तो क्या बात होती ...

दिखावे की दुनिया में चेहरों के ऊपर
मुखौटे ना होते, तो क्या बात होती

वो झरने, जो चुपचाप संगीत गाते
जो वो बोल पाते, तो क्या बात होती

वो मिटटी से लगाव, वो कागज़ की नाव
वो पल लौट आते, तो क्या बात होती

सामने जो बनते हैं, मेरे चहेते
पीठ पीछे ना बदलें, तो क्या बात होती

दो पल के लिए, सब हाथ थाम लेते
ज़िन्दगी भर निभाएं, तो क्या बात होती

सांस चलने तक सब , साथ हैं मुस्कुराते
कोई मरने पर रोये, तो क्या बात होती...

MOM= Magicians Of Many!

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One of my dear friend recently went through a major surgery. The doctors had advised her rest of close to 3-4 months. She was disheartened as she was almost settled in her company performing pretty well. A loss of four months was too much to afford. But miracles do happen. She rang me up a month later and much to my surprise, she was calling me from her office! I asked her how it all happened and she said, “Suyash even I never thought I would be fit so soon, but it happened, and I would give 100% credit to my mummy, I myself don’t have a clue as to how did she do this, I love her sooo much!

I got all my answers. 'Mummy' is the word and we all love our moms, don’t we? I mean the doctor had prescribed her a rest of four months and her mother even denied the law of rest? They all are magicians aren’t they? With perfect timing, they are masters of handling any kind of situation.

How many times do we sleep and when it suddenly gets cold, she is the one to wrap us with warm quilts. As if she is awake all night, watching her child sleep. Just a couple of sneezes and she would come up with ‘n’ number of solutions.

I was the ‘first boy child’ of my family. I don’t exactly remember but my Mummy, my Masi’s remind me of days when I used to get up early in the morning before anybody else got up, my hair touching my shoulders and my mom running behind me to catch her semi nude son before he goes all naked! It was difficult for her to catch me, as I guess I used to be in huge rush being semi nude. She would finally pick me up, love me moreover dress me and then leave for household works. No matter I was right or wrong, she was always, always by ‘my’ side, against the whole world.

I am 25 now, but her expressions haven’t changed yet. Whenever I go back home, she loves me the same way, the only difference being that she doesn’t have to dress me anymore. It’s just that we get too conscious when our mothers try to be too caring or loving as we believe we are grownups. The only time when we become kids again is when we fall sick. We get ample of time to think of days when our mothers spent sleepless nights just because we are ill, all without any complain.

I would like to tell all of my friends that during my childhood days I was addicted to sleep with a hand on my mummy’s tummy. This ‘one-hand-on-mummy's-tummy’ theory acted like sleeping pills for me. My younger cousin brothers, Sakshu and Bittu can’t sleep unless and until they have a part of my Masi’s hair in their hands! I mean, why only moms? Dads have better tummies I guess (not that soft ones' I agree), but I haven’t heard a case where a child is addicted to his/her dad’s tummy (may be because they snore too much), or may be holding a part of the dad’s moustache (may be because it hurts).

“Did you eat your breakfast? What did you have in your lunch? Beta, is there a possibility of coming home for a few days? Should I send some laddoos this time, you like home made mango pickles na? It’s too cold out there, did you purchase some warm clothes? How is everything going? In case if you need anything don’t hesitate, you can just ask for it.” These are questions that tend to irritate us sometimes, just because often we are unable to understand the love and emotion that is attached with each and every question. We get irritated of answering the same questions, ignoring the fact that our moms wouldn’t be able to sleep if even one of them is left unanswered.

We consider ourselves to be mature enough to handle ourselves. There is a change in the attitude, but mothers never change. No matter how old we grow, they still see the kid whom she gave birth to, the kid whom she fed every day, the kid whom she clinched and slept. All I want to say is lets be kids once again for our moms, at least let us not deprive them of the way they want to love and care for us, and I guess this is the least we can do to them (but the best as well) as compared to the selfless love and care they have blessed us with.

These lines are not written by me but they summarize my entire article in just four lines-

Sakht raaston mein bhi asaan safar lagta hai, ye mujhey meri maan ki duaaon ka asar lagta hai

Kitni raaton sey meri maan nahi soyi, bas ik baar maine kaha tha ‘maan mujhey andhere sey dar lagta hai’...

CELEBRITY SWAYAM-WARS!

