WINDS OF CHANGE BLOW EASTWARDS

The news that has caught everyone's attention is about the Tata Motors being the primary bidders for the opwnership of premium car brands Jaguar and Land Rover.
though the indian business lobby cannot seem to wipe the grins off their faces the bid does not seem to have gone down too well with the 'Amreekans'. infact, they are positively scowling.
and whyever not? us brownies (who still prefer bullock carts over 4 wheelers)as the OWNERS? now how can THAT be possible?

but possible it is. and possible it became the day a certain defiant Mr. Mittal took over Arcelor, ignoring all the preset norms even as the world sat gaping and frowning. though the mergers and takeovers by indian companies were not exactly never before heard of concepts, the sheer scale of it is what got it all the attention. and got the world to sit up.

for years western countries have been lobbying for greater globalisation and liberalization. for the uninitiated (like Mr. Twisteroni haha) globalisation is the process of integrating a country's economy with the world economy. liberalization means removing as many governmental restrictions as possible to make the environment business friendly.
what is the draw? well... cheaper production costs. not to mention the huge scope for selling their goods as their own markets are saturated. hence they arrive at our doorstep like the Santa carrying modern technology, foreign capital and blah as Christmas presents. don't think they imagined the tide would turn this quick. but turn it did. AND HOW!
________

1991
India's foreign exchange reserves are a paltry $1 billion. India is on the brink of a financial emergency. the whole mixed economy approach has gone wrong somewhere down the line. all that remains is an economy in shambles with the protectionist government regimen bearing the brunt of its own screwed up policies.
comes in FinMin Manmohan Singh. out goes the license raj, protectionism and govt. mollycoddling.
________

CIRCA 2007
India is slowly but steadily moving towards realizing its dream of becoming an economic superpower. the markets are booming (though a bit shaky), forex reserves are swelling at the speed of light and the labor force winning over the world.

though they still crib about the redtapism, the bureaucracy and blah (out of habit i think!) they can't seem to keep away. $100m, $500m, $1b investments have become an everyday phenomena. everyone wants to have a piece of India's success story. make hay WHEREVER the sun shines.
BUT but but... till not so long ago it was all about THEM coming here.
now the tables are turning. and faster than anyone thought. within 16 years of opening up its economy india has come this far. who had thought Mukesh Ambani would beat the likes of Bill Gates, Warren Buffet and Carlos Slim Helu to emerge the richest individual?
not most of us atleast!
and that...sums it all. i'm sure that though the world saw it coming, they didnt think it would be this fast. India and China BOTH to be countered together? not a very pleasing thought!
no wonder they seem to be stepping back, trying to protect themselves. protectionism seems to be becoming the order of the day... be it the farmer's subsidies, the Kyoto Protocol or whatever.
so much so, these businesses seem to have been too shocked to bother with the guise of politeness or tact. take for example Paul White's (CEO, Orient Express Hotels) response to Tata's bid:
"We donot believe that there is a strategic fit between your predominanty domestic Indian hotel chain and our global portfolio of luxury hotels and unique travel experiences and we donot wish to be involved in an attempt to improve the performance of your non-Indian properties. We believe any association of our luxury brands and properties with your brands and properties would result in a reduction in the value of our brands and of our business and would likely lead to erosion in the RevPar premiums currently achieved by our properties."

but this i guess is just a tip of the ieberg. as the negotiations for the car companies start in earnest all the worms will start falling out of the bag in the form of quotable quotes, dirty behind the scene stories and sugary public refusals, responses or interviews.

but what remains to be seen is how far will things go. will they turn really ugly and take a racist turn? will the governments be dragged in (once again!)? or will the preservation of goodwill and brand names rule on both side?

I for one am looking for the saga to unfold, as im sure is half the world.
watch this space for more! ;-)

all the comments and opinions expressed here are completely are my personal ones. you are welcome to agree or differ. :)

I...

I like daydreaming…
I like the winters...
I love it when it pours… hate it when it drizzles
I like ice creams...
I like the smell of wet sand and petrol…
I like talking to certain people…
I like rambling when im in the mood for it…
I like being busy… but end up procrastinating yet
I like being able to switch off from people according to my own whims…yet
I like being around people most of the time.
I like where I am… but still
I would like to go somewhere, though
I still don’t know exactly where. :)

A excerpt of a conversation with a friend...
...
KM: what do you mean, you are sick and tired of the way you are?

MK: i mean exactly what i said.

KM: and that would mean...?

MK: have you ever felt that people take you for granted? that because you happen to be a good listener, they happen to come to you when they need to offload the burden but once done, you might not even exist!

