Shades of Passion

Sherlocky style!

2006-10-05T21:48:00.000-07:00

If the title is anything to go by, then yes, you heard it right! I did play a little of Sherlock Holmes myself on my way back from Hyderabad. And the idea spawned from the book I was reading. The great Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Adventures of Sherlock Holmes Vol I.

I had nothing to do and the companions in my compartment weren't in the least bit interesting. So, I picked up the book on Sherlock Holmes' adventures and started reading it. One of the things Holmes insists upon a great deal is: OBSERVATION. How simple things lead to unraveling things about people. So, I decided to apply simple logic to things and trying to see if it really worked! And the first person I applied it to was: (lo and behold) ME myself!!!!!! :D

Now, you'd say why me? Well, the answer is simple. I know myself and check if the logic applied holds good or not! So, here's how I went........I decided to start with the most obvious things about me.

There was no sun in the train and still there I sat with a cap on. Which meant, I was trying to keep my hair tucked in. And that meant, I was not used to the hairstyle I had. A fact that's true. I am not used to this hairstyle yet. This meant that I acquired it lately and also, I must have
had longer hair earlier.......facts that were completely true! And trust me, I marveled at myself for having applied this bit of logic (I know I know it sounds rather silly, but it's logic nevertheless)......

Then, came my luggage. Nothing out of ordinary. A bag and a carry bag loaded with food stuff (thanks to my cousin whom I had gone to visit). Unlike many women in trains, my luggage was rather limited. So, I am supposed to be not very feminine in that way (a fact that I grudgingly admit to). Since I had a bag of eatables and wasn't really eating anything off it, I didn't buy all that so, it must be given by someone. And who else but a very close friend or family person would buy me a BIG bag of eateries? So, I was either on my way or was on my way back from a
personal visit. But since there was little luggage, the visit was going to be or was rather short (a true fact, I had less than 24 hours to visit my cousin).

Now, since I spent most of my time reading (or sleeping), I was a person who was into academics (not all books I read were Sherlock Holmes books :D)............

When the food came, I ate the food with militarian cleanliness and wrapped the aluminium foil so neatly that it spoke of Militarian upbringing (I'm not boasting about this!!!! My father DOES insist on clean eating).....

Satisfied with my logical deductions about my behaviour and things like that, I decided to analyze the people near me. There were five of them. But one person caught my attention. He was trying to read a book but was reading much less than yawning over it!!!! He had trimly cut hair (a tell-tale sign of Army persons)......well well, some KNOWLEDGE also goes into deduction! Remember, Sherlock Holmes has loads of knowledge to his credit...........

But his feet were rather smooth for a regular army personnel. So, he had to be in the non-field services. And moments later, my deductinos were confirmed when he took out a joural on ASC (Armed Services Corps) and tried to read it. It looked like a report that he wasn't interested in.
Since he showed little inclination towards reading it and was rather reluctant to sit in one place, I guessed that he must've finished training not very much earlier.

And I felt glad when while asking about when the Bangalore station would arrive, he did tell me that he'd finished training only less than an year ago.

Well, I was so delighted at my observation skills and their success that I decided to tell my dearest friend all about them! And guess what I got a reply as: Oh my God!!!! How useful these deductions were (with appropriate doses of sarcasm pooled in)!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :D

So much so for playing detective!!!!!!!!

A Nation Without Women

2006-09-06T23:01:00.000-07:00

I planned to watch this movie titled, "A Nation Without Women" some time back. Somehow that never happened. I heard people praising it, whoever watched it told me this was ONE HELL OF A RELEVANT movie.

But then, some people told me, this no longer happens. Women are no longer treated like THAT! And I think I did convince myself to a great degree that maybe, it is too drastic a representation of the condition of women in India......

And then, I stumbled upon this inconspicuous looking article, titled "Reality Check" in Sunday Magazine of The Hindu. Since I was home and had time to kill, I decided to read it........and I was in for a surprise!!!!

The article was about the fifty female fetuses found dumped in a well in Karnataka. I could no longer sustain the thoughts I'd had about the situation of women in India! Because these were not women the paper was talking about! These were BABIES who weren't even allowed to be
born!!!!!!! They were killed before they could even see the light of the day!!!!!!!

And the article went on and on about some SHOCKING attitudes of people in Punjab and Haryana. The one that sprang out was "Raising a daughter is like watering a plant in neighbour's yard"..........and I didn't know who to blame for such a thought......the dowry system, the mothers, the fathers, the people, the population, the ignorance at large?????????

The very same people, the very same nation, eh?

2006-08-03T10:15:00.000-07:00

Hi!

I'm returning after a LONG time but then, I guess I was boring everyone a little too much with writing so often! (In reality, I was off circuit because of this stupid UPA ban on blogging sites, one of the most illogical decisions I have ever heard of)

And this time when I have come back, I have things to write about a very touchy thing (that has always been close to my heart nevertheless): Barriers of religion, caste, region etc.......

I was home the weekend of 23th July and I was unfortunate enough to witness the live feeds from a 55 feet deep ditch in Kurukshetra where a 5 (turned six on 24th July) year old kid had fallen and was stuck for almost 53 hours. ALL the news channels were sending live feeds from the site and there was no stone left unturned (literally and figuratively) to pull the unfortunate kid out. Army, locals, special squad from Mumbai.......you name it and they were there to save the child. And the news channels were asking for messages/calls from the viewers praying for the child's safe home-coming.

And while I helplessly watched the child crying in the small pit, I heard those messages coming in. I heard people praying for the child. I saw telecasts from temples, churches, gurudwaras, mosques, town squares, streets where people forgot their religion, castes and prayed in unison!

The child did come home safely (though in trauma) abd all went well. But what amazed me was the way the nation stood as one in praying for the child. There were calls from NRIs from all parts of the world sending in their prayers as well! And this only made me wonder!!! Where are the people who kill each other in the name of religion? Where are the people who rape women in the name of communal riots? Is this the same nation where cities have curfews imposed because of riots over a statue being disfigured? Is this the same country???

Or is it that those handful ones who choose to create ruckus have created an impression in my mind which I am generalizing for the rest of the secular ones? Am I wrong or they are? Why is it that when I fall down and hurt myself, no one asks me whether I am a christian, or a Hindu or a Muslim and the first thing they bother about is seeing to it that I get first aid!!!! Is this the same place where people assit a blind person across a road without asking him a question about his caste or religion??

And when I go to my village, a dalit is not allowed in my house as I am the supposedly "upper caste"! Is this some other part of the nation? Or this is one of those examples of Unity in Diversity? And more than the reader of this blog, I am posing this question to myself! Do I even know that there are answers to my questions????

Pritesh

Spot the rose in the bunch.....

2006-07-12T01:26:00.000-07:00

Disclaimer: This blog, again, is a result of my discussion with with a friend about feelings

When we get bruised on the knee, we feel pain. When we get scolded by Boss for something we've not done, we feel anger. When we want to eat food, we feel hungry!!!

These are feelings one can put fingers on, we can name them. But what about when you've just won a prize you've worked really really hard for? What about a mother whose daughter is getting married? What about a Musician who's just finished composing a dream piece of Music? What about an artist who had been struggling with getting something right in a painting and finally, gets it? What about a mother whose child takes his/her first walking step?

In most of these cases, the only thing that come naturally (most of the times) is TEARS! We tend to cry, or at least, our eyes moisten! It's extremely difficult to say WHAT the feeling is when we go through situations we've always longed for!!!! It's an "overwhelming" feeling that is a mixture of God only know how many feelings!

And the reason this discussion came up was that I tried to express in words the feel I got after listening to the latest composition of my friend's. I called it laden with grief, pain and agony whereas he called it an overwhelming feeling that can't be described in words, Music being the only way to express the feeling!

In his opinion, the feeling is to be FELT and not named! And that set me thinking of those paintings where I have tried to name the feeling but ended up not knowing what to say! It's a little like "Spot the rose in the bunch that adds beauty to the bouquet"......there's really no need to do it! The beauty of the bunch is to be FELT and not named! :)

A beautiful thought......

2006-07-05T01:21:00.000-07:00

From an an article in Deccan Herald:

Freedom has to be properly understood. Freedom is not the absence of bondage, but it is in-spite of bondage. Think deeply. Infinite is not other than the finite, but in-spite of finite. If infinite is other than the finite then it becomes finite as it is other than finite. Similarly, freedom is not other than bondage, it is in spite of bondage.

BEAUTIFUL THOUGHT...........

Stop and smell the roses!

2006-07-04T22:19:00.000-07:00

In this jet-set lifestyle of ours where electric lighting is half our life, computers are companions, eating joints an easy substitute for cooking, we've probably forgotten the simple joys of life! Something as simple as sitting in a balcony and reading a book propped on an easy chair! And I had an experience exactly of THAT kind this weekend!

In the middle of a life of e-books, I got an opportunity to go to my parents' place and some REAL leisure time! The leisure of sleeping off at 9:00 pm, of waking up at 10:00 am, of doing NOTHING at all for hours altogether, of watching as much TV as I wanted (and I don't jump at this opportunity), of lazing around and not having to account for it..........sheer bliss, I'll say!

And in one of the books I read sitting in the balcony, there was one line that really made me think! It said, "Stop and smell the roses"...........and the implication struck me full force when I cherished these simple things in life this weekend.......

When you move too fast, you miss the scenery on the way! So, slow down, step and make a child smile at you! Stop and take a look at the ant-hill milling with activity and marvel at the miracles of nature! STOP AND SMELL THE ROSES.......

Pritesh

Art is a journey, not a destination!

2006-06-27T22:44:00.000-07:00

(Before I start my ramblings, I have to thank Ananth, Sujit, Saptarshi and Emtiyaz who've been great critics of my Art and are responsible for the progress I've made in sketching. I am beginning to believe, Good Critics play a role of a Good Parent in the growth of Art)

How would you feel about a chef who pays more attention to how a dish is garnished and served on table than how it actually tastes??? Or a teacher who's more worried about how neatly you write your answers in an exam than WHAT you write for an answer??? Frustrated? Angry? Well, I am one of these kind of people who fuss over the micro picture more than the macro picture, in Art though.............and I have to profusely thank Entiyaz for giving me those proper words, macro and micro, to make me realize where I was going wrong in my sketching! It's not as if the same thing has not been told to me before! But this is for the first time, Emti was able to point out to me WHAT exactly was wrong!

And before, I have had discussions with Sujit and Ananth about my sketches. And while discussing the Angelina Jolie sketch of mine with Ananth (http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/priteshdagur/detail?.dir=/bb73&.dnm=a365.jpg&.src=ph), this topic came up! What does one look for in an Art Piece? Perfection? Frankly, I WAS looking for perfection! And in my quest for perfection, I lost out on that factor which differentiates Good Art from DAMN GOOD Art........FEEL of the Art.........

When I look at a picture I plan to sketch, what strikes me is the complexity! Complexity of the strokes, complexity of the colours, complexity of the combinations....................everything else but the FEEL of the Art!!!!! What would the subject be feeling when the picture was drawn? Is the girl in the picture trying to say something? What could she be thinking when the sketch was made? Is she sad? Angry? Pensive? Thoughtful? Excited??????

And I'm not surprised that for a long time, I was losing out on doing good Art as I was working too hard at trying to eliminate the micro-errors! And one can never reach perfection in Art! Because there is NO PERFECTION in something so subjective...............something or the other will always go wrong. Something or the other will always be out of the way to make the Art less than perfect.....and THAT is the beauty of the Art! You can never really reach THE summit! And this goes with what I've written about maths and Art! There's no FINAL in Art! Art is a journey, not a destination! So, I'm trying hard to give up on my quest for perfection and trying to concentrate on the feel! Let me see where I reach!!!!!! Or rather, let me see how enjoyable this journey is!!!!!!!!!!

This one's a different India

2006-06-26T00:20:00.000-07:00

The idea for this blog sprang to my mind when I saw a very different setting in this very country, a couple of kilometres outside this "metro" Bangalore......on my way home to a small town near Mandya. And I have been thinking about it ever since! Which India is real, the India that I left behind, or the India that I came to live in????

When I boarded the bus, I had not the faintest idea that I was going to write a blog about what was awaiting me! So, on that fateful Saturday evening, I boarded the bus to Mandya. As the bus left the city (and the noise, pollution and chaos associated with Bangalore), the scenes around me started becoming more and more sparse. There was more land and less people visible. Green sprawling fields, small pumps spewing water for irrigation..............and I was feasting my eyes over these heavenly scenes.

It started getting dark soon and I changed bus from Mandya. Upto Mandya, it was all ok (I was travelling in a deluxe bus anyway that does a good job of keeping you away from the very world it travels in). From Mandya, I took a routine Government bus to go to the small sleepy town of K. M. Doddi. The road between the two roads was the first thing that struck me! I have seen some pretty rough terrain in Bangalore itself, but this beat all that!!!!!!!! No wonder foreign tyre manufacturers run to India for tyre tests!

There were potholes deep enough to send me rocketing towards the roof at times and the people around me didn't even seem to notice. My discomfort seemed out of place to them. Maybe they were all used to it, I wasn't. And much to my dismay, the guy sitting next to me could speak English, somewhat. So, his interrogation session started! Where are you from? I said a non committal Bangalore. You don't look Indian, I just flashed one of those "I'm not interested in talking any further with you" kind of smile (that weakly resemble a delta function in the parlance of Maths, existent only for a fraction of a second). But he was not to be discouraged. Why are you going to K. M. Doddi? I said, my father lives there. Oh! You stay in London (I have not yet understood what gave him an impression that I was from London, I wore a kurta)? I said no. It seems New York was the only other "phoren" place he knew about. So he asked, then you must be from New York. I told him no. So, he introduced himself, myself Satish. At this point, I had to tell him, Look, whoever you are, I want some time to myself, so please go talk to someone else!!!!!! He gave me a weak smile and changed his seat!

