I Quit, Smoking

Yes, I quit smoking from today. And no, that's not me smoking. That's some hawt chick having a drag. Why did I quit smoking? Well, from today onwards I have joined a gym. And after the first session, I realized the effects that smoking had on me.

Okay, now that's not me exercising either. That's again some hawt chick doing the drill. I know that the best exercise is to have sex. According to Forbes, having sex three or more times a week, men reduced their risk of heart attack or stroke by half, a vigorous bout burns some 200 calories which is about the same as running 15 minutes on a treadmill or playing a spirited game of squash, the pulse rate, in a person aroused, rises from about 70 beats per minute to 150, the same as that of an athlete putting forth maximum effort. Hmmmm...Did I just hear someone say "Oh shit, I am going home"?

But it's not that easy to get laid. Atleast not for a guy, that too with a girl. So I decided to join a gym instead, that would be a more legal way to shed some kilos. But after the first day, I realized that its taking me a lot to go through the regime because of my smoking habits. I am getting tired too easily and have to breathe really hard to keep up the pace.

So, I quit smoking.

Hey Teenu, hope you are reading this cause this one's for you man!

The Real Beauty

I got back from my vacation day-before-yesterday and when I checked my mails I found out that Indiblogger has come up with a new contest, a contest where Yahoo! and Dove has teamed up and asked us to blog about what real beauty means to you.

What real beauty means to you! Whatever you mean by that, I mean everyone knows what real beauty means to you. It's Kim Kardashian, right? Ummm, depends. It might mean Meg Ryan too. As they have wisely said, beauty lies in the eye of the beholder.

For some people, beauty means a voluptuous woman with a pretty face. For some it means just a pretty face. For some real beauty is skin deep, and people have started taking this aphorism so literally that they have started using Botox treatment. What they don't realize is that aging gracefully is also a beauty in itself. Again, for some, beauty might mean love of a mother, and for some, like Wordworth, who were born loners, beauty would be the solace they find in nature and their imagination.

But if you ask me what beauty is, I would say beauty is none of these. Absolutely none. Real beauty is the meaning hidden in the following lines by Nida Fazli.

Ghar se Masjid hain bahut door, chalo yu kar lein,
Kisi rote huye Bachhe ko hansaya jaaye.

You don't believe it? Well, they say that a picture is worth a thousand words, so here goes one.

Do you really think anything can be more beautiful than that? Children are the most beautiful of God's creations, a smiling one like her, a real Angel! Innocent, oblivious to all the cruelties of life, the smile of a child can win the heart of even the most ruthless savage alive on earth. Haven't we heard about babies being raised by animals who are carnivores by nature? Even they understand the beauty of a child. Children, whichever caste, creed, color or sex they belong to, after they are born they all speak the same language, the language of innocence.

Even the beauty of a mother fades in front of the beauty of a smiling child because the child is what make the mother, a mother. You have often heard of a child abandoned by their mother and father, but have you ever heard of a mother or a father abandoned by their baby? Probably that's why its written in The Bible,

Now they were bringing even infants to him that he might touch them; and when the disciples saw it, they rebuked them. But Jesus called them to him, saying, "Let the children come to me, and do not hinder them; for to such belongs the kingdom of God. Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it." - (Luke 18:15-17)

That's why for me, a smiling child, a laughing baby is the most beautiful thing in the world. When I wake up every morning to some of the harshest realities of life, one smile from her makes me forget all the pain, one smile from her makes me realize that life is beautiful.

But how often have you tried to make a child smile? On the road, in the bus, on a train, have you? You too can make a child smile. Trust me, you won't have to be Mother Teresa to make a child smile, you can start off in much simpler ways. Want to know how? Try Akshaya Patra, The Missionaries of Charity, World Vision or maybe the UNICEF. So try and lend a helping hand to them, or even simply buy an ice-cream to a street-kid on a hot summer day and see him/her smile. Believe me, that smile would make you a lot more happier than you were.

So make a child smile. That way you too can make this world really beautiful.

P.S.: If I happen to win this contest, I would donate a part of the prize money to Akshaya Patra to feed a child. So if you are an Indiblogger, please click on the this link to vote for this writeup. In case you are not an Indiblogger member, please take care minute to register yourself (it hardly takes a minute and trust me you won't repent your decision, I don't) and then vote for this article.

Blogger Meet at Calcutta (courtsey Indiblogger and Akshaya Patra)

Finally, Calcutta gets it's own Blogger's meet. Thanks to Indiblogger and Akshaya Patra (partners). The details are given below.

Venue:
CII
DC-36, Sector - 1, Salt Lake City
Kolkata - 700 064
Landmark: Behind City Centre

Date and Time:
Sunday February 20, 2011 - 12:00 PM, Kolkata
End Time: 5:00 PM

We already have 44 attendees as of now, hopefully the number would increase soon. Even Renie Revin (from Indiblogger) would be attending the meetup, so you would get a chance to talk to him in person.

The best part is that this meetup is on a Sunday, so I guess many of us would actually be able to turn up, unless we are too busy planning for Valentine's Day.

