My Town - Part 1

Some photos of my hometown.....This is the Rail Chowk (where four roads meet). The monument depicts a long railway track surrounding the Earth.



The most famous verse from the Bhagvad Gita (a holy book of Hindus) and the one I remember most clearly (credit goes to The Mahabharata serial on tv) comes to my mind whenever I see the famous picture of Lord Krishna as the charioteer and Arjun in the seat during the battle of Kurukshetra.



Verse in Sanskrit

Verse in English Alphabet

Yada yada hi dharmasya
Glanir bhavati bharata
Abhyutthanam adharmasya
Tadatmanam srjamy aham
~ Bhagavad Gita (Chapter IV-7)

TRANSLATION

Whenever and wherever there is decay
of righteousness, O Bharata,
And a rise of unrighteousness
then I manifest Myself!

OR

Whenever and wherever there is a decline in religious practice, O descendant of Bharata, and a predominant rise of irreligion--at that time I descend Myself.

paritranaya sadhunam

vinasaya ca duskrtam

dharma-samsthapanarthaya
sambhavami yuge yuge
~ Bhagavad Gita (Chapter IV-7)

TRANSLATION

In order to deliver the pious and to annihilate the miscreants, as well as to reestablish the principles of religion, I advent Myself millennium after millennium.

The monument in my town's only and most happening shopping and eating area depicts the famous picture and shloka in bronze.



The only stadium of my town:-



Some trees of my town :-

Confessions of a TV addict - Part 2

My top favorite serials deserve a separate post so I'm writing a Part 2. So now coming to non-Indian serials....the top slot is taken by F.R.I.E.N.D.S...what else!!!! I have watched runs and re-runs and re-re-runs so many times that even my Mom knows which episodes I have already watched and recognizes all the characters. But still they make me laugh as if I'm watching for 1st time. And I miss having such a group of real friends...One video is especially for those who are going to France.




Then I like the serial "Charmed" a lot as I just love fantasy and magic. I watched only few episodes when it was being aired. I never thought I would be able to watch starting from season 1 to final season until now when I discovered all seasons are available on the Internet. And I watched season 8 last episode sneakily on Youtube first to see if it all ends well. It does.

And last but not at all the least....my favorite Chinese/Korean serial which used to aired on the channel HOMETV...back in 1997....I watched the whole series 4 times continuously as Hometv used to re-run a serial just after it used to end. That was the best summer vacation. But sadly it had sad ending, like all Chinese series. The series was called "Blood Stained Intrigue" and I was simply crazy about it.

Confessions of a TV addict - Part 1

I have been addicted to television since I was four years old....actually since the day we bought TV. It is rumored by my elder sister that I used to watch anything Doordarshan ( the national and only channel in India at that time) dished out; like Krishi Darshan, a program for the benefit of farmers where experts solved their problems and suggested better agricultural practices.

As I grew older, my attachment with TV grew. I used to be completely mesmerized with the moving pictures and the characters. It took my family (mostly my sister) a lot of coaxing, cajoling, emotional blackmailing, scolding, and bartering to get me to study and do vacation homework. I would like to point out I was among the toppers of class, and that's why my family was at wit's end as to how to make me study as I got good results with my high level of insincerity.

My first passion was animation and it still remains so. I simply love cartoons and animation movies. And my sister loved to keep nicknames based on the cartoon that was being aired.
In this post I want to share some of the happiest moments of my life when I used to get lost in the world or visual media by the courtesy of Youtube and the uploaders.

Starting with famous cartoon Jungle Book.....which prompted Didi to call me "Mowgli" or "Baghira".... Baghira was my favorite character...strong and silent characters always appealed to me...Jungle Book was such a hit among children of my generation. The old cartoon series were much better than those being aired on Jetix or CN... all Japanese and violent.


Oh I almost forgot the first ever super hit animation series ....He-Man!!! Didi liked Orca, I remember. It was awesome...."I have the power"

There was an afternoon show featuring characters which were vegetables. Their king was brinjal called "Baingan Raja". Sadly no video is available of that show. Didi made a parody of the title song which went like Juug juug jiyo mere baingan raja....raj tumhara sabse pyara.....Then there was one called "Molu". As the name suggests the protagonist was a mole. In fact it was the first series which inspired Didi to start nicknaming me. Again no video available.

Then I was totally in love with Genie from the series "Arabian Nights" featuring Aladdin. It was pure humor mixed with adventure. It was an one hour show where half hour was of Aladdin and other half of Little Mermaid.

Then Disney cartoons at 10.30 am on Sundays won hearts of many young and old in India. Talespin was a favourite of my Dad. And everyone liked the pirate character (I don't remember the name) more than Baloo.





How can I forget "daanu"??? I couldn't find the Hindi version of the opening song.


Then my second passion are fairy tales and fables, especially witty ones like Akbar Birbal, Vikram Betaal etc. Further, as I became wiser, I started liking some real human characters too like our King Khan who was a tv soap actor then. I liked his serial Circus very much...more than Fauji.


