Thanks Rajeev for the poem I love so much…

सिंहासन हिल उठे राजवंशों ने भृकुटी तानी थी
बूढ़े भारत में आई फिर से नयी जवानी थी
गुमी हुई आज़ादी की कीमत सबने पहचानी थी
दूर फिरंगी को करने की सबने मन में ठानी थी

चमक उठी सन सत्तावन में, वह तलवार पुरानी थी
बुंदेले हरबोलों के मुँह हमने सुनी कहानी थी
खूब लड़ी मर्दानी वह तो झांसी वाली रानी थी

कानपूर के नाना की, मुँहबोली बहन छबीली थी
लक्ष्मीबाई नाम, पिता की वह संतान अकेली थी
नाना के सँग पढ़ती थी वह, नाना के सँग खेली थी
बरछी ढाल, कृपाण, कटारी उसकी यही सहेली थी

वीर शिवाजी की गाथायें उसकी याद ज़बानी थी
बुंदेले हरबोलों के मुँह हमने सुनी कहानी थी
खूब लड़ी मर्दानी वह तो झांसी वाली रानी थी

लक्ष्मी थी या दुर्गा थी, वह स्वयं वीरता की अवतार
देख मराठे पुलकित होते उसकी तलवारों के वार
नकली युद्ध व्यूह की रचना और खेलना खूब शिकार
सैन्य घेरना, दुर्ग तोड़ना ये थे उसके प्रिय खिलवाड़

महाराष्टर कुल देवी उसकी भी आराध्य भवानी थी
बुंदेले हरबोलों के मुँह हमने सुनी कहानी थी
खूब लड़ी मर्दानी वह तो झांसी वाली रानी थी

हुई वीरता की वैभव के साथ सगाई झांसी में
ब्याह हुआ रानी बन आयी लक्ष्मीबाई झांसी में
राजमहल में बजी बधाई खुशियाँ छायी झांसी में
सुघट बुंदेलों की विरुदावलि सी वह आयी झांसी में

चित्रा ने अर्जुन को पाया, शिव से मिली भवानी थी
बुंदेले हरबोलों के मुँह हमने सुनी कहानी थी
खूब लड़ी मर्दानी वह तो झांसी वाली रानी थी

उदित हुआ सौभाग्य, मुदित महलों में उजयाली छायी
किंतु कालगति चुपके चुपके काली घटा घेर लायी
तीर चलाने वाले कर में उसे चूड़ियाँ कब भायी
रानी विधवा हुई, हाय विधि को भी नहीं दया आयी

निसंतान मरे राजाजी रानी शोक समानी थी
बुंदेले हरबोलों के मुँह हमने सुनी कहानी थी
खूब लड़ी मर्दानी वह तो झांसी वाली रानी थी

बुझा दीप झाँसी का तब डलहौज़ी मन में हर्षाया
राज्य हड़प करने का उसने यह अच्छा अवसर पाया
फ़ौरन फौजें भेज दुर्ग पर अपना झंडा फहराया
लावारिस का वारिस बनकर ब्रिटिश राज्य झांसी आया

अश्रुपूर्ण रानी ने देखा झांसी हुई बिरानी थी
बुंदेले हरबोलों के मुँह हमने सुनी कहानी थी
खूब लड़ी मर्दानी वह तो झांसी वाली रानी थी

अनुनय विनय नहीं सुनती है, विकट फिरंगी की माया
व्यापारी बन दया चाहता था जब यह भारत आया
डलहौज़ी ने पैर पसारे, अब तो पलट गई काया
राजाओं नव्वाबों को भी उसने पैरों ठुकराया

रानी दासी बनी, बनी यह दासी अब महरानी थी
बुंदेले हरबोलों के मुँह हमने सुनी कहानी थी
खूब लड़ी मर्दानी वह तो झांसी वाली रानी थी

छिनी राजधानी दिल्ली की, लखनऊ छीना बातों बात
कैद पेशवा था बिठुर में, हुआ नागपुर का भी घात
उदैपुर, तंजौर, सतारा, कर्नाटक की कौन बिसात?
जबकि सिंध, पंजाब ब्रह्म पर अभी हुआ था वज्र-निपात

