Suhas Inamdar's Blog

The costly Mistake

(This is a fiction story based on certain real facts relating to the Mumbai blasts in 1993.)Date: 9 March 1993
Place: Nav Pada Police station, Mumbai
Inspector Patil looked at the prisoners in an intimidating way. He was determined to nail down the real culprits of the communal riots, which had rocked the Mumbai city in 1992. Sub-inspector Shinde and Head constable Jadhav knew, when Patil sir decides something in his mind, he would have his own way, no matter what. The ten prisoners, who were the prime suspects, stood in one line. Fear was writ large on their face, dreading about what was going to happen next.
Inspector Patil moved closer to them, walking slowly in front of them to observe their expressions very carefully and try to spot a clue, which could help him in his probe and investigation. He was expert in analyzing the body language and the facial expressions of the criminals. After all, he had spent nearly fourteen years in the police department. He stopped in front of a medium built person with rough unkempt hair.
“What is your name?”
“Sir, my name is Sakharam.”
“Where do you live?”
“Sir, I live in Sion.”
Suddenly, Patil slapped him tightly on his right cheek. The fear level in the room rose instantly. By reflex action, Sakharam placed his hand on the hurting cheek to sooth the burning sensation caused by that heavy fist.
“What were you doing during the riots last year?”
“Sir, I am telling the truth, I was not involved. I have been caught only on suspicion because I indulged in some fights earlier.” Everyone noticed the shiver in Sakharam’s voice.
“What kind of fights?” asked Patil more sternly.
“Sir, some people in my neighboring colony had been bullying me for some time. So, I too garnered support from my sources and thrashed them up.”
Patil looked at Shinde and Jadhav to ascertain their opinion about the veracity of Sakharam’s statements. They appeared to be in agreement with Sakharam, more because they were familiar with Sakharam’s past and his criminal record.
Inspector Patil looked at Sakharam coldly and moved on. That brought some relief to Sakharam. However, the remaining nine prisoners became tense, wondering whose number was next.
Inspector Patil moved ahead slowly. Suddenly, he punched the third prisoner in the row, in his stomach. That blow caught him unawares and he bent forward in pain coughing instantly. Inspector Patil caught him by his collar and pulled his face within a close range of few centimeters. His eyes teared the prisoner’s meek gaze as he asked, “What were you doing on that day?”
The prisoner was breathless. He fumbled with great difficulty, “Sir, I was not in town. I returned late in the night from my village. The police patrol caught me without any evidence.”
The sound of a tight slap echoed in the room. “Now, you want to teach me about evidence?” thundered Inspector Patil.
“No sir, I just wanted to say that I was not involved in the riots. Actually, I was little drunk on my way home. When they caught me, apparently I did not respond to them properly, which prompted them to round me up for further questioning.”
Inspector Patil saw the truth in his eyes. He slowly released his collar grip and left him. The prisoner tried to stand upright, still writhing in pain.
At that time, constable Bhende rushed in and informed Inspector Patil that Commissioner was on line for him. Inspector Patil asked Shinde and Jadhav to continue interrogating them for a while, until he returned after attending the call.
The moment Inspector Patil left the cell, there was a momentary relief in the atmosphere. However, that euphoria lasted only for a few moments. Sub-Inspector Shinde was in a bad mood, due to an intense argument he had with his wife in the morning over inviting his in-laws for a short holiday to his small one-bedroom apartment in Mumbai.
He took out his belt and looked menacingly at each one of them. The panic gripped them once again to see a new threat dawn on the scene. He randomly chose the seventh prisoner in the row and took him to an adjacent cell. The moment they were in the cell, he started lashing out at the prisoner, without even asking him a question.
The prisoner cried loudly trying to protect himself with his hands moving in defense to stop the impact of the thick leather belt. Sub-Inspector Shinde shouted while continuing his physical tirade, “What is your name?”
“Sir, my name is Gul Mohammed Shaikh. Please do not beat me sir. I have not done anything.”
“Gul Mohammed, tell me where were you on that day?”
“Sir, I was at my home. I did not do anything.” He pleaded with folded hands.
“Bloody, if everyone is innocent, then who created problem on the streets of Mumbai? Do you think all of us in the Police department are fools to buy in your stories?” Asked Sub-Inspector Shinde with a tone of sarcasm in his voice.
“Sir, please believe me sir. I did not do anything.”
At that point, Head Constable Jadhav too joined them and started thrashing Gul Mohammed with his shoes. Due to the impact, he instantly fell on the ground and cried hysterically trying to defend himself from this grave onslaught. His misery increased manifold, when he saw Inspector Patil enter the cell. For a moment, Inspector Patil assumed that Gul Mohammed had confessed his role in the communal riots. He too joined the duo and threw some heavy kicks and punches at Gul Mohammed.
When he could not take it anymore, Gul Mohammed shouted, “Sir, I shall tell you who did it… but please stop beating me.”
They immediately stopped beating him. They were happy to see a ray of hope in their investigation about the culprits who perpetrated the communal riots in Mumbai in 1992.
Gul Mohammed felt relieved at the momentary ceasefire and felt blessed not to receive any more blows. He lay there motionless for some time, trying to breathe normal and compose himself. Inspector Patil signaled Head Constable Jadhav to bring some water for Gul Mohammed. It was a commonly followed protocol to offer water and sooth a criminal, who agreed to confess and reveal the information.
Head constable Jadhav brought a glass of water and tea for all four of them. He ordered two chairs for his seniors, as the process of information flow was about to begin.
Gul Mohammed sat on the floor and gulped water earnestly. His face had mixed expressions of fear, anxiety, relief and worry.
Sub Inspector Shinde began the dialogue. “Yes, tell us Gul Mohammed. What was your role in the riots?”
“Sir, I was asked to throw stones at few buses and also burn a bus if it was empty.”
“Who asked you to do this?”
“Sir, Rehman asked me to do this.”
“Who is Rehman? Where does he live?”
“Sir, he is our leader. He lives somewhere in Koliwada area.”
“How often do you meet him?”
“Sir, we do not meet regularly. He contacts us whenever he wants us to create trouble in the city.”
“When are you likely to meet him next time?”
Inspector Patil’s sharp eyes caught a sense of uneasiness in Gul Mohammed’s body language. He sensed that Gul Mohammed was trying to hide something from them.
He entered the discussion. “Tell us, when and where are you planning to meet next?”
Gul Mohammed continued his silence. His gaze confirmed that he was worried deep inside.
Suddenly, Inspector Patil moved forward and slapped him on his face. Gul Mohammed cried in pain.
Head constable Jadhav cajoled him. “Look Gul Mohammed, please tell us everything that you know. We shall not harm you anymore. But remember very well, if you try to hide something or give us wrong information, you would regret it forever.”
Gul Mohammed appeared to have reconciled with himself to reveal the truth. He said in a very cautious tone, “Sir, there is a plan to carry out serial bombing in Mumbai.”
“What?” Cried Inspector Patil in disbelief.
“Serial bombing?” Asked Sub Inspector Shinde impatiently.
Gul Mohammed was not sure, whether he did a mistake by spilling the beans. Nevertheless, he continued in a guarded tone, “Sir, there is a plan to explode several high intensity bombs in Mumbai in a short span of time.”
“Who is planning this attack?” Asked Inspector Patil, still shocked with this revelation.
“Sir, I do not know who is the ultimate boss, but we got instructions from Tiger Memon.”
“Now, who is this Tiger Memon?” Asked Sub Inspector Shinde.
“Sir, he is our boss.”
“What does he do?”
“Sir, he smuggles Silver … that is his business known to us. He has some other businesses too.”
The Police officers exchanged meaningful glances. They had realized that they had stumbled on a very precious piece of information.
Inspector Patil asked curiously, “How do you know Tiger Memon?”
“Sir, he chose me along with 18 other men to form a special team.”
“To do what?”
“Sir, to carry out the serial bombings in Mumbai.”
The story had come back to serial bombings. For some reasons, Inspector Patil assumed that Gul Mohammed was trying to divert the attention of the investigating team, by mentioning about some ‘imaginary’ serial bombing plan. However, Sub Inspector Shinde was taking Gul Mohammed very seriously.
He asked in a probing tone, “Gul Mohammed, please tell us, what kind of training was given to you to carry out the serial bombing?”
Inspector Patil looked with slightly irritated expressions at Sub Inspector Shinde. He whispered in his ears, “Shinde, do you really believe that he is telling us the truth? He is simply trying to mislead us.”
Sub Inspector Shinde responded in Inspector Patil’s ears, “Sir, we cannot take chances. This guy is talking something very serious. Even if a part of what he is telling is true, this could have devastating effect on the law and order situation, and endanger the safety of our citizens.”
Inspector Patil restrained himself.
Sub Inspector Shinde continued, “Yes Gul Mohammed, please continue…”
Gul Mohammed said, “Sir, I travelled with the team to Pakistan via Dubai on 19 February. We were trained in making crude bombs and operating sophisticated weapons.”
“Who gave you the training? Did you see Tiger Memon?”
“There were special commandoes, who trained us. We saw Tiger Memon there.”
“When did you return from Pakistan? Did you come via Dubai?”
“Yes sir, I returned via Dubai on 4th March.”
“So, how did you land in Police station? I don’t think you had a change of heart and you volunteered to confess…”
“No sir. Actually, the police arrested my brother last week, as a bait to catch me. My mother was worried about my brother. I surrendered, so that my innocent brother can be released from the custody.”
The story looked logical. Yet, Inspector Patil was not willing to believe it.
Sub Inspector Shinde continued, “When do you propose to carry out the bombings?”
“Sir, we plan to execute this mission on Shiv Jayanti next month.”
Sub Inspector Shinde had a worried expression on his face. There was not much time left for them to act. He exchanged glances with Inspector Patil and Head Constable Jadhav.  
“How many bombs you have planned? Which places do you propose to keep the bombs?”
“Sir, I do not know the exact number, but I presume the plan is to detonate around a dozen bombs. These shall be planted at prominent places in Mumbai such as Sena Bhavan, Air India office, Bombay Stock exchange etc.”
At that point, Sub Inspector Shinde realized that while he was extremely worried to know about the devilish plan to destabilize Mumbai, his senior, Inspector Patil seemed to be take it very lightly. The expressions of Inspector Patil’s face revealed that his thoughts. To avoid any further embarrassment, Sub Inspector Shinde decided to stop the questioning for now. 
He said in a reassuring tone, “Ok Gul Mohammed. Please do not reveal about this plan to anyone. We shall call you later again, for more information.”
He asked Head Constable Jadhav to escort him back to his cell. 
Once they left, Inspector Patil burst out into a loud laughter.
Sub Inspector Shinde was confused. He asked, “What happened sir? Anything wrong?”
Inspector Patil said, controlling his laugher, “Shinde, I am surprised that you are taking this third rate petty criminal so seriously.”
“But sir, I could make out that he was telling the truth as known to him. He did not cook up the story. We can make out whether he was telling the truth based on the pauses he takes, his eye contact and eye movement, his body language, his tone, his breathing pattern. I can vouch that he was not lying.”
“Shinde, the only thing I learnt from this funny and entertaining exercise is that these small time thieves have become excellent actors too. Just ignore him and his statements.”
“But sir, he has revealed very critical information about the plan, the people behind the whole plan and the timelines. I feel that this is unfortunately true. We need to take him more seriously.”
“Are you serious Shinde? I am surprised at your intellect and evaluation skills. Please drop it here and now.”
“Sir, but he was talking about a big time smuggler and mastermind of the proposed serial bombings…”
Inspector Patil said in an irritated tone, “Who was telling the story? And whose story was it anyway?”
The words fluttered and flew in the wind.
Finally, Inspector Patil said in a consoling tone, “Look Shinde, this guy is a petty thief. Here is no chance that he has gone to Dubai and Pakistan. He may not even have a passport. Who would give him visa to visit those countries? Moreover, he was talking about Tiger Memon. I had seen his name figure in some of our confidential dossiers before, but he is far too big to be in contact with a minion such as Gul Mohammed. Trust me, this guy is fooling us, by narrating some imaginary stories only to divert our attention from our investigation of the communal riots. Nothing else. Also, check whether he is on drugs or under influence of alcohol. Nevertheless, I appreciate him for his imagination skills and concocting such a thrilling story.”
Sub Inspector Shinde tried one last time. “Sir, please remember that we would be committing a costly mistake by not taking him seriously. History would never forgive us for this lapse on our part. Not many police officers get such an opportunity to crack a high-profile case and bust it before the damage is done. We are on the verge of an extraordinary accomplishment in our services. Apologies sir, but I do not agree with your assessment in this case. I strongly believe that we should probe him further, track down the other 18 people and stop the carnage from happening in Mumbai.”
Inspector Patil looked at Sub Inspector Shinde as though he looked at an obstinate child, who was not wiling to listen to his parents. He said, “Enough Shinde. Please do not bore me with your Bollywood style dialogues with history forgiving us, and all that nonsense. Rest assured that nothing of what Gul Mohammed has said is going to happen. Leave it to me. I shall handle it. Focus on the other guys and get more clues on our original investigation about the communal riots. We need to solve that case soon, as there is already political pressure building upon our department questioning our efficiency. So, let us get going on the real stuff, without wasting any more time on this quack.”   
The discussion stopped there. Sub Inspector Shinde was not at all comfortable that his senior was taking this matter very lightly. He tried to convince him in every possible manner using logical argument. However, when any argument is based on using power over logic, the winner is always one with power. Sadly, logic takes a back seat.
When Head constable Jadhav returned, he could sense some that some argument had taken place between his two seniors. He quietly left the place, not willing to be embroiled in the discussion, which would have most likely resulted in forcing him to choose a side. He did not want to antagonize any of his seniors in the department.
***
The news of Gul Mohammed’s arrest spread like a wild fire in the underworld circles. There was panic across the rank and file of the gang, which had planned the most audacious strike in Mumbai till date. The mastermind was very apprehensive that Gul Mohammed would spill the beans under pressure. The mastermind did not want to take chances. He did not want the plan to be aborted at this stage, after so many months of planning and coordination. That was not a preferred option. His sole intention was to destabilize the commercial capital of India and flare up communal tensions between two religions.
Immediately, he contacted his trusted lieutenants in Mumbai and sought their advice. After lot of discussions, most of which was over the satellite phones, to avoid being tapped by the intelligence agencies, they all arrived at a conclusion. They needed to advance the execution date, if they were really serious about it. They could not take chances, with Gul Mohammed in police custody. He was sure to start singing when police up their degree level of torture.
Accordingly, they worked with alacrity and executed the plan on fourth day of Gul Mohammed’s arrest, without waiting for the Shiv Jayanti. On 12 March 993, Mumbai witnessed its worst terrorist attack in the history, in which hundreds of innocent people lost their lives and thousands others were injured.       
The police department had a very strong clue before the attack. Had they taken it more seriously, many lives could have been saved.
This incident shall go down in the history as a costly mistake  

