Looking out of the window: Desperate!

She looked out of her window, desperate for some inspiration or some sign that it would all get better. But for the first time all she saw was the barren ground. She realized that all this while she had just seen things which weren’t actually there and motivated herself all the while proclaiming that the window did it for her. After all, it was only a window – a mild lifeless object which couldn’t help her in any way. She wondered why she had to have this realization just then when she felt life was going to pieces. She had been cooped up in her own world for too long. She now felt like she didn’t even know what was going on in the world around her. Her friends had made new friends and they didn’t need her anymore. Every time she went out with them she felt horribly left out. She wasn’t being able to do what she had set out to do. She wasn’t being able to accomplish her goal and was facing possible failure for the very first time in life. The one thing she had was now no longer her’s. All she could do was write, but her writing too was getting monotonous. And now.. her window. She looked out of the window yet again, her moist eyes desperately hunting for a friendly hand or an inspiration of some sort.

And yet another year goes by :)

On every 31st December when the year comes to full stop all of us wonder what we will miss about the year that is hours away from being history. Last night, I too wondered what I would miss of this year. Certainly not the initial tension of board exams with which I started this year or the part where I missed my summer vacation to study for C.P.T., maybe the part where I got my marks and found out that I had scored well and most definitely my 18th birthday which was totally amazing! But the one thing I would miss more than anything is that innocence and childishness that I can feel is slowly creeping out of my life.

I was made aware of this fact when around two days ago I was talking to my cousin sister about life in general and I realized that our talks were based more on career, life, studies, family, etc. Where did all the times go when we would talk about playing hide and seek, eating maggi, going to the park? All our lives we have both been students, we have had regular summer, dusshera and christmas vacations. We have had exams in March and October and we always went back to school/college at the end of our vacations. This time when we finish our end-semester exams one of us may not be in college anymore; one of us may start working; one of us may go abroad to study. The next time we plan a family vacation not only our parents but also my cousin will have to take leave from work. It is the simple course of life and yet the fact that this was the last year of life as we have known it, seemed to freak me out. I cried when she turned 20 and hopefully I will handle 21 in a better manner. But all I am trying to say is that we are actually growing up and on the next 31st December life may not work in the same manner as it does today.

I have been told that even though things change, we will still remain the same silly sisters who would fight over choosing snakes and ladders or ludo! Last night when she left to go back home ( we will in two different towns; she was here on vacation) I couldn’t exactly explain why I wasn’t letting her go and why a person like me – who hates hugs – initiated the good-bye-hug. But all I really wanted to say then was, ‘no matter how things work out or where we are a year from now, you will always be my inspiration and I will always be here to support you whenever you need me. In short, I love you akka!’

Here’s hoping that we all have a wonderful 2012!

Looking out of the window: Its good to be back!

She wondered why she was late for class on the very first day. It seemed to be a trend for her. She ran through the halls hoping she would be let in. Thankfully she was! She sat in her seat breathless from all that running and suddenly there was a huge rush of wind. She turned around and saw – the window!! Of course! How could she forget her beloved window? Which overlooked the school grounds. She saw it all as if through new eyes – the birds, the trees, the little boys, the city… ah!!! She had missed that sight. She watched as some of the boys sat under the trees, some others walked around in two’s and three’s, while the remaining few fought the heat and played football. The wind was a great respite from the heat for all of them – inside and outside the classroom. She smiled and imagined having a small old fashioned picnic on the grounds. Wow! She really had missed looking out of the window!

Musings During A Dark Time

Jealousy – we all experience it. But yet we find it so hard to deal with. It is one of the few things that we hide from practically everyone else.. Mostly because we are usually jealous of the very people who are the closest to us, whom we normally confide in.. But what happens when we feel cut-off from them too? What happens when there is this rage filled within us and it translates into everything another person has and everything you don’t? When you are so miserable that you start doubting your own kith and kin and feel jealous of everyone around you? You hit rock bottom! Is it horrible to hate anyone who is happy? Is it normal to want to dwell in your misery and not want anyone happy around you to spoil the mood? Sometimes in our lives, when we hit rock bottom we start feeling things like this! And we never really know if it is normal or not. Because by this time you are pretty much alone, you don’t like anyone else, you refuse to open up to anyone and you are always doubtful about new people!

