Did anyone else notice this "vote for Taj" non-sense or its just me?? Well to cut the long story short, do we still need foreigners to decide for us what is wonderful by their yardstick?
I remember my grandmother had told me that Shah Jahan (who built Taj) had chopped off the hands of his workmen so that they never build something so exquisite again! Another forward tells me that it was an old "acquired" Hindu Shiv Temple. I am not sure if its true or not but that's immaterial. But there may be a grain of truth in thus because foreign invaders have been ruthless, what better example than the Britishers chopping off the thumbs of muslin cloth makers, in Bengal (finest fabric even known, better than even silk)..And killing off the trade at root..
But our present concern is just the fact that we dont need to vote for Taj so that it can be seven wonders of the world. It may be a bone of contention if the gory details I have posted get verified. But they never will be because History leaves no eyewitnesses, only the foot prints of the victors. So coming back to the facts..
No matter what happens things would have an intrinsic value regardless of ones we assign them...
If you have even a pea sized brain, DONT VOTE FOR TAJ!! Because beauty would always lie in the eyes of beholder. And by making Taj, the pin up boy for an entire country, we do great injustice for the many worlds that India represents.
There are many places India should be proud of and Let Taj not be just the only one. Let every day be a Wonder. Let every one who makes us proud be a Wonder, the rains, the heat, the winters, the monsoons, the festivals, the desire to celebrate life and commemorate death and not in the least our people....
Remember Taj is nothing but tomb and will remain so. Mumtaz for whom it was built never saw it. And was not even buried in it orginally to begin with...Please Dont Vote for Taj, Our pride is not worth foreign recognition...

As Pre Monsoon rains arrive in New Delhi, and you leave without an umbrella or rain coats, there are these four types of people who are seen on the streets, Specially when it starts pouring...

The first kind who start running towards their destination. Its interesting: if its any close, they would be able to reach it, but they would get wet anyways.

The second are those who find the nearest tree or bus stop and stand beneath it, waiting for the rains to stop (mostly bikers and pedestrians). Really, their destinations forgotten, chores put on still, they stand under the shelters, waiting for the rains to stop. ... Because trees don't shelter you from rains and since bus shelters are so full, They also get wet Anyways..

The third are those inside their cars : nonchalant. It would never matter if it rains or pours or snows or sun scorches the world, the temperature inside would always be 26 degrees Celsius. I wonder when these see the other three type, do they even thank their stars that they are not getting drenched.. These would never get wet no matter what...

And the final and the fourth, the ones seen walking (or biking) despite the rains, on the streets emptied because no one else is walking, its only cars and buses moving splashing water, (drenching an already wet person??) . Not because they are in a hurry to reach some place, just because when it rains and you don't have an umbrella or raincoat (or a car for that matter), You are in all probability likely to get wet Anyways...(and dry eventually..), Its best to keep walking...

Dear Ms Would be (or maybe not) President,

As much as this letter to you should have come a few days ago regarding your "Purdah" controversy, I am taking the liberty to express my views now. I couldn't help but notice while looking at you on the television, you were covered from head to toe and not to mention, advising others against it may construe hypocrisy.. You have also mentioned that you'd not be "just" a rubber stamp..

The fact is all these things that you are promising the ignorant masses, that is women empowerment, purdah to be done away with etc. are not in your hands. You cant possibly bring about changes you promise with a flick of your Parker pen. And I am glad you CANT do that. No one person should have the right to decide the destiny of millions with a mere signature. In that case its a good thing that You or any one on that chair would remain nothing but a rubber stamp and it is desirable that way.


As for purdah, its not a question of why it came about, or because of whom, History has many culprits... The fact is that its there and exists. The real question is should it or not be allowed to exist? It is my firm opinion that the choice should be left to the person, and not her fathers and brothers and society. What if all i want to be is invisible, behind the purdah? Puting women in bikinies is just as oppressive as purdah, provided it is a compulsion.. The matter rests at the base with the choice, to be or not to be.. let it be my choice to be behind purdah or not.. Freedom cannot be "given " to anyone, it is the basis of one's existance and the very act of using the concept of freedom for women to win a presidential seat is ghastly!

Having said that I hope you'd stop wasting our precious time and revert back to cutting ribbons and attending school functions and annual Republic day parades, and stop making controversial speeches because if there is a question of empowerment, Rakhi Sawant and Mallika Sheravat are much better ambassadors of women empowerment than yourself.

It is henceforth a sincere appeal on my behalf that you stop embarassing us with the new drama about seeing and being blessed by a ghost yesterday. Its a country we live in where millions would be murdered just in the name of religion, and the last thing we need is a President who encourages superstitions. It should be understood that I am all for "Your " freedom to see and believe ghosts but hope you understand that as a President even your sneeze would be a media spectacle and there would be milllions of Indian girls who would aspire to be like you in future. Are we to believe then that we are raising a harvest of superstitious president "purdha free" wanna beees??

