Insulting the Insult

The dictionary defines insult as a noun as well as a verb. As a noun the word insult means a thing so worthless or contemptible so as to be offensive. When we consider insult as a verb it means to treat someone or something with disrespect or scornful abuse. There are many synonyms of the word available not only in the dictionary but also in the real world. People feel insulted if they have to stand in a queue for something they need. Someone might feel insulted if he is treated with disdain, contempt or disrespect In a nutshell u can feel insulted or insult others in numerous ways.

However when we look around at the world around us, we find some “magnanimous” insults.

Justice is insulted when people seek justice from an illiterate and attention seeker woman in front of millions of viewers on a national channel.

“Civilised” society is insulted when we find that the most civilised behaviour manifests from a dacoit amongst a group, where barring her all others are supposedly suave and urbane.

The best batting line up in the world is insulted when they have to rely on a tailender to score the tons for their team.

Words such as corruption and bribe are insulted as their magnitude is belittled by people who usurp money, property from not only funds for infrastructure but also from widows and war heroes.

The game is insulted when a rookie player has to face death threats as a result of his loyalty to the game.

The judicial system of a country is insulted when a rape accused is granted bail by the apex court of the country.

Relationships are insulted when people are ready to conduct “loyalty tests” in front of the whole world, in order to sustain their relationships.

National awards are insulted when they are handed over to “stars” who have criminal cases pending against their names.

Last but not the least the power of money is insulted when companies fulfil unreasonable appetites of their employees in form of bonus and rewards for “doing” their work.

It may not be possible to judge the magnitude of any insult. However the impact which it might create shall vary considering the number of people it affects. People get frustrated on daily basis considering their personal insults. In this process they lose out numerous pleasant moments. In the end just remember, “If you can’t ignore an insult, top it; if you can’t top it, laugh it off; and if you can’t laugh it off, it’s probably deserved.”

PS: If there is anyone here whom I have not insulted, I beg his pardon.

To Harsha, With Words……….

God can choose what is best for us. One such occurrence was Harsha Bhogle failing to join the men in blue and landing up in the commentary box. No one can ever be sure of how fine a cricketer he would have made but be rest assured that he is one of the best in his craft. If Harsha feels that Peter Roebuck was born to write cricket then surely, Harsha was incarnated to love cricket. It does not matter whether we hear him, read him or just think about him. One thing is for sure, cricket is oxygen for this man.

On one hand Harsha is just one of the billions of Sachin fans and yet he is; one in a billion. The chosen one, who can sit beside Sachin, chat and discuss cricket with the maestro himself. In order to rob him of his innumerable efforts we can term him fortunate. However he is the person, who started as a juggler of words, turned into a connoisseur and is now one of the finest magicians of the language of cricket. He is someone whose criticism for one person may contain inherent praise for another.

Adding years to his life he has simultaneously increased his hair count. Not only does he look younger, he enjoys the thrill of T20 cricket just like a teenager. On the other hand, ask him about test matches and he can talk for hours about Tendulkar, Gavaskar, Laxman, Kumble, Murali, Warne and countless other champions. He is Enthusiastic about Saurabh Tiwari's muscle power and at the same time nostalgic about Ganguly's grace. Pollard's strength is what he loves, yet he equally values Dravid's finesse.

An epitome of love, enthusiasm and acumen for the game is what Harsha Bhogle is. If Sachin Tendulkar was to enter into a commentary box then he would be known as Harsha Bhogle.

Feelings are many, words are few
Whatever I may write Harsha, praise for you is still due……….

Straight from Harsha:

"From Johannesburg to Mumbai its is a long queue of Sachin's fans."

"Two teams look each other in the eye, until one of them blinks"
(Wrote it before the commencement of India Australia test series in India in 2010)

"Gavaskar not only stood for pride, but also hope."

"In the long run skill is important, but attitude is supreme."
(On Kumble teaching the youngsters what attitude is all about)

"There is a butcher at one end and surgeon at the other."
(When Pollard and Duminy were batting for Mumbai Indians in CLT20"

"Always the artist, never the superstar"
(On VVS Laxman)

A WAY TO BE GOOD AGAIN

A few moments in life took my breath away; fewer still gave me reason to breath. How strange is it, that these moments always arrived when I least expected them. I still remember that evening , when the mist was growing heavier and my mind wandered away from my heart and nothing concrete was apparent in the future.

Just then as if like a flash, everything and I mean everything became clear. I had read and heard that courage is one of the most important virtues of human life. However I had always thought that I lacked this one piece of the jigsaw in, the puzzle of life. In hindsight, I was proved right.

One evening in Nashik after returning from the office tired and dilapidated, I went out of my hotel for a stroll. I was short on confidence and zeal. Trying to adjust with the pace of life I realized that time was passing by like a stream of water which wouldn’t stop for anyone. The only way to gel with it was by drowning in it. A slight drizzle and cold breeze were the only ones trying to cheer me up. Walking by the roadside my mind wandered through all the instances of life where I had given up, held back and lost. What disappointed me the most was not the fact that I had lost but the sole feeling that there will never ever be a way to redeem myself. Overwhelmed by defeat, pessimism and hostility; I didn't feet like a loser, but I was sure of being one.

