Wednesday, April 14, 2010

The unceremonious start but still hope for a brighter finish…

There may be another side of the story stating something different but that does not qualify to disregard this side of it.

She is a lawyer working for a very reputed software company. She is far away from home and gets to meet her parents only on occasional holidays when either visits another. Her office takes better part of her waking hours in a working day, so much so that by the weekend she is drained out of all her energy. To make matters worse she has an un-considering senior who cannot see much beyond his nose. He makes full utilization, more often wrong then right, of his unconditional rights gained more by his seniority then by virtue of his merit. She missed major part of her plans she had for little sister’s wedding because her senior would not cut her some slack. She also knows in her sub-conscious mind that it is only a matter of time that her rebellion will shoot back. She is aware of the fact that she is and soon will be proved indispensable in her organization. But until then she consumes her resentment without a whimper. More often she finds herself unaided by her loved ones complaining for her absence in most of the ceremonies. She wouldn’t explain. She is used to be the dependable one, even if it means she would crumble under pressure.
Her family is going through a difficult time in resolving issues related to real estate. These are unwelcomed hassles that everybody avoids. She could play a very significant role in facilitating a resolution. It is just that she is not being able to give some time to it. She planned to pleasantly surprise her parents. Go home when they are troubled with the ongoing legal procedures and are not expecting her around. She wanted to see them smile…..with gladness that not even eyes can hold their tears. She was so thrilled by the thought of it that she refused to get tired in spite of harrowing supervision of her senior. She hoped against hope that he would let her leave on time if not early to catch her train. She was made to sit for 2 more hours after office to complete the work which was otherwise meant to be completed by her senior. She reached home in the nick of time to find out that her train would actually depart from a station which is further away from the one she knows by few miles and is painfully crowded. It was her nightmare to go to a place like that in her current state. The train is scheduled to depart at 2150hrs. Her head splits in pain and every part in her body rose up to mutiny and rage against her unconceivable will. She stuffs her first pick from her cupboard and strangulates her bag-pack to a tight knot. Up on the wheels she rushes to the metro station. Brisking and hopping through the crowd and flights of stairs she reaches the platform 5 mins before the scheduled departure. To her dismay she finds out that her train is running late by 4 hours and would now leave at 0150hrs. Every step was an agony. She is 1 and ½ hours away from her room and has nowhere else to go at this part of the night. She goes back home for 20mins. Grab some dinner and heads back to the platform. This time the platform is swarmed with even more people. After waiting for 40 mins more at 0200 hrs amidst overpowering odor of sweat and stale remnant of unmentionable things she heard the announcement that the train is further delayed by 2 hrs. Expected time of departure is now at 5 a.m. She has three more hours of wandering in nowhere when every inch of her body aches to lie down. A sudden gloom covers her face with misery. She settles down in an abandoned chair only to be rudely instructed by a fallen cop (hawaldar) not to use. That was it. She gave him her piece of mind. This surely taught the uncouth to think a million time before ordering around anyone else in future. She went back to her room to gather herself together. After one hour of repairing in the silent hiss of the air conditioner she pulled herself back on her feat. Speeding through the silence of the dawn she reached back to the platform before the morning light. Her hopes are betrayed again when the train is delayed further till 8 a.m. Wondering why it has suddenly become so difficult for her to do something she really yearn for, she was more baffled then angry. But against all odds she would give in everything but her obedience. May be what lies behind is worth much more then the unending pain. She stood there determined and stronger then ever. Every fall did not manage to compromise her will but in fact got it stronger. She is meeting her parents today though hell should bar the way. She knows she will but she wants it sooner. She would have taken a flight instead if she did not have to loose so much in income tax this month, leaving her just enough to survive. She books a flight ticket but she has to rush to the other end the city and she would be practically broke for the rest of the month. Odds gave in and before she could cancel her train ticket the train arrives. She boards the train like a zombie. It doesn’t matter how hard the journey may be…..she will go home to her daddy and mommy.
If we want something as desperately as that, even heaven wont stop us from that.


Election a farce……but yet there’s aint no alternative they have so far

Looking at the upcoming election in Sudan, the ruling president Omar al-Bashir, representing the National Congress Party (NCP) who came to power in a coup in 1989 is wanted by the International Criminal Court at The Hague for alleged crime against humanity.
Some facts :-
i) the government in Khartoum, under the current President has bludgeoned the disaffected inhabitants of the western region of Darfur since the start of a rebellion in 2003, killing some 300,000 of them and displacing another 3m.(source Economist).
ii) Opposition candidate from the north, leader of the Umma Party, Mariam al-Mahdi is not being able to find her voters in her strong constituency. Either they vanished or they never existed. The conclusion drawn by the Umma Party that the National Election Commission has boosted the number of registered voters in the places where the NCP thinks people will vote for it and under-registered neighborhoods where its opponents are strong. (source Economist)
iii) Ms. Mahdi decides to boycott the poll at every level, the Communist Party has already pulled out, the main southern opposition party, the Sudan People’s liberation Movement (SPLM) withdrew its presidential candidate giving Mr. Bashir a virtual walk-over. (source Economist)
 Notwithstanding the current political mayhem, throughout history, Sudan has always been known as an oil rich country attracting a bulk of Chinese investments into Africa. The country is heading towards a partition into North and South Sudan. Post partition most of the oil produce will be left in the north.. This also leads to questionable inference. Considering past records in many other oil rich countries that suffered a coup, the leader following such cataclysm is often chosen by the CIA. ‘This week, at an evening rally in Khartoum for the Islamist Popular Congress Party, a lawyer in a flowing jellabiya repeatedly denounced Mr. Bashir as a liar, accused him of being a hypocrite and a stooge of the CIA’. Sudan won its freedom from the British in 1956 and since then most of the black Christians were pushed to the south of Sudan thereby living under the oppressive rule of the North.
However ‘charadic’ it may be, in my opinion if this election brings freedom to the southerners in Sudan, so be it. Mr. Bashir in all current possibility may win the election effortlessly but on so happening if he let the south leave Sudan peacefully and let the creation of south Sudan it would still be some good.


Thursday, April 8, 2010

Nowhere Man

More often then not we have an opinion about anything and everything…and most often either it is not shared or not noticed or lost among the countless other sharing the same fate. I believe there is a high probability that most of the answers we are seeking in our lives are hiding among these unheard, uncared and un-welcomed estimation. Many a time we do not share our outlook fearing about the consequences. Like Alanis Morisett would put it, “A good advice that you just didn’t take and who would have thought it figures”. Sometime we need to think out of the box. We get busy within the virtual limit we build around ourselves that we fail to think beyond the horizon. That is when we need this ‘Nowhere man’. He does not have a name. He does not know you and so obviously he does not judge you. He just has an opinion considering the circumstances that you give him and he does not mind if you disregard his view. Similarly you would have your assessment on his inference…That’s how we communicate and we do it harmlessly. Without fright, without shame and may be without an identity….




Tuesday, April 6, 2010

We Scribble

Hi,
This blog is about 'the unnoticed us'. It is about our views that are not heard or discussed. Our views on life and everything related to that, even though it does not affect anyone. We scribble for us and may not be for anyone else to read. Our estimation is immaculately ours and not seeking for anybody's debate or appraisal. It's magnitude encompasses everything under the sun. From the economic meltdown in Greece to nuclear development in Iran to the death of Ginkgo in Japan to the health care bill in the States to our ecstatic and agonizing experience in our life time we scribble.