Osama bin Laden - Martyr Or Terrorist?

I don't know how many will read my blog. I don't know how many will accept my views. But I am writing this blog for my own self and for the few people out their who can comply with my view point on perhaps the world's most famous personality - Osama bin Laden.

Talking about him and all the chaos surrounding his death. Many people in the Islamic world hail him as a 'mujahid'. They say he waged a battle against the U.S.A- a country which can cross any limits to accomplish and establish their supremacy in the modern world. On the face of it, for any muslim, he is indeed a warrior who fought for all the muslims and performed the duty of jihaad.

But everything is not as it seems. It is a matter of fact that America especially under the Bush regime behaved like an imperialist,bloodsucking maggot, who in the name of war on terrorism did nothing but disrupt and destroy the lives of tonnes of people in countries like Iraq, Afghanistan and other similar places. What was perceived to be a war on global terrorism ended up as a civilian war killing more than 5,00,000 people in Iraq alone. Many children were killed, women were raped, and many more rendered orphans. The tyranny of the Bush regime never ends.

It was against this undefiable act of deamonism that Osama waged a war against. A justifiable act indeed. But the method he took to continue with this war is a matter of huge controversy. He declared fatwas (religious orders) favouring the killing of America and its allies which included innocent citizens. He claims this was in accordance to jihaad(struggle against evil) prescribed in the Holy Quran. But his fatwas had serious theological flaws.

Talikng about jihaad, the Holy Prophet laid down strict rules against the killings of women,children and non-combaters. He also prohibited attacking people by taking them unawares. Unfortunately Osama's fatwas transgressed all these restrictions. He considered women and children to be legitimate targets of jihaad. He could have been an example not only for the muslim community but also for the whole world if he had followed the proper path.

But sadly he ended up tarnishing the image of Islam, a religion which deeply emphasises on the principle of peace. Yet people call him a martyr who fought for Islam. A sad but blatant truth. I don't know how many comply with my view, but this my way of thinking and this the way I follow and perceive Islam to be. I finish my blog with a quotation from the Holy Quran which says...

"If anyone kills any innocent man its like killing the whole of mankind"

A Train Journey To Kerala.........

Looking at the title you may obviously think that it is just another description of just another train journey to a beautiful state called Kerala. Well indeed its a journey to my motherland Kerala but the blog I am writing is not a travelogue. Its about my encounter with a man I met during the two day long yatra. My interaction with him thought me a thing or two about the subtle intricacies of life that one needs to follow.

It was after my SSC exams in mid march 2009. Since that was an important year and due to some personal reasons I had not visited my native place since the past four years. Not long, you may think. But for a person like me its too long a time since we have none of our relatives living in Mumbai. Besides Kerala was a place I yearned to live in thanks to its scenic beauty and pollution free environment. Something which is unheard of, in a bustling,24×7, metropolitan city like Mumbai. Sometimes I have gone to the extent of cursing myself for the prospect of having to live in Mumbai inspite of being born in Kerala. Due to all these reasons I wanted to rocket to Kerala as soon as my exams were over. Luckily my dad's friend was planning to travel to Kerala due to business reasons. I booked my ticket with him and in no time in a matter of few days I was of to my hometown all excited.

Day one of the journey passes away entirely travelling through Maharshtra. Its only the next day morning that you enter the Kerala border through Mangalore. One of the very first stations is Calicut-the place where the iconic personality Vasco da Gama landed as he first came to India. A man of short height but stout stature boarded the compartment and sat right in front of me. I got a little excited as I could now talk to a local of Kerala. He looked a little out of place as he was adjusting baggage under the seats. I asked whether he needed help but he did not mind my words. At this point I got a faint notion that my co-traveller was a grumpy man who cannot be easily befriended. And my intuition only got worse as the journey progressed. My uncle who was with me tried making all sorts of friendly gestures with him but everything turned futile. Apart from occasional glances, he just won't talk.
I became restless and tried hard to figure out his personality, but to no avail. I wondered why would anyone wan't to sit idle throughout a long journey. To my mind he had already become an imbecile, egoistic man who disliked public communication. The rest of the journey continued in the same vein with I making gestures by which he understood we were tired of his attitude.

The train hustled and bustled into Trivandrum and we got up to collect our luggage and exit the train. As we were about to leave I gave a final glance to the man, upon which he woke up and came closer to us. My uncle too turned and looked towards him. He said," I know that I have been too recessive. But you must understand that I am not in that frame of mind. I just lost my son in a bus mishap. He was the only one to me." As soon as he said that,he left leaving the two of us doing nothing but staring at each other. We didn't know what to do, what to say but pick our baggage and get out of the train. Suddenly the whole world turned upside down. We were the ones who were imbeciles, egoistics and all those damn slang words in the world. My uncle was quick to run behind him and tender an apology. We watched him as he walked, shoulders drooped into the busy bush of passengers.

"Prejudice is the worst thing that can destroy a relationship son. It leads to miscommunication between people. Had we thought about the matter from his perspective, we could have avoided such a situation.", commented my uncle. That day I learned that we need to think both ways before we come to a particular decision.Our gestures might have hurt him. But there is no use talking about it now. We should have realised that before. In life there might arise many a situations like this and we may end up being at crossroads. At such a juncture, thinking about people from there view helps to make a right decision rather than make a decision based on your view and regret it life-long.

