ज़िन्दगी

ज़िन्दगी की राह का एक और मुक़ाम पूरा हुआ,
कभी खुशियाँ मिली तो कभी ग़म साथ हुआ,
कुछ पुराने चेहरे थे साथ,
तो कुछ नए चेहरों का दीदार हुआ,
किसी ने हंसाया, किसी ने रुलाया,
और किसी  ने दर्द में भी साथ दिया,
पर 'माँ' के आँचल का मुझ पर हमेशा साया हुआ,
फिर सफ़र में मिली एक अनदेखी अनजानी सी 'वो',
जिसका साथ पाकर मुझे भी ज़िन्दगी जीने का एहसास हुआ,
दोस्तों के साथ बीते कुछ खुशनुमा पल,
और मुझे भी दोस्ती का एहसास हुआ,
सालों तक रहेगा ये साथ हमारा,
मेरे दिल को कुछ ऐसा एहसास हुआ,
बस है ये गुज़ारिश छोड़ना ना साथ मेरा,
कि दुनिया कहे मैं सबसे तन्हा हुआ,
अगर हो कोई गिला शिकवा तो भूल जाना,
माफ़ी मांगने को मैं दिल से तैयार हुआ.

India and Entrepreneurs

When I look at the poor villagers who are living their lives on farming and other small businesses such as by selling milk or by carpentry or by running small poultry farms, every time it reflects that there is a significant gap between urban India and rural India .

Today India is developing with a good pace, and more contribution towards development is of urban areas. Imagine if Indian villages or rural India will also grow with the same pace, then it won’t be very hard for India to become the ‘World’s Largest Economy’.Government of India is continuously implementing different policies to bring out changes; but somewhere we are lacking behind. Sometimes it is because of lack of funds, loopholes in those policies and sometimes it is because of our corrupted system. We are trying hard in last few years but are not able to overcome this situation. So few of us might have this question in our mind - Is there no way for villages to catch up that pace? Some wise person has said “Nothing is Impossible.”  So, there comes the ray of hope ‘Entrepreneurship’.

Entrepreneurs with their splendid ideas and motivation can bring that change. In recent times we have already seen start-ups which are turning into big companies just because these entrepreneurs have that motivation and passion towards their idea and they work hard for it. Development of rural areas will not be an arduous task for these entrepreneurs. But, currently E-commerce/ Internet based start-ups have become a trend in India while 70% of Indians live in villages and around 30% of total are below poverty line (in rural areas it’s even more). These internet based start-ups are increasing consumerism; also these start-ups are not coming up with any technological advancement.According to me entrepreneurs should address the large scale problems. Their ideas should primarily focus on rural areas, social problems and technological advancement. When I look at entrepreneurship it’s all about believing and working on an idea using the core competencies around. But unfortunately today’s Indian entrepreneurs are not focusing on core competencies of India. India has good fertile land and larger work force in rural areas; so their ideas should revolve around the same. There have been few start-ups which are very successful today which are addressing the problems of rural areas, one such example is SELCO labs. 

To conclude I would say entrepreneurs should work around the problems in rural areas and villages, in this way they can play more significant role in development of India and that day will be not far when India will be the World’s largest economy.

P.S.- I know I am too young to write on this, and I am currently working on Internet based start-up itself. But this was my perspective towards what role should entrepreneurs play in development of India.

नसीब (Destiny)

मैं तुझसे कितनी दूर हूँ,
और तू मुझसे दूर होकर,
मेरे कितने करीब,
हाय कैसा ये मेरा 'नसीब'.

जब तुझे देखा था पहली बार,
हो गया था मुझे तुझसे प्यार,
मन ही मन मैं तुझसे करता रहा प्यार,
कर न सका मैं तुझसे इकरार,
मैं हो न सका तेरे करीब,
हाय कैसा ये मेरा 'नसीब'.

एक दिन आया मेरे दिल में ख्याल,
शायद तुझे भी है मेरे प्यार का एहसास,
पर तुने मेरे कहने का किया इंतज़ार,
करते रहे हम एक दुसरे से प्यार,
लम्हा था वो कैसा अजीब,
हाय कैसा ये मेरा 'नसीब'.

एक दिन चली गयी तू मुझसे दूर,
रह गया मैं तन्हा और अकेला,
अपने को गम में धकेला,
तेरे प्यार में टूटा मैं,
सब कुछ खोकर हो गया गरीब,
हाय कैसा ये मेरा 'नसीब'!

Book Review: The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari

This time I picked up the book for reading “The monk who sold his Ferrari” by Robin S Sharma. You are reading this review, may be this is one of the effect of the book because it says “you should share good things with others”. Writing a review for this book is just like adding a drop of water to the sea, but I think it is good to start off. So here it goes!

