PART#2 - "MY SHINING INDIA"

The newspaper article pointed out few things which brought out the real but a horrific picture of today's democracy...

These are the reactions of a few top class officials and politicians of our country in regard to the incident:


1) Former member of the NCW team, Ms Lamba, remarked that women should be careful about the way they dress because such incidents are a result of blindly aping the West.  "After 64 years of freedom, it is not right to give blanket directions and say don't wear this or don't wear that. Be comfortable, but at the same time be careful about how you dress," she had said. Ms Lamba was removed by the commission after she revealed the name of the victim at a press conference.

2) MP Industries Minister also made a sexist remark against NCW team which had gone to meet the victim. He said, "By the visuals I saw, it looked like the girl had gone for a fashion parade. Women's fashion, lifestyle and conduct should be in accordance with Indian culture...women should not wear clothes which provoke others (to misbehave with them)"

3) RTI activist and KMSS General Secretary said that the recent molestation of the Guwahati girl may have been part of a greater conspiracy to stain the image of the CM and destabilize the government. He said the news channel is owned by a famous politician of the state and that the entire incident had been planned, directed, recorded, telecast and uploaded on You Tube by the news channel with a political intention so as to destroy the Chief Minister’s career. "It is to be noted that he is secretly trying to become the next Chief Minister and that he could be trying this with different foul means."

4) Ruling on the same lines, the Chief Minister of the state said that he would not tender any apology to anyone regarding the disclosure of the girl’s name by Ms Lamba in front of the media as it was not his fault.

5) The state police also received criticism for reaching the spot 45 minutes after the incident as there was also no police patrol. Bystanders and shop owners had remained mute spectators as the 'shameful drama' was going on. 

6) The women's panel has also hit out at the news channel which recorded the original footage which later became viral on YouTube, saying the camera crew continued recording even though the girl was begging for help. They said the victim told them how she could see the camera on her and begged for help but he just kept shooting instead. "She told us that he did not rescue her, in spite of her pleas".

7) On its defense the Editor of the news channel was of the view that it was only because of the footage that such a mass movement has been possible, and that this footage has been of aid to the police in identifying the violators of this young woman’s honor.

JUST THNK FOR A MOMENT….

May be the girl experienced the worst nightmare of her life that day n may be she won’t be able to recover from the trauma her entire life…But what did the administration of her country do in return….They just sat back and commented on her dressing style and kept blaming other government bodies, corrupt politicians and officials for the late reaction to the incident. Then everyone went silent and back to living their normal lives not realizing the fact that sumthing like this could someday happen to them too.

BUT WHY…ISN’T IT OUR COUNTRY??

AND IN OUR DEMOCRACY, SHUDN’T WE BE THE FIRST PRIORITY OF THE NATION??

DOESN'T OUR CONSTITUTION, IRRESPECTIVE OF GENDER, VOW TO PROVIDE US ALL WITH ECONOMIC & SOCIAL SECURITY??


N IF ITS SO, THEN….

WHY DOES SHE HAVE TO BEG FOR HER SAFETY IN HER OWN COUNTRY WHICH SHE ONCE SO LOVINGLY CALLED..............                  
                                “MY SHINING INDIA”

(Update : The prime accused in this case, Amarjyoti Kalita, was finally arrested in Varanasi with some of his friends by the local police as the news channels declared today...they would be handed over to the Assam police in a few days from now...All thanks to the local organisation of Guwahati which put up hoardings of all the persons involved in the crime on all the public areas of Guwahati...Gr8 job...Hats off to all u ppl :) )

PART#1: WE ARE ALL CITIZENS OF “SHINING INDIA”... BUT WHY DO CRIMES & INHUMAN ACTS TOP THE HEADLINES EVERY BREAKING DAWN??

WE ARE ALL CITIZENS OF “SHINING INDIA”... BUT WHY DO CRIMES & INHUMAN ACTS TOP THE HEADLINES EVERY BREAKING DAWN??

LOCATION: MY BED


TIME: 07:30 HRS


CURRENT ACTIVITY:
SLEEPING MY  *SS OFF!!

