Behind the Spirit

I walk the hills, and the barren lands,
With a passion in my eyes, a gun in my hands

Roads to freedom, the journey long and short,
The incessant firing, the sound of the impending calm

Cold winds blow and they hit me hard,
Violent and fierce, but I can’t scream, not even an ‘ah’

In my aim to protect my country,
I wonder what would happen if we go wrong

Banish the thought from my head,
With a promise to my motherland, I move on

The gun shots and the wounded friend,
I see them all with my two eyes, I am human I want to say out loud

I tell myself to be of stone, be invincible to it all,
A small prayer to God to let me see the end of the day

It all goes unanswered when I am shot in the head,
One last bullet I fire, take the one last step

To kill the enemy, that was the perfect aim,
Free my country from the bondages of Satan’s game

Heavens above call to me, for I have done my duty, they say
Protect the people I love down here, don’t let my sacrifice be in vain

Truth of Tomorrow

I stand under the tree
The shadows of the world passing beneath.
I stand to ponder, and wonder
The fate, what it would be.

I want to scream and shout
The anger, I want to remove from within me.
I wait for the moment
The perfect one, it promised to be.

I get ready to leave
The despair I begin to feel.
I think about the times
The good ones there once used to be.

I stand and wait, a while more
The years go by, without the winds blow.
I am old and grey, ready to go
The death is near, heavens calling me indoor.

Top 10 Romantic Comedies

This is a light read that I am posting here. After almost all my blogs making everyone think, this may come as a surprise.


A complete fan of Romantic Comedies, they now seem to be a thing of the past. While many of them that have come out in the new century would classify as ‘romantic comedies’ most of them are scripts rewritten, shoddy screenplays and a few cliched plot lines. However, there are a few movies which take you back to the 1990’s the decade of Romantic Comedies. But more on those later.


Here is my list of the Ten Best Romantic Comedies of 1990’s


10. Four Weddings and a Funeral


09. Before Sunrise


08. One Fine Day


07. My Best Friend’s wedding


06. 10 things I hate about you


05. Jerry Maguire


04. Sleepless in Seattle


03. Pretty Woman


02. As Good as it gets


01. Notting Hill


Share your favorites, your recommendations.


Until later,


Shruti

Stereotypes

Stereotypes. They exist, you can defend yourself against them but can you ever deny them? You broadly classify every person in one of the ‘stereotypical’ groups the minute you see them or the minute you get to know a little about them, even if it’s only by hearsay.

By their very nature stereotypes is a word having a negative connotation. There is no person (and I talk of a reasonable man) who would voluntarily like to be classified. Most of the times people are given a title, a classification even before they can prove their mettle. And the sad part is or the point to be noted here is that most people, once given a ‘stereotypical’ title are unable to remove themselves from them. A jock remains a jock, especially until he finishes high school. He might suddenly develop an interest in theatre, but he will always be known as the guy on the football team dating the cheerleader.

As human beings we are incapable of not mentally categorizing and while this is also necessary at times it is also inescapable. Have you ever wondered that if in the 8^th grade someone had not called you a nerd or a geek you might have gone and tried out for the football team? Or if someone hadn’t not screamed ‘terrorist’ when they found of you were Muslim you might have been a little less rebellious or a little more confident and proud of who you are?

Suddenly labeling someone has become a trend and an important part. What people do not realize is that this same labeling is detrimental to the being of most people. Agreed some people when labeled are more confident, some people are proud of being labeled and some people strive to fall and maintain the stereotype they are in. But most people do not like being labeled; most people would do better without having the additional pressures and most people long to fit into a different ‘stereotype’.

We often do not like being labeled ourselves but we never shy away from doing the same with another. Have you ever thought whether you shaped the stereotype or whether the same stereotype is responsible for shaping you? Have you ever wondered how the world would be without every blond being treated dumb, without every German being called a Nazi, every Asian being called intelligent, without every Indian being called poor and every Muslim being called a terrorist?

‘We need to reject the stereotypes to understand the reality behind it, behind the person. We need to stop viewing the world as black and white because that world seldom exists. For a world free of prejudices it needs to be a level playing field.’

