My Experiments with Truth Romance of revolution died on 13th Feb 2004 (Part 1)

Fight between VPs Mandal, BJPs Kmandal and Narasimha Raos Bundal (Noton ke Bundel that he used to Purchase MPs) changed India beyond recognition. The man who acted as a catalyst and fused Mandal with Kmandal, Old Economy with New Economy, and Old Politics with New Politics died on 13th Feb 2004 He was Rajeev Goswami Rajeev Goswami??????????????????? Is it possible for you my reader to recollect above mentioned individual? Conducted small telephonic survey and surprisingly (Actually it was more Painful then surprising) none from whom response was sought could recallIt is sad but inevitable that New India doesn't want to remember him Since independence India had its share of social/student movements (They had the normative, value and societal orientation in bits and pieces) 1951 Acharya Vinoba bhaves Bhoodan movement (Normative still value driven and for the benefit of larger society) JP ( Jayprakash Narayan) Movement of 70s (Call for Sampooran Kranti) where in he visited colleges, addressed common man and asked them to work for a change and fight corrupt congress gov. (Value driven and societal in nature) Asom Ganaparishad and AASU movement from 1979-1985 which led to Assam Accord (Normative slightly value driven but not societal) And then in 1990 Student movement to protest against mandal commissions recommendation ( Normative value driven but not societal) These movements were primarily responsible for loads of todays leader 1. Sitaram Yechury/ Prakash karat. 2. Vijay goel/ Arun Jaitley/ Ananth kumar/ Ravi Shankar Prasad and Narendra Modi ( courtesy Nav nirman movement) 3. Or infamous youth brigade of Sanjay Gandhi comprising of kamal Nath/ Ambika Soni / Gulam Nabi Azad etc 1970s was the period when student leaders went in jail to protest against govt. policies and fought for change Come 2000 and student leaders still go to jail but this time on murder and rape charges We have our share of young leaders but 90 % of them are part of dynasty brigade Starting from Rahul Gandhi to Jagat singh (Son of natwar singh), Agatha sangma (Daughter of PA Sangma) to Supriya Sule ( Daughter of Sharad Pawar) and this is the phenomenon which cuts across party line So is it just dynasty politics, muscle or money responsible for disconnect of todays youth from politics This week I try to recollect last student movement which India witnessed in 1990 and the raw energy which separated them from us They were not like us Year 1990 City Gwalior Scene 1 Area Darpan Colony Police Station Time: Evening between 6-7 pm Police official of the rank of Inspector was running like a mad dog in search of a place to hide He stopped a scooter wala and pleaded Pleaseeeeeeeeeeeeeee move Pleaseeeeeeeeee This was the era when a family of four (younger one will be standing in front and elder one will sit in between father and mother) used to travel in their prized possession scooter (most of the times Bajaj chetak / LML Vespa NV) The whole scene was so dramatic that we simply couldnt decode what is going on Then we saw huge crowd buildup in front of the police station Considering our safety my father decided to change the route I had mixed emotion Shock (When I saw crowd trying to burn police station) Fear (When I thought they can hit us ) Amaze (When I saw a policemen running to save his life) Scene 2 Time: Evening between 6-7 pm Area: Barahdari Chowk Distance from Darpan Colony to Barahdari Chauraha is hardly 2-3 Km but it took us 15 min to reach. Again huge crowd trying to burn MPSRTC (Madhya Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation) bus Easy victim to show anger towards state and its policies I can recall the furry and anger with which they were throwing almost every single stone available on road Then someone brought a plastic bottle filled with kerosene/diesel/petrol (I dont know what type of liquid they used but one thing was clear that the resultant fire didnt generate as much heat as was visible on their facesThat was the last time when India youth came out in full force on ground to protest against formidable rival i.e. state and probably closest to a revolution for change) Thanks to some self appointed traffic regulators who saved us from this mob furry and advised us to change the route (via army cantonment/ baaj talkies) Scene 3 Time: 8:30 PM Area: Aadarsh Nagar Morar Salma Sultan (For those who cannot recollect she was famous female news anchor at doordarshan): Most of the Indian cities have witnessed huge rise in violence and protest against prime minister Vishwanath Pratap Singhs Implementation of mandal commission report Mark Tully (BBC Correspondent who is till date known for his coverage of Babri Masjid demolition) compared this youth movement with Islamic revolution of 1979 in Iran minus Ayatollah Khomeini She continued Then India got one when Rajeev Goswami attempted self-immolation in front of Deshbandhu College in South Delhi, this was the turning point in anti-Mandal agitation What followed it was absolute state of anarchy I saw students trying to burn almost anything and everything belonging to state and then they started following Rajeev Some claimed Mandal commission report implementation as VP singhs tool to fight against Kmandal of BJP For us (youth born in late 70s and early 80s) this was our first and last (Because I believe after that and till date India as a whole has not seen any mass movement let alone student activism) brush with raw energy We stayed in Gwalior till 1996 and from 1990 to 1996 every year one family from thatipur published remembrance of their only son who sat himself ablaze to protest against mandal commission and died Dear .. Every year as this day approaches we search you and find you in every nook and corner of this house thinking that you will come out of that door or may be we will find you with your books in your study or may be in kitchen searching for something to cookEvery day we search for you dont know when this search will end Every day we pray to god that next time whenever you come to earth please be with us only Ruth T George:-When you go home, tell them of us and say, for your tomorrow, we gave our today Drops of salty water come out of my eyes Even after almost 20 years as I try to remember that face on last page of Dainik bhaskar They changed India forever they pushed Govt. to act, They asked difficult questions, They chose to develop their own path, They fought with the state They said we are not like you silent stupid majority which never speaks or stands up to a cause With them died romance of revolution, idealism, anger and spirit of speaking ones mind which used to form core of youth and formed part of the outlet of his/her raw energy With them died habit of questioning I believe Post Mandal economically empowered India produced most selfish and narrow minded youth then ever... Or may be the reason is that People fight when they believe they dont have anything to loose and that was one of the reason why most of the revolutions were driven by youth. However with economic empowerment it is the fear of losing what one currently holds results in a more accommodating class or one without spine They dont question they accept They dont move in an uncharted territory They dont understand socio-economic background of their own people and even bigger worry is that they dont want to You discuss any one of the above mentioned issues and they will display classic addict behavior they will wriggle out of the conversation and will begin to avoid you For them these questions are not just difficult questions they simply dont hold importance Regards, Abhishant Pant Next week With Part 2 I will search for reasons that led to the development of such a socially dead YouthTill then leaving you with few lines of Great Hindi Poet Dushyant Kumar, images of Rajeev goswami and anti mandal protest in Chandigarh. Thanks a Lot Vivek , Shailendra, Vaibhav, Abhay, Pradeep and Sourabh Jain ( My senior at ICICI Bank) for helping me understand and appreciate this topic in much wider perspective

