Oh Dumbo Oh

Oh Dumbo Oh by mesushovan

O Maa Phire Esho Naa

O Maa Phire Esho Naa by mesushovan

This composition of mine is my tribute to my late mother... whom I had lost a long, long time back, forever.

Tarar deshe achhe maa
Jhikimiki hashe maa
hmm...hmmm... hmmmm
Brishti hoye neme ashe
Sobuj ghashe bhalobashe
O... ooooo.. O maa

Aajo mone pore seidin
Jedin tumi chole gele
Aami chhilem anekdure
Swapno bhanga tepantore
Ekaki, ekaki...
Niye bedona
Boba kanna
Path ajana
Ghar achena... chhilo je amar

O maa, O maa, phire esho na

Jani tomaye kandiyechhilam
Abadhyotar dashyiponaye
Abhimaner anol rathe
Pari dile akashpane
Tumi nei, tumi nei...
Niye bedona
Boba kanna
Path ajana
Ghar achena... chhilo je amar

O maa, O maa, phire esho na

Cheye dekho bodle gechhi
Safol aami thik hoyechhi
Prithibitao goriye hante
Amar taale shudhuie nache
Cheye dekho na, cheye dekho na...
Niye bedona
Boba kanna
Path ajana
Ghar achena...aajo je amar

O maa, O maa, phire esho na

We need YOU. Really.

Once upon a time there was a little boy. The boy would always dream to become a singer or a painter. But he could neither become a singer nor a painter. Instead, he’d to become an engineer turned advertising copy writer to earn money in a faster way. Firstly, to survive somehow and then to maintain his lifestyle i.e. “style sans life”.

He’s quite successful today in his profession, if others’ notion or consideration is to be taken into serious account. However, to himself, he’s ever been an unsuccessful painter; a ruined singer.

The abovementioned lines are not the excerpts off any melodramatic saga or tear jerking opera. Rather, it’s a naked testimony of how a kid had to surrender his dream and natural talent to financial pressure, which had hardly allowed him to breathe easily, since childhood.

Unfortunately, this reality had not only occurred to that particular boy but also it’s been prevalent phenomena, even NOW, for innumerable kids across India; precisely who hail from the families with precarious socio-economic conditions.

Given such situations, those kids are expected to sacrifice their dreams and talents, as early as possible, because in our society sacred goats are acknowledged, appreciated and accepted as obedient children. And, not to mention, this kind of obedience provides those children with roti (bread), kapda (dress) and makan (house) without nerve-wrenching struggles, day in and day out, at home or outside.

Nonetheless, there are still the rebels, thankfully. Who hate to concede defeats; loathe selling off their dreams and talents at a cheap price for lifeless safety, security and styles; and are game to fight, fight and fight… only to WIN.

For those never-say-die spirits; indomitable kids; rare talents… it’s time to do something. Substantial and meaningful.

So, presenting Hu‘e’man Karkhana – an open forum formed and firmed out by a set of people who are willing and tireless in their efforts to instrument and ensure “Human Excellence with Different Hues”.

Unlike me-too or run-of-the-mill NGOs, this forum ONLY works for the kids who don’t have sound economic backgrounds but do have exceptional talents to excel… up to the pinnacle of success in the domains of performing art and unconventional territories such as music, dance, acting, sport, photography, painting, and the like.

Hu‘e’man Karkhana primarily takes care of the three basic needs of a kid. That are “nutrition i.e. food”, “education i.e. knowledge” and “communication i.e. expression and presentation”.

On the basis of needs and requirements, a kid can get four types of functional support from Hu‘e’man Karkhana in the forms of: (a) Financial Aids; (b) Vocational Training; (c) Advertising, Marketing, and Promotional Helps; and (d) Assignment / Engagement / Program / Endorsement Management.

Needless to say, this endeavor of Hu‘e’man Karkhana requires everyone’s support, active participation and help. For funds, and functionalities.

Irrespective of your status as a corporate house or as an individual, if you reckon that you envision our vision and thus can fuel our mission with your time, contacts, and currencies, you are MOST welcome to effect and ensure Human Excellence with Different Hues… being a Hu‘e’man to Hu‘e’man Karkhana.

For any clarification in order to know how you can help a kid, feel ABSOLUTELY free to send in your lines at rana12feb@gmail.com

After all, please remember, “Alone we fight but we only win TOGETHER, and none of us fights to lose.” So we, at Hu‘e’man Karkhana, really need you.

*PS: A l’il singing sensation who’s been participating in the ongoing Sa Re Ga Ma Pa L’il Champs 2010 on Zee Bangla is already being taken care of by us at Hu‘e’man Karkhana.

Selfishness is Selflessness!

It’s one globe. Irrespective of a few fundamentalist wankers and their errant jerking off spree, here and there, to divide our world into parts. Mostly, in the name of different isms and conned issues based on race, religion, caste, community, terror, politics, war, strike, and the list goes on.

The sole objective of propagating such mushy activities is nothing but to create disturbance and dissonance among lives with an ambition to make everyone’s life difficult, worldwide.

So that the funda “life is complex” can be sold off to people at large as a problem first and then some heinously crappy concepts can be offered to the same target audience as solutions to that problem.

It’s not that that we don’t know or understand it. But, our mentality has somewhat become like this that unless and until our own home or Rome is burning, we fail to realise that the same fire which is burning other today can also char us tomorrow.

Which is why; you, me, he, she, they kinda pronouns’ viability needs to be redefined, soon. In place of them, the pronouns We, Us will do better, I guess. Not in grammatical sense but in terms of commonsense.

For, if anyone of us is motivated to be selfish, I politely ask you to refer to the Maslow Pyramid of needs before you prefer to pursue your motivation. And then relate to your motivation in line with the hierarchy of needs.

In case, you couldn’t relate, never mind, I’m making it more lucid for you to comprehend what selfishness is all about.

“Selfishness is nothing but selflessness.”

Wondering!? Considering me a mad and calling my name for that? Please do. After a while, take a break and read on…

You become selfish for what?

To do better and get more, right? Net-net to achieve maximum success in life.

No harm. As you must go up in the hierarchy, so if you are acting selfish to get it done, you are doing the right thing.

Now imagine your gradual climb to success vis-à-vis selfishness as a pyramid. And you have reached on the top. Precisely, at the tip i.e. the pinnacle or vertex of success.

From there, you are looking on and it’s showing everything, everyone is under you. But mind that, none is with you then or beside for that matter. Because at the apex (of success) there is no horizontal space to accommodate anyone else but you.

On the contrary, it says that success is better established, amplified and enjoyed, if, and when shared. However, you can at the most offer things to people who are under you but can’t share anything with them. Be it success or happiness.

And even if you wish to share, they will either fear you or will be in awe because of your positional advantage… and neither fear nor awe is anyway conducive to the act called sharing.

So, how would you justify your success or your selfishness is worth your life, living and lifestyle?

Since, when none is with you or beside you, your existence of self doesn’t apply in reality or logically. Simple reason being, one can’t stand first or last when he’s the only one in his class.

That means, “self = world” - where all of us belong to, side-by-side, together. And this proves the fact that in spite of our best efforts we can never be selfish but always selfless.

Hence, whenever you tend to be selfish, please take pride in self for trying to be selfless.

Death of a friendship. Birth of a shadow.

A death is always painful. The pain becomes unbearable if the death occurs to a childhood friend. Someone with whom so many days, so much things had been shared. Naturally, unabashedly and gleefully!

Pratik (name changed, intentionally) was such a pal of mine.

I met him through a common friend while three of us used to stay together in the same locality.

Pratik was an ever chirpy character. And, not to mention, a genuine prey to my nonstop practical jokes and leg pulling. But he would never complain rather used to accept my menace and me smilingly.

School days got over… college days flew by… I left Kolkata and my attachment with Pratik gradually turned into a deep detachment.

When I came back to Kolkata, I tried to re-establish the connection; however, god knows why, the same old tinkering was felt missing all the time during our new series of rendezvous.

That trademark chirpiness, happiness, smiles, and every little thing happened to be absent on and inside Pratik.

I used to wonder, why?! What happened to my dear friend?

I kept enquiring into him and his activities from others and time to time from him himself. But, in spite of my dog-digging, I could never manage any bone of and about Pratik.

With time, tension and daily grinding of life, the detachment became a huge distance once again between him and me.

All of a sudden yesterday itself i.e. on April 21, 2010, my cell rang. I picked up the call. Another school friend voiced out, “Sushovan, Pratik is no more.”