You start getting angry if the bird chirps or if your phone rings or if anything falls down! You reach a new height in crankiness. You start wondering why people can’t just let you be right for once. You get real snappy and alienate anyone else who is still left around you. You build cocoon around yourself which is impenetrable and you lash out at anyone who tries to reach out to you. People are people – they will stop trying after a certain point.It is only at this point, wrapped in jealousy and rage do you start yearning, pleading and then finally screaming for someone to help you. But by this time your cocoon is so tightly bound to you that none of it is visible on the surface. As much as you scratch the walls from the inside nothing will happen until the right time comes. Till then you will feel suffocated.. And at this time any physical violence seems appealing. You go through life oblivious to other people – too absorbed in your ball of fire.

Then, when the time comes the cocoon breaks and a beautiful butterfly comes out. That’s how the story goes right? But does anyone take notice of the fragility of the butterfly’s wings? The aimless fluttering from one flower to another? Yes, it looks beautiful from the outside but is it what it wanted to be? Did it ever ask to be a butterfly it looks was it ever asked whether it wanted to look beautiful? No.. It is just doomed to live that life. Only the butterfly will know what it truly wants. It will forever be reminded of that rage inside the cocoon which has only been nullified and not completely removed.

Love and Practicality

I miss those innocent little times when my days were filled with barbie dolls and my nights with fairy tales. Right from then we were made to believe in Prince Charmings, happy endings, love stories etc. All our lives as little girls we lived with the hope that one day there would be a prince charming and a magical fairy tale-ish love story waiting for us. But then we grew up and reality hit us! We realized that there were no fairy tales, tooth fairies and santas. There were only compromises, mirages of happiness and an occassional person who gets lucky and finds true love. These fairy tales seem so distant now. I cannot believe that I actually ever believed them. But a part of me also envies that little me who was capable of such imagination and belief. Just when we had fallen in love with these fairy tales, society made us grow up and face facts. We had to become practical. And today, we’ve become so practical that we wonder who makes glass slippers? whether Rapunzel ever has split ends and why Snow White hadn’t been given glucose drips when she was in coma.

v/s

Today love seems like a theory to me. Which is understandable but not easily applicable. Most of us look around all our lives desparately hunting for love, often substituting it with other shallow meaningless relationships. We trick ourselves into believing that every tiny emotion is love because we are scared that the probability of two people who are made for each other actually meeting each other is against us.

A Couple/The World Population = 2/7000000000 = 2.85714286 × 10^-10

Of course, Indian girls have the other option of arranged marriage, which after seeing the number above is a relief actually. You know that your parents will find some guy for you who is remotely like you and you have a remote chance, but a chance nevertheless at being happy. A lot of people criticize the Indian marriage system, but I’ve found that it does work at times. It has the same rate of success that love marriages have, and since the latter includes going out, socializing, finding a guy, getting him to like you – whoa! doesn’t sound like something people like me are capable of. From the time girls like me (who don’t get noticed much, have a small friends circle, cannot woo a guy, girls-only school types, who have more brains than beauty – you get the type) start noticing guys in that way we start picturing very fancy  soul mates, as we don’t have a lot of experience with guys and don’t know what guys are actually like in a relationship. As a result our dream-boys usually have a mix of Shahrukh Khan‘s charms, Salman Khan‘s body and Hrithik Roshan‘s dance moves. So again, when reality hits and we notice the real, average-looking guys around us, most of our dreams are shattered.

When we were around 12-13 our ideal guy would have been someone who

• loved us
• danced/sang/painted/wrote poetry
• cooked
• did gooey mushy romantic stuff for us
• agreed to every little whim and fancy that we had
• never looked at any other girl
• loved and respected his family
• etc etc etc.

around 5 years later, we come to a stage where we want a guy who

• doesn’t smoke/do drugs
• doesn’t have his jeans below his butt
• texts us every now and then
• doesn’t have too many whims and fancies that we have to agree to
• looks only at girls and not at guys
• atleast has a family and is still in contact with them
• etc etc etc

I wonder what will happen by the time we are 25?

