Allahabadi Worldview

The death of democracy is not likely to be an assassination from ambush. It will be a slow extinction from apathy, indifference, and undernourishment.                                                                  - Robert M. Hutchins Democracy is, as said, of the people, by the people and for the people, which means we the people are the driving force of the democracy. Therefore for a democracy to thrive, we need a system which works for the people, which serves the people and we need people to be part of that system selflessly. But after 70 years of democracy in so called largest democracy of the world, i find something missing. I see our founding fathers forgot to put the most important brick in the foundation of this great nation.  That brick is the 'Value of Life'. For most of us, if not all, somebodys death is just a news. Forget about commoner, we are least bothered for lives lost at the border who give supreme sacrifice for our future. We are a co

स्वंतंत्रता - अधूरी या पूरी ? *********************************************************************************** ॥ जननी जन्मभूमिश्च स्वर्गादपि गरीयसी ॥  जब स्वयं नारायणावतार भगवान् श्रीराम ने ये कहा था तब महाजनपद होते थे और तथाकथित अखंड भारत हुआ करता था जिसे कहीं इतिहासकारों ने आर्यावर्त का नाम दिया । तब और अब में हज़ार वर्षों का बड़ा अंतर है और मानव मूल्यों में भी अनंत परिवर्तन आया हैं । आज भौतिक मूल्य , मानव-मूल्य भर भारी पड़ चूका है और सब सुख-दुःख धन के परिपेक्ष में देखा जाता है । यदि धन लोलुपता न होती तो कोई भी हिन्दू मुस्लमान आक्रमणकारियों का साथ न देता , यही धन-वैभव का लोभ ना होता तो राजे-राजवाड़े अंग्रेज़ो के तलवे ना चाट रहे होते । एक बार एक वार्ता के दौरान मुद्दा उठा की कौन से राज-घराने अंग्रेज़ो के साथ थे , क्या कोई लिखित साक्ष्य है हमारे पास ? एक वरिष्ठ इतिहासकार ने साधारण शब्दो में उत्तर दिया - "भारत भ्रमण पर निकल जाइये , जहाँ कहीं महल - किले साबूत मिलें , उनका वैभव बरक़रार हो , बस समझ जाइयेगा वो अंग्रेज़ो के साथ थे ।" इतिहासकारो में एक कहावत मशहू

राम-नवमी के दिन पूड़ी-हलवा खाएंगे ॥     "आज का दिन भारी गुजरने वाला था , पता था मुझे मगर फिर भी घर से निकलना था , तलाश में । तलाश भी किसकी ? जिंदगी की , एक किरण की , जो मुझे रास्ता दिखाती भविष्य की । मगर जब सूरज की तपिश से आँखे अंधरा जाए तो फिर कैसा दिन , कैसी रात , हर तरफ धुंधलका ही धुंधलका । मेरे गाँव में सूखा पड़े तीन साल हो गए , अन्न उगना क्या होता है ये धरती भी भुला चुकी थी । कुछ छोटे घास जो हरे काम पीले ज्यादा थे वही समय से लड़ने की हिम्मत दिखा रहे थे । गाँव के तालाब में अब कीचड़ भी न बचा था , पेड़ों की पत्तियां कब की झड़ कर साथ छोड़ गयी थी । गाँव अब गाँव नहीं रह गया था , ये बस एक बियाबान था जहां जिन्दा लाशें घूम रही थी बस इस इंतज़ार में की या तो बारिश हो जाए या फिर मौत ही आ जाए । ख़ैर , मै एक गरीब किसान हूँ , मेरे घर में मेरी माँ , बीवी , तीन बच्चे और दो बैल और दो बीघा जमीन । यही मेरी दुनिया है , यही मेरी संपत्ति । मेरे कई साथी आत्महत्या कर चुके है , कई शायद करने की सोच रहे होंगे । मैं भी सोचता हूँ बीच बीच में , मगर मेरे बाद मेरे परिवार का क्या होगा , यही विचार मुझे रो

