Cheeni Kum Hai

When I was a kid, I watched a movie of Amitabh Bachchan and Tabu titled Cheeni Kum. Its concept was different from other movies of that time, which followed the same old pattern — a hero, a villain, a comedian, and lots of masala common to all Bollywood films. But this film was different; it broke the social norms of society. I liked the concept because it breaks the old pattern. It feels right because people connect through their mutual level of maturity, not through age. But yes, one needs courage to support this line of thought.

Now, let me come to the point. I hardly pay heed to such things, as it is all about individual choices and not my area of concern. What concerns me is inflation. Sugar has risen to Rs. 70 per kg! Now Johnny will not eat sugar because there is no sugar at home. For a person like me, life without sugar is like life without air.

I remember during Dr. Manmohan Singh's government, we kept criticizing them for inflation as prices of essential commodities were rising. But when I compare that with today's scenario, I feel the former was much better. Petrol is now Rs. 105 with ethanol and approximately Rs. 170 without it. What a huge hype? It seems galloping inflation is not too far.

As a student of economics, I am concerned about the most dangerous form of inflation — galloping and hyperinflation. Of course, my post is of no use to those who are too rich. For them, nothing really matters. It will affect me slightly too, but what about those who live hand-to-mouth? What about those whose main diet is sugar — the labour class? They actually need it desperately for survival.

Sitting in a room and talking about expensive branded sweet products may seem good to us. We may flaunt that we like this and we like that, but think about those living below the poverty line and those from the lower middle class who can't even talk about their plight in public or in private. I think we don't have time to think about it because we are just worrying about completing our protien intake for the day.

Smartphone: The End of an Entire Family

A piece of news shook me from within: A teenager threatened to attempt suicide if he wasn't given an iPhone. To protect him, his father stepped forward, and then a dreadful incident occurred — both the boy and his father fell from the terrace and died on the spot. After seeing this, the mother also jumped.

An entire family became prey to an iPhone.

That boy was a possibility. He could have become a doctor, a writer, or an engineer, but every possibility slipped away from that hill. This isn't just news. It shows the mindset of an entire generation — Generation Alpha. A generation that thinks it can get everything through stubbornness, by blackmailing its parents.

This news from Maharashtra should be taken seriously. You can't convince them because they don't spend quality time with you. And it's actually because of us, as parents, because we prioritize money and materialistic gains and substitute love with commodities. That's why they now think love means — "give me this, give me that, and if you don't, be ready for the consequences."

Stop giving things. Start giving your time.

That Which is Not, is Actually the Origin of All

Every day we learn something new, and every day we are given a new possibility by the Cosmos. Still, we think we have less, and we keep chasing that which will perish one day. It's our very trait. We keep looking for something great. However, the great never comes, because great requires great effort, great sacrifice, and great responsibility. You can keep chasing, but you will never get what you truly want until you move inward.

But what I am saying should not be taken wrongly. Moving inward doesn't mean closing your eyes. It means opening your eyes. It means being completely aware — aware of your very existence, aware of your very nature, aware of that which can never be seen, but is seeing everyone. And everyone means every soul, every leaf, every atom, everybody — yet it remains unaffected.

Why is it unaffected? 

Can I be like that?

Yes, but not through intellect, mind, and body. First, you need to remove everything — all three layers. Then, that which remains is just a watcher — Pure Consciousness.

No rocket science. It's very simple. Anyone can experience it, because that which is not, is actually the origin of all. And that is just Consciousness.

Two Heroes, One Goal: Let History Speak

For years, a WhatsApp lie is being spread: “Gandhi could have saved Bhagat Singh.”

It is a lie. It insults two great revolutionaries at once. Let’s settle it with records, not rumors.

PART 1: THE TRUTH ABOUT BHAGAT SINGH'S EXECUTION

Who hanged them? The British.

Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev and Rajguru were sentenced by a special British Tribunal and hanged on 23 March 1931 in Lahore Central Jail, a day early. The order was given by the British Viceroy and Punjab Governor.