As the bus was travelling, I could see that it was pitch dark outside. An occasional flicker of light could be seen coming from some lantern hanging outside some house. Most of the time, it was a black nothingness seen from the window. All the time I was not saving my head from banging into the roof, I was trying to imagine an unlit place (with my stay in places like Delhi and Bangalore, it IS a rare sight).........and here it was, completely dark. A barking dog here and there, one or two people sitting on the roadside, talking.......and fields of sugarcane! This was all I could see......

And then, I reached K. M. Doddi. My parents came to pick me up so with a fast forward button, I was in present again. And I watched TV, and listened to some World Space Music! THIS was the world I could identify with more easily! It was almost a haunting thought to think back of times when I was travelling through pitch dark roads with not a soul around most of the time!

At night, when my Mom and I were chatting, she told me about how BACKWARD the place around is! It seems some girl had committed suicide as the people around termed her characterless and she won't get married. All this because she used to talk to boys studying in her class of B.Sc. Maths (yes, this place does have a College with a strength of 8000 and 15 streams available, but boys and girls are not allowed to talk on campus premises). This forced me into thinking WHAT these people would think of me???? I go out with boys to eat out, watch movies, two-three days' trekking trips!!!!!! Mom told me about how people actually stand in groups watching any girl who dares to wear a jeans! How they comment to the parents of "such" girls! It was nauseating after a certain point! I didn't quite know what to think of allthis!

All that came to my mind was, is THIS the same India that I live in in Bangalore? Or it's some other planet I've been transported to? In a way, I wanted to have nothing to do with this India, I was scared that THIS India shall shred me to pieces! Will think of me as nothing but a characterless nobody!!!!!

And today, I am back to this country of mine, with Internet, cell-phones, SMSes, "boys"......shall I call myself an escapist? I ran away from the India a big fraction of our population lives in!!!!!!! Which India is real? This one or the one I ran away from????

Discussions

2006-06-15T22:38:00.000-07:00

A quotation I came across that created an impact on me:

Discussions are exchange of knowledge, arguments are exchange of ignorance.......

Nice one, I'd say..............

Maths vs. Art: Objective vs. Subjective????

2006-06-13T20:40:00.000-07:00

The title sounds hi-funda, eh? B-)

I feel great about having been a part of this discussion. Not only because it sounds hi-funda but because this is one of my favourite topics. Abstract vs. precise.......

It started off with someone saying "Art has a lot of Maths in it but there's no Art in Maths". Now, the discussion lasted for aboutt two hours with two of the members against the statement and the third one (the one who made the statement) in favour. Let's name the ones in favour as F and the ones against as A. There were points after points made for and against the statement and I can possibly never remember all that was said. So, I shall list the most important ones and at the end of it a quote that sprang to my mind as a result of the discussion (improvised by the one who made the statement).....

The points are:

1. Art is supposed to be subjective where there's nothing like correct or wrong. There's only a good or bad and THAT too is heavily dependent on the perception of an individual. On the other hand, Maths is either correct or wrong. There's a proof for everything and the proof can be verified by anyone who expresses and doubt.

2. In deciding whether the Art is good or not, the steps taken while creating it are not of as much importance as the final result. Whereas in maths, the steps taken are of importance for they are under scrutiny and are available even after the proof is completed. Not only that, there may be more than one proofs and hence, every proof is to be checked.

3. There's this creativity element involved in Art that may or may not need any prior information/knowledge. Whereas in Maths, you need apriori knowledge database.

4. There's no talent needed for Maths, it's about skill and practice (something the A strongly disagreed with). Whereas for Art, there's talent needed along with skill and practice. The "A"s feel that there is something called an aptitude/talent for Maths too. And by the way, we ended up reading up a lot of definitions from the dictionary. I list them here as one needs to know these definitions before one conlcudes whether one's in favour of this statement or against it.

(a) Talent: Natural or innate qualities
(b) Innate: From birth, Inbuilt (without teaching)
(c) Skill: An ability that has been acquired by training
(d) Art: The products of human creativity; works of art collectively, The creation of beautiful or significant things

So, we deduced that there is a certain degree of talent as well as skill needed to be good at both Maths and Art.

5. Art has this humane element to it whereas Maths is free of that humane touch, Creativity being the only human link between the two. The "A"s strongly disagreed again.

If you read the statement, there's this humane element to it. "Art has a lot of Maths in it but there's no Art in Maths". The word ART there brings about the humane nature to the whole thing. What is Art to one is not Art to the others. I know people who call Maths "Beautiful". So, beauty can't be unless that ONE person sees it. So, if someone finds Maths beautiful, it becomes a form of Art. So, Art can not be free of Maths (for some people) and Maths can be an Art (to some other people).......

At the end of this all, I came up with a quote (with a slight change brought about by the "F" of our discussion Group and create a balance between the aesthetic and precise element of the quote).......

The truth of subatomic Physics is not Maths, it's Art

For those who wish to understand it, please meet me for a coffee at Coffee Board, I shall elaborate..........:)

Pritesh

This wave of strange things!!!!

2006-05-30T23:23:00.000-07:00

I couldn't help but write this blog which is bound to displease a lot of people, probably. But I had no choice! With SO MUCH happening around me, it's hard to keep shut. I have been voicing my opinions off and on but this time, I am not really writing about an event in particular! It's about the whole scenario of this day and age, in general......

What exactly is happening to this country? Why are we treading backwards? What's this uproar about? Whatever has happened to the collective conscious of the country?

On one had, the reservation issue! I don't think there's anything left for ME to say! All that is there to be said has already been said. And coming from me, an OBC according to the list Government has, this sounds strange. But I'm not alone. I REFUSE to avail of this facility!!!! Absolutely! And for those who are parroting away to glory saying that merit is nothing but lots of tutoring and stuff, I have never taken a tuition in my life. I did not study in a VERY fancy school. An ordinary Kendriya Vidyalaya (and I know many in IISc who have studied in Municipality schools in very rural areas of the country). There are many I know who were tea-stall bearers, boot polishers, part time shop keepers who have made it to the one of most premier Institutes in this country, IISc.

And what is this happening now? The country is going back to its pre-independence days when one's identity was one's caste and not one's abilities. After a long time, the country has come to a juncture where the generation is oblivious to someone's caste and religion. Inter caste and inter religion marriages are a reality after ages. People are moving over to the MORE IMPORTANT things like one's ability, one's determination........and then, here comes one stab in the back of the nation. RESERVATION........

And then, there's this controversy surrounding Fanaa. The reason: Aamir Khan having expressed his views about something many people have a view about. Why is this that the country has forgotten that Aamir is not only a star! He's a human being who has a RIGHT to think about issues and has every right to express them as well. And as if the banning of the film was not enough, his RELIGION has been made an issue. So, in this country, now a Muslim has no right to feel about an issue??? Tomorrow, a Christian may be banned from thinking about Narmada issue!!!!! What is this happening????

And then, I don't have to go far. In our very own "progressive" Bangalore city, Bangalore University prohibits girls from sitting next to boys!!!!!! The vice-chancellor says that if sitting next to boys is what you called being progressive, then, it is NOT! Well, prohibiting something that you can't stop anyway is not the way out! Will someone please tell these people that these archaic ideas died off with Adam and Eve???

Suddenly, this country seems to be in a grip of fanaticism! Religious, political, caste.......some extremisims are left! The day's not far when these will come to picture as well.......I dread that day and as an (almost) silent onlooker, pray to God for saving the soul of this country.....

Pritesh

Best joke I've heard in a long time....

2006-05-21T22:29:00.000-07:00

Well, I wish people would tell us jokes like these more often! (I hate being sarcastic but sometimes, people don't leave me with much choice)...........

http://www.ibnlive.com/news/devils-advocate-arjun-singh/11063-4-0.html

A protest rally, my first experience

2006-05-21T00:14:00.000-07:00

Well, I had never been to a protest rally! At least, not in the streets. This was my first experience. And limping forward with a burnt foot, I saw passions run high........it was a memorable experience. I shall not say much about the reservation debate as I feel that there's very little I can say and in addition, I think actions speak louder than words.

The rally was from Chikka Lal Bagh to Banappa Park. Chikka Lal Bagh seems to be the usual starting point for rallies held in the past. So it was for this rally as well. Most of the students present were medicine students (as made out from the white coats they were wearing). There were others as well and for the first time, I saw a good participation from IISc crowd as well.

The energy of the place was worth seeing. Most of the students there didn't need to be there really! They were already students of the Institutes they wanted to join. But it was so inspiring to see them worried about the Future of the students who were going to join.........for me too, I'm already a PhD student where I wanted to be. It may not really affect me. But I was there still. Because I felt the move is wrong. And I felt the others fight for the same reason too!

The rally started in an extremely disciplined manner with students moving in such a way that there was little or no disturbance to the traffic. There were onlookers as well as people who joined in on the way. There were people going off in between as well. But the atmosphere was charged. I felt the tension all the time.

There were cameras flashing all the time, video cameras were rolling, interviews being held, banners being carried......there was Police, media, ambulances, water trucks!!!! And there were cucumber and ice-cream vendors (they too made full use of the event with so many people in one place)..........and even a moongfali vendor........it was very interesting to see all this.

And there were banners after banners..........I remember some and here's the text .....

* Stop spoon feeding us. Let us stand on our own feet - OBC
* IISc opposes reservation, respect brains (I had part on making this one)
* Ab merit ka kya hoga?
* Next step: Reservation for SC/STs/OBCs in Olympics?
* Is it my fault that I was born in General Category?
* Students' Power, Nation's Power
* I am against reservation
* Forget about our dreams, higher education is RESERVED now

And some slogans were interesting too:

* We want JUSTICE
* Take back, take back, RESERVATION TAKE BACK
* Sixty Sixty One Twenty, ARJUN SINGH FOUR TWENTY
* Beke beku, NYAAYA BEKU
* Arjun Singh, HAY HAY
* Samaanta humko pyaara hai, YAHI HAMAARA NAARA HAI (excuse the mistake in this, the author of this slogan is not a native Hindi speaker)
* Desha hodya mantri, ARJUN SINGH KANTRI (I vaguely know the meaning of this one though)
* Ek do teen chaar, BAND KARO YE ATYACHAAR

One more notable point was the discipline being observed while the rally was being organized. The students were making sure that the crowd never strayed from the four columns they were supposed to be walking in. There were people periodically telling us to move in lines, to not block the traffic.

My hats off to the organizers of the rally......and I express my solidarity towards the all the students who are anti-reservation.........it's time vote banks stoppped being the deciding factor for policies!

That's all I have to say about that..........

Girte patte..............(falling leaves)

2006-05-11T22:37:00.000-07:00

I'm sorry but the non Hindi speakers may not be able to understand the post.......but I wanted to write in Hindi as the thoughts that occurred to me on seeing a dry leaf yesterday in Music Room couldn't be penned down in English (my thought language still remains Hindi)......

So, here it goes................

Har girta patta apne saath laata hai ek kahaani. Kahaani jo khatm ho to ho gayi hai magar chhod gayi hai kuchh sookhe patte is ummeed ke saath ki koi hawa ka jhonka le jaaye in sookhe patton ko ek nayi duniya mein aur suna sake har naye patte ko apna haal-e-dil. Bataa sake naye patton ko ki ek baar apni shaakh se girkar to har hawa ke jhonke tak ka ikhtiyaar ho jaayega unki zindagi par......aur koi wajood nahin rahega patte ka.............ki kaisi anokhi duniya hai ye.........jis shaakh ko paala posa jeevan bhar usne bhi kahani khatm hone par haraf palat diya..............bas yahi.....

(A lousy translation for those who don't understand Hindi: Every leaf that falls off, brings with it a story, a story that's over but has left behind some dry leaves with the hope that some gust of wind shall carry these leaves to a new world where some new leaves can hear the story of this dry leaf. So that this dry leaf can tell those new leaves that once you leave your branch, every single breeze has a right to your life........and that there's no individuality left.........this is such a strange world.......the branch that you nurtured will also turn the page over once your story is over................this is it!)

Pritesh

Moments in and away from the milling crowd......

2006-05-08T04:55:00.000-07:00

Time: 5:51 pm, May 7th, 2006
Place: Food World, M. G. Road

And what was I doing there?Yet another evening, yet another Blank Noise performance, yet another experience.........and here's me penning my experiences down, yet another time.........

This time, I have more to pen down than just my experiences as a Blank Noise volunteer. I want to write about my experiences as an individual in the middle of a milling crowd, busy going around doing its work..........

As usual, we all met up (stipulated time was 4:30 but I was late due to certain unavoidable reasons). The venue for the meeting this time, Barista, M. G. Road. And the moment I entered, I heard Chitra announcing that there was going to be a performance by Blank Noise. I reached and before I could sit, I saw the Barista officials walking up to us and telling us that such "activities" are not allowed on the Barista premises!

Well, this certainly came as a news to me that our "activities" could hamper their business in any way! If any of the readers of this blog get any bright ideas, I'm all ears.............

This time was a different effort..............compared to the last time. The last time, we realized that the people (particularly men) were largely unaware of the impact of "harmless fun" they get out of staring, whistling, singing songs etc.

So, we decided that we shall take prints of some testimonials by women who have written about their experiences of being eve-teased/harassed.We hoped to make some of them aware of what goes on in the mind of a woman who is being teased/harassed. And we were hoping to spark a thought in their minds about the way they affect women by harmlessly having fun!