If you are planning to join this Blogger's meet, you can register yourself here. If you intend to promote this even, you can do so by either posting about this on your blog, tweeting about it with the hashtags #AkshayaPatra and #IndiCal. I am sure we all would have a gala time over here. Now only if Renie and the Team would relieve us from this nail-biting suspense and reveal the agenda for the Blogger's meet.

I would attending this meetup. If you would like to, you can contact me through my email (rajtilak.bhattacharjee@gmail.com), or by adding me on GTalk (rajtilak.bhattacharjee), or by sending me a tweet @rajtilak, or last but not the least, you can leave a comment on this post.

Hope to see all of you there on Sunday!

Earth Hour : The Real Picture

When I woke up, the house was in complete darkness! I raised the curtains so that the I can see the switch in the light of the street lamp, and that was when a panic struck my heart. The whole area was in darkness. I could not see anything. What happened? Where did everyone go? What happened to the lights? Is it a power cut? Is it an alien invasion? Hell no, it's Earth Hour!

I have been hearing about Earth Hour almost everywhere, newspapers, televisions, magazines, Adsense! But last night when I saw it flashing on Twitter, that's when I closed TweetDeck, turned off my computer and looked within myself for an answer. The question was, what's this Earth Hour thing all about? Is it about Global Warming? Is it about keeping a check on the carbon fuel emission? Or is it about Amir Khan, holding his candle in his hands, urging us to switch off our lights for a whole of 60 minutes?

Well, to be very honest with you, I could not find an answer. Simply because I could never find a logic in switching off my lights for one hours and sitting their in complete darkness, all the while feeling like a complete moron. Just like I could not find a reason why should I caste my valuable vote in the elections, although even my tea company started preaching me about it. So there must be something that I am missing, otherwise why would so many people all of a sudden be so very much interested in saving the earth from global warming for just one hour, even though throughout the year nothing is being done about this very same cause. And then I realized that that something was a goal propagated by the mainstream media to serve a purpose, their purpose.

The truth is that this fear of global warming is being fed into us. It's being given colors and is being molded into shapes of huge proportions by the mainstream media. Why? Because bad news sells. And the mainstream media would sell anything they can get their hands on. That is why they are creating this media-hype around Earth Hour, because they want it to sell.

Don't believe me, see this detailed study from from researchers at BusinessandMedia.org titled "Fire and Ice"(PDF). Through their own words in print it reveals this constantly shifting focus of fear in major media.

In 1979, Newsweek had run a cover on global cooling, the coming ice age. There was a cover story in the magazine Science News with a picture of a glacier, totally surrounding Manhattan with only Empire State Building protruding.

The New York Times headline on May 21, 1975 "Scientists Ponder Why The World’s Climate Is Changing; A Major Cooling Widely Considered to Be Inevitable."

Go back to March 27, 1933 and the Times had another bundle of pre-packaged perception to seduce the public with. "America’s Longest Warm Spell Since 1776; Temperature Line Records a 25-Year Rise."

And less than 10-years before that on September 18, 1924, the headline read; "MacMillan Reports Signs of New Ice Age."

Also, a 2003 study by Harvard and Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics in "20th Century Climate, Not So Hot," revealed that "the 20th century is neither the warmest century nor the century with the most extreme weather of the past 1,000 years". Two institutions that could hardly be called biased and would never gain anything by spreading global warming.

So where is global warming? What did you say, there’s a crack in the ice in Antarctica? Have you ever been to Antarctica or seen pictures of it on TV? If you did you would see that there are thousands of such ice shelf cracked and are floating on the water. It's a natural phenomenon, not global warming for Jason's sake!

And first it's time for you to decide, is it global warming, global cooling, crack in ice-shelf or unethical marketing, what is the Earth Hour all about? But honestly, would the mainstream media let you decide what it actually is, it won't. It always tried to shift focus where it wants to, not where reality is. It's they who would decide for you, every time, in every part of your life. That's why this sudden invented crisis, and that's why all these "oh! we are in trouble" and "oh! the world's gonna end, so you better hold your candle like I do" ads, and that's why this sudden invention of Earth Hour, even though the same goals could have been achieved on Earth Day. But for that one needs good intentions. And the mainstream media is anything but good intentions. All they need is followers. Followers like you, do-gooder. People like you who think they are serving a cause because you want to do something good, all the while helping the mainstream media serve it's own purpose. They want you to follow them, not the good cause but them. Yes, follow us, switch off your lights, do what we say, because we need you to tune in to us tomorrow, same time, same channel. And while you are sitting in complete darkness feeling like a dork, the mass media outlets and politicians are laughing all the way to the bank.

If you really want to do something, then don't wait for any Earth Hour or Earth Day. Do it today, do it now. Good causes don't need to wait for any particular day, hour or minute. Neither does your soul needs to be awakened by any celebrity or advertisement. If it does than it's better off sleeping. Probably it needs some good sleep to shake away the dust of immorality over good cause so that it can distinguish between the good cause and sleazy marketing. All I am asking you is not to support a farce like Earth Hour. It's just an over-hyped propaganda for the mainstream media to make money and publicity out of it.

