A day in the life of a common man…means nothing to the powers that be…and yet they are designated representatives with liberty to mess with the lives of those whom they represent. Shame on our electoral system that forces us to be subservient to those who reach a destination of power by climbing on our souls! Or should we be ashamed of being blind followers? It’s time to stand up and rethink. Put not those who are manifestly intent to destroy, in power, for power corrupts…and absolute power corrupts absolutely!!
Dear Zindagi…
Thank you for being my life
Ever since life was passed unto me
For if were it not for you, dear Zindagi
I would not have seen different shades
Of what life is all about
Seasons of the year are easy to define
Shades of life have colours aplenty
Not all find mention, many shades uncommon
Ups and downs aplenty
Straight and curvy roads, I tread many
Everyday unfolds a new story
Constant is the change, fear of the uncanny
Along the path that this journey has passed through
Friends, acquaintances and personalities
Have come and gone and I have passed through their lives as they have through mine
Some left lasting impressions, good, bad and of late some uglies
I thought I tried to be modest in reciprocation
Yet maybe matched not all or maybe none
But whatever has been the path I took
Lessons learnt at every stage; a treasure that remains in mind and sometimes the heart,
Yet fail to recall when events and men, similar in historical traits come across
O life…o my dear Zindagi….
Hold on to me, as I hold on to you
Until death do us apart
And until then, be my companion
In the various moods that I have
For I may not be unique, yet I am what I am
And as you have made me to be…
Dear Zindagi…until tomorrow, until the journey towards one year lesser begins yet again…Khuda Haafiz
The heart, the mind and the loss of humanity
The heart yearns for contentment
The mind yearns for peace
Yet, the heart does not relent
Though it has more than it needs
Yet the mind does not let things go by
When all it needs to do is forgive
O heart! O mind!
Thou both work often in tandem
And yet, the heart fails to control
The beat that makes the mind tick
How then can there be peace?
Why then would the human be grateful?
In a world where small things become big issues
In a world beset deeply with greed
The mind that rules the heart or the heart that moves the mind
Can never make a human perfect; can never prevent a human ape an animal
And thus, the human, often than not
Suffers endlessly; lives and yet is always in search of life.
O heart, o mind!
Take the animal out of the human
So that the world remains a better place, to live
Let there be peace with content
Let there be life, within and around.
Mumbai and its date with Monsoon
The summers of 2016 have been very hot and humid for Mumbaikars and its not that the earlier summers have been a bit charitable. However, as people sweat out in the heat and drain themselves out over the period from March to May, the last month peaking in terms of humidity, the most awaited event is the news of rains hitting Kerala. This news brings along hope for the dehydrated Mumbaikars that respite is round the corner…within a week of rains reaching Kerala, Mumbai usually gets its first rains.
This year has been no less different; rains have finally blessed Mumbai, or so it seems. The morning witnessed good rains, but as I write now nearing noon, the rains have disappeared.
Nevertheless, since it is monsoon time, a few thoughts on the typical rainy season of Mumbai is in order.
Mumbai’s first date with rain is always a chaotic affair. Mumbai’s lifeline, the local trains are the first casualty. And regardless of how many people write and how many efforts on record the Municipal corporation and railway authorities take, chaos reins and if it were not to be so, then the opening charm of Mumbai’s rainy season would not be there. 
Not to be left behind in contributing to opening chaos are the infamous traffic jams, which get glorified on day 1 of the rainy seasons. One wonders what leads to such snarls when it rains in Mumbai. Mumbai’s driving community has not ever been known to be adherent to driving etiquettes and a downpour adds to the already existing impediments to driving on Mumbai’s roads.
Schools in Mumbai re-opening coincides generally with the arrival of monsoons. A Mumbaikar has to go through the school days as a student himself and then as a parent when he or she has to worry about how his ward would reach school and then back home when it rains. And when it rains in Mumbai, it does not simply rain…it pours.
Mumbai’s rains are not only about chaos, snarls and worries about reaching home safe and sound…Mumbai’s rains also have that romantic aura associated with it. Getting drenched, a walk down the Marine Drive, the pounding sea waves that rise in the sea and land on the coastal roads, the onion bhajias on the street side, Bhat’s adrak ki chai, the cool winds, sometimes blowing strong enough to shift you an inch on the road…Mumbai’s rains are a fantastic experience for those who have gone through every aspect of the rainy season. 
Let us hope for a rainy rainy season…let there be rains, let there be water…let the land and the human get drenched in the downpour…have a great rainy season Mumbai!
(Credits for pictures to various sources)
Public Display of Religion – Why is it more of farce than reality
They who talk religion, eat religion, sleep religion, wear religion on their sleeves….PREACH religion, are the worst followers of the religion.
I am no religious scholar, yet, with an average intelligence, I have realised, with whatever I have seen and experienced over a period of time, that religion as ‘enforced’ today, is probably modified, twisted and presented to suit selfish interests.
A human is never meant to be perfect; perfection is a fallacy ingrained in humans. That a human is fallacious with his perception of being perfect is reflected in his acts, deeds and thoughts. Having said that, there are many who are bold enough to admit that despite of practicing or subscribing to a religion, they are far from being real followers. But there are equal numbers of those, or maybe higher, who portray religion as if wearing a crown, making it a point to engage in a display of being religious. Yet, in reality, they would be the worst followers of the religion that they present themselves to follow and promote.