KM: hmmm... sometimes yes, but not always! i mean i AM a listener you know! :)

MK: thats just not it you see... its this whole lack of self confidence thing. i have started judging myself on the basis of other people's opinion of me, their behaviour towards me. if they talk to me, laugh around with me, i feel like i'm on top of the world. but where they happen to not act towards me in a manner i feel they ought to, i feel rejected. i try to act in the way they would want me to, talk like i think they would want me to. i feel this whole pressure of always saying the wittiest of things, laughing and joking around, saying the things they wanna hear. i feel if i don't they won't like me anymore. i envy the people who are all reserved and quiet...but still have their own loyal bunch of sidekicks. i would like act like that for a day just to know how the people around me react.


i had more or less dismissed it as a case of post teenage hangover or something when i realized its not that. i mean every second person i see or find around me-- the tweens, the hip crowd, parents (yes!), celebrities, blah blah blah... is living a facade-- whether knowingly or unknowingly only they can answer. look around you... its all around us! we all have our 'reputations' to maintain. and those of us who consider ourselves to be social misfits try to enhance it whenever possible?

"suckers!", i heard someone think out loud?

BACK TO SQUARE ONE...

Sarthak has just learnt to walk.
He wants to explore things now.
He is completely excited and psyched.
He starts taking his first steps, reminding himself of the ditch on the way.
He sees other kids make mistakes and believes he has learnt.
That he won't be THAT foolish.
Nevertheless, finds himself in it after a while.
He struggles, trying to get out.
Takes him a while, but he finally does.
He is scared now. And hurt-- will be more watchful now!
Will not be such a blind fool again.
Before venturing again, tries to keep these precautions in mind.
But somewhere down the line forgets about them.
There! an amazing green patch to play on.
He so wants to get onto it.
But seems too pretty anf nice to belong to the old dried up park.
In doubt, he still carries on.
He has just reached and put a foot on it.
When he notices that its merely a green cover over a ditch similar to one he had fallen into.
But as he realizes he is halfway into it.
How does he get himself out of it before making matters worse than the last time?

UK's Silliest Laws

Check these laws out....just read about them. I wonder how many have been prosecuted to date for disobeying them! :D do let me know which is your favourite!!

• It is illegal to die in the Houses of Parliament ( wonder whether this includes the loos as well =D)

• It is an act of treason to place a postage stamp bearing the British monarch upside down (though I'm sure there isn't any law for stomping all over the DOWNSIDE DOWN post!)

• In Liverpool, its illegal for a woman to be topless except as a clerk in a fish store. (hah! i wonder how many men are employed in any industry besides fishery!!)

• Mince pies cannot be eaten on Christmas Day. (why? :O)

• In Scotland, if someone knocks on your door and requires the use of your toilet, you MUST let them enter. (even if they are willing to point their 'weapons' at you and mug you :))

• A pregnant woman can legally relieve herself anywhere she wants, including in a policeman's helmet. (has THAT got anything to do with those weird hats/helmets they wear!?)

• The head of any dead whale found on the British coast automatically becomes the property of the king, and the tail of the queen. (no wonder their crown is such a 'dead' weight!)

• It is illegal to avoid telling the tax man anything you do not want him to know, but legal not to tell him information you donot mind him knowing. (*still figuring this one out!*)

• It is illegal to enter the House of Parliament in a suit of armour. ( thank god! i had thought that they only targeted Asian minorities with these dress codes. would like to see an armour clad guard trying to protect the Lords in the Houses. :D )

LADY OF SHALOTT

On either side the river lie
Long fields of barley and of rye,
That clothe the wold and meet the sky;
And through the field the road run by
To many-tower'd Camelot;
And up and down the people go,
Gazing where the lilies blow
Round an island there below,
The island of Shalott.

Willows whiten, aspens quiver,
Little breezes dusk and shiver
Through the wave that runs for ever
By the island in the river
Flowing down to Camelot.
Four grey walls, and four grey towers,
Overlook a space of flowers,
And the silent isle imbowers
The Lady of Shalott.

By the margin, willow veil'd
,Slide the heavy barges trail'd
By slow horses; and unhail'd
The shallop flitteth silken-sail'd
Skimming down to Camelot:
But who hath seen her wave her hand?
Or at the casement seen her stand?
Or is she known in all the land,
The Lady of Shalott?

Only reapers, reaping early,
In among the bearded barley
Hear a song that echoes cheerly
From the river winding clearly;
Down to tower'd Camelot;
And by the moon the reaper weary
, Piling sheaves in uplands airy,
Listening, whispers," 'Tis the fairy
The Lady of Shalott."

