India's daughter

It has been three years since the Nirbhaya incident. The juvenile rapist is to be released on December 21, after serving the maximum sentence of three years that can be awarded to an under-aged criminal.
The case always brings out emotions of disgust, fear, sadness, and anxiety in me. The parents of victim are demanding that the identity of juvenile be revealed before his release so that people are cautious of him; I empathize with them because who is to say that person will not do this again? And he was just shy of 6 months to be an adult, in which his mindset wouldn't have changed. Had he not been caught, could he repeated such an instance after turning 18? I don't know the answers to these questions.
I hold another contradicting perspective too, that Law is just and above the emotions. It is supposed to be objective and impartial. I believe in that; but the truth at hand is not an objective one but a subjective one. Who holds the true moral compass then? This boy came from our society, brought up amidst extreme poverty and a highly patriarchal mindset. He has his whole life ahead of him, shouldn't we give him a chance of rehabilitation and reform? Shouldn't we give a benefit of doubt that he might change? Revealing his identity would definitely hamper this chance.
One of the solution is keeping him under watch of police, something like a parole. With limited resources the country has, when dangerous criminals are out on loose and yet to be prosecuted, how effective this solution is to be?
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Looking for answers
India's Daughter

Neither me nor you

I don't find you attractive
My heart doesn't melt away, when I see you
I don't lose myself in you, I'm positive
My my face doesn't turn blue, without you
You were the lost piece of me
I am imbibed in you
The unified soul of we
All that is left is
Neither me nor you

Our seven

Seven days in a week
are seen
Seven colours of a rainbow
at the
Seven wonders of the world
spread across the
Seven continents.

Abridging the
Seven seas,
the
Sapt Rishis
sang in the
Sapt Swars ,
the tales of
Seven Heavens

Seven isn't a number
but the cycle of life.
First
Seven of ours just ended,
to begin another
Seven years of love.

PS: In Sanskrit - Sapt=Seven, Rishis = Sages, Swars= Tones of music.

Seeing Love

I see
I literally See
With my own two eyes
With a surprise in those two eyes
Love in Sadness
Love unlike that in Happiness
He pours his heart out
Proving his love is devout
I see it with my eyes
Love that’s almost dripping from his eyes
The tiny black dots below his brows
Tell me more than the promised vows
The ones he has tried to articulate all our lives
But this silence amidst us strives
Silence that adorns love
Between the hardships of life
Evinces that I could live without
Clutter of noises our chats make
I know it beyond a doubt
If I could just look into your eyes
For every moment for the rest of our lives. 

Gravity

You are the free fall
You are the few seconds joy
You'd break my every bone
You'd shatter my organs
You'd tear me apart
And yet I dangle myself at the cliff
Despite the promises of gravity
Despite the attraction....
.... the pull which keeps me aground
I'm curious about you....
About those few seconds...
About the distinctions in..
Fall in Gravity and Pull of it 

Every time

I don't know how you manage to be so adorable.
So adorable that I fall in love all over again 

every time you make me laugh, 

every time you stand besides me like a rock protecting me from falling down, 

every time you wipe that tear off my eye, 

every time you believe that I can conquer anything in the world, 

every time you say that I'm beautiful, 

and all those countless times 

when you listen to me whine 

and say that every thing is going to be all right.

But there are days when I don't want to talk to you 

or listen to you 

because you make me mad. 

And in all those times 

you manage to pull us out 

stronger than every other time.

Book Review: Inside Al-Qaeda and Taliban - Beyond Bin Laden and 9/11

The book is great and is full of undisclosed facts. It gives great insights on how Al-Qaeda has survived even after a head-on collision with the US, the death of Bin Laden etc. It also presents some interesting findings on the Mumbai attack of 26/11. However, I felt at some point that the author is sympathetic towards Major Haroon, one of the key players in the Mumbai attack, but the author also disapproves of the meaningless attacks on civilians. Though throughout the author refrains from passing any direct judgement and sticks to just presenting the facts. The author was abducted and murdered in May 2011 in Pakistan.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1162027468

The Karmic Imbalance

I wonder, sometimes, if Modi feels remorse for his role in 2002 riots. Well, the courts have surely given him clean-chit, but deep down we all know he had a major role to play. He was the Chief Minister of the state!! Even if he didn’t do anything actively, he didn’t make an effort to stop things from happening. I do condone him for being negligent and not taking action when it was much needed. I really wonder how he sleeps at night when he knows that blood of thousands is on his hand. People were terrified because of the riots in the pseudo-capital of Gujarat, a bustling town of trade and culture.

Hindus believe in Karma, I have seen Karma bite me in the ass and reward me as well! So let’s look at Modi’s Karma balance in recent times. He has done a horrible thing in the Gujarat riots almost equivalent of a murderer. That is his prominent bad karma. Since, then he is at least trying to bridge the huge gap between his bad and good karma. He has brought development to Gujarat, tries his best that people focus on present and not on the past. I am not going to list down his achievements, as there have been a fine lot who has done that. He is trying to bring in huge investments in India. And mind you his PR skills are commendable, every little thing he does he markets it like it is the new pillar. He tries to be humble, he is not, he is pompous and a bragger. But that is what the market demands, everyone is selling something. To survive in the market you present yourself in the best package. Not only he has the stars of good oration and motivation with him, he is at the very least trying to make the government more accessible to investors and people. Denizens feel they might be participating in creating another chapter in history of this great country. Sometimes you don’t get a saint for a leader, sometime you get Modi (a person with a questionable past). And it’s not we are forgiving lot, who lets genocide slide; but the previous governments and lack of alternatives left us with this choice. Though questionable, he promises and is trying to deliver. He is trying to balance out his bad karma with the good karma. He has grabbed the opportunity and is making the most of the hay. I don’t know whether his good karma will outweigh his bad karma. But he ought to put in a whole lot of effort to make people forgive him for his past.

I don’t expect sainthood from him, but he might bring this country forward, where it deserves to be. And may be the good karma will alleviate his remorse (if any) for 2002. 

वक़्त की गुल्लक

काश ऐसा होता कि वक़्त मेरे काबू में होता 

तो हर दिन से 

कुछ पल निकाल कर 

गुल्लक में कैद कर लेती 

उसी तरह बचत कर लेती 

जिस तरह पापा ने सिखाया था

ताकि जब तुम महीनों बाद आते 

तो वो पल उन चंद घंटो में जोड़ देती

Haunted Hippocampus

I opened a memory lane wishing for some fond nostalgia
but demons of treachery and betrayal were reincarnated
Hippocampus, you are the reason for my insomnia
Your monstrous oceans leave me frustrated
For I am battling alone
To atone the haunted memory stones