Guilty and Proud....

Innocent .........
What does innocent mean?

1) Free from evil or guilt or sin
2) Lacking intent or capacity to injure
3) Lacking sense or awareness

The above 3 meanings can be used to define "innocent" and I request the reader to think over the definitions till I get back to it.

In the aftermath of the recent Mumbai blasts, there has been a lot of activity going on among the youth on social networking sites. I have seen swear words ranted against the terrorists and the Government alike, cruel punishments suggested, "protest" marches signaled, blame games played and later I see a dead silence coming. This blog is not to condemn anyone or to agitate or to "offer sympathy" but to go on record over the internet as words of Chaitanya Godbole, were I to be killed in the next blast or a shooting maybe or rather in any form death greets me.

Bhaag Bose DK, Bhaag....

Aye mere watan ke logon, jara aankh mai bhar lo paani....

jo shaheed hue hai unki, yaad karo qurbani....

Yes, these beautiful words do bring tears to my eyes and especially when I have been immersed for nearly 5 hours as I write, in the subject which culminated into the composition of this poem. During these 5 hours, I have been going through a lot of data from the Sino-Indian conflict of 1962 to the death of former CM of Arunachal Pradesh Dorjee Khandu between 30th April 2011 to 4th May 2011. Though the war occurred so many years before my birth, the texts I have come across and the images I have seen make me imagine I was right there in those sub-freezing temperatures and can imagine what must have been going through the hearts of the first Indian soldiers at war at a check-post outnumbered 20:1. It is not the details of the war which I want to go through in this blog whose roots probably lay at the Simla Accord of 1914, but it is China's latest step in the form of Khandu's death that I wish to stress upon.

Escaping the Matrix (part II) ....

Continued from Escaping the Matrix (part I) ....

In this 2nd part of the blog, I present my views about the concept of the Matrix as I understand it. Please go through part I before continuing. For readers who have not seen the movies - I have presented a short summary of the Trilogy in part I.

"The freedom we are looking for is the freedom to be ourselves, to express ourselves. But if we look at our lives, we will see that most of the time we do things just to please others. The worst part is that most of us are not aware that we are not free."

Don Miguel Ruiz

I believe that there is a same undercurrent in this life of ours as has been depicted in the movies. Now, instead of a giant Matrix seen in the movie, I believe all of us are plugged into cascading matrices with differing levels of power. The matrices differ not only in the power but also on the grounds of influence and intensity.

Escaping the Matrix (part I) ....

It has been over a month since I last blogged @ Livin' Free. Nikhil had it to himself and I am glad he came out with his story and hope it appealed to all of you, my friends. My last semester exams have ended and I have nothing much to do than watch movies, play games, read stuff, eat and most importantly sleep like a lion!
I sincerely apologize to the most hardcore movie buffs for the next sentence - I saw The Matrix Trilogy (The Matrix, Matrix Reloaded and Matrix Revolutions) yesterday; hats off to the Wachowski Brothers and the entire crew who have created this Masterpiece. In the trilogy too, like most times, I have found something I can learn from and hence would be sharing it on the blog. Though, improbable it might be but for those who have not yet viewed the movies (people like my father who are still on the 'dark side' regarding the matter just as I was 2 days back!), I will request you to acquire them first and go through it before continuing further as that will help me reach up to you better.

Jammu & Kashmir : a part or apart V

Continued from Jammu & Kashmir : a part or apart IV....

This would be the concluding section of my blog Jammu & Kashmir : a part or apart - something all of us have to decide.
An Appeal to the nation :

There are many things that have happened and are happening inside the state. To put down everything, I will end up writing a series of books with several volumes! I have tried to summarize data which was possible to.

Jammu & Kashmir : a part or apart IV

Continued from Jammu & Kashmir : a part or apart III

After narrating the story till the exodus of Kashmiri Pandits from the valley and pondering over the question of our return, today in the 4th section I present to you the inside story of PoK and why India or Pakistan / why not!

PoK- The Inside story

I would now like to share one reality that majority of people are not aware of.

In its early stages of terrorism (1980's), PoK was made the base for training for arms & ammunitions. Muslim youths, with the help of local govt and some corrupted officials of Indian army, were sent to PoK. Today it is the centre of terrorism. Why?