CELEBRATE INDIAN WAY OF LIFE WITH A "PI"

“LIFE OF PI” – A movie which was strongly recommended by everyone and I always had a plan of watching it for I am an ardent admirer of stories of courage, will power, adversity ,no doubt my favorite show .on television happens to be"i shouldn't be alive" and ya the movies was so beautiful

This blog post is for an idea that I loved about the film – An Indian way of life in its pure and honest form avoiding being judgmental or criticizing .We all here are born and brought up in an environment that may seem mysterious to an outsider –Religion is an integral part of our life and so is science .We all have a mother in our family who warns us of all possible disasters that may occur if we don’t perform our morning prayers and a father who explains us that reasoning and science is the biggest god. We grow up. we form our own affinities, make friends from diverse religions and beliefs ,we counter, we debate ,we dine together over festivals still debating someone declaring he is an atheist ,someone a staunch vegetarian and somehow we fail to notice that religion in some or other way has slowly crept into our lives

And this is WE –we have been like this from the great Indus valley civilization like this only .we have our own set of superstitions ,our own favorite gods among the crores of them each having their own weird stories ,our own castes and preformed set of rules for clan n caste ,the system may seem to have weakened from ages but it still persists and its here to stay forever

With all our imperfections ,our flaws it’s the same country where science evolved in ashrams and gurukuls –be it medical science or the chemical ones and Life of Pi was all the more adorable because may be in a very small form –it showed the world a real and apt picture of Indian way of life .India is not only a country of child trafficking and” slumdogs” ,India is just not a country where you halt for “PRAYING” after eating and before falling in love ,India is not only a country of loud mouthed punjabis who dream to settle in Canada ,India is just not a country of weird NRIs it’s a place of some of the best brains and creative persons,India is just not a country of Kamasutra it’s a country of charaksutra too ……..its a country which is so deeply ingrained in spirituality but still progressing in the 21st century and that’s why I expect the global cinema to portray

"SHADOWS OF WAR" MY ENTRY FOR GET PUBLISHED CONTEST

The Idea : Its a story inspired by a real life story ,story of a girl and boy and their sweet romance which turns into madness when the boy turns into a soldier and the girl into a woman .A story of longing,a story of distance ,a story of waiting sleeplessly for your loved one,a story which is effected by war

What makes the story real ;the story is real for every soldier has a sweetheart ,every soldier has a love story ,every soldier has a memory of those days spent with his love ,kissing passionately and days spent in each other's arms ,for every story that is somewhere lost in glories of war

Extract :
Recalling back the old times when we met brings a cute smile on my face.it happened so that we used to study in same coaching class and i have not yet said hi to the guy ,i knew a guy used to come straight from his badminton practice all in a mess and one fine day sir scolded me for not recalling some facts ,i had this “i don’t remember” look in my eyes and looking up our eyes crashed ,he smiled n his eyes said “chill ,it happens ” and we smiled…………….i still remember that smile

Suddenly from the next day he started coming well dressed and me wondering ;what happened to him? (much later he revealed that it was to impress me) *TING* and we continued our hi n byes

One fine day he asked me could i help him in his presentation ,i said yes why not (as if i was the only angel on earth) but reason was he was too cute to say no ,next day in class i gave him a paper saying i had jolted down the points which would help him and after an hour asked the permission from sir to leave early as i had a wedding to attend to ,he stood up in a second saying”sir i need to leave early too,have to work on presentation “.So we both left early with separate but imp works n had a talk in the parking space and were so engrossed in talking that later realised that the other guys from class were coming out and it just became clear that we were talking for full hour n actually we both had to leave early (Don’t giggle)…

Endnote: This is my entry for the HarperCollins–IndiBlogger Get Published contest, which is run with inputs from Yashodhara Lal andHarperCollins India

WHEN ADVISES BECAME .......TORTURE

A day comes in your life when you act foolish,weird ,the world seems falling in places and..........okk i would stop being melodramatic and narrate you a crazy"hairy"day which turned out to be torture

