Skip to main content

Posts

Showing posts from December, 2012

In death you live longer: Amanat

Amanat has passed away. Some are shocked, some are surprised, everyone is sad. The dailies have reported various rapes, in the city, in the country. The debate continues to rage, with hang'ims and actually, just hang'ims. The people blame the government, the government blames the cops, and the cops say prove it, passing the buck to some independent committee that will find results. These results will talk a dialogue, that no one understands or cares to understand, because we, the people have judged them all to be crooks. And what of it all? The marches continue, everyone supports her, we all want justice. We march, like Gandhi.. except we don't have a Gandhi in our midst. Was the march successful because it was a march- the Great Salt March of course, or was it successful because Gandhi was there? Did we pause to think? Do we pause now or do we continue to rage? This week I got wolf whistled twice and this morning there was a throaty whisper of "SUPER FIGURE&quo

Shave or Crave

It's a cold, dark December night, the sort that gets reported the next day in the news as a cold wave. There are no noises in the dark, except for the silent whimpers from a dimly lit basement and in the distance, the howl of stray dogs welcoming the moon. He walks towards the light, rolling his feet to minimize any disturbance to the silent night. That way, he could, perhaps get through this night alive. He moves closer to the window of the basement, and the sight below makes him loose his balance. As he came crashing onto the ground he knew, that he'd be next. ******** In the basement was a man, tied to the chair. He was by himself now, but he couldn't trick himself into thinking that meant he could do what he wanted to. They were all watching him, he knew that for sure. It'd all begun a short month ago, when his girl friend and him were out for dinner: She: Darling, this food is fantastic nah. The mushroom soup is really creamy He :   She: Eeew Baby, you

Young Love- My entry for the Get Published Contest

The Idea This story is of a young girl, insecure and lonely who has a big crush with this boy in school, who resembles her favorite cinema actor. The boy for his part, is mostly ambigous, almost sphinx like, to her frustration. The story spans a decade, maintaining the base character traits of both, travels borders, and reaches milestones to end in a climax, but does it end at all? The story encompasses the difficult years of growing up, vis a vis diary entries, e-mails and conversations exchanged between  these two as they try and understand this magnetism, to conclude in a merry ending that's sure to satisfy everyone. What makes the story real? It is real! But more importantly, it's the story of so many, both young and old, of this seemingly irrelevant crush, that ends in a life event, like love creeping up on you, when it is least expected. More importantly, it's an ode to all those who question themselves, their feelings and most importantly their self image a

The Straight Hair Experiment- IMPOSSIBLE

I grew up in a country with a lot of Chinese people. Have you seen their hair? Thick, straight and long.. when they want it long of course. Growing up, this was a big problem for me... and the humidity didn't help either. So began a quest almost to get my hair straight. I didn't have just one best idea, I had several. X To comb my hair through and through when it was wet till it got dry   X To dry my hair between a heavy book (adapted from the flower pressing method)   X To tie my hair to something heavy (a bottle of water) till it dried (like how you'd make sure someone drowned)   X To use hairspray   X To use an ironing bench because I didn't know about the hair straightener then and people just referred to it as iron your hair   X To use oil (of course loosing the volume) Hair Dryer... except, it took too long in the morning! And now having grown up, I've been using a hair straightener to straighten my hair (because re-bon

Saying No: To the Death Penalty

There have been many times in history where emotions have been exploited by various ideologies to carry forward their agendas/ recommendations/ thoughts. Simple history knows that Hitler moved like a wave at a time when Germany was defeated in battle in WWI and then defeated in paper by the Versailles Treaty. The country was disillusioned and had lost its identity and it's pride in having to concede its' land (Alsace/Lorraine) along with so much more. Then came a man who promised to return pride, and promoted nationalism- not many were willing to question, at what cost. As they say a desperate man, clutches at straws. We will not be desperate today nor will we let our emotions carry us into a tomorrow that we will not like, and sadly have no one to blame but ourselves. A crime has been committed, one that has rightfully caught the attention of all and sundry. It's rightfully angered a lot of people, and rightfully started a debate about what we can do, should do, they

