The Crust of Life

Mananiya Pradhan Mantri Shri Narendra Modiji, I am not a politician and I am not involved in any chopper scam or any other scam. I have patiently waited for 50 days and supported you in every way in your decision to demonetise ₹1000 and ₹500 notes. Now, I seek following answers as a common citizen of India. These are not only my questions but questions of 125 crore Indians. 1. How much of unaccounted cash have you unearthed? 2. What was the expense incurred to do this demonetisation exercise? 3. How much of revenue loss has been incurred by states and central governments in terms of indirect tax revenue? 4. What is your plan to revitalise the businesses that suffered due to demonetisation exercise? 5. How many corrupt officials have been caught and jailed? 6. How many people died that can be directly attributed to demonetisation. I am seeking these answers from you directly. Perhaps live on any tv channel at 8pm? These questions may reach you through social media, electr...

I was born with God inside me. The moment I was born, that God was removed from inside me without my knowledge and thrown away. Then religion was stuffed and hammered in its place. As I grew up, the void of God inside me started to grow as well. I searched for something to fill this void with. I tried to drown myself in my profession in hope that this void will go away. But, it kept on growing. I tried to fill it with home and family, art and philosophy. But, this void grew bigger. I tried to fill it with more religions, but to my despair, it kept on growing. I travelled to the mountains and valleys, waterfalls and seashores and soaked in the beauty of nature in an attempt to fill this void with. But, all in vain. The void inside me kept growing. Finally, I tried to fill it with love, joy and peace. But, it kept on growing incessantly. This void of God is much much larger than all the religions of the world, all the nature and beauty, all possible knowledge and skil...

\ A lot has been discussed about body and mind without reaching any conclusion. It could be because the mind is not a physical entity and mostly it's consistency depends upon many variable factors that the body is subjected to. Body demands food when it is hungry. Mind reacts by figuring out how to go about getting it. It shuffles through many "conditions" to reach food to the body. When the body is in pain, it demands comfort and mind reacts by organizing medicines or whatever that can make the body feel comfortable. Criminal investigation methods largely depend upon torturing the body of the accused to make their mind spill the beans. Vishwamitra tried very hard to control his mind from fulfilling his bodily desires, but his mind gave up when Menaka seduced him. In today's society, we don't have a mind of our own. What we have is the mind of the society we live in. Society has created a conditioned mind by way of legal and moral laws and tenets. It has cr...

आज शमा खुश है क्यूंकि शम्श ने उसे सराहा है अपनी काबिलियत पर कर यक़ीन ऐ दोस्त की एक ज़र्रे ने भी समंदर को मोती से नवाज़ा है क़दर करना सीख हर इंसान की तू की मुर्दो ने भी कई इंसान में जान डाली है - Musten Jiruwala (26th October, 2014) Aaj shama khush hai, kyunki shamsh ne usey saraha hai apni qabiliyat par kar yaqeen ae dost ki ek zarre ne bhi samandar ko moti se nawaza hai qadar karna seekh har insaan ki tu ki murdo ne bhi kai insaan me jaan dali hai Today, flame is happy because sun has appreciated its light Believe in your ability, my friend because, one grain of sand has given a gift of pearl to the ocean Appreciate every human being because, even dead body has given life to many people

  Only a master narrator like Vishal Bharadwaj can do justice to this Shakespearean masterpiece in contemporary setting and that too with a new twist! Haider, which is based on the Kashmir conflict where I could relate Tabu's character of Hamlet's Gertrude with current state of Kashmir, which is married to India but flirting with Pakistan. She has brought out the trials and tribulations of a "half-widow" state. KayKay has done an amazing job of portraying Pakistan's character through Claudious who uses "terrorist" (Mukhberins) under his control to kill people who are in his way. And, of course, Shahid has done a wonderful job of portraying the current generation of Kashmir through the character of Hamlet. Shraddha has done a good job with Ophelia's character. I loved the twist in the tail (If you have not seen Haider, please stop reading from here). As Gandhiji had said, an eye for an eye will make the whole nation blind - this message is d...

