Saturday, December 22, 2012

A Sad Society


In an interview with Jug Suraiya, one of the Khaps said this..  I am sharing the of the interview,please read that, before reading the post:


The Khap said that when there will be no women there won’t be any question about women’s modesty.

Are there any women today who would be ashamed to bear a baby boy? There should be something like male foeticide, because the clan is representing something so horrid that it needs to be eradicated from the universe. I would never want to make this statement ever. 

But I am forced to, after reading what the Khap said, but I cannot degrade to his level. When men talk about giving up their daughters, killing a female foetus then, I think women need to start doing that too for male children. But saying and doing are two different things. A women’s heart, her existence is such that she can never forsake her kid, be it a boy or a girl.

 I am told many times that there are only certain men who are like this. I want to believe that. Really. But since the time the Delhi Rape case has gained attention, more and more Rape cases are being reported. If you open the home page of Times of India, you will read about rapes happening everywhere – In Bangalore, in Tripura, in Delhi Playschool, in Uttar Pradesh. From a 3 year old girl to older women.  Nobody is spared. 

The cases are not stopping. It’s just that they are being reported more openly, only because of the attention this case has attained and thankfully now all the hidden cases are surfacing.

I am fuming with anger, and I wish I had the power to do something. But when I see the way women protesters being treated at the India Gate, I feel, my voice is too tiny to be heard. 

I have a group of male friends who have sadly ogled at women too and back then I was stupid not to take them seriously. Now I feel the need to hit any guy who disrespects any woman.

I was travelling in city Volvo bus, the other day and there was a man who was constantly staring at me. I stared back at him. I am not someone who would stare back like that. I am always defensive. But I was so pissed at whatever was going on that I wanted to see the guts of that guy. He stared and from my face he slowly moved his stare downwards, then again checking out the female who was sitting next to me. Obviously he wasn't checking out the latest fashion in town, it sure was his fixation.

That was it. The next time he looked at me, I asked him what his problem was. He looked away. After sometime he was staring at another female. She was completely clad and nothing was provocative, but his eyes were glued on the girl’s breasts, and that’s when I told him to look down while sitting until his stop came. Dare he looked at any female and I would report to the police, I said. He got down at the next stop, realizing the other females were now staring back at him too.

I want to know a guy’s perspective. Seriously! I want to know what goes on in their mind. Are all men in a certain age group like that? Does it start from an early age and stays until late, or do they think, the 20-40 age span is something where they can do things openly because they are eligible for it, physically and legally? What fun do they derive when they look at a girl who is completely clad, let alone be the one who’s skimpily dressed? Is it some kind of challenge to their mind, to unfold the layers until they reach their tipping point?

Some do not need a tool to rape, they rape with their eyes. The way they look at women is so degrading that their entire imagination is a source of pleasure to them. I am on a mission now. Any man staring or ogling at any woman, making any nasty remarks is going to get a piece of my mind.

The Khaps should be the first set of men to be called in an open playground and blown with a bomb. Dammit, get rid of the perverts, instead of getting rid of women. If only men exist, they will end up raping each other. Oh, well, let me just say it won’t be a rape, it just be mutual exchange of pleasure. That’s what the Khaps should do. It’ll be happy happy world for the chauvinists! If that’s what they plan to do, then its better we women don’t exist to see that day!

***

The change will come only when the root cause is addressed and that one thing is nothing but “Values”. Some say, they don’t live by values and morals, because they don’t believe the right and wrong defined by the society. But respecting someone similar to the woman who brought you in this world is the most correct thing. There will not be any second thoughts. Even the devil will respect it’s mother, because she is the reason for its existence. And if an epitome of life, love and nature is not the right thing then, this society will see a bad day and that day is nearing, until we do something.

How many schools endorse Value Education? How many IT professional-parents ensure that their kids are getting the right bringing up and not just crèche exposure? Are they ensuring that their kids are learning to respect the other individuals or not? Are you spending enough time to keep a check on your kids, and siblings and checking that they are not addicted to porn, which leads to curiosity and then indulgence.  Are we becoming so urbosexual that we are letting go the basics of human values? Why are there so many resistances and wrong notions about sex education? Why are children let to discover these things all by themselves? It is the basic psychology that needs to be addressed, and only then we can see the generation evolving.

We treat our pet animals with so much love and respect, then why not human beings? Is society all about politics? If there is a rape, they blame the government. If there is a religious tiff, they blame the government. What is this Government? It’s us. We are the biggest democracy. When there are no Values and no Morals in the society, the Government will be a reflection of what we are. 

