Salute to Netaji: 23rd Jan

        It has been more than 68 years since our national flag breathed free air for the first time in 1947 and we owe it to our heroes who laid down their lives for it. We can never be sure about who played the most pivotal role in the 'struggle for independence' but one thing is certain that it was a joint effort and that it did not happen “ बिना खड़ग बिना ढाल” . There were people who, at a tender age of 23 years, wilfully took the path of martyrdom in the hope that it may help incite a revolution that might uproot the British Empire: he was Shaheed Bhagat singh. There were more fighters than we can name but only a few shone as the leader, Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose was one such prodigy. 

        You may think that I am exaggerating but Netaji's feats are way beyond the ordinary. Be it cracking Indian Civil Services, being the Congress President, consorting with Germany and Japan to raise the Indian National Army, taking the British Empire head-on, establishing Provisional Government of Free India with Japanese support and what not. The government of Azad Hind even had its own currency, court and civil code, and its existence gave a greater legitimacy to the independence struggle against the British. Immediately after the formation, Azad Hind Fauj declared war against the Anglo-American allied forces on the Indo-Burma Front. Some may argue that it was a complete failure but many (including me) believe that it was much more than meets the eye. 

Let me ask you a simple question: Why did the British leave India?
     Amidst all the celebrations, we often forget to introspect and the simple facts like these gets ignored. The Quit India movement of 1942 had subsided and nothing major was happening in the mainstream politics, the world war was over and the British had finished on the winning side, Netaji was no more and INA also had to face defeat at the hands of the Royal Army. So, why did the  British actually leave?

          British PM Lord Clement Atlee – responsible for conceding India’s Independence, answered the all important question during a visit to Free India in 1956 when he mentioned this directly to Justice Chakraborty who was then the acting governor, he said - The final decision to “leave India in a hurry” was due to the “activities of Subhas Chandra Bose which weakened the very foundations of the attachment of the Indian land and naval forces to the British Government”. Also, that in his assessment, Mahatma Gandhi had “minimal” impact on British policies.

          Elaborating further on this subject: In August 1945, Netaji had allegedly died, yes I said ‘allegedly’ because the real story still lies behind hundreds of classified files and in my mind the conspiracy further deepened when I saw the promo of a new series “Hunting Hitler” to be aired on History channel which alleges to prove that Hitler may have actually died years after he staged his own suicide after the second world war. A similar story of Netaji may be lying somewhere waiting to be unearthed. I seriously doubt that his disappearance was just bad luck. Anyway coming back to the point, after the loss of INA, three of the top officers – General Shah Nawaz Khan, Colonel Prem Sehgal and Colonel Gurbaksh Singh Dhillon were put on trial at the Red Fort in Delhi along with all the captured soldiers. Their crime was “waging war against the King Emperor”. It only proved to be their biggest mistake as the British realised with alarm, during the open trials, the transformation of the perception of Azad Hind fauj from traitors and collaborators to "the greatest among the patriots". Given the tide of militant nationalism that swept through India and the resentment and revolts it inspired, it is arguable that its overarching aim, to foster a revolution within the Indian forces of the British Indian Army and Navy to overthrow the British Empire, was ultimately successful. Netaji may have even foreseen that and may it was all that he always meant to achieve with INA. It may be just a speculation but if it was true, each one of the soldier of Indian National Army deserves a standing ovation. 

On Netaji’s birth anniversary, I wish that his soul rests in peace.
“Jai Hind”

Source Here

Giving up is not an option...

        In India we earn only to pay taxes and ending the gas subsidy is just another tax that we will have to pay. I am a doctor by profession but like any other salaried person I am also a tax expert or at least sort of. Here is a bird’s eye view of tax leeches : 

CENTRAL GOVERNMENT LEVIES TAXES ON THE FOLLOWING:

Income Tax: Tax on income of a person. Where the taxable income exceeds Rs. 10,00,000/-. Tax= Rs. 125,000/- + 30% of the amount by which the taxable income exceeds Rs. 10,00,000/- 

Customs duties: Duties on import and export of goods.

Central excise: Taxes on Manufacturing of dutiable goods.

Service tax: Taxes on provision of services Service Tax @ 14%.


STATE GOVERNMENT LEVIES THE FOLLOWING TAXES:

Value Added Tax (VAT): This is tax on sale of goods.

Stamp duties and Land Revenue: duties on transfer of immovable properties.

State Excise :on Liquor and certain agricultural goods.