Sunday Snippets#3 The Doctor’s dilemma - excerpts from the book ‘The Second Chance’.

One day, a medical representative came to Shekhar’s clinic and gave him a dozen bottles each, of the three syrups that had been made by their company for common ailments like fever, cold and cough. He briefed him on all the positives of those medicines and made him an offer. He said, “Doctor, we have a tie-up with all the medical stores in this locality. Whenever you prescribe this medicine to any of your patients, we shall give you a 10% commission.”
Shekhar said quickly, “No … I don’t need any commission from you. I only prescribe those medicines, which help my patients to recover faster…”
“Agreed sir, but we are giving this commission out of our gratitude. Please accept it…”
Shekhar could not decide at the spur of the moment, whether it was ethically correct to accept such commission for prescribing a specific medicine. He decided to think about it later, and did not commit anything to the medical representative.
After a few days, a marketing representative of a pathological laboratory in Vasant Vihar approached him. In a professional manner, he explained about the various diagnostic facilities available in their laboratory and requested him to avail their services. Shekhar was happy to note about a wide range of testing facilities available under one roof near his clinic.
After a strategic pause during the discussions, the marketing representative said, “Doctor, we shall pay you a commission of 40% on all the tests recommended by you to your patients.”
Again, Shekhar was surprised at this offer. He said sheepishly, “No, I do not require any such commission … I recommend only those tests to my patients, which help me to diagnose their ailments better. That’s all …”
“Yes Doctor, we agree with you. However, this is our gratitude towards you, for directing your patients to our laboratory …”
Once again, Shekhar got lost in deep thoughts. He was not sure, about the ethical aspect of that deal. Like the previous offer, he decided to think about the new one too later.
In just a few months, many more medical representatives belonging to different pharmaceutical companies visited him and offered him certain percentage as commission. Similarly, many more marketing representatives of the pathological laboratories located in the immediate vicinity also visited him and offered different percentages as commission for recommending tests to their patients.
He soon noticed a world of difference in his attitude. After diagnosing a patient, whenever he held the pen against the prescription pad, he would be more inclined to prescribe those medicines, which offered him higher percentages as commission. Sometimes, he prescribed those tablets, which were not required by the patient, but offered him good percentage as commission. Of course, such tablets acted merely as vitamin supplements and had no side effects on the patients.
Earlier, whenever patients had some ailments, Shekhar would prescribe them the routine tests such as blood test, urine test, X-ray etc. He would ask them to do advanced tests, only when it was required for a more accurate diagnosis of some serious ailment. However, he realized that there too, his thinking was now biased towards recommending those tests, which fetched him more commission. His choice of diagnostic centers was also being influenced by the commission offered to him instead of their accuracy and reliability of reports.
…‘The Second Chance’ releases in June 2018.

