2015 – An Intolerant year that was(‘nt) !

In India, the undisputed catch phrase for the year 2015 was ‘Intolerance’. An atmosphere of unrelenting intolerance was reported across most parts of the country, supposedly due to the highly objectionable policies of the ruling government. Book bans, movie bans, Maggie bans, Beef bans and bans of various other flavours, the nation was bound to get intolerant. It was indeed an eureka moment for the intelligentsia of the country who were bewildered with this never before intolerance in their routine lives. Though, the facts might suggest that all these so called attics that contributed to the 2015 intolerance have been happening for ever but then who cares and dares these facts, when there is an unrelenting, intolerable and an alarming wave of intolerance in the most tolerant country in the world J.

After all, nobody wants to get robbed of their basic rights. Be it the intelligentsia, be it the opposition or be it the common man. One and all were affected by this extreme wave and here’s a snapshot of their 2015 misery –

·          His highness Rahul Gandhi aka Pappu was so disturbed with the onslaught that he had to stay out of the country for over two months, though it’s a different matter that people like Kapil Sharma and Krushna Abhishek made merry in his absence and duly supplemented the nation with its required dose of comic relief J. But serious heights of intolerance for prince charming’s liking.

·          The cleanest and the most incorruptible man on planet earth, Sri Sri 108 Arvind ji Kejriwalji  was so damn depressed with growing intolerance in the nation that he had to travel all the way down to Patna to find solace in fodder fame Laluji’s arms. I seriously doubt any amount of compensation on Modiji’s part can repair the mental stigma that Sri Sri 108 Arvind ji Kejriwalji had to undergo due to this intolerant atmosphere in the country J.

·          Not just the political circle but even the Indian film industry was overwhelmingly disturbed with the growing intolerance in the country. No doubt, as a token of protest they churned out movies like Shandaar, Bombay Velvet and Dilwale to teach the ruling party an apt lesson for their misdeeds J.

·          The highflying authors, artists and technocrats also returned their awards to show their vehemence against the sad state of affairs in the country caused by the several bans and the supposed communal disharmony. Such was their plight that they hardly had anything left to return when the state elections were over or when Nirbhaya’s rapist was released. Epic IntoleranceJ !

·          Even the sporting fraternity was equally disturbed with the intolerance wave and even they geared up to show their dissent. The Indian Hockey team did there bit by crashing out of the world cup way too soon and the Cricket team did so by losing it out fairly easily against the Bangladeshi tigers. One and all were affected, such was the 2015 intolerance J.

·          Not just the celebrities, even my friends were affected. A friend of mine who dared to protest against the intolerant food served by his wife on a daily basis, was duly handed over the task of preparing all the 3 meals of the day by her from that day on. Another colleague of mine who dared his boss to send him to onsite immediately or be ready to face the consequences, was pretty soon serving his notice period and struggling to find a new job in the market J.

·          I wasn’t spared either, my son was so intolerant with the kind of lullaby’s I was subjecting him too that he resorted to Sunny Leone’s Baby Doll and Chaar Bottle Vodka to find solace against the great intolerance of 2015 J.

And there are hundreds of similar horror stories. I really hope that year 2016 isn’t a repeat of the intolerant year that 2015 was(‘nt). And people from all walks of society have their awards, peace and intellect duly placed in their safe custody J.

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Post Script – Such has been the dichotomy of the 2015 intolerance wave that on one hand it led the biggest leader of the country (read Modi) and also a staunch opponent of this so called idea of intolerance wave, bite the dust in the most critical elections of the year and on the other hand the same wave led the biggest movie star of the country (read SRK), also a vociferous proponent of this intolerance wave, lose a lot of moolah for his much anticipated movie J.

The 2016 Resolution Trumpet!

Another year has gone by and a new year, full of hopes and opportunities is at our door step. While we can critically analyse the year gone by, it’s also the time to look ahead and plan for the year in hand. I have this habit of taking resolutions at the start of the year, telling it to all my friends and striving towards them throughout the year. Interestingly, one of my close friend once asked me – ‘Why do you take resolutions, isn’t it childish and pompous?’ and ‘If at all you have taken your resolutions, what is the point in making so much noise about it?’ I really liked the honesty in his questions, I answered him saying, I take these resolutions as otherwise I am way too lazy to religiously pursue something I want to on an ongoing basis. And I do publish them as that keeps me in charge towards clocking my resolutions to the extent possible. His funny reply to this was, ‘as if we care about your new year resolutions’ J.

