Smile Charitable Trust Blog

What is the difference between introspection and retrospection really?    Introspection is the act of looking within oneself and Retrospection is the process of looking back at our past actions. On the New Year Eve, we use both of these avenues to validate how we fared in the year to end. For some, it has been the year of   confusion; for some it was the year of   resistance; for some it was the year of   acceptance; for some it was the year of   sowing  ; for some it was the year of   harvesting   and for some it was the year of ultimate...  experiencing true love   . Confusion or resistance, acceptance, sowing, harvesting or experiencing true love, cannot co-exist regrettably. They are all part of a process…a cycle. They emerge sequentially, simply to unveil the secrets of the universe…to present us with goodies…using which we live life without much of resistance. How is it possible to resist, without being confused at the first place? How it is possible to accept, when we have not been resisting at the first place?

​   True love se, ek kahani yaad aya, kaho tow sunaye?    A saint who was visiting river Ganges to take bath, found a group of family members on the banks, shouting in anger at each other. He turned to his disciples, smiled asked “Why do people shout in anger & shout at each other?”. Disciples thought for a while, one of them said, “Because we lose our calm, we shout.”!  Saint asked    “But, why should you shout when the other person is just next to you? You can as well tell him what you have to say in a soft manner!!!”.     Disciples gave some other answers but none satisfied the saint.

Finally the saint explained:    “When two people are angry at each other, their hearts distance a lot. To cover that distance they must shout to be able to hear each other. The angrier they are, the stronger they will have to shout to hear each other to cover that great distance.   What happens when two people fall in love?   They don't shout at each other but talk softly, because their hearts are very close. The distance between them is either nonexistent or very small...”…  The saint continued   , “When they love each other even more, what happens? They do not speak, they only whisper and they get even closer to each other in their love.   Finally they even need not whisper, they only look at each other’s eye, that's all...thats enough for them to understand each other.   That is how close two people are, when they love each other”. Samjhe?…kuch issh tarah…

We need to acknowledge & accept everything that comes on our way. Our experience of something, without the experience of its opposite is incomplete. Until we accept it, that thing remains uncertain in our mind. Uncertainty has a close relationship with frustration. Both have a bizarre way of fuelling each other. And when these two get together, they delight in making life feel more complex. Seeking clarity is important therefore. People want us to speak our minds and be honest with them. When we do so, they sometimes feel affronted. They want us to be truthful but not so truthful. They’d prefer that we left certain bit out, where truthfulness is concerned. Never mind...we have only one option. We must do, what we need to do. Others will appreciate, later perhaps, when they finally realize. 

Tow chale shambha? Shamba asked; where? I replied into 2016, where else?   Everyone is running into 2016, we must also rush. There are no options to choose from, hence there is no confusion, so there will not be any frustration. Now you know why everyone is happy on the New Year ’s Eve?   Silly Sambha asked again,   WHY everyone is happy on new year’s eve? I said; because they have only one option for them i.e. to drop everything, make merry and move into 2016 at the end of this evening.   Options bring uncertainty and uncertainties bring frustration. Knowledge brings confidence and confidence reduces options and brings contentment.   Sambha smiled. Perhaps, we have an agreement here. Thank God!!!

Celebrating Christmas without listening to a Christmas songs is incomplete. Similarly bringing down the New Year, without listening to this perticular song is incomplete. Chalo phir. Naya Saal Ho, Aap Sabko Mubarak.    A Very Eventful and Memorable New Year, I wish for all of us.   We shall connect again next year….until then…. DO WHATEVER YOU WANT TO DO MAN! 

Today he texted me from another continent.    He said:    Bikash my mom has been trying to talk me out of this for 30 mins. She thinks her parents will see me as weird and all of these things. Like a restraining order.

Me:    Nope. Please do not let it affect you. It is your battle, so you fight it. No one knows your situation better than you. You must take a decision without being biased by anybody. You stay away from your parents until you meet her. We are all born to find answers…answers as to why we were born, what we are here to resolve/achieve …how do we find balance in everything we do, how we remain happy and peaceful consistently…what is the key to our happiness. You must find your answer. Keys to your happiness are different from keys to your parent’s happiness. They must know keys to their happiness. And they can only guess keys to your happiness, they can’t be certain.

He said:    hmmmm

Me:    You don’t need to be rude with your parents. Just maintain your composure. May be they are not getting enough confidence that you can handle the situation on your own. Be nice to them, smile at them, exhibit patience, be a smooth operator, take smooth decisions. You have it in you. You can do it. It’s your last chance to understand and make sense of those thoughts, which have been troubling you for six months or more. Go for it. If you don’t resolve this now, two weeks later you will not have any scope, even if you want to.

He said:    My parents are trying to plant doubt in my mind.

Me:    That’s fine. Why you bother? Show them you are not going to be affected. Show them you have become stronger, capable, independent and grown up too. You can take your decisions. Do indeed take the blessing of your parents before you set out to meet her. Give them a big hug. But make it happen today. At least you will know, this or that, here or there, She or another. You must find answer to those vivid thoughts for last 6 months. Feel the power. Feel the GOD in you. Feel you are the best. You have to find victory over your doubts/negativity today. You are nothing less than Alexander II today. You don’t need anyone today. Everyone needs you. You are handsome, you are witty, you are powerful, you are jovial, you are happy, you are the boy next door, you are a hunk, you are intelligent and you are successful. Carry that attitude in your mind. Yet, you are most down to earth and compassionate dude, who operates smoothly with a smile. Go for it. I am with you. All the best. Merry Christmas.

.

He said:    Can I call you now? I am in front of her door.

Me:    I am in the train. It may not connect properly. But you can try. I shall reach home in an hour and then you can call me.

He said:    Her Dad answered the door. He was so kind to me! I asked him about his health. Offered him the flowers and chocolates. She had a late last night, she was sleeping. I chatted with his Dad at the door for few minutes and came back. I feel good. I feel much better.

Me:    Told you. Believe…Good things happen…if you believe. You know?

He said:    Do you have faith?

Me:    100%. Believe, put across your best…follow your honest-self. If you are being honest….if your feelings are honest…then I am 100% sure end result will be beautiful. We come across many prospective relationships in life. In all of those prospective relationships, we don’t certainly feel 100% always. With some, we feel 50%, 60%, 70%, 80% and 90%. But every one of us, in our life time…one day…will come across someone particular, where all our searches will end., time will stop, wind will stop blowing, water will stop flowing, we will appear stunned, speechless and clueless. We'll JUST know…that is the moment…that is the person…that is the key…that is the answer you ever wanted...ha ha….everything else is was just COMPROMISE, which doesn’t matter and we don’t mind letting it go. You know? If you have been getting this 100% type feeling towards this girl, then you must take action today and I am also 100% that you will have a beautiful conclusion. Opportunity knocks only once and here is your chance but be honest with your feelings...you only know your feelings...no one else. If it is real and honest...be Alexander II today...nothing/no-one can stop you.