Sunday Snippets #2 - The Second Chance

Sunday Snippets
First difficult lesson in journalism - excerpt from the book ‘The Second Chance’.
…
As Vinod was heading for office, he saw some goons forcibly evicting some slum dwellers from a small barren plot. The slum dwellers were shouting themselves hoarse in desperation and were agitated against the forced and unlawful eviction drive. Until just a few days ago, if Vinod had happened to pass by such a scene, he would have simply ignored it and gone ahead with his work. However, now he was a journalist. He had a huge responsibility on his shoulders.
He quickly parked his scooter on the roadside and went closer to the area of action. None of the parties noticed him initially, as they were too busy in their vociferous altercations. However, when he started enquiring about the matter, he drew some stern looks from the leader of the goons. The leader looked at him with a pitiful expression and said acerbically, “O Hero, what is your problem? Mind your own business…”
Vinod’s heart missed a beat. However, he thought, “Nothing ventured, nothing gained,” and reiterated to himself that he was now a fearless journalist. He said, “This is my business. You cannot forcibly evict these people from here…”
The slum dwellers were confused and surprised to find a messiah in Vinod. No one knew him there.
The leader wondered whether Vinod had any political backing, to challenge them so fearlessly. Normally, a common man would stay away from such situations.
He came closer to Vinod and asked, “Who are you?”
“I am Vinod. I am a journalist of Republic Times. I shall report this news in our newspaper, if you do not stop this illegal eviction drive right now.”
The leader laughed hysterically, mocking Vinod and signaled his men to continue their work. Then he said in a cold voice to Vinod, “Look Mr. Vinod, do whatever you want. We shall continue our work. Remember that we are Seth Dharam Veer’s men. Now, if you choose to stay here for some more time, I cannot guarantee your safety. So, stop playing with fire. Think wisely, act smart and disappear from here.”
He smiled viciously. Vinod was now scared stiff. He realized he was skating on thin ice. He involuntarily stepped back and then moved away from the scene to his parked scooter. However, from a distance, he took some pictures from his camera, just to have some evidence. He noticed that his heartbeat had raised a bit during this entire episode.
The moment he reached office, he went to Kothari’s cabin and told him excitedly, “Sir, I have a sensational piece of news. Some goons are forcibly evicting some hapless slum dwellers in Gandhinagar. I intervened and tried to stop them, but they threatened me with consequences…”
“Wonderful, Vinod. I am proud of you. This would be a good scoop for us to report.”
“Yes sir, I suggest that we call the police immediately, and with proper protection, let us mobilize the residents around that area, to stop this unlawful eviction.”
“Yes”, Kothari said thoughtfully. “By the way, do you have any idea, on whose behest those goons were acting?”
“Yes, sir. He was very arrogant when he told me that he was working for Seth Dharam Veer…”
There was a sudden change in Kothari’s expressions. He asked cautiously, “Did you reveal your identity in front of them?”
“Yes sir, as responsible journalists, we should not be afraid of anyone. I told them that I am a journalist working for Republic Times."
Now the concern was palpable on Kothari’s face through his uncomfortable expressions. Vinod noticed it and asked, “Why sir, any problem?”
Kothari explained in an irritated tone, “We receive our highest revenue on advertisements from Seth Dharam Veer’s companies. He is our important client. We cannot publish any matter, which can harm him in any manner.”
Vinod was struck dumb to see that Kothari was defending Seth Dharam Veer, only because he was an important client of Republic Times! “So, where are the ethics of journalism? What moral rights does Republic Times have to say boldly ‘Truth Shall Prevail” in its tag line?
Words failed him. At that time, the phone on Kothari’s desk rang. Vinod could see traces of fear on his face, as he picked up the receiver.
“Hello? Kothari here. Good morning?”
Those were the only words spoken by Kothari during that two-minute telephonic conversation. For the rest of the time, he was only murmuring words like “Yes, sir”, “Agreed” etc.
After replacing the receiver, Kothari wiped the beads of sweat from his forehead and gulped down one full glass of water from his table.
He looked at Vinod worriedly. His voice sank to a husky whisper when he told Vinod, “You have landed us in deep trouble…”
Vinod could sense the trouble. However, his mind was still not accepting his fault.
Kothari collected his thoughts and spoke in a calm tone, “Look Vinod, please delete the photos you have taken in your camera today. Moreover, you are not going to write any report on that incident. Is it clear?”
“Yes sir.”
“You may go now…” Kothari was never so curt in his behaviour with Vinod.
Vinod left the cabin in a dejected mood. He had learnt the first lesson in journalism the hard way.
…
‘The Second Chance’ releases in May 2018.

#Sunday Snippets - #The Second Chance

Sunday Snippets
Following is an excerpt from the opening scene of the book ‘The Second Chance’.
…
The community hall in Vasant Kunj’s Radhe Sham Colony was abuzz with excited voices. It was an extra special occasion for the residents of Radhe Sham Colony. Three of their children had appeared for the tenth grade exams that year and all three of them had passed in the first division with good marks. The three families decided to collectively host a party to celebrate their children’s unflinching efforts. The stars of the party were of course the three diligent children– Arvind Malhotra, Vinod Gupta and Shekhar Bhatia. They almost felt like celebrities at an award ceremony.
A 5-kg cake had been especially ordered from ‘New Cake Palace’ to mark the special occasion. The children’s favourite teacher, Ram Prasad Sharma was also present.
The topic of discussion drifted on the future career of these three friends. Vinod’s grandfather, Shivaram Gupta asked the three children about their career aspirations. 
Shivaram advised, “Dear children, remember one thing. Choose a career path that will make you happy. Identify your passion. Confucius rightly said, ‘Choose a job you love and you will never have to work a day in your life!’ If you select a career that you are passionate about, you will enjoy life. However, if you make a mistake and select a career path that does not interest you, you will suffer throughout your life. This is your life…live it well!”
At that point, Arvind’s father, Akash Malhotra spoke in a tone that was indicative of worldly wisdom gained with years of experience. “Children, have you thought about it yet? We don’t want to push you towards anything today itself. All we want to do is to set the thought process rolling in your minds, so that you don’t end up with an eleventh hour decision. So please speak out what interests you have. We would like to hear from you about your dreams and ambitions.”
The pressure further increased on the children, when they were asked to speak out their mind. The tension was palpable on their innocent faces.
Finally, Vinod cleared his throat and started speaking with unflagging enthusiasm. “I want to become a journalist. I believe that journalism is the fourth pillar of democracy. The first three pillars are the legislative, which makes the law, the executive, which implements the law and the judiciary, which protects the law. Journalism aims to ensure that these three pillars function efficiently, by working as a watchdog on them. After the movie stars, cricketers and politicians, the journalists are the most popular category of people in our country. They influence the opinions of millions of fellow citizens with effective presentation of their viewpoints on important and sensitive topics of national interest. I wish to be an influencer…
Arvind said in a firm voice, “I want to be a lawyer. I want to be instrumental in giving justice to the common masses. I am impressed with the manner in which eminent lawyers put forward their clever arguments in courtrooms, in order to explore the finer and hidden elements of truth. Apart from God, who operates from heaven, the courtrooms are the only place, where justice is meted out to the people’s pleas. It is a very powerful position and I want to use that power for the benefit of the society. I want to be powerful…”
Shekhar said in a very balanced voice, “I want to become a doctor. A doctor is nonetheless God in human form. Doctors save the lives of people. They treat you when you are sick. Without good health, one cannot reach far in his life, and the doctors facilitate you in leading a healthy life. They are the most blessed people in this world. I want to experience the magic of healing people and see the feelings of genuine gratitude in their eyes. I want to be a savior…”
At that point, Ram Prasad Sharma stood up and congratulated the boys for having decided their goals in life. He said, “For any teacher, the biggest happiness comes from seeing his students stretching their wings and savouring the sweet taste of success. Being a facilitator and guiding a child to realize his potential is a teacher’s greatest joy! Seeing a child turn from a young student to a mature adult making positive contribution to the world is a feeling that only a teacher or a parent can truly understand. Today, I can blissfully say that I am riding the crest of a wave as my three students have not only made wise career choices but also elicited their desire to walk in the light of creative altruism. So step out into this glorious world and inspire and catalyze others to be good!”
Ram Prasad Sharma’s positive emotional overwhelm left the gathering speechless. The deep look of contentment was writ large on his face.
He continued with his string of stellar advice, “My dear students, on this momentous occasion, I would like to offer one important piece of advice to you. Always remember one thing in life - On your path of professional advancement, occasionally you might be tempted to digress from your originally intended path. Pangs of greed might start gnawing at you. And unfortunately, greed is a powerful motivator. However, in such situations, let your conscience be your guide. Please remain undaunted in your approach. Do not compromise your ethics and moral values at any cost. Always ask yourselves, whether you truly deserve the money earned by you. A good character is one’s most valuable asset, which no one can purchase at any cost. You have to toil and work hard for it and it is the foundation for success in life. You are still very young to understand the gravity of my statements, but at some appropriate time, you will know the importance of what I am saying now. Best of luck…!”
…‘The Second Chance’ releases in May 2018.

