My take on "Death Penalty Abolishment"

While Mohammad Ajmal Amir Kasab rests in his grave, the world is busy mulling over the answer to the moot question posed by his death: Should death penalty be abolished?

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR):

According to Article 1 of UDHR

"All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood."

Rightly so, all humans are born free and equal in dignity and rights but can it be justifiably said that all of them are endowed with reason and conscience?

After witnessing plethora of earth-shattering murders and atrocities in a country believing in such high precepts of human rights, will it be really coherent on the part of any human being in full possession of his faculties to give the aforementioned lines any credence? Are these people who are supposedly “brain-washed” and thence go around killing innocent people, eligible human beings, fit to enjoy the Human Rights? Just because they look like all the other human beings when in fact they do not seem to possess even a shred of humanity does not make the answer to the above question a reasonable YES.

Why the death sentence was correct in Kasab's Case:

Some people believe that the person on whom the death sentence has been pronounced may turn out to be an innocent human being after he is dead, leaving us in a very sorry situation by compelling us to think that we actually stained humanity in his blood. While that is a very coherent explanation for supporting the abolishment of capital punishment, does it really hold water in absolutely transparent cases like that of Kasab?

Also some people propose that Kasab was “brain-washed”, when he was young and thence became a criminal. The canons of humanity dictate that we should give him a chance to transform himself from a savage beast to a civilized saint. Well, if that is the case then the same reason also governs that no one on mother earth should be punished for any offense he/she commits for no one is born a criminal and everyone has a reason like Kasab had.

India: A Soft Nation

Let me refresh your memory by mentioning some unforgettable headlines from the past:

The Mumbai Terrorist Attack, 29th November 2008, claims the lives of over 250 innocent people, leaving over 208 people seriously wounded.

Mumbai Train blast: 209 people killed and over 700 injured.

September 13, 2008 Delhi bombings more than 30 people killed and over 100 injured.

We never really got the chance to witness any effort made by the Human Rights Group, overtly or covertly, to prevent this menace from spreading like a wild fire, let alone curb it.

Either we are used to these kinds of appalling things or we being a soft nation do not wish to take any extreme/serious action to strike off the crime and terror from its very roots. Even the UN General Assembly that passed a draft resolution seeking abolition of the death penalty was quite quick in making its voice heard in this regard but there has always been a grave silence in the wake of terrorist attacks, be it in Mumbai or Delhi. I fail to understand, why?

The resolution was not honored by India and rightly so, for she has done everything constitutionally and within the framework. This audacious and confident move on the part of India heralds that even a soft nation can be unforgiving in the face of unpardonable and deplorable acts of violence.

It is understandable that the purpose behind punishment is to discourage crime among the citizens of the country and Kasab’s execution is a Legal Murder which shall serve as a lesson to all and sundry in the realms of crime, even to those who are supposedly brain washed.

His last statement: “Allah kasam maaf kar do, aisi galti dobara nahi karunga” should have been televised in order for all the terrorists to see the ultimate end of a horrendous drama.

Undoubtedly, India is a land, graced by the indelible presence of great people like Gandhi,
whose only weapon was non-violence and by the likes of the dauntless Ahilya Bai holkar.
Nonetheless, the same Gandhi gave us the slogan “Karo ya maro” and the same kind Ahilya bai didn’t refrain from denying her arms the comfort and warmth of her only son by laying him under an elephant’s feet, on account of  his unpardonable behavior.

The noose of death in this fable has strangled an incorrigible criminal and what follows is, plethora of voices howling over the abolition of capital punishment. Why?

The nation should wake up and smell the coffee, for the common man now yearns to breathe and not gasp in the wake of trepidation. We cannot keep sacrificing thousands of innocent lives so as to protect the “human right of a terrorist” who is hardly a human.

Let’s think once more before abolishing death penalty which is given only for “Rarest of Rare" cases and especially for such crystal clear ones.


Written in collaboration with Neha Jain (my flatmate) for "The Hindu" open page.

pyaar bhara geet.

