What I hated about 2010

Its the last day of the year. 2010 personally was a good year for me. Tommorow a new year begins. its just another saterday. Mornings will still be the same. The sun will shine in the same way it had today. Nights will still be dark. Yet it will be a new year. But we Indians celebrate New Year so many times, be it Poila Baisakh or Baisakhi. But then its a new year tommorow according to the calender most of us follow.

Today, on the last day of the year I want to list some things I hated about 2010. Here goes

The IPL teams/Lalit Modi controversy



I like cricket. Just don’t ask me the rules. IPL has made the game more understandable and much more fun for non-sports people like me. But this year the controversy regarding ownership of teams spoiled all the exhilaration of the game.


The bad publicity India got for hosting CWG


I Am all for India and her achievements. And if being able to host the CWG is counted as an triumph for India, so be it. But then do a proper job of it. What’s the use of taking up something if you cant handle it. This basically led to something worse- the over hyped bad publicity before the games and the Kalmadi scam after the games took away the spotlight from the Indian participants who had done so well. No one remembers who won gold silver or bronze at the games but ask anyone about the mismanagement and Kalmadi’s skills and everyone will have an answer. Basically instead of the focus being on the games the controversies surrounding it became the center of attention. Not Good.


The late winter


I love every season-summer for the mangoes, monsoon for the poetry and winter for the blankets. The late arrival of any season irks me. One looks forward to something and that something is so damn late. Punctuality is supposed to be a virtue. Virtue or not winter was late and on top of that it’s not very cold. The sky didn’t really turn “a hazy shade of winter” nor was December “deep and dark”. So am not happy with winter 2010


The soaring prices (specially of onions)


Not that I am the one emptying my pockets for veggies. But because of the sky high prices onion consumption was rationed. And yes the high rates became “the” topic of conversation. Mention onions and ears were pricked, people swayed their heads in disapproval and voila a conversation on onions has began, followed by a discussion on onion less recipes and how there are people (unlike us) who have always gone without consuming onions.


The “Big Boss” hype and other sadist, voyeuristic shows


I must admit that even though I hate the concept of voyeurism I have watched an episode here and there of Big Boss, Emotional Attyachar and similar shows. I know Bigg Boss is not exactlyan only 2010 phenomenon but the court had ordered an “after 11” time slot for adult viewership shows. 9, 10 and 11year olds discussing the antics of contestants of adult content shows like Big Boss and Splitsvilla is just ridiculous. But that is a different issue altogether. Hype over voyeuristic shows has increased this year which will certainly lead to more dramatic trends in society in the years to come. These shows are quite popular which proves that the once suppressed phenomenon of voyeurism and sadistic pleasure over peoples discomfort, humiliation and pain is now out in the open. But I, like many do not like this trend.


A series of badly written books


These books are full of grammatical mistakes and typos. With wafer thin predictable plots, poor characterization and bollywoodized situations the books were puke-worthy. And they gave non-readers a right to claim that they “read books”, an open insult to genuine bookreaders and the other extreme bookworms. Examples- ‘I too had a lovestory’, ‘ofcourse I love you..till I find someone better’ . How I hate those books. And their creators who claim to be writers. Whatever.


Rallies in Kolkata



Almost everyday in Kolkata is spent trying to figure out who is calling a rally for what. Not that I care much for the cause but it makes travelling on the Kolkata roads a pain.


Munni and her being badnam



Sorry guys but I hate that song. Even though Malliaka Arora khan supposedly looks hot in it( I am straight)Even though Zandu balm has got loads of publicity. Gawd what a crude song. Am not playing moral police but I wouldn’t ever want to sing that song aloud even if am drunk.


There are ofcourse many other things that I could have hated but can't recall at the moment.
 
On a pleasanter note
 
A very happy New year to all!

The question of confused identities/lets call it discovering myself

As a savior of sorts Tarzan has always been liked by me. Maybe he didn’t save the world but he did save the jungle. And playing Tarzan in pretend games was one of my favourite pastimes as a child. I got to save imaginary animals from imaginary danger. And I loved being Tarzan. Ofcourse, in my game Tarzan was a girl.

