Dudurudh

28th December 2013 will go down in India's history as the day when a common man rose to become chief minister of its capital. Arvind kejriwal's isn't a story of someone who shot into the limelight out of nowhere. He's one of those people who has dedicated his life to the cause of the nation. A man who, like many of us, was fed up with the menace of corruption and took it upon himself to rid India of it. Long before the much publicised Lokpal agitation, he was involved in pushing for another anti corruption tool. The right to information. He's a recipient of the Ramon Magsaysay award for emergent leadership for his contribution to the enactment of that law. Along with Anna Hazare, he led one of India's largest post-independence movements to get the Lokpal bill enacted. Two years hence, that bill is a theoretical reality. But like all laws, its success lies in its enforcement. But that movement was the beginning of a meteoric rise to power. Armed with nothing but

28th December 2013 will go down in India's history as the day when a common man rose to become chief minister of its capital. Arvind kejriwal's isn't a story of someone who shot into the limelight out of nowhere. He's one of those people who has dedicated his life to the cause of the nation. A man who, like many of us, was fed up with the menace of corruption and took it upon himself to rid India of it. Long before the much publicised Lokpal agitation, he was involved in pushing for another anti corruption tool. The right to information. He's a recipient of the Ramon Magsaysay award for emergent leadership for his contribution to the enactment of that law. Along with Anna Hazare, he led one of India's largest post-independence movements to get the Lokpal bill enacted. Two years hence, that bill is a theoretical reality. But like all laws, its success lies in its enforcement. But that movement was the beginning of a meteoric rise to power. Armed with nothing

The Aarushi-Hemraj double murders or the Noida double murders was one of the most famous crimes in recent times in India. The subject of an enormous amount of media gaze, the investigation in the case was unprofessional, to put it mildly. The truth is, the investigation was shoddy, incoherent and provided very little answers. In the end, after multiple twists and turns, the court found Dr Rajesh Talwar and Dr Nupur Talwar guilty of the most sacrilegious of crimes. That of the murder of their own daughter. Before getting to that, here's a quick recap of the incident itself. 14 year old Aarushi Talwar was found dead in her bedroom in the morning of the 16th of may, 2008. Her parents suspected their domestic help, 45 year old Hemraj, who was missing and filed a complaint with the police. Police started the investigation in the case and collected evidence from the scene. Among those, was a bloodstained bottle of scotch on the dining table. The door to the terrace was locked and Dr Raje

The Aarushi-Hemraj double murders or the Noida double murders was one of the most famous crimes in recent times in India. The subject of an enormous amount of media gaze, the investigation in the case was unprofessional, to put it mildly. The truth is, the investigation was shoddy, incoherent and provided very little answers. In the end, after multiple twists and turns, the court found Dr Rajesh Talwar and Dr Nupur Talwar guilty of the most sacrilegious of crimes. That of the murder of their own daughter. Before getting to that, here's a quick recap of the incident itself. 14 year old Aarushi Talwar was found dead in her bedroom in the morning of the 16th of may, 2008. Her parents suspected their domestic help, 45 year old Hemraj, who was missing and filed a complaint with the police. Police started the investigation in the case and collected evidence from the scene. Among those, was a bloodstained bottle of scotch on the dining table. The door to the terrace was locked and

All my regular readers (admittedly, a small number), would know that I love public transport, especially our city buses. Of the multiple advantages of using them, one stands out. The fact that almost every bus ride makes for a great story. It's the 7th of November 2013. Just this morning I got back home after two 12 hour long train journeys separated by 8 hectic, family visiting hours. Extremely sleep deprived, in part thanks to the journey, in part thanks to the 4 cups of coffee early in the morning and in part thanks to the coke ( the soft drink ) I had at a friend's party, I still had a spring in my step. In that mentally asleep, physically very awake condition, I went out to buy a few groceries. I waited at the bus stop, earphones plugged in, playing 'This is the life' by Amy macdonald. In a couple of minutes, a bus toiled along the pot-hole filled road and stopped a couple of feet away from me. I ran to the back of the bus to check where it was headed but there was