So my basic question is, after all these confused notions of love which have been inspired by fairy tales, movies, books etc what are girls like me supposed to look forward to? A marriage which involves more family obligations, children and cooking than love? Or hope to some day be lucky enough to find that soul mate – however remote the chances may be! Is the modern Indian teenage girl more practical than romantic?

Travel Journal : Chennai-Pondichery

When I was small, I had this habit of writing down everything that would happen or everything that I would see or anything really – that would fascinate me on a vacation. As I grew up, that habit got lost somewhere. So I thought that this time I would do the same – keep a little ‘travel journal’. So, here goes:

28/10/2011

3:10 pm – frantically rushing around the house, grabbing things at the last minute (my family isn’t exactly the most efficient of packers )

3:15 pm – leaving the house

3:20 pm – reach the railway station (yeah, its practically in my backyard)

3:40 pm – jumped out of the train, ran to the nearest dust bin and threw my used tea cup (I hate people who litter) and ran back to the train just as it was about to start ( for a minute I felt like I was in that scene from Jab We Met, where Kareena Kapoor jumps on a running train – even though my train had barely started)

• So now I am sitting here looking out of the window at the passing lakes, trees, fields, houses etc. Its a beautiful sight really. Cut off from the city and looking at nature in its true form. I have an entire day in the train before I reach Chennai tomorrow morning. It feels so good to finally be on a vacation!! Observing the silence around me, as my parents and most of the other people are taking their afternoon naps , I sit here listening to the low humming of the train, the distant snores of a fellow passenger and the occasional vendor going ‘chai chai chai….’ I’m off for some time with Agatha Christie  and then some quiet time for myself.

9:30 pm – off to bed now

• Well, we had a marvelous time on the train today. We had sat down in the wrong compartment and were made to move – hauling all our luggage with us – to the right one. Once we reached there, we had nothing better to do than to hungrily wait for a vendor as we forgot to bring food for the journey. (yes – that is actually possible ) But after a good biryani meal, we are all settling down for the night.

29/10/2011

9:00 pm – Chennai!!!

• One entire day passed so fast!! Its been my dream to visit Chennai for a long time now, because I have been obsessed with Tamil movies. It was absolutely marvelous cruising around Chennai passing by Rajnikanth’s house along with the houses of C.M. Jayalalitha, Kamal Hassan, R. Madhavan, etc – walking along Marina beach and seeing M.G.R‘s and Annadurai‘s memorials. We spent some time in Express Avenue which is supposed to be the most happening mall in Chennai. Lunch was absolutely delicious in this place called Rajdhani, which gave us the traditional Rajasthani food experience. 

We set off to Pondichery in the evening and watched Suriya’s Singham on the way there. We have just reached Pondichery and it looks stunning. The rain might be a problem and right now its  chilling us to our bones!! Its dark and we can’t see much. But we can hear the inviting sound of the waves. We have decided to keep that for tomorrow and I’m just looking forward to dinner and a good night’s sleep right now!!

30/10/2011

11:00 am - Oh my God!!!!!!

• Pondichery!!!!! If this isn’t heaven, then heaven isn’t worth going to! I would rather just die here!! Do you know how I got up this morning? I heard the waves!! yes!! I can actually hear the waves AND see them just from my bed!! It is absolutely breathtaking!! Unfortunately we can’t get into the water here, but it is so tempting that I am considering breaking the law!! I can just sit here and watch the beach and the passers-by for now. A little bit of sightseeing and a little bit of shopping today. Can’t wait!!

Our Hotel

A view from my hotel room..

The balcony in the room

01:30 pm – Lunch/ Family reunion(the rest of the family has just arrived from Bangalore)

06:00 pm – Beach time! (walking on the pavement by the beach – with that salty fragrance in the air and the spray from the waves on our faces)

At night..

