THE PROWLERS!

No iam not talking about the increasing number of attacks by the leopards which have been straying into residential areas of Mumbai and killing incessant people and children. The people in spotlight with the title prowlers are the ones who prowl the deserted alleys and night streets to pounce on hapless females returning to their homes. Yes iam talking about guys, uncles, men (yes, different categories) who tease, mock, grope and molest innocent girls. Every single day,  as fresh molestation and eve-teasing cases make the headlines, we are left fuming over the increasing vulnerabilities of women. Be it molestation when you are returning from work or the eve teasing during your regular grocery shopping, the horrific crime just doesn’t stop. So what’s the reason behind these incidents? If you ask, the most common answer you get would be that girls are at a mistake. you do not dress properly, you do not come back home in time, you must have encouraged them and so on. But if you put some actual thought into this issue you will realize that there is only one reason for such happenings. Sick mentality. Sick mentality of people who view women and girls as mere objects of lust and desire. The problem arises when men start neglecting the fact that women and girls are human beings too. so what do you get out of this superficiality? No one knows. What is the line for molestation? Is it a simple hug? Or is it a simple touch on a girl? when do I start calling a certain gesture by a guy as wrong? Many girls out there are confused with this. This confusion often is so huge that we do not know how to react. I am a girl. When I step outside I am subjected to lustful gazes, cheeky comments, disgusting attitudes, loud whistles and of course, the ever increasing live renditions of cheap songs. What do I do? Ignore. Because that’s what I have been taught. Ignore such creeps. What if they hurt you in any way? Why? Isn’t hurling whistles at you hurting you? Isn’t passing cheap comments hurting you and encroaching your private space? Why is it such a crime to be born as a girl? is it our mistake that we want to wear dresses we like? Is it a crime that we want to enjoy our life? Why are all the restrictions being imposed on us? What about the people who stoop down to a level like molesting us? Why doesn’t any khap panchayat ask guys to wear scarves and burkhas when they step out? It’s really ironic that people who bow their heads and join their hands in reverence before female goddesses are the ones who bring shame to the society by indulging in such horrendous acts. If you are a guy and are reading this, please let me know your take on this. How do you justify such crimes by your brethren?

I feel ashamed and sorry that in a country where we soar high in all the fields, our precious wings are cut off brutally.  For a minute, put yourselves in our shoes and see the world or just simply ask any girl. She will narrate the daily activities she does to keep the prowlers at bay! The agony and the stress she faces everyday is something which is beyond your imagination. The answer to this malady is not in ignorance. Its in our voices. If every girl subjected to such a torture raises her voice, iam sure we will all put our heads up and walk the streets of life with pride. A girl or a woman’s life should not circulate within the shadow of a burkha or a scarf. Let her out and let her fly.            

THE DIRTY DHOTI

The iconic and ever-popular common man created by the very talented cartoonist R.K.Laxman is synonymous with the Indian tamasha. Clad in a dhoti and a coat with his satchel, the common man represents the, well the common man of India. Roaming around the country with nothing but his simplicity and obvious silence, he remains as a witness to almost everything that plays out on the Indian screen. Now normally, we all find ourselves standing in his shoes at some point or the other. Be it the 2G scam or the price rise. But have you noticed that the common man’s dhoti is becoming very dirty as the days pass by? You could say owing to excessive travel to be a part of all the events happening around the country, he just doesn’t have the time to clean up. Or even better, you could point the finger at the increasing prices. But what really dirtied his dhoti? Or should I say “who” dirtied his dhoti? Is it because of the paan and gutka-chewing community out there who exhibit their spitting abilities at every nook and corner? Or is it a gift of the vehicles on the road? Anyways, the point to be noted here is that his dhoti which is supposed to be clean and white is now discolored and stained and dirty. Maybe someone should recommend him packets of surf excel. But he may revert saying that “daag acche hain”.  The stains would stand as a proof of all the allegations, scams, controversies and happiness in our country. True. But the common man is symbolized with his clean and simple attire. Can we really afford to get him dirty? No matter what, his perfect white dhoti represents our country’s diligence and commitment and probably integrity. It represents the ever popular silence of the common man at various heart-wrenching situations. It tells us that although we all vaunt about everything else on this planet, we become regressive when it comes to our own issues. He says that it becomes very hard to discern the matters out of the entangled mesh. Days are turning perfunctory. Can I take the liberty of saying that the recent outburst of various scams across the government maligned his dhoti or could I say that vidya dirtied his dhoti with the help of her dirty picture?? Hard to tell. It’s as if no one ever paid attention to this serious issue. After all, the common man was created as an insignia for the people of India.  For me it’s the mark of the impending doom. The dirty dhoti even by its simplicity and insignificance foretells that we are growing nonchalant and vulnerable by the day. Let’s not get the common man’s dhoti any dirtier. Let’s all take up the role of all the possible washing powders and clean up our act. Let’s return the dhoti to its original immaculate form. Let’s all put a smile on R.K.Laxman’s effort. Common man, here we come!!   

