Tuesday 29 January 2013

Party Tonight



It’s party at night,
& I was drowsy with headache at drive.
How to got rid of those boo,
when my skin wasn’t at the right shoe?

That fluffy nightmare was terrible,
& I wished I had opted for the hair removal;
but waxing, on my skin, is so cruel!

It gives blisters & leaves my skin patchy,
& I didn’t want to leave home with any bogey.
Then, something at my mind brought up the rear,
that why shouldn’t I go with the Satin Care.

My friend told me it leaves skin smooth
with radiant glow & no bloomers to choose.
I went with fear to give a shot,
but it didn’t leave any cuts to get a blood clot.

Now, my skin was glowing from head to toe,
& I was ready to tap the show.



This post has been written for the Contest ‘Divine Is You’, organized by the Blogadda in association with the Gillette Satin Care.

Wednesday 16 January 2013

Protest every parochial thought- I protest mine!


 
It’s been a month when the horrendous crime of Delhi gang rape (for which protest has been voiced) took place, & still no verdict has been finalized. But yes, our police officers have been ordered to alert at every public place, I don’t know if it’s for controlling the perpetrators or protestors!

Our respected Chief Minister of Delhi prevents herself & her friends from being accountable for the scaling forth of these crimes & violence as everything isn’t at her toe. She questions the accountability of the police department & the upbringing of this patriarchal society. I second her second reason, but she has that power to not let these social monsters snore at their desk; & not whip them up just to protect the Raisina Hill, or any of their own interests. She & others in her genre need to have a Hajmola dietary plan to digest the fact that their proactivity wakes up only at the clamour of the aam-junta. Had there been no protest, either of our ministers & police officers wouldn’t have shown their capability to arrest the culprits within few hours. And still, rapes, molestations, & murders have been ensuing, but no each case (which weren’t brought to specific significance with the protest) has been handled this way. Our political ministers have announced monetary help & employment benefits to the kin of the December 16 Delhi bus gang-rape victim, but why this mercy & benevolence have not been shown to others? Didn’t the grim situation they have gone through were similarly horrific & tragic too?

Whenever any such violent case comes in the newspapers, each one of us gasp for a moment & abuse the culprits. Our uncles get outrageous & showcase their bitterness toward the culprit that if they were in power, no such monsters would have been spared with mercy. But…………when their horrible ugly face comes in your front, then it’s astonishing & disgusting at the same time that- had they found your vulnerability with a distant core you would also be not spared with any mercy. These monsters hide their ugly face behind their power-status in proportion to your vulnerability-status. Someone with powerful status at his back, who knows that no damage would occur to his honour as everyone is there to shield him off this, would damage you & get away. Someone with lower status, where again no damage would occur to him-as he really hasn’t earned anything to lose, would damage you & get away. And, people with middle class status, who could be trapped & who could lose their honour with a single case against them, would find a prey within you on the hoard of relationships to damage you & stay with you forever.

Moreover, whenever any girl gets raped, people starts blaming her for there must be some indulgence of her to wooing the culprit. She must have worn short mini skirt, or she should have given some seductive gestures to him. If any girl wears short skirts, it doesn’t mean of her to get raped. If any girl had given any seductive gestures to you, she might want a little bit of attraction or consensual sex, but not rape. There is a big difference between consensual sex & rape. Consensual sex is a sex with the consent of both people & rape is a forced sex. People blame modernity, in apropos of clothing esp., that when women wear short dresses it arouses the sexual desires on men. Ok! But when men appear (almost) naked, esp. when in our Indian culture- holy Sadhus or Nagas appear in front (as you could see them in Maha Kumbh Mela ), or when men pee on roadsides all around India, why don’t women rape, assault, molest, or even insult them! It’s just the sick mentality of men who rape. Rape isn’t justifiable in any way.   


Asaram Bapu mocked at us & advised said that the girl should have begged in front of them & called them brothers to save her dignity. But what he would say for the girl who was raped by his own brother (which happened after the December 16 case). Abhijit Mukherjee who embossed us with ‘dented & painted girls’, what remarks he would give to that 70 year old lady, that 42 year old lady, & esp. that 6 year old baby girl- raped in Delhi, & another 6 year old raped in South India. These little babies aren’t even acknowledged with the terms ‘rape & protest’.  Shame!!!

Our judiciary system has got waned no power left with it, & with that no trust. That black strap had been tied with traditions & parochial kindness so firmly that every action gets failed to untie the knot. The minor accused, who is the main culprit & who brought damage to the 23-year old girl’s intestine, wouldn’t be served with severe punishments just because he is 5 months younger to the maturity group. Our judiciary system needs to check his birth certificate for that. What the hell!!! Hadn’t this culprit got to know that he was going to kill someone & he raped someone’s modesty? Maturity doesn’t come with age but with the growth of the mental-attitude.   

We are very much engrossed with our tradition & culture, and have been following them blindly. We aren’t open about learning something & accepting our mistakes. Women are expected to be kind & nice every time. They aren’t expected to use their mind every time. And, when any girl raises her voice, she gets tagged with the term ‘rebel’. So was I.

So, I had been practicing this nice attitude with bringing tranquility to my mind, and avoiding that every thought which I am not inclined to accept anymore. And, somewhere it had brought dullness to me. Few weeks before (when this incident came to light) I stepped here, in Delhi, for career reasons. I have been to malls with my elder sister & her male friend. With this awful crime against women occupying everyone’s mind, our dear friend- while looking at Bata’s showroom poster where a woman was sitting with wearing the brand shoes- commented that what’s the need to show a woman here when it’s about shoes. And, I, without thinking much, nodded with him & said: “Good thought!” with a thought that he must be objecting to the objectification of girls. But old habits die hard. I always give a second thought to whatever happened throughout the day. So, I pondered over those words which were crawling in my mind, and I found myself wrong. I was wrong with that thought that the poster was about objectification of a woman. Had there been a guy wearing those shoes, would it be perceived with the same sense? No. If we would object every other next thing blindly with the fear of rape, then no one could save this world. I apologize for that immature nod, and would clear it with our friend at the next meeting. Because, my single nod would make him believe that he was right (though, he is really a nice guy).

