I laugh.. The world laughs wid me
I try I Fail I cry... But I laugh...The world laughs wid me
I feel alone, I breakdown, I need support...Yet I laugh...The world laughs with me
I might die within...Still I laugh... The world laughs with me
I ain't no Hero...But I laugh....N make the world laugh with me
It was my college days when I was gifted a new Honda shine
on my birthday.
I was so excited to go for a long ride, feel the flow of the cool breeze on my
face and experience that adrenalin rush when you are in full throttle.
Well I didn’t have to wait much. It was Saturday and our college got off early
as two professors were on leave. We decided to utilize the time and hangout at
some place. But that’s not an easy task when you have a group of 10 people shouting
at the top of their voice. Finally we decided to visit the dream college of many, “IIM Indore”.
It was 50 km from our college, enough for my first ride
experience.
We got on our bikes and the journey started. Cruising on the highway like a speed demon is
just awesome.
Ashish cruising on highway
As we reached our destination the security guard restricted us
from entering inside the campus. We tried our best to convince him, even called
him sir, but that guy was a stubborn.
Finally we gave up upon the idea of exploring the campus and
consoled ourselves by thinking that we will take care of the guard after we get
admission in it.
But pankaj and ashish had different plans.
For them this was their only chance
and without giving a second thought they rode right through the gate into the
campus. But this made the guard a hell lot angry. He told us to call them and
get their ass right outside the campus; else the consequences will bring us big
trouble.
First we ignored his words and thought of other plans of
getting in. But when he picked the phone and started dialing a number, we
understood that it was time to run.
“Come on, pick up the phone pankaj “, I kept on mumbling.
But to my fear , there was no response.
We even tried calling Ashish , but the result was same.
After 10 mins of unsuccessful efforts finally one of them
picked the call just to hear something no one ever wants for himself, “The
police siren”.
“Pankaj get out now “, I barked on him.
The eight of us were terrified and frightened to see the
jeep at a distance of 100 meters moving swiftly towards us. Suddenly out of
nowhere Ashish appeared speeding his bike on full throttle.
Vroom…Vroom…In nanoseconds all of us flew from the spot head over heels. I was rushing through, at the top of all speed
limits and the feeling was incredible. Gust of cool wind flowing through my face,
blowing my hair.
My mind became numb just focusing on nothing else than the
endless highway and the speedometer. The thrill and adventure was beyond
description.
It was when I became a speed demon and adventure crazy.
Travelling was, is and will always be my passion. Be it with
friends or family I love exploring new places and meeting different souls.
But this time it was different as it was a contest organised
by Audi India in accordance with Channel V.
I was selected among the top 5
people who along with a partner were going to contest for a grand prize which
was an amazing “Audi R8”. Sahil my best
friend was my companion for the trip.
The contest was a road trip whose starting point was Mumbai and
destination was Ladakh.
Between Mumbai and Ladakh there were 4 halts and 4 tasks associated with them.
The 5th and final task was to reach Pangong Tso lake in Ladakh, the quickest. The one to have the best overall standing in the tasks was the winner.
It was mandatory to complete all the tasks before you get to the final stop.
Every contestant was given an Audi A4 to complete his journey. Man I couldn’t
sleep the whole night before the day we were going to start for the ultimate
Road trip.
The first stop of our journey was Gir national forest of
Gujarat and along with that came the first task which was to click a pic of the
king of animals “The Lion”. Gir is famous for its lions but taking a snap of
the king requires a lot of courage.
