Year Gone by and Year to Come

Hi All,

I have been writing recently on social issues and was missing on the creative side. But, yesterday I made a point to write a poem, and fortunately I didn’t have to think long about the topic. My last year has been filled with lot of emotions, fear, and has been happening on the personal and professional front.
But there is always a ray of hope, wave of optimism and a continuous passion and urge to succeed in personal and professional front. And there are always well wishers, friends and family who continuously support you and are angel for you.
This poem reflects the support and the light of hope in the coming year ….
Signing off with my last poem of this year and a happy new year of course 2010….

Year Gone by and Year to Come

I sit back today, and look at the year gone by
With a glass in my hand, trying to recollect
The good and the bad, the ugly and the beautiful,
Masks and faces, which were part of my life
Some were haunting, few were daunting
Scaring the hell out of me,
But there was an angel too,
Wiping my sweat and fanning me with her hair,
Cuddling with her finger strokes,
And flaunting me like a child in her lap
Making my days beautiful and the year memorable
She is also gone by the year gone,
But the angel always remains an angel,
She takes care from the distance,
And makes you see the ray of hope,
Promising the coming year
To be free of evil and full of joy,
And a memorable year to come by,
The angel slowly whispers from a distant,
But still I can hear the voice so loud
Wishing me a “Happy New year”

Regards,
Amit

Ruchika Gehrotra – A Victim 19 years back and a Victim today

I would have never known about a 14 year old girl, Ruchika Gehrotre from Chandigarh , and am sure even most of the Indians would have not known her.
Thanks , to the Indian Judiciary system which kept the case in trial for 19 years , and sincere thanks to the Indian Media especially the electronic media like CNN IBN , NDTV, Star News which highlighted this lazy ness and sleeping investigative and judiciary system of India.
I suddenly asked myself, do I live in India where economy is growing at 7% per annum, when most of the globe is struggling with the economy. My readers would ask me why I am correlating with the economy growth, and my answer is that good economic growth leads to a creation of a more egalitarian society.
Ohhh..But don’t we know India always throws exceptions, and this case is one of them. Sorry, no comments as most of the Indians understand these exceptions very well.
My rage is not only towards the EX DGP, respected Mr. Rathore and his bubbling lawyer wife who came out of the court smilingly , but towards the investigative agency, the then state government and the judiciary system. Rathore and his wife were not making mockery of the CBI and the judiciary system or the poor soul of Ruchika or her friend Aradhana, or her family, but he made mockery of the belief of 100 Crores of Indians.
I always get hurt, when I had to hear the rich and powerful getting away with the law, and I often keep my patience not to write about them on my blog, but this time my patience gave away. This is also another dark incident about Chandigarh, the place where Manu Sharma stays and parties on Parole.
I have always loved Chandigarh a lot, and have spent some wonderful time working there, but this really sad that the girls are not safe there and the rich and mighty lobby works more than the law and order.
I just pray that the electronic media keeps up the case lighting and public pressure continues, with the politician’s like Renuka Chowdhary, Brinda karat sincere support and the case gets resolved quickly and Ruchika gets justice.
Remember, the old saying “ Justice delayed is Justice denied” , but lets give the CBI and Indian Judiciary one more chance to finally bring Rathore to books for his misdeeds who snatched away a budding life and affected a family for the whole life.
And, a final request that lets not be the victim who stays quiet , but a true warrior who fights against the odds. Warriors like Neelam katara, Sabrina lal, Aradhana Gupta have done that, and so can we.

