Voice of an Indian citizen

The web definition for democracy:
A political system in which the supreme power lies in a body of citizens who can elect people to represent them 

Is this followed in our democratic India?
Yes we do elect our leaders but they do not represent us the way its supposed to be. They use us to earn money - those leaders who are supposed to pledge themselves for the benefit of the country make use of the country for the benefit of their family and save money for all their generations to come!And from where does all this money come? From us in the name of TAX!

If there is someone who is selfless and wants to eradicate corruption- that person gets burnt alive- like the additional collector (Yashwant Sonawane).All that the collector did was inquire about the oil trucks that seemed to arise suspicion and voila,the oil mafia just burnt him alive.

If this is the condition of a collector, what is the condition of a common man in India? Pathetic!

When I started writing this post, I was full of anger and fury at all the corruption going on around. I was infuriated by the fact that,due to this, a common man(we) gets affected in a great way. But at the end of it I realized that there is no point complaining or being annoyed. We need to take some action about it!
This post is not intended to be pessimistic about India ,but, at the same time, its the voice of a lot of youngsters out there who wants to bring about a change ! And I believe we should be the change that we want to see.
Are you ready to bring about the change, friends?

The City of Joy

Its been a while since I dropped in here and while I was thinking what do I write about -the idea that popped was KOLKATA! There is so much to tell and so I decided I would present it this way:One entry about Kolkata ,the culture,the people ,life style etc. and the other post about my wonderful experience at Kolkata.And here it goes about Kolkata :)
SHAGOTOM:)
Food:
Starting with my favourite topic FOOD ;) Whatever the dish is, its cooked with mustard oil.Well it does not smell great while you are in the process of cooking as the oil gives a pungent smell ;but when the dish is ready its good :)
The PG in which I stayed served proper Bengali food for breakfast ,lunch and dinner.Roti and sabzi is there all the time -breakfast ,lunch and dinner! Rice is also taken often with dhal.
And one more fact is that everyone has non-veg almost everyday which looked kinda new to me cause in south India thats not the case! When at home they consume fish and other sea food and out at restaurants Chicken gets the preference. An interesting fact is that Fish is considered to be a vegetarian item by most Bengalis !!
A lot of variety is shown when it comes to sabzi as roti is consumed the most.And most of the sabzis have potatoes in them!So in case you are a vegetarian,not to worry!The veg sabzis are as tasty and creative as the non-veg dishes. I used the word creative cause the spices they use and the recipe they follow has its own true style to give a unique taste that is mouth watering and wants you to have more!
MISHTI(Sweet):
Now comes the best part of food!!! SWEETS!!!



There were a bunch of my friends and relatives asking me to get them loads of 'roshogolla' while returning from Kolkata.I was like "Whats so great about roshogulla???I mean you get it even here!!!" I was wrong!!! The original flavour from Kolkata was totally different from what we eat at other places.I am a person who does not like sweets but those roshogullas were so yummy that I used to have 3 at a time but still feel I've not got enough!!! Apart from roshogullas there were a lot other varieties of milk sweets whose names I don't remember(trust me there were so many of them and all so very tasty!!).


Raj Bogh was another kind of sweet thats as good as roshogulla and prepared almost the same way with a few changes in ingredients.

LifeStyle - Culture,Festivals and Language:

The life style at Kolkata seems to be a bit different from what I've seen at Chennai.The outlook of people ,the food and dressing habits -in everything there seems to be a difference ! Everyone likes to dress up in bright colors and any kind of function or festival looks really glistening with bright and vibrant colors.I heard from a friend that Bengali marriages take place for about 4 days and they have lots of formalities and rituals going on with a lot of fun and frolic :)

Temples:
I could hardly find any temple other than Kali Temple (Birla Mandir being an exception).

Photo courtesy:http://farm1.static.flickr.com/30/60774301_60ce372993.jpg?v=0
Dakshineshwar is the most famous temple at Kolkata .The temple stands majestically on the banks of the Hoogly river with a rich combination of maroon roofs and off white walls that rise really high giving the temple a divine look.