So, there were these testimonials printed and folded, ready to be handed over to people on the roads (only to the ones who seriously gave a thought to the whole performance, or were curious).

After folding all the testimonials, we moved off from Barista and stood about 6 feet from each other, in a row, IN THE MIDDLE OF THE PAVEMENT.........And it was very interesting to see people respond in different ways. Here are some of the responses we heard (we = all of us, not just me).....

---------------------------------------------

"Dear Stranger? What does that mean? I'm not a stranger to Bangalore........" (I wonder if he understood that by stranger, we meant, stranger to US and not to the city)"

What are these people doing standing in the middle of the pavement?" (These were the ones who were mostly given the testimonials)

"Is this some sort of a Fashion Parade?" (Interesting one there.................)

"What is this going to change?" (Every thing has to start somewhere na? This is our beginning)

"They're statues, don't ask them anything, they won't talk....." (I wonder if they ever saw that we breathed)

"This looks so funny" (Sure it does, but then, humour is the best way to catch attention, ain't it?)

"All of them look good......" (Ahem ahem, I would want to believe this one)

---------------------------------------

Here's me at M. G. Road as a part of the performance...............

So, we stood at the M. G. Road, distributing testimonials and hoping to change an infinitesimally small fraction of the crowd moving around there. If not anything, plant a seed of thought in their minds.........

Watching the crowd milling around me was also an experience in itself. The plethora of reactions to our unusual setup was also pretty intriguing! The reactions varied from ignorance to indifference to mocking to noticing to curiosity to walking up to ask us!

There were some interesting incidents that happened there that made me think twice about things!

1. Four girls, standing in a group, giggling..........and saying things like: What are these people up to? Are they asking for funds for something? Are they nuts?

And on being given the testimoinal to read, there was silence that followed. And they read the testimonial.........the giggles vanished. I would like to believe that they gave the testimonial a thought. The look on their faces changed, from that of indifference to that of instrospection (I hope I read the expression right). And after some time, they walked off. Beyond my earshot, so I don't know what they talked about but they seemed deep in conversation.

2. One guy (walking with a girlfriend, arm-in-arm) refuses to take the testimonial and behaves as if he never saw us.

One of us was being continuously being stared at by this guy who was walking with his girlfriend. And on being given the testimonial, he gave one of those "I don't know you, I didn't see you" looks and hurried off..............probably because he realized that he was not SO right in staring afterall................

3. One elderly person took the testimonial and read it. And came back to ask me, how's this going to change anything?

Well, I didn't say anything to him but I think the spark has to be there somewhere! Only then, can we expect a fire to light up. Of course, there's dry straw (people willing to listen and respond) needed too, but then no matter how much straw you put, if there's no spark, there'll never be fire! So, this is OUR spark! And we hope that a conflagaration shall follow one day that shall consume this omnipresent evil named eve-teasing......

4. One guy took the testimonial and said, "Love letter hai shayad!" (and laughter followed).....

Well, I really don't know what to say to this!!!!!!!!!!!!!

But apart from all these, there was this undeniable sense of empowerment and self-respect that I had when I went for the performance this time. When there were stares, I could meet them head-on. Not only that, I could avert the gazed (it really makes me wonder as to how cowardly these starers generally are!!!!), could even make the starers hide their tail between their legs and run for their life..............

My gaze had that strength which was lacking earlier. If Blank Noise could do this to me, I stand to only gain and not lose anything at all!!!!!!!!!!! If I emerge a strong human after all these performances, then a good part of the aim of this performance is acheived!

And now, to my experiences as a person in the milling crowd!!!!!!

I have always been interested in watching people. I love those window seats (except for in a plane) from where I can watch the crowd outside. In a train, in a bus, in a car............and I always have wondered about whether I could ever get to see this or that person again! Whether there's ANY intersection possible between his/her world and mine! Whether that person is happy, sad, anxious, worried, sorry.....................

I may be termed crazy but that's how I feel when I look at people in general........and that's how I felt when I was there at M. G. Road.......I wondered when I looked at the crowd!!!!!!! Wondered if they had the same worries as I did! Did they care for things that I did? Did they even care that "I" existed? Did they know that I was an individual too!

Well, I guess that's all I have to say about that!!!!!!!!

Pritesh

Resources? Or the lack of it?

2006-05-04T09:55:00.000-07:00

The idea for this blog appeared to me while I was watching the practice of "Keys to Imagination" (yes, Yanni's composition) that is to be performed by our Institute Music Team on 13th May...........and since then, I've been waiting to write something about that!

When you want to do something, there are certain bottlenecks you come across! Resources being one! And the resources do determine to a good extent how and when you do such things. There are examples of people having made it really big by being resourceful. So, why does this blog feature? In reality, this blog is MY appreciation of the good work churned out by the Music Team despite the lack of proper resources in the institute Music Room!

When I sat through the practice day before, I saw the composition of Yanni being played very well. There were errors, but the way the composition was being handled was BEAUTIFUL. I have been a member of the Music Team right from its genesis days. And back then, the resources were rather awful. A broken sitar, somewhat dilapidated veena, rusted and unused drums, stringless guitars................and then came the magic touch of people in that room! Working together, people brought the Music Room to where it is today. I won't say resources are phenomenally better than earlier but then, despite several limitations, the kind of Music being played is simply superb.

There are times when people have brought their own instruments to play in the Music Room and somehow, putting things together to perform amazingly well..........there have been times when we haven't had either players or instruments for a particular song and that's when the creativity of the Music Team members has shown! Flute has been replaced by guitar, keyboard by violin and such innovative stuff.....

So, that set me thinking about how important resources (or rather lack of them) is???????

I think in the presence of all the required resources, one tends not to let one's imagination soar. As once my friend told me about a talk, Necessity is not the mother of invention, it's the mother of INNOVATION.........so when you don't have the requisite resources, you tend to somehow try to manage without them! That's when you start evaluating what you may have otherwise overlooked as a potential resource!

I have seen many many instances of this happening! From simple things like Mom cooking something at a short notice without one of those important ingredients to my Musician friends substituting an important instrument by some other one and still managing the song beautifully!!!!!! And even instances of people being really poor and still rising up to the level of high education despite all the lack of resources! There are innumerable examples of lack of resources leading to some very interesting results of heightened creativity and innovation.......

I guess, that's all I have to say about that! (Forrest Gump style, one of my all time favourite movies)!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :)

Pritesh

The rangoli artist speaks.............and feels......

2006-05-02T09:06:00.000-07:00

At the outset, let me thank Satyam for giving me the idea of writing a blog about how I feel about my rangolis. I used to write about my rangolis, but only to myself. And when Satyam gave me the suggestion, I couldn't resist (as if I've been able to resist the temptation for writing ever)........so, here it goes..........

How exactly do I feel during the process of rangoli-making? Right from deciding about what to make until completion? Well, it's a long process and I shall try to do justice to my thought process through the entire journey of rangoli making.......

Actually, the first thing that needs to be talked about is: Why rangoli? Well, frankly, I don't know! I started off making rangolis back in school , about 15 years back, when there was a small inter-school competition organized by Rotary Group. I had not the faintest idea how to make a rangoli and made a mess of something I planned to make. I don't even remember now what I made.........and needless to say, I made one of those unnoticed type of rangolis. Someone who made a "kalash" with flowers stood first. And then, I realized that neatness pays! So, the next time, I made a very simple but neat rangoli! And result, I got a consolation prize.

And time just slipped past! It sounds liek ages ago that I used to make rangolis without any finesse........anyway, after I came to IISc, I decided to experiment with this Art. The first serious attempt was when I participated in the Rangoli competition during Holi 2005, teamed up with Gowri. If I see that Rangoli now, I find it unbelievable that I made it, but nevertheless, I liked it back then. And it stood first. That was truly the first time that I felt I could explore this dimension of my personality......

And after that came a couple of competitions here and there. I won and apart from the competitive rangolis, I made some out of my own interest. Earlier, I used to make fast forward rangolis, but now, I have slowed down...............so, essentially, things have changed, hopefully for better.............

So, here comes my thought process while making a rangoli......

Step 1: Getting into the mood.....

Highly unpredictable. I never know when that urge may crop up! It's happened in the middle of the night, early in the morning! I've made rangolis at practically any time of the day. I guess I am very moody about making rangolis. Once that urge comes, I go over to step 2.....

Step 2: Preparing for the rangoli......

This step depends on what I decide to make!!!!!!!!!!!!! And THAT is a very arbitrary step......when I make rangolis out of my own comcept, this is a PROCESS rather than a step. I keep making and keep adding to the original idea, depending on how much colour I have left with me, how bored I am, how tired I am, how long I've been making the rangoli for, how much patience is left and such things.......

But when I make something that is seen from somewhere, it's a little different. I have to see the image and my first impulse should be, "I can't do it". And that is when I feel like doing it. And the barriers my mind creates work for me, the other way round, in helping me soar, higher and higher.......and go farther and farther...........I sort of rebel against my own mind's limitations.

So, once an image fulfils this criterion, I am all set to make that rangoli..........a sub-step for this step is getting the material ready. This is a tedious step as it needs me to go off campus, guage what colours I need, decide about how much of what..............oh! In short, it's tedious.......but with all the help of my awesome friends, I come out of this step fairly unscarred..........and of course, this step is costly! Every rangoli costs me about an average of 200-400 rupees! (and the priceless amount of effort)....but of course, one has to give something to get something! :)

Step 3: Starting the rangoli........

This is one step that depends on a lot of external factors! Like when do I get time from my work, when do I get the maximum output out of myself, when is the cat least likely to run over my rangoli (I shall elaborate about this later).........

There have been times when I've started at 6:00 am, also, I've starts at 12:00 midnight, at 3:00 pm, at 6:00 pm.............just about any time of the day! And when I start, my grahasthi comes downstairs! My stereo, my cell-phone, food-stuff, rangoli bag (trust me, I have a bag weighing about 7-8 kgs containing my rangoli stuff), chalks, rulers, broom...........:D This is how elaborate a preparation my rangolis need!

And so, the work starts! While I make the rangoli, there's a constant stream of people passing by! Some of them don't even look (ya, I raise my head at every single noise of someone's arrival), some stop and look, some stop, look and say a few words and some stop over, talk to me, assist me in small things! (This Group is generally of my friends in Hostel, and am I not thankful to all of them.......)........

Honestly, the ones who don't even stop and look make me feel somewhat disappointed. However enexpecting I get, I do expect a second glance at the amount of effort I put in! And most of these non-glancing types cause a dent in my spirits! I conquer it, all right, but it does somewhat hurt at that time. The ones who stop to look are the inconsequential kinds. The ones who stop, look and say a few words are the ones who elate me but it's the last category that affects me the most! The stop, look, talk and assist types........

It has happened that I have been making rangolis and my friends have run around for getting me food, juice.....attending my calls, replying to my messages, feeding me food (as my hands are dirty, I can't eat myself)...............these friends have touched me deeply! There have even been times when my friends have stayed up through the night (not exactly through the night, but ya, for LONG enough) keeping me company, talking to me, telling me things, assisting me in the rangoli.............and THAT helps.........I could never thank all my friends enough...........

So, coming back to where I was, while making the rangoli, it's more like a challenge to get the things right! By right, I don't mean that I intend to replicate the original. Just that "I" should feel good about what I have done.......and sometimes, I do fail miserably at that! I know that the thing I have made isn't what I intended to do but I do not go ahead with improving it as I am generally BROKEN by the time it's time to wrap up!!!!!!!!

Rangoli is physically very very strenuous as there are only certain ways in which I can sit/stand for getting the patterns right. And repeatedly sitting in those same positions does take its toll. So, towards the end, I start sort of hurrying up too.........

Once the rangoli is over, the first feeling is that of extreme euphoria! Because I can finally stretch myself and relax a little.........and then, I have to wrap up the "grahasthi" I'd have brought down. Once again, my dear hostel friends assist me in this! :)

After I'd have wrapped up things and would've clicked photos, I start seeing my faults. The initial euphoria lasts only 10 mins or so! Since I'd have been staring at the same rangoli for hours, I cease to see my mistakes. But once it's over and I'd have taken a "break", I start seeing my imperfections! And believe me, hours of advising by my friends and loads of practice has finally made me somewhat tolerant of my faults! Earlier, these small things used to cause me depression..........and I'd vouch never to touch rangoli again (silly na? :D).............

And also, there's this fear of the CAT running over my rangoli (a job so promptly done by the Bharani cat that I am amazed as to whether she has some supernatural powers)......

Earlier, I used to get majorly worked up about this cat business. But now, it doesn't matter. I have learnt to accept the transience of the rangolis. Before beginning the rangoli, I know what's its fate. I know that it's going to be swept off and adorn the dust-bin a few days hence. Quite unlike tha paintings one can frame and preserve.........so, there's this sense of detachment that these rangolis have taught me. Give things your best and then, let go...............it's a big lesson in life and it matters................if I continue to cling to the rangolis, I'm in for disappointment.....so, I have slowly taught myself to let go!

I guess enough of blabbering for now..............so, this is the story of thoughts of a Rangoli artist!

With this I sign off and leave a link for the browsers-through to look at the other rangolis of mine.............

http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/priteshdagur/album?.dir=bb73&.src=ph&store=&prodid=&.done=http%3a//pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/priteshdagur/my_photos

Smile always...............

Pritesh :)

PS: I havo to thank some people for making this blog possible.............acknowledgements are inevitable here...........

1. Kripa: For the photos, without her, the rangoli photos couldn't have made it to the blog........and also, for unending support during my rangolis.......

2. Sujit: For being such an honest critic.........and for those wonderful discussions that help me grow as an artist........invaluable stuff really...........