Another favourite was red riding hood. Come to think of it she was liked because it was convenient. I didn't have glass slippers or a pumpkin but I did have a red jacket with a hood AND a basket. I could play red riding hood easily. And she sure did something brave. She faced the wolf and almost fought him. Cinderella didn’t have to do much to acquire a prince (charming isn't it?) Her godmother ( who coincidentally knew magic) did everything.


I didn't much like any other character. I never believed in Rapunzel as I knew hair could never be used as a rope however much one used Dove damage control or Pantene ( By the way did she try any of these?)


One thing I was sure of. These ladies always got a good looking, rich prince at the very end. (I wonder where my prince is, he doesn’t have to be rich) And almost always they are damsels in distress. Anyway as usual I am deviating.


Apart from trying out the professions of a teacher, postman, doctor and red riding hood I tried being a witch and enjoyed it. I spent hours brewing potions from talcum powder and other stuff and spoiling many of my mom’s lipsticks in the process. Yes, being a witch was fun.


Then again I have also been Alice (of wonderland), a detective, a cook and have dressed and redressed Barbies while weaving countless stories.


I loved playing alone. Well, why not when no one could defy me? As a then only child I had no other choice. Growing up in the 90s I had no option of videogames, cable TV or internet. My sister on the other hand never learnt to play alone. She was always Ishita. Never a detective or a teacher or a postman.


And now I am playing a writer and it’s the best I have ever played.

'Mata' and music

North Indians, especially Punjabis; have experienced the phenomenon called ‘Mata ki chowki’. A ‘Mata ki chowki’ is held to sing praises of Goddess Durga. Nevertheless it is more of a social gathering than a religious one.

Let me describe it to you, starting from the setting. Imagine a huge hall. Then fill up the floors with mattresses covered by white bedsheets. Three walls should be lined with chairs. Add four amplifiers at all the corners. Now concentrate on the empty wall. The ‘shrine’ or the focal point will be set up here. A small table covered by a red or equally bright cloth will be set up. On this table an idol or framed picture of the ‘maa’ will be placed. There will be a plate; otherwise known as the ‘aarti’. On that plate you may see a ‘diya’, a few ‘agarbattis’ and other stuff most Hindus use in their rituals. Around the shrine a few people acting as musicians will be sitting with a 'dholak' and maybe, a harmonium along with a couple of microphones. Do imagine all this, but with the mute button switched on.



Now, imagine the people- men woman, oldies and children. It’s frenzy. Remember the chairs? Those are for people who simply can’t sit on the floor because of various ailments. Others will be sitting cross legged on the mattresses.


Let me also tell you how to find the location of a ‘Mata ki chowki’ you would be invited to. When you reach the area and are unsure of the address just enter the building emitting a lot of noise. Once inside let your ears guide you.


You’ll know you’ve reached the right destination if you cannot hear what the person next to you is trying to tell you. For the next two hours or so, the only noise, err sound you will hear will be loud chants of ‘Jai Mata di’. The songs are sung to the tunes of Hindi movie tracks-easy to pick up. The lyrics are few and simple-easy to remember. Comparing the sound levels to a rock concert may not be appropriate, but it is accurate.


The intention of the ‘Mata ki chowki’ may be to please the goddess. I wonder if people assume that the Goddess has a hearing problem and the praises need to be shouted to be heard and acknowledged. I guess praising the goddess wouldn’t be fun unless accompanied by loud chants and louder pseudo-music.

And I missed it

Sunderbans-serenity defined

Around May this year, ‘we’ (parents, sister and me) experienced the serenity of a place called Sunderbans. It’s a Delta on River Ganga and is shared by West Bengal and Bangladesh. A combination of water and mangroves: nature at one of its bests. A trip I thoroughly enjoyed for two reasons- the green-blue water and trees and the one memory which was formed.

