Don’t Spit in your Boss’ Coffee Maybe?

Internships are prerequisites for jobs in India today. Whether you attribute this trend to increase in competitiveness or blame it on overpopulation, internships have entrenched themselves as precursors to jobs in every field today.

Medicine, law, journalism, IT and in fact every private sector job opening requires the completion of one or more internships before the offer of a job comes your way.

I know this because I interned at two national newspapers, two magazines, a regional television news channel, a web news channel and a Public Relations agency before landing my first job. That’s seven internships in five years of my under-graduate and post-graduate studies.

Of the seven internships listed above, I had a disappointing experience at only one. And this too was only because my potential wasn’t fully realized due to mismanagement and faulty delegation of authority. This account may sound one sided but it is diluted by the fact that I received recommendations by every other place I went to. You see, that’s why I actually have a job as a journalist today.

Bad experiences are part of internships but one has to learn not to overreact to them in the spectacular way that this person has, whose note to his/her boss speaks of unmitigated hatred and revenge for unrealized potential.

Image Courtesy: youthconnect.in

Read about why you shouldn’t overreact to your Boss and just suck it up or quit the internship instead of making a mistake that jeopardizes your career in the field. The entire opinion piece is here on the Youth Connect magazine: [He reacted to his bad internship in the worst way possible. Here is why it is better to suck it up]

Change that Channel: Putting on Blinders or Protecting your Children?

Growing up in a household where Doordarshan was the only channel on television in classes X, XI and XII, I know how hard it is to be relegated to a monotonous voice saying something while you attempt to “make” something out of your life, “work hard now to reap fruits later” and “study hard, college is all about fun”.

Parents regularly attempt to contain their children’s consumption of television content by locking channels, unsubscribing to them, denying permission and deriding their choices if they watch channels they think are unsuitable or “not good” for them.

Putting on Blinders

Image Courtesy: goldenbuddhayoga.com

Now, is it not possible that the parents, by restricting access to content, are limiting their children’s exposure to the wider range of experiences available to the next generation? Are they not putting on blinders on their children? Are they not letting them see a partial worldview by limiting the content that they watch?

Apart from the news, there are many such topics which have a variety of opinions and each need to be viewed and heard to have a complete understanding of the same. By restricting half of the content, a partial message is conveyed and ideas that are developed then tend to move only in one direction. There is a certain lack of objectivity, and in some cases, radically and disastrously so.

Protection from Bad Influence

Image Courtesy: brainhulklogicsmash.blogspot.com

It is not always that parents restrict content to their children based n their own prejudices. It may also be so that they may actively attempt to curate television content in a way that only the best things come across. But this is also based own personal experiences and prejudice. Subjectivity would probably hamper the development process; however, that does not in any way lessen the importance of good intentions.

However, it must be noted that content on television is monitored and not a lot of content is actually there to subvert young minds. But, a check definitely needs to be kept. How? Now that is the real problem. Also, who can decide what is good and bad? Isn’t that too subject to personal prejudices?

The Million Dollar Question

How does one objectively curate content for children in such a way that it protects them from supposed bad influences while giving them an impartial worldview of all that television has to offer?

Do you have an answer or perhaps an opinion or observation you’d like to share? Well, let’s hear it.

If Minions were real, Humans would kill them all

Since the first Despicable Me movie released in 2010, toddler and teenage audiences have been obsessed by the little yellow innocently evil army of villainous sidekicks aptly named ‘Minions’. 

Although the minions were conjectured to have been engineered from humans by Gru, their master, the latest ‘Minions’ movie, released in 2015, apparently says that they were present as an individual sentient species on Earth since the dawn of man.

The Minions, considered cute, cuddly, oblivious to their havoc and seemingly unaware of their stupidity and utter devotion to pure evil, have won over audiences all over the world. This is probably what led the producers to make a film entirely dedicated to them as central characters and set the timeline as the prequel to ‘Despicable Me’ and ‘Despicable Me2’ where they serve as underlings to a super villain Gru in the former, and his reformed self in the latter.

Image Courtesy: red.fm

But the fan following for these adorable creatures can materialize only in cinema, as present societal beliefs and practices prove so blatantly. This conclusion can be drawn from just one pertinent question that needs to be asked.

“Would humans find the minions so adorable in real life?”

The answer must be a resounding ‘NO’.

If we strip them down to their basic qualities, the minions are a highly intelligent life form, very durable, capable of building and operating complex weaponry, socially inept, linguistically hampered, ardently loyal and in perpetual need of a leader (preferably evil).

Image Courtesy: quotesnhumour.com

If one were to go through these qualities again, the realization that this army of mad mercenary scientists want to willingly pledge loyalty to an ambitious psychopath hits pretty hard. Well, at least to people who know how civilization works.

