Facade

                Indian security forces have neutralized 167 terrorists so far this year-highest in years. In fact an average of one terrorist has been killed since May this year. As Indians we are indeed proud of this achievement - barring the ‘Azaadi brigade’ of course. But going beyond the nationalistic zeal, it is by all means a commendable achievement by a very professional and competent force. The game between terrorists/extremists and security forces is a very tricky one.  On one hand the forces seem to have a numeric advantage. But terrorists can mix up with the local populace (and not just in J&K but even elsewhere) making it difficult to track them. To further complicate, the forces have hundreds of installations to protect whereas the terrorists just need to strike one to prove a point. This is just a glimpse of how heavily skewed the game is in favor of the terrorists/ultras. Local support makes it much more complicated.

                Since Dec 2014, India has adopted a ‘two for a bullet’ approach vis-à-vis Pakistan. Every LOC violation has met a heavy response from India. But that did not deter the enemy enough. They responded with Pathankot and later Uri.  The Surgical strikes were successful and very much required to boost morale of the forces, besides delivering a strong message to Pakistan. But frankly speaking such strikes are high on rhetoric but low on value. In other words, you cannot expect the Para Commandos to launch such strikes every now and then to eliminate 25-50 militants. The political and diplomatic cost of failure is too high. Indian establishment understood this too well and seem to have reworked their approach. The results are for everybody to see. In the past, we have seen missions and operations to neutralize specific terrorists. But this is the first time since the 90s that such a prolonged operation has been taken up which has almost wiped up the entire leadership. The Intelligence gathering and coordination between various agencies is simply amazing! It almost looks like a video game! A new one comes up and there you go-BOOM !

                This government is known for using facades to hide their real act/motives. We particularly witnessed this after the Uri attacks when the Government keep everybody busy thinking there would be a diplomatic response like reviewing the Indus Water treaty, while they actually launched the surgical strikes.  Well- Now it looks like the surgical strikes actually were a façade! They helped calm the initial domestic discontent giving the forces time to actually plan and carry out their mission! So the response to Uri and Pathankot is not the surgical strikes, but what’s been going on for past six months! And if the success rate is any indicator, this is just the beginning! To an extent that the IG of Kashmir openly jokes that nobody is now ready to take up the mantle of LET!!.

                So what does it all mean? Will this bring peace? No. Will it reduce terrorist attacks? Probably not in a long term. Will it solve the Kashmir problem? Of course not! But then it was never about peace or freedom in the first place. One would have been stupid enough to expect ‘freedom’ for Kashmir with such terrorist attacks just as it is stupid to expect peace with elimination of terrorists. It’s a game the sleuths play to establish superiority.  This game can only be finished on the negotiating table with the political leadership involved.

 Till that happens? The game’s on!!

A Tribute ....

            He was cunning-some say wicked, arrogant, and egoistic. He could go to any extent to fulfill his objective. Even accused of murders. Morality was not a word in his dictionary. A traitor by conventional means. In his times he was more hated than he has ever been loved thereafter. At times his own men suspected him because he was overtly secretive.Conversely – He was one of the most learned men of all times. A strict disciplinarian and an astute politician.  He commanded unparalleled respect from people across ideology, sects, religions and nationality. One is often awed by the qualities a single person would ever possess and hence he often remains as much a myth as history. 

Yet one quality that always separates him out is – His vision. A vision hitherto never thought of. Nay ! – Something that was so well ahead of the times that it took another nineteen hundred years for another one like him to walk the rope. 

Arya Chanakya aka Kautilya aka Vishnugupta was the architect of India in true sense. Of course, many may disagree with this –given the fact that we are still stuck in the date of birth controversy about India ! ( there is a controversy about usage of this name as well !.  but that’s for later). For some it starts with the tale of ‘Bharat’ –which again is argued to have ‘happened’ ranging from 10,000 years to 50,000 years ago!. Some ‘scholars ‘attribute it to the Mughal times while others give a sacrosanct date-year of 1492 AD!. Then there are the neo evangelists – who depending on their ideological (and of course political) positions, attribute it to years 1818, 1947 etc etc !.  