The chief attraction of the trip was “spotting the Tiger” It became a kind of a game. Since all travelling was done on the launch we came on and the hours spent on the oversized boat were many; most of that time was spent in craning our necks in trying to get glimpses of tigers roaming around in the jungle surrounding us. We also sang Hindi movie songs which we felt appropriate to lure the tigers. Songs like “Jhalak dikhlaja...ek bar aaja aaja….” And “aaja aaja, mein hoon pyar tera…”

 Our constant companion in all the travelling we did

The time we spent off the launch, on the tiger reserves were spent similarly; albeit less noisily. The rest of the time was spent in the guest house, discussing the reserves where we were most likely to come face to face with the favourite feline of the moment.










On the third and last day of the trip, everyone got up early in the morning with new hopes. We all went to a reserve, the name of which I typically didn’t notice. The oh-so- enthusiastic aunties of the group lead the uncles and me to the watch tower. And before anyone could attempt to climb up the stairs, it happened. That, was the moment of triumph. Everyone saw it. It was majestic for sure. I cannot describe its beauty because I missed it. By the time I reached the spot; trailing behind lazily; the tiger was gone. A chance to view on of the 1411 tigers left in India. And I missed it.

Afterthought

The sky on our way back

The whole disappointment of missing the tiger lasted for about 10 minutes. But the unintentional “sprinkling of salt on my wound” done by the ladies of the group lasted for the rest of the trip. This made me wonder. Was seeing a tiger that great a deal? Would it enhance my experience of life? Yes, it would have made a great travel story and a great memory. But missing the whole event has also made a great travel story and a great memory. I will certainly not forget not seeing a tiger on my first trip to Sunderbans.

Strands lost

I was aghast a few days back when I pulled out my rubber-band to free my ponytail. At least 8 strands of hair had come off with it. 8 strands! I had just lost so much hair the day before when I shampooed. I sat up from the bed and saw some more strands on the pillow! No, I am not going for chemotherapy. This sudden loss of hair is suffered by one and all during monsoon. But it gets scary sometimes. Especially if you find hair here, there, everywhere. So I got a little agitated and started my own survey. I got up from the bed and located my mom’s hairbrush and saw a whole layer of hair. (Almost a layer) Then I went and interviewed the maids and they too described their horror stories of tremendous hair loss. I recalled my friend’s comments about losing more hair than she could handle.



Hair loss is more normal than the shampoo brands make it out to be. Switch on the TV, every brand claims that if you lose more than one strand of hair you are permanently doomed to be bald very, very soon. That’s why most of us are constantly jumping from one shampoo to another in the hope s of losing less hair.


Basically after 15 minutes of researching this problem I got bored and thought- “what the heck; hair today, certainly not gone tomorrow. Actually I also realized that few of the strands I saw on the pillow were smaller than mine, they were my mother’s. I admit I was relieved to know that I am losing a few strands less

Followers

No, I am not talking about anything Twitter related. Nor am I going to elaborate on leadership. I am referring to the random men who decide to follow woman walking on the road. These brand of men can also be categorized as eve teasers, (they can also be called unemployed. Perverts, pathetic, sick and other colourful adjectives.) But I am not here to analyse the different adjectives that can be used for these men. I want to discuss ways of evading these people.



The first thing on needs to do is be alert. That is the basic thing one needs to learn. Not just to evade followers but also avoid being pick pocketed or road accidents. But as woman we cannot let go of our gourd. If you notice someone following you, do not panic. Stay calm. Stay confident. Even if you don’t feel confident look it. The only way one can be confident is by being aware of the world around you. Yes girls do get followed. This isn’t just a matter of movies and television. In real life heroes aren’t available to save us. The first time I was followed I didn’t panic because I knew what to do. Yes, I was scared but I remembered that I had to look confident. Just don’t show that you are scared. You can develop a not scared –mean/ aggressive look to be used when you are on the road. Be the no-nonsense kind of woman on the road.


Don’t turn around to look at your follower, initially. Don’t let them know that you know that they are following you (unless it gets really bad) don’t increase your pace suddenly. If you want to speed up, do it gradually.


