If my dad was a politician!

Anil Kapoor acted in a Hindi movie ‘Nayak’ and he played role of a man who accidentally becomes Chief Minister of Maharashtra (Mumbai) for a day. From minute one, he goes for the kill, suspending corrupt officers and firing even the corrupt ministers within 24 hours of his tenure as the CM.

That was the ideal case scenario and if that happens in every state, India will reclaim its glory within 696 hours. However, ideal case scenarios rarely exist and change always happens over a due course of time. The current dynastic political system has made our country a family business and that’s what I consider the greatest problem of our nation. Every party and politician wants to pass on his party and eventually this country to their sons, daughters, and cousins.

If my dad was a politician, I would make sure that I never get into politics. And even if I do, I would rise up the ranks and not directly land in the driving seat without learning to drive. During the freedom struggle, our politicians used to think about uniting the nation. They literally believed in the saying, “United we stand, divided we fall.”

Modern age politicians use politics as a tool to divide the community along the caste and religion lines.

If my dad was a politician, I would like him to spread awareness among the masses for taking pride in their culture, religion, and tradition, but not to let anyone take advantage of it for petty political gains. The vote bank politics has made us Hindus, Muslims, Dalits, OBCs; anything but Indian.

Our definition of nationality starts and ends at Pakistan bashing. Our streets are ugly, our roads are jam-packed, our vehicles are wrongly parked, and anything that builds national character is either absent or flawed in our nation.

If my dad was a politician, I would make the best use of his office to spread awareness and build national character. A politician could be a great channel for community building and once the masses are aware, the only way is forward. If my dad was a politician, I would want him to take his office to the Internet and Social Media. Youth is the driving force of any nation and if the youth is disinterested in electoral process, the corrupt politicians will always prevail.

Encouraging youth to participate in the electoral process will help strengthening the democracy in our country. I would also want him to communicate directly with the masses rather than indulging in just one way communication.

And most importantly, we as a family would never make use of his status to act like VIPs. This VIP culture was an outcome of 200 years of British rule and ignorantly, we are still following the same rules which were actually devised to humiliate us Indians.

Not every politician is corrupt but we have seen so much bad in the polity that we just don’t see good in any of the politicians anymore. If my dad was a politician, I would like him to communicate to the masses. Half of the programs and acts meant for rural people do not benefit them because they simply are not aware of their rights. Communication and Information transfer will re-define Indian polity in coming years. I would want my father to reach out the masses just not during the election years but periodically to help the masses.

In the end, I would again quote from the same movie Nayak. In one of the scenes, Paresh Rawal says to a reluctant Anil Kapoor after he finishes his tenure as one day CM,” rajneeti gutter hai sab kehte hain, par saaf karne koi nahin aata” which means, “The political system is easily called a sewer by the masses but nobody dares step up to clean it”

If my dad was a politician, I would want him to be the one who willingly steps into this sewer and cleans every inch of it.

This post is written for the Weekend Contest in association with Shoes of The Dead at BlogAdda.com.

To Ma, With Love!

"My mother had a great deal of trouble with me. And I think she enjoyed it", said the great Mark Twain. In my opinion, it is applicable to all of us, every single child on earth. We love troubling our mothers, all of us, either directly or indirectly.

Ours is a huge family by modern age standards, 3 sisters - two brothers, and of-course our parents. That makes us a team of seven. However, when we were growing up and our parents were planning their family, it didn't matter how many kids a family had. The only thing mattered was the number of sons in a family.

Although my parents were are educated yet they couldn't give up the idea of giving birth to a son to continue the family tree. My mom gave up her Sewing Center Job just because she was to deliver kids. Today when she looks back, she (surprisingly) feels proud of her decision.

"With that job, I wouldn't have made a good mother. Raising five kids in a family is not anybody's job but a mother's", is her simple yet touching answer.

I wonder at times why she didn't think about 'her' career, her ambitions, and her choices. Why did she chose her kids over career? And I am talking about early 1980s when not many women in the tiny state of Himachal Pradesh were literate, let alone being a matriculate. She would have reached places had she continued with her job.

Twin Trouble, Ignore the 'Jail Dress'

But then she made a choice, didn't she? To be with her kids during the most reformative years of their lives, to be a guiding angel.