My Experiments with truth-- Coffee Mug ,Most memorable hug--26/11

NCTC (USA) report for 2008 identified 11800 terrorist attacks resulting in over 54000 deaths, injuries and kidnappings
Story of Parmanand Sawlane (As narrated) colleague whom I have known for last 4 years as kind hearted thorough gentlemen.LocationCST Station City of DreamsNovember 26, 2008A day when many dreams died untimely as terrorists attacked Mumbai.On this fateful day Ajmal Ameer Kasab and Abu Dera Ismail Khan killed 56 people at CST station, Mumbai.Incidentally I was at that very place (CST station) on that day exactly at around 9.45 pm.6:30 PM: After having finished days work I thought of completing one long pending assignment. Unaware of the fact that it will be the longest night I have seen in my life9:30 PM: headed towards CST station to catch Vashi bound slow local train. By the time I reached CST it was roughly 9.45 pm. Like hundreds of other mumbaikars thought of having a quick snack and thus after entering CST stopped at snacks stall near the entrance. Usually I pick up some thing quickly but God knows that day I took more then usual time to decide what to pick. While I was trying to decide I heard loud noise which initially felt were like packets thrown out of a goods train. Then I saw people running and screaming, all of them coming from express station platform side and running hard to escape. Since I was near the exit of CST station I came out quickly. After asking a few people and not getting satisfactory answer, I again started walking towards station (Thinking of my wife and 4 year old daughter as they keep waiting for me till I reach home). As soon as I reached near the same stall inside CST I saw action replay of same situation, loud noise, and people screaming and running for life. This time around I heard some one say that gang war has started.I thought it will be stupid to catch a train from CST in this situation and came out of station and started walking towards Masjid (station next to CST on Vashi route) hoping to catch a taxi till Masjid .While I headed towards Masjid station underneath the TOI bridge (terrorists were on TOI over bridge at that time) I saw a repeat of similar scenario, people running, loud sounds, now clearly sounding like small repeated explosions. This time faces were really scary I could see extreme sense of fear in their eyes and then I saw a policemen running to save his life, thank God I saw this, it was a clear indication to my senses that RUN and HIDEIf I would have not seen that policemen running I was determined not to run and hide. I was determined to keep moving till I finally reach home which would have taken around 1.5 hours .However thanks to my stars after hanging around there for some time I decided to run.While I was running I saw people running with me having no ex-pression on their facesthis is only possible in a case when you have such a high sense of fear that it has overpowered all other emotions they didnt wanted to shout, perhaps desired to save energy to run...I had a ligament injury in my left knee therefore for me running and jumping was an achievement. However I achieved that and reached safely on the other side of road. Now I was searching for shelter shops, office, cement pipe anything I found to my surprise that almost entire market was closed .Still as they jako rakhe saiyan maar sake na koi some how managed to enter Cafe Coffee Day outlet (CCD). First thing I did was to call my wife and told her that I will be late She was upset on my being late hiding the reason for delay I asked her to put on TV and tell me whats happeningThen I called up one of my colleagues who was still their in our V N road office to stay back and not leave office till he is sure of what is happening in city. After 30 minutes my wife called up and told me that terrorists have created mayhem in Mumbai. I told her that i am at a safe place and I will remain here till situation improves. I told her to keep me updated ... In totality it was group of 14 (10 + 4 CCD) people hiding along with me. Thanks to Airtel for installing charging point as it helped in remaining connected with my wife and brother in law. They kept updating me based on news reports but by midnight as the magnitude of the attack became clear my