A Riot of colour @ Charminar

March 27, Sunday a beautiful day to begin with, me at home. At that time I did not foresee what this fateful day has in store for us.

Previous day was a day of joy for me when one of my close friends got married @ Hyderabad and it is a marriage I attended after a long time. Many of my friends came down from Bangalore, Mysore and Mumbai to grace the occasion.

So the next day the plan was Hyderabad Darshan and finally after a lot of group discussion and MBA type brain storming we have decided to go and visit Salarjung museum, Charminar and if time permits Birla Mandir as our friends have a train to catch at 7 PM to Bangalore.

March 27, 11:30 AM (Salarjung Museum) -
5 of us reached Salarjung museum after haggling with the autowallah's on fare. Being in Hyderabad one might think that they have seen Salarjung Museum and there is nothing much to see in it. But I was proven worng as they have added two new galleries of WEST and EAST and personally I feel that the clock has been overrated and it is fortunate for us to be in the museum at 12:00 so that we can hear all the 12 gongs. We have successfully completed the darshan of Salarjung Museum in 3 hours.

March 27, 2:45 PM (Charminar)-
Finally we arrive at Charminar and my friends were pretty excited to see the real face of Hyderabad in the bylanes of the old city with its narrow galis and crowded markets.


Author along with his friends in front of Charminar.

Being a Hyderabadi and also being a proud Hyderabadi I was ashamed not even to tell my freinds, what is the significance of Charminar except for some itsy bitsy details.
Charminar was built in 1591 by Sultan Muhammad Quli Qutub Shah to commemorate the elimination of a plague epidemic from this city.

This was the first time I am going on to the top of Charminar as during my childhood days, going to the top was prohibited as some lovers had preferred to turn this historical monument into a suicide spot.

The passage was very narrow and a claustrophobic person would have fainted during the ascent tot he top from the minarets. The view of Hyderabad city from the top of Charminar was Panoramic to say the least. But, I was stunned to see the general apathy of the public towards the cultural symbol of Hyderabad as it was desecrated to the hilt by people who want to make their names remain in history by etching their names on the walls of this famous monument. If we are not going to take care of this monument then who will?

There was an elaborate photo session on the top of charminar and we took pictures with Mecca Masjid int he back ground and also the hospital. We saw Golkonda from Charminar and it was a wonderful sight.

We descended finally as time was running out and we also had a plan to eat mouth watering Hyderabadi Biryani near Charminar. We came out and went to G.Pullareddy Sweet shop which was famous among all the Telugu speaking people. Our frineds bought some sweets and we came out to board our Activas to go.

March 27, 3:30 PM (Charminar)-
When we came out it was all jolly well. In a matter of 2 minutes i.e. the time u can prepare Maggi the scenario has changed completely. People came running furiuosly to wards Charminar and all the daily vendors started to get their merchandise out of the way. We thought that police might be clearing the roads which are jam packed with these daily vendors.

Then we saw a rare sight of all the shops downing their shutters, then we ran inside the sweet shop which had only half the shutter open. We inquired what happened and the shop keeper told that there has been some argument between Hindus and Muslims over the reservation and riot has started. Till then also I thought that it was a rumor mill working over time. Then I peeped out and saw FEAR in the eyes of daily vendors whose merchandise has been strewn across the road and he trying to shift it hastily.

We thought what would happen to out Activas as they were parked outside (Indians have more concern towards their material wealth than their life). One of our friend from Bangalore suggested that Insurance will cover any damage. We thought "To hell with Insurance, first let us get out of this Old city"



We got on our Activa, then I saw all the muslims near charminar are holding sticks and media personnel with their video cams have already reached Charminar. The mob was still running here and there and my pity for the daily vendor who will loose his livelihood for the cause of religion. The power to the mob comes from the fear of the masses and they feed from that fear and grow strong unless there are some one to resist them. We rode for our life and luckily my friend who is by God's grace a sales man knew all the routes in and out of Charminar. Then it occurred to me that it will always help to have a salesman as a navigator. Without much untoward incident we reached Chaderghat and had Niagara Spl Chicken Biryani.

This incident has left an indelible mark on my memory and it will remain with me forever and I can never forget it in my life.

