sapphirine

SAPPHIRINE

A promise of a lifetime,
Broken by the ruthlessness of time.
Fading the footprints that were imprinted in my heart forever.
Sitting there in front of you the chill of your body runs down my spine.
Your love, your touch, your kiss is wrapped in the same divine manner,
As you lay here right now.
Your fingers are still clutched on the blue rock on my hand,
And your last breath still echoes around me.
It’s hard to let go….
What’s left with me is your memories,
And the spectrum of blue on the sapphire ring.
Which marks the union of our hearts connected to the life that breeds in me today.
Our relationship grew with this ring,
Developing a love that would have lasted forever.
But today it’s all over…
The pieces of my heart lay in front of me,
Missing you even before you’re gone.


I can hear your retreating footsteps at a distance,
And I can hear the advancing footsteps
of the crowd around me.
The grasp of your finger around mine
cannot be easily disconnected
Because the invisible cord that binds us goes
beyond the law of nature ,
Of life and death.
As the cruel mob tries to snatch you away from me,
What’s left behind is the lonely touch
of the azure rock on my bare life.
The moments of silence is broken by the wails of mourning.
Desperately trying to reach you ,
Bound by the same crowd that carries you away from me.
Now you lie beneath the veil of the earth,
Surrounded by serene darkness.
But for me it is the start of a lifelong journey,
In the dark alley of enduring memories.
And I stand alone,
In the midst of the crowd.

Silent Suicide

SILENT SUICIDE

“ Yet again the communal clashes in the city has left the streets burning with the flames of hatred killing thousands of people all over ”.
This is Naina Sahay reporting live from Mumbai, Aaj Tak. Naina was a young, flamboyant journalist who had earned herself a lot of accolades for her brave reporting and blunt comments that supported the truth. Her parents expired when she was barely the age of 12 in an accident leaving behind a lot of responsibilities and a younger brother to take care of. As she grew up she started working at a very young age in order to give her brother the best of life she could. She gave him love of a mother, father as well as sister. And in the process earned a living through whatever jobs she could lay her hands on. Naina got introduced to the field of journalism through a friend and since then there is no looking back. Naina just kept on climbing the success ladder to earn herself a life she truly deserved. From a scratch she today owns everything a good house, car, good food everything. But what Naina truly cared for was Armaan, her younger brother. She could never live without him. A slight fever and the girl who could report under waist deep water during Mumbai floods would go paranoid. A small wound on Armaan would make her go berserk and a drop of tear from Armaan’s eyes would just make Naina depressed. Probably that’s the reason why Naina was unmarried because she could not live without her brother and would want to give him her undivided attention.
But then one incident shattered her life.
In the year 1993 communal riots borke out in Mumbai .People were behind each other’s lives. Dead bodies were lying on the roads. Injured unattended and bloody and gory sight’s everywhere. People were scared to get out of their houses yet Naina risked her life to deliver news to people. So many times the bullets must have just missed her but even through such tensed situation she would remain calm and help the injured on the streets. While doing her duty her finger constantly clicked Armaan’s number at the interval of very half an hour to ensure his safety.


Suddenly one day Naina heard a cry of help ,on drawing closer to the sound she realized there was a man badly injured and was probably taking his last breadth. The man in a hushed voice called Naina closer. Naina hesitantly went closer. The man revealed a sensational news that would rock the nation and he also had photo evidence to back his story. Naina was shocked at the evidence. Before Naina could ask him any questions the man closed his eyes forever. The man said that the current Chief Minister Mr. Chillamrao Desai was involved in the clashes of Hindu and Muslim communities and he had started communal rights in order to degrade his political rivalry. Naina had a very important evidence and also the power to stop the future bombings that were planned to kill the leader of the opposition party. Which would leave the entire city burning and spoil the situation even more.Naina hurried to her house and kept the photograph with Armaan .While she went to her head office to make arrangement for her breaking news. But what Naina was;nt aware of was the man who followed her to her house. While Naina was in the office preparing for the prime event the man entered her house.
Armaan heard the noise and went in the front room. The man attacked Armaan, Armaan resisted he tried to fight back but the man just removed a gun and shot down six bullets at Armaan. Armaan’s knees gave away he fell down and instantly his life was snatched by the cruelty of the world. The man ransacked the entire house and found the photograph and ran away with it.
Naina with her boss returned to her house. Her feet trembled, beads of sweat trickled down her forehead, she collapsed the darkness was’nt only for the moment but for the rest of her life. Seeing the pool of blood which Armaan was in, disturbed the mental state of Naina . The news was’nt deliverd but the death of Armaan resulted in the suicide of the courageous self of what Naina used to be. Yet again the politics of our country silenced the truth.She lost her mental balance, she lost her voice what was left was a silent suicide which was never recorded…….

