LoC : Love over Country

The news that tennis ace Sania Mirza is all set to marry ex-Pakistan cricket captain Shoaib Malik on the 15^th of April this year has caught everyone by surprise..But at a time wen Indo-Pak relations r on the slide down, this news is a welcome relief..There is nothing like more civil society contact and across-the-border romances and marriages to ease tension between the two generally hostile neighbours..It has been seen that in societies where there r a greater number of inter-faith or inter-ethnic marriages there is less likelihood of ethnic violence or tension..This theorem has proved itself right in some of the most divided and violence-prone parts of the world such as the Balkans..

But there is more to this Sania-Shoaib engagement..It goes onto show that borders, even the most contentious such as the one dividing Pakistan and India, r essentially artificial constructions..That is the reason this article is titled LoC(Love over Country)..Sania and Shoaib most probably met for the first time in Australia wen Sania had jst crashed out of the Australian open and Shoaib’s team had faced defeat at the hands of the Oz...They kept on meeting in Dubai most probaly and there, it seems, their luv blossomed..

The Sania-Shoaib engagement has of course attracted attention because they r extremely popular sports entities..Sports has traditionally been a barrier breaker between two nations..Even wen relations hav been rocky, Cricket has always been able to bring the people of these two rival nations a tad bit closer..The warm reception that the Indian cricket team got during its tour of Pakistan in 2004 stands out..Shoaib, showing true sportsman spirit, seems to be well aware of the role of sports in bridging the boundaries of the two nations..That’s y he has said that he would be the proudest husband if Sania bags a medal for India in the 2012 Olympics..

Along wit sports there is another medium that has been playing a very important role in uniting the spirit of the two nations into one is Movies..Esp Bollywood..Movie's of Srk, Aamir, Amitabh and all run to full packed houses wenever they get a chance to be released there..Even Pakistani movies hav earned a lot of respect in Indian markets..Khuda kay liye and Ramchand Pakistani hav garnered much respect from the Indian critics..

It shows that there r certain things that r beyond the borders and the politics attached to it..


Sports, Movies and above all LUV..!!









Jaishree Ram,
Prats..

Vanquishing 60...........!!

Energy saved=Energy conserved..

Heard abt it??It’s the prime tag line of the EARTH HOUR..Earth hour, for all those who r incognizant of this term, is a global event organized by WWF (World Wildlife Fund for Nature) and is held on the last Saturday of march annually, asking households and businesses to turn off their non-essential lights and other electrical appliances for one hour to raise awareness towards the need to take action on climate change..Its logo is 60 written wit the map of the world..This started in the year 2007 at Sydney in Australia..This year yesterday from 8:30 to 9:30 was the earth hour..

This is something in which, I saw a lotta awareness among us..By Us I mean the YOUTH..I really liked it wen I saw that the youth is really concerned abt this..Guys were awaiting this hour from sundown itself..Guys were talking abt it and seemed concerned even..For the first time we were waiting eagerly for darkness..अँधेरा कायम रहे..!!It was observed in our college hostels even..We observed it by gathering together in front of our hostels and then lighting candles and forming 60 by standing in the formation and then even placing candles on the ground forming 60..It looked superb..The initiative was taken up by some guys in the environment club and thus it came into practicality..Although we were supposed to switch off the lights but still many lights were on..People dint switch them off for a full hour but still the darkness for a few minutes was worth a watch..

The one thing that was a bit of a worry that people were CELEBRATING it..It is not a celebration..We need to jst OBSERVE the day..The next thing that was rousing concern was that mostly the youth is concerned abt this..The elders dint show much participation in this..We were not allowed to switch off the electricity controls from the mains by our hostel officials..They were least concerned and on top they were asking us to clear off the area as they dint want any commotion..On top they were even advising us to call up the fire brigade in case the candles flared up and they needed to be doused..None of them even knew wat was going on and for wat reason..They dint show any moral responsibility or eagerness to ward off their ignorance on the subject..They dint even participate..Moreover, were asking us to get permission from the higher authorities and trying to demoralize us..

But all in all earth day was observed in our college hostels wit slogans like “U can while away so much time but cant u jst give away one hour...!”We did vanquish over darkness to conserve energy..I personally hope so this should be widespread jst like the jungle fires so that next year more and more people participate and help to save energy..It should be us, the youth, who can make the elderly aware of their ignorance so that the following year they follow suit along wit us at the drop of a hat..

Jaishree Ram,

Prats..

Unconditional love..Does it exist??

Can’t stop thinking abt this topic ever since I was given this topic yesterday in a group discussion session..Wat is this thing??Unconditional love..And on top of it does it really exist in real life??

