Dark Side Of The Moon

Suddenly she stops, i run a few steps ahead ,until i realize am not holding her hand anymore. I look back and find her staring at something unusual. Her eyes locked onto the darkness. The darkness so intense , so creepy that it could even consume the strongest will.

I run past my fears to bring her back but only to realize that she’s gone. Consumed, physically there but soul waned to infinity. I call her name , shake her , she looks at me; the eyes dont recognize me anymore. She smiles and falls into my arms , unconscious , cold but still breathing.

Boundaries between fantasy and reality turned blurred when they met few months back. It was then when fate pulled them into each other bonding them stronger as days passed by. They were having best of their days that either of the two could have ever dreamt of, until today, when the dark reality sojourns their journey.

I hear her laughter. I run towards the room, excited , just to see her come back. I slam open the door , finding her body still lying on the bed , untouched , unmoved. My hopes shattered, knees trembling , i drop on the floor. A strange feeling chokes the atmosphere around me . I look outside the window , i see an apparition trying to devour the moonlight. The darkness start creeping slowly towards me , i could feel its uncanny presence. I know it is coming to take her away from me. I gather all my strengths and stand in its way , screaming out loud" whoever you are , whatever you are , you have to get past me to get her and it is not easy ". It tries to consume me ,posses me , shatter me , it is strong but not strong enough to budge my will.

I hear the appalling voices inside me fraught with indelible malice. A sudden blow of sanguine jerks my body and I feel the vibes changing .I am sure its my strength fighting back. The tone more cheerful , as I could see the darkness obliterate piercing through the window crushing glass doors into pieces. The shattering sound of glass wakes me up. I find my self at ease in the most beautiful arms. I see her beautiful face in front of my eyes. The sound of my breaths wakes her up, she opens her eyes slowly to make my heart beat harder. The glow in her as if the sea reflecting the early sunlight, brings me back to life . She smiles , i smile back at her and we get lost in eternity , yet again.

अश्वम नैवं , गजम नैवं , व्याघ्रां नैवाचा नैवाचा . अजापुत्रं बळी दधातू , देवो दुर्बल घातकः

ह्या अतिशय कठोर आणि आत्मविश्वासाला धक्का पोहोचवणाऱ्या वरील शब्दांचा अर्थ तुम्हाला नक्कीच माहीत असेल , तरीही ह्याचा आर्थ " अश्वम नैवं ( घोड्याचा नाही ), गजम नैवं ( हत्तीचा नाही , व्याघ्रां नैवाचा नैवाचा ( वाघाचातर नाहीच नाही ) . अजापुत्रं बळी दधातू ( बोक्डाच्याच पिल्लाचा बळी दिला जातो ) , देवो दुर्बल घातकः ( देव हा सुद्धा दुर्बलाचाच घातक आहे ).

कालचीच घोष्ट आहे , मी आणि माझा खूप जवळचा मित्र सिनेमा बघायला गेलो . " रक्तचरित्र " हा बघायचं ठरविले. तशे वीस एक मिनिटे उशिराच पोहोचलो पण ठीक आहे असाही काही आम्ही जन्म मरणाचा फेरा चुकवला नाही..हिंदी चित्रपट तो उलट बघाकी सुरुवातिपसून सगळं सारखच. पहिले १५ मिनिटातच ते थरार नाट्य बघून पोटात मुरडा आला. इतका भीषण आणि बेधडक रक्तपात मी आजवर कधी स्वप्नात पण पहिले नव्हते.

राजनीती आणि वर्चस्व असे हे अविभाज्य घटक पुन्हा एकदा आजून जमतील तेवढे विकृत पद्धतीने RGV ने आपल्या सामोरे आण्याचा प्रयत्न केला आहे. काळ आणि गरज माणसाला कुठे नेउन पोहोचवते ह्याचे भान त्याला देखील जाणवत नाही. द्वेष , बदल्याची भावना आपल्याच जवळच्यानचा जीव घेण्याला भाग पाडते , ह्याहून अधिक वाईट काही कल्पना नाही करू शकत आपण.