Photo courtesy:http://www.greencitizens.net/news/photos/226917642125463852210.jpg
The most important and famous festival is the Kali Puja which happens in the months of October or November.Though I didnt get a chance to witness it I heard lots from my Bengali friends about the significance of the puja.



On the banks of the other side of Hoogly river is Belur Math ( headquarters of the Ramakrishna Mission)which is a really peaceful place where you are now allowed to talk loud and silence is observed. You could go during the day time to explore the intricate carvings and the wonderful architecture of the math ; to experience the stunning beauty , visit the Math in the night when it gets glistening with the lights.
Now an interesting fact:Bengali is the fifth most commonly spoken language in the world!! The script seems to resemble that of hindi -replacing the curves in hindi script with sharp lines.It also sounds more or less like hindi just with a little alteration: 'aao' or 'o' is used in the place of 'aa' .For example : karo is Hindi becomes koro in Bengali; similarly bandh in Hindi is bondho in Bengali. Not all words sound similar to hindi but quite a few!

Miscellaneous :

The best part of Kolkata(according to me) are the old buildings left by the British! A lot of my friends told that Kolkata has all old buildings and there is nothing great about it- but those old ,I-might-crash-any-time buildings were the ones I really loved about the place.NOSTALGIC is the perfect word to use and I liked the feel :)

Various modes of transportation is available at Kolkata just like in the other cities of India but the mode of transport available only at Kolkata are the TRAMS.They looked nice on the outside but a little funny on the inside with really huge fans and wooden seats and windows. Ferry transport is also common at Kolkata. Cycle Rickshaws are the most common mode of local - short distance transport . In Chennai,the last time I travelled in a rickshaw was when I was 10 years old and all of a sudden they reduced in number. But it was a different case at Kolkata.They were plenty in number and different types were there .

I would not say 'that's it about Kolkata' because there are lots and lots but this was what I could learn and gain in a span of 45 days at Kol and I loved and enjoyed each and every bit of my stay :) I wish I get a chance once again to go back there and explore more about the culture and values of Kol and learn a few more Bengali words apart from a few of these:

Kemonache(how are you)

Bhalo achi(am fine)

Ami tumai bhalobashi(I love you)

Ki Korchis(what are you doing)

Maramari korchi( am fighting)

Tumi ekta boka(you are a fool)

Shorro(move)

aasthe(slow)

Ikat thamon(stop here)

Ki bolchis(what are you telling)

Kichu na(nothing)

And finally dhonnobad to all my Bengali friends who helped me come up with this post :)

Terrified!!!

I was walking alone...it was really dark and looked like a forest.I really don't understand where I am and I'm feeling really sleepy.I am not able to open my eyes.When I thought I'll sleep for sometime and walk later I realized that I was being followed by someone...someone whom I never knew before.I started walking really fast and he walked faster too .The only thing I could hear was the rustling of the leaves, distant howling of a dog and me gasping really heavy! The faster I walked the closer the unknown man came and I could not walk faster;I was feeling really sleepy!I think am falling !! Maybe thats because I am sleepy! I try walking faster but I could not!I was dragging my legs!Well what if I knew that person??So I turned to see who it was and ....I was all alone!There was no one there !And all of a sudden I realise I was not in some forest but in some unknown street where suddenly a lot of people are there ,but its still dark.I turn around and I see a group of people or ,to be precise, a group of zombies walking towards me! I start running faster than I can imagine and again I find myself in some forest and its silent once again and no one is following me.I just wanna sleep and I keep walking to find some place where I could rest.I finally found a place ,too odd for a forest ,with a carpet and candles and I lie down there for sometime .As I closed my eyes I heard some noise again and I open my eyes with great struggle just to find that the carpet on which I was sleeping was flying and there were some weird vampire like creatures flying along ! It was a really huge bird like thing, with a single horn between its irregular amoeba shaped ugly green eyes, a big nostril and a mouth with such sharp scary carnivorous teeth coming out of its mouth!
I am totally confused!!!Where am I??What am I doing here???Where are these creatures taking me ??? Am not able to open my eyes...am flying over the sea and far away I see a tall haunted stone tower,along the shore, under the light of the full moon and a lot of vampire like creatures flying around the top of the tower like bats. The carpet on which I am ,half asleep (or am I fainting?) was flying fast towards the tower and I realized that I was fast approaching a stone window which was closed!Nooooooooooooo! Am gonna hit the stone window!This is gonna hurt me!!I've got to do something to save myself!!!Can save myself by jumping down from this carpet???I look down, but there , shining under the light of the full moon,I see demonic waves with open mouth ,waiting to swallow me!I do not swim!And I look up I am just a few feet away from the stone window!!QUICK!!!I need to decide something!!Am not able to open my eyes !NO I've got to find some way!My eyes are closing...I need to open my eyes!!I try hard and open my eyes and am approaching the stone window !!!Am crwaling on my back towards the edge of my carpet to save myself from hitting the window... I move towards the edge of the carpet and then... AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH I SCREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAMMMMMMMMMMMMM ... I've fallen on my back , not from the flying carpet,but from my stationary bed!!! DUH that was a night mare!What were you expecting???

save meeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

aaaaarrrghhhhhhhh!!!!!
What a hectic day!!!! I really wonder why whenever I have problems all problems come together!!!I mean it looks like one problem "self invites" itself and also invites other problems!! Like for example: I have some important work to do at office and I try refering those details online and I never get any detail close to it;on the same day I never get the bus I want and I wait under the HOT sun for about half an hour( I could ve taken an auto ..dunno why I didnt O.o); on the same day its extra hot;and I return home and the power goes away;and the power comes and I get back to my work I get a really bad head ache and mom starts off "You are not eating properly....(I ate two boiled eggs ,full meals,onion pakoda,milk all for lunch and 3 masala dosas and bournvita for break fast) you dont take care of yourself properly...you dont eat tablets properly...(trust me tablets form the major part of my lunch and dinner lol) you roam about too much in the sun(like I love roaming in the sun!!!)bla bla "...And then I force myself to concentrate and do my work my dad says "Hey come lets go out for dinner!!".. "yeah right ..I have too much work to do..am not coming...get me something" ,this is what I tell him,but inside I think "Great I'll have some peace if everyone goes out...I can do my work with more concentration!!!" .Now everyone leaves and I relax and...you think am doing the work that I wanted to do???OH noooo am watching FRIENDS!!! After having a good time watching a couple of episodes I think 'OK..now I'll work with full concentration and break my own record!!!!'.I did start off that way and continued till I got a phone call...After some few lines of conversation I understood that my dad had called this lady sometime back for my sister's alliance and that lady on the other side started asking MY details!!!I refused to give telling" Its for my sister not for me!!!" She says " How old are you??Where are you working??" I tell" My sis is working with SIFY"..and she replies"No ma..I want your details.. cause your dad told that you will be more interested with my son's profile!" ...WHAT THE HECK??? My ears and nose started smoking and all I wanted to do was to punch my dad on his belly(i.e. our family property:P ) I dunno whether that lady was telling the truth or if she was insane or if my dad was insane to tell like that,but,my mood is totally spoiled with too many things at the same time and here I am venting my anger and frustration or should I say blogging my anger!?!?!?!? Whatever I think am Ok now..Let me get back to work!!!!!!!

GOD = my mom

My first blog... a new experience lol ...am just thinking thinking thinking what do i write about??? do i write about this cutee little kid whom i met at the temple whose innocence attracted me??or do I mention about my best friend ( with whom i talk almost everyday) who has left for US and how I feel so plain without talking to her !!!
Well let me talk about my MOM who has influenced me in every good thing I do and I have (except casteism ;) )..She influenced me in writing this first entry !! ..Wellllllll She loves me like no one else does!!! I know every mother loves her child...but like every other child I feel my mom loves me the most and the best...unconditional love!!!
So many sacrifices ...so much of hard work ... so much of PATIENCE..all for me!!! I feel so guilty at times cause i tend to think i dnt deserve so much from my dear mom!!! ok am not getting too sentimental..lol!!! Anyways I see God in her..She is the best and no one can equal her :)
love u mommy :)