Would governments in the world today accept this species to live and flourish alongside the human race?

Would they take the chance of the minions falling under the command of rogue forces, terrorists and dictatorial nations?

Would they not be swiftly and brutally exterminated because of the fact that they potentially cannot be rehabilitated (as evidenced by millennia of lack of evolution)?

Even if they did eventually learn to lead normal lives along side humans (which is not possible given the assumption that the Neanderthal was wiped out by Homo sapiens) would we accept them as equal to humans or would they be degraded to second-class beings?

So, is there a scenario in which the Minions manage to survive and make a place in the hearts of humans as they have in the films? I find it highly unlikely.

What do you think?

10 ways living in a boys PG is more horrifying than you think

Some of you already know that living out of your house is not great and all is not hunky-dory but only when you go to live in a boy’s PG do you actually get to experience hell-on-earth. It is a truly enlightening experience.

1. There’s a distinct lack of privacy

 Privacy? Ha-ha, what is that? This is the state I have had to live in for the past five years. Over time I’ve sort of become an expert on the subject with people peering into my computer screen, looking at my texts, opening my cupboard and generally being more of a nuisance then they tend to be everywhere else. It is more like a community shelter. I’ve often wondered why I pay to live at these places and then I realize that my job pays me so much that I can’t afford my own place without mortgaging myself and nobody will even accept as collateral.

2. Even your bottles get stolen

You have to get used to the fact that you no longer buy things for yourself but for everyone who ventures into your room to use your deodorant, eat your snacks, drink your juice, sleep on your bed and even drink the water that you kept in the fridge five hours ago so that it could get cold. In the end, you still get to drink hot water in 45 degrees Celsius. Your things get used and then they don’t even get replaced because you obviously brought it for everyone to use. You stop expecting people to fill your bottle and keep it after they drink from it because no matter how much you scream at them, indiscipline is the only principle that is followed with religious zeal everywhere.

3. There’s no space to even walk around breathe!

The paying guest business is booming and if I had enough money, I’d buy a place and rent it out too but since I don’t I’m waiting for someone to gift me some property. In the meantime, PGs are so cluttered that you are overwhelmed with the sheer number of people in your vicinity. I had a sense of personal space about five years ago. It got violated the first time I stepped into a PG and I’ve never managed to reclaim it ever since. You gradually realize that the only place you have a modicum of actual unadulterated air to breathe is on your own bed. The moment you get up, it’s like a Mumbai local but with considerably less chances of getting thrown out and dying.

4. Food habits change with every new place

Like South Indian food? Like Punjabi? Like Indian-Chinese? Like Gujarati fafda-jalebi? Sorry, who cares what you like. Most PGs hire people who can cook a maximum of two types of food. Sometimes, it’s just one type. So if you manage to find a place that serves different food on different days, you’re in luck but if you’re getting too cocky, don’t. You never know when the cook might get changed for stealing, making everyone sick or because of a payment issue. You might want to search out a safe alternative place that will deliver food to wherever you stay. It makes life much easier. But you always have the option of staying alive on tea, biscuits, wafers and good old Maggi. Damn! Is that an endorsement? Will I go to jail?

5. Contracting a communicable disease is relatively easy

Did you read the third point where I said that… just go and read it. On the other hand, if you did, you now know how it would be as easy as one sneeze, one cough, one handshake, one snot-barrage to spread any air-borne or touch-based communicable disease. PGs are what you can describe as the perfect environment for malign viruses and bacterium to flourish. It can take anywhere between three days and a week for the common cold to infect everyone. Now you know why I had myself checked for swine flu every time I coughed or sneezed. If you didn’t already know how dangerous this disease is, go check the stats, this article can wait. And now imagine that you are living in a place looks clean but harbours more diseases than the WHO lab in World War Z.

[This is my article for the Youth Connect magazine. You can read the entire article here: 10 Ways living in a Boy's PG is more horrifying than you think]

Faith in the Obscure: A Musing

What is Faith? Is it being Religious? Is it being Spiritual? Is it being part of both? Or is accepting one of them is enough?

By Faith, I mean belief in God. Not this God or that God, not multiple Gods or a single entity, not male or female, not multitudes ranked by relative importance, but the supernatural ‘Thing’ (for lack of a better word) that some believe created everything, runs everything and destroys everything.

Faith is a tricky subject and writing about it even more so. However, I wish neither to hurt feelings and sentiments nor create a controversy. ‘Faith’ is merely the word written upon my parents’ house and I’m just in the mood to ponder upon its placement in life.