Engulfed in that moment of fear and sadness I saw a couple of pups sitting right in the centre of the road. Just then I realized how beautiful life is. Those pups were full of life, bubbling, playing. I remembered all the pups I had had at my house when I was a kid. Memories now as they were, were everlasting with me. Reality struck me when I realized that a speeding car was heading towards the pups. The car was heading towards them really fast and I realized that the driver was hoping that the pups would get way on their own. I realized that these little creatures are unaware of the danger at hand and so I must help them. I was just about to rush towards them when the coward in me sprang back to life. I stopped short fearing that I could get hurt in the process. Never ever in life had I ever felt so helpless and lost. I realized there is no way in the world that goodness can survive in the face of fear. My life was about to lose its meaning.....

An old man once said “Fate smiles at us all. All we can do is smile back.” I had heard this but someone else had experienced it. A young boy speeding on his motorcycle came from around the corner and stopped his bike in the centre of the road. I still remember the way he held out his hand in order to motion the car driver to stop. And believe it or not, the car did stop. The boy took the pups and put them by the roadside just where they belonged. And then he left. I watched all of this in sheer amazement and awe. Courage is just what I had seen. Courage; which I lacked and the boy had.

This was the moment I realized that all what matters is what you do with the time that is given to you. An instant has the capacity to alter your life’s path. Whenever I am sad, I feel things are getting astray, life is tough and full of hurdles; I just remember the boy who entered my life to show me the way. He demonstrated that life is about making choices and standing by them. Life may be unfair but it is still good. There is something good in this world and its worth fighting for.

So whenever I am sad, down and out I just remember that there is a way to be
good again...........

Abandon LAND or Abandon HOPE........

When a lot is being talked about partition, Jinnah, Nehru and much more I just want to present a small incident which I read accidentally. There are no conclusions, thoughts or influences attached.  

Here is an incident narrated by someone who experienced those trying times to a researcher in 1993. The informant was Pakistani, the researcher Indian. The job of this researcher was to understand how those who had lived more or less harmoniously for generations inflicted so much violence on each other in 1947.

This is what the researcher recorded:

During my visits to the History Department Library of Punjab University, Lahore, in the winter of 1992, the librarian, Abdul Latif, a pious middle-aged man, would help me a lot. He would go out of his way, well beyond the call of duty, to provide me with relevant material, meticulously keeping photocopies requested by me ready before my arrival the following morning. I found his attitude to my work so extraordinary that one day I could not help asking him, “Latif Sahib, why do you go out of your way to help me so much?” Latif Sahib glanced at his watch, grabbed his namazi topi and said, “I must go for namaz right now but I will answer your question on my return.”

Stepping into his office half an hour later, he continued:
“Yes, your question. I … I mean, my father belonged to Jammu, to a small village in Jammu district. This was a Hindu-dominated village and Hindu ruffians of the area massacred the hamlet’s Muslim population in August 1947. One late afternoon, when the Hindu mob had been at its furious worst, my father discovered he was perhaps the only Muslim youth of the village left alive. He had already lost his entire family in the butchery and was looking for ways of escaping. Remembering a kind, elderly Hindu lady, a neighbour, he implored her to save him by offering him shelter at her place. The lady agreed to help father but said, ‘Son, if you hide here, they will get both of us. This is of no use. You follow me to the spot where they have piled up the dead. You lie down there as if dead and I will dump a few dead-bodies on you. Lie there among the dead, son, as if dead through the night and run for your life towards Sialkot at the break of dawn tomorrow.’
“My father agreed to the proposal. Off they went to that spot, father lay on the ground and the old lady dumped a number of bodies on him. An hour or so later a group of armed Hindu hoodlums appeared. One of them yelled, ‘Any life left in anybody?’ and the others started, with their crude staffs and guns, to feel for any trace of life in that heap. Somebody shouted, ‘There is a wrist watch on that body!’ and hit my father’s fingers with the butt of his rifle. Father used to tell us how difficult it was for him to keep his outstretched palm, beneath the watch he was wearing, so utterly still. Somehow he succeeded for a few seconds until one of them said ‘Oh, it’s only a watch. Come let us leave, it is getting dark.’ Fortunately, for Abbaji, they left and my father lay there in that wretchedness the whole night, literally running for his life at the first hint of light. He did not stop until he reached Sialkot.
“I help you because that Hindu mai helped my father. I am simply returning my father’s karz, his debt.”
“But I am not a Hindu,” I said. “Mine is a Sikh family, at best a mixed Hindu-Sikh one.”
“I do not know what your religion is with any surety. You do not wear uncut hair and you are not a Muslim. So, for me you are a Hindu and I do my little bit for you because a Hindu mai saved my father.”

