Le Titre- Tall

I found her idea of tall way too cute...

The Blame Game

With elections around the corner, almost every single discussion on TV, newspapers, magazines and even those among us tend to the same conclusion - Our politicians are all corrupt, immoral, lazy and good for nothing. And that we are being ruled by a class of politicians who are way below what we deserve.

Here, I have a tiny little thing to say.

'Democracy is a device that ensures we shall be governed no better than we deserve.'

We say that politicians take bribes. But who is giving them bribes? They sure aren't taking bribes from Mr. Invisible. How many of us will actually wait for 3 months to get that telephone connection and not slip in 500 bucks to the BSNL guy to get it in a month? How many of us will insist that our car be taken to the police station on jumping a signal rather than paying 50 bucks to the Police guy and finishing it off?

We blame the lack of security for every terror attack in our country. But how many of us will actually arrive at the airport 2 hours early for the security check without cribbing and complaining about it? How many of us will happily let our bags be frisked at the multiplex without calling it a useless headache?

What I want to say is that we are the same as our politicians. We do just what they do. The only difference being that they do it on a larger scale. They take bribes. We give bribes. We jump about things for a month after things happen. They jump about things before things(elections) happen. They talk of big things and don't follow it themselves and we also do the same. So basically they are an impersonation of of what we as a people, as a society, as a nation are. And instead of criticising your leaders this election season, try and bring about the changes you want to see in the leadership of the country in yourselves first; the rest will follow.

Jai Hind!

The Story . . .

He was like just another guy on the campus. He loved bikes and designing one himself was what he lived for. It was around when he entered college that he realized he was a little different. He was what other people called ‘not normal’, ‘not straight’.

Jokes on people like him were flying around everywhere – in movies, award shows and among his friends. Every time there was a gay joke cracked, he would smile. He would laugh. But every single second he laughed, it was killing him inside. He thought, in being what he was, he was wrong. He was ashamed of that part of him. He began hating himself for what he was.

Not knowing what to do, he killed himself.

Most homosexuals may not kill themselves like he did. But many of them do kill that part of them and camouflage themselves in the normalcy of the society. And the ones who are brave enough to go against the wind and stick to their identities, in their struggle for acceptance, meet with humiliation and mockery by people like us at every step.

Why aren’t we ready to accept homosexuality as something normal? If it’s ok for Guy A to like Mango ice-cream and Guy B to like Chocolate ice-cream, why isn’t it ok for the same Guy A to like a girl and Guy B to like a guy? (The comparison was silly, but it had a point.)

There isn’t much that we as individuals can do to help their cause. But maybe we can at least stop making fun of them. 

Homosexuality - A Joke?

As 15-16 something teenagers, most of us love cracking gay jokes. More so because of the Dostana and the popular Kantaben gags which feature almost every year in Filmfare Awards since KHNH. I can't really be writing this as person who has always been on what I now think is the right side of the issue. I was more often than not a part of the majority who makes fun of homosexuals.

Der se hi sahi I now know that I was wrong. 

In our class of 25, the most popular jokes have homosexual themes. In an atmosphere where homosexuality is treated like 'cheeee',  what if there is this one silent guy who laughs at all these jokes, but cries every night because he thinks is gay and doesn't know what to do about it. 

Why are we taking this as a joke. Most movies which ever mention homosexuality will use it only as comic relief. (The exception being My Brother Nikhil). I hereby declare my support for the gay rights movement.(This was a litle over the top)

To all people who are against gay marriage and say its against the laws of Nature - Which laws are you talking about? Did Mother Nature appear before you and tell you the laws? 

Anyways, I request all of you who read this to pledge their suuport to this cause.

My Memories...

In whatever now remains of my vacation, I'll try and write about major things that happened around me all these years and how I as a child saw it. Today when I look back, I find those perspectives quite interesting. So before I forget these things, I'll put them on paper(or rather on blog)

First up, are the Gujarat riots - 2002. This was probably the most important piece of history that I lived through. I was thankfully not a victim. But it did impact my thoughts.

I was in class IV then and we were to have our picnic to a water park the next day. We were all jumpy jumpy about it. We had our 'list of things to be brought' ready. I guess it was in the last period that our class teacher(Manjari Madam I suppose) came and told us that the picnic was cancelled. We weren't told why this had happened. So naturally, our tiny little brains statred overworking to work out the reason. We concluded that the water park was closed because the owner, who was quite a crook, had landed up in jail again and so the water park was shut.

Disappointed, when I reached home, I rang up Dad and told him about the cancelled picnic. He was sounding a little confused now. It was then that he told me that a train was burnt in Godhra. "Where is Godhra?" was the first thing I asked him. "Its somewhere nearby" came his reply. 