एक प्यार भरा गीत सुनते हुए तेरा ख्याल इस  दिल को जब  आया ,
निकल पड़ा ये कमबख्त भी अल्फाजों की एक हँसी तलाश पर ,
खूब भटका इधर -उधर , मगर न ढूंढ़ पाया वो कुछ चंद लफ्ज़ ,
जो दिल में तेरे इस कदर उतर जाए,
के तेरे नैनो से बरसे सिर्फ मुहब्बत का सुरूर ,
तेरे खामोश ओंठ बस गायें प्यार का वो एक नया नगमा,
जिसकी धुन पे थिरके , ये सारी मुहब्बत की दुनिया ,
जिसको सुनके बिछड़े हुए हरएक  दिल को,
 अपना कोई प्यारा सा साथी याद आ जाए

एक प्यार भरा गीत सुनते हुए तेरा ख्याल इस  दिल को जब  आया ,
उसमें बसे तेरे हसीं चेहरे को ही बस पाया ,
मगर फिर भी ना ढूंढ़ पायी वो चंद लफ्ज़ ,
जो दिल में तेरे इस कदर उतर जाएं ,
के तू ये दास्ताँ-ए -मुहब्बत समझ पाए

inspired by the song : "saanu tere naal ho gaya pyaar meri gal sun le soniye.."

tanhaai

Pre-script:  Here goes my first poem in Hindi.. :) :)

तू क्या जाने मेरी कहानी ,

    चादर ओढे लेटी  वो तन्हाई ,

गले लगाने को बेकरार हो जैसे ,

    झाँकती तो कभी पुकारती वो पल पल ,
कह रही हो जैसे आजा मिटा दे ये हलचल,
    मेरी बाहों के घेरे में सिमट के ,
सारे गमों का इज़हार आज तू खुल के कर दे ,
    और बह लेने दे ये मोती बेशुमआर,
छट जाये शायद तेरी कुछ उदासी ,

तू क्या जाने मेरी कहानी ,
    चादर ओढे लेटी  वो तन्हाई ,
तमाम हसरतों को उड़ान दे रही हो जैसे ,
    हज़ारों उल्झनों  के जवाब देती जा रही न जाने कैसे ,
तांकती झाँकती कह रही वो बार बार ,
   डूब के तो देख एक बार इस दरिया में ,  
तू पहुँच जायेगा हर मुश्किल के उस पार 

At the crack of dawn..

At the crack of dawn,

let every inch of this insomniac soul

Bathe in the light of enlightenment

The sun had risen long back,

Got this wanderer back on track.

Aye, the storms kissed goodbye,

Happiness now wide awake,

Oh... how pleasurably have their say:

“look at the rising sun,

told ya, now it’s my turn!”


P.S : Life is beautiful and very simple, if only,  you only think about what you want , be all blind to the face of adversities and deaf to the hard knocks,
if only, you can resist the usage of "WHAT IFs .." and "BUTs",  while penning down the mystic saga of your  life.. :) :)

Random thoughts..

Some words need no voice,

Some feelings novice,

From the dead they arise ,

The whole wide world set aside…

Life’s a place where just love resides.

I don't know..

Sometimes there is no light to break up the dark. At a point, when everything is bleak, I sense that a streak of light is enough to see life, but in stark darkness we tend to lose sight of it, altogether. I close my eyes shut or walk with open eyes, it makes no difference for all I can see is darkness.

When you stop running for a moment to nourish your weary lungs with air, you realize what you’d lost all this while, you were running and that is happiness, that is life and when you realize this you don’t possess even a scrap of energy to continue this race anymore, for the flare of passion which had been fuelling your lungs till now, is extinguished by the sudden chills of this very realization.

Planned things never work out in my favor, just when I expect from myself to put in my best in the most important exam of  life, my expectations betray me. I’d happily fail a thousand times, if it were just an exam, but to my utter misfortune this is not my story. If failures were just one aspect of life,  I’d happily take it, but sadly it’s a lot more.  

Every morning I wake up with a vain hope of seeing the light of reason, but there’s no sun in my world, even the nights are moonless.

Even with the music on, all that I can experience is absolute reticence. Even with so many people around, loneliness is my only companion.

As though, every moment is dragging the course of this maze, like it were a crippled being, as though  life is going to go on and on, as if this mortal life suddenly decided to fancy the mould of eternity, just to see how long my patience can survive and like every other question, it has the same answer, "I don't know"..

I..

Sometimes or shall I say that most of the time, I am not privy to whatever it is that’s flowing within me. My thoughts are in complete mess and there’s so much vacillation as to whether my interest lay here or over there.

I fall for people I’ve not known for long very easily and the next moment I start hating myself for thinking about them, almost to the point of distraction, for caring about them with a passion so demented that no person on this entire earth , in full possession of his faculties would deem justifiable.