He said:    You should have seen these gifts. Each boxes individually packed…with little notes that she’d love. All in a golden bag with one single rose. Thank you for your belief. May be I will hear her voice before I return to work.

Me:    You will. Trust me. I am very proud of you. I am so amazed that you love her so much. May the universe transpire an opportunity, where she feels your love for her, may there be a victory of honesty, may there be end of darkness tomorrow, may there be a lasting smile on your face tomorrow and thereafter…may you have a merry Christmas my friend.  You will call me tomorrow, I know for sure….just keep believing and stay tight with your endurance.

He said:    I want to thank you.

Me:    No. Thank him. He is the one who said that, no me. “Believe, good things will happen”!

He said:    Who is he? What are you talking about?

Me:    Kunfu Panda. My favourite cartoon character.  Merry Christmas Kunfu-Panda. Speak to you soon. Marry Christmas in advance.

All right. That’s him. Why I am telling his story to us?    Well, there was a line in my chartered accounting text book, which I quite like. And that is “Not only accountants have to be objective…they must appear to be objective as well to others”. Ask me why I like that statement?    Because that remind me of Bhagbat Gita. I used to ask this question to my grand-mother, after listening to her stories….    why there was Mahabharat war at all ? It was Lord Krishan, the supreme soul himself with Pandavas…so why there was a need for a war…if he wanted…he could be finished the war in a minute by using his vice Sudarshan chakra.    Same questions came into my mind as a child about Jesus Christ as well. The crucifixion of Jesus occurred during the 1st century AD, most probably between the years 30 and 33. Jesus, whom Christians believe to be the Son of God as well as the Messiah, was arrested, tried, and sentenced by Pontius Pilate to be scourged, and finally crucified by the Romans. How?    How can that happen? He is the son of the God, he can protect himself…God could have protected him otherwise. Why was he crucified?

Message – there was a message in both the stories, my grand mother said. And that message was so strong that we are discussing those 5000-10000 years after…at this time…sitting here in the small city of India,    she said while playing with my hair, as I fell asleep.

And the message from the little story of my friend is:    more he will believe, more he will win. More he will cultivate honesty within, more closer he will approach towards his keys …remember? We started off with the mention of those keys to our happiness. That's what will be proved once again, and we shall take note yet again... Just as accounting theory said...  “Not only accountants have to be objective…they must appear to be objective as well to others”  .... same what Lord Krishna said in Bhagwat Gita ...  ”we all fight the battle everyday of our life...the biggest of them all is the battle of right/wrong, true/false, honesty/dishonesty – and the result of this battle must be shown to the world proudly…so that, it is result is trusted in the ages to come  …  that truth/honesty always finds victory over everything else”  . Are we being truthful & honest to ourselves today and always? If yes, just smile it away and sing….WHAT? 

Enough is enough.  Tomorrow I want to wake up early. I am very delighted to be appointed as the chef for cooking Christmas lunch tomorrow. Aprons are out and about…ready to shine. I must go as well to bed…so are you…

I want to take this opportunity to thank you all, for your friendship, for your support, kind words and smiles.    May you all have a Merry Christmas and joyful festive season.    Take good care of yourself and indulge responsibly. Love you all.

On 17 December 2015, after losing nine out of sixteen league games, Chelsea football club announced that they had parted company with Jose Mourinho "by mutual consent". They went on to say: "The club wishes to make clear Jose leaves us on good terms and will always remain a much-loved, respected and significant figure at Chelsea. Jose Mourinho was the highest paid football manager in the world and the most successful one as well in terms of his records. How could he not turn around his success formulas once again, how could not stop all those negativity about him in media and Chelsea club dressing room, how could he not realize/learn from his mistakes quicker and how could he not maintain his most loved-special one status for any longer…if he was that smart enough to earn £20mn a year!!!

Jose Mourinho is no exception. We don't all have just two sides to our personalities; we are multifaceted as well. We respond and react differently, depending on who we are talking to and what we are interacting with. People shouldn't accuse one another of inconsistency as if this, on its own, is an offence. Adaptability deserves to be praised, not criticised. A position once we held with great vehemence now seems redundant. It was appropriate then but something else makes more sense now. Why should that be a problem?

It reminds me of the Chinese story of a farmer who used an old horse to till his fields. One day, the horse escaped into the hills and when the farmer's neighbours sympathized with the old man over his bad luck, the farmer replied, "Bad luck? Good luck? Who knows?" A week later, the horse returned with a herd of horses from the hills and this time the neighbours congratulated the farmer on his good luck. His reply was, "Good luck? Bad luck? Who knows?"

Then, when the farmer's son was attempting to tame one of the wild horses, he fell off its back and broke his leg. Everyone thought this very bad luck. Not the farmer, whose only reaction was, "Bad luck? Good luck? Who knows?"

Some weeks later, the army marched into the village and conscripted every able-bodied youth they found there. When they saw the farmer's son with his broken leg, they let him off. Now was that good luck or bad luck? Who knows?

Everything that seems on the surface to be an evil may be a good in disguise. And everything that seems good on the surface may really be an evil. So we are wise when we leave it to the universe to unveil what is good fortune and what misfortune, and remain grateful for everything comes on our way, NO MATTER WHAT :)

Christmas is exactly 15 days away. Exciting. Street of London are more crowded than before and people of London appear busier than earlier. I love people. I love streets full of people. It allows an impression of festivity. I love it, as long as they are not allowed to smoke, drink and speak French (f***) on the streets. If I was made the Mayor a city, I shall ban these three things from the streets of the city to make it more safe. Our celebration should not be the cause of irritation for others. I don’t like the smell of cigarrate in a slow-moving-crowded street, where I am concerned that some of these ashes will come straight into my little son’s eyes or I am watchful how some behave when overdrunk or how vulgar they shout, especially when little kids are around). 2015 is going to end and 2016 is going to be established. Nothing is permanent. Not the year, not the month, not the day, not the hours, not minutes, not second, not Jose Mourinho or his special one status, not me, not you, not anyone else…nope…will remain only our connection with purity/honesty/ love/gratitude.

Honesty se yaad aya (speaking of honesty); we spend billions of dollars looking for life on other planets, and spend trillions of dollars killing this one. Just as; we spend thousands of dollars in buying medical insurance and spend much more than to destroy our health in our own hand.

And here in this part of the world, the evening has indeed come to an end, as it does, same time, every day. Chalo – I feel FREEDOM and LOVE are absolutely priceless in every sense. We work hard, we study, we save, we become rick, we buy this, we buy that…but speaking of honesty; we are (ALL OF US….) only looking for…searching for only FREEDOM & LOVE. Music is LOVE, they said. Able to feel music in our veins/souls is FREEDOM.

