Taking a CAB towards a dictatorial India?

Citizenship Amendment Bill. Who hasn't heard of it? With riots and protests, peace marches and rallies, it is the centre of attention for India, and rightly so, as it is a matter of national importance.

Protestors holding posters during a rally 

      Tussle between people and police at the                 Jamia Milia Islamia University


The unprecedented violence in Delhi, what with "allegations" of police entering the Jamia Milia Islamia university and beating students (rowdy miscreants?) and then the crackdown on Aligarh Muslim University, along with the aggression of the ruling party is simply unwarranted. Is this a genocide? Are we moving (un)knowingly towards fascism, dictatorship and losing all sense of democracy? Was this necessary to bring the masses to sense? You can judge on your own, after reading the below article.

The Bill has recently been passed by both the Houses of the Parliament, although amidst protests and walk outs.

WHAT IS IT?
The Bill amends the Citizenship Act, 1955 to provide that the following minority groups will not be treated as illegal migrants: Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan. Now, it does not say 'Not Muslims', but it effectively abandons them.

            

              Muslims opposing the bill


What is the issue?
°India has maintained a stance, that these three countries in question, namely, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan are Muslim dominated countries with an Islamic Constitution. So naturally, if any othe religion person comes to India, citing persecution as a cause, it must be the case. If any Muslim comes claiming the same, it must be false.

° It does not take into account various other communities within the Muslims who are ostracised, like the Ahmediyas of Pakistan and the Rohingyas of Myanmar. Now, the Rohingyas are undergoing ethnic cleansing, much like the Jews in Nazi time. So, India as a neighbour and a humanitarian nation, should have provided them refuge which it fails to do.

           
      Protest in front of the Delhi Polic HQ
      after the crackdown in JMI University

° Normally, in the old bill, for becoming a citizen by naturalisation, you had to stay in the country for the preceding 12 months of application, and a total number of 11 years out of previous 14. This 11 has been relaxed to 5 for these communities.

° The Bill adds that the provisions on citizenship for illegal migrants will not apply to the tribal areas of Assam, Meghalaya, Mizoram, or Tripura, as included in the Sixth Schedule to the Constitution. It will also not apply to the areas under the Inner Line”. The Inner Line Permit regulates visit of Indians to Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram, and Nagaland.


WHY THE BILL IS WRONG:

° It discriminates individuals on the basis of religion. This is an aspect which has always been avoided by India, because India takes pride in being a secular nation. This can have intense international backlash and a spot of the reputation of our nation.


             

                 Another protest in process

°It contradicts Article 14, which states no individual shall be discriminated on the basis of caste, race, RELIGION, gender or place of birth. It is applicable to both citizens and foreigners, it is in direct contravention of it.

°Historical perspective: During Partition, Pakistan had stated itself to be a Muslim nation, while India has maintained it was inclusive and included all religions. So now, not including Muslims is wrong because it stands against the tenets we stood for during Partition.

°Worsen bilateral ties, as neighbours would be touted as persecutors by India.

°Assam faces a major issue regarding infiltration of Bangladeshi illegal immigrants. Thus the bill does not consider Bangladeshi Hindus as illegal immigrants.

           
          Assamese rejecting CAB by protests

°CAB fails to live up to the standards of international refugee law.

°It also does not include Jews, Atheists, and other such communities, who are also at the risk of religious persecution.

°It stands against the Assam Accord of 1985, which the government had signed, asking for deportation of immigrants with the date fixed as 27 March, 1971. This amendment brings the date to 2014, which is wrong to them.

              
                        AASU opposing CAB


WHY THE BILL IS RIGHT?
1. The three countries in question, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Bangladesh are Islamic by constitution. They state that Muslims are NOT minority there, so it's plausible to apply the same rule here.

              

        People validating requirement of CAB

2. There is the issue of Rohingyas (who face genocide in Myanmar) as to why aren't they included in the CAB. But, if you observe closely, even Bangladesh and other countries have red flagged them, even though Bangladesh is an Islamic state, so India is not excluding them arbitrarily.

3. The country must always put it's defence concerns first. There is nothing that can make a country compromise on its defence.

            
          Passage of CAB in the Parliament

4. Constitution does not discriminate on the basis of religion for citizens, but it is not so in the case for citizenship which has been enshrined in articles 5-11.

5. Assam and other North Eastern nations have problem not only with immigration of foreign immigrants, example Bangladeshi Hindus, they also have an issue with entry of Bengali Hindus.

