Kashmir Issue.

Yesterday, I read @Aagan86's blog about Kashmir and Lamhaa the movie, one thing came to my mind was: "What would happen, if India declared Kashmir independent, and withdrew all troops over night!" Only a hypothetical development, as if it would ever happen! And I would certainly not do so, even if I were the whole and sole authority on the decision of Kashmir.

The immediate questions that would arise, and would certainly make Pakistan scramble for action.

1. Pakistan would have to declare independence of Pakistan occupied Kashmir (POK) and recognize it as a free country and lastly withdraw troops too, unless it decides to stop over and help valley "Develop!"

2. If Pakistan decides to execute 1st point, then it would have to answer bitter questions about territory it gifted away to China, which certainly would not be part of Sovereign state of Kashmir anymore and hence new struggle will ensue.

3. Now, in-case Pakistan does not execute 1st point that would be like welcoming trouble with both arms. The insurgency, terrorism or revolution or whatever they supported from across the border, would be dissatisfied and turn against Pakistan. And only worst thing than a strong intelligent enemy is an emotional, fooled, disillusioned former friend turned foe.

However, bright it seems for India to give up on Kashmir, so as to add some more trouble on plate of Pakistan and China, India would have some trouble to handle too!

1. Kashmiri Pundit’s would agitate, and so would other Kashmiri's who are working in other parts of India.

2. Hopes of China, regarding other disputed territories such as Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh would increase, which India does not need.

3. But 1st and foremost, reason to not cede territory is Indian notion, where in our land is equivalent to our mother, and hence not to be given to someone, that implies: "Hindus would cause a Riot."

In-case Pakistan gives up on Kashmir?

1. Even if Pakistani leadership gives up on Kashmir, military would never do so! As it would see ultimate defeat of their own, hence they would do what they know best: Overthrow democratic government and establish military rule.

2. All groups Jihadist, peaceful ones and all such organizations would turn against Pakistan Government, which is already facing terrorist activities, and this will only add to it.

3. Kashmiris: Hurriyat parties, peaceful, and non-peaceful organization will also turn foes of Pakistan, which will be difficult to tackle.

After thinking on all these points, It seems Kashmiris are caught in catch22 situation of the two quarrelling countries. And therefore I wonder if India, Pakistan and China (Marginal role) would ever resolve the Kashmir issue!

Aagan's blog post: http://aaganzworld.blogspot.com/2010/07/kashmir-must-live-on.html

So how much do you earn?

A normal train journey, overnight and Lucky would be back to city he chose for his education and subsequently for job, some sleep and some reading was all that he needed to pass the time and he had the goods, mom's own recipe Paneer(Cottage Cheese ) chilly for dinner. To add to the perfect night, 2 perfect girls walk in, together! Only if forth occupant had been some nice guy, or even better some old person or another woman, it would have been better than perfect night, but it were not too be so!

There walked in a brute guy, who was wearing cheap imitation clothes, and fluxed his muscles more than his brain, and soon girls decided to turn in, to ignore his over probing questions. Well! None should ask "So, are you virgin on any date!" Certainly not the first question! That finished any chance of knowing them!

Next, this guy, who calls himself as "Myself Gobind!" turns to Lucky, and starts chatting up. Lucky thinks this guy is impossible to stop, and forget girls, no reading is going to be possible here, and to avoid questions like: "So what have you invested in?" takes a cue from girls and follows suit.

And sleep it is, though it is only 19:00 O'clock for now it is aided by slow gazals, almost lullaby kind of music plays in background on Gobind's cell phone. In backdrop of music and closed eyes, a thought crosses lucky's mind, before sleep: This guy is never going to earn more than me, not even what i earn in a month, would he make in an year!

Suddenly, in dead of night, tap....tap....sound starts and gets louder, and ends with a tap on Lucky's back and wakes up, to see TC-Ticket Collector. Lucky gets up and finds the two girls are also up and next see's the police in cabin! Lucky thinks he is dreaming, but then crying girls and inspectors questions drill in the reality. Gobind has vanished with all their luggage, girls have lost their cell phones too and it is only 21:00 o'clock, in just 2 hours, Lucky's perfect night had turned into unluckiest one!

Girls had their home number, on memory, and Lucky had his cell phone and purse, that helped inspector verify their identities. Finally at 22:00 O'clock girls get to call up their respective parents, and a bigger scam surfaces, both their parents got an SMS, asking for debit card pins and their parents, knowing and loving their forgetful daughter, replied with every pin number via SMS! Resultant, bank accounts were drained off of by total of 2 lakh rupees (INR 200,000)!

Lucky, being a finance professional made a total summary of amount that Gobind could make by selling all the stuff (3 latest laptops-1IBM think pad, 2 Sony Vaio, two 32GB I-phones, jewellery worth INR 100,000, branded clothes, 3-I pods, designer bags, make-up box!) All added up to 600,000 INR! That's about 200,000 more than what Lucky makes in a year, all gained in just a day of work!

