Golden people

Recently I was required to purchase some gold. The price of gold sent me a shock. Gold is neither used in any industrial manufacturing like iron, alimuniume, copper etc. Its just used in jewellery then why is it so highly priced. And why is it considered a better standard in trade as compared to diamond.

Gold is inflation proof:
A little bit of googling told me that 200 gms of gold would have bought me a well built horse some 2000 years ago. And with same amount of gold I can get a nice horse even today. Similarly, to get a nice outfit a gentleman required 10 gms of gold some 500 years ago, and today also its almost same. Point is "gold is inflation proof".
One can argue that if Gold preserved its value across 2000 years then the horse & cloth too preserved its value as by selling a horse you can expect 200 grams of gold anytime. The catch here is gold is immortal but the horse is not. The clothes go out of fashion, get weared and teared.

Gold is trade standard:
Ok agreed that horse is mortal, but why diamond is not as standard as gold?
Gold is maleable and ductile. It can be beaten into thin sheet, molten into wires or shaped as desired. Two smaller pieces of gold can be combined to form a bigger one. Diamond no doubt is valueable, but it can't be shaped as per desire. Once cut, its size can only be reduced further. You cannot club two diamond to form one. The shape in which a diamond is cut may not be liked by other person, other culture or era. So diamon is not as good of standard as gold.

Gold maintains it purity:
Fine agreed that gold has good reasons to be standard item as compared to diamond. But why not copper, iron or aliminuim. These metal are maleable and ductiles as well.
Now this is a good question, however I have an explaination for that too. Iron rusts, copper forms oxide and alimunium readily reacts with other elements. Even though gold can embed wide range of things into it, from diamond to normal stones, Gold is inert. It doesn't react/combine with other elements.It maintains its purity and its shine always.

Gold is rare:
And last but not the least, it is rarer than iron, copper or alimunium. So costly than any of them. Still it is abundant enough to be possessed by average person, which makes it a standard metal.

Gold is valued by women:
If none of the above point convince you then simply know that golden jewellery are close to women's heart. While men may value machines, land, vehicles, etc women values gold. The valuable of women is more valuable than the valuable of men. Cheers for women and :( for men.

Okay okay, good analysis of gold, what to do with it now? Nothing, just apply these properties to know which people are valued more?
1> The people who are maleable & ductile , i.e. can mold themselves according to need of hour.
2> The people who can go well with gem (diamond) as well as with unskilled(stone) person
3> The people who can maintain their purity and brilliance
4> The peoople who are dear to one who has power to decide value

The gold goes through high temprature to become valueable. So if you are going through a tough time, you are in the process of becoming valuable. Just preserve your brilliance, purity, maleability, ductility & amicability and you will be gold to everyone.

Contrast

Two days ago, the heavy rains turned many roads of Pune into river. Baner Road, in front of Sindh Society was water logged for over 4 feets for many hours. I got a chance to speak with the security guard of Sindh Society about his experience that night.

He said, "You can read most of the details in news paper. I will tell you what is not written there. The rain started suddenly and it came really fast. The road in front of our society is wide, busy and shallow. Water from all sides started rushing in and in no time around 4 feet water had accumulated on road. Many cars got choked in that mini ocean. It was natures way of flushing and cleaning the area."

He continued, "The rain also showed me many contrasting behavior of human nature. The water logging had forced everyone who was travelling on this road to take refuse in this society, as it is on elevation. Few society residents were upset on the entry of outsiders in the society. At around 12.45 AM, Mr. Bhuleshwar, who is one of millionaire and lives in the society, came out with a big water bottle in his one hand and few glasses in the other. Nobody knew this big and rich man except me and few other society residents who were present on the spot. He was approaching the people who were unwillingly stuck here and giving them water, in case they felt thirsty after such a heavy rain. See the contrast in behavior of residents same society to the same event."

He continued, "Most of the travellers lived a few kilometers from here and were returning home after days work. They turned in the society at right time to safety. But Mr. Jhunjhun Patel, who lives in this society, adjacent to road didn't. He tried to wade through the 4 feets of gushing water. His mercedez stopped breathing just 30 meters before its destination. Sometimes journey of few yards is longer than journey of many miles."

