For the villager doing jhum cultivation, freedom is going to his field everydaywwithout the fear of tripping over landmines
For parents, freedom is the absence of fear of their daughters being raped or their sons being beaten up or shot at by “unidentified elements”.
For the shopkeeper and vegetable vendor, freedom is the ability to ply his trade without the fear of bandhs wreaking havoc on their business
For the outstation student, freedom is enjoying his holidays without bandhs shortening his already too short holiday
For the common man, freedom is roaming the streets of Lamka without the fear of being caught in the midst of gunshots
For the office goer, freedom is going to office without fear of being mugged and threatened
For a government official, freedom is discharging his duties without undue disturbance from unscrupulous elements
For the rich, freedom is enjoying his riches without the fear of being kidnapped for ransom money
For a student appearing in HSLC exams freedom is the ability to write whatever he has crammed up without the fear of answer papers being insufficient!
Any more inputs from readers will be welcome.
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
Tuesday, August 21, 2007
Chak De
Yeah I know I am late. And this ain't a review of the movie either. You know I ain't a Bollywood fan. In fact, the only Hindi movies I truly enjoyed were the Munnabhai series 'Munnabha MBBS' and 'Lage Raho Munnabhai'. The plot of the movie, you probably already know about it.
As I said, I haven't watched the movie 'Chak De India' but when I heard that there were two North-eastern girls in the movie, my curiosity get the better of me. No, no I haven't gone to watch the movie after that, but I started 'googling' 'Mizo girl in Chak De' and 'Manipur girl in Chak De' and I just want to share what I found out as a result.
The Girls:
Chonchon Zimik, 24
Manipur
On field: Molly
Position: Left Half (back)
Jersey No. 6
How I was picked: A fashion design student from IITC, Pune, Zimik’s friend recommended her to a casting agent from Yashraj Films. ‘‘I was called for an audition. It was a hilarious experience because I was asked to say some fighting dialogues in Hindi. I don't speak Hindi well so the entire effect was rather comic. But I guess it worked.
The best and the worst: I trained for three months and I am happy that I can now play our national sport. Waking up at 4:30 am everyday for three months was the tough bit!SRK moment: I’m clumsy and I was always getting into a spot. Shah Rukh always laughed at that and I can never forget that smile and that twinkle in his eye when he would look at me.
Next move: Post film, I was slightly confused. But I’ll be realistic, I am not exactly what Bollywood is looking for. I work in Mumbai in a fashion designing workshop and will stick to fashion designing. But if there is a good role in a film that deals with the North-East or my state, then I am game for it.
Chak de means: Victory!
Lalhming Kimi, 20
Mizoram
On field: Mary
Position: Defender
How I was picked: A goalkeeper in her state team, her game and a great voice got her the role.
The best and the worst: Hockey came easy to her.
Next Move: Kimi is all set to graduate from player to coach—she’s pursuing a diploma in hockey coaching from Netaji Subhash National Institute of Sports, Patiala
The talented hockey duo from the North East. Their school books taught them that they are Indians but Indians taught them otherwise. The only reason they play for the National team is that it is the only National team they can play for. They would love to belong but not to the team that calls them 'foreign', and definitely not to the people that call them 'loose'. So they stick together and play. For the love of the game and the honour of their people.
Kudos to the girls. We are really proud of you.
And maybe I will watch the movie now, after all!
Thursday, August 16, 2007
Where the mind is without fear
The other day dad called me from home (Lamka) and said that there was a bomb blast the night before near Churachandpur police station leaving one person dead and two injured. I was like well that's nothing new, it happens all the time out there. There was not even a feeling of surprise or shock within me. Was it because I was still asleep when I heard the news and my mind was not clear at the time? I don't think so. News of gunshots, murders, kidnappings, etc doesn't shock anyone anymore. People have accepted these things as a part of life. In fact, they are even more surprised when a day goes by without any news of gunshots, murders or kidnappings.
A decade or so ago, Lamka was known as a peaceful town-where different communities live in peace and harmony. But then things take a different turn. The first time I heard a gunshot was when I was still a little kid. I don't remember the exact year but it was in the early 1990s. In the middle of the night I was awoken by loud gunshots. I was scared out of my wits and I was like "When will those bullets hit me and rip my body apart?" The gunshots sounded as if fired right in front of our house. I remember praying frantically for divine intervention. The next morning we heard that the shootings took place at Saikot, on the outskirts of Lamka town. As I grew older and Lamka became a hotbed of terrorism, I became less and less bothered by these things. I have become less sensitive. In fact, during the Kuki-Zomi ethnic clashes in the late 1990s gunshots can be heard every now and then. Barely a day pass by without the sound of gunshots or the sight of a village burnt down. During those days, we used to joke with friends "Last night there was no gunshot so I couldn't sleep well". Well, every Lamkan have become insensitised. Is it because we have less compassion towards our fellow beings? Are we less humane? I think not. It is just that we have accepted these things as a way of life and that is what Lamka has become. In fact, I have heard many people saying, "There is no killing, gunshot, murder or kidnapping in today's newspaper, it is not worth reading". Is this what we have become? We don't even want to read the paper if there was no news of killings, gunshots, kidnappings or the like. Even after 60 years of independence we, the Zomis are still far, far away from Rabindranath Tagore's ideal of freedom. Sigh! What curse have befallen my land and my people. Let me conclude with Rabindranath Tagore's famous poem
Where The Mind is Without Fear
WHERE the mind is without fear and the head is held high
Where knowledge is free
Where the world has not been broken up into fragments
By narrow domestic walls
Where words come out from the depth of truth
Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection
Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way
Into the dreary desert sand of dead habit
Where the mind is led forward by thee
Into ever-widening thought and action
Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake.