“Pratik is no more.” Such a simple expression, isn’t it? My prank-punching-bag is no more.

So, I didn’t react at all to the call. I took a cab from office, first to reach Pratik’s house then to arrive at the crematorium.

Pratk was lying there. His face was covered with a white sheet of cloth. Honestly, I didn’t feel like seeing his face even for once for the last time.

I cared, and still care a hoot for his death. I have always been concerned about his life; his live existence… and frankly, I generally give a damn to death – whoever embraces it.

I am neither sad nor down with Pratik’s demise. Instead, I’m cross. I’m angry and I’m irritated like a swine amidst the saint.

Because, my childhood friend didn’t bother to let me know that he didn’t have any job for the last one and half years. He didn’t feel like telling me about his prolonged and killer diabetes; about his eye infection; about his septicemia.

My childhood friend was shy to ask for any help or support from me.

So, he decided to die like a bloody loser; like a creeper; like an insect without bothering me at all.

And why didn’t he ask for it? Because he didn’t want me to oblige him.

Never knew, nor wish to know as a matter of fact, from when “friendship has become an obligation”.

Truly, while a friend dies like this, he actually kills the very existence and essence of the feeling called “friendship” and that hardly makes me sad rather leaves me to live like a mad in the world of silent pandemonium and never-to-be-filled-up void in the shadow of mine.

And it hurts. Really hurts.

Do the FKP

Almost two out of every three are spiritual nowadays. Happiness and contentment are on sale like hotcakes from the counters of spiritual gurus and book publishers all around. However, notwithstanding such an overdose of spirituality for ushering in total peace and global harmony; still there is no end to bomb blasts, riots and fights, divorces, etc within societies, localities and families.

Does it mean that spirituality is not so good then?

No, it’s not like that. Instead, I think there is a wide gap or gulf very much evident and prevalent in our understanding of the FKP i.e. the three basic premises: Faith, Knowledge and Practice of spirituality.

Let me begin with Faith.

What is Faith?

Believing in something rather blindly and following it thereafter? Not really. If it is so, then there would have been no difference between fundamentalism and Faith.

Faith is the base and the art and science of setting up targets for self, as well as for others and in the process developing individual and collective trust to meet those targets, gradually.

If life is a ship, Faith is the rudder. And, as it’s said that a rudderless ship never reaches its goal, exactly in the same way it can be told that a faithless life is never able to live or even survive.

Knowledge is not only about knowing things. Well, there lies in at least a rudimentary difference between Knowledge and mugging. Knowledge is actually the composite effect of theories, practicalities, Faith and of course commonsense. And it gets profound, proven and kind of full-proof while shared with others.

A true Knowledge should always be receptive to others’ doubts and challenges; should welcome debates and arguments; and should be conclusive enough but reclusive with an openness to acknowledge, appreciate and accept the omnipresence of lives and their spirit on the different and relative scales such as socio-economic background, education, culture, language, etc.

Knowledge is the compus of the ship called life.

Withdraw it from life, and it can be seen and felt how directionless, meaningless and futile life will become, then and there, ensuring nothing but a pathetic finish.

If Faith is the rudder and Knowledge is the compus, then what is Practice in the ship?

Practice is the driving wheel, which helps one sail the ship i.e. life, successfully. Lest Practice is absent, no Faith or Knowledge can do any magic or miracle for anyone for sure. In fact, Practice holds the key for one to understand everyday, every minute whether his / her Faith and Knowledge are adequate, right and productive or not in light of reality.

No Practice means zero Faith and zero Knowledge and simply a defunct life in the bed of only shies, lies and cries, bringing injuries and insults to the real spirit and happiness of life and living.

Which is why, it’s better to keep things simple and form the life’s triangle with Faith, Knowledge and Practice (FKP) in order to be elevated on earth by treading in the path of spirituality, which is no boon from heaven but you and your contemplations and complementing actions.

After all, life is action, not just contemplation. So, DO your Karma, do the FKP!

PS: If you thought that I had made sense, feel free to write back at rana12feb@gmail.com to share your FKP with me.

Always Use Your Lemon

From IQ to EQ… to SQ (Spiritual Quotient); organizations, irrespective of their size and status, have always been quite concerned about various “quotients or factors” for putting the best “organizational practice or behavior” in place.

Now, “What is this organizational behavior… how is it going to be functional and productive for an organization… and why so?”

An organizational behavior can lucidly be defined as an organization’s attitude and actions towards its internal as well as external audience in terms of care, concern, compassion, communication, comfort, convenience, transparency, trust, responsibility, performance, and result, precisely ROI – Return on Investment.

And this “investment” is not only restricted to financial matters but also is extended to the investments on time, energy, and most importantly, on Intelligence, Emotion, and Spirit that involve Mind, Heart and Soul, respectively.

Which is why, the functionality and the productivity of an organization can be enhanced up to a superlative level simply by putting articulate attention on “interpersonal relationship” – present and prevalent in between any two persons related to the organization.

In fact, this type of interpersonal relationships is actually the governing force that works behind the success of an organizational behavior.

Since, an organization is not just a big premise or palatial complex of concrete, which comprises furniture, computers, servers, balance sheets, etc., it becomes a super-power only because of its “manpower”… and in the current context of business – as happening worldwide – this manpower should be explained and exclaimed as the “Human Power” developed and evolved by IES: Intelligence, Emotion, and Spirit.

It’s often observed and experienced that the major concern areas in interpersonal relationship for an organization are employees, clients or customers, consumers in general, shareholders, government or authoritative personnel, media, and competitors… and all those different set of people and their varied range of ego, expectation, intention and interest.

Therefore, an organizational behavior is nothing but subject to conflict of interest; ego fights; positional power game; battle of minds; shrewd politics; and the like practiced by none other than men and women playing their different and respective roles to the benefit (or the loss) of an organization.

Given this, an organization can only thrive on its organizational behavior, if the said behavior gets expressed as a positive outcome of productive interpersonal relationship.

And while the productivity or the productive nature of such an interpersonal relationship is the key to success for an organization and its behavior, the friction; the conflict; the battle; and the exhaustion of Mind, Heart, and Soul i.e. the stress on IES: Intelligence, Emotion, and Spirit are inevitable. Thereby creating problems and tension between two persons or among groups, everyday, in profession or business.

Thus, to minimize this problem pertaining to interpersonal relationship on account of organizational behavior, in case the “lemon squeezing” experience is taken into consideration as the springboard, I guess, all of us can understand that how easy it is in reality to find the solution for such a delicate interpersonal problem… and that too, within the problem itself.

Basically, while you fight with your colleague, boss, client and the like… you tend to reap in rich benefit for the organization you serve. Exactly in the same vein, your opposition also does try to get benefit for the organization he / she works for.

That means; to achieve a “collective or, for that matter, an equal benefit”, both you and your fighting opposition do the same thing i.e. fight with the other i.e. squeeze the lemons of your respective IES: Intelligence, Emotion, and Spirit.

Now, “Why you do so?”

THINK.

“Do you and your warring opposition squeeze the lemons to taste the bitter peels, or the refreshing juice that comes out of the conflict you two indulge in?”

Of course, you squeeze your share of lemon for the juice only, so does the other person who fights with you in profession or business.

And, as “this juice is nothing but that collective or same benefit” for which ACTUALLY a fight shoots up in between two persons in an organization, you should never ever pay any heed to the bitter lemon peels that, mostly, unfortunately, and rather ironically, become the bone of contention in an interpersonal relationship in the form of ego hassle; professional rivalry; and all other negative and worthless sentiments.

Hence, in order to benefit from the best of organizational behavior based on interpersonal relationship… “Always Use Your Lemon!”

PS: This article is based on what I shared with the executives at India's one of the premier management institutes on February 06, 2010.

Five Fingers - The Marriage Made Easy

I had lost my parents quite early. As a result of their demise, I always had to work doubly hard in order to fulfill my emotional needs from other relationships. In the process, I have learnt how valuable the word “relationship” is and how it helps one exist and excel in life.

That’s why, when India’s one of the leading matrimonial portals approached me to enhance the site’s creative components, I became really bullish about the scope of work with them. In fact, it took me only 5mins to give them my positive nod.

Besides the mandatory match-making service and solution, the portal has also got a counselling cell. Wherein they provide site members with pre as well as post marriage psycho-solution to help people get stable on mind in nuptial relationships.

Following is an article, which I have created for the portal, facilitating them to convey the nuances of a (matrimonial) relationship in the most simplistic way.