Buzzzz….buzzzz!! Buzzzzz…..buzz….buzzzzzzzzz!!

The heartless n cruel device that felt no mercy for sleeping mankind and tried its best to wake me up from the deep slumber I was in…But what that brainless thing didn’t realize was that humans have also evolved like them over the years and have developed a resistance to their attrocities…n I am an expert at it… Go on buzzing my dear…u haven’t got the balls to wake me up!!

   My Nokia X1 surrendered in defeat and the triumphant slumberer was back dreaming about Hawaii with Emma Roberts in his arms within nanoseconds :p

   Thud Thud Thud!!…resounded the next source of disturbance…

   Lyf is strange…even if you just dream about the one gal u always want to be with, it won’t let u do that peacefully…I tried to ignore, but after a few moments I realized the source of disturbance was not a machine…COZ IT WOULDN’T GIVE UP!! 
I got up to open the door…IT WAS A HUMAN FORM…he handed me a manuscript, which had a pic of Mamata & Pranab headlining it.

   Closing the gate he exited,  boarded his vehicle and went cycling away…but who knows...may be it was a machine in human form conspiring on better strategies to wake me up….God!! Too much of Terminator & Transformers can do this to your seemingly normal brain. ;)

    I came to the kitchen to make some tea for myself…Well it was another sad happening that day which is often caused by mom n dad not being at home…but I successfully ended up burning my fingers and making myself a cup of a hot red liquid…Quite an achievement!! :)

   Holding the cup in one hand, I searched for the Dark Knight Rises review in the Page 3 section of the paper when a section of the first page flew open…N it read…

  "GUWAHATI GIRL MOLESTATION CASE - It is in reference to the recent incident of molestation of a young girl outside Club Mint located in Christian Basti, Guwahati by a mob consisting of some twenty or so young men, and the video being captured by a certain camera person of a news channel. A few days since the incident when the whole nation expressed its horror on the sheer callousness of the act, Guwahati has been in the headlines with regards to the safety and security of women in the city, and questions have been raised on the role of the police and the media in curbing such forms of violence..."

   Well many of you already heard about this news which featured on all news channels a few days ago…BUT WHAT IS THE COUNTRY AND THE ADMINISTRATION DOING ABOUT IT…Of course the accused are arrested and prosecuted but....

ARE THEY TAKING ANY MEASURES TO MAKE THIS COUNTRY SAFER FOR WOMEN??

 I could agree to the statement above if it hadn't been for the article in the paper, which pointed out what was actually happening…

                                                         To be Concluded in PART#2

PART#2 - "MY SHINING INDIA"

PART#3 - V.A.T (THE EPILOGUE TO A NEVER ENDING CHAPTER)

DO YOU WANNA KNOW HOW MUCH INDIRECT TAXES WE ACTUALLY PAY THE GOVERNMENT PER YEAR EXCLUDING INCOME TAX AND OTHER DIRECT TAXES??
Here are the figures...

1. Tax on general commodities: (48% tax)
 Commodities such as rice, wheat, tea, pulses, flour, oils, pulses, LPG gas, incense sticks, stationary etc. are basic needs for every family.
2. Goods subjected to special tax rates(almost 70% tax for liquor) 
Cigarette, gutka or liquor.
3. Entertainment tax(20% tax)
Movie tickets, Cable bill at home.
4. Additional tax on items that are purchased periodically rather than monthly(5.7% tax)
Medicines, home accessories, hosiery, any local made goods etc
5. Municipal Tax
Slums in the interior of Hyderabad city even pay taxes such as municipal tax as they have a municipal registration number.
There are a lot others like land revenue, housing etc. but m not even going into all of those.

A common middle class family would be paying around Rs.600 as tax to the government per month for his basic needs and about Rs.7200 on a yearly basis excluding direct taxes. If each common middle class family in a city like Hyderabad paid that much tax, the total tax paid by them would be about Rs.720 crores per year.

WHAT’S WORSE IS THAT WE HAVE NO CONTROL OVER HOW OUR MONEY IS SPENT. THE GOVERNMENT DOESN’T TELL US WHERE OUR TAX REVENUE GOES. One would assume that our country needs large sum of money to sponsor the rapid urbanization and infrastructural development. Well yes, it does...BUT IS THIS WHERE ALL THE MONEY GO??

