Mean meat eater...

I overheard X saying 'Ooh, and please stop consuming meat OK? Bad for health. Eat veggies.' Somebody nodded, reluctantly.

No, there was no debate on which was better 'Meat or vegetables.' Somebody just asked X how to get to this hip-hip club in the city.

X: Oh, you must go to this place...OMG, It's so amazing.
Somebody: Really? You've been there?
X: Of course! Every Saturday..Duh!...it's kinda like a Saturday night ritual. OMG, the drinks...out of this world...
Somebody: (Excited) Wow! Ya?
X: Trust me...the booze is whahowwayhoweywho!
Somebody: Woohoo...Alright...
X: Ooh, and please stop consuming meat OK? Bad for health. Eat veggies.

What on earth was X saying? I mean...X was clearly a booze addict or what and X is some veggie addict too?...and X says 'Veggies are good for health?'

Health? LOL!

My dear X,

This is me, a meat consumer. Yes you heard it right, I eat meat. The gruesome being. But no, you don't do it. It's good that you are a veggie. But X, my dear, please stop consuming those veggies...because, they're rotting in your system. Booze will do, my dear.

Booze will do. Yes.

Health.

Mean meat eater!

Free...Free

Free Booze (OMG! Elixir!)

Free coupons to the club (Stairway to heaven)

Tax exempt (??!)

Free 'ladies queues' at the cinema (Yeah!)

Freedom to interrupt anybody's conversation (anytime...)

Freedom to shout at anybody (because, duh! you're a woman!)

Free to complain (about anything)

Free...'everything'

Oh, but do not forget to protest for your 'rights!' (You're free to do that too)

Now!

Be a him... Be a her... Be a blah... Be a bloo...

Be the watch...be the watch

'But...I do not function like that...I cannot...I'm...'

Be the watch...

Be the spoon...be the spoon

'But, I'm just a watch...I cannot...'

Useless.

Wretched...

But...

We're different

Really...

I beg!

South-Park me!

Oh, before I leave for the day, here's something I want to show you...I south-parked myself.

Not able to blog...

There was this huge work pressure building up and I really couldn't blog...though I religiously blogged in my mind...I hope the weekend instills some blog spirit in me.

Have a great weekend! :)

Why is TZP still under construction?

Excuse me for following the not-done blogging techniques, that is to say, starting a topic and then not completing it...like the Om Shanti Om review and the never-gonna-be written TZP review! So why am I not publishing it? Frankly, I was gonna complete it and publish it but the TV stopped me! Well, I can blame my eyes too, ok whatever, so I saw this little boy Darsheel Safary (Ishaan Awasthi) giving his 'nth' interview on TV about his role, and the movie and blah blah blah. I expected the little child to be a child on TV, but it so turned out that he was not a child...he was this super duper star who had achieved something really noteworthy in life at such a young age, blame it on me for expecting. But, but...he is supposed to be a child and not have this 'yeah, so I'm a star' attitude! I mean, it's ok, after all 'Who' am I to judge? But it's just that when I watched TZP, I cried everything time this little boy cried in the movie (the only difference being I did not use glycerine) and I got attached to this little boy...SIGH!!!
I decided I will probably not continue writing the review because I was shocked. And I stick to my word, I will publish it when I publish my numerous other posts that are still in the 'draft' stage...
So, TZP is under construction...and blame it on the eternal procrastinator or otherwise!

Taare Zameen Par!

I am 'me'
The way I was created
I love myself
But they don't
Do I care?
No
That's why I live
But why do you cry
That I am not 'them'
Why do you look at them first
And look down upon me?
Look at me
Not through me
Feel it
'They' cannot be me
I'm unique
Is that a grave error?
Please...
It hurts me
I'm shattered
Don't you see?
I am 'me'
Accept me
Rebuke me not
I will forever remain, 'me'

Imagine the little boy's heart crying out the very same words I managed to utter in despair...You cannot help but cry. Completely melts your heart...The 2 1/2 hours that I spent in the theater watching this amazing movie are the best 'hours' I've spent in my life...

And what stunned me most, Aamir meekly putting in Starring 'Darsheel Safary' followed by the other casts including him! Applause, that says it all! I'm reminded of the saying, 'For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted.'

