Kazakhstan Diaries...

                      So, as it is, I am sitting in Kazakhstan right now, in the City of Almaty. Almaty is the largest city of Kazakhstan and till 1997 it also served as the capital of this country. Other details one can always access on the Internet, so let me say what I feel to be in this good city.

                    Firstly, the silence which strikes to my ears, and which I love. It is so calm, quiet and silent here that your body and mind come at peace just by sitting here. For example, reading a book here, or writing this blog or listening to music is far more enjoyable here than it is back in the crowded cities of my India. Thus I am loving it. Loving to hear the sound of wind blowing outside my window and seeing the trees shake to the tune of the wind, loving to notice that I can hear the sound of my breath, loving to close my eyes and just feel this moment of silence. This is perfect for me. My mind at rest, my body at rest amidst deep silence. Of course, such moments take you to the past time of your life, so you feel nostalgic about the good moments. You also think about the moments which were not so good and then try to think what went wrong. You keep thinking about times of your life, about the experiences you have earned so far. You write your diary, listen to some good song, and then again just sit to enjoy this silence. So, this is me in Almaty.

               Second thing which one will easily notice is fewer people around. Coming to cities like Almaty have made me feel that how the explosion of population bomb in our country has marred every development we have made, have spoiled the quality of life which people could have had, have made our cities unbearable and congested. No amount of infrastructure created is being enough to cater to the needs of teeming millions. See the example of Delhi Metro, an icon of urban development, but the million crowd which struggle nay fight to get in and get out at every station tell us that how our gigantic population has negated the pleasure of development. I walk here along the roads and avenues which are almost empty, such empty avenues are a rarity in India. I recall some writer saying in his book about India as where there are always people eating, people walking, people sleeping, people coming, people going and people, people and people all around. Trains are full, streets are full, jobs are full and so on. I donot want to go into statistics but still see this that the population of Kazakhstan is around One and Half Crore and Population of India as It stood in 2011 Census is One Hundred and Twenty One Crore, so there lies an oceanic difference. Likewise population density is about 6 persons per square kilometer in Kazakhstan to that of 382 persons in India. The statistics and figures may go on and on but the simple point is that such exponential growth in our population is the root cause of almost all the problems we face today. Though the growth rate at 17.5% in the last decade has been the lowest, but still we need to seriously do something it. Let’s see how it happens!

                    Another thing about Kazakhstan is that majority of the people in this country follow Muslim religion. But you don’t feel like being in a Muslim Country. It is altogether a different genre of Islam, an extremely relaxed, tolerant and liberal face of Islam, which is sadly not found in many other Muslim countries. As I see Kazaks have been able to minimize religion in public life, which I believe supports development and good life. Though people say that in the rural areas, religion is still very important part of ones life, but still it is not in any way used to create absurd rules of social and individual control. So the tyranny of religion as I see is absent here, this is another good thing I noticed about Kazak people.

                 Another thing I learnt today on my visit to the National Museum is that Kazakhstan is a fairly diverse nation. Though the majority is of Kazak people, but there are many other communities like the Russian, Ukrainians, Uzbeks, Turks, Jews, Germans and many others. In the national Museum there is a section showcasing Diasporas in Kazakhstan, where one can see the dresses of different communities found in Kazakhstan. Though Kazakhstan is not that diverse as India, but it is diverse enough. And most important thing to know is that these all communities live peacefully here, there has been no situation of conflicts or riots among people from different communities.

               There are many other things which I am experiencing here during my sojourn. All is all; I must say life is good here. I never thought that Almaty would be so developed, so well planned and green city. People seem to be happy here and enjoying life. I wonder when Indian cities would be like this.

Once Upon a time in New York.

                 A boy was sitting there on one of the beautiful benches of the beautiful central park in New York. He was fresh off the boat in this wonderful city. Of Course! He was exited and happy. He was loving the way people walk to go to work in Manhattan, the way he could sit in the open park restaurants and drink coffee while listening to others’ conversations and also the sirens of NYPD trucks, the way some couple would ask him to click a picture of them and he will happily and proudly do so, the way he was riding sub-ways and buses to go to places, the way he was managing to expend limited dollars he had, the way he was making plans to visit every part of the Big Apple, the way a complete stranger will say Hi to him and he will smile and respond with hello. There was something new, something different about this time of his life. After all, it was his very first time when he had come so far from his country and that too he came to America and that too to New York. That night when he stood at the top of the empire state, he was surely the king of the world. When a long lost friend from his country met him in New York and he spent a few hours with her, he was breathing happiness. For him life couldn’t be better as he walked and walked to every bit of Manhattan while asking strangers for directions and with the aid of the map he had.