Walk in a zigzag manner. Avoid walking straight. Change footpaths often and cross as many roads as possible. Also try to go to the main road where loads of cars and people will be there to shield you. Join a crowd. Most probably your follower will lose you.


Get inside a shop. Buy something and stall your exit for as long as possible. Tell the shopkeeper about the situation. Chances are he/she will help you out.


Call up your speed dial numbers. Warn your friend of family about what’s happening. Tell them to call you frequently. This will give you a moral boost and is also a precaution in case something happens. It may also scare the follower off. Most followers are just random people who follow for the thrills. They certainly don t want to get into trouble with the police.


These tips apply to random followers only. When such people turn into stalkers you need legal action. Tell your family. Go to the police. Take action.

Of skies and dates

“Aasman se gire, khajur mein aatke”



This proverb is probably my mom’s most used Hindi idiom/proverb. If literally translated to English it would sound something like “Fallen from the skies, stuck on dates” (the fruit) which doesn’t really make any sense. The English equivalent to this proverb would be” From the pot to the frying pan”


My mom uses this proverb every morning, to refer to a certain habit of mine. When I get out of bed, I tend to drift towards another comfortable setting like the sofa in the living room or the bed in my parents’ room. And that’s when my mom invariably utters the words “aasman se gire, khajur mein aatke.”


By the way I have never been delayed because of this quirk of mine. Yes, this exercise has always been well timed. For example: if I have to get up at 6.30 in the morning I would probably get up from my own bed at 6.15, just to spent the last 15 minutes of blissful sleep in another soft place. The calculation is almost reflex (I say almost coz maths can never be reflex for me.)


The other day we were sleeping over at my grandma’s house (my nani that is) I was sleeping in my aunt’s room. At 7.15 I got up from the bed and went to my grandpa’s empty bed and found a pillow for myself. Eventually my mom came into the room and before she could say anything I said –“Mujhe khajur mil gaya” I found the date. She just laughed and went off.


Well, I always manage to find my date, even though I haven’t fallen from the sky.

Aphrodite and why I like her

Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of Love and beauty is often depicted as vain and frivolous. I have a different perspective. True, she had many affairs. ( Adonis, Ares, Hermes and Dionysus are her most famous lovers)  Her affairs although, are not the only thing to her. ( And well Zeus had more affairs than she did ) But that is not the point.

Aphrodite, depicted as a very feminine woman is also a very strong one. As Goddess of love, the smooth running of this emotion in the world, is her responsibility . She has, many a times borne a lot of flak for it. Every strong woman has to constantly defend herself against defamers. Woman, in general, have to always prove their worth. But this again is not the point.


Remember the Trojan War? Remember how it started? Paris, a Shepherd boy had to present a golden apple to the most beautiful goddess among Hera ( the extremely jealous and possessive goddess of marriage) Athena ( the Goddess of warfare, strategy and wisdom) and ofcourse Aphrodite. Basically, though all three of them bribed the boy, he gave the apple to Aphrodite. Thus the Goddess is blamed for the war ( in some instances Helen of Sparta is blamed) Just like Sita and Draupadi are blamed for the wars in their respective eras.


Aphrodite did not let all the bad press deter her from fulfilling her duties. Infact unlike the others, she doesn't flare up or harm anyone at the slightest offence. She is not as hot tempered as Hera, Artemis or Athena.


Love is a beautifully thing. And that's why perhaps she is also the goddess of Beauty. It doesn't always have to superficial. To achieve that only cosmetics and plastic surgeons are required, not Goddesses. Aphrodite represents everything inside us that is truly beautifully and not ruled by how pretty we seem to the world.


The famous Cupid ( Eros in Greek myths) is her son, born of her union with the God of War Ares. So one more credit to her from me.

Not many people find her dependable. i agree with those people. Can we really depend on love to solve all our problems? i don't think love is the only thing required. That's why the other gods and goddesses are there! i am once again deviating from the point.


