You are not alone!

Samir SaxenaLeave a comment
https://pixabay.com/en/identity-mask-disguise-mindset-510866/
Who am I? What is the purpose of my life?
These questions have been the most difficult questions for me in this exam called life. Have you been asking these yourself too? There is no right or wrong answer but whatever is the answer, it defines one’s existence in this world. Left unanswered you will still make a living but would you have truly lived?
Like me, a lot of other people would have asked this question to themselves at some point in time. For a variety of people, this question is met with a variety of answers. But if you are anything like me, you come up with no answer at all. It’s all jumbled up, crackling noises inside the head which mean nothing.
I have come across a million articles on Google whenever I have searched for ‘Who am I?’ or ‘What is the purpose of my life?’ and none really point me towards the answer but leaves me with a five-second resolve to do everything to find the answers, then makes me more confused and then leaves me more alone. These questions have been the cause of several of my day offs and my off days.
I have identified my pattern too. Yes, there is a pattern to when this question becomes so firm in my mind. Every time, life throws at me a lemon I spiral down into a loop of these questions. I want to make a lemonade but don’t know if these are the right lemons for it or maybe these lemons will serve their purpose if I add it to my beer or maybe I should just have it with a cup of hot water it’s good for health, or add it on top of my salad, or maybe just give it away to someone who needs this more than me. I don’t know. And then these questions start running in a loop.
Not knowing answers to these questions gives a feeling of emptiness. Like, on the surface you have this body but inside you are hollow. It feels like you are a program that things are happening to you by accident rather than you causing them. Your entire life becomes an assumption, a creation of your schooled imagination.
I have had people, out of their concern towards me, tell me to read a certain book or join a certain program, meditate, do things that make me happy. I have done some of it with limited success and a temporary effect. Nevertheless, I’ll keep doing them. In anticipation that someday, hopefully soon I find out answers to these questions. Because it is important to not give up. 
https://pixabay.com/en/happy-street-art-backdrop-artistic-465293/
One way to look at this is to be happy and be mindful of what is making us happy since it will usually guide us to defining the purpose of our lives and who we are. But why do I say this? Because I know how it feels. The pressure it brings, the cluelessness, the lack of clarity, it all feels very lonely. I have felt that on numerous occasions. I feel it right now when I am writing this. But I have no intention to give another philosophy or an opinion or be an impetus for a revolution where we all suddenly find our purpose. I write this just to say, I am sailing the same boat, like many others and maybe like you. 
It is simply to say “You are not alone!”

Goodbye 2017!

Samir Saxena1 Comment
Happy New year everyone!
2017 was a tough one for me. There were struggles, falls, anguish, painful endings and hopeful beginnings. With this, I am putting some highlights of the year that went by. I know we are already in 2018, but as the old adage goes (makes absolute sense for a lazy bum like me!) “better late than never”.
Travel

Singapore

It all started as drunk see off at the airport. Vasav and Asmita were going back to Singapore. We were sitting at the Mumbai airport just having a good time and by the end of it, my flight to Singapore was booked and itinerary finalized. So I flew to Singapore and stayed there for good 10 days. It brought in a good break from the routine and a stamp on my otherwise unused passport.

Year of the Rooster: Chinese New Year celebrations

Kopi O and Kaya Toast, my staple for every morning
Merlion. The place where people give cliche poses

Something that caught my attention while walking the roads
Singapore Zoo

Gardens By the Bay

We made Dal Baati at home, in Singapore 🙂

This trip has far more memories than I have pictures. Staying with Vasav and Asmita was like living in a home away from home and we got to catch up after I don’t know how many years. 

Italy (Oh well!)

Another drunken plan. However, this went down the drain when we became sober. Me, Lovejot and Abhimanyu were having one of our after work evenings when we took it a notch above and booked a flight to Venice. While Lovejot did go to Italy on a solo swag trip, I and Abhimanyu burnt a big hole in our barely left pocket.

Malwan
On my birthday this year, I saw the opportunity of an extended weekend and decided to get away from the whole hustle bustle of the city and go to Malwan and spend some time doing the mundane stuff like watching a sunset while sitting on the rocks at a beach or running on the beach in the morning. Happy 32nd to me!

