A SIMPLE GIRL??

it is not for me to right the wrong, it is not for me to challenge the established norms....i am just a simple girl, u say.

but every time i open my eyes, fighting for any beam of recognition, a voice inside me screams for the right, i have been denied since the day i was born.

its not easy being me, its not simple being a girl in this unfriendly world, but i push and force my existence into being, and one day, for i shall wait for it, i will emerge victorious.

and you will see me for the girl i truly am- proud and courageous, brave and strong willed, struggling every minute with a smile that will shame you to acknowledgement and challenging these boundaries that you have built- that privileges men and ignores women.

it may not be for me to challenge the society that you have built, but at every step i will be standing in front of you - proving that i am everything but a simple girl.

REVOLUTION 2020: Love, Corruption and Ambition- MY TAKE!!

Chetan Bhagat is back with a new book – REVOLUTION 2020. It has a refreshing story line, something with which the youth can completely connect. It starts with Chetan Bhagat meeting the (some what) protagonist- Gopal and then something leads to the other and our dear writer is again stuck with listening to the story of a desperate and helpless man. Nothing new there, I guess.

Revolution 2020 is a story about childhood friends Gopal, Raghav and Aarti who struggle to find success and love in Varanasi. All three of them try to create and simultaneously contest their separate identities in an unfair society where the corrupt are rewarded and the honest are disadvantaged and are seen as weak. The book portrays the struggle of students preparing for competitions in a ruthlessly competitive realm of engineering and the conflict that they experience between following their dreams and doing what others are doing for the sake of money. It is also about the endless corruption that takes place in the education sector that has now made a joke out of the future of millions of helpless youth who have no other choice but to take whatever they get at the cheapest price. Beggars cannot be choosers, after all.  All of this is put in a very simplified manner which characterizes Bhagats writings. While Gopal gives in to the system of corruption, Raghav strives to fight it and make a revolution that would bring about radical change and establish a corruption-less society. (somewhat reminds me of Marxist obsession to social change).

The book is also has a love story where both Raghav and Gopal fall in love with Aarti. Now for the 1st time, the ending is not "larger than life" and there are no cheap punches and stupid unreal fights. There is no hero, no villain in the story. The readers are expected to make their own judgement about the characters. It is as usual from a male point of view and thus again shows women as regularly playing with the feelings of men and the women are portrayed as the most confusing and confused creatures. The women are, as usual, central to a guy’s life-a guy can jump off the building and even change his ambition and friends for the one very pretty girl he loves (and eventually never gets).

While talking about the serious issues of ambition, corruption and survival in such a tough world, Bhagat as usual does not make it too serious. Yes , usual to Bhagats writings, there is a stench of “augmented reality”, but its you are going to enjoy it, thanks to his over-simplified manner of writing. (Which many “Shakespearian” writers criticize unnecessarily).It is a good balance of sugar and spice.

 However, after reading his splendid “2 states”, one may find “revolution 2020” a lot serious. True, it has its funny punch lines- but it still has the “drag” moment in it.

My advice- It’s a good read. It has a good story line. One thing about Bhagat- You hate him, you love him, but you cannot ignore him. It is a one-time read. It makes you think on issues that are heavily clouding our judgements in todays world- corruption.  But do not expect it to be as good as “2 states”. It does not have its fun and simplicity. But in the wake of Anna Hazare’s anti-corruption campaign and our own wakefulness on this matter, this book is sure to be a hit. So what are you waiting for guys?? Grab a copy, order some pizza, sit by your window and start reading!!

expectations- erased!