Possible solution: A solution that has been touted is sharing the burden of refugees with other states, who have a greater population and are less likely to worry about their cultural dilution. Eg, Rajasthan having a population of more than 6 crore, should not have any insecurities over cultural dilution by mere addition of a 1,000 people. But it is subject to the consent of the states, if they agree to do so.

Conclusion: India must tread carefully here. As a secular nation, it is our responsibility to never, never allow religion to make a place in legislature and constitution. Passing of this bill has made India contradict herself, and not in a good way. The ideals we stood for during Partition have been shattered, and the trust of people particularly the Assamese has been shattered. With this crackdown on students, this has become intolerable. India must stay true to her roots, and find a solution out of this inferno, for the safety of people and the actual security of immigrants. India must work hard to save the immigrants who are persecuted in their nations, and provide them safety, security and not leave any particular section deprived of the love that Mother India is capable of giving. 

Mandir vahi banega. Should it have been this way?

Am I going to delve into the extreme depths of the issue and make it a manuscript filled with the minute details? No, because I'm not a lawyer, nor an aspiring one, and I would state everything from the perspective as we, active and eager citizens of our country, look through.

9th November, 2019. The nation waited with bated breaths, the outcome of decades was about to come. This was the day of the fall of the Berlin wall, and the opening of Kartarpur corridor. The judgement was soon out, the whole 2.77 acres of the disputed land had been granted to the Hindus for the construction of a Ram Temple and a 5 acre plot had been granted to the Muslims elsewhere at a prime location in Ayodhya. There is no absolutely correct result that could have come out of it, and the Supreme Court tried its best, but I'll present to you the facts, so that you may infer a decision for yourself.

It was never a legal issue. It was a social issue, mixed with religion, considered a fertile ground by the political community and made a permanent votebank. The issue has been exceedingly politicised, leading to riots, deaths, dysharmony, communalism and what-not. This was even one of the agendas on the BJP-RSS manifesto.
This is the essence- The dispute was regarding the establishment of a Ram Mandir, in Ayodhya, in place of an already established mosque- The Babri Masjid, which had been demolished in 1992 in riots, by Hindus. The contention was that this was the birth place of Ram, under the central dome of the mosque, which had been taken over by Babur and hence in Muslim custody.

               
                          The Babri Masjid

The Allahabad High Court had divided the land in three parts in 2010, one for each of the plaintiffs, but the Supreme Court quashed it, saying that it defied logic and could not be a key to everlasting peace.
Some of the various evidences that had been put forward before the court:

Archaeological: There has been unearthing of a structure underneath the mosque, by the Archaeological Survey of India, which hasn't been cited as a temple. There are two black stone pillars or the Kasauti Pillars used in the mosque, that are non-Muslim in construction. This raises the question, is the structure underneath a Ram Temple? No one knows for sure, the ASI is mum on the issue, nor does the Supreme court say so. It could be a demolished temple, or simply a mosque constructed in the ruins of a building.

         

                   Layout of the complex

Now there are two courtyards in the complex: outer and inner. The inner courtyard had been allotted to the Muslims, while the outer courtyard had been with the Hindus. The Hindus have time and again tried to enter the inner courtyard, so the British in the early 20th century, had constructed a boundary (railing) to keep out the Hindus. There has been no evidence of Muslim infiltration in the outer courtyard. The court stated that since the Hindus had been so dedicated so as to barge in repeatedly inside, and have shown evidence of prayers inside the inner courtyard, that they may have some stake in it. The peace of the other community has worked against their favour here.

Literary: There has been evidence in support of the Ram Mandir, Ain-i-Akbari, a 16th century document dealing with the administration of Mughal Emperor Akbar, mentions the time of birth of Lord Ram in the city of Ayodhya.
Similarly, the Bala Kanda of Gosvami Tulasidasa refers to the time of birth of Lord Ram and also “points out to a place where he will take human form, which is clearly depicted in the words tinha ke grha (in their house of Dasaratha and Kausalya)”.
But there is no mention of the same in Ramcharitamanas or the Ramayana, which is puzzling.
But all the literary evidence is immaterial.
There is historical evidence to prove the presence of worshippers at Ram Chabutra and Sita Rasoi and offering of prayers. This was a practice even before the British came. As the Supreme Court says,"The adjudication of title is based on evidence and not travelogues or gazette entries."
Also, the land 'Ramjanmabhumi' is not a legal entity unlike Ram Lalla as established by the court.