Devbagh Sangam

Rock Garden: Sunset Point

Corn on the cob and the sunset

Run on the beach



Naneghat Trek

At Naneghat base, just before starting the trek- (L to R) Punit, Chintan, Me, Kranti and Anup
Rain soaked climb accompanied by heavy winds
Ah! This is an amazing memory. The usual culprits in me, Punit, Anup, Kranti and latest entrant in Chintan. One fine morning decided to trek Naneghat. See it for yourself what happened there:

Stairway to heaven (Cheesy! I know)

The strong winds made it very difficult to stand, walk or even keep your eyes open

Work

Pizza Cube Café

Holachef forayed into the offline model with a new brand: Pizza Cube Cafe. From one outlet in May, by December we had 4 outlets marking their presence in the busy QSR footprint in Mumbai. This was challenging and whole new learning experience.

Goofing around when our first Pizza Cube Cafe was just a site under construction
Health/ Sporting milestones

Kicked the butt- finally!
What started as a ‘looking cool’ thing during college, soon became a habit. Stopped completely as a new resolution on January 1, 2017. And boy it’s been a full one year. What’s the guarantee that I won’t pick up the habit again? Because I feel a lot better, because the food tastes so much better and because of what follows next.

First Half Marathon: IDBI Federal Life Insurance Mumbai Half Marathon

That’s me trying to run, breathe and manage my centre of gravity, all at the same time! 

           
Overweight, out of breath, stress eating and surviving on fast food every day, sitting more than 8 hrs in a day in office and then on the couch; running a half marathon was a distant dream which I had not dreamt yet. But it happened.

I was running 2-3 km few days in a week just to become active. I happened to know about IDBI Federal Life Insurance Half Marathon through friends who I follow on Strava. I registered for the same and started training. This was a struggle I don’t think my body was ready for. But I pushed it. The thought of quitting occurred many times but the resolution was strong and I wanted to do it.
And Finally, I did it. August 20, 2017. I crawled my way to the finish line in 3:00:33. My first half marathon. It was a rain-soaked run and I think I did cry ‘khushi ke aansoo’ at the end of it.
Strava link to this activity: https://www.strava.com/activities/1142237622

Second Half Marathon: Indiabulls Vasai Virar Mayor’s Run: Half Marathon

Sprinting to the finish line
I got to know of Vasai Virar Half Marathon and immediately signed up for it. I set my sight on 02:30:00 finish time for half marathon. I ran my heart out in training. So much so that just a week before the race, I pulled my hamstring trying to run too fast. I ran with all my heart on the race day and managed to finish it in 02:33:13. I was elated and hooked up to running.

Strava link to this activity: https://www.strava.com/activities/1308824212

BRM 200: failed once, not again! (Mumbai- Charoti- Mumbai)

After battling sun, dehydration and traffic
I did my first BRM on this route in 2016 and managed to finish it off with just two minutes left on the cut off time.

BRM 200 Medal for the  one I completed in 2016

I did it again and this time failed by reaching 10 mins late. I took a break from BRM’s post that.

I attempted this same route on November 5th and this time finished it in 11 hours and 25 minutes, a good 2 hours improvement over my last time. Mission Accomplished.
Strava link to this activity: 1. https://www.strava.com/activities/1263357224
                                            2. https://www.strava.com/activities/1262158260

Mumbai- Igatpuri- Mumbai

Climbing Kasara Ghat: this was fun! 😀

August 2016, I first attempted climbing the Kasara Ghat on my cycle and failed just after climbing a 100m or so. I took a train back to Mumbai from Kasara.

In November 2017, in the endurance training ride organized by Powai Pedals and Giant Starkenn Mumbai, I climbed Kasara Ghat successfully without putting my foot down even once from the pedals. Coming back from failure, doing this was amazing. This ride also marked my longest ever ride on my cycle clocking 224Kms.

Strava link to this activity: https://www.strava.com/activities/1291555371

Indian terrain Seven Island Sportive

My year on sports as captured by Strava:

The journey to these half marathons and a few 10k’s in between was very lonely. There were several occasions when I questioned myself about why am I doing this. I still did it. Now, when I think about the finish line emotions I went through, I think it was all worth it.

And not to mention, the weight I lost. From 89kgs in June 2017 to 79.6 kgs in December 2017

‘नौ सौ चूहे खा के बिल्ली हज को चली’ a.k.a Hello Vegetarianism!

Well, I surprised myself here. Did I ever want to do it? NO. DId I enjoy doing it? NO. Was it worth it? Absolutely!

