wisegirl109

cooking

2010-10-11T07:34:00.002+05:30

I feel like I'm losing my "good cook" instincts. Nothing I make tastes great anymore. It's all a little meh... To get my groove back, I have promised myself that I will try something new in my kitchen every week or every ten days. Let's see how it goes.

I will also get nice fresh vegetables this week from farm fresh.

new lessons

2010-06-20T08:34:00.001+05:30

most of us need all the help we can get so if someone is offering some advice or help, shut up and take it. You can determine later, whether you can use it or not.
How you look matters. clean toenails, fingers and nice clothes matter more than you think. At least they mattered more than I thought they did.
If you have an opinion, speak up. people who speak up are more noticed than the quiet "intelligent" types. no one will know how intelligent you are if you don't speak up.
if you have ideas and dreams, start working on them. it's never too early or too late.
learn to be alone without feeling lonely
de-clutter your life. it helps you start getting things done. this means negative friends, clothes that you don't wear, shoes you don't need etc.
most people have more to offer than we give them credit for. give people a chance.
compliments have power. give and receive compliments with grace and generosity.
read. it's important to know what's going on in the world even if it doesn't affect you. makes you smarter.
listen to both sides of the argument. learn to take criticism even if it seems unfair.
ask for feedback regularly. when the boss gives you feedback, it might be too late to correct certain things.

Lady Gaga feels pre-judged by Norwegian journalist (09/07/30)

2010-05-10T08:25:00.000+05:30

End of first year

2010-05-08T11:17:00.002+05:30

The first year MBA experience was just amazing. I am so glad that I picked I the school I'm attending. I've never felt this "in place" since high school. I have made friends with people very different from me and I have learnt to respect ideas very different from my own. I now know what it means to disagree without being disagreeable. I miss my family of course but I know I made the right choice. I would have been discontent if I had stayed back. Most people want to see the world during their vacation. I want to experience the world and to do this I must live in different places.
I have also become unapologetic about who I am. I have also learnt that most of us know what are weaknesses are instinctively but to know what your strengths are, is to discover yourself.
My MBA experience has been a happy one.

needs to be read

2010-03-06T05:28:00.002+05:30

the economist

2010-02-23T08:20:00.001+05:30

Everyone makes fun of idealists... What's wrong in thinking that you can change the world. A little more optimism and a little less cynicism makes the world a better place

We should care

2010-02-23T07:29:00.003+05:30

I'm someone who doesn't actually care what other people think of me. I just do whatever it is that makes me happy. Funnily, I'm not selfish so this doesn't affect the people I care about in any negative sense. However, I do care about what people know and understand about the world in general. When the Buddhist monks were protesting peacefully in Myanmar and the junta brutally beat them up, I almost cried. I think I give back just by helping people around me understand that there is more to the world than the little safe universes we create for ourselves and someday I would like to do something more concrete. Until then, this will do.
Today I realized that a lot of people think that poverty is something that people bring upon themselves. This angers me. Yes, you can get out of poverty. My own father did. However, a lot depends on the society and country you born in. There should be something to get out to. A lot of people live the way they do and resort to the things they do, because they know of nothing better.
These days, I've been reading a lot about Africa. I read What is the What by Dave Eggers, I read Say you are one of them and watched a couple of really cool videos. A lot of countries in Africa are desperately poor and sick and are under oppressive and corrupt regimes. These are not problems they created for themselves. These are problems they inherited, when the Europeans left them with hastily drawn boundaries, insensitive and corrupt governments and newly discovered resources. Yes, every nation is responsible for its own destiny. However, the world has a responsibility too. when countries give these corrupt governments arms in exchange for allwoing them to mine, it is immoral. When nations are poor are desperate, they become breeding grounds for hatred and terrorism and we all end up paying a terrible price. We all have to care about the world. We don't have a choice.

A rant

2010-02-23T04:50:00.002+05:30

What happens when we see or learn of something that we don't necessarily like? If we know that this new information is correct, we can:

1. shut out the information and pretend we never heard it.

2. Try to learn a little bit more, and see if there is anything you can do to change it

3. or be bull headed that the things you learn and see are correct.

As an Indian, suppose someone said that the number of dowry deaths in my country are disturbingly high and i didn't know this, before the person told me.

I can

1. pretend that this is absolutely false

2. Acknowledge the problem and see what I can do to fix it

3. or say that this is how it has been for centuries now and hence this must be right.

You would think a majority of people as highly educated and "well-informed" as a class of MBAs in a world class business school, would chose option 2. but sadly today, i learnt that well-informed or not, MBA or not, most people choose to react to negative information about their countries, societies and religion either by shutting it out or reacting extremely defensively.

What's my point? Well, nothing really. I just want people to be a little more open minded.

2010-01-28T07:35:00.001+05:30

For the first time in my life, i think being intelligent is an absolute f...ing waste

2010-01-21T05:03:00.001+05:30

What a wonderful but strange feeling it is, to realize that the life lessons that your parents "subtly"taught you are all true and work for you!

2010 resolutions

2010-01-05T06:01:00.005+05:30

My new year's resolutions for a better 2010

read more - no more excuses that I am super busy
blog more frequently- i love blogging and want to blog more regularly, no more excuses that I am super busy. it is clear that I am not.
find an internship -put more effort into the internship search. no more excuses that I am super busy. It is clear that I am not.
Stay as happy and peaceful as I was in 2009 if not more
continue to be a compassionate and well informed global citizen.
continue to be flexible, accepting and as non-judgmental as possible
try my best to see both sides of the story
BE MORE ORGANIZED
stay in touch with God and my conscience.

HAppy new Year!

2010-01-05T05:25:00.004+05:30

Things that I learned in 2009

1. it is possible for me to have more than 5 friends
2. i still haven't pushed myself hard enough this year although I promised to do so at the beginning of 2009 to realize my true potential. The reason for this I this is that I actually don't want to. I find great pleasure and peace in doing nothing, in not being busy all the time and in not working extremely hard. That's just who I am. True potential be damned. I'd rather be truly happy, which I am
3. You can still be best friends with someone even if you are in different continents.
4. Cooking is my second greatest passion. Eating is one thing I am never lazy about. I love a good meal and have no trouble preparing it myself.
5. I realize that there are very few people who really don't care what other people think of them and I am one of them. this I think is the real key to happiness.
6. Even very smart people make horrible decisions and there is nothing you can do to change it
7. The reason there are so many cultures that co exist in America and retain their cultural identity is that Americans are a lot more open, accepting and secure about their identity than we ever give them credit for. That is part of their culture.
8. I am still a feminist but I have stopped trying to convince other people about feminism really is. I am tired and I think that people see things and understand ideas only if they want to.
9. I always thought that I would never get an abortion despite the fact that I am vehemently pro choice but now I think that's ot true. Children are a huge responsibility and you must be completely ready to take on that responsibility and if you are not, do what you must. It is more important than not do a good job in bringing them up.

2009-08-21T08:16:00.000+05:30

And I miss my sis so.... much.......... :( but i'm fine.. not sad or anything

A note to myself

2009-08-21T07:49:00.002+05:30

Getting into an MBA program is a lot easier than staying in and excelling in the course. I hope this serves as a reminder to me, making sure that I work hard, give it my best shot and not forget to unwind and relax a little. I also hope that I do not get too cocky and then fall really hard. I hope I never forget who I am and where I came from. I also hope that I do not forget the things that are most important to me. This includes my family and friends. They are the reason I am here. I also hope that I don't get too proud and remember to remain humble and modest because I truely believe that pride comes before fall.

me

2009-08-14T06:21:00.002+05:30

It has been a week since i came to Williamsburg and I just love the place. It's so clean and the people are very very nice.... More about that later. Yesterday I realized something about myself. I like having friends but I don't need to surround myself with people all the time. I like being by myself and almost never feel lonely. All my emotional needs are met by my family and a couple of my really close friends. Distance and physical presence do not matter to me,

Of Cats and Mice

2009-07-10T23:10:00.004+05:30

a few days back, i finished reading Maus, a two part graphic novel series that talks about the holocaust. I was so touched and deeply disturbed. I never thought of human hatred as such a potent force, capable of causing so much destruction and despair. I also never thought of the tenacity that we can show in times of such despair. human beings are capable of so much compassion and so much love, yet our hatred knows no bounds either. To treat people like the way the jews were treated is simply not human. to think that so many people went along with it and let it happen is also such a shame and such a disgrace. yet we seem to learn nothing from history. you would think that after such a great tragedy, the world would never let anything quite like that happen but think again. the genocides in Bosnia, Sudan and many other places suggest otherwise. looks like we don't learn anything from the past. It scares me to think that fellow human beings are capable of such carnal acts. hatered is very very scary

plrrrr.. life's a bitch

2009-06-24T23:30:00.002+05:30

life sometimes more than sucks! today i realized that other than my folks, my sis and bro inlaw, no one else will be coming to drop me to the airport and that just sucks! you know why because i have more than been there for my friends. i am sometimes an ass

Holidays!

2009-06-20T23:53:00.002+05:30

I have been home for almost 20 days now. I have now observed one thing. The children upstairs are way too quiet... for a boy of 7 and a girl of 12, they are surprisingly quiet... they don't fight with each other loudly, they don't play together or atleast i think they don't because i can't hear a thing.
They watch tv for half an hour everyday,.. i think they're angels....Now it was quite different with me and my sis...
As kids, although the age gap between us was 6 years, we did play with each other until my sis was around 14. We fought a LOT... but we would also get along wonderfully well and play house, barbies or space adventures... We fought about the names our barbies had.. my sis always came up with these wonderful names and i always wanted the name she took up.... we fought over whose barbie's boyfriend was archie and whose was reggie.... i had no clue about who archie or reggie was but i wanted what she wanted. we fought over barbie furniture, clothes... everything possible.. but we always comprmised and then played with each other and had so much fun.
At home, during holidays my mom wouldn't even make us pick up our toys. A barbie house set up on the floor would stay like that for days. She was such a good sport. She instructed the maid to sweep around it....
One more game that my sis and i loved playing was library... Once in a while we would arrnage the heaps of books we had and number them and catalogue them and pretend that we had our own library... that was the best. we would just sit around reading. Our mom pretty much let us to do what we pleased during the holidays. we never cleaned our rooms or cupboards. It was a nice mess and we had lots of fun fighting and playing. Just before the holidays would end, our mom would come, dump our clothes from the cupboard and make sure we arranged them...
and now I see these kids and their room looks so clean and neat, nothing out of place, no raised voices, no fights, perfect little angels who always listen to their mum and i can't help but feel a little sad for the fun they are missing out on.