My Didi's favorite series was Bharat Ek Khoj.....and I never felt any interest in it. Infact it was a very famous show but sadly I didnt like it.


Doordarshan also telecasted short films and videos in public interest and to celebrate culture and heritage of India and to promote unity in diversity. Those videos are evergreen and remembered by all who are of the Doordarshan generation. I liked them a lot and used to sing along with them. From one of those, I learnt visually the dances of India though I'd studied in geography book. Didi had to bear the outcome of this knowledge as I demonstrated her daily the different dances and made her understand the difference between Yakshagana and Kathakali by pulling her cheeks.




Oh yes then there was a series "Malgudi Days" based on the famous novel. It was fine only till Swami was there.




Then all the girls including me had a crush on Byomkesh Bakshi.....and were sad as he grew older. It was the best Indian detective series.

Marathis vs North Indians- Part 1

Hands chopped off in Pune, traumatised hawker returns to Bihar
Sat, Mar 8 10:16 AM

Patna, March 8 (IANS) Shri Kishun Singh lies traumatised in a hospital bed in Bihar. For the last 10 years, he was a food hawker on Pune's streets, but last month Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) activists chopped off both his hands.

Unlike many other Bihari migrants, Singh did not manage to flee in time to save himself from the Raj Thackeray-led MNS' campaign against Biharis and north Indian migrants in Maharashtra.

'I was made a disabled for no crime. My only crime was that I was a poor hawker from Bihar and speak Hindi,' said Singh. In his late 30s, he is undergoing treatment at the government hospital in Siwan.

He hails from a village in Bihar's Siwan district but used to sell bhujja - a mixture of gram rice and groundnut - on Pune's streets. Singh told IANS on telephone from his hospital bed that he was attacked by a group of MNS activists while he was asleep on the pavement, his regular dwelling.

He was brutally thrashed and fell unconscious. When he gained consciousness the following day he found himself in a hospital with both hands amputated.

'I was told by doctors as well as some Bihari migrants who thronged the Pune hospital that both my hands were chopped off by the attackers,' Singh said in a choked voice.

Singh's wife said her husband was the only bread-earner of the family. But now all was lost. 'Our livelihood was snatched away by the attackers in Pune; our future is bleak and dark,' she said.

The Bihar government too has done little to help out Singh.

'Not a single top official or minister has visited Singh to inquire about him and the government is yet to announce any compensation for poor Singh,' said Kamlesh Prasad, a social activist.

Singh's story is an example of the pain, suffering and misery of hundreds of Bihari migrants who have been forced to flee Maharashtra to save their lives.

Is it better to have loved and lost or not to have loved at all? - Part 2

Its so easy to write books like "chicken soup", million books on break up and how to deal with it, etc etc.....and so much more difficult to actually go through it and come out alive. I appreciate Vinita's efforts to give a balanced write-up.
In my opinion based on my personal experiences.....There is no pain more excruciating than the pain of a broken heart... especially the heart which has been broken by betrayal. After my personal experiences, I sometimes wonder why I have not become immune to this pain and why does it hurt still? Why do I still cry? Why haven't I given up on "love" and the quest for it? For the lack of a "delete history" or "reload" option; I would say I would have been much more happier if I had never fallen in love. Unlike the bundle of insecurity, cynicism bordering on indifference, bitterness and suspiciousness ; which I am now. It would have been an alternative fate with alternative people in it and alternative events of happiness and sadness. I would have saved many nights spent in crying in misery and almost going insane. There is nothing in this world that causes so much pain and if I could choose between love and death, I think I would rather die. As the poet of the famous love poem "Frozen Tear" puts it

Even though I said that final good-bye
Even though it was all up to me
I still cry
I still cry for when we were the best of friends
For the nights we spent together
And for what was never suppose to be
I cry not for u or me but because of what was never there
I cry for what was in my mind and how it will never be again
To stop crying is something I somewhat learned from u
Too many kisses led to the tragedy
Too many hugs that felt for nothing
Too many tears frozen just because of that one simple good-bye
Too many emotions defrosted because I stood up for myself and lost someone special
But that’s in the past and that’s where it needs to stay
Forever I will remember the frozen tear that meant so much to me and nothing to u
One more frozen tear cried and I will forever say my final good-bye

To my friends, Reason, Season or Lifetime

People come into your life for a reason, a season, or a lifetime.

When you figure out which it is, you know exactly what to do.

When someone is in your life for a REASON, it is usually to meet a need you have expressed outwardly or inwardly. They have come to assist you through a difficulty, to provide you with guidance and support, to aid you physically, emotionally, or spiritually. They may seem like a godsend, and they are. They are there for the reason you need them to be.
Then, without any wrong doing on your part or at an inconvenient time, this person will say or do something to bring the relationship to an end. Sometimes they die. Sometimes they walk away. Sometimes they act up or out and force you to take a stand.
What we must realize is that our need has been met, our desire fulfilled; their work is done. The prayer you sent up has been answered and it is now time to move on.