But why did I do it?
1. I couldn’t fathom the deferential attitude that some animals make it to your home as pets and some others on your plate as food
2. I watched ‘Cowspiracy‘ on Netflix. The facts here:

I am currently also researching on being vegan. Maybe 2018 will be “Hello Veganism”! But it will be a herculean task to give-up ghee, rabdi, curd and other things that I absolutely love in my food.

The Struggles

Why did I choose not to mention about the struggles I have had in 2017? Has 2017 been a year of no roadblocks? That’s not the case. I have had more than my share of problems in 2017 than I have had before. I received setbacks both on personal and professional front. I failed in almost every department of my life multiple times with my friends & family coming to my rescue every time.
I couldn’t do it alone and I am glad I had a few people watching my back. If you are reading this, you’ll know you are one of them; my straw at the time when I was drowning. I thank you with all my heart and gratitude.
The end of 2017

Om Sai Ram!

      Some Boomerang Fun!

Abhimanyu, Lovejot and I decided to spend the New Year eve visiting Shirdi and Shani Shingnapur. Away from all the hustle bustle and the peer pressure of celebrating New Year eve drinking and making merry in the coolest possible way. Once we reached there we realized we are not the only ones who thought this way. Apparently, there were a million others who were visiting Shirdi the same day. Thanks to tech-savvy Saibaba Sansthan Trust, we booked our darshan time-slot online and skipped the major queues to finish darshan in a little over an hour. We went to Shani Shingnapur early in the morning and didn’t find any queue at all.

Always saw these windmills from far. Went close this time
What’s a year without a good time with friends and family, eh?

                                               At Barvi Dam with Kranti and Abhimanyu

When Krisha was more excited to cut my birthday cake! 

Birthday gift from Krisha 😀
Lalbaug cha Raja!! 

Mittal ki naak kat gayi 😛

Diwali, Home and traditional attire: Check! 

May the light of the diya guide us all 🙂

Kidzania: Became a kid again with Krisha and had a lot of fun in the process 😀
My sister Chicky a.k.a Kriti got engaged

Ajanta Circus…

Fish thali: I’ll miss this the most, now that I am a vegetarian

Getting ready for a mime act… 😛
I have earned my cream roll for 2017
And so ended 2017.

There is so much that happened in 2017. I survived all the lows, celebrated all the highs, enjoyed with old friends, met some fantastic new people on the way, cried a lot, laughed a lot more. Here’s to a hopeful 2018.   

Forward-looking footsteps taking me to 2018

Life Lessons I learnt riding my Cycle

Samir SaxenaLeave a comment

 

Those who know me, know my love for the two wheels and the road. In 2010, I bought my first Royal Enfield. Riding ever since. In 2011, I acquired my brothers Royal Enfield. Riding more ever since until life happened in 2013.

From Eat, Sleep, Ride, Repeat, the mantra became Work, Eat at work, Sleep at work and Repeat. Pretty mundane stuff. Occasional late night rides to eat Maggi at Lonavala and some other rides, it was all home-work-home ride clocking not more than 8kms daily. What a shame, I wondered sometimes to myself!
One day, just to break the monotony, to keep myself moving, to be active and exercise a little I bought a cycle; Btwin Rockrider 320.  A very basic cycle on which I clocked some cumulative 200-300 km. It used to be a lot of effort and very little fun. A little research and soon upgraded to a Scott Metrix 20 a month back in which I have clocked some 1000+ km already and I love it. I have fallen in love with my cycle and cycling. I cycle to work on most days (How I wish Mumbai had better infrastructure to at least park the cycles) and slightly longer weekend rides.
Cycling is not a lot different from a motorcycle. Both touches your soul, instill a certain peace inside and with both you choose to put yourself at risk. Both gives you adrenaline, adventure but if you think deeply cycling gives you something more intense than motorcycling: life lessons. With this post I intend to bring forth 9 life lessons which I have learnt from Cycling so far:

1.       There is no substitute for hard work

Cycling is a lot of effort. Your performance is directly proportional to the hard work you put in. How hard you push, you hard you paddle; it’s all!

2.       When going gets tough, put your head down and work harder

Inclines can get very difficult to cycle. And when it does get difficult, just put your head down, change gears, leave your saddle and paddle harder.

3.       Never lose sight of destination

When your muscles start aching, fatigue kicks in and you feel like quitting, look ahead and see where you have reached and how much have you have travelled already. Often, it’s shorter to go forward than to go back. Take a break but don’t just quit.