08:30 pm – Quiet dinner

• We chose to have dinner in the room today as all of us are feeling wondefully lazy and don’t want to get on our feet. We had set aside this entire day just for relaxation and rejuvenation and I think that the day has served its purpose. We all look so happy and so calm that there are no traces of the hectic schedules that we have left behind. Tomorrow we will begin the real exploring. Lets see how that goes.

31/10/2011

07:00 am – got up with great difficulty!

08:30 am – the start!

10:00 pm

• After a continental breakfast, we left for a day of sightseeing. We started the day with a visit to a Ganesha temple followed by a Panchavatee Hanuman temple. We then visited the Aurobindo ashram where silence is a must. You are not allowed to utter a word. All you can do is visit the samadhi of Sri Aurobindo and then leave. We didn’t really understand the significance of the silence and our guide told us that we would understand better when we visited Auroville – a small city on the Tamil Nadu-Pondichery border – which was artificially created on the command of The Mother – fondly called so as she took charge after the demise of Sri Aurobindo – making it a place to observe the silence and the simplicity that Sri Aurobindo preached. Even though we had to walk for around 2kms the experience was worth it. The city can accommodate over 50,000 residents and there is a huge golden globe placed in the center of the city. Inside the globe only true devotees of Sri Aurobindo are allowed to go in, to experience the ultimate silence, concentration and oneness with the divine consciousness. But sitting outside the golden globe (known as the Matrimandir) was also a ravishing experience. The scenic beauty coupled with the silence and the tranquil atmosphere is something which everyone should experience at least once in a life time. Auroville is a resplendent mini-city which doesn’t believe in religions, but believes in humanity.
• Lunch was at one of the local Chettinad restaurants called ‘Kaarai’.
• All of us were a little quiet after Auroville and we needed to lighten up a bit. The place we next went to was ideal for this. Boating! the backwaters, the beach, the breeze was just wow!! Basically they took us to the backwaters of Pondichery from where a boat takes us to a nearby island. We spend some time on the beach there and then we come back. Just pure fun.

• After the boating we went around the French colony (which is the area in which we lived) Pondichery was one of the holiday spots for the French when they were ruling in India. And hence a considerable part of the city is heavily influenced by French architecture. Most of the buildings in this area were built by the French themselves. The streets even have French names. This part is preserved as a tourist spot and a lot of the buildings have been modified as hotels, including the one we live in. After the French colony, we closed the day with a dainty French dinner.

01/11/2011

2:30 pm – brr!! the aftermath of a storm!!

• As we hadn’t had enough of the beach, we went to a private beach where we were allowed to go into the water. As we were enjoying our time in the water we noticed heavy clouds over our heads. We took this lightly thinking that it would only drizzle and that wouldn’t matter as we were already wet. Also cars aren’t allowed in the beach so we had to park a good half kilometer away from the beach. So when the rain came pouring down like it hadn’t in a few years we were stranded on the beach. There was no one else around and our bags, footwear, change of clothes – everything, got wet! We were already wet and the howling breeze literally gave me goosebumps. In some time the rain turned to hailstones and we could feel tiny ice specks hitting us. We could barely keep our eyes open, but we still had a lot of fun! Never, had I gotten wet like that in my life. The sea water and the rain water is a deadly combination. We couldn’t walk back because the road was slippery and the wind would have carried us away if we hadn’t stood rooted to a particular spot. But it was still an experience – a mind boggling, bone chilling one no doubt! When it finally slowed down a bit we got to the car, got back to the hotel had hot baths and took a good long nap! After a late lunch we spent the rest of the day recuperating from the storm.

walking off unsuspectingly, into the storm

9:30 pm – ultimate family time!

• The rest of the day was spent lounging out in one of our rooms watching Tamil movies and songs, playing cards and teasing each other. We decided to turn in early as we had a long journey back home the next day.

02/11/2011

07:30 am – All set to go back home – having one last look at the Pondi Beach.

02:00 pm – lunch at Mcdonald’s.

04:00 pm – Reached Bangalore. (my cousin’s house)

07:30 pm – Leaving for Mangalore (home!).

