Children Of War

I wish I could pack my bags and leave;
to hug every sobbing child out there,
the thousands of Omrans’ who sit in rescue cars and ambulances
too shocked to know from where the blood
gushes down their face, too terrified, stunned
to even cry; , two, five, seven, nine year olds,
rescued from under the rubble
of five storied buildings, silently
wiping their hands on the seat of the vehicles.

I wish I could reassure them all
that there are people who love them,
that there is a world in which buildings don’t
topple like house of cards, and where
the sounds of winds and clouds are heard,
more often that the sounds of bombs and bullets;
that trees are not always coated with dust and dirt;
that you can watch  movie, you can take a walk
and return, return to your house, not vanish on the way.

I wish I could tell them that the skies,
they are blue, not black from the smoke
the bombs create; that sometimes,
the earth moves and you can see the sunrise;
that at night, it’s not always light
from the rescue operations; and no, not
everyone who looks at you will point a gun at you;
that sometimes, the house will shake
because the earth shakes and not because
something is going up in flames, yet again.

But who am I to say that to them-
to the children of war- who’ve-not trained-
but rather, learnt to shake like a leaf when the skies rumble
day and night, and not a single drop of rain falls;
who’ve learnt that death will always be accompanied
by a broken limb, and  blowed-out brains, and
coated in red, the color of the sun at a sunset
they’ve never seen? Who am I to break their
perfect view of the world in which cancer is
unheard of and AIDS does not exist?

Who am I to tell them that they can dream of a world
without war, a world like one in which I live, where the
problem is the rise in the price of potatoes and not
that my father won’t return for the potato curry dinner,
where the problem is the termite in my house
or the lack of drinking water and not that my house
might get bombarded, and my loved ones killed,
where the problem is the in living and not in surviving-
but who am I to tell them that, to the children of war-
when I was the one who created it?

Hope.

Source: Humans Of New York

We put out our homes- those rolled up bedding
Made of ragged clothes, torn paper, and damp cardboard.
Hopefully, things will be better where we are heading,
Leaving behind our homes, our jobs, our Ford.
Till now, our feet have swollen and are sore,
From walking uncountable miles, to destinations unknown.
Beaten, bullied, tortured to the core,
It’s sufferings that our eyes will shine and have shone.
We fight for a can of water and a morsel of bread,
And there’s hardly any fire to keep us warm,
Hearts went cold from when we saw the river red
Wet the streets used to the dry desert storms.
Memories of all the war grapple us like crabs
Our dreams and nightmares, all woven into one.
You peer in curiosity at the wounds that haven’t even dried yet-scabs.
Relating what we have gone through will leave you stunned.
We come and go, all scarred faces,
We come to strange lands to escape our owns
We come overladen in boats that run in races,
Some of us also drown in the sea lie stones.
Then we may wash up on the sea and you will be horrified,
To see the state the world have come to.
To see brothers kill brothers, to see friends who’ve died,
To see those who have suffered and those who got through.
We may not have a future and we have eradicated our past,
There is not much we can do for our dears.
We are broken and helpless and tired and wouldn’t last
If it weren’t for the hope that’s greater than fear.

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Independence Day Special.

Keeping up with the spirit of Independence Day, these are some of the movies based primarily on patriotism that are  must watch. A hat off to the cat a crew for directing such movies. Here, I present the I-Day must watch contemporary movies:

SWADES (2004)

A story of a NASA scientist Mohan, who after spending his childhood and a substantial part of his adulthood, return to India to find his nanny. He finds that she lives in a very underdeveloped village that faces multiple problems such as power cuts, poor water supply system and many social problems such as caste system, child marriage, female stereotyping etc. It shows how disturbed Mohan is after seeing the conditions in his nation compared to the lavish lifestyle that he has in the US. Brilliantly directed, strong storyline and flawless performances, it will reduce you to tears somethimes.

LAKSHYA (2004)

This is a story of Karan, a young man with no goal or ambition in life. He joins the Indian Army following a friend and miraculously gets selected. His girlfriend Romi is happy to see that he finally has purpose in life. Unused to the discipline of the military life, he runs away much to the disappointment of his parent and following this, Romi break up with him. Stunned, he joins the Army, takes his punishment and changes his ways, becoming Lieutenant Karan. The story follows his metamorphosis, as from a vagabond, he becomes the leader of his unit in the Kargil war of 1999. The story ends with him, alone and gravely injured, hoisting the Indian Flag on the Tiger Hill. The acting in the movie is superb. Hrithik is the perfect Karan and Preity’s role speaks for herself. A beautiful, touching movie, that should not be missed.

CHAK DE INDIA (2007)

Chak De India revolves around Kabir Khan, a former hockey player and team captain who was subjected to ethnic and regional prejudice after he loses the Hockey World Championship and is seen shaking hands with a member of the opposite team, who was congratulating him for his performance in good spirit. It is about Kabir regaining is respect and proving his love for his nation, mulk, after becoming the coach of the Indian National Women’s Hockey Team and leading them to win the World Championship. A stunning movie that deal with topics such a religious bigotry, sexism in various professions and prejudice on religious, ethnic, and cultural backgrounds.

