अभी-अभी..

अभी.. नेता, 

या

अभिनेता? 

Good-will

 What you are,

Is more important, 

Than what you were. 

What you do, 

Will decide, 

What you will be. 

What you will, 

May decide, 

What you become. 

Will good, 

Do good, 

Be good.

11 Advantages of being hacked by Pegasus

1. You know you are not alone in this cruel world. Somebody is always watching your back.

2. You don't have to worry about back-ups anymore. It always has your back.

3. You keep receiving mail even though your inbox is full.

4. You need not worry about informing the police when someone you know gets kidnapped/ abducted or your mobile/ tab/ laptop gets stolen. They most probably know about it already.

5. You will never feel worthless or insignificant again... ever!

6. You can't complain that the government never listens to you!

7. You keep getting critical-feedback on your activities, one way or the other.

8. If you ever delete a mail/ message/ contact permanently by mistake, or miss a call from a person, you can be rest assured that someone somewhere is keeping all the records, and if you are on good terms with the data-keeper, you can ask for the details you missed.

9. You need not worry about installing CCTVs, microphones, recording devices, storage-devices. You get it all for free!

10. No more VPNs, incognito-mode, virtual-hacking/ identity-theft worries from now on.

11. You can be proud that whatever you are doing, is actively being monitored, and managed by the government directly, (yours or somebody else's) everyday, in every way.

एक्टिव

The Consciousness-conundrum

 

 Communication is key, when it comes to the survival, and sustenance of any species.

Verbal communication and gesturing are only one part of the huge repertoire of communication mechanisms.

 These communication methods work best if the sender and receiver, both are conscious of what they are transmitting, at least to a certain degree. But did you ever think that the communication-network itself could be conscious of the transmission?

 This is what forms the basis of the concept of shared-consciousness. That we all have consciousness, and the society as a whole is conscious as well. This may not be not scientifically-tested or verified, but can be experienced if one wants to.

 Did you ever think, how two scientists working in different parts of the world simultaneously derived the same solution to a problem they had been working on, when in fact, there could have been many more? We dismiss it as serendipity and move on with our lives, but did we ponder over what causes these 'fortunate-coincidences' in the first place?

 It is often said that there are no coincidences; everything we experience was meant to be. But who shapes our reality?

Is it us, or is there a super-consciousness that is shaping our shared-consciousness?

Many times, we hear scientists, artists, writers, sculptors, painters, musicians, philosophers and prophets attributing their creations, their creativity to the divine or the supernatural.

 Kekule, the famous scientist who proposed the chemical-structures for the benzene-ring famously attributed his ingenuity to a dream he saw, in which a snake was biting its own tail.

 Now, scientifically, we may disagree with the significance of dreams, but we will have to agree that the structures that Kekule proposed for benzene solved a long standing problem.

 It is about time that we started wondering about the origins of consciousness, rather than efficiency of communication.

नीड़ का निर्माण

नीड़ का निर्माण फिर-फिर,
नेह का आह्वान फिर-फिर!

वह उठी आँधी कि नभ में, छा गया सहसा अँधेरा,
धूलि धूसर बादलों नें भूमि को भाँति घेरा,
रात-सा दिन हो गया, फिर रात आई और काली,
लग रहा था अब न होगा इस निशा का फिर सवेरा,
रात के उत्‍पात-भय से भीत जन-जन, भीत कण-कण
किंतु प्राची से उषा की  मोहिनी मुस्कान फिर-फिर,

नेह का आह्वान फिर-फिर,

वह चले झोंके कि काँपे भीम कायावान भूधर,
जड़ समेत उखड़-पुखड़कर गिर पड़े, टूटे विटप वर,
हाय, तिनकों से विनिर्मित घोंसलों पर क्‍या न बीती,
डगमगाए जबकि कंकड़, ईंट, पत्‍थर के महल-घर;
बोल आशा के विहंगम, किस जगह पर तू छिपा था,
जो गगन चढ़ उठाता गर्व से निज तान फिर-फिर!

नीड़ का निर्माण फिर-फिर,
नेह का आह्वान फिर-फिर!


क्रुद्ध नभ के वज्र दंतों में उषा है मुसकराती,
घोर गर्जनमय गगन के कंठ में खग पंक्ति गाती;
एक चिड़िया चोंच में तिनका लिए जो गा रही है,
वह सहज में ही पवन उंचास को नीचा दिखाती!
नाश के दुख से कभी दबता नहीं निर्माण का सुख
प्रलय की निस्‍तब्‍धता से सृष्टि का नव गान फिर-फिर!

नीड़ का निर्माण फिर-फिर,
नेह का आह्वान फिर-फिर!

