CORRUPTION & MAN

                                                     

                 CORRUPTION & MAN

The world was fresh, the world was new,
happy were the people, problems were few;
then came a monster , which mutated the scene,
humanity got lost, man turning greedy & mean!

Money & power became the order of the day,
poor's tongue was chopped to shut their say;
but the hunger keep growing, with no sight of its fall,
corruption brought havoc, engulfing one & all!

The que grew long, the files grew tall,
monster got big, humanity shrinking to small;
Is this the life , we were meant to live,
to bark like a dog & die like a pig!

What one needs today, is a will to fight,
to assert boldly, what is his right;
the world is a reflection , of one's own lust,
to clean the mess, mend oneself first!

How your children will live, depends on you,
to live like a MAN or a dog like you;
lets fight this monster as hard as we can,
at least earn the right, to call ourselves the MAN!! 
 

The Quest for a Perfect one

                               The Quest for a Perfect one


Disclaimer

The characters named in this story dint correspond with the original characters. It is just a fiction.

PART I 


The time goes on & so as our life. There is a space for everything in this myriad life. Family, friends,study, sports etc etc. But still standing in the corridor of boys , there is a thing willingly or unwillingly every boy wants in his life. The smart ones must have guessed by now, for others let me throw some light , its a " A GIRL".
The culmination has been drawn after going through a lot of responses & observations which i found floating around me. But even after thousands of year of mankind, there is no concrete definition of this attraction or bonding. Everyone got its own definition of so called "love" right from Shahrukh khan to Hrithik roshan to a common man. But why u actually need a girl( i m not talking about marriage aspect here, that's all together a different debate), what are the reasons or do u really need a girl.. These are some questions everyone face and those 4 characters of our story were not different.

The story is about 4 guys who have been friend for quite some years. But while they all part their ways professionally yet on friendship front, they were always together. Lets meet them.

The first of the lot is ABIR, a would be engineer. This community called Engineers is quite an interesting  one with most of them entering the profession like passengers of local train in Mumbai( unwillingly or unintentionally because of some push from parents , relatives). They decide what to do after completing their degree instead of other way around and any engineer will tell you the journey of 8 semesters where practically he has learnt something next to great invention of India i.e " ZERO". But surely these people got some skills of doing smart work when required. So with customary no. of supple( can say compartment papers) pending , Abir was shortly going to be an engineer still to decide what to do. Abir always has a dream or you can say an obsession of getting a virgin wife. Strange the dream might seems but on a close introspection, you will find a little smile on your faces. He himself has been travelling in a ship alone( a girl joined but only for a short stint). He was waiting for the right passenger to board his ship.

Next on the line is Punnet, a B.com graduate and doing an Account assistant job which he has  got through an informal route( There are many other words for it like Sifaarish, approach, favour but i have used a dignified word keeping in view the dignity levels of our society). I have always felt accountants are under paid creatures with Auditors bulldozing them from one side & management from other.Puneet had 3 girl friends in the past. He was not having noble thoughts like Abir & with each passing relation he had climbed up the ladder of reducing distances with the girl. He is flowing in the flow of events with a blurred vision.

The third one Rahul is a MBA( this term has spread like a forest fire in the past decade with how many engulfed in it , nobody knows) student from a average B- school. I still wonder why they call it a school. With a little bit knowledge of everything, their population is increasing at a pace for which I guess India needs a have a separate Population Control policy. Rahul since his college days had been inspired by moving objects. So he has keep changing his girl friends with varying degree of intimacy with them.

Here comes our last character Amit, a MA( English) student who has been in this stream on his failure to clear IIT-JEE exam & his unexplainable stubborn attitude of not joining any other good college despite clearing AIEEE by decent scores. He even dropped 1 year for IIT but just to raze one precious year in sands of past & no outcome.He has a girlfriend who loves him immensely & even he reciprocates with same dedication. A long 10 year relation, it has been benchmark for others with title of best couple conferred upon them time and again . But though the wall may look smooth, there may be cracks deep inside. Their intimacy level cant be discussed as it was a pious relationship.

