ArpitGarg's Weblog

An opinion of the world around me

Blasts and News

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I shied away from news channels last night. Its rare coz I feed over breaking news. However scenes on TV during 26/11 haunted me for long. There was one more reason; I have been so used to these blasts that I knew very well what would be on news channels. Let’s guess chronologically.

t=0 Blast across the city.

t=5mins Unverified news of explosion in the city. Suspected to be cylinder explosion.

t=10mins Unverified news of series of explosions. Definitely not a cylinder explosion. 10 injured.

t=15mins According to sources, it’s a terrorist attack. Blasts across the city within minutes of each other. 2 dead, 24 injured.

t=30mins Police sources have verified that these are bombings. Blast sites have been cordoned off. Injured being taken to the hospital. 7 dead, 56 injured.

t=1hr Home minister has verified it to be a terrorist attack. Lashkar, IM hand suspected. 15 dead, 87 injured.

t=2hrs Terrorist attack probe begins. IB, Forensic team on the spot. Use of sophisticated technology detected. 25 dead, 117 injured.

t=3hrs City on red alert. India put on high alert. 15 IM suspects rounded up. Investigations on. PM realys message to the nation. 29 dead, 127 injured.

t=5hrs Celebrities vent anger on twitter/facebook. Socialites damn the Security forces. Intellectuals damn the Govt. 34 dead, 149 injured.

t=6hrs Qaidai-al-kalami-jamat takes responsibility for the blasts.

t=7hrs I write this post.

न भूल सका

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पहली बार जो तुझको देखा था,
शरमाई औ सकुचाई सी थी,
कुछ डरी औ कुछ घबराई सी थी,
भूला मैं यह सब कुछ, न भूल सका,
बस तेरे चेहरे पर आती हुई वो लट|

बच रही थी तू मुझसे, कौन है यह?
शायद कुछ ज्यादा ही उतावला था मैं,
तिर्छी निगाहों से वैसे, देख रही थी तू,
भूला मैं यह सब कुछ, न भूल सका,
बस तेरी वो पहली नश्तर सी हँसी|

दो घंटे इंतज़ार करवाया था तूने,
पहली बार मिले थे जब हम तुम,
ऐसी नादान बन रही थी तू, क्या कहता,
भूला मैं यह सब कुछ, न भूल सका,
बस तेरी वो बिंदी जो कुछ टेढ़ी थी|

लम्बी लम्बी बातें तेरी, नहीं ख़त्म,
जो होती थी, पक-पक पक-पक तेरी,
न जाने कब अच्छी लगने लगी थी,
भूला मैं यह सब कुछ, न भूल सका,
बस तेरा वो तकिया-कलाम, हाय|

निगाहों का नशा तेरा, रिश्ता मेरा,
तेरा रूठना, मनाना मेरा, पल छिन,
वो प्यार से तेरा मुझ पे मुक्के बरसना,
भूला मैं यह सब कुछ, न भूल सका,
बस तेरी वो आखों की सरफरोशी|

तेरा मेरे पास आना, दूर जाना, सताना,
रोकना मुझे, प्यार बरसना, कतराना,
तेरे नखरे सहना, तुझे कुछ न कहना,
भूला मैं यह सब कुछ, न भूल सका,
बस वो सारे ख्वाब जो तेरे नाम किये||

Written by arpitgarg

July 11, 2011 at 7:32 pm

Posted in Hindi, Love, Poetry

Tagged with , , , , , , , , , , ,

Grandparents

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There was a village amidst the mountains. Total population would not have been more than couple of hundred. It was like a family living in harmony since generations.

Witness to all these years was a banyan tree. None knew exactly how old it was. Prevalent folklore varied its age from thousands to millions of years. All sorts of carvings could be made out from its trunk. Some looked prehistoric, some recent. The tree was so spread out that it acted like a city centre. Everyone hung out, celebrated festivals under it. It was an integral part of village life; a group of happy populous.

One morning people woke up to something. It was a windy day alright; but apart from sand and dust, there was something else in the air. Thousands of banyan leaves were flying around. Whole village soon gathered underneath the tree. It had lost half of its leaves overnight. The freshness of the morning soon turned into realization of a shock.

