Half Independence !

When I think of independence the first thing which crosses my mind is Rousseau’s most famous and contradictory quote: “Man is born free and yet everywhere in chains”. This is a strong and controversial statement and my idea of independence is somewhere inspired by this thought.
Independence is a relative term and it can never be absolute. Desire for absolute independence is a utopian concept. We can never be independent in a holistic sense. Rousseau made this statement centuries ago, which makes perfect sense till today and which will do for the times to come. Living in an independent country free from the subjugation of some foreign power doesn’t make an individual independent. If I were to ask myself this question- ‘Am I truly independent?’ I would answer: No! We are bound to certain things in some way or the other which obstructs our freedom and independence. I would term this idea of independence as half independence. No matter how much we say-we are completely independent aloud we are not. On a daily basis, we are living in the condition of half independence.
India is turning 68 years old this independence day, the citizens of this country according to its vast and comprehensive constitution are entitled to several rights. Now the question arises are we able to exercise our rights wholly. Let’s understand this with an example, our constitution entitles us the right to assemble and peacefully demonstrate,but more often than not, when people demonstrate, government authorities try to repress it. Protests regarding the 16th December 2012 rape incident is a case in point. We all witnessed how the police treated the masses on peacefully protesting; and a bandh was imposed at some places to avoid protests. It means that merely penning down the rights in the constitution is not a road towards independence; it is through ensuring them practically so that we can minimally lead our lives of half independence.
Independence is about creating your own independent will and decisions, and carrying them out without obstructions. Girls are constantly made part of that social engineering where they are always instructed to behave in certain ways. They are over and over told of their boundaries and the extent of their reach. It is engrained in our society where at every step we witness gender discrimination and violence, but interestingly when we experience this discrimination from the face of political class who claims to be the guarantor of our rights and our representatives, it becomes absolutely crystal clear that independence of an individual is at stake at every point and can be violated at the hands of ‘guarantors of independence and freedom’; it can then be violated from any trivial source.
If I have to place my idea of independence in terms of which idea of independence our country subscribes to, I would then say that independence of each citizen here is at great stake. Forget about freedom of thought and expression or intellectual independence, our country even fails to ensure its people with basic rights by which they can at least live with some hope that they could wish that some or the other day they will get more than what they have today. Then on top of it there are politicians making statements that, ‘poverty is a state of mind’. This is literally humiliation for that person who is striving day and night for two square meals a day. Independence does not mean throwing subsidies at the poor people’s faces and telling them that now you have food for two meals a day and your life exists for this sole purpose. No-! Independence is a sense of respect-, dignity and hope. Hope, which the government of a country instills in its people and assures them that their life has more to it, and to evoke that sense of freedom in them by providing greater opportunities so that an individual breaks some of the ‘chains’.
If I talk in philosophical and psychological overtures of independence then I would again recall that independence can never be absolute. For instance, if we were to take any decision on some matter,our ‘independent’ decision would be influenced by several other conditions and factors, and the end product of our decision of what we actually thought in our minds would be altered. Therefore, independence for me is about making free choices, having the opportunity to make decisions for oneself and anything from equal treatment to respect and dignity to protection of rights to unimprisoned mind to live in a state of peace defines my idea of independence.
Moreover independence, whether at personal level of instincts and will or at the level of country, I believe we must only strive for half independence, which is more logical and easier to strive for. And that half independence is the right of every individual to attain its maximum potential. We are ‘everywhere in chains,’ we have to accept that, but we deserve to break some of the chains and claim that much independence which we are entitled to by the virtue of being humans.
Someone has well stated, ‘strive for independence even if it means to live on a barren heath’.
In conclusion I would say- explore the maximum of your half independence!
Happy Independence day-!

Zindagi Kya Hai?

This poem is written in allegory. Different phases of life are described by making comparison to nature and inanimate objects around us. If we deeply and minutely look around us we would find life in inanimate things as well. Each thing is the manifestation of a phase of life which puts us into thought that what life is all about and what life is in itslf . And, this is what this poem is about, delving into a deep and unresolved question: What is life? Zindagi kya hai?

