JAAG!

The world around us is a mess. And we are in our cocoons.

Two options. Stay in the comfort zone; blame everything on the system. Or, BE the system.

Jaag! is one such initiative. But rather than going radical, its about a gradual process called "awakening".

Today's youth has exuberance. Today's youth has energy. Today's youth is sick of the present. Today's youth desires a change. And at least before familial engagements tie us down, today's youth has high morals. Let's tap all of these.

Let's try to make people stop and think, at the least. Write on things that bother you, that piss you off.

Why JAAG? Why not keep on writing random posts on similar topics?

The purpose, remember, is to make people stop, at least for a while, and take a break from the regular rush of life to realize that things are screwed up. JAAG! will serve as a channel to make those thoughts flow. Ideas will be reinforced everytime a person will come across the word "Jaag!". And who knows, he gathers up will power to say, "Enough." Let's get together and bring about the resonance.

How to get associated?

One, contact me and tell me you're associated with "JAAG!" by commenting on this post on jaagtheawakening.blogspot.com. Any other non-participating comments can be made here.

Two, upload the "JAAG!" image shown above in every blog post related to the cause.

Three, give a brief introduction to "JAAG!" in every post related to the cause.

Four, give a link to JAAG!(jaagtheawakening.blogspot.com) in every post related to this cause as it will serve as a reservoir of all the JAAG! posts on all the blogs till date.

Five, contact me and tell me whenever you have posted any JAAG! post. I'll update it in the reservoir.

Six, spread the word.

What next?

Just sit back and let the ripple effect do its job.

Intellectual Rape

There was a time when programmes on TV made sense. Today, they make an ass out of themselves and a mockery of our intellect. Today, they make money.

They make my blood boil. And I make no bones about it.

Gone are the good old Sundays that started with BQC and ended with Filmy Chakkar. Today’s tube could make the veterans cringe in their retirements/graves. Glamour is in and so is the melodrama. What’s out is substance. I’m seriously!

I’m sick of this new plague that has come upon “entertainment” – reality shows. It’s a wonder how it has weeded the quizzes and the game shows totally out. All we have today are the same semi-celebs dancing in one reality show, anchoring the second and judging the third. Imagine Bindu Singh judging a dance competition!!! I’m ashamed of the times I’m living in! [Bindu Who? Well, sigh!]

I’m sick of painfully long “talent shows” where the exhibition of talent takes a minuscule proportion of the telecast while the majority is dominated by judges’ “commenting”/fighting or participants/their families/their neighbours/judges/anchors/all having their eyes and nostrils all welled up. Awwww!

I’m sick of the anchors who give their unwarranted opinion after every performance before redundantly turning to the actual judges who come onto the stage after every third performance and use standing ovations more liberally than Sony Entertainment Television telecasts CID.

I’m sick of Rakhi Sawant featuring on some or the other reality show round the year, promising to bid adieu every time some “drrrama heippins”. The Swayamvar thing took reality shows to a whole new level! Proud of you, girl [or whatever you are]!

I’m sick of Saroj Khan, her weird arrogance and her truck loads of make-up. I’m sick of the king of pelvic thrusts Mithoon Da judging the “biggest” dance competition on the tube. I’m sick of Geeta Ma who has not known how to shut her speech-hole up. I’m sick of Anu Malik and his instant shayaris on his only means of employment that are worse than the spam SMSes. I’m sick of Abhijeet Sawant who finally has a job and thinks he’s funny making a schmuck of himself. I’m sick of Shilpa Shetty who still thinks she is the hottest diva in the country. I’m sick of Ravi Behl. Period.

I’m sick of flop heroes of C-grade movies [read: Sameer Kochar] and not-even-that skimpily dressed females hosting the cricket shows. Sometimes, honestly, the awe-inspiring cricketing knowledge of these pretty faces and the sheer quality of the questions they ask the veterans on the show make me miss even Mandira Bedi!

