Fight Against Loneliness: A Quick Guide

* Hold your breath. Count to three. Release.

* Take on more work than you can handle. Talk about work as soon as you wake up.

* Try not to be alone. Be with people around you all day. Being alone will lead to mindfuck.

* Don't blink for longer than you have to.

* Watch television for three hours at a stretch.

* Don't listen to sad songs.

* Don't listen to romantic songs.

* Don't sing along with any songs.

* Keep your body close and tight. Keep your mind even closer.

* Laughing forcibly will hurt. Keep it to a smile.

* Let your smile stretch till your jaw hurts and you don't know what you're smiling about anymore.

* Eat a lot.

* Eat nothing at all.

* Rationalise, rationalise, rationalise.

* Never date again.

* Stop thinking about making out.

* Stop thinking about sex.

* Don't watch the rain.

* Don't watch the sea at the beach.

* Contemplate joining a gym.

* Contemplate joining a dance class

* Contemplate going home again.

* Avoid happy couples.

* Avoid happy people.

* Close your eyes. Count to three. Jump.

I'll be just fine. Eventually.

The time to be happy is now…n the place to be happy is here…

The time to be happy is now and the place to be happy is here..
N the way to be happy is to make someone happy
And to have a little heaven right here..
And to have a little heaven right here..

I used to hear this song on Repeat mode then. Those days I was always happy…and then…...

I grew up.

Its very difficult to get a rickshaw from Vile Parle-West station. Yesterday I just happened to get one soon. I was goin to Irla, when I saw an aunty waiting for a rickshaw. I asked her where she was headed, and since she wanted to get down after me, offered her to come along. She profusely thanked me, but directed the rickshaw in such a way that she got down first and I was left with a long detour of that area. She paid, obviously! But still, sometimes, making someone happy doesn’t ensure it makes you happy too.

But yes, making someone happy does make you happy more often than not.

In today’s times when some & most of us are grappling with so many things at a time. It’s a challenge to be happy, forget making some one else happy. Long distance relationships, tyrant bosses, heartbreaks, dealines, local train travel, May heat, an unfriendly metabolism rate, US recession, bad hair days, depletion of the ozone layer so on n so forth..not to forget uncooperative rickshaw-walas..

Some days ago, I opened the pantry door for the pantry boy who serves us Tea/Coffee everyday as his hands were laden with trays. He grinned, and I was happy.

Then one day I gave up my difficultly procured rickshaw to an elderly lady going in the opposite direction. She just touched my head and smiled. I was happy.

The other day, I called up my friend from the US, who was going through a difficult period (no guesses reqd: Love Life) and shared her woes for atleast an hour. She was relieved, so was my Vodafone postpaid. And I was happy.

Greatly these days I have begun to believe its more about making others happy. Happiness is a derivative, and its underlying is the people around us, some known to us, yet many others simply strangers.

One good deed a day, however small, however insignificant is all it takes for…………………………..

HAPPINESS.

By-Anonymous

Couldn't think of a Title

I knew I needed a b_eak f_om office and an u_gent t_ip to Mau_itius with a couple of blonde gi_ls the moment I _ead my p_evious post. It looked like it had been typed by a guy agg_essive enough to make And_ew Symonds look like a messenge_ of peace with a couple of white doves pe_ched on his shoulde_s . Luckily, wo_k in office cooled down, I fell sick n that clashed with some bank holidays, so got a nice b_eak.

Anyway, now you visualize me spending the b_eak watching TV, sp_awled on a couch, with the left hand lazily swooping popco_ns off a big plastic bowl and the _ight hand g_ipping the _emote, and I think you_ visualization captu_es my plans beautifully. But I also intend to make some meaningful acts , which compa_e well with the discove_y of fi_e , Mallika She_awat and othe_ such things in te_ms of thei_ impact on mankind. Fo_ example , I need to watch my weight now . I mean , little kids a_e not exactly pointing finge_s at me and yelling ‘Look mama , that ball has legs !” , but a little bit of physical activity neve_ killed anybody , unless that activity _esulted in pissing off Mike Tyson .

Also, the_e is this _ocking insu_ance policy which I want to get fo_ myself, but im not eligible fo_ it coz im 13 kgs ove_weight fo_ it.

So, I ve been walking up the stai_s of my office (7 floo_s – twice daily) and skipping eating othe_s’ lunch & eating only mine, among othe_ things. I don’t think I ve lost weight yet, but im al_eady feeling lighte_…

Talking about television, what’s w_ong with Aaj Tak people ? I mean , I had a feeling they we_e p_etty low on news the day I saw a 30 minute capsule named “Yeh kaisa _ishta” which was about a female monkey in Madhya P_adesh which was b_inging up half a dozen pups and picking thei_ lice and feeding them he_ own milk ( As if I have eve_ seen a monkey buying polypacks f_om a mothe_ dai_y). But if someone was to watch Aaj Tak ove_ the last 15 days , he would be absolutely confident that the only man who is left on the face of this ea_th is the G_eat Khali , the mahabali Da_inda , ‘Jo apne dushmano ko kuchal deta hai’ , ‘Jiska naam sunte hee uske dushmano ki aatma kaanp jaati hai’ , and , I hea_d this yeste_day , ‘Jo duss babba_ she_o jitna taakatwa_ hai’ . Oh , by the way , if you don’t know who Khali is , he is a WWE w_estle_ of Indian O_igin who is 7’3” , weighs 190 kgs and you should be ve_y happy you don’t owe him any money. I guess Khali would discove_ a lot of info_mation about himself if he sta_ts watching Aaj Tak _egula_ly.

Also , I watched ‘_ace’ at a multiplex _ecently . To cut it sho_t , and to save 175 bucks on the ticket and 85 bucks on the bu_ge_ + coke , it’s a movie whe_e eve_ybody is evil with a head bubbling with deadly plans , eve_ybody is in bed with somebody , and eve_ybody is d_iving an exotic ca_ which costs a_ound fifty times my expected lifetime ea_nings . But the movie left me with a ve_y distu_bing message – “You wanna be a winne_ ? Please kill those mo_als fi_st” . I mean , if I would have watched that movie when I was six , I would have g_own up thinking that being t_uthful is an insult . Not that I am a Ha_ishchand_a-2 , but the people in the flick do not even t_y. Of cou_se , the_e is one anothe_ image f_om the movie which will not leave me till I b_eathe my last – That of a topless Akshaye Khanna standing chest facing towa_ds the came_a. At least th_ee XL sized sweate_s could have been knitted out of the hai_ on his chest, I swea_. Add Anil Kapoo_ to that , and you have the _aw mate_ial fo_ the complete winte_ collection of _ohit ‘Bal’ .

