lakshadweep tour

(this was written a long time back when i was in school. my trip to cochin and lakshadweep. i had just given my 10th boards that year.)

this year my school did not go for any tour. i therefore joined my friends from another school. i went to cochin, lakshadweep, kanya kumari and trivadrum.

we left on the 29th of april. i remember this date as it was also the same day we had left for kashmir 5 years ago. the train was to leave at 3.30 pm. we reached at the station at 2.45 pm. i was with parini, alpa and krinal. during the day i used to sit with them. at night i had to go to the other bogie to sleep with some other group of girls.

29th April : i hardly knew anyone and was feeling very lonely. even alpa felt alone as she was not from the same school. she used to read some filmy magazine and i was bored. i hardly read any film magazines. in the evening i made friends with some girls. evening we had our dinner and i went to my bogie to sleep. i felt this trip was going to be very boring.

30th April : in train. i made friends with a few more girls. we played games. we started talking to an uncle in our compartment. he was a judo champ. we passed our whole afternoon talking to him. he had a lot of knowledge. parini even called him an 'encyclopedia'. in the evening parini started playing. krinal too joined her. alpa was alone and so i decided to stay with her.

1st May : we reached ernakulam (cochin) in the morning. we stayed at k. k. international hotel. our group of 4 was accommodated in one room. we had a refreshing bath and then went out for some shopping. the shopping area was full of stores that sold mirrors, hardware stuff and clothes. i bought some spices. after that we went back to the hotel. we had our lunch and then went to the area where we had to board a boat for sight seeing. we had to wait for the other girls to come. we boarded a boat and went to see the chinese fishing nets. they were very good. from there we went to st. francis church. then we went to the jewish synagogue. it was magnificent. the tiles were of a different style and the walls and ceiling were beautiful. there was gold all around. we wanted to go to the palace but it was closed.

2nd May : we packed our luggage. we had to board a ship. we boarded 'tipu sultan' and it started at 3.00 pm. we played 'antakshari' and we won. then we went to the deck. after that we went to check the hall of the ship. it was great and huge. the seats were comfortable and there were 2 tv's. many of us started feeling sea sick. even i felt my stomach churning. we were given a pill to make us feel better. we watched 'saatwa aasman' on cable tv that night. (those days cable tv was the latest thing. and we were all excited to watch movies like this) then we went to sleep.

3rd May : we reached the first island at 8.30 am. we went to the main island by a small boat. there were cottages. we sat out near the beach. the sea was sky blue at some places, while a little more lighter at other places. a few girls jumped into the water. i sat on the beach looking at the sea and enjoying the place. we went back to the cottages and had lunch. we had a lot of oranges there. we also had coconut water. we played kho-kho and tug of war. we went for a boat ride which was very unique. we were transferred to a boat which had a glass bottom. we could see the sea-bed and the corals. we saw blue nad green corals. we saw an insectivorous plant too. it had brown leaves and many mouths. (this was the most beautiful part of my journey. i can never forget the corals and the sea-bed) we went back to the ship in the evening. the islanders gifted each of us a box of glasses. many of the girls also bought souvenirs. in the evening we watched 'saajan' on tv.

4th May : when we got up we found out that we were going to visit an island with many lagoons. we were again transferred to small boats which took us to the island. we reached the cottages and had coconut water. we were than taken to a beach by a van. we played musical chair and blind mans buff. we went to the lighthouse. we were tired after climbing 225 steps. but the view from the top was exquisite. then we went to the beach. the water was cool and calm, but the weather was very hot and sunny. there were no trees and all of us were thirsty. we went back to the cottage and had our lunch. then we went to another beach. we weren't allowed to swim as the waves were huge. we enjoyed the view. we then went for the ride to the village. we spoke to a few local people there. it was very surprising to know that in their tribe the man went to the woman's house after marriage. we were so amused to hear that. after we went back to the boat something funny happened. i was sitting with reshma, alpa and krinal. parini was sitting on the other side. michael (one of the tour guys) was sitting behind her. then came the fun. first michaels 2000 rupees fell into the sea. after that alpa's hat flew off. and then we heard a splash. first we thought parini had fallen off the deck! but then she was safe. then someone said it was michael. and then when we saw him safe we realized it was some boatman who had fallen into the sea. all of us started laughing. we had dinner and watched 'love' on cable.

5th May : when i got up i found that the next island was already in sight. we were transferred to the island by boat again. it was great. there was greenery everywhere. we sat in small tractors and went to our cottages. we had coconut water again. we rented a pedal boat and went for a boat ride. it was fun. we went back to the cottages. i did not want to goto the beach again. so i sat back with a few other girls. we had papayas and then when the gang got back we had our lunch. we were then treated to folk dance by the locals. we bought some shells and then went to some factory. we clicked pics of some native kids who kept giggling all the time. we then went to the lighthouse. after that we went back to the ship. we had promised an entertainment show to the captain. we started practicing in the evening. i planned to sing a song. there were a few events planned. we had a fabulous dance and song show that evening. it was a fun party.