Aamir Khan has taken utmost care in making this movie, not a flaw anywhere. Starting from the bus conductor's attitude, the bullies in the colony, the school teachers, and students. Of course, you cannot miss to notice the loving mother and the affectionate brother and the strict father, a perfect family. One should note how Aamir Khan has made sure the mother never compares her sons. Ishaan's elder brother Yohaan is an ace tennis player, highest scorer in school, and all that but, Ishaan is Ishaan and never compared to Yohaan! Perfect. I have seen so many movies where the parent says "Look at you brother, he is so good! Why can't you be like him?" (Duh!) Aamir is some perfectionist I must say.

Taare Zameen Par basically revolves around the theme that everybody is unique and special. That each of us are special. I know the tag reads "Every child is special." But then, we do become children sometimes...don't we? This movie makes you feel proud of yourself!

It's amazing how Aamir Khan handled the subject of 'Dyslexia.'

to be continued...

Student days...

I have never studied in a co-ed school/college ever in my life! If you go "WHAAT" at this, then may be I should tell you Post Graduation is on its way! People tell me I have missed so many things in life by not being able to study with 'guys.' Funny but I have never felt so. I have had my share of fun and feel I couldn't have done so many things in my life had I studied with guys! My fond memories date back to class 9. The fun we had interrogating our biology teacher about sex! I can tell you with guys in class none of us would have come out of the inhibition and dared to ask anything on the subject.

But frankly sometimes even I find it funny to realize I have never studied in a co-ed school in my life! I spent 12 years of school life in convents across different states in India and then spent the boring college life in another Convent-ish college! Funny!

If there is one reason why I did not enjoy college then it should be that I always compared it to my dear school. But, I'd like to mention I did have my share of fun in college too, thanks to my dear friend B. If not for her I would have gone mad! I vividly remember bunking classes to buy the very French 'crepes,' jumping the compound wall to watch a dumb movie (yeah I jumped!), getting multiple fraud signatures on gate passes, entering the wrong classroom for the wrong lecture (on purpose), and the list goes on! All this and more but if someone gave me an option to choose between school or college (traveling back in time), I'd choose School, any day!

What makes school so special?

1) Uniform: The only apparel that could accommodate the rich and the poor equally. No one in school was rich or poor, we wore the same dress that cost us all the same!

2) Teachers: You may be in 12th, 9th, 6th or even in 2nd grade, but to your teacher you are always a kid! They come behind you for everything and try to teach you everything and make sure you score well, and are always concerned about you! All of this may have annoyed us, but I yearned for all this in college. In college, it was the 'who-cares' attitude...I know they only meant to make you more responsible or mature or whatever, but school made you feel special and wanted.

3) The canteen: The not-so-appealing yet hunger gratifying food that the school canteen sells! The Re. 5 corn puffs, Re. 8 pop-corn, Re. 10 lemon rice, Re. 15 fried rice, Re. 2,3,5 samosas, Rejoice cold drink!!!, agreed not very tasty, but then where else will you find all this? Sometimes you can be served the best gourmet meal but you'd yearn for the time you spent in your school canteen, may be not for the food, but definitely for the company!

4) The funny faculty: Every school must/should have someone called the funny-guy/lady! Luckily, I met the world's most funniest sir in school! I was healthy in class 12, reason: I studied under this sir! He made me laugh all the time, during class, after class, at home, with friends and even today his memories bring laughter! If you meet your friends 10 years down, you'd say "Hey, remember so-and-so, she used to say this! LOL."

5) P.T Time: Sports period as we all called it, was the most annoying or best (always depends on whether you are the sports field types or not!) period of the day's time-table. We were forced to go to the school grounds and display our athletic or other skills! The best part is the 'P.T misses' (in context to my school) were all not-fit-trim and got tired easily and they would leave us on our own! And...P.T periods became chit-chat sessions while pretending to throw the damned ball somewhere!

6) Sports Day: Yes exactly what should follow after P.T class. Sports day, goes without saying, is the best time of the school year! You are made to march, perform drills, run relays and play silly games while proud parents watch you running around the field and the occasionally yell words of encouragement! I could march decently, but I always got lost in the huge crowd, thanks to my (short) height! I would try my hand at skill games like Pot balance, balloon burst! :D But deep down inside my heart, I always wanted to run...well! Ah and drill! It was the most beautiful part of sports day, we were always given funny costumes and made to hold weird props and DANCE! Yes drill was nothing but 'Dance' to the loud drum beats, LEFT LEFT LEFT-RIGHT-LEFT!