Thats all for now, Will get back shortly to tell you the changes in these 4 lives. Enjoy

ROY
06.10.2011

A Girl's Dilemma

AGirl's Dilemma

Its the story of a girl, who likes to fly high,

no shambles around, no tension & sigh;

uptil this point , she was the rosy queen,

just do whatever , express all what she means!

now she got to think, when she turned young,

a groom is needed, poor chap to be hung;

soon she realized, her family will be past,

new in laws new relatives, all together a new cast!

the daily chat with friends, will take a long bye,

new customs new traditions, all to comeby;

she is in a dilemma , what to do now,

just avoid the marriage, but dont know how!

this is the truth , every girl has to face,

one day she ll be married, to leave her father's place;

but lets do something , which we all can hail,

give women a status equal to male!! 

Roy

15.06.2011

About the Character

The poetry is dedicated to one of my friend( of course a girl) who is on the verge of getting married. I have tried to give some words to her thoughts( of course it includes my own interpretation). Wishing her a happy married life. 

Enjoy.

A MIDNIGHT CRASH

                                                            A MIDNIGHT CRASH

When I roll over the dictionary to explore the new dimensions for word BAD, I come across these:

“abominable, amiss, atrocious, awful, , beastly, blah, bottom out, bummer, cheap, cheesy, crappy, cruddy, crummy, deficient, diddly, dissatisfactory, downer, dreadful, erroneous, fallacious, faulty, garbage, god-awful, gross, grungy, icky, imperfect, ,inferior, junky, lousy, not good, off, poor, raunchy, rough, sad, skuzzy, sleazeball, sleazy, slipshod, stinking, substandard, synthetic, the pits, unacceptable, unsatisfactory”

But then what about these words:

“ Pathetic, heartbreaking, heartrending, miserable, piteous, pitiable, pitiful, poor, rueful, sorry, wretched”

Why have they got their berth in the English dictionary. They say nothing is without a purpose. Lets see if we 

can utilize these noble words in the due course of time.

The story is of 6  friends who were around each other since then when they  didn’t even know the meaning of friendship. Believe me some it comes to 15 or 17 years, quite illustrious time even to think in 23 year life. The best and the most strange thing about the group was the absence of  a girl in the entire group. I guess that’s the reason for its so long and successful journey. But that’s my personal opinion , no personal biasness against my opposite gender. The group actually consisted of 9 AADIS( friends), with perfect example of unity in diversity . Not everyday you come across a group consisting of Chartered Accountants, IIM Graduates, MCA, Engineers, Police, B.com. But one thing in common , they all started their journey in same school some 17 years back.

The 6 friends met in the evening with an intent to celebrate the birthday of a AADI, though it’s a separate thing that same bday had passed some two weeks back. But the party must go on. 2 friends were missing the town and 1 as usual was in a self concreted dilemma, so  reversing the digit 9, 6 were left.  The plan was for a dinner followed by a late night movie. I think 11.45 in the night is sufficient to qualify the movie for late night category. In any case , first day last show has charm of its own.

This time there was some more change, cars paved their way for bikes. So City and Swift sacrificed for Pulsars and Stunner to roll on city roads. The six left with the same tradition of without deciding where to go. I find this strange sometimes, but then it has got its own flavor of standing in the mid of crowded street and discussing “ ABE JANA KAHA HAI”( where to go). The last party was at a sophisticated restaurant but this time there was a twist in the story. The AADIS went to a place where even the fumes of sophistication were missing. They sipped some drinks and relished some snacks before making a exit.

There was another round of discussion on the offering  about where to go to fill the half empty bellies . After a referendum, a PUNJABI DHABA in sector 46 was elected with even the smell of little bit  of sophistication getting wiped out. Shortly the six found themselves below a tent sitting around a table and one the AADI saying in Punjabi “Chetti salad laade vai”( Bring the salad fast). Here there is no wastage of paper on menu cards with the waiter named  SANDEEP  sprinting the name of dishes like USAN BOLT . So the order was placed for a Masala Chicken, Dal Makhani and Paneer plus they say “roti laa di yaar cheti” ( means bring the Chapattis fast). The dinner was over by quarter to 11 with a bill of Rs. 450 on the table, strange it seems but then it’s the DHABA effect.

