Zendagi Migzara

Ye daulat bhii le lo, Ye shoharat bhi le lo Bhale cheen lo mujhse merii javaanii Magar mujhko lauta do bachapan ka saavan Vo kaagaz ki kashti, vo baarish kaa paani.... ~Jagjit Singh The best subject for observation and interpretation is people. And the best place to observe people -umm - railway station, an airport, a bookstore, people who are awesome at this: a waiter at the coffee shop and of course our very own- a local Raju chai boy. You meet people from different walks of life- few similar to you, a few completely opposite in the way that you wouldn't mind being like them and some so extreme that you definitely don't want to be like them. In these two years that I have been away from home, I have closely interacted with people 24X7 - all kinds of people. while i was at home, my interactions were limited to going to school/college, meeting people for a few hours and then getting back home, at the end there was always home, always that secure place with people with the ...

"Yeh jo Des hai tera Swades hai tera Tujhe hai pukara Yeh woh Bandhan hai Jo kabhi toot nahi sakta" - Javed Akhtar (Swades) The other day some of my friends and me were watching India Vs Sri Lanka T20 WC on ESPN when the Indian National Anthem was played before the match started. It was an automatic reaction, when all of us sprang up from our respective bean bags and chairs to full attention. Something we were taught when we stepped into play school. The first thing every Indian is taught- irrespective of whether he is muslim, christian, jewish, sikh, parsi, buddhist, zoroastrian or hindu. We all stood in attention with our hands glued to our sides mouthing "Jana Gana Mana". And I am sure all my friends had goosebumps like I did. If you're Indian, then you know what I am talking about. The Indian squad was singing and it was like, how they say in Hindi - "Garv se chatti phool jana" - it was that moment for them. Playing for your country with mil...

Sani haath Maati ki Khusboo liye Rachi dhoop mathe par boondien liye Jaani kitne baajon tu bahon liyte litne raatein apni chaon mein liye.... (Maati - Shubha Mudgal)   Call me a conservative fool, someone stuck in the times of our parents or plain backward. But I will never be able to understand how frivolous today's generation is when it comes to sex. Yes, that's the taboo word, Sex. When we were kids, anything remotely close to the 'act' was hushed - a Condom ad on TV during family TV time either made our parents change the channel or sit with extreme discomfort waiting for the ad to get over. While today, both my brother and I have grown comfortable talking about it to each other, our parents have also become very open about it. When i say they have become "open with it" I don't mean I have had conversations with my Mother about the hazards of sex and how to practice safe sex, or what birth control pills to buy. I have also not hea...