राखी का सूत

राखी का सूत हूँ मैं

मृतप्राय मानवता का

विशालकाय दानवता का

पतितता के विजय का

पावनता के पराजय का

वस्तुत्व के उद्भव का

व्यक्तित्व के पराभव का

पूजनीया के पतन का

शक्तिस्वरूपा के दमन का

जीवित सबूत हूँ मैं

राखी का सूत हूँ मैं II

संस्कृति के विस्मरण का

सहृदयता के छरण का
भौतिकता के विकास का
प्राचीनता के परिहास का
संबंधों के समापन का
मिथ्यावादी अपनापन का
भोग के उर्वरण का
त्याग के मरण का
बिलखता सबूत हूँ मैं
राखी का सूत हूँ मैं II

तब से ......... अब तक.

तब मिलने की व्याकुलता थी
अब बिछुड़न की यह ज्वाला है
तब जीवन रंग गुलाबी था
अब तो वह दिखता काला है
तब मन लगता था प्रियतम में
अब तो दिखती मधुशाला है
इस क्रूर काल के कटु कदमों के
नीचे दबता जाता हूँ
तब से अब तक के जीवन के
स्मृति चित्रों को दुहराता हूँ ll

सरि तट की रेती पर हमने
जीवन के चित्र बनाये थे
उन चित्रों के सच होने की
तब मन में आस लगाये थे
अब वर्तमान में चित्र वही
जलधारा के आहार बने
अपने विचार वह स्वप्न वही
पीड़ादायी तलवार बने ll

तब जीवन पीयूष कलश सदृश
अब यह लगता विष प्याला है
मेरे मधुवन की क्यारी में
किसने विषधर को डाला है ?
निश्चय ही समय तुम्हारी ही यह
कष्ट दायिनी क्रीडा है
तब से अब तक की स्मृतियों से
अंतर में उठती पीड़ा है ll

असंभव का विशेषज्ञ - Specialist of Impossible

चिर समय से जो अंधेरा
इस जगत से जा न पाया
कोटि सूर्यों के किरण को
जिस तमस ने है हराया,

बुद्धि बल से युक्त मानव
के गमन को रोकता जो
स्वप्न पंछी की उड़ानें
भुवन में अवरोधता जो,

आदि युग से प्राणियों को
जिस विषय का ज्ञान न था
हर सपने को सच करने की
सक्षमता का भान न था,

हर पराजय की वजह के
ग्रंथ का सर्वज्ञ हूँ मैं
असंभव का विशेषज्ञ हूँ मैं,
असंभव का विशेषज्ञ हूँ मैं,

भाग्य रेखा भाग्य को
अबतक दिशाएं दे रही थी
भाग्य रेखा को दिशाएं
दे सके वह शक्ति मैं हूँ,

स्वप्न जो देखा कभी पर
प्राप्ति का साहस नहीं था
कल्पना वो सत्य करने
का अटल संकल्प मैं हूँ,

राह जो अबतक नहीं था
स्वप्न सच को जोड़ता जो
मार्ग वह निर्माण करने
का अनत उत्साह मैं हूँ,

प्राणीमात्र की सीमाओं का
विस्तार कारी यज्ञ हूँ मैं
असंभव का विशेषज्ञ हूँ मैं,
असंभव का विशेषज्ञ हूँ मैं,

It’s Indian railways again!!

I have expressed my fondness for Indian railways in the past. I have fond memories associated with railways. And browsing the web, I find that there are many fellow Indians sharing the same feeling.

However some suggestions this time:

Should we have a separate railway budget?
A railway budget separate from the general budget started in 1924 because the railways then formed more than a third of the budget. Many people argue that now since the size of Indian economy has increased a great deal, why should we just follow history? Why have a separate rail budget??
I have a counter argument. We should have separate budgets for all important ministries. Let the Rail, Highways, Power, Higher Education, Urban Development, Agriculture …. ministers present the annual budgets and future plans of their ministries and the Finance minister should just cover the remaining expenditures and allocations at the end. This way, all the ministries will come under public scrutiny and be more accountable.

Now something about making money.
Assume you have a 1000 kgs of Gold. And you know that the gold prices are at the peak. What will you do? The obvious choice is to sell it off and cash in. Our rail stations and trains have several lakhs of feet-fall daily. Is it not a great place to earn money from advertising? We see some ads but there is potential for a lot more. And only additional money can solve the problems with Indian railways.

Here is a workable solution: Lease out the ad space to different advertising agencies zone wise. Let them be independent to sell the ad space and finally railway ministry can pay them a certain percentage of the money made by them. Different agencies in different zones will ensure competition and the contract can be reviewed based on performance.

Here are some pics to end the blog:-

The Good:





The Bad:

Media

I often hear people complaining about irresponsible media.
I just now opened Times of India website to get some examples of the above and I got plenty. Here are some:
After headlines about Lalit Modi, Sania-Shoib marriage, we have the following:

You're irresistible!
Singles prefer dating hotties
5 dating charms that won't fail
Can suspicion kill a relationship?
Bebo turns a teacher
Salman, the new Mogambo
Where's Maanyata, Sanju?
Juhi prays for brother
Pics: Uber hot Neetu Chandra

And I did not copy all such links.
This is the newspaper having largest daily circulation in paper and one of the largest hits on the web.

We talk about how there should not be any “guidelines” and “regulations” in a free market economy. Let the organizations do what is best for them financially. But India is NOT a free market economy. We have laws censuring TV and media. Why, then we allow our media to be so irresponsible about nation. Do the above listed items qualify as news?

In my opinion the media should “repeatedly” show various poverty related news, farmers suicide, un-education, un-employment, condition of schools and colleges, why the colleges are producing so many not-fit-for-employment graduates, national security related issues and so on. There are no dearth of issues. The media should remind the public again and again about such issues so that people will be aware. And if that happens, there is a good chance that many of them will keep that in mind while voting.

I am not saying that only problems should be highlighted. The media should also have sections featuring achievers – not only Nilekanies, Birlas, Ambanies but thousands of small scale achievers. Why don’t they have articles by a school teacher or a small time businessman sharing there experiences and difficulties faced. But they will not. Because they are “financial” institutions whose sole aim is to make money. That is why most of the news published these days are “paid news”.

I hope a revolution happens by bloggers, at least for the net-savvy Indians highlighting the “real news” and “real issues” of the nation. Amen!