03/11/2011

07:00 am – Vacations are splendid, but there is no place like home! Glad to be back home

7aum Arivu

Produced by: Udhayanidhi Stalin

Directed by: A. R. Murugadoss

Starring:  Suriya, Shruti Haasan

Music by: Harris Jayaraj

The movie follows the life of a Arvind, who works in a circus. His life takes an interesting turn when he meets Subha, a genetic engineering student, and falls in love with her. He coincidentally meets her in several places and the two soon become friends. Just when he is about to admit to her that he is in love with her, he finds out that their meeting so often hadn’t been a string of coincidences but a planned strategy by Subha. The angered Arvind goes to her to find out why she had been playing with his heart, when he finds out that she had other, more important reasons to meet him. Though reluctant in the beginning, he eventually decides to help her out. The movie then spirals out into a world threatening plot which can only be stopped by Arvind and Subha.

Though it doesn’t sound like much, the plot is quiet interesting. I haven’t disclosed much because it takes away the fun in watching the movie. It is a typical A. R. Muragadoss plot which is detailed, lengthy and yet – believable. The story-telling manages to engage the audience all through the movie and moves smoothly from one scene to the other. Suriya was fabulous. The transition that he showed from the character of Arvind to Bodha Dharman was clear and well-defined. The way he is agitated and restless as Arvind and calm and collected as Bodha Dharman is close to perfect. And after a long time I’ve seen an Indian movie where the actress actually had a pivotal role and wasn’t just kept in the movie to look pretty (but she does look ravishing!). Shruti Hassan played the role of a researcher impeccably. That slight part where she seems to be distracted because of her love interest is done well and does take over the rest of the movie. Most of the movie concentrates on the main plot and seldom gets side-tracked by the ongoing love story between the lead pair.

The music wasn’t very good and sounded like it had been pieced together from different songs. The action sequences too went on for longer than needed. It tends to be irritating when the lead is engaged in fighting when you are really eager to know how the story is going to unfold. They haven’t been done very well either and in today’s day and age of advanced visual effects they are quite disappointing. All in all, it is an innovative concept and you can’t help but be interested in knowing what is exactly happening. The second half does tend to drag just a bit but that is pretty much ignorable.

Verdict: I wouldn’t mind watching it again!

Ra.One

Produced by: Gauri Khan

Directed by: Anubhav Sinha

Starring:

• Shahrukh Khan
• Kareena Kapoor
• Arjun Rampal
• Armaan Varma

Music by: Vishal-Shekhar

 

The story follows the life of Shekhar Subramanium, who creates a game where the villain can never be killed just to please his son. But all hell breaks loose when a character from the game – Ra.one – comes alive in the real world. He is in pursuit of  Subramanium’s son – Pratheek – who had left the game half-played and wishes to finish him off. As Pratheek is helpless against such a huge monster, he gets the hero – G.one – out of the game to help him. But G.one’s survival chances against Ra.one is 0.01%. Will he survive or will he be killed by Ra.one taking the boy along with him?

The story line as it is, is very simple, basic and uninteresting. The whole cast had to add a lot more so that the story line wouldn’t be noticed, but it was. This movie is basically for kids – anyone below the age of 15. It pretty much follows Krish except with better effects. Direction was impeccable and the director manages to keep you interested in the movie. Performance wise, I would Shahrukh Khan was as usual – outstanding and delivered very well. Suprisingly so did Arman Varma – the child actor. He had a major part in the movie and he maintained to hold himself and match up to Shahrukh Khan’s level. Arjun Rampal, was an outstanding villain, with that menacing look of his livening the screen up just when you were starting to get bored. But he was brought into the movie very late and half the time, you just kept wondering, ‘where is Arjun Rampal?’ Kareena Kapoor on the other hand, was just in the movie to look pretty, though she did do something mildly useful and interesting in the second half. But the movie would have gone on just fine, even if she hadn’t been there. She is just there to look pretty and doesn’t in anyway fit into the role of a South-Indian housewife. Its a total let down from her performance in Bodyguard. Its basically a one time watch. Its got perfectly timed dialogues, just a touch of humour, great sound and visual effects and believable action sequences. But since the story isn’t much, it wouldn’t hold my attention for the second time. SRK did everything else perfectly in his movie, he just neglected the script. Also, you never really understand just how the characters got out of the game. The music is a typical Vishal-Shekhar album and you love the bollywood feel to it. I really loved the song ‘Raftaarein’ and it would have been much better if they had put Arjun Rampal in the song instead of SRK. Akon‘s two songs have also been received well by the audiences and Ganesh Hegde also did justice to the songs. So basically, its a fun movie ( better watched in 2D ). And the excitement created by the hype goes down when you watch it. I wouldn’t say it was a ‘oh my god!! it was amazing’ kind of a movie, it’s more of a ‘its good’ kind of a movie.

