Reputation

Reputation is, but a farce-
A tool constructed to limit passion and courage into tiny moulds, 
of irrational and uncomfortable notions;
of stereotypes and prejudices in mixed proportions. 
A red sign, for fearless romances
and for the one taking  unconventional chances.
A wrecked pedestal of righteousness;
an old whip, whipping attempts at individual-ness.
Oh it's wary, let's rip it apart, 
so it's easy to breathe for our heart. 

The concept of a society was constructed by man for the convenient and harmonious living of his fraternity. Often, this very society imposes upon us compulsions and customs which we must necessarily abide by, in order to make space in that society. These customs vary from society to society but the way they suffocate dreams, difference of opinion and novelty remains the same. Be it society in general, or exclusive groups of intelligencia , there is a tendency to give legitimacy to accepted norms which closes all doors for new thought. Anyone taking the road not taken is perceived as a threat to society and as a result not accepted into it. This anyone may not necessarily be a person, it could be a minority religious sect, two lovers forced to elope due to caste difference, a child in a family of doctors wanting to pursue literature, a small group of theorists challenging a given theory, et al. 
The fear of being secluded away crushes emotions, desires, innovation and most importantly, freedom. It crushes all incentives to look for newer means and creates a mundane sameness of people, existing with suppressed ideas. As a result, it increases frustration, anger and resentment which further leads to disputes, violence and disharmony. 
This unnatural construction is an aberration in the way of a fearless society. And young and old voices speaking against it is what we need to have real peace in the world. 

Dreaming in the day

The clock gradually drags,
with the weight of nothingness.
Eyes stare blankly,
past the vibrant walls,
colourful posters fading into a blur;
past the overflowing cupboard,
wherein pop out things of all sorts.
Empty hands tapping on the desk,
full of sheets to be filled, notes to be made.
Legs wearing the new Nike shoes
dangling in a slow unconscious rhythm.
Within the mind, there's a swirl
of ideas, imagination and energies
also leisure, laziness and abstract memories.

There are weird ironies in daily life. There's a lot of time but there's no time. There's so much to be done, accomplished and explored but no willingness or effort in that direction. We want success or change but we rarely take a substantial step in that direction. Even if we do, we lose the momentum half way. Often the hinderances to our goals are not any major distractions but as mundane as unnecessary compulsive daydreaming or overstretched pangs of laziness.Recollections of past or imaginary structuring of the future, both are destructive of what we have now, the present.

Desh Prem Divas

120 years ago, the Indian soil was blessed with the fiercest patriots of the time. The one who waged a genuine aggressive fight against the British through the Azad Hind Fauj and by allying with the Axis powers. Whose contribution to the Indian Struggle is a legend to treasure for times to come and whose spirit of patriotism is to be treasured for centuries.

Over centuries, the conception of patriotism has changed. From the crusades, consolidation of empires, monarchy, conquering territories, rise of feudalism and its collapse, imperialism and colonialism and the fight against them, unification of provinces to democratization, patriotism has come a long way.

The word Patriotism or nationalization still has that cliched connotation of only fluttering flags, bravehearts sacrificing their lives, movement leaders being imprisoned. Though these constitute a great part of the term, patriotism has enveloped a wider area.

This is the era of rapid globalization. Issues of a country are not specific to it but subjects of international deliberation. For instance, in the political sphere, not just the US but the whole world is expressing its apprehensions of the new US President; in the cultural sphere, our putrid and unfair caste system has invited criticism from the world over; almost all nations scorn at Kim Jong Un, et al. 

