Hope for my fallen land.

The dawn shall break, into a sunny balm
For can the haze eclipse, the sun and the soothing calm;
The hopes of a new day, are humming a tune
The cuckoo is calling, the nightingales croon.

Peace in a paradise, so natural it seems
Like love to a mother, to sleep are the dreams;
Muskets will rust, in shall come a wave divine
The tides will turn, the state will shine.

So bright'll be the sheen, of this land unknown
The bards will praise, in a happy intone;
Your wish will flower, all tender and bright
The future beckons the morning light.




--
GKT

Thoughts on a Park Bench


The calm of the dawn, filtered through the dew
The breeze rustled, was in a world anew.
It's been a while, since i went out for a stroll
Sitting on a bench, I stared at them all.

The morning smile of the flowers, still waited for the sun
The buds danced n the wind, jostling with fun,
She was listening to a song, sat near the orchid's pot
Her eyes were closed, she was deep in some thought.

Her dimples, one could notice from a distance far
She needn't smile, for she has the radiance of a million star.
The furrows of her brow, curved in an arch so delicate
Her gait was svelte, she wore no trinket.

Watching her ponder, on a question unknown
She was fencing with ideas, she just had sown.
The wind still blew, the morning turned bright
She was lost in herself, I was lost in her sight.

A blurry image, a gracious frame
Twirl of the lip, the smile of a dame.
In the valley so green and vast,
So pleasant, i thought it would never last.

Hand in hand, we passed through the meadows
No hunger, no pain, till we reached the shadows.
No words, no stare, no smile we shared
Yet, the silence, the calm, the longing flared.

We walked for miles, till the end of the day
The sun set in, ahead the darkness lay.
She turned her face, and looked me up close
Her lips quivered and a sweet song rose.

The drops of rain, suddenly, trickled from my chin.
I opened my eyes, saw kids in a merry din.
Running around or taking some shade
Few scrambled, few still played.

I looked to the orchid and the grass so green
The place lay barren, she couldn't be seen.
I craned my neck, and looked around
The crowd had thinned, nowhere was she found.

Months have passed, the seasons have changed
The orchids have dried, but the thoughts have remained.
Still wonder, what the song was about
When we stood in the meadow the darkness shroud.

In thoughts long gone, we had clasped our hands
We had walked for miles, we had walked those lands.
How was the voice, how the tune followed,
Did she sang an elegy, a ballad or an ode.

GKT
(The narrator has gone to park, one early morning after a long time. He sees a girl sitting somewhere and lost in her thoughts. He is enamored by her, thinks about her and is lost in his own thoughts about her. His chain of thoughts are broken suddenly by morning rain and when he comes to his senses, she is nowhere to be found. He wonders what the song was. )

What does it mean to be an Indian?

To be an Indian, is a question so great;

With myriad colours and unimagined shade.

A billion stars dazzle your eyes.

You stare blankly, get a happy surprise.

The culture so hybrid, the civilisation so true;

So many religions, so many hue.

Dialects and cuisines, legends abound.

The spirit so similar, yet difference unbound.

What is means to be Indian is my quest and itch.

For, to be an Indian, is so complex and rich.

--

GKT

Poem: Flight of Disaster

Flight of Disaster


It was cold, he was walking in the night;
The rain splashed, oh what a sight.
The brim of his hat, stringed with droplet,
Diamonds hanging, pearls in a trinket.

Was humming a tune, of love and loss;
His voice was singed, with rejection and morose.
Had a stubble, beard overgrown;
He had brought the pain on his own.

Love is a dragon, to harness how hard we try;
It breathes fire and it flies so high.
As soon as it reaches, the layers of sky;
The lungs all choke up, it's hard to fly.

Like the Icarus on feathers of wax, he flew;
The wings melted, neared the sun as his passion grew.
Tumbled and fell, the self shattered;
His will broke, heart still rankled.

True say the wise, of legends of yore;
It is hard to love and not get sore.
The tune got over,but he hasn't stopped to yearn;
The clouds move away, but the road took a turn.

--
GKT

Of Dilli Haat, Bunker and Green Tea...