Distance from Mumbai to Gir is around
800 kms. The journey is smooth and comfortable. Everything was normal till the time we hit national highway NH8. We had just traveled 5 kms when a girl came right in front of our car. We had goosebumps as it was night time and we had watched a lot of horror movies in the past. Scenes of Chudels stopping cars and killing drivers started revolving in my mind. Some how we gathered courage and got down from the car. As we got near to her , she started sobbing. I asked her what was the matter. After 10 minutes of continuous crying she finally stopped and told us the story. "I and my bf had decided to go on a long drive but it didnt end that long. He dumped me right here on this highway and left me alone to suffer. I tried to kill myself by getting in front of your car but that too didn't work", saying this she started crying again. I told her that he were going to Gir National forest and will drop her on the way. She hesitated first but having no other option agreed to come along. Well she was a smart lady with an enormous sense of humor. I was amazed by the fact that someone dumped her. I told her about the trip and the grand prize. We exchanged numbers and off she went.
All the teams reached the first spot at the same time. We were to report at the Gir
sanctuary main entrance where each one of us will be given a jeep to travel in
the forest and complete our task. We
were to travel on our own and there was only a map of the forest for our aid.
We had a trick in our mind to disguise other teams. The plan was to plant a
tape recorder which produces sound of roaring lion. In the starting as everyone
was a bit frightened so they decided to stay together but we parted ways as we
had to execute our plan. After travelling for couple of kms it was time to make
the fake lion roar. But we hardly expected what was coming our way. As the fake
lion roared, an original one jumped right out of the bushes and came roaring in
front of our jeep.
We were so frightened and excited at the same time that none of us could hardly
blink. Understanding the criticality of the situation, I kept my nerves and
clicked a pic of the king without any flash and even sound. We waited for the lion to depart and quickly
drove back to the starting point.
We were happy to finish first in the task and take lead from the start of the
journey.
The next spot was Udaipur. The distance from Gir National Park to
Udaipur is around 650 kms. Rajasthan has always been a place known for its hospitality but this time we were proved wrong. We entered Rajasthan border with great memories of the awesome rajasthani food but it didn't last long as our car was stopped by a group of dacoits who only had bullets for breakfast. Well driving an Audi has its cons also and the first one was right here. We were asked to come out and hand over all our belongings to them. Within 10 minutes police came there. Wondering how? Let me tell you that Audi cars has this amazing technology where you can feed in the mobile numbers of your relatives in its memory. When in danger just press the white button on your car's key and an sms will be send to those relatives along with your location details. Isn't that impressive ?. Absolutely yes and this is how we got out of trouble.
We were 2nd to reach the City palace of Udaipur, the spot to report at on arrival. The task was to get
two pics. First was of the horse of Maharana Pratap , Chetak at the City Palace
and second was of the Rolls Royce Phantom II at the vintage car collection. But
that was not it. Another condition was that pic should also have people of 3
nationalities together in it. So at once we set off to find foreigners who
would be glad to click a pic with us. Well girls never say no to 2 handsome
hunks so our first target was a group of beautiful college girls and the
tricked worked for us. It was a different thing that we also promised them for
a drive in Audi A4. This time we came second in the task after John and his
wife Jasmine who easily got foreigner boys go mad for her and stood first.
After exploring the city of lakes, Udaipur it was time to
head to the city of golden temple, Amritsar. The distance between Udaipur to Amritsar
is 900km and it takes around 16 hours to complete the journey. Amritsar is a beautiful city and spiritual centre for the sikh religion. But for us it was neither spiritual nor beautiful but tragic. A woman on cycle got hit by our car. She was riding in the wrong direction and on seeing the car lost her balance...bang.!!! came the sound. Quickly tall police men with turbans came running in our direction. I had cracked lot of jokes on sardars and this time I was sure they will return it back with due interest. Slap...Slap was how they started the conversation. We tried to explain them that it was not our mistake but words didn't do that for us, though 5000 bucks did. Again one of the few cons of driving an Audi. Quickly we got off and drove our way to Wagah border, the 3rd spot of the race.
Unfortunately we lagged behind and were 3rd to reach the destination.
The task here was to click a pic which had both India’s and Pakistan’s flag
together. This happens daily during the retreat ceremony called ‘lowering of
the flags’ but timing was the most important part in this task. Quickly we took
our seats in the stadium and waited for the moment to occur.
