When I met Ajay Jadeja

I recently got an invitation to attend the 5^th Adidassler Sports Day of Udayan Care. It reminded me of the event last year, which I was fortunate enough to attend.

It was a cold January morning. Though it was not foggy, but it was chilly. I was going with the children in their bus. So, I had to reach Udayan Home by 7:30 am, and thus wake up at 7:00! So, I thought of taking a bath some other day, and just washed my face with the freezing waterJ. I reached there in time and the bus left for Delhi.

Around 1½ hrs of bus journey and we were there. Gr. NOIDA was the first home and I, the first volunteer to reach. All the children quickly engaged themselves in making the arrangements and practicing for the event. I, on the other hand, had no work to do and no one to talk! So I started to get extremely bored. The only respite was the hot coffee that proved like elixir in the cold. But this state didn’t lasted for long, as other homes also arrived and there was so much going on that you eventually would become busy, just watching them.

The children started the march-past practice with their respective home flags. It reminded me of my school days when we used to do the same with our house flags. Though the mentor of Gr. NOIDA home was a retired brigadier, the children lacked rhythm. None of their feet seemed to move in unity. As a sergeant in NCC, I was a little irritated by seeing them. I was also a little amazed at the quality of march that we used to do at the same age! So, instantly I thought of training them myself. But, I restrained myself from offering help as their PT teacher wouldn’t have approved it. I was becoming nostalgic, drowning in my childhood memories when suddenly chief guests arrived.

Then there was this usual rush and everyone was moving. There was an excitement in the air, especially for kids. Dr. Modi, the founder of Udayan Care, herself went to escort them. And there he was, my childhood hero, Ajay Jadeja, emerging from the gate with the CEO of Adidas (whose name I don’t remember). The moment for which the children were practicing finally came and march-past started. The children then lined up for the oath, which Jadeja presided. When the oath was over, all the guests took their seats. I quickly went to the second row and sat next to the brigadier’s daughterJ. But, I didn’t chose my seat because of her. Though she was beautiful, but also married and a brigadier’s daughter! I was not in the mood to suicide, by flirting her. I sat next to her because it was also next to Jadeja, in a sense. Actually, Jadeja and Mr. CEO were sitting in the front row and I was just behind them.

The performances and competitions started with a beautiful yoga show. I liked it even more because my favorite student Kanchan was in it! I slowly started interacting with my companion (brigadier’s daughter). I was glad that she was from Australia and weak in Hindi, so I didn’t had to call her Didi ;-). She told me about the life in Australia, the struggles of NRIs and the growing tensions in Indian community due to increasing attacks on them. She quickly added though that she was safe in Melbourne, as these attacks were not reported from Melbourne, which, strangely enough, gave me a feeling of satisfaction! Then she asked about myself and even appreciated me for working for such a noble cause. These words made me like flying in the air. But that plane crashed just after the take off. For, she asked the question that I feared the most.

She asked me who the chief guest is, as she couldn’t recognize him. I was amazed and said why; he is a famous Indian cricketer. She smiled and said she hadn’t seen him play. I told her that’s because he doesn’t play now. But, he is still young, she said. Then I fell dumb. Thought for a minute whether to tell her the truth? My concern was that Jadeja could easily overhear us. But I decided that she was a pretty woman and deserves the truth. So I whispered the reason for Jadeja’s expelling to her. She was dumb founded hearing that! Then we had not much to talk, so we indulged ourselves in games that were going on. She left about 10 minutes after that, leaving me alone.

Only when she had gone, I realized what big a moment for me it was. I remembered Jadeja playing for India when I was a kid. I remembered him winning matches for us. The thing I most liked about him was his cunning fielding and his ever smiling face. In a match against Pakistan, he deliberately misfielded a ball, so that Azhar could run the batsman out! He was my childhood hero, and there was a time when I liked him (and Robin Singh) more than even Sachin. I never ever dreamt of sitting just a foot away from him. So close that I could touch him just by extending my hand! But I was such a fool, that I didn’t even have a paper to get his autograph. I was getting desperate, because I knew he wouldn’t stay for long. Mrs. Neelam came to my rescue then. She gave me her day planner to get it autographed by Jadeja. I took it as an opportunity to get an autograph for myself as well. So, I went to him, shook his hands and introduced myself. Then I forwarded him the planner to sign. I requested him to give 2 autographs which he did without protest. Though I had no intention of doing so, I had to take Mr. CEO’s autograph as well. He got a bit irritated when I asked him to sign again. Still I thanked him politely. Guest is God after all.

