Life's Trivia...

George Carlin (comedian of the 70's and 80's) sums up our life's trivia....

The paradox of our time in history is that we have taller buildings but shorter tempers, wider Freeways , but narrower viewpoints. We spend more, but have less, we buy more, but enjoy less. We have bigger houses and smaller families, more conveniences, but less time. We have more degrees but less sense, more knowledge, but less judgment, more experts, yet more problems, more medicine, but less wellness..

We drink too much, spend too recklessly, laugh too little, drive too fast, get too angry, stay up too late, get up too tired, read too little, watch TV too much, and pray too seldom. We have multiplied our possessions, but reduced our values. We talk too much, love too seldom, and hate too often. We've learned how to make a living, but not a life. We've added years to life not life to years. We've been all the way to the moon and back, but have trouble crossing the street to meet a new neighbor. We conquered outer space but not inner space. We've done larger things , but not better things. We've cleaned up the air, but polluted the soul. We've conquered the atom, but not our prejudice. We write more, but learn less. We plan more, but accomplish less. We've learned to rush, but not to wait. We build more computers to hold more information, to produce more copies than ever, but we communicate less and less.

These are the times of fast foods and slow digestion, big men and small character, steep profits and shallow relationships. These are the days of two incomes but more divorce, fancier houses, but broken homes. These are days of quick trips, disposable diapers, throwaway morality, one night stands, overweight bodies, and pills that do everything from cheer, to quiet, to kill. It is a time when there is much in the showroom window and nothing in the stockroom.

A time when technology can bring this letter to you, and a time when you can choose either to share this i nsight, or to just hit delete... Remember; spend some time with your loved ones, because they are not going to be around forever.

Remember, say a kind word to someone who looks up to you in awe, because that little person soon will grow up and leave your side. Remember, to give a warm hug to the one next to you, because that is the only treasure you can give with your heart and it doesn't cost a cent. Remember, to say, 'I love you' to your partner and your loved ones, but most of all mean it. A kiss and an embrace will mend hurt when it comes from deep inside of you. Remember to hold hands and cherish the moment for someday that person will not be there again. Give time to love, give time to speak! And give time to share the precious thoughts in your mind. AND ALWAYS REMEMBER: Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away.

(hah....i knw...felt the exact same thing the first time i read it...)

MORal poLICE

The mangalore incident comes at a time when India enters its 60th year of being a republic, a secular, sovereign country. Ironic ?? its disgusting....and sickening....and the whole political jargon (as always) is not helping the cause. Anyone who has an audience is jus about ready to jump off their seat except...not one of them has the mind to say the right thing....idiots !!!!

The Sri Ram Sena....shiv sainiks...raj thackrey...calling themselves moral....bloody goons....let them attack a group of jats drinking away to glory and causing trouble....let them attack the gruesome rapists....let them attack the bribery...let them do something constructive to show their beliefs and then we'll talk. But no....the only way to show their 'morality' is by hitting a group of innocent girls...beating them while the world watches....its moral eh. i fail to understand....what is it....a means to gain publicity for that is what all the news channels do...make overnight celebrities out of criminals....or is it power....ofcource it only adds to the 'disgust' factor that even after grotesque incidents such as these there is scope for it.

These idiots will not find it immoral to ogle at women (imperative of what they wear) and even little girls...tease and abuse them....drink and smoke up every night and then go home to beat their wives and kids. What do u call a society that has different sets of morals for men and women....id call it the 'Indian Society'. its right there....glaring at everyone's face....its unfair and 'immoral' but its accepted....blindly in 99.9% cases....in the name of culture and tradition.

As if this wasn't enough...the head of the National Commission for Women...goes and files a case against the pub...citing that the pub had no measures for security....and hinting in a very diplomatic and low way that perhaps the goondas has been right !!! huh !!! its soooo political and indian....never focus on the issue at hand...and im only hoping the lady was dumb coz its political connotations will be worse. " As a citizen of this country.....I ask....why should i need security gaurds to protect me from my own countrymen. Why cant a girl be alone and not care a dime. Is it tooo much to ask...respect and freedom ?"

I mean really...why is it such a sin to be a girl in this country ? its as if....u dnt need to have to commit a crime...just be born as a girl !! This is how shallow we are as a society...and im ashamed and sick of it. since time immemorial...women have been oppressed and exploited in the name of 'culture and tradition'....and it is really about time to take notice of it and to stand up against it. and unfortunately....its all strewn over our scriptures as well. Draupadi cheer haran in the Gita is the most sickening incident which has been glorified since ages now...it ws slated to be a 'communal rape' of sorts...right in front of everyone's eyes....and not one of them moved an inch...in the name of what....dharm....huh....the men gamble and the woman has to pay the price for it. WHY ? another one is the 'agni pariksha' in ramayan....first the torment of being kidnapped by ravan...and then....the ordeal of proving to the world one's innocence. why does it have to be so hard for women....and yes....ive heard it a zillion times...its how its always been. my question is WHY ??? What for ???

i could go on and on...but with every word...the disgust is growing.....I have lost hope....and my patience has run its course...

but ill await the day...when it would cease to matter...

anthem

"So many gods, so many creeds;
So many paths that wind and wind,
While just the art of being kind
Is all the sad world needs."

