Life is beautiful!!!

Why is Game of Thrones so Popular?

2016-08-26T11:48:00.000+05:30

Violence, brutality, unreal, pervy, these are some words that have become almost synonyms to the show Game of thrones, especially among those who don’t follow the plot. Loosely based on the novel series A Song of Ice and Fire, the show is pretty much a rom-com if you compare to the book series. However, let me list out some of the reasons why people are drawn to this show despite the excruciating heartbreak caused by watching the brutal killings or torture of our beloved characters…

1. Protagonist Missing

While perfection is highly overrated in today’s world, people tend to forget that nobody is perfect. We are used to stories with one protagonist who is a pure angel, a few friends to the protagonist, one lover or two, their family members and one antagonist who is pure evil. This is unreal. This never happens. The world is not painted black and white. Game of Thrones beautifully portrays that. Even the most seemingly good or child have made mistakes that normal people make all the time. Simply put, imperfect characters add to the relatability, even though the show comes under fantasy genre set in the medieval era. We have also seen psychopaths whom we want to be dead but can somehow sympathise with because of their past.

2. Women as humans

This is one of my favourite aspects of the show. In most shows, women are portrayed as either a nerd with spectacles, a hot chick, a traditional girl or a pure evil slut and no other type ever seemed to exist. But this show has a king’s bodyguard, a girl who believes in fairy tales, a girl who dresses like a boy to save herself from being identified and killed, a lesbian, a very ambitious girl with just one goal: to be the queen, an evil queen who has children born of incest who would kill anybody to keep her children safe, a woman who tries to avenge her husband’s death and to save her kids, a woman who is forcibly married to a monster of a man whom she later kills, a woman assassin who trained her daughters also to be assassins; a warrior woman who tries to kill her lover because he lied to her and phew! But the most prominent one is this lady.

A girl being sold to an older man by her brother and then falls in love with her husband/rapist but kills him out of mercy to free him from his illness and becomes a queen who saved a few kingdoms from slavery. Can a character get any more twisted? Oh and she can just stroll in a wall of fire like no big deal and come out with no burns whatsoever! The list of names she is known as is longer than my resume. But the best part is that she is the Mother of Dragons! That takes us to the next point.

3. Dragons

Who doesn’t love dragons? Beautiful magical creatures who breathe fire? What’s not to love?
Whoever can control a dragon is the most powerful of all.

4. Power politics and survival of the mentally fittest

It doesn’t matter how physically strong the character is. The power of your mind can bring down the mightiest.

There is a character who literally went from rags to riches just with his strategies.

Another character would have been a nobody because he was castrated when he was a boy. He would have been ridiculed to death had it not been for his being a mastermind. He is one of the main advisors of the Queen’s council.

A dwarf, hated by his royal family, yet is so efficient solely because of his attitude.

Unlike other fiction, nice guys can’t save themselves by being nice. A nice guy would still have to play his cards right to survive. Virtues like honour won’t save you. That’s the bitter truth.

5. Prophecies, Foreshadowing and Flashbacks

The show is full of prophecies, foreshadowing and storytelling right from the first episode.

(One word for the fans. Hodor)

The stories of the past told by the elders are clearly distorted, just like our memories. Each has their own story, about the same entity. This forced the fans to start guessing the future of characters right from the beginning, giving rise to many new beautiful theories, and discussion forums.

6. Cinematography

The cinematography is one if the best. Just the recent episode aired last Sunday cost a whopping 10 million. The quality of this show is equivalent to that of Hollywood movies. Whether it’s the fights, the Night’s Watch, the direwolves, or the enormous insanely awesome dragons!

7. Dialogues/quotes

They are so good that they leave you in awe.

And makes you want to quote them even in daily situations.

When you play The Game of Thrones, you win or you die. There is no middle ground. – Cersei Lannister

Power resides where men believe it resides.

It’s a trick, a shadow on the wall.

And a very small man can cast a very large shadow. – Lord Varys

“Why is it that when one man builds a wall, the next man immediately needs to know what’s on the other side?”- Tyrion Lannister

Need I say more?

8. Genre

Now that’s a difficult question. There are love stories, comedy, action, horror, gross, adult, historic period drama, fantasy and not to forget: dragons.

9. Plot:

Oh, where do I even start about this? So many twists, so many back stories, so much heartache, so many lessons about the survival of the fittest. It has everything you wish for. The storyline is carefully woven together, it leaves no stones unturned to keep you at the edge of your seat every single time!

And did I mention dragons?

P.S.: Original link of this post.

New Girl in the City

2016-08-01T13:17:00.000+05:30

When I was politely kicked out of my clerical job I had opted for while still trying to survive engineering, just like any other Indian teenager, I was waiting for overwhelming sadness, but that did not come. All I saw was new endless possibilities, finally stepping out of my house and being a free bird.

It was one of those fantasies every person has in their late teens – being independent. I informed my dad I am leaving for Bangalore to search for a job. He offered to help me settle down in Bangalore and make sure I was happy and safe, which I accepted graciously. Mom was confused on whether to be sad that I would be going away or be happy that I am finally ‘growing up’, while little sister was excited about having our shared room all to herself.

Arriving in Bangalore, I was not sure if I was feeling cold because of weather of January in a cool city like Bangalore, or because of the nervous excitement that this city is going to be my new home, where I can find myself. I reached my place, attended the interview and then bid adieu to my dad.

I was supposed to be scared, but I was surprised that I was elated, sad and lonely, all at the same time. I decided I will just start searching for more interviews and an hour later, it started raining outside. That was the scariest thunderstorm ever.

One particular thunder was so loud, I almost knew something had gone wrong. The power was disconnected and my room was pitch black. I had no candles. I went out with an umbrella to see what’s wrong and saw many people had come out from their houses. A very old huge tree had fallen and cut the electricity cables before landing. All stores were shut and there was no way I could get any food or candles. I felt the loneliest and a bit lost.

I decided to knock on my neighbor’s door to borrow some candles. A sweet lady in her 50s answered. I explained my situation and then asked for some candles. She observed my drenched state and asked me to get in.

I was given a towel, a bowl of hot payasam (porridge), and a thick blanket. Her two daughters were also having the payasam and I immediately remembered me and my sister being taken care of just the same way. I thanked the lady and left, promising myself to bring her a pack of candles the next day. Before I could start missing my mom and sister in my dark room, it was hail storming. I had never seen hailstorm in my life.

I was weirdly excited. I slouched in a chair facing my open door with a thick blanket and realized: If I were with my parents now, I would not have known the hailstorm in me that I needed to go through. I did not know how I would overcome such a situation. I would still be with my mom, happy and safe, but then how would I learn how to manage myself?

I had no idea how strong I was, until I went through the dread of being alone in a tiny dark apartment with no candles, huge ice pieces falling on my roof making so much noise that I could not hear my mom on the phone, cooking in the light of a candle, living without electricity and phone for the next 3 days.

Now, 6 years later, I am a native of Bangalore. I have become very generous, calm, patient, and compassionate, thanks to that lady who made me feel at home.

P.S.: This is my first article that got published in THC Labs. Please click here for the published article.

Now what!!!????

2016-07-29T19:27:00.000+05:30

What’s wrong with me!!! How can I forget blogging for 2 years?

Yeah so many changes in the past two years. Got some great friends for life, travelled a lot, got an awesome job (Android application R&D), bought a beautiful house, car, joined dance classes (which was a childhood dream), found some answers in Buddhism, lost weight and was in a state of ‘now what?’; when I suddenly remembered writing and ended up asking myself : What’s wrong with me??? How can I forget writing??

I figured that if I just write over here, I am my own boss, which means I won’t grow much. I wanted to take more challenges. One of the perks of being in Bangalore is that if you are willing, you can meet people who share their hobbies with you. I started writing for my friend’s website thclabs.org. Every week there are themes to write on. If my article gets selected among so many submitted, it will be published. That was exactly the kind of challenge I wanted to take up. And guess what: my article got posted every time I submitted. Yay!!!

For an aspiring writer like me, it felt like a stepping stone. Every theme that is given is a challenge as I am writing outside my comfort zone. It has been a great learning experience. As I write I will be posting them here as well.

I agree this was a boring rant. So to compensate here’s a photo of Hubby’s wall art in our study.

Criticism - An Indian's birth right?

2014-09-06T02:44:00.001+05:30

Disclaimer: This is a guest post and the author of this post is not promoting or demoting any brand or writer.

The Intellectual

/ðə in¦tel|lec¦tual/

Noun

1. A person with a dislike for anything related to mainstream Bollywood, be it actors or the script or the book that follows such a story or the person who loves such a story or the dog that craps such a story or the cow that moos such a story or so on; the funnier one can be while showing hate, the more intellectual he is <see what I did there>.

2. A person who compares, verbally or non-verbally, every work of fiction with Breaking Bad or Game of Thrones, thereby establishing that he is an ardent follower of IMDb 9+ works and hence, an intellectual.

3. A person who blindly follows the trend set by person described in 1 or/and 2.

Credits – The Cool Indian Lexicon.

Chetan Bhagat's announcement of his new novel, Half Girlfriend, due to release in early October of this year, opened an unprecedented tirade of Bhagat-Bashing on forums. While his devoted audience (yes, there is one) is waiting and pre-ordering his latest novella, self-proclaimed literary know-it-alls have taken the onus upon themselves to use forums like Quora and Facebook to declare how incompetent Chetan Bhagat is at the noble art of writing.

Bhagat-Bashing is the new fad among the novel reading population of the country. Here I attempt to refute some of the common accusations aimed at the author.

Accusation #1 – Dude doesn't even know English.

Counter – Well, if that is true, then the dude certainly knows how to hoodwink arguably the best B-school in the country into admitting him in its most sought-after course, a school

that focuses a lot on one's English proficiency as an admission criteria. Not only that,

he secured a job in a global bank in campus placements. I bet that that wouldn't have

happened had he not used near-perfect English during his interview.

Accusation #2 – He is a bad writer.

Counter – Au contraire, he is a good writer! It just so happens that the genre he writes in isn't up to your taste, which is neither yours nor the writer's fault. Yes, there are some

grammatical mistakes in his books and yes, the language used is quite trivial. But that

is exactly how he wants and intends to write. This serves the primary purpose of a

novel – he connects with his target audience who speak the exact same language with

the exact same grammatical mistakes.

