Special 26

At 26, life is a lot like our wardrobes, organised in parts but largely all over the place. It’s that time we realize that childhood has ditched us and long moved on. Adulthood is like an uninvited guest. It's here, but we hardly want to acknowledge its presence!

 26, is also slightly confusing. Almost like the sudden commercial break that pops up, while you're engrossed in the climax of an intense romantic drama on TV. You don't know what to do when it hits you. It makes you feel empowered and in control of things, people and situations. You feel, it's your time. You're poised for world domination. Dreams suddenly seem achievable. And then one day, you cry like a baby, when your girlfriend / boyfriend break up with you citing "Compatibility Issues"

It also makes you that much more vulnerable. Vulnerable because you know you've grown out of being the boy who wanted to party each weekend but you haven't yet fully grown into being a man who can enjoy a single malt and a hearty conversation for a Saturday night!

You're independent but still the second signatory to your bank account after your dad. Your mom trusts the maid over you to get the best bargain on the monthly grocery shopping despite you acing your dissertation on contract negotiation in your final semester.

26, it’s a bit like entering the 8th grade in school. It leaves you puzzled whether to be happy about the transition to trousers or be sad about the fact that you're still not eligible to be appointed the Head Boy. It is largely a confusion that arises out of expectations, partly those that emanate from others, largely the residue of complexities of the ones which are your own.

The phase, a paradox of emotions, gives you the high of gloating in your new-found confidence which gets credited with your salary every beginning of the month. Short-lived though, only to be deflated by the information that your college buddy who's Haka Noodles lunch you paid for in college, spends that much on his weeknight out with his office colleagues. His visiting card carries the logo of the company you've yearned to work for and his assistant informs you that he's travelling to Cannes / The Oscars to look for good content when you call his office, while his cell phone is out of coverage area.

A Facebook status update / a pic tweeted by your school friend whose greatest achievement for life you thought would be graduating college without an ATKT is  surrounded by ladies on the red carpet. You read on and figure that he's touted to be the next big thing in Bollywood and his Foursquare update a week later reads ... "ABC just checked in at Eiffel Tower, Paris" with his moronic smile bulging out of the picture. This phase has a special talent at making you feel big one moment and belittling your ego the next!

Adding to that, at 26, you also realize that the world as you know it, can be divided into 3 kinds of people - 'Engaged', 'To be married' and 'Newly Married' people. These 3 categories will encapsulate the entire spectrum of mankind to have ever walked on this planet. Your Facebook timeline starts resembling a wedding album and the Foursquare check in updates of your friends could be easily compiled into the list of best honeymoon destinations around the world.

All your crushes have found their crushes leaving you crushed. The neighbor who thought you were ‘Cute’ as a kid now refuses to recognize you when you ask for the spare key to your house when parents are away.

Yes, I know, 26 is a time, that can make you wish the Mayans were right. It drives you nuts. It personifies insanity. It's insane.

However, it is also special. It’s special because it allows you the space to discover your true friends, your hobbies and interests, at a point, discover your true self. It makes you expressive beyond your own imagination. It sensitizes you in its own unique way to human emotions, the way you never felt them before.

 It makes you realize the importance of family. It makes you realize what it takes to be truly ‘happy’. It pushes you against the walls. It enables you to nurture and cultivate responsibility, without thrusting it upon you accidentally. It makes you stronger without killing you.

While you dance to the song of heartbreak and love, yearning for the ‘Perfect one’ to be with, you don’t realise that it is this 26, which makes you a better person. A person your ‘Perfect One’ would love to be with!

Bollywood for life...

There are things that affect us.. and then there are those that mould or change our lives forever. Bollywood for most of us has just been a source of entertainment, for some even obsession, however for me, it has often been a great source of learning.

There is a great body of recognised / unrecognised work which has gone into making the hindi film industry what it is today and I'm sure there are those who realise that there is a great deal of quality which has also churned out of this dream weaving factory.

Today, I list 5 bollywood tracks which have shaped my outlook towards life. These songs embody the ethos, the spirit of life for me. These are gems which act as a beacon when I'm lost or just plainly down and out. These songs surely entertained us in the context of the films they were a part of, but for me, they did just that little bit more... they taught me how to live my life....