GUILTY MY LORD!

"The funny thing is, on the outside, I was an honest man, straight as an arrow. I had to come to prison to be a crook."

From: The Shawshank Redumption

A few days back I saw a horror movie and trust me it was more horrifying than any of the exorcist or grudge series you know of. This movie is called “Black Friday”. It proves undoubtedly that the most terrifying creatures in this world are the humans. The human race has gone on to believe in its supernatural powers of deciding the fate of many others in matters of life and death. Now if the movie can scare you, try and think of the people who faced these atrocities and worse still of those who survived and are still engulfed in this.

Consider for a moment the matters of life and death, conviction and acquittal, true and false and more importantly right and wrong. Unfortunate as it seems all matters in life are not as simple as mathematics where ‘correct’ answers are available. So finally in order to decide whether the conclusion drawn in any sphere of life is right or wrong we seek refuge in the word ‘JUDGMENT’. Judgment leads to justice and justice leads to court and law or is it the other way round? For centuries laws have been framed, reframed, mended and bended as per the wish of rulers, framers, constitutionalists and people with such respectable and reverent connotations. So from where do these learned people derive their wisdom to prepare guidelines in order to decide the crime, sentence and in extreme cases death of a convict? A very well known and propagated notion is that above all courts lies our conscience. However the depictions of the world prove that availability of conscience on the market is very poor. A commodity boasted by the HR people needs to be advertised and marketed by the marketing experts. 
 
While conversing with a cousin of mine who happens to be an advocate I was able to reconfirm my belief that the number of people convicted for crimes are much less then the ones who actually commit them. Thanks to the old principle of law “Let one hundred guilty go free but not one innocent should not be convicted.” Having said that I realized that guilty and innocent are actually matters of perceptions. Do people committing heinous murders, homicides; rapes ever feel they have done something wrong? Let them apart there is another breed of people termed as professional lawyers. Their job is to help their client go free from the clutches of a number of statutes defined in thick volumes of law. Professionals as they are, they are also dedicated and determined to help their clients get a clean chit from the court of law. The defense as well as prosecution lawyer knows the truth and yet there are acquittals in a case where crime has been committed. Let us allow the guardians of law to seek recourse in the tussle between “Dharma” and “Karma” in order to account for their actions. Who then is the person accused of the crime? Is it the person who committed it, the person who abets him to surpass the law or is it the jury which declares ‘not guilty’? If an act was done someone is responsible and someone will have to pay. Who, we still don’t know. Do any of them truly believe that what they did was different from what should have been done? Do they ever close their eyes and speak “GUILTY MY LORD”.

Justice VS Fairness

Justice is defined as "The administration of law; the act of determining rights and assigning rewards or punishments." On the other hand fairness is described as "Ability to make judgments free from discrimination or dishonesty". One question which has been baffling me for some time now is that are the two same or not. Does justice always concurs with fairness? If not, in which case both point in different directions then which is the one we should be walking towards? Does this world be based on the principles of justice or governed by laws of fairness.


Now what I plan to put forth might sound illogical, irrational and cruel but that is exactly what I want to debate with people around.  Because I feel its time we move out of our boundaries  or else erase them.

What does the old saying “An eye for an eye” project, Justice or fairness? If we go by the principles of justice this does not hold true. A person guilty of a crime is to be punished as per the laws of the land. Now who decides these laws? People like you and me. Are the laws same as we move across continents or as a matter of fact across borders? In a monosyllable ‘no’. That means the same crime calls for different punishment based on some writing in a fat book. However in terms of fairness “and eye for an eye” always holds true. So which is better justice or fairness? In words of Gandhi if this principle was to be followed then the world would be full of blind people. Now I propose a world which has all the people blind instead of only a few blind fighting for justice.  

Wouldn’t you like a scene where the teacher shouts at a student and the student gives it back to the teacher on the spot? What a sight would it be when eve teasers are forced to see the same torture being administered to their sisters. Let us not waste money, resources and plenty of years trying to figure out how to punish Ajmal Kasav. There is a simple solution. Bring his family members; shoot them in public and let him enjoy the sight. Send terrorists to Pakistan and bask in glory watching the footage of Indian terrorists blast Pakistan parliament on NDTV. Fair and square I suppose. Or is it not?

I know after reading this many of you will think that I am a radical thinker sounding absurd and idiotic. In short I have lost it. But trust me I am just getting started………..
 

Still ending, beginning still.........

Welcome one, welcome all. I know the title of my blog might sound a bit out of place for the post which will follow but I had a good reason for naming it this way. Two to three years back I started enjoying writing. I started communities on orkut and blogs on blogspot but could not write well enough to grab attention. Searching for members and readers I was hardly able to find more than a handful. However after a long hiatus I am back. But this someone else has brought me in here. I hope this time I can find some interesting and gripping material to put on board. But more than that what I need is "A Touch of Destiny".