The problem does not lie with Ekta Kkapoor....

All too often people blame Ekta Kapoor and television in general for creating the shittiest shows possible that demean our intelligence by being ridiculously.... well shitty!! And yet the the most popular shows are the ones that start with a "K". We blame family problems, social issues, the increasing dumbness of many housewives and children and what not on all these retarded shows. There are FUCKING award shows organised to honour her!!!! BLOODY HELL!! The Star Pariwar Awards is the biggest farce ever where she is treated like a goddamn goddess!!

And once I got over just how ridiculous her shows are I realised that millions still buy her crap. That she is on a pedestal because people put her there. Then is it her fault?? Or is it our fault that we're given crap? Why does noone blame those retarded females who ogle at these shows for hours contributing to the trp ratings??

I have lots to say about her and those who watch the 'K' series but today I found this quote which beautifully and succinctly summarises what I want to say.

"When you're young, you look at television and think, "There's a conspiracy. The networks have conspired to dumb us down." But when you get a little older, you realize that's not true. The networks are in business to give people exactly what they want. That's a far more depressing thought. Conspiracy is optimistic! You can shoot the bastards! We can have a revolution! But the networks are really in
business to give people what they want. It's the truth."
--Steve Jobs

So you see, sad as it might be, it's not the fault of Star Plus that crap is what people want!

I want to become a nomad!

I am not exactly sure how or why but as I lay in my bed in a daze (you know when you are kinda half awake) I kept thinking that I wanted to become a nomad. I just want to keep roaming around and never settle down. When the idea first occurred, the image of the Bedouins in Saudi Arabia living in the most dreary of conditions was the only one I could drag out from the recesses of my mind. NOT what I want. I think I would prefer becoming an urban nomad. Keep traveling to new places and shifting jobs. And not just travel but live in different places.




Well, its not like I always wanted to live a life like this(I just thought of it this morning. Talk about life-changing ideas haha). Frankly, I'd lived in one city all my life till I moved for JC. And that makes it a total of just 2 cities in 20 years!! And knowing me I would hate having to move over and over again.

Really. Packing all your stuff is the biggest bother ever!! Not to mention that it would always take time for me to settle in. But still if I ignore the bother involved in packing and stuff I think I want to keep living in new cities every now and then. Every city will have a different life, a different ambiance and a different culture. And all ill be able to do will be peak into that life.

I'm not sure if I'll want to do this tomorrow but as I sit here now that is what I really want to do!






PS: I didn't intend to put up so many Bedouin images just one to prove what an ancient idea I have of nomads. But they fascinated me so much that I had to put up a few. And there were so many more that I wanted to put up!! (maybe I'll have a post with just Bedouin images sometime! :D ) And now after looking at these I'm rethinking my opinion about Saudi Arabian nomads.. :D

Happily ever after??

There are no happily ever afters in life. And it’s true no matter what! And I’m not being pessimistic but just realistic when I say this. “happily ever after” (hea for future reference) is just a fairy tale concept and yet most movies and books end with hea’s don’t they?? Yes, they don’t state it that blatantly but we are supposed to understand it so that we leave the theatre with a smile on our faces and a satisfied feeling in the stomach (i.e. if the rest of the movie is decent or you might just be crying over the waste!) knowing that some fictional characters are now happy.

Sometime back I had started writing a post about why harry potter became as popular as it did (which I never got round to finishing and just deleted). It is indeed amazing to know that Harry Potter has achieved a kind of popularity that the Bible has taken 2 millenia to achieve. Does that mean it is one of the best books written till now? Definitely not. Literature has many master pieces to offer. Then what makes Harry Potter so different and so unique? Why was almost everyone hooked to it (me included :D )? Certainly not the best language (probably one of the reasons for the popularity) and well the idea of witches and wizards is certainly not novel. So I figured maybe it is the detail with which she wrote. Rowling created a different magical world that was almost realistic in its excruciating detail. It was like an escape from the limits of the muggle world. And that is what we all fell for. And ofcourse there was the part about the happy ending. Every book ended with Harry fighting the evil and emerging victorious to some extent atleast. Wasn’t it the most classic good vs the evil that has been around for centuries and will continue to be so??!? Then is it any surprise that HP got as popular?? And frankly you only need a few ardent fans and good publicity to get the rest to jump onto the bandwagon!