Love marriage or arranged? Or love cum arranged. The discussion can go on for hours (for days if there are more women in the discussion) and yet people will stick to their personal opinions. In the recent past, I have noticed that the celebrities have been involved in certain Swayamvars which have turned out to be Swayam-Wars. Here are a few of my case studies-

CASE STUDY 1- RAKHI KA SWAYAM-WAR

“I simply hate that Rakhi Sawant! Such a witch! I mean how can anybody watch her shows? I thought NDTV Imagine was a good entertainment channel! But why did they do this? I mean why Rakhi? Why is Indian media so fond of that #$#@$%#%^!,” Tina said.

She was a new employee in my previous office. It was lunch time, we had ordered from Dominos and her conversation was no less than chilly flakes.

I mean Rakhi Sawant is a topic which one would never like to come up with! But is it possible that a breakfast, lunch, dinner is complete without talking about her, especially when her serial Rakhi Ka Swayamvar has become the talk of the town? Never.

I thought Tina was one of those sensible girls who would never again speak of Rakhi Sawant, not about her shows at least! I was sick and tired of the female section who pretended to be equally sick and tired of her, but..but the whole day, they discussed nothing but Rakhi Sawant! Tina’s anti-Rakhi statement gave me some relief, she was a new joinee and I was happy to see we were not hiring defects!

“But you know Suyash, I think they will definitely get Mika to the show! Wow! It would be such fun to watch! Achha by the way, did you see the last episode? I can bet and tell you that guy is a flirt! I have been noticing him since the very first episode! I like that guy, hez soooooo cute! I don’t know why they took Rakhi in the show! You know in the third episode she couldn’t even pronounce the name of the Lords properly! Such a shame na?”

Ufff! Yeaah! Such a shame it was! Tina wasn’t an exception! She didn’t miss a single episode of the entire Swayamvar series and narrated every episode and all her stories ended with ‘I hate Rakhi Sawant and that stupid show!’

Anyways, out of the 18 fools who participated in the show, Elesh Parujanwala, was one who exchanged garlands with her (for me it was a floral tribute for Elesh)! But later on Elesh was back to his senses, and he finally broke up with Rakhi. I mean life rarely gives you a second chance! I was glad to have seen him escape from the verge of being ruined!

CASE STUDY 2-RAHUL DULHANIYA LEY JAYEGA

“Hmmmm hmmm hmmmm! Heyyyy heyyy heyyy hmmmm hmmm haaaaan haaan, hein hein hein hein, ahan haan haan ummnnn ummnnn hmmmm hmmmm.”

I have never ever seen/heard such a horrible laughter! That was Rahul Mahajan for you! I wonder how his kids will ever survive with his monster kind pathetic laughter! Hearing his laughter, I can hardly differentiate whether he is scared or he is trying to scare some one.

His first marriage turned out to be another Swayam-War when he had married his long time girl friend Shweta and they were divorced later on. I was a part of the studio audience while she gave an interview to IBN-7 news channel regretting her decision of having married Rahul.

In case of Rakhi ka Swayamvar Elen proved to be lucky! Dimpy Ganguly couldn’t and the couple was married live on the television! Only time will tell if they are married, or they are happy, or they are happily married!

CASE STUDY 3-SANIA-SHOAIB CONTROVERSY

Huh! There seems to be no end to celebrity Swayam-Wars!

Now here, both had issues with their 'first innings'.

Sania was earlier engaged to her childhood friend Sohrab Mirza. Very soon their parents called off the engagement. Reason given by Sania was incompatibility! Her dreams were 'smash'ed!

Mr Malik even had a better story. He had signed a Nikahnama with Ayesha Siddiqui way back in 2002. It was again called off as it was an agreement over the phone, that proved to be a false agreement. As per Shoaib the photographs which were sent to him were of a slim Ayesha, but Mallik was ‘heavily’ disappointed to witness the real Ayesha. He had no answer for this 'googly'!

Both Sania and Shoaib have gone through one Swayam-Wars each, and even this one is creating a rage in India! Only time will tell if this one is a peaceful moreover permanent Swayamwar or it proves to be another Swayam-War. My best wishes for their 'second innings'!

MY CONVOCATION SPEECH

The speech was delivered by me on 3rd April, 2010 which was our convocation day-

Keeping the fact in mind that whenever I am given the opportunity to speak (occasionally it is) I get into the non stop mode, Menon Sir very specifically told me, “You have to deliver a 2 minute speech. Just to confirm that I didn’t have different plans he often confirmed on google chat~ “I hope you are ready with your 2-3 minute speech.” So I decided to write my speech, as by this means I have limited material to speak thus meeting my deadline(for once atleast).

