Indecency in India

So I was booked for Indecency in Public at Carter Road, Mumbai and fined Rs. 1200/- in Feb, 2012. 

I protested and contested the charges and--long story short--I have been acquitted of all charges on 01 April, 2013. 

First Article: Mid-DAY 

Follow-Up Article: Mid-DAY 

Post Verdict Article: Mid-DAY 

Post Verdict Article: Times Of India 

As happy as I am with the verdict, I really think, after 14 months, that this was a HUGE WASTE OF THE HON. COURT'S PRECIOUS TIME!! I mean, the Hon. Court has more pressing issues on hand than letting people know that HUGGING YOUR FRIEND IS NOT A CRIME!! 

MUMBAI POLICE: 

I think the matter could have avoided the Court in the first place if only the Police were willing to LISTEN to what I had to say about there being nothing wrong with what I did and think about it themselves rather than following orders blindly. 

I should also mention that Indecent Behaviour in Public can't be accepted because in a society you have to consider the sensibilities of as many people as possible. All this being said, I need to repeat myself... HUGGING YOUR FRIEND AND GIVING THEM A FRIENDLY PECK ON THE CHEEK CAN'T BE SEEN AS A CRIME!! WE ARE HUMANS NOT ROBOTS, FOR CRYING OUT LOUD, WE EMOTE!!

See, WE ALL LOVE MUMBAI POLICE! They are the reason Mumbai is the safest City in the Country. This is an especially important point to consider when your Country's Capital--Delhi--has found a local sport in Raping Women. But the problem, I feel, is that Police need to have a little more clarity on what is Decent and what is Indecent. They told me that elderly citizens keep complaining to them even if they see a couple walking, holding hands. This Court's verdict--I had thought--will help set a precedent for the Police that HUGGING YOUR FRIEND IS NOT A CRIME and if someone complains to them regarding this they can respond by asking the complainant to take the matter with the Court, which is the higher authority. 

METROPOLITAN COURT: 

Unfortunately, this Court's verdict can't be set as a precedent because this Court does not hold sufficient powers. The High Court does. So, now, I am going to file a PIL in the High Court to help get a little more clarity to the Police in terms of what is Decent and what is Indecent. 

Also, my experience with Court's procedure's makes me feel that the length of the case can be drastically reduced if you just ask both the parties to come on one specified date (even if a couple of months later) with all witnesses and evidences and arguments ready rather than having a separate date, each, for every witness and then a separate date for arguments, etc. But then maybe they have their reasons... I'm not a lawyer, this is not my expertise. 

Life Begins

With every resource abused and each day squandered,
I feel I'm getting wiser.

In savage dreams: I kill to achieve,
Only to not show it after.

Never been one for obvious or evidence, 
Today, my life begins...

The Know-It-All

I looked in my eyes and I felt guilt,
I looked in my eyes and I felt shame,
A stream of water ran down my cheeks,
A storm of emotions I couldn't explain...

Unfinished promises or unfulfilled dreams,
How can I ever know for sure?
Behind the curtain of a happy face,
'Lies' the true state of a know-it-all.

Coming Soon:

New Interface, Better Writing.

i wud like to blame the west... im serious.

its true, joint families have far surpassed their expiry date.

u knw wht im sayin is true cuz most of you reading this must most probably be thinking "what's the harm in that? in fact its good!".
well im not happy. maybe im wierd... maybe im old fashioned in this respect... maybe im stupid... or maybe im right... god knows!!

i've been stayin an on and off joint family ever since ever.
its good... its a support... its family.

but times have changed n i wud like to blame the westernisation for the nuclearisation of this country (cliche, i know, but just cuz th truth has been repeated often doesnt make it wrong)

everyone wants independence--dont get me wrong--even i do!! but from what?
i mean u know its not the mughals or the british. thn wht do we want it from?
from th constant pestering... the nagging... the 'wear proper clothes'... the 'dont stay out so late'... the 'why cant u just be normal'... u get the idea.

i mean of course we want to be free from all that... its not letting us be who we want to be... right?
thats why we want to completly leave the hassels of the joint family behind.
hell, we want complete freedom. thats wat our grandfathers fought for, right?
thats why we want to leave those stupid parents, who are holding us back, behind and start our own life.

after all, it is for the best of everyone. they wudnt be able to adjust to our lifestyle anyway.
right?