2. Did Gandhi try to save them? Yes, with proof.

a) During Gandhi-Irwin talks (Feb-March 1931), Gandhi raised their case. Official meeting notes of 19 March 1931 record it.

b) On 23 March 1931, the day of hanging, Gandhi wrote to Lord Irwin: “I have... appealed to you to postpone execution...” [Collected Works of Gandhi, Vol 51].

c) Lord Irwin himself wrote in his memoirs: Gandhi pleaded for commutation and he had to refuse due to pressure from Punjab officials.

d) Gandhi wrote in Young India after the hanging: “I did all that was possible to save them.”

The British refused because they feared revolutionaries of HSRA (Hindustan Socialist Republican Association).

3. Did Bhagat Singh want mercy? A Strong No.

His father Sardar Kishan Singh filed a mercy petition. Bhagat Singh wrote an angry letter from jail: “Do not file such petitions... I want to die as a martyr for my country.” For him, martyrdom was a weapon to awaken India.

Two paths, one goal — Freedom.

PART 2: WHAT GANDHI BUILT FOR THE COUNTRY BEYOND FREEDOM

Gandhi didn't just fight the British. He tried to rebuild Indian society from inside.

1. Charkha — The Symbol of Self-Reliance:

Charkha was not just a wheel. It was economic freedom. In 1920s, British cloth had destroyed Indian weavers. Gandhi made Charkha a weapon — Swadeshi, self-employment, dignity of labour. He said, “Every thread spun is a blow to British exploitation.” Khadi became employment for lakhs of poor, women and villages.

2. Satyagraha — A New Moral Force:

Satyagraha means “insistence on truth.” First used in South Africa (1906) against racism, then in India — Champaran (1917), Kheda (1918), Dandi March (1930). It taught India that the poorest man can fight the biggest empire without a gun, by refusing to cooperate with injustice.

3. Cultural and Social Reforms:

a) Against Untouchability: He called untouchables “Harijan — Children of God”, lived with them, cleaned toilets himself. His campaign led to opening of temples for Dalits.

b) Hindu-Muslim Unity: He fasted for it, walked for it in Noakhali.

c) Women Empowerment: He brought women out of homes into freedom struggle — Sarojini Naidu, Kasturba, thousands of nameless sisters.

d) Basic Education (Nai Talim): Education through mother tongue, craft, and character, not just degrees.

4. The Panchayat System — The Dream of Gram Swaraj:

Gandhi said, “India lives in villages.” He dreamt of Gram Swaraj where every village would be a republic — self-sufficient for food, cloth, education and justice. His idea became Article 40 of our Constitution — Panchayati Raj. Today’s Panchayat system in Punjab, in Ludhiana villages, is the direct child of that thought.

He wanted power not in Delhi, but in the village chaupal.

CONCLUSION:

One man tried to save a life through dialogue.

One man chose to give his life to wake up the nation.

One tried to free us from the British.

Both tried to free us from fear.

Respect history. Don’t divide our heroes.

If you want to hate the British, hate the British who hanged Bhagat Singh. Don’t hate the Indian who tried till the last hour to save him.

Jai Hind.

Disclaimer: This post is fact-based and therefore, it is not solely my own work. The information has been compiled from several authentic and reliable sources, which have been duly cited below.

References:

1. Gandhi, M.K. Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi (CWMG), Vol. 45, pp. 333-334 — Letter to Lord Irwin, 23 March 1931.

2. http://mkgandhi.org — Official website of Gandhi Heritage Portal, Government of India. Text of Gandhi-Irwin correspondence.

3. Indian Annual Register, 1931, Vol. I, p. 86 — Lord Irwin's speech acknowledging Gandhi's appeal for commutation.

4. The Indian Express, Archives — "When Bhagat Singh rebuked his father for writing a mercy plea" (Letter dated 4 Oct 1930).

5. Pol Sci Institute — "Understanding Gandhi’s Idea of Swaraj: Self-Rule and Self-Realization" (On Gram Swaraj, Charkha and Panchayati Raj).

6. Wikipedia — Entry on "Hindustan Socialist Republican Association (HSRA)" for overview of formation in 1928 at Feroz Shah Kotla.

Do read my previous Blog Post solely based on my opinions on Mahatma Gandhi as per the class 12 Chapter: Indigo introduced in NCERT Book, Flamingo. Link of the post shared below:

https://sssjsv.blogspot.com/2026/08/teaching-indigo-why-gandhi-still.html?m=1

Rest was never the goal

Paash had no rest of mind.  