The last but also the LEAST Scion…!

The congress party was formed in 1885, and played an important role in the freedom movement in India. For almost a century since its inception, it was a solid fulcrum, around which all other political parties played only secondary roles. The party’s history was brought in limelight recently, as Rahul Gandhi became the 49th Party President.
Most of the past party presidents have faded into oblivion, to the extent that the current generation may not have even heard their names. The only exceptions to this are the stalwarts such as Subhash Chandra Bose, Sardar Vallabh bhai Patel, Rajendra Prasad and Mahatma Gandhi. These people had amplified the aura of the position of party president with their high intellect, selfless attitude and exemplary leadership qualities. Their contribution to the party and the country transcends generations and deserves respectful remembrance long after they are gone.
In the last 40 years, except for a brief period 1992 – 98, the members of Gandhi family occupied the position of the party president. Out of this, 17 years were with Sonia Gandhi. Incidentally, she is the person, who held the office of President for the longest period in the long and illustrious history of Congress. It is ironical for a party with a rich legacy of 132 years, to have a foreign-born person as the longest serving president, even after 50 years of independence.
As Rahul Gandhi takes over the reins as the president of this grand old party, there is a mixed outlook about his and the party’s future. He has the dubious record of losing a string of elections ever since he started taking active part and leading the election campaign for his party. In fact, someone has already applied for a Guinness record on his name for losing maximum number of elections.
His public speeches and the very few addresses in parliament can at best be described as ordinary. On the contrary, many of his impromptu statements on camera makes one wonder, whether he really understands the intensity and depth of the issue discussed by him. His antipathy towards the ‘old brass’ of Congress party is not hidden from anyone. It is a coincidence that, none of the senior party leaders would really want to work under him.
With his official coronation, the young Turks within the Congress party would be energized. They know that he would be dependent on them for advice and suggestions. So, they get prominence, if not on the screen, at least behind the scene. Better to have something than nothing.
However, one question, which we need to ponder over, is how long would all this last? He and the party are now standing at the crossroads, from where, they could reach zenith or nadir. The party can still be revived to its past glory. However, for that to happen, Rahul’s ‘wisdom’ needs to be perceived not just by the Congressmen, but even others. He needs to strive and work hard to generate enough respect for himself in the minds of people, that they stop making funny jokes about him. He needs to stop his habit of disappearing without a trace in the midst of hot action on political front in the country. Those are the moments, on which he needs to prove his mettle and leave his imprint in the minds of the party men.  
More importantly, who would be his successor? In the current scenario, without a Gandhi on the top post, the Congress party would crumble like a pack of cards. Rahul is in his late 40s, and not married still. He has acquired this position, not on his merit, but because his ailing mother has lost the zeal to continue anymore. His sister, Priyanka is saddled with a notorious husband, who has many allegations of impropriety in real estate deals against him. Priyanka’s children are still far away from making their debut in politics.
Under such circumstances, it almost looks certain that Rahul shall be the last emperor of the Gandhi family to rule over Congress. It is unfortunate for a party of such historical legacy to end on such a sad note. He would probably be the only party president, who is elected to the coveted post for absolutely no proven credentials.
He is the LAST but also the LEAST Scion of the Congress Party …!

