Education is not cowardliness | It is courage | To take charge and act

Please watch the video before you read

"Congratulations Mrs. Goel, your twins have won the scholarship for the third time", said the old lady who knew almost everything about almost everything happening in her neighborhood.

Mrs. Goel did not express her surprise and offered sweets to her,"congratulations to you too."

"You have brilliant kids, they will make this country proud one day. They will do 'something' for this country for sure", said the old lady.

"Well, everyone does something for his/her country according to his/her capacity, I just pray to God that my kids remain sane and honest all their lives, honest to themselves", exclaimed the proud mother.

The state board used to award scholarships to brilliant students, few hundred students from the state who had performed well in their academics in the board exams. A cash prize of INR 10, 000 was given to brilliant students. The basic idea behind the scholarship program was to promote the hard working students to do well, study well and pay back to the state when they are in a condition to pay back. After all, we invest in government for our good, government invests in us for collective good. And for a small, limited-budget state like Himachal, giving away INR 10,000 per year for four years is not an easy thing, the state government must have had very high expectations.

For the twins and hundreds of other students like them , cash prize of INR 10,000 meant a new cycle, brand new Campus shoes and for the less privileged, it meant school fee and household expenditure for the next few months. Money was spent carefully and by the time next board exams were over, they managed to earn another scholarship of INR 10,000. Things were going great, government was promoting the young talent and the young talent too was willing to serve the nation, the state, one day.

The schools were over and it was time to get into the colleges, choice was never a choice so they both ended up in good engineering colleges, the ones which are next to IITs. Most of the others who availed INR 10,000 for four years also landed in similar colleges, some of them even managed to get into IITs. They enjoyed scholarships in their engineering colleges too, however the amount was not as great as it used to be, but whatever it was, it kept coming. Finally they got a job, a good, nice job in a big nice city. They had to move because that was the best offered to them. The state had nothing to offer, so they had to leave their state. And not to forget, the others who got those scholarships also did the same, they also moved out. They started earning, however they did not love their job, well most of them did not. They wanted to make decisions, gain control, to make an impact, to make a change. After all, they were not normal students, they were brilliant students once and brilliance does not settle for anything less than brilliance or perfection [or probably nowadays they do settle for easy things, easily.]

In the free time, they would talk about the differences in the education system of their state and other states. How Delhi's ninth grader is smarter than a Himachal's graduate. How they would have not become an engineer, had they been born in some X Y Z state because they would have had better exposure. And some even came from Bihar, UP, Jharkhand and other 'mineral rich' states of the country, For most of them, every thing looked new, almost every thing. They were fluent in Hindi but they felt learning English is more important than speaking near perfect Hindi. Well, learning is never bad but at the cost of forgetting your best skill, it is a questionable act for sure.

After working for a while as Software Engineers, both the twins felt that they should move ahead and the only thing that looked attractive to them was MBA because their high paying jobs were not good enough for them to earn respect, both social and self respect. Their brilliance was soon overpowered by fear and they could not understand what they actually wanted to do. And interestingly they did not know what did they fear.  As they were brilliant, they managed to get into IIMs which would make them best managers of the country. Even there they kept feeling that their education system has betrayed them. Had it been nice, they would have become something else but not engineers and not even managers.

Back in their state, 11long years, the poor state government was still giving INR 10, 000 as scholarships to the brilliant students, so that they will serve the nation and the state of course, one day.

Both the twins would go back to their hometown, sit with their parents, who were still proud but would stay alone in their big house. They were happy that their kids were doing great, they wanted them to settle in their respective cities because their cities were 'advance' and had better scope for them. One fine day, both the twins went to their old school, just to meet their teachers. They found out that their school had developed, better classrooms, a big computer lab, a nice playground and many other things that were not available at their time.

And then they met their old friend in their school, who had become a TGT Chemistry lecturer in the school. He was just an average guy when he was studying with them, even today he was an average guy. He would speak of nothing but money and cars and mobile phones. He blamed the students for not studying, and he also told them that how he does not like his job and he wanted to be an engineer. The twins felt pity for the students, how they were at the mercy of an incompetent asshole who was just not motivating enough for himself, let alone the students. He did his BSc, then MSc, then BEd and then ended up in the job after availing the reservation facility bestowed upon him some 63 years ago.They concluded that nothing has changed here, the teachers were still the same.

But then he was not a brilliant guy.
He never got a 10,000 scholarship for four straight years.
He never went to any engineering college, which was next to IIT
He did not understand why school level education was important, why it is important to have a very strong and motivated school education because that is what makes young blood actually blood.

He did not understand anything.

They both knew what was needed.
They both knew that entry level education needed to change.
But they had to catch a flight next day as they were granted only three day leave by their bosses and go back to the 'city' which they never loved. However, they would always miss their hometown back in the 'city'.

While coming back from their school they met an old teacher who used to run a small library. He had this huge collection of books, fictional, non-fiction, philosophy, poetry and what not. He was still a primary school teacher but he was a happy man, as he used to be happy when both of them were studying in the school. He had a small room and interested students would come to his library, read books, listen to his stories, share his experience and feel good about life. Life which he had been living for the last 65 years.