MBA

2009-04-26T12:34:00.003+05:30

So i have decided that I will be attending the mason school of business from August... I fell in love with the school and after talking to the current students, I feel that it is a very happy place. So really looking forward to going there. My journey up to this point has been interesting. The first time I realized that I wanted to do an MBA was in the third semester of engineering. Gautam and I were sitting below the big banyan tree in the gangothri campus, and he was telling me that he wanted to do his PhD in AI techniques. I said I wasn't sure and our conversation proceeded something like this. I so clearly remember.
me: I think i want to do an MBA... I'm not sure... I really haven't thought this through.
gautam: well.... don't you think it's time for you to put some thought into it... don't tell me you want to stop after just doing your B.E...
me: you know what, don't tell anyone but I'm secretly very ambitious
gautam: why secretly? you should be ambitious.
me:i don't know... i never tell anyone these things....
can't believe I told you!
gautam: what's the big deal..... by the way you ought to start putting some effort to learn about what you want to do. talk to people, read...
me: ya ya....

learning to be smart

2009-04-26T01:06:00.004+05:30

I think I was 12 years old when my mom told me something that I will never forget. I had gotten mediocre marks in my annual exams and had just received a long lecture from my class teacher about how indifferent I was becoming towards everything. I had also been yelled at quite badly by my dad and was in no mood to listen to another lecture. My mom and I were sitting by the swimming pool and this is exactly what she said to me..
"So you had a lot of fun last year in class I guess...I know how nice it is when boys pay you a lot of attention, when they want to talk to you and be with you but I'll tell you a secret... when you study well and do smart things, smarter boys will want to be around you... so think about it."
This was something that I never forgot...For us at home it was important to be smart. Smart meant thinking before you spoke, smart meant trying your best even if you sometimes failed, smart meant sticking to rules. We could and still can talk to our mother about anything. She never stopped us from asking questions.Sex, boys, ambition, marriage, children, life... she always tells me what she thinks. Always honest.Never apologetic.
I believe i have made smart choices in life and that is why I am happy today. I also trust myself to do the smart thing in future also. This is something I learnt from my folks

TV tonight

2009-04-24T23:04:00.006+05:30

I was watching Jhalak today on Sony and for the first time in my life I teared up, watching a dance. it was a performance by Baichung Bhutia and his choreographer and it was about a woman who has suffered from physical abuse. The choreography was just outstanding. It moved me to tears. The message was conveyed so clearly. it was beautiful!
While changing channels I saw Barkha Dutt's interview with Priyanka Gandhi. Never have I been that impressed. What I saw was a woman who is inteligent, cultured, dignified and astute.
Priyanka Gandhi came across as a woman who is sincere and honest. Her answers and opinions about non violence, her family and politics demonstrated the deep understanding she has of herself, her country and her family. The BJP talks a lot about nationalism, patriotism and Indianness but not one of their leaders have conveyed what Priyanka did in that interview. Her views and understanding about these matters can shame any 80 year old "grass roots","country loving" neta.
Catch the repeat telecast of the interview if posible and you'll know what I'm talking about.

here's the video of priyanka's interview

lady boss

2009-04-04T12:06:00.003+05:30

there's a lot of talk about how women make really bad bosses. I have to disagree... I've had 4 supervisors over the last 22 months and 2 of them have been women. I have loved working for both of them. they were both thoroughly professional, extremely demanding and extremely fair.
Unlike the popular myth that women hate to see other women in leadership roles, both of them encouraged more girls in the team to take up leadership roles. This does not mean that all women are like that. it's just that i'm telling you that there a re very nice women who make great bosses and reading about them might just open your mind a little. both these women have been great role models and i hope to be like them someday too. The amount of positive energy that they have, the incredible vibe that they give out is amazing.

i'm back

2009-03-20T23:21:00.002+05:30

Applying to US business schools can be very draining. it's a crazy process. Once the applications are complete, the wait itself is horrible. But the whole process has been very rewarding for me and I am almost sure which school I will be joining. It forces you to look deep within yourself and understand and analyze your strengths and weakness closely. I have learnt a lot about myself and will soon tell you more about it....:)

ME

2009-02-13T22:04:00.005+05:30

today i went to a shopping mall to buy clothes, and one thing that struck me was that a lot of people in the malls are 17 to 19 year olds and wow.. they're so stylish. and they all seem to have a lot of money to spend.....
my dad gave me my own debit card when I was 17... It was to teach me money management and give me a sense of financial independence. He would deposit 500 rs every month. it was to cover all my expenses... no extras. nobody ever asked me how I spent my money. I could do whatever I damn pleased with it but absolutely no extras.
Clothes and looks were the last things on my mind. I was so involved in studies and tuition and storybooks and tv that i never thought about clothes. My friends were just like me. i either went to some friend's house or hung out in college. Pizza in US pizza next to college would be the highlight of that quarter... otherwise shetty and I would bunk language classes and eat bad masala puri nearby. Or we both would go to my place or hers. My mom said I could bunk classes if I wanted but it was my responsibility not to get any attendance shortage and I always had to get good marks. She never asked any questins if i behaved well and studied well.
For 2 years in 11th and 12th, my life was college, 6 friends, my sis and folks, studies and tv. Every single day, I would get up at 6 and study till 7:30. I could stay out only till 6:30 in the evening. I couldn't talk to boys on the phone after 7 pm. I have no idea why but it was strictly followed. My folks never said no boys. they just wouldn't let me talk to boys after 7pm.
i would study till dinner. then watch tv. anything i wanted... there was never any kind of censorship at my place but i generally watched news with my dad and watched something on Star World with my mom and sis. During holidays I could do anything i wanted. I mean anything. i could stay up all night, watch tv, read, play computer games, wake up late, go out ....
When I started my undergraduate degree, I was lost... It seemed like I came from a very small world. There was so much presure to dress a certain way, act a certain way... plus i did not quite fit in with any kind of group. i thought all the boys i knew were really stupid, so i didn't care about boys and i was sure the girls i hung out thought i was total joke. There were no more rules at home except the 6:30 one. i still had to go home early in the evenings.
things slowly started improving. i made actual friends, had a lot of fun and managed to do well in all my courses.
what is my point???? nothing really. the confidence that i have today is hard earned. so is the trust my folks have in me... When I see these teenagers who have everything, who look so worldly wise, i can't help but wonder if they're missing out on some character building that I had...

My take on the pink.. campaign

2009-02-12T09:47:00.002+05:30

There has been a lot of talk about the pink chaddi campaign... The amount of support and interest it is generating is simply unbelievable. However I do believe that it is not going to help change mindsets. It will not bring justice to the girls who were assaulted. It will not ensure that our law makers will protect the citizens who voted for them instead of indulging in cheap ideological battles. It certainly won't guarantee that such acts never happen again. I don't thhink sending pink underwear is the answer.
Yet, I support it. Why? Because it is a way to protest. It is a way to send the message that this time the silent majority will not be attacked by the loud minority. It is a way to show what exactly we think of cowards who beat up women in the name of culture and religion.

A day in the life of a Sri Ram Sainik

2009-02-02T22:14:00.006+05:30

The post that you are about to read is a guest post by my friend, Gautam Ramdurai.

I made the decision - I joined the Sri Rama Sene. Boy, it feels great to be me now! And all the media attention just sweetens the experience. 'How's it been?' you ask. I'll tell you.

Today was a very eventful and satisfactory day. I got up this morning and realized something very profound - that "toothpaste" is part of western civilization, so I obviously couldn't use it - at least not on my first day as a Ram Sainik. I go out, musty breathed, looking for neem trees or dant manjan - the former is out of question as almost all the trees in my area have been cut down(wonder what our leader has to say about that - will ask him next time)...but the nearest shop is 'DeSilva's Grocery Store' - and I DARE not buy dant manjan from a non-hindu store!

The next few hours were spent battling the desire to use other westernized imports such as soap, fan, electricity in general...you get the drift. Somehow, I make it to office. Let me tell you a secret - my employer's HQ are in the US, so I'll probably quit soon. Won't want my fellow sainiks think I'm a traitor who thinks his survival is more important than his faith!

Anyway, then I chalked out an elaborate plan to attack my boss - who has dared to go against our code - she doesn't wear Indian clothes, NOT EVEN A BINDI!!! She has a mind of her own and most shocking of all, she likes being independant - can you believe that??? An INDIAN WOMAN, and yet the audacity to be herself!! I would never stand for that.

I call my dad and ask him to ask my mom to quit her job - I cannot have such practices in my own house when my fellow sainiks are toiling hard to uproot the westernness in society. Tomorrow we plan to storm a school nearby because it teaches the children to be independant and free thinkers. Did I mention that I hit every girl on the road who lacks or isn't wearing any of the following - a bindi, a sari, a salwar, bangles, tied up hair, ghoongat. How dare they use make-up? BTW, we are also going to storm beauty parlours - all western - chee!!

Yessir, all in a day's work for a sainik. Doesn't all that just make you wann get up and come running to the sene office to join me and my friends? I bet you do!!!

Come, leave progress behind! Come, leave freedom(others') behind! Come let's become terrorists, come let's build an 'indian' India!