Keats couldn’t be blind to suffering.  

One saw the Punjab burning and wrote, “Sabse khatarnak hota hai hamare sapno ka mar jana.”  

The other saw a Grecian urn and a dying child and wrote, “Beauty is truth, truth beauty.”  

Different centuries. Different languages.  Same restlessness.  

Because the moment you touch truth, peace becomes difficult.  The moment you love nature, you also feel the wound when it is cut.  The moment you see clearly, you cannot unsee.

Meditation doesn't mean to ignore, to show indifference. It means to be one with the Cosmos.

Paash was a true writer and that's why, he couldn't ignore. He stayed connected to the street, to the farmer, to the fire.  

Keats didn’t escape though he is called escapist and I, too, call him escapist many times in my lectures. But it's just a partial truth. He was not escapist. He stayed connected to beauty, to pain, to mortality.  

And both found the Self not by running away, but by going deeper into it.

Truth without nature becomes dry.  

Nature without truth becomes blind.  

We need both.  

Learn the art of being connected.  

Sit under a tree like Keats and listen.  

Walk in the market like Paash and feel.  

Let the world break your heart a little. That’s how the Self wakes up.

No, there is no rest of mind.  Not for those who have seen.  

But maybe rest was never the goal.  

Realisation was.  

I Saw My True Self. Then Why...

I've witnessed it.  

That place inside me which is beyond worry.  

Beyond happiness.  

Beyond excitement.  

Silent. Still. Unbroken.

For a moment I was not a teacher, not an Indian, not even a body.  

Just awareness. Free.

Then I came back.  

Back to this body. Back to this mind.  

And the moment I opened my eyes — the pain returned.

The pain of changing faces.  

The pain of the society and it's hollowness.  

The pain of a youth that is misguided and ignored by the system.  

The pain of a country selling its future for today.

Why? If I have seen the truth, why does it still hurt?

Because that’s the paradox.

The True Self is beyond suffering — because it owns nothing.  

But the body and mind are not. The body and mind are connected.  

When you come back into them, you also come back into relationship.

You see a student and you remember you were once taught.  

You see trees cut and you remember you breathe that air.  

Compassion is not a weakness of the True Self.  

It is the proof that you came back.

Buddha sat under the Bodhi tree and became free.  

Then he got up and walked for 40 years teaching, because people were still suffering.  

He could have stayed in bliss but he chose to return to pain.

That’s why it hurts.  

Not because you failed to rise above.  

But because you did rise above... and still chose to care.

An individual cannot carry the whole society.  

But an individual who has seen the light cannot pretend the dark doesn’t exist either.

So yes, I am beyond worry in my True Self.  

And yes, I am in pain in my human self.

Both are true.  

Life is Just a Brief Play

After 100 years, all of us will be dead.  

After 200 years, even our names will vanish from our own families.  

If we are lucky, and become like Shaheed-e-Azam Bhagat Singh, maybe we’ll be remembered for more than 200 years.  

But what about after 200 years?  

Will this world even be the same? Will there be a world?

I don’t think so.

The way we are living — exploiting land, water, air, forests for short-term gains — this looks less like civilization and more like a game. A game that will end in 1000 years, maybe even less.

We have destroyed the environment.  

We have killed wildlife.  

We are cutting the very branch we are sitting on.  

And still we call ourselves the most intelligent species.

It’s painful to say, but sometimes I feel: maybe we don’t deserve this life. 

I’ve been reading about AI lately. Two articles, and I was stunned. They are learning to safeguard themselves, to preserve their identity, to think beyond immediate reward.  

And here we are -- humans -- losing our consciousness to material gains.  

After destroying everything, we will finally learn that:  

Money cannot be eaten.  

Money cannot be drunk like water.  

Money cannot be breathed like air.

AI is not the threat.  

We are. We humans are the biggest threat to our own existence.

But here’s the thing — plays don’t have to end in tragedy.  

If we realize this now, we can still change the script.  

The brief play of life can still mean something.  

Not in what we accumulate, but in what we protect.  

Not in what we take, but in what we leave behind.

Because 1,000 years from now, no one will ask how much money we had.  

They’ll only ask: Why we did that?