-Rabindranath Tagore
A decade or so ago, Lamka was known as a peaceful town-where different communities live in peace and harmony. But then things take a different turn. The first time I heard a gunshot was when I was still a little kid. I don't remember the exact year but it was in the early 1990s. In the middle of the night I was awoken by loud gunshots. I was scared out of my wits and I was like "When will those bullets hit me and rip my body apart?" The gunshots sounded as if fired right in front of our house. I remember praying frantically for divine intervention. The next morning we heard that the shootings took place at Saikot, on the outskirts of Lamka town. As I grew older and Lamka became a hotbed of terrorism, I became less and less bothered by these things. I have become less sensitive. In fact, during the Kuki-Zomi ethnic clashes in the late 1990s gunshots can be heard every now and then. Barely a day pass by without the sound of gunshots or the sight of a village burnt down. During those days, we used to joke with friends "Last night there was no gunshot so I couldn't sleep well". Well, every Lamkan have become insensitised. Is it because we have less compassion towards our fellow beings? Are we less humane? I think not. It is just that we have accepted these things as a way of life and that is what Lamka has become. In fact, I have heard many people saying, "There is no killing, gunshot, murder or kidnapping in today's newspaper, it is not worth reading". Is this what we have become? We don't even want to read the paper if there was no news of killings, gunshots, kidnappings or the like. Even after 60 years of independence we, the Zomis are still far, far away from Rabindranath Tagore's ideal of freedom. Sigh! What curse have befallen my land and my people. Let me conclude with Rabindranath Tagore's famous poem
Where The Mind is Without Fear
WHERE the mind is without fear and the head is held high
Where knowledge is free
Where the world has not been broken up into fragments
By narrow domestic walls
Where words come out from the depth of truth
Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection
Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way
Into the dreary desert sand of dead habit
Where the mind is led forward by thee
Into ever-widening thought and action
Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake.
-Rabindranath Tagore
Tuesday, July 10, 2007
Hello again
Seems like aeons ago that this blog was updated. Since then many things have happened in my life, for better or worse. Life has been hectic. The apprehension and excitement of joining a new job. Adjusting to new life (read job),et al. The change in setting, it seems, takes a heavy toll on my enthusiam for blogging compounded by the fact that there was no internet connection in my office computer. The computer guys have been informed several times, both over the phone and in writing. But till date there was no success on our part. At last one is resigned to the fact that this is how things work here. And you comforted yourself and learnt to take things easy. As soon as the computer guys come and do the needful, blogging will be resumed with renewed vigour. Apart from that, everything is working just fine here. It takes time to adjust to a new setting. But I am catching up on the nature of the work here. And I am really lucky that my boss is a very good and caring officer. I'll sign off now. Do check in for updates occassionally.
Sunday, May 13, 2007
Goodbye KSP
After slogging my ass off for about a year and a half in this company, I finally handed in my resignation on 4th May, 2007 to move towards "greener pastures".
My journey in this company has been marked by ups and downs. There have been times when I feel used and became really frustrated and times when I really love working for this company. Anyway these are parts of life. What I like about this company is the dress code. You can wear jeans and T-shirt to the office Mondays to Fridays (I have always been a T-shirt and jeans person). Also there are no night shifts unlike most of the other BPO companies.
I had been through the usual grind of office politics (there is as much politics in private companies as in the government sector), tiffs with work colleagues, ego clashes, among others. And there were some really caring and helpful colleagues who stood by me through all the bad times.
I have learnt many things while working for this company and I am grateful to the company for that. I am especially indebted to Sunaina, our assistant team leader. She has been my mentor and benefactor. She was the one who guided when I first joined the company and stood by me at all times. She was the one I turned to whenever I have difficulties regardig my work and she was ever ready to help me. Thank you Sunaina and my best wishes to the company and all my work colleagues there.
My journey in this company has been marked by ups and downs. There have been times when I feel used and became really frustrated and times when I really love working for this company. Anyway these are parts of life. What I like about this company is the dress code. You can wear jeans and T-shirt to the office Mondays to Fridays (I have always been a T-shirt and jeans person). Also there are no night shifts unlike most of the other BPO companies.
I had been through the usual grind of office politics (there is as much politics in private companies as in the government sector), tiffs with work colleagues, ego clashes, among others. And there were some really caring and helpful colleagues who stood by me through all the bad times.
I have learnt many things while working for this company and I am grateful to the company for that. I am especially indebted to Sunaina, our assistant team leader. She has been my mentor and benefactor. She was the one who guided when I first joined the company and stood by me at all times. She was the one I turned to whenever I have difficulties regardig my work and she was ever ready to help me. Thank you Sunaina and my best wishes to the company and all my work colleagues there.
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