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Sunday, July 19, 2009

A tiny moment of truth of our failings

Posted by: Danish 11:13 AM

I seem to attract a certain segment of people, street-kids, destitutes, invalids, people without food,shelter and the very basic amenities every human is entitled to. On my part, I am very comfortable with them and it must be very apparent since I get approached all too often. By the way, I am not talking about "beggars" one comes across traffic signals, these professionals are the easiest to please. As my very good friend says, anything that can be bought at a price however high is cheaper than that which requires your feelings and gestures.

But that is not the case with the people i am now talking about ,its not just money, they demand something more. For instance, there is this resident of our corner of the city, who would sometimes want soft-drink or ice-cream- not the sort of request a mentally-handicapped destitute should be making but the fact is that he gets it every time and its just not me or my friends. Most of the guys hanging around that area usually give in to his demand.

But I seem to attract far more people in need. Just a couple of hours back, 10-10:30 PM, these two kids stopped my bike, they wanted a lift home. Now, thats something I do nearly everyday but the problem in this case was the fact that I would have to go back quite some distance to drop them. However, i did give in to their insistence, and on the way learnt much about them. They were brothers, the elder one was 12 year old but was being guardian to his 10 year old sibling. Both of them worked at a food stall, couldn't be earning more than Rs. 30 combined but there was an air of confidence in them that made me think that these kids should be in school! I did tell them that I would make arrangements for schooling but don't have a clue on how to go about!

And yes,while returning I realized how uncanny the resemblance between these kids and the Slumdog Millionaire kids was. But unlike the characters in the movie, lady luck is not going to rescue them from poverty, it us who have to give them back their basic rights.

Posted By Danish 11:13 AM

Wednesday, July 8, 2009

R.I.P Michael Jackson

Posted by: Danish 2:39 AM

Just finished watching Michael Jackson's memorial, it was once in a life-time event. The glamor and grandeur sorrounding the event seemed to commoditize death and grief but the memorial of the King of Pop could not have been a sombre affair!

Lets not forget that he was under constant pressure to perform,even until the day he died. From the time when the 5 year old wonder-kid MJ was thrushed into the entertainment industy to this date , he was always seen as an object of entertainment even if a very celebrated one. No wonder then, he was a bit strange, the world never considered or wanted him to be a normal person!

Michael Jackson's memorial will go down in history as the biggest televised event. Ordinarily i wouldn't participate in an event of this nature watching its live telecast but MJ's memorial was an exception as it reflected his greatest contribution. For the first time, millions of people from all across the globe were in unison doing the same thing. It is indeed a mighty acheivement.

Thank you Michael Jackson and Rest In Peace !

Posted By Danish 2:39 AM