बंगाले, मद्रास आदि की भी तो वही कहानी थी
बुंदेले हरबोलों के मुँह हमने सुनी कहानी थी,
खूब लड़ी मर्दानी वह तो झांसी वाली रानी थी

रानी रोयीं रनवासों में, बेगम ग़म से थीं बेज़ार
उनके गहने कपड़े बिकते थे कलकत्ते के बाज़ार
सरे आम नीलाम छापते थे अंग्रेज़ों के अखबार
नागपूर के ज़ेवर ले लो लखनऊ के लो नौलख हार

यों परदे की इज़्ज़त परदेशी के हाथ बिकानी थी
बुंदेले हरबोलों के मुँह हमने सुनी कहानी थी
खूब लड़ी मर्दानी वह तो झांसी वाली रानी थी

कुटियों में भी विषम वेदना, महलों में आहत अपमान
वीर सैनिकों के मन में था अपने पुरखों का अभिमान
नाना धुंधूपंत पेशवा जुटा रहा था सब सामान
बहिन छबीली ने रण चण्डी का कर दिया प्रकट आहवान

हुआ यज्ञ प्रारम्भ उन्हें तो सोई ज्योति जगानी थी
बुंदेले हरबोलों के मुँह हमने सुनी कहानी थी,
खूब लड़ी मर्दानी वह तो झांसी वाली रानी थी

महलों ने दी आग, झोंपड़ी ने ज्वाला सुलगाई थी
यह स्वतंत्रता की चिन्गारी अंतरतम से आई थी
झांसी चेती, दिल्ली चेती, लखनऊ लपटें छाई थी
मेरठ, कानपूर, पटना ने भारी धूम मचाई थी

जबलपूर, कोल्हापूर में भी कुछ हलचल उकसानी थी
बुंदेले हरबोलों के मुँह हमने सुनी कहानी थी
खूब लड़ी मर्दानी वह तो झांसी वाली रानी थी

इस स्वतंत्रता महायज्ञ में कई वीरवर आए काम
नाना धुंधूपंत, ताँतिया, चतुर अज़ीमुल्ला सरनाम
अहमदशाह मौलवी, ठाकुर कुँवरसिंह सैनिक अभिराम
भारत के इतिहास गगन में अमर रहेंगे जिनके नाम

लेकिन आज जुर्म कहलाती उनकी जो कुरबानी थी
बुंदेले हरबोलों के मुँह हमने सुनी कहानी थी
खूब लड़ी मर्दानी वह तो झांसी वाली रानी थी

इनकी गाथा छोड़, चले हम झाँसी के मैदानों में
जहाँ खड़ी है लक्ष्मीबाई मर्द बनी मर्दानों में
लेफ्टिनेंट वाकर आ पहुँचा, आगे बड़ा जवानों में
रानी ने तलवार खींच ली, हुया द्वन्द्ध असमानों में

ज़ख्मी होकर वाकर भागा, उसे अजब हैरानी थी
बुंदेले हरबोलों के मुँह हमने सुनी कहानी थी
खूब लड़ी मर्दानी वह तो झांसी वाली रानी थी

रानी बढ़ी कालपी आयी, कर सौ मील निरंतर पार
घोड़ा थक कर गिरा भूमि पर गया स्वर्ग तत्काल सिधार
यमुना तट पर अंग्रेज़ों ने फिर खायी रानी से हार
विजयी रानी आगे चल दी, किया ग्वालियर पर अधिकार

अंग्रेज़ों के मित्र सिंधिया ने छोड़ी राजधानी थी
बुंदेले हरबोलों के मुँह हमने सुनी कहानी थी,
खूब लड़ी मर्दानी वह तो झांसी वाली रानी थी

विजय मिली पर अंग्रेज़ों की, फिर सेना घिर आई थी
अबके जनरल स्मिथ सम्मुख था, उसने मुहँ की खाई थी
काना और मंदरा सखियाँ रानी के संग आई थी
युद्ध श्रेत्र में उन दोनों ने भारी मार मचाई थी