Image Courtesy: fmaonline.net

Is Faith being a part of an organized or unorganized religion having rituals and practices? Is that a necessity? Or is it alright to not be part of religion and still have Faith. Yes, in order to have Faith, there must be a metaphorical or supposed entity to have Faith upon, but what if this entity has no shape or size or face or being? Can there be Faith without a point of reference?

Can Faith be largely a part of spirituality with attaching oneself to religion? Is it possible to put Faith in something that isn’t quite part of any religion but religious in an individual context? Can Faith exist in a void where there is a falling out between personal beliefs and the beliefs of religion? Can Faith exist without religion?

The possibility of keeping Faith in something that is somewhere and which is not hampered by the teachings of elders or the traditions of a people under a religious roof is something many people cannot comprehend. The ability to have Faith exists in all and the varying degrees to which they have it also depends on their personal experiences.

A disillusionment of religion as an institution can bring about the type of Faith I’m talking about. Although remnants of an imbibed religion may remain to guide the psyche to a new way of belief, it will no longer be the topmost priority in forming a Faith that almost nobody can reconcile to.

It is a difficult concept to grasp, especially for those encumbered with the weight of religious learning and years of practicing rituals and following traditions but this does not mean that an individual having Faith in a concept unknown to others is asking to be persecuted or is supposed to be worshipping evil or is straying from the path of God.

Faith cannot be ranked, for each one has his or her own and is different from the Faith that everyone else has.

Keeping the Peace: The UN Peacekeeping Force

The world celebrates the UN Peacekeeping Day today, the 29^th of May, but it hardly garners attention anywhere except in the camps of 16 operation bases around the world where the Peacekeeping force is striving to bring stability, establish the rule of law and end conflicts without resorting to war.

Strife is a global phenomenon and even now multiple armed conflicts are in progress either in the form of ethnic clashes, civil war, terrorism, dictatorships, coups or full scale war. More often than not, it is superpowers that intervene by either coercing or forcing both parties to co-operate and act as mediator but it may also happen that these nations may take sides in these conflicts.

This is the time where the need for a global non-partisan peacekeeping force betrays its importance. The UN Peacekeeping Force, comprising of personnel from all over the world, is the perfect third party to bring about a resolution to conflict.

The biggest contributors to the force are not the nations you expect. Expect surprises in the figures below which have been sourced from the UN website. These are the total number of personnel contributed by the nation:

1. Bangladesh – 9307
2. Pakistan – 8163
3. India – 8112
4. Ethiopia – 7864
5. Rwanda – 5575
6. Nepal – 5316
7. Senegal – 3570
8. Ghana - 3053
9. Nigeria - 2975
10. Egypt – 2937

Well, wasn’t that a surprise? Apart from the fact that none of the five nations that comprise of the United Nations Security Council feature in this list, the fact that the nations of the Indian sub-continent rank in the top 6 certainly show how much these nations and African countries who complete this list actually strive for world peace in spite of claims that they don’t contribute to the war on terror.

Image Courtesy: defencetalks.net

Although China makes it to the 11^th rank in the list of contributors to the Peacekeeping Force, the rest of the Big 5 are nowhere near. Here are the contributions of the Permanent seat holders in the UNSC:

1. China – 2899
2. France – 924
3. UK – 288
4. Germany – 194
5. USA – 95

This however, is not a condemnation of nations but a realization that those on whom the least expectation is placed often turn out to be front-runners in hindsight. It must also be noted that although these ‘developed’ nations my not directly be involved in the peacekeeping Force, they are the ones leading the alliance against major terrorist forces in the world today.

Although the force of arms is hardly the correct way to bring about peace, it is sometimes required to bring to sense to those who would prefer violence over cordial means and chaos over stability to establish control. This makes the UN Peacekeeping Force not just an interlocutor but a necessity in these times of grave turmoil.

On this day, the world should remember the lives given for the greater good of the world. People in conflict zones are actually thankful for the role these brave men and women have played in bringing some amount of calm to their days of unending warfare and nights filled with sobs stemming from constant nightmares. These angels of peace in Blue are worthy of the respect and reverence reserved for the highest form of sacrifice above and beyond the call of duty.

I Founded my own Country!

“Give me Liberty, Give me Land, Give me Liberland!”

This is what Vit Jedlicka, the founder of a 7 sq km piece of land on the Danube River probably shouted at politicians from both Serbia and Croatia when they told him he couldn’t just go to an unclaimed piece of land and set up his own damn country. Why he asks? Because it’s apparently nuts!

Well, ask Jedlicka and his merry band of Liberlanders? Liberians? Liberlandians? Liberties? If they give a damn about what anyone says about their state of mind as they hoist their flag, sing their new national anthem and being totally awesome by giving the finger to their collective governments who made the mistake of allowing dual citizenship because they thought their citizens were responsible adults. Yeah, these people come from all parts of the world. I wanted to go to but it seems India does not trust its people like the Turkish government does.

