Of Queens and Goddesses

The divine mother, beauty incarnate, was worshiped night and day,
The goddess of creation, wisdom and change she was,
always symbolizing a good cause.
Temples were built in her honor,
every house had her image in a corner.

Every business, marriage or event started with a whisper for her blessing,
She would be bathed, decorated and adorned with beautiful jewellery and dressing..
Across the ages, her spirit lived and strived,
in the minds and hearts of the builder, the weaver and the scribe.

A woman was considered an embodiment of her and treated with respect,
she made mankind flourish and spent her life making her family content,
but slowly an eclipse mars the golden rays of her presence..

An evil time draws near and now she is neither worshiped nor free.
Nor respected and revered by all corners of the society.
A few unlucky souls who are overcome by the eclipse,
beat her up, treat her badly and bind her spirit,
they burn the beauty and bury the erudition,
with abuse, harassment and rape,
and then at the rage which follows, they silently gape.

All parts of society are under the same fire now,
things have become bad and consequences of venturing outside are dire now,
the common man has become a beast and a liar now.

The goddess implores for consideration and kindness silently,
she can make the land prosper only if we set her free,
otherwise she will withdraw into a shell and become angry and explode,
and spread havoc and confusion across the country, state city and court.

When a man hurts the gentler spirit and body of a woman, he invokes,
a spark, a splinter, a fire, a flood which might ignite and wipe out the beauty of Prithvi lok.
be warned she says, as she is suffering silently,
her fury grows stronger as women weep helplessly...

The Desert and the sea

She was slight and shy
a little more than five fee high
living in a village at the foot of the capital
where life was slow and the scene was quiet and still
 customs of the land kept her within four walls
she had never seen rivers, seas, forests or waterfalls
 but in the night she dream't of exotic lands faraway
but during the day she lived her life without any say

One day there was a bustle in the street
merchants from the sea rested in the village to sleep and eat
their clothing had whiffs of adventure and mystery
on the camels they had sacks bearing antiques of great value and history
from the capitol they were returning to he sea which had ships and treasures and whales
the and stirring up a storm in the desert town with their rich tales

Fatima stepped away from the din
she thought of her  mother, absent soldier father and her other kith and kin
and then her heart beat fast as she thought of the lands far away
and she made a choice and hid in caravans roof, and there she lay
she watched the sky as the stars peeped out at night
she looked at the capitol lights shining - distant and bright

must she listen to her heart and become a runaway
or must she be her normal self and be what she is everyday
is destiny written by actions or by the divine
can life be diverted from the obvious route by the force of mind
She though of everything she wanted to be
and the next day, when her mother opened her room there she was sleeping silently

She weighed her past and her future and her present
she counted her blessing and said thanks for things she previously did'nt
she understood that life changes on its own
that one must try one best to reach to one dreams but not at the cost of the respect of ones own
she vowed that she would try to go to the sea with good wishes and dignity

Dreams and destiny are intertwined
together they shine on and lead the otherwise blind
through the everyday of life
our story depends on how much we see
and how much we are the person we want to be
thoughts of future will lead to nothing except anxiety
thoughts of self lead to a better you and me
and then by extension a better tomorrow would be a reality

Fatima lives in all of us struggling everyday
wondering whether and how to break free
the goal of one life should be to make ones dream ones destiny..  

When the bough breaks

The London Riots, The Libyan Liberation, The Indian Protest against corruption all had one thing in common. It involved crowds of ordinary citizens. Whatever the motive was, they all shared a common emotion which became a movement leaving the respective governments alarmed and the whole world surprised.
It is written in many ancient texts that the unified thoughts of several people can bring about drastic changes, topple civilizations, create heros and shift paradigms. Indeed the mentality of the masses is what has caused and is causing change to break dams which have taken years to create. Destruction is the other dark side of creation and this idea is especially applicable to the social norms and taboos which are prevalent in a certain era. 

As a child I have always perceived politics as a playground for people with selfish and narrow agendas and a very very tiny portion of my generation in India would have dream't of being part of the legislative machinery of our great country. We have heard of rumored scandals and accusations of horrific social and financial magnitude which has led us to perhaps unfairly believe that politics involves only money and no patriotism.And the recently heavily circulated facts which the foreign banks released seemed like that last straw which confirmed all our subconciously built up anger.  