May be it goes to make good the over 45 billion rupees loss of Air India, over 400 billion rupees loss of public sector petroleum companies and over 350 billion rupees loss incurred by the power sector among others….MAYBE THEY GO IN PLUGGING THE HOLES THAT CORRUPTION HAS CREATED IN OUR COUNTRY…

WE ARE ALREADY PAYING OUR INCOME TAXES ….ISN’T IT ENOUGH IF WE JUST PAY FOR THE SERVICE WE ARE GETTING?? WHY THE EXTRA TAXES??

If we don’t pay a street hawker a penny more than what the product is worth, WHY SHOULD WE PAY HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF RUPEES JUST FOR IT TO GO DOWN THE DRAIN?

A MORE IMPORTANT POINT TO NOTE IS THAT……WHY SO MANY TYPES OF TAXES??
Either take Income tax from each earning individual or levy tax on each commodity or service and exempt everyone from direct taxation…

Don’t U Think There Should A System Where Each Individual Pays A Particular Fixed Tax Per Year Based On His Earnings Instead Of Paying For Each Service He/She Uses??

DON’T  U THINK INDIA NEEDS A MORE EFFICIENT & CENTRALIZED TAXATION SYSTEM??

The data and some of the excerpts in the post are taken from the following pages:

http://www.jagoinvestor.com/2012/03/budget-2012-summary.html

http://in.finance.yahoo.com/blogs/strategic-moves/impact-budget-common-man-062133610.html

http://www.indianliberals.org/2011/01/a-case-against-income-tax/

http://hyderabad-india-online.com/2010/03/everyone-pays-tax/

PART#1: ME, MY LIFE N VALUE ADDED TAXES…BUT DO WE EVER ASK....WHY???

PART#2: VALUE ADDED TAXES

PART#2: VALUE ADDED TAXES

I came to know that dad had been making regular trips to the IT office to file his income tax return for the past few days, but as the officer in charge was absent from work without notice, so his efforts bore no fruits…common thing to happen in India…isn’t it??
Well I never had any interest in office work or any kind of work whatsoever, but out of curiosity I asked,

“DAD, HOW MANY TYPES OF TAXES DO U PAY IN A YEAR??”

N WHAT I HEARD NEXT SHOOK ME TO THE CORE…

Do you know how many types of taxes does an Indian citizen pay…Most of us know about Income Tax and a few others may be …Doesn’t seem anything close to shocking..ryt??


Now lemme tell you the exact number of taxes in India….INFINITIVE!!

Every single individual from a child to that poor old beggar who may be earns a single penny a day, pays a tax every instant of their lives…N THE SADDEST PART IS…WE DON’T EVEN KNOW THAT WE ARE PAYING IT. From buying a candy to buying an Airbus 380 to buying a land on the moon…yess my dear, taxes are there!!
The government promises that there would be Income Tax exemption for individuals earning less than 2 lakhs annually…. This is as far as direct taxation is concerned (and income tax is one of them)…BUT WHAT ABOUT INDIRECT TAXATION??
For each service that we use right from food, water, electricity, transport, education, entertainment, savings, housing, purchase and many such things we pay a price, which is the price of the service or the article…But right at the end of the bill you would also find VAT (Value Added Taxes)…But why??

I tried to investigate further...
1) www.google.com...2)Welcome to Google...3)How many types of taxes does an Indian pay??....4) & the most important one...Enter.

Google had a page full of answers ready for me in 0.0009 secs...which I possibly couldn't read in my whole lifetime. I read the stats and figures one after another, but somehow hidden in one corner of the page was a tiny article which caught my eye.

I DIDN'T KNOW I WAS IN FOR SO MUCH SHOCK THAT DAY UNTIL I HOVERED MY CURSOR TO THE LINK...IT TURNED BLUE...CLICK....OMG!!!