The tree was dying. The suddenness of the situation was more than anyone could handle. Ladies started weeping. Men could hardly speak. They prayed, pleaded with their Gods. Every avenue possible was explored but to no avail. It was two weeks when the last of the leaf was seen. It was now a dead wood. The life was not the same anymore.

Suddenly the sun seemed hotter, rains heavier and stars aplenty. Years went by and the tales about the age of the tree changed into tales about existence of it. People started to live indoors. There were no community gatherings anymore. It was like the societal fiber just vanished, the thread broken, the elastic snapped.

Similar is the impact of elders in a home. Grandparents we call them. No one knows how old the grandmother is. She was born this old, with wrinkles, for all we know. Nobody knows from where the wisdom of Grandfather comes from. He is The Britannica for all we know.

They are the root that symbolizes the family and keeps everyone together. Once they leave, the sons/daughters become a self existent entity. The family gatherings become less. The circle of life springs into action. Each of those offshoots starts their own family, become old to be called grandparents themselves. The vacuum remains but the life moves on.

Soon number of trees cropped up under the dead root. The city centre was vibrant again. The banyan tree gave way to multitude of trees. New fruits and new flowers; New pours and new showers.

Top 5 Modern Means to Ease Tension

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1. Divorce
A two faced dragon. Post the concept of divorce, couples has been eased out of tension of living unhappily together. It gives a shot at starting life afresh and get out of the lifelong agony.
 
2. AC
In hot and humid conditions, mind is not able to reach its optimum production level. Air Conditioning has solved this altogether. Even in extreme conditions, we can choose to live at whatever temperature we want. How the AC soothes our mind and rejuvenates us in those summers.
 
3. Chocolate Sundae
There is nothing like a hot fudge, whipped cream Chocolate Sundae that sooth our nerves. After a tiring day, a sundae relieves us like nothing else. Modern life has its goodies to offer.
 
4. Bungee Jumping
Not for the faint hearted. The thrill remains us for life. Try it once and you will never be scared in life. It adds thrill to a boring life and eases our mind.
 
5. Combat Video Games
Beating the hell out of someone is an age old solution to ease tension. We can beat, kill, and destroy anyone and anything in this virtual world. Believe you me the thrill is the same. Play a “Beat you Boss” at the end of a tiring day and it will outperform a glass of Beer.
 

Top 5 Modern Means of Tension

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1. E.M.I.
Works on the principle of “spending before earning”. A family tragedy, some urgency can cause us to default on EMI’s, which is followed up by goons at our doorsteps. Since we have already spent the money there is no options but to keep paying the EMI’s. This destroys the basic premise of happy living, “Live within your means”.
 
2. Extensive Travel
Globalization has its demerits. Urban lifestyle involves extensive air travel for business purposes. Many people are forced to live out of their suitcases. This adds extreme pressure. Jet lag becomes an addiction and tension keeps accumulating like anything.
 
3. Career to Choose
A son of a potter became a potter. There was nothing like, “Choosing a Career”. It has become a modern demon which destroys much of our early life and by the time we settle on a particular career, we find out we don’t like it any bit. The grumbling stays on eating into our peace.
 
4. Power/Water cuts
Sans the concept of power or water distribution, people didn’t have to deal with the cuts. Water was taken right out of lakes and oil lamps were used for light. The modern society is so dependent on power and water supply that frequent cuts (demand-supply), leaves us irritated.
 
5. Marriage on rocks
Marriage was a lifelong bond and concept of divorce was not known. These days tension created by divorce, court case, heart break is too much to handle. Good were the days when society chose a match for you and you lived ever together.
 