Direct Emergency Numbers- Bangalore- Police

Police Control Room - Direct Phone numbers. If you are being harassed/Eve-teased anywhere in Bangalore, immediately call: 080-22943225 OR 080-22864023 ..... Extremely important to have these numbers on your phone. Save now! Pass on the message... One of the important Take Away from yesterday's Peaceful Protest Meet at Town hall, Bangalore

The Orange Revolution- Bangalore

We met yesterday, on the steps of Town Hall. Ofcourse we expected a larger crowd, and more gusto, but I found that this forum was perfect to have a discussion. I've got this message from one of the organisers of yesterdays vigil as below followed by a seperate post on emergency numbers for Bangalore  (so it can be picked up google search as well) to follow. A show of solidarity is definitely important to help stop the feeling of helplessness from another's person's plight, but as someone once said, in order to help others we need to first help ourselves.    From Pradip Bhandari : Firstly thank you everyone who came out there. It was brilliant interacting with everyone, women voicing their opinions, citizens speaking rather than just protesting. We tried to do something instead of sitting back and saying"kuch naahi ho saakta kuch naahi badalega.."   This is what we came up after discussion during the candle light resolve-   Immediate steps towar

Gang Rape- Delhi Protest- Bangalore Gathering

ORANGE REVOLUTION Let us end the Violence Against Women. Its time you step out. Its better to come out against the perpetrators now, than to be a victim later. Step out on the streets. Come together. Unleash your latent power. Make sure that you end the years long repression that has degraded the society. You can be a homemaker, a student, a professional, just anyone who has ever wanted to end this ordeal. It's time. ORANGE IS THE COLOR OF POWER Step out. Wear Orange. Show your power. Please please share the event and invite everyone you can. We expect amazing participation.    

Reluctant Shopper at Shoppers Stop

When I was growing up... the formative early teens, I used to have this recurrent dream before any big event. I would star in a game show, where the rules were simple. You had one minute and you grabbed what ever you could get your hands on, and who ever had the highest value of goods in their trolley at the end of the minute got to keep what they'd grabbed. I kid you not about the adrenaline rush that one could experience when this happened. I also kid you not, about that sinking feeling I'd get when I woke up to realize that sadly, it was just a dream. Needless to say, I always won and got to keep everything I had in my trolley! That's why this contest is on my blog. Despite the title, that I'm sure a few of you would have related to it, I think everyone is a shopper at heart. We all want luxury, except when it costs money. So this virtual shopping spree has a few rules. 1. I have to pick my absolute favorite, so I cannot have too many clothes. 2. I don't hav

Thran- Korean Food in Bangalore- Restaurant Review

We've had a recent influx of Korean restuarants in Kamanahalli and Thran, located right opposite Extreme Sports Bar has been on the hit list for a while now. So when my company wasn't feeling well, and wanted hot and spicy soup to loosen up his nasal passage, we opted to lunch at Thran. It was 3:15 when we arrived there, and the time of closure on their door was 3:00.. and they never made us feel like we were imposing, and welcomed us with a big smile! As you may be aware, Korean food is generally served accompanied with Banchan. This is various side dishes, in plates accompanied by a pancake or Haemul Pajeon. We'd previously been to Soo Ra Sang in Indira Nagar (Wind Tunnel Road) and it wasn't a surprise this time. The Banchan consisted of Sookju Namul (Mung Sprout Salad), Kimchi (Pickled Chinese Cabbage with Red chilli pepper), Sausage in Red Chili Pepper sauce, Vegetable Salad and  Gaji Namul (Eggplant Salad). My favorite, without a doubt was the Sookj

Screams in your head

Just had another episode with the neighbours, over the dogs. The second one this week. With three stick yielding boys of college going age, who earlier this week claimed that the dogs were disturbing their studying. Mum and I questioned it (having seen them hitting the dogs with cricket bats earlier), how they had so much time in that case to run around chasing the poor things to hit them. And howcome they were laughing like (trying to avoid swearing) hyenas at the squeal. Your blood curdles and god, you thank every inch of the patience you were born to practice, to avoid slamming a fist into their face. They stopped it that day, but not today. I got the camera out and took a few pics, nothing inciriminating because I shouted out first. Then came back to the room to read the law of this beautiful land. The PCA (Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act) 1960, enforces fines of up to Rs 100 (guaranteed to put a HUGE dent in your pocket) or 3 months in jail. Armed with this knowledge I