It was getting interesting now. He again started, "Many people were in panick. Inspecting their vehicles, calling on their mobiles and describing the great trouble to their friends as if they were in hell. But there was other lot of people, who were enjoying the rain. Video shooting the show of nature. Few of them were even broadcasting it to their friends using laptops, as if they are in heaven."
He continued, "It is your attitude that creates hell in this world or turns it into heaven."

And then a funny expression started appearing on his face. He said, "From somewhere coins started floating in water. The water was murky but in the lights of the street lamps a group of people started filtering water to get those coin." With slight change in his expression from fun to joy he said, "The other group of people were removing stones, rabels and other obstruction below murky water so that the road is commutable and accident free." This time he didn't add his comment about the contrast but it was implicit.
He also told me about the ways in which he helped the travellers. He helped them park their vehicle to safety, which many people collected next morning. For elders and ladies he created seating space. Some vehicles were not starting and he pushed them. He was busy through out the night doing his duty and helping people. Many people's mobile got drenched in rain and was not working. They called home from his cell. While he was doing this, he experienced sudden respect for a security guard, which otherwise is never seen from public.

I congratulated him for his well done job, thanked him on behalf of all travellers who got help from him. Before leaving, I asked him, "Anyone of them came to thank you or express their gratitude."
He smiled big and after a long pause said, "No, they will never. But you came, neither you were stuck here nor helped by me in anyway. Thats the last contrast I observed."

I felt good about my contrast. With a smile on face and joy in heart, I waved and moved on my way to home.

Elevation

Beeboo was on his usual routine of inspecting the flowers, moving quickly from one row of garden to another. On well blossomed flowers he would land with his feet and collect the nector before returning to his hive. That day, the weather started deteoriarating suddenly, forcing Beeboo to fly back fast thus breaking all speed limits. While negotiating a turn on the gusty wind, he couldn't control and collided with the hard trunk of the tree. The shock immediately switched off his brain, making him unconcious.

When Beeboo opened his eyes, he found himself on a hard bed inside a poorly lit whole. He was finding it difficult to breathe as the atmosphere was stinking bad. Still lying on bed, he murmered in a weak voice
"Where am I?"
"Dingoo's den" was the response he got from right side of the bed.
"Hello, I am Dingoo"
"How I came here?"
"Just before the storm, you fell in front of me from sky. I couldn't leave you alone and brought here. How are you now?"
"Last I remember was the collision with the tree"
"How are you feeling now?"
"I m feeling little pain, but I guess nothing serious. How long I was here?"
"Just few hours"
"Thank you Mr. Dingoo for saving my life"
"My pleasure"
"What you do Mr. Dingoo?"
"I make dung balls"
"What?" No wonder why everything is stinking, thought Beeboo in his mind. Next thought that hit his mind was why Dingoo saved him, what is the cost or favor that he would demand in return. Will it be honey? or something else? "I think I should make a move now. People of my hive would be worrying about me" said Beeboo with haste, anticipating Dingoo to put his demands.

"Sure, please do visit again" While saying this Dingoo knew what was going in Beeboo's mind and was sure that an elite bee would never visit him again. Beeboo took a sigh of relief and flied out in hurry.

After knowing the fact that his life was saved by the insect that make dung ball from the waste of animals, Beeboo was feeling uneasy. Before returning to the hive, he took a dip in the fragrant lilly. On reaching hive, he didn't spoke with anyone but took two pegs of honey and went to sleep but couldn't. Everything kept coming to his mind and slowly he realized how mean he was in suspecting the intentions of Dingoo. Strangely, next morning he wanted to see Dingoo again, after all he had saved his life. He wanted to thank Dingoo properly.

Beeboo flied to Dingoo's den and called for him in an affectionate voice. Smiling came out Dingoo. This time Beeboo didn't cared that Dingoo was an insect that lives in dung and immediately hugged him while thanking him repeatedly. Dingoo felt the warmth of thanks and friendship in Beeboo's hug. Dingoo was touched on seeing this behaviour of Beeboo. The hug started a new friendship between hearts of creatures of two different species. They spent hours chatting about their lifestyles and daily activities.