There was not much to do and this excitement of sitting behind Jadeja eventually vanished. I started to get bored again. There was a soccer match between Ajay’s and Mr. CEO’s teams. Mr. CEO was injured in it and had to be carried to the car. I felt both relaxed and astonished at the same time. Relaxed, because it was like getting revenge from him (he became irritated with me)! And astonished to see the CEO of Adidas, the world’s leader in marking sportswear, getting hurt playing with kids!

Jadeja left soon after the match. There was only one event left for the day. The volunteers’ race. Now, I have never considered myself a good athlete. So, I tried to hide myself behind a pole. Somehow, the anchor, Urmila, got a glimpse of me. She also happened to know me. So, she announced everyone must be the part of this race, looking directly at me. The race thus became inevitable for me.

I put off my jacket, gave it to Mrs. Neelam, and got to the race tracks with heavy feet. There was a reason for this. My competitors included 2 Germans and an American, all more than 6 feet tall. To make the matters worse, it was decided that the race would be 200 mt, instead of 100 mt decided earlier. The whistle was blown and we all started. While I ran with all my energy, the Germans were slow to start. I would have taken a good lead, if someone had not fallen just ahead of me, breaking my pace. Once, I slowed to avoid him, everyone else gained momentum. After about 150 mts, I got extremely tired and slowed even more. The Germans had already finished the race till then. I was worried not to come last. To my pleasure, I saw 2 people running after me. I came about 20 secs after the winners, which were of course Germans. Indians were once again defeated on their own soil! The only respite was that an Indian volunteer came third and American was fourth. I was fourth from the last, as you might have guessed.

That race was the final competition for the day. Prizes were distributed and we had lunch. Then, we left for Gr. NOIDA. I was again going with children in their bus. But, this time a notorious kid of NOIDA home was sitting on my lap. It took us longer than usual in the return trip because we had gone via NOIDA home, dropping children there. We reached the Gr. NOIDA home in the evening. Though I was tired, I taught Neelam, a girl of class XII, who didn’t attended the event. I returned to my apartments (rented), at around 7:00 pm. The first thing I did was to show my roommates the autographs! That ended one of the best days of my life.

Thanks Udayan Care for giving me this opportunity!

India 2020: Can we achieve Kalam's dream?

Another December passed and we entered into yet another new year. This year bought with it a new and much anticipated decade. The decade, most of us were looking forward to. For it is at the end of this very decade that Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam had dreamt of India as a developed country. The question is whether we Indians have the potential to realize his dream?

The first thing that one considers is the economic growth of a country. With economy currently growing at 7% pa and projected rates of close to 9-10%, India along with China is expected to be the source of 34% of world’s wealth by 2020. Though it is far from the 50% of the world’s wealth that India and China had till 1775, but it still gives us hope. Today, India is second in IT, next only to USA. This is an important development factor considering that growth is driven by technology in today’s world. Indians working in MNCs enjoy a heavy pay with ever increasing packages. Indian stock markets are paying high dividends to investors. Indian consumer has now the potential to buy expensive and sometimes elusive items. This has forced global players to invest in India and thus helping the economy grow.

Indian infrastructure is also growing at a rapid pace with ambitious Governmental projects like Ganga Expressway, connecting Delhi to Baliya in East UP through a 4 lane highway, being implemented. With the historic RTE (Right to Education) Bill passed, we can expect an increase in no. of children going school. India has a good level of control over its banking system which is the key to any economy. With 20 nationalized bank, the government guarantees that our banking system would not fail. This is important in long term as a bankrupt bank can cause a national economic crisis, like in Ireland. This ensures that Indians can keep their hard earned money in safe hands. This also means that Indians can afford to buy homes and send their children for higher studies with the loan that these banks offer.