My address at BK Gulf Headquarters on World FM Day 2017

Good Afternoon Ladies and Gentlemen,
It gives me great pleasure to be here again, addressing you all on the World FM day 2017. The theme chosen for last year’s celebration was ‘Empowering people for a productive world’. Accordingly, we discussed about various ways and means of empowering people. This year’s theme is ‘Enabling Positive Experiences’. So, let us now discuss on what are the positive experiences and how do we enable them.
Before we proceed further, I wish to thank for all your reviews and feedback on my last year’s address. Your positive feedback has motivated me further and also put more responsibility on me. Someone here told me that after my last year’s address, for next few days, people frequently used the terms ‘Positive strokes’ and ‘Negative strokes’. Good!
This year’s theme is ‘Enabling Positive Experiences’. So, let us discuss on what it means.
Let us focus for a while on the word ‘enabling’. Enabling means to facilitate, support, assist, aid in achieving something. However, to be in a position to enable others, first we must be satisfying that criteria. That means, first we should have a positive experience. How do we have a positive experience? What is positive experience?
Every person has a way of thinking. Nobody is right or wrong. It is just the way they are! Let me start my first story of two wolves here. 
An old Grandfather said to his grandson, who came to him with anger at a friend who had done Him an injustice, "Let me tell you a story.”
"I too, at times, have felt great hate for those who have taken so much, with no sorrow for what they do. But hate wears you down, and does not hurt your enemy. It's like taking poison and wishing your enemy would die. I have struggled with these feelings many times."
"It is as if there are two wolves inside me; one is good and does no harm. He lives in harmony with all around him and does not take offense when no offense was intended. He will only fight when it is right to do so, and in the right way."
"But the other wolf... Ah! The tiniest thing will send him into a fit of temper. He fights everyone, all the time, for no reason. He cannot think because his anger and hate are so great. It is helpless anger, for his anger will change nothing.”
"Sometimes it is hard to live with these two wolves inside me, for both of them try to dominate my spirit.”
The boy looked intently into his Grandfather's eyes and asked, "Which one wins, Grandfather?"
The Grandfather smiled and quietly said, "The one I feed."
So, if we feed the positive wolf within us, it will generate positivity and vice versa. We all were born as tiny babies with a clear history of any positive or negative attitude. We were all same. We developed our personality, bit by bit over the years and we continue to do so every minute. Start feeding the wolf that generates positivity within you and you will feel the difference.
One important thing is that positivity is highly contagious. If you are positive, you will send out positive vibes in the surroundings and people will actually feel those vibes. The positive wolves within them will wake up and take charge of his thoughts and actions. The best example is the top boss’s behavior in meetings. If he starts the meeting with a smiling face, making a gentle eye contact with everyone, the meeting would invoke maximum participation from all the attendees. On the other hand, if the boss comes in the meeting room with a frown on his face, it will immediately translate everyone into a nervous mode. Then, the meeting would be a tense affair with minimum participation. Which is better for the company?
Here is a good example about how positivity is highly contagious. The pilots of every flight make some mandatory announcements during the flight, one after taking off and reaching the altitude, and second just before arriving at the destination, thanking the passengers. Generally, when the pilots make these announcements, very few people actually listen to them. Most of the people are forced to listen, as they have no choice. Even the headphones connected to the videos switch off so that you hear the announcements. These announcements are standard and pretty boring. To make it worse, the pilots are trained to speak in a slightly stretched tone, giving more-than-usual pauses between two sentences.
This particular day, the pilot made an announcement, which made everyone to listen to him. Everyone looked up, and then at each other, wondering what was happening. The pilot said, “Good Morning Ladies, Gentlemen and Children, this is the 7.35am and you'll be pleased to know that we are right on time. This means that we will get you to where you are going in plenty of time. And what a lovely morning it is today. The sun is shining, temperature is about 21 degrees, birds are singing, and all's right with the world. I trust you have a great day wherever you are going. Thanks for choosing to fly with us this morning and I hope to see you again soon. Have a great day.”
Suddenly, the people started smiling, looking smilingly at each other. Many of them started conversing with their neighbors. The strangers became friends! Such is the contagious nature of positivity.
The next question is how do you feel positive? Actually, it is very simple. All you need to do is just not worry on two days in a week. Everything will be fine automatically. How you look at these two days determine how you spend your life.
One of these days is Yesterday with all its mistakes and scars, its faults and blunders, its aches and pains. Yesterday has passed forever beyond our control. No money in the world can bring back yesterday.
We cannot undo a single act we performed; we cannot erase a single word we said. Yesterday is gone forever.
The other day we should not worry about is Tomorrow with all its possible adversities, its burdens, its large promise and its poor performance; Tomorrow is also beyond our immediate control.
Tomorrow’s sun will rise, either in splendor or behind a mask of clouds, but it will rise. Until it does, we have no stake in tomorrow, for it is yet to be born.
This leaves only one day, Today. Any person can fight the battle of just one day. It is when you and I add the burdens of those two awful eternities, ‘Yesterday’ and ‘Tomorrow’ that we break down.
It is not the experience of today that drives a person mad. It is the remorse or bitterness of something, which happened yesterday, and the dread of what tomorrow may bring.
Let us, therefore, live but one day at a time.
Being Positive also means that you are optimistic about the future. How do you develop a mindset to be Positive?
Well, the story about Potato, Eggs and Coffee beans would reveal how to be positive.
Once upon a time a daughter complained to her father that her life was miserable and that she didn’t know how she was going to make it. She was tired of fighting and struggling all the time. It seemed just as one problem was solved, another one soon followed.
Her father, a chef, took her to the kitchen. He filled three pots with water and placed each on a high fire. Once the three pots began to boil, he placed potatoes in one pot, eggs in the second pot, and ground coffee beans in the third pot.
He then let them sit and boil, without saying a word to his daughter. The daughter, moaned and impatiently waited, wondering what he was doing.
After twenty minutes, he turned off the burners. He took the potatoes out of the pot and placed them in a bowl. He pulled the eggs out and placed them in a bowl.
He then ladled the coffee out and placed it in a cup. Turning to her he asked. “Daughter, what do you see?”
“Potatoes, eggs, and coffee,” she hastily replied.
“Look closer,” he said, “and touch the potatoes.” She did and noted that they were soft. He then asked her to take an egg and break it. After pulling off the shell, she observed the hard-boiled egg. Finally, he asked her to sip the coffee. Its rich aroma brought a smile to her face.
“Father, what does this mean?” she asked.
He then explained that the potatoes, the eggs and coffee beans had each faced the same adversity– the boiling water.
However, each one reacted differently.
The potato went in strong, hard, and unrelenting, but in boiling water, it became soft and weak.
The egg was fragile, with the thin outer shell protecting its liquid interior until it was put in the boiling water. Then the inside of the egg became hard.
However, the ground coffee beans were unique. After they were exposed to the boiling water, they changed the water and created something new.
“Which are you,” he asked his daughter. “When adversity knocks on your door, how do you respond? Are you a potato, an egg, or a coffee bean? “
Moral of the story is that in life, things happen around us, things happen to us, but the only thing that truly matters is what happens within us.
Which one are you?
There is another interesting story about developing a positive outlook even when you are in problems.
There once was a very wealthy and curious king. This king had a huge boulder placed in the middle of a road. Then he hid nearby to see if anyone would try to remove the gigantic rock from the road.
The first people to pass by were some of the king’s wealthiest merchants and courtiers. Rather than moving it, they simply walked around it. A few loudly blamed the King for not maintaining the roads. Not one of them tried to move the boulder.
Finally, a peasant came along. His arms were full of vegetables. When he got near the boulder, rather than simply walking around it as the others had, the peasant put down his load and tried to move the stone to the side of the road. It took a lot of effort but he finally succeeded.
The peasant gathered up his load and was ready to go on his way when he say a purse lying in the road where the boulder had been. The peasant opened the purse. The purse was stuffed full of gold coins and a note from the king. The king’s note said the purse’s gold was a reward for moving the boulder from the road.
The king showed the peasant what many of us never understand: every obstacle presents an opportunity to improve our condition.
Similarly, whenever you are faced with a problem in your work, look at it as an opportunity to do something good. It is an opportunity to correct a wrong or to enhance an inefficient process. Without problems, there would be little for us to show our capabilities. Just imagine, if none of the sites had any FM related issues, all contracts would be either heavily downsized or closed in no time. So, problems are good. But in pursuit of excellence, please do not create new problems. Deal with the existing ones.
Sometimes, the problems are too big to handle. We get tensed up, and the failure seems to be inevitable. Those are the times, when our real grit is tested. A person who can think with a cool head in the deepest of crisis can solve any problem. Many people weaken their chances of success by getting anxious, tense and nervous.
This story of Steven Callahan describes how you can surmount any problem.
In 1982 Steven Callahan was crossing the Atlantic alone in his sailboat when it struck something and sank. He was out of the shipping lanes and floating in a life raft, alone. His supplies were few. His chances were small. Yet when three fishermen found him seventy-six days later (the longest anyone has survived a shipwreck on a life raft alone), he was alive -- much skinnier than he was when he started, but alive.
His account of how he survived is fascinating. His survived on fish and sea water.
What is noteworthy is that he managed to keep himself going when all hope seemed lost, when there seemed no point in continuing the struggle, when he was suffering greatly, when his life raft was punctured and after more than a week struggling with his weak body to fix it, it was still leaking air and wearing him out to keep pumping it up. He was starved. He was desperately dehydrated. He was thoroughly exhausted. Giving up would have seemed the only sane option.
When people survive these kinds of circumstances, they do something with their minds that gives them the courage to keep going. Many people in similarly desperate circumstances give in or go mad. Something the survivors do with their thoughts helps them find the guts to carry on in spite of overwhelming odds.
"I tell myself I can handle it," wrote Callahan in his narrative. "Compared to what others have been through, I'm fortunate. I tell myself these things over and over, building up fortitude...."
The truth is, our circumstances are only bad compared to something better. But others have been through much worse. We are lucky to be where we are, no matter how bad it seems to us compared to our fantasies. It's a sane thought and worth thinking.
So here, coming to us from the extreme edge of survival, are words that can give us strength. Whatever you're going through, tell yourself you can handle it. Compared to what others have been through, you're fortunate. Tell this to yourself repeatedly, and it will help you get through the rough spots with a little more fortitude.
The last important point about the tricks to remain positive is to refuse to accept failure as an option. Never give up. There are countless stories of people who succeeded just when they were about to give up after their repeated failures to achieve something. Unfortunately, there are many more people, who gave up when they were just about to strike gold. The trick here is to stay on and not give up. 
No example is better suited for this positive attitude than that of Sir Edmund Hillary.
We all know that Sir Edmund Hillary was the first man to climb Mount Everest. On May 29, 1953 he scaled the highest mountain then known to man-29,000 feet straight up. He was knighted for his efforts. He even made American Express card commercials because of it! However, until we read his book, High Adventure, we don't understand that Hillary had to grow into this success. In 1952 he attempted to climb Mount Everest, but failed. A few weeks later a group in England asked him to address its members. Hillary walked on stage to a thunderous applause. The audience was recognizing an attempt at greatness, but Edmund Hillary saw himself as a failure. He moved away from the microphone and walked to the edge of the platform. He made a fist and pointed at a picture of the mountain. He said in a loud voice, "Mount Everest, you beat me the first time, but I'll beat you the next time because you've grown all you are going to grow... but I'm still growing!"
Such a positive spirit would definitely reflect in your professional and personal life. You would go on conquering one goal after another, raising the bar every time. The joy and satisfaction of success would give you the necessary motivation to take on more and more challenges in life.
So, next time someone says that there is a problem, sense an opportunity and jump into it. Every problem brings you unforeseen opportunities in disguise.
Some of you might say that your problems are far too serious in nature and cannot be easily solved. For them, here is my last story for the day.
Once upon a time, a saint came to a village and asked the villagers, if they had any problem. All of them thought for a while and said yes, they had some problem. He announced that he would organize a special ‘problem exchange event’ in which people can exchange their problems with one another in anonymity. What they had to do was to wrap all their problems in a bundle of cloth and keep it near a huge tree on the outskirts of the village with his nametag on it. Then, he can choose anyone’s problems wrapped similarly in a bundle of cloth and carry home.
Everyone was amused. The beggar in the village wanted to take the problems of the wealthiest man in the town, because he assumed that he had far too lesser problems. Similarly, the salaried people wanted to exchange their problems with the businessmen and vice versa. Everyone began dreaming about this ‘problem exchange’ mega event, in which they could get rid of their problems and borrow the ‘much lesser’ problems of rich people from their village.
The day arrived. Everyone carefully wrapped their problems and headed for the giant tree. The beggar went early with his bundle. He placed it near the tree and looked around for the wealthiest man’s bundle. To his surprise, he found that the wealthiest man’s bundle was much bigger than his bundle. He was surprised.
At that time, he heard someone coming with his bundle. So, he hid behind another tree and watched. To his surprise, this person was another one such person, who he thought was a very happy man, but his bundle was also heavier.
Soon, he realized that many people watched from behind the trees and were surprised to see that every person had more or less a similar, heavy bundle of worries.
Some of them wanted to exchange their bundle of same size. But then, they thought for a while. They had no idea what problems were wrapped in that bundle. It was suspense, a mystery. However, they were very well aware of what was in their bundle. Moreover, they were not sure, whether they would be able to tackle those unknown problems. At the same time, they were very familiar with their own problems, and were facing them and resolving them on a day-to-day basis. So, which was more preferable? Known problems or unknown problems?
They all took back their own bundles home. 
The message is very clear. You would not find a single person on this earth, who does not have a problem. Everyone has some problem or other. Only the type of the problem is different. So, start accepting your problems, resolving them one piece at a time and move forward.
I once again wish you all a very Happy ‘World FM day’. As per this year’s theme, ‘Enable positive experiences’ around you and experience the difference.
Thank you for hearing me patiently for so long.
I thank BK Gulf once again for having invited me here today.
Thank you…!        

