Amitabh Bachchan's 70MM - A Blockbuster!

It's a proud moment and a feeling of joy to the cinema loving Indian population and many across the globe, to celebrate the 70th birthday of the living legend of Bollywood. Amitabh Bachchan, the power pack of energy continues to entertain his fans with no sign exhaustion, even after having done so, for the last five decades.

Born in Allahabad, to the famous Hindi poet Harivansh Rai Bachchan and Teji Bachchan, Amitabh was initially named Inquilab. He was later named Amitabh, which means "never ending light" and the super star is now living up to his name. Amitabh, initially had to struggle a lot, but with undeterred determination and great passion for cinema,  has achieved the ultimate success of becoming a super star. Having won so many awards for acting, he always remained grounded and simple. More about Amitabh Bachchan can be read here.
I have been following his blog for quite sometime now and I am amazed at the energy levels of the man at this age. With such a sense of commitment towards his fans on the social media, which he calls to be his extended family, he takes time to share his views and thoughts often informative and inspiring. He makes sure to keep in contact with all of his fans on a regular basis and his presence on the social media is widely felt. It really is commendable that he has adapted himself to the technology so quick and easy, to stay connected with his fans. With over 2 million likes on his fb page and over 3 million followers on twitter, he sure has so much to say and to stay in touch with his extended family for good. His blog also gives us an understanding of how he struggled during his initial days of journey towards realizing his dream and is quite a source of inspiration. After many turbulent times in various stages of his career, Mr. Bachchan has now attained a legendary status making the Bollywood and his country proud of his existence. At 70, Mr.Bachchan carries himself with great energy which is very infectious, inspiring millions of his fans. Many people of his age would not even match half his energy levels and passion towards work. Hope he continues to cast his magical spell for a longer time, inspiring the generations to come. Wishing the legendary actor, Amitabh Bachchan a very happy 70mm birthday!!!

Cos(t)metic surgeries, costing lives?

              Beauty is not in the face and it is a light in the heart said Kahlil Gibran, yet we human beings do what not to beautify our appearance. We cannot deny the growing importance of looks in today's fast paced world. However, what is the price that we are willing to pay for that. Many people are worried about their looks and often push themselves into depression. The modern day technology promises all that you want to come out of this, but at a price. I agree that the beautification of one's external self and the pampering during the process certainly accentuates one's confidence, but one has to be careful too.
         Many of us would be willing to get in for a make-over and want to enhance our looks thereby boost our confidence levels. Shedding those few extra kilos is no exception to this, and as a result of this increasing trend we can see many beauty clinics and cosmetic surgery centers budding up across the city. In a shocking incident, a cosmetic surgery has costed Prof. Narendar Kumar, his life at one such cosmetic surgery center. Narendar died soon after a liposuction surgery was performed on him. It is said that there was a rupture on his large intestine causing  post operative complications and he succumbed to death. Liposuction surgery has become one of the most common cosmetic surgery in India. It has to be performed by a well qualified professional cosmetic surgeon, but given the business acumen of our fellow Indians, no regulation is big. Nothing can stop them from minting money even on the silliest of human emotion. Without any proper approval and with minimal infrastructure there are many such clinics offering these services by surgeons who are not qualified for such jobs. I wonder how blind can the authorities be from checking these before approving the permits for such clinics. And, the number of such clinics is growing at a rapid speed. In an era, where technology is enabling great doctors to perform breakthrough surgeries, the same is being misused by non-qualified people to hit on human emotions costing their lives. A blame game is not the solution here. So, it happens to be our responsibility to check and inquire about the treatment that we intend to get and all the relevant details about the cosmetic surgeon, the clinic before we give in to the treatment. Hope to have more regulations in place to prevent such clinics from seeing the light, with the authorities being more vigilant. Lets be more aware first and beauty would follow.