[P.S. Sources and further readings : Is Earth Hour the Ultimate Tribal Seduction, Earth Hour! Are You Kidding Me?, Global Warming Swindle Documentary, Save the Planet :: by Late George Carlin]

Red Nose Day

Today is Red Nose Day. Simply put, we take some fantastic fundraising in schools, offices and homes across the land, mix it with the nation’s favorite celebrities getting up to all kinds of mischief, sprinkle a new Red Nose (or three!) across the entire UK and add a cracking night of comedy on BBC One to make Red Nose Day the phenomenon it is. All this funny business unites the nation in trying to make a difference to the lives of thousands of people – and the best thing is - it works! This year, to be part of Red Nose Day 2009, you just need to Do Something Funny for Money!

Comic Relief was launched on Christmas Day in 1985, live on BBC One. At that time, a devastating famine was crippling Ethiopia and something had to be done. That something was Comic Relief. The idea was simple - Comic Relief would make the public laugh while they raised money to help people in desperate need. Before too long, Red Nose Day was created and the first ever event in 1988 raised a staggering £15m.

The eleven Red Nose Days have so far raised more than £420m. That money has helped, and is helping, to support people and communities in dire need both in the UK and Africa. The most important thing to remember is that Red Nose Day changes lives - thanks to the money you raise. Whether it’s supporting orphans in Africa who’ve lost their parents to Aids, or helping older people in the UK who are abused by someone they should be able to trust - Comic Relief will use the money you raise to help people in desperate need. Your cash will give thousands of people who face discrimination, injustice or grinding poverty the chance to transform their lives.

Red Nose Day 2007 - The Big One - really did live up to its name. Everyone in schools, offices and homes across the land pulled out all the stops to raise cash. You name it, they did it! And a big thank you goes to each and every one of them for raising a record breaking £67,726,409 to change lives! From the moment the iconic London Eye turned red, the entire nation went Red Nose Day mad. Over six million people bought our biggest Red Nose ever, our two fantastic singles, featuring Girls Aloud and The Sugababes, and Peter Kay with the Proclaimers hit the top spot. millions of viewers tuned in to watch the big night of telly - which featured Catherine Tate, Borat and Rick Gervais to name but a few. It was a massively successful Red Nose Day campaign.

Good news is, Red Nose Day is back and it's today! To raise the funds online simply head over to the Red Nose Day site, or you can download a fundraiser form from here. But remember, you need to Do Something Funny for Money!

Freedom of Speech

Today I came across a very interesting article, thanks to @shahpriya. And it worries me a lot, both as a Pro Blogger and a citizen of India because tomorrow the same might happen to me! Who knows, it might happen to you, or anyone else for that matter! And the irony is that it was on 26th January, the Republic Day, on which the voice of an ordinary citizen of India was suppressed. The article raises a question about our right to free speech in this country. And it also raises the age old question, have we really achieved independence?

I have got a few suggestions for both Ms Dutt and NDTV:

1. Are you aware of our Fundamental Rights as an Indian citizen? Do you realize that we live in India, where, according to the Indian Constitution, the Right to Free Speech is one of the Fundamental Rights guaranteed to every citizen of India? If you are not aware of these then you do NOT have a right to be in India.

2. Do you even know what a blog is? Do you think it is just a series of lifeless web pages that you try to spice up by hiring a designer to attract advertisers? Please stop living under the rock. A blog is a place for the Netizens around the world to voice their concerns. You have blogs of your own, it makes me wonder what do you use it for!

3. Do you think it is very easy to suppress the voice of an ordinary Netizen like Chyetanya Kunte just because of the fact that it does not have it's own Political Union to back it up? Think twice. A student journalist James Earl was arrested by Egyptian police for photographing an anti-government demonstration. He just had time to send one word from him cellphone – “ARRESTED”. That’s all it took to get him free. His phone was connected to Twitter, and his words reached his friend in US through that. And within no time they informed the US Embassy, his home University of Berkeley and the Associated Press. And in case you were living under the rock for the past few decades, Twitter is a microblogging service. This is just the tip of the iceberg of the kind of power this blogging media possess.

4. Stop being like an emo kid, coming back from school crying just because someone said something about you. Grow up! A personality as great as Einstein had to face immense criticism in his time, he remained unmoved which speaks volume about his character.

5. If you want US to hear your opinion then you should also be ready to hear from US. If you want US to listen to your criticism then be prepared to hear criticism from US. Journalism is not just holding a microphone and asking stupid questions like "how do you feel about your husband's death?"! It works fine for gaining TRPs (temporarily, mind it), but it takes a lot more than that to become a journalist.

Last week I was reading an article on Amit Verma's blog about how Mint had barred Vir Sanghvi from exercising his Right to Free Speech. In Vir Sanghvi's own words:

I will not write for a publication that censors its columnists and denies them the right to free speech while writing long, impassioned pieces about the freedom to criticize others from the Prime Minister downwards. All of us exhibit double standards to some degree. But Mint's hypocrisy takes my breath away.

But atleast Mint was sporting enough when Vir openly attacked them on his own blog. They did not go to Vir Sanghvi to ask him to delete posts and write apologies. I understand that the verbiage used by Chyetanya Kunte was not quite professional, but who is to decide that? And not always would I like to voice my opinion in a suave manner. So please stop being a bully, be open to criticism. And if you cannot, then stop this farce in the name of "bringing truth on our screen", cause all you would be doing is selling news.