Footnote: The riot has started on the flimsy grounds of who will keep the flags depicting their religion near a main road junction. Whether it is GREEN or SAFFRON we should keep in mind that we are all INDIANS first and after that HINDUS or MUSLIMS or any one. These riots are being done just to gain some political mileage with some communal parties trying to be the divisive forces in our harmonious society.

Hope our sanity remains intact and there would be no further riots any where in the country basing on religion, region or language.

Mera Bharat Mahan.....

In pursuit of Happyness

Being happy doesn't mean everything's perfect. It means you've decided to see beyond the imperfections.

The only aim of a person to live on is that he is happy or is the hope that he is going to be happy. What makes a person happy is a highly subjective thing. That is why measuring the Gross National Happiness is the hardest thing to do.

So let us come to the point what makes a person happy. Money, Achievement, status, Power, Authority, Altruism...what among these make a person happy. Human beings inherently are selfish and envious. So let us call this specimen a HOMOECONOMICUS who will act only in his self interest, what ever might be the situation.

So, a person has different motivations and he feels that money makes him the happiest. But the problem comes when the person next to him has more money. HOMOECONOMICUS prays to God that he get more money than the next person and in extreme case of jealousy will also want to destroy the wealth of his neighbour. So, with what level of money that a person will be satisfied.

There is no feasible end to this endless greed of HOMOECONOMICUS. He only craves for more more and more..like midas who wanted to change everything he has into Gold.

In the present rat race of accumulation of power and money HOMOECONOMICUS could not come to a conclusion about where he has to stop. Where the tipping point has reached, when it is enough.

So, to summarize will a HOMOECONOMICUS will ever be happy in his entire life or will he die an unsatisfied person. Whether the words Content and satisfaction has any meaning in this world.

Is pursuit of happyness an eloquent hyperbole....

Nothingness

When a person's existence revolves around a single man/woman and suddenly they disappear, then there is nothing to cling on to except for hope, a bit of faith and a lot of desperation.

Benefactors of Recession

The "R" word has been the dreaded one in every ones mind since the past two years, especially in the case of the hallowed portals of business schools which has been hit hard.

The students who have been expecting big big bucks were left to squabble over whether they will get jobs or not. The ones who has jobs were considered to be the lucky ones albeit least paid and in lesser fancied companies. The companies which gave offers in numbers which are quite obscene (double digit offers) made their offers even more obscene during the phase of recession (no offers).

So, in this scenario many have joined their offered jobs with enthusiasm and a bit of skepticism in their mind. But, the little bit of skepticism turned out to out weigh the enthusiasm as their pay has been cut from the then lower levels to even lower levels i.e. to the extent of 25% and some students who are eagerly waiting to join their dream job, were told to dream a bit more and join a bit later.

Now, I came across a news in Forbes magazine where Buffett wrote, "We've put a lot of money to work during the chaos of the last two years. When it's raining gold, reach for a bucket, not a thimble."

Many Industrialists did just that. Indeed, last year's wealth wasteland has become a billionaire bonanza. Most of the richest people on the planet have seen their fortunes soar in the past year.

This year the World's Billionaires have an average net worth of $3.5 billion, up $500 million in 12 months. The world has 1,011 10-figure titans, up from 793 a year ago but still shy of the record 1,125 in 2008. Of those billionaires on last year's list, only 12% saw their fortunes decline.

The companies are taking Recession as the God given weapon to wreak havoc in the lives of many innocent lives. There has been indiscriminate firing of employees and also indiscriminate cut in wages. There have been obscene number of mergers and take overs during this R-Period. But none of the companies gave their employees any hike and they are just using recession as an excuse to increase their bottom line at the cost of employees and other stake holders.

The conclusion that one can arrive after seeing the scenario in these two years is that only billionaires and their muse companies benefited from this Recession, which in part is the manifestation of their GREED. So due to the Greed of some many common people have suffered. Power and Money is absolute, those who have it can manipulate the lives of many through creative destruction.

The Case of an abandoned Bag

It was Holi day/ a holiday i.e. March 1st. I was travelling back from home to Bangalore. As usual the booking was done in tatkal and the railway station and the train were over crowded.

