Lead Kindly Light!

As a kid, I was very impressed by the poem written by John Henry Newman but today I am not writing about the poem but about something else. Kindness is not just a word or an adjective from a grammar book but a unique human quality. You cannot inherit it but have to develop it and only if you have a heart to feel the pain of those suffered ones. There are many peoples around trying to do something or the other for the destitute, feel proud looking at them that they exists in the same planet where I am living and I am lucky to be part of that. Often feel ashamed because all the time thinking for me, we and us only. Looking at the current situation, agree that it is very difficult to survive if you are totally selfless. Keeping a drop for self cannot be a selfish act but just giving a drop from an ocean is what all about known as act of selfish mind.

Sympathy and kindness are two different things. Sympathy is a mechanical process; it may or may not pain you when looking at others plight and can forget it a moment later. Kindness is the feeling that remains forever, willing to do something for others; it makes you restless until you are able to see the smile and joy on the faces of the needy one.

“Writing big thing but never do a thing for the people around me”, I agree to this point but have a heart to feel it. Pieces of news related to kind gesture shown by the peoples around the world always make me happy and at the same time feel a lump in my throat while reading it.

• When Mumbai flooded poor and poorest tried their best to accommodate the unknown faces in their house, provided them with food and dry clothes.
• When Mumbai bleeds after a series of bomb blast, people from all spheres of life queued at the hospitals to donate blood for the unknown victims.
• A rich man standing at the entrance of a government hospital to ask if anyone need anything and ready to spend every penny he has.
• A woman constable from Kerala gone to give her six golden bangles to get discharged an unknown woman from a hospital, who was denied same by the hospital because she unable to pay the bill. The news go further, when a famous jewelers P. C. Chandra from Kolkata decided to gift the same police woman with six gold bangle for her extraordinary gesture of humanity, its known as chain of humanity.

Philanthropic like Warren Buffet or a Bill Gates are spending billions on peoples who needs it. As I mentioned before, the Indian super rich have never done something that can be referred.

My hometown, Kolkata may not be a hot spot for any foreign tourist, but for only one person it was always a destination for the tourist as well as celebrities from all over world.

I am taking about, Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu. Confused? Sounds very unfamiliar one, yes, I am talking about Mother Teresa. The lady shown the world what is kindness all about is.

So, you see, it does not matter where are you, be it in Kerala or Kolkata or Kawasaki or Kitimat, kindness can be stretch with willingness. Hope, me too able to get some courage and willingness like others to bring smile on those gloomy faces and certainly it will be the most cherished moment to live with and at the end I will think with a million dollar smile – ‘Yes, I did it’.

!!!Kindness is an aura, fragrance and dedication, done quietly, healed millions.!!!

Where is my Money?

We all share at least one common yet a peculiar habit, when failed to achieve something we try to find someone whom we can blame for the failure, no matter how and who, anybody can be the scapegoat. Always index finger turned to 180 degree than zero. Search for a harmless soul but it is very difficult job, blame game cannot be a one-way traffic. In our country everyday there is news regarding failure, the system and the administration always failed first, after looking at it we conclude, “Nothing will happen to this Country”. Excuse me, the real fact is that India never failed, we the people who failed and obviously kept blaming the country. You cannot deny the fact that we are living in a great country. Everyday we learn something than other while moving around or whenever try to explore the rich heritage of this great land. When one of my twitter friends wrote that, she is looking forward to visit India; it is something for which I should feel proud.

When I was away, one of my friend from Bangkok was having a habit of telling things about India, gosh, I used fight with her whenever she opened her mouth and uttered a word about my country and forced her to stop instantly. At that time I was very temperament and a big fighter cock who always ready to fight but with some logic. Today standing here if I look back certainly failed to recognize that BeeeBeees.