Important Events:
• ‘Surreptitious’ planting of idols of Ram Lalla under the central dome of the Babri Masjid in 1949.
• The opening of the locks of the mosque in 1986 for Hindu worshippers
•The 2010 Allahabad High Court verdict dividing the disputed land among three plaintiffs.
Finally, the present decision of the SC.

                            During 1992 riots

Conclusion: The land has been granted to Hindus, which may be alright, except for the fact that they had indulged in violence, namely demolishing of the Babri Masjid befoe any decision of the SC, and taking law in their own hands. This is not how a democracy works, and this hasn't been a good example for future cases, like for Kashi or Varanasi. The court must have caught those liable and doled out punishment, to set a future precedent.

             The celebration post decision

Even though the BJP and RSS have said they won't take any action in the future disputes, as of now, it may not be the case.
A good thing has been the reaction of both parties. The RSS and BJP have been humble, saying this hasn't been a victory or a loss for anyone, but a chance to everlasting peace. The Muslims for their part, might be dejected, but have maintained peace and have gracefully accepted the decision. This might really be a new beginning.
It can be viewed as majoritarianism or it can be seen as a just decision. Our Supreme Court has earned enough trust for this to pass as a fair decision.
Justice J.S. Varma has said- SC is supreme, but not infallible. This would be unfurled when the legal community and the activists dissect the whole judgement.

The decision could be a landmark one, for many years to come. Let's see if any appeal is made by the Muslim community, although there has been indication that there might be none. The extravagant spending on the construction of Ram Mandir would soon begin.

  NSA Ajit Doval meeting representatives of both parties post the decision, where both parties stood for peace and were against bad elements which posed a risk to communal peace.

The key point is the resolution of communalism, for the benefit of the nation, and the progress of all, including Ayodhya, which has been left behind in the bandwagon of development, unlike it's other religious peers like Kashi or Varanasi. Hopefully, the people can now aspire for peace, progress, jobs, development, and find a brotherhood that they had long since been deprived of.
I am taking nothing away from both parties, and am expressing my humble views, while respecting the Supreme Court judgement.

Radiounfriendly and the advent of Seattle sound in Chandigarh?

How much of original music have we heard in recent times? Who has the courage to create new vibrant music, carve a new genre out and play with their emotions rather than for money? The cliché pop and rap are at its peak and you see a slew of new artists forced to sing in these genres just for popularity, out of compulsion.

How many rock bands have you seen playing in a nearby cafe? The music I play is grunge, a variety of rock music, which had some of the greatest singers of all time, but losing out on favour with today's crowd.

Grunge has come to mean a punk and metal hybrid style of music that flowered in the 1980s, beginning in the U.S. state of Washington, particularly in Seattle and nearby towns, hence called 'Seattle sound'. The early grunge movement revolved around Seattle's independent record label Sub Pop and the region's underground music scene. At the advent of the era of 1990s, there were a myriad of grunge bands appearing in California with spillover in other parts of United States and even Australia, building ardent followers and capturing the ideology of the masses.

Grunge music died with the death of the lead vocalists of the major grunge bands namely Soundgarden , Alice in chains and Nirvana. No one could replicate their music, and once the genre lost the crowd's eyes, every musician jumped on the other cliché genre bandwagon.

Majority of the individuals today are driven towards a music that does not hold any meaning in accordance to what life really has to offer, but beeline towards the tacky and catchy tones synthesised on computer programmes, without any innovation or thought to the music and message.

The band Radiounfriendly commented,"Our songs reflect the topics not oft-discussed in social circles, like our last song 'Fifth dimension' which focused on the psychosocial issues faced by medical students, namely depression. The real feeling of success is not gauged by the number of views, but by the messages we received across the country by medical students who told us how they felt the same and were glad that someone addressed their issue too. Our current song 'Surprise me' resonates the feeling of every individual, who struggle to break the shackles of their monotonous routine, and find something different in their life to get a new perspective."

Music these days focuses on lavish lifestyles, wealth ,women and unrealistic expectations while missing out on the grim realities of life, which are the real issues that must be addressed.

Its almost impossible for an independent band in India to speak on meaningful issues, because if you do so, you won't earn money, and not gain popularity or enough followers on Instagram. But they don't want that, neither do they aspire for that. They want to create a niche in the hearts of people and strike the vibrant cord of truth and hope, while sending out messages that are long overdue.