Beeboo wanted to give a treat to Dingoo, which Dingoo accepted gladly and immediately. Dingoo asked, "Where are you going to take me and when?" "Right now and the venue is a surprise" replied Beeboo. He took off while clutching Dinggo in his claws. He flew over to near by garden.

After seeing all the flowers in the garden, Beeboo dropped Dingoo in the best flower he could think of. Before Dingoo could understand anything, Beeboo told him, "Enjoy the fragrance and nector of this beautiful flower. I will see you soon." He flied away from the flower as if he was leaving Dingoo with his beloved in privacy.

Beeboo returned to the flower by evening time. To his surprise the flower had closed itself and Dingoo was locked inside it. Beeboo tried setting Dingoo free but couldn't open the grips of flower. The night fell and Beeboo decided to return to the flower early next morning. Beeboo yelled to Dingoo from outside. "The flower is not opening, I will come early morning and take you back. You don't worry, its safe inside." Dingoo had no option but replying,"Don't worry I will be fine."

Next morning when Beeboo came back, he found that the flower was plucked by the gardner. Now Beeboo was getting anxious about life of Dingoo. He kept his eyes fixed on the basket carrying the flowers. The basket was put in a van and taken to a temple. The flowers were used to decorate the idol of God. Beeboo was trying to spot Dingoo whole day but couldn't. Next day he again returned to temple, just to find that the previous days flowers are despersed in the holy river Ganges. Tensed Beeboo was flying over the flowers that were floating in the current of river Ganges and trying to spot Dingoo. Now Beeboo was really worried and his eyes filled with the tears of regret. He was dying a thousand times every second, just thinking that he is responsible for death of Dingoo, the one who saved him.

Suddenly he saw Dingoo floating on his back in the current. Beeboo's wings gained new strengths and he rushed towards Dingoo. Dingoo's eyes were still open and he was still breathing. Beeboo started shouting repeatedly "Give me your hands".

Dingoo moved his eyes to see Beeboo, but didn't raised his hands at all, instead gave a faint smile. On the repeated cry of Beeboo, he finaly raised his hands towards Beeboo.

Beeboo caught him with a strong grip and flew away from water. While flying his eyes were oozing tears that became part of river. He was constantly repeating, "I am sorry, I am really sorry" as if the priest repeats the sacred chants. After a small flight he placed Dingoo on dry land, hugged him and gave his loudest cry. Dingoo in the meanwhile was calm and never lost his composure. He hugged Beeboo back and helped him to store to normalcy.

Dingoo said, "Can you please do me two favors?"
"Anything that you want me to"
"Okay then first give me a flight over river Ganges and keep flying while I talk with you."

Puzzled Beeboo opened his mouth but before could say anything, Dingoo said "Don't ask anything, I will tell you all". Like an obedient friend, Beeboo was flying over Ganges again with Dingoo in his claws.

Dingoo started in a soft and relaxed voice. "Dont be sorry for what happened and listen to what I say very carefully, as I wont be there to repeat them. I am an insect who spent all his life living in hell, making dung ball of excreta of all creatures. I always smelled shit, but because of you I got to smell fragrance of a flower. I got to spent one complete night in the confines of that beautiful flower, drinking her nector and sleeping on her soft petals. I had not touched even a single flower before that. Next day, I found myself in the company of hundreds of such flower. Each flower beautiful than the other. To add to my luck, I just din't find myself in the temples of mighty lord, but got to sit on top of his head, attached to the flower you dropped me in. And if this was not enough, to cleanse me, I was released in the holy river of Ganges. Had I lost my life before you came, I wouldn't have called it death. After being elevated from shit to flower, then temple, then God and then holy river Ganges, if I go back to that world of shit, it would be real death"

Both were looking eye to eye, flying over the water. After a pause, when Dingoo opened his mouths to say again, Beeboo already knew what the words were going to mean. With closed eyes Beeboo listened to the most clear, confident and firm words...
"After gaining this elevation, now let me not fall again. Do the second favor and let me maintain that elevation".

Beeboo wanted to disobey those commands but couldn't. Beeboo released Dingoo and saw him falling. In that fall Beeboo saw the highest elevation of any life.

