जो लहरों से आगे नज़र देख पाती तो तुम जान लेते मैं क्या सोचता हूँ
वो आवाज़ तुमको भी जो भेद जाती तो तुम जान लेते मैं क्या सोचता हूँ
जिद का तुम्हारे जो पर्दा सरकता तो खिडकियों से आगे भी तुम देख पाते
आँखों से आदतों की जो पलकें हटाते तो तुम जान लेते मैं क्या सोचता हूँ

मेरी तरह खुद पर होता ज़रा भरोसा तो कुछ दूर तुम भी साथ-साथ आते
रंग मेरी आँखों का बांटते ज़रा सा तो कुछ दूर तुम भी साथ-साथ आते
नशा आसमान का जो चूमता तुम्हें भी, हसरतें तुम्हारी नया जन्म पातीं
खुद दुसरे जनम में मेरी उड़ान छूने कुछ दूर तुम भी साथ-साथ आते

I just let go the earphone

its a mixture of sound
the crunching of steps
on the granular road
the continuous chirping of birds
interrupted by peacock calls
and the cuckoos coo
the crows are also in competition
the children giggling
people greeting

Its a walk to remember
when everything around
looks and sounds
so beautiful
you may be in love
or in ATIRA
or both

PS: Please excuse my poetic (lack of) skills. I just wanted to put in some words here and there to recreate my experience of Atira
The campus of ATIRA (Ahmedabad Textile Industry”s Research Association) is being used for evening/morning walks by people living around it. It is said that the inside road of ATIRA was built with the help of a contribution from the walking community.

So what do you do… crib with your fellow passengers as a ‘small talk’? argue with authorities? or just give up by saying chalta hai.

But, have you ever asked for a Complaint Book? Believe me, for most of your worries during train travel,  complaint book is the power at your hand.

I was waiting for my train (which got delayed by 4 hrs) at the New Delhi railway station last month .  Though the first class waiting room on Platform No- 1 is air-conditioned it was very dirty with stained floors and stinky bathrooms.

I settled among cribbing fellow passengers about the dirty surroundings.   “The whole system is a failure” someone came out with a learned analysis.

It was a long wait for my train.  I started using my mobile to help me pass time but soon it gave me a ‘battery low’ warning. I looked around to find plenty of charging points but realized that only few of them worked. People sitting near the working ones were actually in a queue.  I wondered how much effort it takes to fix a few charging points at regular intervals.

I was taken aback by the state of things at the most important station in the capital of India.  I decided to ask for a complaint book. Only that I did not know whom to ask.

I asked the caretaker women outside the waiting room.  At first she thought I am going to complain against her. Only after she was convinced of my intentions, she told me to go to the Deputy Station Superintendent (Commerce). His office was nearby, but he was missing from his place.

Nothing much to do, I made 2-3 rounds after some intervals and finally he was there surrounded by a few people.

“Sir, I am a nuclear scientist working at Mumbai. I have come here to receive my wife and daughter. The train has already come and there is no time to take the platform ticket. Can I go without one?”

“I am a govt officer. One of your police officer at the entrance misbehaved with me. ….”

He listened to a couple of others before it was my turn.

“I need the complaint book”, I said.

“Why? tell me what the problem is and I will try to solve it.”

After I told him the problems, he tried to justify by saying that there are lesser cleaning staff and they have to cover the whole station premises. The charging points are sponsored and the sponsorship is over and that is why it is not fixed.

“Okay.. then also.. please give me the complaint book” I emphasized.

He finally handed it over to me. I wrote it in detail and came back. I was not sure what action will be taken and when.

It was not even 20 minutes, I saw the deputy SS entering the waiting room. He was accompanied by someone in charge of cleaning the station premises (i guess) and a few cleaning staff.  A thorough cleaning was done.  And just before I was leaving to take my train, I saw a group of electricians who started fixing the charging points.

This happened after I wrote a complaint. But believe me, most of the time just asking for a complaint book solves the issue.

So next time, if you are facing any issue due to the Railway’s mismanagement, just ask for a complaint book.