I have used “five fingers” as the metaphor to describe the different stages or phases of a marriage or nuptial knot because in a marriage holding hands is quite symbolic and those are fingers only that help one hold anything.

I have given the title “Five Fingers – The Marriage Made Easy” to the article and do hope that you enjoy it.

First Finger Phase – by Little Finger

This phase is the pre-marriage period. Precisely when love, courtship, negotiation, etc. take place. In this phase, mind or emotional equilibrium remains at a very dubious, vacillating, tender, and touchy stage. At the drop of a hat, it seems anger, frustration, disbelief, etc. settle on one's nose, entailing avoidance, dissonance or may be even a pre-mature break up.

Hence, open communications, absolute transparency, presenting one’s original or true self, etc. are a few factors... imperative in this phase. If it’s not done in this phase then in the later phases there is every possibility that things will turn ugly and bitter up to an irreparable and injurious extent.

The major lacuna, which generally occurs in this phase, is a partner’s trials or efforts to impress the other partner, mostly by concealing the truth. This is dangerous, since once the sugarcoat gets off… the love or emotion pill tastes like quinine.

Second Finger Phase – by Ring Finger

This phase is the honeymoon period of a matrimonial relationship. In this phase, everything is hunky-dory and euphoric, and life seems to be nothing but a utopia.

Unfortunately, in more than 90% of cases, this phase gets over at a rapid speed.

In this phase, sex, promises, commitment, dedication, etc. are the prime factors that hold the key.

The major shortcoming in this phase is the constant rose glasses on eyes. Thereby getting too much bogged down into myopic activities, as if there is no tomorrow. And when tomorrow arrives with its all turbulent spins and whirls, the lovey-dovey partners succumb to the future pretty haplessly and hopelessly, calling their short-sightedness and unplanned steps as destiny or (bad) luck.

Third Finger Phase – by Middle Finger

This phase in a marriage is really very critical and painful too. In this stage, both the partners begin to care a damn for the other. One’s mid-finger remains always up for his / her better-half. So, this phase can also be termed as “fuck phase or FYI”.

Actually, bloated ego, false pride, professional pressure, unnecessary lies, ex-matri interest and exploration, unwanted familial and societal intrusion, etc. are the evil factors that generally do the massacre into love and emotion in this phase.

Steel in character, high-degree of patience, perseverance, self-belief and brutal honesty are the spices very much required in this phase to save the dish of marriage from turning bland here.

The major pitfalls in this phase are getting carried away by others’ suggestion, allowing own mind to stop functioning, over reacting, taking self-pity, trying to get short-term solutions of problems in hand without addressing or looking into the crux of the problems, etc.

Fourth Finger Phase – by Index Finger

This phase is the saddest, the worst, and the sorriest stage that can happen to any marriage. In this phase both the partners simply become enemies to each other. From their actions and reactions; activities and attitude, it seems as if they have never been known to each other and would really be happy if the other dies, immediately and unceremoniously.

In this phase, getting into or indulging in shameless blame game i.e. pointing one’s index finger to the other is so common that often it feels marriage is nothing but the biggest miscarriage of emotions and feelings.

But, it actually is not the case. To save marriage in this phase, or to protect self as well as to guard the hostile partner, the factors that really come handy here are dignified silence, apt and mature interactions, giving away ample space, ignoring petty temptations or provocations, and maintaining a good mental as well as physical health with the help of music, reading, introspection, knowledge-sharing, exercise and meditation.

The loophole – which can also be marked as “manhole” here in this particular phase – is slipping into the muck-full of gutter or into the quicksand with an unhealthy, heinous and inhuman ambition to kill self or the partner.

And frankly, this kind of mental disorder or insanity in one’s thought process is simply against any kind of humanism or humanity, thus deserves only condemn and reprimand.

Fifth Finger Phase – by Thumb

This phase is the most satisfying, rewarding and happy stage that one can enjoy minus any worry at all in his / her marriage.

In this phase, every negative emotion or feeling either subsides or evaporates forever. Only maturity prevails then, and the real meaning of companionship surfaces under the full moon of love, care, affection, concern and all other self-less and very positive thoughts and emotions.

[If you are an Indian and / or understand Hindi, please refer to the song “Tere bina zindagi se koi shikwa to nahi...” from the movie “Andhi” to relate to this phase like anything.]

The key factors in this phase are self-actulisation, gaining maturity, knowing how to check in temper and chew in words, and understanding the fact that love is strength but not weakness and, last but not least, compatibility is a “workable ability” that never ever comes to one on a platter by sheer magic. Instead, this ability can only be honed when both the partners understand and realise that no more they are two separate identities rather have become an “integrated or compact identity” for life.

Just the reason, I would like to decipher the word compatibility as “the ability to act, achieve, accomplish, and actualise being a compact unit, together.”

The major roadblock in this phase is feeling bad or lamenting on the time, energy, emotion and money lost in the third phase and the fourth phase. It’s not needed at all. Rather, in this stage one must embrace and enjoy the treasure of happiness and contentment of being together – that has never been so enriching in any other phases in his / her marriage.

PS:
In case, you too are suffering from any disorder in your matri-relationship, feel free to go and visit a good counsellor for help. Getting psychological help doesn’t mean that you are a psycho-patient or mad. So, open your mind before you open your eyes… to see and foresee the real sun of happiness, everyday!

Cricket says it all

Is cricket just a game or an insect? Is it a colonial hangover or a tremendous scope to bet on and earn a few quick bucks?

Many a question has done its round on my mind, and finally I could conclude that cricket is a brilliant lesson for every couple to make their marriage successful forever.

Have I sounded weird? If your answer is affirmative, I acknowledge and appreciate your doubt on my statement.

And since you are doubtful, I guess it’s my responsibility to help you clear your doubt.

Equate your marriage mandap with a cricket pitch. Your marriage is as if you are going to begin and continue your innings with your partner.

There will be plenty of people around. Call them spectators, opponents, team mates, society, family, relatives, friends, colleagues, or anything else, but their prying eyes will always be on you two, so will their said and unsaid expectations for the success or the failure of your partnership or innings.

Amidst all these, you two have to perform, score runs, build up your innings, make centuries, and succeed like anything as a pair.

During your batting, expect not only lollypop half-volleys or full-tosses that you can send over boundary rope all the time but also get ready to receive the snort of deliveries like yorkers, beamers, bouncers, and googlies that certainly can send you or your partner to pavilion at any point of time, forcing you or your partner leave the other midway of your innings.

In cricket, it’s called OUT and in marriage, it’s called DIVORCE.

It’s not like that that in case you are out your partner can’t find a new partner and bat on or if your partner is out you can’t carry on your innings with someone else. But, with every new partner the momentum of the innings suffers a lot because every new partnership needs a new beginning, a new set of game plan and strategy, a new set of understanding, and so on.

Then what to do?

Before you get out or your partner does, make sure you along with your partner – with whom you have started your innings first – have tried to play well within yourselves. In order to guard your respective wickets i.e. your respective positions at the crease.

For that, if your partner is not playing well, you try to play doubly well and if you are not fairing up to the mark, at least hang around there without throwing away your wicket and let your partner build and carry the innings in tandem with you.

Mind you, when boundaries and sixers are hard to come by, you and your partner have to rotate strikes for singles and twos as much as possible. Otherwise, your score won’t move and gradually, rather helplessly, your innings will be exposed to all’s unwanted concern, rebuke, banter, boo, sledging, tips, and what not.

Moreover, feel absolutely free and happy to run even for your partner’s runs, because unless you run hard and seriously for him / her, you won’t really realise why your partner also runs for your runs.

During innings building, this hands-on lesson on sharing the turf together is actually the real and best knowledge, which you can get and exploit in life.

Ultimately, when cricket says it all, why don’t you just play it on, on, and on… together?

2Is – a narration of Incest India

Screw you, Chetan! That’s the only way I can meet up my grudge against you. I’m pissed, and crossed too. Yes dude! Because you took the sheen off me with your latest novel “2 states – the story of my marriage”. Unfair; you have not only stolen my plot but also shared something - very dear to me - with the world.

Anyway, as every coin has got two sides, I also do have dual thoughts. Hence, on a second thought, I think I should salute you for writing that story; hence accept my gratitude and love. 377 is legal now, so accepting my “love” is no big deal.

True, in India, boy loves girl. Girl loves boy. Boy needs to scratch girl’s father’s balls. Girl needs to smell boy’s mother’s fart as jasmine. Boy’s family and girl’s family need to press and pinch each other’s bosoms and butts and so on. And everything is done for a greater cause called “marriage” and collective “happiness”.