They entered into his small library and saw him working with his books. They both sat with him and he tried to remember them. He recognized them instantly because they were the ones who gave him hope once.

And the first thing they asked him,"Sir, how do you manage all this even today?"

He said,"I don't manage son. I just try to live, to find joy in what I do."
'It looks the same, nothing has changed here. Why did you not change it? I does not look good aesthetically.' said one of them.
"I like it better this way, and those who care will change it someday, I am hopeful that someone will come back for sure, for once, someone will definitely come back."
Nobody spoke a word, they looked at each other and the sound of deep breathing of young ones sitting in the library was the only thing indicating that life existed inside that room.

They soon left the place, next year the library was renovated.
The twins had decided to take break twice every year. They had found joy, a cause in their lives. They had a piece of land which their father had bought to sell-off some day to earn 'more cash'. Both of them convinced their father that cash is never 'more'. The library was better now, more and more people joined them, the ones who had once regretted their birth in the town. the forgotten brilliant kids who claimed everyday that their life is worth nothing and in the race of being known they had started not recognizing their own selves.

"All we need to find a cause, something that makes us excited when we get up in the morning and happy when we sleep. We are not yet all lost, we were given scholarships because they had faith in us. Now it is time that we have faith in ourselves", said one of the guys who had just quit his job because he had understood that education is never a curse, it is always a boon, which [must] gives you strength to stand tall and make bold decisions, about yourselves and everything else.

Education [learning] must not be restricted to schools. Those who crib or cribbed about bad education system must understand and accept that there are still thousands of students who want to go to school and learn but they never get a chance. Those who get a chance are busy finding mistakes. There are thousands of things we can do to make a change, we just need to have faith in our self. 

I have this dream of having a huge library one day where not only books but vision is also shared.

How 9% Growth Means Nothing - Our People Still Die For 1500 INR | Rangde |

Peepli Live!, remember anyone?
What was it all about?
Nathha? LaalBahadur or AamirKhaan?

Exert a little pressure on our minds and you will realize that it was about 'farmer suicides '. In India, which is growing at a rate of 9% per year. Thousands of farmers have killed themselves because they could not pay back their loan. And when you hear the amount they had to pay back,you might hang your head in shame. Some of the farmers [at least 10,000] committed suicide along with their families because they could not manage to pay a loan amount of INR 1500.

The Small Scale Industries [कुटीर उद्योग] also share the same fate; they are dying at a very slow but consistent rate. Every year thousands of people close down their home grown businesses [read integrity and self-respect] and head to Delhi, Noida, Mumbai and other big cities to work as laborers or unskilled workers [read 9% growth rate per year]

It was important to cater to the needs of the rural workers and at the same time protect them from the claws of landlords. Ram and Smita started Rangde.org, which is an effort to share the love and show that we all are a big family where we all care for each other and help others in difficulties.

Here is how Rangde works, read carefully.

I am a farmer, I work in a village in Himachal and the local moneylender is the only one who is willing and able to give me money for my farming and non-farming needs. So, I head to the local moneylender and ask him to lend me INR 1000 so that I can buy equipment [See what equipment I use] and reap my crop in time. I am always optimistic because that is the best and the only thing I can do, so I assume that day after I get the money, I will reap my harvest and sell it and pay back the loan.

My moneylender is a nice person, at least he appears to be one. He charges only 1% per day and as my work will be finished in three days, I will have to pay back only INR 1030 three days later. Currently, the moneylender is as optimistic as I am. Now, I buy my equipment, go to the bed and next morning I wake up to see its raining, just as it was raining a few months back. It rains continuously for three days and my entire crop is washed out, as I am poor I can only manage gunny bags as cover, which is going to serve no purpose because the rains this year have been very harsh.

Three days later, I see my crops, they are all gone, and this is the only piece of land I ever had, now as there is no one to help me and the money lender tells me that If I can't pay back the loan within the next six months, he will confiscate my land. In case, if I do manage to get hold of some money in four months [120 days] I will be paying him 1000+ 120% Interest because the interest is 1% per day [Compound Interest]. I will ask what is Compound Interest and he will explain it to me and even then I will not be able to understand that how did my 1000 become 5000.

Now here is why Rangde is important for millions of farmers like the one described above. 

Rangde shall lend me the same money with a very low interest and shall provide me with ample time to repay the amount back (in a year). I will never have to worry about the interest rates or repayment terms because Ranngde allows me to take my time because my lenders [investors] do not want my land, they don't even want my life, they just want to see me happy and working because if I work, only then they get to eat.

Rangde asks its investors, commoners like you and me to invest amount as low as INR 100, so that people keep working, manage their household well, and send their kids to school. You do not have to ask for their religion or caste or breed, you just have to see their need, which is sometimes as low as INR 1000 and on top of that, it is not like you give and forget, you will be paid back with interest of 5% within a year. This investment makes more sense than letting the same small amount rot in your savings account (only 3.5% interest)

It is not giving, it is sharing.
It is not donation, it is social investment.
It is not charity; it is about integrity of a farmer.

Few weeks ago when there was a news about Japan's Nuclear Radiation reaching India, people got  worried about their countrymen, so they did not waste even a single moment to post it on Facebook, twitter and some of those who were too patriotic ended up SMSing everyone.

Well, that news was a hoax.