(P.S. :  No, I am not a Railway Officer neither a part of Jaago Grahak Jaago)

Suddenly, a loud blazing horn of a car  broke my peace as it passed by.

It overtook my bike almost by going on the other side of the road (it’s a single lane road). I was wondering when the whole road is vacant and I was driving on the side,  why  there was a need to blow the horn.

Whatever, I thought.. just drive and enjoy the weather.

Peep .. Peep-Peep, Peep, Peep-Peep… it went louder as it came near and continued as it passed me. A Pulsar being driven by a young fellow. As if the horn is a musical instrument to play.

I have noticed it on the traffic signals. You are waiting for the light to turn green and as soon as it does, all those behind you start a ceremonial honking. I sometime ask the guy behind me honking if his vehicle can fly over those who are waiting ahead of him. They need to wait because the guy who is in front of you is also waiting for his space in which he will push his vehicle ahead. Before that space comes to you as the vehicles move ahead, how can you drive.  Honking will not create that space.

I think  continuous honking is a habit of drivers not knowing how to drive. They think that they can drive faster by repeatedly honking. It is a great misconception.  I know this because I am yet to see a driver having a honking habit and drives faster than me in a crowded traffic.  Usually I find myself overtaking those continuously honking without making an extra effort.

And when this behavior is rampant, I wonder if anyone pays attention to silence zones of the city.

Interestingly, I saw this today on one of the website listing funny pictures.

We were wrong.

When found a crowd waiting at the main entrance of the passport office but, we thought these will be normal applicants (those who do not apply online) waiting for their turn.  We marched confidently to the entrance gate and asked the security that we have an appointment of 11:30 AM.

” ok.. ok, come in the queue… all of them have an appointment. “

The sun was hot, and there was no shade in the waiting area.  It was for another 15 minutes we waited before we  were sent inside to wait again. This time wait was a little less and we went to a guard who would stamp the window number to our form.

“You have a lot of colums blank”

“…But those are not applicable”

“Write Not Applicable.”

“Okay”

“Not here, go back there” (the last queue)

We again went to the last of the queue and waited to go inside. Finally we were alloted a window where our documents were to be verified. After a long wait when my friend’s turn came, the lady at the counter asked -

“where is your place of birth certificate”.

That is also required? That is not mentioned in the list of enclosures.

We need it

But maam, I dont have that certificate. It was taken by my school.

Make an affidavit and come tomorrow or day after…. Next

Maam, I also do not have the birth place certificate. I have residence proof.

Go make an affidavit and come tomorrow or day after. Kabhi bhi aao.

We rushed to make the affidavit and the Indian judicial ‘system’ made it really quick for us.  The passport office closes at 01:30 PM and we thought we will finish the verification today itself.  It was 1 PM when we reached there. We were pretty hopeful that we will make it to the counter with just 5 persons ahead of us. And we did. It was 1:20 PM by then.. but then..

“We need two xerox set of the supporting documents”. ..

But maam, no where it is written in the guidelines.

But we need it.

Ok, we will just bring it from outside. (there is a xerox shop outside)

No, its already 1:20 , dont come today.. the cash trailer will close now. Come tomorrow or day after.

But maam.. we are here since morning

. . . . . . . . . .

you did not tell us in the morning, maam

. . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . .

Well that was it. She poked her face deep inside her table.

And we had no other option than to dance at her will.

Wonder when the government offices will work effectively. This is the only video that comes to my mind after todays experience… though ours was not to this extent and no ‘money’ was involved

I did not understand what the director wanted to make. A pulsating thriller, drama or humour.  I dont have a clue after watching this film.  Well, the story is about twin brothers ( Shahid Kapur) Charlie and Guddu. Yes, the same age old concept of one good and one bad brother etc etc, but this film has one thing more. Both the brothers have a speech problem… the good image bro stammers and the bad one has an issue with speaking “sh”, which he pronounces as “f”. And it becomes irritatingly boring when he speaks in this new changed speech with too many “F”s through out the movie.  ”Mai Fa ko Fa bolta hun“. What the F?

