Should we really call ourselves HUMAN-BEINGS?

I was going through a post today on one of the newspapers and I was ashamed to read any further. The column was about a man who glued his wife’s genitals just because she liked a photograph of her 12-year-old cousin.

The lady was hospitalized but something that shocked me was the court called off the case accusing the lady as she was going against the Islamic religion.  The judge punished the husband with a 10$ fine and gave the wife a punishment of 100 lashes.

The husband got away with a justification saying that his wife had some adulterous ideas hence, he chose to do this. What kind of a world are we living in? Why are humans fighting for religions and what is wrong if a woman likes a photograph of her 12-year-old cousin on a social media channel? What’s wrong with the law and the lawmakers? Where are we living, if we are really living on earth then why are we creating a hell out of this living place to other earthlings in the name of religions, castes and something that has been created by us? Forget genders, pain and torture are same to all of us. Live and let live! 

"Careathon" - Joy Of Giving - #100 Days Of Writing Challenge" - Day 4

I must say, I had never been as productive in all my life as I was today.  As Mark Twain says, “To get the full value of joy you must have someone to divide it with.” Yes, today was such a day; it would not be an exaggeration if I were to say that I would burst out in ecstasy. I, along with a friend of mine was invited to be a part of food distribution event called “Careathon” by an acquaintance who I had met on a hiking.

The motto of the event was pretty simple; feed the needy and feel the joy of giving. All that was required from my end was to ride along with my friend around the town and distribute it.  

Sunday mornings are generally meant to laze around to a lot 
of us but here we were; a gang of people waiting anxiously to step out and spread the bubbles of joy. We picked up fifty packets of food and set off to hunt for people around the city.

At the beginning, we found it a little tricky to ask strangers if they were hungry or wanted to eat something as early as 8 AM in the morning. My first pick was a security guard; I screamed out to him and asked if he has already had his breakfast. He nodded his head sideways meaning a “No” and walked towards us. We handed over a food packet with some lovely smiles and heartfelt thanks.

He thanked us because we gave him something that we all fight for and we thanked him because of the opportunity he gave us to serve him. The momentum picked up and there was no bound to the contentment we both felt. Giving was so much fun and what a liberation it was, no words can describe the amount of contentment our minds and hearts went through at that moment.

We then found Ambika, a rag picker who was sweeping the roads. We checked if she accepted the food we offered. With a yes, a beautiful smile and an amazing photograph followed by a few questions we were successful in giving away two food packets. We still had 48 more to be finished before we returned to our homes.

Ambika

I rode slowly and we spotted a lot of rag-pickers who happily accepted the food, almost everyone we asked did oblige to take the food but we also came across a couple or three people who did not wanted. We still thank all of them, the sponsor; the organizer, the distributors , the receivers and the ones who wouldn’t accept whole-heartedly for making this Sunday an amazing one.

We clicked a couple of photographs; with their prior permission because we did not want them to feel bad but just for memories sake. Joy of Giving is an amazing experience which no words can describe; it has to be only felt.

Yes, it was just another lazy Sunday which magically turned out to be a blessed one.Joy only multiplies when you divide it with others and it is an absolute statement. At almost all the religious sites - As we distributed the food packets, the only thing that constantly kept going on my mind was - Religions, Caste, Creed; nothing matters to spread Love and Joy. All we need are just pure hearts with good thoughts and intentions and that's it. 

100 Days OF Writing Challenge - Day#3 Are we losing Sanity?

She played all day long with the boy next door and told her mother that he was her brother like.

None of them paid attention to the games they played until one day they found the little girl in a wooden closet suffocated to death.

Sounds cruel, isn't it? But, this has been the dirty truth behind a lot of unusual deaths. Trust has become a major issue in the world we live in. We are dwelling in a place filled with satanism; where daughters are found raped by their own fathers and mothers sharing beds with their sons. While brothers enjoy having sex with their sisters; infants are being brutally rapes by their Uncles, Grand-parents and neighbors.

What has happened to humanity? It is sad to wake up to a news to see infants being kidnapped and murdered for the sake of pleasure.

With the technology beaming its power to the world, humans are losing their sanity. A lot of CCTV s are being installed on the high-ways, homes and villas; but who can stop people from committing these heinous crimes?

Shame on such folks who wants to feel their power on the feeble and innocent god like children!

The Castle Of Thorns - Day 2 - 100 Days Of Writing Challenge

The pasture on the other end always looks greener and a feeling of others being happy occurs to most of us. Is it true that everyone around us is happy except for us?

