under permanent seize

UNDER PERMANENT SEIZE
It is just the time after dusk; may be 7pm or so, but the wings of darkness has been spread ,literally in this region of north-west jharkhand,”palamau”.
The infamous red-corridor extending from Andhra Pradesh to the foothills of Himalayas up to Nepal has also taken this hamlet in its fold. With Maoists getting hold of Kathmandu; their fellow counterparts in this part have got moral boost-up and have become more agile in their activities.
The just arrived ‘twilight’ is an indicator for the native citizens to be home-prisoned and a curfew like situation prevails in the rural regions of this part of the country. People fearing to go out in the open; even to attend the basic Nature’s call. The daily trauma has become a reality for the residents of villages. Even the police fears to leave the main road and go in the interior where ultras are having their foothold, organizing their training camps,inter-state meeting of the top brass functionaries; as you never know where in the path an IED gets detonated.
If some reasons are searched which are fuelling this monstrous regime to prevail then they may be given as-:
1. Abject poverty 2.rising unemployment 3.Coerced means, forcing youths, teen-aged children, women; on gun-points to serve the Ultras.
New rural-employment schemes of govt. to check migration of laborers and providing 100 days of employment(NREG) at door-steps is a good step to lessen the burden of hunger on poorers.
These days with arms easily available, even 30-40 group of people is enough to make a new outfit. The main source of income for these ultras is “levy” they collect from different govt. projects, contactors, mines etc. they are acting as parasites mis-utilizing and diverting the money meant for the development projects; to fund their own agenda, outcome of which is best known to them.
Their strength and influence is spreading unchecked given the nexus between their better halves holding the offices i.e. some corrupt politicians. The alliance may be mutually beneficial to them but it is playing havoc with the lives of common man.



If our rural brethrens are living under constant threat from these ultras running parallel govt. then Urban people are also not enjoying their life in the vigilance of police security. The new age dons modeled on notorious “BHAI” of Bombay; are in the role of extortionists and they are making the life hell for those who have been able & fortunate enough to gather something that can be snatched away.
The exact word in the local vernacular is “RANGDAARI”; synonym for “BHAIGIRI”.
The modus operandi is there will be a gang of 5-10 people comprising mainly of 16-20 age group teenaged boy, having bikes, cell phones etc and there will be a HARDENED criminal at the top of the hierarchy who masterminds all the activities.
Scene1:
A torrent of calls is made to the prospective ‘PREY’; threatening him and causing mental torture prolonging for weeks. The agony and the threats are sufficient enough to take his sleep as well as breathe away; most of the time you can’t expect a middle class person to rise against them. He is so burdened with martial responsibilities and family pressures that he is a perfect specimen of a docile persona. So a deal is brokered and he parts away with his hard earned money.
Scene 2:
If he is strong enough to defy them; then someday at dusk or in night; bikes with gang members will arrive with pistols or other small arms. If some family-member is there then for sure they will fire at him. If he is fortunate, he may live but with this incident the bullet has not only penetrated in the body but the courage is also shattered. The terror has come now much closer; from phone-calls to door-steps.
Other possibility is that the person under fire has made preparations to deal with them with the iron-fist.
The further consequences depend on who is stronger and is better prepared. No doubt Luck, God and best of all the home; Sweet home puts the “person” being “hunted” on front-foot.
You might be able to notice that some characters are missing from the scene; yes! Police force of India. After all Bollywood movies are their role-models, how can they come on time or try to prevent these malicious activities. They will have the “last laugh” after these dramas.
Following day u can expect the omnipresent media highlighting incident at front page; the generated noise will be lost in the wilderness of human apathy. the journalist are doing their duty or just collecting ingredients for their “tamaasha news”, you always suspect their intentions; they are doing their duty what ever their intentions; that is a satisfying thing!
At last the emperor of the democracy will also come, provided matter is highlighted enough…..the functionaries of political parties. As in the hierarchy of this Extortion business, they are also vital cogs; else hunting these street RANGDAARS without political leverage is not a difficult for police.
At last a Request to the readers; please do pray to the God to provide us some respite from the bunches of big and small dons of all varieties; coming in all size and shapes!! Meanwhile we will be locked up in the prisons of our own home; the four Walls of Home made strong enough to insulate us from the ferocious reptiles roaming on roads; the Vibes inside home energetic enough to keep us alive…………………

moral hypocrisy.