पर पीछे ह्यूरोज़ आ गया, हाय घिरी अब रानी थी
बुंदेले हरबोलों के मुँह हमने सुनी कहानी थी
खूब लड़ी मर्दानी वह तो झांसी वाली रानी थी

तो भी रानी मार काट कर चलती बनी सैन्य के पार
किन्तु सामने नाला आया, था वह संकट विषम अपार
घोड़ा अड़ा नया घोड़ा था, इतने में आ गये सवार
रानी एक शत्रु बहुतेरे, होने लगे वार पर वार

घायल होकर गिरी सिंहनी उसे वीरगति पानी थी
बुंदेले हरबोलों के मुँह हमने सुनी कहानी थी
खूब लड़ी मर्दानी वह तो झांसी वाली रानी थी

रानी गयी सिधार चिता अब उसकी दिव्य सवारी थी
मिला तेज से तेज, तेज की वह सच्ची अधिकारी थी
अभी उम्र कुल तेइस की थी, मनुष नहीं अवतारी थी
हमको जीवित करने आयी, बन स्वतंत्रता नारी थी

दिखा गई पथ, सिखा गई हमको जो सीख सिखानी थी
बुंदेले हरबोलों के मुँह हमने सुनी कहानी थी
खूब लड़ी मर्दानी वह तो झांसी वाली रानी थी

जाओ रानी याद रखेंगे हम कृतज्ञ भारतवासी
यह तेरा बलिदान जगायेगा स्वतंत्रता अविनाशी
होये चुप इतिहास, लगे सच्चाई को चाहे फाँसी
हो मदमाती विजय, मिटा दे गोलों से चाहे झांसी

तेरा स्मारक तू ही होगी, तू खुद अमिट निशानी थी
बुंदेले हरबोलों के मुँह हमने सुनी कहानी थी
खूब लड़ी मर्दानी वह तो झांसी वाली रानी थी

Posted in Independence, india Tagged: 1857, india, indian independence, jhansi, queen, rani, rani jhansi

While a man was polishing his new car, his 4 yr old son picked stone &
scratched lines on the side of the car.

In anger, the man took the child’s hand & hit it many times, not
realizing he was using a wrench.

At the hospital, the child lost all his fingers due to multiple fractures.
When the child saw his father….

with painful eyes he asked ‘Dad when will my fingers grow back?’

Man was so hurt and speechless. He went back to car and kicked it a lot
of times. Devastated by his own actions……

sitting in front of that car he looked at the scratches, child had
written ‘LOVE YOU DAD’.

The next day that man committed suicide. . .

Anger and Love have no limits, choose the later to have a beautiful &
lovely life….

Things are to be used and people are to be loved,

But the problem in todays world is that,
People are used and things are loved

 

Thanks Ashok Raghav for the post…

Posted in india Tagged: child, love, materialistic, money, self

An Indian software engineer is the most screwed up guy you will find anywhere. The best part of the game is that he is unaware of this supreme fact and feels at the top of the world (just by looking at his salary statement, cars at young age and other materialistic things).

When the market goes down, every software engineer thinks that he will not be the one coming in the loop BUT shows off that he is highly afraid for his job and is showing sincerity.

I am putting a comparison of a government worker and an IT worker in India to show what all he miss in his life (atleast I am missing them):

Work Hours:
A government worker works for 8 hours a day (including lunch breaks), sleeps for 8 hours and has full 8 hours for himself.
An IT guy works for 12 hours a day, sleeps for 10 hours a day thus getting altogether 2 hours for himself in a day. He looses out 6 creative hours to a government guy.

Morning Routine:
A government worker gets up, relaxes, prepares tea, get his newspaper and read it, take a shower at ease, eat his breakfast and leaves for office.
An IT guy gets up and starts preparing for the day ahead at office. He gets up, immediately goes to toilet, have a bath (some even do not have it), eats his breakfast (some take it in the office and some skip it), and rushes for office.

Evening Routine:
A government officer comes back home, goes to the market to purchase fruits and vegetables, have his dinner at ease, relax for sometime, take a walk and go to bed at 10:00 p.m.

An IT guy comes back home when a government worker is fast asleep, warms his food (some do not), chew it in a flash and goes to sleep.