6th May : we reached cochin and went back to our hotel. we then left for kanyakumari which was 8 hours away. we saw 2 movies on the bus. 'maine pyar kiya' and 'sadak'. on the way it started raining. we had to get all our baggage inside the bus. we reached kanyakumari at 8 pm. we slept at 11.30.

7th May : we went sight-seeing. we visited the vivekananda memorial rock. then we went to a temple. the statue was very beautiful. it was a statue of 'kanya' with a beautiful diamond studded nose-ring. the surrounding was decorated with diyas. i loved the place. later we went to the southern most tip of mainland india. we watched the confluence of arabian sea, bay of bengal and the indian ocean. the view was great. we had chinese food for lunch and left for trivandrum. we watched 'chaalbaaz' on the bus. on the way we halted at the kovallam beach. the water was not very clean and i did not like the place. we then continued our journey. we reached late in the evening. we had dinner and went to sleep.

8th May : we visited the meenakshi temple.we then visited the zoo. we were all tired. so we did not enjoy the visit. we then went to the historic museum. i was bored and uninterested in all the stuffed animals. we then went to the art museum. the portraits were huge and life like. i like the portrait of 'agni devta'. the colour combination was very good. we went back to our hotel and had lunch. in the evening we went shopping. i bought 2 sari's for my mother. then we went back to the hotel. we had a party that evening and a fancy dress competition. parini won the fancy dress competition. she had dressed herself in a black dress with letters attached to her dress calling herself the 'black mailer'. she also won the housie and dance competition. after the party we went back to our room. we had decided to stay awake the whole night and keep talking. but one by one everyone went off to sleep!

9th May : we had to wake up at 5 am. we had our breakfast and went to the station. we caught our train back home. since i had made a lot of friends i enjoyed my day back home. we played many games.

10th May : the day passed making stories and having fun and games. we also sang a lot of songs.

11th May : i awoke at 5 am. we came to know that the train was late by an hour. i was so happy. i did not want to go home! but we had to go home! we reached v.t. station in a while. this was the end of a beautiful tour!

(wow this was long.. and i remember a lot of things that i have written here. was fun and nostalgic! this has been one of my favorite journeys. specially because there is no place like lakshadweep.. it is simply beautiful!!)

Nainital Trip

whenever i went for a long tour i used to write down my experiences.. i found a few written sheets of my trips to various places.. this one is about my nainital trip.. i do not remember what year it was.. maybe 1996 or 1997... i have just jotted down things in general.. though i do wish i had written more about my in-depth experience.. anyway.. here we go..

people in the post:

Me

Tasneem - my best friend since school days

Khozem - tasneem's brother

Tasneem's Parents

Nani - tasneem's nani

Masi - tasneem's masi

Aftaab, Zameer, Misba - tasneem's cousins

Aftaab's parents

Tahani - Aftaab's girlfriend

29th April : We left for delhi by August Kranti Express

30th April : We reached Delhi at about 12 pm and went to our hotel. We had lunch and later we rested for a while. Next day we were supposed to leave for Nainital. That day we slept at 1 am as Tahani and I were talking.

1st May : We couldn't leave for Nainital as there was some diesel problem. Therefore we had to extend our stay at Delhi. Spend the day in general. Evening was a trip to Pallika Market. Night was again the time for long talks. Aftaab, Khozem, Tasneem, Zameer, Tahani and me got talking andslept at 3 am.

2nd May : We left for Nainital at last. It was a tiring bus ride. We had excellent lunch at some dhaba on the way. We reached Nainital at night. (i remember this ride to nainital at night.. the mountains looked so serene and silent.. and the higher we climbed the closer the stars came.. it felt as if the stars are there to b touched n stolen.. i felt that if i extended my hand up higher i would grab one of them just for myself.. was beautiful) We stayed in some hotel which was not worth a mention.

3rd May : We had breakfast and took a proper look at Nainital. It was breathtaking. We then shifted to another hotel and had lunch there. In the evening we took a stroll at the mall. (the market in nainital is generally referred to as mall.. nothing like what we have now.. more like roadside stalls.. ) We then went to the nepali market.

4th May : We went boating. Aftaab, Tahani, Misba and Tasneems parents were in one boat. The second one had Khozem, Tasneem, Zameer and me. The third one had Aftaab's parents, masi and nani. Aftaab's dad was the funniest of the lot. In the middle of the ride he got up and started acting as a film director. He started calling Aftab as the hero and Tahani as the heroine. Since we were all in the game, we acted as if we had gone there for a shoot. People actually started believing us. (aftaab anyway looked like some bollywood actor.. height above 6 ft and looks of a greek god.. tahani was the pretty one too.. so it was easy to believe..) We then tried the ropeway. But it was a boring ride as the weather was foggy and we couldn't see the sights. After the ride, we youngsters decided to go horseriding. The way was dangerous. But the view was beautiful. (aftaab and zameer are trained horse riders.. they were the one who actually taught me how to ride.. my passion for horse riding started because of them.. i loved watching them ride a stallion and gallop away in the mists of matheran)

5th May : We went to Bhimtal and Sat Tal. Boating again. On the way back our bus had a technical glitch. We got off the bus and started playing kiddie games. Orange is a lemon, ringa ringa roses and a few dance moves. Taneem, Tahani and I went to the market later in the evening and had icecream.