This time 3 teams stood first and we were also one of them.
The competition was getting tougher between us and the couple from Goa, John
and Jasmine.
3 Tasks were over and we were left with the last 2.
Next destination was Shimla, the queen
of hills which was 325 kms from Amritsar.
We were enjoying the beautiful sight seeing of Shimla when something unusual happened.
Amid the hills we saw a small red shaped hill which was radiating heat from its sides and bottom.
Before we could guess what it could be, the hill shot up like a supersonic missile.
I was damn sure of spotting a UFO as it neither looked like a satellite or a newly added ammunition in India's kitty. Anyways we moved on.
We were the first one to reach Kufri , our destination in Shimla.
This time the task was a bit difficult. One person from each team had to Ski
down the snow laden slope and the one to reach the finish line quickest was the
winner.
I had learnt skating but was not sure if it could be of any help here. Anyways
I decided to give a try.
To my amazement I finished 1st and man this brought us back in the
game.
It was time to leave Shimla and had towards the final destination,
Pangong Tso lake in Ladakh.
Ladakh is 710 kms from Shimla and it
takes around 12 hours to cover the distance. The most amazing part of this 710 kms is the beauty of Ladakh. Though Himalayas has lot of variety and beauty to offer, some places stay quite close to your heart and Ladakh is one of them. One our way we were the witness to some incredible and breath taking sites. No blue sky is like what we saw here. The beauty of brown hues and snow capped peaks is just amazing. The never ending plateaus, monks in their maroon robes and the predominating ochre colour leave an indelible imprint on the mind. Amid the mountains while we were driving our way to LEH , we saw something suspicious. There were movements along the valley of the hill on the far right side. I pulled out my binoculars and was terrified to see the sight. Around 20 people, fully loaded with rocket launchers and other heavy ammunition were moving swiftly. I donno how did it happened but I was spotted by the only person carrying binoculars in that group. After 2 minutes a rocket went flying just 3 feet from our car. Fortunately we had taken a local sim so I quickly called the jawan who's number I took in case of any emergency. Listening to the rocket blast sound the battalion at the nearest post were already in action. I could hear helicopter buzzing , the thump thump sound was all over the valley. We wanted to wait and see how those bastards were crushed by our army but we had our job done. Audi R8 was calling and we could hear it loud and clear, so we were back on track.
Pangong Tso is a 5 hour drive from LEH. The mountain roads are rough and
dramatic.
There are lot of security checks along the path and an Inner permit is also
required to visit the Lake as it lies on the Line of actual control.
In spite of having so many beautiful things around our focus
was determined on the grand prize “Audi R8” and we were just a step
apart from it.
But this time there was no one to stop us from reaching first at the final destination “The
splendid Pangong Tso lake” and winning the contest. As we reached the lake , Channel V team announced us the winners. The feeling of winning and
seeing one of the most amazing place in India was just out of this world.
We were the proud owners of Audi R8. This was the best and
will remain the most memorable road trip of my life.
Naa jaane itne krodhit kyu ho gye bhagwaan.. Ki zindagi ko taras gyaa waha har ek insaan…. Jaha gunjte the bhakti ke geet..aaj waha maatam hi maatam chaaya hai.. Soch me pad gya hai har koi..ki kyu prakrati ka itna khatarnaak roop saamne aaya hai..?
Kuch palo me hi wahaa…paani ne esaa taandav dikhaaya…
Jo bhi insaan milaa paani ke raaste me…use maut k ghaat pohochaaya..
Mauto kaa aakda dekh kar…har kisi ka dil bhar aaya..
Naa jaane kitne pariwaaro me..maatam ka mausam hai chaaya..
Par is aapda ke liye..akele bhagwaan..
Ya sirf prakrati hi zimmedaar nhi…
Zaraa ek pal ko sochkar dekho…
Kahi insaan hi is tabaahi ka…insaan hi sabse bdaa hissedaar to nhi..??