wife started cryingIt is at this point of time you start questioningwhy is it happening to me?that it is not important how much we build up in form of financial assets or how much we arrange in form luxuries , Important is how many moments we celebrate in lifeShe told her parents in Indore and they called upConsidering the age factor associated with my parents I decided not to inform them...By know it was clear that its a terrorist attack and we knew that terrorist with grenades are on loose in Mumbai. Suddenly few cops came in and told us to switch off the light and shut down. However CCD had no shutter, only a glass door and glass partition. All of us were scared to hell with this new found insecurity...It was so pathetic that we were almost counting every second and thanked god for it... at this instance almost every one called home I could see varied emotions how many times you have seen a young, dynamic professional crying like a small child I spoke to my wife and though I was scared, I reassured her we are safe and behind shutters. I asked her to sleep and not to worry Perhaps she felt secure with that lie of mine and slept for some time. My brother in law called me up at 3 am to inform that one of the militant has died and other captured and now fight is on at Taj and Trident hotelsI cannot explain the sense of relief that I saw on faces of 13 other members when I informed them that we are safeHow many times you have hugged a unknown person with similar amount of love and warmth which is normally reserved for near and dear ones.We then decided to jointly make a coffee with the help of CCD staff that was the most satisfying coffee cup I ever had in my life. Those with bike or who lived near by started leaving, I decided to check with cops before embarking this journey from fort to vashi .After confirming that I can indeed travel to Vashi, I took a cab and left for Vashi at around 4.30 am.Once on road I saw Mumbai never seen before . No one on road, not even dogs. Police checking post was the only point where I saw humans on my way to Vashi.Reached home at around 6 am, hugged and kissed my wife and daughter and thanked God for my safe return. Informed my line manager about this incident and kept mobile on silent mode and slept. However, could not sleep even for a moment. I informed my parents, in laws and brother back in Bhopal that I have reached home safe.That entire night I kept thinkinghow unpredictable life is How important it is to realize that in life celebration can be as simple as having cup of coffee with unknown people the way we celebrated at CCD once we realized that we came go home safelyNext week when I resumed work and got down at CST station I could relate with what R Madhavan of "Mumbai Meri Jaan" would have feltHowever for me 26/11 was theday when I cried may be for the first time holding my baby and my wifeday when I came closer to pain of thousands who loose their near and dear ones across the world for reasons unknown to themday when I celebrated life with unknown peopleday when I saw what a fanatic can doday when I saw suffering, painAnd I saw unknown people rushing to provide help and support On that fateful day close to 170 dreams died in city of dreamsJust because of the reason that someone thought that You are not like usHundreds are dying on a daily basis in different parts of the worldJust because of the reason that You are not like usBut are we willing to understand the reasonwhy one fights?Where from that fuel comes which keeps terror machine working day in and day out?What leads to such Mass hallucination that thousands are living just to kill?Is this just charisma of their leaders that they are churning such fanatics on a regular basis? Or is it deep rooted in sufferings and pain they have experienced in most part of their life?Afganistan Failed state millions suffering for last 30 yearsIran Failed state in mayhem since US invaded seven years backPakistan Failed state more than 2 million refuges in SWAT only; numbers increasing on daily basis as fight for control spreads in North Waziristan and other parts of NWFPSri lanka Lakhs of Tamil refugesSudan, Rawanda and list is endless What future holds for them?
Are we not responsible for creating nurseries of terrorism!
Regards,Abhishant Pant