Unless and until families get involved how could a marriage be successful? Correct, it’s impossible. Since, a boy needs to seek permission from in-laws in order to fuck his wife, so does a girl to get fucked. Indeed, family prestige is well and truly dependent on this social legalization procedure to legitimate sex, for life.

Love may happen at a boy and a girl’s will. But, marriage, no way! If it happens that way, shit, what will people say? We are social animals though mistakenly considered by a few jerks (read scientists) as “Homo sapiens”. Balls to those nerds’ (read scientists) face and their knowledge!

Marriage is an occasion, a public event, such a circus, seriously. To show off, to goof-up, to hush up, to go up on social ladder, and to do so many things, that only god knows… or perhaps he doesn’t. Because god hardly needs to get into marriage in order to make a goddess pregnant. If someone is god, his all illegal children can be considered as his boon, so what’s the heck. Fuck free and enjoy the worship, worldwide!

On the hindsight, engaging family has a real advantage in marriage. If things don’t workout well between a boy and a girl, sharing and bearing responsibilities of this mismatch can be minimized. No wonder, why a boy and a girl love to love and make love before marriage at their will but shrink rather willingly into their familial pressure when their marriage needs to be taken place and continued, successfully, on their own.

In case families are involved, it becomes much easier for a girl and a boy to inflate the elders’ ego out of proportion so that even a minor misunderstanding, argument, or difference between them can be exploited… thereby ensuring a breakup or a divorce just as a cakewalk.

In India, a marriage is still expected to be sacredly and stringently monogamous, and that creates suffocation to some extent in a couple’s life of late – when things like multiple-relations and partner-swapping are very much in vogue.

Being successful in profession is also the need of the hour; hence divorce is not a bad solution either over marriage. A divorced person spends more time at work and this just suits the colleagues, the bosses, the clients… as the name of the game is “productivity” and sometimes “re-productivity” – if there is someone or a group available to sponsor the cost of an abortion or an accidentally born child’s incidental care.

Plus, when family shield is available, courtesy parental blindness and offspring’s manipulation skill, making the mockery of a marriage is a good fun! For instance, if parents select a boy, a girl can jolly well be kissed in a car, get fucked in a hotel room… courtship, you know… however, if a girl gets married to a boy against her parents’ consent, even after marriage, she is not supposed to see her husband because if she does so, it’s a sin.

A mother has always been extra concerned and ultra sensitive in India. She is doting to the core. That’s why, she might forget to check on her daughter whether she (the girl) had ever gone to school or college but will never forget to check her daughter’s boyfriend’s or husband’s passbook. Alternatively, a boy’s mother is equally proactive in understanding her daughter-in-law’s father and his weaknesses – which can be cashed in on, incessantly.

Simple money matters, to strengthen the "bond" between two families as marriage shouldn’t happen between only two individuals, so let’s make it a “families-fuck-together affair”.

If blood is not involved, no marriage can be honoured in India, for, who the hell friends are! Right, blood is everything. And if it is, let’s make it “incest India”. Let’s call it “2Is”. Let’s allow father to screw his daughter and mother to get screwed by her son. Everything will be kept within blood then. Easily. Conveniently. And family ties will be more solid and concrete than ever before as a result of this blood or bloody involvement.

So, what are you doing? Screwing, or getting screwed up? Socially, of course.

Can never be a human...

My late mom used to think I’m talented. My late father would reckon I’m intelligent. To my siblings I’m rare. My nephews consider me as their best friend. The relatives hail me as a living joke-machine. My teachers felt and still feel I’m a good student. My ex-series of girlfriends thought I’m impossible, incorrigible, funny, honest, caring, sexy and what not. My ex and present set of bosses thought and think I’m professional to the core but quite temperamental as well. Clients believe I’m their greater ROI (Return on Investment). Markets imagine I’m easily saleable and purchasable. Friends trust me as loyal. Foes fear my fierce revenge. Competitors loathe me for my “I’m only game to win attitude”. Readers love to read my lines. Consumers acknowledge my ads. Awards welcome my entries. Media sometimes take interest in me. Listeners won’t mind hearing me crooning or singing. Composers don’t kick my ass, hating my lyrics. A few institutes summon me time to time for lectures and training. There has never been any dearth of respect, admiration, and accolades. The packaging has always been very well done and maintained. Two lives have continuously been lived and led with ease and élan – one outside the packet with an expiry date on it and the other inside the packet without an expiry date, however might expire any moment. Perhaps that’s why, I was, I’m and I will ever be and remain PRODUCTIVE – a Product, which (who) is Creative! Though it’s unfortunate, that with my all puns intended and unintended; I can never afford to live as a HUMAN, only.

My journey with a TEACHER

The richness of the saying: Simple Living, High Thinking is actually embedded in the saying itself. True, unless and until a mind is free from the complexities of living, it can’t function to think anything high.

Albeit, most of us prefer to follow the reverse adage that might sound as, “Complex Living, Petty Thinking.”

Fortunately, I used to know and relate to a person, since my birth, who happened to personify that simple living, high thinking stature like anything.

He was a schoolteacher by profession. A freedom fighter. A compulsive benevolent man known for his philanthropy. And someone who had given a damn even to the epidemic disease called plague during pre-independence in order to save lives at Kolkata (erstwhile Calcutta).

Post independence he travelled to Myanmar (previously which was Burma). There he explored his luck and maintained his life kingsize. Thereafter, he couldn’t feel like taking the nationality of that country and was adamant to remain only in dhoti instead of being lungi or sarong clad.

As a result, he and his wife along with their little kids had to come back to India as refugees. On his return to his very own Kolkata among his relatives, he found that the things were changed.

He along with his family was simply driven out of his own houses by his beloved cousin bro and sis. Who not only took the undue advantage of his long absence at his own houses but also made sure that those establishments belonged to them only.

He smiled back at his cousins and gifted them his own abodes.

His struggle started. In a new vein, as if in a new country – as a refugee in his own motherland.

The HUMAN – yes, he was a human more than a man – was pretty clear on his moves that he would slog like hell but none of his family members. Especially his little kids were not really supposed to suffer, as per his strict principle, irrespective of any circumstance.

In line with that, there was never ever any shortage of foods and books in their supply to the kids. Because at his family, foods for thought was always the priority as against the thought for foods. He knew it for a fact and quite rightly so that before his children would live in a “house” or drive a “car”, it was imperative for them to know and understand the real worth of “H, O, U, S, E” and “ C, A, R”.

Besides, there was never any slackness of fatherly care and concern on his part even for his students. In fact, a lackluster student with almost no merit happened to be his blue-eyed boy. And to make him pass and successful in an examination had always been his challenge. For that, in addition to knowledge such a student was by default privileged to have shelter, food, and the like, if need be, without any discrimination… between his own children and him (the student).

Moreover, his treatment to his children was more like their best friend than a father. He was much ahead of his age and never cowered to anticipate and accept any change toward contemporariness.

Plus, his direction and lesson to his children and pupils around was simple, “Society is for Humans but not the other way round. Thus, it’s better to live as a lonely Human than somehow surviving as a social animal in a herd.”

Given this, his children and his favourite students alike hardly disappointed him. They attained the status and the position he always hoped for them. However, he remained the same.

For instance, despite of the best efforts put forth, none could ever make him wear anything costly or glossy but his trademark white Panjabi and Dhoti made of cotton only.

But, like a bold from the blues, when he lost his wife after 45 years of togetherness, for the first time in life he showed a sign of nerves. His somewhat rock-solid composure began to feel an uncanny kind of restlessness and helplessness. Loneliness at home used to drive him outside more often than not, to some extent unnecessarily.

Indiscipline, unrest and stress and strain due to overwork got palpable in his attitude quite in contrast to his original calm-self. Pretty painfully, he was like indulging himself in self-destruction.

In the process what was expected to happen, happened actually.

He had to face two major attacks. First the cerebral one followed by the cardiac within an hour to be precise.

And, thanks to those health mayhems, finally on October 18th, THE TEACHER left his classroom and home forever.

“The teacher was my father.”

Schizophrenia, no social stigma.

Curiosity kills the cat. Thus, to me it’s always better to kill the curiosity itself than getting killed as a cat. For that, I would rather be a dog to sniff around. So that, eventually, I can sneak into the truth. Even, if it’s buried under the ground, I won’t mind to dig. To know, understand and unearth the reality as closely as possible.

