FRIENDS?

Look around you my friend.
Look carefully.
Listen my friend.
Listen carefully.
You & I have become enemies. 

Did we fight.
Was it a war? 

We sold our souls to a crafty few.
They call it Politics.
I call it evil. 

We have been divided.
Your caste is pit against mine.
Your creed is pit against mine.
Your religion is pit against mine. 

Don't you see what they have done to us?
We don't talk anymore.
We have become rabid.
We fight for them.
We fight for their ideology.
We lay down our lives for the evil few. 

Wake up my friend. 

Look around you my friend.
Look around carefully.
Forget creeds, castes and religions.
Forget politics. 

We have one life on this earth.
Let's try to make the most of it. 

Can I be your friend again?
Please.

(First published on my FaceBook page on 1st August 2013)

A HANGING

What would you have done if your loved one had perished in the bomb blast in 1993 in Mumbai? 

Hope and pray that the perpetrators were brought to justice. You would have rejoiced when one of them gave himself up (for reasons best known to him) or was he nabbed? That he helped in the investigation would not have mitigated your hatred for the man when you read or heard that the man was one of the masterminds. 

You wished him punished; in the least you wanted his life snuffed out. It wouldn't really mean much to you if he was hanged or shot or whatever. You had seen the mutilated body of your loved one & flinched at the thought of their suffering. If given a chance, you would have preferred a tortured death for the perpetrator. 

You would have rejoiced when more arrests were made, but your joy quickly turned to confused sorrow when none were given the death penalty. 

Your one chance of redemption was the death sentence awarded to Yakub Memon. You clung to that last straw. Forgiveness isn't for mere mortals, you said. Some one mentioned about the 2000 deaths in riots preceding the bomb blast; and that none of the perpetrators had been punished. But they were not your loved ones, were they? 

Someone was seeking the abolishment of capital punishment. You prayed that it should be after this hanging.

Someone spoke of a Presidential pardon, you hoped against hope that the present incumbent wasn't like his predecessor. That woman had commuted not less than 37 death sentences. 

Someone mentioned that 97% of those on death row were dalits and Muslims. To hell with statistics you said. 

When the media reported a last minute parlay to commute the death sentence, you grew restless. Get on with it! was your silent prayer. 

You cursed those prominent citizens who signed a petition asking for commuting the death sentence; what did they know of your suffering. 

Your despair turned to joy when you heard that nothing had worked and Yakub would be hanged. You woke up this morning, whispered a prayer thanking the Almighty as you heard that the culprit had been hanged. 

Evening fell. Somewhere in the depths of your soul you felt an emptiness. Justice had prevailed, or had it? Your loved one continues to be dead. You look at the photo of your loved one and tears well your eyes. Justice? 

What would you have done if your loved one died in riots that preceded the bomb blasts? Hope and pray that the perpetrators were brought to justice. But nothing of that sort has happened. You look at the photo of your loved one and tears well your eyes. Justice? 

And darkness falls signifying the end of yet another day.

(First published on July 30th, 2015 on my FaceBook page.)

ME & KALAM

I met him once, at IIM K, in a crowd of people. He was the President, I, a mere mortal. He endured to the students, I wasn't impressed. Over the years, I kept a tab on him. And I grew to like him. 

And this is what I learnt from him, in random order:

• Greatness is sometimes measured by simplicity, not by wealth. 
• Keep your religion to yourself, don't wear it on your sleeve. 
• The future of any nation lies in the youth. Mould them for works that will bring glory to the nation; not for politiking. 
• Believe in yourself. A boatman's son can become a scientist & a President of a Nation because he believed in himself. 
• Dare to dream but don't forget to wake up and make that dream happen. 
• Don't worry about the critics. They don't feed you or clothe you. And you can't please everyone. 
• Acknowledge old friends and colleagues who helped you and stood by you. Find time to spend with them. 
• A busy man finds time for everything. 
• There is no such thing as retirement when you can keep yourself occupied doing what you do best. 
• Leave footprints in the sands of time. Don't leave this earth without disturbing the sands of time. 
• Revel in working hard for yourself, your family, your friends and your country. 
• Be a unifying force. Don't be divisive. After all, your neighbour has as much right to be on the face of this earth as you have. 

Never will be there be another A P J Abdul Kalam. Wherever you are Dr. Kalam, rest in peace. 

A grateful nation bids you goodbye. 

