Nine Yards in Office :)

Yippieeeeeee….I am writing again and that too , not in a somber mood but nice and peppy one…So after consecutive journal posts ; there is some excitement in my life ; People close to me know what kind of thrill my life is undergoing through :P

For the past few weeks ; my life has been a roller-coaster ride where I have experienced myself on the “crest” and just a few days back I have been thrown and hit hard by my life. Anyhow; that’s not what I wanted to write on ; In fact I am really feeling great to have found some time myself for devoting to my dear blog J

So this blog is dedicated to the “sari day “which we celebrated in office as a part of Diwali celebrations. I have always been extremely enthusiastic at the mention of this word “sari “ ; The thought and now the reality that I actually wore it to Office fills me with “thrill” ; It’s not that I have not adorned a sari before but just that it was the first time when I wore it to office ;

It all began with a discussion with one of my colleagues ; who suggested to wear something ethnic for Diwali and I started crying : “sari please” ; my friends who know my enthusiasm for it had already pumped me enough that I was determined to send a mail across to all the ladies J so the mail came but who cares for the mail . So, Me and one my another enthusiastic colleague got up and knocked the gates of the girl gang of our floor …got a few supportive yes…few “dekhenge” and “what are you saying?” “what ? me saree ? no way ….”; few shrieks ; few wows…….. And then I had to give my favourite dhamki that I am getting 2 extra ones and in case someone doesn’t turn up in the dictated attire ; she will have to wear the one which I will be carrying extra.

Sari despite being the most ethnic; traditional and the most “Indian “dress is worn by so less of us. And when it comes to wearing a sari; you really think twice or may be thrice and then after all that thinking maybe you decide not to wear it at all: P . So when it was my turn to wear nine yards to office; I was excited, thrilled and a little conscious (can’t help it). There was an unknown fear…not that how will I manage it; I have worn it many times before and I know how to carry it and manage myself and the sari but since it was “the” office the jitters were normal J

But yes I wore it to office ; got complements (I think you usually get when you wear something different) ; got curious glances and surprised looks from people and at that instance I really couldn’t control laughing . The next obvious part was the photo session which we religiously did. And now the day is over I am pondering over the calendar to find another suitable day when I can switch to nine yards again J

Does Religion Give you the license to KILL

“Murder does not have a religion…even when it claims a religious excuse….”
Each time I read or hear about it; it sends shivers down my spine.
What the woman had to face, “just because” she worshipped another God. She was a god’s servant who thought of dedicating her entire life to God’s service by deciding to remain in Church. And the protectors of another religion gang raped her in full public view.

Maoists have taken the responsibility for the killing of RSS chief Swami Lakshmanand…but meanwhile the VHP and RSS activists dutifully killed people as if Lord Rama had come and told them in their dreams that this should be done.
They burnt houses of people from another religion (Lord had told them that by doing this they are protecting the “Hindutva”), they made children orphans (it was their duty to do so to get rid of their bad “Karmas”); they raped women and snatched away their modesty because according to them the women who worship another God do not deserve to remain dignified.

So After 40 days of violence and terror in Kandhamal district of Gujarat the VHP must have sought justice. After killing people and raping women they can go to God with heads high that they protected their religion. They must have avenged the death of their beloved leader (By the way he was killed by Maoists);

No matter who killed him but the politicians had to play vote bank politics; they had to become the "protector"; the "messiah" of religion. They had to ingrain in youth the communal hatred. They had to motivate and encourage youth to go on streets and play terror. It was the moral duty of our ministers to teach our youth to kill people and take revenge from innocent. According to them,It is supposed to be patriotic to burn houses. It is supposed to be religious to rape women from other caste.
And Kudos to the youth of India
-- who are blindfolded by the politician’s motivational speeches against other communities…
-- who do not have their own sense of right or wrong…
--who are literate but not “educated”…
--who just need an excuse to terrorize people…
--who are waiting for an opportunity to vandalize homes ; burn villages and people ; kill innocent and have ‘pleasure’ in the name of religion

I am really sorry to have written such a satirical post but only I know how I controlled myself to use civilized language. I feel terribly sad for what all is happening in the name of God; The people who propagate this…don’t they know... what grief are they giving to the community …what permanent scars are they leaving in the minds of young children. Do you expect them to be submissive and not take revenge??
The people who come down on streets for vandalize and LOOT …who gives them the license to do all this…

They seek justice for killing of a man but who will provide justice to the hundred innocents whom they have killed and tortured. It is easy to be powerful and do things but it is terribly painful to be on the other side and face brutality…see your loved ones get killed for no fault of theirs. They are doing it in the name of religion but I am sure God will never forgive them for this.

