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Showing posts from February, 2015

सरप्राइज

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तुम्हें अकस्मात् देखने की खुशी. सच में. ये शायर लोग झूठ नहीं कहते थे. मन में बेचैनी और प्यार का मिला जुला ज्वार फूटता है. जुल्फों में हवा की रवानी बढ़ जाती हैं. दिल की बंजर धरा पर जम कर बरसात होती है. कानों में शहनाइयों की गूँज, हवा में बहती खुशबू, लहू में उफान और मंज़र में सिर्फ गुलशन-गुलशन. हरा, पीला, गुलाबी, लाल...सारे रंग तुम्हारे इर्द गिर्द नज़र आते हैं. मन फूले नहीं समता है. सभ्यता के कानून बेड़ियों की तरह अभिव्यक्ति को कैद करके भी रोक नहीं पाते हैं. जो अनकही, अनकरी रह जाती है, वो आँखों से झर-झर प्रेम बनकर बहती है. लगता है जैसे इसी ख़ास अनुभूति के लिए समय की कोक से यह दिन जन्मा था. आज वक़्त की डायरी में मेरे लिए एक विशेष एन्ट्री थी. एक ऐसा उपहार जिसे पाने की खुशी मैं दोनों हाथों, या पूरे शरीर, या पूरे ब्रह्माण्ड में भी समेट न पाऊँ. ये सब कह देने के बाद भी बात अधूरी रह जाती है. शायद इसलिए कि इस ख़ुशी को एक लेख में बांधना उतना ही असंभव है जितना एक नदी को अपनी आगोश में एक समंदर को कैद करना. हाँ लेकिन सोचिये ज़रा, मिलन के कुछ क्षण पहले उस नदी की हलचल, जो अपने समंदर में समान

Of love-less marriages, and less-loved children

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“Orphanage children restored to their families.” Makes great headline. No? The writer feels instant catharsis. The reader feels a warmth going down her legs. Allow me to replace the warmth of a garb with the chill of truth. Lakshya, 7, is an orphan. He was handed over to the police sometime after his parents died, by his own relatives. They admitted without qualms that he was a burden. The police assigned him to a care home where he was to be one among a hundred boys, aged between 5 and 18. Given his middle class background, fair cheeks and chubby appearance, Lakshya was immediately adopted as a Teddy Bear by one and all, who cuddled and spoiled him to no end. Never to have known such love (Lakshya was born to a wrecked marriage), the boy felt at home for the first time. He rejoined school, with ample seniors to help him cover a sustained gap owing to family turbulence. Four years in the care home, despite its due share of fights and constraints, Lakshya grew with love. A hal

Technology: A game changer in fight against corruption

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“There is a difference between the dishonest bribe and the honest bribe. The dishonest bribe is the same in every country, but the honest bribe is India's alone.” - Gregory David Roberts, Author of Shantaram Transparency International (TI), the international NGO leading the fight against corruption , defines the malaise as ‘the abuse of entrusted power for private gain’. In simple words, corruption implies the unjust use of power either to withhold rightful dues or to provide undue favours. TI’s Corruption Perceptions Index places India at 94 th position out of 176 countries, reinforcing the perception that corruption is an accepted way of life in the Indian subcontinent. In trying to understand the role of technology in fighting corruption, it is important to understand what causes corruption in the first place. The reasons can broadly be classified into two categories: One, of human frailties, such as greed, impatience and lack of values, and two, of syste