I have always dreamt of becoming a strong independent, successful woman in love with this wonderful thing called life and yet I feel like a blind girl stumbling in the dark, waiting for someone to lend me a stick at least , if the support of a hand is too much to ask for…

I have always wanted to believe that a girl doesn’t need a man to complete her and yet, most of the time , I like to go against my own tenets allowing myself to fall for that “someone”, I like for no reason at all, so blatantly.

I have always preferred books over humans, love in imagination, not in reality…but now I find myself caught in the tangles of an age where loneliness kills. I feel like a prisoner confined in the territory of my own longing waiting for destiny to launch my debut into the world of reality….just as I see it in the precincts of imagination.

Life is very uncertain, I hear people say and I have always loved it for the sheer improbability which is so typical of it but sometime I find myself gasping for air in the vacuum of an uncertain future.

I have always wanted to believe that I know myself and love myself for who I am, but sometimes when I look back, I find absolutely nothing that would make me believe in the beauty of my own reveries..

Sure, life is complicated for one simple reason that there’s a huge difference between what we think we want and what we actually want from our life and because of so many other complicated ones which always elude my mental faculties …

Limbo..

I am far less than an ordinary girl in this extraordinary world, strong and courageous like that rigid stone lying by the side of a road, impervious to the pain rendered by the crushing foot-steps of the sundry pedestrians.

I am full of imperfections and coarseness has become one of my most distinguishing features. On that bend where I lie, appreciating the beauty of stars at night, the darkness fails to penetrate my tough exterior but the trivial light of moon never fails to delight my numb senses.

There was a time when I was trampled badly,  to the point that transcended all the precincts of anguish or any sort of sensation. I tried hard to put my chaotic life into some semblance of order only to fling myself into that deserted territory of recluses, where I vowed never to return to my native land.

In this new world I styled and tailored myself in a way that would make me less vulnerable. From dawn to dusk I follow the same ritual that I used to follow earlier , with the subtle variation,  that this time I draped my soul in a black fabric and cordoned it off  by laying a careful siege of cool civility and indifference around it, thereby rendering it unperceivable to the scrutiny of those marked by even the slightest of  curiosity or  other forms of humanly emotions.

On some nights, when I shut my eyes, the intense wisp of air through my window throws open all the doors that I had once closed, bares my soul and takes away the dark cloth.

I can’t deny the fact,  that it feels nice to let the  watchdogs down  for a while ,that it feels nice to do away with the disguise that had been protecting me thus far and venture into those forbidden places for once, where I bask in the light of self-enlightenment and actualization.

In that vulnerable form, I ran into someone a few days ago and from that very day onwards, a constant penchant to throw away the darkness and let the brightness pass through every fibre of my being, has never left my side..

I keep commuting between the two worlds, I often find myself ensnared in the insurmountable limbo of restlessness….

I long to extricate myself from this abysmal quagmire..

I still remember...

I still remember the way it started,

One day when my eyes caught your profile

As though,  I could see through your soul,

Without even knowing you at all.

I still remember the way it felt,

When I went up this beautiful ladder.

At every step that I took,

I etched a new chapter into this friendship book.

I still remember how we would go on chatting,

With the Saturday night melting into Sunday morning

Our talks punctuated by your pizza breaks,

With me telling you that it’s not good for your sake.

I still remember your promises full of innocence,

Crammed with those beautiful words of endearments.

'Barbie doll' had become my favorite pet,

Alas! It’s something I still can’t forget.

I still remember the way I felt,

When you had asked me my phone number digits.

I still remember your late night texts,

I still remember your infantile requests.

I still remember our first meeting,

I still remember those message bottles.

The message which said ,this gift is the best,

Is still etched deep inside my heart.

I still wake up to the euphony of,

the pink clock you gifted

The friendship band presented by thee

Still rests on my wrist.

Your puerile voice still dawdles in my ears

Your profound songs I still love to hear

I still remember your tender glances

I often relive the meetings we exchanged.

You came and went like that wisp of air,

But the scent of your friendship continues to linger ,

in the midnight air , gushing past my hairs.

Believe it or not , you’ll forever be in my prayers.

I miss you..

~ puji ~ 

AN ETERNAL SISTEROMANCE (part 1)

Pre-script : This poem is a prequel to the post I published last and was penned  by me one year back for my best friend, Bhavya.

