Change is constant + time keeps changing= time is constant???

The whole world is today obsessed with the Ayodhya Verdict. News channels have been hogging at the doors of the court and the citizens have been glued to their TV sets eager to know who will walk with the cake. Be it the babus in the office of or the workers in the chai wala shop the only topic being discussed for past a week has been ‘what verdict would court give’ amidst all this cacophony and social drama one thing that emerges out is a very old lesson that ma told me once while watching Mahabharata and combing my hair. Though I faintly remember how the episode began but I clearly remember a statement being made with a chakra constantly moving and saying ‘Mein Samay Hoon’ (I am time). I being a kid innocently had asked Ma what is samay? Her answer I faintly remember but the crux of what she explained is still hidden somewhere after all these years. ‘Samay’ (time0 she explained is something that keeps moving and changing.
I never agreed to it in school because I had the same school and same teachers and same maths till I forgot that lesson (which by the way I very quickly did may be a week of its survival would be an exaggeration of samay) but understood its value as I grew up and there is lot hidden behind this simple line that, ‘time keeps changing’. Today when the verdict came out it was this simple line, hinted to me years back that kept tickling my thoughts, provoking me to write this little note which is just an outpour of my brain’s thoughts and nothing more than that until you understand the meaning behind it.
The verdict today reinstated my belief in a statement which we often use and has been fed into my mind by my loved ones time and again, that only ‘one thing is constant and that is change’ and ‘it’s time that keeps changing’. So I say that time despite changing remains constant and again and again even after ages’ time has proven that things come back in cycle. There was a time when god was one and divisions on name of gods didn’t prevail and its time again that despite the division religions will come together and pray at the same locale. The locale which has taken lives of many and has led to humongous communal violence today stands as a marker of unity of the two religions. I don’t know what to call it a change (which it obviously is) or a phenomenon which ‘samay’ has been demonstrating since ages. Whatever it is today it stands as a marker of the peace and sanctity that the land owed to its people since ages. The dharma yudh which was never one but yet tagged as one has finally ended (hopefully) bringing in peace hopefully. Every present should listen to this story so that they are prepared for the future and know the righteous way of leading in future after all ‘samay’ has noted it all.

STUDENTS IN DELHI GO ON A CLEANLINESS DRIVE TO MAKE DELHI CLEAN FOR CWG

A group of students mainly from Jamia Millia Islamia University took the task of cleaning Delhi on themselves after a disappointing show put up by the government. With almost everything falling out of place in the upcoming Common Wealth Games the students with a motto that its time that ‘the nobody’ (common man) join hand and make some difference. The students cleaned up the ‘New Friends colony market’ today (Sunday, 26 September 2010). The market is the nearest commercial hub of the Jamia Stadium where the practice matches would be held for the games and is visited by many foreign visitors daily.
“This initiative of ours is a very small step but hopefully it would leave a large impact and help in ending the negativism about the games and also inspire other people to come forward and support the games,” said Shivani Sharma, a student.
The games have been a boon for the sportsman in India and should not be let down was a clear message that the students aimed to convey through this drive.
“This is one of the biggest sports event India is witnessing since 1982 Asian games and the way it has been tainted really pinches a sports person. We hope that we are able to convince people to make India the best host and persuade them to keep the city clean as cleanliness has been the biggest complaint after the security concern,” said Yamini Singh, a national level shooter in Jamia.
Students not only cleaned the area but also educated the shopkeepers and the local vendors who also seemed to have been influenced by the gesture and vowed to keep the place clean. The success of the event was established when the local people roaming in the market volunteered to join in the cleanliness drive and extended their support boosting the morale of the students. Interestingly who also came forward to extend their help were the city street children whom the govt. has decided to box up and dislocate for the games.
“The step that the students have taken is really admirable and we hope it sends a word to the world that Indians are not that bad a host as they are perceived to be and every citizen does his/ her bid to keep the city clean,” said Kaif , a volunteer who joined in.
Students also appealed to the authorities through media that the local street vendors should not be relocated as they form the nerves of an Indian market and the success of the games cannot be determined through downsizing the business of these local vendors.
They also pressed that this is NOT in support of the corrupt politicians, but a plea to do something rather than just sitting back and criticizing everything that’s going wrong. Something's have slipped out of our hands; other things can still be taken care of.