When people come into your life for a SEASON, it is because your turn has come to share, grow, or learn. They may bring you an experience of peace or make you laugh. They may teach you something you have never done. They usually give you an unbelievable amount of joy. Believe it! It is real! But, only for a season.

LIFETIME relationships teach you lifetime lessons; those things you must build upon in order to have a solid emotional foundation. Your job is to accept the lesson, love the person/people (anyway); and put what you have learned to use in all other relationships and areas of your life.
It is said that love is blind but friendship is clairvoyant. Thank you for being a part of my life.

Is it better to have loved 'n' lost or not to have loved at all? - Part 1

Sharing an article I came across in Times Life dated 03/03/2008....
O-zone Vinita Dawra Nangia

Is it better to have loved 'n' lost? or Would you rather never have tasted love, and so none of its attendant rollercoaster ride of emotions ranging from exultation to grief?

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

RECENTLY two of my women friends chose to separate from their respective spouses after being married for more than a decade. Incidentally, both had married for love.
Will that love now be the cause of regret rest of their lives? Or, will they be able to rise above the heartbreak and emerge from the experience richer and more evolved human beings? Even though it is still too early to tell, you can already see the difference in their attitudes. One has confidently set out on a path rebuilding life and imbibing lessons she has learnt from the breakup; the other is low as low can get,
sounding stricken and clearly having taken a bad hit. Surely for her, it would have been better not to have loved at all?
A question that plagues all who have visited heartbreak zone — is it better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all? Lord Tennyson raised the issue in In Memoriam, written in a state of almost suicidal grief after the sudden death of his friend, Arthur Hallam.
Since then, not just poets and essayists, but every lover has asked himself and the world in general this question. Would you rather never have tasted love, and so none of its attendant rollercoaster ride of emotions ranging from exultation to grief ? Or, do you feel richer for all the experience loving and being loved brought to you?
Difficult question to answer, especially given the fact that all of us walk into love with our eyes closed, believing like every full blooded human being does, that only the good stuff happens to us, while bad things happen to others. And yet, nobody can be in love and not be swung to absolute extremes of emotion. You are riding an unbelievable high one moment and plunging into abysmal depression the next. You believe yourself to be the luckiest person alive while in love and then, when that love ends, there could be nobody more torn apart than you…
They say love and intimacy is the cause of all our happiness and sorrow; our well-being and sickness, and of all our pain and healing. To give up one is to give up the other. If you deny yourself love for fear of the pain, you would undoubtedly be depriving yourself of all the ecstasies too. Surely the high that love alone can swing you to is worth the risk of pain?
And then, there is a beauty to even the pain that love brings. Its beauty lies in the depth of emotion we experience and to the way we respond to it. Some of our most beautiful poetry, songs and art have been the result of emotional turmoil resulting from rejection in love. In fact many creative artists work on perfecting the art of wallowing in melancholy. The world's greatest love stories have ended in pain and separation. Does that stop us from idolising Romeo & Juliet, Tristan & Isolde, Heer Ranjha or Paro Devdas?
There are those who say that love never ends. Two individuals may choose to end a relationship, yet if they truly loved each other, the love lasts beyond their togetherness. It is an emotion that you can revisit and wrap around yourself as a comfort in times of loneliness and despair. Love imbues two individuals with a sense of wellbeing, happiness and confidence that rest of the world cannot penetrate. And when they separate, why must they also give up all the positive strokes love brought them?
Whether or not you are able to smile at shared happy moments later and retain the positive feelings really depends on the way two individuals choose to end their relationship.
Dr Brian Weiss in Only Love is Real, the book Princess Diana read just before she took off on her last holiday with Dodi, explains that love is a powerful, reuniting energy. If you believe in love as the be-all and end-all of our existence; as both the beginning as well as conclusion of the journey of life, you would agree that we need to go through any number of relationships in life because we learn our life's lessons through them — “forgiveness, understanding, patience, awareness, non-violence…We have to unlearn other traits, such as f e a r … a n ge r … . g r e e d … h at r e d … pride… ego which result from old conditioning.’
If that’s so, then the very purpose of the beginning and ending of a relationship must be to enable us to learn valuable lessons. And, if we don’t understand that, we would be doomed to a series of loves that keep ending in grief!
Love sharpens our senses and mental faculties. It increases our capacity for giving as well as receiving emotion. Love brings with it enlightenment and a lightness of being. And when love creeps away, it leaves us with a depth of emotion that is just as meaningful and necessary to our existence, to the very fabric of our lives…
I hold it true, whate’er befall;
I feel it, when I sorrow most;
‘Tis better to have loved and lost
Than never to have loved at all.
— Lord Tennyson