By the way, who didn’t feel like obliging to Kat_ina when she danced do “za_a za_a……” . I so LOVE he_….

P.S. Going through a blog post is so tough without "R". I hope i dont have to go through life . . . without "R".

Format : Bullets and Numbering

• I have stopped making plans for outings with friends. It is much better than making plans and then cancelling.

• Have become incredibly assertive at work . Am shooting off mails which rattle up people the way a rattlesnake in your soup would rattle you . Got into a sharp debate with my manager last week .Took apart an office boy who was taking his time checking if my courier had come in. Diving to a deeper level , I am tired of people walking all over me , and I am letting them know I don't like it . And bad news for them , I am liking letting them know .

• I am transforming into a workaholic . The types who have their cars in the office parking lot when all the other ones have left, whose cabin lights are switched on when lights of the the whole bulding are off. Have worked on 10 out of the 20 weekends since November 2007 . Monday is no more a scary day . I send out office mails almost every Sunday . Two weeks ago , sent a mail to boss at 1.50 am . He stamped into my cabin next morning and insisted that I get a girlfriend. Not that I want to be on the cover of Time . But I like working .

• I regret not helping a kid who wanted help with her school farewell speech . I said I will help out , then totally lost track of that . I have cancelled dinner with R atleast 6 times in the last 2 weeks. If they had a record for the number of promises broken , my picture would be in the Guiness Book . Front cover . Full color.
  

• I love my family more than anything and will stab for them . A female at my office called me a mama's boy when she heard me saying "Will leave office in 10 minutes , ma" on phone . I said "Yeah , I am a mama's boy . I love my mom . And I totally understand it if people from your side of the world eat their mothers , but we dont .We love them all our lives." I actually said that . If you ever needed to understand what a stunned woman looks like , you should have been there .

• Why does everybody in the conference room laugh when the big boss cracks an intended joke ? I did not find it funny . A funeral is more funny than his joke was . But the guy on my left slapped the table twice and roared . Another one could not stop giggling for a complete forty seconds . I mean , was it in the terms and agreement when they joined ?

• Some time ago , a friend of mine , who seems to be a male from what I know of him , commented that I am a lovable person . I still have not decided if that is to be classified as a compliment or a gayish attempt at molestation .

• I have started speaking like my boss. "I will only ask WHY ?" and "I don't care a Fuck" being my most used sentences with "I dont want to hear the process. Show me the result" coming a close second. Of course i get to hear them from my Boss atleast 3 times more than i speak them, but.... I dont care a Fuck !
  

• 5 months in the new job. And I am almost into the habit of thinking in bullets . I think you have an idea of that.

BABY !!!!

"Gooo..umm.nanana...mm...gaa..maa..eesh"
( translation - If I am not cute , you are Gulshan Grover)

For 95 minutes , a two year old pink bundle with hair as scarce as Bruce Willis' , teeth as few as my neighbour's granddad's , and a brain as immature as mine ,kept saying the line above ,and me , a 23 year old , with all my sinew and rugged looks (!!!) , kept chuckling like mickey mouse was tickling me on my bottoms.Watching "Baby's Day Out" just brought out the "mamta ka saagar" part of my personality again.

I really love babies.Every Homo sapien does.If you do not love babies , "ding dong ! MK Travel Services got a one way ticket to Pluto for you , at very reasonable rates now ! Please contact us , grab the ticket and go off to pluto to never come back , because someone who doesnt love babies doesnt deserve to be on earth.ding dong !."

You need to have a heart made out of melted iron pipes , to not love a little baby.The best thing about little babies is that everything is so little. Little fingers , little lips , little eyes , little toes , little feet , little ears.And they are not really thinking ahead.I really think that babysitters have the most pleasing job , right up there with that of Emraan Hashmi.In both cases , you get paid to play with semi naked and soft people.

My dad must have been born with a camera around his neck and a couple of kodak reels stuffed in his diapers.And the first words he said must have been "Say Cheese!".He just loved clicking pictures of I was a baby. Back at home , we have photo albums which would outweight the prime customer of your local weight reduction clinic.So I still get out one of those albums and spend hours poring over those baby photographs and wondering what comet hit this little cute cuddly baby in the picture to grow up into something like me.

But now that I have grown up , its like a "girly" thing to talk about babies.For the sake of protecting my claims to any kind of masculanity , I generally avoid talk about babies.Because when I dont avoid it , something like this follows :

Me ( excited voice ): Hey I love little babies , they are so cute !

Rahul ( 5'11" , unshaved , deep voice ) - Dude , you need to drink some buckets of testosterone soon.

Kaushik ( 5 ' 10" , bulging biceps , deepest voice ) - Dude, you remind me of my grandmother .

Varun ( 6' 02" , spiked hair , deeper voice ) - I think you love wearing pink frocks and read "cyndrilla" and sing "ring-a-ring-a-roses" too ?

Me ( low , subdued voice ) : I ..just like babies yaar..I am normal.

I know you would smirk and think - "He has just wiggled the little noses and tickled the little toes of babies belonging to aunts.Wait till some baby shits on his favorite blue corduroy trousers and pisses on his starched white shirt and wails like a puppy just when he has to watch a soccer game on the television".But with all due respect to babies of the world ,I claim that I can calm down any baby and make it smile before you can spell 'Hi'.And I dont even need cartoon network or stuffed toys for that. Handsome ( with just a little plastic surgery to do ) , educated , baby calming capability , intelligent ( serious allegations against this one )..what more can any girl desire in a man ?

And there are only two things that make me even think of marriage.First ,a rich father-in-law.Second , the thought of watching a little baby grow up.

Last month , I was vehemantly arguing with mom and claiming that marriages got popular because gas chambers went out of fashion.

Me ( to ma ) - Marriage !! A monkey has to come out of my ear before I even think of marriage.

I walk upto the television , watch "amazing baby videos" on discovery , get all senti senti over little babies and hence marriage and walk back to mom.*

Me ( to ma ) - Ma , have you seen a big brown monkey with a pink face and a fuzzy tail around this place ? Let me know if you spot it.It ran off right after It came out of my ear."

IPL - Will it or Wont it

The auction is over, players have got their moolah, team names have been announced, logistics are in place, ticket sales will start soon and on April 18^th 2008, we shall witness the first edition of the Indian Premier League, or should I say THE DLF INDIAN PREMIER LEAGUE.

Millionaires have been made in exchange of 44 days of games.