With vulnerable borders that we share with Pakistan and China, strong defense would also play a major role in development of country. India has 3^rd largest army, 5^th largest air force and 7^th largest navy. We have some of the world’s best defense systems and equipments. We are capable of striking missiles as far as 7000 kms with a nuclear war-head. We have world class fighter planes as Sukhoi MKI. Our navy has nuclear sub marines and our army can survive in the world’s highest war post in Siachen. So we can say that we have world class defense in place.

Thus we can conclude that India is growing fast. But does that mean that we can become developed by decade end? Let me share a story to answer this. It’s a true story of 13 year old boy named Anil. Anil lives in Ferozabad, UP. He lost his father few years ago and is survived by his mother and 5 younger siblings. Because of his father’s illness, they had to sell their house. Now Anil makes bangles for a living. He is the lone earner for his family of 7. He says that his hands burn sometimes, but he has no other option then to go on. He dreams of living in England where he is free from work and can go to school and play cricket. He also used to go to school, but had to drop out.

Welcome to the other half of the country, still known as Bharat!

The question of being a developed India cannot be answered without addressing the concerns of Bharat. In Bharat, nearly 80 million children are out of school, 700 million people live at less than 2$/day, nearly 380 million people are living below poverty line, 100 million youth are unemployed, 640 million don’t have permanent toilets, 170 million don’t have access to safe drinking water and 290 million don’t have access to basic health care, not even to medical stores. More than 600 million still have agriculture as their primary occupation and most of them don’t own land. New Year is just another day for them. Just like Anil, their day starts early in the morning and ends at 10:00-11:00 pm after toiling their bodies for whole day. And still they sleep hungry! (An estimated 250 million people in India sleep hungry).

There is a huge divide between the rich and poor in our country. There are Indians featuring in the Forbes and Times on one hand, and marginalized farmers living on a HDI (Human Development Index) less than the African countries on the other. Rich kids are becoming obese on one hand and poor children are forced to work as laborers on the other. Only 3% of Indian population invests in share markets and more than 35% live below poverty line!

Being a developed nation would remain a dream if we cannot bridge this gap. Development cannot happen without the inclusive growth of each individual in country. Sometimes I wonder that if all the governmental policies are properly implemented, we would be out of the shackles of poverty in maximum a decade. We have RTE and Mid-Day meal schemes, which can take care of both education and mal nutrition. Then, there is NREGS (National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme), which can take care of unemployment. We have Rajiv Gandhi Avas Yojna that can take care of homeless. And in a matter of years, all this combined with the efforts of common people can eradicate poverty completely. Our nation could once again become a “golden sparrow”!

But, due to the unwillingness of both government and common people, all these policies do not reach the poor. The benefits of a developing India do not trickle down to Bharat. Thus, we remain poor and developing. I sometimes contrast India to Japan, a country devastated by war. But, in the same duration of 60 years Japan not only developed but also became a leader of the world in technology. Why can’t we achieve the same? The answer lies perhaps in the mindset of Indian people. While Japanese worked collectively with a sense of nationalism, Indians became invidualists with nationalism diminishing. Most of the Indians simply do not care about the society and country as a whole, and hence don’t act. Others think that nothing can be changed and lack motivation to act.

It thus becomes a duty for people like us, the empowered (privileged) youth of India to take initiative to make Kalam’s dream true. All it requires is a little time and effort. As someone has rightly said that we can change the world by doing a small act of random kindness (ARK) everyday. So Indians, celebrate New Year with full zeal, but at least spare a thought for Bharat as well. Jai Hind!

Distance Between Railway Tracks

We all have travelled by trains in our lives. But, have you ever wondered what the distance between the railway tracks is? The distance between railway tracks is 143.5 cms or 4 ft 8 ½ inches. Now the question is why such an unconventional measure? Wouldn't it be better to keep it 144 or 145 cms exactly?

