The Giant's Garden

The Girl At The Party

2011-05-16T06:12:00.000-07:00

She sat right in front, so close;
We breathed the same air.
My heart was a festival,
And my mind its fair!

I couldnt speak! Or may be I did blabber? I don't remember :(

Like usual,
some gibberish illogical!

She was a fairy,
And that moment magical!

The Happy Prince.

Khushiyon ka Khazana

2011-05-16T06:09:00.000-07:00

Jee Karta hai bant du,
Duniya me khushiyon ka aisa khazana...
Ke log tab bhi muskuraye,
Jab jaa raha ho mera janaza/

The Happy Prince.

Untitled

2011-05-16T06:07:00.001-07:00

Log Mandir jaate hai,
Waha mannat milne ki aas hai.
Mai shamshaan jata hu,
Waha mangne ki fizuliyat ka ehsaas hai.

The Happy Prince.

Makbara

2011-05-16T06:06:00.000-07:00

Bichhadne ke baad bhi,
Yaad mujhe zara rakhna.
USke liye Taj Mahal banvana,
Paas mera bhi makbara rakhna.

The Happy Prince

Tum...

2011-05-16T06:04:00.001-07:00

Akeli shaamon me, khud se hi;
Aksar tumhari baat karta hu.
Arsa hua tumhe bhool kar;
Fir bhi tumhe yaad karta hu...

The Happy Prince.

Jannat

2011-05-16T06:02:00.000-07:00

Yeh duniya badi ajeeb hai;
Yaha har koi gareeb hai.
Jise dekho mannat mang raha hai;
Khuda bhi sabko kaise dede, jab har koi jannat mang raha hai?

The Happy Prince.

You Are Mine...

2011-05-16T06:00:00.000-07:00

An evening, Kenny G, dinner and wine;
Let your eyes say, you are mine.

Away from the rat race, cold weather, chilly wind;
Wind on my face, clear mind.
Come close to me, let our breathes rhyme;
Let silences say, you are mine.

Lets sit over coffee and discuss the world.
Between wisdon and senility, there is a line;
Lets erase it!
Let your insanity say, you are mine.

The Happy Prince...

2011-01-14T03:26:00.001-08:00

It has been my habit for long,
I just don't quit, I hold on;
The winds have changed, the tide is gone;
Time to let go, to move on...

2011-01-04T03:31:00.000-08:00

Love for me still is holding a bunch of roses,
And going down on one knee.
Love for me still is you laughing,
And jocular me.
It is quietly and discreetly holding ur hand while on a walk and looking in ur eyes,
Love for me still is a promise of being honest and never telling a lies.
Love for me still means watching u as u sleep,
it still means to me to ensure that u never ever weep.
My idea of it still is pure sparkling water of a cold mountain spring.
To me it is still as simple and as innocent as a baby smiling.

The Happy Prince

2011-01-04T03:26:00.000-08:00

Dont be so engrossed in realities that u forget to dream.
Dont be so much whiskey, women n tobacco that u forget candy, balloons n ice cream.

As u grow older u'll certainly find this world is full of goons.
But so dont stop laughing on tom n jerry n other cartoons.

People will always say, this is just how the world is, swim or drown.
But its neither about accepting nor changing it, its about creating a small one of ur own.

The Happy Prince

2010-12-30T23:59:00.000-08:00

I am a poet,
But till i met u, i didn't even know it.
Till i met u, i thought "i love u" was the only way of saying "i love u".
But now i know, those words just aren't enough, they're so so few.
How do i say?,u sooth me like a starry sky on a hot sunny day?,
or how warm the cold nights become when beside me u lay?,
how do i say? There just isnt one apt way!,
i promise, i will devote my whole life, every single day,
to say i love u to u in a different new way...

Sometimes i will irritate u to the core, just to see ur angry eyes,
Sometimes, just to make u feel better, i will say something nice.
I will never never never let u feel u're all lone,
i will always tell u its u who makes my place a home.
I will fight with u coz i cant think of anything better to do,
and when u're angry enough, i will go on my knees to and say i love u.
Sometimes i will lose an argument, just coz its so satisfying to see u win,
every night when u come back home, i will ask u how ur day has been.
And on days u want to blabber,i will listen to u n shut my chatter.
And when u're sad and dont want to talk about it,
i'll try to make u laugh, discuss something more fun and forget it.
Of course there'll be times when all wont be well,
but u need to know, i believe in happy endings, i believe in fairytales.

2010-07-31T22:53:00.000-07:00

I don't want to be imprisoned in my own time,
I want my words to be a timeless chime.
I know am not wiser or better than others,
But it is that I know this, that matters!
I will learn what comes my way,
I will wake up every morning, to a new day..

THP

2010-07-18T21:47:00.001-07:00

Don't know who'll believe in me,
But a part of her will always live in me.
A part of me will always act like she wanted,
It'll never forget the pleasures her company granted.

When I'll see someone enjoying getting drenched in rain,
I remember her again.
Somewhere deep I'll be a little moist and hazy,
When someone cute acts adorably crazy.

Time will pass, wounds will heal..
But when I look behind,
There will always be these memories to remind...

2010-07-03T05:11:00.001-07:00

Maine zindagi ko dhoonda
Parvaton ke shikharon par, aasman ki unchayiyon me;
Athaang sagar par, hawaon ki raftaar me…

Tumse mila to jana,
Zindagi to hai khilkhilati hasi me;
Bheegi baarishon me, apno ke pyaar me…

2010-07-03T05:09:00.001-07:00

Maine puchha phool se,
Tum hamesha hi muskurate ho, raaz kya hai?
Usne kaha, mai to hamesha se hi muskura raha hu,
Tum aaj puchh rahe ho, batao baat kya hai?

You're an Indian

2010-07-03T05:05:00.001-07:00

I enter a bar with my cousin to have a drink. The barman has put on a football game on all the TVs. Not that I don’t enjoy football but still, I wonder why would anyone put on a football game when IPL is on? So what if it’s the bottom of the table game today?

Right across me sits a babe. She’s nothing if not a sex bomb. She’s not even wearing much clothes. Which guy wouldn’t stare at her? And she’s even sucking at the butt. Yet, I choose not to look at her anymore. She’s sucking at the butt of a cigarette.

I choose to look at the other one sitting on a table to my right. She’s fully clothed. Yet she looks sensual. She’s merely accompanying her boyfriend there who’s enjoying a beer. When the waiter takes her orders she says, “A coke and a chicken tikka…”. Now, I like her even more. This is the ideal girl you would want to be with. So what if she’s not as sexy as the other one?

Later that evening, I go to an Italian restaurant for dinner. Its nothing if not ambrosia. How can a truly satisfying meal end without a paan? The moment I come out, I order a “KalKatta Meetha” at the nearest paan shop.

It’s vacation time now. I’ve been home mostly watching downloaded Hollywood flicks. Master pieces all of them. Examples of excellence in cinema. No doubt. Yet, I miss watching a “Shahrukh-KJo, larger than life, love means everything” drama sprinkled with spiced songs here and there.

I don’t believe in Nationalism. I am not patriotic at all. Yet, these are the times you realize- You’re an Indian. 

2010-07-03T05:04:00.001-07:00

Toofani barish, Imli khatti or kacche aam;
Sard subah, khubsurat raat or akeli shaam…

Man ka saccha par behudd shararti baccha;
Or uski soch pagal…
Dur daraj me behta saaf thanda paani;
Shor machata taral…

Kahi ki raani koi;
Or woh log jo rakhte uska hukm sar-ankhon par…

Yaad tumhari dilate hai,
Kab hsogi phir se mujh pe? Kab baat karogi?
Pucch pucch kar satate hai…

2010-07-03T05:03:00.001-07:00

It’s a weird time,

The heart does chime

But poems don’t rhyme…

Words come from Bare Act’s definitions

No emotions, no passion…

Interesting stories are heard as mere “facts”

Everyone around tells you,

“Learn to use them, learn the “tact”…”

Don’t trust anyone, take precaution

People dupe, people are not human.

This is a jungle, people are demons…

Think with reason, think logical

Life is sad

Nothing beautiful, miraculous or magical…

Rules, papers, black and white

People, cases, arguments and fights…

Miss Sharvaree, miss FC,

And miss being just a student

Rub my shoulders with serene faced, grey-haired oldies now

And hope they’ll call me “prudent…”

Time-tables are replaced by cause lists and boards

And I get dates every day but not one of them with a girl,

And every day is a roller-coaster with a twist and a twirl…

It’s a weird time,

The heart does chime

But poems don’t rhyme…

Think with reason, think logical

Life is sad

Nothing beautiful, miraculous or magical…

While Stepping into a Law School… Part II

2010-06-11T11:22:00.001-07:00

What are the skills required to a lawyer? From whatever little I have seen of the profession, I can divide the skills into 3 different types of skills-Skills that can be developed while at the law school, personality traits or office skills and court room skills.

Law School Skills

I have just spoken of the number of laws and how it is impossible to know them and how lawyers are required to know ‘where’ to find the law and ‘what to make’ of it above. This is a primary skill officially called ‘Research’ and ‘Analysis’.

Learning ‘Research’ is fairly easy. All you have to know is how to use several databases to extract information relevant to your cause. It includes books, internet, computer based databases, Law Journals and sometimes, when you are looking for a little expert information, the databases relating to such information. For example, if you are working on a case involving, let us say, surrogacy, you need to know the medical aspects of surrogacy as well.

Learning ‘Analysis’ is a life long process. Honestly, most educated minds are doing analysis at a subconscious level all the time. For example, when you decide to buy a certain model of a scooter averaging 50 kpl for 50,000 rupees over a cheaper model costing 35,000 rupees but averaging only 40kpl, you have processed the information to reach a conclusion that spending more right now makes more sense because by buying a scooter that mileages more, you are actually saving more money in the long run. Here, the prices and the mileages of the scooters are mere information. Your conclusion is your analysis.

Again, this fact situation is fairly simple involving mere facts. When you have to process facts along with several esoteric rules to reach a conclusion, the process becomes fairly difficult. Most judgments are conclusions reached after taking into consideration these facts along with the esoteric rules. That is why I strongly recommend reading real texts of judgments and the text books written using the Case Book Method.

It is needless to mention that it is this skill that will help you all your life in no matter what you decide to do after taking your law degree. You need to analyze while making every important conscious decision of your life.

Office Skills

Though I have labeled these as office skills, I do strongly think, that one may begin to develop them while at the law school itself. When you start working, you need only to sharpen them.

‘Trust’

Let us say you are suffering from a serious ailment which requires going under the scalpel. The operation is likely even to cause your death if anything goes wrong. Would you entrust your life into the hands of someone who passed out from a Medical School yesterday? Unless, you are insane, your answer will be a firm and a certain no. But you certainly will entrust it into the hands of someone who has done several such operations, won’t you?

The business of a lawyer is very similar to that of a doctor. It is serious. You’re dealing with the lives and hard earned money of other people. It is very necessary therefore to ‘win the their trust’. The way you talk to people, the way you interact with them, you should seem authoritative, yet friendly and approachable. You should look like and be someone people around you like will trust for your word.

Developing this persona is a skill. Everyone ends up finding different ways to develop it. I suggest talking to diverse groups of people on any subject under the sun. I say ‘any subject under the sun’ because it brings in a sort of humility in a person- because then you know, you don’t know much and yet while you remain confident of your ability to express your thoughts, you end up having ‘respect’ for thoughts you disagree with and subjects you know nothing of. You may also end up knowing a lot about things you know nothing of. This was the sort of exposure LST was able to give me. What you should be happy about is that most law schools are filled with diverse people from all over India and doing this is fairly easy.

While Stepping into a Law School… Part I

2010-06-11T11:08:00.001-07:00

The other day a friend suggested why I don’t write about my experiences at the law school now that I am almost a lawyer. I don’t know how much I know because I have seen people who know much, much more. The way I see it, I’m absolutely incompetent for the task. But on second thoughts, when I compare myself to what I knew as a person interested in law and as person who possesses a law degree, I do know of certain insights in the profession which I may share with everyone interested.

First myth is that ‘lawyers know the law’. Let us just do some Math. There are over 33, 00, 000 statutes in India, add to these the innumerable customs and traditions of different places applicable as law to those places, the multitude General Resolutions of the Government, the various Notifications, the rules under all these enactments plus the judgments passed every day by courts all over the world from all common law countries and treaties and conventions the nations have entered into etc. In short, it is impossible for anyone to know the law. No lawyer ‘knows’ the law.

What do lawyers do then? They are simply required to know how to ‘find’ the law applicable and then when all applicable laws are found and understood, making out what do ‘they mean’. The task is not as simple as it sounds because most of the times more than one law are applicable to a particular fact situation. They are often vague, ambiguous, contradictory, written in a language difficult to understand etc. While advising a client you have to take into consideration the ‘combined effect’ of all these laws put together along with the ‘client specific’ or the ‘case specific’ concerns. Point being becoming lawyer is not rote learning, it is learning a thought a process- learning ‘how to think.’

How does one learn this thought process? I did not go to a premiere law school. I do not know what are the methods used by the professors or teachers there to imbibe these skills in their students. Personally however, I would strongly recommend reading real texts of as many judgments as possible. I would strongly recommend reading textbooks written using the Case-Book Method and books of Lord Denning. Over a period of time, you will realize that ‘law’ is not an abstract concept which can stand independently on its own. It is a philosophy developed over ages which, just like poems, means different things to different people at different times. Just that laws, unlike poems, do not always rhyme.

To give an example of what I mean let us take the case of two baby siblings who want to share equally one bar of chocolate someone has given them. It is most likely that they will take the bar to their mother and trust her to break it into two equal pieces for them. The mother will then break the bar into two pieces and hand them a piece each.

Here, in spite of the fact that neither the siblings, nor the mother know a zilch about law the facts to be noted from a lawyer’s perspective are the sense the siblings have that ‘justice needs to be done’, that ‘it has to be done by someone impartial’ and finally the fact that ‘mother does justice.’ Point simply being, that no matter what we all do, we all have an inherent notion of what is ‘just’ and ‘fair’ irrespective of whether we know the law.

The fact situation I have created above is fairly simple. In real life, the situations are much more complicated and stakes much higher than a chocolate bar.

The study of ‘law’ therefore is both, the study of this ‘notion’ and an ‘activity’ which will enable us to develop over time our own ‘notion’ suitable to the needs of the present society. The more you study, the more you develop your ‘notion’ and that is precisely why older lawyers charge much, much more than younger lawyers.

Tumhari Bohot Yaad Aati Hai...

2010-03-11T12:36:00.000-08:00

Kuch thandi hawa ke jhonko me,
Tumhari khushboo aati hai;
Tanhai me, sannate me kabhi,
Tumhari hasi khilkhilati hai;
Ankhen band kar lu to,
Tumhari hasti hui chhavi nazar aati hai;

Sach-me, tumhari bohot yaad aati hai.....

Sapno Se Darr..