BCCI is the biggest winner, hands down. The players have benefited too. The buying teams – well, they believe they will recover their “investments” within a couple of years.

All’s well that ends well.

For us viewers, most of us are all excited for this BIG T20 tournament to begin and can’t wait till 18^th April. We believe it’s going to be one cracker of a championship. There seems no reason to believe it won’t work – after all, the T20 world cup was a smash hit, and what’s more – India won that.

But there is one small glitch. WHO WILL YOU SUPPORT ?

To enjoy any sport, I believe & correct me if I am wrong, you need to support a player / team, you need to take sides. There will be very few people who watch a sport just to see a nice game / match / race etc. Most of us would want a Nadal to defeat a Federer, a ManU to defeat a Chelsea, a Hamilton to outrace an Alonso and an India to defeat a Pakistan.

Cricket, unlike football has traditionally been a “country vs. country” sport. We support a team – we support a nation. In Football, national games are much less watched as compared to club matches. So a ManU or a Barca will have more loyalty than a England or Brazil. Not so in cricket. Not till now.

I am a Mumbaikar, so logically, I would support the Mumbai Indians in the IPL. But in a match against the Kolkata Knight riders, when Ishant bowls to Sachin – who would I cheer for ?

When a R.P. Singh (Hyderabad) bowls to Dada (Kolkata), would I want dada to hit him for a six or RP to get him out.

When Sree Santh gets Dhoni out, will I be happy or sad ?

When Ponting helps Dada’s team win against Dravid’s, will I be happy ? For that matter, will Dada be happy ?

I won’t enjoy the cricket. I am not a “Mumbai Indian”, nor a “Kolkata Knight Rider” supporter. I just support the Men in Blue. What about you ?

Bachchan & Bharat

A couple of things that crossed my mind last week . . .

1. Why did Amitabh Bachchan name the Girl's college he plans to build in Barabanki after daughter in law Aishwarya Bachchan & not after his Late mother Teji Bachchan ?

Also, a friend enlightened me - This act of AB means that he has named a Girls College after a person who has not completed her college education.

Yes, Mrs. Abhishek Bachchan is apparently a college dropout.

2. Watching the Star Screen Awards last weekend, i was surprised that Manoj "Bharat" Kumar was given the Lifetime Achievement Award.
Isn't it quite late ?

I mean, people like Dharmendra, Rekha, Sunil Dutt, Hema Malini, Javed Akhtar, Jaya Bachchan etc. have been awarded the Lifetime Achievement already. Why wasn't Manoj Kumar honoured earlier ?

Or, was this because of the whole OSO - Manoj Kumar fiasco. Manoj Kumar had raised a lot of dust & settled it almost abrubtly. Was this award a trade-off ? Go figure...

By the way, it definitely didn't help that the telecast people panned the camera on SRK's face more than on Manoj Kumar when he was being given the award.

...Threshold...

Being the guest writer on Mihir’s blog is a super daunting task. I mean, just looking at his body of work, anyone in his/her right mind would think long…and hard….And so did I…Its been almost a month since Mihir has bestowed this honour upon me…and I…well…
So finally Mihir said “Arre kuch bhi likh yaar”. “Kuch bhi” comes difficult to most mortals. He wouldn’t know, obviously, not belonging to my breed….
So here goes…On the self imposed condition of anonymity (to save more of his honour, than mine) I finally begin with my “kuch bhi”

As this year ebbs itself out and the new one surges upon us, I can’t help but feel pangs of anxiety, anticipation, excitement, fear and many other such abstract nouns. I relent, it is but natural. Maybe most share my feelings. But this year it is a bit different. This year I am experiencing superlative degrees of all the above described abstract nouns and many undescribed ones too…

May be 23 years spells a threshold in a girl’s life. (Anonymity maintained…I could be a girl trapped in a guy’s body)..hahaha…whatever!!!! In today’s day and age…no one would even raise a hair of their eyebrow on that statement. Ya so where was I…Oh yess…at my threshold…
Today, as I grapple with what I want in life, I realize I have to grapple with what life has to offer also. At 23, I don’t see myself at any crossroads. Rather I see many roads stretching out in the same direction. And I realize, crossroads could have been so much better. Its either the right or the left…Here I can see a career road, a marriage road, a further studies road so on and so forth….

Am I ready for some if not all roads??…Ya sure.
Am I looking forward for some if not all roads??....Yes definitely
Am I sure of what I want??...Umm…aa..mm…err…
(“No” can be a frightful answer…so I’ve chosen to make all sorts of sounds in the above answer.)

I searched the word “want” in the Microsoft Word Thesaurus and the search throws up words like “desire”, “wish for”, “fancy”, “would like”, “feel like”, “crave”, ”covet”, “yearn for” and many other relevant ones. All entire in their description of “want” but lacking in what I “want” to say…Hahah..
Coz if one asks me what I desire?..what I fancy?…what I yearn for?…what I would like? I do have some selfish answers to provide. Ya ya…”world peace” is also one of them..

But if you as me what I want from life..what I would absolutely love to do, and if I would take the leap if I got a chance?? I go back to my sounds…

I wish one day I could just shout “Eureka” and run out of the bath tub…ok…no erase that thought...just shout “Eureka” and say “Yea!!! This is what I want to do…this is what I’ve been looking for.”
I wish I could just choose my road and plunge onto it full throttle knowing exactly where I’m headed and knowing exactly where I would reach…

Till then I’m just enjoying my threshold…Looking far ahead at my roads…and just knowing I’ll set out on one sooner…

Good Deed For The Day, Every Day

www.freerice.com

This is the name of the site.

Tagline : "For each word you get right, we donate 10 grains of rice through the United Nations to end world hunger"

What you have to do is guess the meanings of the given words and for each correct guess, 10 grains of rice are donated.

The words are not that tough (atleast till level 40). So, friends, go ahead and donate as much as you can, while improving your vocabulary power. Please do this every day. I do. Lets make this minuscule contribution ourselves each day to bring an end to world hunger.

P.S. Imagine how little 10 grains is. So donate much much more. And, pass the word

Love Thy Neighbour !

I could blog about how I actually dreamt of Mallika Sherawat playing the role of Mother Teresa in her next movie, which is a soul disturbing thing to even dream of. I could blog about how I found ‘Heyy Babyy’ , which could well have had the audience sending asking the director – ‘Heyy Bhagwaan?’.I could blog about how I have been listening to the song ‘In Dino’ from "Metro" so many times in a day which must be making my music payer beg for a bullet by now.

But I did not blog over the last week.