Accusation #3 – He is a disgrace to the glorious history of Indian literature.

Counter – Nobody has an obligation to follow in anyone's footsteps, especially in a democratic country with a constitutionally declared freedom of the written and spoken word. With due respect to the Indian literary legends, Bhagat isn't wrong in trying to carve out his own niche.

It is important to note here that what he did was try. It was the Indian audience that rewarded his attempt with massive book sales. Of course, a couple or more courses of marketing at IIM-A don't go amiss in boosting your sales.

Accusation #4 – Too much sex and vulgar words in his books.

Counter – Indian engineering students are one of the most horny bunch of people you can find. Sex is what comprises most of our alcohol-induced talk and those vulgar words are finding increased use in our vocabulary. If anything, that language lends a bit of authenticity to his characters.

Accusation #5 – He is wannabe youth icon.

Counter – Actually, no. He is as much a youth icon as Obama a Nobel Peace Prize winner. It is up to the youth to selectively take out the positives from his work and life. I'd like to mention that the above accusation was made anonymously on Quora.

Yeah, way to show your own character, mate. Comment on the authenticity of a guy who made it to the Times 100 most Influential People in the World (yes, world not India) while not having the guts to reveal your own identity.

I read in a recent interview that he once bunked classes to see Maine Pyaar Kiya (yup, you read that right). Clearly, he loves cheesy Bollywood scripts. There's nothing wrong about it, he is entitled to his likes and dislikes.

When he grew tired of predicting world markets for rich customers, he turned to his buried dream of writing. The idea was to write what he loved and earn money with it. And boy, have his coffers swelled or what!!

It is easy to become a critic, it’s harder to stay still and think about your critique. And criticizing a famous personality gives a rush of self-importance that makes one believe his or her opinion matters. It does matter, but the opinion has to be backed by seasoned logic and not made without thought or by jumping on the bandwagon.

Another issue is that these critics have made it their hobby to demean someone who is open about liking such books or movies. Showing a haughty sardonic expression to someone who is reading a Chetan Bhagat apparently gives these Rand-readers the satisfaction that they read 'better' books and thus are more literate. Write a book of your own then.

It is a (mis-)conception that Bhagat's stories are followed by lesser mortals like stupid teenage couples of low-tier colleges, villagers et al. Yes, that populace does take more interest in these larger than life mushy stories. Does that demean them? Hell, No. Does that demean the author? Hell, No.

But this is not to say that there doesn't exist any problem.

It is stupid and extremely so to believe that the plotlines described in such books and movies can actually happen in real life. Fans sometimes start relating their own life events with the scenes in the book/script and take their decisions based on the events described by the writer. It is still not the writer's fault; it’s the responsibility of the public to keep their wits about them. Always.

For example, he has repeatedly said that Five Point Someone is not based on his life and yet, the combination of weed and Pink Floyd is the definition of IIT-cool, especially among the newbie minds of naive freshers.

I will end this post by giving an example of what I believe to be Bhagat's biggest accomplishment.

During the final year at college, a friend approached me about building a reading habit to improve his English proficiency. I had a noticeable stack of mystery novels in my room, something that is a rare feature of engineering college hostel rooms.

Now, this guy had never picked a novel in his life and the only thing he had read in English were school textbooks. I had a couple of Chetan Bhagats compressed for breath amongst the bulkier Dan Browns, Sam Bournes and Sidney Sheldons.

What should I have given him as a starter for a reading habit? A book that has complex plotlines from the Prologue itself or a Bhagat book that contains the daily vocab of a regular guy? If Bhagat's books can help people imbibe a reading habit, I think he deserves some respect instead of misfired criticism.

I am not a fan of Chetan Bhagat's. Sometimes, his words connect with me, but mostly, they don't. But I recognize the fact that that this does not take anything away from his talents. It just means we walk different roads. Sadly, most people in the country are of the opinion - If something is not walking on their road, it must be trash, What’s worse, even more people just want to be perceived as walking that seemingly devoid of trash road and just jump on the next hip bandwagon.

Consider this-

Chetan Bhagat's tweet on Manmohan Singh:

"I know a PhD who remains absolutely silent when the country needs his ideas and reforms the most.”

A reply by a random teenager:

“I know an IITian who writes self-flaunting, affair-obsessed, stupid desi novels instead of contributing to his country's engineering innovations."

I have chosen this particular reply because it was in turn, re-tweeted by many others, thereby showing that an alarming number of people share his opinions and call this reply 'iconic'.

Now, if this teenager had a logical perspective, he would have realized that if the scales are not balanced, there is a chance of inferences being skewed. There are over a hundred thousand IITians roaming his planet at a given time. There is just one Indian Prime Minister at a given moment.

Moreover, what, if anything, an array of PMs has taught us is that if you are not up to the job, better not take up the responsibility. Clearly, CB was one of those many many high school pass outs who entered IIT solely because it is a socially respectable thing and not because he loved engineering. And he chose IIM after that because becoming an IIT-IIM product is the most secure Indian way possible to ensure a steady solid income for most part of your life, which is understandably the primary target in one's mid-20s.

It is important to note at this point that most of the past, current and foreseeable future IITians are in IIT, not because they have any special love for engineering innovations but simply because they have the aptitude to be an IITian. In the larger scheme of things, this makes a world of difference.

Chetan Bhagat was a similar 'engineer'. He was in IIT because he had the necessary acumen for being there, not because his dream was to be an engineer. So, even if he could, he never wanted to contribute to the country's engineering scene. But a Prime Minister's voice and opinions actually affect a country in real time, big time.

As for the self-flaunting, affair-obsessed, stupid desi novels, they were a market niche in India's book market waiting to be exploited. Can't fault a man to aim for some serious cash with a couple of hundred printed pages, now can we?

The post is written by Akshit Kumar, a 23 year old thrifty, nifty introvert from the Indian temple city of Jammu. He graduated from Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee in 2013 and completed his Masters in Physics from University of Sussex, UK in 2014. His interests include Natural and Life Sciences, Mathematics, Coding, Mystery Novels, Thriller movies and TV series, body-weight workouts, Chess, Football, Cricket and Poker. He is working on his first thriller novel, which hopes to see the light of day by the end of this year. You can contact him through Gmail, Facebook and Quora.

No Smoking!

2014-05-28T21:52:00.000+05:30

It’s been more than a year, I have been looking forward for an interview of someone who had been a chain smoker for really a long time but has successfully quit now. Finally the day has come.

Allow me to introduce you all to Kabir (name changed), a sweet guy in his 20s. He was more than willing to share his experiences with me regarding quitting smoking and was very eager to have the info reach chain smokers who are trying very hard to quit. Let us first take a moment to congratulate him on successfully quitting smoking. So here goes the interview.

Pritz: How and why did u start smoking? Who recommended u to try?

Kabir: No one recommended actually. Smoking felt cool when John Abraham was sporting a cigarette in Dhoom, the movie. It was like fashion. It was always on my mind. I thought just a try would not be of any harm. After considering for some time I finally tried it. Slowly it turned into a habit but I did not want it to be an addiction.

Pritz: Obviously no one tries smoking to get addicted. When did you realize you were addicted?

Kabir: 2 years after I started smoking, when I could not live a day without smoking, I realized. I was really shocked but I, kind of, made peace with it. Don’t know what I was thinking. I was out of my mind. Smoking was like kith n kin of my life, just like a routine! I made sure I had a pack in my pocket all the time so that I don’t panic.

Pritz: So when did you decide you want to quit? And how many times did you quit?

Kabir: One year after I was addicted. I was suffering from cough n throat irritation regularly. I stayed out of smoking for almost a year and a half and started again. After another few months, I managed to stay out of smoking only for 3 months. Then one fine day when I was smoking with my friends, one of my friends had red smoke coming out of his mouth and then he vomited blood and then he passed away. All this happened all of a sudden. Later on, the doctor said this happened just because of smoking. I did not want to be another example to others so I had to take a decision. So this New Year, I took a resolution to quit smoking completely. And I succeeded.

Pritz: Oh my god! That was very scary indeed. Sorry about your friend. But you ended up being a very good example of successful quitter. Let us talk about the process. First of all, what steps did you take and how did you feel? Some say drinking lot of water helps. Is that right?

Kabir: No steps particularly. I just made up my mind. It needs a lot of self control. Yes, drinking a lot of water does help. I took almost a month to quit. From a pack to 5, I gradually reduced to 3, 3 to 1. And then a full stop...!!

Pritz: Nice! How did u feel when u finally quit? How different is the feeling then and now?

Kabir: I am happy and proud. And it feels good to see my parents happy.

Pritz: Was there any difference in your parents’ reaction and friends’ reaction when you quit?

Kabir: Friends were very sad that they lost a partner. Parents were very happy.

Pritz: So you mean to say your friends were not happy for you?

Kabir: They wanted me to get out of addiction but did not want me to stop smoking. But slow down to 2 to 3 per day.

Pritz: Okay. So what do you have to say regarding friends circle and smoking? How much does it affect?

Kabir: 3 of my friends have quit smoking now. I don’t think the remaining 5 will ever plan to quit. Friends are always a great influence. People think smoking is cool and you always tend to see your ‘cool’ friends and try to copy them. Unlike me, most people get into smoking because friends ask you to try and say that you won’t get addicted if you try once.

Pritz: It should be hard to have friends who look down upon you because you don’t smoke so there is lot of peer pressure.

Kabir: Yes, it is. But it is better to just tell them that everyone who gets addicted, starts thinking that one fag won’t make a difference but ends up getting addicted. But emphysema and lung cancer are not cool. Dying was never cool. Seeing your children handicapped or having chronic diseases and doctor telling you that it is because of your smoking habit is not cool. Yes, there are many exceptions but I don’t want to take any chance because there are too many people (including me) who love me and wish that I live a very long, healthy and happy life.

Pritz: Would you like to give any advice to the youngsters who have never tried smoking, chain smokers and occasional smokers?

Kabir: To non smoking youngsters, never ever try it. Whatever the situation is, whether you are showing off in front of someone or any tension, smoking won’t give u any solution. Your money is burnt into ashes n smoke.

To occasional smokers, it is good to be me. I mean it is good for you to stop it too. ;)

To chain smokers, follow my method. Reduce day by day. Make up your mind and one day, you will feel better that you have quit smoking.