My hunt for happiness

I don’t know why I was born probably because it was destined and to go logically and in a crude way I was a product of the moment when my parents wanted to give flesh and bone to their love. Emotions undoubtedly developed later but these emotions made me a slave of happiness.
Happiness what it means and how it feels is difficult to be put in words. My definition has changed with each passing day.
One particular day I would be happy because I got a new dress and the other day a glass of mango shake could bring me happiness. In my childhood days I have faint memories that mothers return from office would make me happy. Because I knew she would get something to eat though no one can get the slightest hint looking at me that I can hog on food. Actually at times just eating a sumptuous meal can make me happy.
Thinking deeply I know one thing for sure that it was not just food but the comfort of being in my mother’s arms like any other kid after a daylong separation was a reason enough to bring the smile. But then I don’t understand the same hug irritates me today. I would run into her arms when I was young provided she didn’t call me when I was busy playing with my friends. But today the same tone irritates me. I guess this is how things that get make you happy change.
I don’t know why every single thing that makes you happy one day can irritate you after few days. A new dress, owning which makes me happy but the very next moment its misfit brings in all the gloom. A new job for that matter is a celebration time and a reason to be happy but not even a week passes and I go wild cribbing about the work pressure and the monstrous boss. There is something that is incomplete in every happy moment. And there is something fulfilling in every moment.
A good chat with friends and a simple golgappe can at times be so fulfilling. But the very next moment it can be all vain and gone. I have heard people saying that love brings in happiness I wouldn’t oppose it does and undoubtedly it has whether this love is in any form mother, sister, friends or partner. They all have brought in moments of happiness, yes the word is moment. Why if happiness is such a good thing why can’t it be constant? Why does happiness come in packets? Why everyone wants to be happy? Stupid questions!!! who thinks of them but at times just being stupid also makes you happy. Strange but true!!!
I don’t why but for a matter of fact I know one thing my search for happiness is incomplete without sadness. I think they both co-exist. Like the two tracks of the train that move together but they don’t meet!!! (Okay I know this dialogue is taken from some flop Hindi movie but it’s true! Isn’t it?) But in whole true sense I would have never understood the warmth of the mother’s hug had I not been away from her the whole day. I would have never valued my partner had I not fought with him and had spent moments in loneliness. I would have never been happy with a dress had I not been collecting money for one from my pocket money. A simple evening with friends would not have given me such pleasure had I not spent my evenings in the company of the unwanted work or beings.
My hunt for happiness will continue. The purpose for which is a mystery and a lifetime would be too short to unravel it. But I know that these emotions are to make one happy and happiness is incomplete without sadness. So, enjoy sadness and be happy.

I Know the Loss

Dear Dream
I don't know whether dream would ever read this... whether dream would ever know what it feels...but this would be an immortal piece that would stay till I survive.....for the pain of losing a dream is something that a dreamer only knows.
The dream can never realize the pain of its absence, neither the joy of its presence. But those who have lived the dream know what difference that dream makes in their life. How special life becomes with that dream and how doomed you are once the dream leaves you. For every dreamer there is a special dream. A dream that does come true...but when you wake up its gone...gone into its own land...leaving you the moment you open your eyes....never to return back to live with you in your eyes...but just leave an immortal impression in your heart, because its just you (the dreamer) who knows how precious that dream was for you. Dream always has another eye to seep into, but once the dream is lived dreamer doesn't have another dream to seep into. All that is left is an long wait....with just one dream in eye that the dream would return....it has to return.... because its my dream....I hope the dream return and tell me how it feels.

Ladies are no wonder special

This is the story of a woman who has traveled almost 2 decades of her life juggling between the stations running after trains in a bid to reach her office on time…for her train was another home, a place where she met other ladies and shared her happy stories or vented out her anguish….and how getting a very own train for her made her life merrier.

20 years ago: Being brought up in the heart of Delhi traveling was never much of a concern. As a student I used to wheel from one destination to another on buses that were like veins of the city….though the time consumed was more but the chit chat with friends made the time fly. But my marriage changed the entire scene. Being married in Faridabad, a National Capital Region proved to be a pain on the traveling part… Despite the fact that thousands of people commuted daily from Faridabad to Delhi the modes were so less. Buses were buzzing with people and I had to scrabble for space to keep a foot even. With no options left I had to turn to the local shuttles.