As the vocalist/guitarist Aditya Tomar has to say, "I had an idea since childhood to start a grunge band. I then approached a friend of mine, Adityan Bharati, who had similar ideology as mine and that was the beginning of Radiounfriendly. We were later joined by my old friend Lakshay Singh and coincidentally, Priyanshu Gautam, who was on the lookout for a band like ours.
I've been working on music for the past 5 years and never once did I think to work on cliché music titles or get into mainstream music, even at the cost of losing out on popularity. I want to express my views honestly and beautify the intrinsic nuances of life, and bring a notice to the issues that have been ravaging the lives of many, in the hope that atleast a few can be snared from the various traps that life throws at us."

Circa 1999

                      During his school days

                     Further honing his skills

July, 2019. Live at Air Force station

Live at STG Grand

He added, "Chris Cornell, the lead singer of 'Soundgarden' has been my lighthouse, guiding me in the vast ocean of music. He was unafraid of his music selection and was forever true to his work and to the music he wrote. He has inspired me over the years to be myself and join up as a team to make the only true grunge band in India which offers unaltered hard rock music."

             
              Chris Cornell, 1992, the pioneer of                                grunge music.

Art isn’t something that can be bought , it can only be expressed and felt. Even though they aren't a big band, they take pride in the authenticity of their music and the honesty of their message. I'm sure they will continue to provide meaningful content and promise to be true to their work and address the issues required without flinching or greed. 

(In association with Radiounfriendly)

Trek to Bhrigu, Old Manali.

I'm on my way back now, rocking along in the bus, seeing the steady stream of water from the bus window.
It all started a couple of weeks before when I met an old friend, Sehaj from school after 5 years. "Let's go on a trek" he said. I replied in the affirmative, but deep down I knew it would be one of those plans that remain only on paper. Come the next week, and we had booked our trek for the 9th of June, had almost arranged the things required and were eager to set off. We booked our trek via Riding Solo, recommended my friends and started on the evening of 8th, packed in a bus, gearing up for the long ride ahead. It was only 11 hours later (the traffic!) that we could reach the Manali bus stand.
A long walk to the base camp ensued and for breakfast we had momos on the way from a quiet riverside food joint. What caught our attention was the thundering roar of the river, which was overpowering. The locals did not seem to notice it though. Not a soul was in sight and we don't blame them- it was 6:00 in the morning. The biting cold stung us, but we welcomed it having escaped the oppressive heat bordering on 44°C in Chandigarh.
On reaching the base camp, we were shown to our tent, more like a spacious room. Settling our stuff, we went outside for a walk. We saw three people outside. The trek was to start at 8, but there was a delay due to the 6th member of our party. Little did we know at that time, that we would soon be so close knit a group.

With the map of our base camp

Our 6th member reached around 11:30, and then we all started, with 4 of us sitting in the back of the open air jeep. The round of pleasantries and introduction begins. First we have Sushmita, a flight attendant from Kolkata, on a duo trip with her 16 year old brother, Arko. Next we have Prachi, just finished with her MSc in Chemistry and going to pursue PHD in a couple of months. Moving on, we have Shivam Hazri, the professional photographer appointed by the trek organisers to make an advertisment video for them. Then of course Sehaj, pursuing law and me, Aaditya, pursuing MBBS. A wholly different mix and there was no way people from such diverse professional backgrounds could meet up in ordinary life.

From left to right- Arko, Prachi, Me, Sachin Bhai, Shivam (Hazo), Sehaj, Sushmita

 Their further attributes will be unravelled during the course of our next five days. So we have the amalgam of the most different professions you can think of and from all directions, sitting together in the back of a jeep, racing towards the starting point of our trek.
Reaching our starting point, we began our trek upwards, in extreme sunlight and cold wind, leading to dehydration. Climbing up, we asked our guide how much more is left, to which he'd always say, just 15 mins more. This gave us motivation to climb up further, and yes, it really helps. So (5 hours) later, we are at the camp from where we were to start for Bhrigu Lake the next day.
Here tents were allotted for two people each and the area seemed like a beautiful meadow from a movie.