Acharya Devo Bhava

5th September, reminds me of senior students taking up classes in our school letting our teachers relax for the day as part of the teacher's day celebrations. The birthday of the great philosopher, educator of India, Dr.S.Radhakrishnan is celebrated as teacher's day across India. Dr.S.Radhakrishnan who had great love for the teaching profession, believed that the right kind of education only would solve many problems of the society and country. He wanted to bring in a change in the educational system to improve the relation between the teachers and their pupil. He truly was instrumental in reforming the educational system of India at that time.
I would say, anybody who inspires and encourages us to learn and move forward towards our goal is a teacher. Learning is a continuous process and I say it is never ending. And teacher is the one, who helps us discover the joy of learning. Also, as I mentioned in one of my previous posts(Master Stroke) mother is the first teacher and source of learning to all of us. Let us all take some time on this special day and thank all those who inspired us by being with us in times thick and thin. It feels great when I think of those selfless teachers who have contributed to the society in many ways, my heartfelt gratitude to all of them.
                  Teachers should be the best minds of the country and should not just instruct, but also have to gain the affection of their students and thereby earn respect. Few selfish individuals, have commercialized the education system to an extent, that if not reformed at the earliest would pose a great threat to the nation. The number of students now willing to take up teaching as profession has gradually fallen. Let us try and change this by encouraging the young minds willing to take up teaching as profession and not let any commercial elements take over the art of teaching. Teachers are the greatest source of inspiration to their students and have the power to transform them into responsible individuals, contributing to the growth of the nation. Lets respect our teachers/mentors and thank them all for their never ending selfless support. Let the legacy of the great Indian teachers continue. Happy Teachers' Day!

Childhoods never last, but everyone deserves one.

                 It was a bright morning and the atmosphere was so pleasant and energetic. I come out of the home to get some milk from the store across, and find many children in their school uniforms hurrying out of our apartment premises.It reminded me of my school days, but more importantly something else disturbed me a lot. The sight of 9 yr old Lakshmi, standing with a broom in her hand (paused her cleaning act, making way for the children rushing) at the departmental store across the road with a deprived and envious look at these school going children of the same age group as hers, struck to me. I trudged towards the store, asked for the milk packet and inquired Lakshmi about her not going to school and she replied that she had been put to work and was never sent to school. She further added, that she wanted to go to school and wanted to study like all those children. I couldn't help but ponder over Lakshmi's situation.
Child labor is one of the biggest problems that we face in India today. Many children like Lakshmi are deprived of their childhood, schooling and all the fun included in the package. If we say that the future of the country lies in the hands of the youth, then I seriously doubt the future of our nation. Because, if the children of today(who would be the youth of the nation soon) are not provided with the basic learning of their lives, then how can we be assured of them standing for a cause tomorrow. A twinge of guilt forced me to dig deep into this and helped me find some facts about this prevailing problem. And the facts put us to shame. Over 12 million children in India are forced to work for their survival. These children work as domestic helps, on streets, factories and farmlands and are often abused. Not only are they subjected to extremely strenuous work, but also are abused causing them to loose their identity completely and often are pushed into depression. Lets not forget that childhood is the most important phase of anybody's life and impressions of childhood are life-lasting. It's a phase to make or break the future of a child who would eventually represent our nation, contributing to its growth.
                                    Of the seven fundamental rights mentioned in the constitution of India, two talk about the child labor and basic education for the children. Any child under 14 yrs of age is not supposed to be employed and has the right to education. It is good to have such laws, but who would save all these children from this monstrous problem, the law? Definitely not, it is we who can save them. As said by Lao Tzu , "Even a journey of 10,000 miles, starts with a step", a small initiative taken by all of us can bring in a huge change.To start with, let us all say no to child labor by not employing any child under 14 as domestic help. Further, let us try and counsel those who do so, and if required complain about such people to the authorities concerned. Let us all stand united for the good cause and ensure that no child is deprived of their childhood, which is their right. Let's stop child labor.

P.S: If you see a kid under 14 yrs of age working in your locality, or if you know someone who has employed a child under 14, call 1098 to rescue them.

Reading - The brain tonic.

       Many of us are aware of the super specialty and the amazing ability of human brain within its complex state. Like human body, the brain also needs some exercise from time to time to enhance its ability to perform better. Human brain's main exercise would certainly be its stimulation. In order to achieve that we have to ensure that we are engaging the brain in some or the other exciting activity. There are many ways to get to that. However, a recent study reveals that reading acts as the best tonic for brain. I can certainly vouch for that. I was not willing to read anything during my childhood (used to stay as far as I could from books) and as time passed I got introduced to few amazing books by chance and since then there was never looking back. As an avid reader now, I read from different sources all the time. Many benefits of reading include, improving your vocabulary, gaining factual knowledge and certainly the stimulation to the brain. Reading has always been a favorite pastime to many and helps an individual evolve into a more matured and stable individual.
                                                                       I have read about this (reading being the brain tonic) on some random news blog and on analyzing it further, simultaneously relating to my case of becoming an avid reader from a non reader, I certainly can tell that the grey matter would get the required stimulation by reading, Initially, to start off with, I would say it doesn't really matter what you read as long as it has an optimistic approach. And, reading newspapers is the best to start with as it keeps you informed. When we read(mostly fiction), our brain tries to imagine and relate to the characters, locations, in the story and hence it simulates real life experiences which is hard to achieve by watching TV or playing a video game. Hence, it is imperative to inculcate the habit of reading at early stage of life. And every parent should make a note of this. Reading also helps reduce the stress levels, it is said and it actually does (happened to me, numerous times). So, beat the stress by reading something interesting and stress-free brain would have its ability of accomplishing tasks at its best. Hence, reading proves to be the tonic for brain. What are you waiting for? Keep reading(should I say, my blog) folks!

