"Not-so-feminine" ME

Nethra.. Thanks for tagging me.. :-) And sorry for doing it so late.. Some issues are keeping me real busy since a couple of weeks.. So, I'm away from social networking.. Though, I'll be back soon..

The following are the ten Not-So-Feminine features about ME.. Hope you all will enjoy the read! :)

All people who know me well, will for sure not believe what I've written below, 'coz I love being called feminine and I'm mostly called so by many. But, all of it is true. Only my Mom, brother and one or two friends have witnessed in person what I'm confessing below. So read on.. :-D

1. I always used to fancy riding heavy bikes, in place of stupid pink scootys (No offence intended to the ones who ride any :-D). The most bizarre thought that caught my mind was a few months ago, when my brother was supposed to sell off his Unicorn, to buy a car. That was when I thought of approaching him, and asking him to sell me the bike instead. :-P .. Don't ask me if I ended up asking him or not. Read the 2nd point of my last post instead. :-D

2. I prefer wearing t-shirts (which are meant for men and thus, tend to be 10 sizes bigger than mine) and boxer shorts (meant for men) when at home, instead of feminine shorts or track pants. This is due to the simple fact that I always prefer wearing what I feel comfortable in.

3. I hate going to the beauty parlor. Not that all girls love going to a parlor, but my reasons for hating it are not  so feminine. I love being natural; without any traces of foreign particles on my skin, hair or nails. I'm the happiest when I haven't plucked my eyebrows, waxed my skin, bleached my face or manicured my hands for about three to four months. :-P

4. I like sitting like men, without any inhibitions. With hands crossed behind the head, elbows stretched outwards and one foot resting on the knee of the other leg. Only a handful people have seen me in this pose, 'coz I'm mostly pretending. :-P (Once in a blue moon, you may catch me standing like a man too, when I'm not paying attention :-D)

5. I love fighting with my nephew the way his dad (my brother) fights with him. Not that this quality is really masculine, seems kiddish instead. :-P

6. I have a rather husky voice, instead of the typical feminine sweet voice. That makes me sound rather too old for my voice to some, and too young to some.

7. I have a coffee mug which is too loud and bold to be possessed by a female. I had purchased it from CCD after having liked the pattern on the mug.

8. I don't haggle with vendors or shopkeepers for reduction of prices. Like many naive males, I end up paying what I'm asked to. That's sounds real stupid of me, but sincerely I hate shouting at the top of my voice and letting all around me know what I'm purchasing and for how much!

9. I don't have a craving for chocolates like many females. Instead, I hate eating sweets. Only when required, I can have a piece or two of a sweet of my choice.

10. Lastly, the quality that makes me feel proud about myself and for sure will be a boon for my partner. I HATE GOSSIPING AND BITCHING even with girls. I never join girly groups to discuss good-looking boys or bitch about girls. I rather hang around with guys or with girls when they're not bickering. :-P

So, these were the 10 'not-so-feminine' things about me, according to me and some close friends. Hope it was a good read. And, I ain't carrying forward the tag because it's too late now and most of my blogger friends have already done it or have been tagged by someone else. Adioss... :-)

3 things!

Firstly, Nethra ... Thanks for the tag :)

Here goes..

* 3 Famous Names of Mine: Pooja, Poo, Menon

* 3 Things that Scare Me: My Elder Brother(though he's not a thing), Darkness, Dogs

* 3 Things that make me Smile: Soft Romantic Songs, Playing with Babies, Eating Chicken


* 3 Things that I Love: (Since it's things..).. My Laptop, My Collection of Books, Tasty Food .. :P

* 3 Things I Hate: Unnecessary Attitude in wannabes, Being in the Limelight, Hunger for Power in people

* 3 Things I don't understand: Shakespearen English :P, The Caste System in India, My Love for HIM :)

* 3 Things I am doing right now: Thinking for & Writing this post, Eating Lays :P,  Listening to AR Rahman 

* 3 Things I can't do: Say 'NO' to someone, Compromise over something, Climb a Tree :P

* 3 Things I think you should listen to: Birds at dawn, Me..singing :P, My MOM..shouting at Me (you'll marvel at how much I can endure :P)