But farmers’ killing themselves is true. Aamir Khan said this in Peepli Live (watch it again if you still want proof)

The following news paper articles say the same
1. Wikipedia Link
2. A Professor speaking about farmers suicide
3. Farmer Suicide
4. Madhya Pradesh Farmer Suicide

Rangde is almost similar to Kiva.org, a successful and popular micro-finance organization, started and run by the Americans.

If you want to show patriotism, this is the right time so that your coming generations do not die because of food shortage. We so proudly go to ChowkiDhani, and feel good about our culture, the village culture. Our Villagers are dying and without them, there will be nothing left to be proud of.

In case you are too much in love with IPL, Rangde makes sure your social investment [Rangde IPL] is in the name of your favorite team.

Step up and take charge because since your childhood, you always wanted to make a difference.


Are you ready?

There is no top | There is no race

They just moved ahead of us, can’t you fucking speed up? , said the elder brother

The younger brother responded, his face all red and body sweating on a cloudy winter day in Dharamshala, “Come on bro, it is so tiring. And what is the point of going there, it is too far, we don’t even have jackets and we are wearing bathroom chappals. I am damn sure that we will go back all drenched to home and mom will beat the shit out of us.”

Why don’t you grow up? Look at them, they are just like us but look they are going to the next level and we are just sitting here, said big brother.

The younger brother abused himself and reluctantly started moving towards the next destination and said to himself, “Why we have to beat them? Can’t we be just what we are?”

They both had decided to roam in the hilly area, which happened to be just below the mighty Dhauladhar Ranges, that’s where they had lived in their colony. They would go and visit the lower ranges of the great Dhauladhar, almost every other day.

However, today they have met few foreigners who have come to the majestic lands of Himachal to see, feel and be blessed by the nature. The elder brother was overwhelmed and he wanted to stay ahead of those foreigners. If they would climb one mountain, he decided to climb three.

They both sprinted and reached at the top of another mountain. However, those foreigners have decided to call it day. They had fixed their tents and were just relaxing down the hill. The two brothers could see them relaxing; the elder brother had this sense of joy in his eyes. The younger brother also had a sense of pride in his eyes but it was absolute. He was feeling good about being there, where he was, not about beating someone in the race, in a race that never started.

Let us go, that one is the last, said the elder brother pointing towards the next visible hill.

Are you crazy? How do you know that is the last one? That is what you said when we were down there, and now we have climbed two more hills and no one seems to be the last one, said the younger one, perspiring, his face almost swollen because of high altitude and wind pressure.

BB - Come on now, listen to me. I know this is going to be the last one; we will be on the top then. These foreigners will be able to see us clearly from there.

YB - Why do you want to be seen by them? Didn’t they look at us and smiled when we were just starting? How will they get to know if it is we or some wild animals standing at the top?

BB - They will know, when you are at the top, everybody knows you.

YB - Do you want to know them?

BB - No, I do not.

YB - Then what makes you sure that they want to know about you? If you are at the top or at the bottom, why would anyone care?

The elder brother had moved on and the younger brother could not do anything but move behind his brother because he was feeling scared by now, as it was getting dark.

They both started climbing the next visible hill and after thirty minutes of struggle, they reached on the top. And when they reached there, younger brother was overjoyed at the sight, but the elder brother could not hide his disappointment.

YB - See bhai, look at the mighty Dhauladhaar, it is just endless, there are so so many tops, that’s why they call it Dhauladhar Range, I guess.

There is no top, said the elder brother to himself, I thought it was the last place to be reached. He could not admire beauty of the place, the open sky and endless mountains; he just could not notice them. He was blinded by the fact that there was no top.The day has ended but I could not reach at the top.

However, the younger brother was over joyous at the sight, now he did not want to leave that place. However, both of them had to leave because they had to go back to home. They slowly descended and moved past the sleeping foreigners. The younger brother was turning back and looking at the place from where they have just came back.

The elder brother was still thinking about the fact that there was no top at all.

The elder brother was too young to think beyond his mind, he could not accept the fact there was something beyond his vision too. But he was just 13 years old and at 13 you are allowed to make mistakes because they enable you to learn.

Several Years Later

The younger brother has studied and earned more than enough and now he had gone into depression because he could not handle the pressure of life, if life has ever exerted pressure on anyone. The reason could not be figured out; however it was assumed that he wanted to have more money, bigger cars because he wanted to outsmart his friend and his friends and his friend’s friends.

The elder brother was telling him a story, so that he can pull his brother out of depression. The doctors had failed and they had declared his scope beyond any scope.

The elder brother said, “You remember our old days? The small town days, when we were kids, we used to climb the hills. Every time we would climb a hill, we would see another hill, taller and farther. And if my memory serves me right, once we even went on to climb the taller hill, which we thought was the biggest mountain of the region. And when we reached there, what did we see?

A series of taller and farther hills, spread all around. We were so confused and we decided to come back.

That is life.

No one reaches at the top. There is no top at all. You have to draw a line, not for this society, not for people around you but for yourself because in this blind pursuit, in the blind race of winning the race, you forget to look around, to stop and breathe and to see the colors that actually make up life. You keep running and when you realize , OK, I am tired now, so this must be my top, and then you realize you just don’t recognize the colors, because your eyes have forgotten to recognize them.”

