Jaane Kahan Kahan Se Aa Jaate Hain...!

In a restaurant. Observing people on the diagonally opposite table. A person representing to be a Govt clerk is being treated by the bidders for a particular tender.

The clerk is a family man. Soon to retire, 3 unmarried unemployed daughters & a bed ridden wife types. The bidders are young chaps, just-out-of-college types, directors of the bidding company.

He's feeling odd.. Never done this before.. They are giving him confidence, return air tickets to Nepal/Bhutan for the coming Diwali vacations, 5star room bookings; & this all in addition to you-know-what!

The clerk is overwhelmed, his entire life is flashing in his memories, he's thinking hard. Will he fall?

They remind him that he's gonna retire soon, & they'll take care of the rest. They offer, they'll also pay for his daughter's weddings.

Finally the focus is on him. He has to decide. He's thinking hard hiding his face in his palms. His hands shaking. Remembering the God, he softly denies all the offers.

They insist. He breaks off! "You UP & Bihari people are spoiling us! We don't want money! Get lost..! We don't want your dirty money. Let us live in peace. I want to die with tight collars, with dignity."

He shouts as the chaps leave. He pays even their bills. People witnessing this say, "Saala, aaj phokat mein entertainment ho gaya!

...Jaane kahan kahan se aa jate hai"

Re: [arr] What in musical terms makes an ARR song exceptional?

From	:	Amith Chandhran
To	:	A. R. Rahman Fans Yahoo Group
Date	:	Sun, Mar 20, 2011 at 9:33 PM
Subject	:	Re: [arr] What in musical terms makes an ARR song exceptional?
Link	:	http://groups.yahoo.com/group/arrahmanfans/message/147156

Friends, even though it has taken some time for me to write on this topic, it could not go without expressing certain thoughts.

Before we talk about the common external elements or characteristics among the most acclaimed AR songs, we must first appreciate that it is the ‘AR sound’ that essentially makes his songs be different from others’. In my personal interpretation, AR’s usage of sound is not just for negation of silence; it is his appreciation and celebration of the deepest relation that exists in between sound and silence. This is his way of greeting the God. In a way, it is complex.

The beauty of this complexity is; you need not to be sheer intelligent person to appreciate it. All that you need to do is to spend some time with it, voluntarily. AR’s music – and in a wider sense, music itself – has the power to bring your soul close to the meditative state. It is like climbing a mountain. Compared to jumping down; climbing a mountain is difficult and rightly so, because it takes efforts and time too. During the process of climbing, a spiritual soul sheds away the worldly thoughts, by transcending itself completely. When the soul reaches at the peak of the mountain and looks around, it happens to witness the world from the greater heights, and it then appreciates the work of super-creator called God. I hope you’re getting my point here – this is precisely the reason why AR’s music takes time to grow on you.

While climbing the mountain of music, the artiste in AR assists you externally in connecting with the inner soul. Finally when you are appreciating the whole thing from those greater heights, you don’t just appreciate AR and his music; you also appreciate the superpower called God for sending someone like AR on earth! Ultimately, you recognize the existence of God. Longer the process to reach this climax, longer the time AR’s music takes to grow on you – and then there’s no come back. Once you’re connected with the almighty, there is no detachment. That’s the element called ever-greenness you shall predominantly find existing in AR’s music.

How does AR maintain the ever-greenness in his works? Again, I would concentrate on the element called ‘sound’ that he handles so proficiently. Sounds, regardless of their meaningfulness or meaninglessness, transmit certain psychic and / or spiritual feelings. The ruler in AR has mastered the art of understanding the intricacies of various sounds and commanding them to transmit through in the form of feelings, just by touching you silently. To accept the transmission of feelings, you don’t need to be spiritual either; for everyone already has that feeling inside. AR just happens to touch it musically and that very feeling inside you is awakened to connect with the super-soul. This art of connecting the deadly sounds and lively silence is spiritual, without which the music will be absolute noise. Further, AR is capable of delivering the same experience to individuals and masses, both at the same time. Beyond everything, AR isn’t consistent only in maintaining the ever-greenness; he’s also consistent in maintaining the success. This is because of spiritual powers that have chosen him for a greater cause. In a way, therefore, I’d say AR’s success qualifies to be termed as a spiritual one.

Again, AR’s ability to constantly and consistently maintain the spiritual success is possible due to another element called ‘absolute faith’. Firstly, it is his absolute faith in the God, which makes him maintain spiritual creativity in the commercial world out there, where salability is considered as a benchmark to measure talent. Without the absolute faith, AR would certainly not have been able to maintain the balance in creativity and commerce. Secondly, it is our absolute faith in AR that makes him explore new worlds and comfortably experiment with the sounds, and on the other hand it also makes us comfortable with those experiments with sounds.

When I’m repeatedly talking of sounds, I must also mention the balance that AR has always maintained in the main categories of sound i.e. dhwani, shabda, naada and swara. It is not merely the technology that helps him, but also his sheer talent to use the available techniques to perfectly place the sounds at proper places in the world class structures that he creates, that helps him present his art in a perfectly balanced way. You must appreciate that this perfect balance makes AR’s works tremendously alive. So much so, that this liveliness goes on to become an expression of his music.

Expression is another beauty of AR’s music. His expression is not just his interpretation; it is really an expression in its purest form. Through his music he is able not just to recreate something that he’s heard in his inner soul, but he expresses it for the outsiders like us. We relate to his expressions from our inner soul because we have them within us, already and he knows how to awaken them. Music for AR in this way is just a device to make us enter into our own selves. When the philanthropist in AR stylishly asks you out “Are you searching for a reason to be kind?” you shall suddenly become silent without putting any efforts. Your personality shall eliminate, you shall unwind, and you shall ultimately enter into the meditative world. In fact any perfect art, not just music, has to reach meditation. If it isn’t reaching that state, then maybe somewhere, something’s going wrong. That’s where we keep hearing complaints from people about AR’s music not being ‘up to the mark’ etc. Well, but I already told you, climbing the mountain is not that easy!

There are many more music directors who have the abilities to take your soul beyond the beyond – this whole spiritual experience is not just restricted to come to you through AR alone. In this situation, AM rightly asks himself a question, “What is it, that makes fans and non-fans come together and appreciate AR’s songs?” In a wider interpretation, what is it that brings all of us here? Why a person from USA can connect to a person from Malaysia? Why do we have people among ourselves who are rendering their selfless services to the mankind under AR’s name?

I would say it is your, the listener’s spiritual soul which has unconditionally chosen love over hatred to be there. It is you, the listener, who has learnt how music and spirituality are two facets of the same experience. It is your appreciation towards the almighty. It is the unbiased identification of the fact that all perfect praises indeed belong to the almighty alone.

After all; we all love search – which is in a way, important than the destination.

Thanks,

-

Burden On The System?

Today, the day started off as a lazy Monday. Since the High Court is on Diwali vacations, and there is a week more for it to reopen, I wanted to utilize the time relaxing and probably finish reading a book that I am reading for past few weeks. I had some meetings scheduled in the morning session so that I don't need to fight with the time later. But the Almighty had different plans for me. A number of happenings took place all of a sudden in such a way that I unexpectedly had to accompany my sister to the local police station to file an FIR. Actually the police stations are nothing new for me. I mean, oops – oh, not that way!

Okay, let me put it this way. Visiting the police stations once in a while, for one or the other reason, happens to be a part of my profession. But my sister was ignorant about the way the procedure works. For her, that Khaki world is all new. I wanted her to have a first-hand but confident experience there, and therefore before entering the place, I explained to her the procedure in detail; especially, how to tackle the police officers and their confidence-killing rapid-fire question rounds. Later in the station, while my sister was facing the officers, I realized that the whole issue is going to take around another hour. I calmly found a wooden bench in a corner for myself to sit and relax.

Sitting on the bench, I tried remembering my first ever visit to the police station, for personal reasons. I've already written about my very first experience with the police station. After that too, there are some random personal experiences, and some more thrilling professional experiences. Some of the experiences go on to become the most unforgettable ones, because they teach you something. One of such unforgettable teaching personal experiences with the police station was, when my cell phone was stolen.