...?

i hope u didnt say yes.
u knw, i heard sumthin similar sumwhr so im not tryin to take credit for it but:
in relation to this thing bout us n them (our parents).

we are right... as in with wht we want n all...
we are right... but they are not completly wrong either.

maybe we just cant see it. maybe we'll see it wen we r parents.
i hope we'll see it thn at least.

i dont knw, maybe its not our parents we need to fight. not th british either, but again, i wud like to blame the west (read: America). its them who everyone wants to follow right?
we want to be like them, in every manner.
n for that we need to take some of th blame as well... n i do.

so just a summary: i blame the westernisation. n for tht i blame the west. i blame the media for constantly hammering our minds with the west. n of course, u gotta b man enough to accept whtevr shit is happenin to u is a fault of urs as well, so i blame me. i blame us.

oh, n yes, as my friend naveen had suggested in one of his comments that i deleted cuz i thot the werent of consequence (hw stupid of me to delete it there n quote it here):

"we can probably live in the same building in different flats/floors, etc."

i agree to that, im just against th concept of alienating ourselves from our families mentally.

we can only do wht we can do.
in the future maybe i'll do sumthin tht affects many others. as of nw i got my own issues to look out fr.
im gonna stand by wht i've tried to preach to myself right nw.
im gonna be a mama's boy... mama im stayin home!!

03 December, 2008: pleasantly surprised… shocked rather!!

PREFACE:

i wasn’t thr when people where burning candles for Jessica Lal… wasn’t thr when they did it for the train blasts… wasn’t thr for any such occasion. Not tht I regret it, but I wud have liked to be thr. Cuz the thing is that such gatherings or movements or whatever it is that u wud like to call them, are more than just a bunch of people wasting wax… it is a statement that we r together in support for Jessica or we remember the ones who lost their lives or we r united against terror and such.

For doing this, we don’t HAVE TO burn candles. The point is, we get together to do something. We could do the cha-cha-cha for all it matters but then, it wudn’t suit the occasion wud it? So burning candles seems like a nice, decent, symbolic thing to do. Holding a debate is another thing but a ‘large group of Indians’ and ‘an organised debate’ doesn’t really go hand-in-hand (see the parliament for reference).

All this being said, on 03 December, 2008 when thr was a wild fire of sms and online facebook requests happening to gather at Gateway of India… I really didn’t wanna just go thr and burn candles. After the biggest attack on the country, when we have been spat on the face by the fucking terrorists who were roaming our roads running their AK-47s wild… I didn’t just wanna go and just burn candles. But I was dragged there by Sudha (thanks)… and what a pleasant surprise it turned out to be.

INCIDENT:

I reached a little late and some people had started leaving. Some. By some I mean 100-200. Yes. That is some people. Outside Churchgate station, upon asking “is thr traffic to reach Gateway?”, the taxi driver laughed at me and drove away! I walked from station to Gateway (round 3 kms) and the roads were looking as if they are footpaths! It may be difficult to imagine so I’ll give a number- it was said thr are around 2 lakh people in that area that night!! Protesting, marching, carrying banners, shouting slogans!! Everyone was prepared! Everyone!

Age, caste, religion, gender… nothing mattered but Nationality!!