It just happened one fine day that i got an invitation for a conference in Goa (don't give me that look.yes it was a "conference"in Goa) and my marathon preparations started as if i was going for a kingfisher calender shoot 
The shopping,apparels,footwear was ready ,appointments for parlour were fixed and the adrenaline rush on just thinking about beaches,feni and a free bird environment was uncontrollable 
Out of the blue someone suggested that i should sport straight hair for the trip and here the story took a tragic turn .the hair presser was quite a costly affair and then one of my "Fashion conscious"friend suggested using iron for the same 
Ignoring the fact that when god created me he forgot to install a software called delicate hands,being careful and yeah you guessed it right i ended up with flicks of cauterized hair
Disaster 2: When the fashionista's suggestion gave me fizzled out,burnt hair i returneed back to the age old "Daadi maa ke nuskhe" my mom told me to apply a paste of banana,papaya and honey .I won't blame you maa.u said a paste and i just mashed them with hands and applied ,after an hour went to wash the hair and whoa the banana was badly stuck to my hair and inspite of washing it for hours it didn't come out properly .In between the long bath ,water went away and i suddenly realized i was in Delhi where water is priceless this day was not only turning out a disaster but a long one too .I rushed my maid to fetch some water from neighboring flats and she proceeded i could hear verbal abuses in her local dialect and to my utter helplessness i could not say anything
Finally managing to partially remove the banana pieces from my hair i came out from the bath only to find my dog sniffing in air trying to locate the source of fruity smell and this was only left for the day to complete
I rushed to the nearby salon unless my Goa dream turns into a nightmare where she oiled my hair and shampooed it with Sunsilk only to get that flawless,straight ,free flowing hair........and how could i miss that simple thing 
So Goa trip came to a start and i was pretty sure that my hairs looked fabulous after the three dreary episodes
Moral of the story -Don't ever follow the advises blindly,they might turn out to be torture

WHEN MUMBAI BURNT..........REMEMBERING THE HEROES OF 26/11

26/11, a date remembered in infamy, forever etched into India’s consciousness. An attack so brazen, that a country was left reeling in shock for days afterwards. But amongst the chaos, there emerged stories of incredible heroism in the face of terror, where it proved that despite the best attempts of those who would seek to destroy it, the spirit and nobility of humanity would always shine through The more than ten coordinated shooting and bombing attacks across Mumbai which began on 26 November 2008 are referred to as 26/11 on the lines of 9/11 that reminds of the attack on the Twin Towers in US. The attacks lasted until 29 November, killing at least 173 people and wounding at least 308. Eight of the attacks occurred in South Mumbai including at Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus, the Oberoi Trident, the Taj Mahal Palace & Tower, Leopold Cafe, Cama Hospital, the Orthodox Jewish-owned Nariman House, and the Metro Cinema. 

The whole country saw Taj burning, Kasab’s  footage at CST terminus ,brave hearts of India ranging from NSG to police forces ,an irresponsible coverage by media and the breach in intelligence where terrorists dared to attack us from front Remembering the heroes of 26/11 when Ajmal kasab is still alive in Indian jails 

Major Sandeep Unnikrishnan, Ashok Kamte, Hemant Karkare, Vijay Salaskar, Arun Jadhav, Constable Ombale and many others. You were Heroes.. We shall never forget what you did for us till our last.... Salute to the lions!!!

“Do not come up, I will handle them", were the last words which Major Unnikrishnan told his men as he was hit by bullets while engaging well armed terrorists 

"But how then are we to remember
Those that have been torn from the fabric of our being
Those that we have come to so desperately miss
Often only once they have been taken from us?
How do we honor the ultimate sacrifice
How do we construct that eternal pedestal
Upon which our loved ones will stand,
In all of their splendor and magnificence......Sehar

A DAY TO REMEMBER..........CREATING SHARED VALUE FORUM 2012

“Life is not a matter of milestones but of moments”CSV FORUM2012 organized by FICCI and NESTLE was one such day and I had this pre realization when I got the invite for it .The whole idea of” Role of business in development” was an amazing one and the pragmatic shift from Corporate Social Responsibility to Creating shared value was felt at global level