It is one thing to aspire for something and its entirely another thing to achieve it. Even though I am a left-leaning liberal, I admire Narendra Modi for having the ability to achieve what he aspires for. He has created such a cult like following that he is considered to be no less than a super-human. Forget about criticizing him, even if you term his achievements as ordinary or less than ordinary, you will invite wrath from die-hard Modi-fans. And, never even try to highlight achievements of his opponents. If anybody can turn a Modi-fan away from Modi, is Modi himself! On one hand I admire him as an able leader and on the other hand I dread his far-right ideology of authoritarianism. Whether I like it or not, the perception that he has created for himself (which is reaping benefits for his party), he will be in Delhi for a long long time. As an authoritarian, his first agenda will be to systematically weed out any challenger within or outside his party. He has smart...

There are three basic political ideologies. Conservatism, Liberalism and Socialism/Communism. Since independence, Indian politics is centered around liberal ideology - Sometimes leaning towards Conservatism and sometimes towards Socialism/Communism, but predominantly on Liberal lines. 2014 is bringing in an ideological shift in Indian politics. It seems to be moving right towards Conservative ideology. Farther right to this would take us to Anarchy. This will certainly make the Liberals lean heavily towards left to keep the balance. If they move too far towards left, it would take us to Anarchist Communism. Over a period of time, Indian politics will become bi-polar like in the west, Conservative and Liberal. What will be the impact on citizens? Economy, human resource development, environment, law and order and social harmony are defined by the dominant political ideology. Since we are witnessing a shift, initially there will be a degree of resistance to change. If resistance i...

Whenever 2002 Gujarat riots are spoken about, 1984 riots are used as counter arguments. Whenever 1992 riots are spoken about, 1984 riots are used as counter arguments. When 1984 riots are spoken about, 1992 and 2002 riots are used as the counter arguments. Please allow me to take the hue out of these incidences and present to you a black and white picture to clarify what my stand is. If you agree with this stand, I urge you to share this view. In 1984, a leader of a political party was assassinated. After her assassination, people who sympathized with that political party and leader incited their Indian supporters to kill Indians to avenge the death of their leader. They used the emotion of an average Indian to inflict mayhem on their fellow Indians. In the process, thousands of Indians were killed and hundreds of thousands of Indians were rendered homeless. In 1992, a political party and another group of Indians, incited large part of Indians to demolish a 40...

Who is worthy of my vote? This question was troubling me since last many months. I was not satisfied with my own answers to this question. But, today, at B.PAC organized meet with the candidates clarified many things and I could come up with one definite answer that I was satisfied with. After a series of scams that rocked the UPA-II, I was feeling quite lost for an answer. Then came assembly elections and AAP won 26 seats in Delhi. I saw a ray of hope. I started liking AAP. However, my happiness was short-lived. AAP could not provide a model of governance which was self-sustaining and long lasting. There was no diplomacy or polity in their approach. AAP came across as a confrontationist party to me. I was back to square one with the question. I started seriously considering BJP for my vote. Somehow, I did not feel it right to vote for just any BJP candidate just because Narendra Modi, who has provided stable governance in Gujarat for last 12 years, was at the helms....

सूरज की गर्मी और बादल की नरमी एक कली को फूल बना देती है दुनिया के फासले और दिल की मोहब्बत हर रिश्ते को मुक़म्मल बना देते है मेहनत और मशक्क़त के ज़ख्म कामयाबी के मरहम से भर जाते है ज़िन्दगी का हर एक लम्हा ज़िन्दगी का एहसास दिलाता है ग़म से मायूस न हो मुस्तन ग़म ही ख़ुशी का ज़रिया बन जाता है