2010-03-05T10:01:00.000-08:00

Aaj kal mujh par ek ajeeb sa jwar chadne laga hai,
Apne hi sapno se mujhe darr lagne laga hai…

Dosti ke bandhan ab chhootne-se lage hai,
Na jaane kyu, sab dost ek dusre se ruthne-se lage hai…

Duniya ka sach or jhuth dikhne-sa laga hai,
Apne aap se mera vishwas uthne-sa laga hai…

Maine khudko kabhi hara hua nahi samjha,
Magar jeet ka shikhar ab aur ooncha lagne laga hai…

Apne hi sapno se mujhe darr lagne laga hai…

Names

2010-01-18T06:50:00.000-08:00

Sometimes it’s extremely funny what names around you are.

Out side the GTB Station you’ll find a shop with the name plate “Maai Shoppee” written in devnagari on it. The shopkeeper probably wanted to name it “My Shoppee” in English but that’s a little dicey when you’re in Mr. Raj’s raj. So “Maai Shopee” now means “Mother Shop”, literally interpreted- a shop where you can buy mothers! I’m glad my mother rarely has to go to the GTB station. She usually travels only in cars and buses but the moment she comes to know of it, she’ll put herself up for sale over there. She desperately wants a different son!

One of my neighbors is Mr. Bias. He’s a judge.

The Hanuman temple on the hill around which my college is situated is called Pensioner Hanuman Mandir. I had an honest belief that lord Rama paid some kind of pension to the Hanuman in that Mandir for the devoted life long service that Hanuman did to him. However, one day I was told the name comes from the fact the all the pensioners in the city go to that temple for their morning walks! What a pity! So even after life long devoted service not even one Hanuman gets any pension! He should meet my friend Akshay. Akshay’s good with labour law.

All, and I mean almost all, photocopy shops are always named “Jalaram”, all raddi depots are always “Mahavir” raddi depots and all jeweler shops are always “Nakoda” jewelers. In fact, I’m so used to them that once I tried selling my raddi to a Mahavir Dairy because after reading Mahavir on the name plate I didn’t really care what else he’d written ahead! Finally, one day I asked one of the “Jalaram Xerox” owners why did they not name their shops after something else. He said Jalaram was their god and they believed in him for their business. I didn’t say anything to him but dude, I had no clue they had representative democracy with each god heading a trade union of a particular business in the heaven up there. I used to think all profit hungry people always worshipped Lakshmi, probably the finance minister.

My cousin, an MBA from Australia, is very annoyed that businessmen in India don’t really know how to ‘build brands’ or market themselves. Like in spite of being well known Jalaram, Nakoda, Mahavir etc. are still not brands, similarly, you find people naming their enterprises after weird things. Like one of the really famous (note: famous, not necessarily one of the better ones) builders in Pune, Mumbai and Nashik area- Haware Builders. Haware in Marathi means “Greedy”. Being greedy is a quality to be taken for granted amongst builders. Why would any builder want to particularly emphasize on it? But they do! Is it a wonder that they’re not one of the “better” builders then?

Then there are those parents give their sons and daughters the weirdest possible names. One of our peons named his son “Sangharsh”, meaning-a really bad fight. I don’t know if the baby was born after he had a fight with his wife or what, but dude, give the kid a break! You don’t need to haunt him with the thought that he was born out of a fight for the rest of his life! Or people who name their kids “Chhagan” or “Dhondu” or “Patang” for instance. Chhagan means waste, Dhondu means “resembling a stone” and Patang means the paper kite kids fly at the time of makar sankranti! Then there are those Mahabharat obsessed people who fill our country with Duryodhanas, Bheeshmas and Devakis. Guys! Duryodhana was the villain! Bheeshma never got the love of his mom and dad together, had a step mom of his own age and he promised her he wouldn’t marry and let her kids take over the kingdom after his dad. So in spite of being the oldest son, never got to be the king! Devaki spent half of her life incarcerated by her own brother who killed 7 of her children and even though the 8^th one did turn out to be Krishna, she didn’t get to bring him up!! Point being, the poor guys were unfortunate! Why would you call your kid any of these? But people do!

Then there are those names synonymous with regions and eras. Aishwarya for instance. To me at least, it’s a synonym for “south Indian girl”. I have 6 Aishwaryas on my phone book and except for one, all are south Indians! And beat this, coz it’s almost impossible to figure out which Aishwarya one is talking about, my friends add the name of the city as a suffix to the name. So the names now are like Aishwarya Cochin, Aishwarya Chennai, Aishwarya Lucknow, Aishwarya Jodhpur and Aishwarya Pune etc. Sounds like Aishwarya Tours & Travel Company’s menu to me! Or take Sachin or Sakshi for instance. All Sachins of Sachin Tendulkar’s age were named after the famous composer Sachin Dev Burman and all Sachins of my age are named after Sachin Tendulkar. So if someone on the phone says “I’m Sachin.” You can easily guess his age! He is in his Mid 20s or late 30s as of today. The name Sakshi became a rage after “Kahani Ghar Ghar Ki” released. So all Sakshis are between the ages of 8 and 10.

I even read in the paper once that this guy from the

named his son Reebok because he himself loves Reebok shoes so much! I wont be surprised even if he sells him later claiming to be the factory outlet!

I’ll tell you what, meet William Shakespeare in the heaven (or hell, as the case may be) when you’re dead and quote William Wordsworth to him: “What’s in the name?” and see the expression on his face! Point is simply this: There is A LOT in the name! So before you name, think!

In The Cauldron Of A Legal Wizard

2009-12-25T07:55:00.000-08:00

(My experiences as an internee with Dr. Justice D.Y. Chandrachud)

On a breezy winter morning, listening to a pure British accent of a student from Cambridge in a mid-nineteenth century gothic stone building, with men dressed in long black robes around me, I felt as if I was in the magical world of Harry Potter. What I was witnessing every day was no less than magic either, just that words were being used instead of Wands and Acts, Rules and Sections were being cast instead of spells.

While you must have guessed I was at the High Court of Bombay, you must also be wondering how the British student from Cambridge fits the picture. Well, let me put it this way, internees under Dr. Justice D.Y. Chandrachud^* come from all over the world, including our very own DES Law College (Yes, the world really is that small!). In fact, I was introduced to a very pretty young Australian girl just a day before she was to leave and told I was her replacement. I am a single young man. I don’t think I need to write about my disappointment. Probably an article about my broken heart would have helped me much more in recuperating but there’d be nothing interesting or new about it. Colleges and law colleges in particular, are built on the foundations of broken hearts because women don’t really like young lawyers. At least in India, they’re too poor. I must write about something else if I ever want to get an article published. Honestly, if you go there you’ll just fall for some cute foreigner and get your heart broken but since I find my name on a published sheet of paper almost as attractive as that Australian girl, I’m writing about how I got there, what I did there and how it felt.

It all started in an online chat on gtalk when my friend Niharika studying in NLSIU Bangalore said she was doing an internship with Sir. Sir’s name rings so many bells in people’s ears that usually it is needless to mention that he topped through out his academic career including his law course from the University of Delhi, did his LLM and SJD both from Harvard, was the youngest person ever to be designated as a Senior Advocate, was the youngest person ever to be appointed as the Judge of the High Court of Bombay or is the son of the longest serving Chief Justice of India and is also known as a thorough gentleman and a gem of a person. I didn’t know he accepted internees until then. Naturally, I was excited about the idea of seeing this man at work. I mean how can the same man have so many feathers in his cap? Wouldn’t the cap just tear with all the holes the feathers would make?!

Anyway, so when I asked about the procedure for application she said because she was from NLSIU her application was processed within 2 days but she knew of a girl from GLC who had had to personally keep visiting the concerned people for over 3 months to finally get through. I have never understood if we could have stalwarts like Sir himself without National Law Schools there’s no reason why he would vouch for them over any other college. In my opinion students are of two types: interested and disinterested. And there’s no reason why someone who’s interested should be denied a fair chance to prove his caliber merely because he does not come from a particular college.

As luck would have it, Sir’s visit to our college was announced the very next week. He was to visit at the end of the month. At the student interaction I put my point across to Sir and guess what, not only did he accept he did not have any personal preference towards the National Law Schools, both of his sons in fact went to GLC, he personally went on to tell the gathering of the procedure to apply for an internship with him.

Don’t get over excited here! It wasn’t as simple as he made us believe. While trying to follow it I found myself standing outside the office of the Registrar (Personnel) for over 3 hours before he finally saw me. I had to visit two more times to finally know which exactly was the “clerk” I was to submit my documents to and then regret the fact that I addressed him as “clerk” in front of him because he actually was the Assistant Registrar! About 23 days later I got a letter allowing my application to work as an internee for the period I had asked. Now before you jump to the conclusion that I had to do this because I was from DES and Niharika’s application was processed within 2 days because she was from NLS, let me make it clear that Niharika had applied on Sir’s personal email id which, by the way, I now have too. It goes only to cute girls who don’t break my heart though. (:P) I still maintain there is no bias.

So now we come to the core question. What did I learn with Sir? Well, I believe what I learned can mainly be divided into four categories, legal or jurisprudential, personal, human and professional. Let me enunciate each of them one by one.

Jurisprudentially, Sir gives you an access to all the papers of his Court and I mean all which one may possibly require to decide a case. It’s as if we’re his babies, his chamber or Court is our play school and his papers, our toys. You can touch anything, read anything as long as you don’t touch administrative files and his personal papers. After reading the Court briefs of both the sides (which under normal circumstances no one except the judge has an access to) Sir expects you to prepare a Researched Note on the case which shouldn’t just be properly formatted but must also have a your own decision of the case in the form of “Conclusion”. Many times when Sir doesn’t have the time to read the entire brief, he depends on the Researched Notes of his internees. And let me tell you something cool, if he’s impressed with your note, parts of it are copy pasted in his judgment! I can’t describe how it feels to know that the words you wrote are a part of the law of the State of MaharashtraJ. Then Sir expects you to be present at the time the matter you have prepared a Researched Note on is argued and read his draft judgments in the matter later. Reading his orders in the matter is usually a “paradigm shift” experience even when you’ve read almost everything you can on a certain matter. Not because his conclusion differs from yours, it almost never does but because while reaching the same conclusion or roughly the same conclusion Sir’s judgments consider several aspects more than the ones one can think of or has thought of while making that note. To put the things in perspective, in a certain case I had worked on, I had considered about 7 aspects, Sir had considered almost 15 to 17. There are also those rare occasions when you might just get a moment to discuss one of his judgments with him. At such moments your “paradigm shift” changes into an “Aha!” experience because that discloses how many more aspects Sir had considered before deciding to put only few in his judgment. These activities, naturally, develop in you a faculty of understanding arguments, conciliating them and a brain that understands logical structures along with the possible conclusions those structures may lead you to. More importantly however, it teaches you that being a lawyer is not about knowing what the law is or where it is written but about making and interpreting law to fit the peculiar facts and circumstances of each case even when it isn’t expressly written so. To convey the point in short, Sir teaches you that cases are full of possibilities. Don’t ever think you know everything about a case. As I shall enunciate in the “personal” aspects of my experiences with Sir, even Sir himself doesn’t think he knows everything about a case.

Personally, Sir thoroughly enjoys his work. I’ve seen a smile of great satisfaction on his face whenever he hears two or more equally persuasive but contesting arguments. It is needless to mention he works hard. He’s usually read every paper of every brief in and out before he sits for its final hearing. Even then when he allots work to his internees, he’ll never say he knows everything, instead he’ll put his point across this way, “See what you find, if you find anything other than what I’ve written in my order let me know.” Or he’ll call you in his chamber if there’s a question of law he finds particularly interesting and say excitedly but very sweetly, “See what you find on this. Counsels Mr. X and Mr. Y argued this rather well.” At times his Court hours even begin as early as 9 am and end at 7 or 7:30 pm even though the official Court hours are only 11:00 am to 5:00 pm. Don’t think he’s free after 7:00 either, he takes home the drafts of all the judgments he’s dictated during the day. Even then, you’ll never see him angry or irritated no matter how long his day gets. He’ll still smile, crack jokes in the open Court room and totally kill your image of a judge if you expect a judge to be a boring oldie with grey hair and a serene face. Once a lady was arguing on her Housing Society not letting her put up a TV antenna on the top of her building. The argument went on for a while but the lady wouldn’t come to the point, neither was she ready to take help of an Advocate. Finally, Sir jokingly said “Antennas will pop out of my head if you don’t come to the point now!” I was also a witness to an incident when he stopped Senior Counsel Mr. Seervai in the middle of the argument to ask him the latest score in the on going test match between India and Sri Lanka and then expressed his disappointment on Sehwag not reaching his triple century and Sreesanth not being in great form.

From the human aspect, Sir will teach you to be an awesome human being. His private secretary’s wife wasn’t well once. She had to be taken to Hyderabad for treatment. When Sir learned of this, he called the secretary inside his chamber and said “Don’t hesitate to call me even at 2 am in the morning for anything that you may need. I can make any arrangement in any hospital for you within half an hour. You need not even worry about the expenses. They won’t charge much if I ask them not to.”

When a matter was called out once, the poor lady arguing about the antenna above appeared in person. Naturally, she didn’t know the procedural or legal aspects of her case. All she knew was that her Society wasn’t letting her put a TV antenna on top of her building. Any other judge would’ve given up, but Sir patiently listened to her for over 2 hours because he did not want injustice done to her merely because she was appearing in person. 2 hours later, after understanding the lady’s case he passed an order in her favour. THAT is Sir’s commitment to Justice.

Finally, think of this. When Sir was appointed as Judge of the High Court of Bombay in 1998, it is said, he’d paid Rs.2.5 crores as Income Tax. (Note that it was not his income. It was merely the tax he’d paid on his income.) This man could’ve earned a fortune as a Senior Counsel, thousands of times more money than the Lakh rupees per month he gets as a Judge. Yet he chose to be a Judge. And not just any Judge, an honest Judge who works very hard because he believes in the cause of justice. Being a Judge is not easy. You’ve to literally isolate yourself, give up almost all the lawyer friends you ever made in 20 odd years of practice and become a center of attention of the lawyer fraternity. Everyone is sitting there paying attention to everything you do from the most un-noticeable of your habits such has how fast or how often you have tea to where you go for your walk, what you eat and what you like. While you may believe in anything you want, in my opinion good honest judges are saints. I don’t just respect them, I worship them. The word “My Lord” has very rightly been coined. The theme for our magazine this year is “Unsung Heroes” and I sincerely think Judges fit the category.

Before I go on with my experiences from the professional aspect, it is necessary to tell all the beautiful young ladies wanting to go out with me in return for Sir’s personal email id that though I am just 22, I look a little older. While having a cup of coffee at the coffee place in the High Court people often mistook me to be an Advocate. Apart from learning the grievances of general clients, it also taught me how to behave with my black coat on.

First myth is that one doesn’t get cases initially. Just standing outside the High Court will get you loads and loads of poor clients in need of an Advocate. The most common grievance made by most clients is that their Advocate is bought out by the opposite party. So when you go out there with your black coat, the best thing you could do is to remain loyal to your client. That itself is half of the battle won. While it may not pay much initially, it will certainly guarantee you quite some client base and help you create your face value.

Listen to your client patiently, let him say all he wants to and when he finishes say all you have to. (In my case all I had to say this time was that I wasn’t an Advocate!)