The venue was superb, the nestle  staff were sweet enough to send a pen drive to furnish us with details of previous forums and yes the “the water blog &the water resources group” and “The moga story”

The pre event lunch was wow and yeah I donned a skirt for it J Janet Voute from Nestle explained us the way nestle was involved in CSV followed by Mr Sanjay Khajuria ,India head after which the spectators grilled him on various issues especially Maggi being a healthy snack or not for which the only thing that satisfied me was Janet’s statement ”We are not projecting Maggi as an apple and saying- a magi a day keeps a doctor away”

Amid the expert panels ,enlightening talks ,bullshit talks by politicians and representation from all walks of life I was sitting there as The CEO-NAARI and some superb topics were touched upon be it water crisis ,malnutrition ,rural development ,beyond philanthropy with budding social entrepreneurs ,social leaders ,business tycoons from all over the world sharing the stage

To talk about all the panel discussion would make the blog hell of lengthy but let me share with you some experiences that left me smiling:

POWER OF SOCIAL MEDIA- Social media has reached upto exemplary heights today ,realized this when I met “Peter Blackshaw-the social media leader” and his team he is a complete sweetheart ,ready to absorb ideas, a wonderful person to discuss global changes and he asked “Is half of the India owned by tata???” I smiled –thought about the reach of tatas saw the taj hotel.mineral water bottle and even the table cloth which said”A TATA product” and I replied “Kind of” .Secondly the media section didn’t comprise of conventional journalists but the bloggers and twitter celebs from all over the world

MODESTY IS THE JEWEL OF ACHIEVERS- I met many delegates there be it from Thailand or the darling Ruth from Kenya who have achieved volumes of respect in the social sector and whoa they were so modest –sharing lunch, having coffee ,Ruth invited me to Kenya, hugged me and said “Blessings little girl ,you are doing a noble work” .The one who was brilliant among panelists was #Harish Hande ,CEO – SELCO who was the man of action because he had spent his prime in working at the grassroots explaining me the perfect financial management of vegetable vendors in villages ,you remain in awe of harish when you talk to him

The day ended with some new ideas, enlightened thoughts, many visiting cards ,enhanced contact list in phone and the most important thing-friends for life

These are the days when u can sit back and say to yourself that may be life is throwing up new challenges every other day, you managed to sustain yourself strong amid the tides and as I always say “when you do something for someone without any self intrest in return ,the heart felt blessings give you a larger return some day”……………Sehar

"“A sacrifice you make today 

Will never ever be gone
A sacrifice you make today 
Will soon be passed on

A sacrifice you make today 
Will stay in many hearts
A sacrifice you make today 
Help many play their parts

A sacrifice you make today 
Will never be forgotten
A sacrifice you make today 
Will never be mistaken

A sacrifice you make today 
May even change history
A sacrifice you make today 
May be kept in someone’s memory

A sacrifice you make today 
Might light someone’s day up
A sacrifice you make today "

FOR A HERO CALLED............MALALA YOUSAFZAI ,WHO STOOD AGAINST FRANKENSTEIN'S MONSTER

I haven’t been this angry in a long time. Maybe I’ve never been this angry. On October 9, 2012, Taliban militants stopped a school bus filled with girls returning home from school and asked for a girl named Malala Yousafzai. Malala is a 14 year old girl from the Swat Valley in Pakistan. From the age of 11 years old, she has been an activist demanding for her right to have an education. She was forced to do that because the Taliban had been taking over Swat and blowing up girls schools and committing other atrocities. Whoever resisted, they beat them, humiliated them, shot them, beheaded them, and then left their corpses out in the streets for everyone to see. Despite all of this, Malala had the strength and courage to fight back by learning wherever she could whether it was at school or at home. Last year she was nominated for the International Children’s Peace Prize and awarded Pakistan’s first National Youth Peace Prize by Yousaf Raza Gilani, the prime minister of Pakistan at that time.

