| हाय! मेरे यह बुझते दीप... |

जब भी मैं भ्रमण करने निकलू
उत्तर, दक्षिण, पूरव, पशचिम
चहुँ दिशा वही दृष्य पड़ जाए दीख
और फिर मुख से निकले - हाय! मेरे यह बुझते दीप...

इन दीपों ने प्रकाश फैलाना नहीं
अंधकार में ही बुझ जाना सीखा है,
इन नन्हे धड़कते दिलों ने हँसाना-खेलना नहीं
बस भीख मांगना ही सीखा है |

यह धरती वही, जिसकी मिट्टी ने नवाबों का फ़साना देखा है
कलयुग की इन हवाओं ने सतयुग का ज़माना भी देखा है |

पर दोषी कौन आओ इस पर विचारें,
वही हैं हम, इस सत्य को ना नकारे |

जरुरत है हमें अब, "क, ख, ग, घ..." साक्षरता अभियान चलाने की
ज्ञान के उजाले से अज्ञानता के अंधकार को मिटाने की,

निराश चेहरों पर आशा की किरण जगाने की.....

तभी बुझे दीप जलेंगे, एक दूजे से दिल भी मिलेंगे
तब नहीं पड़ेंगे मुझे ऐसे दृष्य दीख
ना मुख कहेंगे, हाय! मेरे यह बुझते दीप...

Creation 2002 © Nishit

Walking past the beggar and the suffering, a man asks, “ Why oh God, do you not do something for these people?” To which God replied, ‘ I did do something, I made you...’

Expo '2010; ...Part 2

... After the formal greetings finally the four of us, Abhijeet, Rony, Devesh & me set out with the camera to capture the Expo beauty (as mentioned by Abhi). Next was Hall No. 10 (H10); a conglomerate of Audi, BMW, Bosch, Tata & Fiat. The coolest part in Bosch was the ABS simulator. Experiencing the ABS simulator from inside was fun. The BMW section contained the recently launched X6 M & the 760Li, the former priced at 1.3 & the latter at 1.29 crores. Audi was as crowded as a fish market... I can’t imagine the kind of rush in general hours if this was the picture in Business hours. The German manufacturer had launched A7, R8, Q7 & the Sportsback amongst others. Next to Audi was the Indian car of 2009, Nano’s Electric Version. The array of vehicles from Tata Motors included Venture, Magic Iris & the MPV Aria. The Jaguar XJ was giving complex to BMW 7 series. The Stall next to Tata was Fiat.

Hall 6D encompassed Honda & Toyota. ASIMO, the humanoid interacted with audience, danced & proved to be the biggest crowd puller at Honda. Toyota’s Etios was the centre of attraction though Prius was also liked by many. The Volkswagen Polo was cool & has been voted the car of the year 2010. Hyundai in H7 showcased the i10 electric. The Game zone for children was evidence that there was something for everyone at the expo. The maximum temp for the day had fallen to 12 deg, lowest in the last 7 yrs, as announced by IMD. But Expo was an exception; one could drop down his jacket & still feet burning hot. All said & done, the showstopper was none other than the Mercedes Benz SLS AMG. It had spread the wings as if one just needed to say... Get...Set & Go... & there it goes into the sky.
In the bikes section we had Harley Davidson motorcycles priced at a whooping 35 Lakhs & the Yamaha R1 bikes. I was also impressed by the hybrid & electric rickshaw by TVS & Yamaha respectively. 10 AM to 7 PM; 9 Hrs we were incessantly walking though I had my younger bro, Nisharg to accompany me in the latter half. But still, that was too much considering my sedentary job. So M going to rest & it’s time to bid good bye.

Ok! Just in case you’re contemplating a visit to the Expo today or tomorrow, here’s what not to miss...


Models:
Hall 6D – Toyota’s Etios; Honda’s ASIMO
Hall 9 – GM’s Beat, Camaro & Cruze ; Renault’s F1 & The Zero Emission Twizy ZE concept. Hall 10 – Bosch’s ABS Simulator; Audi’s R8 & Sportsback; BMW’s X6M & 760 Li; Jaguar XJ; Fiat’s Punto; VW's Polo & last but not the least The Show-Stopper Mercedes Benz SLS AMG.

Shows:
The Jai Ho Show along with the one before & after it at the Chevrolet Beat & The show at Toyota.