3. Ananth: For being patient with my rangoli stuff shopping..........providing the templates (my last two rangolis have been his suggestions)................for candid appreciation and criticism.........for lifting my spirits up when I was disappointed with my efforts..........

4. Gowri, Geetu, Anu, Sharmila, Rumz, Pachi, Rajani...............for helping me with various things at different times.............and all my Bharani friends too for being supportive and encouraging....

5. Karthik, Ashima, Shivapriya and Sathyanarayanan: For being the photographers of my rangolis at different times and dutifully sending the pictures to me.......

And to everyone else whose names I may have forgotten to add.............

Of pleasure, happiness and confusion...........

2006-04-30T00:53:00.000-07:00

(This blog is inspired by an article I read on dependence of happiness on oneself)

Happiness................this word sounds good! When you hear it, you feel good! When it happens to you, you feel even better and when it keeps happening to you all the time, you are on top of the world! And all of us crave for happiness. Our happiness is often conditional! IF I get this, I'll be happy, IF that someone loves me, I'll be happy, IF my work proceeds smoothly, I'll be happy! And when these IFs betray us, we're unhappy! Happiness sounds fine as far as these "happy" things keep happening to you. But what IF these happy things fail to happen? We become unhappy? In most cases, yes.

The problem becomes grave when these happy IFs keep failing to happen for a long time. We seem to think that the Universe is conspiring against us. We feel that the whole world of ours is falling apart. We lose interest in the most loved things of ours and eventually, break down! So, if this problem is so grave, why doesn't it surface in our list of problems! (We refers to us, the common people)

Well, let me state an example. Your work's not proceeding well and you take a "break"! A break could just be anything, a coffee break, a sleep break, an ice-cream break............and then, we feel happy. But look carefully, is it happiness you're talking about? Or it is just pleasure? Or is it about confusion between the two? (Hence, the title, of happiness, pleasure and confusion)

Most of us do fall prey to this confusion (including the author of this blog). I have had a fair share of this confusion myself. So, what does one do to avoid the confusion between happiness and pleasure????? Well, I'm afraid, I have no tailor-made answer. At the max, I can express MY view-point on this!

So, my view point is, one ought to recognize that there's a little corner inside all of us that takes care of happiness! Only that this little corner is overburdened by the heavy sacks of pleasure! So, dish that corner out. For this corner holds the key to internal happiness. This is that corner that brings you to an equilibrium with yourself, co-ordinates your thoughts and body, makes you stable mentally...........but easier said than done!!!!!!!!!!

This means, we have to become detached with things to a good degree. Yes, we can try to do it, but can we really do it? I guess, attachment comes to us naturally. When we've invested in something, we tend to become attached to it. This inherent tendency of being attached with things is by no means easy to get rid of! As I stated in my previous blog, it took me forever to become detached from my rangolis that I'd have invested hours working on............not that I don't feel sad still when a cat runs over it or when it has to be washed off. But I guess, I compensate for all that by counting the number of times I've derived satisfaction by looking at it.............

So, this detachment has to be taught to oneself and the limits may vary from one person to the other. Attachment is RIGHT, but how much and when is the thing that can save us a lot of externally induced unhappiness. And for that, one needs to work on oneself. We have to nurture that small little corner in us to realize that happiness is a state of being......only that we don't know about it as yet.

And an important thing to learn when we teach ourselves detachment is that more the attachment, more likely is the hurt caused by the attachment. One has to toughen oneself against the onslaught of unfavourable circumstances/people/thoughts...........

I don't know if I am making sense still...........so, I shall stop! :D

Pritesh

Beauty behind the curtains and flashlights!

2006-04-27T00:47:00.000-07:00

At Sujju's suggestion (in his blog at http://sujitkc.blogspot.com/2006/04/debate-on-beauty-pageants.html), I write today about what happens behind the stage in the Glamour World......since I have been on the other side of the fence for some reasonable length of time, I take this opportunity to write about what backstage is like in Fashion World. And again, at Sujju's suggestion, I shall give a very unbiased opinion of the backstage.

Well, my modeling days were rather nice, for many reasons. And horrible, for some other reasons. After a while of the fame and the associated glitterati, I got disillusioned and forgot about the whole thing. It didn't agree very well with my personality and I was happy walking the roads as a normal woman compared to being a model and walking the ramp!

The first brush with the catwalk in College happened with the Freshers' Fashion Show where I wore possibly the skimpiest outfit for the Western round. The compliments flowed in and I enjoyed the feel of the whole thing. It was nice to hear the catcalls from the seniors (I was in an all girls College, mind you). I was declared a natural at the whole thing! It sounded Music to my ears actually........

So, in College, just like many others, I got into modeling for a little extra money and glamour. That attraction for getting to wear trendy and stylish stuff (and getting paid for it) draws most of the girls to modeling. And at that age (17-20), most of the girls have a rather lean frame (which kind of qualifies for modeling these days). I was no exception!

So, I decided to try my hand at this. When I joined Miranda House (my College in Delhi), I was an extremely study-oriented person. Books were my world and Art was my window for exploring things outside my world. Modeling was something that never even occurred to me. But being in Miranda House makes sure that you get an opportunity to do EVERYTHING you can possibly do. According to my seniors, I had a good figure and I ought to try my hand at modeling.

So, I decided to try it. Just like all the others, I started off with Auto Fair (one of the events in Delhi that beings lakhs of people together). Daewoo was looking for girls to model (read flash smiles at people who came to see the stall). So, I applied and made it. We were supposed to report to the Office two days before to understand what we were supposed to DO (I write do in caps because there was literally nothing to do). We were given the outfits and were asked to report to the venue on the stipulated date at 8:00 am.

We went and were there, dutifully, until 6:00 pm. This was my first experience with SO MANY people looking at me with very different looks on their face. Some were appreciative, some were lewd, some were indifferent (these were the ones who intrigued me the most and I have reasons to believe that these were the ones who were GENUINELY in love with automobiles :D), some were puzzled (as to what these girls were doing standing next to the cars when they had nothing to do with the cars or their specifications), some were disgusted (these were mostly older Aunties and uncles who must have found the whole thing very irrelevant and out of place), some were amazed (these were the girls in the age bracket of 10-18).........................and many more.

And a few days later, I was recognized by one boy in the bus as the "girl who modeled for Daewoo". I can't lie by saying that I was not happy! I was on the ninth sky! For the first time, I understood the amount of fame that comes walking with the professions in glamour. Partly because you are so VISIBLE........and partly because there's nothing much that needs to be done (this was my perspective as I knew nothing of the rigorous exercise schedules of models, I was naturally lean) to look your best! Make-up and good clothes do it!

The fame did get to my head, for some time, at least! I did some amateur modeling for one or two small Fashion Shows. And that gained me some recognition. It was a dizzy feeling and I felt great about the whole thing. But that was after the Fashion Show. While it was happening, the backstage was a hub of activity, HECTIC and CHAOTIC. And stressed out!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I was in the College Fashion Team (called Silhouette). We participated in the IITD Fashion Show and I was backstage as well as on the stage! The theme was "Egyptian Culture" for round one and "Animal Kingdom" for round two. Since we weren't funded by anyone, we designed our own clothes. THAT was an AWESOME amount of fun. I think I've never been more creative in my life. We designed outfits out of paper, tube-light covers, polythese, card-board, brown cover sheets, newspapers, cloth.......................everything that we could afford to use!!!!!! And wearing those self-designed outfits was fun! And it made us all co-ordinate very well with each other.

Everything was so pleasant until the day of the Fashion Show arrived! We had some 15 mins to change from dresses from Round 1 to dresses of Round 2. Since there had to be a change in make-up, accessories, clothes, there was total chaos behind the scenes! There were angry abuses in the green rooms, shouts of disgust..............oh! It was horrible.

And the result? We lost some of our good models for the next year's Fashion Show. There were some very tall models in our Hostel. ANd they became the envy of the shorter ones. There was always this undertone of hatred in the green room while we got ready to flash our best smiles in public. I felt so hypocritic!!!!! To the world outside, I wore a million dollar smile when inwards, I was simmering at not having been made-up properly because there was this CENTRAL model who needed better make-up than mine. Those were the times when I experienced the first GENUINE pangs of jealousy. I wished ill upon the central model. Sometimes, in a fit of rage, I wished her dead! I felt tremendous remorse ten mins later, but at that moment, it felt like she was taking away MY moment of fame by being dressed and made-up better than me! I was not myself!!!!!! And I hate myself for those moments now............

Once we were on stage, there were loud whistles (I, fortunately or unfortunately, hail from a College that is adored by the IITians of Delhi), claps, catcalls.............even guys photographing us while we walked from the green room to the stage).......it was all very very flattering. Following all this, there were phone calls made to us (I could never quite understand HOW these IITians managed to find our whereabouts)............and it was like walking in the air.............

Then, there was this once when I had to opt out of a Fashion Show as I had this sudden bout of pimples due to an allergic reaction to some cream a beautician runned upon my forehead. It was very heart-breaking to be told that I can't model for that show as they needed a GOOD skin for the Show. That was when I fell with a thud to the ground. I realized the hollowness of the whole thing. How superficial all of it was! It didn't dishearten me for long though. Once my skin became better, I continued to kind of pull across a stunt here and a stunt there.

And all this came to a grinding halt when I went through an incident that was an eye-opener!!!!!!!!!! I shall not be specific as to what it was but in short, it was exploitation at its extreme in the name of providing "better" opportunities!!!! It was then that I forgot completely forgot about modeling! And then, one after the other realities struck!

One incident is still etched in my mind! One of my seniors went ahead and carried on with modeling. She once appeared in the all famous magazine "Femina"........I happened to be looking at the photo in the presence of one of my other seniors who was this model's close friend. She remarked very casually, "I think she must have slept with the cameraman and that's how she could make it to the magazine"..........at that time, I dismissed her opinion as the one stemming out of some bad feelings she had for this model friend of hers. But one day, I met that model senior of mine and asked her if what her friend said was true. She said, "Ya! But what to do, it's a part of being a model". This shook me!!!!!!!!!!

This set me thinking. Is it true? Is this flashy world that shallow?

And I asked myself, what about all the good things that "I" experienced???? Those times when we wore something no one else did? About those times when someone recognized me in the bus? About the fame that came walking to me? About that loud Music we catwalked to? About the besuty we used to portray? Was it all my limited view of the whole thing? I asked myself if I failed to see the REAL part of it??????

I am still struggling with these questions..............as they say, I'm only human. I can't untangle my thoughts enough to find out whether this is a good profession or bad.............how I wish I could.....................

In the end, Thanks Sujju for your suggestion. It's been long time since I lived through those moments..................

(PS: With due regards to all the models out there, continue to model as far as YOU like to do it....................)

Got a problem? SMS! Got a solution? SMS!!!!!

2006-04-24T22:46:00.000-07:00

The idea of posting this particular post struck me this morning when I was listening to Radio City just before leaving to start my day, rather early..........the RJ was rattling off about some song to be played with Anuradha Sriram and some other big name having sung together. And people are supposed to SMS guessing the song........[for those who don't know, these "VAS (Value Added Services) SMSEs" cost Rs. 3 per SMS!]......only yesterday, the Remix Raja contest participants' songs were to be played and people are supopsed to vote for the song they like the most! How? Again, through SMS!!!!

Since I am a SMS freak myself (unfortumately only the "free ones" that Spice provides at the rate of 100 SMSes per day), I wondered if all these so-called contests were being organized from the point of view of money to be earned by the cellular service operators and the Radio Network!!!!! Because, if you have a query, send SMS, if you feel good, send SMS, if you're feeling bad, send SMS, if you've found yourself a new girlfriend, send SMS, if you're broken off, send SMS, if you've got a job, send SMS, if exams are going on, send SMS....................humph humph.........and the list goes on!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And the one that amazes the most is: Whatever it is that you want to say, all you need to do is to type in your message and send it to 7007!!!! You spend Rs. 3 for sending a message that may never be read! Or will never be telecast.....and you will not even know whatever it is that happened to your SMS.........

The other day, Radio City triumphantly announces a JACKPOT contest where you're supposed to send a SMS saying JACKPOT to some number and if you're lucky, you get to win a lakh rupees.............and the cost of the SMS, Rs. 10 per message!!!! So, if 100000 people send messages (or let's say 10000 messages are received, as people will send multiple messages too for the hope of winning a lakh rupees), it amounts to a lakh of rupees! And some ONE person gets to win the money! So, it's a mere recirculation of money! So, YOUR money may be paid off to someone else, for having done nothing more than sending a message!

This is still ok, you win some money! Yesterday was Dr. Rajkumar's birth anniversary! And the RJ announced that whoever has ANY incident to tell related to Dr. Rajkumar can message! Considering the fact that Dr. Rajkumar very much walked the roads of this city, ate here, moved around here, there must have been a couple of thousands of people who had EXPERIENCES to narrate! And if all of them send one message each, it's a couple of thousands circulated already! And how many get to get "On Air"???? Three..........funny na!!!!!!!

Not only this, the other day, I happened to watch some TV (I always have some bad experience to relate to whenever I sit down to watch TV). And there was this channel showing some soap! I don't remember which one (partly because there are just so many of them on TV and partly because I don't care a penny for these soaps). And the idea was to GUESS what will happen in the next episode! And, needless to say, one's supposed to send a message GUESSING the events of the next episode!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This reminds me of the times when a program called "Surabhi" used be on Doordarshan! Lakhs of people used to send in post-cards giving answers to the questions asked every week. That was when even Postal Department made quick buck by introducing special competition post-cards, costing some Rs. 3 each or some such thing!