So lemme start by trying to analyze wat luv is!!Luv is some feeling that u feel for someone irrespective of the fact that who he/she is..It may be ur parents, ur guardians, ur friendz, ur partner or anyone else..Luv is always the same, only the feeling is something that differs..U will hav the same amount of luv for ur parents and for ur partner..But the feeling will be different..I bet it will be an unanswerable ques if I ask u as to whom u luv more!!It’s too tough to decide as u cant luv either one lesser..So it’s better to conclude that ur luv will be in same proportions just that the feeling will change wit its perspective..Luv is one of the most simplest of words but to really understand the meaning of it and follow it is tougher than mayb crossing the Alps..Luv is a word for which anyone will do anything irrespective of the implications or consequences..U’ll do it just for those two eyes whom u would neva want to make weep..

Now let’s try and analyze the word unconditional..Unconditional as defined by the dictionary means without any reservations..Without any ‘conditions apply’ written at the bottom wit a miniscule asterisk mark at the top right corner..Without any bounds..Without any limits..Without any specifications..Without any terms..Without any categories..Without any fences..

Now wen we bring together these two words does the meaning really exist??Unconditional luv..It is that luv which u feel for someone irrespective of the whole world..It is that luv that is not stopped by any legal, social, ethical, moral or arbitrary entailments..It may be found in anyone..But had it been found in all humanity then the question ‘Does it exist?’ would not have had come up..It does not exist for all humanity..But But But it does exist for family..Doesn’t it??Unconditional luv is that luv in which u only tend to give, give and only give..U neva expect anything in return..It is this unconditional luv that u feel wen u do some mischief and come back home and u know at the back of ur mind that ‘mom-dad sambhal lenge!!’..It is this unconditional luv that u feel wen u hav a huge loss at ur office and u come back home in the evening and there r some people waiting at the door wit open arms to hug and welcome u..Their luv for u does not cease in any manners or proportions..They will luv u irrespective of whether u make profit or loss at work..They’ll luv u irrespective of the fact that while playing u broke someone’s window pane wit the cricket ball..They’ll manage it..Although they will scold a bit or mayb lambaste in some cases but at the end they’ll finally be on ur side itself..After all, people who scold us r the ones who luv us deeply..Or should I say that people who luv us only hav the right to scold us..Even the son of some criminal will always luv his father/mother irrespective of the fact that he/she mayb a state convict..That’s unconditional luv..And vice versa the parent will also luv his son like any normal father/mother would do and try to give him all the happiness’ of the world..

This unconditional luv also exists in ones partner..Wen a guy gets married to a gal they both hav (read: should hav) this unconditional luv for each other..According to me this unconditional luv is the basic requirement for turning into a couple from being single..The guy knows that after a tough day at office wen he comes back home there will be someone at home who’ll give him a big bear hug and kiss off all his worries and tensions..Vice versa the gal knows that wen she faces the most painful pain during child birth there’ll be at least one person who’ll be there holding her hand and telling her that aall izz well..That’s unconditional luv..

There mayb people like my group discussion conductor, my PD (personality development) teacher, who believe that we should widen our horizon and think of it as a global phenomenon..But I protest..Because wen u hav ur family wit u who cares abt the world..For example if in the future I get married to a gal of some other religion or caste or creed, it would at all not matter me wat the whole world thinks..I would hardly care if some mukherji sahib or some chowdhry babu foul mouths me in front of his family..Wat will matter is wat my parents think..Wat they think will be the only thing that will matter to me..It is this unconditional luv that we and our parents experience and exhibit for each other..I feel pity on people like my PD teacher who try searching for this unconditional luv in the whole world rather than searching for it in their own homes..So before u go out searching for this unconditional luv in outsiders, just for once try seeking for it in insiders..People inside ur house..

So does anyone, still, hav a doubt as to whether or not this unconditional luv exists???

Jaishree Ram,

Prats..

Not so Hare-brained: Bunny makes milkman’s world go round!!

Amongst the barrage of macabre, depressing, vapid information that generally stares back at the start of the day, a very interesting news caught my eye: “rabbit milk to help treat heart patients”..With a title like that, it was hard not to read on..The report went on to explain that rabbit milk possess immense medicinal value that would aid heart patients in combating with cardiovascular woes..Consequently an exponential rise in the number of rabbit farms was also predicted..The implications of this piece of information boggled my mind..

Imagine waking up to ur nearest ‘bunny dairy’ or ‘mother dairy’ and buying packets of hare milk for daily consumption..Cafes would start asking customers “would u prefer ordinary milk or bunny milk with ur coffee??”..And if there’s milk can ice cream be far behind!!Rabbit milk ice creams..Imagine it..If u thought it was difficult picking an ice cream flavour now, wait till u have to pick the milk as well before u even get to the flavour..The obvious marketing strategy would be to promote rabbit milk ice cream as ‘heart friendly ice cream’..