The view from our tent

Sitting on wooden tables, we had our evening meal, khichdi and chutney. You wouldn't believe how tasty it was! This was followed by soupy noodles.
And all this while trekkers who went to Bhrigu on that day we're coming down. We looked at them expectantly. Half of them had not reached Bhrigu, and the remaining were all limping and panting and were all sun burnt. This caused clouds of apprehension around us. Would we be able to do it?
This was followed by going up a nearby hill to get signal to inform everyone at home about our safe reach.
Prachi- the cool headed and practical one, Hazri bhai- the jugadu, Sehaj- the crazy one, Sushmita- one with the unbelievable stories and Arko- the young (innocent) gun and me headed back to our tent to converse and interact, sharing the secrets of our lives to each other, just strangers a day before, now the closest of people.
A warm dinner later, we settled around the bonfire, talking with the people who reached back today, where everyone asked us to introduce ourselves, chatting away into the night.
Here Hazo showed us his rapping skills, which was applauded by everyone, and we proudly talked about our city Chandigarh.
Sushmita told us stories about her visits in different countries as part of her work. As we had to leave early tomorrow, we were advised to rest as much as we could.

We started in the morning with our lunch packed, (a surprise to us). We started at a brisk pace, with the cold catching our breath at times. Objective 1: we had to cross the 'Tree line'.

Me trying to peer through the morning sunlight

With Sachin Bhai, our guide motivating us, we were making good progress, and wanted to cover as much as we could before the sun came out. Helping each other and chatting, we took into view the trees and the lush pastures surrounding us. Hearing stories from Sachin Bhai of his previous treks, he pointing out the various peaks in the distance that he had scaled, we were left awestruck. With Buzo, the cutest little dog (but hardy, mind you) following us and staying to catch up with the last person, we reached well in time, and could now spot the snow clad mountains ahead of us, our next target.

Buzo, our faithful companion

There is no expression to explain the sound of snow crunching beneath our feet, wearing goggles shielding us from the direct sunlight, and the company of friends around. It took effort to walk through the snow, with everyone slipping and sliding once in a while.

Trekking through the snow

Walking the narrow alleyways to taking precarious steps to avoid falling in a hole, it was a thrilling experience with the hot sun warming our backs while our hands chattered from the cold. The mountains on every side watched our progress and urged us on, wanting us to discover its mysteries.
We had our lunch, a small distance away from our destination, and it was a surprise which we had to unpack. We had a 'kulcha filled with chana' type of thing, which was so heavenly, you would not believe it. And it was so unexpected, that we gorged ourselves heavily on it. A juice pack and a chocolate later, we were ready to embark, having had a little rest and before our muscles numbed.

 The surprise that we unboxed before reaching Bhrigu

We finally reached Bhrigu lake around 2 pm and it was worth it. Clicking group pictures, absorbing the beauty of the serene landscape beneath us, we could ogle at it all day. The lake was semi frozen, as the legend goes, locals told us that this was because Lord Bhrigu comes and bathes in the lake daily, leaving it semi frozen. It was hard to believe that a lake could be partially frozen despite being at such a high altitude.
Me, Sehaj, Prachi, Sushmita, Arko and Hazo all looked at each other and smiled, nobody had expected us to make it to the top and that too at a good pace, we laughed out into the abyss before us, hearing our laughs amplified by the limitless mountains ahead of us.

At the summit! 

Hazo recorded our videos of the trek and the complete video from Bhrigu is a great one :)
Taking care of each other became a part of life, and waiting for the others and being waited for came involuntarily.

Bhrigu lake!

All too soon, we were asked to start back, before the evening sets in, as the weather becomes a lot worse at night.
Starting at a steady pace, instilling the memory of the lake in our hearts, we trudged back, the snow now starting to melt as the evening started, slipping steps, holding each other to keep them steady.
Another character in this melody is Ashwin, an engineering graduate, who now found his calling in the mountains and looks like an old hand, scaling with as much ease as a guide himself, and taught and told us new stuff.  Meeting new people from as far as Maharashtra, we all forged bonds that could never be broken, that we can always revisit the memories in our minds, helping each other and moving back to the safe comfort of the tents we now called home.
The slide! It was a once in a lifetime thing. It was a steep mountain side, full of snow. There was an alternative between walking a long distance or simply sliding down the side. We chose the latter. I was the first one to go. Taking a run up, I slid straight down, better than a roller coaster or any other ride, in the lap of nature, with no controls! In the second slide I ended up grazing my hands, which had turned torrentiously red, but I carried them as a mark of pride for the coming days :)

Matching up with Prachi's pace! 