7) Food Fair: Only time guys were allowed on campus. Reason enough to celebrate (for some!) and do we need an explanation when I say 'FOOD?'

8) Children's day celebration: Some fond memories bring tears! Gosh, teachers present a cute assembly, they transform into kids and entertain us, basically our day....No words!

9) Teacher's day: Our turn to show our gratitude to all these blessed beings!

10) Examinations: Oh yes, the finale! School cannot be school without the numerous mid-terms, half-yearly, blah! But, funny, exams are the only things that follow us from school...absolutely nothing else does...It's like we are leaving behind the child in us back in school :(

Did I forget Annual day?? :)

Oh and yes, that's me sleeping in class, surrounded by my friends giving the victorious look, for reasons I do not understand!

Karma?

I was traveling by air to Hyderabad this morning when someone in the aircraft started coughing, sneezing and blowing his nose so loudly much to the annoyance of the woman seated adjacent to me. She made a very rude comment, "someone is cleaning his nose in the flight." Snicker!
In the next 30 mins I hear her husband coughing loudly and gasping for breath, occasionally making futile attempts at vomiting . She got extremely worried and called for help. The air hostess brought along a bottle of water. This went on for about 20 mins roughly and then things calmed down.

The woman did not make any comment at this. Love for her husband?

Karma fulfilled? Every thought does have consequences, so that there is a balance in life.

But this was quick! :)

UnInt--ERR-upted!!!

I decided it was time for me to clean my wardrobe. So I set to work on it when someone called me up and asked me, "Ma'am can you spare 2 mins. We would like you to give us feedback on Whoa-Da-Fone's superior network coverage."
"Yeah, I guess"
Sighing heavily!
"Thank you very much Ma'am."
Walking to the kitchen to have a drink.
"Ma'am are you online?"
"Yeah."
Duhh!
"I am happy to inform that we have a new offer..."
Walking back to my bedroom...
A faint voice in the background "He--ll--o Ma-----dam..."
Me in reply "Yeah..errr...Hello...Hello..."
Shucks man!
"Ma'am are you there."
"Yes. I am! Please go ahead."
I decided to take the newspaper from the drawing room...while she kept talking I could check out some interesting stuff.
After much ranting from her end...I figured out that Amir Khan maintains a blog and I should check it out now.
"Are you willing to take this special offer Madam?"
"I'm sorry, can you please brief me on this once again."
Guilty I felt. Decided to walk back to my room.
"Sure! So Ma.........#%#%%^!@!"
"Huh? Hello"
"&(*&(&$@# Dam...I was...Sayi...."
"Hello"
I kept walking...the signal must be dying down...I thought
" ing that this offer"
Ok clear now...which meant signal was strong if I stood in a particular position and facing this direction. Perfect! I kept balancing myself...gave up..
"Blurr...$%$%#^@$#....errr"
"Hello..."
".................(read:silence)............."
"Hello"
Line got cut!

Well, so much for the uninterrupted network coverage you promised!

Why he lives...

He lived a very lonely life.
He laughed alone, cried alone,
He kept waiting, in vain he thought...
until one day he found her.
She hugged him whenever his heart felt lonely again.
She gave him small kisses and then would run away, it made his heart light.
She danced like she had no worries. It made him cry out of joy.
She sang hymns for him, and he silently prayed that nobody took her away from him.
She told him stories with no meanings...
She did little things for him, little insignificant things in the world's eyes...
but things, little and insignificant, meant the world to him.
She cried whenever he fell ill or fell down.
She lifted him up whenever he slipped...
With her smile she lit his days...She loved him...truly
They took long strolls together
They played silly games
They built sand castles
They never once forgot that they were 'one'
Until one day, she was gone
He kept looking for her But she was gone
Gone forever.
But before she left, she gave something that changed his life forever...
She brought back the child in him
She showed him how beautiful life is
She brought back the confidence he lacked
She made him a champ among his friends
She turned him into a star...
He was not lonely
anymore
He had got a new life
The life that she gave him
She blessed him forever
And he 'Lives'
for what she gifted him.

Sometimes...