RANG DE BASANTI (2006)

Rang De Basanti is about a group of 6-7 friends who are aimless. Their friend, whose grandfather was employed by the East India Company who maintained a diary in which he noted the movements of some nationalists, arrives in India with aim of making a movie on their lives. In way of getting the characters, a single incident occurs that changes their life forever. It traces their life from aimless people to people who  change the nation themselves. A movie that will infuriate you just as it makes you cry. Not to be missed.

If your blood doesn’t boil from anger , it’s not blood, it’s water because if you don’t serve the nation, your youth is wasted.

APJ Abdul Kalam.

Shell Shocked.

The greatest President India has ever seen, Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam, passed away this evening after a heart attack. I feel sorry for the nation who lost such an eminent and a respected scholar.

I was very small when he was the President of this country. Yet I have vague memories of that time, each better than the last. One of my earliest memories of him was the time when he had come to our school for a function. I don’t remember much of his speech but I remember how he had the audience spellbound with his words. The entire auditorium was bathed in his words of wisdom. I remember how at ease he was when he talked to the children, how cordial with the adults, and how the each word that came from his mouth resonated with everyone present at some subconscious level.

Also an accomplished physicist working at ISRO, he was a respected person, a philanthropist, an educationist, a courageous soul, who despite many adversities, carved a niche for himself. He was a visionary who lived to a glorious and a ripe age of 84.

I’m honored to have met him and have learnt something from his respected life. I feel it that I owe it to him to read his book, “Wings Of Wire” that had been laying in my bookshelf for the past 2-3 years. It’ll be my way of showing how much I looked upto him as a human being.

Rest in peace, Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen Abdul Kalam. You are truly an inspiration.

Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam at our school.

India’s Daughter: A Voice

Everybody is aware of the December 16, 2012 Delhi gang rape, forever marked as the Black Day in Indian history.

A girl is far more responsible for rape than a boy.

It is what Mukesh Singh, one of the main accused said in the BBC Documentary, ‘India’s Daughter’. What is her crime Mukesh? That she was out alone in the city at night? That she went to a movie with an unknown stranger? Well, then it’s a pity she didn’t have defending lawyer AP Singh, a well educated man, for a father. Because he’d have taught her the correct lesson by putting petrol on her and setting her alight in front of the entire family. I think that he should have done that to Jyoti’s pyre because, come on, going on a date with a stranger equates engaging in premarital activities.

Also, I thank heaven that Jyoti died, because as a woman, we have no place in the society according to the second defending lawyer ML Sharma.  Our culture is the best. In our culture there is no place for a woman. What about your mother, Mr. Sharma? Wasn’t she the one expelled you out of her vagina? Probably the reason you have that stupid mouth? She must be really ashamed of you. As for you Mukesh Singh, can you exactly tell me what Jyoti had done that day? Had she provoked you in some way of talked badly to you or did she step into hell the minute she entered your bus? The bus that you now allegedly drove. It’s not as if you were pulled into the news because you drove the bus. I don’t think that you’d have missed the chance of teaching her a lesson. But then, you didn’t expect people to create a mountain of a molehill. After all, it’s just a rape. They happen every day. So what if you pulled her entrails? So what if you raped her? You were teaching her a lesson only. She was a bad girl. She had to bear the consequences of her crime.

The thinking of these people disgusts me. I didn’t know that being a woman in India means I immediately put sex in his eyes. A man sees his mother, his sister, his friends, he is horny. What are women? Walking porn? Aren’t we human beings? Or are we just objects for men to put right? To have their way? To do what a man wants, to fulfill his needs?

Pity those who see women as a commodity. Praise those who see women as people who can make a difference in society.

I have the answer the question Jyoti’s father asked. What is the meaning of a woman? To think in patriarchal terms because that’s what people understand, a woman is a human being who doesn’t have a penis. But she has equal rights as a man. No man has any right to teach any woman any lesson. She’s the only one who has monopoly on her body. She’s a birth giver, the mother of the planet, of all human beings. She the backbone of the society. Jyoti died but what has come from her death? The juvenile comes out in December. The rest, instead of being bludgeoned to death have been kept alive for two years now, that too by a fast track court? Besides, what has the government done to increase the safety of millions of women like her? The documentary, that was a good chance identify the problem has been banned. Leslee Udwin had to leave India, because she gave the hope of a better future by presenting facts.

The question I ask is: Does this darkness have a name? This cruelty, this hatred, how did it find us? Did it steal into our lives or did we seek it out and embrace it? What happened to us that we now send our children into the world like we send young men to war, hoping for their safe return, but knowing that some would be lost along the way. How did people become monsters? That they show no remorse, no regret at what they did. Blaming her innocent soul for this. They’re not sorry. But the world is sorry for them. The devils they’ve become. And we hope they die.

I am truly ashamed of the country I live in today, along with thousands of others. And that’s sad.

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