Freedom of Speech had always been under attack from various sources in the past, but it hurts all the more when it comes from people whose battlecry should be Freedom of Speech. So my request to all the Netizens, both from India and abroad, it's time to raise your voice. If you have a blog of your own, then please put up this button on your blog and write a post on this unfortunate incident. Please, spread the word, otherwise, you might be the next Chyetanya Kunte.

Voice your concern, grab this button:

<a href="http://www.rajtilak.net/"><img border="0" src="http://rajtilak.bhattacharjee.googlepages.com/free.png" /></a>

Mumbai 26/11

Check out the WTF news of the day:

But Kasav is given enough to sustain him. Breakfast comprises tea and five slices of bread; lunch is five rotis, dal, sabji, yoghurt and papad; there is afternoon tea and dinner is rice, dal, chana-masala and papad.

If this is what you need to sustain then why is the average Indian not getting this? Who gave the right to these politicians to waste the tax-payer's money to feed him a King's supper? Why is he so important to us that we are making news out of him and in a way giving him the same limelight for which they did this bastardly act! Some people might say that we can gather information out of Kasav, I say what information? There whereabouts? And what then? We had all the information from intel even before these terrorists came down to India, what did these politicians do with those information? Some went on to form new coalition, some went on to solve domestic problems, some went on to suggest forming of a central force (as if we would attain moksha by constituting a central force) and some just wiped their nose with that intel report and slept over it while Mumbai burnt.

For quite some time we have howled and cried over the fact that how shameless these politicians are, and how they need to do this and how they need to do that. Yet we have failed to notice that how shameless we have become over the centuries that we have stopped protesting against these politicians. Have we forgotten that it was not these big names which got us our freedom? It was those nameless faces that got us freedom, and if we can do it then we can do it now. We can and should drag these politicians down to the street and make them live the life of an ordinary man so that they can feel what fear of life is, what pain is. It was not any of these politicians or their families which were destroyed in the Mumbai massacare, it was us, the ordinary citizen of India who suffered, who were killed. Had it been any of these politicians been attacked then we would have seen actions being taken against these terrorists. Mr Manmohan Singh, it's very easy to talk about forming central forces and blah, blah, blahs when you get to ride a bullet proof hooter attached vehicle guarded by dozens of security, come down to the street once and then we would listen to your big-talks. But it's us who needs to remind these politicians that they cannot just get away by holding meetings and forming useless agendas and coalitions, they also need to act!

Now coming to the forming of a central force of defense, how on earth would you explain your incapabilities as a Prime Minister when the commandos were sent late because they were not given their choppers that they had demanded, would that incapability vanish into thin air just if you form a central force? How would you define your inabilities as a Prime Minister when your ministers failed to heed to the warning of intel, would just reshuffling the cabinet suffice? You could not figure out how incompetent these ministers were until Mumbai 26/11 occurred, so would you wait for another mishap to see whether these new set of ministers are equally incompetent or are they even worse than their predecessors? If you want to try out this trial-and-error method with us, the citizens of India being the victims every time while you sleep peacefully night after night then better come down to the streets with us, sans all the grandeur that you enjoy being a Prime Minister and then you are free to try out anything, be it forming a central force of defense or reshuffling the cabinet. And what about the Robin Hood of the Marathi manoos, why is the Robin Hood so silent? Why haven't we heard anything from him? But as we already know that no news is always good news, so he is better shut up than talking his usual crap.

Netizens, we as a responsible citizen of India can make a lot of difference. I still believe that the pen is mightier than the sword, that's why the Government tries to hush up the media first during these kind of mishaps. So write, if you have a blog, write a post protesting these grotesques butchering of India and it's citizen by our neighboring country while we keep on ranting about peace talks with them. If you have a social network account, be it Orkut, Facebook, MySpace or anything, inform your friends to voice their concern against not only these terrorists but also against these corrupt politicians. Cause remember, it's your country and it's you who is responsible for saving it. And this is time you start it all by yourself, else you never know but the next victim of this blind jihad might be someone from your family.

Keep The Candles Burning...

[Thank you Abhijit Da for passing on this mail to me]

He is the "manoos", he is the busy "mumbaikar"… he is the youth….he is the aged…he is the oppressed… he is the angered… and today he is just an Indian!!

Thus, with threat of 4 kgs of RDX seized at CST (which later turned out to be true), with the threat of some terrorists still moving about scot free in the neighborhood, with the threat of a political unrest…he comes out from the safe recluse of his daily routine and starts walking through the hustle and bustle of the CST station and Hutatma Chowk, crossing the Flora Fountain, to reach one destination… The Gateway of India!

He must have received a sms or a mail which asked him to be present at the Gateway of India for a cause that affected him…his family…his co-passengers….people he had known.. people he had not known… but today he was there to prove his existence amidst the ocean of humanity by the sea, for his country.

"His Country", a sentiment long publicized to earn money for film-makers, used to gather votes by political parties, a sentiment he felt has been drubbed within the pages of the History Book.

He took to the streets out of compulsion, on the 26th of July, the 11th of July…he was compelled to stay back home on the 27th of July… but today he had had enough.

Suddenly I notice, that this "he" was in fact "everybody"….

I did not have a choice but, be a part of this "everybody"….

