Thursday, April 30, 2009

Got Inked..FINALLY!!



Just about six months back on 26/11 the country was rudely woken up by the terror attacks in Mumbai. Though not the first one that a country like ours had witnessed, yet something about this one was so dissimilar that suddenly everyone (literally) was forced to sit up and take notice of it. And all that Rang De had virtually portrayed was all of a sudden adapted as ‘the need of the day’. The aam aadmi’s voice no more went unheard as the media nationwide finally metamorphosed as ‘mass media’ taking up moral responsibility in initiating a mass movement that sent heads rolling within no time. Though the entire episode was no less than a revolution, Judgment day seems far away today.

But as they say “every movement triggers a change” – this one did it too.
It gave people like you and me something we needed the most – A reality check.

And WHAT A TIMING I must say! Elections were around the corner and I was FINALLY eligible enough to exercise my most powerful right as an Indian citizen.

Just around six months back I too was venting out my anger like hundred others right here on this blog. For six months I have tolerated all those provocative political rallies, inciting public meets, irritating pop-ups of online campaigning, abhinetas turning netas, netas imitating abhinetas, their digs pulling each other down, the celeb bandwagon used as props to lure voters.. All this and much more.. I have had ENOUGH!

If the terrorists had terrorized us, these politicians have traumatized us. We had to shut them off! And I knew to ‘shooo’ them off the ‘shoe’ was not the answer. Not my answer. (What a waste of a commodity anyway)

So, I did what I was meant to do. Not cause I had to, but because I wanted to.
I VOTED. Words cannot describe my desperation for this day (only if the adrenaline in me could do the talking..)

Never did I think that I would show my ‘middle finger’ (mlm) to anyone. But today, I seem to be showing off my ungli to every other person I seem to be meeting! How do I feel? Ecstatic! Powerful! Somewhere in the back off my mind I can hear Uncle Ben murmuring, “With great power, comes great responsibility.” Yeah Spidey! - Voted for DEMOCRACY. Voted for INDIA. Voted for ACCOUNTABILITY. Voted for MYSELF. .. Got myself INKED!

Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Out of sight


Somewhere amidst the crowd
You see;

Those tobacco stained teeth
Don’t shy away from smiling;
Those jaundice yellow eyes
Don’t wink at you once, but twice;
Those copper bronzed hair
Don’t dare to go unnoticed;

But,
By the time you catch more than a glimpse
You notice;
Not the teeth, not the eyes
Nor the weird hairdo;

Cause now, he stands in front of you
In full view, zooming in at you;

Smaller than a dwarf
He wears clothing not fit for one;
Tucked from here and pinned from there
Squalid enough to leave behind a stink;

His skin, no less than a snakeskin
Sufficed enough to hide his skeletal;

Least bothered about what one may think
He yells out loud, urging you to buy his hair dye;
His voice is hoarse
The stained teeth explain why;

You try to sympathize
With eyes you empathize;

But before you know, he cuts through the crowd
Vanishing from sight;

From head to toe in a complete state of pity
He leaves you to ponder;
Does he even eat once a day?
Or he breeds on tobacco to relieve his torment?

Questions like that intimidate you
Dare you to call yourself a victim again;

As your skin crawls, you see him off at the next station
Probably to catch another train;

You can’t help but look back at him
Till he goes out of sight again;

You revive
To understand what hit you so hard;
You introspect
To find answers that well up your eyes;

Those eyes had stories of survival
Those teeth had accounts of starvation;

His very appearance strikes back at you
Not as a casualty of child labour;
But, as a survivor
More so as a fighter;

He sticks in your head yet, screaming,
Out of sight, though, Not out of mind!