"Be yourself; everyone else is already taken." - Oscar Wilde Such a simple quote that sets you free from the shackles of "have to be" and you start floating freely and aimlessly in celebration of this freedom "to be". Celebration, as usual, lasts only for a few moments that make you happy and cheerful - make you forget the pain that you had to go through number of times to earn this moment of celebration. In this moment, everything is forgotten and everyone is forgiven. Sadly, this moment is also destined to the confines of good, cherishable  memories. Memories are deceptive. Moments that you really want to forget crop up every now and then and make you cringe. Hastily you try to shrug it off by getting busy in doing something that you did not plan to do. Somehow those painful memories cry out louder to get your attention. Once it succeeds in getting your attention, it curses you for causing such memories! How thankless these memories can be! You ...

In 2003, Rotary Club of Bangalore, the premier Rotary Club in Rotary International  District 3190, decided to recognize excellence in the vibrant voluntary sector of the city  – to identify and honour organizations working for the community - and give an annual ROTARY SERVICE AWARD. As the voluntary sector is very large – over 2000 NGOs in Karnataka and 1000 in Bangalore – they select one group or activity each year for recognition. Rotary Club of Bangalore, recognizes eminent people and organizations in many areas, annually. The club give the Corporate Citizenship Award to a company who achieves social responsibilities with excellence, the Citizen Extraordinaire Award to true leaders in Bangalore, and the Vocational Service Award to people working in services like the BBMP or State Transport, or in an NGO. Equally, they recognize young persons for their scientific inventions, debating and quizzing. For this year we invite appli...

हर वक़्त निगाहें टिकी रहती है आसमान पर काश वोह आसमान मेरे पिंजरे में आ जाए हर वक़्त खोया रहता हूँ वोह बचपन की यादों में काश वोह खुशहाल  बचपन वापस मेरी ज़िन्दगीमें आ जाए हर वक़्त सर रखता हूँ मरहूम तेरी कबर पर काश तेरे बेजान जिस्म में वापस जान आ जाए क्यूँ नहीं? आखिर सूरज और चाँद ने भी तो मनमानी की है! उसने भी तो आसमान से अपनी दीवार और छत बनाई है! क्यूँ नहीं? बारिश की वोह बूँद ने भी तो सूरज की किरण को चूमकर बादलको गले लगाया है! क्यूँ नहीं? सूरज भी तो सारी रात रूठकर सुबह मुस्कुराता हुआ वापस आता है? क्यूँ नहीं? केहते है मांगो तो खुदा भी मिल जाता है तो फिर मरहूम की जान कौनसी बड़ी बात है? - Musten Jiruwala

Muharram is the first month of Islamic Hijri Calendar. Today is 2nd of Muharram of Hijri year 1433. Muharram is one of the most significant month for Shia Muslims because it marks the martyrdom of Husain Ibn Ali (A.S), grandson of Prophet Mohammed (SAW). During this month there are special congregations for the first 10 days where the life and time of Husain Ibn Ali (A.S.) and his family is narrated. Let me limit this note to Muharram for Dawoodi Bohra community of which I am a member. For Dawoodi Bohra community, who are followers of Syedna Mohammed Burhanuddin (TUS), month of Muharram is very significant. People of the community would travel long distances to listen to the sermons by Syedna (TUS). This year, Syedna(TUS) is presiding the congregation in the city of Mumbai (India) and people from all over the world are pouring in there. Resident Bohras of Mumbai would make comfortable arrangements for stay and food for people coming from outside of Mumbai. Apart from...

Eid-ul-Adha is the festival in Islam that marks the end of annual Hajj pilgrimage. The ritual of sacrificing an animal is in fact an irony of this festival! This ritual has its roots in an event that supposedly took place 4000 years ago. Prophet Abraham was asked by God to sacrifice something that is most dear to him. For Abraham, his son Ismael was most dearest since after several decades of yearning and prayers he was blessed with his son Ismael. So, he chose to sacrifice Ismael. Ismael, as an obedient son, consented to his father's wish and willingly chose to give up his life. God, supposedly pleased with this devotion, spared Ismael's life and happily accepted sacrifice of a lamb instead. The spirit is that the believer must give up something that is dear to him/her for the needy (personifying God). The spirit also highlights the willingness and obedience of a son in fulfilling his father's wish. In today's material world it is very much appl...