1) Kisi ki muskurahaton pe ho nisar - Anari
2) Ae zindagi gale laga le - Sadma
3) Aane wala pal - Golmaal (When I write Golmaal, I always mean the old Amol Palekar one!)
4) Zindagi ki yahi reet hai - Mr. India
5) Yeh safar... bahut hai kathin magar - 1942 A Love Story

Google Life

A few contemplative conversations and random observations, off late, have stirred up these thoughts in my mind. Ever since we’re born, we’re always on this perpetual quest. The quest of love, laughter and that of a fulfilling life.

As a child we want to be thrown up in the air, just so that someone lovingly holds us before we crash land into the ground. We want to be fed, and be fed well, or else we cry, *(Yea we all learn the art of emotional blackmail fairly early on in our lives). We also constantly want the attention. We want people to play with us, notice how amazing our dimples look when we smile. We want them to buy us the best presents when they come for our crazy birthday parties. We want them to sing and clap really loud for us just before they’ve deserved a small piece of their cake.

When we grow older, we crave for recognition. We crave for someone to like our new haircut, love our new bag, and go crazy over the new pair of denims we picked up. We also want someone to love our choice of restaurants, movies, music, women / men. We want them to go gaga over the latest gizmo we flaunt. We give in to the temptation of asking out the hottest girl / guy in our group, just so that if she / he happened to say yes to us, it would be an achievement which could potentially undermine the impact of man landing on the moon!!! And even if we are actually the lucky ones whom God has bestowed upon the gift of a boyfriend / girlfriend, why do we ensure that we try and exhibit our love for each other multiplied by at least a hundred, when we are amongst our other, not so lucky “single” friends?

As, professionals we take it upon ourselves, to plan the most exotic sounding holidays, not because we really want to go to those places, but just because they make us feel like Rocky Balboa amidst all the lesser mortals around us who we call ‘colleagues’. We want to get our hands onto the latest PDA phone so that awesomeness is exhibited in full throttle at work, even if it means that half our salary is guzzled up by this blackberry which is indeed going to make your life go sour.

Let’s admit it. We all have done one or all of the above things, at least once in our lifetimes. But have we asked ourselves as to why exactly did we feel the need to do it?

Impersonal contemplation is the secret of true perspective. Upon truthful introspection, I have come to realise that we humans are the most insecure creations of the Supreme. We have an innate insecurity of acceptance, the fear of rejection. We fear failure at all levels. We therefore want to do everything conceivable to never fail, and when we realise that this might not be possible, we immediately start focusing on developing ways which would help us hide our failures, or at least camouflage them amongst our successes.

We love our cocoons. It takes a while before we let someone in. Especially when our cocoon is so full of things, good and bad that we often run out of place to let someone in. We unknowingly tread the path of irreversible damage, when we fail to make that little space for our real selves in our own cocoons.

In these times of simplistic relationships, instant gratification and immediate responses to all conceivable queries, how we wish we could just Google some answers to life. How we wish it could throw up just perfectly logical solutions to problems of life which prima facie look so insurmountable. Ah, some people call “Religion / Faith” the Google of life, it is expected to throw up results every time you punch in your query, rooted through the medium of the most overworked professional I know of, “GOD”

Some others turn to weirder things like “Vagabondism” – conveniently adopting the “Que Sera Sera” approach, as if to imply that what happens to them is in reality not really of their own doing, it’s happening to them, because God wants it that way, and they, are least bothered.

And then there are some, who are the worst form of control freaks. They want to control everything, including their own destinies. And if that doesn’t quite happen as per their plan, they’re willing to pick up a fight, at the drop of a hat. God and Fate are usually their preferred opponents.

I however, chose to look within. I think I’m my own Google. My own Wikipedia. Whatever there is to know, I know it, just that I’m yet to have full cognizance of it. And I really have no problems in waiting till He thinks the time is right for me to know of it. Instead of looking outwards for answers, I’d rather listen to my own self. This way, I negate the chance of blaming someone else for things that don’t really go right for me, nor do I share credit for all the successes! The next time, you have a life issue that you think you need answers for, I suggest, instead of taking advice from all the ‘gyaanis’ willing to offer help, look within. Just Google life, I’m sure, you’re the best search engine for yourself.