It is also interesting to wonder wat the cows of the world would think abt this scenario..Its true they have never considered goats, buffaloes or other animals to be any serious competition..In the back of their bovine minds, cows know that humans will fiddle around wit other milk jst to get a change of taste or bring a little variety but at the end of the day cow milk would reign supreme..However considering man’s obsession wit a healthy heart, rabbit milk could easily challenge cow milk..On the other hand, maybe cows would welcome this revelation considering how exhausted they must be getting milked all the time..I bet most of them feel totally used..That’s y one of the meanings of the word ‘milk’ is ‘to exploit’..If I were a cow I would definitely object to being methodically milked by strange men without any sort of preamble..

The other question that flitted across my mind was how difficult it was going to be to milk rabbits..Now the one advantage of cows is that they r not known to be the fastest of animals around..So I would presume it is relatively easier to milk them..But milking a rabbit would be a totally different ball game..Unless there is some sort of mechanical device that would hold the rabbits in place, only Ussain Bolt and Tyson Gay would be able to successfully collect their milk..

In fact, if rabbit milk turns out to be as big a deal as scientists believe, it might even be reflected in our popular culture..Elmer Fudd would no longer be chasing Bugs Bunny wit a gun, but in fact wit an empty milk bottle..The Duracell bunnies wouldn’t last half as long..The Easter bunny would stop leaving chocolates and eggs and instead leave packets of milk..Even Playboy, considered to be the embodiment of sexiness all across the world, would lose a bit of oomph if its logo the Playboy bunny, were associated wit something as maternal as milk..Ironically, Playboy bunnies r known to cause more heart attacks than cure them..

Having said all that, it would be a medical breakthrough if rabbit milk delivers on all its promises..It’s an oft-repeated statement that the cure to every disease is there in nature itself..Perhaps, the cure to diseases like cancer, aids and diabetes is around us..Nature is so abundant that thousands of scientists would have to work hundreds of years before they can figure out the benefits of things around us..So next time u visit the zoo, don’t forget to take ur milking gloves and an empty bottle..

Jaishree Ram,

Prats..

Panthera tigris: Oh spare me..Stop being quidnunc Homo sapiens!!

Tiger Woods has been so much in news off late that we actually forgot the real Panthera tigris—the tiger..The tiger, largest of all the cats, is one of the most charismatic and potent flagship species on the Earth; it is also one of the most threatened..Tigers are distinguished by the color of their coat..
The tiger is classified as a member of the order Carnivore (flesh-eating animal) and is a member of the Felidae..The five subspecies of tigers are scattered around 14 Asian countries and they are: Amur (Siberian), Bengal, Indo Chinese, Sumatran, South China..The extinct ones are: Bali tigers (which no one has seen since 1937 and no picture of it exists), Caspian tigers (extinct since 1970) and Java tigers (extinct since 1980).. But there is also a white tiger, which is a color variation of Bengal tigers..Endangered Species are species that are in danger of extinction..Over 5,200 animal species around the globe are threatened with extinction..

Tigers live in Asia and belong to the same genus as the lion, leopard, and jaguar..The tiger is thought to have originated in northern Asia during the Pleistocene Epoch..

The Tiger is often described as a particularly dangerous, sly, and
invincible predator..They have powerful bodies, large paws, and very sharp claws..The head of the Tiger is rounded and has a convex profile..The ears are black with white in the middle..The Tiger's eyes are a yellowish-orange color, but at night they almost look
green..Coloration of the Tiger is reddish yellow or rust-brown on the upper side, and a whitish under side..There is prominent beard like growth of hair on the cheeks, and they may have a short neck mane..Their body is covered with heavy black stripes..The tiger's ears are its main advantage when hunting..Tigers have white spots behind their ears to help identify one another in the jungle..Hearing is the tiger's sharpest sense..The tiger's night vision is six times greater than ours..They have a mirror like layer at the back of the eye that reflects extra light..Tigers also have very good colorful eyesight..Tigers have long, canine teeth that they use to stab and kill their prey..The molars behind them are like scissors..They slice strips of flesh like we slice off butter from a cube..