61 years of independence have really made us "progressive and advanced" in our views...Wat do you say

Pursuit of "Happiness"

After 2 whole hectic weeks; I have finally found time for myself. Not that I am spared some time but I have realized that you really don’t feel tired if you are pursuing your hobby.

So this topic came about during a Chit-Chat with a friend on Gtalk .We were discussing our alternative job profiles had our company not bestowed us with our precious ones. Interesting profiles came up during the conversation : umm like health-food chef ; gym instructor ; movie reviewer ; travel writing ; newspaper researcher ; kindergarten teacher ; marbles collector ; digital artist ; Driver! :P ;….sound sophisticated…no that’s not mine.…that’s my friends’ list… we made a good time by discussing these profiles and had great fun..
On a serious note...Returning on my way home…I tried to figure out “my” alternative life…Delhi Traffic snarls and soon I forgot about it; when just a few days back another friend of mine raised the same topic.. “To be or not to be”

Almost every one of us is kind of settled with our jobs; you pass out from your college with dreams in your eyes; looking forward to the excitement and joy of new life; and you start earning; following a monotonous routine to prove your potential every now and then. It’s a rat race there. It’s cut-throat. And in the pursuit of “happiness” you get deviated from your real pursuit of happiness.
Almost all of us had faced this “We will see it later” syndrome. Every one of us had a distinct hobby or liking towards certain things in our life.

“Somebody wanted to paint” ; we will do it later…first let get our bread earning ; “Somebody wanted to learn to dance ; somebody wanted to travel ; somebody wanted to write ; somebody wanted to go to war ; somebody wanted to try agriculture ; I wanted to be a radio jockey L” and we all postponed the things ; the “Hobbies” in pursuit of a real job. Now we have the real job other cycle of life has begun and your hobbies have again taken a backseat.
Well, I am not exactly critical of our jobs or our routine as such but just wondered how many of us are really experiencing the “joy” in our lives?

We do everything to be happy ; we take up jobs so that we can have good money and live a happy contented life…but we really never find time to enjoy our “happy contented “ life.
As children we become happy when we get to do the thing which we like to do…but with time we kill our hobbies; our likings… because they don’t gel well with the social norms. We want to be called sane and we safely take-up the more tried and tested professions…live a mechanical life…because we want to be happy. But who is defining our happiness. If you are following the social norms to be happy then are you following your pursuit of happiness??
Seeking happiness by killing the desires in you to be happy… Such an irony!!
How many of us are actually happy with our professions? How many of us are actually living the life which we wanted to live? Well there are a fortunate few…
For the general lot…In the quest to be happy the real purpose has been killed.

Before you get sad and serious let me iterate though my alternative life....Umm...i wanted to be writer for few days....want to do a course in interior decor; a course in history/sociology ; a course in event mgmnt; want to plan some weddings; want to host some big shows ; want to air my voice on radio in nights ; want to do a course in mass comm and be a part of handling the production of news telecasts ; also want to read news on Tv some day ; ummm......want to join army/ navy / air force for some time ...want to fly a plane...want to be a great counsellor...an expert at giving advice..Thats it :)

This is my wishlist..which i hope to complete in near future...:)

Fake or fair???

I don’t know why this topic draws me so much….I forget about it and then decide I won’t think about it again…I Have had many arguments about this from people of varied circles…and each time I have decided that I won’t think or write about it..But here I am once again on the same issue…May be its because Delhi is recovering from the shock of the Saturday blasts and Delhi police claim to have killed two ‘suspected militants’ and the newspapers are splashed with news on this …journals and articles here and there on every page; almost under every section …Even I thought of venting out my thoughts on the issue...

Delhi’s heart was blasted last Saturday and I have been hearing mixed reactions from people on who actually is responsible for it…what should be done about it… Role of our govt. in fighting out them…
Good that we have reached a certain level in our investigations and come to know about who the actual perpetrators are …but reading the newspaper and watching television reports ; there is speculation that this might be just another fake encounter. Well it might be and it might not be. I don’t have to say anything against this encounter but I was actually wondering today about the fake encounters which have taken place in J&K …which continue to take place wherever terrorism reaches its peak and police is under pressure to crack down the cases. People are harassed and humiliated just because they belong to some faith. People are questioned and suspected. Instances on this can be the Hyderabad blasts ; Ahmadabad blasts ; Orissa killings.

Yes, it’s perfectly fine to find out the truth and question suspects and in the trail we might question someone by mistake. But making some innocent pay for someone else who committed the crime and hiding your own incapability of finding the real culprit is not justified. Is it??
Is it fair to blame the entire faith and held a community responsible for a wrong being done. Imagine yourself in US at time of 9/11; you could have easily been the target of public humiliation because you were of Asian origin. Is it justified? No naa. But we play the same blame game here. Don’t us. It’s a pity that we lose our sense of judgment and pick an easy target to ease the pressure on us.