Inspiring and Motivating stories Volume #10

This is a collection of inspiring and motivational short stories, which I have posted earlier on my Facebook page. Every story gives a distinctly positive message. Enjoy reading the volume #10 of this collection.
1.
Many people tend to spend their retired life in a peaceful manner, relaxing and enjoying finer moments of life. However, there are some exceptional people, who spend their time in unique ways…Like Pravin Tulpule, an ex-office from Indian Navy. He retired as Lt. Commander after serving for 17 long years in Navy.He keeps himself busy by visiting pediatric wards in hospitals and orphanages, and shows magic shows to the children. He dresses like a clown to evoke laughter among the children. Some children, fighting for various diseases like cancer also momentarily forget their worries and roll out with laughter.Moreover, he does this free … because he believes that bringing smile on the faces of deprived and suffering children is priceless. That satisfies him immensely.Everyone lives for himself. Some live for others. He is one among them.Such people make this world a better place to live in …!
2.
It is a matter of great pride and pleasure for any father to see his daughter prosper. But the pleasure experienced by Ramniwas Shukla, 62, is something unique. He is a tea stall owner, who serves tea in Indore police control room. These days, when he serves tea to all the staff there, his heart swells with pride when he serves tea to Sub-inspector Tina Shukla, his daughter.Tina Shukla says that her father motivated her since childhood to think big and never give up in the face of adversities. She gives the credit of her success to her father’s continuous encouragement.This story brings out two adorable aspects – one, a humble beginning need not limit one’s dreams and two, a broad minded father, who encouraged his daughter to excel in her career.
3.
What do we do with the leftover medicines after we are cured of minor ailments? In all probabilities, they lie in our shelves unused, till the expiry date and are thrown away one day. In this common habit of people, Omkarnath Sharma, 79, from New Delhi has found a novel method of doing his bit towards contributing to the society. Daily, he goes around the upper middle class and middle class societies knocking on the doors for leftover medicines. He collects them and stores them in a small rented room near his house in Manglapuri. The poor people visit him daily between 4 – 6 pm to see if the medicine required by them is available with him. He donates around Rs. 5 lakhs worth of medicines every month. He is popularly known as ‘Medicine baba’ in the neighborhood.At an age, when people generally tend to relax and enjoy their life Omkarnath Sharma walks 5 – 7 km every day in pursuit of his dream of providing free medicines to the poor, while at the same time avoiding the wastage itself.He has proved that social service can be done in any form. What is required is … the will to do. 
4.
Some people value their passion more than success. They believe that doing something, which we are passionate about, gives us more happiness than doings things, which we do not like, even if that makes us successful.No one can prove this more convincingly than Roshni Mukherjee.Roshni had a dreamt of becoming a teacher since her childhood.  She just loved teaching. After completing her M.Sc. (Physics) in 2011, she took up a job in a MNC to support her family. However, the job pressure prevented her from taking up the teaching activity.Therefore, in a decisive moment, she quit the job and started a website called examfear.com. In just few months, the YouTube channel of her online platform had over 74,000 subscribers. The website has around 4000 videos on Maths and Science for classes 9 to 12. Her main aim is to provide quality education to those children, who cannot afford to pay high fees of famous tutorials. She is immensely satisfied today to see that thousands of students are benefited from her online tuitions, which are absolutely free. She supports herself on the earnings from advertisements and donations from charitable institutions.She can surely be classified as a modern day Dronacharya teaching thousands of Eklavya around the globe.
5.
It is not always that a person gets declared a country’s ‘citizen of the day’. Especially when you are on a foreign land.But Tejinder Pal Singh, an Indian-origin cab driver, has been named ‘Australian of the Day‘ for feeding the poor and homeless in northern Darwin since the past three years.Every last Sunday of the month, Tejinder finishes his shift as a driver and goes to northern Darwin where he feeds the poor and homeless, giving them a taste of Indian cuisine which includes chickpeas, rice and vegetarian curry cooked especially for them. Tejinder prepares and carries 30 kg of Indian food in his van, which has a sign that says ‘Free Indian food for hungry and needy people.’ Tejinder is a religious man. He says that according to his religion, ten percent of one’s income should be spent on helping the needy and the homeless.He works as an air-conditioner mechanic during the day and as a cabbie at night. People who are impressed by his work often try to provide monetary support to Tejinder, but he refuses the favour. He says that rather than donating money, they should start their own food drives within the local community.India is proud of you, Tejinder Pal Singh … you inspire us.
6.
All of us know the importance of protecting our environment, but how many of us are willing to do something out of the way to contribute to this cause? Not many.Well, Dhananjay Chakraborty, 40, a taxi driver from Kolkata is an exception.He has installed a green grass-bed on the roof of his taxi, by modifying the roof at a cost of Rs. 22,000/- which also increased the weight by 65 kg. He has also placed eight potted plants in the trunk behind the back seat to give a garden effect. This increases his fuel consumption but he does not mind. The temperature inside the non-AC taxi remains cooler because of these plants and green roof. He says that it is not just enough that one plants trees. What is more important is to nurture them well, by taking their enough care. People like Dhananjay Chakraborty are rare and few. Their intentions and actions in protecting the environment are far more impressive than the CSR initiatives by big corporates, who do it more for image building and publicity purposes.Tomorrow, if we happen to see that the environment conditions have really improved, we can be sure that Dhananjay Chakraborty’s contribution is also there.Just like the contribution of proverbial squirrel in building the Ram Setu…!  
7.
All of us have guests in our home sometime or other. How about having same guests, who come daily for over ten years? Well, Sekhar from Chennai has been feeding around two thousand parrots every day for over ten years now. That too, two times in a day, at 6 am and then at 4.30 pm. He wakes up at 4.30 am every day to prepare the food for these parrots. He places the food neatly on racks on his terrace and the parrots come regularly without fail.He is a camera mechanic by profession and spends around 40% of his income on feeding the parrots. He says that during these years, he might have missed a meal, but not these parrots. He says that one must love not just the human beings, but also all the living beings. Oscar Wilde had said, “The smallest act of kindness is worth more than the grandest intention”.He is demonstrating that … so well.
8.
How often do we come across a grade 6 student donating funds to the Chief minister’s welfare schemes, from the prize money earned though contests? Rarely indeed.Well, Maryam Siddiqui from Cosmopolitan High school, Mumbai does that. Maryam shot into fame a few months ago, when she topped the Bhagwad Gita contest conducted by ISKCON (International society for Krishna Consciousness). She was showered with felicitations, awards and honors from around the country, starting from Pranab Mukherjee and Sonia Gandhi, several chief ministers, and many other organizations.She won the first prize amongst 4,000 students from 195 schools in Maharashtra who took part in the competition. However, that is not the end of the proud deeds of this girl.Since then, she has been donating all her cash prizes for the betterment of girl education in the country. Every cheque that she has received, which include cash rewards ranging  from Rupees 11 thousand to 11 lakhs, have been returned back to the respective administration with the request that it be used in a scheme or something to provide better education for girls.Maryam is from a middle class family, who lives at Mira road in Thane, Mumbai. Her father, Asif Siddiqui, says, “Though we are not financially well off, my daughter has made it her mission to work for the education of girls.” Maryam has also been visiting few other places and distributing sweets and money to poor girls by herself. Hats off to the amazing girl who shows us the true meaning of generosity.
9.
What do the children do with their damaged toys? Most of the children throw them away or do not play with them anymore.Well, Vedant Dhiren Thaker, 11, from Mumbai is an exception.He uses all the broken toys and sometimes disassemble electronic toys to take out the components inside, to make new toys very different from the original ones. It all began during the summer vacations, when he went out several times and many times his friends came to call him to play outside. Every time the doorbell rang, his mother had to leave whatever work she was doing and open the door. This irritated her, like most of the mothers. Sensing a need and an opportunity here, he developed a circuit using the remote control of a toy car, batteries, motor drive mechanism circuit to develop a door-latch-opener with remote control. Now, whenever the doorbell rings, his mother just presses a button on the remote control and the door opens. Vedant has demonstrated that innovations can be done without any formal technical education or long work experience. What is required is an analytical mind and a desire to learn.So, are we looking at a future genius in Vedant? Time only will tell.In the meantime, we wish him all the very best in his out-of-box-pursuits.   
10.
These days, most of us experience traffic jams very often. What do we do when we are stuck in traffic a jam? Curse the traffic? Spend some anxious moments? Well, M. Chandra Kumar, 51, and auto driver from Coimbatore uses the traffic jams for a very productive use. He writes novels whenever he is stuck up in traffic jams, or while waiting for passengers. Popularly known as Auto Chandran, he is a class 10 drop out who ran away from house at a young age. He has written six books so far.Earlier this week, he travelled to Venice to take part in the 72nd Venice International Film Festival, as a movie based on his novel ‘Lock up’ was made into a Tamil movie ‘Visaranai’ and is being premiered in the event. The movie is directed by Vetrimaaran, and has the honor of being the first Tamil film to be screened in this event. Five valuable lessons reinforced from Chandra Kumar’s story.Time is money – spend it wisely.Dream big – everything is possible.Look for opportunities in every adversity.Talent gets due recognition – sooner or later.Believe in yourselves and pursue your passion. Success follows automatically.
***
Coming Soon Volume #11

Awaken the Paneerselvam within you…!