Well then… be a part of this "everybody", reach the "Gateway of India" and do what?

Hurl slogans to demand resignation of politicians? Demand to curb all facilities for politicians at the cost of public money? Scream slogans of death for a neighboring nation? Try to establish that we are living in horrific conditions where we do not have a way out? Demand better training and equipment to fight terror for our police?

A group of people even went to the extent of demanding the "return of bargirls"….who, they proclaimed, could protect the city better than the politicians we had elected.

The agenda was however, one that of paying homage to the deceased in the blast & shootout and condemn terrorism.

Whereas, Slogans that raged on like a storm were blowing fire… the fire of frustration that this city and this country had endured for years… All of them spoke of hatred…they were all protesting against the system that has cut them into many pieces.

As on observer and a participant one opines that there were more to this gathering than just giving way to frustration.

Maybe we did not realize, but probably it was the first instance after the Indo-Pak war that, a non-political mass of people had gathered out of their own will, essentially non-violent, fuming and fretting with anger, chanting "Bharat mata ki jai" and "Vande Matram" making the opportunists tremble with the echoes.

Maybe after a long time the common man had decided to take the onus on himself to fight injustice, not waiting for somebody else to do it for him.

Maybe after a long time, the old and aged would not dare question the patriotic sentiment of youth in this nation, who had worked hard to convey messages of protest against NOT BEING INDEPENDENT in their own country in this gathering.

Maybe after a long time somebody was asked to tear his clothes and make a TIRANGA out of it, when in his spree of enthusiasm he almost tore a flag when he tried to get one for himself from a lady distributing the same at the venue.

Maybe after a long time, the mob did not want to stand in front of the media cameras installed wherever possible, such that their folks back home get to catch a glimpse of them at the venue….Today everybody wanted to move ahead… they knew that they were not here to have a nice little picnic going.

Maybe after a long time such a huge mob had conducted themselves so well in a gathering where the situation could have gone out hand at any moment.

Maybe after a long time, people wanted concrete results arising out of this statement of protest! They did not want to forget this bruise in a short while……….

As the night progressed, the crowd thinned… the wind started blowing stronger by the Arabian Sea….

A small tree at the Gateway seemed unruffled with the wind……. Where a hundreds of candles burnt around the bark of the tree… a small bouquet of roses was kept with a message…."Dear Patriots… We the people of INDIA salute you"

A little kid was seen bending down on the sand, beside the tree, trying to light yet another candle there… His father was helping him out against the strong wind that had started blowing.

My appeal to all my fellow countrymen…. This time…..let us keep the candles burning!!!

Army of Woman - Be Aware

October is the Breast Cancer Awareness month, and with one out of every eight women suffering from breast cancer, we should go ahead and help as much as we can to find a cure for Breast Cancer.

A movement has already been started by the Love/Avon Army of Women. So if you would like to participate in that please go ahead and read about the Army of Women in Internet Trends. Hope you would lend a hand.

Can't We Celebrate a Shay Day in Our Lives?

At a fundraising dinner for a school that serves children with learning disabilities, the father of one of the students delivered a speech that would never be forgotten by all who attended. After extolling the school and its dedicated staff, he offered a question:

'When not interfered with by outside influences, everything nature does, is done with perfection. Yet my son, Shay, cannot learn things as other children do. He cannot understand things as other children do. Where is the natural order of things in my son?'

The audience was stilled by the query.

The father continued. 'I believe that when a child like Shay, who was mentally and physically disabled comes into the world, an opportunity to realize true human nature presents itself, and it comes in the way other people treat that child.'

Then he told the following story:

Shay and I had walked past a park where some boys Shay knew were playing baseball. Shay asked, 'Do you think they'll let me play?' I knew that most of the boys would not want someone like Shay on their team, but as a father I also understood that if my son were allowed to play, it would give him a much-needed sense of belonging and some confidence to be accepted by others in spite of his handicaps.

I approached one of the boys on the field and asked (not expecting much) if Shay could play. The boy looked around for guidance and said, 'We're losing by six runs and the game is in the eighth inning. I guess he can be on our team and we'll try to put him in to bat in the ninth inning.'

Shay struggled over to the team's bench and, with a broad smile, put on a team shirt. I watched with a small tear in my eye and warmth in my heart. The boys saw my joy at my son being accepted. In the bottom of the eighth inning, Shay's team scored a few runs but was still behind by three. In the top of the ninth inning, Shay put on a glove and played in the right field. Even though no hits came his way, he was obviously ecstatic just to be in the game and on the field, grinning from ear to ear as I waved to him from the stands.

In the bottom of the ninth inning, Shay's team scored again. Now, with two outs and the bases loaded, the potential winning run was on base and Shay was scheduled to be next at bat. At this juncture, do they let Shay bat and give away their chance to win the game?

Surprisingly, Shay was given the bat. Everyone knew that a hit was all but impossible because Shay didn't even know how to hold the bat properly, much less connect with the ball. However, as Shay stepped up to the plate, the pitcher, recognizing that the other team was putting winning aside for this moment in Shay's life, moved in a few steps to lob the
ball in softly so Shay could at least make contact.

