True Independence

    Come August 15th and we will be celebrating our Independence Day. Flags would be hoisted everywhere, in government edifices, schools, institutions, residential buildings, etc. Little kids would proudly roam the streets with the tricolor badges pinned to their attires. Patriotic songs would reverberate throughout busy lanes. Powerful speeches would be made by various political parties. The media would be addressed. Stories of our glorious freedom fighters would be telecast everywhere. People would greet each other with warm smiles and a "Happy Independence Day."

    But what does freedom mean to you and me? What does it feel like to be free? Is it a state of mind? Or something tangible that you can actually feel? My mother often tells me that a nation can never be fully independent or can never progress until the women of that country are respected, protected and safe. Are we safe? Am I safe? I ask myself this question and a gruesome incident that happened here, just as 2012 was coming to an end, comes to my mind. And the frightening thing is, the thoughts don't stop there. A barrage of such incidents varying in severity trickle in.

    Aren't we the country that deifies women? Don't we celebrate innumerable festivals where we idolize and worship these goddesses? So why is it that the respect is only limited to deities? Can't it be extended to living, breathing, walking and talking beings who have been given the boon to beget life? Even throughout our history we have women freedom strugglers who proved their mettle by fighting tooth and nail to bring India where she is today. Rani Laxmi Bai, Sarojini Naidu, Usha Mehta, Savitribai Phule, Begum Hazrat Mahal, Aruna Asaf Ali, to name a few. Then there were great women leaders like who inspired us with their courage and determination. Today we have countless women who have surmounted the impossible and achieved what we could only dream of. Be it in the field of education, entertainment, politics, media, business, science, technology, economics, sports, etc. They've come from different spheres of life, fought against the norms, refused to conform and accomplished what they have. On one hand we salute them and on the other we subject them to some of the worst forms of abuse. In that sense, it makes us the most dangerous hypocrites in the world.

    I don't remember a morning when I got up and the front page of my newspaper didn't have a  headline informing about a ghastly incident that happened to a woman. I've forgotten what it feels like to read a daily that doesn't have dreadful and horrible things splattered all over it. Hence I've stopped reading them altogether. Whatever traces of news I do get, I get it from sources other than these. Yes it is foolish some might say because it isn't going to solve anything, but I can't read another paragraph on how a girl's face was disfigured in broad daylight at a place that I've been to several times in my life or I can't go through the pain of seeing yet another important verdict being put on hold for an indefinite period of time. I can't stand it when "supposed" juveniles commit unspeakable horrors and they are just sent to a correctional facility for rehabilitation. It bothers me when people do hideous things to women and they walk away scot-free and also get a respectable job at a bank in another state.

    The day we address this problem at the grass root level, which is NOT illiteracy, (because literate people too sometimes surpass the rest in such grisly acts) but the mindset of people, will be the day of our true victory. The way they think and view women. I'm not a hard core feminist, never was, but when I got up today and sat down to think of design ideas that I could use to make a greeting for the big day it struck me how silly I am. To think that I could celebrate freedom in a country where we are still bound by such ineffective laws. Where promises are just words spoken to increase votes, where one shameful act after another are committed blatantly and we don't do anything, where the only response that a horrid crime elicits is a candlelight vigil or political mudslinging.

    I'll celebrate my independence day when I'm truly emancipated from the evils that plague the women of my nation day in day out. I'll celebrate my independence when stringent laws are introduced, implemented and executed with no delay. When little girls are able to play outside their homes without the fear of someone taking their innocence away. When women are no longer afraid to travel late at night. When the stranger lurking in the dark, waiting in the shadows, is closed in on before he dares to take a step.

Hey Soul Sister! :)

"A friend is one who knows you and loves you just the same..."

 - Elbert Hubbard

I believe the lines above resonate with many people out there who share that special bond called friendship that is a boon to human beings. That one person in the entire populace that stands out. The one person who is beside you through thick and thin, who protects you, who is with you when you're feeling down, who doesn't give up on you no matter what, someone who will have your back and keep an eye out for you. I am delighted to pen down my thoughts about the soul sister in my life, who also happens to be my sister in real life - Sabah.

