Just one day in the year we think about our nation, about the people who laid their lives for our freedom. And we celebrate the conquest of our freedom fighters by watching movies on TV, changing DPs on Twitter, Facebook or the more enthusiastic ones amongst us may stand and salute the tricolor at the flag hoisting ceremony taking place in their apartment complex.
Come 16th August and we are all the same again, cribbing about the politicians, the conditions of the road, the scams happening and the government doing nothing about everything. Why can't we celebrate Independence Day each day, just once each day?
Just once each day try to be a better citizen. I don’t think it’s much to ask for. While you are driving just don’t honk the horns of your vehicle unnecessarily or drive responsibly without jumping the lights or cutting the lanes. Just once each day, switch off the lights, fans and the water tap when not in use. Instead of pledging to fight corruption by signing online petitions, just once each day try to fight it by not paying the traffic hawaldar without any receipt, or not purchasing something without any proper receipt, or not paying the babu in sarkari daftar to forward your file.
Weren’t these things taught to us in our schools? Why did we forget them?
Remember the 80/20 principle, I don’t think more than 20% of our nation is corrupt, the rest 80% of us are good, indifferent to our situation but good. Just once each day, if each one of us took care of these small things our nation would not need a Lokpal Commission at all.
After 64 years this is our time, we are one of the strongest economy in the world today, the most powerful nations look towards us in the times of world crisis, let us not waste this opportunity. Let us all do our own one small part each day. As the equation of synergy goes the sum of parts is always greater than the whole.
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In the beginning the Creator created the heaven and the earth.
The earth had no form, and was void. The Spirit of the Creator moved upon the face of the waters.
And then the Creator created light, and divided the light from the darkness. And that was the first day.
On the second day the Creator divided the waters by a firmament and called the firmament the Heaven.
On the third day the Creator decided to create the Earth, with plants and creatures and man who would be in his own image. Even the creator had his own doubts while starting such a big venture. So before he started he thought he should practice a little.
The Creator gathered some water under the heaven at one spot and let dry land appear. He called it, Earth ‘Beta’. The Creator then created a garden where he planted grass, herbs and plenty of banana trees. He also created a river which flew through the garden. He named the garden Eden ‘Beta’. Then he created the Sun ‘Beta’ for day, and Moon ‘Beta’ for the night.
Then the Creator decided to create man in his own image and let it dominate over the land and the waters, the grass, herbs and the trees. He named the man Adam ‘Beta’.
The creator checked his hour glass and saw that it was four Ether hours on the third day. He was pretty happy with the results of his trial the Earth ‘Beta’ looked good and Adam ‘Beta’ was happy in the gardens of Eden ‘Beta’.
The Creator then decided to take up the real task of creating the Earth and left Earth ‘Beta' and Adam'Beta' as they were and the rest as the cliche goes, was history.
Adam ‘Beta’ had plenty to eat, the weather was always that of spring and the grass made for a soft mattress for him to sleep. He woke up each morning, swam in the clean cool water of the river, ate all the bananas he wanted to and rested in the shade of the trees. Adam ‘Beta’ was never aware that the bananas always tasted the same or that he had nothing else to do,
4.6 billion Man-years later…
God (that was what the man had named the Creator after the Earth was created), was not very happy with the way Earth had shaped up. Men became corrupt with desire and lust and were willing to kill each other for material wealth. This was not the way he had thought his Earth would be. One day as he was sitting deep in thought, saddened by an experiment which had gone wrong and out of his control, he remembered Earth ‘Beta’. He thought about Adam ‘Beta’. How was he, was he happy there? He thought of taking a look.
He saw that the Sun ‘Beta’ had just risen over Earth ‘Beta’. Adam ‘Beta’ woke up with a smile on his face looked around and went for a swim in the river. After a long swim he ate a few bananas from the trees and sat down in the shade to rest. All the time he had a pleasant smile
Adam ‘Beta’ got up and started collecting stones in a place. He made a large sphere with the stones, upon it he collected more stones and made a smaller sphere and above that he made another small round shape. He put two large white pebbles for eyes, a long twig in place of nose and a strip of banana skin in the shape of a smile. He put two thin branches on the sides of the round shape in the center.
Now it looked much like Adam ‘Beta’s’ own image that he had seen so many times in the clear water of the river. He was happy, he laughed and clapped and ran around the stone figure.
The Creator was happy to see this. Adam ‘Beta’ had not yet tasted the fruit of knowledge and hence he was not corrupt like Man had become on the Earth. The trial experiment that the Creator had started at the very beginning was still under his control unlike the Earth which was now a place of coincidences. But He was still sad. He wanted the Man on Earth to be happy.
Suddenly the Creator's face lit up with another idea, “What if Adam ‘Beta’ went to Earth. He might heal the Man and bring peace back. I would ultimately be successful in my experiment”. The only way of making things happen on the Earth was by chance. So the Creator decided that he would make a coincidence happen.