6th May : We stayed at the hotel that day. Evening we went to the market and purchased candles and some other trinkets. Bags were then packed as we planned to leave the next day.

7th May : We left for Kousani passing Almora. There were not many hotels there. We stayed at the Government hotel. We could hardly see anything then as there was a fire in the forest. I went for a stroll with Aftaab's mom. It was a beautiful place.

8th May : The morning was fresh, and as we got out of the room we could see the Himalayas right at our doorstep. It was a fantastic sight. Uncle, Tahani and I went for a long walk in the mountains. It was a lovely walk. Later in the day we had ragda pattice. In the evening it started raining. The view of the Himalayan snow capped mountains with rain pouring outside our hotel was amazing. Our last evening there and we got to see such a lovely sight. Bliss.

9th May : Next morning we went for a walk again. (i am generally a mountain person.. and love to take long walks.. dad loved it.. n now i love it too) Later we left for Corbett. We did not have too many days left. So we just decided to spend the night at Corbett. We booked ourselves in at Claridge's. It was a lovely place, situated on the banks of the Kosi river. The mango trees were superb there with the mangoes dangling right to the ground. Our room was beautiful too. We had dinner at their restaurant. We were shown a wild life documentary.

ps : when we reached the hotel, we were told not to get out of our rooms at night as there were leopards moving about freely. Tahani was so scared she did not let us open our doors and windows. Did not even let us step into the terrace!

10th May : We got up early. Went to the river. It was a beautiful sight. White pebbles surrounded the banks. The river was clean and sparkling. We dipped our legs in the cool water. Spent sometime there and then went for breakfast. After breakfast we went to the river again. Spent sometime there. After that we had to go pack our bags for the return trip to Delhi. Tahani and Zameer played table tennis. We played a few other games. Then we watched the shooting of 'Namaste India'. After lunch we left for Delhi. Our bus broke down again! We had to wait for a long time and reached Delhi pretty late. We checked into our hotel again for the night.

11th May : We shopped all day through. I did not like anything. It was also very hot. Then in the evening we left for the station, awaiting our Rajdhani.

12th May : Reached Mumbai. Back home after a lovely trip.

cheers!

(i remember a few other parts of the trip.. we used to play teen patti where zameer was my partner.. n we generally won.. i also remember zameer as he only ate potatoes.. he wanted potatoes in every thing he had.. and then once during some lunch zameer and I got into a chilli eating competition.. and we kept eating raw green spicy chillies all through the meal.. we stopped when his dad yelled at us.. and then i remember one of the road trip where we all youngsters got onto the bus carrier and started dancing.. tasneem's dad got into rajesh khanna mode and jumped on the ladder and started singing some songs.. i remember getting down from the bus on our way to corbett and aftaab showing off his biology skills.. he kept showing us the 'touch me not ' plants... and i was so impressed.. i can never recognize plants!... and i remember how the whole family had a migraine problem.. and i was the official masseur of the group.. jisko bhi headache ho.. neha ko bulao... :p)

kulula.com

kulula is a low cost airline that doesn't take itself seriously! and boy am i glad for the goair and kingfisher airlines in india!! read on to have the biggest ROTFL you've had for a while..

On a Kulula flight, (there is no assigned seating, you just sit where you want) passengers were apparently having a hard time choosing, when a flight attendant announced, "People, people we're not picking out furniture here, find a seat and get in it!"

On another flight with a very "senior" flight attendant crew, the pilot said, "Ladies and gentlemen, we've reached cruising altitude and will be turning down the cabin lights. This is for your comfort and to enhance the appearance of your flight attendants."

On landing, the stewardess said, "Please be sure to take all of your belongings.. If you're going to leave anything, please make sure it's something we'd like to have."

"There may be 50 ways to leave your lover, but there are only 4 ways out of this airplane."

"Thank you for flying Kulula. We hope you enjoyed giving us the business as much as we enjoyed taking you for a ride."

As the plane landed and was coming to a stop at Durban Airport , a lone voice came over the loudspeaker: "Whoa, big fella. WHOA!"

After a particularly rough landing during thunderstorms in the Karoo , a flight attendant on a flight announced, "Please take care when opening the overhead compartments because, after a landing like that, sure as hell everything has shifted."

