Urdu Poetry/ Shayari

Haseen aur khusnuma aalam to beshak roz hota hai

Magar us gam ki badli mei dil ye roz rota hai

Ke shamma jal bhi jaaye to

Shokh mausam na hota hai

--one among the other Random ones I wrote..!!

Child Labor Eradication, Just a Myth

And we say, India is one the fastest growing nations in the world. How can it be? When one of the basic problems like child labor (among several others poverty, illiteracy, corruption etc..) is still as its peak.. I think I was in class 4th or something when I first read about how hazardous the impacts of child labor for a country can be and the number of laws which are already there in place according to the Government of India for its complete inhibition. 16 years from then, a much much longer time span but have we accomplished anything in this direction..let's see..

I am blessed to get an opportunity to stay at/visit various parts of the nation, from Rajasthan, Gujarat (West) to West Bengal, Orissa (East), to Karnataka (South). I still see  so many small kids working in various small places from a tea stall, to small food joints, mid-ways, small restaurants etc. One could see and tell that they can no way be 14 or more years of age. Even when most of these places are located in prime locations, what could be the reason that no action has ever been taken against their employers? Don't tell me that no government officials from Police Department, various ministries ever get a chance to visit or drive through these areas.  (This weekend I saw a lot of such kids and I did not know how can these kids get help/education etc.)

Then there are kids who belong to very poor families, their parents do not afford to send them to schools, in fact they do not afford meals twice a day. And these kids are consequently forced to go out and beg for money. Ain't this also a category of forced begging, another kind of child labor, since we do not have adequate resources available for the families (and thus for the kids belonging to these families) below the poverty line.

Corporates are bound to CSR (Corporate Social Resposibility) activities where they are supposed to spend some money on activities for social upliftment. I get to hear about a lot of such companies, where employees go to some big, renowned orphanages with lots of things to help the inhabitants with their miserable condition. These are places where children are already availing a decent standard of living. Why not such activities are directed to kids who are really helpless, why do we all end up avoiding people who actually need help and provide all the resources to people who are quite well to do..

These unanswered questions, they really need a lot of thought and pondering..Next time you wanna spend some money on charity, please make sure that it reaches people who are really needy..!!

Urdu Poetry/ Shayari

Mauzood-e-waqt ye Khaamosh

Hausalon ke daayron mei simta,

Andheron ki chilman-o-jharokha

Roshan shaamiyano ki aaghosh mein sharik

Minnaton ki tasvirein manzoor na thi;

Jahaan mein muqaddar se jushtzoo mashur sahi

Niste nabood gar koi zalzala kar bhi jaaye

Kismat ki dalilein manzoor na thi,

Ranjishon ki chaadar pe 

Sunehri kalm-o-shyaahi se

Humne manzar wo tarashaa hai

Karaar-e-zakhm ho itna

Bayaan na zakheera-e-alfaaz ho paaye

Dhuaan raahaton ki chaahat ho

Raza Chaahaton ki raahat se

Kaafila badhta chala jaaye

Aur manzilon ki tapish tale

Noor-e-ibaadat ki baarish ho

 Fir mauzon ki jannat mein

Gardishon ka kshitiz rava ho jaaye..!!

Yes, No, Maybe..!!

Sometimes, situations are so sudden, odd and novice that it becomes quite difficult to take a decision. What is even more difficult is to justify later whether what one did was really the apt choice..

Towards the end of the first day of this weekend, I was out for an evening walk, which is an inseparable part of almost all my weekends and sometimes, even weekdays. I was walking down the road, observing the things around, lost in my own thoughts. No sun, no rain and a cool breeze, weather in general was really pleasant. So, it made the experience more enjoyable.

Suddenly, I saw a bunch of 4-5 people coming from the opposite side and now walking towards me, no no no, not to hit me.. :) 

This incident was so sudden that I could notice only three of them, but I believe there were a few more standing behind them. One of them was a male of around 35-40 years of age, a female of around 30-35 years of age and a small kid, may be 7-8 years old. The female walked a little more towards me followed by the male and I could see that they wanted to ask something. The first thing which clicked to my mind, was may be they wanted to ask some directions, may be they were lost. So I just stopped to help them all. 

Both of them asked me the same question with a different set of words, super-imposed to give just one  meaning.."Do you know Hindi? "

I said, " Yes, I do." and I looked at them conveying that I could help you with some directions if you are going to inquire for some. [ I know usually I am not very good at this job, but I know this area quite well now.]

