Harry Potter's Magic

so finally the seventh part of Harry Potter series came alive, that too in 3D. The tale of the wizard got a happy ending. A tale, not just about magic but more about love, friendship, trust and determination. All that wizard stuff is great but what appealed most is the way this and such movies encourage children to do big, to take new courses, to lead, to innovate, to learn, to risk and to believe to be larger than life. We, in bollywood also ponder about love but sadly just keep it there. There are few movies with children being the lead heroes. It seems that our system, be it society, family or school, expect children to be just compliant and follow the path they are put on, rather than choose their own or lead. This can also be attributed to the feeling of insecurity and the killing competition. no wonder there is no link in education and profession. However, no doubt children learn a lot other then just study. So if we just let them decide and pursue their identity, may be we will have a wonderful youth making their destiny larger then we can imagine. But Harry Potter or Lord of the Rings, or Transformers or Thor or Matrix, its all about two things, love and belief in oneself!

Coming back to Harry, the movie proceed like a hindi movie hero's pursuit, full of courage and determination, also reveals lot of mysteries about many characters, specially Snape. and 3D is really fun! So even if you are not an HP fan...give it a try...of course at least see part one to get some idea.

Evolution of God - Contd...

    The idea of God have many perspectives. Its not just that our fears and ignorance take us to the refuge of God, its a psychological need too. There is no doubt that there is some power which is omniscient and omnipotent, be it spiritual, supernatural or metaphysical or mythical...makes no difference as all are equally beyond definition. We need to have faith in this world and show gratitude towards that supreme power  and this need drives us to find a suitable model of God. This also helps us to keep us modest. Otherwise how will one explain MS Dhoni shaving his head after winning the world cup for India? Its not that the God only made that happen..it was certainly the team's true effort. But this idea of faith and gratitude towards the almighty saves us from developing false pride.....vanity or Ahankar. We know that its was our hard work but we also know that we are nothing before that supreme power. But we are anyway nothing if we dont do anything and leave everything on God. But when we put ourself at God's disposal, we free ourself from pressure of performance....we do our duty fully without being attached with result. Ofcourse winning matters but being attached with the result put immense pressure on us and deteriorate performance. The idea of Nishkam karm keeps us at our best to perform our duties. That's close to the Karma that is preached in SriMadBhagwatGita that is Karmanyewadhikaraste Ma faleshu kadachan. (Do you work and don't worry about the result). But when we become fatalistic and lose faith in ourself...the faith in God is a vain attempt. That's why we say...the God lives within us.

    My understanding of God is developing with time. We can't be atheist or theist without fully understanding the philosophy of God. The blind faith leads to superstition and rationality take us closer to the understanding of that supreme power. But for a destitute, that faith is probably the only hope..as there is no choice otherwise. God is simplistic. All complex forms with all those complex rituals and rules are self-interest driven ideas serving a few and probably exploiting many.

That would be enough for today. May we find the God within.

Meri zindagi pe ek kavita

Zindagi to meri ekdam suljhee huyi si hai..

kuchh jyada hi seedhi saadi si..

ek seedhe resham ke dhaage see..

jo hawa ke sath udata hai..

jisme nahi pada koi fanda ya koi gaath..

bah rahi hawa ke sath mano doondh raha ho apna bandhan ..

meri zindagi ek sidhe bina ulajhe dhage see!

Jaise ek hawa me girta pankh ka tukda...

na to ud sakta aur na girta jameen pe..

bahta rahata apni halki si kaya liye..

chad jata kisi bhi foonk ki sawari

Jaise ped pe ek sukha patta..

jo atka hai ek sukhe huye sire se..

apne vajood se alag hoke bhi..
juda hai kisi jod se..

ya

Ek dhalan pe ludakta hua patthar....

jharane ke pani sa bahta..

kis rah pe jayega wo..

ya ruk jayega kisi tane se takara ke..

ya fir ek pani kee boondh si..

jo chali thi badal se...ek anjani see rah pe..

udegi hawa ke sath ..ya pahuchegi zameen par.

giregi kisi patte pe ya milegi samandar se...

banane ko fir se ek boond...kabhi pani se bhap.. kabhi bhap se pani  !
Meri Zindagi!!!

