One long year...

Date: 26/11/2009

Place : Jail in Mumbai

Time: 11 PM

Another long day comes to an end.Did nothing..Today i came to know, during prayer time everyone kept two minutes silence to remember all those who lost lives in Mumbai attacks, which tell me it has been one year for me here now. And what surprises me is that I am still alive.

Looking back at that dreadful day..We all came on the boats fully prepared for that journey to be our last one and with calculated last few breaths. We 12 were united for one mission of destruction.

Remember my childhood times, when i used to go out and pay 50 paise to play contra in game parlour and two players used to just shoot, shoot and shoot everyone they saw , before a bullet shot them. We were told to play similar game in real life during training and the only difference was that we did not get three chances to play it, if shot once.That was one tough camp. We were not in touch with the world .Just 12 of us. We were given such hard training.if I had taken similar training in military, I would have come out as a captain and be posted in Kashmir to fight for my country. Proud moment it would have been.. Getting Kashmir and staying with all brothers in peace. Anyways..It was tough training, we shot almost 100 shots everyday to attain perfection in our targets and 1200 shots in one day will irritate anyone but we were not allowed to go against...I don't know where the camp location was,and who were the other guys,what did they do and if anyone ever been to school like me.I dnt think any body did. During day we used to train,and before going to sleep, our commandor used to sit with us, discuss his plans, and motivate us. We were also given some power capsules and other medications. Now I know, with power capsules, we used to get drugs as well because we were completely out of senses and focussed on what commondar used to tell and couldn't decide if it was right or wrong. Whatever he used to say was recorded in brain without any counter questions. And now when I look back..i don't at all feel good about it.

Now 365 days of my life is travelling to its last destination and this journey is not going to complete anytime soon.

I remember getting caught at railway station, and I was wondering if they will shoot me. No, it wasn't to happen, they took me to the police station and till three days operation went on, they didn't even touch me. I came to know later that I was the only one left alive. I could count my last few hours remembering parents and allah. I was brought into this completely dark cell where I was kept under very high security. They knew , given a chance I won't lose any opportunity to end myself and they were right. I had plans for this but never got chance to do so. Days went and I was given food to eat and clothes to wear, they didn't let me interact with anyone. I'm laughing at myself, crying , talking to myself and hating myself for the deed i've done . After almost a month into this dark cell, I was told , that they will take me to the court . I don't remember from where I was taken to which court but it was good to see light after so long. First light into eyes made me blind for a second. All I could demand was for a lawyer for myself. No body was ready to take my case. but I wanted someone to fight for me.I was from pakistan and there was the denial of the same from the govt. which I could guess easily from the course of events. Why would any country take responsibility of someone who killed so many people and was the key killer in that shoot out.. But my parents are still in Pakistan living.i haven't received any whereabout of them, eversince.

Enough writing today. i feel sorry for myself.

All i have to do is to attend courts and count my breaths. i know this indian judiciary, they will never come out with any solution. max they will come out is hang until death but i have been told in training, all i need to do is to make an appeal to president and live until i die natural death.so until i have nature calling me back, i should attain temporary death.Tomorrow is another day.

Night

P.S - This is just a self-imagination of what kasab would have to say.

Image Source

Gurpurab Greetings

Heartiest Gurpurab Greetings on the occasion of 540th Parkash Purab [Birth day] of Sri Guru Nanak Dev Ji.

Guru Nanak Dev Ji (15 April 1469 - 7 May 1539) - founder of Sikhism and the first of the ten Gurus of the Sikhs. He was born in the village of Talwandi, also called Rai Bhoe-ki Talwandi, now known as Nankana Sahib, near Lahore in present-day Pakistan. He was born, according to all ancient Sikh records, in the early morning of the third day of the light half of the month of Baisakh (April - May) in the year 1469 AD.

Guru Nanak founded & formalized the three pillars of Sikhism:

1. Naam Japna [Recite the name of Almighty]- Guru ji led the Sikhs directly to practice Simran and Naam Japna – meditation on God through reciting, chanting, singing and constant remembrance followed by deep study & comprehension of God’s Name and virtues. In real life to practice and tread on the path of Dharam (righteousness) - The inner thought of the Sikh thus stays constantly immersed in praises and appreciation of the Creator and the ONE ETERNAL GOD Waheguru.

2. Kirat Karni [Work hard]- He expected the Sikhs to live as honorable householders and practice Kirat Karni – To honestly earn by ones physical and mental effort while accepting both pains & pleasures as God’s gifts and blessings. One is to stay truthful at all times and, fear none but the Eternal Super Soul. Live a life founded on decency immersed in Dharam - life controlled by spiritual, moral & social values.

