Miles apart

Sitting by the side of the pond , Amu was throwing pebbles in the water. She was in no mood of playing or climbing the trees to get ripe mangoes. Her friends had come to fetch her but she did not like their company right now. Her mind was travelling far far away into the distant unknown land , the land of luxuries , the land of freedom , the land where Priya belonged. Priya was the granddaughter of the erstwhile "Jamindar" (Zamindar) of their village. Although the Zamindari system had long been abolished , Roop Narayan Ray Chowdhuri was revered by all villagers. The Jamindar bari build on many many acres of land was magnificent, surrounded by jamun(gooseberry) and mango plantation. Roop Narayan's son Abhay Narayan Priya's father was working for an MNC(as told by Priya and Amu had no clue of what this was)and he , his family were living in Dilli. Priya had also told Amu that Dilli was the capital of Bharat but what exactly was a capital Amu could not understand. All she knew was the big town had buildings much much bigger than the magnificent Jamindar bari, and all people there were rich.



Every year Priya with her parents paid a visit to her dadu(grandfather) at Rampukur. The one month long vacation was always pure bliss. She loved the carefree , slaphappy village life. There were times when her parents stayed back at Kolkata, but she did not mind staying here. With no studies, just playing and wandering and her Dida's (grandma) recipes , she longed for this trip year long. She also longed for Amu. Amu's mother Sita was a helper(actually a servant) to Dida. Sita did almost all the household chores and helped Dida in the kitchen. Ma had told Priya that Amu was born the same day she was born. May be that was the reason why Priya and Amu had become best pals though they were from completely different societies. Priya had learnt a lot from Amu.. from swimming to climbing trees to making baskets from twigs and dried palm leaves to "how to read and write bengali". They spent their days picking the mangoes and jamun, swimming in the ponds, listening to the songs of koel, swinging on the banyan branch by the riverside. Sometimes Priya would steal some savories or delicacies for Amu, while at times Amu would bring aachar or jhaal muri(puffed rice) for her. They would get drenched in the rains or lie under the star studded sky locating constellations.


For Amu life would be wonderful during the sweaty summer days when Priya came to her Dadu's home. Although they were very rich and affluent, their doors were somehow never closed for Amu. Amu had many times crept into Priya's room .While others took their afternoon nap, she would amazingly peer into Priya's picturesque story books.Priya had taught her english alphabets so she could read the stories, but could not understand the meaning. Priya translated the stories to bengali for her. Priya would also bring gifts for her. Sometimes a story book, sometimes a sketchpen set or sometimes a doll. But what she(Amu) loved the most were the stories of the distant land, the tales of Priya's school, her friends and teachers, the fables of her tutions and dancing and drawing classes. She would be mystified to see the photos which Priya bought for her. The photos and the stories were her eyes to see Priya's wonderland. She wished one day she could see those with her own eyes.
.......
Priya was blankly gazing through the window of the Rajdhani Express. She with her family were heading for NewDelhi. From there they would leave for US in a week. Her father had got posted to the headoffice of his company. Her parents were very happy, but for Priya it was as if she was leaving a part of her at Rampukur. They said life at States was a lot busier with more of competition and more aristocracies. They would be moving to the land of Skyscrapers(as she had read in her GK book). Tears filled her eyes thinking she may never be back to enjoy the leisured life, with no studies and no classes and no competition.Life would be hell with no annual trip to her beloved village, no Dida - Dadu and above all no Amu. Oh how badly she envied Amu now, with all her(Amu's) freedom and a simple life.

Back at Rampukur, Amu was crying her heart out, her face hidden in her shabby cotton frock. Her only eyes to see the world outside Rampukur had left for a far distant land, a land which she would never see nor feel. A life which she enjoyed once a year, was taken away from her, a life full of stories and fairy tales , a life of knowledge and wisdom , a life which she did not have the right to live , that life would never be back. Now she felt jealous of Priya for the first time in her life.

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The common man's uncommon rail budget

The third rail budget given by our very own Mamta Di .. the budget she and our PM claim to be a common man's budget.. is it really a good one.. or is it just a voter friendly budget. With the Bengal assembly election at the door step, what could be more luring for voters then promising for 14 new trains to the state. This is completely a Bengal oriented budget. Forum and blogs reflect the wrath of people from other states. Shouldn't  there have been trains which would have covered the length and breadth of the country rather then just her (and my) state. And the so called "DURONTO" trains .. will they not help only by delaying the other train? Cant our ministers just think of improving the existing logistics and infrastructure instead of making hopeless promises? I mean what good is it to start new Durontos and Shatabdis when at the first place night trains at maoist areas are not possible, when train travel is a complete nightmare , when trains get delayed by hours and sometimes days , where Sleeper class is the last place you will find neat and clean, where the railway pantry serves the worst food and where long or short distance express trains the bathrooms are pathetic and most unhygienic.
No hike in fares is ofcourse a welcome in this inflation market, but with the current deficit ever increasing how are we going to come off it. Even a nominal increase in fare would have amounted a lot viewing the traffic on the rails.And it would have not harmed at all if the fare of AC and luxury trains increased by a small percent.Promises like "Housing to all railway employees in the next 10 years." isnt it ludicrous? And what about the pending projects
I dont understand how our PM could approve such a budget.
It agonizing to say .. but sometimes I feel our country should be under president's rule.. a president with no political background but with a vision for India.. a president like may be APJ.. a President who can show the world what we can do when we think much above the boundaries of our states.