SALESPERSON OF THE YEAR!!

“Sab par dish savaar hai..dish savaar hai..blares my idiot box in between the over-rated serials. Very true. Ever wondered why suddenly there is an increase in consumerism, right from electronic goods to the furniture’s to the hotel business?? Its obvious because when you have a personality like mr. bachchan filling the screens with his larger than life image and a strong baritone, asking you to eat a particular chocolate, we’ll run for the stores to try it out . Gone are the days when fresh new faces who just had modeling as their main job advertised soaps and perfumes and toys and eatables. Nowadays, every single entity has something called its “brand value”. The more famous the personality, the more the brand value. No matter how big or small a company’s product is,it always has someone famous publicizing it. It doesn’t matter that the product is crappy and is just a reason for a hole in our pockets. This industry has grown so mush that companies now have a separate publicity unit who design evry possible trick to fool people. Be it shahrukh khan with his dish tv’s, toothpastes , home décor’ or amitabh bachchan with his banking solutions, chocolate ,creams or deepika with soaps and creams, consumers today are spoilt for choice. Nobody knows what to buy anymore. There is too much variety out there. Earlier, when I still believed that santa was real, I thought that when such bollywood stars entice us with such products, they used the same items at their homes. Little did I know that this was just another day’s work for them and it didn’t matter  that people would be following them blindly.  As soon as srk would just finish his byhearted lines for so and so product, out would I go with my dad’s wallet to the local store and ask the uncle trying desperately to get that product into my hands. Most of the times, it wouldn’t have even reached his store. Dejected, I used to come back dreaming of the day when I used to use the same product that my srk would be using. Slowly I realized that people all over the country were just being taken for a ride. Nobody used the products they endorsed. And even if they did they wouldn’t let people know. It’s very important for us the consumers to know that every product no matter how good or bad stands on its own. Stars endorsing it wouldn’t increase its effectiveness or guaranteed results. While ash with her eternal beauty  lured me into buying her soap, deepika with her pretty smile enlightens me on the fact that hers is the highway to one’s freshness !oh  god! Product attack!! What to do? Whom to choose? Whom to reject? What if iam trusting the wrong brand? Will my skin be more shiny using this product or that one? Which toothpaste will give me that perfect smile? Which brand of mobile will I look more stylish with? Million more questions shooting around in my head. But I think consumers today are also very smart. They know how to gain maximum benefit from all the best brands out there without hurting their favourite stars.  “this product gives me the ultimate comfort”,an actor says.  Really? Do they really believe their own words? Hard to find out. After all they are actors by profession. Well, that says it all. My fellow bloggers, please don’t fall to these whims and fancies. choose whatever suits for you and your wallet. Till then adios and keep enjoying the varied advertisements by your favourite stars.  Lets see who covets the award for the "salesperson of the year".

AUNTYJI...AUNTYJI..

The standard etiquette in our country requires me to behave very sweetly and give a lot of respect to friends of my parents.be it the neighbor or someone far away who had seen you when you were barely crawling. but my question is how much is too much? what if you overdo it? and the biggest dilemma of all.what if the person on the other side is too much. i know. iit puts avery wrong picture in your mind right now.but seriously, haven't you ever come across that one super-irritating auntyji who would do everything from pulling your cheeks (it doesnt give the effect when you are a 19 or 20 year old) to commenting or even deciding about your future? this is specially common in the gal community. let me describe you a typical scene that unfolds when you go to meet someone with your parents. you greet them,sit down and reach out to the refreshment spread laid out to you,when whoosh! auntyji swoops down on you saying "oh..girls today drink all sorts of things,its very important to keep track of them", my hand is half way to the table and the orange juice looks very inviting,but thanks to auntyji orange juice becomes vodka! i mean, what does she want to say? that we girls shouldn't drink anything? because of our world-famous modesty,we shut our mouths,give a weak fake smile cum hidden anger. this gives the auntyji a green signal to delve further into our personal lives. guess whats the next comment about. obviously its about you looks,looks, and oh..looks. "she looks nice, has a little bit of fat around her face, but looks very thin and lean.she should eat more". suddenly,the samosas don't look so appealing either. even our parents nowadays don't say anything about us. but it looks like auntyji has put up a permanent tent giving free and very unwanted advice. and if she has a son, then forget about yourself. she'll ask every little detail about you,every little detail."hobbies?","cooking?","why jeans all the time?",cmon we  are the young generation, aren't we? basically she is just checking things off her imaginary checklist for the perfect bride! utter crap. i don't understand the need for so much interest. auntyji,don;t you have your serials to do all the gossip for you? trust me, all the guys out there have it easy. but the majority gals out there dread going to the neighbourhood's  sheela aunty or parvathy aunty. take it easy auntyjis. you'll find some other entertainment through tv and find someone equivalent to your son! till that time,take it easy, and don't forget... "AUNTYJI,AUNTYJI, GET UP AND DANCE.

