Are There Two Indias In One Bus Route? - Will “1 thru 10 for India” help?

I am seated in an AC bus, comfortably settled, with a book and digital camera on my lap, on my right is this young man, surfing the net. Yeah, there is socket in this bus for people to use their laptop. Some have closed their eyes and are already in deep meditation while others are humming the song. The Bollywood music is playing in the background and it is calming the nerves of all the passengers. How much better can the life get? “India is shining” and I grin shyly. The bus stops momentarily at a signal and I look out on the streets. A five-year-old child smiles at me, raising her hand to wave at me, another child, six-year-old cradles one-year-old in his arms. I am thinking if somebody could guide them to the nearest pre-school where they could discover the magic world of words. They shouldn’t be here on these dirty streets at such a tender age. Ouch! "India is NOT shining" on other side of my window. Should I de-sensitize myself and not look in the direction of “other India”? The “Other India” is as much a reality as the “India Shining”? Is that fair? Is that right? Can we lend a helping hand? Do you care? Will you make your 3 days count? Can you go do something good for your country? Will you do something for the “Other India”? More on the topic including the "Africa in Peril" presentation that influenced/inspired 1 to 10

Random Thoughts on Survival

Do we really need too much money??? we have only two feet to wear one pair of shoes, we need just two pairs of clothes, one car, one job, one house and enough to eat and share. So why should we earn too much money??? Why should we snatch money from others when we don’t really need the excess? Well I believe that it is certainly not right to snatch money for extra comfort. We are not living in a safe world. Today we do find in each and every newspapers, TV channels, this murder, that murder, rape, snatching, bribery and so many ways people adopt to snatch others money. But can we change other people’s action? WHat we can do is to only mend our own ways and try to live our own life in the best way that we can. We should try to concentrate on what we can change and if plastic money can be used to stop the criminals from functioning, then we have a strong tool. But personally thinking Money is important. Many people do take lot of energy to earn money in a mad race so that they are able to make a difference.. And make this place a better place to live in. Money can buy happiness if used in correct way. Because we need money for everything. Because to lead a respectable life and to be able to do what we really want to do. Okay I will tell you about the discomfort we have when we don’t have enough money to make a difference in somebody else’s life. Somebody comes asking for monetary help and you have to refuse it because you don’t have enough for yourself. If we have talent then we are blessed and if we can make money using that talent then we can start buying comfort. When we have exhausted our own needs then we need to look outside. There is so much pain in this world, so much suffering and many of them suffer because they have neither strength nor talent to make money to make their life better. That is where the rich people come in. Rich people with big hearts reach out to people to help those who are not so fortunate. And the rewards you get for that work cannot be described. Get a poor girl married and see the look on her face, it will bring joy. Get a child educated and he grows up to be successful and when he brings a box of chocolates out of gratitude for you, you get that different kind of happiness. Everybody has a purpose in life. Even a plant does not just grow and die. During its presence on earth, it gives shade, fruits and greenery to the world. It gives inspiration to poets and writers. Even after its death, it leaves behind its woody usefulness. Similarly, our presence in is world is there for some purpose. We are in this world to do something and we only need to find out what it is to make our life meaning full World is not just paper notes, plastic money and also some minerals like gold, diamond etc.. It is something more than that……. Moreover, don’t expect anything in return. Don’t sit and crib that people are enjoying your money but they are ungrateful. We must do our duty and not expect fruits in return. For every action there is a reaction. If you wish to live selfishly, then you really don’t need to accumulate wealth, if you are concerned only about your own comfort, then stop working when you feel that you have enough and don’t need anymore money and start enjoying the world, travel, see places and finish off your wealth. Don’t share your wealth if you don’t want and miss the opportunity of seeing the real wealth surrounding you..

Education is must…for complete progress

Today my maid comes to work with a perforated black plaster on her ankle and I am curious. When I ask her, she says that the black plaster will ease pain from her knees and her back. She is constantly in pain but she does not take any leave of absence. I feel very guilty of making her work for me, especially when she is so much in pain. I have never cut her salary if she skips a day of absence but still she is always very regular. I am sure that if she was to work only for me, then she would take holiday when she is unwell. But unfortunately, she works for three more families, doing the same work day after day, everyday. People in India are very lazy and they get agitated when their maid does not turn up for work. Whenever she is absent, she is loaded with extra work on her return. Such is the life of people who are uneducated and poor. She realizes this and hopes that her children will be educated so that they don’t suffer like her. But the environment that they live is not conducive for education. There are many distractions, where she lives and the children who live in the slums, spent most of their time playing on the streets or, trying to earn a living for their parents by begging on streets or working in some industry. So, where is the time to study? There are many NGOs who try to provide food, clothing and clean environment, some of them conduct free classes for them but the initiative should come from children themselves and from their parents. If they show no interest in studying, what can any NGO do? For that matter, what can anybody do?