So you can understand my horror and my fury when it was reported that these Taliban monsters hunted down a 14 year old girl and shot her simply because she wanted to go to school. Thankfully she is still alive and the bullet was retrieved when she underwent surgery, but she’s still fighting for her life. I’m amazed by her bravery and shocked that there are girls who are literally risking their lives just so they can read books and learn math. I doubt that many Americans think twice about how precious an education really is while riding their bus to school. I know I never did. I never had to fight for the right to learn because it was always a given in my life.

A Taliban spokesman, Ehsanullah Ehsan, justified their actions by saying, “She has become a symbol of Western culture in the area; she was openly propagating it,” Mr. Ehsan said, adding that if she survived, the militants would certainly try to kill her again. “Let this be a lesson.”

All day I’ve been cursing in my head at these disgusting creatures who dare to call themselves men. No, they’re not even human. I hate them. I actually hate them. Who does shit like this, let alone justifies it? And I’m even more frustrated at the fact that I feel completely helpless. For everything that the Taliban has done, for all the lives they have destroyed…I hope they get what’s coming to them. Something far worse than death. I thought I would only read about such brutality in history books, not the news.

Please read and watch this video by Adam B. Ellick and Irfan Ashraf about Malala and her father Ziauddin, who is a schoolteacher and a huge advocate for girls’

- My ‘Small Video Star’ Fights for Her Life

    By-lena sharef   

Some think bravery is living without fear
But that is not true
Bravery is living despite the fear
And doing what needs to be done
Even though you’re scared to death
Some can stand on the sidelines of life
And be content with what could have been but never was

That is not me
I will not look back at the end of my life
Thinking of what could have been
I vow to live my dreams no matter what
I will stand up and be counted
Even when I’m one of the few or standing all by myself
I will proudly state before God and all who see
This is who I am and what I want to be..............sehar

Sisters by blood...Friends for life

sisters are..

clothes borrowers

fit throwers

cover stealers

secret keepers

an enemy, a friend,

a conversation without end,

sassy,bossy,silly,fussy

pretty and sweet

tea partys with treats

dress up, mess up, fess up, get punished,

fights over nothing, sharer of dreams

a headache, a pain, she gets spoiled again,

a princess, a brat, she ruined my hat,

i love her, i miss her, i tease her, i kiss her,

she is my family and that means more to me

what would i do without her?

INDO CHINA WAR.......50 years ,jara yaad unhe bhi kar lo jo laut ke ghar na aaye

Today marks the 50th anniversary of Indo -China War:Excuses have been thrown into what actually went wrong-non violence,hindi -chini bhai bhai blind trust,fingers have been pointed at the then P.M Jawaharlal Nehru, Defence mininster Krishna Menon and Lt. Gen.B N Kaul 

One of the bitter ironies of life is that greatest acts of heroism and valour mostly happen when the odds are hopeless and death and defeat inevitable. Throughout history nations have always glorified such episodes in their ballads and poems, by honouring the heroes and commemorating the event. It is the common perception of these few and far in between episodes in a people's history that forge a sense of nationhood. Why else would we celebrate the deaths of a Prithviraj Chauhan or a Tipu Sultan? Or a Porus or a Shivaji who battled great armies with little more than a handful of brave comrades and immense courage? Of course we rejoice in the triumphs of an Ashoka or Chandragupta or even an Akbar but that is about greatness and not heroism. Even if it is true that the end of history is at hand, we can be sure that the annals of heroism will never cease being written. However endless these may be, the heroic stand of 'C' Company of the 13 Kumaon at Rezang La on 18 November 1962 will always be among the more glorious chapters.

The monument that stands at Chushul asks, "How can a Man die Better than facing Fearful Odds, For the Ashes of His Fathers and the Temples of His Gods."

The 1962 Chinese invasion is a tragic watershed in the military history of India. It exposed an inept Indian state both militarily and politically. But for most of the war, the fighting qualities of the Indian jawan and the young officers remained unchanged.

Indians have been conditioned to believe that we had not a ghost of a chance against China in 1962; but that's simply not true. If the Indian government had not been so blasé; if the military leadership had not been so ineffectual; if the Indian Air Force had not been grounded, ill-advisedly; well, all historic ifs, but the outcome would have been very different. China's army is a lot less than invincible, as the battle-hardened Vietnamese proved by thrashing it in 1979.

