A story ..

During British rule, there was an Indian couple who were as fair skinned as the Britishers. Indians have a broad spectrum of skin complexion and light skin complexion is not uncommon.

This couple, Harish Chnadra and Maya Devi, did something unusual. They stopped any interaction with their own Indian family/community. They started pretending that they were Britishers. They changed their names, now Harry and Maria, picked up British accent and dressed like Britishers. They trained their son the same. They sat in the Carriage where only Britishers were allowed, while other Indians were whipped when asked why they can't get the same seating even though they pay the same price. They soon started mingling with the British community. 

Harry one day paid visit to his cousin brother, Ramchandra, who was as fair skinned as Harry and so was his wife. Harry tried to convince him of the benefits of doing what they were doing. Ramchandra was beyond amazed. Harry even suggested that Ramchandra let his childless brother adopt his son, since he was dark skinned.

Ramchandra had just come back after being in the jail for 14 days for protesting against British Rule. Leaving his wife and young child at home. His wife did not mind, she herself had been carrying their son and attending marchs lead by women for a free India. They often struggled for food whenever Ramchandra went to jail, it was a struggle they proudly accepted.

Whenever Ramchandra put on shirt, pant the Hawaldars would stand and salute him, assuming him to be a Britisher. Ramchandra could have easily fooled others of being a Britisher. But he chose otherwise. He continued to be who he was, and proudly so, he'd gladly take whips in the name of a free India if he had to. His cousin Harry on the other hand, disappeared after India's independence. Assumed to have left India along with the Britishers.

In our times today, however, some people would hail Harry as a hero, for being such forward looking. For being able to settle out of India so early on, for being 'practical'. Because in our times today, loyalty only means being loyal to your chosen soccer/sports team. You don't think about your country, your community or even your family. You only think about yourself and your children. 

To such people, I say 'fuck you'.

Ramchadra is my grandfather, Ramchandra Paliwal, and like him and I am a proud Indian.

17 Writing Secrets by Steven Goldsberry

17 Writing Secrets
February 11, 2008
by Steven Goldsberry
One author shares his tried-and-true principles for making good writing better.

1. Never save your best for last. Start with your best. Expend yourself immediately, then see what happens. The better you do at the beginning, the better you continue to do.

2. The opening paragraph, sentence, line, phrase, word, title—the beginning is the most important part of the work. It sets the tone and lets the readers know you're a commanding writer.

3. The first duty of a writer is to entertain. Readers lose interest with exposition and abstract philosophy. They want to be entertained. But they feel cheated if, in the course of entertaining, you haven't taught them something.

4. Show, don't tell or editorialize. "Not ideas about the thing, but the thing itself."—Wallace Stevens

5. Voice is more important than image. "Poetry is not a thing, but a way of saying it."—A.E. Housman

6. Story is more important than anything. Readers (and publishers) care a lot less about craft than content. The question they ask isn't, "How accomplished is the writer?" but, "How good is the story?"

7. These rules, pressed far enough, contradict each other. Such is the nature of rules for art.

8. All writing records conflict. Give the opposition quality attention and good lines. The power of the the antagonists should equal that of the protagonists.

9. Shift focus often. Vary sentence structure and type; jump back and forth in time and place; make a good mix of narration, description, exposition and dialogue.

10. Be careful of your diction. A single word, like a drop of iodine in a gallon of water, can change the color of your entire manuscript.

11. Provide readers with closure. The last sentences of the novel echo something that happened earlier. Life comes full circle. "If I have a pistol in my first chapter, a pistol ends the book."—Ann Rule

12. By the end of the work, the conflict should reach some satisfactory resolution. Not always a "happily ever after" ending, but something should be finalized.

13. Revise, revise. You never get it on the first try. Art shows up in rewriting.

14. Avoid excessive use of adjectives and adverbs; trust the precision of your nouns and verbs. Verb form: the shorter the better. Avoid helping verbs and progressives. Avoid passive voice. Avoid cliche and stock phrases.

15. Be interesting with every sentence. Be brief. Hemingway's first editor at the Kansas City Star gave him this style sheet: "Use short sentences. Use short first paragraphs. Use vigorous English. Be positive, not negative." Hemingway later referred to that list as "the best rules I ever learned for the business of writing."

16. If you can be misread, you will be.

17. There are no rules for good writing. Those who break the "rules" successfully are the true artists. But: learn, practice and master the rules first. "You cannot transcend what you do not know."—Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj

Novelist Steven Goldsberry is a professor of English at the University of Hawaii and an instructor at the Maui Writers Retreat.