All my regular readers (admittedly, a small number), would know that I love public transport, especially our city buses. Of the multiple advantages of using them, one stands out. The fact that almost every bus ride makes for a great story. It's the 7th of November 2013. Just this morning I got back home after two 12 hour long train journeys separated by 8 hectic, family visiting hours. Extremely sleep deprived, in part thanks to the journey, in part thanks to the 4 cups of coffee early in the morning and in part thanks to the coke ( the soft drink ) I had at a friend's party, I still had a spring in my step. In that mentally asleep, physically very awake condition, I went out to buy a few groceries. I waited at the bus stop, earphones plugged in, playing 'This is the life' by Amy macdonald. In a couple of minutes, a bus toiled along the pot-hole filled road and stopped a couple of feet away from me. I ran to the back of the bus to check where it was headed but there

Part 5/5 She ran straight to Gladys aunty's shop, crying uncontrollably and sat at one of the benches. Gladys walked over, calmly and sat beside her. She looked up at aunty, momentarily holding back her tears and then put her head on Gladys's loving lap and resumed crying. Gladys signaled to one of the other students around to close the temporary wooden shutter and put up the "closed" signboard. Then, assuringly stroked the crying angel's hair to calm her down. A few minutes later, when the crying stopped and she was sitting up again, Gladys asked her what happened. "He told me that he loved me and asked me if I felt the same and I said no but I actually do but when it ends it'll ruin everything we've had and I don't want that for him or for me and I don't want to complicate this relationship Gladys." she said, fighting back her emotions. Having listened to the whole story, Gladys laughed, stood up and walked into her kitchen to make some

Part 5/5 She ran straight to Gladys aunty's shop, crying uncontrollably and sat at one of the benches. Gladys walked over, calmly and sat beside her. She looked up at aunty, momentarily holding back her tears and then put her head on Gladys's loving lap and resumed crying. Gladys signaled to one of the other students around to close the temporary wooden shutter and put up the "closed" signboard. Then, assuringly stroked the crying angel's hair to calm her down. A few minutes later, when the crying stopped and she was sitting up again, Gladys asked her what happened. "He told me that he loved me and asked me if I felt the same and I said no but I actually do but when it ends it'll ruin everything we've had and I don't want that for him or for me and I don't want to complicate this relationship Gladys." she said, fighting back her emotions. Having listened to the whole story, Gladys laughed, stood up and walked into her kitchen to make

Part 4/5 The early morning sunlight filtered through the dusty window in her room and kissed her forehead. She'd only gone to sleep a couple of hours earlier and didn't appreciate the love that Mother Nature was showering on her. Rudely, she turned her face away from the window but the unrelenting golden sun rays graced the tender skin on her neck as they tried to wake the sleeping maiden. Unable to sleep anymore, she tossed her blanket aside and dragged herself out of bed and walked up to the half broken mirror hanging over the wash basin. Her eyes were red from all the sleepless nights she'd been having. As chief organiser of one of the mainstage shows, she had to be the first to reach college in the morning and the last one to leave. As she brushed her teeth, she ran through all that she'd planned for the day. They were done with setting up almost everything. All that was left now was to invite the other colleges. For the organizers, it was the last leg of the marath

Part 4/5 The early morning sunlight filtered through the dusty window in her room and kissed her forehead. She'd only gone to sleep a couple of hours earlier and didn't appreciate the love that Mother Nature was showering on her. Rudely, she turned her face away from the window but the unrelenting golden sun rays graced the tender skin on her neck as they tried to wake the sleeping maiden. Unable to sleep anymore, she tossed her blanket aside and dragged herself out of bed and walked up to the half broken mirror hanging over the wash basin. Her eyes were red from all the sleepless nights she'd been having. As chief organiser of one of the mainstage shows, she had to be the first to reach college in the morning and the last one to leave. As she brushed her teeth, she ran through all that she'd planned for the day. They were done with setting up almost everything. All that was left now was to invite the other colleges. For the organizers, it was the last leg of the m

