And Then

Thoughts Began To Fly

Cheapest Justice ever

Published by Aakarsh under on Thursday, August 21, 2008

I have always thought and believed that we can get away with anything in India, by paying hardly anything. Till date, I don't our system has underwent any change which can disprove my notion.

This news article confirmed the same.

Sometime around last year, a senior advocate R K Anand was caught on camera, negotiating a bribe, to let a wealthy criminal get away from the apparently long hands of India law. Quite surprisingly, our rusted judicial machinery did administer this and took a not-so-long one year to give its verdict. The bright-side of this judgement is that, quite unusually, the court held that R K Anand was guilty of obstructing the administration of justice using unfair practices. The court stripped him of his designation of Senior Advocate, which indeed raised by eye-brows. Additionally, the court's judgement also disallows him to appear in High Court and its subordinate courts, for 4 months.

But the icing on it and the darker side of this judgement is the imposition of fine. The court, probably was oblivious of current price index and was probably referring its 1950 benchmarks, that it imposed a 'hefty' fine of Rs.2000 on him. I wonder if he could afford it!

Did the court atleast knew that Mr. Anand himself charges in lakhs, per hour, to his clients. Rs.2000 is perhaps the pocket money given by Mr.Anand to his driver's son.

One of the readers rightly commented on that webpage: "Only in India we fine a person a mere Rs. 2000 for raping the law of the land." But then, that is Indian Law.

My point is, why was he not convicted? Does being a lawyer or senior advocate automatically exempts him from convictions, no matter whatever is the magnitude of  the crime he commits?

Well , most people will feel content that Mr Anand has now been disgraced. But I am not. But I am sure this would not make any difference to R K Anand. Afterall, he could get away with not few hundreds, but Rs.2000.

Anna's Diary

Published by Aakarsh under on Wednesday, August 13, 2008

written by Anna, a Georgian Actress in Shekhar's Blog

It’s 4 AM at night and a frightening nightmare wakes me up. I am wearing outdoor clothes, that is not very comfortable in bed. But at that moment, I can’t feel it, since I am too scared...too scared that a huge noise might pierce my eardrums and brightness invade my whole vision. I stand up and look outside from the window. I look at the dark, cloudless sky and I look at the street lamps. I look at the deserted, empty pavement and then back at the sky. Then I turn around and go to bed. I hug my pillow tight and try to sleep as much as I can. But I can’t stop thinking about it...all those images of horrible scenes from the TV are flashing into my mind. Then I hear noise of a jet, flying above somewhere and I feel as my heart starts to beat faster and louder. Fortunately, that night goes well. Nothing happens in Tbilisi, the capital of Georgia.

The next day, I wake up and I am happy to see the sunny day. I am happy to be alive. I turn on the TV to see the news, hoping that the situation is getting better. But instead of that, it’s worsening. I see and hear how more and more villages and towns have been bombed and how more and more people have been killed. I see injured innocent people, crying, looking for their family members in ruins or on the list of dead people. I see young reservists, dead. I see blood and violence, grief and tragedy. My sister enters the room, crying. My niece is sleeping, so that’s why my sister has dared to cry. She won’t cry in front of her daughter. She does not want to scare her. I ask her what happened. And she tells me that a 19-year old cousin of her best friend has died due to the bomb explosion. I did not know him, but it still hurts me. It gives me a terrible pain inside, here, somewhere in the chest. It gives me a lump in a throat. The boy will never see his family and friends again. And his family and friends will never see him again. Because of what? What is the reason? Nothing! A complete absurd. I wonder how many young boys will never see their family again. Hundreds...thousands...

The time flows so imperceptibly fast. I have been watching the news since early morning. Now it’s midday. And suddenly I hear screams and cries from the neighbor’s house. The police is taking their son to the army. And his mother is crying and desperately begging them to let him stay. The father is not going to let his son die for a nonsense and he is shouting at them. But using force the police brings the youngster out of the house and puts him in the car with the rest of the boys. I am not a writer and I can’t describe what happened. I can’t express those emotions and feelings. I don’t know the exact words. The scene was ... it was just... horrible... unspeakable...

