23rd March, 1931

Today is the 79th martyrdom day (शहीद दिवस) of the three legends of Indian Independence Movement. Sardar Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev Thapar and Shivaram Rajguru were hanged to death by the British Empire on 23rd March, 1931. No surprises if many of us did not remember it, as we are used to the freedom for which they laid their lives without even bothering about their personal interests, family etc. Anyways I thought of writing something in honor of these martyrs but was stuck with this song from 'Gulaal' movie. What is better homage to them, than to dedicate a song which might be in future become an anthem for another revolution in India. The awesome music and lyrics is given by Piyush Mishra.

आरंभ है प्रचंड, बोले मस्तकों के झुंड,
आज जंग की घड़ी की तुम गुहार दो,
आन बान शान या कि जान का हो दान आज,
एक धनुष के बाण पे उतार दो,
आरंभ है प्रचंड...

मन करे सो प्राण दे, जो मन करे सो प्राण ले,
वही तो एक सर्वशक्तिमान है,
विश्व की पुकार है ये भागवत का सार है कि,
युद्ध ही तो वीर का प्रमाण है,
कौरवों की भीड़ हो या पाँडवों का नीड़ हो,
जो लड़ सका है वो ही तो महान है,
जीत की हवस नहीं, किसी पे कोई वश नहीं,
क्या ज़िन्दगी है ठोकरों पे मार दो,
मौत अंत है नहीं तो मौत से भी क्यों डरें,
ये जा के आसमान में दहाड़ दो,
आरंभ है प्रचंड...

हो दया का भाव या कि शौर्य का चुनाव या कि,
हार का हो घाव तुम ये सोच लो,
या कि पूरे भाल पर जला रहे विजय का लाल,
लाल ये गुलाल तुम ये सोच लो,
रंग केसरी हो या मृदंग केसरी हो,
या कि केसरी हो काल तुम ये सोच लो,
जिस कवि की कल्पना में ज़िन्दगी हो प्रेम गीत,
उस कवि को आज तुम नकार दो,
भीगती मसों में आज फूलती रगों में आज,
आग की लपट का तुम बखार दो,
आरंभ है प्रचंड...

Shankhnaad (शंखनाद)

This poem is written keeping in mind the General Elections in India which are going to be held in April-May 2009.

आज फ़िर वो घडी़ है आई,
युद्ध स्थल ने हुँकार लगाई;
चलो साथियों करो तैयारी,
क्योंकि अब है तुम्हारी बारी।

पाँच साल का शासन काला,
दुकानों पर लग गया ताला;
चारों ओर है मची तबाही,
बिना रीढ़ की सरकार थी आई।

टूटी सड़कें बिजली न पानी,
ऐसे ही जीते आए हम जानी;
भ्रष्टाचार से जूझती जनता,
पर करें क्या किसको चिंता?

आतंकवाद ने कहर बरसाया,
मासूमों का खून बहाया;
महंगाई बस में न समाई,
रोटी-दाल को तरसे भाई।

कुशासन का गुज़रा दौर,
आज हुई है नई भोर;
अब वो समय फ़िर है आया,
बाज़ी तुम्हारे हाथ में भाया।

जातिवाद का न हो आधार,
मतदान पर करो विचार;
बुद्धि-विवेक से तोलो तथ्य,
चुनो उसे जो बोले सत्य।

जागो रे !!!!!

-प्रत्यूष गर्ग Pratyush Garg
०३-०३-०९ 03-03-09

Rekhayein (रेखाएँ)

मेरे हाथ की रेखाएँ
कुछ धुँधली कुछ उजली,
और उनके बीच छिपी
मेरे जीवन की पहेली ।

कहते हैं कि सबकी,
किस्मत की कुँजी इन
रेखाओं में ही कहीं,
दबी सी है रहती ।

मुद्दतों से सभी इनके
मायाजाल में हैं बंदी,
आज तलक कोई भी ना
सुलझा पाया ये गुत्थी ।

बचपन से यौवन तक
की मेरी ये कहानी,
जिसकी पटकथा है लिखी
इन रेखाओं की जुबानी ।

मेरे हाथ की रेखाएँ
कुछ उजली कुछ धुँधली,
और उनके बीच छिपी
मेरे जीवन की पहेली ।

-प्रत्यूष गर्ग Pratyush Garg
२७-०२-०९ 27-02-09

Shoonya (शून्य)

शून्य क्या है?