From a Kulula employee: " Welcome aboard Kulula 271 to Port Elizabeth . To operate your seat belt, insert the metal tab into the buckle, and pull tight. It works just like every other seat belt; and, if you don't know how to operate one, you probably shouldn't be out in public unsupervised."

"In the event of a sudden loss of cabin pressure, masks will descend from the ceiling. Stop screaming, grab the mask, and pull it over your face. If you have a small child travelling with you, secure your mask before assisting with theirs. If you are travelling with more than one small child, pick your favorite."

Weather at our destination is 50 degrees with some broken clouds, but we'll try to have them fixed before we arrive. Thank you, and remember, nobody loves you, or your money, more than Kulula Airlines."

"Your seats cushions can be used for flotation; and in the event of an emergency water landing, please paddle to shore and take them with our compliments."

"As you exit the plane, make sure to gather all of your belongings. Anything left behind will be distributed evenly among the flight attendants. Please do not leave children or spouses.."

And from the pilot during his welcome message: "Kulula Airlines is pleased to announce that we have some of the best flight attendants in the industry. Unfortunately, none of them are on this flight!"

Heard on Kulula 255 just after a very hard landing in Cape Town : The flight attendant came on the intercom and said, "That was quite a bump and I know what y'all are thinking. I'm here to tell you it wasn't the airline's fault, it wasn't the pilot's fault, it wasn't the flight attendant's fault, it was the asphalt."

Overheard on a Kulula flight into Cape Town , on a particularly windy and bumpy day: During the final approach, the Captain really had to fight it. After an extremely hard landing, the Flight Attendant said, "Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to The Mother City. Please remain in your seats with your seat belts fastened while the Captain taxis what's left of our airplane to the gate!"

Another flight attendant's comment on a less than perfect landing: "We ask you to please remain seated as Captain Kangaroo bounces us to the terminal."

An airline pilot wrote that on this particular flight he had hammered his ship into the runway really hard. The airline had a policy which required the first officer to stand at the door while the passengers exited, smile, and give them a "Thanks for flying our airline." He said that, in light of his bad landing, he had a hard time looking the passengers in the eye, thinking that someone would have a smart comment. Finally everyone had gotten off except for a little old lady walking with a cane. She said, "Sir, do you mind if I ask you a question?" "Why, no Ma'am," said the pilot. "What is it?" The little old lady said, "Did we land, or were we shot down?"

After a real crusher of a landing in Johannesburg , the attendant came on with, "Ladies and Gentlemen, please remain in your seats until Captain Crash and the Crew have brought the aircraft to a screeching halt against the gate. And, once the tire smoke has cleared and the warning bells are silenced, we will open the door and you can pick your way through the wreckage to the terminal.."

Part of a flight attendant's arrival announcement: "We'd like to thank you folks for flying with us today.. And, the next time you get the insane urge to go blasting through the skies in a pressurized metal tube, we hope you'll think of Kulula Airways."

Heard on a Kulula flight. "Ladies and gentlemen, if you wish to smoke, the smoking section on this airplane is on the wing.. If you can light 'em, you can smoke 'em."

A plane was taking off from Durban Airport . After it reached a comfortable cruising altitude, the captain made an announcement over the intercom, "Ladies and gentlemen, this is your captain speaking. Welcome to Flight Number 293, non-stop from Durban to Cape Town , The weather ahead is good and, therefore, we should have a smooth and uneventful flight.. Now sit back and relax... OH, MY GOODNESS!" Silence followed, and after a few minutes, the captain came back on the intercom and said, "Ladies and Gentlemen, I am so sorry if I scared you earlier. While I was talking to you, the flight attendant accidentally spilled a cup of hot coffee in my lap. You should see the front of my pants!" A passenger then yelled, "That's nothing. You should see the back of mine!"

ENJOYYYYY

book quotes

'i find television very educating. every time somebody turns on the set, i go into the other room and read a book' - groucho marx

'a good novel tells us the truth about its hero; but a bad novel tells us the truth about its author' - g. k. chesterton

'outside of a dog a book is man's best friend. and inside of a dog it's too dark to read' - groucho marx

'a man who doesn't read books has no advantage over the man who can't read them' - mark twain

'good friends, good book and a sleepy conscience: this is the ideal life' - mark twain

'the worth of a book is to be measured by what you can carry away from it' - james bryce

sights and eavesdropping

interesting sights:

1. i was travelling by train today.. i noticed a bride sitting in the corner with her family surrounding her.. she was definitely newly married.. problem was, she was wearing this red red sari with the worst glitter gold work i have ever seen in all my life... a huge fake gold (again glitter) necklace shining around her neck... fake gold bangles clinking on her wrists... she herself was not someone i would call pretty or beautiful.. her dark skin and all the gold adorning her did not help her looks too..

and then she suddenly turned her face towards me.. it stunned me... the soft look on her face.. the simple coy smile on the newly wedded womans face changed everything.. suddenly she was the most beautiful woman around me.. i could feel her happiness.. it was so palpable.. the anticipation of a wonderful life ahead.. it surprised me at how looks do not matter sometimes.. just a smile or a twinkle in the eye is more beautiful than anything in the world..

