An Ode To Berlin

A reflection of a visit to Berlin last week:

What cities give and what they take;
Each road and rock of break and make;
Where silence lasts with roaring rage;
And a lasting shadow of a man disgraced.

Where the light outside was dark;
And within the hope of freedom lay.
A place where ideas were murdered;
And obedience paid.

Like the ups and downs of the seasons' sun,
The innocent did not find a sheltering place.
For shelter needs means;
Those, your genes forbade.

So what to look for in a place so rich;
To dig deep and find the dirt;
Or see the shine, the men and women have churned.
What a city tells you, is what you hear;
Whether it broke the people; or had them made. 

The Truth In Our Lies

The poem represents a kaleidoscope of the struggles and strife that go on each day within every individual and makes an attempt to juxtapose them to world events marking similarities or differences in the two: 

There is a moment of truth in all our lies;

A silent hope; in all our cries.

There is some trust in promises we break;

Some faith in homes we make.

There is some anguish in an old tree,

Some chains, a bird sets free.

There is more to us when fears are bold;

Much like a story each one has never told.

There is solemn grace in a broken a smile;

A happier place within a mile;

But who would leave the corner stone;

Of a house full of fears into the unknown.

We seem to run from what is inside;

In the hands of shimmering figures, place our entire lives.

There are decisions one takes once and for all;

Then questions the hour glass as the sand falls.

There is on old man who watches too keen;

The trouble of our souls; the dreams not clean.

His hair turns white; like promises fade;

The world seems a much more horrid place.

A bomb goes off and thousands die,

The Gods on earth make a religious cry.

You wonder will it ever end;

The madness in calling each other friends.

S.O.S - Blackberry

That Research in Motion (RIM) has hit an iceberg and is sinking faster than the Titanic is a known fact. Amidst all the desperate tries to save the once grand and unsinkable RIM, is an S.O.S. call to the companies' finest. The S.O.S called Blackberry 10. Recently, RIM launched the prototype of the Blackberry 10; all touch, the screening appearing to have tiles similar to those of the Microsoft OS. Whatever they have come with to battle the i-phone and the android devices did not seem to convince investors as RIM's value dropped despite the launch of the prototype.

Like many theories that have been propounded on how the Titanic could have been saved, here is mine to save what was once the symbol of security and reliability in telecommunication. Let us look back 5 years and reflect on why it made sense to have a Blackberry. Clearly, you don't remember. Blackberry's then were only for the business class, the rich and powerful who turned around billions over emails. They carried an ugly looking small version of a hammer, or a stone with keys enough to kill someone with a blow to the head, and yet many looked on, wondering whether they will ever get there. 

Let us now look back 2 years; blackberry plans have become pre-paid, the device much sleeker and less expensive, and the magic days of short-message-service (SMS) are waning. Everyone now wants a blackberry. The question is why? Why have the "Blackberry Boys" been taken out of their exclusive league? The answers are many and each one drives home what the S.O.S to the companies' thinkers should be:

1. The average college going kid required to check his email. For parties around town, to fetch the facebook updates on email, and somewhere in all the fun get to know what materials have been sent for tomorrows class, or whether it has been cancelled. Coupled with this was the sudden craze of sharing everything, a status, a picture, a voice note, and the unheard of, a 'read message' notification. In all this frenzy came along the sync with Gmail and the result was mind-blowing. No need for backups, lost numbers, messages, calendars; one device could get your whole world into your palm.

2. The business man: well for those who understand why a Blackberry is important to business this may sound too brief, but for the uninitiated, emails with projects, deadlines, updates, marking your boss, your team from wherever you are, downloading attachments and keeping in touch with colleagues over BBM made the world a different place to do business in.

3. The employers chose Blackberry for their reliability, security and the all important real time push email service. Enterprise servers could be setup, mails could be traced, tracked, locked etc. 

Everything was going all well and the folks on board the Titanic were having a good time, when the iceberg called the i-phone hit and made history. Numerous solutions have been offered to how RIM can be turned around, how Blackberry has lost its appeal to the customers. In my view, its because RIM is trying to be what it is not.

What Blackberry 10 ought to do is focus on how it started, to the crowd it mattered and that will get it right for everyone else. First and foremost, we want a blackberry for our emails. A device which can delivers to us our precious updates, projects, attachments etc, effortlessly and control our mailboxes. So what is missing then? The ability to file them to folders, use labels, auto detect email address and separate the business from the personal. A better remote search for the emails and apps that can help edit the attachments on the go. 