The younger brother blinked and a silent tear rolled down his eyes.

The elder brother just kept looking into his eyes, trying to see the joy, which he himself could not enjoy at the top of ‘that mountain’.

Who belongs to the future?What about the present?

Scene: Sector 17 Chandigarh, one of the most happening market places of India

There were lights, there were people, there was noise and then there were candles. People standing in front of the fountains and they were all lovers of the country, patriots you see. I was standing right in front of them, outside a showroom, looking at the blinking lights of the candles and the movement of feet. There was a gathering and people were supporting Anna Hazare’s fight against corruption. There were few young guys, wearing white kurtas and sporting a bandanna with Ashok Chakra printed on it. They were very excited, telling people about the Lok Pal Bill. They were explaining to the gathered masses that what good the Lok Pal Bill is going to do and how is it going to prevent the corruption in this god-damned country.

I was looking at them, feeling happy about witnessing such a mass movement in this country, first time after I was born 25 years ago, and I was feeling proud of those guys, wearing all white and making the crowds believe, hear and understand.

Then I saw three young ones moving in between feet of the people. Their movements were brisk and they were breaking something with their hands. It got me curious and I moved towards them. As I approached them, I saw people looking at me and some of them even smiled at me but my focus was somewhere else and as I sat on the floor with those young ones, I could sense all the activists sensing my weirdness.

I asked them about what were they doing. [I already knew that they were breaking the unburned wax with stones and bricks in their hands and putting it inside their plastic bags so that they can sell it or make candles out of it.]

They all were abusive and they were speaking in much distorted Hindi, mixed with the dirtiest [abuse] gaali’s that one could not speak or even think of.

TG: What are you doing?

Boy1: [he ignored me for a while, looked at my beard and then smiled and then said], breaking wax saab.

TG: What for?

Boy1: We will use it at home, it is getting wasted here, at least we can put it to some use. [यहाँ पड़े पड़े भी खराब ही हो रहा है, हमारे काम आ जाएगा]

TG: Why did they light these candles?

Boy1: They are all crazy but why do we care, we getting work. [दिमाग़ खराब है इनका, पर अपने को क्या, अपना तो घर चल रहा है ]

TG: What will happen if they light these candles?

Boy1: India will be corruption free. And someone in Delhi has lost his head, they say if we light these candles, minister log will save him. And we will have a better life, all of us. [इंडिया सॉफ हो जाएगा, और दिल्ली में किसिका दिमाग़ खराब है, उसको बचा लेवेंगे मिनिस्टर लोग , और सबकी जिंदगी ठीक हो जाएगी, हम सबकी भी]

TG: How?

Boy1: Why do I care saab! They all are free, probably they do not have anything to do, they have come here to score points with girls, why do I care, take the wax and use it, tomorrow restart the whole process for food. [खाली लोग हें साहब, काम होगा नहीं इनके पास, यहाँ लोंड़ीयाबाज़ी करने आ गए हैं, हमारे बाप का क्या जाता है, मोम ले जाओ, मोमबत्ती बनाओ, आटा खरीदो, रोटी बनाओ, खाओ और सो जाओ, कल फिर खाना ढूढने का है ]

TG: OK. How old are you?

Boy1: I am 12, he is 11 and that little sonofabitch is 9 only. But he is all set to sell of his own mother soon. He is too smart for his age.

TG: Where do you live?

Boy1: Ghaziyabad saab। We stay here with our uncles. You a musalmaan saab? [आप मुसलमान हो क्या साब? ]

TG: No. I am not sure about that. Why do you ask? [ I was taken aback and I was about to say that I am a Hindu but then I realized that I am not sure about my religion anymore]

Boy1: You have long beard and that makes you look like a Muslim. [इतनी लम्बी दाढ़ी है आपकी, ऐसी तो सिर्फ मुसलमान लोग रखते हैं, मुसलमान नहीं तो ऐसी दाढ़ी क्यूँ राखी है?]

TG: Its my hobby. [शौक है मेरा]

Boy1: You have weird hobbies, are you crazy? [अजीब शौक पाल रखे हैं आपने, सनकी हो क्या?]

I could not help smiling.

In the meantime, the little nine years old sonofabitch has gone close to the area where candles were still burning। The little one was actually smart and he started pulling the burning candles and started putting them inside his bag.

One of the activists said, : Don’t go there, first take off the dead candles and then come here when they are also gone.

The little one passed one heavyweight expletive and moved back.

They squatted and started waiting for the burning candles to go down.

I got up and started moving back.

In the background one of the activists was explaining another fellow about how this all was about the future of our country about the coming generations. He also said that we have to think about the coming generations, so that they live happily.

I laughed at myself because if I am future and younger generation of this country, who were those three who were busy collecting wax from the ground and knew nothing about Anna Hazare’s fast and March Against Corruption.

I wanted to ask them about education and school and then I realized that asking that would be a sin and I left the place, with a heavy heart.

The future belongs to us, they say. I wonder if they are a part of that 'us', or even I am a part of that 'us'?

No body knows!