The Seeker's Song....

I’ve loved, I’ve laughed, I’ve lived and cried,
Every trick in the book I’ve certainly tried.

Success and fame are my loyal pets,
I made a killing on every one of my bets.

I’ve traveled the world over and oceans wide,
I’ve also brought my people honour and pride.

So many of my friends I’ve always bailed,
Seldom before in a venture I’ve ever failed.

Yet somehow at the dusk of my life,
I feel the emptiness and an internal strife.

There’s an urge to hold onto all things fine,
I guess it’s the insecurity of being past my prime.

I’m a seeker and till death I shall seek,
A little bit of love and a caring person to speak,

Death is inevitable and soon it will arrive,
But at that moment I wonder, will there be someone who wished I was alive?

Take my message, to you my heart I pour,
What good is success? does it matter how high you soar?

If at the end, you lament and say…..
"There isn't a single person on this planet,
who gets to know my everything anymore."

How To Kill Hope? - A Letter To A Dear Friend!

Life is indeed strange. Just a few months back, I did not know this person, but once we started talking, I realized that I know her as well or probably better than she knows herself. So, like we do very often, we were having this extremely interesting night conversation about relationships and hope. How the two are interlinked. We fondly call these talks of ours “Therapy”!!! And during the course of this heart to heart convo, there I was, thrown this question at me. “So tell me, how can I kill hope?” ………………… this sentence was followed by a prolonged silence from me, which is quite unusual and strange for a non stop chatterbox that I am. “Yes, go on, tell me, How to kill hope?”

There are some questions that make you think, and then, there are some that don’t let you sleep! This one was definitely the latter kinds. I told her, “This is so cool, thanks for giving me a topic I can think on, and blog about. I will reply to your question through my article.” And here I am, writing this piece, despite being devoid of sleep due to this lingering thought and a suspected rat in my room since yesterday!

How to kill hope?

By definition, “Hope is a belief in a positive outcome related to events and circumstances in one's life.” Hope is the feeling that, what is wanted can be had or that events will turn out for the best. So, in essence, hope is nothing but a glorified hypothesis.

Hope was personified in Greek mythology as Elpis. When Pandora opened Pandora's Box, she let out all the evils except one: hope. Apparently, the Greeks considered hope to be as dangerous as all the world's evils. But without hope to accompany all their troubles, humanity was filled with despair. It was a great relief when Pandora revisited her box and let out hope as well. It may be worthy to note that in the story, hope is represented as weakly leaving the box, but is in effect far more potent than any of the major evils.

So, if you put hope in context to human relationships, especially the ones that haven’t gone terribly right, what is the effect? Human relationships are inherently weird. At least I believe so. When we think we know all the answers, life comes and changes all the questions.

All our young lives we search for someone to love. Someone who makes us complete. We choose partners and change partners. We dance to a song of heartbreak and hope... all the while wondering if somewhere, somehow, there's someone perfect... who might be searching for us. And in this pursuit of finding that ONE made for us, we let our heart weep every now and then. That’s when we feel the need to cling onto hope, catch hold of the last straw, and make ourselves believe that Yes, What I had, was indeed the ONE… let me do everything I can to save it. We disguise hope, and keep giving it to ourselves in its falsest form, knowing fully well that we are just catering to our subconscious, just because we don’t feel like letting it go, just yet.

Change is never easy. You fight to hold on. You fight to let go. We forget that If we have to emphasize or defend the importance of something, then it probably isn't that important in the first place. I guess sometimes the ground can shift between your feet. Sometimes your footing slips. You stumble. And sometimes you grab what's close to you and hold on as tight as you can by calling it hope.
Over the course of our average lifetime we meet a lot of people. Some of them
stick with us through thick and thin. Some weave their way through our life
and disappear forever. But once in a while someone comes along who earns a
permanent place in our hearts. We just don’t realize that we should wait for that one to find us rather than clinging onto false hopes we’ve gifted ourselves about the one who never deserved us in the first place.