I wish I could have said “You see , managing three highly violent and Mithun “hoye saala” Chakraborty influenced kids is just so difficult and time consuming , it just does not allow me to blog”. But due to lack of appropriate people and opportunity , I have no kids.So I just have to blame Robin for my failure to blog over the last week.

Remember Robin ? The “gareebo ka maseeha” outlaw.His merry band. The Sherwood forest.The sheriff of Nottingham.The ballads.The pretty Queen Elanor.Ok , now do not yell “mujhe sab yaad aa gaya !”.Because I am not talking about Robin Hood .

Instead I am talking about a certain Robin Sharma , who wrote a certain “The monk who sold his Ferrari” , which is about a certain monk selling a certain Ferrari .He also wrote another book “Who will die when you cry?”..err…its “Who will cry when you die ?” I picked up this book and spent the last week reading it and thinking over it.Now , I am not the intellectual and liberated youth who sports a little goatee , wears ‘kurtas’ over faded jeans , has ideas on poverty elimination and capital punishment and can spend light years arguing social topics over coffee with more people of his kind. I hardly read anything which is spiritual or even pseudo spitirual. It was just that the last time I was at Shoppers' Stop waiting for a friend, a 'no-lack' of free time and a lack of headphones, combined to create acute boredom for me , almost a mild form of depression infact.So I walked into a book there , eyed the glossy health magazines with young and slim ladies smiling on their covers , contemplated if "those" were silicon implants , and then bought the “Who will cry when you die” thing , primarily because of its low cost.

So a major part of the last week was spent reading it , doing math practice, watching movies , listening to music and attending classes for a change.Now , this book , in its chapter 17 , suggests the reader to make a little list of people one wish would live next door to him/her.Robin-jee says , that this would help one get clearer about the attributes he / she likes and then be aware of the need to inculcate them within oneself. Now , I found this interesting.To think of people I would want to stay in my neighbourhood.Let me try.



1. Katrina Kaif

My university results are out.I flunk in three subjects.There were three subjects in all.Dad shouts at me.Mom looks away.Slamming doors.I feel suffocated and angry and walk out into the street. And just then , Katrina jogs past in a pink track suit . She slows as she passes me , flashes a smile and cheerfully says “ Hi !”.I if I do manage to say anything , I would just mouth “Katrina jee , I just flunked my exams ,all of them , that too by a huge margin. But trust me , I never felt better than I feel right now.”

2. Jim Carrey

I am out of sugar .Wife is too lazy to move her little finger . I go over to Jim’s door to borrow some sugar. He invites me in and … before you think we go into his bedroom , stop thinking. He gives me the sugar and asks me to stay for a quick coffee .And over coffee , even if he does ten percent of something like his ‘Dumb and Dumber” act , I would be laughing my diaphragm out.I really want to see this guy living around me. He is the funniest guy I have seen.And I would pray we run out of sugar.

3. Mike Tyson

I understand this imposes a considerable threat to my “izzat” and the “izzat” of the colony’s “bahu and betiyan”. But this guy is entirely for security purposes.With a “tyson’s” house in the locality , any thief needs to be suicidal to even think of doing his business in our colony.And I may just get to be friendly with Tyson , with pleasing advantages. Boss shouts at me. Tyson beats boss. “Sabjiwallah” charges me higher for tomatoes.Tyson beats “sabjiwallah”.Wife shouts at me.Well , that’s normal.

P.S. – My original choice for the brawny neigbour was Salman Khan , but with his kind of driving skills and feelings for Katrina , he had to be disqualified.

4.Sri Sri Ravi Shanker.(Is there one more 'sri' ?)

Now this guy is important.Whenever I fail in life , spirituality comes in handy. I make fifty thousand bucks in stocks and I go to posh hotel and land up in a sauna bath and I feel fine.I lose fifty thousand bucks in stocks and I go to guru jee’s house and he says ‘ money is an illusion’ and I feel fine.

The list would run longer than Shilpa Shetty’s legs , if I keep going on.So this is it for now. By the way, who is your dream neighbour ( s ) ?

Woman Empowerment

Woman Empowerment. Two words done to death by repeated usage is all possible contexts by the media.

Empower is defined by the dictionary as “ to give or delegate power or authority to or to give qualities or abilities to”

So let’s discuss what exactly Woman Empowerment is.

Is it Sania Mirza reaching world no. 29 in the WTA rankings?
No, that’s just her hard work & dedication finally paying off.

Is it more women joining the workforce or the corporate world & standing shoulder to shoulder with men ?
No, that’s women just claiming their due. This had to happen sooner or later & I guess you will agree with me on this.

Then, is it SRK’s rag tag bunch of 16 winning the hockey world cup & the movie making money inspite of it being unabashedly feminist ?
Nah, the movie’s just a reflection of society & how it has come to accept females in roles other than home makers.

Then, it must be the Election of Pratibha Patil as the FIRST WOMAN PRESIDENT of India. This is the first case of “empowerment” we’ve got among all the examples discussed. But again, wasn’t that just dirty politics, or should I just say politics, the word dirty always implied !!

So now let me discuss a concept which is as far from Woman Empowerment, as it is a reflection of it in some twisted way.

It’s about RAPE.

Hindustan Times – August 21, 2007

A local court has rejected the defence's contention that conviction in a rape case cannot be based on the sole testimony of the victim and sentenced a man to 10 years in jail for raping a minor two years ago.

The judge said, “Conviction can be based on the sole testimony of the prosecutrix (girl) if she is trustworthy”

The defence had, during the trial, challenged Kumar's prosecution, contending that since the girl's testimony was not corroborated by any other evidence and there was no independent witness, he could not be held guilty. The court, however, refused to accept this argument and cited various judgments of the Supreme Court.

So, had the Supreme Court set a precedent for this judgement ? The answer, as it turns out, is a resounding YES.

The Times of India – July 29 2007

A recent Supreme Court judgment convicted a rape accused relying solely on the victim's testimony despite the medical evidence not proving occurrence of intercourse.

The key for the court is that the testimony of the victim should be "cogent, convincing and trustworthy."

Very subjective & idealistic indeed

In the given case, a medical test was carried out on the victim & also her body was examined. No proof of intercourse was established. Also, there were no injury marks found anywhere on her body implying a struggle or forceful intercourse.

But, the court said any departure from this rule of attaching weight to the victim's statement would put women in a more vulnerable position.

It said that no woman would lie about a crime, an act so grave & violating. Idealistic, yes. True, no.

So guys, any “trustworthy” girl whose testimony is “cogent & convincing” can put you in jail – maybe for cheating on her, maybe for no reason at all.

