Stand Together

Belonging to a minority community in India is difficult. Minorities are asked to prove our loyalties time and again though we all celebrate Diwali, play holi, watch Bollywood movies and do everything that a normal Indian does. But, we are n ot very welcome in India. I read and hear hateful speeches all that time and they have a devastating effect on me. Especially now since I won't comply or appreciate anyone who wants to vote for Modi. I really don't care who you vote for but I care whose side you will take if Gujarat riots occur again. I have had a 'facebook acquaintance', accuse me of selling India off to Pakistan, China and other countries. What more must I do to prove I am patriotic as well? I cry every time I hear Jana Gana Mana in the foreign land I live in. But again, when this is what so called educated people believe, why take the trouble of proving myself? This is a real "comment" made by the same person and it has left me shaken and chilled to the...

Just done watching the show ‘Meri Bhabi’ (My Sister In Law), which airs at 8:00PM from Monday to Friday on Star Plus. This sister in law, Kittu, is the ideal wife, ideal daughter-in-law and of course the ideal sister-in-law. She is a character with whom the audiences instantly fall in love just as her family did.   I do not like this soap opera much because of how the characters on the show including her husband, Anand, and his family take her for granted and walk all over her. I do not know what message the director wants to convey to us about Kittu. Is he/she trying to tell us that this is how an ideal bahu and wife should be, let everyone walk over you or is the director trying to show us that being an ideal self sacrificing wife and bahu isn’t the best thing to do. I have been watching this show for the past month with my mother. She loves Kittu for being the ideal woman and I dislike Kittu for forgetting that she is a self respecting individual. Kittu is in th...

Two different stories about two different women hit the news recently. One is Nigella Lawson and the other is Yukta Mookhey. While one is a celebrated chef, the other is a former Miss World. While both their stories are about abuse in marriage, they have been treated differently by the media of respective countries. Nigella Lawson’s story was treated with the utmost respect in the UK. She is now a champion of the cause. On the other hand the Indian media handled Yukta Mookhey’s story most shamefully. Instead of writing about her plight and making her a postive example for many women who are in exactly the same situation, the media choose to write about her clothes and make up at various public events after she announced her divorce. It is such a shame. Indian media prides itself on being free and a champion of many causes then why couldn’t they show what they could do by citing Yukta Mookhey as an example and using her story to help other women fight their battles instead ...

Does anybody remember the story of baby Falak? The unamed two year old baby girl who died in a hospital after being beaten up most brutally? Or does anybody remember Nirbhaya, the medical student who was gang raped in a moving bus? These scars are still very fresh in my memory and ever since the gang rape and murder of the medical student I have read only about women being gang raped in moving vehicles, children being kidnapped and raped and murdered; young women and girls being raped in their own home sometimes in front of their beloved parents in the national capital and the areas surrounding it. Even sacred visitors from other countries are not spared. Sacred because of our ‘Atithi Devo Bhava’ legacy. Do I take this as a positive sign that crimes against women and children are finally getting the attention they deserve or must I be shocked at the brutality of these acts? Honestly I am numb with fear with what the Indian male is turning into.  Yesterday I read about a 6 ...

Facebook Friend's Post: "Sick of the petition posts.. Please stop posting it to me would have helped if it really made a difference nthn in india will eva change esp the law system argh !!" My Reply:   "Maybe it never made a difference, maybe it still wont but its still worth a try. Every little effort is worth it when you have little sisters, a wonderful mother, fabulous aunts and cousins and very beautiful friends. Even signing a petition, whether it reaches the ministers we elect or not shows and forecasts something. It shows people are angry.Yes we've always been angry about this. We've always tried to do something about it. We get told to stay indoors and dress ''appropriately'' and that too makes us angry as it rightly should. But what else can you do?" "Those of us who can write articles, write throwing all our anger, frustration, disgust and sadness into it. Those of us who can post petitions on other peoples FB w...

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...