Like men in society are raping women,  Government is raping every us, politicians are raping each other, religions are degrading further. No values are being followed. 

“I am the greatest”, “I am the best”, “I am Powerful”... the ego fight will take the entire society down one day.

What is in question is an individual’s integrity. Nothing else. What happened today is not the fault of the Government, or the gang who raped, but it’s our fault, because we allowed such leeches to survive and that too on our own blood.

Now, let’s bear the brunt!


***


Or, instead of lighting candles and protesting, let’s do our bit. What that is, we need not be told. We all know. 

Because, you..you and you -who’s reading this post, has a wife who goes to grocery store to get stuff for home, and if she were to be attacked by a gang, and raped, what would you do? 

And you, your sister, every night, while returning from her tuition  if she were to be raped, while you are busy at a pub checking out sexy women, what will you do? 

And you, your daughter, who may be at home, is raped in your very safe haven, while you stare at girls 20 years younger than you at the bus stop, what will you do?

Because every time, you think these things happen with SOMEONE ELSE in SOME other TOWN. 

In this scenario, that SOME ONE ELSE could be your darling wife, your sweet little sister, your daughter - your life, or your respected Mother! And your local newspaper will write a nice little report about your family, your TOWN.

She could be anyone, anywhere!


Gear it up! Before it's too late!

Monday, December 17, 2012

Pirate of The Arabian



Jill Sparrow is my name
Playing Pirate is my favorite game
I go on journeys long and far
And rob all people of their aims

I met Jack Sparrow on my way
He wanted to mug sailors, he’d say
But when he met me, he lost his heart
He sat and taught me his skill all day

I wanted to snip all sailors’ bags
And see if any chocolates they’d had
And I could give all my friends some more
About my mighty gain then, I would brag

His ship he gave me on the Arabian Sea
I could be the princess, I wanted to be
A Pirate Princess would rein the blue
And with all the chocolates I would flee

But mom took off my pirate glare
And made me sober, like I would care
I loved that look, I had some style
I loved to walk with that wicked flair

But I am meant to be moderate and sweet
Aunt Mini says, I am due for a treat
So I can’t have evil ways and quirks
I’d rather not be on a Pirate streak

So, Jill Sparrow shall rest for a while
I can’t put on both, cuteness and rile
Till then I’ll live a fairy tale
Mumma, “Get me a dress, Cinderella style”

Sunday, December 16, 2012

It's Christmas Time

The festive season has started.. and so have the celebrations! :)




Jee haa, Aisa Bhi Hota Hai! :D

Thursday, December 13, 2012

"Lola Rennt"

Man... probably the most mysterious species on our planet. A mystery of unanswered questions. Who are we? Where do we come from? Where are we going? How do we know what we think we know? Why do we believe anything at all? Countless questions in search of an answer... an answer that will give rise to a new question... and the next answer will give rise to the next question and so on. But, in the end, isn't it always the same question? And always the same answer? 

This narrative is followed by one the best movies I've ever seen- Run Lola Run. It's a German movie called "Lola Rennt" with English subtitles. This movie basically was one of the movies I'd picked up to improve my German. I didn't want to lose touch with all that I'd learnt.

I have to write a review about what I understood after watching the movie. It is one of those movies which stirs your thinking process and makes you wonder about the intention of the film maker. I'll get back on this one soon! :)


Meanwhile, if y'all can grab and watch this flick..please do!

Wednesday, December 12, 2012

A year gone by


It's December already. 12.12.12, to be precise. And when I look at the number of blog posts I published, I feel bad. I always thought that anything one begins should keep on getting better year after year. May it be a hobby, talent or number of blog posts. I haven't even done half of what I did last year. Just one serial fiction and a few poems. I did attempt to keep a regular blogging schedule but I was swayed by the idea of having my own website, which sadly I couldn't get together. If I happen to customize the already available website things on internet, I do not get what I want. I have a particular idea in my mind, and I have not been able to realize it.

I am not artistic at all. I am expressive. I have a certain thing in my mind, and when I am not able to make it come true, I stop attempting it altogether. Similar was the case with setting up the site. I wanted to do it myself without asking anyone else to do. But it didn't work out. Also it wasn't that  I had given up writing. I think I have been writing like never before. It's just that I haven't been publishing it enough.

I've had many people ask me whether I've stopped writing. Some have called and enquired whether I was working on my book. Well, to get it straight, book is a distant dream. It sure will come true one day, but I have been reading some quality stuff like Dante's work - The Divine comedy. My reading pace has reduced like never before, but still I am making efforts to keep the brain working. Reading helps me do that. I am too impatient to take up a fiction because I cannot wait to know what the plot is about.