In today's fast paced world of innovations and race for good jobs and middle class happiness, majority of the people supporting the Gandhian Anna Hazaare either lead or are geared up to lead super busy lives trying to maximise their savings and fight against the inflation and rising gold prices while trying to strike a balance between traditional Indian way of life and the new malls and magic of the foreign habits which have been creeping into our lives and have now become a rooted part of it. What will we who burn midnight electricity find as the worst possible outrage a person can commit? getting easy and effortless money and making more every day offcourse. We all said loudly and emphatically that we are against corruption but can we swear that we have not ourselves at some point in time unwilliingly or unknowingly contributed to it?

But thats ok.All said and done on all the social networks, media channels and fasting grounds involving all sorts of emotions has resulted in a Bill to be tabled and passed.A victory for all sides of the drama. Will this Bill cause a paradigm shift? Will the British who went on a rampage find a better circumstance to lead their lives? will the people of Libya have better leadership? Only time will tell.

What these incidents do prove is that the people who bow their heads and do their daily business for years do one day look up and speak out when they feel they are persecuted even if it is in a very slight and indirect way. The leaders of the world should listen to the voice of the crowd and feel the pulse of the land he/she is ruling and accept the unexpressed views and troubles of the people. Education and a well balanced social structure will ensure that The voice is cultured and civil and not brutal. A beautiful vision of tomorrow will create ambitions and manufacture dreams in all the growing populace and a happy nation will result. Money is indeed just paper at the end of the day. If the money is made to create roads and schools and jobs by visionary leaders and not just sit in a dark vault of a bank the nation will be healthy and glowing and beautiful.

Lets all try making our nation beautiful.After all, what is life for if not for being happy and making people happy.  :) 

Mid Year Musings

Cricket: India won,
but IPL, and therefore cricket stopped being fun.
World: Obama killed Osama
but that hasn't stopped the terrorists or the drama
India: economy seems at a high
but prices continues to hit the sky
World: Japan shook like a leaf,
the waves, the quakes, the radiation continue to give it grief
TN: government was voted out
only democracy has won without any doubt
World: William married Kate
finally after a long wait
Films were made,many failed
Ipad, Kindle and Skype was sold
laptops and mp3 have become old

Sai Baba is believed to have died.
everyone including god cried.
people smiled, people lied,
It rained, It poured, It shined
IT crowd continued to grow, continued to grind
gold became costlier, character became cheaper.
paradigms changed, values flickered and fell
Things are precious only if they sell

The world grows hotter
tempers grow shorter
people doing happy things all around
though adjectives are no longer as descriptive as they sound 

The world is changing and so am I
without a pause to wonder how or why
the future is locked by time as its key,
its story too blurred to read or see
I hope it contains chocolates, happiness, treasures, peace and love
A life full of meaning, enlightenment, beauty  and wealth
Tomorrow must surely be different from today
In a more colorful and profoundly better way

Dreams Away!

Okay.. after an extremely long time, I have decided to write sensibly.
Its about why I think, people find movies so appealing..
Surely, sitting in the audience watching hyped or super movies, with all possible overtunes like Endhiran or watching cute and oddly inspiring movies like Mulan, fills you with emotions so alien to you in your everyday life, that it seems like an experience you have had or a journey you have made, at least in the corner of your subconcious.
After a predictable train of thoughts - 'Oh look at her dress', 'Watch him knock that bad guy out', 'Checkout that exotic island', 'wow! can people really be so crazy?' and after 2 hours of incredible ,sometimes sordidly credible twists the audience heaves a sigh of relief as the hero does everything right, as gallops away into the sunset in style.
Why do we watch movies? what drives us to spend money and valuable holiday time on movies where you just sit and watch what could be a bad movie and a sad waste of time?
What the cynics might come up with is - to be a part of the up-to-date crowd or to boast about something to your peers, but surely there should be a valid reason as to why people actually listen to the reviews with interest or hasten to book tickets themselves.
Other cynics (cynical of the previous cynics) would say it is just to watch beautiful women and handsome men dance and fight and cry on the big screen. that maybe true but if you have a fulfilling life wherein you think yourself beautiful or dashing and have fun regularly, the glamour element wont appeal much.
and that brings us back to the three letter word which is actually the mother of all discovery - why?
I think the reason why people like to lead different lives for just a small period of two hours is mainly human nature. We are governed by our senses and long and feel and love and lie and sometimes, watching that happen on screen is like watching the story of humanity's  social evolution. our impulses and senses are usually tamed by the same society which was born out of humanity's sense of things and to release oneself from its clutches in a very legal manner without doing anything harmful to the reputation you have built up socially is to watch movies...