* 3 Shows I watched as a Kid: Disney Hour, He-Man on DD, Tom & Jerry shows

* 3 Things I want in a Relationship: LOVE, FIDELITY and COMPATIBILITY

* 3 Things of the Opposite Sex that appeal to me: Height, Maturity, Confidence

* 3 Favorite Fictitious Characters: Aladin (the one with the magic lamp), Mowgli, Howard Roark from The Fountainhead (Ayn Rand)

* 3 Favorite Hobbies: Writing, Reading Fiction, Eating my nephew's head :P

* 3 Beverages I drink regularly: Tea, Tang, Buttermilk (Salted Lassi for Starters :P)

* 3 Things I like about myself: My Tolerance, My Love for Mom, My Patience with Kids

* 3 Things I hate about myself: My Laziness, and thus My Weight Gain, My Ego

* 3 Things I'm wearing right now: A miniature hair clip, Shorts, T-Shirt

* 2 Truths and a Lie: I Love Living, I Hate Confessing my Love to Someone, I NEVER LIE :D

* 3 People I pass this tag to: Vibushan, Romeo Das, Sriram Agarwal

Hope you people do the tag, and pass it on.. Adios.. :)

Hidden

This post has been published by me as a part of the Blog-a-Ton 11; the eleventh edition of the online marathon of Bloggers; where we decide and we write. To be part of the next edition, visit and start following Blog-a-Ton.

Hari sat sweating on the leather couch, his pulse racing with every gone second. "Should I, should I not!" His thoughts were in a constant skirmish with one another. His phone rang; he answered. The voice said, "Remember, you are hidden, only some minutes to go!" He stared into oblivion for some time.

The briefcase screamed from the corner of the room, "PICK ME UP!", it seemed to say, "TAKE ME!" Hari got up from the couch.

He checked his tie in the mirror and when all seemed perfect, he shouted with all his strength for the one last time, "God, forgive me!!!" He started crying. Then, wiping his tears, he collected himself and started for the door. The briefcase smiled at him and wished him luck. He picked it up, came out of his hotel room, locked the door, took the elevator, smiled at the bellboy, reached the reception and checked out.

He walked some distance and hired a cab. His phone rang, it said, "You know what you got to do, ain't you?" He hung up cursing, tensed. He got out of the cab. Walked and reached the location. His briefcase shouted, "Not this one fool, the next one!" He stopped. He was tired of playing hide-and-seek for the past 5 days. He had to be hidden from everybody. But he knew, he couldn't hide from himself.

The train arrived and he boarded. It was jam packed; somehow he managed to get a seat in one corner. He sat, clutching at his briefcase.

He closed his eyes and drifted back into memories. His first bicycle: his father had saved for the money for 10 months to get one for his son; he rode on it for the whole day and had reached home bruised and aching all over. The first time he got burnt: he had accidentally stepped on  a burnt firecracker and his mother had shed buckets of tears. Praneeta, his first love: he had failed miserably to satisfy her for the first time and had broken up. His first salary: the gleaming sari for his mother and the coat for his father. His marriage: he had got married amidst a lot of fight; his wife was an outcast; but their love helped them win over everybody. The birth of his son: how his son resembled him was the hottest story amongst all relatives, still. And then, this phone call one day, on his son's 7th birthday. "Sumi, Arpan, where are you, Ohh God!!" he had shouted on returning back from office to home. The caller said, "Trust me, they are with us. Trust me even more, you fail there, your wife gets raped and your son, castrated!"

He opened his eyes, moist. The lady beside him, with her 2 year old son, asked him if he needed some water. The son eagerly offered him water from his pink bunny-shaped water sipper. He took a sip. His briefcase pleaded for some fresh air. He needed some too, he thought.

He came out of the crowd to the door and leaned outside. His briefcase breathed openly, quite aware it were the last moments. He opened his arms, looked at his watch, "It's time! Time to reveal the hidden!", he screamed.

11 July, 2006 - 6:35pm: There was a huge explosion on a fast train bound to Virar from Churchgate at Borivali station.

Hari, now unhidden, lay on the track minus his limbs, with parts of his briefcase and the pink bunny-shaped water sipper beside him.

