Whose woods these are I think I know.
His house is in the village though;
He will not see me stopping here
To watch his woods fill up with snow.
My little horse must think it queer
To stop without a farmhouse near
Between the woods and frozen lake
The darkest evening of the year.
He gives his harness bells a shake
To ask if there is some mistake.
The only other sound's the sweep
Of easy wind and downy flake.
The woods are lovely, dark and deep.
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.
Friday, November 12, 2010
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
The "Shame Games" - India's date with a Mirror
Well every one's talking about it, India's endeavour of hosting its biggest sporting event (other than cricket) till date- The Common Wealth Games-2010, New Delhi.
We are witnessing another kind of a mega event unfolding on its parallel lines. A satire, nothing short of black drama really. I call it India's date with a Mirror, its chance to find out how deep and huge is the valley of sling and filth spread around a common man's aspirations of a better life and a nation's dreams of becoming a global power in the next 25 years. The drama, the valley of corruption, incompetency, bureacracy, red-tapism, lethargy..... I could just go on and on you know.
Dreams come true I believe, at least thats what my blog name suggests, but this achievement will take some doing. We are facing the biggest embarrassment on international front of a proffessional kind, where we will not be able to fulfill a commitment, provide worldclass infrastructure and services for the first such job that we took responsibility of.
Be ware, this is not a political, regional, linguistic or such sort of a problem but an international embarrassment for the second fastest growing economy of the world. Economy, this word has a new meaning now for us. Its existence comes to fore only in such sporting events-- remember IPL-3. Yesss, it was recession when multi-million dollar scams were staged in IPL. CWG has just made it look so small. Its a mockery of all those men, women and children who die of hunger in this country coz the agriculture minister doesn't understand Supreme Court's order but that's a matter for some other time. All those GDP and export and sensex and nifty figures are in the news to fool us, to make us believe that we as a country are progressing. But we need to ask ourselves a question, Are we really? With crores of people without the basic roti, kapda and makaan in this country what good is this great economy and its fanfare?
The govt has spent more than 50000 crores in building (that's what they say) the infrastructure of CWG in a country where the comman man still doesn't have proper roads, bridges, access to required water and electric supply. A country where a man with a Mercedez Benz too spends hours in traffic before reaching his final destination, forget an ordinary bus commuter. A country where the education minister is fighting for more budget to implement schemes of providing better education to crores of illeterate men, women and children with the finance minister. A country surrounded by floods, terrorism, hunger, drought, civil clashes etc all at the same time. So how will the govt jutstify this cost on the exchequer's pocket amidst such mayhem? And I wouldn't have had a problem if only I could have seen a beautiful organisation of these games which could showcase India's ability to host an event of this nature as done by South Africa (Fifa world cup-2010) and China (Beijing Olympics-2008).
You know what we should once and for all stop comparisons between India and China. China is decades ahead of us in development and a hundred years ahead in attitude. Barack Obama just recently stated that even with the recession and unemployment in the USA, it was still the place to be. It was still the country of opportunities, and still had the best of infrastructure and services to provide to its citizens. Imagine Dr. Manmohan Singh saying this on national television. I am sure atleast a million people will die laughing their guts out or of a heart attack. But then may be not coz we Indians have become immune. Immune to our problems, immune to our surroundings and immune to our sensitivity. "Yeh India hai, Yahaan sab aisa hi chalta hai, Yahaan kuch badal nahi sakta, Hum kya kar sakte hain?"
We are witnessing another kind of a mega event unfolding on its parallel lines. A satire, nothing short of black drama really. I call it India's date with a Mirror, its chance to find out how deep and huge is the valley of sling and filth spread around a common man's aspirations of a better life and a nation's dreams of becoming a global power in the next 25 years. The drama, the valley of corruption, incompetency, bureacracy, red-tapism, lethargy..... I could just go on and on you know.
Dreams come true I believe, at least thats what my blog name suggests, but this achievement will take some doing. We are facing the biggest embarrassment on international front of a proffessional kind, where we will not be able to fulfill a commitment, provide worldclass infrastructure and services for the first such job that we took responsibility of.