So against we started cruising towards our destination PVR CENTRA MALL till we found someone around the road corner in the late night. Don’t worry it was not a girl to increase the our heart beat but a ice cream Vendor. So the brakes of the bikes were given some pain and in a blink of time we were moving our tongues over 5 rupee orange candy. I love that and we called it CHUSAD here, though 2 of AADIS are the descendents of English people which prompted them to choose CORNETTO. Finally at quarter past 11 we were at a mall with two of  AADIS went to collect tickets as they were already booked and rest 4 were laying down on the nearby grass and talking about silly things like why this tree is tilted and making all the nonsense comments on the shape of that tree alongwith singing songs which were definitely  not so melodious. Soon we again started our march on escalators towards our screen. With some time still left , we decided to repay some time to nature by attending its nice little call. Sometimes you feel it’s the best feeling in the world with that tension getting eased off. Lets not go in depth and come back to our story . Then a futile discussion cropped up about DAS AUTOMOBILES which took the intervention of one of the AADI , a mechanical Engineer currently in Lucknow to end it. We entered the Screen and with a little controversy with another group we conquered on our seats.

The movie was Sallu’s READY which started with a bang. With introduction song , 25-30 youth thronged the area in front of screen dancing like a drunk mob. Even our Sub- Inpector ( I know its Inspector but it had got its story behind Inpector) was in mood but without much support , the fire within him got extinguished soon. But after sometime something hit us, something big, something which we were not able to handle for next two and half hours. It was nothing else but that movie only . Many people started leaving the theatre as early as in half hour with six of us looking at each other and saying “SAALO, KISKA IDEA THA YE MOVIE DEKHNE KA”( Who’s Idea was to watch this movie) . The IIM’s AADI was in most palpable condition that he would commit suicide anytime. But we are brave people, we never show our back, we watched the entire movie. Wasnt it something that we should be awarded at least NOBEL AWARD, I strongly think so.

 Now I can find the use of second set of words  I mentioned in the start. Those words are for these type of movies as word BAD cannot justify its really talent to harass someone.

We came out with everyone is a sense of shock saying “ Abe ye kya tha”( what was this). People say to cut short the hangover of drinking have some lemon water. But even that was not sufficient to cut short the hangover of this movie. The six opted for some hot tea to open up the pores of our blocked senses. We left for Govt Medical hospital, where else you expect to get some tea at 2.30 in the night. After literally gulping the tea , we again started last phase of our tour back to home.

The movie was pathetic, no doubt about it but it was memorable. But for that movie I wouldn’t have been writing this story. You feel the place, the movie doesn’t matter much , what matters is the company. Each moment you live is to be relished as if it wont come back again. Enjoy the every possible drop of life with your mates, your family. They say Diamond is forever, but what’s the use of it when I cant share my joys and sorrows with it. I am quite rich to got many real diamonds around me. I was a midnight crash, a memorable one. C YA PEOPLE SHORTLY. HAVE FUN.

ROY

04.06.2011       

A 15 Minute Wait

                                                          A 15 Minute Wait      

When God created this world, he/she divided almost all the aspects into 2 spheres. Even I am not sure whether the respected God G is he or she, strange sometimes I find it. Someone is Good or bad, beautiful or ugly, tall or short. In fact most of these distinctions mushroomed due to our own mind sets. But the most natural & arousing distinction I find around is – A Boy or A Girl.

Being a boy, I stand on one side of the river bank with always an urge prevailing to meet that other side. Sometimes the attraction of the other side is so alluring that I am ready to take a dip in the intermittent water, howsoever deep it may be. But sometimes, I try like almost all of you to understand this creation of God. I have encountered many such occasions to make some concrete pronouncement about someone called GIRL but each time they come out with something which shakes my pre conceived notions.

It all started when I called my friend Priya at around 5 p.m in the evening. She was going to leave city tomorrow with no sings of our next meeting for years to come. So we decided to meet outside State library in sector 34 as she was nearby and the gol gappas of 34 can draw me from anywhere with those 7 variety of delicious water available there. But, but, but, for some time you can take out soul from the body but there is one thing in this world which I think even God cant dare to do. To separate two words- GIRL & SHOPPING. Priya was interested for some shopping in sector 22, Shashtri market, so the meeting location took a flight over there.

