if i am at MG Road, with people who think shopping as the greatest sport ever invented.

I do like eating, and with the company i have had since childhood this shouldn't be a surprize. I don't eat a lot (With the company i have had since childhood, this can be surprizing). But i have been too used to eating in company of someone, and it does make a difference if you are eating in company of someone.

You eat slower (scientifically slower you eat faster you get full) , this is in exception of Buffets and you have lot more time to enjoy the taste. When you are eating alone, you more often than not generally tend to rush through the meal, and then keep feeling drowsy and uncomfortable over a long period of time. and not to forget it's very boring to eat alone :( .

Back at school, even though everyone used to take there own tiffins, sharing had become compulsary. and most of our tiffins used to get over even before the classes started. The remaining ones, while the class was going on! One particular friend of mine used to actually lock his bag , in order to save his tiffin. (Never helped his cause)

I miss college, where i never remember eating alone( never ate my own food either). We always had company, even if we did not want it. Atleast i personally made sure i go room to room and give company to everyone irrespective of what they were eating ( some of people didn't really seem to enjoy this).But left alone , on this day, i am sure most of us miss it ,atleast if you are sitting in office and hoping someone might come for lunch with you.

As i sit here wasting my time, hoping for the day to come to an end, so that i can go back to the one person ,who is waiting at home and enjoy the meal in company of  one who adores the food more than anyone else in the world.

Introducing Some terms (Suggestions are welcome) :-

Fun Eating ..... 1 moong daal halwa + 1 ice cream + 4 spoons + 10 people

Killer Eating.... Broken lock+ loads of chocholate+ missing shaleen

Imba eating ....  KFC buckets

Godlike eating ... 15 people(1/2 who smoked up) + breakfast buffet + loads of chicken sausage

Beyond God like eating.... 20 people + 15 ghee rice + 15 CTBM +10 DM + 20 moong daal halwa + 20 ice cream + 1 Jungli

Sad lonely eating...... curd/lemon/tomato rice + gobi pakoda + achar  :(

In the loving memory!!!

You can shed tears that she is gone, 

or you can smile because she has lived.

You can close your eyes and pray that she'll come back,

or you can open your eyes and see all she's left.

Your heart can be empty because you can't see her,

or you can be full of the love you shared.

You can turn your back on tomorrow and live yesterday, 

or you can be happy for tomorrow because of yesterday.

You can remember her only that she is gone,

or you can cherish her memory and let it live on.

You can cry and close your mind, 

be empty and turn your back.

Or you can do what she'd want:

smile, open your eyes, love and go on

Dearest Shilpa (sounds so wrong to me, but can’t put your nickname)

I first came to hear about you in Fugiya first year. Apparently Mota had found some cute girl and actually given her a rose.  You once again popped up in the picture, when we were messing with Cj.  But this was first year and you were in a different section.  First time I met you , was , I guess  in PK Sharma’s Office as he was our guide.  It was almost 3 years later when I actually started speaking to you, another 4-5 months when we actually ended up being friends. To be honest , this is something I had never expected , and as I had told you I was very surprised. But there we were chatting away to glory .  Eventually chat changed to phone call. It was amazing how much we had that could be discussed. As a gossip queen , you were a perfect person to waste time with.  And it was awesome that, we never really ran out of subjects to discuss. We had indeed come far from just knowing each other. We spoke way to often, we schemed and planned things out. I got stuck in  the war being waged between you and ravish. Every bit of it ws more fun than the previous. We had discussed it , you sad we have all the time in the world and that we’ll meet for holi.  And than it all changed.

It’s been an year since I heard your voice. Something that I had got accustomed to very fast. Makes me wonder , how quickly things change. One day we are fighting over which place you should be for the valentine’s day, the next day I am traveling in a bus all alone, not understanding what just happened. You used to say way too often, “waiting is not good”  but I doubt if  you ever imagined that you were in such a hurry.

I don’t really have much to write, just that I loved you and I miss you. And  I am only one of the many who feel the same. You should know and I am sure you would have known when you were with us, you were a friend who was greatly valued.

 From my point of view pretty, Hot and of course, a Nerd !

Rest assured, as time passes we’ll heal. Some faster than others, but one thing is certain, no one who knew you, can ever , shift + del you from their hearts.

(just so that u knw, m yet to watch twilight)


                
                                                                                                        Love,
                                                                                                            Supple