So friends, I hope you might have learnt something out of this ordinary blog I wrote and you may use it in your life.

MY FRIENDS IN COLLEGE.......

I had started my blog on the topic-FRIENDS FOR LIFE???.....and I think the intended people liked it.Hence I have decided to continue on that topic but with a more dip of reality.

Since my childhood days, I have maintained that no one comes close to school friends.And i think that notion is the same for all of us.But college is a bigger fraternity and the friendships we have there have a great effect on our personality.Hence i am going to describe about the closest circuit of friends i have in college.People not included in this list should not feel offended as i am going through a lot of time and space crunch at this moment.

Here are the people who make me what i am in college.(in alphabetical order).

AMEY MORE

Amey.He is the quintessential,typical college loving,happy-go-lucky kind of guy.Apart from being a self crafted batsmen who plays for the prestigious MCA,he is one of the coolest guys to hang out with.He turns out to be the convener for almost any get-togethers organized by our friend circle.Tall,lanky and kinky,Thats how you describe a guy like Amey.

GAURAV AGARWAL

Gaurav is the perfect 'boy next door' type of guy.You will encounter people like him every now and then in AAMCHI MUMBAI.He is also the ultimate TechGuru not only among us, but also among the whole of SYJC.and i bet he can even give the B-tech students a heavy run for their money.There is no other word beyond his,when it comes to tech related things.Be it mobiles,laptops,PCs and what not???And thats why he is a hit with girls?!!!!

MAHENDRA VARMA

Yes the name itself has royalty etched on it.He joined us from the UBS college when we were in the 12th grade.But i must admit that he has gained more friends and popularity in a single year than we did in two!!And thats Mahendra.He is damn funny and humorous.He can kick the ass out of anybody in the so called 'War of Words'.So don't mess with him.....!!!

MOHAMMED REHMANJI

Mohammed is the cute,bubbly funny man of our group.He can imitate our college professors to the teeth with no stone unturned!People say i am good in the subject of biology.But i credit him to be the ultimate when it comes to that field as he is far more dedicated than me.He is always cheerful and blushing.Have a dull moment??You ain't happy for some reason??Just hang out with him and everything will be fine.....infact you will cry with laughter....!!

MUKUL KAREYA

What do heptathlons do??They specialise in one or more forms of athletics.And that is what Mukul does. Though not true to the definition, he is a guy with the ultimate sportsmanship spirit.He can sprint,he can run long distances,he can win tele games for your team and most importantly, he can play football. And man...he does play it damn well!He is a professional and plays for the Yuva Sports Club in Bandra.He is also one of the best in academics among us.....though he denies it always(ha.who listens???)....

SHAYARSH SINGH

The most dedicated among us when it comes to dreaded word called studies.If any one of us studied like him, then we would have got our names pasted on the 90+ lists long back.very quiet and keeps to himself mostly.You will have an impression of a book-worm when you look at him......and seriously,he is one...

SOHAIL SHAIKH

Last but not least.Sohail.He is dark,he is rich, he is shy, and he is a self proclaimed physicist(much like Mukul) and he is from the land of the West-Saudi Arabia.Yes.Even though he is an Indian, he resides in Jeddah.Yeah, he is an import.We call him 'tadipaar' OR simply 'refugee'!!

He again like Mukul denies that he has excellent academic records.But again-who listens?!!He is a typical character who doesn't mind going to ends for friends even if it requires him spend huge prices.....

And hence these are the people i be with in college......These are the gems of my life......

Friends For Life???

Everyday as a 12th grader, my days pass by in a jiffy with the company of my friends. Playing football, teasing each other by names, ridiculing some teachers and all. Yes its the time of our life to make merry......

But people like us rarely think of the larger backdrop. Maybe we don't need to. And perhaps we should not. Because its this time of our life that we get to enjoy. Get to feel the aroma of friendship. The aroma of sincere commitment for each other. We get to enjoy all the moments we spend together. We rarely are concerned about our studies(we consider it as a second priority). But sometimes in the middle of this bliss and happiness suddenly a question pops out of nowhere.

"ARE WE GOING TO BE TOGETHER LIKE THIS FOREVER TILL THE

VERY END OF OUR LIFE?"

If you consider the facts of life, the answer to many of us would seem to be in the negative. And indeed so it will be. In just a matter of few days our first years of college life will be over. All scattered back to their respective nests. All will make themselves ready for the challenges life will throw with them. All will have to explore and survive the big bad world which is waiting for them. At such a juncture, friends will count only as people you meet during a long journey to some place. No doubt all will be in touch thanks to wonders called social networking sites. But will we be ready to spend time so nonchalantly at that time. Now in our moods we may say yes. But looking at the larger picture it will be a time when you will be dogged with family responsibilities. Our young shoulder will feel the pressure to make a career for ourselves. all the childhood buddies will be scattered all around like pearls of a broken necklace.

Such a period is inevitable yet necessary. So this as my first blog is a tribute to my friends. We all came from different parts in Mumbai to one place called Bandra. Yes its pure destiny. Otherwise my Friend Gaurav who lives in Bhayander wouldn't have met me - a person who stays so far away in Ghatkopar. We all spend two years of quality friendship and the time for us to part has come.

So after many years if you see any of your friends in some city in some part of the world, then just remember that it was God then and it is God now who wants you to meet again...............

"THANK YOU MY FRIENDS FOR BEING IN MY LIFE!"