Even the timing was propitious for India, yet we fumbled.

And lets salute the martyrs who in spite of being less equipped gave the ultimate sacrifice to the nation and never gave a second thought before laying down their lives in spine chilling cold of himalayan war of 1962.......a video which truly depicts the spirit 

STAY HUNGRY ,STAY FOOLISH..................STAY MISSED:Steve Jobs

One year after losing its visionary co-founder, tech giant Apple Inc. on Friday night (Manila time) marked the first death anniversary of Steve Jobs with an emotional video tribute only viewable on its home page.

 

Visitors to Apple's website (www.apple.com) were greeted with a QuickTime video lasting nearly two 

minutes, featuring images and quotes of Jobs

If we had a dollar for every time we've heard or read, "Steve Jobs never would have ..." (fill in the blank) in the past year, we might be able to afford a share of Apple stock. Maybe two.

.

In the year since the company's co-founder died, his name has never been invoked so often by so many who think they know what Jobs would or wouldn't do or approve, from releasing a not-fully-baked Apple Maps app towaiting six weeks to patch a large security hole. The practice is almost as arrogant and self-righteous as Jobs was. But it keeps his name alive, as if he's still part of the conversation. 

And he is. Our fascination with the man described as a modern-day Thomas Edison by New Yorker writer Ken Auletta has not ebbed; if anything, it's grown larger with his passing, all too soon, at the age of 56 when the whole world was stunned for he was a leader who made a company with passion,brute force into world's most powerful technology firm and the way his 'Think Different" ad changed the whole idea of ad world so were his i-products

STEVE JOBS (1955-2011) -you would always be missed not only on the day of your death anniversary but every time when a person dares to dream,to run an idea that is termed crazy,to challenging the norms and to create the world a beautiful place.......an igrateful generation says imiss to you

"Remembering that i will be dead soon is the most important tool i have ever encountered in my life to help me make big choices in life ,because almost everything-all pride,all fears stay flat in the face of death leaving only what is truly important........STAY HUNGRY ,STAY FOOLISH"

The great Indian tamasha called "ARRANGED MARRIAGE"

The whole procedure of finding a perfect match for the son/daughter who have attained the so called marriageable age is amusing.Suddenly sprung up a whole new species called"Shadiraam Gharjode" who drop by every Sunday ,suggest some "potential candidates "over heavy breakfast and two rounds of "Adrak waali Chai"  and make your parents guilty of the fact that their daughter is still not married and when this phase ends then starts the real torture-Matrimonial sites :profiles,calls asking "Ladki ka color fair to hoga na,jyada healthy to nahi,koi past wagairah ho to bate de"and ofcourse the compatibility acquires a different parameters; aajkal B.E.+MBA ki demand jyada hai technical match ban jata hai (Give me a break dude ,are you planning to discuss circuits all through your life) .When naadi,gotra,profession,dowry,family status are matched then they come down to taking the opinions of the future bride and groom 

Why does this institution of arranged marriage survive in India in this day and age? the India i am talking about is of educated middle class where the incidence of arranged marriages are not only high but also considered as a legitimate way of finding a mate The answer lies partly in the elasticity of this institutions and indeed most traditional customs that allows it to expand its definition to accommodate modernity so today's arranged marriages places individual's will at center and parents assume a role where their one hand is raised for blessing and other immersed in wallet
the arrangement in arranged is clearly a manufactured one sometimes taking some pseudo forms like a blind date,online meet ups, the reality swayamvar type shows all aim to let one meet a potential spouse Here the idea of love is not so gently manufactured by contriving a spark or overflow of hormones but rather a well planned robbery 
In the west the idea of marriage has a notion that starts when one proposes and the other can withhold it for an indefinite period of time So we have marriage as a mirage that shimmers frequently but materializes rarely but imagine the same ,when venues and the day of Roka has been fixed and even which car is to be given as a gift can a girl think over the proposal?
At a more fundamental level Marriage is only significant relationship that we enter by choice.....(hmm..or maybe we think so) we live in a sticky collective environment where individuality remains blurred when "A young saraswat ,handsome boy earning five figure salary"remains sufficient and of course the space for substitution always persists

