A Letter to God!!

This piece of work is from a  famous Gujarati artist, found it to be so touching that I wanted to share with all:

A letter to God by a 7th grade student:

To
Mr God;
Heaven,
Opp Hell,
P.O Sky

My Dear Friend God,

Jai Bharat!

I am a poor student studying in Std. 7 in a municipal school which is near to your magnificent temple.

My Father is a Laborer in Grains Market and my Mother is a Maid working in different houses. “Why do I go to School?” even my parents don’t know. May be due to Government incentives and free Mid Day meals for students at school my parents force me to go to school.
Almighty, I want to ask you a few questions. This is the reason for writing this letter to you. My teacher told me that you always pay attention to heartfelt grievances:

Q1. Daily evening I come to your temple and every morning I regularly attend School. But O God! You have a beautiful marble in floor as well as ceiling and that too with A.C. whereas in my School we don’t even have a proper roof. Every monsoon water leaks from roof. I can’t understand this disparity.

Q2. You are daily offered so many delicacies and you don’t even care to even touch them. On the other hand in my School during Meal time I hardly get a fistful of rice. I am always hungry. WHY?

Q3. My kid sister’s frock is torn and we don’t have enough resources to patch it. You have best and most beautiful clothes. Frankly speaking I come to your temple daily not to meet you but to have a look at your clothes and jewelry.

Q4. Whenever there is an occasion thousands of people throng at your temple. On 26th January and 15th August when I present my Patriotic Song (Which I practice before two months) only my teachers and co students are there. Not single people from your thousands come to my Temple, Sorry School.

Q5. You might feel offended, but in my village there is a 5 Star Temple whereas my Primary School is like an ordinary temple. Dear God, I have heard that your statue is our creation and you are extremely beautiful with a glowing skin and your creation i.e. us are very dirty and dull. Why so?

If possible please reply to my questions. It will help me in my annual exams. God, I want to study further, I dream of becoming a Doctor but my parents don’t have tuition fees. Even if you send me a single day collection of Donation at your temple, it would be enough to take care of my entire studies. I know you will have to take permission from many. But if you don’t take my care in my 7th Std. exams then my parents will force me to do a job in a local tea stall opp. to your magnificent temple at a overwhelming daily wage of Rs. 5. I will daily serve tea to your rich and affluent devotees but I will never talk with you again.

Please hurry up as both of us have little time left.

A poor student of Government Municipal School
Or
A future Laborer of India
Vande Matram!

A beautiful game!!

Yes i am talking about a billion Indians passion - cricket.

Cricket is not just a battle of ball with the bat,
Specially in India where stacks are just too fat.
As one rightly said cricket is our religion and Sachin is our God.

Cricket is something which makes million heartbeats pumping,
Let India win a match and even a sixty year old starts jumping.
A young boy learns to hold a cricket bat first than a pen,
And we become an cricket expert as soon as we age ten,

We are more worried about the world cup fixtures than our exam result,
Every Indian victory is followed with Adrenalinic exult,
Even few failing results cant get out cricketing passions tame,
So crazy is our love for the game,
That we would remember every world cricketer by even his second name,

It is the only glue that can bind a country full of fractions,
It is astonishing to see what 11 men on 22 yards has done what most could not do.


                                                                          - Ruchik

Life is a race!!

I read this message few days back and found it to be worth sharing:

I was jogging one day and I noticed a person in front of me, about 1/4 of mile.

I could tell he was running a little slower than me and I thought "Good, i shall try to catch him."

I had about a mile to go my path before I needed to turn off.

So, I started running faster and faster.
With every block, I was gaining on him, just a little bit.

After just a few minutes, I was only about 100 yards behind him, so I really picked up the pace and pushed myself.
It was as if I was running like in the last leg of an Olympic competition. I was determined to catch him.

Finally, I did it. I passed him by. Internally, I felt so good that "I beat him". Of course, he didn't even know we were racing.

After I passed him, I realized that I had been so focused on competing against him, that I had missed my turn.

I had gone nearly six blocks past it. I had to turn around and go all back.

--------------------------------

Isn't this exactly same as that happening in our life, when we focus on competing with co-workers, neighbours, friends, family, trying to outdo them or trying to prove that we are more successful or more important...?

We spend our time and energy running after them and we miss out on our own paths to our God given destinies.

The problem with any such unhealthy
competition is that its a never ending cycle.

There will always be somebody ahead of you, someone with better job, nicer car, more money in the bank, more education, a prettier wife, a more handsome husband, better behaved children, etc.

But, realize that
"You can be the best that you can be, you are not competing with no one else."