Same with twilight which was definitely the epitome of clichés! You see hea’s draw us since they don’t exist but we keep looking for it. And then when you manage to find it, even if its just in a book or a movie, it is almost like you have it for sometime! When so many imperfections crease your life a few hea’s are welcome I guess. Yes I know they are so not realistic and I would praise the movie more if it ends realistically (sometimes) but then I know that I like the hea.

A friend mentioned that Math always has a “happily ever after” and I think that is one of the fascinations. You always know that there is but one place to reach and that is the right one. The one where you should be. The solving can be tough and tedious and you might want to pull your hair but then the answer will be perfect when you get it. There are more than one correct ways of reaching there but its all in black and white. There are no gray areas since everything is either right or wrong. So unlike our lives!!!

There is no “happily ever after” in real life but that doesn’t stop one from wanting to see it once in a while if only it’s in the life of some fictional character.

(ahh that was probably quite incoherent and not well-organised but I think I managed to get across the major points I wanted to.)

I love analogies....

The mind of a person is like a map and we need to place other people on it. And for this we need co-ordinates making it important for us to be judgmental. You can be harsh or not but you must judge someone to place them on the map.

Now the map is not like any other geographical map but much more complex so I can't go into that right now.

Conclusion: We can't help but be judgmental and it's ok to be so!!

Rahman was always awesome....

As I sat eating breakfast today morning I realised that I’m bloody detached from the rest of the world. I have no freaking clue what is happening around the world, what milestones has Obama moved since coming into office, if there are still hundreds dying in Palestine (I think that place hasn’t improved much), what state Indonesia is in or what the environmentalists are upto now. I used to know all this and a lot more once upon a time but now I live in a blissfully ignorant world. (Not really sure if it is actually blissful)

Anywho the point being that when I realised just how hopelessly ignorant I have become I decided to do something about it and opened 5 different websites at once. And the first news I came across was the Oscar awards today. (Seriously to stress just how ignorant I have become I will add that till yesterday I didn’t know that the Oscars were today. :O yes, yes, you are allowed to ogle and exclaim at that since that’s exactly what I did!!) I learnt many important things and saw just exactly what hairdo some random actor whose name I’ve managed to forget (I was trying to find out who but then realised it’s pointless) wore. And then I read about Slumdog Millionaire and all the awards it has won. It made me feel good. You know the Indian thing that I can’t really explain (though the movie is not Indian technically).

And then I kept seeing that every other random person’s status message has “Jai ho” and A.R. Rahman in it (hence post). Rahman was always great and the song was awesome even before it got the Oscar! Then why do people suddenly go Jai Ho just because it got an award? And he has definitely composed better music so why the hype?? Why do we need an Oscar to tell us what is supposed to be appreciated and what not??? There are so many movies which would go unnoticed if not for the awards. But somebody else’s appreciation buys our own so often!!!

Well then I figured that maybe it’s not that they just started appreciating Rahman and his music but rather that they are trying to show how proud they are or maybe congratulate you know, (I know he’s not going to read it or probably know about it and it’s not exactly congratulating but.... if you know what I mean.) proud that his talent is being applauded worldwide. I don’t know whether this is true (or makes sense for that matter) since I didn’t ask anyone just why they were going Jai Ho suddenly but well these seem to be the only other reasons.

Ahh well Rahman rocks, Oscar or no Oscar!!!

PS: Sadly i dint read a single other news item after the Oscar piece but trust me I shall not be ignorant for long!!

Rains still fascinate me!!

I remember as a kid I used to be totally fascinated by the rain. I would negotiate and argue and fight (depending on what might work) to get my mom to allow me to get wet in those rains even if it was just a drizzle. I would want to splash around and run in it or just stand feeling every drop on my body. Mom used to wake me up even at 3 am if it was raining and I would cuddle up against her and watch the downpour from the window. (The earliest I remember this is when I was probably 5 or 6.) The flash of light against the sky as if there was something wrong with the bulb and it kept flickering. The sleeping city and the thunder and rain and lightning in the background trying to wake it up, all of it would keep me up at any hour if only to see it. (I did think about getting wet but I know it when I’m fighting a lost cause!!)

(Though now that I think about it, I remember clearly that my entirely family went out in the middle of the night once just to get wet. I really have no clue what prompted us to do that.)