News: The United Nations proclaims to Russia to stop the violence, stop the fire, stop bombing the territories of Georgia outside the conflicted area, South Ossetia. But Russia turns a deaf ear to them. They keep on bombing more and more places...

Vladimir Jirinovsky says: “Bomb the whole Georgia day and night!”...

US Vice President Dick Cheney says that "Russian aggression must not go unanswered, and that its continuation would have serious consequences for its relations with the United States."...

Russia is “way out of line!”...

The USA and the EU needs to save Georgia from annihilation...

Russia is waging ‘terror’ against Georgia...

Russia wants the president of Georgia to resign, otherwise they won’t cease fire...

Russia wants to invade Georgia in 21st century...

What’s going to happen? Will it finally end? Will it stop soon?

I am packing rucksacks together with my sister and mother. It is expected that Tbilisi may also be bombed. So we should be ready for it. If it really is bombed, where should we run? Everything’s so crazy.

It’s night again. This time I am too exhausted to be dreaming nightmares. But I still wake up all of a sudden. I hear an awful, deafening noise of an enormous explosion. We all jump from our beds and leap to the windows. There’s another noise of a second explosion. My sister runs into the room all white as a sheet, asking what shall we do. We decide to go somewhere with her car. Outside there are so many people. Almost everybody has left their house. They are all so scared in a state of total panic. After some hours of drive into the city, we return home, since we don’t hear any more explosions. The things that’s scarier is that we are on the top floor, that means that if our house gets bombed, there’s no chance to survive. Heh... This fact always gives me a nervous, weird laughter.

The next day, we find out about it. Thanks god, nobody was harmed. Russian jets have bombed military base and radar installation. Suddenly I hear a telephone ring, that startles me. These days I feel so edgy, that everything startles me. I pick up and it’s my father, calling from the USA. He has heard about the Tbilisi bombing and wants to know how we are. From his shaky tone I notice that he is very nervous. He sounds so frightened. I have never heard my father in such state... Life is so strange.

And now I am sitting in front of a PC monitor and typing a boring, illogical article. I don’t know what I am trying to say...what I want to say... I just want to express my emotions somehow. I keep them bottled and it makes me feel like a heavy load.

I hope everything will get back to normal soon enough; soon before more thousands of people die; soon before Georgia completely collapses.

Restless...Afterall

Published by Aakarsh under on Wednesday, July 23, 2008

Restless I am... for what,

I dont know,

and that makes me even more restless.

a 1000 questions bombarding my mind,

pieces of my thoughts, shattered...

what do i do picking these, all scattered...

will i ever find answers? will i ever trust,

that the answers i find, are answers afterall.

what did i do? what i am doing?

what i ought to do? and for whom?

will i ever have a chance to get back,

if i realize that whatever i did,

was meaningless afterall.

will these lengthy preludes of breath,

go useless, without any music afterall?

Affair

Published by Aakarsh under on Friday, June 27, 2008
Last night you went away, after we made love...
When I was still asleep, holding you...
You pulled away your white skirt from my lips,
Lips which left their imprints on the edge of your skirt...
After that, I searched for you...everywhere...
Frantically, i looked for you in all our favourite places
And found no traces...of your visit there.
Then, all the places i have ever been to, in this city,
all the streets and by-lanes...and far off groves
I didn't spare the sky either...

I asked some of your friends,
Who wore starry smiles on their faces,
but didn’t tell me where you were...
Late in the evening, when i got tired looking for you,
i headed back home...with disappointment and hope...
A solemn silence descended into my street...radiant.
And I met one fair beautiful lady with few blotches on her cheek...
She claimed that she was your neighbour,
And told me that you would return to my room in the night...