Wish you all a very good night. Take good care and have a wonderful week ahead. Jate Jate sunte jana…some soulful tracks…until later…Lots of love.

In some months, no of friends I wish “Happy Birthday” is more than other months. In some months, it’s literally nil and a month like this beginning of December, end of November; I have a handful of people I have to wish Happy Birthday. Philosophical bit within me rose and asked me; what does that supposed to mean? I said, “Ohh you stop and go to bed, anything, anytime you asked!!!” He said, “No, No – think about it”. I ignored him upfront but he instigated what he wanted to. He made me thinking...

How come I have so many friends to wish, who are born between May-June, June-July, November-December and January-February? How? Essentially they belong to Libra, Cancer, Geminis, Sagittarius or Aquarius star sign? I am plenty of them as good friends.

Grandfather had said; don’t dwell on questions which are not important anyways. Is this important or not? I asked myself. Do I need to know who I am dealing with by enquiring their sun sign? That will be discrimination, as if we didn’t have enough already…and it will be KALLED “Astrological Discrimination”!!! J

Since childhood I have seen the influence of astrology in our day-to-day life. My parents did not literally move a thing without consulting their favourite astrologer. As-if; life would have been easy, if there was ONE SINGLE favourite astrologer. There were many FAVOURITE/BEST Astrologers in their dictionary. I look at it positively. That made me curious and Albert Einstein has said “Follow you curiosity and that you will achieve success”. Mind you; Albert Einstein was not an astrologer and neither had he meant financial success when he said “Success”. He was a wise man and my most favourite scientist as well. So where were we? Curiosity was where we were, when we diverted to Alberto Einstein. So my parents’ action made me curious towards astrology and by nature, as many of my friends know, I read a lot of book, just anything and that included a lot of book of astrology just to satisfy the quest of my knowledge hunt. Now the million dollar question!!! What do I think?

I think; it a form of science. It is theoretical, as any other forms of science we have accepted in our studies or in our day-to-day life. As long as it provides us and we accept it as a guidance, rather than as the law-of-life, we are fine.

Anyways; today good friend of mine, one of the oldest one in the UK as well, celebrating his birthday. That’s right a Sagittarius by sign. This may sound weird that I am going this extend explaining these but friends do mean a lot to me and fill an important part within me. Each of them composes something important within me and I am a mixture of all those important compositions, essentially good values. Sagittarius friends are good listeners , they inspire me immensely and we talk a lot of philosophical/ spiritual stuff together without feeling conscious.   With Geiminies, I have fun…we dream, we travel, we eat , we watch movie. Cancerians trigger my definition of precision in everything . I like the way they talk, the way they speak, the way they carry themselves, their family values,…just perfect…impressive...respect bubbles, romance triggers.. what not!!!. There was so many times I listen to Priyanka Chopra talk or Katrina Kaif talk (Bollywood actresses and think WOW…that is what makes them stand out, not their looks or family background) ( My friend from US @Biswajeet Satapathy – Nana that’s what you are); With Aquarius, we are just so similar, we are chatty, we like similar things, fine things in life, we have a lot in common. What can I say about another Libra ….that’s what my little baby, Rishi is and I am too… curiosity of Librans inspire me …they are always busy learning or trying to make sense of this world, new things, new knowledge, new food, new travel…just rediscovering the world everyday.

From curiously, I remembered a lot of questions this morning; “Papa who do you think is going to win the match between Chelsea and Spurs today?” Chelsea I said. He goes “Who do you think is going to score today?” . Should be Eden Hazard, I said. “But he never scored all this season “. I said, I think he is going to score today. “But Spurs are a strong team and they had beaten Manchester City and Manchester City has beaten Chelsea 4-0 earlier, in that logic, they are stronger than Chelsea”, he asked. Ohh I don’t know Rishi, how do I know? The logics do not work like that. I didn’t tell him all. All I do is smile and answer to plant assertiveness in his mind, just as my grand-father did when I was growing up. “ Believe and Good things will happen”, is what Kung-fu-Panda said and he is our favourite cartoon character at home, not Spider Man, who said “With Great power; comes great responsibility” . From their famous lines above; Kung-fu-Panda appears a bit of planner, who is trying to teach us to make our foundation strong from day 1 and Spider Man is saying something at the last minute; well, remember to be responsible when you have power. Both are good. And ASTROLOGY is like KUNG-FU-PANDA, for all that lengthy discussion we had this morning. TAKE IT AS GUIDANCE and RAISE and SHINE …Shall we? Do we?

I have to go now… I love writing…when mind is free, and I am feeling good right now. But do you know, say for the first time in last 3 years I had a heavy breakfast this morning. I either have a smoothie made at home with my Vitamix blender or Granola-Yogurt for breakfast. Today I had a feast. That will keep me going for the rest of the day. And the match starts in 45 mins…it is quite an important match. I shall have a shower, smell good and make myself on the sofa before it kicks off. Let’s go. Before I go I shall present you with two things…the music for this week, which is playing in the background in my house right now (a childhood song, when I was an absolute baby) and also the Astro-chemistry chart between Librans and other start signs.

SAYO-NARA; Happies Sundaies. Ding-Dong. Love you all. Take good care and keep smiling.

Aries - Opposites attract and this pairing is a top one for you, Libra. Aries is bold, charismatic and socially you two can party the night away. When Libra is introduced to Aries, Libra sees this friendship getting serious and thinks about making BIG decisions in life, such signing legal documents and focusing more on your career, Libra.

Taurus - When Libra meets Taurus, Libra is charmed by the beauty of the Venus ruled Taurus. Libra feels instant compatibility when meeting Taurus, as you both share a mutual fondness of the pleasures of life.

Gemini - Gemini is your 9th House of overseas travel, legalities, spiritual views and publishing, Libra. A varied and balanced life means the world to you, Libra. And Libra deserves the very best. Gemini provides presents/gifts, love and affection to Libra and then some.

Cancer - Libra meets Cancer and wants to meet Cancer's parents, like yesterday. Lets make this official already, thinks Libra. The home loving sign of Cancer will appeal to Libra on many levels. One thing is certain with a Cancer, Libra. You and Cancer can climb to the top of the corporate ladder together. Cancer can and will surprise you when and where you least expect it, Libra.

Leo - Leo is your 11th House of friends, hopes and wishes Libra. Leo flatters, charms you and tells you what you want to hear. Not what the truth is necessarily but you hear music and see hearts with Leo, Libra. Ruled by Venus, your charm attracts and entices Leo into your social and romantic world with a just a single seductive glance or a hint of the right perfume.

Virgo - Virgo is a mystery and an enigma to you, Libra. You might find that higher education, teaching, learning and Virgo's personal development play a big role in this relationship from the get go. A Virgo teaches you things about yourself that prove to be valuable and life changing, Libra.

Libra - Another Libra is your IDEAL match, Libra. Legendary lovers and the longest lasting loves are usually Libra with another Libra. Life is free, easygoing and seriously romantic with another Libra.