3. Vand Chakna [Sharing and Consuming Together] - The Sikhs were asked to share their wealth within the community by practicing Vand Chakna – “Share and consume together”. The community or Sadh Sangat is an important part of Sikhism. One must be part of a community that is living the flawless objective values set out by the Sikh Gurus and every Sikh has to contribute in whatever way possible to the common community pool. This spirit of Sharing and Giving is an important message from Guru Nanak.

Gurpurab Di Lakh Lakh Wadhai Hove Ji

Intezaar - Waiting for Life

She was sitting on the bank of river. Waiting for him. It was almost a year after marriage and second spring without her husband. Rajeev, her husband was working in armed forces and soon after their marriage, went on to join the duty due to tension on indo-china border. His vacation was cancelled and all army men were asked to join within 48 hours. The tension actually resulted in attacks and firings on both sides and in news in 2008, all channels flashed the demise of Lieutenant Rajeev Pratap Singh and after one day of 'breaking news' and media drama, nobody remembered rajeev. The news of his death reached family via television only and the body was not found because of the heavy rainfall, landslides and continuous bad weather on border range. Rajeev and Sakshi were in relationship for four years before getting married .Sakshi was bubbly, cheerful, mischievous and complete chatterbox till the moment she heard news of Rajeev. She was strength of her friends and a brave girl when one talked of her personality but such a quick departure of her love from her few days’ old married life changed everything. No more she could get a smile on the face, no more a word came out of her mouth and she could not hold herself let aside holding her friends in tough times.never ever she thought she’ll ever question god where she went wrong and what her mistake was. Destiny was tough to her and so was her living after Rajeev went. She was just 25 and already over with one marriage. Society did not tag her single again; she was called a widow and was not allowed to move with freedom. Rajeev’s parents were very encouraging and helpful in getting back sakhsi to normal life. Sakshi joined her final semester of her post graduation to keep herself busy. She was intelligent , so could complete all assignments and projects on time. And in evenings, she used to teach children who could not afford education. Sakshi topped in final semester and in degree to become gold medallist and an offer to work in one of the biggest designer houses. She was hesitant to join job but somehow her in-laws convinced her to join under rohit kapoor's fashion house. Rohit was one of india’s promising fashion designers and it was considered to be lucky to work with him. Sakshi used to work really hard to complete designs, working closely with rohit and help him manage his fashion shows and gala events. With the time passing , rohit fell in love with sakshi with sakshi still living in memories of rajeev and moving on with life. One night over dinner, rohit proposed sakshi for life long commitment not knowing. Sakshi refused and that dinner was the last time she met Rohit and quit her job. Sakshi was turning 26 on saturday and her in-laws in agreement with her parents wanted her to settle with someone so that she should not be alone her whole life but sakshi always dismissed the proposal of second marriage. She always believed that Rajeev was not dead and would come back. Everyone tried best to convince he is no more and has been awarded gallantry award posthumously but she was not ready to accept the fact and whenever there was such discussion in home, she used to go to bank of the same river they used to sit whenever they met and cried endlessly .

It was Friday evening and the day after, she was turning a year older but this birthday was not like other ones.no 12 o'clock call, no cake, no surprise treat and no romantic dinner with rajeev was happening this time. She wanted to cry but no tear was ready to come out of her eyes today. She came to this river bank to refresh all those memories...and as she sat near the bank watching the sunset and remembering the last sunset she saw with Rajeev, she saw someone crossing the bridge over the river. First she ignored but when the figure started moving towards her, she got scared for a moment.and when her eyes actually recognize the figure. She was stunned,she was still and she could not believe if she was living a reality or a dream. All she could manage was pinch herself... smile....and cry.

Reply to Times of India Article on Sikhs

Sharing my feedback on an article that came today in Times of India written by Divya A. In Black is the article and in red is my comment and view on the written piece as my feedback to Ms Divya.

'SIKHS SPOOL OUT THEIR ANGST ON FILM'

In an attempt to tell their side of the story, NRI Sikhs have undertaken an interesting exercise – they’re making films about their faith and their community and screening them at festivals they organize for the purpose in various parts of the world.

The trigger, it seems, is the community’s collective angst over developments such as the Army operation at the Golden Temple in 1984, the riots that followed Indira Gandhi’s assassination and the recent turban ban in France.