There are a surprising number of self-styled Presidents and Kings and Dukes who’ve tried in the past and keep trying in the present to establish their own nations inside other nations, on no man’s land like Jedlicka did, by encroaching upon the sovereignty of more than one nation or in the middle of the ocean. Seriously!

Not Featured here: An Emperor.
Image Courtesy: Republic of Molossia.

These people even held a United Nations-like conference in April this year so that they could get to know each other, discuss their problems and know why they thought establishing their own country was a good idea in the first place. One guy is trying to get his own country near Egypt because he wants his daughter to be a real Princess. Really? And guess what all you little, less fortunate kids of the world; Disney is even making a movie on her! Go cry.

The establishment of such micro-nations, as they have been termed, is a growing trend even if it’s not a new one. The thought-provoking thing here is why all these people want their own countries?

 Is it because they’re tired of living in one country?

Happens to us all

 Is it because they don’t like the laws?

Well, nobody does

Is it because they’re trying to bring a revolution?

That makes sense

Do they want their children to be Disney Princesses?

There is something wrong with people

Do they want more international chaos than what already exists?

Peace is so boring

Do they want an army to chase them back home and then get ‘exiled’ status?

Definition of FUN!

Do they actually have a reason at all?

The Mystery!

Although all these Highnesses and Majesties and Honourables don’t have one particular answer to this question, it seems like governments who have problems with these people will sooner or later stop laughing at them and realize they should have stopped them a long time back… when they could. But by then:

WELCOME TO THE NEW WORLD ORDER

Sweden plays a 'Gay' prank on Russia

Russia’s constant transgression into the Scandinavian nations’ sovereign territory has forced the Swedes to come up with a unique plan to shock and terrify the intrusive submariners into reversing their turbines and heading straight for the nearest Red naval base.

Bringing together a matter of national security and an important social issue to the same platform to address the Russian threat, Sweden has decided to lower a neon sign into the area where a Russian submarine was recently spotted.

This large underwater billboard advertises this: “Welcome to Sweden. Gay since 1944.”

The sign also sends out a message in Morse code to the effect, “This way if you are gay.”

Image Courtesy: dailymail.co.uk

This innovative method of intimidation of Russian forces by the Swedish Peace and Arbitration Society (SPAS), while hilarious and probably terrifying at the same time, is also a commentary on homophobia and on growing concerns of a massive security threat by nations that are not aligned with NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization).

According to the Independent, there have been around 39 incidents of the Russian armed forces entering other nations, intercepting cargo and passenger transports, abducting foreign citizens, flying dangerously close to NATO reconnaissance aircraft, circling naval vessels and positioning ships at the edge of other nations’ boundaries.

And despite this serious escalation of military activity, this organization has managed to put a farcical spin on things to turn the situation into a hilarious riot that, if implemented, will probably end up embarrassing Russia and its leader Putin, to no end.

It is however very saddening to see how homosexuality can still be used as a ‘weapon of shame’ in this day and age. Living in a nation that is against homosexuality to the point of making it a cognizable offence in the eyes of the law, it is easy to see how uncomfortable the very mention of the ‘taboo’ topic makes people. India even supported Russia’s anti-gay rights bill at the United Nations so the only difference between the two is that India hasn’t invaded anyone as yet.

The Moustache with Political Affiliations

I work and study in another city so I have to travel home for functions and other things like letting my parents know I’m alive, that I’ve not dropped out of my study programme and that I managed to pay my rent on time so I wasn’t sleeping on the road.

I reached home yesterday for this awesome party my Dad my arranged, for my sibling’s birthday. Yeah, I never got those, but whatever. So, whenever I come home, I shave and travel because in my city I’m pretty ok with a beard and don’t exactly look like I’m about to pounce on someone on a lonely road but back home, there’d be a riot if my chin even has the inkling of facial hair.

This time, before leaving, as I faced the mirror, razor in hand, I thought to myself, “Let’s mess with the family.” I had thought of the most shocking, jaw dropping, bottoms upping and outlandish idea to blow the daylights out of the whole family by entering the party… with a Hitler Moustache!

Left - Hitler and Right - Chaplin

Well, the correct term for this badass of the facial hair world is actually ‘the toothbrush’ but you can understand why I would want to call it by its other name. Had I mustered the courage to pull off this, what in the back of my mind, was still a brilliant stunt, I have no doubt that I would have been ridiculed, shamed, laughed at and then ostracised for being a complete idiot by the entire family, the neighbours, and basically my entire city until I went and shaved it off. I’m glad that good sense prevailed over my sense of tasteless humour.