Think about it.

Definately not sincerely yours'
Deepshikha

Today, as I went to another venue near Yamuna, upper Yamuna which was cleaner and stench free, rich with picturesque surroundings, you know, the ones that are supposed to be there! There were these huge cranes, or flamingos or what ever they might be, seemed to me just out of the Alice in the wonderland book, I couldn't help but think about miracles. I had exclaimed to my friend " Are they real?", Their stillness were unnerving and they really seemed either ceramic from the distance or as though they were meditating. My friend's response was " Yeah, I got up early in the morning, swam across to the island and placed them there!!". Funny as it was and there was a possibility of truth in his words (its a TV show, we assume anything is possible...), I know it was not true because, for one he cant swim, and second, these things did move after some time and as local youth dived into water with lithe agility, these birds who seemed to me as tall as me from where I stand, took off majestically, without a backward glance, in eloquent "v" formation. Miracles! I was not looking at them in a Zoo, there was no tag which classified their phylum and I'd probably never know what they were unless I open Salim Ali's Book (which I would not...) Actually, I just googled images and looks like they are "Flamingos".. Anyways, I just saw them where they are supposed to be... And thank god it was not Zoo...

It was strange, I remember once having asked a Christian friend, Christ could walk on water, do you think he could have swum on land? The same thought occurred to me again and also her response.. There is no need to swim on land... You can walk, was all she could say. The place was not just full of Flamingos, but also pristine white cranes, domesticated buffaloes and cows, crows and dogs, and their relationship with each other nothing but sheer magic....


Crows had dared to venture just with in my hands reach, who would just swoosh down on an unsuspecting fish, I could help notice they had individual differences too, one was infarct brown, grey and some jet black.. The cows and buffaloes floated on water with crows and cranes perched on them; A lovable stray dog was doing his best to steal the fishes crows had caught..the water was muddy clean (because of the recent rains) and the aroma of water, clean and fresh filled up my lungs far far away from the madding city crowds..We were told, we were standing on what used to be river bed once...Right on the Heart of River...

Yesterday I was not keeping well and seriously, living alone in big city can render you more lonely then ever. I could have stayed there forever! However, as I stood there today morning, I couldn't help but feel like an intruder, I know I didn't belong there, neither did that electricity tower I could see in the distance nor the chairs and table we had bought with us for the show nor could we ever give back all that we have already taken away. But the local youth, the local peasants and all (perfect swimmers )did seem like they belonged there..

Being in the heart of madness does make me wonder what are the solutions as of now and I foresee none, there is growing talks of green politics and stuff really, as much as I hate to say this.."I don't Know"...

Do we need to single out one day to commemorate what our fathers have done for us?? What about the thousand times you asked your father to sing the same song and he obliged, what about the thousand times when you were out of cash and broke and there was only one person you could fall back on.. the list is endless, the warning letter for ragging, house hunting in ruthless places like New Delhi, Every single day of endless, selfless love.. Is one day enough to for centuries of traditions, nurturing and lecturing.
You dont need one day to nudge your self into saying "Happy fathers day"... We should be happy we have a father, to love, to cherish, to be shouted at... The truth is One day will never be enough, not even a life time.. Instead for a "Happy fathers day!" our fathers deserve a simple "Thankyou and I love you!" everyday everytime..

"India's first women president would send out a message to the world that we are committed to women's empowerment".. That's what the the ruling party UPA has to say regarding their presidential candidate. Its interesting how this entire farce is working. The best part being the President does not have any real powers anyways.. Is that what we try to project when we have a Dalit, a women and a Muslim President? Look here world we have all these people who one person represents and we are "committed" to their empowerment!

It really escapes me how politics really works... How can we have a post like that of a President who has pretty much absolutely no powers.. Are we to understand that our last president (a good man though) was to send a message to the world.. : we are committed to the Nuclear weapons and there is nothing you can do about it.. (he was the nuclear scientist if some one would remember)..

In first place, the Post of the President is nothing but a Public Relations stint, where He/She is expected to do nothing but cut ribbons, attend meetings and sign papers Parliament has already approved.. Would it not be more sensible to do away with it rather than use the colonial hangover where you need a nominal head no matter what.. Why are we still stuck with such silly, and extravagant practices and what is a Female President likely to do for women where thousands of unsung heroes, heroines and reformist are falling flat on their faces.

The last time I heard, Ex-Defense Minister Pranab Mukharjee was in race too.. What "Message" was he likely to give? "WE ARE COMMITTED TO THE DEFENCE of our country"! To defend from whom, for what? There is no Defence now. As long as the other side has the same arms and the first world has nuclear stock piles, there is nothing to do, there is no where to go and in short nothing to be "defended" from... The concept of Defence is our greatest enemy.