LIVES PREDICTED!!

first of all, wishing everyone a very happy new year 2012!! hope you all get joy and be prosperous in this year!! come new year, all the newspapers have an entire page dedicated to astrology,numerology and some other psychic things which i never understand!! ever noticed it?? ha..ha..cm-on, am very sure you all must be following it very religiously!! and maybe hoping that your lives turn out exactly like the ones other fancy-name people chart out!! personally, i have always been interested in these readings!! its very amusing to see how the entire humongous population is divided into 12 groups based merely on their birth dates!! are we as a person so predictable??  lets take the example of aquarians..am one...are these predictions telling me that there is a large group of humans who share the same destiny as mine?? its really heart-breaking to read that a part of my fellow adams and eves have the same personality as mine!! so much for "every person is unique" speech from your parents!! how the hell can you predict what course will i take in my life?? i don't even know what am i gonna do tomorrow. if you are so accurate on predicting the mystic future,how come we don't see any astrologer before any  events like the tsunamis or a terrorist attack?? in one of the papers today, my stars foretold(oh god!! it feels soo damn funny whenever i say that) that this year is going to be full of mystery and surprises!! it told me that i should expect unexpected changes! how will it become unexpected if i expect it? further more, as i delve into the page long calendar of my life in 2012, iam enlightened with that the fact that due to the transition of planet venus into my "marriage zone",i will suddenly make plans !! so basically am gonna get married in september! hmm..wonder what my mother has to say to this!! ironically, as i open the shiny embollished pages of another newspaper, another astrologer makes me aware of the fact that overall, i will have a very uneventful year and very quiet phase in my life!! i was already getting prepared to get married in september and look at this!! someone tells me it will be very uneventful!!:(.. all i can say is that am sure people who give these predictions are unsure about themselves!! we have to realise that this is a job for them too!! the best part is one of the numerologists says that this year india will rise to be a super-power if it can handle its internal political processes!! voila...something which nobody could ever say,right??  the financial market is gonna see ups and downs it  says..news flash!! financial markets have in this instability engrained in their roots itself!! there's nothing new to say it again and again!! reading all these so called predictions in the morning i realise that even i can be an astrologer!! i can just say that india will definitely becom e world-power in the coming years!! iam predicting that this year our government is gonna go through some tough times! i can also predict that all the long buried skeletons are gonna tumble out of our closets!! hopefully,someone will give me a job in this area!! gotta go..another prediction on its way from another newspaper!! who knows?? i may fall in love this year or become a superstar!!;););) 