The fellow Blog-a-Tonics who took part in this Blog-a-Ton and links to their respective posts can be checked here. To be part of the next edition, visit and start following Blog-a-Ton.

Love, *Conditions Apply!

This post has been published by me as a team member of The Rodeo Writers team for the SUPER 6 round of Bloggers Premier League (BPL) – The first ever unique, elite team blogging event of blog world. To catch the BPL action and also be part of future editions and other contests, visit and register at Cafe GingerChai

Love - A 55 Fiction


Love, *Conditions Apply!


“I love you darling, but…” It disturbed Ravi, the ‘but’. Two years ago, he had left everything for his love. The same love was betraying him today. The end had neared. After having fought against the society for so long, Amey’s sorrowful words pierced through Ravi’s heart, “…I have to go back to my wife!”




P.S.:  See what other "Rodeo Writers" have written for the contest: Nethra, Anney, Mahesh, Swathi, Pranjal, Arjit and Anurag

The Last Touch

55 Fiction. It is a form of micro-fiction that refers to the works of fiction limited to  maximum of fifty-five words. This is my third and hope to better myself each time I write one.. Read on..

The Last Touch

She kissed his palm. He felt the hot tears on her cheeks. They kissed each other. She saw his haggard face; and remembered it was time. Sobbing, she closed her eyes; placed her hand on his chest. The heart which lived for her was not beating anymore. She kissed his forehead for the last time.

P.S.: I was inspired to write on a theme based on love after I helped a friend with a post yesterday. Love has a very deep meaning. Love derives more meaning and becomes stronger once the one who loved you, leaves you due to NO fault of either of the two people in Love.

The second inspiration was this song, 'Unchained Melody' by Airsupply. The guy, in the story, had died earlier and had got some powers due to which he came back to earth, and the girl could ONLY feel him but NOT see him, even after his death. He finally had to leave the earth forever and that was when the song was picturised. Listen to it, and I bet, you will shed a tear or two..

RAPE: Death of a Soul & its Murderers

This write-up was written by me long ago. The urge to post it now was due to a heated argument I had with one friend on this topic..  

Death is described as the termination of life when the critical organs of the body cease to function after which the soul is believed to live on forever in the universe. In short, in death, the body gives up, but the soul lives on. What happens when the reverse occurs? The body lives.. but the soul dies. This can be better explained by somebody who has lost his/her dignity due to some unfortunate event.

RAPE.. A forced sexual assault by a person on a victim, involving sexual intercourse without the victim's consent. When such a heinous activity is inflicted upon a girl, her body becomes a burden because her soul breathes it's last. It leaves her bereaved.. bereaved because she mourns silently for her soul which gets robbed.. by some shameless zombie-like human who derives pleasure by inflicting pain upon her just to satisfy his unexplained monstrous hunger. She is left without any feelings, without any emotions. She does live, but a dead life.

The female could be someone who was supposed to get married, someone who was supposed to appear for her board exams, someone who's the mother of a kid, someone who was supposed to get back home to her ailing parents after work. I've heard of females of all ages getting raped.. from infants to 70+ yr old ladies. Not even pregnant ladies are spared. How much more to go? According to National Crime Records Bureau, in India, 18 women are raped every hour. The number of rapes a day have increased 700% from 1971 to 2006. And only 1 in every 70 cases gets registered. Why the apprehensions ? Why don't the affected women come ahead and bring the perpetrators to book?

Think about this.. Most of the rapists are people who are close to the victim. They could be the victim's friend, relative, uncle, neighbor, brother, father, etc. This makes it much easier for the rapist to lay a trap for the victim. The victim, in order to preserve the dignity of her family and herself, keeps mum. Add to this, maximum victims are from the lower strata of the society, women who are not well-educated, and young teenagers; hence they are not brave enough. Forget being brave, they don't even know what an FIR means! The rapists take advantage of this vulnerability of the victim. Further, in some rural areas, the punishment to the rapist is 'marriage to the victim!' I mean.. WTF?? What you're doing is, preparing the victim for getting raped lifelong. Now look at this.. a particular guy likes a girl and she rejects his proposal for marriage. What he can do is, go and rape her; the system will eventually get them married. Great!