...I knew how my cell phone had got stolen, because I had seen a person thieving it. It was 5 years back but I still remember the incident perfectly, including the thief's face. At that point of time, I could do nothing but shout helplessly. I was lying on the road with blood of two other persons around me. People thought I was hurt, but somehow I was all safe (which I realized later). I was shouting for my cell phone which had fallen off my shirt's pocket. It was that random person walking on the road who came to rescue us, who took it off and flew away! It was a road accident, he knew I was helpless, he knew the situation was confusing, and he took advantage of all that. All had happened within a fraction of seconds. Would not you call it a theft? At that point of time, I believed it to be a theft. I still do.

But the system would not believe so. My first worry was regarding the thief’s misuse of my phone. I had a postpaid connection, and therefore I needed to discontinue the services immediately. Without wasting time I contacted the service provider from a public telephone booth, and after telling the case in detail the customer relations executive had informed me in her sweet voice that I first require to file an FIR in the police station and then produce a copy of the same in order to have the services discontinued.

That was my first FIR in life. It taught me a lot, both as an individual and as a lawyer. Well, at that time I was not a lawyer by profession; I was just a law student. A student; away from his home; staying alone at a hostel. At that point of time I did not know the procedure for filing an FIR, simply because firstly I had never cared about it and secondly because I had never read the Procedure Code, till then.

I reached the police station all prepared, even with the IMEI number of my cell phone. I was quite confident that I will be welcomed and treated royally by the officers there. Not because I was a law student, but because of the principal of my college. He was a highly reputed person, and his name carries a huge weight in the entire State. Even the Judges and police officers sometimes take his advice on complicated legal issues, and it's almost an open secret.

I introduced myself as ‘Sir's student’ to the havildar sitting in the Inspector's chair. He was rubbing tobacco on his right hand palm. There was a 'phew' feeling on his face. Ignoring me, he just placed the tobacco in between his lower lip and the teeth, clapped away the dust in the air and asked me to wait till the 'Senior Inspector' comes. I thought, how fortunate I was, my case would be handled by a 'Senior' Inspector! I did wait and the Senior Inspector arrived shortly. He looked one dashing person. I had already been told to explain my case in short, as Sahib would not have time to spend for petty matters.

Sahib asked me what my case was. I opened up the case in detail, from the starting till the end. He listened to me very carefully. Then there was a rapid-fire round, where he asked me questions right and left, up and down, in and out. I did answer all of them to his satisfaction. At the end of it, he asked me why I wanted to file an FIR. I was surprised by that question. I said, “Sir, I'm just telling you my cell phone got stolen, and you are asking me why I want to file an FIR?” He said, “Not in that way boy, I know it. I mean, what is the purpose you will use the copy of this FIR for?”

I was really new to the system by then. I told him how the service provider company needs a copy of it to discontinue the services on that number. He started writing an FIR. His handwriting was like ‘don’t laugh on this’. From my side of the table, I could not actually read what he was writing, when he was writing it. He finished it in five minutes and asked me to sign it. I was happy; my case was taken up so speedily. “Let me see it”, I said before signing the document, and once it was in my hands, I was taken aback.

He had written in the document that while walking on the road, I had missed my cell phone somewhere on the road, and that it was my mistake. There was no mention of the accident, there was no mention of the person whom I had described in detail, and there was no mention to all the other relevant facts which I had narrated. How on the earth he cooked up the story in that way? I said, “Sir, there is some confusion. This doesn’t look like my complaint.” He immediately and firmly said; “It is. It is your complaint.”

“But Sir, my cell phone got stolen. I haven’t lost it or misplaced it or even missed it – as written in this paper.” I said. I felt a little helpless in front of him. He smiled. He looked like a villain then. With a smile, he said “You call yourself a law student, don’t you? Go back and study the law. Come back to me later, now my duty timings are getting over.” He immediately took the paper back in his hand, kept it in his table drawer, locked it, and went to change. I was dumbstruck. I saw him flying out of the office later, waiving a hand to me and asking me to come back later.

Baffled by the experience, I went back to hostel and took out the bare Act of the mighty ‘Indian Penal Code – 1860’. I knew my phone was stolen, and now I needed to fit my own case in the law. The definition of ‘Theft’ said: ‘Whoever intending to take dishonestly any movable property out of the possession of any person without that person's consent, moves that property in order to such taking, is said to commit theft.’

A detailed study of the section made the whole thing clear. My cell phone was a movable property. It was in my possession. The person had dishonest intent. He had taken my movable property out of my possession. I was shouting to the hell but he ran away, that proves his malevolent purpose. Also proves that I had never consented, so he had taken it without my consent. He had run away with my phone, which meant he had moved the movable property. It was indeed a theft. I was concrete sure on it now. The term ‘missing’ was not defined in the bare Act.

Next day I went to the police station with the bare Act in hand. I had prepared the notes of my own case study. Seeing me entering the office, two havildars whispered something in each other’s ears. “Come in the evening sir, Sahib is on evening duty today” they told me. Cursing the system out of frustration, I came out and stood there for some time. The services to my number would not stop until the FIR was filed and a copy was provided to the company. I thought of informing the company about the practical problems in filing the FIR, and thought that they would show me some sympathy.

Fortunately there was a telephone booth nearby. Seeing it, I immediately walked towards its direction. Now I was inside the booth, and while ringing the customer care, I had a quick sight of the ‘Senior Inspector’ whom I had met yesterday entering the office. I immediately hung up the receiver, came out of the booth and rushing to the police station, caught up the Inspector sitting right in front of him. He looked here and there, demanding explanation on his face. There was no one in the station now. “Okay, tell me.” He said something just to say something.

“Sir, I was just told by your havildars that you were on evening duty today”. I expressed my displeasure and anger for the havildars. “Is it? But who told you so? The havildars are on leave today!” Sahib exclaimed with a smile. Damn it. What was happening with me? Did I want to find out who was on leave and who was posted on which duty? I took a long breath, and with a lot of efforts to keep myself composed, said, “Sir, can we move on the FIR now?”

“Yes; why not? Tell me your case again!” I had to remind him the case. In addition to that, I showed him the definition of the word ‘theft’ and all the notes that I had prepared. I brought to his notice how he had messed up the FIR totally. He was still untouched. “See Wakil Saab, I am not wrong in my interpretation.” He said in a sluggish and firm voice, “Every point that you make out is correct. But in your case, you state that the cell phone fell off from your shirt’s pocket. That means it was lying on the road. From that, it is crystal clear that it was not in your possession. The whole concept of ‘theft’ is balanced on the word ‘possession’, you know? And since the cell phone was not in your possession, I simply cannot apply the section of theft in this case.”

I was first shocked and then left thinking. He seemed to be in a hurry to finish off the matter, so he took the paper out of his table drawer, and said “Now that your doubts are cleared, you may sign this paper and make it a document. Help me to finish it off soon. It’s a month end, and I can have a round figure of FIRs to report.” He had a wicked smile on his face. But I wouldn’t let it go just like that, till I satisfy myself. I knew that something was wrong in his interpretation. I scratched my memory on the word possession, and suddenly I remembered a lecture of Jurisprudence, in which our professor had explained the concept of ‘possession’ to us.

“Sir, see here”. I drew his attention to the paper on which I had made notes. I wrote the word ‘Possession’ on the paper, and started explaining him. “Sir, possession is not only about the physical contact of the immovable or movable property with you. See, you may rent out your property to a tenant. The possession may remain with him but still you are the owner of that property, not he. Possession is the prima facie evidence of ownership. Possession is a secondary concept; whereas ownership comes as a primary concept. And the possession can be transferred only by the Legal Contracts. In the absence of any such contract, the possession is disputable – law does not recognize such disputable possession as genuine.”