My mother spends cautiously, superstitiously I must say. She negotiates hard, which embarrasses us some times. Her Golden Rule for negotiating is to divide the 'told price' by 3 and then stand her ground. Her rule works well even these days, I must say.

These days my ma and father stay together making the best of their old age. Even then she doesn't want to splurge money because she believes money saved by her will help her kids, one way or another.

"Why do you do this? You don't need to bargain anymore?", said I to her.
"This is my style and old habits die hard. Have I ever stopped you from spending money extravagantly, the way you always do? You don't try to change my style", was her reply.

And that reminds me of a quote by Honore de Balzac,"A mother's happiness is like a beacon, lighting up the future but reflected also on the past in the guise of old memories."

What I mean to say is, raising five children with only one source of income has made her cautious in her spending. Today, when the times have changed, she still sticks to her old rule of spending minimum for maximum utilization. 

Sometimes I wonder, how come a mother is always ready to sacrifice her good for her kids? Where from does she bring this strength to sacrifice just to see her kids smile? Ego and mother are two words that will never come close when it is about her children.

They say it is very difficult to understand women. Probably, they are right. Probably, I and every other man on this planet would never understand how does a mother makes her kids her first choice. Probably, we men will never know what it feels to be a mother. 

The least we can do is to respect our mothers and all the females in our life, because respecting a female is respecting the Universe. 

In the end, I would say what we have been hearing from our grandparents, "A mother will always have to think twice; once for her kids and one more time just to be sure of."

P.S. This is not one of those letters which my mother would never read. As I am typing this, my ma is sitting besides me and smiling. 

Thank you Ma!

P.S. 'I am writing a Tribute to Mom in association with Parentous.com'

Stranded in Spiti - Three Days in the backseat of a Tata Sumo

"Travel, it will make you a better human being", said one of my Professors when I approached him in the second year of my engineering for a Recommendation Letter for a training programme.

He added, "Nobody will entertain a second year engineering punk in any organization. But, if you travel on your own, you will make the best of your time"

Four years later, I understood what he said. I took my time but boy what a learning experience that was. After quitting my job in 2009, I decided to drive-walk-trek around Himachal to see and understand my homeland in a better way.

And everything changed after we did this Spiti Expedition in the year 2010. It was not an expedition actually, it just happened accidentally.

Why I Love Traveling?

Travel, you will learn and when you learn you find happiness. That's what I have understood from all my travels so far. It takes me to a different plane where the doer disappears and only the verb, the activity remains.


This Car will not go beyond Keylong - Let's Go to Spiti!

It was a Maruti 800; 1996 make, 84,000 Kilometers and still going strong. Four college friends decided to go beyond Rohtang Pass (3900 Meters/ 12795 feet) for the first time in their life. Money was a problem, hiring a private car was out of question. So that left us with one and only one option, the good old Maruti 800.

However, reaching Keylong 60Km from Rohtang top wasn't easy. The oil chamber was hit thrice, clutch plates almost gave up, and the car produced weird sounds like modern day Bollywood mash-up songs. But we never gave up and finally the high Mulkila Mountain Ranges welcomed us to Keylong. Fortunately we found a car-mechanic too and he assured us that nothing was wrong with out car. He although charged INR 2500 for his assurance and the minor fixing job.

The car was in poor shape and we couldn't dare think about going to Leh over Tanglang La and Baralacha La passes. We brainstormed and decided not to go to Leh. Instead we decided to shift our focus to the Spiti Valley.

Little did we know about the harsh realities of Spiti and Life. 

HP-41 - 0292 | A Well Fought War

Car Breakdown in the Valley - Tractor Engineering

Stranded, Waiting for the Sunshine

Spiti on a Maruti is not difficult at all just you need little bit of luck. And that's what we did not have in our favor. Or probably that's the way you learn lessons in your life.

Our car finally broke down in Batal, 15 kilometers before the Kunzum Pass (4500 meters) which serves as the gateway to the Spiti Valley. Now four of us mutually decided that two will go to Manali to get a mechanic, while two will stay in the valley to safeguard the car.

It doesn't rain/snow in the valley in the summers, and hence the name "Snow Desert". But then there are bad times, and there are worse times too. It was one of those times for us.

Living On the Edge!

Gone, Baby Gone!