She tapped her fingers against the cold glass of that beer bottle in her hand as she sat waiting for him. She was a little too early for a girl who never made it to any place on time. She had only one thing on her mind all this while. Why had he called her here with a ‘lot of beer’? And why did he sound so unusual on the phone? He was such a sorted guy. This whole situation made her curious. She sat in a secluded little corner right across their neighbourhood park which they had discovered as kids. She sat on her spot with her back against the hard stone wall, but with a tiny hint of smile on her face.
Even though she pretended to not know anything about what was happening and what this was regarding, she had a slight, vague idea inside her that made her hopeful by the moment.
They had been friends since junior school, they were inseparable and knew everything about each other. Well, almost till his ambiguous phone call this morning. Just a few days back, she was telling him about her idea of the perfect beginning of a relationship would be right when the summer began. She remembered he had scoffed at that and then, well, got himself punched on the shoulder. But eventually, she had succeeded in convincing him that it wasn’t such a bad idea after all.
Her train of thoughts was broken when he appeared from behind that huge tree and waved at her. She waved back, feeling a sudden and quite unexpected rush of blood to her face. He sat down opposite her and instead of leaning back against the wall, he sat slouched with his hands on his knees.
So, what’s up? She asked. Why so worried?
Did you get the beer?
She handed him a bottle from the pack of six.
So, what was it that you wanted to tell me so urgently in person? And why the special demand for beer?
He took a sip and looked at her.
There’s something I need to tell you, he said. I’m not too sure about this, I mean.. I’ve been feeling this way for quite some time now..
This was it. It all added up! School had just closed for the vacation yesterday and this was the official beginning of the summers. He was going to ask her out. She could just see it now. It was all so clear! He would ask her out, she would say- hell yes! She would finally see her dream come true just like the way she wanted it to be, right there. She would have someone to call her ‘boyfriend’ and she wouldn’t be the girl who other girls in school smirked at, anymore. She resisted a smile.
They would hug right here at their little haven and as the dusk approached nearer, they would hold hands and walk back home....together..the way she dreamed.
She could feel the smile on her lips, but she quickly hid it with an understanding expression.
Okay, go on then. I’m ready to hear you out.
He turned to face her and held her hands.
Look, before I say this, I just want you to know that our friendship is very important to me. I don’t want my feelings to be the reason why.. you know. Why we stop being what we are. You know what I mean?
She couldn’t believe it. She couldn’t believe that he would actually think that he had feelings for her and she didn’t. This was just so ironic. She was the one who had feelings for him and now here he was, asking her and telling her that HE hoped that SHE won’t let his feelings for her, be an obstacle in their friendship. Go figure!
There were just so many new and exciting aspects to this whole transformation from being friends to being a little more than just so. Will they hold hands? Will they talk on the phone late into the night? Will she tell her mum about this? Will they go on those dates she had fantasized about? They absolutely HAD to go to Paolo;s for their first official date. She made a mental note to mention that to him once he was done asking her out.
Before she could process her thoughts, another one came swooping in. The summer festival! It was a customary thing organized by their society and now she finally had a date. Like, not just a hey-this-is-my-friend-because-I-don’t-have-a-date date, but an actual date. Eeee. She was already flipping through her party dresses and thinking of which one to pick in her head.
Hey, are you okay? He asked, in a concerned voice.
Oh yeah! Totally. I’m sorry, I’m just a little distracted. Anyway, yes. I just want you to tell me whatever it is that’s on your mind. Of course it won’t affect our friendship, silly. Nothing ever could. She smiled at him and squeezed his hand.
Okay, so I’m just going to come out with it really quickly? You should know I’m still not too sure about my feelings but I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately, and it’s been driving me crazy. So, just try and understand, okay?
The red dress or the new black one with a white bow thing on it- she didn’t know which one to pick for the festival. Hm. She really just wanted to ask him which one would suit her better. Maybe she’d ask him about it later, he look kind of.. pained right now.
She gave him and understanding nod.
He sighed and shook his head.
I can’t believe I’m going to say this out loud, but here goes.
She held her breath. Here it was. Her ticket to the best summer of her life!
And then he said it.
So.. I think I might be gay.

CLASH OF THE CIVILISATIONS: WHEN MODERNISATIN = WESTERNISATION

There is a very fine line between modernization and westernization. We as Indians have always been in awe of the westerners since the colonial times. During the colonial times, this was obviously more visible. People of high castes and class would wear coats and shoes like the British, they spoke like the British, they walked like them, and they changed their table manners and now ate with forks and spoons like the Englishmen. They now preferred a Victorian ideal of companionate marriage where the women was a fine blend of self-sacrificing Hindu wife and the Victorian helpmate. By doing what the British did , the Indians thought they were on the path of progress.  We wanted their ideas, their style of living and even their kind of western toilets for the sake of modernity.