Let us Quell. Let us Maul. Let us Torture. Till our dreams are realised. Long live the Sene!

sad and angry

2009-02-01T02:33:00.003+05:30

The Indian constitution declared men and women equal. EQUAL. That means a woman over the age of 18 is FREE to do as she pleases as long as she is not breaking the LAW OF THE LAND.
WHAT DOES THIS MEAN.......

SHE CAN WEAR WHAT SHE WANTS
SHE CAN MARRY WHOM SHE WANTS
SHE CAN WORK
SHE CAN STAY AT HOME
SHE CAN HAVE SEX WITH ANYONE OVER THE AGE OF 18
SHE CAN DRINK (if she is over age and if there is no prohibition in the state)
SHE CAN DRIVE
SHE CAN DO ANYTHING THAT SHE WANTS AS LONG AS SHE IS NOT BREAKING THE LAW OF THE LAND.

It is nobody's , i repeat NOBODY'S business to tell a woman over the age of 18 what to do and what not.
If people don't like something they see, they can ignore it, they can speak against it, protest VOCALLY against it. However, nobody in this country according to our CONSTITUTION has the right to beat people up

A few thoughts

2009-01-29T21:25:00.002+05:30

I know it has been a long time since I blogged. I had a busy three weeks. I have quite a few things to discuss and talk about. First, the movie Slumdog Millionaire...
I watched the movie and loved it. I really think it's a very well shot movie and the human spirit has been captured really well. Now, a lot of people think that showcases India in a bad way, with the slums and poverty and riots and the police extravagance. But I wish we would realize a few things. You don't see Americans protesting if a couple of movies show drugs and prostitution. It doesn't mean that America is only about drugs and prostitution. I really wish we would stop being this insecure country that wants the world to see only the economic growth, the development and bollywood. India is a complicated, different, difficult and young country. Just as the economic growth and prosperity is a side of India, so is the rampant poverty , the rioting, the police excesses.. Perhaps instead of hiding it, we accept it and do what we can to change things.
I think we ought to look at the movie for it actually is. A triumph of human spirit. That is it.

Now moving on to something completely different. A few days ago, Gautam and I were discussing India. This country is such a miracle. a land of contradictions.
Sometimes we wonder how anything works here and yet there seems to be a system running and running quite effectively. A lot of people are cynical about India and it's future. Constantly comparing ourselves to China does not help either. We must realize a couple of things.
First and most importantly, we are a democracy. Political freedom is a privilege that must be valued. Sure it creates a few roadblocks, sure it slows us down but it works.
The freedom to criticize and point fingers at a government when it does not work and change it when we can is a great great privilege and responsibility.
Second, we are not a homogeneous country like China. Every Indian is different form the next. Our diversity is our greatest strength but also makes governing a little difficult. Perhaps we need to understand that first.

Over the last two days, I have been terribly saddened by the incident in Mangalore. Molesting and beating up young women in the name of culture is distasteful, disgusting, and disturbing. The political reaction to it is just as bad. Why is it that when people try to impose any kind of so called "moral" code, it is alsways women who pay the price. Rules of conduct and morality are pushed down our throats first. besides, who defines morality? Who has the right to tell individuals what is right and what is wrong? Who defines Indian culture? What is this rubbish about the quinttessential Indian Woman? Bharatiya Nari? Why do our movies and serials go on about Indian women? Indian women are like women everywhere else. They have dreams, desires and hopes. this incident has shocked me and scared me.

New Year

2009-01-05T14:47:00.002+05:30

A very happy new year to all of you. I'm back after a pretty long break.
I celebrated new year's eve at my sister's place. We had a lot of fun there. Went out with friends for a very nice dinner on the 1st of Jan. Every year I make new year resolutions and try my best to follow them. so far I have been quite successful. This year I still haven't figured out what my resolutions will be. When I figure them out, I shall definitely share them with you.
During this break I have made a few observations.
I had gone to crosswords, a popular book store and most of the books in the self help and non fiction sections were on how to be happy.... i really did not know that so many people need help in being happy... I thought that our very purpose in life is to be happy and when you are happy, it is to continue being happy. I believe that all of our actions are related to this singular purpose in life.
Of course, we all derive happiness in different ways. Some people help others to be happy, some are happy when they are successful and others are happy when the people that matter to them are happy.
For a lot of people it is the balance of all these.
Is it so difficult to achieve happiness? After all it is about thinking of what makes you happy and then doing that. If the things you do, don't make you happy, stop doing them.
So my prayer for the new year will be that all you succeed in being happy.

I used to have a low self esteem problem a couple of years back and a lot of people who know me now and people who have known me over the years will find it very hard to believe but I really did struggle with low self esteem 3 years back.
I think low self esteem is a root cause to most of our problems. So i have decided to share with you how I helped myself get over it...Watch this space for more:)

Once again I hope we all have a very happy 2009. I pray for peace and prosperity.

questions, answers and prayers

2008-12-14T00:37:00.003+05:30

I haven't said anything about the Mumbai terror attacks. I have just been taking in all the information, wondering and thinking. Today, i had gone out for dinner with my sis and brother-in-law. While eating in this nice and crowded restaurant, a sudden thought struck me. we were sitting at a table in the middle and directly in front of the entrance. what if someone came in and started firing at us suddenly... where would we run? where would we hide? while all the so called important people in this country politicians, beaurocrats, cricketers and actors have enhanced security, what about us plain old ordinary folk? who will guard us? who will protect us?
this is not rheotoric. this is a genuine question that i am asking.
i have many such questions.
are our politicians really that callous? one day Hemanth Karkare is a traitor, his integrity is questioned, the next day he is hailed by the same people as a martyr who died for this country. are our politicians really this callous? i ask once again.
did our movie stars and cricketers do something when this happened? did they rush to hospitals, did they comfort people? what did they do other than issue statements?
where was the Shiv sena? where were the MNS activists? what did they do to help?
the people of every country deserve their politicians. do we deserve ours? after all we vote for them. we vote for them for various reasons. he is of my caste. he is of my religion. he belongs to this area....
one day we hate Narendra Modi. the next day, we forget his alleged mistakes and hail him as the next best thing.
did the terrorists belong to pakistan? maybe... all evidence till date points in that direction but so what? yes so what!!
so they belonged to pakistan, so they were trained there, so they came with concrete plans... what about us? what did we do???
the collective response of our gvernment machinery is a reflection of our psyche as a country.
We hate rules, don't we? we hate queues, we don't care about traffic rules, we generally don;t bother voting, we hate it when our bags are checked, when we have to carry ids...
we don't even like it when the govt asks us to wear helmets.
so we find a shortcut for everything. we pay our way out of trouble. our "chalta hai" attitude is reflected in the response of our officials, when there were intelligence reports of terrorist activities...
perhaps, we must take a long, hard look at ourselves as a nation, as a society first. then we can point fingers at our netas, at pakistan and everyone else.

i pray for peace and recovery of the city whose soul was damaged, i pray for peace for the families of the brave men who died fighting for us, for the unfortunate victims. i pray for us as a nation to heal and more importantly learn the bitter lessons that this attack has taught us. I finally hope and pray for peace and justice

another book

2008-12-10T09:43:00.002+05:30

I started reading what is the what, a book about a boy who runs away from the civil war in Sudan. It is such an amazing book. and the story itself is so touching... As i read the book, I realized that I know very little about Africa, its present or history. I'm hoping to change that. I've started reading up on the conflict in Sudan, Somalia and Rwanda.
The violence that has ravaged the continent is heart rending. I'm not going to get into who caused it but the one thing I realized was that wherever there is war, it is the women who pay the biggest price. rape and abduction are used as weapons and their use is very widespread. This is exactly the reason why we must have more women in governing and decision making positions.

2008-11-29T11:14:00.000+05:30

Funny that people believe in God but not aliens...

favourite5

2008-11-29T10:51:00.003+05:30

I love lists! so this is my top 5 all!

favourite movies:
1. all star wars!!!!
2. sabrina
3. shrek2
4. karan arjun
5.mona lisa smile

also considerd wall-e, 300, hum aapke hain koun, vivaah, baby's day out

favourite books of 2007-08
1. the geometry of gods
2. girls of riyadh
3. playing for pizza
4. almost single
5. shantaram

favourite songs:
not much of a music person...
anything but hard rock
whatever is on Gautam's playlist

favourite food:
1. huli that my mom makes
2. huli that my sis makes
3. alu paratha
4. dal that i make
5. spaghetti at casa piccola (putenesca)

also considered:
ice cream, mixed fruit juice in office, thin crust veggie pizza at indie joe, doughnuts

favourite activities:
1. reading
2. drinking tea
3. watching tv
4. blogging
5. making up dumb songs and singing them all day!

favourite places:(outdoor)
1.mys dasara exhibition
2. mysore palace
3. MG road before the metro work began in bangalore
4. the double road near my place in mysore where eli and I always took walks
5. sjce college campus

happy happy

2008-11-22T10:31:00.005+05:30

I'm a very happy person. touchwood. here are my golden rules for happiness
1. love without fear.
the worst thing that can happen to anyone in love is getting rejected or heart broken... so what?? you grieve for a while and then you move on.... i have experienced both and trust me, it's not such a big deal. and dear god... you will fall in love again.

2. do the things that you love doing.
it doesn't matter whether you're good at it or not. I love coloring and although i can't stay inside the lines and my pictures look juvenile at best, i still do it because it's fun and i love it. same with my singing

3. don't fear failure.
a lot of people don't do the things they want to because they far failing...you don't make your dreams come true only by dreaming... do something about it.

4. don't judge others and don't judge yourself. open your mind a little. the "my way or the highway attitude" makes you a loser because others don't care.

5. get rid of the guilt.
we all do things we are not proud of. it's ok.