Unexpected Snowfall

It snowed and snowed badly for three days consecutively. Those who had gone to Manali couldn't come back and two of us were sleeping in the back-seat of a Tata Sumo. The road was destroyed by a flash flood and it was no way out of the valley for three long days. Probably, the longest days and nights too, of my life.

We abandoned the car in Batal with all our clothes locked inside. Sleeping in the back seat of a Tata Sumo with nothing to cover your body made us understand the hardships people of the valley go through every year.

After three days, the sun came back from the sabbatical and gloominess evaporated. Even now there was no way out of the valley but to walk 20 kilometers to reach the nearest place connected to road.

And we walked all those 18 kilometers because beggars are no choosers. The city hustle-bustle, honking cars, crowded streets of Manali never looked so beautiful to us. It all hurt back then but in retrospect it all makes sense. Life wouldn't have been the same had it not snowed in the valley for those three days.

And as they say, "Whatever doesn't kill you, makes you stronger."

We did go back to the valley to get our car back after a month. And then it snowed again. We were stranded again in the valley.

But we came back from the valley, alive and kicking.

P.S. Those who have been to the Spiti, Ladakh, or Lahaul Valley do not find such incidences uncommon because it is a part and parcel of life in those parts of India.

This post is to Get a Wildcard entry to Nano Drive with MTV at BlogAdda.com

In Fond Memory of Rohan | How Modern Healthcare Touch Lives?

The times are changing fast. Some diseases that were once considered incurable are nowhere to be seen today. Modern healthcare has advanced by leaps and bounds and the change is quite evident in our lives.

Look around, look at our villages, people are aware now. They understand the importance of vaccination and no more rely on 'superstitious' methods to get rid of diseases.

Even today, we can't say that India is disease free; a lot needs to be done even today. However, looking back it feels good to see diseases like Polio vanishing from our country.

Because when we were growing up, Polio was a harsh reality of every street, corner, and village of India.

That reminds me of a story.

Rohan, was two years younger than me. He couldn't walk properly and we all used to wonder about his shoes. He would walk with great difficulty and his mother would not let him go beyond the periphery of their house. We used to go to school and he used to stay at home. His mom used to teach him at home.


I used to wonder at times, what if this guy was just normal, like us. Wouldn't that had been wonderful?

After completing my studies, I worked in villages as a volunteer with some NGOs in Himachal. I found out that Polio is not even heard of in some villages. Vaccination and 'Polio-Drops Campaign' has actually done miracles across the nation. No kid now stays indoors just because of Polio.

UNICEF reports that last Polio case was reported in the year 2011. Two years without a single Polio case is an achievement for sure. Those who were born in the 21st Century might find this as a mere factual data. However, for someone like me, born in 85, who saw friends wearing specially manufactured shoes, Polio Eradication is something to take pride in.

Nobody wears steel-braced shoes. Not in India! Not anymore!

That;s how modern healthcare is changing lives around us.

Image: PostNoon.Com

Indian Healthcare – Cost-Effective and Trustworthy

The healthcare industry in India is not restricted to the towns and villages of the country only but it has moved beyond the International Borders. The rising number of foreigners visiting India for medical treatment is a testimony for that. Medical Tourism has opened a new dimension for the Indian healthcare Industry.

Mostly this argument is given that healthcare facilities in India are cheap and that’s why foreigners come to India. However, if we think about it, healthcare is not about the cost only. The prime concern of any patient is always trust because you wouldn't let anyone touch your body because he/she is doing it cheaply.

ASSOCHAM reports that 850, 000 medical tourists visited India in 2011. Now, such a huge number is not visiting India just because it is cheap. Quality and Trust are the two factors that Indian healthcare industry has managed to restore among these visiting tourists.

The advent of the Internet, its increasing reach in Indian households is only making things better. Online health tips offered by leading healthcare players along with online tools to keep a check on your health are playing a wonderful role.

If you think you are obese, go for a BMI test. If you think you are eating unhealthy food, go find a calorie sheet for different food items. Have doubts regarding breast cancer; take a self exam for breast cancer.
The Indian lifestyle has changed drastically over the last couple of decades. The life has paced up a few notches across the nation.

These online tools and cutting edge technology is actually helping people to keep a check on their health and restore normalcy in their lives.