Growing up and out of relationships is never easy. You hold on to things that were. You wonder what's to come. But I think, subconsciously, we know it is time to let go of what has been, and look ahead to what would be. Other days. New days. Days to come. The thing is, we don't have to hate each other for getting over. We just have to forgive ourselves... for moving on, just because that’s the right thing to do. In essence, you don’t really need to “Kill Hope”. Just place hope where it deserves to be placed. On those better things, beautiful people, memorable times, prepare for the magic called life that is just waiting to unfold!! And yea, do it with a smile, she’ll feel welcomed!! :-)

Wangdu's Wisdom...

Dear World,

Now, this was a deliberate beginning to my letter. Not “Hey ssup” or “Wazzaaa” or “Howdy” like 98.37% of other people my age would have begun. I preferred to begin with the traditional salutation, not because my 4th grade English teacher taught me that is how it should be done, but out of my own sheer preference for the way I felt all the readers of this letter should be addressed.

Anyway, I just want to share with you my views on this really nice movie I saw lately. I also learn that it has gone on to become the highest grossing bollywood movie of all time cashing in 2.4 Billion Rupees or USD 51 Million and counting. Right since the time I saw “3i” or “3 Idiots”, there have been these thoughts in my mind about the true message that the movie conveys. Actually, not really what the movie conveys, rather what should I actually be making of it. What’s my takeaway? Is being Chatur, foolishness? Can all of us really be Phunsukh Wangdu? How really does the youth of this country think? Do we think at all?

The movie is a beautiful take on defying convention, on the art of friendship, on heeding to your heart’s call, on prioritization in life, on prioritizing life over escapist measures like a suicide. The movie is a brilliantly non preachy take on the pressures faced by the youth in India. But it also states that this pressure is self created. It suggests some rather cheesy, but outrageously workable methods of crisis management. It also makes a much deserved mockery of our educational systems which propagate the herd mentality, discourage out of the box thinking, I wonder if they really want us to think at all or just blindly follow. Imagine even the dean of the college looking up the thick encyclopedias for the meanings to the terms “Farhanitrate” and “Prerajulization”!!!!!!

It also peeps into the heart of aspirational India. An India which is not shining, neither is it incredible, bur still savors an ambition of social upward mobility and considers the dysfunctional education system a catalyst in its pursuit. The movie wonderfully pampers a rebel. It encourages change. It seeks to incubate innovation. It shatters the premise of social conformity to the systems and conventions. And while doing all of this, it also teaches us a thing or two about the sheer non materialistic nature of true love.

Having said all this, my most important takeaway from the movie still remains the fact that the movie appreciates “being different”. All through my growing up years, I’ve never been able to confine myself to one set of ideas, people, behaviours or interests. I love being MYSELF. And most of our youth today, as I see it, is trying to FIT IN to the social definitions of what’s COOL… rather than creating a niche for themselves and taking real pride in who they are! It is more important to people of my age to think, act and behave according to what everyone else thinks will be cool.

We want to do things, not because we like doing them, but because if we did them, our friends would think a certain way about us. We are too concerned in trying to please almost everyone apart from ourselves. We use social networking to connect with hundreds of our friends, but I think our generation has miserably failed in connecting with themselves. Anything “different” is usually questioned, looked down upon and sometimes even humiliated rather than being appreciated for its talent and interests.

Imagine telling your friends that you hate the concept of partying on Saturday Night and would rather enjoy an Indian classical music recital by Kishori Amonkar. Imagine you don’t want to go out drinking and dancing away on X - Mas eve but you wish to spend the day with the kids at the orphanage or go for the midnight mass at the Church. Imagine the reaction of your friends when you’d tell them that you’re going hiking to welcome the New Year or attend a poetry reading of the works of Kabir on 31st night rather than welcoming the New Year with a hangover. I’m sure each one of us can gauge the response our peers are likely to throw at us.

For me the greatest takeaway was the confidence that Rancho had, to reclaim his identity as Phunsukh Wangdu and make it sought after enough for a Silicon Valley dude to come to India chasing him all the way upto Ladakh. The bright spot of the movie really is the confidence with which Wangdu signs the “Declaration of Defeat” fully knowing that he’s the real winner. 3i tells you to pursue your passions, so that success will eventually have to follow you. (Khud hi ko kar buland itna… ke har taqdeer se pehle… khuda bande se khud pooche, bataa, teri raza kya hai?) It gives you the courage to be the schoolteacher Wangdu, rather than being “Chatur” a man in a mad rush to pursue material pleasures of a well paid job and the luxuries of life. Untill we realise these things… “All is well”!!!