Thank You Menon Sir for giving me this great opportunity to deliver a speech at our Convocation. Friends I am truly privileged to be in your midst on an occasion, which is both joyous and emotional. Not that emotional for me as I live just 150 steps from the college so I know I can visit it anytime that too within no time!

Convocation is an occasion for looking back and looking forward. In fact, while each one of the students and the faculty may recall the academic performance of the students, what is perhaps more important is to look ahead.

I on behalf of all my batch mates sincerely thank the faculty members of SAIMC for guiding us throughout the inspiring journey.

I am sure you all would agree that there is another group, which is not a part of the audience, but the day would be incomplete without thanking them, that is our families. They are the ones who have sacrificed for our success; who have provided us emotive support in all our endeavors and aspirations. Our success today, follows years of patience, support and love of our parents and families and the dedication and commitment of our faculty members.

Enough of serious stuff guys
Here I am with my TOP 10 SAIMC MOMENTS!

I would like to share 10 most valuable moments I have enjoyed in the institution.

1) The day we came to know that we won’t be having any exams, no exams meant no marking system. Other batches occasionally had objections to it but they couldn’t help it.

2) The co operation while producing 'Quest',a tabloid which was supposed to be produced in a month, which turned out to be a quarterly, ask Menon sir and he will tell you it was actually half yearly.

3) Working on my thesis and glad to have completed it. I would rather not like to disclose the duration we all took to complete it...

4) It would be unfair if I do not include our News Bulletin in the list. I mean it is very easy to sit on a chair and anchor the bulletin but the tedious task was done by other colleagues. Thanx to all of you!

5) The chance to make my debut in the movie~ Gulaab. Thanx to Amitabh for giving me the opportunity. I was disheartened to know that Amitabh has left for Mumbai but the actor within me is still live and active with Ranbir Paaji.


Did I miss something guys? In case if you think I did, here are my last five SAIMC moments!

6) Pondicherry trip
7) Pondicherry Trip
8) Ditto
9) Ditto
10) Ditto

Concluding my speech I would like to quote few lines I read recently. 'Our time is limited; let’s not waste it living someone else's life. Let’s not be trapped by dogma which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of others' opinions; drown out our own inner voice.

And the most important thing, lets have the courage to follow our heart and intuition. They somehow already know what we truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.'

On a personal level I have enjoyed each and every day at SAIMC. I have been a part of photography, editing, filmmaking and almost everything, which often made my parents wonder if I was actually pursuing Journalism course from the college.

Once again I sincerely thank all my faculty members and my batch mates from all courses for being such a great company. The journey has indeed been memorable.

I wish you all are happy, your lives are full of laughter,
You all reach the zenith of success, and do wonders ever after!

NOTE:-
1) Menon Sir was the Head of department for our batch
2) Amitabh and Ranbir Paaji both are students of film making who have given me opportunities to act in short films
3) I have completed my course from Sri Aurobindo Institute for Mass Communication (SAIMC). Every year the college takes a trip to Pondicherry which is very memorable.

JAMES, GOMES, ME and…RAGHU DIXIT!

“Bhai I don’t think we can have any fun at this place, let’s go back,” said Gomes with a face which certainly said the story. James followed him. I stood in a state of shock as to how convince them that Indian Habitat Centre, New Delhi was a different place.

“I guess it’s our bad luck today, else trust me almost every day they have a rock band performing here. Chalo koi nahi I have my digi cam so we can click some pix here,’. Now ‘being clicked ’ is something no one has an objection to. We all are ever ready to pose all the time, at all the places (don’t think of objectionable ones).

“Hmm Ok. That should be some fun,” said Gomes, with an expression as if our parents caught us with CD's of porn movies. We began our hunt for suitable locations.

So there we were. As I had promised James and Gomes we were on a weekend outing. They were adamant to visit Priya or Saket but I somehow convinced them that they should once visit Indian Habitat Centre(IHC), as it’s a place that has a lot of creative atmosphere. Adding spice to my conversation I also told them that every evening there is some or the other rock band performance as well plus the crowd is young and attractive. Just for the sake of a Rock Band and a young crowd, they were here and all we found was a photography exhibition (no matter how hard we tried we couldn't take a message from any of them) and screening of a soundless-expressionless documentary film (we didn’t die as it was not motionless).

"Hows this? Shift a little…no no to your left…or no, to your right…what the hell…left or right?...no no to your left and my right…ohho now don’t fight…waaaow! What a beautiful sight!!"~ Is a brief of the photo session.