P.S: I am optimistic by birth :)

Money! - Case I and Case II

Case I:
I read a news in the newspaper regarding electricity bill of Ambani House that was close to 70Lakhs. Many of you would have read that news and if not here is the link [Link]. It is assumed or calculated that it would have helped so many households of India to run their houses free of electricity charge for one month or so and that would have been proper 'utilization' of [Ambani's] money. Mukesh Ambani earns in thousand millions and his spending quality and needs may or may not be of the same level.

Even some of my acquaintances told me that it was pure wastage of money and it could have been utilized in a much much better way.

Case II
An X person earns 21 Thousand INR per month and he lives in a flat in a metropolitan city. He has a smart phone , he wears branded shoes and branded clothes. Half of his money is spent in paying the rents, bills and food. Rest of the money he 'choose' to spend to fulfill his wishes, which may be buying a Royal Enfield Thunderbird or a True Value Maruti Car or paying for the school fee of an underprivileged kid who he thinks 'must have' education , depending upon how much he earns and how much he intends to spend. So, he does according to his wishes and he knows what his duties are and how to make himself happy because that is the bottom line, everyone wants to be happy.

An auto rickshaw driver earns 10000 per month and whatever he saves or manages to save , he spends according to his choices, wishes and needs, as every one else would do.

A newspaper hawker will earn 5000 per month and he will spend it according to his needs, choices and wishes. It can be said in his case that his 'needs' will overcome his 'wishes' but you never know if his needs are actually stronger than his wishes.

Case I + Case II:
21k per month earning person wants to earn more or at least fulfill all his desires and these desires have been increasing with the increase in salary or money. Few years back [two years back] people were getting 16k per month for a job and now they get as much as 50k per month for the same job in the same company for the same work at the same position. However, there are desires unfulfilled, cars not bought, flats not owned, foreign land not seen and much more to it.

Ambani spends 70L for his house and some spend 5k for their flat rent. Some have their clothes washed by 'baai ji' [maid] and some people do not. Some have smartest phones in the world and some do not have a pair of shoes to cover themselves in winters.

And it is not hidden, it is right there in front of everyone, visible.


Amabni spending is a sin because its incomparable to 21k. However, 21k is also incomparable to 100 INR per day [NREGA], which depends on the availability of the work. If Ambani spending too much is a sin from someone's point of view, X's spending can also be a sin from someone else's point of view.

Point is not to decide for others but to decide for one's own self. 'We' live in a system of privileges, some are privileged and some are underprivileged and to spread the brotherhood and love, those who have higher or more privileges have to step up. And the last and best judge will always be the person, all for himself.

Are you privileged?
I 'indeed' am.


P.S: What if we are designed like this | What if inequality is a balancing force of our society.

And they saved our lives-Chamba Diary!

Traveling is fun but traveling with insufficient preparations is dangerous.

We left from Chamba to Hamirpur after enjoying the scenic beauty at Khajjiyar Lake.

Its disheartening to see people throwing plastic and water bottles not in the trash cans but just outside them, even when the trash can is empty. May be they are too busy to notice that.

Anyways, after feling mesmerized by the giant शिव मूर्ती at Khajjiar [image], we decided to leave. This time we decided to take the Dalhousie Route as it was raining and the road condition was not good through the Jot Pass. Jot Pass is good when you are traveling in a group, if you are alone then it is not advisable to go through Jot Pass, as no one will get to know if you happen to encounter any accident, which has very high probability. We went to Chamba through Jot Pass, but the adventurous spirit sped away when it started raining. It was raining and as soon as we left Khajjiyar, things became difficult. I was wearing sports sandals and the rain water was so cold that it did beat the shit out of me. We traveled for ten kilometers and my back was numb. JP had his fingers glued to the handle because it was very cold and we did not have any sweaters, gloves or jackets with us.

Then we saw them, the PWD Laborers, smoking बीडी and enjoying charcoal fire. They were sitting there and we saw them as our saviors. We helped ourselves by heating the 'crucial parts' of our body and also dried our T-shirts and shirts. The place was लक्कड़-मण्डी, which happens to be the highest point [2250 meters] in and around the Chamba town and Dalhousie town. Their bonfire helped us to save ourselves from the chilling rain and windy conditions of Dalhousie.

I noticed in Chamba, that almost every single village/house in the hills has electricity. Abdul Kalam once said that Himachal is blessed and a privileged state because those twinkling stars are actually bulbs lighted inside the small houses on the mountains. Honestly, I felt proud to be a part of this beautiful state because people do not have to worry about the electricity, which is not the same story at a place in Bihar, 200 KM's away from Patna.

It takes just 4-5 hours, if you drive like me, otherwise it is 6-8 hours journey from Hamirpur to Chamba

The travel route >>> Hamirpur---Jawalaji---Kangra---Dramman--Chuwari--Jot--Chamba

The safe route>>> delete the Dramman to Chamba part and add Dramman--Nurpur--Dalhousie--Chamba.

Moral of the story:
1. Wear Shoes while stepping out for a long journey
2. Carry jackets/woolen clothes
3. Do not take the Jot Pass route if you are alone.