There is definitely a possibility that women will try & harass men by leveling false rape charges on them as they know that the law as well as the sentiments of the judge would be in their favour.

So, don’t get me wrong here, I’m a complete feminist at heart. Let’s all be idealistic here. Let’s assume. . . NO, let’s agree that no woman will ever lie about an act so violative of the woman’s body, mind & spirit. But, you CAN, you always CAN.

Isn’t that Empowerment ?

The Downside of Economic "Growth"

This is the image attached along with the anchor article in the Times of India dated July 25, 2007.

It is titled "This village has a 1000 crorepatis". It is about a village whose main occupation till recently was to grow paddy n sell it. That is, until Delhi property prices rose & real estate developers came along & offered these farmers prices which would mean income of the next 2 generations selling paddy in one shot.

Who would refuse such a deal. i wouldn't. They didn't either. So, the property is sold, crores made, lifestylr upgraded accordingly.

This is evident from the report which says the following:

Two years ago, Radadhana in Sonepat district, about 50 km north-west of Delhi, was a paddy-growing village where bullock carts jostled for space on dusty tracks. The tracks are still dusty, but today Skodas, Hondas, Endeavours and a range of SUVs jostle for parking space. The homes, once made of bricks fired at the local kiln, are now gone. They have been replaced with hurriedly constructed and often garishly painted three-storey mansions fitted with ACs.

Gone are the kurta-pyjamas in which the farmers would loll about in the off-harvest months. Now, they are sharply dressed and strut around in their branded jeans.

Now, this is the 4th or 5th such TOI article i've read in the last 3 months. Land which the farmers use for agriculture is being bought off & used to build BPO centres, malls & offices. Agriculture is discontinued. Yes, this is Economic growth. The Rupee output per unit of that land will rise exponentially. But what about the decrease in food output. The newspaper, surprisingly, fails to bring out this side of the story & publishes the whoel article in "India Shining" mode

India is a predominantly agricultural economy. Industrialisation is welcome, but surely not at the cost of food production.

Our progress & so called Economic Growth does not have a sound foundation & one day it will all come crashing down.

Land which can be used for is is currently being used for agriculture is being developed into building complexes. Water shortage is already a problem and this will aggravate it. Electricity is demanded more than it can be supplied. This will skew the ratio even more. Food has not been a problem till now. It's only a matter of time before it too is.

So, there is acute water shortage, acute Electricity shortage & shortly, acute food shortage. Nice.

Growth ? Economic Development ?

Musically Handicapped

My head bobs lightly to the strings of "O sanam" sung in the chocolate voice of Lucky Ali.This guy's voice is so chocolaty , listening to him for too long can get you cavities in your teeth.But this is a blissful time.Past midnight.A hot cup of coffee. No one planning to beat me up. A Swiss chocolate bar lying on my table. And my name managed to crop up in the passing list of CA Final a couple of days ago .And even though the playlist has started with "who let the dogs out" after kicking out "O Sanam" , life is fine right now.

The media player on my computer must be ready to file an over exploitation petition by now. I study, and it plays. I sleep , and it plays.I am in the bathroom , and it plays.I watch TV, and it plays. If media player had fingers , all ten of them must be pointing towards the cross on the right hand top corner of its face by now.

But to be honest , if lack of knowledge of music is a handicap , I am paralysed with both my arms and both my legs missing. You need to understand my upbringing. No cable connection at home, till 1995. My dad, 9s the type of person who would wonder if K.L.Saigal, which sounds a familiar name , is the name of one of his clients . Mom only listened to “Akashwaani” on radio. And if asked on a bad day , they may even identify Elvis as being the president of Cuba. In short , they are as interested in music , as a fish would be in "how to swim" lessons.In shorter terms , they are not interested in music.

So all I had even remotely related to music was 6 audio cassettes of Jagjeet singh ( Dad's music "collection") , chitrahaar and Rangoli and some other Countdown shows on doordarshan , and a radio -cum-cassette player which , with its perfectly rectangular face and the plastic handle on its top , looked like a little suitcase.Of course , dad used to sing in the Bathroom , that too only on Sundays , but lets not count that.

So i grew up with minimal exposure to music. The early years were fine.Little kids anyways sing only "Jack and Jill" and something like 'Ring-a-Ring-a-Roses" , If I remember right.But by the time I stepped into the teens , Cable TV had entered most Indians home , with our home being a silent exception. And my classmates had begun to watch MTV and such things. Suddenly , humming to the tune of "Sardee Khansee na Malaria hua , Lovaria hua " from "Raju Ban Gaya Gentleman" was no longer "cool". When I was in class 11th , a girl in my class asked me if I listened to Bryan Adams. I told her I listen to my mom only. During the school farewell we gave our seniors, a bunch of boys got terribly excited. They formed a little huddle and shouted "Alice.Alice.Who the f**k is Alice ?"And i looked at the guy standing next to me and said "Do you know her ?".It was learnt later , that these were the lyrics of some "angreji" song.

Later in college, I got a computer. The old radio-cum-cassette player was given a proper burial and the gleaming new HP pavilion was unveiled to me in a dramatic fashion. The two speakers standing on either side of the screen seemed to blaring to me "La la ...of your ignorance this is the end , listen to music my friend..la ra ra".

It sure ushered in a little music revolution in my life. But I was like getting on a bicycle when most others were driving a car .So now when others are flying around in planes , I am driving the car. I am still very much "Desi" in my musical habits. Lucky Ali. Pritam, Silk Route. Junoon. Bollywood songs. No Remixes. Not Anu Malik ( "Do me a favourrrrr, lets plaaay Holeeee" , now that was too much for me too).So I am not really a part of the so called "cool" gang which understand that Pink Floyd is not a shade of pink but a music band. I still have to focus hard to get the lyrics of an english song right.I have made quite a few attempts to like english music. But trying to make out what the guy is saying amidst all the falling utensils leaves me pretty exhausted by the time it ends. So while music is meant to relax me , trying to decipher English music makes me feel like I am writing the CA Final Direct Tax paper in a pair of jeans 4 inches too tight for my waist , and all this while a stove is burning beneath me.

So I keep reverting back to Hindi Music. While the room to my left blares 'Shaggy' and the room to my right drools 'Aerosmith' , it’s a ignorant and confused Hrithik Roshan asking questions about love and then crooning "Na tum jaano na hum" from the movie "Kaho Na Pyar Hai" in my part of the world. And its all right this way. But if someone asks me "Hey , how do you find Black Eyed Peas ? " ( Its another music band ... I think) , you may just hear me saying "Cant say ..never eaten them ..u like them, why are they called black eyed ?".And I am still confused if its Led Zeppelin or Zed Leppelin.