The first pitch came and Shay swung clumsily and missed. The pitcher again took a few steps forward to toss the ball softly towards Shay. As the pitch came in, Shay swung at the ball and hit a slow ground ball right back to the pitcher. The game would now be over. The pitcher picked up the soft grounder and could have easily thrown the ball to the first baseman.

Shay would have been out and that would have been the end of the game. Instead, the pitcher threw the ball right over the first baseman's head, out of reach of all team mates. Everyone from the stands and both teams started yelling, 'Shay, run to
first! Run to first!' Never in his life had Shay ever run that far, but he made it to first base. He scampered down the baseline, wide-eyed and startled. Everyone yelled, 'Run to second, run to second!' Catching his breath, Shay awkwardly ran towards second, gleaming and struggling to make it to the base. By the time Shay rounded towards second base, the right fielder had the ball the smallest guy on their team who now had his first chance to be the hero for his team.

He could have thrown the ball to the second-baseman for the tag, but he understood the pitcher's intentions so he, too, intentionally threw the ball high and far over the third-baseman's head. Shay ran toward third base deliriously as the runners ahead of him circled the bases toward home. All were screaming, 'Shay, Shay, Shay, all the Way Shay', Shay reached third base because the opposing shortstop ran to help him by turning him in the direction of third base, and shouted, 'Run to
third! Shay, run to third!'

As Shay rounded third, the boys from both teams, and the spectators, were on their feet screaming, 'Shay, run home! Run home!' Shay ran to home, stepped on the plate, and was cheered as the hero who hit the grand slam and won the game for his team.

'That day', said the father softly with tears now rolling down his face, 'the boys from both teams helped bring a piece of true love and humanity into this world'. Shay didn't make it to another summer. He died that winter, having never
forgotten being the hero and making me so happy, and coming home and seeing his Mother tearfully embrace her little hero of the day!

Delhi Blast Updates : The (Blame) Games Begins

The rigmarole of our respected Prime Minister and others in authority has already started to hide their shameless faces from the citizens of India. As expected, in accordance with the protocol right after the blast Mr. Manmohan Singh had called in a press conference and condemned the blast in a very serious note and appealed for calm. My question to Mr. Singh is, when would you stop having a laid back attitude towards the terrorist activities in India and make some moves towards eradicating them rather than calling press conferences and condemning the attacks after every blast? Why are you not on the roads already like the head honcho of your party who had visited the Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital to enquire about the condition of those injured in the serial blasts in the national capital, aren't you concerned? Or do you think that you are incapable of performing all your duties alone, so why not Mrs. Gandhi take over half of it? Is it that you have better things to do because of which you could not take out time from your busy schedule to visit the citizens of India who had nominated you, I know the Indian politics has lost all it's morals, but atleast go and see those people who have suffered in the blasts even if for political mileage. It's time you stop throwing your witty one-liners at the opposition and prove that you are better than them, if at all you are better than them. Mr. Manmohan Singh, stop acting like a rubber stamp to Mrs. Gandhi and do something.

Mrs. Gandhi, thank you very much for visiting the Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital to enquire about the condition of those injured in the serial blasts and thank you once again for describing the serial blasts as "dastardly" act and for saying that those behind these blasts would not be spared. But when will you party really act instead of you and your Prime Minister Mr. Manmohan Singh bigmouthing about how these acts should be condemned? It's time you show some efforts instead of just "voicing" your concern against "dastardly" acts life the Delhi blasts. You did the same during the previous blasts and we see no improvements. Jaipur in May, Bangalore and Ahmedabad in July and Delhi on Saturday, different locations, but all the attacks carried out by the same outfit, possibly by the same bunch of terrorists. What have you done or what are you doing about it instead of just starting off with a new blame game everytime a blasts happens? Everytime a blast happens, the intelligence department blames the police for poor investigations and the police in turn blames the intelligence agencies for not providing them with advance information about possible terrorist strikes. Why don't you stop the blame game and act?

Now right after this the government machinery will feed the spineless media with the news of the high spirits of the Delhites and how they managed to courageously survive the aftermath of the blasts. That's exactly what the government did after the Mumbai blasts, after the Bangalore blasts. Ladies and gentlemen, think about it for once about the Mumbai incident. Serial blasts in trains shook the heart of Mumbai, there was chaos everywhere, people were in a hurry to go back to their respective homes, there were big traffic everywhere, call centre and BPO employees as usual didn't get an off so they had to come to office, there were people crying everywhere. This was the scenario in Mumbai after the Mumbai blasts. Do you find any high spirits in that? I was once a Delhite myself, and I don't find any high spirit other than in the liquor shops in knowing that there had been serial blasts at the place where my friends, relatives, near and dear ones are living and there are red alerts everywhere. I am sorry but I could not buy that piece of news.

Now as usual the government would try to act that it's acting against the terrorist activities in India, some innocent people would be arrested and would be made scapegoats and ta da, you got your villains ladies and gentlemen. It's time to rejoice till the next blasts when again we put our foot in our own mouth over how those people we caught were not the ones we had planned to nail down. Would the government stop this tomfoolery and do something about these terrorist activities? TO keep yourself updated you can subscribe to The Chronicles of R and you can send in your responses either through the comment in the posts or you can email me and I would try to show the government what the citizens of India really feel about these blasts by publishing those emails or a part of them on a separate post.