The monk who sold his ferrai is story of a lawyer Julian who believes in materialism and does not give any thought to anything apart from his law practice. One day Julian collapses with heart attack. He recognizes this omen as 'Awakening Call'. Now he wants to live more joyful and spiritual life thus he start his journey to the mystical land of India. After going through various places he finally reaches to the mountains of Himalaya and there he finds sages of Sivana, who knew all secrets of how to live a joyful life with simplicity, serenity and harmony. One of the sages Yogi Raman treats him as a student on a promise that after learning all the methods he will go to the west and pass on the message to others.

John, who is a friend of Julian and a co-worker, is narrating this story. Now Julian has returned from India and one can notice tremendous change in his personality and wisdom. He appears in front of John to pass on the wisdom and techniques he learned during his odyssey to India.

Now rest of the book revolves around seven methods to live a better, joyful and spiritual life. These seven sermons are based on different techniques such as “heart of rose”, “secret of lake”, “art of self-leadership”,” do the things you fear”, “Yoga”, “mantras”, “power of discipline” etc.   By practicing them, you can lead to state of self-mastery. Book also talks about “the ultimate purpose of life.”

John being a good learner asks questions quite frequently, which clears the doubts of reader as well and makes book self-explanatory. 

I felt great reading about the rich ancient Indian culture. Being an Indian I am sure you have heard of most of the techniques and have practiced some of them. But in the recent time we are getting inclined towards western culture and forgetting the ancient Indian culture. In one of the chapter’s book also says: “Books do not teach you anything new, they simply help you to see what is already within yourself.”

So I would suggest you to read this book if you are seeking a personal change in your life, if you are looking for tools and tips which can make your life more joyful and delightful. You never know this book may act as an ‘Awakening Call' for you.

Hike in petrol prices!

Yesterday in Allahabad a pair of twin brothers got separated from each other. When we heard this news, we thought it is quite common there. But one of our reporter raised doubt that this is not the time of Kumbh, and to get the more information he headed towards Allahabad. There he met one of the brothers (who is not missing obviously) named Chetan and claims to be a writer. He said as soon as he heard about the hike in petrol prices; he along with his brother Bhagat went to petrol pump to get their car full with petrol. According to him it was too crowded and it seemed like whole Allahabad has gathered there. It was their turn and he realized Bhagat was missing; and he has not found him till now. We were able to feel the pain in voice of Chetan while he was narrating his story.

These sudden hikes in price of petrol were disaster not only for Chetan- Bhagat but also for other ‘Aam Aadmi’ of India. As we claim to be ‘Sabse Tej’ our reporters headed towards different politicians and other not so common people of our country to figure out what they think about these hikes.

One of the representative of UPA government said that “this was our attempt to support SP. Now people will be travelling on Bicycles. Ab nuclear government me support to karna hi padta hai.”

On asking to Finance Minister Pranav Mukarjee, he said “According to Shwet Patra of this year (though data are fake) black money has reduced to a very low level, and we felt quite ashamed. So we have raised the price of petrol in order to raise the funds in Swiss bank.”

While Manmohan Sing remained silent over the issue.

Vijay Malyaa supported and said “this is government’s one more move towards realizing my dream India. Where beer will be cheaper than petrol.”

Then our reporter approached to Aamir Khan, but he was busy with his green campaign on his bicycle. That time he seemed quite confused (as usual) on the issue. But, finally he tweeted- Jab dil pe baat lagegi tabhi to baat banegi #Satyamev Jayate #Hike In Petrol Prices.

And when one of our reporters asked the same question to Sachin Tondulkar he said “Now I think I will take retirement, and will become a monk, after selling my Ferrari.”

Reportedly when Poonam Pandey heard about retirement of Sachin Tondulkar he offered UPA government to strip in front of them, if they will reduce back the prices of Petrol. And when Rahul Gaandhi and other senior members of party heard Poonam Pandey’s statement; they agreed to think on the issue again. Notably Manmohan Sing was still silent. 

P.S.- Article has been written on the lines of faking news. It has no relevance in actual. 

सपना

सपने में मेरे आई थी,
माथे पर एक बिंदिया चमकाई थी.


हवा में आँचल लहराई थी,
पैरों में पायल उसने छनकआई थी.


कानों में उसके बाली थी,
होंटों पर उसके लाली थी.


कातिल उसकी अदाओं ने,
दीवाना मुझे बनाया था. 


उसके चेहरे का लश्कर,
आँखों पर मेरे आया था.


जब देखा तो पता चला,
सूरज क्षितिज तक उठ आया था, टूट गया था मेरा 'सपना'!


पर अब भी,
उसकी जुल्फों के कोहरे में,
ढला मेरा सवेरा था.


अब तो मेरे दिल में,
उसका ही बसेरा था.


अब नहीं है वो मेरे सामने,
पर उस 'सपने' ने,
मेरी सुबह को खूबसूरत बनाया था.

