The Coloured People.

"I have a dream that one day little black boys and girls will be holding hands with little white boys and girls." Martin Luther King Jr.'s dream seems a very realistic and well within the means dream. It seems this is a bygone dream, a dream which has taken centuries to realise but has been completely realised now. It seems that apartheid is finally extinct. Really a time to cheer, a time to rejoice that humanity's one of the most dangerous evils has been finally got away with. But is the disease really extinct? Has it's germs really vanished from the veins of the human blood? Do we really see beyond the colour always?

Aibileen, a 50 year old black maid who has been continuously raising children when are own children are out there without care doesn't have the privilege to mourn her son's death. She has to take care of all the domestic help, the proper upbringing of her mistress' child and save her job at all cost. Minny on the other hand is an outspoken maid who gets fired often for her firm and straight-forward nature. But outspoken or introvert, they continue to work meticulously without giving much of a thought to the upliftment of their own lives. They have separate toilets, which have to be used at all costs; even if they need to face nature's fury for that. They have to leave as and when desired, emotional attachments do not have a place in their dictionary nor in their employer's recruitment criteria. The white people expose their delicate offspring's from their very infancy to these black maids but at the same time do not step back in commenting that 'the black have different diseases from the white.' If anyone comes forward to help them and bring them out from distress, those farsighted white people are also subjected to social outcast and  looked upon with disgrace.

Raise your Voice And Take a Stance,
Collaborate your Intellects In order to Enhance,
Systematically Changing Minds that are trapped in a Trance.

Racism is a very commonly uncommon disease. The disease dates its origin back to the times when man started dispersing in various countries. It dates back to the times when people started conquering and having slaves. By divine grace or disgrace, the coloured people became subjected to being pawns at the hands of their masters and their life depended on their master's whims and wishes.They began having different cities exclusively for the black people and they had to live in the filthiest of conditions. Slave trade became a robust market. Except for a very few exceptions, the majority of slaves were subjected to all kinds of torture in return of their sacrifice. While in a bus, they had to stand and leave the seat for the white, even if they might be old. Rosa Parks refusal to give up her seat when the white section of the bus was filled and she was asked to give up her seat in the coloured section is taken as the revolutionary step for removing this discrimination. Others have taken similar steps and have contributed in their own way. Over the years, there have been laws and acts passed, mentalities of people persuaded to change and coloured people restored to their former glory. 1994 saw a formal ending of racism with South Africa becoming the last nation to ban it and gaining freedom.

But sadly the devil finds a way out of the pit. Informal endings of evil proceedings take long to extinguish because they go uncounted, unnoticed by lawsuits and legal proceedings. Dowry and female infanticide would have been long ago done away with if the laws and acts had being strictly followed. As they say,"Bad habits die hard.", even today people do discriminate on the basis of colour. They don't do it consciously rather subconsciously. "Her face is plain, if only she had been fairer; she would have been beautiful.""She is so black. She seems dirty." Such comments are not uncommon in a school. It stinges to the core to listen to those remarks because you can actually do nothing about it except to digest it. The coloured people have a long way to go before Martin Luther King's dream is actually realised, before Aibileen's son gets justice, before Rose Parks actually wins her battle, before every child growing up in the hands of these black maids actually see beyond the colour and judge to be friends on the basis of whether they have the basic human classification --- a nose, two eyes, a sane mind, a mouth, etc. Beyond all colours, there lies a unicolour of humanity where all live in harmony in peace. In this world, where the thrust for power is more than ever, to save the world the unity of human beings is needed. Discrimination on the basis of colour shall do nothing except create complexities and indulge people to fight over petty issues. The black and white alike are strong enough, competent enough and they should hold hands in hand and work for the betterment of the society and actually abolish racism from its very roots.

As said by Maria Christina Mena,

 "The piano keys are black and white;

But they sound like a million colours in your mind."

The Paradox of Humanity!

Sitting last night, watching “The Attacks of 26/11” sent a cold shiver through my spine. It is not about how ruthless, cruel, distinctively inhuman Terrorism can be, it is about how such a brutal act could muster the courage to get executed by the most advanced race of this world. The world is progressing at a fast rate, the latest technology is at our hand’s reach and people are getting busier day by day. We all grumble over this tedious fact. We lament over the fact that we are losing touch with our emotions, our feelings, we are losing touch with humanity but have we ever given a thought to the prize we get for being humane? Have we ever given a thought to the reward we get for trusting, for being friendly, for believing that goodness exists?