I felt like winning half the argument already. “And in my case, I’m proving my ownership with the help of the cell phone receipt which is in my name, and the IMEI number. Though the cell phone fell off on the road, I did not renounce my ownership, did I? Even if it falls on the road, it is in my possession till I do not transfer the possession to someone else! The whole concept of the term ‘theft’ may be balanced on the word ‘possession’, but where have I transferred it to him? And since I haven’t done so, how can you say it was not in my possession? You will have to apply Sec. 378 (theft) in this case.”

He was adamant. I argued a lot, but in vain. I had urgency, and hence I was left puzzled. At one hand, I wanted justice; at the other I needed a copy of my FIR. I came out of the police station, and called up our Principal Sir. I explained the whole case to him. Surprisingly he knew the Police Inspector. He said, “Don’t waste time. Take the copy of FIR from him immediately, give it to the telephone authorities, and come to meet me.”

“You know what,” later, sitting in his air conditioned office, my Principal Sir was telling me, “The theoretical application of law always differs from the practical one. If you file a case of ‘theft’, they (police) have to take a search for the thing stolen. Then they have to prepare a search report. They have to maintain a record of those reports. So much of the energy goes in these efforts. The system already has such a huge burden on its head, and in addition to that, this!” He was referring to my case. "The system is like that. You have to accept certain things, and move ahead. You cannot fight with everyone. At least you should have seen that you get a copy of FIR fast, because you needed it urgently, no? What if it was a terrorist, he could have used your phone for what not?”

Sir was right. Personally, I had no hopes of getting back my cell phone. So I could actually have done with any kind of FIR. The words ‘theft’ or ‘missing’ in the document were not going to make any difference for me or for the service provider company. So what was I fighting for?

Later after some days, the Sahib had called me to the station to 'select' one of the cell phones from a bunch that he had 'seized in one of the raids'. on a custom shop. That time, he was sporting an obstinate smile! Don't know why, but he was offering me such a royal and rich treatment! "Take any one you want. Or maybe two!" He had said grinning pointing at the bunch of phones placed on the table, showing his tobacco-ed black teeth. Don't know why, but I have developed a killing nausea for some elements in the mighty System since then.

...Today, my sister’s purse was stolen while walking on the road. It was snatched off, and people had seen it. The thief ran away. Nobody could do anything. The purse had around 200-300 Rs and an identity card in it. She was in the police station to file an FIR. She was arguing with the lady Police Inspector there, saying that her purse was actually stolen, and not misplaced.

I just interrupted, and said, “Okay, take the document as it is. In reality your purse is stolen, but on the paper you have misplaced it. It doesn’t make much of a difference., does it? You need the copy of FIR to get a duplicate identity card issued, don’t you?”

My sister had a dissatisfied, deceived ‘you-too?’ look in her eyes.

How do I tell her that we should avoid being a burden on the system?

-

A Question For Jurisprudential Study.

Dear readers,

This post is a little different. This is about a question for a jurisprudential study, and I expect the readers to participate and discuss the question here.

Mr. Amartya Sen has recently written a book called 'The Idea Of Justice'. While reading some reviews of the book, I came across a report of a press conference held by Mr. Sen. In this press conference Mr. Sen puts a questions before the journalists, and invites their reasonable replies on it.

The question by Mr. Sen:

A, B, and C are 3 independent, individual persons. These 3 are, at this point of time, fighting with each other over the issue of a flute that is lying down before them.

• A says: I possess the exclusive knowledge of creating the flutes using the bamboos. Nobody else bears the knowledge of creating the flutes other than me. And therefore, I claim that only I should get it. If anyone else gets it, it will result into large injustice to me. A reminds B and C that he built the darn thing, and no sooner did he finish it than the other two started trying to take it away.
  
  
• B says: I am the only person who bears the knowledge of playing the flute. Nobody else than me knows how to play the flute. The flute is mine because I'm the only one who knows how to play it. And therefore, I claim that only I should get it. If anyone else gets it, it will result into large injustice to me.
  
  
• C says: I'm the poorest and have no toys, so the flute would at least give me something to play with. Since my childhood, I have never ever gotten anything to play. If I get this flute, I will be able to play it. It means a lot to me, and nobody other than me can understand my feeling and attachment towards it. And therefore, I claim that only I should get it. If anyone else gets it, it will result into large injustice to me.

Let us remember before answering anything, Mr. Sen expects us to answer this query considering the theories of Social Sciences. First think of an answer considering the social sciences, and then try to put it in the Jurisprudential approach. If it is possible to think in any other ways, please explain the thought with reasonable arguments to such an extent where there will be no room left for any kind of ambiguity or vagueness.

Now,

• The readers are expected to step into the shoes of the Judge and decide so as to whom the flute is to be given.
• While deciding so, remember that the decision should be acceptable to all 3 parties as it is.
• Please remember that generally you are not expected to know the laws or the legal theories.
  
• Please remember that all 3 have proved their own statements with evidence.
• Please consider that the given information is only the truth.
• Please remember that there is no other information than provided.
• Please also remember, that the Judge is not expected to suggest who should do what.
  
• Your decision should do equal justice to all of the parties.
• Please explain how your decision does justice, in short, with reasonable arguments and if possible, with examples.

Thanks,

-

The Right Time Has To Come!

Recently I was on a visit to the personal chamber of a senior Solicitor in South Mumbai. I was told to wait for another hour as the person whom I wanted to see would take time to reach. Having no other option I sat down on the cozy sofa set waiting for him. I've been to almost all the solicitor's offices for one or other work. And in the course of time I've learnt one thing that 'waiting' in the offices is quite a norm. You must convince yourself that the waiting is unavoidable. If you don't want to get bored, you may develop the art of spending the time observing the office designs. The globalization has changed the tastes of individual Indian professionals, and you will notice most of the Lawyers' offices designed with a thought. Take it from me, if you want to have your own office sometime in the future, this observation is going to help you. You get a lot of ideas and you learn a lot of things about designing and maintaining an office.

This one was too, pretty nicely designed and aesthetically maintained. There were three huge cupboards containing the comprehensive legal library. The mini chamber walls were made of imported glasses. There was a huge and nice aquarium, with some mid-size flowerpots for the bonsai trees in its corners. Every square of the available space was neatly utilized. Even the comparatively-small-waiting-area was kept nice. Inside the mini-chamber a junior colleague was sitting on his senior's chair. He was probably bored sitting alone because as he saw me through the glass walls, he called me in. He must be taking naps before I went in, and that was evident - he was even yawning while talking to me!

I was asked to be seated, and we had already started an introductory talk. He was an Advocate too - a few years senior to me. We must be almost of the same age-group. The gentleman looked not too old. He seemed to be a talkative person. He had a naughty types face. I mean his face was little confusing - looking at him you will tend to think that he is making fun of you, when in fact he is damn serious. Soon we got friendly with each other. He showed up the style of shaking his legs in rhythm while talking. His body language was relaxed as if he never cared for anything. Even while talking to me, he kept playing with the remote control of air conditioner. Soon after he asked me a question which no lawyer had asked me ever before.

He asked me 'What's your rashee'! Initially I didn't get what he meant, but then he went on explaining how he was interested in astrology etc. As he mentioned he was studying astrology, the very first thought flashed in my mind was: I got to be careful like a Lawyer. I told him that I perhaps have 2 zodiac signs. But he immediately thumped on the table saying "Impossible!" and seeing his confidence I had to get myself corrected. "Maybe I have one sun sign and one moon sign". I told him trying to show that I was vaguely remembering something about it; "I must have two different things, whatever it is." I skipped revealing any personal astrological information and got him to answer my question that was - what are the astrological requirements to make it a good lawyer. The gentleman nodded his head with a laugh and pointing out his finger towards me he said, "Clever! You're a clever boy!"