It is night now and I am waiting for you,

A breeze just entered my room, carrying your fragrance,
earthly...yet ethereal, stimulating...yet intoxicating...
I just heard your foot-falls..and their echoes...
The music of your pattering feet...delicate...
With all my eagerness, I came out to greet you...
At last it is raining...
At last it is raining...and I feel you are hugging me...
I am with you When I am in rain...
Come in...Lets make love again...

My Dear Silence!

Published by Aakarsh under on Saturday, June 07, 2008
When my thoughts falter my speech,
it is only you i approach, i seek...
Together we walk in my world,
in search of those images and thoughts...
unchained...but broken, ingrained...but spoken,
draped in the robes you gave them...

Dear friend, i see you as an image, now and then,
understood, and felt, yet not completely...
like those vibrant tunes of heart, muffled...
like those after-glows of evening lamps, just put off...
I see many great things, in you,
all fashioned themselves in your profoundity,
wearing your robes and singing your songs...

With Peace as your breath,
and beauty as your soul,
you continue to stir inside me,
a soulful of solitude which transfixes me,
and then liberates through a thought i nurture,
by weaving few words for it, to make it a verse...
unchained...but broken, ingrained...but spoken...

i must thank you for being there...
in my world, in me and somewhere in my verses,
for they have in them, your pulse...
cover them with your robes...my dear silence...

Wireless World & We (WWW): Part-1

Published by Aakarsh under on Monday, May 05, 2008
A good number of people i know, complain about my negligent nature...in handling my mobile phone. No, i dont dare to drop it 'n' number of times, for it is not a Nokia...but my negligence lies in sticking around it..or vice-versa. The handset i own spent about 2 years with me, of which, it has been in silent mode for atleast 75% of the time. Though i do not argue about the utility of a mobile phone, i find it really annoying. whats annoying is not the calls but the fact that i have to constantly carry this little-weighty external device. the sense of botheration associated with it, is even more irritating than the botheration itself. I was probably 23 when i got my first mobile. and i have stopped using it in between, when i was 24-25. what a peaceful period it was. I still have this urge to discard my mobile phone and i am tempted to do so, if not for the sake of few reasons which bind it to me. Afterall, i have managed without it for 23 years in my life. Discounting the years when i really didnt need it, probably i survived well without a mobile a phone, for atleast 10years. Not bad!

i recently read a couple of articles in the magazine - 'The Economist', which spoke about the evolving changes in the patterns of human behaviour, be it in offices or in social circles, as a result of the growth in mobile communications. One article starts off on a rightly profound note - Sometimes the biggest changes in society are hardest to spot because they are hiding in plain sight. This article deliberates on the how the rapid changes in mobile communications are giving way to what is called as 'Digital Nomadism'. Faster cellular networks, Wi-Fi hotspots and new gadgets to connect to these networks are probably the new vehicles of changing social behaviour.

Nomads, in ancient times, were wanderers who carried all their belongings along with them. Digital Nomads, quite contrastingly, do not carry anything except for their most precious belonging - Wireless Gadget. Thats it, we have business professionals who need just a BlackBerry to avoid going to office. Another interesting thought discussed in the article was the comparison between cars and mobile phones. Cars, apart from other resources, did have a role in the division of cities - into residental areas and office areas, atleast in the west. Such a trend is now catching up in India too. It is now predicted that the wireless technologies would be mixing up these divisions again. With increasing road-traffic problems and related health hazards, future professionals might as well adopt 'work-from-home' concept, all with a hi-fi dedicated network. Should such a trend arrive, there would an interesting change in the dynamics. People would feel liberated from the coccoons of office cubicles. but what about the relationship between people in the office. the word 'colleague' typically means much more than 'we work in same place'. it also stretches to across to someone with whom we have a relationship whose bandwidth lies between 'official acquaintance' to 'friendship'. if people rarely get to visit office, thanks to improved wireless communications, would the word 'colleague' hold any signficance? How would our social perceptions change, if we get to interact through (or with) only emails, instant messages and avatars? if we get used to such a kind of working environment, how would we see the concept of 'Human Contact', in the context of 'Office culture'?

to be continued...