http://twitter.com/amitsinha69

Durga Puja Celebrations-Revisited Memory Lane

I blog very less these days, though I am still involved in writing, but that’s altogether a different dream. But, thanks to all these social networking site and bloggers camaraderie, I was reminded by my one of my very talented blogger friend that I have almost stopped blogging and should write more frequently.
I had made up my mind, that I would blog on Sunday for sure. I was thinking today, while driving, while eating my Biryani in lunch, and while watching TV , on what should I write. I simply felt, that I haven’t read any books in recent time, have not traveled to any exciting place, had not any unusual incident in my life or relationship, not much is happening in current affairs (Shashi Twitter story is old, and doesn’t interest me at all), have watched Kaminey and Wanted, but did not wanted to write a film review, so was pretty confused on what to write.
I was just sitting and browsing FaceBook and Orkut today, looking at my old photographs and tried connecting with my school friends. This led me to think about the Durga puja celebrations during my school time , and the kind of fun that was attached to it. Being brought up in a small town, Jamalpur in eastern parts of Bihar, the town was full of Bengali population and Durga Puja was the biggest festival celebrated there. I remember, we all used to wait for Durga Puja 1 month before the celebrations and the countdown used to start. The city was full of Railway employess who used to get bonus during the Durga Puja , and they used to do a lot of shopping. The whole market and business used to gain momentum a month before the Puja .
The town had a big ground called Golf ground which was attached to a smaller ground , where a Durga Puja Pandal used to be made. The pandal used to be in typical Kolkata style , with loud Arti, Smoke, Dhol beats, Gulal and Firecrackers. On the periphery of the pandal , there used to be food stalls , of Mutton Chap, Mughlai Paratha, Biryani,Rosogulla, and tea , coffee and ciggarates. These stalls used to be full of customers and there used to be waiting time to get these delicious food itmes.
Everyday from the seventh day onwards , there used to some entertainment night like Orchestra, Dance,Children Competition which used to draw lot of participation and audience. My favorite was Orchestra, as I love live music, and most of the singer used to sing Kishore and RD Burman Songs.
The Pandal looked extremely beautiful, with all the people wearing new dresses, and enjoying with their friends and family. I remember, that was the only festival, when we used to go to market and get new dresses for everyone in the family. We were only allowed to wear these new dresses from Ashthami (eight day of Puja) after the dresses were awakened up. The whole house was awakened through vedic chants on the eighth night. After, the awakening, was done we all used to rush to the pandal and meet our school friends there. Typically, like any other small town, the town used to get sleepy by 9 pm on normal days, but Durga Puja was the only time, when the town did not sleep. I remember just roaming in the pandal , on the streets till 12 midnight and then used to get home by driving my vintage Bajaj Chetak Scooter.
Freedom was there during the festival, and we all used to exploit the freedom given by our families to experiment smoking and eating paan, since we were allowed to come late during the puja days. Also, it was perfect time to know about many beautiful females in the town whom you never thought that they existed also. Needless, to say that it was the right time to impress a girl or a guy.
This celebration style continued for me till I was in my graduation, as most of my friends used to come back home during the Dusshera holidays. Though, the friends count did started reducing soon after, we all passed our board examination and left for higher studies to big cities.
Today , that fun has almost ceased, but still the time cannot snatch away the beautiful memories of the Durga Puja celebration I had at my native place.
Its still the biggest festival for me and will always remain….
Signing Off…a memorable Sunday…

Racism,Ethnicity,Dicrimination-check the mirror

We all read so much about Indians being beaten up in Australia and Austrialns are being termed as racist. No doubt, I hated it , as an Indian citizen. Some prominent sociologist also termed it as ethnicity and not racial.
Whatever, it is theoretically, but they all are in same family of exploitation, where the attacks are made by a stronger group on a weaker group.
But are we as Indians doesn’t discriminate in day to day life. I was reading on net - zo-lengthe.blogspot.com and learnt some horrifying stories on how the North east people are being exploited and attacked in India. The incident pertains to an incident of molestation of two girls from Manipur, where the landlord molested the two girls along with a group of hooligans in wee hours of night. And, to my surprise, the women in the landlord family also supported it.
Is it not a form of discrimination against people from other states?
I also read another article where there was gender discrimination and that too within the same state. How, the rich North east men are abandoning their wives. Another, incident was, when the migrants from other Hindi speaking states were treated badly in Mizoram.
There are so many, that the incidents cannot be counted, but we as an Indian, that means truly Indian which says "Unity in Diversity" can raise ourselves beyond the race, statehood, gender, caste and creed and money.
Can we be an egalitarian society ourselves before we preach the Australians.
Do we treat the foreigners, the way we want ourselves to be treated. If that, is the case why the foreigners are being raped in Goa, Himachal and Rajasthan.
Its time to look in the mirror and realize ourselves before pointing a finger to others. Remember, when you point a finger, the other four fingers points towards yourselves.
Its justified to protest against the crimes towards Indians, but at the same time we should change ourselves and set an example to others.
I am leaving some pictures taken from net, to keep thinking on the attacks,protest and the harmony we need.
Don’t Kick off Guys, Embrace people!
Amit