If you remember the  comedy genre of Priyadarshan, you would notice that generally there are many parties in the movie. Each one of them somehow finds themselves at a single place at the end of the movie, and fight each other. There is a huge chaos and as it happens ultimately the hero and the heroine manage to survive all the drama. Be it Hera Pheri, Hungama or Malamaal Weekly, in every film the plot towards the end is the same. Vishal Bhardwaj has used the same concept of all the underworld, bad politicians fighting each other at the climax.. BUT in a lot more confusing and boring way.  Sometimse you just do not understand what on earth is going on. I think it would have been much better if he would have created this movie as a comedy rather than whatever it is right now.

The plot is very weak, the scene shifts are abrupt and confusing. You bring any calibre of actors/actresses, they can’t raise the bar of the film even if they try.  So i will not blame Shahid or Priyanka or anyone to spoil this movie, but Vishal Bhardwaj. I guess Shahid kapur has given a good performance in this movie, may be the only credit i will give to Vishal Bhardwaj.  There comes a stage in every good directors life, when he becomes so over confident of his early creations, that he automatically creates something that crushes his over-confidence.

But those of you who do not have anything else to do all these three days of holiday (Janamashtami, Independence day followed by a Sunday) and you are not afraid of either swine flu or Vishal Bhardwaj, go for it.  For the rest of you, enjoy the audio of this movie, its really good. Just imagine how good a movie can be by listening to the songs. Dont shatter your hopes by actually going and watching the movie.

(An interesting observation – Kaminey is rated A, but the cinema hall was full of kids.. wonder whats the use of such a censor war)

The speculations have been rising day by day. There is a movie that is being made on this called “2012“. There is a group called Institute of Human Continuity – and they are holding elections for the leaders of the post 2012 world in case people survive. … Yes this is true. Fill this if you wanna be that leader.

The Mayan Calendar — Well not only Nostradamus predicted the end of the world, but the Mayan calendar. Mayans were a blood thirsty race that were good at building highly accurate astrological equipment out of stone. Their calendar has dates only till December 21, 2012. Speculators across the world believe that Mayans could foresee the end of the world in 2012 and hence did not find the relevance of including any further date than December 21, 2012.

The galactic alignment — The Galactic Alignment is the alignment of the December solstice sun with the Galactic equator. This alignment occurs as a result of the precession of the equinoxes. Precession is caused by the earth wobbling very slowly on its axis and shifts the position of the equinoxes and solstices one degree every 71.5 years. Because the sun is one-half of a degree wide, it will take the December solstice sun 36 years to precess through the Galactic equator. This Galactic Alignment occurs only once every 26,000 years, and was what the ancient Maya were pointing to with the 2012 end-date of their Long Count calendar. Galactic alignment brings destruction due to rising magnetic fields and radiations. There are social issues as well as natural.

There is also a theory about some planet X that would hit the earth on the doomsday. I thought what is better to search on NASA for these speculations. I was right. Probably irritated by so many books and websites dedicated to the doomsday they have a whole page of clarification on these issues. Here, read it. The summary — all these are fables of imagination and there is no such galactic alignment. Our solar system is around 30,000 light years away from the centre of the milky way and we revolve around it rather than going to the middle of it.

The India Vedic astrologers are no less. Some of them believes that 2012 will mark the end of the Kala Yuga and Sata Yuga will come after that. Every such change in the world is marked by huge calamities and destruction. wtf… Even if we believe the Vedic Yuga concept the Kaliyuga will go for 432,000 years and it started in 3012 BC.. so plenty of years to go.

I wondered why these speculations are rising this year. Well here it is, the only possible theory that holds. Its the viral marketing of the film 2012. The website Institute of Human Continuity has been created by the film makers and they are promoting all sort of informations feeding these speculations.

