Paradox

Our true great peace is in the wars we fight
Happiness in the depression we face
Joy in the eyes of misery we see
Life is a paradox for us humans
We chase after our own tails all our life
Never quite reaching, and never letting it go
To live our life in this vain state we needed a villain
Maybe that's why we have created this world
an antithesis to life itself
We go to war with ourselves
lost out on the true meaning of peace
We have worked out everything except maybe how to live.

Uniting to conserve our wildlife

Every speech, every article written about the state of wildlife in India begins with or contains the famous quote from Gandhi –“ One can measure the greatness and the moral progress of a nation by looking at how it treats its animals”. Even here I am making a reference to it. This article is not about the greatness of India’s wild heritage. A lot has been said about it in the media, and over coffee tables. This is an article about a few people involved (even remotely) with wildlife conservation. This is about how we feel. This is about the state of the system as we have come to see it. With this simple introduction I will dive into the point of contention…

Travel to any protected area where wildlife is officially supposed to exist, which is not in the ‘A list’, and talk to the locals. All you will hear are stories about the lack of effort from the Forest Department (FD) and state government. Before you conclude that this is yet another article complaining about the inadequacies of these officials, we would like to request you to put aside these doubts and read on. In our encounter with various states’ FDs we have more often than not encountered insurmountable difficulties, from plain indifference to abject hatred. That’s one part of the story. What we, as people living in civilization, don’t hear is that there are a few people still scattered around who rise above the normal rut to do good work. It is these people we seek out and help in our own capacity. Be it writing a simple proposal or a requisition letter or actively participating in conservation efforts. This story is dedicated to those people.

Fighting against all odds

The Indian forests largely have inaccessible and inhospitable terrain. Life here is not simple; most of us can’t survive there for a weekend without running water, electricity, network and internet. It is where these few able and capable forest staff works. They need help in the form of volunteers and people who come to recognize their work appreciate them and help them in whatever simple way it might be possible. This might be our first step towards wildlife conservation. Helping those involved, making their life simple. All the readers are informed enough to know that we are at the brink of losing everything. Not just the Tiger, the damage is done across all species. The tiger is simply a mascot to bring to your notice all that is wrong in the wild. There should be more public involvement and that will be the only way to bring in transparency to the FD work.

How you can help

You can start with taking some time off and contacting the nearest FD. Get involved by doing simple odd jobs, build contacts and get more people involved. We are not asking you to become the big brother, we are asking you to assist as a concerned responsible individual. Directly help the people caught in the crossfire or fund a tribal kid’s education. There are various means and ways to do it. Google will show you the way. Make sure you monitor it. Understand that this is an effort for the survival of our species, of humanity. There are people working for conservation, sadly however there is a larger number working against it. This has to change this has to be a people’s effort.

We humbly request you to take an effort in this direction and get as many people as possible involved. We need not just the tigers in our jungle, but also the leopards and gaurs and a whole lot other wonderful creatures. There is not much time left. This Wildlife Week we can, each and every one of us, work towards making that one simple change. If you cannot contribute time, help those who can. The simplest way is to help the FD of this country function better. We are always willing to help those who are lost. Let this be a new beginning and all we can hope for is the best

any queries mail us at
gupta.meetu@rediffmail.com
praveenzone@rediffmail.com

bomb-bay 3

Dear Mr. Politician,

I have nothing more to say than what people all over India are already saying. Listen to them - their agony, their pain, their loss. And another thing - For God sake don’t say stuff like ‘Mumbai has a fighting spirit. Mumbai will get up and brave every danger’. Don’t appreciate them. You don’t have a right too. They will get up and walk, not out of choice, but lack of it. This is what makes them brave bomb blasts and terrorist attacks. If they don’t get up and walk after every time disaster strikes, they will lose everything they have. The disaster brought about by your incompetency.  Do something about it or just get lost so someone else who can do something can take your place

bomb-bay 2

Dear Mr. Journalist, Bombay bomb blast is not sensational and it is not a drama, it is sad and frustrating. Stop making it into a frenzy. Start helping people instead. We don’t want to know gory details, tell us what we want to know, what steps have been taken to save and aid the injured and to prevent such attacks in the future. Better still; tell the government, what we the people truly feel. You have the power to help. Put a full stop to blame game. Hold ppl who are supposed to be responsible, responsible. Make heads roll, or else shut up about the blast and cover Kalmadi's breakfast plan and other pointless shit. just stop playing with facts, figure and our emotions.