Always give away your seat to an Advocate senior to you if you see him standing. Never even think of paying for your food if you happen to have it with an Advocate senior to you. It’s a custom at the bar that the senior is to pay for the junior if they happen to sit at the same table. Even taking out your wallet before him is considered impolite. Always put across your point in the most polite and sincere manner that one possibly can etc.

There are many other skills which will go a long way in making you a good Advocate, having strong legs and an athletic body with good health for instance. Believe me, as a young lawyer, you’re going to have to do a lot of running around in the Court for your senior. And when I say “running around” I mean it literally, not metaphorically!

Lastly but most importantly, observe various styles in which senior counsels argue and then develop your own. In my case I learned the following from the following counsels:

From Navroz H. Seervai, Senior Advocate- dramatize facts. Be a good story teller. It helps judges remember facts more clearly and helps you put forth your argument forcefully.

From S.P. Chinoy, Senior Advocate- Concentrate on pronunciations. Develop a high volumed but low pitched voice. Be precise and to the point.

From Rafiq Dada, Senior Advocate- Be a fluffy sugar candy with clean finger nails. Make judges fall in love with you and melt in their mouth with the way you behave, appear and talk.

From Virag Tulzapurkar, Senior Advocate- Be short, simple and to the point. Don’t waste time.

And lastly, from Janak Dwarkadas, Senior Advocate- Sometimes being monotonous, putting judges to sleep with the tone of your voice or creating an unintelligible maze before judges is necessary when you don’t really have a case.

To conclude, loving what you do and enjoying it, hard work, honesty, belief in the cause of your work, being a great human being and hope that you will be able to change the world are the ingredients of the potion that creates legal wizards who make law.

So again, when I ask myself, what I learned at this internship, I get my answer in one of the dialogues from the movie “Philadelphia”. Co-incidentally, they’re also very good words to conclude:

“What do you like about law?”

“That every once in a while you get to be a part of the process of justice being made.”

I’m grateful I got to be that part.

My Fairy

2009-10-14T22:51:00.001-07:00

I met a fairy once
And hoped we’d have tale
We did have it,
Listen as I tell…

I cut my heart in pieces for her
And kept them on a platter
And she kept saying
“They’re sweet Prince, but we’ll talk of it later.”

Near where we met, there was a bog
And in that bog there was a frog
It so happened that she kissed it once
And Lo! It turned into a Prince

I visit that bog often,
Where a frog turned out to be that Fairy’s Prince
It turns my heart into a bog
And I write poems to reminisce…

The Happy Prince

How Does it Happen?

2009-06-22T05:27:00.000-07:00

Not a letter spoken

But all said and done

How does it happen?

MOTHER AND BABY

It just exists

And yet She knows

Its highs and lows

Wheres, Whys and Hows

Its like, it was always known

When it requires

A hug, a smile, a touch

Or just a frown

Not a letter spoken

But all said and done

How does it happen?

SIBLINGS

Parents are taking their case

They just glance and smile

Time to quit their race

They’re playing win-win…

Not a letter spoken

But all said and done

How does it happen?

BROKEN HEARTS

Discomfort between them

Questions unasked

Reasons unanswered

Yet they know,

When life bugs

They’ll be there

For solace, help

or just a hug

Not a letter spoken

But all said and done

How does it happen?

ON THE ROAD

I’m driving on crossroads

And he comes in speed

I slow down, to pay him heed

He slows further, asks me to proceed…

Not a letter spoken

But all said and done

How does it happen?

The Happy Prince

Life is Short, Just a Mile!

2009-06-22T05:22:00.000-07:00

Life is short, just a mile

Life is a joke, just smile!

Sometimes you put your heart in

And yet, you lose…

Forget it, put your hair down

Footloose!

Sometimes you do nothing

And victory walks your way

Accept it with grace

Dance to the tune, just sway!

Sometimes your heart beats vehemently for Her

And one day She comes alone with you, says “I like your friend”

Just smile and make way for them

There’s one for everyone they say, this is not the end!

Sometimes She’s just another friend to you

And then one day She says, “I love you”

Just Hug her and say, “Thanks but I don’t think I am the one”

“You deserve someone cooler, someone more fun!”

Some of these moments may seem quakes today

They may seem to burry your dreams

But remember, quakes and burials create diamonds

For small twists and turns, don’t stop your streams!

Years later when you’ll look around

These moments will create a laughing sound

Most of the times, there’s little you can do

Perform your duties at best, live fundoo!

Life is short, just a mile

Life is a joke, just smile!

The Happy Prince.

A Poem

2009-06-22T05:19:00.000-07:00

A poem is not merely a rhyming line
For a moment, it makes me yours
And you, mine..

It doesn’t just state “me”
Or that “I can express”;
It says “Listen to me, I can’t suppress”

It isn’t just a statement
Or a list of emotions
It’s a feeling…
To be felt and summoned…

It’s not my reflection
Or me
It has its life in different forms…
For thou and for thee..

It’s special every time you read it
It’s just for you and just for me
For those who don’t relate to it,
Its sheer cacophony!

A poem is not merely a rhyming line
For a moment it makes me yours
And you, mine..

The Happy Prince

Death

2009-06-22T05:17:00.001-07:00

You think you matter?

I give you a dare!

Picture yourself dead

Think how many will care!

What will be the things said?

How long will they go?

How many will smile?

How many will woe?

I tell you, all will gather

The worst off will be your mother

Two or three will cry

Rest of them will come for your father

He is the one who needs consolation

How else will they get their promotion?

People will say

“He was a nice boy.

What was his name?”

This is the truth, its not lame!

And the people you call your friends!

They will call or visit to keep their shame.

“Oh! We sat with him in the class

And all that time pass!

He was so boring, wrote poems and all!

Off our backs! Once and for all!

And the women he irritated!

I swear, for this moment they waited!”

And they will go about their daily business

Telling people about your room and its mess

The long hair you kept

And sometimes your room unswept.

No one will talk of your dreams unfulfilled

No one will care it was natural or you were killed

After your father, no one will take care of your mother

Trust me, no one will bother!

Welcome to reality and it’s a jungle here,

Except by will, no one is bound

Whether you exist or not

The world goes round!

Take care of yourself and people who love you

The days of your life and such people

Both are few!

The Happy Prince

Legacy

2009-06-22T05:13:00.001-07:00

A man is what he thinks.
His word is a record of his thought.
A record is a memory.
Memories can be passed on.
What is passed on is a legacy.

My words are who I am.
My words are my legacy.

The Happy Prince

Some...

2009-06-22T05:06:00.000-07:00

Some emotions are beyond words
Some skies are beyond birds…

Sometimes we must just lie down and feel the sky’s vastness,
Sometimes we must just feel each other’s presence, in silence…

Some defeats are more precious than big wins,
Some sorrows are dearer than joyous times…

First small shaky steps are more difficult than final confident but dangerous strides,
Scary roller coasters are safer than real life’s rides…
Some realities are better as dreams,
Some silent, dark, deep, mysterious wells give more peace than fresh, clear, melodious but noisy streams…

Sometimes you love straight roads, you don’t want them to end or bend,
There are some poems you just don’t want to end…

The Happy Prince

The Prayer

2008-12-28T06:58:00.000-08:00

Nobody like me was ever born.
Nobody like me will be born.
I am the finest.
I am the Best.
I am the past.
The future.
I am the Beginning.
I am the End.
Who care's what they think!
I truly believe...

I AM THE LEGEND!

Success Revisited

2008-12-06T09:38:00.000-08:00

There was a time I dreamed of an expensive royal car, a posh large comfortable house and all such imaginable luxuries. That was the time I used to think all those were the things men worked and lived for. An important part of the meaning of success for me was to be able to afford the best and the most expensive.

These days I wake up in the bathroom. I mean I sleep on the bed but the moment I wake up, even before I open my eyes, I am in the bathroom, fishing for my brush with one hand, fishing for the geyser's switch with the other and at the same time trying to protect my eyes from the early morning glare. There are times you find yourself brushing your teeth sitting on the pot. Needless to say I do all this because there isn't enough time to do this all at their own pace. I wake up at 8.30 and I have to be in the office by 9.15!

I believe and consider myself to be one of the privileged few in this world because I love my work. In fact, at times, I feel sad at the end of the day because I have to quit something really interesting I am doing and return home and I badly wish, may be I could get to the bottom of this before returning. But I can't, the peon has to shut the office :(

It is on my walk home that I have the time to look at and admire the beauty of things around me. To feel the evening breeze on my face and the twinkle of glowing golden lights in my eyes. This walk are the most cherished few minutes of my day and though I want to reach home soon, I want this walk to last as long as I can make it last and so, I drag my feet and enjoy every moment of it. Trust me, this is the time of the day when I pity people who ride cars. Poor rich people, they can never enjoy this walk.

Couples are sitting, cuddling each other. I love to see the expression on their face. How happy they look, satisfied just to be with each other. I wonder how cute and treasure-some these moments they spend with each other must be and smile at my thought. Sometimes in these couples or outside one of the 5 star restaurants I spot a made up damsel. For a moment I become jealous of her possessor and wonder whether I will also possess someone like her someday. But its only for a moment because the next moment I wonder whether spending the most treasured few minutes of my evening with a woman I hardly know in an expensive restaurant just because she is beautiful, worth it? Is that dinner, no matter how expensive, going to have the taste of the dinner my mom has made at home and is waiting to eat with me? That dinner with my mom are the only 15 odd minutes I get to spend with her, I don't think I would trade them for this.

And with these and similar thoughts, with a satisfaction of having done something worthwhile with my day I return home tired, just to spend those 15 minutes with my mom before I go sleep. Its only an internship and I am not even getting paid right now, but please answer my question, what else is success?

The Humor in Terror

2008-11-29T06:38:00.000-08:00

You are hearing continuous firing, a blast every few minutes. You're not on a battlefield. You don't live on the border between two tense nations. In fact, you're sitting in your own home which you believe is in the safest area of the financial capital of your country and the capital of your State. Whether it is the Vidhan Sabha, the Mantralaya, the Police Head Quarters of your State, the Naval Forces, any of the Courts or any other important building, it is not more than 15 minutes walking from your place. You don't know whether you will survive or how many of the final minutes in your life are left. How must a person be feeling in such a situation? What are the thoughts, emotions and reaction of such a person?

I had not spoken to my aunt heartily in years. Not because we did not meet or did not have each other's numbers but because I had stopped seeing anything in common which would bind us together anymore. Even after a lot of thought I could never think of anything all these years to talk to a 60 year old woman who spent her days taking care of her 90 year old mother in a village I had left 15 years ago. This was the woman who's told me bedside stories. She's done almost everything a mom does for her child. To me, she's my second mom. Yet, I had not spoken to her.

You call her up and you tell her that the situation is worse and that you are safe. How come you called she asks you. You tell her because that's what they show in movies these days. You're supposed to call people close to you just before dying. She's angry but she laughs at your humor. She warns not to crack such jokes after the laugh though.

Then you go to your CD Rack and try to pick up something to kill time. Unusually, a person like you who usually chooses flicks like “Sarkar” or “Johnny Gaddar” or “Gladiator” chooses movies like “Jaane Bhi Do Yaaron”, “Bhagam Bhaag” and such stupid, non-sensical comedies.

In the evening you're too bored to sit at home. You go out with your family in your car with all the windows wound up. It's about 8 in the evening. The time when this area of the city is usually flooded with people and vehicles on their way home. Today, you see there is no soul on this road. There is no car except yours. All this while you were only insecure. Now, you're scared. You know no one can possibly live like Will Smith in “I Am Legend”. For the first time in your life you feel, sense and understand the meaning of the sentence “Man is a social animal”.

The next day, you go on your job like usual. The Oval is a park reserved for walks, cricket, foot ball and leisure. Usually full of people using it for those activities at any time of the day. Today however, it has a new game and new players. Pigeons. I don't know what their game is called, all they always say is just “Gutar-Goo”.

Only 5 out of the staff of 35 has turned up to work. Half in the day, one of your colleagues receives an SMS on his phone from another colleague saying firing at a certain spot has resumed. It's a spot very close to your office. Everyone decides to go home. The moment you climb down, you see hordes of people shutting their shops. Everyone in your office's building is watching down from the balcony. An old peon says he's scared he'll die. Young people around laugh at him. “Oh c'mon Mama, you're over 70, you've lived your life. Besides the terrorists won't kill you. They'll think its a waste of bullet to kill you. You're almost dead anyway.” Everyone including the peon laughs at this humor. He sees the truth in it and makes a face showing how he'll look if he's shot dead.

One of the colleagues asks me what am I going to do. I'm the one who's going to have to cross 3 main streets minimum to reach home. I tell him I'm planning to stay in the office building itself. He says he'll accompany me half way. We decide to go.

On the road, I keep each and every of my senses awake. I know, a bullet might come and strike me from any direction, any moment. I remember each and every face I saw during that walk. I remember every single step and everything that I sensed with any of my sensory organs including the red dupatta of a girl which touched me while she passed away.

Crossing the Oval for the second time I sensed some movement behind me. Two men, well built muscles, wearing chains in the arms and the neck, usually signs of masculinity, virility and style, were holding hands. That was a grip of trust. I slowed my walk down to be in the same line with them. When they start walking by me, I realize they're laborers who earn their living by doing some job which requires their muscles every day. I just put my arm on the shoulder of one of them. Our eyes meet. We're in this together.

I am supposed to be on a diet. After reaching home safely. First thing I do is open the refrigerator and eat Ice Cream from it and then the Chocolates. Any of them could be my last. And you might think I must have been serious the entire day but funnily, I was singing all the while.

My conclusion is that Terror is good. Terror is good because it teaches Humor. May be you'll die, but let's at least die laughing. It teaches you to tell people you love that you love them the most, to die without any regrets. Its only when the death is at your doorstep, you realize how much life there is in every moment. You realise what are things you truly love doing, in my case singing. I know people can't bear my voice when I'm singing but henceforth, I won't care much. I enjoy it and I will do it as I can.

I am not scared of death. I am privileged to have survived. Privileges are not to be demanded like rights. They're to be enjoyed while they last.

A Marathi Poem says:

“Mrityu mala nyayla ala...
Me tyala mhanalo “Tula Shambhar Varsha Ayushya”
Toch Chat Padla
Mhanala, “Kay Ha Manushya?”

Crude English translation

Death came to take me away
I wished her a 100 years of life
She was surprised
She said “What kind of a man is this?”

The Anniversary!

2008-06-21T03:24:00.000-07:00

Last night my computer wasn't really processing anything. Every time I started any application software other than Explorer, it gave away like a malnourished farmer from Vidarbha. Obviously you can't do much in such a situation, particularly when the time is 2 o'clock in the morning. As a result I just opened my blog and started browsing through. I was astonished to find that the last post is almost 3 years old and that all posts together add up to about 57 or 58!

It's been three years since I blogged for the first time ever. It will be foolish of me to say that I have never re read my own works. Call me an egotist if you want to but frankly no one's work gives me more pleasure than my own. I have read and re read and enjoyed several of these pieces over time. Sometimes they have thrilled me, sometimes I have been amazed at my own thoughts some time back and wondered, "Am I really the one who wrote this? Can I really write so well?" Sometimes the sheer beauty in language has amazed me. Frankly, most of the times I myself don't believe these are my own thoughts, my own language and my own words.