Having used a galaxy note for a few months and of and on friends' i-phone and all the gadgets I realize that all the pomp and show fades soon and all you want to do is answer calls, send text messages quickly, get your mail and be in touch with friends over a chat service. The rest is like a statute in built in honour, launched with ceremony and flamboyance only to be walked past the people not knowing whose statute it is. Ask yourself have you ever tried to voice command your phone to find a burger place while you are in your office? You would seem stupid in front of people talking to your phone ordering it to call "Shyam" when it refuses to recognize your accent. Tell me truly how many videos would you like to watch on a hand held device while you are at home with the luxury of watching it on your larger laptop screen or television. For the voracious readers, unless you are frequent traveler, causing strain to your eyes and neck isn't exactly the fun of reading (I understand that many would disagree with this).

So what Blackberry ought to do is focus on building a smartphone which will ease communication and give the option of entertainment freaks a larger screen to watch a movie or play a game. Apart from that, it should just be a phone with excellent battery life, better network coverage, faster browsing, wifi capabilities and more importantly the ability to organize and differentiate personal from business. Add to that the ever so awesome BBM. I am one of those who believes RIM could save itself by making its platform open source, but apart from that just the assurance that a message on BBM would deliver the world over in a split second is more than the assurance I demand from my cell phone. 

For the ever customized needs, let apps do the trick, allow plug-ins, but what I really do not want, is another i-phone or galaxy under the Blackberry brand, because that is not why I would buy it. I would buy it for a sleek design, packed with performance and the ease of tailoring it to my needs. I just need my emails and browsing, safe and secure with the ability to chat without interruptions and my device being able to sync all my accounts, calendars and activities into one. 

I think in the mad gadget race with features, to be a long time winner, all Blackberry has to do is keep it simple.   

The Hazare Phenomenon

Much has been said, debated, and concluded about the Civil Disobedience Movement, 2011 (as some tout it). The cause is undoubtedly noble and rather imperative but the larger question is: can we subvert the Indian Constitution and hold the supreme law making body to ransom at the threat of fasts and law and order problems?

The Indian Constitution envisages a supreme rule making body i.e. the Parliament. Representatives are democratically elected (fools or not, we are to blame for voting them into power) and given the responsibility of enacting new laws after due debate and discussion in the Parliament. Now lets assume, a radical party and its leader tell the government to ban girls and boys holding hands else they will go on a fast unto death and the government starts discussing a bill with them. Now they decide that they will not budge until the bill they have drafted is passed. What would your reaction be?

The present situation is not very different, only the cause a lot more real and necessary. Without questioning the high moral ground of the cause, how is Team Anna not mocking the Constitution? Today Team Anna, tomorrow Team XYZ with their demands, should the Government bend and allow all those laws to be passed which have been drafted with a threat of causing law and order problems and someone dying because of a fast? Yes, we do need awareness and need to stop corruption, but not at the cost of hijacking the process enshrined in our Constitution.

The Hazare Phenomenon has undoubtedly gathered the storm for this nation to debate and resolve this issue seriously, and my greatest respect to Mr. Anna Hazare for that, but his cause is misdirected for many reasons:-

(a) When Gandhi started the Civil Disobedience Movement, there was an immediate solution in sight i.e. the return of the British from India to England and the handing back of power. Corruption on the other hand is part of a vicious circle of population, poverty, and unemployment. Sitting on a fast is not going to make it vanish over night.

(b) The reason corruption and many other evils escape law enforcement is because we have the best of legislations, the best Constitution but weak enforcement mechanisms. The police cannot act because they are puppets of their State Governments, the CBI of the Central Government. For example, the Narcotic Drugs a Psychotropic Substance Act, 1985 (NDPS) is one of the most strict legislations criminalizing even the mere possession of a banned substance, lets ask ourselves, has the drug problem gone away? A strong Lok Pal Bill is not the solution to our woes, its separating our enforcement agencies from bureaucratic and political forces which misuse them for their selfish reasons. The law itself might have teeth, but it actually needs to bite to be effective!