And this inquisitiveness of mine has encouraged me to unfold some darkest of dark creases of a mind, which suffers from Schizophrenia.

In this article, I shall try to explain everything in a very lucid way, so that to comprehend what is what none needs to be a Nobel Laureate or a medical maverick.

What is Schizophrenia?

It’s no sin, no crime, no curse but a disease, an ailment, an illness of mind. As the adage suggests that idle brain is devil’s workshop, this sickness tends to prove this maxim 100% right in reality.

What are the signs and symptoms of Schizophrenia?

1. Auditory hallucinations – as if she listens to some alien, surreal sounds.

2. Delusions – she loves to live in her own imagery world being oblivious of the ground reality.

3. Disorganized and Unusual Thinking, and Incoherent Speech - her thought process hardly seems to be on track rather it’s seen mostly derailed. And this loss of thought-train and subject-flow with sentences only loosely connected to meaninglessness, confusion and incoherence is known as “word salad” in severe cases.

These symptoms gradually lead a Schizophrenia patient to demonstrate the following problems –

A. Paranoia – a hyper sense of skepticism, fear and suspicion of losing out something, or someone, or self without being sure of why so.

B. Avolition – a psychological state that creates lack of motivation, desire and determination to pursue any meaningful goals in life; personal or professional.

C. Catatonia – where one remains largely mute or silent and motionless in a bizarre posture or position, and exhibits purposeless agitation, arrogance and attitude, and strangely lies at random to manipulate things for nothing.

D. Alogia – a flat approach that blunts the effects of any emotion.

E. Asociality – an apathy or lack of desire to form and firm up a serious relationship.

F. Nymphomania – a tendency to enjoy multiple relations just for sexual adventure and carnal varieties. Though it’s not seen or guaranteed to happen with everyone whoever is suffering from Schizophrenia. This symptom is just an outside possibility.

Why Schizophrenia occurs?

There are no such hard and fast rules to define why it happens. However, there are a few reasons that can be considered as the root of Schizophrenia. Those are as follows –

I. Genetic – if parent(s) or someone up in the ancestral ladder was/is schizophrenic chances get increased for a descendant to fall prey to it.

II. Twins – if someone was born with a twin bro/sis, Schizophrenia might occur to her. Though concordance rates for Schizophrenia are higher in monozygotic (identical) twins than in dizygotic (fraternal) twins.

III. Social – poverty, migration, racial discrimination, unemployment, poor house condition, and above all else, “family dysfunction” are the risk factors for Schizophrenia. If any abuses - like physical, mental, and sexual – took place, precisely at the crossroads of one’s childhood and adolescence, she becomes very prone to this sickness rather unknowingly.

IV. Drug, Dope, and Alcohol – though it’s very hard to prove whether any drug or dope, or the alcohol causes Schizophrenia or not, still this phenomenon can be described in two ways: “Substance use causes Schizophrenia” and “Substance use as a consequence of Schizophrenia”. Owing to the absence of any concrete theory in this regard, it may be taken for granted that some people use drugs to cope with some unpleasant situations such as loneliness, boredom, depression, anxiety, and the like. But, there is no certainty that those situations are the results of Schizophrenia only.

How to treat Schizophrenia?

The major problem, incidentally, is individuals take years time simply to accept the very fact that they are Schizophrenic.

Once that acceptance is taken care of, a patient needs to be treated by the following methods –

a. Medication – she should be taken to a good doctor, who knows better how to treat her with proper and appropriate medicines and clinical remedies.

b. Psychological or Social Interventions – help, support, confidence, compassion and care should be provided to a patient through psychotherapy or counseling. In this method, a patient family’s understanding, involvement and acceptance of the gravity of the problem is an absolute must.

c. Other - electroconvulsive therapy is not considered a first line of treatment but may be prescribed in case other treatments have failed. This method is more apt, if the symptoms of Catatonia are present and prevalent.

d. Alternative Medical Treatments - orthomolecular psychiatry considers Schizophrenia is a group of disorders, some of which can be treated with megadoses of nutrients such as Niacin (vitamin B-3). This theory is yet to be proven though. In spite of that some researchers suggest that dietary and nutritional treatments may hold promise in the treatment of Schizophrenia.

After all, Schizophrenia is no social stigma. It’s a sickness, hence needs treatment. PERIOD.

Is the spoon missing?

A few days back, a SMS reached my cell. The message was, “Sumtimes v struggle thru a tasteless coffee till d last sip n we find d sugar lying at d bottom of d cup… THAT’S LIFE… Enough sweetened, but not stirred well!”

When the message came, I was sleeping. With its arrival beep, I woke up, actually. Initially, I was not enough intrigued but as I kept reading the text for more than once, something in it encouraged me to think.

Precisely, not only think but also write this piece.

Let me begin with a doubt.

If we found the coffee was tasteless firsthand, then why would we continue to sip into it until the last draw! Why won’t we order a new cup of coffee – in the present context that is trying to change our life? Since, having a new set of life in the life, we are living already, is not possible!

We won’t do this because we are too lazy or reluctant to adapt to any change? Or we simply love to carry on with the tastelessness dwelling on a hope that the tastelessness, which is occurring presently, might turn into a helluva tastefulness later on, automatically?

If this is hope, then certainly we are neither lazy nor reluctant. Reason being, laziness or reluctance can never entail hope. On the contrary, if there is no hope, there can’t be any hope against hope as well.

The logic is simple. If I’m not in front of the mirror how can someone or I see my mirror image?!

So, the only possibility remains in any such tasteless situation is hope, and hope is human, so are we. Hence, the equation forms as Hope = Human(s).

If so, and as hope also generates will and subsequently will paves ways – one after another – for us, then why shouldn’t we find at least one way i.e. a spoon to stir the coffee earlier than it comes to a tasteless end?!

Does it mean that hope alone is not sufficient? Yes, true. Only hope can do nothing. To get a thing or two done, successfully, hope should always be backed up by the sheer courage of action. That is work. And that’s why, work is worship.

Now, from the gamut of life if we bother to separate a small pocket of relationship and do apply this theory, I reckon, we can very well comprehend the importance of having such a spoon in our life.

Here the spoon can be anyone. A good friend, a family member, a relative, a colleague, an acquaintance, or even a mere stranger. The reality lies in the fact that we have to identify the RIGHT spoon only to accomplish our task in hand. That is stirring the coffee. Otherwise, irrespective of our indomitable courage to work hard (and hope harder) success in a relationship (or life) i.e. the sweetness of the coffee will remain ever elusive to us.

Just the reason, every successful man (woman and human included… LOL) has or should have the right kind of associates and association. More so, as after a while post our childhood, our inherent and inherited qualities get empowered by our imbibed virtues.

Therefore, whenever we tend to lose on life or on a relationship, I guess, we must think, “Is the spoon missing?”

None will cry...

Prolixity is human. May be, more Indian. Possibly that’s why; we, the Indians, love more talks, more jargons, more lingo and more arguments.

As a matter of fact, none other than Mr. Amartya Sen has beautifully essayed this very quality of our inherent culture in his book The Argumentative Indian.

Taking cues from that book and blending it with the epic The Mahabharata, I have also found something to mull over and germinate an argument.

An argument that has always disturbed me and my thought process due to which I can never take the concept for granted that the battle of Kurukshetra took place ONLY because of Duryodhana.

It’s very easy to hold Duryodhana solely responsible for the entire mess, mayhem and massacre happened in The Mahabharata, whereas the real truth is entirely different, as per my opinion.

Here I go with my logic…

First things first, so I begin with Dhritarashtra. He knew it for a fact and from the word go that he was blind. Of course, it’s a handicap for ruling a dynasty. If he was a little bit sensible, he could have understood that reigning an empire was not his cup of tea, really.

But, as the blindness in his eyes got into his mind too, he never bothered to think in that line. Rather, he literally forced Gandhari to get married to him… probably bragging that he was the king of Hastinapur. This, for the reason obvious, didn’t go very well with Gandhari herself as well as with her brother Shakuni.

As a result, the bro and the sis took an oath in unison that they would see the end to it. From that day onwards, the seed of peril and death was planted in the garden of the Kauravas.

The playact started with Gandhari. She simply blindfolded her eyes, intentionally, with a piece of cloth. She actually did this just to avoid even the slightest glimpse of her blind husband Dhritarashtra but marketed it so cunningly that her mockery became a talking point of unprecedented sacrifice of a wife – as if made in order to match her husband’s footsteps in every walk of life. A petty dig at someone’s misery and handicap was dramatised, ironically, as a high-graded commitment and dedication of a lady.