                                                                                                       ....To be Concluded in #PART 3

PART#3 - V.A.T (THE EPILOGUE TO A NEVER ENDING CHAPTER)

PART#1 - ME, MY LIFE N VALUE ADDED TAXES…BUT DO WE EVER ASK....WHY???

ME, MY LIFE N VALUE ADDED TAXES…BUT DO WE EVER ASK....WHY???

LOCATION: 
HAFLONG COOPERATIVE SOCIETY, ASSAM

TIME: 10:38 HRS, 4TH JULY

CURRENT ACTIVITY: 
STANDING IN A LINE FOR THE PAST ONE HOUR

1 HOUR AGO FROM PRESENT....

      I was still feeling drowsy when she woke me up for the umpteenth time." Didn't your father ask u to go to the ration store today??" the  lady said. "Hmm..mmm...don't disturb me Maaa!!" answered the lazy moron. "And Shouvik said that you two were meeting some friends at a movie...some Mr.Spidr...Are you even listening to me??" 
      
       Somehow the mention of "SPIDER" brought back vivid memories into my mind...Shit yaar, SPIDERMAN 4.....ABB HINDI MEIN (he he, just kidding) was in an hour from now and I had to go to the ration store before that coz I promised dad I would....I wanted to kick myself for not booking the tickets in advance. Unable to understand what to do next, I somehow pulled on a tshirt and hurried my way to the ration store only to find a long line of customers waiting for the storekeeper to arrive. My fast track pointed out that Spiderman would be jumping around buildings and nabbing criminals in 3D in less than an hour…I wished that storekeeper came on time today(the opening time being half n hour late than the official time) n if he did I would pray to God to give him a fat salary hike :)
     
      .......An hour passed by…Spiderman didn’t wait for me, he got busy in saving the world and romancing his girl in 3D, as soon as the clock struck 10:30hrs…n I was still standing at the same portion of the earth I did an hour ago. Flustered n frustrated, I decided to give up when I saw Dad arriving…I knew he went to pay his taxes today but judging by his looks I could make out that he was not in a very good mood. I went up to him to find out...
                                                                              To be Continued 

PART#2: VALUE ADDED TAXES

PART#3 - V.A.T (THE EPILOGUE TO A NEVER ENDING CHAPTER)

LETTER OF THE EDITOR OF "THE TIMES OF INDIA" TO THE PRIME MINISTER OF INDIA

Dear Mr. Prime minister,


I am a typical mouse from Mumbai. In the local train compartment which has capacity of 100 persons, I travel with 500 more mice. Mouse at least squeaks, but we don't even do that.


Today I heard your speech, in which you said, 'NO BODY WOULD BE SPARED'. I would like to remind you that fourteen years have passed since serial bomb blasts in Mumbai took place. Dawood was the main conspirator. Till today he is not caught. All our Bollywood actors, our builders, our Gutka king keep meeting him, but your Government can not catch him. Reason is simple; all your ministers are hand in glove with him. If any attempt is made to catch him, everybody will be exposed. Your statement 'NOBODY WOULD BE SPARED' is nothing but a cruel joke on these unfortunate people of India.
Enough is enough. As such, after seeing terrorist attack carried out by about a dozen young boys, I realize that if same thing continues, days are not far away when terrorists will attack by air, destroy our nuclear reactors and there will be one more Hiroshima.
We the people are left with only one mantra. Womb to Bomb to Tomb. You promised Mumbaikar Shanghai; what you have given us is Jalianwala Baug.
Today only your home minister resigned. What took you so long to kick out this joker? Only reason was that he was loyal to Gandhi family. Loyalty to Gandhi family is more important than blood of innocent people, isn't it?


I am born and brought up in Mumbai for last fifty eight years. Believe me, corruption in Maharashtra is worse than that in Bihar.Look at all the politicians, Sharad Pawar, Chagan Bhujbal, Narayan Rane, Bal Thackray , Gopinath Munde, Raj Thackray, Vilasrao Deshmukh all are rolling in money. Vilasrao Deshmukh is one of the worst Chief ministers I have seen.His only business is to increase the FSI every other day, make money and send it to Delhi, so Congress can fight next election.Now the clown has found new way and will increase FSI for fishermen, so they can build concrete houses right on sea shore. Next time terrorists can comfortably live in those houses, enjoy the beauty of the sea and then attack our Mumbai at their will.