Best regards,

Himanshu Kapadia

Allow me to die...

The Prelude:

I read today's Times of India front page story: The plight of a 61-year-old women, who suffered a brutal sexual assault 36 years ago and has been lying in a vegetative state in a Mumbai hospital ever since, has moved the Supreme Court into setting aside its pro-life stance and examining the woman’s plea that her life be ended.

The woman, Aruna Ramachandra Shanbaug, does not want to live any more. Doctors have told her there is no chance of any improvement in her state. So she, through her ‘next friend’ Pinki Virani, decided to move the SC with a plea to ‘‘direct KEM Hospital not to force-feed her. This report jolted and stirred many emotions of disgust, anger, hopelessness and sympathy in me and I chose to manifest them through the following poem.......

The Poem:

I lie on my bed, oblivious to the world around,
I breathe no air, eat no food, I hear no sound
My room is locked, like it’s been for years,
I feel no emotion, no smile, no tears.

Completely unaware of the world around me,
No friend to support, no visitor to see.
Nothing to do and no wish to be,
Even loneliness seems to have deserted me.

Let me tell you what happened 36 years ago,
How exactly I took this irreversible blow.
Let me tell you the story of my fateful strife,
How it made, a mere mockery of life.

I was assaulted and used like a toy,
I was traumatized and sodomized by a ward boy.
Waylaid I was, wrapped with a dog chain around my neck,
A woman… a pet…. A toy, who cares, what the heck!

The chain cut off the oxygen and the blood supply to my brain,
Blinded, speechless, paralyzed, too numb to feel the pain.
I headed to the coma, and have been there since,
Life reached a full stop, thanks to my prince.

I’m just minutes away from a busy street scene,
I only get to see it 5 times a day, when the nurse comes to clean.
I love my nurses, we share a great bond,
Despite their love and care, I fail to respond.

I lie motionless in my room in a vegetative state,
Food spooned in my mouth, I don’t know what I ate.
Thanks to the shoddy work by cops, my prince got away,
After just 7 years in prison, he was freed to go astray.

The question is, what happens to me now,
I wish to invite death, But I don’t know how.
My caretaker has gone and pleaded to the law,
Silly girl, she overlooked an inherent flaw.

They will never let go of me, however hard she’d try,
The law, the people, this sadist world, just wants me to cry.
Knowing that I have no emotions left, my eyes have turned dry,
They’d still want me to shed a tear, only just once, before they allow me to die.

A young mind…

One moment you’re waiting,
Under the sun for a bright start,
The next moment you’re soaking,
In the rain watching your life fall apart

Life’s a gamble, just hope it pays off,
It’s a monster; it makes you feel like a dwarf,
Destiny surely has its own way,
All you can do is be in the game and continue to play.

There’s an enormous surge,
The dreams are riding high,
Aspirations tower coupled with urge,
Broken lies the ceiling of the sky.

The world today is a different place,
Where hundreds eat out of a single pie,
Competition stares at you in the face,
Success becomes illusive, however hard you try

The young today are growing old,
Trying to win the rat race,
The line has grown increasingly bold,
Between eternal glory and absolute disgrace

Let me tread a novel path,
Keeping my conscience and faith intact,
Let me not bathe in this ugly bath,
Of treacherous deals and an unholy pact

I know my time will surely come,
Where my words shall mean & my deeds shall count,
Respect shall find its truthful place,
Honesty over deceit shall surely surmount.

Let me await the glorious day,
Keep the faith and truthfully pray,
My victory would be humble and the celebration mild,
Only when the God says, “Bless You My Child”…

Lady Luck...

“The lady luck has eluded us again!!” while reading something, I came across this phrase which made me think. Well, why exactly is luck personified as a “Lady”? What’s the premise of calling it a woman? Is it just another gaffe of the English language?