अखेरीस , दुर्बलाचच घात होतो आणि जन्माला येतो आजून एक ज्वालामुखी जो तळतळतो आहे त्या दुर्बळ घटकचा संहार करायला. तो दुर्बळ आता दुर्बळ नाही तर तो घातका पेक्षा अधिक बलवान आहे. हे ऐकून ऐकून माझया डोक्याचे भजे झले आहे.

हा कुठल्याही प्रकारे कौटुंबिक चित्रपट नाही आहे , कृपया ह्याची नोंद करून घावी आणि आपल्या मैत्रिणीला तर हा चित्रपट दाखवण्याचे धाडस कदापी कारू नये .:)

Men, Metros and Metro-sexual Men

Gay, Homosexuality, LGBT blah blah blah has nothing to do here, so if you are disappointed, hell with you. The concepts of metrosexual men/ metrosexuality have found its origin in the mid 90s when there was a sudden rise in the disposable income and men started becoming conscious about their appearance with more money available to spend on trying to look good. If you try to Google this term (I am sure more than half of janta would do it after reading this) it looks to be a neologism portmanteau (I dont have any clue WTF it means) of metropolitan and heterosexual (cut the two words and find a new one – metrosexual and heteropolitan, that’s one more new word invented). Earlier, there were men, self – denying, reticent, ignorant towards their avatar; they could manage to glance at the fashion magazines at airport book stalls and only observe what the advertisement speaks about and were least concerned about the looks that male model use to carry.

Times change, people change and now have changed the way they look at each other. Modern day women are expecting these changes in men they meet or live with. She wants her bf or husband or brother to look as the way she wants to see him. She want him to be more conscious about the complexion of his skin, get his eyebrows done; he should also try and understand that pedicure is feet- pampering and not dog food. He may not have the thickest arms or flat abs but at least should be palatable enough to get carried along in this capitalist culture.

I felt this when I started getting strong comments from my younger sisters on my complexion, my dirty crooked hairy feet. My sisters, don’t know why, think they could change me into somebody more striking than what I am today unfortunately. The benefit of having younger sisters is you get to gauge yourself by the world’s most critical eyes that would never qualify you, as the set benchmark would be either Shahid Kapoor or Rithik Roshan. So, you keep working hard on things that matter, encouraging yourself to pump iron everyday and still not even cross 3 on their scale of 1 to 10. Yeah, 1 being the most non-happening, the one that you are, they keep reminding me.

The men's world is now slowly moving towards übersexual that idealizes men like George Clooney, David Beckem, and SRK. Each of these men have the “Charisma’ that can definitely inflict the change in you. Anyways, I somehow agree, its not bad to try something to look good and be more acceptable to eyes that really want you to look good.

Beware, Ye Tyrants; Beware !

Day before, while travelling to Delhi, I came across mind-blowing stuff by Kuldip Nayar. I took that book in my hand and was cajoled by the information mentioned in the preface. It was so catchy that I sat down and started devouring the pages as my next instant book. Somewhere, I felt that this book could be more than a mere piece of historical overview of facts that we may have read in school and colleges. This book is a brilliant piece of journalism that reincarnates the devotion and invokes a deep sense of respect and gratitude towards martyrdom in the readers.

This book “ Without Fear the Life and Trial of Bhagat Singh” brings back to life all that we have read in our History books and developed opinions and beliefs about our freedom struggle and the people who have sacrificed their entire lives fighting this tyranny. A highly well researched book that commemorates the 100th Birth anniversary of this Hero that reveals the man behind the Martyr; a thinker, intellect, avid reader and follower of writings of Lenin and Marx. The image that we have formed in our minds about Bhagat Singh is about a Hot-head revolutionary who only believed in cult of a bomb and was deeply deprived of sentiments and emotions that does not behoove a revolutionary. The reading brings a new turn to our thought process that we have been cultivating through these years. Although, the principles followed by M. K Gandhi and Bhagat Singh we known to be of diametrically opposite in nature, still Bhagat Singh had great respect and belief in Mahatma Gandhi.

History has been always boring for me except for my History teacher who was God for me as he made me pass “gracefully” (I love the word Grace and grace marks: D) .It is only after reading few pages of this book I came to know the complete names of each revolutionary and their strengths and strategies that they used to rage war against British.