markers of being!
in our own land; our name,surname,skin colour,hair and facial features babble to the evert and alert eyes of fellow indians about our religion,caste,social status and religious identity. so much for our secular ideals and high moral ground of color-blindness. an unexpected 'h' in my neighbour's daughter's name 'rathna' raised eyebrows from one of her teachers in high school and prompted her to say, 'your mummy southy?' how come a 'tripathy' could be 'rathna'. the extra 'h' was an inadvertent entry from the pen of her southy teacher in first grade. the unintentional insertion of extra 'h' signifies a cross-cultural connection which seems to be a sore in the jaundiced eyes of discriminatory minds.
who could be more color-biased and preprator of discrimination than we indians, where advetisements announcing "get fairer skin in 7 days" comes on tv network round the clock!; as if darker color was a stigma.
the winds of change have arrived now and its time to do away with these identifiers of title , regional, linguistic biased attitude. TECHNOLOGY will bridge all the gaps what even a fairly good-working democracy has not able to achieve in the last 53 years.
balendu shekhar

Talks and Tales of youths

Talks and Tales of youth of today
The most enjoyable and exciting life part of any living-being is when he/she is free from the shackles of dependence on other people and is strong and mature enough to look after him/her self ; dreams of bold and beautiful things and prospects of a future which will be better than today and many virgin,exciting ideas keeps him awake from dusk to dawn. he/she becomes a visionary and the never tiring energy of youth enpowers him/her and drives to achieve things that were beyond the reach for people of previous generation.
now after being admitted(!) to my college M.I.T. i came across a sea of people who are of my age and almost the thought processes are on similar lines.they all speak the same new language of youth; hi! dude!.
with the swarming of opportunities that came ashore to india after liberalization of economy, the angry young man of previous decade has given way to the geeks of modern times,making most of the i.t. revolution and call-center culture. the future was never so bright and exciting!!

if the impact of modern times has to be seen it is clearly visible in the segment that attracts the youths and where the cupid arrows strike!
the shyness has gone away with the wind of modern times. if the most romantic ideas of a few years back was to watch a movie together, beating around bushes, writing pose and poetry in praise and remembrance of beloved then the communication revolution has transcended all bariers. mobile communication coupled with internet has made a intoxicating cocktail. the highway of love-stories need not to be started with the old-fashioned, college classrooms;they are right a click away! if orkut and facebook are making strangers friends then gtalk and messenger are providing the gateway of personalised chit-chat. if every thing goes well then "all night free" outgoing calls of reliance mobile network comes to the rescue!! the future of young romeos and juliets was never so bright and exciting!!

the globalization has changed the scenario around the globe, the world in larger and our country in particular prespctive; no longer remains divided in boundaries and war-cry of clashes of cultures,languages have become outdated.the speedy network of low-budget airlines have over-powered the geographical distances. for the youths who are brand-conscious it has brought the wall-mart prototypes in their neighbourhood, the great mall-culture
has taken young india by storm. the adorable and prized posessions
of famous brand names are now no longer dependent on the relatives who are residing outside the shores of country but are just a drive away to a plush mall where even window shopping is a good time-pass. the posession of luxerious and branded items and acessories; a must for youths was never so easy and affordable!!

if the over-population was the straight and politically correct reason for all the ills clogging the developement of the country and would remain in near future; the out-sourcing of jobs have provided a good opportunity to cling to the famous line "if more people means more mouths to feed then it also means more hands to work"; the new energetic pair of hands of india's youth are giving nightmares to the people in developed countries,whose jobs are being outsourced to india and the employees of famous sillicon valley are facing fears of getting "banglored". the opportunities to soar high in the sky was never so abundant and at door-steps!!

all these exciting,romantic and dramatic turn-up of events present a life-time opportunity to the youths of my time and it is a matter of pride that we all are on the same band-wagon chasing 'the great indian dream'. when the developed european countries are facing daunting tasks of dealing with old-aged people and depleting work-force; new india is shining and bustling with the youthful energy having majority of population in 21-40 years age group. the time has come for us to fly high in the sky.....................................!!!!
balendu shekhar

lets think

some sublime thoughts---
1. keep your face to sunshine and you can't see the shadows.
2.advice is like snow-----
the softer it falls, the longer it dwells upon, and the deeper it sinks into the mind.

lets begin

the secret of getting ahead is getting started. the secret of getting started is breaking your complexes, overwhelming tasks into small manageable tasks and then starting at the first one.
mark twain