Now since he was from the ‘No resolution gang’, I also didn’t care much and rather focused on pursuing mine. But before I embark on enlisting mine for the year ahead, it’s all the more important to assess how did I fare on the ones I took last year, so here is an honest progress report -

• ·          2015 Resolution 1: To write at least 2 blogs every month- I clocked 21 (+1 technical), so missed the mark by 2. There were reasons behind this, brothers marriage, couple of India trips, lot of vacations. Nonetheless, I still believe I should have penned down a few more. I hope I do a bit better this time around
• ·          2015 Resolution 2: To read at least 6 good books in the year – I was most nervous about achieving this one, but at the end of the year I am most satisfied in exceeding my own expectations in fulfilling this resolution. I read as many as 18 books in 2015, barring couple of them, all the books I read were real good reads. I hope I maintain this momentum in 16’ tooJ
• ·          2015 Resolution 3: To gift lot of goodies to my near and dear ones – I wish I could have done more on this front, but all I did with regards to this gives me reasons enough to believe that I have successfully accomplished  this as well. My greedy near and dear ones might not give me highest of marks for their gifts but I am sure they won’t fail me on this one either J
• ·          2015 Resolution 4: To work out for at least 150 days in the year – O yes, the 150 day target was successfully met, the last quarter of the year wasn’t a glorified one though, thanks to a marriage at home and the festive season beckoning. But net-net I did meet my expectations on the personal health front as well
• ·          2015 Resolution 5: Commit myself to do at least one instance of charity -  Sadly, I failed to achieve this one. Not because of the lack of intent on my part but mainly due to my procrastination habit. And of course, a failure on this resolution pains me the most. Though, I forward this to the new year and resolve to accomplish it without adding it to my 16’ resolution list, by the 1^st half of the year

So it might not be a 100% glorious year in terms of accomplishing all my set resolutions but I guess I can still keep my head high and focus on setting the bar high for the year ahead. Since I wasn’t able to do a substantial charity deed last year, I vow to do that this year. I am not adding it to the resolution list, as not doing it this time around won’t be an option. So here goes the list for 2016 –

• ·          2016 Resolution 1: To write at least 2 blogs every month, plus 4 technical blogs in the year- For my immense passion for writing, this one stays as is with a minor addition. I have made this addition to also help me learn new things on my professional front as well. Now I have narrowly missed the mark on this resolution 2 years in the running, so I am all the more resolute in clocking it well this time around J
• ·          2016 Resolution 2: To read at least 12 good books in the year – Given a glorious reading year that I had in 15’, I have doubled the no. for this year and that makes it reading one good book every month. I well and truly hope I continue my reading streak and at least pursue what I have targeted for
• ·          2016 Resolution 3: To go on 1 solo vacation this year – Now I think this for sure would be the most audacious of resolutions that I am setting for the year but then that itself adds to fun of clocking this one around. So one solo vacation for the year, ‘as’ and ‘when’ and ‘if’ I do it would ensure some quality ‘me time’ for me this year. Howsoever, tough it might read and sound, I did it once last year by going to Scotland all on my own, so that gives me some hope J
• ·          2016 Resolution 4: To work out for at least 150 days in the year and giving away on Pizza for the year – So the 150 day workout target, that roughly translates into a minimum of 3 day workout in the week, stays. Stays to ensure I am up for my fitness regimen. An additional twist to the fitness resolution is on giving away on Pizza for the year. Not that I eat it on a very large scale but I do love Pizzas, so giving away on them would surely save me a truck load of kilo Calories in 16’ J
• ·          2016 Resolution 5: Spending some quality personal time with parents and old friends -  Off late, this hasn’t been happening due to my erratic travel patterns and work schedule and most of the catching up that’s happening is on the virtual(Whatsapp, Viber, Skype) world. I really look forward to spending some personal time with not only my parents but also my old time friends, whom I could hardly otherwise meet

So the goals have been set and the ticker for the year has also started, it’s time now to get going on each of them. The fun lies in not only feeling good about attaining the thought off resolutions but more so in basking in the self-growth that happens in the process of attaining these self-set milestones. A lot of small but addendum targets would also be chased through throughout the year, like, watching more and more movies and plays in the theaters, somehow, anyhow being in attendance at 2016 Wimbledon Championships, trying out on more and more global cuisines and last but not the least spending a bit more on myself J.

Happy New Year 2016!

Be Resolute J

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