In an era where future and security hold more promise than present arranged marriages continue to hold their charm .Whether choked int radition or cloaked with modernity this institution of arranged marriage needs some serious help because sustenance of a long term marriage brings along with it a personal growth

" Wasn't marriage, like life, unstimulating and unprofitable and somewhat empty when too well ordered and protected and guarded? Wasn't it finer, more splendid, more nourishing, when it was, like life itself, a mixture of the sordid and magnificent; of mud and stars; of earth and flowers; of love and hate and laughter and tears and ugliness and beauty and hurt?"

BARFI.....PYAR KE SIKKO SE CHAL BANAYE ASHIYAN

  

Barfi - when words seem so useless ,when eyes do 

the wonder ;they reflect jealousy,love,attraction 

pity,sympathy,hatred, despair,helplessness !it took 

me back to the time when on Saturday evenings I

used to visit Prayas ; A home for mentally challanged 

unwanted kids in bhilai (some newspapers claiming 

that its a motivation behind 'Barfi' as Subrata Bose 

was closely associated with it ) Dealing with some of 

the personal problems in life those two hours at 

prayas gave me solace ! Kids playing,dancing 

,drawing made u forget the "Normal " in your 

existence ! One fine day I was told that a girl named 

khushi was crying n pushing everyone back as she 

attained puberty and was going through a biological process where she needed her mother to explain her the changes ! I tried to explain her but all in vain ,she just kept her head on my lap n cried ,cried ,slept ! Back home I could not sleep ,went to sleep with mom n dad ,I hugged them and thought I was so fortunate to have them in life and then cursed god ,cursed him that if u have not given them the ability to think,to understand then why gave them emotions ,the harmones ,the biological features ,what if they love someone ,how would they express it ! And whoa "Barfi" answered my questions ;the two scenes when Ranbir kapoor is heartbroken and through his hands n eyes says it all(you carry the legacy of Raj Kapoor from jaagte raho man) ,Second when Priyanka Chopra covers him with her hands to say to Ileana that he is mine ,stay away are just picture perfect !watch Barfi for a beautiful locales of drajeeling ,for the kolkata of 70s , for the uncomplicated life when we were not socialy networked ,for a person who does not need some so called abilities to be happy ,for the selfless love without blood relations ,for some of the lovely songs ! Barfi gives us a message that a love which does not end in a happy ending is not a lost one ,for love is above the physical intimacy of "50 shades of grey" its pure like a morning dew .its like falling in love all over again ,"pyaar ke sikkon se chal banyein ashiyaan..................................................sehar"

Have you ever been in love

With someone you can never have?
So close you can touch her hand
Yet, so far to feel her heart?

Have you ever lived in pretense
Quietly loving without any condition?
A feeling of love that's unknown
Hiding it, not knowing for how long.

Have you ever fallen deeply
Loving the person unconditionally?
So afraid to say what you feel
Acting normal, keeping things still.

Have you ever been hurt unintentionally
But put on a smile, pretended to be happy?
Deep inside you're in pain and suffering
But outside you're jolly and laughing.

Why does holding her hand feel so right?
Your heart smiles everytime she's at sight
Hearing her sweet voice makes your day
Hope you can hug her in a special way.

A naked Harry, apolegetic Kristen and Obama's beer -A new face of globalisation

Welcome to this new age of 24*7 news channels and over competitive print media feeding us with news every single day which makes me wonder ,do we really need to know such details?  Indian media has been recognized as sensitive, patriotic and a very influential tool in the sociopolitical sphere since the days of the freedom movement. The father of the Indian nation Mahatma Gandhi initiated his movement with the moral power of active journalism. Today, India with its over a billion population supports nearly 70,000 registered newspapers and over 450 Television channels (including some 24x7 news channels). The Indian media, as a whole, often plays the role of constructive opposition in the Parliament as well as in various Legislative Assemblies of the states.  Journalists are, by and large, honored and accepted as the moral guide in the Indian society. For democratic India, the media continues to be acclaimed as the fourth important pillar after the judiciary, parliament and bureaucratic set-up.