An Independent India

India have come a long way since the day it had achieved independence and we all know that we had to pay a very high price in order to achieve this independence. We were taught this in our moral science, social studies and history classes when we were in school. But the question is do we as Indians realize the whole truth of this burning sentence? It was not achieved by us, it was not achieved in a day. But do we realize these seldom thought about facts?

Whenever we think of an independent India and our freedom fighters we think of Mahatma Gandhi. The Father of our Nation. But was he the sole person responsible for achieving this great feat? He was not. Neither was it our Chacha Nehru alone who did this then seemingly unachievable task. There were numerous others. Some of them are well known to us like Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose, and a lot many others who we don't even know about. What have we done for them? What have we done for those numerous unsung heroes who gave up their lives to make their dreams of an independent India come true, or those brave mothers of those numerous martyrs who sacrificed their children so that we can get a taste of an independent India? All we did was to allow shameless politicians to show their ingenuity on our hard earned money. All we did was to satisfy the egos of certain political honchos by going to the Gandhi Ghat and pray as if to show our sincere reverence when the whole country is burning with famines, communalism, riots which were created by these politicians at the first place.

This makes me think what is the celebration all about, is it just to show once a year how proud we are of our country and then forget everything the next day so that we can carry on with our daily lives? Have we ever thought what have we done for our country? We have not because we haven't really done anything for our country to make it feel proud of us. But if we really want a free India, an independent India, we need a change. Else we would fall back into the chains of slavery once again, but this time it would not be the British. It would be the filthy politics of India which would once again bind us in it's dirty chains of slavery.

Happy Independence Day to all of you. Vande Mataram.

An Evening to Remember

Yesterday for the first time I recited my poem in open public, thanks to Srijan. Let me first give a little background about Srijan. Srijan - which means 'creativity' in hindi - is a poetry organisation founded by Basant Rungta and some of his like-minded friends. Srijan began it's journey with a vocal recital by Pandit Ulhas Kashalkar on October 31, 2000, on the terrace of a building at Lansdowne Road. According to Basant Jee, which is how we Srijanites like to address him as, is "for artists, of artists and by artists" where small groups of artists, without any bias for any art form or expression, could meet to communicate and for companionship and inspiration.

I was invited to Srijan by Inam Hussain Mullick, who is a renowned poet and a very good friend of mine. I joined Srijan on 25th February, 2008 on the occasion of their numerous meets at their new address at "Rooftop". It was an wonderful evening. One of the most beautiful thing about Srijan is that everybody is welcome there irrespective of the fact whether they are new in the field of literature or they are veterans like Joy Goswami or Srijato Da. In that way I must say that Basant Jee's dream had come true of creating an unbiased organisation.

On 3rd of August, 2008, that is yesterday, Srijan had organised an evening called "An open House for Poets" where all Srijanites were invited to read out a selection from their poetry. It was anchored by Rimi B. Chatterjee and Srijato Da. Their were numerous Srijanites present many of whom had come a long way just to participate last evening. Many of whom were present not to read out their poem but just to listen to others read out their thoughts. I went their along with a friend of mine who also happens to be an Alumni of JUDE. I read out my poem The Child of The Moon and paid my respect to R by dedicating my poem to her which she truely deserves. It was a mesmerizing experience in itself, reading out my poem front of eminent personalities like Basant Jee, Rimi Di, Srijato and countless others.

It was a very wonderful evening which we all enjoyed thoroughly, thanks to Srijan and Basant Jee, Rimi Di, Srijato Da and everyone present there.

[Picture courtesy Mr. Basant Rungta : Financial Express]

Breast Cancer Site

The Breast Cancer Site was founded to help offer free mammograms to women in need — women for whom early detection would not otherwise be possible. Since its launch in October 2000, the site has established itself as a leader in online activism and in the fight to prevent breast cancer deaths.

The issue of breast cancer is painfully close to many people's hearts. Each year, 211,000 women are diagnosed with breast cancer and 43,300 die. The Breast Cancer Site provides a feel-good way to help promote awareness and prevent breast cancer deaths every day — through easy online activities.

With a simple, daily click of the pink button at The Breast Cancer Site, you can help provide mammograms to those in need. You would not have to pay anything. Mammograms are paid for by the site's sponsors and distributed by the National Breast Cancer Foundation, Inc.

Access to mammography is a critical issue. Breast cancer is the leading cause of cancer deaths among women ages 40 - 55. Early detection is the key to survival and better treatment options, and mammography is among the best-known methods of early detection. Yet, 13 million women in the U.S. over 40 have never had a mammogram.

Make this site a success, help early detection and prevention of breast cancer.

Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster

The Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster was founded by Bobby Handerson in 2005 to protest the decision by The Kansas State Board of Education to require the teaching of intelligent design as an alternative to biological evolution.

In an open letter Bobby makes a parody of the intelligent design theory by professing belief in a supernatural creator called the Flying Spaghetti Monster which resembles spaghetti and meatballs. He calls this the Pastafarian theory. The Kansas School Board responded which proves the The Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster is a success.

Below is the link to the official site for the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster, you might like to go through it. Who knows you might become the true believer of His noodly appendages.

The Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster

Think!

