Token of love

He had left it in his wardrobe years back.The shine on the plastic wrapper had not faded.It stood out among the ruins of his cupboard.It lay there untouched,like a treasure chest,of bitter yet sweet memories.He neither knew what he had to do with it,nor was he willing to do away with it.

A strong critique,he was, of any kind of relationship with girls,thanks to the orthodox environment he was brought up in.Little did he realise,things were going to turn topsy turvy in a few years.

Things were going his way,when he secured admission to one of the premier institutions in town.He had heard innumerable stories on how people spoil their lives after joining colleges.The fear of the unknown haunted him, but he nourished high hopes of making it big in college.Classes commenced,and amidst all the nerve raking environment of those first few days in college, he was getting used to 'monotonicity' of college life.He found it hilarious to see guys scouting after girls and flirting.As time went by,he was getting used to it.He no longer found it hilarious,but had accepted it as part of college life.The thought of getting closer to any girl never crossed his mind.He despised it.

A few years back, while in school he had met a girl, on whom he had a secret crush. He was neither bold enough to talk to her, nor the thought about the society around him helped his cause. The crush was eventually crushed amidst the tensions of the public exams and entrance examinations. He had a dream and wanted no roadblocks while in pursuit of the dream. After securing admission to the college of his choice, he realised that the crush had lived the testimony of time. The girl was still living in his dreams. He had little or no plans on what needs to be done. It was a totally new avenue for him. Two years into college, he revealed his well kept secret to his close friend, and he expressed his disgust at not being able to do something about it. A few minutes of pep talk from his friend was all it took.He had decided to propose her. His decision defied his own logic, but was elated that he had finally decided to make a move in the right direction(hopefully).

The thought of proposing a girl gave him butterflies in his stomach. He had never talked to any girl personally, but little did he know from where he got the courage from. His friend managed to fix an 'appointment' with the girl using his contacts. The protoganist made some mental calculations, and he knew the most probable answer would be a 'NO'. The much anticipated day arrived. He and his friend arrived at the venue much before time. There was a huge twist awaiting him. He got a call from home asking him to come home for some very urgent work. He had no other go, had to leave almost immediately, entrusting the job of proposing, on his behalf, to his friend. After finishing off his work he called up his friend, who delievered the bad news to him...She had told a 'Big NO'. Not at all surprised, he consoled himself and decided not to nourish the thought anymore. A few weeks went by, he met her in 'Orkut' added her as a friend , and eventually started chatting with her. The chatting sessions evolved from orkut scraps to IM's in yahoo messenger. A friendship was blossoming. She was the same he had expected her to be. She wanted to know why he loved her so much, and loved talking to him. He was on cloud nine, felt as if his dreams were seeing the light of the day. The relationship was going stronger with each passing day. Months went by, they had progressed from IM's to late night SMS's to phone calls to occasional meetings. She was the most precious thing in his life, and he felt she too loved him a lot. Her sentences, and messages coerced him to believe so, though she never gave it away bluntly. He hadn't proposed her officially, but she knew his attitude towards her.Everything went smoothly over the next few months.

Somewhere along their conversation,he had mentioned about proposing her officially, and he realised she wanted some gift from his side.He had never got a gift for anybody all his life, and to a girlfriend, he never knew what to buy.Days of thought and surfing helped him in finding the perfect gift (within his minimal budget). He got the perfect gift for her. He called her up and asked her to decide on a time and place to meet. She sounded indifferent, he sensed something was wrong. She kept postponing the meeting, and he started realising that something was seriously wrong. The number of SMS's was coming down, she was avoiding him. Not knowing what was going around, he decided to ask her. After much compulsion she revealed the issue. It was an 'enlightenment', she realised she was doing the wrong thing by getting close to him, and hence she wanted him out of her life. Her words couldn't convince him logically. He was shell shocked, and she was forbidding him from staying in contact with her and he was blamed for using his 'words' to lure her. A mixed bag of emotions,depression, anger, confusion,never before he was in such a state. His mind was in a whirlpool. His emotional brain had taken charge of him. He begged, pleaded her, to stay in touch. After days of compulsion she agreed to a daily limit of three days, but he was missing her so much. Days of stress made him more emotionally stronger. He told his parents, what had happened. Their words of wisdom too added to the cause.He was growing strong emotionally. As days passed by, he took a firm resolve not to contact her anymore, and decided to end what he had started years back.
He realised what true love is.....The never ending support from parents, even when they know that their children have committed a mistake. There is no other relationship in this world that can surmount it.