4.       Before things get smooth, they will become more difficult

A hill is steepest before it takes you downhill. Keep pushing the paddles nevertheless. Things will be better soon

5.       Keep upgrading for better results

Steel Vs Aluminium Vs Carbon Frame, multiple gears vs single gears and a lot more will decide how big the results you will get out of your hard work. Keep pushing yourself and keep upgrading yourself.

6.       People are awesome


When on the road both you and your cycle- 
Some people will smile and wave at you- wave back!
Some people will look at you with puzzled eyes- smile at them
Some in cars and bigger vehicles will overtake you as if they own the road- let them pass
Some will make way for you- acknowledge them
Some will be on cycle and take the same road- wave at them, ride with them

7.       Love and learn to be on your own

You’ll ride in groups, you’ll ride with few people and sometimes you’ll ride alone. Keep riding. It’s all ok!

8.       Be grateful for what you have


You’ll always see people riding better cycles than you, clocking better stats than you. Let it not spoil the fun you are having.

9.       Live and love life


It’s when a BEST bus overtakes you and forces you more to the left of the road, so much so that you break hard, trying all together to not fall, balance the cycle, avoid the pavement and not get hit by the bus, you realize how precious life is. Live it, love it!
I have just started on this journey and I am sure I’ll meet a lot of fabulous people and will learn more. Till then I keep calm and keep riding!

Escapism!

Samir SaxenaLeave a comment
 image credit: https://scottstrissel.files.wordpress.com/2015/11/wall.jpg
Who you want to be
Where you want to go
You want to attract things you want
but don’t know how
How you want people to be
How people want you to be
But in reality, who are you?
To be or not to be something
To do what or what not to do
To own up or to live in ignominy
Who will hear you out?
When everyone wants you to listen
People have opinion, you fall prey to it
you be what they want you to be
You do what they want you to do
You live how they want you to live
And ignore what’s real, what your heart wants
And sometimes you don’t
you choose to not cry, walk out and move on
Or so you think
Your life, your choice
But then comes the heartbreak
And you want to be left alone
then comes in self-doubt
And you start to blame
Do you own up?
Do you take responsibility?
How does it end or does it have an end?
Is it really your life and your choice?
you get captured in your thought prison
And look for reasons to justify
for it’s really painful and difficult to accept
And then you take the easy route: Escapism!
Only to come back to the same walls
trapped in an imagination, starved of freedom
and plan your next escape!

Kranti and Samir went to Lal Baug Cha Raja..

Samir SaxenaLeave a comment

Seven years. That’s how long I have been in Mumbai, the city that never sleeps. Anytime of the night, you go out on the roads of this amusing city, you will always find it alive with some or the other activity. The city is beautiful, colorful and full of life. For every struggle, every sweat and every tear this city causes upon people, it also brings joys, color, dance, and music, especially during Ganapati festival.

The festival transforms this city. Everyone comes together to celebrate it. Pandals spring up at every lane, every nook, and corner. The elephant-deity adore these pandals in various sizes, all dressed up and hundreds of people line up to offer their prayers and get the blessing.

During these 11 days of Ganapati, I am sure thousands of pandals would be setting up in Mumbai and among all, the most popular and most visited pandal is that of Lalbaug cha Raja, the Ganapati pandal set up in the center of Mumbai in Lal Baug, a place in between Dadar and Parel. The pandal is more popular for the queue it attracts than anything else. I have read stories about people waiting for anywhere between 24-48 hours to finally have a darshan of not more than a minute. All these stories kept me at bay for all these years to go and visit the pandal. Also, I never truly felt like going there.
But 2014 is different. Somehow this year, I have come in touch with my religious side a lot more. After having been to Vaishno Devi in June and this time when Ganapati Utsav began, I just thought to myself that I’d go to Lal Baug cha Raja this year. And I did, on Friday, September 5th, 2014. I found a company in Kranti and we decided that we will go early in the morning at around 3.30am to account for waiting in the queue and come back in time for the work next day.
Rain, Rain.. Go away!
First, we were adored by the rains. Heavy rains! It dampened our spirits so much that we were contemplating going back home while waiting at a bus stop. Kranti suggested that may be it’s a test. The universe is testing our spirit and resolve to go to Lal Baug. We let this thought sink in and decided that rain will not stop us from going to Lal Baug. And so we left, with rains pouring on us, occasionally halting at several Ganpati pandals to take shelter, mostly at the insistence of Kranti to save the two smartphones he always carries.