Hope you may like it ! :)


Zindagi kya hai?
Gili mitti ki sondhi khusbu
ya haath se phisalti rukhi reth,

Zindagi kya hai?
Yauvan mein umadhta jazba
ya budhape ki naumeedi,

Zindagi kya hai?
Woh wajah bewajah ka hasna aur thahake
ya yaadon ki jhil se behta aankh ka paani,

Zindagi kya hai?
Thandi bhini hawa ka humein chu kar guzar jana
ya belagaam aandhiyon ka gharon ko ujaad dena,

Zindagi kya hai?
Baarishon mein lehraate unche unche pedh
ya patjhad mein zameen par padi rukhi sukhi pattiyaan,

Zindagi kya hai?
Ek nayi kitaab ek nayi dastaan
ya puraane kitaabi panno ka dardarapan,

Zindagi kya hai?
Khamosh dariya ke sakoot ka sukoon
ya sagar ki lehron ka shor,

Zindagi kya hai?
Urooj bhi hai mashaqqat bhi hai sukoon hai kashmakash bhi hai aitbaar hai dhokha bhi hai jaane iski haqeeqat kya hai AQS
Pata nahi yeh zindagi kya hai?

Expectations and Assumptions: A Bounded Destiny of a Woman

A woman is always expected to do something. Her life becomes the reflection of other's expectations and desires which unflinchingly have to be fulfilled by her. These expectations are from her family and after marriage from husband's family and of course the society at large which constantly keeps on realizing a woman that what her 'roles' are and what should be her conduct and what she should do and what she should not do. A woman since birth is always taught about the direction and meaning of her life berefting her of all the independence, right to choose and right to decide for herself that what kind of a life she wants. A woman's life is so much bounded by the norms of patriarchy that it becomes inescapable for her to come out of this system of patriarchal notions which have become so entrenched in society and our daily lives that we even fail to realize their presence as they are now invisible and at the same time omnipresent part of our lives. And, these patriarchal assumptions have bounded the destiny of a woman where there is a perpetual resonance of the ideas that how women should be controlled so that they do not transgress or over leap the defined notions of behavior, character, duties and her responsibilities.
These expectations and assumptions grows out of the constant 'gendering' and social constructions which forces women to adapt in the patriarchal system. Women are always differentiated on the basis of her biology(sex) but the gender is characterized by the social underpinnings, the gender is made out of the norms which are constructed by the society and has nothing to do with biology. Women are always expected to be soft, sacrificing, adjusting, docile, soft spoken and should have fecundity. All these qualities are termed as 'feminine' where as courage, valor , strong are 'masculine'. This divide between masculine and feminine creates expectations and assumptions from a man and a woman. Therefore, these traits are made to be created in us through social constructions by family and society. As Simone de Beauvoir has mentioned in her book 'The Second Sex','One is not born a woman but is made one..' These qualities are not seen as the virtues of a good person which every person must have but are put in the garb of masculine and feminine which makes the life of a woman under perpetual pressure to suit the norms whereas a man is favoured by the patriarchy so he enjoys the dominant position.
Except the process of reproduction nothing is natural related to women then why it is always assumed that she has got to do certain tasks. Margaret Mead in her works mentioned that 'Motherhood is a biological fact and fatherhood is a sociological fiction' which means that everything what a women does from child rearing to all the domestic chores can very well be done by a man. But it always assumed that these are the tasks entitled to be performed by women. Therefore why women are always expected to do certain things considering them as the 'natural order of things' bounding them from centuries inadvertent of the fact that the patriarchal system in which we are living in is so pernicious for women, thus killing their identities and individual being.
However there is a dire need to understand that what we assume is not natural but are social constructions which make our identities as a 'man' or a 'woman' whereas if made everything gender neutral then there will be no distinction between a man and a woman, will also unbound women from the clutches of expectations. We need to free women from the patriarchal web which have bounded their destinies !