I'm An Ordinary Man

Published by Aakarsh under on Thursday, February 14, 2008
PROFESSOR HIGGINS:

I'm an ordinary man
Who desires nothing more
Than just an ordinary chance
To live exactly as he likes
And do precisely what he wants.


An average man am I,
Of no eccentric whim,
Who likes to live his life, free of strife,
Doing whatever he thinks is best for him.
Oh, Just an ordinary man.

But! Let a woman in your life,
And your serenity is through.
She'll redecorate your home
from the cellar to the dome,
Then go to the enthralling fun
Of overhauling you.

Let a woman in your life,
And you're up against a wall.
Make a plan and you will find
She has something else in mind,
And so rather than do either
You do something else that neither likes at all.

You want to talk of Keats or Milton;
She only wants to talk of love.
You go to see a play or ballet
And spend it searching for her glove.
Let a woman in your life,

And you invite eternal strife.

Let them buy their wedding bands
For those anxious little hands.
I'd be equally as willing
For a dentist to be drilling
Than to ever let a woman in my life!

I'm a very gentle man,
Even-tempered and good-natured
Whom you never hear complain;
Who has the milk of human kindness
By the quart in every vein.

A patient man am I,
Down to my fingertips;
The sort who never could, ever would,
Let an insulting remark escape his lips.
A very gentle man.

But! Let a woman in your life,
And patience hasn't got a chance.
She will beg you for advice.
Your reply will be concise,
And she'll listen very nicely,
Then go out and do precisely what she wants!

You were a man of grace and polish
Who never spoke above a hush.
Now all at once you're using language
That would make a sailor blush.
Let a woman in your life,

And you're plunging in a knife!

Let the others of my sex
Tie the knot around their necks.
I'd prefer a new edition Of the Spanish Inquisition
Than to ever let a woman in my life.

I'm a quiet living man,
Who prefers to spend the evenings
In the silence of his room;
Who likes an atmosphere as restful
As an undiscovered tomb.

A pensive man am I, Of philosophic joys;
Who likes to meditate, contemplate,
Free from humanity's mad inhuman noise.
A quiet living man.

But! Let a woman in your life,
And your sabbatical is through.
In a line that never ends
Come an army of her friends;
Come to jabber and to chatter,
And to tell her what the matter is with you!

She'll have a booming, boisterous family,
Who will descend on you en masse.
She'll have a large Wagnerian mother
With a voice that shatters glass.
Oh! Let a woman in your life!Let a woman in your life!


I shall never let a woman in my life.


It is just a coincidence, that today is Valentine's Day... :)

From the Original Soundtrack of 'My Fair Lady'; Performed by: Rex Harrison

Within You Without You

Published by Aakarsh under on Wednesday, January 16, 2008
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We were talking...about the space between us all..

and people who hide themselves behind a wall of illusion

never glimpse the truth

then it's far too late when they pass away

We were talking...about the love we all could share

When we find it to try our best to hold it there with our love,

with our love we could save the world if they only knew

Try to realize it's all within yourself...no one else can make you change

And to see you're really only very small

and life flows on within you and without you

We were talking...about the love that's gone so cold..

and the people who gain the world and lose their soul

They don't know, they can't see...Are you one of them

When you've seen beyond yourself...

then you may find peace of mind is waiting there,

And the time will come when you see we're all one...

and life flows on within you and without you

Kya Bura hain..Kya Bhalaa..

Published by Aakarsh under on Thursday, December 27, 2007
Kya Bura hain...Kya Bhalaa
Hosake tho Jalaa..Dil jalaa..

Muskuraana Sehthe jaana..Chaahne ki Rasm Hain..
Na Lahoo na Koi Aansoo..Ishq aisa Zakhm hain..
Muskuraake zakhm khaale...Na shikhaayat koi.. Na Gilaa..
Kya bura hain...Kya Bhalaa..Hosake tho Jalaa..Dil jalaa..