IMMORTAL

IMMORTAL….

Sorrow croons as love begs,
In all these years of grief.
Love that was meant to last,
Extinguished in silent pain.
As he gave her what she asked,
And that was never to speak to her again.
We watched him smoke up his life in ashes, and drinking his pain away.
But what was left was his wretched self
flooded by her memories each day.
Until that night….
(Chorus)
The flames of his burning cigarette
couldn’t burn the pain ignited deep inside.
Drinking his sorrow with his trembling hands.
He finally gave his love away.
We found him lying in a pool of blood.
His eyes still wide open




Staring at her picture
through his lifeless being
Finally at peace.
Resting inside heavens cradle,
A love that remained immortal.
The inconsolable tears dropped down her eyes as she heard the news.
She hated herself for her ashen life,
Blackened by the regret that she let her love hesitate.
She finally let her pain conquer.
She wouldn’t get him off her mind and drank her guilt each day.
Until one night….
(Chorus) The flames of her burning cigarette
couldn’t burn the pain ignited deep inside.
Drinking her sorrow with her trembling hands.
She finally gave her love away.
We found her lying in a pool of blood.
Her eyes still wide open
Staring at his picture through her lifeless being
We laid her next to the person she loved,
Finally at peace.
Resting inside heavens cradle,
A love that remained immortal.

Rest In Peace

R.I.P

Sad memories still wet my eyes,
Even though the end is near.
Lived but yet not experienced,
The world in which a human breeds.
Distanced myself from everyone,
Despising the very sight of a man.
The way in which you marooned my virginity,
Still molests my senses to fear.
Sat there clutching my bare skin
with trembling hands,
Watching your lustful smirk that seared the
pain deep inside.
What followed after that was a monotonous life
of blasphemy.
A life that was an extract from the original being.
But I would thank you for making me realize
The love I wanted to achieve.
Her beautiful eyes,
Her perfumed breath,
Drove the pain out of me.
Her mesmerizing voice filled up my senses with hope,
Hope of rejuvenating a life that wasn’t there.
But was I really happy?
The cruel world termed me abnormal,
Bruised and boycotted,
Deprived and dejected,
I led my life in lonesome sanity.
Shunned my self from every being and gender.
Left behind was a lifeless body and the drops of tears that broke the silence each time.
Today finally I gather the pieces,
I ignored all this while,
As I am preparing for a journey I had longed for years.
A journey in the world of creator’s divinity.
Sleeping on the bed of thorns which would slowly turn into roses.

THEY ARE FORGETFUL BUT NOT MAD…….THEY ARE WRINKLED BUT NOT WITHERED….THEY ARE OLD BUT NOT MEEK………….BUT ABOVE ALL THEY ARE HUMANS AND NOT A BURDEN………

Only a few days ago, headlines on the front page of a national daily screamed: 'Family throws granny on garbage heap'. The accompanying photograph, was of the semi-paralyzed 75-year-old woman, left to die on a rubbish heap by her grandsons. The boys had acted under the instructions of their mother - the old lady's daughter - who had decided that she could no longer take care of her mother.

In September last year, a 37-year-old man beat his father

A son out of sheer desperation raped his old mom…..

With an increasing number of cases of abuse and neglect towards senior citizens being reported across the country, Indians can no longer boast of being proponents of traditional family values. Four out of 10 elders are victims of abuse.Unfortunately, the gradual disintegration of the joint family system and the growing number of working couples has meant that the elderly are left to fend for themselves. Many are left struggling through the last years of their lives, alone and neglected.

About 4.6 percent of older people are victims of physical, sexual or financial abuse, perpetrated mostly by family members and those who are in a duty of care relationship with the victim.

Elder abuse, the mistreatment and torture of of older people, though a manifestation of the timeless phenomenon of inter-personal violence is prevalent in India. Still, there is no systematic collection of statistics or prevalence studies, crime records, journalistic reports, social welfare records and small scale studies to provide evidence on existence of abuse, neglect and financial exploitation of elders.

