Saturday, October 11, 2008

Yeh Honsla Kaise Jhuke...



I love this song...look at lyrics so beautiful and so very true :)


Yeh Hosla Kaise Juke,Yeh Aarzoo Kaise Ruke

Manzil Muskil To Kya,

Bundla Sahil To Kya,

Tanha Ye Dil To KyaHo Hooo

Raah Pe Kante Bikhre Agar,

Uspe To Phir Bhi Chalna Hi Hai,

Saam Chhupale Suraj Magar,

Raat Ko Ek Din Dhalana Hi Hai,

Rut Ye Tal Jayegi,

Himmat Rang Layegi,

Subha Phir AayegiHoooo

Yeh Hosla Kaise Juke,

Yeh Aarzoo Kaise Ruke

Hogi Hame To Rehmat Ada,

Dhup Kategi Saaye Tale,

Apni Khuda Se Hai Ye Dua,

Manzil Lagale Humko Gale

Zurrat So Baar Rahe,

Uncha Ikraar Rahe,

Zinda Har Pyar RaheHoooo

Yeh Hosla Kaise Juke,

Yeh Aarzoo Kaise !!

Monday, October 6, 2008

A Fascinating Election!


Well, I am simply hooked. To what? To the American presidential elections. What a fascinating election it is turning out to be! In less than a month from now, more precisely on 4th November, Americans will choose their next President and the most powerful man in the world. The kind of system they follow simply proves why America is world's biggest democracy. USA is a biparty system consisting of Republicans and Democrats. Initially, from each party prospective candidates contest to secure their party's nomination. These contests are called primaries or caucases. These are informal meetings of people in which they decide who to pick as the party's candidate. That is why we had Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama fight out with each other during the Democrat primaries. The nail biting contest between Hillary and Obama in which Obama finally triumphed to get Democrat nomination was simply full of surprises. The Republican party chose John McCain who had a relatively easy path to leave out Rudy Guilani and Mitt Romny. Can we in India ever have this system that the prospective Prime Minister has to win the support of the people? We have Manmohan Singh who was appointed by Sonia Gandhi to be PM. He did not fight general elections. We were lucky that he is an honest man and has been one of our finest Prime Ministers. But we may not be lucky every time. Imagine the next election. If no party secures the mandate, then they will choose a compromise candidate acceptable to all as happened in Pratibha Patil's case. The American President has to go from top to bottom to be acceptable to the public. Anyways after both Obama and McCain were chosen, the next interesting fight was them picking their Vice -Presidential candidate. Obama chose Joe Biden, a foreign policy level expert to compensate for his own lack of experience. But McCain made a surprise move by picking Sarah Palin, Alaska Governor, Hockey mom who was virtually uknown and grabbed instant attention. The prospective candidates also have to fight three live televised debates where they state their positions on different issues such as the economy, foreign policy, etc. Can we in India have such a contest where prospective PM candidates debate live on television? Would we ever see Sonia Gandhi and LK Advani fight out with each other on screen?Absolutely Not! Another issue that is concerning American voters is McCain's age. He is 71. It seems a bit funny. In India, the average age of MPs would be on the higher side of 75. L.K. Advani is 80, Vajpayee was 83.Age is not an issue in Indian politics.

There are still so many unexpected turns in the American election that have the world hooked. If Hillary would have won the nomination, she would have become the first woman candidate for President and if she had won the election, she would have become the first Woman American President. If Obama wins, he would become America's first black President. If McCain wins, he would be the oldest President to be elected for the first time and Sarah Palin would become America's first woman Vice- President. Who would win the election. Well no one knows. Well I would like Obama to win. His VOTE FOR CHANGE message has inspired many and his speech given at a campaign reminded us of Martin Luther King's 'I Have A Dream' speech. Till the results come, I am simply hooked.

Saturday, October 4, 2008

Portrait Of A Lady

Yesterday in my dream I saw my late grandmother. Just felt like writing some anecdotes about her. I remember reading Khushwant Singh's story 'Portrait of a Lady' in class XI which was about his grandmother. He had written a very interesting line that to him, his grandmother was always old and the thought of his grandmother being young was unbeleivable. For me and most of us too, it is true. For us our grandparents have always been old. Our grandmother, we used to call her 'Bhabhi'. She was a very strong lady. Having seven children and settling them all by herself without her husband was no easy task. Out of all her grandchildren (excluding bua ke bacche..vo to favourite hote hi hain), she used to like me. Before you scream that I am a boy..No it wasnt that but just that I was obedient to her:) One day my cousin Sumi asked her that who she liked best and she said 'Pangad'. Yeah, she used to call me 'Pangad' instead of Pankaj. Not only my name was distorted but my cousin's too...like Divya was called Diibiiya..Chintu was Tinchu and Yamini was Jamini:P:P She used to say to my Dad, " Pangad ko doctor banayi" as treatment these days is too expensive..but I never wanted to be a doctor:/ She used to smoke 'bidis' and our whole household knew she did that but she used to pretend that we did not know...funny..one day she asked me to get 'Bidi' for her!!! I remember I was in Class IX and was so embarrassed. I went to shopwallah and asked "Bhaiya bidi de do" and that shopkeeper said" Arey! kab se peena start kar di"..lolz How do I tell him that it was not for me and then he said "Kaun si cahaiye?". I said "502 pataka bidi" ( the only bidi brand we all know).. and when my mom came to know of this she scolded me..hehe but when I remember now I find it so funny.She used to call me to help her walk the stairs. She used to speak Multani and sometimes we didn't understand what she spoke and just to say 'Haan, Haan'. She had a powerful voice. The day her brother died she screamend so loudly that people from two blocks away came to ask 'Kya hua mataji ko'. She used to sing a hilarious song in Punjabi in marriages called 'Mainu Gaddhu Deve' meaning 'Get me a groom'. It was seriously very funny. She used to eat everything and was old fashioned in her ideas...can't blame them its generation gap. She was married at the age of nine!!!She used to tell tragic stories about the partition and how she came from Pakistan. Her favourite gali was 'Namurad':P As she came in my dream last night, I just wanted to write something about her. May she rest in peace.