"Flying Solo"

LIFE is not a bed of roses. True. But , its not completely a path of thorns either. I consider life as  a ROAD... which is rugged and smooth, steep and hilly,bent and straight and kaccha (temporary) and pakka (permanent). Life is the most unstable form after water. It is unpredectible yet anticipant. It is Unbelievable yet reliable. It is something which doesnt require much efforts, it should go with the flow.
I have realised that , throughout our lives, we chase one thing or the other.In the hoard of chasing relationships and people, we end up losing ourselves somewhere amidst the flock of sheeps.Be it situations, people or relationships, one should just Stop chasing and start receiving. And unfortunately, the more we chase -The more it evades us  and slips from our hands like quick sand. We try too hard to hold onto it and try even  harder to never let it escape. So, sometimes its alright to flow with the current and stop trying hard. Because, when we try too hard , we often miss the quick fixes that are there right in front of us. When we set it free, we may find a new ease that clears our mind, recoups our energies and refocuses us on even more puposeful pursuits.

Caught in between 'the God' and 'the Satin' within us, we must Free ourselves to involve them in right decision making. Let the God in us guide us to be a monk but also Let the satin play its role when it comes to competence, harmlessly though. I am not talking to adopt the purposeful  tactics but  I am emphasising  on  sincere and meaningful engagements that would make one unique.

Its often said that, sacrifices nurture relationships. I agree. But  what if those sacrifices deteriorate our personality? Take a Check. Think for a minute. View your valuable time; its at their command.Their needs are more important than yours. And You are not capable of negotiating things that are important to you.  Later, you realise that  you have lost yourself completely to them. What then?  you cant crib about your destiny, u cant crib about the bad time, you just cant blame others for they jinxed you or something. No. Becoz only You will be responsible for your state. You can  only crib about your decisions  and the unwanted assistance from others that made u sacrifice the entire  "YOU" to somebody who cant  even gurantee you the complete  returns for the valuable investments (sacrifices) you made. Afterall, who has seen the future?.  However this doesnt mean that I dont support Risk. I bet you I m really risky at times. But I believe in taking "Smart Risks" which dont  deplete us but leave us strengthened.  Which dont ask us to sacrifice our priorities but gives us enormous oppertunities to taste the nectar of success.

Its the fact that We come here alone and go back alone. But ironicaly, We live our entire life satisfying others. Its hightime to Change our internal dialogue to rejoinder ourselves which will give us enough room to explore new options, to  Realise our "Self-worth" and which will  set ourselves free from all the unneccessary and delibrately created boundations which often hinder us to be one with ourselves, which will allow us to "Fly Solo". And  Believe me, your existence on this planet would be then .. "worth it" !!

(Dear readers, I am neither a counsellor nor an educationist. I am just a man on the street like you. I only like to pen down my thoughts in order to pour out my mind so that I can refill it with some new empowering thoughts again. So, consider this article as  a  piece of intellect and in the end,  I would prefer to leave the ball in your court)

Afterall.. Its good to have a "better" idea, but its "better" to impliment that "better" idea for a "better" life.

R.I.P 'Real' Photographs!

As my mom shares one of my childhood incidents with me today, i felt an urge to view my childhood Photo Album! and as I turn the pages of my album, It does my heart good to see Baby Me smiling n giggling back at me...! ...as if i re lived My childhood nd those captured moments!!Suddenly my mind questions........- Will these PHOTO Albums survive anymore where "Digital Photos" have conquered the world of photography , stabbing the very basic 'film" photography? perhaps! Photos albms will soon be a history!
 When u Hold a photo album, U sense that u are in a possession of sth. unique! sth. that is meant to be treasured for lifetime.! as u flip thru d pages , u look at the images, as if u imbibe them within urself..leaving urself to a world of 'imagination"..promptly..to a world of "memories"!!!

 Remember Those lovely romantic bollywood emotional scenes?? In which a tear rolling down the heroin's cheeks drops exactly under the hero's eye on his photgraph that she holds in her hands...!!! aah! how touching...!! but now , since the digital photos have hit in, our future movies may be devoid of such heart touching scenes!!

 yet anodr pleasur, which i believe one gets from the photo albums, is to look upon them from someone else's eyes- a good way to give oneself constructive critisizm- camparing urself wid old photos & then questiong urslf.."Do I See Any Improvement??" :P the pleasure is worth it! .....

But unfortunately the same pleasure lacks when I click on the 'next' button on my computr, to view the pics! I dont kno if that happens to you, But to me its more a kind of "jhamela" what u call it! I mean...If in mid of the day ur heart leaps to glance any of ur 'Desired' pic (which is unfortunatly digital & is stored on computr)..then u'l have to be all more patient to follow these steps...1) Switch on ur PC (Thankfully! if there is no power outage) , 2)wait till it reeboots ! 3)wait till it refreshes ( & does all the formalities of antivirus etc),4) search the folder (in case u dnt remebr the storage place) 5) Go thru all the photos (if u dnt know the name of desird pic)..... & finally after a considerable effort of 5-10 minuts, u get to see ur desired photo! (NOW U KNO WHY I CALLED IT a "JHAMELA" !) !!! but if it was a 'film' photo lying next in my drawer,it wud have been much more easier fr me to view it...!!wt say?

 anodr most troublesome thing fr me is when my heart sinks and i get a 'mini hrt atak' when i loose any f my memory cards or wen my hard disk collapses!! ( thou dey claim to regain d lost data, bt its nvr done too early)!! i usually get "insecure" to loose my memorable fotos from dat "silly chip' (memry card) !!Maybe thts y its nt easy fr me to lend my Chips or pendrives to anybody..like...."what if their comptr containd virus and erased my memories??"... & the worst- Anybody can  take a digital pic of urs widout bringing it to ur notic n in no tym ur image is uploaded on some social netwrking sites with some ridiculous captions..invading all ur privacy !!! ALL THANKS TO "DIGITALISATION"..!

