A Mother Between a Fight

 

On the way back from office, at a particular point on the roadside, I sensed there was a scuffle going on. Or it was a fight about to break out between some people. When I crossed the scene, I noticed that two auto-rickshaws had stopped and a tall dark guy in his late 20s was having a scuffle with someone, while two women were also standing by and then one of the women tried to stop and calm down the boy. From the way they were dressed, they all looked uneducated. The boy got agitated by her interruption and angrily shouted at her. It seemed she was his mother and she was stopping him from getting into physical fight with an auto-rickshaw driver.

I have read this ‘feminist’ claim many times that if women ruled the world, there won’t be any wars. While history tells a very different story, I think this claim is just another feminist propaganda made with a singular motive in mind. What I think a valid statement could be is to say that there won’t be any wars if “mothers” ruled the world. Not all women have got the mindset or character to think like a mother. Mothers, because of their God-like act of giving birth to a child, have a natural tendency to “preserve” and are naturally “anti-destruction”. One who constructs can’t be naturally inclined towards destruction. This is why; the role of “creator” is marked with a different god than the “destroyer” in Hindu Trinity (three aspects of God/Paramatman). If mothers had the power to influence events, at local or global level, it is logical to believe there won’t be any fighting, war or destructions.

Bogged down by deliberate and mindless wars, our world desperately needs everyone to think from the eyes of a mother.

- Rahul Tiwary

Cyber Fraud in the name of CCAvenue and Shirdi Saibaba Sansthan

 

I have been to Shirdi Saibaba Mandir for few times. I tried to visit recently again, and it led to a near-miss with a cyber fraud attempt.

Since I wanted to travel alone, I booked a bus ticket to Shirdi online. The bus operator’s online booking website mentioned about the terms and conditions, and they suggested to book VIP Passes in order to finish the darshan fast. In my past travels, I had always gone through the regular route, hence I thought of trying the VIP Pass this time. Shirdi Saibaba Sansthan has a website through which I booked VIP Pass for Rs 200. The next day, I got a call from the bus operator who told me that they have cancelled the trip and returning my booking amount since they have not found enough bookings for the day. Since I was not traveling now, I thought to cancel my VIP Pass too. I went to the same website and cancelled my VIP Pass booking. The website displayed a message saying they have cancelled the pass but won’t be returning any money since it was non-refundable. It sounded weird given that the temple is one of the richest in the world, but since there was no option, I decided to accept it.

Several weeks since the mentioned episode, I got a phone call from a caller who introduced himself from ‘CCAvenue’, which I knew was a company running payment gateway. He said that I had booked an online aarti and puja at Saibaba temple, but the booking amount had got refunded to my bank account by mistake and I needed to return the money back to the company. The guy who was calling was an educated guy speaking in good English and he was well versed with the technicalities. I told him that as per my knowledge no money was refunded to me as per the policy of the booking website. But he insisted that the money was refunded by mistake to my account. He said, “otherwise, how would I know about your booking”? I replied, “because these days, each bank or financial transaction as well as KYC document is being sold to frauds in our country”. The guy’s voice saw only a small dip and he started arguing with me that it was my moral duty to return the money to the institution. He asked for permission to send me an email with details of how to transfer the money to his company. I told him in reply that first I would verify my bank statement to confirm whether I got any money refunded or not, and then I would decide on the next action. He said it was fine, and he would call me later again.

First thing I did was to report and block his number. Then I checked my bank statement online and found that no such refund had ever taken place after the VIP pass booking date. The guy was clearly a cyber fraud.

While I got saved since I did not trust the random guy calling me, not everyone is as lucky. As our economy is becoming more and more digital by the day, frauds of many kinds are also increasing. Most of the victims remain silent and most of the crimes never get reported. A few cases we hear about are only a tip of the iceberg. Government and public regulators are totally ineffective and inadequate in stopping the flood of these crimes, and the final responsibility falls on our shoulders. Many times, it feels that the non-digital world was safer, but in true sense, it was not safe too; just the modes of crime were different. I don’t know how many years it will take for the government and regulators to get a grip on the situation, but currently, it feels like we can be safe only by taking extreme precautions at our individual level.  

- Rahul  

A Little Lizard Story

 

One fine day, when I opened the main door of my flat, suddenly a little house lizard entered in. In my hometown, house lizards are a common scene, but in a residential flat in a big city, I never had a lizard around. Seeing the lizard get in, the first thought that came to my mind was, “what is she going to eat (since there are no insects in the flat)?” Panicking, I knew each moment was important, hence I rushed and brought in a broom with which I tried to guide the lizard out of the door. The lizard was trying to hide behind some objects, but she saw the open door and hence went out. I immediately closed the door. The whole thing happened within a few seconds, and I breathed a sigh of relief.

