An ode to Life

Death is inevitable.

This journey will end.

Your body will breathe its last and wither,

But not your immortal spirit , never !

But you do die, in your lifetime.

Many a times. Many a deaths.

You die when you are weak.

You die when you are a coward.

You die when you doubt your self.

You die, slowly and painfully,

When you are inert and full of sloth,

Motionless, lifeless, afraid to go forth. 
When you say I can't, I can't, I can't !

But each such death must lead,

To a new life, 
A new beginning where,

Courage is Life! 
Strength is Life ! 
Self-belief is Life !

And you, bustling and brimming with energy,

Thundering ahead with the all the might your spirit can muster,

Are the embodiment of Life,

And in this lifetime,

Avow, to never ever give up, to never ever say die !

“Nobody can make you feel inferior without your consent.”  - Eleanor Roosevelt

“Stand up, be bold, be strong. Take the whole responsibility on your own shoulders, and know that you are the creator of your own destiny” – Swami Vivekananda

Dedicated to the Butterfly. I wait for it to spread its wings, and fly. 

Let the Tricolor unfurl

I hope to see the National Flag of India, hoisted at Lal Chowk, which still is Indian territory, even though the initiative is taken by the much reviled and communal BJP. If there was no hue and cry when the Paki flag was planted there, why the hell should we be afraid or ashamed of doing it now? It is high time we reclaimed what is our own.

Get an Idea

Me : Hi Abhishek
AB : Hi Kislay
Me : Say, I watched your latest flick (KHJJS) , and I was a little disappointed .
AB : Any idea why ?
Me : Ha ! Plenty . I could not make my peace with the over benaglification of words . I could not understand why the romantic twist had to be added . And once I picked up the book, Do and die, your entire character , with whom I was not totally convinced to begin with, fell apart.
AB : *sheepish*
Me : Never mind . How is the Big B ?
AB : He is fine
Me : I hope Mrs. Jaya and Mrs. Ash are well too.
AB : They are , thanks for asking .
Me : If you don't mind, I had a rather impertinent question to ask of you .
AB : Go ahead 
Me : Would you agree that your father is a Legend ?
AB : Yeah . Duh . What kind of a question is that ?
Me : Pardon me . Would you agree that even your mother kicked serious ass when it came to acting ?
AB : Of course . She rocked .
Me : And your wife, the wondrous Miss Aishwarya has also established herself as quite an actress , right ?
AB : What do you mean by "established herself" ?
Me : Well, she was a model. No offence intended but it did take her a while to get the hang of it. Even though I don't like the way she giggles , I think she can be counted as an actress now.
AB : *Looking a little worked up, grunts* Hmmm
Me : Please, I beg your forgiveness, I did not mean to hurt your feelings, and I did point out that the question was impertinent . 
AB : *Sighing impatiently* But what the hell is the Question ? You have asked 3 so far . And you already had the answers .
KC : Well....., Hmmm...... , how do I put it ? Ahem ......... Okay ..... Do you have any idea why 3 out of the 4 members of your happy family consists of 2 great and 1 good actors? Do you have any idea about why they are able to convince the audience ? I mean, do you know why they click as actors ?
AB : *With the contorted facial expression of I-am-trying-to-solve-a-partial-differentiation-equation-in-my-head *

17 minutes later

Me :Well ?
AB : Errr....... Hmmmmm ....... This one is a thinker. What makes an actor click ?
Me : If I wanted to know what made an actor click , I would have gone to FTII Pune. Tell me why do your parents and wife click ?
AB : * After scratching his head for a while* I am not saying this is my final answer, though it would have helped if this question could be rephrased in the form of an MCQ .........
Me : Whoa . Whoa . Dude . KBC is over . Relax , huh ? Give me it .


13 minutes later


AB : *Dejectedly* No idea
Me : *With jaws dropping and eyes popping* Really ? NO IDEA ! NO BLOODY IDEA ! WTF ! I will be damned !
AB :Eh ?
Me : Cheerio ! * And starts exiting cautiously , while AB is back in regurgitation mode*

A few minutes later, I heard the shouts of AB, in indignation, imploring me to come back, shaking his fists in the air. "Run faster" , was the Idea that my brain came up with. And I did.


p.s. Totally fictitious, a figment of my twisted imagination. Do I even have to say that ? And just in case somebody did not notice, it is partially inspired by the latest Idea ad campaign in which AB is asking everyone to "Get Idea" . 