There she weaves by night and day
A magic web with colours gay.
She has heard a whisper say,
A curse is on her if she stay
To look down to Camelot.
She knows not what the curse may be,
And so she weaveth steadily,
And little other care hath she,
The Lady of Shalott.

And moving through a mirror clear
That hangs before her all the year,
Shadows of the world appear.
There she sees the highway near
Winding down to Camelot;
There the river eddy whirls,
And there the surly village churls,
And the red cloaks of market girls
Pass onward from Shalott.

Sometimes a troop of damsels glad,
An abbot on an ambling pad,
Sometimes a curly shepherd lad,
Or long-hair'd page in crimson clad
Goes by to tower'd Camelot;
And sometimes through the mirror blue
The knights come riding two and two.
She hath no loyal Knight and true,
The Lady of Shalott.

But in her web she still delights
To weave the mirror's magic sights,
For often through the silent nights
A funeral, with plumes and lights
And music, went to Camelot;
Or when the Moon was overhead,
Came two young lovers lately wed.
"I am half sick of shadows,"
said The Lady of Shalott.

A bow-shot from her bower-eaves,
He rode between the barley sheaves,
The sun came dazzling thro' the leaves,
And flamed upon the brazen greaves
Of bold Sir Lancelot.
A red-cross knight for ever kneel'd
To a lady in his shield,
That sparkled on the yellow field,
Beside remote Shalott.


The gemmy bridle glitter'd free,
Like to some branch of stars we see
Hung in the golden Galaxy.
The bridle bells rang merrily
As he rode down to Camelot:
And from his blazon'd baldric slung
A mighty silver bugle hung,
And as he rode his armor rung
Beside remote Shalott.

All in the blue unclouded weather
Thick-jewell'd shone the saddle-leather,
The helmet and the helmet-feather
Burn'd like one burning flame together,
As he rode down to Camelot.
As often thro' the purple night,
Below the starry clusters bright,
Some bearded meteor, burning bright,
Moves over still Shalott.

His broad clear brow in sunlight glow'd;
On burnish'd hooves his war-horse trode;
From underneath his helmet flow'd
His coal-black curls as on he rode,
As he rode down to Camelot.
From the bank and from the river
He flashed into the crystal mirror,
"Tirra lirra," by the river
Sang Sir Lancelot.

She left the web, she left the loom,
She made three paces through the room,
She saw the water-lily bloom,
She saw the helmet and the plume,
She look'd down to Camelot.
Out flew the web and floated wide;
The mirror crack'd from side to side;
"The curse is come upon me,"
cried The Lady of Shalott.

In the stormy east-wind straining,
The pale yellow woods were waning,
The broad stream in his banks complaining.
Heavily the low sky raining
Over tower'd Camelot;
Down she came and found a boat
Beneath a willow left afloat,
And around about the prow she wrote
The Lady of Shalott.

And down the river's dim expanse
Like some bold seer in a trance,
Seeing all his own mischance --
With a glassy countenance
Did she look to Camelot.
And at the closing of the day
She loosed the chain, and down she lay;
The broad stream bore her far away,
The Lady of Shalott.

Lying, robed in snowy white
That loosely flew to left and right --
The leaves upon her falling light --
Thro' the noises of the night,
She floated down to Camelot:
And as the boat-head wound along
The willowy hills and fields among,
They heard her singing her last song,
The Lady of Shalott.

Heard a carol, mournful, holy,
Chanted loudly, chanted lowly,
Till her blood was frozen slowly,
And her eyes were darkened wholly,
Turn'd to tower'd Camelot.
For ere she reach'd upon the tide
The first house by the water-side,
Singing in her song she died,
The Lady of Shalott.
__Tennyson

ps... but obviously, this isn't mine. but didn't feel like creating a separate label. one of my favourite poems. actually, one of the only few poems i actually like. hope you like it too. :)

STOP READING

another editorial i happened to like. Infact someone just pointed it out to me... :)