For me, Chanakya remains the greatest teacher for students of polity till date   and one of the greatest visionaries of all times ! Unfortunately, he is revered, but not worshipped in this country - and understandably so  because we as a society have always believed in the righteousness of the means as much as the sanctity of the goal. And Chanakya fails this test!. However, I firmly believe that we owe our identiy to this man as much –or should I say MORE -as we owe to the legends of all times.

Anyways, much can be written about Chanakya and tons of material already available everywhere. That is not the subject of this article. History always repeats itself ( ah well good Mr Gosavi for letting us know this !! ) and the socio-political situation was no different around 500 yrs ago ( or you can take any number for that matter, barring a few instances and places in the history o India) ,as it was during the times of Chanakya.

Even today, we have the Dhananands who are ruling the Empire of ‘India’ in an aristocratic sense. , the Paurus and the Ambhis who donot tend to look beyond their kingdoms and the Kalingas who have ‘bought’ peace with the mighty!. Then there are the ‘rebels’ who have the courage but not the statesmanship, the good hearted who have the urge but not the conviction and many others who have a bit of all but no means to help better the situation. There is increasing anarchy with the common people loosing their confidence with the ruling class. A sense of terrible helplessness reflecting everywhere – A perfect recipe for a rebellion (“Not in a classical sense” I should say   – else I may be convicted of treason! ).  To top it, We also have the Alexanders of modern times knocking our doors in a political and economic sense!  .

What we desperately need today is a ‘Chanakya’- to dream, believe in his dream, make us believe in his vision and march us in that direction! ‘Acharya’ – We need you !!. And we need you as never before!!. We might have a Chanakya somewhere around us. Or we may have him sometime in the future. However, we may not even know – For – Great people are remembered and honored after their death – And the greatest ones ?– Centuries later !!!

The lokpal Gift

“ Saab ye Anna hain na ..Dekho ..Saab ko sidha kar denge” . Chotu uttered with a beaming look while I was engrossed in catching up on the latest developments of Anna’s fast . It was the 7th day of Anna’s fast and I had gone to my regular joint to have a chai. Chotu must be around 10 and matured than most of the children of his age. A fact attributed to his fate. Not much was known to me about chotu except that he had been serving at the chai joint for 3 years and that he was called ‘chotu’,a generic name for kids of his profession. The only interaction we had so far was about the current bill and the previous balance, about which he seldom was wrong.

But today, I saw a different version of him. He was excitedly watching the events, commenting on some news headlines, at times arguing with customers about the outcome .He may have been factually wrong .But his sprits were high. I am not sure if he understood what the Jan Lokpal bill was about, or the differences of opinion on the topic . He probably may not even have come across corruption except for the hafta given to the police and the Corporation ‘officers’.But he wanted Anna to win. Rather, in Anna he saw sought reprisal for his own fate. While I was happy for Chotu ,the thought of failure scared me. It would shatter him to the core if the fast did not fetch the desired results.

After all, things were not that simple. Chotu was a kid and didn’t understand lot many complications that were involved. I was an educated person and could logically assess possibilities. To my mind, Chotu’s was an exaggerated euphoria.But then, Revolutions aren’t about logic. They thrive on the undeterred conviction of believers for a cause that defies all logic and laws of society. For that moment, I just chose to deny my intellect and logic, to pray with Chotu and millions of others for an ‘Anna victory’.

So did Anna win? Well the answer depends on how we perceive the battle and its outcome. The episode ended by the parliament adopting a ‘Sense of the house’ in support of Anna’s Jan Lokpal bill. Technically speaking, it is nothing more than a view of the members at THAT POINT OF TIME. It cannot be mandated into a bill or law and neither has any standing in the law formation process. To best of my knowledge, the constitutional process does not require any action to be taken on such ‘Sense of House’ adoptions. Nevertheless, the only benefit being Anna ended his fast and lives long and strong to fight more such battles. So frankly speaking, the fast ended without much outcome on the Jan Lokpal bill . Even if the house agrees to the contents of Anna’s bill, it is not binding on the members to comply to it when (and if) it comes for voting.