2. walking on the road this afternoon i nearly stopped moving.. sight?.. i saw a cow right in the middle of the road.. sitting as easily as if she was in the meadows of europe.. the traffic moved around her.. seeing to it that she wasn't disturbed.. she keep looking around her.. unmindful of the commotion around her.. this made me smile.. reminding me of the good old days when i was a kid and there were a lot more cows on the streets.. walking and munching at anything green on the road.. aah nostalgia!

funny eavesdropping:

1. I was at the jewellers today.. they were discussing the high rates of products.

Jeweller: Aap ko pata hai italian jewellery kitni mehengi hai? Jewellery ki baat chodo! Italian joote bhi mehenge hai. Mere ek friend ne 35000/- ke joote liye. Aisa lagta hai 1000/- ke hai!

Woman 1: Mere bete ke paas 10000/- ke joote hai. Maarne ka bhi mann nahin karta un jooto se.

Woman 2: Arey haan. Aaj kal toh kaise kaise naam hote hai company's ke. Jimmy Choo aur DnG. Kutto ke naam se company chalate hai aur bewakoof banate hai. Jimmy toh kutte ka naam hai na? Aur itne mehenge joote?

(i couldn't control my laughter then. just left the shop giggling)

:p

day 7

alright people.. last day.. not a bad week.. :)

menu for the day:

3 bowls vegetable rice (lots of veggies less rice)

wonder soup all day through

1 apple

1 glass sweetlime juice (no sugar)

1 muskmelon

thats it i think...

result of the week long detox diet : lost 4 kgs

sad i didn't lose those inches.. lol

laterzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

day 5

wonder soup all day through

2 bowls vegetable rice (lots and lots of veggies)

1 cucumber

wowww.. just realized iv hardly had much today.. maybe i will get a few tomatoes in my tummy later...

:))

day 5

easy day again.. been busy all day.. kept flitting in and out of the house all day... couldn't even go swimming :((

food intake:

2 bowls mung.. no oil

one bowl wonder soup

one bowl rice cooked in 3 tomatoes (had rice after so many days... was yummmm... and specially the tomato rice where i added a spoon of pao bhaji masala to make it tastier)

1 cup black coffee no sugar

lots of water

(mung was out of the menu again.. but i think it is healthy enough to have it.. i was supposed to have 6 tomatoes.. 3 done.. maybe i will have the other 3 in a while.. consumption of soup was down.. not because i am bored of it.. more so because i did not feel hungry all day.. had rice in the evening.. i surely missed the rice and roti all these days... )

tomorrow sounds like an easy day too... :)

day 4

easy easy day today :

5 bananas all through the day (was supposed to eat 8.. cant manage.. too much for me)

wonder soup all through the day

1 black coffee (no sugar)

3 glasses milk (this has been the biggest problem in the whole diet.. milk without sugar is eeeeeeeeeekkkkkkk)

1 bowl of mung with masala and lemon.. no oil (this is not mentioned in the diet. but i think mung is good and filling. so i added it for the day)

found an interesting site while researching for nutritional value of mung. check it out. i love the pyramid and the maps shown. so simple to understand.

http://www.nutritiondata.com/facts/vegetables-and-vegetable-products/2333/2

i was told this would be the most difficult day. i think it was the simplest of all days. not once in all these days have i felt hungry or weak. infact i feel invigorated and lighter.

tomorrow 6 tomatoes and 1 cup rice day... interesting....

cheers

day 3

today was fruit and veggie day:

muskmelon in the morning for breakfast

1 bowl wonder soup

tomato soup through the day

greenpeas, tomato and french bean sabzi

small portion of watermelon

1 mango

half a muskmelon

half an apple

cucumber and tomato salad

day 2

just vegetables

had half a boiled beet in the morning (since i do not have potatoes)

wonder soup all through the day

cabbage sabzi one small bowl

capsicum cabbage and tomato sabzi cooked pao bhaji style - 1 large bowl

3 tomatoes and 1 cucumber in the evening for dinner

planned to have one bowl of baingan sabzi but i just couldn't eat it without roti/rice

maybe i will have one more tomato later.

am not feeling hungry though.

awaiting day 3.

diet diet

started a detox diet... really need a system flush out after all the crazy wedding food...

http://msync.org/health/GeneralMotorsDiet.html

i hope this works..

goal : 5 kgs negative

today was all fruit day:

muskmelon for breakfast

wonder soup all through the day (fabulous taste)

watermelon

a medium bowl of papaya

1 mango

muskmelon in the evening

a slice of apple

one more apple later at night

Nathuram Godse's Point if View

Ever wondered why Gandhiji was killed? Ever wondered what went through the mind of Godse when he pushed that deadly trigger? Read on..