FREEDOM

Its been a long time since i wrote about the life through my eyes now!! owe to the demanding and complex edcuation system of our country!! exams ,exams and more exams..they never seem to end!! but luckily ended before the new year!! nobody likes to start the new year by writing exams!!:(:(...talking of new year don't you think 2011 has passes off too soon but with lots of dhamakas?? i do..i think that 2011 has been the most eventful year in recent times!! with the country rising to anna hazare's call and fall of  monarchy in other parts of the world and loss of many legends, we sure have been through a lot within a constricted window of time!! personally, i had a wonderful year or i think so.. my year is ending on the stress of a lot of exams but also on the stress relieving activities ,i got to do!! recently i had the opportunity of visiting the global vipassana pagoda in gorai,mumbai!! having read about it in the newspapers,i was really curious about it!! basically it is a dhyhan mandir  dedicated to the Buddha..it contains budhha's ashes too making the place very pious!! it stands tall at 325 feet and stands unsupported !! till now gol gumbaz in bijapur,karnataka was known for this feat!!its foundation stone was laid in october 1997 and completed in november 2008!! it has a seating capacity of 8000 persons!! all the costs were borne by grateful donators who practised vipassana!!  around 3000 truck loads of sands were utilised in 90 million man hours!! this pagoda is designed after the shwe dagon pagoda in burma!! there are two more smaller pagodas one north and the other south which acted as the prototype for the main pagoda!! to look at the pagoda merely is like washing your sins in the river ganga..because the entire ambience is so peaceful and serene!! right at the to[p of pagoda is a umbrella shaped canopy!! it is more than 40 feet high and has more than 400 bells.i flag called dhamma dhaja is made of gold and studded with genuine diamonds and rubies!! and at the top of canopy is a crystal!! it is said that the budhha practised vipassana meditation  which means to see things as they are!! then it was  reintroduced by shri.s.n.goenka! after 2000 years!!
he inturn was inspired by sayagyi u ba khin!! the pagoda has teachings of buddha inscribed all around its outer diameter!! it has no entry fee and no charge for the ever smiling tour guides too!! truly it focuses on spreading the idea of vipassana!! there is a 10 day start up course on vipassana which according to many followers is very effective!! in today's world of ever rising tensions and stress this pagoda stands as an evidence to the fact that traditions brave even through the toughest times!! i was really a better person if not changed!! its very true that our own minds can be our greatest enemy sometimes!! coming back and looking back at the scenic pagoda surrounded by the gorai beach backwaters, it felt like some part of my soul had opened up!! making a short stop at the gorai and manori beach, walking on the pristine sands washed by the frothy waves, i let go of all my tension and stress!! trust me, just a simple walk on the beach and feeling the waves wash your feet is  very therapeutic.. it was just pure heaven except for the occasional dog who kept on barking at me for no reason!! in all, am happy that having a very eventful year, i could have the opportunity of giving up all the stress at the end!! :):)   merry christmas and a very happy new year to you all!! lets begin with new hopes and aspirations and dreams!!    

THE EDUCATED INDIA!!!

Months ago, the president of USA mentioned india and china in his speech inspiring the youngsters in  his  country to buckle up and study harder as we are giving tough competition!! that put me into thinking!! are we really that competitive and educated?? am not talking about the already successful people who are making our country proud abroad!! the present generation, the future of tomorrow!!! are we really the people who are gonna build india --a superpower?? do we even realise the amount of responsibility and effort required to even push india forward?? honestly i don't see that anywhere...i cant even imagine any of my friends telling me that they enjoy school or college and want to use it as a medium to take our country to newer heights!!! why is this happening??? why isn't anone interested in their education anymore?? is it so tedious and boring that we students can't even have a favourite subject?? the root of the problem lies at the curriculum we are being offered!! our education platter consists of only the same old rice and dal with an occasional pickle!! although it is enough for survival, it doesn't satisfy your palette!! and not healthy too.. every day every class we taught to be robots and not build them.... age old concepts are being drilled into our heads!! we are my friends being prepared for the EXAMS and not our lives!! exams whose mere reference drives students in a frenzy!! why?? are we gonna build the same machines again and again?? or we gonna live in the same structures all our lives?? the daily rigorous schedule comprising of all the dinosaurus concepts leaves no room for innovativeness!! all we students  do everyday is to go to school,push the textbooks into our fragile minds and come back and again push harder and finally puke them out!! so the ultimate result is a cattle of citizens who know only how to reproduce things and not invent them!! that is why, we indians are the hard-workers!! karnataka alone produces 1.5 lakh engineers every year!!! how many of them do you think are the vishweshariya or the next nobel laureates?? you ask any student today about their favourite class or subject they will probably come up with an obsolete answer after a long time!!! its a very serious issue. can we with our robotic knowledge stand up to the world and declare that we are tough competition?? are we ready for a future which is gonna present us with unknown challenges and scenarios?? its time we changed our monotonous thinking and got rid of our morose textbooks!!! we need to think out of the box!! innovativeness should be our motto now!! else, we will always remain in the ditches we have created for ourselves!! never moving forward nor backward!!! wake up guys!! time to put our minds to work and give our textbooks a break,a long long break!!!what is the solution you ask?? involve people from the industries in our curriculum. don't just bring them to give us lectures... include hands-on work with them..this way we'll realise the current needs of the public and also come to terms with the technology available!! this will form a solid base for our future endeavors and hopefully innovations.. make the timetable more active not just physically but also mentally..unleash the inborn powers in us through puzzles and challenges!! lets not get rusted... lets apply our brains completely and produce something which is gonna blow everyone's minds away!! i know its not going to be easy, to bring about this change, we all need join hands and start a revolution..only then its possible to reach out to everyone...lets not waste time waiting  for another anna hazare to wake us up.. we have that will power in us..let's do this...:):)