This is an extremely sorry state of affairs. We all will grow old sooner or later. Imagine, being mistreated, verbally abused, denied proper food, proper mediaction and care by younger members of family. Older people are indeed in a very helpless situation with eroding social values system in India. We all must have come across at least one or two cases of elder abuse or mistreatment in our neighborhood.

In the masculine centric society that we are heading to, the acts of work, wealth creation, enjoyment, hedonism, hyperactivity define the culture. Gone are the feminine centric roles of nurture, care, healing, consideration and empathy. If women get into masculine roles of acting as protector and provider, then some men must come down to the roles of nurturer and healer. A society which drives itself at breakneck speed without out occasional maintenance can have severe wear and tears.

With nuclear family further getting reduced to single parent family, Most OLD PEOPLE have to head towards the Old Age Homes. In a morally corrupt country like India, there is no guarrentee that they will not experience severe abuse in Old Age homes as well. Unfortunately, media is glamourising this old age home concept.

There are also cases of severe elder abuse where the children force the old and sick elders to give them their savings or write property in their name. Sometimes children even file legal suits on the elderly parents making the frail and sick elders to run around the corridors in courts.

But, the most disturbing phenomenon is the legal abuse of elders by daughter-in-law. Imagine, a police jeep coming in front of the house, arresting the family members as old as ninety years and taking them to prison just because an adulterous daughter-in-law filed a false complaint of harassment against the entire family. Next day, media flashes the news of how an innocent daughter-in-law is harassed by a family of sadists with enough colors in it. In India, police arrests old and sick elders “Without Investigation” if a daughter-in-law or grand-daughter-in-law complains of harassment at police

I speak of India because the Indian culture today is fast diminishing it is getting more and more so called modernized.In our culture old is certainly considered as gold it is also considered as a bank of knowledge and experience.But it is now very disheartening to say that today old people are merely a forgetten treasure instead they are considered more of a burden.Who is to be blamed for this our fast paced life or our forgotten values????......

It is an extremely unfortuantely scenario in India where old people are told to campaign if they are wronged. The old people having passed their prime, being weak and sick can not shout slogans in the streets. They can not hold protest marches. Often, when they approach Human Rights activists or Feminists oriented NGOs, they are shown the door. Even Media remains totally silent about elder abuse in households except occasionally reporting murder of lonely elders in urban India. Many such elders have committed suicide after spending some ten to fifteen days in jail.

In some of the cases you will see that in most of the incidents the old people’s children as well as their grand children are involved in causing atrocities to them. It is rightly said that what comes around goes around .Today what values you inculcate in Ur children they will mould into that character only. May be in future ur children will be the one throwing you out of their house…..

SO WHATS THE SOLUTION FOR THIS????

The hands that fed you the eyes that cried for you when u were hurt the people who gave you ultimate care and protection in your childhood need your help today. It is said a human when he grow old should be treated like a child. Your child your parents ,your grand parents needs your help .take those wrinkled hands in urs TODAY and say “IM WITH YOU…..I DO CARE….” THANKYOU.

Poem

POEM

Mumbai- it is a city…..

Mumbai a six letter city, but on a deeper thought it is a book of controversy.

It is a city where thousands of people migrate, while the population makes the land vibrate.

It is a city of slums and roads of bumps,

But still the government plans to make the city the next Shanghai, but what about the increasing “MEHANGAYI.”

It is a city which never sleeps and where the rain water also manages to seep.

It is a city of dreams where zeros become heroes and heroes become zeros.

IT is a city where the Page 3 brews makes peoples views ,while important news are yet to pay their dues .

It is a city full of stains of paan, but still it is

“MUMBAI MERI JAAN”.

The Third Gender

2. THE THIRD GENDER ……..

Mumbai is a city of vibrant dimensions and people. It is a city where all the genders live together whether male or female, but then why does Mumbai forget some people who are also a very part of the society. They have the body of a man but the soul of a woman and their claps form the symbol of their community. They are those people who are fighting for their identity as the third gender. They are known by many names like “Hijras”, “Chakkas” or most commonly known as “Eunuchs” all over the world. Eunuchs are not a sudden discovery in the world but are also there in the pages of many historical events. They have been shunned and boycotted by the so called “Normal people”. They are forced to beg on signals do menial jobs or work as sex workers as they do not get good jobs even if they are highly educated because they are considered as a taboo to the society. We talk about illiteracy, poverty and other problems faced by the society, so why aren’t these people taken into consideration.

