Left, Right, Left

On 2nd April 2008, I became a major. Legal, in every sense of the word. My uncle wrote me a long mail saying "great responsibilities come with great power" (yeah. u heard it in Spiderman1). But the thing that I was most looking forward to is that I could vote. I really didn't understand how people couldn't be bothered to vote when that is the one GREAT thing that, you, as a citizen of India, could do for your motherland (I know it's kinda dramatic, but I am fiercely patriotic, much to my own surprise- Saare Jahaan Se Achha, Hindustan Hamara).

But now, a year and a half later, I know better. Who do I vote for? The power-hungry, communalism-sparking, doing-gud-only-for-themselves, false-promise-making, revenge-for-silly-things-taking morons?? Why is it that there are VERY few people in this country, who actually care about making a difference? All they care about is getting INTO power, enjoying the years in which they are IN power and then then think about how they are going to STAY in power for the next ruling period. We might as well give up our rights and surrender to aristocracy.

But you know what the worst part is? That it is the one billion of us, Indians, who are voting those morons into power. That is why we have anpad-gawaars ruling us (i.e. biulding multi-crore bungalows with the tax payers' money) while we sit and complain 'Is desh ka kuch nahi ho sakta'. So, I am VERY glad to see that the people have realised that they CAN make a difference, a huge difference, and turned up in troves for the voting. All the channels and parties have a 'youth' target to achieve and I don't think Gen-Y is just going to roll over and die if they don't get results- and fast.

The point is, I have the right to vote and this time, what I have to say counts. All you olden goldies who think you have everybody right where you want them, I got news for you- Yeh Hai Youngistan Meri Jaan and WE think with our heads and don't fall for free rice and what-not. You'd better buck up and actually do something for a change or get dumped out unceremoniously.

Ha, I wrote a serious post.

A Tribute to F.R.I.E.N.D.S

Anybody who knows me even remotely will have wondered why I have not yet posted something... anything... on my most 'favouritest' sitcom ever. Joey, Rachel, Ross, Chandler, Monica and Phoebe have been, for a long time now, my constant companions and never failed to crack me up even if its the millionth time that I am watching the same episode. So here goes.

Top 6 Touching Moments of F.R.I.E.N.D.S

(i.e. according to me, feel free to disagree)

1) When Ross and Rachel get together (the first time) and have their first date in the planetarium.

2) When Chandler and Monica get together properly after their fight in the hospital about 'just fooling around' (it's kinda funny too).

3) When Phoebe gives up the triplets.

4) When Rachel sees the home video of their junior prom and sees what Ross was ready to do for her and then goes and kisses him.

5) When Rachel has to go to Paris and says good bye to all of them; its bittersweet knowing that the series ends after that.

6) When Monica and Chandler propose to each other.

[Note to reader: The 'moments' are in random order]

Top 6 F.R.I.E.N.D.S snortables

(u can't but laugh)

1) Ross: You know what? I'd better pass on the game. I'm just gonna go home and think about my ex-wife and her lesbian lover.

Joey: The hell with hockey. Let's all do that.

2) Joey: You don't put words in people's mouths, you put *turkey* in people's mouths!

3) Chandler: [Monica thinks their maid stole her pants and bra] Monica, come on do you really think that she would steal from us, then come back and wear it right in front of you?

Monica: Don't you see? It's the PERFECT crime!

Chandler: [acting as outraged as her] She must have been planning this for years!

4) Rachel: How about for a girl, Rain?

Ross: Rain? "Hi, my name is Rain. I have my own kiln and my dress is made out of wheat." Phoebe: I know her!

5) Joey: [after talking about Chandler being picky with girls] Chandler, I understand you. I mean, this one time, I went out with this girl, she had the biggest Adam's apple!

6) Ross: Because women never like Joey. You know, I hear he's a virgin?

7) Ross: [waiting for Rachel and Monica to come out of the bathroom] Good, good, good. So, is uh, was your moustache, did, used to be different?

Richard: No.

Ross: Oh. How do you, uh, ya know, keep it so neat?

Richard: I have a little comb.

Ross: Oh. And what do you call that?

Richard: A moustache comb.

8) [Ross is about to tell Rachel that he loves her before she leaves for Paris, but Gunther walks up to her first] Gunther: I... I know you're leaving tonight, but I just have to tell you. I love you. I... I don't know if that changes your plans at all, but I thought you should know.

Rachel: Gunther... Oh... I love you too. Probably not in the same way, but I do. And, and when I'm in a café, having coffee, or I see a man with hair brighter than the sun, I'll think of you. Aw. [kisses him on the cheek]

9) Chandler: And by the way, Count Rushmore doesn't exist.

Joey: Oh yeah? Then who's the guy who painted all the faces on the mountain?

10) Rachel: Ok, Joey, we'll do it one more time. Don't forget the rules -heads I win, tails you lose. Joey: Just flip the coin!

Oh, I really love them:)

These are just a few off the top of my head....

the things taken for granted

1) Thank you, God, for giving me a mother who has driven into me a strong passion for books and reading, which has helped (infinitely) in putting me a cut above the general crowd (intellectually) and at the very least, understand what the commentators are saying in a cricket commentary.