When I think of all this today, the part which inrigues me the most was that for almost an entire day, all I was sad and worried and depressed about was the picnic. Reading things like "50 people die in Godhra carnage" appeared simply trivial to me. It wasn't that we were insensitive. It was just that we didn't know what communal riots were all about. We didn't know what the death of 50 people meant. 

Till almost one day after the riots things were fine; in Anand at least. The next day, we even had school. It was supposed to be a Gujarat Bandh that day. Again, all we were worried about was that kids of other schools were getting a holiday and we weren't.

The fear began when some mob leader threatened to stone the school or something like that if the school wasn't shut down. Not everyone knew this. I happened to be at the reception when all this was happening. So I knew.

Anyways, this was the first time we were being sent back home from school with such urgency. This was the time the Hindu mobs had begun taking to the streets. My parents trusted my maturity and the news channels' sensitivity and they let me watch television for all the news on the riots. What I saw on TV that day scared me. It was really scary. I had never even heard of things like these, leave alone seeing.

To make me feel a little better, my parents took me for a stroll in the campus. (I was living in a really secure campus, probably the most secure place in Anand then. So life inside the campus could go on as usual). We went upto the gate and the guards said the customary 'Salaam Saab' to Dad. Everything looked pretty normal. It was in the night, so the empty streets also blended into the apparent normalcy.

But, this peace and quiet, was quite literally the calm before the storm. Suddenly, there was shouting all around. It turned out that the bakery near the temple was being looted before being burnt. I was immediately taken back home. But the images haunted me. It was the most popular bakery around. Everyone went there and at almost all times, you could see the sadhu sant people from the temple eating something there. Why then did they turn against that very place?

Riots make people blind to other peoples pain, deaf to the cries of help of the kid next door and they also maim them by tieng up their hands when they wish to stand up against the wrong being done. People whom you proudly called your family suddenly become people of the ither religion. Riots like the one we had scar human relations forever.

Most riots in this county are not due to something genuine people feel or have experienced. Its because someone who can speak convincingly thinks he'll benefit if people are at each others' throats. Non existent problems are made in the 'burning issue of the hour'. 

But at the end of it all, it is the optimistic human spirit which triumphs. Sure it takes time to heal the wounds of a riot. But with the years, people are willing to put aside their past and start afresh once again . . . . 

Of beggars and exploitation....

There are basically 3 kinds of people:-

1. People who give some money to beggars....always. But they are really few.(me included)

2. People who dont give them money, but are willing to buy them some food.

3. People who'll do nothing for beggars and say that beggars exploit us.

The first time I noticed this was when I saw an old lady asking for some money in Lajpat Nagar. I fished out a 5 rupee coin from my pocket and gave it to her. The teacher who happened to be with me called me and said this to me - "See, you are a mature girl. You should be careful of these people. You cannot give your money to these people. They loot you. They exploit you. Understood?" I was flabbergasted. All I could do was to murmur a 'Yes Ma'm'.

What she said sent my brain into a tizzy. These apparent 'words of wisdom' had defied all what my parents had taught me about helping people and all sense of logic which I had in me. How could a weak old woman who probably hasn't eaten anything for days 'exploit' me?

When I posed this question to some of friends, the most common answers I got were "Beggars aren't really poor. They have so much money with them. They beg because they are cheaters" or "Beggars should not be given money as they are lazy and do not want to work and earn money."

Yeah right. Beggars are so rich that they could even beat the Ambanis in the Fortune 500 list(sarcasm intented). Think sense people. Haven't you heard of unemployment in this country? Its not that they don't want to work. They dont have any work. Even if they are feigning a handicap or making up stories about dead mother, we must realize that it is their ccircumstances which force them to do this.

The entire point of this post is to tell all people who fall in the third category that don't camouflage your stinginess with overdone morals or philosophy. Change your attitude. Help people. If you don't want to help, then don't stop others from doing it. And remember, It is only because of attitudes like yours that we still have people in this world dying of poverty.

Indu<3

A year to remember...

The last 12 months have been probably the best ever. So, I've tried to jot down all things which made this year so special. Here it goes...

1. I could get mom the birthday gift I had promised her 2 years back. :)

2. Got back my confidence. I realized that I do things best when I try to be me.

3. I am now proud to be what I am.

4. Finally managed to pull myself away from the 'pseudo-friends'. Wait, can I even call them friends?

5. Met some people who are now an inevitable part of me. Swaroop, Riddhi, Pari, Ritayan - I would die f I don't have you with me. Love you all.

6. Rediscovered an old friend. She stood by me all these years and I never even saw her. Thanks a lot Heli.

7. Fell in and out of love(crush actually) witha person and I am extremely embarassed about having liked him once. 

8. Got my priorities right in life.

9. And lastly, I started blogging. I love you blog. :)

| Indu <3 |