My Experiments with Truth Life Changes in a split second

My Experiments with Truth Life Changes in a split second

Division is the first thing which happens with us from the very first day we come to world.
The moot point of discussion in all my submissions is You are not like us
As one of the respondent to earlier submission wrote

Did Adam took permission from someone to go on any part of the earth? Skin color is gifted to us its the mind that ppl build of their own. Like in Matrix when Neo walks inside the matrix he visualize everyone as walking mind. Till there are nations and boundaries we will not be able to remove the discrimination. The distinction is rooted in the concept of man made boundaries n will exists as long as earth is divided into different sectors of various angular width.



Earlier submissions discussed about divide in

1. Economic terms (Recession, Job Loss, salary cuts and Motorcycle ride).
2. Race (Jewish Holocaust).


This weeks submission is Life changes in a split second --Physical handicap

Question which I could never ask Rajat
What is that which keeps you clicking?

Super human, Man of courage, Steel will though English language is having close to million words but I do feel at times you run out of adjective for certain set of people so soon that it is only silence which speaks for the admiration you have for them
Are they born special or it is the circumstance which shape them?
Answer for this question is like solving a indefinite integral (with may be 5 different outcomes and all being correct ones)
I believe socio-cultural and economic background plays big role in shaping an individual and it is the circumstances which test strength of their character and values developed over the period of time

This is story of a super human called Rajat Mishra

April 2004, Indore

Received a call from Sourav Yaar Rajat met with a accident
I screamed what?
Sourav He was riding his bike when a fast moving truck hit him.

Flashback --April 1997He was in 10th Standard when his father died. It was a big blow for the closely knit small nuclear family of four, decided to pursue dream of his father (Colonel in Indian Army) and Joined NDA khadakwasla (1998).
2002--- First posting Assam, battled militancy, bad weather stayed there till 2004 then moved to Ahmedabad.

And now this news

From April 2004 Dec 2005 Accident was so severe that he remained hospitalized and bed ridden for most part of this 20 month period at army hospital, Pune.
When Sourav met him in hospital for the first time he found that almost every single part of his body had some injury and to save his life doctors decided to amputate his right hand. And still during entire discussion Rajat never complained as to what has happened he just continued to discuss what direction he can give life

20 months after receiving relieving from army and hospital he came back to Jabalpur and I met him at his residence it was heart breaking to see him so thin and weak. But it was amazing to see that he had perfected the art of writing from left hand during hospitalization period.
May be he just wanted to say Don't worry battle is not over and it will not be until I win
But even bigger test waited him
When he met with that fatal accident he was in the company of lady (she is still working with army) and they wanted to get married, she received some minor injuries (discharged after a weeks time). However as I said earlier it is circumstances which test strength of character and values
Their relationship could not stand this test and she left (some say under family pressure)

During our telephonic discussions we explored various avenues and zeroed on MBA
Feb 2006 joined career launcher Pune.
Jan 2007 CAT Results Ex.Capt. Rajat Mishra cracks CAT code receives invitation from IIM-A and then from ISB.

Almost every single national newspaper and channel covered storey of grit and determination of someone who lost father at such an early age,
has not done any formal education after 1998,
Lost right hand in accident,
if this was not enough the lady whom he loved left him after this accident,
had to leave other long cherished dream of Army life,
remained bed ridden for 20 months and even then decided not to give up

When we see some one with a handicap we feel sorry for his/her current state of affairs. You are not like us is what goes in our mind, and every time we feel that way it requires someone like Rajat to prove it one more time that yes I am not like you

As I have never given up to circumstances
As every time I went down I rose even faster
As I am not as weak as you are, when it comes to facing harsh realities of life...
As I decided to build my own path
As I knew if there is something which is known as courage it will come from within
As I knew its all in mind
As I knew losing out to enemy is not an option they teach in Army
Yes I am not like you and don't want to be like you.
But you always desired the courage I


Ex Capt. Rajat Mishra: Passed out of IIM-A in May 2009.
Currently With: US Technologies (Chennai).
Getting married on 16th June 2009 to Richa (She got interested in Rajat via his blogs and they met for the first time after almost a year in Delhi).