Zombies. That's what readers are. They exist in this world but live in a fantasy world, surviving on what others create. Their contribution to society is negative, for while they consume precious resources, they create nothing. The roadside vagabond does more, yet they claim intellectual superiority over all. But if intelligence is the application of information, they're down there with those other shells of human existence, the TV-addicts, collecting data about everything, but not alive enough to ever apply that knowledge. That's probably why they are called bookworms -- a parasitical existence, far removed from the ecstasy and agony of the real world. Decades ago, the only entertainment was reading. If kids were hunched over a book, adults would know they weren't setting the house on fire or getting into fights. If you wanted to kill a few hours, or expand your mind a little, the only option was hitting the nearest library. While times have changed, attitudes haven't -- received wisdom dictates that the reading habit is good for us. While there are so many entertainment options, which engage all the senses and encourage a person to connect with people worldwide, the lonely man's need for a book is anachronistic. There's no place anymore for people who're lost in their own world. As for education and information, it's more efficient to trawl the Web than lift a 500-page tome. While the rest of the world is climbing the Everests of their chosen professions or feeding penguins in Antarctica, the reader slouches in his ratty couch, oblivious to love and conflict, the purple sky on a rainy day and the fireflies that light it up at night. Passive consumers, they bovinely chew on ideas that someone else is busy translating into reality. Despite their vast knowledge, these antiquated creatures are blind to the difference between serenading your Juliet from under the famous balcony in Verona, and reading about how Romeo did it many years ago. When you sit down to a book, you raise a wall around yourself. Every minute you spend reading, another brick is added to that wall, till it becomes so high, it's impossible to get over it. And as the world does one more turn on its axis, you turn the page of your cheap paperback, without even realising that life has just passed you by. How miserable it must be to sit down to read, when you haven't stood up to live?

MAGICALLY GAY

This one is an editorial article from today's Times Of India. Me likes! so me writes! :> drop in your comments please about what you think of the blogotorial :D


J K Rowling's recent announcement that Albus Dumbledore, one of the most beloved characters in the blockbuster Harry Potter series, was gay has created an uproar in the English-speaking world. While many have hailed the announcement, it has given a fillip to Christian Evangelists who decried the books as instruments of Satan. Others have criticised Dumbledore's outing as editorialising after the fact, and that if Rowling really wanted to make a point about homosexuality, she should've done so in the books. But Rowling has been diligent in portraying all manner of characters in her narrative, be it ethnicity, culture, race or physical appeal. Indeed, it would've been a remarkable omission if none of her characters were homosexual. In a world where gay rights are still a matter of intense debate, to have a character as well-loved and admired as Dumbledore be revealed as gay is indeed a Big Deal. The Harry Potter series has been a publishing phenomenon, with almost half a billion books sold to date. The movies have done extraordinarily well at the box office, earning $4.5 billion worldwide. As far as popular culture goes, it doesn't get more mainstream than Harry Potter.

The most important aspect of the outing is Dumbledore's character. Not only does his orientation help us understand him better, particularly with regard to his relationship with Grindelwald, but it also makes homosexuality a footnote, the way it should be. Characters don't go shouting their straightness from the rooftops, and the understated nature of this revelation does much to move away from enforcing what is called a ‘heteronormative' view, that being heterosexual is normal. Being gay didn't stop Dumbledore from becoming the most powerful wizard in the world, or from discharging his responsibilities as headmaster of a premier school or heading various associations. He is, in the Potterverse, a force for the light, a symbol of hope and a champion of the underdog. Harry Potter's sheer visibility means that most Dumbledore fans will become aware of his orientation. Many parents have taken up cudgels at the thought of the conversation they will have to have with their children. But because Dumbledore is without doubt a heroic figure, the mentor to the chosen one, being gay will have to be OK.

She wishes she was never born.
would have made life a lot simpler for everyone around her.
she knows they love her to death.
but she isnt too sure whether they like her for what she is...just the way she is.
she is sorry for inadvertantly always causing all the pain.
period.

Delhi Is Like This Only...

"eww! cheeeee!! that auto guy just spat on the road. but theek hai, its delhi. this place is like this only."

" yahin par phenk doon? i shouldnt throw it on the road nah? but this is delhi... everyone here is like this only."

" oh i looooooooove chandigarh! thats my home...everything there is just so nice! the roads are clean, people dont stand and pee by the walls, you get fined for spitting on the road..and greenery! oh i cant wait to get bck home!" :

These are just few of the samples of the kind of stuff that i get to hear EVERYDAY. From who? people who have left their precious cities where they have been mollycoddled for life and have come here to study cz the opportunities are so much better... the colleges, the faculties, the elusive DELHI UNIVERSITY tag...et al. And come they do, thousands they do pay for renting PGs, years they do spend here. But all the time thinking of this city as a forced temporary shelter.

Why is it that people who come from outside city are willing to use up the resources, make the most of the opportunities coming their way, live a kind of life that would be unthinkable in their otherwise mundane lives...and criticize the place!? When its something great about the city ( like the options in Italian cuisine restaurants, the exclusive brand outlets, the job opportunities etc) people are more than willing to make use of the facilities taking them for granted and showing the least bit of appreciation, but when it is something bad, they suddenly seem to alienate the city calling it an excuse of a metro.a place where it is okay to throw bits of paper on the road or dispose off a soiled tissue or an apple core on the pavement...a place which could never be their home.