The title of this blog is taken from the a handwritten leaflet dt. December 18, 1928 explaining the reasons for Saunders' murder. The letter was written on Mozang House den and pasted on the walls of Lahore in the night between the 18th and 19th at several places. Would also like to mention few lines from this letter that could have definitely shaken the stones of British Empire.

Beware, Ye Tyrants; Beware

Do not injure the felling of a downtrodden and oppressed country. Think twice before perpetrating such diabolical deed, and remember that despite 'Arms Act' and strict guards against the smuggling of arms, the revolvers will ever continue to flow in-if no sufficient at present for and armed revolt, then at least sufficient to avenge the national insults. Inspite of all the denunciations and condemnation 0f their own kiths and kins, and ruthless repression and persecution of the alien government, party of young men will ever live to teach a lesson to the haughty rulers. They will be so bold as to cry even amidst the raging storm of opposition and repression, even on the scaffold:

"LONG LIVE THE REVOLUTION”!

There are so many things that are still unheard, not revealed to common public then and are now captured in this book after lot of thorough research.

If you are a curious reader and do believe in the cause that our revolutionaries fought war for, do check this link http://www.shahidbhagatsingh.org . It has fantastic information and collection of articles and photographs of great revolutionaries.

I am the master of my fate; I am the captain of my soul

Have you ever thought that struggles are exactly what we need in our lives?… All our life we have been hearing from elders about successful people who struggled to carve their way to success that they see in their life today. I believe it is not only true for those successful people but also for everyday common man who has to fight all the odds to get his afternoon meal for that matter.

Success is never easy to come. We struggle hard to achieve something yet all our hardwork ends up into a naught at times. Sometimes, we get a feeling that we are about to kiss the food that eventually leads us into complacency, hence losing focus and fail in the end. We cry, we curse our fate but forget one thing that if success is yours, so is the failure. You own it you are responsible for it. Although, this may not be true sometimes as both could be a consequence of something else that was never in your control. Consequent to the failures we feel so dejected that often other opportunities also get obscured. Trust me, these are our trying times Believe in ourselves, no body can win over your own will. This is the time when we have to negotiate with our self, get up and fight back even harder.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds and shall find me unafraid. It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll, I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul. Invictus ~William Ernest Henley.

Long back, I came across a very beautiful story that sets a wonderful example, as how we get used to failures and do not notice the opportunity grasped in your hands.

When the great library of Alexandria burned, the story goes, one book was saved. The book not being so valuable, a poor man, who could read a little, bought it for a few coppers. The book wasn't very interesting, but between its pages there was something very interesting indeed. It was a thin strip of vellum on which was written the secret of the "Touchstone"!

The touchstone was a small pebble that could turn any common metal into pure gold. The writing explained that it was lying among thousands and thousands of other pebbles that looked exactly like it. But the secret was this: The real stone would feel warm, while ordinary pebbles are cold. So the man sold his few belongings, bought some simple supplies, camped on the seashore, and began testing pebbles.

He knew that if he picked up ordinary pebbles and threw them down again because they were cold, he might pick up the same pebble hundreds of times. So, when he felt one that was cold, he threw it into the sea. He spent a whole day doing this but none of them was the touchstone. Yet he went on and on this way. Pick up a pebble. Cold - throw it into the sea. Pick up another. Throw it into the sea. The days stretched into weeks and the weeks into months. One day, however, about mid afternoon, he picked up a pebble and it was warm. He threw it into the sea before he realized what he had done. He had formed such a strong habit of throwing each pebble into the sea that when the one he wanted came along, he still threw it away.

So it is with opportunity। Unless we are vigilant, it's easy to fail to recognize an opportunity when it is in hand and it's just as easy to throw it away.

As everyone, I have seen many failures in my life and will keep meeting them cause they have to teach me what struggle is। Yet, I have learnt one thing from my experience that however difficult the situation appears to be, prepare yourself for the worst and then you have nothing to be afraid about। This is your life and it is only you who have to fight to grab hold of success. Give a heart thump when you achieve it and move head to a new one and keep doing it till you fall flat on your ass.

Dont wake me up , i am sleeping !