Dil Banjara!

Dil Banjara

Nachta

Gata Phire

Koi Rasta

koi Sapn

Raina

Dhundta Phire

koi ho na ho

koi mile na mile

ye toh

chalta chale

Rukena

ruke toh

zindagi ruk jaye

socho toh

thami zindagi

jineme

kahan

koi

maza aaye

Dil Banjara

Nachta

Gata Phire

Kabhi Dhup

Kabhi chav

chahta phire

koi apnasa

pyarasa

khojta phire

mil jayejo

sathi koi

sath

nibhata chale

socho toh

akele

safar main

kahan

maza aaye

Dil Banjara

Nachta

Gata Phire.....

The Spiritual Awakening?

I am bit skeptical of religious places and visiting them to do poojas or ibadats or pray etc.....However, today i found my feet following my sister into one of such place, and it felt awesome, everything about it was just awesome, unimaginable!

It is rightly said, "To experience God, is a divine experience, reserved for elite few." And I am glad to be one of them. So, I follow my sister, who is leading the way, even though I am driving my bike and she is riding pillion. It is a crowded street, too many people, coming in and out of shops, shops on pavements, foot paths, feet walking on road, bargaining with foot path vendors, autos, cycles, two-wheelers, cars parked on both sides of the road, and this is two way road, where in now no overtaking is allowed, for there is no space left after two vehicles take up the road, and still miraculously I am overtaking a bus!

While overtaking a bus, a vendor gets out of way, without complaining, just in nick of time, else it would have been curtains for my license for time being! He does not see me coming, but gets out of the way straight away! As if destiny was calling and being on right path people sensing my destiny were moving out of the way!

It is time for me to apply the brakes, stop the bike, let sister get down and park the vehicle, and there is no parking available any where, not a single slot, except one below the tree, only slot where shade is available, of all the slots in area, reserved specially for me, and I take it. Have never had such a easy time for looking for parking, not even in my own premises!

And as I make way to the deity's holy abode, I realize that his Holy abode resides in the middle of this territory! In middle of the road! And as, it is his holiness's rue, Indian law has little say over here. Hence the road forks into two, and both being two ways, cause lot of traffic jams, so even the rarest of rare staunch atheist gets to take a bow at his holiness's doors, though the prayer this atheist utters is hardly any prayer to a common ear! His prayers are answered immediately, and he can move on as traffic clears for him momentarily. For those who do not, god calls them up close to question them, this includes a visit to nearest hospital and explains the presence of Ambulance placed here on stand by!

As I start stepping on the 1st stone step, I realize, that all the things are rushing towards me, the blaring sound of horns, those beeping indicators, and beep beep mouth shouts, and glaring headlights and what not, and rushing past me, numbing feeling is setting in! I am at center of Universe! No the deity is, and I am very close to it!

Suddenly! As I take next step, all the sounds, all the visions, all start going away! It is like I am the player, standing on field, facing the bowler and all the noise from spectators just goes away, reaching a state of oneness with me! The state of full concentration! It is bliss! It is peace! For the old, thick, windowless walls, of the abode surround you and block out all the waves of sound and light. The only opening in walls is a small doorway, through which I have entered and I have used all four limbs of my body to crawl in, in front of the deity. I Have submitted all my belongings: "Tann, Mann, Dhann" (Body, Soul, and Material), I have bowed to him!

As I look up to him, as there is no other way to look at him, architect has made sure that you would do so! All you can see is two eyes and a reverse of a smile. The two eyes look angry at first, then when you also add that reverse of a smile, the angry eyes transform into prodding eyes, and then grim eyes! Then you realize, like a sudden realization, it strikes fear at your heart! He is looking down on you! He knows of the impending doom! The catastrophe that your life is heading towards and this case mine! Oh! shits! This deity knows too much, even more than me. *Sigh!* I need to do something to please him! So I follow every step that my sister does! I am now a staunch believer! I have done all the rituals, only one time! So what! I have done, unlike most of the species living in this world!

I take Prasad "Offering to Deity as his blessing" along with Panchamrut, that includes cows urine, it is authentic says the poojari(priest)! And like a good disciple, I consume it without a frown, and with a smile of content!

Now it is time to make way for other devotees, and this devotee to take leave, and so I crawl out of the hole, and world starts coming back to me, as if I am returning from Moksh! I don't want to, but I have too! First to come is smell, weird but outer world does not smell of scented smoke, but only of plain old exhaust smoke. Then comes the sound, the noise, and various lights!

Before you realize, your way of looking at life has changed, you want to be out of this cacophony as quickly as possible! So I look for my bike, and by the time I start moving out, all the holiness blanket that had engulfed me has gone, I am shouting at fellow riders for not letting me out before they barged in to park! After all where could they park before my bike is out of there!