When you are talking about angst of our community over things happened in 1984 and riots that followed Mrs Indira Gandhi's assassination and turban ban, first two and the turban ban have difference of 20 years in between and there has been no account anywhere what sikhs did during this time. Turban ban is completely different issue, non violent, something about our principles and faith. Not saying we are not trying, but we have been too dependent on diplomacies and politics happening on it. The movies on 1984 have no links with other issues in sikhism and as they say 'jis tan laage so tan jaane' the pain is felt only by those who have been affected by this tragic incident of 1984.

Just last week, the Sikh Art and Film Foundation (SAFF) in New York organized the Annual Sikh Film Festival, which acquired especially grand tones for the first time in its 10-year history. There was a red carpet and it was attended by more than 1,000 people. Meanwhile, Visions of Truth, a two-month-long traveling film festival with movies about 1984, was on in California. It was organized by Jakara, a California Sikhs’ club. In addition, Sikhnet, a website dedicated to building bridges between Sikhs abroad, announced its 2009 Youth Online Film Festival, inviting Sikh youth to share videos about “being a Sikh”.

If you would have done your research well, you would have seen that SAFF had two movies on backdrop of 1984 and one on turban ban issues among so many others which were portraying other historical times in sikhism timeline which looks fair to me considering the fact that every dark moment of history also is moulded to cinema. There have been so many movies made on unfortunate events in other religions and have been screened in international film festivals.

Talking of Sikhnet Youth Online Film Festival, its completely *out of 1984 and turban* model and asks for videos from anyone and everyone on topic like 'Being a Sikh','Learning from Sikhism' and anything you think needs attention. Never ever i have seen any normal sikhism website provoking the community to revolt and show anger on 1984. There are extremists and always will be but we can’t take opinion of 100 people as opinion of whole community.

But how healthy is it for a community to focus on a painful past and present itself to the world as a suffering and wronged people?

Exactly,I would like to know the answer to fact on your article, how healthy is for a community to read such an article which has no factual information but acts as ghee to reignite the fire ???

Why ever not, retorts Rajya Sabha MP Tarlochan Singh. “There are 25 million Sikhs worldwide, with more than a million in America and Canada, and about half a million in UK. An acute identity crisis in the post 9/11 world has compelled them to tell people that there is a difference between a Sikh and an Iranian or the Taliban.”

Prof S P Singh, former VC of Amritsar’s Guru Nanak Dev University, explains it as a consequence of “the wounds inflicted on the collective Sikh psyche (which) have not been addressed so far. Time doesn’t heal the injury that hasn’t been redressed. Otherwise, Udham Singh wouldn’t have avenged Jallianwala Bagh massacre 25 years later!”

Perhaps. The film Storming the Temple, part of Visions of Truth, lays out the events that ended in the Army entering the Temple; Reaching for Home is a fictional account around the incident and Amu addresses issues of identity with 1984 as the backdrop.

So too the New York film festival, which kicked off with 1984 and the Via Dolorosa, an attempt to portray Sikh suffering in the context of the Christian belief in the pain Christ suffered while carrying the cross.

So, does the community collectively alternate between self-congratulation and suffering then? On the phone from New York, SAFF president Tejinder Singh Bindra explains, “We celebrate the heritage of Sikhs and their immigrant experience and promote Sikhism in a land where people persecuted us in the wake of 9/11.”

Gurumustak Singh Khalsa, an American Sikh, who founded SikhNet told STOI from New Mexico that it would be wrong to see the festivals as navel-gazing hype. “Most people don’t have a clue who Sikhs are. The genesis of the festival came from the proliferation of short videos on websites and enabled us to reach out to more people.”

These are quoted personal opinions and after I read, I see no good point in quoting them in article since they are out of topic and just general opinions and can be made asking for any general issue on Sikhs.

But isn’t it maudlin for Sikhs to focus so acutely on 1984? S P Singh says there may be another angle to this. He says that playing up the 1984 imagery serves the vested interests of those who sought political asylum abroad in the aftermath of Operation Blue Star. “If the movement dies down, all facilities and aid extended to them will be terminated.”

Wish you would have done some work looking for a good topic than finding a good English word (ref:maudlin) to use in article :-/ if you wish , I can share some good books on 1984 Operation Blue Star which can first guide you to events that happened and if the revolt was justified. Why muslims felt agitated on demolition of babri masjid, why were hindus angry after godhra and why is Sikh community angry over anyone on entering with tanks in golden temple complex which is considered as abode of god for everyone.

It is good to write sensational article which ignites thoughts of people but writing without proper facts and just quoting others doesn’t always counts as a good write.