                     So one day he was again roaming here and there admiring every thing around him, and then thought of resting for sometime and thus walked into the Central Park. A bit hungry he was, so he bought a Coke, which the Americans call soda, and he bought a hot dog without the meat part i.e. just bread and then walked into the park, settled on a bench and started eating the bread while watching what other people were doing. People were in jolly mood, they were walking around, some old people were reading news papers, and some kids were running around, the guitar player was there playing guitar as people walked by putting some one dollar or so in his guitar case. It was time of the late afternoon and the breeze was gentle and the time was splendid. Having finished his bread, he started drinking his coke with all the peace of mind and relaxed his body by half lying on the bench. He was just enjoying the exquisite time with his eyes almost closed.

                 “Hello, may I sit here?” came the feminine voice. The boy surprisingly looked above and saw a young girl asking that. With a bit of stammer he replied, “Oh Yes! Of Course Please” while coming to the sitting position from the half lying one and narrowing his New York Times pages which were occupying other half of the bench. And there she sat sharing the bench with him. Oh God!! What is this; the boy thought as she was unbelievably beautiful and looked charming. Sitting with still stranger girl, his peace of mind vanished and he could not still believe that a beautiful New York girl asked to sit beside him. While it may be very normal for people to ask to sit on the same bench you are sitting already, but it was not normal for that boy as he was still just a boy. Well, as it was, the boy regained his confidence and sat properly thinking what to do next. While pretending to read the newspaper, he looked at the girl again and she looked at him and gave a welcoming smile. As he saw her properly, she was wearing a jeans and top and a distinguishably noticeable chain around her neck. All in all she was pretty. And she was carrying a small dog with her.

So, having nice time hah.. said the girl.

His heart had pounded again, but he was ready to converse. Oh yes! Very nice time, I am loving it. Your city is great… said the boy.

Your city, what do u mean, is this not your city too?

Oh no, I am new, infact this is my first week in New York and first week in America.

Oh really… I see… where are you from?

From India… I guess you must have heard about it.

Oh yes I have… I have heard so much about India and you know I always want to go there... let’ see when I go.

Yeahh…. hmmmm…. Yes I guess every body has heard something about India.

So, you visiting states for??????

Oh I am attending a seminar in Boston, and I had some good friends in New York, so thought of living in this city too.

Oh great! Where are you living in New York?

In Queens… you know the silent part of New York… the boy said smilingly.

Oh yes I know… well... I live in Manhattan… but go there sometimes.

By the way my name is_________ said the girl offering her hand

Oh my name is__________ said the boy with a warm handshake.

So for many days are you here…

Ahhh… 15 more days... I have lots of time to pass in your city…. said the boy with laughter.

Oh great!!! That’s wonderful... have you seen this..? have you seen that…? the conversation went about the different parts of New York the boy has not seen yet and the girl went on narrating about them and telling him about them, ways and directions to visit them. The boy was not listening to her. The boy was deep into the way she was speaking, noticing her hands, her eyes, her lips and every thing about her.

Well…the girl stopped speaking after some time and she started to feed her puppy while kissing him frequently. Oh! Thought the boy, the sweet conversation has stopped. But! Boy wanted to talk more, wanted to listen more.

So he said... did your grandparents also come from some foreign country or you are purely an American, I have read that America is clearly a land of migrants and the toiling of these migrants have made this country great. Having seen the immigration museum at the Ellis Island two days ago, this was the only a bit philosophical and deep question he could come up with.

Ahhha… the conversation resumed, as the girl found it interesting to talk on this subject and to reveal about her family lineage.

My grandfather came from Turkey, said the girl.

Ah turkey… wow…. the bosphorus bridge, the Ottoman Empire, Kamal Pasha, the caliphate, the city of Istanbul etc.etc…exclaimed the boy (Thanking God in his head that he had studied something about Turkey).

Wow!! You are smart... said the girl.

The boy swelled further with pride... and said Oh yes! I like to read about countries…

I know you are smart… said the girl again.... and took out her cell phone…Can I take a picture of you, asked the girl? The boy delightedly smiled as she clicked and saved the picture in her phone. The boy too clicked pictures of her using his travel camera he was carrying….. the charming moment was seized forever by both of them.

So back home do you have a girlfriend? Asked the girl…

Yeah I have…. We go to same college.

