#HashtagNil.

The newly enacted Bihar Special Armed Police Act, 2021 [Bihar Act 03, 2021] has been in discussions in and out the political circles of the state. The bill which was passed amidst unprecedented ruckus in the Legislative Assembly of Bihar on March 23 received the assent of the Governor the following day. The members of opposition in the assembly sat in protest of the bill outside the speaker’s office claiming that the act would mean giving police undeterred powers to exploit the public. There are claims and counterclaims from all the sections and they were alleged to have been manhandled and beaten by the police when they refused to vacate the office. The two major concerns of the opposition regarding the bill are; that it gives police special powers to arrest anyone without warrant merely on the basis of apprehension and the other relating to bar over courts from taking cognizance of any offence committed by police officers; as it reflected upon from the claims in the briefing by the...

The flow of binaries in opinions that were manifest through the trends of personal space in the social media throughout the day is the reason I have chosen to write over such an unconventional topic. Amidst multiple pendency, choosing to throw it open unlike most of my writeups lately is not without the fear of being judged for my opinions. But as a note of caution, more on the part of request, I would be more than happy if you can help me improve my understanding rather than silently moving away. I wouldn’t reciprocate that anyway. The best part of being open to learning in life is that you keep on moving every time you learn something new. Stiffness in thoughts and non-acceptance of other voices most of the times, are indicators that you have restricted yourself from novelty. We are bound to think in our limitations and it distinguishes us from all others out there. People are considered to be a product of their situations, of the situations that they come across and the situations t...

The only significant direct interaction I remember with him was during his lecture at the Department of Economics. He had nothing against Kashmiri Muslims in a lecture that lasted over 2 hours, and I was watching at him, awestruck, that how could this be for a person whose whole community was cleansed from their nativity, and he didn't even once talk anything against the people directly responsible for it and instead talked of the larger perspective, his cherished friendships with them; even then. But his well-drawn conclusions were so backed by facts and logics that the audience could hardly differ on them, whatsoever their ideology be. I had always heard a lot about him from my seniors. But even after listening to two of his elaborate lectures on Kashmir, I wondered where according to him the solution lied, because he was a person so objective in his expression that one remained mesmerized in his explanations of Shaivism and Reshi culture of Kashmir, and forgot to ask him about t...

My Dear Friend, I am writing this to you for absolutely no reason. I don’t know how this piece will unfold. But I do feel that there are times when it’s better to approach and speak out—no matter be it to the self, to a diary or to the people around. I generally have a bad habit of not expressing myself, my feelings; of not wishing good day, of not saying to take care… But today, I would love to begin with a confession that you are a champion…a genius who hits back at life with an intensity greater than what it throws at you.   Remember our first meeting, when we were introduced to each-other? We were just out of depressing lows in our lives and heading towards something which later turned out to be among the most enriching experiences. The times of rise are usually those when people start getting superiority complexes, but I found you astonishingly humble, grounded, polite; and better than me in many of the aspects. This helped me building a strong foundation to our friends...

मित्रों! उम्मीद है कि आपको इस सम्बोधन से समस्या नही होगी। बहुत खोजने पर भी मुझे इससे बेहतर शब्द नही मिला, अपने साथियों के लिए, प्रोफेसर्स के लिए, जूनियर्स-सीनियर्स के लिए, बड़ों के लिए, छोटों के लिए, उन भाइयों के लिए, उस बहन के लिए; जो मुझे इस शहर ने दिए हैं। वैसे भी सफर का साथी मित्र ही तो होता है। फिर ये सफर तो वैसे भी खास था। पलट कर देखने का वक़्त नही है आज, लेकिन जो मेरे हिस्से आया है उसके लिए कृतज्ञ न होना न्याय नही होगा। चलाचली की बेला भावों के सर्वाधिक प्रवाह की होती है, सफर चाहे कोई हो ! कल एक यात्रा होगी, ट्रेन की यात्रा और उसके साथ ही मेरा ये सफर खत्म हो जाएगा। सब फिर से वापस शून्य पर शुरू होने के लिए। कल के बजाय ये मैं आज ही लिख देना चाहता हूँ, कल लिख नही पाऊँगा मैं, जानता हूँ। जीवन सच मे मजेदार है! केदारनाथ सिंह ने कहा था कि जाना हिन्दी की सबसे खौफनाक क्रिया है। गुस्ताखी के लिए माफी सहित मैं समझता हूँ कि रुक जाना उससे कहीं अधिक खौफनाक है। व्यक्ति के लिए भी, नदी के लिए भी। नदी ठहरकर बदबूदार गटर हो जाती है, व्यक्ति ठहरकर... वक़्त रहते चले जाना कहीं बेहतर है। वक़्त रहते जाकर...

...कई दिन बड़े बोझिल से होते हैं, ऐसे ही दिनों में कुछ कहानियाँ होती हैं, आप जानते हैं वो आपको हर बार झकझोरेंगी, रूलाएँगी... आप मगर फिर भी उन्हें पढ़ते हैं... मैं सोने की तैयारी कर रहा हूँ... मेरे टूटे हुए फ़ोन में गाना बज रहा है, 'साथी ये याद रहे, एक साथी और भी था...' न चाहते हुए मैं फिर से उन यादों में लौट गया हूँ... हम भारतीय अपने याददाश्त के मामले में बड़े कच्चे होते हैं। मगर अपने पिता के पार्थिव शरीर को सलामी देते समय उनके बटालियन का युद्ध-घोष करती हुई वो बच्ची शायद आपको याद हो? नही, 'उरी' फ़िल्म वाली नही... अल्का राय, कर्नल मुनीन्द्र नाथ राय की ग्यारह वर्षीय वो बच्ची, जो ये अच्छे से जानती थी कि 27 जनवरी 2015 का वो दिन उसके लिए क्या लेकर आया था! अभी एक दिन पहले ही गणतंत्र दिवस के मौके पर 42 राष्ट्रीय राइफल्स के कमांडिंग ऑफिसर कर्नल राय को युद्ध सेवा मेडल से सम्मानित किया गया था। कर्नल बड़ा अधिकारी होता है। पूरे बटालियन को कमांड करता है। शिव अरूर और राहुल सिंह अपने किताब में कर्नल संतोष महादिक के बच्चों के लिए लिखते हैं कि उन्हें आश्चर्य होना चाहिए था कि क्यों...