So, isn't the "HOPE" of winning a jackpot, the "HOPE" of patching up with one's friend/lover/spouse by dedicating a song on TV, the "NEED" to be on Air filling the pockets of the Cellular Operators? With the SMSes doing rounds like THAT, there's little doubt left though!!!!!!!!!

Pritesh

(PS: Well, to tell you frankly, I have sent SMSes myself to Radio City, but that was for a contest where one was supposed to cook up "INNOVATIVE" names for two characters of a love-story. And I came up with Dhana"stinking rich"Lakshmi and Moorkhanand Saraswati.....and guess what, I won myself Joggers' Park CD for this one!) :-)

PS2: Some data to back my blog up:

During the voting period from November 2004 to March 2005, Indian Idol got more than 55 million votes via SMS. At Rs 3 per SMS, that is Rs 16.5 crore (Rs 165 million). The telecom companies made Rs 11.5 crore (Rs 115 million), and Sony about Rs 5 crore (Rs 50 million).

As these three main protagonists -- media, mobile and aggregators -- get together, a Rs 2,300-crore (Rs 23 billion) market has been created, says a Lehman Brothers report. (This includes texting and is not just operator share.)

In 2005, the Indian music industry got about Rs 140 crore (Rs 1.40 billion) or 20 per cent of its legitimate revenues from mobile music. "These days film producers stress on mobile marketing," says Shatadru Sarkar, deputy manager (new media), Saregama. "A hit film can generate Rs 1-1.2 crore (Rs 10-12 million) -- about 5 per cent or more of an album's sale -- on mobile revenues," says Shridhar Subramaniam, managing director, Sony-BMG. Its big mobile hit of the year is Rang De Basanti.

By 2010, the report estimates mobile data to be a $10-billion (Rs 43,000-crore) market in India.

Radio Mirchi gets 40,000-45,000 SMSes a day in Mumbai, Delhi and Bangalore. As a radio station, it is a great tool for engaging listeners.

How selfish one should be?

2006-04-24T06:18:00.000-07:00

(Disclaimer: To all those who read this blog, this blog contains MY opinions that may or may not agree with yours. My word on ANYTHING at all is not final and you're free to reject the opinions if you think they don't make sense)

Hi! Here's me, the blogging addict (an e-version of a writing addict really) blogging again about something that has been puzzling me for a long time.........relationships.........

Well, I have read so much text about the self-lessness of a relationship...........there are so many romantic novels professing the same. There are books after books written about how to retain your relationship's happiness! And since I am a self-help addict too, I must say, I have read a good number of these! And after having researched so many of these, I wondered if there is something called complete selflessness? And if there is, is it practical to be completely selfless in a relationship? More than practical, is it healthy to be selfless? Puzzling, isn't it? Well, it puzzles me still!!!!!! So, here are some views of mine.............

There's this particular website: www.selfcreation.com (it was sent to me by my friend a long time back to read and build up my lost self-confidence). This website says, love's honest and live's selfless and love's kind and such things!

Hmmm.........if love is so nice then, why do relationships break? Why do people drift apart? The same people who said they were in love fall "out of love".......so, is love such an EASY thing? In my opinion, NO! The stages in a relationship can roughly be divided into three stages:

1. The initial one, where your "loved one" is the best person you've ever come across, where everything has a rose-tint to it.........

2. The middle one, where you start realizing that the other person in NOT SO PERFECT afterall.....and in my opinion, this is the stage where the not-so-strong relationships crumble....coming to terms with the fact that the person you love is a human being and the demi-God you thought he/she was can be a tough one...........

3. The last one, the COMFORT zone..............the relationships that survive the Stage 2 reach this stage and this is where one comes to an understanding of the other person.....the stage where one accepts the other person along with his/her faults!

Now, fortunately or unfortunately, the Stage 2 generally lasts for a long time! These are the testing times in a relationship! The initial rosy rosy charm wears off and you fall back to reality! (wait if you're losing patience, I shall come back to selflessness point soon after this)......

The initial stage of the relationships is the one in which one's completely selfless! We repeatedly tell our partners that THEY are all that we desire, they are all we care for, and they are the one we'll do anything for! And trust me, we live up to this............ummm.............for some time! A few months...........maybe an year! I think an year of being together is sufficient to see the true personality of the person you love!

After this, reality strikes! Unfortunate are those who get married before this Stage 1 is over! Because THEY find ti extremely difficult to come to terms with the Stage 2! There are squabbles, quarrels, constant irritation, tensions etc. But all's not that bad! After this, many of them DO manage to reach Stage 3 and live happily together! But with decreasing tolerances, thanks to our jet-set life-styles, it's difficult and lots of marriages end up breaking!

With these trends setting in, where separation from your spouse is not such a BAD idea anymore, there's this question that obviously springs up! WHAT WENT WRONG WITH THE RELATIONSHIP?????

After having read a lot of text on relationships, I came to know that being SELFISH to come extent helps the relationship from going bad! Sounds funny na? But it is TRUE......

Now how does this selfishness come to picture? Where does it appear? How do you know when to be selfish and about what? Frankly, I have no ready-made answers but I shall relate things from my own experience and from what I have heard from so many of my friends!

Many of us become completely selfless in a relationship. Initially, we are willing to give up everything, and bend to any extent to get the relationship going! We don't mind "adjusting" here and there, and sometimes, everywhere!!!!!!! The other person's happiness becomes you happiness and you just GO ON adjusting! If you're lucky and have a partner who stops you from doing that, you may save your relationship from destroying itself, or else, you're hitting the doom faster than you think!

AFter a point of time, the "adjuster" starts crumbling under the pressure and to complicate the matters, the other person already used to this "alternative" persona of the adjuster! Changes start gnawing at the very foundation of your relationship..........and if you don't recover in time, you're in for either a broken relationship or (if you are already married by then) bitter marriage.

So, what does one do??? In my opinion, The idea is to be a combination of FRANK, PRACTICAL and SELFISH! Now, there are two additions to what I started off with, frank and practical!!!!! (I guess, that's just my excuse for writing more and more).........

So, if you feel that the relationship is making you adjust with TOO many things, you TALK (here comes frankness of a relationship and a little bit of selfishness too). If you continue to be SELFLESS when you know that you are being a person you're basically not, YOU have to raise an alarm and talk to your partner! If you think that you are not getting returns in your relationship, in terms of attention, understanding, time, space etc., YOU have to TALK! (again a combination of selfish and frank).......and to be all this, you have to be practical! Consider your partner a human-being with human qualities.......with traits that have flaws...........and then, SIT down and think! Are these flaws the ones you can live with? Or will you be able to accept these flaws five years down the line? Think PRACTICALLY and assess your relationship (and this exercise needs to be repeated from time to time to take a cold hard look at your relationship so that you don't suffer).......

And trust me, if YOU are not happy with what you're being, there's no way that you can make the other person happy too! Your level of comfort with YOURSELF will determine the happiness in a relationship! One has to adjust, of course, but not with one's basic nature.......THOSE compromises shall crumble one day or the other and will only lead you to pain!

So, if you're in a relationship, guage the strength according not to what the other person is, but with how YOU feel with the other person around............

Pritesh

Cheer-up Factors????

2006-04-21T11:25:00.000-07:00

What do you do when you feel down???? What do "I" do???? Let me see. Maybe, I can divide my "down" times into some categories, professional and personal......

So, when things don't work on the professional front, I tend to just go for a coffee with labmates. Or maybe, sit with my department friends, crib about things not working. And that makes me feel better immediately. I guess it's about letting it our of your system. IISc being extremely flexible in terms of work timings, I think we have room for such chit-chats where we can share professional frustrations with each other. And that is a very good vent for me. After having cribbed and being joined in it by others, I get this all new perspective of what I CAN do in my work! The lapse between getting frustrated and feeling recharged depends on how soon I can get into this chat! And more often than not, my favourite colleague, Girish, is the one I catch! The diplomatic yet optimistic outlook makes me see things in a new light and I stop being a cribber and start being a worker......

But on a personal front, when the things don't seem to be going too well, it's difficult to find a formula to feel better! It varies between writing it up in a mail to myself to making an Art-piece!

At times, talking to friends helps. But one thing that always makes me feel good is WRITING it up! Sometimes, to myself, sometimes to someone else! Mostly to myself. Again, it's about letting it out of my system! Once it is out, I begin to look at things in a different way and then, life becomes easy! I begin to think better...........

So, what's YOUR cheer-up factor??????

Addictions addictions

2006-04-19T23:28:00.000-07:00

If someone would say about 6 months back that one can be addicted to blogging, I would possibly not have even believed! But then, looks like it can be true, rather it is true! I am kind of addicted to blogging! Though, off late, I've been picking up things as "issues" while writing. Unlike earlier when I used to write simply, my day's experiences!

Here's one small story I came across, can't remember where (guess I'm reading too much these days)......

A ship drowned killing almost everyone on board but a man who happened to get to an island. He was awfully lonely in the beginning but eventually, came to terms with his Fate and learnt to live with the resources of the island. He even devised methods to entertain himself in times of excess loneliness. The island had a big mountain on it and the man looked at it longingly many times.

Many a time, he almost got ready to see what was beyond the mountain. But then, he decided against it as he was not sure whether it was wise to explore the unknown. And as a result, he never went that side. Years went by and he began to get weak. One day he fell sick and it took him days to recover from it. He decided that probably he was going to die soon. At this juncture, he decided to go to the other side of the mountain and see what was there. Now that he was going to die soon, it didn't matter even if he left the safety of this side of the island.

He walked on for days, it was a tiring journey and he was tempted to turn back and go back to the warmth of his home. But he kept moving and when he reached the summit, he saw that on the other side, there was a thriving city! A city complete with all the comforts of life!!!! Having the most beautiful houses, most beautiful women, people earning their livelihoods, people coming back to families at the end of the day...........

And he sat down on the summit, cursing his Fate and his stupidity in not having explored that part earlier! He could also have had a life where he could live among people!!!!! And he died there, at the summit, grieving......

Now, what does the story mean? To me, it meant that often, we do not cross these mountains of reluctance! And don't explore what's on the other side! Without reaching the summit, we will never know what the other part of the island, OUR MIND, has!!! We are too tied up by our own limitations.........our own thoughts! We don't let our thoughts soar and fly and reach high!!!!!!

Every new exploration of an unknown territory brings with it the risk of getting lost! But what's life without some calculated risks! I would say, like the life of that man who didn't know there was life just next door! :)

Scary Movie! In a lighter vein......

2006-04-19T09:36:00.000-07:00

Well, inspired by Karthik's blogs, I decided to pen down the lighter moments of my life too! If I tell you, I like to watch scary movies, you'll think, what a brave girl! Haha! But what if I tell you that I can watch them when there's someone in between so that I can hide behind him/her when the scary scenes come, you'll laugh!!!!! I'm used to such responses! :-D

So, here goes a small prose relating my experiences of watching a scary movie (this prose is half real and half imaginary).........

When the proposal of watching a scary movie came

I was the first one to volunterr for it

Well, in reality, I am scared to death by such movies

But then, given a chance to watch them, I don't hesitate a bit

So, we decided to bring a CD and watch the ghosts

Painted white in the face and not in the least looking scary

And the story pretty much had them all over the place

But that doesn't stop me from being wary

When the Group ganged up in the Lab

I had to find someone to hide behind

And when Sumithra agreed

It restored my peace of mind

The movie started and I watch a happy 50%

Of what was going on on the screen

And the entire Group was laughing at me

They are all just so mean

The movie was ok but I was scared, as usual

And eventually ended

And the only thought that really haunted me was

How am I going to go to bed????

Well, this prose isn't even half of how I feel after watching a scary movie!!!! :-D

Experiences.............and some lessons too

2006-04-19T08:57:00.000-07:00

I have been penning rather negative thoughts about being a woman off late and I am sure, I'm being pictured as a hard-core feminist. Well, maybe I am one. How do I care anyway........

After a rather disorganized and incomplete blog, here I am writing a rather organized blog about my experiences and lessons. After the exercise on Saturday, I have come out as a definitely different person. In this regard, Jasmeen sent out a questionnaire and I decided to answer it.

Here's how the questions look:

1. what made you join the intervention?

Frankly, I don't quite know. In a way, I was sick of eve-teasing. Of having to worry about having some guy along with me all the time I wanted to really freak out alone!!!!! There these times when I feel the urge to just aneak out alone and chill out at places! But I had to always worry about finding someone to go with, preferably a guy, specially if it was after dusk. I think, it was my frustration of having had to hunt for company and the general sense of fear while going out alone that made me come to the intervention......

2. How do you think the passerby responded to your stare? Do you normally look at people in the eye when youre out? How was it different this time, if different at all.

Generally, I look away! Even after having passed these people, I had the funny feeling that there were eyes upon me. But I didn't have the courage to look back and meet the guy in the eye! The age old training of IGNORING things worked all the time. I used to ignore, or rather pretended to ignore these passers-by. But this time, it was different. Maybe because I had decided that I am not going to project myself as weak. There's strength in all of us but it needs bringing out, polishing etc. This was my opportunity. And I grabbed it. It worked!!!!!!!!! For the first time, I didn't look away or ignored. It gave me a sense of liberation! I stopped getting worked up about how I was dressed!!!! (That is one thing I am constantly worried about).....in a way, it was like learning to fly when a new pair of wings has suddenly come to your possession....