I want to lose my self
Sometimes I want to forget I exist
Sometimes I want to cry like I'm being stabbed
I want to run away from the crowds...
I feel like blurting out my feelings
But that block...
It keeps choking me
Sometimes I ask God to take away the 'Block' out of my life
Sometimes I talk to him loudly and start crying..but then suddenly I start smiling
I see him...but I see the block more often
He spreads his wings over me at night
I get scared and clutch the rosary tightly...
Once again the wings...they pass...this time sensing his presence...
Turning to engulf someone else...
Oh God...I don't want to see the eagle again...
Sometimes I feel like I have nothing to lose
Sometimes I feel someone wants to take away what little I have
The wings...they bring fear
I feel feverish...
Sometimes I laugh out loud like life is beautiful
Then suddenly I am reminded of the wound
The eagle smiles at me
Mocking
I search frantically for him
I see him
Fighting hard to keep the wings away...
But my deliberate efforts deepen the wound and the wings
They come the next night...
Sometimes...
I am possessed...
By good and bad
I can't tell which is what
But
Sometimes...I am not me.

Latest Trend: Office-Spouse...

Forget the latest fashion trends, forget the latest 'Gym' workouts, forget the 'what's cooking'...what's catching up is the 'out of the bags' trend ... 'Office-spouse.'

Having a pseudo-wife or pseudo-husband at work may not only make you happier with your job but may even improve your chances for promotions and raises, according to a report Friday.

-Source CNNMoney.com

If you belong to the ocean called 'corporate' then this should be a familiar term to you. Office-spouses or Pseudo-spouses. I sit in India and work for an American MNC and keenly observe how inside this very Indian infrastructure filled with Indians is a very apt depiction of the American culture or atmosphere.

How the word came into existence: Some people started losing the spark in their 'very-fairy-tale-ending' marriages after a couple of years. The spark seemed to dry away because of inoculation of responsibilities, and everything else that the rather disguised package of marriage brings with it. They say change is the only thing that is constant. So now change becomes a more of a necessity. But what fascinates me the most is the fact that man keeps looking for the same kind and type or species of the object that actually caused him the supposed frustration. 'Woman and work. '

When he finds the right fit to his needs, the woman becomes his office-wife and the job brings him the much need satisfaction, 'job satisfaction.' I do not really understand how having the so-called element 'Wife' in office brings mental peace? I mean, don't men claim that they go to work because they want some peace?

Very ironic.

My second poem...

The Beggar

I saw him in the street
Begging for alms to meet his needs
All he wanted was a crust of bread and a bed
And two eyes to look at him,
And for him tears shed

He walked up and down the road barefoot,
And did not bother to see where he stood,
He lost everything in life,
His wealth, his money and his wife
Dignity was something he possessed no more
And happiness he couldn't look for anymore

His ideas soared up the skies
But the world did not stand by him,
It only did misguide
Never had he expected life to be this way
But it has been so since his graduation day.

My first Poem

This is the first poem I wrote in my life. I simply named it Love...Here goes...

Love

He saw her walking down the street,
It was like Love at first sight,
His heart beat like the fastest steed
And his face shone bright.

He stood by his gate watching
And only hoped that one fine day they'll meet each other
To express his thoughts
And to tell her, his Love.

When he smiled at her
She smiled back too
And then bloomed in his heart
Love that was so true

And then he planned their future
For he knew, that they were made for each other
He knew he'll keep her happy each day,
For he was so faithful in Love,
That for her his life he would lay.

But when he expressed his thoughts to her,
She knew not what to say,
For she had been engaged earlier
And her marriage was the next day.

Lead me not into Temptation...

Would you like a cigarette?
No...maybe...No! I do not smoke...
You don't! Man...You should try it...
??!!!?? Err...
I see you are thinking...So then may be you should...C'mon try it...
Please No. I have to leave.

Ah! There she goes, conservative, goody-types, has no flavor in life, is not adventurous...Such a boring being! Pufff!

Boring? Says who? Where is it written that if you do not smoke you are boring?

Let me tell you...You who thinks life is all about having fun...

You are wrong!

Life is all about 'Living'...how will you understand?

You are keen on killing yourself each day.

I do not wish to see the day when my parents take me to a hospital just because I have slight difficulties in breathing and they discover I have destroyed my lungs...I do not wish to see the helplessness in their eyes...

If cigarettes were so good, why didn't my parents teach me how to smoke?
You HYPOCRITE...why don't you teach your kids how to smoke? Why don't you let your kids experience the same pleasure you experience? You won't! Because you want your kids to go to the best school and the get the best education possible... You will only teach your kids how to be successful in life... Really why don't you just present your daughter a packet of cigarettes on her birthday? Because anyway, she will end up smoking...