I would rather quote these lines from a piece of journal as they are:
“There is no doubt that the governments and people of this land need to combat terrorism , and to track down and punish those who randomly take innocent lives .But in this battle we must not sacrifice our convictions , of democracy , law , justice and humanity . We must not profile people because of their faith. We must not incarcerate people without evidence and torture them to extract spurious proof .If we do , our jails may overflow with men we dub to be terrorists , but the terrorists would still triumph , victorious in their battle of enabling fear and hate to extinguish our sense of goodness and fairness. “

It’s a topic for open debate and I might not be entirely updated on the issue ; people might have seen different aspects of the same issue and they might be harboring different views on this but the bottom line remains the same : Be justified in whatever you do. In being unable to find the real culprit don't just grab anyone by the collar.Don’t take lives or ruin somebody’s life by plain introspection. No innocent should pay the price otherwise there is no difference between us and them.This is even what they do.

Black Saturday...September the 13th...

Looking at the morning newspapers today drowns me in immense feeling of despair and helplessness ……The photographs in the newspaper repetitively remind me that the probability of me being there is even…Even I could have been there… I am not fearful of death that “O My God I would have died “ ….but have extreme empathy for those who have died or have been injured or have lost someone… after all they are my fellow beings…youngsters like me …who just thought of spending the evening ; strolling in Connaught place or shopping in Karol Bagh or GK –M block market..

Connaught place—umm the heart of New Delhi…With skyscraper buildings and head offices for majority of corporations….a metro station which connects to two more metro lines…and beautiful park constructed over it….ample grass(grass is no more green today; it has turned red!)…open air theatre which holds live concerts sometimes…nice water fountains to add beauty to the place…Central park is the pride of any delhite…
My college being close to this place …We have taken umpteenth rounds to this place….any chance to bunk classes…”chal yaar CP chalte hain “…and from CP we would either head towards Janpath—the famous market for street smart people…. Or to Palika—the underground air-conditioned market for all pirated and genuine computer and electronics related stuff…we would munch at nirula’s; Mc donalds; keventer’s; …or any place in CP (CP houses almost all brands and non-brands as well) …and we would simply lie around in Central park…The fact that these areas which you visit ( without giving a second thought) are so vulnerable against a group of people who believe in certain ideologies…makes me wonder what will happen in near future…

Although I am sure that we will fight it together…the show will go on… Men who want to plant fear in us will not be able to succeed…it’s not that people will stop visiting these places…I am sure things will return to normalcy soon… but there are few of us who have paid the cost for this… I terribly feel sad for them … I really wonder what this senseless killing of people means to them…what purpose they achieve by creating terror amongst fellow human beings…
In fact I really question their humane attitude…what right do they reserve to take somebody’s life….if they could not contribute to a person’s living, what right do they have to end it…I mean it’s simply irrational and unthinkable…If you cannot give life then you cannot take it…Would they come forward to adopt the orphans whose parents have given the sacrifice for their “cause”.

I simply don’t understand the fact that if they have questions and objections with the government why the hell they don’t fight with the govt. …why the price has to be paid by some 8 year old boy who will live with this trauma for entire life?
All this sounds heavy naa…. It is …for we have become so habitual of living in this constant terror that it is no more a shock to read about blasts and killings…we have grown a thick skin which does not allow the sensitivities of a human being to permeate through…
Let peace be bestowed upon those who have been at the unfortunate end of this incident…

Rocked ON!!

Rock on!!
Fresh and AWESOME!! Are the two words to define this movie…
Star cast : Fresh faces… Farhaan ;Arjun ; Purab ; Luke ; Prachi ….
Theme : Follow your dreams..Live for your passion
Umm…my feelings after this movie are inexpressible… A nice movie about 4 friends who venture to fulfill their dreams but fall out due to some misunderstanding… the movie is so well directed with such a wonderful screenplay… the contrast which is portrayed just keeps up with the temp of the theme… all the characters with a substantial role to play..And Yes girls not being used as props! But have a significant role to play…
I was just floored by Farhaan’s multitalented stints…his expression while singing are amazing…they are so intense…and convey the feeling of his character so nicely… umm u can say that i have a flinching crush on him (Ooooops...did someone read it ;))
Purab or the Killer drama is too gud with his timings...he looks cute ..young madhavan looks...
and Arjun rampal is tooooo gud in the last song "tum ho toh".....he sings it with so much intensity yaar...I was just dumbstruck...Prachi desai as sakshi...fits perfectly as the high class elite touch-me-not wife....so sophisticated ..yet so elegant...and Debbie was just perfect in her role....my role model!!
Amazing music...live and fresh from the heart... anyone can humm...and almost everyone can relate.... :)
I am listening to songs for enitre day today...
A must watch….