If you wish to see coverage of various news channels just type Rajat mishra on You Tube or copy and paste mentioned below link.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cRvZZPT6U6Q

Proud to say that I got opportunity to live and breathe with him for 2 years 1996-98, without any argument best period of my life till date.

Regards,

Abhishant Pant

My experiments with Truth Jewish Holocaust

My experiments with Truth Jewish Holocaust

April 2004, Close to 100 students from different parts of world gathered for a dinner hosted by German ambassador in Paris. Met in morning with a Polish Lady and Rahul, In line with human tendency to search for / build his/her area of comfort. I searched for Rahul and then Polish Lady. Polish Lady young lady from Warsaw Poland started conversation giving details of her first visit to India (She did her internship at TCS Delhi) Polish Lady -- Is there a change in driving standards of blue line DTC buses? I -- Silence Standard????????????????? (Next question please) Polish Lady why on earth u people have such a large amount of oil in Sholayeee Bhootraaaa????????????????? I -- come again? Polish Lady Sholayeee Bhootraaaa I -- Sholayeee Bhootraaaa . System Crashed (Entire server memory and energy consumed by single event) Rahul Fotedar (Student of Chemical Sciences from Germany) His experience in dealing with firangee janta helped in decoding seemingly impossible code. Yaar its Choley Bhaturey Polish Lady -- Ya thats it yar Then she uttered a few more hindi words Shalo Thick haai Is baar Pappu Pass ho gaya Chalo, Thik Hai then three of us moved towards Bar Rahul -- Pandit tu kya lega I-- Apple Juice Rahul --???????????? I -- Ya I dont drink Rahul -- Aangrezee hai saaley chakh to ley I -- No thanks I--Excuse me do you have some veg snacks? Rahul -- What?????? You dont eat non veg? Saaley Agar Brahmin Non Veg khaana aur Muslim Daru pena chood dein to toh mere jaise logon par jo inflation ke maar padti hai vo atleast half ho jayegiHa Ha Ha I -- No comments Polish Lady --Are you a brrrahmeen? I-- Yes Polish Lady -- I have heard a lot about caste system? Believe it is the oldest form of discrimination, read/saw it during my visit to India. I -- amazed that you have heard/seen it. Rahul -- Pandit kaun janta tha ki tumhaarey karmon ka hisab yahaan Paris main lagega Upper wala sab dekhta hai Polish Lady -- Can we discuss a bit about it? Rahul -- Yaar Gyan ka session yahaan mat chalo karna please... Polish Lady -- come again? Rahul -- Nothing i said we will discuss it later, may be on our way back to hotel. I (Trying to defend) --But it was based on karma we do and not dependent on ancestry Polish Lady-- Dont you think its not right to discriminate just for the reason You are not like us? Do you know the pain we went through when Nazis invaded Poland (in September 1939) and killed (Silence) New Member (lady) -- Hi all I am. (Cannot recall her name) from Germany, so whats going on I saw you people bonding well together are you Indian??? Rahul and I-- Yesssssssss I--I am Amazed is it written on our forehead. Laughter (Rahul I) and smile (ladies) May be thats the difference we had a company of close to 100 young people in ambassadors house and still environment was so stillWe Indians laugh with open heart at times not caring for the company we have Ha Ha Ha Polish Lady -- Hi I am Polish Lady from Warsaw Poland. German Lady -- Great it seems you were discussing something? I (Ever eager to win a debate competition) -- Yes we were about to discuss discrimination with special focus on Caste system in India and Nazi invasion of Po Rahul (jumped in between but damage was done)-- Abhishant lets go the bar counter meri daru khatam ho gayee hai yaar I (Started in Hindi) -- Abey tu ley aa dekh nahi raha subah se hum try kar rahe the is german bandi se baat karne kee aur ab jab badi mushkil se suru hui hai to tu Rahul -- Abey hum log unkey ambassador ke ghar main hain aur to aisa topic par baat kar raha hai jisko lekar aaj bhi yeh log humesha back foot per chaley jaatey hain dekh in dono ladkiyon ke chere kaise ho gaye hain German Lady --Please speak in common language I-- I am sorry German Lady (with a hint of salty water in her eyes) -- its not you we should be sorry for what we did You know Hans Frank (former Nazi Governor of Poland) said "A thousand years will pass and the guilt of the Germany will not be erased" Pin drop silence Rahul-- Saaley rula diya na Tujhe maloom nahi hai tune kya subject ched diya hai even after 60 years Germans are touchy about it. Sense of guilt One emotion which makes a human question his existence and conveys deep sense of