From what I understand about religion, it is an identity with your Lord, the Almighty to whom you have to return. Religion is way of life, a guide to what makes good humans good to be eligible for a life in heaven. It is a guide to avoid path that can lead to a life in hell, if the guidance for eligibility to heaven is ignored. And I am sure, the various do’s and don’ts do not definitely include PDR (Public Display of Religion).
Religion is a divine approach with added laws and rules to regulate human conduct. Unlike man made laws, interpretation of which is decided by Courts and which are open for public review, the interpretation of divine law by humans, not eligible to comment on the framework of the religion has become a source of the current state of affairs in this world. Life at the macro and micro level has been vastly affected by the growing number of ‘self-appointed’ preachers, protectors and followers of religion.
Humanity has taken a back seat, rather, humanity is slowly disappearing from human conduct. And in its place has come contempt, greed and violence. At the micro level of inter personal relations, its self first and self last. At the macro level, religion is a tool used to create divisions and feast upon the spoils of damages caused by the divisions and disturbances caused by such divisions.
PDR has also created self-appointed religious preachers who would themselves be ignorant of the real essence of the religion that they vocally preach. Their own houses in disorder, they engage in imparting lectures on the wrongs and evils of society.
The sane humans, who will grow by the numbers, if they are able to see through the futility of practising religion in extremity, are the only hope for a return of humanity in the world. If these still sane humans fall prey to the high pitched PDR and join the bandwagon, then days are not far when there will be a complete extinguishment of humanity. Humans sans humanity, would bring about days where religion would be used as a tool to carry out mass murders, forcible occupation of lands and commitment of excesses.
Let us come out of rhetorics of religion; let us come out of rhetorics of intolerance. Let humanity be the winner, with religion as the guiding force for peace, harmony and prosperity of humanity. Religion is divine, let it remain divine.
Glory
Glory is momentary
Enjoy the moments while they last
Perpetual glory is a myth
As is the myth of a consistent good human behaviour
Man by nature is more prone to opportunism
And glory, by its characteristics,comes to those who all but lack opportunism
Thus, Opportunism is perpetual
And Glory, momentary and sweet
I yearn…
I yearn for a desire untold
I yearn for so little, yet it seems manifold
As days pass by and the web grows
I yearn, to break away from the flow
Patience has never been consistent
It only takes you to a point of no return
Destiny, I believe, brings you where you are now
And destiny alone shall guide you beyond from the now
I thus wait for the guiding light
As I bid my time, to take flight
School friends, boys who became men…and continued to remain friends
I met you after decades passed by
I met you last as a school boy
I met you now, as both you and me are fathers of growing young boys
O dearest friend, we still bond well as we did when we were school boys, pure at heart and at mind
Time passed by, years converted to decades
Our lives took on to different roads
And we forgot to turn back to look at the sunshine, to look for each other and for the happiness that we shared
Memories faded, we lost track, time passed by, years converted to decades
Then destiny brought about a change
A source to trace friends of childhood
Technology helped bringing back together
Friends of childhood days
We had grown, matured and had our own unique lives
We had all but changed; our memories had all but faded
As if waiting in the sub-conscious mind
To connect with friends of the days of our origin
We came across, you and me, and all of us slowly coming back to the fold of childhood days
Changing times brought about new innovative ways to connect
And we thus became connected yet again
Children who bonded, re-bonded with the same comfort as men
Children as friends are now stronger friends as men; the distance in time set in the realisation of the happiness of re-bonding of childhood friends
Then came the moment when you and I met in person
A moment in life where words often fail; a moment when the memories of childhood flash by completely
It was a moment of joy, of happiness, of feelings unexpressed
When you and I, standing together after decades,
Were the same old schoolboys hugging each other goodbye as we parted ways out of school.
As now we bid goodbye to each other
We now part with hope and determination
To live in memories always
And with the hope to meet once again
Jannat si khushi aa jaati hai saarey Kainaat mein
Jab Eid ka chand nazar aata hai
Ek mahina ibaadat karta hai banda
Allah paak usey khushi sey dekho kaisey nawaazta hai
Duniya bhi dekhkar dang reh jaati hai
Isliye hum par apna gussa nikaalti hai
Ehsaas hi to hai yeh, warna kyon apni khaami ko chupaney key liye
Qatl bhi hamara karey aur qatil bhi hamein banaey
Imaan hamara itna kamzor nahin
Key hum khushi na manaein
Qatl jitna bhi tu karna chahey Qatil
Teri har nasl par hum hi bhaari hain
Aaj khushi ka mauqa hai, hum to khush hain aur khush hi rahengey
Aaj saari Kainaat mein padha jaa raha Eid ka khutba hai
Pur sukoon ho jaaegi hamari duniya
Itni ibaadatein hum jo kartey hain
Yeh zameen to ek chota sa lamha hai, yehan ki chah nahin hamein
Humari manzil to uski baargah hai,
Sarfarosh hain, zaalim nahin,
Teri taraf dekh, ek halki si haseen bhi terey chehrey pey nahin
Saarey Mominon ko meri taraf sey Eid Mubaarak…koi gum nahin, har mushqil ek neymat hai, yakeen tu kar bandey, tera Khuda hi tera Rehbar hai
Agony
Why doth a man hunt for excuses to lay the blame upon?
Why not look within to find faults, aplenty they may be!
Every problem a human faces, causes thereof lie in his inabilities
A mind in conflict with all that walks, crawls and moves
Cannot be the mind that can be put to effective use
Sadly, realisations do not translate into actions
Time waits for none, yet for him who remains confused, life will always be at a standstill
Nawaz Haindaday's Blog 