Looking Out Of The Window: A Short Break

As she sat, looking out of her window for the last time, she thought of all the times something outside that window had comforted her. All the realizations she had had, just by looking out of the window. There was the ground, the trees and the city on the horizon. She knew that when college ended this would probably be one of the things she would miss the most. Who would have imagined that just one window would have inspired so much in her, that she would create a separate section for it on her blog. Oh boy! It would be one long month, without day dreaming beside her favorite window.

The semester is coming to an end, and ‘looking out of the window’ is having a small break till college reopens in November.

Just the moonlight!! :)

There’s just something soo romantic about standing under the moonlight and listening to ajeeb dastan hai yeh.. don’t get me wrong.. i am standing all alone out here!! but its still nice to imagine someone’s arms around you at this time.. i don’t stay in a city that never sleeps or anything. I live in a town where the roads are almost empty by 10 and at midnight (right now) its practically dead!! In fact, there is this quietness in the air that is just amazing!!

when the night has come.. and the land is dark.. and the moon is the only light..

hahahahaha!!

that is exactly how i feel right now!!

that, and the fireworks somewhere far out in the city on account of today (technically yesterday) being dushera!! it gives me some time to clear my head and get rid of all the muck i have been thinking of these past few days.. like all my friends hate me.. i’m a total loser.. i can’t write.. etc etc. its only the moonlight that can make sense to you and make you see some light at times like this!!

of late, i felt that i couldn’t really write and i kept hunting around, desperately, for topics to write on. but today(tonight), though this is really just a random post, i somehow felt like my fingers finally connected with my keyboard and that from now on things will be better!!

earlier in the evening

ok.. so i know that my camera isn’t very good (its just a 1.3 megapixel afterall.) but these were all the pictures i could get. its just a glimpse of what i could see.. which was 10 times better than these photos, because what you see, what you experience in person can never be captured in a photo.

right now, i just need to go to bed and dream about all the nice things that i am thinking of right now!!

Bodyguard

Yet another guest post from another one of my best friends, this one being a die-hard Salman Khan fan (no wonder she chose to review this movie!!) Known to be spontaneous, unpredictable, creative, super smart and i’m also pretty sure she ate an encyclopedia when she was small, this friend of mine doesn’t have a blog yet, but after reading this review, if you feel that this one needs to create a blog ASAP, then please let her know.

BODYGUARD – By Sujatha Nayak Sujir

Produced by – Reliance Entertainment

Directed by – Siddique

Starring – Salman Khan, Kareena Kapoor

Music – Himesh Reshammiya

It couldn’t get any better for a Salman Khan fan like me!! A bag of popcorn, a large Pepsi, and a rom-com to go with it on a rainy afternoon. Like I said, it couldn’t get any better! J J Salman Khan – romancing his lady love and fighting the gundas for her – basically doing what he is best at! Blush! Kareena Kapoor – The damsel in distress and some amazingly good songs – a perfect combination for a Bollywood blockbuster! (No surprises when it became the highest opening day grosser ever!)

