I don't remember when was the last time I laughed so much...! I had thought that I would leave latest by 9 pm, but I finally reached home at 11 :P

Some observations about life- 

*Harmless flirting is the most amazing and healthy thing in the world

*It's great to meet old aquaintances after a long time- you have so much to talk about :)

*Laughter is the best medicine

*It's surprising how you can somehow meet people after 2-3 years and yet, just pick up the threads from where you last left them...

All in all, a great party- I'm really glad I decided to pull myself out of bed for this one :D

I am soooo tired I can't believe it... don't remember the last time I felt this exhausted... and I mean a good exhausted- the kind that makes you feel happy and satisfied... sigh :)

To all people reading this blog- the best thing you can do for yourself is to quit your lousy jobs (if you find them lousy, i mean.. if you're loving your work- then this advice is not for you :P) ... so as I was saying- just quit your job and dive head-first into your own venture- do whatever excites you, what you've always wanted to do... don't wait for opportunities to knock on your door... go create your own opportunities :)

The Taliban is back...

The new Shia Family Law passed by Afghanistan comes as big blow to any progress towards gender equality. The fall of the Taliban might have been welcomed in Afghanistan, but they surely don't seem in a hurry to let go of their philosophies..! The law stands against the most basic rights that a woman can ask for. 

She cannot leave the house without her husband's permission and cannot get education or employement or even medical help without his consent. The wife is supposed to submit to her husband's sexual demands- which basically means that whenever he gets horny (sorry about the language), she better be ready or he would be well within his rights to rape her (after all it is one of his rights as her husband!)

It is heartening to see that the women of Afghanistan have not given up...about 200 of them took to the streets in a protest march against the law...only to be faced by a mob of angry men who spit on them and threw stones at them!! And these same men say that this Law has been passed to protect the weaker sex (though I wonder who they are being protected against?) 

And the roller coaster continues...

I sometimes wonder why I cannot be as proffessional in my personal life as my proffesssional life. I wish I could just treat myself like a colleague or a job to be done or deadlines to be met... would just be able to become a task-master and just do what I need to... Just go about Life as if it were part of my job and take up whatever comes my way- whether I like it or not... 

I mean, I know I'm going round in circles... but sometimes I wish I could just be more content with life... I wonder why I keep getting this feeling of dissatisfaction every now and then, like there's so much I'm missing out on... I sometimes wish I hadn't gone to K at all... bcoz the days spent there have shown me how much more one can get out of life... and how much more I can expect from life... and when you raise your expectations, then obviously you won't be satisfied in life..! (pout)

GiST

Came across this site called Grace in Small Things. The concept is just soo simple that you'd be surprised you never thought of it. It's just about being thankful about the small things in life. We all find it so much easier to crib about life, work, relationships, families etc... but how often do we feel thankful for the good things? So this site gets people together to fight against embitterment, against sarcasm, against cribbing.... :) 

All you have to do, is say thanks for 5 good things everyday...It's not going to be as simple as that though... bcoz we are conditioned  in such a way that we cannot see the good in people/situations/life... frankly- when I sat down to write, I really couldn't think of a lot of things to say grace about. But that  doesn't mean we can't try :) 

I'm flying my helicopter to SA

The power of imagination is the best thing about childhood. It can make you into whatever you want to- a pilot, a doctor, an actor, a model... it changes everyday :D You can make as many imaginary friends as you want...you have to hear my 4 yr old nephew talk, to understand what good, vibrant imagination is :D 

He has 2 imaginary friends- one is Rahul (he is supposed to be a doctor) and the other is called Kashyap (!!??)... and apparently both of them are his colleagues from office! :D I get to hear stories about how Rahul picked him up in the morning and how they went to office together... everyday, he talks to them on my mobile... gives them details about his daily activities... tells me about how they are all going to South Africa to watch the IPL matches... he will apparently take his helicopter there and park it somewhere outside the stadium.... hehehe.... and the best part is when I tell him that I can't come to SA with him, coz I have office... he says, "Bad luck! I'll just have to leave you and go" :)) 

Kids! :D

Combating Child Sexual Abuse

For those who still don't know about my association with Elaan and the fight against child sexual abuse (CSA)- here are some things I'd like to share. 

Elaan's mission is to reach out to as many people as possible and create awareness about CSA. We hope to empower victims, help them in the healing process, create dialogues and reach out to survivors...you can read more about them on their blog. 

I'd like to tag my fellow bloggers- Shekhar, Sheeba, Paro, Suma, Nitai, Neeta, Ami, Jayesh, Karra, DB- to write about CSA. Whatever little you can write would be great. Do make a mention of Elaan and paste the link to it's blog. It's all for a cause and I'm hoping to reach out to as many people as possible. If anyone wants to contribute to the cause in any way, please feel free to ping me :)

I envy people who have a real talent.. I mean the kind of thing you can actually exhibit... to be able to dance or sing or paint or something like that.... That's what I call real talent. 

Went to M's house and saw the recent portraits she has done- and I just wish I could draw like that.. Do check out her blog and you will see what I mean...

http://maryamys.blogspot.com/

Like a rose, life was meant to have its thorns.