We may be like chalk and cheese in our behavior, but emotionally we are always on the same wavelength. She is my shoulder to lean on whenever I'm feeling low. I may lose faith in everyone in my life but never her. She's my rock. I think God gave me a blessing in disguise when he created my sister. Our souls are bound by an inexplicable and unbreakable bond that is quite rare these days. I remember when during my school days, she was the one who used to stick up for me whenever I was in trouble. Whenever I was bullied by any of my classmates, she was the one who would enter into a confrontation with them to protect me. To this date she swears that she would be ready to go to battle for me if someone ever so much as laid a finger on me. In that way, she's like a brother to me. When I fall sick, she nurses me back to good health making sure I'm okay. She is my advisor on all things trivial and important. Whether it be what to wear to work the next day or how to face the problems in my life.

The connection that we have is almost cosmic. There are times when she says exactly what is going on in my mind. There are times when we say the same things at once and laugh deliriously after it. Whenever there's something that is bothering me, she comes to know about it even if I don't spit it out. We almost always have the same opinions about things, people and situations in life. Though we may tackle them differently, we know when to lend support to the other. In that way, we are like pieces of the same puzzle who are incomplete without the other. I feel restless when I don't see her. I wait eagerly for the time the clock strikes 6 in the evening and I get off work because then I'll get to be with her. As soon a s I reach home, we meet each other as if we were never apart. The whole house swings with our joyous banter. Our camaraderie is something that I cherish a lot.  Like a naughty little brother I pick on her whenever I get the chance. When we're together we paint the town red. We're sweet when the need be and can be totally badass when the need arises. We share laughs, hopes and aspirations. She gives me courage just by being with me. Sometimes just sitting next to her is like the best therapy to me. I can't imagine my life without her. I dread the day when she gets married and starts a new life in new surroundings. As much as I would be elated to see her happy and settled, there's also this little part of me that never wants to let her go because she means so much to me than she'll ever know.

I feel that it would have been an irreparable and irrecoverable loss had I not known that there could be a love like ours, a kinship like ours. I feel extremely privileged that I got an opportunity to express just how strong a friendship can be. A blood tie that transcends to a beautiful and celestial relationship.

http://www.womensweb.in/articles/soul-sisters-friendship-day-contest/

UNICEF USA: Liam Neeson's Plea to End Violence Against Children

Simply, Words...

Meet Me

Meet me,
Meet me when I am in the midst of my surreal wave,
Wash over my sanity,
I'm forever perched on the mount where need & want collide,
I can't find you, but you can always find me...

Hold me,
Hold me close, let me listen to your heartbeat,
The essence of your spirit,
The whiff of the fabric of your soul,
Celestial, colossal, binding,
You know I can't find you, but you can always find me...

Take my hand,
Take my hand & lean on me, never let go,
When in need of comfort & relief,
Let me be the cure-all you need,
Let me be your corner of solace,
You know I can't find you, but you can always find me...

Kiss me,
Kiss me & set my soul alight,
Fervor gushing in a torrent,
Ardor surging in the veins,
Let me drown in this downpour,
The one that leads to a sweet culmination,
I can't find you, but you can always find me...

Find me,
Find me soon, come take me away,
From the throes of this harsh reality,
For this endless impediment is more agonizing,
Than my unending abyss of desolation & misery,
You know I can't find you, but you will always find me here... Always.

(P.S.: The picture used in the above post has been made by me, from one of my favorite anime series_ Emma- A Victorian Romance)

Random Musings...

Heart

Muscle of endurance,

Pumping life in my veins,

Reason for my being,

Edifice of vivacity,

A child at play,

Erudite at times,

Temple of philosophy,

Displaying surprising naiveté,

Shenanigans galore,

There you go running into trouble again,

Innumerable times,

Have you been broken,

Still you refrain to grasp,

The self-centered core of the other’s whole,

Devoid from logic,

You tread on a dangerous path,

Looking for shadows long gone,

Searching for things never to be found,

Intent on recklessness,

When will you learn?