Part 3/5 Instantly, he remembered her. How could he ever forget that face. She was the prettiest girl he'd seen in college. But in the few hours that they were together, working on the college magazine, he couldn't gather that courage to tell her that. He remembered getting lost in her beautiful earthy brown eyes. In his mind, he was quite romantic. That he was too shy to actually say what was in his mind was the biggest tragedy of his life. " Hi " she said again, waving her hand this time, wondering if he hadn't recognized her. "Hi!" He said timidly, blushing but trying to hide it. " I came to return this, thank you " she said, pushing a neatly wrapped umbrella through the grill. She saw the perplexed look on his face and told him about how she was trying to get his attention the previous evening in front of shazia manzil. "Luckily for me, this umbrella fell out of your bag! I would've never reached home in that rain if it wasn't

Part 3/5 Instantly, he remembered her. How could he ever forget that face. She was the prettiest girl he'd seen in college. But in the few hours that they were together, working on the college magazine, he couldn't gather that courage to tell her that. He remembered getting lost in her beautiful earthy brown eyes. In his mind, he was quite romantic. That he was too shy to actually say what was in his mind was the biggest tragedy of his life. " Hi " she said again, waving her hand this time, wondering if he hadn't recognized her. "Hi!" He said timidly, blushing but trying to hide it. " I came to return this, thank you " she said, pushing a neatly wrapped umbrella through the grill. She saw the perplexed look on his face and told him about how she was trying to get his attention the previous evening in front of shazia manzil. "Luckily for me, this umbrella fell out of your bag! I would've never reached home in that rain if it wa

Part 2/5 He walked past the railway crossing and the local grocery store, generally a very "happening" locality in the otherwise sleepy suburb. Not today though. The heavy clouds looked all set to pour its fury down on the simple folk of the neighborhood. The grocery shop owner pulled down the shutters, cursing the rain gods for all his misfortunes (as if it was their fault that his daughter ran away and got married to the local tailor. ) The railway gate operator pulled down the transparent plastic sheet and covered the opening where, legend has it, a window once stood. There were birds flying around frantically and trees swaying softly. The dream still troubled him. He looked up to the sky hoping for some answers. A large drop of rain landed on his nose and proceeded to flow down his face. He wiped it off with his shirt's sleeve. He noticed a sudden increase in the activity around him. People were running for cover, hotels being shut, windows being closed, leaves of coc

Part 2/5 He walked past the railway crossing and the local grocery store, generally a very "happening" locality in the otherwise sleepy suburb. Not today though. The heavy clouds looked all set to pour its fury down on the simple folk of the neighborhood. The grocery shop owner pulled down the shutters, cursing the rain gods for all his misfortunes (as if it was their fault that his daughter ran away and got married to the local tailor. ) The railway gate operator pulled down the transparent plastic sheet and covered the opening where, legend has it, a window once stood. There were birds flying around frantically and trees swaying softly. The dream still troubled him. He looked up to the sky hoping for some answers. A large drop of rain landed on his nose and proceeded to flow down his face. He wiped it off with his shirt's sleeve. He noticed a sudden increase in the activity around him. People were running for cover, hotels being shut, windows being closed, leaves

She, is a story of innocence, of fear, of hope, of fate, of true love.  A story, not of him and her finding love but one about their beautiful journey while love finds them.   This is the first installment of a 5 part series. Exclusively,  on dudurudh. He opened the boot of his rickety maruti 800, now almost old enough to pass off as an antique piece. The boot creaked open to reveal a few bags and a disfunctional spare tyre. He rearranged the suitcases to make space for a picnic basket. Carefully, he lifted a mat from it and flung it on the beach sand. Then, with a loud thud that momentarily disrupted the peace on the little coastline, he shut the boot, lifted the mat and walked towards a lonely tree in a corner not too far away. She stood there, leaning on the tree, listening to the music playing out loudly from her phone. She shuffled a bit to make sure the cruel sun wouldn't be able to see her pretty face. He laid out the mat in the shade and walked over to where she was standin