And the universe conspired
Drenched, we somehow reached Lal Baug and the rains miraculously stopped. Kranti and I then started looking for the queue to line up, wait and offer our prayers to Lord Ganesha. While we were confused as to where the queue begins, slowly the realization dawned upon us that there was NO queue.  We came across a lot of people, who asked us for money promising that we will get darshan in 5 minutes. Without paying any attention to them, we simply walked in and reached the pandal in straight 5 minutes anyway. And we spent good 15-20 minutes praying and admiring the huge and beautifully decorated statue of Lal Baug cha Raja. 
I will have a version of the story which probably not many will believe. You can call it pure luck or a divine miracle, but it’s true. 
































Visit to few more pandals
We came out smiling and reflecting upon our situation an hour back when we had almost given up coming here. No queue, no waiting, and peaceful darshan seemed such a beautiful reward.
After a few photographs of the lively atmosphere and some vada pavs, we decided to visit a few more pandals. In one of the pandals, we saw tickets being sold for Rs.20/- to avoid the queue and have a fast track entry. Kranti and I looked at each other criticized the system and with an air of confidence decided that we’ll stand in the queue because it’s our day and Lord Ganesha is happy with us and we’ll get a quick darshan. But the moment we saw the long queue, we both took our Rs.20 from our pockets and took the fast track route (I know, this is Hypocrisy!:P)





















A panwala? A playwright?

Just when we were leaving, it started to rain again. We ran and stood under a pan shop. The owner of the shop, whose name I don’t remember now unfortunately, had just opened the shop. In normal course of conversation, I got to know that he’s an MSc. by education and writes plays on social inequality, rich-poor divide. He had a great sense of humour too. Interesting person to meet and talk to at 6.00am in the morning.
It stopped raining in sometime. I could see children coming out of their homes, ready to go to school. Little traffic had started to build up on the road. It kept drizzling though out our way back from Lal Baug but it never poured like it did while we were going there. Soon I could feel the gentle rays of early morning sun on my face and shine on the chrome of my motorcycle. It felt Like Lord Ganesha was quite happy with what we did to reach him, meet him and greet him that he finally gave us some sunshine.
By 7am, we were back to the warmth of our homes; satisfied and with lots of stories to tell our grandchildren.

P.S. This one is from 2014. I know that’s the height of laziness but that’s me. The next year, in 2015 we went again and Abhimanyu & Arthi joined us. Though there were no rains, but we did find a long queue and an interesting journey through the crowded roads of Mumbai to find food at 4 am in the morning. More on that later. 😉

Lame attempt to Rhyme!!

Samir SaxenaLeave a comment
Some lame lines I thought of and wrote it for Urban Spice’s facebook page on April Fools Day.. Just though of sharing it here too.. 😀

Tea with Salt
Working tirelessly without a halt
Taken Sugar out from the syrup
Thinking someone’s remembering you every time there’s a hiccup
Custard without Fruits
No laces in your boots
Daal without tadka
Aata gheela when kadka
Executive Meal box without food
No stripes in your pinstripe suit
30 minutes delivery
No lunches are free
Got late for a meeting, there was lot of traffic you see
paid 150 bucks for boiled water, saying it’s green tea
Service tax, sales tax and VAT
No feather left on my hat
Thinking how to end my desperate attempt to rhyme
Where to hide before grammar nazis beat me for this crime
Let the sun shine while you make hay
Here’s wishing you a Happy April Fools Day!!

Now don’t beat me, okay? Happy Weekend!

Being Daachu!

Samir Saxena2 Comments

Childhood are the best days. Period.

I see my niece playing around the house with people running after her to feed her, to bathe her, to make her go to sleep and she never stops. People have to keep pace with her and she never slows down. She has her ways to get things done. It sometimes involve being cute, to look at you with a puppy face, to throw that warm smile at you or if nothing works, tears ensure what she wants happens, 100% of the times.

When she was born, I was so so afraid to even hold her. I would keep looking at her and admire her innocence, her divine beauty. She is beautiful. I was so afraid to take her into my arms and that fear I think lasted for good 6 to 8 months. All attempts by my bhabhi, my mom or my brother were futile. More than not equipped with enough skill to hold her, the fear was coming from how will I hold something so pure. It was like, the moment I will hold her, I will melt. 


And boy! Did I melt and how? The first time when I finally held her in my arms, her warmth made my heart beat soaring. She was smaller than my arms length, eyes half closed, The way she held on to my finger, my immediate instinct was to hold her tight, never to give her away, to protect her and I think for a second I had also thought of strategies to ward off all those boys who will start running after her in school and college. 