(c) Police reforms, speedier justice, accountability of the judiciary and the media are what is required to achieve our short term goal of reducing corruption. The long term goal being less population, poverty and unemployment. What incentive does a constable have to do his duty diligently? When they catch us violating traffic norms, we are the first ones to either call our "God Fathers" or pull out our wallets. Why should that constable do his job and get scolded by our "God Father". He'd much rather take the money and buy another fan for his children who stay in a government quarter the size of our kitchens. Unless, the right incentives are provided to the enforcement agencies, unless they are given due security of their jobs from the whims and fancies of people in power no legislation is going to make a difference.

(d) Team Anna also wants the judiciary to be under the scanner of the Lok Pal. Either the Gandhian has failed to understand the structure and values of our Constitution or he wants to define a new basic structure for it. How can the supreme guardians of the law be subject to a Lok Pal who is not even the same rank and profile as them? Its against basic protocol and respect for the office of a judge! The Judicial Officers Accountability Act is a much better and saner solution adhering to our basic structure enshrined in the Constitution. The impeachment of justice Sen by the Rajya Sabha stands testament to the powers already vested in the law for removing corruption and erring officers.

One of the many reasons that provoked this article was the hysteria over a new political leader. My concern is simply this: will Anna Hazare take responsibility if things get violent or out of control? Can Team Anna provide the solution to that constable who gets fried in the sun for doing is job and then is told to let offender go and return home to spend the night with his family in cabin? Can a Lok Pal Bill change all that, can it alter the reason why people go down the road of corruption?

By no means and in any sense I am defending those who are corrupt, but I genuinely feel that many tread that path not out of choice but necessity. "In Rome, do what the Romans do". We live in a system which forces us to these things simply because we do not have things like social security, a minimum standards of living for government servants (especially in the lower strata). These problems need to be addressed before we can wipe out or reduce corruption, the solution lies in a bottom to top approach and not the other way round. Putting the Prime Minister or the Chief Justice of India under the scanner of the Lok Pal will not ensure that our dear constable on the street does not take a bribe.

Someone Fell

Often the world would laugh it well,

Finding it embarrassing that someone fell.

But what really eats up a man inside;

Only a broken heart can tell.

What burns inside; that fathoms not,

No consoling this wounded pride he got.

In silent moans, the roaring rage;

In memories past, life is caged.

When breathing hard amidst it all,

He thinks of a future with a hopefull call;

What matters most he humbly hides;

Twisting and turning in anguish lies.

And what to tell of life's disgrace,

Moments when loved ones slapped his face.

Trust and love too beyond him now,

He carries on just somehow.

And when in silence you feel a breeze,

A little moist, with dampened leaves,

Remember that someone shed a tear,

When it became too hard for him to bear.

And those who laugh at a fall,

Don't really know the cause of it all!

The Frost

All lost, all lost;

To that terrible frost,

Which froze those leaves in the wind,

That cool breeze after a warm day.

In the myriads of questions,

Some close, some far;

It froze those too,

Which were dearer than the heart.

No drops of rain,

No heat from the sun,

No childish play,

That was so much fun.

And out of the blue,

Like the morning dew,

It came from somewhere,

To stop all we do.

No sign of pain,

No thrill in joy,

No broken heart at a lost toy,

The frost, they say, had bit us cold,

Away from all we love to hold.

The morning sun,

The need for care,

All lost somewhere,

And left us bare.

It beats, yes, everday,

For whom or what,

It doesn’t say.

Some memories down the trodden lane,

The frost, they say, took all the pain.

All the joy & all things gay,

It bit us cold,

That is all they say!

A Place of No Return

From where I began to where I am now;

What has changed?

What has gone and what has come?

What has ended from where it had begun?

From nowhere to nothing have I reached,

From dust to dust remained.

Time has traveled distance,

Moments and memories too,

But something has remained; the way it’s supposed to.

I’ve looked all around, to where I should go?

No clue, no sign nor feeling have I to lead me so,

The stars foretell a future, a destiny I read not,

My hand has lines that lead to where, I still doubt.

There’s something dying within;

Whose saving drug ain’t there,

Life’s battles are at hand,

And neither my sergeants nor soldiers there.

Fears are freezing and may be emotions go

But things have to go on,

Why, is not for me to know.

The trees have withered leaves,

The spring has them returned,

People have lost feelings,

Love has got them back unturned.

Nightmares have turned real,

Dreams are still dreaming,

What was expected to stay has gone,

What had to go; lived on.

Breakable threads have relations joined,

Broken promises stayed in mind.

No roads have changed, no paths have turned,

May be I’ve trod too far; to a place of no return.