The story of my Radha in "Price of Innocence" still brings tears to my eyes; When I read "The Purpose of Life" I feel like worshipping the person who has written it. Its just so beautiful! There are very few things so well thought and so well expressed as that one! There are times when I feel may be I can write one of these things better now, things like "Being Great.." which happens to be my first post ever but I always control that desire. I want to keep them as they are, untouched. The reason is somewhere I think this blog is a record of my journey, of my evolution as a person and I want to appear as confused and as purile as I was in every part of it when it was written.

When a person writes something, the words he uses and the structure of his sentences speak volumes about the state of mind that he is in. When I look at older pieces, I find they have tiresomely long sentences. In fact the entire first paragraph from "Being Great.." is one sentence! They show how confused I am and how many thoughts are dancing in my mind while writing that one sentence. It shows that the person thinks too much.

The writing is, I believe, now more evolved. The sentences are short, the ideas, though less complicated, are now more structured. I still don't believe I have learned to express them better though. In fact, sometimes I feel my account in the word bank is coming to an end. May be I must get back to my newspapers and magazines and build it once more. I am not as emotional about my ideas as I used to be. As a result, an idea is no more a passion. It has become merely something that needs to be put down for its better understanding. I don't think it is either good or bad for me. It is not good because if I don't feel something strongly, I won't be able to express it strongly. But at the same time, not being emotional about it means it is clearer. It is more about the thought than the emotion. So its not bad either.

My journey of blogging has taken me in search of several answers. Posts here represent my quest about erstwhile questions in my mind and my erstwhile attempts to find my own answers to them. I will never say they are right or wrong. They are my answers, that is all!

I have tried to answer several quests from Greatness, Life, God, Love to the economic disparity between the Urban and Rural India. I have tried to show things like Child Marriages and the plight of Women in India as it has affected me with my Urban-Rural Background. What I will do next, I do not know.

Obviously there are regrets. The first being that I have never been able to write anything funny. May be I don't have that kind sense of humour and sarcasm but that doesn't take away the regret. Some time, Some day I will write something tummy wrenchingly hilarious. The next one isn't really a regret. It is mere misunderstanding between me and my readers. Some people accuse me of being a cynic. Of being difficult with ideas, their and mine an of drawing conclusions which suit me through their behaviour. These people find me difficult to deal with. They believe I always take a view which suits my existing bias or I try to bend my experience for my own selfish interest.

I will not say they are wrong. May be their way of putting it to me is wrong. I will say that I am difficult with ideas because I go too deep into them. I am difficult with people and their behaviour because I go too deep in trying to bring out a meaning out of it. May be the questions that occur to me as a result make me difficult, may be the fact they cannot answer my questions all the time makes me take a view, as is natural, to suit my biases.

I know it is an abrupt end, but this really was an extempore! So thanks for all the support with comments and emails. So far, so long!

Keep Blogging!
Prince

Nidhi's Eyes

2008-06-18T14:43:00.000-07:00

They were satin white,
With two big black shining marbles in them
The Most Expressive I have ever seen
They said so many things at the same time
And yet, they were mysterious!

Like a straight simple statement of fact
Without any punctuation marks in it
Left free for any interpretation
Black printed ink on plain white bond paper...

You felt like asking questions to them
And you could be sure they would be answered
Answered yes, but not solved.
Answered not truly but only to your moment's satisfaction

Every time she batted an eyelid
It reminded me of rose petals
That same soft, tender, smooth look
With pink shades of fresh red blood flowing in them...

A Person is Attractive When...

2008-06-18T14:42:00.000-07:00

When he is first to smile
And his smile makes you feel good...

When you call him "Just like that",
Have nothing to say and yet talk for hours...

When a few words with him in crisis,
Make you feel really good about yourself...

When you always have something to tell him,
And he quietly listens...

When he doesn't have any expectations from you or notions about you,
And he makes you feel always special...

When you sometimes feel like touching him,
And he lets you do it only seldom...

The Happy Prince

The Yellow Rose

2008-06-18T14:39:00.000-07:00

Every person is special. Every relation is special. Each is to be
looked after specially, with special attention to it. Words are merely
a medium, mere postmen or messengers of emotions. What are to be heard
are emotions behind words, words are ignorable. It is like reading a
letter from your loved one, it is the texture and the wetness of the
paper that is to be treasured, the smell of the ink and the smell of
the gum on the stamp that was made wet with the tongue and lips rather
than water. It is not the content that matters, it is the thought that
that friend thinks about you. His words don't matter, it is the effort
that he took to tell you that he misses you which is to be
appreciated. That is building a relation.

I believe yellow roses build relations the best but not because people
say so. Just imagine what a yellow rose looks like on a winter morning
with dew drops on it! The mere sight of it early in the morning is so
refreshing, as if it is smiling at you, telling you "I am so glad to
see you this morning, isn't this a wonderful morning?" The first thing
I feel like doing on such occasion is going and smelling it, tickling
its petals to feel the softness and smoothness of its texture. And
then that fragrance fills you up for the entire day, every stressed
situation you just go back and remember that moment you smelled that
yellow rose and it makes you feel good. That is building a
relationship, making a difference in someones life. Have you spread
such fragrance in anyone's life? Does your smile make someone's day
special? Has anyone ever felt like touching you to feel your tender
soft texture? And most importantly, do you have dew drops on you every
day?

The Happy Prince.

2008-02-28T08:31:00.000-08:00

People think they know me
I like to let them think that way
People think they're right
I like to let them think that way
People say things
About things, about people
I listen to them
Half baked truths, spiced truths
Crisp stories and other delicacis
I smile and say
"Thanks for the meal but I am sorry,
I am on a diet."
On my way back, I've cooked my own truth
Their ingredients, my own receipe
According to my own diet...

The Happy Prince...

Unbrekable Hearts..

2008-02-28T08:24:00.000-08:00

The poor do not go hungry in droughts, they're the rich who're scared of them
Failures are not afraid of losing, the winners can't take a loss
The hated don't fear rejection, the loved think someone will reject them
The more often a heart breaks, the more unbreakable it becomes...

The Happy Prince...

Youth

2008-02-23T00:52:00.000-08:00

On roads less traveled
In shoes worn out
With thoughts much thought
And Answers unfound…

With one love, few passions
And a lot of emotions
A mind with minds
And pending decisions…

Searching for something to die for
So that I can live
Taking a lot today
So that one day I can give…

In pursuit of excellence
On my way to heaven…

The River And The Mountain

2008-02-18T21:32:00.000-08:00

Once upon a time a mighty river had a small desire. She wanted to cut through a small mountain that stood in its way even though it could easily have by passed it. It was just to feel powerful, to show that she could easily do such a thing.

And one day she chose to satisfy her desire. Head first she ran into the mountain and as she was to strike on it, she realized, whether she broke the mountain or not, she had to flow into the sea. That is what rivers are meant for, to flow into the sea. Rivers are not to break mountains. And then she realized, the sea was her calling, the mountain a mere desire.

Should rivers still break mountains then? It’s for each river to decide, according to each mountain in her path.

I’m so sorry my dear mountain I can’t tell you what I feel about you, I’m a river, I have to find my way to the sea.

The Happy Prince

Pleasures Revisited...

2008-01-29T00:33:00.000-08:00

A long bath after mid night with unlimited Hot water...
An undisturbed night with a mesmerising book...
A sunday morning with fresh, hot Mom-made food...
A rainy evening with a hot cup of tea and a damn good movie..
Sleeping with satisfaction of having done something productive after a hard day's work...
Her comment on My blog and the smell of Her hair when she hugged me last...
And of course, remembering some memories of the past...

Are just some of my pleasures no money can buy,
Life's worth living only till they come by...

The Happy Prince...

The Decision

2008-01-28T01:23:00.000-08:00

Staring at me the opportunities stand,
I can turn my life into a Wonder Land...

Let it be like the sand on the shore,
let Waves come and wash my Score...

I'll keep Running till I can,
let Times decide how well I Ran...

The Happy Prince...

Pleasure is...

2007-12-28T02:58:00.000-08:00

Any Hunk can woo a babe,
Pleasure is to dream doing it when you look ordinary.

Any Filthy Rich can own a Merc,
Pleasure is to dream of it while you walk under burning sun in your worn out jeans, in torn foot wear with an empty wallet.

Any Genius can become successful,
Pleasure is to do it with your average intelligence.

Any one can use and admire natural gifts of fortune
Pleasure is to create that, which does not exist and leave a legacy...

The Happy Prince.

The Cricket of Life

2007-12-26T02:07:00.000-08:00

May be because I’m an Indian but I see cricket as a game that represents life the best. No matter what happens, every situation in life is so amazingly depicted in the rules, situations and strategies of this game.

Just imagine yourself as the captain of a team. Your goal is to win the game at any cost. For this purpose you pick players. You pick players according to the weather conditions, pitch, team you are playing against and your strategy.

Suppose you have batsman like Sachin Tendulkar on your side, you put your trust in him to score. You trust him and expect him to make runs for you. In your strategy that precise is his role. You have a bowler like Anil Kumble. You put your trust in him to take wickets for you. That is his role.

Sachin may get out on the first ball, Kumble may be hit for sixers over after over. You never know who will work, who will fail. You may win or lose the game because of it, but whatever the result, as a captain of the team, you are responsible for the result.

Sometimes your best players may be sold out. They may fix the match against you, turn their backs to you and yet, you will be responsible for the result. You can’t cite their unfaithfulness as a reason for your loss.

Just imagine a situation:

You’re sitting in the dressing room while your best players are getting out one by one. They’re coming to the dressing room with their heads bowed in shame while your strategy, your game, your goal is going for a toss. Or another situation, you’re on the field and all of your bowlers are being taken for a ride.

At such times, there’s no use getting angry at these players of yours. Their part in your game is over. They are out of your strategy and plan of action. The question in front of you at such times is, “What can I do now?” And not “How could these players be such big fools?” or “How could this X fool forget his basics? Is he cheating? Has he sold himself out?”

There is no use of asking the later questions. If you have an answer to the first question only then you can win the game. Because your goal is not to teach cricket to your players, your job is to use their skills to win your game; not to instill values among them.

One thing you must always remember: You can’t play without others. You’ll have to trust them but you can’t and shouldn’t depend on them. Ultimately, it’s your game, your win and your loss.

Play your game with players. Don’t let players play your game.

The Happy Prince.

Fake smiles...

2007-12-09T05:13:00.000-08:00

She’s one of the cutest ones in my class. I’ve always wanted to be friends with her. We talk, we laugh, share messages once in a while but I’ll never say we’re friends. We’re class mates. She knows me and I know her. That is all. But I’ve always wanted to be friends with her…

Today the moment she entered the class, I knew there was something different. She wasn’t wearing her regular make up. The kajal, the lip stick and everything else she uses was all missing and yet she looked cuter than she usually did. She was happier I guess but that is just a guess and since we’re not that close, a guess is all I could do. Sometime later, her friends announced it was her birthday. We all sang and wished her.

After the classes are over I’m on my bike when I spot her walking by the road, talking to someone on her expensive Nokia N93. I pull over, hold my hand out and say, “Hey ‘X’! Happy birthday to you!”

Frankly, I can see she isn’t even interested. But she has no choice. She shakes my hand and gives a fake smile. But I like that smile. Though fake, it too is cute like her…

I like people who give fakes smiles. Particularly when those smiles are either cute, sweet or sexy. A smile says so many things. It is quite difficult to say all that animatedly and that too when you know that the person you are smiling at knows that your smile is fake. One has to be both while giving a fake smile, a good actor and above all, shameless.

Just imagine two opponent gamblers having high stakes against each other smiling. Smiling at each other while the game is just about to begin. Both know each others cards. They know the questions in each others minds and they know their answers. Yet they smile and wish best of luck to each other. They don’t ask each other any questions. They don’t say “I know your cards” to each other either. They just wish and they smile. It is a cunning smile and yet a friendly one. Their eyes say, “Just wait and watch how I slaughter you” but the muscles on the face and the lips say “May the best man win.”

Then after the game is over, after one has lost and the other one has won, they shake hands again and they smile. This is a different smile. The winner smiles thinking, “Son of a bitch! I’ve shown him his place finally. I guess I fell a little short of getting him on streets. No problem though, next time I’ll see to it that he sweeps my floor at home.” The loser smiles too. He says, “It was your day Johnny.” But he thinks, “Son of a bitch has cheated again. I must learn his trick of shuffling the cards though. He’s too good at it. I haven’t lost anything though. Just a small price for learning his tricks in the game.” And thus, they move on to meet again.

Johnny doesn’t stop either learning new tricks or cheating. Tommy doesn’t stop gambling either. No matter how badly Tommy has lost, he will play again. That’s both, his profession and passion. When he will walk on the street, people will point out and say, “Yeah! You see that loser? That is Tommy. Johnny fell short of getting him on the street the other day.”

Tommy will borrow more to gamble more, people will shoo him. Still, he will ask shamelessly. Smile at them when they abuse him. They will kick him and yet, he will smile. That will be a different smile. Foolish, sheepish. The one that says, “Yeah, say that. I’m used to that and I expect that.” Then eventually someone will lend him some money. Some day his tricks and all previous experience along with luck will favour him. He will start winning.

Then he will decide to take revenge from those who abused him. He won’t go and say that to them. One by one he will acquire their properties. Get them on streets. They will come to him and whine. They’ll ask for mercy. His eyes will say. “Oh! How I love to see you whine like that? You remember me when I used to whine like that in front of you? Who’s better at whining do you think? You or me?” but muscles on his face will just smile. His lips, if at all they say anything, they’ll say,”Oh! They did that to you? How cruel! How I wish I could help you. But I have nothing to do with this. I’m so sorry!” and he will smile.

All fake shameless smiles. Smiles that don’t mean what they say. But they are the smiles one must yearn for in life. They’re the most useful ones and they take years to cultivate. It takes defeats, wins and a lot of experience to cultivate a smile like that. So smile. Be shameless and move on.

The Happy Prince.

Love

2007-12-06T00:15:00.000-08:00

It is difficult to be complimented for your virtues in heaven or to be criticized for the lack of them in hell. That is perhaps why human beings fall for angels and angels fly away. Perhaps, they have their own angels to fall for, in their own world…

“What is love?” is an eternal question. This article is not about answering it, it is about talking about the experiences I’ve had while trying to find an answer to it. Mind well, answers to this question are subjective. This is just what I think.

Sometimes you meet someone and that someone changes you completely. They’re usually the times when you’re low about something and then that someone suddenly enters and teaches either of the two: to solve your problems if they’re soluble or to live with them cheerfully and gracefully as if they don’t exist. As if their existence doesn’t make any difference in your life. These are not people as far as you are concerned, these are angels who make your world a better place for you to live in. Their approach to life fascinates you. They don’t teach you anything you don’t know, they just remind what you’ve forgotten.

The most fascinating part about these angels is that they do all this quite casually. They’re just themselves, acting like themselves and casually, they’re making you like themselves.