It all started with the first day in college
Despite the jitters a gal brought solace
Her eyes glinting with excitement
Helped me break free of all the confinements.

The way her lips twitched with a smile
Her eyes pretty and juvenile
So deep as the ocean ,
And full of emotions
That at just one fleeting glance
I fell into this ever-lasting trance.

Days wore on,
And the diffidence was all gone
The seeds of a perpetual bond were sown
And something known as friendship was born.

But it seemed as though the saplings
Needed some more pampering
There might yet not tested
So how could they be accepted?

Storms and hurricanes came swirling around
Only to leave their bastion tumbling upside down.
 To see the rubbles whirling around the town,
And then posit them deep inside the ground.

When they were close to bringing home the bacon
To leave my soul drowned in desolation
It was the time when I surmised,
That she is an angel who will never leave my side.

Our friendship survived many such storms
And in the process got stronger and reformed.
With each tear, that I shed and she wiped
I didn’t realize but our friendship had revived.

Soon we'll  be tossing our graduation caps in the air
After that seeing each other will be a rare affair.
So, with just one year left
There is nothing I want to regret and repent.

Here is a little effort on my part
To show you your place inside my heart
I want you to know my dear friend
That I will love you till the end.


Love you,
forever and always.. :)

An eternal sisteromance (part 2)

I cried through the night
Cus’ I knew something wasn’t all right
Gazing at the starry blue skies,
I could see life, stretch in front of my eyes..

A person suffering her sentence,
Subsisted on the wavering surface of reticence.

Tried hard each day, to stand my ground,
But never walked back home, in not a thousand pieces..
I was inching apart from that thing called life,
When you became the part that brought a million smiles…

Like a flickering candle, on the verge of doom..
My life was stirring with a glut of gloom..
A person detesting shadows,
You were the bastion of radiance..

Like a crippled being seeking support.
I waited in earnest for the comfort of scaffold…
An angel full of light,
you held me upright..

Like a blind man plodding without a stick…
I awaited the final tick of the clock…
But you came into my life,
Gave me a new reason to survive..

I was destined to perish in lonesomeness
But you added a new episode to the banal plot,
altered the course of a life, on the brink of rot.

We walked hand in hand for such a long time
We sang the song of life in the same rhyme…
But I never realized, one day
Your hand will slip away…

I hold you so close to my heart,
Can’t tell you how, but there is none above you,
I was drawn to you from the start,
Only to see how we fall apart later?

I can’t believe that you are leaving me,
Because the love I had found
Was oh so very true..
And the only thing I didn’t regret, was you..

I cry through the night
Cus the next morning is a goodbye,
While the night is dark,
My hopes, still vivid.

Though, we are to take different routes
Dance to the tune of different beats…
One thing I know will stay the same forever..
Till the end,my friend,
our sisteromance shall live..

Te Amo..
Para siempre y siempre.. :)

BARREN HEART..

                                                         


                                         

                                               

                                        Underneath the blanket of stars,

                           I would sleep with the door ajar.

                           You managed to peep in,

                           When the lights were dim.

                           And see just that one star,

                           Kindling in those dark eyes.

                           You claimed like you were that light,

                           Capable of dazzling the night.

                           You awakened the wistful dreams,

                           Craving for reality in a dejected life.

                           Love flowed like an unremitting stream,

                           Seeds blossomed into the Love amaranth,

                           But the heat of lust that served as a bee,

                           Drew on the nectar, left the heart barren.

BLANK...

With mind as blank as this white paper

Have the emotions really tapered off???

Nothing to scribble down,

Not even the trash hanging around..

As if this is a blank canvas

And I am the artist

Facing the quandary

As to what shall I paint?

So many colors in my palette

I was never really short of  visions.

And still I am not.

What holds me back then??

So many words flowing within

But the tune is missing…

Oh..I am not certain…

How do I compose my song…

May be I have forgotten the art,

The effortless procedure of self indulgence..

But the beauty continues to haunt..

The feel of the pen still agitates..

Maybe the harmony connecting,

My thoughts and the pen is at rest

But hope is still a thing with wings.

That perches in the soul…

And sings in tune with the words…

And never ever fades away.

