Journey of a lifetime!


Reena Kaushal Dharmshaktu became the First Indian Woman to Ski to South PoleIn her own words "It's a journey of a lifetime. It's a totally different world there with no life form around you except your team members."



For 38-year-old Reena, who had edged out 116 compatriots to get the right to represent India in the expedition, it marked a unique achievement. Unable to raise sufficient funds, Dharmshaktu had to take a loan of Rs.5.75 lakh from a bank and borrowed the rest from friends. Is the Indian Sports Minister listening? Of course ... not ... she is not a cricketer!

To mark the 60th anniversary of the Commonwealth, the team of eight women from Britain, Brunei, Cyprus, Ghana, India, Jamaica, New Zealand and Singapore were selected for the expedition. Her mountaineer husband, Love Raj Singh Dharmshaktu, climbed Mt Everest in May this year. Reena hails from Punjab but lives in Delhi. 

She has certainly made Indians proud by her achievement & hopefully, her singular feat will not be completely lost on Indian sports fans!

Pic of the week

Around the bend

Slovakia's Veronika Sabolova takes her second run during the women's singles luge at the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics.





विठ्ठला ... कोणता झेंडा घेऊ हाती?

"Which flag should I hold in my hand?"



जगण्याच्या वारीत मिळेना वाट हो…,
साचले मोहाचे धुके घनदाट हो…,
आपली माणसं आपली नाती तरी कळपाची मेंधारास भीती
विठ्ठला ... कोणता झेंडा घेऊ हाती

आजवर ज्यांची वाहिली पालखी भलताच त्याचा देव होता
पुरे झाली आता उगा माथेफोडी दगडात माझा जीव होता
उजळावा दिवा म्हणूनिया किती मुकया बिचार्या जळती वाती
वैरी कोण आहे इथे कोण साथी
विठ्ठला .. कोणता झेंडा घेऊ हाती

बूजगावण्यागत व्यर्थ हे जगण उभ्या उभ्या संपून जाई
अळरीतरीत माझा बघुनी उमगल कुंपण इथ शेत खायी
भक्ताच्या कपाळी अन् सारखीच माती तरी झेंडे एगळे, वेगळ्या जाती
सत्तेचीच भक्ती सत्तेचीच प्रीती
विठ्ठला .. कोणता झेंडा घेऊ हाती

This song conveys the anguish and the confused state of mind of the angry Gen Next of India. The politicians of this country are tying hard to divide India based on language and religion. In this song the singer literally asks God "Which flag should I hold in my hand?"

Should I hold the flag of my religion or my country in my hand? I have made my choice, to hold the Tricolor proudly in my hand! I am an Indian and my religion is 'Humanity'. What's yours? Watch the video and decide!!!

The background score is from the Marathi movie 'Zenda' (which means flag in Marathi) and the video has been created by me.

Farmers Suicide - Facts and Possible Policy Interventions

The BBC News reports that more than 200,000 farmers have committed suicide in India since 1997!

Now that's a huge number. I believe less number of people must have died in India due to terror strikes. This is an alarming figure and needs immediate attention by the Govt of India. All the media houses are busy publicizing unwanted leaders and Indian film industry but there attention should be to bring the farmers in focus.

More than half of those who committed suicide were between 20 and 45, their most productive years so its a shame that farmers, who are the backbone of our economy, are suffering like this.

I am not a judge of what's good or bad to tackle this situation but as a awaken citizen, it's my duty to put this forth. There is an interesting document which talks about farmers suicides in India. You can download the document by clicking here.

I know, most of you will be wondering why this post now. Well, when some good people are not getting their due attention, we need to speak out. Am just doing it as a proud Indian who is proud of his country and the farmers/soldiers who give up their lives so that you and me are happy in this country.

If you're not moved by the post, what the ----?

Are you going to finish strong?

Awesome video! If you watch only one video today make sure it is this one! Nick Vujicic has no limbs but he leads an incredible life!



One of my friends shared this video with me. I thank that friend from the bottom of my heart! I have watched this video several times since then, and believe that every time I'll be at my weakest point in life, I'll think of Nick and hear him say, "Are you going to finish strong".