Ghost of a Dead Belief

I Believed .
Those Beliefs are now swimming in front of my eyes.
Dripping in blood.
Their heads hacked off.
For a while I thought it was over.
And off I went, to cremate my dead belief.
There were others there too.
Like me and unlike me.
Friends and foes.
They are burning, faces in fire,
Melting, losing shape,
Consumed, but not purged,
It is strange.
The Beliefs were all colored.
But the ashes , an indifferent gray.
With the dying embers, I said a prayer,
"May its soul rest in peace",
But I had burnt the soul a long time before.
With this thought in my mind,
I made my way out,
Out of heaven's doors.
What I didn't notice, was the Ghost.
Following me, was the Ghost of my dear old friend !


By Stuti Chandra

This is a poem by my sister, who blogs here.

Humara Nayak Nitish

Humara Nayak jeet gaya.

Our hero won. I am not sure about this claim of mine, but I think he won like no one has ever before. I , like millions of other Indians, am ecstatic. I say Indians, and not Biharis, for I truly believe that his Victory is not only hailed by the Indians from Bihar, but from all over India. For a change, the right man won, for the right reasons and at the right time [ Don't misinterpret the use of the word right here ;) ] . For me, it is akin to the Victory of Good over Evil,  like the radiant and resplendent Sun dispelling the clouds of darkness and doom. It is as if our Nayak borrowed Shri Ram’s bow, and chopped off not ten, but multi-headed Raavan’s in Bihar. I see the hand of the Divine Mother, blessing our Nayak with her Shakti, to gore all the Mahishasur’s to death. The Raavan’s are still there, fewer in number though, the Mahishasur’s have not been annihilated to oblivion, but the Battle is on, and you know who is gaining. It feels like Holi, Dusshera and Diwali, all rolled into one. You can say that today, I am on cloud nine, with a rainbow around my shoulders.

One might wonder that what is the big deal about Nitish jee’s re-election. He won in 2005 with a good majority, didn’t he? He worked for the development of the State, didn’t he? Logically speaking, he would have won anyways. And that is where being a Bihari, and having lived in the Dark Ages, gives you the insight that how Logic and Reason had been condemned to hell for 15 years. Unless, you have seen it, heard about it, and experienced it from a close range, you cannot imagine the fear that gripped us all. The perpetual state of disarray that we all lived in, the despair and gloom that had become a part of Life, the notion that one had to leave this damned state for a better Life, and the further you went, the better it was. 

When he held the reins in 2005, it was the proverbial sliver lining. But that fear did not go away completely even when he came into Power. Every now and then, the dark thought of his losing in the upcoming elections troubled me. An irrational fear, that nothing good can ever happen in Bihar, that we are doomed forever, that no matter what, the Dark forces will employ diabolical means to usurp power once again. I wonder whether there are others who thought on the same lines, but I had this nagging doubt. It always lurked in my mind, and sent shivers down my spine. Today, his victory has brought with it, the hope and promise for a change that will be lasting and persistent. The landslide is like the proverbial nail in the coffin of the Lords of Misrule. This victory is also a sign of a desperately needed Social change. A change in the mindset of the populace, to rise above caste and religion, to value development and peace over anything else. I do not claim that Biharis are done with caste and religion, or that this change will take place overnight. It a long and arduous process. But with Nitish jee as the Captain, the ship will sail through, and be a shining example of a Nav Bharat.

Our Nayak was not backed by MY or Your people. He was backed by the forward and the backward, by the Hindus and the Muslims, by the hope and trust of the once doomed, who now have a chance to experience Progress for a considerable period.

Today is a great day for India, and for our democratic system. This victory, and the previous one, are in the annals now, and they will be quoted as an example of a turnaround for many years to come. When a state as large and populous as Bihar gets a push in the right direction, it cannot just benefit the people from that state alone. I am no social scientist or a student of economics, but yet, I know and I am so sure of this belief, that the benefits reaped off from the leadership of our Nayak, will affect a lot more people than the 10 crore Biharis.

As Bob Dylan said, the times, they are indeed a changing.

Jai Hind.  


p.s. Did any one of you laugh out loud when the Gandhi clan tried hard to impress the Junta, and claim that there has been no development in Bihar, completely ignoring the fact that it was their beloved ally who was responsible for that?