Pritz: Thanks a lot for the advice. What do you have to say about those people who act like smoking is synonym to, say, a long drive? I mean nothing harmful. It is something great, cool. And they are chain smokers. When in a movie they show how the 22 year old boy died coz of oral cancer, they just laugh at it or just get bored. What do you have to say about those people?

Kabir: There is nothing to advise such people who don’t understand what problems they will face in future just because of the same habit. It might be a joke to many of them now. They will realize when they suffer from such diseases. But by the time, it will be too late. Thinking about it makes me sick.

Pritz: What were the worst times and the best times related to smoking for you?

Kabir: Worst times- obviously that friend who passed away. The best times were whenever I clicked a snap while smoking; it would come far better than a normal pose. That’s all.

Pritz: Well, thanks a lot for taking your time in sharing such great information which can help many youngsters save their lives from the dreaded slow poison. I can’t thank you enough.

Kabir: The pleasure is all mine. Thanks for giving me a chance to share my experience. I hope this will be of help to as many people as possible.

So this is Kabir for all of you.

My blogger friend and doctor Shobhit has some information to share on this:

More than 400,000 individuals die prematurely each year in the United States from cigarette use; this represents almost one of every five deaths in the United States. Approximately 40% of cigarette smokers will die prematurely due to cigarette smoking unless they are able to quit.

Smoking is equally injurious to the health of the smoker as to the health of people around him. The smoke one inhales has micro-particles which stick to the moist surface of the lungs. It thus forms a layer which turns the oxygen permeable layer of the lungs into more and more impermeable one.

Secondly, the lungs lose their elasticity and hence the capability to distend with inhaled air. The small air-bags called alveoli break up due to the action of immune/inflammatory cells attracted towards the lungs due to the smoke. Once broken, they cannot undergo proper repair and create large in-distensible cavities leading to a disease called emphysema. A person with emphysema inhales air but is unable to exhale as the lungs become inelastic. This leads to chronic coughing and sputum formation which the person coughs out. This process goes on and on till the lung tissue becomes carcinomatous (cancerous).

If you are a smoker, you can expect:

Sudden cardiac arrest and death
Emphysema
Cancer of the lung; oral cavity; nasal cavity and paranasal sinuses; larynx; esophagus; stomach; pancreas; liver; kidney; urinary bladder; and uterine cervix.
Myeloid leukemia.
Cataract
Gall bladder diseases
Impotence
Osteoporosis

And you can expect your family and people around you to face:

Respiratory infections
Asthma
Miscarriage for pregnant women
Pre-menopausal breast cancer
Lung cancer

Personally I can’t understand how smoking is cool like "come on let’s smoke a cigarette and fill our breathing lungs with the heavenly smoke that will take my breath away (pun intended) and then die young after being bald and enjoy the sweet pain of cancer." The only thing sexy about smoking is when you don't.

My advice for all smokers would be: ABORT MISSION. I REPEAT, ABORT MISSION.

Images courtesy: Google

P.S.: Please share this with as many people as possible so that people who have been trying to quit from a long time will get help and motivation. Thanks in advance.

Intolerable Relatives-in-Facebook Syndrome

2014-04-12T02:21:00.000+05:30

Disclaimer: All the persons mentioned in this article are completely real. Any resemblance to real persons, especially your relatives, is purely intentional. This article is a collective opinion based on extreme research done on real life experiences of persons between age 25 and 30, who have been using Facebook since their college years.

I have got a real bad feeling that the world is coming to an end! Reason: My relatives have joined Facebook. I mean the older generation. Being blessed to have really cool parents who have been using Facebook, sending mails, enjoying being online pretty much like any other non-computer-student in their 20s, I find the lameness of my relatives a little less tolerable and a little more annoying than their real life presence.

So here is a list of things our very own relatives do on Facebook to sound cool:

1. Praising everyone type

You upload one photo and BANG!!! There you have it. One like and one comment with just one word – rock star or hero or model or heroine or beauty or princess – depending on your gender. The photo need not be very good, just it should be yours. You get tired of typing thank you again and again but they won’t get tired.

2. The Critic

You upload a status questioning something about the problems of the society. Most of the time, it is just a copy-paste of someone else’s status or some article. Basically there is no answer for these except one – time. You just upload it and forget about it. Then one fine day, a creepy argument comes in the form of a comment to ruin your day, making you consider deleting your Facebook account. The comment will be something like – ‘So what do you think we should do in such a situation?’ All you want to say is – ‘Ohhh looks like you are an expert in such situations. As I have no clue, please explain to me while I take notes. ’ But you know very well that this will lead to more argument that is visible to everyone making it really embarrassing. So you just show yourself as offline for a few days.

3. The friendly Critic

This is similar to the above ones but they act too friendly and are less dangerous. Don’t worry they won’t bite. They just find things that are missing in every other post or pic even if it is really not needed. Comment on a pic of me and my hubby will be – ‘Both of you look great together but clothes you both are wearing should have had a teeny bit of connection you know. May be one color is there in both dresses.’

4. The devotee

Enter some swami/godman/guru that wears saffron cloth and has forgotten to shave, has a long white beard reminding you of an Indian version of a really dirty and unkempt Dumbledore. No no he is not your relative. It is his devotee who is related to you. This type keeps posting 100s of pictures of quotes told by his guru with a background of his guru’s photo where he is posing as if he is getting enlightened by some Divyashakti (divine power). I am not criticizing the Guru except for the fact that how can a spiritual person get convinced to be his devotee by seeing him in different poses of receiving knowledge? I would be imagining the scenario where the photographer is saying- 'Guruji, say cheese!' If the relative is finding happiness being a devotee to the Swami, I am happy for him unless he tries to shove the quote + enlightenment pictures down our throats.

5. The Nosy type

Those of us blessed with a very lenient and understanding boss has no problem if we are working and another tab of Facebook is open the whole day which we keep checking in between to refresh our mind. We even share some jokes which we see on Facebook with our boss. This fact is indigestible to some of my relatives. You are researching on some topic and suddenly Facebook tab shows a notification. So you turn curious and there is relative asking:

‘Why are you always online on Facebook?’.

An inner urge tells you to type ‘Because that is what Facebook is for.’ Or ‘How do you know? That means you are also online the whole day. Why may I ask?’ Or if there is a deadline, you want to ask ‘why do you come online, or talk or breathe?’

But all you do is you do not click on the message and wait sheepishly for them to go offline while continuing with your work. Once you are convinced they are really offline and not just opted for chat-offline, you reply:

‘Sorry I was busy. Yeah I just forget to close the tab.’

What is worse is this news reaches my mom and she starts questioning me if I really online the whole day. Though she does not have any problem with me being online on Facebook the whole day, she is irritated by the way they interrogated her. They have been thinking that I have lost my job or I have lied to them that I have got a job in the first place. The worst part is when my mom tells them that I am working, they laugh on her face saying either she is fooling them or I have lied to my mum.

6. The Nosy type #2

This is quite the opposite of the above one. They come online very rarely and ask us ‘long time, no see?’ Actually they wanted to be asked the same question after a big break from Facebook but no one noticed.

7. I don’t care about you, only your sibling

Relative: Hi

Me: Hi

Relative: How is your sis?

Me: (I am fine thanks for asking) Oh she is great!

This is it every time. Writing more about this person is seriously a waste of time.

8. I-don’t-know-what-I-am-doing-here type

This is a very distinct species. You have to be really lucky (read unlucky) to have such a type. I see a friend request on Facebook. The name indicates it is a female. No profile picture. Second name is same as my hubby’s. So I conclude this should be my hubby’s relative. I sent a message asking to upload a profile pic. When I see the pic, it is about time for some flashback:

I attend a wedding of my hubby’s distant cousin who shares his second name with my hubby. They had got a kid even before their first wedding anniversary.

So now what I see is the bride but a bit plump. So I make a mental note that this is her name. But my hubby tells me that this is not her name, her name is something else in the wedding invitation. So then I remember that in our tradition they change the bride’s first name too after wedding. So I send her a message asking which her maiden name is and which the new one is. But she gives no answer even though I see her online. After 6 months, I see a new album popping out on her profile, a birthday cake and her first name on it and you also see a #1 shaped candle. Boom!!! Here comes an epic facepalm.

It is the baby’s name and the profile pic is of the mother! So either there is a 6 month old kid who is smart enough to somehow start using Facebook or there is a 25 year old mother dumb enough to write her profile name as her kid’s name and when I told her to upload her pic, she immediately uploaded her pic and probably she still does not know why she did it.

At one side I see my mom, 50 years old, chilling on facebook, asking me for some photos of my recent holiday on Facebook chat, mocking me for accidentally uploading a pic that is rotated 90’ clockwise and enjoying facebook to the fullest and there is this female, 25 years old, more educated than my mom, born and brought up in a city and does not know what a profile name is for.

I, for example, have my profile name as my full maiden name followed by my hubby’s surname even though my official name is still my maiden name and I have no intention of changing it. The reason is the people I knew before my wedding, the people whom I work with now as well as anyone who knows me through my hubby should be able to reach me on Facebook. And here this female has her infant’s name and no profile picture and she just expects everyone to just guess who she is.

Do I have to explain what a profile name is?

9. ‘Hi’ type

This type is a bit better than the above one. This one does not know what to do so everywhere and for every pic or status, he comments – ‘Hi!’. There are also times when they are so tempted to type ‘hi’ but do not find a place so they open chat and say ‘hi’ and then disappear. Genius!

10. Tag type

This person is too much in love with himself that when he uploaded a new profile pic, even though he is the only one in the pic, all his 300 friends are tagged.

All I have to tell them is:

1. Even though all of you have ruined all the fun that was on Facebook, I would still take this opportunity to thank you for coming to Facebook so I got to know your true colors.

2. Thanks for not being on Twitter.

3. If I have describe you all in a line, it would be 'Tedha hai, par mera hai!' (You are weird but you are mine.)

Have I missed anything?

P.S.: If you are my relative, then you are not specified above.

Images courtesy: Google.
Title of the post courtesy : My very good friend and a great blogger Shobhit.

Navaratri special!

2013-10-21T16:29:00.000+05:30

When you mention the festival of Navaratri, generally people think of Bengali Durga pooja and their incredibly beautiful Durga idols; or the Gujarati Garba dance on grounds for Falguni Pathak's performance. But in this post I will introduce you all to the Navaratri celebrations at my place Mangalore.
Navaratri literally means 9 nights. We worship 9 incarnations of Goddess Durga. Here are the 9 incarnations in pics.