And I don’t think any of it has changed today as I continue to be fascinated by rains like a kid. The smell of the earth wafting by makes me feel close to the land like nothing else. (This only happens in India.) Everything seems to be brighter, fresher and cleaner like it’s a new beginning. Like we’ve wiped everything off the slate and we can create new stories and pictures. Or probably more like seeing that beneath the grime and the dust it’s not all that ugly. The leaves are really green and sky is always blue!! (do not argue on that one. The sky will always be blue!!) I expect to see a smile on every face I pass by and know that all’s well with the world. (I know all’s not well but a little optimism has never hurt anyone, now has it??) (See, now that is what the rain does to an occasional hopeless pessimist like me.)

I still want to feel every drop and smile and say every clichéd thing that has been said about rains and random beautiful sounding things or simply go yay!!! :D

YAY!! :D

Writing

I have become a blogoholic. I follow a few blogs very closely and wait for a new post everyday. And I feel like writing something every now and then. Days when I keep feeling restless and feel this urge to keep typing away if only to hear the sound of my fingers pecking away or to see words appear on my diary. I am not sure if I am writing for entertainment or what. I think I write to keep my thoughts in order. To synchronise the mayhem in my brain so that peace and calm can return. That doesn't mean that my writing is meaningful or entirely coherent(like today) but it garners my thoughts towards creating sentences that make sense. And that does need some thought. (You see when I write there is a voice in my head that dictates and which I follow. I think that's the way everyone must be writing but I haven't gotten an insight into anyone's head so not really sure. But that's the way I function. And sometimes there are other voices in there too but this dictating voice overshadows them.)

Yes, so I write cause I like writing (and I like the sound of the keyboard. Damn, I want a typewriter). And this blog is for myself. To the times when I give in to my writing urges. And yes if you like it I am glad(Really!!). But I'm sorry it doesn't change what or how I write. I still want to do it for myself!!! So it might be unorganised(depending on my mood), uninteresting(you see it might seem interesting to me unlike what it seems like to you) or.....

Btw I mentioned this because I like pretending that people read the blog and for my future reference when I read what I have written out of boredom. :D

V-day letter!

You might want to read this first so that the following is a bit more clear.

Dear Shiv Sena and Bajrang Dal,

I truly appreciate your efforts. V-day should be officially banned worldwide. Not only is it the biggest rip-off but also the anti-thesis of Indian culture and values, a blatant disrespect for everything that was instilled in us since childhood.

When the young population of the country decides to express their feelings and affection on this day it is indeed the duty of the moral police of the country who have our best at heart to interfere and stop us from committing this blasphemy. Afterall if our parents are ok with it, it is the duty of “morally conscious” people like the Shiv Sena to create havoc and show us just how immoral it is to give cards and spend a romantic evening together. Ofcourse if you can’t convince people to boycott the day you have to burn down card shops and arrest people to prove the point. If I decide to spend the day with someone, stroll in the park, hold hands and tell him what he means to me (ofcourse there are dozens of other things you can do) then the random-guy-I-don’t-give-a-crap-about-and-who-doesn’t-know-me has every right to force me to be with this someone for-better-for-worse-for-richer-for-poorer-in-sickness-and-in-health-till-death-do-us-part!!!!! Or indeed I could tie a rakhi to this someone who was my Valentine I was till a few minutes back and who could have been my husband by now if I was caught in some other random city by some other random stranger who has my best intentions at heart strangely!!!!!

Just what kind of a secular free society are we living in??? I hate it when I have to say this but Indians embarrass me sometimes. Yes, but more than anything else it’s the Hindu fanatics who embarrass me the most. We like to blame it all on the Muslims so often that we choose to ignore the saffron coats who are also responsible for the divide in our society more than anyone else. Is the spirit of Hinduism destroyed by a mere V-day?? Is that how far our “sanskriti” has been instilled in us? If yes then maybe we should stop trying to preserve it for it was never there in the first place. Or maybe we should trust our values and culture to last more than that and stop interfering in the lives of people.

Maybe your lives would be more worthwhile than that of the cows shitting on the roads everywhere and blocking the traffic (in a few Indian cities) if you just decided to mind your own business and help the country a little bit. Atleast we wouldn’t be forced to clean up after you!! (It’s just not this V-day but you have given me many reasons over the years to be pissed. And this is for all those occasions also. )

Yes, so please try and behave yourselves in the future or we would be forced to banish you all to Neptune to save the planet from your menace.