The Great Indian Shaadinama

'Beta, bas graduation kar lo phir rishta dekhna start kardengey' , '25+ ladkiyon ke liye bahut zaroori hai shaadi karna aur ladkon ka toh thoda bahut aagey piche chal bhi jaata hai' , these are some of the dialogues which mostly our parents but more than them 'aas pados ke log' and our 'rishtedaar starts saying. Marriage is an integral part of life but what Indians do is that they create it as the pedestal for everything else related to life. Sometimes our immediate family realize this(or we make them realize forcefully) but the pressure created by so-called society dooms it all. What i believe is that we as the society are not developed yet(which we think we are) if we take into consideration different parameters. Indian people are obesessed with marriages, someone please make them understand it is not the sole aim of life and death. Parents are completely fair on their part for being worried about our marriages as we are their responsibility and they want us to see 'settled'. When i am using this word 'settle', so is the wedlock only source of getting settled. If we take a panoramic view of marriage culture in India what happens is that for boys making themselves financially and professionally stable becomes the priority and then the question of marriage is taken up, in the case of girls the entire concept of 'settlement' is grounded on marriage and all the other aspects education, job, finance, independence is seen from the lens of marriage perspective. 'In-laws job karayengey toh bahut badhiya hai varna kya zarurat hai', a large majority of girls are taught this by their parents and elderly near and dear ones.
It cannot be denied that boys are pressurized for marriage when they reach an 'appropriate age' but the experiences of a girl are completely different from a guy's. The level of pressure which a girl faces, the 'shaadinama' which again and again echoed is to her right after the time she completes her graduation(in many cases also at the level of undergrad) is not faced by a boy of the same age with that gravity.
I think we need to change, we need to transform our thought process there is a need to see things in different course of ideas. Parents should give girls and boys the equal opportunity and time to realize for them that what is the right time for them to get married or even whether they want to get married or not. These ideas seem radical from perspective of Indian society but this is gradually becoming the reality and i believe this is the right way. As individuals irrespective of gender we should be given the freedom to decide for ourselves. I would suggest that this culture of shaadinama should be shunned away and parents should encourage their children to get settled first in the true sense of the word and then let their children decide that what is the right time for them to get married.

I would also urge each one of you that when next time your parents and relatives start with the shaadinama explain them politely to redefine their ideas about marriage. If they understand, good ! and if they don't keep trying your luck as no new idea is digested and absorbed easily.

Divine...is what this poem can be called !

This poem written by Amritanshu Sharma is profound, divine and kindled in me some kind of spark. This poem was recited to me by him few days ago, the stunning thought behind the poem and the soul and meaning in every word left me enthralled. So, i thought to share this beautiful piece of poetry with all of you...

Do read it please...its worth it !

है अमित छाप या अर्जित शाप, दोनों से ही शर्मिंदा हूँ
अधरों में फंसे हुए प्राण, शायद अब तक भी जिंदा हूँ

कुछ खेल खिलौने होते थे, मखमली बिछौने होते थे,
जब शाम सुहानी ढलती तो फिर स्वप्न पिरोने होते थे.
उस छुपा छुपी से थकी हुई जो गुज़र गयी वो निद्रा हूँ,
अधरों में फंसे हुए प्राण, शायद अब तक भी जिंदा हूँ

वो वक़्त अनोखा होता था, जो हवा का झोंका होता था,
उस वेग को हमने अपने हाथों से रोक होता था,
क्या गर्वित थे! क्यूँ गर्वित थे?
क्या गर्जन थी! क्यों गर्जन थी?
आँखें झुकना भूली न थी पर सीना चौड़ा होता था
वो कल परसों ही की हुई फतह का आज बाशिंदा हूँ
अधरों में फंसे हुए प्राण शायद ही अब मैं जिंदा हूँ

कुछ समय से कुछ अधुरा हो गया हूँ
काफी ऊँची तान भरा करता था मैं पर,
अब थोड़ा बेसुरा हो गया हूँ
कितने काम रह गए हैं, जो करने को सब कह गए हैं पर,
अब मन नहीं करता
चंचलता के, उद्यम के बांध तोड़ दिए थे मैंने पर,
पर, अब मैं बूढ़ा हो गया हूँ
जो खुद से खुद हैं डरे हुए मैं हर उस तक की निंदा हूँ
अधरों में फंसे हुए प्राण, शायद ही अब मैं जिंदा हूँ


अमृतांशु

Can government ever tackle security failures?