Besides, knowing her bro Shakuni quite well, Gandhari was convinced that this make-belief sacrifice of hers would be fair enough instigation, pep and constant reminder for Shakuni to accomplish his task against Dhritarashtra and the Kauravas in general.

The plot was well laid out and amidst this Duryodhana and his siblings were born to Gandhari and Dhritarashtra.

Their birth was adequate piss [and pee, since pee and babies are synonymous :P] for the first lady of Hastinapur.

Getting pregnant by Dhritarashtra early and then delivering 101 number of children drove the lady crazy to her wit’s end, for sure.

No way was Gandhari willing to take more beating on her. So her plan was simple, “Let’s make Duryodhana himself the nemesis of the Kauravas.”

But how? As no child is born as a criminal. But, yes, a child can be made so. Hence, let’s made him one.

As she thought, she did it accordingly. Gandhari assigned Shakuni to take care of her children, especially of Duryodhana. And she herself began to massage the inflated ego and false pride of Dhritarashtra by pushing the blind king more n more into the dark lanes of skepticism, lament, curse and vengeance against the innocent and helpless Pandavas.

While she was doing her part, Shakuni was outstanding in his role. He made sure that Duryodhana gradually grew up as an epitome of lie, deceit, whim, indiscrimination, manipulation, indiscipline and idiosyncrasy.

It was not like that that other elders in the family or in the close circle of the Kauravas were not aware of Shakuni’s misguidance to Duryodhana but they decided to keep mum – as, it always feels good if others’ children get spoilt. Sad, but true!

Given this, when Duryodhana fabricated the reason and the rationality of his never-to-be-quenched grudge against the Pandavas, the Kaurav-brigade of grey hair gleefully accepted the story that Draupadi laughed at and made fun of Duryodhana while he slipped into the water at the palace in Indraprastha mistakenly thinking that he was walking on a glossy floor.

I still find it difficult to acknowledge, whether an innocuous laughter could at all be any cause to such a devastating war like the one held in the battlefield of Kurukshetra, later on, as a consequence of Draupadi’s laughter!

I have my serious doubt in place. Honestly.

Then came the famously infamous or infamously famous strip tease of Draupadi – courtesy Duryodhana’s direction and Dushasana’s roll, take and action… and Sri Krishna’s intervention for a premature cut.

This leads to the reality that what Sri Krishna even being an outsider could afford to do for Draupadi, the family members and the relatives of the Kauravas – who were incidentally also related to the Pandavas – didn’t even feel like doing.

Why so?

Was it because they also wanted to experience the fall of Dhritarashtra and his family, eventually? Or the produced titillation of a female skin and flesh – even if she’s a daughter or a daughter-in-law – was an unlimited free seduction for those men who were supposedly suffering from mid-age and old-age crisis with an insatiable orgy?

If so, then why should we blame only Duryodhana for blackening and painting the face of his family when he was literally first spoilt and then exploited by his own mother Gandhari, father Dhritarashtra, maternal uncle Shakuni, and the likes.

Had Duryodhana been so evil, then he wouldn’t have given the shelter and the due respect to someone like Karna – who was rather unceremoniously delivered to be dumped by his own mother Kunti, so that he lived a life of a bastard.

Proves the point that Duryodhana was not at all a bad soul. But his problem was he was hatched by his family and relatives in such a way, so that he could be used like a puppet or a sacred goat in line with his inherited and imbibed bloated ego, stubbornness, mindlessness and anxiety – altogether that never helped him take any right decision per se.

To say the least, Duroyodhana’s vindictive nature or attitude was the product of his father Dhritarashtra only. For, if, as a loyal son to his father Dhritarashtra, Duroyodhana saw that his father embraced a iron idol of Bhima (Duryodhana’s cousin bro) to crush the idol in a vain effort to kill Bhima what lesson misguided Duryodhana was bound to learn then from none but his blind father about relationship and love, and humanity?!

Of course, the lesson for him was, “Killing is everything.”

Perhaps, pursuing this wrong understanding about life and owing to his bad education, stale value system, tasteless upbringing and spiteful principles and morals, Duryodhana could hardly justify any of his actions against the Pandavas and invited his untimely death as well as all others’ for nothing in the battle of Kurukshetra – known as Dharmayudh.

Now, as a conclusion, in light of The Mahabharata and the TRUTH, it ensures that if parents are so blind on mind their child(ren) ought to be depleted, defeated and defamed everywhere; be in life or death. Thereafter, it’s only those blind parents who will be left alone and forced to bear the corpse of their beloved child(ren) to the burial ground or the crematorium on their own. And for them, none will cry!

PS: If you liked this piece or even hated, feel free to comment to talk your mind.

Rani said nothing

While returning home, I was thinking about Fakir. My friend Fakir - whose corpse was burning behind at the crematorium. For those with raising eyebrows; Fakir was Muslim but he preferred fire to soil. To him there was no difference between Lord Shiva and Allah.

Fakir happened to be a very simple guy. Very simple, indeed. As his name suggests, the guy never had any greed whatsoever for any earthly possession. It was always music and writing that would tug at his heartstrings.

My association with Fakir was for long. Pretty long. If I say correctly, it was for no fewer than 37 years. Yes, we were kind of born together.

Fakir lost his mother quite early. Then his father. He made himself almost on his own. The only asset my dead friend inherited from his departed parents was a heart – that was simply matchless, priceless and very true, for sure.

Unfortunate, that the fire in the pyre won’t spare this heart unlike his naval.

Honestly, I have never seen anyone like Fakir – who just used to believe in the power of love and honesty.

Fakir was a very good singer in fact. And that was the quality, which attracted and then attached Rani to him.

The two fell in love in a flash, crossing each other’s path for the first time in life. Of course, there were love and passion between them, so was their conflict of education, upbringing and culture. The formation of their respective beliefs, principles and morals was not in conjunction at all to say the least.

But they were in love. Madly. (Or should I say badly and sadly, as Fakir is no more.)

The drift between Rani and Fakir started when Fakir visited Rani’s place to meet her parents. Rani’s family members, precisely her mother, made sure that Fakir got humiliated, hassled and heckled by them like anything.

Why so? Because Rani’s parents were moneyed unlike Fakir – to whom money never counted.

From there, many dramas took the stage one after another at Rani’s place, so that Rani dumped Fakir.

Many tags such as Satan, Hypnotizer, Urchin, and the like were assigned to Fakir as the easy and prompt descriptors of him. The poor guy never knew or understood what his fault was.

He kept asking Rani about it. He cried. He lost his temper on this issue. He lost his sleep. He almost lost himself.

Still, Rani said nothing.

Days were flying off. There were ups and downs in their relationship. However, they managed to cling onto the side of their rocking boat in order to stay together in the sea of their emotions that had become quite turbulent by then.

Intelligent Fakir asked Rani to help herself slip into the life-jacket and leave him. For, the guy realized Rani was actually keener to harbor inside a safe cocoon than fighting against the odd tides by being beside Fakir.

But, Rani said nothing.

Instead, Rani hanged around. She insisted they tied up the knot in a hurry. She literally forced Fakir to perform the event. In the midst of a high current situation, their marriage was solemnized.

Immediately after the wedding, Rani went back to her place for a few days leaving behind a promise that she would come back. Soon.

Fakir found another job to get himself indulged in. That was counting days for Rani’s arrival.

Fakir was happy. Very happy. He thought, honestly, that Rani also turned happy as a result of their marriage. Thus, to add respect, amplification and shine to their happiness, Fakir began to acknowledge Rani as his wife. In private as well as in public.

And to share his happiness with all and sundry, he never felt like taking any permission from his wife Rani.

So, Rani said nothing.

On the contrary, the poor chap was accused of bringing insult and disrespect to Rani because Fakir told and exposed the truth to the world that Rani became his wife.

Fakir lost his speech. His eyes went blurred. His heart was almost chocked. And he didn’t know what to do next. The guy fell sick. Seriously.

He kept trying to reach Rani. Everyday, in every second.

Though, Rani said nothing.

After that episode, suddenly, two guys from Rani’s place came to Fakir. One of them literally challenged Fakir by saying what the hell Fakir could do in case Rani didn’t turn up.

Fakir did nothing but gave the petty person a walkover with a plate of sweets.

Following their visit an eye-wash reception was arranged to accept Fakir as a mere compromise, as if thrown upon Rani and her RICH family. To prove this point and instill more pain into Fakir’s injury, Rani’s father made sure that Fakir’s late mother’s name got dropped off the invitation card.