JANUARY 30th, 1949 - The Mahatma was assassinated by a man called Naturam Godse.
After he shot him, instead of running away, he stood his ground and surrounded. He said, "No one should think that Gandhi was killed by a madman"

One of the best speeches of All time, which is compared to Socrates's speech in his trial.
The Judge was astonished by his speech and commented that if India had followed the Jury system of giving judgments, Godse would have been adjudicated as "Not Guilty" by the Jury, cause after the speech, the whole audience was in tears.

This is the speech given by Nathuram Godse in the court in his last trial for the murder of Mahatma Gandhi

Born in a devotional Brahmin family, I instinctively came to revere Hindu religion, Hindu history and Hindu culture. I had, therefore, been intensely proud of Hinduism as a whole. As I grew up I developed a tendency to free thinking unfettered by any superstitious allegiance to any isms, political or religious. That is why I worked actively for the eradication of untouchability and the caste system based on birth alone. I openly joined anti-caste movements and maintained that all Hindus were of equal status as to rights, social and religious and should be considered high or low on merit alone and not through the accident of birth in a particular caste or profession. I used publicly to take part in organized anti-caste dinners in which thousands of Hindus, Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Vaisyas, Chamars and Bhangis participated. We broke the caste rules and dined in the company of each other.



I have read the speeches and writings of Dadabhai Nairoji, Vivekanand, Gokhale, Tilak, along with the books of ancient and modern history of India and some prominent countries like England, France, America and' Russia. Moreover I studied the tenets of Socialism and Marxism. But above all I studied very closely whatever Veer Savarkar and Gandhiji had written and spoken, as to my mind these two ideologies have contributed more to the moulding of the thought and action of the Indian people during the last thirty years or so, than any other single factor has done.



All this reading and thinking led me to believe it was my first duty to serve Hindudom and Hindus both as a patriot and as a world citizen. To secure the freedom and to safeguard the just interests of some thirty crores (300 million) of Hindus would automatically constitute the freedom and the well being of all India, one fifth of human race. This conviction led me naturally to devote myself to the Hindu Sanghtanist ideology and programme, which alone, I came to believe, could win and preserve the national independence of Hindustan, my Motherland, and enable her to render true service to humanity as well.



Since the year 1920, that is, after the demise of Lokamanya Tilak, Gandhiji's influence in the Congress first increased and then became supreme. His activities for public awakening were phenomenal in their intensity and were reinforced by the slogan of truth and non-violence, which he paraded ostentatiously before the country. No sensible or enlightened person could object to those slogans. In fact there is nothing new or original in them. They are implicit in every constitutional public movement. But it is nothing but a mere dream if you imagine that the bulk of mankind is, or can ever become, capable of scrupulous adherence to these lofty principles in its normal life from day to day. In fact, honour, duty and love of one's own kith and kin and country might often compel us to disregard non-violence and to use force. I could never conceive that an armed resistance to an aggression is unjust. I would consider it a religious and moral duty to resist and, if possible, to overpower such an enemy by use of force. [In the Ramayana] Rama killed Ravana in a tumultuous fight and relieved Sita. [In the Mahabharata], Krishna killed Kansa to end his wickedness; and Arjuna had to fight and slay quite a number of his friends and relations including the revered Bhishma because the latter was on the side of the aggressor. It is my firm belief that in dubbing Rama, Krishna and Arjuna as guilty of violence, the Mahatma betrayed a total ignorance of the springs of human action.



In more recent history, it was the heroic fight put up by Chhatrapati Shivaji that first checked and eventually destroyed the Muslim tyranny in India. It was absolutely essentially for Shivaji to overpower and kill an aggressive Afzal Khan, failing which he would have lost his own life. In condemning history's towering warriors like Shivaji, Rana Pratap and Guru Gobind Singh as misguided patriots, Gandhiji has merely exposed his self-conceit. He was, paradoxical, as it may appear, a violent pacifist who brought untold calamities on the country in the name of truth and non-violence, while Rana Pratap, Shivaji and the Guru will remain enshrined in the hearts of their countrymen forever for the freedom they brought to them.



The accumulating provocation of thirty-two years, culminating in his last pro-Muslim fast, at last goaded me to the conclusion that the existence of Gandhi should be brought to an end immediately. Gandhi had done very well in South Africa to uphold the rights and well being of the Indian community there. But when he finally returned to India he developed a subjective mentality under which he alone was to be the final judge of what was right or wrong. If the country wanted his leadership, it had to accept his infallibility; if it did not, he would stand aloof from the Congress and carry on his own way. Against such an attitude there can be no halfway house. Either Congress had to surrender its will to his and had to be content with playing second fiddle to all his eccentricity, whimsicality, metaphysics and primitive vision, or it had to carry on without him. He alone was the Judge of everyone and everything; he was the master brain guiding the civil disobedience movement; no other could know the technique of that movement. He alone knew when to begin and when to withdraw it. The movement might succeed or fail, it might bring untold disaster and political reverses but that could make no difference to the Mahatma's infallibility. 'A Satyagrahi can never fail' was his formula for declaring his own infallibility and nobody except himself knew what a Satyagrahi is.