helplessness that he/she 1. couldnt help when it was needed the most 2. was not part of the solution 3. Kept mum and didnt revolt 4. was part of crime which his/her subconscious never allowed I could see it all in her eyes As we moved towards bar I -- Sorry Can you provide brief of what happened during Nazi invasion of Poland. Rahul Ok To help you understand her pain lets go through in brief on one of the biggest holocaust of human history Period 1938-1945 Cocktail is not for first timer and even regulars avoid it On the back of Hitlers invasion of German subconscious was the cocktail of 1. Economic uprisingBringing back German pride 2. Ultra nationalism with one point communication binding all Germans With fair skin, blond hair and blue eyes we are supreme form of human being the supreme race. 3. Denouncing Jews Hitler repeatedly blamed them for German defeat in World War I and subsequent economic hardships. The Eternal Jew (Nazi propaganda film) went so far as to compare Jews to plague carrying rats, foreshadow of things to come From 1938 to 1945 close to 60, 00,000 Jews died... those who lived, died on daily basis what life it will be if you survive just to count the number of dead people? Or perform the job of slaves (called Sonderkommandos) to untangle/take out bodies from Nazi gas chambers for mass burial but only after removal of gold or any other ornament left on the body of dead. Imagine to survive you need to hit on face of dead to remove gold plated teeth or need to cut a finger to remove a ring What life it will be if you keep on moving to find a tunnel at the end of tunnel with no ray of light not even a mirage The choice between life and death will be easiest 1941 Road to heaven Always believed in the fact that Journey is worth a life time if you know where to go, but dont know how to reach there On their way to Himmelstrasse i.e. road to Heaven millions of Jews took train from different parts of Poland (where they had lived in worst condition for last 3 years since German invasion in 1938) to reach Belzec, Sobibor, and Treblinka. Biggest difference between a man/woman and other living beings, we know death is certain they dont But even they would have never thought of such a ghastly end of life Thousands of old aged and young babies died on the way, may be god was kind to them that they never had to live in phantasm of great future They were falsely informed that they had come to a transit stop and would be moving on to their true destination after delousing. Then they separated Healthy Jewish men from Aged man, woman and children. Men were then split up from the women and children. Everyone was taken to undressing barracks and told to remove all of their clothing and asked to carefully hang them on numbered hooks in the undressing room and were instructed to remember the numbers for later). They were told their clothes were going to be disinfected and that they would all be taken to shower rooms for a good washing. Women and girls next had their hair cut off (To be used by a German firm in Bavaria for the manufacture of felt). First the men, and then the women and children, were hustled in the nude along a narrow fenced-in pathway nicknamed as the Himmelstrasse (road to Heaven). At the end of the path was a bathhouse with tiled shower rooms. As soon as the people were all crammed inside, the main door was slammed shut, creating an airtight seal. Deadly carbon monoxide fumes were then fed in from a stationary diesel engine located outside the chamber. Pandemonium erupted as the gas spread upwards children died first since they were closer to the floor, with adults climbing on top of each other forming a tangled heap of dead bodies all the way up to the ceiling Pain is such a universal emotion that it lives on even if the time and people who have experienced it are gone You dont seek refuge in any logic (of religion, demography or nationality) it lives on and You feel it even if you dont know who they were From were they came What is that for which stood What language they spoke With which religion they associated themselves Color of their skin I could see pain in eyes of Rahul (Indian living in Germany for last 5 years) Polish Lady (Jewish polish national) German lady (just 22-23 never saw/part of what her elders did) I You From 1938 1945 millions of Jews died for the reason You are not like us Regards, Abhishant Pant Visited Paris in 2004 to participate in management convention on Cultural differences in emerging markets Current coordinates Rahul Fotedar is post doc researcher at Eidgenssische Technische Hochschule Zrich Polish Lady is a PhD Student at Vienna