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Uma ... Shakti

Recently I have been watching quite a many women oriented films...films depicting the fight of women for individuality. And time and again these thoughts keep popping in my mind........After so much of development and education, "WOMAN" still remains the acronym for "Sacrifice" in our society. One thing I really appreciate about the western society is its equality for the fairer sex. Here She drives buses, runs companies, is a homemaker, dons the Miss Universe crown, is the CEO, visits the unknown space , in a nutshell does everything which a man can do.

We hail from a country and culture where in ancient days woman was at a more higher status. She was the source of Power : "Shakti". Only in Hinduism do we have a female aspect of GOD. In our vedas and scriptures women are worshiped. Ancient India saw a woman no different from a man. She was well versed and educated, she had property rights,she could choose her husband . Our Upanishads tell us that women once had the right to perform rituals, wear the scared thread , they were gurus in gurukuls. In ancient India the woman was respected for her virtues , her education, her qualities, not just for her physical beauty, purity and chastity. Then why this discrimination today ?

I was brought up in a family where a woman is respected and honored .My parents always wanted me to be independent with a strong ground under my feet. And even after my marriage , I am lucky enough to pursue all my dreams , aspirations and stargazes, thanks to the tremendous unconditional support of my husband. But how many women are half as lucky as me and likes?

I have seen daughters being brought up with the notion that they are "Paraya dhan", bound to get married and leave their maiden family for good(?? who knows for good or bad ?? ) . In some educated and so called modern families she is given the best of education with the purpose of fetching a good husband. And there are intellectuals who despite of competing with women in academics and profession want a beautiful ("convent educated" at times) wife, who will be waiting for him back home in a pretty saare with the steaming dinner on the table when he is back from a hectic day at office. Even if she is working , she should be back before him , all geared up for the second phase of work. And sometimes she has to sacrifice her booming carrier for her family...... no dont think I am against this. On the contrary I somehow feel (despite of being a hardcore feminist) that for a woman Family comes first because if she neglects the family, no one can revert the loss done. But then choosing between carrier and family is entirely her own decision. She should not be forced to do so nor should she is the only one responsible for her family.

Why again chastity is one virtue which every woman should have , while a man can go about having any number and any type of relationships? Even in today's educated society a single mother is ridiculed and humiliated. Why is an unmarried mother out-casted from the society.. why is only she blamed ... is not the other person equally if not more responsible? Rather should she not get all the support,care and applaud for bringing into this world a baby on her own?

I dont think any of us (women) want any reservation of any kind at any place at any time. What today's woman really wants is an equal status , she is capable of doing everything , from fathoming the deepest to conquering the highest..from raising a child to managing a company.. to leading a nation. Let her take the world in her stride and wonders she can do..

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My India

After a long time I am back..meantime I had started writing a few blogs but never came to the ending.. Hopefully this blog of mine sees its ending..

Staying abroad for a year, I miss my country very much. I miss everything of India, the hot summers, the monsoon, the festivals, the food, the people, the roads, the traffic .. oh this is an infinite list.. above all I miss the Indian soil..(is it just a figure of speech.. nah.. I really cant smell the aroma of soil after the first rains here..). And when ever someone asks about my country, I proudly say that I am an Indian, and with that I start boasting about my country, all her virtues, her culture, her people , everything. But then when I read of accidents, any terrorist or naxal attack , any scams, or simply the everyday tales of red-tap ism and bureaucracy happening all over India , I feel sad for my country.

This 15 Aug, India celebrates its 62nd Independence Day. But are we independent in true sense? Where are we on the world map after 62 years of independence? Here I am citing some facts and figures.

The Human developing Index prepared by our very own economists Amartya Sen says India stands 134 in the list of Medium Developing countries beaten by all the Latin American countries, some of the African Countries, and of course our neighbors China , Srilanka(here I am not considering the continents of Europe, North America and Australia ) . And despite being the fourth largest economy of the world, India stands 57th in the race for countries below poverty line,with 42% of our population below the poverty line. In US, the farmers are equipped with the latest technology for agriculture, the are educated and very well-off. Our farmers either die or suicide because of debts, natural calamities.

We stand at 149 position with just 66% literacy rate, being the 2nd highest populated country of the world. Congratulations to us we will be surpassing China by 2025.

India's bureaucracy is the worst in Asia and we have a fourth of our parliament members who have criminal charges. One can find corruption every where from commonwealth games to every walks of day to day life.

Its not safe for a girl to walk on the roads of the Capital of the country at night. Neither is it safe to travel on rails for fear of a sabotage or merely a wrong signal. There's adulteration in grains , cereals, oil, medicines and everything. There's politics on nothing and everything. We are represented by mostly octogenarians and nonagenarians in the parliament. The judiciary takes decades to execute a criminal in-spite of all the evidences. The rapists and murders remain at large and finally join politics.

So here we are ..many feathers to our cap. But who is to be blamed, politicians, bureaucrats, civil servants or is it just us. Yes, its our country and we are responsible for it. But what do we do? I really don't know. Change the government, bring a reform .. but how? Whom should I elect.. they are all the same... and I keep pondering on this..I do not dream for a Utopian society but I do dream for a better India, greener safer beautiful India. The India of my Dreams......

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