My first plea is do away with this Post that has no part to play in creating any equity in the society: going by the record previous Presidents could not stop emergency when it was not required, Kalam could not rationalise Office of Profit bill even when he wanted to and there are likely to be longer lists if each one of the Presidents were to be taken in account. If Parliament needs a rubber stamp, let it not be shrouded as a person who is "supposed to send out some sort of message to the world." A democracy should have no President, with any powers with out the consent of the people and if the Prime Minister is doing the same job, we Indians dont need a President.

A little prelude first, Yamuna is one of the most polluted rivers in the country and I am going to limit this post to my experience while more data is freely available on the internet.. The upper Yamuna which is a bit more cleaner because drinking water is derieved from it while as i said before lower Yamuna is nothing but a slimy drain.

While searching for the venue to hold the next forum we were looking for the most polluted parts of Yamuna, its known that their are around 15 thick canals draining effluents in the river while the effluent treatment plants are lying around doing nothing.
The most interesting thing I noticed was on the first venue which was below the bridge and obviously (we shudda known), Official secrets act was invoked where cameras are not allowed to take pictures of bridges and buildings and stuff(not going into too much detail).. To cut the long story short, show couldn be done there.

While talking to the local divers (who fish out dead bodies and other stuff and i wonder if they are ever paid...), it came to my attention that there was a small slum there which was evacuated and was now nothing but forest.. The diver told us that the politicians blamed the slum dwellers for "polluting the river" and got em evicted as soon as possible... I could beat the irony!! The river was still dirty and slum dwellers were gone some place else.. reason for another political "gandagi hatao" manifesto...

Other venues were just as bad until we did zero on the one we needed.. Some thing happened on the show (once it started) like people who had suggestions about making a dam which would help...Seriously, Missing the point again... Looks like Dams are solutions to all the problems in India ...Bijli, and Pani and polluted rivers... Of course, I don't have a say and as much as these people are concerned.. I think, there are severe issues here.

The first one is Political.. Changes in Policies, Like industrial effluent control policies.. With the entire rampant industrial growth policies (SEZ: special economic zones... ahhm ahhm more pollution for rivers.., Nuke deal, Power plants..), Rivers will be gone before we realise they are no more there..Yamuna makes me cringe.. I see how we have left no space for birds, dogs, bees and cows in these rivers.. We have weighed em down with our problems and we conveniently blame those who cannot speak for themselves, the poor, the cows, the dogs and the birds...

Its time we rethink, we dont have much time ahead of us. I dont say we discard everything we have created but put stuff on hold.. Let the environment reconcile with it self.. The first thing we have to do is Re think!!!

There is so much rant about the Yamuna being the most polluted river in the country and loads more. Today I got to go for a Forum where the anchor interviews an expert panel and also people to react to this atrocity. Of course Yamuna, which has given life to cities like Delhi and Agra for Aeon's is now nothing but a black drain.

I felt the panel was missing the point when they kept talking about cows bathing in Yamuna and stuff. On the contrary I was at the outdoor venue by 8 in the morning near a vegetable patch and a small mound where Forum would be put... There was this one small tree where the arrangements where made.. As I stood on the mound in cool early morning breeze, I had become quite used to the pungent sulfide smell (or rotten egg smell Yamuna now emanates).. Eye sight can be so deceptive.. below the mound there was a small vegetable patch.. Lush green in summer heat and beyond was a dying river and as I saw water buffaloes with just their horns out, I couldnt help it, " It was beautiful!" . I shared this thought with the friend who'd come with me.. He obviously grunted his disapproval, not very happy with the prospect of a shoot where you get up at six and be at venue by 8, which was so smelly that your nose may burn from pinching it...to top the effect some lunatic telling ya its beautiful.

I sincerly feel cows should be allowed to bathe in the river, people should be allowed to pray and offer their rituals, there is only one thing ruining the river and that is industrial pollution..

Delhi, Gaziabad etc have more industries than a few smaller states combined.. to top it up people flush their toilets with water cleaned and treated, derieved from the homes of so many displaced, with sewage lines directly slushing into this already dying river which has brone the burden of an ancient civillization and a modern industrial revolution, furthered by the the ideology of ten percent growth.

But who cares what I feel.. The picture of this would be with me for some more days and I cant help it, I still find her beautiful and will remember her fondly..I find it much better than being caged in panels of glass and steel and trapped in AC building shutting out the real world and then complaining about the heat, for which Air conditioners are directly responsible.. Welcome to New Delhi, This is how things are out here. A typical example of a pyramid where environment and socially and economically backwards subsidise the life style for the rich..