MDC

झांसी is a major railway junction in the state of U.P. When one leaves Bhopal towards Delhi in a train, one sees a statue of a man standing on the top of a hill on the left hand side. The hill and the statue troubled me every time I crossed that area, sitting on the doors of the train. I always thought it to be the statue of a landlord or a local leader. however, I got to to know recently (few months back) that that statue belongs to the Hockey legend, Major Dhyan Chand, who beat the shit out of many Hockey playing nations on his own, without failing in the Main Events like Olympics.

The Gold Medalist

However, he stands alone on the top of that hill with birds singing to him his glory of the old forgotten days. The statue is built on the top of the hill in his hometown where he might have rocked his village with his masterclass and he remains there only, even today.

P.S: What Sachin Tendulkar has become today was once his status in his days. Nothing lasts Forever.


Whenever you cross that region, just remember him, may be he will feel good in this over hyped country.

An Old Friend and The Undertaker ;)

They say good things come in your life after hard work.

Well, I traveled by Sleeper Class to reach Hyderabad. The heat beat the shit out of my body, so I guess that was my Hard Work.

I reached ESCI at 1400 Hours and asked for my dear friend. I was told that he is in a session.

But, was that enough to stop me?

NO

I went upstairs, peeked inside the classroom. He was sitting on the last desk, as usual. The class finished within 5 minutes and I entered inside the classroom and sat just next to him in the Undertaker Style :)

He was out of his breath to see me sitting just next to him like a ghost :)

So, the trip was good, met an old forgotten friend, Life is cool and soooper :)

The old friend was (is) Karma The Tsehring.

More to follow, the trip has just begun, more life to follow, more fun and more romance ;)

जय महराष्ट्र!!!

I am planning to conduct an interview with गुरु जी , later this week. After my escape from here, I am now back in form and this time interview will be much better than last time.

Source: DNAINDIA

Mini Trip's Mini Diary

On my birthday = 12 October, I left for Chandigarh because my sister was to be operated for Pancreatic Calculi Stone at P.G.I and presence of an extremely intelligent+talented young man (me) was mandatory there to deal with the government officials. I started at 18:45 and the bus belonged to Haryana State Roadways. Following are the important observations made by me:

1. Every one is scared of the Man Behind the Counter: The man behind the counter is the most dangerous thing one can ever see. Every creature calls him "sir" and he never listens or answers to anyone. Railways, Airways, Post Office, Roadways, BSNL the counter man can be found anywhere and believe me he is the most "on-the-spot" respected person on earth. There used to be a teacher in my college and he used to scare every single child in his class. Even he was saying "sir" to him and counter-man did not reply to him. Counter-man scolded him and I was laughing at his face. :D
The counter man asked me,"tujhe kya chahiye= what do you want?"
I replied,"Entertainment". That made me board the other state's bus because after the answer I gave there was no chance of me getting a ticket from him.

2. When we were about to reach Chandigarh, the bus conductor and driver shouted at the top of their voices that Chandigarh people get down as soon as possible. I and six other poor souls boarded down, half asleep half disturbed, and we found that he had thrown us in the middle of nowhere and that place was at least 10 k.m away from Chandigarh :D Luckily I found one auto at 1 A.M. He charged me 100 INR, the bus fare from Hamirpur to Chandigarh was 140 INR :(, poor me. The auto was running just behind that bus and auto driver kept telling me," This is your bus. This is your bus!" :P Life is an unbalanced equation :)

3. In P.G.I, for the first time in my Life, I saw a doctor behaving like a doctor. Endoscopy is a very painful experience and doctors are really doing a good job. I heard people crying, shouting when the wire was inserted into their mouth and being a doctor requires highest level of patience.

4. On women oriented festivals like Karwachauth, Rakhi and other related festivals, ladies do not have to pay any fare while travelling through Himachal Roadways buses. This is injustice and partiality. How can they say that,"Ladka-ladki ek samaan", when they reserve seats and provide free travelling passes for women? But let them travel for free, government is busy collecting votes for the next election, why do they care? :-|

5. I would be writing for a Hindi news paper :)

Some More Old Day(s) Memories :)

See more audios here.
See more videos here
I am obsessed :)

मिले सुर मेरा तुम्हारा

I don't know why have they stopped airing all these beautiful videos nowadays, because these are the real times to "milao sur" with each other.
Doordarshan was not that bad.
Doordarshan rocks :)
Go Here for your e-Signatures, it is koooooool :)

P.S: The tourism is still on, going to Vijaywada on 11 till 18.

Satyam Saga

This is the first time I am going public with the name of the company I used to work with, although most of the understanding people understood that the company was Satyam, but now it is time to say something :D
Day of Joining, the day I was supposed to sign the bond, I wanted to leave but could not. Later on I realized that I am a Satyam employee who has signed a bond against 2Lakh INR/- for 2 years, so I could not even think about leaving.
Why I wanted to leave?-Because I knew my strengths as far as software programming was concerned and I did not want to belittle myself, as I love myself the most in this universe.
Then, Why did I join?- Because I wanted to see how big the big corporate world is.(to my amazement, nothing is big out there, almost half of the software industry says this)

So I ended up in Satyam Technology Park in a room where I sulked for 4 months. They trained an ass like me on various things which were beyond my scope, they gave me 20-24k per month which I spent on buying tonnes of books.
Now comes the interesting part, we were a batch of 26 people from various N.I.T's and BITS Pilani. Our managers used to repeat again and again that we will be sent directly to the client location [America], so we should work hard. Me and few other hyper-intelligent beings like me always knew that this is all bull~crap, so we never took that seriously, however some studious type kids took that seriously and worked like dogs and cats and monkeys and donkeys :D

Ultimately, what did they get, a kick in the face by the Satyam's Ill Management. I quit my job, so did another 2-3 people but the rest of the team was thrown out of the company for no fault of theirs.
By the time training was about to end, our managers had no clue what to do with us. Some of them said, you will go to Pune(Head Domain Office), some said to Client Location [:D] and those who were true and honest told us directly,"Nobody knows what to do with you guys."
That was the moment when a lot of guys turned violent and hopeful altogether.