The last two days have been busy in its own ways. I had taken a two day leave, so that I could be alone, enjoy some long neglected book-reading, sleep and laze around, sip my bitter green tea in the balcony and watch some fantastic movie. Looks like, did some of all the things, I could think of.

Also went to the famous Dilli haat, bought few tribal painting. Will be framing them and putting them up in the drawing room with my long delayed project of putting up Lennon. Let’s see, how it pans out.

Now here goes my book review of Bunker 13 by Aniruddha Bahal

Just a backgrounder: The book was taken by one of my friends for the fiction section/ Indian Author book review for the insti’s session. He put up a glowing review, mostly because he was impressed with the supposedly graphic and visual details of the narrator’s sexual escapades and his frank womanizing throughout the book. But then, the novel was seconded by another friend, who happens to be a great reader and who simply termed the book as path-breaking as far as Indian authors are concerned.

The book is written by this journo of Tehelka fame, who was able to bring the whole sting-journalism into India, and his investigation still goes down into the annals of sting-operations as one of the most clinching and true in its character. It is the authors first book and deals with the life of a double-agent, the infightings and neck-deep corruption in Indian armed forces, the exploits of drug and sex; all culminated in a racy thriller replete with sexual encounters and author’s philosophical mooring about these subjects. To add to it, the story is narrated in a distinctive second person style, wherein the narrator keeps on calling himself ‘you’

‘You have soldiering boots stuck between your teeth so you don’t maul your tongue…’

The book starts with his training as a paratrooper as part of some journo-stuff for army, his dangerous friendship with an army Major, his tryst with drugs and skydiving together. The plot keeps on giving tid-bits of the narrator’s personality and his past life. The story in first part, when the plot keeps on getting clearer is funny and satirical. The second part tells the tale of the narrator’s life in the army camp, his active participation in the cross-border skirmishes and still keeps on flashing back to his past, just to bring more coherence in the plot. The writer changes gear in third part; he ceases to be sardonic, pulls up the pace of the plot, uses his past explanations to rationalize sudden turns of events and then in a last battle between the major and the narrator, ends the plot on the borders of Kargil war. In the whole process, the focus on two character’s : that of MM, the protagonist and Major Rodriguez, his nemesis is in focus, both men of similar dispositions and tastes, yet on the opposite sides due to reasons out of their hands. The narrator is almost empathetic to his nemesis’ plight and understands the psyche very well.

Another point that the author tries to make out from the book, is some kind of psychoanalysis or rather say, his own ideas about the psyche of a long standing soldier on the border, who is bereft of most of the worldly comforts, always scared of his dear life, but still hanging around and fighting the Mossies (the term used for terrorists in the novel), not out of some long sustained patriotism but more of the fear and livelihood. The author has also tried to weave the story, albeit with some success and little failure, the story around his own life; that of a scandal-splashing journo, who uses his might and brains to sting the dirty game of politics.

Overall the book is an interesting and worthwhile read, an entirely fresh wave of English writing in Indian settings, brings out entirely new topics for an Indian author and tries to create the aura of Catch-22 in modern India. The book is well-researched, probably shows the author’s mastery over the intricacies of drug snuffing and its different kinds, his understanding of the war-conditions prevalent on the LOC and a lot more. His allusions to swastika in one of the love-making scenes probably bring out the narrator’s fascist attitudes into focus.

Now brace up for some criticism: I felt the story loses steam in last 40 pages, wherein the plot becomes more action packed with incidents, twists and turns; the whole focus on satire, on his philosophical reflections on war, women, and sex – everything loses and like some typical thriller, the ends become dearer to the author. The author should also have done justice to Shomali and to the major a bit more, because they are equally complex characters, which should have been given more space of their own. They bring entirely new perspective to the whole drama. Also, somehow more depth in all the women characters, even Karnam would have been welcome. I always feel that some complex lady makes these novels all the more interesting. J

For the read, I would strongly suggest, Guys if you are missing some genuine, well-researched Indian fiction written from an insider’s perspective, go for this book. As far as the sexual and graphic details are concerned, I googgled it and found that the novel won ‘Bad sex in fiction’ award by Literary Review magazine.

A word for Anirudh S Pulipaka and Sindhu B, who went out for some clonial-time Tea Tasting tour  in some tea planter’s club in Darjeeling today, in the course of their Bharat Darshan Tour.