Classification, stereotyping breeds prejudice. Prejudice breeds differentiation. It in turn breeds racism, ill- treatment and discrimination. The only person who has the right to classify you is infact only you. This is a right, an important one.

Of War and Peace

The divine voices do cry,
The fervent request to intercede.
Wars and fights, mayhem and distress,
Peace wants to supersede.

Questions raised in the hearts of many,
Finding answers, the soul of you and me.
It confuses, it baffles, the situation we are in today,
Will we ever live in harmony?

The prayers, the hopes, the will, the belief,
We will keep till the end, for life to silently proceed.

Mumbai Attacks: The Action Required

Terror has never helped any cause, never done any good, never brought about any revolution. Terror is nothing but a method used by some people in today’s world to instill fear, coerce them. The recent terror attacks did all that and much more. It is an attack that has touched a chord in each of us, got us to think and got us to demand action.

The losses faced during the 60 hours of mayhem and after are irreparable. There is no compensation, no amount of apology and no amount of ‘political statement’ that can change that. The people of the world are asking questions, want answers, and are in need of explanations but will we get any of these? The people of the world want action; want reformation, those that are not merely for political reasons.

We talk about what to do and how to better these situations when the acts of terrorism are over with, this approach is clearly wrong. We must talk and generate methods to stop these terror attacks from occurring, from curbing them before they do. We must attack these attacks from the front, not with weapons, not with bloodshed but with a united front, our intelligent minds and our souls, all together.

The answer to terrorism is not blame, it is change. The answer to terrorism is not fear, it is strength. The answer to terrorism is not abhorrence, it is being unperturbed by their attempts to divide.

I condemn these blasts and pray for peace in our city, our country and in the world as a whole. May the souls of all those brave men and women who gave up their lives saving others and all those civilians who lost their life in these ghastly attacks rest in peace. We salute you.

Terrorist attacks can try and shake the foundations of our buildings but they cannot touch the foundation, the soul, the heart of India.

Anil Kumble you will be missed

Today Anil Kumble retired. It came as a surprise to many and certainly not a joyous one. The Ferozshah Kotla stadium was once again filled with emotion, once again by Anil Kumble himself.

Anil Kumble is a player par excellence. Someone who never let the team down, someone who put the sport before him, someone who put the team’s and countries integrity before his own, someone who didn’t let situations become excuses, and someone who never shied away from criticism but instead, silently proved it all wrong.

He has many a times been called the general of the team, the silent assassin who would take everyone in the opposition down without making much noise about it. Such is the man. He is the first Indian to take more than 500 wickets, he was only the 2nd man ever to take all 10 wickets, he is known to be the 3rd greatest bowler, after Murlitharan and Shane Warne. Anil Kumble held his head and the team’s head high in the recent Down Under series. He is the player who played against West Indies with a broken jaw, something that had everyone gaping when they saw the tv screens. He is the player who played and took 3 wickets in the most recent Kotla test with an injured finger, stitched up.

An era is said to be when a player comes and changes the face of the game, the way the game is perceived and when he decides to leave we know that the void can never be filled. A person is said to end an era when we know that there was just one like him and that there will be no other. In this man’s case it all stands true.

Few greats of the cricket echoed their sentiments on Anil Kumble’s retirement.

Kapil Dev, former Indian Cricket Captain said and I quote "Anil Kumble is a true fighter, always had this never-say-die attitude and is thoroughly a true gentleman,"

Former Australian captain Ian Chappell said "It is very difficult for somebody to get into his shoes. He is a cricketer who never compromised his dignity and always played with determination,"

The next few days are not going to be easy for any cricket fan, for any Indian who holds a soft spot for the game, especially a soft spot for the ‘senior players’. In the coming week we are going to see history again, Ganguly (my personal favorite) retiring, VVS Laxman completing 100 tests and a probable win at home against Australia. It is going to be an emotionally charged week, today the beginning of what will be remembered by many.

I know I had tears in my eyes when I heard his speech today. I know my emotions were stirred up when I saw the television footage of his journey until now. I know I will always remember this man to be probably the greatest gentleman and pioneer of the sport there has ever been.

Anil Kumble, you will be truly missed. It is indeed the end of an era in cricket today.