Earth: Man-year 2036
The leading news on newspapers on Earth:
NASA Discovers a Planet Inhabitable for the Human Race.
NASA has found a distant planet which looks exactly like the Earth and might be habitable for the human race. The discovered planet is 8 light years away from Earth.
When seen though the telescope, the planet looks blue in color and exactly the shape of Earth. NASA has named it, ‘Earth Beta’. With the help of some Indian scientists they have developed a fuel which could help them travel the distance of 8 light years in eight months straight. NASA is all set to launch an unmanned shuttle to the planet which would have robots to take pictures and samples of land and the atmosphere from the planet and come back to Earth.
“Arrgh! Now I don’t even have the control over the names man gives!” exclaimed God.
Earth ‘Beta’ Man-Year 2037
Adam ‘Beta’ was sleeping on the green grass; the night sky was dotted like a net with billions of twinkling stars, the half Moon ‘Beta’ shone on his happy face and a cool breeze blew from the direction of the river. Suddenly the sky was lit with an explosion as a ball of fire descended from above. Adam ‘Beta’ woke up, his eyes fixed on the ball of fire, the smile on his face was gone and his heart was filled with strange feelings that he had never felt in all these billions of years that he had lived. The fiery orb fell from the heaven and disappeared behind the hills, with a loud noise.
He was amazed, overjoyed and bewildered all at the same time for he had never experienced such a thing. The sky behind the hill was now crimson in color and black air rose from behind the hill. Adam ‘Beta’ was curious, he got up and started to walk towards the hill.
All this while the Creator watched Adam ‘Beta’ in amusement, and hoped that finally his Earth will no more be a rogue experiment.
By the time Adam ‘Beta’ reached the other side of the hill Sun ‘Beta’ was rising in the east. He saw that the object had landed on a field, he could not see any black air now neither could he see any fire coming out of the object. The object was standing on six legs firmly grounded in the grass. He went close and touched one leg of the object.
Suddenly there was movement, Adam ‘Beta’ moved back and craned his neck to see what was happening. One of the sides of the object slowly started to open with a loud rumbling noise. Adam ‘Beta’ was scared, this was the first time he had this feeling. He ran behind a banana tree and hid himself. When the noise stopped, a smaller object slowly emerged out of the bigger object and came to land on the ground. The small object started to make muffled sounds and move on the ground with its small circular legs. Adam ‘Beta’ was now very excited he had never seen anything move on the whole of Earth ‘Beta’.
The small object moved in circles and made various noises with each movement as if inviting him to come and play. Adam ‘Beta’ ran to it and hugged it. The object gave out a soft grunt and raised its neck. Adam ‘Beta’ was almost blinded by the flash of light that came from the objects face. The object continued to move around noisily and from time to time continued to emit flashes of light from its face. Adam ‘Beta’ watched everything in bewilderment.
The object stretched one of its arms, scooped some dirt from the ground and put it inside an opening in its back. It then picked up some rocks and pebbles with its two thin fingers and also put them inside its back. Adam ‘Beta’ went to a banana tree nearby, plucked a few bananas and gave it to the small object. The arm took it from Adam ‘Beta’ and put it inside its back. He craned his neck to see where the object had put the banana but couldn’t see anything. Adam ‘Beta’ brought some leaves and gave it to the object, the object again put them in its back. He kept giving the objects something or the other and the object continued to put all of them inside its back.
After sometime Adam ‘Beta’ got bored and started to investigate the bigger
object. He climbed one of its legs and stood on it looking at the opening. It was big enough for him to get in. There was a sloped platform which led to the inside. Adam ‘Beta’ climbed down the slope. He was surprised to see so many colored lights on the walls like the night sky dotted with stars. He touched the lights and examined them closely. He laughed and clapped because he had never seen anything like this.
He touched the lights again and the whole object started to groan and started trembling. All the lights started to blink and flash at a very rapid speed. The smaller object stopped moving around and started to climb the slope. Adam ‘Beta’ was scared. He hid himself in one of the corners. The small object climbed in and stopped. The slope started to raise itself and closed the opening with a loud clang. The inside became dark, only the wall on the other side was blinking with colored lights. The small object sat at one place and lay still. Adam ‘Beta’ came out of his hiding place and touched the small object but it did not respond.
With a loud rumbling sound, Adam ‘Beta’ felt the floor below him starting to rise slowly. At the same time he was pulled towards the ground by great force. The grinding sound grew louder and louder and the force continued to pull Adam ‘Beta’ to the ground with increasing pressure. Soon the pressure was so much that everything around Adam ‘Beta’ went black.
He did not know how long it was before he came to his senses. He was floating in mid air, his arms outstretched he bumped into the flashing tiny lights. In sometime he passed out again, and then after sometime he woke again, still floating in air and then passed out again. It happened several times for several days the smile still on his face whether he was awake and floating in the air or he was asleep and floating in the air.
