Save your mama!

A couple of days back, I saw Maneka Gandhi on India TV discussing the recent rise in killing of wild animals and smuggling of various products thus obtained, especially across the border to Tibet. It seems, wearing animal fur is the new status symbol in Tibet. The statistics she mentioned were shocking. And more shocking was the fact which she emphasized that how easy it is to obtain skin stripped off poor animals gunned down illegally.
She offered solutions as well. But also pointed to the lethargy of the government by stating that not a single offender has been punished for poaching or smuggling animal products in the past few years. Arrests are made, but a couple of months later, one finds the fat scooped out from beneath Tiger skin hanging shamelessly above the law-executers leather waist-belts. Big names are sometimes noticed by the media only to publicize the name more than the felonious crime he/she was a part of.
The situation is very dismal. Laws are there. NGO's are there. Forest security authorities do their best to prevent hunting. But yet the crime is far from achieving a historical status.
Yesterday there was a report in the newspaper about Orrissa government planning to 'denotify' a part of a sanctuary, to allow mining of bauxite by an Anglo-Australian company. I wonder if the world would run out of its aluminium supply if its not obtained from this area adjacent to a homely habitat of tigers, deers, and scores of other mammalian and avian species! They are here only for cheap land and labor.

The photograph above of a night in the forest may be the last reminders we'd tell our grandchildren of the existence of something so beautiful on our planet.
Wildlife conservation is a scientific venture. Its not an issue of sentimentality towards animals who cannot run faster than the bullet chasing them. Its about saving our home. Its more than obvious that once wild animals like tigers and lions are wiped off (by being killed by hunters or perishing after running out of food supply due to killing of prey by hunters), the forest land would be open to fearless human encroachment. And human beings don't live in forests. So forests will have to go. With the flora, all the fauna dependent on it by the rule of evolution, would vanish. How do we think are we going to survive without all that?
We all are aware of the fine balance in an ecosystem, the food chains and webs, we learned them in school. Or did we? Although the market of poaching is dominated by the not-so-educated class, the buyers are mostly the effluent 'educated' ones. I don't want to give stats and details of this killed animal trade, but I am sure that majority of people don't really care that such a dangerous business is flourishing day after day. No wonder the government has bigger issues like illiteracy and poverty to look after(?).
Our planet is perhaps the only one in the entire universe that could support evolution of life so brilliantly that an intelligent species like ours took birth. But it happened over billions of years! I believe that the rule of nature is not extinction of old species but evolution into new species. The more fitter one replaces the worn out ones. And that happens on its own pace. We as meddlers are spoiling perhaps the greatest show in the universe. Also, how much ever hi-tech we become, we are still gonna be homo sapiens. We depend on our mother earth to survive.

The purpose of this post is to spread awareness about spreading awareness among the readers. Look, its high time that we start acting and thinking responsibly. Its for our good and the good of our children. We have to protect our home by at least not harming it. Don't buy wild-animal products, join wwf on line and contribute, plant trees, learn more, use private transport as less as possible. There are a million ways to help us save us. We at the least should take care of ourselves.

The best of HFM

Whenever I am asked which is my favorite song or movie or artist, I really don't find an answer. But when I recently saw the song from Umrao Jaan, 'dil cheez kya hai...', I realized that I had been ignoring one of the best works of art in the Indian film industry. I liked the song always, but for the first time really appreciated it now.
First, it has the most amazing shaayari by Shahryar. Words sound magical when they come heading towards the expected, but just at the climax, beat around what was imagined and hit you right at the heart. Then the poetry is composed into mousiqee by Khaiyyam. The notes are blended perfectly with the lyrics. A suspicious descent, a brief pause when the listener imagines and then a sudden joyous revelation that completes the line and leaves one dazzled. Perfect timing of the sarangi. Flawless singing! Asha Bhosle has lived all her songs and this is no exception.
What really amazed me was the way it has been performed by Rekha. Mostly we see actors expressing the lyrics of a song. But in 'dil cheez kya hai...' one can see Rekha expressing the song in its entirety, as if she is singing live. She is aware of each and every note, she knows the meaning of every word and she actually means it. And the dance simply goes with the rhythm of the song.
The whole song has a certain mathematical perfection to it. And thats why its so beautiful. I appreciated for the first time the thorough understanding of an artist by another.
I am really proud of the quality art Indian cinema has created from time to time. Its the legendry works like these that all generations would turn to, to feel the beauty of creativity.

click here and enter a search on the left for dil cheez kya hai to listen to the song...