Be ware, this is not a political, regional, linguistic or such sort of a problem but an international embarrassment for the second fastest growing economy of the world. Economy, this word has a new meaning now for us. Its existence comes to fore only in such sporting events-- remember IPL-3. Yesss, it was recession when multi-million dollar scams were staged in IPL. CWG has just made it look so small. Its a mockery of all those men, women and children who die of hunger in this country coz the agriculture minister doesn't understand Supreme Court's order but that's a matter for some other time. All those GDP and export and sensex and nifty figures are in the news to fool us, to make us believe that we as a country are progressing. But we need to ask ourselves a question, Are we really? With crores of people without the basic roti, kapda and makaan in this country what good is this great economy and its fanfare?
The govt has spent more than 50000 crores in building (that's what they say) the infrastructure of CWG in a country where the comman man still doesn't have proper roads, bridges, access to required water and electric supply. A country where a man with a Mercedez Benz too spends hours in traffic before reaching his final destination, forget an ordinary bus commuter. A country where the education minister is fighting for more budget to implement schemes of providing better education to crores of illeterate men, women and children with the finance minister. A country surrounded by floods, terrorism, hunger, drought, civil clashes etc all at the same time. So how will the govt jutstify this cost on the exchequer's pocket amidst such mayhem? And I wouldn't have had a problem if only I could have seen a beautiful organisation of these games which could showcase India's ability to host an event of this nature as done by South Africa (Fifa world cup-2010) and China (Beijing Olympics-2008).
You know what we should once and for all stop comparisons between India and China. China is decades ahead of us in development and a hundred years ahead in attitude. Barack Obama just recently stated that even with the recession and unemployment in the USA, it was still the place to be. It was still the country of opportunities, and still had the best of infrastructure and services to provide to its citizens. Imagine Dr. Manmohan Singh saying this on national television. I am sure atleast a million people will die laughing their guts out or of a heart attack. But then may be not coz we Indians have become immune. Immune to our problems, immune to our surroundings and immune to our sensitivity. "Yeh India hai, Yahaan sab aisa hi chalta hai, Yahaan kuch badal nahi sakta, Hum kya kar sakte hain?"
Saturday, May 22, 2010
Had a dramatic experience on a train recently.
I was travelling by night in sleeper class compartment of the train.
The train might have got a red signal and hence stopped in the middle of nowhere. It was pitch dark outside. I was sleeping on the lower side berth with the window open. I was in half sleep when I heard the sound of stones on the tracks moving. When I looked out of the window I saw two men walking slowly close to the coach. I found them suspicious and called on to them as to who they were. Hearing my voice they started running and went to the other side of the track by crawling from below the train. Suddenly a lady who was sleeping on the lower berth just in front of me began shouting. Somebody had tried to snatch the necklace she was wearing at that time. I realized that these men were thieves and started shouting "Chor, Chor". There was a ruckus and all the passengers started shouting. The thieves eloped in the dark even as one brave passenger tried to chase them. But the thieves were too quick for him and even he didnt pusue them hard vary of the fact that they might be carrying weapons.
The policeman on the train arrived as I had pulled the chain to stop the train before it could gain full speed. The passengers explained him the problem which he listened to, asked a few questions and closed all the doors of the coach again. But I couldnt find him anything that would make me believe he was trying to catch those crooks. He didnt get down, didnt inform the guard of the train, nor did he use is communication device he was carrying to inform the station master or police control room so that this could be averted for the following trains.
In any case the incident left me terrified and vigilant for the rest of my journey or any journey I might undertake in future.
Request you to be alert and take care of your belongings while you travel. Do not wear an valuables while travelling too.
Take Care!!
I didnt write the stations or the area where this incident happened coz I know this problem aint present at some specific locations. This is Pan India Problem.
I was travelling by night in sleeper class compartment of the train.
The train might have got a red signal and hence stopped in the middle of nowhere. It was pitch dark outside. I was sleeping on the lower side berth with the window open. I was in half sleep when I heard the sound of stones on the tracks moving. When I looked out of the window I saw two men walking slowly close to the coach. I found them suspicious and called on to them as to who they were. Hearing my voice they started running and went to the other side of the track by crawling from below the train. Suddenly a lady who was sleeping on the lower berth just in front of me began shouting. Somebody had tried to snatch the necklace she was wearing at that time. I realized that these men were thieves and started shouting "Chor, Chor". There was a ruckus and all the passengers started shouting. The thieves eloped in the dark even as one brave passenger tried to chase them. But the thieves were too quick for him and even he didnt pusue them hard vary of the fact that they might be carrying weapons.