…to follow: Top 5 Modern Means to Ease Tension

Midnight Sketches: Imitation

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Written by arpitgarg

June 22, 2011 at 10:46 am

अंगुलियाँ तेरी

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गुनगुनाती हैं नए तराने,
अहसासों का सैलाब लिए,
कुछ न कहकर सब कह जाती,
तेरी यह जालिम अंगुलियाँ|
 
कमल की कोमल पंखुड़ियां,
छू देती हैं, सिरहन करके,
होने की मेरे करती पुष्टी,
तेरी यह मादक अंगुलियाँ|
 
हाथों में लेकर पुच्के/गुजिया,
ओठों तक तेरे जो पहुंचाती,
कभी आह भरी, कभी चाह भरी,
तेरी यह पूरक अंगुलियाँ|
 
शोभा हीरे की तुझसे है,
जो अंगूठी बनके बैठा है,
हीरे की चमक को चमकाती,
तेरी यह यौवन अंगुलियाँ|
 
जाते में मुझको पकड़ा था,
बाहों में भींच के जकड़ा था,
बालों, कपडों को खींच रही,
तेरी यह गुमसुम अंगुलियाँ|
 
दिन था बुरा, परेशां था में,
सर पर मेरे वो शीतल स्पर्श,
हाथ लगाकर दर्द किया फुर्र,
थकान मिटाती यह अंगुलियाँ|
 
लाल की लाली में डूबीं कभी,
कभी हरियाई हरे की छाई है,
नाखूनों पर छितरे सतरंग से,
इन्द्रधनुष सी तेरी यह अंगुलियाँ|
 
वो बारिश में तले पकोड़े थे,
गरम गरम औ सुरख सुरख,
उनपर एक छाप सी छोड़ गयीं,
तेरी यह पाँचों अंगुलियाँ|
 
साथ साथ थे पकडे हाथ,
तुझे अपना बनाया मैंने था,
पहना के अंगूठी प्रेम की,
मेरी हो गयीं, तेरी अंगुलियाँ||

Written by arpitgarg

June 16, 2011 at 2:43 pm

Shootout in the Rain

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First full-fledged down pour of the season and Mumbai was left reeling. My weekend plans stood canceled as they involved a bit of travelling. I decided to cool my heels at home instead.

Late afternoon, a news came trickling in about shootout of a veteran journalist. Given the violent times we live in, I would not have given the story, a second hearing. But few keywords caught my attention. Apparently the shootout took place near to my house; on the road that I take daily. Another of such tragedies that I have come up close. The last being when an air hostess leaped off the building I lived in.

These incidents do leave a sad feeling. However as cold as it may sound, they don’t affect us anymore as far as personal security is concerned. I didn’t leave the building after the said suicide. I will take the same road tomorrow. It becomes just news. And then the calls, “Heard a shootout happened where you live. Were you there? Did you see anything?” and other such queries.

In another hour or so I had almost forgotten what had happened. I was just waiting for the rains to subside to get on with the evening. But they never did. I decided to go for a stroll to the park nearby. No sooner had I stepped out of my building did I see dozens of media satellite vans lined up. I wondered why. Then I remembered the shootout. My building is adjacent to the police station and whole media was there to cover the story.

I abandoned the idea of the walk and came back to the apartment. It was time for my evening snacks.

Of Cricket, Suresh, Sachin and Serbian

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Netizens woke up today to “Suresh Raina is God” updates on social networking websites. Apparently when “Suresh Raina is God” is translated to Serbian and back to English, Google Translate, gives us “Sachin Tendulkar is God”.  Sachin fans are going crazy ever since, reaffirming their faith in all what is Google.

Let me jot down in brief, what Google says, how Google Translate works.

Not Word By Work
It’s not a word by word translation. In the sense that “I am God” in Hindi does not translate to “मैं हूँ भगवान”, but Google Translate does it perfectly to, “मैं भगवान हूँ”.

Machine Guess Work
It’s all a guess work. Large amounts of documents already translated by human translators have been scanned. Google Translate analyses the patterns to find best suitable translation. Google calls it, “statistical machine translation”.

Correct the Mistakes
Google asks for your contribution to make Translate better. If you come across an anomaly, select the better alternative provided. This is fed back to the analyzer for future reference.

I did some investigation on my own keeping the above explainations in mind. Below are the results with my weird theories.