Courage to stand alone

When all friends have left me, and relatives are gone,
When the land starts burning, and I wear the crown of thorn,
When all roads are lost, and dark is the sun,
when I cannnot reap, what I had sown,
When the time takes its test, and showers stone,
when all trusts are breached, and promises are forgotten,
When my body is tired, and heart is broken,
when I face the toughest battle, and accompanied by none,
God, if u exists, give me courage, Courage to stand alone.

करगिल विजय

हम तो गए  थे,

दोस्ती का उपहार लेकर,

दिलों में प्यार लेकर,

पतझड़ में बहार लेकर,

तुम घुस आये कारगिल में,

हाथों में हथियार लेकर,

बमों का भण्डार लेकर,

ऊंचाई के आड़ लेकर

क्या सोचा था, 

तुम्हारी चतुरायी  से डर जायेंगे,

गीद्दर भभकियों से सिहर जायेंगे,

तुम्हारी गोलियों से मर जायेंगे 

अरे हम भारतीय हैं,

हर ऊंचाई पर चढ़ जायेंगे,

देश की आन पर मौत से भी लड़ जायेंगे,

इस दुनिया में नाम अपना कर जायेंगे 

जो हम लड़ते हैं,

तो पूरा देश पीछे खड़ा होता है,

हर जीत पर जशन खूब होता है,

हर कुर्बानी का भी आदर यहाँ होता है,

पर जब तुम मरते हो,

तो कोई नाम भी नहीं तुम्हारा पूछता है,

तुम्हारा अस्तित्व भी नाकारा जाता है,

हमें ही तुम्हारा कब्र भी खोदना होता है 

पहचानों हमें,

हम अर्जुन के तीर हैं,

राणा की शमशीर हैं,

भारत माता के वीर हैं,

मत उकसाओ हमें,

की कभी हमारा सब्र टूट जायेगा , 

भीतर सोया ज्वालामुखी फूट जायेगा,

दुनिया से उस दिन तुम्हारा देश मिट जायेगा

When Indian Prime Minister Mr. A. B. Vajpayee was touring Pakistan in order to establish peaceful and cordial relationship between two countries, the Pakistani troops positioned themselves on the strategic peaks of Kargil. The altitude at which Pakistani soldiers were sitting with heavy arms and ammunitions, made them assume that Indians won't be able to recapture those points.

Rising to the occasion, Indian army not only threw the infiltrators out, but also proved their metal to world। Ofcourse it required brave sacrifices from Indian soldiers, which was honored and acknowledged by whole country.

On the other hand, to save its face, Pakistan refused to take back the dead-bodies of its soldiers by denying their identity. Indian soldiers performed the last rituals as per the religion of dead Pakistani soldiers.


I wrote this on 16th August 1999(year of Kargil war) one day after celebrating 53rd Indian Independence day. I attempted to capture the details, that I mentioned above in this writing, along with a warning to those who are looking at Indian soil with coveted eyes. I couldn't think of anything better than publishing my this writing to world, on this years(2010) Independence day.

------------Comment on 27 Oct 2018----------------
Somehow this post was garbled and after I published it in 2010. I was not finding the original diary in which I had written it. Just found it and restored the post.

Smile of a blind man

A man was standing on the bus stop with a white stick in his right hand, a sack on his left shoulder and black goggles on eyes. While I watched him, he missed one bus. It was clear that he was not able to know which bus would be his. Being the central part of the city, buses kept coming every 2-3 minutes and he kept missing them, not able to know which one to take. The wave of people often pushed him to and fro.
A gentleman approached him and had a small chat that I couldn't hear, probably asked about his destination and bus route number he wants to take. Gentleman stood by side of him, and after reading the route number of next coming bus, held his hand firmly. The gentleman waved his hands to the bus, that would have stopped anyways because of another wave of people waiting to catch the same bus.
The gentleman cautiously proceeded to the boarding door of the bus, with his one stretched arm holding the man and the other making way through the crowd. Just when the man was about to board the bus, another man came from behind in hurry and dashed into him. The push was gentle, that broke nothing but the silence of gentleman.
the gentleman roared on the last passenger, "अबे अँधा है क्या", are you blind? He was fuming with anger on the rashness of the last man and his words were spoken harshly in insulting manner. A couple of seconds later, his anger vanished when he realised he was holding the hands of a blind man and used blindness as a tool to insult the other man. The blind man had a faint smile on his face when he left the gentleman's hand while taking his seat in the bus. Gentleman stepped out of the bus with a perplexed look. Probably was not able to decide the reason of blind mans smile. Was it a smile of thanks, or the smile that comes out when you can't do anything more than politely accepting the insult, or was he insulting the gentleman over his blindness of the situation?
I just wonder if the gentleman will ever be able to forget that smile of a blind man.
- Sanjeev Singh