Scorpio - Libra finds the mystery of Scorpio intriguing, but Libra also gets involved with mysteries, psychology and secrets when dealing with a Scorpio. Libra needs to give Scorpio occasional space and Scorpio needs to come to terms with Libra's varied interests and passions and unfortunately, they don't all include Scorpio.

Sagittarius - When Libra meets Sagittarius, Libra feels as though he or she is meeting someone (Sagittarius) who gets them, feels like a sibling and doesn't misunderstand Libra's mixed messages or ambiguous intentions. Libra adores the attractive, outgoing and optimistic nature of Sagittarius. Libra will turn ideas and fantasies into realities when in the presence of a Sagittarius.

Capricorn - Libra is an air sign and Capricorn is an earth sign. Although you could fall madly and passionately in love, the love will never last as long as you want it to, Libra. Domestic and romantic plans can suddenly change between Libra and Capricorn, for better or for worse.

Aquarius - Aquarius is Libras 5th House of laughter and is a fellow air sign, Libra. Here is someone who you meet and want to take an immediate risk/chance with, Libra. And you usually wind up jumping head first into a relationship with Aquarius quite easily and effortlessly.

Pisces - When Libra meets Pisces, Pisces is smitten upon first sight. Libra takes his or her time when selecting the perfect match, so Pisces could seem a bit eager for Libra, initially. 

No matter how meticulously we ever weigh anything in this world, we can always reach a different conclusion, if we apply more refined set of measurements. Isn’t that right? Likewise; those refinements are infinite, endless…from hours to minutes…to seconds…to nano-seconds and goes on… who know where it ends…do we?

Likewise…our judgements conclude different things…at different time…based different refinements. One day, we make some one hero and the other day he is zero. One day we call Global warming is our doing…other day we say…our universe goes through this cycle every thousand years. We live in a world full of lofty ideas and complex theories. We even at times do not know what we say and do what we do. Well; our Earth rotates once in about 24 hours with respect to the sun and once every 23 hours, 56 minutes and 4 seconds with respect to the stars. And we people living on the earth surface, in actual fact rotate with it as well.

• India's not new to political dynasties. It is also not uncommon for children to follow their parents' footsteps in the business of politics. Their kids don’t have to study, they don’t have to go to colleges/universities, they just have to born with silver spoon and rule over us, without much of an effort or criteria. We just sit and watch. No. We take selfies with them as well, remember? Few weeks ago I was reading Indian Express Newspaper; where I found, the YSR Congress chief from Andhra Pradesh state of India (who started his political career in 2004, owns 94,038 acres of land, valued at Rs 33,935 crore, and possesses mining leases for over 1,81,079 acres of land with a total turnover of Rs 16,63,400 crore.

• In our country; much of the formal economy continues to be run by a couple dozen family-controlled groups that seem to be in just about every major industry — manufacturing, retail, energy, infrastructure, shipping, construction and telecom. We just sit and watch.

• Rape is the fourth most common crime against women in India. According to the National Crime Records Bureau, 98% of the rape cases were reported across India was committed by someone known to the victim (98% of the cases). Some of them become politician as well, few years after raping someone. We just sit and watch.

• The population of undivided India in 1947 was approx 390 million. After partition, there were 330 million people in India, 30 million in West Pakistan, and 30 million people in East Pakistan (now Bangladesh). And today we have 1.2 billion people live in just India and still growing carelessly. We just sit and watch.

We sit very quietly and watch…say nothing...do nothing. And them, who see this weakness in us…take advantage of the situation. We raise our voice for those points, which mean nothing to anybody. And we say nothing for those points, which have been essentially stopping India from becoming a developed nation.

Ramchandra thik hee keh gaye the. “Ramachandra keh gaye siyase aisa kal yug aayega… Hansa chugega dana dunka kauva motee khayega”. In English: Once, Lord Shri Raamchandra explained to Sita that there would come a time in the Kali Age/Era (which is now); when there would be such a reversal of values, that we will witness crow-like men being held in higher estimation than swan-like men.

I want to sleep. Before that…why I have said what I said above? Just…felt like saying something. May the whole existence behave/work strangely; there is nothing anyone could ever say to convince us that one person cannot change a nation. One person can do unbelievable things to change the whole existence. Indeed.

Chalo; take very good care of yourself for now and remember Charismas count-down has already begun…less than a month it is. How exciting!!! On that note lets listen to some music…the world has been quite a serious place, very recently…lets bring some tranquillity and some sparkle to our soul. Here we go… Goodnight.

Often in our life we come across many people who have helped us, made our lives better and taught us good lessons. They may or may not be our family but they are truly cherished. On this Thanksgiving Day I express my sincere gratitude towards all of them…my family, my friends, my colleagues, my little son and everyone of them we continue to uplift my spirit.   Thank you, Thank you, Thank you.

Sad-Sad-Sad; upset too, very very, with what happened in Paris last night.  It just never seem to be ending…not in clear horizon…one after other…so soon…so fast. We only notice these in the western world because of the accessibility and media coverage. Imagine how many are dying in the India subcontinent, middle-east and Africa, like insects and flies, every single day. There is no official count of all these. We tend to ignore these sad news but it only hits us, if the affected is one of ours.  Imagine how the friends and families of those people died last night, must be coping right now. Indescribable!!! May this never happen again…

Terrorist attack, it seems has caused all these in Paris. I was curious. What exactly is terrorism and what do they want; contrary to what we tend to believe.  My curiosity took me to Wikipedia and here is what I found about the purpose and objectives of terrorism:

• Terrorism is any act designed to cause terror. Terrorism is generally understood to feature a political objective. The word "terrorism" is politically loaded and emotionally charged.
• A broad array of political organizations has practised terrorism to further their objectives.
• It has been practiced by right and left-wing political parties, nationalist groups, religious groups, revolutionaries, and ruling governments.
• The symbolism of terrorism can exploit human fear to help achieve these goals.
• It sets out to inflame, to divide, and to produce consequences which they then use to justify further terror.
• Modern terrorists often calculate civilian casualties for a desired effect, as opposed to psychopathic mass homicide.
  Lastly, words like patriot and terrorist are not as antonymic as we believe. 
• To distract. Often, the spreaders of terror play the shell game, causing us all to look one way, while something more sinister is happening where no one is looking.  In the past, there is a possibility that Osama bin Laden and his cohorts knew full well that response to an act of war on 9/11 would result in us deploying military resources by the billions to countries halfway around the world. Same with the stories of Saddam Husain and him stocking up mass destruction weapons in Iraq, which today, those involved in the decision making public statements about wrong action with incorrect intelligence information.