Even after so many years after independence, things really haven’t changed. Though we deny it, we still look up to the Western countries to show us the way towards modernity.  . Recently there was an article in a magazine about line-in relationships and open marriages.  It called such social institutions “modern love”.  Something our parents obviously will never understand as they are “backward”.  More and more people are now adopting the practice of “open-marriages” where both partners have a certain understanding wherein they can explore their relationships with others outside of their personal arena of marriage. The new generation has now come to this bizarre conclusion that marriages and commitment to one partner is a hurdle to their expression of individuality.  The system of live-ins and open relationships, according to them, gives them their own personal space and freedom to think, that marriages cannot offer. They need more choices in life, more opportunities. One of the most ridiculous notions that are prevalent is that an ambitious woman favors this kind of a “modern love” so that she can do whatever she wants to.  All these concepts have been taken up from the West, their culture, their literature and most of all their TV shows.  Just because they show such love as a workable system doesn’t mean they are. Just because they are involved in it doesn’t make it “modern”.  Committed relationships and marriages are a portrayal of a stable society and love; it is not “old-fashioned” as many people propose it to be. I am not against people who participate in such “modern love”. Everyone has a right to be happy, to devise their own ways for satisfaction, and if being a partner in an open relationship gives them what they want from life, so be it. What I am critical of is such social networks being called “modern”. We need to understand that westernization doesn’t always equate to modernization.  The fine line between them blurs, and we just end up copying the west. Just because the English and American TV Networks show people having multiple partners, doesn’t make it modern.

Then again Society is complex and social relations are contradictory. There is no one way to analyse it. Our own social context shapes our opinions, beliefs and expectations about society and social relations. There is no ideal vantage point from where such social networks can be inspected. I am not passing a judgement on any individual or institution; this is just my way of observing the world. I believe that at this point ; when there is a clash between the Western and Eastern civilization we have to be very careful in adopting new practices and social systems. We should not follow a foreign culture and call it “cool” or modern. We need to make our own systems in co-relation with our customs and tradition. That is what will make us unique and distinct from others.

Yoga, politics and corruption

I was never a supporter of Baba Ramdev. I don’t even do yoga. I am too lazy and lethargic for those complex shirshasans ( head-stands )and the various varieties of breathing exercises.  I know that Baba Ramdev has a lot of followers around the world including my parents. I was however always unclear on what I thought about those “saffron-clad babas”. I just thought they were all “dhongi-babas”.

After a few years, with a little more worldly experience and forcibly listening to his show, my outlook changed a tad. I thought that he was doing a great social service by bringing in Yoga and encouraging people to become health conscious. My own family members observed change in themselves after a few years of vigorous yoga. Of course, Yoga suddenly becoming modern and fashionable may have something to do with my change of outlook. Further an American company asking for patent rights for yoga just increased my support for what baba ramdev was doing.  No other country had any claim over our precious “asanas”, I thought.

The Yogic (Baba Ramdev) was good, Yoga was our property. But then came along Baba’s fast against corruption and black money. It again got me in a tough position. I liked yoga and everything: it was our “thing” and it improved heath. But what about Baba’s politics?

I consider myself a vigilant citizen. My blood boils when I hear about the successive scams and the tax-payers money filling the private coffers of those who govern us. I am as much concerned about that black money stashed away in Swiss Banks as the second Indian. Some people stated that Ramdev was a yogic and should concentrate only on doing yoga. This obviously was the most ridiculous view I ever read. I mean I am a student . Does that mean I am not allowed to do anything else other than study and be a student? And isn’t democracy the rule of the people. The last time I saw Baba Ramdev , he was one of our species who walked on two legs. Next I heard that he was disrupting the democratic system by forcing the government to make laws that takes its natural time. This came from the congress- the big mouth of Digvijay Singh and Kapil Sibal. Anything that comes from the party so involved in corruption just doesn’t go in well. Maybe they are just trying to protect their “partners in crime”. No one can trust what they have to say. Then I read Seema Goswami’s article in my favorite weekly magazine Brunch. She went on explaining how by following a man who teaches yoga (a spiritual action according to her) India has reverted back to being a nation of sadhus and snake charmers- both in our eyes and the whole world. This obviously unsettled me. We were not following a half naked fakir (which by the way the British called Gandhi) we are fighting against corruption.  So I don’t think Baba Ramdev’s dress and make-up stylist should be accused of pushing the country backwards. Khushwant  Singh , critical of Babas saffron robes and long beard goes on by saying that Baba Ramdev could not have earned crores of rupees just by teaching yoga. So before going behind government he should do some more head stands and get a clear picture of himself in Indian Politics.  I would have like this view and even adopted it. But somehow I don’t think that a yogi can’t be a businessman. He turned yoga into ha business. There is nothing illegal in that. So I apologies to my favorite writer and reject his view.