This is the majestic glory of the feline beauty..But do u think that I’m writing this for just boasting about the tiger??No...There is a darker and much horror filled side to this discussion..This winter I went to a tiger reserve in the northern side of Bengal..Buxa Tiger Reserve..I reached there with full hope of at least sighting the imperial animal for once..But to my utter shock I was not able to sight the powerful animal even for a single time..I saw all possible animals in the forests ranging from wild elephants, wild bison’s, beautiful peacocks, numerous forms of deer’s, wild rhino’s, etc etc etc. But to my utter daze not a single tiger..Isn’t it shocking??In a tiger reserve no tigers..even the guide who was with me told me that he was in this profession for the past 10 years and till date he had been gifted with the sight of the feline cat only once..Even the locals said that they rarely get a view of the tiger..
Like a 911 call in the U.S for emergencies, India's national animal too needs immediate attention..If pug mark estimates by the National Tiger Conservation Authority are anything to go by, just 1411 Tigers are left in India..The striped feline enjoyed roaring success up until the alarming poaching activities brought down the number from around 40,000 in the 20th century to hardly a thousand now..Even the number 1411 should be digested with a pinch of salt, since the pug mark census can rarely be termed as accurate..

Aircel has owned up to campaigning for the soon becoming rare Tiger in India..Our national animal needs support and lots of care and attention..Most importantly, it needs to be left alone, with as much camouflage in India's forests..

It’s an irony that India has promoted Tiger as its National Animal since independence, but has failed to save them from dwindling down so badly..There is undoubtedly vast collusion between corrupt officials who sell Tiger skin and bones and make lakhs of rupees..The national animal is nearing extinction owing to greedy poachers.

The only silver lining for the majestic striped feline is that another Indian Wildlife Sanctuary was a few weeks back declared as a Tiger Reserve..Union minister of state for environment and forests Jairam Ramesh inaugurated the Parambikulam Tiger Reserve at Anappadi in Kerala's Palakkad district..This makes it the 38^th Tiger Reserve of India..India needs to be conscious of its national identities and not lose them to corrupt officials who collude for their own selfish motives..The Tiger certainly deserves a better deal, and needs to be left alone to try and come back from the brink of extinction in India..1411 could well be the code much like 911 to inspire and encourage the nation to save the striped cat..

We humans have already debarred our future generations from viewing the cheetah..Our children will only see cheetah in the books but I heartily hope that they are able to see this royal majesty, the tiger, in its eternal beauty, in its natural habitat..

Jaishree Ram,

Prats..

National Sport: who cares!!.............BUT............Religion: humongous hullabaloo..!!

Its official..India is out of the world cup..

Does this bang in ur ears like the shrill breaking of bangles??I know it does but it won’t any more wen I say that I’m talking abt the hockey world cup..That ‘thank god’ expression on ur face tells me how relieved u r on listening that it’s not the cricket world cup that I’m talking abt..

Come on people wake up!!Its hockey that I’m talking abt...Hav u all forgotten that cricket is not the national sport of our country..Its hockey!!

Accha tell me how many of u did seriously keep a track of the hockey world cup??I can bet that 80% of u’ll reading here dint even know abt the world cup..Can any one of u name the captain of the hockey team without searching for it on Google or Bing??NO...People don’t even know that it ws held in our country this year..At New Delhi..It’s a sorry state of affairs in our country and WE r only responsible for it..

We don’t live in the country of Harry Potter but we surely share our country wit the “hockey wizard”..The great Dhyan Chand..The person who used to dribble the ball past all the others present on the field and hit the ball straight into the goal..It ws said that the whole hockey fraternity on one side and Dhyan chand on the other, still then he would win wit a great margin..That ws his class..That ws his genre..That ws the respect he had earned..But where is all that gone??

India finished off 8^th in the world cup this time..It ws a far better performance than wat we had in the last world cup..We surely r recovering but I still pity on the condition of our national sport..A country from which the whole hockey world used to be terrified has been left to jst a pass-by..We ruled the sport for decades..But no longer now..All that pomp and show is gone..All that glory has been diminished to dust..

Wat do u think is the reason for this??Y has this sport degraded in itself??And y hav we got ourselves adapted to this??The primary reason for this is the turning away of the sport from its original format to a new format..The game which ws previously played at fields is now played only on Astroturf..Astroturf has this special ability of letting the ball move very fast..The ball moves at a tremendous speed in Astroturf..We Indians r still very gud at the dribbling and all stuff but the sport has moved to new heights..More than the skills now wat matters is the strength and stamina that u put into the sport, the speed wit which we run after the ball and also run along wit it..We do accept the fact that we Indians r not that fit as the other International teams..But for how long can we give this excuse!!It’s been 30 long years since this Astroturf has been introduced into the sport..Is not that a pretty long time to get used to it??

