Do You Think You Are Free?

Courtesy : Google images

The weekend ahead looks promising.  On Saturday most sisters will be rushing to their brothers to renew the lifetime protection warranty.  Independence Day on a Monday is an added bonanza.  It seems all these years of singing Just another manic Monday Wish it were Sunday has finally borne fruition. 

Many of my friends are planning a weekend getaway to a nearby hill station and for the rest of us it will be an excuse to shop some more and eat some more.  An extended weekend is like a windfall so why not make the most of it.   

But what many of us will not do, is ponder upon the historic relevance of a day which marks the birth of a free nation. 

In our country we don’t exactly celebrate our Independence.  School kids are herded to Red Fort and made to sing patriotic songs in the searing heat.... a lacklustre speech by a Prime Minister who prefers silence to action and does a Dhritarashatra to the misdemeanours of his colleagues....  It almost seems hypocritical to celebrate 64 years of emancipation from British rule only to have most of our elected loot the country’s resources and empty its coffers.  It’s tough to be a proud citizen of this country. 

Which brings me to the question – what does freedom mean to you?  When I asked around, I got interesting responses.  To be able to drink straight from a carton of milk.....freedom from accepted norms of how I should behave....to be free of control that others exert on our life....to be capable enough to course the chart of my life without having to depend on anyone for help...to be able to throw my wet towel on the floor.

Freedom is how we perceive it; each of us interprets it in our unique ways. 

Have you been hit by boredom?

Courtesy - Missbrain.com

My daughter discovered boredom at a very early stage of her life.  At the age of six she made the sublime declaration “I am bored of getting bored”. 

Not just children, even we adults have been through a phase when we felt stagnant, listless and bored out of our wits.  Most of us will choose to ignore it.  Why risk moving out of our comfort zone when we can wallow in misery instead?  For a while we do try our best to fill the void with a bungee jump down a ravine or holing up in a forest reserve for days. It is rejuvenating, gives us a high but it is temporary.  

A select few take it as a wakeup call and try to break out of the rut – walk out of a stifling relationship, rethink priorities, forsake the boardroom to live a life less lived.  Unfortunately, not many have the liberty to renounce comfort for the sake of dreams.  

Many of us have the tendency to drift off towards distractions during phases of boredom.

Tedium is a scary thing – it can be constructive or destructive.  It all depends on what you choose to do with it.

Honesty is now obsolete....it died a slow death

Malegaon’s Additional Collector, Yeshwant Sonawane was preparing to celebrate his 52nd birthday on January 28. His family had planned a celebratory dinner for him. A simple man, he was too shy to celebrate his own birthday. He preferred to stay out of limelight. Sonawane is now famous rather unwittingly and for reasons he may have never imagined. His gory death grabbed front page headlines and became breaking news. On January 25th he was burnt alive in broad daylight by the local oil mafia. His crime? He was guilty of conducting raids to uncover hoarding of kerosene and petrol. In other words, Sonawane was just doing his job. A Rs 10,000 crore fuel black market killed Yeshwant Sonawane.

The news made me seethe with rage. Have we now become a banana republic, moving towards utter anarchy! How can the accused murder a high ranking official with such impunity? The sad part is, you and I know what the bitter truth is. Shinde and his gang of goons know that they will get away with it. A man despite a history of pilferage and adulteration cases thrives because he has the support of the elected and the custodians of law. A nexus of corruption protects its kin and it’s eating into our nation’s integrity. It is tattered; it’s torn, ready collapse any minute.

Way back in 2005, S Manjunath was shot dead for cracking down on fuel adulteration in UP. In 2003, NHAI project director Satyendra Dubey was killed for daring to blow the lid off corruption in the NHAI. Is this is how you get rewarded, when you are the lone idealist? Believed what you read in books, what your elders taught you, that good always wins over the evil and truth always prevails! Baah this is all bunkum, get real. This is the new, improved shining India - compromise, adjust or else prepare to fail.

The government builds houses for the poor, the rich grab it. The house that you paid for has more sand than cement. The road contractor builds his empire by laying out roads that cave in at the mere mention of rains. The country is put to shame because a paunchy man treats the games as commonwealth and siphons off millions. The nation is enraged and expects the government to intervene. The government sacks him, three months after the games and strangely he continues to be the IOC chairman. Is this justice? Does our government think we are gullible fools - a sack here, a committee there, is enough to pacify the public! You sir are a mere spectator, just pay your taxes on time. You refuse to pay bribe and your case languishes for years in the musty cabinet of a babu with pan stained teeth. A faulty meter, your passport that you gave for renewal, a no objection certificate, your hard earned money that was kept aside for your old age, everything expects baksheesh now. It is you against the system, how long will you survive? Sirjee, chai pani is now our birthright!!