Saara Din Ghazalen pironaa...Raat bhar Aawaargi..
Hatgaya daaman tho kya hain...Saada dil hain, Saadgii...
Na Dilaasaa chaaha dilne..naa Wafaadaari ka..Silsilaa
Kya Bura hain...Kya Bhalaa..Hosake tho Jalaa..Dil jalaa..
Kya Bura hain..Kya Bhalaa...

Film: Libaas; Lyrics: Gulzar; Music: R.D.Burman

From The Dark Room

Published by Aakarsh under on Wednesday, December 12, 2007
I am a photographer, printing..
Some pictures I took, long ago.
It is night, just the new moon glinting..
On the smoking mountain far away...

Fireflies, here and there, are flying,
The season of winter is done..
I am busy printing and drying,
and the faces emerge one by one...

They seem to rise up from the ocean..
So strangely they come into view,
like moons from the void, in the motion,
and suddenly there is you...

Your face sprighty like a fountain..
looks up from the little bath..
A wind blowing down the mountain
strews leaves on the garden path...

The ruby light falls on the photo,
your face, smiling, tilts up and gleams.
It wants to break free from the water,
It wants to come back in dreams...

O my dear! rise up from the water,
and surface the wave with your eyes.
My breath will, I promise, warm you,
my memory will bring you, into lively skies...

But you have already hardened,
the ripple of water is still,
you must have forgotten about me -
your look is so stony and chill...

Life is hard and demanding..
and you can't live it over again,
if there is no understanding
each other to the end...

This film holds many others,
friends still hidden from sight,
urging me on and on,
to print the photographs in tone..
and I am working here all alone...

.... April 21, 2002

Dis-opinionated

Published by Aakarsh under on Wednesday, November 28, 2007
The only way to escape unhurt in a meeting of highly opinionated individuals is not to have a opinion at all.

An old poem from a younger Aakarsh: Flowers

Published by Random Walker under on Monday, November 19, 2007
Flowers... their fragrances felt in life
and even on a lifeless body as a wreath...
life perhaps is just a journey
of a tender fragrance...called Breath

29.4.2002

Elementary My Dear Self!!

Published by Aakarsh under on Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, through Sherlock Holmes, said - "To the man who loves art for its own sake, it is frequently in its least important and lowliest manifestations that the keenest pleasure is to be derived".

I say - "To the man who loves not only art, but also beauty for its own sake, it is frequently in its sublimally enlightening, captivating and greatest manifestations that the keenest pleasure is to be derived and savoured".

Elementary My Dear Self!

Do kadam Aur Sahi...

Published by Aakarsh under on Friday, October 19, 2007
Zindagi haath mila…
saath chal, saath mein aa...
Umr bhar saath rahe..
Do kadam aur sahi…Do kadam aur sahi…

koi suraj ki dagar..koi sone ka nagar..
chaand ke rath pe chale..jahaan tehre yeh nazar..
dhup dariyaaon mein hain..
phir safar paaon mein hain..
dil ka aawara diya.. doosre gaaon mein hain..
aao chale hum wahi..
do kadam aur sahi…do kadam aur sahi…


Khwaab dhaltein hain jahaan..
dil pighaltein hain jahaan..
aao chaltein hain wahi, woh zameen door nahi…
dosti hogi wahaan..roshni hogi wahaan...
uss ujaale ke liye.. jal chuke laakhon diye..
ek hum aur sahi…
do kadam aur sahi..do kadam aur sahi…


kiski awaaz hai sunn..yeh naya saaz hai sunn..
kaun rehta hai sadaa, chal ke dekhein zaraa..
raah veeraan sahi.. raat sunsaan sahi..
har ghadi saath rahe,
kitne gam saath sahi...thode gam aur sahi….
Do kadam aur sahi… Do kadam aur sahi…


Lyrics: Rahat Indori; Soundtrack: Meenaxi - A Tale of 3 Cities

Published by Aakarsh under on Thursday, October 11, 2007
Today is one of those few days when, i admit, i hate to be alone!
 

Lipsum