Updates anyone?

Looks like I've completely lost touch with the entire world. Got in touch with some of my friends yesterday and it was sooo nice :)
Things are fine... things are good... baby steps :)
p.s. Also- I'm in love... so that's great :)

One of the best things I've done in life, is to start my journal. I never considered myself to be a writer (let alone a good writer)... and the only reason I started one was, because I was venturing into a new phase in life and wanted to capture every moment of it.. :)

But soon that journal became such an important part of my life that it's unbelievable. It's become like a spiritual thing for me.. like a place I can go to for peace and quiet.. a place where I can be completely myself, without any pretences, without any masks... good or bad- that's how I am.. and my journal doesn't judge me for it...

Wish, people were like that!

The best part of getting married is the early mornings. When you wake up in your husband's arms and cuddle up... or when one person is awake and kisses the other one up too... I love rubbing my cold, winter legs against Am's and hearing him squeal :D

Sometimes, when he is sleeping at night and I can't get any sleep, I like to look at him.. he sleeps like a baby with faint snores... We keep only 1 pillow in our room.. coz he says he doesn't need one.. but how he lands up on my pillow every morning, I don't know :D :D

Early mornings are great! (Don't get me started on the nights though! ;)

I am back to writing after a really long time. It's been ages since I've blogged. The main reason has obviously been my dismal time management. I just got too busy with my new venture (www.xelf.in) and my new relationship... and then I got really busy with my wedding preps and now I'm just busy managing my in-laws and my husband and my work and my personal time!

Basically, it's upto you how busy or how free you want to be in Life. I have realised that I am one of those people who need to be busy, who like it like that. And I just have to find time out of those 24 hours, to do everything that I want to, in Life :)

Solitude...

It seems like ages since i've come to this space!

I got my first member for Xelf today! Feeling great :D

The good news is that I've been fairly busy- what with work and personal life taking up so much of my time... :)

The bad news is that I really need to learn how to keep the two separate... when I'm working, I keep thinking about him...and when I'm with him, I keep thinking about work!! :D

Am I going crazy (or was I always crazy?)

What's in a name?

I remember attending a seminar @K, where this marketing guy from ITC had come. Someone asked him what was the most difficult things they faced when launching a new brand- and pat came his reply- coming up with a name for the brand!

I am at a similiar stage. I am about to register my company and have not been able to come up with a name that I am happy with. At times I think that if someone can name computers after a fruit and actually make a brand like Apple, well then- it won't matter what I name my company :)

But then I think that I want something different, something stylish, something which will make people sit up and notice. Shakespeare and Steve Jobs might not agree with me, but the name is definitely important...

What is the effing matter with me...! I am supposed to be smart, sensible and a mature individual (at least in my eyes!). Ya, I'm engaged. That's cool. But is that any excuse for completely forgetting everything else that matters to me and just letting my days waste away dreaming?

I can't believe that I've just let myself get so caught up, that I'm forgetting my priorities. Yes, I'm painting the town red.. I totally am! And I'm loving each and every moment of it... it's simply amazing :)

Ok, cool... but c'mon I can't just forget all the other stuff that means so much to me... and for which I have invested so much time, energy and emotions. But lately, my mind seems to have completely moved onto a different plane and I just don't feel like working... this will not do.. this will not do at all... All I need is some patience and self control and some common sense and some sanity... sigh..

What's the effing matter with me??

I read somewhere that Time is like a fistful of sand.... the more we try to hold on to it, the faster it runs out... Suddenly that's how my life seems to have become... like Time is just running out and there is soooo much to be done...

I'm sh*t scared...