The Tamil Nadu politics is currently witnessing a political thriller which is becoming more intriguing by the hour. The strong bi-party dynamics of this southern state was shaken last week, with an open revolt in the AIADMK party by the incumbent Chief Minister O Paneerselvam. For the first time in the history of the party, the grass root cadre of the party was confused about whom to show their allegiance to - the woman, who was the closest friend of late Jayalalithaa during her last few years, or Paneerselvam, the trusted lieutenant who not only stepped in her shoes every time there was a crisis, but also managed the show successfully till she resumed.  
Let us step back a little to fully understand the incredible audacity demonstrated by Paneerselvam. In the aftermath of Jayalalithaa’s demise, there was an instant vacuum in the party, as she had never openly anointed her successor. Shashikala was clever to understand that before the emotional intensity among the masses diminishes, she needs to stake her claim. The rank and file blindly agreed to her supremacy, partially because of her proximity to their departed leader and also because of the culture prevalent within the party since several decades, to unconditionally follow a leader.
Seeing the general mood of acceptance for her overtures within the party, she began to systematically increase her control over the party one step at a time, till she reached the final step, becoming the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu. And she was all set to become one.
That was the time, when Paneerselvam realized that something was wrong. Why was he and the entire party silently accepting her leadership, when she had not demonstrated any credentials to lead the party? What qualifications did she have other than being the best friend of their ex-leader, to be in the position of power? More importantly, why was everyone in the party silent on this issue? Was it not like the proverbial ‘ostrich mentality’ to look aside, when you desperately need answers to these glaring and important questions?
Apparently, Paneerselvam got the most probable answer. It was the fear of failure. While most of the party men were uncomfortable to some extent about the fast-paced events leading to her accession within the party, they were worried that if they voice their concern, they might be left out alone. They might face the wrath of the party workers. Their political future could be at stake.  Paneerselvam decided to play the biggest gamble of his life. He chose the revolt and question the authority of Shashikala. For the first few hours after the revolt, the party looked at him, as though he was most dreaded criminal in this world at the moment. However, the things began to change slowly. The public sentiment started pouring in on the social media, which swelled with each passing hour.  
That prompted all the MLAs and the MPs to start thinking. They had a difficult choice to make. If they continued to stay with Shashikala, they invited the public anger which could seriously harm their prospects in the next elections. If they switched sides to Paneerselvam, and he is eventually outmaneuvered by Shashikala in the current game, their future would be doomed now itself. The suspense is still ON. The next few days will decide who will ultimately win this game.
Whatever may be the outcome, one thing is sure. Paneerselvam is hero of the day. He has shown the courage to swim against the tide. He has dared the challenges and threats to his political future. He has acted on his conscience. Many times in our life, we too face such situations, when we are compelled to make a difficult or unpopular decision. The decisions which we make in those moments can have far reaching impact on our short term as well as long term future. At such times, we should think of Paneerselvam.Listen to your conscience, think rationally, and take a decision, which you believe in.
Remember, the risks and rewards always go together. Higher the risks, higher the rewards.
Awaken the Paneerselvam within you…!

15 Secrets of Happiness for Senior Citizens.

As we grow old, our priorities change. So do our capabilities. We need to redefine our objectives in life. Following is an excerpt from the book ‘Life Version 2’, which is a set of standard guidelines for senior people on how to lead a happy and satisfied life. …Abhijeet said, “This mantra is called WISDOM OF GOLDAGE. Now, look at the letters in this phrase WISDOM OF GOLDAGE. It has fifteen letters. Each letter signifies a word. I shall explain all these words briefly, one by one. The first letter is W. This is associated with WALKING. As we grow old, our capability to do any strenuous physical exercise is greatly diminished. Our body cannot absorb the shocks anymore. During our younger days, we may have jogged for several kilometers a day, or worked out in gymnasiums for hours. However, that has no relevance today, except for the fact that your body would be fit and perfect now. Nevertheless, you need to do something today, to ensure that your body remains fit in the future too. Remember, your value is largely intact till the day you are not bedridden. To ensure that you postpone the day of confining yourselves to bed, you just need to walk every day. Walk as per your capability. Do not walk briskly, if your current health does not allow you to do so. Walk slowly, if you cannot walk fast. However, you must walk. Walking is one exercise, which a person can do, with minimum efforts and maximum benefits. A thirty minutes of walk every day, will keep in control your diabetes, blood pressure and cholesterol. It keeps you active throughout the day and increases your metabolism rate, which helps in your digestion process. So, whether it is a sunny day or a rainy day, walk for half an hour every day. If you cannot go out for a walk, please walk inside your home in the living room. Remember, many people suffer from arthritis in their golden age. Those people cannot walk. So, feel blessed if you do not suffer from arthritis and start walking from today onwards.The second letter is I. This is associated with INTERFERENCE. You need to avoid interfering with everything that is going around you. You should not think that you still hold the important pivotal position in the family. Your children are capable of running the house. You would be often tempted to interfere in every matter, which is being discussed in your home. Whenever you see someone going out, you would be tempted to ask him or her where he or she is going. Please avoid this temptation. Remember, others may not view your interference in correct spirits. They may treat it as an obstruction or hindrance. Therefore, please do not interfere. Be assured that if something concerns you, they will definitely tell you about it. It is not necessary that you should know everything about everything that is going around you. Those days are gone. Be content with whatever is shared with you.The third letter is S. This is associated with SMILE. Nothing stops you from smiling. Actually, it costs nothing. In fact, when you have a smiling face, people tend to be more open to you, more considerate towards you and they are more comfortable in dealing with you. On the contrary, having a frown on the face will make people irritated and less comfortable in dealing with you. In such situations, people do not share their ideas with you, and you face the risk of missing valuable information. So smile at every opportunity. It adds to your face value. The fourth letter is D. This is associated with DIET. Friends, all of you have enjoyed sumptuous lunches and dinners throughout your life. You might have tasted the most exotic food around the world. However, as you grow older, your digestion capacity reduces significantly. The body parts like liver, kidney and pancreas do not function with the same vigor as they did during your youth. They need to be treated gently. If you do not monitor and control your diet properly, it puts excessive pressure on your vital body parts, and then, in a chain reaction they start failing one after another. By controlling your diet, you can actually increase the functioning efficiency of all vital organs and your longevity. You comprise of your several body parts. If your body parts are functioning well, you are healthy. Otherwise, you are not. Therefore, keep a strict watch on what you eat. Please do not eat excessive food. Avoid fried, spicy and sweet delicacies. They cause more damage to your system. By eating a moderate quantity of food, you can be healthier and more active, than what you will be by eating stomach-full every time. Control your diet… it is an important gateway to a perfect health.The fifth letter is O. This is associated with OTHERS. Gone are the days, when you did things for yourself, unmindful of others. Now, you need to watch whether your actions or words cause any inconvenience to others around you. Please avoid doing or saying anything, which others may not like. If you need to say something to someone, please say only that, which is true, and which others would like. That will increase your acceptability among others.  The sixth letter is M. This is associated with MEDICINES. Please ensure that you take all your medicines regularly, as advised by the doctor. Do not reduce or increase the medicine dose by yourselves, just because you feel better or worse. Consult a doctor immediately whenever you notice any abnormality in your health. Remember that early diagnosis and preventive cure can avoid many health complications. Whenever the doctor advises you to take medicines for specific number of days, complete the medicine course, even if you feel better midway. Your medicines are as important as eating and breathing. The seventh letter is O. This is associated with your OUTLOOK TOWARDS LIFE. Change your outlook. Remember that you are not going to be here forever. Accept the fact that you are currently playing your “mandatory overs” of a cricket test match. These are numbered. Your outlook towards life changes when you truly understand this fact. Then, you would no longer be attached to the material things in life, as you realize that you cannot take away anything with you. Bear in mind that among all the people alive in the world today, you are among those, who are more likely to depart first. So, start acting like a guest rather than a host. Accept to live a life of detached attachment, so that the pain of losing something would be minimized. The eighth letter is F. This is associated with FORGET AND FORGIVE. During your lifetime, you might have had the strength and courage to afford to have a fight or to hold a grudge against someone. Now, the times have changed. Holding a grudge against someone is going to burn you from inside, as your powers to act are greatly reduced. Sometimes, you may observe that others do not behave with you in a manner, which you expect them to. Please remember that they might have their own compulsions, to act in such a way. However, you should not assume that they have something against you. You may not know the full picture. Therefore, adopt the policy of forgive and forget. That will help you to maintain peace and balance in your life, all the time.                   The ninth letter is G. This is associated with GRATITUDE. Express your gratitude at every opportunity. While it would not be practical to express your gratitude verbally to your family members every time, your body language can surely convey that. It is an acknowledgement of help received. It fills up both, the giver and receiver of help, with peace instantly. When we do not hesitate to say a simple “thank you” to any stranger for the help received, why should we feel shy in demonstrating that feeling in our expressions and body language when someone close to us helps us in any way? Remember, the prayers of all the religions are nothing but the expression of our gratitude to the almighty for our existence and wellbeing.  The tenth letter is O. This is associated with OFFER TO HELP. You are in that phase of life, when people around you develop a feeling that your utility is greatly reduced. Moreover, the fact that, most likely, you are not the breadwinner of the family would sometimes reduce your importance in the house proportionately. Therefore, to justify your existence, whenever an opportunity arises where you can offer help to someone, please do so without hesitation. Offer help to others, within your practical and feasible limits. Remember, this is not to be confused with interference. The offer of help could be in those areas, where others do not find time, or are less inclined to do that task. Remember, such offer of help will make you immensely popular and a much wanted member in the house. The eleventh letter is L. This is associated with LOVE YOURSELF. When you love yourselves, people around you also love you. You need to accept yourselves in whatever condition you are. You should value self-respect and have high self-esteem. However, it should not be confused with being arrogant or stubborn. It only means that you need to start valuing yourselves. If you do not value yourselves, soon you will find others ridiculing you. The twelfth letter is D. This is associated with DOWN TO EARTH PERSONALITY. Remember, the achievements from your past can only decorate the walls of the house in the form of certificates and medals. They do not carry the same impact once you cross sixty. So, instead of harping on your illustrious past, better focus on the present and live in the present. Develop a down to Earth personality. In simple words, this means do not throw tantrums around about your liking and disliking. Please do not be fussy about particular things, and do not stick to your preferences. Be prepared to take everything in your stride and enjoy life.     The thirteenth letter is A. This is associated with ADJUST TO SURROUNDINGS. You might have spent your entire life in a particular fashion. However, now you need to adjust to the revised circumstances. Remember that every time things will not happen according to your liking. Sometimes you may have to adjust and accommodate with something, which does not happen according to your wishes. So, adjust rather than complain. Adjusting with others will make you a lovable personality and make everyone happy. The adjustments could be in small matters like food preferences, TV program preferences, sleeping time preferences or in big matters like the place to stay and people with whom to stay. The fourteenth letter is G. This is associated with GIVE UP HABITS. You might have developed certain habits over the years. It would be worthwhile to start giving up your habits one by one, because habits make you slaves, and unfulfilled habits bring disappointment. It is better to be bound by as fewer habits to avoid any disappointment. Habits like smoking and drinking are to be targeted first as they are detrimental to health. A person with minimum requirements in life is most likely to be very happy. One should aim to be in that category.The fifteenth letter is E. This is associated with EXPECTATIONS. If you want to spend some happy moments during the last few years of your life, please do not expect anything from anyone. That is the secret key to happiness. With changing times, people too change and they no longer tend to do things for you, which they did happily at one time. Having high expectations is the root cause of unhappiness in this world. One should have expectations, but they should be revised as per the changing times. The expectations should be realistic and practical. Friends, these fifteen advices of the “WISDOM OF GOLDAGE” may appear pessimistic to you. However, this is the truth, which you have to eventually accept. No one in this world has been successful in remaining young forever. Every minute, as I talk with you, the older generation is handing over this Earth, bit by bit, to the younger generation, to govern and manage it. Therefore, friends, instead of cribbing about golden age, accept it gracefully and learn to redefine your objectives in life.”…This is an excerpt from the book ‘Life Version 2’ written by Suhas Inamdar. This book is available on Amazon, Flip Kart and Infibeam. 