Yours, truly
An Indian.

PS: I was in Singapore on the said day and did none of the dozens of things.

I must ramble

This is my third post today!! If you look at the average I tend to write 3 posts over a period of 2 months normally but today I just can't stop. Now this post might be absolutely pointless and random(they often are) but heck I don't really care.


I'm sitting in my room stuck in front of laptop with a feeling at the back of my mind that keeps reminding me I should start studying. (I'm not sure how feelings can remind you something but mine does so beat it.) (I will after this post.)It is almost 2 am and the night is beautiful. Not as dark as nights should be since the sky has an orangish glow in the horizon. Almost like the sun is lurking just out of sight and about to rise though I know that won't happen for a few hours. I muse over it often and end up blaming it on the light pollution but tonight I don't feel like blaming it. I like the idea of a rising sun. The harbour beyond, glowing and breathing. It never sleeps.

There is a world out there waiting to be explored. And I realised for the first time that you need courage to do that. Courage to get out of your comfort zone. To peek out and see and accept new things and people. It doesn't sound difficult now does it? But then again its not only courage that you need but a few other things as well. Ah well....

Would I be wiser or more ignorant if I knew more about the world?? On the surface it seems like duh!!! Wiser?!?! But truly if I knew more wouldn't I know more about just how much more I should be knowing? There's no end to it. So maybe its just as well that my world is limited to the world revolving around me. The little things that make no difference in the cosmic sense of the world(or maybe... just maybe they do but being totally human I can't see it... ) but they make up "my" world.

I might or might not have mentioned that once I wanted to become the President. I had it all figured out. Get rich soon. Become politically involved. (I would figure out how after I am rich. Or just hire someone freaking smart to do that since I am rich you know.) Become the president and make the country a better place. Simple.

And I never bothered to ask if I would always be right. I don't think the people up there are always right but you are expected to be so aren't you? I know right now I my intentions and principles are in place on a large scale. And they probably would still be a few years down the lane. So that makes me better than some people already. But still would I be able to sleep if I knew that the lives of millions of people rests on my decisions??? My mood swings and whims cannot affect my work at all. What would my priorities be?? Do I have it in me to choose the right thing and more importantly stick to it no matter what? Why should other people pay if I make a mistake? Should they pay for believing in me? Its a very difficult job and I would never forgive myself if I did more harm than good. Ahh well it just means I have to prepare myself well for the task. :D

People are still up and around. I'm not sure if NUS ever sleeps. Its always alive. And yet I wonder if this was the kind of uni life I expected. I'm not blaming the uni since I know that it will give me the life I choose. I don't like being so clueless. And I really envy the people who are sure of exactly what they. Maybe I do have a vague idea or a concrete one.

Rambling helps. :D

Virtual lives

I've thought about this for a quite sometime and wanted to write about it.

Ever since the instant messengers have been around we have developed virtual personalities. The person who chats is not always the the person we are. And this personality(split) has only become glaringly obvious with the advent of the social sites.

When I created my Orkut account more than 2 years back I realised that I was actually advertising myself and I didn't really like that. I noticed that I could be whatever I thought was cool. Or I could choose to portray only the sides of myself that I thought were entertaining or attractive. And for what??? Was I trying to be a cool person???

Coming to think of it, isn't that what we all do in our lives. We meet people and we act. We package ourselves coolly to gain notice and appreciation. Only FB allows you to create your profile and tell it all blatantly. Just how many of us are being ourselves when we create our profiles????? Yes we want to show how happy, cool(I totally cannot help using it repetitively. I'm not outta words, its just apt), creative and popular we are.

You see I'm not criticising the social sites or people who fill up their profiles with pics and tons of info but just questioning what we really are. I often come across as chatty and witty when I'm chatting. I don't think I'm half that entertaining in person. (Unless you know me really well or I'm high. Not necessarily on alcohol.)

SO now the point being, am I being myself when online or am I pretending? Which is the real me? I know they are 2 facets of my personality but then how are they so different. Is the anonymous nature of the internet where I am not face to face with people let me open up more easily to people?? It has created an entire social sphere with rules and values of its own. Its surprising how often I hear myself say that, "I know her, I've seen her on FB". I try to rebel(I'm not sure why since I fail to see anything wrong with this culture.) and not be a part of it. But I still log onto FB every few hours even if I don't do anything.

I guess in the end it all adds up to me.