For a moment I had a thunder-line running through my spinal chord thinking that he must have understood how I'm skipping his queries. But fortunately it wasn't so! "You're a clever boy! You've asked a nice question!" He said with a smile on face, indicating how he was pleased. "Well, you need a powerful Saturn and a powerful Mars in your horoscope to make it a big lawyer." He had a pride for his knowledge. I badly wanted him not to ask anything that I didn't want to reveal and somehow I managed to change the track of conversation. Referring to the senior Solicitor whom the office belonged to, I said "Sir must be having all the powerful planets in his horoscope, right?" To the best of my knowledge, Sir was the most successful practicing Lawyer, who always followed the ethics and principles. But according to his junior colleague, the gentleman in front of me, the 'real success story' seemed to be different.

"Oh yes, there is a story behind this office! You won't believe, when I joined this chamber, it wasn't like this. The office design was dull, and even the business scene was dull. Sir was a bit worried with the progress!" His eyes lit with excitement while remembering those days. He had a sense of pride in his body language. And why not; he was the sole instrumental soul, who guided his senior colleague on various issues, providing simple astrological solutions on all the queries under the sun! And what more, he also suggested redesigning the office according to Vaastushastra - so that the number of clients will only increase and never decrease!

Was he making fun of me? I felt like wandering through the fools' paradise, but I had already closed the rest of the options by showing interest. And from his face, it was really difficult to collect if he was making any fun. Though his face looked a little naughty, with his teeth protruding outside his mouth, the gentleman was in fact serious!

He must have wanted to impress me more, because he went on talking on his skills. One thing that I would not ever forget is that he had a plan to collect the astrological data of the criminals and study them in detail. "You know what, astrology combined with any other subject can help to a great extent. I want to combine it with Criminology. I believe this is need of time. Know why?" He went on explaining his own thoughts and reasons. "Unless you know the reasons you can't solve the problems. After all we are supposed to exhaust ourselves for only one reason - for bringing peace in the society."

His concern may have been genuine but his way to peace was something that was unintelligible for me. Though it was so, it interested me and I wanted to know more about it. I had studied the Criminology, but I was new to the concept of clubbing it with astrology. To put it in a funny way, all that I knew about astrology was that there exist some planets outside the earth and some people claim that the planets have a daily impact on their lives. Personally I don't know if their claims are true or how. Ignoring the irrelevant thoughts gathering in my mind, I concentrated upon the novel concept that the gentleman was talking about. I asked him, "Well, criminology and astrology are essentially two different subjects. I find it pretty difficult to imagine clubbing both the things together. Is it really possible? And if yes, how?"

"Why not?" He thumped on the table again. "Remember the planets have their impact on everybody's life, and they largely shape the destiny of a living being. Criminals have predictably similar astrological data in their horoscopes. And its my strong belief that if one studies these things in detail, it could help a great extent." And without explaining how it could 'help a great extent', he went ahead saying "You know this isn't any new thing. Read the European classics on 'Criminology', you'll find several chapters dedicated to subjects like 'how to face-read a criminal', and 'the astrological details of a criminal'. Even the European society has made use of astrology for tracing criminals. Since they were better in documentation and recordings, they have maintained these records. But then there were controversies and now for these reasons, they want to forget all these efforts by their ancestors!" He thought there was a need to cite a European example, to impress me.

Anyway. Fun apart, this whole thing was something new. Things which impress you easily need to be given a thought. Thinking analytically; though it sounded clear, I felt it was largely illogical. First of all, the subject itself is of a controversial nature. There are people who believe astrology to be a science and there are people opposing those believers. The non-believers always ask to prove it a science. And the believers are never bothered. The burden of proof essentially falls on the shoulder of those non-believers, and so far there has been no settlement on the part of both the parties.

In these circumstances, how can one stamp the other a criminal based just on the astrological details? What if the horoscope readings go wrong? And if astrology is allowed; criminals will plead saying they never wanted to commit a crime, just that their acts were ruled by planets! The gentleman had indeed given some interesting information. But can astrology really solve the criminal cases? Remember, I am not questioning whether or not astrology is a science. We Lawyers are trained to avoid arguments on such issues where we have no concrete knowledge.

I felt an urge to perform a check on all the information provided by the gentleman. But then, there were stories I had heard in the Bar room even before talking to him. There are people in the police departments who trace the criminals by calculating the horoscopes of the time and place when and where the crime was committed. I've myself seen an astrologer in a detective agency. And we all know how our politicians seeking guidance from their astrological gurus before taking any important decision!

I hear there are several Judges who can read faces and palms; and there are a few others who know numerology. Apparently, it is said that this knowledge helps them in coming to an accurate conclusion and they have track of successfully solved cases! There are many Lawyers who know astrology too; but then the Lawyers are expected to be master-of-all, you know!

Fun apart; the additional knowledge of astrology may or may not help in a positive or negative way, but we should always remember too much of anything is good for nothing. The Constitution of India prescribes developing the scientific temper as a fundamental duty. It is our duty to promote and develop the scientific approach in the society. And apart from all, my only personal concern is related to the Judicial system in India. I summarize it in just one sentence: When will we be able to bring the judicial system up to the International benchmark and standards? Can astrology answer my question?...

The gentleman talked and talked till he got a phone call to attend. He answered the phone call and asked me to wait outside. He had gotten a job. I sat in the waiting area outside, and the office boy gave me some magazines to read. With the unanswered questions floating in mind, I took one of the magazine, but immediately kept it back - it was dedicated to 'Future Prediction'. I switched on the TV set, and all the channels were full of Astro Uncles! The planets and astrologers ruled all over the world. Looked like there was no escape from them. Finally I settled down on a channel, and did wait for my future for the day. The astrologer, who looked like a representative of all the planets, smiled looking at me, and said.. "You have some unanswered questions floating in mind. But don't worry, all your questions are going to be answered soon. You will definitely get your solutions. Just that you will have to wait. Everything you want will happen, but..

..The right time has to come!"

-

Who's Listening?

In the lawyer's profession, you generally witness many tragedies in people's lives. People think law is the only and last available resort and come to you to find legal solution to their problems. Before coming to you, they already go through so much misery, sufferings and pains. They are devastated. But this gentleman sitting before me was exactly opposite. His body language was passionate, he had determined eyes, and those could dig through your soul. He had a well built persona. With his 6'3 height and a gorgeous and strong personality, he looked like if he wanted to take revenge of someone.

He introduced himself saying that he was a military school educated person wishing to be a pilot in the air force. He further said he was almost nearing to become a pilot, and it was at the same time this injustice was happening to him. He believed he had been subjected to injustice and was convinced himself that he had a ground to make out a case to be taken to the Court for a concrete solution. But before proceeding further, I had a few doubts to be cleared. As a lawyer, you need to first investigate and find out the genuineness of the case before anyone entrusts you their case to litigate. It is necessary to convince yourself because many a time people make out cases just to 'teach a lesson' to others.

For this reason, I asked him so many questions up and down, left and right. The person was answering everything in minutest details, and there was no catch. In addition, he had the documentary evidence to support his side of the story. Though on the face value, this person seemed much of those ‘teach-a-lesson’ types, from the details that he had provided, it sounded like a genuine case.

The story of the gentleman goes like this: As a child, he had cherished a dream to be a pilot. Being the only son, his parents did whatever on the earth was possible and feasible to them. They were not of those rich and affluent types. His father was an officer in a semi-government organization who had invested all the income he earned throughout his lifetime into his son's dream. In addition to this, his mother had sold her jewelry and had also taken loans from her office to support her son's dreams. They left no stone unturned in sending their son to the best institute in the country to be trained as a pilot.

He completed the extensive training within the stipulated time and successfully underwent all kind of tests and trainings and had had substantial flying experience. His instructor vouched that he was a brilliant student and would have a bright, excellent and successful future as a pilot. Soon thereafter he applied for a trainee pilot’s job with the respondents' Company. The Company required him to undergo various tests and trainings before recruiting him as a trainee. He followed all the requisites to their best satisfaction, and was now being considered for an appointment. His parents were elated that their efforts had actually paid off.