The only weapon Aphrodite can use to punish offenders is love. She makes them fall in love with themselves. Do you know how destructive too much self love can be? Narcissistic people are born. Imagine being so much in love with yourself that you cant see the world around you!


The goddess can transform herself from Drop dead Gorgeous to girl next door. She is never dowdy. No hair is out of place. Ever. ( This for me is a flaw. Perfection can be irritating for the non perfectionist) Yet she,even with her flaws seems admirable. And that's why she is my favourite Greek Goddess.

Certainly certified

Have you ever cringed while watching TV when a particular scene just pops up out of nowhere? Yeah. I am talking about those scenes, which if shown in a movie hall would be censored. Even normal slang is beeped in movies, right?. Or the movie is given a "to be watched under adult supervision" or "adults only" certificate. And we wouldn't go watch certain movies with the whole family. How many of us can see "Love Sex Aur Dhokha" with our parents, or for that matter with our younger siblings? I certainly cannot.


How many parents would allow their children to watch inappropriate movies? Very few, if any. If  movies are so blatantly certified, why not television content? Recently, I was watching a Hindi soap on a popular channel and was appalled to hear the kind of language they were using. Incidentally, my sister was watching too. I wouldn't want any kid to pick up such language.


Some jokes cracked on laughter reality shows get too embarrassing to laugh at. What is sauce for the gander is not tasty for the goose.


Some scenes, specially in saas bahu sagas or American soaps are to explicit to be watched with family. Yet, while watching TV together we invariably come across such scenes. 


I am not implying that such shows or soaps be banned or anything on those lines. Neither am I criticising the content or disapproving. To portray the story properly  or to add spice some scenes are required. And  everyone has the right to see what they want to.  Soap creators too have the right to bank upon popular themes. I simply want to suggest one change. Certification. A summary of the show's content. Warning about certain language or gestures used.


Certain DTH providers do give information about the content of a show, buy they do not rate any show. Every show before being aired should be rated accordingly. There should be a different censor board for television. This small change will make TV viewing a better experience.


 Indian Television has gone through several changes in the past ten years. We can now personalise our TV experience by recording rewinding or pausing live television. So why not this? Urban viewers have graduated from cable TV to DTH, they would be able to digest this small change. Wouldn't they?


Update: I did a project in my 2nd year of college(2010-11) Children and Adult content on TV where I raised the same questions. I included a survey where I asked children   ( 8-16) to tick off the shows they watch and found that most children do watch Adult Content on TV as it is easily available. I still want the same changes in TV viewership trends. 

Jeane at it again

Jeane was sitting comfortably in her bedroom, humming her little tune, when she thought of something. Do people base their own opinion on other peoples views? Are we dependent on others for our perspective?  Are we scared to take out our view from  dusty cupboard because it may be rejected? Do we care so much about what others think. If others hate magenta coloured thoughts and we love it, we agree that magenta thoughts are absolutely horrid. I mean our we scarred of ourselves. Maybe magenta is a genius thought. Newton and all other people who discovered stuff were not scared of colouring their world different. People don't always have to agree.

Gimme a gimmick

I have been noticing something not that extraordinary in our big bad world, that most of it's areas are filled with gimmicks. We are all selling ourselves in the name of these G-things(now don't take this in any other sense).



Scene 1. Shopping male: sale 50 % off. Look at the price! 50 % off on 10 grand? Gimme another gimmick. 


Scene 2: What about those food products? Adjectives used are new/fresh/nutritious. Can you think of some more?


Scene 3: How can I miss out on our stars? Oh gawd...these are the best...link ups at the time of release,  haircuts to promote movies....

And we lap it all up!


We all take it in with more than a pinch of salt. We spent our sometimes- hard -earned -money on gimmicks.Even when we are smart enough to recognise them. We humans ready to believe whatever is convenient for us. And if our favourite star is endorsing it  we are all for it.



Philosophically speaking, ( or is it spiritually?) this life itself seems a gimmick. There is this theory that this world we live in is a poor copy of an ideal world which exists somewhere. Weird in an escapist sort of way, but I am ready to believe it.