I have been busy watching these detective TV series like The Mentalist, Sherlock, Castle, Dexter and I think my mind has been programmed that way. I think I need the suspense out by the end of 1 hour, revelation about the plot and it's climax. This restlessness has made me not pick up any fiction lately.

After meeting Chetan Bhagat, I want to take up "What young India Wants" and finish that, as I had left it midway because of a torture that caused me a Reader's-Block. There are a lot of things to be done. And this realization strikes when December begins. This is not the first time, but has been this way every single year.  And now when I sit and look back at the year gone by, I realize  though I have done a great deal of writing and expression in various other ways, I have failed to market my skills online, by maintaining the blog and writing about something I strongly feel about.

I think there comes a time when everyone faces a mid-life crisis. Some face it post 30, some before that. A lot of things look so unsure that you end up just living the moment and procrastinating everything else. 

Today the world was supposed to come to an end, until someone long back, said that the day has been delayed to 21.12.2012. If you ask me, I seriously hope the world ends on that day. Not a single soul survives. Everything perishes and merges with the ultimate and then if God wishes, there'd be a new life, new struggle altogether.

No, I am not sad about my life or anything. I just feel, that there is a need for a change. A huge change. And this thing is not in our hands. The biggest change one can ever expect is the end of the world. Call me a pessimist, but I can cite numerous instances which will benefit all of us after the doomsday really arrives.

Meanwhile, people who are scared of death and peril, can pray and hope and wish for a long long and peaceful life! And people like me, can live like today is the last day of life! :)

Tuesday, December 11, 2012

BLF Part 2



The most important sessions of Day 2 were missed and the others were not worth mentioning, so I directly jump to Day 3, where we had some really interesting sessions.

***

I was right in time for the session with Amish Tripathi. For all those who were mesmerized by The Mahabharata, Ramayana you’d know how great it is to have a mythology told in a way that makes it very interesting. Amish is someone who did exactly that by taking up Lord Shiva as the protagonist and fictionalizing it so that every modern day reader relates to it.




It so sinks in that you are driven to indulge in the mythological secrets yourself and find out how did things happens back then. The setup is that of the time when the civilizations were just taking place and there was a very different yet poignant belief system. During the times of the Suryawanshis and Chandrawanshis, there existed a Hero, Shiva.

Immortals of Meluha was a book which brought back the tradition of Puranas and Vedas being told in a way that they sound more like fiction and intriguing enough to keep the readers glued. Even though the language used doesn’t match  up to the standards of the present day literature, but like Amish himself said, that the setup goes so many thousand years back, that recreating that era with full justification would mean to express it in the language that existed then.

English or any other form is a way of expressing the writer’s interpretation of the mythology.
The Secret of the Nagas was the second book, and while quoting a few instances from that book Amish made sure that he did not let out the secret or name of that character which changed the entire plot and flow of the story. The most interesting bit, he kept reserved and answered the questions of the audience so that they were forced sink into the curiosity further more.

The religious knowledge that Amish holds and his depth into the mythology and our ancient scriptures is so strong that he was able to answer any question related to any of the Gods with so much audacity that we couldn’t question him again. He had done his homework very well.

There was a question about the sequence of Dashavatara being incorrectly mentioned in the novel by Amish, to which the questioner insisted that it was very disturbing as it gives a wrong impression to the youngsters who read Amish’s book. Amish replied, “There are numerous versions of the Puranas, and Ramayana. The Avtaars of Vishnu appearing in a particular order is just a myth. The interpretations are different and I have my right of expressing the interpretation of the Truth.”
He insisted and has also mentioned in his book that “The truth is one. Wise men take is as many”


Amish, answering a serious question

So there exists only one truth, which perhaps no one knows, except Shiva, but there are many interpretations and they cannot be questioned as there are numerous versions and interpretation of the Puranas and Vedas that exist.
His explanations were easy to understand, given the intelligence of the audience.

I had my own question which was nowhere related to religious contradictions. I was only eager about the part 3 of the series – The Oath of the Vayuputras, and I asked him what the reason for the delay was? Was it some criticism, resistance or feedback from the religious sects that made him put aside or revise his third book, or was it something else?

He laughed first, at my impatience for Part three and said that he has been really lucky to have not faced any criticism from political parties like BJP, RSS or any religious sects. The only reason why the third book has been delayed is because it’s a really long book, as big as the first two combined.  He apologized for the delayed release and said that it will be in the market early next year.