Sip your greens, in the field so green;

Gaze the stars, feel the eternal sheen.

Watch out North-east, for my friends are there;

Give them the scenes, behold they lifetime stare.

--
GKT

And thus, I spake again.

It has been a while since I put up something on this wretched blog. With time, comes an acute sense of postmortem of everything we had thought earlier, specially those which are still preserved in some form of writing. We heave them up, read, trying to recount the state of mind we were in when we had written it and thus begins the twin process of aahs and oohs. At the same time, we are reminded of the sheer immaturity or rather say, shortsightedness in our writeup, the kind of dreams we had built in those bygone times and at the same time we feel happy about how much we have progressed, as if the sands of times stuck together by the efforts of our actions have made the presently castle, we are presently living in.
A lot of water has flown, since the last time I blogged. Those were the heady college days; I was in fourth semester and had no clue as to what I wanted to do in future; may be get a sound job; enjoy somewhere, the newly found financial independence, may be splurge on whatever I might have found fascinating in those days. Now, when I look back, the mixture of regret and achievement fails to recede. Those were the good ol' times, when we were young, we were poor (on shoestring budgets would be more appropriate to say) and we had all the times in world to ourselves. We were naive, we were kids and we had not much to regret for the past. We used to hum the 'Nowehere man' song, and think of the lead voice singing as ourselves, with much the same emotions, with all our friends gathering around on one or the other instrument. In the hindsight, whenever I try to recapture that imagery, I find the oddity in it; The band, when they sang the song were well on their way to super stardom and yet claimed to be nowhere men walking in the nowhere land. Four years down the line, when I have proved my worth( to a certain extent), have chosen an exciting career path to follow, gained some insight into the working of real world; can it be that same sense of rudderlessness, which still drives people like us, even when they are well entrenched in their career paths and have a lot to loose if they are disenchanted. I am saying this, not because I have any qualms as to my current position; I am saying this because I feel that the sense of nothingness, at times, overpowers me. I relentlessly try hard to break my head above water, and still the sour taste of dissatisfaction lingers. May be that sense of nothingness, which the song discusses is the feeling of discontent, which has, since time immemorial, driven human needs to greater heights. It might me a repressed zeal of ambition, to try things anew, which might give better results in future. Again, this thinking of mine, might be the result of a positive mentality, on which we always try to end our notes. Or may be the whole thoughtfulness in dissecting the various meaning out of this song has been the nastiness of an under-worked brain, trying to build some mental jugglery, so as to keep it active...
On this note, I end this post. may be the rust on the language will dissolve with time, for the last four years have been spent mastering the 60 markers in optionals and guessing what might be asked from the current political scenario of the world. May be, now when I start writing more and more; as well as read more and more; the thoughts will start sprouting out, with fruits afresh and varied in design.

(A small try at some pretty low grade impromptu poetry)


The hue was red, with the sprinkled dust;
The path lay barren; all haze and mud.
Chic-chi chi-chi; the wheels squeaked,
Alone trudged the cart, the bullocks heaved.

In lay the traveller, all alone and sad.
Had her picture in his eyes, he was going mad.
Her eyes were limpid, all clear and bright,
The smile on her face, In his dreams alight.

How do I tell her, that my love is no farce;
The fact that she loves, a man with grace and art.
How will she know, that I love her no less;
And I can be the love, she must possess.

Alas! the sun sets in, the sparrows fly,
In comes the shadows, the wind is dry.
The traveller rues; thinks of his love and plight.
The sleep comes over, she'll linger in dreams tonight.

--

GKT

VISION 2020

“That future is not one of ease or resting but of incessant striving so that we may fulfill the pledges we have so often taken and the one we shall take today. The service of India means, the service of the millions who suffer. It means the ending of poverty and ignorance and poverty and disease and inequality of opportunity. And so we have to labour and to work, and to work hard, to give reality to our dreams. Those dreams are for India, but they are also for the world, for all the nations and peoples are too closely knit together today for any one of them to imagine that it can live apart. Peace is said to be indivisible, so is freedom, so is prosperity now, and also is disaster in this one world that can no longer be split into isolated fragments.”
Jawahar Lal Nehru’s speech on 14th Aug,1947.