1. Shailaputri

2. Brahmacharini

3. Chandraghanta

4. Kushmandini / Kushmanda

5. Skanda Mata

6. Kathyayini

7. Mahakali / Kaalratri

8.Mahagowri

9. Siddidhatri

And here comes a bonus. Aadishakti.

The tenth day is Vijayadashami. On this day Goddess Sharada is worshipped. She is the goddess of knowledge, music, arts and science. We worship books also on this day. Here are the different idols of Goddess Sharada from different temples of Mangalore.

1. Kudroli temple

2. Gokarna Mutt

3. Krishna Mutt

4. Sri Venkataraman Temple

I hope you liked it. The images are clicked by my friend and a very good photographer Deepak Bhaktha. Check out his Facebook page here.

P.S.: Watching so much celebrations in every part of India makes me think about Nirbhaya and other rape victims in India. May Goddess Durga give them and all the women in the world strength and destroy those monstrous rapists.

To all the men in India, all I have to say is - If you don't respect women for rest of 356 days, I am sure your 9 days of Navratri puja, can't make Durga Maa happy!

Lonely boat!

2013-10-06T23:49:00.000+05:30

A moment of storm and then,
Lonely as never before!

The picture was taken by me in Thaneerbavi, Mangalore. It is one of the beaches in Mangalore, a quite special one at that. You go to the bank of Gurpura river to find Sulthan Battery watch tower (4kms away from the city), constructed in 1784 by Tipu Sultan to prevent English warships from entering the Gurupura river. Then you cross the river by boat and then walk for 2 minutes to reach the beach.

Hope you liked the picture.

P.S.: Please answer the poll at the top right part of this page. Thanks.

Plastics, plastics everywhere!

2013-09-30T12:04:00.000+05:30

Advertisements, advertisements everywhere,

Nor any program to watch!

This would have been Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s poem if he were a 21^st century Indian couch potato. Almost any channel you watch, there will be an advertisement to annoy you. Even if you are lucky and a program resumes, before you understand what it is about, next advertisement appears.

You enter a phase where you are too tired to change the channel and you end up watching the advertisements. When I was going through such a phase, I noticed these ads:

2 boys are asked to brush teeth, one with Pepsodent toothpaste and the other with Colgate. Then the dentists (junior artist actors) do a test and say that Pepsodent is a much better product than Colgate.
2 boys and their moms are shopping in a grocery store. Boy1 tells mom to pick the Horlicks pack because he cannot reach. Boy2 picks a pack of Complan all by himself. Mom1 frowns and Mom2 explains Mom1 that Complan is better because it increases height.
Within a month, Horlicks comes up with a new ad where 2 boys are returning home with their moms after shopping. Mom1 asks Mom2 about Boy2’s exam result. Mom2 says he has not scored much. Mom1 says that Boy1 has scored 1^st in class. Then Mom1 finds a pack of Complan in Mom2’s shopping bag and explains Mom2 that Complan will just make you taller but Horlicks will make you taller, stronger and sharper.
Where do I begin to start about Cola Wars? Pepsi and Coca-Cola have really gone beyond limits with their ads ridiculing the other. Some ads have been banned too for the same reason.

This is among a specific set of ridiculous ads that convince you that Dabur is the best toothpaste, Bournvita makes you a superman and Thumps up quenches your thirst like no other. These ads make you feel like the owners of those companies are kids fighting with each other using plastic rulers.

This reminds me of a movie called Mean Girls, where there are a set of girls called Plastics (hence the title) who always find faults in others to show off that they are the best.

This not only happens in movies or ads. We can see cases like these in everyday lives. An employee tells his boss that another employee is not good just to show that he is better. Happens between siblings when parents favor one among them all the time. (Now there are many people who tell that for parents all their children are same but it is not like that everywhere. For many children, bullying starts at home. Survey has shown that parents bully the fatter child more.)

The question is- why so many people are having this misconception. Why is it so difficult for them to understand that ultimately they are living in a make-believe world where they believe that only they are perfect? The only thing they are good at is they are confident or to be more precise, over-confident. They have this illusion that they are the best. So when they socialize, if they find someone who might be better than them at something (which is quite possible), immediately they tell their peers something bad about that person so that the listeners get distracted from what is good about them. Basically such people are foolish (evidently), mean, insecure and very clearly jealous of almost everyone. They have this outer thick layer of pretension or show-off trying to be accepted by the so called society. In fact their brain might be quite different. The worst thing is there are too many people like this.

All I have to say to these people is-

No one is perfect. You have flaws. Accept that.
You are among the most annoying people in the planet. People are just too sweet to tell you that.
Calling someone dumb does not make you any smarter, nor does it make them any dumber. If they are excellent in something, they are going to beat you in it anyway. You cannot stop that.
The moment you comment something about someone, the instant reaction of the one listening to you (if that person is not like you) is “What this person might have commented about me behind my back? It is best to avoid this person”.
If a person agrees to all your comments, that means, that person also comments on you behind your back.
Everyone has got equal amount of qualities and flaws. Suppose someone is better looking than you, then he/she might be less intelligent than you. If someone is more intelligent than you, he/she might have a bad voice.
Love yourself for what you are. Don’t change yourself for other people. Life isn’t about pleasing everybody. If someone cannot accept you for what you are, then they are not worthy of having you in their life. To change for others is to lie to yourself.

Have I missed anything?

P.S.: Please answer the poll at the top right part of this page. Thanks.

My Card Craze!

2013-09-02T15:14:00.001+05:30

Wow! It feels so good to be back. My new job had really kept me very busy. Finally I got used to it. (I know that is a very cheesy excuse. A little less than a year is quite a long time to get used to a new job.) I think @PritzTheWriter had taken a small break. Anyways, no more excuses. I AM BACKKKK!!!!!

But before starting my post, I would like to take a moment to express my gratitude to all of you.

THANK YOU!!!

Thank you all for visiting my blog even though I was away for 11 months and increasing the page count from 23,800 to 36,460. Thank you for the love!! Words cannot express how happy you all have made me.

I had thought my come-back post would be something related to social awareness. But I am really in no mood to lecture. In fact, I am more interested today to show-off!
I have this craze of making my own cards for occasions. I got the inspiration from my ex-roommate Shruti. So I thought why not share all the cards what I have done. I have already shared one card I had created on my First Wedding Anniversary.

Let me start with the latest one- my hubby’s birthday. This year he turned 28. I had made his previous birthday so grand that I had unknowingly set up higher standards. And unlike last year, his friends were all busy to visit my place. And my job had always managed to make me stay in office till he reached home. So practically there was no time to make a card. Luckily he had to go to his parents place for 10 days to see his brother and I had not got leave (as usual). This gave me ample time to get the card ready and shop for his gifts which if I had bought when he is here; it was easily visible among my bags. I won’t deny I missed him. A friend of mine, Vandana had given me good company those days on WhatsApp. Before I get distracted and start praising or tell random “nice” stuffs about my hubby and start explaining how much I missed him, let me move to the point.

I gifted an 18”x 24” canvas board to my artist hubby. When he was doing his engineering, he had drawn Hindu Gods and Goddesses on the walls of his house. But then they painted the house and the whole art was lost. So I thought this would inspire him more to draw.

I also gave him resistance tubes with a hope that he stops using gas cylinder as dumbbells. You might be thinking why hope when you can ask. Well, if I ask him not to, and if he stops exercising, it might get difficult to persuade him to start exercising again. With great difficulty, he has started exercising in the first place.

Then a wrist band, well just like that! It looked really good on his hand.

For the first time, I created an android app which had minions singing happy birthday song. When he heard the song, his expression was priceless. He was smiling as if…. Focus Priti focus!

And last but definitely not the least, a card. It is more of a go-green kind-of card. I am very much fascinated by the way leaves are designed. Even though flowers are more beautiful and colorful, leaves are more simple and easier to understand the contribution of Fibonacci series in their creation. (Now when it comes to Fibonacci series, I can tell about it for hours together. I think I will write about it in another post.) Also green is one of my favorite colors (My cousins have even nicknamed me Greenika. Don’t tell anyone). I thought I will get the card shaped like a large leaf and to open it in between. Then on the inside, there will be sweet nothings written about him.

As he had reached home on his birthday morning, I had arranged for a mini treasure hunt like set-up in my house. I had prepared a Chocolate Coffee Eggless cake (for the first time) and the menu consisted of peas pulav and paneer butter masala. Before we could think of taking their pics, they were gone. Puff!!!

Also Vandana (my friend I had mentioned above) had visited, which was like a cherry on the cake. So even though he was tired from the night journey, the day was really fun and worth all the effort.

P.S.: I have noticed that all those who are unmarried go ‘Aaawwwwwwww so sweet’ when they see me doing all these. But those married give more of a cold reaction to it, as if to say ‘how stupid!’ or ‘how silly!’. They claim that this is just for the time being and these things like making your significant other feel special is going to fade out soon. It is clear they do not do anything I do. To all of them, I have to say one thing.

Life is a celebration. But you cannot celebrate every day, for obvious reasons. So celebrate on all the special days like birthdays and anniversaries. When you can work so hard to celebrate Diwali or Eid or Christmas without complaint, why can’t you celebrate the special days you share with your loved ones? You celebrate these festivals mainly to thank God for the life God has given you. Then why do you hesitate to thank your loved ones for making your life so good?

And to my hubby, all I have to say is ‘You have made my life a celebration!’

P.P.S.: I was thinking of listing all my card works here. But I think I ended up a little chattier. I will come back with other cards in the coming posts.

Footsteps!!!

2012-10-05T12:28:00.000+05:30

Do not go where the Path may Lead. Go instead where there is No Path & Leave a Trail :)

Image courtesy : This pic was taken on hubby's birthday near Sankey Tank by me. :D A pigeon might have accidentally walked on the cement floor before it dried. Isn't it cute?

Sunrise!

2012-09-25T13:07:00.001+05:30

However cold the night is,

However bad the time,

Whatever may happen,

A warm sunrise will come soon!

Image courtesy: Me and my dear hubby! Thank you Sunil for taking me to the beach in Pondicherry so early in the morning so that I could witness and capture the beautiful butterscotch-y sunrise!

Pic of the Week!