Unfortunately what we are being fed up today is : A prince known for his adventurous tactics  celebrates his birthday in Las Vegas style and for the whole month we had this same news , A celebrity girlfriend issues a public apology to his guy and helloz we even have editorials over it ,White House issues the recipe of beer and why are we going ga-ga over it?

Ok i confess,they are fun to read but then daily? Don't we have bigger issues back home and more humanitarian issues at international level too  - the public money is spent in scams,a dwindling economy ,Unemployment ,A war torn Syria ,Food crisis in Sub Saharan countries

"The one function that TV news performs very well is that when there is no news we give it to you with the same emphasis as if there were.  ~David Brinkley"

"Journalism largely consists in saying "Lord Jones is dead" to people who never knew Lord Jones was alive.  ~G.K. Chesterton" 

Happy Reading ....................Sehar
 

A DAY FOR MARTYRS WITH INDIAN ARMY FANS

 It was one of those days when you feel so non existent and so small before the persons standing before you ,yes it was RUN DELHI RUN "event at India Gate to commemorate Vijay Diwas ,popularly known for kargil war victory .It just happened one fine day that i got a call from Krish,founder of Indian Army Fans that we are planning to celebrate Vijay Diwas .I loved this idea because i always believe "We are what we are because in the toughest terrains of India ,soldiers are protecting our borders ,we are safe today because Kargil war took away sons of many mothers at an early age"
So the planning,meetings,CP gatherings,maps,task division started and the most wonderful thing i noted is that people from all age groups participated only on invite of a facebook page "Indian Army Fans" 
We had a boss ,a kargil war amputee Major DP Singh with a rock solid attitude as a driving force and yes he managed to call some of the most inspiring people as our guests 
Mrs Sudha Singh,M/O Shaheed Major Uday singh SM, SC
Col.V.N.Thapar,F/o Shaheed Captain Vijayant Thapar VC
Prof.S.K.Naiyer,F/O Shaheed Captain Anuj Naiyer,MVC
Deepa Malik,a paraplegic who is a sportsperson 

Navin Gulia ,a Paraplegic with a list of achievements that has no limits
The event started on 22 july at & 7 a.m and we were there by 6,700-800 people registered themselves at the run

we started with wreath laying at amar jawan jyoti ,as i was reading the names ,i slipped the name of Capt.Vijayant Thapar and my mind went empty ,Col.Thapar whispered me "Vijayant " with a smile and i was so embarrassed ,when he came back he said "good show doctor,it happens sometime",a brave and smiling father who lost his son to war at the age of 22
 The felicitation function started among the citations of the brave men and some very inspiring speeches with by everyone and the run was flagged off lead by DP Sir himself the crowd were so excited amid "Vande Matarm"n "Bharat Mata Ki Jai"

the most wonderful thing about run was we had our youngest participant at 5 yrs and the oldest at 83 along with 23 disabled persons and yes a group of runners came all the way running from Gurgaon to India Gate .................Amazing Zeal

we did plantation at pragati maidan with the message of Greener  India 
The 5km run ended at India Gate and we were happy that we did something for the war heroes and people who inspire India
Returning back i touched the feet of Mrs Sudha Singh ,she said girls don't touch feet she hugged me n cried .I had tears in my eyes ,words fell short and i said to her "Shaheed ki maa sabse mahan hoti hain mam"
I apologized to Col.Thapar again and he was so warm n friendly that he said you should come visit the father of Vijayant sometime ,this is your punishment :-)
Taking blessings from Prof Naiyer ,whose fight against corruption is known by all ,when he asked me what i wanted to do IAS he said always be an honest officer beta,it pains to see the condition of a country for which soldiers laid down their lives "he gave me a book duly signed which said "To Doctor whose citation about Anuj brought tears in my eyes after so many years "look at the greatness of a father living alone at the old age ,worried about the country more ,and we can understand from where soldierly values into Capt. Anuj came from.............and then he said i want to be alone ,after all he was a father too

we all have our own experiences that we felt like an Indian as written by Geetika as her status that a mere act of pushing the magnificent lady's chair to Amar Jawan Jyoti made my eyes wet"Two person rightly deserve the credit-Maj D P Singh &KRISH 
ALL THE VOLUNTEERS OF INDIAN ARMY FANS 


-THANK YOU

We murmur daily and complain
Of irritations, minor pain,
And yet we stand, in freedom's gain,
View sacrifices with disdain.