But this feeling is not always reciprocated. Many times your attitude is not something that fascinates him. May be he makes your world better, but angels come from another world and you may not always have something that makes you an angel in an angel’s world. That is the reason why I find finding love is so difficult. It’s difficult to be an angel for someone who’s an angel to you.

I have discussed this topic several times with several people and particularly in detail with a dear friend who loved someone once too but before she could tell him, he once casually said “We’re so good friends, but I can never see us in that relation.” After this, she never asked. They’re still friends, he still changes her and is big contributor to the current her. But still, they’re just friends.

Then one day you start understanding it really isn’t about changing. Not all problems can be solved with one attitude of one person who fascinates you. It really isn’t about changing you. It is more about accepting you as you are. It is about being able to bear the whims and fancies of the other without asking or telling the reasons for them. It is the simplicity and the comfort in the relation. About hearing both, what is said and what is unsaid. Hearing the unsaid takes time but being comfortable and understanding the unsaid is important. It is not a sexy figure, cute looks or lot of money. They’re just three simple words “I Love you” and everything unsaid that goes with them.

The Happy Prince.

Smiles

2007-12-04T00:39:00.000-08:00

A warm golden yellow sun quite pleasantly beaming on your eyelashes. A sweating, heavily breathing you with still enough desire and energy to live an entire day and smile on your face which is for absolutely nothing but thoughts in your own mind is the way I describe my perfect tea time evening in winter.

On two such evenings, on two such walks, two such thoughts that brought two such smiles on my face:

I.

Me, age 20, wearing a worn out, torn jeans on soft cotton crumpled white dirty shirt. Left sandal broken near the little finger, legs filthy with dirt since I have been walking without socks the entire day, a blue tattered back pack with holes on its bottom and an expensive leather wallet, almost empty.Wandering lazily, hands in pocket, eyes on the road and around, mind-- dreaming. Dreams that may or may not come true, hopes that may or may not materialize. A body that will certainly support whatever I decide to do, for a few years at least.

I don’t stay like that because I don’t have a choice. I stay like that, because I do.

On my right, an old lady is limping with a walker for support. A face freshly washed. Smells talc. Diamond necklace in her neck, pearl ear rings with a diamond in the centre. Diamond ring in a finger on hand. Expensive, pink, cotton saree freshly ironed. Smile on face but wrinkles too. Open eyes that see, but they’re deep, hollowed. They don’t know whether to dream or to hope. A life that has just gone by…

Thought that brings a smile on my face: Which of us two is richer?

II.

Taste of my 7.00 PM coffee still in my mouth. Wearing lanky shorts, slippers and a T for comfort; lazily walking on Marine Drive in Bombay.

A big business tycoon comes jogging. A body guard on each side, a white expensive imported car following him. The moment he is tired, he will just sit in the car right there and go back. His head band is Nike, other brands, too expensive for me to know. Because he is famous, I know he didn’t earn all this, he was born in it.

Someone behind me utters: “What a life! A ready made business empire, fame like that, power like that and money like that, what else is there to earn?”

I see a beggar lying on the foot path on the opposite side. He is always right there, lying in that same fashion. Filthy, worn out, ill fitting clothes, more displaying his privates that covering them, the way he lies making their sight more prominent. He doesn’t care about food etc. He doesn’t have to. Eats whatever they throw at him, drinks from whatever they donate. No dreams, no goals, nowhere to be and no where to go. Once I asked him his life story, he said he didn’t earn all that, he was born in it.

Thought that brings smile on my face: Who is poorer, the business tycoon or the beggar?

The Happy Prince.

You

2007-11-18T12:57:00.000-08:00

Question: Whom does a piece of art belong to? The creator or the person who admires the creation the most because he relates to it the most? If your answer to the second question is the latter, then I believe I have the right to put this up here. If your answer is the former, I've given the credits to the due person.

I often wonder how much you know about yourself। Whether you know what your eyes look like when you smile, the way you tilt your head when you laugh, the way you play with your hair when you get real nervous, how beautiful you look when you are angry। Sometimes I think you do, sometimes I think you haven’t the slightest idea. In my mind you shall forever be the mysterious, the tempting unknown.

You would sit in the front row of the class, hanging on to every word. Your forehead would be creased with attention, as you strived to understand those rambling Profs. I would sleep through most of the classes, waking up now and then to try and steal another glimpse of you. Oh how obvious I must have been, craning my neck here and there, for a glimpse of that face, that dimpled smile. The world for a chance to be next to you.

How often I would meticulously plan out our conversations; Conversations that, for some reason or the other, never materialized। Every possible topic would be covered, even the unpredictability which makes the fairer sex so appealing; Appealing and at times immensely frustrating। These conversations would be near perfect; you would be charmed by my wit and awed by my intelligence. We would walk out towards the sunset, hands held tight. Live happily ever after and all that.

Coming back to those meticulously crafted plans; well they never did see light of day. The courage to talk was never summoned. Reduced to a particularly quiet piece of stone, I refused to grab the opportunities, which would be offered to me once in a while. As the semester proceeded, I truly began to believe that somehow the courage-gene managed to skip my particular pool.

The blame however, cannot be solely placed on me. You see one of the crucial requirements for the plan to succeed was finding you alone. Your charm ensured that friends always surrounded you. Your friends. Not mine. They would tear me apart were I to come within speaking distance of you. “Who is that loser talking to our dear angel? Bad influence he will be. I heard the other day that he’s an alcoholic as well. Chee chee….”

Oh yes, I was quite sure of that. Deceptively gentle in their appearance, the wolves provided irrefutable proof to that saying about women’s fury. Pack of wolves, that’s what they were, baring their teeth at the slightest occasion. And even if I managed to avoid the wolves, what excuse could I possibly have to speak to you? What could I say?

You smiled at my obvious nervousness. You knew that the upcoming exams were just an excuse I used to talk to you. You answered my rather vague questions on the ethics of family law, well aware that I had no interest in either (family law or ethics). “Ah yes the pressing need of a uniform civil code. But there are so many complexities involved…”You waited patiently, your dark eyes pulling me in. I never did stand much of a chance against those eyes.

I tell you all I have to tell, a stream of rushed words. You look a little surprised (pleasantly so?) The question has been asked. “Would you?” I asked, knowing that I would only breathe once you had answered. You continued to hold the question in the air, stretching those instants to the length of generations. I began to look a bit like a fool, watching expectantly for a reply.

Complete silence for a minute, a minute that seems to drag on longer than one of the class lectures. And then you smile. Is it possible? Will I start believing in the one above all ever again? Shall life start working with me for once? You say nothing at all but your eyes seem to say so much. I still remember the way you smelt that day, gentle and warm. Tinged with a bit of icy mint.

“No” you said, a smile creeping across your face। You felt that sudden rush you always got at times like these। You watched as my face crumpled, as I tried to hide my thoughts behind a weak smile। And then you slowly walk away, but not before you got a good look at my crestfallen face.

And as you walk away, completely aware that I am watching your every move, you hum just loud enough for me to hear “In this game of trust and lust… another one bites the dust।”

Anuj Agrawal [4th year, nujs]

The Audi

2007-10-21T22:57:00.000-07:00

We’ve a small road that connects the campus of our college with the main road. This is not the official road; it is rather a small by lane many college students use as a hide out cum hang out for extra curricular activities like smoking and smooching. I use this road normally when I’ve to photo copy papers, visit the internet café or make an STD telephone call. At one end of this lane is an imperial building facing the main road. It serves as an office to some well to do business man. Every time I pass from there I see one of dream cars. It’s a black Audi. Its number plate declares that the business man is very rich indeed as its number is 1-2-3-4. A number RTO in India charges a bomb for.

Exactly opposite this lane is our hang out called Sharvaree. It’s the place we have our breakfast, lunch and tea at.

The other day I was just coming out of Sharvaree when I noticed a huge crowd gathered on the main road. The black Audi stood in the centre as a diagonal to the road. A tempo stood near by. Its nose kissing the butt of Audi. There were two voices. One raised, angry and clear. The other blurred and distant as it was coming from inside the tempo. The first one was of a man in extremely good clothes. He was wearing a beautiful sky blue shirt. Black shining trousers. Polished leather shoes. An expensive cell phone was peeping out of its holder on the waist. The language being used wasn’t what any one would call the best though. Unprintable words were being shouted by him. One of his hands was busy pulling the tempo driver to the window. The other hand had taken the hammer position and it was being used to hit on the driver’s head.

The tempo driver was pulling himself away from the hand turned into hammer and pleading to be left alone before they could talk the matter out. Police arrived and separated them. The man sat back in the Audi and drove it straight to where I was standing. Curiosity got the better of me and I inspected the car as he parked it on my left before leaving to talk to the police. All the car had was a 2 inch minute scratch on the back bumper.

There’s a small colony of backward castes near my old house. Once as my ride was passing through that area my cell phone rang. I pulled the bike over and answered the phone. As I finished my call I saw a man turning right without indicating it in anyway. He did not put his hand out or put his indicator on. The rider behind him had already made a decision to over take him long back and as the first man turned right the rider ran straight into him. His mud guard cracked into pieces. As he skidded to the ground further his head light had scratches. When he got back on his feet and both of them had pulled over, the first one expecting a heated argument. He was right. The second rider was really angry. He looked the first rider in the eye and said “It was because you didn’t indicate you were going to turn that we both fell, my mud guard broke and headlight was scratched.” The second one, naturally, wanted to rebel. He said, “Yeah, yeah! So how much money do you want? How much will repairing that cost anyway?” On this the second rider showed disgust on his face and said this, “Just make sure you don’t ride like this from now on. That’s all I want!” No base words spoken, no money asked! This man was a mere milk man and his bike was just an M 80.

I have just one question: Who do you think is richer between the milkman and the man with that dream Audi?

The Happy Prince.

Importance...

2007-09-29T04:05:00.000-07:00

We're on our bus back to the hostel after having done well at a Law Fest. I'm very happy happy with my performance before a lightening strikes. The lightening tells me the girl I've loved for the last three years has committed to someone else.

The first thought that comes to my mind?

Nothing. Absolutely nothing. I had expected myself to go hyper. To pull my hair out, to cry or to do something stupid. Instead, I just breath easy and for some reason my body starts sweating. Calm and composed for others, I just close my eyes and wait for us to reach the hostel. On reaching the hostel all I badly need is a strong cup of coffee. I tell my team mates I am going out for one. I have one and return home to concentrate on the finals on the next day. Nothing bothers me at all.

I don't know how I soaked such a huge shock in so easily. I had dreamed of her. I have loved her. Still do. I could have done anything for her in the madness of my love. As a person and a friend she had inspired me, changed me and changed me so much! Changing for her had never been a question. I could have changed anything if she'd wanted me to. How could I take such a shock in so easily?

It wasn't even that I had not told her about my feelings for her. I had on several occassions in several different ways and her answer had always been "Wait. We're too young still" and waiting I was.

Just watched this movie called "Dil Dosti etc." A character called Sanjay Mishra and his girlfriend (Forgot her name!) are madly in love before she betrays him. He can't believe the fact that she has betrayed and ultimately kills himself. Worst is the fact that he catches her red handed with one of his best friends. He dies and lives of both, his girlfriend and his friend just move on.

Once I had lost so many competitions so badly. Today I find myself on the verge of winning but there's so much difference in the way I wait for results. Earlier I wanted to WIN! and after putting in so many efforts I just couldnt take in that there could be any other result. Today when I'm waiting for results, frankly, I just dont care. The attitude is "I have done what I could. Have learnt alot in doing it, have enjoyed doing it so much. Anything else hardly matters."

The point I'm trying to make is just this. Sometimes we give too much importance to too many trifles in our lives. Trifles we could have done without, trifles we can do without. So whether she says a yes or no next time you ask her, whether you win or lose a competition after putting in nights of oil or whether the person you love the most dies, it's just a trifle we've been giving too much importance to. Do what you can do when you can do it and leave the rest upto Him because nothing is as important as you think it is.

The Happy Prince.

2007-09-27T04:21:00.000-07:00

Will the Golden Days never return?
Or Will the returned days never be Golden?
Does Gold change with days?
Or do days change with Gold?

Emotions change and so do relations,
But does Gold change with seasons?
Year passes when a season returns
Why dont men wait then, till emotions reutrn?

I want to cry today, my heart has broken.
Why can't she even lend a hand? Just as a token?
Still love her for the pain she has given...

So what if i'm not there, I can at least dream of my heaven
She made me believe dreams come true...
I say "I believe it dear coz i still believe in you."

The Happy Prince

Gambler…

2007-08-28T03:05:00.000-07:00

The very word 'Gambler' has so much of a negative connotation to it. He's a negative person in every way no matter what he gambles with or for. But I'm particularly interested in card gamblers. Look at the way the play their games.

First they let people know that they gamble but they never tell them their tricks of winning the games. They never show people their cards and they always guess, mostly on logic, what the cards of the opponent might be. Every time they're betting on winning.

I just have one question. What's the difference between a person who really wants to win and the gambler I described above?

Hardly any.

The Happy Prince

Nostalgia

2007-08-28T03:03:00.001-07:00

An innocent running stream of fresh cold water,
The first silky ray of the tender morning sun,
Deep green waters of solitary seas,
The only line of golden lights shining in a dark cold night,
The sole long shadow that witnesses the orange setting sun,
The fallen eyelash of the most treasured eye,
The tears of sheer happiness after the much desired achievement
And a hand that runs through your hair caring the most….

Are all forms of a never ending and ever desired…nostalgia!

The Happy Prince

Think...

2007-08-28T03:01:00.001-07:00

We’re all on a run, but for a moment wait!
Just think of your fate
Who are we? Where is our compound?
Where is our gate?

Where do we start?
Where do we end?
What do we borrow?
What can we lend?

We’re on a road
But where does it lead?
We hear many voices
But whom do we heed?

We have empty hands
But we have open minds
We’re young, we’re fast
We come in all kinds

Am I all alone?
Or am I amongst the gifted few?
Do I belong to a crowd?
Or am I unique like all of you?

We have our flaws
And we have our qualities
But trust me, we’re all equal
When it comes to life’s realities

If not now then when?
If not now then it wont be late then?
Think! Think! Think! This is the time
Years will pass just in a blink…

The Happy Prince

People Only Decide...

2007-08-28T02:58:00.000-07:00

He won all the races
And he had all the aces
Wherever he went
He won! Won! Won!
There was no doubt
He was One! One! One!
And when the final moment came
Something went wrong
He started all right
But he lost by long
What happened did happen
And he cannot ask why
What happened did happen
He cannot sit and cry
What happened did happen
He has to accept it
What happened did happen
He must not forget it
What happened did happen
From it he must learn
He must start all over
And what he lost he must yearn

Its true life’s unfair
And justice is in books
There are honest people
And there exist crooks
And one doesn’t always eat
Whatever he cooks
Is true life’s unfair
And justice is in books
Man only endeavors
Its god who delivers
Man appoints people, calls ‘em judges
And sets ‘em god beside
God does justice, people only decide…

The Happy Prince

Misunderstanding...