Link to the Article : http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/news/sunday-toi/special-report/Sikhs-spool-out-their-angst-on-film/articleshow/5061084.cms

Twitterville - talking about my twitter world !!

This is my first post on twitter junta i follow. i always wanted to write about some of fantastic people i have met/interacted over this social network site. Twitter - for me it has been nice experience so far.. have won some contests , met loads of different people, shared thoughts, interacted with celebrities, shared customer feedback directly with companies and got quick answers to all my queries. #followfriday / #ff a routine trend in which every friday i share my choice of people to follow coz of one or the other reason but some people on twitter are regular feature so i thought why not dedicate a post to them so that i just share this link and you get the names and reasons to follow them.

i've mentioned reasons why i follow them and the choice is yours

People who can be recommended anyday everyday :


1. @ujj - Ujjwal was one of the first people i followed. met him in bangalore last year april and thats when i came to know something like twitter existed. he tweets less but whenever he tweets, am either laughing loud or retweeting to share with all. For cricket, randomness , office culture, tempostand, bangalore stuff , everyday follow recommendation :)


2. @poojaganeriwala - A true MICA stuff.randomness is the word i learnt from her and shez awesome twitterer.. you never know whats coming outta her world.. ahmedabad, food, travel, photography, writing anything n everything coming.. shez friend in offline world as well so i normally dnt keep track much of her tweets :D heh..


3. @krist0ph3r - Totally Random Stuff from this guy, one of my favourite people on twitter world. you can expect loads of amazing stuff coming.. sarcasm included..cubiculture ..music..tweetups..bike rides n all the life keeps on rolling as his twitter timeline shows.


4. @rehabc - if you like to read and you aren't following her.. you are missing a comment/reply on all your literary tweets. awesome shawsome person to talk to.if u ever meet, u ll know how to laugh and smile at same time.. hehe.. have to definitely escape from her 360 degree spy eyes on me. good buddy online... but follow her .. you ll enjoy..


5. @JasleenArora - i like her because i hate her and she likes me because she hates me..we know each other for like ages but twitter has been medium for leg puling all the time n everytime. she tweets poetry, random stuff, about her college life and abt place where she stays.. nice person to argue with.. strong points and wastage of time n energy my side..


6. @ashumittal - my DM buddy :p amazing photographer. expect loads of tweets from her on trending topics which are fun, photography, quotes, adobe, flickr, lightroom etc :-)


and to add to the six above, I follow so many other amazing people and can definitely recommend you following them when you talk of certain topics:


When you talk of


1. Photography = follow @suddentwilight (Paromita's Flickr),@tarunchandel (Tarun's PhotoBlog), @twilightfairy (Priyanka's Flickr) ,@poojaganeriwala (Pooja's Flickr),@ashumittal (Ashu's Flickr)


2. Blogging = follow @realin (Digimantra), @praval (MediaRedefined) , @mayank (Blog Design Studio),@labnol (Digital Inspiration),@pchere (Quick Online Tips), @abhishek (Technix Update, @blogadda (BlogAdda) , @nixxin (MediaNama)


3. Ladies *special quota* - follow @nomadwanderer, @shaaqT, @suddentwilight


4. Cartoons -oh no no.. what you think is wrong,they are not cartoons.. but they make cartoons,doodles and spread message through creative way.. follow @meerasapra (her work), @keeda (work),@tantanoo (work)


5. Microsofties - all your queries on windows, microsoft can be directed towards them - follow @baxiabhishek , @hardik, @manan ,@MicrosoftIndia


6. Corporates - follow @90di, @cleartrip, @flykingfisher , @Samsung_Mobiles, @keralatourism, @infosys, @followtcs, @accenture,@naukri


7 Channels - follow @channelvindia,@colorstv, @mtvindia


8 News - follow @ndtv, @httweets,@bbcworld,@bbctech,@cnnbrk


9 Celebrities - loads of them on twitter but i follow @gulpanag, @priyankachopra, @celinajaitly, @pritishnandy, @sanjaysuri ,@nikhilchinapa, @bani_j, @duttalara, @sonamakapoor, @chetan_bhagat, @1mrankhan, @shreyaghoshal, @ayushmannk , @duttalara, @lisaraniray, @v1sh4l (music Director Vishal), @devikamathur ,@ShashiTharoor


Bas Naam hi kaafi hai, for all of them. Best way to know about them - GOOGLE.com :)


