Merry Christmas!

Christmas celebrates the birth of Jesus Christ. Celebrated by millions of people all over the world, it's the festival of happiness and benevolence as people share presents with each other. The festival has a special importance in the lives of kids as myth says that a celestial figure called Santa Claus blesses them with gifts and presents.

I too have a vivid memory of Christmas of my childhood. I along with my friends and our respective mothers were returning from school. It was when a Santa Claus standing outside a Cake shop waved his hand to us and thus beckoned us to him. We too happily went to him, wished him A Merry Christmas and received our respective presents from him. It was a moment of joy for all of us after all who doesn't like receiving surprise gifts? I was four then and was in the Junior Kindergarten.

As I grew older and went to the primary school, another fable spread amongst our friends. It said, “A Santa Claus comes to your house on the midnight of Christmas and keeps a secret gift for you. You just need to keep socks tied to your bed so that the Santa Claus can put the gift there.” Being a curious kid, I tried my hand here too. Next day saw the socks filled with a gift. It was an Audio Cassette (In those days we did not have CDs or MP3). My happiness knew no boundaries. This ritual continued for many years and never did it happen that my socks were empty.

 As I grew older, I realized that this Secret Santa Claus who had blessed me with the presents was none other than my Father! (Who even today remains to be a Santa Claus for me.)

Today, at 26, with God’s blessings, I am earning and on this occasion of Christmas I too gift my near and dear with gifts and presents just to see that one broad smile on their face. When alone I too ask the Santa Claus for gifts and blessings but with the age the demands have changed. The inclination is not towards the materialistic gifts but towards health, happiness and well being of me and my loved ones. After all they say that if one is healthy, one can achieve all the mental and material happiness.

So, here I am wishing you and your loved ones A Healthy Christmas, a Merry Christmas!

(And yes, we here in India, at times tend to fall in the boundaries of caste, creed and religion and thus fail to enjoy the moments of happiness which life has to offer. So, move out of your borders and go celebrate after all ‘हर त्योहार मनाना एक अच्छा Idea है’)

  

Be The Change...

Today, 365 days have passed to her suffering. A suffering so ruthless that it led to her death. She who had not even seen all weathers of her life had succumbed to this brutality and lost this precious life in her very youth. Some call her ‘Nirbhaya’, some call her ‘Jyoti’, one may call her by many adjectives but the fact remains that She was ‘Just another Woman’ in a male dominated country called India.

When I say, India is a male dominated country it actually is even though we may have stepped in the Twenty First century but the age old sufferings of women still continue. Female feticide is still rampant. Harassment of a Daughter in Law is like a birth right of the in laws. So if a woman is not safe in her own family, how could one expect her to be secured in the society?

Eve teasing has become the nightmare of almost every woman, making her civil life miserable. When one can’t bear this, there is more to it; RAPE! Nirbhaya or Jyoti’s was only one of the few examples which got exposed due to the alert media and the angry public agitations which followed. But how many such inhuman incidences must be going unheard, one can only imagine.

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Nirbhaya’s death saw a sea of Humanity crying for her, fighting for her, fighting for the justice (which is usually delayed in our country). The court too this time was on its toes, announcing death penalty to all the accused it had struck back giving a strong message that such atrocities won’t be tolerated. All though one knew that the Girl’s life couldn't be brought back, but this was indeed a justice to the brave heart.

One had thought that the court’s verdict will put a check on man’s devilish tendency which compels him to rape, but alas it was not true. One may find me a sceptic but the incidences which followed made me believe to disbelieve. More rapes followed! And this time the city which was known for its security towards women was also on the Rapists’ hit list, Mumbai!

So even after a year has passed, the question still remains unanswered, “Have we learnt a lesson?” because, even today the women in our country remain unsecured and the administration callous.

They say that there is no man in this world who has not seen a woman with a desire. This may be true but this is also true that the one who can overcome this lust and can respect the woman is a ‘Real Man’ (May be ‘MARD’ in Hindi is a better word in this context). One needs to change the way one thinks. A man should realize that a woman too is a human and she too deserves the same respect (or may be even more) as he expects from her. Strong values need to be inculcated therefore a father who teaches his son to respect a woman is far more worthy than the one who restricts his daughter’s freedom (may be just to protect her, ‘Saat chya aat Gharaat’ in Marathi is a similar way of protecting a girl by restricting her freedom after seven in the evening).

Looking at the administration won’t help but looking inside oneself will. Introspection has become the need of the day so that one can inculcate right values, right respect towards women in oneself. Thus, becoming a catalyst who can change the world.     

Going back to my roots...

While travelling to my native place, I happen to wake up during the early hours of dawn.

If getting up this early is planned or is it just a coinicidence, I really don't know.

Very curiously I look outside the window to check the approaching Station.

And my surprise and happiness know no bounds.

Nostalgia or no nostalgia, again I really don't know but somewhere deep inside my heart I know that there is a strong bond which exists between me and this place.

What if it is just for few minutes, what if it is only on the railway station, It doesn't really matter...

What matters is that I am fortunate to come back to my Alma Mater... Fortunate enough to come back to my roots... This is where I belong to... It is because of This place that Today I am What I am...

Jai Gajanan!!!

-Nachiket Dabhadkar
Shegaon Railway Station
11-12-13