Am feeling very very frustrated and loserish right now! Don't even bother asking why. I really don't know what to do and who to turn to :(

Life seems to be moving at its own pace... there are days which are sooo quiet, they seem like the lull before a storm... and then there are days when it seems like time is running out and I need to stop for breath. Sometimes I pay so much attention to just one thing that I forget all other things of importance. Your life is not only about your job, for example. It is also about family, relationships, friends, health etc.. it should be a blend of these things... Try and focus on the other smaller moments of happiness... life is not so bad.

There is this article in the paper today about a man who got out of his jail sentence by marrying the victim...! Basically- the perpetrator and the victim were lovers 10 yrs ago...after the female got pregnant and the guy refused to marry her, she filed a rape case against him. To avoid being arrested the guy finally agreed to marry her (10 years later!) and now the female is withdrawing her case against him.

This is not a new case...it's something we've read often in the papers or scene in movies... Now, my concerns here are- a) If the couple were lovers, how can the female charge him with raping her? My understanding is that rape is supposed to be with the use of force or coercion, which is obviously not the case here? b) Both the parties were adults when the crime was committed- so how come it's only the guy who's at fault here? It's not like the female in question did not know what she was doing? She should also have been careful about the consequences of such a matter. c) Now that the guy has finally married her- she actually says that "they are happily married" and she wants to withdraw her case. It seems more like she got her way and forced the man to marry her finally, by hook or crook.

Prima Facie there seems to be no case against the man for having raped or even attempted rape. In fact I feel that the female should be booked for misguiding the court. In fact she should also be sued for bringing a bad name to all womankind. Because of dumb females like these, genuine victims have a hard time with their cases. Women are being accused of using the law arbitrarily for their benefit. Just because she is a woman- doesn't mean that she is necessarily the victim!

p.s. I am not saying that the man was not at fault. He should obviously be made to stand up for actions- but definitely not like this.

This post is coming a little belated but I just have to mention it....Friendship day this year was very nice....Adi and Naush went all out and were in their school girl mode... :))
I have never really been the kind of person who shows her emotions very easily or makes people feel that they are special to me... but the effort that Naush put into the day was really cute... she'd made this scrapbook with some really really really old memories... there were pictures of us as 5 year-olds as well as some at our kinkiest best on Rashi's bachelorette party :D
Pictures of school trips, fun days at school and especially of this play that we had once done... (the mahabharat scene from "Jaane bhi do yaaron"...) where I was Dhritrashtra! :D
Here's to all my friends...! Cheers! :)

Drink to me only with thine eyes...

Drink to me only with thine eyes

And I will but pledge with mine.

Or leave a kiss but in the cup

And I'll not ask for wine.

The thirst that from the soul doth rise

Doth ask a drink divine.

But might I of Jove's necter sup

I wouldst not exchange for thine.

Love this verse by Ben Jonson. The words are simple and the thoughts so profound...

Anger is a very very bad thing... Someone once said, “For every minute you are angry you lose sixty seconds of happiness." I beg to disagree...for every minute that you get angry you lose at least 2 hours of happiness. And that loss of happiness makes you even more angry and then that further adds to loss of happiness. So basically it's all inter-linked... somehow I seem to have very little or almost no control over my anger, stubborness or irritation. And what happens is that I let it go the first time and the second time.. but the third time I just BLAST. Maybe it would be better if I didn't let it go the first time and let my displeasure be known... then I wouldn't get really pissed off like this...

It's funny how we often mis-judge your parents....we live under the impression that parents belong to a different generation who will not understand us, our feelings, our ambitions, our turmoils.... we feel they just don't get it. But somehow they always surprise us.. they'll do something or say something which would be so simple and yet so profound that you'd go... "whoa...! where'd that come from!".

I remember this friend of mine from school who was in love with a guy from her engineering days... but she wasn't sure if her parents would agree to her marrying a guy from a different caste... Due to an unfortunate turn of events, this guy lost his parents... and her dad somehow agreed to the union... he said, "the poor guy has already lost 2 of the closest people in his life. If he lost you too, he'd be shattered." That's why he said yes! My friend was like... "I was soo surprised... I never thought dad could be like this!" Well now she's happy and settled in UK.. and i miss her... :)

So basically my point was, "Just learn to trust your parents. They've seen more of the world than you and me... and they care about you and don't want to see you hurt... Just take care you don't hurt them either." :)

p.s. There was an instance in campus, when I needed some serious advice, but was apprehensive about calling dad, coz I'd gotten myself in a mess.... but once I called him, things just seemed so much simpler... and he told me that i had to do what i had to do... and that was that! He was sooo supportive that I couldn't help being bowled over..! :)

Indecisiveness can be a very very bad thing. You should never take a decision without considering all the pros and cons of the situation. And once a decision is made, STICK to it... and it's never a good thing to wonder if it was the right decision or not... whether you are doing the right thing or not....
Once you've taken the plunge, you've taken it... that's that!

Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high...

The headlines in the paper today justly reflect the sad situation in the country. No one knows whats going to happen next... it's like a lull before a big storm... remembered these lines from a poem by RNT (that's not Ratan Tata, that's RabindraNath Tagore!). I think it suits the situation very well...

Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high;
Where knowledge is free;
Where the world has not been broken up into fragments by narrow domestic walls;
Where words come out from the depth of truth;
Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection;
Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way into the dreary desert sand of dead habit;
Where the mind is led forward by thee into ever-widening thought and action
Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake.
~Rabindranath Tagore

Updates

Nothing new happening in life actually... met up with an old friend from IIMK & his wife... felt really nice to relive those old days.... and actually after meeting we realised that we had never really been good friends in the proper sense of the word... guess we were just acquaintances- but the mutual liking and respect ensured that we 3 had a really nice time together...amazing pastry at Kookie jar and then a flopped trip to Victoria Memorial, ensured the day was pretty memorable :)

Landed up at a friend's place at 7am to give her bday wishes.... we entered her room, with the cake, singing "Happy Bday" at the top of our voices.... and when she suddenly woke up completely shocked, we knew we had achieved what we had set out for :) Then an amazing english breakfast at Flury's... not to forget Rashi's rendition of Happy Bday on the saxophone...
overall a very cool start to a long day....

Love the new Airtel Ads

Simply love the Vidya balan-Madhavan Airtel ads.... in a matter of seconds, the couple portray their love so simply.... and I really like the simple actions in the ads... like Madhavan lying on the bed and talking to her.. or Vidya Balan throwing the cards at his face in the train sequence... or the scene where she keeps stopping the elevator when he is leaving for a trip....

Very very smooth... great execution...

Picked/stole this one from Sheeba's blog. It just says so much :)

Gggrrrr..... %$#@&*&%$#

Men are such cheap creatures, I wish there were no males on this earth! The world would be a much nicer place to live in! My 10 year old niece experienced her first eve-teasing today... she is, I repeat 10 years old!! What the f#@* is the matter with this world?? Am I the only one here who feels that something needs to be done to stop this!!! Why should an innocent kid have to go through something so cheap and vulgar for no fault of her own? Simply because two sex-starved males thought it would be fun to see her squirm in discomfort???

You know what is the sad part?? That moms tell their daughters to ignore all this or women just get used to it and take it lying down. How many of us have been grabbed, squeezed, pinched or leered at, at some point of our lives??? I'm sure almost half of the world's population- and the perpetrator is the other half of the world (the supposedly superior half!) Bloody hell!! As usual, my concern is about those men who are supposedly educated (believe me, they are just literate!)...I know for a fact that most guys have done any of the following - stare at girls, pass comments, make cheesy remarks...! They think they're very smart- or that girls like that kind of attention.... Well, thanks, but no thanks.

There is a role that women also need to play here- they need to tell their partners, friends, brothers, sons etc that this is not something funny. Everytime we find ourselves at the receiving end of this kind of attention, it leaves us feeling disgusted, irritated and vulnerable. Just stop it, please....it's a humble request.

You know what I like about blogging? I like it when people read what I've written and relate to it. Sometimes they'll leave a comment, totally empathising with my thoughts or situation. Sometimes they even call or ping on gtalk and say that they could totally relate to what I felt... or give me their views... the best is when people leave messages saying that I shouldn't feel down, or give me advice to keep calm etc... It's nice to know that I am not a freak and others go through similiar patterns or thoughts like I do...

Of Birthdays and other nice things...

Birthdays are very nice occassions... they give you an opportunity to make people happy... however much people may deny it- they all look fwd to their birthday and wait impatiently for gifts. Whether it is a small token of friendship or an expensive gift, just the thought that someone cared for you is enough :)
I remember sending flowers to a friend for his birthday, a couple of years back. When he received them he was soooo surprised because it was completely unexpected. I remember his call in the middle of the afternoon, thanking me profusely. He said, "You know, no one has ever given me flowers before.." :D
That's what I like- being able to make people happy (esp. when they are ot expecting it)