Then we were sent to the Big City Bangalore, with a HUGE relocation amount. Just because we were given HUGE relocation amount, people thought we will be given a project(which I knew, will never happen) Finally, we saw, I pray, no one should see in his/her life.
A big office was there, but with not enough seats/chairs for the employees.
A large number of employees, with no work at all.
A huge bench(Reserve Strength of Employees) which seemed to me, a permanent one.
A lot of Software Engineers, roaming here and there like dogs with no computers(Can you believe this!!) at all.
People were "free" for the last 12-15-18 months and those assholes were still waiting for their "Projects". After graduating from one of the best Institutes of the country, no one wants to see "this."However, deep in my heart, I know that no body can change the Indian Service Sector Scenario.

I had fun in Bangalore, as I lived the full month with my girlfriend.
We searched for a flat in Bangalore, and towards the end of the month we were able to find a good~nice~cheap flat, we paid the token money for it and LO! Satyam Management says that we have to leave for Pune immediately. The token money was, no doubt, eaten up by the to~be landlord.
I was more than happy to leave Bangalore. I still thank Satyam that they made me see a lot of places in the country.

As we moved out of Bangalore, again people clinged to their false hopes of getting a Project. The reason that was given for our shifting to Pune was," Because of some miss~communication you guys are in Bangalore. However you were supposed to be in Pune, so this is the time to go."
Now that is enough, are you running a Goddamn Company or a Jumbo Circus???
But as usual, I was happy. One more city in my cap. Then came the final blow to the "Project Hopes". Ramalinga Uncle had struck and it was a hard blow. I was, as usual, happy again :)
After being a tourist for 9 months, in fact a paid tourist, it was time to go home and Rama Uncle gave me a chance to leave the company without paying 2Lakh INR/- I quit my job and was a free bird again.

The moment Ramalinga resigned, all hell broke lose, I don't know how, but he was managing the company very well, paying all the existing as well as non~existing employees without work.
But as soon as he fell down, people lost their brains and started working with double force and power but later on they were sacked by the unknown management.
No sympathies here, all is well with everyone I know and I pray the same for all I don't know, because it is always better to face the worse as early as possible.
Life is and will be Beautiful for all of the sacked souls :)

Its not just Life but India,as well, is Beautiful :)

Here I am with the latest after elections :)I was not working with any party although, but to your surprise and mine as well, I am in Sikkim, having amazing time, working with KOLLACE. I thought of visiting Rajasthan, Gujarat but unexpectedly I am in Sikkim, so you never know what this beautiful Life has in store for you :)

This post is totally dedicated and sponsored(by me) for praising Sikkim, its beauty, its freshness, its law and order and a lot more things. But as we know, No Pains-No Gains, so before reaching Sikkim, I had the most horrible experience of my life and that was me going to Sikkim in a bloody, creepy sleeper class via U.P, Bihar[although it was the devil inside me that prompted me to have have this experience, the adventurous me] of Indian Railways :( All the stories that people used to tell, came true. In a single train, at least 10-12 thousand people were traveling, no exaggeration here.

As soon as the train started, I saw 10-20 TTE's entering the train and "making/selling" tickets as if they were selling tea/coffee/samosa. So many people had their tickets made on the spot, and the train was no less than a running hell. And to make things more beautiful, people just don't buy tickets, they just don't buy tickets at all Dammit, as if the ticket is their fraternal/maternal property. Aligarh, Allahbad, Kanpur,Buxar, Patna and after that my will power gave up and I was like a dead meet. On the lower berth 14 people were sitting at a single instance of time[2 Lower Berths] and when we reached Patna, I lost count of them. All of this reminded me of distorted version of Autology. But what came after made me forgot all the pains I had to take while reaching Sikkim.

Sikkim is a small state situated in the North-East part of India. Here in a car meant for four people only 4 people sit. Here while driving people wear helmets for their own security, not because a cop might fine them. Here people don't follow any law and order because there is no law and order. All we have here is Harmony, Understanding and Patience. The roads look like the perfect example of a "road",that even without traffic lights. The number of taxi-cabs operating here is almost equal to the number of people, "thoda sa" exaggerated, but believe me the cheap luxury you get in Sikkim will drive you crazy. Nobody passes strange looks if a girl and a boy are walking together, if they are holding their hands, if they are enjoying their Life. Everyone has got his own business to do, and Hail The Blessed Lord, ladies do sell the liquor over here, and nobody minds. It was very hard for me to digest that I am in India and not in some alienated place. Very soon I will be coming up with few more updates :)

Moral of the story:

Don't travel via "sleeper class", if your train is travelling through Bihar, U.P, Jharkhand, even if touches the remotest of the villages, don't take chance, get at least a 3-AC.