I, Spielberg

Do you see a Steven Speilberg in me ? A Sanjay Leela Bhansali ? Abe dhyaaan se dekh ! Accha I will come a little down , do you see a Mahesh Bhatt in me ? I think you do not. No one does. Not my mom , not my dad , not my dentist , not my professors , not my friends. No one. But when I see in the mirror , I see a couple of oscars sticking out of my ears and six filmfare awards resting on the top of my head. I really think I can be a biggy director some day. And this desire of mine has nothing to do with the casting couch….. Ok, it has a little to do with it.

And I have been working hard to be a director too. I have watched a mega number of hindi movies , belonging to the "churidaars-tight pants-eastmancolor" 1960s , the "bell bottoms-angry young man-smugglers" 1970s , the "disco-trying to be western-more disco" 1980s and the "overacting-shahrukh-chocolate-underworld" 1990s .And dad says , everything teaches you something.

I have been writing down some "this-surely-works" formulae which have been adopted universally across the hindi fillum industry.Now I hate to share some of these "faaarmulaaas" unearthed after "Barson kee mehnat" of watching movies.But then I guess you anyways do not have a steven speilberg in you to make any use of these.

-- >>The hero falls off a balcony , or slips in the bathroom , or is beaten by some goons and has to be hospitalised. The little red bulb over the "operation theatre" sign flips on. The heroine and the hero's parents are waiting outside with the looks of constipated camels. The little red bulb goes off , a tired looking doctor comes out , slips the stethoscope off his ears .Then , according to formula no.49 , the doctor should say " Hum ne unhe to bacha liya.But unkee yaddashht jaa chuki hai ." Common cold may be common in real life , but "yaddasht khona" is the commonest in reel life.

-- >>The extra goons are shot at by the hero , they die instantly as instant coffee. Not a sound. Just a little yell and they drop to the floor. One of the good guys is shot at. Then according to formula no.8 , he falls to the floor. Then someone rushes upto the dying person. He takes the dying person's head in his lap and shouts at the top of his voice "Main tumhe marne naheeeee dunga ! Main tumhe haaaspital le jaungaaa!". The dying guy asks him to shut up and then croons a proper three minute farewell speech where he asks the other dude to take care of his sister , girlfriend and dogs. And then the good guy dies. But take note , he would never die with closed eyes. His eyes would remain open. This allows the other guy to close the dead guy's eyes gently and break down with some heartrending music in the background.

-- >>The heroine's pink "dupatta" is caught in a gust of breeze and blows away smoothly. Now technically , this dupatta may get caught in the electricity cables above or land in a pile of cowdung or land in a public toilet or land on gulshan grover , but rule no.15 says , that it will keep flying poetically till it descends magically and wraps itself around the hero. Some real aviation fundaas at work there.

-- >>The hero has been hospitalised.The doctor has mouthed the customary "Inhe dawa naheee , duaa kee zarurat hai".Now the formula number 62 kicks in. The hero would have a Sardaar buddy , a muslim buddy , a christian buddy and a white saree clad mom. The sardaar would run off to his gurdwara , the muslim to masjid , the christian to church and the mommy to a temple , preferably Mata ka mandir. The mommy will yell something like "Tum mera beta mujhse naheen cheen sakti" and proceed to slam her forehead against the temple's main bell repeatedly. And amongst shots of a praying sardaar , muslim , christian and a ketchup-on-my-forehead mommy ,our sonny hero would sleepily open his eyes and whisper "Ma".I think this formula needs more research.It holds mind blowing potential for medical science.

-- >> The hero meets with an "accident" , and his body goes missing , or maybe you find a body which is charred beyond recognition. But a watch is found on the body which makes his mother identify the body as that of her son and then faint. According to rule no 81 , after a few years , the hero will appear with a beard , right on the day when the heroine is going to be married to another guy. So the heroine should promise to marry a second guy , but she would not have to , because the missing hero is going to appear in tattered clothes , on that very day anyways. So the moral of the story - if the body aint found , or maybe found as burnt as a burnt sandwich , he is not dead.

-- >> The hero is a little kid still. His dad is a school teacher , named something like Master Deenanath. Everything can go on smoothly .The hero can grow up and his dad can be go on to be the school principal. But formula no.25 says otherwise. The very fact that dad is a "Imaandaar" school teacher makes it imperative that the dad would die. He would most probably stand up against some big builders who want to raze down the school and build a five star hotel there. And then the goons come home and murder mr.daddy and mrs.mommy while our little hero hides behind the flower pots and makes a mental note of the killer's faces. He has to ,after all , grow up and avenge his folks’ killings .But that will happen right at the climax.

Well , there are some 838273 more of these in my "filllum faaaarmoola notebook". But I cant type in more. Got to go and sign up Shahrukh for my first movie. And sacchi bata yaar, don’t you see a director in me ? Dhyan se dekh na !

Watching My Life : Further musings on the "Purpose" of Life

Once upon a time , I was 7 years old. Then one day , I turned 8 years old . My folks hung balloons and ribbons all around the house. Uncles with their hanging bellies and aunties with their hanging jewelleries came down in large numbers.They looked at me , ruffled my hair which irritatated me a lot and said the same old "rishtedaari" special pleasantries.( kitna bada ho gaya hai munnu ! chota sa tha jab last dekha tha ..godi mein susu karta tha).As if they did their respective "susu" at the White House when they were kids.

Anyways , these guys kept giggling , ate a lot of food and forced me to perform a modern day "mujra" wherein I was made to sing n dance to "papa kehte hai bada naam karega..." along with my pesky cousins . Though with my front two teeth missing at that time , I may have looked a shade less charming than Aamir Khan .Anyways , it was a very soul disturbing experience for me and I almost sued the guests for child exploitation.

But when these guys left , they left behind some good stuff too along with the dirty utensils : the birthday gifts. And one of the gifts was this boardgame called LIFE.For those of you who are not aware about it , you got a better option than bathing in the sea of ignorance , go to this link - http://boardgamecentral.com/games/life.html.

So what happened in this game was that you were allotted a coloured piece which travelled along a curvy path on the board .The number of slots he moved ahead depended on the roll of a wheel ,like the ones they have in those kathmandu casinos. You moved along the board doing all the life stuff , becoming a doctor , engineer ,gangster etc etc ; marrying , divorcing , raising kids ,taking bank loans , buying houses , you even got this salary via a toy version of the American currency. I recall trying to sneak a few extra notes from the box while my cousin was rolling the wheel.

