The Circle of Life

This morning when I picked up a Hindi daily as I sipped my morning tea, two stories placed on the front page greeted me. The top headline gave details of the sad demise of Ghazal Maestro - Jagjit Singh, the man who gave words and music to many emotions felt. Who popularized, ‘Tum ko dekha to yeh khyal aaya’ as the eternal love song and made us shed a tear for ‘Chitti na koi sandesh’. Seeing his smiling photograph made me miss the voice with which I and likes of me related ghazals with. My mind hummed while my eyes scanned through the list of his renditions. As I was about to end the list of unforgettable ghazals, I saw the face of a cherubic little boy with a very lovable and confident smile. The newspaper had given this little one a miniscule corner but the words read boldly ‘Jaipur greets the winner of Saregamapa Little Champs 2011 – Azmat Hussain’. Apparently, this little boy a power house of talent had won hearts and accolades for his impeccable singing talent, eventually winning the title with unanimous approval from all over India. People had poured in hundreds, to greet their new and emerging star. Azmat, was quoted as saying that it would be his tenacious efforts to entertain people with his singing. With a sign! I sat back and smiled, true this is the circle of life - When one journey ends the other embarks. With a voice fading and another emerging one truly agrees to Queen’s popular number – ‘The Show Must Go On’.      

Bring the Change

This morning, while surfing a social networking site, I was amazed to see a video post showcasing a protest at my previous work location. Hundreds of young professionals wearing crisp shirts, well creased trousers and ID badges around their neck were shouting slogans supporting an anti corruption movement and ridiculing the current political situation of India. At the first instance, this seemed a wave of change, a radical step against corruption, a ray of hope and above all unified youth of India. However, my mind could not resist raising some questions for these protestors – How many of them have shown strictest refrain from bribing a traffic cop when a traffic rule was broken by them? Who out of them had never given false rental receipts and medical bills to invade annual taxes? How many would out rightly reject a tempting bribe offer if it comes their way? If the answer is none - then our country has stocks of such honest men and women and they can certainly make a difference. Unfortunately, that is not the case, we all have sometime or the other been part of this corrupt system and have not felt guilty about it. A change is definitely required and an effective change will truly be a revolution. Sadly, a constructive change is not apparent from the current situation. I do see updates by people every second showcasing extreme support for, Anna Hazare, but am yet to see a single update of a pledge never to give or take bribe and lead a life of strong ethics and morals. Any anti corruption bill that is passed would have its own share of loop holes which could be tampered for the benefits of the corrupt. So to hunt a solution, I started listening to all the motivational speeches that are doing rounds these days. Read what many had to speak and their take on corruption. One sentence that impressed, inspired and motivated me was spoken by Sri Sri Ravi Shankar – To bring a change in society, bring the change in you first, automatically the society will change. Definitely this peaceful and hassle free method is worth a try – bring the change in yourself.

A walk down the memory lane!!

A short trip to Amsterdam, turned to be a trip down the memory lane. With few free hours in hand, a map at our disposal, we became the accidental tourists and started scanning the map for tourist destinations. As my eyes went thru the map with guidance by my index finger, I came across, 'The Anne Frank House'.  

A flashback started running in my mind on an instant basis. I was reminded of the time when I had first laid my hands on the book, ' The Diary of Anne Frank'. I was about to enter my teens then and like Anne, felt I had grown big and had new found love for my independence and 'private space'. My life was also welcoming secret crushes and I had a sudden concern for my looks and appearances. It was an instant love for the book. As I proceeded, I was to read a first hand experience of a jewish family in the world war 2 and their travails. With further reading, how I wished and prayed the safety of this family, but all in vain. Anne's family hid in a secret annex, from the Germans, they were eventually discovered and sent to concentration camps. Anne died there, her father survived and discovered the diaries. He later publish them. Millions like me read this and realized, that Human rights are the most essential birth rights of every individual, and should be enjoyed by all.  