Fitness Routine:
A government worker walks a lot to get his daily requirement of exercises. He also jogs in the morning.

An IT guy climbs from ground floor to first floor by life (he feels exhausted if he takes a walk).

Needs and Greeds:
A government worker purchases a car after a long time of work and feels completely satisfied with it. He does not want anything else after that.

An IT guy is the most materialistic personality. He purchases a car after 4-5 years of service, and on the very next day he purchases his car, he flaunts the same on Facebook and Orkut. He starts craving for a better car very soon. Materialistic dog huh…

There can be many comparisons and I will post more but I am running short of time and will write some other day….

Posted in india Tagged: exercises, fitness, Government job, india, IT, mentality, naukri, Software

I still remember my childhood (atleast a substantial portion of it). It was 1988 and I was 8 years of age. I had just learnt riding a bicycle and used to take bicycle on rent from the nearby store (it used to happen in India).

The place I am talking about was Katni, a small town in Madhya Pradesh. We used to stay in Nai basti (stands for New settlement) as it was very close to my grandparents’ home. The place was very small and we used to know most of the roads and pathways of the city (at the age of 8… surprised?). We used to go playing cricket on bicycles.  Everyday had a complete life in itself and nothing was dumped onto the weekend.

I am feeling nostalgic and am trying to remember what was hot in 1988. Following things may be the hotspot of 1988 ( from a kid’s point of view):

• Raj comics were giving a big competetion to Manoj comics and diamond comics. Angoothelal’s comics had stopped coming and Nagraj was hot.
• Chacha Choudhary aur Heeron Ki Kheti took a long time to get launched. We waited for it eagerly.
• 1-2-3 was a super duper hit song and we used to like it a lot.
• I was afraid of watching the movie “Bees Saal Baad” which was released in the same year.
• We purchased a new car. It was a 2nd hand Maruti Suzuki 800. Having a car was a big thing at that time.
• Ubli hui ber was what we used to eat in the evenings. Alongwith it we used to have Aloo Kachaalu.
• Pepsi icecream (ice with sugar syrup in a long pen-like polythene) made its highly successful entry in the market.
• Forester playground in Katni was small. It was still known as Forester playground.
• The “Nagar Nigam Library” was known as Venkat Pustakalaya.
• I got badly injured riding my bicycle.
• Campco was a hot chocolate at the time.
• I did not like Ramayana much but we used to die for Heman.
• Circus was a popular past time in those days.
• In the ‘Dopahar ki sabha’, they used to teach how to create various things of art to the children. I used to love it.

There can be innumerable things which may be written but I need to stop somewhere. I know many of the things here may not be of use and interest to anyone, but I have written them as they were important for me as a kid. A kid may not think of politics or sports.

I will be writing more about my childhood as I want to write it. Do read it in case you like this post.

Cheers,

Himanshu Joshi

 

 

Posted in india Tagged: 1988, childhood, circus, Heman, india, katni, kid, madhya pradesh, manoj comics, pepsi, raj comics, ramayana

I recieved a forwarded mail from Magan Pathak… He sent me some cool Sardaar jokes.. I am attaching a few here for your betterment

Man: Sardar jee aap ko garmi lagti hai to kya karte ho?
Sardar: AC k paas ja k baith jata hun
Man: Agar phir bhi garmi lage to?
Sardar: To A/C on kar leta hun

In bio practical:
Examiner: Tell me the name of this bird by seeing its legs only?
Sardar: I don’t know.
Examiner: You r failed, what’s your name?
Sardar: See my legs & tell my name

 

Posted in fun, humour Tagged: ac, banta, humor, joke, laugh, santa, sardaar, sardar, sirdaar

Slumdog Millionare, a movie that initially created ripples which gradually turned out to be Tsunami waves.

I do not know what was in the movie that attracted so much of interest. And moreover, what is it which has attracted all the Indian news channels. I am writing this post from an Indian’s perspective. Please forgive me in case you find it inappropriate.

This movie is based on Vikas Swarup’s novel “Q & A”. It is about a poor Mumbaikar winning a big quiz show.  It was a good novel and won many accolades in many competitions.