 That newly elected venue is not a place where I am much amused to go. It is one of the most  busiest place of Chandigarh with almost all variety of people thronging at one place and to add flavor, I was there at the scheduled time with my eyes searching for the familiar face of Priya. When they gave up, my left hand launch a hunt for my mobile and on finding it, a call was made to Priya. She explained that one of her acquaintance had met her in sector 34 outside library, the same place where I proposed to meet and it would take her 15 minutes to reach at me. So what next ,15 minutes, it doesn’t look much at first but a girl saying 15 minutes in the evening time with all the traffic pouring on the roads, I knew it was going to take a beating.

So I started roaming around with only one intention to pass my time. Just as I commenced my little journey, a person of about 23-24 age looking from a good family almost invaded upon me and said- “ Sir wallet pure leather”. I think even the word coercion would not justify for that type of selling.  I carried on my journey after saying a polite NO. After marching few feats, I saw Mehndi walas, few of them waiting for the lovely hands to be decorated beautifully. There was not much of the rush there but let me tell you with twilight getting pronounced you can find many more hands urging to be first. How I know all this doesn’t demand any special explanation.

Suddenly I realized that my hands were not that clean and again I launch a quest to find some water & to my surprise I found a hand pump. Believe me, finding a hand pump in sector 22 market was nothing less than discovering Harappa or Mohenjodaro. I washed my hands and gave a soft slap of water on my face. To find blessing in disguise, I was not carrying a handkerchief so as to enjoy the imprint of water on my face for a little longer. I decided to write about this little journey and sat under a tree. Even that’s was a time pass tact you can say. A person sat near me and was continuously looking at what I am writing. Sometimes even I cant recognize what I have written, so I was feeling a little sympathetic towards all the efforts he was putting in to read.

It was not anything extraordinary but small moments which confront us every day. I think the happiness of the life depends upon enjoying those small moments alongwith those big bashes that come your way. After all they say “ BOOND BOOND SE GHADA BHARTA HAI”.  Sometimes in the wait for that big moment, we forget to enjoy the delicacy of those little moments. Enjoy them to fullest.

Shortly I got a call from her to end my wait. Strange it seems but then I am writing about all this with title:” A 15 minute Wait”.

C u all soon

Roy

    

       

   

A lifeless Encounter

   A LIFELESS ENCOUNTER

There is well known concept of GOD or luck or miracle or you can name it anything. I always had the curiosity to know how these words have first encountered with our civilization but lets see when I will have that luxury to encounter that mingled moment. There is something which is running this world as they say but then why I can find a river of sorrow flowing all around me. Not to say that I had never taken a dip in that river but the depth of river for some people is immense which cannot be measured by any of our so called scientific method.

It all started yesterday evening when I was doing some of my professional work. I have clarified that the work was professional as I can sense many of my friends raising their eyebrows by analyzing at a amalgamation of me, evening and some work. So the work which was entirely professional was undergoing till I got a phone call. I picked it up in the most casual way as the person on the other hand was my aadi ( Friend), so  there as was no need of any formal greeting. But he had something for me which was responsible for this encounter. He told me in a rush that one of our friend’s father had met with an accident and had been rushed to a hospital ( not knowingly which one it was)  and soon I found the call summary report on my mobile screen. I called Roy (name changed) to enquire about his father but he declined to answer my call. I tried again but again I ended with same result. Helpless to do anything, I gave my heart the elucidation that he must be busy. With some conflicts it accepted that reason for the time being and shortly I was back to complete my work.

Soon I was back to home. It was that part of the day where night can be seen winning the battle over the day with darkness getting pronounced. I went to market to meet some friends which is a sort of ritual for our group. There I met one of my friend who told that Roy’s father was very critical with 98 % probability that he would loose this battle of life. So we pondered on the thought of going to hospital about which we knew by now. But after doing detailed autopsy about the subject of going there, we dropped the idea as already there was a lot of rush in hospital.