Sadly, in the past decade, the digital photos have over taken the traditional photos-both in the 'AMATEUR' as well as 'Profeessional' field! & (to ur surprise) I am not completely 'Anti-digital' ! i kno digitl pics hv their own significance as u cn review them instantly & if it din turn out ur way, u cn change the settings! u trsnfr it to Comptr & give effects,easily resize n crop,adjust colour etc. ! well dts what 'PHOTOSHOP' is made for! ! 'PHOTOSHOP"!! Look at a person's photo on photoshop and Ur hEart Is gunna "Melt"...& if by chance in reality u had an encounter with the same person then, OOPs! ur heart is gunna "BreaK''!! (LOL) ... so then is it wrong to say that 'digital photos" are murderer of 'originality' &  mother of 'Fakeness'!!?
 I admit the fact dt 'Film" photos also require efforts in their post procedurs ..bt all i kno is- Those cud be preserved & till date they r safe wid me (widout any insecurity).!! & if u say dt digital pics cn olso be cnvrtd into printouts from those photo-labs, then , u must kno dt a man in the street today doesnt hav much of time,money & enrgy to spend on each click!
And wid sheer respect to all 'PHOTOGRAPHERS'..I respct all ur works, bt i believe If u r creative wid Film, u r creative wid digital. 'digital' doesnt make u more creative- It is just a tool, tool doesnt make an art or creativity-they r just a medium of
 xpression! Creativity comes frm widin & nt frm the gear u use!!

 anyway, difrnt peopl hav difrnt philosophies nd thots.! Mine may nt co-incide wid urs! bt i believe in treasuring the gr8 moments in the safe n secure 'REAL" FIlm photos ...in my albums..forever & ever!!... And, Yet , U BET! The next Camera I buy ,will only be latest 'Digital"(whichever suits my pocket)!! Afterall who wud like to be called an 'Outdated'??

"RAPE AND SHAME"

Its a nightmare scenario that evry Indian women replays ever so often in the dark corners of her brain- alongwith the prayer that it never comes true. but for the Dehli Victim, that nightmare became too real when she ws RAPED by group of 6 men. Being a girl, its just too difficult for me to imagine the trauma she must have faced. i can't even begin to imagine the horror of fear & desperation her those moments of excrutiating pain have been.

& Yet 'THEY' ask-, ''So What was a 23-year-old doing with her boyfriend that she decided to board a Private Bus?...Well I'll tell u what she WASN't Doing. She WASN'T looking to get brutally gang raped by a bunch of vicious men.THATS all u really need to know, that she WASN't looking to get RAPED!!. She is Not the one who shud be guilty. She is not the one who needs to account for her life choices. She is Not the one who is the CRIMINAL her.

But The way things are put in this skewered wolrd of ours, thats exactly what ends up happening. IT's the VICTIM who is put in the dock of public morality & asked to explain why this shud have happend to her. IT's the VICTIM who is made to feel that she bears the responsibility for the assault on her body. ! What Crap! Such is the aura of shame that surrounds the crime that the victim ends up feeling more at fault than the perpetrator. And then, The Society plays into that feeling of guilt by effectively telling the Woman that , in one way or the other, she 'ASKED' for it. YEs! You heard it right. Women who are Raped are often told that they must have 'asked' for it by the way they dressed or behaved. they are made to realise that "YOU ARE NOT JUST A VICTIM OF A TERRIBLE CRIME, U ALSO HAVE SOMETHING TO BE ASHAMED OFF"..

Just consider the way in which RAPE is projected via our movies & TV shows. The phrase used most often to describe the act of a rape in Hindi Cinema is 'IZZAT LOOT Li'. The message is stark and simple. a Woman's 'IZZAT", her HONOUR is invested in her body & u can 'STEAL' her honour if u violate her body. So, The act of RApe is not somethig that Dishonours the person who commits it, on the contrary, It Dishonours the person who is the Victim. NOW HOW DOES THAT MAKE ANY SENSE????

In the KOLKATA RAPE CASE, when the victim went to report the rape to the police, She was asked .. How was it possible for someone to be raped in a moving car? ...Could she describe the positions exactly?...What was she looking for in that night party?.. well, Mr.POliceman, let me answer u this one... ''SHE.WAS.NOT.LOOKING.TO.GET.RAPED''...did u get it ?but her experience explains why so many Rapes go unreported in India.
Only 1 out of 10 Rapes in India are ever reported & out of those reported, only 1 out of 4 cases results in conviction. Pretty Good odd If u r a Rapist, right? If U a Victim, however the dice is loaded against u from start to finish. First, the police will refuse to take u seriously unless u fit in with their idea of a rape victim, i.e. a good girl who doesn't drink, wear revealing clothes or flirts with men. If the case does get registered, It will be Open on everything from ur wardrobe choices to ur sexual history.

In other words, AFTER BEING RAPED BY UR RAPIST, U WILL END UP GETTING 'RAPED' , YET AGAIN, BY THE ''SYSTEM"....which will make u realise that you should be 'ASHAMED' bcoz u have been "RAPED"... Whereas , in reality, lies a BIG SHAME on the 'SYSTEM', SHAME on the 'MAlE -DOMINENCE', SHAME on the POLICE, SHAME on the POLITICAL LEADERS, SHAME on the Obscurantist people's MINDSETS, SHAME on the entire "NATION" and NOT on that poor Victim ,who becomes, just a Body- Living or Dead!