On New Year's Eve this year, a mob of 80 men(?) molested two girls in Mumbai in front of their husband and brother while the police kept a keen watch on the law and order of the country to protect the respected citizen of India. I usually tend to ignore or overlook these stories in the morning newspaper if and when I read it, which I don't do too often these days as I find that part of my morning ritual to be really out of taste. But I simply could not help write about this incident cause that would be a crime in itself.

I would like to point out a few things which would make you think twice before you start singing the National Anthem the next time to prove the we are proud to be Indians. Have you ever noticed what kind of monsters we have become running after money. While those two women were being (un)dressed like a freshly killed chicken to be had by those 80 odd men who wanted to have a time of their life, two photographers from a leading newspaper were busy taking snaps of the incident. They din't even bother to even try and save those two women, why would they! After all it was just another news flick for them which would earn them a few quick buck. They had a point, it was a huge crowd of 80 men and they were only two. There was a big difference in numbers. My question to both of them is, do you guys consider yourself to be men? Would you guys have done the same if it was you own mother or sister or wife? I would not like to go media bashing as I don't believe media as such exist anymore. It's all about money, brother!

Secondly, have you ever considered how hollow our law and order system is that nothing was done about those 80 odd men(?) other than filing a lawsuit against them for which they were granted bail and set free while that lawsuit got buried underneath piles of papers of cases which are pending for God knows how long! And you wish to seek justice? The Police Commissioner was supposed to have said that ''these things keep happening and the media should not make a mountain out of a mole hill.'' Surprised! Don't be, this is just another facet of "independent" India. Today when ministers howl and cry about cheerleaders showing skin on the cricket field which is supposedly a blow to the Indian culture where we worship women, they tend to forget that in the same cultured India women are being gangraped, molested, abused where people are going scott free. How easy it is today to gain the limelight!

In the end I would like to point out another fact of our life which would earn me the boos of a lifetime, when would we men start to think from our head and not from our dick! Why can't we simply learn to control our urge to use women to be a house bound unpaid maidservant who will also provide lipservice and sex. Next time you proudly declare yourself to be a man think twice. Are you man enough to respect women?

Let the War Begin

The war continues. And we are all fighting in it. But against whom are we fighting? We are fighting against Medusa. Her face changes every time. Hunger, poverty, corruption, debauched politics, casteism, misbelieves. She grows another head as soon as we curb one of her ugly heads. But she is not undefeatable! And its time for a change. We need to fight her together. Cause often we forget that united we stand divided we fall. So let’s not awaken patriotism within us on the national holiday. Lets be a patriot on each and every day. Cause we are the soldiers of our country. The fate of our country lies in our hands. Those millions of unsung heroes of this land. So, let’s make a difference. Let’s fight for a cause. Let's fight for India.

Red

Green, land
Owners
Buried, ridden
People, common people.
En masse
Fighting against Them
And They are colored, with Red
Taken
Guns, shells and cartridges.
Protests, false fragile forgotten protests
While we sleep with our
Window curtains raised

Crimson robes everywhere,
Monks
Bleeding in their color
Turning Red
The whole place
Tanks
Roads blocked
Big achievements
And we still sleep with our
Window curtain raised.

History repeats itself,
They are colored!

Nandigram

[Dedicated to those innumerable unknown citizens of Nandigram who taught us the language of protest that was long forgotten]

Realizations, when came
The time had already slipped
And thrown me towards
The begining of the end
Of losing my religion of land.

Mistakes, I had listened to
The music of change while
Watching the kaleidoscope of
The stars while I happily
Slept with my eyes wide open!

Consequences, I saw the ground
Beneath my feet. Slowly being
Taken away, ripped apart with the
Swiftness of quicksand while I
Watched the sky for signs of change

Aftermath, The endless fight with
The Darkness began. I held my ground
With all my soul’s strength and began
To wait. The wait for Solomon and his
Sailors to find the promised land.

Sad state of Bangla Rock

Song - Hurricane
Year Released - November 1975
Singer - Bob Dylan
Genre - Folk Rock

A protest-song sung by Bob Dylan which was co-written by Jacques Levy, about the imprisonment of Rubin "Hurricane" Carter. Here Dylan makes his voice heard about the false trail and conviction of Rubin, describing it as an act of racism.

Song - ?
Year Released - Was to be released on 2007
Singer - ?
Genre - Bangla Rock

A man named Rizwanoor Rehman was murdered in 2007, there was lots of controversies related to his death. Till date numerous questions remains unanswered. But the saddest part is that the so-called Bangla Rock genre could not produce a singer who could create one Hurrican out of Rizwanoor.

Many of the post-modern Bengalis swear by the names of these so-called Bangla Rock bands as if they are the Gods of Rock. Here too a burning question remains unanswered. Why are these self-proclaimed Gods of Rock incapable of producing a song which would even remotely touch the passion of Hurricane? Are they too afraid to raise their voice?

If thats the case then why should we call it Bangla Rock? Cause Rock as we know is not just a genre of music. It's a way of life. But Bangla Rock, as its singers portray it, is a bunch of long haired punks trying to play a metal guitar producing something which dont have a remote resemblance with Rock but can be easily termed as utter cacophony.

Is this what Bangla Rock is all about? Is this what we have made out of Rock?