I am not against people from outside coming and living here, making the city their home. But i AM against the way that things concerning Delhi are taken for granted. If spitting on the road, littering the place, disposing off your waste, relieving yourself in public, road rage, harrassment and law problems are objectionable things in your city then are they not so in other places too?

and then they wonder why they call them outsiders and feel isolated?

THE NIGHT IS MINE...

Stars are up, moon is high
Masks have been put away for the night.
Careers, relationships-- all forgotten
I am just me, what else matters?
Those hidden pleasures, those unseemly delights
That once again make me feel alive.
The cloak of annonimity that darkness brings
Is a comfort of which one seldom sings.
Deepest fears, smallest secrets
all come to the fore, explored, uninhibited.
Laugh or cry, choose to live or die--
nobody interrupts me-- for the night is mine.

When You Say Nothing At All...

It´s amazing how you can speak right to my heart
Without saying a word, you can light up the dark
Try as I may I could never explain
What I hear when you don´t say a thing

The smile on your face let´s me know that you need me
There´s a truth in your eyes saying you´ll never leave m
eThe touch of your hand says you´ll catch me if ever I fall
You say it best when you say nothing at all

All day long I can hear people talking out loud
But when you hold me near, you drown out the crowd
Try as they may they can never define
What´s being said between your heart and mine

The smile on your face let´s me know that you need me
There´s a truth in your eyes saying you´ll never leave me
The touch of your hand says you´ll catch me if ever I fall
You say it best when you say nothing at all

The smile on your face let´s me know that you need me
There´s a truth in your eyes saying you´ll never leave me
The touch of your hand says you´ll catch me if ever I fall
You say it best when you say nothing at all

-Notting Hill sountrack

Random Ramblings =|

hmmm...im bored so thought of scribbling some random thoughts on my page...though dun expect me to stick to anything in particular or find any sort of relevance between 2 lines. =D

Now, as i stated earlier, im bored. im bored outta my skin, outta my bones and outta anything else that one can be :. so much so, im ACTUALLY looking forward to my coaching classes which start tomorrow onwards... . so now, my schedule is gonna read something like 7am to 11am at ITO, thn to college for whatever classes i can attend, back home and then off again in the evening frm 5pm to 8 pm for coaching no.2. see...do you know ANYONE mad enough to be looking forward to this kind of horseshit?

its not just the fact that i have nothing to do, what also is annoying is that i cant really connect with anyone around me... their smallest of things, their smallest of jibes irritate me, make me see red and i wanna banish them from this universe. for no fault of theirs per se. :
things that used to interest me till not so long ago make we wanna scream with frustration.

hmmm....btw im out of books too : n thats sayin smthn cz i have been readin an average of one book per day for a while now...( does it matter that outta the 15 recent books, 7 were pure chic lit stuff full of gobsmacked women trying to figure out the love angle of the week of thr lives hah!). read shantaram and loved it. if reading the book is enough to make we wanna visit afghnisthan and try to 'pass my motion by the ocean' then its says something =D. man...i LOVED prabhaker ^-^
music! now THATS one more thing that helps me through my 'phases' as mansanjam likes to call them lol. can anyone PLEASE teach me to play drums? have been dyin to learn them but everyone except fr D knows guitar n no drums...n wd ask D only on m deathbed :
i wonder if you know, how they live in tokyo... la di la
n what else...hmm...oh yeah...loved chak de india! infact liked it even more than Rang De Basanti... liked Khan for the first time which in itself is speaks a lot for itself :D

aur kya...hmmm...lets think...oh yeah...im once again stuck over someone who has absolutely everything else going in his life except for me : shit... ah wel... to hell with you too honey! =P

you know what can really bug the shit out of you? the fact that something which you have always wanted and worked really hard for, singlemindedly (though not in my case!) gone after is NOT actually what you really want in life! a bloody piss off i tell you! :

hmmm...now that i have ranted and raved in a public forum, i think ive finally blown my steam :D
so now, think ill end it here and make a move towards...err...more routine (if not greener) pastures... thank youall for reading this crap and well...have a nice day! =)

at 19, still growing up

"have u ever noticed nething small....something discerning...n found the happiness in discovering a reality u were never conscious of?"