But there was a final stage. He was required to meet the pre employment medical standards as defined by the Company. The Company doctors' board rejected his application declaring him unfit, based on their own findings which said that the gentleman had been found suffering from hypertension. This shattered the gentleman, but he took quick smart moves by immediately approaching private doctors. He consulted several doctors and as he had expected, none of them opined that he was suffering from any problem. He was declared all-fit by all of them. He approached the Company doctors' board again; this time with the various doctor’s certificates declaring him fit, and asked the board to consider him for a reexamination. But unfortunately, nobody bothered to entertain him.

A nosy family friend suggested them that the Company board might want to ‘settle’ the matter with them. “Ask them confidently what are their demands, and pay off immediately. Don’t hesitate. Mark my words, they will certainly 'clear' your 'records' and in turn your employment will be guaranteed”. He had said. The gentleman at one stage was of the opinion that they should contact the doctors in the Company board to find out if they really had any demands, but his parents did not let him do it. “What if they don’t have such demands? You’ll lose your application in that case. Better write an application saying that you have consulted around 10 different doctors and that none of them declares you unfit. Who knows, the doctor who checked you might have taken wrong readings, or in the worst case, the equipment itself might be faulty”. His father had said. After the extensive table discussions with their son, finally his parents had decided. They were going to take a chance by writing an application, and they did accordingly.

The Company did not bother to entertain; they even refused to receive the application. The ill-starred gentleman was left disappointed by is act by the Company. He could not do anything but cry on his own fate. His father told him to take it easy, and try to make a career in something else, but the gentleman was too broken to stand. The family friend again came to their rescue, this time with a suggestion asking them to take the whole thing to the Court. He pointed out how they had concrete grounds to make out a case. The gentleman and his parents thought about giving it a chance. They had already spent around 30 lakhs for supporting the dream; a few thousands more wouldn’t be much a difference to them. They consulted the ‘top’ lawyers of the town, but unfortunately everyone showed them the exit door. Nobody explained to them what was wrong with the case. Was the case a failure? No it was not.

Actually, the gentleman and his parents were insisting to seek an order from the Court to the effect that the gentleman be appointed as a trainee pilot in the Company. The Court is not in a position to do that simply because it is not a task of the Court to decide who should be recruited where. Secondly, they wanted the Court to go through all the medical evidence that they had and declare that he was fit and a suitable candidate to be considered competent. Again, the Court would go through the records for the sake of evidence, but would not be in the position to comment anything on it, simply because the Judges are not an expert of medical sciences.

I explained the various possibilities to them, but now they had come far away to go back. The family was adamant on taking it to the Court. They were on innocent hopes that the luck was in their favor and that some miracle would happen. Personally for me the case would be an additional experience. After explaining the law, they were clear they were just taking a chance; and they had no issues with that. “I’m not saying we should win, I just say we want to ensure that we don’t leave any stone unturned – people shouldn’t say in future: look, his father didn’t do anything.” The father voiced his thoughts. I decided to take the case for the sake of experience. Seeing at the gentleman, one could easily tell that he was suffering. Still he was confident that he was the suitable candidate, and that he was subjected to injustice. He displayed the sorrow that is generally seen on their faces who are really subjected to injustice.

Finally we filed a Write Petition in the High Court. We prayed for reexamination of the gentleman, submitting that the device which was used to measure blood pressure could be faulty, or just that the readings may have gone wrong. To support our prayers, we had the medical certificates issued by various doctors declaring the gentleman fit. The case came on the hearing board soon after filing. After going through all the records, it did not take the Judges to come to an opinion that there was nothing that they could do in it.

The Judges expressed their inability in such words: "We are afraid that we cannot sit over the medical finding of the appropriate board which was of the view that the petitioner could not meet the medical standards. We are not experts of the medical sciences. In this view of the matter, we dispose of this petition being conscious of the fact that it is not for this court to decide whether the person is medically fit or not, particularly when the job involves the risk of life of the petitioner as well as the many others. Therefore, we only allow the petitioner to make a fresh representation, which may be considered by the respondents in the light of the Rules and the medical opinion".

This was expected but the gentleman was disheartened. And he had every right to be disheartened. He was merely in his late twenties. He had whole life remaining. While walking out of the Court he said in deep sorrowfulness “I’ve lost all the chances now. This take was too heavy. I did a mistake by coming to the Court; I should rather have followed what our family friend had suggested earlier. But...!”

It was not for the first time that I was witnessing something like this. A few months back, I had seen a major case about which I had once written here. The case was similar not in the facts, but in the way they were dealt with. Cases may come and go, what remains untouched, is the system. Jurisprudents always feel the judicial system which has been designed to deliver the justice, does not actually serve the said purpose as efficiently as it should.

And therefore the people like the gentleman above are compelled to think that the system always fails. Actually, it is not his fault. The ‘modern’ system is itself somewhat amusing. As a student of Law and Jurisprudence, I have a lot more things to say on this ‘modern’ system...

...But who’s listening?

-

The Nostalgia...

“Wow, man! This is simply amazing. Must be burning a hole in your pocket, eh?" A friend remarked little sarcastically, referring to my music collection. Being a born music lover, I have a fairly good collection of original music tapes and CDs. There is a tale behind each tape and every CD, and I clearly remember all those tales. Ignoring the sarcastic remark made by my friend, I traveled back into the memories...

During my childhood, i.e. in the early 90's, 'collecting the music' meant collecting the music tapes. CDs came on the scene much later. In those days, buying a music tape was a luxury for a school-going teenager like me. Things are different nowadays. Especially after the piracy affecting the markets owing to the mp3 revolution; it has become a fashion to appeal to buy the original copyrighted material. But back then, 'buying the original tapes' was the only known source of possessing your favorite music.

In the early days, the only source to know about an upcoming music album would be the sub-standard movie posters stuck on the roadside walls. I remember stopping by such posters and have a look at them to find out my favorite music director's name on it. This sounds a little weird now in the times of Internet technology. But back then, it would be fun. Well, the habit also earned me a bad name. Once I was late to school, and my teacher demanded an explanation. On my telling the reason, the teacher asked my friends if what I was telling was the truth. A nosy boy had promptly and loudly declared, despite my efforts to stop him; that I come to school watching the roadside filmy posters. I was taken to the Headmaster’s cabin immediately, who later wrote a letter to my parents naming me a 'roadside romeo' and wrongly alleging that I 'observe' the 'actresses' on the posters...

...And God, I had a terribly tough time explaining the real things to my parents. They knew I was a born music lover, but to convince them, I had to promise that I'll give up the practice of stopping by the movie posters. To continue finding out about the new music releases, I switched to a new source: the newspaper advertisements. It would be fun to wait for the newspapers in the early mornings. Soon, around 1995, the Cable TV revolution entered our homes, and then there was no need to check the newspaper ads as well.

My neighborhood friend's parents subscribed to the Cable TV connection, and I started developing a good PR with them. I and my friend used to study together, sitting in his home. Obviously, it would be less of studies and more of breaks. In the study break, a TV channel used to telecast a programme called 'Ek Jhalak'. It showed song preludes from the upcoming movies. I remember having danced in happiness to see the name of my favorite music director appearing on the screen. Compared to my earlier sources, the Cable TV did wonders. I could see and listen to the songs much before they could release in the market. I remember gathering my friends around, and singing the songs from upcoming movies! Craze, you know!

On spotting my favorite music director's name on the screen, I would quickly escape to the shop nearby to see if my shop owner had already brought me my gift. On inquiring, he used to give me confused looks. He wouldn't even know the name I would ask for. I used to take pride in informing him that it’s an upcoming movie, and then he would call up his distributors to find out the release dates. I would count the days, and almost every day I would hit the steps of his shop to annoy him, till I get my tape. That annoying gap till getting my copy in hands would indeed be some fun.

Finally the day would arrive, when a box containing the tapes would come. Such was the impact of my favorite music director's name, that there would be queues of music lovers before the shop to get their copies. But ahem, I knew the shop vendor, and since many a times I would be instrumental in passing on the information about that particular upcoming movie, righteously I would be the first and person to get my copy in hands. In fact, most of the times, I would open the box while the entire queue would wait for it! I would quickly grab my copy and ignoring the rest of the world, would run back home, find a pair of scissors and begin work on the packaging. I would stop and smell the sweetness of the plastic cover while carefully cutting along the bottom and one side. Prying out the remaining packaging apart, I would reach for my gift!