In that one moment, from an irresponsible boy, I travelled the distance to become a responsible man, a responsible Chachu. The way she saw me, I know she had no clue about who I am or I am not even sure she could see me or recognize me, but she did not cry. Instead, I did. I was the one with tears. I think, that moment will be etched in my memory like a permanent tattoo, which will never fade and nothing can erase it.

Now she’s nearing being two year old. She wakes me up, she calls me to have my mam-mam (food), she
brings to me the bottle of maii (water), she calmly sits by my side and watches TV. She sometime even chooses to sit in my lap and have her milk. She likes to play football with me, watch Ba Ba Black Sheep on my phone, excitedly show me how she can climb a flight of stairs to a slide and then can slide down all by her own. She always comes to me to get her something which her mom, maasi or dad has made it unreachable for her and she calls me Daachu, for she can’t say ‘cha’ in chachu. I just love it.

I know all good things don’t last forever and she’ll one day grow up but these moments that she has gifted to me, will last forever in my memories.

She is one woman (I know she is not a woman yet but you get the point, right?) who can soothe me, de-stress me, calm me, make me love and embrace myself for what I am or what I am not because it doesn’t matter to her. For her, I am simply her Daachu. 

All that I wanted to do

Samir Saxena7 Comments
I took my cup of tea and sat by the window
I heard some sounds
There were people talking
Birds chirping, Dogs barking
Some cars were honking
Then there was wind, I could feel it on my face
And I could see leaves moving
A school bus stopped outside the gate
And waiting children lined up to get inside
Some were happy to see their friends
While some cried seeing themselves go away from their mom and dad
There were promises to see them in the evening and assuring kisses
That took me back to the memories of my school days
Until I saw a man jogging on the road
I remembered my New Year resolution to run everyday
I shrugged but my eyes still followed the jogger
Until they stopped at something red
And I saw a beautiful rose bed in the garden
It wasn’t there yesterday
And the roses made me think of her
I gave her roses every day, three to be precise
I never said anything, but she will always understand the premise
And I sighed
A cloud of dust from the sweeper’s broom brought me back to now
I look around and see a flock of pigeons on the porch
And an elderly man feeding them grains
Just then the water fountains start
And it all looks like a pretty landscape
Like that drawing I made in 5th grade
I got amused with all the stories and the sights
Just then my cell phone comes alive
I gulped down the remaining of my cold tea
As I tap on my phone’s cold touchscreen
There were few reminders and some emails
Also an SMS reminding my EMIs were due
I look for the day’s plans in my calendar
There was no mention of sitting by the window
Even though, that’s all that I wanted to do

Thoughts Train..

Samir Saxena1 Comment
Looking outside the glass window
Zooming past the warm silhouette of the night..
A lonely lamp post
A shadow of a ghost..
A swaying tree
A man walking in glee..
A few plastic bags
A girl in rags..
A solitary traveller
A hippie reveller..
I turn back to the book in my hand
And let my soaring imagination land..
I listen to the end of Led Zapplin putting up a stairway
Next up is Bon Jovi screaming how Frankie said he did it his way..
I stop my ipod, put the book to my chest in a warm hug
And listen intently to this train’s chug chug..

P.S. Random lines that came to my mind and put them down during one of my train journeys from Bombay to Delhi..

Is it time for Kalki to be incarnated yet?

Samir Saxena1 Comment

While scanning channels on TV tonight, I bumped into an episode of Crime Patrol on Sony Entertainment Channel; a biography of a guy called Satyendra Dubey (names, of course were changed in the show) (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Satyendra_Dubey).. a man of idols, who went against all odds and tried his two bits to expose the corruption involved in construction of Golden Quadirlateral (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_Quadrilateral).. and was killed, for being right.

He could be inspiration for millions, for standing by his values. He could be idol to billions, who when young have big dreams, but once they grow up, lose the courage to walk the right path.. because the right path brings pain and there’s no turning back.

Bhagvad Gita describes the avatar of Lord Vishnu as:

“Whenever righteousness wanes and unrighteousness increases I send myself forth.
For the protection of the good and for the destruction of evil,
and for the establishment of righteousness,
I come into being age after age.”

In this Kalyug, the Lord Vishnu can never take his last avatar: Kalki . Not that he has not tried. He has, in people like Satyendra Dubey, but he gets killed.

P.S. There could be many such stories like Satyendra Dubey and not mentioning them here in no way demeans the courage and sacrifice of those. Salute to them all!