They say, “Good shall be bestowed”. Who had anticipated that a seemingly innocent water boat comprising ten individuals full of youth would cause such havoc? The morning of 26^th November, 2008 was slightly chilly yet sunny. An ill-fated fisherman’s boat met a Pakistani boat who made them captives and treacherously reached the coast of Mumbai. They split in groups of two and started their Mission of Killing as many living things they could. Starting with Leopard Café to an ordinary auto, they left none. The Chattrapati Shivaji Terminus turned into a slippery pool of human blood. The Taj, which is no less than a prestige of India, was not left behind. Nariman Point, Oberoi all turned into a place of blood and lifeless bodies. Children, women, men, police personnel, foreigners and Indians alike were shot at point blank. But as they say, nothing remains imbalanced for long. As the news of this horrid mutilation spread throughout Mumbai, a doctor of Cama Hospital, one of the affected places accidentally happened to see those wretched souls. He alerted all, saved numerous lives but had to give up his life.

It's not merely a date, but a remembrance of disgrace to mankind.
"How do you defeat terrorism? don't be terrorized."

Terrorism is not a recent sprout which is spreading it's roots far and wide at such an alarming rate. It had been mingled with the human race since time immemorial. Destroying lives and property, it marches on to create a terror, a horror in the minds of the human being so strong, so profound that it makes a niche in the consciousness of man as long as he lives. He tends to distrust people, tends to be filled with pessimism, looks upon all with suspicious eyes, becomes skeptical and turns into a sadist. He becomes self-centred and does not devote time for human goodwill. We turn him down for these bad qualities, shun him but we forget that root reason why he became so. We forget the situations he had gone through for having changed his ideologies, his perception of life. 

Who is at fault? The pawns that are no older than twenty years in age or the protagonists of a wrong notion of proclaiming Jihad in the name of Allah? Forgetting their origins that they originally belonged to The Great India, they indulge themselves in petty warfare for selfish needs and desires to get fulfilled. Even after 65 years of independence and two bloody wars and numerous bomb-blasting, explosions; Pakistan has it's eyes set on Kashmir, wants to become the sole power of nuclear power and to achieve this does not hesitate in reddening It's hands with innocent human blood. Terrorism has no positive virtues except bringing down the population. But at what cost? Is negotiation, reaching a conclusion through spoken words and discussion, is letting go of petty issues such as land and concentrating on the larger good for humanity such a difficult task? Fighting in the name of religion, turning young people into devout gun-lovers; terrorism has brought an air enclosing fear, anticipation for what shall happen next.

But there is time indeed left. Time which is ticking away slowly towards devastation. We cannot change the world but we can create a difference. We can stand against this inhuman torture and become rationalized in our thoughts, our actions--- the work is half done. Trust and honour shall be restored, faith in humanity, in God shall be preserved and upheld and mankind shall live in harmony.

Everything has two ways to be done. The harder way to grumble about terrorism and become pessimists or this way:
"Everyone's worried about stopping terrorism.Well, there's an really easy way: Stop participating in it." 

Ode to Friendship.

Laying down one day under a moon-lit sky
With myriad stars twinkling by...
I inhaled and closed my eyes for a silent prayer...
And opened my eyes to see you fair,
Swaying with the smile of an angel, a human being gentle and distilled.
The initial days of screening the other's comfort zone,
Discovering the other's not-so-good habits,
The first late night chat till four,
The start of watching movies all day-long;
Life started with inserting a new roll in its Digi-cam!
Hugging you became my sole solace,
Working the weird slightly self-relating errand for you became a joy.
Discovered a New colour of yours by Looking into your eyes,
Felt the pang of your Hidden sufferings in it...
As time passed by, saw the incredibility of your charisma,
Learnt to decipher your subtle moods and swings...
Days passed by, we got to know each other well,
Our confiding in each other, silent 'fights' with each other...

And sooner or later, the fours years will pass,
Lots of hopes, aspiration, grudges, unspoken feelings
Might be left unuttered and unmediated.


Throughout the very busy life,
You will live your dream!
But I sign off with a note that

"As long as the world spins by,
What if you suffer from amnesia;
Your hand will always by clasped within mine,
Your feelings taken care of in my Heart."