By chance or by destiny I arrived at the Kachiguda station a full 30 minutes early. walked around the station looking for some familiar faces, as always the case could not find even one. So, cursing my fate to travel alone, went to find my seat in the train, Bangalore Express.

Went to my seat after crossing various hurdles in between. I was kind of surprised to see that the entire seats were occupied prior to my arrival and there was a blue bag kept on my seat.

I kept my luggage on my berth and wanted to go down and do bird watching, but there was no one visible on the entire platform. I got back to my seat and again saw the blue bag, by that time all the seats were occupied and I asked the people over there, does it belong to any one of them.

No one claimed it, my analytical brain started ticking and I smelt some foul play. The old couple said that a young person in a blue t-shirt kept it there and left. It was only like 10 minutes to the start and I decided 2 be a "HERO" as a pretty girl was sitting next 2 the bag.

I with all my courage, opened the bag a little and saw a large tiffin box, this was the last straw,all the bomb blasts of Hyderabad, Mumbai and the recent one at Pune played in my mind. I took my bag and left the compartment and complained to the RPF(Railway Protection Force). The Officer was more brave than me and he asked me to get the bag out, which I firmly refused.

The officer did not dare to even touch the damn bag and he kept the bag at where he was. Rest of the people in my compartment came out along with me. Suddenly I was having a sense of elation and also bit of worry in my mind, what is going to happen.

I would be a hypocrite if I say that I was not scared. I was shit scared but did not let that emotion over power me. I was telling to myself that I am doing my duty as a citizen of India.

The pretty girl in the compartment, came to me and asked "what should we do now?" Do all the pretty girls are so dumb. How in the hell would I know what should we do. Did she expect me to open the bag and diffuse the bomb. I always like to impress girls but not by keeping my life on the line.

I asked her to board in next compartment, and added a rider that there is no guarentee that there would not be another bag like this in the other compartment. She was like dead scared and started to tow me every where.

Till that time the bag was not evacuated from the compartment. So much for the efficiency of Police force in India. I thought that they would start evacuating and the train would get late and all, but it was not happening.

There were only 5 minutes left for the train to leave and no sight of the owner of the bag. People in my compartment left for other places. Then one brave police took the bag on to the platform.

I could hear a voice in my head that run buddy run,,, no need to be a hero, u can get a nice girl if u'll live not if you are dead. Some RPF men gathered near the bag, but they did not dare to open it. I thought what the hell, would they be calling a bomb disposal squad or what.

Then suddenly there was an announcement that the train was ready to leave the platform, I boarded the train and felt that if it would go off, it should go off now.
Then the train chugging along and the bag was left on the platform.

Out of no where the owner of the bag came asked where his bag was, we told him that it was on the platform. He went to the door and luckily the police personnel gave it to him while the train is on the run.

I breathed a sigh of relief that it was not what I thought it was. The person who left his bag, told us that he said to the old couple to look after the bag and he also added that he told them that there were no bombs in the bag :P

I was like completely pissed off with the attitude of the person in question. He was an educated person and he was shouting at us for taking his bag out. We told him that it was a necessary precaution, to avert a greater danger but then also he was like drooling on. I stepped up and told him that why didn't he even bother to check whether his luggage is alright or not for 30 minutes. He became silent and started blaming the old couple.

Our country needs to be more vigilant in these turbulent times and the attitude of people should improve. Until this happens we would see more of 26/11, Pune blasts etc.

AVATAR- An INDIAN Connection

Avatar...should we recommend it as the 8th wonder of the world...that might be too far fetched but alas it is a magical world and kudos to the creativity of James Cameron for giving us such a wonderful masterpiece.

I was very eager to watch Avatar, but postponed my gratification as I want to experience the spectacle on the biggest screen in India.....IMAX in Hyderabad. Alas the wait was worth in Gold and I watched d movie twice....tht too back to back. It is not to do with the story line and climax... they were pretty tepid and predictable, but it has more to do with the amazing 3D spectacle and the grand canvas on which it is pictured.

The floating mountains of Pandora called haleluya, the night life at pandora which was breath taking and the various creatures just made me see the scale of imagination that a Human Being can have.
This movie has shown to us how greed will ruin us and also about how a "white man" can save other races.