Property Tax: India Property tax is levied on the real estate which consist of residential or commercial buildings or land attached to the buildings.

Professional Tax: taxes on professions, trades, callings and employments @ up to Rs.2,500 per person annually. Few municipal corporations are already collecting it and the SDMC will impose it soon on doctors, lawyers and accountants.

Entertainment tax: is a tax imposed by the government on feature films getting a wide release in India @ 45% and are reduced from gross collections.

Swachh Bharat cess: With the imposition of the cess, service tax rate will go up from 14 per cent to 14.5 per cent on all taxable services.

Fuel Surcharge: Extra charge @2.5% over and above the actual cost when we buy petrol by way of debit or credit card.

           So, we pay tax when we earn, we build home, we buy, we manufacture, we eat out, see movie, get car refueled and what not. Basically anything and everything we do is taxable. I wonder soon there will be a breathing tax. Even the odd-even rule supposedly meant to control pollution, which I agree is a good thing, is actually a rise in road tax by 100% because the car will now be usable for only half its life. You can't force people to be or do what you want.All you can do is share your desires clearly, and hope they keep an open mind and open heart.

Source: www.mhpbooks.com

       

        I am not being about patriotic or anti-national by paying or not paying these taxes. I pay each one of them but what I despise it that there is no accountability on part of the govt. I am concerned about how my hard earned money is being utilised. Yes I see the development but I also see thousand crore scams. I see 400% hike in salary of MPs and 15% for govt. employees. 

             In December 2012, India’s finance minister, P. Chidambaram, said that 2.89 percent of the population (about 36 million people) filed income taxes. In contrast, in the U.S., about 45 percent of the population pays taxes, which means that, despite India’s much-larger population, more Americans than Indians actually pay taxes. Even then the govt. recruitment is at its all time low despite shortcomings in each of the government department. Unemployment is rising by the minute which cannot be a good thing. Isn’t it shameful that 23 Lakh applicants appear for 368 posts of peon, as recently happened in UP. 

         So, given a choice I would not have given up my subsidy but now that there is no option, we can only hope that it will be used for the greater good.

This post is written for Indispire Edition 100: Gas Subsidy has been ended for people with income more than 10 Lac and prices hiked. What is your take on this decision?#NoMoreGasSubsidy

My List: #BooksIReadIn2015

          Although a lot of good things happened in 2015 but the list of books I missed is unfortunately as long as what I actually read. These are the books that made it to my shelf but fell short of being read. I really enjoyed reading the Shiva trilogy by Amish Tripathi. A different take on Indian mythology put forth in a spell binding and interesting tale of fantasy and action with gods in the lead role.

           Another such intriguing story was penned in Krishna Keys. It was more like Da Vinci Code with Indian characters and Lord Krishna in place of Jesus. It was a nice one-time read but not as good as the Shiva Trilogy.

         As much as I would have loved reading them but the following books could not make it out of the shelf.

• India’s Struggle for Independence  by Bipan Chandra
• My Gita by Devdutt Pattnaik
• The city of djinns by William Dalrymple

Let’s hope these books can see some fresh air in 2016.

         For all the book lovers I would like to add that the World Book Fair is going on at the Pragati Maidan in Delhi from 9^th to 17^th January. Feel free to dive into the immense world of books and literature. Read On...

http://www.newdelhiworldbookfair.gov.in/

This post is written for Indispire Edition 99 : Books you read in 2015 #BooksIReadIn2015

#Talesof2015

            Another beautiful year is coming to an end amidst celebrations and fireworks and here I am...juggling words and trying to stack them up into a blog post. I have been splashing around in the pool of poetry for some time now...but things have changed in the past year. I seem to be going somewhere; hopefully in the direction that I have always intended to. In Sep 2015 my first blog http://nerdyindian.blogspot.in/ completed its first year online...and it is all set to walk the serene pathways of blogosphere. It is basically anything and everything that comes to my nerdy mind and not usually bound in genres. I also managed to make a mark in blogging activities on #blogadda and #indiblogger but it is still a very long way ahead.

        I also launched a poetry blog this year @ https://doc2poet.wordpress.com/  dedicated to Hindi poetry and it is doing fine too. The year 2015 has seen it all; be it bitter or sweet, or rise and fall. Here’s how I expressed it in one of my blog posts...