This very day, around the globe,
The faithful stand upon the Hope,
Their bodies marred, their lives laid down
To gain a share of Heaven's crown.

These humble heroes meekly stand
And place their trust in nation's hand;
They count their sorrows wholly blest
To serve a calling o'er the rest.

Although their human lives be spent,
No enemy can circumvent.
With mortar mixed from martyr's blood,
The nation will stand through fire and blood.

You can call him CRAZY ,i call him DADDY

Its Fathers day n yes i received a happy news that i won an online writing competition titled "family memories" n here is my entry:

We are a pets crazy family n yes it runs in our genes (don't count my mom though ,she is a complete no no when it comes to pets) .This memory goes back to two incidents n so different in time scales .It so happened that it was raining for continuously two days n the roads,canals, everything was flooded,no electricity (the time when there was no facebook ,so it didn't matter much ) .We were trying to float our "very bad in shape" paper boats to the canal that flowed at the back of our home n suddenly we saw three little kittens who were born just two days back clinging to a wooden piece which was just on the verge of floating with the stream and a cat,their mother trying to enter into water to save them but the strong water flow pushing her back,As is every child's habit ,we ran to Daddy as we always believe at that age he has the solution to every problem in the world n told him about the plight of kittens He came with us and after a brief thought ,he entered into water n let me tell u it was not a fresh water canal ,it was the main canal that took the waste water away from the town ,embedded in water till his stomach,he picked up them n brought home ,washed them with damp cloth and fed them milk with a small spoon,the cat looked at him adoringly ,so did we n mummy with anger ,as always obsessed with cleanliness she was instructing dad toclean himself,take a bath n then enter the house........till date neither has mum changed nor my dad

*Next incident of my crazy dad goes to the time when we lost our sweetheart puppy Tipsy.Tipsy was a pet dog ,she was THE MOST IMPORTANT member of my family (n yes this time my maa also loved her)she fell ill n refused to eat anything ,even when we tried feeding her chicken (okk,its a big thing in a brahmin family but for tipsy to eat ,we could have done anything ) ,even the veterinary doctors refused to do any miracle n those days our diner table was silentn only conversation we used to have was of cursing the veterinary science (not the doctor because he happens to be my uncle) n one sad day after coming from her veterinary visit,she was no more ,we were crying,i took her in my laps n sat for hours n in the afternoon my dad came from clinic n when he entered home,he could make out that tipsy was no more he took her in his lap n looked at her with absolutely expressionless eyes .It was decided that tipsy would be buried in my brother's factory area so that wild dogs won't dig her up n eat her body ,we went ,the labourers dig up a big hole ,tipsy was gently pushed inside and the worker started to pour mud over her body and suddenly my daddy who was silent all this time,screamed "Don't pour mud over her face ,it would hurt her eyes" n yes he cried ,cried like a little baby who was lost in a crowd ,completely unaware of people around watching that its the same Dr Saheb whom we look up to always is crying .Next day our maid came to work and she said to me ,"In the slum colony,the talk of the day was ,how Dr Saheb was crying "
that is why i said YOU CAN CALL HIM CRAZY I CALL HIM DADDY

There you are standing as tall as an oak tree when I am small

You stand over me guarding my actions and catch me when I fall
.
When I reach the teens you are there
giving me your knowledge and wit

and although the times get tougher as i grow you never ever quit.

as I reach adulthood I start to do things on my own

wondering how you did it from the time I was born until I was grown.

Then I remember all you have done for me throughout the years

Remembering you were there for me through the happy times and the tears
.
I am happy you are my Dad

It makes my heart feel merry and glad.

no other person could ever take your place

And i realize this as i look into your face
.
This Fathers Day I want to honor you

For all the wonderful things that you do
.