We finally reached camp by evening, and we were ravenous. We had a cup of tea and Maggi to boost up our spirits, while we sat in smug confidence with the others who were to climb up the next day. The trip had come to a full circle. We were gentle with the ones who were to climb the next day, and motivated them, because we knew what they were going through.
That night, we talked a lot round the bonfire, and slept snugly after talking till late in the night, because we were too tired. Here we exchanged more stories, from personal to professional from Hazo's school days to his present work, to Sushmita's life story (that was exceedingly inspirational! You have to hear it from her to believe it), from mine and Sehaj's college exploits to Prachi's professional pursuits and other aspects of her life.
The next day we started descending down to our first camp, but we were in for a surprise, it started pouring! We had just started when our guide gave a sigh and told us that rain was imminent. We could not appreciate that but realised his correct prediction 15 minutes later, when we were searching for our rain jackets in our bags xD Through the raging wind, the slippery mud, we saw the furious side of nature. Progressing slowly, meeting and motivating people going up, we finally reached the road where we started, a full 2 days later, grown up and experienced, and feeling mature. It was a good thing we reached Bhrigu yesterday, cause today due to bad weather, the trek to Bhrigu today might have been cancelled.

With the stormy weather in the background while descending down. 

Snugly sitting in a minivan, wiping our faces from the rain, we sat, rang up home (we finally had phone signal), people starting posting statuses, sharing pictures.
We reached our starting camp at last, and looked around the familiar scene. A warm breakfast of bread jam and rolls awaited us. A cup of tea in a open verandah with rain outside was the most relaxing sensation I've felt till now.

A whole two (separate) groups from Gujarat had come, and the evening was spent dancing with them, where they welcomed us with open hearts and over a dinner of sumptuous 'pau bhaji' (didn't expect that at all too), we interacted with them and came to know more about them.
They taught us garba, we taught them Bhangra, Hazo with a Himachali dance, it was a perfect evening.
At night, we all went downstairs to feel the ambience of old Manali, went into a couple of clubs with live music, it was a night to remember. Coming back around 11 through the cold night of Manali, it was an exceptional experience, the freedom to explore, interact, understand, it was all amazing.
In the morning, we were all struck with the feeling that some of us had to leave. The feeling of sadness of that morning is still fresh in my mind, after about 4 months as I now finish this article.
We had a last dance, where Hazo connected his laptop with the huge speakers and the sound of music reverberated around. From playing the wildest and tackiest tracks (London se Aaya? Only we remember that xD) to the subtle songs, we had a blast. We made videos which I see and reminisce till now.
The first to leave was Prachi, who had a formal dinner at her workplace, so she had to leave then. With promises to meet and an emotional goodbye later, we had a lacuna in our mind, which showed with how everyone at the campsite had suddenly become quiet.
We went down into old Manali, shopped for a while for T shirts, (I'm wearing that right now, incredibly). We had cookies from Dylan's cafe, and roamed the streets, now familiar with the layout and the places of Old Manali.
It was Hazo who suggested me and Sehaj spend a night in a Hostel in Old Manali. It was Amigo's cafe, a quaint place teeming with foreigners.
In the evening, we escorted Sushmit and Arko to their Volvo, which was a good distance away, past New Manali. The market was filled with tourists, and hardly space to walk. I'd prefer the serenity of old Manali anyday to the hustle and bustle of new Manali. We reached their bus, hugged them goodbye, and asked them to update about their journey and made a pact to meet. With each person going, the place seemed lonelier. At night, me and Sehaj stopped at a Punjabi Dhaba (forgot it's name, but it was well known there) and relished on Paneer seekh and Soya chaap. It was a long time that we had Punjabi food and we were glad of it. We returned back to our hostel, where we had by now shifted.
At night time, we were in for a treat. The foreigners were singing in the lobby and we joined in, with songs from Gulabi Aankhen to other songs, some in other languages, with the owner of the place boosting us on. It was a funny incident, when the owner came to me and asked, "Do you have a ticket to sit in the lobby here?" Naive as I was, I replied, "Umm, I wasn't aware of that." He laughed out loudly and told me it was a joke, and I was laughing hard because I had been caught so unaware XD.
Till 2 in the night, we sat there, talking with the strange foreigners, and when we reached room, we saw three people from Ireland, staying with us. We introduced ourselves and let them sleep, while me and Sehaj went outside and sat in a comfortable couch by the verandah. There was a thrill in the air, a cold breeze coupled with the racuous noise from the music downstairs. We talked about how we would have missed all this if we had not decided to come, even made a plan for opening a potential future cafe xD We roamed about the streets at night, even had a pie at one of the cafes high was open at 12. There me and Sehaj had a bet as to where the three foreigners sitting with us belonged to. I guessed Israel. When we asked them, it was indeed Israel, and then we talked for a while while we finished our dessert.
The morning was a sad one, for we knew we had to leave. It had been a week now. Having booked a bus for the afternoon, we spent the morning roaming the market, bid Hazo and the company at the Hostel goodbye.
The walk through Old Manali in the crisp morning calmed us, and washed our sadness away. By now, we considered these roads as our own and the constant hum of the stream was now attuned to our ears.
Roaming through the market, we underestimated the time, and we realised we didn't have any lunch and the 9 hour long trip back wouldn't help. So we packed our lunch and boarded the bus, a long walk. It was tough to eat in the ever rocking bus, so we gave up and waited for the first stop. The traffic! It was immense, and the first phase out of Manali seemed like forever. It was finally quite late when we reached the bus stand, 11 hours into the journey. We stood on the desolate bus stand, seeing the late night stragglers moving about. Me and Sehaj smiled at each other, knowing the experiences we now held would be with us forever, the friends we made would be for life and the pictures that we captured would be treasured above all else.
I might have missed a lot of details, which come to my mind time and again. You'll have to meet all 6 of us for an evening chat for a complete description of the trip and our lives, for the pen is not powerful enough to capture all the vivid memories.

