A bibiliography I read

State Of Fear- Michael Crichton.

Inevitably and not-so-eventually it dawns upon you, after being the passive(or not?) recipient of the stuff that the 24 hr news channels dish out, how utterly jobless everyone is.
Yourself included.

Richard Gere is awarded with a non-bailable arrest warrant for kissing Shilpa Shetty on her cheek, on stage. How dare he impune our sadiyon-purana-mahan culture! Case karo. Putla jalao.

Mandira Bedi will face summons soon for wearing a saree that had our flag in the 'below waist' part. Gundeki hattukovalisina jateeya jendanu tv anchor Mandira Bedi ghoram ga avamaninchindi. Palu deshala jateeya jendalu vunna tana cheeralo mana jendaku matram kalla deggare chotu dorikindi. Case karo. Putla jalao.

Aishwarya Rai and Hrithik Roshan have charges pressed against them for their vulgur onscreen kiss in Dhoom-2. Bharateey sanskriti ka apmaan hum nahi hone denge.Case karo. Putla jalao.

Oh yeah, Sachin Tendulkar also has one to his name. A case filed against him for disrespecting the nationa by cutting a cake decorated in our national colours, at a party arranged by the Indian Commissioner to Jamaica. Case karo. Putla Jalao.

All hail the torch bearers of our culture and heritage, the watch-dogs of our jateeya-abhimaan.

Then there are those that ought to incense you.
I have learned not to underestimate the power of desensitization.
It is personal, in more ways than one and than ever before....but still.,

-Soft-
Women deemed unfit for permanent commission by the Armed Forces. For another 10 years at least. Forget the combat forces, we are talking about the officer cadre here. They flout chain of command. Are a liability after marriage. Seek preferential treatment. Ask for more leaves and soft postings.

-Safety? what is that?-
A woman was gang raped in Palika Bazar,one of the most crowded places in Delhi. The owner of the shop and his employee took turns to rape her.

-Pressure-
A man was acquitted after his step-daughter withdrew charges of rape citing that she was a consenting partner.

-Domestic violence-
A woman was recovered today after 15 years of imprisonment in a dingy bedroom. Her parents gave a hefty dowry during her wedding but the demands continued post marriage. Her parents died some 14/15 years ago and the money flow stopped. So they tied her to a bed with iron shackles, tortured her and subsequently imprisoned her in that room for the past 15 years. Wails and screams were often heard but inquiring neighbours were turned away by the mother-in-law.

-Education or financial situation doesn't help-
A call center employee was picked up from her office by her husband and a friend of his. He attempted to rape her and she protested. He assaulted her, then threw her ( almost unconscious) somewhere on the road. She is in coma now,with 28 serious injuries.


Of course there are also several others that belong to the 'not the first time, not the last time' category.

An eve-teasing incident involving a girl and 4 boys from different 'sections' of the society sparked off a,what has become typical riot complete with police complaints-stone pelting-mass gathering-dandas in hand-beating up the 'others'-police-tear gas-10 rounds of fire-x killed-y injured.

A pastor was attacked and brutally beaten up by the VHP and Bajrang Dal activists. Religious conversions.

Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray ordered party workers to burn James Laine's biography of Shivaji, which allegedly has derogatory comments on the Maratha king."If this book comes out in the market, burn it wherever you find it. This is my order," Thackeray was quoted as saying in the party mouthpiece Samna.
Bombay High Court ...what is that? Law...never heard.
Why?...crushed Maharashtrian pride.

A school principal in Maharashtra’s Vidarbha town sprinkled cow urine on his students to purify them from the touch of Dalits.

Alas! This has turned into a gist of 'whats wrong with us' news.

One of those days when you loose faith in all the romantic notions you grew up with,the promise in those books and movies,the glorious words...the 'human' word with all its suffixes,the alleged attributes.
It doesn't take much to turn one into a blood-sucking monster, does it?
A cause that was construed for you?
An ideal that is almost vulgar?
Provocation in the name of religion?
An urge to feel victimized?
This has to say something about the way we are.
Also taking the feminist angle from before ... it is quite amazing that barring one or two tiny matriachal societies, all the societies from East to West...however different culturally
economically or socially had one thing in common....male chauvanism and abuse of women.

Not to worry...just a brief bout of cynicism.

Here,for some respite,absolute hilarious stuff.

Rahul Gandhi says his family gave us independence,divided Pakistan into two and marched us into the 21st century. And the big one...'Babri' would have not happened had a 'Gandhi' been in power.
It is inaccurate,naive and illinformed at so many levels that it is absolutely funny.
And they say...yeh lo..yeh tumhara future hai. To think of it.

Congress leaders want Narendra Modi to take a Narco test.

The Uttar Pradesh Police had arrested some women on charges of obscenity from the famous Nauchandi Mela (fair) area.However, when the women were brought to the lockup, the policemen decided to have some fun as well, forcing the women to dance inside the lock up.
Although this qualifies for the previous category...I couldn't help but laugh when it was aired. Silly.



"I sometimes look around and wonder how could GOD have let all this happened....
Then I remember that GOD has left this place long time ago."
"When was the last time the world wasn't falling apart?" Leonardo DiCaprio-Blood Diamond.

