Stand Together

Okay so petrol got a hike, congratulations petrol! And I’m still waiting for mine! Darn UPA! You can’t control the fall of the Rupee, can’t control inflation! On the whole I pay 56% of my yearly income as tax (yes I’m including the tax I pay at every place I eat and everything I buy) and what am I getting in return? Nothing!! Instead the petrol gets a hike on my expense! UPA, you have taken all my money and when I’m not sure where it goes, the media reveals it to me through their ‘breaking news’ about your multi Crore Rupees scams and suddenly it all makes sense and I go ‘Oh so that’s where the Rs. 22/- tax I paid went when I purchased a veg pasta at Domino’s!’ And many more such revelations come out of the closet each day. But since this balances my account books, it should make me happy right? After all I know where my money is. But it doesn’t make me happy. It makes me very very very very angry! Congress, you the eldest brother in the UPA, the only reason I voted for ...

Remember when Harry Potter had to produce the Patronus charm for the first time in his class and and Prof. Lupin asks him to fight the dementor by summoning his happiest memories? Well, more than a month ago, I had to fight off some stupid thoughts and replace them with happier ones and so I went a-digging into my memory. I was surprised at all that was stored in my brain and realised my memory not only needs some cleaning but also needs to delete some useless files as they were taking up too much space. But as easy it is to press ‘Delete’ on our computers; it is as difficult to achieve this in real time life. Since ‘deleting’ stuff from my memory completely due to the absence of a recycle bin seemed difficult I debated with myself on how to be happy actually. I tried to make a list of the most happiest people on earth such as the athlete who just won an Olympic gold, the actor who just won an Oscar, the politician who just won an election, the student who just stood first, the employe...

I always complain and whine about how women are ill-treated in India but today my question is to the women. Women, WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU? Why can't you stand up for yourself and take matters into your hands? (LITERALLY!). So this is the story. I was on my way home tonight, it is only 8:00PM, which means it is not too late in the night according to Hyderabad standards. At times I have to take one of those sharing autos rickshaws for a distance of 5kms. I opt for this mode of transport over a bus because it goes faster and is more comfortable. Just before the auto rickshaw started off a drunk man got in and sat behind the seat I and three other women were seated in. He put his disgusting arm on our seat and I immediately hated it and let him know about it as well. He obliged and then suddenly he started stroking the back of the girl sitting next to me. She looked old enough to not be scared but to scream and get attention but all she did was look at me with pain and shame in her eye...

We call India our “motherland”. I don’t know how the word “motherland” sounds to rest of my fellow citizens but to me it sounds feminine. India is a place where people, both men and women equally, believe in female divinity. The number of goddesses and female deities rival those of ancient Greece! But today, India is a place where every Indian girl and woman curses God for creating them as women at least one time each day. It does not surprise me that the UN has declared India to be the deadliest place on Earth for a girl child. But why? Why in a land where there are female gods are girls killed and women abused at a rate that it is impossible to watch the daily news or read the newspaper where such incidents are not reported. What about those which go unreported? What happened to baby Falak? What happened to the teenaged sexually abused girl who abused Falak? Why is a 10 year old girl raped repeatedly to such an extent that she can’t speak anymore? Why is the girl child still put ...

Off late I have been having many conversations with family, friends and colleagues about childhood memories. I realized that unfortunately I do not remember a lot about my childhood but I do remember my younger sister, Sonal’s, childhood very clearly. I was watching the movie ‘ The Sound Of Music ’ a few days ago. I have been in love with the movie since forever! As the song Do Re Mi played, I realized I had many memories of my childhood related to this song. I remember singing it, I remember dancing on it and I remember doing school group drills on it till I was fourteen years of age. It certainly is one of those rare compositions that stay in your heart forever. It made me wish that if life was the Do Re Mi song, wouldn't it just be perfect. In the movie, Maria says, you need to put in one word for every note and you will be able to sing anything! If we tried that with life, putting one beautiful word for any and every note wouldn't it be, well, delightful living? I’m g...

Incredible India! Yes India is an incredibly beautiful country with diversity that can be seen nowhere else in the world. It is also incredible to note that my country is full of incredibly unbelievable hypocrites where a powerfully rich politician (read Kanimozhi) is given bail for squandering money of a huge figure that my mind can’t fathom exists in India and where a stupid sarpanch of some backward village is not even arrested for assualting a woman in public. What is wrong with this country? Everything! Once debating with a friend on Indian values v/s western values I realised we are so proud of our Indian culture and so called ‘Sanskriti’. So that means we should be proud of the following as well – A minor is raped and is forced to marry her tormentor. We should be congratulating her for her newly found wedded bliss. Online content will now be censored, the Minister’s excuse being religious sentiments of certain communities being hurt through online posts and content. Poo...

I happened to watch the movie Provoked over the weekend. The movie is based on the real life story of Kiranjit Aluwalia. Naveen Andrews, the actor who played the role of her husband uttered these lines, " You're a woman, you're nothing ", while abusing his wife. I was reminded of those instances where I was told the very same thing repeatedly. How did I put up with it and why I still cannot fathom. What upset me more was why I did not write about this before. Was I scared? Was I ashamed? What was I thinking? The movie, though not a great one, put many questions in front of me or rather brought out the questions burning in my heart to lips. Why do women put up with domestic violence and sexual abuse? Is it because we don't want to shame our families? Is it because we don't like being termed as 'house breakers'? Are we too proud to expose our vulnerability? Or is it because it is so steeped in our so called 'Indian culture' that being abused see...