'The Anne Frank House' was immediately circled by me and the tram route to the house was studied. Freezing winds, temperature in negative and an eternal wait for the tram did not dampen my spirit. The house was a straight walk from the tram station, in the native language '6 dams away'. As we walked, My husband lend his ears to my  endless jabber on the memories of the book and how it inspired me to start with my own diary. Yes, true enough I had started writing a diary too, penning my insignificant day activities which were of extreme significance at that time. My brother, would occasionally open the lock of the diary with my hair pin with as much ease as if he had the key. He would then take my case royally by giving me the look ' I know all you secrets'. Eventually, after a couple of months later we both weaned out of our new found habit, he got bored reading the gibberish of a new teen and I got bored writing it down. When we were 2 dams away, I also narrated the tale that I along with my girlfriends had built a secret annex, chamber to be more precise on our terrace, its roof was made from the old bed sheets from our house and the walls were made from our mum's old sarees. We imagined, it to be our refuge from the rest of the world, where we could have our secret meetings, secretly we wanted to experience Anne's way of living in our own way.

With all dams crossed, we saw the board that directed the tourist to the Anne Frank House.The streets were relatively free of crowd owing to a chilly day, but as we approached the house a long serpentine line of tourist  welcomed us, All had one motto, to see the Anne Frank House. While we stood in the line and waited for our turn, I was amazed with the mass appeal this book had. People from different cultures, different societies, different ethnicity and different background all waiting patiently to see the house where the little girl spent the last few years of her life. This not only showcased the immense popularity the book has enjoyed over the years, but also strengthened the fact that all of us believed in Human rights and were united in its cause. After a long wait, when we got the chance to enter the house, I felt I had come there before. Anne Frank's amazing power of description thru words, made all the readers, like me feel familiar to the secret annex. As we climbed the narrow staircases, it was very heart rendering that there was no iota of sunshine and the place was a complete disconnect from the outside world. Some of Anne's words still rankle in my mind. She stated many at times her desire to be a free bird and go out in the open, sadly the basic right of freedom was devoid to her and her family. I also remember reading in her diary her desire to be a journalist one day and write for human rights. Alas, she could not fulfill this, but her diary has been an inspiration for many a journalist in today's times and shall be for many in the making. Also, her story has inspired many to fight for their rights. As for me, though I never continued writing my diary but definitely Anne Frank's diary left an indelible mark on my tender mind and made writing my best way of expressing my thoughts and inner feelings.As a reader I would like to say that Anne, your dream to write for human rights is being lived by so many who got inspired by you and many more shall take inspiration from you. Your dream definitely lives on!       

My Big 'Fat' Indian Wedding with all very 'Thin'

As the wedding approaches, Thanks to both the families revenue is generated for many cities. The ‘sareewala’ is happy, the jeweler is all smiles, the tailor has tremendous workload and critical deadlines to meet and the printing press has a bulk order of many cards to print. Amidst this, the last laugh is by the fitness and health centers all over the world (at least parts of the world where our family and friends reside). Welcome to my wedding preparations, where loosing those extra inches seems equally important as buying a new saree. Flat tummy holds more appreciation then a Versace suit and toned legs are admired more than the pointed stilettos. So while few are flexing their muscles in the gym, some are shaking a leg or two in their Zumba classes. Couple of them prefer yoga for the mind body and soul, some like to match up to the steps of Shilpa Shetty and her power yoga while many prefer the morning walk and the cool breeze. The groom and the bride are also not spared, specific circuits are given to both the aim to loose few inches here and to gain a few there. Oil and ghee and cheese are being avoided like plague, while fruits and green leafy vegetables are being embraced. K serial is the new munching snack and luke warm water is replacing cocktails and mocktails. The net result is astounding; the flabs have beautifully changed to six pack abs. The mother of two is now the ‘sexy’ mother of two. The 40+ women easily fit into their old wedding lehengas. The ‘XL’ shirt sizes are being miraculously replaced by the magic letter ‘S’. All the new mummies are flaunting their flat tummies. The friend with puppy fat is the new babe in town and glowing skin seems to simply run in the genes. I don’t know will the fitness regimes last after the first dawn post my wedding but one thing is for sure all shall surely relish the culinary delights of an Indian wedding without the guilt pangs.