Next statement was, something like this...We came from a village and worked for a guy for a month and he ran away, did not even pay the wages to us..

I was perplexed..I mean I did not know how to react, for I did not know them, I did not know where they were coming from, whether what they were saying was truth or not, why were they telling this to me and of course this was none of my business..I never came across such a situation before this one..I did not say anything for a while and was still thinking about all this..

When I could hear another set of words..which meant.."We have no money to go back to our village and have no money to have food, we have not eaten anything since morning. Could you give us some money?"

I was just out for a walk around my house, so was carrying almost no money first of all. Secondly I did not know them, so how could have I trusted them?

I have always been a believer of the fact that "Beggars (or anyone who asks for money without doing any work) are burden to the society", especially if they are physically fit and capable enough of earning their livelihood. For those who are physically or mentally challenged, this is still acceptable. I was stuck with such thoughts but I managed to convey a "No" to them somehow, by nodding my head in disapproval of their behavior..

I could hear a repeated statement, this time they asked for some money in the name of their kid, for he had not eaten anything since morning.

For a moment I thought of helping them out but then again a logical reasoning occupied my mind. I have been a good observer always and did not get a vibration of any sadness from them, nor did I get the feeling as if they did some hard work for sometime and then the money of their hard labor was not paid to them. It seemed to me like a well rehearsed story, framed perfectly with fake emotions, to captivate the listener and exploit them on the emotional front to get some financial aid. So I denied again, moved forward...

From the moment thereon, I have a little in guilt in some corner of my mind for not helping them.What if they were really hit bad by the circumstances. But then the moment is gone and I have no strong evidences of knowing what is right and what's wrong..

Was my decision wrong ? Yes, No, Maybe

What would have been your take in such a situation..??

Spirit CA Reloaded

I did not have my laptop in the morning for quite sometime in office, so had nothing to do, than just to scribble on bits and pieces of paper. This is when I realized that the Cartoon Artist within me has not died yet. I drew a lot of things and below is just one of them. I took around a minute to come up with this, not bad huh ..!! :)

Even then, let me confess it's a very bad feeling to sit in office without your system, really awkward..!!

The City of Joy, Kolkata/Calcutta

I owed this one to Kolkata or Calcutta from a really, really, really long time. I do not want to come out to be a critic, it's just a narration of my experience with the city, a mix of good and bad things which I noticed during my few visits and stay in the City since 2008.

The city has a slumbered calmness amidst the fast moving in fact, fast running population. I have not noticed any change since 2008 till now i.e. 2012, which is quite a lot of time, 4 years is no way less. The local/city buses still look as old as those stolen away from the time British ruled over our country. I do not know why the streets are not cleaned, as if nobody bothers about the dirt scattered all over the place. 

Another thing which I did not understand is, why 'It is called the City of Joy'?

So when you are on the Howrah bridge going towards Calcutta/Kolkata, there is a huge board which reads out aloud 'Welcome to the City of Joy'. 

I have been asking this question to all the people I have met in there. Nobody knows the real reason. But I think, it is because, people still has a fervour and zeal to fight away all the hardships thrown away to them via under-developed infrastructure of  this metropolitian city, which makes your stay here a differently enjoyable experience.

If you happen to visit Howrah railway station anytime, then you will suddenly realize what population explosion really means. If you stand at a place and not walk for a few minutes, you will end up finding yourself out of the station entrance, people will make you move, wantedly or unwantedly ;)

Now a few good things, 

I see that inflation has not hit that hard to this particular part of the country. One could easily get quite satisfying meal in much much less than what it costs in other cities like Bangalore, Ahmedabad etc. I am surprised to see Kolkata among one of the 10 most expensive cities in India: 
http://omgtoptens.com/misc/most-expensive/top-10-most-expensive-cities-of-india-2012/

Local transportation cost is also pretty low, in fact you would not feel the need of owning a vehicle.

I mean if you leave apart the expense of getting an accommodation in a decent area, everything else is quite affordable.

People are really good at guiding you with directions. The best part is that if they do not know the direction to a place, they will certainly admit it and tell you to ask someone else, instead of making you go over the wrong way. The willingness to admit that something is unknown to you, is scarce in Indian population, but you could see this here in immense quantity. 

During my last visit, this scene reminded me of  a Bollywood movie, Swadesh  :)