Fakir got upset. Terribly upset. He asked for a proper clarification from Rani.

Yet, Rani said nothing.

Rani’s family reached at Fakir’s city to organize the party. As planned, they visited Fakir’s siblings just a day before the event. And pursuing her ulterior motive, Rani’s mother left no stone unturned to perform a well calculated rudali-show or sobbing drama to express her helplessness on conceding Fakir as Rani’s husband.

Because she knew it for a fact, when Fakir would come back home and listen to it, he would blow off his mind’s fuse. And if it happened, she had a chance to call off the party by taking Rani in her confidence holding Fakir responsible for every mess.

Clever Fakir got it very clear. So, quite willingly he walked into their well laid out trap. He reacted strongly and vehemently to the ongoing fracas – as brought to him by Rani and her family and relatives.

As expected, they latched onto this provided spark of Fakir. A big fire ball was created by blowing off naked lies, manipulated stories and fabricated tales simply out of proportion, in tandem with Fakir’s residual wrath and frustration

The reception got cancelled.

And, Rani said nothing.

She along with her family went back home. Prior to that, she asserted that she was INSECURE with her husband Fakir.

Got to be! If a husband always wants his wife beside him how can a wife be secure?! LOL.

A few days were spent.

Then a letter of false allegation greeted Fakir. He was charged of executing unbearable mental and physical torture on Rani. He was blamed to bring insult and disrespect to Rani’s parents and family members and relatives.

This letter entailed the Petition for dissolution of their marriage on mutual consent.

Each paper was duly signed by Rani.

Nevertheless, Rani said nothing.

Fakir signed on the papers. Arranged an advocate for Rani. And gave the green signal for the legal proceedings.

Rani was elated. So were her family members and all other relatives. Seeing them happy Fakir also felt good. Quite relieved.

To celebrate his peace, he called me up. I went to his place. We talked. We sang. We boozed. We enjoyed, together. Whole night.

At dawn Fakir had to catch some sleep. So had I.

We slept. After a few hours I woke up. But Fakir kept sleeping…

In the evening the hearse car came.

The pyre was all set to welcome my friend Fakir.

I said, “Goodbye!”

Rani said nothing.

After all, Fakir too said nothing.

The moral of the story is: "Say nothing to feign humble and live long!"

Off the rear view mirror

Yesterday, when I walked off Sarda Plywood’s office at Park Street, it was 3.30 PM, sharp. Immediately, I hailed a cab and the cabby obliged. I had to reach Gariahat, soon. So, without wasting a split second, I got settled (you may read nestled) inside the vehicle.

Then only I noticed the cabby. The guy was in his early 50s, I guessed. Slender. Having grey hair. And also realized, in a short while, that he was on a higher plank too.

Firstly, thanks to the smell of the country liquor he must have consumed at lunch and secondly, owing to his worldly expression of commonsense and life’s experience.

Actually, the incident took place while we reached the intersection just under the Park Circus flyover. A young, quite hardy, and self-employed beggar knocked on the windowpane close to my seat in the rear to draw my attention. He was begging in the name of Lokenath Baba, as if the BABA instructed him only to beg from people minus doing any work in order to worship the BABA as a devotee.

Facing the beggar (or should I say the bugger) and his petty efforts to make a few quick bucks, I, obviously, became very disgusted. Though I didn’t utter a single word but my facial expression was changed. So was my body language. Towards annoyance, of course.

The cabby, on the rear view mirror, I’m sure, witnessed that change on me. Hence, he opened his mouth to talk. For the first time, in fact, since I boarded his cab.

The first thing he said was that we, the Indians, especially the Kolkatans were losing on our workability and self-dignity rather thick and fast.

Frankly, I was taken aback. Those types of word, and that too, from a so called “illiterate” cabby… well, kind of a shockwave to me. However, those words helped me erase my beggar-bugging irritation and, instantly, I turned pretty curious to know why he said so.

So, I enquired and he explained, “Sir, foreigners love to see beggars in our country, especially begging on roads. Thus, they are the major contributors or donors of such an easy-money to our young brigade – who don’t have the requisite education to understand what’s good to earn and what’s not. Plus, those moneyed men of our own nation also patronize this begging spree, so that they too can exploit and pick those uneducated and idle brains as and when required.”

I was stunned! Yes, I was truly stunned! Was I listening to a cabby? Was I? I didn’t know. And, inevitably, my next question to the guy at the wheel was, “How could you utter such things? Who told you these?”

Pat came his reply, “None, sir. Whatever I told you was my hard earned experience. Because I have seen places and people. I have been driving for 22 years. Earlier, I used to drive trucks and travelled to Delhi, Mumbai, and Siliguri, and almost all parts of Assam and Punjab… and now for the last three years, I have been driving taxi at Kolkata.”

I pushed his words down, in a great hurry, through the gullet of my mind. There was no time to digest though, as we reached Gariahat.

Later on, in the evening, when I was strolling around the lake, I was actually trying to digest what I heard from that cabby.

I really wonder, if a cabby in our country can think so and reflect such a truth, as a matter of fact, off the rear view mirror, then why can’t the majority of our leaders, politicians, industrialists, intellectuals, social, motivational and management gurus can’t do the same for the millions of followers whom they lead everyday, everywhere, and every time!

Strange!

5th August

The day began with a bright sun. The sky was pristine blue. There was serenity in the air and peace all around.

I woke up quite early on that day. The clock was ticking at 6.30 only. On my way to the balcony, I peeped into her room. I thought she was sleeping. So I tiptoed close to her bed. Frankly, I had no intention to disturb and break her sleep. The room was dark enough to balk my vision. It was tough for me to get a better view of her through the mosquito net. So after a while, I resigned and reached the balcony.

I was feeling an immerging sense of tranquility inside me. The feeling was intensifying because of the environment, which happened to be so clear and clean that early morning.

Breakfast was over by 9.30. As a result the gush of deep thoughts started to toss my mind into the whirlpool of idleness. What to do next and what not to… happened to be a million dollar question to me that time, because I was jobless in those days.

All of a sudden the phone rang at around 11.00 am. There was none near the cradle. So I had to go and attend the call. Bingo! It was for me only. A sweet female voice checked on me whether I was game to visit their office for an interview at 3.30-4.00 pm. The position was: Junior Copywriter.

Honestly, I was no insane to give it a miss. Thus, pat came my reply, “Yes, I’m coming on dot!”

I got ready rather in a hurry. Before I left, I again went to her room. She was wide awake then. Lying in her bed, nonchalantly, she was looking at the ceiling with a vacant and visionless stare. Incoherently, she was feeling the lump on her forehead and trying to move her unmovable and motionless right foot… of course, in vain.

Metastatic Carcinoma i.e. “cancer at last stage” was forcing her and her indomitable spirit to succumb to death. However, she was reluctant to surrender so easily, hence there was always a continuing fight between pain and perseverance.

And I was a mere spectator of this grueling battle… bout after bout… everyday, every night, offering NO relief to her thanks to my joblessness and helplessness.

I used to realise that no more she was able to counter the pain. Her ability to punch back was diminishing, gradually. Despite, she couldn’t feel like giving in because she had a worry, a big worry, about me and my future.

Anyway, I reached for the interview. The bullies took off, immediately, in their most sophisticated guise. And why not, after all admen would hardly get such a soft and non-English speaking target like me for their fun-crunch! Therefore those guys’ suave humiliation and intimidation was jolly well acceptable – as if their guidance provided me with, honourably.

Somehow I managed to survive and got selected for the final round – scheduled to be held after two weeks. I was elated. Precisely, relieved.

I walked off the interviewer’s office. Looked up at the sky. And found unlike the morning it was cloudy and heavy. It was about to rain cats and dogs.

I had to return home soon. I had to convey the good news to her.

But how? Before I perched onto a bus, the sky opened up. Torrential shower engulfed the vicinity. I tugged myself under a shade competing with a few dogs, roadside. I was praying to god, “Please let me go home fast,” as I had to see the smile on her face, courtesy my first ever success in job market.

After almost one and half hours, the rain ceased a bit. I boarded a bus. Then took an auto. And was reaching home almost running through the lane with a heart full of happiness and smiling galore.

I reached home. But felt an uncanny lull in the surroundings. A few people were standing underneath our house. I asked them, “What happened?” None said anything. I chose to waste no time. Rushed to the staircase. Climbed up to the door in a flash. Then gate crashed.

I saw that she was lying in her bed with an angelic smile on her face. There was no sign of pain. She was rather resting in heavenly peace. Perhaps god conveyed the good news to her on behalf of me.