Next, let's take the case of educated women, young adults and women with some power. Can they escape. The answer mostly is NO. Remember the Marine Drive rape case! We are expecting those people to solve our problem and give us justice who once upon a time were the ones who themselves committed this crime. It's like being caught between the devil and the deep blue sea.

Now let's focus on our media and our urban judiciary system. Imagine a victim who has gone through this odious act. She gathers some courage and registers a case. A trial is carried out against the alleged. She, first of all, is asked questions which are so shameful that she prefers to live her life in solitude rather than face all those people who know what she went through. The trial drags on so miserably, that, all the victim wants is to get over with it. The best part is, when the alleged is someone who's kin have high connections, like the son of some education minister of some state. The trial comes. Furor is created. Media-hype follows. Solidarity activities gain momentum. Candles are burnt. The trial goes on. Months pass. Years pass. The alleged is forgotten. What happens next is not known. Either the alleged gets away with an imprisonment for some amount of time or some compensation is given to the victim. All is forgotten. Again a major case of rape is brought to light. Again these series of activities get repeated. All past similar acts gain publicity. GOSH..!! Where is the victim in all this? Does anybody feel what she goes through when, she, day in and day out keeps seeing & hearing about her miserable fate? The only positive things that happen in such a case are that TRPs of media channels shoot up, people unite for a common purpose and; politicians, NGOs and Mahila Mandals get a chance to do some social service and get a name for themselves.

What does the victim want? Some peace. She's gone through something horrendous. She needs some solitude for some time, some months. She needs love, counselling, and NOT publicity. The relatives of the victims shouldn't treat them as outcasts. When it comes to the media, they should see to it that unwanted hype where in the female is projected as pitiable, miserable and helpless should be avoided. Solidarity activities without much fanfare are needed, only to generate awareness and to pressurize the judiciary system. Along with all this, she needs justice, without any loopholes to it. For justice, what is needed is a preventive set of laws coupled with laws that aim towards punishment. The punishment norms should be such that prospective crime-doers feel goosebumps even when they think of committing such a abysmal act. That is when the number of such cases would diminish and women would be able to live freely.

Increased number of NGOs, awareness about the available laws, is needed. When it comes to women in rural areas and slums, the governement should see to it that they focus on creating awareness even in the remotest of areas. When we can have advertisements issued in public interest for eating eggs & domestic violence, then why not RAPE? Why not include this as a subject in schools and teach 14-15 year olds about this crime and the mechanism in place to get justice? Why not forcefully get young females to attend classes for learning self-defence tactics? Why don't we have more number of female police officers? Even if you have one for every police station, that does it!

Adding to all this, some people raise arguable points.. One; that women should be watchful and avoid wearing alluring clothes. Two; that India is better off as compared to countries like USA, where 1 woman is raped every 2 minutes (approx.). As far the former point is concerned, aren't saree-clad women raped? Don't women have the right to freely move about and wear clothes that they wish to? Agreed, killing the cause serves the purpose; but here, the cause isn't the attractive appearance of some women. The cause is the attitude of the crime-doers who feel that they can escape with some minimal punishment. Some men think that it's something natural, something that's to be blamed on their hormones. How sick can that get! This is something that should be killed with stronger preventive laws. Considering the second point that India is well-off than other countries, let me say that any problem whether small or big, has to have a solution. Belittling the statistics will do no good. If progress is aimed for in every sphere then why not this issue?

All said and done, I neither mean to criticize any legislative or judiciary body when I say all of these things nor am I censuring the media or the power of people. All I want to say is, when some sensitive crime like rape is committed, why is it that the entire thing gets bloated up and the focus is lost? The focus is justice.. to the victim. And the harshest punishment.. to the criminal. All activities should be streamlined towards these two issues, taking care of the fact that the victim gets as much privacy as possible. Getting famous for some positive achievement gives a lots of joy.. But fame generated out of loss of dignity is no delight! 

