Read some of my other most popular poems – Go the Extra Mile , A Ripple of Hope and Why God made Mothers?

Often called the Lifeline of the Nation,
Indian Railways runs more than 14,300 trains!
It carries over 13 million passengers daily,
Across hills, tunnels, rivers, lakes and plains!!

With 1.6 million employees under its rolls,
IR is one of the world’s largest employer!
Traveling across the country in its 63,000 kms of tracks,
You are bound to have more adventure than Tom Sawyer!!

Trains run from North to South, East to West,
Across the length and breadth of the country!
Jammu to Kanyakumari is 4751kms,
Is covered by Himsagar Express in 66 hrs, albeit slowly!!

The Railways was a legacy of the British,
And we have come a long way since then!
We have new tracks, trains and coaches,
And technology’s presence is felt even in the engine!!

But while the world has zipped away,
With the high speed and maglev trains!
We continue to live in the British era,
And our trains still run as if enslaved in chains!!

The TGV in France runs at more than 250 km/hour,
Chinese… Read the rest

I came across this pic and could not stop wondering how true it is. It totally describes what our life has become these days. With the advent of internet and social networking, everything has moved to the screen of our laptop. We work on our laptop, we talk with friends on the laptop, we take a break by listening to music or watching movies, again on our laptop and many of us (atleast me) sleep with our laptop ON downloading some movie or software.

Isn’t it amazing how technology has influenced us? How facebook has become the first thing to do in the morning rather than brushing our teeth? And all this technology is only 10 years old. Ever wondered how we used to live our lives before that

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What it is like to be a woman,
A man is perhaps incapable to understand!
It would take us a lifetime to realise,
That when compared to her, nowhere we stand!!

She has the power,
To mesmerize the world with her smile!
As daughter, wife, mother, and friend,
She makes many lives worthwhile!!

In giving birth she faces pain,
Many times more than ever experienced by man!
Still she forgets it with a smile and gets ready,
For her life as a mother just began!!

Performing the role of a wife and a mother,
She is the pillar of strength in every family!
Competing and thriving in a male centric society,
She is nothing less than a one man army!!

If we recount the impact of women in our lives,
We will realise it is nothing less than massive!
I can go on and on but eventually,
Even I will fall short of an adjective!!

As with most men, too egoistic to give her credit,
Even I was unaware of her strength and capability!
Till an… Read the rest

Indian society is unique in itself,
With diversity in every house, street and corner!
And with so many ironic situations all around,
How our society survives is a wonder!!

We have the best malls now,
With the best brands lined up wonderfully inside!
And copies of the same brand are available,
At throw away prices at the adjacent roadside!!

To see how the poor and wealthy co-exist,
Imagine when we drive in an air-conditioned car!
It is not at all strange to witness outside,
Beggars and slum dwellers barefoot on burning tar!!

Still if they beg for money or try to sell some toys,
Standing outside in weather as hot as a furnace!
Why do we sitting inside the AC cooled car,
Get red hot angry and treat them like they are from outer space!!

“Ganga jaisi pavitra” has been used many a times in Indian cinema,
As Ganga is worshipped as a symbol of purity!
Yet 2 million daily holy bathes and tons of industrial waste,
Make it one of the most polluted rivers in the country!!

Mumbai is the financial and… Read the rest

My views on women have developed mostly in the last 4-5 years and I was thinking of writing a blog post on it for a long time. But I recently read an article in a TOI Sunday Matrimonial Section and I really liked it and thought of sharing it with all… Below is the article

I will also try to write an article on women and their place in Indian Society at the earliest

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It is after a long time I am writing a poem, and this is certainly my first since I started blogging. It follows below, read it and share your views as comments…

Our media say Aussies are attacking Indians,
But is racism really to blame…
In the race of getting more eyeballs and attention,
Isn’t it only a publicity game!!

Why do we forget to see,
What is happening in our own home?
When Shiv Sena hits out at fellow Indians,
It seems our unity and dignity are long gone…

Naxalites are killing policemen everyday,
Now active among 220 districts and 20 states..
Our armies might be one of the biggest,
But some problems are better solved with just opening our heart gates!

Is it not racism when we divide on caste,
Or hate a person for region or religion…
Why do we always forget that be it Biharis or Mumbaikars,
We are all part of the same legion!!

It is said every cloud has a silver lining,
And with the attacks on Indians down under…
Shiv Sena when they said would not allow Aussie… Read the rest

It has been almost a year now since the Indian media has been blasting Australians for racial attacks on Indians down under. After all, it makes for good news which people watch. And who cares for the facts!! It it sells, then show it on prime-time TV or make it front page news… and people will watch too. But do we try to wait and understand what actually is Racism, and is it racism what is happening in Australia?

Racism is defined as “any discrimination or prejudice based on race“. Going by this definition of racism, is it not racism when political parties like MNS and Shiv Sena protests, most of the times violently, against North Indians? Is it not racism when we have reservations for certain “backward” classes for the last 60 years? Is it not racism when we have many temples in our country where non-Hindus are not allowed? In the Sabarimala Shrine in Kerala, women between the age 6-60 are not allowed inside. There are even some shrines where men are not allowed.

Dalits, who represent 16 percent of India’s 1.1 billion population are often beaten or killed for using a well or worshipping at a… Read the rest

We have the most affluent / rich people of the world living here in Mumbai which also has the largest slum in Dharavi. We have people as educated as Manmohan Singh, Amartya Sen, and yet half our population is illiterate. We have people who are using the latest technology in every aspect of life, yet there are villages where there is no electricity yet. We have become the healthcare destination of the world, yet 1000 people die daily of diarrhea, TB, and many other diseases. We have rivers like Ganga, Yamuna… yet we have floods and droughts, every year in different parts of the country. Our child malnutrition rate is pathetic, and even basic amenities are eluded from many Indians.

Somebody has rightly remarked that India lives in many generations. People have become used to live and co-exist with each other. We dont feel strange when a beggar comes asking on a traffic signal while we are sitting in our air-conditioned car. We dont feel bad when we spend thousands of rupees drinking at a bar when that money could sponsor the education of many children for a year. A traffic cop once stopped me when I jumped a… Read the rest