I might as well say it out loud- I'm engaged! :)

Pride March in Kolkata on this coming Sunday. Similiar marches will happen in Delhi, Bangalore, Chennai etc. Please look up the location in your city and do participate.
Be Gay! :D

Date: Sunday, July 5, 2009
Time: 2:00pm - 6:00pm
Location: College Square
City: Kolkata, India

A smile is hovering over my lips... there's a general feeling of well- being... it's as if God wants to give me another chance :)

Status Update

Hmmm well... had a long conversation with Am yesterday... the signs are good... very good in fact... let's just see how things go from here... hmmm... surprisingly I'm still feeling pretty blank... the words just don't flow... maybe once things settle down a bit, I'll write something more concrete... for the time being I'm satisfied with laying back and enjoying each day as it comes :)

p.s. Good to see myself smiling like this again :D :D

Are you feeling gay?

The gay parade in Delhi took me quite by surprise...but in a good way. It's heartening to see that the government is finally at least looking positive about repealing Article 377 of the IPC. To bring clarity to people who don't know what this law is about, let me explain. Basically it prohibits intercourse against "the order of nature". Which means that if you belong to, what is commonly known as the LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender) community- it a criminal offence in our country. Such unlawful sex can land you a heavy fine and even a 10 year sentence!

The question then is that if a person is born like this, then isn't it Nature's doing? And so, how can you be against the order of nature? What is funnier is that in a democracy, a person basically does not have the right to choose his life partner. When I hear politicians, clerics, maulvis, priests and pundits say that this is a sin or that it is against their scriptures- I wanna give them 1 tight slap (MTV style!)
a) Because we all know that these people just want power and have never been modern thinkers. They will hardly support any idea of change.
b) Stop the crap about how this is against Indian culture and how we Indians are so culturally rich etc etc... The country is bursting from its seams because of its uncontrollable population- which means that somebody is getting laid. So just cut the pretence of being seedha-saadha...
c) We keep hearing stories about young boys and girls being abused by priests and pundits. Now that's unnatural!

Every time a discussion has been started about this law, the ministers from the concerned ministries have themselves been orthodox thinkers and have not been able to even come to a consensus regarding at least modifying Article 377. (But this time around I'm hoping we'll see something concrete happen).
I know it will take a long time for the LGBT community to become a part of the mainstream community in a country like ours. But it's definitely heartening to see that there seems to be a positive change and acceptance and more and more people have the courage to come out of the closet.

Stop Child Abuse

A woman comes and tells me that she is worried that her father-in-law is sexually abusing her 2 year old daughter. Read it carefully- 2 years old!! She doesn't know what to do; her husband has so far placated her fears by saying, "It's not possible!" But now she is more or less sure. Expecting support from her mom-in-law or the younger brother-in-law is out of the question. What should she do now, she asks me. Should she confront him, should she move out of the house, how should she stop the man's access to her daughter? He is after all the kid's grandfather, and as far as people are concerned, a very doting grandfather!

I dont have answers for her. I have learnt how to handle queries, how to give comfort, how to be sympathetic.... but I don't have answers to questions like these. There are just so many threads to each situation like this. There are so many people/family members involved....I'd like to think that I explained the importance and urgency of the situation very well to her... and also convinced her to talk to her husband. But everytime I come across cases like these, I get more and more frustrated... I don't get the feeling that I'm doing any good in the world (or not enough at least). I'd like to see Elaan have a full-fledged intervention cell, where we can actually protect victims like these... but I know that's not happening any time soon... and that's what scares me... there are so many children out there and no one to listen to them, support them or stand for them...

p.s. Photograph by Paromita Deb Areng

Lessons learnt from Life

a) Never work on a business with friends or relatives

b) Keep professional and personal lives mutually exclusive

c) Don't trust people

d) Your family is the only one to stick with you in times of trouble. They will always be there for you and will always have your best in mind.

e) Never trust men, where business is concerned. They are far more manipulative than women can even imagine!

f) People come alone in this world and go alone. This journey of life should be travelled alone and with supreme self-confidence

g) Writing stuff like this in a blog won't help. What will help is to go back to the drawing board and learn from your mistakes and move on. A couple of knocks in life shouldn't bog you down!