Apocalypse

The life signs were missing, the soul trying another door,

Searching for a living corpse, a new hope.

But little did the soul know, that life was missing on the planet,

The golden days were long gone, it was an apocalyptic version of the world.

The humans had turned on each other, trust was the treasure of none.

Wealth was no longer a resource,  logic was covered by the strokes of impulsive minds.

The governments had failed to establish control, and the only borders were those that separated man and his afterlife.

So how did the social chains fail, how did the diseases consume humanity, how did the darkness prevail?

It was God who played the unforgiving card, and it was the Almighty who forged the curses.

Humans were the pawns of His chessboard, and they overplayed their role on the planet.

So the virus was unleashed and it was allowed to play its game.

But He had foreseen it all, and he was three steps ahead at every move.

For he wanted to give the planet another chance, he wanted to restart life.

Death was wearing a disguise, a cloak of the abyss, taking the underworld to humans,

Only to leave behind what mattered the most, a story to remind those who defy His rules, that only the noble men shall survive.

The Educational Funda - Apna Adda

The biggest business after the media-sex combo is probably education or the lack of education! Right from the time our nurses help us with our first clothing, before we officially get a name, we have our label: Mr. Engineer and Mrs. Doctor, to hell with the kicks we gave in our mother's womb, the signals of an aspiring footballer. As the years went on we added a few punches to our moves to show our inclination to boxing. Our parents looked at it as a sign of growing up, adding to our goals for our life, rather, their goals for our life. Yes, that sounds far more apt!

We then got enrolled in a school with a nice name, ready to be stellar examples of the next generation gentlemen of the society. We are taught the basics about machines by becoming machines - literally getting a touch of practical experience! -_-
Our friends seemed to be the ones who played the role of hope, a hope of a better life, but this is quickly bottled up by guardians, who wanted us to mix with the right sort of guys. I have heard such people being referred to as nerds.

The genius, bottled up in school for 12-14 years, sought to break free college, only to find that misery in life is like shit in a bad stomach - it never ends. Just when you thought that was the last one, you find yourself again in the shit-hole, prepared for the next onslaught.
College life: fresh green campus, party wear, inter-cultural hangouts, dad's money ...... did I miss a few things? Of course, I did. Mess food, stinking rooms (ok we take the credit for that) and the un-flushed shit-holes that is probably a  metaphor for our life! I would rather not get started on studies.

Between all this mess, no matter how much we are kept away from Love, Sex and Dhoka, we always come across these three beauties. Love because it is the standardized step to companionship, happily passed on by society. Sex, well, let's just say because babies need to be born (I don't have age restrictions on this post else I would say it was Satan's initial plan for Adam!) And dhoka (deceit), because that is the outcome of every such trash! But then again, the three might not be in the same order always!
But you never know what love, lust and life may do to you. However, once you are ruined, you definitely do know!

We fight through this, barely realizing that "Life is a learning process" and hopefully we learned we should have enjoyed it when we had the chance to. Of course, the parents made us do everything, but don't always blame the food for your upset stomach .... it is you who never knows when to put a stop!

From the Paper to the Pad

Technology is greatly advancing, failing to be curtailed, hindered or stopped in any manner possible. We moved from an age where the paper seemed to be the legit way of non-verbal communication which quickly shifted to the digital world. The era of brooms got broomed off by vacuum cleaners. Additionally, this advancement has come with a certainly noticeable deal of lackadaisical attitude amongst the people.

We live in a time of automation. Everything we seek should be already available so that there is nothing to seek! Research, earlier, was considered to be in more demand than other fields but the times are changing because research, some believe, is near saturation. We have high-tech watches that do the task of mobile phones, we have mobile phones that do the task of computers, and we have computers that do a lot of stuff that humans find difficult in. Moral of the story? Nothing. It is just weird the way we are moving on.

Now think of the olden times .. How stupid would Alexander the Great consider himself, riding horseback for weeks to move from one country to another, when he can do the same now on a plane, while he sleeps. Then how can we forget the times when we had to wait for our turn to make a call through the network providers, now that all we need to do is message. The times when we had to scramble here and there in order to find out about people, but hey there, Facebook to the rescue! The element of hard work has been restricted to education because once a person enters his professional life, it all comes down to whether he knows anything about technology, or has been a goose all these years.

We are entering the domain of robots and artificial intelligence and are on the verge of recreating God's creation. Is that an achievement? You bet it is. Is it wise? Only time will tell. Nuclear energy was developed in order to serve a new hope to the world, and it is considered one of the greatest achievements in the world. But the way it has been used, oops, misused, is left for the reader to interpret. Was it an achievement? You bet it is. Was it wise?

Music - The Language of Freedom

There are many things, subtle, smooth, relaxing and somethings that just flow with time, mixing into our daily lives. We have chocolates, religion and of course love. But there is one thing that just can't be defined perfectly, cannot be seen, cannot be questioned, cannot be stopped and cannot be hated. That one thing which is as sublime as it can get, flows in the air, flows from one heart to another, heard, understood and felt. The thing that comes out in happy, sad, troubled and angry times, but it when it does come out, its free, unbounded, uncurtailed and unchallenged. Its a language of expression, passion, a language of freedom - Music.

