Taj Ki Baat

Taj Taj Taj. Taj ko vote karo. Vote for Taj. Taj ke liye Vote kijiye.
Taj Taj Taj. Inke baap ka Raj. Bhendi!!!!

I've been stalked, pressurised, compelled, tortured, obligated to vote
for the national monument. Why??....So that it can find it's place in the list of
seven wonders. Competing with the monuments of the world. Television, Radio,
Newspaper ...every medium is used to coerce me to vote for the monument.
Every hour of the day, every day of the week and every week of the
month....I'm listening to a single woe...Taj could loose it's position.

The torment started swelling up till it turned into a matter of national
pride. A matter of self respect. A matter of 'making place in the world map'. A
matter of international recognition. Everybody around me talked about the one and only thing....Taj Mahal. Descriptions about Taj were given. As to who made it. Why it was
made. What it is made of. How old it is. Thanks to all of them for imparting this
knowledge. For had they not been there....how would've I known about the
monument situated in my own country.

Names were given to Taj like Monument of Love, Symbol of Beauty,
Heritage of Romance and copy writers untangled their grey matter for newer
names and adjectives to describe it. Advertisements were aired for public
service, to lead them to vote for Taj. Politicians and their parties, which usually
raised hoardings for exchanging Birthday Greetings, raised hoardings asking their
'janata' to vote for Taj. Masters in asking for votes they being, they took up the
task in their hands too. People painted their bodies. Engraved it on their cropped
heads. Tatooed their soft cheeks. Musicians composed silly songs....every other
thing that was possible, was used a tool to 'motivate' people to bring the
monument on the list of Seven Wonders.

Then they started threatening me...Last three days, last two days, last
day....but I did not yeild to them and am waiting prosecution.

And at last....Taj made it's way up the seven wonders list.
"Congratulations Taj!!!"

Now.....what???
What???...I mean what next???....
This Taj wave will fade out soon. People will forget Taj slowly. Nobody would
care which the seven wonders are. And again next year there will be a poll and
people will go on voting rampage fo the monument. The monument will stand there.

People will visit it. Take photographs
sitting on benches opposite it, foreign presidents, ministers everybody will visit
the Monument of Love. praise it and leave. And givernment will boast the
monument's existence in the nation. Baaki.....

Baaki....they will continue to sell the land surrounding Taj to
industries. Their tall hoses will continue to release gases in in air. These gases
will continue to corrode Taj. The marble used in Taj will keep turning yellower.
and one day it will crumble down. And then antique sellers will sell it's marble
pieces to collectors at hight prices, of course in which, the government too will
have a share of it. I decided I shall not vote for Taj. I did not. I know Taj is a wonder. And
it shall always remain one. I have a view that it does not need any certification
of any organisations to prove it a wonder. I know it is a monument of unending
love, erected by a man madly in love with his dead wife(which he simulteneously
could also afford building). I know it is a sign of national pride. I know everything
about it. Everything that Airtel wants to teach me about it. An I believe a voting
can never change these facts. But there are also some facts which I would also not forget. The
oxidising of the marble walls. Transformation from bright white to dull yellow.
Darkening of the assimilation points of marble tiles. Loosening of marble tiles.
lack of maintainance. Declaration of industrial zone near the monument by the
then government of Uttar Pradesh. No funds for Taj maintainance. Industrial
affluents and many such facts. Facts that lie hidden behind the large voting
campaign. Facts that lie below the large hoardings. Facts comfortably overlooked
while boasting it as a heritage structure. What difference will the appearing of
Taj on the list of seven wonders make???? Will it change these facts???...These
very facts which are a matter of concern regarding the future condition of the
monument. Will the marble of Taj be polished???....will the construction be
reinforced to avoid further damage to it???....will the industries around it be
closed down or shifted somewhere else?????....If any of these changes would
occur.....I am sorry that I did not vote for Taj.

If anybody has benifited from this campaign instead of Taj are the
mobile companies. People casted votes as messages. Each of these messages
cost more than the regular messages. So more the people voted, more did they
earn. And more did the people loose balance on their mobile. And the
website...do I need to tell you how much they must've earned trhough it. And
will even a fraction of this sum be spent on Taj??? The answer is a clear NO.
Kaam ke na kaaj ke...Dushman anaaj ke. In fact"Kaam ke na Taj ke......Dushman Anaaj Ke"

And people voted. Upon that they kept on voting.Maybe people were carried away by emotions. Blind boy asking people
to cast their vote. People throwing his pamphlet on road. And in the end he
requesting people, encashing his disability, to vote for the monument. (The
advertisement, if you know was released by Airtel.)

But let me tell that blind boy something. By the time you grow up my
child....kids with the ability to sight would make similar statement."Maine dekha nahi hai....lekin suna hai ki bahut khoobsoorat tha!!!"

Shattered Dreams Death

First The HSC result was declared. Then the CET results were declared.
Then Vinay was declared dead.