The policeman on the train arrived as I had pulled the chain to stop the train before it could gain full speed. The passengers explained him the problem which he listened to, asked a few questions and closed all the doors of the coach again. But I couldnt find him anything that would make me believe he was trying to catch those crooks. He didnt get down, didnt inform the guard of the train, nor did he use is communication device he was carrying to inform the station master or police control room so that this could be averted for the following trains.
In any case the incident left me terrified and vigilant for the rest of my journey or any journey I might undertake in future.
Request you to be alert and take care of your belongings while you travel. Do not wear an valuables while travelling too.
Take Care!!
I didnt write the stations or the area where this incident happened coz I know this problem aint present at some specific locations. This is Pan India Problem.
Monday, April 12, 2010
Massacre of a Common Man
On 4th April I went to Pizza Hut and had a blast. I was with some friends and we all ordered some great pizzas. But after we had our stomachs full we were struck by a storm. This storm shattered us beyond our belief. It was the storm of taxes. If I had to put the bill in figures it read something like this:
Spicy Chicken Pizza: Rs. 299
Chicken Supreme : Rs. 328
Total : Rs. 628 (We were sane and happy till now but what came next was like a
nuke on Hiroshima)
Sales Tax @ 12.50% : Rs. 57.94 (KABOOOOM....AAAAGGHHHH)
Grand Total (Round): Rs. 686
This is when I started feeling that all the pizza boys moving about in the outlet had started grinning amongst themselves. This is when I started feeling that a huge boulder was coming down on me with a speed of 64,000 miles an hour. This is when I felt so helpless and hapless at the same time.
"12.50%!!!!" I shrieked.
I had a look around and suddenly found the place covered in blood. All other customers of this pizza outlet who just a few seconds earlier seemed to be having a time of their life lay there crushed and motionless. I saw there a family of three (which included a small kid of not more than 7-8 years old.....why do they need to bring them here when they are so young?) the kid was still laughing and giggling, the mother still caressing the kid with her one eye being on her husband. But it was cries of that man's heart which I could hear out loud. The pain, the agony and the shivers that went through his body were there for all to see but the pizza boys just didnt seem to bother.
This was probably the first time I realized the impact of taxes in our lives. And it wasnt a very good thing too. I guess Ignorance is truly bliss. I wasnt myself for the whole of the remaining evening.
Today as I sit down to jot my thoughts on that big self realization I find myself surrounded by the trap laid down by tax tentacles. This trap seems to be set on every step that we take towards our financial freedom(ha ha... good joke na). Taxes suck our hard earned money from us like a leech. And they start doing that from the start itself .....our salaries. One of my friend (he is my manager too) receives X amount of salary . But his salary in the last quarter was X/2 becoz of the income tax that was deducted. I just wonder how in the world did he manage to survive with that and then I realized he is not married. Good for him but for the folks who have a family to run it just feels like mockery of all the hard work they do to make their ends meet.
Well if the government bites out of what is rightfully ours at the start of this cycle (salaries thats where is all starts right?) why torture us bit by bit at every nook and turn. Sales tax, direct tax, indirect tax, value added tax, service tax, octroi, fringe benefit tax (fancy names too), small term gain tax, long term gain tax, water tax, road tax, proffessional tax, unproffessional tax, air tax, potty tax and what all and what not.Recenly government of Uttarakhand proposed a tax on fresh air that it provides to the nation. (Seriously...aint kidding here)
I mean on top of all this they collect road toll taxes (where the money goes directly to the private companies who built them).
This is nothing but massacre, a means of population control used by government. They supplement this by forming policies where prices of basic essentials have sky rocketed to new highs.
Now for the biggest ironies of all: All agricultural incomes are non-taxable and still farmers of this country are committing suicide. You know why? Coz They dont have any income at all.
Akshay Kumar comes in defence of taxes on TV and says "Pay your taxes and you'll get better infrastructure, medical assistance, civil services, basic ameneties bla bla bla. Yeah right that we have been getting for last 60 years.
But my concern is this: amidst all of this only the working class gets nothing. People below poverty line well they get all the attention and rich businessmen well they dont need anything at all.
Please stop this massacre. Its inhuman, its atrocity and the common man of India (thats me) is burning.