उसको डर क्या लगे

डर उसको लगे

जिसको अकेला चलने की आदत न हो

डर उसको लगे 

जिसको सच का सामना करने की हिमत न हो 

हमने तोह कसम खायी है जी जान से लड़ने की

न्याय और सच का साथ  देने की

कर्त्तव्य निभाने की

डर तो उनको लगे

जिनको मोह माया है

जब सबकुछ ही त्याग दिया

तोह डर की भी क्या काया है

डर तो उसको लगे

जिसको बस लेना आता हो 

जिसने देना सीख लिया 

उस  से तोह  डर  भी  घबराता  है

जिसने अपने चोटों पे मलहम लगाना  सीख लिया 

हर हाल मुस्कुराना सीख लिया

उसको डर क्या लगे   

जिसने  अकेला  चलना  सीख  लिया
उसको डर क्या लगे  

जिसने  अकेला  चलना  सीख  लिया

उस से तो खुदा भी हात  मिलाता  है

R.I.P 'try'

You either do things or you don't. So, from now on I have decided to not to try. I will either commit or not commit to do it.

I actually feel lighter after making this commitment (as if  deletion of a word from my vocabulary has lighten the weight on my brain). Besides that levity, once you decide to not try there is less thinking, less confusion and hence, less waste of time.

Give it a try ;-) and decide to either do or not do things for a while.

Dandi March 2.0

I was in the US when I remember reading an article about people doing Dandi march again all the way from Sabarmati Ashram till the Dandi village. I so envied them. I checked my schedule again and again, wishfully hoping if I could make it some way. I couldn't.

Few years later, I was in Bangalore when I saw a post on facebook from a friend in the US about Dandi March 2.0 . I curiously checked the link and to my surprise it was happening again and this time there was a plea to do it across as many cities as possible in request to raise awareness about the Jan Lokpal bill. I instantly checked if it was happening in Bangalore, it wasn't. Disappointed I wandered away from the website for a bit. I pondered if I should initiate to organize it in Bangalore. A zillion thoughts ran across my mind. I was new to Bangalore,  barely knew anyone in the city, would I be able to pull it off? I decided I will.

When I came back to submit my name for Bangalore I saw some else had in the mean time taken that responsibility (Sumit Gupta). I emailed him about my interest in volunteering for the event and offered to help in any way I could. Soon there was a meeting and we started to plan for one of the most prized memories of my life. People I remember from the first meeting: Sumit Gupta, Deepak Nagaraj, Rajashekhar Maram and my friend Manaswini. We decided on the time and date such that it didn't collide with any major events in the city or any cricket match. My first task was to come up with the route for the march in Bangalore. I researched a bit online and looked for places that were historically significant in our freedom struggle. I picked stopping points where previously freedom protests used to happen or where freedom fighters used to hold their meetings.

We barely had few weeks to organize for the event. Sumit and I were soon on top of things, doings all that we could think of to make this event successful. I designed t-shirts, made posters and did other tit-bits that were required. The following weeks were hectic but I enjoyed every minute of it. Deepak and Rajashekhar worked on getting city permissions. I also quickly concocted a webpage for information related to Dandi March in Bangalore: http://pickafight.in/dandimarch . Sumit drafted a letter for the press and then we went from one press to another, hoping that they would hear us and publish about the upcoming Dandi march. At the end of the day I remember stopping by Khadi Bhandar and making my very first purchase from there - A white khadi kurta and a large khadi Indian flag. I was ready for the march.

On the day of the of the march by the time I got to the event quite a few Lok Satta members and IAC supporters had already gathered. The march commenced after a speech by one of Bangalor's senior freedom fighters. The weather wasn't very friendly that day. It was sunny and we all got thirsty every few minutes. But that somehow only added to the determination to finish the march. The sight of the few coconut-water sellers we found on our way were sheer delight. During our stops we would try to sell our t-shirts to gather donations and make up for the expenses. Manaswini, along with few others did a great job in handling that department. In all we had about 350-450 people show up for the march, which was better than what we had estimated. I was very happy to see my manager and friends from work show up as well.

We had planned to end the march at the  Mahatma Gandhi Statue at M.G. road but were disappointed once we got there as the Congress party had taken up that spot for their event with police protection around it. We ended our march in a park near the statue. There I was struck by another moment when a 94yr old freedom fighter slowly entered the gathering, supported by his grand daughter. I got goosebumps. He reminded me of my own grand parents who were freedom fighters too. He was wearing a Nehru topi, dhoti-kurta, a khadi jacket with an Indian map/flag nicely tucked on it. We invited him to give a speech. I didn't understand a word of it since it was in Kannada but nonetheless I was humbled to see him. We ended the march with the national anthem.