Read this somewhere and well, I thought why not- I'm anyways not writing much original stuff these days...and it's a nice, simple statement... and gets the message across very simply :) 

It's the time to Disco... na nana nana... it's the time to disco... :D 

On the pure relationship of a father and daughter...

For those who still believe that this does not happen in "our" society or to people "like us"- wake up! 

2 very very similiar incidents have come into the media glare in the last week. One was the case of the Austrian, 73 year old Joseph Fritzl who kept his daughter imprisoned in his house cellar for 24 years, and physically assaulted, abused and raped her and even fathered 7 children with her! He has been sentenced to life imprisonment and the woman and her children are undergoing clinical help. 

Now, for all of you who are smirking and thinking that this is what happens in Western civilisations and that we Indians cannot even imagine something like this happening here- read this.! The same thing can happen and does happen in India too. It's simply that we Indians like to live like ostriches, with our heads buried away from the truth. 

My only incentive for writing this is that there needs to be a stronger punishment for incest cases like these, because here, the guardian, who is supposed to be protecting his child from this very thing, is the perpetrator of the crime. There needs to be very strict laws to protect children against abuse. Is anyone listening??

Live life queen size!

I will never understand how the human mind works. 2 incidents occured yesterday- and they both make me realise the same thing- that your life is in your hands. It's up to you- what you do with it and how you live it. No one is to blame for your sorrows, miseries and troubles. You need to have the confidence to stand by what you believe is right for you! 

Mukhtar Mai has got married and I couldn't be happier. This lady has been a source of inspiration for me. It would be fairly easy for people like you and me to stand up for what we believe in. But here is a woman- barely literate, born in an oppressive society, never stepped out of home, financially dependant on her parents... and she had the guts to stand up against her oppressors and shake the entire administrative and judicial system of her country! 

Cut to 2009. A young woman in her early thirties, born and brought up in Calcutta, received good education, had a loving family, got married, had kids (the younger one is less than a year old!)- and she commits suicide (or was it?) because she cannot stand the torture of her in-laws anymore. I couldn't believe my ears when I heard that R is no more. My question is that why didn't her parents and brother do anything about it when they knew of her dismal relationship with her in-laws? And why didn't she have the courage to step out of the marriage? How can a smart, educated young woman continue to live in the humiliation and torture and not have the guts to say, "Balls to you!! ^%$#@$" 

As long as women continue to live in an oppressed manner and think that there is no hope for them- our society will not change. Take your life in your hands- don't wait for someone to come help you... otherwise it may be too late! 

Random

I have decided to take on the issue of online privacy very seriously. I had had issues with this earlier also- but this time I am adamant. I have deleted my Orkut, Facebook and Linkedin profiles and have made my blog personal. But now the problem is that, if I know that no one can read it, there's no fun in writing it. So I'm still trying to work out some way in which people who I know can read this- but strangers cannot look me up via google or something. 

Morning cuppa

5 o'clock in the morning is the best time of the day. Any day, any month, any year- there's no time better than 5 am! I confess that I have been a morning person my entire life (that's until I went to K and become and owl overnight! :))
But truly- for peace, quiet and serenity- there's nothing better than getting up at 5 in the morning....you can hear the birds chirping (and I mean it- they actually chirp- the sparrows i mean, not the crows)... and the pigeons go about with that weird sound in their throat.. like they were gargling.. there was this really cute white pigeon on the terrace today. Our gardener has put a row of small yellow flowers and then a row of orange flowers (which have brown centres) and there were bees on them (of which I am generally scared)... the best part is that there is NO one around... I like that... I like being alone at times... though there is a big eagle (or maybe it's a hawk- i don't know the difference) hovering overhead.. which is a li'l scary... but you just can't help that tug on your lips which comes from the quiet of the surrounding- and you break into a smile when there is that sudden breeze which gives you goosebumps :)
Good Morning to the world :)
p.s. I'm contemplating getting another tattoo- ideas are welcome :D

Hori khele raghuveera awadh mei... hori khele...

Yesterday's holi celebrations were awesome fun..! One of the perks of staying in a HUGE joint family is that every festival becomes that much more special and fun :D  

As usual the start was simple- with people being drenched with buckets of water,  being pelted with balloons and smeared with abeer and gulaal. Then obviously the entire gang (read 30 ppl) started targeting one person at a time and he/she would be thrown to the ground and basically left in such a beggarly state that even their parents wouldn't recognise them :D

The best part was the expression on R's face when A smeared her with what we call "keechadd" (and not just once- every time she got a little cleaned up, he would come from behind and smear that horrible muck on her) :D It's not gross if it's not being put on you and you can stand and laugh at someone else's plight :D 

Well after a while, people got hungry and gorged on the amazing food (paani puri was awesome!)... but but but... the second round of playing got worse! Soon people were pelting food on each other (that was my cue to disappear quietly :D) 

But all in all- the festival was celebrated in its true spirit- with elders and youngsters joining with equal gusto... and the kids were amazing.... they just couldn't get enough of the fun :)