Meeting old friends - time travel!

A very meticulous work day but what an end! Left my mind turning back some ten year old pages of my life. If i look back from those times and see the course it is shocking and surprising at the same time. I least imagined i could stand where i do. To me it was just a basic hunger of trying to get some place in the herd, the as-usual. To earn and live like the rest. I never imagined i could live my dreams. I could get to work on ground and be part of the change which then sounded crazy to all. My closest of friends used to laugh at my thought of wanting to work for farmers.

Today, thanks to one of my friends from my graduation times form Sahyadri Science College, i mustered enough courage to venture into her son's birth day party. Yes! I do have a strange aversion from crowd but i yielded for two reasons: One, i have lot of my old friends on Facebook but they hardly are there! Here was one invite from a friend i was not in touch since years. She took my number and called me to invite for the party. Second, it feels great to re-cherish those old days. So here i reached the venue almost at 7:30 in the evening. Trust me i had to call two of my friends to muster courage to enter into a over crowded party hall.

Though the party was not as i thought, i met my friend and she pointed me to three of my other friends. It was a pleasant shocking surprise. I least expected any known faces except her but here i get three more!

Now these three friends just adored me (so i felt - happy that way). I hardly used to speak during those college days but i guess the very fact that they have seen me through my days growing, was nostalgic enough and pleasurable.

We had a little round of ubhayakushalopari. The best part i liked was these three had not changed. They kept clapping and encouraging kids who were dancing - exactly the way i had recorded them in my memories. I never imagined meeting these not so close friends could be so cordial and special. We had food together. Got a typical group snap captured and we all said bye for now and walked in different directions.

Life is so strange and full of surprises. Meeting them gave me almost a hallucination of the past. Of those days of struggle. Where everything was tough and risky. I am thankful i could live my dreams. To be able to contribute to those 'ambitious' speeches i used to blabber.

I almost felt like crying but wait! I had not slept well since weeks and another hectic week ahead! I had to keep my spirits up! And the day ended with kisses from my little princess after a show down from her mother teaching behaviour! Among all things, this little angle was not even born back then - today she is my life!

We had our share of 'happiness', lets take up 'responsibility'!

I warn you before getting into this note that this is a very direct personal account of what is running in my mind!

Yes! No negative thoughts and no silky - all is well talks! It’s our Independence Day! The 67th one! While I sit in the bus on the way to one of our experimental sites where the situation is not so good, I wrote this down.

I woke up quite early today in spite of being tired and feeling a bit annoyed. It is my third Independence Day in a row missing the celebrations being at work. The latter part makes it more meaningful and convincing to me.

Sitting in the bus, I just started typing this and a poor woman comes to me with a yellow chit asking for help. I am not going to explain what the content was as I know we have all seen such things. But with a sigh, I am forced to think are we this huge country called India known for its riches both in the past and present? I somehow cannot muster courage to do small help. I myself feel humiliated for what I cannot do. The lady who gave the chit took it away. Getting down the bus, she picked the chits which were thrown away by someone. Felt extremely sad and bad. But wait a minute! Is this not the same country where rich get to buy those luxuries and comforts which they don't deserve or seeping through enormous wealth this country has? My own hair cut costs me more than 10 day wages for a laborer.

I recalled talking to an auto driver when he asked me how money I had to spend for my studies to be able to work at IISc. I told him it costed me less than 15,000 INR to complete my masters. Of course these are physical amounts and ignore a lot more default expenses. To him that was a simple amount. He was getting his daughter to kindergarten and he had to shell out some 40,000 INR as donation! Isn't that surprising! How could I refuse to give him "hattu rupaayi extra!" (Ten rupees extra on metered charge). I am not talking about why the cost of basic education has gone up! I am worried just about why are we not convinced that the performance of our kids is not a function of how costly and fancy the schools are but what quality education and conditioning or morale we give them. Don't we all know great visionaries, thinkers, scientists and achievers never started off from fancy schools!

We already see a generation of software employees cursing their job of the monotony and raging wars about brands, performances, assessments and curse the auto-walas to vent their frustrations for their misbehavior! Has that auto guy not chosen a path of earning his bread with dignity and hard work? But are we not aware of larger pressures and distress on earth than our assessments and hikes!?! We are waiting for extended holidays but the peasant farmer is waiting to get some decent labour to earn his daily food. I am glad that I am not writing this sitting in an air-conditioned room but in a bus sitting next to one of those latter whom I am writing about.

What do I do? Why am I giving speeches here! I am just expressing my mind, exercising one of the rights our Constitutions give us! We often use it to speak non-sense but I am using it to voice our flaws and of course responsibilities. I do know what best I am doing. This is a very common question of defense most of us pose once confronted with these kind of thoughts! But just look around what we see.

I see acceptance in farmers and rejection in learned people!
I see endurance in a labourer and impatience in a professional!
I see resources being looted,
I also see little hands paint together!
I see educated cursing poor,
I also see group of kids seriously moved looking at our poverty!
I see celebrities,
I also see a group of farmers taking a train to Delhi to protest against genetically modified crops
I see ladies going to parlours and gossiping,
I also see stronger ones who take more responsibility and go out to work in the remotest of locations!
I see moisturizers and
I also see tanned hands!
I see pickaxe and spade,
I also see mobiles and tablets!
I see odd perfume ads,
I see women getting raped!
I see souldiers laying their life and teachers worrying away,
I also see corporators and politicians loot away!

Yes! I see a lot of contrast but I see more hope in those little hands who can take this all to better situation. Who can change from bit to a lot of the above equation! I don't take excuses in saying that this generation is not doing it! We owe this country the times we have spent being what we are!

We have the responsibility to do our bit - cast out vote, pay our taxes, do our jobs sincerely and have a clear vision of what we are up to! We have done enough of growing family trees and have accumulated enough garbage! In the form of our insecurities, inhibitions, biases and divides! I see myself gelling super good with strangest of friends across all our divides and borders! Being kids we are naturally bestowed the art of bonding. But till we grow, we get conditioned to hate, we are taught to see the divide and taught to see in pockets. This did not happen overnight! More than 400 years of non existence to 67 years of identity and existence! It is surprising that just within two to three generations we have grown completely cold akin to people we ruled us 67 years back!

We allow our egos to clash and forget that we are a lot beyond 'you' and 'me'! We are not just a country but we are a time bomb to explode! Yes! We can use this potential to make history! We can use our strengths and skills to make this a better place! Let us not just wail on what is not right! Get your hands dirty! Come down and work! Make the change you want to!

Be free - our martyrs did not sacrifice to see this country diseased! Do not post any comments if you find offence in anything I said! We have crores of them all over the country! Get yourself instead in making things better! Use that frustration to fuel smallest of the things which one can change in day to day life!

What we lack is motivation and not resources! We have our granaries full, unlike the situation 70 years back.

Of course, we are not yet seeing what we have done to our soils, water and forests! We will be soon confronted with that! Don’t think it is sudden but it is going to derail everything we have as luxuries. It is time, now and never late to be responsible. To respect our resources not just by our worship but also by doing our bit to conserve our resources for our sustainable futures.

We need to break the innumerable borders and walls within us, between us and with the world!

Wish you all a "responsible" Independence day!