As I closed in towards Gateway, the intensity of the slogans kept increasing!!
It started with:
भारत माता की जय!!
Bharat Mata Ki Jai!!
to
वंदे मातरम!!
Vande Mataram!!
to
गल्ली गल्ली में शोर है, पाकिस्तान चोर है!!
Galli Galli Mein Shor Hai, Pakistan Chor Hai!!
to the ultimate…
मुंबई में आया भूत, पकिस्तान की माँ की छु *!!
Mumbai Mein Aaya Bhoot, Pakistaan Ki Maa Ki Ch*t!!

Thr were others like:
India Love You Love You… Pakistan Fuck You Fuck You!!
and a very interesting one that ended in “Pakistan G*ndu!!”
there were also some against politicians that I cant remember.

Everyone was shaking hands with, congratulating and even hugging the Police and the Commandos who were present there.

People were also out with all sorts of amazing banners. All you guys who were out there, reply with all the banners that u remember!! I cant recollect all of em.

Anytime someone came out with a new slogan, people cheered them to no bounds. By the end of the night, Police were themselves shouting slogans (the sober slogans) on the loudspeaker!!

The last banner that came in was a Muslim group of people that ran in between the crowd with the banner that read:
Declare Pakistan A Terrorist State!!

It was just amazing to see the unity there. If you missed it, you have missed the chance of a lifetime!! You may never get to see such unity amongst fellow Indians, at one place!!

Later we went to Leopold. We waited 20 min to get a seat. Even there--at Leopold--the slogans continued. In fact, we even stood up to stand the National Anthem!! The foreigners were dazzled as to what the fuck happened to these guys but they stood up and joined us none the less!!

CONCLUSION:

By the end of it, a few things have been understood:
People didn’t know what the hell they were doing there but they came.

Some praised India, some abused Pakistan, some abused the fucking politicians. But the point is, that they came and stood together in the time of adversity… even when there were SO MANY threats that there is going to be another blast there and a bomb was actually found on CST station!!

We stood together that day because we wanted better… for us for our soldiers, for our police, for every Indian!!
How?
No one knew.
I still don’t.
But yes, I want better, we want better and we are willing to work for it… together!!
This is what we saw that day and realised:
We just need good leaders. Cliché, I know… but this is the fact of the hour!!
The day we have good leaders, this Nation is unstoppable.
So who is it gonna be?
I will, in time. When I know better. When im more able. But this country can’t wait.
So, again I ask… who is it gonna be?
You?

p.s. If you were there… please add your account of the situation.

me; now

i am me
this is me
but just not who i am...

i am me
the one i used to be
but not the one that i can...

i am me
this is me
but without a reason to be...

i am me
what i should be
but without you beside me...

WLH WMU
HAPPY BIRTHDAY (22nd September)
[bxA]

planning life...

"जो होता है अच्छे के लिए होता है"
ppl say whatever happens... happens for a reason
(usually indicating a good reason)...

it doesnt actually happen for any good that was pre-planned in our life... things/situations just happen n we try n make the best of them... when they work out (usually they shud if we're giving our best) we say it happened for a reason... if it doesn't, just say 'crap, maybe next time' n move on n wait for the next situation to come up that has to be tackled...the important thing is to remain positive that another shot will come that we will utilise...

my friend shyamalee, co-incidentally, wrote a good line similar to what i've been following in life:
"a future that i had IMAGINED, lets say instead of PLANNED"
we have a certain goal in life... a rough sketch of what we want... where we wanna be...
the mistake we do is when we think that the road we have planned is the only way to get there... what we plan never happens or if it does, it very easily gets foiled... now this doesn't mean we stop planning all-together just that we shud work on whatever situation we get to reach the aim, the sketch, the whatever it is... we get many chances, we need to keep our eyes n ears open... and be positive (sounds old but the only other option is being in the same situation, only as a negative, more unhappy person)...

so the road eventually is not straight and sometimes might go a bit off direction but the point is not to steer too hard but instead keep steering gentely in the direction of the goal... never forget the goal... forget the road... the road might be longer for some... my suggestion- let the windows down n enjoy th wind on ur face...