2) Thank you, God, for giving me a family who thoroughly understand what it is like to be 19 and unsure, apprehensive and excited about what life has in store and letting me experiment and learn and not stifle me with expectations and traditions.


3) Thank you, God, for the select few friends whom I can talk to about anything and know that they are not going to judge me and be sure that I am getting honesty and nothing else back.


4) Thank you, God, for giving me the capacity to think on my own and arrive at pretty decent conclusions without having the compulsive, overwhelming need to follow the herd into doing things that are becoming for the society in general, but not me.


5) Finally, thank you again, God, for giving me a mother who has inculcated in me a strong sense of right and wrong, an unconditional love for animals, a sound value system, a sense of culture and a unfailing need to achieve, all of without which I would be nothing more than prat who can write passably.

The Important Things

What is this life if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare.


No time to stand beneath the boughs
And stare as long as sheep or cows.

No time to see, when woods we pass,
Where squirrels hide their nuts in grass.


No time to see, in broad daylight,
Streams full of stars, like skies at night.

No time to turn at Beauty's glance,
And watch her feet, how they can dance.

No time to wait till her mouth can
Enrich that smile her eyes began.

A poor life this is if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare.
- William Henry Davies.

I learnt this poem when I was about eight, with my english teacher explaining it thoroughly (I have to admit, it sounded mostly like bla bla blablah, bla blah, bla blah, then) and making us write Q&A's and stuff; can't say I blame her , she was just doing her job.
But now that I have a few more brain cells (my mother is VERY surprised to hear that and is not able to accept the fact), I can truly understand and appreciate what the poet said about this being a sad life when we don't enjoy the simple pleasures that Life seems to offer.


I din't think I was much of a 'simple pleasures' person with my affinity (and strong partiality) towards Herschey's and Gucci and FastTrack and the like. But as it turns out (inspite of the fixation on The Brands) that it takes very little to make me bubble over with happiness, I hope that phrase isn't totally outdated.


Forced as I was to water my Grandma's VAST garden, I found myself liking it, even enjoying it. I love watching the squirrels flit in and out of the basin to 'steal' the groundnuts that I left there. I also love watching the drops falling of the leaves, reflected in rainbow-colors against the sun. I enjoy throwing a ball so that my dogs (fluffy balls of fur that they themselves are) can run over each other in thier rush to bring it back to me. I love fooling my sister, so that when I do give her the chocolate she asked for, I can see her grin of delight. I love the way I can bring smiles to the faces of people I love just by a simple gestures, the reason being that they love me back just as much.


And before I grow maudlin, I'll say, it took me 19 years to figure this out. But now that I have, I'll always remember what really matters.

The Condemned

What is it with human beings and their penchant for violence -both the 'doing' and the 'watching'? Everywhere I look, I can see people doing gory, ghastly stuff just for the heck of it an other people enjoying wathchin them do it..


A couple of days back, I just happened to see WWE superstar Stone Cold in a movie trailer. The title was 'The Condemned'. I usually am not at all into action movies but this time I decided to watch it as I din't have anything better to do.


It started off in a Guatemala prison, where three war criminals (read: very scary dudes who apparently had tortured and killed more than a dozen people without remorse) were shoved and pushed from their underground dungeon-like cells to another underground dungeon-like cell and egged on to fight with each other where two of them got killed. Apparently this was one of the auditions for participants to a 'reality show', of the same name as the movie, which was thought up by a largely successful (stark looney, i call him) film & t.v producer. All the contestests have profiles like the aforementioned, complete with life-sentences in Third World prisons). There is an English soldier, two Americans (one of whom is Steve Austin), a Mexican, a Guatemalan, an arsonist couple from Spain, a Japanese hitman, a Venezuelan, and a couple more guys from God knows where.


Anyway, according to the game, these people are dropped from a helicopter onto a deserted island somewhere in the Pacific with thier feet and hands shackled and a bomb tied to their leg (which has two modes of detonation: one is by pulling a red tag where you self-immolate and the second where you try to take the bomb off your leg and and it goes boom; how ingeniously evil is that). The objective, apparently, is to be the sole survivor on the island at the end of thirty hours which means that one has to kill the other nine. The 'best' part is that all of this is directly streamed to the internet (live feed from about a million cameras set up earlier by the producer and his crew on the God-forsaken island) where a person has to pay 45$ to 'catch the action'. The guys in the video control panel actually said things like,"Yes" and "That's what I'm talking about, baby" when a guy falls from a helicopter straight onto a spike and when the Brit rapes the wife and pulls her red tag in front of her husband, while breaking both his kneecaps. And all this, only in the beginning.


It was horrible... with people, human beings like you and me, fighting and killing each other, this time for dear lives. I mean, I know it's a movie and all, but then it grossed me out. Big time. But I still kept watching it. When the sick producer was questioned by a reporter, he said people love watching violence and he was aiming at TRP's higher than the American Superbowl (more than 40 mil as it turns out). To this, the reporter faced the audience and said, "I don't feel outraged or shocked anymore... I feel ashamed. I feel ashamed and disgusted that we, the people, enjoy seeing stuff like this and have made him do such a thing" (or something to that effect anyway).


My question is, is that statement true? Do we, as a species, like to see others suffer, like to watch sensational stuff, not caring about the blurred line between the barely decent and the outright indecent?


If this is so....then we live in a sad, sad world.