Prakrati se khela thha humne…pahaado ko apne faaede k liye todaa hai…
Is vinaash ko..humne hi pinjre se khola hai….
Aao maange bhagwaan se maafi..taaki fir desh esi tabaahi se naa hile…
Aur taaki kisi ke bure karmo ki sazaa..bhagwaan ke bhakto ko naa mile..!!!!
Today the world is full of advisers,
experts and counselors who guide millions of people on what to do, how to do
and when do to based on their experience and learning.
Now think how many of these millions go on to become a CEO or world leader, unfortunately
none.
The reason is simple, until you have not felt the complexity of a problem you
can’t come up with an optimum solution. A solution that worked for me might not
work for you.
A person who takes his own decisions and shapes one’s own path is likely to be
more successful than a person who follows others footsteps.
Biker group, those bullets passing by,
their sound and the people in leather jackets are a delight to watch, but until
you are not one of them riding your own bullet, you can’t experience the
thrill, adventure and joy which lies inside.
Every day you watch the share market go for
a roller coaster ride. One day it falls sharply and the other day it shoots up
like a bomb from cannon. You love to watch Patel bhai and Jain sahab jump in
air when there is a bull run. But the real excitement and joy lies in watching
your own bucks getting doubled and feeling the pain of losing it when the bears
take control.
Talking about myself
When I was in school preparing for IIT,
those complex probability questions used to screw my mind.
I always jumped to the solution first and then tried to understand the
question. Though I was able to solve 25 questions in a day but did it really
help me understand and conquer probability, not at all.
The reason was simple, I had never tried
to ponder on the question and solve it on my own before going to the solution.
When I was in college there were assignments
given by professors. A small chunk of students used to do it by them and rest
of us just copied it. At that time I couldn't understand the difference it
would make, but at the last day of the college it was pretty clear.
Only 10% of the doers got into
India MNC, rest all had wings to fly high.
But if we talk about the copy paste experts, only 10% of us could make it to the higher league,
while rest of us were just a part of the huge huge crowd.
I got placed in an Indian MNC, but my
attitude remained the same.
If there is an issue, ask the seniors first, take the ready made solution from
them, copy paste and mail it. There were people who tried to dig deep to find
the best solution, even if they had to stay in office for 12 hours. I just mocked
at their pathetic life.
As days passed I started liking a girl in my office. In college days I had 2
flings, so I was sure of knowing all the tricks in the book. But this girl gave
me a rough time. Her audacious replies and a straight forward no tore my heart apart.
Seeing myself fail I asked people to provide me some tips and tricks to impress
her but none worked. Now I could experience the pain, the pain I have given to
those gals whom I dumped in college.
The girl of my dreams got selected in IIM, shattering mines to build her own.
Before leaving she said only one thing, for loving someone first you need to
experience love by yourself.
My girl was gone. The people whom I mocked
got onsite opportunities because of their innovative solutions and business
understandings. My friends got into top B schools. I was the only one left behind
doing nothing. This was the first time when I become serious in my life.
From that day I made a promise to leave behind copy paste technique and start
to experience things by myself.
God also help those who help themselves and not those who are dependent on
other’s help.
If people do things the same way others did it, there will be no scope for inventions,
innovations and out of box thinking.
My father once told me that I don’t value money because I haven’t burned my
sweat and blood to earn it. The day I will experience the sentiments
associated, I will start valuing it and man it’s so damn
true.
Today I have set my goals
1. I will experience how it feels to be in true love with someone.
2. I will give my 100% dedication, focus and determination needed to get into
one of the top B schools of India, Indian School of Business.
3. I will set my own standards and continuously improve them based on my own
experiences and learning.
Now all that matter to me is at the age of
40 when my children start taking decisions and understand things I can show them
my Organization and tell them proudly that this is outcome of my own
experiences.