I was excited and happy to meet him. It’s always great to meet your favorite authors and see someone who creates incredible fictions with utmost simplicity, in person. BLF mostly had all the talents personified.

***

Amish left and his session was followed by a brigade of new authors who had just published their books. They were, SudeepNagarkar, Aroon Raman, YasminPremji, ShefaliVasudev, and Vikrant Dutta. They shared how they came up with their novels, the problems that they went through while writing it and how they struggled to get it published.


The new writers in conversation

They were asked about how did they organize their schedule of writing to which Aroon Raman replied that one has to be disorganized while it comes to writing. I agreed. One never knows when one gets that flash, idea and mood to write. He said one cannot be “the best Employee” and have 25% appraisal and exceed expectations at work and still end up writing a novel. You have to sit at work and pretend that you are typing away something important but you should actually be typing something that makes sense to you. That’s how he came up with his novel and I could so relate with him, because that is how even I blog ;)


Aroon Raman telling about his writing routine
During the unproductive spans at work, which happen quite often, I write blog posts or chapters of a fiction and update it later in the night on my blog. I think if that is the way, then I am good. Well a few of the other new authors had a very strict regime, some wrote away for 10 hours in a day whereas some have been working on their novels since 20 years! It’s all different for different people but at the end of the day what matters is that they did come up with their works!

Marketing of novels and then maintaining the popularity is another thing which is very essential these days. Novels do not only sell by the content they hold, they need 50% marketing and selling techniques to be applied to get a large response from the crowd.
It was a good learning experience listening to all these new writers.

***

After this session, there was a discussion on Bangalore/Bengaluru : Multiple cities, which had eminent panelists like Dr.Ananthamurthy, Shobha De, TV Mohandas Pai, Actress Ramya, and Prakash Belawadi. I did not know anyone but Shobha De. She is one lady whom I admire and hate at the same time. She is a great columnist, so opinionated that she usually ends up offending many readers, but she still maintains her side and sticks to her word. But the way she looks down on others is too obvious. I hate her for her attitude, but respect her for her bluntness!


The Elite Panelists

The discussion was good. I had nothing much to do or contribute anything, so I simply observed the debate getting more interesting, with direct verbal attacks. It was a sight to watch!

***

After this, there was a session about Scripting India. There were two authors, who had written books about India, and their books were released at BLF that day.

Then began the discussion about the way India is scripted in media, books and otherwise. Sir Mark Tully, Nandan Nilekani, Sanjeev Sanyal, Akash Banerjee and Akash Kapoor were in the panel which was being moderated by Pavan Varma, who provoked the panel at so many levels that it resulted in a very intriguing confab. It was a very stimulating discussion and forced the audience to think about it.

Scripting India


I got up and left midway, because I realized I had forgotten to have lunch and I was starving. That’s what Litfests sometime do to me!

I left while Shobha De was releasing her new book – Sethji. I wasn’t too interested in her work. After visiting the book store and picking up a few more interesting reads, I left for home.

I realized, it’s indeed liberating to be a part of something that makes you happy from inside. It reminded me of a few dreams that I had weaved long ago, but had forgotten to realize them in the process of living life so perfunctorily.

I think it’s time for another round of introspection!

***

PS: Yes, all of a sudden I have a lot of things to blog about! I am glad I went to BLF.
@chetan_bhagat, THANKS! J   #twitter

Monday, December 10, 2012

BLF Part 1

I am so glad I registered on Twitter. It's been 7 months that I have been in Bangalore and I have not attended any of the city-famous events. Finally Chetan Bhagat's tweet about his session in Bangalore Litfest was so inviting that I bunked office on Friday and left for BLF at 4 in the evening. The event was in the other part of the city so clearly it would have taken me 2 hours to reach there. I finally did make it 1 hour early and it was Gulzar Saab's session that was going on. 

I always felt that God has bestowed him with the flair of words. Nobody else can so beautifully write a poetry about  "smoking" or no one can so wonderfully metaphor-ize a solar eclipse. One needs that foresight and the influence over words, to be able to write something so astounding.

Gulzar Saab and Pavan Varma in a Jugalbandi

Here are two of the small poems that he read out

This one is about the Solar Eclipse

College me aisa hota tha
desk ke peechhe baithe baithe
dheere dheere do haath sarakte
dheere dheere paas aate
aur fir ek achanak poora haath pakad leta tha
mutthi me bhar leta tha
suraj ne yuhi pakda hai chaand ka haath falak me aaj

Smoking

Yaad hai ek din
Mere mez pe baithe baithe
cigarette ki dibiya par tumne
chhote se ek paudhe ka ek
sketch banaya tha?
aakar dekho, us par phool aaya hai

An English translation followed the recitation of these two poems. The English poetry was as beautiful as these. And even while Gulzar Saab conversed, it seemed as if it were some poetry. 