Well, life wouldn’t go so effortlessly. My father wouldn't ever like me ‘wasting my time’ listening to the music. And I used to have frequent sessions of lectures explaining how music should merely be a hobby and how studies should get the utmost importance. Music was highly unproductive, according to him, and spending your time with studies only meant investing the time in your future. Alas, mine wasn't the generation of the reality shows and the society still considered the film business to be a low-standard business back then. For these reasons, probably, I could never ever imagine myself making a career into music, and I sometimes feel like badly regretting about it, despite having any professional training! So, like any obedient son, I would prima-facie agree with my parents that the hobby should be in its place and the life should be shaped with the help of studies. But as I would see the new advertisement, my craze would force me to do the magic again!

But in the given circumstances, bringing a music tape home was as risky as filing a case in the Court. You never know when the arguments will end, and at the end of it, everyone would be left with a bitter taste in their mouth! So; most of the tapes in my collection have entered from the back-door, without my parents' knowledge. And how? My mother would give me Rs. 1.50/- everyday, to have the salted groundnuts during the break. I would skip the nuts to save the money for my tapes. My friends would think I’m crazy. One of my friends introduced me a concept called 'pocket money'. Till then, I hadn't even had heard that word. It was indeed an appealing concept, and I immediately explained it to my father, to find out that it was a totally flop concept. But somewhere, my father accepted my craze towards the music, and promised that he'll buy me a cassette on each birthday! So till many years ahead, I continued the practice of skipping the nuts for tapes. Craze, you know!

But even in those days, I wasn't totally satisfied with the music tapes. The tapes would be manufactured poorly. The plastic cover would break easily; the reels would cut while playing. They would also produce a hissing sound, which was irritating. In addition, sometimes the magnetic reel would come out, and reeling it back on its original position was a pain. I would be well equipped with the instruments required for opening a music tape and repairing it. Out of my craze I learnt the art of repairing the broken tapes, and had a mastery over it. But overall, this experience wasn't a pleasing one. Around the same time, the CD technology was introduced.

I distinctly remember my first experience with listening to a CD. It was around 1996, and one of my distant relatives had brought home an imported CD player. My cousin boasted about the CD player and the sound quality over the phone call. And I immediately reached out for the experience to his home. For the first time what grabbed my attention that there was no screws to fix the CDs. The whole technique of the CDs was totally different than the tapes and hence I wondered how the songs can go inside the CD! But the sound was crystal clear, indeed, and it gave a brand new experience. Compared to the music tapes, the CDs were far superior. I was instantly fascinated by the sound quality. But dreaming of a CD wasn't easy. They would cost anything in between whooping Rs. 400/- to Rs. 700/- per copy.

Unfortunately, till the prices of the CDs came in my reach, most of the titles I wanted almost disappeared from the markets. And then, finding the old missing titles became another hobby. People used to laugh at me, when I would go shop to shop with a list of missing CDs in hand. Years later, when we had a fixed telephone connection at home, I began browsing through the telephone directories to find out phone numbers of the music shops to inquire about the missing CDs. I also developed best friends in the music shops, cassette companies, in music distribution companies and later in the music industry. Wandering around the roadside shops, searching the computerized databases in the Music World and Planet M shops, visiting the Chor Bazaars, old markets, raddi shops etc. became a routine in life. One won't believe; I have also checked out the music database at the barber's shops and Paan shops. I have even stopped in the journey in some strange towns in the remote places, just to find out a music shop with a hope of getting some tapes or CDs. I have also pasted the missing CDs list on my college's notice board, in hope that if someone, by chance, has any of them; I can ask them for it.

...And indeed, I have been fortunate most of the times. I feel blessed to have some like-minded friends with whom I can share my nostalgia. When I had lost the hopes of getting some of rarest of rare CDs or tapes, they have come forward to help me in getting them. Especially, some of the CDs were never stamped in India, and thus, weren’t available here. These friends of mine have actually taken pains to find out the CDs abroad and have helped me a lot by their act of kindness towards me! I don't know how much indebted I am to them for this nicest gesture, I really don’t know if I deserve this favor…

And then there are some other friends too; who think it’s not worth dying for the CDs. They suggest I should instead download mp3s from the Internet, or purchase the pirated mp3 CDs sold outside the railway stations. They flash their I-pods before me and say how the technology helps to manage your favorite music collection. "Have you taken an oath that you alone will save the entire music industry? You can very well enjoy your favorite music with mp3 players, where you may have your entire music collection just in your pocket, you know?" My friend says. My hobby irritates him, and he remarks sarcastically, "Crazy man! Are you going to take this collection with you, up there?" I just smile back to him, because I know he wouldn't understand.

He wouldn't understand. It's not about taking the collection up there. It’s about appreciating the life, down here. It's about an experience of a thunder-lightening running up through your spinal cord on locating a rare tape somewhere. The mp3s don't do that to me. It's about taking a CD out of your music collection, and remembering the adventures that you did to get it. I-pods can't have that privilege, certainly. It’s about shouting eureka and dance all over the town showing everyone the copy that you found! The online releases can't do that magic. It's about standing in a queue, waiting for the shop owner to open the just-arrived box, to get you the gift. The website and torrent download queues don’t seem to be that appealing.

It’s also about hugging and kissing the roadside shop vendor in excitement when he gets you some rare copy. It’s about spending some time in arranging and rearranging the tapes and the CDs. It’s not about saving the music industry, but it’s about supporting the music industry and being loyal to my favorite music director. It’s not about unwelcoming the cutting edge technology; it’s about appreciating the efforts that the music companies took to reach out to the music lovers, when there was dearth of such hi-tech technology. It’s about so many tiny things in life. Once you learn to appreciate them, they make your life beautiful.

It can’t be a purpose of life, certainly; but it’s indeed a journey called life.

It’s about the life. It's about the nostalgia...

-

Because we never want to…!

Those were the early days of my career as a legal professional. In those days I used to go to different Courts and observe the proceedings; especially, the lawyers’ professional styles of conducting the cases. In the due course, one day I happened to enter in a court hall where a criminal case was being heard.

Shortly after entering, I realized it was a high profile trial. The accused in the case was charged with an offence of carrying deadly weapons. The lawyer representing him was explaining his side to the Court. He put forward the absolute inevitability of possessing the weapons. He argued for about half an hour but somehow; the Judge didn’t look as if he was convinced. At one point the Judge looked irritated. He interrupted the lawyer, asked him to take his seat and said, “Let me hear it from your client.” Turning to the accused, he asked to explain why he had to carry such destructive weapons.

The accused looked startled for a while. With some restlessness in his eyes, he looked at his lawyer, who gave him a nod to continue, cautiously. The accused opened up with his side of the story. What followed next was a session of questions and answers between the Judge and the accused. He nearly failed convincing the Judge. At one point, the accused, looking down at his feet, said... “My Lord, I wasn’t aware that possessing these weapons is a crime in the eyes of law..!” After stating this, he looked at his lawyer. The lawyer was seen hitting his forehead with his palm. “Hey Raam!” He was heard saying.

The Judge was amused. He asked the lawyer, “Doesn’t your client know the cardinal principle of Jurisprudence ignorantia juris...? Guide him about it. What he's stating isn't acceptable to the Court. Tomorrow he may commit a murder; and will defend saying that he didn’t know committing a murder was a crime under the laws?”

‘Ignorantia juris non excusat’. I remembered studying this principle in the Law school. This is the cardinal principle of the Jurisprudence which propounds that the ignorance of the laws does not provide an excuse to the guilty. Logically speaking, a person unaware of the laws should not escape the liability for violating those laws, merely on the ground that he was unaware of them.

--- --- ---

Recently I was discussing certain observations with a lawyer friend of mine. I narrated this story to him while discussing on the ‘common man’s legal understanding’. We shared an observation, that is; the common man in India is largely ignorant about the laws. When it comes to the legal understanding, even the so called university-toppers fumble. “Can you say why it is so?” My friend asked me with a grin.