I still remember my day 1 on the station, I felt so lonely, and was constantly haunted with the memories of those bus rides, the fun I had with my little group of friends. The train crawled through the station and I slowly climbed onto the ladies compartment making my way through the rush. I was amazed to see the way women ran to grab a seat and made adjustments to make place for an extra entrant. I preferred to stand on the door clinging onto the support of the hanging handles. But was soon displaced by men who got onto the ladies compartment as train the train moved. Finding some place for myself I stood behind the men wondering what they were doing in this compartment but too naïve to put on a fight I tried to peep in the outside world.

The train lugged and through the gate I could see the glimpses of a world that existed hidden in the glitz of metros. It was a disgusting sight initially, something that I would have always turned my face away from. But couldn’t as there was no space to turn my head even, people were almost toppling over each other in that compartment. I so very much missed Delhi buses.

For almost a week this routine continued I would board the train from Faridabad and stand on the gate looking at the vagaries of life existing in the capital and then finally get down at Tilak Bridge. I saw ladies fighting in the ladies only compartment with men who would shamelessly get into it and then block their ways, get into obscene activities and cerate a nuisance.

To add to the woes were the beggars and the vendors who would sail through the jam packed compartments and the ladies would whisper “Apna purse bacahke”(keep your purse safe).

The compartment was full of cacophony… but yet it was so full of life…you could actually see that multiculturalism really existed in India and the local Indian trains provided a glimpse of it.

Gradually I made friends who sort of became my extended family with them I shared my sorrows and celebrated my happiness. The local train had become an integral part of my life and I was so soaked in that aura.

For us ladies or the daily passengers this was the place to chat and enjoy. Our journey began and ended with chants and watching catfights and getting into fights with the male passengers who got onto the ladies compartment for fun and at times because of immense rush in the general compartment but yet indulge in teasing and the constables while on duty stood blind.

All the ladies who regularly commuted on this route so very much wanted train where they could move freely and this menace could be avoided. Where we felt safe and there was no male eye loitering for fun, a train which could be ours ‘‘Ladies Special’.

20 years later- This Rakhi was surely special for me. Infact for all those ladies who have been commuting daily through the various shuttles spinning between Delhi and Palwal the Rakhi of 2009 was special. As this was the day when our long made wish came true with the newly appointed union railway minister Mamta Banerjee rolling out NCR’s first ‘Ladies Special’ train from Palwal to New Delhi.

We all were so excited at the thought of having train all for us. As I reached the station on D -day I saw the station buzzing with people and I need not mention most of them were women commuters. The ladies were all giggling and eagerly wating for the train to arrive. As the announcer announced that the train would arrive at platform no. 2 we headed forward. My heart was dancing at the thought of having a train which would be a territory of only the ladies. A place where there would be no dearth of privacy, nobody would overhear our womanly conversations, no more will we have to scrape our way through the crowded gates and no more would we need to fight with men who got onto the ladies compartment and disturb our privacy.

I slowly climbed the stairs soaking the scene on the platform eagerly waiting for Ladies Special to arrive. The announcer again announced about the arrival of the train and we ladies almost jumped onto the tracks to take the first look of our very own train. The blue coloured engine decorated with flowers roared into the station. What a sight it was to watch!!! What contentment we felt!!! It’s something I simply can’t pen down.

We got into the train and it was beautiful. Designed to the utmost comfort it had much more space to accommodate the womenfolk. As I took my seat besides the window I could catch a glimpse of the men standing on the other side of the station. Their faces had drooped down and were no match to the pulsating faces of the ladies that day. Our spirits were escalated and nothing could match it at that point of time.
The ladies distributed sweets and danced cherishing their long awaited victory. There were male and female constables in every compartment keeping a close vigil and doing there duty amazingly well. Ladies were dancing and singing hymns and celebrating there joy. Sitting in my seat I felt so relaxed I no more wanted to stand on the door n in my heart I knew that the rest of my life I would have a peaceful journey where I can chirp with my friends happily and the most important thing deep in my heart I was happy that now as my daughter begins her journey she would have a much safer way to commute to the Capital.