On the other hand during that time only India had won the Cricket world cup and we from then started being more and more into cricket and forgetting our national sport..Even in Cricket y r we not able to hold onto the no.1 position for long??Wen the OZ had the tag, they dint hav anything to fear..They were not at all bothered whether someone in some other part of the world wins or loses a game and that may affect their no.1 position..They were way ahead of the others on the points table..Then y is it so wen we come to the zenith??In all the other countries that hav been no.1, cricket is not their first sport..For the Aussies Rugby is the first sport, then comes cricket..For the West Indians Basketball is their first sport, then comes cricket..Even for the British Football is their first sport, then comes cricket..But but but for us Indians Cricket is first and Cricket is only second..That’s y we wobble and fumble in Cricket as well..So if we’ve hockey as our first sport then we will even excel in cricket at a far more faster pace than wat we’r doing now..And on top we won’t even be afraid of losing our no.1 spot..Thus we’ll be able to hold on to our no.1 spot wit much more ado..!!

Let us face it..How many of us will allow our off springs to go to a hockey field rather than going onto a cricket field??That Poppysmic expression on ur face tells me that it’s a big NO...It’s not jst u..Even it applies for me..We don’t hav more than two Astroturf fields in one state..But for cricket we jst need a ball and a bat..That’s all we need for it..We give a damn abt how much space we’re getting..That’s the reason..

So I opine that the government should put in more funds in this sport..We need more grounds for hockey..We want to tell our future generation that along wit cricket the world also fears us in hockey..We should be able to tell our kids that we live in the country of the Hockey Wizard..Along wit cricket, sponsor’s should come forward for this sport as well..Along wit MSDhoni we also want to see Prabhjot Singh in the advertisements..And likewise..Unless and until this sport gets funds this sport will remain a ramshackle..Not jst that WE as the viewers should also come forward and support the sport..Like Cricket matches we should also step to the fore in gr8 numbers for seeing Hockey matches..Even the government should take steps so that Hockey jst doesn’t stay as the national sport only in our general knowledge books..It should also be in our hearts and then we would also be able to boast to our friends in the fairer countries that we don’t jst hav one sport that we hoot for..We hav two religions, Hockey and Cricket..!!

So Cricket is Religion but isn’t Hockey our National Sport???

Jaishree Ram,

Prats..

Behind every successful person there is a WOMAN!!

Wat makes a woman dangerous? No doubt there r any number of opinions, depending upon the experience of the man or woman who responds..

Personally, I think the most dangerous women r those who r irresistible..Each of us may hav a unique weakness, an Achilles’ heel that is unfathomable to others, or we may share universal sensibilities that everyone understands..It may be a woman’s great beauty that wins our heart, or her charm, or her intelligence..It may be the way she brushes her hair back from her eyes, or the way she laughs, or the way she sneezes..

She may be acutely aware of her power, or utterly innocent of it..One will use it as a steel-edged weapon, another as a fuzzy security blanket..The intent neither increases nor diminishes the power, and that is the terrible danger to those who may be in thrall to it..

Power is dangerous..We may know it, even fear it, but if we want the heat from that flame, we will risk everything to get as close to it as possible.

Dangerous women hav always been wit us..Prepare urself for the most seductively female and the most shockingly fatal femmes fatales..One by one lyf will prove u jst how sexy and not so gentle the ‘gentler sex’ can be..

All in all its their day today and it’s for all of us to bow down and vow to them..In any form they r the ones who own us..I hav one simple formula in lyf for my lyf to be more simpler and happier..In the hands of my Mother I leave the first part of my lyf..The second part I leave it upon my Wife..And the last part of my lyf I leave it on my Son’s Wife..Watever these three women will say I will follow and I know that by doing so my lyf will be happy and that’s wat I expect out of it..

So to all the ladies from my side:

“HAPPY WOMEN’S DAY”

Jaishree Ram,

Prats..

Another Candle On The Cake..!!

Bam Bam bam..Boom boom..Dishum dishum..These are not the sounds of any war sequence..This is d way how generally someone’s birthday starts in hostels..And I am no exception to this rule..I surely ws greeted with sound thumping and heart pumping bangs from all side and not knowing who ws hitting as I ws under a blanket..So thanq guys for making my birthday special as it would be something that would go unto my memoirs..

Wenever anyone asks me wen my birthday is, I jst tell them that I ws born on the 66^th day of the year..I feel that it’s pretty innovative and I lyk to make others work their brains off to know my birthday..Wen they turn up wit some wrong answer I jst tell them how poor they r in maths..Sometimes laugh my guts out and then again let those poor souls know that my birthday is on the 7^th of march..

