Slate Board

Every morning I open the newspaper there is this write up of the bomb blast trial and the accused being awarded sentences. For the disruption and devastation caused in the lives of those innocent unwary,unsuspecting victims near and dear ones , for whom the loss of a life meant a loss of livelihood, for others who suffered a loss of a limb means  not living a quality life but a painful way of going through the  grinds of day to day existance, wishing why God spared me to suffer in this way with thoughts of Wish I had died than to suffer in this manner,for others the constant struggle of trying to come to terms with the  mental trauma every time they enter or see a train. The list is  not exhaustive but indicative  of what the victims survivors have gone and are constantly going through their lives, most importantly for no fault  of theirs. These incidents highlight the facts that our  gathering of intelligence to prempt this  or such incidents is sadly lacking or maybe  there was no political will to act in a timely manner. Whatever the reasons justice finally prevailed,some were awarded the death sentence,others varying degrees of imprisonment. I am personally against the death penalty as it is an easy way out for the perpetrator,he should be awarded the maximum  punishment with hard labour, so he lives his entire  life trying to make amends for his crimes against mankind, but again money can and does buy a lot of things and as long as  a  person  is alive   and has the money and backing he will not leave any stone unturned to obtain relief in every possible way,from trying to  reduce his sentence to getting of scot free with a presidential pardon or if not convert the barracks into a five star resort where every  need  is taken care off and the criminal can lead a life of comfort. In such a scenario I feel that the death penalty is the best as it gets rid of the perpetrator and his ability to influence others to his way of life and also sends a  strong message to the terrorists as to what can be expected from India.

 Some  years ago an MLC walked into a heavily guarded government building to prove his point that he can bypass security with ease, secondly it was to show that guns are freely and easily available in Mumbai. It was no big deal as it is a well known fact that if you have the money you can buy any and every thing under the sun,only in this case the gun being unlicensed procuring it would not be an easy task for a comman man even if he was filthy rich, he would need to have the right contacts.Now a guy like Sanjay Dutt could do it with ease as he had the money and the contacts and that is precisely what he did. Instead of asking for police protection or a licensed gun for his personal safety he went about contacting his underworld friends for weapons ,unfortunately the timing was wrong, it was during the riots where hundreds of innocent people lost their lives ,because of such people Sunjay was in contact with. Instead of trying to destroy evidence  , If Sanjay had  exercised the option to go to the Police maybe further carnage could be saved what a selfish attitude to think only about himself  and his sisters while Mumbai was burning. A role model to the youth of today.His  family was not made accessory to the fact by trying to ascertain whether they also had  prior knowledge about what  had transpired in the house,In the circumstances he should have gone the TADA way with a life sentence but the law was merciful for convicting him under the arms act and sentencing him for  only six years was an act of mercy which he and his colleagues in the film Industry fails to appretiate. Today the Film Industry is backing him not because of any special love for him but more because of the crores of rupees invested in the movies starring Sanjay and yet to be released.

Instead of  involving the poor subordinate staff  who wouldnt care  to go to an extent of protesting if an actor is in jail  or retires,  because they always get the left overs while the actors take the cream , as long as they get their daily bread they are happy.  so instead of supporting him with a signature campaign the better way would be for his sister to accept moral responsibility by  resigning  from her position  and along with his  close family and so called   very close friends  who have invested in him to petition the court to allow  each one of them to share one year minimum of his prison term so that they can give him support by being really there with him in experiencing the rigours of prison and sharing the trauma he is justly going through and getting to know and become aware of what his actions has done to fellow human beings ,society and the country.

HAPPY FRIENDSHIP DAY
How can we find true friendship in this often phony, temporary,materialistic world? I wondered ,Do we know what friendship   really means,Is  it just wishing  once a year   or means something   much  more than that.  Friendship involves recognition or familiarity with another’s personality.A deep insight within,  Friends often share likes and dislikes, interests,ambitions, pursuits, and passion.

How can we recognize potential friendship? Signs include a mutual desire for companionship and perhaps a common bond of some kind. Beyond that, genuine friendship involves a shared sense of caring and concern, a desire to see one another grow and develop, and a hope for each other to succeed in all aspects of life.With the motto of by helping  you I am helping myself directly or  indirectly to grow into a better person,and thereby lay the foundation to extend my help to other unknown people, strangers who could one day be ‘ potential friends.’  True friendship involves action: doing something for someone else while expecting nothing in return; sharing thoughts and feelings without fear of judgment or negative criticism,receptive to their  ideas  no matter how weird or crazy they may seem,even though we may tend to disagree at times we would never be rude or hurtful in words, thoughts, or deeds to a friend.

True friendship involves relationship, ie: being able to relate to one another Those mutual attributes we mentioned above become the foundation in which recognition transpires into relationship. Many people say, “Oh, he’s a good friend of mine,” yet they never make the effort to spend time with that “good friend.” to get to know him better, Every time they introduce  even casual  acquaintances they say the same thing , ‘ oh he/she is a good friend of mine’ Friendship takes time: time to get to know each other, time to build shared memories, time to invest in each other’s growth.

Trust is essential to true friendship. We all need someone with whom we can share our lives, our feelings,emotions, our thoughts,fears, loneliness,apprehensions, and frustrations.We need someone to share our joys happiness too. We need to be able to share our deepest secrets with someone, without worrying that those secrets will end up on the Internet the next day!  or be a  topic of common gossip.Failing to be trustworthy with those intimate secrets can destroy a friendship in a hurry. Faithfulness and loyalty are key to true friendship. Without them, we often feel betrayed, left out, and lonely. In true friendship, there is no backbiting, no negative thoughts, no turning away, only forgiveness no matter how hard and difficult it may be.One always has to keep in mind that the tongue is so small  and has no bone, but has caused major wars among neighbours,friends,relatives,societies,communities and even  nations have not been spared.

True friendship requires certain accountability factors. Real friends encourage one another and forgive one another where there has been an offense. Genuine friendship supports during times of struggle. Friends are dependable. In true friendship, unconditional love develops. We love our friends no matter what and we always want the best for our friends.

We may have many good friends or only one, we need to  choose wisely, cultivate the friendship with fervour,build up a rapport with them, it could be  your parents, your siblings , your peers, teachers,or other elders,as long as they are well meaning and do have the potential of being good friends to others, then why not you..?