However, there are many other aspects of the movement which need to be deliberated before judging it in one way.

ICON

For one, here is a 74 year old who has become a messiah, an ICON for the people of the country, especially the youth.. This was absolutely necessary for a fast developing country which is high in sprits but starved of real icons. Recently I had seen youths raising scandalous businessmen and politicians to iconic stature. The elevation of Anna to assume a father like stature is the best gift the nation would have received at this point of time. After all, People follow their leaders and the collective psyche of the people decides the fate of the society and nation as a whole.

VIRTUE

Secondly, while much is said about the strong support that Anna got in Kejriwal, Bedi and others, and the entire movement is subject of management studies, one factor that stands out and which made a difference between this movement and other such movements was Anna’s CHARACTER. In no time, Anna has reached a point that a few people strive for during their lifetime. In an age where ‘Character Dhila hai’ becomes an anthem, we have an old man challenging the establishment on the basis of one power he possesses. His character. A virtue, which has very less numbers of takers, so much so that it would have been erased from the dictionary in a few years!

Anna could appeal to the people and challenge his detractors to find faults in him merely because he is clean and can proclaim so with conviction. I am sure that the establishment would have left no tables turned to find flaws with Anna’s public and private life. The fact that they could not find any, speaks a lot about him. This movement and Anna’s life in particular helped establish the importance of character in our lives.

MEANS

Thirdly, many of us had read about the Satyagraha and non violence movement of Gandhiji .There is no parallels to such a movement in the history. The closest you could get in history that resembles such a struggle was about Martin Luther King or Nelson Mandela. But then both are from a different era. I always found it impossible to comprehend that goals could be achieved by such means. And even if they were in the past, these are different times. Well, who could have imagined one year back than a non violent movement would do such wonders! To me, like many others of this generation, Anna has given a just means to fight for a just cause.

POWER OF ONE

Fourthly, it was heartening to see people coming out for support in such large numbers. It was a miracle of sorts. While there had been resentment brewing in minds of people against the establishment, particularly in wake of recent incidents, the exciting factor was that people actually chose to participate in the struggle instead of being bystanders. This proved beyond doubt that the spirit of the nation is still alive. Also, the feeling that people can ( still) collectively accomplish something will help tune the history of this nation for a long time to come .

THE GIFT OF DEMOCRACY

Last but not the least, while we can go about finding flaws in the system, we must be thankful to the framers of the constitution for making this a democratic republic and the very same politicians for maintaining so for 65 years !. Imagine the fate of such a movement in China or Pakistan. I am absolutely sure that such a movement would not have sustained or would have been forced to turn violent if it were to be conducted in most countries across the world. The government did have an high handed attitude in dealing with the movement, but better sense prevailed and it was non-violent.

While we can go about listing a lot many pros and cons of this movement, you might still ask the question – So who won ? Will the Jan lokpal become a reality? Well, to me these are irrelevant questions. To give an analogy, we all know about the Dandi March that Gandhiji undertook in protest of the tax imposed on salt. Well, the tax was never lifted even after Gandhiji famously lifted a handful of salt at Dandi. In fact the tax still continues and in much higher today!. The Dandi march became a symbol of the nation rising to recognize and fight for its rights. Even though the tax was never waived, the movement culminated into something much bigger- Our freedom.

The movement of Jan Lokpal is a metaphor for the rising aspirations of people. For a desire to make this a better country, to have responsible governance and more importantly a need to be heard. The actual bill might be just an insignificant milestone.

Yesterday, I had gone to Chotu’s tea stall. This was my first visit after Anna broke his fast. Curious about Chotu’s views , I asked him what he felt. “ Saab – Jab bhi idhar se koi batti waali gadi jaati thi, apun sochta tha ki ye sale raja hai aun apun praja. Socha tha …ek din in jaisa banunga. Lekin ab nahi lagta saab. Ab apun ko paata hai. Apun ich king hai !”

