Sparsh

“Writing a book is a horrible, exhausting struggle, like a long bout with some painful illness. One would never undertake such a thing if one were not driven on by some demon whom one can neither resist nor understand.” - George Orwell I had a background of literate and disciplined family, but there was slow development of character in the life who doesn't have any rigid sense of social morality. I tried hard to develop my own sense of just and liberal values. If I say that is easy, that will be gross lie. Putting that in the words of John Maynard Keynes’ belief that the difficulty lies not so much in developing new ideas as in escaping old ones. But solitude always gave me an opportunity to re-define myself as a person and unlearn whatever I have learnt all these years as a bachelor. This was achieved only through lot of writings on the blog. I have survived engineering and wandered into strange paths to tell the tale of traveler. These records of 600 Posts are record of this ...

I pinned a lot of hope on Indian test cricket team in an old article . India played 13 test matches (2 in SA, 2 in NZ, 5 in ENG & 4 in AUS) in previous years.  India lost 0-1 in SA, 0-1 in NZ, 1-3 in ENG and 0-2 in AUS. The records paint bleak picture of future Indian test cricket and wrong selection policy became one of the reason in losses. However, the last thing we need now is finger-pointing. What we need is instead careful analysis and a new strategy. I will take solace in the words of Barack Obama when he faced the difficulties he faces as a second-term president struggling to make progress on his priorities and to work constructively with Congress- "Cynicism is a choice — hope is a better choice."  Frank A. Clark once said that  Criticism, like rain, should be gentle enough to nourish a man's growth without destroying his roots. Indian team performed better in utter alien condition of New Zealand and South Africa. But, they lost nerve to capture moments and ...

The importance of Uttar Pradesh in India's socio-political firmament is never overstated. The long perception of UP as badlands as well as cow belt region hasn't done any justice towards building its image. Even the movies located in the geography of UP shows a culture of revenge rather than the rule of law. Uttar Pradesh is laggard in implementation to social scheme like MNRGES, NRLM, PDS and food security. Even the states like Tamilnadu had introduced mid day meal scheme in 1985 while the Government of Uttar Pradesh started the mid-day-meal scheme in 16 districts, including Allahabad district, from September 2003. Mulayam Singh and Mayawati are out of the depth with the good governance, and in the UP the depth reality of law situation does really go murky and deep. Also, there is definite culture of servitude in the bureaucracy, education, politics. The impact of casteism, class hierarchy, poverty and sexual exploitation on women is present in our society. Looking through n...

Before speaking about my impressions of a theater performance Id like to say a few words about art in general.  Noble Laureate Faulkner said that the only thing worth writing about is the human heart in conflict with itself, and I agree with that. Art gives a meaning to the life and help in carving a identity of a person amid monolithic routine daily life. Sometimes search for an identity takes a man back to controversial and uncomfortable part of life. The turmoil touches the person on a level far deeper than where modern lifestyle like Facebook, iPhones and tweets can possibly reach. And the person is not the same forever ! It was during November of year 2014, I attended my first show of professional theater. My friend Vaibhav Pandey suggested that we should visit a theatrical performance during my visit to Delhi.. We landed upon NSD campus and got tickets of Uff Teri Ada. This play is adapted Lysistrata created Aristophanes. It is a comedy based on sexual tension, nationali...

“Why is America so rich and we are so poor?” I posed the question to my father in the summers of 1998. My father answered me as best he could: “India is a young democratic country of 50 years with huge population while America is almost 200 years old." I nodded in agreement, satisfied with the explanation. One answer unearthed a dangerous way to more questions.  I was a nationalist, theist and a more enthusiastic supporter of RSS version of India at that phase of life. I had complete trust in their claim of ancient knowledge and glory of Hindu India. So, why we failed to defend our country from foreign culture and invaders ? Why Hindus were treated like slave for thousand of years in their own country ? How to solve Islamic and Christian problem? That started an active engagement with history books. Yet, I haven't touched NCERT books. I studied history books to have an idea of India. My grip on history was weak because, half-truths and myths are intermingled as historical...