Have a close look at this pic. i usually post funny pics in my album , this time i thought will give some background. This pic was taken by me yesterday when i was comming back home. theres a big puddle that divided the road and could be as deep as bermuda triangle the only difference is size , this ones a lot bigger ..:-)). Even my car goes inside compeletely while crossing.

Somebody has put their party flag and named it as Govind Rathod Talav ( dont know who this guy is , but anyways , how does it matter?), to make mockery of the system that is still sleeping. Honestly , this idea, however funny , has proved quite effective , as today i saw some pepole trying to fix it with stones and gravel.

I guess , innovative ideas like these need to be found out instead of protesting , doing bandhs, pelting stones and destrying public properties.

End of the day , i feel happy and so shuld you be , when we find things progressing without any cacophony , bandhs , fights etc। etc।

"Now, i am ashamed and not sleeping any more."

What’s your Rashee? – No, What is your handwriting?

Handwriting is something that reflects our emotion in some way or the other at that particular instance when the script is written. I remember when were in the age of letters and postcards (It has vanished with the advent of emails, blogs and chats etc.), we use to recognize the writing of our loved ones, relatives even at one glance of it, although we were quite naïve to find any influence of emotions in the “handwriting” while it was being written. I feel its not surprising why some people still believe in analyzing the personalities of individuals by studying their handwriting. Handwriting speaks about the character, emotions strengths and weaknesses.

Analysts often say that Handwriting is brain writing as it is observed that people have lost their writing arm and were then using the other hand, or mouth or legs to write, and surprisingly the basic tendency still appear in the script obviously with a lack of fluency.

Study of handwriting or Graphology is a science of determining people's psychological, social, occupational, and medical attributes from the configuration of their letters, lines, and paragraphs on a page. It does not predict future or tell you anything about your past. It’s very hard for thinking person to believe in stars, gemstones, creases on the palms and off lately Octopus predicting future or affecting human behavior (no offence to the believers, these are just my thoughts) but could there be a weak possibility to believe in the fact that our handwriting might reveal something about ourselves. Will it reveal the larceny in our hearts? – What are you thinking? No absolutely not.

Lets talk about signatures:

"It has long been accepted by all societies that the signature of a man can be used to identify his transactions: this signature is now accepted by law, on bonds, deeds and other official documents. If you make an affidavit for a Court of Law, you confirm it with your signature. By writing your signature on a cheque you dispose of your own money. To forge another person's signature is a crime heavily punished by the criminal law of every country." Dr Eric Singer.

I have read an article by Cindy Pearce that says, according to handwriting analysts, who specialize in graphology, signatures tell volumes about a person. Graphologists say that your signature represents your public image, your self and your identity. If you’re interested in figuring out what a person is like based on his signature, there are some traits to look for that provides clues.

The facts represented here are only for reader’s interest and I expect we should not to be judgmental unless there is an element of expertise and proper knowledge of analysis.

If the signature is big as compared to his writing he has a healthy self-confidence, often these kinds are big picture people. If the signature is smaller than the writing, then the kind may appear insecure. If the size of signature is same as that of the writing, then the kind behaves the same way as he does in public.

This was an example. There are many other things that can be analyzed in the signature, like the slant that again reflects his demeanor; legibility that reflects the way he wants to communicate and what exactly he wants to communicate; Over score or underscore, is it wavy, curved or extreme? It says if the writer is fun loving, lively or lacks self –worth. If the writer uses overly big letters, it shows he/she is seeking social prominence.

Today, many of us have lost the fluency in writing or I should say handwriting as we use the electronic modes of communication, but its fine, once in a while, if write something with our own hands, with colorful stationery and send it across to our loved ones. I am sure they will love it and will reinforce the fact that they are the most important part of your life.

Only humans are gifted with the power of laughter and skills of writing with their own hands. You would be scared to death if you come across a laughing buffalo or monkey writing love letters to his girlfriend.

So keep writing and keep smiling!

Government’ new initiative: Benchmarking the fuel prices.

Late in the evening, laid back, I was watching a very interesting debate on the fuel price hike between the CPI (M) Leader Sitaram Yechury and Dr. Kaushik Basu who is Chief Economic Advisor, Ministry of Finance.