We The People

        To wage a war against India, it is said that our enemies do not need to send any army, all that they have to do is send the required weapons and ammunition and the rest would be taken care by few co-operative Indians. I cannot remember when and where I read/heard this, but it somehow strikes back to my mind as I go through the verdict on the Naroda Patia case. How selfish and brutally insane can some of us be? And it hurts, when highly educated political leaders whom we trust and support anticipating a better future of the nation turn to be those some. Maya Kodnani, a former minister for women and child development, has been convicted for her conspiracy of the Naroda pogrom in which close to a hundred Muslims were mercilessly killed, most of them being women and children. If this is what we get in return for entrusting our politicians(not everybody is such, noted!) the power to reform our lives then I guess then our faith in democracy eventually has to fade away. And, shall we not have to forget about the secular country that once our leaders like Dr.B.R.Ambedkar and Mahatma Gandhi dreamt of ?
                           I am happy about the fact that justice again prevailed(after the recent verdict on 26/11 case), a much delayed one though. But, if I have to think about the arson by Maya Kodnani, many things come to my mind and the verdict finally satisfies the Indian within me. Communal riots are also a result of the average population of India being illiterate and uneducated who hang around with their 'unwanted' religious pride (only to be picked by the selfish pricks). Any religion would never preach violence and only the educated (in true sense though, cos the kingpin of this massacre is said to be educated, I choose to think she is just literate. Huh!) would be able to comprehend this. So, should we not focus more on getting the younger generations educated with some sense of moral responsibility who would then be equipped to choose the right leaders and not follow any selfish insane people who project themselves to be leaders. India, being a diverse country always had been a great example of unity amongst such diversity. Let's all respect this matter of fact and continue to exercise the brotherhood across the various communities and not give in to such hopeless shit. Remember, United we stand - Divided we fall. Jai Hind! 

Axed by Tax

I was flipping through some information along with a cup of tea in the morning, and came across something that made me read it twice. It says that there are 8 countries where the citizens do not have to pay any income tax at all. A knock on the door disturbed me, from further exploring the details on that. I opened the door and the watchman handed over a slip to me which detailed the property tax due that I am supposed to pay. Argh! Now, how irritating was that?                                                
                                                 It really annoys me when I think about all the kinds of taxes( any thing that we do has some or the other tax component to it) that we pay and few us are even more scared of the word tax itself. Many of us do not even know how many different taxes we end up paying directly or indirectly. And most of us, do not even question or bother about it. We all know that the central and state governments of India are the authorities that levy tax. But, do we know that there are close to 13 different types of taxes levied by the central govt and 19 different types of taxes by the state govt apart from some minor taxes which go through the municipalities? It really was disappointing to know that there are so many types of taxes axing our hard earned money. I am not against paying tax, but then I have to know that the taxes are being put to good use, for the development of the nation. Every citizen should get to know as to where and how the tax paid by him/her is being spent. Therefore, I have decided to inquire and understand about the tax that I pay every time. Let us be more aware of the taxes that we are paying on various spends. That's the least that we can do to start off with. And, eventually we can bring in some change in the way we look at and pay the taxes. I certainly cannot dream of India joining the league of those 8 nations where there is no income tax, but we certainly can work towards having our taxes utilized for the betterment of the nation. Hope to see an India where the tax payers are happy and not axed for every transaction. Jaago Kardata Jaago!

Justice prevails, but how long to execute?