Lately I have started viewing my actual life as just a bigger version of this game.I am just a piece like that in the game , who's just rolling along the boardgame of life. The difference being that on which slot I land ain’t exactly decided by a rolling wheel, but largely by my choice and effort. And just like the game , one day god will decide he’s had enough fun with this guy , and would pick me off the board n toss in the box .And all the currency notes , bank loans , the houses I won during the game , would remain back on the board , to be played with by the other guys.

And this makes me view my life in a rather dis-engaged way.I don't exactly go gaga with my so called achievements, which anyways can be counted on the fingers of a man with a missing hand. And neither do I plunge to the depths of despair with my failures and problems , which can be counted on more than the fingers of your hands , toes and the rest of your body. Its like nothing in this world seems to affect me too much.Its like I don’t know what I want to achieve , what I want to possess.

I feel like a toddler who has been left to play on the floor of Bombay Stock Exchange of yore.I see people yelling , excited , angry , racing to get somewhere and wonder whats it all about . Sometimes I feel I want to earn a lot of money and spend my life with Angelina Jolie on my left arm and Salma Hayek on the right , and swap their places after every 30 minutes.Then I feel i want to spend my life in my room with the AC on , munching on tomato flavored wafers and watching HBO, AXN and Star Movies,and that too on a 42 inch LCD TV. A little later , I see my life's purpose in setting up some NGO and serving the needy. What do i want out of life ? Is there any purpose at all of this entire life thing or are we just trying to have a good time ? Have all you guys figured out what you want in life ?

Tell me..

Some guy said, "you can't be lost if you don't know where you are going". Now it makes sense.

Where's my PURPOSE, Dude ?

Time : 8:24 am
Day : Sunday
Place : Home
A more precise place : On my bed .
State of mind : Just got up . Any use of words with violent , sexual or abusive connotations is due to great hunger resulting from no dinner, a lack of breakfast and a shoulder pain resulting from the awkward position I slept in .

First of all , I am not sad . I have a decent career taking off – just finished my CA Final exams & hoping to pass (cross my fingers), a family I love , friends I love, and the barking dogs in my housing society that I am beginning to love So it would take a fully loaded nuclear attack and a couple of Himesh Reshammiya's CDs to make me feel sad .
On a related note , I just saw the video of Adnan Sami’s latest song on MTV . The guy is crying lakes in the video . I had this urge to actually reach into the screen , wipe his face with a tissue and say "Na munna na , sab theek ho jayega ."

But even though I am not sad , I have a little thought nibbling on me this morning . The more I live , the more I realise two things . First , I still don't have a 'purpose' in my life . And second , now that I have lived some more , I have lesser time to find that purpose .It is like 5 years back I was "Chill yaar . I am only 18 . Only God Buddha found a purpose in life at that age." But Now I am like "Umm . I am almost 23 . And I think I will find a bigger meaning in life right after a little nap. "

Sure , I have phases of 'being driven' in my life . Like I wake up and say 'Right . Today I will call the Hutch Customer care people and tell them they should be looting banks in masks and not calling themselves a telecom service provider for all the scary things they are doing to my connection'. So, little purposes about getting my cell connection up , analysing the high revenue increase of the company I am auditing, ironing my shirt for the next day and such micro sized things dot my day. But there is nothing which connects all these dots and makes me say, " Oh right . Now all the things that seemed stupid and mundane to me make sense". I don't have a purpose which unites all the things I do and drives me and makes me say "Oh yeah , so this is what it was all about".

In fact , that's the problem bugging me right now . I don't know what's it all about .

I keep thinking for how long will this continue ? Will I ever be able to figure out what I want to do ? Am I supposed to figure it out ? How ?
Does everyone realise their “purpose” & go about achieving it, or do they just live their lives & whatever they do is their “purpose” ? It’s all so confusing. Am I alone in this mess ?

Maybe there isn't supposed to be a purpose , a bigger meaning in life . Just live , have fun , eat good chinese/italian/indian/any food , watch movies , and of course , there are my barking dogs.

Starting a Sunday with such things which would beat a well with their depth is not a great idea . I can almost imagine Lord Buddha sitting up there on a cloud and shaking his head and telling me "Take it easy kid . It's Sunday after all . You know what that means for a working chap ? So gulp some sandwiches and a hot coffee and flip on FTV and everything will make sense ." Amen.

The Emperor Strikes Again

And I’m back. Bring on the shenanigans, orchestra, belly-dancers, and lets start the party !

I was away for 4 months & nothing much has changed in the world. Lets view the major happenings while I was on leave. This will strictly include only the things that interest me, to the blatant exclusion of everything else.. let’s see

Federer wins Australian open without losing a set. He is just stamping his authority over the tennis world. The rest of the players are just fighting for second place.

Guru releases & Amitabh goes over the top in praising Abhishek. He even got congratulatory messages printed in leading entertainment dailies! Most of it read that it is a father’s proudest moment when a son surpasses him.
First, I think Abhishek did not surpass his father by doing Guru.
Second, well, I guess Jaya Bachchan also would have a hand (and more) in Abhishek being such a good actor (!!). As far as I remember, she was considered a better actor than Amitabh when both were at their peak.

Filmfare Awards happen – these being the worst ever in all these years. I have already written a post on it, so wont elaborate. Oh & yes, Ash was nominated in the Best Actress category for Dhoom

The World wakes up to Global Warming. Finally !! How do they suddenly say that only 8 years are left before the glaciers will melt, average temperatures will zoom, water will be in grave shortage? Where were these warnings 20 years back saying that just 25 years are left ! The fact is that nothing can be done now. We can only marginally reduce the impact, BUT DEFINITELY CANNOT stop or reverse Global Warming. Welcome to a dying world.

Australia win the world cup. Without losing a game. Without being stretched or close to being stretched in any game. Without needing their last 5 players to bat in any game. Mcgrath takes 26 wickets, is declared man of the series, retires. Hayden scores 650 odd runs. Gilly makes the highest score in a World Cup Final. Why did they win? I guess – Because they showed up !

Namastey London is the Biggest hit of the year till May. It has been a bad, bad year for movies after a bumper 2006. Bollywood has definitely not Lage Raho-ed in the same fashion. Lets hope the summer brings some relief.

Britney goes Bonkers! She shaves her head and then covers it up with wigs – those too very tacky n cheap looking. She goes out partying wearing stuff with extremely high hemlines & well, does not wear any underwear. Thank god her kids are too young to see mama’s photographs.