Life of the Rich and Famous

He bought a million dollar house when he was seventeen. Two years later, he bought a house for 8.3 million dollars. He owns eight cars. He gets the stores closed for the public while he's shopping. This and much more is a part of the life of singer Justin Timberlake.
But that don't impress me much because I know, that there are people who have bought entire islands. Boy! Are they rich!
I was watching VH1 this morning which enhanced my pool (actually, cesspool) of knowledge about the rich and famous.
My 3BHK terrace apartment looked like a dump in front of Justin's tour bus.
There is a part of my brain that keeps imagining ahead of my thoughts. While I was watching, I suddenly imagined Mr. Timberlake sitting next to me on the couch, watching TV on a lazy morning. What would he feel like to be here, at my place? And then as I was staring at him in wonder, my eyes suddenly caught a glimpse of his @$$. (I didn't keep looking as I don't find him particularly handsome.) Next thought, Mr. Timberlake, you sure own a lot of real estate, but your @$$ hardly occupies more space than mine! (Of course, some people are poor even in that area. Ref: Dnyanesh's most recent write-up.)
Okay, don't judge the direction of my thoughts as yet. But before elaborating, I'd like to mention one more random thought. Now, he is a pop icon. Millions of people listen to his music. If someone could manage to extract one dollar each from one million people, then he can surely buy a big house like him. Of course, Justin has earned it. But when you think of it, he got a share of his money from the disc that I have in my collection. I don't know why, but the thought is amusing.
Anyways, so I was talking about...no lets not get there again. My point was, he too is a human being like me. My fellow Homo sapiens.
So what is it that really makes me different from the rich and the famous. Well, to begin with, I am not rich or famous. But, what is 'it' in essence? They can buy whatever they like without thinking twice. They can go wherever they want. But no. I refuse to accept. Thats not 'it' really. They can have toilet seats of gold! Wow! Must feel really cold!
Toilet seats of gold, do they really feel different? Can they really make someone feel rich and famous while using it?
Oh! So 'this' is what I was looking for. (Again, don't be quick to imagine!)
They can do whatever they want to fill up their senses. Yes, it all comes down to sensory gratification. To feel good!
Next thought, can making yourself feel in a certain way really be your purpose? Of course, its everyone's purpose to be happy. But can that be ever categorized as something achievable? Happiness comes our ways and it only depends on our capacities to recognize it.
Or was I thinking I would be filled with joy when I saw a child smile at me so joyously, flashing his only pair of incisors? Am I actually making efforts to be happy before I know I can smell the rain? Did I know how heavenly it feels when a newborn gently grasps my little finger? Did I know how peaceful it would be before I sat by the side of the sea listening to it? Did I dream of the butterfly before its beautiful colours held my sight? Did I anticipate the smile on my mother's face when she saw me enjoying her new recipe? Did I plan out before rolling on the grass that this is the day's plan to be happy? Or before lying on my back in the field and trying to see as far as possible, beyond the skies?
No, I didn't know that its so beautiful to see the moon on a cloudy night. Or to see the clouds crowning lush green mountains. I did not know that watching the documentary on sub-atomic particles on discovery or the one on rehabilitation of orphaned cubs on animal planet is going to make me happy. I didn't know before reading Dan Brown that it would be so interesting.
I wasn't really hunting for happiness when my friend greeted me with the most genuine smile ever. But it made me happy.
My senses have been filled up from time to time and I've only taken notice of it when I saw myself smile in the mirror. Happiness is not something you chase. Its something that walks along with you, perhaps within you, all the way to your goal.
I don't call these as simple pleasures of life. I think owning an island too is simple if you are capable of it. Simple varies with the subject. These pleasures have never been the purpose of my life. I dream and I dream big. I want to reach for the stars. But I welcome life with open arms. I want to take everything it gives to me. Be it happiness or pain. My goal is what I've chosen to give it. But when I reach there, I want to be happy already. So that when I look back, I know I've lived my life.
So if you cannot feel more happiness than me Mr. Timberlake, your @$$ can hardly book more space than mine!