(Please see previous post for Hindi font version)

(c) Pradeep Singh

मेरी ज़िन्दगी पे एक कविता

ज़िन्दगी तो मेरी  एकदम सुलझी  हुयी  सी है ..

कुछ ज्यादा ही  सीधी सादी  सी ..

एक  सीधे  रेशम  के  धागे  सी ..

जो  हवा  के  साथ  उड़ता  है ;

जिसमे  नहीं  पड़ा  कोई  फंदा  या  कोई गाँठ ...

बह रही हवा के साथ मानो  दूंढ  रहा  हो  अपना  बंधन  ..

मेरी  ज़िन्दगी  एक  सीधे  बिना  उलझे  धागे  सी !

जैसे हवा  में  गिरता एक पंख  का  टुकड़ा ...

न  तो  उड़  सकता  और  न  गिरता  जमीन  पे ..

बहता  रहता  अपनी  हलकी  सी  काया  लिए ...

चढ़  जाता  किसी  भी  फूंक  की  सवारी !

जैसे  पेड़  पे  एक  सूखा  पत्ता ..

जो  अटका  है  एक  सूखे  हुए  सिरे  से ..

अपने  वजूद  से  अलग  होके  भी

जुड़ा  है  किसी  जोड़  से ..

या

एक  ढलान  पे  लुड़कता  हुआ  पत्थर ...

झरने  के  पानी  सा  बहता...

किस  राह पे  जायेगा  वो ..

या  रुक  जायेगा  किसी  तने  से  टकरा  के ..

या  फिर  एक  पानी  की  बूंद  सी ..

जो  चली  थी  बादल  से ...

एक  अनजानी  सी  राह  पे ;

उड़ेगी  हवा  के  साथ  या  पहुंचेगी  ज़मीन  पर ...

गिरेगी  किसी  पत्ते  पे  या  मिलेगी  समंदर  से ...

बनने  को  फिर  से  एक  बूँद ...कभी पानी से भाप .. कभी  भाप  से  पानी   !

मेरी ज़िन्दगी!!

(c) प्रदीप सिंह  

Story of Chandu

Chandu....he is not a fictitious character, he is a poor boy, about ten year old, who, when asked about his age, said he don't know. Till last friday, his father, an immigrant from a village in Bihar used to come to collect the garbage at my home in Delhi. Since two days Chandu was coming to collect garbage instead of his father.

     Today when he came, I asked , "School jate ho?".. He said, "Jab baba the tab jate the". Then I came to know, his father died two days back. Poor fellow. He told me that he get just about 100-150 Rs for collecting garbage. He is now alone with his mother, who is also not educated. I asked, "Agar main tumhne sau rupaye doon to kya karoge, padoge?" He replied, "yahan kuchh nahi hoga, Ghar jake padenge". He will be going back to Bihar on fourth of next month. I asked him to wait for a minute and then I gave him two hundred rupee notes and told, "ek se apni kitaben lena and dusre se jo man ho karna". Chandu looked very much obliged and surprised too. When he was leaving, I asked , "Are apna naam to batado yar". He replied .."Chandu". I said to him..."Chandu, Padna...Padae se hi sab hota hai". And then Chandu left to pick garbage from other houses.

I hope this small contribution , which might not do much do help him financially, would certainly motivate him to do good in life.

When first day I saw Chandu, I felt frustrated. All this right to education and child labour laws seems hollow. We all know that the laws see just one side of problem. They don't give an option of rehabilitation of children like Chandu. I am sure his father did not want his child to be a labourer like him, picking garbage from houses. Before education, people need to survive. 

    I, with a feeling of helplessness, thought that what I can do! But that would really be pathetic. We can certainly do, at least a little. And I did what I wanted to and I wish I could do more...or may be I will do more. You never know when this small help can make a big difference. I request all to look around and if you see any young child being deprived of education, do at least something. Those two hundred rupees are nothing for us, it is the price of the movie ticket I watched yesterday.  But for Chandu, it's a Month salary....it can at least partially help him to educate himself....and imagine how much moral support he will get. He won't see this world as a cruel place that gave him a fatherless life with poverty and misery. He will be more optimistic and work hard to fight all hindrances and may be, will become a valuable citizen of the country.