Democracy in trouble- Save our autonomy!

RBI, SEBI, NHRC and now the RTI. All the autonomous bodies that defined the strength of Indian democracy are now shackled. The common man would be now mute and cannot do anything but stay put and tolerate whatever comes his way.
There are many other autonomous bodies that might be undergoing the same fate presently, but either it is too subtle for us to notice now, or it hasn't reached the media presently.

The Right to Information Act (RTI)- No one deny the immense importance of RTI in tackling the government and highlighting its flaws. The incharge of RTI at the national level is the Chief Information Commissioner (CIC) whose tenure is fixed at 5yrs and his salary and allowances are fixed in the law and can't be changed once he is elected. He has the post comparable to a judge of the Supreme Court.
Similar is the case for State Information Commissioners whose tenure and salaries are fixed.
Now, the govt. has amended the RTI Act, saying that "the salaries and tenure of CIC and SICs would be decided by the government as to what they think best".
This would mean hand twisting of these officials if they bring the government to poor light, otherwise they would be transferred, removed or their salaries cut down. So they would either skip the said file or just dispose of with it.

RBI- The reserve Bank of India. It regulates the monetary policy effectively, maintains dollar-rupee conversion, inflation and what not. For these purposes, it requires funds due to the unpredictability of the market. The government pressurising it to share its stored reserves with the centre is appalling, and that too under threat of application of Sec 7 of the RBI act (never been used in history before) to get control of RBI and take it forcefully if not by peace. Seeing this, the then RBI governor, Urjit Patel resigned and a new (seemingly government's) governor has been appointed. The recent resignation of the dynamic deputy governor Viral Acharya, a staunch supporter of funds being with the RBI, has resigned too, leading to a dark future.

SEBI- The Securities and Exchange Board of India, which manages the stock market and other such financial instruments, has been told to part away with 75% of its profits, thus hampering its financial autonomy. It has to take the permission of the government for any major capital decision hence taking away this power too.

NHRC- The National Human Rights Commission - It has been a very instrumental body in bringing out the atrocities committed on people by the government or otherwise. The head is a retired CJI, but now the government has announced that any retired Supreme Court judge can become the head of NHRC. This gives a lot of leverage ground to the government and a myriad of chances to manipulate because there are many judges and the one who listens to them most could be elected.

This is a dark time for Indian democracy, we should all rally and support the instruments which guarantee our democracy. Democracy isn't only about fair and free elections, it's about the instruments that uphold this divine principle. Stop sharing your data to international companies by using FaceApp and rather strive to make these institutions transparent and our government accountable. 

Dystopia, coming soon.

 Can we run back to the days where everything had life, and people wanted to genuinely go out? 