Photograph is of german ambassdor's house paris

My Experiments With Truth -- Divided We Stand

My Experiments With Truth -- Divided We Stand ( Is it such a big Issue that i am not like you)Varna Vyavastha...Shia- Sunni...Catholic Protestant...Tamilians Sinhalese...Pol Pot Khmer Rouge Cambodia...Nazi Concentration Camps Germany...Great Leap Forward in communist china (Mao Tse-Tung 1958-61 and 1966-69, Tibet 1949-50)...Operation Blue star jarnail sigh bhinderwala 1984...Soviet Union under Josef Stalin 1932-1939...Bosnia 1990's Bosnian Serbs' ethnic cleansing of Muslims...1994 Interahamwe killing Tutsi people in Rwanda..Godhra and Post Godhara Gujrat...In the name of OIL in Darfur Sudan 2003...Kandhamal Orissa...The list remains endless...The search is to appreciate difference so may be for some a kandhamal will look smaller compaired to Great leap Forward but the moot point isunderstanding hate crime's and justification of genocide in the name of brigning stability. Amazed with the size and proportion in which different societal structures (religion , cast , creed , language,color) have divided the world i begin a long journey today to understand Is it such a big issue in being different ? I have a dream ... by this King desired a dimension in which I can live in peace and harmony with dignity with your I and even if it never turns in WE ... Atleat my I won't be considered inferior to yours and you will not destroy my I to make your I look bigger... I will be able to enjoy all that is with in my purchasing power or freely available to all citizens of this great nation ... I will be able to enjoy all gifts of god embedded in this nation without fear...You are not like us...It was not an open invitation...You came you polluted the entire scene...You ate different food, wore different type of clothes , Followed different religious practice, looked different ...but now you are competing for the same resources on which only original inhabitants should have stake...I had different image (snake charmers) of yours how come you are not like that only...I am loosing opportunities because of you...You are not like us...Truth Vs TruthMy truth is bigger , better and more acceptable then yours ... so it will prevail and you have got no choice but to accept it and if you won't , I will put a screw driver in head ( struggling for life in Royal Melbourne hospital Shravan kumar from Andhra Pradesh victim of latest hate crimes against Indians in Australia learned this hard way )This is part one of my ongoing search to understand divided world in which we live...Like last week's thought this is also having roots in my first Experience of being a minority ...Yes being a Non Marathi in Maharastra. Regards,Abhishant Pant

Recession, Job losses, salary cuts and Motorcycle Ride

4.6 km is the distance between my office and home that i cover on a daily basis, via auto in the morning and by foot in the eveningNormal day to day life doesn't provide such opportunity that i can join a gym so some 4 months back decided to shun my bike (Contributing my bit in reducing carbon) and take a mass transportation system for morning and walk down the lane in evening.It's 8:30 pm comparing I with X i was walking towards my home suddenly a motor bike stops and biker asks "need a lift" i was amazed what a change i haven't asked for the lift neither i was looking back again and again and this gentlemen has showed concern... great man As i was late for the day decided to accept the offer.A minute or 2 later he started the conversation Biker -- You must be software WalaI-- No sir a bankerBiker -- It doesn't matter both of you receive huge salaries... Don't YouI-- I am still a new comer sir just 4 years exp i don't get that muchBiker -- still you must be receiving more than your father... don't you?I -- Silence (I believe Biker must have been the age group of 40-45)Biker -- Do you know how much inflation has happened in the prices of food/vegetables/ fish?I --??????????Biker -- I am working with a auto components manufacturing company in khadki they have just reduced our salary by Rs.1000 a month. This might be the amount which you spend monthly on auto while i get only 8k as a salary and it is now getting even more difficult to even pay for the basic necessities .Did you have ever visited that vegetable market near ghorpadi?I -- No?Biker -- I have not gone their for 2 days as i need to pay Rs 20 to the vegetable vendor then only i can purchase fresh vegetables from him... I (blank) Silence... After a minute i am at BT kawade road he stops bike so that i can get down, removes his helmet ( from looks he is like any middle income group Indian ) A bit of salty water in his eyes ...Sorry dear i just got emotional and frustrated due to my current state of affairs...While searching through my pocket i could find a 20 rs noteAs i handed over that 20 rs note to him and looked in his eyes...They carried nothing but even bigger question about his existence, for me it was first exp as to how deafening silence can be...Regards,Abhishant Pant