In short; terrorism has five elements:

1. Terrorism is politically or ideologically motivated; it has no religion.
2. Conducted by members of the state, or not;
3. It can be lethal and nonlethal;
4. And it seeks to unsettle the status quo.
5. And create business opportunities, or otherwise

We are not in a war against terror! Are we? That’s the most absurd formula ever invented. It is also a sign for certain defeat, because  if we haven’t the guts to identify and openly name the arch enemy of freedom, they will win. “Terror” is a tactic. How can we claim a tactic as an enemy?

Over last 100 years in particular; we tried to emphasize growth/greed over humanity, growth/greed over sustainability.  Just imagine, education system being evolved as a profitable industry; health-care system being evolved as a profitable industry; political system being evolved as a profitable industry; law/justice system being evolved as a profitable industry; defence/armaments system being evolved as a profitable industry!!! Anything we name, basically which should be a state run system with minimum capitalistic influence is a profitable industry today. When they were not, 50 years ago or before, our world was a comparatively safer place to live in.  Soon will be a time when like above, terrorism will be considered as a profitable profession or industry. Really? How absurd? Exactly!!! That’s EXACTLY what I think, when I think of Education, Politics and health-care systems, have turned into profitable industry sector. Think about God-man-ship in India….it is some multi trillion dollar industry in total. Every other person in our community considers himself/herself as an incarnation of God.  Wherever we can a scope to implant greed and implant fear in people’s mind; we have an opportunity to start business there and make money. Business of fear is the most profitable business today!!! Agree?

How do we stop this?  That will come later. But question before that is; do we want to stop this?  It has to dethroned fundamentally. Fear has to go.  What is right must be selected.  We need to make ourselves less infatuated with fashion, charm or outer-glimmer. We need to be realistic. It is not now about current generation. It is about future…about our kids and grand-kids generation now. Our action now will see the result perhaps in a generation’s time. So do we care or we leave it as it is. It is perhaps a better thing to think about and take action than saving wealth for your future generations. Wealth will have no value, when sustainability is a serious question here.

The word Kingdom is often associated with a ruler, the king and his ruled countrymen. Raja aur praja.  Raja rules and Praja are ruled happily by the Raja. Praja chunti hey Raja, aur Raja sambhalta hey Raajbhar. People mandate/choose a ruler/ruling party and the ruler only rules over the Kingdom based on the mandate of its citizens.  It is not the birth right of any ruler to take decision against the wish and at the cost of sustainability of the Kingdom and its fellow citizen.  JAB RAKSHAK BANE BHAKSHAK.  Don't you feel this is wrong? No one is allowed to unsettle the status quo of the Kingdom and its fellow citizen. If they do; - it can not be, it should not be and it will not be tolerated.  Selection is still in our hand, our voice is our vice and if we think we have bigger platforms today to voice our collective opinion and decision. These must STOP.

I shall end with a small story. Love telling stories.   Monday 8th of August 2011 will be the day remembered by all our local residents of London for the meaningless violence, which thrust upon our much loved streets.  Worst hit area was the Clapham Junction, around Lavender Hill. No one involved had any intentions of delivering a political of social message; they just wanted to enjoy themselves by destroying people’s livelihoods. It was disturbing to watch on television, and terrifying for some of our residents stuck in the thick of the violence. Personally, the worst image for me was that of the young girls in the attack laughing at their friends tearing a TV off the wall in Ladbrokes. Such a depressingly pathetic display of ignorance and stupidity.

But the local community has come together in a tear jerking response as residents supported those affected today with broom in hand to clean up.  Something to be proud of. And guess what…since the collective campaign started by the local residents in the Clapham high street, the rioters backed off, disappeared and Clapham came back to normality than some of the other areas, within London, where residents were dependent solely on the police forces and government.  Remember; evil is always scared of the good, not the other way round. We don’t need courage to be in the good side but we definitely need some to be in the wrong side, the evil side.

My good friend from Kiev wrote to me on the occasion of Diwali;  Bikash How was your Deewali? Lena and I had a chance to have a small celebration ourselves, to mark this holiday you taught me about - Lena prepared somewhat-Indian spicy chicken for the occasion, and we shared some memories about you :).

Love you my friend. Happy Diwali to you. I shall rather respond to you here knowingly you will be reading this. I shall forward this link to you, soon as I post it.  Diwali   festival spiritually signifies the victory of light over darkness, knowledge over ignorance, good over evil, and hope over despair.  That’s exactly I have been writing here in this blog essentially. We Indians love little stories. We believe matters, only if it has a story. That’s why you see such difference in the contents of Indian and Hollywood movies. For Diwali as a well, it has some mythological stories behind it, why it is celebrated, when it is celebrated and what it signifies. I  shall explain these to you next time when I see you and Lena together. I can put up an act as well together with the story. Will that be good, you think?  For now I am glad you had a little celebration yourself. I am very proud of you. You know the we have 29 states and 7 union territories in India today. And each of the states and union territories has their own festivals, languages, state-holidays, food patterns etc.  But one particular festival which unites whole India and all its states and union territories is Diwali…the festival of lights.  Not only in India, has it become a phenomenon outside of India as well. That’s why you say the President Obama declared this as a holiday in America and all other world leaders such as David Cameron spoke so fondly about this festival. Diwali is soon becoming like Christmas, with no religion attached. It is for everyone, of everyone, by everyone. This is how we celebrate Christmas in our house hold, as far as my memory goes back, since my childhood, back in India.  And some lucky ones like you celebrate Christmas twice…a normal Christmas on 25^th December and an Orthodox one on January 7^th ?    May be one year, I hope I get chance to celebrate Orthodox Christmas with you and you celebrate Diwali with me. Thank you. Love you. Take care. Speak soon. My best wishes to Lena as well.

Chalo. My apology for making it a long read on this occasion for this topic (Paris attack).  I hope we understand the cause, we understand the objectives and we also understand our responsibilities. That’s all I wanted to say. Thank you for reading and your patience.

Until later...Lots of love and again my prayers and thoughts go to the victims of the terror attacks in ‪#‎Paris and their families ‪#‎PrayForParis

Hard to believe; but I hardly ever celebrated my Birthday in the past. Since Class 8; I have been out of my parental home and I can’t blame my parents for not celebrating my birthday. Friends celebrated my 30^th in a grand fashion in Australia, in a limousine, which I remember quite fondly until date. But the best I remember of my birthday celebration; was when I was growing up with my beloved Grand-father in his family home until Class 8 in the school. There was no Cake cutting ceremony existed those days; nope; we had something called “Nagi badha”; where 10-15 different delicacies cooked by my grand-mother, under the strict direction of my grand-father to make them extra special, for his very special grand-son (eldest). My friends (school mates, cricket mates) were all invited to come and have lunch at our home and then the remainder of the food were distributed amongst the neighbours and poor people. That explains why I never was keen to celebrate my birthday. We essentially do things for experience and I never underwent another acute experience after my grand-father. I get emotional, even with the mere mention of my grand-father.