Eventually I did evolve a viewpoint. Let it be Baba Ramdev or Anna Hazare,; they are doing the job of leaders. We have learnt in history that without leaders any movement is baseless. So we do need them. We need to fight against the corruption in Government. Baba Ramdev must be a yogic, but one doesn’t always have to be a social reformist to fight for the money and prestige that has been stolen from the country by the very those whom we have elected. By those who represent us as a nation in front of the entire world.  I don’t care if Baba Ramdev has political ambitions like many accuse him of; I am going to support any group that fights against corruption. I don’t care if the group is filled with half naked yogics or Raymond- suited smart men.  I think that accusing such groups to be communal and corrupt is just the governments typical way of diverting from the main issue.  However Congress should now understand that the issue is not so trivial that it can be ignored or left for the future. The time for change is now. Please don’t go back again to accusations and prejudices.  It’s the entire country breaking its laid-back attitude and fighting for a clean system.

ALL THE THINGS WE NO LONGER DO.

My daily schedule goes on like this: 

I wake up with the maximum possible resistance...i have broken up my alarm clock thrice...and i have thrown my cell phone innumerable number of times (as a result of which its now in the service center getting repaired)...and then i see the time and despite all efforts of getting up, trying to make my eye cells open my eyes, i never wake up on time. Next goes my screaming at my mother for not working hard enough to wake me up...or if she is in the gym (which she normally is ) i just wake up cursing everything i find on my way to the bathroom.... 

then its time to choose something to wear which is the most difficult, mind-boggling thing to do and this wakes me quick...i have to find something i have not .-been wearing for the past week and not the same combination for anything....who said going to college is easy?...i vote for the simple school uniforms any day of my life..and this is coming out now when its of no use...

The time consumed in dressing up, combing your hair, wearing your shoes or sandles or whatever (in my case mostly shoes which entails tying the laces which implies a lot more extra minutes) and choosing a scarf that matches with your dress is..as much time as one needs to think of a random facebook status on a boring uneventful day (which by my experience is a lot)...and i am forced by time constraints to do all this in 10 min.  Doing that makes me feel like i am a Ninja. 

Rushing to the metro station, putting your baggage in that machine which checks for metal (and that security guy has stopped me for unknown reasons at least twice thus making me more late)...and the metro ride, the good public transport which gets to my college in the shortest time in maybe the least space and with the maximum possible people as my co-passengers. 

Never reaching on time, i get into my classroom from the back door...sleep through the entire class and instinctively wake up only when my class attendance takes place..

After the college gets over at 3..i rush back home again with my lovely new co-passengers so close to me that i can guess what shampoo they have used...or well how much deo they have used to hide their sweat...i reach home till 4...eat my lunch...watch How I Met Your Mother?..and then again starts my getting ready-reaching late for my dance class.

I come back till 8...eat my dinner...study a little...or atleast pretend to be studying...watch some movie or maybe Gossip Girl...and then go to bed.

Thats my day. Not a moment to look at the sunrise or the sunset...or listen to the birds in the morning or even to the traffic outside...or reflect on my spiritual self (or atleast try to know if i have one), ...or talk to flowers, furniture or any inanimate object around, feel the time passing by,lie back and watch the stars, laugh freely at noting at all....or maybe just for a moment, sit silently with myself...and smile at the joys that life has given us....These are the things we never do and probably have forgotten to do because we no longer know how it feels like.