We had been making light conversation till not so long ago. To say that the question threw me off would be an understatement of sorts. Not because I didn’t have an answer to it, but more because I had a ready long answer and it is rarely (if ever!) I come across a person willing to talk about such things as a part of a conversation. If I try to raise a topic like this with my friends I’m either met with blank stares or an expression that clearly says, “Kritika, u have finally lost it”. K

At that point I gave as coherent an answer as I could manage though probably knowing my skills as putting forth a view without seeming like im gonna bite someone’s head off, I wonder if he understood. J but I did wonder about it later at night. My answer… a conversation between my mother and my maid

For the most part of my life I’ve lived in a world which has noone but me in it. All my actions, reactions, ideas, notions and thoughts for the major part of my life at least have been an answer to how a particular thing, incident, act or people affect me.
Though I’m ashamed to admit it, I have never been able to imagine how life must be as Mr. A or B or whatever. Even on the rare occasions I did, it seemed like such a tedious task that I gave up within the next 10 seconds.

Till not so long ago, everyone’s life seemed to exist till the extent that it was connected with me— my friends, cousins, relatives or house help. And a visit to their houses would amaze me and to a certain extent disillusion me—their everyday activities, their relationship with their parents, how they carried themselves around and small things like how they maintained their things. Their smallest of actions, everything used to be so different from what I had always imagined or felt it to be! But being around 11-12 years I was hardly able to pinpoint as to how or why did I form such different notions and ideas and why was I always so disappointed in people that they didn’t come upto them.

Over the years I’ve grown and started to believe that I understand people better now—can interpret their reactions, can make out from their expression how genuinely they mean what they say and blah blah. To summarize, I’ve started toi understand people (if not the world!) a bit better.

But then again, that was till about a month ago when I realized that my thinking is still self centred and small in perspective.

What triggered it? Well a conversation between my mother and my new maid while I happened to be lolling around… she was asking her about her life in her native place—her family, studies, work, life in general. Listening to her answer made me feel that for all my lately acquired worldly wise notions, I still havnt stepped out of my world of surrealism, naiveté, self complacency, whichever way u want to put it.


For the life of me I couldn’t imagine how could anyone live a life so different— so completely unlike the life that I live!

After having read this long an entry I’m sure you must be wondering what about this incident did make me happy? Well…to overcome this feeling of belonging to a different universe, I offered to teach her as a way to help her as well as myself. And no matter how stupid it may sound, it made me feel happy. J

NO SEX PLEASE, WE ARE DADDY'S LITTLE GIRLS

WASHINGTON: It has all the trappings of a wedding: the proud tuxedo-clad father, the frosted white cake, the limousines and an exchange of vows. But there is no groom and the girl in the long gown is no bride. She's daddy's little girl, taking a vow of chastity.
In what is becoming a trend among conservative Christians in the United States, girls as young as nine are pledging to their fathers to remain virgins until they wed, in elaborate ceremonies dubbed Purity Balls.
Many fathers at the ceremonies slip "purity rings" around the finger of their misty-eyed daughters or offer them "chastity bracelets" and other jewelry that the girls can entrust to their husbands on their wedding night.



This being an article on the DNA network website


now isn’t this funny? This new chastity fad hits the states and everyone starts talking about it. Suddenly everyone seems to be aware and talking about the need for ‘self preservation’ and ‘abstinence’. Bite me if I’m wrong, but isn’t this exactly what our older generations have been telling us about, asking us for!? When they say that having multiple partners or indulging in pre marital sex is not right, we boo boo them, thinking them to be old fashioned, outdated, hypocritical and orthodox.


But now that suddenly America is preaching abstinence, it becomes uber cool! :
Talk to a few people around about it, and they go like, “oh, but there is a difference you see… Indians preach chastity only for moral reasons, whereas people in the US are all for it for the medical problems that can occur… to stop the spread of sexually transmitted diseases and AIDS. Indians on the other hand are least concerned about this aspect!” :O

Point taken. But it certainly isn’t as simple as this. This is simply a manner of putting same information in a new avatar just to make it palatable and acceptable to the present generation. Here, we are willing to give it a chance just because US believes in it. What people don’t realize is that in the US itself this concept is mainly prevalent in the central states where the population is largely religious and conservative. Also, like everything else in the States, this too is just a passing fad. What else can explain the bizarre concepts of walking down the aisle with your father in a ceremony akin to the wedding ceremony, the only differences being absence of the groom and taking of celibacy vows instead of marriage vows. Or wearing chastity rings. OR (if these weren’t ridiculous enough!) going in for surgery to regain your so called virginity. I mean… how funny can it get!? :O if this clearly doesn’t smack of hypocrisy, what does? Well…to each his own, and hey! If it makes people feel good about themselves then why not go for it? But what I don’t understand is WHY does this sound so believable and acceptable to us? Why doesn’t the concept of virginity sound right to us on its own accord?