Oh Wow that is so cool and romantic... you study together.

Yeah…… nodded the boy again…

Do you have a boyfriend? Asked the boy hesitantly…

The girl smiled with warmth and said…. well…. not now….. I had a boyfriend… but now I am single… she again smiled with affection…

However, the conversation was again punctured by her puppy. The dog just jumped of her lap and ran. Before she could stand and run after him, the boy got up with the lightening speed to chase the puppy and caught him and returned to the bench. But this time, Puppy’s lap had changed; now he was into boy’s lap. The girl while thanking the boy started lovingly running her hand over her puppy. This brought the girl further close to the boy, as the dog was still in his lap.

Wow!! Thought the boy! This is going good. ‘Let us go for dinner or drinks or something somewhere’, thought the boy in his mind, thinking of saying it to the girl in next few minutes.

I really love my______ (Dog’s name), he is sweetie pie… and the girl showered another ten adjectives and nouns for the dog.

Yeah yeah... nodded the boy….

You know when I take him with me in subway; he sits in my bag like a nice boy. The girl said…

What…. in the subway… are you allowed to take him..??.. you know in Delhi’s Sub-way animals are strictly not allowed… you know these animals…

ANIMAL !!! shouted the girl.. how dare you call him an Animal, he is not an Animal… you are so insensitive and rude… the girl just shot back on the boy snatching his puppy out of boy’s lap. All the goodness was gone, all the perfectness of the moment vanished. The girl was furious and collected her things to leave immediately. The poor boy could not understand her addiction with her dog and began saying sorry for a number of times.

But the girl did not calm down, she was angry and boy’s apologies could not melt her anger. In anger she got up and left even with out saying good bye… she did not even turn back to look at the boy, her puppy did turn his neck, but she did not.

And yes she was gone!!! Gone like she never came!!! The poor boy became sad and disappointed, after all he was just a boy. The evening was on her maturity and the dusk was fast approaching. In that twilight dark, the sad boy stood up, left the park, took the sub-way and came back home learning an important lesson that he was still a boy but perhaps that girl was a lady.

Some Poetry Sometimes...

As I Drowned under the Sun....

“I stand alone in a vast field under the Sun

My eyes see nothing but a distant mirage

My ears listen nothing but the sound of silence

My body feels nothing but the rays of Sun piercing into it

Impossible it seems that I shall cross the field

Possible it looks that I shall fail

As the Sun boils further and the heat strengthens

I close my eyes seeking God, but I see you instead

My head shiver in fear,

My eyes start to harbour tears

With my legs shaking and my body fainting

I lie down on the parched Earth under the cruel Sun

My life says no more struggles, But Surrender

Here Oh God! I miss no soul on Earth but you my dear.”

                                                      
                                                                          - Narayan Gupta

Time and Technology

           Of late I wrote a mail to a very dear friend of mine and thereof the relation between these two unique features attached to human life struck to my mind. The plot is that we were not in touch for quite some months as she left India and lives in another country and so it seemed that time (and also geography) has devoured our friendship and thus it seemed time has triumphed. But No, see the technology of E-mails and internet, I wrote a mail to her, and found that technology allows me to trounce the time. So this tussle between the time and the technology became a fodder for my mind for some hours and I wrote things in my diary but I think I should again use technology and write it here on this e-diary. Haha…

             Well…I don’t think that there is anything more deep and pervasive in a human’s life than the time of his life, and the technology which surrounds him or which he discovers. If I put it in other words, time is something which is so ubiquitous and so omnipresent. It is more omnipresent than the air, because if you leave Earth you may not find air but the time is there with you. Time may even not be measured by the english words like eternal or continuous as no body's knows the origin of time. For a thing to be eternal, it has to be originated at any point of time in the past. So this point of time in the past defeats the ability of word eternal to qualify the nature of time. You can trace the history of the Earth or the Moon or the Sun or the cosmos or the stars or even of this universe, But can you trace the history of time? I don't think so.

           One may say that the human in itself is a universal phenomenon because no matter where you go either in the annals of time or is the directions of geography, you will find a human with universal characteristics. This universal human argument can also be argued for all the other organisms that even preceded human and exist till date. But I will disagree and say that the human universality can be challenged easily and if argued for a particular human, then it stands on an even more thinner ice. In the former, we can see that time was not the hostage of humanity as a whole as it was there even when the earth was not created and the cosmos were still is their primitive age which we (the science humans) have divided accordingly. And as I said, the latter argument is by itself defeated when we see that time is not effected by the birth and death of a human or any other organism or even a non-organism. I think time is the only thing or feature which can claim to be universal, otherwise universality of all those final truths which the humans have always believed to be nothing else but the truth can be challenged and for that matter has always been challenged by the great minds of humanity. So, I hold that time is supreme and its supremacy was never challenged and will remain unchallenged forever.