किसीके सामने बड़ा, तो किसीके सामने छोटा किसीके सामने दुबला, तो किसीके सामने मोटा किसीके सामने लम्बा, तो किसीके सामने नाटा किसीके सामने अच्छा, तो किसीके सामने बुरा तरस गया हूँ में अपनी असली सूरत के लिए ढूंढ रहा हूँ वोह आइना जो दिखा दे मेरी असली सूरत मुझे जब कभी भी आईने पर डाली रौशनी और धुंधला गयी सूरत मेरी गुस्से से तोड़ दिया वोह आइना चकना चूर हो गयी सूरत मेरी तनहा महसूस कर रहा था कोस रहा था हर आईने को अचानक दिल की गहराई से जानी पेहचानी सी आवाज़ आई 'बेवक़ूफ़, गर देखनी है तुझे  असली सूरत तेरी डाल रौशनी अपने आप पर तू क्यूँ बेवजह कोस रहा है आईने को? हर किसीका भी तो आइना है तू! गर देखनी है तुझे  असली सूरत तेरी ठीक कर पहले सीरत को तेरी दिखा साफ़ सूरत सबकी सबको तब देख पायेगा तू  असली सूरत तेरी' - Musten Jiruwala

Vijaya Dashmi or Dashara marks a milestone in one's life by celebrating victory of Good over Evil. I am sad that I don't have anything to celebrate for since I have not attained any victory over evil. Lord Rama is known as Maryada Purushottam, (The Greatest Man of Self-Control and Patience) owing to his victory over Ravana, the ten-headed rakshasha (devil) who personified ten evils - Krodh (anger), Ahankar (ego), Irshia (jealousy), Vaasana (lust), Lobh (greed), Moh (attachment), Ahamm (pride), Manas (mind), Ichchha (will) and Matsara (intellect). This festival reminds us of these evils present in our life and Lord Rama inspires us to fight these evils in a way depicted in Ramayana. When we defeat these evils in our own person, what will emerge is Rama-Rajya. As I look at myself, I am governed by many of these evils big time. This Vijaya Dashmi has inspired me to think, introspect and work towards defeating these evils in coming year so that I can also cel...

जब कल नहीं था , पछतावा भी नहीं था जब कल नहीं था , कोई उम्मीद भी नहीं थी जब कल नहीं था , कोई मायूसी भी नहीं थी जब कल नहीं था , कोई ख्वाइश भी नहीं थी जब कल नहीं था , कोई तड़प भी नहीं थी जब कल नहीं था , कोई फखर भी नहीं था जब कल नहीं था , कोई गुस्सा भी नहीं था जब कल नहीं था , कोई अफ़सोस भी नहीं था जब कल नहीं था , बहुत मोहब्बत थी जब कल नहीं था , बहुत ख़ुशी थी जब कल नहीं था , बहुत सुकून था अफ़सोस की आज " कल " है इस लिए मोहब्बत की शदीद ख्वाइश है ख़ुशी के लिए दिल तड़प रहा है सुकून की तो सिर्फ उम्मीद ही है आज " कल " में जैसे की खो गया है - मुस्तन जिरुवाला

In the beginning of the universe, I was one. There was no one to call me names There was no one to classify me as male or female There was no one to label me as Hindu or Muslim Nobody was there to make me rich or poor Nobody. None. Just me. I yearned for someone to talk to me I yearned for someone to acknowledge me I yearned for someone to notice me So, I decided to divide me. Again and again. More and more I divided me, yearning multiplied Now, I am no one. I am Yearning. - Musten Jiruwala