This thought led me to a dangerous investigation spanning over a week!! And finally I discovered the true genius of the person who must have coined this phrase. Whoever he was (Yea, I’m sure it was a “He”) … Was a man with a deep sense of understanding of the womankind (which isn’t so kind after all…)

Well, let me give a little disclaimer to all women who might just read this, before I go onto state my case:

“Dear Lady Reader, I know of the cardinal universal truth that WOMEN are the superior of the 2 genders. They are also smarter, more intelligent and better looking than us men, who apparently are the most fitting descendents of ancient chimps!”

(I’m sure this made all of you happy enough for me to still claim my right to live after you all read this!!!)

Okay, so now, coming back to justifying why Luck is a Lady, and mind you, not an ordinary one at that. Yes, these are only my observations… Read on and decide for yourself…

• We men perennially blame __________ for our blunders?? …. (It’s on since Adam & Eve…)
• While a man is down and needs something to pep him up, he just needs a ________coming his way!
• Men always complaining of not having enough of it!
• The success of every man, is always, invariably attributed to them!
• They are both extremely unpredictable _______ can turn either ways overnight!
• Why do you think, the few religious minded morons go to the temple? What do you think they pray for?
• Who are the only people laughing, while a man cries?
• Whom do they hate the most, us MEN of course!!
• Haven’t you ever seen your best friend have more and better of it than what you’ve got?
• They are the only things that one needs during exams to relieve stress.
• You go crazy, when you have too much of them
• You just cant live without it
• No amount of it is enough for you, there's always room for more of them in your life....

This is the last one, but I think the best one....

It's the only thing that you possibly had last night when you slept, and is missing or gone... when you woke up today morning..........So pray that it doesn't happen to you!!!

An Idea for India….

15th August, 2008: Instead of the regular and almost ritualistic wake up trance on the Independence Day morning of watching the PM’s address from the Red Fort, this time I did something rather different.. Or indifferent I must say. It was a Friday and yes, today I would get my copy of the Economic Times, *(I don’t subscribe to it on weekends due to affordability issue – it costs Rs. 9 on Sundays). So cherishing the great opportunity of browsing through the ET early morning, I came across this masterpiece compilation in the “Corporate Dossier” supplement of the ET. 9 of India’s CEO’s had volunteered to write for the special publication. It was truly a special issue which indeed brought out the varied opinions of these CEO’s on nation building, articulating their ideas for India’s future. It was truly insightful. I’m just attempting to summarize what I gathered from their opinions with my own inputs here. Let’s see if An IDEA can change our lives….

Henry Luce, the legendary founder of TIME, called business, an instinctive exercise in foresight. So is nation building, said the learned CEOs. Let us acknowledge the fact that in the history of this world, nations sometimes find themselves on the threshold of opportunity, it is then that their adopted actions & policies that determine how successful these nations emerge as global powers. There are various such opportunities that time has given to the world. Be it the World War, Cold War, Humans going into space, birth of atomic & nuclear warfare, or the more recent global economic slowdowns. The series of events have always thrown up opportunities in times of adversities.

India is today faced with the great paradox of population. Where today every 6th person in the world is an Indian, where do we see our country going ahead into the future? We as the people of this country must decide how we want India to be positioned at the turn of the next decade. We have some inherent strength in the form of our young populations, a pervasive & strong democracy and the naturally entrepreneurial spirit of our people, but is it enough to make us a superpower in times to come? Certainly not…

Despite having one of the best democracies in the world, ironically Indian polity faces the chronic disease of opportunism & petty shortsightedness. Most of all, it is the sheer distorted priorities of leadership in this country which has posed a most ghastly scare to the nation’s progress. Just to sight an example, the CM of Maharashtra offering a Rs. 10 lakh reward to Abhinav Bindra, the millionaire shooter Kid of a millionaire father. This is not to undermine Abhinav’s magnanimous achievement in bagging an individual Gold for India, but just goes to show the completely distorted priorities of our leadership. Does Abhinav actually need that money? What does Maharashtra specifically have to do with Abhinav, who is actually a resident of Chandigarh? And then they complain that farmers are committing suicide in Vidarbha!