A striking mansion stood on the corner of the road appealing to all the passers-by. It was an example of a true architectural brilliance. Anyone who looked at it would only feel one thing about it, “Wow”! The colony never saw the landlords till the day of house-warming.

The big day finally arrived, everyone waited eagerly to witness the grand celebrations. The neighbor women adorned themselves with the most expensive sarees and jewels to match the status of their new neighborhood. The men looked best in their white dhotis and neatly pressed shirts.

People flocked in talking to themselves about the sumptuous food and the extravaganza party they were being part with a lot of curiosity.

Everyone waited to see the hosts and as they walked down the stairs people looked at them with their eyes wide opened trying to control their emotions of the scene they saw. From the stairs, came a couple; a man in his late seventies holding the hands of a young lady in her early thirties.

Everyone sat wondering looking at the couple. Some were even baffled looking at the pair mismatch. The couple was accompanied by two little kids who ran around them chirping.

It was a sight of pity for everyone who had gathered. Some of them even murmured about the conversations they had in the past about their new neighbors.

The wealth they possessed could not conceal the agony of her beautiful eyes. The lady had everything yet, lived a life of a hobo.

Everyone walked out thanking their hosts half-heartedly as the lady stood close to the window; her eyes brimming with tears. The kids ran around her screaming for food but she seemed lost, slowly she felt a cold touch on her waist. As she looked back, it was her old man inviting her to his world of warmth.

She was a queen to the world outside but the turmoil she went through every day got concealed under the diamond necklace that shone above her heartache. 

100 Days Of Writing Challenge - A Conversation With Myself

Well, this is my first write-up of the 100 days “Writing Challenge” that I have taken up. The first thing I wanted to do was to have a deep conversation with myself before I start this off.

To experience the ongoing rat race in this chaotic world, a dreamer like me got transported from a tiny sack of my mother's womb into the warm hands of mother earth.

This morning as I woke up with the residues of some pleasant dreams, I just felt that I was no more a dreamer, I was turned a slave. Who did that to me? I looked at myself into the mirror, I looked fresh; my face was bright and of course I had a smile as well. But, there was something that had been bothering me for quite sometime now.

I sat down to focus and I realized that I was only wasting time giving away ideas to people who treated me worthless and claimed themselves to be the heroes. Well, this is how a lot of unsung heroes like us get dusted off in the hands of cruelty.

Of course, I have no financial back up but, I have courage and confidence. I have talent and over and above everything, I have an ounce extra dignity. I stood up with a sword in my mind to break this slavery once and for all.

This conversation sounds familiar, doesn't it? It's just not me who has these kind of conversations, a lot of us out there are stuck in a cobweb trying to find out the true reasons of life.

I am sure that the Universe has grand plans for a lot of Dreamers like us and mother earth will not forget to extend her warmth and appreciate us for who we are! 

Get up and just live your life! #aliveisawesome #100daysofwritingchallenge #day1

A Magical Evening Is All I Can Say!

It had been quite some time I got out of the house and socialized with friends. Summer vacation had started and the schools were off, kids longed to be on the streets while the mothers screamed from inside as the hot sun kissed their kids and sucked the energy as they played outside.  

The monotony had to finally break when a group of ladies in my locality decided to bring the whole colony together. Bringing people of various walks of lives is definitely not an easy task but I guess our ladies gang is different.

Quickly, they met at a common point and decided on a date and the agenda of the meeting and, this is how it all started.  They all giggled and roared with laughter as they decided on the menu and their choice of delicacies. Settling on a place wasn’t an issue but narrowing down on the dates looked a little messier at the beginning.

A few of us wanted to have it over the weekend while a couple of them wanted to have it during the weekdays. Finally, the day was fixed and we were all set to have a blast.

The evening arrived and we had eleven families of the colony coming together for the first time. Though we stayed in the same colony, there were people who were seeing each other for the first time. It was strange initially but as the event began, we let go off the hesitations and sank into the wonderful ambiance.

The event began with an invocation song praying Lord Ganesha followed by the introduction of the families. As we hit the roof with lots of fun, the evening lit up bright with great singing and musical performances from Spoorthi, Pramath and Pranav. While we all bursted with exuberance and ecstasy, the ambiance got all the more pleasant when Hashan, Tanvi,Nikhil, Agrini,Ambhrini and Ruchita introduced elements of fun and cheerfulness in their own ways.