Sikkim is a very beautiful place and is an integral part of India.

Minor change: Its not just Life but India, as well, is Beautiful :)

Fun~Truggle

I finally found time for myself :)
I lied to parents that I am still in Pune [not so nice of me :)], lied that I have taken NTPC Test, lied that I did well, so many lies..............
But rather than making them understand its better to lie and save my precious time. I am busy planning/working for my venture(s), acquired some assets(a printer and a net connection) planning to buy a bike which comes under 10k and gives a mileage above 100 kmpl, yeah I might have to invent one of this super-kind and then again TATA uncle would have to rethink about his NANO because such kind of bike will definitely break his "all~india~inside~car" dream for sure :D
Its all fun working for/with myself for/with my dream. We are having troubles but we were not that much happy in jobs as well,moreover here we can give creative shapes to our ideas like asking for a printer that comes under 1000 :D
So many things have happened in between, Advani got a "chappal" from one of his own fellows, I got a new site where I found some more "new"songs of Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Satyam got a new owner and three more people dared to opt out of their jobs following my example and their heart's voice :)

Undertaker defeated Shawn Michael in Wrestlemania-25 and now his un~defeated streak goes to 17-0, Hail Dead Man!!! :) [I know that wrestling is fixed but still I love it and I read hindi Comics as well, yeah that Nagraj, Dhruv stuff]

My dear friend is on his way to reach on the top, he is doing great with three offices across India and all of them making profits, KOLLACE is doing great and he is just 23.
Karma is still ashamed because of his job, but he is helpless :D.

Its all fun to be in this state with small quanta's of struggle in between so it is Fun~Truggle. Let us all Rest In Peace.
Enough for the day.

P.S: There are so many hyperlinks in this post. Feel free to click on them, I won't mind.
Life is Beautiful, njoy.

Mission Railways

I left Pune on 3rd of the April, booked a "tatkal" ticket, for a Holiday Special Train, which couldn't be booked first hand, but I booked it again, as I knew that "IRCTC+ICICI" is a deadly combination and nothing will happen to your money, so I booked another ticket and got the money back for the previously "unbooked" ticket within 2 days. I had always heard about trains running late in INDIA, by 2-3-4-5 hours and sometimes by a whole day but never experienced it, so I never trusted it.That day while leaving Pune, I don't know how and why, but I was thinking about the "on time" experience of mine with IRCTC. I reached Pune station at 12 afternoon, roamed around for one hour and then to my surprise/experience an announcement was made which said,"The Pune-Nizammudin train has been rescheduled and now will depart at 7:50 p.m" :D
This proves the theory of you conspiring and universe approving or whatever it is...:D

Moral of this short story is,"Don't expect/want the bad things to happen if they are not happening because if you do then they will"

At 7:50 I landed on the upper berth and slept like a relieved dog after many-many days.Next morning when I woke I asked the tea-boy for a tea. He charged me 5 rupees :) Later on I asked him about the lunch price which he said was 50/- only.
Then asked him to show me the menu card provided by IRCTC to every vendor, he asked me to talk to the Manager. Initially I was bit reluctant/frightened to go and talk to the manager, anyways who wants to be beaten up by the tea and samosa boys in the running train, but another fellow passenger joined hands with my anti-corruption organization and went to the manager and there "we" found that the tea without tea bag was for 3(5), with tea bag was for 5(6), ordinary lunch for 32(Not available), paneer lunch was for 50 and mineral water bottle was for 12(15) Rupees. I calculated instantaneously that for 810(10 coaches*81 people) people if they drink 3 tea cups a day then in a day the tea~samosa boys were pocketing 5000 rupees for the tea only. A perfect business :D
After talking, I came back from there, ordered another tea, now see the conversation:
ME: 1 tea please.
Boy: (Gave me the tea)
Me:How much??
Boy: 5 Rupees
Me: But the manager/IRCTC says 3 rupees
Boy:I don't know, 5 rupees.
Me: Lets go and talk to the manager, what is your name? Haan-Sanjay, lets go
Boy: Why??its 5 rupees, or you can pay whatever you want to [:D]
ME:What does that mean?I don't want to pay anything
Boy: Thats fine with me, enjoy the tea.
Me: Gave him three rupees.
Boy: Ran away as fast as he could.

After that I went to each and every coach, starting from S1-S10 and told everyone in every compartment regarding this low~scale~mass~scam and asked them to pay the right price for the right thing, and you won't believe it the tea~samosa boys were themselves returning the change without having asked to do so :D. I did not went to the AC coaches as I did not know how do they react on such issues, so In case you are an AC traveler pay attention and act accordingly :)
So next time you travel, mind that you are not paying more and paying the right price, after all its our right :)

P.S: Please don't be adventurous in case you are traveling through U.P/Bihar/Jharkhand because Indian Railways has reported a lot of cases of people being thrown out of the running trains :D. After all life is important than Rights and Wrongs :)

The second brief part is on the way :) which tells "me"about the importance of food and money in Life when you are not accessible to both of them :D