I came back home in the night and had my dinner in the most silent manner which was quite unbecoming of me. I told my mother about all the incident and I found her in the same helpless position I was. It was Saturday night, so originally I had a plan to watch a movie on my computer late night. But I was not finding the disposition to put that plan in action. My mind was in a continuous battle which I knew was Impossible to win and inconceivable to loose. One of the extract of my thought process is” don’t have the mood to watch movie, my restless mind is not allowing me to sleep,, what the hell on this earth I am doing .  I was finding myself the most helpless creature on this earth till the moment a thought of Roy came to my mind and of so many other people facing stiff challenges like Roy. So I decided to surrender that most painful title. But what now, which end to go,, what to do…”

Usually I don’t find myself in this status quo but then sometimes you have to taste these tasteless experiences. So a never ending battle was on and there was only one thing which could have given a break in this battle. I found the battle of old times more privileged than of our times. At least it was over with Sun god saying Good bye. But battle these days become most ferocious with night turning on. I want to express my gratitude to that super natural power for giving the endowment of sleep. So I capitalized on that grant of God and battle was over,, at least for the day.

I woke up late today with something romantic about the meteorological conditions outside. I called Roy again but his phone was not approachable. Again I met with the same evening friend and he told me that Roy has caught some fever due to which he had gone to home to have some rest. He was scheduled to be back by afternoon, so we planned a visit to hospital contemporaneously.   

  

We reached the hospital by 2.15 p.m and parked our car. Soon our feet started marching towards Block C- Level 2 where Roy’s father was admitted. On reaching there we called him and he told he would be there shortly as he had gone to collect some reports.  Before long he was there and I can sense by the swelling of his eyes, the uncombed hair and the other minute details that he had spent a sleepless night dipped in ocean of tears. To add to the bad things going around,, he told the doctors had said only a miracle can do it now. They were helpless as we were. What the fuck is this- the first expression that comes out. You say about science making all the wonderful advancements and then you come up with this thing that someone called miracle can only help us. They are saying that if the patient can survive for 72 hours, then their can be a chance, mind u then only there can be a chance. In a condition where each second takes it own luxury to pass on, you are talking about 72 hours that makes it to 259200 seconds. No one can do anything, neither I nor Roy nor those so called experts in the field of medicine.

So I came back home after some time with giving the best what I can give, some courage and letting him know that we are here for any work. But what NOW, I cant do anything, so I thought to vent out my frustration through these words. Whoever you are, whatever you do, there are times when you feel that the sand is slipping out of the palm of your hands and you cant do anything.

 It was an encounter, the most lifeless of the lot.

THE COMPLICATED MARRIAGE

THE COMPLICATED  MARRIAGE

S

ometimes in life ,we got the options but their selection is not in our hands. The fate as they say is already sealed.

The day started and our dear Roy was flunging his hands to embark the day.  Mr. Roy , you can say he is the hero of our story but we would let the destiny decide this.

Roy belonged to a well off family with the structure the Indian Govt. always dreamt of.  Mr. Harish , Roy’s father was a retired Govt. employee with the quantum of pension that crossed the salary of many inspired bachelors in this country.  Mrs. Harish was rendering her services at a govt. organization with both the repute and money flowing in considerable amount and to complete the family, here came our fourth character Priya, the sister of Roy who had been married just to shorten up her role as can be witnessed in a typical Indian family.

Roy was knocking at that age when the parties and functions become the quest for a match and even Roy’s parents were not lagging behind in the race. Roy had the habit of over valuing himself at times and whims & fancies of Roy were not always digestible for people around him.

So the search for a suitable candidate for the post of wife was on and there came an application. I beg your pardon but the marriages in India are quite akin to selection for a job. In both the cases, the interviewer doesn’t pay much heed towards the sentiments of other candidate. So the application was of a girl with whom our dear Roy was quite familiar as both used to be college mates and I should not waste my literature in describing anything else. The cable and internet have turned the readers really smart. Pooja, as  the name suggest was a girl hailing from a medium income sized family. All the particulars of application form were appropriately filled except the two columns of Income and Caste.

As the Roy was the “ONLY MALE CHILD”, these two columns were definitely having more weightage than others. Sometimes, I feel the “ONLY MALE CHILD” has become a slogan with the passage of time and in the shadow of it, we overlook the broader picture which should be seen. So the application was pending and with the dialogues of Roy’s parents it can be silently presumed, that the application was disposed off.

Though our Govt. is expressing concern over the declining sex ratio but same cant be witnessed when it came to the issue of finding a girl for marriage. With the passing by of few days, there was another knock of an application. This time, the girl’s family was better off in money and repute than of Roy’s. One of the close friend of Harish was acting as a intermediary between the two families. After many cups of tea and repeating rounds of sweets, the deal was almost decided. So now it was the time of some serious talks. The discussion of so called give and take was finally concluded and soon the name of would be couple was their on the marriage cards. The marriage date as decided after consultation with Saturn & Jupiter came to 28^rd Nov 2010. Though many would be interested in knowing what was the above discussion but I will reserve my comments on it.