It’s true that music brings hearts together and this evening was proving every bit of it to be right. It was now time to hit the terrace to munch on some yummy snacks. A plethora of various snacks that included mouth-watering Pani-puris, Samosas, Monaco toppings, Corn salad, Potato chips, Channa Vadas waited for all of us.

Ice-creams of various flavors along with the Carrot milkshake tantalized the taste buds all the more. With the star-lit sky and the terrace garden, with no distinction between the old and young, all of us were hypnotized by the magic of that amazing evening.

Finally, when I stood aside and looked at everyone there was only one thing that I could think of. We are all “Earthlings”; all we seek is inclusion and nothing else.

A magical evening that healed a lot of situations and brought every one of us together. Some of us hesitated to walk in initially but finally converted just an evening into a WOW, just a WOW.

Love you all!  

The Krishna Key by Ashwin Sanghi

Mleccha-nivaha-nidhane kalayasi karavalam

dhumaketum iva kim api karalam

kesava dhrita-kalki-sarira jaya jagadisa hare

Victory to Keshava , the lord of Universe, Who would assume the form of  Lord Kalki,

Who would appear like a blazing comet, Holding a terrifying sword and kill,

All barbarians at the end of Kali age.

The story starts as Mr.Varshney gets knocked off by the antagonist of the story. The author has made a fabulous attempt to bring a lot of history along with the epic Mahabharata in his piece of work. The plot gets interesting as Ravi Mohan is charged guilty of the crime that he has not committed. The miraculous way of Ratnani and Priya (Ravi Mohan's doctoral student) involving in getting Ravi released from the clutches of the police. The way every time the duo gets caught by the police and someone out of thin air appears to save them. The best part of the book is when Tarak Vakil aka Sampath Kumar tells Mataji about his first success on killing Varshney, the scientist. It leaves he reader in wonder to discover who Mataji is.

The story revolves around the four secret seals of Lord Krishna which is believed to be in Mt Kailash or the Somnath temple in Dwaraka. Efforts from the police force goes in vain and the murderer gets away with every crime he commits almost effortlessly. The police force of Radhika and Rathore are mislead as the murderer leaves a symbol R.M after every incident along with a stamp and a few Sanskrit lines. The police force gets after Ravi Mohan based on the initials RM found at the murder site.

Kalki avatar being the last incarnation of Lord Vishnu, meant to destroy the evil on earth is created by Mr. Khan out of Tarak Vakil aka Sampath Kumar and gets him trained under Priya who is an ardent devotee of Lord Krishna. Khan's interest lies in finding the philosopher stone, he claims himself to have descended from the Krishna clan. Priya's father Ratnani, a famous advocate is forced to serve Khan aka Kanha, a goon as instructed by Sunil Garg, the corrupted CBI officer. Priya seeks revenge on both Khan and Sunil Garg based on an incidence during her childhood days.

As Priya reveals her identity as Mataji, police officer Radhika Singh, Rathore and the historian Mr. Ravi Mohan Saini are baffled which in-turn brings them together as a team to fight Priya and Tarak. Ravi survives several attacks as they go in search of the seals. They face a lot of challenges but finally end up finding the secret in the beautiful Taj Mahal and understands that the secret lies in the philosopher and not the stone.

The author has tried his level best to bring in some humor and romance in between. However, at a point the writing goes off balance. It seemed like the author, Ashwin Sanghi has packed everything in the 400 odd pages. At times, the explanation of history gets a little too boring and also the reader may not find it interesting at times. The explanation of Mahabhatha in the background when the story runs in the foreground loses connection at times. It also becomes very confusing at a point when the author gives detailed information about every character. Introduction of Sarala aunty and Sunil Garg makes no sense. The unusual way of Mr. Khan getting killed by Priya and the escape of the father and daughter also leaves a little ambiguity to the readers.

At times, I felt like I was reading Angels and Demons and at a point when Mr.Khan reveals himself as Kanha and his affair with the film star took me to the movie, “Once Upon A Time In Mumbai”.

Overall, the author has very well connected Lord Krishna and his clans with the modern day surnames of the scientists who were the custodians of the seals. The explanation of places along with the maps and the connectivity of it with some secret codes is certainly a difficult job to accomplish and the author has done a tremendous job. Sometimes, it feels that it is packed with a lot of information which could have been eliminated otherwise, a good read.

The story ends with Mr. Saini and Radhika coming together as lovers at the amazing monument Taj Mahal while Rathore calls it an alchemy in progress.