India is no more a snake charmer's land. It is the hub of cutting edge healthcare facilities and soon we will see our medical industry leading the world.

Morbe Dam fun with Kids | Alive is Awesome

This is my eleventh post for the Alive Is Awesome Blogging Campaign.

Mumbai!

The word itself is magic. It rings bells in my head and takes me to a dream world. Around Mumbai one gets to see life, dams, water reservoirs, jungles, colors, music, everything!

I visited Mumbai back in 2009 after I quit my job. Until then, I used to believe that Himachal only is the best place to stay close to nature.

Find useful info about Himachal @ The OK Travel

I was wrong. Mumbai proved me wrong. Maharashtra proved me wrong. Dapoli and Morbe Dam proved me wrong.

Dapoli is a silent beach, unlike Goa on the Konkan Coastal line. And Morbe Dam is juts a One Hour Ride from Vashi/Navi Mumbai.

Sunset at Daploi Beach | Eternal Silence

Me and my twin brother rode his Royal Enfield and after enjoying a brisk ride landed near the dam. There was a small reservoir near the dam. Close to it a group of local kids was playing.

Their game reminded us of our childhood days and we asked them to let us play with them. 

Language is no barrier when it comes to music and love.

They couldn't speak Hindi and we didn't understand Marathi yet it was one of the funniest and most enjoyable game of our lives. The game of 'Chor-Sipahi'. It was moist and soon one of the kids started pushing my brother towards the water reservoir.

And soon they all were jumping over my brother's head in the water. I couldn't join the but it was fun shooting them with the camera.

It wasn't an adventure bath or something. 

Neither it was something extraordinary we did. It was just a fun moment 'lived' with few innocent kids that took us both to our childhood days. 

The Fun Begins

Look at these pictures and you will get to know what I am talking about.

The Return of Innocence! :) 

Brotherhood!

 Return of Innocence

 That's Me - Capturing Life in MegaBytes!

Childhood is Alive. Childhood is Awesome. Nostalgia is bad and I don't like living in the past. And as far Morbe Dam fun is concerned, I am glad I 'lived' it to the fullest. 

It was an Alive is Awesome experience, shouting, jumping, and dancing in joy with kids, who couldn't speak our language, yet everything was understood and well said.

P.S. He is indeed my 'twin brother' although we don't even look like brothers

Why Traveling makes me feel Alive Is Awesome

This is my tenth post for the Alive Is Awesome Blogging Campaign.

I quit my job in 2009, just nine months after I had joined a well paying corporate job in one of the best cities of the country. I came back to my small yet happy state, Himachal Pradesh. Gradually, I started exploring all those places I had always wanted to see but could not see for no apparent reasons.

I bathed in filthy water, enjoyed sand bath in the middle of the silt ocean, and enjoyed walking over the snow covered mountain passes. Cinthol's Alive Is Awesome Blogging Campaign not only gave me a reason to express my untold stories but it also made me realize that traveling is an integral part of my life.

And why my life, travelling and getting to know new places is something everyone should know. Its during these journeys only, human beings get to know their real selves. Its only during these journeys, in the wilderness, on the top of a mountain, or in the middle of an ocean, human beings start respecting their lives even more and the spirit of Alive Is Awesome comes to the fore.

I have jumped in the furious waters of River Beas just to see how it feels.

I have jumped in water covered with algae not because it was too hot but because I wanted to make the best of that moment.

Traveling made me believe that although my weight is just 58 Kgs, I can handle a 200KG motorbike very well. The odometer reading on my bike says 40,000 kilometers, which is a proof of the same.

Traveling enables me to see the better side of life. I once bathed at a place where they used to burn the dead. There is not much difference between the dead and the living ones, except for the choice to live.

Traveling gives me the reason to love. While one travels, one gets to meet people for very short spans and the best one can do in that short span is to spread the love. On the larger scale, our lives are also very short, the best we can do is to spread the love.

Traveling gives me the reason to live in the moment. When you start living moments, life automatically becomes peaceful and beautiful.

Traveling teaches me to expect the unexpected, say thanks to the Universe for whatever is being given and move on. Once I was stuck in heavy snowfall and I almost fell down a 100 meter cliff. That day I realized, If I had died, I would have died an unhappy man.