6.don't make excuses even before you begin...
i'm not taking the exam seriously this year... then why are you writing it... i don't know if i'll get that promotion.. my boss hates me...
by making yourself excuses, you are giving yourself the wrong message. you are telling yourself that it's ok not to do your best because you already have an excuse ready

7. don't blame your folks...
you are responsible f0r who and what you are after 18.... get over it!

8. don't intentionally harm others... you will pay.

9. don't be superstitious if you can help it.

Are you a happy person? tell me what makes you happy......

empowerment??? right...

2008-11-14T22:50:00.000+05:30

ok! I hate all relationship advice that all those glossies dish out, especially to men!!! It's annoying. Bloody annoying...
i just read the following stuff on some site... won't tell you which one.
1. "share the housework fellas.. if u do, you get more sex"!!! seriously.....
I don't think we should be trading housework for sex... if the man doesn't do his share... kick him out!!!!
i thought in this day and age, it is a given thing that a man share the housework.... my sis was stay at home for a couple of months and even then my brother -in-law had to help at home..... it was a given thing....
my dad taught my mom to cook... dunno....
2."don't say anything about the shoe habit!!!"
i was like what the f#@$$!!!
if it's my money, i'll spend it any darn way i want, and if it's his money... of course he can say something... it's his money!!!!!

i can go on with this but my point is if this is the stuff dished out in every magazine and every web site.... doesn't it undermine the whole equal rights argument...
and then especially in India, we have a lot of successful female celebrities saying stuff like, "in the end i'm just a simple indian girl who wants to marry and settle down"
then why in the name of the sweet lord do u work 18 hours a day , 7 days a week... for once i'd like someone to say, i love being famous. i'm dead ambitious and i worked very hard to get here!
This is why i respect kareena kapoor! she makes no bones about the fact that she loves being at the top and what she does....
sorry about the abrupt ending but thats just it!

harry potter mania.. still not over:)

2008-11-13T19:13:00.000+05:30

Which Harry Potter Character Are You?
	You are Hermione. You're a bookworm always in search of answers. When pressed, however, you can always be counted on to put away the books and help your friends.
Find Your Character @ BrainFall.com

pretty young dumb thing

2008-11-05T21:52:00.003+05:30

when i was 12, the mother of a friend told me very nicely that i should start using fair and lovely... I said no thanks....I don't think I ever felt bad about the way I looked until I came to engineering... Even then, I knew it was a passing phase and didn't bother too much...
yesterday, I read in newspapers that young girls (12 to 17) get their hands and legs waxed, get their eyebrows plucked and worry about their weight and shop for the latest fashion... here... in India...
I saw a little girl asking her mom for a princess dress in the mall...
when did things change so much??? I thought girls that age worried about boys and studies and books and stuff... not their looks!
I think the media plays a role too... all those air brushed celebrity pictures bombarding us all the time! And girls that age really get influenced quickly...
I worry about how it will be, when I have kids...
There's another thing that i see a lot... A lot of girls dumb themselves down in the work place, with their boy friends...I just hope that it's a passing phase.... I thought smart was in.... i seem out of touch with reality......
young girls are increasingly getting judged on what they have and what they look like rather than what they are or can become. I think that's just sad....
young girls have so many opportunities today and this negative trend might just reverse all that...
If I decide to have kids and my kid is a young girl, I hope I can teach her to be smart, ambitious and sensible and compassionate.... like my mom did....

2008-11-01T12:08:00.002+05:30

bollywood

2008-11-01T11:54:00.003+05:30

now bollywood isn't exactly progressive and its portrayal of women can be called atleast regressive.
none of the heroines have serious careers.. it was so much better in the 70s. take kaala pathar for example. of the three heroines, rakhi was a doctor, parveen babi was a journalist...
I can't remember the last recent movie that i watched where the heroine had something to do other than to look good.
all ambitious women are bad. they either end up dead or as losers.
ambitious women tend be lonely.
ambitious women make bad mothers...
whether society is influenced by movies or vice versa, i see a dangerous trend here

2008-10-25T20:11:00.003+05:30

To all you pessimists out there.... this is specially for you
"Be careful how you think. Your life is shaped by your thoughts"
-Proverbs 4:23

happy diwali

2008-10-24T23:55:00.001+05:30

On a happier note... I wish all of you a very happy diwali. Hope this diwali brings you peace and happiness.

A country of bullies

2008-10-24T23:30:00.003+05:30

we are a nation of bullies. there i said it!! it's my way or the highway. this is one of the main reasons political debate has stooped to an all time low. lok sabha met only 25 times this year. there has been virtuallyno debate on anything. opposition mps disrupt parliament for every issue and every crisis. in a time when this country is facing economic and terror threats, our politicians set a wonderful example by simply not listening to anything anyone else is saying.
Today I watched a discussion on tv about the communalization of the terror threat. the 4 "esteemed" panellists did not hear out each other or the anchor. each was trying to shout down the other. intolerance in public spaces is growing at an alarming rate and we're too self satisfied and smug to even think about it.
everything insults our religious or linuistic or moral sensibilities. there seems to be no respect for any other view than our own.
look at our roads for instance. in bangalore, i saw a man die when he raced on the road, trying to hurry before the red light turned green. the minute the light turns orange,from red we have people honking so rudely, bullying the guy infront to move.
traffic rules are treated with utter disregard. why are our streets so crowded and congested? it's because of US. OUR VEHICLES. OUR CARS.we blame the government for everything but don't even go out and vote.the loud minority is no longer a minority. it is all of us. shame on us

every day inspiration

2008-10-19T14:52:00.003+05:30

for some everyday inspiration check out Dr seuss's OH! the places you'll go...
click here...

my best friends' wedding

2008-10-18T19:23:00.005+05:30

two of my best friends recently got engaged but in very different ways and both seem very happy. let me elaborate. One of my friends got engaged to the guy she has been seeing for the past 7 years. we all knew it was going to happen. I have known the guy as well. he is a friend and my respect for him has only grown over the years.. so although I did not want my friend to get married so early and vehemently opposed it initially, I'm very happy for her.
My other friend who got engaged is very happy too and although I don't know the guy, he seems quite nice.. her's was a typical arranged marriage... she met a lot of guys through her folks... liked this one. he liked her too. within a couple of days, they were engaged. I per se do not like arranged marriages and think of them to be scary but obviously different strokes for different people. My friend was very clear from the start about the kind of man she wanted to marry and I'm very proud to say that she has not compromised on that. She spoke to the guy about all the importat things in her life. He did too.. they agreed on a lot of important things and decided that they liked each other enough... Sure they don't know each other well enough but they will by the time they get married. His family seemed very nice too.. Her parents did not force her into anything, nor was there any emotional blackmail and crazy stuff like that.
The whole experience for her was very pleasant with good results.
My own sister went through the whole "seeing guys" thing until she decided to marry her best friend. The experience she had was very difficult for my parents and herself She met a lot of jerks and losers and when she told my folks that she was going to marry her best friend whom we all knew and adored, my parents were not only immensely pleased but also a bit relieved...
As for me, Like I mentioned before, the arranged marriage jig is not my cup of tea. For now, I like being the girl who does everyone's make up.... and that will do for the next 3 years atleast...

what's right in your life?

2008-10-18T18:25:00.004+05:30

momgrind put up a post about this. I think it's essential to look at the things that are right in our lives. helps us to stay happy and positive. A lot of things are right in my life... (touch wood).I think I have an amazing family... my folks are open minded liberal people who are responsible for the way I turned out. I have a sister and brother -in -law i can always always count on.
I have really great friends. Gautam, Shruthi, Gowri, Shetty,Anirudha, Bindu.. I've been friends with some of them for the past 20 years...( since i was 3) and they have stuck around and been there for me always. especially my school friends and Gautam.
I also think I'm happy because of me. I have a great attitude( again thanks to my folks). I have always done something when I've been unhappy. It took me a lot of courage to get rid of friends who were pulling me down, decide to study abroad or live alone now.. I have done these things to better my life...
My love for books, and learning is another thing that keeps me very happy. My blog as well.
I also think always having a plan helps. I hate rifting along aimlessly. I'm a very focused person. both professionally and personally. That's one thing that my dad taught me. Do your best, try to stick to a plan but always have a contingency and if things still don't go your way, chin up and try again or come up with a new and improved plan....
So these are the things that are right in my life.. I have to thank momgrind for putting up the post and making me want to write about it as well.

Random rani

2008-10-11T14:13:00.005+05:30

I'm listening to rock music... I like the guitar parts
I did a few things I should have done long back. I got a great haircut. A couple of friends and I drove around till 2 am last night
I'm tired of being an alcohol virgin....( that means i never drink... haven't had a drink ever)
I read The Geometry of God and simply loved it.
Whatever your definition of a good girl is, it won't fit me.
I'm a great liar.. I don't lie often. I never lie to my mother.
Other than the people who matter a LOT to me, i can make and break promises without the least bit of remorse.
I'm an awesome cook and an awesome dancer. I have to read at least a couple of new books every month.
I never get bored when I'm alone. I care about the way I look. Clothes matter to me. I love fashion. I can talk to anyone about anything. I'm actually one of the most well informed people i know. This is not an exaggeration. I love star wars. like really really. I also love the Hindi movie Karan Arjun. I think it's one of the best movies ever. I once Mahabharath for 6 hours straight.
I'm extremely claustrophobic. I have very easy tears. i think I turned out well coz my folks are really amazing people. I have the best family ever. I think I can do anything for my sis and folks. I have the best best buddy ever. I love to gossip. i think the best place to be on earth is Mysore. Mysore Dasara rocks!I'm kinda high maintenance although I claim that I'm not...I never want to have kids. I don't like them. I wouldn't get married either if I had a choice...and I'm a feminist and very proud to be one. I abhor violence.I love tea and friends and Seinfeld( sitcoms). I have not watched Lagaan or RDB and I don't care

2008-10-02T11:51:00.002+05:30

it's dasara and i'm stuck in bangalore! i should be in mysore...mysore is the best place to be during navrathri or atleast i think so anyway. the entire city center is illuminated and the whole atmosphere is just beautiful and so festive.
one of the best things you can do during dasara is to go to the palce a little before 7 when it's not too crowded, listen to the music concert for a while and then watch the lights come on. it's such a fantastic moment. you can then take a tonga from the palace to dev raj urs road and enjoy the lights. you can then go to chaat street, eat dry gobi and go home... the dry gobi i just mentioned is simply one of the tastiest things i have ever eaten.