The CPI(M) leader said government's talk about subsidizing Petro products sought to "conceal the fact that taxes on petroleum products constitute the biggest chunk of revenue for the government"। I believe this is true to a certain extent .The current tax structure around the fuel import and sell is like the two-headed serpent that has his watchful eye on you even if you try to hide. Government is earning revenue both from the tax that is levied on crude oil import and as well from the subsidy that is collected in the form of tax from the common man on the Petro products. The later accounts to 51 % on petrol, which, definitely does not equals to the taxes seen in countries like Pakistan, Srilanka and Thailand, where it can be as low as 24%.

The crude oil import is based on the prevailing global crude oil prices and so are the fuel prices as end products, which, are also based on global manufacturing rates। But the key point here is that the domestic manufacturing/ refining costs are much lower as compared to the global refining cost. So where is the rationalization of fuel prices prevailing in India. Why are the prices in India still higher in spite of the manufacturing costs being lower?

If, Government wants to benchmark the prices, then it should be compared with the neighboring countries and fuel should be priced looking at the common mans pocket size. Government is because of its people and should be for the people.

There are few good initiatives that are expected to be included in the policies like implementing cross subsidies, which means, having put more subsidies on petrol and giving some relief on the household cooking gas and kerosene so that poor can afford it.

Country has recently witnessed the cacophony that was demonstrated by Bharat Bandh, which, although was well supported by large mass of people, still couldn’t change much। We all know this may not be the right way of doing it yet we don’t have an option, unless some good reforms are brought into practice.

The Life and times of an Auto rickshaw driver

Hyderabad, AP., A city of call centre chic-belles, chicken biryanis and innumerable Autos crawling on the streets like ants cutting their way through dearth of obstacles, speed breakers, hawkers…unstoppable ..unimaginable.

It was yet another day, returning back home from office, I hopp into an auto....chhirreeng ..meter down…...

Whenever I am stressed I have a habit to strike conversation and get involved in it till I get relieved of the pressure. The poor auto rickshaw driver “Ramulu” was the scapegoat today. He was driving furiously in the heavy traffic and I was bit scared so asked him “ bhaiyya jara dekh ke”…to this his prompt reply was .. "kayko tension lete saab….pura planning karke nikalta hoon ..timing thik rahega toh makkhan ki tarah nikal jayenge traffic se" { don’t worry boss, I will plan it properly and if the timing is right we will cut through this traffice like knife thru the butter}….Ohh teri!!! ‘planning..timing…’ thought he must be watching lot of cricket these days….the virtues that our players don’t follow are now put into practice by humble auto rickshaw drivers.

I asked him "kya bhaiyya lagata hai padhe-likhe maloom padte ho !!"…he said he was just 9th std. Pass and was put into this profession forcibly by his father…for which he has some regrets in his life….but that’s not the end…..The words coming out of his mouth are polished by his son, who is studying in a English school….A brilliant kid , disciplined and very hard working.

Ramulu has admitted the boy in a school of good repute, he also manages Rs. 300 for his tuition. On an average an auto rickshaw driver can earn 250-300 Rs. A day. Still he manages a family of 5 people.

He keeps on motivating his kids to study and become somebody ,whom he can call proudly “ Wo dekkho mera ladka aaj padh lihkar kitna tej ho gaya hai..aur meri tarah auto nahi chalata ” . Could clearly see the dream in his eyes glowing like the morning sun.

“Poori planning” one could see here. And i reach home rejuvenated, motivated and happy..:)

One thing we can take from these guys is that…Life might have thousands of challenges slowing your pace. But there is always a strong will to push you ahead..make you unstoppable..unimaginable.

Industrial growth story gets better, 13.6% in April
ENS ECONOMIC BUREAU
Posted online: Wednesday, June 13, 2007 at 0000 hrsNew Delhi, June 12: Defying expectations that five increases in lending rates lower the past year would dampen output, industrial growth in April this year stood at a massive 13.6 per cent against 9.9 per cent in the same month last year.