 

P.S : I won't really say that I am facing a writer's block for I am not really much of a writer, but I promise to post something better and more coherent next time..
 Saru ma'am I mulled over the answer to your question, and thence scribbled whatever I could manage to wheedle out of my brains...Thank you very much for taking note of my absence. :)

BIGOTRY

Tossing and turning  , mucking around
Bubbling like a zealot but ready to burst aloud.
With this wrath heavy on every breath
All I could do is cry at a stretch.

Only the crippled knows how hard it’s to face
The fact that he isn’t fit enough to race.
The world is busy running the race of fame.
While the flames of  bigotry consume your frame.

There is no one you find near
And so you’re tempted to let it flow.
It’s getting tougher for you to bear
But you were hit way too harder by the blow.

If only someone would care
And love to share
Ohh...I would not feel so very ensnared.
But wait…!!
Do you really need someone?
A terse NO was all I could hear myself say.

Time to get up and walk again.
The lost fervour I have to regain..
So what , if the way is far away
I promise myself , I won’t run astray.

I will continue walking even if it rains.
For in the process of falling I want to attain.
This isn’t the time to feel low
For I am left with miles to go.

May god give everyone a chance to sow ,
The seeds of their growth..
Only to reap the fruits later,
With a breathtaking glow..

AN UNFORGETTABLE FACE

The world of love she keeps in her eyes

Fetches the sun from the cloudy skies

Brightens dull lives with her “sunny” smiles.

Of all the world-weary souls I met,

None did I find so unreservedly munificent

Catering the world with her desi cuisines

Seldom forgets to pepper those insipid lives

By bouts of ceaseless chatters and narratives.

A  wanderer ambling the course of streets

A  romp fumbling every word sweet and bitter

Promises to unbolt new doors to solicitousness.

In the darkest of lanes she showers the brightest light.

All the seasons, summer, winter, autumn, spring

And the fall of her life, on the bumpiest of roads

Paces miles in the same old shoes and the “sunny” smile.

Now that the stroke of the departing hour draws closer

And I ponder the forenames of some unforgettable faces

In my mind I see myself rushing past the condominium

In the crowd, her countenance, so achingly familiar

An unforgettable face smiling into my eyes

Cuddled me tight, bade me goodbye

But left an indelible imprint on a level of granite…

A Confession

I don’t have a blow by blow recollection of the day I committed the sinful act of demeaning myself and deleting my blog, but yes it happened on one of those very frequent days when I had this fit of eccentricity, which is what I identify as one of my trademarks.

During the stint, I and my best friend were on one of our very common and usual charades, I kind of lost my nerve. Sat down to pour  my heart out on a lil piece of paper but couldn’t hold on to just one of those numerous thoughts parading my mind.  I lost my grip on the pen and  tossed it aside along with those maddening thoughts which possessed me like a demon and frightened me to death.  It is then that a person caught in the grip of emotions and passion decided to break free of that snare by strangling all the emotions of love and amiability that were ingrained inside of her heart.

Not only this, I thought that blogging is just not meant for me. During my very short time period in the blogosphere I came across so many creative people that this realization coupled with the  frustration of being incapable of coming out with something creative from what seemed like a very long time compelled me to surmise that I am not even a drop of the ocean of creativity flowing in here, it hit me like a thunderbolt. It ‘s like all the hell broke loose on me and took everything including my blog in its ugly claws,  just like the monster I often encounter in my dreams.

But I suppose this isn’t the way things are meant to end. I love my best friend more than anything/anyone else in this world and that shall be the reason, enough to forget everything that brought about this menace in the very first place. I didn’t even realize when we started talking to each other once again and everything that took a leave from my life along with her departure came back running to me along with her. Some relationships are very special, indeed.  Just a prick of mutual affection is what it takes to deflate the swollen pride and differences spreading their tentacles far and wide in any relationship . And that is exactly what we did. She visited me on the chocolate’s day with a Bournville  in hand and that small act of affection on her part had me all melted in a moment.

As per writing well is concerned, I understand that  it isn’t about  matching up to the level  of the ones  whose writing you think highly of, but  about  basking in the feeling  of joy and satisfaction that comes to you when you write your heart out. I started writing in the first place because it made me happy, but then ran astray I suppose, which is what I won’t let happen to me now. :)

P.S:  Any suggestions from the beautiful denizens of this world that could help me hone my writing skills are more than welcome. :)

P.P.S :  A mere thanks can’t express the overwhelming feeling of gratitude I hold , for your undying support  and friendship throughout  the rise and  fall of my life, Bhavya. I love you, Forever and Always...  :)