He attempted all questions in all exams. He didn't
score to his expectations. He had failed them. He then attempted suicide. He
luckily suceeded in it. He hung himself to the ceiling fan. Thank god they make
good nylon ropes nowadays, he must've died within a span of five to ten
minutes. He must've gasped for breath before breathing his last one. He must've
jerked his limbs violently before hanging still. Memories must've randomly
clouded his vision before it dissolved in darkness. All those moments right from
the age of comprehension, must've played like montage, images swapping
rapidly. And for sure the last image that was flashed would've been of his CET
marksheet. The piece of paper which marked the end of his dreams. The piece
of paper which evaluated everything, his intellect, his aptitude, his
determination, his efforts and marked the conclusion of his tommorow. I guess
if he did want to live a moment more with a marksheet like it. He must've
ceased his attempts to live that moment more and stopped trying to hold life
back in his shell. And he let it leave him. His body hung to the ceiling along with the ceiling fan. His eyes had
popped out as if he was seeing his name on the first list of admissions. His entire
tongue had wilted out of his mouth, which hung open, bordered with froth. He
had urinated and shat in his pants, as he ceded himself to death. His wet pants
bore signs of it. The room where he hung himself stank of it. His face had lost
it's colour. There was peace on it. The table he had used to climb up to the
noose, lay fallen on ground. Few steps away, on his study table lay his
marksheets. There was no suicide note. Maybe he considered them to be it. He didn't talk much. He had few friends. He never topped in school.
But always was within top ten students. He always hung around with three of his
close friends. They followed him to his college too. They even followed him to his
stream. He watched movies with them. He enjoyed comedies. He loved
hollywood science fiction. He went ocassionally to junk food joints. He had once
secretly seen a porn film with his friends. He never saw another again. He
avoided bunking lectures. He made his own notes. In HSC, he studied for eight
hours from the day classes started in FYJC. He liked a girl in his class. Maybe she
liked him too. They both stared at each other in free time between lectures.
Every day he followed her to her bus stop secretly. His friends cracked jokes
upon for this. He was never able to tell her that he liked her. He never had that
much courage. Nor did he have time, for he had decided that he won't fall into
all this until he had 'achieved his aim'. He loved his parents. He loved his friends. He loved his school. He loved
his college. He loved everything around him. He loved his life.

When he was cremated, they did not cremate his marksheets with
him.

Investigations revealed that Vinay did not commit suicide. He was killed. Who
killed him??? Investigators came across certain witnesses who mentioned before
the investigators names of those involved in killing of Vinay.

Witness 1:
"Vinay did not commit suicide. He was killed. I know who killed him. He was
killed by this system. The system where a marksheet is only evaluator of a
human...not his talent or efforts. All that makes a person are his marks. Vinay
was brilliant. He was full of ideas. He always strived for knowledge. He always
wanted to know more. Learn more. He was full of innovative thoughts. But....It
all ended in a single moment. He could not clear CET....and his aspirations
crumbled down to mere dreams. No lists..no allotments....no admissions.....no
knowledge...no graduation....no post graduation....no
research....nothing.....only a mediocre life with parched ambitions and
compromises...Vinay couldn't even bare the thought of it....so he killed himself
instead of his dreams!!!!..... How long is this system going to kill more
Vinays.....how long is talent going to be evaluated only by marks.....some silly
figures on a piece of paper.....how long the intellect is going to be trained only
to memorise and not to apply....what exactly does the system want from
Vinays???.....some brains or hard disks...had Vinay cleared those CET
exams....he would've started his journey ....but maybe the system had a
different plan for him....they did not want a genius...they wanted a
mugger!!!..Words, sentences, paragraphs don't make discoveries and
inventions.....ideas make them....and with Vinay...many of them died...every
year many such Vinay's get killed by the system....but the system continues to
rule....kill Vinays indiscrimantely....pushing them into a holocaust of crushed
aspirations and unfulfilled expectations....And so long it exists...it shall continue
it's killing spree....may peace be upon the soul of Vinay and Vinays "

Witness 2:
"Vinay!!!.....he was killed by his dreams...He was stupid to dream in these
times....what he did was he depended largely on the field of his choice...one
can't behave like this in these days....one has to keep all the options
open....What Vinay did...he kept running behind a single option...not a wise
move...nobody gets anything nowadays depending on dreams...Look at me...I
am learning medicine...I never wanted to...but I kept both the options
open....Medicine and Engineering....Now I could not clear Engineering CET...But
got through Medical CET...and now I am here....I never dreamt being a medical
student...but I am one now...Life does not go by ones dreams nowadays...it
goes by helplessness"

Witness 3:
"Vinay was killed by society.....Everytime anybody met...even while walking on
the road.....first question that blurted out from their mouth was....'So
Vinay...how much will you score???'..then...'So...will get admission to your
chosen course na???'....what did they have to do with how much he was going to
score and where he got admission....did they pay his fees???....poor child....was
caught in such a strain.....and when he couldn't get through the CET....he was
shattered....he stopped talking to everybody...he stopped recieveing phone
calls...he used to lock himself inside the room....and those whose kids were with
him...kept calling and telling about their kid's success....the boy couldn't bear it
one day...and hung himself to the ceiling fan....what a sweet boy he was....I
was the first to enter the room where he hung himself....he looked so
horrible...i couldn't recognise him first...when I did...I screamed out....I couldn't
bear the horror.....none of those who asked Vinay about his score and
admissions bore his last weight.....none of them who called his home in those
days attended his funeral"