Manufacturing sector led the surge — figures for which were released today in the index for industrial production (IIP) — expanding by 15.1 per cent in April against the 11 per cent growth in April 2006. Manufacturing, which makes up about 15 per cent of gross domestic product and nearly 80 per cent of industrial output, has the highest weight in the index.
The index also gave revised data for March, showing annual growth of 14.5 per cent instead of a provisional 12.9 per cent. While the mining sector recorded a flat 3.4 per cent growth, there was a slight improvement in the power generation sector, which recorded a 8.7 per cent growth this April against 5.9 per cent in April last year.
Industry chamber CII welcomed the upward trend but said the “decline in growth of consumer durables, basic goods and capital goods is a cause for concern”.
Assocham president Venugopal Dhoot said, “If interest rates are brought down considerably and infrastructural facilities put in place, domestic industry can do miracles for double digit growth.”
A further break-up shows that 16 out of the 17 industry groups expanded during this April. The industry group “wood and wood products; furniture and fixtures” showed the highest growth of 92.2 per cent, followed by 55 per cent surge in “food products” and 19.2 per cent in “machinery and equipment other than transport equipment”. Only the segment of “other manufacturing industries” showed a negative growth of 5.4 per cent.
Commenting on the industrial growth figures, finance minister P Chidambaram indicated that but for some sectors such as housing and real estate, the government had no intention of enforcing measures that could curb demand.
“The intention is not to constrain demand in every sector...the intention is to constrain demand in sectors in which you call overheating exists, for example real estate and housing,” he told reporters today.
If one goes by the use-based classification, figures show that there was a dip in the growth of basic goods (down from 9.3 per cent last April 2006 to 8.9 per cent this April); capital goods (down from 19.6 per cent to 17.7 per cent); and consumer durables (down from 7.4 per cent to 5.3 per cent).
But in the same category, there was a phenomenal increase in the growth of consumer non-durables — up from 9.4 per cent to 21.9 per cent. Consumer goods grew from 8.9 per cent to 17.7 per cent, and intermediate goods from 8.5 per cent to 12.6 per cent.

For years together, India had followed stunningly different paths to its Economic development as compared to other Asian countries like Japan, South Korea, or China. While these countries placed their bets on manufacturing and exports, India focused on its domestic economy and grew more slowly with an emphasis on services.

But now it is changing and changing very fast…

The above window clearly construes the pace at which today India, as a Globally Emerging Industrial Mammoth is moving towards the Giant Leap.

The intention behind highlighting the India’s Economical growth is to make all of us aware of the fact that this positive economic growth is however juxtaposed by environmental and social costs, which are attributed to ineffective effluent treatment, treatments processes, and regulatory oversight.

The focus of the topic is more toward the conservation of our environment .The same environment where we dwell and is constantly detoriating due the large influx of highly contaminating pollutants discharged from the Industries in spite of their constant efforts in controlling the same. The need for better effluent water treatment is growing day by day as is the toxicity and the nature of contaminants in the effluent stream. It is demanding more intensive and comprehensive planning.

Common effluent treatment plants (CETPs) are considered one of the most feasible solutions for abatement of industrial wastewater pollution. The basic fundamental principle of these plants is to segregate and pretreat the incoming effluent to bring it in congruence with the effluents coming in from other industries. There are industries that generate low quantity but highly toxic wastes, on the other hand some industries generates tons and tons of wastewater but comparatively low to medium toxic. These streams when blended together can only bring down the effluent load but cannot reduce the pollution content by any amount.

The demand for advanced water treatment Chemical / Mechanical techniques is growing day by day. Every single component of the Effluent Treatment plants now needs to be scrutinized in the milieu of numerous factors and not as a single entity. Research need more focus on the Cost effectiveness and step-ups in the output water quality. The level or the intensity of the treatment to which wastewater can be subjected should be based on the purpose for which it is recycled. It is said that in some cities in Germany, every drop of water is recycled eight times. The water recycled can be used for gardening or other application depending on the water quality. However it should be treated to the threshold levels in order to free it from harmful containments that pollute the receiving environment.

India’s contribution in controlling the levels of contamination and wastewater generation is very significant although improvements in the water treatment techniques are still required. We are among the very few countries in the world that contains provision for environment protection; this is being explicitly stated in the 76th amendment stipulating the conservation, protection, and improvement of the environment. We should think seriously and join hands together on protecting the environment and natural resources on which our lives are very much dependant.

Sanket S. Kulkarni