A famous politician and undoubtedly considered to be one of the best Ex. chief Minister of a Indian state, batteries of accountant may not enough to keep count of his wealth that he amassed in his lifetime, still hunger for wealth never die down. In the twilight of his political carrier, he decided to involve in the sport administration in higher level and the richest one too, I mean Cricket, difficult to resists the big money involved in it. Therefore, what done with IPL, it is your guess. Sir, where are going to keep all these money? At the end of the day, you can buy a bunch of sandal-woods than an ordinary one and that too does not cost much.

A few years’ back I was watching Television and looking at a happy Sunil Gavaskar jumping with joy along with many other starlets from sports arena of our country because India was just named as the venue for 2010 Commonwealth Games.

Today same Sunil Gavaskar or others who were present there on that day may be hiding their face in shame when they read about the happening at the behind of CWG. Once again, it is not that the India who failed but it is all those who taken this golden opportunity to harvest the gold, if goes by the news then the ratio are 1:10 (spent 1: pocketed 10).

Ministers, administrations and all those involved, be it macro, mini or micro level find nice way to enrich their bank balance. Whenever India tried to stand, these are the peoples who always forced the country to go back to its crawling days.

!!!Therefore, Common Wealth is for all, I also deserve a few drop from the ocean of thirty thousand odd crore rupees. Where is mine?!!!

Nothing Uncommon about it!

A Common Man or Woman (do not miss her) is the backbone of any civilized society. In our country story of rich getting richer and poor getting poorer is no new thing, thanks to the inflation, such stories will make you sleep. When you see a Common Man finding a place in the headline with his or her extraordinary effort, everyone sit up and forced to think –‘yes I can do it too, just need to do it’.

Couple of week back director Priyadarshan tried to project Akshay Kumar as “Common Man”; I think director had no idea about a “Common Man”. It was just a mockery of great Indian middle class man, whose life is all about struggle and suffering than fun.

I grown up with R.K. Laxman’s ‘Common Man’ or can call ‘Common Couple’. Years after years, whenever I opened a ‘Times of India’, first thing I looked for was “You said it”, a cartoon strip appeared in the middle of the rightmost column in the first page. R.K. Laxman’s ‘Common Couple’, were a middle-aged confused looking couple discussing the current affairs with a great one-liner, unbelievable.

A common man has lots of quality, which may be very difficult to write, with my due respect to the great man, I am trying to inscribe a few from my kitty.

1. Who stood in a ration line for basic commodity, found fresh stock disappear before he/she got their respective quota and one fine day got a coloured ration card to prove whether he/she is a BPL(below poverty line) or not, a option between poor, poorer and poorest.
2. Who never lured by a “sabse sasta” advertisement from those big supermarkets and always preferred the neighbourhood grocery, because it given a chance to gossip with the age-old grocer.
3. Who pained by the corruption, bribe etc. still ends up paying it.
4. Who traveled in a second-class compartment and liked to share and bare all with a co-passengers
5. Who mostly travelled by a bus, but whenever afford to take a Taxi, his/her heartbeat and pulse rate gives the meter reading a very tough time.
6. Who goes to a school and college and always calculate what kind of job or rather salary he/she will draw.
7. Who vote for a new Government and every time believed that he/she would get what promised.
8. Who pray and often try to bribe the god.
9. Who like to love, laugh and hurt by the rejection.
10. Who always living under thousand burdens but never succumbed and willing to live another day.
11. Who, once in a crazy and weird afternoon found standing in a queue to feed spoonful milk to a Ganesh idol. (Ha! Ha! Ha! Believe me or not, I did it too and successfully).
12. Finally, the common man always sleep well.

I also liked take the opportunity to mention his elder brother Late R. K. Narayan. One of the first English writers from our country, who can forget Swami from his “Malgudi Days”. Certainly, they inherited some of their respective quality from their father Dr Shivaram. He was a doctor by profession and also was an eminent humourist in Kannada.

While talking about “Malgudi days”, it will be unfair if not mentioned the director Late Shankar Nag, a wonderful and talented director, who died young in a car accident. This page is a tribute to the Karantaka trio.

In current situation, there are no takers for the value of a Common Man when there is other option alive I mean “Con Man”

!!!So, let us see who is going to last long, the planet or the Common Man.!!!