Well…. That sums it all

The infinite loop ....

Condemnation, Strong Condemnation. Condolences, Deep Condolences, Praising the resilience of Delhi citizens (this time Delhi!), Blaming Pakistan or ISI, Sending dossier to Pakistan, HM ensuring the nation that the perpetuators will be dealt with severely, PM assuring that such incidents will not take place in future (btw he has assured so on 15th July), Politics over a strong anti Terror law, Adjournment of the Parliament sessions (It was anyways happening ….now they got a new reason), Again a “Katti” with Pakistan,

Possibly setting up another agency to investigate such incidents (can somebody measure such agencies please…I bet they are more than the people employed by them ) , Debate whether it was an Intelligence failure -
And the saga continues ....
While the nation bleeds....

Read this one  ..posted a while back . Now Delhi Blasts and nothing has changed..

The larger picture

“Koi Insaan ya Desh Chota nahin hota”. .

Well I am not publicizing KBC here !. These lines inadvertently came to my mind the other day when I saw the front page of news paper carrying a photograph of Mr. Krishna shaking hands with Miss. Heena Rabbani Khar. While most news papers talked about the beaming new era of friendship between the two countries (apart from the style statement of the esteemed Foreign Minister of Pakistan), I had different thoughts in mind. The photo to me actually was a reflection of the age difference/freshness in mindset and approach of the two nations, to the changing world of international politics and foreign policies. This is one area where, no matter how much you disagree, Pakistan has been beating us in the game, while we are still trying to understand the rules of the game!. With all our political systems, strategists, think tanks etc in place, we have been out maneuvered by Pakistan (with all its political issues, allegations, international pressures etc) time and again.

Coming to the point, we are still struggling to get a cue about the Mumbai blasts (remember? There were blasts in Mumbai few days back?) . While the investigating agencies are doing their job, the question needs to be asked – What will be the end point of such investigation? We would identify the perpetuators- Well we have already done that for the Pune blasts ( if the police statements are to be believed), the Delhi blasts, and so on( I cant even recount the number of such cases since last 5 years).What next ? We MIGHT establish and highlight role of Pakistan. Highlight to whom? Besides, the role in 26/11 was as obvious as a new born learning to pee! What has been the outcome?

What do you mean -some may ask? We have sent them dossiers (Cost of raddi in Pakistan went down in those times due to excessive supply!) ! After all, we are a responsible nation and follow a rule of law! Yes, most definitely, the Kasabs and Gurus are most grateful to India for establishing the rule of law! (On a side note, just wondering where was the rule of law when Warren Anderson –of Bhopal fame was taken out of the country with due respect and protection!).

While we are still ‘investigating ‘these blasts, there are plans being finalized to meet the next ‘targets’!. This has been happening in the past and will continue in future. The problem lies in we not seeing things in the right frame. Our responses have always been to localized events at respective times, while failing to understand, gauge and fully draft a comprehensive response to the larger agenda ( which for many is as simple – Pakistan wants to do XYW with India !).

Let us try and understand these things in a larger context. Are these incidents (blasts etc) a war against India? Well emm yes and NO!. Wars by definition are supposed to have an objective. With my limited understanding, I fail to understand what objective is achieved by killing some innocent people or striking fear in minds of few more or than causing loss to business or a small dent to the national pride-which most Indians are used to by now. Obviously we are not going to give away Kashmir because of it !! Hell NOT! .

So what is it ? And what for ? To answer this,, let us understand the geo-political and historical scenario. For one, Islam as a religion constitutes almost 25 % of the world population. While wars in Europe (and as they spread to other continents) during historic times were more about territorial and materialistic ambitions, there was not much of a religious motive behind them. Of course, they did help in spread of Christianity across the globe.On the contrary, wars from middle east had as much to do with spread of Islam as for other reasons. Wars were an instrument of spreading Islam and as such extension of the state policy. Also , since its inception till almost the middle of nineteenth century, Islam as a society had a significant political presence .