कुछ खट्टा कुछ मीठा

के ख़ूब रहा ये साल,

कुछ क़िस्से हैं, कुछ कहानी हैं ; 

कुछ बीत गया, कुछ बाकी है ,

कुछ बातें हैं जो बतानी हैं ;

पा लिया कुछ, तो कुछ ख़्वाब ही हैं,

के इसी का नाम तो ज़िंदगानी है;

कभी ख़ुशी मिली, कभी आँसू,

के तक़दीर बड़ी सयानी है;

कभी जीत मिली, कभी सीख ,

कुछ मंज़िलें हैं, जो अभी पानी हैं;

कोई छूट गया, कोई साथ रहा,

के तस्वीरें कुछ धुँधली, तो कुछ जानी-पहचानी हैं;

कुछ याद रहा, कुछ भूल गया,

के बातें कुछ कहनी हैं, कुछ छुपानी हैं;

जो बीत गया, वो फसाना था,

के तस्वीर तो अभी बनानी है;

क्या ख़ूब रहा ये साल ,

और क्या ख़ूब ये कहानी है,

क्या ख़ूब ये कहानी है…

            Well! That’s it for my blogs, you will have to check them out yourself to know more and please spare some time to give your valuable feedback. But the brighter side is that the story has just begun and there are ‘n’ numbers of milestones yet to be achieved. I hope to try new things, learn, live and feel each moment, push & change myself to become a better being, a better person and a better writer & blogger in the coming year. I can’t resist but share the lyrics of the most inspirational song I ever came across “It’s the climb”- By Miley Cyrus.

" There's always gonna be another mountain,

I'm always gonna wanna make it move,

Always gonna be a uphill battle,

Sometimes I'm gonna have to lose,

Ain't about how fast I get there,

Ain't about what's waiting on the other side,

It's the climb..."

             Whenever you feel down, just listen to this song and keep going...just like me. So, let us keep our fingers crossed and see what lies behind these doors...

I’m sharing my #TalesOf2015 with BlogAdda.

The pursuit of love: #ItsStillOkay

            I loved the movie #BajiraoMastani but I will refrain from turning this post into another movie review. You may already know about the highs and lows of the epic from reviews or the movie itself by now, so let’s sail higher and see the big picture. And if you are still sceptical about Shrimant Peshwa Baji Rao Ballal Balaji Bhat, this post may just add to it.

           When the movie took off I saw #BajiRao as the ultimate warrior who seemed invincible. At the zenith of his raging expedition he wanted only one thing...uprooting of the #Mughals and unifying India under one rule i.e. #Maratha, which is completely understandable. But as the reels turned, the warrior turned into a fanatic lover. How did that happen or what he actually wanted? Was it power, peace or love?

    
     Power is a definite yes but may be because he was brought up that way. He was molded to be a warrior and he turned out to be one of the best of that era, a #Maratha’s paradigm. He not only sought power but he achieved it. He became the peshwa of the Maratha empire at the tender age of 20 years. His sword was his first love indeed. He fought to win & fought till his last breath and died ultimately of war wounds.

 

       Peace! I mean peace of mind with a less complicated life. He may but he chose otherwise. He espoused #Mastani going against his religion, family, his own wife and the truck load of expectations everyone had for him. That too amid all the wars & religious stubbornness, so peace was never on the cards. 

      
        Love? Love is all that we seek. Even the mightiest of warriors fell to it; be it #BajiRao, #Prithviraj Chauhan, #Salim or someone else. Something on the Indian subcontinent caused a serious heart-brain wiring malfunction which drew them to love, it’s still unknown but definitely there. It was love or lunacy that a man, Shrimant Peshwa Baji Rao Ballal Balaji Bhat himself, who had it all  at his service, including a beautiful and loving wife, fell for someone who could never be more than a concubine. It could only have been love that he couldn't resist it, especially after being aware of the aftermath. I feel that it was #Mastani's love frenzy which dragged him into it but she was also the one who suffered the most. 

                 We have seen many lovers in the history of Indian anecdotes who succumbed to the intricate fallacies of love, #BajiRao was one of them. He won 41 major battles only to fall at the hands of love. Well! Falling in love and not getting through has a legacy of its own in India, with the khaps and all continuing with it. 

            So the word is that the mightiest of heroes, even of the likes of peshwa, shehzada, warrior or even the king himself may have a hard time with love and destiny; even the religion doesn’t seem to matter here. But as long as the pursuit of love goes on...#it’s still okay.

This post has been written for #Indispire Edition 96: Write a short-story/poem/one-liner or anything to capture your thoughts and end it with "Its Still Okay!" #ItsStillOkay