Recently, I had to purchase a house in Mumbai. I met about two dozen builders. Everybody wanted about 30% in black. A common person like me knows this and with all your intelligent agency & CBI, you and your finance ministers are not aware of it. Where all the black money goes? To the underworld isn't it?Our politicians take help of these goondas to vacate people by force. I myself was victim of it. If you have time please come to me, I will tell you everything.


If this has been a land of fools, idiots, then I would not have ever cared to write to you this letter. Just see the tragedy. On one side we are reaching moon, people are so intelligent; and on the other side, you politicians have converted nectar into deadly poison. I am everything Hindu, Muslim, Christian, Schedule caste, OBC, Muslim OBC, Christian Schedule caste, and Creamy Schedule caste; only what I am not is INDIAN.You politicians have raped every part of Mother India by your policy of divide and rule.


Take example of our Former President Abdul Kalam. Such an intelligent person; such a fine human being. But you politician didn't even spare him and instead choose a worthless lady who had corruption charges and insignificant local polititian of Jalgaon WHO'S NAME ENTIRE COUNTRY HAD NOT HEARD BEFORE. Its simple logic your party just wanted a rubber stamp in the name of president. Imagine SHE IS SUPREME COMMANDAR OF INDIA'S THREE DEFENCE FORCES. what moral you will expect from our defence forces ? Your party along with opposition joined hands, because politicians feel they are supreme and there is no place for good person.


Dear Mr Prime minister, you are one of the most intelligent persons, a most learned person. Just wake up, be a real SARDAR. First and foremost, expose all selfish politicians. Ask Swiss banks to give names of all Indian account holders.Give reins of CBI to independent agency. Let them find wolves among us. There will be political upheaval, but that will be better than dance of death which we are witnessing every day. Just give us ambience where we can work honestly and without fear. Let there be rule of law. Everything else will be taken care of.


Choice is yours Mr. Prime Minister. Do you want to be lead by one person, or you want to lead the nation of 100 Crore people?


Prakash B. Bajaj
Editor Mumbai-Times of India


The original article can be viewed at www.jaagore.com

#PART 2 : LOOPHOLES

Back at the fee counter, I found out the reason why Mr. MLA was upset...As all other students, he too faced the fees hike problem...and his total amount after the fees hike was huge...Rs. 725/-.....U read it right…Rs. 725 . Initially his fee was Rs.720 and there was a fee hike of Rs.5...VERY HUGE AMOUNT FOR THE SON OF AN MLA TO PAY...and that was what he was grumbling about.

Caste System is a horrific society system invented during the era when kings ruled this land and due to this many underprivileged castes didn’t get equal status in society....And in order to ease this brutality met out to the backward classes Dr.Ambedkar introduced reservations...I don’t need to tell you...in fact everyone single individual knows it. AND THE EFFORTS OF THAT GREAT MAN BORE FRUIT...the underprivileged classes got the chance to come at par with the world around them and excel...and the bright minds from among them are WORLD LEADERS today.

Wouldn’t have happened if Dr. Ambedkar didn’t envision the future...a great step taken to provide equal status to all and to make India a BETTER DEMOCRACY…Decades after this policy came into place, India is able to walk hand in hand with development and so are its citizens...that is what the government tells us...BUT...IS IT??

Well take this case for example…An MLA’s son paying Rs.725 college fees and receiving an annual scholarship of Rs. 4000 from the government, when his father can afford millions…and on the other hand students from middle class families, who can just afford decent education for their kids in this country, paying Rs. 53,000 annually with no aids from the government or college….IS THIS THE ECONOMIC EQUALITY THAT THE INDIAN CONSTITUTION ASSURES TO ITS CITIZENS??