Lovely Singh (Sallu Bhai), son of Balwant Singh, is indebted to Sartaj Rana (Raj Babbar) for saving his mother when she was expecting and hence gets on the mission to save Divya Rana (Kareena Kapoor), Mr. Rana’s daughter from the local goons. But Divya is not very happy with the idea of a bodyguard following her around college, invading her privacy! (Even entering the wash room accidentally! ) So after frequent and failed attempts to get rid of Lovely, Divya and her best friend Maya (Hazel Keech) prank call him with the name Chaya. Poor Lovely Singh, being a hopeless romantic at heart falls for the prank and coincidentally Divya starts falling for Lovely, knowing that they can’t have a future together. Sartaj Rana suspecting a romance brewing between the two of them sends his men after Lovely Singh! Just in time, Divya sends her “BFF” to Lovely to reveal her true identity! What happens next? Well.. you need to watch the movie to find out!

Salman Khan- The Bodyguard, the boy-next-door, the average Indian male doing more than average (rather extraordinary!) stunts. So many different shades of Mr.Commitment in a 3 hour flick! Kareena Kapoor looks stunning throughout the movie – a true fashionista! Hazel Keech, the debutante has a perfectly sound screen presence despite two other superstars sharing screen space with her! One character in the movie one can’t miss is Tsunami Singh – a little on the healthier side and hilarious – Tsunami is way too adorable!! Although Himesh Reshammiya has composed the music for this movie, guest composer Pritam takes home all the accolades for his romantic number ‘I Love You! (At least a goofy smile lightens up my face every single time I listen to it!)

Another one of Salman Khan’s Eid releases seems to have struck the chord with the general masses ofIndia! Although I have to admit that the storyline is wafer-thin, true SK fans will love this movie!! I wouldn’t mind falling into trouble if I had a Lovely Singh by my side… What about you??

Aarakshan

This is a guest post written by a budding writer, a devoted movie watcher, a true fan of this movie, a dedicated student, a marketing enthusiast, a Ranbir Kapoor fan and also a very close friend of mine. If you would like to write a guest post for this blog, please click here.

Looking out of the window: a little rain

She looked outside the window and noticed the moist ground, the slightly wet trees and that smell you get from the ground after a shower of rain. She smiled and wondered how things could change so fast. When she had left for lunch the ground was absolutely dry – as if it were a parched throat in need of water. And in thirty minutes it looked so beautiful. There had barely been a shower, for the amount of rain that had poured was not much. Yet, that little rain was enough to transform the ground. She realized that it was the same with life. Life needed a little shower to bloom. On the previous day, she had thrown party for a good friend and the day had gone splendidly. But when she reached home she was faced with a different atmosphere. She had to make a choice, and her career depended on it. But it was so difficult for her to choose that she couldn’t sleep well that night. As a result, she had been grumpy all morning. After snapping at a lot of people, she finally calmed down after lunch. That was when she realized that, though she still hadn’t come to a conclusion, all she needed was a little unexpected shower in her life. and her frown would be turned upside down again. Life was unexpected, and the lows would come along with the highs. All she had to do was wait.. She smiled and continued to look out of the window.

My First Blogoversary!!! :)

After thinking all day about how to make this day special and what can I possibly paste today which will be completely different and unique, I still have no idea!! I am happy that I have been blogging for a year now – but that’s just how I can describe the feeling – as happy. no more, no less. I remember this time last year; I had an exam the next day and I really wasn’t interested in studying, so I went online and started browsing. eventually I came across this article on Yahoo which took me to a another article, written on a WordPress.com blog – ‘My Pakistani Life And Other Disasters.’ it was quick, witty, to the point and had this sarcastic humour which just tickled me the right way. I never really found that blog after that day, but it impressed me so much that I knew I had to have my own blog. That first day, it was like getting a new phone – exploring every nook and corner of my dashboard, my blog and finding out how things worked on wordpress. I read about half a dozen blogs before I carefully posted my very first post. I didn’t want to tell anyone because I felt it wasn’t really ready. I wasn’t ready for the criticisms/praises coming my way from my family and friends. I remember the next day, I couldn’t help smiling in the exam hall thinking about my new blog. it was like this secret of mine – it felt like I had a treasure map or something. and today, when I look at my archives – it goes from august 2010 to august 2011!! for some reason that really pleases me. it feels like I have finished an entire circle. I have learnt so much – from other bloggers and from my blog too. and I can’t help but feel that my writing has improved too. I still have a long way to go, but at least this is a start. I have changed this last one year, as a person and as a writer and this blog has made me more serious about taking up writing professionally. whatever said and done, I love this blog with all my heart and soul and today we completed one year of this marvelous writing experience!!!!