Yes

This is how...

-The prestige
It has one thing,PLOT!

-The Illusionist
This was fun too.

-The Departed
The last 40 minutes.

-Little Miss Sunshine
I get it.

-Devil wears Prada
Meryl Streep, every bit the Heroine she is made out to be.

-The Holiday
Kate Winslet and Jack Black, yes.

-The Pursuit of Happyness
Will Smith, in what could be called the penultimate scene....superb.

-Music & Lyrics
Hugh Grant is getting wrinkles and I don't like it.

-Happy Feet
Me and my friends, typically,went Oh! Soooo cute.

-Dancer in the Dark
Thanks to Rajeev Masand.

-Gabeh
Caters to a part of me that doesnt mind sitting through a few boring minutes, curious to discover what its all about,in this case an interesting award winning Irani movie.

-The Namesake
Could not identify with.

-Provoked
"But it IS personal"-Nandita Das.

-Blood Diamond
Iam beginning to like DiCaprio.

Now coming to why I wrote this post.,
"This is how the world fucks Africa, Mr.Quyale"-Constant Gardener.

My day was good , let night fall...

It is the great equalizer, they say.
The reason, Paulo Coelho says, to 'show some respect to the time you have on this earth'.
All follies and the consequences, trivial...convenient(?!)
Each action, counts...too hard(?!)
Every moment, precious... so romantic(?!)

The knowledge of certain death.
Can we really come to terms with it...
And say...'My day was good, let night fall'

P.S:The title is inspired from a poem 'Consoada' by a Brazilian poet, Manuel Bandeira.

Of three's...

that scare me...

1)Losing my eye sight.
Even partially so.
My biggest nightmare is the thought of having to wear sight-corrective specs.
2)Situation where I'l have to 'talk to save my neck'.
I wont even eloborate on that one.
3)Of becoming 'just another one'.


that I love...

1)Reading.
I started with Sherlock Holmes at school, but it is to 'Harry Potter', that I give credit for the initiation.
2)Dance.
Choreographing one and performing it on stage, gives me a high that very few other things do.
My style is 'semi-classical'.
3)Good movies.
For me, its about the stories they tell.
Different flavours...different styles...

three more...

1)Space & time travel.
'A Brief History of Time' , 'Black Holes & Baby Universes' are exactly
my-kind of-things.
2)Solitude.
I am NOT a 'social animal'.
3)My friends.

that I hate...

1)Waking up early...
Loathe is the word.
I am a 'nocturnal' being and am happy being one.
2)'Not knowing'...
Anything.
3)Curd.
You know, the milk-product.

that I don't understand...

1)Quantam Physics.
I really wish I could understand it better.
I am working on it...
2)God.
3)Parents and their fixation to marry off their daughters early.

things on my desk...

1)Final year project report.
2)A bottle of water.
3)My mobile.

things I am doing right now...

1)Typing this line..ha (cheesy, I know)
2)Planning a shopping trip that I have been postponing since two days.
The fish bowl that housed my fishes (Hank & frisco) shattered.
Meanwhile they are playing around in a bucket.
3)Wondering why Penn State rejected me.

I want to do before I die...

1)Write.
Write well.
Maybe a book or column.....
2)Give a 'dhasoo' dance performance that will blow everybody's mind away.
Choreograph it myself, ofcourse.
Have done it before...but want to do better.
3)Go see Europe and a certain place near US of America called 'Little Palm Island'.

I can do...

1)Sleep.
For as long as humanly possible and more.
2)Use my brains.
3)Work all night without batting an eyelid.


I want to learn..

1)If there is ET life.
2)To talk a little more.
And talk sense.
3)Waltz.


Favourite food...

1)Chocolate ice cream.
2)Sweets.... esp.. Ajmeri Kalakand.
3)Good old 'roti with anda burji' at the highway dhabas.

regular beverages...

1)Coffee
2)Coffee
3)Coffee

Shows I watched as a kid...

1)Non stop nonsense & Charlie Chaplin
2)Bomkesh Bakshi & Tehkikaat
3)Tom and Jerry & Duck tales
all of them aired on dear old DD

Books I read as a kid....

1)The Hound of Baskerville... by Arthur Canon Doyle
amazing stuff...blew my mind away then.
It was prescribed as a Non-Detail for our English class. I finished it in one night and ran to the library next day to borrow the complete set of Sherlock Holmes stories. It was the first ever book I borrowed from the library.

2)World book no.11 & 12 (I think.. or was it 13?)
We had library hours every week... and given a choice I always picked up these from the book series. These two were all about space, universe, stars, galaxies, black holes...and all.

3)Three little pigs.
When I was really..very..sooo...young.
We were in LKG & UKG and we had these library hours... we lined up and with folded hands and finger on the lips , went into the library and sat in neat rows.. then 'Miss' used to read to us, these wonderful stories.
We sat there with chins secured in our palms and listened in awe and wonder.
Sometimes 'Miss' gave each one of us a book... full of bright pictures of beautiful fairies and little, cute pink pigs.
I remember thinking when I saw a real pig outside( the black ones)..'hey! but this is not how pigs look..'!
It was fun....and it always brings back a smile.

adios.