Today these individuals do not get suppressed easily. This community is finally getting out of its shell. Many of the eunuchs are surprisingly graduates from esteemed universities. The best part about this community that the whole world should learn is the “UNITY AMONGST DIVERSITY” between these people. They do not divide themselves on the basis of religion and they accept everyone with open arms even if one works as a sex worker or has AIDS. Here we fight in the name of religion and kill each other forgetting that we belong to the highest community that is humanity. Eunuchs are also humans and not an abnormal being. In order to prove this to the society some eunuchs have formed an NGO called “Sakhi Char Chowghi Trust” to bring reforms in this community. It is really sad to know that this is the one and only trust working for this cause. It is a completely different experience to speak to the organizers of this trust. The determination and enthusiasm of the eunuchs is highly motivating. They just behave like normal people working for a good cause. They believe that they all are woman, but are trapped in the body of men. They want to be free from this fake identity and be what they actually are. But then why is the society ignoring them or not accepting them. They long to be a part of the society they long to be heard they have a voice, they have opinions and demands, then why during social, political, and economic discussion regarding the city they are forgotten. That is why these people are relying on them selves to make a difference and to break the barriers around them. The society does not accept them but they have accepted the society with due respect. One of the organizers of the NGO quoted “Ae Zindagi gale lagale, hamne bhi tere har ek gam ko haske gale se lagaya hai”. She also said,”we have no enmity against the society inspite of all the atrocities we have faced because of them. We are also human beings and a part of this god gifted world”.

It’s high time that we all leave are orthodox beliefs behind and open ourselves to a wider horizon in the world. We cannot ignore a whole community of human instead we should “BAN IGNORANCE AND NOT HUMAN RIGHTS”.

mumbai an autobiography

1. MUMBAI- AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY

Mumbai is a city full of scandals, sex, controversies but over all of them a city full of dreams for many people. People come from small villages and towns for its celebrity status, its glamour, and the “SHEHERI BABU” syndrome. They come with big dreams where they see themselves as Sharukh Khan, Aishwarya Rai or for the matter of fact any other famous celebrity, but is Mumbai everything that they dreamt of? Mumbai is a golden city but as it is said that “All that glitters is not gold”, the harsh reality of Mumbai is learnt by these people on the very first day as they come to the city. The inflated prices, corruption, the problems of boarding and lodging etc prove to be an obstacle for these people. They get to the city but their dreams remain farfetched. Surviving in Mumbai is not an easy task for everyone. People struggle whether they are in the higher or the lower pedestal to stay in the race to reach to the top. Who is to be blamed for this? The tough competition or the population boom. Mumbai population is approximately 18 million and in the next two decades it is expected to reach to 28. 5 million that is more than Tokyo’s population which is currently the highest populous city in the world. Still people are migrating to Mumbai just to be termed as a Mumbaikar, like many Indians want to be termed as a British or an American. Mumbai is getting so populous that within few years the government will have to issue “visas” for coming into Mumbai. Increase in population has not only worsened the standard of living in Mumbai but has given rise to poverty and many anti-social crimes. Mumbai’s sky rocketing prices of properties, congestion, traffic, lack of space and greenery and many other factors have forced people to shift to suburban areas, but everything has its positive and negative aspects.

Mumbai may not be a perfect city but it is a city where all communities come together not on the division on their respective religions but as a Mumbaikar. During calamities people help each other on the basis of humanity and not on the basis of which religion they belong to. The Mumbai city has won many accolades from international borders too. This city has gone through many hard ships but has always proved victorious because of the “never say die” spirit of the people. The second most important aspect of Mumbai which comprises of what Mumbai actually is that whatever happens in Mumbai , this city is constantly on its feet trying to move forward . The clichéd saying that “Mumbai never stops” actually holds true for this city. The best example for this is the Mumbai bomb blasts which happened a few years ago where the city was back to normal within a few hours after the unfortunate blast. The “Aamchi Mumbai” attitude haunts a person from the very time he steps into Mumbai, thus making him feel as an integrated part of this famous city. Whether its day or night the mysteries of this wonderful city keep on unfolding itself by beautiful surprises with every experience in the city .

Mumbai a six letter city but on a deeper thought it is like an autobiographical book of memories and experiences of thousands of people. This city with its ups and downs has taught people the true purpose and meaning of life and to deal with the highly competitive world. Therefore this city resides in the heart and soul of every Mumbaikar. Probably that is why the city is considered as “MUMBAI MERI JAAN”.