2007-07-14T02:29:00.001-07:00

Let’s take a situation. He is an average Indian husband and she, an average Indian wife. He comes home from work. Tired. She’s come just before him and has changed into easy casuals one usually wears at home. They’ve a kid. It has just started walking. It walks but falls very often. It has just fallen and she’s just nursed him. It took her about half an hour to do that. She’s tired too, still she asks him for tea. He says he wants it. Then she cooks for him and asks about dinner. He says he’ll have it at home. She cooks a full meal too. Now she’s exhausted.

Earlier in the morning they’d decided to drive about 200 kms to her friend’s wedding. It is supposed to happen the next day. He had asked her to be ready when he came. She was. But when she saw her husband’s state of energy she decided not to remind him of it. However, he still remembers because he’s fond of driving and they have just bought a new car.

He asks “When’re we leaving?” She says we’ll leave soon and gets busy with the kid, utensils and the kitchen while he prods through the maze of TV channels. An hour later he asks “Are we leaving or not?” she says “Its not necessary that we go.” She’s just concerned. Her husband is tired.

Sometime later he asks her again “Do you want to go or not?” Again she says “Its not necessary that we go.” That’s not the questions says he. “Do you want to or not?” Again replies she “Its not necessary…”

Then they have a fight. He didn’t understand she was only caring for him. She didn’t understand he only wanted an answer. A “Yes” or a “No”

He didn’t understand she is tired too, she didn’t understand her husband loves driving. He wouldn’t want to miss a chance.

What do you think would have happened if this had been the case:

He comes home from work. Tired. She asks him for tea. He says he wants it. She cooks it for him. She asks whether he wants to dine at home. He gets up from infront of the TV and helps her around in the kitchen. They dine together. Clean together. Then he asks her about the trip. She says she wants to go if he's not tired. They go for the drive.

OR

She says "I'm tired too, let's not go." And they don't go for the drive.

No arguments. No loud voices. A simple regular conversation.

Most problems are mere misunderstandings. A little obervance and empathy is all that is needed.

The Happy Prince...
TH Prince

Relationships...

2007-07-14T02:03:00.000-07:00

“When you know you’ll always have me on your side how does it matter what we call our relationship? I can’t tell you I feel “this” about you, but yes, you mean a lot to me.
It’s the relationship that matters Prince, not the name we give to it.”

Reads a line in one of my very close friend’s email. The mail is about 2 yrs old now. I have still kept it in my inbox. At the time I received it I did not have the maturity either to gauge or even to understand its meaning. Today I know what she meant.

I watched the movie Just Married only because I wanted to watch a movie after my exams and Honeymoon Travels Pvt Ltd just because I wanted to know how the Showcase feature of my new Tata Sky connection at home worked. Judging them by their entertainment value or presentation nothing could have been worse but they taught me something.

Both movies show married couples. They’re husbands and wives to their spouses. A relation that has been defined by the society. I don’t have to explain anything to anyone when I say “This is my wife/husband.” They nod as if they understand it. But do they? I don’t have to explain anything when I say “This is my friend.” But what is friendship? And who decided on the definition if anyone did?

Both movies show married couples but they have so many different relations amongst them. Fardeen Khan and Esha Deol for example play married strangers, Rahul Deol and his co-star play friends who have sex. Boman Irani and Shabana Azmi play friends who don’t have sex but just enjoy being together at 60. Kay Kay Menon and Raima Sen play a conservative husband and a modern wife and yet they understand each other. They disagree but get along amazingly well.

All along I’ve troubled my above friend asking her “What is friendship?” One fine day she got fed up of me and stopped replying. Then I checked several dictionaries. All dictionaries defined “friend” like “A person you know and like.” Or “A person you have common interests with.” Yes, I know my friend and because she’s my best friend it’s obvious I like her a lot, we have common interests too but I have all these with so many other people. I certainly don’t have the same relation with them for sure!

Surely, what’s in the name? Its the relationship that matters!!

"Winning..."

2007-07-13T02:54:00.000-07:00

Like all other kids he played "underarm" cricket with tennis balls in the lanes of Bombay. Like all other kids he was average at studies. Hardly ever did he cross seventy percent in his exams. Then one day his elder brother asked him, "Would you like to play cricket for a living?" He was only 13 then. Hardly did he know what he was doing. His brother was good cricketeer but had bad health. So "Brother knows the best" he thought and answered a "Yes."

So the next day he started his formal cricket coahing. He was the worst batsman in their class for the first 2 weeks. His coach called his brother and told him that the boy had no future in cricket. "No!" Protested his brother. "I've seen him playing and I know this is not the way he usually plays. Give him time sir. Please."

There was no improvement in the third week too. Finally the brother went to the boy and told him. "Are you sure this is what you want to do all your life?" This time the boy thought for a night. The next day he said "Yes, this is what I want to do for the rest of my life."

After that he worked hard. Day and night. He worked upto 16 hours a day. He never won a single best batsman award for the first year. In the second year he showed some promises. In the third he expected some of the biggest awards as the best batsman but managed to get only the trifle ones. He never got any of the bigger ones.

Then one day he was picked up in the Indian Cricket Team. He became the youngest player ever to be picked up. He was very average for the first few games. But he went on facing 6 ft dark monsters of West Indies and White monsters of Austrailia with his frail figure.

Its been 18 years since then. Today he holds the following records:

1. Maximum number of centuries
2. Maximum number of runs
3. Maximum number of "Man of the Match" awards
4. Youngest Captain ever
5. Played the highest number of matches.

He's still there. Fit and Fine. I don't have to tell you he is Sachin Tendulkar.

Imagine what would have happened if he'd given up in the first week? First month? Or when inspite of deserving didnt get any of the bigger awards?

He'd never have won the highest honor for a sportsman in India. The Arjuna Award. He'd never be the best batsman ever. He'd never be Sachin Tendulkar.

Winning is not about "Today" or "Now." Winning is long term. Winning is not about a competition. Winning is about an entire life. Winning is not being "better than others." Winning is about being at "your best."

Win!

The Happy Prince

Understanding...

2007-05-28T13:38:00.000-07:00

The approximate depth of Mariana Trench is about 10.7 kms. It is supposedly the deepest point on earth known to man.

Now, imagine being at its bottom. Just imagine staring at the surface of water from 10.7 kms deep down. I imagine you will need lights down there, to look around you, to really know at how creepy a place you really are. Then there’ll be weird creatures all around you. Unless you’ve checked some of the best encyclopedias around you wouldn’t know which of the ones a poisonous or dangerous. Which of them can be ignored, befriended or avoided. Then there’ll be really tight clothes to keep your veins from narrowing down to increase blood pressure. Finally, two huge and heavy oxygen cylinders on your back with a tight water proof mask to cover your nose and mouth. Around you, you’ll see the bed of the sea. Filled with rocks, shells and silence. You look up from there at the ceiling. It’ll be so dark you might not see the surface of the sea at all.

Now does my second paragraph have the same effect upon you as the first line this piece starts with? I tell you in my first line that the depth is 10.7 kms. So you know just how deep the trench is. In my second paragraph I describe just how it might be feel to be there. This is precisely the difference between knowing something and understanding it.

I’d often heard the clichéd expression “Actions speak louder than words.” And trust me I knew its meaning. But as I said there is a huge difference between knowing the meaning of and understanding the meaning of. Certain experiences last year have just made understand the various meaning that one sentence may have.

I would've written a lot lot more and yes, you've guessed it right, I will not! Why? Because Actions speak louder than words.... Hehe...

Prince...

A Winner's Life

2007-05-13T23:29:00.000-07:00

Disclaimer: I wouldn't really call this "Winner's Life" but well, I have to call it something. I found this written at the back of my old diary. I don't remember when I've written it, probably sometime last year. It has no date. But whatever it is, I still believe in it.

Sometimes some things are not good merely because better things exist. Such is the case of life and death. Millions of people die every year, thousands every day, but we hear of those who die a more dignified death than others. But does that mean that those we did not hear of died a bad death?No! It only means those who we did hear of died a better death.

Life as we all see it, isn't about living. It is about dying.Yes, dying.

Its like studying for your exams. You have to prepare for it every day. Some study more, some study less. But ultimately its the result that matters. Examiners dont care how you studied or whether you did at all. All thy care about is whether your answers to their questions are satisfactory. However, to do well, you need to work every single day.

Thats true with life too. YOU NEED TO LIVE EVERY SINGLE DAY to die a dignified death.

So Prince, did you LIVE today?

Prince...

Which Hills?

2007-04-17T00:32:00.000-07:00

Which Hills?

Paying prices
Buying things
Dreaming castles
Building wings

Aiming victories
Watching rings
Knocked out many times
Now…Waiting

Lots of flowers
Lot of rain
Not the time to smell them
Not the time to drain

Roller coaster is rolling
I can’t see the coast
All the winds are blowing
I can’t sail the boat

The captains keep changing
And I don’t know whom to follow
I wonder what to do
My talents all lie fallow

I’ve paid a heavy price
And bought the best of skills
I don’t know how to use them
I am to climb which hills?

Child Marriage

2007-04-17T00:31:00.000-07:00

CHILD MARRIAGE

They discussed her marriage without her consent
And she was red with rage as she heard them talk

“Rs. 20,000’s the dowry” said the father in law (to be)
“Start paying in installments now”
And she clenched her fists and punched the mattress under her

“Don’t send her to school now
Or else she won’t milk my cows!”
As she cried for her mother aloud

“Here’s my son and he won’t drink like me!
But who knows if someday he does?”
She was kicking in the air by now!

“And for my wife a sari in silk”

“Yes, yes!” said her father; ”I’ll give you all that and a little more”
“But pray keep her, please don’t sore!”

And they made her deal in money, gold and silk
As she cried for little milk…

Women Of India

2007-04-17T00:23:00.000-07:00

WOMEN OF INDIA

In India
Scarce they are
Like the drops of rain
But regular
Like the barren lands in winter
Nipped in bud
Before they sprout
Tested, Wasted, Molested
But allowed to grow

Uprooted from life
As saplings
And axed at roots
When Kalpavrikshas
Living like the barren lands
They learn to drink the drops

…….their tears

A century in 100 kms...

2007-04-07T08:50:00.000-07:00

No, I’ve never been to the USA but I have cousin who’s been there for over 4 years. He returned 2 years ago and he still keeps on visiting it quite often. He’s a successful young man as far as my family is concerned. He’s been projected to us, youngsters, as a role model and so every word that falls from his mouth is to be heard with the due respect.

We, he and I, quite often go on a stroll here and there. Few days ago we were visiting a newly constructed mall somewhere when he remarked “oh…cool…” just as he entered. I asked him what happened and he replied saying “so now we have malls as big as the average size that of the USA.”

Trust me, though I’m a diehard Puneite, malls neither make me proud nor angry with all their splurge of resources. I’m just indifferent to their very existence. Had they not been there, I’d still have loved Pune as much as I do.

Few days later I was visiting Koregaon, my native place, about 18kms south of Satara. We started from Bombay, speeding in an air conditioned car on the expressway, talking to my dad of the booming Indian economy. On the way we stopped at Pune as some of us had some shopping to do. We parked in the underground parking of a mall. It was amazing; easy to drive down there, lot of space, very disciplined and safe. Just as they show in all those Hollywood flicks.

After all was done, we hit the road again. This Pune-Satara is a segment of the Golden Quadrilateral Project our government’s been up to. It too is just amazing. We could sail there at about 120kph. I was reading a news paper article about the coming boom in telecom sector…

My friend Vinnie called me up while I was at Koregaon; busy with my cousin’s friends. Vinnie’s dad is a Kannadiga, her mom a Konkani. Though she’s been born and brought up in Pune and understands marathi, like many of us, she isn’t very comfortable with it. We usually talk in English.

I was on phone with her for about 25 minutes I guess and as I ended the call I noticed motley of about 40-45 people surrounding me. I thought I’d done something offensive. I looked at them confused when a child suddenly remarked addressing my sister sitting just across “Tumchya varad dadala sagla english yeta?” Meaning “Does your Varad dada know entire english?” There was a look of shock on his face. Fear, surprise. Varad dada who’d been so close to these kids just 25 minutes before was now alien.

As if this wasn’t enough my aunt who’d been witnessing our conversation, mine and Vinnie’s, remarked “Does your friend have a free phone?” I didn’t get her at all. Again the same look, confused. “You were on phone for 30 minutes! How can anyone afford that? Besides you weren’t talking anything important, I haven’t seen a “How are you today?” call going this long!”

I cant tell you how I handled these situations. Had I been home, my mom would have shouted for “wasting time on the phone” probably after like 40 minutes, but 25 minutes only?

My uncle there is considered King of the stock market. He invests moderate amounts and gets back good dividends on his stocks. I was discussing with him the concept of “Free phone”, the one that involves listening to ads for a few seconds before calling and he seemed completely ignorant of it. Where did you read it, he asked me. Times of India and Economic Times, I replied. He said they don’t get those papers there.

Later my dad introduced me to his friend’s son. He’s doing law. First year, ILS Pune. At first I was happy I’d finally found someone my age. We went to the computer in my uncle’s bedroom to pass some time. I found he couldn’t really use the comp because he didn’t understand English. I thought it was okay. But some time later, as I referred to some site in the course of conversation, he asked me “What is internet?”

I was shocked.

This moment the only line I can think of is:

“Different parts of India live in different centuries.”—N.A. Palkhiwala in We, The People

Today, sitting here, typing this on my PC, I realize how privileged I am to think “How do I improve my French?” or “Which is the cheapest plan for my cell phone?” or “How do I reduce my net addiction?” while a town just 120 kms away is still figuring out the century it is living in.

However the most important question I want to ask here is, which is that booming economy we’re talking of and in which India is it? In which century is she living?

The Happy Prince...

2007-01-03T00:31:00.000-08:00

I want Them to stretch,
And tear my eyes apart
To give a bump in my butts,
An aching dent in my back

I want Them to give
Sleepless nights for years to come
Dark round circles
Around my eyes

But They shall fill my empty mind
With openness
A feeling of satisfaction, a glow
On my face

A life worthy of living,
An occupied mind worth having

....THE BOOKS

The Happy Prince

Satisfaction...

2006-09-24T23:45:00.000-07:00

Honestly, 5000 a month is not enough to sustain in Pune but that is what my dad sends me and will keep sending for the years to come. I have a room mate and his father sends him upto 9000 a month but when he is really serious and honest, he says 9000 a month is really not enough. One of my other friends gets 12000-15000 a month and mostly she's cribbing about how less she gets. A college mate who's worked the all way through says he stays very comfortably in 2500 a month only. I don't know how much is enough and I'm not trying to answer that question either.

A friend called Karan Malhotra of mine just renovated his room. It will be very difficult to explain what changes he made in his room because I'm no professional interior decorator and so I dont't have the terminology it requires. It will, however, I guess, be sufficient if I say that he has made his room much more luxurious than what it was like before. The bed has been replaced with a larger and a softer one. The furniture is smoother and shinier and the bathrooms and the wardrobes look royal. Karan is happy but not content. He still wants to buy that bed in the store that was the costliest. It is softer, smoother and shinier according to him. He wants to be more comfortable.