2012-07-08T13:26:00.000+05:30

Life is like a hanging bridge. You walk with the right balance between right and left; and you can cross it safely. You walk without balance and you cause trouble to yourself as well as to those around you.

P.S. A little off balance is also fun. How boring will life be without problems?

Image clicked by me in Kemthur, Karnataka, India.

Happy Birthday to my blog :)

2012-07-01T00:03:00.000+05:30

I think I have told already that even though I started this blog back in 2009, I had started writing seriously with this post on July 1^st 2011. Yes, you got it right - exactly one year back. And just one week back, the page-views crossed 20,000. All I have to say is - thank you so much for your love. Please keep reading my blogs and inspire me to write more and better by commenting on my blog posts.

So it is a new year for my blog. So I am starting something new for this year. Whenever I find myself in a beautiful place, I have started clicking pictures with my digital camera like a maniac (because if hubby sees me not using the camera, he will snatch it from me and won't give it back). I will try my best to share one every week. Here I go with the picture for this week. I had clicked it in a village in Karnataka called Kemthur. :)

Let me know how is it. :)

Kaash Mein Tere Haseen Haath Ka Kangan Hota!

2012-06-18T00:26:00.001+05:30

For the first time, I would be posting someone else’s work in my blog. Different websites give different information about the poet. Majority of the sites say that Wasi Shah is the poet.

I love the poem a lot. So romantic. So just sharing with you all. Also there is translation in brackets. Hope you like it.

Kaash Mein Tere Haseen Haath Ka Kangan Hota

(I wish I were the bangle on your beautiful hand)

Tu Bade Pyar Se Chao Say Bade Maan K Saath

Apni Naazuk Si Kalayi Mein Chadhati Mujh Ko

(With lots of love and care, you would have worn me)

Aur Betaabi Se Furqat K Khizan Lamho Mein

Tu Kisi Soch Me Doobi Jo Ghumaati Mujh Ko

(When lost in tension or impatience or sorrow, you would absent-mindedly turn me)

Mein Tere Hath Ki Khushboo Say Mehak Jata

(I would also get the fragrance of your hand)

Jab Kabhi Mood Mein Aa Kar Mujhay Chooma Karti

Tere Honton Ki Hidat Say Dahak Sa Jaata

(Whenever you kiss me while you are lost in thoughts of someone special, I would feel a sweet shock at the contact of your lips)

Raat Ko Jab Bhi Tu Neendon Kay Safar Pay Jaati
Mar Mari Haath Ka Takiya Banaya Karti

(At night, while, on your journey of sleep, you make your hand your pillow,)

Mein Tere Kaan Say Lag Kar Kayi Baatein Karta
Teri Zulfein Tere Gaal Ko Chooma Karta

(I would whisper sweet nothings in your ear; I would kiss your cheek and hair.)

Mujh Ko Bay Taab Sa Rakhta Teri Chahat Ka Nasha

(My craving for you will always intoxicate me.)

Mein Teri Rooh K Gulshan Mein Mehakta Rehta

(I would spear fragrance in the garden of your soul.)

Mein Tere Jism K Aangan Mein Khanakta Rehta

(I would make beautiful sounds on the garden of your beautiful hands.)

Kuch Nahi To Ye Bay Naam Sa Bandhan Hota

(If nothing else, we would atleast be bound in this nameless relationship)

Kaash Mein Tere Haseen Haath Ka Kangan Hota

(I wish I were the bangle on your beautiful hand)

To the poet: First of all, lovely poem. I am a fan of yours. If I have made any mistake in translating your poem, please forgive me.

To all those waiting to spring upon me for the word-translation mistakes here, I tried my best to translate the meaning of the line as well as trying not to sound cheesy or funny. I have tried to translate what he meant rather than what each word meant. Thank you, Shobhit, for helping me with the translation.

Images courtesy: My hubby. Thank you, Sunil, for patiently clicking so many pics of my hand even though you were so tired.

'Coz of her?

2012-05-21T01:50:00.000+05:30

Note: This is not a feminist post. Just a thought on the instant reactions on situations.

The other day I was watching a movie called Troy with my husband. He had already watched the movie but I was watching it the first time. Even before the movie started, he started saying that the whole thing has happened because of one woman. Out of curiosity I watched the whole movie. Once I finished the movie, I realized it was not her fault at all! She had been suffering from a forced marriage with an old man. Finally when she found true love in another man (the younger prince of Troy), she fled with him. Later her husband’s ego made him persuade his brother (King of Greece) to destroy Troy and became successful. Is finding her true love and making it a reality of her life wrong? If it is, then does it mean that she should strangle her happiness for the sake of her husband who understands only one language called power?
Why is it taken as her fault and not because of her husband’s ego? Or the fault of the King of Troy who did not think practically and went against the warnings of his sons twice? When her husband knew she went in her own will, why couldn’t he just let her go? He wanted to keep her ‘in control’ and when he did not succeed, it hurt his ego. Moreover the King of Greece (her brother-in-law) always wanted to conquer Troy as he wanted to conquer the whole world. He would have come with another reason some other time. Why is the finger always pointing to a woman? And why are men so insecure about their women? Is it because they know that they are not good enough for their women? Are they so scared that women will be ahead of them in competition?

This is not just the case with this movie. Take Ramayana. Why is it because of Sita crossing the line? What was the need for Lakshman to cut the nose of a gal who had fallen in love with him and wanted to marry him? If he had not done that, why would her brother Raavan come to take the revenge by kidnapping Sita? And for Sita to cross the line, why did Lakshman leave Sita alone in the forest in the first place when Ram had ordered him not to? In Mahabharatha, they say it is because of Draupadi. How could the Pandavas gamble her away like a property? Do women, who are being told as the creators, have just so much value of that of a property or a reason for a bad outcome? No wonder there are many families in India where the man has many wives but still doubts on his wives.

This pointing finger at the woman is been practiced even now. An Indian girl is taught from her childhood not to laugh loudly and to speak in front of elders. They say that a girl’s smile can steal any man’s heart. So naturally the man is supposed to be taught not to fall for the smile or control his feelings. But here if a girl smiles, she is either committing a big offence or she is flirting. That means a girl doesn’t have the freedon to even smile! How ridiculous is that!

On one special Ganesh Chaturti, there was an additional ceremony according to which my mother-in-law had to tuck a jasmine chain on my hairdo symbolizing that her family has ‘chosen’ me as my husband’s bride. Traditionally the jasmine chain would be really long (thus very heavy and painful to wear) which I cannot remove till my in-laws would leave. When I saw the chain, I was startled but tried to hide my expressions. My mom had already hinted that morning to keep quiet and not speak my mind in front of elders. I was praying that someone would have the heart to cut it shorter. If I had spoken, everyone would say bad things about me like I don’t have manners and my parents have not taught me how to behave. Luckily, my husband saw my change in expression as well as the length of the chain and told his mom to cut it to a comfortable length. The instant reaction from my mother-in-law was that she asked me to get a pair of scissors and I got it for her. Later I discovered that my in-laws are too sweet and I have actually made some minor so-called-mistakes after getting married but it was taken lightly with a notion that I am a new bride and I will learn with time. Believe me, such in-laws are rare in India. But generally this is not the case. So does that mean, a girl does not have the freedom to speak her mind?

Another instance is the movie Rab ne bana di jodi. The girl has no physical or emotional bond with her husband. Moreover the day he came into her life was the day her dad as well as the love of her life passed away. Whenever she sees him, she will naturally remember that sad day. She is more like a paying guest in his house. Her life is so colorless and lonely. She finds love and happiness in another man and wants to marry him and she is called a loose character woman just because she is already married! Since when did marrying the man she loves make a girl a loose character when at the same time a man can have more than one wife? Why is a woman speaking her mind and doing what she wants called a bitch? Is there any bad word like bitch or slut invented for a man? Sadly no. And men just love calling any girl one of these names without even knowing the meaning. Ah, there is one bad word for men- SOB. But That will be a bad word for his mother who herself might be struggling to make her son respect women but her husband is again the egoistic insecure scared man and has made life jail for his wife. What about 'dog'? No they themselves proudly agree that they are one so it is not a bad word I guess. The only relevant one is MCP.

In every movie, there is an item song. While the item girls are looked at as bitches, sluts or whores, item boys are still enjoying the respect they used to get before. Heroines are always in news for how much clothes they have shed and never for their acting when the actors are always praised for their acting or the box office success. Moreover, in an item song, if the male lead joins the item girl in the erotic dance, still the character gets a lot of respect. But at the same time, if the female lead joins the item girl to dance with her, questions will arise like ‘Is she out of her mind?’

So let me come to the main question- What do men really expect from women? And the answer is- Give as much sacrifices as you can and more, be my possession(read property) and forget about living the life of a normal human, never follow your heart, just follow what I say and I will worship you (read ‘I will not torture you’). So I put forward the most important feminist question- Are women human?

P.S. If you are a man and if you felt offended after reading this, you are an MCP. Instead, if you agree to everything in the post except the last paragraph, There is hope for you.

Football Madness

2012-05-17T13:23:00.000+05:30

One Sunday afternoon, I was happy to be in a mall. It was a long time I had gone window shopping (for those who find this ridiculous, gals like it a lot). We entered the mall to find the different clothes and people in their own world. I stopped at a black T-Shirt and my hubby dragged me away. I understood his concern as I had 7 black t-shirts already. Then I stopped near the designer saris and I wanted a moment there. So as usual, hubby told me to be there and he will go to the men’s wear side. When I was done with my drooling over the saris, I searched for him and found him exactly where I found him the last time. He was desperately searching for some particular t shirt. All the t-shirts said Manchester united for life or Chelsea. His search was in vain. There was not even one Liverpool t shirt. I knew what to expect next. He grumbled some bad words and then swore that next time if there is no Liverpool t-shirt, he is going to burn the Manchester t-shirts.

If you had asked me about Football in Feb 2010, I would have said that it is just a game and I have watched it in the Hindi movie Dhan Dhana Dhan Goal (because of John Abraham) and I really like the Billo Rani song. Like many other Indians, the only game I watched was cricket, that too only the one day matches where Indian team is playing. And like a true patriot, I don’t miss the India vs Pakistan match. If you had asked me in Feb 2011, I would have said that Football is match with a team called Liverpool (I gathered this info strategically from him so that I could gift him a Liverpool accessory For Valentine’ day). But after getting married and buying a TV set, my notions about Football changed. Thanks to hubby, I started watching with him, gave it a chance, trying to understand why people (from a country where hockey is the national sport and cricket is a religion) are so crazy about football.