Thinking over it, I feel the core reason has evidently to be the Indian education system. It has been designed such a way, where people hardly get an in-depth knowledge about the law. On the contrary, In the European countries (where we blatantly source our legal system from) the formal legal education begins from the tender age. They ensure that nobody is taught to ignore the law. A European 10th grade passed out is well aware of the world history, geography, politics, and their local laws to say the least. On the contrary, a 10th grade passed out in India is aware of God-knows-what, and some of his fundamental rights.

I shared this opinion with my friend. He smiled to indicate that he isn’t convinced. Seeing this I went on adding a few points... “See, in India, the education system has been designed such a way that the legal knowledge is kept somewhat exclusive in nature. Even the most preliminary knowledge cannot be acquired in a professional study course provided by the renowned law schools.” To support this statement, I shared with him a view, which a Senior Counsel had once shared with me over a cup of coffee. The Counsel had said, “While preparing the legislations, the British legislators took a due care that the system will generate work for the lawyers who support their Government. After independence, we follow the same system with all its merits and demerits. And hence we inherit the same rules in our education system. Frankly speaking, one does not need to have any specialized skills to do the things like a good lawyer. If there is a ‘Do it yourself’ book available on the legal procedure, anyone can do the things like lawyers, easily so. And if the common man does even 50% of the things on his own, 85% of the lawyers will be compelled to sit idle. Therefore precisely, this procedure part has been intentionally kept untouched in the preliminary legal studies. One has to learn it only after joining the profession and not before...”

My friend listened to this seriously. He seemed to have accepted certain points, but then he had another query. “Oh, so you expect everyone to be an expert of the procedure, eh?” He asked with his smile which was a bit irritating. “Obviously not..!” I said “But don’t we-the-people should know at least the basic things? Law, Justice and Administration are such an important part of an individual's life. Logically speaking one can carry on for a few days without knowing the medicines, but can’t carry on for a single minute without knowing the laws. It’s such mandatory thing to know the laws.” It was at this point, that I shared with him the opening story of the Judge and the accused guilty of possessing weapons.

“You seem to be right and largely so” my friend said. But do you really think people really bother about this? We have certain major sections in the society, who, if they want to, can bring about a change in the whole thing. The first section is of politicians, which uses or rather abuses the legal system for their political benefits. The second one is of lawyers, who use it to earn their livelihood. Another section is selfishly neutral about the whole thing. They ‘respect the system’ when they want to and are free to disrespect it when they want to. The common man cannot dare to touch the issue. All that the common man is taught is to take care of his fundamental rights and to ignore his fundamental duties. And above this all, there is a section of people who take a pride in breaking the laws than abiding themselves by it. Somewhere in the corner of their hearts they have decided that the present legal system doesn’t belong to them. It wasn’t made for them...”

“I would say it’s really a noble thought to say the knowledge of legal procedure should be made open to all. But it’s also a crazy thought. After all, even if the legal procedure is made a part of the primary studies, it won’t bring any change. The change has to come from within. A lot of people understand what you’re saying. But somewhere we have accepted the way the system is. We work like machines.” His face could reflect his burning heart. Keeping silence for a minute, he said, “Learning from the past isn’t that hard... But we’ll never learn...

Because we never want to learn anything...!”


to be continued...
-

Change, Coming Our Way...!

A friend of mine recently joined a political party of a national stature as a part of her internship programme. Being a part of a national political party such as this one was her long cherished dream, and therefore quite naturally she had loads of things to share about the whole experience. I bugged my friend requesting to write a blog post covering her first hand experiences in nutshell, to which she obliged saying 'Yes, why not!'. But then she left this idea somewhere back in mind, and as a result the 'Yes, why not' began to appear merely a promise. These parties and their promises! Yawn!

--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---

On a busy Sunday afternoon, all of a sudden my cell rang. A kind friend was remembering me. Seeing his name on the display, my heart skipped a beat. He's a journalist. These journalist people are ever charged, and thus motivating. I could quite tell that he had a plan to make me run directionless under the sun. It was a long hot afternoon and when I was not prepared to go out, this gentleman had remembered my name!

"Hey! Hi! What’s your plan for the day?" He asked directly without wasting his time. "Umm..." I thought of a solid answer to escape, but I took a little time. Before I could make out a satisfactory answer, I got to hear "Okay. We're going to attend a meeting. Get ready in 5 minutes; I'm reaching your place."

This was irritating. After all you don't get a Sunday every day. I protested saying I can't make it. To which he replied with his throat chocked with emotions, "Man, please don't make me fall on my face. You know, this will prove to be a good chance for you. It’s a closed door meeting of a political party. Actually I've to attract professionally qualified crowd in order to get my stories. Now if you don't help me...."

I don't know if I qualify as 'crowd', but I was game. I winked an eye to myself. Politics in India has become a free entertainment. Practically thinking, attending this closed room session was a 'now-or-never' chance. Generally common man is kept away from these sessions, and therefore I didn't want to miss on this opportunity. My friend had assured me that I’ll ‘enjoy’ the meeting. And above all, there was huge excitement of witnessing the whole thing live. I already began imagining the meeting, maybe with a smile on my face.

--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---

We reached the hall within 20 minutes. Surprisingly, I found many professionally-qualified 'learned friends' there. Soon after, I learnt that the candidate was himself a lawyer. He happened to be a heavy name in the circle and therefore all the practicing lawyers from the city had decided to support him in all the ways they can. Okay, I understood. I guess we must not be more than 70 and all of us were in between age group of 25 to 40. We were asked to introduce ourselves, and gradually I came to know that I had the fortune to be sitting among the elites. Some of them were chartered accountants, some were company secretaries, some owned private companies, some were stock market brokers, some were finance management consultants, some were owners of IT companies, and rest of them were practicing lawyers.

It certainly didn’t look like a meeting of a political party; it was rather like a corporate event. Nobody seemed to have a direct link with the active politics. Even though, everyone seemed to have a good study and understanding on the current issues. A person clad in leader-type white cloths took over the charge and discussed some of the issues. A representative of the candidate with the help of the readily available database on his laptop; could impressively explain the kind of difference the party would bring, after they win the elections. Gradually he started discussing the ‘to-do’ strategies which will help the candidate win the election.

Let me say, I was sitting in one of the busiest districts, and this was the constituency where the ‘crowd’ comprises of highest tax paying practicing professionals. The problems of this constituency and that of the rest of the nation were totally different. Here, there is no scope for caste, religion, and language based politics; and hence the issues like reservations, temple construction etc etc weren’t even touched. The main emphasis was on discussions on how could we reduce the taxes. Someone brought the attention towards the security, and suddenly all of them remembered the 26/11 attacks. The representative immediately announced that their party will work on to make the income of people working with army, defense and security agencies completely tax-free, which was welcomed by all with heavy applause.

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The candidate himself had not arrived yet as he was held up in the campaign somewhere nearby. As the people were clapping, the candidate stepped in. Everyone gave him a standing welcome. He saw the ‘crowd’, and that brought a smile on his face. He introduced himself, and within next 10 minutes showed us a picture of the change that he wants to bring in. He certainly didn’t look like someone who dreams in the daytime. Shortly after finishing his opening speech, he invited questions from us. By now, I had already realized that none of us had even thought of the problems with the judicial system. It was apt to raise a question regarding that. The candidate was himself a lawyer, and who else can understand the veracity of such an important technical question than him?

The next moment I introduced myself once again, and began... “Sir, before you came in, we just discussed about the recent terrorist attacks. We discussed about all the aspects such as the security and the measurements that can be taken. There is still one question unanswered, and I’m afraid nobody has raised the question yet. Fortunately, we have been able to detain one of the terrorists. My question is; how are we going to deal with the case? We know that the legal luminaries are trying to fit the case in the present available framework of the law. This way, the entire process may take another 20 years.” The candidate interrupted, “Look, the particular case is under-trial...” I suddenly felt an urge to explain my point, and I interrupted back.