Not everyday would we wake up happy with news that talks about taking someone's life, but yes it is one such day for me and I do not have any inhibitions in expressing this. The news in itself might have given relief to all those who have lost their dear ones to the cause. Many courageous police & army officials along with few innocent people have lost their lives in the 26/11 incident. Finally, the verdict is out and the convict Kasab is awarded the death penalty. Though it is very sad to understand that it took four long years, to get to this verdict on a brutally insane terrorist. The terror act had many visuals and live video footage and yet it took so long to arrive to this conclusion on this case. I wonder, if the case took so long to get the final sentence, then how long would the execution take? How long shall we have to pay our hard earned money to the government of India (in the form of so many taxes) to provide shelter and feed that terrorist? There are so many under-privileged people below the poverty line who are not getting any benefits from the taxes that we pay and it is sad that a terrorist who raped the country's pride is getting all his needs fulfilled. I am not in favor of the death sentence myself and believe that any person has to get a chance to realize his mistake, reform and live the rest of the life in a more meaningful way. However, in this particular case it would be our foolishness to expect any reformation or realization even on the remotest grounds. The magnitude of the terror operation that was carried out was huge and the impact of it on the entire nation is shattering enough to declare it to be an act of waging war on the nation. Yes, it is no less than a war and we have to fight back hard.
                                                      India as a nation and a land to the great leaders like the Mahatma Gandhi is considered to be one of the most peaceful countries across the globe. That doesn't mean that we have enormous levels of patience to endure these kind of terrorist activities and as an answer to the 26/11 incident, the sentence given out has to be executed on a priority. It has been a kind or rather foolish act on our part that we still believed in the human rights and all other such jazz in having this case dragged for such time, I would rather say it is our inability to speed up the system to get the justice. At least, in cases which have affected and impacted the dignity & pride of the entire nation, should we not take things on priority? The whole nation has awaited for this justice so long and hope it doesn't take too long to have it executed. Let it not become so late before the trust on Indian Judicial system perishes.

P.S: So far the cost of keeping Kasab in his cell has proved to be Rs 25 crore. Shame on us.

Invincibly Dangerous Moonwalker.

                                        Its been a little over 3 years now and the very thought of his untimely demise shakes up so many emotions leaving my eyes moist and gets me dumb for a while. There are many people across the globe who would still not be willing to accept this fact as they believe him to be invincible and immortal. Invincible, he really was. He truly had a charm that has influenced the world largely and it can never forget or get over him. Michael Jackson (MJ) was a legend in a true sense. Today, on his birthday many feelings surface in his remembrance. His mesmerizing moves including the great moonwalk can never be forgotten and every act of his, has inspired many souls around the globe. He undoubtedly is a universal phenomenon and in Guinness' terms is the most successful entertainer of all time. The king of popular(pop) music has contributed so much to music, dance and fashion all his life and has become a dominant figure of the world music.

                  Many artists across the world are today a result of the inspiration that they drew from the ever charming legend of all time. MJ has been into many controversies, but I do not really bother to comment on them as the generous work that he did and his contribution to the world in many forms is what should be remembered at this hour. Any person who can influence such a portion of the world population deserves much better. It is really an honor that we were able to share his timeline. His hard work and determination has taken him to a place where people started worshiping him. It really takes so much effort to achieve what we really want to. On this day, and everyday I appreciate the fact that we have few individuals who inspire us time and again, to move forward and achieve all that we want. Thank you Michael for inspiring us.

Great to be back, finally!

It has been a long while that I chose to stay away from my blog, actually for no specific or great reason. Thanks to my laziness and the ever growing responsibilities at hand. No matter whatever be the situation, I would still admit that I was not able to manage myself against the time and hence, all the other reasons would actually not matter. I have previously mentioned in one of my blogs that its the same 24hrs in a day that we all get, however it depends on how well we manage ourselves against that time attributes to the accomplishments. After a lot of struggle and a kind of block, I have recently realized what I have been losing by staying away from my blog (nah! ad-sense is not what I am referring to). I have realized that I am actually loosing out on my favorite pastime - writing, and loosing out on the small research part, which I used to do to present my writings in a better way. As said, its better late than never, I open my eyes right away and decide to plunge on the writing instincts again. Let my affinity towards my passion grow and hope to come up with nice and entertaining posts on a regular basis. And yes, it is an awesome feeling to be back, seeing the words  rolling on the screen as my hands rub the keys on the board. It truly is amazing and why did I shy away from it all this while? Let me not ponder over that anymore and instead resume my work as a blogger to deliver some creative posts thereby get closer to my goal of life.