Whenever there is an opportunity to bash the cops - of course, only verbally - and their moral fabric, all of us pounce on it and make the most of it, because they are one of the favorite punching bags, alongside politicians, for an increasingly corrupt society to pin all its unjustified sense of indignation on and to feel a sense of sanctimony. While the politicians may have sailed past the stages of salvation, the cops once in a while prove that they are as human - and humane - as the next human being. Today I got the chance to see one such an instance.

I just took the late night's bus service to reach the railway station. With me some cops also boarded the bus. Almost all of them were female cops, with one or two male ones among them. And, it was obvious that all of them have only recently joined the service - young, tired but enthusiastic, as the demands of their jobs haven't taken a toll on them yet.

They all took their seats here and there and settled into the gossip of the day's evening. A couple of stops later, a group of women boarded the bus. Some of them old, two of them mothers carrying their toddlers in their arms. The lady cop who was just sitting next to them was a very young girl. She was visibly exhausted from all the day's work at the grueling heat of Chennai. With a  small, fresh wreath of jasmine flowers adorning her hair, she could have been mistaken for a school student, were she wearing civilian clothes instead of the uniform, but let me not digress.
The moment this young cop saw the women, she didn't wait, she didn't think, she didn't talk. She simply got up from the seat, gave her seat to the woman with the toddler. Seeing her, the male cop, who was sitting in the seat across, also got up from his seat and gave his seat to the other woman.

Our lady cop, got a free seat by the next stop and the first thing she did was to lean on the window pane and sleep, with all the fatigue of the day visibly telling on her.

Witnessing all this, while most of the able bodied men didn't even make a show of getting up and the young lady cop showing the very basic and yet the rarest of human courtesy, I felt this - cops are neither good nor bad. They are just as human - and humane - as we are. :-)

Eulogy – Dr.APJ Abdul Kalam (1931-2015)

I am looking all around me, searching for a sign of histrionics. There are no women from lower rung of the society wailing, beating their bosoms and rolling in the dirt. There are no signs of men, in an inebriated state, holding to the pictures of their beloved leader, crying and tearing their hairs. No shops were forced to shut down today. No buses were stopped. No public property damaged. No sign of the social activity being impacted in any way by his death. Yet, beneath this veneer of calmness, this nation is silently mourning one of her most special sons – Dr.APJ.Abdul Kalam. A mere mention of this name, and everybody is ready with a word of pride, an appreciation, and a sense of glum descending their face. Social networking sites are rife with his images and quotes – some of them not really uttered by him. A mere glance at your contact list in WhatsApp, and you see a lot of friends having changed their Display Picture to that of Mr.Kalam.
 

What makes him worthy of such adulation? When was the last time a nation, the whole of it, together mourned the death of one of its leaders? In my brief life, I have seen people mourning the death of the political leaders, leaders of their favorite political parties and religious sects. Others used to issue a formal statement of condolence and that was all there is. Of course, some hooligans use such occasions to let loose their vandalism and loot public properties too. But today, there was no such show of sorrow, and yet, all of us feel that pallor of death as if they had lost a relative of their own. Why so?
 

There may be many reasons, but to my limited wisdom, it feels that he became great because he remained humble. Starting his life from a nondescript coastal town in a distant Southern corner of the country, he silently worked his way up to become the First Citizen of the county. He didn’t let his humble economic background clip his wings. His religion was never a hurdle for him to face. In a nation that is increasingly facing the colors of religions painted upon her, he remained clear of all such vile. He was pious, but never wore his religion on his sleeves. In fact, people from all religious, social and economic background loved him. He never let his name be affiliated by any narrow party ideals either.
 

Our generation had only heard the deeds of the likes of Gandhi, Nehru, Patel, Azad, Prasad, but never had the chance of having a true leader, who could unite the minds with his sheer brilliant presence. Mr.Kalam was one who filled that void. He belongs to the era, where people owned responsibilities instead of merely whining about their rights, people lived by ethics and morals instead of preaching them and people held on to their core principles even in the face of difficulties. Mr.Kalam was a man of integrity, be it at a personal level or a social level.
 

It is said that even to die well one should have earned a good karma. How else could he have breathed his last?! He wasn’t confined to bed, he wasn’t taken away by illness, senility and atrophy were definitely not for him. He breathed his last, doing what he always loved the most – being a teacher, interacting with the young minds. He was a worthy teacher and will remain a worthy role-model for more and more of Indians to come.
 

Rest in peace, sir! You have done more than your fair share for your motherland. Rest in peace!
 

Ashok Kumar