Witness 4:
"Expectations.....that's what killed Vinay....expectations.....everybody expected
something from him....good percentage...good score in entrances....easy
admissions....good career....Vinay's CET result failed them all in a single
go....and Vinay was proven unworthy of staying alve....so....a case suicide
happened.....right from his childhood....he was constatly burdened under
expextations....stand first in class, stand first in school, win all competitions,
win all scholarships, prove his talent, Ramkrishna Mission, Maharashtra Talent
Search, Mumbai Talent Search, Homi Bhabha, Maths Exams, Hindi Pragya
Pariksha, Marathi Pradnya ParikshaCamlin Drawing Competition, Sports,
Quizzes.....he had to win everything...he had to learn everything....Guitar,
Casio, Martial Arts.....he had to be an multifaceted kid....whatever his identity
was...who cared...he had to be everywhere....then in SSC...he had to score
above 85....get into science stream...whatever his inclination be....get good
percentage in HSC...and clear CET with a high score for the feild chosen by
expectations of a better life in future...irrespective of his wish....he was
trained from his childhood to fulfil expectations leaving himself aside.....he had
some dreams about his future when he was in fifth grade....late were implanted
in his eyes by expectations....his entire life was ruled by expectations.....and
when he failed them....his very right of existence was like lost.....the only
thing, I think, he did by his wish was..his suicide....even after he is dead....he
has failed the expectation of living a long life.....and it is being expected from
his soul that it should rest in peace.... "

Witness 5:
"One day Vinay came to meet me in my dreams after he died.....I asked him
why did you commit suicide my child.....and he pointed his finger at me..then
at my side...I looked at my side....I was not alone...It wasn't only me...It was
both of us.....he was pointing at both of us...and he slowly muttered....you
killed me....and he turned his back upon us and started walking into darkness...I
called out to him....I ran behinmd him to stop him....I kept begging him to
come back...but he was lost in that darkness....I woke up shouting.....It was we
who killed him....We always wanted him to be the best....we kept pushing him
further.... we wanted him to excel in everything....sometimes I think...we
didnt want a son then...we wanted a genius in our house.....we never really
thought about him...his ideas, his dreams....I don't quite remember If we ever
communicated with him over these issues...we set targets for him...and he
achieved them.....we thought what we did was right for him....maybe we were
wrong....maybe we should've talked to him...maybe we should've tried to bridge
this gap between us....we always kept expecting large success from
him....never understood the pressure he was goin through.....the day he
brought the CET results home....we said every other thing to him out of
fury....we were infuriated...maybe we vented every other frustration on
him.....don't know what had happened to us....we were either scolding...or
taunting him....didn't think that he too must've tried....never took heed to
know if he had any problem....his failure had come like a blow to us....after his
death we did not open his room for days...when we finally did.....we saw the
room filled with his signs.....every speck of it carried his essence.....only thing
that missed in it was him.....earlier I used to walk through his room when he
wouldn't be there....it missed him then too...but I never noticed it....because
there was always an assurance that he would return.....now that the assurance
is no longer there.....I realise how incomplete the room is without him.....how
incomplete the house is without him.....his memories cling to every corner of
the house....and...our lives....this vaccum keeps shouting in our faces....a
failed son is always better than a dead son....sorry Vinay....we are really very
sorry....please try and forgive us...please."

Witness 6:
"Who killed Vinay????....who else will kill him....he killed himself.....CET result
wasn't the end of the world.....did he forget that there's always next time...he
purely had no reason to get so disheartened....don't know why he stupidly all his
hope and commited such an act.....he should've tried once more....he should've
given another CET.....he should've tried in other states....there were 'n' number
of options.....but he did not care to think...Vinay should've maintained that
perseverence....there were many others paths from where he could choose....he should've sat down and thought about the further course....he had impressive marksheets...he was hard working, sincere...he could've easily survived and outshone in any damn profession.....life doesn't finish with a sour turned dream.....one can always dream again...all over.....there are so many whose aspirations are never met by them....but they don't die...i may sound like an uncle....but this is what life has taught me....life keeps giving you chances....but before...you should give it a chance...end of life is end of everything.....you never know what future has in store for you....maybe a more glorious destiny awaits you....even if not...the life given to us is worth living....there is so much to do, so much to see, so much to expirience, so much of these so much...you only need to explore it....life does not move along with scores...it moves upon the spirit of living....and loosing it to reach the end...is an insult to life itself....life open an avenue of infinite moments for you...and you create the moment of its conclusion...that too when there is nothing to conclude....with that one moment you close the door that the life keeps open for you, for the years you live....those moments which wait for your midas touch to turn them aural disappear in that single thought.......life is and shall always be worth living.....and such a haste is not that wise....Vinay should've given one more thought to the rest of life, than to the death.....nobody holds the responsibility of his death, but he."

Investigators are caught up in a confusion over who exactly should be considered as the killer.