At the age of 60 when I am with my grandchildren I can proudly show them my
book on “Live life on your own experiences” and explain them the importance of
it.
And finally when I die, I will be a proud human being who has made his own
choices, took his own decisions, set his own path and achieved something on his
own.
In today’s world everyone wants to look good and fashionable
every time.
Be it a party, hangout with friends or office, you wanna look your best.
For looking good the most important thing is to remain fit
and for that a daily work out is a must.
So how to look fashionable and fit at the same time, let’s find out.
Your body
becomes all sweaty when you workout. A stinking body is the last thing you will
ever
want. So always keep 2-3 Deos with you.
Always wear something which you are comfortable
in.
Being comfortable doesn't means that a girl will
hit the gym wearing a boy’s short
and a baggy t-shirt.
Wear something that at
the same time emphasizes your femininity.
Same goes for boys, let those biceps get noticed.
Don’t carry your office bag to the Gym. There
are many trendy sport bags available in the market.
Don’t go
for flashy clothes. Wear something which is plain with a minimum level of design
on it.
Loose clothes are a big no, always wear
something which makes you appear all toned up. A Sweat fitness band will not only soak all you sweat but also make you look cool.
Not only bikers look macho in gloves, so can be boys working out at a Gym.
For boys, the best dress up at a Gym is a Short, T-shirt and shoes.
For girls it is leggings, T-shirt and shoes.
This post is written for blog contest by Jabong.com, online shopping store in India on the occasion of unveiling their exclusive Sports Collection inspired by the movie Bhaag Milkha Bhaag.
What will happen if you wake up out of a nightmare only to
find out that your identity is lost?
You have no official address, not even a name of your own. Just a body wandering in search of its home,
sweet home. It’s really scary just to imagine few minutes of such a life. Now
think about those people who have spent their whole life nameless. Just
imagining about their plight and miseries is enough to give you Goosebumps.
The focus of this post is those anonymous people whose
existence is unknown to the world.
Yes I am talking about the Nomadic, the de-notified communities, which comprise
about 60 million people in India. A large section of these tribes is known as
Vimukta Jati or ‘ex-criminal caste’ because they were branded as criminals by
birth under the Criminal Act 1871, enacted by the British rule in India.
Though this act was revoked by the Indian government in 1952, the condition of
these people has never improved. Such is their predicament that before finding
a place on the Birth Registers they get a free entry on the Police Registers!
But in recent times I have seen things change and one live
example of this comes from Gujarat.
More than 30,000 of these people got their address. There are 26 schools where
more than 1000 students are studying. A community where every girl was forced
into prostitution has its first ever marriage on the cards. And many more are round
the corner. This can prevent these girls from being dragged into the flesh
trade.
All this and many more policies are formulated for this non-identified, nomadic
tribe.
One woman who has had the biggest role in making all this happen is Mittal Patel.
She has led from the front and formed an organisation called Vicharta Samudaya Samarthan Manch. Along
with her organisation, she has worked assiduously for 6 years to give these
people their basic living rights.
Hats off to this superwoman! She is a symbol of humanity, an inspiration and a
role model for all those who want to work for the welfare of mankind.
But this is just the beginning. We have 60 million people,
so a lot of work is still left to be done.
Mittal Patel has devoted her complete life for the upliftment of these nomadic
tribes.
It’s time for all of us to play our part and we can easily do that by joining
organisations like VSSM (Vicharta
Samudaya Samarthan Manch). Or we can open our own organisation and become
the pioneers of change.
First
let’s ponder upon the various basic problems faced by these tribes:-
1. No identity of their own
2. Deprived of basic living rights
3. No voting rights
4. Poor health conditions
5. No Education
6. Flesh Trade
7. Declared a criminal right at the time of birth
8. Unemployment
Various points an Activist or Group helping such people
should take care of -:
1.Communication
The first and foremost thing required to understand a person’s problem is
your ability to communicate with him/her. If you can’t understand their
language or dialect then it’s really difficult to proceed further. So the first
step in the ladder is to understand their lingo which makes it easy to convey
your thoughts and messages to them.