  Today, every second status is a sardonic take on people avoiding going outside and taking pride in being confined to the solitary walls of Netflix. People seem to be absorbed in lives of their own and it's not far away when the world will be a dystopic picture as portrayed in some sci-fi movies- all making of our own selves.
Is it difficult to go out and not take a photo and upload it on the social media with a location tag? Yes, in today's time.
  Gone are the days when friends would go together for a picnic and a pleasant afternoon in the garden. You'd now find them sitting in a corner busy playing PUBG. The romantisicm of the past era is now gone, with talks occuring as 'pings' and interactions limited to a 'hi' with a side glance, peering from our device. Technology was created to work for us, but are we becoming a slave of technology?
  Recently, a girl committed suicide because on an Instagram poll, 66% voted for her to die. This is inexplicable and raises the question of negative impact of social networking sites on the psychosocial aspect of humans.
  Gone are the days when you'd sneak out for a game of cricket, now, the grounds are all empty, the noise and chatter of children in the streets fade away. The familiar picture of children playing cricket or football on the streets is lost, the parks are all desolate, books are gathering dust in the library, exercise is negligible, humour is limited to 'lols' and emojis (and the person is always without a smile while typing, mind you). Bygone are the days when you'd interact with a stranger, you'd rather have 5 minutes of YouTube. Having a perfect click before having food is a must, updating every 15 minutes is a trend, and gathering followers is imperative, affecting your social standing.
    Posting statuses of climate change, global warming and pollution (while excessively using electricity via your electrical devices) is the key to show you're a responsible citizen and gain some brownie points among your peers.

   The point is to use technology, harness it to your best, but don't make it all empowering and an overwhelming part of your life. Don't get fractures playing PUBG or lose your eyesight over Netflix. Don't fall from dams over the damn selfies. Don't become an incompetent interactor just watching YouTube. Go out, interact, bond with people, realise social situations and let technology know who owns who. Use it for the progress of the world and our nation. Wish I could turn back time and people see the era bygone once. The friendly chatter and the games we remember as childhood are all runes for today's kids.
  I am not negating the potential and the benefits of technology, which are immense and unquestionable. But these points mentioned need to be pondered upon.
  Embrace the freshness of nature, feel the wind blowing on your face, enjoy companionship, make memories to remember. TV shows and chicken dinners will come and go, but the time you spend won't ever come back. Make the time worth remembering. 

New year rant.

New year yet again. It amazes me seeing the liberation posts, new year-new me posts, satirical remarks on the previous year, tryina-be-cool remarks and the status screen being filled with almost the same facts in different lingos. There are 4 kinds of people: The common types are the ones who'd post the uplifting and motivating posts about the new year while not believing or sometimes not even reading their own posts. Second types are the ones who call this year worse than the previous one and rue the type one people, often calling for self pity or derogating the current year. Third comes the type who accept that the new year is simply a day, with a chance to improve upon the deeds of the previous year and genuinely appreciate the fact that they've been given a new leaf to start over. They are the rarest of people and can be recognized as ones who post the minimal posts and wish their close ones with a personal touch. Fourth are the ones who'd make a broadcast list and send the new year messages to everyone, not caring to see whether they got a reply or not, but just to show their goodwill and maintaining contacts. It's not cool per se, infact sending your choicest wishes to the selected ones would do, frankly speaking the majority of people won't even expect your new year wishes and neither do they care, returning back with a cliche new year picture with balloons and stuff.
No, I'm not at all pessimistic about the new year, but it's just that all the superficiality of these antics take the life away from the new year and makes it even hard to appreciate and think about our own goals and expectations from the new year. Nobody goes through the achievements and disappointments of the past year to learn from it, everyone just gets ready by writing pre formed messages and hoarding photos to send as soon as the clock turns 12. It's okay to have a late new year wish, once you're done with premeditation of the past year and sending handcrafted words to the ones that really matter is quintessential. Seeing your close ones just forwarding the standard messages is downright disappointing, not to mention that it makes you feel less important in their lives. I just want everyone to appreciate the new year, and strive to improve, not just for themselves, but also for others. New year is a day to bond over and mend friendships and make them stronger, to celebrate the gift of time that we've been given and to celebrate the new aspirations and hopes that we have from the new year, while being happy and understanding the highs and lows of the past year.
 Stop posting statuses unless you understand them, stop giving wishes unless you mean them, everyday can be a new year if you wish to make it so, every minute can lease a breath of fresh air if you care to feel it, every second can be a like a gift of god if you care to utilize it.
Happy new year everyone. Hope you shine bright and hope the veil of darkness gets lifted from everyone and everybody sees new year with a new light.