The funny thing is that the media that was all for sexual freedom of any and every kind as a symbol of a liberated society is now holding special talk shows, discussions etc on it, asking questions like “Now that the chastity fad has taken the US by storm, do you think you are going to follow suit?” So much for liberation :

Hey… I’m all for the concept of chastity, preservation till sure and stayinf faithful to our partners. But what is the guarantee that he/she has been equally faithful? How can we be sure that the problems we have been trying to safeguard ourselves from wont occur after marriage? If you abstain till marriage for moral, emotional and safety reasons, what is the guarantee that the person you marry has done so too and is…to say…a ‘safe’ bet? And WHY do people generally take chastity to mean abstinence on the part of women only?

i dunno much about these things but what iv always felt is Life doesn’t come with any guarantees. At the end of the day it all boils down to the choices we are willing to make and the gambles we are willing to take. Following a certain precedence set by others is not going to get us anywhere if we ourself are not sure about the reasons of making our choices... (to end on a peachy preachy note! :>)

She...

she looks out of the window and sees a vast expanse of ocean.
she walks out of the main door onto the beach, sand crunching under her feet as she walks.
she looks around and sees surfers trying to conquer the tides,
she looks at the sunbathers working hard for that perfect tan.
she sees kids playing trying to build castles and save them from the approaching tides.
she sees all this...and she turns and starts walking in the other direction, towards a more isolated, secluded spot of the beach shielded by some boulders.
she slowly walks around, playing with sand under her feet.
after walking for a bit she sits down and lets the sea breeze whip her hair about.
she gazes at the ocean, trying to clear her mind...what happened? whats next?
she waits for the wind to dry her tears. once done, she gets up to walk back home....

COME UNDONE

Mine, immaculate dream made breath and skin
I've been waiting for you
Signed, with a home tattoo,
Happy birthday to you was created for you

(can't ever keep from falling apart
At the seams
Can't I believe you're taking
my heartTo pieces)

Oh, it'll take a little time,
Might take a little crime
To come undone now

[pre chorus]
We'll try to stay blind
To the hope and fear outside
Hey child, stay wilder than the wind
And blow me in to cry

[chorus]
Who do you need,who do you love
When you come undone

Words, playing me deja vu
Like a radio tune I swear I've heard before
Chill, is it something real
Or the magic I'm feeding off your fingers

(Can't ever keep from falling apart
At the seams
Can I believe you're taking my heart
To pieces)

Lost, in a snow filled sky, we'll make it alright
To come undone now

K meets D in NC *la di la* :> --- TAKE TWO

K is at the metro station, getting a coin. turns to look around, and in walks THE DUDE again, this time holding his drum kit and other accessories. spots her, gives the 'D' grin.

K starts moving ahead. suddenly, "what! you cant even wait for me or offer to help me? what a chic man! i mean seriously!" Point taken, help offered. thrice. refused. thrice. great! let us go on!



K is not used to the metro platforms, so confused. D acts sweet and helps her. that's entirely a different issue that both gotta go to KB!

train awaits. K rushes towards it. D asks her to wait. say, "I'm tired. lets sit and talk for a while, we'll take the next one." great! K thinks, but agrees.

they sit and talk. he looks at her phone, thinks its a 'cute toy, apt for babies', smirks and hands it back. she just laughs... way too drained at the end of the day.

oh! here comes the train. both get in. D rushes and grabs a seat, saves one for K. sweet.

D gives her a once over. "god! look at what venky has done to you! you used to be so much fun!" she tries to explain that after a full day at college then 4 hours at NC in the sun, any babe would look like something the cat dragged in, not that she is either she hastens.

he merely smirks. Ha!

they look around. she has a weird drooling baby on her other side who keeps staring at her. D thinks its funny. "ooh! look! the baby has the 'hots' for you!" K is too drained to argue. they talk general stuff. suddenly the voice says, "the next station is patel chowk. please mind..."

oh, patel chowk... WHAT!! Patel chowk!!?? what the fuck!? where did rajiv chowk go? both look at each other, laugh. then grimace. they get off at the station, wait at the platform near the book store.

close by, a middle aged couple is standing_ aunty holding packets of namkeen and uncle busy hogging them. Ha! D and K look at each other and grin.

D starts about his band. suddenly, there is this weird blasting sound with CHANGING SCALES! oh! the uncle farted!! hahahaha. K tries to discretely turn her laughter into a cough.

but not D!