In the spring of 1989 a new member ws added to my family..That member fortunately for u’ll and unfortunately for some others is me..!!My parents had a raring Luv marriage..So to mark me as the symbol of their luv they specifically named me Prateek..Which in itself means ‘symbol’ (in Hindi and Bengali)..And as my full name boasts Prateek Sur, I tell others that I’m the symbol of music and luv..That’s the way I anagrammatize my name..

This year I gave myself the best birthday gift I’ve given myself in all these 21 years..I learnt swimming..I started learning swimming on 1^st Feb. and had one single goal in my mind that I should be able to swim like a free fish before my birthday..And I did it..Hav not learned as gud as my fellow counterparts but still I hav learnt a lot..I really was hydrophobic and now am out of it..So it’s a big accomplishment for me..

Happy Birthday to U, Happy Birthday to U,

Happy Birthday dear Prateek, Happy Birthday to U,

From old Friends Adieu, from old Friends Adieu,

May Gud life be wit U, As Happy as U...!!

Birthdays..Has anyone thought of it..Wat is it??Everyone has them and each person reacts to them differently..When we are children, every birthday is great..It's all about the parties, presents and cake..And each year is one step closer to being thirteen, the age we are officially called a teenager..We think we're not kids anymore..Out go the parties at Chuck E.; Parties with themes. Now our parties can be boys and girls, and it has to be cool..Turning sixteen, especially for guys, is a big deal..We are coming into adulthood..Puberty has hit us and the dating world awaits us. It also means we are one step closer to the promise land, turning twenty-one.

Twenty-one is when we think our life really begins, and by life we mean adult parties and drinking..After twenty-one we still have some milestone birthdays coming up..Twenty-five, thirty, and some people think every five years after that is a big deal..Then you have the big 50...And of course everything after eighty is a blessing because most of us don't think we'll even make it that far..But I wish to complete my century and then pass away..

Neways what about the birthdays in between milestones? Are they not as important? On my 21st birthday, I'm left to wonder, what's the big deal anymore?

I've had this attitude for a while now and it drives my Friends crazy..It upsets them that I don't get that excited about my birthday anymore..I'm not as into it as them..When they ask what I want to do that day my reply is, 'I don't care, we can just stay in', which infuriates them even more..To them, everyone should be happy and excited when it's their birthday..And they'r not  hypocrites because when their birthday rolls around they'r genuinely excited and almost always thinking of something they want to do..

I guess I just don't have it in me anymore..I can't get excited the way I did when I was younger..I don't see the point..To me it's just another day; I just happened to be born on it..And, honestly, it has nothing to do with aging..I'm 21, and I have no problem saying that, because really, my friends and I still act like we are kids..I firmly believe that age is just a number..You're only as old as you feel and I feel young..So my problem has nothing to do with aging..When your birthday comes it reminds you that another year has gone by..Another year of your life is over..And when I look back on the year that's past, that's where my problem lies..

It's a problem because every year on my birthday I look back on the year before and I realize that I didn't accomplish all that I thought I would..

I had a whole year, 365 days, to do things and I didn't..I let that time pass me by and it makes me so mad at myself..Mad enough to make myself depressed..Angry enough to make me question the person I am..

Another year goes by and I realize that, once again, I didn't push myself hard enough to achieve my goal, whatever that goal may be at the time..So I question whether or not I really have it in me, whether or not I really am good enough..And this wears me down emotionally..It puts me in a funk every year around my birthday..

By not accomplishing anything I've basically wasted a year of my life. Now, let me just say, I don't just sit around all year doing nothing but waiting for the days to go by..I go places, I do things and I get some things accomplished..But, for me, it's never enough..I'm my biggest critic and I could pick the tiniest thing I didn't do that year and I get down on myself..Nothing else matters but that one thing..

I think the reason for this is that I always think about family members and friends who are no longer living or no longer with me..And I think about the fact that any one of them would give anything to be alive again..I think about the fact that when they were alive, they lived their life. They accomplished things..My best friend, Sumit, died when he was twenty-one, much too young. But, by that time he was already living his dream of being in an engineering college..By twenty-one, he had accomplished so much because he worked hard every day and he didn't let time pass him by..And here I am, 21, and I can't say the same..My urge to learn swimming came after he got drowned at Pondicherry..I dint wanna commit the same mistake that he did..

And to some extent, I feel like I'm disrespecting those who have passed or who are no longer wit me. I'm disrespecting the life they could have had, and maybe life in general..I'm not taking advantage of the opportunity I have in front of me..That opportunity is time..I have the time right now to make something of myself..And right now is the time to take advantage of that..