The idea, as foolhardy as it might have been, created a train of thoughts from the very perception that people have about this particular moustache. True, it is associated with a man who tried to wipe out a whole race of people because he decided that he was superior to them. But is that really the fault of the moustache? Was it the moustache that instilled a sense of supremacy in Hitler? Then why didn’t it have the same effect on the man who was just four days elder to him and presumably as famous as Hitler is notorious: Sir Charles Spencer ‘Charlie’ Chaplin.

Same as above.

A German and an Englishman, living in the same age, leaders in their own fields and sporting the same moustache, but the collective consciousness only remembers the one who has done more evil and not the one who brought happiness. It is not that I don’t realize the severity of events or don’t understand the horrors perpetrated by Hitler, I’m just pointing out that people may be more prone to violence maybe because it is an easier choice than doing good. Even neutrality is akin to siding with the aggressor and as Dante Alighieri put it, ‘The darkest places in hell are reserved for those who maintain their neutrality in times of moral crises.’

That may well be the reason that this particular moustache is forever associated by with the name of Adolf Hitler rather than with the most loved comedian of all time, Charlie Chaplin.

The Politics of Friendship

There is a question or should I perhaps call it a dilemma, about friendship. And it’s not about two genders, but three.

The problem of what ‘type’ of friends we should and should not cultivate has been a question that is perhaps addressed in every household at one time or another in childhood, teen years and sometimes even adulthood.

Usually these questions revolve around bad influences and those few from shady backgrounds or different cultures. But whether one can have friends from the other two genders is rarely discussed. It is simply understood that persons of those category are out of bounds. That discussion is supposedly purely adult talk and taboo for the same people whose choices are being determined. Funny country!

Personally experiencing ridicule in school because of casual conversations with girls, I learned that along with society in general, even the education system is in denial that there is actually a problem of communication between genders. This gap is sometimes also encouraged through ridicule, excommunication from the peer group and marginalization from the opposite gender.

Image Courtesy: Google Images/extension.org.

These deliberate gender-distancing tactics have, I have realized, long lasting effects on the psyche. Talking just about males and females: Men may grow up to be indifferent, hostile and inconsiderate towards women. Women may grow up to be paranoid, disgusted and perhaps even leery of men.

If not given a chance to understand the dynamics of different genders by mingling, problems are likely to develop in a society that has the misfortune to be the one where such individuals grow up. The blinders put on them as kids are likely to stay on forever, the conditioning of a lifetime giving an extremely skewed vision and a closed mindset.

Perhaps this is what has happened to the people of the third gender. Avoided, shunned and “protected” from them, the rest of society treats them as sub-humans. Marginalized by the society that they should have been accepted into as normally as any other person, the people of the third gender have had to fight a long and arduous battle for the most fundamental rights. And even though the Indian government has accepted them as part of society, there is possibly a long road ahead of them trying to be part of society in this country.

This is the politics of the society we have been born into. Something as fundamental as friendship can also be the reason for discord. It makes one realize the potential for division within us.

The General who beat a Retreat

For those of you totally oblivious to what is happening in the world around you, allow me to tell you how a former General of the Indian Armed Forces and present Union Minister finally completed his formal induction into the frat house that is Indian politics.

I meant only 10%, you imbecile civilian!
Image Courtesy: Google Images.

He managed to piss off every journalist in the country because of a slight and misinterpretation by one of them. And then, like a very conscious leader of international importance, tried to explain his way out with an excuse even North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un wouldn’t believe and Kim believed snake wine would help him have better sex, so that’s saying something.

The minister called the Indian media ‘presstitutes’ and this term went viral over twitter and very other social media site in no time. It is true, the man did an absolutely wonderful job of handling the evacuation of Indians as well as foreign citizens from war-torn Yemen, even personally going there to oversee operations and the nation takes pride in this achievement, I do too. But then some media houses known for ridiculousness went and did what they do best. And the General did something he was probably taught not to do… ever; he lost his head.

He lashed out at the entire Fourth Estate for plotting against him, hand in hand with the arms lobby because in his words, “They don’t forget.” Although that’s a cool quote and sounds like, “A Lannister always pays his debts,” it seems like the minister has been watching too much HBO for his own good.

The point here is that even if he was misunderstood and that he meant to point towards only a section of the media, he (a four-star General and a Union Minister) should have know that it would cause outrage among those who follow him and hold him in high esteem. Of course, one would say, he knew what he was saying. In that case, didn’t he realize the repercussions of his actions?

A person in his position needs to know what to say and what not to say and tweet or post because as an opinion leader in the nation and abroad, his words can have implications far and wide. His words may even lead to backlash and come back to him as they did in this case. It is the classic case of almost defeating the enemy, then chasing after them only to find the main army marching in to finish the job. He went too far, a strategic failure he should have been aware of.