The creator watched happily, Adam ‘Beta’ was on his way to heal the Earth.
Earth: Man-Year 2038
The morning sky was beginning to brighten up when NASA’s telescope caught the Finder ‘Beta’ enter the Earth’s atmosphere leaving a trail of smoke behind it. It kept falling, hurtling through the morning sky in a bright blaze. An automatic chute opened and slowed down its fall. The Finder ‘Beta’ slowly descended onto the sea surface and gave out an angry hiss. It continued to hiss for some time and then it cooled off and floated on the surface with the chute lying beside it. A flap on its top opened.
Adam ‘Beta’ was suddenly aware of the bright light right above him and cool wind coming in. He slowly climbed out of the object and dived into the sea. A couple of helicopters appeared on the horizon swiftly moving towards Finder ‘Beta’.
Adam ‘Beta’ started to swim swiftly towards a piece of land in front of him. He was aware of many moving creatures below him, every movement surprising and scaring him. He swam fast until he reached the land. Scared of the unknown surroundings he ran and hid himself behind a tree. The small object was picked up by other objects which had descended from the heaven and was taken away. Adam ‘Beta’ slowly began to relax and the smile returned to his face. Slowly all the commotion died down.
He started to explore the land around him. There were such trees which he had never seen. There were creatures which moved on the land, on the tree and which could raise themselves in air and rise into the heaven. He was overjoyed. He laughed and clapped and looked in amazement at the strange sites around him.
For a moment he thought a pair of eyes staring at him from behind a tree. The creature stepped out from behind the tree. Standing on its two legs, the creature had eyes, nose, mouth and ears just like him, but it was smaller than him. He smiled brightly at the creature and ran towards it to hold it.
The little girl upon seeing the naked man running towards her screamed and ran away from him laughing in amusement. She ran towards her house and hid behind the door. From there she saw the naked man was examining everything with delight and was laughing and clapping when the birds flew in the sky or when the little squirrels came up to him and kissed his legs. The little girl was happy to see the man so happy. Then she noticed his naked form, she went inside her house.
It all looked good and God was happy.
The little girl returned with a white bathrobe and two apples. The man stood at the other end of the field below a maple tree. She ran up to him and offered him the robe.
God watched everything, bit his fist and exclaimed, “oh no, not again!”
Adam ‘Beta’ was excited to see the little creature come back, he laughed and clapped. The little creature smiled at him and extended her hand to offer something. He took it in his hand, it felt soft. He took a closer look at it. The little creature said something and gestured but he didn’t notice. Adam ‘Beta’ went down on his knees and touched the little creature on the cheek. The little creature laughed. Adam ‘Beta’ laughed and clapped.
The Creator’s voice boomed in Adam ‘Beta’s’ head, “Whatever you do, you shall not eat the fruit of knowledge”.
Adam ‘Beta’ was confused. The little creature again extended its hand, it had a round object, and Adam ‘Beta’ took it.
“No no no don’t do it, not again, you fool”, thought the Creator and again he spoke inside Adam ‘Beta’s’ head, “Do not eat the fruit of knowledge”.
Adam ‘Beta’ looked confusedly at the apple and then at the little creature. The little creature had a similar object in its other hand and bit it with its mouth. Adam ‘Beta’ seeing this examined the round object in his hand and bit into it with his teeth.
And the Creator screamed “No!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”
The little girl saw as soon as the man bit the apple he started to feel dizzy. She asked him what his name was, but he didn’t respond. She told him to wear the bathrobe but he didn’t do it. The man ate the apple and fell into a deep slumber. The girl put the robe over him and went inside the house again and let him sleep.
Adam ‘Beta’ woke up after sometime. It was still bright but the sun was approaching the horizon now. He felt very week and tired as if he had been walking for many days. He felt his face, his chin was covered with long hair. He felt his head and the hair on it was thin. He looked at his chest and hands the skin was sagging and wrinkled. His fingers were thin and there were wrinkles on them too.
Adam ‘Beta’ was suddenly aware that he was naked. He took the bathrobe and wrapped it around his waist. He tried to stand up but he felt too week. He held the trunk of the tree and stood up, but he was unable to stand straight. Every bone in his body ached. He picked up a stick to support himself. He took small, weak steps towards the stream which he could see nearby.
At the stream he looked at his reflection on the water. He saw an image which was very unlike him. He tried to smile but couldn’t do it anymore. His mouth only made a hollow frown without his white teeth. The hair on his face and head was grey and his eyes looked tired.
The little girl came out of her house again and saw an old man bent with age near the stream. The man had the robe wrapped around his waist the one she had given to the naked man. She looked for the naked man under the tree but he was not there.
The Creator was sad.
Adam ‘Beta’ was unable to understand what had happened to him. He turned and started to walk towards the horizon where the sun was now setting.