Akshit Mehta isn't really happy with the new swimming pool with slides that's been built on his old farm house. He wants tp pull down the entire farm house and rebuild it. "I will do it when I have enough money of my own" he says.

Do I personally have no needs, wants or aspirations? Or is it wrong or right to have them or too many of them? I do not know. What I know however is that life is not about satisfying your needs and wants. Life is about being satisfied with yourself, with or instead of them.

2006-06-27T13:15:00.000-07:00

Its 1:00 AM in the night. I am awake because I cannot sleep. Hence, I decide to clean my room. I start with the old question papers, the old short notes and all other old old stuff that I once used to study for Law School Entrances. As I'm gathering it I feel emotional. A lump comes up and holds itself right in the throat. I feel as if I'm gathering pieces of my shattered dream.

I somehow manage to cool down and tell myself "Hey! its not as if you are not going to be admitted anywhere! You are still going to a good college! What's more now that you'll have more time you can complete your french course, learn the flute and even intern anywhere you want almost everyday. Now you have all the choices open! It's as if everything you ever wanted is lying at your feet!! You only have to choose what you want to pick up!"

The other voice however comes out too. It is weaker that the first voice, but it comes out. It says "Look at X. Look how happy X is. Only if you had worked a little harder you'd have been there! After all you've lost NALSAR only by 4 marks! HOw could you Prince...How could you??"

One side of me wants to attempt these entrances again. The other however refuses. It says "Look at all the world that is now open! You'll be more than just a lawyer if you use your time well!"

Inside of me there is this third voice which I think is my conscience mixed with my emotions. It says "Why can't we have both? Why can't you be at a law school and do all those things you want to do too??"

I don't know whether you remember what I told you that day on that katta of mine. I'd said every question has 3 ends. 1st is that you get an answer. 2nd is that you don't get an answer and the 3rd is you put the question off. Kill it. Ignore it. Try to draw your mind away from it. Suffocate it. To do just that I came online at this unearthly hour.

I dont know whether it is your help, ear, advice that I seek or is it just my own way of clearing my thoughts. Just read this and do what you think is apt.

Prince...

There are no answers...

2006-05-28T23:43:00.000-07:00

Fun, Frolic and Fish! Yes! The trip to Goa was all that and a little but important more. On way back we decide to take a night halt at Chiplun. My room has an A/C, a TV, a huge double bed to be shared between me and my sister and my mind that has just received news from a friend: I have done miserably in one of my Law School entrances. I am not as much thinking about the result as much I am of my future. Knowing that HSC results are going to be a complete disaster I am more of wondering what is it that I am heading to?

Answers don’t come easily. In fact I have just learned some time back when I met my father’s long lost friend Nandakumar Patil that there are no answers at all. Nandakumar Patil used to be a hot looking material 29 years ago women including my mom used to be crazy after. Never did he care about his studies as much he did about acting in various plays. Dad's account later confirmed that he won the best actor state level award for 3 years consecutively. What is interesting is now he is neither an actor nor does he account or audit being a commerce graduate. He works in the State Transport Services as the controller of traffic. Now he sees whether the drivers follow the planned schedule and whether the broken vehicles are looked after properly. Interesting isn’t it?

More interesting is the fact that he’s married a doctor wife, a girl who’s more educated, more independent and more able than himself. In course of conversation when a question arose how did she say yes to someone as weird as Nandakumar she said she didn’t really care what her life partner was up to. She was confident that it was she who mattered if she wanted a good life and that no other person really mattered for a persons good life.

Then when the layers of past memories were being undone by this crowd of 4 who happened to be long lost friends for the last 29 years, they started remembering their other friends they are no more in contact with. Some 18-time failure, chain smoker had married the most beautiful girl, a girl who could have anyone she wanted. An 18-time failure that too at commerce undergraduate level? He was not good looking or wealthy. An 18 time failure cannot be smart! What was it that she saw in him? But then, their wedding did happen. It is a truth, a fact that no one disputes.

Then as members of ABVP in their time my mom also knows Nandakumar uncle’s wife, the doctor. She asks her about some other friend who used to be a miserable failure at everything then. Studies, co-curricular or extra curricular, he was of no use. Today he’s a multi millioner doctor at Kolhapur with three three-storied hospitals. An evidence that academics has nothing to do with real life successes.

And as these thoughts are scooting through I fall asleep to wake up 2 hours later at a doorbell. It’s my dad calling me for tea to his room. There is a person sitting there on the chair in front of him in his room. His name: Mr. Relekar.

Mr. Relekar is B.Com, LL.B, CA from University of Pune. B.Com from BMCC and LL.B from Symbiosis. He teaches in the college at Chiplun and takes commerce classes for students. As the trend goes he asks me about what my plans for future are. Which stream have I done my +2 in? I answer Law and Commerce respectively not knowing the above data. Had I known all that before I would probably have answered the second question as Science or Arts. And then begins my 1hr long interview. What is debit? What is credit? What is suspense account? What is the entry for this? What is the entry for that?

I cant answer even 2 questions to his complete satisfaction. He tells me “beta you need to read all your books form 11th standard again” in my mind I say “you are right sir except the last word. I dnt need to read them “again”, I only need to read them”

And then he tells me how privileged I am as compared to people from Chiplun. A person from Chiplun lacks big ambitions says he. They don’t want a car, they feel its fine to walk even 15 kms.

May be he is right. I just don’t have a big ambition to drive me. May be I just don’t need that A/C and TV room with a huge Bed? I can sleep on the floor just as sound. May be I am happy with a bicycle…who knows? But if everything continues the way its going where do I think I will end up? Will I get the only girl I love more than anything ever with only a bicycle and no bed to sleep?

Again…there are no answers…

21st Century

2006-04-28T10:14:00.000-07:00

Don’t sleep; don’t eat
Don’t drink; just think!
Just learn; then unlearn, relearn
Not winning is sinning
So be the best, without rest
Strive! Dive! But don’t live!
Stress! Distress! No peace! But still press!
Lifelines no more matter, meet deadlines; they do
Die if you can but get through!
Production, sale, bank balance
Marketing, HR and blood pressure
If you can make them all at once rise
Only then you’re wise!
And then when you die with a heart stroke
On your tombstone you must write
“Come One! Come All!”

This isn’t a cemetery! Its 21st century!

2006-04-26T14:45:00.000-07:00

If a man is not a lover in his 20s, strong in his 30s, rich in his 40s and wise in his 50s, he will never be so”

Now that is a line I don’t remember where exactly I have read but I do know that I want to be each of those alternate words above: lover, strong, rich and wise though not necessarily in that order. If I were given a choice I’d rather be wise, strong enough to stand by my wisdom, love something unconditionally and finally be rich if at all time and wisdom allowed me to.

Success is not about which law school you pass out from or how rich you become. Success is a feeling of satisfaction about your own life and what you have been able to earn from it. “Success is a journey and not an end” might sound clichéd but it is nonetheless true. When I picture myself 80 something wondering how I spent my youth and where did all my middle years go, I want to be satisfied more than being sitting at a back of a Mercedes or a Ferrari that I frankly think is a waste of money when a Swift or an Indica does the same job for me in less than 10% of the price.

Satisfaction does not mean not having worries, regrets or failures. Satisfaction means the over all experience of life being treasure-some. It is when you are happy not with what you have achieved but with the way you have achieved it. Its not about traveling long, its about traveling well and being happy about what the journey has given you.

Satisfaction comes when you know what you have is all you think you need (as against want.) to give a vague idea of what I mean I can use the example above. A Mercedes is a car people use to show their wealth. It has softest of leather seats in the world, best of suspensions, TV, radio, a drink vendor and what not inside it. But the point is, do I need a car or a living room? If a car is all I need then what’s all the show off about? A normal small car like say Swift or Indica will do the same work for me. Hence, I do not need a Mercedes.

Knowledge is something that has many advantages. Firstly, it is cheap. Secondly, it is useful. Thirdly, no one can steal it from you once you have it and most importantly, the more you have it the more you know that what you have is less. The difference between money and knowledge apart from it always being with you is that complete knowledge is harmless. Its greed (also called curiosity) doesn’t harm anyone. Hence I presume that the most important priority in any mans life must be knowledge rather than anything else. Moreover it might also lead to wealth in future.

What is more important however is to stand by your knowledge and your opinion about it in adverse circumstances and also to be able to state your knowledge and opinion candidly, artistically, simply and stubbornly at the same time being understanding of the counterview, respecting it and being open for a change in our view if it indeed is convincing enough.

When it comes to love however there can be as many views as people on this earth. Love is something that you do irrespective of what people think of it. When you do it only because you want to do it and because you enjoy doing it its love. Love gives you the reason to live. Love is the longing, the one thing that you’d do the rest of your life you were told that it was to end a week later. If you don’t have something like that, go find it!
That’s all there is to life, to success and to satisfaction. I think I need to write no more, but what I know is that I’m searching it myself and I shall find it soon.

THPrince.

Bridging The Divide

2006-04-17T14:06:00.000-07:00

After browsing through the recent issue of a national magazine I switched to reading an academic competition magazine as a preparation dose for the National Law School of India University Entrance Exams (Popularly known as Big Daddy in law aspirants) that I have been dreaming of cracking. Both the issues had one thing in common; they were about bridging the divide. While the formers’ arguments scattered all over from bridging the divide between haves and have-nots of various kinds ranging from poor and rich to Information technology savvy and unsavvy the academic competition magazine boasted about bridging the gap between rural and the urban India.

But are these the only gaps that need to be bridged? Is there nothing more to a human than material wants of money, technology, of being able to reserve railway tickets at home through the Internet or withdrawing cash from an ATM?

As far as my belief goes, there certainly is. The gap that needs to be bridged in the true sense isn’t and never was of having or not having or of possessing or not possessing materials or resources until recently. It is and has always been of thinking like and thinking unlike. Poverty always there until richness arrived, so was hunger until food. Before poverty or hunger came however, there always lived Humans.

We all agree to the fact that one thing that separates humans from all others is his ability to think, to think independently and act accordingly. And these thoughts come labeled in various forms. Some call it “philosophy” some “religion” and some have their own way to live without labeling it. Conflict occurs when the two thoughts contradict or one is threatened of being wiped out due to the other. Islamic terrorism, Naxalite Terrorism or violence in any other form as of today is the result of this very conflict. The bloodshed, the violence, the loss of life and humanity is its price. It is the price of not being able to coexist along with each other, respecting each other without being a threat to each other.

This inability of not being able to digest foreign thoughts is the result of judging others on our own experiences. It is about looking at life through our self-designed design of pigeonholes denying to believe that some other design may also exist. Unbelieving in some other or every other design than our own makes us want to destroy it or if we can’t, we prefer being away from it. Until and unless a position of respect is achieved by every human mind for itself and every other, the true gap shall never be bridged. Because true gap isn’t about someone having more than me, someone will always have more but the true gap is about someone not thinking like me. One doesn’t require food, money more than necessary to live peacefully but one does require respect to his thoughts to rest in peace.

Dream...it costs nothing!

2006-01-02T09:12:00.001-08:00

People who read my blog are used to the edited versions of my works. Mostly when I write, I think about it first, write it, edit it and then only cut paste it here for all of you to read. But this is a different post. I'm writing it here right now!

I never thought I'd ever be inspired about writing on personal feelings on public things like blogs. But as the saying "Expect the unexpected!" so here I am writing about my personal feelings for the first and might just be the last time.

I dont remember the second last time had a dream while sleeping but the last time I had it, I was shouting out "Dont talk or move! Just stick to me there and sit freezed!" and that was on my Ducati as I was breezing her along at 400 kms/hr.

Its no joke! I think I was about 30yrs old in it. An NLSIU pass out and I'd done my Post graduation from Oxford or Harvard or something like that. I didnt earn much though. Just a few crores here and there. Bill gates even then was the richest man on earth follwed by Lakshmi Niwas Mittal.

It was when the alarm alarmed all of a sudden that I knew it was no more my Ducati engines firing. All of a sudden here again I was. A worth nothing almost spoilt brat who hasnt even touched his Board texts or entrance books. And again I made a "new year" resolution to start studying today. Funnily even when the elephant has passed me and only his tail remains wagging, I still feel I can or will defeat it. I still feel I will win, do well in boards and get through into a decent law school. And as my day started again with new hope, new enthusiasm and new spirit of winning the world all I had as my capital to think what I keep thinking were the words of a man people consider great:

Listen to the mustn't's child
Listen to The Don'ts
Listen to the impossibles, The Won'ts
Listen to the NEVER HAVES
Listen to the shouldn'ts
And then listen close to me
Anything can happen child, ANYTHING can be...

And as my mom yells at me again to convince me that I wont even get 50% in my Boards I look down into a book I have never had any interest in....

Prince...

Purpose Of Life!

2005-12-18T23:05:00.000-08:00

For Richard Bach’s Jonathan Livingston Seagull is was flying. For Sania Mirza it is probably to be the best tennis player in the world. For me, I still don’t know.

Yes! I’m talking about the purpose of life. Why do you live? What is it that you wake up every morning for?

The Bible says to know it you’ll have to find and search for Jesus. For God. Because he created you. You cannot ask a tool what is was invented for. You can only ask its inventor what and how it to be used if you want to use it. Similarly, you cannot ask yourself what were you created for. You can ask it only to your creator.

The Geetha says it is to strive. To strive to compound yourself with Him. This striving can be anything you do. It may be by following religion, by worshipping what you do or else by pursuance of knowledge.

All these arguments are based on one common assumption. They’re based on the assumption that God exists. What if I challenge this assumption? What if I ask “where” is god? Or “is” there a god? Is there an answer?

There is an answer. But to find it one would have to widen his vision. His perspectives need to broaden. What he must ask is not “where” is god. What he must ask is “what” is god?

Magnificence, elegance, beauty, excellence are all but unfulfilling to answer this question. To put into a broader light just think which people do we compare to god? I’m sure no Indian has ever not heard the phrase “if cricket is a religion Sachin is god.”
Wonder why no other player was ever compared to God?

A woman with emphasized reproductive organs and an inviting charming face is often compared to a goddess. On porn sites she becomes “Sex goddess.”

Just go back to your nostalgic anecdotes. You will find one place where you felt your insignificance. It might be on a sea cliff watching a sun set. It might as well be in the sky when you peeped out of the window of your plane while flying or may even be something as small as someone’s eyes. What was it that you felt in those moments?

Imagine a place of all marble. White, smooth, natural marble. Mountains of marble all over you, where there is lonely you and silence. Silence but for the stream of white water that is flowing right in front of your eyes striking its own musical notes on your minds instrument. And you are there all alone on a moonlit winter night. How beautiful do you think the place will be? You must have begun wondering whether the place actually exists. The answer is it exists. Where, is a matter incontexual here.

If you have never been to a jungle, then open the closest encyclopedia on nature that you find. Watch images in it. The birds, animals and other creatures. The stalagmites and stalactites and other naturally occurring structures.
From Sachin’s and woman’s comparison to god and goddesses let us move on to idols of gods and goddesses. What do you find? An elephant headed human with four hands? A ten handed and serene faced lady riding a tiger? Royal looking blue bodied male sleeping leisurely on a huge snake?