This is stupidity!

It was one of those days when you wake up and just want to get away from all of what is there on your plate, aaahhh, on second thought one does have those thoughts on every working day! But this was different! It was already a holiday!

So I wake up, not so early, actually not at all early and certainly not on wrong side of the bed, you see my bed has only one side, I have blocked the wrong side by a wall, walk around lazily, going through morning chores and its lunch time.

And a brainwave occurs on lunch table, I say it out loud:"I am going to Kolhapur!" and my parents only question is "Why Kolhapur?" I have no idea, so I say:"I am going to meet a friend over there." In totally unconvincing voice of all.

So I am on bus, going to Kolhapur when passenger next to me starts chatting, at first I am annoyed, after all I was reading Sidin's Dork, but then his story became interesting. Here it is, as told by him.

"I am an engineer in LG Mobile on floor, and I earn about 15k per month, as such I am married but I am unable to keep my wife with me because she can not get a job in Pune, but she has one in Kolhapur. You being a finance person, can you advise what should I do to quickly overcome my poor state?"

I was taken aback at this question, no one would discuss ones financial status with a complete stranger, and that was my first advise, but he persisted. So I asked him whats his Investment status.

"I have an investment of Rs.2 lacs in various large cap companies in share market, my parents had taken care of insurance so I have enough of it. Thats all!"

Me: "Thats pretty good, so where is the problem?"

"I have a loan!"

Me:"How much?"

"The loan is 4 lacs Rupees, as personal loan."

Me:"Why did you take out personal loan? It has highest interest rates, about 20% interest in any bank."

"To invest in share market! Unfortunately market fell after that and now its value is half the original investment!"

Unfortunately, I could not utter a single word, knowing that average returns from market over the years had been 20%, this way of investing did not make sense in any way I looked at it.

My advise to him was, to take a loan on his insurance policy and pay off most of the sum that was remaining of loan from bank, first of all this will reduce his EMI burden as interest rate on life insurance policy is 10 to 11%, thats nearly half the interest on bank loan, next plus point is that, it gives an increase in tenure, as he was facing deadline and did not have money to pay up.

And that was the most meaningful thing that happened on that trip, think that was the only purpose of whole journey.

Life : 4th Quarter

Your son knows

for you are

at end

of the

Third Quarter

And he is in his second

he knows

&

stays put

you know

why he is there

besides you

&

your wife

He is there

for he knows

you have to

get hands dirty

to be in your position

your wife

for she still loves you

she knows

why you did it all

Then you realize

the real realization happens

you dint need to get dirty

you dint need to earn that much

you dint need to succeed

you were always loved

by people whom you love

of whom you cared

&

then

guilt sets in

then starts philanthropy

then you understand

why one should give

give more

than take

its in the last Quarter

the last bits of your

life

&

for the first time

in your life

you are not

Lost

you dont feel

betrayal

but trusted

but finally

arrived

fulfilled

you retire

play with your

Grandchildren

Get back to life

the way

it should have been

the way you were born

having fun

all the way

the last January

your childhood,

but its December

you are old

&

sooner

than

latter

your year is going

to end

it will be time to go

you know i

you thank god

for it

the life you have had

what one need's

is

what one already has

in your own backyard

&

the forth Quarter

is over

One life has been

Lived

&

One life has

Ended

But Life in itself

has continued

people around

that life

still live on their's

giving rise to new

&

the great saga

continues

As we pass

the Quarters

we see things happening

as they used to

with us

the way we lived them

to our neighbors

to our teachers

to our parents

we see

our children do

so the saying goes

"The more things

change,

the more they

remain same"

Still we let them

happen

for its not in our hands

we are helpless

blinded by success

for its their life

&

it's them

who have to make it

the journey

is of their choice

as it continues.............

Life : 3rd Quarter

July, is here

babies are born

you end up

supporting

the other lives

which are part of yours

the good part

&

for the

first time

very first time

you think of chucking

chucking the wrong way

for that new life

to be a role model to it

&

realize

there is whole new thing

new thing

called responsibilities

for it

you dig harder

deeper

deeper into dirt

you get your slate dirtier

&

Dirtier

for that close night

with your wife

for that tab

on your child's head

for that feeling of

being loved

&

life goes on

&

on

&

then

time comes

come's the time

we realize

our slate is no more clean

we know it

but world doesn't

why should it?

but it wants too

things start to go wrong

skeletons

long lost

start falling out

people learn

&

then

life is on to you

your past is in open

naked and facing you

your dirty secret is out

&

your loved ones

are last to know

&

Shocked

they deny

&

live in denial

&

then

just lose trust

trust in you

for them

you turn

from Angel to demon

in flash of a news

aptly titled

The Breaking News

breaking all your bonds

by now

your son knows

for you are

at end

of the

Third Quarter

And he is in his second