2008-09-13T16:20:00.001+05:30

funny how I can't seem to stick to the same font and color

2008-09-13T15:28:00.003+05:30

i had gone to the SICHREM office today and i was really impressed... the work they do is just amazing... but it's also a little sad that they have fund crunch and need money badly. they also need volunteers... they educate people.. i.e children, police, the general public about human rights and also act against all kinds of human rights violations.. the passion with which they work is unbelievable.. and it's a thanklesss job.. you can get things done only if you persevere..
go on... visit their site sometime... here is the link... http://www.sichrem.org

2008-09-12T23:18:00.003+05:30

i read purely for pleasure but sometimes i like reading intellectually stimulating stuff like Amartya Sen's The Argumentative Indian or some Bach or Paulo Coelho... So to try something new and intelligent i picked up Orhan Phamuk's My name is Red. i bought it in july and i still haven't finished it... it's so damn boring..... it's supposed to be a murder mystery with all this deep stuff about islam, miniature painting and a lot more but god.....
sometimes i think i should just stick to my mom's advice... she being an avid reader herself told me
this... almost all critically acclaimed books suck...
i think it's the same with art movies and cheese.... both are acquired tastes....

2008-09-12T23:03:00.003+05:30

thank god i'm in india because....

there is no abortion debate. no "pro life" groups telling me to keep my baby because thats what God intended.
no sex scandals about politicians splashed across every news paper... their personal lives are just that. personal.
amazing diversity in food...
soft drinks haven't replaced water..
you don't have to worry about your 12 year old posting sexually explicit pictures of herself on the net

2008-09-12T22:41:00.002+05:30

i watched wall-e last weekend and it's brilliant...
i wish bollywood would come up with awesome stuff like that... instead all we have is unoriginal, uninspiring, insipid crap...
no no.. i'm not one of those snooty people who don't watch hindi movies... i love hindi movies i just wish they were a little more authentic and original...
i was talking to my dad about this and he told me another curious but sad thing,..
there are no examples of geat new indian architecture which is terrible... are we so creatively deficient? even content on television is so dull.... and all the reality shows are either inspired or copied from american shows...

why feminism

2008-09-12T22:38:00.002+05:30

How is feminism still relevant in 21st century India? Women seem to have made great progress. The middle class Indian woman has never had it better.
She can study, she can work, and she can aspire to be whatever she wants. Since this is the idea most young women have, the idea of feminism seems irrelevant and even outdated.
To understand the relevance of feminism, we must first understand what feminism is. The word feminist comes attached with a lot of preconceived notions. A feminist is someone who simply believes that men and women are equal. Nothing more, nothing less. And feminism is about women making their own choices, standing up for those choices and accepting the outcomes of them. How can that be irrelevant or outdated?
Beyond the glossy picture of liberated young women who live the way they want to, there lies a harder, harsher reality. Even today we struggle to live a life we choose, constantly justifying our choices and looking for validations and approval. It is still not OK to be single after a certain age, premarital sex is a big no no and a single woman with an active sex life? God forbid!
Women in small towns and cities are not safe using public transport.
We still get groped and abused when we use public transport or attend a crowded event like a concert or a game. We constantly have to be on the alert and in more cases than not, we will be misbehaved with. Our problems do not end here. The number of rape and molestation cases has grown exponentially over the years and the conviction rates are abysmally low. The lack of sensitivity among law enforcement agencies while dealing with such cases is disturbing. The Mumbai New Years Eve molestation case is only one among the thousands others. A large section of society tended to blame the women themselves. Another such example was when the crowd misbehaved with the IPL cheer leaders, the authorities claimed that the women were themselves to blame because of their "provocative clothes”. This "asked for it" mentality clearly demonstrates that the 21st century Indian society is not quite equipped to handle the 21st century Indian woman. read more .Anytime a crowd or a mob misbehaves with a woman, the focus is inevitably on the question why rather than the incident itself. She was a little drunk, she really shouldn't be dressed like that, she shouldn't be going to such places...A few common arguments that we always hear. All of this makes us feel as though gender sensitivity and gender equality are rather distant dreams.
Stereotyping women and gender roles in the media is another very serious problem. Take any movie where a child has an important role to play. The little boy is naughty and clever and adventurous while the little girl is portrayed as sweet, caring and good.
Look at the ads... the little boy comes to his dad with his first salary, the little boy tells the dad that he has more letters and the insurance scheme is called "baap ka naam roshan karega"! The boys want to be pilots, doctors lawyers, the girls want to be teachers, nurses or models.
In cartoons and comic books, there are no popular super heroines and almost all well known children's literature has male protagonists.
Whether media influences society or society influences media, gender stereotyping is a dangerous trend.
The lack of women in upper and middle management roles in corporate India is glaring. This has more to do with attitudes and perceptions of the decision makers than a lack of talent among women. “They don't network enough, they don't put in long hours”... a few common arguments we hear but perhaps a revision of the necessary parameters considered for these posts has to change.
A majority of the women in this country still live the life forced on them by their fathers, husbands, and society. The privileged few of us who live the lives we choose are the exception rather than the rule. Until every woman is independent and free, until every girl born is welcomed into the world without feelings of burden and despair, feminism will be relevant.
When people ask about the relevance of feminism, the question that must be asked and answered is, sure we have a voice but are we being heard.

2008-09-04T17:22:00.000+05:30

What Classic Movie Are You?
personality tests by similarminds.com

2008-08-20T21:02:00.000+05:30

correction: the book i mentioned is 'girls of riyadh'.

2008-08-18T00:40:00.002+05:30

ok to all you people reading my blog,i'm sorry for not posting for a very long time. i was a little busy.
ok... fine.. i'm lying... i was lazy....
before i post about anything new,i have a few things to share
1. i actually got a haircut.
2. bought a coloring book and a box of 48 crayons. coloring almost everyday.
3. learnt to make pulav.
4. read daughters of riyadh! amazing book.. i recommend it to everyone.

2008-07-28T20:01:00.001+05:30

yahoo!!got a new haircut!!!! and i look pretty nice!!!!

A must watch and comment piece

2008-05-24T22:59:00.002+05:30

2008-05-21T18:30:00.007+05:30

another bomb blast, another 100 dead or injured. we'll act horrified, watch all the news reports about it for the next 3 days, talk about it with our friends( not if you are a software engineer.. you'll be too insensitive to do that either) and then forget about it and move on... sad but true... we have become so insensitive to death and destruction that this is all we can do. collectively sigh as a nation, and then move on. like we always do.
our collective insensitivity is reflected in those we chose to govern us. when 9/11 happened in the US, the public was horrified, the politicians rallied behind the elected leader, and the entire nation chose to ACT. sure it resulted in a bit of paranoia but the result is there has not been a single act of terrorism on American soil since.

when the common man is horrified and when he wishes to act, politicians and law enforcement agencies are compelled to do just that. we don;t even want to know why these attacks keep happening and that too on a regular basis. we are not angry that hundreds die for no fault of theirs. we barely mourn the dead. anytime there is an attack, Pakistan or Bangladesh is blamed and we accept it. just like that. even if the attacks are because of outsiders, we never ask why they were let in, how did they stay for so long, how could they plan these horrid macabre acts without anyone noticing. why are we not asking more questions? why are we not demanding accountability? why are we not looking for results?? why is our mindset as a nation so lethargic and complacent? why does NOTHING scare or shock us anymore???
the only people who can afford to care in this country are the middle class and rich folks and yet we are the people who absolutely do not give a damn..

2008-05-15T20:03:00.002+05:30

when u bite off more than u can chew, u might end up biting your own lip and that really hurts.

2008-05-12T19:48:00.000+05:30

finished with " the grass is singing"
and passed the exam!!!!YAY

2008-05-07T21:33:00.000+05:30

reading Doris lessing's grass is singing... i'm a little freaked out... heavy duty stuff

2008-05-05T21:38:00.003+05:30

projects for the month:

make a vision board. why and how?? read this.it's really cool http://christinekane.com/blog/how-to-make-a-vision-board
to try at least two new authors. I've started with Doris Lessing
go to nrithyagramam
volunteer for some ngo
send my article to ultra violet by the end of this week.
study for office exam which is on Thursday and PASS.