 

So it was 20^th of Nov. 2010, a bright morning much to the relief of people with sun in continuous battle with the upcoming cold weather. Everybody was busy in the work assigned to them with a bit of confusion always prevailing there. The cards were distributed and a substantial outflow of Goddess Lakshmi had already occurred by the way of advance of tent, caterer, florist, band and many such other advances. Just to shake the myth in the mind of some people , even the boy’s parents pocket is heavily  drained though there may be inflow in other pocket by the way of so called gift.

Suddenly there was a sound of the door bell and everyone telling everyone else to open the door. Finally Priya was selected for this heavenly task. I hope you remember Priya, that’s the way it goes in an Indian family, married daughter’s role is always cut short. So lets the come back and meet the person on the other side of door. There was a gentleman of about 5’10’’, fair complexion and peculiarities any girl would dream of. He was welcomed in but the Roy’s family didn’t know it was a giving invitation to a can of worms. The gentleman was the boy friend of the girl whose name was engraved on the marriage cards. Everyone was stunned and young blood of Roy started taking a toll. But Harish was a man with a mind, he knew if there would be a brawl, it wont take much time for the neighbors to have a spicy topic for discussion. This is I think called experience. So with the both the young blood sharing some hot discussion, Harish pulled the curtains down.

The same was discussed with the girl’s family and on their   bizarre acknowledgement of all this, a consensus was arrived at, the girl won’t step in this house as daughter-in-law. The knot which was going to be tied was freed.

Now the Roy’s family was in a tangle. The cards had been distributed and preparations were made. Soon the house would be swarming with the guests and relatives. Which end to go now????? There came a savior , an old acquaintance who offered her daughter to be the mother of Roy’s would be child. There is an old hindi saying “ MARTA KYA NA KARTA” . So with some moderate discussions, the contract was finalized.

It was 26^th Nov, not so shiny day for the Roy’s family. All the relatives had arrived with ladies sangeet tomorrow to be succeeded by marriage day after.  So when everything seems to be on the track, there comes a road block. One should always remember there is word pathetic much worse than poor. Mr. Harish got a call from the girl’s father just to leave him in despair with no way out. The girl had ran away with another boy just before two days of marriage. This is not something which happen everyday. Its just like adjudging out twice in a same cricket inning. The self obsessed Roy with his whims and fancies was finding himself the most helpless creature on this earth. The news spread among the relatives and there was a hot topic on the offering which can be utilized for many coming days.

So again the four were involved in discussion with some trembling lips and shaky legs. After about half a dozen hours of discussion, something struck in the mind of Mrs. Harish. So the four were in their car and much to the surprise of relatives ,they drove away. An array of thoughts started upspringing. HAD they ran away? Where had they gone?  There was a sense of urgency but what was going to happen nobody was sure of.

So the Roy’s family was at a door looking at each other for the volunteer to ring the bell and after all backed away, Harish took up the heavy task. Now the question is whose house it was. They say life goes a full circle. Remember Pooja, our first applicant, it was her house. “ DOOBTE KO TINKE KA SAHARA”, sometimes I found myself short of words for offer as praise for these worldly sayings. There was a second round of discussion but this time the firm tone of Roy’s family paved way for a polite and soft tone. Pooja had always liked Roy, but her parents as any other prudent person were concerned about the marriage arrangement and the justifications to be given for marriage at such short notice. With Harish agreeing to make all the arrangements and the daughter’s love, the down turn proposal was revived.

The ladies sangeet passed & so as the marriage, but everyone who was not familiar with this whole plot was found saying “ Look at Roy’s parents faces. Are they marrying a boy or a girl?” The expressions on their faces resembles those of the parents of a marrying girl with full of tension and a fear that something new and demanding would just crop up. But for those who knew it all it all, they had only three words for it “ THE COMPLICATED MARRIAGE”.      

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

The author “Vaibhav Singh” has just given his CA Final Exams and was hanging in the mid way waiting for the result when he decided to rub the tip of his pen against the paper.