Why the hell they decided to change the name of the novel to “Slumdog Millionare”?  It had its own identity. This shows how much we are driven by Hollywood and on a bigger sense, ‘foreign’.

Slumdog Millionare featured music by an Indian – A. R. Rehman. He is no doubt a born genius, BUT he has given much better songs as compared to ‘Jai Ho’. Why is so much hulla baloo about Jai Ho in India. I have seen many a people changing their Yahoo! and GTalk messenger status to ‘Jai Ho’. No one remembers his lesser heard music which was much better than ‘Jai Ho’.

And why the hell are we saying an ‘Indian Movie’ won the oscar? It is not the fact. It was made in Hollywood. It belonged to Hollywood and thus it managed to win Oscar.

Why was ‘Taare Zameen Par’ voted out of nomination? Most of the Indians will agree to the fact that it made them cry.

The fact is – ‘Had Slumdog Millionare been a Bollywood Movie’, it could never ever get selected for Oscar nomination.‘

Posted in Bollywood Tagged: a r rehman, Bollywood, danny boyle, hollywood, india, oscars, slumdog, slumdog millionare

I am an avid reader of mysteries. I started reading English novels way back in 1995 when I was in IXth standard. My grandfather used to tell me the stories of Holmes and I used to get fascinated. So I decided to read them myselves and to my surprise, the stories turned out to be much better to read than to listen. I finished the complete catelogue of Holmes when I was in college, then began my hunt for new authors. Read a lot of novels on fiction, literature, science hi-fi kinda stuff but those things could not make my mind think about them after they were finished and were back to the book shelves.

So I decided to move back into my old regime of mystery novels. I happily purchased a few novels of Earl Stanley Gardner which featured the famous detective – Perry Mason and his secretary – Della Street. I finished ‘em all at a speed of light and my hunger wanted more.

At such a time, I saw a book called – The Complete Adventures of Feluda – I. It was written by the legendary Satyajit Ray. Satyajit Ray has been a household name for years but as a film maker. So I decided to explore the other side of the man himself. I purchased both the volumes – I and II and thought of giving them a try.

To my surprise, the stories turned out to be highly interesting and they could not let me go. Feluda was awsome, he was a super sleuth with sufficient company from Topesh Mitter – his cousin and Lal Mohan Ganguly aka Jatayu – his friend. His best cases include “The Emperor’s Ring” where he solves a case in Lucknow, “The Golden Fortress”, which features Jatayu for the first time. I finished both the novels rather story books in a short time and started my hunt for more Indian specially Bengali style of mystery writings as I had already develped a charm for Calcutta and its life.

My quest could not get any success for the next one year or so and I had to satisfy my hunger for mystery novels by reading stories written by Christie, Gardner etc. It was one fine day in Mumbai when I decided to go to Fort to get som new books. I thought of going to Strands and thought of asking their recommendation. To my surprise, he recommended me the writings of Saradindu Bandhopadhyay. I was more than eager to have a look at the books and I was shocked to see the title of the book. It was BYOMKESH BAKSHI. I cannot express my happiness in words here, but I took the book and it was even better than the books on Feluda. The time period was mostly during the Raj era and the storytelling was excellent. I enjoyed reading each and every story of Byomkesh. In the meantime, I visited Bangalore and while strolling through the massive collection of Landmark, I found another book on Byomkesh. I immediately decided to purchase it. The book was a great one like the other Byomkesh book.

Since then, I have become an avid fan of Bengali mytery authors but am unfortunate not to find anyone else except for Saradindu and Satyajit Ray. I would request everyone, if you know any other author, please let me know..

The books are still in my bookshelf and I re-read them sometimes whenever I want to feel the charm of being in Calcutta…..

Posted in Bengali, india, Mystery Books Tagged: Bengali, books, Calcutta, feluda, mystery, novels

Magan sent me this funny posting.