Come today, we do have a significant presence of Islam globally and it has shaped the history and demography of many a nations. .However, the amount of political, economic clout that Islamic nations enjoy is significantly less-certainly less compared to the resources at hand. To say , we do have middle east with huge cash reserves. But that doesn’t buy them anything more than riches. There is an identity void that affects the intellectuals and the upper strata of the society.They yearn for more say ,but cannot do it.

The question might be asked here is – Why just Islam? This might be true about the Hindus, Buddhists etc .Also the Christians may be ruling significant portions of the world, they are disintegrated into as many sects as the castes in India!. The reason is , Islam ( or rather a hardliner faction of it globally) has always treated itself as a single entity. For them (and I am talking of the few with hardcore views), the world is still divided into 2 sections – Islam and non Islam. So, they have the money, they have the people, they also have managed the weapons (Pakistan!),but not the political space they are looking for. One reason is that the populace is spread across multiple nations, ethnicity and continents. The other reason is most of such nations are helpless in front of the western (read American) hegemony.

A significant number of intellectuals who believe in this monolithic structure of Islam also believe in the concept (or prophecy) of an eventual Islamic dominance of the world. However, the problems before them are manifold. The disintegrated nature of populace, the western hegemony, conflicts within the nations –to name a few. Besides the idea had (has) not found roots in majority of the Islamic populace. The solution (or the first part) lies in bringing the people together. But this is easier said than done! Well you cannot do so by mere preaching ,delivering sermons and asking people to sacrifice their peaceful life! .You need better means. What better way than to -

a. Publicize injustice against the religion by giving examples of various atrocities ( real or manufactured ) across the globe ( including India).

b. Selling the dream of Islamic unity and superiority and awakening the desire amongst people to be part of the same.

c. To demonstrate the viability of such a concept being successful by carrying attacks across different places in the world and creating heroes out of the perpetrators .

d. Create pockets of dissidence within individual nation states and use them for furthering the agenda.

d. Eventually, to capitalize on the social isolation and loss of identity of the Islamic populace in different nations ,due to such terror attacks , and to draw them towards the final objective.

e. Conceal the real motive by calling terror attacks as a revenge for some ‘XY’ incident in the past.

This cycle has been followed systematically for few decades now. In recent decade or so, it has started yielding results and that is the reason the proponents are more enthusiastic and upbeat about it. 9/11, 26/11 and various other such incidents across the globe are part of the same strategy and agenda. While a dominant number of Muslims may still be not part of the same, such incidents and the aftermath definitely make their situation worse. They are caught in crossfire and eventually have to jump this way or the other. Quite a few cross the fence and submit themselves to the idea. Obviously, the best way to expedite the process is to increase the frequency of ‘Terrorist Strikes”.

Who all are involved? Well this is a logical consortium consisting of business men, politicians, intellectuals, power brokers, elements (or entirety) of military, Religious leaders  from all over the globe and also some nation states. They exist in every nook and corner of the world with visible presence in some portions while largely unnoticed in most other parts. There is a subtle line of common understanding that runs between the visibly separated events across the world. A measurable number of nation-states are party to the game, though covertly.

Now, let come back to the Indian context and try to dissect the situation. Pakistan ( a significant number of entities within it ) are torch bearers of the philosophy and the eventual triumph. India being perceived as anti Islamic (although it has more Islamic population than Pakistan) is logical target. However, it doesn’t stop here!. The Pakistani state(as a whole) may or may not believe in the pan-Islamic philosophy and possibly may not be interested either. But it sees a good opportunity in causing dissidence in India and help settle political scores .So they are all game for any such plans and provide military ,logistical and all the required support to meet the ends. Simultaneously, the pan-Islamic state stands to gain out of political animosity between India and Pakistan due to the support infrastructure available. Hence the attempts to scuttle peace process now and then. As such, the differences between India and Pakistan (as nation-states) are largely political and would otherwise be settled in due course of time. However, the Islamic angle will make things difficult and ensure that the same does not happen. An ulterior motive is also to maximize the participation of Indian Muslims to the global agenda.