During the preparation of the event I got to know many people and made some good friends. Some of the people who left an impression on me: Prithvy Reddy, Srinivas Alavilli, Dr. Meenakshi Ramo Bharath, Deepak Nagaraj, Ashwin Mahesh, Raja Shekhar and few others. Each of them selflessly committed to the betterment of our society. Deepak Nagaraj is the silent worker. I always found him working very very hard and not once in front of the camera or talking to the reporters. Srinivas Alavilli, used to work in the US and then went back to Bangalore to bring a change. He has now joined politics and is working his way out. At my very first glance at Ashwin Mahesh, I sensed he was some one very knowledgable. After knowing more about him, I'll say he is the epitome of knowledgeable and to our delight he has chosen to solve social problems and is now running for MLC candidate in Bangalore. Prithvi, is like the strong pillar you know you can rely on. I was in awe of the way he handled the mob, the cops and the entire march in general. I could write another blog just about the goodness of these people. Dandi march in Bangalore was a success because of the hands of such people behind it. There was great team work done by all the volunteers.

If you ever think that people have stopped caring for our country or even the local community, I am very happy to tell you that you are wrong. Each and every person who came for the march or stands up for protest, even if for few minutes, cares. There are people who are willing to stand up for what is right. There are people who have already made their society, their country their family, their personal life and not for any ulterior motives. There is hope that things will change for better and over time they certainly will. They already are.

The best thing I got out of Dandi March was Sumit Gupta. Right after Dandi March was over we met and started thinking on what next we could work on. He joined PickaFight and has been its backbone since then. He makes a remarkable leader at a very young age and has been the driving force behind PickaFight's success. Looking back, helping organize the march and involving Sumit as a co-founder for PickaFight were two things I did right. Dandi march was a memorable experience and I am glad that not only did I not miss it this time, I also helped organize it.

You don't smile enough

We all were standing in the assembly line waiting for the results to be announced. We had just entered eleventh standard and this year we got to hold positions in the student council. I had applied for the sports captain position. I thought it was the easiest position requiring least amount of work and was still both prestigious and ambitious enough. I was still new to this school, didn't have many friends and was certainly not amongst the top performers of the class so, the chances of me not being selected for any of the positions were very strong. As the qualifying names started to roll in, I clapped loudly cheering for each one. The girl in front of me in the line turned back to me and said "stop clapping so loudly, not that you are going to make it anyway".

Next, all those who had qualified were invited for the final round; group interview with the principal. The principal had recently joined our school and had already earned quite a reputation. Soon after joining she fired (forced to leave) two of the senior most teachers, who were quite admired by the students and flunked several children who otherwise would have been passed onto the next standard. We all stood in a semi-circle facing her in her office; the atmosphere very tensed. I stood at one end of the semi circle and was often the last to get to answer the questions being asked.

The principal's questions were mostly revolving around leadership and then she threw at us the mother of all questions: "tell me one thing that you don't like in me". Faces turned pale, the smartest started stuttering, you could see a lot of twitching and turning. My best friend then had also made it to this round. Using the word "bitch" was the new fad at that time. When her turn came she got stuck at and kept repeating "Ma'am,  I think you are a ... ". All of us held our breath and wondered if she would dare and say the word. She ended with "at times not a very nice person". It felt like it does after watching a two hour suspense movie, which gets us all on our nerves expecting a certain climax and in the end that climax never happens. Others responded with "I think you are a dictator" and some or the other faults.

I had been waiting for my turn eagerly as I knew the very moment I heard the question what I wanted to tell her. When my turn came I said "Ma'am, you don't smile enough". Suddenly the room was filled with an uproar of laughter. I remember that one of the teachers laughed so much that she had to wipe a tear off from her eye.

I was appointed as the vice captain of the entire student body.

there will be hope

It was a hot summer day in Delhi. We were given a free period and Aisola Ma'am was monitoring our class. I was sitting on the second or third last bench with a guy I had a crush on. We were all happily chatting away when Aisola Ma'am asked "will some one take these papers and give them to xyz Ma'am in the teaches room". Everyone heard but then soon went back to what they were doing. I waited for the guy besides me to raise his hand to volunteer. He didn't. Disappointed, I started to walk towards the teachers desk when a guy on the front row said "Ma'am, who would go out in this heat". As I took the papers from her and left the room I heard her say "as long as there are students like her, there will be hope"

Everyone has something to offer

You meet new people every now and then. Each one is unique and each one has something to offer. This reminds me of the beautiful meaning behind namaste - the divine in me greats the divine in you.