Come to think of it, so what if everything is a gimmick? It isn't affecting us in any way and we haven't seen any other way. So be it.

End

END

Beginings and endings are the same. Differences are negligible. Like a second begins, it ends and then begins. with no diffrence between one second and the next. Beginings merge into ends. Breathe in. Out. Begins and ends and begins. Again and again. Ends are beginingless, beginings are endless. It's all alike. Endings and beginings are the same.

BEGIN

Thoughts just come to Jeane

Jeane was sitting quite comfortably in the verandah, humming her little tune when a thought struck her. She realised that Siddhartha had not just left behind his worldly palace and luxuries to pursue enlightenment and ultimately become The Buddha. He had also left behind his wife and child. 


So what if he hadn't become The Buddha? He would be another ascetic who shrugged of his responsibilities. What if he hadn't left? Well, someone else would have created Buddhism or any other "ism" for all of us(or some of us) Some bachelor perhaps who had no responsibility but his own.


He was a prince so I guess his child would have been brought up well, his wife looked after.


What about other mortals who are the only roti winners of the family and who leave everything behind to catch up with enlightenment?  What good will this enlightenment do to wives with zero income who need to feed children?


Jeane wonders.

The TV tease

 I saw this really melodramatic serial on StarPlus called "Pratigya" which was shamelessly promoting ruffianism, gundagiri and eve teasing. The male protagonist of the soap follows the female lead, declares love for her, breaks up her upcoming marriage and basically does everything that an eve teaser may do. And by showing all this the serial is portraying eve teasing as "the thing to do" . It has so easily legitimised this social "evil".


What was the writer thinking? And how could such a respected channel portray such degradation of woman in today's times? When the society is taking baby steps of change to give woman the respect they deserve such regressive soaps certainly do not help change mindsets.




The protagonist runs away to another town to get rid of the guy, and ultimately decides to marry him! This is not how things work. This is not the way to deal with eve teasers! We girls have faced such behavior atleast once. Even if we haven't, we are scared of the occurrence! Unfortunate but true. We should all know how to deal with this problem. There are techniques, you know! Instead of showing people such regressive material the soap could have shown the girl next door how to cope. Running away is NOT the solution!


  
Men forget that they have sisters, wives and daughters at home. And even they don't have one of those, they all have mothers!




Ruffians will always be ruffians. "The bad boy turned good" syndrome is only true to Hindi movies. Awareness of this fact is important. We all should know that there is a way out and soaps like the one I talked about are certainly not portraying the right way. I want to end this "eve teasing promotion". And I want your help. Do share your feelings on this forum




All woman invited to comment. Complain. Act. React.

Long lost relatives

The most annoying thing about parties , specially weddings; where long lost relatives suddenly appear; is the comment-

"Kitni badi ho gayi!" You have grown so much. You were so tiny when I saw you last.

When this kind of statement (or exclamation) is made, I feel like saying " Ya right I'm no going to oblige you by staying as tiny as a microbe forever." Obviously, we grow up. It's human nature. I can't be the exception to the law. Ofcourse you cannot (or aren't supposed to) say this to your grandma's sister's mother-in law's daughter. Or your mom's aunt's sister-in -law's mother. Or to an ugly looking aunt with a big wide grin and a deep lipstick who loves squeezing people to death and pulling their cheeks off.

Ofcourse you can't do such a thing when so and so's mother ( sister or whatever) so sweetly bore your urinating on her favourite Saree when you were tiny and who after so many years is surprised to notice that you have grown up! Obviously it's a relief coz she is wearing another designer today!

Meeting relatives who seem to have been lost in the Kumbh Mela and found after ages can sometimes be a real bore! Yet you have to be polite and are expected to remember aunts and grannies who rocked you when you were six months old.