It’s high time that we change this world by bringing a change-first to ourselves. Protest & condemn each & every issue, the way you could do (because every single voice matters, esp., in this technically-driven world), which could bring the hell to this beautiful world. I want this fight come to an end, but not this protest. Please protest!

Wednesday 9 January 2013

Book Review: The Wildings




Author: Nilanjana Roy

Publishing Company: Aleph Book Company

Pages: 310

Price: Rs. 595


The Wildings, albeit, has a red-eyed cat on the cover page, but it makes it captivating to be grabbed to your study room. I picked it, headed toward the counter while reading the back cover, & then put it back to the bookstore shelf to turn later anytime as it costs Rs. 595. But, months later, its apparent applause made me turn my step backward to the store to not to make any delay to reading this exquisite piece of narration where you are bound to envisage the characters in real, & try to contemplate the details of the plot with every page.

When any narration intrigues you every time to turn the next page, & when its characters get alive & starts wallowing in your mind even with an imaginary plot, then it’s worthy of an applause.

The Wildings is a captivating phase of a clan of cats dwelling in the labyrinthine alleys of Nizamuddin, an old neighbourhood in Delhi, where they were intimidated by the ferals- despite being one of their species. Before this sinister episode, life had been a thrill for this band of cats & other tribes as the parity of existence was the prime principle. No one used to fear anyone, & anyone could do what they please. Cats & Cheels, though, are born to kill & eat their prey, but that kill should be just for the survival & not for the enjoyment.

This clan of cats has their own linking network, just like Facebook & Twitter, where they may chat with a distant one with the help of their whiskers. One day this clan of cats got sendings which made them frightened of an outsider with powerful sendings, a Sender- who could ruin their lifestyle. Everyone was just alarmed & panicked with the existence of this Sender, as a Sender takes birth only when there is any perilous signal; but everything seemed quite safe, then what this Sender was here for? Their panic made them take a decision which would have erroneous consequences that they would bear at a dear cost.

What this clan would do with this Sender, & whether they would get success to shield themselves from ferals? How & who would help them in this crisis, & who else join them in their battle for existence? Read & unveil the emotional journey these wildings went through.

I am afraid of dogs, & was never befriended with any cat or any other wildings. But, this story of wildings, especially cats, will surely make you fall in love with them, & you would get eager to know the emotions lying behind their faces, whenever they are around you. Nilanjana Roy, who lives in Delhi with her cats, has made a deep analysis of the gestures of her housemates.

I have found this book a poignant piece as these wildings’ different emotional faces & behavior patterns have been put here where you would find them behaving like you, and yes, would learn something too. I liked it when Mara got scared with Beraal’s look & remembered her mother just as we do: “…why are you making that face? That’s really scary! You’re frightening me! You are a mean old ugly cat, and you were supposed to be my friend. I want my mother NOW!!!!!” I liked it where Southpaw pretends to not to afraid to the predators to get away with the critical situation. I liked the way one fights for another companion, or any innocent tribe.

The author demonstrated their belief in not contaminating sacrosanct sites.  I loved the way Mara stammered ahead king of kings: “I’m just me, just a Mara.” And, then made the cub correct it: “Please, call me Mara. That’s my real name.” Tantara- the langoor- showed off her tail- with which she could do so many things- to the kitten, just as we do when we have something special in our kitty. Just like we were taught by our guardians to stay away from the evils, Southpaw had also been taught: “madness & evil have their own stench, like rotting flesh, and it’s best to stay away from the stink.

Life isn’t about being inside always and exploring nothing, and no one approves it. So, Southpaw rebuked his friend for the same. Again, when your own friend calls you a freak, how does it feel? How do you feel when your own child has been taken away by someone? Miao’s disappearance made the whole clan frightened & worried, just as we couldn’t bear the pain of our loved one being away. I liked the Kirri’s revenge: “The right paw was for the mice. The left paw was for the birds.” And, the way Tooth- the Cheel- nodded with Miao during her last breaths.   

Now, didn’t you find them as emotional as like us? Agreed?

Here, Nilanjana differs with us. She doesn’t consider them different from human beings. So, she just didn’t imagine their feelings, but felt them too!

It’s a great piece of narration- apt for the recommendations & acclamations. Only one thing which refrains it get reckoned as a literature piece is a few of grammatical mistakes, esp., in terms of punctuations & statement modifications (e.g. at last paragraph on the back of cover: She lives in Delhi with two cats & her husband. It should be: She lives in Delhi with her husband & two cats). I felt like two/three editors had gone through the editing of this piece which isn’t a good sign.

What I liked most about this book was that Hindi words like ‘bevkoof’, ‘achcha’, etc. were given equal significance as that was given to English words. They weren’t italicized as we often do. Also, every character, even human beings- as Bigfeet, was adorned with beautiful names; but that becomes little difficult too to memorize what they were referred to (except main characters) as there were too many of them. Also, there are beautiful pictures, illustrated by Prabha Mallya, which you would surely love to click & save.


                                                                                  

Nilanjana Roy has extended her imaginations up to the boundaries of international acclaim which might win her loads of accolades. Fingers crossed!

It’s a book recommended to every age group- what children or adults. Don’t make any delay, even if you were never befriended with any animal earlier.