At the end of the day, yes: we are just ordinary people. It's more important to be beautiful from inside than to have a perfect outer appearance. If I look back at my life and count the things that matter to me; nothing can ever make me have the look in my eyes  that I have with the thought of my grand-father. He made and he is still making me a better person every single day.  His love and affection for me was rare and I still carry lot of his qualities as my guidance, my forte.

I was telling this to my sister, few weeks ago. Mere Zindagi ka tambu teen bambuo pe latka hua hai. If you consider my life is like a tent, it has been resting upon three tent poles…. ”Experience”, “Celebration” and “Evolution”. I am not interested in maintaining a huge bank balance, rather I shall experience everything, whichever, wherever it inspires me. Who knows what’s in store tomorrow. So why waste time now? Celebration is equally important as the hard-work for the success. It’s like other side of the coin, which make the identify of the coin complete. Good can not be experienced, without experiencing bad…likewise…without celebration, hard-work can not be sustained for long. And evolution? I tell this little story to Rishi, when he gets upset with the remark of any of his fellow football mates about his football skills. I tell him about two glasses…one is full with water and the other is empty. If we pour more water into two of these individual glasses; one will absorb it, while other will spill it out. Spilling out means, we have no space. No space means, we learn nothing new, we hold on to what we had learnt in the past and we do not improve at all, while all our surrounding keeps changing, keeps improving. At the end, we remain where we were before and those who embrace changes/improvement; go far ahead the circle of life….far they go. I asked him, what he wants to be…an empty glass or the other glass full of water. I think he got my point right…he said “I want to be the empty glass, Papa”. Brilliant choice my son, I am so proud of you.

That’s about the human evolution. What about the technological evolution? Do we really think it is really helping us or destroying us? When we have money, we first attempt to do damage to ourselves and then buy expensive medical insurances to protect us. That’s exactly what money is worth….medical insurance…not health. Health will come from living normally, where we pay attention to the source…we take care of the sources, so that they do not finish…we do not destroy them….destroying them is like destroying us. No? Land conversion is such a politicized and gloomy area. I have seen these both in the west and also in the developing countries. Rate at which land conversion is taking place, soon will come a time, when we shall have more residential land than agricultural land. Will Technological evolution keep the food affordable for us still? Having one house is necessity, having multiple houses is luxury. Whether it is multiple houses, or multiple cars or multiple lands…driven by our greed is causing the imbalance to the source, to our mother nature, which may never repair again after.

An example in which robotic and mechanical solutions create a more efficient production line than a human workforce and cause mass unemployment. If machines produce everything we need, the outcome will depend on how things are distributed. Everyone can enjoy a life of luxurious leisure if the machine-produced wealth is shared, or most people can end up miserably poor if the machine-owners successfully lobby against wealth redistribution.  So far, the trend seems to be toward the second option i.e. with technology driving ever-increasing inequality.

Technological evolution should not only support capitalism, rather should work towards fixing the damages which we have already done to our sources. The world is now nearly certain to warm by up to 2C compared with pre-industrial levels, with political efforts concentrated on holding the potential temperature rise to no higher than that limit. But some analyses suggest that if greenhouse gas emissions continue to grow at current rates then warming of as much as 5C could be in store. Food price riots have been seen in several developing countries following sudden rises of less than 10% in food prices in recent years, demonstrating the vulnerability of the poor to grain prices. The global population is currently over 7bn and is forecast to rise to at least 9bn, and potentially up to 12bn, by 2050, which will put more pressure on agricultural land and water sources. Apple has launched IPhone 6S or Amazon has started drone dropped delivery service are not technological evolution as such, they don’t make any impact to the sustainability issues which are far greater than our individual comfort or luxury. We are only fixing things though technological evolution, which we had broken at the first place for no reason.

The first thing that comes into our mind, when we talk about Charlie Chaplin is that; he was a comedian. Do we know Chaplin's childhood in London was defined by poverty and hardship? As his father was absent and his mother struggled financially, he was sent to a workhouse twice before the age of nine. When he was 14, his mother was committed to a mental asylum. Chaplin began performing at an early age, touring music halls and later working as a stage actor and comedian. That speaks the ability of the person, who had challenged his adversities and turned them to his advantages. How? I don’t know. I know he said something, which could provide a linkage… he said something like this “As I began to love myself I freed myself of anything that is no good for my health – food, people, things, situations, and everything that drew me down and away from myself. At first I called this attitude a healthy egoism. Today I know it is “LOVE OF ONESELF”. So in order for us to be strong, where we can turn adversities to advantages; we need to first love ourselves, look after ourselves. How? Common, you know that!!! We have to reject everything which is not good for us. This is what Charlie Chaplin had said above…that we should run away from bad habbits (Alcohol, smoking), bad company, bad situation, bad things & bad food.

I shall leave these topics to our very own capable hands. For now; it is Navratri time. It starts this Tuesdays this week? For the first time ever, I am going to fast during Navratri. Why? Don’t know. Just the experience. Never have done this before. No, I don’t need anything from the Goddess. She is always been kind to me. What else I can ask for? Maa knows it all, she is JagatJanani…she is Jagadambha…she is the wife of my Aradhya Mahadev….the source…the energy…the power! Feel free to join me, if interested.

Lastly; thank you very much for all your kind birthday wishes. They mean a lot to me. Abhar prakat karta hoon. Dhanyabad. You know next one is the big one…I’ll be keen to celebrate my birthday next year, for sure. All are invited. God knows why but I  have a feeling its going to be a wonderful journey from now until then, for me, for you, for us all. Take good care of yourself and Remember to Remember: “To Believe”; “Good things happen, when you do Believe.”! Good Night, Subh-Rati and Sabah-Khair!

These days, risk assessments are all the rage. No expedition or venture can be properly planned without someone first writing a report listing how all the ways in which things could go wrong have been carefully considered. Of course, such exercises create a kind of false confidence. Either the organisers/planners assume that they have not covered all bases, and can thus relax, or they become so apprehensive that their nervousness invites eventual mishap. At issue today, is not 'what you expect to go awry' but “what you don't expect! “!!!

Mistakes, it seems, are easy to make but perhaps they are not always quite so easy to forgive. But then, if many more examples of human error were accepted more freely and philosophically, certain people might find themselves less discouraged from making them. Yet, all too often, the cause of a mistake turns out to be the fear of making said same mistake! 

As you see every action or emotion has a role to play; whether it is making a mistake or it is to forgive someone who has done a mistake or the fear of making a mistake or even performing risk assessment to avoid doing a mistake. If all have a part to play; so should we be stressing out too much about the occurrence of one kind of outcome? Anything can happen – should we let it happen? We must continue to act. The fear of error should not stop the actions from taking place. Nature of the actions we take, will determine the nature of end result - for sure. Trust me.