The answer is simple. The rail carriages were made by using same tools which were used for making horse-driven carriages. The distance between the wheels of these carriages was 143.5 cms because the roads on which they travelled was of same length. Then, who decided the road’s length? We have to move centuries back to Roman Empire to answer this. When Romans built the first ever roads, they used this measurement. And why so? Because their war chariots were driven by 2 horses, specially trained for the task, which when stood side by side measured exactly 143.5 cms!

But what does this distance signify? This signifies the very nature of humans to follow rules without questions. The USA engineers while designing fuel tanks for space ships thought that tanks should be wider. But, they were to be transported through same tracks, and hence could not be made wider than 143.5 cms. Imagine the whole plan of space shuttles was to be changed just because someone decided the width of roads centuries back! Just like the distance between railway tracks, someone has also made rules for everything that we do.

Everyone believes that the life’s aim is to follow a plan. They never ask whose plan is this. So, they never question and just follow the rules. And these rules say that we must study things that we would never use, but what others thought is important (trigonometry, calculus, probability, etc). We must do jobs we detest. We must follow a religion. We must kill in the name of country and religion. We must maintain a status in society. We must work in tight schedules. We must buy jewellery or other expensive items just to show off. We must not make a fuss. We must be amusing all the times. We must always complain but do nothing about it. We must not behave differently. We must dress according to latest fashion. We must not help strangers. We must look down upon those who don’t have as much money as us. We must not follow our dreams. And we must not change the distance between railway tracks!

I’ll give one more example to show how blindly we follow, without ever questioning. Take today’s date. Its 29^th of December and December is the last (twelveth) month of the year. Isn’t it? But did we ever questioned why the twelveth month is called December which literally means tenth? The twelveth month should be called dodecember instead. Anyone who studied Chemistry would understand what I mean. Same is true with September, October and November meaning literally, seventh, eighth and ninth respectively.

Its not that everyone follows these rules blindly. There are many who challenged these rules and brought a change. Mahatma Gandhi, for instance, made non-violence a weapon to fight the mightiest empire of all times! We call such people heroes. I also met such a group of heroes on 22^nd August 2010. They are the Sankalp volunteers!

Before Sankalp, blood banking was doctor’s job. People were not supposed to save lives. Government and hospitals were there for the same purpose after all. Volunteering was just a past time. Social service was another occupation which people did for a living. But, this group of people decided to challenge these rules. And suddenly, college students studying engineering, started to take blood calls! They started to search for blood. They started to work for bettering blood banking. They started to do relief work during disasters. They started to save lives. And eventually, even doctors started to listen to these engineers!

The most amazing thing about Sankalp is the quality it delivers without even a single employee. Everyone in Sankalp is a volunteer and not a social service man. How many organizations are there which are going for ISO certification without a full time employee? I can’t name even one. People at Sankalp are changing the distance between railway tracks for the better of mankind. I don’t know about the challenges they faced in doing so, because all I know about this organization is SUCCESS, a 100% response to each of the blood request recieved in more than 7 years!

Hats off to this team of heroes. 

Why is India Unique?

People, read Indians, often say that India is a unique country. We feel proud to do so.  I wondered why it is so. Why is India unique? If you ask this the common replies that you get are:

We have diversity. Well, it is true that India is a diversified country. But that doesn’t makes it unique. United States is more diversified than us. They are the true global destination with people from almost every country. Even the US army and police force has personnel from various countries and religions. And talking about internal diversity, the diversity of population within the country, China has more than 50 ethical groups.

Then people say that we are the oldest civilization. That’s also true to some extent, but Greek, Egyptian and Mediterranean civilizations also evolved at same time.

One more point people have is India has Unity in Diversity. The fact is we have more communal and regional violence than any other country. Whether its Hindu-Muslim riots, demand for a separate Sikh state, Khalistan, violence against Hindi speaking in Maharashtra, naxalism or any other such issue, we always put our regional, religious and self interests above the national and even humanitarian interests.