Jai ho... Keep Smiling :)

Expo '2010; ...Part 1

Hi! Sorry for the length but then not every day is like today(The 8th Jan). Got up @ 7. Made some frantic calls to Abhijeet & Tarun. At 7:30, it was finally decided that I was meeting Abhi... at Signature Tower 8 am sharp. Completed my morning engagements in 15 min, as if I had to catch a spaceship (delay of trains & flights is hackneyed nowadays). Took an auto & reached Signature @ 7:55 sharp, 5 min before the stipulated time. The dense cloud of fog had reduced the visibility to few cms. At that moment, I could challenge a BMW, a Merc or even a F1 for a race & was sure of winning, considering the snail-like speed of traffic. It made me think highly of my sporting skills. With the dew falling on my head & the icy breeze piercing my bones I could not help but curse myself for being over punctual today. Generally it’s the opposite; others cursing me for following the Indian Standard Time. I could have attended to my morning engagements at leisure. Finally at 8:27, a silver Esteem stopped near me, two different hands were waving. One was Abhijeet, my colleague & the other, Mr. U.K.Bhat, our HoD. Abhi was fully prepared for the day. His camera from Hongkong & his uniquely shaped beard were evidence enough. One cannot help but admire Mr. Bhat for his sense of humour. He has the potential to tickle you down to the last breathe with his words of wisdom. After wasting a few minutes finding our way at the circuitous roundabouts near CP, at last we reached our destination at 10 am. Parking is a big issue on days like these. 2 km long line with some cars parked on the road, traffic jam was inevitable. We collected our Business passes from Gate 1 & moved towards the Gate 2 entrance. 3 rows with 60 to 70 people in each row, I thanked God that we possessed B-passes & would escape the general treatment. This was one visible advantage of being in the automotive sector. But hello! I was soon brought into the real world by Praval, our marketing executive who informed that everyone in those 3 rows possessed the B-passes. The splendour of possessing a B-pass soon disappeared. It seemed as if every salaried person irrespective of his profession & sector could have that piece of paper whose importance had suddenly plummeted. All 3 of us followed suit & finally.... Voila! We were inside Pragati Maidan witnessing the "10th Auto Expo '2010"... the biggest money churning biennial event for the organizers which encompass SIAM, CII & ACMA.

We headed straight to H9 (Hall No. 9) where we had our stall in the Diesel Planet Section. As we entered H9, the big scaffold at the left caught my attention. It was GM's new Chevrolet Beat on the show. Other models of GM were the recently launched hybrid car Volt, a blue coloured Cruze, Spark electric & the sports car Chevrolet Camaro which has been made famous by the recent Hollywood movie series ‘Transformers’. It was but obvious... the costlier the car, the hotter the model next to it. The models clearly enjoyed being the CoA (Center of Attraction) leaving behind the cars. After all they were the real crowd pullers. I wondered what if we just have cars & no models at Expo 2012. M sure, the footfalls would decrease by > 50%. I know you would argue on the higher side. The models in the expo were the leisure by-product of God. Next Section to GM was Renault. The biggest crowd puller at Renault was the Renault F1 car. Apart from F1 there was the zero-emission electric car - Twizy ZE concept & Fluence to name a few. Finally after crossing the GM & Renault arena, I reached the Diesel Planet Section. Was glad to see the iCAT logo on the stall & the icing on the cake were our own Male models. They knew they had the toughest competition but kudos to them, their spirits were high...

“कल से आज तक” | A Story... Of NATURE, By NATURE |

हिंदी की अद्यापिका को समर्पित
______________________

कल सुबह बैठा मैं छत पर,
कर रहा था प्रकृति का पान
सोचा था एक कविता लिखूंगा
परन्तु हो गयी सुबह से शाम |

प्रकृति से बातें की थी मैंने
प्रकृति भी बोल उठी -
"आओ बालक तुम्हे बतलाऊंगी मैं आज सब
क्या-क्या बीती मुझ पर - कल से आज तक" ||

फिर प्रकृति शुरू हो गयी, सहित अपने होशो हवास
मैं भी उसमे डूब गया, अपने हाथ पाँव पसार |

प्रकृति बोली -

" यह बातें हैं भूत काल की, जब शुरू हुआ ब्रम्हांड,
अरे ! मनुष्य तो बाद में आया, पहले से थी मैं विद्यमान |
मैंने ही जन्म दिया मनुष्य को, सोचा था होगा एक सपना साकार,
बेटा समझा था मैंने उसको, सोचा था माँ समझेगा वह मुझको ||

फल-फूल समर्पित, अपनी गोद समर्पित, जीवन समर्पित
कर दिया सर्वस्य दान,
ज्ञात ना था कि, यह दिन देखना पड़ेगा
क्योकि मैं भी तो थी तब नादाँ ||

प्यास बुझाई, भूख मिटाई, जीने कि एक राह दिखलाई
किया था दिल से उस पर भरोसा
परन्तु छि:! दिया उसने मुझको ही धोका |

सिर से धड को अलग कर डाला
पशु पंछियों का घर तोड़ डाला
माँ के माथे का सिन्दूर पोंछ डाला
मेरी नादानी का मजाक बना डाला ||