3. What were the sublte changes you noticed in your own behaviour? Like (maithili) spoke of how tough it was for her to not give the passers by space while she walked...etc

Yes, true! In the beginning, it was difficult not to stick my elbows out to prevent myself from unwanted brushes from the people walking past! (Something that I used to do unconsciously). And it was difficult not to walk with nudging people!!!! But as I got used to walking on the pavement, DEMANDING for space, I felt that the vibes reached the people walking around! And I could really walk without having to snake through the crowd! Even in a place as crowded as Brigade Road, we can afford to walk freely if we send the correct vibes out!!! This was something I learnt! :)

4. What do you feel about such interventions: are they fun? Threatening? Empowering?

Well, yes, this was definitely an empowering experience. The most important thing that came out of the experience was that I realized that I CAN!!!!! I can be what I want to be! I can DEMAND to be left alone (and get it)........it was fun because it was empowering! Threatening, NO. I didn't feel threatened. I guess, it had partially to with the fact that I knew I was strong deep down inside and no longer cared for who perceived me HOW!!!!!!

5. Will this alter the way you perceive brigade road/ or the way brigade road perceives you?

Hmmmm...........maybe, I perceive Brigade Road as a place I can hang out in now, without having to think too much about how the crowd to respond to me! ANd even if it doesn't I don't really care. But yes, it may change the way Brigade Road perceives me. I was probably just another girl there until Saturday! But now, Brigade Road may think twice before messing with me, in ANY WAY!!!! I feel empowered!!!!!!!!!!

6. What worked for you? What did not?

Everything worked for me! The powerful back-stare worked!!!! The sense of freedom worked. So did the no non-sense look!

7. What did you take back with you that evening?

A feeling of self-worth. And a sense of confidence! And loads of experiences, differences in opinions, courage...............loads.................

Well, apart from the questionnaire, I learnt that one can do whatever one wants to!

That's a LOT learnt in the four hours I spent at Brigade Road being a part of the Blank Noise Project!!!!!!!!!!

Pritesh

A tryst with eve-teasing: Face to face with reality....

2006-04-17T10:12:00.000-07:00

When we face eve-teasing, it happens! But what if we invite it upon ourselves??? And then, FIGHT BACK????? Well, this was something I did on Saturday. I shall relate the experiences here. When I say I "invited" the teasing on me, I meant I dressed up "provocatively", in men's language.........

Some 10 days back, I came across this project called "Blank Noise" project. I had no idea what it was going to do or who was running it or what "I" was supposed to be doing as a part of the project!!!! It was like one of those proverbial dark rooms I was entering only to touch and feel things and find my way to the other side.

And when I went for the first meeting (I believe that was last Tuesday or something), I had gone half expecting it to be a Group of people who intend to take it to streets, shouting slogans, opposing this and that! But I was proven wrong and delightedly so. I met a cool and "in-control" Jasmeen who had her set of ideas, that defied the conventional ways of protesting! I think her ideas struck me as protest from the middle of the crowd!!!! Not standing away from the crowd.

So, we decided to meet up on Brigade Road on Saturday, April 15th at 4:30 pm. The rain did play a bit of a spoil-sport but as they say, "Where there's a will, there's a way". So, in total, 12 girls turned up. And there were guys too, three of them, all of them struck me as the kind who respected women.

The idea was to dress up in clothes that we wouldn't dare to wear otherwise. Mind you, we didn't BU anything in particular for this occasion, but chose one of the pieces of our own wardrobe that we don't otherwise have the guts to wear. And then, we were to stand a little apart from each other, some 6 feet away, across Brigade Road. We all positioned ourselves and just stood and watched the crowds.

Trust me, when I started off, I was a little jittery, but all my close friends supported me and showed faith in me. So, we started this something called a STREET INTERVENTION........where we STARE back at whoever stared at us. Now, the entire episode was a long one so, I shall not write the entire thing but I shall write about the discussion we had at the end of it all.

The salient points that sprang up during the discussion were:

1. Some men came up with the brilliant idea that "We are warm blooded, hormoned, Indian men and we are programmed to look at women" (now whoever said we said we thought this guy was a cold-blooded cockroach!!!! I can't think of a better term for him as I think I despise cockroaches the maximum). I did not know that men who chose to be decent on the roads are either cold blooded or non-hormoned or non-Indian.........funny na?

2. Why are women trying to deprive us of our fundamental right? Staring at women? Afterall, that's what we come to do at Brigade Road!!!!!!!! (And what about the discomfort women face because of these stares? Don't we have a right to chill out? Just like that? Unaccompanied by men? And what about our right to feel comfortable on the streets??)..............hello!!! Your rights end where MY nose begins! Wonder if they ever heard of this!!!!!

3. If you dress PROVOCATIVELY, we WILL look! Why can't you dress "DECENTLY"?? (Well, the statistics will shout in your ears that dresses have had NOTHING to do with WHO has been teased. In fact, boldly dressed ones aren't teased as much. The "timidly" dressed ones are more frequently targetted")

4. Eve-teaising is NORMAL and not a crime...........(ANYTHING that infringes upon someone's freedom is an offence. And eve-teasing is an infringement upon our sense of feeling free in a public space. Admiratory glances are different, lewd gestures are something completely different).

5. I was only LOOKING...............(well, ALL women have a knack for finding out the difference between looking and staring. An appreciative glance, that pretty women draw plenty of, is totally different from a leching one, and trust me, WE KNOW WHICH WAY YOU ARE LOOKING AT US).

6. Women have become programmed to stick their elbows out to prevent those "accidental" brushes from every Tom, Dick and Harry passing by (on Saturday, we consciously made an effort to walk freely, and trust me, IT WAS SO DIFFICULT as we've been programmed to walk like that, defending ourselves all the time. But when we did it, it gave us an all new confidence).

7. Women are amazingly complacent about eve-teasing. Primarily because it's been grilled into them that if you are eve-teased, IT MUST HAVE BEEN YOUR FAULT!!!!!!!! You must have dressed in an inviting way and BLAH BLAH BLAH......................so, WE BLAME OURSELVES and keep on compromising on HOW we dress (and the matter only gets complicated if there's someone who keeps grilling into you that it's YOU who's caused the eve-teasing. I should know, I have had a guy like THAT in my life who always made ME feel that I was the one who called for the eve-teasing)! How we want to dress is primarily governed by how men in the street will look at us! Strange eh? Strange but true!!!!! Men on streets decide the dresses of a happy 90% women!!!!!!!

8. Men who stand for women being harassed on the street are being viewed as "spineless", "feminine" and "un-macho".......................it's just about as ridiculous as it can get!!!!!! I would call such men sensitive, caring and responsible........of course, opinions differ!!!!!!!!

I guess I have lots more to stay but then, I shall refrain from it! I guess some men out there are going to HATE me for feeling how I do about eve-teasing! But I guess these are the very bloody idiots who need some cure in their top-floors so that they learn to respect women, and the space they deserve, to be THEMSELVES and to CHILL OUT, without being ogled at and ridiculed.......

Pritesh

An age of watching TV

2006-04-09T01:56:00.000-07:00

Scene: The family is sitting on the dining table and watching a movie on TV. The mother is trying to tell the children that they need to clean their rooms as some old family friends are visiting the following morning. The children seem to be listening. And then, she's asking the husband to call the electrician for fixing up the exhaust fan in the kitchen (she's having a tough time working in the kitchen without the exhaust fan working). The husband nods, apparently understanding the amount of trouble she must be having working with the cooking.......

After ten minutes, it occurs to the lady that no one seems to be paying attention to what she's saying and there are many ways in which this scene can end:

1. She adds TWO tasks more to her list of "to-do" for the coming day: Call the electrician, and clean up children's room, realizing that if she doesn't do it, it won't get done in all probability.

2. She starts speaking LOUDLY so that the children and husband listen to her! Maybe, even shout at them or switch the TV off.....

3. She ignores the tasks and thinks, if THEY don't care, she doesn't either.

4. After the TV viewing is over, she REPEATS the instructions to the children and husband and hopes that they would've listened this time......

Now, different people would respond differently to a situation described above. As for myself, I would respond in way 1 (I guess that's why I've listed it first). The point is not that I am fond of taking up responsibilities of other people. But that I see all the other approaches as futile. The situation I've described above is a very common one these days in families (I'm sure all of us feel it at one point of time or the other).

So, is TV viewing eating up on time that families can spend together learning about each other, communicating with each other, helping each other solve their problems! In short, COMING CLOSE TO EACH OTHER!!!!!!

My views may be heavily biased against TV viewing as I am absolutely not fond of watching TV. I watch TV once in a few months and find TV viewing a sheer wastage of time (except for occasionally watching Nat Geo or Discovery or some News Channel)......I don't even remember when was the last time I watched a movie on TV......so, the point is that there'll be people who'll advocate watching TV as a source of education and information. I have nothing against their views. Everyone has opinions and those who don't have, I don't even consider them!!!!!

So, I am not saying that one must stop watching TV......I literally find myself abnormal in not liking TV..........but HOW MUCH AND WHEN is the question. Indeed, we can learn a lot if we watch TV, but how much of stuff on TV is worth watching? How many of us sit down and watch something worthwhile on TV?

So, I was talking about the quality time of a family being eaten away by this seemingly harmless Television Set sitting in our living rooms!!!!!!! The time that can be spent talking with family is whiled away in watching either two men fighting, ready to draw blood, or two women plotting against each other, or someone quizzing for winning a crore (or some similar astronomical amount)................ I am sure a big percentage of people view TV showing one of the above....

As such, with both parents working, children don't get to spend much time with them and with the TV invading, they go further away from parents. Sharing of feelings, narration of incidents (which is VERY important for children venting their feelings out), sitting together just talking of future plans and problems being discussed..............everything is done with a TV constantly running in the background. With the TV as a distraction, there's divided attention comnig into picture and one's never sure if one's heard properly.

So, what's the solution? Throwing the TV out of the house? Yelling at children asking them NOT to watch TV? Ignoring all that and carrying on with whatever you're doing? Letting your husband watch TV and chatting away to glory on phone with your friends? Won't THAT just widen the canyons already being dug up by the changes in life-style of a typical urban family???

Lost in translation

2006-03-18T01:25:00.000-08:00

Hi!

I know I know! There's a movie named lost in Translation. But I haven't seen the movie and I don't have the faintest idea as to what this movie is about. My blog is about translation of IDEAS.

Recently, I got a water-colour pencils as a gift. And I want to make a painting using them.

Once I decided to make a painting, the all-important task was to find WHAT to paint! So far, I have made a lot of paintings, but most of the time, I saw something and tried to copy that. There have been times when I have painted things that "I" thought of. But they have mostly been in monochrome. This time, I decided to paint something multi-colour.

I have an idea in mind but getting it onto paper is a Herculean task. Many a times, we start off with a concept and start converting into some form of an Art, be it Music, painting or dance...........but as we progress, the concept keeps getting modified. And by the time we are through with what we were planning to make, the concept barely resembles the one we started off with. This LOSS IN TRANSLATION can be due to many reasons.....

In my case, the loss generally takes place because of a ROUGH draft to start with! If only I had a rather consolidated in my mind, I wouldn't suffer from so much of a loss. Sometimes, we come up with newer ideas as we progress, hence, the loss.

So, is this good or bad? I mean, the LOSS, per se.

My answer is YES. Primarily because I don't start off with what exactly I am looking for. So, obviously, I don't REGRET the loss and whatever happens eventually is good for me.

Well, frankly, I didn't have anything to write about and this was the only idea in my mind, so, I started writing about this! I don't know how much I have lost in translation of the idea of this blog too! :D

Pritz

Women's Day? Really???????????

2006-03-07T23:59:00.000-08:00

Hi!

I know that many men are not going to like this post, but I guess I've just stopped caring for insensitive people, in general and insensitive men, in particular. I can't say that this post is really MY OWN in the sense of the reason I'm writing it. But yes, the experiences stated are very much my own. Being a woman has never been easy and here are some instances of why!!!!!

(This blog has been inspired by this post written by a girl Annie, who lives in Bombay, the supposedly safe city for women)..............

Well, I must say that the "experiences" started rather early. For me, the fact that I am a girl (means, different from guys) dawned quite late! The primary reason for this being my close proximity with my brother and a life-style quite similar to guys. I used to do all that guys do, climbing trees, climbing hills, plucking fruits, running around, beating up the local bullies, picking up fights etc. So, I did not understand this "pinching", "rubbing" business for a really long time.......

I grew up in Defence campuses in places like Vizag, Bombay etc. So, I guess things were relatively "better" for me compared to civilian life. I didn't have to take local buses, trains etc. to go to school. But this didn't stop those "pinchings", "rubbings" etc. from happening! Who said being in Defence improves men????

At the tender age of 5, I went through a rather traumatic experience! Then, at the age of seven, then, at the age of 12................and if I was to COUNT these, I'll need a log-book...........

As the technology progressed, so did ways of harassing. Earlier, it was personal harassment! People would touch you in places, will sing out to you and in worst cases, assault you. Then, came the phones!!!! There were calls that played cheap songs, rotten stuff was being said on phone, a detailed description of my anatomy was being given, I was called a prostitute, was offered a one-night stand..............all this happened to me before I turned 16..............

Then came, e-mailing...........ah...........I could go on and on writing about the trashy mails I got. There was porn material being sent, dirty things being written about me.............what not!!!!

And the latest to the list: CELL-PHONES!!!! Men catch hold of my cell-phone number from somewhere and just start calling/messaging! I sought the help of Police too! Response: Why don't you change your cell-phone number???

So, it's MY fault that someone has my cell-phone number?

I shall add to Annie's list of things women aren't SUPPOSED to do:

1. You have no right to be enjoying a walk alone at night (no matter how much your heart craves for it..........
2. You CAN NOT watch a movie alone (particularly in North India where guys think it's their right to tease you if you're there alone watching a movie)
3. You can't wear the clothes of your choice (even if it's a salwar-suit, there'll be some scoundrel hanging around staring at you with lust in his eyes)
4. You can't work late (someone has to be there to escort you back)..........