To summarize, what we have is a -

State – Logical consortium for today and a prophesized pan-Islamic state for tomorrow.

Policy – Integration of Islamic resources –human, financial, military and intellectual to achieve and eventual supremacy..

War – All actions ( terror strikes being just one instrument) resulting in creation of fundamentalists pockets across the globe who are physically separated, but logically united.

War is an extension of state policy.

Does it make sense now?

In the Indian context, Pakistan is fighting a small battle with India , in conjunction with the larger war. And incidents like Mumbai are actually WEAPONS in the battle (or war). They achieve no purpose in isolation, but help win wars when grouped together. The saddening part is that our state machinery is so engrossed in “investigating” the weapons or trying to prevent the use of them, that we do not have time even to think of the larger war and counter it.

The solution? Well everybody seems to have their own !.

Kids fight ...oops sorry Terrorism

This incident occurred when I was in eighth class. I used to commute to my school on bicycle. Nayana, who stayed couple of blocks away from our house, suffered a knee injury. We were family friends and her mother requested me to carry Nayana to and from school on my bicycle. I was more than glad to do so!. Nayana was in E division while I was in D. Sameer was Nayana’s classmate and was known to be close to ‘Parkhi’ , a political DON !. Well with my sense of understanding today, Parkhi probably was one of the ‘partially educated –unemployed ‘ whom the local politicians used for all the wrong reasons . Parakhi derived his powers based on his political connections and was a BIG person for the teens of our township. Connections to him for us in those times ( and age) were equivalent to connections with ‘D’ !. Sameer probably was in love with 8th standard syllabus and was keen on learning it thoroughly!. This was his third year , one of the few who achieved the feat .

So started my ‘cycle-pool’ for Nayana. Day one was good ending with me eagerly waiting for the next day. On day two, while returning from school, I found my cycle with a flat tyre at the parking. Since Nayana couldn’t walk that long, I arranged a lift for her and was returning home. I found Sameer and his friends (well he never had friends from the school…they were kids for him) waiting a few meters ahead. While crossing them, I bowed to Sameer in the anticipation that he would probably recognize me !. After all hie was ‘Parkhi’s man’!.To my surprise, I found them waiting for me !. Before I could understand, I was pushed and I fell down along with my bi-cycle. I was hit all over, slapped multiple times and abused with the most foul language. All this while I pleaded to know the reason.

The only thing I was told was ‘Don’t mess up with me !. Stay away from Nayana’!

I was badly bruised and had good amount of explanation to do at home, besides skipping school the next day because I was horribly scared.

In nutshell, the story was, Sameer was madly in love with Nayana and hence retained the moral responsibility of protecting from all the evil!!. My proximity with her was obviously not acceptable and I had to be punished for the same. All this while the girl ( as I realized later) cared a damn for him !. I was now really sacred of even being seen near Nayana, let go accompanying her to the school !. However, it was difficult to explain to parents. So I would take her on my bi-cycle and ask her to get down 200 meters ahead of school gate. However even this was noticed by the ‘spies’ and I was to pay the price , this time thrashing ,followed by some ‘Dhamki’ from one of Sameer’s ‘commanders ‘ .

I stopped going to school altogether for a few days. I had mixed feelings of anguish, fear, humiliation, helplessness and all the others in the family of thoughts. I was a ‘good boy’ in school and had a reputation to carry. However this news would by now have spread across and I was embarrassed to even face my friends. All, this apart from the physical pain I had to bear.

The cycle-pooling stopped but not my abuse. Probably I was established as an object of suspicion and verbally and at times physically abused by this group every now and then, within the school premises and outside. It now had become more of an habit than a reaction to events. Complaining was not going to help much and I was silently suffering taking into stride all the humiliations, not letting anyone, especially the parents know. This continued for about three to four months. I was keen to visit my relatives during summer vacation so as to avoid contact.