Should I rejoice at ‘Slumdogs Millionaire’ Success?

World sings ‘Jai ho’ around this globe While the poor man sits outside a gate Wearing garb of poverty His tattered crown bringing fame and show From rags to riches, the world rejoice While we tread through those narrow lanes Seeing hollow eyes, bloated tummy Can we be proud of our helpless folks? I am not sure if I am proud of eight Oscar awards. But here, this is the truth that we try to hide under the carpet and pretend that it doesn’t exist. There are always resigned attitude of many Indians saying ‘What can we do?’ This movie “Slumdog…” hits us hard, real hard. Many of my friends (abroad) have pointed out this to me many times in the past saying that they are very much troubled by the poverty of India, especially when they are in their relaxed state in the luxury of their car, munching on a bar of chocolate and then see a dirty, stained face, peeping into their car window with helpless look, begging piteously. Former Bond girl Michelle Yeoh quotes, “The film was a fairy tale and shouldn't be confused with what life is actually like for India's poor and that Boyle had to make "Slumdog Millionaire" upbeat because the true story of what it is like to live in a slum wouldn't have appealed to audiences.” And this is the truth, the reality that only Indian who lives in close proximity to those shanty slums finds it hard to ignore. It made me squirm, cringe, reject and reluctantly accept. It was so honest that I was benumbed by its content. There were times that I wished that he had not stripped my City of Mumbai like this. But the story worked! One year ago, when it was released, no distributor was willing to buy it and now, world rejoices at its success. Eight Oscar awards! It suddenly acknowledges India’s existence and indirectly, Bollywood importance in world cinema. Hopefully, world’s attention will clear the debris. I only hope that those child stars, Azharuddin and Rubina, who walked the red carpet at Oscars will not return back to their shanty lives. I hope their life will change forever……

Richie Rich, Poorly Poor!

On a more serious note, while the kids at KGAF are having a wonderful time, painting, drawing and attending all the workshops on Clay modeling, Calligraphy and other art activities, there are other kids that I see in a local train, on my way towards the venue, which are not so fortunate. I see this child, barely seven year old, making a living out of selling the crumbled roses to the passengers in the train. I ask him, ‘Don’t you want to study? Do you wish to go to school?’ and he growls at me as though I am speaking some gibberish words. At another station, I see this 10 year old, who has been brutally abused (there are deep knife-cuts on his face and neck and his one finger is missing), I see him crying with pain as he walk slowly down the aisle, begging for alms. Are they aware that they, too, could enjoy those activities and that, those art and craft activities are free for all, rich and poor. On the streets of Kala Ghoda, I see group of kids performing those street shows of walking on a tight rope accompanied by the group of musician kids, and yet another pair of street kids, who ask for water from a street-side-stall but they are being chased away. ‘Surf Excel’ sponsors of the children's activities, promise to remove the stain off the clothes, but the children with real stain of poverty and dirty clothes are not inside the ring.

Tsk, tsk, tsk. from riches to rags....

I have come to realize that good looks may not always buy us happiness. Sometimes it is more of a pain living in this lusty world, where good looking girls have a crazy soup to have with their meals. The story doing rounds now-a-days is about the top model Geetanjali Nagpal, who was seen begging in a market place in South Delhi, living off the streets and spending her nights in parks and temples. Disowned by her family, this 32-year old former model, with her matted hair, dirty clothes and unwashed look, now presents a picture of utter poverty. Who would believe that this was the same girl, who in 90’s had sashayed down the catwalk of Delhi with the likes of Sushmita Sen? She had seemed set for a flashbulb career in fashion! This is the horrifying story of the dark side of glamour. In glamour world, good looking girls have very few friends and if they get into drugs and alcohol, then there is a downward slide to misery. For many who enter into the world of glitz and glamour of the fashion industry hoping to make a mark, not everything is a smooth sail. With long and odd hours to work, there is too much stress and unrealistic expectations, and this becomes sometimes difficult to cope. Everything has a price....doesn't it?