DesiReflections

After partition of India in 1947, the area under British rule was divided  in two part, India and  Pakistan. While leadership responsible for formation of  Pakistan preferred to run it as polarised Muslim country, on the other hand India preferred to remain a country based on secular values. Ideally India would have framed a Unified Civil Code right from beginning but the fact remains that even Hindus wanted their own Code ! So Uniform Civil Code (UCC) is long pending and this Vote Bank politics does not allow this to happen.  The Muslims who stayed away in India at the time of partition, were supposed to believe in secular way of life. But the vote bank politics compelled them to mingle in the mainstream of India. With the result whenever some one talk about reforming Muslim practices which has lost relevance due to changing dynamics of time, it has taken as an attack on the very existence of community. Remember Shah Bano Case, the than Rajiv Gandhi Government ...

Today is Deepavali so I dedicate this piece to the creator of  Maya  and Lila,  The big question is whatever  we see around us, is it a reality or just Maya, the illusion ? And by the way who has created this illusion ? It does not seems to be a  work of a mortal, so the easiest thing is to name the person who created it as God.  In ancient Vedic scriptures Maya connotes something akin to a magic show or an illusion where things appear to be present but not what they seem.It is also interpreted as a spiritual concept connoting 'that which exists, but is constantly changing thus spiritually unreal.' On the other hand, Lila, another ancient concept, can be loosely termed as the noun 'sport' or 'play'. Within the non dualistic school of thought,'Lila' is a way to describe all reality including the cosmos as the outcome of creative play by Divine  Absolute, the brahmn. In dualistic school of thought, the 'Lila' refers to activities of God...

दीपावली की शुभकामनाएँ एक दीपक घुप्प अंधेरी रात में आस्धा का नेह लेकर जल रहा है जो बली हैं लोग उसको पूछते हैं इसलिए सूरज को सदा से पूजते हैं दीप तो इतिहास ऐसा रच रहा है गली गली को रौशन कर रहा है लोग अंधेरों को समर्पण कर चुके हैं दीप डट कर अंधेरों को छल रहा है लोग आंधी से डरे आक्रांत हैं वीर धीर घरों में बैठे शांत हैं दीप आंधी से अकेला लड़ रहा है लौ कभी कम तो तेज कर रहा है.

 अपुन  का काम काम बनता, भाड़ में जाय जनता Yesterday I was traveling in Rajdhani Express from Bombay to Delhi. Train halted on Mathura Junction for mandatory stop. I came out to take fresh air and saw three children hardly 10 to 12 years of age outside my compartment.They were begging for money. I had kind and compassionate thought. At the age when other children are going to school, these poor souls  begging to meet their basic needs. So I thought let me do some thing for them. I called one of them and asked him ,'In case you come with me, I will take care of your studies, pay  entire fees and all other expenses. His reply shocked me. He said, ' पैसा देता है तो दे नहीं तो हवा आने दे. अपुन  का काम बनता, भाड़ में जाय जनता' literally meaning thereby :  If you want to give money fine otherwise do not bother. I am concerned with me, I do not care for others. And thereafter ran away with his other two friends. A 10 year old boy just made a statem...

Halloween will be celebrated on 31st October in USA and I could not enjoy the joy and festivity associated with this unique festival as I have to cut short my US trip due to some personal engagement in India. But the Stores and malls were decked with the Halloween goodies and costumes which can convert you to a devil, witch in few minutes. Pumpkins also play an important role on this festival so pumpkins of all shapes and sizes are available not only on grocery stores  but also Departmental Store chains like Safeway, Costco, Fred Meyer, Walmart, Dollar Trees. Total spent on Halloween in US is almost US Dollar 6 Billion each year. This festival now in US is secular in nature but initially started in Celtic region of Europe as a occasion to remember the ancestors just like our Pitr-Paksh much before spread of  Christianity. Also we may trace lot of similarities in our fast eroding  tradition of Tesu Jhanjhi with Halloween.    Halloween’s origins dat...

Bombay 1st October  Goregaon’s Bombay Convention &  Exhibition Centre witnessed today city’s largest Short-Film event. India Film Project (IFP) organized screenings of award winning short films out of the 1,200 entries. Apart from awarding best creative work and showing award winning work, there were very engaging discussions with cool filmmakers, best web content creators and film critics. There was a workshop on scripting and loads of tips on film making. The driving force behind India Film Project is a 27 year young man  Ritam Bhatnagar. He is an engineer and management expert by training and film maker, film marketing professional by choice. He says that his India Film Project reflects the new de-centralised democratic nature of film making today. “People have already started taking video content seriously, it’s not restricted to home videos,”  says Bhatnager. “The current generation is experimenting with the most unusual themes.” Bhatnagar is able t...