Thursday, October 17, 2013

And in the end.


I have been dying to publish this post but as usual just because of some moronic reasons and slaving my sheer laziness it’s now, I am going to write the recent junks inside this NUT-HEAD. 

Well, have you wondered what motivates old people to write bad poetry, read it loudly and have it admired by young men and women who will go out and bitch about them? Why can you not say to the woman you're thinking of while you write this, that she is really one of the most beautiful women in the whole world? Can you not explain to her that every woman is beautiful, but you saw her in a way that moved you to say this to her, to utter her, to make her a burning image in your narrative of loss? Well, the measure of love is always profit or loss that I really don't know! :)

Though, I've always believed there are moments in life when to achieve a certain point we just go in for our best shot. Even though it may ask us to climb through all the evil/moral aspects laid in between, we still don't cling and keep the walk on, just to touch that moment, just to feel it, live it. The feeling in those sole moments of crowning your own victory will be worth a lifetime, I say.
At times in life we may give our best shot in order to attain something, but in the end do we got the same pay-off what we'd always imagined? I actually like such stuff more that leaves me thinking rather than on which I could blend at the same moment.

Nevertheless, you can chose your friend, a mate, choose relationship, choose mushy dating at movies or choose a career, choose a job, a family, a television, choose some electronic gadgets, good health, life insurance, choose leisure wear, choose sitting on that couch watching mind numbing spirit crushing game shows, choose junk food into your mouth, choose rotting away at the end of it all, choose a future, Choose your world, Choose your happiness. Choose your Life.
guess, the purpose of life is not just the pursuit of happiness but its fulfillment. Every little thing in life has its essence, its inner beauty which illumines the outer. So, all we need to do is to realize its importance and start valuing it. The garb of pretense needs to be discarded completely to renew our lives with reality. A reality which breathes fresh air even in the environment of polluted pretense!
That may be your perception or that may be mine but the overall story is to make a point of happiness, which is like a butterfly which when pursued is always beyond our grasp, but if you will sit down quietly, it may alight upon you.

Let happiness to prevail in your life as soon as possible in the end, someone mentioned this long time back: it's not the years in your life that counts. ;)



PS: Will refine this post once I am done with reading all the books on my list. Cheers! 

Sunday, October 13, 2013

Salim


The story of Salim:
I promised myself that I would not dwell on the negativity but some things just stay away with you to keep popping into your head like a recurring nightmare.
After watching a small documentary based on Nithari killings on CNN, I could not help myself to divert my mind from all this. Needless to mention, this Noida incident was horrifying in itself but, if I look around, there are thousands of children suffering from this neglect, to say the least. No matter, how many NGOs are working to get their heads around it.
It’s worse.
None of us know the first thing about how to help these kids. I know, how difficult it is and how easy it is as well.
Few days back, my friend and I once tried to help a seven year old bleeding profusely from the head. He was stopped in a faint near Jama Masjid and his eyes were swollen to the extent that they were mere slits when fully open. We took him to a government hospital where I was quite sure he would die of neglect. But to my surprise , not only did they treat him immediately, they even took him for free CT scan and gave him a clean bed in a childcare's ward.
His name was Salim.
When he was better enough to talk, we got at least three different stories about the injury:
1. First, he said he fell off a perch frm the roof of the bus stop where he slept. I could believe that.
2. The next time he said, he had been in a tussle with a friend who beat him up. I could belive that too.
3. Yet another story was that he was running from the police who do a routine chase of street kids.
Yes, I could even believe that. But which was the true story?

Anyway, few days later, in my attempt to smother him with affection and attention, I asked him what he'd like me to bring for him evenings. And the answer was always the same : Toys.
The first time, he asked for them, I thought I had heard wrong. I expected him to ask for clothes and shoes and snacks, but no. The little stress free time he had when he wasn't running away from home or bullies or police was spent being a child.
He just wanted to play.
Finally, I got the real story from him. He had run away from home because his grandma threatened to burn him with a tong for some negligence. When he got to Delhi, he fell in with other runaway urchins and took to glue sniffing, an addiction most street kids suffer.
What happened to Salim?
We lost him once more to the streets. 
Why?
Because no conventional system was strong enough to convince him to live off the streets. Or to put it differently, the streets were the best option for Salim, I guess.
What were the other choices?
The Juvenile home, which is a repository of sad stories and a soul less lives. Temporary shelters which by nature, are temporary and offer no roots.
Random acts of kindness that we indulge in like we offer them silvers of hope and then we are not sure what to do with these kids. Dealing with Salim was a kind of defeating experience for me. Not because Salim went back but because after a point, I had absolutely no idea what to do with him. There were no reference points, no options, attractive enough to convince him to stay. No immediate plans.
Nothing.
My reaction to this is these kids need help but when I think again, its not the kids, in fact, we need help. We need maps and guidelines that will help us to help so many kids like Salim.
I wonder!

Location: Jama Masjid, New Delhi
Date: October, 2013




Wednesday, October 9, 2013

Her

Destitute with blank eyes asking for a few coins to see them through a meal.Babies at traffic signals in situations that instinctively makes you hug you your own poor soul, I guess. Children selling magazines are everyday scenes in any city in India. In Delhi.

We feel sorry.


Blame the government apathy wish that it would do something about it and book the other way.
I admit I have done it many times, though my heart bleeds for street kids and I tried to make a difference once, but gave up after hitting a blank wall. The guilt remains. I look away thinking , I don't have to do anything about what I don't see, I guess.
After all, its a hopeless world, these things are inevitable. Right?
But, there are people who force us to believe otherwise. People who quietly go about listening to their hearts.
Probably about women like in the proverbs:
" God can not be everywhere , which is why he created mothers".
And it all came together when I visited this beautiful lady's place taking care of so many kids at the same time. I expected to have a philanthropic view point , a novel credo or something which made her adopt a baby girl off the streets.
But, No.
Trust me, I was stumped by her simplicity when I asked her that what made her adopt a baby girl off the streets and she said very calmly because I felt sad for her.
Pause.
Well, name of that sweet, pretty and cute little girl was Suhani and when I met her, I was mesmerized by her deep beautiful eyes. They had a hypnotic quality and suddenly her mother mentioned, "I want to make her a classical dancer".
Later, I came to know that, the test will come when Suhani at eighteen months will be tested for HIV.
She was tested.
Result was negative, thankfully.
After all, Suhani was a tough cookie and she will come out of it with happy gurgles. :)

:)

Location: GB Road, New Delhi
Date: September, 2013

Tuesday, September 17, 2013