Photograph Credits: Raveesh Photography

लहरें

उसने जो आँखें मिलाई,

वो दिल को घायल कर गयी.

और जब पलकें झुकाई,

तो मुझको पागल कर गयी.

जब बातों का सिलसिला उनसे चला,

तो लगा कि मेरी मंजिल है यही.

जब साथ हम होते थे,

तो वक़्त जैसे थम सा जाता था.

कभी बैठे होते हम पेड़ कि छाओं में,

तो कभी सागर किनारे.

कभी उसका आँचल मेरे चहेरे पर लहराता,

तो कभी साहिल कि लहरें पैरों को छू जाती.

और ऐसा लगता शायद यही जन्नत है,

लेकिन न जाने फिर ऐसा क्या हुआ!

वक़्त ने ऐसी करवट ली,

आज भी मैं बैठा हूँ वहीँ,

सागर के उसी छोर पर,

उसके इंतज़ार में,

पर आज ना उसका आँचल है,

और कुदरत भी शायद हम से खफा है,

इसलिए ना ही साहिल कि लहरें....!!!

It's not a child marriage

Today is Akshay Tritiya, a holy day for Hindus and Jains, famously known as Akha Teej. On this day Veda Vyas and Lord Ganesha began to write Mahabharata. The meaning of the word Akshaya is infinite that which never recede. It is unknown why and when ritual of marriage that started on this day lead to the child marriages and as the day says Akshay it’s not ending even today, doesn’t matter how hard we are trying. Thousands of child marriages take place every year on this day in the different states of India such as Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh etc.

I can clearly remember this story from my past. Megha was her name. She was my neighbour. Beautiful is the only word in the dictionary from which I can describe her. She was 17 years old then when a business family came to their house with the marriage proposal of their only son with Megha. Their whole family got together for the occasion. Her father and other males of family were discussing about this proposal, suddenly her mother entered in the room and said: "Abhi to choti si bachhi hai, aur ladki ke liye shadi ki umar bhi 18 saal hoti hai, kahi police case me na phans jaye."

So after a long discussion they came to the conclusion that they will marry Megha with their son next year when she will be 18, she will turn into a mature woman and there will not be any government issues.

In the meanwhile she completed her school education and entered in college. There she fell in love with a boy. None of her family member knew about it. Time was running with its pace, and she turned 18. It was her birthday and the family who earlier came with the marriage proposal came again with so many amazing gifts. But they did not turn out that much amazing for her, she was not happy with this decision of her parents and was not in favour of marrying that guy. Her mother said: "Arey bahut paise wale hain, tujhe hamesha khush rakhenge."

But she was not convinced because she knew that her happiness is in that boy whom she loved. That boy convinced her to run away from the home and she did.

Megha was sitting in the corner of dark room; her pale face was telling the whole story. The girl who was full of life was not even speaking a single word today; it was raining from the last night and cool breeze was all around but she was choked with her emotions. The words which she heard from her parents last night were coming across her again and again.

Yesterday, her mother was crying, ” This girl has made us guilty, (itne salo me jo izzat kamayi thi aaj iski wajah se chali gayi).” Sound of lightning was adding more pain to her voice. Rain water was flowing with a great flow; but tears started drying in eyes of each person present in that house.

All the people living around her house were talking about her.

"Arey unki beti ke bare me suna?"

"Kya zamana aa gaya hai, ghar wale shadi kara rahe the aur ladke ke sath bhag gayi, aur jab wapis aayi to kisi ko mooh dikhane ke layak nahi rahi."

"Ladki ko padhne bheja tha aur ye waha ye sab kar rahi thi."

Yes, they all were right, it was her fault. Ironically, nobody is blaming the boy and their families who forced the girl into an early engagement against her wishes. If they haven’t engaged her with that boy she would not have run away from house.  At one place we worship goddess Saraswati, Laxmi, Parvati and in 21st century we are talking about women working along with men and attaining greater heights, but at other side we are still blaming girls for such things.

This is the one problem of our society and these days everyone is talking about women empowerment so we may think that things will change. But I started writing with one more problem that is child marriage. Megha’s parents refused the marriage proposal when she was 17, were they really thinking that she is not mature enough for marriage or just for the sake of rules they refused it?  They were living in the city, so they thought of rules and government once, but people who are living in villages they do not even give a thought to it.

As you can see almost whole India filled with orange color i.e. average female age at marriage is below 18 and one in four adolescent girls between 15 and 19 years of age in India is married. So this is as big problem as poverty or corruption and someone has to look into it more seriously. We have to overcome this problem for better and healthy India.

In the end I would like to make one more point: “Not that, teenage infatuations are bad but; "Even at at an age of 18 is a girl mature enough for marriage?"

Photograph Credits: Ajay Menon Photography and UNICEF