In short, travelling is the best way to educate yourself. Alive Is Awesome is just not a phrase, it is something more than that and travelling, I am 100% sure, is the best way to experience this.

And In the end, as Mohammed once said, "Don' tell me how educated you are, tell me how much have you traveled."

To be Alive, and to feel Awesome,  jump in the streams, swim against them, and may be one day you will figure out what 'your' life is all about.

Bathing in the Dhauladhar Lakes | Alive is Awesome

This is my Ninth blog Post for Alive is Awesome Blogging Campaign.

The Himalayas are awe inspiring.

You stand in front of a Himalayan Peak and then think of an incident when you were angry at someone.

If you are not delusional or intoxicated, there are only two words that will come to your mind, "Thanks and Sorry."

Close to the sky in the Dhauladhar Ranges of Himachal Pradesh, there are ten lakes in the vicinity of each other.

I always wanted to bathe in those lakes.

Why?

Call for story time :)

As a school kid, I was a great fan of Punjab Kesari (North India's Leading Hindi Daily). On the last page, they would show foreigners jumping in frozen lakes for fun and adventure. I always asked my father If we have similar lakes in Himachal. He said yes, in the Dhauladhar Ranges. I decided to jump in one of those lakes one day. 

This happened in 1999, when I was 14 years old. 

Several years have passed since then. I even lived in Dharamsala for two years where from those lakes were just a matter of few hours, yet I couldn't go.  

Lakes of Dhauladhar

Alive is Awesome videos, pics, and my own stories from the past have now motivated me to embark on a journey of a lifetime, to accomplish a childhood dream. I still remember those foreigners jumping with joy on those last pages of that newspaper.

These lakes are all above 3000 meters from the sea level. The water freezes in the night time. There is no camping base either. One has to hide under the rocks and sheds, bivouacking remains the only option to stay alive.

Still I want to do it?
Yes, because the Himalayas never fail you. Whenever they call, you must go.

I have done many treks in my life but this Lake Trek is something I have always dreamed of. 13 years is a very long period, childhood dreams often get evaporated with time. But this one stayed with me and now because I have experienced the Alive is Awesome joy, its high time that I embark on this journey.

One has to climb three different mountain passes to reach these lakes. Even the names of these lakes are mysterious. Naag Dal (King Cobra Lake), Laam Dal, Chanderkup Lake (Moon Shaped Well Lake) and so on.

Here are some pictures of those lakes.

Lama Dal, Dhaualdhar Ranges

Nag Dal

My Friend Rijul. The Lucky Chap!

P.S. Thank you Cinthol for this amazing opportunity and Rijul for all these photographs.

Cool New Cinthol | Alive is Awesome

This is my Eighth blog post for Alive is Awesome Blogging Campaign


Yesterday, I received my Godrej Cinthol gift hamper for Alive is Awesome campaign and after looking at the red package after a long time, all old memories came to the fore at once.

The new packaging and fragrance of the soap as well as the deodorant are awesome. Because currently I live in Shimla, bathing is a huge task, and moreover I am not a great fan of bathing everyday in winters, yet it was the wonderful fragrance of the soaps, that made me jump in the bathroom, twice.

I opened both the blue and red packages. One for the morning and one for the evening. And unlike other 'celebrity soaps' of India, this soap is actually Grade 1, TFM>76%. which speaks about the quality of Cinthol. 

More about TFM in this post later.

And as far as the rejuvenated old look is concerned, the red package reminds me of my old age Superhero, Vinod Khanna. A job well done by Cinthol, I must say.

Old Cinthol Ad: Image Source

Let me tell you something more about Godrej and Cinthol in this post.


Godrej Cinthol is our brand. It is true-blue Indian. Indian not just because it is manufactured in India by an Indian Company but the connection is far more interesting.

There lies a story behind the Godrej Conglomerate, which shows true Indian colors, the bright and radiant color of our culture and tradition.

Godrej takes me ten years back, when I was still studying in the school. My father used to tell us story of one Ardeshir Godrej, who died ten years before my father was born. Ours too is a family of businessmen and my father used to tell this story to me and my twin brother on numerous occasions.

"Ardeshir wanted to establish a company and he did not approach his father for the loan. He approached a family friend and asked him to give him the loan. His reason for not asking his father for a loan was simple. He wanted loan, not a gift. 23 years later, when the decisive moment came, he refused to accept inheritance. His father died in 1918 and as expected, Ardeshir did not accept the inheritance at all. His father was one of the richest men of India."