Now coming to the Indian Connection,
The name Avatar is taken from sanskrit or the Hindu Mythology where in Lord vishnu takes the form of human like Rama & Krishna to protect the Earth from evil.

The Blue colour concept came from Lord Krishna. Indian Mythology has inspired Cameron to have the Navi people in blue colour.

The concept of Linking the brain of a person to other body has been present in India since time immemorial, that is called as "Para Kaya Pravesh" literal translation meaning, entering others body. The equivalent in Japanese is the Shintenshin...i.e. the body mind transfer.

The worship of the giant tree with the tree with lots of roots is like a banyan tree which spreads its roots through a large area.

Atlast the Turuk was like the Garuda, who Lord Vishnu rides and destroys the evil.

P.S:- TO enjoy the movie the way it is, Please watch it in IMAX. U can see the Magical world and u can feel the heat of fire and also the gust of wind.

Regionalism

Our Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh has outlined regionalism as one of the threats to Indian National Integration along side of terrorism, naxalism and poverty. India is not a homogeneous country like many other. It is the largest democracy in the world with varied cultures, languages and regions. The strength of our country has always been its tolerance and its ability to absorb different influencing cultures and create its own.

No other country in the world has such diverse regions, cultures, languages and religions co existing together for centuries. India has with stood the onslaught of Moslems from persia and Afghanistan and it with stood the cultural hara kiri done by the Britishers. These are the best examples for the resilience and the adaptability of the Indian Nation.

Recently there have been incidents which threaten the sensitive national fabric of the country under the veil of nationalism and sons of soil movement. I believe that India is for all Indian citizens and they are at a liberty to pursue their profession any where in the country. This is the right that has been granted by our constitution.

There have been incidents which have been roused by the selfish political parties to create divisions among the people and to leverage on them to garner votes. These divisive forces should not be given a toe hold in our mind as they tend to destroy its sane thinking and to provoke people to do dastardly acts of violence.

People are inherently good and they strive to do good for the society unless or until acted upon an external force. The present Telangana Movement is the zenith of the divisive politics by some political parties which are fighting for their existence and they are stoking the emotions of the people to achieve their own selfish ends.

Just 4 months ago when YSR was alive and kicking there was not even a single voice raising the "Telangana" slogan and suddenly the landscape of the entire state of Andhra Pradesh has changed with agitations and dharnas which stifle the normal life and create innumerable difficulties for ordinary people... "aam aadmi"

The Congress party which lost the most influential leader at the top wanted to destroy the foundation on which Telugu Desam Party is built and by announcing on midnight that the procedure for Telangana has started. But it did not expect the public retribution and back tracked its statement. As you will sow, so you will reap. The strategy of the COngress has been to deliver two blows with one punch one was to marginalize TDP in Andhra Pradesh and the other was to prevent Jagan from becoming the Chief Minister.

It has not achieved its objective and to gain its selfish ends it has created divisions in a peaceful state and made our state a burning conundrum. The political parties have divided according to regional lines and they are pursuing their own motives.

In the end the looser of the whole drama is the aam aadmi and the industries in Andhra Pradesh which are loosing their valuable man days.

This is the scenario in Andhra pradesh and in Maharashtra MNS on the plank of Marathi Manoos or Marathi self respect is driving terror into the minds of simple minded Maharashtrians to kick out the people who don't speak Marathi out of Maharashtra/Mumbai.

Recently when I was traveling a person who works for state Government of Karnataka has asked me where are you from?
I told him I'm from Hyderabad. He told me why did you come to Bangalore and do a job here rather than in Hyderabad.
His attitude has miffed me. Here is a person who is highly educated and "Cultured" asking me to go to my home town rather than working in other place. If this is the case with an educated person, my worry is what about the masses. This has got me wondering where our New India is headed to.

In Karnataka I see all the sign boards in Kannada. In Tamilnadu and Maharashtra it is the same case. Language is a sensitive issue but it should not be at the level where it would hurt others feelings and sentiments. One has to love his own language but these political parties has turned it to Hate all other languages.

We have to be tolerant to other cultures and respect them, this is what our long last heritage has taught us. United we stand divided we fall. If in every region people only want their own people to live then the India that our fore fathers has envisioned is short lived. We have to be broad minded and accept other people and cultures. That is the essence of the co existence in this flat world.