Reason why I watched

However compatible you are in your relationship, there is got to be some stuffs that are different. I was just being nice by getting involved in his hobbies(yes that’s me J ). You might have already learnt that I am more of an illiterate when it comes to sports. The only game I played at home with neighbors was what I call jibli (a game where you draw squares on the ground and jump with only one leg). Other one was the ring you throw and catch. At school, everyone used to praise me for my intelligence and would make me the umpire for each and every game (read: please don’t be a part of our team otherwise we are going to lose). And in running race, I was consistently the last. And my hubby is really good in sports, games, drawing, painting, singing, dancing, organizing programs (I think it is a high time I should start maintaining a rule of not praising my hubby in my blog). So basically, ‘he loves sports’ is what I actually meant. So even though I was getting bored, I watched two full matches which he insisted me to watch.

Discovery

Football is actually a better concept than cricket. Cricket fans I repeat - concept. I like all mind games. In football, I liked the concept where if you know how to manipulate the defender about the course of the football, you can actually do great. The spontaneity, quick reactions and a smart brain with speed is needed to win. But in cricket it is more of a hit-the-ball-and-you-can’t-take-it-back concept. Football doesn’t waste much of your time. 90 minutes and you are done. But if you are watching cricket, you will waste a lot of time. In football, all the team members have to be equally good but in cricket it is not so. I can say that I am happier that my husband is crazy about football and not cricket but I will not.

Clueless

Even after doing such a marvelous discovery, I am still clueless about the obsession people have for those football teams. When I asked hubby why none of his friends are Liverpool fans, he said ‘I am loyal to my team, unlike them who change their team like they change their clothes’. I was indifferent to the teams when I watched. I liked some tricks some players used to make a goal. Man, they were really difficult and smart. After watching a few matches I found a difference in the way each team played. Liverpool is okay (read not a very impressive team), Manchester United is too aggressive and Chelsea is good. Don’t ask me why but I started having a soft corner for Swansea. I don’t watch their matches particularly and I don’t follow them like others do. If I have to support some team then I would support Swansea. Still I am not crazy about Swansea like hubby is about Liverpool. If Liverpool vs. Swansea match is going on, I badly wish for Liverpool to win. If Liverpool loses, he will be upset the whole day and it is very difficult to cheer him up.

The major signs of madness

I have already said that I got this gyaan after watching 2 matches. Unfortunately, Liverpool won both the matches. Now hubby has become superstitious that if I watch, Liverpool wins. So now he badly urges me to watch the match.

Vinnaythaandi varuvaaya is his favorite Tamil movie. It was decided to be remade in Hindi with the title Ek Deewana Tha. The actress has become famous in South India with her Tamil films so she was chosen. But my hubby likes her just because she is from Liverpool, England! Can you believe that? I wonder if he can point out Liverpool in the world map.

Now let me come to the height of madness. I really enjoyed one match for the obvious reasons- the goals were very difficult and smartly played, 2 goals (by winning team) in first 10 minutes, 2 goals by the losing team in the next 65 minutes and an unexpected beautiful goal in the last 15 minutes by the winning team. FYI, Liverpool is the winning team (as if I care). I made a mistake of uploading status on Facebook saying I enjoyed the match and I was loaded with replies advising me not to follow Liverpool!

The fun part

Frankly I like watching the FIFA football computer game he plays. It is more fun as hubby controls it; the players actually look like the real players. It is fascinating how the programmers might have coded the game to make it look so real. The players even react to goals and red cards like in a real match. It is because of that game that I know the players by name. The names of the players are displayed at the bottom of the screen when the match is going on (I tend to get irritated to watch a real match as the players name are not displayed there). For me, I saw the cartoon characters first and then I had to guess who the player is when shown in real on TV. But while watching a football match, it is more fun to watch him than the match. He is normally quite calm most of the time but while watching a football match, he will get furious, will overreact, will curse the coach, will act like a coach himself, will say ‘Come on guys, you are doing good.’ And clap in encouragement as if they can actually see him, swearing words to a player who is not that good saying which idiot added him to Liverpool team and may other stuffs. I watch him and laugh secretly. Whenever Liverpool scores a goal, so many bad words come against the other team, the F word being one of the important words and if the other team scores, it gets worse. If a player does something wrong, the comments will be like kassa mare, konal anna ditta re (meaning what the F are you doing, why the F did you pass the ball to the other team)!

After all this, I have lost interest in football and the only stuffs I care to watch are the highlights showing the goals. But at times I still wonder, why this football madness?

The Moment You Told Me

2012-05-13T20:26:00.000+05:30

Never had I ever dreamt about this,

I feel like I have worn rose glasses!

Life neva seemed so beautiful,

Everthing changed, the moment you told me..

I've changed so much myself,

I just cannot believe,

This tomboyish gal is now so girlish,

Feeling so beautiful like never before..

Every sun ray seems warmer,

Every flower look more beautiful,

Everyone looks so cheerful,

From the moment you told me..

When fallin in love or in your words,

Neva had I felt all this..

Neva had I thought

I would tell u all this..

I had thought in this new life,

I would lose my freedom.

But I'm feeling like a free bird

From the moment you told me..

We used to speak for hours together,

Topics used to pour in without knowledge..

Now like crazy we spend time in silence sighing

Without speaking a word over the line..

I used to come runnin to meet you travelling miles,

But now.. I'm nervous when I think

How to react when I meet you,

From the moment you told me..

Still I miss you badly ever moment,

And I always want to speak to you.

At times I wonder what is this feeling..

The feeling that is beyond love..

Had you not told me,

I would not have experienced this happiness..

I'm constantly on the seventh heaven,

From the moment you told me..

Images courtesy facebook.com

Our First Wedding Anniversary

2012-05-03T15:34:00.000+05:30

It is a really long time I have written anything here. Life has been too busy with lots of trips to native as well as racing to fulfill my career dreams. I guess it is also a bit late to write about this topic. It was last week my husband and I had completed a year of marital life.

Wedding anniversaries are really special to every couple. But the first one? It comes only once and it happens to be much more special than the 2^nd. 3^rd and so on. At least that is what I imagined.

The year

This year was more of a roller coaster ride. It seems like this one year has been very short but at the same time feels really long. Even after knowing him for 3years as my best friend, one year as my boyfriend and 4months as my fiancee, (full story here) there were so many shades to his character I had yet to discover because, all this years we were not being completely our real self. We were trying to be at our best and to impress each other. Now that we had started living together, it all had changed. There were many things about his character that surprised me and some that shocked me as well. I found him at his best in our bad times that made me fall in love with him all over again. Whatever was the situation, I always found him by my side supporting me. There were days we have fought (okay, I fought and he stayed silent) but it ends making our bond stronger than before. So overall the year was great!

The day

As we both had fever a few days back, I had expected the day to be dull. I opened my eyes in the morning and was so impatient to start the day so tried to wake him up but he was not done with his share of sleep and curled up the other side covering his eyes with the quilt to block the light. I was debating from 3 days on when to give him the gifts. But now, jealous of him, I suddenly pulled the quilt off the bed to which he grumbled and gestured me to go away. Excited that I was able to irritate him, I took out one gift and gave it to him. Now no excuse. He has to get up. He just opened a corner of his eye to see if I am just using another prank to wake him up. Realizing I was telling the truth, he jumped up, sat cross-legged and stared at the box I gave him. He asked 'You made this cover?' and I nodded.

I had started making it a day before. Crazy about crafting, I have always given him handmade cards for Valentine’s Day, his birthday etc. But this time he had least expected that this would be one of my crafting projects for the day. My mom had once complimented my perfection at the crafts that I have to gift wrap the waste paper pieces and give him to make him realize that I have made it so that he doesn’t mistake it for a card I bought from a gift shop(I know it is too much for a compliment). I guess it is called a magic exploding box. When you open it, it falls apart like an explosion to reveal what is inside.

I had got this idea from the internet. It took me around 3 hrs to complete it. I had wanted to add many more stuffs but the after effects of fever the previous day had stopped me. But still I was happy with the outcome and he was happy with it too. It was a pleasant surprise for him and his priceless expression clearly said he loved it. I felt that seeing it the first thing in the morning had really had an extra impact.

I had actually expected him to not get any gift for me because his fever was severe and he was still very weak. But to my surprise he took out packet from his bag. I guessed it was a dress or something but it ended up to be a peacock color silk saree which I had always wanted. When I had thought that this was it, he handed me a small box. When I opened it, I couldn’t believe my eyes. A pair of daily-wear gold earrings (I have worn in the above pic) which I was planning to buy from a month. With so much weakness, I had least expected that he would get anything. But this was the best gift ever (not because it is gold).

Too weak to go out for lunch, we decided to get something from out and eat at home. At around 1pm, it started raining cats and dogs and power supply was irregular. For dinner, I had planned a quality time at home with him. I had decorated our house with candles and turned on a slide show of photos we had taken together post wedding on the 32 inch TV with slow romantic background music. And we had candle-light dinner. The menu included sweet corn soup, masala papad, chicken chilly, chicken curry, basmati rice and gulab jamun all prepared by me (Yup! I am good). We also cut a chocolate raffle cake and at the end, I gave my second gift- a DVD player with gaming remote. This dvd player has solved our problem of watching movies on TV from USB. His excitement was worth watching as this was the first electronic gadget he got as a gift from me.

Thus even though we both were really weak, the day ended up to be one of the most memorable days. And for my hubby, all I have to say is that ‘Who said you fall in love only once in a lifetime? I have fallen for you like a zillion times!’.

P.S.: To know more about how men should tackle their married life with extreme ease and confidence, check my hubby's post on wedding anniversary.

Music Please!!!