P.S.: This article is centric only to one crime. I have full awareness of the fact that our judiciary system has to improve when it comes to not only 'rape' but also all other crimes in general. Also, I have covered only the male-female type of rape with full knowledge that it represents a larger part in the pie of 'rape' as a crime..

Sources: http://www.4jat.com/jat_community_article.asp?jat_community=149

http://www.global-sisterhood-network.org/content/view/498/76/
http://www.legalserviceindia.com/articles/rape_laws.htm

Target 17-17 in MBA-CET GD PI

Hi Folks,

The CET results being out now, the only hurdle ahead of us is to crack the GD PI and improve the chances of getting into a good B-school.

CETKING workshops (Andheri, Mumbai) help you do exactly that. With our workshops you can..:
1. Target 17-17 in GD-PI
2. Meet JBIMS/SPJain alumni who have been there, done that
3. Get primers/notes on all latest events & news and improve your content knowledge by leaps and bounds
4. Get tips on how to give a perfect interview
5. Take part in as many as 2 GDs in every session and evaluate & view 4 others (You can avail of 4, 8 or 12 sessions as per your needs)

The 3rd batch starts 24th April, 2010. So, do not waste time and CALL 9619599064 for more information and to register yourselves.

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BRAIN DEAD!

This post was written by me on 28th March 2010 at 10:30pm. After an irritating day and no friend to talk to (all of them managed to be busy at the same time), I wrote this. 


I feel like doing nothing! Tonight my brain seems to make no sense at all. There have been such times when I was all alone, fuckin' irritated due to some small reason, but tonight seems to be different. My irritation has shot up to such a great level that it has rendered my brain lifeless!

The words of the book I am trying to read seem to be like a dull set of incomprehensible black objects. My ipod looks like a slab of scrap metal and the songs sound like the rambling of that pestering landlady who drops in at your door every now & then asking for unpaid rent. The pages of my scribbling notepad have become 100 times heavier and turning them over is more tiresome than lifting a grossly overweight baby. I am somehow dragging along this slender object in my hand which seems to uniformly squirt some blue liquid onto the page as & when I apply some pressure and take it ahead. My handwriting hasn't looked worse! My laptop stands shut at the edge of my bed on the standby mode, its blue light flickering on & off, looking like a guy winking at me, seeming to call me to open its lid and flirt with its keys. It isn't aware of my mood tonight! The cologne that I have applied on my wrists (which I always do before bed-time) has spread its fragrance all over my body, but I am as indifferent to it as a mother is to her small kid who constantly keeps pestering her to buy the new toy he saw at the departmental store. My cellphone is dancing with exuberance beside me but I seem to have no energy or will to engage my left hand and a ear with it. My family is watching IPL in the hall but the sixes, fours, constant cheers and even my fave team Mumbai Indians winning the match seem to generate no interest in me whatsoever!

So, I'm sure now! My brain is dead tonight; the numbness and it's reason is unfathomable. The best thing now seems to be just hitting the bed and drift away into dreams. I hope my dead brain enlivens once my body has slept!

P.S.: Can you imagine I couldn't sleep as well. I got a call from a friend at close to 11.30pm and kept blabbering for some hours. He managed to uplift my mood and, finally, I managed to watch a movie and sleep off at 2am.. :-)

The Betrayal

55 Fiction. It is a form of micro-fiction that refers to the works of fiction limited to  maximum of fifty-five words. This is my second and hope to better myself each time I write one.. Read on..


The Betrayal
 Some men were leading her to an unknown place after having fed her well. They halted after some time and stroked her neck. She wondered, 'They take such good care of me! They seem God-like'. Suddenly she felt a deadly sting on her neck and collapsed in a pool of blood. She had been betrayed. 