The photo session continued and continued, 3 of us posed a trillion times in zillions poses and we gave up once we fell short of better poses. Now the situation was worse, we all were extremely tired and we kept walking just for the sake of it. These are the times when you think if you had a machine which could take you home in seconds. James and Gomes were still disappointed as they were here to enjoy music and the young crowd was much younger than they had expected. So my funda of a Youngistan failed.

“The pix are really nice,” I tried to divert them from ‘This-place-sucks!’ mode, to which they just nodded which meant I failed again.

The last time I visited Indian Habitat Centre with my college friends, it was an amazing experience. I personally liked the creative, lively atmosphere. We had a local rock band performing, and all of us had a gala time, and yes not to forget few hours could be easily spent praising the USP's of the young crowd. I felt bad for James and Gomes who didn’t complain as they knew that it was more of a bad day than a bad place. I cursed myself and thought I should have taken them to one of the PVR’s.

“Dheen chiiik!! Dheen Dhun Dhun! Thudd! Doom doom! Triiing tringgg!!,” was a sudden noise which mingled into our ears. Before both of them could realize what it was I said “Rushhhhhhhhhhhh guys! That’s a rock band!!” We ran and ran and ran and what we saw was something unpredictable. We had this band performing before us and their dress was Kurta and lungi! And and…the lead singer had a ghunghroo in his legs as well…was it a ‘normal’ band? We didn’t have time to think about this. The band began with its first song-Ambar. Within no time we were a part of the crowd jumping, clapping, singing.

“Waaaoww!!! Amaaziing!!! Who iss hee?,” now this was unexpected, almost hundreds of us were tuning ourselves to the tunes of this amazing singer. Everybody was flabbergasted, as most of us didn’t know him at all.

He sang a series of songs. The boring place suddenly turned out to be a pleasant sight. The crowd was electrified after witnessing brilliant performances one after another. Three men played the guitar, to give them company were a drummer and a violinist. Every performance was a master class! He finally introduced himself. He was Raghu Dixit. I won’t be writing much of him here but guys mark my words just TYPE-RAGHU DIXIT on YouTube and you can hear his songs which will take you to a different world of music.

I was extremely happy, as my amigo’s were tapping their feet’s and clapping and singing. The performance got over only when the hosts announced it was close to 10:30 pm. I looked at James and Gomes. ‘Bhai this was one of the most memorable days, ultimate maza aaya!,” they said. We hi fived each other. We went to the counter and purchased a CD of Raghu Dixit’s album. The man had made our day! All three of us continued singing his songs throughout our journey back home. James and Gomes were happy. Nothing gives me more pleasure than to see my friends happy. The ordinary looking day became one of the most memorable days of our lives.

खबर का असर ...

जबसे खबर आई है सरहद पार चली है गोली,

अभय की माँ की तबसे बंद है बोली।

वो बेसन के लड्डू जिस हाँथ से बनाए थे,

वो बेटे के वापस आने के जो ख्वाब सजाये थे,

वो सारे ख्वाब हकीकत में बदल न पाए,

हकीकत सुन घरवाले संभल ना पाए।

वो कल के बने लड्डू अब लगने लगे बासी,

कुछ इस कदर घर में छाई है उदासी।

गुड्डू ने खिलौने वाली बंदूकों से खेलना छोड़ दिया,

कुछ बंदूकों ने ही उसकी खुशियों का रूख मोड़ दिया।

इस वाक्ये ने सबकी आँखों को नम कर दिया,

गुड्डू ने अचानक अपनी फर्माहिशों को कम कर दिया।

कोमल के पल्लू का किनारा सूखने का नाम ही नहीं ले रहा,

गुड्डू का मासूम चेहरा उसे ठीक से रोने भी नहीं दे रहा,

हर तस्वीर उसे एक लम्हे की याद दिलाती है,

'पापा जल्द आएंगे' …कह वो गुड्डू को बहलाती है।

बेटा इस बार पूरे दो महीनो के लिए आने वाला था,

अपनी मौजूदगी से ही घर को मह्कानेवाला था।

अभय के बाबूजी की रौबीली आवाज़ भी शिथिल हो गयी है,

अभय की अनेक तस्वीरें अब धूमिल हो गयी हैं।

अब तो माँ ने सबसे बोलना छोड़ दिया है,

घरवालों ने जीते जी अपना दम तोड़ दिया है...

कई दिन हो गए किसी ने किसी से कुछ ना कहा,

घर में दीवारों और इंसानों में ज्यादा फर्क ना रहा...

अब तो आंसुओं ने भी बहने से मना कर दिया,

इक खबर ने यहाँ की खुशियों को फ़ना कर दिया।