2011-12-07T16:19:00.001+05:30

One afternoon, I felt a sudden urge of listening to some new song which I never heard and turned on the TV. I knew where my favorite Channel V was and hit the buttons 7 and 4. Some daily soap based on college was going on. The last time I used to watch TV regularly was till January 2010. I had heard that people change with time. Channels changing with time is a new thing. Okay Mtv is still alive so tuned on to it and voila! Three gals and one guy were sitting together on some large sofa-like thingy and shouting bad words at each other and to a gal. Her eyes were surrounded by what looked like dark circles of weird colour. I realized that it was her tears that had mixed with her hideous make-up which had made that innocent looking gal look no better than Rakhi Sawant. She was standing facing them like she was the accused in a court. After watching for a couple of minutes, I came to know that the guy who looked more like a school boy with spikes and an artificial goat beard and supposed-to-be cool clothes was the King. You can find him now in a soap advertisement where he stands on the top of a waterfall and drops the brand new soap into the water below. Then he makes a great diving and finds that soap from under the water and has his bath. The gals with mini-skirts sitting with him and looked more like his baby-sitters were his Queens. And they were discussing about eliminating the gal they are speaking bad words about. I was losing hopes so went to UTV Bindaas and the good old Emotional Attyachaar ka nth season was going on.

I checked in the newspaper for the list of programmes on these three channels. I saw something called Mtv Grind. Last time I had got a chance to watch TV, I had watched a music programme with the similar name. After waiting for it forever, it started. Some familiar Mahiya song was going on and there were the squeaky VJ Anusha and trying-badly-o-be-cool-dude VJ Ayushmaan half dancing to the tunes of that song and telling us to let the party groove or something. Then the show started. Around 30 skinny gals in negligees were dancing indecently to the song and the camera was focusing on what they were wearing! Obviously I felt like WTH. It went on for 30 minutes. What on earth has happened to the music channels? There is so much to tell so I think I will make a list of the programmes that are originally ridiculous and become double ridiculous as they don’t really fit in as music programmes.

Competition type with vote-out/eliminations

Roadies

A reality show with nothing related to music. Foul language is like an important part of the show. At least one among the top five contestants doesn’t know to either ride a bike or drive. Then on what basis are they selected? May be on how they face the two angry bald heads who love insulting them on National TV. But that doesn’t get them anywhere near the title Roadies! Do not even ask about the tasks.

Splitsvilla

As everyone knows, it is all about falling in love or rather pretending to be in love and then dumping the person. Crazy as it gets, it will always be the guy for whom the gals will be fighting for. Like a male dominating world, this is a male dominated game with power only in the guy’s hands. Clearly the winner is always the one who manipulates the dumb guy with power the best. Tasks include seducing the guys, impressing the guys etc. Skimpy clothes are a must for the gals. And there is a bajathe raho session where only the gals will be in the receiving end of the insults. Again, if you don’t know to use the right foul language, you are out of the show.

Don't-know-what type

Grind

Okay here there is some music. But as I said, most of the songs are the ones which used to be favourites long back but now it is become boring due to listening to it almost everywhere. Plus the video has unknown gals wearing almost nothing and dancing vigorously. The camera keeps focusing on their dress. I hope you got the meaning. Then from nowhere a male VJ will come and start dancing with the gals. This part of the video is pointed out as ‘The AXE EFFECT Moment’! I can’t decide which emotion to show.

Serials

Humse hai Life

A serial based on college life. Looks like the director and the actors are trying really hard to make it one like Just Mohabbat but in vain.

Dil Dosti Dance (D3)

New concept of making the dancers act in the serial. Combination of a senior Just-Mohabbat-creating-desperation and amazing dance. But why are serials in music channels?

Real reality shows

Love kiya toh darna kya

Two lovers are trying to tell their parents about their love in front of the National Television. I am sorry to say that making our pyaar yaadgaar for the duniya looks good only in films where the hero and heroine will be playing hide and seek in the pine forests of Ooty. But to an extent, this show is Okay. It only got worse when it was a gay couple convincing their parents that they should let them get married just like how it would be if it was a gal. I agree it is their choice. But their parents will never behave with their son’s boyfriend like they would to their daughter-in-law. Ridiculous expectations!

Emotional Attyachaar

Someone (referred as victim) suspects his/her partner (referred as suspect). The team of the show will send a person (opposite sex of the suspect) and the person will seduce the suspect. Mind you, this person is clearly shown on the National Television. The team including a long-forgotten-celebrity will analyse the heights of the suspect ‘taking chance’ with the person to decide if the suspect is good to be a life-partner to the victim. Now this long forgotten celebrity will be someone who has had so many relationships in his/her life that it might be difficult for him/her to count. But here the celebrity will be speaking about how bad is to cheat on a partner and how infidelity is bad for the victim etc. The celebrity will also try to make the suspect understand the intensity of the crime the suspect has committed.

Axe your ex

Another reality show that gets literally real. Here you can take revenge on your ex for dumping you. Simple, right? No, it is not! The guy or gal who is dumped gives audition there first. If their story seems convincing, they will investigate about both the dumper and the dumped person and meet their friends and decide whether the dumper actually cheated the person. Now there are two possibilities. If the story is true, the one who dumped this person will receive a few days of public humiliation, will get suspected for crimes like theft or murder and later will know that it was a prank. If the story is the other way round then the one who gave the auditions will have to suffer the same humiliation. My question to the organizers of the show is, how can they decide who says the truth? They investigate with their friends. There are many people out there (like me) who are reserved and don’t have friends whom they tell about their relationship. I can come up with some situations where a normal person who doesn’t deserve any of this humiliation will get trapped.

Situation #1: Suppose he/she has dumped their partner because the other one is too possessive. Of course the partner is too much in love but possessiveness will lead to suffocation in the relationship.

Situation #2: If the partner doubts you for speaking to any person of the opposite sex to a really bad extent, you will have to stop dating that person.

Situation #3: If the gal comes to know that her boyfriend blindly follows his parents’ wishes and forces her to do what his parents decide for her, or he himself is very orthodox or believes that gals’ life should be confined to the kitchen only and should not work after wedding, the gal will definitely decide to move out of the relationship.

Situation #4: Another common situation is the guy compelling or forcing the gal for a physical relationship so the gal will dump the guy. Luckily one such gal had good friends. The crew of the show learnt from her friends that the guy who wanted to avenge the gal had compelled her for physical relationship.

What if the above people, who broke their relationship for their own good, had no good friends whom they would share their personal secrets with? They would get a much undeserved revenge. I hope they realize this soon. Now let us give a look at the types of humiliations or pranks they set up.

#1: Getting caught in a theft or murder they never did. Mind you, if it is a guy then he will be stripped and beaten also.

#2: Literal public humiliation. Out in a shopping mall, the people will be asked to listen on to a microphone, and they would announce the person as the winner of the contest and big posters of the person’s picture will be displayed for all to see. The person will also be surprised to see what is happening. And then the posters will also have detailed explanation of what the person does. For example, in one show it was written that the gal uses boys for money and fame.

#3: Kidnapped by rowdies who are actors of course and will be shouted at and lightly beaten. His clothes will be removed. Then he will be dropped somewhere on the road when he is wearing bare essentials and they will go off. No money, no mobile, no clothes. He will be struggling to somehow reach his house but he has no choice than to go walking or running on the road. His travel till his house will be shot and recorded and shown on national television.

Now let us see the consequences of such an act. The person gets badly humiliated national television. Their parents might lose all hopes they had on their child. It might get ages for them to prove to their parents that they are innocent. The parents might turn strict, stop their daughter’s education and force her to get married to someone random. The person as well as the parents will feel humiliated to face others or the society. The youth nowadays need no reason to commit suicide. Rest I will leave to the reader’s imagination.

Steal your girlfriend

This is the worst! There is one person trying to impress their love, no matter if the person is already in relationship or not. If the person is already in another relationship, then the team will try to create differences between the couple and try to have their relationship broken so that this main person will get the one he/she loves.

Thank god there are some music channels like Music India, B4U Music and ETC where there is music going on. But is there no responsibility of the channels? I mean, can they do anything for money? Let me know what you think about this.

The broken cellphone..

2011-10-21T18:31:00.000+05:30

He used to smile my favourite smile

And speak to me all night long

When he would feel sleepy
I would sing him songs.

I wake him up in the morning
Singing a sweet tone in his ears
He would get irritated for a moment
And then look at me and smile.

I shy away and he grabs me
He will see the time and get shocked
He will get ready quickly
And will take me to his office.

I do not know if his work is done
But he always speaks to me there
He makes a quick check around
And quickly says 'I love you'.

The way he says it makes my day
I would feel full of life again
I realize again that life is because of him
And I wish this would continue forever.

But I was wrong!
I should have expected this to happen.
He got married and now
He does not need me.

He has thrown me to a corner
And my life is so empty
Now I only wake him and his wife everyday
With a sadness in the same tune.

He does not like the tune anymore
And never smiles at me.
It was too late when I realized that
I was just another cellphone.

courtesy by clipartof.com

The rants of a student

2011-09-12T17:34:00.000+05:30

Note: In this post, I am not generalizing the lecturers. I want to throw light on some notions created by some lecturers in their mind that makes a difference they don't realize. To my brother Ajith and his wife Meghna, I just want to say, you both are the best lecturers ever.

I had written a post on the lecturers who take revenge on their students. Actually there is more to it than revenge. When I was staying in a paying guest house, there was a gal staying in the next room. One weekend I had been to her room and learnt she was working as a lecturer in an engineering college. She had graduated just a year ago. She asked about my marks in engineering college and I told her the truth. Just have a look at the conversation.

Me: Don’t ask my marks. Really low. I don’t even have a 60% aggregate. Forget about it.

Her: What? Not even a 60%! I bet you did not study anything.

Me: Don’t be silly. I am not that good at studies. Plus the lecturers were really bad for me. I don’t know what they would get out of giving less internal marks. If they had not done so strict a correction, I would have got a 60% and would be eligible to try for many companies.

Her: No no don’t give me those excuses. There is nothing called good at studies or not good at studies. You people are just lazy to work hard.

Me: *rolling my eyes* Why in the world am I speaking to her! She is crazy. No there are many people who find it difficult to understand the subjects. There are many people who don’t remember things till the exam.

Her: These are the remaining excuses dear. Why can’t students like you just work hard? I also have students who just don’t work hard. They can’t answer one question I ask them.

Me: Okay, but what about the assignments? Do they submit them on time?

Her: Yes they do the assignments very well. I suspected that they copied from the other brilliant students. But they are so smart. The time which they take to change the sentences from the assignments from the brilliant students could have been used to actually write the assignments on their own. Plus they would have understood the assignment also well. Crazy students. I don’t really understand why they act so irresponsible. Don’t they want a good future? You know I have given them even just 2 marks in the internal examination. **proud face**

Me: I thought lecturers feel proud when their students get more marks and 2 is a really bad mark even if it is out of 25. What is she feeling proud for? What if they have actually taken a lot of time in writing assignments? Like me!