Spicy Chicken Pizza: Rs. 299
Chicken Supreme : Rs. 328
Total : Rs. 628 (We were sane and happy till now but what came next was like a
nuke on Hiroshima)
Sales Tax @ 12.50% : Rs. 57.94 (KABOOOOM....AAAAGGHHHH)
Grand Total (Round): Rs. 686
This is when I started feeling that all the pizza boys moving about in the outlet had started grinning amongst themselves. This is when I started feeling that a huge boulder was coming down on me with a speed of 64,000 miles an hour. This is when I felt so helpless and hapless at the same time.
"12.50%!!!!" I shrieked.
I had a look around and suddenly found the place covered in blood. All other customers of this pizza outlet who just a few seconds earlier seemed to be having a time of their life lay there crushed and motionless. I saw there a family of three (which included a small kid of not more than 7-8 years old.....why do they need to bring them here when they are so young?) the kid was still laughing and giggling, the mother still caressing the kid with her one eye being on her husband. But it was cries of that man's heart which I could hear out loud. The pain, the agony and the shivers that went through his body were there for all to see but the pizza boys just didnt seem to bother.
This was probably the first time I realized the impact of taxes in our lives. And it wasnt a very good thing too. I guess Ignorance is truly bliss. I wasnt myself for the whole of the remaining evening.
Today as I sit down to jot my thoughts on that big self realization I find myself surrounded by the trap laid down by tax tentacles. This trap seems to be set on every step that we take towards our financial freedom(ha ha... good joke na). Taxes suck our hard earned money from us like a leech. And they start doing that from the start itself .....our salaries. One of my friend (he is my manager too) receives X amount of salary . But his salary in the last quarter was X/2 becoz of the income tax that was deducted. I just wonder how in the world did he manage to survive with that and then I realized he is not married. Good for him but for the folks who have a family to run it just feels like mockery of all the hard work they do to make their ends meet.
Well if the government bites out of what is rightfully ours at the start of this cycle (salaries thats where is all starts right?) why torture us bit by bit at every nook and turn. Sales tax, direct tax, indirect tax, value added tax, service tax, octroi, fringe benefit tax (fancy names too), small term gain tax, long term gain tax, water tax, road tax, proffessional tax, unproffessional tax, air tax, potty tax and what all and what not.Recenly government of Uttarakhand proposed a tax on fresh air that it provides to the nation. (Seriously...aint kidding here)
I mean on top of all this they collect road toll taxes (where the money goes directly to the private companies who built them).
This is nothing but massacre, a means of population control used by government. They supplement this by forming policies where prices of basic essentials have sky rocketed to new highs.
Now for the biggest ironies of all: All agricultural incomes are non-taxable and still farmers of this country are committing suicide. You know why? Coz They dont have any income at all.
Akshay Kumar comes in defence of taxes on TV and says "Pay your taxes and you'll get better infrastructure, medical assistance, civil services, basic ameneties bla bla bla. Yeah right that we have been getting for last 60 years.
But my concern is this: amidst all of this only the working class gets nothing. People below poverty line well they get all the attention and rich businessmen well they dont need anything at all.
Please stop this massacre. Its inhuman, its atrocity and the common man of India (thats me) is burning.
Monday, March 1, 2010
First Blog-- coz if Bachchan Khan(can), so can I.
Hi
This is my first blog and with this I take the first step in the immensely interesting world of Blogging. There are so many rich, famous, influential, powerful and none of these people who have turned to this channel for sharing, declaring, supporting, opposing, condenming and communicating various topics and issues, thoughts and actions. The most famous of Indians being Amitabh Bachchan and Shahrukh Khan. So surrendering to the fact that this is a perfect platform to let my thoughts, aspirations, inspirations, frustrations and opinions(best part is they are free) be shared with the world I join this wonderful time pass which I plan to take to seriously. I hope in future I come up with some interesting and introspective views for all.
Thank you
This is my first blog and with this I take the first step in the immensely interesting world of Blogging. There are so many rich, famous, influential, powerful and none of these people who have turned to this channel for sharing, declaring, supporting, opposing, condenming and communicating various topics and issues, thoughts and actions. The most famous of Indians being Amitabh Bachchan and Shahrukh Khan. So surrendering to the fact that this is a perfect platform to let my thoughts, aspirations, inspirations, frustrations and opinions(best part is they are free) be shared with the world I join this wonderful time pass which I plan to take to seriously. I hope in future I come up with some interesting and introspective views for all.
Thank you
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