When Pakistan Home minister's daughter was kidnapped ...!

This is an excerpt from the book ‘Altered Destiny’ by Suhas Inamdar. It is a fiction novel published in 2014.The passionate speech made by the Pakistan Home minister in Pakistan assembly echoes the suggestion made by Indian Prime minister recently – to manage its own territory better before casting its sight on additional piece of land. …
Khwaja Salahudeen said, ‘Respected Speaker sir and my fellow lawmakers of Pakistan, it is with great pride and happiness I inform you all that we have successfully rescued a young girl studying in 10th standard, from the kidnappers who held her in captivity for over 36 hours. That young girl happened to be my daughter. This incident nevertheless raises a few questions which we need to ask ourselves, including myself. The first and foremost question is: are we providing adequate security to the citizens of our country? If not, then it is a matter of shame for all of us sitting here. We are the elected Government of Pakistan, who has been entrusted with the responsibility of protecting the country and its people from any kind of threat. We are supposed to devote all our energy and resources for the welfare of our people and the growth of this country. ‘I am happy to inform you that we could rescue Maliha from the kidnappers without meeting any of their demands. Their demands included giving them a lot of money and also releasing 10 dreaded terrorists, who are currently lodged in our various jails. On the personal front, I had a fight with my family about not meeting their demands. I was not in favour of meeting these demands, as it would have further emboldened them to carry out more such kidnappings in future. Moreover, releasing the terrorists was a very demoralizing proposition, as it would have instantly demeaned the efforts of our brave police personnel who had risked their lives in capturing them. ‘Today Pakistan is on the threshold of a new era. The world around us is changing very fast. Countries are shedding their past and embracing the future with optimism and promise. We also need to change. We cannot keep harping on the painful partition or continue to fight over a piece of land called Kashmir. What we need to do is to look at the big picture. What is the use of Kashmir, if we are not able to properly use the much larger size of land already available with us? Are we making foreign policies just for satisfying our egos? We need to change. ‘Pakistan is a blessed land. We are the sixth most populous country in the world. We have a coastline of over 1000 km, which, if utilized efficiently, can boost our maritime business activities. Our Armed Forces are the eighth largest in the world. Our heritage and culture is one of the oldest in the region. We are one of the few nuclear powers in the world. Don’t these figures make us proud? Well, not in the current scenario. And the reasons are not very difficult to find.‘Today, the common impression about a politician in the mind of our citizens is that of a corrupt person, who thinks and cares only about himself. Very few of us have done something worthwhile for our people. Most of the time, we think only about filling our personal coffers, building our own portfolio of assets and furthering our personal interests. This is injustice to the people of Pakistan. We cannot and should not neglect the people of our country.‘Terrorism is gaining ground on our soil. We are not showing enough courage to tackle it for various personal and vested political reasons. Since it does not affect us directly, we do not think much about it. But out there, daily, dozens of people are losing their lives in the bomb blasts, which are occurring at very frequent intervals across our major cities. Just because we move around in bulletproof cars with full security around us, is it fair that we leave our countrymen to their fate like this? Who are we deceiving in the process? Is it really worth being a powerful personality in a weak country? ‘We need to think seriously about poverty and illiteracy. These two are the major impediments on our path of progress. If we are not able to guarantee food and basic education to our countrymen, I think we should leave our positions of elected office at once. Just because we have won elections, it does not mean that we can relax and enjoy the fruits of our labour for five years, oblivious of the stark surroundings. Our task is not complete till every citizen of our country is able to bear the minimum expenses of educating his children and providing them food, clothing and shelter. ‘I urge you all to think about Pakistan before thinking about yourselves. Feel proud to be a part of the process of change to lift our country from this mess to a glorious future. And remember, please do not think even for a moment that you are doing charity by doing so… you are doing this for your own children’s safety and well-being. Of what use is your wealth, if the conditions outside on the streets of Pakistan are not safe for people to walk? ‘Look at our neighbour India. Actually we are born out of them. See how they have made progress over the same years. It is not because they are bigger than us. If we talk about size, then Singapore, Japan and Dubai are much smaller than us. India is today far ahead of us in everything. The starting line in this race for development was the same for both of us. Yet they surged forward. There are reasons for their growth and development. It is about the tolerance of their citizens to diverse ideas, it is about the vision of their leaders, and it is about the passion of their industrialists to rise... ‘It is high time that we start considering India as our elder brother, seeking their guidance and support in our various endeavours. I am very sure that if our intentions are right, India will go out of the way to support us. India has already demonstrated its greatness by not attacking us even once, while we made three unsuccessful attempts to invade them. India has taught the entire world the meaning of truth and non-violence. They have demonstrated that with these two qualities alone, they could shake the rock-solid British Empire which ruled over them for 90 years. Today India is considered a giant power in the field of Information Technology. Had we not separated from them in 1947, we could have shared their growth and, if possible, contributed to it as well. After all, we are not different in any way from each other. We were one before 1947 and became two thereafter. As if to pay the price for our deeds, the eastern part of our country was dissociated with us in 1971 to form what is now called Bangladesh. This only proves an old adage… As we sow, so we reap. ‘So, dear colleagues, please join me in initiating this noble move to cleanse Pakistan of all its evils and start a new chapter. Let us take Pakistan to new heights with dignity and honour. Let us show our humble face to the world. Let our citizens be proud of their country. We may need to sacrifice many things on this path of progress, as the task is gigantic in nature. But there has to be a beginning. I have already demonstrated that I did not care for even my daughter, whom I love very much. I did not want to save my daughter at the cost of 10 terrorists roaming on Pakistani streets jeopardizing the lives of hundreds of daughters of Pakistan. Thank you all….’…
The book ‘Altered Destiny’ is available on Amazon, Flip Kart and Infibeam.