After I settled in, the thought returned to my mind that my first reaction seeing a lizard in the house was not to rush it out but a worry about what the lizard would eat? The lizard was sure to be starved if she stayed in, and hence I had to send her out before she hid. This little worry about the lizard made me understand my struggles with empathy.

A little amused, I once again opened the main door and this time, there was no lizard around. Once again, a sigh of relief.

- Rahul    

Sweet Dreams (2025): Why Should Dreams Not Be Realised?

I happened to watch ‘Sweet Dreams’ (2025 film) starring Mithila Palkar and Amol Parashar. I chose to watch it since I am a fan of both. The story clearly seemed to be ripped-off from some Hollywood movies, which is totally okay since every Indian movie, no matter how much resembles any international movie, always feels distinct, and better. What really disturbed me was the ending.

Both Mithila Palkar and Amol Parashar are unique and special, and it is really wonderful that they were made a pair in this film. Mithila Palkar appears as Mithila Palkar in every movie and yet has a mix of mystery, familiarity, and genuineness which makes the viewer want to watch her performances every time. Amol Parashar is such a natural actor that we can say that he was “born to act” (btw, he did B.Tech. from IIT Delhi before quitting his job to enter acting). He brings grace and dignity to every role he does. With such an amazing cast, the movie could have done wonders if the makers did not fall for the cliches.

The first thing I did not like was the “setup”. Dia (played by Mithila) was living with a guy without marriage and Kenny (played by Amol) was a serial dater who was so desperately looking for a girlfriend (or wife) after getting dumped by his ex, as if sky was to fall if he had to live alone any longer. We could understand his emergency if he was an old guy reaching expiry date for marriage, or an orphan who had no chance of getting a wife until he fished her out of a river. This whole setup reminded me of recent horrific murder case of a Mumbai gurl by her live-in partner. The movie makers thought that just because the film had to be released on OTT, they had to provide the right (immoral) setup, which was ridiculous.

Secondly, the movie lacked side stories and ran straight from one pillar to the other like a documentary. Songs were good but felt wasted when the makers did not even try to make the best out of this film.

The worst thing I liked about the movie was its ending. These days, it has become cliché to leave the stories “open ended”. No matter how much “open” the ends are, we can clearly see which ways the ends can go. So, why take the trouble? In this film, the writers forced Kenny (Amol) to leave Dia (Mithila) and go for Roop; another girl who was clearly very interested in Kenny without any reason. The movie did not explain why Roop was after Kenny as if he was her last chance of redemption. Whenever Roop looked at Kenny, it seemed she was both melting and burning from the inside. She so desperately wanted Kenny as if there was no other boy in the entire world. And she was so determined not to be seen desperate, that she appeared doubly desperate; and it was so insulting (for her). Kenny clearly did not like her, did not love her; all he needed was a friend, but he was getting a wife instead of a friend. It felt so unfair.

Despite tolerating whole movie and eagerly waiting for the climax, when the end finally arrived, it turned out to be anti-climax. It did not make any sense why Kenny and Dia decided to part ways with each other, just because they had got other options. Kenny was clearly feeling too sorry for Roop and hence he was looking for an escape; on the other hand Dia was just showing her lack of confidence and determination like she was showing all through the movie. After trying so hard to find each other, these two people had finally found each other, but then they started talking about unimportant things as if they were totally confused. It almost felt as if they had become content with the process to reach the goal and forgot why they were trying so hard all through.

If the movie makers had just played straight and united Kenny and Dia in the end, I won’t be feeling so upset and blaming the film so much. And Kenny and Dia would be living together, happily ever after. Now that the movie makers totally destroyed their friendship, their only hope is to find each other again, in dreams. Dreams are not so bad after all.

- Rahul

Travelogue: Blue Ridge, Hinjawadi, Pune

 

Travelogue: Ryewood Park, Lonavala, Maharashtra, Bharat

 

Travelogue: Lonavala Railway Station, Lonavala, Maharashtra, Bharat

 

Travelogue: Some Pictures from Lonavala, Maharashtra

 

Travelogue: Public Statues in Lonavala, Maharashtra

 

Travelogue: Sunil's Celebrity Wax Museum, Lonavala, Maharashtra, India

 

Travelogue: Hotel Ara Grand Sagun Banquet Hall, Ara, Bihar

 

Travelogue: Royal Mansion Banquet Hall, P&T Chowk, Goshala Road, Muzaffarpur, Bihar

 

Travelogue: Hyderabad Airport (RGIA), Telangana, India