Pretty unconventional stuff that guy did. Later he took Godrej to new heights and made it on of the best brands of not only India but the world.

Probably, he was the guy who invented the word Alive is Awesome, even if he didn't say it, I am sure he meant the same.

My father concluded by saying, " Saying no to 'unearned money' is a very difficult job. Its probably one of the toughest jobs you might have to undertake.  Make sure you remember Ardeshir when that moment comes."

That was good ten years ago when I was 16 years old. The story is still afresh, and the lesson clearly understood. Again in my college, you know those revolutionary years, I was too fond of Godrej brand, because it was our brand, the Indian Identity!

Then I got to know another major factor about soaps and their quality, the TFM factor.

"Total Fatty Matter (TFM) is one of the most important characteristics describing the quality of soap and it is always specified in commercial transactions. Soap with TFM 75% minimum is referred to as Grade 1, anything below that is Grade 2 and not suitable for bathing. "

I conducted a short research and figured out that every other soap that was endorsed by Bollywood Bigwigs was Second Grade Toilet Soap.

Godrej Cinthol's TFM was 76% and above, which meant it was the only Grade 1 soap available in the market at an affordable price.

Nothing has changed since then. Even today Godrej soap's fall in the Grade 1 category whereas other soaps, which you see your Bollywood legends using on screen are Grade 2. 

There is one soap that claims to protect you from harmful bacteria, its TFM is 65%, go figure!

And, in the end I would like to say, Godrej is Awesome :)

New Cinthol, Good Old Feel

Alive is Awesome | Thank you Cinthol

The Submerged Temple Bath | Alive is Awesome

This is my seventh blog post for Alive is Awesome Blogging Campaign

Himachal Pradesh and for that matter India is a land of 'lost' temples. We are busy erecting scarecrows (Statues in Noida, anybody?) but our state has no time to preserve the lost, architectural masterpieces of our country.

Read more about Submerged Temples in Pong Dam @ The OK Travel

One such site is in Himachal Pradesh, district Bilaspur. It is believed that Pandavas' during the Mahabharat stayed in the Himalayas during the Vanvaas/Agyatvaas. And during their stay in the forests, they spent most of their time in 'Our Side' of the Himalayas.

On the famous Manali-Leh Highway, near Bilaspur, in the middle of the Great Gobind Sagar Lake, there are few temples submerged in the water. During the rainy season, you will not get to see those temples because they are fully immersed in the water during that period. However, if you happen to cross that region in winters, you might see the roof of the temples popping out of the water. The lake is covered with silt and it appears that those temples are trying to break free but the silt is not allowing them to do so.

Me and my friend happened to visit that site long ago. Our main intention was to see the inside of those temples but because the ground was swampy, we could only see it from a distance.

Now with nothing left to do, we decided to roam around. The silt-ground was wide open and we were the kings of that region. We ran here and there and as we reached near the banks, we could spot water deep enough for swimming.

Now, silt is just useless. You can't use it for any industrial process or whatever, however, when you throw silt on your body, it feels nice.

It feels soft, and it doesn't feel unclean at all. Sand hurts, silt doesn't.

Jumping here and there, we removed our clothes and soon it was nothing less than a crazy show.

Two naked guys jumping around like seagulls, throwing sand over each other, making weird noises.

We were easily spotted by people from the road and I can't  even imagine what did they think about us.

Alive is Awesome Jump

As we jumped around like monkeys, an old well-dressed man appeared from nowhere. He was coming towards us and we were wondering about his mode of appearance. He greeted us and because we were already in an awkward situation (half naked), we decided to make it even more awkward  We asked him to record a video for us.

Hesitantly, he took our camera and started recording the video.

The Weird yet Alive Video: Discretion Advised ;)

The video lasts only for few seconds and I bet it could be one of the weirdest videos you would have seen in your entire life. Even today, when I look at this video I can't stop laughing.

And now when I look at this video, it reminds me of only one saying, “Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”

I am glad that we danced in the sand like mad animals. I am glad that we enjoyed that 'moment' because life is all about moments we live fully.

I am glad that we did that because being 'Alive is Awesome'