When we talk of a vision for 2020, these words from one of the greatest stalwarts of Indian politics still drive home the need of urgency we have to show if we truly want to catapult our country on the path of prosperity. Space is limited and therefore rather going into the problems we face today, I would present what we need to do for the vision to be achieved. I propose a four point solution.
India needs to be more proactive, aggressive, and precise in its policy making both internal and external. For years we have let the Kashmir issue and other border disputes hang around generating bigger problems of terrorism, the naxalite and separatist movements have gathered momentum in the country and we have downplayed our part at world politics scene the recent example being inadequate lobbying for Sashi tharoor by Indian government and its lackadaisical and hugely impractical approach on Middle-east issue. Once we get down to solid policy making to tackle these problems, they will themselves take care of several civil right issues, communal violence, terrorism and destruction of property issues.
The next important aspect is to make executive and legislative machinery ably supported by an impartial judiciary that could implement these policies efficiently. Wiping out corruption and raising the moral ethics by instilling them since elementary schools may help us .Besides, vast overhaul in the current bureaucratic machinery and a slew of anti-corruption and anti-defection laws are needed if we have to establish a system catering to the welfare of the nation .Though, I am being idealist in this regard but if we revert to the tried and tested Gandhian principles and try to instill in youth from a much early age, then we can succeed immensely.
The third point is weakening the link between development, energy exploitation and environmental pollution. By and large, these three have been closely complementing each other since industrial revolution started but a time has come when depleting energy resources and worsening environmental situation is a cause of concern.And here Science and technology comes to our rescue .We need to develop energy efficient, environment friendly substitutes and bring environmental consciousness the world over. As far as economy is concerned the growth in manufacturing and service-intensive market has been commending but the cause of concern is the slump in agricultural and a fear of eventual decrease in production as cultivable land is decreasing .There is an urgent need to restart green revolution in the country and use land to its maximum extent. While the agricultural production we have to oversee the fact that this should also not mean driving forests and wetlands to extinction.
The fourth and final point remains the development of society. It is a well-proven fact by socialists and economists alike that education is the key to social upliftment. But as P.V.Indiresan points out in one of his essays “with the society increasingly being educated, people become choosy as far as employment is concerned .They prefer to wallow in genteel poverty rather than take any job that does not meet their sense of dignity. So the task of creating employment in India is more onerous than it be.” So increasing education also means we will have to work hard providing adequate employment opportunities and still providing enough labour to the industry .Because if the labour becomes costly , the industries will tend to shift away from our country and that will result in lesser white collar jobs ,lower economic growth and so on.So in a sense we will have to make a perfect balance in this regard. When a country adopts capital or liberal economy the policy makers must ensure that the trickle-down effect of the benefits of growth is optimum and not unbalanced .And this will be a deep cause of concern in the days to come when our economy is growing incessantly. Infact, the affects of this economic phenomena can be seen even now in terms of raising inflation.
So, in a manner everything is interconnected as far as development of a society at every front is concerned and one event triggers the other. But what is inherent is the urge to work efficiently for the betterment of the nation and extremely wise policy making for these are the factors that will help us in securing our vision 2020.

Globalisation or Americanisation:-Which is the real phenomena

Talking of today’s world ,the influence of USA and its hip-hop culture can be seen everywhere .With the end of Cold-war and collapse of USSR, as may some distracters point out, the rate and extent of Americanization has increased. But I don’t think it is very true .What we are witnessing is no invasion of American culture, rather Globalisation seen from an anti-american, pro-heritage-preserving perspective, something our so-called custodians of India-values love to show-off and fret upon.

A case in point is a recent economic slump in Indian agriculture. This year the growth in agriculture is slated to be around 2.5% (last year it was 6%) and this has been largely attributed by scientists due to a weak al-nino factor prevailing in south-America this year. This shows us, how the fate of India had become increasingly intertwined with the vagaries of world environment as well as politics .Even the inflation we are experiencing at present is being attributed to the inflation prevailing across the world .With Indian Economy increasingly becoming capitalist and the government playing minimal role, the recent cultural shock that we are experiencing now was bound to happen in India.

Circa 1965, USA was in the same situation with beatlemania a craze among the youth .Their maddening craze even provoked concern for US youth from the then President Nixon .But now we recollect it as nothing but a mass fan-frenzy and not the domination of British culture over there.