Never Truly Satisfied

Have you ever been satisfied with something that you’ve seen, heard or felt?

Have you well and truly accepted something as being exactly how you wanted it to be?

Have you truly felt that there was nothing more to be added or removed from the object of observation?

If you say yes, then I urge you to think again.

I’m not talking about things created by you but things you notice around you.

It is not possible that you agree with something as it is without thinking of at least one change that can be made to make the object better in some aspect. I’m not saying this, the philosopher Plato is.

This guy...
Image Courtesy: Google Images.

He says that there is an ‘ideal world’ somewhere with the perfect dimensions of everything we see, hear and smell around us. What we see in this world are just variations of the perfect things in the ideal world.

But we do manage to find some things perfect. It rarely happens, you must agree, but it does. But, is it really so? Do we really find perfection at all? Or do we compromise? Do we accept something close enough to our own idea of the ideal world to be perfect? Is it possible?

I may be treating this theory all wrong but it really brings me to the idea of dissatisfaction and the lack of perfection in our perception to the things around us.

In this imperfect world, does compromise rule our lives? Are we just content living with the discontent that comes with everything that doesn’t meet our standards? Are we so used to being dissatisfied that it has become the natural state of the human mind?

Elders teach us to be satisfied in what is there and others tell us to live in the moment, enjoy life as it is but if that is true, aren’t we actually living a lie?

It is true that we cannot have everything according to our own standards because if that could happen, chaos would run rampant in this world.

But then how do we become well and truly satisfied?

Can science answer that?

Can faith?

Can philosophy?

Well, I sure as hell cannot.

The Love of Real Books

There is a thing about books which makes me want to go back to those days when we didn't have a computer, only Doordarshan on TV and lots of books. When I was in school which wasn't exactly a long time ago in actual years but really ancient history in technology years, the only thing we used to do with a computer was either type in MS-Dos commands or play that car game that was a glitch in the Windows ’98. The rest of the time… we used to read – Real Books!

You know those things with either soft or hard bound covers, stitched down the middle at the back or stuck together with gum that hold real pages made out of paper and imprinted with ink? Those are called Books.

There develops a kind of emotional attachment to books that only a long-time reader can understand. Over time, it becomes difficult to spend free time without a book in the hand. It becomes impossible to take a coffee or loo break without continuing and finishing the chapter you began during breakfast. If the book is very good, it often becomes hard to even switch off the bedside lamp even though you know that you’re going to wake up so late that someone or the other is going to shout at you for it. You put on the lights in the middle of the night because you can’t sleep without reading those last two hundred pages which are seducing you from the table top. You cannot imagine a Sunday without a good book and coffee. Your vacation luggage consists of more books than the number of clothes you've packed. You take breaks from studying during exams by reading your novel and then forget all about the exams. You ultimately read so many books that there comes a time when you can hardly distinguish between what’s real and what’s not; it becomes Inception!

Some of us have this special place in our heart for real books. Now what with technology and all, it’s just easier to order e-books and they’re cheaper too it seems, but some of us just can’t manage to get the feel of a book while reading it on a steel-covered machine. We are that breed of readers who prefer pure-blooded books and I’m not against the Mudbloods or anything but reading in the harsh light without the warm glow of the lamp, holding hard steel instead of soft paper and feeling the scratches on metal instead of dog-eared pages don’t exactly appeal to us.

Well, I’m one of those who are orthodox in the ways of reading and I’m sure there are many others who prefer it this way.

Here are a few lines that just flew out at the end of the post:

The Way I like It

Ruffling pages, smelling sweet

From the age old dust of yore.

The musty scent of history

And weight of decades past;

Arouse In me a gentle lad

Who loves to lose it all,

To a few pages of print

Than to a machine of iron wrought.

How do you like your books; Real or Virtual? Do share your thoughts.

I Am Possessed

It has been free couple of weeks for me with nothing to do except sitting around all day, sleep, eat, watch a movie or two, surf the net and sleep some more because college is out. They have given us something they call vacation and something I call a waste of my time. Instead of doing something worthwhile like maybe a project or analysis of something in the field, they have opted to give us some time off to relax. Well that wasn't exactly their intention, but that is what I’m doing and it’s driving me insane.

The vicious circle of Food-Television-Food-Internet-Food-Sleep is like a never ending black hole that is pulling me infinitely into itself. It is like the drunken stupor that doesn't see the bottom of the bottle, it is the quicksand that is pulling my very being into its abyss, it is that storm in which my senses have stopped working, it is that maelstrom from which I see no hope and it is that pit of hell from where there seems to be no salvation.

To have no set objective for the next day is indeed a dangerous place to be in and I know it because it does feel like everything is pointless and that I might as well watch another movie than try doing something worthwhile like writing this blog post.