Beautiful Sensuous and Mysterious - Istanbul

After a long long time , I am writing a travel diary which I always loved the most. This time, its about Istanbul trip which I made on behalf of my company trip.
Istanbul, a city unique in itself as it lies both in Asia and Europe. I have recently been to this city and got a chance to feel the pulse of Istanbul. Istanbul is a city similar to our Mumbai, economically important with a population of 1.3 million, the highest in Turkey.
Like as usual, my way of writing travel diary is not much about discussing the history or art of city, but more about the life style of people and the thrills the city offers in terms of living there.
The city is beautiful with tulips grown on both sides of the roads; multiple colors and even you can see Istanbul flag made of red Tulips on the road. Needless, to say I felt in love with tulips and I find them one of the most sensuous and mysterious flower. So you can already judge, my first impression about the city- Beautiful, Sensuous and Mysterious.
Istanbul is beautiful with clean roads, flowers, old palaces and mosques, trams running in between the roads, cobbled streets and yeah extremely beautiful ladies. In Istanbul, you will find people coming from eastern parts of Europe, Russia and yes the local people are also there who are extremely beautiful. I don’t remember spotting a lady who was not extremely beautiful right from my hotel reception to the streets. The population is 95% Muslim, but way of living is completely European with people dressing in jeans, shorts, skirts and tops. Also, you will see 95% of people moving on the road smoking. I need to check the data about per capita consumption of cigarettes, in Istanbul, I swear.
In terms of tourist living there , it offers a host of place to stay from star hotels like Hilton, Inter Continental, Moven Pick to shared apartments and small and cheap backpackers hotels.
I was staying in Moven Pick at levente , which is 4 station from the commercial hot spot of the city called Taksim Square. There are good public transport with metro, buses and running going across the city.Its best to travel by metro, as it saves lot of time and money also. A trip from levente to Taksim costs 1.25 Turkish lira( 1 TL = 34 Rs approx) whereas by taxi its costs 15 TL .In night the taxi charges gets 1.5 times more.
A must place to visit in Istanbul is the hamam. Hamam is an Arabic word which means a place for public bath. In Istanbul, you will find good hamas in Taksim areas, where you can rejuvenate yourself after a 7.5 hrs flight from India.Th men and ladies section are different in hamam with big Turkish guys who scrubs your complete body after you get complete sweat out for 15-20 mins on a very hot marble floor. The cleaning is really good and removes the dirt that might have accumulated on your body and you are not aware about it. Hmmm, this seems one of the reason for beautiful and clean skin these Turkish people have.
Food in Turkey is good especially for the Non vegetarians; you can get all the non veg delicacy like Kebab, grilled mutton etc. The sweets are also good especially Baklava, though it uses lot of cheese. You can always find road side cafes where some live Turkish music is being played and can see people playing chess and smoking Hukkas. Hukkas ‘s are very popular in Istanbul which still shows the footprint of Arabic culture in Istanbul.
Turkey seems to have good music and dance variety with folk dances, Belly dance and Pop and Turkish rock. Belly dancer is so common, that you will rarely find an overweight lady in Istanbul. It seems, they keep themselves fit with belly dance.
Belly dance is also something which represents the nightlife of the city. There are many clubs and discos in Taksim and Akserya areas where belly dance shows are played in night. But, many of these night clubs are also pick up joints or a place to rip off the tourist money with many hidden costs. You need to be highly cautious about any stranger or a girl approaching you. They might be employed by clubs and would like to chat with you and may ask you for a drink. The moment you buy her a drink, you fall in the trap. A drink to lady can cost as much as 150 TL or 75 Euro.
I don’t rate the nightlife in Turkey as very high, as most of the place seemed to be shady and filled with pick up ladies and pimps. These are a risky preposition in Turkey , as there have been cases of robbing the tourists.
But yes, the city does look beautiful at night, with glazing lights, many shops and restaurants open till mid night and the sensuous and mysterious aura of the city, which makes you want to explore the city more and more.
Another, salient feature of the city I liked was the roads in the residential areas. They are generally very steep and the way houses are built, it looks good. Istanbul is surrounded by camile hills , which also gives a breathtaking view of the skyline of the city.
The city is also famous for its spice Bazaar and its true also to its reputation. You see variety of spices, dry fruits, fruit tea like apple tea, pomegranate tea, variety of sea foods, fresh cheese and meat and Turkish desserts.
When these shopkeepers see an India, they try to attract them by calling the names of apna bollywood stars like Amitabh bacchan, Salman khan, Kareena kapoor. Yes, the bollywood songs and dance are indeed liked by Turkish people and they find Indian women beautiful especially their big eyes.
I want to end this diary with a revelation made during the trip, that “Amit” is a Turkish name which means very big. Good to know..Ahhahaha!!!

The "TajMahal" visit

Finally got to see The "Tajmahal" landmark of love, the white beauty , one of the wonders of the world.
everything was great, except the pic u would see , in which its written, pls dont keep your shoes here , and that is like showered by shoes and chappals..
we as citijens also need to get awake , then only blaming politicians and administration, that hindustan mein aisa hota hai..
one interesting thing - heard from a guide that Shajahan wanted to build a black Tajmahal just at the other post of Yamuna as landmark of grief, but was not built, because of some engineering constraints. dont know its true or not..
amit