Things will not be the same anymore

Life is a roller coaster ride. It has its highs and lows...I'd always known about it but never knew it could give both at the same time..I am happy as well as sad. I am rejoicing because Ive made a great career move but I am sad because to achieve that, I have to leave some people who are extremely close to me. I know they will always be there..in my conscience, at the back of my mind, in my smile but they won't be there physically. I won't see them regularly, spend the whole day with them..I will miss those petty fights, those hugs, those lunch hours and those lovely smiles :( The hours that formed the soul of our existence...the time we would look forward to, each day. Even though we didn't speak much during the whole day but atleast there was this comfort that we are together..but now things are going to change.

They keep telling me that we would still be together but its really not possible. Those daily meetings will turn into daily phone calls, the daily phone calls to rare visits and then to rare calls. And I don't blame anyone for it...it is not because we won't want to meet but because time wouldn't permit it. They will be busy in their sphere of work and I will get acquainted to mine. But I will feel really lonely..the Ann who could never sit on her seat for more than 15 minutes without seeing her pals will be spending days without them. Its scary to even think about it, even though its too early feel that way. I am trying to put up a really brave face but the fact is that I am scared. How will it be without them? What will I do without Suru, Raman and Shiv? Who would tease me or comfort me when I will feel all alone?

Today I decided that if things can't change I have to change myself..I decided that I would learn to make my on way, without they being at my side..I would learn to live alone. But things are not favourable. My first step failed..I went wrong...Pals I know I was wrong but I was just trying to do things alone..Hope you guys will try to understand what I am going through. I can't tell you but hope you will understand. Well, I've dared to move out from my comfort zone, and I hope all will be well.

India - after sixty years

Even as the media raves about “India getting sexy at sixty,” a report by the state-run National Commission for Enterprises in the Unorganised Sector (NCEUS) reveals that 77% of Indians – more than 800 million people – live on less than half a dollar (about Rs 20) a day! The break-up of these figures is even more shocking - 6.4% live on less than Rs. 9 per day, 15.4% live on Rs 9-12 per day, 19% on Rs. 12-15 per day and 36% between rs 15-20 per day.

And this is not a report by an NGO, but by a state-run body.

The next time someone tells me about the booming Indian economy or "our amazing rate of 8 per cent plus economic growth," he or she will have to excuse me for bursting into laughter.

A few (two) good ladies!

They are a pretty odd duo. One chatters away endlessly, the other is quiet. One cannot sit (or even stand) still for more than a few seconds. The other specialises in minimal movement. One laughs endlessly, the other rations her smiles. The one thing they have in common is that they work in the same organisation. Even there, their roles are different – one is a reporter and the other is in marketing.

And oh, I forgot, they have the same name.

Well, this holy combination went charging off across half the city earlier today, getting medicine to a colleague's relative. I can imagine them – the quiet one driving, the less-than-quiet one talking at about nineteen and a half words a second. One unflappable, one anything but. One with a great sense of direction, the other who always needs to get her bearings from Dhaula Kaun.

But both willing to go out of their way to help a colleague who needed a spot of assistance. On a working day too. And I bet neither had second thoughts about what they were doing. I also bet neither thought that she was doing anything extraordinary. They are like that, you know.

At the end of it all, I am sure both were tired. Well, one of them definitely was – she sleepwalked her way through some ice-cream and was trying to sleep while standing in the Metro when I waved her goodbye (she insisted that she would get home in one piece by herself – and she did too). I wager the other one was just as tired. Although I reckon she would not show it. Nah, that's not her style. She is more likely to have just collapsed wordlessly when she got home.

Yep, an odd combination. Chalk and cheese. Writing and marketing. Calm and tempestuous. Curious and seen-it-all.

Both wonderful human beings. Both a pleasure to work – and just be - with.

Whatever happened to ... Bharat?

It is that time of the year when everyone starts thumping their chests and say how proud they are to be Indians. I mean, 15th August is around the corner and the Indian cricket team is finally winning something.

In the middle of all this, I have been wondering whatever happened to the official name of our country - Bharat. Suddenly, it is "India this" and "India that." At one level, this does not seem important - after all, both words represent the same nation. But dig a little deeper and well, there does seem to be some reason for concern. Is "Bharat" difficult to pronounce? Is it derogatory to a particular community (some people object to "Hindustan," for obvious reasons)? If it is neither, why on earth are we thrusting it into other languages too?

India was a term given to us by invaders - after the river "Indus." Bharat is a name that is totally Indian - inspired by one of the nation's greatest kings. So why on earth are we fighting so shy of using it? I am not saying it should be used in English communication but surely "Bharat" has a place when one is talking in Hindi or other Indian languages? Germans refer to their country as "Deutschland" when speaking in their native tongue, Italians call their nation "Italia" when speaking in Italian, why are we so fixated with "India" even when talking in Hindi? Why is a Hindi film called "Chake de, India"? Why does Shah Rukh keep bleating about "India" to a bunch of girls who clearly are not from English-savvy backgrounds?

Is it just a matter of time before they change the national anthem to "Jana gan man adhinayak jai he, India bhagya vidhata"?

Whatever happened to "Bharat"? Or do we prefer referring to ourselves by the name our invaders gave us? If the answer is the latter, then perhaps we need to wonder why we bother celebrating our independence day.

On the moon, and miles to go

Man has been to the big bright moon
And will be on Mars pretty soon

When did we last,
talk about love
or discuss the plight
of the white dove
When was it last we
Danced in the rain
Without the thoughts
Of the mundane pain

Man has been to the big bright moon
And will be on Mars pretty soon

When did we last,
Care about the orphan child
Did our sincere bit
To save the moribund wild
When was it last,
We hugged our old man
Loved him selflessly
with all that we can

Man has been to the big bright moon
And will be on mars pretty soon

When was it last
We listened to our heart
Enjoyed the titillating fragrance
Of a baking honey tart
When was it last
We gazed at the stars
With out a worry of
Gory human wars

Man has been to the big bright moon
And will be on Mars pretty soon

When was it last
We enjoyed the sound of silence
Stopped listening to the
News of aimless violence
When was it last
we peeped in to our soul
understood our priorities
And our true goals

We haven’t seen our own rock
Had time to take our own stock
We still don’t know what we are
The answers are still very far

Man has been to the big bright moon
And will be on Mars pretty soon

- "Ann"onymous