10 Random-


a) They are my gurgaon meet-up gang so keep meeting them all.. fun people.. can bore you in a minute and make you laugh real hard the next minute - @prolificd,@omgsweet,@sloth13, @simple_sy, baxiabhishek,@mekkanikal


b) I've met them in mumbai nagariyaa... so regular interaction and all fun people to follow and you never know you might learn something from them - @punkpolkdots, @unitechy, @annkur, @mokshjuneja, @netra, @harishk, @shadez ,@hardik, @asfaq, @urmiraj14, @rashmibansal, @3heelshigh, @chicalit , @piyushgupta, @netra


c) @thecomicproject ,@amitvarma,@harry_jerry, @sakhi_ , @_atikin , @anaggh , @smilinggal , @neobluepanther ,@streetanchor , @teatattler, @oldmonkmgm, @greenrains, @rwac84, @sm63, @maheshmurthy, @masarat - yet to meet them in real life but all nice people to follow. regular interaction with all of them on twitter and something to learn as well.


11. Sikhism - follow @Amritsarovar, @singhlions ,@mrSikhnet,@taranjs


12. News Anchors - all of them tweet about their shows, current news and views and its fun sharing our point of view on their shows and news. - @bdutt (barkha dutt), @sardesairajdeep (rajdeep sardesai) , @sonalipds (Sonia Singh) ,@abhonsle (Anubha Bhonsle) ,@suhasinih (Suhasini Haider) , @sagarikaghose (Sagarika Ghose), @virsanghvi (Vir Sanghvi) , @rajeevmasand (Rajeev Masand) , @ankitv (Ankit Venguralikar)


13. Punjab Quota *reserved* - anytime you feel like talking in punjabi tweet them.. have fun interacting with them in punjabi :) - @themonsoonkid ,@simarp ,@preetchandhoke ,@simarp, @harleenkaurs, @param188, @kulpreetsingh ,@rajbir, @purplebeing, @jasdeep,@sepiaverse


This has been the the largest follow friday recommendation i've made and i know i have missed many known-unknown people in it but yea.. i will keep on adding people as and when i feel they are missing in this list of mine. :-) . Happy Following.


Just for records i follow 499 people/brands/celebrities/rssfeeds all including and i'm 517 days old here. :)


Oh i missed mentioning my twitter handle na.. its @s4sukhdeep . :-) tada..

As I Move On..

As I move forward in life..Ithink of the gains and losses i went through while passing different phases of life...be it the super exciting phase of achieving something different, or sharing the wonderful moments with friends or be it staying out of touch with everyone or be it the feeling of loneliness or dejection during recent few months..and this time i come to the conclusion and gains are all mine and losses are all theirs who lost me :)

when i look back at my life many people came [read girls] n life and went but i certainly believe that each one of them was a pleasure to be friends with and you won't find better teacher than them who would give you something to learn after practically experiencing it.

Some of them which i think definitely added to my learnings tab would include the following..!!

1. Not all that glitters is gold.A beautiful look might give you an illusion of beautiful heart inside but its not always true.. and same hold true for the opposite..a beautiful heart or a beautiful mind may not always be portrayed by a beautiful face..so you should be smart enough to understand the person..i guess my mistakes in understanding this phrase has made me a better human.

2. Friendship is not love - Thats one thing that i dont think i learnt but definitely learnt that you should be friends and should care for each other but not turn so good friends that the other person starts thinking that you are in love wid him/her..it brings in very difficult situation and the position where making a choice b/w frenship n relationship comes up....understand ur limits.. or be very clear about these things at every step.

3. I may be wrong here but i always feel while moving away from anyone, you are answerable to some of basic questions one wud have while you are going.. and you should nice enough to atleast clear all those doubts . I've some questions to ask to some of my 'Friends' [atleast from my side]and they still are unanswered..!!

4. Believe in God - A complete rockstar he is.I dont understand how he manages my life atleast.. he ll bring all the people in my life one by one.. and second one wud only enter once first one is taking time to leave....! awesome.. i feel who so ever comes in my life gives me some of the wonderful moments to cherish and some of not so good moments.. which make me more stronger for the next time..!!


having true friends on whom you can rely on anytime/everytime is sitting in a comfort zone and that feeling is awesome..!! i can count my comfort zone on one finger.. and i am not naming anyone here.. but i guess having that circle of 2-3 friends is more than enough for me in today's state. a post dedicated to my real life friends and my twitter aka online circle coming soon on that note :D

Long times this post rested in my drafts but finally i post it.. :)

happy reading..

A Birthday Wish

I got this lovely picture as a birthday wish in orkut scrapbook from one of my gursikh friends and simply loved the concept