28 Feb 2009

Aren't you just 'one of them'?

Let's see!

When was the first time, you told yourself
"No, no, no... not me! I am not one of them."
When was the last time you cautiously reaffirmed
"No, no... not me! I can not be one of them."
Can you stop snickering when a fat fella falls?
Don't you run to the bushes when in urgency nature calls?
Can you stop an eve teaser from making an obscene note?
Don't you prefer a drive when there's a day off to vote?
Can you stop jumping the queue when the time seems short?
Don't you love poking others but yourself easily get out of sorts?
Can you stop your bike to help a blind man cross?
Don't you use the roadside as a bin to throw your dross?
Can you stop gazing till the maid finally passes an angry glance?
Don't you keep sitting while the aged in the aisle changes her stance?
Can you stop breaking others' windows while playing evening cricket?
Don't you pay the cop some bucks to avoid an overspeeding ticket?
Can you stop scratching your back while standing for the anthem?
Don't you just need a lame pretext to create ruckus and mayhem?
If you have answered these sequentially, in yesses and nays,
Then congrats my friend! You indeed aren't one of them.
As for me, I realise 'O Lord', still some gap remains.
Till I fill this lacuna, I am doomed to be just one of them!

Image Courtesy
http://blog.lib.umn.edu and http://photography.nationalgeographic.com (edited)

23 Feb 2009

"I chose love and I'm here"

Jai Ho!

I may have used the title of this Oscar winning song as the sub-title of my post but frankly speaking, I do not believe that it actually deserved any award. In our Mumbai film industry this song would have lost in oblivion. However, the man behind it definitely deserves a lot. Even he might agree that this is not even close to his best work but then who cares. He has won the Oscar for it and the fact to rejoice is that our very own Rahman, humming to whose tunes we have grown up is now a world acclaimed composer.


I happened to switch on the television in the morning, just in time to see A.R. Rahman receive his first Academy award. On receiving his second Oscar, Allah Rakha Rahman made a beautiful statement to end his acceptance speech. He, in his ever-soft spoken tone remarked, "..[A]ll my life I had a choice of hate and love. I chose love and I'm here."
What was his context, only he knows the best. However, I could not help but see this statement in a much larger context. Rahman, a Muslim by faith(though not by birth) and Tamil by ethnicity has seen his brethren choosing the other path, that of hatred.
So, while the world bleeds to Islamic terror, Sri Lanka has been bleeding to Tamil terror. I must note here that by making this statement, I do not intend to stereotype any community and question their genuine grievances.
However, the message given out by Rahman could not have been more apt for the occasion. We all, irrespective of our ethnicity or religious faith can learn a lot out of this simple statement.
Kudos is due him for his achievement against all odds. Jai ho!

Image Courtesy
http://www.oscar.com (original)