2008-04-16T22:33:00.003+05:30

got this from my sis

I AM: slightly off
I WANT: a really cool haircut
I HAVE: almost everything i want (touch wood)
I WISH: i had the guts to get a really cool haircut
I HATE: narrow minded people, stupid people who are arrogant
I FEAR: losing my family and my friends
I SEARCH: for total peace and harmony in my life
I WONDER: how life will be when I'm 40
I REGRET: not telling two people why I was actually that pissed off with them and how horrible they made me feel
I LOVE: ma, daddy, hema, kirana, gautam, eli, my life
I ALWAYS: get really confused when i have to make a choice
I AM NOT: crazy house crazy
I DANCE: really well
I SING: really badly
I CRY: when I'm sad, angry annoyed or hurt.i have very easy tears
I WRITE: from my heart
I WON: quite a few prizes in school but not as many in college. i didn't participate
I AM CONFUSED: about a LOT of things
I NEED:a really cool haircut
I SHOULD: get a really col haircut
THE LAST THOUGHT I GO TO SLEEP WITH IS: dunno

2008-04-01T21:40:00.004+05:30

i have a 90s hangover.. i love the music and fashion of the 90s.. i'll tell u why i love the 90s so much
reason no 1: it was the decade madhuri, manisha koirala, juhi, mamta kulkarni.. all so beautiful and different... most of the heroines today look alike... i know i sound 90 but seriously they all look alike.. straight hair, thin and tall wearing the same kind of clothes.. sure costumes of the 90s were well.., costumes!! i know most of it was hideous but at least it was unique.
then the movies were just so smashingly trashy!! absolutely rubbish.. tridev, mohra,DDLJ, karan arjun. dil to pagal hai...
they were truely entertaining..

it was the decade of high waisted jeans. yup.. i like high waisted jeans.. there i've said it! atleast underwear had not lost meaning. and not all girls you saw wore low waisted jeans, a tee and a colored belt. it was at least a little different.

then the music.. it was really cool and as a 12 year old you could watch the videos.
it wasn't soft porn. there were some really cool bands... TLC, boy zone ,Metallica, nirvana,Hootie and the Blowfish and many more. then there was mariah carrey, madonna, seal.. i can go on. the 90s was the best decade for music.. atleast thats what i think.
bollywood music was pretty neat too. tu cheez badi hai mast mast, koyal si teri boli, all songs from aashiqui, lamhe, humse hai muquabala.. it was really good.

sure 90s wasn't all that great. puffed sleeves and purple were fashionable but still........

2008-03-26T21:33:00.001+05:30

i seriously believe that the airplane is the single coolest invention of man!

2008-03-10T22:51:00.002+05:30

oh and the other day that the left front in kerala wants to make the state a hub for free open source software by banning everything else..
but isn't that exactly the opposite of what open source stands for???
forcing consumers to use something by making sure they don't have a choice.... hmmm sounds vaguely familiar

2008-03-10T22:31:00.006+05:30

my hunt for the perfect facial cream for summer has begun! it flagged off at health and glow. 4 weeks and some hunting later, i still haven't found it.
i'm beginning to lose heart because the last place i looked was a hyper market! whatever that is..
see my requirements for the cream are simple.
firstly and most importantly, it SHOULD NOT BE A FAIRNESS CREAM.
i.e i do not want the words lightening, whitening, fairness or pink associated with it. i like my skin. i like its color, thank you very much.
now this itself rules out Zillion-10 of the zillion creams in the markets.
next, it should be non sticky.
third and optional- it must have something to do with vitamin E. fortified, enriched.. whatever.
last but not the least it must not cost more than 120 bucks.

now i know you people out there( yeah you 5 sweet folks who read my blog) think this is easy but trust me, it is not..
although i do have the tendency to crib excessively about the smallest of things but this time i am not.
this is very serious and disturbing. how fair can brown skinned folk get????? why are there so many *#$@** fairness creams out there? where is the stuff for folks who like the way they look and like the color of their skin?

2008-02-25T22:41:00.002+05:30

i don't seem to be writing much of late. i don't post on my blog nor do i write in my journal. i also feel that my latest blog posts seem a little forced and the quality of the writing is a little off the mark too. i have always had a lot to write about but these days i have had to force myself to think about the things around me.i have been wondering why this is and i realized the truth today.
it's not that i don't have anything to write about. it's just that i'm no longer connected to myself. i'm not at peace with myself and the worst part is i'm getting so caught up in a life where
i don't seem to be listening to myself. while it is important to stay connected to the people around us, it is absolutely imperative that we stay connected to ourselves. writing in my journal was how i did that. those few moments spent with myself, listening to me was what kept me in touch with my own thoughts. when i'm not connected to myself, negative emotions like jealousy and insecurity surface. being unsure of the things around me suddenly becomes not OK.
writing helps me balance all that. it makes my universe a more harmonious place.

2008-02-02T00:36:00.000+05:30

girls night out! it was so much fun. i would recommend it to anyone who is stuck in any kind of rut. work, family, boyfriends, yourself.. whatever it is, girls night out is definitely a lot of fun. dress up all for yourself. look great and go have tons of fun. your company doesn't have to be your best friends, just a bunch of fun loving, positive people with whom you can have some light hearted fun.
you'll feel great about yourself and come back in great spirits.
i had fun like that tonight. some 5 of us girls from office decided to go out and have some fun. we aren't best friends or anything. just people who like each other. we planned it like a week before and all through the week we were so excited and eager about going. we endlessly discussed what we would wear and all that planning itself was so much fun. today we all left office early, got all gussied up and went to a really great place. we ate good food, talked about fun stuff. nothing intellectual, nothing serious. laughed a lot and had a great time. remember, sometimes it's nice to leave the men behind.

important life truth

2008-01-25T16:18:00.000+05:30

the most stupid people in this world are also unfortunately the most arrogant ones

2008-01-21T23:15:00.000+05:30

5 things i truely love

reading
watching mindless tv( when there is nothing good coming but you just can't turn it off)
playing tic tac toe with myself( i win almost all the time:))
eating and drinking tea
arguing with myself or anyone else who has an opinion about anything

5 things i truly hate

paying bills.(it's a waste of hard earned money)
fighting with auto drivers
that dry and dusty feeling in my nails after a long day
listening to stupid people who act like they're really smart
going to office every single day(i really wish i could just bunk)

2008-01-21T23:07:00.001+05:30

There is always some madness in love. But there is also always some reason in madness.”-Friedrich Nietzsche

i totally believe that

2008-01-21T22:52:00.001+05:30

one of the most interesting questions in life is what makes us the people we turn out to be? is it our upbringing? our own conscious decisions, fate, or circumstances? i believe that our upbringing plays an important role in determining the way we turn out to be but another important factor is our own image of ourselves and also the vision we have for our character, personality and soul.
a person who envisions himself/herself as a martyr, constantly sacrificing one's own happiness for others and not getting a word of appreciation for it will actually turn out to be exactly like that.. sniffly, self deprecating and melodramatic.
when we think of too many dramatic events in lives, we invariably try to create th drama and that in the end produces extremely unhappy situations not only for ourselves but also for the other people in our life.
girls with constant fear of abandonment will eventually drive the men away from their lives..
a girl who constantly thinks of being in a bad relationship will actually find herself attracted to the nastiest kind of men.. either wimps or jerks.

a good self image is the key to a good life. if you don't think you are nice and deserve good things in life and constantly envision sadness or failure, you can be very sure that life won't either.
by the way i don't think only girls have this problem. when men have poor self images, they turn out to be jerks or bullies or losers

2007-12-11T23:21:00.000+05:30

i've always to put up a post on the women i admire and why. so here goes..
first the woman who influenced me at every step in my life.. my mother of course.
she is one the smartest , most compassionate and happy and spunky women i probably will ever meet. she taught me that actions were always much better than hollow words, that what goes around comes around and that the universe is a very fair place even though it may not seem so sometimes. she also taught me to accept people for who they are.

Sonia Gandhi. my dad says that she has more political acumen than the entire opposition put together. it took a lot of courage to return to the national political scene after a humiliating defeat in the late 90s.

my headmistress in school. she was one amazing woman. she was exactly like the head mistresses you read about in enid blytons..
wise, inspiring and brave. she saw all of us for not just the people we were but for the people we could become. she was amazing and i can proudly say that i was one of her favorites too.

Oprah Winfrey. the richest woman in the US of A. the richest African American. one of the most influential people of our era . the queen of talk show, she has discussed various issues facing millions of ordinary men and women all over the world from weight loss to low self esteem, from prostitution to war.
a humanitarian in every sense of the world, ms Winfrey is a role model to girls world over.

mukhtran mai, the woman who became the face of the struggle that millions of battered women world over go through. her fight for justice and her story is awe inspiring. a poor illeterate woman, gang raped as a punishment for a crime she or her family had nothing to do with in the savage tribal belt of pakistan, mukhtran mai fought with every breath she had for justice and finally won. her story should teach us to be brave and fight till we can fight no more, to stand up for ourselves and what we believe in.

2007-11-19T22:36:00.000+05:30

and by the way, to anyone who cares a little about stuff other than themselves and like reading... please read to kill a mocking bird by Harper Lee.. if you've already read it, do read it again!

2007-11-19T22:16:00.000+05:30

working, living alone, paying your bills, cooking almost twice a week.... all such grown up things.. i hate to admit it but i think i'm a grown up now. strange isn't it.. realizing that you're a grown up, responsible for your own actions, responsible for giving direction to your own life.. it's a very solemn realization.
I've always thought that being grown up is a little boring. being all proper and fake.If you're even a little interesting, then you're considered to be eccentric. I'd rather be eccentric than proper!
one more strange grownup phenomenon is that grownups never ever split the bill! one person is always expcted to pick up the bill when grown ups go out to eat!what happened to going dutch????
there are certain good things about being grown up though.. you have plenty of money to blow it up any way you want but sadly most people don't know how to enjoy the money they work so hard to earn.
the other thing is, you can stay out late. no one to yell at you!You can make as many phone calls as you want, cut your hair any way you like and wear whatever you want.
for me, the best things about being a grown up are, the money with which i can buy books whenever i want and that sense of increased freedom and independence. it isn't that boring either because i'm a little eccentric..

amazing

2007-09-26T19:33:00.001+05:30

http://www.eightprinciples.com/

2007-08-16T21:43:00.000+05:30

15 th august came and went. some folks spent a quiet day at home, others went out, doing the things they love to do,catching a movie, meeting friends, shopping..
i went to a bookstore and spent the entire morning blissfully reading. each year i wonder what independence day means to me and i never quite figured it out but this year i think i realized what freedom and independence mean to me. in the bookstore, i was reading the book about mukhtran mai, the young Pakistani woman who fought for justice and truth and became the face and voice of millions of women who are battered, raped and left in despair. her struggle for justice when the universe she knows is up against her, is absolutely remarkable.
as I read her story, i began to realize what freedom meant to me. freedom to me is to go to a bookstore alone and sit and read there without fear or hesitation. it is that which lets me live alone in a big city again without fear or skepticism.
freedom to me is to go out to dinner and come back late without worrying about my safety.
freedom is that everyday choice i get to make.. freedom to wear what i want, meet the people i want at the places i want, talk a little loudly when i have to, yell at the auto driver for making me wait for too long in a petrol bunk or walk into a restaurant alone.
this is freedom to me. freedom means falling in love , fighting with my father, talking to my male friends, owning a cell phone and the millions of other privileges that i tend to take for granted.
my parents made sure that i got a good education. this gave me my freedom. my country ensured that they could do so.there are millions of young women on the face of the earth who cannot do any of these things. they cannot even show their faces to the world or have their voices heard. they eat, sleep, live and die at the mercy of a man. father,brother, husband, society and country.
thats why i celebrated independence day doing the one thing that i love the most. reading.