Her: It is not possible, Preethika. If they can work hard for the assignments, they can work hard for the exams.

Me: Oh my god I am getting nostalgic! For assignments, you need not remember things, you just have to understand the questions, make answers and write them in good proper and to-the-point sentences. What if they can’t remember well for the answers?

Her: You are giving the same excuses again. There is nothing like that. They are just lazy to work hard.

Me: You mean to say all have the same capacity to grasp points?

Her: Definitely!

Me: Oh god she’s so stubborn! She can even say that she is a guy to prove her point. Everyone is not the same! Some people don’t even need to learn at home, like my uncle. He just had to listen to the class and he used to top the class. Some are not that gifted. They have to work hard. Some don’t understand at all. The time given for them to learn is not enough. Some people won’t even remember what they learnt 10 days before.

Her: That is impossible. I have seen my classmates who never worked hard and never learnt a word but always got real good marks. May be they are the lecturer’s favourite and lecturers used to throw marks at them. What about those students who work hard day and night? Don’t they deserve better marks?

Me: Wow! Now I know why she felt proud for giving 2 marks to students. She was giving justice to the brilliant students. Wait a sec. Do brilliant students need justice with marks? Forget it focus on the arguement, Pritz! I thought they give marks for writing the right answers. Oh god! Speaking to her is like giving an oral test. The only difference is you know what to answer here.

courtesy google images

Her: But the way the answers are written will show how hard they have worked. Less points and just to-the-point explanations. If they understood the points properly, they would have written more. I don’t give marks to such people. Plus they don’t answer if I ask questions in the class. So I know they don’t study. Such students don’t deserve marks.

Me: What if they can’t grasp the points in the first go. They might be working really hard at home to understand it.

Her: Impossible! Neither they pay attention to the class nor they learn at home. That is why they cannot answer.

Me: She is impossible. Now I understand why India is still a developing country. Okay I got to go. See ya tomorrow. (I got up to go. I suddenly stopped at the door.) By the way, there is another possibility. You might not be teaching well enough for them to understand or boring enough to follow. Bye. *smiles*

I never saw her again.

I had thought that some lecturers are sick. That day, after the conversation, I realized I was true. The counsellor part of my head started wondering what was actually wrong with her. She might have worked really hard, has certainly seen many fellow students like my uncle and she is too jealous of them for sure. Plus to make things worse, she might be in a family full of toppers and she would be the poor student among them. (I am sorry to myself for wasting time thinking so much about this female.) She reminded me of a lecturer of mine. I have mentioned her in Point #1 of this post. First of all she had noted me and used to ask me questions everyday. Many students had told she was a good lecturer. That had made me excited. But when she asked me questions in every class, it became very difficult for me to follow her lecture. Every day I would be tensed that she would catch me. Thus I lost the track. The day of the result, she called me to her cabin and shouted at me badly. Her words meant I was irresponsible and did not have any intention to study or get into a good company. How will I if she doesn't allow me to. We all just need a push, a support to understand better and not get bullied and get a complex.

So my questions still remain the same. Why do lecturers act like they are giving marks from their pocket? Why do they act like we asked them to donate both their kidneys when we beg them for one mark? One possibility is the above. Other possibilities can be job dissatisfaction and frustration. Another lecturer was the one in Point #3 in this post. She did that because she was a tiny lecturer. Very thin and very short. The students will underestimate her because of her appearance. So she tortured the students to hell so that the students will listen to her. Basically, inferiority complex. But bringing problems to students’ marks and in turn their future is as bad as forcing them to watch yet another movie where the main actor is the music director who sings songs from his nose. Sorry for the cheesy comparison.

Okay now you might be wondering why I said that India is still a developing country because of lecturers. Well, it does not completely depend on them. This is the theory. There is a really less percent of people who work in the same field or subject they study. Even if they do, they just follow some three to four subjects from the entire course. It is not as important to take all the subjects that seriously like you do for medical science for the obvious reasons. Then why fuss about the understanding of subjects so much? Result is what matters because the companies will allow the students to write the interview depending on the marks. It is so sad that they see the marks first. Marks are all about how much you remember and not how well you code or test some software. I love coding a lot and I am good at aptitude questions. But I was not allowed to prove myself to them because of my marks in those subjects which I don’t use at work now at all. Now employment in India is limited. The system of grades is not good. But it is not easy to change the system. The only people who can make it better for the students who suffer because of the system are the lecturers. Instead of that, they try to play God and decide who is worthy of what and make them fail in finals. What would the lecturers get by giving the students less marks and make them listen to the word NO at every opportunity? Not everyone has a good financial support to start their own business or company. There are so many poor people out there. Some people struggle hard to get a job to pay back their education loan. If more people get financially self sufficient, there will be less people who are poor. India will soon be a rich country. I guess I am getting too much out of the point but at least on a small scale it is possible right? Why increase unemployment? Okay you might have an argument that engineers can get job anywhere, for example in a bank or a government office. I totally agree but what about those people who can get jobs only in banks or government offices? Is it fair to snatch their only job opportunities? And unemployment directly relates to India still being a developing country, which proves my point.

As I have told earlier, I am not saying that all lecturers are like this.These very lecturers I spoke about above are 'favourite lecturers' for many bright students. I also agree that there are students who actually irresponsible and don't care about their future. But who gave the lecturers the right to find or decide which student is like that and punish them by making them fail in the finals? Is that what lecturers are supposed to do? Give them assignments, ask them questions but why make them fail in the finals? This is a graduation course. If the students had to learn to be responsible, they would have done that before entering the course. Let them pass and move to the next year and get out of the college. Why make one of their own beloved hard working good student lose a seat because a lecturer had failed an irresponsible senior student for sabak sikhaaying purpose?
What do you people think? Do let me know.

My first blogger interview!!!

2011-09-04T13:19:00.003+05:30

My hubby's birthday bash had just got over and I was off for shopping for a trip to native. The next thing I remember is me packing for the trip. Travel for the whole night followed by two days of festival Gauri Tadige and Ganesh Chaturti had got me really exhausted. Got up today for a day of rest and suddenly remembered that it is long I uploaded something in my blog and guess what! I was welcomed by my own interview being uploaded by Jidhu Jose. When he had asked me for my interview as a blogger, I was surprised as I was just having a blog with less than 10 posts then. So, in that case, am I worthy enough to give an interview as a blogger? I really don't think so. Anyway, the interview really gives the feel of a blog-star. I feel a lot privileged to have given my interview as a blogger. Do check it here and let me know how you felt.

Thank u so much Jidhu. Your support and your blogs Reflections and Bloggers World have helped me a lot in publicizing my blog.

Here are some pics of Ganesh Chaturti for you all to see. Ganapati Bappa Moreya!

Ganesh at Varang

Ganesh at my cousin's place

Happy Birthday Hubby :)

2011-08-25T14:55:00.000+05:30

My husband's name SUNIL means:

Sweet
Understanding
Nice
Intelligent
Loving

Yes. That is exactly him.

I met him in college back in 2006 November and learnt he was one of the most humble, polite and down-to-earth(even after having a huge female-fan-following) people I have ever met. It took us no time to become best friends After enjoying such a close friendship for about 2 yrs, we suddenly discovered we knew each other's feelings even without telling a word about it. But the little doubt that it might be our imagination made us wait for another year. The end of the 3rd yr made us confident enough that it is not our imagination but seriously we can understand each others' feelings just by listening to the other's voice on the phone. We spoke about it and realized that we had got committed to each other. With the approval of our respective parents, we tied the knot exactly 4 months before this day (yes we complete 4 months of wedded life this day).

Today on his birthday, I wish him all the happiness of the world. I just want to say I am too lucky to have him as my husband.

Dark Chocolate cake.. Slurrrpppp!

Suni, I love u so much. >:D<

Guess what! My first ever blogger award!! :D

2011-08-23T19:10:00.000+05:30

Woohoo!! I guess I am freaking out! My husband, who has a beautiful blog (you can read it here), has shared his Versatile Blogger Award with me.

Thank u so much Sunil. I love you for this.
I don't really know if I am worthy enough to bag this award. Anyways there are some rules to follow.

1. Thank and link back to the person who gave you the award.

2. Share 7 things about you.

3. Spread the love and honor.

4. Award and contact 7 recently discovered bloggers.

So now I got to share 7 things about me.

1. I act too childish and keep doing crazy things.

2. I attract people with problems and I don't really know why. People end up telling me their problems and I end up replying to them what I feel like replying. Surprisingly they find it useful and they feel a lot better. The common comments I received are that I speak with lot of maturity and I can be a good counselor. Even though I'l be a bit surprised, I feel happy that I could make someone smile.

3. I'm too sensitive when it comes to movies. I can't watch tragic, scary or violent ones. I love the Twilight series, mythological, romantic and comedy movies.

4. Music is my first love.

5. I love crafting, embroidering glass painting and the like. I love to learn more of the sort.

6. I am in love with the idea of love.

7. People compare me with the character of Geet from the movie Jab We Met. But they also agree I am highly practical about my life. The reality is I am practical and I am not like Geet but there are some fundas of life (which I call high fandus) which she says in the movie and those are my lines she stole. I don't know if you have observed or not but the point #2 and #6 above are similar to Geet. She also says "Aage kya hota hai iska kisiko idea nahi hai; tho main bas vahi karthi hu jo mera dil chahtha hai. Kyonki aage chalke main ye nahi kehna chahthi ke Ji aapki vajah se meri life me problem aa gayi. Agar meri life me problem aati hai tho meri vajah se so I'll be happy! " which I totally believe in. And just like her, main bhi apni favourite hoon. If I am having an unusual exciting moment a very happy one; I like to think that later in life, I'll think about this moment and laugh. If I am having a bad time, I will start wondering if this time will really matter later in life.

If I keep speaking about me, I'll end up writing a whole book. So I'll stop here.

Well, it is my husband gave me this award. So I really doubt a bit more if I really deserve it. He might have given out of love. But I am truly honored and privileged.

I am sharing this award with some of my favourite bloggers.

Sid

Please don't go by the order. The list doesn't mean the others are not good. I just found these more versatile or they have already bagged lots of awards. I hope this chain continues and many newbies get more recognition.

Happy blogging :)