Here is a little story; I received in Whatsapp. Once a dog ran into a museum where all the walls, the ceiling, the door and even the floor were made of mirror. Seeing this, the dog froze in surprise in the middle of the hall, and a whole pack of dogs surrounded it from all sides, from above and below. When the dog bared his teeth, all the reflections responded to it in the same way. Frightened, the dog frantically barked - the reflections imitated the bark and increased it many...times. The dog barked even harder and the echo was keeping up. The dog tossed from one side to another, biting the air - his reflections also tossed around snapping their teeth.

Next morning the museum's security guards found the miserable dog, lifeless and surrounded by a million reflections of lifeless dogs. There was nobody else in the museum who meant any harm to the dog. The dog died fighting his own reflections.

The world doesn't bring good or evil on its own. Everything that is happening around us is the reflection of our own thoughts, feelings, wishes and actions. The World is a big mirror. Strike a good pose! 

Selfie? No-No-No-No-No! Sorry!!! I didn’t say that.  Definition of Selfie is not “Jaab hum khud ki letein hein” – it is a photograph that one has taken of oneself, typically taken with a smartphone or webcam and shared via social media. Here we are talking about a selfie, which is an exemplary image for good reasons of course, for others to follow, to acknowledge and take inspirations. Samjhe? Kya Samjhe?

Chalo; tab-tak – Good Night, Subh-Rati and Sabah-Khair!

In business when they have to make competitive decisions, they often justify themselves with the phrase, 'That's business'. In business, nobody can afford to be too elastic or too soft. That’s if business is capital oriented. How about if it is charitable or religious or spiritual type? Those same people, who were involved shrewdly in capital oriented businesses; will perform acts of supreme generosity and self-sacrifice; with charitable or religious or spiritual type of Business,. Example: Bill and Melinda Gates foundation and Microsoft Corporate. Two different types of Business, same owners and different standards apply for these different types of business.

Consumers have equal contribution in making price/demand elasticity curve bend either ways. If Sachin Tendulkar or Shahrukh Khan has endorsed a product, that makes the product successful, not so much its price, design, or ingredients in it. Other day I was listening to this song and remembered how many time this song was forwarded to me via email, SMS, Whatsapp etc, in last two-three years. Why? Because it is Sachin Tendulkar's favourite song apparently. See, this song of 1950s finds popularity in current age group, very instantly, soon as it is associated with a celebrity life-style.

The song goes like this; “Gum aur Khusi ka faaarrrk mehsoosh na ho jahan....mein dil ko ush mukaaam pe leta chala gaya.....Har fitrrrrrrrrrrr ko dhuen (Khane mein uda ta - in our case) mein uda ta chala gaya... “. Very meaningful song it is; “Gum aur Khusi ka faaarrrk mehsoosh na ho jahan....” - “The state of mind where we can’t differentiate between happiness and sadness. That is the direction I drove my heart towards...”

Jitna bada pain, utna bada opportunity bada ban-ne ka. Na Gandhiji ko laat padta, na unke upaar log thukte, na unko train se dhaka marke nikaal diya jata .....na unke mann mein junoon bharta Bapu ban-ne ka. Auur jahan dukh aur sukh ka pharak khatam Hota hey...thik wahin se mahatma ban-ne ka patla sa rasta suru Hota hai! Aur hum mahatma baney aur nathuram, yeah chayan sirf hamara hey. Lucky are those, who were granted such accute opportunity (not pain) by God to become bapu like, big, bigger than other normal beings.

In Business theories, models are very important. These models are only remembered if we give them some kind of name and that’s how they will be remembered for the generations to come. One such business model can be: “Jaisa Desh, Waisa Bhesh”. In English; “When in Rome, do as Romans do”. How about we find a name for this business model? Say; “Jaisa Desh, Waisa Bhesh model” or “JDWB model”? How does that sound? And if I simplify this model, all it is telling us is: NO SINGLE RULE; HOLDS TRUE FOR ALL SITUATIONS. Na; that’s not all – other important link is missing, which will come from Gandhiji and Sachin Tendulkar story above and that will complete the sentence. Let’s do it.

NO SINGLE RULE; HOLDS TRUE FOR ALL SITUATIONS; UNLESS ADVERTISED BY SACHIN TENDULKAR OR PAINFULLY EXPERIENCED BY MAHAMTMA GANDHI! Bapu taught us to exercise nonviolence in all situations and Sachin taught us to use “It’s my choice – and yours?” in all state of affairs.

And my favourite song for this weekend is… as usual, a beautiful concoction of contemporary and classical. Here we go. Hope it puts you into the dreamland… Goodnight! :)

My childhood friend and I were chatting recently about how India has changed since we were children. He remembered, as a little boy, watching poor men pulling rickshaws in the streets, and constantly being abused/yelled/even beaten by customers for driving too slow. When he questioned, his mother consoled him saying, 'there is nothing we can do about this.' But in today's world, such an offensive act would have some (not yet all) passer-by reaching for their mobile phone to call the authorities to lodge a complain. Attitudes do adjust, principles do develop but it all happens a little more slowly than we might wish. Never mind the sluggishness, encouraging changes keep coming to our life, always. And it will continue to…how much we can see in our life time is the question!!! No?

Lets related the above with weather forecast ….hmmm…let's have a quiz instead, is that all right? What comes after the rain? And when comes after the darkest hours of the night?  We know the answers and there is perhaps a reason why we know them. That’s because from a very early age we have been made to equip with attitudes, to cope with life's stresses and strains, by remembering that these situations in our life are invariably seasonal or cyclical. And they are, aren't they? Let’s try recalling a worst situation which remained forever in our life, without being surpassed by another superior/beautiful experience? Everything will move on, eventually, including us…who are sitting here, analysing this topic right now.

That’s not fair, we say! What’s the point if it changes for good, after our life time? What’s there for us now? They say, “There is no such thing as bad weather, only clothing that is inappropriate for the climate.” Life is uncomfortable when we expect too much out of it…imagine ourselves overdressed for the summer or underdressed for the cold. We’ll feel miserable if we had gone after the weather forecast in the television channels and it went wrong. Well how about, we don’t listen to weather forecast at all, we make our judgements about weather forecast… i.e. we shall deliberately wear outfits that would be suitable for the weather we wished we were likely to experience? Advantage?: we have nothing / no-one to blame and we have zero expectation and we learnt a new skill, that is up in the market, which is called? RISK-TAKING or something?

It’s again, that time of the week, I generally share my favourite song for the week and this week, without an exception I do have a song. Here it is. Before I publish it, a lil bit of background about this song...I heard this song quite adequately, mostly while travelling with my friends, in their respective cars, during my recent trip to India. Those beautiful friends, kept guessing the meaning of the line “chadariya jhini re jhini” . Some derived an abusive meaning, some derived a romantic meaning, and some derived a wild meaning and others? I mean others, those who are not so intelligence as my friends above but rather so imaginative? Those imaginative ones sang….” Jab Baag Mein Koi Phool Khila Toh Bhanvre Ne Kaha; chadariya jhini re jhini...Parvat Pe Chhayi Kaali Ghata Toh Boli Hawaa; chadariya jhini re jhini...”

