Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Utsav Sharma : Right or wrong ?

For those readers who dont know about him , Utsav Sharma is a 29 year old post-graduate in animation and film designing from National Institute of Design (NID), Ahmedabad. His father, Sushil Kumar Sharma, is a professor of mechanical engineering at IT-BHU and mother Indira Sharma is a psychiatrist and a professor at Institute of Medical Sciences at Banaras Hindu University. The reason I am writing about him is because this young man showed extraordinary courage (and perhaps some mental imbalance) when he first stabbed Former DGP SPS Rathore when he was coming out of session court in Chandigarh after filing appeal for bail in Ruchika molestation case. He actually repeated his act yesterday when he stabbed Dr. Rajesh Talwar, Aarushi's father, when he was coming out of the Ghaziabad court.

Somehow when I had read about what he did to Rathore last year, I found myself supporting him unconditionally. Who can forget the devil grin on the man's face when he came out of the court with just a six month sentence ! At that time as well there were debates on many news channels regarding Utsav's action. Most senior speakers believed that he was wrong and that you cannot take law in your hands in a democracy. The young participants in the debate though supported his action. But no one had an answer to the one question - What do we do when the democracy fails?

Anyway, that was then. But his action yesterday somehow disturbed me. Though all rational thoughts would point to the fact that 14 year old Aarushi was murdered by her father, there still DOES remain a doubt. There are SO many unanswered questions. If a father wanted to do away with his 14 year old child,there can be SO many ways to do it such that no one would suspect him! It somehow makes no sense why he would do it in such an obvious way. Just for arguments sake , we assume that he is innocent (which he may quite possibly be), then he has not only lost his only daughter but he has been blamed for her death, he has spent 2 months in jail and now he has been stabbed in public ! How is hell any worse than this? After this incident, I found myself agreeing with all the senior speakers who keep parroting the same line "Law cannot be taken in your own hands".

5 years back when "Rang De Basanti" released, every other youth in India (perhaps including me) was mesmerized. "This IS the way we ought to handle things in our country now" were our thoughts. DJ,Karan,Sukhi,Sonia,Laxman and Aslam,etc were our torch bearers. The attitude of young India changed overnight and it was proved by the Jessica Lall case and the anti-reservation movement. But the question that now arises is where do we draw the line? Does the agitation have to stop at lighting candles and shouting slogans on streets? Does Gandhigiri work in every case or is the extremist view justified in some cases? And if it is , then who decides when to take the extremist road? We come down to the classic problem "Who will rule the rulers?" ? Who and what decides the fate of this young man now? It is ironical that the other question that immediately pops up is who was He to decide the fate of the two men he stabbed?

Links :

http://www.infocera.com/Rathore_stabbed_by_Utsav_Sharma,_former_NID_student,_Ahmedabad_7868.htm

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/delhi/I-only-wanted-to-hurt-Talwar-not-kill-him-says-Utsav-Sharma/articleshow/7364668.cms

Happy reading !

Friday, January 21, 2011

Aj Kal Zindagi..

Hello all !! :) (after a long time).
Last week I got confirmed here in nVIDIA. (Its just a formality really.. But still feels good..) The 6 month experience here has been awesome..So this post is bout some things that nVIDIA taught me in the "probation" period..
"Its always the first step thats the hardest"
I still remember my first day here. New people, new places, new expectations and a whole new (CORPORATE) attitude but no friends around. It was indeed a scary feeling. Somehow I was sitting at my desk totally blank when a friendly stranger asked if I needed some help. And suddenly all was good again. That day I learnt a very important lesson in life. Sometimes a kind word from an unexpected source can work wonders :)
"It just takes a moment to connect"
Its indeed like magic how the silliest things you do/say or like can make you friends. I had no idea that my "Lion King" desktop wallpaper would fetch me a friend, a mentor and a "BRO" in office. I officially became the "baccha" of the team that day and its never been lonely since then.
"Perceptions can go TOTALLY wrong"
There may a certain quality that you dislike in a person. More often than not you do not think of the person beyond that quality and needless to say , more often than not you are WRONG. Later on when the person ends up becoming a good friend or a favourite mentor , you think about your first impression of him/her and laugh.
"Tact is the art of making a point without making an enemy."
There are so many times when unnecessary opinions, high voices can take life out of a nice, calm discussion. Just keeping quiet and following instructions on your part also solves the problem and it is equally productive as contributing in the discussion.
"People can be GOOD"
Now I am not sure whether is true everywhere or it is due to the culture here. But people genuinely are NICE. They are ready to help even if it is at the cost of their time and effort. Hoping that some of this rubs off on me as well :)

Its been a roller coaster of emotions here. I am sure most of my batchmates have experienced the same. There are times when you are overwhelmed with the new surroundings, scared of the new expectations, excited about the new oppurtunities, happy about the first times and proud of even the smallest achievements or praises from seniors. Its a wonderful time of our lives. Hence I am ending this post with the lyrics of this song which is perhaps written for all of us !

Aaj kal zindagi
Mujhse hai keh rahi
Tu jo meri maane toh chal deewane
Sapnon ki rahoon mein tu
Saari khusboon ko
Saari roshni ko le le in bahoon mein tu

Ab hai tu jahaan
Din raat saare naye hai
Arzoo jawaan
Jazbaat saare naye hai
Naye rastein hai tere vaaste
Toh rahe kyun panahoon mein tu

Ohhoo tere liye
Nayi hai zameen naya aasmaan
Likh de hawaaon mein koi nayi dastaan..
Tere liye
Nayi hai zameen naya aasmaan
Likh de hawaaon mein koi nayi dastaan..

Zindagi ne (zindagi ne)
Dastak di toh (dastak di toh)
Dil ki sab khidkiyaan… khul gayi
Haan khul gayi

Hotoon pe jo (hotoon pe jo)
Jami thi woh (jami thi woh)
Saari khamoshiyaan ghul gayi
Haan ghul gayi

Kitne lamhoon ne
Mujhko ho jaise hairaan kiya
Kitni batoon ne
Dil ko aake hai chuu liya

Chahatein kayi
Hai dil mein ab jagmagaye
Rahatein kayi
Hai mujhse kehne ko aayi
Pehchaan saari muskaane
Saari bhar le nigaahon mein tu...

Happy reading :)