Then what is that makes India unique? The word unique means something that exists as the only one or as the sole example; single; solitary in type or characteristics. So, here are some points that I think are truly unique to India because no other country possesses them:

1.       Cultural Heritage and Influence: - India has always had a big impact on the world. This is because we are the oldest living civilization of the world.  Thus there were several civilizations that evolved with Indus Valley, or even before that (like Mayan), but we still follow those traditions. For ex- Once there was Ra, the Egyptian God of Sun, Helios, the Greek God of Sun and Surya, the Indian God of Sun. But nobody worships Ra or Helios anymore. While there are still several Indian homes where Surya Namaskar is a daily ritual!

India had the first ever university, Takhshila, the oldest and longest epics are Ramayan and Mahabharat, oldest manuscripts are found in India (written in Pali and Prakrit) etc. This old and continuing civilization also helped India to get some scientific achievements like invention of zero, trigonometry, gravitational force, surgery, astronomy etc to name a few.

India is the only country in the world to have an ocean (Indian Ocean), a sub-continent (Indian-subcontinent) and a group of islands (West Indies) named after it. Such is the cultural influence of India that native people in various parts of the world are called Indians, like Red Indians of native America, and as many as 5 countries have names derived from Sanskrit. They are:

1.       Afghanistan- derived from Sanskrit word Afghan meaning horse riders.

2.       Cambodia- derived from Sanskrit Kamboj, a Khsatriya tribe in Iron-Age India.

3.       Sri Lanka- derived from Sanskrit Lanka meaning a venerable island. It was previously known as Ceylon.

4.       Singapore- derived from Sanskrit Singhpur, meaning city of lions and

5.       China- derived from Sanskrit Cheen. Indians used Cheen to refer Qin dynasty of China.

2.       Geography: - Nature has bestowed India a unique geography that helps it grow and prosper. India can be geographically divided into following regions:

1. The Great Himalayan Range- The largest and highest mountain ranges of world. These help in heavy rainfall and are source to majority of Indian rivers.

2. Northern Plains- They are the most fertile lands in the world due to rivers like Ganga, Yamuna, Satluz, Brahmaputra, Chenab, Rabi, Ghaghra, Gomti etc. They are the major factor of high population in northern Indian states.

3. The Thar Desert- The region of Rajasthan and some parts of Gujarat are covered with desert which is continuously expanding towards Punjab.

4. Deccan Plateau- Southern India is located on Deccan Platue that keeps the weather pleasant throughout the year in cities like Bangalore.

5. Coastal Lines- Indian mainland has the coast lines exceeding 7000 kms (without including the islands). They have made Indian cities like Mumbai and Kolkata, a global trade hub.

6. Ghats- Eastern and Western Ghats are mountain ranges located along the Indian coasts. They are home to various endemic species and several spices are grown in them. They have such diversified flora and fauna that they comes under “Biodiversity Hotspots” of world.

7. Islands- India also has 2 island groups, Lakhsyadweep and Andaman & Nicobar.

No other country in the world has geography as diversified. Thus Indian geography makes it unique and a far better place to live than land-locked countries or islands

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3.      Language: - India has more than 1600 languages with dialect changing every 16 kms. We have as many as 22 official languages. Also, Sanskrit is the mother of nearly all the major European languages including English and is one of the oldest languages of the world. Then there are South Indian languages like Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam which do not resemble to any other language in the world. Thus, scientists had to invent a whole new lineage of Dravidian languages that evolved out of nowhere!

4.       People and Religion: - Indian people are always peace loving. It is the only country in the world which got its independence on the pillars of truth and non-violence. Though it is the oldest surviving civilization, we have never attacked any country. Indians were always open to people of various faiths and nationalities. We welcomed Jews as the first foreign religion and Jews have historically lived in India without any instances of Anti-Semitism from the local majority populace, the Hindus. India is also the only country in the world that is the birth place of 4 major religions namely, Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism. The beauty of this is that with the exception of Sikhism, all others have non-violence at their core. In today’s vulnerable world, full of hatred against mankind, also, India is a home to a multi-faith population with second highest number of peace loving Muslims!

Proud to be an Indian!