How long shall we stay silent???

Newspapers, Electronic Media, Social Media, etc. everywhere we see voices rising in support of the lady whose life has been untimely taken away by those social monsters. We see condemnation from all quarters of this heinous crime. The act is unthinkable and no civilized society can ever accept that. And the most saddening part is such incidents keep on happening all over the country almost everyday which do not get any attention or limelight of media. May be because those incidents happen in other parts of India and not in National Capital, and thus do not appeal to 24X7 News channels as a good feed.

Rape is not just the only form of crime against women and there are many other crimes committed to women either at home or workplace or any other place which are equally heinous and deserve no less attention. All these crimes are rather manifestation of male chauvinist society (I too a male.) where they glorify their acts. Strangest to all is that this happens in a country where we take great pride in worshiping  our Goddesses, be it Durga or Kali or any other Goddess but do not think twice in committing crimes to their human forms. What an irony!!!

But these people who act such are very part of our own society and if we regard them as uncivilized, we too are equally because they are just part of us. Unless we change, we should not expect these monsters to change. When a girl says, "I do not trust any guy"; I do not have enough answer or reasons to make her trust guys. We are just not doing enough. And our politicians do not make the cause any simpler.

There are calls that bring in stricter punishments, change the police system, make changes to Indian Penal Code, etc.; but I do not think all these can ever be a solution. If punishment would have been a solution; we had instance of Dhananjay Chatterjee hanged for such crime  but I do not think this has in any way reduced incidence of crime. Also its quite debatable, how many people would you hang and moreover we are in India and not Saudi Arabia. And you too cannot have Police in every nook and corner to protect us. This Police is also nothing but some people from us only. Though improving and changing our laws and judiciary so that culprits can be booked quickly may see a change. Our judiciary should be made more effective and cases should not languish in courts for years wherein the very judgement starts making no sense to people.

But the most important aspect of ours that needs a change is our morality. We need to have moral values to make out the difference between good and bad. And this can only happen if we have proper education; and education does not mean having a good degree but being enlightened with human values. Education  that makes us real humans and not some pseudo humans with brains of animals. Education that teaches us to respect all and most importantly the opposite sex. Education that inculcates in us to work for the betterment of the people and society. Unless we have that education; we are not going to change, our society not going to change and sad to say we may continue to hear such incidents happening.

Lastly I would say if you can respect your mother or your sister or your wife or even your daughter; then why not other women???

Three Times Loser: Book Review

Love is not about winning, it is about sacrificing for your love. The book ‘Three Times Loser’ if not anything else proves this statement perfectly. ‘Three Times Loser’ is authored by Akash Verma, who already has a bestselling book ‘It Happened that Night’ under his belt. His use of simple English not only sets the backdrop of his story but also makes it a good read.

And who said, love can only happen once in your life time, definitely not, according to the principal protagonist of the story Alok. He loved three completely different girls who were unique in their own ways but representing a section of our society. As love is more about sacrifices and not how much you get, every time he had to sacrifice something. First he sacrificed his love for Megha, second time he gave up his principles for Mandira and in the third case he gave up his flourishing career for Shonali. But the story teaches one thing to keep on loving and to hear our heart as this can only give us our peace of mind.

His way of storytelling has been unique wherein he converged three frames of his life happened at three different time period and place into a single one. And perhaps all seemed to be so interlinked to each other which ultimately became part of a single set of events.

And lastly the story teaches us something which is very basic to our lives i.e. happiness. It teaches us to forget our past and move on. To take decisions that our heart says.
The story is nicely written in a well articulated\manner. It is a good read and I would definitely recommend it to others.

Why do boys stare at girls?

Few months back, I was traveling in a train, alongside me there was a newly married couple sitting and talking between them. And then I could hear (sorry, if I eavesdropped) the beautiful young lady telling to her husband that a guy sitting opposite to her is staring at her (thanks that guy wasn't me). The husband exchanged his seat with his wife and they continued with their earlier conversation.