"Koi rishta sadaa ke liye nahi rehta...usko taaza karna zaroori hota hai!".. A simple expression is layered with so many meanings and has such depth that one can only appreciate the sheer gift of words.

While Gulzar Saab engaged the audience in a few more poems about the SardarSarovar Dam, and translation of sonnets on Yudhisthir and Draupadi, I slipped into a thought stream about the time when I would attempt at poetry-writing too. I wondered how miniscule my attempts were and how much more remained to be achieved. Only if I had the ability to put things simply, yet beautifully, I would do justice to one of my dreams of being an eloquent writer. If only!

The thought stream was interrupted by another discussion about a poem which was about "use-by date" of the medicine, written in such a way that it talked about the extreme religious fights that still go on today.

The JugalBandi between Pavan Varma,and Gulzar Saab and the recurrent Urdu-English recitation of poetry was a treat to everyone. Not many were acquainted with the flow of Gulzar Saab's language, so Mr.Varma's beautiful translations provided the quintessential relief to people who were not well aquainted with Hindi/Urdu.

The time stood still and I wished it would be like that forever. A beautiful winter evening, nice manicured lawns, a comfortable chair, minimum crowd, a hot cup of tea and Gulzar Saab's poetry - it was one of the best times I ever had.

***

I had actually come to listen to Chetan Bhagat, because I wasn't sure about the schedule and all I knew was that CB was to come and talk at 6.30pm. I had essentially bunked office for him. But it was, like they say, an icing on cake that Gulzar Saab was there too and I got a nice long time to listen to him. After Gulzar Saab left, the stage was set for Chetan Bhagat to come. The crowd, strength of about 200 people called out his name he appeared on the stage. Casually dressed in jeans shirt and blazer, he looked modest and sweet like we all know him. The session was called Crossfire and it started with his editor - Shiney Anthony asking him a few questions. He was questioned about his South Indian connection and he admitted that he loved South Indian women, because they are intelligent. He said, that he knew that not many men prefer intelligent women because of certain insecurities, but for him South Indian women are a turn on!

Chetan Bhagat in Crossfire


He told about the few Tamil words he'd learnt from his wife and how his kids also pick up both Tamil and Punjabi, a little bit.

Then began the Crossfire session, and the audience started throwing questions at CB and like he is meant to be the king of controversy, he did give some provocative replies and irked some of the people in the audience. One of his comments on Rahul Gandhi got him a question from someone who had written a book about Rahul Gandhi. Probably she took offence and questioned CB back asking why he is always making fun of Rahul Gandhi.

He said, he is not making fun of him, there actually do exist jokes on the internet about him, and that she should go and check them out. She cross questioned him asking him how would he feel if there were jokes on him, to which he replied, that there were many jokes about him too. He said, "People make jokes about me too, I make jokes about myself in my books, my whole life is a joke, you should read my books".

This reply got him a thunderous applause. He was as modest and cool as ever and his replies were silent killers. It was great to have someone deal controversies so well.

He also explained about why he writes in plain and simple English and also quoted that "Being Simple is very difficult". He may be a favorite amongst the literary critics, but he is the most widely read author and he says that is what matters to him.

He is someone who has a clear vision. He looks forward to bring about the change in the society through his writing, may it be through books, columns or magazines. I think he is succeeding in his mission because he a widely read columnist.

He never fails to inspire. It is always great listening to him. His solutions and answers to questions are very simple and approachable.

For new authors who are striving to write a book, or are half way through, he is a great inspiration! It was a great session with the person who is famous for creating a reading culture amongst the youth of India.

***

The next day's agenda of BLF had another session of Gulzar Saab which I missed, but I went for Day 3 where I heard the first time writers speak, followed by a great discussion about Bengaluru and India by some elite panelists namely, Shobha De, NandanNilekani, Akash Banerjee, Pavan Varma, Dr. AnanthaMurthy, Sir Mark Tully and AkashKapoor.

It was an eventful Day -3. More in next post! :)

***

PS: It’s been a while that I blogged. I have been trying super hard to create a new website, but this experience had to be written. Therefore I come back to An Obscure Optimist time and again. I think I’ll be here for a while before I get the Site up and running! :D

if there were no dreams

  if there were no dreams the permanence would slowly take over and the little escapes into the terrain of subconscious existence would deli...