-Ella Wheeler Wilcox (1850-1919)

Reality Bites !

It would've been an ordinary day, as one would expect out of our 'typical' Delhi summers, but there was nothing the usual about it. It had rained all through the last week, the night before and the lingering scent of wet earth hinted at another strong shower, which would have been alright had it been monsoons. But, at this time of the year ? Had there been a mix-up.....of seasons perhaps!!!
"Maybe we had been good the past year and this is god's way of rewarding us!" I said (smiling sheepishly) to my Mom engrossed in the newspaper in her hand, its expanse blocking my view of her face.
"Seems more like nature's turning on us for being so insensitive. Its time people wake up to the alarm bells of global warming!!" she said, sitting upright and folding her newspaper and I knew how I'd spend my next half hour.

(......It's true you know how we happen to take everything for granted until one fine day, it all just snaps. Ofcource, it's too late by then.....
......I like sitting in my verandah, atop the banni. It sets me free and my mind wandering. And from that particular angle, this world seems a beautiful place to live in.....)

Just then, I was distracted by 2 boys, not older than 8-10 yrs of age, hi-fiving each other over something...and grinning from ear to ear, as if they had accomplished a task unbelieving of them. They were carrying huge bags over their shoulders holding on to them as to dear life. Caught by something of their fancy, they stopped right outside my house. Seeing them barefoot, wearing clothes...torn at more places than one, their skin and hair...the colour of dirt, i could not help but wince, after all they were just kids.

In the next moment, one boy started tearing off leaves from the wild plant that had grown in our parking lot, and gave it to the other boy. This kept on going for a while, untill my mom (true to her 'nature lover' instincts) summoned them (essentially, to educate them and to hope that they wont go about banishing trees n plants in future).
" Ye patte kyun tod rahe ho tum log?" my mom asked of them "ismein to abhi 'phal' (fruit) bhi nahi laga hai".
The boy replied, "...maa ne kaha tha tod laana...raat ko 'patto' ki sabzi banane ke liye...."

I looked at my mom, and i knew we were thinking the same thing.
I had never in my life felt so sick...thinking about this disparity between the 'poor' n the rich.

thoughts !

For someone who hardly expresses opinions in public...not for d fear of being ridiculed mind u!...but for the mere fact of being 'not-understood at all'...this is quite a huge step..a public portal like blogspot. but then...curosity always takes the better of me.

i think i whine a LOT...for a girl of only 22yrs of age..n its not just about...how hot it is these days...or how bad the roads are...or how im surrounded by bitches of the first order...or hw the pvr's r looting every penny of my pocket money...or y the only source of entertainment left to us are the grotesque malls piling out of nowhere..and the other usual stuff...but astonishingly about what the hell's happening to the world..!!!!

Not in the more obvious sense ofcource...for if u look at the surface...it will appear as if its 'progress'...a progress from man-made to the machine-made...from hunting in obscure places to being provided for at ur door-step..from watching to building...
....but at what cost...machine-made at the cost of originality, service at the cost of skill and building at the cost of creativity. progress...still ??

let me explain myself...(the ordeal of explaining...sigh...)
a man who creates..does so ONLY for his own pleasure of creating it and for the pleasure of seeing it being used for a purpose.but when it is reproduced..without thought..only for its value..which is determined not by the object itself but only by the thought behind it..all meaning of it is lost..then those others can nevr create..nevr tackle a new problem and never find a new solution..they stagnate...but for the one who creates..who thinks...
...the service providers...they provide..service of a kind..where the buck is passed from one executive to the other..where they hide under one law or the other..untill..u jus give up and decide that even u could have handled it much better. they have no skill...no mind to think..only a wistful smile and an apology which they dnt acknowledge..(its never in their hands u see..never their fault!!) but for the one who has skill..who can see..n tell..n repair or solve or make note of it...
...and the creator...who made the first's in the world..the first bridge..the first car..the first railroad..the first sckyscaper..!! he did not emulate...not from the past..not from 'abroad'..never borrowed from anyone but only from his own imagination..and drawing from his own spirit..the power to create..to be the first...

i dont know what it is that connects these two thought...the world as it is nw..and these other thoughts..but i knw for sure..that one answers the other. its as if they are both interlinked at some level...in what form and in what root cause...is still a mystery...and something tells me...the answer will nt only solve this..but a lot of the other mysteries that are deluded from me..

gawd...i didnt intend to write all of that..not in my first blog atleast...