So, why do boys stare at girls? Is it just something that we come with those genes, where it becomes impulsive for us to stare at girls? Shall I use the word 'stare', I think 'look' is a better option. Beauty must always be appreciated, and perhaps looking at a girl is a way of appreciating her beauty. If not for staring looking by the boys, I really doubt how many girls would have looked that beautiful. Its the beauty of a lady that attracts a guy at the first instance and that makes him have a better glance at that lady. Don't you think if not for staring by the boys, all the one and half hour that she spends every day to look better would be of waste. Because ultimately we try to look good so that people appreciate that, either by words or may be through glances. This has something to do with males being a bit more expressive than their opposite sex. A girl may hide her feelings.

I really sympathize with those girls who find it annoying when a boy stares. But then a boy stares only when you deserve that, shouldn't that make you happy? I would have been so glad and happy, if I would have ever known that a girl is staring at me. I would have personally gone on record to thank her.

Don't the girls ever stare at boys? It needs to be debated. I personally had conversations with many girls and they do accept that girls do stare at boys. The difference, their act being a bit more subdued.

Art of Refusing

It may happen many times that we want to say 'NO' to some of the whimsical demands of our friend, boss at work, or even from some people who are in no way related, etc. but we are not able to. It happened many times with me that I was busy with a particular job even then someone asked me to help in their job, though he knew about my busy state of affairs. And I could not refuse that ultimately leading to jeopardizing my own state of work.


So, the art of refusing needs to be mastered for that matter. Its very important to make a mark about our displeasure about things we don't intent to do. Because unless we say no one is going to understand the importance of our work. We should say in a way that would not offend the person and he also understands the cause. For me it becomes impossible to refuse a person outright, a habit that does not help in the long run. Instead of putting ourselves in trouble, we can politely REFUSE, an art I need to master the most.

Book Review: The Storyteller of Marrakesh

On my flight to Kolkata as I was reading the last few lines of the book ‘The Storyteller of Marrakesh’, my friend who was also travelling with me asked me about the book and this is all what I said to him:

The book ‘The Storyteller of Marrakesh’ is written by Joydeep Roy-Bhattacharya, an author of Indian origin, who now lives in NewYork. The story revolves around the disappearance of a foreign couple from Jemaa and the various theories and interpretations to that. The author has a very unique way of narrating the story. He brings about philosophy of life in his story and that makes it even more riveting to read. His use of Arabic words makes the story livelier and readers while reading could feel the story being narrated to them with the flavor of the place Jemaa. The descriptions of the places in Marrakesh could make readers visualize the whole picture in their mind. He has also beautifully included stories within a story. Also, his first novel ‘The Gabriel Club’ has been described to be impressive and passionate.

Hassan, the storyteller in the book, is an apt in his profession and sets the stage beautifully for the story to unfold. And instead of just narrating the story all by himself, he makes his listeners become a part of the story and everyone has an account to share regarding that fateful night when the mysterious incident of the disappearance of the foreign couple happened few years back. His listeners had different accounts of their meeting that foreign couple which were sometimes contrasting to others’ versions, leading to the mystery of the incident and a search for the truth of what happened that night. And every year on this particular night he tells this story to prove to the world the innocence of his brother, Mustafa, who surrendered to the police as the one responsible for the couple’s missing from the square of Jemaa.

Hassan through his story wants to unfold the mystery of that night but what can be debatable is how much he really wants to unearth it for the lines:

‘And, in any case, I added, I wouldn’t tell you if I were either one of those things. I wouldn’t betray them.’

clearly suggest that he perhaps is completely aware of the mystery but doesn’t want to disclose it. Also, Mustafa’s finding Hassan’s inkwell from the room from where the couple went missing further suggests the involvement of Hassan in the whole episode as Mustafa once said ‘If you are ever in trouble. I will give my life to save yours. ’ But that remains a mystery, the mystery that is perhaps known to only Hassan and Mustafa. And you are left with questions: Is Mustafa serving a life sentence in jail just to save his brother or to protect his love, Lucia, one of the two strangers who went missing? Is Hassan the one responsible for the missing of the couple? Or Is Hassan’s act of narrating the story every year a way to distort the facts and hide his own deeds?

The book is an awesome work of fiction that would at the end make you gasping for more. This would let you dream about the incident and shape your story about what really happened on that special night. A wonderful book that can be highly recommended to the readers, who want something new and something fresh.

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