Some people are insecure, because they pay too much attention to what others are doing, where others are going, wearing & driving.

Take what God has given you, the height, the weight & the personality...!

Dress well & wear it proudly...! You'll be blessed by it...!

Stay focused and live a healthy life...!

There's no competition in DESTINY...!

Run your own RACE and wish others WELL...!

Indian Political Circus

Politics is a filthy game as they say,

Dirtiness is the mantra come what may,

Some say it is bharat nirman, some say as india rising,

All that they manage to rise is,
Few numbers in bank balance and inflation index.

Helpless and hopeless is what a common man feels,

Struggling and fighting all day to earn even two meals,

Every election outcome looks ever so same,
Nothing changes, and nation is put to the shame.

How can i write on indian politics without a mention about corruption,
You pay some money and your work will go through without disruption.

We have gunman MPs and rapist MLAs,
 Crime and cowardliness is just in their DNA,

A trip to a jail, may just be an entry pass to their ticket for election,
Some media coverage and newspaper headlines might just seal their selection.

Everyone comes at price tag, including the media,
You share some wealth and your propaganda is throughout India

The nation looks at the parliament with utter disdain,
Everyone prays and hopes for the end of this pain,
Nation is sold just to make some personal gain,
Tax payer's hardwork goes totally in vain.

Many like me feel country needs a revolution,
But to begin with, people's mindset needs a evolution,
Everyone needs to make a strong mental resolution,
Thats how you build a successful and strong nation.


                                                                                        - Ruchik Shastri

Education system

I was reading the speech of 17 year old school boy Anshul Gupta, one who shot to fame recently by emerging as front runner in Times scholars program. I was amazed and mesmerized by his words and maturity. Few lines of his speech are as follows:


"A single examination cannot determine a student's ability in a particular subject. 
If a student scores less, it means that s/he needs more guidance or needs to put in more effort. 
Making students repeat an academic year because they have flunked the final examination is a wrong practice. 

A student may not be able to grasp concepts because of the teaching pedagogy and a one-on-one discussion can help identify the weaknesses. 
The system should be flexible enough to allow students to drop a subject if they are not interested in it. 
Clearly, if a student keeps failing in a particular subject, it implies that s/he has no aptitude or inclination for the same. 
A multipronged strategy needs to be in place where all students should receive personalised attention and case-specific guidance. Flexible systems that are in-sync with a student's interest and abilities can help tap a student's potential better.

Failing in a subject or an examination is clearly not the end of life. Everyone has weaknesses and strengths. It is extremely important that our educational system recognises this." 


The words simply forces us to think and act upon them.

Orkut!!

Had written these lines 4 years back, the time when Orkut was at its peak. Seeing everyone hooked and addicted to social networking sites nowadays made me pull out these lines from my old diary.

Orkut, a place you want to be.

I would say.......

Newer trust this place because you will find,

words not faces,

profiles not races,

& photos with no traces.

have more than 500 friends?

u just managed to be in Orkut hall of fame.

it hardly matters if you don't know most of them,

because here we all are just the same.

testimonials are the demand of time,

its just the volumes of praises compressed in just few lines,

its nothing but a mutual deal,

the more you get the better you feel.

you will find communities of just about everything,

where you can see irrelevant post, just about anything.

to own a few of them will boost your image,

don't worry we all follow the same linage.

Getting friend requests that seems, all the time anonymous,

stupidity that's the word which seems so synonymous.

tried avoiding a few,

but there are plenty in the crew.

some say its a time waste,

some say it all depends on your own taste,

many say this place is out of socks,

but most like me say Orkut still rocks.

                                                                 - Ruchik Shastri

Aspirations unlimited!!!

Life is unpredictable as they say,
who would have thought,
that i would end up here one day,
Thats the feeling every one lives, with every passing day.

Strolling down those memory lanes,
I wish time wouldn't have flied,
Oh i want to go back to those good old days,
The carefree days and careless nights,
Chats with friends was ever so nice,
Damm we cared about the things around,
Who would have ever thought then,
Life would take such a dramatic turn around.

People got serious and so did we,
Aspirations gripped and awesomeness flee,
Our mistakes became unpardonable,
And the decisions questionable,

 Every morning seems ever so same,
Excuses we give were never so lame,
Looking out of the shattered panes of unfulfilled dreams,
We search for our ray of hope,
For one day the phoenix will rise again,
Embarrassing the  open blue sky with all  the cheerful smile.
Oh this very thought sounds ever so right,
Let the dream never go out of the sight!!!


                                                                 - Ruchik Shastri