Man without education,
Education without skills,
Skills without character,
Character without action,
Action without direction,
are signs of failed nation.
-- while being conferred an honorary Doctorate from Gujarat Technological University, Ahmedabad on January 19, 2013
There has been a huge uproar about the speech by Akbaruddin Owaisi. The hatred-filled content by itself is shocking enough but what is alarming is the applause that he got from his audience. This shows the danger of isolation of a community in our ever-expanding society. These misinformed and misguided mindsets are there because they remain in their own community. When they live in isolation, they promote only one mindset and there is no open mindedness. They may not have friends from other communities...
It may appear that we are a part of this world, but actually, this world is a part of us. We carry our world within our mind and our mind cannot be at peace when the world around us is in turmoil. When mid-life crisis begins prematurely in teenage years; society is rattled with violence and drug abuse; humanism appears to be utopia; joy, love and compassion remain only in books and on celluloid; corruption and crime appear to be accepted as a way of life, then these are signals for us to rise to...
As the clock ticked in the midnight,
Fireworks flashed through the sky.
Explosions heard everywhere,
Not to wake up but to put people into intoxicants.
Drums fell on deaf ears
For the lame to dance on the darkest hour.
The end relished, the beginning perished
Without a sense of ownership.
The lonely New Year Sun rose quietly
Only empty streets to watch its glory and beauty.
A deadly silence spoke in volumes
Of the time that we are in now.
A ray of hope pierced through the earth
Looked for the...