-हरिवंश राय बच्चन

सुबह-ए-आज़ादी

 ये दाग़-दाग़ उज़ाला, ये शब गज़ीदा सहर
वो इन्तज़ार था जिसका, ये वो सहर तो नहीं
ये वो सहर तो नहीं कि जिसकी आरज़ू लेकर
चले थे यार कि मिल जायेगी कहीं न कहीं
फ़लक के दश्त में तारों की आखिरी मंज़िल
कहीं तो होगा शब-ए-सुस्त मौज का साहिल
कहीं तो जाके रुकेगा सफ़ीना-ए-ग़म-ए-दिल जवाँ लहू की पुर-असरार शाहराहों में
चले जो यार तो दामन पे कितने दाग़ पड़े
पुकारती रहीं बाहें, बदन बुलाते रहे
बहुत अज़ीज़ थी लेकिन रुखे-सहर की लगन बहुत करीं था हसीना-ए-नूर का दामन
सुबुक सुबुक थी तमन्ना, दबी-दबी थी थकन
सुना है हो भी चुका है फ़िराके ज़ुल्मत-ओ-नूर
सुना है हो भी चुका है विसाले-मंज़िल-ओ-गाम बदल चुका है बहुत अहले दर्द का दस्तूर
निशाते-वस्ल हलाल-ओ-अज़ाबे-हिज़्र हराम
जिगर की आग, नज़र की उमंग, दिल की जलन
किसी पे चारे हिज़्राँ का कुछ असर ही नहीं
कहाँ से आई निग़ारे-सबा किधर को गयी
अभी चिराग़े-सरे-रह को कुछ खबर ही नहीं अभी गरानी-ए-शब में कमी नहीं आई
निज़ाते-दीदा-ओ-दिल की घड़ी नहीं आई
चले चलो कि वो मंज़िल अभी नहीं आई

-फैज़ अहमद फैज़

ढाई आखर से  उद्धृत

“Dawn of Freedom” (August 1947)
–Faiz Ahmed Faiz, translated from the Urdu by Agha Shahid Ali

These tarnished rays, this night-smudged light–

This is not that Dawn for which, ravished with freedom,

we had set out in sheer longing,

so sure that somewhere in its desert the sky harbored

a final haven for the stars, and we would find it.
We had no doubt that night’s vagrant wave would stray towards the shore

that the heart rocked with sorrow would at last reach its port.

 Friends, our blood shaped its own mysterious roads.

When hands tugged at our sleeves, enticing us to stay,

and from wonderous chambers Sirens cried out

with their beguiling arms, with their bare bodies,

our eyes remained fixed on that beckoning dawn,

forever vivid in her muslins of transparent light.

Our blood was young–what could hold us back?

 Now listen to the terrible rampant lie:

Light has forever been severed from the Dark;

our feet, it is heard, are now one with their goal.

See our leaders polish their manner clean of our suffering:

Indeed, we must confess only to bliss;

we must surrender any utterance for the Beloved–all yearning is outlawed.

But the heart, the eye, the yet deeper heart–

Still ablaze for the Beloved, their turmoil shines.

In the lantern by the road the flame is stalled for news:

Did the morning breeze ever come? Where has it gone?

Night weighs us down; it still weighs us down.

 Friends, come away from this false light.

Come, we must search for that promised Dawn.

Faiz on Freedom by Lefty Prof

Urdu Nazm in roman script:

http://www.urdupoetry.com/faiz08.html

ABC of Avoiding Breast Cancer

October, the breast-cancer awareness month just passed away, and I am late yet again in passing on this information.

Although I am a firm believer of the saying, better late than never, there are times when delay can cost lives, and those are the matters where one should never take lightly. Breast-cancer is one such case, where timely diagnosis and treatment could save lives.

Therefore, October or November, I believe, it is our duty to keep spreading awareness about this killer disease among our peers. (Men too are included, as their chests too are susceptible to this cancer.) 

 Breast cancer, as I understand it, refers to the malignant growth of tumor-cells in the breast tissues, and their infiltration and proliferation to other tissues.

 Many a times, the development of benign tumors to cancer might take months altogether, and therefore, many a times, these slow changes go almost unnoticed.

 However, they can prove to be deadly once they proliferate the blood stream and the lymph nodes(the circulatory system) and migrate to other parts of the body, developing into a cancer.

The preventive measures that can be used to detect any malignant growth in the tissues range from simple screening, which includes regular check-ups, mammograms (X-rays), to more sophisticated scans like CT and PET

The risk factors for breast cancer are multi-pronged, ranging from lifestyle related factors like late maternity, avoiding breast-feeding(?), obesity (?) and age to genetic predispositions like family history of breast-cancer. 

Most importantly, early detection minimizes risks of complications,  maximizing  chances of recovery.

For knowing more about symptoms, diagnosis and treatment, you can visit www.cancer.gov or browse any of the authoritative websites.

Breast Cancer in India, by Professor Indraneel Mittra

Breast Cancer Overview on cancer.org

Read more at:

"Life's tragedy is that we get old too soon and wise too late."  -Benjamin Franklin 

(American Statesman, Scientist, Philosopher, Printer, Writer and Inventor. 1706-1790), courtesy: brainyquote.com