Thus, the Mahatma became the judge and jury in his own cause. These childish insanities and obstinacies, coupled with a most severe austerity of life, ceaseless work and lofty character made Gandhi formidable and irresistible. Many people thought that his politics were irrational but they had either to withdraw from the Congress or place their intelligence at his feet to do with, as he liked. In a position of such absolute irresponsibility Gandhi was guilty of blunder after blunder, failure after failure, disaster after disaster.



Gandhi's pro-Muslim policy is blatantly in his perverse attitude on the question of the national language of India. It is quite obvious that Hindi has the most prior claim to be accepted as the premier language. In the beginning of his career in India, Gandhi gave a great impetus to Hindi but as he found that the Muslims did not like it, he became a champion of what is called Hindustani. Everybody in India knows that there is no language called Hindustani; it has no grammar; it has no vocabulary. It is a mere dialect; it is spoken, but not written. It is a bastard tongue and crossbreed between Hindi and Urdu, and not even the Mahatma's sophistry could make it popular. But in his desire to please the Muslims he insisted that Hindustani alone should be the national language of India. His blind followers, of course, supported him and the so-called hybrid language began to be used. The charm and purity of the Hindi language was to be prostituted to please the Muslims. All his experiments were at the expense of the Hindus.



From August 1946 onwards the private armies of the Muslim League began a massacre of the Hindus. The then Viceroy, Lord Wavell, though distressed at what was happening, would not use his powers under the Government of India Act of 1935 to prevent the rape, murder and arson. The Hindu blood began to flow from Bengal to Karachi with some retaliation by the Hindus. The Interim Government formed in September was sabotaged by its Muslim League members right from its inception, but the more they became disloyal and treasonable to the government of which they were a part, the greater was Gandhi's infatuation for them. Lord Wavell had to resign as he could not bring about a settlement and he was succeeded by Lord Mountbatten. King Log was followed by King Stork.



The Congress, which had boasted of its nationalism and socialism, secretly accepted Pakistan literally at the point of the bayonet and abjectly surrendered to Jinnah. India was vivisected and one-third of the Indian territory became foreign land to us from August 15, 1947. Lord Mountbatten came to be described in Congress circles as the greatest Viceroy and Governor-General this country ever had. The official date for handing over power was fixed for June 30, 1948, but Mountbatten with his ruthless surgery gave us a gift of vivisected India ten months in advance. This is what Gandhi had achieved after thirty years of undisputed dictatorship and this is what Congress party calls 'freedom' and 'peaceful transfer of power'. The Hindu-Muslim unity bubble was finally burst and a theocratic state was established with the consent of Nehru and his crowd and they have called 'freedom won by them with sacrifice' - whose sacrifice? When top leaders of Congress, with the consent of Gandhi, divided and tore the country - which we consider a deity of worship - my mind was filled with direful anger.



One of the conditions imposed by Gandhi for his breaking of the fast unto death related to the mosques in Delhi occupied by the Hindu refugees. But when Hindus in Pakistan were subjected to violent attacks he did not so much as utter a single word to protest and censure the Pakistan Government or the Muslims concerned. Gandhi was shrewd enough to know that while undertaking a fast unto death, had he imposed for its break some condition on the Muslims in Pakistan, there would have been found hardly any Muslims who could have shown some grief if the fast had ended in his death. It was for this reason that he purposely avoided imposing any condition on the Muslims. He was fully aware of from the experience that Jinnah was not at all perturbed or influenced by his fast and the Muslim League hardly attached any value to the inner voice of Gandhi.



Gandhi is being referred to as the Father of the Nation. But if that is so, he had failed his paternal duty inasmuch as he has acted very treacherously to the nation by his consenting to the partitioning of it. I stoutly maintain that Gandhi has failed in his duty. He has proved to be the Father of Pakistan. His inner-voice, his spiritual power and his doctrine of non-violence of which so much is made of, all crumbled before Jinnah's iron will and proved to be powerless.



Briefly speaking, I thought to myself and foresaw I shall be totally ruined, and the only thing I could expect from the people would be nothing but hatred and that I shall have lost all my honour, even more valuable than my life, if I were to kill Gandhiji. But at the same time I felt that the Indian politics in the absence of Gandhiji would surely be proved practical, able to retaliate, and would be powerful with armed forces. No doubt, my own future would be totally ruined, but the nation would be saved from the inroads of Pakistan. People may even call me and dub me as devoid of any sense or foolish, but the nation would be free to follow the course founded on the reason which I consider to be necessary for sound nation-building. After having fully considered the question, I took the final decision in the matter, but I did not speak about it to anyone whatsoever. I took courage in both my hands and I did fire the shots at Gandhiji on 30th January 1948, on the prayer-grounds of Birla House.