What are all these? What do they signify? From Sachin to goddess called women, from women to nature, from nature to idols. They are all but various perceptions of perfect “somethings”.

No other batsman was ever compared to god. It’s the ease, the excellence, the elegance of Sachins strokes that gives him such a stature. Not every woman is compared to a goddess because not every one’s reproductive organs are almost perfect. They represent her stature because she has always been respected, worshipped and celebrated for her ability to give birth. To give birth to a new one is godly for this nature to go on.

Every creature, every sight, every feeling of vastness, of perfection, of ease and excellence in itself is god. God is not a different entity. He is not a mere person like you and me. And to excel, become vast, to expand and to exhibit excellence in something is what we must live for. To strive to be one with Him. With his excellence, His vastness, His ease and his perfection. This in itself is the purpose of every life. How to do it is what is left to us. Sports, Music, Literature, Art, Work, Be a good father, Mother, Sister, Lover is all it takes.

Prince…

Experience of life!

2005-12-14T11:00:00.001-08:00

I once wrote “Life is nothing but addiction to experiences.”

Do I still agree with it now?

Yes!

Only the vision has widened. Perspectives broadened.

Addiction to experiences makes you desire some of them. You “want” them to happen to you. This wanting is labeled as dream or fantasy.

To make these dreams and fantasies come true in real life, one forms strategies. Adopts schedules. Works day and night. In short, chases his dreams.

But all dreams cannot be chased. You can’t make everything happen to you. Some dreams require fortunes, some luck and some remain desires and fantasies only. Not everyone is born with a silver spoon in his mouth. Not every one sleeps with a beautiful woman. But all have these desires. What we forget is that a desire may be a driving force, motivating factor of an individual but it does not always imply his or her ability to make it come true.

But have you ever wondered what’d happen if there’d been no dreams and desires to chase? No experiences?

The world is life. It exists for you only until you do. Once you perish the existence of world to you is insignificant. Life is addiction to experiences. You live only until you experience or desire to experience. What then are experiences?

Experience is nothing but motion. Something that makes you mentally or physically feel better/worse or same/different than what you normally are. To keep your mind and body in motion of better and worse, good and bad, same and different and at the same time achieving your goals is the purpose of one’s life. The moment your life becomes monotonous, same you lose the “experience of life” and that experience is what each one of us is here for.

Prince...

Price of Innocence...

2005-11-04T15:58:00.000-08:00

“How are you vakil-saheb?” asked me the younger brother of my village’s sarpanch as we settled on the cowdung smoothened floor of his vast-spread Patil wada. Sambhu Patil as he was called. Sambhu, a short nick for his long name “Sambhaji” and “Patil” that meant “sarpanch” in marathi. I had long gotten my job and left the village 18yrs ago. I was an engineer and not a lawyer. But people of this village refuse changes. I was always supposed to be a lawyer because a farmer’s son is supposed to be a farmer here, no matter what he actually does and I was vakil saheb because my father was a lawyer.

“The harvest has been fine this year” he said just after calling the mother of his children to serve us with the raw milk that had touched only the glass we were to drink it from before being poured into our mouths. With those droplets of milk slid through the age-old memories of our childhood and youth. We as children had splashed the water in the village wells together, chased all creatures from chameleons to wolfs that came to eat sugarcanes in his farm and had also stolen onions, carrots and what-not from farms not our. As youths, I was the one who introduced him to whisky and he “tamasha” to me. We were so close that he would have made me suck that milk right from the buffalo’s nipples if he could, for fresh raw milk at sarpanch’s place is supposed to be an honor.

As the course of discussions moved towards more recent happenings, we came back to our own families after having completed a circle of politics, harvests and people. I was about to leave when suddenly I saw Radha standing at the door to touch my feet. She was wearing a mangalsutra and sindoor on her head. I was shocked for she was merely fifteen! She had not even completed her first 10 years of education and she was already married! How could my friend have done such a thing when he was known to be the most prudent man in the village? I had to get to the bottom of this, I thought. And so, I asked Sambhu. He didn’t seem very pleased but he couldn’t refuse for I was too close to him for it.

“My elder son has turned nineteen” he said, “but is very well built and seems to be handsome. Brides from very wealthy homes had already started asking for him. A party from neighboring village was ready to offer 1 lakh as dowry and was also from a political background like ours. You know how bhaiyya is. He thought it would be politically very advantageous to marry him in that household. It would wipe one of his very close competitors off and that party also had some far relation with us. He had to be married and it had to be them.

It was about the same time when Radha had her first menstrual cycle. What would people say if I married off her brother keeping an of age girl at home? After a little search we found this party from Shirdhon. They had everything; a well to do house hold, some land in the town and a handsome young lad who’d read till the 14th grade. We married both, my son and daughter, on the same muhurta.”

“Oh! Then howcome she’s here today? Has she come for Diwali?” I asked.

“No” said he, “she will be here only now, always.”

I did not understand but he knew he had to explain from the enquiring look in my eyes.

“She ran away on the suhaag raat”

“Did they beat her? Or demanded more dowry?…what?”

“No”

“Then…”

“He was continuously trying to touch her breast. All night she kept getting away and he kept coming closer. He asked her to remove her clothes. She thought it was all ugly and inhuman of him to treat her that way. We all tried to explain it to her but she did not understand. She is so scared, she refuses to go back.”

“Don’t worry” I said, “she will go when she knows what that was.”

“She will never know it saheb, that boy has already remarried and she is to stay with us here always hereafter.”

“You can remarry her!”

“No saheb, who will marry a girl who has spent night with a man? she is to be here with us, always!”

For the first time in 30yrs that I knew Sambhu, I left his place with a lump in the throat, tears in the eyes and nothing but sympathy in my heart for Radha, for I alone could do nothing, change nothing.

Prince...

That's Life!

2005-10-29T13:49:00.000-07:00

It’s almost midnight. Jim is lying in his bed. He’s not trying to sleep. Who wants to miss that precious moment in his life when he’s turning 18? He too is all willing to get that license and hear the roaring engines firing at 90 miles an hour as he rides his first car on the freeway. He’s sure Sarah will sit beside him clinging to him tightly before they have their first kiss and as of now he’s clutching his cell phone tightly hoping it to ring and beep as his peers call him in a few seconds.

Jim isn’t any different from you and me. He’s just like all of us and questions like “why do we live?” or “why are we born?” don’t haunt him. He considers them weird and unanswerable just like you and me. They are for him unimportant. Though he doesn’t think about them do you know what he’s doing as he’s lying there? He’s thinking about how much freedom is that stroke of midnight going to give him. He’s thinking about his future and the new experiences it will get him.

We all come in this world without much of a choice. We can’t choose our parents, we can’t choose our appearances and neither do we have a choice of our innate qualities or tendencies whether good or bad. But there’s one more fact. We don’t have a choice to die either. Most of us are too afraid of committing suicide. In other words we just don’t have the guts. So here we are. Left with decades and sometimes a century of time with not much of choice and so we are forced. Forced to live.

In these decades of forced vacation called life, we start finding ways to spend it. Some people use their qualities and tendencies. Some develop them from others. We label these ways in several forms. Some call it love, some profession, some passion and some…don’t know what!. In short we all have to find something to do because ultimately we have no choice.

Long journeys have to have halts and breaks. So we go away from our passions and have experiences. People don’t get addicted to alcohol or drugs. They are not addicted to sex. They get addicted to experiences of them. There are so many experiences here. Everyone is addicted to a different experience. This addiction to experiences is what we call life. And its so strong to get rid off that by the time we can only form a list of these experiences, our time here is over! And that’s life!

Whether having these experiences is good or bad, or what leads to heaven or hell isn’t for us to decide. If god exists, he will take care of it. Make justice. Find the best way to spend your vacation here. That’s all. Don’t ever cry about yesterday. Be happy because you have today. You may not have a tomorrow to think about it. Some people die in a day, some in weeks. Some old, some young and no one knows when the time is over.

THPrince

Why...?

2005-10-05T08:44:00.000-07:00

Why is she always a princess?
And he a knight?
Why does she always sleep on rose petals
While he has to fight?
Why has she to be rich?
And he always poor?
Why she b'ful and he always sore?
Why are her parents always obstinate?
Why is he always so passionate?
Why does his heart always break?
Or if it doesnt...
Why do they die at their love's stake?
Why isnt romance ever any different?
Are common hearts any less fervent?
Why do they exchange always their hearts
When it all happens in the mind?
Oh! I'm tired! Why dont the author something better find!

The Happy Prince

Have You Ever....?

2005-10-05T01:56:00.000-07:00

Have you ever smelt roses with you first breath on a winter morning?

Have you ever slept gazing at the wonder of stars on a clear night with a vacant
mind…oblivious of time?

Have you ever slept in your mother’s arms at 17 feeling the warmth of her body and that
that moment should never end?

Have you ever stood at a cliff in twilight in windy dusk feeling the poverty and wealth of
your being at the same time?

Have somebody’s eyes made you feel tremendously joyful and sorrowed at the same
time?

Have you ever loved something without knowing and wanting to know its reason?

Have you ever felt like possessing, owning and setting something free at the same time?

Have you ever felt pleasure spending nights mesmerized in your past?

Have you ever felt the desire to desire nothing?

Have you ever…Felt God?

The Happy Prince

Why Law...?

2005-07-31T10:28:00.000-07:00

“Don’t leave the school until I come to take you!” warned my mom for the zillionth time that day before she scooted back home after leaving me at my school. Monday had seen me leaving school to head home without the knowledge of any teacher or peer. When I reached home my mother had actually rung my dad up to “look into the matter!”. She was more worried about a five year old strolling on the streets to find a way home than about my 1st standard classes that I was, almost regularly, bunking. That day, even after evading periods that used to be only 35 minutes long I had the misfortune of compulsorily attending a lecture that was, I think, at least a century long. Those periods at school, I thought, were at least of 7 different subjects but this single lecture was only about “the incidences that could happen to lonely strolling five year olds on the city streets.”
I was warned that day that I just could not walk alone on any street! Huh!

Tuesday was even more boring for me…not only was I dropped at school again but I also had to find some other way home at recess; and this time evading the teachers and lobbying someone else in class to come with me so that I wont be “alone on the streets!”

I have a considerable influence on ordinary looking girls even today. It was the same in those days. I chose a girl on the second desk of my row to try the trick. I knew she would come with me with a little pleading and that she stayed close to my house. I gave my best and ALAS! She agreed and we flew again in recess without being spotted even by the gate peon !

When I reached home that day I was actually pasted, grounded and experimented with all sorts of things that ostensibly good moms and dads do. I did not understand what had I committed that was so serious. “I did not come alone!” I had kept protesting at my dinner time trial. It didn’t bother me that my mom was cross or that dad was worried. I actually thought the day had been far more thrilling and filled with challenges than the boring school where we were taught about road safety rules only to not be strolling on them!

What had bothered my parents this time was that “my presence” was actually so contagious that it could prompt even others to join me. My mom actually had to go to the girl’s place and apologize.

And now my mom’s line from “don’t come alone” had metamorphosed to “don’t leave the school until I come to take you.” “My god!” I had thought. “Now I actually had to design a way for mom to come and fetch me!”

At about the same time the next day my mom somehow got a message that I was sick and my teachers waited for my guardian’s arrival to fetch me. It was delivered by my senior [seniors were allowed out during recess.]

My mom arrived at school only to witness me running around with my peers in the middle of a chor- police game! When she thought of the message being delivered by my senior and not by any person authorized by school and also that my latest “Sachin Tendulkar” note book was missing she understood everything! Now that she had come I insisted her to take me home and she did!
The moral of the story is not that I am shameless and keep doing things even after being pasted or in spite of being kept grounded. It is that I can be good lawyer because I could find loopholes and arrange get aways in my mom’s rule even at the age of five! That is why I chose to be a lawyer!…

The Happy Prince

Being Great!

2005-07-31T10:18:00.000-07:00

On one of the dreary of many afternoons that I spent in the beautiful land of Goa, I settle or rather roll on my divan to stretch for my remote. As I switch the television set on and travel through the mazes of different television channels, a face suddenly catches my attention. Its deep blue-green eyes and the organ which to us is known as lips but on it was like the petals of rose and the opulence in the over all look, the elegance of manner and style of its talk and gestures incept in me, an emotion, which as I had then experienced and as I still recollect, was as novel to me then as the newly grown small silky hair of fur between my nose and lips. I did not then know that I was to be obsessed with that face for about 5 more yrs of life and I was also confused as all adolescents are…whether that emotion was love or attraction? Though love, as I today feel, was close to the meaning I would love to convey but attraction sounds to dry…too creepy!

This woman, who ever she was had without her or my knowledge created a bond in my heart which I am to hold to for the rest of my life as have previous generations held on to Madhubala and Marlyn Munroe. As by description, it by now must have been clear that this woman was none other than Aishwarya Rai but the motive of this article is not repeating the cliché which has already carved its niche in the 33% male hearts all over the world. This article is not about the beauty’s beauty but about greatness as it will divulge in the later half!

Recently a question was raised on the forum when Aish’s wax statue was incepted in madam Tussaud’s hall of fame that whether she was “great enough” to be in that hall….And me, to whom that woman means much more than just another painted face of Bollywood and who gave me that first instinct in that age which so required for a boy to turn into a man, stood against her without any hesitation. The gist of my argument being “she was not great because her beauty was nature’s gift to her as are my pimples to me! There cannot be anything great in it…she certainly deserves the credit but only for maintaining what she has got!” said I. But later I really wanted to ask myself what exactly greatness was? And what it meant to be “great enough”? These are the questions that I will try to answer in the later half of this article!

Nigara Falls or Mount Everest for instance too are natural, and as a matter of fact they don’t even have to maintain themselves! But still I feel they are great…”great enough” to be even in the seven wonders of the world. But why then is this beauty who appears to have been born out of ivory and rose leaves not great? ...even after maintaining herself so long?

Akshay Kumar’s Kicks, flying kicks especially are popular and so are Jackie Chan’s stunts but why then is Bruce Lee greater than these too?

Gandhiji was great and “great enough” to be anywhere on this earth, it was not his appearance or actions that made him great…it was the compound of elements, of those principles which he thought of and did preach. Which he, himself, with all religious fervour, practiced. It is not just the philosophy. It is the eccentricity in it that worked for him. If it had only been for the philosophy in it, I do not think that he’d achieve what he did. The fact that it worked for a nation’s independence is what made him greater.
Bruce Lee was fast, furious and it required special cameras for his stunts to be shot, as they were, in those days too fast for the then existing technology of cameras. It was him through which the common man saw and experienced what karate or martial art was though with some exaggeration. Jackie Chan or Akshay Kumar are only the copies, replicas or remixes to suit the modern times the act for which Bruce Lee was renowned and hence they do not command the same respect.

Greatness, I believe is a combination of eccentricity and respect. Eccentricity that commands respect rather! It is in the context in which one has been eccentric and has been respected for it that matters. It is a matter of being “great enough” that how one uses his virtues of eccentricity to command respect. Aishwarya Rai though is eccentric in her beauty, has failed in commanding that respect through her actions, through her profession…she is not great and neither “great enough” but certainly and only beautiful!