परन्तु पछतावे कि आग में जल रहा है वह आज
जाओ! माँ का दिल है ना, क्षमा करती हूँ
इसीलिए तुम्हे एक सूक्ति देती हूँ -

हे बालक! करो प्रण अपने ह्रदय से आज
कि प्रकृति माँ की लालिमा वापस लायेंगे हम
और ऐसा करने को जान पर खेल जायेंगे हम |

तभी- जाग गया मैं, आखें खुल गयी,
हाँ! प्रकृति माँ ने आँखें खोल दी थी मेरी |
सोचने लगा क्या किस्मत है मेरी,
और इसी के साथ कविता पूर्ण हुई यह मेरी” ||

Creation: 2002 © Nishit Shankar


I believe in God, only I spell it Nature.
- Frank Lloyd Wright

Success Vs Excellence; 3i

First of all, a very Happy New Year 2010 to all of you… Let’s welcome this New Year with an open heart divorcing all our pessimistic thoughts for always & marrying optimism forever. M sure most of you must be having your New Year resolutions in place… It’s my personal experience that rules & New Year resolutions are akin as both are meant to be broken. But let’s be different this time, only if you don’t believe in polygamy/polyandry & manage to be loyal to your new better half (optimism) forever. Cheers!!!

Chase excellence & success is bound to chase you. Well, m sorry! But the vice versa is not true. The message is clear: Always choose excellence over success. (See…again you have a choice:)… just in case you’ve read my previous piece)

The time starved folks need not go any further coz you’ve got the best ROI on time. In a nutshell that’s what 3i (watched it on 31st; night show) is all about so you can attend to your prior engagements without moving any further. Thank you…

Well, this suggests you are not hard pressed on time (vella like me); so let’s foray together into the nitty-gritty of 3i. The film is about 3 friends & their camaraderie; Aamir as Ranchhoddas Shamaldas Chanchad or Ranco, Madhavan as Farhan Quereshi & Sharman Joshi as Raju Rastogi. Perfect blend of emotion, love, friendship & comedy (esp. the chamatkaar/balatkaar scene) with a thoughtful message. Kareena's role is short but clean. Boman's role of an eccentric professor is also good. Leaving Ghajini & TZP back, 3i has set a new record for Paid preview shows by grossing Rs. 225 crore nett. Previous record holder Ghajini did a business of Rs. 175 crore nett. All records at multiplexes have been smashed as 3i records collections which are just unbelievable. Many multiplexes have recorded double the collections of Ghajini for the 1st Friday.

Reasons are:
First, the excellent storyline which clearly highlights the ‘Mad Rat Race’ in our country for success. Success, toady has become more important than values & money has become synonymous to success. 3i says align your profession with your passion & excellence will blossom. But whenever our passion doesn’t seem high paying (in most cases it does not), we slaughter the passion in our hearts & move over to our sickly sweet profession. We coax our hearts into believing that the profession we are in is our passion suppressing our inner voice till the time...one day it dies turning us from humans to machines. Machines! Which are in the vicious circle of being manufactured, working day & night, then at last tearing & wearing to death. 3i also castigates the Indian education system for the grading system. Real education is what you retain after you’ve forgotten all you learnt in class. Even when the child is in the womb his/her destiny is sealed...to be an engineer or a doctor successively. India has the highest rate of suicides due to the unsurmountable pressure of getting mindless grades to establish your credibility in the society. These are burning issues of our society & the beautiful depiction of the same was an icing on the cake. Thus, it clicked well & people could connect to it easily.

Second the ‘Aamir Khan factor’. I adore him for the stickler he is. A versatile actor, who doesn’t enact but lives every character with the same panache & humility, be it the wild animal of Ghajini or a 44 year old Aamir playing a 22 year old college student of 3i. With a 'Munnabhai' caliber director Raj Kumar Hirani... here the tag line was "All is Well" like the 'Jadu ki Jhappi' in Munnabhai.

Third, the perfect holiday season…with Christmas & New Year Eve around people had all the time & the perfect mood for an exhilarating movie like 3i.

Last but not the least the hype created over 3i, be it about Aamir spending days in IIM Bangalore or Chetan Bhagat’s Five Point Someone (FPS). As Raju Hirani says, this film is about five per cent of Chetan Bhagat's bestseller Five Point Someone.Since I’ve read FPS, I feel over 70% of 3i is an adaptation of FPS. So the furore over Chetan not getting the deserved credit is not for nothing. I wish Chetan all the best in his war which in my opinion is not just about getting the deserved credit. It’s also about the other less known book authors whose stories are adapted into movies without any financial or social credit to them; it’s about justice, it’s about Intellectual Property Rights…& more than anything else it’s about truth!

Keep Smiling as....Alllll is Welllll...... Naya saal aap sab ke liye mangalmaye ho!

Happy New Year..2010.

Nish.