“According to this website, the IHC is dedicated to scientific research and public preparedness. Its mission is the survival of mankind. The website explains that the Institute was founded 1978 by international leaders of government, business, and science. They say that in 2004, IHC scientists confirmed with 94% certainty that the world would be destroyed in 2012. This website encourages people to register for a lottery to select those who will be saved; a colleague submitted the name of her cat, which was accepted.” –  From NASA webpage.

So, go through all those email forwards warning of the doomsday and enjoy them. All of these are hoax.

‘Deep’ as he loved to be called (this was a general culture in Pradan to call by first name, irrespective of the age/post differnce) is a very humble person. Pradanites (employyes of Pradan), who join new have to undergo an orientation programme after two months of joining. The programme generally began with Deep’s session that went for around two days.  This was a great opportunity for each pradanite to know his vision better. He would introduce the organization, how it was formed etc etc. Apart from his vision for the organization I learned the most important thing called professionalism from him. I remember when he said, the first priority in the development sector work should be given to yourself. Unless you are not going to take care of your health, knowledge, how you will be able to work for the sector. In his words – ” A living development worker is always better than the dead one“. Funny, it may be for some of you, but it made perfect sense. When we used to go to villages, our priority shifted to the community. This work was intoxicating, and in the process we generally forgot about the most important aspect – ourselves.

The most important day I spent knowing Deep was in the Annual Retreat. It was the last retreat Deep would attend, as it was his last year in Pradan having reached to the age of 60. This man was an expert in setting precedence. When he reached 60, people requested him to continue for 5 more years as ED of Pradan. Afterall, this all was his brainchild and there would not be any problem getting passed it from the governing board.  However, Deep’s stand was clear, “if you want to raise the retirement age to 65, do it after I retire”. I believe instances like these shape a professional organization. NGOs in India are treated like asset of owners, but Pradan is now a purely professional organization with no owner at all, only board and executive director that runs the organization.

Deep’s last speech as ED went for around an hour if I remember it well. He talked about his childhood, his education and his struggles in personal and professional life. I will include some part of it here. Deep was from a well to do family and rural development was not his focus till he went to MIT. There he took a course that dealt with the poverty in developing countries. It was then he became more conscious of the issue of poverty in his home country.

He was employed by Ford foundation and once he was sent to study a successful model of water user’s association near Chandigarh. To his surprise he found that the model is not working on the ground and he conveyed the same to his seniors. His seniors asked him to try and restart the functioning of the association. This was the first stint of Deep with the community. He worked with villagers and regained the model of water user’s association. Being an expert in System Analysis, he had the idea of how the system will work. This model became successful again , but water association system was not what Deep had to take away from his effort.

He came to realize that educated youth if apply their bright minds for the problems of villages, development can be faster and better. There was the seed of the organization Pradan.  As he was working for Ford, he could not start the organization himself and he looked for a person interested in this kind of initiative. He was suggested by someone about Vijay Mahajan, an IIM Ahmedabad graduate and interested in pursuing this kind of work. He motivated him to start the organization ‘Pradan’ and Mahajan ran this for 3-4 years before he wanted to go abroad for further studies.

It was then, when Deep left his good job at the Ford Foundation to work fulltime for this NGO. The times were harder. There was shortage of funds, staff. But his vision was sharp and clear. At first Pradan started to function as a third party provider of professionals taking responsibilty of pulling in youth from good educational organizations like IIMs and IITs and sending them to work for village level projects in different NGOs. However, later Pradan started its own direct community intervention programme and day by day became bigger and bigger as an NGO.

Today, PRADAN works with 1.7 lakh families across 3,000 villages in 7 states of India, empowering them through self-help groups and livlihood initiatives.  Any project of Pradan is worth visiting to see the quality of work done by an NGO.

I can go on writing, but I think I have included major things I remember. I have left the personal dilemmas shared by Deep, but with the circumstances you can well imagine them.  His grip on dealing with the community was very very good, though his job was not to work directly with the community. I have heard several tales from Pradan staff about the way Deep would interact with the community. If you are interested further… go through this small piece  of writeup by Deep on conducting a Village Study. This reflects the depth of his understanding of the villages of India.

Check out www.pradan.net for more information about Pradan.