“Sorry to interrupt, sir. I know an individual cannot do much here in a single case. Let me put my biggest anxiety this way: We call ourselves a sovereign country. We dream of being the superpower in next 10 years. Still, we haven’t yet been able to solve the problems like terrorism. When terrorist attacks take place, we file the cases in the courts. There, we implement such time consuming ways of tackling the issues. The whole process takes so much of time, that at the end of it, the ‘justice’ remains just for the sake of it. What message are we sending to the International community by this? Secondly, thinking on a wider aspect, if the party wins this time, is there any agenda as far as the judicial system is concerned? We certainly need to take some measures to bring the judicial system up to the International benchmark and standards; by ensuring that the whole process gets faster, reliable and accessible to the common man.”

The candidate answered “As far as the judicial system is concerned, we have already taken enough measures to make it fair. When the other party ruled the country for so many years, the scene was really bad. When we took over the office for little time, we did so many things like totally abolishing the political interference with the judicial system, and bringing changes in the procedure, by establishing the fast track courts.” He immediately switched to praising his own party, and till the people got bored, he continued.

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The meeting was soon called off for no availability of time. After it was over, the candidate came towards us and informally asked me to suggest the best judicial reforms that I can think of. He promised he will certainly look into this issue. He said he was ‘impressed’ by the question, and since it was necessary to have him in power to be able to look into the question; he requested me with a stubborn smile to go door-to-door campaigning for him. He further said, he considers us as a part of his family and the family members will be ready 24x7 for any kind of assistance in this regard. His party men promptly provided some website links printed in business cards sizes, a CD with a documentary in it, and some random material useful for campaigning.

While going back, my journalist friend discussed, “Do you think you asked the question to a right person? Agreed he may be a heavy name in the lawyer's circle, but a good lawyer cannot necessarily make out a good politician. And this question has got its own value. It’s absolutely right that we need to push the judiciary to speed up, but you should not have raised the question here in such indoor meet sessions. If you could manage to take this question inside the parliament, you will make hell lot of money… I’m sure; this person is going to use this point in his upcoming campaigns, for his personal benefits.”

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I don't think I asked something wrong at the wrong place to a wrong person. The candidate seemed more interested in winning, obviously so, and I don’t think he took any interest in the question or its solution. These parties target each and every person in the country, and I don’t think many would be concerned with this particular question. I think I felt like asking the question, since all the crowd was actively participating in the questions and answers session. I don’t have any issues if any political party uses this question for winning the elections, provided they really work on it to bring in the desired change.

Change is coming our way, and I could say it quite confidently. Why a friend of mine, an MBA student, wished to join the political party of the national stature? To understand the better options to promote these ideas of change within the given deadlines, without targets. Why otherwise would we imagine the people like these chartered accountants, company secretaries, IT company owners, stock market brokers, finance management consultants, and practicing lawyers would take active participation in such indoor meetings? I’m sure they won’t have the time to go door-to-door campaigning for the party. They are there because they knew the necessity of their presence.

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Change is coming our way, and I say it confidently.

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The Identity And The Innocence.

I was standing near a tree in a shadow, besides a bus stop, waiting for my bus to come. The place was new to me. Near the bus stop, there was a dilapidated wall, and behind it, there was a pitch-like flat-leveled patch on the land. On one corner of it, a young boy of around 7 to 8 years was playing cricket in the air.

Cricket-in-the-air is something that the ill-fated children of the underprivileged parents play. Well, it’s simple. You don’t burn holes in your pockets to buy the stumps, bat and the ball. All that you have to do is; imagine the ball coming your way through the air, and start hitting. This boy too, with nothing in his hands, was just imagining the ball. And his body was perfectly moving accordingly, to take the right steps to hit it beyond the borders. It was wonderful to see him playing. He had a perfect body language. Like as if he had a bat in his hands that was invisible to me alone.

And there was another boy, almost of the same age, sitting on a branch of a tree. For quite a while, he observed the first boy playing cricket-in-the-air. Slowly he developed an interest in it, and at one point of time he jumped down, shouting a ‘Haaeeaay’, showing his excitement through his high-pitched voice. He went straight to join the game with the ‘invisible ball’.

Now they were two. The bowler was bowling, and the batsman was hitting. Let me say, most of the hits were beyond the boundaries. So much was my involvement in watching it, that I realized missing my bus only after missing it.

They played for some time, and soon they were tired. Or say, they got bored. All this while, they were shouting in excitement. Now they needed water for their dry throat, to quench their thirst. They went to the tap near the wall, drank water, and took a seat down the tree in the dust. There was an unadulterated innocence in them, and that is why they did not need any background to be friends.

But you tend to know more about your friends. I could see the boys talking to each other. It was an interesting question and answers session. “What’s your name?” The second boy had asked when it caught my attention. The first one was making drawings with his fingertips in the dust. He told his name, while still drawing in the dust. The second boy got nosy to hear the name. He asked what his name meant. The first boy didn’t know the meaning either.

“We are Musalman.” He was still drawing in the dust, and he replied without looking up. The second boy became quiet. But not for long. Hardly for a minute could he hold his curiosity; and suddenly asked with all the possible, natural innocence; “Do you store guns in your home?”

The first boy gave a look that was quite confusing for me. The look had many feelings in it. There was maturity and confusion together, and it was thought provoking. The second boy kept quiet for a moment, with a guilty feeling this time. Then he suddenly asked, again with his natural innocence, “How do you know that you are a Muslim?”

The first boy couldn’t say anything for a moment. Then he said, “I know it.”

“But how do you know?”

“I can’t say… I just know. How do you know you are a Hindu?”

“Ummm. I don’t know.” The boy looked really puzzled.

“Your mummy must be telling you the Ramayana and Mahabharata stories?”

“Yes, she does... She knows so many nice stories. What kind of stories your mummy tells you?”

“No... but...” He sounded a little restless.

“But if she doesn't tell you stories, how do you know that you are a Muslim?” The nosy boy was getting even more inquisitive.

“I don’t know. I just know that we are.”

“But how do you know!”

“My mummy told me!” The boy said in an irritated voice, emphasizing on each word. And that was his final answer. The answer was like a tight slap to the first boy. At that, he couldn’t say anything. He was left even more confused. He murmured something like “But my mom never told me…”

...The curiosity of the nosy boy was very natural and innocent. He just wanted a satisfactory answer. Maybe he couldn’t see any significant difference in between himself and the other boy. He must have thought, what is that, that divides them. He dug up to get a satisfactory answer. It was a mother’s word.

Now in the modern world, apart from their mothers, children learn a lot of things from media. The observation of the nosy boy was important, to understand the future society. In the understanding of an innocent boy merely 7 to 8 years old, this can be the overall identity of the word ‘Muslim’. Who has to be blamed for this? Who is dividing innocent minds? Who is killing the innocence? Terrorists? Journalists and media? Politicians? The answer seems complicated.

Suddenly an imagination flashed in my mind. In India, Hindu-Muslim relations are too delicate. Or say, they have purposefully been kept delicate. What if the boy complains to someone from his family about the other boy bugging him on an issue like his religion? We the people are so sensitive, that it’s almost impossible to predict what may happen and what not. Any petty issue can start burning the nation. The 'sensitive people' just wait for such events to take place.

My link of thoughts and imaginations broke as the bus arrived. I took the window seat; the bus moved. I looked outside the window. The boys were already back to the game. Cricket-in-the-air. They were as unaffected as they should be. Okay, it was all but a game of my imaginations. Still, my mind didn't let me ignore the possibilities.

The clashes arising in between different identities are what we have not been able to solve yet. How will we solve the issues? Firstly, we need to imbibe some learning from the past experiences. And apart from that, let’s learn that there is a great necessity to determine our individual stand and position in the contemporary world. If we cannot dissolve our individual identities, we must at least learn to present ourselves with such a care, that with those identities, we will be acceptable to the contemporary world.

We need to learn to build up an identity, without killing the innocence.

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