I recently met some one who definitely made me stop and look at life through a different lens. I have to confess I often find my self in the rat race or at least watching one closely. I am often surrounded by people discussing acquisitions, new starts-ups, latest technologies, highest paychecks, expensive cars, success-money-fame. We all seem to be clouded by one want, desire or another.

I got a whiff of fresh air when I first met K. He was allotted space next to my desk at work. I looked at him and instantaneously knew what kind of guy he was. There are people who are humble and as down to earth as can be. They have no ambitions and are happy and content with whatever they get in life. I looked at him, smiled and then got back to my work.

For the next few days it was hard not to observe the activities going on in the cube beside mine. Everyone seemed to like this guy. He said yes to whatever work came his way. Every time he met some one he smiled as if he had just met him/her for the first time; so cheerful, excited and eager to meet them. Imagine some one like that meeting you. It is hard not to smile. Makes me wonder, how can one be so cheerful all the time? But it is this simple act we all forget: to smile and greet and be genuinely happy to meet.

There is something unique to learn from everyone, everyone has knowledge and skills that you are not even aware of - including the janitor, the cook, the server. You may be the most knowledgeable person, but you cannot possibly have all the knowledge any one other person has, regardless of who he/she may be. They all are interesting and you can learn a lot from each one of them. Greet each one as if each one is special. Wait for a second, don't rush in to ask just for your work and then haste back to your life.

Stop. Smile. Greet. Appreciate. Respect.

Ever went to a restaurant and the food was on the house for you? I witnessed this only once when I went out for dinner with K. But it happens to him so often that it seems surreal. He eats out almost all the time, trying different places and cuisines. He often gets free meals, even at places he has never been before. I asked him why he thinks this happens? He replied that his ancestors must have a done a lot of good deeds and it is all that good karma coming back to him. The analytical side of me reasons otherwise: Why would it not happen? Imagine taking orders and serving people all day long. Once in a while you see those forced smiles, you smile back forcibly and then move to the next customer, waiting for the day to end and then to rush back home. Imagine some one stopping by, with the biggest genuine smile on his face, cheerfully greeting you, interested in the food as if it is the best thing he is going to have in his entire day and then tipping you heartily. I would give him food for free!

I once went out with K for a walk and we stopped by an ice cream shop. I asked for 2 samples of ice cream I had not tried before. I pondered on which one to take and then ended up going for one I had not sampled but thought would be a safer bet. He walked in, didn't ask for any sample. Looked at which one enticed him most and just went ahead and ordered. It took him only few seconds to make a call whereas it took me I'd say at least a minute. I tasted his ice cream and to me it tasted like bubblegum/cough syrup. But he enjoyed every spoon of it. By then I understood that it didn't matter what he took, he would have still appreciated and savored every bit of it.

It didn't surprise me when I found out that he wasn't very high up the ladder at work and was getting paid almost half the value of his skills. I asked if that bothered him and it didn't. He said what he was getting was satisfactory and that he was content. I thought in my mind, he has what most of us don't have - he had  'enough'.

love again

love is beautiful

it takes you high, it takes you low

it even makes you bow

makes the heart beat

makes you realize

what an heart ache means

loved and lost?
have no regrets

for now you know, how it felt

Would you do it again?

even with the scars and the bruises

would you do it all over again?

if no is your answer
you haven't learnt the game
you haven't learnt how to dance in the rain

for every experience is unique
every story is new
there is nothing that you already knew

to have a heart that can love again
my dear, is the only way to win the game

What did you do wrong?

A very good question ask yourself when you find yourself in a situation of conflict, dispute or even hatred for someone.

Of course, there may be times when you aren't at fault at all. But recently I was hurt by some one's actions and was talking to a very wise friend of mine. All she asked was "forget what the other person did, was there anything that you did wrong?"

This wonderful question made me introspect into my actions. I soon found one action I wasn't proud of. Then again she asked "what else did you do wrong?". She kept asking this same question and I kept coming up with things I wish I had not done or I could have done better.

I soon calmed down and realized that I too had made mistakes and that the situation could have been handled in a better way. I highly recommend this exercise. Next time you find yourself furious over some thing, ask a good friend of yours to keep asking you this question. It helps!