Undertaker wins at WrestleMania to make it 15-0. He has been unbeaten at WrestleMania for the last 15 years. Probably a record that will stay unbroken.

My Guest Writer – remains more a guest & less a writer. Worst part is that I paid her in advance, so its money down the drain. On the bright side, she had promised to perform favours for me “physically”. I was looking forward to it until I realized it meant helping me lose weight by making me go jogging every morning!

I guess that’s it … Nothing else was interesting to me or maybe I missed out coz I did not read the papers or see the news much. Aah yes, the AbhiAsh wedding. So much has already been written on it. Adding my two words would be like pouring a packet of Tata salt into the ocean – pointless !


Anyways, talking about what I did in the 4 months. Well, among lots n lots of other things, I studied. For what people call the biggest exam in my life . . . . Till Now.
8 papers in 9 days. Believe me, its Gang-rape.

1st paper – 4 hours of sleep. Only attempted 68 marks. Passing is 40. I need 50 (for reasons too difficult to describe. For people in the know, its for “aggregate”)
2nd paper – 4 hours of sleep. Screwed up. Forgot stuff I am supposed to remember. “Aggregate” wala problem again.
3rd paper – 4 hours of sleep. Plus had a Sunday to study. Still did not finish the portion. Left some chapters. Paper was decent. (Finally!)
4th paper – 3 hours of sleep. Did not even remotely complete the portion. Paper was meaningless. Simple. Regretted not having slept more.
5th paper – 4 hours of sleep. Feel tired. The things that I had left came as a compulsory question. Donation of 20 marks. Remaining 80 marks manageable. I am satisfied.
6th paper – 5 hours of sleep. Paper ok.
7th paper – 2 hours of sleep. Exhausted. Paper fairly ok. Glad its over
8th paper – No sleep. Still left loads in the portion. Don’t remember anything. Scared. Shitting bricks. Ass on fire. Etc. Paper manageable, surprisingly. Hand shaking while writing the paper. Itching to get to the last question.

Exams over . . . . . FINALLY. A free bird. What do I do ?
SLEEP.
(more later)

Objectivity among artists

Erotica as a genre of art has been very popular for many years now. Painters, photographers, sculptors-artists in general, have their muses and work with extremely beautiful people, paint/photograph nudes etc.

What I've always wondered is how easy/difficult is it for the artist to be objective during this process, do they get attracted towards their models or is it the other way around, what do their spouses/partners think of their jobs, are they secure and trust them completely?
In fact I've heard artists have worked with their daughters, cousins, relatives as models. I must admit, that is a little hard to fathom, a man photographing his adult daughter in the nude, but this does happen...

What got me thinking about this was when I met a man, whose hobby is photography, he clicks women in erotic poses (is in no way physically involved with them though) and his wife doesn't have a clue about all this!!!

I don't personally know such people but hope to hear their point of view. This topic is worth debating upon so give your comments. Hopefully I'll be able to follow up this topic and put up a post after speaking to an artist as well as a model...

P.S: I know women who would never consider marrying an obstetrician and gynecologist as their job involves being in close proximity to you know what. But I've not heard many people debate whether doctors are objective about their job ;).


Posted by Sentimental fool

Annual Festivals in Mumbai

Well I went for the MTDC Elephanta festival last week. It has been happening every year since 1989 (I think). This year it was on for two days. On each day there was a classical dance followed by a classical music performance.

I could not remember the last time I sat in that launch near Gateway of India or went to Elelphanta Caves and though I'm not exactly a classical music fan, I thought why not check it out. Also, I wanted to go see the Elephanta Caves and the fest was just an added attraction.

But what ticked many of us visiting the caves was the fact that nowhere was it mentioned that entry into the caves was allowed only up to 5.30 pm. Now the fest was to begin at 7 pm, so many tourists who reached between 5.30-6 pm did not get to see the caves (I was lucky to be among the last ones allowed inside) which are the main attraction to begin with. I did speak to the organizer about this and even requested him that at least during the fest the caves could be lit up and be open to public for a longer duration or they should've clearly specified the timings on the passes. His reply was that the Archaeological Society of India (ASI) was responsible for the upkeep of the caves and that MTDC could not do anything about it. Well the same old bureaucratic problems... In fact an irate foreigner yelled at him and many foreign tourists as well as natives were disappointed by this fact.

Thankfully the performances were good. There was an Odissi dance first followed by a Hindustani classical vocal performance, but it was really long so I had to leave mid way. All in all a good experience.

Btw, now Mumbai has many annual festivals-Mumbai Festival, Kala Ghoda Art Festival, the Kitab Festival, Elephanta Festival among some others. This is a welcome change, hope such events continue as they provide a variety of entertainment apart from the usual movies, night clubs, restaurants etc. But I really wonder if tourists plan their vacations such that they can be in Mumbai for such fests...

P.S: Happy Holi


Posted by Sentimental fool

Stereotypes in advertising

Off late advertisements of an anti wrinkle cream have been all over the place, on television as well as print and the punch line is that “I got my yesterday’s husband back”.

I’ve nothing against any cosmetic product but I am against the manner in which they’re advertised. From fairness creams and acne treatment creams for teenagers/young girls to anti aging products for middle aged women, the advertisements always focus on the bottom line that “use the product and you will get the desired male attention”. This reflects the society we live in as such ads work and after all the advertisement agency wants to make money, not lecture people or break the gender stereotype. But is being beautiful all about attracting male attention? Is getting a man the center of every girl/woman’s existence? I don’t think so.

Maintaining good health, radiant skin etc etc is something one should do for oneself first. Not for any other person or event as then the results invariably will be short lived and such girls more often than not have some self esteem issues.

It’s difficult to bring about a change in the mind set of the majority but it has got to start somewhere. If the mother doesn’t ask her dark skinned daughter to use a fairness cream or raise her with the notion that only fair people are beautiful, chances are she will not succumb to pressures later on in life. Also, more often than it is women who discriminate against other women on the basis of their external appearance and pass nasty remarks. This has got to change. In USA, Dove has started using “ordinary women/girls” in their advertisements and is working towards breaking the “pretty girl stereotype”.

Hopefully, some Indian companies too will start working in that direction…

P.S: Well my holidays ended and I’ve not been able to manage my time well since I’ve gotten back to work. Hence I’ve not put up a post in a long time…

Btw, I saw Eklavya last week but didn’t write a review as, well, it was way below my expectations. The saving grace was Saif Ali Khan and the fact that the movie was barely 2 hours long.

Posted by Sentimental fool