Yes, we all should support Raj Thackeray and take his initiative ahead by doing more…

1. We should teach our kids that if he is second in class, don’t study harder.. just beat up the student coming first and throw him out of the school
2. Parliament should have only Delhiites as it is located in delhi
3. Prime-minister, president and all other leaders should only be from Delhi
4. No Hindi movie should be made in Bombay. Only Marathi.
5. At every state border, buses, trains, flights should be stopped and staff changed to local men
6. All Maharashtrians working abroad or in other states should be sent back as they are SNATCHING employment from Locals
7. Lord Shiv, Ganesha and Parvati should not be worshiped in our state as they belong to north (Himalayas)
8. Visits to Taj Mahal should be restricted to people from UP only
9. Relief for farmers in Maharashtra should not come from centre because that is the money collected as Tax from whole of India, so why should it be given to someone in Maharashtra?
10. Let’s support Kashmiri Militants because they are right in killing and injuring innocent people for the benefit of their state and community..
11. Let’s throw all MNCs out of Maharashtra, why should they earn from us? We will open our own Maharashtra Microsoft, MH Pepsi and MH Marutis of the world
12. Let’s stop using cellphones, emails, TV, foreign Movies and dramas. James Bond should speak Marathi
13. We should be ready to die hungry or buy food at 10 times higher price but should not accept imports from other states
14. We should not allow any industry to be setup in Maharashtra because all machinery comes from outside
15. We should STOP using local trains… Trains are not manufactured by Marathi manoos and Railway Minister is a Bihari
16. Ensure that all our children are born, grow, live and die without ever stepping out of Maharasthra, then they will become true Marathis

No offense meant for anybody in any sense except for Raj Thackerey.

Posted in fun, humour, india, terror Tagged: india, MNS, politics, raj, thackerey

This post is a sequel to my previous post about some of the lesser known facts of Sunny Deol.

1. Sunny Deol is the original creator of Taj Mahal. That too only with a kitchen spoon and a toilet paper.

2. Sunny Deol has been approached to change the path of Kosi once again to its previous stage.

3. Sunny Deol is the only person to know the last digit of pi.

4. On the last page of Guinness Book of World Records it is written “Sunny Deol is the original holder of all the records listed in this book. The names given inside are of people who came closest to the real hero.”

5. A toilet paper is just too soft for a man like Sunny Deol. He uses a sand paper instead.

6. Light travels faster than sound. Sunny Deol travels faster than both.

7. Sunny Deol’s heartbeat is measured on richter scale.

8. Sunny Deol uses a mixture of chilly and soya sauce to wash his eyes in the morning.

9. Sunny Deol does not know about this page and posting. Otherwise he would have removed internet from the world.

10. The easiest way to clear IIT examination is to write Sunny Deol as the answer for all the questions.

11. Sunny Deol once decided to sell his urine as beverage. It is known as Red Bull energy drink today.

12. Sunny Deol can cook Maggi 2 minute noodles in 30 seconds.

13. Sunny Deol can build Rome in a day. Infact he did it. Twice.

14. In a fight between Superman and Heman, the winner was Sunny Deol.

15. Sunny Deol never wet the bed when he was a child. The bed itself did it out of fear.

More facts coming soon. So enjoy.

Posted in india

As we all know that India runs on Bollywood. There are a few heroes who are heroes in real life as well. Well Sunny Deol is surely one of

them. He can do all the things that a normal mind feels are impossible. Here are some not so well known facts about him:

1. Sunny Deol once fell from his bed and struck oil. The place has a well known oil refinery today.

2. Sunny Deol counts to infinity – 4 times a day.

3. Sunny Deol does not need a juicer at home. His hands are simply better.

4. Someone once commented Sunny Deol about his poor dancing abilities. This has been recorded as the worst mistake ever done in history.

5. When Sunny Deol farts, several hundred species go extinct. Dinosaurs were around the last time he farted, let’s not hope he farts again.

6. Sunny Deol does not require any operating system for his PC. The PC works itself by fear.

7. While doing push ups, he does not lift himself up. Rather he pushes the earth down.

8. Only Sunny Deol can divide anything by zero and give you an answer.

9. The handpump which he pulled out in Gadar is kept in Rashtrapati Bhawan as a mark of respect for Sunny Deol.

10. He can set anything on fire by just a magnifying glass. Even at night.

Hope you guys like the facts. Do send me more about him if you find out.

Enjoy

Posted in india