5th August, exactly at 5 pm, that’s how she left me forever.

And she was my MOTHER.

The Mahayana

Dear Friends (and Foes),

Since my childhood, the two epics: the Ramayana and the Mahabharata have fascinated (and flabbergasted) me and my wit (if any) to a large extent.

Why so, to unveil… let me begin with the Ramayana.

The king Dasharatha had got three wives. Perhaps any Hindu marriage act was not applicable on him at that point of time. Or may be, as the diktat articulates that a king IS a king, he could manage to raise himself above the reach of any such marriage act or law.

They say that the first criterion of a great king or ruler is impartiality. So, when Dasharatha was quite admittedly and evidently more inclined towards his second wife Kaikeyi than his other two wives, I suppose, this was the king’s unbiased love for the queen sans any discrimination!

As far as my little knowledge goes, it understands that a king governs the lives in his kingdom or realm. And, I guess, the king’s bedroom also falls within his empire. If so, then when a mere maidservant Manthara could afford to exploit his supposedly in-the-bed promise to his wife (Kaikeyi) for an evil interest, I wonder, whether it should be considered as Dasharatha’s governing power as a king or his meek surrender to love (read lust) as a helpless hubby darling!

[Then why only hold Ekta Kapoor responsible for giving India the family feuding K-factors, when on the contrary Maharshi Balmiki had introduced us to those K-marked family politics ages ago!]

From there, Ram was asked to leave his paternal house for 14 long years. Fair enough! But, I’m not sure, if it was fair at all to allow Laxman to get himself tagged along with Ram and Sita while Urmila – Laxman’s innocent wife was not a party to the awesome threesome’s jungle venture for such a long period of time. It’s quite bizarre to note that poor Urmila had to suffer from a conjugal void, as if her marriage was annulled for nothing. Sorry to cite that was quite selfish of Ram and Sita and simply irresponsible of Laxman.

In the jungle, Sita may have demanded for umpteen times for a golden deer or anything trivial, but being a mature person, if Ram couldn’t predict the inevitable danger lurking around his wife (Sita), then it was sheer lack of commonsense expressed by a husband following the suit of his bro Laxman. Seems this IRRESPONSIBILITY was quite hereditary in Ram-Laxman’s family.

Also, it’s weird how could a man be called as Sri Ram instead of Srihin (lackluster) Ram, when the guy actually killed the super-ape Bali from behind like a coward in order to pursue and benefit from a give n take deal signed with Bali’s bro Sugreev – who was eyeing for Bali’s throne by hook or crook.

Plus, if you take Ravana and his intelligence into consideration, I’m sure; you would be as perplexed as I have always been. It’s strange that even with ten heads the guy failed to think of the consequence of offering fire to Hanuman’s tail!

Amazement continued! More so, when Hanuman could manage to put his blazing tail into his mouth for a permanent facial tan but couldn’t feel like putting it into the sea, which he actually crossed over by air after finishing off his famous Lanka episode.

God and Sita only knew how tough the days were out in Lanka; however she was ordered by her great husband (Ram) to walk straight into the fire on coming back home… because society demanded it. Peculiar! What a god damned god, I swear!

Now let’s take a peek into the Mahabharata, which also contains no less atypical actions and activities.

In case we start with Dhritarashtra, I don’t know whether the king was actually blind in eyes or on mind. Reason being, his actions and reactions helped one arc his or her eyebrows, incessantly.

Frankly, if a father remained always engaged in child production (101 children, no joke folks) without being bothered about his offspring's education and nourishment, it was pretty obvious that his children would be misguided and spoilt only.

[Sometimes, I seriously contemplate why Dhritarashtra shouldn’t not be given with the due credit on a/c of his labour to unearth the pitcher babies one after another much before the incidence of a test-tube baby took place!]

Exactly that happened with Duryodhan and Dushasan. Not to mention their maternal uncle Shakuni who took ample advantage of this family disorder of the Kauravas complementing his ulterior motives of finishing off the king, eventually, rather smilingly.

Put some light on Yudhistir and the black spots will become so conspicuous in his somewhat honest and prudent character. Really mind-blowing; a man who personified morals, values, principles and truth kept his wife as a bet to be naked in public because he was reluctant to leave a game of gamble, while losing on it badly!

What to say about Kunti! First she got involved with Surya, brought Karna on earth as a result of her pre-marital adventure and then floated her helpless baby in the water to save her painted face from society. Mother’s care, you see! Not only that but also Kunti’s idiosyncrasy was simply unstoppable when, without even seeing what (or whom) Arjun brought home, she ordered her five sons to have the equal share of Draupadi among them. Interesting, that to a concerned mother like Kunti her son’s (or sons’) wife was nothing but a commodity! After all, Draupadi was others’ daughter (read kitten), so why bother, may be that was the thought cooked up in the shallow kitchen of Kunti.

On the other hand, it was very frustrating too, when the people like Vishma, Dronacharya, etc. chose to play the puppets’ role instead of using their weight, might and thoughts to thwart the Kauravas from forcing continuous injustice to the Pandavas. It proved, in fact nakedly, that a chair and its associated lifestyle-perks and privileges have ever been everything to all from time immemorial… till date.

Now, if I don’t mention of none other than Sri Krishna to conclude my viscera report of Mahayana (Mahabharata + Ramayana), it would be a condemnable offense, I admit. Honestly he was the man who held the key and boldly showed the (marketing) world how to steal the limelight from taking off as a saree seller to Draupadi to completing the cycle as a motivational guru to Arjun by selling the Bhagavad Geeta to all, including any Tom, Dick and Harry, or Ram, Sita or Mita.

Finally, NO WONDER that the practices such as Hintuva (not Hinduism, mind you), social niceties (read cruelties), passing-the-buck ploys and the like are still building our nation on others’ profound notion that India is a happening THIRD-WORLD country even in the year 2009!

Devotedly yours,

Sushovan

PS: Feel free to let me know how you’ve liked my Mahayana (Mahabharata + Ramayana) only at rana12feb@gmail.com

Accenture is not THE NEXT BEST THING TO > NAKED

What’s the difference between “Accenture” and “Jockey”? No prize for guessing, or answering. Because when the former is synonymous to “Consulting. Technology. Outsourcing.”, the latter stands for “Comfort. Titillation. In-sourcing.”

However, rather interestingly, Accenture concentrated quite hard on their “Business Attire Policy” in recent times. Perhaps the organisation felt that to combat the heat of the global meltdown should never be an in-office “Jockey-ing” – practiced by its employees.

Thus, prophet-ing “Accent on the Future”, Accenture helped the creation of a few ads (as showcased along with this article)… flashing the company’s restrictions on the flesh, skin and brawn shows of its Adams and Eves in office.

It seems, in line with the punch-line “High performance. Delivered.”, Accenture had to do something so dramatic in a desperate effort to keep the “brain-factor” alive among its employees.

Now the point is when worldwide the never-aged maxim says, “Sex Sells!”, can Accenture afford to denounce and deny the flesh-factor of its employees so easily? More so, when on an average an employee spends most of his quality time in office only… at present?

Or the company is too much worried about its female-employees’ calves, shoulders, bare-backs, etc. or its male-employees’ biceps, armpits, and the likes?

If flesh and skin of opposite sex are distractions at workplace, in that case when Adam gave away his apple to Eve for sharing knowledge, may be the first dude of mankind was in his Armani suit, so was the dudette fully wrapped up inside her attire… right?!

For that matter, then the top-to-bottom clothed Talibans are the most productive manpower and womanpower around for any organisation that promises things like: “High performance. Delivered.”

Bizarre! Quite weird! And too some extent pathetic work culture to bring in to any organisation for any employee per se. More so, when it’s 2009!

As a matter of fact, gimmick is nothing new rather an essential part of HR policies (fallacies included) in an organisation. But, when this type of gimmicks goes overboard it actually comes crushing down to the ground reality defining HR as “Humour Resources!”

Frankly, from a concern like Accenture that was the last thing expected. For, Accenture has never needed to worry so early that if the prevalent economic crisis continues; its workforce might come down to office in two-pieces only, eventually. The company could have or still can jolly well rely on its employees cloth-buying capacities at least, if not working abilities, despite of the current financial doldrums.

Finally, people who join an organisation of Accenture stature and calibre have certainly got the greys inside their nuts to opt for “Jockey” in place of “Accenture” – whenever they feel like getting: “THE NEXT BEST THING TO > NAKED.”