1. Cricket, Sachin, Suresh and Serbian

English Serbian English
Suresh Raina is God Суресх Раина је Бог Sachin Tendulkar is God
Suresh Raina is a match Fixer Суресх Раина је меч Фикер Sachin Tendulkar is a match Fixer
Suresh Raina is bowled out Суресх Раина се докотрљао се Sachin Tendulkar is bowled up
Suresh Raina is run out Суресх Раина је понестало Sachin Tendulkar was run out
Suresh Raina is playing cricket Sachin Tendulkar Суресх Раина игра крикет са Сацхин Тендулкар Sachin Tendulkar playing cricket with Sachin Tendulkar

If we associate Suresh Raina with cricket in any sense, Translate interprets it as Sachin Tendulkar as far as Serbian and English is concerned. If we recall, Suresh Raina was hailed by Wisden, Bible of Cricket, as one of the most promising lad when he first surfaced on the cricket arena. He was hailed as the next Sachin Tendulkar by cricket enthusiasts and pundits. Google Translate might be looking into those very reports for all we know. Also Suresh seems quite similar to Sachin even in English language.

2. Others are fine

English Serbian English
Virender Shewag is God Вирендер Схеваг је Бог Virender Shevag God
Sourav Ganguly is God Соурав Гангули је Бог Sourav Ganguli God
Rahul Dravid is God Рахул Дравид је Бог Rahul Dravid is God
Mahendra Singh Dhoni is God Махендра Сингх Дхони је Бог Mahendra Singh Dhoni is God

With other cricketers there seems to be no goofiness at all. I was expecting some trick with Virender Sehwag given that he has been hailed as duplicate Sachin. Alas! I was wrong.

3. No Cricket, No Confusion

English Serbian English
Suresh Raina Суресх Раина Suresh Raina
Suresh Raina is a doctor Суресх Раина је лекар Suresh Raina is a doctor
Suresh Raina eat Суресх Раина једу Suresh Raina eat
I met Suresh Raina Сам упознао Раина Суресх I met Suresh Raina
Suresh Raina met Sachin Tendulkar Суресх Раина састао Сацхин Тендулкар Suresh Raina met Sachin Tendulkar

If we use Suresh Raina, independent of any cricketing context, there is no funny business at all. Raina will not be able to catch up with Sachin in his off field life it seems.

4. Another of Google’s Prank

It might have been hardcoded by Google as a prank on cricket crazy net users in India. They are well known for such jokes. If it is a ploy, it sure is working. Wait for a press release, they will admit soon, if there is anything to it.

Google Translate has a lot many tricks up its sleeve. Keep exploring. Coz that’s what Jesus (Google) wants us to do. One of them being:

English Vietnamese English
Will Justin Bieber ever hit puberty Justin Bieber sẽ bao giờ đến tuổi dậy thì Justin will never reach puberty

Now that’s nasty of Google. What has Justin done to anyone?

Scams are good

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A leading newspaper carried a story about petition filed by a multi-millionaire 2G accused, asking for a prison cell with less dust and less heat. Apparently he had some health issues as his lawyer pointed out. There were other stories carried out in media about how 2G and CWG VIP detainees were unhappy with the conditions in the prison and have even taken it up with the authorities.

I for one support their demands. In fact in Hinduism, paap-dhona as it is called, this might just be the deed, which would absolve them of their sins. Let me explain, how.

A while ago, a friend forwarded me an e-mail. There were images of a lovely place. It looked like an awesome hotel. Plush rooms, lavish swimming pool, scenic surrounding and appealing facilities. I needed to identify it. As always, I scrolled to the answer directly; was amazed to find out that it was a state penitentiary in Australia.

It was in stark contrast with its Indian counterparts. But given the condition of our slums, when even free people are forced to live in dire conditions, how can the jailed ones be treated any better. Lobbying for better facilities for so called criminals and thugs will only attract bad publicity, given the problems free citizens face day-to-day. Hence no one has ever shown enough courage to take an initiative.

Maybe with these powerful people, our jails are in for a much needed makeover. As they say, “Every ill has its benefits”. These scams might just be the positive catalyst needed for making our prisons a better place.

Written by arpitgarg

June 9, 2011 at 9:00 pm