Ages of anguish,

Lust for peace,

Quest for the truth,

Desire to be loved,

Eager to be seen,

Packing bouts of hope,

Object of marvel, worthy of awe,

Rebel for life,

A shield that protects,

A vow of the soul…

Eat More Vegetables-So My Doctor Said

Thanks to certain political elements who believe that creating unrest is the only way to be, vegetable vendors in my vicinity have vanished. Poof! The few that had dared to stick around were driven out by other local people who thought that they were invading their posh locality. There still are some vendors, as me and my mom found out last Saturday, who have a specific time when they come out of hiding, and meticulously engage in selling vegetables. It’s all a VERY hushed affair. As you approach their half-hidden-under-a-veil pushcart, someone suddenly appears out of nowhere and asks you, “Madam, what do you want?” to which you reply your choice of vegetable and hope to God that he has it. If he has it, he’ll again go under the veil and carefully pack the veggies in a polythene bag (BAN? WHAT BAN?) And hand it to you, without weighing it. That would be the case if he has what you want, if he doesn’t you move on to the next cart hoping that there is a seller hiding somewhere. Owing to my uncanny affinity to bad luck we didn’t find any underground vendors and had to go to the department store all the way to the other side of town to get some veggies. Oh Lord! Sitcoms can be made out of department store scenarios. There will be enough fodder to provide for creative story outlines for numerous episodes. Most people feel an obligation to bring their entire’ khaandaan’ along with them when they come to shop, also known as- The Great Indian Family Syndrome. So you have aunties who forgot their grocery list at home (how convenient), who glance inside you shopping cart to remind themselves of things that they have to buy. You have a few more aunties who are either accompanying the ones mentioned above or who feel that the store is a battlefield and you have to push and shove your way around and fight till you get the right quality of fresh green peas. Then you have kids whose parents are clueless about their whereabouts. So the kids feel free to do whatever they want, including sliding across the polished floors, charging through the aisles screaming and shouting, touching objects that CLEARLY do not come under the purview of kid’s stuff, running around in such destructive fashion forcing the carefully arranged pyramid of tissue rolls to disintegrate. Then there are the senior citizens. My experience with people from this age bracket has unfortunately not been pleasant in the past so it causes me to steer away from them for my own good. They are the ones who test the patience of the salesperson constantly by making unreasonable demands. They always want that particular brand of commodity or that specific variety of product that is not available. And worse, they feel that since they are senior citizens, they should be given a royal treatment every time they come. And when their demands are not met, they go ballistic. Then there are those belonging to the elite strata, the quintessential snobs that come all decked up in jewels and designer attire suffering from a superiority complex. They feel that they should be given preference over other masses. They’ll have their minions tagging along with them who do all their shopping for them. Then there are the mawkish couples who live for the PDA. They don’t care about a dozen odd eyes lingering on them as they flutter around, indulging. They’ll be the ones lounging around the dairy counter sampling yoghurts and deciding which flavor to settle on. But will still end up as undecided as ever. You might also chance upon a celebrity sighting if you’re lucky. Then there are the gym fanatics, slinging their gym bags, totally bufftastic, on the lookout for all things organic. Then there will be the over-excited teenagers collecting party supplies for the luau themed celebration later. Then there are the mango people, harrowed mothers, desperate singletons, etc. then comes the most tedious part-the race to the cash counter. That is an entirely different arena of sorts requiring perseverance skills and where you have to be very sharp if you want to get home just in time to catch your favorite movie. A little shoving may become mandatory. The concept of standing in a queue and waiting in line for one’s turn does not get inside some heads. That is a challenge in itself. Finally when you get it over with you can then come home and enjoy the fruits of your labor. And then as the weekly supply of veggies gets exhausted again, worry about the next extended errand. Thank you democracy...