2007-07-19T21:25:00.000+05:30

the issue of women's reproductive rights is very important to me. i have been pro- choice ever since i can remember. the choice of having an abortion is not an ethical or moral issue. it is simply a question of the rights a woman has over her body.
it seems very simple to me. if it is not your uterus, mind your own business.
if the "pro lifers " want to turn it into an ethical issue, i have just one question.
how many unwanted and abandoned babies did you adopt today..
also, as long as nurture remains a woman-only job, men have no right to talk about abortions.
the onus of providing the necessary emotional support so essential for a child, is almost entirely on the mother. so she alone can make the decision of bringing a child into this world.
if people want to talk about morality, i have one more question.
is it fair to bring a child into this world when you know you cannot give him the best you can?
religion,family, morality, ethics, love or even law for that matter has no business in deciding whether a mother should bring another life into this world

2007-07-03T08:55:00.000+05:30

there is something highly disconcerting about leaving the known and familiar and moving on to embrace the unknown. we find comfort and solace in the familiar. the unknown scares us. that is why we hold on to friends who are not good for us, old clothes and things that are no longer useful, relationships that have lost their meaning... what we don't understand and realize is that with time, the strange faces on the street become faces whose presence we take for granted and provide us with that sense of familiarity and belonging that we all crave. new people become regulars, new habits become routines and the unfamiliar and the unknown becomes the known and familiar that we find so hard to leave behind

2007-06-05T23:05:00.000+05:30

today is world environment day. things each one of us can do to save this beautiful planet

recycle paper
don't litter the streets
try not to use polythene bags. reuse them for as long as possible
don't use bulbs
maintain a small garden atleast

2007-06-03T14:53:00.000+05:30

it's such a beautiful evening. i love it when the weather is like this. pleasant, cool and breezy.
weather like this makes me think of all the wonderful things around me.the big box of chocolate ice-cream, raw mangoes, the big jar of mango pickle, cold water, lemons, sporty deo, the strange and mysterious smell in the air, mangoes(ripe) and lots more.
i think of beautiful songs with beautiful lyrics, the beautiful people around me, the wonderful things that have happened to me...
i can almost smell the rain but not quite. just like that absolute feeling of peace inside me. i know it's there but i can't find it. not yet. not today.

2007-06-02T23:36:00.000+05:30

everyone writes about love... i think love means different things to different people. for someone it might be that special person who makes your heart beat just a little faster, for someone it might be that feeling of security and familiarity and for others it might be a person who makes them feel special..As for me, i don't have a specific definition of what love is but a quote by the bending buddha sums it up for me.........................
"love is a cup of hot chocolate on a cold winter day".
i didn't say it wasn't corny!

2007-05-27T00:38:00.001+05:30

remember one thing in life... if you had choose between a jerk and a wimp always pick the jerk...

2007-04-13T11:50:00.000+05:30

no sex education please.. we are Indians. this is the thinking of a large section of our political class.
a study shows that one out of two children is sexually abused in this country. are you shocked by this? I'm not. with regressive state policies and close minded societies what did you expect? most of these abusers are not punished. why? because we re Indians. we don't talk to our children about it and we don't want them to ask us anything about it. sex is a taboo in the most populous country in the world. ironic..
without sex education how will we inculcate gender sensitivity and teach our children what is sexually appropriate and what is not? without being open and honest how can any child feel secure enough to tell a parent or teacher if they are being abused?
i myself was subject to inappropriate sexual behaviour(not molestation) by an adult when i was 12 years old and despite coming from a very safe and open environment i did not tell anyone. it also took me 3 long months before i realized that this was not supposed to happen and i was in no way a naive girl.
my point is no matter how minor an incident is it takes a child a very long time to get over it and feel safe and normal again. sexual abuse leaves very deep emotional scars and the only way to combat it is to be open to questions and educate our children to keep them safe.

2007-04-07T14:32:00.000+05:30

i wrote this on the day when the date on my journal was the same as the actual date.. i have not edited anything and have posted it just as i had written it the other day. here goes...

"i don't know what to write about , but since i want to stay true to my new year's resolution i shall write about something. do i write about myself,others, outstanding political and social issues...? i don't know.
i read this quote ...' i pay my own rent, i don't have to be nice.'i don't know how to react to that.. I'm not exactly a 'nice' girl but i am very good to my family and friends and i do try to be nice to others.. i used to have a very sharp tongue that often got me into trouble at school but I'm growing up now and i make a conscious effort not to be mean.
i can come up with really mean retorts but i choose not to say anything to the really mean people who try to put me down or insult my intelligence.my silence is often mistaken to be a sign of weakness but really what's the point, reacting to stupid people who are so insecure about themselves that they need to put down someone else to feel good about themselves.
i find people with such fragile egos, pathetic. my own self-esteem ( back to normal now thank you very much) is not that fragile.
people have told me that my answers are wrong, i'm not smart enough, i can't solve those problems, my reasoning is wrong and so on..
all i have to say is that my success is measured by how happy,independent and secure i am about myself, my relationships and my vision for my future. as long as i don't compromise on any of these i believe i'm successful so go away.
also, even when we were kids, constantly competing with my cousins and others around us, my mom( smart woman) always told both my sis and i that there was no need to tell anyone about any of our so called achievements or brag about anything we did because life and not words was going to be the true test and the true judge.
i believe the same as well. there is really no point trying to prove yourself to prize idiots. if you have to prove a point prove it yourself... no one else is really worth it!"

2007-04-07T14:01:00.000+05:30

today i shall talk about being taken seriously!

I'm a smart girl with a sensible head on her shoulders and I'm practical and realistic. I'm also a well dressed( although the self proclaimed fashionistas of my college might disagree..), above average looking girl who cracks jokes, takes being teased quite sportively and likes flirting a bit with boys...
i rarely talk about the books i read although i read a LOT and seldom share my political or religious views with anyone except a few and never correct the atrocious grammar of the people around me. does that make me stupid? does that make me a butterfly? i think not... however some of the people around me seem to disagree.... they consider me to be a butterfly. not driven enough, not intelligent enough not ambitious enough.....
i of course want to be taken seriously!! so after thinking long and hard this is the conclusion i have come to. if you belong to the female homosapien category you must do one or few or all of the following to be taken seriously:

dress like the back of a bus. i mean wear only gray, black and dull blue.
get into an occasional argument with the fool-of -a -boy you are hanging out with about science,politics or religion and of course give in to what he says in the end.
put down everyone around you
when the fool of a boy you constantly hang out with says something act as though it is the most profound thing you ever heard.
do not read Danielle Steel. burn all the high school romance crap that you so love to read.
claim that you never ever gossip. call anyone else who does "silly".
be as aggressive as you can possibly be. if you're nice then you are so obviously stupid.
read fat, bizarre books that no one has ever heard of.
don't ever be caught with a copy of filmfare or cosmo.
be as close minded as you can possibly be and reject all ideas and principles except your own as stupid.

OR
ditch the fool-of-a-boy, forget about what other people think of you, have loads of fun, look great and celebrate your uniqueness.. ............. as for being taken seriously... who cares as long as you take yourself seriously and do the things you want to do as well as you can.

2007-04-06T00:13:00.000+05:30

I need no warrant for being, and no word of sanction upon my being. I am the warrant and the sanction.
Ayn Rand, Anthem, 1946
US (Russian-born) novelist (1905 - 1982)

4 questions

2007-03-05T15:14:00.000+05:30

i have 4 questions that i want to ask if i ever meet the Creator

is it ok to be arrogant?
is it ok to be mean to the people who are mean to us?
does every dog really have its day?
is it ok to think that you are better than a few other people?

2007-02-11T20:04:00.000+05:30

there comes a time in everyone's life when there are a number choices and each choice just as good as the other, each road is as exciting as the other and each opportunity as wonderful as the other and the only thing we need to do is choose and yet this becomes one of the most difficult phases in life and the only time that something goes wrong is when we don't choose or choose to do nothing at all.

2007-01-23T20:48:00.000+05:30

is it the end of feminism?most people seem to agree. when i tell people that I'm a feminist they think I'm being an idiot. after all it's the new millennium... the age of the liberated woman. it's the age of easy money,binge drinking,designer labels and multiple sex partners (it's called sexual freedom these days??!!)
liberated???yeah right!!if this is freedom i wonder what the opposite means.if we are truly liberated how come our streets and cities have not become safer for women?why do we still have those stereotypes?why do more girls than ever before suffer from low self esteem? and why do we still have to "turn off "the lights? i thought we were in charge!!!!
so what's my point?
my point is we still have quite a few problems.. gender equality and gender sensitivity are still distant goals. objectifying women as sexual objects has reached an all time high and the worst part is we seem to be getting used to it.we think it's OK when we feel that it's not. fad diets are still a rage and wanting to lose a few pounds seems to be the ambition of most women i meet.
and role models........ it's Jessica Simpson and Britney spears. it's not Oprah or Hillary Clinton and it's certainly not Serena Williams.
liberated? think again. we constantly dumb ourselves down to please the unsuitable and unprepared men in our lives and the only important thing is that i get the cute bag featured in this month's Cosmo.
domestic violence, eve teasing, sexual harassment.., 'don't be such a bore darling it's not our problem'. and the women's studies section in the nearest book store contains books like " 21 ways to make your man happy" and " a girl's guide to breaking up without baggage".
equal pay, gender sensitivity in the work place and domestic violence....?non issues. not because all that is absent our worlds but because we're too full of ourselves to care!
yes, it is the best time to be born as a girl in most parts of the world because we have all the privileges our previous generation fought for. we have the power of education, we have economic and financial independence and most importantly we have a voice. maybe now is the time to actually use it.