There are so many things that are passed on from one generation to another. Somethings are welcome, somethings aren't. Music, since ancient times, be it using stones, hands, feet, instruments or just voice, has been a part of every society. Ancient tribes had it, thanks to stones and their "tongue-tones" if you know what I mean. Gradually we reached the era of trumpets and drums. This gradually evolved into slow, soft music with modern-day instruments like that of Beatles and Carpenters. This quickly kept on evolving until it reached our times wherein music is a part of our existence.

Something that has such an old connection, but is still not regarded as "old-fashioned" and as no vices associated with it is something pure and awesome. I mean, think of it, we have music when we pray to God, but at the same time, we have music for war-martyrs. We listen to music in leisure whereas we also listen to music in stressful times. You know what's even more awesome in music? We do enjoy the music of our own language, but what's more special is that we might also enjoy the tune and rhythm of another language although we may not understand it.

From the age of only vocal musical exchange to modern-day Bluetooth headsets and Bose systems, music has evolved and evolved well. Its a powerful weapon, a powerful way of connecting, to recharge yourself, and amidst all other bullshit, its a culture, and a good one!  

I can

You might have heard of people giving you bore-some lectures on how 'everything is a part of life'. That is usually followed up by an even greater screwed up feeling. So what do you do? Follow the path to death or tighten your socks and have faith. Now that is a powerful word I used right there - Faith. Faith, mixed with hope, is basically the stuff on which mankind thrives. Look at religion, look at hospitals and doctors... look at everything whose outcome is unpredictable. What is the driving force behind all this - Faith and Hope.
Now here is the lesson. Whenever you are thinking your life can't get more screwed up, think again.
You look ugly? Ask the guy who got a burnt face.
You handicapped? Ask the war heroes if their handicapped limbs are pulling them down.
You have financial problems? Oh, you can hear endless tales of how simpletons turned into billionaires.
Your love life messed up? Sensitive but not stingy guys ... I mean, is that it. You think that person was your soul mate and he/she is no more. Now there is one thing I know, and that is 'God makes couples'. So if you had actually found your match, you will never lose him/her to any other person in this world.
So what is it that makes you quit. You lack will power? Confidence? Or is it that the world is kicking you too hard. We'll I will tell you one thing that my dad told me, ''People who don't matter, don't give a shit to what they say. And people who matter will never say anything that will add shit to your life''
Quitting is eliminating your dreams from your life. Look at this logically, till you don't quit, you actually have a chance of achieving your dreams. You actually have that minute tiny miny chance of actually hitting the goal. But once you quit, you are lost. So basically, you don't quit because you are lost.. You are lost because you are thinking of quitting.
Often we incorrectly decide what we are capable of. You cant move mountains, you can't catch the moon, but you can dream to do the impossible. The guy who said "Nothing is Impossible" was high on booze I guess. Of course, there are loads of things - Can you unborn a baby? Can you fight gravity? Can an elephant jump? No! Obviously not. But yes, you can do more than what you are doing now. You can seek better out of what you have. You can live life more than you do.
It only depends on how you want to live. Quitting is not suiciding. It is simply giving up, to anything. The biggest DISABILITY is our INABILITY to acknowledge our ABILITY. So just in case you are reminded of something you had given up on, while you are reading this blog, well, you got the light of hope you were searching for.

Religion v/s Realization

We are constantly in search of hope, help and mercy from the Almighty. We hope for better love, better life, better children, more money, good looks, and Lady Fortune to pass our way. But wait a second, is this all about religion? I ask the 'learned' and the holy saints, "Why do we need religion?" Among the various answers I received like, "Its God and you cannot question him"(Is he Osama Bin Laden), "You have to, that will make you great"(Just when I thought Zuckerberg and Gates were not priests), I heard an argument that opened my eyes, "It unites people".

That is one of the most un-agreeable statements I have heard. Religion unites people. No. Religion divides people. It creates teams across the entire globe. Team Hinduism. Team Islam. Team Christianity. Team Buddhism. Team Judaism. Blah. Blah. Blah. Team Atheism. There is a constant battle over which religion is better. No matter how much we shroud this topic on grounds of secularism and global peace, this topic has been a heated decision and will remain.

Look at the world's defense programs. Around 37% of the entire defense expenditures of the world are spent to combat religious fights, most of them against the Islamist terrorists who seek to gain influence over the entire world. Now if we call all our Gods has the ever-right, omnipotent and omnipresent, do we think that the Almighty doesn't have the guts to come down here, go ka-boom on anyone who opposes him and go back to his throne up there.

This is where I questioned the priests in my city, "Do we need God or do we need Religion". You see, people can make religion the biggest market on earth. Come to India, we have VIP systems in temples, offerings of gold diamonds and all things that can be labeled expensive, being given as offerings. Why? God plans to wear gold earrings? Even if so, YOUR gold earrings? Does he need money to buy a Mercedes? I asked my dad and he said we do so as our respect to God, and for the running of the temple/churches/mosques. I respect temples/churches/mosques being a place where God can dwell on Earth, but I really can't digest the fact how some people play with sentiments of the common man in the name of religion.

