INDIA GONE BY

Day in day out I wonder with only uncertainty around,
This year will be past and the year ahead to be found,
We are the progressive bodies blind and deaf to sound,
We don't see the poor or the poverty lurking in every town,
With the rising prices inflation for us is a celebrated noun,
This was our land of Bhagat, Sukhdev and Chandrashekhar,
But sadly their toil, sacrifice and loyalty have hardly any taker,
Characters or those who are characterless are found more,
Honesty is for sale and truth can be twisted without a roar,
To pick a common man's pocket in ways is the new game,
The players are the politicians and the referee are the lawyers,
Anna created the unrest and told us to follow the same test,
But We enjoy more Kolavari of Dhanush than Kaveri of India,
Shallow, materialistic and with stooped morals are We the people,
Only me is the motto and has left humanity in us a dying notion,
We abuse and hate poverty, unemployment and corruption,
But a step to change the same is a tough implementation,
The decorated ranks have humiliated the flag and the forces of our nation,
What more to say when 2kr is less for a filthy obnoxious Raja, a politician,
Celebrate, drink more and squander money without inhibition,
For India does shine but only with a lot less substance this time.  

Who am I ???

If someone asks another individual to describe about self then what should be the right answer. Judgement of one's own personality can possibly be the most daunting task than anything else. It is never easy to choose the right adjectives for self. In most of the cases the answer is the shadow of what people think of you. I am 22 years old and often wonder what aptly describes me however my struggle continues. Still through the experiences a person encounters, he can gauge to some extent who he really is. More varied they are, a finer and closer picture carves out. I don't know why suddenly this who am I thought has popped up in my mind. Maybe because I am forever struggling to define as to what I am supposed to do with my life. And the key to that answer is only if one knows who he is, what kind of personality he is carrying along with him.

                                                                             There are too many lists out there prescribing you with a what to do and not to do. Horoscopes coming out everyday telling you how you are going to behave day to day. Numerology will say you are going to be a bitch if the numbers add up to 5 and a good saintly personality if it adds up to 4. Wow! everybody else knows it all rather then the main lead. I am being very honest about the fact that I am actually at loss of words when asked to talk about myself. If you read the about me sections in facebook, twitter or orkut  my answers have been completely varying and largely made up of fancy to read words which sound cool. The real about me ain't there. My search for that elusive and quenching answer shall continue, till then I will assume what you have to say about me.

A RIDE FOR EVER

The start was not with love,

But they had it all 'arranged',

His one step towards her,

Was greeted with two from her,

They both had to live and survive,

But life for them had truly arrived,

With a partner to face it all together,

They let go of the worries and matters,

Beating down the saddening lows,

And living out the soaring highs,

They space dived in the zone of trust and love,

Only to come closer and be there forever,

Their marital bond will soon see the silver shining,

With many more miles to go ahead on the road,

We pray to let the fire burning and their car running

(dedicated to my parents who celebrated their 24th wedding anniversary this Novemeber.)

MIDNIGHT MISERIES

I have not moved an inch from here,

And my life has already traveled miles,

My wishes and aspirations are a maze,

For my brain too is a smokey haze,

On a night such as this cold one,

I wish to run as far and away from everyone,

With winter's seize and lonely breeze,

My brain asks me " where did all that fizz go? ",

And I say " Boy the soda was less and so went the gas "

I pass it as joke but truth kills me, pierces me, shreds me,

It is not the rejection or any sense of dejection inside,

Just some introspection and missing passion by my side.  

AN ODE OF A LOSER

His thoughts showed a winner,

But life branded him a loser,

His mistakes piled on,

But he refused to learn,

Aimlessly wandering around,

His mind felt chained and bound,

He hated himself head to toe,

And found he was his own foe,

Even smile eluded his face,

Just bitterness savored his taste,

With his life running at snail's pace,

He demanded only death to save his face.

( actually written on 8/Jan/11 in diary)

SHADOWS

One plays with the other,

Moving and pulling each,

Dark and defined rather,

They are there to also teach,

Real bones they do miss,

Just like puppets bound to bodies,

They are there to amuse,

Sometimes just to confuse.

THAT ONE NIGHT

 

A cold touch shooked me only to leave me aghast,

Dream I suspected it was and failed to see through,

My nerve twining got an impression  not so true,

That what loomed was some kind of haunted past.

Even my thundering voice betrayed me for unknown,

I lay there motionless waiting to be ravaged,

Perspiring and shivering my courage challenged,  

Suddenly something screamed out loud. 

To defend I launched my kick full blown,

Turned out the unknown was the one known,

It was my neighbor who now nursed his swollen bone,

We laughed unbound forgetting adults and grown.

Years will pass and memories will fade,

God's wish many more will be made,

But this lore deserves many more accolade,

After all it is truly the legend of the decade.

THEY WILL BE SHAMELESS ...

However hard you try to make them understand the logic, they refuse to even acknowledge let alone follow what I am saying. The issue although simple to put forward in words but every time I come across it, my heart seethes with anger. Food wastage in hostels. It has been five years for me in hostel and right from the start till now this problem has refused to fade away. It does not matter if you are in AIT, IIT or NIT hostel the scenario doesn't change. I can say this as I have lived in two different hostels in different cities. I don't understand the reason for this habit. Do they waste food in similar manner while they are at home. Of course not, there the plates will be licked till clean, so much so that you would doubt if they actually had a meal in that plate. Then what happens to them in hostel?
I tell my friends who sit with me for meal to not waste food. Most of them would blame the quality of food for their lousy habit. They are not ready to check their eating habits or even accept that yes 'I am at fault'. Stuffing their plates as if this is the last meal of their life is totally senseless. They can take less and can go again to refill but they won't. I continue to tell my friends because I saw one change his habit gradually. I can do this amongst my group but to the larger bunch, I cannot go and tutor.
Some where while surfing on the net I came across IIT-b hostels food wastage statistics and they were humongous. IIT-b has 14 hostels with each hostel having its own mess except those hostels 12, 13 and 14 have a combined mess. The amount of food wasted in each mess per day is given in Table 1. Assuming that each mess works nine months per year, amount of waste food generated per year in each mess has been calculated and given in Table 1.

And now when you add up all of it, 257040 Kg, i.e. around 257 tonnes is the amount !!! Shocked don't be because this just tip of the iceberg. There are lakhs of such messes, restaurants and hotels where the crime ( it is not less then that) is being committed day in day out. None of these so called mature decision making adults and highly educated students realize that there are the deprived ones who are not able to gather even one meal of the day let alone make a choice as to leave or consume something. We are so dead in our hearts that nothing bothers us. I know no government or prime minister is going to consider this as a big issue but the truth is otherwise.
How many hungry stomachs can be fed should be thought of. If this tonnes of wasted food in students plates is saved and supplied to these poor people, not only will it fill their hearts but bring a smile to their faces. It will restore the faith in them that yes people do care for each other. So I have a sincere request to all the students living in hostels to please show some responsibility, your right eating habits and cooperation can help someone else out there.
[cover photo editing by sid ;)]