An inspiring video with a message you need to hear. After you’ve recomposed yourself, be sure to visit Nick Vujicic’s website.

I salute this real HERO in life!

Khan and Pune

What a week this was for my country! It saw everything from dirty politics trying to divide the country based on religion and language - to a bomb blast in one of the nicest place in India i.e. Pune. The words 'KHAN' and 'PUNE' were all over the place and there was some reason behind this.

So where do we start? Lets start with another great city in India, Bombay. The city that never sleeps, the city that has seen so many things in the past, the city that represents true 'unity in diversity. In the recent past some of the dirty political parties have been targeting Bombay (a.k.a. Mumbai). Well if you don't know, Bombay was renamed by one of the parties when they came to power in the state of Maharastra in 1995 and I sincerely wish this party never comes to power ever again. That would be a sorry situation for Bombay. Having seen it all, from terror strikes to huge festival celebrations, Bombay was under siege again ... well apparently for no reason I will say. Now if you have ideological differences with me, would you kill me or ask me to stop writing? I hope not and it's not your birthright to do so! Some people in this city of Bombay try to enforce their ideology on the people. What the ....? We are Indians and we have the birth right to think the way we want. Please don't teach us what to speak and what not. There was huge police presence all across the city as the political party, who believes in 'Divide and Rule' formula was very much keen on enforcing their ideology on the people and they were trying to stop the screening of a film (titles 'My Name is Khan') of an actor (who is also names 'KHAN') who has spoken his views on some issue involving Pakistan. But eventually, the city and people of Bombay won ... they always do! There was no support to the political party. We the people of the country can do a lot of things and Bombay proved that ... once again!!!

Another beautiful city i.e. Pune was in news. This time for wrong reasons. Yesterday evening a powerful bomb blast ripped through the landmark 'German bakery' killing 9 people and injuring about 60 people. It's a shame that the Government had been alerted about this area being a target of the terrorists. The place i.e. German Bakery is a popular joint among the citizens of the city as well as foreigners who visit the city. It's no wonder that the terrorists always get bigger coverage when foreign nationals are involved in their targets.



(German Bakery in happier times)


It's very important that the people who did this must be punished severely. The first casualty in a terrorist attack is God ... No God, No faith, No religion can ever endorse inhuman acts like this! To my opinion, India was divided when one ambitious politician of a communal party took out a 'Rath Yatra' in 1989, not to reform or unite the country but to build ... don't laugh ... a 'Temple' at one of the controversial sites in the city of Ayodhya. This man, in his political career was never able to achieve what he wanted, to become the prime minister of India but he made sure the country was divided for his personal motives in life.


May the almighty bless those who lost their lives yesterday evening. Indian always unite after tragic incidences like the one in Pune and I hope better sense prevails all the time. We are a 'Democracy' which stands for 'By the people, For the people' and it's every Indians duty to take care of our country.

Pic of the week

Holy water

A Hindu devotee holds on to a security chain after he slipped in the strong waters during his bath in the Ganges River during the Kumbh Mela, or Pitcher Festival, in the northern Indian town of Haridwar on Feb. 10. Hundreds of thousands of Hindus take part in the religious gathering at the banks of the Ganges. The festival is held every 12 years in different Indian cities.



In search of Bhandari uncle

Hello Uncle,

It's been years but looks like yesterday. I still remember the first time we interacted. It was winter of 2003 and the place was Kalkaji in New Delhi. The bonfire that we had on the terrace is one of the most memorable incidences of my life. We got along very well as we shared the same passion for life.

These days I am searching for you. I don't have any contacts of yours and don't know whom to approach. If you're in Ludhiana, I will see if I can trace you. But if you happen to read this post, please drop me a mail at my email ID - "Anand@AnandDholi.com".

I am waiting for some miracle to happen and see you very soon :)

Yours,

Anand

Pic of the week

Derailed!!!

An Indian National Congress youth leader Rahul Gandhi hopped onto a local train at Andheri to make his way to a Ghatpokar slum in Bombay (a.k.a.Mumbai). He virtually 'derailed' the separatists who are trying to divide the people of Bombay on the basis of language and religion.