Image Courtesy: Google Images.

I am like one possessed. IT feels like a parasite growing inside me, constricting my lungs and making a little place for itself; little by little. IT thinks I do not notice and till yesterday, IT might have been right, but now I know that IT is in me and I know ITS name; it is SLOTH. This being has permeated my insides in such a way that it feels like there is no escape. Even though I know that I will eventually do something, the here and now frightens me.

At this very moment, IT knows that I’m doing something and that is giving IT pain. IT cannot bear to see me working and I feel like just putting my laptop aside and slipping away into blessed oblivion until sundown. IT wants me to just lie down and close my eyes which are strained by the harsh light in my laptop and I feel the urge to heed IT but then I steel my resolve and continue in the hope that those who read of my plight do not let themselves fall wherein I've fallen and beware that every moment they do nothing is a moment where IT is waiting for you to fall into ITS outstretched tentacles. Waiting like the silent predator it is, for you to give yourself up willingly and consume your will to do anything at all.

Beware! For IT is always watching from the darkest corner of your soul, the part of you that wants to stop living the dog’s life and just relax. It is there, just waiting for you to take one wrong step and then IT will pounce, like a tiger upon a gazelle; and it will be only with immense determination that you will be able to escape its grasp.

Run little gazelle, run…

On Mistrusting your Children…

Dear Mistrustful Parent,

I am forced to write this letter on behalf of your children today because I have seen enough of their suffering and it is time that you notice it too, before it is too late.

Now, after you read this letter, you may wonder why your children didn’t tell you all this. Well, just know that’s because they are scared you’ll become even worse than before or feel that it won’t make single iota of difference to you which is a much more frightening prospect if you ask me.

So, coming to you again. This is what your behaviour normally looks like:

·         You bind your children to yourself.

·         You confine them to the prison you so naively call your home.

·         You check on them like a detective for hire (or you hire one if you have enough money)

·         You go to meet their teachers even when you’re not called.

·         You create a ruckus in their office if they are not there.

·         You wait up at night till they are back home with a shoe, broom or belt in your hand.

·         You call them fifteen times for every hour they are not home.

·         You investigate all their friends like the police do to suspected criminals.

·         You follow them to see where they go.

·         You constantly accuse them of lying to make sure they never do so.

·         God forbid they are seen with members of the opposite sex; you go bat shit insane demanding answers.

And then you tell them that they don’t have a life…

I can understand your need to keep your children safe from this big bad world and give them a better life by protecting them from everything that’s out there. Well, what do your children know? They are so innocent that they will probably go around with the wrong kind of company and get mixed in matters that they shouldn’t get involved in but what about the values that you have imparted to them? What about the strength that you have given them? What about the character that you have built in them? Doesn't that count for anything?

Do you not trust your own upbringing to take care of your children? Do you feel that you were an inadequate parent? Do you feel that your lack of attention towards your children will reflect in their behaviour later on? Is that way you mistrust them so much; because you mistrust yourself?

You may or may not know this, but your children probably feel suffocation, frustration, despair, anger, hopelessness and loneliness because of what you are doing. Your children are like coiled springs ready to unwind the moment there is a tiny ray of hope that they can escape you. In case that they cannot, they try to escape by means of the knife, rope or bottle.

Is this what you want for your children, a life of misery and childhood memories only filled with trauma and unmitigated hatred for you?

I hope not and it is with that hope and a teardrop that I end this letter to you dear Parent.

Yours in hope,

The Concerned Friend.

Boys will make Mistakes…

Oh really, will they?

At least this is what our ministers and leaders of political parties have to say to the sexual harassment and rapes that are taking place in their state and the country. Boys will be boys huh?

Well, boys may be boys and men may be men but one thing is for certain, the mindsets of our leaders themselves are ridiculously slanted and not only in matters of gender but also in human rights, equality in society and in matters of morals which they preach like they just received the ten commandments atop mount Sinai.

Because it is for their own good.
Image Courtesy: Google Images.

However, coming back to the point; it is as amusing as watching a dark comedy to see the mistakes that these beloved boys whom politicians defend so matter-of-factually make. They tease women till they run away, stare at their body parts until the sun hurts their eyes, whistle at them till they need water for their parched throats, pass lewd comments till they run out of their pathetic repertoire, follow them on their vehicles till the arrow reaches red, touch them till they have accurately measured everything and rape them like they’re those blow-up dolls they use at home.

But come on, these aren’t major crimes right? They’re just mistakes that boys make after they are seduced by the women who WANT these boys to do all the above mentioned things to them. It is so totally the fault of women that the boys in fact are unassuming victims in such cases.