Photo by: Sid Banerjee (http://www.blogger.com/profile/00687163772174923600)
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1074/1100328466_9f395b354b.jpg?v=0

One sided

चाहे मुझे भी वो, ये क्या ज़रूरी है ?
इक मैं ही बहुत  हूँ , मोहब्बत-ए-सितम उठाने को...

ना ले नाम वो मेरा, ना शक्ल ही देखे मेरी,
किस्सा मेरी आशिकी का, होगा बहुत उन्हे रुलाने को...

गम नहीं, जो वो न दे तमाम  उम्र अपनी ,
एक लम्हा ही काफ़ी है, हाल-ए-दिल दिखाने को...

कुछ और वो देख भी ना पाएँगे,
एक दिल के बाद कुछ है ही नहीं उन्हे दिखाने को...

जो है तमन्ना उनकी, बर्बाद मुझे  करने की,
बार बार आबाद होऊंगा मैं , हर बार बर्बाद होने को...

रुके हैं, पर नहीं इन्तेजार उनकी हाँ का ,
बस एक बार कह दे, दिल से अपने  चले जाने को...

चाहे मुझे भी वो, ये क्या ज़रूरी है ?
इक मैं ही काफ़ी हूँ , मोहब्बत-ए-सितम उठाने को...

What is cheapest nowdays

In today's time when everything is getting costlier day by day, this question came to my mind- "What is cheapest now days".

Some four decades ago(though I was not born then), probably land was one of the cheapest item.
Some three decades ago(probably I was in womb), I guess labor was cheapest.

Some two decades ago, probably education was cheapest.

In last decade, electronics ( TV, Cellphone, computers, etc) became cheapest.

Till yesterday I thought now money is the cheapest thing.

Then I wondered how many lives were spent by humans (terrorist killing, communal fights, racism, internal fights, suicide, etc). We spending our lives, worrying about the most trivial money, promotions, competition, etc.. Not giving times to friends & family. Lost in virtual world, and absent from real world.

I guess life is the cheapest thing today!!

Cracks in Breaking News

Whole nation is under the grip of IPL fever. Almost everyone has a favourite team and player. They are in the colors of their team. The merchandise is hitting new sales records. Each match is watched with great interest. As is the audience so is the media. In making IPL a saga of success, not just its administrators but the news media played a major role. Not just the official broadcaster but almost every news channel is showing its best skills in creating the sensation. After all cricket defines India. The news channels were also reporting what Mr. Lalit Modi said about Mr. Tharor and vice versa. Its becoming topic of discussion of each table in India.

The other current hot news is about the marriage of Shoaib Malik with Sania Mirza. What a scintilating union of two eventful personalities. Marriage of any celebrity is always a big news, and when it is marriage of two celebrities coming from rival countries, it is a news feast. If there wouldn't have been any contravarsaries, media would have created it, but here they were not required to do anything. It was a gift for the media from Shoaib and Sania.

Among these big news, sometimes the news scroller flashed news about the killing of about 75 soldiers in their own country by their own people. Such a small and uninteresting news in this eventfull time. It is a crack in the breaking news. Our media is so perfect in serving us the important news in hot and spicy way, but there is a small room of improvement. I am sure if leading news channels like Aaj Tak, Zee news, etc. come across this post, they will fill this crack immediately by removing all news related to killing of Indian citizens or soldiers by Naxals/Maoists/Terrorists.




They were soldiers, more correctly, Indian soldiers. The destiny of the soldier is to die for its country. Why should its citzens hold a candle light gathering to pressurize the government to take stern action. After all these soldiers were neither celebrities nor did they die in a five star hotel located in a metro.
A big salute to the media and its audience!