You failed the tests in your life... You took to temptations so easily... and you call ME boring???

What a day I have to see, when smokers taunt non-smokers...Do you not realize 'You are a coward' who does not know how to face the challenges in life and resorts to suicide as the only way out of the maze called life?

You accept defeat in life and you MOCK me? You don't even have a LIFE...and you MOCK the living me?

You are only 20 but you already look 40...and you say I'm boring? You lost your YOUTH and you say I've no flavor?

Only remember, the day you die, I will still be young...I will still have a life...

I'm feeling blah...

My tee reads I'm feeling lucky...but I'm actually feeling blah!
Blah is when you have thoughts piling at the back of your head...actually a clutter of thoughts...
and you have no idea what to say or do...
the thoughts disturb you and tire you...
I'm feeling so blah!
I'm listening to 'rumors' and I've been listening to it all morning...
Every time I listen to this song I can only relate myself to these lines:
'I just need to free my mind...Can you please respect my privacy? Why can't they let me live.'

Why can't they let me live? I think I carry some sign on my forehead that reads 'Kill me.'
I need to free my mind...my mind lives in this cage called perpetual confusion.
I must bring break it open...But ...I'm feeling so blah!

The blah-ness has taken total control of my head and body...I can't even finish this post appropriately...

So blah!

Busy-ness...

Everybody is busy...the current trend among all of us...for no rhyme and reason people want to look busy and occupied...even if they are only checking out online profiles, or chatting or watching videos!

I'm happy at least God is not busy...considering the amount of work he has to do everyday!

The mail...

I was so upset and dull and I desperately wanted to talk to God...rather I wanted to write to him...
I don't know why but I ended up writing to Paulo Coelho... I don't know what I wrote but I'm sure I wrote everything my heart wanted to speak...
I wrote a letter to Paulo Coelho!
I must be mad and I completely forgot about it!
The very next day my mail box reads a new incoming message from 'Paulo Coelho.'

Dear Hepsiba,

Thank you for your kind email.

Always follow your dreams and fight for them with faith.

A Warrior takes every opportunity to teach himself.

It's the possibility of having a dream come true that makes life
interesting.

The secret of life is to fall seven times and to get up eight times.

Paulo Coelho

He wrote back...and it felt like God wrote back...he must have...

in fact 'he has.'

I can't stop crying out of joy...Who would expect him to write back to an ordinary girl's painful mail?

Opportunity lost...Smile regained

It is so difficult to give someone an opportunity...an opportunity that could change a person from being mediocre to becoming a star...
But
Sometimes opportunities that come in 'satisfaction guaranteed' or 'You are sure to become succesful' packages are deceptive...
Some opportunities come in ugly disguises but turn out be most fulfilling in terms of success...
There was once a boy who was uneducated, unemployed and spent days in hunger yet did not want to beg
He went into a temple and found that the temple required someone to ring the bell...he thought he would make a wonderful bell-boy. He asked the concerned person. The boy was sure he would fit the role and his heart filled with joy. But he was rejected on grounds that he was uneducated. He cried and kept crying all day long.
After he cried out his pain, he remained quiet for sometime and decided he would pedal goods from house to house and in this way he would earn enough money to buy himself some food. He started selling flowers. People would ask him to buy goods for them from neighboring shops and he would deliver them back home. With the money he earned he opened a mobile shop; on cycle. He soon opened a small shop in his village selling all sorts of amenities. His business picked up and he kept growing. At one point in time, he owned a chain of retail stores and was a leading business man. He was extremely famous, earned lot of respect and once during an interview someone exclaimed "You have grown so much without education. I can imagine how successful you would have been, had you studied."
With a big smile he replied, "I would have been a bell-boy."

The boy had an opportunity to ring the bell at the temple and earn money but he was not given that opportunity. And thank goodness for that!

Lot of us go through this in our lives. I have not been given so many opportunities. They could not feel the pain I went through. They could not see my tears...They could not see that my heart bled...they wanted some 'education.' Some superficial qualification. They failed to see the heart's yearning to learn. But...I know these are opportunities that ultimately do not give you any satisfaction or joy.

I don't know if this post is well written and I don't care because when I started writing this, I was crying uncontrollably but now I am smiling.

And that is what matters.