With the inflation at its peak, and the world facing a financial slowdown, the Government is busy making its point by proving its majority on the floor of the house, just because a handful of old fashioned red obsessed Bongo Malyali comrades thought that the Nuclear Deal is not in India’s national interest. Also if all this drama wasn’t enough, our old protagonists at nationalistic drama, the saffron brigade pull out a sensationalism & wannabe’ishness personified cash for vote sting, which was nothing short of Rakhi Sawant antics thrown in the media just to get undue attention. The Hon. Speaker of the house of Lok Sabha is suspended from his own party and bundles of notes thrown in front of the parliament. Multiple bomb blasts across Gujarat & other cities across the country are only few of the examples of the high handedness with which this country is Governed.

Nandan Nilekani, the Co Chairman of Infosys in his article (which I could relate to the most) writes that Policy Makers need to recognise that free markets and reforms in themselves can be pro poor. We do not need the glam high but brittle promises of thousands of crores of farm loan waivers. He wonderfully describes India as “Limited Access” state. The rapid growth that India witnessed over the last 2 decades is fuelling new hopes amongst Indians, for better lives, incomes and employment. But there is too much that still barricades the way. And the reason that so many Indians remain cut off from the economy is that we have yet to fully embrace what ought to be the core idea behind reforms – expanding access.

Air Deccan, a wonderful model of expanding flying experience access to marginalized people has been dumped because of the taxation policies of the Govt on Surcharge & taxes on Air Fuel & Airport development. The lack of capital means, average Indian finds it difficult to take loans to start up his business. A weak subsidy system means that poorer Indians lack any kind of safety net to take big life risks, such as attempt higher education or migrate for better jobs. Only 15% of our farmers have bank credit. With our Government run schools in dismal state and almost 90% of our populations still languishing in the underpaid, underdeveloped unorganized sector we sure have a reason to regroup and rework our strategies.

If we have to match upto the “Great American Dream” of the 1950’s and the 1960’s or walk head to head with the Chinese Great Leap of the 1970’s and 1980’s we need to expand access of basic resources to the most poorest of the poor. We need many more “Lead India” & “Teach India” campaigns. Many of us will find this goal a struggle. But then, most of our past triumphs have come after a great struggle. All our battles that we have won have been hard fought. We are seen as a country which exemplifies struggle. Now, we must ensure that the world wakes up and takes notice of the sheer power of the hopes and aspirations of 1.1 Billion people. After all, it is said, that a single idea can change your life…

Picture abhi baaki hai mere dost......

Oh, it’s another one of those Sunday evenings… Family is out at a neighbor’s engagement and I am giving myself some pleasurable company.

Where do I find myself… my favourite playground… my terrace! It’s my temple of introspection. It’s my favourite hangout when I’m with myself… It’s my space… which again for the sheer sake of emphasis …. Is MINE!

That’s a space… which generates ideas, thoughts, and inspiration. Something like what a temple does to a devotee who’s disheartened. The sheer power to bring hope to someone is I think God’s biggest USP! That’s what my time with myself at my terrace does to me. It springs hope, positivity and the sheer optimism which keeps me alive and kicking.

When I entered the terrace, I was disheartened, resentful about a particular series of events that have occurred in my life in the recent past. I just got an SMS from her. It’s in fact been a volley of the most idiotic way of communication I know (SMS), exchanged between us today after a prolonged sabbatical of recognition of each others existence.

Disheartened I was, regretting what had been, comparing it to what could have been. Sometimes, you never get logical answers to why people say a few things, feel the way they do, and more ironically express how they feel, the way they do. After all, I thought womankind was meant to be the more sensitive sex!! And everything and everyone deserves a second chance was the age old biblical adage.

But irrespective of all that, I was more disheartened to see, what had been built over almost four years of pure unconditional love, being blown away by something which was partially inexplicable. Almost like a sand castle painstakingly made by a child, being washed away by a ruthless surge of an almost maniac tide.

After all not everything goes your way. People change. People’s preferences change. And most importantly Perceptions change. The latter being the most important I guess.

Believe me, there are times when you just sit back and wonder, what is that one defining moment of your life?? You seek answers…. Sometimes you get them… sometimes you don’t. I just think sometimes it’s good not to seek those answers at all. Let just life take its own course. You just need to be a spectator and let the show go on. Perhaps that’s why they call life a stage… well… on my stage… It’s an interval now… You’ll definitely see a new protagonist soon!!