What Do I Do When My Country Bleeds?

A series of bomb blasts within a gap of 10 minutes have killed more than 40 innocent people in one of India’s oldest cities, Hyderabad. This comes after less than 100 days after the blast in mecca masjid in the old city area of Hyderabad.

Why should innocent people die, blood be spilled for no fault of theirs. Is it a crime to live in a country that accommodates–and is at peace with– so many diverse religions, people, ethnicities and ideologies? It seems so, as these heartless and shameless terrorists keep killing innocent people in the name of religion, land and hate-filled ideologies.

Why should people die and what does one get by killing? Simple reasons abound:

• creates fear in the minds of people
• shakes the very foundations on which a nation lives – peace and security
• the nation loses its stability and security
• makes it easy to destabilise the country

With none of the above happening even when India had encountered more powerful forces, these shameful acts of killing innocent people will not allow the killers to get anywhere closer to their goals. They can still refer to the way of how a nation of billion people with all its military might, technology and people willing to die for this great country still doesn’t even think of exacting revenge. Especially on the very same forces, people and countries who have inflicted countless, blood-spills, terrors on it. And still thousands of innocent people die for no fault of theirs.

But, what do I do when my country bleeds? What do I do in a country

• which allows a person to go free by paying a fine for killing a fellow human, but punishes the very same person with long jail-term for killing a protected animal
• believes and advocates that people should be patient even when their blood is spilled
• allows someone to kill a person but still hesitates to punish the killer with a death sentence, gives patient hearing to the pleas from human rights groups for not giving a death sentence
• which never asks if a killer ever hesitated to kill his victim?
• allows people to assist terrorism acts, but spends months and years to decide if they even need to be blamed
• keeps extending its helpful hand to countries even though they try to bring terror upon it
• where politicians (read: public servants, public servants) appear out of nowhere to condemn the attacks, blame the government for its negligence, demand that the responsible minister resign, demand that the government pay ex-gratia’s (which anyway is the public money) and then leave
• where media instead of condoling, assisting and helping the affected cashes on the incidents with special bulletins, expert opinions and round the clock coverages of the incidents and only create more fear, pain and insecurity in people

Now what do I do when my country bleeds? Pray that the souls of the innocent people who are killed rest in peace and that the people who killed these understand that killing fellow human beings doesn’t give them anything but pain again.

Vande Mataram

Filed under: Hyderabad, India, Life , bleeds, Bomb Blasts, Country, Dead, Die, Hyderabad, India, Kill, Killed, Killing, Mecca Masjid, People, Terrorism, Vande Mataram

India’s Independence Day?

Today, at the stroke of the midnight, I salute my motherland, India on its 60th Independence Day.

A country which has made remarkable progress in many fields, counted among the world’s powerful nations, is the largest democracy, revered for its culture, heritage and glorious history still struggles toB

• have a corruption-free and accountable government
• provide its people with efficient public services and basic necessities
• eradicate the corrupted communal forces
• reclaim its land

This is the day when a country of one billion people will remember and probably forget that they had got freedom from the British rule 60 years ago. Have we forgotten the importance of this day because we now live in a country where we

• are not worried about losing our life – have men and women who are willing to die to keep us safe
• are free to practice whatever religion we like
• have access to world-class health care facilities and education – millions in other countries die for lack of basic health care services
• are free to express our opinions

Then why don’t we celebrate an important day as our Independence Day with vigour, passion and energy. For many of us this is not a day when we are expected to burst crackers at midnight welcoming the day nor remember all those millions of people who laid down their lives to give us this freedom. It might be because we are no longer worried. Not worried because

• we don’t make a big difference to the country
• there is someone else to clean the dirt
• we cannot do anything about the corrupted government – whom we have elected
• there are better places to earn more money even if that means we clean others toilets or do laundry
• we believe that there is nothing much to do and
• its not worth doing so for a country like ours

Many of us want to do something to better the country but don’t do so, why? We are worried that it might not be worth doing that, we are worried about the safety and security of ourselves and our family, we are worried about our future and more than anything else we are worried about ourselves.

Still India awakens to a new day providing people with freedom to prosper, grow and live happily.

Jai Hind, Jai Hind, Jai Hind.

Filed under: India, Life , British Rule, Country, Government, Indepence Day, India, Jai Hind

Moksh – Worth A Visit

Moksh situated at Ranigunj besides Nissan Tapasvi showroom is managed by Biligiri group which also operates Hyderabad’s another famous vegetarian restaurant Utsav (Near Tivoli Cinema at parade grounds).

Moksh serves a limited fare that includes vegetarian and non-vegetarian dishes. Accommodating around 100 people in the dining section, Moksh also has got a separate floor for small get-togethers and parties.

The dishes are priced a bit on the higher side compared to other restaurants. Moksh serves afternoon lunch buffets priced at a resonable Rs. 149/- plus taxes on weekdays and Rs. 229/- plus taxes on weekends which is quite easy on the purse. However, a meal for two ordering from the menu would cost close to Rs. 750.

The most enjoyable aspect at Moksh is the wonderful ambience that includes a wonderful view of Hussain Sagar, great food served quickly with some great music in the background by a polite and helpful staff– wonderful dining experience. All in all a must visit for people who want to spend some quality time with dear ones over some delicious food served quick and hot!

For a person like me who always wondered about why good food, great ambience and quick service do not go together, here was Moksh that left me with time to wonder about other things.

Filed under: Blog, Food, Hyderabad, Reviews , Blog, Buffets, Dining, Familiy, Food, Hyderabad, Lunch, Meals, Moksh, Non-Vegetarian, Ranigunj, Restaurant, Vegetarian