I’m sick of “Film Festivals” that serve the same old Bollywood crap in a new package. I’m sick of the daily soaps where the sole bread earner for the show is feminine rivalry and 61.62% of the time is wasted on close-ups of the faces of everyone present in the scene after every dialogue. I’m sick of the Expletive Channel, formerly MTV. I’m sick of Hindi electronic journalism. I'm sick of the long narratives. I’m sick of what makes news today.

I’m sick of India TV.

It’s time to wake up and bring some goddamned shape to this mess. Enough of rona-dhona. We make the TRPs. We bring the advertisers. We are the change we want to see but are reluctant to put our fingers on it. Lets not degrade ourselves in absence of options. JAAG!

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There are a few things that bother me. Rather, they piss me off. And what’s the most discouraging, if not disgusting, is the scale that these ‘evils’ have adopted. The text above was the second in the series of a campaign of sorts that I’m starting – JAAG! Help me if you want to by spreading the word. I am no hardcore optimist. I don’t hope this text is going to make any substantial difference in the way people think. But I’m a dreamer. And there’s a difference between the two.

My God

Disclaimer: Possibly coarse content. Strictly personal views. Offence intended. Tinge of MBA jargon.

Who has actually seen God, has had a tete-a-tete with Him over shots of Tequila/milkshake? Has He ever come down upon Earth and set the damn protocols in stone? I’m an agnostic at times but this is not that. This is the God-believer talking. I believe in Him, His omniscience.

My concept of God is CEO, World. He handles the Finances, the Operations and the HR. And there are no broad issues with the three departments barring a few recessions, earthquakes and suicides. But where the bugger has fallen flat is the Marketing. Unclear of his positioning, he has inadvertently gone into various line extensions [read: religions] and brand extensions [read: castes, sects and all that shit] managed by radically autonomous brand managers.

I think he is a pretty cool bloke. He isn’t too much excited by Ramzans, vrats or yajnas. If you do any of these because your heart tells you to do so, carry on. But if you do it because your faith dictates you to, well dude, you’re an impotent pushover with no friggin’ intellect of your own! Start questioning!

And the sacrifices of blood! Holy blabber! Doesn’t ‘kindness leading to God’ ring a bell??

I believe He likes genuinely nice people. Not the perfect ones. No body’s perfect. He just likes people with a genuine concern towards humanity and an empathetic heart that can feel the pain of others.

He doesn’t give a skeletal ass to microphone chants and colossal bronze bells that make the life of others hell. The processions that bring the traffic to a standstill are plain jokes to Him.

Also, the places that have made Him a business, He makes sure He steers away from those. The Tirupatis, the Meccas, the Vaticans: there is more to Him than these. You do not have to go somewhere to seek Him. In this age of Bluetooth/Wireless, why stick to InfraRed? When we say he’s omnipresent, it means that even if you talk to Him from the confines of the walls your ping reaches his chat window instantly!

He never made any priest, imam or pandit the brokers between Him and you. They just reached there first and lay their claim. You don’t need these middlemen. The longer the supply chain, the greater the Bullwhip Effect. Deal with Him directly. Talk to him: make jokes, share sins. He likes it. He’s one big voyeur. But He’s a patient listener. And the Guiding Light as well!

And the riots in His name: Oh, what an absolute insult to Him! Some bastards, sitting at the top in peace, make their living by making you kill your friend from a different faith. Grow up. Open up your widely shut eyes. There is nothing – absolutely nothing – to die for, kill or rape. It’s the temporary insanity that overtakes your conscience and the ability to think properly.

Make religion a strictly personal domain and respect the rights of others to subscribe to a different brand of faith. JAAG!

“You may say I’m a dreamer. But I’m not the only one. I hope someday you’ll join us. And the world will still be one.” – John Lennon

P.S. Un-dear Feminists, kindly notice the use of ‘He’ for God. I honestly believe He’s male.
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There are a few things that bother me. Rather, they piss me off. And what’s the most discouraging, if not disgusting, is the scale that these ‘evils’ have adopted. The text above was the first in the series of a campaign of sorts that I’m starting – JAAG! Help me if you want to by spreading the word. I am no hardcore optimist. I don’t hope this text is going to make any substantial difference in the way people think. But I’m a dreamer. And there’s a difference between the two.