Leave my case coz I can afford to study…just think about that small child working all day at a tea shack near our college jus to get his family one time meal a day…  MAY BE HE TOO DREAMS TO BECOME AN ENGINEER LYK THE COLLEGE GUYS, WHUM HE SERVES TEA….SHOULDN’T HE GET THAT SCHOLARSHIP AND STUDY TO FULFILL HIS DREAM AND THE MILLION OTHER KIDS LYK HIM WHU ONLY DREAM TO STUDY AND BECOME THE SHINING STARS OF FUTURE INDIA??

Our country believes that CHILDREN ARE THE FUTURE OF THE NATION…so why are we depriving them of even some basic education and food…CAN'T THERE BE A KALAM, TENDULKAR, SANIA OR A KALPANA CHAWLA AMONG THEM?? And for girls it’s another sad story….Rich or poor, my dear, you aren’t getting equal opportunities like boys do….BUT WHY???

DO U BELIEVE THAT IN OUR COUNTRY DISCRIMINATION IS NO LONGER MADE ON THE BASIS OF CASTE BUT ON THE BASIS OF RICH AND POOR….SHOULDNT RESERVATIONS BE PROVIDED TO THE POOR, HUNGRY & TO WOMEN INSTEAD??

PART#1: LOOPHOLES ARE AN INSEPARABLE PART OF INDIAN ROADS...BUT IS OUR HOLY CONSTITUTION ANY DIFFERENT??

LOOPHOLES ARE AN INSEPARABLE PART OF INDIAN ROADS...BUT IS OUR HOLY CONSTITUTION ANY DIFFERENT??

LOCATION: MY COLLEGE'S ADMINISTRATIVE BUILDING

TIME: 12:30 hrs

CURRENT ACTIVITY: RUNNING

OMG!!! 
The clock warningly showed 12:30pm. I ran as fast as I could through the corridor hoping that I make it to the office before it closed down for the weekend. Actually I had an hour more to finish my work at the office, but since it was Saturday, so it was half day & moreover people in India have the habit of leaving office half an hour early before closing time, specially on weekends(CONSIDER 1 hr for GOVT OFFICES). It was the last day for me to deposit my yearly tuition fees at the college office, failing which I would have to pay a fine of 500 bucks for everyday I delayed in paying the sum.

I reached my battleground & checked my watch...it didn't offer me any comfort or mercy, rather showed me that I had 15 more minutes to finish my battle...Neither did the shabby office welcome its visitors with proper seating and fans. But what I saw after that washed away my remaining enthusiasm for the job at hand....A LINE OF 7 UNFORTUNATE STUDENTS LIKE ME TRYING TO SAVE THEIR BUCKS!!
I calculated...12 minutes and 7 guys...Shit I don't even know what the result to that math would be or rather my mind didn't want to do math...it wanted back the comfort of the bed it was lying on, but was woken up brutally by its owner to SAVE HIS OWN *SS....SELFISH F**KING *SS!!

I joined the queue of the students lined up in front of the counter and noticed a Marathi guy from my own class standing before me....he clicked and tapped his iPhone hard as it begged him for mercy, but somehow he was too RICH to care about that...Yess, guys he was the son of an MLA in the city and was one of the hotshots in our class…we never talked much in class, just formal hi's n hello's was all that we knew of each other. We greeted each other with our customary "Hi" and he went back to cursing somebody he was with, on the phone. After sometime Mr. MLA's turn came up with two minutes to spare on the clock. I noticed that he grumbled about fees hike in college. Actually our college fees had gone up that year by a few hundred bucks and now it amounted close to 53000 p.a.

53000 p.a. meant 2,12000 for four years besides other expenses for books, training costs, fooding, lodging etc. My father is a teacher in a state owned high school in Assam and sending his son to study engineering in Nagpur was something that invited increased expenses and so he took a bank loan for my education, as did the parents of many other students. Well due to the fee hike many people were complaining and students took out rallies in Nagpur protesting the fee hike. 

Anyway back at the fee counter, I found out the reason why Mr. MLA was upset...
                                                                                                                                    To be Continued

#PART 2 : LOOPHOLES

"WHERE WOULD YOU FIND SUCH LOVE AND PASSION FOR MUSIC....ITS RIGHT HERE IN THE ABODE OF NATURE....WELCOME TO NORTHEAST GUYS!!"