It's 2010...My 21st birthday is today..I won't accomplish everything by the time I leave college, but I vow to not be so hard on myself this birthday..Starting today I'm going to do what I can to get closer to my dreams and goals..I'm going to appreciate life more and give it everything I got..I'm going to show life the respect it deserves, not just for me, but for everyone who no longer has this luxury..And when I blow out my candles this year, I'll make a wish that every year that I'm alive is better than the one before..My birthday won't be a burden anymore..It will be a reason to celebrate..And I'm going to face it the way I did as a kid, with laughter and excitement at all that I have yet to accomplish and all that I have to look forward to in my life..

Jaishree Ram,

Prats..

IS GOD DEAD??

The prima-facie answer to the above ques can be two: YES or NO..All those who say NO I jst hav one ques to ask u, “if he’s not dead then where is he??”..And all those who say YES one ques for u too, “where was he wen he ws alive??”

According to us, Christians, God created everything on this earth..Every possible living thing..!!Whether it’s us humans or animals or plants or anything else..Whereas we, Hindus, believe that god dint create this world..God jst manifested himself in all living creatures..Hindus believe that God is present inside all living beings..

Whether HE is or HE is not does not matter as much as there’s something that matters more and that is our BELIEF..It all depends on wat we believe in ourselves..Many of my friends hav stated examples in front of me which were compellingly belief worthy that HE does exist..

A friend of mine once said that wen he ws in 10 std he ws in utter need of some computer softwares lyk JAVA, C++ and all..He ws not getting them in any market..So he ws pretty worried and kept praying to God that HE helped him..POP!!wat happens next made me dumbstruck..Next morning wen he woke up and ws walking in his garden he jst saw a disc half dug into the ground..He took it out and to his sheer shock the disc ws completely scratch free and wen he inserted it in his disc drive and played it wat he sees is that all the softwares that he needed were present in that disc..!!Wat would u call this??..Sheer luck or some sort of co-incidence or some divine intervention?? It’s difficult to answer this one as who believes in God will firmly say that it had the “Hand of God” whereas other atheists would say that ws a mere case of co-incidence..

On the other hand another friend of mine once told me that he has been asking for some favour from God for the past 3-4 years but he has not got even an inch of favour from HIM..So he is slowly turning on from a theist into an atheist..I know all firm believers of God will say that he should wait and watch later on there will be some help from HIM..HE may be late but HE won’t leave him in abject darkness..Some rationalists will turn up to quote the old adage “God helps those who help themselves!!”..But whatever the case is he is losing his faith in God..

I really am in a fix as to whom to believe as I really am not that much into religion and God..I am a Hindu but hav been to a church all my lyf as a church ws nearer to my house than a temple..Even at school the church ws nearer to me than any temple in the region..So I am more prolific in the Christian rituals, festivals and the myths than the Hindu counterpart..My friends do jeer at me wen I don’t call Ganesh as Ganeshji or Shiv as Shivji or Ram as Ramji..Or wen I don’t know at all abt at the hymns and prayers that they do..But I don’t hav any complaints as I would neva call them by adding an extra ji in their name as I firmly believe that they were born as humans and they did earn this much respect here on earth, at least,  that they can be called by their names..

Wat I wanna infer is that all that matters is wat is inside u..Wat u’ve been susceptible to right from ur childhood..If ur a gud parent ur child will grow up gud and if ur not then they’ll also turn up bad..People keep tellin that television is spoiling the kids now-a-days..But know wat children learn far more easily from wat they see at home from their parents rather than anyone else on the idiot box..

God cannot tell us to be gud or bad..It’s all within us..Even a very gud human may be an atheist and a very bad human can be a staunch believer of God..Even Osama bin Laden routinely offers namaz 5 times a day..Which shows that he is a strict believer of God..But the acts and deeds that he does don’t proclaims to be so..

So my final ques still remains unanswered as to whether God is actually there or has he jst turned a deaf ear to all the things happening on earth or has he become lyk us Indians..Adaptable to all situations..Or better still lyk many theists would say “God knows that we humans (his creations, so HE can’t be wrong!!) r capable enough of handling the situations..”

So, “IS GOD DEAD???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????”






Jaishree Ram,
Prats..

“Kyon paisa paisa karti hai, kyon paise pe tu marti hai”

This is not me saying..This is d inaugural line of a hit song from Akshay Kumar’s latest flick “de dana dan”..

Does this ring a bell??If not then can ne1 of u plz tell me wat this thing is??Rupee, dollar, pound, rouble, rial, Deutsch, yen, Yuan..wat r all these things??If at all it’s a thing!!Or is it so big that it can be LYF personified..!!Aye u got me right..It can be personified to lyf itself..Our very existence itself..We r on this earth bcoz of this..

