Planning to go to India, great news yaar. Shopping ho gayi? Kya Kya Khareeda? Remember to have a twenty dollar bill with you to bribe the Customs officer or just buy him a black label bottle yaar, chod dega. Why don't you tell him my Uncle's name, he is also a customs officer. Familiar? I heard these numerous times from many of my well wishers and friends.
One of my friends very wisely was carrying only a ten dollar bill. His idea was to express his inability to bribe the customs officer as he didn't have enough funds. The customs officer smiled viciously and took him to the nearby duty free store and got himself a black label scotch whisky bottle. My poor friend silently obliged.
It is so embarrassing that it is the first thing we do after reaching our home land. What a pity. It has come to the stage where this has become a custom to bribe the customs officer. They expect it and we oblige. You can see our parents waiting and waving just a few meters away from us, but we need to cross this slimy, corrupt barrier first to reach them. I just hate it.
Before blaming the customs officer lets blame ourselves first. How many of us know how much we are allowed to carry home? Did you even try to find that out? We just are sure the customs officer will let us through even if we smuggle a few laptops and few ipods.
Please research on the Indian Customs baggage rules. Their website very very sadly has rules as per 1998. According to another popular website, the maximum limit for you to carry home and leave it there is approximately $584. Remember never to exceed the limit. If possible carry receipts of your purchase, that proves you are within limits. If you exceed limits, be ready to pay your taxes. If the customs officer demands a bribe, please fight them, not with blows or cursing but with honor and confidence. Put your voice or video equipped cell phones to use and record the conversation with the customs officer. Forward it to TV9 or eenadu. Be a sleuth. Lend your hand in cleaning the system. A few news relays and hopefully a few suspensions shall at the least decrease the number of times your wallet is shaved by the customs officer.
Friends we should change first before we ask for a change in the system or society. We make the system and we break it too.
Jai Hind
Saturday, April 22, 2006
Saturday, April 08, 2006
Sky High
I look at the sky and am in awe at how God can be such a great artist. I imagine him painting the sky, his canvas. It is amazing how it never looks the same but is always wonderful, be it cloudy, sunny or studded with stars. Neither do I know what lies beyond, nor I care. I am just happy to see, feel and enjoy his creative genius, whatever and wherever it is.
I walked looking at my possession with pride. Holding it carefully not to drop it and destroy it, I walked slowly. It was the first time in my eight years life was I doing this and couldn't hide my excitement and was smiling with anticipation.
It was white with two red circular patches, waiting in my hands to start its journey. It took me more than two hours for me to make it, but I was not tired. I was the proud owner of the prized possession and other kids looked at me with envious eyes. It was an opportunity to bask in the moment of personal glory
I called on my friend to help me launch it. He clung to it and walked while I stood holding the thread. I gently pulled when he let go of it. My kite soared into the sky as if it had been waiting. It rose high and high while I was gleaming with joy. All my friends cheered as it rose higher than other kites around. It just kept on going.
A few minutes passed, and slowly the other kids started loosing interest and got busy playing other games. But I still held on to the thread, pulling it occasionally. I lied on the grass looking at my kite shining bright in the evening sun, in an amazing blue background studded with white clouds. It was breathtaking. I gazed at the scene astonished and amazed. The wind would gently brush my hair and also give the clouds a gentle push. As if for my sake, the birds started returning home, in their perfect alignment, chirping.
My kite had lost all its glamour and charisma in my heart. It may be the first time I realized the beauty of nature. The simple colors and the grand patterns of nature. It has been seventeen years since that day, but I never waste a chance to be out in the sun looking at the sky and its ever changing, ever enchanting patterns.
I walked looking at my possession with pride. Holding it carefully not to drop it and destroy it, I walked slowly. It was the first time in my eight years life was I doing this and couldn't hide my excitement and was smiling with anticipation.
It was white with two red circular patches, waiting in my hands to start its journey. It took me more than two hours for me to make it, but I was not tired. I was the proud owner of the prized possession and other kids looked at me with envious eyes. It was an opportunity to bask in the moment of personal glory
I called on my friend to help me launch it. He clung to it and walked while I stood holding the thread. I gently pulled when he let go of it. My kite soared into the sky as if it had been waiting. It rose high and high while I was gleaming with joy. All my friends cheered as it rose higher than other kites around. It just kept on going.
A few minutes passed, and slowly the other kids started loosing interest and got busy playing other games. But I still held on to the thread, pulling it occasionally. I lied on the grass looking at my kite shining bright in the evening sun, in an amazing blue background studded with white clouds. It was breathtaking. I gazed at the scene astonished and amazed. The wind would gently brush my hair and also give the clouds a gentle push. As if for my sake, the birds started returning home, in their perfect alignment, chirping.
My kite had lost all its glamour and charisma in my heart. It may be the first time I realized the beauty of nature. The simple colors and the grand patterns of nature. It has been seventeen years since that day, but I never waste a chance to be out in the sun looking at the sky and its ever changing, ever enchanting patterns.
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