I do say that my shots were fired at the person whose policy and action had brought rack and ruin and destruction to millions of Hindus. There was no legal machinery by which such an offender could be brought to book and for this reason I fired those fatal shots.



I bear no ill will towards anyone individually but I do say that I had no respect for the present government owing to their policy, which was unfairly favourable towards the Muslims. But at the same time I could clearly see that the policy was entirely due to the presence of Gandhi. I have to say with great regret that Prime Minister Nehru quite forgets that his preachings and deeds are at times at variances with each other when he talks about India as a secular state in season and out of season, because it is significant to note that Nehru has played a leading role in the establishment of the theocratic state of Pakistan, and his job was made easier by Gandhi's persistent policy of appeasement towards the Muslims.



I now stand before the court to accept the full share of my responsibility for what I have done and the judge would, of course, pass against me such orders of sentence as may be considered proper. But I would like to add that I do not desire any mercy to be shown to me, nor do I wish that anyone else should beg for mercy on my behalf. My confidence about the moral side of my action has not been shaken even by the criticism levelled against it on all sides. I have no doubt that honest writers of history will weigh my act and find the true value thereof some day in future.


-NATHURAM GODSE

@$%^$$^^&^

caution: abusive words ahead. do not proceed if you are under age or your mentality is under age. thank you

i know mumbai has its share of perverts... i have come across a lot of them in my growing years... i remember the old times (obviously when i was young :p) when someone came close to me and whispered, 'hey sexy!' or 'wow beautiful' etc etc.. every girl goes through this regardless of how beautiful or how pretty she is... but what happened today would surely take the cake from all those other episodes of my life... (and i surely wish the cake is made up of horse shit and i definitely wish i had the pleasure to shove the cake right down their filthy mouths!)

i met up with an old school friend today... she had to visit some place at andheri and she asked me to accompany her... we had a great lunch and then headed back home... unfortunately we did not get an auto, and so we decided to pick a bus that would take us to the station... after dropping her off at the station i decided to walk home (which is about 7 mins from the station)... it was nearly 3 pm and i was hoping to catch a nap as soon as i reached home... the road as usual on a sunday afternoon, was less congested, with the cars/bikes moving at a better speed than you would expect on an arterial road...

i was walking on the road as the footpath was uneven... there were not many people walking along... suddenly a bike zoomed past me and slowed down.. for a moment i thought they would try to pull my bag... i caught hold of my bag and stopped right there... the biker stopped a little ahead... he was accompanied by another man... i didn't know what was happening... till suddenly the biker screamt, 'hey baby, wanna come along? lets go somewhere' (he did say a lot of things i don't remember now. and i don't remember if he spoke in hindi or english)... i was so shocked that i blurted out, 'fuck-off you bastards.'... then i realized my mistake and shut up... i thought it made better sense to abuse those morons in my head rather than create a scene on a relatively quiet road... he zoomed away after saying all this and i started walking back home... my brains screaming all the time... my lips whispering in anger...

fuckers

bastards

creeps

perverts

assholes

morons

chutiya saala kutta kameena... (urgh!)

(do forgive my sad abusive vocab... i am not someone who ever uses abusive words... so i know just a few of them and use them only when absolutely necessary)

i walked on, wondering if the guys were lurking around the next corner... i decided to scream if they ever tried to touch me... i decided to note the bike number and lodge a police complain if they harassed me again... i kept walking on still abusing in anger... i noticed a few people throwing me 'is she crazy?' glances... i didn't bother... i was seething in anger... i neared the andheri flyover crossing... i was halfway across the crossing waiting for the green signal to let me pass... scanning the area to see if the biker was around... suddenly i felt someone behind me... i turned around and saw it was some eunuch beggar moving towards a car... he/she (i am not sure what to use here) moved a little further away from me and said, 'kya madam, kahan jaa rahi ho?'... and this really freaked me out... i passed across a dirty glance and wondered if the whole world was scheming against me...

i almost ran home... wondering if it was a wrong day for me... wondering why was i attracting such weirdos today... and hoping this never happens to me ever again...

kanha

Kanhaa .. bairun hui bansuri
Ho kanhaaa .. tere adhar kyun lagi
Aang se lagey to bol sunave
Bhaiye na moh lagey kanha
Din to katta, saanj kattey
Kaise kattey ratiyaaa

Kanhaa .. tere hi rang mein ranggi

Ho kanha .. saanj ki chav saawari
Sanj samay jab, sanj liptave
Lajja kare baavri
Kuch na kahe
Apne aap se
Aapi karein batiyan

Le gaya surajjj
Chod gaya kashi re ..
Heyyy…. kanha ..

(excerpts)

Movie : Veer

Singer : Rekha Bharadwaj