                                         Ritwik, a 5 year old kid who lives next to my house, is selected to take part in the PT Team on the occasion of Independence Day. As a 5 year old kid he hardly knows meaning of Independence but his excitement rests with wearing bright white dress and lure of getting customary Laddoos. Probably this is the first occasion for him to see a Tri-colour unfurling with chant of Bharat Mata Ki Jai and Jai Hind . As per PT dress code, he is given an Orange and a Green ribbon to be tied on the hands. Hardly has he known anything about the symbolism behind this but yes as a kid he is happy to have coloured bands in hand. I was watching him practising his PT drill from my balcony and his beaming face made me to think about what exactly he is going to learn tomorrow, when he grows up. After few years, when he will read about the theoretical representation of colours 1 , which were taught to us as well, whether he will understand the true meaning o

I am sad to see the line of action Modi's NDA govt is falling in.. Why your party is more concerned towards BEEF & EGG when there are lakhs starving...? Why your ministers are more concerned to up the tax bars when the tax paying middle class is suffering..? Why your members are barking free , e.g., Sakshi , Sadvi etc? Why there is no noose on black money and departmental corruptions? Why shying away from visiting Indian villages with absolutely no infrastructure and basic amenities? Remember, just 365 days ago, when Adani's wealth was $1.9 billion ( today it is $6 billion ) , when Advani-Joshi-Shourie were BJP leaders ( sidelined today) , when BJP was party of the workers ( not the Boardroom jokers) , when you had not made 19 foreign visits, . . . You were a HOPE .... You were the FUTURE .... You were the only OPTION ..... I don't want to loose the hope unless I have an option ! You cant take away my optimism with your naïve pol

Finally, separatists met with Pakistani Envoy to Delhi in spite of strict warning from Union Government. Separatists led by Syed Geelani, a senior leader of the 26-party Hurriyat Conference, and Ex Millitant JKLFchief Yasin Malik met Pakistani high commissioner to India Abdul Basit. One thing wonders me, all of a sudden black clouds started hovering around Indian attempts to have amicable relations with Pakistan. Why? Let us check out the events one by one : Ceasefire Violations : All of a sudden there is unprecedented surge in cease-fire violations. According to reports*1 , at least 10 ceasefire violations have been committed by Pakistan troops in August itself. In normal times, it is done to push or give cover fire to militants trying entering Indian soil. But according to current situation, its target was to escalate tension between two countries to derail bilateral talks. Meeting Separatists : Every now and then Yasin Malik, Ex-Milltant & JKLF Chief goes to P

Originally published in May 2011 : “Long ago, there was a king called Kamunist, he was a great ruler and had a great control over his state. He was very clever and had immense administrative acumen. With his wisdom and acute knowledge of people management the King became almost invincible and ruled his state for decades”. One fine morning a noble Brahmin came to the state and after looking at the status of people and the economy of state, he decided to go the king. When king heard about the Brahmin he gracefully invited him to his court and welcomed him to the court. Then the king asked the brahmin,“Hey brahmin, I am grateful to you that you arrived at my door, what can I do for you? Brahmin replied, “Rajan! I heard a lot about you & your administrative acumen and therefore I came all along to see you and to see the people. King Kammunist became happy after hearing Brahmin’s words, he further asked,”so what did you find, did you liked my administration, my courtmen, the prosp

SpectoonS I ntroduction While doing engineering, I started suffering from a disease called Impatience. Which means I hated prolonged classes of Machine Design. As it is said, necessity is mother of all inventions. Same way, alongside topography I started using cartooning of machine parts. Though this habit landed me trouble with a Back in machine design. But, this made me to take cartoons seriously, In particular, political cartoons.  Yes, this sleeping lazy is me.... I have compiled 25 best cartoons that I like from year 2013. Hope you all will like it and appreciate spectoons. www.facebook.com/spectoons Twitter : @spectoons ***************************************************************************************************************************** I. Mood of the Year 2013 India Against Corruption was the the buzz word around the country which brought entire Indian youth at one stage. IAC showed us the power of common man, power of democra