But watching a lot of movies is like living life secondhand. one should step out bravely not only into the unknown and strange land in hope for treasure but also into the new and different  environments within the concrete jungle where the behavioral laws are different and which would constantly challenge you to change yourself into someone else.

We must all dream and then find it within ourselves to live our dreams. So grab your curiosity and your fear and your wish to overcome it and leap into the abyss we call everyday life. Dream of great things . and then do them so movies will appear lame in comparison.  Today is that special day,  Dreams  Away!!!!!

How to live and love

A strange topic, for a person like me...but as nobody is reading this blog might as well introspect on the web.
It is the one thing I want to do..I just have'nt found it yet. I keep hoping it is something respectable and ordinary and sometimes wish that i wake up one day and find out that my life is just the way I want it to be.

But you know what? life is never perfect to begin with.It has many things you might realize..eventually.. that you will want to change. The first step is the realization.

The second step is changing it..duh...but the third step is replacing it with something you want...and here is where I'm stuck presently.

I am not sure what I want to do with life. I know the attributes it needs to have.

I should love every minute of it...I should revel in every moment of its ups and downs..I should be able to sacrifice my sleep, my food and almost everything i hold close to my heart for it.

doing what I want to do in life must make me the person I want to be..so...all the best to me... :)

A Sign Of the Times

Rainy days..dry wells
Crowded Buses..empty homes
Cell phones ringing..more meaningless talks in the air
Cricket craze..its in the glory phase
IT boom..lots of jobs..less work
Sensex talk...most of them senseless
Lots of strikes..whats new?
FM radio..prizes to be won and more!!
Traffic jams in hyderabad..where do we go now?
Orkut..and all that jazz
Contradictory social norms..another catch22
Lots of beggars..Developing are we?
Education bonanza..if u want it, u got it!
Festivals...celebration (with a reason too)
People in a hurry..where are they going?
ipods and mp3..the moores law still holds
Discounts everywhere..the SP remains the same
Trends and taboos..invisible ropes
'Under construction' boards..like the ones the road called life has
films and TV shows..the world is a stage
Weekends..finally!
Then weekdays..(thts the catch)
Then weekends again..A cycle

Ah well,
Life goes On...

The answer and the unknown question.

I’ve been reading hitchhikers guide to the galaxy part two and on the same day facing 5 various versions of academic evaluation and the combination has been rather disheartening..so what else can I do (apart from studying for the next evealuated component which is tomorrow and the five tests within the next week) is write about how disheartening the combination really is.

For those who don’t know Zaphod Beeblebrox(from the book i mentioned) is an ex-president of the universe who among other things jumped into his memory and hacked off the bits which held dangerous secrets. And because of something he is going to do he has been sent to the 'frogstar galaxy' for the anhilation of his soul in 'the total perspective vortex'. The torture machine is actually the simulation of the whole universe in comparison with your size. The victim of the machine will be so horrified that his soul will be dead.

What is the point of me telling all this?? Well, I’m inside a “the total perspective vortex” of my own. I had two tutorials, an online, a viva and a interview…all of which were ‘unsatisfactory’ and adding exponentially to the list of problems I have.

I mean why me? Can’t I just be this dreamy girl who want to work as a treasure hunter and several exotic places filled with good food and comfortable beds instead of being processed in this monstrous factory? The problem is’nt even the marks..it’s the fact that sometimes I don’t know what is going on...biasing a current mirror and then adding some other mirrors as cascade and still being unhappy with the gain is very irritating.. why make the whole thing so complicated fill books about what is to be done and then neatly proceed to the next chapter describing a totally different approach to the same problem? What is the point in it all??
Yeah, yeah…it’s the basis for all electronics on earth…but why is it so diffused and vague to me? Ah well…

The air has cleared now and a bolt of logic has hit me..it hits me every day(solidly), that if I keep this up I’ll start writing poetry (vogon like)about my plight instead of making grades. Guess I should trudge on like Arthur dent(or maybe marvin) through the bizarre galaxy and find the right questions and the corresponding right answers..only around 42 more days to go anyway. Sooooo "MOS C-V understanding and the relevant sections" herrrree i come.