          Now thinking of technology, the first query which comes to my mind is that; why technology was invented?Was it invented to save time or to trounce the time or was it invented irrespective of the time factor and the saving of time (which looks like the defeat of time) was just a consequent offshoot of it. The answer is hard to find. Now it is easy to argue that necessity being mother of invention is also the mother of technology. But I think that this often quoted quotation is not the suprema lex and that in the invention of technology, necessity was not the sole driving force. I myself don’t have a convincing answer to the query I raised, but still I believe that the settled notion needs a second thought and a deeper analysis.

          To be Continued…. (Too tired to type now, it’s 5 in the morning..).. I have a write about as to who wins between the time and the technology and how in this win human stands as nothing but a tomfool... BUT LATER.......



When One Decides to Depart this world in Silence, Solitude and Misery.

                       Death is something which puts end to everything. There is nothing more final than it. The end of Life is supreme with nothing happening beyond it. But, putting an end to one's own life is the most miserable thing which may be done by anyone. Imagine the amount of pain and deepness of depression which a person suffers when he finally decide to bid goodbye to this world. He or she may be anywhere in this world, sitting in any unknown corner of this world full of unimaginable grief and solitude, misery and denial. His all the hopes have vanished and there is nothing for him left in this world. That is why he takes the final step. He may be trying to laugh with you in the morning, but in the evening he may not be there. He may be someone who looks normal while walking on the street, but inside him he might be holding this mammoth grief and pain and you may not see him walking the street next day.

                    I was shocked beyond words to read about the two sisters living somewhere in some flat in Delhi who were suffering from severe depression from some months and were rescued by the authorities at the eleventh hour. Later One of the sisters could not respond to treatment and died in the hospital and the second one remains in critical condition. Imagine that depression in which these girls might have been living for months together. A Human life which certainly did not remain human anymore. A life which became unimaginably dreadful and terrifying. Emotional horror is worst than anything else. You can try imagining it, but in reality you will not be able to imagine and understand their condition.

               Depression is something which can not be understood until you yourself have faced it. What is Hunger can only be felt by a person who goes to bed without bread on some chilly winter night and not by anyone else. Likewise, loneliness and denial can only be felt by a person who has actually suffered the misery of crying alone in darkness and depression.

              Such instances are on rise, every day you can read about such cases happening. The sad cases of Mumbai Model Viveka Babaji or the most unfortunate case of Jagjit Singh’s daughter are there to show that  one might be well-off in life and look normal from above, but emotional horror and loneliness deeply buried inside may force him to pull the trigger on his own forehead. My heart sinks in sadness whenever I read such instances in newspapers. End of life in such a manner is the cruelest thing which can happen to anybody. It is the worst tragedy.

           I donot know how can I extend any help to such a person. But still if there is anybody who read this blog and want to write to me about anything related to this, please do so. And people who are happy and living a fulfilled and normal life, please donot ignore such unfortunate people who are within your approach.  As humans we have a duty to provide emotional security to our fellow humans who may stand in need of it. And on the other side, as a free man or woman, you can do anything to any person but please donot ever hurt anyone in such a way which makes him slip into depression and then leave him on his own fate to suffer, to cry or to die.

Our National Anthem by A R Rehman

                     
                       Listening to this unparalleled composition of our National Anthem is always magical for me. So Proud to be an Indian and so proud of my country. Such a diverse country, such a lovely country. A country that has harboured every religion and refugee since ages.

                      As Rabindranath Tagore says "Here Aryans and Non-Aryans, The Dravidians and the Chinese, The Sakas and the Hunas and The Pathans and Moguls all are mixed, merged and lost in one Sea"

                   We are the land of Nalanda, The Ashoka and The Akbar, A land where Civilization has existed with continuity since it's inception.


                   No doubt we have many challenges, but no country is the history of humanity has progressed so fast without compromising on democracy, diversity and pluralism.

                   My heart swells with pride when A R Rahman sings our National Anthem, when D K Pattamal adds her beautiful voice to it and so does Bhupan Hazrika.

                   'We the People of India' remain resolute in our conviction and determined in our commitment to serve our great country and to contribute our best in making this world a better place.