In the early days of my ninth standard schooling, I was visited by a cousin of mine from Mumbai. My cousin was born and brought up in Dadar and claimed to be an accomplice of underworld don ‘ Amar Naik’ . He also claimed to be close to some stalwarts of a political party in Mumbai. I was ecstatic on his arrival since he was somebody I could rely upon. I explained him the entire story which he listened patiently. He consoled me , gave me some mantra and philosophy and suggested me a way to deal with it and I acted accordingly.

Two days later, after doing some research, I bunked my classes to coincide with Sameer’s PT period. That was one of the few times when he was on his own. I joined their class in playing football and in the process (as a matter of fact in couple of minutes before anybody could realize), pushed Sameer really hard. I was a well build boy and the impact was visible. Sameer had suffered some bruises on his nose and knees. He soon recovered and rushed at me like a wild bull. I stood calmly at my position and slapped him as soon as he approached me. By now the entire team had gathered and the PT instructor, thinking it to be a football-fight sorted it out, while scolding me for bunking my periods.Later in the evening, I even bunked my last period and ensured a flat tyre for Sameer.

His friends usually met him just outside the school. I waited for Sameer after the school. My mere presence near the cycle stand was enough to get him mad and he ran at me. This time (and I feel sorry for him even today!), I hit him at the wrong place and continued hitting him till it took him to recover. He was in absolute state of shock and did not know how to react. I stood there while he was crying in pain and then left while giving a strong signal of not messing up with me again.

The next day, I was accompanied by my cousin to the school. As expected, the ‘gang’ was waiting for me at the school gate. As planned, my cousin stood a few meters away while I proceeded –a little scared of course. To my surprise, it was Parkhi along with Sameer. He caught hold of me, slapped me once. But this time, I was bold enough and shouted at him to hear me out. I explained him the whole story about being victimized because of entertaining a ‘family request’ and that I had no interest in the girl etc etc. I was let off and asked to mend my ways and not to ever touch Sameer again!. I agreed with a rider that Sameer would stay away from me as well. Of course, all this courage was attributed to my cousin, standing and watching from a few meters away!. I was amazed at the fact that the situation was handled fairly OK with no involvement from my cousin.

A few days later, my cousin went back to Mumbai but left a very important lesson for me . Sameer and his gang never ever troubled me. In fact, in tenth standard, Sameer befriended me with the intention to be-friend to Nayana! .And I continued with the new friendship while dilly –dallying the introduction under some pretext or other !. Sameer realized this but couldn’t do much about it !.

Here is what my cousin had told me the day before

“These kind of skirmish (his word was Rada) happen occasionally. We often tend to wait for the next opportunity to avenge for the earlier one .However that may not always happen. You don’t know when the next event happens and you probably have by then gotten over it. The opponent and circumstances may be different. Besides yesterday’s enemies may be today’s friends. So, what is important is that you come out victorious/ unscathed out of every battle. You need to respond to every adventure swiftly so as to proclaim your superiority. You may use sam,dam ,dand ,bhed to achieve it . At times you may also have to flee and hide. Once you start sensing danger, you need to have a plan and strategy to deal with it . Your opponents may be stronger than you . At times you may not even know them. But what is important is that you think ahead of them and that’s what keeps you alive! Your strength is your only weapon and no other weapon helps ! Reliance on others does not help too much .You friends would support you if you are strong. They will console you if you are weak.”.

These words, although were mostly applicable to his ‘line of business’, had a strong impression on me and helped me ‘take care ‘of couple of such incidents in my life. Eventually, I drifted away from this cousin of mine and his words until …..

13-July- 2011.

I was telling this story to a group of friends on 14th July when one of them argued.

“Don’t be silly. You cannot compare street fights or kid fights with terrorism (I don’t buy this word. But more about it later….). They are way different.

Well…Are they??