And they go on and on about how naughty or sweet or cute you were and how you never visit them now and it's been ages and we must go to their place someday and it will be such a pleasure and blah blah blah.... and whichever auntyji or chachiji or bhuaji you meet will say the same thing. Over and over and again and again. Every party every shaadi, every time. I am so bored with all this taht I'll stop writing about this and listen to what my mom's cousin's mother in law's sister in law has to say about when she saw me asa a tiny ultra microscopic being.

Jeane

Jeane was sitting quite comfertably in the class, humming her little song when someone sitting in the very behind,far away; emmited some kind of weird sound. It was a giggle, Jeane deciphered. To jeane's horror, the giggling didnt stop. The person from the far giggled at everything. Everything was funny. But when everything is funny nothing is funny any longer. Jeane sighed and waited for eternity for the class to get over.

camera friendly!

The government can hire our bolly stars to spread awareness about environment issues. If SRK shows his dimples and tells me to plant trees I sure will be more than inspired to do so. If Ranbir Kapoor grins and tells me to save I definately will. If Shahid Kapoor smiles down at me and tells me to switch off lights and fans I will surely do it!

Jeane's adventures

Jeane was sitting quite comfortably in the bus, humming her little song; when a lady stood beside her and put her potbelly on Jeane's shoulders. The potbelly sat quietly on the already  burdened with cardigan shoulder and its discomfort began(the shoulder's not the potbelly's). It is quite obvious that heavy potbellys  protruding out of not- so- young- pretty- ladies are not comfortable pillows for young shoulders!

Doing what is right

I am all for justice and individual rights and feel elated when I read stories about the "wronged who are triumphant after the justice tug of war." One feels empathy for the underdog because one thinks that one may be in the same situation at some point of time. Its human tendency to feel for the minority, the needy and all kind of victoms. Even if we do nothing to help and forget about it all in five minutes! But once in a while( maybe blue moon, maybe decade) something pulls tightly at the safely hidden strings of our heart and we actually take some action and help someone out. We may donate blood, we may take part in a rally, we may make a poster; whatever we can do, we do.



Yes, that happened to me once-I really felt something, an urge to help. If anyone remembers, in 2007 there was this poor guy who loved a rich girl whose rich dad was against the match and the guy died? It was big news in West bengal, stories about it were filed for more than a month. A candlelight vigil, a protest march and a petition was held to get justice for the guy- a CBI investigation to be precise. I was one of the protestors.

Taking part in something like this brought in a few changes.
1. It made me more confident.I learned how to talk to perfect strangers.

2. I learned that if I believe in something, reallly believe in something, I am as confident as can be and can convince others too!

3. I realised that change can happen, that "we" are the change, the aam junta has power to change however sceptical people are.

4. I learned to light candles and got over my fear of getting burned something i had developed ever since i had got burned badly when I was 9

5. But best of all it inspired me to "do" other things in future and reinstalled my belief in justice

If helping someone has helped me so much then I am all for helping people, justice and individual rights!

Cricket friendly?

Recently my parents had gone to see a Day and Night Match between India and Sri Lanka at Eden Gardens. This occurrence instantly got me thinking. In this age of global warming and carbon footprints, we are all thinking of ways of saving energy. Almost everyday we read articles telling us what we can do or rather what we should do to literally save the planet.


Aren't we all nodding our heads and promising ourselves that we'll close the taps the next time we brush our teeth and use a bucket and mug instead of a shower next time we enter the bathroom? 


Aren't we all switching of the lights and fans to reduce the energy used as well as our enormously large electricity bills? Are we all  taking off the plugs of our chargers when the batteries are fully loaded? 


We indeed are being told to do all these and more to keep the environment healthy. 


I too want to make a humble suggestion, not to individuals but to all cricket associations around the world. Scrap Day and Night matches! Utilise the daylight and play while the Sun shines. Can't that happen? Something to think about huh? We will save loads of electricity if we do this. 


All the cricket lovers will think that am talking nonsense! But one can think about this with an open mind. When the Twenty20 concept was new everyone was sceptical about it but it worked wonders, didn't it? So why not abolish day and night matches altogether? It would work if we make it work.


Cricket for environment anyone?