Adios Amigo!

(First published on my FaceBook page on 28th July 2015)

A GRADUATION DAY MESSAGE

Hi,

Now that you are graduating & moving into the real world of business, a few points to ponder:

1.    Global gas & PPTs do continue to work. But try massaging egos & buffing of bums as well.

2.    If you get a good boss, you’ll become happy; if you get a bad one, you’ll become an entrepreneur. 

3.    Just because your fishing expedition wasn’t a grand success on campus, don’t, for heaven’s sake; fall in love with the first person who walks into your line of vision. 

4.    You will be afforded with the opportunity of meeting with people who think their shit smells of lavender. You don’t need to imitate them. Remember the story of the rabbit – the poor chap died of strain trying to imitate the elephant taking a dump.

5.    Learn to be humble; humility doesn’t kill. Remember the African proverb: ‘When the great lord passes the wise farmer bows deeply & farts silently.’

6.    Bide your time & do get married. In the long run, marriage is all about meeting of minds & not mating of bodies. It’s about companionship.

a.     For the ladies; prince charming is a myth. Remember the Malayalam proverb pointing out that it is difficult to tie an elephant in the cowshed. 

b.    For the guys; never lead a girl whose father considers her as a princess to the altar. She usually thinks she’s the queen. 

7.    Cherish the fleeting moments that you get to spend with your parents. They aren’t going to be around for long. There is no point in regretting later that you did not have time for them. Their union of passion resulted in you; your mother bore you for the whole of 9 months & then both your father & mother groomed you for the next 12 years!

8.    Money isn’t everything in life. Don’t chase money. It will come around when you have given up chasing it. Make enough for your needs & some; but not to satiate your greed. Need can be satisfied but greed can never be. 

9.    I’ve learnt that the beauty of life does not depend on how happy you are; but on how happy others can be because of you. 

10.  Make your children the focal point of your happiness. Allow them to bloom as per the laws of nature. Teach them that there is a brilliant world beyond the government sponsored education system that we helped to perpetuate. 

11.  One day, sooner or later, you will have to leave this world. When you came in you bawled your lungs out; when you leave you should be remembered as a smile on someone’s lips in spite of the tears that may flow!

Goodbye. 
Take care & be good!

Kind regards,
‪#‎JustSaying

LESSONS FOR A STUDENT OF BUSINESS MANAGEMENT FROM THE DELHI ELECTIONS (First Published on Feb 10th 2014 on Facebook)

Lessons for a student of Business Management from the Delhi elections:

1. Global Gas doesn't take you far. 
2. Expensive suits, with your name emblazoned on it, are no match for ordinary mufflers. 
3. Verbal diarrhea, including mindless tag lines, are useless. 
4. Your father, grandmother & great grandfather may have been CEOs, but pedigree means nothing if you are a born ass.
5. Find a scapegoat for your failure much in advance. A Ms. 'Saari Galti Iski' helps. 
6. Idioms can get you to power once, not always. 
7. Choose your friends wisely, avoid a bunch of rabble rousers. 
8. Condemn stupid acts by your friends. 
9. Don't overestimate the power of social media; sometimes it operates as a megaphone for idiots. 
10. Respect people, they are more intelligent than you credit them for.

THOSE IMPORTANT MOMENTS

Hi,

Sooner or later you will realise that the most important moments in your life are not the ones that you advertise on Facebook, Twitter or any of the social media. 

They are not the graduations, the farewell parties, the birthdays & the anniversaries.

But those unheralded moments that make their way into your mind and linger. The ones that you want to possess without advertising. They just don't go away. And you in turn cling to those moments refusing to let them go.

And as you grow older you reminisce those moments. Your face may crack into a smile or a tear may make its way down your worn cheek.

Then you realise that Life is worth living. Just for those moments.....

Regards, 

‪#‎JustSaying‬

WHY THIS FUSS?

Not one of us could select the family we were born into.
Not one of us could select the place of our birth.
Not one of us could select the color of our skin.
Not one of us had a say in the selection of our name or our mother tongue. 
Not one of us had a say in the creed that we were to follow.

We just happened.
So why all this fuss?

You get on with your life, and I will get on with mine.
None of us are here to reside permanently.
All of us will be gone sooner or later.

We don't have a choice.
Our corpses will either be buried, or burnt. That will be the end.

While we are here, let's live in peace.

‪#‎JustSaying‬