Friday, September 11, 2009

the story of a riot.

'll try n not take sides here.
day one. hindu ganpati celebrations make a decoration of shivaji killing afzalkhan. miraj muslims take offence. the whole ganpati mandap was destroyed. the idol of ganpati vandalised.
day two. hindus wreck menace. one masjid was attacked.
day two. muslims strike back. pieces of meat found thrown in ganpati mandir.
day three. hindus piss in a masjid. they destroyed the masjid furniture. curfew imposed.
day four. hindus destroy muslim property includin a orthopedic hospital and a popular non vegrestaurant frequented everyday by both sects. theres few more gross crimes by either sides, but i rather not gossip about em.
day two, three, four - innocent people are lathi charged and badly beaten by the cops, regardless of whether people are travelling to work, or school
everytime the curfew was lifted for an hour, people made a rush for daily commodities.
the bright side of this was, our OPD, which is perennially filled with backaches and knee joint pains was empty for a change, and my daily activities were almost falling in the humane working scale.
a medical professor dies of heart attack, which was provoked when he was beaten up by the cops. patients discharged from our hospital were also abused.
curiously, votebank politics has played a major part, minorities being protected more.
finally, now the situation has come under control. things are cooling down.
around 40% of people around me have a hand to mouth existence, daily wage basis.
i wonder how many of them slept hungry for the last one week.
and i wonder what parts per million people actually feel there is something to be learnt from this.

Tuesday, September 1, 2009

god and religion

sometimes i feel, your idea of god, and your worship, is an utterly private affair.its not somethin to socialise about, or publicise about.
thats why, when most people ask me, i just say 'm an atheist. so that they dont bug me no more by invites of poojas and artis. i mean prayers.
but whats worse, even bein an atheist becomes a tag. a label.
in india, religion and even caste is a medium of bonding. i had a friend who'd end up bein buddies with everyone who was remotely a maroo. still member him strikin conversations with absolut strangers on basis of places of origin of his ancestors, who died before his father was even concieved.
we all know how this has its pros and cons. but shouldnt a man worship passionately.. sacred is where no one and nothin impure can venture. so why pollute the sacred. isnt worship but a form of love life? a self realisation? somethin personal?
maybe others dont see it this way.