Seriously, what would happen if the girl that such an innocent boy raped turned out to be HIV+ or happen to carry any other sexually transmitted disease? Won’t it just destroy the life of this young boy who got carried away in the seductive walk of that girl carrying a pile of books to college?

Phew! It is so dangerous nowadays for such innocent boys on the streets. These wily women will do absolutely anything to catch their attention. They usually do things like keep walking, not pay attention, drive away, walk a bit faster and try to get away. These are the things that actually get these innocent boys turned on even more and then they get trapped and mistakenly, in their innocence, rape and kill those girls in their innocent lust.

And then it’s still hunky dory till they manage to stay away from the law, but when they get caught it is more torture for them. The whole of society condemns them for their mistaken misdeeds and the only ones who support them are their beloved uncles with seats in the state cabinet, union cabinet or in a boardroom. These are the only people who truly understand the condition of these misunderstood boys. They appeal to the rest of this cruel society to forgive these small mistakes and move on.

There is however a remedy for these innocent boys. These boys should be castrated in their own interest so that they can no longer be seduced by basically any woman in society. How about that?

The Working Children of India

We, the people of a stable financial standing often notice those who are far less fortunate than us. We see them everywhere, at least here in India, where the number of poor people far outnumbers the population of some small countries.

We noticed them as kids, understood the bitter facts of life and even felt sorry for them. But then we kept seeing them every time we left the house, every time we drove down the road and every time we went to a place of worship. We saw them so often that some of us have got used to them, we feel that they are just part of the background now and they are here to stay.

Have we ever spent a moment in thought of those kids who are born in abject poverty? Yes, we have seen them at crossroads and fairs selling stuff like balloons and stickers and candy; but have we really noticed them?

We see people with healthy bodies begging, we see these people asking for money in the name of God, but do we really see the children? Not the children who are made to beg, but those who enterprise to earn their livelihood through work? Those small captains of industry, those small artists, and those small officers of the service industry who refuse to take handouts without the sweat of their brow?

In my time in this metropolis, I’ve come to notice these children; it’s very hard not to. Children who polish shoes, children who sing, children who perform gymnastics, children who sweep trains and children who wash vehicles are in an alarming number in this city. Unlike those whose who choose to beg, these little ones either choose to or are taught by their parents to earn with a hard day’s labour, such as is not possible for a child of a more fortunate family to do.

I’ve interacted with some of these children, some with just one or two words, some with more and they have taught me more about the fruits of hard labour than I’d managed to in my moral science class. These children do not accept money without doing their work, they do not even ask for it unless one allows them to render their services. I believe that it is these children and not the youth of today who will be the true backbone of this nation one day.

It makes me sad to see them out of school and in the streets fighting to survive another day, but it also gives me hope that if the children of India are ready to work more than those who are supposed to, we will indeed be a great nation once more.

If you didn’t Vote…

Gujarat was in anxious anticipation to vote for the Indian General Elections on the 30^th of April. And why not? Their Chief Minister is in the race to become the Prime Minister of India. The man who hopes to become the leader of the largest democracy in the world is counting on his state to propel him from Gandhinagar to New Delhi.

If you are one of those who are called, ‘enlightened and responsible’ citizens of India, you might have wanted to vote too or are going to. You want to do something for your country, do your part in bringing about a good government unlike those who don’t give a rat’s ass about the same. You actually think that one vote makes a difference; well that’s the difference between them and you.

It is very fortunate that today the number of educated and aware citizens who want to vote is considerably more than those who either do not realize the importance of it or are too lazy to cast their vote. It is the former group of people who are in the ascendency and it helps realize the basic premise of living in a democracy.

Image Courtesy: Google Images.

But there are people who cannot vote. There are reasons why they cannot go to their constituency and cast their vote on the day of elections. This may be due to a variety of reason. These reasons are in some cases valid, but there is no point noting them down since they will just be taken as some more excuses to avoid fulfilling one’s national duty.

But let’s assume that some people had a real reason not to vote, what can they then do to absolve themselves of this guilt? I know some people who did not vote and then could not put up their inked finger photo up on Facebook, but I also know that they wanted to – vote that is. But since they didn’t, talking about it is a moot point. What they did in lieu of voting then become a support for them to still believe that they did their duty in some measure at least.

Did they make other people aware of their duty and right?

Did they try to explain the importance of the same to the uninitiated?

Did they inspire even one other person to take the trouble to vote?

Did they do their part in ensuring that the voter list becomes longer?

If they have in any way partaken in these activities, then I believe that they can absolve themselves of blame, even if society doesn’t.

I didn’t vote, but I’ve finally manage to stop the dam of guilt that was threatening to spill into the other areas of my life. I believe that I’ve done my part for my country, have you?