The site of the gift no longer hurt him, but everytime it reminded him of the importance of loving his parents. A barrage of thoughts and a smile of glee ensued. Things have fallen apart; the chain of events during that BLIND period in his life triggered a smile. He had realized the triviality of his actions. Suddenly, the door bell rang; he closed the wardrobe, bringing an abrupt end to his thoughts. He moved out of the room. He was still smiling………………..

Calamity implies Political Mileage

The attempt to gain political mileage out of a national calamity is disdainful.It makes no sense what so ever when the opposition is gunning for the neck of the Home minister,while on the other hand,the HRD minister supports the cause of the Jamia University,to defend its students accused as terrorists.On one side the Govt says they ll come up with tough terror laws,and hence the statement on the part of Mr.Arjun Singh needs to be viewed with suspicion.

A blast occurs, Govt, and political parties condemn it saying 'cowardly act' and so on.It sounds like 'words are all they(I) have to take ur heart away'. Will the people of the country feel comfortable when top leaders condemn terrorism.We all condemn it and is a known fact.Once they finish condemning the blasts,the political games begin.It was quite funny,when a senior member from the BJP made a statement saying the 'blasts were part of a conspiracy to divert attention from cash for votes scam'(i believe it was with reference to Ahemedabad blasts).The party distanced itself from 'her' view point,and it clearly indicated how far politicians would go.Maybe the politicians should stop mud slinging and instead sit together to work out a strategy to root out this evil.

Terrorism, is the menace of the modern world.A cowardly act,against humanity.Innocent lives are lost,many injured.The time is ripe for a 'community policing',like initiative.Finding terrorists from among a hundred thousand people is more like searching for a needle in a hay stack.People have to be alert,and any suspicious activity needs to be reported.It is not only the responsibilty of the police,but we too have a role in it.

Having paid careful attention to the nuances of Indian politics for over a decade,I can say politicians have become more ruthless,in their accusations.There seems to be a leadership crisis in our country.Senior leaders from the congress party suggesting Rahul Gandhi,as Prime ministerial candidate is a clear indication to that front.BJP is facing the worst crisis,having to field a pro-hindutva leader in Advani as PM candidate (no wonder the party has decided to maintain its hindutva agenda).The third front,as the media puts it,had to resort to choosing 'Bahanji' as their leader,in an effort to woo dalit votes (though the left is still beating around the 'bush').The left parties have resolved to an Anti-America campaign.The economic crisis in America should be an example for the Central Govt,says the left.They seem to have grown over the failure of communism in various parts of the world.

The attack on Christians in Kandhamal in Orissa, indicates the growing religious extremism among Hindu's.Action against the Bajrang Dal activists were initiated after the centre evoked article 355 on Karnataka,and Orissa (coincidentally BJP ruled states).The top brass of the BJP,criticized the central govt, for the interference in the affairs of the state.The major concern in this case is the state backed violence,be it the Bajrang Dal,VHP, and of course 'left' organisations in WB,and Kerala

I had started on a simple topic,but seems to have overdone it.All i wish to say is,extremism in whatever forms is the root cause.Hindutva, Jihad,etc fall on the same wavelength.It is high time the younger generation start to think over religious barriers and perhaps work on a peaceful world to live on.We can't change the politicians,but we can indeed make sure that we are not puppets in their hands..
Feels gr8 to have written an unbiased article,on politics..