I am not an atheist. I love God. My birthmark doesn't label me as a Hindu or a Muslim or a Christian. My parents gave me that, and I have to keep that. But I cannot accept the fact that I am different from my crush who is a Christian or my best friend who is a Muslim or different from any person on grounds of some imaginary classification system. We are humans, different ideas, different principles,  different beliefs, different imaginations, different powers.... but not different blessings.

The Indian Politician

Being an Indian, I can do one thing that we Indians possess great proficiency in - Complaining about our government. Like all other governments, our government is quite the power-hungry kind, but then again, we love listening to their crafty speeches and somehow find a lot of pride in choosing one political party.

Our politicians, clad in their white kurta-pajamas, ironically symbolizing peace and transparency, are far from it. The martyrdom of our freedom fighters, the courage of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose, the valor of Mahatama Gandhi and the fire of each and every person who contributed and hoped in our independence has been extinguished by the corrupt and tacky government that often comes up.

I won't be surprised to see my self at gunpoint for writing such direct, rude and indecent remarks, but then again, the government is quite used to that. Actually, the country's mindset has been totally changed. Amidst complaining about the system, we too have become its slaves. Our patriotic fervor rises on 15th August(Independence Day) and 26th January(Republic Day) and then fades away.

A country where a hero can kill yet get off, where rape is like an everyday page 10 news report, where murder and extortion don't grab eyes of the politicians but what does is porn, in the Parliament. A country which we call our motherland suffers from its children. A nation which has seen selfless blood, but is now being ruled by selfish leaders, at the cost of the blood of the common man. A nation where a red beacon has its power, a white ambassador is the sign of a VIP but the Indian Emblem on every policemen's cap is covered by currency notes. A country where the photo of Gandhi on every note questions itself if India deserved freedom, a country where a farmer can't even buy poison to kill himself.

Its high time we shake ourselves from the shackles of corruption, high time we stop seeing our country and as a self-purifying nation, high time someone steps up, pushes the countrymen out of the Pandoras Box and eutopia and makes us face what we need to face: Reality.

Friends - The Desserts of our Life

The population is rising tremendously and making friends is easier than finding a soul-mate. But there is the trick that we fail to see. A friend is not a person whom we know. Such people can be our acquaintances. We hang out with a few people and them we add them to our 'friend-zone'. But how often do such people turn out to be our friends forever? Best friends are like diamonds, precious and rare. Others are like autumn leaves found everywhere.

My Chinese horoscope says I am a dog. Whuff!! Its actually quite dumb for me to write this, but I was quite proud. This is because the horoscope explained, "Dogs are the most faithful of all animals and can be the best of friends you can imagine". That's what I would perhaps want from someone. True friendship. It will ensure you will never fall apart.

We have friends who make us smile. Some make us cry. Friends who are a better child to our parents. Friends who act as our parents. Friends who help us enjoy their riches. Friends who enjoy with us by spending in bits and pieces. We have those who can do anything for us while those who are with us just to get anything out of us.

Between all these intricacies in life, we will definitely find a few friends without whom our existence would have voids. Friends who make us believe in ourselves and our capabilities. Even when all seems dark and we fail to see any hope in sight, there will be some friends who will carry the beacon of light. 

Before we move on with our life and maturity creeps in and we get involved with our family and before we meet our kin, salute this unequivocal bond called friendship. A bond that has no reason, no source, has no blood relation and no driving force. It is just a feeling of attachment, and that's good enough to carry it all the way.

Don't Quit - And Smile

Now no one is dead and back alive with God's report card, assessing how well we made a mess of our reason to live. Living life is not just breathing and enjoying at the same time. It is chasing a belief, a hope, and a dream. Its a fire in you to move on, its an inner voice of judgment, its an uncrushable passion of your goals and its that light that tells you there is always more.

Do you ever think "Why I was not able to do something even though I wanted to?" Do you ever regret your decisions? Well, you would be lying if you said no. Decisions are made to be either proud of or to be regretted upon. But what's the greater task at hand is to move on ahead, without crying over the lost opportunities.

Every morning you have God greeting you with his morning sun. Every night he wishes you good sleep with his moon. You have friends who hate you and love you, proud of you yet envy you. You have your mom and dad who might forget their own birthday but never dare forget yours!

You have a girl whom you love madly but fail to get reciprocated. You think that is the end. The next moment you see a blind woman walking alone, and you rush down to help. Suddenly your so-called lonely-solo-alone and oh-I-am-so-finished life is merged with someone else's. You never know your fullest abilities and your destiny until you have lived your life fully. There is a reason why fables remind us that life is full of past-present-future opportunities. Grab them!

There will be an infinite amount of lectures you will come across. There will be people and their wise words. There will be loads of scoldings, hoards of disasters. But even after a great thunderstorm, the rainbow is always trying to come out. Seek the rainbow in your life. Feel blessed with the life you have and make remember, you are the shining star!