Its too hot outside…PLEASE carry your SHADES wherever you go and together with it… A handful of your beautiful smiles…because that is the most important thing, which will get you up there…not what got to up here. Have a fabulous weekend. :)

Today I was listening to Christano Ronaldo, remember the "Ballon D'ore" . Nice hunk hey, girls? The best football player in the world today!!! Was do we think of him? Brat, Grumpy, full of ego, full of attitude - right? No exception, I included until today, when I saw him answering questions with a tearful eyes. Apparently he has donated £5m fund to Nepal earthquake relief activities. How unlikely!!! Going by his personality we'd imagine he'll be least bothered with what happens in Nepal, right? The guy also said it is unfair for people to judge him by his facial expression on the pitch. He said he knows he looks serious all the time but without it, he would not be able to stay focussed and score 60+ goals in each season, every season and win major trophies for his club every year. Does he sound convincing? What do you think guys? Na....right ?

Every year thousands of people die near the border line of Indian-Pakistan or India-China. Do we have any Chinese or Pakistani friends? I do. In my professional circle. Many. Some are extremely good friends. They say exactly same thing as we say at our end. Indian or Indian soldiers intruded into our territory and we just were cleaning them out. What do you do when a thief gets into your house, they ask, just like us? So guys who do we believe ? Their story or our story. Any guess? Simple enough. We believe our side of the story and they believe their side of the story. We do not believe each other's story. My Chinese friends claim, Chinese can never do anything wrong. For them everything belonged once to Chinese empire. They even claim Japan belongs to them!!! How on earth, only they know! Apparently the Japanese king once send the best Chinese intellectual people from his kingdom to go find Amrit in the ocean, so that he can drink it and become immortal. These best intellectual Chinese, who went in search of Amrit, didn't come back. Now it seems they stayed back in the middle of the ocean and formed Japan there. That was Chinese part of the story. My other Pakistani friend said this to me when I passed my chartered accounting paper. Listen carefully now. It’s of no use for me to pass chartered accounting papers. He said you stand in Pakistan Street and throw a stone; the person it will hit on head, is a chartered account. Ab bolo?!!! Chartered accountants are selling at the price of potato and tomato it seems in Pakistan. Listen further. This guy also said; he was about to study chartered accounting but stopped it for SOME reason. His brother did, friend did, this did, that did …but it's just that he could not do it for that silly SOME reason, which he can’t remember. Now; tell us. What the price of these stories? Same as potato or tomato or even that of Salt and Sugar?

Few little examples I have given above. And that tells me something, whether we agree or not . First; it’s not good to be judgemental. And second is to believe these stories with a pinch of salt. No? Agree or still disagree?

Now compare these back to the heavily trending Salman Khan Story. It is very very very SAD what happened. A vehicle ran over poor people sleeping on the street. Loss is immense. These people come from very very poor villages from Rural India to earn little money, so that they can look after their big families back in their villages. Their loss is immense and irreparable.

Now what about Salman Khan!!!??? So many things we say about the man. Miserably drunk, woman beating, animal hunting, drugged out, law-abusing son of a rich dad...what not! So? Who is saying all these? Those who are blaming Salman Khan for all these; are they clean themselves from all these disgraceful habits? Batao. Batao?

An accident took place at wee hours of the night. People were sleeping at the accident spot i.e. on the road, because it was perhaps sleepable...I mean quite, dark, soon-Shan etc etc. it was quite, dark and sleepable place and people were sleeping in their deep sleep. Right? Accident took place and the accident making vehicle of Salman had three people in it, perhaps four. Driver, Body Guard, Kamaal Khan & Salman Khan. So these four people came out of the car after the accident, either through the right door, if the car was steady or through a wrong door if the car was unsteady or tilted. I am assuming pretty quickly they must have come out. Right ? So were there people (claiming themselves to be eyewitnesses) up so late in the night, in the middle of the road with torch and candle in their hand waiting for the accident to happen and them to recognise Salman Khan? Please explain to me. I have a basic question. Why Kamaal Khan has not been interviewed during the entire course of this judgement? He was inside the car; he had more chance to know the actual story than any made up story. He definitely knows who was driving the car, in contrast to people who were eye-witnesses of the accident! How can a judgement be complete without listening to Kamaal khan? By God’s grace he is alive today and capable of attending the court. That tells me something - the judgement was not based on complete information at the first place. Yes, Salman Khan should be convicted, punished if he is found guilty based on complete information.

At times; I think Salman Khan is victim of his own celebrity status. May be what he is saying is correct. Mind you; I am saying MAY BE! We don't have CCTV footage here to prove it otherwise. Why can't he have his democratic rights to prove his innocence? Why should we jump the gun all the time and act like we are the judges ourselves? What we know about this accident or the matter or even about Salman Khan? Nothing or very little ? Salman Khan knows what  he is doing. I do not know whether he was driving or it was his driver or even Kamaal Khan was driving.

If we bring up that LOC story I mentioned above about India-Pakistan-China; we only choose to believe stories based on who we like, what we see in our own pair of eyes or is based on who is more close to our heart or based on the distance of our relation with the person, community, country or whatever it may be we are comparing. It is apparent that some people believe today Salman Khan is innocent and some believe the opposite. Fair enough. A ll I am saying is; we must allow Salman Khan to fight is battle. That is his basic democratic right. We are not going to support Salman Khan knowingly if he is guilty. Never. We should encourage Salman Khan; only if he knows he is innocent and that he is trying to prove here. Let's accept for a moment; Salman knows he is guilty and he is STILL spending big money to hide the fact; I am rest assured, there is a BIGGER COURT up there, which he can not escape, he will fall apart, if he is truly guilty. Let the justice take its own course. 

Now; shall we give him a chance to prove his innocence or be more judgemental everyday, every hour, every minute, every second of his life miserable from now until next judgement? Let's imagine what must be going to his mind, if he really innocent and he had to go through all these for 13 years without a choice. Salman Khan is a lucky guy, not because high court has dismissed the punishment order of the lower court; but because he has money today to fight his battle, if he is really innocent. Imagine there are so many innocent people out there, who can’t fight their legal battle due to lack of money and accept the judgement any how, without a choice. Let's not be judgmental, all I am saying. Justice must take its own course, but it better be right at the end. That’s all we want.

At the same time, let’s pray for the people who lost their life in that accident and hope their family members get justice for their loss. Guess what, I am pretty sure they will.

Sleep very tight tonight. Tomorrow is another day, perhaps only day between the end of the weekend and start of the griping Monday. Before you go to bed tonight, let me make you listen to one my favourite songs from recent time…will make you fall back into deep sleep surely… Good night friends. Subhratri :)