अनंत ब्रह्मांड की गहराई
में ताकता मैं और उसके,
खालीपन का एहसास कराता
एक अजीब सा सन्नाटा जिसमें,
ना चाहते हुए भी मुझे,
समंदर में गोता लगाने के
समान आभास होता है ।

मैं बेचैन हो इधर-उधर उसकी,
तपिश से बचने की कोशिश
में अपने आप को समेटे,
भागने की तैयारी में लगा,
यही सोचते हुए कि किसी
तरह मैं उस से बच
निकलने में कामयाब हो जाऊँ ।

पर क्या कोई कभी अपने
आप से भी भाग सका है?
मेरे अस्तित्व का भूस्खलन इस
बात का जीता प्रमाण है,
अभी भी वही अनसुलझा हुआ,
आदि से लेकर अंत तक
बस यही एक प्रश्न;

शून्य क्या है?

-प्रत्यूष गर्ग Pratyush Garg
२६-०२-०९ 26-02-09

The "Kaala Bandar" In Me

Yesterday, I got the privilege to watch Delhi-6. In whole of the movie, I was wondering what exactly this "Kaala Bandar" plot is up to. It is only after the movie ended that I realized that believe it or not, there is a "Kaala Bandar" inside every one of us out here.

It is not that people don't know that a "Kaala Bandar" resides inside them. It is just they don't wan to accept this fact. From my previous experiences with different sections of society, with people of different intellectual levels, different age groups etc, I came to know there was only one thing common among all these, that here people follow a 'Zero Tolerance Policy' against changing themselves. In other words, they have that "Kaala Bandar" inside them, but are not ready to eliminate it. Perhaps they don't have the guts to tackle it, or you can say their will power is so weak that even after recognizing and realizing the stature of "Kaala Bandar" they are not capable of removing it.

Talking about the "Kaala Bandar" inside me, it is practically huge. And it grows further when I treat some fellow citizens with hatred just because we are not of same religion or caste, when I commit something which I ought not to do, when I avoid any of my duties as a student, as a responsible citizen, or a son. I try not to ponder over this but sometimes it is so frustrating that I feel I am a criminal. It seems as if it is eating me up from inside. I feel as if I am hiding something under veils. I feel as if I am not true to myself. It is tough to get rid of it. In fact, it is tough for all of us to get rid of it.

The best we can do from now on in this situation is at least we can prevent its further growth. We can try not to fuel it with our deeds. In this way, the "Kaala Bandar" inside us will be dormant and ineffective. Who knows one day it might be vanished for ever.

The "Slumdog" Reality

Finally, it happened. The day for which we were all waiting for so long. "Slumdog Millionaire" bags eight Academy (Oscar) awards out of the nine categories it was nominated in (In one category, two nominations were there making it a total of ten nominations). So, where is the big deal? The Oscars are given every year. But for India, it was a big deal. Out of the eight awards, three were bagged by Indian people. The Music Maestro AR Rahman got two (Original Song and Original Socre) and Resul Pookutty bagged the other one (Sound Mixing). And it is further a big deal because until now only two other Indians are able to win an Oscar each in the entire history.

But my point today is not related to Oscars at all. The relation is just that today, the awards are given, so I came up with an idea to write this post. Recently, and by that I mean, soon after its release world wide and gaining recognition in various Film festivals, many accusations were observed throughout the country by different people, celebrities and journalists. The whole point of their accusation was related to the portrayal of Indian society and culture, the condition of the people residing here, and all the illicit activities that take place at every corner of the suburban streets as well as in posh cities.

The likes of Amitabh Bachchan were seen quoting that they are "ashamed" of what has been shown, and it sends a very wrong signal to the world, about India as a whole. Another gentleman from the film critics' family, Mr. Rensil D' Souza of rediff.com exclaimed and disregarded the film as a regular flick and advised people to avoid it because it "misleads" the public. Mr. Tapeshwar Vishwakarma, a representative of a slum-dwellers' welfare group, filed a defamation lawsuit against the film producers, alleging that slum-dwellers were depicted in a bad light which would be a violation of their human rights. These are some of the objections of which I know. There are more.

Now to these people, I would like to suggest something. Those who think that it was misleading should take a day off and take a visit to the largest slum of Asia, the Dharavi. And there they will find the exact "picture". And believe me, it is lot worse than it is shown in the movie.