ASSAM CREATES NATIONAL RECORD.
5,406 guitarists strummed in harmony to one of the timeless tunes of Dr. Bhupen Hazarika – “Bristirno Parore Akhyansha Janare” in Guwahati, Assam much to the cheers of the thousands of audience to script a fresh chapter in the Limca Book of Records on June 3, 2012

"A Bitter Reality".....WRITTEN BY AN INDIAN SOFTWARE ENGINEER

A MUST READ...

As the dream of most parents I had acquired a degree in  Software Engineering and joined a company based in USA, the  land of braves and opportunity. When I arrived in the USA, it  was as if a dream had come true.  Here at last I was in the place where I want to be. I decided I  would be staying in this country for about Five years in which  time I would have earned enough money to settle down in India.

My father was a government employee and after his retirement,  the only asset he could acquire was a decent one bedroom flat.

I wanted to do some thing more than him. I started feeling  homesick and lonely as the time passed. I used to call home and  speak to my parents every week using cheap international phone   cards. Two years passed, two years of Burgers at McDonald's and  pizzas and discos and 2 years watching the foreign exchange  rate getting happy whenever the Rupee value went down.

Finally I decided to get married. Told my parents that I have  only 10 days of holidays and everything must be done within  these 10 days. I got my ticket booked in the cheapest flight.  Was jubilant and was actually enjoying hopping for gifts for  all my friends back home. If I miss anyone then there will be  talks. After reaching home I spent home one week going through  all the photographs of girls and as the time was getting  shorter I was forced to select one candidate. 

In-laws told me, to my surprise, that I would have to get  married in 2-3 days, as I will not get anymore holidays. After  the marriage, it was time to return to USA, after giving some  money to my parents and telling the neighbors to look after  them, we returned to USA.

My wife enjoyed this country for about two months and then she  started feeling lonely. The frequency of calling India  increased to twice in a week sometimes 3 times a week. Our  savings started diminishing.

After two more years we started to  have kids. Two lovely kids, a boy and a girl, were gifted to us   by the almighty. Every time I spoke to my parents, they asked  me to come to India so that they can see their grand-children.

Every year I decide to go to India… But part work part  monetary conditions prevented it. Years went by and visiting  India was a distant dream. Then suddenly one day I got a  message that my parents were seriously sick. I tried but I  couldn't get any holidays and thus could not go to India ... The  next message I got was my parents had passed away and as there  was no one to do the last rights the society members had done  whatever they could. I was depressed. My parents had passed  away without seeing their grand children.

After couple more years passed away, much to my children's  dislike and my wife's joy we returned to India to settle down.

I started to look for a suitable property, but to my dismay my  savings were short and the property prices had gone up during  all these years. I had to return to the USA...

My wife refused to come back with me and my children refused to  stay in India... My 2 children and I returned to USA after  promising my wife I would be back for good after two years.

Time passed by, my daughter decided to get married to an  American and my son was happy living in USA... I decided that  had enough and wound-up every thing and returned to India... I  had just enough money to buy a decent 2 bedroom flat in a  well-developed locality.

Now I am 60 years old and the only time I go out of the flat is  for the routine visit to the nearby temple. My faithful wife  has also left me and gone to the holy abode.

Sometimes  I wondered was it worth all this?

My father, even after staying in India,  Had a house to his name and I too have  the same nothing more.

I lost my parents and children for just ONE EXTRA BEDROOM.

Looking out from the window I see a lot of children dancing.

This damned cable TV has spoiled our new generation and these  children are losing their values and culture because of it. I  get occasional cards from my children asking I am alright. Well  at least they remember me.

Now perhaps after I die it will be the neighbors again who will  be performing my last rights, God Bless them.

But the question  still  remains 'was all this worth it?'

I am still searching for an answer.................!!!

START THINKING

IS IT JUST FOR ONE EXTRA BEDROOM???

LIFE IS BEYOND THIS ….., DON'T JUST LEAVE YOUR LIFE ……!!!!

START LIVING IT …….!!!

LIVE IT AS YOU WANT IT TO BE ……!!!

(Excerpt from a post on Faceboook)