Happy Blogoversary to me!!!

Freedom

Freedom is the one thing that has been dear to all people right from the beginning of time. In the Stone Age, man wanted freedom from wild animals and so he discovered fire. To obtain freedom from the religious differences that his subjects faced, Akbar created din-i-llahi. To gain freedom from the Russians inAfghanistan, the Taliban was created. Accordingly history shows us many examples of man’s love for freedom. It is a topic that often raises dispute, as its true meaning is defined differently by different people. That is because freedom is different. It differs from person to person. For an infant the freedom to cross the road means a lot, but it would mean nothing to a grown adult. But no matter what form it is seen in, it is cherished everywhere in this world. That is why the independence day of any nation is considered to be the most important day of the whole year.

But what does freedom mean? Is it making oneself happy? Or is it making others happy? A Greek historian named Thucydides said that the secret to happiness is freedom. And the secret to freedom is courage. Indeed. When your mind is free of disturbances and troubles you will know true happiness. When the society around you is free you will be happy. But free from what?? Just becauseIndiagot independence in 1947 doesn’t mean that our country is free. For we aren’t free from poverty, communalism, terrorism, etc. It is not merely a label like the ones we used in school. Just because you label a notebook as your history notebook, it doesn’t become a history notebook. When you write your history notes in it, it will become a history notebook. Similarly, by claiming to be independent, you do not become independent. You have to show your independence to the world. But does that mean that you do absolutely what you want to do, without listening to a word that is said to you? No. you will merely make a fool of yourself. Like A.G. Gardiner said, in order that the liberties of all may be preserved, the liberties of everybody must be curtailed. To prove my point I would like to compare the freedom given to teenagers in the west and the east. Being from the east, I have observed that most of us here feel that we are not being given enough freedom. Yes. Compared to the west we are not given as much freedom, but do we publicly humiliate fat people? Do we consider loosing our virginity in our teens normal? No, we don’t. It is because we have been curtailed in certain aspects that we have a certain sense of moral responsibility. Whereas in the west, teens have not been curtailed in areas where they should have been and as a result they feel they can do what they want to do.

 

Taking another aspect of freedom, I would like to go back to the time of the great Mahatma. Gandhiji wanted freedom for our country. We got it. Or did we? He gave us the freedom to make our own salt and to wear our own clothes. But what are we doing today? Do we buy clothes from big bazaar or from the united colors of Benetton? Do we buy shoes from Bata or from Gucci? We have the freedom to make our own clothes but it is challenged by our liberty to spend our money lavishly. Then again we have also taken the liberty to go through a one way road when no one is looking; we have taken the liberty to urinate on the road and to drink on a dry day. So right from Gandhiji’s time we have had a lot of freedom. But it is up to us to choose what is right for us. That is why it is said that just like freedom is a label, it is also a license. We must not take our independence for granted, for like Stephen Covey said while we are free to choose our actions, we are not free to choose the consequences of our actions.

 

InIndiawe have been given the right to freedom. It includes the freedom of speech or expression. But we do not openly abuse others. We do not express views that might be susceptible or sensitive. For example, in the case of Raj Thakeray, who publicly opposed the migrants from northIndiainMaharashtra. It created uproar as all north Indians were deeply hurt by his words. Learning from his mistake, we keep our opinions to ourselves about such things and try to curtail such thoughts.  Mahatma Gandhi once said freedom is not worth having if it does not include the freedom to make mistakes. We have made our mistakes and we have dealt with the consequences. It is now time to confidently take a stride towards the right freedom. That is, the freedom which we require or the freedom which we need- and not the one that we want.