He comes close to her and 'whispers' in her ear, "you know what! that man just farted! and how?..." oh... he explains with audio effects, not bothering to lower the volume throughout! :

uncle turns, aunty turns. both stare. K wants to die, be swallowed by this earth! but no such blessing.

mercifully, the train arrives. both have to stand. they stand side by side, talking about nothing and something-- D, his band, his gluttony, his band, his love for beer. and his band. lol.

soon, the station arrives. both get off. "catchya later man! adios!" *grins*



***********************************END*********************************************

K meets D in NC *la di la* :> --- TAKE ONE

hah! this is a hilarious one. an account of one of the visits to the north campus. this happened a while ago... but hadnt bothered to post it till now. splitting it into 2 parts. happy reading! :>

TAKE ONE
K coming out of Stephen's with A, talking. suddenly someone shouts her name. looks around. sees no one. continues walking. again, "kritika!". looks across the street....oh! D coming out of Hindu College.
*grins on both the sides* D crosses the road in ultimate 'dude' style.
D's accompanied by a friend too, so introductions on both sides. some other friends of the great one come along... "yo, D! great performance on the drums the other day man! your band seriously rocks!" dialogue over, muah muah on each side, and the friends depart. D focuses his attention back on us ordinary mortals.
"So kritika, going to 'K Nags'? wanna walk with me till there? i know a short cut, or you gonna take a 'rick'!?"
no, thank you, kritika prefers a 'rick'.
"Aight then! seeya around! *grins*

*************************END OF TAKE ONE*******************************

Awaken – Them Clones

Watch you grow on my own
Am I alive, yes I wait alone
Watch you breathe ready to disown
Needles and pins are reflections of my soul

Bathe in the silver sun
Moon at night brighter than the cosmic light
You my moon will flow
and flood my mind
Meet you there in the depths of skies
Don’t say goodbye, I trust you to lie

An affair with misery
Clandestine starves of my ecstasy
Bleed my pride when u put me to sleep
Goodbye goodbye don’t say coz I trust you to lie(Trust you to lie)


Awaken to sweet rhythm
Dream that unfolds creations
Awaken to sweet rhythm
Dreams of echoes left alone.

PRAY FOR ME BROTHER...

Pray for me brother
Pray for me brother
Pray for me sister
Are you searchin’….
Pray for me brother
Lookin’ for the answers
To all the questions
In my life Will I be alone
Will you be there By my side
Is it something he said Is it something he did
I wonder why He is searchin’
For the answersTo stay alive...
and so goes the latest charbuster by A.R.Rehman. The first time i listened to this song, it gave me goosebumps. I mean literally! It brought to my mind the image that i associate with all those homeless street urchins alike- a toddy 2 yr old with a scrawny brown face covered with dirt and grime with huge wideset black eyes that twinkle like a flickering candle as they stare at you with eyebrows creased with suspicion. that small wraithlike body, torn discolored, dirty rags for clothes and crumbs which they gather from the bins, streets, traffic lights are their only 'possessions'. And this is the life which is more or less in store for them for the rest of their life.

In India, 90% of street children are working children with regular family ties who live with their families, but are on the streets due to poverty and their parents' unemployment. The remaining 10% are either working children with few family ties who view the streets as their homes or abandoned and neglected children with no family ties. Policy stresses programs to maintain, educate, and train destitute children and orphans. Policy is also to protect children against neglect, cruelty, and exploitation, but this is only on paper. A UNICEF study found that almost 40,000 children die every day in developing countries, 25% of whom are in India.
makes you wonder like like hell which world am i living in!! sheesh!!

The great Indian success story is being talked about and trumpeted in every part of the world. But how has it helped these children? Has a hike of 15-17% in the pay packet of the workforce across the country helped them secure a better future? Is there a special reservation for them at the elementary school level, forget institutes of higher learning? Has the much hyped about 'sarva shiksha abhiyan' been able to penetrate down to them? NO, NO and NO!!!

Next year it's gonna be 60 years to our independence. we have had left, right and centre leaning govts. throughout this period. But has it led to any difference? now if only we could have a caste or religion based census on this! then I'm sure every prick in the political circles would be talking about this! hah!! so much for being the largest democracy!! leave alone special measures, we havnt even been able to bust these beggary nexuses that everyone talks about, but no one does anything about!!
Candlelight vigils, hunger strikes may help grab eyeballs and garner media interest, but all it helps with is providing fodder for living room gossip. period.What i wonder is, why can't we have something like a 'bhagidari project' in cases like these? a govt. people partnership to save the lives of these young children. Or better still, as a celeb suggested in a TV interview i heard...those who strongly feel about certain issues like these, why not join various NGOs that work in this field! Doing so, at least one can have the satisfaction of having made a certain contribution towards something they deeply care about.