'If treated like Taslima, I'd give up writing' -Arundhati Roy 3

Arundhati Roy on Face-to-Face with Karan Thapar (Part 2)

My Feelings when I saw him

This time my heart banged against my chest. I wasnt sure if i wanted to sink down and hide so he wouldnt see me or if i wanted him to see me.

And the odd thing was that as he stood there, he did see me.
The moment his presence registered my heart, my head became motionless and our eyes met after 4yrs. I could see the smile play across his lips n my breathing quickened.......

The Dependent India after Independence

14th August,2011.

Just a day before celebrating Independence day, and 64 years after the Indepence, 'How much did India really become Independent?' this question arose in my mind today while going through the newspapers and reading facebook posts as to how people will celebrate independence, what freedom means to them, what is special about tomorrow etc etc.

Everyone is set to celebrate independence day in their own style, from making tricolor food to exploring places on long weekend(2nd saturday is usually holiday, sunday a holiday, monday being 15th aug, holiday again) , planning for a trek.

Some blogs showed tricolor foods prepared for the occasion, facebook posts and text messages are flooded with patriotic messages and slogans, a weekly newpaper magazine (Brunch) shared the I-Day special 'Being Indian'.

I sat on my couch with a coffee mug watching the rain pour heavily outside and thinking - ''Has India really become Independent?''

The answer came out be negative.

We are independent from the British rule , but we are not really an independent country.

India is still under the rule of India which implies politics, corruption, illiteracy, unemployment.

Today, where the metro cities indulge in great pleasure of luxuries and technologies provided to them, half of India is still unemployed, the rural india is still illiterate, there is child abuse, child molestation taking place everywhere around the country.

Colleges keep 15% seats reserved for management quota, education has become expensive due to donation(bribe). If you need a passport you need to pay donation. If a traffic constable hauls you up and you dont want a 'pouti' i.e the receipt torn against the fine of Rs. 500-1200, all you need to do is put 300rs in his pocket which he ends up in using to buy alcohol at the end of the day (corruption again) .

The word 'DONATION' means 'to donate' (daan karna) , but educational institute and many other places have made it a main source of income.

From MP to MLA, from Corporator to Mayor all are seen only once, during the elections, promising good streets, better civilization which they tend to forget after the elections..... I wonder if they suffer from memory loss :P :)

Is this the Independent India? Did the freedom fighters fight their lives out to see this India?

Are we all eager and enthusiast to celebrate the corrupted India tomorrow?

Well, I am not!!

Everday we travel from home to work/college for ourselves or may be our family demands so, but did we ever take up any pain to do anything for India?

What did you do for India?

I am supporting Anna Hazare for the hunger strike. May be its not the time to celebrate now,

may be a few years of struggle will let us to live in a better India.

So my idea behind Independence day is not boasting about India, sending 'jai hind' or 'be proud to be an Indian' text messages, singing patriotic song etc , but to do something productive for the BETTER INDIA.

Many of you might think - its slow or ineffective or aggresive, but dear readers I believe in the saying 'Rome was not built in a day', forget about Rome, even India did not achieve freedom in a day. Thousands were killed, many sacrificed, many fought back to give us a better India to live in.

Dear readers,

your ideas, views, comments are welcomed.

feel free to share

Nothing can make me forget you....

Yesterday we walked apart

Separate & cold & mortal.

Now the scared kiss has joined us,

now we stand inside the portal.

that permits of no returns.. as our hearts burn...

A waterfall of hair cascades down your shoulder,

Silence breathes us, while we languishly mingle on the white sheets,

No bickering moments.....

Iknow not what the word may be,

that has filled us with this glory ...

but never let the spell be broken,

Let it stay a mystery

For all times to be.....

The Bong culture - bengalis known for......

The Bengali people are an ethnic community native to historic region of Bengal.

Bengali is an eastern Indo-Aryan language.

Bengali, Marathi and Tamil maintain largely Pali/sanskrit vocabulary base unlike Hindi & other such languages like Punjabi,Sindhi,Gujrati that are influenced by Arabic & persian. It is now primarily spoken in bangladesh, 2nd most spoken language in INDIA and 5th largest spoken in world.

Noted Bengali saints, authors, scientists, researchers, thinkers, music composers painters and film makers have played a significant role in the development of Bengali culture. Among the various Indian cultures, the Bengalis were relatively quick to adapt to the British Rule and actually use its principles (such as the judiciary and the legislature) in the time of independence.

CULTURE of Bengal :-

Bengal’s immense contribution to modern Indian culture is best symbolized by poet and Nobel Laureate, Rabindranath Tagore, writer Bankim Chandra Chatterjee and film-maker Satyajit Ray.Tagore’s international recognition brought a renaissance in the culture of Bengal and Bengalis could proudly hold their heads up high.

Despite pleas, men board the ladies special

Nerul: Male passengers regularly barge in the ladies special that was introduced last year by Central Railways. Female commuters have been repeatedly complaining about the same. 


Even complaints with Mahila Vahini, (an all woman squad to guard women passengers) do not seem to work. Female passengers have only been repeatedly complaining on (022) 22755555 (mahila vahini number) but all in vain.

A number of male passengers are seen boarding the luggage compartment in trans-harbour ladies special. Male passengers say that the two ladies specials during the peak hours on the Trans-Harbour line cause a lot of inconvenience to men.


 Faruk S says, “There should be a gent’s compartment in the ladies special too”. While most of male passengers held while travelling make an escape by giving the fine of around 300rs to 900rs, ladies have to still struggle for their reserved rights.

‘Barriers’ …. Stand like a wall.

No new techniques…

No sophisticated methods…
No external forces… may help you to get through.

Barriers are usually psychological (also known as psychological mindset barriers) and sometimes physical ones.

It’s a mind game. The mind accepts the barrier or refuses to accept it. That makes all the difference.

It’s important to understand that our achievements in life are limited not by what we can do, but by what we think we can do. More than ABILITY, it’s the ATTITUDE that makes the difference.

When you talk about psychological mindset barriers; well such barriers are constructed mainly of past conditioning and conceptual models of reality which partially overlap.

© Preeti Karmakar