Those who think that India is a secular country with people of all religions has the liberty to live a free and fearless life should visit the minority colonies of Ahemdabad which were burnt down in the 2002 riots.

Those who think that street children and beggars are a mess and are a waste for the society read this link: http://fuehrer-pratyush.blogspot.com/2008/10/boot-polish.html.

And lastly, those who have not read the book "Q and A" by the Indian diplomat Mr. Vikas Swarup and on which Slumdog Millionaire is based, I would suggest you to please read it and then you'll find harsher realities about the "slums" and the "slumdogs". You will find out some incidents like a father raping his own daughter or a priest molesting young boys or a young boy dying of rabies without proper medical attention or a family forcing their most beautiful daughter into prostitution as a part of community ritual. All of these incidences were "thankfully" not shown in the film otherwise they would have banned it from screening in India.

The point for me to prove is that the reality is to come out in any way, and if it chooses to come out in this way, we are all for it. Stop accusing of what the film maker showed and what he did not show, or what he should show. Start working in a direction which helps eliminate all these things from our society so that when next time a foreigner decides to make a film on India, he is automatically forced to show what you want.

Comments are invited.

Tanha (तन्हा)

जीवन के शिखर पर,
जब कोई पहुँच जाए;
तब भी कोई कमी,
कुछ खालीपन उसे सताए।

उसकी आँखों में सूखे,
कुछ उम्मीदों के सागर;
उसकी सांसों में तपते,
कुछ ख्वाहिशों के समंदर।

अपनी तमन्नाओं को मार,
लहू से जिनको सींचा;
उन्होंने ही किया वार,
मौत की तरफ़ खींचा।

अब वो अकेला तन्हा,
खड़ा है चौराहे पर;
सोचता है किधर जाए,
कोई ना उसका यहाँ पर।

-प्रत्यूष गर्ग Pratyush Garg
१२-०२-०९ 12-02-09

My Life post GV

I quit Green Volunteers (GV) club about ten days ago. It was a very tough decision to make, because it was the only recognizable thing in which I was involved inside college campus. But now, its all over. Better not to discuss the causes which led me to take this painful decision. Discussing them will be the utter wastage of time. But it should be mentioned here that the after effects of that decision are really very harsh on me.

The main purpose of me, joining GV was to prevent young lads to involve themselves in the vicinity of tobacco in any form. I was also concerned about the illicit consumption of cigarettes in our hostel. So, I thought that if there is such organization which is keen to eradicate these malpractices, then I should better be the part of it so that my personal movement against it can get a big banner and a big name. And then my efforts will get an enormous boost and will be more effective. Believe me, our combined efforts brought drastic changes in the hostel environment. I was really glad to witness that.

But now, as I am not a part of GV, I try really hard not to care about whatever illegal and wrong happen in the campus. My mind tells me that it is none of my business, but my heart still forces me to step up, go there and tell them not to do that. It is a very bad feeling. Living with this feeling is really tough. But I am determined not to alter my decision. God knows what is there for me in future.

Dhokha (धोखा)

पहली बार मेरे इतिहास में,
कुछ अच्छा हो रहा था ।
मैं सबसे ज़्यादा खुश था,
सब सच्चा हो रहा था ।

मैंने जी जान से कोशिश की,
कि कुछ गलत ना हो ।
मैं कुछ ऐसा ना करूँ,
जिससे किसी को दर्द हो ।

पर होनी कब टली है,
वही हुआ जिसका डर था ।
अंत में मैंने ये जाना,
मेरे साथ धोखा हुआ था ।

जो भी वो सब था,
क्षणिक था, क्षणभंगुर था ।
जब तक मुझे पता चलता,
सब समाप्त हो चला था ।


-प्रत्यूष गर्ग Pratyush Garg
०२-०२-२००९ 02-02-2009

Why Gandhi Was Assassinated?

Sixty One years ago, on Jan. 30, 1948, Mohandas Gandhi was shot dead by Nathuram Godse, a Hindu extremist. Godse believed that the Mahatma, or the great soul, was responsible for the 1947 partition of India and the creation of Pakistan. Godse and his friend Narayan Apte were hanged. His brother Gopal Godse and two others were sentenced to life imprisonment for their part in the conspiracy. Gopal Godse remained in jail for 18 years and after that lived in a small apartment in Pune until his death on November 26th, 2005. In the February 14th, 2000 edition of the TIME magazine, an interview with Gopal Godse was published. During my research over why Gandhi was assassinated, I found that interview. Here is the excerpt from that interview which I think you will find really interesting and shocking simultaneously.