Twin bomb blasts in Hyderabad. Home minister says we got warning two days before the blast and we informed the states to be on alert. State security system fails like business as usual. Who is responsible for these security failures? What are the loopholes in the system that our state cannot even provide us a sound security system. We all know the answer that who is responsible and what are the loopholes but what is being done in response of that. Have we ever tried to compare the effective and swift security mechanisms of countries like US which has not faced any major bomb blast since 9/11. The problem is half of the time instead of scrutinizing the problem and its root cause our politicians indulge in blame game and try to make us believe that how security was perfectly sound and it just happened in the 'out of the blue' fashion.
Whether terror attacks emanating from inside or outside the country the government need to realize that if they want to combat terrorism from face to face they have to be on their toes all the time and leave apart the laxity,for that there is a need to overhaul the policing,surveillance and intelligence. If this can't be improved and not just improve but bring it to the point of perfection,until then we cannot stop these terror attacks.

Har ladki...har aurat ke dil ki awaaz ko bayaan karne ki ek koshish....

Kahin chaar deewaari mein na dab kar reh jaaye mere armaano ki goonj..
Kahin zaaya na hojaaye mere khoon pasine ki har boond..

Kyun meri soch ka gala ghont diya jaata hai..
Bas yahi mere samjh ke pare hojaata hai..

Mere astitv ka sauda karne ki bhool bhi mat karna..
Main chup chap sehmi si reh jaungi yeh sochne ki himmat bhi mat karna..

Kabhi yeh antar toh kabhi woh antar bata batakar mujhe hi meri zindagi se alag kardete hain..
Mehez ek kathputli banjaun isi koshish mein rehte hain..

Na jaane kitni lakshman rekhaon ki mujhe duhaai di jaati hai..
Koi toh uthaaye ungli un par jinhone apni insaaniyat hi bech khaayi hoti hai..

Pehle riwaayaton mein baandhkar mujhe sabse uncha darja de diya jaata hai..
Dusri taraf mere aurat hone ka hi bahishkaar kiya jaata hai..

Puchon parivaaron se,pucho samaj aur sarkaar ke thekedaaron se,pucho har ek us aadmi se..
Ke insaan hone ke haq maang rahi hun,insaan hone ki azaadi maang rahi hun..
Kya zyada maang rahi hun?

Karti gayi bardasht sadiyon se yeh utpidan..
Ab baahein phaelakar aankhon mein aankhein daalkar,buland awaaz se kehti hun khilona nahi hai mera jivan..

Haan! thodi der kardi maine awaaz uthaane mein..
Bolne mein,apni baat manvaane mein..

Ab buland khadi hun,bebaak khadi hun,mere rom rom mein azaadi hai..
Tumse mujhe kuch maangne ki zarurat nahi hai,meri zindagi ki law mein abhi aag bahut baaki hai...

.....

Lost series but won incredibly today...'bows' !!!!!

India made it quite decently well in twenty twenty in the bilateral series with Pakistan but never knew that smiles are not going to stay for long on the faces of Indian fans.Defeat in the first ODI was still digestable to some extent as we had faith in the team that somehow we will be able to cope with the pakistani team but God knows what has happened to Pakistan team in this series,its been playing exceptionally well proving its hard hand on bowling as well batting.The Indian defeat at the second ODI shattered all the hopes amongst the Indian cricket fans who have been dying to see dejected faces of our neighbours because as we know the energies,the enthusiasm goes to its greatest peak when it comes to India-Pakistan series and that too when a bilateral series is happening after twenty two years.
However,though India lost the series but the fans still hoped from then and as it was discernible in the stadium people came to support their team in huge numbers.And again we sort of lost hope when such a small target was given by India and all the wickets taken created cherry on the cake kind of a situation.But the tables soon turned over,one,the amazing bowling by Jadeja,the debutant Shami Ahmad,Kumar,Ashwin and the fantastic tight fielding which just blew over the Pakistani bowlers.I suppose even the Pakis might be assured of that the match is in their hands when would have seen the target but as Sidhuji said in his commentary 'jab kismat meherban toh banda pehelwaan'.Here,the luck and effort both made it possible and it was a great great win by our team. Today,we saw the hunger to win in their game!!!