My list could go on and on as it makes me really angry as to why men can't just control their libido!!!!!!! And what surprises me the most if that most of these "lewd" types are the uncle-ji category.........ranging in age from 35-50, married and having children of their own too! It's really beyond me as to HOW and WHY they are so frustrated!!!!

Pritesh

Teacher........a role really underestimated

2006-02-25T21:55:00.000-08:00

Hi!!!! All,

I studied all my life in Kendriya Vidyalayas (the very renowned Central Schools run by the Indian Government). And due to the frequent transfers of my father, I studied in quite a few of them. These schools generally follow a set of rules that stay the same over the country. The idea probably is to not shock the child when he/she changes schools. This is a very good concept and it did help me a great deal. I didn't have to really adjust too much as I switched schools. But there was one thing that stayed a constant across all the schools I studied in! LOUSY TEACHERS.........

And as I grew up, I got to know (through talking to teachers) that all of them had tried their hands at something or the other before becoming teachers. This led me to understanding that most of the teachers were teachers not because they WANTED to be teachers but because they couldn't be ANYTHING else! Almost NONE of them was a teacher out of choice. They were teachers because they didn't HAVE a choice. I really has two choices then. I could become a BAD student and blame that upon my teachers' bad teaching! Or I could develop a habit to study things myself and survive! I chose the latter. I did well, markswise but there was this nagging feeling always.

I kept asking myself as to WHY people didn't want to teach. Why is it that a teacher's job is looked down upon? Why is it that when you can't become anything else (read an Engineer, Doctor, IAS etc.), you become a teacher. One shocking piece of survey I read said 76% parents don't want their chidren to become teachers and 91% teachers do not want their children to become teachers!!!!

This really made me sit up and think! Do we even realize how important a teacher is in influencing a child???? There is this age where what the teacher's word becomes final!! So much so that what the teachers say can't be conflicted by even parents..........so, why are we so reluctant to become a teacher?

And the teachers play a very important role in the children's choice of careers too (believe me, it's true)...I was influenced by only ONE teacher in my life and he was the Chemistry teacher (and it is not a mere coincidence that I am in Chemistry). So, when this is such an important role in life, why do we consider becoming a teacher the LAST career choice? These are some questions that have led me to believe that I do want to be a teacher!!!! In some way, somewhere. I don't quite know how and where, but I'd love to teach. So that I can make my share of contribution to shaping the young minds. :)

Pritesh

Talk by Ali Khwaja...............Parenting

2006-02-15T22:51:00.000-08:00

Hi!

I attended a talk on Parenting by Ali Khwaja on 14th Feb in IISc (a rather strange thing according to others on Valentine's Day :D)........and here, I write about that talk. When I was going for the talk, I was mentally prepared for a talk of Do and Don'ts!!!!! But when I sat through the talk, I realized that speaker was not insisting on your being this way or that way, it was more about how you could be! And he just left you with messages that you could ponder and modify according to the needs of your child......

I know that I am not a parent but I still went for the talk. And here is a summary of the talk, written pointwise to make it easy to understand:

1. Father's role: The first step towards good parenting is to realize the fact that the word "parenting" is a combination of TWO words: Mothering and Fathering. No amount of one can compensate for the other. So, a father is as important to the kid as is the mother. So, it's time the men woke up who think raising kids is the woman's job and all they have to do is come home and watch TV..........

2. Listen to your child: When the child comes back from school, he/she has stories to tell like, this girl pulled that girl's hair, this person threw water on that person, this person fought with that person.......LISTEN to the child. He/she is NOT telling you about the event per se. It's their feelings about the event that they are expressing. To the child, YOU are the world. They vent out their feelings to YOU. YOU have to understand them and respond in an appropriate manner. If the kid is excited about something, you can listen to her/him and gently prod to make them reveal what THEY feel about the event. Maybe, you can explain to them that it's not good to fight/throw water on other people. This will make the child feel important and loved. Just HEARING them is NOT enough, LISTEN to them, understnad them...........when these kids reach adolescence, they'll confide in you and are less likely to go wrong in choosing their paths. BECOME YOUR CHILD'S FRIEND.......

3. Be their role models: In the world of today, where children face a severe lack of role-models, be one yourself. No matter how much you lecture, the only way kids learn is by example. If you honestly pay your taxes, children will learn the importance of being honest towards Government. If only you maintain your calm most of the times, children will learn to stay calm themselves. Children may make BAD learners but they make EXCELLENT imitators. So, watch what you do. Your children are watching you ALL THE TIME.

4. Answer children's questions honestly: Children are curious and their first target for their questions are parents. When a child walks up to you to ask an explanation for something he/she doesn't understand, NEVER answer it as "When you'll grow up, you'll understand" or "Don't ask silly questions". As such our Education system works overtime in killing our children's curiosity. DO NOT ADD TO THAT! You may not always know the answer, true. But guide the children towards the PROPER sources for answers. And confess it honestly, if you don't know. Sometimes, the answers may not fall within the regime of child's understanding. SIMPLIFY things but do answer your kids' queries. In this age of information technology, it's not particularly difficult for the child to dig the information out. WHERE the child gets the information from (whether the source is authentic/proper) is something YOU can have a say in. If you answer the child in an honest and simplified way, the child may ask more questions but a little bit of your patience in such instances can save a lot of confusion the child may face if he/she gets the same information in a distorted way from somewhere else.

5. Treat children as if they matter: A lot of children grow up as creatures excluded from the running of the house (because "they won't understand much of it anyway"). They don't leanr routine things like money management as their opinions are neer sought. They are never made to understand the importance of managing money. Start these lessons early and who knows, when you ask the kid for his/her opinion, he/she may really give you an altogether different prespective.

6. Accept your child's uniqueness: Every child is unique. By comparing the child with ANYONE else (it could be the sibling, the neighbour, the classmate), you kill the child's self-esteem. NEVER compare. Encourage the activities child is good at. Be involved in their life. Stand by them when they face difficulties. Children do tend to feel lonely if their parents aren't worried about what they are doing and how they are doing it.

IN short, Parenting is a job more involved than any other but the rewards are rich!!!!! These very children will grow up to treat you with respect if you respect them when they were kids. So, start early and invest in parenting continuously.

Pritz

Rules............

2006-02-12T08:51:00.000-08:00

Hi! All,

This blog is very close to my heart as I came across this concept very late in life. And thanks to my close friends, I am beginning to realize the change it has brought to my life.

Our lives are invariably governed by rules, some set by others, some by ourselves. Rules are generally made for bringing some sort of an order to either our own lives or to the Society on the whole. But what happens when these rules become too restrictive to one's freedom of being oneself???? I am sure there are some people out there who'd advocate the presence of these rule to control people going haywire.......I'm not talking about that anyway.

This blog primarily focuses on how one generally handles and respects rules. While talking to one close friend today, I realized that I had finally grasped the "funda" of how one follows rules! There are two ways in which you can follow a rule: Being forced into it OR Being allowed to make a choice to follow it........and surprisingly, in a tried and tested manner, I have seen that when people are allowed to make a choice, they invariably land up taking the right path.

This way of following rules is particularly important for kids to learn to differentiate between right and wrong. I grew up in an atmosphere where there used to be rules in place. I was lucky in the sense that I barely questioned their logic till I was quite old, the primary reason being too involved with myself most of the times. But when I grew up, the same set of rules started becoming stifling. I began to understand the "ill-logic" behind some of them and being a teenager (with the hormones ruling the roost), I rebelled many a times.

So, how does one handle all these things? One simple thing is to tell the person (whoever it is who's rebelling against them) the pros and cons of the rule in a very objective way! And then, allowing them to choose. More often than not, people tend to choose the "right" or "more acceptable" path! So, what causes this????

From my own experience, I have learnt that just to defy the rules, sometimes, we do things that we aren't otherwise aren't very comfortable with! I have gone to places I hate just because I was told not to, have worn clothes I don't normally like (revealing included) because I was categorically told not to, have done things that were told to me as "wastage of time" because I was JUST NOT SUPPOSED to be doing them!!!!

That was a phase that's thankfully over now, but it has taught me a lesson! The least effective of way of making someone do something is to IMPOSE it on them!! Rest assured, it'll bounce back on you. And the most effective way of making someone do something is to tell them that you'll like it if they do it but it's ok even if you don't! And it works wonders! it could be anything!! From making your kid have a medicine to making a teenager understand the importance of studing to making your lover understand that you were hurt by the way he/she behaved!

SUCH IS THE POWER OF CHOICE! When a mind has a right to choose, it barely goes wrong! And even if it does, it picks up the lesson in a manner never to forget it!

Pritz

The all encompassing "I"?

2006-02-12T07:54:00.000-08:00

Hi! All,

I know this may sound rather vague to all the hard-core scientific approach fans! And I am not apologetic about thinking the way I do. It is irrational to a certain degree but every scientific person has some degree of irrationality in his/her approach and I am no exception.

This blog again stems from one of the lectures that I attended in that conference I did last Monday and Tuesday. It has to do with the concept of "I" or "me", whichever way you prefer......

It is a very apparent thing that all the matter is made of atoms, electrons and so on (one could go on endlessly dissecting the atoms to electrons, electrons to something even smaller etc.). And since the behaviour of matter is determined by these tiny particles, all the universe is run by these! Now, come to human body. There is this something called a WILL that we exercise over ourselves. This will makes us lift our hands, run, work, sleep, eat, walk, think, love, hate..........everything. So, in a roundabout way, it's our WILL, that is we ourselves, that determine the working of these atoms and molecules and whatever!!!!

The religious ones will say that it's God that makes run all these things! So, if you join the two approaches, aren't we ourselves GOD? I'm not promoting narcissism or anything!I just want ourselves to think about this at a different level. If we can not respect ourselves, can we ever respect God? Whoever said God is within you is the person I respect the most! I'm sure he/she wouldn't have understood things in the way I am stating here but whatever his/her logic was, it sure makes sense........

So, the first step towards respecting the God (or whoever it is one believes in as the supreme force) is respecting ourselves! There are these times when one's down, one prays to God and hopes for a miracle!!!

In my opinion, what one actually is doing here is to exercise one's will over one's molecules and atoms and make them work so that the "miracles" happen! The supreme power, the "will" is acting here more than the God! So, the all encompassing "I" is the one that one needs to know and understand!

God is within, seek it in no temple, no church...........love yourself, that's the first step towards loving anyone else! And out of experience, I can tell you, the ones who don't allow you to love yourself could never love you!!!!!!

Anyways, before I lose the strings and stray, I think the all encompassing "I" is the one that needs to be treated better than we actually treat it!

Pritz

Concept of Beauty in Indian Aesthetics!!!!!

2006-02-08T21:38:00.000-08:00

(Note: Most of my blog here is taken verbatim from Dr. Mrinalini Sarabhai's lecture on the same topic)

Hi,

When I enrolled for the conference "Brain, Consciousness and Experience: Perspectives from Art, Science and Philosophy" at the National Centre for Advance Studies, I didn't really know that I shall get such deep insights into the way the human brain thinks. I had some questions in my mind, some well-formed, some hazy. And I think, I was seeking answers. I didn't think I would get many answers in this conference but I wanted to know others' perspectives. I wanted to know if someone else had same questions!!! And though the conference didn't provide answers to most of my queries, it was an interesting experience as I got to know what others think....and being passionate about people, in general and their thoughts, in particular, this conference was a treat......there were people from diverse backgrounds, seeking different things, attending this conference for a myriad of purposes..........

The lecture that impressed and moved me the most was the one by noted dancer Dr. Mrinalini Sarabhai. It was titled: Concept of Beauty in Indian Aesthetics. At the outset, she apologized for not being much of a speaker (only to prove it false as she went along). And by the time the lecture came to an end, I was mesmerized, immobilized in my seat and my thoughts raced in all directions only to come back to BEAUTY, the eternal concept that many seem to appreciate but no one seems to be able to define really......

She gave us an insight into how the Indian scriptures and epics dealt with the concept of beauty. Instead of going on writing "her lecture" and what "she said", I am going to adopt a strategy to write in first person so that the reading becomes relatively more interesting.

In Indian epics, beauty has been dealt with rather extensively. Women have been compared with moon, flowers etc. The fact that stands out from the description of Beauty in Indian writings is that the comparisons are invariably made with Nature and her creations. For a Physicist, moon is only a celestial body, mindlessly moving round the Earth, but for a poet, moon is his beloved's face radiating white moonligth (where white signifies purity and innocence)..........

In Indian writings, bees have extensively been used in romantic contexts. In a description of Shakuntala's beauty where Dushyant is just watching her lie down in a garden, bees have been termed an object of envy. The description goes as follows:

O heavenly beauty, how lucky this small bee is that can touch the nectar of the lotus of your lips, that can come close to your almond shaped eyes and feel the flutter of your eye-lashes that are like a black bow guarding the lakes of your eyes, that can hum some sweet secrets in your ears, that can experience the pure bliss of seeing this radiance of your moon-like face from so close!

As is evident, almost all the comparisons made are with that of some creation of Nature. India has always been a country that has been liberally endowed with all the miracles of Nature. There's one more example of a woman's beauty being compared with the creations of Nature. This one is from Nala-Damayanti story where Nala intends to woo Damayanti into marriage with him. He sends a golden swan to Damayanti's palace to tell her much he loves her. And this is what the swan says to Damayanti (after taking her to a secluded corner of her palace's garden):

O unparallelled beauty, I come here as a messenger of a king by the name Nala whose strength is as much as that of a river that flows untamed! He seeks your hand, the hand of that who hair are like that of a night, the face of whose is like the moon, whose laughter is like that of a waterfall, whose complexion is like that of a rose half in bloom...............