bomb-bay 1

Dear Mr. Terrorist, 'Bomb'ay the name does not imply u freakin bomb the city when ur bored or get a new batch of interns. More then frightened we are irritated with this act of yours. More than fear there frustration. Your USP is fear, so try new targets like our politicians and useless bureaucrats. BTW the name changed to Mumbai years back. please take note

Almost Roopkund

 This is the story of my trek, Almost Roopkund, yes the name sounds a little weird. What started off as a fun trek, turned into a life changing experience. Nope I did not suffer from any accidents nor did I go through any x number of hours of gruesome ordeal. This place made me redefine my sense of reality.  I guess there was nothing normal about this trek for me. It was a series of random events strung together. Every one of them new and breath taking, every one of them made me rethink a lot of my past assumptions. I will not get into the travel details like I usually do. For a change I will share with you my experience. I have warned you before, don’t expect anything coherent.

One random phone call led to a series of events which unfolded in a very dramatic manner which finally landed me in New Delhi one lazy hot Tuesday morning. I choose to use the word lazy here to remind you that I don’t run the rat race. I set the pace for my life. After the basic preps and running around the journey to Rishikesh began, then later to places like Rudraprayag and Karnaprayag. At the end of the first leg of the journey we landed at Wan, an isolated village nestled amongst the virgin valleys of the Himalayas.

The trip so far was adventurous by any normal measure, but I was not looking for just any adventure. I embarked on this journey for a variety of reasons. I guess the most important was the need for answers to a few of my questions. I needed time and space to find it, time and space, away from the mundane responsibilities of everyday life.

Wan was answer to some of my questions, here I found myself slowing down, absorbing the nature and all her energies. Here I had a strange yet familiar encounter with Latodevata , a local deity, who also happens to be a very ancient pine tree. Here I understood the reason why people visit Himalayas in search of their personal truth in hordes. Here there is no need for a cordoned space called temple, no need for a sanctum sanatorium. I realized the very space is sacred. 

We started our trek in the night, those of you who are faint hearted; don’t even think of trying this. We were duly admonished at by the forest guards and the local shepherds when they figure out we had made the first ascent in the night.

The reason, some of my fellow climbers had a paranormal experience, which involved floating lights in the middle of the forest. Before you judge and look for scientific reasons, understand very few of you have ever experienced any trek like this before. It is kind of difficult to visualize any such experience sitting in comforts of the city life.  Ya, back to the story, this experience freaked out two of my companions, so we stopped the trek and decided to camp for the night.

The climb so far was quite simple and easy, however I suffered from acclimatization problem. This in layman terms means I really couldn’t breathe and every step was a nightmare and every draw of breath set my lungs on fire. We ascended 3000 feet on the first leg.

The climb from the 2^nd base camp was relatively easy due to the easy gradient; however the air was getting thinner and thinner with every step I took. I took every opportunity to rest and catch some nonexistent breath.

We reached the third base camp. There the weather went from bad to worse, with constant hail and rain. With ten people already stuck in the higher reached with no possible rescue due to bad weather, we decided to wait and watch. The weather in the higher reaches Himalayas is like the thought process of women, very random and constantly changing.

Trust me the wait wasn’t bad either. The place is breathtaking. The high altitude meadows of Himalayas are beyond comparison. With snow capped mountains surrounding us on almost all sides, I was lost to the beauty.

With the weather showing no improvement we decided to start the descent. The trek down to Wan was normal and my breathing showed some improvement. Once in Wan we took the same route back to civilization.

On reaching Rishikesh we split up with Rahul continuing to Delhi. Hiten and I decided to spend the extra day roaming around Rishikesh. This basically involved me spending an awful amount of time at the Freedom cafe at the banks of Ganges. Go there it is an amazing place with good food. The next day we took the train back to Delhi. Then I continued my journey to Amravati. This was one of the most memorably journeys of my life. I found what I wanted.

  Praveen

Strings

The strings that once were

Tugging at the remaining strands

Fighting to break free to spread my wings

To get the first taste of freedom

I paid a heavy ransom

The strings that once were

Running from the web to stay out of reach

To stay pure to stay clean

How much will I lose?

How much will it cost?

This race this never ending run

Away from shackles away from chains

Which when once around,                     

To its every call I should beckon, I am bound

Like a slave like a dog

Waiting to please the master

But I know no master I bear no shackles

And never will I live for another

Let the world be damned

And its rules burn in hell

With the strings broken

All that remains is my sanity

A few meager possessions

But there is hope there is light

And there is a way to win this fight

Rise and snap the chain and rope

This is a war song to inspire hope

A battle cry to all you brave souls

Fighting your personal battles

Don’t you give up, let them not see you cry

Grind you teeth and take the beat

Coz we have nothing to loose

But a life to live