My name is Khan and I am not a terrorist

Nowadays reading newspaper is like going through hell literally, what with the spreads of terror,bloodshed and mayhem!!! The last page of a well known city newspaper carries a section wherein the creativity of children aged between 6-10 years is published. I love that section with kids expressing their creativity in a cute way! However the day after the blasts that shook Mumbai (Did it???), the same section brought a chill to my spine... a young girl, all of 7 years drew a picture of a terrorist with a gun at the backdrop of a building.

Now you may ask why would this innocent act bring me a sense of fear...the answer is that the terrorist whom the girl drew had a beard and a skull cap. Yes! She had drew a terrorist who was a Muslim! Now I really don't understand whose fault it was. Was it the newspaper's fault that they let this controversial picture get published without even giving a second thought about what would be the reader's reactions on seeing the published picture! Or was it with the world and their perceptions that kids are being loaded with?

For me this picture was a dangerous premonition. Imagine in a secular country of ours, kids start looking at the muslim community as some sort of danger! This is alarming in a country which has always prided itself in her secular fabric. Its high time the media stops abusing the rights given to them and act responsibly. Parental guidance is also very important so as to stop putting wrong notions about communities in their impressionable minds.

The people who claim to kill other innocent people in the name of Islam may be TERRORISTS but they don't particularly belong to any religion. A lot has been written and spoken about ISLAMIC TERRORISM, but the fact remains that interpretation of terrorism begins with Islam and Muslims, which is UNFAIR! I don't know what is the agenda of these so-called terrorists, whether it is political or regional or based on fanaticism towards religion , I really don't know but what I know is if this is what our kids are exposed to, then very soon every Muslim in this country could be branded a terrorist!

I am not a child psychologist to say teach your kid this or don't teach your kids that, but human enough to say that if your kids draw a bearded terrorist(with a skull cap) then there is something definitely wrong somewhere! I just pray Muslims don't have to say My name is Khan, I sport a beard and I am definitely not a terrorist!!!

Rain rain come again

So the monsoon has kissed or rather blessed(I am sure every mumbaikar would have felt that by now!) Mumbai. It is indeed a great feeling to welcome monsoons in Mumbai. I was about to leave office and had absolutely no idea what the weather was. Once I was out in the open it was a pleasure to watch the clouds uniting,maybe to kick the sun's ass and give us mumbaikars a repreive from the scorching heat.

It took us ( Nishal & I - Zarana hope you are happy now! :P) a while to enjoy the cooler winds as it was laden with dust. Our rickshaw ride was enjoyable but what followed was even more enjoyable and exciting. Now on a normal day we would have literally cursed the traffic near jogeshwari station, however today was different. It was the first rain and who cares about the traffic!!!! We walked all the way to jogeshwari station making our way through the beeline of vehicles . Now it had started to pour heavily and we felt hunger pangs.. hunger especially for the junk variety and monsoons go hand in hand! And what tastes better than a bhajji paav or a samosa paav on a rainy day! As we gorged on our bhajjis and samosas we thanked God for the downpour. Surprisingly trains were on time and we reached home.

Reaching home after a rather enjoyable time out in the rains, was equally enjoyable, it brought a sense of gratitude for having a roof over my head! :)

Rain brings a sense of relief  from the intense summers, it brings people together(Sharing your umbrella with a complete stranger or getting a ride from someone ), it also brings the inevitable cold and cough (Aaaachoooo!) but most importantly it lights up everybody's face. Wishing you all a stressfree and magical monsoon! Barso re megha!!!! :)

A tribute to a friend who became a mom....

I was expecting yet another boring weekend, but Soni, one of my good friends had other plans! We got the news that Deepa(name changed without being requested for it!) had delivered a baby boy! We (I & Soni) decided to pay our dear deepa a visit.

As soon as we entered her place, her mom-in-law was grinning from ear to ear, after all her bahu had DELIVERED a baby BOY! She gave us juice and some kurmura and asked or rather threatened us to have it!! As we settled down to admire her baby which by the way was damn cute! Mashallah! But I quite didn't understand the importance of tying a  new born baby with a cotton cloth. I sort of felt it was curbing his freedom!!! Anyways deepa started narrating her labour experience. Now wait..this is the part that I dread the most as somehow my friends (read new mothers) get too much into the details. She started talking about how her water bag broke!!! How long she felt mild pain and how it graduated to the most horrible pain of her life. Discussion then went on to her not so friendly tryst with the doctor who shouted at her for being loud and disturbing the calm of the hospital!!! She gave us her vishesh tipni about what to do and not to do during pregnancy. She said" Jo sach hai woh bol rahi hun" Soni as usual took out her camera and started clicking photos of the baby's feet :P

The conversation came to an end as it was time for us to go. We wished Deepa all the best in the beautiful journey of motherhood. No matter how much pain it gives, it is still an acheivement for every mother. We bid goodbye to her mom-in-law who was again grinning after learing that we had indeed paid heed to her advice and ate the kurmuras. :)

I guess it takes more than courage and stamina for a woman to give birth! I salute my new born mothers! :) 

it starts again.....

Have not blogged for quite sometime... so let me begin with a positive note.... the greatest boxer of the last century Muhammad Ali once said that "I am the greatest..I felt that much before i became one!!!"

this emphasises the importance of thinking right thoughts and flushing away negative ones.. Imagine if Muhammad Ali had said " I am just starting out, I ain't that great ...I may never become good" This will only lead you to a path of self - doubt which is the singlemost reason for failure in anything be it personal or professional life. If we want to truly find our place in this maddening world...we need to believe in ourselves.

I know its easier said than done...but no harm in trying.... cheers.... :)