TIME: What happened in January 1948?
Godse: On Jan. 20, Madanlal Pahwa exploded a bomb at Gandhi's prayer meeting in Delhi. It was 50 meters away from Gandhi. The other conspirators ran away from the place. Madanlal was caught there. Then there was a tension in our minds that we had to finish the task before the police caught us. Then Nathuram took it on himself to do the thing. We only wanted destiny to help us i.e. we should not be get caught on the spot before he acted.

TIME: Why did you want to kill Gandhi?
Godse: Gandhi was a hypocrite. Even after the massacre of the Hindus by the Muslims, he was happy. The more the massacres of the Hindus, the taller his flag of secularism.

TIME: Can you explain how he created his mass following?
Godse: The credit goes to him for maneuvering the media. He captured the press. That was essential. How Gandhi walked, when he smiled, how he waved... All these minor details that the people did not require were imposed upon them to create an atmosphere around Gandhi. And the more ignorant the masses, the more popular was Gandhi. So they always tried to keep the masses ignorant.

TIME: But surely it takes more than good publicity to create a Gandhi?
Godse: There is another thing. Generally in the Indian masses, people are attracted toward saintism. Gandhi was shrewd to use his saintdom for politics. After his death the government used him. The government knew that he was an enemy of Hindus, but they wanted to show that he was a staunch Hindu. So the first act they did was to put "Hey Ram" into Gandhi's dead mouth.

TIME: You mean that he did not say "Hey Ram" as he died?
Godse: No, he did not say it. You see, it was an automatic pistol. It had a magazine for nine bullets but there were actually seven at that time. And once you pull the trigger, within a second, all the seven bullets had passed. When these bullets pass through crucial points like the heart, consciousness is finished. You have no strength. When Nathuram saw Gandhi was coming, he took out the pistol and folded his hands with the pistol inside it. There was one girl very close to Gandhi. He feared that he would hurt the girl. So he went forward and with his left hand pushed her aside and shot. It happened within one second. You see, there was a film and some Kingsley fellow (Ben Kingsley) had acted as Gandhi. Someone asked me whether Gandhi said "Hey Ram"? I said Kingsley did say it. But Gandhi did not. Because that was not a drama.

TIME: Many people think Gandhi deserved to be nominated TIME's Person of the Century. (He was one of two runners-up, after Albert Einstein).
Godse: I name him the most cruel person for Hindus in India. The most cruel person! That is how I term him.

TIME: Is that why Gandhi had to die?
Godse: Yes. For months he was advising Hindus that they must never be angry with the Muslims. What sort of ahimsa (non-violence) is this? His principle of peace was bogus. In any free country, a person like him would be shot dead officially because he was encouraging the Muslims to kill Hindus.

TIME: But his philosophy was of turning the other cheek. He felt one person had to stop the cycle of violence.
Godse: The world does not work that way.

TIME: Is there anything that you admire about Gandhi?
Godse: Firstly, the mass awakening that Gandhi did. In our school days Gandhi was our idol. Secondly, he removed the fear of prison. He said it is different to go into prison for a theft and different to go in for Satyagraha (Civil Disobedience). As youngsters, we had our enthusiasm, but we needed some channel. We took Gandhi to be our channel. We don't repent for that.

TIME: Did you not admire his principles of non-violence?
Godse: Non-violence is not a principle at all. He did not follow it. In politics you cannot follow non-violence. You cannot follow honesty. Every moment, you have to give a lie. Every moment you have to take a bullet in hand and kill someone. Why was he proved to be a hypocrite? Because he was in politics with his so-called principles. Is his non-violence followed anywhere? Not in the least. Nowhere.

TIME: What was the most difficult thing about killing Gandhi?
Godse: The greatest hurdle before us was not that of giving up our lives or going to the gallows. It was that we would be condemned both by the government and by the public. Because the public had been kept in the dark about what harm Gandhi had done to the nation. How he had fooled them!

TIME: Did the people condemn you?
Godse: Yes. People in general did. Because they had been kept ignorant.


Nothing really is left now to write or say. Gopal Godse said everything. Anyways if anyone of you have a different opinion or any comment over this, you are invited to do so.