Patriotism in today's time is more associated with making our nation look better, internationally. A  nation is identified with the level of happiness of its people, its culture, its economic development, etc and there are structured parameters for evaluating them. The HDI Index, Ease of doing business index, GNH indicator and the like. For those who don't bat an eyelid before starting to blame the administration and government, besides government schemes and programs, there is an enormous lot we can do at our level to improve our performance.
Mundane doings tend to skip our comprehension of an enthusiastic feeling of patriotism like:
-Keeping our streets and neighbourhood clean;
-protecting our cultural heritage;
-not wasting resources like food, water, electricity, etc ;
-doing away with gender-based stereotypes and discrimination
-standing up for those in need
-making the visitors from abroad safer and welcome;
-respecting our indigenous markets, culture and art
-not engaging in corrupt practices
-not indulging in excessive consumption of alcohol, drugs or tobacco
-most importantly, using only merit as a basis of distinction in people

There's a lot to be done but nothing spectacular to be done. Basically, the key to national progress begins with just us being better humans.

And after the battle ended,
a kingdom was established;
where the grass was green and lush,
watered by its people's blood;
where valour flowed in the royal gene,
but at times succumbed to lust and greed;
where Panna was an epitome of devotion & sacrifice,
but the Great Rana himself prey to patricide;
where cannons couldn't challenge the fort's mirth,
but it fell to siege and dearth;
where a horse defined loyalty,
while the related ones engaged in felony.
Yet whenever the enemy attempted to stride,
the Rajputi sword shone with pride.

Near the fierce division lines,

in bitter blizzards and howling hailstorms
the flame of devotion to soil keeps them warm.
The scorching desert and piercing Sun,
they ready their guns with their sweat
While the civic rulers indulge
in blame games of borders, and
filling pockets with corrupt deals;
they refuse to capitulate to the foes,
and stand strong in spite the woes.
For Sovereignty or unity;
against Enemies of ,or in , the nation
they fight them all.
And when their hands get too old to
wage a ferocious fight,
they work for betterment of their fraternity
and all that's actually what makes
the tricolour incessantly fluttering.

We have grown up worshiping the Indian army. And why wouldn't we? Those bravehearts sacrifice their comfortable lives, their desires and moreover lives for the nation without a second of hesitation.
However, we still do not applaud their precious deeds commensurately. Retired army personnel have to sit in protests for securing fair pension. most of the units do not have even bullet-proof jackets, leave alone high quality equipment that they must have. As put by one of the jawans on social media recently, they are apparently not receiving even fair-quality food!
Also at times, one or two individuals in the whole system get vulnerable to malpractices which infects it as a whole. Our army is also not immune to that. Cases of politics in promotions, untrue reporting, etc surface sometimes. Now a days, foreign intelligence agencies are also trying to creep into the army which has the potential to collapse the structure.

We cannot match with the undaunted spirit of devotion of the soldiers but we can only stand by them and make sure what they're dying for, doesn't go in vain.

- 15 January,2017
Indian Army Day

Bangalore Shamed

Clubs and pubs were scintillating with sparkle, glamour and music, youngsters meandering on the streets, families curled up in warm blankets inside their homes; watching the new year specials and sharing sumptuous meals- the whole nation was celebrating the arrival of another year.
But some salacious revellers were adamant to not let the nation bid a peaceful farewell to 2016 and welcome 2017 with joy.

The so-perceived safe city of the country witnessed the darkest and the most horrifying night of the decade. 1500 policemen stood helpless as mere spectators to the savage molestation of women on the streets on New Year's Eve. It can't be more unfortunate to have a year start with such a pathetic and brazen act. Young men and women, out to celebrate and make merry, ended up welcoming new year with screams, cries and scratches. Women were groped, grabbed, abused and sexually assaulted in huge numbers by thousands of inhumane hooligans who outnumbered the present police force.

And it doesn't end here.The response and reaction of our elected 'representatives' is equally shameful.

G Parmeshwara, the home minister of Karnataka, said:
"On events like New Year's... there are women who are groped or harassed or treated badly. These kind of things happen".
He said the problem was that the young people who had gathered in the city's streets "were almost like westerners".
"They tried to copy the westerners, not only in their mindset but even in their dressing, " he said. "So some disturbance, some girls are harassed, these kind of things do happen."

Shockingly, despite video graphic and photographic evidence, NO distress calls were made, according to the Police department. 3 days post that night, not even a single case of molestation or assault has been registered.