Who is the 'terrorist'?

The right wing party has its militant wing called the ‘Bajrang Dal’ the self styled ‘moral police’ which has ‘terrorised’ people into following their diktats. The Left wing parties have their militant wing called ‘Naxals’ who terrorise the establishment and those associated with it. And it is the contention of both the parent parties that their militant wing members should not be called ‘terrorists’. It seems so similar to the movements in Kashmir where their militants do not want to be labelled ‘terrorists’ despite their terrorising the locals.
The ‘democratic process’ in India sure seems to have neglected the common man enough, except while looting him, to frustrate him to the point of taking law into his own hands. And now the ‘powers that be’ complain that they so much want to improve the living conditions of the common man but are unable to do so due all the militancy. Sigh.
Who is the terrorist? The perpetrator or the victim?

The player

Playing the game was his motto. But he was fed up of playing solitaire. He was looking for company. None seemed to match his interest and capabilities. Till Shama appeared.
And then the games began. Never seeming to end. Mental and physical. They loved the challenges that were thrown at every turn. And then there was a stalemate. A referee had to be called.
The referee came, solved and laughed all the way to her heart, leaving behind a broken console.

Points to ponder this Diwali

A record 1 billion people worldwide are hungry and a new report says the number will increase if governments do not spend more on agriculture.
In 1980, 17 per cent of aid contributed by donor countries went to agriculture. That share was down to 3.8 per cent in 2006 and only slightly improved in the last three years, Diouf, director general of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, said.
India is high on the hunger map. Despite the government's tall promises on the food security bill, nearly 50 per cent of the world's hungry live in India.
A majority of children below five in the country whose health may be compromised forever, is grim.
In India, 40 to 45 per cent of the children under five are already undernourished and stunted in growth. And 70 per cent of the children consume less than 50 per cent of the micronutrients they are supposed to consume. This deprivation, made worse by economic recession could be a healthy future lost forever for an entire generation.
Splurge, but do look for ways to do your bit to alleviate the hunger of the less privileged.
Help NGOs that are doing selfless service, in whichever way possible. Every grain helps.

Hark! Ye imbeciles!

Floods, earthquakes and other natural calamities have become regular occurrences. There is some natural disaster somewhere or the other. Is this a way of nature asking us not to meddle in its affairs too much? It does seem so. And in all possibility, if it is not heeded, mankind is asking to be wiped out.


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Farmer suicides

Mournful silence pervaded the room. The gloom was palpable. The sole bread earner had gone, leaving a pile of debts for the living. The gloom was not so much for the loss of a human being as it was at the thought of clearing the debts. Life had become a punishment.
Death a reward.

Vulgarity

Corporate Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid has announced that CEOs should not be paid ‘vulgar’ salaries. This from a minister of a party which has announced spending Rs.350/- crores on building a statue in the Arabian sea off the Mumbai coast!
And this at a time when the state is reeling under severe drought conditions and farmers are committing suicide. There is a severe power shortage and is in dire need of power generation and distribution in the financial capital of the country – Mumbai which also happens to be the capital of Maharashtra.
Why are we or our politicians so obsessed with doing something for the dead at the expense of the living?!
What is vulgar? – The CEO’s salary or the money being spent on monuments for the dead and gone?

The red dot

The red dot on a woman’s forehead is a display of marital bliss. The violence with which it is erased on the death of her husband reinforces this belief.
Sumedha smiled at the thought of how the red dot was like a beacon of hope to all those lecherous old men who thought nothing of hugging her lustily in the garb of fatherly love. This was particularly evident when Suraj was away on a business trip.
There was no way she could complain about it as there was nothing in their action of hugging that seemed inappropriate. Only the person being hugged would know. She tried resisting a couple of times but was misunderstood as being disrespectful! To maintain a harmonious ambiance in the family she gave in.
She blogged and vent her frustration against all of them, thanks to the anonymity the blogging world offered. And thus maintained her sanity to live and carry on the fight to another level someday.

55Fiction: Simran no more

‘Short and sweet’ was the message.

I had it all figured out. Love was my compulsion and hate an obsession. Indulging in these two was my passion. Simran my willing muse. I loved her and hated the thought of her being no more.

The rotting stench wafted in the gentle breeze.

I sobbed uncontrollably. Alone.