SG OwnBlog

Burhan Wani – The man and his mission The death of a young ‘hero’? On the 8 th of July, Burhan Muzaffar Wani died in the Valley of Kashmir. Thousands poured out on the streets to commemorate his services to the movement that he had come to symbolize of late. The relative calm of the region was shattered with curfews, killings and allegations of human rights abuses. His father was proud for the services his son had offered in the name of their faith, convinced that he would go to Heaven. Amidst all this, the romantic ideals of a young boy, just off his teens began to shake up the youth of the entire country, both in and beyond India. There is a lot of unrest in the Kashmir Valley recently, especially in the aftermath of the death, nay execution of Burhan. All of this is not unexpected in any way. In fact, this was foreseen. Even his glorification, his elevation to the status of a martyr in the service of Islam does not come as a surprise to me. Threats to the Indians - In th

Yamuna was a beautiful river in Northern India. It originates in the Yamunotri glacier at a height of 6400 metres above sea level. You may not remember it, and no, it's not Ganga. Let me remind you of a picture of the beautiful river here, the river that flows by the Taj Mahal. That's how the Yamuna river looks! Or rather looked before Sri Sri came. Yes, the picture above was real. The river supported a population of 57 million people. It continues to do now. The water was pure. Animals were aplenty. The air was sweet and the birds flocked to the area in thousands. The local forests on both sides of the floodplain were thicker than those in the Amazon and the waters were filled with fish. The standards of conservation of biodiversity was impeccable and often produced as an example to other river management bodies. Then came Sri Sri. An Indian godman who owned millions to spread his pagan beliefs and something called 'Indian' culture along with the cultures of

We, the city educated have always looked down upon the village dwellers. Of course not all of us. And even those who do, don't do this all the time. But in general, it is true. This phenomenon is not restricted to India or any developing world but also all over the Industrial world. The perception of tribal populations is also nuanced. Some consider them exotic, some think they are uncivilized, some find them as an opportunity to proselytize, some wish to use them as cheap labor, some hope to drive them out for mining or dam projects, and so on. Very few consider them similar to us. This is very true for the Left leaning self proclaimed liberals. They are always at the forefront when demanding tribal rights. In some landmark cases they have achieved wonderful results that anyone, regardless of their political ideology can be proud of. But the politically biased conclusions they derive spoil the efficacy of such interventions. The worst being them called as interventions. The ver

As part of a survey of the residents of IIT Bombay regarding their perception of water quality and to some extent usage, we followed this questionnaire. Some interviews were done when we formulated the semi structured questions. These below are to basically quantify the data we get and make certain clear observations. What we expect - i. The investment made by different people from different strata in the purification of water in their own homes ii. The usage of water per person in different income groups iii. General awareness of water usage. We can also check if there is a difference in perception between male and female population surveyed. iv. Water literacy of the people can be understood. This can help the Institute to address any gaps necessary to either reduce wastage or improve efficiency etc. You can download the Questionnaire from here.

Santalekhola, a very beautiful calm and quiet place in the district of Darjeeling in W.B. It is not a very popular tourist spot still now, and I think that'why its virgin beauty attracted me so much.Here you don't need to run from one place to another, you only come here,take rest and feel the vibration of nature. The West Bengal forest dept.cottages are very good and reasonable priced and the ambiance is truly very soothing. "Khola" means in Nepali a small river, you can hear the rhythmic sound of water all the time. The birds, butterflies and the  sound of silence will create resonance with the nature and you.

The exams are pretty much over. Except one (Water), rest were pretty much okay. As the storm is over, the strong sense of foreboding is taking over. The feeling of dread of something that I know not. This is familiar feeling. Known territory. This land is mine. And I am going home. In the winter. For a month. For the first time in close to four years. To the mela that happens in our neighborhood. To the rides, and the fuchkas. All the familiar feelings that I had stored in my memory. The boxes that I had kept locked. The keys that I had thrown away. The sports rifle shooting shop where you were crying to take a few hits at the balloons along with your friends. The longing for some time even there, just for a few minutes remains. I pretended to not see you, as you did not 'see me'. Egos got the better of both, yours and mine. I walked past, off to home. I wish I had a time machine. I could go back, turn the clock back, snatched a few minutes, just a few hundred second

To love is easy. Being in love is a different ball game altogether. To fall in love all you need to do is nothing. You just see a girl do regular stuff and the regular stuff feels like the most extraordinary and beautiful thing to you. Then you think about her, fantasize about her, wonder about her, imagine talking, dancing, walking, etc with her and you realize that you are in love with her. Or at least severely infatuated with her. But what is truly difficult is staying in that state of altered reality. Imagine me in such situations. I would find the stony gaze of her as she passed without noticing me, not once but all the time. Oh that's lovely. How graciously she refuses every request of mine for a cup of coffee at a local coffee store brings me immense happiness. How I plunge into a sea of joy when she refuses to sit beside me in a bus that is crowded but for a lone seat by me. How sweet her voice does not sound when she does not pick up my numerous calls. And so on... Th