Jackson and India Love Affair

It’s a strange feeling as I saw the news of MJ passing away of heart attack. Somehow it wasn’t like any other news of another celebrity passing away. Somehow it leaves vacuum somewhere.
Now why is that many of us feel so strongly about it, may be many of us will feel not that strongly but close to this if Madonna passes away. Since its part of our growing away, beat it and material girl were as much part of discussions as much as trigonometry, or solar systems. In small towns beyond bollywood music meant Jackson, Madonna or may be Boney M, though Boney M never grew beyond few songs. Another factor could be since Jackson had music and dance as part of his art. He was less about songs and more about music to many of us, his dance was, that left many of spell bound, and in awe. That suited Indian mind that revels on class and something out of ordinary. His beats were what we related with, the one’s who graduated from beats also found meaning in his songs.
From “Beat It” to “They don’t care about us”, is so true for a generation that’s dependent on government and process to support them, and find it difficult when same government and process turn on them and doesn’t support. So go back and see MJ was pouring himself out in his songs, and a generation who understood him, and resonated with him loved him. Though being an artist he consumed himself with his feelings, which many of us are able to suppress and live life. The sensitive soul of an Artist was always trying to mingle and being accepted in this world, without realizing that none of us at any level is anytime been accepted in this world completely. It’s only on occasions where this world passes us and other times it browbeats us. This innocence of an artist who made an attempt to be accepted by the world and then not being able to win this, consuming his own life out of it is so poignant and so much resonates with feelings many of us feel in our lonely hours. We a whole generation has lived life trying to get accepted in the world where we were free citizens now, in family where we were masters of our destiny and where ever we went. It was a generation burdened by load of freedom to prove themselves that MJ resonated with.
Today when he is gone, there is loss a sense of loss that part of my personal history is gone.

Terrorism

Its a touchy subject and its tough to manage subject. Its been giving me sleepless nights at times. How can somebody just stand up and blow himself up, how can somebody plant explosives and blow people up. What does it take for a human to become so inhuman?

Now people have been cruel and have killed people in all kinds of reasons All these reasons have been put up as beliefs, whether its religion, communism, land or language.

So once a person harms other person due to any belief and isn't ready tobe flexible that's terrorism. Today we see Islamic terrorism in front of us in more pronounced form. Though haven't we seen this always in history.

So what is terrorism, its when one person or community refuses to give other margin for discussion, and theory of live and let live is forgotten. Now this seems to enshrined in some beliefs that they can't live with others, though followers of that belief should understand this quickly and make adjustment.

Lets look from other prespective, religion changes every 1000 years and new religion comes in every 1000 to 2000 years, country maps change every 100 years, just look at maps in 1700, 1800, 1900 or 2000 AD, language changes even faster. So why people get lost and don't understand this basic.

Only thing that stays are basic human principles of peace and live and let live...

Buddhism despite absolutley peaceful religion still grew all over the world. Gandhi changed world without violence. Same is good with Martin Luther King or Nelson Mandella. Hence its not that violence will give people what they are looking for. They are going to lose finally, since they aren't working on changing people, they are trying to force people.

Finally, violence doesn't give nobody anything in long run, hence killing people doesn't have any long term impact except short term pain for victim and long term pain for perperator. So focus on working on fundamentals of peace and live and let live, and world will be with you.

I have so much more to write on this, though its so draining, so may be some other day.

Will we live to see it vanishing?

It’s our Doing, We need to clean this!
While Driving to office and listening to FM, I heard one advertisement about the sale of apartments next to a 200 acre lake and it went on asking to act fast as they are going away as fast as shooting stars. I am sure the advertiser meant that his apartments are going away that fast. However my first thought was “is he talking about lakes?". Yes, lakes are going away from Bangalore as fast as shooting stars. We are down to 60 lakes in Bangalore from 200, less than a decade back. I will be wasting your and my time and money if it’s just another great statistics for you to throw the next time you are sitting with a drink in hand, talking in a party to show your knowledge. Have you ever realized who the culprit is, it’s “you” and “me”, and it’s “us!

Ever thought of what happened to the trees which were on the plot our home is now? If pictures speak; look at them, now you know where the trees are gone. They are gone and your and my houses are looking like dark red infection spots on Bangalore city. This is our city, did we replace those trees? Did we ever ask builder? What? No, my convenience and better life were more important to me and my laziness and apathy are too big to bring them back or give them space around me.
Once we understand the damage, we must realize that it’s our turn now to support the environment. We have enough dooms day warnings from environmentalists. This is surely not the kind of future we want to leave for our next generation.
For me one of the ways was to start planting trees, and I found my soul, in a project “Green Dream” sponsored by my Rotary Club. The project plans to plant 100,000 trees in a year. When we started the project soon we realized that planting a tree and nurturing it is more difficult than taking a 100 year tree off the ground in the name of development. We can talk about it some other day.
Involvement with this project did provide me with some great insights about areas in and around Bangalore. I think it did complete me as a person or as Bangalorean more than many other things in my life. While going to villages in outskirts and planting trees, I came across humble village people fighting and losing battles to save lakes and trees against death threats from land mafia. I found shop-keepers coming out and pledging support to nurture trees planted within 50 meters of the shop. I came across some corporates who were more than willing to go extra mile, but some completely lost in bureaucracy and whims and fancies of few.
Above all, I found myself, I found my bearings, and standing on a dried lake bed I felt like standing in a grave yard. This is the grave yard in the making of which I was involved. Standing below a large tree next to the dried lake where one clap caused 1000’s of birds flying all over, I realized they would have had 100’s of trees just a few years back. As I stood there on lake bed with my seven year old daughter planting a tree, she asked “Papa jab barish hogi to pani aayega, to ped kaisey bachega” (“Papa when it rains, there will be water, then how will the tree survive?”). I looked at her, and didn’t have heart to tell her that there will not be any water on this lake bed again. I just told her; in that case we will plant more trees with a smile. The twinkle in her eyes was worth thousand smiles. Now it is 9.00 AM and she was planting her 4th tree and she started around 7.00 AM. She loved it, being with dad, out there in open air doing something of value. I could sense her imagining a jungle growing with birds and trees some years later. In my heart I knew the enormity of the task. We planted 20,000 trees till date this year and we want to reach 100,000, and even that won’t be enough. On given day, we get about 50 volunteers and that’s not sufficient. We need a movement; we need an awakening in every area, every corner to save this city, and its trees and lakes.
Lets be part of it as individuals, as families to save this city!
Will you ask, the next time while buying a house or getting into a commercial complex, “did I mess up the environment?” How can I replace this, how can I support or save this. If we don’t, its coming back to us, we forgot Tsunami, though it did come back after 170 years. If nature hasn’t hit us for 1000’s of years, it doesn’t mean that it won’t do it again.
May be next time I hear the advertisement I will not mistake it for lakes going away, since we will know that all of us are awake to the fact that we need to save our environment.