Novel Ways of Saying Sorry

Just a few hours ago I read a blog post in which the author was unsure of the existence of best & true friends and I put up a comment saying that indeed they DO exist! I wasn't aware that God would reinforce that fact to me so soon. Towards evening, at around 6pm or so, a close friend of mine (a great artist) with whom I was angry since today morning, drew a sketch & mailed it to me, a very beautiful "I AM SORRY".. I was so touched that I felt like hugging that friend of mine. Now I can gladly say; YES, BEST & TRUE FRIENDS DO EXIST.. :-)

The following is the picture my friend sent me. I am sure you all will agree that it's a great sketch.. Thanks dear friend.. :-)

Review on Karthik Calling Karthik

Please click on the link below to read the review of Karthik Calling Karthik

http://bit.ly/9uEgQh

Back Again

It's been more than a month since I last blogged. It's impossible for me to believe that my studies could actually keep me away from writing for such a long time. 2 weeks of hard-core & sincere effort (despite deciding to study for 30 days) is what I put in for my last MBA entrance exam for this academic year. It's actually way more than what I studied for my final year degree examinations. :-P

The sheer fear of losing out on one more year, like I did last year, made me put all the effort this year. That's the only reason I stayed away from the internet and eventually from blogging for one long month. The moment my exam was done, I decided I would be blogging, just that I didn't know on what topic. Finally after loads of pondering over the idea of what topic to write on, I thought this time I'll just write and not think. 38 days to go for my results. Till that time, I have vowed to be positive about it. :-) And till that time I have nothing to do. So, I have decided I'll be pampering the first & second love of my life to the max, which without the slightest doubt are reading & writing.

After my exam, I treated myself to all things that I possibly could. Saw a movie (unfortunately MNIK), went to a nice mela with friends, ate fattening & unhygienic food, had lots of teenager-like fun there, ate chicken & drank like a fish at a cafe, shopped at Colaba, saw umpteen old movies at home, downloaded all new songs & movies according to availability, purchased loads of books to read, some movie DVDs to watch, and now making a list of other things to do as well. :-)

Yesterday, I purchased 'Wolf Hall' by Hilary Mantel from Strand Book Stall at Bajaj Bhavan. This was one book that I really wanted since a long time. And by the way, all bibliophiles, it's just 3 more days to go for the Sale at the Book Stall. I urge you all to go and give yourself a feast. :-)

Finally, it's getting too long now. And yeah, have decided to take part in Blog-a-Ton 8, my first; and other such contests. Gearing up for a long 30 days of date with words. :-) Ciao...

The Dark Journey

55 Fiction. This concept had really amazed me when I first heard of it. For starters, 55 Fiction is a concept where a story has to be conveyed in less than 55 words. I always thought I'll go through a couple of such stories first and then come up with my own. But I never got a suitable topic for writing one, given the word limit. Finally when I came up with a topic, it didn't even take me 2 minutes to convert my thoughts into words. Here's my first in the world of 55 Fiction. Enjoy.. 

The Dark Journey
He crouched within the dark space wondering when he'll get fresh air. The air was closing upon him to throw him out. He felt suffocated but relieved in anticipation that his dark journey would now end. Finally, he was forced out and he let out a wail as he was patted on his bottom.

Remote Control

Competition.. A race to be ahead of others can take a toll over kids/teenagers who start feeling that their elders who pester them to study are actually their enemies.. No late-night parties, no clubbing, no friends, no late-night chats but excellent percentages; that's what many parents want of their children.. This poem is dedicated to all kids/children who feel that their life is unreasonably controlled by their parents/ elders..

My life operates with a remote control,
Press a button & I'll grow cold;
Press another, I'll speak,
Slap me hard, I'll squeak.

Ask me to talk, I'll open my mouth,
When the need's over, I'll go to my couch;
Ask me to lie down, I'll obey,
I'll fold my hands, make you God & pray.

You shout, You bark, You kick,
You scream, I won't give a shit;
I'll watch all you do without retaliating,
After all, I'm not a human being.

Notification for my New Blog..

As the year 2009 went by, I came across a lot of new people, new incidents and new experiences; some negative, some positive. I realized, I learnt a lot from all of such things. If such learnings can be summarized into one line, I would be able to remember them for the rest of my life. I have shared, and will keep sharing in the future, some of such thoughts of mine in my new blog, the link of which is.. http://gyaanshyaan.blogspot.com/

Happy Reading..

And a very HAPPY NEW YEAR to all readers... :-)