And NOW, what has happened? The poetry has conveniently been replaced by Archies cards full of quotes.....the golden swan has given way to SMSes and e-mails........the erotic couple dances (that have been poetically described in Indian epics) have been replaced by tuneless shake-a-leg in the discos.....

The beautiful poetic heritage of Indian aesthetics has become a slave to the western influence.........where noise, money, material desires dominate!!!! So, there's still time to go back to the poetic culture of ours and abandon the culture of Valentine's Day becoming a festival bigger than Diwali and Holi..............

Pritz

Ain't I Beautiful???

2006-02-06T10:24:00.000-08:00

Hi!

Please don't mistake me! I have no illusions about my beauty or the lack of it. This blog of mine focuses not on how beautiful I am but what is it that we call beautiful!!!!! This stems from a discussion I had with my very good friend today morning while discussion HOW ONE QUANTIFIES BEAUTY? Or rather, why beauty is such an abstract concept! Beauty is definite, we say! For example, a rose flower (this example comes straight from a very good lecture I attended by Prof. B. V. Sreekantan) appears beautiful to most of us! But some people find it beautiful enough to write poetry about it whereas some people just call it beautiful and forget about it the moment they would've said that! So, how does one DECIDE what's beautiful and HOW beautiful??

This question opens up a box akin to Pandora's box of troubles! There is this fundamental question of HOW one defines beauty? What are the parameters that govern beauty? Is beauty really quantifiable? If it is, then, isn't the concept beauty itself lost?

Actually, the discussion was about whether one can reduce everything in this world to some mathematical symbols and equations? And I was of the opinion that reducing something like energy to symbols E, F, G, H etc. has made us visualize ENERGY as equations and and not as we would feel/sense it otherwise! The discussion then reached one point where BEAUTY came in. I felt that beauty is not quantifiable. Because we don't know what to define beauty in terms of! It's such a SUBJECTIVE thing! I think full moon is bautiful whereas a friend of mine rubbishes this! So, is moon eventually beautiful or not? However, whether I agree or my friend disagrees, the fact that matter contains energy remains unchanged!

So, my friend and I were trying to come up with certain terms that could possibly decide whether a rose flower shown to us was beautiful or not! Let's say a red rose is put in front of us. What are the obvious things that are noticed about it? Here I list a few that I can think of:

1. The colour
2. The symmetry in arrangement of petals (personally, I'd appreciate asymmetry more)
3. The shapes and sizes of petals
4. The fragrance of the rose (this may be excluded if we're talking only about a picture of the flower)

Now, on the face of it, all the above stated quantities can be "measured" by us using certain techniques. The colour can be described by the photo spectrum of the colour, or the "redness" of the flower. There are ways to define the colour of the flower. Symmetry (or asymmetry) is again very definable. Shapes and sizes are very easily measurable too. And fragrance can of course, by quantified as the density of the fragrant chemical/s (these are well known and well studies chemicals by perfumery industry).

Now, we have a definition of all the parameters that tell us or lead us to believe that the rose flower is beautiful! A perfectly logical argument. I couldn't find things to say against it. But does this actually convey to someone who isn't looking at the flower how beautiful the flower actually is? Just by quoting the numbers related to the above quantities, can we make someone viaualize the rose?

Let's take an example (this is an appropriate one knowing that Valentine's Day is round the corner)! Can a lover propose to his lady love saying that:

My dear, your complexion is 9.5 on the scale of fairness, your eyes have an RGB value of (some number), your voice is this many decibels..................

If I were to be proposed like that, I'd slap the guy and tell him to go propose to a robot!!!! So, isn't defining beauty making beauty lose its essence? So, in my opinion, there's something more to beauty than just numbers! It has to be about HOW it makes the beholder feel! (Again, I take the word beholder from the saying "Beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder")........so, whoever said this did understand the "perceiver's" aspect of the beauty! That's something you just CAN NOT quatify! You can not measure JOY that anyone is going to feel after seeing the rose flower! So, I came out of the argument convinced that beauty can't be quantified (at least, not till some believable unit for JOY comes into being) as of now!

I know that my friend did give me a rather scientific approach to quantifying beauty, but sorry my friend, I still don't agree with you! I still am of the belief that beauty can't be DESCRIBED or UNDERSTOOD using a set of numbers and symbols as I believe that an integral part of beauty is how the perceiver FEELS upon seeing it.

There's some more gyan coming your way in the coming days about consciousness (which will be essintially how I felt after attending an AWESOME conference in NIAS about consciousness, a scientific, artistic and philosophical approach).......so, watch out for this space........

Pritz

The tagging game........

2006-01-30T21:59:00.000-08:00

Well, since Rajani tagged me, I'm going to be a good sport and carry on with the game....

The game is as follows:

1. Someone tags you and leaves a comment in your blog saying "You've been tagged"
2. You've to write a blog about the EIGHT qualities you look for in your PERFECT PARTNER....
3. If you've been tagged twice, you needn't respond.....
4. You have to tag eight people, in turn.......

So, here goes my list of eight qualities.............

1. SENSE OF HUMOUR.......this tops my list! My guy HAS TO HAVE a good sense of humour...
2. SENSE OF RESPONSIBILITY.....he should take responsibility for his actions, I won't like as escapist
3. UNDERSTANDING......he has to understand and accept that "I" am different from him. He's to accept me as I am
4. ADVENTUROUS......he's to have a flair for outdoor sports. My favourite being swimming (since I myself can't swim, I shall bank on him for saving me if I am drowning) :D
5. SENSE AND APPRECIATION OF MUSIC........this is almost an absolute MUST......I am crazy about Music and I would like my guy to be the same way!
6. EXPERIMENTATIVE.........he should be open to experimenting.....particularly at short notice. I don't like people who stick to the routine and mundane...it's such a turn-off.....
7. COURAGEOUS..........my guy has to stand up to his standards. I can't stand people who back off.....
8. (Phooh.......it;s a long list) PRAGMATIC..........though I am the sentimental kinds, I would like a guy who is pragmatic and makes decisions with the right combination of heart and head......

Since I don't know enough number of people, I shall stick to tagging all whom I know!

The peolpe I'm tagging are:

1. Sujit
2. Satyam
3. Ananth
4. Karthik
5. Ajit
6. Rajani (tagging you back for the lack of people I know who are on blogs)

Pritz

Some good movies finally..........

2006-01-30T12:15:00.000-08:00

Hi! All,

I finally did watch some good movies! After all the crap Bollywood has been creating recently, these movies were a breather. I watched Iqbal (in our good old Gymkhana) on Friday and Kalyug in a friend's Lab on Sunday. Iqbal is a movie full of determination, perseverence, fighting against odds and winning in the end. The role of Shreyas Talpade moved me a great deal. This movie deals with overcoming one's handicaps, no matter what! It's more like, once you have your eyes on the goal, there's nothing in the world that can stop you from achieving it. The concept of a deaf boy going out and making it big in the world appealed to me!!!!!!!!!

And some splendid performances by the little girl (who played Iqbal's sister) and Naseeruddin Shah. This is a movie that gives a lot of scope for the artists to explore their abilities. All the roles in the movie are rather unusual! A deaf boy who wants to be a bowler, a sister who bunks her school adn homework to help her brother realize his dreams, a cricketer who ends up being a drunkard because he lost against the corrupt system, a mother who's so devoted to her son's dream that she gathers courage to stand against her husband..........all were challenging roles! Thankfully, there was apt justice done to all the roles by the respective artists. The lead role was very beautifully portrayed by Talpade.

The song from the movie "Aashayein" was not such a favourite of mine but after I watched the movie, the relevance of the song sank in!!!! The world runs on hope and the day you lose it, you lose the zest for life.....I should know!

The second movie, "Kalyug", was totally different in its message. The movie portrays a young man who gets caught up in the Net of the big people running a thriving porn industry. The movie is not great, as such, but the story-line does set one thinking. I had no idea that the porn industry is the third largest money-mkaing business after arms and narcotics smuggling!!! A $56 bn dollar industry world-wide..............

And the worst part is that this business thrives on human-trafficking! And almost all of it illegal......most of the women in the flesh trade are brought in either forcefully or by deceit! And once here, there is no way out. It's a web that spins itself so tight around the women who get caught in it that it never lets them go. And the only way out is death, either at the hands of the people who are the traders of women or some disease that they catch from some "client"..............or worde, starvation ,if they refuse to give in to the pressures!

"Kalyug" shows how rampant porn industry is in our so-called civilized world.....the lead actor becomes a victim of spy-cameras recording his honey-moon night. Instead of the culprits, the poor boy gets caught and out of shame, his wife commits suicide! I msut say, it was a difficult movie to watch without crying adn I couldn't stop myself.....putting myself in the shoes of the victims brought tears to my eyes......and I did cry a lot.

In the movie, there was somethingt hat really made me look at things from a different angle! In one scene, Amrita Singh says (rather truimphantly and insensitively) that this industry is a DEMAND and SUPPLY industry. Till the time demand is there, supply will be there. So, till the time, people will watch blue films, blue films will be made.......I know of many many people who boast of having watched blue films! And suddenly, I was full of hatred for all the people who buy, sell, watch and store porn videos/films, including myself! I can't say I have watched a real blue film ever but I have seen videos of celebrities in objectionable positions. I don't know if they are morphed or whatever, but I did feel guilty of having shown curiosity for watching such thigns! In an indirect way, I felt I was contributing to the DEMAND for such things! I realize how I'd been infringing upon the privacy of someone else! The mere thought of someone else doing this to me gave me creeps!

So, I decided to discourage all my friends from watching such videos and making them aware that the fun we seek is someone else's extremem misery! I know that it's a very insignificant contribution but this is the least I can do! I ahve to start somewhere and here's where I start! Pledge never to watch any such video and discourage my near and dear ones from doing so too!

I request every single one of you to take this pledge of never watching such stuff. Who knows, you may fall victim to such a thing..........

Pritz

Colours mean something? Eh...........

2006-01-16T14:58:00.000-08:00

Hi Peoples,

Well, the reason I had to start a new blog was that the old one was getting too big for opening and I had to exercise a great deal of patience to read my own blog!

So, I decided that it was far easier to start a new one!!!!!

This blog is what follows after observations about me that go this way, "You have a rather evolved colour sense"......I like to believe this. For an artist at heart, this is God of all compliments. I often questioned myself about my passion for bright colours. Not that I don't like more toned down shades, but I prefer the brighter ones. Each bright colour makes me think of certain thing(s). And these emotions or rather thoughts make me think of combinations that either enhance or contradict the effect of the other colour. It's an interesting phenomenon.

One place where this interplay of colours if of extreme importance is my rangolis (that happen about once in two months). When I start a Rangoli, I do have a concept in mind, at least, most of the times. There have been times when I have started making the rangoli with one theme in my mind but landed up making something entirely different but such things generally happen when I run out of some particular colour or something of that sort.

So, when I have a concept in my mind, it is BLACK AND WHITE. In other words, I start with a COLOURLESS concept in my mind. I do have a mental picture of proportions but no idea of what colours I'll eventually use. Many a time, it has happened that I've changed the colour scheme of my rangolis after starting it too just because I met some friend who came up with a colour scheme that's better than mine!

So, when I start with a colourless concept (I'm counting out black and white as COLOURS really), I start filling in colours in the rnagolis. There are two major factors that govern the colour scheme I opt for.

1. How well it contrasts with the neighbouring colours
2. How does it contribute to the overall feel of the rangoli

I don't have a technical knowledge of opposite colours, so, I often land up using colours following my instinct and nothing else.......until about a week ago, I didn't know that red is formally an opposite of green. I often use a lot of yellow, red and green in my rangolis. And this isn't just because these colours contrast well with each other, but because they make me feel a certain way!

Colours have known to have an impact on how you feel! I think, colours really have a strong impact on me!

The feelings I get when I am surrounded by the following colours are as follows:

1. Red (ahhhh, my favourite colour): Energy, Enthusiasm
2. Yellow: I feel like reading a lot when I see yellow (wonder if yellow is the colour I should wear more often :D)
3. Green: I don't really like green but it makes me feel calm, at least, the green of greenery
4. Blue: I find blue a very soothing colour
5. Orange: Orange makes me feel very energetic and ignites my creativity
6. Black: I find black rather depressing. I do wear black more often these days but I don't really like this colour
7. White (ahhhh....one colour I'd happily never wear given a chance): White is a scary colour (hold on, it's only because even the slightest bit of dirt shows on white and washing whites is a PAIN). This colour makes me feel very lonely, somehow
8. Grey: If I have a choice, I'd never ever wear grey. I don't like that colour at all
9. Pink (IT IS NOT MY FAVOURITE COLOUR, PLEASE): I have LOT of pinks with me but almost ALL of them are gifted! And seeing that there's so much pink with me, people keep gifting me pink, it's a rather vicious circle......I like pink. It makes me feel rather naughty! ;)
10. Brown: To me, brown = formal wear! I think brown makes me feel really elegant and classy! My idea of a formal dress is brown.......
11. Violet: Violet makes me feel rather confident. I don't have a good collection of violets but I like the lighter shades.

Think I coloured almost all the colours I generally come across! Of course, as far as colours go, there's no limit to the number of shades that can be, but they can broadly be put under these colour categories....

Anyway, enough about colours......there's so much that has been said about the colours! :) I know that I am no expert of colours etc, but what I have written above stems from my experience and years of association with colours....through rangolis primarily..........

Pritz