If i ask u IS MONEY A PRE-REQUISITE FOR HAPPINESS??..Wat would ur answer be??..Ur answer prima-facie would be NO..Definitely NO..But is it really NO??..Then y is it a YES in our deeds??..All of us want to make money to gain some status, some comfort and luxuries..This money has brought, is bringing and will bring so many differences between u and me..These differences will be later named as differences between a rosy affluence and sordid poverty.. 

Many of u may disagree wit me nd move on to say that money is not everything..Yeah I agree wit all of u that money indeed is not everything..but know wat wit money u can buy this “everything” of urs..!!wit money u may fulfil all ur whims and fancies..all that u ever read of in gud novels or saw in bad movies.. u may accomplish all those childhood dreams of urs..jst that u need money..

I once wrote for a school tabloid a small poem which goes like:

MONEY CAN BUY:

A BED, BUT NOT SLEEP;

A HOUSE, BUT NOT HOME;

BOOKS, BUT NOT BRAINS;

FOOD, BUT NOT APPETITE;

MEDICINE, BUT NOT HEALTH;

AMUSEMENT, BUT NOT HAPPINESS;

RELIGION, BUT NOT SALVATION.

This poem is very true indeed and I really luved it wen I penned it down..but know wat back then I was very naïve, very unknown to wat d real world ws..but now I know..If u don’t have money forget abt a home u won’t even hav a roof over ur head to spend d cold winter nit..If u don’t hav money u may hav d appetite but u won’t get a single piece of bread..If u don’t hav money u may get salvation but u will not get d 5 yards of earth required for ur burial..

Has ne1 of u seen d movie TATHASTU??It starred Sanjay Dutt and Ameesha Patel..If u hav not lemme recite u d story a bit..Sanjay Dutt ws d father of an infant who ws diagnosed wit some deadly disease..Wen he went to d hospital to get his boy admitted d hospital asked him to submit a certain amount of money as d deposit then only would they operate on his child..But that sum as usual ws very exorbitant..No normal middle class could afford so much..After tryin all hands in vain he decided to take d route of vandalism..He seized d hospital..And wit a gun pointed on the heads of d patients he pleaded d hospital staff to take in his child..Mind u he PLEADED..D later part of d movie ws same as d child got saved nd Sanjay also ws not convicted as he did all this jst for d sake of his beloved son..

BUT BUT BUT wat I wanna emphasize from this story is that how important money is..!!Without money we may get pleasure from all d ABSTRACT things in lyf but we all know that we can’t live wit these non objective things..We need MATERIAL pleasures for our existence..We need money for buyin a gud house which later on would be a gud home only if we hav money enough to maintain nd live in it..we need money so that we may send our off springs to a gud school nd get them proper education..no gal ever glances towards a guy who does not luk rich..nd d vice versa is as well true..!!

         "Money makes you feel better, 
        even if you don't like the stuff."  
                  -- Joe Louis, professional boxer.

"Money isn't everything, 

 but sometimes my banker won't accept anything  else."  
                  -- Lin Stone, professional writer.

But u know wat there is another side to d same coin..Money although being able to buy everything can at times become an avarice..Greed cannot be overcome..Its human to be greedy..We envy for a certain thing and wen we get it, we start coveting for something that’s even better..Its d very same wit money as well..In the recent Amitabh Bachchan flick “Teen Patti” d whole story revolves around one thing; that wat happens wen u hav earned loads nd loads of money..U start becoming crazy..U become irate..Ur simple happy go lucky lyf turns into something that’s nothing less than hell..U start making urself secluded..U start banishing ur friends..U start forgetting ur previous self..And wen u get fully frustrated wit all this, ur final cul-de-sac is felo-de-se..

Wen our pockets r full we don’t realize that in order to get this state we lose out on the smaller happiness’s of lyf..

“Mom u can take a 24 hour flight nd travel to New York but u can’t take a 3 hour flight nd come to meet me in Chennai??” said a gud friend of mine over d phone to his mom in Delhi..U won’t believe it, his parents r so so busy in earning money that they r hardly able to give time to him..But wen u ask him he says that they r earning all that for him only..That’s so true..!! Does ne1 see my predicament now..!!

I do firmly believe that happiness is in money..But people should know to control their greed for this happiness..Wen we r unable to control this our greed turns into a malady which is utterly incurable nd the final result is madness or even death.. Happiness is jst the absence of Sorrow..Happiness is not in Fame..Happiness is not in Success..Happiness is not in Power..And Happiness is not in Money as well..

So I would lyk to rest my argument by saying that its ur choice as to which side of this coin u decide to stick on wit..

Jaishree Ram,

Prats..