2.Proper Name and determined Aim ‘What’s in the name’ doesn’t apply here. The name of your
group/organisation plays a very important part in how seriously your policies
and reforms will be taken by the government and common man. Also the aim of
your group should match your actions.
This will help the government and other helping institutions to have faith in
your group and make further decisions.
3.Leader should be a Role Model The leader of your group, or if you are working individually then you
yourself, should be a role model for others. The determination and approach of
the leader will define the success of the group which is directly proportional
to the progress of these communities.
4.Sources of Funds Money should never become an obstacle while working for a social cause. To
keep a check of that we should have ample of sources of funds. Government
funds, Corporate funds given by various companies, charity done in the form of
philanthropy by various industrialists and business tycoons, funds from charity
done by common man , funds generated from various group programs and finally
personal funds (money contributed by the group members ).
5.Contacts and Connections You will need land and various approvals to open schools and hospitals for
these communities. Permissions to organise a rally or conduct a Sabha for them.
For most of the actions your group will take there will be a need for permissions
and approvals from government, political and social officials. To make sure
everything goes smoothly it good to have contacts and connections in all
spheres.
Now let’s discuss the various steps we can take for the
social, economic and cultural development of these tribes -:
1.A Roof per family Program The most important proof in India is your residential proof. Right from
Ration cards to Voter Ids, you need a valid residence certificate to avail
them.
So the first step is to get a roof for these people for which different government
policies and laws have already been enacted.
2.Organising Camps After having a roof the 2nd most important thing an Indian wants
is basic living rights.
In coordination with the government, we can organise various camps for these
people so that they can get these rights.
A.Voter Id Camps
In a democratic country which is of the people, for the people and by the
people right to vote is one of the most important rights of a citizen.
As these people now have residential proofs, getting a voter id, which is also
their identity card, will not be a problem.
B.Ration Card Camps
C.Domicile certification Camps..etc
3.Primary Education to All After securing rights, the next step is to educate them so that they can at
least communicate with the outer world. Make out what is right and wrong for
themselves and their family.
Opening primary schools for children and evening classes for the adults should
be one of the initial milestones as part of the education programme.
4.One Employee per family Program With Education come employment opportunities, where we can implement the
skills we have learnt.
Till now nomadic people used to earn their living as snake charmers, sharpening
knives and tools, performing different acrobatic feats on the roads or mellas
etc.
But with globalisation and modernisation the traditional professions of these
people have either become obsolete or have been snatched away.
Earning 2 meals a day is the basic necessity of a livelihood.
So the first milestone is to provide employment to at least one member of the
family.
Employment opportunities can range from working in a small/medium scale industry,
peon, security guard, clerk, government jobs etc.
5.Rishte Jodo Program The biggest problem with women in these communities is flesh trade.
If a girl is not married she is forced into prostitution. Under Rishte Jodo
program we will prevent such inhuman actions and perform Samuhik Vivahs of those who have crossed the 18 years age limit.
6.Caste Certificate Procurement Program There are many nomadic people who either belong to Scheduled Tribe or
Scheduled Caste but are deprived of the benefits which are enjoyed by the more
known people of these communities. The main reason is they don’t have a valid
caste verification certificate.
So another important step towards their welfare is to procure their caste
certificates from government.
Successfully
implementing the above steps is just a few miles covered in a long marathon.
There are many more things to be done to make these people attain what they
deserve.
But we all also know that Rome was not built in a day. Taj Mahal was the
outcome of several years of dedicated and focused efforts.
We too have to build a Taj Mahal, but this time it will be a symbol of humanity.
This goal of ours can only be achieved when each and every person belonging to
the Nomadic and de-notified community will be considered a Respectful Indian
Citizen.
So let’s start right away. JAI HO…J