Like people in India, there are people in USA who are deeply worried about the increasing eastern influence on their culture and economy .Today, Yoga is a craze in USA and art of living seen a profession in which Indians master. Now the situation is such that a new tech company starting in Silicon Valley is not considered “promising and credit worthy” if it does not have an Indian connection to it .What is it: Call it an Indian invasion of USA? True, the manner in which USA is invading countries and controlling world politics is envious and a cause of concern but the fact is that this is partly borne out from the fear of insecurity and the thought that the third world will take over reign in days to come.

My final point is that the change in India’s policy making both in economics and foreign policy in the post-cold-war world is not pro-US .Yes, it looks like pro-US but the fact is, it is pro-globalisation where Indians can mingle with the rest of the world more freely .Even Vimal jalan underlines this fact that the change from license raj to liberalization was inevitable otherwise India would have gone into debt death-trap.

" Nothing is so admirable in politics as a short memory. "

Introspective viewpoint.

" Life is something that everyone should try at least once ."

Henry J. Tillman

This happens to me after watching such an extra-ordinary movie every time ,a feeling ;a sensation near heart.I cannot describe it but it looks like at such moments ,nerves find a better use .They connect our senses,soul and brain intermittently ;into one and the mind begins to feel what it sees .In such moments of introspection ,when we are going through a whole gamut of emotions ,we realize the fact that all is,but farce .And yes we are into this world ,as I said in a previous blog of my mine all programmed by the almighty to perform a set of pre-destined task … to which we wrongly associate ourselves .But yes God has given a great gift to us … to identify beauty and appreciate it .

That sensation keeps closing in .The tinge in the nerves around the heart throbs as if it were singing the song of life .You feel the futility of success and failure .The only thing remains is to appreciate beauty and feel the creator’s warmth .

Yes beauty is … what we call art (this is at least what I feel ). Me and Suyash were talking earlier before seeing Sawshank redemption ,…. Almost on the same lines . Like how language and beauty is connected .Yes sir … language is nothing but beauty given a vocal feel .We speak articulate sounds ,we write something that is phonetically symmetrical and relative to our imagination and express our senses .

A great scientist once said "An equation that is not beautiful cannot be right .True is indeed ,this saying where this great physicist was referring to symmetricity and the innate feeling of subjectivity we have when something appeals to us .Science is , the art of getting to such symmetric truths in nature and that using tools of mathematics and analytical reasoning .

I guess I am digressing from the topic I started .The movie I saw pictured few of the basic essence of human character .:hope,integrity and effort .To preserve your integrity is the most difficult task a persons has to .We have to be ready for any Kafkaesque turn of events that may ruin our life .But mind you its our responsibility to keep the integrity the grit to succeed in the most devious and hopeless of circumstances intact .And hope ;it always gives strength ,like a tonic it revitalizes you after every defeat and brings an element of asceticism in you .

Well Anks may disagree with me if I say I am an optimist .Anks !!!certainly I won’t disappoint you .I am not an optimist .. but sir I am quixotic as far as grit is concerned .Even if I loose ,even if I am beaten black and blue ,even if my spirits are drowned in the slimy waters of a trench… I won’t loose the sense to fight albeit in a more stoical fashion .I may not be positive or spirited enough while I am fighting but sir give me a chance to fight and I will fight with all my energy, concentration and faith intact .To me , the taste of failure is intoxicating, the sense to succeed almost maddening .It spurs me higher towards my flight … like the youthful Icarus to his foray towards the sun .The only difference is that I don’t have wax feathers burrowed from someone else rather I would love to fly on wings carved out of my own effort .Yes this is true that our journey is pre-destined … every priority pre-fixed but we have the way all to ourselves .On this road of life we are treading on we can add some colours to life by appreciating beauty and trying to develop it through art .And such movies give me strength .. the strength to fight against all odds .. the grit to succeed.the chutzpah to admire and feel beauty .To be spontaneous ,and without any facade .

The pace of our lives are working in a clock-work precision .Lets make most out of it and try to see this world through a new frame of mind and lets not attach more importance to the goal than to the time we spend in achieving that goal.