2007-01-21T20:03:00.000+05:30

one of my friends sent me this mail. makes you think.....

The Heterosexual Questionnaire

Attributed to Martin Rochlin, Ph.D.
January 1977

(unpublished and not copyrighted)

Most LGBT people are put, all too frequently, into situations where they have to defend their sexuality. This places a considerable burden on people who resent feeling they need to justify or explain their sexual lifestyle. To help non-LGBT people understand how it feels to be placed in such a situation, the following questionnaire was devised, which is based on “heterophobic” premises, rather than homophobic premises, which exist chronically in our society.

Please try to answer the following questions as honestly as possible. It's going to be hard. That's the whole point.

1. What do you think caused your heterosexuality?

2. When and how did you first decide you were a heterosexual?

3. Is it possible that your heterosexuality stems from a neurotic fear of others of the same sex?

4. Is it possible that your heterosexuality is just a phase you may grow out of?

5. Isn't it possible that all you need is a good gay lover?

6. Heterosexuals have histories of failure in gay relationships. Do you think you may have turned to heterosexuality out of fear of rejection?

7. If you've never slept with a person of the same sex, how do you know that you wouldn't prefer that?

8. If heterosexuality is normal, why are a disproportionate number of mental patients heterosexual?

9. To whom have you disclosed your heterosexual tendencies? How did they react?

10. Your heterosexuality doesn't offend me so long as you don't try to force it on me. Why do you people feel compelled to seduce others into your sexual orientation?

11. If you should choose to nurture children, would you want them to be heterosexual, knowing the problems they would face?

12. The great majority of child molesters are heterosexuals. Do you really consider it safe to expose your children to heterosexual teachers?

13. Why do you insist on being so obvious, and making a public spectacle of your heterosexuality? Can't you just be who you are and keep it quiet?

14. How can you ever hope to become a whole person if you limit yourself to a compulsive, exclusive, heterosexual object choice, and remain unwilling to explore and develop your normal, healthy, God-given homosexual potential?

15. Heterosexuals are noted for assigning themselves and each other narrowly restricted, stereotyped sex-roles. Why do you cling to such unhealthy role playing?

16. How can you enjoy a fully satisfying sexual experience or deep emotional rapport with a person of the opposite sex, when the obvious, biological, and temperamental differences between you are so vast? How can a man understand what pleases a woman sexually, or vice versa?

17. Why do heterosexuals place so much emphasis on sex?

18. With all the societal support marriage receives, the divorce rate is spiraling. Why are there so few stable relationships among heterosexuals?

19. Shouldn't you ask the fringe straight types, like swingers, Hell's Angels, and Jesus freaks, to conform more? Wouldn't that improve your image?

20. How could the human race survive if everyone were heterosexual, considering the menace of overpopulation?

21. There seem to be very few happy heterosexuals. Techniques have been developed with which you might be able to change if you really want to. Have you considered trying aversion therapy?

22. Do heterosexuals hate or distrust others of the same sex? Is that what makes them heterosexual?

23. Why are heterosexuals so promiscuous?

24. Could you really trust a heterosexual therapist to be objective and unbiased? Don't you fear he/she might be inclined to influence you in the direction of her/his own feelings?

If you really took this questionnaire seriously, right now, you're probably feeling a bit depressed, defensive, and maybe even a little ashamed. Well, now imagine that this were real, not just a little exercise. Rather, it was all of society, your family, your friends asking you these questions and really wanting the answers. Not only is your own knowledge of your own sexuality, feelings, and body questioned, but now you must defend a whole group of people who happen to have one similarity with you, most of whom you've never even meet because to fail to do so in any way, in anyone's eyes is to say that you are *fill in the stereotype or negative image*, just like they are.

Now you have a better idea of how LGBT persons feel every day. The only differences are that you only felt this way for a few minutes and now you can go back to a world of acceptance. This is not a temporary experience for LGBT persons who can't turn it off and find a world of acceptance. They still have to answer these questions and many more each and every day.

I hope that you have learned something from this experience. It's always very hard to truly understand how another person feels until you are in their shoes. That is what this exercise was about. It was never intended to actually make you believe that your sexuality is wrong or that you have to defend it in anyway, but rather to give you a better idea of how LGBT persons feel when they are made to feel guilty and forced to defend our own life and sexuality to people they don't even know.

I hope that the next time you hear someone saying something like what you read above in this questionnaire, you will remember how you felt when it was you in that place and that you will have not only compassion (which you probably had to begin with since you are reading this), but also a little more understanding. This is a big world and there is plenty of room for all kinds of people in it! So, please, celebrate diversity and support the right of all people to live, love, and be happy without question and without having to defend the gender of the person that they share their life with!

2006-11-04T21:24:00.000+05:30

"if you are not a dreamer you certainly will not be an achiever"

2006-11-03T15:28:00.000+05:30

you have a problem with self esteem if:

your own self esteem is built by trashing others';
you cant think of anything special about yourself when you don't compare yourself with others;
you judge the world around you and think you are better than the rest of the world;
when you dramatize events in your head and act up on it in real life to get more attention;
your friends treat you horribly but you can't see it for yourself or worse you see it but think it is OK;
you have sex to make someone love you even when you re not ready;
you act as though you own the world but can't take even the slightest criticism in the right spirit;
you read this and feel that i have no idea what i'm talking about.

2006-10-23T13:54:00.000+05:30

pablo picasso said 'god is ,above all , an artist. he invented the giraffe, the elephant and the ant. he never tried to follow a particular style. he simply kept on doing what he felt like doing.'

2006-10-23T10:54:00.000+05:30

true achievers in life are those who are always on the path of self-improvement and self-realization.by achiever i don't mean 'CEO', i mean people who are happy about themselves and their lives and in peace with the universe.
self-improvement is a constant and exciting journey. it helps us become the kind of people we wish to be. self-improvement can mean different things to different people but the important part is to go about it.
telling yourself and the universe that 'this is the way i am' is not only self-defeating but also downright lazy.it is a lame excuse for not doing the things you want to do and not being the person you want be....

2006-10-22T20:45:00.000+05:30

life is so beautiful and mysterious and what better way to celebrate life than to celebrate your own b'day. i love birthdays. they are so festive and joyous, especially my own.i don't like surprises but every year on my birthday someone or the other surprises me .. i tend to surprise myself too because on each birthday i learn something nice and new about myself that i like.
i believe that all of us are children of god and that itself makes us so special and i simply cannot understand when people say that 'it's not a big deal' when it comes to their birthdays.. of course it's a big deal. this is the day YOU were born.. this is the day your friends and parents were blessed with a special person who would change their life ...
every year on my birthday at midnight my friends call, my mom wishes me and in midst of all this i take a moment to wish myself for i am the most important person in my life and i deserve to wish myself all the happiness there can be. i also say a little prayer thanking Him for making the year that passed so wonderful. i also thank Him for the special people in my life for they have made my life more beautiful. i also feel that i should thank Him for myself.. because it is that which lies inside of me that makes me wonderful and special, that brought special people in to my life.. each year i think of the lessons that i have learnt and pray for more courage, more compassion and a little more hope.
happy birthday to me....

2006-10-13T21:52:00.000+05:30

some people don't think. they don't care. they refuse to see beyond their own worlds. i ask you,how is this possible? people around us are suffering, dying, experiencing miracles or doing great things. how can any of this not deserve any thought.human beings are selfish and celf-centred. yes we must think of ourselves first because noone else will do so in this dog eat dog world of ours but this does not mean we shouldn't step out of the narrow confines of our own worlds.
empathy is a beautiful quality found only in human beings. yet we do the best we can to repress and ignore this quality until it dies.all great men in the history of mankind had been blessed with empathy. this made them think beyond the mundane struggles of everyday life and enabled them to do great things.
if gandhi hadn't thought of the nation as a whole would freedom be a reality? if mandela had not thought of the pain of the blacks and runaway from his motherland like so many others, would he be considered a legend? if the world had thought about the plight of the jews, couldn't one of the greatest tragedies of civilization been averted?
yes. empathy makes us makes human. to feel the pain of another human makes us think beyond our little safe worlds.only when you feel pain can you even think of alleviating it. it helps us become the person we want to be but dare not. it helps us feel great joy when it isn't actually our own and makes us feel pain that is quite faraway.
empathy makes us better, happier and thinking human beings.

2006-10-12T08:26:00.000+05:30

recently i had the privilege of being a part of something wonderful. the college ed board( specifically gautam) decided to organize a literary fest-shabd. i had the honour of being a part of the organizing committee because despite my indifference towards the universe in general, gautam saw me as a capable and competent woman.
the entire core committee worked so well as a team.everyone did what they were supposed to without any interference from the 'dictator' including lazy ol me.it truely was teamwork at its best.
it was a great example of a capable leader leading a team of efficient and enthusiastic people.
everyone in the core committee was wonderful and even though my interaction with them was minimal,it was great fun. they all came across as warm and intelligent people waiting to go places in life. my own team which had a lot of work on 'the' day was fabulous. the girls worked relentlessly all morning without a break and not once did they complain or give me a hard time.
at the end of the day the fest was a success and we all went home tired but very happy and proud for being a part of something truely amazing.it was one of the best experiences of my life.
cheers to the shabd team because it was a job well done and cheers to you my best friend because you realized the meaning of being a leader.